Aren heard the bells toll nine times. Sighing, she called Marin over for the day's itinerary. A Sterlir, one Terys de Valen, would be the first -her time started in fifteen minutes- to speak. She would be followed by a fellow Sterlir, Griffin Parlos, and after his time was up, the council would break for lunch. She, of course, was going to lunch with Quill and Trici.
Zinnia, her translator, was relaxed in a corner. Aren turned to her questioning, "We've got to be up in ten minutes. Ready?"
"Yeah, I got breakfast and I'm dressed up properly. I talked to the other translators a bit ago; Pyros is the only one who knows Gilish, so he'll be the one translating for the second speaker. Quill mentioned that two of the afternoon's speakers will need to be translated for everyone", Zinnia replied, her light accent punctuating her 'T's.
"Got it. Follow my lead if you don't know what to do. The others will start lining up for their entrances rather soon", Aren said, turning to the door. She motioned for Zinnia to follow, holding the door open for her.
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"And lastly, I'll be going out to lunch, so I won't be available during the break", Quill stated, running out of breath, to Mari.
"That's the whole day's itinerary?", questioned Mari.
"That's it. Ready?"
"Yes. If you don't know what to do, just follow my lead. And remember, Quill, even if we all are on a first-name basis, there is a crowd watching", Mari said, holding the door for Quill, "I'd like you to be as formal as possible while translating."
"Got that", Quill replied, leaving the room. Mari followed, briefly speeding up to be even with him. They passed by several doors- those would be the other ambassadors' rooms- which were carved with the ornate, intricate designs of their respective country's seal. Several of the others had already begun lining up. Aren, up ahead of Mari and him, caught his eye and nodded subtly at him. He returned the gesture.
He ended up behind Dwilen in the translators' line, Mari parallel to him in the other. Liara, Eric's translator. If he remembered correctly, she had been working with a translator in Eric's retinue since before he had retired from fighting to take his role as an ambassador.
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Eric saw this all as pointless. He already knew his stance on The Evil. He had fought it, either personally or in command of others, for long enough to know they wouldn't be able to reason or deal with it. If absolute power corrupted absolutely, then so did absolute evil. They might play nice for a while, but they would turn, they would attack, and humanity wouldn't be prepared. The best-case scenario would be hundreds of thousands of deaths. Why some from more distant nations never realised that, Eric didn't know, but the idea posed a threat nonetheless.
He had already made up his mind. No matter what, he was going to vote against a treaty. The others, though, might not be so set in their stance, either way. He would have to try to target those who could have their minds changed and make absolutely sure that they would vote against a treaty.
The 15-minute bells told, snapping Eric out of his train of thought. An attendant on each side opened the doors and the group filed into the commons. Murmurs from around the room quieted. Chairs scraped, grinding against the ground, as the delegations sat down. A presenter at the head of the room began the proceedings in a doubtlessly boring statement that Eric decided to tune out. It would just be a restatement of the itinerary Liara had given him to read an hour ago. He would wait a few minutes for the speaker to begin their speech.
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Tria was snapped alert by a speaker, clad in a light grey dress, similar in tone to their own outfit, who began speaking. Even if they were tried, Tria was determined to listen. As long as the monastery got their information, it would be worth it. The speaker began, "Ladies, gentlemen, and all those in between, may I have your attention. Today the Council of World Powers' appointed representatives shall listen to the first seven speakers, from 9:15 AM to 8:30 PM, with a break from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM for lunch. Speakers shall have 75 minutes to deliver their speeches and will be allotted an additional 15 minutes to answer questions and defend their speeches. The topic of these meetings shall be the decision to- or not to- proceed with negotiations for a treaty to peacefully co-exist with the Grand Army and Armada of Demons, Hellbeasts, and Creatures of Darkness, more commonly known as The Evil.
"The representatives of the nations shall be Representative Aren de Gephyra of Arina, accompanied by her translator Zinnia de Qualan; General Eric Myros of Ferthusia", she paused before continuing, "commonly known by his epithet 'The Bloodaxe'; accompanied by his translator Liara de la Rosa; Departement Head Mari de Thern of Sterlir, accompanied by her translator Quill Pes do Fyores; Council Head Rei Wathrel of Rathia, accompanied by their translator Dwilin Sarathi; Duke Aris von Grissom of Zeryzian, accompanied by his translator Reqei Uehara; Minister Hothal Derisz of Mexai, accompanied by his translator Paula Tritalya; and lastly Representitave Pucoths Ragthdottir of Iridawal, accompanied by her translator Pyros Nike.
"By accordance of the Council of World Powers, a majority of votes- four- are required for the motions to pass. A representative may either vote 'For', 'Against', or 'Abstain', the announcer explained before pausing. Tria started scribbling notes on a pad of paper in their lap, realizing it may be a good idea. Taking a breath, she continued her statement, "The voting period shall occur no earlier than 8:30 PM on the third and final day, overmorrow. Representatives shall be given a one-hour lunch break, followed by an hour and a half of deliberation. Representatives may, should they wish, call upon a speaker to reiterate or clarify a point in their speech during said time.
"Lastly, a representative who has already cast a vote may change their vote, so long as it is within the allotted timeframe for deliberation. Should no vote be cast, they shall be automatically assigned 'Abstain'.
"With that out of the way, please give a hand to your first speaker, Speaker Terys de Valen, who hails from the nation of Sterlir.", the woman finished. She stepped to the side, allowing a shorter woman sporting cyan eyes. Tria noted that the speaker's stark white hair matched her suit.
"Speaker de Valen, you may commence your speech."
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Out of Story:
Hey y'all, I made some minor edits to Chapters 1 & 2 of the story to make it clearer where POVs change. If you noticed an isolated '.' at the end of a line break, those were replaced with a line of '-'. Nothing else has changed.
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