Free The Stone Road by G R Matthews

cannot. I regret that we cannot have peace but, if that is to be then it is to be.” Cheng sounded resigned to fate.
    “Don’t try that with me, Dishonourable Cheng,” Hsin cackled. “Such an obvious trick. Maybe Zhou here would fall for it but not I. You know I have studied the Yaart over the decades of this war. I wanted to find the weakness and now I have. Your country is doomed unless we have a treaty of peace, ratified by the emperor, only then can you be sure that we will not interfere with your re-building or your efforts to assist the victims of the disaster. The coming famine will be your end. Give me the cattle.”
    “Hsin...” Haung heard both Cheng and the young Wubei diplomat speak at the same time.
    “No. Zhou, you’ve lived a sheltered life. You haven’t lived with this war and felt its effects on the people. Your family have looked after you, bought you the training and education, the position you now hold. I had to work for it. Thirty years ago, I lived in one of those villages on the plain. A farmer, with a wife and child. And then, they came, riding behind clouds of dust and destroyed it all. I had to crawl from the wreckage and make my way to the city.”
    “I’m sorry, but,” the young diplomat began.
    “I don’t need your sorry or your pity, Zhou. I need those cattle, Cheng.” Hsin’s voice cracked on the last words.
    “Hsin, I do not have the power to release those cattle.” Cheng tried to explain over the splutterings of the Senior Diplomat of Wubei. “They were never part of my remit to negotiate. Only the duke can make such a decision.”
    “Then get him here.” Hsin’s clipped tones brought a smile to the duke’s face.
    “Now, I think,” he said to Haung and waved him forward.
    The door swung open and Haung walked into the room. All three negotiators froze in place, fingers raised in anger, mouths open, heated words on their tongues, and turned to look at the guard who had entered.
    “My Lords, the Duke of Yaart,” Haung introduced.
    The duke strode into the room and Haung watched him paint a look of shock and surprise on his face.
    “What is this?” The duke spoke calmly and again Haung felt warmth and generosity flow from the duke. He rebuilt the calm wall in his mind and the feeling washed against it like a gentle river. “Gentlemen, I thought that you had reached an agreement on peace.”
    “My Lord,” Cheng started, “we had. The agreements were all in place. All that is required is the signature of the representative of Wubei. But, I am sad to report that there is a problem.”
    “Really?” responded the duke. “Surely one that can be easily overcome. Thirty years of war is a waste of our young men’s talents and lives. We must have peace.”
    “Peace,” sneered Hsin, “you do not want peace, truly. You want time to rebuild. I know all about the disaster and coming famine. You cannot stop it, nor buy your way out of it. Give me what I want, the stone cattle who produce gold from grass, and I will guarantee food aid from Wubei and its trading partners.”
    “The traders?” the duke asked in a helpless tone and his shoulders slumped.
    “Yes, the traders. The best source of information out there. You hoped to have this done and signed before we found out. Hence, the sudden proposal of peace, the giving away of land so easily. We found out and now, I know, you need peace much more than we do.”
    The Duke moved slowly, looking years older than when he had walked in, to sit down on the cushions. The calm, warm river that had brushed against Haung’s mind turned deep and sorrowful. It tugged on the walls of his constructed dam, seducing him into drowning in its depths. He stood firm and plugged the gaps and cracks that were appearing along the protective barrier. He could see that, whatever power the duke had was working on the other three men in the room.
    “It’s true, Cheng. Not common knowledge amongst everyone at court but you’ve seen the town of