Wolfe looked down at the deal in front of him. "There are two ways that I can see this working. We add a clause that makes all the transfers voluntary and reciprocal, or we simply remove that paragraph altogether."
Wolfe put a heavy influence on the second part, while the Fallen Nobles were more interested in the first option.
Saint Josephine, the Continental Representative for Fearia Continent, shook her head as she read through the clause. "I don't see how they could offer a reciprocal trade of workers. What do they even have that compares to the value of a Witch for their filthy cities?"
The Fae Saint was no fan of cities on the best of days, and the cities of the Fallen were quite primitive by any standard, and often had minimally functional sanitation and water systems.
Both in Wolfe's world and in Faerie, it was virtually unheard of for even a small village not to have running water, but it was considered a luxury for most of King Petros' world, and sof the worlds under their rule were even less advanced, as they were short on artisans to create the magical devices that filled the gaps in their technology.
Expecting ssort of equal trade of knowledge and skills from them was a rather tenuous concept, and unless King Petros was going to take them from among the masters and skilled artisans in his world, there really wouldn't be a deal to be made.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe Nobles looked crestfallen at the negative attitude of the Saint, but the deal didn't specify, so it was possible that the Fallen could request Fae to fill those roles, and in an Empire of nearly exclusively humans, very few of the Fae could blend in as well as the Dwarves did.
It would not be a good situation for them, but they could be the only ones available to fill the terms of the magical contract, other than Demons, who had been at war with the Fallen Empire for generations.
"Perhaps this would have been better left for a separate deal? Ten generations of worker exchanges is a long time, when we're speaking of King Rank signatories." Wolfe offered.
That was actually the reason that Petros had wanted the clause in the Peace Treaty. So that they could be guaranteed that a misunderstanding wouldn't lead to the Witches being withdrawn from their worlds to return them to the state they were in now, after getting a sample of how much better it could be with that level of specialized magic.
It didn't take long before King Petros realized that the Fae wouldn't budge on this matter, and only a few minutes longer for everyone else to realize that the Fae could also use healing magic, so they would qualify under the Healthcare Professionals clause.
In the minds of the Fallen, the Witches were human. Requiring the transfer of large numbers of Fae to their worlds was never the intention.
Reluctantly, King Petros relented. "We can sign without that clause. The trade agreement already includes details about workers, including the right to free movement for those who have been hired in either world, so it will have to be enough."
The Fae smiled as the human King saw reason.
"Wonderful. We don't see the rest of the document becoming an issue, so once new drafts are made, we can all sign." Wolfe announced.
The scribes had seen this possibility at the very start when they were asked to make this draft version, and they already had a copy ready that didn't include the questionable clause.
"See, simple." Saint Josephine informed the room with a smile as she saw the new copy passed around.
Everyone took a moment to check it for errors or any questionable wording that might have been slipped into the deal, but there was nothing. It was just a basic peace treaty, as the first one had been.
The first two to sign the document were King Petros and Wolfe, while the others followed in alternating order. The magic of the contract pulsed, and Petros nodded toward the twenty stacks of documents.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Now we all need to put mana into it, so it takes effect on our people. It will apply evenly, no matter who adds the mana, so there is no chance of trickery after the signature. It just needs the power to activate on such a large group of people." He explained.
That made sense. The Peace Treaty would affect multiple worlds. While it didn't have a direct impact on most of them, it would restrict all those who were seen as soldiers or agents of the signatories.
The contract didn't stop petty crime, only acts of war.
Everyone in town turned to the tower as they felt the power surge in the meeting room. They all knew that something was going on, but nobody had been fully informed of what sort of deal the foreigners were here to make, so the locals just took it as the successful signing of a contract, and perhaps the creation of a magical device for the outsiders.
Then Wolfe and King Petros cout onto the walkways, with the Representatives and the Nobles behind them.
[Attention everyone. We have finished signing an agreement with the Fallen Empire's King Petros. From this point forward, we will be open to trade with their Empire, and there will be opportunities for foreign work for swho desire it.
King Petros requires numerous new healers in his cities, and we will be sending messages to every Coven in the world, on every continent, looking for those who are willing to move to work on another planet. Conditions and culture could be very different there, but we have an agreement as to pay and treatment, while the other magics of the Witches are also quite lucrative to the locals.
The Nobles laughed quietly at that. Lucrative was an understatement when the Witches could create Garden Charms. Simply casting and maintaining that spell would be enough for a Witch to live in luxury as the close advisor to a High Noble. Spreading their magic around could make them one of the wealthiest people in town, if they didn't take a salaried deal for their basic healing abilities.