Into The Ruins (4 page)

Fen smiled.  His mother had noticed the crystals the minute she had entered the house.  She had examined the find with a practiced eye, claiming it to be worth even more than he’d believed. “The money from the sale will allow me to expand the business like I’ve been hoping.  Thank you.”

“I found it in the woods where Tera and I like to explore a couple of moons ago,” Fen explained.  “I knew it was valuable and kept it a secret until I could free it from the rock.”  That much was true, but he suspected his mother had a suspicion about how he’d managed getting it free.

“Are there more crystals there?” Ginold asked eagerly.  “I’ll help you cut them free of the mountain.  We’ll be rich.”

“I didn’t see any others,” Fen answered truthfully.  He had checked the area closely, and if more of the precious crystals were present they were deeply embedded in the solid rock of the mountain where even his magic wouldn’t be able to recover them. He hoped to keep the place secret against the chance he learned how the miners delved an area to locate such things.  Since the crystals were not normally found around Slipi, he would probably have to wait until he graduated from the Guild with far more skill than he currently possessed, but one day he hoped he might substantially improve the family’s situation.

Fen saw his mother studying him.  Sometimes he was sure she could read his mind, and he fully expected to be quizzed on his use of magic by her privately later.  She worried he was getting ahead of himself, and the art was not without its dangers.

The matter was set aside when Olar groaned and turned to Ginold.  “Go and get my herbs if you would.”

“It’s bad?” Mara asked with concern.

“I must be getting old,” Olar complained.  “I can’t recall a little bite causing this much discomfort before.” 

“Should I send for a physiker,” she asked.  “Perhaps Ferkle was wrong about the wound.”

“No, the Army physiker had a good look.  He warned me it would be really sore tonight.  He promised it would be significantly less bothersome by tomorrow.  Let me take the herbs and then we’ll have a look at it.  If it’s not better in the morning, then we’ll see someone else.”

City of Nals

Capital of Sedfair

“The end of summer is almost here,” Yisa complained.  “There isn’t much time left.  Then you will no longer be Queen.  That’s going to change everything.”

Yisa had been a member of the privileged royal family for essentially the entirety of her thirty-five years of life.  If one were to be precise, she had been three years old when her mother was selected to be Queen, so she was a commoner for her first three years, but those passed without too much awareness on her part.  With her mother rapidly approaching her sixtieth birthday, the family’s favored position was all about to end.  Even though she had prepared for this, now that it was upon them, she was more than a little anxious about the unknown ahead.

Queen Rosul sighed and walked over to the large unshuttered window that overlooked the grounds of the castle three stories below her, and the city of Nals spread out to fill all the available space in the natural harbor below the lone small mountain where the castle was located.  Behind her, in a matching window on the far side of her quarters she knew she would be able to see the rest of the city framed by the bluish mountains in the distance.  Sedfair was a fortunate country, the plains rich in fertile growing lands as well as a multitude of mountain ranges rich in many types of timber as well as ores and coal.  Veins of Casting Crystals had been found in the northern regions and while difficult to extract, gold was not scarce.

Queen Rosul was a determined woman of moderate height, graying hair, and a slender but wiry build.  She had led Sedfair with a firm hand for more than three decades.  She had watched the city from this very perspective for most of her adult life.  The second largest city in Sedfair, Nals was already fully developed when she moved here.  Of course, certain buildings were razed and replaced with newer structures over the years, and others changed their appearance subtly over time, but from this distance, it looked almost completely unchanged.

The ocean beyond the harbor appeared smooth and calm today, with a large number of moderately sized ships at anchor in the bay.  The country had a reasonably sized fleet of ocean going vessels, mostly private.  Fishermen and merchants owned the vast majority of the ships she could see.  There was little need of a navy.  No neighbors had ever been found that one might need to protect against, and as a single united country, resources were directed toward those endeavors that made more sense.  She had commissioned a small fleet of large ships, large at least by Sedfair’s standards, for exploration purposes.  She had long believed that Sedfair couldn’t be alone in the world, but by land the boundaries were locked by the Wastelands on the west, the great ocean to the east, and immense mountains along both the north and south borders.  She had hoped the ships might sail beyond the borders and discover new lands and, perhaps other people, hopefully those with whom they could engage in friendship and trade.

