Sweet Dreams Ch. 06: Learn How to Dream

"And after the earthquake this future lies in the past," I mumbled to myself.

I stood up and turned to the two girls. "Thank you, Imila, for your statement. I will talk to you both again after I have talked to Hamur and Zultor."

Tangara and Ladar walked with me to the two boys.

Tangara asked Ladar, "What do you think about this?"

I stopped him, before he could answer, "No talking about it, until we interrogated these two."

They both kept silent immediately.

"Ladar, you will interrogate these two. Don't tell them anything the girls said."

When we were there the boys looked at us with hatred in their eyes I have seldom seen.

Ladar asked, "What was going on before?"

They both sat there and kept quiet.

"The girls told us, that it was a little celebration, that got out of hand?"

They grinned.

Zultor started, "I wouldn't say that it got out of hand."

Hamur told him to keep quiet.

Ladar asked again, "And what was it, that you celebrated? We heard about a great festival at Zaffa's gate?"

Zultor could not keep quiet again, "Yeahh, and all the free cities will celebrate their freedom there."

Hamur tried to kick him.

Ladar turned to Tangara and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Those two boys couldn't keep a secret if their mouths were sewn closed."

This time Hamur's patience seemed to come to an end, "Yes, but these Faya bitches can't too. They are all in on it and men are taking back what belongs to them. You and your shitty kingdom will be destroyed at Zaffa's gate."

I turned to Ladar and Tangara, "I have heard enough."

We walked back. "Now you can talk."

Ladar started, "I am sure about the boys, but I am not so sure about the girls. What if they are really in on it and the party just got out of hand."

Tangara objected, "The girls would have no reason to support these two."

"I don't know. I am not sure if any of them thinks far enough ahead to understand what is happening here. Maybe they all are just happy to find us at a disadvantage."

I asked, "Ladar, how many messengers do we still have with us now?"

"Six messengers and nine more military men."

"Good."

"Gather everyone around the fire. The two boys included."

Ten minutes later we sat in a big circle when in the east the day began to dawn.

I cleared my throat, and two soldiers made the boys keep silent. "This is an official king's council. All the rules for a king's council apply. Those who do not know the rules will be helped by those who do.

We will preside this council. At the end of the council, we will announce royal judgement over those who disturbed the peace of our camp."

Tangara and Ladar looked at me in shock. They did not expect me to blow my cover yet. Still Tieka, Imila, Zultor and Hamur did not seem to understand, what was going on.

"As it is custom for a royal council, a story of wisdom is to be told at the beginning, to set our minds in the right place and to give us understanding and patience. We choose Tagor to tell a story of wisdom."

Tagor stood up and took a place by the fire. "Your Majesty, it is a great honour for me to tell a story in such a council. Give me please a few moments to gather my thoughts."

We all kept silent for a minute. Meanwhile our "guests" from Dagrala seemed to realize what was going on.

"Your Majesty, honoured council. My story takes place in the free cities and in the kingdom:

My father was a slave. A slave is no man, he is a tool. You don't tell your hammer how you feel, and you don't ask your saw for advice. Neither do you talk to a slave like to a human being.

My mother did talk to a slave, and she found out that he was a human being. So much so, that she fell in love with him. After some time being in love, he got her pregnant. They did not know better. He was a slave since he was born, he had never learned how women got pregnant, and she was a woman in Nefatil. No one told her anything.

But my mother had learned enough to know that this was bad and that she had to get away or otherwise her family would do horrible things to her. She ran from home, from Nefatil over the mountains to Faltara, then to the Low Pass.

On the Low Pass she crossed the border and found shelter in Lavak's temple. Back then three priests were stationed there. They took my mother in for a few months. She could rest and care for her baby.

Meanwhile her father found out what had happened and sold my father to another merchant, who promised to use him as oarsman until he would die of exhaustion.

One of the priests on the Low Pass was the brother of the count of Buladri. He made the count promise that he would support my mother until she dies. He took her in, and she worked for him. He treated her like a normal human being and made no difference between her being a woman and others being men.

