Valour and Victory (44 page)

In AL 615
Elliot declared that every slave remaining in the Kingdom free and
outlawed the slave trade.

As Elliot had
predicted and to everyone’s surprise the mines and plantations
began to make much larger profits than they had when slavery was
endemic. The ex-slaves, now being paid a wage for an honest day’s
employment worked harder than ever, wanting to earn the bonuses
that the Edict of Emoluments insisted employers pay their workers
when profits reached a certain level.

This was not to
say that ‘all was a bed of roses’. These changes were not accepted
overnight. Many ex slave owners resented the emancipation and the
disruption it caused.

Elliot had to
put down a number of rebellions as disgruntled plantation and mine
owners took to arms, calling for a reversal of policies. He had to
call in the regiments to quell the most serious but eventually the
kingdom settled down and Elliot was free to promulgate the Subsidy
Decrees relating to the building of hospitals and schools.

Zilla stayed in
the background during these tumultuous years, bringing up their
family.

She and Elliot
however, did do a lot of talking and discussing about what was
happening and she gave him a lot of practical advice, which, wise
husband that he was, he heeded and acted upon. So subtle was she
that very few realised just how many of the new ideas emanated from
her.

It was Zilla
who insisted for instance that every child had the right to a basic
education and that healthcare should be free to those who were
unable to pay for it.

Whether they
knew about these activities behind the scenes or not, the people
loved her and when she died, two years after Elliot, the numbers
who came to mourn during her funeral rivalled that of Elliot’s
procession.

She is buried
beside Elliot in the royal graveyard at Fort, Zilla, the
Innkeeper’s daughter who won the heart of a Prince.

* * * * *

The Larg

After the
battles of Fort, at the ridge in Duchesne and through Brentwood,
the Larg fled back to their nadlians, desperate to find out what
had happened to those they had left behind and to pick up the
threads of their lives.

The Largan was
dead as were most of the members of the ruling pack, those who had
not died with the Largan having been killed by the Dglai or by the
blast that had destroyed the
Ammokko
.

Largdom still
existed but in a state of flux and confusion.

As AL 608
changed into AL 609, Zuvavdr, Kohortangan of the Larg army in
Duchesne, was confirmed as Largan.

Once confirmed,
he set about making peace between Largdom and elsewhere.

He was aided in
this endeavour by the Lai who acted as go-betweens between him and
the rulers of the other countries.

The first to
agree to a peace with Largdom was Vadath. Zuvavdr attended the
peace conference in Vada. He was flown there by Malaku so that he
would not have to travel through Murdoch and Argyll whose
inhabitants were not so keen to accept the Larg as were the Lind
and those humans who lived with the Lind.

The first
treaty was signed and paw-marked in AL 609.

In AL 612,
perpetual peace was agreed between King Elliot of Murdoch and
Zuvavdr the Largan, the boundaries of their respective lands being
set.

In AL 614,
Argyll followed suit.

This was not to
say that the Lind and the Larg became firm friends but the Lind
were prepared to forgive and the Larg were prepared to accept this
forgiveness.

Some Larg packs
were not happy about this, yearning for the days when fighting was
at the heart of Larg culture.

Zuvavdr stamped
on those who thought this with heavy paw and forced them to accept
the new state of affairs.

He would not
have been able to do this without the help of the Lai. He travelled
from pack to pack, teaching and informing their members that this
was the way the future was to be. They all listened and acquiesced.
They could do little else because travelling with Zuvavdr were a
group of Lai who either stood behind him looking stern as he talked
or flew above belching flame.

Even the most
reluctant Larg did not dare do more than voice unease and a longing
for the old ways.

The Lai were
never far away, especially during the early years. They maintained
a permanent presence in the nadlians of the Larg, making sure that
words of peace were spoken and not incitements to war.

As the
generation who had fought in the war grew old and died, their
descendants began to believe that dominance was no longer the
destiny of the Larg.

The Lai began
to look forward to the day when the Lind and the Larg would once
more be as one as it had been in the old days before the earthquake
had sundered the continents.

The Lai are
long lived creatures and some of them might even see this for
themselves.

* * * * *

The Susa

Zaoaldavdr, the
Susa of the Larg Avuzdel took ship with his adult male rtathen to
Big Island to the south of Vadath. There they waited for the
arrival of the rest of his pack.

Hidden in the
mountains they had managed to avoid detection by the Dglai and had
waited out the war in safety.

A convoy of
ships was sent by Susa Julia and Alyei to pick them up and bring
them to Big Island.

The island was
stocked with herds of kura and zarova.

The outcasts of
Largdom attempted to make the island their home but they were
neither happy nor at ease. The island was wooded and as with all
Larg they disliked woods and forests.

After three
winters, they decided that enough was enough and requested
transport to the small northern continent which was the home of the
Lai and also of some of the Lind who had lived there guarding the
Lai for so long.

Another convoy
of ships was chartered and the rtath made the crossing from Big
Island to Vadath where they were made very welcome.

From there they
journeyed through the rtathlians of the Lind, welcomed by each
rtath they met along the way and who were delighted at this sign
that the Larg were here in peace.

They crossed
over the narrow natural causeway that linked the two northern
continents and entered the continent of the Lai.

There, in an
area largely devoid of trees they made their home. They were the
first of the Larg to be assimilated by the Lind.

As the
generations progressed, the descendants of Zaoaldavdr’s rtath
forgot that they had once been Larg. They became Lind, infused with
the traditions and ideals of their one-time foes.

Some of these
descendants became vadeln-paired with humans and joined the Vada,
as Jim Cranston had foretold in the beginning and as the Lai had
hoped during the long years of the sundering.

