Chapter 30
I smiled at Darla. Since she had decided to take a break in training, she had been keeping me company, and I absolutely loved her being with me! She was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale time of my life.
Ok, I'm not a poet, but I am sure you can see where I am going with this.
"I tell you, it's totally uncanny. At first Trayla and Mariel would have nothing to do with each other. Then, the first time that they touched... well, it was like a static electric charge went off!
"I have been told that besides Sethlan, there are other catalysts that can open or forge connections to be formed in a person. Trayla was Mariel's catalyst. As soon as they touched, Mariel went into convulsions.
"When she came out of it, she was fully connected to her power. Now we are stuck training her. Which isn't a bad thing, really," I said to Darla.
"She seems very taken with Trayla, now," Darla observed.
I nodded. "They have been almost inseparable. I am glad she has someone to talk to. Mariel has been lonely ever since she arrived," I said.
"Where did you say you found this girl?" Darla asked me.
I told her about my trip into the city, and my hiring Trayla, and the resulting mess that had followed. Darla grinned at me. She informed me that I seemed to be living an exciting life. I nodded. It was true, after all.
I then told her about that last two weeks of trying to reorganize the tax codes, and the collection methods. I told her about the theft of a huge sum of money by the now departed 'head tax man'. He and a few others had been systematically stealing from the city... and me.
We were walking in the palace gardens which were blooming even more now that the weather was warming, and spring was in full swing. It was a glorious day, and Darla looked very appealing in a long dress of local manufacture.
"These people have a lot to learn about foundation garments," Darla said to me, noticing my admiring stare.
"Um, what do you mean?" I asked disconcerted.
"They have no idea what a bra is, and the pantaloons that go with this outfit are positively 19th century!" Darla said, laughing.
At that moment a dragon flying overhead roared. I looked up, as did Darla.
"I see you have restarted The Dragon Riders," Darla said to me.
"No. Actually, Fithian is doing it. He has forbidden me to even become involved, until I resolve the problems in the city. I told him that was practically a never-ending chore. He said: 'Ok, just resolve your tax problems and the housing situation within the city.'
"This is going to take me some time. While I have a good handle on the tax situation, every time I try to put forward a plan to solve the housing problems for the poor, I am set upon by every slum lord, half the nobility, and a bunch of 'do-gooders'," I said sourly.
Darla laughed. She had such a wonderful laugh. I reached for her hand and held it, as we walked through the gardens.
"What is Lord Fithian doing to train The Dragon Riders?" Darla asked curuously.
"He has them going after the smugglers. So far, in just the two weeks they have been doing anti-smuggling operations, the city has made over 1000 golds' worth of seized ships, cargo, and fines. Darla, a gold goes a long long way in this world.
"So does a silver, or even coppers. I am impressed with how little things actually cost here. For example, to feed, house and clothe a watchman for a month, costs just under three silvers. That does not include the watchman's pay, of course," Darla said.
"I can't believe what a gold piece can buy," I continued. "One gold can feed, house, and buy fuel for an average family of four, for almost three months, easy. Longer, if they are frugal. The average yearly income of the upper middle class here, is about 11 golds a month. Which puts them well above the local poverty line, and well into a comfortable life.
"Four gold a year can keep a man, his wife and two kids in food and housing easily, for a year. Imagine! With the kind of money the taxes pull in, I should be able to solve the housing problem.
"Darla, you wouldn't believe what I have seen! Wooden houses, two stories tall, that actually lean against each other. It was heart breaking. They were in a pitiful state of repair. I am going to tear them down and replace them. But they are owned by various people. And some are lords, and merchants," I said, finally winding down.
Darla had been looking at me with such a serious look that I was starting to get a little nervous.
"You're a good man, Paul. I wish you luck. I really don't have any money here, myself, because 'House Lestri' takes care of all my needs until I am fully trained, but I will help out where I can. If you need a little extra magic muscle, I'm there!" she finished excitedly.
We sat and watched some more dragons wheeling overhead. I was still amazed at how quickly Fithian was getting The Dragon Riders back in shape. While we had gotten 10 Dragon Riders for the city's use, he already had over 25 Dragon Riders that he was training for combat.
I had to admit, they were worth it. 1000 golds had been returned to the city, and smuggling was down. Not stopped. I don't think smuggling could ever be stamped out completely, but I had put a serious crimp in it, with my Dragon patrols. They had excellent night sight, and were able to spot ships trying to sneak in at night. All ships, here, were wooden. NO captain of a wooden ship argued with a Dragon's fire.
Darla took my leave, promising to visit tomorrow. I went back to my office. I had just put on a pot of coffee, when a squire came to my office with several scrolls. I frowned at them.
"These are the scrolls you requested from 'The Histories', my Lord. These describe the battle of the demigods Vostich Landkur, and Alrondor Minturi," the young man said. He bowed and placed the scrolls on my desk.
