AGELESS CAMPAIGN, Episode II, Part VI.

[Silver Moon]

She looked up at the stars. "I left love to chance. It would come or it wouldn't. The fact that the chance is here... I'm more surprised than I thought I would be."

"I know how you feel. For the last several years I have allowed my work to distract me from thoughts of you. Now that career is over and I am here with you. How quickly things change."

 

[Fenris]

Colonel Hassan announces the arrival of the Queen as everybody in the room stands. Neferka enters followed by a number of retainers. Her sister follower, accompanied by half as many retainers. They stand by their chairs and Neferka commands everybody to seat, as she too takes her seat.

She turns to George and says, "I will let my Interim Chief of Staff summarize the treaty." The scribes produce the half-dozen parchment scrolls. General Orabai and his generals have facial expressions that range from surprise to anger. One looks as though he is about to speak, but General Orabi makes a motin that stops him.

George watches the exchange with aplomb as he waits for the Rebels to gather their composure after being held in check by General Orabi. George catches Hassan's eye and gives him a partially raised eyebrow as he gives Hassan a half smirk. Hassan conceals his own smirk behind his hand as he shakes his head in disbelief.

George catches Neferka looking at him, she had apparently saw the exchange or at least Hassan's face, and she was now looking quizzically at George for a moment before returning to her Queenly serene composure.

"Gentlemen" begins George "Thank you all for your patience, consideration, cooperation and reasonableness. A three-way negotiation is never easy, and everyone was willing to compromise to come to a fair, equitable and reasonable treaty. As the Pharaoh has requested, I shall summarize the salient points of the treaty. Please do remember gentlemen, that each delegation was negotiating with the Crown, and not each other. Please refrain from any commentary until the full terms are read. I believe, truly believe that, everyone can live with the terms of this treaty. It has the sanction of the Pharaoh and of Bast, and the crown holds this treaty to be valid under the rule of law and divine authority."

George pauses a moment to let those facts seep in, especially for the rebels. "This treaty states thusly: The armed forces under General Ahmed Orabi which left the authority of the Crown, and fought against it, shall immediately disarm and disband." There is a growl from a rebel general that causes George to pause and glare at the man before Orabi whispers to him. George continues "Additionally" begins George strongly "Additionally, all members of the insurrection shall reaffirm and swear allegiance to the Pharaoh and the Crown and to the divine right of the Pharaoh to rule these lands as granted and reaffirmed by the Goddess Bast herself. For the defense of the state, and in understanding of their stated aims for insurrection." Here George pause "which as an American I can quite understand" he says with a sly wink to Drury-Lowe "A small number of these men shall be reinstated in their service to the Crown as a special garrison to serve as a Canal Security Force." Here an English general vocalized his displease, and George shot him a scathing glance, which settled him down. "No officer under General Orabi will be eligible and the men will be chosen by a designee of the Crown from the Royal Army."

"The British Army will immediately withdraw their forces from Egypt, excepting for a garrison sufficient for fleet resupply. These forces shall be restricted to the existing base in Alexandria. The base and forces shall be permitted to be used by the British Navy for a period of 10 years from the date of the treaty, any continuance shall be solely at the discretion of the Pharaoh. Additionally, the British Empire shall endorse and support a reversion of fee rates for canal usage. Henceforth ALL foreign vessels shall pay the full fare required to utilize the canal, saving those of the British Navy, and then only for the period of the lease of the Alexandria base. Additionally, the British Empire shall endorse and support the restoration of the original terms of the canal in so far as ownership of the canal will return to Egypt. Restoration of the original fee rate WITHOUT discount will enable the Crown to pay back the loans upon the canal in a timely manner without usurious fees or attempts at transnational economic annexation."

George pauses and takes a drink of water. "Gentlemen, this treaty does not provide everything to everyone, but it is the best of all possible outcomes, ensuring autonomy, peace and prosperity for all involved" finishes George. "Please take a moment to read over the details" says George as copies are handed out.

OOC: I don;t think I left anything major out, and if I did it was inadvertent and Jon's fault , not George's

 

[Queenie]

The first two food transactions go rather quickly. They then find themselves in a canvas-awning style tent attached to a building where a tall thin Egyptian man with a full head of dark hair and a long thing goatee is approached by Ela. She introduces Ruby to him saying, "This is Jabak, the man who I spoke to you about. Jabak, this is Ruby west, a personal friend of our new Queen."

With a dazzling smile, Ruby walked forward with her hand delicately extended. "It is a pleasure to meet you Jabak. I've been lucky enough to make many fine new trips on my visit here. What exactly do you sell here?"

 

[Silver Moon]

OOC: Work in progress, will finish tomorrow.

OOC: No rush, I have a rather busy weekend myself.

 

[orchid blossom]

"I know how you feel. For the last several years I have allowed my work to distract me from thoughts of you. Now that career is over and I am here with you. How quickly things change."

"I'm not sure you could know quite how I feel. When you left the first time, you knew about your career. I didn't. The only explanation I had was the disapproval of your family, and you hadn't told me you felt anything strong enough to defy them over it.

You spent the time apart thinking of me. Perhaps imaging or planning a way for us to meet again. I got angry, then sad, and then I let it go. I had no reason to think you would ever seek me out again. Meeting you again, and being here in Paris has explained a lot of mysteries for me."

 

[Silver Moon]

"I had no reason to think you would ever seek me out again. Meeting you again, and being here in Paris has explained a lot of mysteries for me."

He touches her hand and says, "Good, then maybe you can explain some of them to me. Abby, I want a future with you. Don't misunderstand, I am not proposing marriage. I'm certainly not ready for that sort of commitment. But I have no desire to lose you again."

 

[Silver Moon]

With a dazzling smile, Ruby walked forward with her hand delicately extended. "It is a pleasure to meet you Jabak. I've been lucky enough to make many fine new trips on my visit here. What exactly do you sell here?"

He says, "I sell primarily lamb and goat meat. But from the business side, I have others to raise the beasts. And what brings a beautiful woman such as you to this city on the verge of war?"

 

[Silver Moon]

OOC: OOC: I don;t think I left anything major out, and if I did it was inadvertent and Jon's fault , not George's

OOC: Now you're just being silly. College professors named Jon don't make mistakes.

 

[Queenie]

He says, "I sell primarily lamb and goat meat. But from the business side, I have others to raise the beasts. And what brings a beautiful woman such as you to this city on the verge of war?"

"Yes, I imagine the raising of the animals to be less than desirable.

Actually, I was here before the fighting broke out. Poor timing for an expedition I suppose. But I have it on good authority that the fighting has stopped and peace will be agreed on soon.

I look forward to being able to explore without the threat of war," she laughed. "You have such a beautiful country and culture, I would hate to miss any of it."

 

[orchid blossom]

He touches her hand and says, "Good, then maybe you can explain some of them to me. Abby, I want a future with you. Don't misunderstand, I am not proposing marriage. I'm certainly not ready for that sort of commitment. But I have no desire to lose you again."

She sighed and smiled. "I'm not ready for marriage either. But I think I'm ready to see where you and I could go together."