The siege had broken, but the council chamber filled with argument instead of celebration. Mara placed the copied manifests on the long table and called the ward counters into the room. Talla, the baker, stood beside Ro, the ferry accountant. Each carried a slate and a list of the storehouses they could inspect.
The guildmaster took the chair at the head of the table. “Ning’s couriers brought the medicine. Now they’ll take control of the grain.”
“Where does it say that?” Mara asked.
He turned a page in the purchase agreement but did not point to a line. “There’s always a clause.”
“Then find it.”
The guildmaster looked to the councilors around the table. One shifted in his chair. Another opened the agreement and began reading. Yan sat along the side wall with his shoulder bandaged under his robe. He had already fought the siege and wanted the argument finished. Qinghe sat across from him, speaking quietly with a clinic assistant about which supplies needed drying.
The runner who had brought Ning’s reply handed the message to Mara. She read it aloud: Ning offered the signed purchase agreements and welcomed the city to choose its own auditors. The grain would be delivered at the price recorded on each order. The city could cancel the next delivery if the terms changed.