Good! After dismissing the squire, I went over and got a cup of coffee. After putting a spoonful of sugar in it to take the edge off the bitterness, I sat down and opened scrolls.
Although they did not mention what had caused them to battle, there were several descriptions by witnesses that I was eager to read. The battle had taken place on the border between Landkur and Minturi. It had lasted for several days.
The two mighty beings had grown as tall as the tallest tree, all the descriptions said and agreed on. All descriptions of the battle agreed until the ending. Then I noticed two little things that most of the witnesses had missed.
Two separate witnesses had reported something small, yet unusual, that everyone else either missed or didn't feel needed to be included in the reports. It was something that had happened right at the end of the battle.
The two mighty demigods had started to glow. They were glowing brighter and brighter. Then there was a great flare of light, and a blast that knocked down everything for a long distance from the two beings. Trees, animals, people, all were knocked off their feet in the blast. When everything died down, the dead body of Alrondor Minturi was on the ground.
No sign of Vostich was ever found. It was assumed that he too died. The body of Alrondor was missing its left hand. Chunks flesh were gone from his chest and shoulders. His head was missing the top of its skull. What ever the demigods had done was deadly, even to themselves.
What caught my attention were two descriptions that left me wondering, and a nagging feeling that pulled at the edges of my senses. Just before (said one), or during the flare (said the other), these two people thought they saw Vostich's body turn green, and contract on itself, falling as a small object to the ground. Everyone else thought he had been destroyed in the blast.
Whatever that green object was, I wanted it. I would have to try to find the exact location of the battle. It had been years ago. Whatever it was that had fallen was probably buried by now, if it hadn't been picked up and carried away, or washed away in the rains.
For the next three days, I canceled all appointments while I searched for survivors who had seen that battle. Ok, I was getting very single minded about this. It was like I was being driven. While this was going on, another more serious problem had arisen. Salvadi Minturi was actually requesting aid!
His southern borders, long lightly garrisoned, were being probed. The good news was that Salvadi was able to reinforce his borders. The bad news was the self-proclaimed Emperor of the South was once again making himself known. It was his men that were probing the border.
An Emperor. Why did I not know of this guy? I went in search of my sister. I was able to barge in on her supper. She eyed me as I sat and filched a chicken leg.
"Help yourself, Paul. I wouldn't want you to starve, you know," she said with a sarcastic grin.
"Mirwanna? I have no clue who this supposed Emperor is, that everyone is gasping about. Why are we even considering going to the mat for Salvadi?" I asked curiously.
"I assume 'the mat' is a term meaning to help?" she asked. I nodded.
"Several hundred years ago, the Dragons, along with Alrondor Minturi and Vostich Landkur all banded together, and drove him further south. The demigod Jorslan Bander was, and I guess still is, a very powerful demigod. He is actually a little closer to true full godhead than all the other demigods," Mirwanna was saying, when I interrupted her.
"Wait, how can he be a demigod, and almost a full god?"
"Well, it has to do with his parents. His mother was a full Goddess, and his father was a demi-god. I guess you could say he is between a 'half-god' (a demi-god), and a full god. Anyway, a long time ago, great grandfather, the dragons, and Salvadi's father got together, and destroyed Jorslan's northern kingdom, which was located south of Salvadi Minturi's land.
"It is now known as The Great Southern Desert. Jorslan took his people and moved even further south. While we know he built a new home to the south, he is still very powerful, and has been able to stop any magical scrying.
"All information we have about him and his empire, comes from traders. He apparently discovered several primitive peoples down there, and absorbed them into his empire. We had thought he was satisfied down there. Apparently, we were wrong.
"Salvadi cannot stand alone against Jorslan. With Fithian, the dragons, Salvadi, you, and me; we might be able to stand against him. It took two demigods and the dragons to get rid of Jorslan last time," Mirwanna finished a little gloomily.
I thought over what I had just heard. This was not good. Hell, it was really bad news. I had come back to a land that was in an uneasy truce with its most powerful neighbor to the south, only to find out that we would now be forming an alliance with this same neighbor we didn't like, to avoid being swallowed by still another entity.
Sometimes if felt like it didn't pay to get out of bed.
We talked a little more. Mirwanna was curious about the tax reforms I was doing. She could not fathom why I had lowered the taxes on businesses.
I tried to explain the dynamics of it, but I think I failed miserably. I told her to check back in a couple months, if she wanted hard figures. I told her if you lowered taxes on the man with the money, he would invest more money, hire people you could tax, and then you got more revenue in the long run that way. Yeah, I instituted the personal income tax. But it was cheap, only about 1% on what you were paid per week.
It was already showing an increase in money taken in, though. Since I had instituted it, the coppers seemed to flow towards my coffers. There was some grumbling, but I really had plans for that money. I had slums to knock down and replace with something better, and that took money.
Edited By TeNderLoin