The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 423: Fight for what you want (4)

Julius gritted his teeth. If not for what the king proposed, he would have no issue continuing with fighting for the truce to not be accepted and for them to imprison Annalise while she was here. "I am for the truce," he said, his chest feeling heavy as the words left his mouth.

Julius didn’t think Annalise had gotten her way yet since they still needed to discuss the terms of the truce. He was going to get what he set out for one way or the other.

"That settles it. We will move forward with the truce. Mark, you will write down what is said and then send it off to be made officially and stored in the court. We will hear what Annalise wants and she will listen to what we want. Only what is agreed upon by both sides will be placed in the official truce," Tobias said, happily moving on. "Anyone can go first."

"There is said to be great minerals said to be found on that land. A portion of it should be sent to the palace," Otto started off first.

"And what would you pay us for sending you those minerals? Don’t look so surprised to hear that I want money in exchange. My family knows how much the things on our land are worth. I am not a fool to not know because I do not decorate my body with crystals, gold, or whatever is found. Give us a price and I decide how much minerals you deserve," said Annalise. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

She was open to trading with the people here for a good price, but it would not be far less than what they could get should they trade other places. That money was needed for many things and with a new town being planned, she needed to have money to help Rafael as he couldn’t do it all alone.

Then there were supplies she needed to buy to pass around among everyone at home and if they were going to make a lot of guns to match what this kingdom had, she was going to need a lot of money since the material might not be cheap.

Annalise didn’t like the silence that followed after her asking for a price. "Surely you did not think I would foolishly give you them for free. Would you be open to giving us your minerals for free? Your precious jewels? Not the fake ones," she added as she was well aware of the trend for those who wanted to pretend.

"It would be a gift to us. An offering for the truce," Julius said, joining Otto because he wanted a few that would be sent over. Better yet, he wanted to go himself to see just how much there was so he could get more of it.

There was always an opening for him to sneak his way in and then get out with what he needed before anyone could notice. He could also get his hands on the ones sent to the palace.

Annalise looked down at the palm of her hand. "Your intentions continue to be wanting to strip our land of its resources for yourself. That is part of why we ended up in a war in the first place. Nothing has changed and I truly believe the kingdom will fall with people like this in it. I will make a small gift to the king and queen, but nothing more."

"A small gift as you said which will signify that the two lands are no longer feuding. Get the resources you desire elsewhere. I will not allow anyone to come onto our land and try to strip it of its resources. We decide who gets jewels and whatever else you are after. Those found trying to steal will be dealt with," Annalise said, hell-bent on not making any of the courtmen or their peers richer.

"Then what will you be offering us?" Saul inquired. It was inevitable that a large offering would be expected.

"Peace," Annalise answered the obvious.

"What will you be giving her as a symbol of peace, King Tobias?" Rafael asked, disliking that they had not made any effort to state what they would give her. They were terrible at hiding that they wanted what could make them richer.

"Truthfully, I didn’t think the gift I wanted to prepare for Annalise and her father would be discussed here or a gift to me and Hazel. It would only be fair that I give her some of the rare jewels from my family’s private storage. I hope you wouldn’t mind not selling them as I plan to keep whatever you give me to add to our history room," Tobias said as the jewels were too precious to be sold to just anyone.

"Your Majesty. I think we must reconsider what we offer," Julius said, against the idea because the jewels in the palace were in the Castro family for many years. Why should they pass it off to people who wouldn’t be able to protect it and would no doubt sell it off the first chance they got?

"I will promise not to sell them. We also have somewhere to remember our history so they can be placed there-"

"Are there guards?" Saul inquired, needing to know that something so rare from their side would be protected.

"There aren’t because no one has ever attempted to steal what is important to us. It is always open for anyone to have a tour. Seeing the way your eyes light up hearing this, I will add guards there and other important places. I wish for anyone from my side you have locked away to be freed unless they committed a terrible crime. Even then I would love to have them to punish them as we would," Annalise said.

Otto was happy to have this brought up. "We normally kill those who don’t answer our questions. It is a waste of time to fill our dungeons with your people so they are all gone."

Annalise bit her tongue to try to hold back what she wanted to say, but she could not. "The more you speak, the closer I am to killing you. A simple we don’t have any would have sufficed."

Annalise knew she didn’t have a right to be angry that they had killed whoever they had captured because, at home, they didn’t take prisoners. Everyone was killed where they were found, but hearing it from Otto upset her.

"How are we to be certain you won’t break this truce when you causally made a threat before the king?" Julius questioned, thrilled she ended up threatening someone like he knew she would. It only went to show that she could not hide her wild ways for long. "Your Majesty, we cannot trust that they will keep their end of the truce."

"And likewise, I cannot trust that your side will not break the truce," Annalise argued. She wanted to take the knife Julius failed to hide and stab him with it along with Otto for always making it seem like only her side would be the one to cause problems.

Tobias looked down at the table at Hazel, quietly having a conversation with her without speaking out loud. "Then a marriage would be the best option to assure everyone the truce will remain. Uniting the two sides through marriage," he suggested.