Veyr wore a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, as he sat stiffly in a high-backed chair while half a circle of union leaders spoke excitedly around him.
His gaze flickered from one face to the next, but he said little, nodding when expected, smiling when necessary, offering the occasional hum of acknowledgement when someone leaned in with a particularly enthusiastic update.
"The Blacksmith Union is 100% ready to support the Dragon's Army, Twelfth Elder. The moment they need us, my men are willing to work non-stop, day or night, to meet production quota!"
"We've already started expanding the arable land under our control," another leader chimed in, straightening his tunic. "More and more hectares are being reclaimed from the wild forests. If the weather holds and the new irrigation channels go in on time, our production numbers should rise by ten to fifteen percent next year."
