Page 47 of Blood and Bone
The councilor nodded. “Yes. That’s true, but nevertheless, it is a fact. When Invictus learned of our deposit, the mega-lizards came.” He addressed them all as if he were the authority as Blackwood slid just a bit lower in his chair. Ari observed that this councilor hadn’t contradicted him.Hmm.Maybe, Blackwood wasn’t the councilor they should be directing their comments to at all. Judging by his looks, this man wasn’t an elder to Blackwood. Ari decided that perhaps age wasn’t the only criteria as to status among Joe and Alo’s tribe.
“Sorry…Councilor—”
“Edward Matus,” the older man replied.
“Perhaps Councilor Matus can fill in some blanks,” Blackwood said. “His ancestors have a long history in the Tahoe area.”
The man straightened in his chair, sitting forward as he spoke. “My people have been trading this green stone for centuries, long before this council.”
Ari was aware of the rest of the council sitting up in their chairs as they identified Blackwood growling under his breath as Matus continued speaking.
“The green stone is what accounts for the iridescence of their scales, we’re told. They ingest it in large quantities, the same as normal people would food. It’s appalling to our senses but nevertheless, vital to them.”
“So, if the tribe knew that the dragons would be back to buy more jade and had such a need for it in their diets, why didn’t Wilkins simply set a price and sell the jade?” Eoghan said, joining the conversation.
“He did set a price. It was just ridiculously high,” Joe said.
Ari looked over at Two Trees. “I don’t get it. You’re all shifters, albeit very different ones. I understand that your clans are vastly different from one another but that doesn’t mean that you still couldn’t recognize that you had a commodity that the dragons needed for their very survival. Did Colt Wilkins think that withholding food from them was the morally right thing to do?”
Blackwood shrugged. “His greed got the better of him.”
“And none of you thought that asking Wilkins to negotiate in this manner was the wrong thing to do?” Ari asked. “We’re talking about food here.” He was heartbroken every time he heard of people having food insecurity. Lots of people in the country were poor but they got by with the help of charity and the like. But setting high prices for food which couldn’t be obtained but from a few sources seemed downright cruel to him.
“I suppose he just figured that since the dragons had to have it, it would be fine to make them pay whatever he wanted,” Matus said. He looked around the table. “All of us knew that he was making a vital miscalculation and several of us pointed it out to him but his wallet was more important to him than common decency or common sense. I think he thought he was doing right by the tribe.”
“So that was four years ago and yet you think the dragons are still alive,” Eoghan said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have suggested contacting them to help out with King John’s situation. Clearly, they’ve been getting their jade from somewhere.”
“Unless they really are all dead,” Ari said.
“They aren’t,” Joe said. “They constantly fly over our lands. They’re like storm clouds which cast shadows over the land. Every time one of them flies over, we usher our children inside. They never come down and shift to men. Since the day negotiations broke off with Wilkins, we’ve had no contact. None of us understand why they continue to fly overhead.”
“They still want the jade,” Ari said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
“Surely Wilkins knew how this would go. Why didn’t he simply offer the jade in exchange for a fair price?”
“We don’t know,” Matus said.
“He never said why?” Eoghan asked, sounding as outraged as Ari and probably not so sure Matus was being completely truthful. Ari had his doubts.
The older man canted his head. “I sense that you’re skeptical about what I’m saying.”
“A little, yes,” Eoghan said.
Matus sighed. “I think Colt saw dollar signs at first,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think the danger ever crossed his mind until it was too late. When they burned the forest and then came back only to fly over, we all urged Wilkins to reach out to him.”
“Did he?” Eoghan asked.
“Several times,” Joe said. “They never returned calls or emails from the council or from me, and like I said, they continue their terror intimidation campaign from the sky to this day.”
“Well, they sound like the perfect people to ask for help,” Ari said. He glanced away from the tribal council and stared at his partner. Eoghan looked as disgusted as he felt.
When Joe and Alo stood and signaled that the meeting was nearing its conclusion, Ari and Eoghan also got up.
“We will reach out to Severin and Invictus again,” Blackwood said. “We’ll let them know the I.S.R. wants to talk with them and that we’d like to resume negotiations now that Wilkins is going to prison.”
“Do you think they’ll be interested in resuming negotiations?” Eoghan said.
“They were never easy to deal with but yes, I think their problem lay with Colt Wilkins. He might have insulted them,” Blackwood said.