The priests on the Low Pass still looked out for me, even when I was not there anymore. But I visited them with my mother every year around my birthday. A few years later I came to the temple of Lavak in Gutmir as a ward and for my education. Back then I intended to become a merchant. It was the only thing my mother could think of, since she came from a family of merchants.

But I hated it, and my mother hated it. And the priests in Gutmir knew that I hated it and they soon found out why. I never wanted to walk in my mother's father's footsteps. Without knowing him, I hated this man.

But still I love them, because they trusted me and my mother, even though we were from the south, and tensions were very high back then. They collected money to buy my father free, and when the money was not enough, the count of Buladri paid for the rest.

They then asked me to stay at the temple for a few more years, but I did not need to attend to the merchants' school anymore. We tried a few things, and, in the end, I went to military school.

After my father died, I joined the military. I was in a training camp for a year. After training my superiors did not trust me enough to send me to the kingdom's southern border. And they were right. I would not have trusted myself. I would have killed every free southerner at first sight.

I was sent to the northern border, just when the king of the north decided to attack once again. I was in Khorrham when the king of the north came with his men. He thought Khorrham was an undermanned and weak outpost.

But this was just a cover. A cover made up by the man who was the third prince of Rall'enagil back then and is now king. He trusted all his men enough, that no one would talk about the true number of soldiers in Khorrham. The northerners' spies seemed to be everywhere, but his trust was never betrayed.

The king of the north attacked out front and was defeated and taken prisoner. He committed suicide in his prison. When the remaining men of the north found out about this, the dead king and his family were marked as weaklings, there was an uprising and civil war until now.

My superiors found my actions in Khorrham commendable. So, I was transferred to the ceremonial guards, where I got to know the late king and the royal family. They all trust the whole guard with their life without any question. My superior, Ladar, trusts me enough to have taken me on this journey, even though he knew about my difficult past with the south.

The king trusts me enough to ride alone with me to the Low Pass, even though he hears the story of my life for the first time now.

I learned in my life, that in the kingdom, trust most of the times cannot be earned. Trust is given freely and given back again. I trust the king. He will decide the right course of action in this council. And when he does not, he will make a better decision later, to amend what has gone wrong."

The circle kept silent for a few minutes. I was happy for this man. He seemed to always have met the right people. The kingdom was no paradise. But it could be one, if everyone acted in the right way.

"Thank you, Tagor, for your story.

We will decide upon the fate of these four young people and upon the further curse of action of this so called "royal expedition". Details of the decision are open for discussion or can be carried out according to the opinion of those responsible.

Tieka and Imila Faya are to be free of any guilt. We trust that they did not know about the alleged uprising of men in Dagrala and other cities, or that they hoped, that bringing us into the game could stop such a thing.

Hamur and Zultor Kalka are guilty of disturbing the night's rest of the whole expedition, which is a major crime in a military operation as this is. They are guilty of injuring two women in the care of the king. They are guilty of trying to rape at least one of the women, maybe both. They are guilty of falsely accusing them of being part in a conspiracy. And, we want to say this in our full capacity, they are idiots.

Were they citizens of the kingdom, which they are not, they would be executed immediately.

They are prisoners. Four men will escort them to Jugoah, where they will be kept as prisoners until we decide what to do with them. Their hands will be tied until they reach their cells. Not a moment are they to be let loose. It is the proper treatment for those who cannot be trusted at all.

They will be hungry, then they will eat from the ground. They will have to clean your behind, then they will just hold your ass into the cold water of the Jildak. They will be attacked by wild animals, then it is just not their lucky day.

Two messengers will ride to Jugoah as soon as possible. The whole garrison is to be sent southwards to Zaffa's Gate. If there really is an army, it is one without leaders, just with poorly equipped boys, who are hungry and had no dry place to sleep for days.

