The Shadow Queen (35 page)

“A coincidence,” sneered the Master of the Merchants.

“Nay, ’tis not! We have begun restoring the lands that Gaius Prospero and his cronies took from us. We are building our living vessels once again to trade with Terah. This spring while The City and the Midlands were flooded with rains we had just enough rain to grow our grain, and the garden crops our people favor for themselves. The Coastal Kingdom is blooming and returning to its old self, for we have accepted the words this young man brought to us.”

“Who is he?” Aubin Prospero asked, thinking as he did that he had inherited quite a bit of property in the Coastal Kingdom. He now supposed it lost.

“I believe he is the Hierarch come to us as was foretold,” King Pelias said.

“Where is he now?” Jonah wanted to know.

“We do not know. He left us with his blessing, and we have not seen him since,” came the answer.

“It sounds like the same young man who came to the Midlands,” Squire Darah said slowly. “He is tall with curly black hair, and eyes as blue as the sky above our fields. He brought an end to the rains for us. He dried our fields with a wave of his hand, making them perfect for plowing. He opened the doors of our empty granaries, and with another wave of his hand bags of good planting seed appeared. He blessed it, and the green shoots already can be seen row upon row in our fields. Our orchards have flowered like trees at their peak. It is a miracle. Our people have hope again.”

“And did he suggest you return to the old ways?” Jonah asked.

“Aye, he did! And we have! We will not stray from them again,” Squire Darah said firmly.

“And do you think this young man is the Hierarch?” Prince Lothair asked.

“We do! Has he not visited your Desert Kingdom, Prince?” Squire Darah inquired. “You will be so blessed if he does!”

“We have never given up our
old
ways,” the prince answered.

“Why has the Hierarch not come to The City?” Mistress Clothilde wondered.

“The City has become a cesspit!” the Head Forester Enda said.

“Has this young man come into your province yet?” Jonah asked.

“Nay, but if he does we will welcome him!” Enda said.

“How can you go back to the old ways when you no longer can claim to have any pure bloods among the Forest families?” Master Rupert said in an almost pitying tone.

“The Hierarch will guide us,” Enda replied. “He will tell us what to do, and we will do it! I pray he comes to us soon.”

“This is all quite interesting,” Master Mikhail said quietly, “but none of it addresses our problem, or a solution to our problems. Is not that what we have come here today to do, my lords, good masters and ladies?”

“Swiftsword’s son is correct,” Maeve Scarlet spoke out. “The Hierarch is a legend, but if he isn’t we cannot wait for him to come to The City and perform his miracles. The City is the heart of Hetar, and if we cannot bring it back to its former prosperity and greatness then Hetar will fall as a kingdom.”

A murmur of assent broke out among the council.

“Then the magnates will have to open their warehouses to the people, and forgo their profit,” Jonah said. “What else is there for us to do?”

“Can the council at least promise to see that we are reimbursed for our goods eventually?” Aubin Prospero asked them.

“It is the greed of the magnates that has caused much of this in the first place,” Sir Philip Bowman said angrily. “They have put profit before the people.”

“That profit has kept you and your Knights comfortable for many years,” Cuthbert Ahasferus snapped.

“We have protected the kingdom,” Sir Philip said. “We were entitled to whatever we got, and none of us has a great deal of coin.”

“But you live quite well in your Garden District while we Mercenaries must be satisfied to live in our small hovels in The Quarter,” Burley Goodman said loudly.

“My lords, good masters and ladies,” Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, said. “We are straying once again from the problem. I am certain that the council can offer the magnates and the Merchants Guild something in return for their generosity, but the people must be fed or the populace will die. Many good people have been lost already.”

“Form a committee,” Aubin Prospero said. “The committee can decide what is fair and just. When they do we will vote upon it, and if their recommendation passes then we will open the granaries.”

“We must open them before then,” Mikhail said quietly. “You know as well as I do that a committee will go on and on for weeks until all parties are satisfied. We cannot let our folk starve while we talk. If we can at least agree that the magnates and the Merchants Guild will be paid then we must feed the people today and every day after.”

