Sweet Dreams Ch. 04: Stories and dreams

"I will go, or better ride, to Dagrala. If they really want to become part of our kingdom, I have to see this for myself."

"But Your Majesty," Zurat said, "it is too dangerous for you to go there!"

They all looked shocked.

"I'm not asking you if I should get there, but I am telling you, that I will. I had you come here, to talk about who comes with me, and who stays."

The looked even more shocked.

"Mandrak, I want you with me. Zurat, you will send ten of your best men with me. Zivrar, I want people from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs with me, who know the south, especially the free cities."

I turned to Chrusor "Queen Larna will hold my position while I am away. You will not wait for me with the next session of the privy council or any other councils. I think we have already talked about the most important points in our last session, and the queen will know how to proceed."

The looked at each other. I took a deep breath and continued, "This will be a foretaste of my imperial journey. Dagrala always was some sort of leader for the free cities and a pain in the ass for us. If we can make them a permanent part of our kingdom, maybe we can persuade others and eliminate the dangers in the channel for our ships and people.

I want them to become a part of the kingdom, not just a half autonomous city in the empire, where we bribe them to stay friendly. This would not be so different from what we did until now."

Zivrar seemed to be the first to come to his senses, "Your Majesty, your reasoning is smart, and I too think we should use this moment of weakness. The earthquake may have been a heart crushing disaster for the free cities. Nevertheless, the free cities are a permanent danger for us when they are being fine.

Your presence would of course help, but on the other hand, you have just become king. Your presence in the capital may be more necessary than in the south."

"Thank you for your assessment. I think my government and my court officers have run this kingdom smoothly for some years without a king present," I looked at Chrusor, "And I like to think I know, how smoothly exactly." He winced for a moment. "The queen will hold my place. She is just as good in reigning as I am.

The free cities are not that far away. I won't be away for long, and it is a chance for me to demonstrate, that I am not just another fourth son of a king, who had hoped to live his life in royal luxury with his wife, courtesans, and servants.

Mandrak, since you will be coming with me, do you have to add something to our discussion?"

"Your Majesty, I am happy to come with you. Still, I am a bit afraid, I have never seen the site of an earthquake and don't know what to expect.

I am thinking about how we travel, and how we will sleep. How to keep you safe and healthy. After all, it is winter, it will be cold, even in the south and we will travel through lands where most buildings may be destroyed."

"Mandrak, you will plan what to pack, and how to take it with us. We will not take a carriage or a wagon. We will just ride, so we are faster. We will not take more with us than a horse can carry. Time is of the essence.

Zivrar, how long until we reach Dagrala?"

"Our messenger needed two days, but he did not need to reach Dagrala, because their riders met him on his way. He rode day and night and had the chance to change his horse two times in each direction.

You will need at least five days, if you are fast and I believe Dagrala will not be the only city you will visit. If you do this, I expect you to be back in one month. We will send riders after you daily to keep you informed about the kingdom and to keep the government informed about you.

We will send more messengers to the destroyed cities and offer first aid in exchange for peace and permanent help in exchange for them becoming part of the kingdom. We will tell them, that an emissary of the king will be visiting the cities to discuss the conditions for more help.

You should consider marrying one or two women from leading families of the free cities, to bind them nearer to the court."

I did not expect this. But of course, Zivrar was right. This would be the perfect diplomatic contact. And who knew, maybe there was someone just right for me and I for her.

"Please prepare everything. We will start one hour after noon. I will talk to the queen now. Please support her, as you support me. Her words are my words, and her seal is my seal."

They all left very quickly. They had to prepare many things and in just six hours we would start our journey.

I went for the Inner Palace and found Larna sitting with queen Darnela in the queen's drawing room.

"Larna, we have to talk alone."

"Yes, we very much do, and we don't have much time, since you want to leave so soon."

"News travel fast in the palace, I gather."

Darnela chuckled, "Yes, they do. When a king wants to leave the capital, it doesn't take more than half a minute to alarm the whole palace from the Children's Palace to the guest house."

Then she left the room and let me alone with Larna.

"You will be away for at least a whole month."

"Yes."

"You decided to go this morning?"

"No. I decided to go in the middle of the night. Or better, I did not decide it. I dreamt I had to go there."

"You dreamt it?"

"I told you about the dream I had, before I found my father's books. I had a similar dream tonight and after that dream I came to a conclusion. I must see the destruction for myself. Otherwise, I will never be trustworthy to those, who suffer now.

I must give them more than goods, food, clothes, and a shelter until we can rebuild their cities. I have to see the destroyed cities and villages, wheep with them for their dead and live with the survivors, at least for some time."

