[Ali had assumed Concord was just sleeping through the meeting, only to be stirred every now and then. Being a light sleeper made sense, given his position as Knight Commander, so Ali figured he would have to answer 20 questions later on whatever Concord had missed. Really he had been hoping to just appeal to the king and get a 'yes' without any input from that damn unicorn, because he always had something to say about Ali's plans. But once again, Concord was proving Ali wrong by not only listening, but bringing up a valid objection to an otherwise perfect proposal.
Internally, Ali knew Concord was right. Humans did like their festivities, and anyone who had to work would need an incentive to do so. Ali, who did not car much for festivities in the first place, had assumed like-minded individuals wouldn't mind forgoing time off on the day of festivities in favor of extra approved time off later for their own personal travels. It was far cheaper to reorganize guard rotations than it was to pay more for labor. But what if there weren't enough volunteers? Ali didn't know the guards well enough to know exactly how many would favor special time off later instead of time off for the festival. And while he could just ask Concord directly about that, his pride was telling him 'fuck no'. Which meant he took the most flippant option in explaining his thoughts there.]
Not everyone is as interested in the festival as others are. An offer of extra time off at a later date on top of normal pay should be adequate, if there are enough guards who would take that offer.
[Extra pay was still an option, but Ali was always reluctant to give up even one copper coin more than needed. The treasury technically belonged to the kingdom, but Ali still saw it as his hoard. And dragons were, of course, very protective of their hoard. It meant that the kingdom would always have a full treasury, but it also meant that getting extra funding for anything was an absolute headache.]
no subject
Internally, Ali knew Concord was right. Humans did like their festivities, and anyone who had to work would need an incentive to do so. Ali, who did not car much for festivities in the first place, had assumed like-minded individuals wouldn't mind forgoing time off on the day of festivities in favor of extra approved time off later for their own personal travels. It was far cheaper to reorganize guard rotations than it was to pay more for labor. But what if there weren't enough volunteers? Ali didn't know the guards well enough to know exactly how many would favor special time off later instead of time off for the festival. And while he could just ask Concord directly about that, his pride was telling him 'fuck no'. Which meant he took the most flippant option in explaining his thoughts there.]
Not everyone is as interested in the festival as others are. An offer of extra time off at a later date on top of normal pay should be adequate, if there are enough guards who would take that offer.
[Extra pay was still an option, but Ali was always reluctant to give up even one copper coin more than needed. The treasury technically belonged to the kingdom, but Ali still saw it as his hoard. And dragons were, of course, very protective of their hoard. It meant that the kingdom would always have a full treasury, but it also meant that getting extra funding for anything was an absolute headache.]