We will continue to Faltara. From there on we will see. Dear Tagor has told us the story of his live. He once crossed the mountains, that separated Faltara from Nefatil and avoided Zaffa's gate. Back then he was just a fluke of life in his mother's belly. Maybe he will cross these mountains again.

Since the boys have sent away all their messengers and scouts there is no one here who could act as a spy. We will find the path on our own. And thanks to you we have woken up quite early and can easily reach Faltara today.

The council is finished, the king's orders are to be executed. We will write a letter with the royal seal about the treatment Hamur and Zultor Kalka will await in Jugoah."

The whole circle got up. Ladar appointed four soldiers to escort Hamur and Zultor to Jugoah. Mandrak came with the royal seal, and we set up a latter. The messengers were already waiting for us.

When they were on their way and the escort riders for the Kalka brothers were preparing, Ladar came to me, "You really trust those two girls, even though they know who you are now?"

"Especially now I trust them. I cannot order you to trust them too, but I want you to give them a chance. They will not disappoint you."

"As you wish, and I hope you are right. But I will keep a close eye on them."

"I did not expect anything different."

A few minutes later our things were packed and with the sun rising over the horizon we were on our way due south.

As we rode downstream, the landscape became softer, and the river broadened. I decided to pick up reading in my father's book. Last I read about father's visit to Kalron. I looked up the chapter about Dagrala:

The inhabitants of Dagrala relate to their city as "she" and they call her the "beautiful", the "rich", the "great". The city is ruled by a Doge, who is elected by members of the important families in a very complicated process most of the Dagralians do not understand themselves.

Near the city is the biggest slave market in the whole continent. It is the reason for Dagrala's wealth. About one tenth of the male inhabitants are free people. The rest are slaves, servants, or foreigners without any rights.

The city itself is immensely beautiful. It is situated around a bay, a natural port with green water, clear as glass. On the opposite side of the city's centre is a big rock, called 'Ralatha's finger' with a temple on the top.

When you look under the beauty you can see that this city is a whore. You can buy anything and anyone. In fact, there is nothing you could gain without buying it. In the city's territory there are more whorehouses than schools. Even Ralatha's temple is a whorehouse, although they try to hide this from foreigners, but not very well.

The food in Dagrala is wonderful. They use the whole spectrum of spices and fruits one can find around the city and in the markets. The Dagralians are friendly as long as you can pay them. We did not have any problems here.

With time I felt uneasy. The beauty of the city could not hide the fact that the people here had very strange views about being human. I felt very alone. More so than in the other free cities.

Near Dagrala the river Zaffa flows into the channel. About a day's journey up north from Dagrala is Zaffa's Gate, where the Zaffa River flows out of the mountains in a narrow gorge. One more day and you are in Faltara, from where you can reach the Low Pass easily.

I have drawn a little map of Dagrala. The city is situated in a spectacular way. But no map can show this, you have to see it for yourself.

"I will see what is left of it," I thought to myself.

When I closed my book, I saw that Tieka was riding at my side.

"What are you reading?"

"A book about the south someone gave me. A travelogue to the free cities. But the man travelled more than thirty years ago. I am not sure how much is still true."

"The free cities did not change that much, I think. Except for the earthquake, but stories about that will have to be written first."

"I have a map of Dagrala. Could you explain some places and what happened in the earthquake?"

"Of course."

I opened the book and showed the map to her.

"That's a very accurate map. But the earthquake changed quite a few things. You see here on western side of the city is Ralatha's finger. The whole rock fell into the sea due to the earthquake. It now blocks the entrance to the port. All our ships are closed in at the port. Many people live on them now, because their houses on the eastern side of the port are destroyed. Also, most of the houses on the southern peninsula aren't any more.

Only the northern part of the city was spared in parts. But it is the poorer part.

The city hall is, no, was here, near the pier on the eastern side of the port. All houses around the pier are destroyed. Our house was here, south of the city hall, where the southern peninsula begins.

My mother and the rest of the family live in a ship now, that lays near our house in the port."