The most
notable vadeln-pairing was between a great-grandson of Zaoaldavdr
and a great-granddaughter of Danal and Grainne. Zandavei and Danala
rose to become Susa of the Vada.

* * * * *

The Lai

The Lai
continue to watch over us. There are no longer any wars between
countries and species.

Internal
disagreements are of course a different matter. The Lai do not
interfere in these disputes and there are still the pirates who
roam the seas and the predators who hunt in the more remote areas
of our planet. The Lai leave the Garda and the Vada to deal with
them on their own.

The slavers
have been finding life difficult.

With the
abolition of slavery in Murdoch they have found that their
livelihood is much reduced. What trade in human cargo there is has
gone undercover. There are still some islands, those in the western
regions of the Great Eastern Sea where slavery has not been
outlawed but there are not many.

Although the
Lai do not interfere with internal government on them or any other,
they do help the Argyllian Navy in their quest to search out and
destroy any slave galleys. The Lai believe in freedom and the idea
of any person being bought and sold offends them to anger.

Now that the
Lai are not restricted to their own continent they are often seen
flying in the skies above us. Sometimes they land, to the great
excitement of those so honoured.

They are
frequent visitors to those who they call their friends.

Vada is a
popular stopping off place as are the domtas within the rtathlians
of the Lind. It is believed that they also visit the Larg although
such visits are unconfirmed.

Some Lai visit
so frequently that their names have become well known to us, Aniku,
Velu, Haru and Malaku being the names that immediately spring to
mind. Haru especially is a well known sight at the reservoir above
Stewarton, along with some others. They visit the people who flew
with them to the southern continent and who dropped the bombas on
the Dglai during the Battle of Duchesne.

The Lai and the
Avuzdel continue to work to maintain our safety. They search the
length and breadth of our planet making sure that no other
intergalactic predators send forth more Botons to spy on us. The
Dglai may be gone but there are without doubt others out there.

They also make
sure that any weapons with large killing powers are not produced.
This is accepted by the majority of our planet’s inhabitants. Now
that we have peace we do not want it to end.

The power-core
of the WCCS
Argyll
is being located. When it is found it
will be excavated and there are plans to keep it safe on the
continent of the Lai, just in case.

As for Quia,
the Dglai and her young, they are numbered among the Lai.

It is hoped
that their offspring, as long as they mate with the pure-blood
golds will be able to fly high and over long distances but that
will not be in my lifetime, or even in those of my
great-grandchildren or their great-grandchildren. The Lai live a
long time, for many hundreds of our years, mate perhaps three times
and the Dglai are no different.

* * * * *

The
Guildmaster

Annert
continued as Guildmaster of the Technicians Guild for three more
years. He kept in touch with Haru who flew over to visit his old
friend at least once every other month.

He then
resigned as Guildmaster, packed his bags and accompanied by an
encumbered Miggi who refused to leave him, made his way to the
reservoir where Haru and Malaku were waiting.

They left for
the continent of the Lai and it was there Annert spent his
remaining years.

He founded a
settlement, the only settlement inhabited by humans on the third
continent. He named it Talastown, to commemorate the life and
bravery of his favourite and most talented journeywoman.

Professor Angus
returned to the university and continued to teach mathematics until
he too retired, not to the other continent (although Annert invited
him) but to a small house on the outskirts of Stewarton in the care
of a widowed niece whose husband had died in the war.

Jeannie and
Jhonas married and had a string of children, the eldest were twins
and were called Tala and Annert. Jhonas became a Master in the
Guild although not the Guildmaster.

* * * * *

The
Archbishop

Tom Brentwood
carried on as Archbishop Primate of Murdoch until a few months
before his death in AL 614.

He was Elliot’s
‘elder statesman’, mentor and advisor during these first
all-important years of his reign.

He was
succeeded as Archbishop Primate by Romauld Crawford, brother of
Kellen Robert Crawford of Giffnock who, before being appointed
Bishop of Hallam in AL 609 had been Chaplain to the royal family.
He died in AL 630.

The Church
remains important in the Kingdom of Murdoch, providing a continuity
of belief and behaviour within the still, often turbulent,
country.

* * * * *

The Convent

The Mother
House of the Order of Grey Nuns near Brindal in the Duchy of
Cocteau was never rebuilt.

The ruins stand
and are buffeted constantly by the wind. With each winter more
walls tumble down.

It has become a
place of pilgrimage for the most devout although the names of those
who died there have been forgotten by all but a few.

The new Mother
House is situated at Mahler, in the Duchy of North Baker.

All Mother
Abbesses in the order now change their name in religion to
Breguswið when they take office.

* * * * *

Robain

Robain, First
Duke of Hallam, remained in the Kingdom of Murdoch for the rest of
his life, dying two years after Elliot at the ripe old age of
sixty-eight.

He married
Princess Susan, sister of Elliot in AL 612. They had six children,
four boys and two girls.

Robain was born
at the end of AL 612. He married Delia of Vadath, a daughter of
Grainne and Danal. Robain the younger never became Duke of Hallam,
deciding that he wished to go and live in Vadath and abdicated his
ducal inheritance to his brother. In Vadath he lived happily with
Delia who was a vadeln of the Vada and her Lind Kolyei, a son of
Taraya and Teriyei.

Robain and
Susan’s second son Liam became the second Duke of Hallam. He
married a girl from Argyll, one Emily Durand, daughter of General
Mander Durand and a niece of Hilla Talansdochter’s great friend
Jen. They had five children, all of whom remained in Murdoch and
married into various ducal and noble families, Emily, their second
child, becoming Duchess of van Buren. Their only son Liam married
Lucy Merriman, great-niece of the Kellessa who many had thought
might have become Elliot the Twelfth’s Queen.