Marcellinus had about heard enough, even as Basilina wrote down each claim, counter-claim, etc. and the whole Ghantish folly. The Ghantish really annoyed him, because while he had tried to reach out to them, they had been concealing the degree of their reluctance to control their own territory and keep it from being a base of operations for every "free company" (private army) that wished to meddle in other nations' affairs. What kind of government didn't administer every square kilometer of its own land, provide infrastructure, law, order, etc. to the population there? It was beyond bewildering to him.
The cigar smoke also annoyed him, especially once Basilina had to walk out due to her asthma. He also recalled, after being distracted by the utter folly of the Ghantish/Edomite/Peregrino bickering, that he had read a file on Kalousdrian prepared for him by the Caesar, Titus Clemens, which had warned him that she had lung cancer, as well as news clippings from Nalayan press that confirmed it. Between that and Basilina's own trouble, he was furious.
"If I might interrupt for just a second, may I suggest that smoking be confined to smoke breaks in designated areas? My wife has asthma and the esteemed Arzhani Kalousdrian has lung cancer, which she is, I note, far too polite to reprimand anyone for. I do not wish to point fingers, but it is disconcerting to those with already sensitive lungs and those who happen to care for their health and welfare. I say this with no disrespect intended to the good Captain Esarhaddon, who was, I presume, unaware of these facts.
"I also intended to wait for my country's turn to speak its bit, but as I have already been forced to interject, let me note that my government still regards Peregrino as lawful Edomite soil, though we favor a peaceful solution based on a mutual understanding between what are essentially local and national governments. I say the former because the leadership of the PIF are largely drawn from the governing class and officials of the former provincial administration.
"I must admit that my government, perhaps naively, did not anticipate any conflict between the local elite and the new regime. We had never really experienced any rebellions, opposition, or the like, so why would we expect it when the Peregrinos were returned to the sovereignty of their mother country? We had actually anticipated a sense of relief to be back with the land that founded the colony, ancestrally speaking. Evidently, however, a great cultural gulf has grown and widened between them in the intervening years, one which we never quite considered.
"Still, we do not consider the hand-over wrong, because we had simply returned Edomite territory to New Edom, after having taken it by force in the past. This was part of the Treaty of Fineberg and its provisions, of which I have a copy that I am quite prepared to share with those who lack any such copy of said document. It is all quite legal and proper. We always intended to return Peregrino to New Edom, as witnessed by its name, which basically means 'foreign'. We never considered it Roman soil in the true sense, though this had tragic consequences under the now damned, deceased Emperor Clodius Sarmaticus, who allowed the land to be misused and neglected.
"No doubt, during much of this period was when the local administration became more independent, which is understandable. Yet it does not change the basic legal fact of national sovereignty and territorial integrity which make the island province Edomite soil by international law. We Romans do not dispute New Edom's claim, for we accepted it in transferring the colony. We simply urge that they and the Peregrinos alike seek a peaceful compromise, rather than insisting on the whole loaf at the cost of continued conflict," Marcellinus explained.
"I say this with great respect for New Edom, a country where I was Legate for more than two years. It is a fine country, whatever national quirks and flaws that it, like all nations, has. I won't even get into what the national vices of the Empire are. They are patently clear. At any rate, that is my government's position, per the Divine Augustus. We recognize Edomite sovereignty, but we urge peace and moderation, not war and destruction of life, liberty, and property."
