Trade Relations

It scuttled through the pipes.

Sniff sniff.
Cake.

It turned right, scampering towards the light that was seeping through the walls.

Its nose twitched even more.
Roasted sunflower seeds on baked bread.

Its tongue salivated, stomach grumbled.

Sniff sniff sniff
Milk. Cheese. Eggs.

It squeezed its head through the crack, checking for danger, confirming its target.

Voices thundered overhead.

One sentence.

Another.

Then another.

It looked at the food platter scattered all over the different tables, then back at the humans who had their mouths open, gulping at nothing but air.

None of them were eating.

So much delicious food, yet none of them touched it.

It crept forward, treading towards the leg of the object that the man was sitting on. It had to be careful, not to attract the attention of the woman standing behind him.

Closer.
Even closer.

Its ears stood. Its body froze. Its eyes slowly looked upwards, and it realised that it was in trouble.

Deep, inescapable trouble.

The woman was looking down at it, an inexplainable expression plastered all over her face.

I am going to die.

Just as it turned to escape, the woman reached for a bread roll that had been baked with sunflower seeds topped all over it. Something invisible pressed against its body. It could no longer move. She stood down and placed the bread right in front of it, before whispering,

“Take it and go, little rat.”

The pressure around it disappeared. It looked at the bread on the ground, then back at the woman who was smiling at it. It crawled forward warily, sniffing the bread, checking for poison or anything, waiting for the woman to strike.

Safe.

It bit onto the loaf and grabbed it, turning and scuttling back towards where it emerged from.

The woman looked at the rat as it disappeared, a warm, gentle smile beaming subtly on her face.

“Irene. What are you doing? Everyone’s looking at you.”

She stood up and looked at Calus who had called her, then looked back at the rest who were all staring at her with puzzled and confused eyes. Some even looked semi-irritated.

“Sorry about that,” Irene bowed apologetically. “I dropped my earring on the ground.”

“Can we continue with the session?” the Speaker asked.

“Yes. Once again, sorry for the interruption, Mr Krivas.”

The Speaker gave a small nod.

“Now then...”

He adjusted the stack of documents before him.

“The first motion.”

The room quietened, murmurs fading into nothingness as an authoritative silence overwhelmed the Assembly.

“Trade Relations. The Chair recognises Minister Roland Mercer, Minister for Foreign Affairs,” Krivas said.

A middle-aged man in a black suit rose from the Empire’s bench. He bowed towards the Emperor, before doing the same towards the Speaker. Finally, he bowed to the rest of the people in seated in the Assembly, each behind their respective faction benches.

“Your Majesty.”
Emperor Regulus (in case you forgot, full title Emperor Regulus Tiberius Constantine Valerian Augustus the Undying Light of Kandar) gave a subtle nod of acknowledgement.

“Mr Speaker.”
Krivas bowed back.

“Honourable Representatives.”
The rest of the people sat up in attention.

“It is my duty to present the annual report on the state of Kandar’s foreign commerce.”

With a wave of the minister’s hand, papers floated from the small podium before him throughout the chamber. The papers were distributed in similar fashion in a separate observation chamber, settling into Jimin’s hand. Elian grabbed one and stared at it.

The first page alone was covered with numbers that meant nothing to him.

“…”

He looked at Jimin.

“Don't worry,” Jimin whispered. “They’ll explain it.”

Elian nodded.

He looked at the screen in front of him and focused on the audio playing into his ears through the headphones. Minister Mercer was talking.

“During the previous quarter, exports increased by 6.7%. Our principal exports remain military equipment, precision machinery, medicinal compounds, and architectural alloys. Our largest trading partners continue to be Vita, Fortis, and Zylos.”