Read Online Blackstone (Book 2) by Honor Raconteur - Free Book Online

go.”
    In a rare gesture, he openly chuckled. “Of course,
Shiobhan-ajie. I would not let you go alone. You don’t even know where to go.”
    “Exactly,” she responded, relieved. “I’m glad you understand
that. Now, what do I need to know about this meeting with your elders?”
    “You have met two of the men you will speak with already,”
he answered calmly. “There is a council of five altogether. Sei Ja Na is the
City Librarian. Every record we have is in her care, and she will be the one to
convince to let us peruse the records.”
    From his description, Siobhan wasn’t sure if this woman
would be difficult to convince or not. “Is she hard to deal with?”
    “At times. But I think if you can convince her that we seek
knowledge not for our own ends, but to prevent great harm from befalling our
city, that she will be more amiable.” Fei gave something that might have been a
shrug. “She has denied requests in the past, but most of the time she grants
them. Hyun Woo is the city general, and one of three master strategists that we
have. He will have the most questions, I think. He is also one of the men that
I hope to bring back with us.”
    “Yes, I remember you mentioning him before. Who’s the last
person?”
    “Oh Jae Pyo. He is a…” Fei trailed off, brows furrowing
briefly. “Hmm. I don’t know the right way to translate this. Commerce Expert?
Main Merchant?”
    “Business advisor?” Markl offered, as he joined them at the
table.
    Fei gave him a thankful nod. “Probably the best way to
describe him. He will have no vested interest in our coming and will likely not
say much. It’s the other four you must convince.” As an afterthought, he added,
“Or at least that was the case when I was last home. They hold term for ten
years. Assuming that no one has resigned or died unexpectedly, that should be
the people that you will deal with.
    “Good luck,” Wolf offered to her.
    “Why am I the one doing the talking?” Siobhan whined to no
one in particular. “Markl’s the one with the silver tongue!”
    “You’re the guildmaster,” Fei disagreed, although not
unsympathetic. “They will not hear another person speak in your place.”
    Wonderful. “Markl, grab something to write with,” she
ordered. “Help me come up a speech. I refuse to go in there unprepared.”
    Markl whipped out his handy-dandy notebook and opened it to
a clean page in the very back. “Where do you want to start?”
    Rubbing at her forehead with her fingertips, she groaned.
“Good question. Where do we start?”
     

When a messenger came to fetch them, Siobhan still didn’t
feel at all prepared for the meeting. It wasn’t just a matter of what to say,
but how to say it. Fei had spent half their time drilling customs and such into
her head so that she didn’t embarrass herself. Apparently, he had forgotten the
more formal etiquette until this meeting was upon them.
    So typical.
    Siobhan hooked a hand into Fei’s arm and let him guide her,
burying her face in her notes. As she frantically reviewed, she prayed the
cramming would stick and she wouldn’t forget anything. She likely would, but
they knew she was foreign, and so would cut her some slack—hopefully. Fei had
assured her several times to not worry if she did miss something, but when it
was this important, his words failed to reassure.
    Because of her preoccupation, she didn’t really see much of
the scenery or take any special note of the roads they took to get to the
meeting. It wasn’t until Fei muttered to her from the side of his mouth that
she realized they’d arrived. Hastily shoving the paper into her pocket, she
looked up.
    Just how old was this building? It had a solidity to it that
made every other place she’d seen so far seem young and relatively fresh. The
timbers used were stained dark with age, fitted so tightly together that it
seemed as if it had been built without need of glue or nails. It stood a good
two stories tall, the doors to