Placing the small box of plates down, I sighed and rubbed my wrists.

Even though the box itself hadn't been too heavy, the wood it was made of was rough and had scrapped my wrists as I carried it.

I couldn't see or feel any splinters, but I knew I'd probably find some later.

“Telleya, would you help Marli and the rest gather the plates and wares? In the main dining room,” one of the head cooks asked.

I nodded, and went to find something to use to carry empty plates and cups. It didn't take long, but it did take me a little while to get into the dining room.

“If it's war... we're doomed. Even with this newfound life and wealth. It is like a frail seedling, we must give it the necessary time to grow and become strong again. Stronger than the sandstorms themselves,” Rivini said.

The dining room was one of the larger rooms of the House of Derri... but it was also one of the coldest. It was underground, and by the feel of the cold wind circulating within, had recently had cold catalyst added to it.

It felt good.

“But what are we to do? Even if this Noth trades with the other Houses... no one will believe us when we say we received less or the same as them. Our warehouses are so full, they're bursting! And we were the first to trade. No one will believe we didn't take the best for ourselves,” Jorma said.

“There's already whispers amongst the sands, that we will leave only scraps for the rest. That we of the Derri have plotted against the others,” a guardsman said.

“Ridiculous!” someone shouted.

“We'd say the same!”

“It doesn't matter! What matters is we must find a way to stop war from coming, at least to for now.”

While everyone participated in the heated debate, I quietly made my way around the room collecting the trash and used cutlery.

I had a large circular platter that I was using, so I could gather many at once, but it was a slow process. There were many tables, and all of them were full... and there was no sense of coordination or planning in their placements. Sometimes there was so little room between chairs, I had to round many tables and backtrack to get to a new one.

“Grandmother Rivini, are you sure we cannot negotiate peacefully?” one of the older women asked.

“There's little to negotiate. Unless we're willing to give up everything we worked so hard to get,” Jorma answered for her.

“I'll die amongst the sands before I let another House take our spoils!” A guard shouted, and quickly the rest of the men agreed with vigor.

The sound of them shouting, and a few banging their tables was annoying... and not just because of the noise.

Spoils? What spoils? You were given them. By a greater power.

No blood had been spilled. One couldn't even say that we had given sweat. Most of the goods had been carried here by the Linesmen themselves, not even our own people.

Passing Marli, I noticed she had paused to watch a table nearby. She had a small basket in her hands, and it was full of cloth, most likely napkins.

I said nothing to her, since I doubted anyone would notice that she wasn't actively working. Many were far too engrossed, enraged, to notice something like that.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Fight and die? We need solutions, not brazen mistakes! If we antagonize the other Houses, they'll use that as an excuse to simply come in and take our possessions!” an older man said from the center of the room.

With his words, many of the younger men quieted down and sat back down. Not because they had been chastised, but because they had been so by one of the more respectable warriors. One of the last few we of the House of Derri possessed.

“I agree with warrior Vectam. Although no man of Derri would run from a fight, there is more at stake here than our honor. We have wealth again. We have water, seeds, power. The House of Derri is once again one of the top grains of sand on the pile, and I refuse to let us fall back down to the bottom! We must secure our futures,” another elder said.

“Could we employ another House? Alone we are weak, but there are many Houses with great numbers without any wealth. We could use our wealth in such a way,” a woman suggested.

“That would work, if the Line was gone. But for as long as it is docked here, and open to trade, no House will enter servitude to another. Not with the hope of acquiring such wealth on their own within sight,” another said.

What House did they have in mind, even if they could do such a thing?

There was no House that would happily allow it. We had been brought to the brink of extinction... yet not once did a single one of them consider servitude or employment as a means of survival. They chose honor over life.

Every other House would make the same choice.

It was why there were no true alliances between Houses anymore... at least, not real ones.

“Thank you Telleya,” an older woman whispered to me as I took her empty plates away.

“If that's the case, our new wealth is meaningless then. At least for now, is it not?” someone asked.

“Not so. Once the Line leaves, which it eventually will, our wealth will make us powerful. Far more so than imagined, maybe even more than we used to be!”

Although I tried to not think of it, the thought of the other Houses all getting the same... if not more wealth, from the Line entered my mind. It was a great thought, and I feared the smile it placed upon my face.

Hopefully no one would notice.

“What if... there was a way to connect the Front-Line with us? Our House? No one could complain then, if the House of Derri did trade amongst its own people,” Jorma said.

“Customs would protect us then... No one could declare war if that were the case,” another agreed.

“Is it possible?”

Putting the next empty plate onto the platter, I carefully navigated to the next table.

“It might be. After all, he came here for us. This Noth made it clear from the beginning to all, even before we spoke to him, that he was here for our House.”

“He was indebted to our ancestor! It'd be easy to utilize that,” a guard said, proud of the thought.

An ancestor which none of you even remember by name.

Quickly hushing such a thought, lest I grew angry again, I grabbed an empty cup. It was nasty for some reason, and wet on the outside.

Great now my hand was going to be sticky.

“He may play along if we asked him... after all, even he should prefer peace. He wishes to trade as well, and no one can trade during war,” another said.

“But how? We can't just say the Front-Line is ours, if done improperly the Lord of it will exact his wrath upon us first, before the other Houses even have a chance to!” Jorma shouted.

“There is a way. A rather simple one, that even we in our destitution can utilize,” Rivini said, raising her voice.

Thanks to her long silence, her voice had easily made the room go quiet, and my heartbeat become loud.

Placing a plate onto my platter, I flinched when the clattering sound it made seemed to deafen the room.

Looking up from the platter, I froze at the sight of the many eyes upon me. Every single person was staring straight at me.

I didn’t need to look around to know they were indeed staring at me. Even those sitting near me, the ones who sat at the table I was currently cleaning, stared straight at me.

“Telleya…” I heard a tiny whisper nearby, and knew it was Marli’s.

Staring into Rivini’s eyes, I shivered as she nodded. To me, more than anyone else.

This was what she had planned...?

From the beginning...?

Not to be the wife to another House, or someone within the House of Derri... but...

No...

“A bride,” Grandmother Rivini said, smiling at me.