The Registry envoy came ashore without a weapon, as Muo had requested. Two guards waited at the chain line while Han brought him to the ancestral hall. The fleet remained beyond the harbor mouth, its ships spread across the main channel.
Muo sat at the head of the council table. Han stood beside him. Qinghe, Bai, Pema, and Daro took places along the wall, with several elders filling the benches. Yan stayed near the open door where he could hear the harbor bell.
The envoy placed a written offer on the table. “The Registry can restore medicine shipments, reopen the trade routes, and guarantee storm protection. In return, the patriarchs must preserve inherited contracts and return the copied registry records.”
A murmur moved through the elders. One man leaned forward. “When would the first medicine ship arrive?”
“Within two weeks, once the agreement is signed. The fleet can keep the ward supplied while your new relay remains unfinished.”
Pema looked at the paper. “The alternate ring still needs the correct glaze and a longer test. We cannot claim it will carry the harbor through a storm.”
The elder had lost part of his roof in the last storm. He looked at her and said, “My family remembers what that means. We cannot defend ourselves with a promising diagram.”