“My uncle is very wise, isn’t he?” Zagiri said softly, and Alka nodded.

“But what if we do not like what the committee decides, and the council approves?” Cuthbert Ahasferus wanted to know. “We must not be cheated!”

“If you wait any longer,” Prince Lothair remarked dryly, “it will be a moot point, for there will be no mouths to feed at all, and you will get nothing for your trouble.”

“The prince is right,” Master Rupert said. “Let us vote now!”

“Very well,” the Lord High Ruler said. “All in favor of opening the granaries today raise your hands.” The hands went up, and Jonah saw all but the two agents from the Merchants Guild in favor. “The motion is passed. All in favor of forming a committee to decide what will be paid the magnates and merchants raise your hand.” All the hands were raised. “The motion is passed,” Jonah said again. “If there is nothing further to discuss, my lords, good masters and ladies, we will adjourn this meeting.”

“Wait!” Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, said. “We must pass a motion that those who attempt to profit from the grain to be given the populace will be punished. Would Sir Philip and Sir Anatol like to suggest a punishment?”

“Twenty lashes in the main public square for the first offense,” Sir Philip said. “Male or female.”

“Beheading for the second,” Sir Anatol replied. “Male or female.”

The council agreed unanimously.

“Notices will be posted to that effect,” the Lord High Ruler said. “Are we adjourned now, my lords, good masters and ladies?”

There was a murmur of assent.

“That was quite wonderful,” Zagiri said. “We have nothing like this in Terah, although I will say my mother has tried. Terahn women don’t want to be involved in the business of government. My grandmother says it is not seemly.”

“I would think the Queen of the Forest Faeries would approve considering she rules her own kingdom,” Lady Farah said.

“Nay, not her,” Zagiri said. “My father’s mother, the Lady Persis. My grandmother Ilona paid very little attention to me once it became apparent that I had no magic in me.” Zagiri laughed. “She adores my little sister, Marzina, who has much magic at her fingertips. Marzina is with her now learning as much as she can.”

“Well, I probably would like this Lady Persis,” Lady Farah said. “A woman should always know her place. You certainly do, my dear. My son is obviously very happy with you. You will give him children soon, I hope.”

“We have Egon,” Zagiri replied. “I am not ready yet to be a real mother.”

“You are almost eighteen!” Lady Farah said, shocked.

Zagiri laughed. “If my belly grew big I could not take pleasures with my husband and our sex slaves, my lady. We are considering adding a female sex slave to our household. Jonah has so much fun watching me with Doran and Casnar, and we both enjoy watching them together, but I should like to see them, and my husband, with another girl. Do you have any suggestions for us?”

Lady Farah sighed. “There is a special slave market we could visit together, I suppose, if you are determined to follow this course,” she said. “Your appetite for pleasures is amazing, my child. You may not have your mother’s magic, but you have her lust for life.”

“Let us go to your slave market this afternoon,” Zagiri said. “Poor Jonah will need to be distracted after today’s council meeting. All this talk of the Hierarch will have upset him, I am certain. Do you think such a person really exists, Farah?”

“I do not know,” Lady Farah admitted. “But whoever he is I hope he does not come into The City before we can get the populace calmed. It would only cause more troubles for my son, and the council.”

Her hopes were not to be realized because despite the council’s promise to pay the magnates for their grain, the magnates refused to open their warehouses so that the food might be distributed. Word had spread throughout The City that there would be food, and when there wasn’t, several small riots broke out, which had to be put down by the Mercenaries. Jonah was fit to be tied. He called Cuthbert Ahasferus and Aubin Prospero to him. They would not come, for they feared the wrath of the people. And then it happened as crowds gathered outside one of the largest warehouses and granaries in The City.

As the hungry citizens led by Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, demanded in the name of the council that the warehouses be opened, there was a sudden burst of bright light. And there before the warehouse stood a tall young man who thrust out his hand toward the warehouse door, which immediately burst open. The crowd surged forward, but the young man again held up his hand.

“My children, there is food for all here, and I know you are starving, but the distribution must be done in an orderly manner. Everyone will be fed, I promise you. Your own elected councilman, Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, will guide you. Do as he says, and all will be well.”

