Henrietta had to admit that the Lijiangian Lord had done his research. CETO was a project dear to King David's heart and tying the return of the art-work to it was clearly designed to try and sway the monarch. She thought for a moment or two, "I will suggest to His Majesty that he accepts the offer, however in the end the art works are his and therefore any decision beyond what we had agreed prior to your arrival is something he will need to consider. Please give me a few minutes to go and make a phone call." She excused herself and phoned the King as they'd discussed.
"How's it going?" the King asked as he answered.
"Fine, as suspected some are clearly from Lijiang and Jocelyn is preparing those for transport, there are however several pieces that are disputed and as expected they want them." They had discussed this issue and David had been wary of perhaps the Lijiang delegation chancing their arm at getting the whole haul but having been reassured that it was just 23. "They have a rather unique solution we didn't count on." She outlined the proposal and could tell from the silence on the other end there was a rather surprised King too.
"Henrietta can you let them know I'm considering the matter seriously. Take them for lunch at Zac Braithwaite's place." Zac Braithwaite was a well known Morelander chef, famed for his TV Shows of farm to fork cooking and his restaurant was a favourite of the King. "I'll have an answer for them by time you have desert."
"I'll not turn a chocolate cheesecake down" Henrietta replied, "I'll speak to you soon Your Majesty." She put her phone away and returned to see Guangtai and the others. "Lord Guantai His Majesty is considering your offer and has instructed me to take us all for lunch while he makes his mind up. If you'd care to follow me." They made their way to the rear of the gallery where Henrietta had a car waiting. The trip to the restaurant was a short one and having had an aide ring ahead the chef was waiting in person in his whites as they arrived.
"Prime Minister" he extended a hand to Henrietta, "Your Grace" he bowed to the guest from Lijiang. "I'm excited to showcase my food for you. Please come inside" He held the door open to allow them to enter and a young smartly dressed girl in white shirt with a red tie escorted them towards the rear of the restaurant and into a private room which had a large window looking directly into a well ordered kitchen. "Today we have for you some salmon and eggs, then a game pie which sadly we've had to change slightly from a traditional recipe, and then because we know our Prime Minister has a sweet tooth a Chocolate Cheesecake. I hope you enjoy the food." He bowed and left only to reappear seconds later in the kitchen where it was clear he'd barked a series of orders at his staff who instantly began pulling pans from stacks and setting about the tasks at hand.
"Game Pie is one of our nations great traditions. We used to be a nation that hunted extensively for wild meat, however that's become more farmed these days as we try and protect the environment. We've had to reintroduce some species such as Wild Boar which has been a great success. A proper Game Pie has venison, rabbit, pheasant, pigeon and boar but sadly with the Yellow-Tongue virus that hit we've had a ban on the hunting of Deer and Boar so Zak here has switched the recipe to rabbit, pheasant, pigeon and bear." Henrietta did her best to make conversation with the guests, comparisons of cuisine, the project in Mugu for the Cultural Centre and even the rugby world cup. Braithwaite's staff served up each course in turn and ensured drinks flowed. It was when the Cheesecake was being served that an extra body entered the room.
"Lord Guangtai" King David placed the guests dish down in front of him before extending a hand. "I hope Henrietta, Jocelyn and Maddie have been taking good care of you." He walked round to Xiuli and Zenchai and introduced himself before taking a seat at the opposite end of the table. "I wanted to come as discussions between us have gone in a direction that neither me and Henrietta anticipated, in a good way" he smiled and he politely refused a serving of the cheesecake from a young waiter. "You see I would very much be delighted to see an Ironside Gallery in Lijiang, and I'm thrilled you would even consider it. I am minded to accept your proposal however I would have two conditions. The first is that Lijiang are members of CETO. That way I can be assured of the long term safety of these art pieces. The second is that I would like something in return." The King reached into his jacket and produced a picture printed onto some paper, he unfolded it and slid it to Guangtai. "I would like to commission a traditional
Jian Sword I hope I pronounced that correctly. I would like you to find me a smith who could make one using as many traditional methods as possible, naturally I'll cover the costs, but what I would really like is that when I visit you can find someone who can give me a lesson in its use, as you know East Moreland places great value in swordsmanship and I find it interesting to discover other disciplines of swordsmanship. If you join CETO, arrange for me to buy a sword and have a sword lesson then you may take the art-works home with you in the way you outlined. Do we have an agreement."