Drennik's opening offer hit the table like a siege stone.
Harven Brightforge had prepared for two weeks — twelve-hour sessions with his advisors, trade projections from the Commerce Ministry, intelligence summaries from Kael's office (sanitized, redacted, with Kael's characteristically pessimistic annotations in the margins). He'd studied Korthane's known trade practices, their tariff structures, their historical approach to smaller states. He'd memorized Thessan's previous communications and Drennik's commercial reputation.
None of it had prepared him for the Proconsul's opening offer.
