Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Five - Negotreeations

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Five - Negotreeations

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Five - Negotreeations

It started a long time ago, Oak began.

Then he paused for entirely too long.

Um, I said.

Yes. Many years ago, when I was a sapling. The Destroyers came. They cut down our brethren. Then I learned of weapons. Now we fight back. The dryad sighed, as if that had taken a lot of him.

Oh, I said for a lack of anything else to say. We all kind of just stood there, the awkward silence partially drowned by the gurgling of the stream and birdsong from the forest.

Wisp whapped Oak. Youre being too rigid, she said before turning back to us. We lost a lot of our forest. It started many years ago, and the elders thought it would stop, because it had before. Sometimes people took some trees, but they only took so many. Now they kill more and more trees, without stopping. The elders didnt want to do anything, not even when Oak wanted to try. So he did, and now the cutting has stopped.

I didnt know how to feel, exactly. That was a bit strange, really, usually I didnt have any difficulty feeling things. But in this case, should I be sad that the dryads home was being cut apart, or happy that they stopped it?

I decided on happy, on account that being happy for a friends success was never the wrong move.

Good work! I said as I hugged Oak as tight as I could.

Thank you, Oak said.

So what are you doing with this situation? Amaryllis asked. I doubt that the East Mattergrove Company will just step aside and lose one of their better sources of income.Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com

Oaks face carefully set into a very serious, and very handsome, scowl. Then we continue to fight.

Oh no, I said. Thats awful. Im sure we can figure something out.

Figure it out quickly then, Amaryllis said as she glanced to the side. The lumberjacks were all down, as were Sebastien and Geoffrey, and they were all looking our way.

Right, I said. You arranged this meeting, Oak?

It was... both arranged, he said.

I took that to mean that both sides had agreed to a ceasefire and discussion. That was probably for the best. If everyone wanted to talk things out, then the chances of a peaceful resolution being reached were pretty good. This wasnt one side forcing the other to the table.

Are we having the discussion here? I asked.

Its either here or aboard your vessel, Sebastien said as he approached. Which, frankly, would be quite annoying to climb back into after we took the effort to come down.

I laughed and nodded. Thats fair. Maybe we can bring some chairs down?

Oak stirred. I will make them. He raised a hand, and from between the rocks beneath us came little roots and branches that wove themselves together, forming first one chair, then two, then three, all of them around an open, roughly oval space.

Oak lowered his arm, and Wisp took up the slack, pushing more roots through the ground and forming a big table in the centre of the circle. It was a nice table. A bit crooked, and so low that wed risk banging our shins against it, but it was definitely a table. This is how tables work, she said with the certainty of someone that had never seen a table before.

I plopped myself down on one of the seats after tucking my skirt down. It was a bit rough, and could have used a cushion, but all in all it was certainly a chair.

Amaryllis and Awen and Bastion sat down next, then Sebastien and Geoffrey and finally Edmund, leaving a few seats empty at the far end of the table. Oak and Wisp looked a bit awkward sitting down, because that wasnt a thing trees were known for, but they managed!

Oak hadnt made enough seats for everyone, but the lumberjacks didnt seem keen on sitting down anyway. They instead moved over a ways and stood around, talking in low voices and staring off into the woods.

No one said anything for a bit, so I decided to kick things off. Alright, from what I understood, you guys both want the same thing, and of course, you cant both have it. On Oak and the dryads side, you want the forest to be left alone. And on the side of the East Mattergrove Company wants the forest to chop it down.

We wish to exploit the land that we have rights to, Geoffrey said. I have a copy of the deed, signed by the previous monarch himself, as proof.

We could help regrow some trees too, Wisp said. Even if that means being cut again and again. We could help them grow with more branches for cutting.

That would seriously cut into our margins, Sebastien said.

How would those margins react if the Dryads continue to fight you and you begin to lose men? Amaryllis asked. Or do you not care enough about them for it to matter?

The lumberjacks were looking at the company representatives now, who both shifted on their seats. Well, the shareholders wont like it, Sebastien said.

You could just tell us who those are, Edmund said. Im sure we could explain things.

So! I said to try and clear the air. It was too nice a day to be bogged down by bad feelings. We have three solutions. The dryad could make some wood, maybe they could even directly make some furniture and planks and the like. They can also show you to some trees that can be cut down here and there. And finally, they can help regrow some of the cut down forest with trees that are shaped to be better for you guys, I said. And in exchange... well, I guess youd have to pay the dryads a bit, and youd need to cut down fewer trees.

Geoffrey harrumphed. None of that would keep our production as high, and we still own the rights over this land, he said.

I frowned for a bit. They did, kinda, own those rights. But the legitimacy of that was very much up to debate. Which... actually gave me an idea. I smacked the table and grinned. I know! I said.

Sister Broccoli? Oak asked.

Well help you, or the elder dryad, ask for the rights over the Darkwoods, I said.

We already have those rights, Geoffrey said.

Ah, but did you ask the grenoil for them? I asked. Im sure we could help the dryad get the rights over their own lands officially recognized in Deepmarsh.

Geoffrey looked both flabbergasted and downright indignant. Oak didnt seem to get what was going on and... and Amaryllis started cackling.

You cant do that, Geoffrey said.

We can ask Booksie to help, I said. Im sure she wouldnt mind, and I bet she knows who to ask better than we do.

Amaryllis started laughing even harder, with the occasional hoot and whistle breaking out where a human might snort. Oh, oh, I bet Rhawrexdee would jump on that opportunity. A small nation right under his nesting ground. He could, he could make Booksie one of the regents.

Oh my, Awen said.

Its a solution, I said. And it wouldnt stop the dryads from working with the company.

But wed lose a lot here, Captain, Sebastein said. I thought you were here to assist us.

Um, no, Im here to make things fair. And your bottom line is the least important thing here, so its normal that its the one that should be sacrificed first to make everything okay.

I dont understand, Sister Broccoli, Oak said.

I smiled over at my tree friend. Its simple, sorta. See, the East Mattergrove Company has the rights to exploit these woods, but Mattergrove only kinda controls this area. So if you approach Deepmarsh and ask them for help, maybe through one of my friends, Booksie, then you could get them to say that you own this land.

It is ours, Oak said.

This would make it official, I said. And on top of that, you could also help the company by providing wood, like this table, and by doing the things you and Wisp mentioned. It means the company would be cutting fewer trees, and making less money, but it means less people fighting, and its a lot more fair.

Oak looked to Wisp, who seemed blissfully happy. Okay. I trust Sister Broccoli, he said. We will need to explain this to the elders.

I hopped to my feet. Then we should get to that, I said. Im sure all of this kerfuffle can be solved in a way that will make everyone happy.

But not our bottom line, Sebastien said.

A bottom line isnt someone, I said.

***