The ships had failed in their intended purpose.  The ocean currents and prevailing winds had made the intended journeys impossible.  On board supplies would run short before the ship could make enough headway to pass beyond the mountains that hugged the shore and prevented any inland exploration.  Perhaps a ship using the steam power that had been developed some years before might overcome these restrictions, but it wouldn’t happen in her lifetime.  Too many were against it and claimed it too dangerous despite the assurances of her scholars that such a design was feasible.  She was certain in her heart there were others out there, and was saddened that they could not be located.  The Baldari were proof of her belief.  They came from somewhere to the south, hence their common name.  Some believed they came from the west, out in the Wastelands, but she didn’t believe that.  Whatever the case, if there was one other group, there were likely to be others.

“I know better than you what it means,” the Queen said softly, finally responding to her daughter’s concern, her eyes still focused on the scene she would soon no longer be able to see except in her memories.

The city would go on unchanged once she left.  The castle and its day to day life as well.  Many of the people who worked here would remain.  Some would find her replacement more to their liking than her.  Others would see the new Queen less desirable.  Most probably wouldn’t care, their lives and tasks only marginally affected by who led the land.  She liked to believe she’d made an impression on the lives of those who served her, but as she aged she became more cynical.  A small fraction of those who had served her would be pushed out with her.  Those were the unfortunate ones with ties too close to her.  They would have to find new positions somewhere else.  For some it would be easy.  Others would have more difficulty.  She had done what she could for them, but there was no way to know at this point how effective those efforts had been.

Had she been a good Queen?  She liked to think so.  Her reign had not been without trials.  The land had not exactly prospered, but much of that was the fault of the increasing attacks from both the Baldari and the strange beasts coming off the Wastelands far to the west.  The need to field a growing Army had taxed the treasury.  Still, even with the heavy demands of the Army, she had managed the economy and most of the populace were better off than they had been when she’d come into power.  Conditions could have been even better if all of the nobles had been honest and fair, and submitted the taxes they were honor bound to pay, rather than seek clever means of concealing their gains each season.

She would miss the castle where she had lived most of her adult life.  Her family estates, still maintained by her aging mother and one of her brothers and only visited occasionally and then briefly, were located far to the north.  They always seemed smaller than she remembered on those visits, despite the fact they were actually more extensive than those of the majority of the nobles of Sedfair.  Those holdings couldn’t compare to the stately palace that had been created for the royal family here in Nals.  First established almost a thousand years ago when the Queen of that time and her court had fled Yaul, the country’s former capital and still largest city.  Fear of a return of the plague had caused the relocation here to the north near the ocean.  It had been believed in those days that the deadly flowers did not flourish close to salt water, and that the isolation provided by the undeveloped land that would become Nals would protect them against the spreading disease should the plague reappear.  That belief had been mistaken, but the isolation had proven beneficial.  There had been limited breakouts in the decade that followed the relocation, but the Army under strict orders had dispassionately destroyed entire villages where it had broken out, and it had been contained, never to reappear again. 

A return to Yaul had never taken place.  The royal family had taken a liking to the natural beauty near the sea with its cooler climate as compared to somewhat tropical Yaul, and the castle had been started.  Over the centuries, it had been expanded and improved by the use of technology and magic.  Now it was immense, and as regal and beautiful as the finest Casters of the Guild could make it.  It was indeed a showplace for the Queen to live and greet her subjects.

Rosul turned toward her daughter.  “This transition should not be affecting you so greatly.  We have known this day was coming, and your life will be only peripherally changed by the transition.  You and your consort will continue to live here in Nals.  You have your own estates and a business that is prosperous.  I cannot see why you feel the need to stress over it.  There is no way to alter what the law has defined must happen.”

“It will not be the same afterwards.  You will be gone, and I will owe allegiance to someone from one of the other families.  I’m not sure how that will feel.”

“It will most likely depend on who is selected to replace me,” the Queen replied.  “You are mostly concerned you won’t have the ear of your Queen that you have been able to depend on all your life.”  There was also the unstated dislike that existed between some members of the Hundred Families, which could be a factor if someone from one of the families with which bad blood existed.  There were a number of those, and given the estranged nature of the Queen’s relationship with the Spellcaster’s Guild, she thought it likely someone from one of those families would probably be chosen.  Out of spite if nothing else.