She sat quietly and slowly her icy expression softened.

"I cannot argue with anything you just said. It sounds perfectly right to me, and would I still be in the west, I would be happy to see the king visiting our homes after such a catastrophe. But you could at least have warned me this morning."

"You were sound asleep at six in the morning. I did not want to wake you."

"You did not want to argue with me in the morning. I would have let you go, but I would not have let you so easy off the hook as your improvised morning council."

"I am sorry, my queen. I will never decide something like this in such a fashion again." And I kissed her on her forehead.

"Good! And now, let's talk about what I have to do, while you are away."

We discussed her duties and what had to be done in the next fifty days, especially the next steps for my marriage with Salira and Wazanna. Larna would take care of everything and would even talk with them first before I came back from the south.

I also told her, that Zavrir, Chief Minister for Foreign Affairs, suggested to marry a young woman from one of the families of the free cities, to bind them to the court.

"This is to be taken seriously, Shathor. Choosing a wife in the middle of disaster can be a disaster."

"It could, but it could also end as something very positive. I will not rush anything, but I will be open for the possibility."

We talked some more about the upcoming council sessions and what to expect from them, and then we walked to the state bedroom, where I wanted to say my proper goodbye to her.

"Maybe I should take one of my father's books with me. One of them is about his travels. There could be some wisdom in it."

I decided to take part five of my father's stories with me.

"It is not the first time I have to say farewell to you for a month or more. But it is the first time we have to do this as king and queen."

"Larna, I love you, and I always will. And I know that you will keep everything going here. Maybe Darnela can stay in the Inner Palace a little longer."

"I will find my ways and I will await your return every day."

I kissed her and held her for a few minutes.

"May the goddess of the living and the god of travel be with you on your way to the south. Be safe and come back in one piece."

"I will."

So, I departed from the Inner Palace with a book in my hand and my soul longing for my return even before I had left.

At noon I was having lunch with my riding party in the small enfilade. Our things were packed in the next room. I gave Mandrak my book to put it in my luggage.

At the table the military commander of our party, Ladar Sutaro sat to my right and Tangara Hutar, leader of the division "The Channel and the Free Cities" from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs sat to my left. She had three of her people come with her. With ten people from the military, four from the ministry, Mandrak and me, we would be sixteen.

Although this was not the first time a woman was part of a military mission, I was startled at first. All my previous missions led to war zones and women were still seldom seen in battle. But this was the first time I was part of a mission after a natural disaster.

We talked leisurely and enjoyed our last meal at home. When we had finished, I got up and everyone else seemed eager to set out too.

"Please, sit down. Enjoy sitting on something other than a horse for some time." This earned me some chuckle.

"Thank you for coming with me on this journey on such short notice.

We will go to the south, to the free cities to find out how bad they are shaken after the earthquake. We will find out how we can help them best and we will find out how earnest they are in wanting to become a part of the kingdom.

Tangara, you will lead the political aspect of this journey. I am as much on your team as your three colleagues. You know best about the south. You know about their history and the present situation up until the earthquake. You know who likes us and who does not.

I will not question your decisions, as long as we talk about what we are going to do. But I want you to question my decisions. After all, you are the specialist, and I am just king.

The goal is to first find out how to help them and secondly to make them a part of the kingdom.

We, as a riding party, are in no position to help them all. We will give first aid, if necessary. But those who can help them really will be on their way behind us. They will need the information we will gather and the diplomatic grounds we will flatten.

Messengers will follow us the whole time and keep us in close contact with the capital. Scouts are already on their way out to clear our route.

Ladar, you are the military commander of this operation. I was once in battle with you at Khorrham. Although I cannot say that I enjoyed being there with you, I still was happy, that you were with me.

We all, Tangara's men, Mandrak and me are under your command, when it comes to our safety while travelling. You will tell where and when we set up camp, where and when we hunt and who does keep watch.

As soon as we reach the free cities, our own safety may sometimes be in conflict with the goals of our journey. Then we will discuss if something is a risk worth taking or not.

Before we leave the city, we will stop at the temple of Lavak, the god of travellers, at the southern sea-gates. We will make an offering there. Once we have left the capital, Ladar will take over command and my name will be Haruk, duke of Lambaragh. I am the leader of this party on behalf of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. My identity is only to be revealed in special occasions after we discussed it.

Go, gather your things. We will leave the palace in fifteen minutes."

They all got up and Mandrak came to me, "Your Majesty, I have prepared Talalla, I think she is the most reliable horse for such a journey. I have packed a saddlebag and the backpack you already found in the next room. I hope it is enough for our journey. We will be on our way for quite some time."

