Rook's proposal arrived in a thick municipal folder, complete with a foreign recognition seal and a route permit that would let the Feselian enclave trade outside the blockade. He had made it look like the answer to every shortage Serian's people had carried since the Merge.
Serian read it at the root pavilion while a small group of human coalition witnesses waited at the edge of the living floor. The root had pushed through the old concrete in pale coils, keeping its own line between the enclave and the school that Nox did not cross without permission.
"He offers a territory charter, and the trade permit could save lives before the next artillery cycle," Harlan Pike, a river-clinic witness, said.
"Read the emergency annex," Serian replied, turning the folder toward him.