Some of what Queen Rosul stated was true.  Yisa would no longer have the freedom to wander into the royal quarters anytime she wished.  She would have to petition for a meeting with the Queen or her advisors should she need to seek their approval of any matter.  The Queen had been careful not to show favoritism with her rulings, but as family there was no question Yisa had been privileged with ease of access over the years.

The Queen’s patience was somewhat thin with regards to her daughter today.  Her own situation was much more unsettled.  As the daughter to the Queen, Yisa and her sisters had known all of their lives that their day as part of the royal family would one day end.  Pampered and given the best the kingdom could provide during their younger years, they had always known they would have to plan for their own future, one that was removed from matters of state.  The law was quite explicit on the matter.  No dynasties were to ever exist in Sedfair.  Once the Queen left power, either through death or because of age, members of her family were excluded from any consideration of selection as the following leader.  For two generations, no one related to the former Queen could be chosen to rule.  That meant Yisa and her two sisters, Irili and Yadi, nor any of their children would be eligible for advancement.  They had known this all their life, and the Queen had seen to their education preparing them for a career in business or the arts where they could prosper on their own. 

In Yisa’s case, that had resulted in the creation of her shipping company, one of the largest and most successful in Sedfair, and accomplished mostly without the help of her mother.  She was wealthy beyond worry, and could easily afford any luxury she might want.  Her consort, a handsome but somewhat lazy lout in Rosul’s opinion, something she never expressed to her daughter, spent his time on the extensive lands Yisa had acquired so he could raise horses, mostly for show, but many of which were provided to the Army.  The Queen’s two other daughters also had successful businesses, but nothing that compared to the small empire Yisa had carved out for herself.  The two boys were mid level officers in the Imperial Army, one married, the other not.

“What about Kris and Uari?” Yisa asked.  “Have they made plans?”  They were Rosul’s two blood sisters.

“We have talked, of course.  Uari had stated she plans to stay here in Nals, so you will have family close.  She has made many contacts while running the treasury, and expects to do well in the private arena.  Kris wants to retire to the family estates, at least for a while.  She might elect to pursue one of several careers after she has had time to think about it without the pressures of her current position.”  Kris’s consort had passed two years earlier in a riding accident, and that had affected her greatly.  She looked older than Rosul while in fact she was almost ten years her junior.

Rosul’s siblings were subjected to some of the same restrictions as her offspring.  Once selected by the Spellcaster’s Guild as Queen, her siblings were immediately restricted from any chance at higher office in the land.  They were no longer prospects to ascend to the throne.  The highest civil post they could expect would be that of mayor in another city.  The mayor of Nals could not be related to the Queen, again a matter of law.  Should something befall the current Queen, then a new Queen, from a different family, would be selected in short order.  This could be done within a matter of weeks.  Past experience had shown this to be the case.  Until the Queen was replaced, her five Royal Advisors would see to the daily running of the kingdom.  This was tradition as well as law.  There had been several instances where the Queen had died prematurely over the past thousand years, and the law had always been followed as written.  Everyone in the country was aware of the ancient edicts, and any attempt to change them now would be met with resistance.

The intent of the laws was stability.  In the distant past there had been frequent situations where one member of the royal family would find ways to remove their ruling sibling and thereby advance themselves to a position of greater power.  Under Sedfair’s laws, such action would only result in the siblings being removed from their privileged position as part of the country’s royal family.  It became in their best interests to see to the well being of their family member so they could continue to share the benefits of recognition and position as long as their family member survived.  Most often, the Queen would appoint members of the clan to posts within her government where she felt their closeness and personal interests would benefit both her rule and the country as well. 

On a more cynical note, the arrangement also worked in the favor of the Guild, which was responsible for overseeing the selection of a new Queen when the need arose.  With no dynasty possible, the Guild had a great deal of power in its hands by the ability to influence whoever became Queen.  Most of the Hundred Families were careful in their dealings with the Guild because of this situation.  Of late, Rosul had her own opinions about the Guild and how it tried to manipulate the country’s leadership.  They were far more powerful than most realized.

The Queen’s second brother had pursued his own career in the face of tradition, and had quietly, so as not to embarrass the Crown, found satisfaction in establishing a large mining company in the far south of the country.  A woman he had selected had become his consort, rather than himself being chosen as was the more traditional approach, and while officially his wife ran the company, Rosul knew who was really the brains behind the venture.  She looked forward to being able to greet her brother once again, openly applauding his success and expertise.