"Thank you, Mandrak. It will suffice. It is not the first time we sleep in tents in the winter under harsh conditions for more than a week. But I had hoped it would never be necessary again."

We walked down and headed for the square courtyard behind the southern rotunda, where our horses were prepared.

I patted Talalla between the ears and then mounted. At least fifteen scouts started with us to clear our way and when possible, prepare camps. When we left the palace through main gate and the city lay before us, I looked back to the rotunda and saw Larna standing in one of the windows in the great staircase. She shouted down, "Safe travels, Haruk, Duke of Lambaragh. Write me some letters!"

"I will, my queen. I will."

Twenty minutes later we reached the temple of Lavak and after that we left the city through the southern sea-gate by the shore, where we mounted a ferry to bring us to the other side of the Ralla.

The first part of our journey would lead us around the western part of the bay. For some days we would still be in the kingdom and sleep in houses undamaged by the earthquake. However, once we left our territory the luxury of a roof would seldom be found, since most of the houses would be destroyed and we had to keep a low profile until we reached the free cities.

On the ferry, I leaned against the railing and watched the seagulls. They were flying above our heads like acrobats. They flew daring manoeuvres in the wind. Hopefully our manoeuvre was not too daring.

Tangara came and leaned to railing next to me. "Your Maj..."

"Call me Haruk!"

"I am sorry -- maybe we should have trained how to talk to you and to each other."

"We will get used to it and we still have some time, before we reach dangerous territory."

"Well then, Haruk, have you ever been on the other side of the southern border?"

"No, I only ever came as far as Jugoah. I never crossed the mountains of the Haldur. I often heard stories about the strange and wonderful things one could find in the free cities. When I was commanding in the wars, my father mostly sent me north or northeast, but seldom to the south."

"My mother was born in Dagrahir, on the other side of the channel. I don't know if anyone from my family there is still alive. When we arrive and there is time, I would like to find out about my uncles."

"I hope there is a chance to find them well. It is good to know, that you have family there."

"Are you afraid I might betray you?"

"No, not at all. After what I have heard from our messengers, the situation in the free cities is far beyond treason. It is good to know, that I have someone with me, who has family ties to these cities. I know most of my entourage has. That is, why they are coming with us in the first place."

"Why would the king want you to go to the south?" she said with a wink, "Are you not afraid? And what do you hope to gain?"

"I think those cities are as devastated as one can be. Why should they trust us, if we don't try everything we can, to help them?"

"But how do you help by being there?"

"Wherever I am, is the most important place in the whole kingdom and empire. When I stay in Rallagoah, my warm study will be the centre of our state, of everything we work for and of everything we try to accomplish. When I am in the middle of a destructed city, then maybe for our kingdom it will become the most important thing to rebuild it.

And I think there are as many prejudices in the kingdom about the southerners, as in the south about everyone from north of the Haldur. When I can survive being the south, maybe others from the kingdom, who want to help, but are afraid, can survive too."

Tangara looked out into the sea. On the horizon we could see the small island of Thuros and the bigger Ovilia.

"I think I can understand, what you want to do. And there might even be a way to do this successfully. But we will have to talk about the free cities very much, until we come there. You know much about all the kingdom's neighbours, but I am quite sure you do not know enough about the free cities, to convince them to become part of the kingdom."

"Your ancestors are from the south and you specialized in the free cities in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Do you want me to do, what I intend to do?"

"Yes. It is after all, why I work there. I always wanted to bring the kingdom and the free cities nearer together. I would never have dreamt that they could become part of Rall'enagil. I only ever hoped for peace and stable diplomatic relations."

Then our ferry reached the other side of the river. We looked back to the city one last time. The palace throned over the city and was lit by the evening sun.

Before we left the ferry, Ladar, our military commander shouted some commands, "We will ride to Vetanu, where we will stay for the night. Scouts will prepare quarters. For our party this is a two-to-three-hour ride. We will not reach Vetanu before it gets dark. Stay together and watch your horses' steps. The street can be treacherous when there is snow."

In silence we rode through the rolling landscape. Sometimes there was snow on the street, sometimes not. It was not particularly cold; the sun was shining on the clear sky. But it would freeze as soon as the sun went down.

We reached Vetanu half an hour after sundown. Our riding party was split up in different locations our scouts had acquired for us. I was to stay in a minor noble's house with Mandrak, Tangara and the men from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

We did not speak much, while we had something to eat in the small dining room. Since we planned to rise early next morning, we went to bed as soon as we finished our meal. I fell asleep when my head hit the pillow.