FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (68 page)

     How did all of this happen right under their noses
?
Obviously, King Patrum and his government were not vigilant enough, or perhaps they had allowed themselves to be too preoccupied with other matters. There were and still are many distractions, of course. The Serpentians, the Aridytes and the pirate raids on Southern Falls’ fishing villages, just to name a few. Then there were the passive conflicts between the government and the various organisations of Receivers, those strange people that some in the mainstream society claim to respect but in truth, all just did not understand.

     Clover opened her eyes, took another sip of her coffee and dove back into the stacks of reports on her desk. The gentle morning breeze brought a soothing feeling to her skin and alleviated some of the boredom in her mind.

     Ray had just finished the morning training session and both he and Serene stepped into Sollenthar Command. To their surprise, they found Prime Minister Cayman Trex waiting for them in the general workspace, seated on the guest sofa. His facial expression was one of strained unpleasantness. Ray and Serene greeted the prime minister. Serene complimented him on his exquisite dress sense. Ray invited him into his office. Ray offered the prime minister and Serene some tea as they sat down. Prime Minister Trex accepted the tea rather ungraciously.

     “Minvian Iddell, I am sorry for my foul mood but I understand that you had sought the king’s permission to allow the Provincial Guards to set up random road blocks, is that true
?
” asked Prime Minister Trex.

     “True _ it is of this,” replied Ray casually.

     Prime Minister Trex shook his head angrily. He gave Ray a fierce look and he was trembling with what appeared to Ray as pure rage.

     “You must
retract
your request
!
Random roadblocks would make travelling difficult and this has
severe
ramifications
to our economy. If traders
cannot move
freely within our kingdom, supplies and products
will not arrive
in time. As a result, there will be a shortage of supplies and products, and this
will
increase demand. Then prices of items
will rise
and we shall have an economic problem on our hands. Not to mention that these roadblocks will put
fear
into the population and they
will
react
by being extremely conservative. The rich will pull out their investment in businesses and consumers will reduce their expenditure and as a result, many small-time businesses
will collapse
. Traders from foreign lands
will pack up
and
leave
. These roadblocks will also give the citizens an impression that our government is unable to manage whatever crisis it is that we are facing and some of them would react by practising vigilantism, thereby
undermining
the law. You are bringing
chaos
and
ruin
to us
!
” explained the prime minister in an outraged voice.

     Ray raised a hand and signalled for the prime minister to calm down. Prime Minister Trex drew in a deep breath and regained his composure.

     “Respect _ with all due of this, prime minister, I do agree with some of your assessment of the possible implications of these random roadblocks, however, I think that you are mistaken on the others. True _ it is of this that there will be an effect on our economy, but I believe it will be minimal and as far as vigilantism is concerned, you may be fully aware of what the situation is like in the towns and cities, but not in the villages and forest pathways, where vigilantism has existed and has been depended upon since the creation of our kingdom, and is continued to be relied on to bring justice even to this day,” disagreed Ray pointedly.

     “You are crazy
!
We are a civilised culture, a society of men, not beasts
!
How can you justify vigilantism
!?
” refuted the prime minister.

     “Civilised _ you are of this only in the towns and cities, not anywhere else, prime minister; and if we do not stop the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan, even your precious towns and cities will face ruin and become uncivilised,” retorted Ray.

     Prime Minister Trex stood up in anger.

     “Crazy
!
This is crazy
!
You are crazy
!
You
fear
a trivial group of thugs and criminals. What possible harm can these simple, dumb criminals do to our society
?
” asked the prime minister in half rage, half disbelief.

     “Tracking _ Minvian Iddell has been doing of this of these assassins for 15 years and so has the military; and it was only until two weeks ago that we were able to capture some of these so called ‘
simple and dumb
’ thugs and criminals alive. Trivial _ the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan is not of this, prime minister, and neither are they harmless,” interrupted Serene.

     By this time Clover had stepped into Ray’s office, apparently alarmed by the raised voices she could hear coming from within it.

     “Crazy
!
Insecure, power-mad
crazy
people, the whole bunch of you
!
I shall do
everything
within my power and influence to
stop
this madness
!
” yelled Prime Minister Trex as he barged out of the office.

     Meanwhile, all over Free Falls random roadblocks were set up. They were set up by soldiers from the local garrisons. Every traveller was stopped and questioned. His or her particulars, such as name, place of birth, place of residence, age, gender, marital status, name and residence of siblings and distant relatives as well as other personal information, were meticulously recorded. His or her belongings were searched and searched over twice.

     Clearly the soldiers did not like to do what they had to do, but they had to do them anyway. Even clearer was the expression on the faces of the ones who were being stopped and whose conveniences and schedules were being ruined. Some of these travellers handled this inconvenience rather gracefully, offering their full co-operation while others expressed their hostile emotions rather verbally and accompanied these with insults. Then there were the rare few, who upon having sighted these roadblocks, turned and ran. A vigorous chase always ensued, though not every chase ended in success. Of course, the ones who ran and were caught always turned out to be smugglers and petty criminals and not the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan’s secret liaison agents whom they were looking for. The soldiers quietly and secretly cursed their superiors for giving them this task and cursed Minvian Ray Iddell and his Royal Elementhar Pond even more for coming up with this idea in the first place.

