“Most wars end on the negotiation table. The few which don't usually end in massacres and mass graves.” - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.

“That went remarkably well, if I do say so myself,” noted Marshal Publius after the Anduillean delegation left the chamber they borrowed for the negotiations.

The group present for those negotiations were limited to a few. Estelle was naturally present, as the current Chairwoman of Levain’s council, as were a couple of the older and more experienced councilors, as well as Miriel. Both of the Caroman Marshals were also present to represent their side, together with a couple of their senior generals and advisers.

Even Reinhardt was present, as given how the Free Lances had the right to the captives they took as per their contract, the other side would need to negotiate with them directly, or at least have Estelle negotiate for them as an intermediary.

“I dunno, kinda felt unsatisfactory to me, like punching a bale of cotton, you know?” replied Marshal Barca with a shake of her head. The Caroman Marshals – perhaps partly due to their frustration over their daughter’s injury – had played the unreasonable side during the negotiations, which in turn presented Levain as the reasonable side, which made the proposition they offered more acceptable.

At least that was how it was supposed to be. The proposition was one that the Caromans had worked out together with Levain, with defined bottom lines on what they would settle for and all that. Neither side had expected the Anduilleans to open the negotiations by offering more than what they expected, though, while only asking for their captive soldiers and being allowed to retreat back to their home unharmed.

No matter which way it was viewed from, the Anduillean offer was a generous one, and a good bit above the norm that was expected for concessions given after a lost battle, much less for a side that only lost so little in the process. Both the Levainians and the Caromans were caught off guard, and in the end, couldn’t find it in themselves to make things too difficult for the Anduilleans.

As such, they accepted the offer and shook hands with the Anduillean delegates soon after. The offer itself would not become official until it had been presented to and approved by the rest of Levain’s council the next day, but that was a done deal for the most part with the prestige Estelle currently held.

“Do we bring in the Podovnians now? We’re ahead of schedule thanks to how fast that went,” asked Publius in turn. “Your healers are still trying to fix that Marquis’s leg, aren’t they? Want to have him brought over before that’s done or going to let them deal with it properly first?”

“We are looking to end the hostilities here, Marshal, and besides, I believe we have enough of an advantage over the Marquis anyway. We should let the healers take their time and just proceed as scheduled, I think,” replied Estelle after a moment of thought. “That said, you know our situation with healers. They’d make him a bit more comfortable, at most. The injury itself will mostly have to heal naturally, unless he has better healers at home.”

Due to the civil war, skilled healers had become a rare asset in the nations formerly part of the Clangeddin Empire. Many such healers were caught up in the fighting and unfortunately lost their lives, while others escaped the carnage by leaving the territories altogether. What few remained were mostly in the employ of rich former nobles and the like, and a rather poor territory like Levain naturally had none.

Caroma was actually in little better condition when it came to healers, since the provinces they originated from were never that rich. As for Podovniy, the Marquis probably did have a better healer at his home base, assuming they had not escaped early on in the civil war or had passed on since, that was. That lack of healer was also why the Caroman Marshals were particularly troubled by their daughter’s injury.

They were all too aware that said injury could end up permanent if their healers were not up to the task.

Sadly it was a situation where neither Levain nor the Free Lances were able to help with. Their own healers were sub-par at best, the sort who could help accelerate the healing of wounds and make them less painful, but not very useful for helping to deal with serious injuries. Much less a leg that had been broken in a half-dozen places.

If there was anything about the situation that mollified the Caroman Marshals a bit, it was the fact that the Podovnian Marquis suffered from a similar injury, if not as complicated, since the man only broke his shinbones and thus was rendered unable to walk unassisted.

A few servants came and served some refreshments as the group whiled away the time, waiting for the agreed upon time to meet with the Marquis of Podovniy. It was mostly hot, sweetened tea and finger foods, as it wouldn’t do to head into a meeting drunk. An exception was clearly made for Marshal Barca, though, who poured herself tankards of strong mead from a small barrel.

It made sense, as she mostly played the part of an angry frustrated mother anyway, and smelling at least a little drunk would go a long way to further sell such a performance.

Reinhardt himself refrained from alcohol for the time being, though he did share some of his favored dried herb mix with Publius, who had taken quite a liking to it. He had also learned from the Marshal that apparently the mix was not addictive in the least for humans, so it was likely that there was something amongst the herbs that reacted addictively with Reinhardt’s physiology instead.

That was a bit of a surprise to him as the herbs were all known to be medicinal ones. Then again, different races often reacted differently to the same object, so it wasn’t that huge a surprise either.

After a while, the Marquis of Podovniy and his general was announced, and they entered the meeting room together, the Marquis leaning on his general with an arm draped around the other man’s soldier to compensate for his broken leg, which was tied to splints at the moment.