“It is the Hierarch!” a voice in the crowd cried out.

The people surged forward again, but this time it was to touch the hem of the Hierarch’s dark blue robe. Some began to weep. Others cried out for his blessing, and the Hierarch obliged them, touching their heads, clasping their hands, offering a kind and gentle word of encouragement.

Councilman Mikhail ordered the workers in the warehouse to prepare to feed the people who stood behind him. Frightened for their lives, they hesitated.

The Hierarch came forward, and spoke to them in low and soothing tones. “My children, you must feed your brothers and sisters. It is my wish you do it.”

“My lord,” the foreman of the workers said, “we do not know you, and our masters will punish us if we allow their goods to be stolen.”

“I am the Hierarch,” Cam said, “and I have come to lead Hetar back to its glory. You have strayed, my children, from the path of noble tradition. You must restore the old ways, and I will help you. Your masters will hear me, and they will follow my ways. But first we must feed the citizens of this great city. They will need their strength if we are to rebuild Hetar. Help us now, brothers, to distribute the grain.”

It was as if the foreman and the workers had been touched by magic, for, nodding, they began immediately to gather the people outside the warehouse into orderly lines, and the grain and rice began to be passed out. Hearing of this, several of the magnates came to the warehouse to protest, but the Hierarch approached them, assuring them that they would be paid for their goods.

“Did not your own council promise it?” he asked them.

“Aye, they did, but then they formed a committee to decide how much we will get,” one plump magnate said. “Do you have any idea how long it takes a council committee to make a decision? They will argue over the smallest point for weeks. It will be months, if not years, before we see a single coin.”

The Hierarch smiled. “The monies you will get from the grain in these warehouses is nothing to what you will gain if you will but listen to me. I know how difficult it has been these last years for you, but Hetar is to return to its old ways. A time when each citizen had a purpose, and a place. When all were fed well, and housed, and sickness was rare. A time when profits were as fat as a Winterfest goose. I have come to lead you back into your righteous ways. Has my coming not been foretold to you?”

“It was thought by most that the Hierarch was legend,” one of the magnates said.

“Legend begins in truth and fact. Then as the centuries pass it becomes blurred until it is believed nothing more than fantasy. But I am real, my lords. And if you will follow me we will together return Hetar to its former glory, and your vaults to their former wealth.” He smiled a brilliant smile, and to their surprise the magnates gathered at the warehouse felt their own lips turning up in an answering smile.

The distribution now under way, Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, quietly departed the warehouse, making his way to the Golden District where the Lord High Ruler lived. Easily recognized by the guards at the gates to this district, he was passed through, and made his way through the beautiful parkland whose flowering trees were now coming into bloom. There were beautiful homes scattered throughout the woodlands, and Mikhail frankly enjoyed the walk, almost feeling regret as he reached the palace, where he was admitted immediately.

Once the home of Gaius Prospero, it had been enlarged when its former owner had managed to make himself emperor of Hetar briefly. It would not have been considered a large palace in other kingdoms, but it sat upon the largest and finest piece of property in the Golden District, and commanded a fine view.

“Tell the Lord High Ruler that Councilman Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, awaits him,” Mikhail told the majordomo who had come to greet him.

“At once, my lord,” the majordomo said, bowing obsequiously. “At once!”

“Thank you,” Mikhail replied, amused. It was hardly his position on the council that gained him such courtesy. It was because he was his father’s son.

John Swiftsword held the distinction of having been the greatest swordsman in the Kingdom of Hetar. He had been the greatest Hetarian hero to fight in the battle of The City, losing his life, but helping to gain the victory. And, more infamously, he was the father of the faerie woman Lara, Domina of Terah, a legend in herself. Mikhail smiled to himself. It had been some time since he had seen his half sister. His mother was jealous of Lara, and had hidden her existence from her younger brothers for many years. But Mikhail remembered the lovely girl who had played with him, because his father had quietly seen that he remembered. And then when they were both grown they had met again, and the rapport had been immediate between them.