Verris began. His voice echoed in the hollow space. ‘At this stage we have negotiated for some grains and spices. We hope there will be more.’

‘A shame these gems aren't icefire, or ire ore,’ commented Stelka, turning a purple stone over in her hand. ‘The council has formed the opinion that since the sky-traders are the size of children it's only fair that they play sports against people their own size. If one of our soldiers was to knock a sky-trader down they might not want to trade with us.’

Storm leaned forward. ‘It's also been some time since many of us have played these games. You three may have a fresher memory of the rules,’ she admitted. ‘Tab, Philmon, Amelia, you're our number one team. Form a schedule to teach these sky-traders as many sports as you can come up with, and agreed rules. Be creative. The resources we can trade here may need to last us for some time.’

‘The council will be very busy at the negotiating table. Not to mention debating new trading laws,’ Drass Nibhelline added.

Tab thought Drass's debate sounded like the most boring thing in the whole world. She could have saved them a lot of time, because in the end she guessed the same people were going to get rich as they did before the Upheaval.

‘We'll want to see a revised schedule each morning and a report each evening. You can dine with us here in the palace. It's going to be a busy few days,’ Verris finished.

‘Yes, sir!’ replied Tab. Her stomach grumbled at the idea of regular meals. She wondered how many courses the councillors were used to eating.