"How many people were killed during the earthquake."

"We do not know exactly. But 273 were in the city hall. Only two of them survived. After a first headcount in the morning after the quake, my mother estimated, that about four to five thousand people died. We have no idea how many slaves died and how many people died, who lived near Ralatha's finger."

"What did you do with the bodies?"

"We threw them into the channel. The sea washed them away mostly."

"Could you save food from your granaries?"

"We brought as much as we could to the ships. But many panicked and some of it got wet and we cannot use it anymore. My mother tries to control the situation, but she was only partially successful."

"Did you lose any family except your father?"

"My older brother died. And the man I was supposed to get married to, Gator Kalka. Zultor's and Hamur's older cousin. It was part of a deal about buying ships between the houses Faya and Kalka."

I paused for some time. She was from one of the most powerful families in Dagrala and still she was used as a pawn, or like goods in a trading agreement. She seemed to accept this quite easily.

"Did you like him?"

"He was big and smelled good. But I knew from others that he was very rough with whores sometimes, so I was a bit afraid of how he might act with me."

"And your mother and father?"

"Mother was busy enough taking care of herself when father was in the right mood. She may have been the wife of the Doge and carries the title Dogaressa. But that gave her no power at all in the family."

"How could she take over the city after the earthquake then?"

"She sometimes helped father with administrative matters. So, she knew exactly who could do what and where everything we needed was.

Every male, who had something to say in our city, is dead."

"Hmmm..."

"You are trying to understand how Dagrala works?"

"Yes. And it is not easy. It is very different, and many things seem cruel to me, and they possibly are. But I do not want to judge anything before I have tried to understand it."

"It is very cruel. And our men always laughed about you northerners. They thought you weak and girlish, because you let females take places in your government, you give to others out of your free will, and you do not keep slaves. On the other hand, they were always busy to fight against each other and then wondered why they were never able to overwhelm the kingdom completely or even conquer Agdulmek."

"Not for the lack of trying. But you are right. The free cities were always very good in defending themselves, but they couldn't keep a big army in order if their lives depended on it."

"Now our lives depend on it, and we cannot keep order. That is why my mother asked for your help."

"Do you know a way to Dagrala through the mountains. I really would prefer it to avoid Zaffa's Gate before our army arrives."

"Imila knows the mountains better than I do. She should take the lead after Faltara."

"Very well. We will talk about it tomorrow. I do not yet know how much time I need in the temple."

"Why do you need to visit the temple anyway?"

"I do not know exactly, but too many signs lead me there, to ignore them. And we will not lose time because of this. Our ships and the engineers will not be any faster if I am one day earlier in Dagrala."

Before noon we reached the repaired bridge over the Falir. We crossed it with our horses, but Tieka was right, I would not trust it with a wagon.

After the bridge Imila announced, "We should rest in an hour. There will be a sunny place and a barn with hay -- if the scouts did not destroy it."

My soldiers definitely would have done it, but these boys were not trained and did not think clearly. When we came to the barn, it was undisturbed. We saw horse tracks, but they went by. We assumed that they did not stop here and did not even think about destroying rations along the way.

We stopped for an hour, ate lunch and let our horses rest. Then we started again. It was still a three-hour ride to Faltara and I could feel that Talalla became tired.

"Ladar, we will have to pause for at least a day in Faltara. I think our horses have had enough."

"Yes, they are tired, as are we. I hope there is shelter for us in the town."

"Tieka, how is the situation in Faltara?"

"Most buildings are damaged, except for the temple. It stands as if nothing had ever happened. Only a few people there died. Most men were in Dagrala for the council session."

"So, it will be safe for us?"

"I am not sure, what the messengers told them. But when they want to beat you at Zaffa's gate, those who mean harm to you will wait for you there and not in Faltara."

"I hope you are right. We will see soon. Can we stay anywhere for the night?"

"There are enough buildings still intact, but food could become a problem. I think there is hay enough for the horses."