     The
1
st
Morning of Third Month of Dry Season
found Ray, Clover and Serene summoned to the throne room. Having passed the five pairs of guards at the throne room entrance, the three Sollenthars walked on a dark blue carpet that formed an aisle which led to a dais. On top of the dais sat King Fulmar Patrum. To his right was an empty seat meant for Queen Rose Soll Patrum while to his left was another empty seat, this one was meant for Prince Eagle Patrum. A pair of mean looking guards stood either side of the royal seats. At the side of the aisle to the king’s right sat the Provincial Guard Commanders and the Oceanic Guard Commanders, who sat behind their desks. Behind them were seated their deputies and adjutants who were also behind desks. Across the dark blue carpeted aisle, sat Prime Minister Trex, the Council of Ministers and the provincial governors; all of them behind their individual desks. Behind these civilian administrators sat their deputies and assistants, all of whom had individual desks as well.

     Stopping about 5 paces before the king at the foot of the dais, Ray, Clover and Serene bowed in salute and stood with their feet slightly apart and their hands at the back.

     “I have summoned the three of you to tell you of the decision that I have just made. I have decided that these random roadblocks are to be stopped,” said King Fulmar Patrum.

     “Roadblocks _ of these, Your Highness, they must be continued to be carried out, for we need to apply pressure against the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan and to capture their agents, who in turn could give us valuable information that we can use to destroy these murderers,” objected Ray.

     “I understand your intentions, Minvian Iddell; and your tactics are sound, but the price that is being paid is too high. There are thousands of complaints from the masses and a large number of businesses have already shut down. We did have some success in catching smugglers, but this is not the priority at the moment. I have no choice. These roadblocks are not to be set up anymore,” said the king.

     All three Sollenthars shook their head in disagreement. Prime Minister Trex was smiling like he had just won a lottery. Apparently, he found this moment pleasurable.

     “Roadblocks _ with all due respect, Your Highness, ours of these are essential to bring about the end of these assassins,” objected Clover this time.

     “A mere 1000 men are no threat to this kingdom or this government. Whatever uprising or rebellion these fools think they can establish will be quickly and effectively crushed
!
” exclaimed the king.

     “True _ of this, Your Highness, are your words, for a mere 1000 men in direct rebellion are not a threat to this kingdom, however, 1000 potential spies and traitors working in collaboration with Serpentians, Aridytes, pirates and such are a grave threat, for they will be stealing secret information from us, sabotaging us and weakening us before the onslaught of hundreds of thousands of cruel, ruthless men;
that
is the factor,” objected Serene as well.

     Prime Minister Trex stood up from his seat. He felt he had to interrupt, just in case the Sollenthars managed to change the king’s mind.

     “Your Highness, I beg you
not
to listen to these lies
!
The masses are suffering. The economy is declining. We need to end this madness now,” pleaded the prime minister.

     “Your Highness, I beg to differ. The Sollenthars have a valid point and we Provincial Guard Commanders unanimously agree with their assessment,” interjected Recavian Hammer Genox.

     “That is absolute rubbish
!
You are only saying that because they are your daughter and your niece. Your judgement is flawed
!
” objected Wealth Minister Cap Coxen.

     “Enough of this bickering
!
” commanded the king.

     All fell silent. Recavian Genox sat back down in a calm composure. The Sollenthars stood with their eyes gazing at the floor. Prime Minister Trex and Wealth Minister Coxen sat back down reluctantly, fighting their rage as they did so.

     “I have made my
final decision
and all of you
will
abide by it. The military patrols of the forest areas are to be continued. The random roadblocks are to be set up in the North-western Falls Province
only
, where the
economic
effect is
minimal
. The roadblocks in the other provinces are to
cease
immediately
!
You are all dismissed
!
” decided King Patrum.

     Everyone stood up, bowed in salute to the king, turned around and left the throne room. King Fulmar returned their bows coldly and sat down on the throne with a sullen face and ill temperament. Only the silence and emptiness of the now vacant throne room, save the guards, offered the warrior monarch some comfort and solace, but only a little.

     The excited knocks on Minvian Ray Iddell’s office door broke the silence that very evening at Sollenthar Command. Ray beckoned his excited visitors to enter. Almost immediately, Clover and Serene rushed in, breathless and unable to contain their excitement. In their hands were clutched several files from the Fallsian Military and the Agriculture Ministry.

     “Found _ we have of this of the information we seek; that approximately 20 years ago during Third Month of Wet Season, massive downpours and poor drainage caused severe flooding in the eastern parts of Southern Falls Province. Crops _ an entire harvest of these was completely destroyed; thus leaving the farmers from that region financially bankrupt. Villages _ ten of these were affected, namely Whiterapids, Greensoil, Sunbright, Farmhaven, Wheatparadise, Hopecreek, Gentlefalls, Leafdreams, Forkwater and Greenflow; and they were collectively known as The Ten Betrayed Villages,” said Clover.