Relius looked at the vampire like a child.
- Valentine... You're a mage. And if the Night of the Moore happens again, you will die. Are you afraid? - He waved his hand away from his glass, "Don't! Don't answer that. It doesn't matter. We can't change anything! From what I've heard, there's some research going on in Valeria, just like in the Empire, but it can't be of any use. If you ask me, they'd rather repeat the Night of the Moore than prevent it.
- Is that why there is no research being done on the subject in Ghania?
- Of course not. Why would we do it?
- Well, you're one of the kingdoms with descendants of the old dynasty on the throne, aren't you?
Relius stared at Valentine for a moment, then his gaze cleared.
- I keep forgetting how bad the education in the north is. No, my friend, I hasten to disappoint you! In Valeria, in Uzmer, and in us, other dynasties have been on the throne for a long time. That's not even true. In the Empire, the current dynasty has at least some kinship with the old dynasty, but so distant that you or I, too, may well pass for their representative. And in Valeria and us, there has never been a dynasty related to the old emperors. The younger brother who fled to Frez left no offspring and as his legacy, completely shaped the system that now exists in the kingdom of mages. He was obsessed with the idea of returning the mages to the power they had lost after the Night of Mur. He was a personal mage himself by the way. The middle brother who rebelled and strengthened himself in Nayru was poisoned two years later along with his entire family. He didn't live to see the kingdom triumph. Which is good, because we have no claim on the Empire.
- But they do have a claim on you.
- They'll never get Naira back. They've tried dozens of times over the centuries, and the result has always been the same.
- But this city is so huge.
- And it can't be taken! Even betrayal won't help! And that's not to mention that both elves and dwarves have a vested interest in us remaining an independent kingdom and never returning to the Empire. After all, some old treaties between our races are still in effect and they are inviolable. But there is a catch - all treaties are tied to place and form. Nayru and the Empire. And as long as they are different things, the treaties are kind of unenforceable, but once Nayru and the Empire become one again, both dwarves and elves will have to fulfill a whole bunch of agreements that they don't pay attention to now.
- It's like an embassy of dwarves to Nayru?
- That's right! That treaty is only tied to this city. The clans are obligated to have representatives here, and they've honored that treaty for over a thousand years. Though, of course, they'd love to give it up. Dwarves can't stand outsiders.
- What does this contract require the humans to do? The dwarves agree to have permanent representatives in Nayru, and we do?
- Oh, you're very good at looking at the root of things. Even your terrible northern education hasn't killed your natural intelligence. In return, the humans agree to trade with the dwarves!
- That's it?
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