Chapter 4 Part 7

Gage arranged for breakfast to be delivered then he gently woke the two sleepers. “It is morning,” he announced joyfully, “and no monsters came in the night to steal you away.”

“Um,” Dylan stammered. It was obvious that he was embarrassed with the idea that he had been afraid. “We were cold,” he stated in a half hearted attempt to explain their night long huddle under the blanket.

“Of course,” Gage agreed. “Now go to the showers, both of you. Breakfast is on the way, and we are going to the palace today.”

Cindy and Dylan both wolfed down their morning meal in excited anticipation to the upcoming visit to the world’s most powerful building. They made quick work of the boiled eggs and fruit juice.

Just as they were finishing up, there was a knock at the door. When opened, Crystal entered the room. “Are you all ready to go?” she asked.

“Yes!” Dylan and Cindy answered together.

“Then by all means let us depart,” Gage offered.

The quartet left the guild and made their way down the broad and well groomed street towards the palace. The structure was beautiful and gleamed brightly in the morning light. The dawn gave the whitewashed walls the illusion of being made of gold. The sight was impressive.

The street leading to the palace was equally grand. The cobblestone pavement was divided in two by a beautifully landscaped median that held hedges and flowerbeds. All of the buildings along the sides of the street were in immaculate condition and reflected the high standards of the royal neighborhood.

Crystal led her companions through the main entrance of the palace and up a set of side stairs. “Every fifth day of the week, the king holds open court. So today we can observe the king receiving petitioners in the public hall. Of course we have to watch from the balcony. The palace guards won’t allow the general populous into the main hall.

When they reached the top of the stairs, they stepped out into the balcony which overlooked the public hall. Dylan and Cindy crowded the rail to get an unobstructed view of the scene below.

Dylan was surprised that what he saw in no way met his expectations. Instead of the throne and richly dressed king scene, what lay before him was a large elaborate desk before a high backed chair. And though the king did wear a crown, it was nowhere near what Dylan was expecting. The crown of the king of most of the world, appeared to be nothing more than a simple circle of gold. The king wore neither fancy robes nor the fabled huge sword, but only a plain white mantle.

The other occupants on the floor more closely resembled the scene which Dylan was expecting. A kaleidoscope of color and costume was sprawled on the floor as representatives from all over vied for the king’s attention. At present the king was listening to one individual who was waving his arms and putting on quite a show.

“Your Majesty,” the short, fat man whined, “what we’re talking about is fairness. The wagon trains crossing the continent can’t hope to compete with the speed of the ice boats. As a result wagoneers are going broke. All we ask is that the crown supply funding to aid us in keeping our businesses from going bankrupt.”

“Are there not advantages that the wagon trains have over the ice boats?” the king asked.

“There are,” the fat man answered, “but they’re not sufficient to ensure the success of the industry.”

“Can not this matter be resolved within the guild?” the king inquired.

“The wagoneers and the icemen are at an impasse, sire,” a third man interrupted. He was a tall man who carried a long golden staff. Dylan had heard of the staff before. It was called the Rod of Craftsmen, and marked its bearer as the Grand Guildmaster. He was the political equal to the king and represented all business and tradesmen in the court.

As the king listened to the Grand Guildmaster, Dylan studied the other people gathered. Seated to one side near a smaller table containing a candelabra, was an ancient man in long white robes and a serious lack of snowy hair on his head. His chin, however seemed to have an overabundance of it. This man, Dylan guessed was the High Cleric of the United Temples. He spoke for the interests of the many religions in the kingdom. To his left, another man about the same age as Master Tesron, yet much stockier and shorter was seated and quietly listened to what was being said. He wore a linen tunic and woolen breeches. Dangling from his neck was a large medallion of interwoven gold and silver in the shape of a four pointed star. This symbol was also well known in the kingdom as the badge of office of the First Senator, the man who spoke for the cities. The First Senator and the High Cleric were also the political equals to the Grand Guildmaster and the king. Between the four of them was the kingdom run.

“I am truly sorry,” the king addressed the whining wagoneer. “But our kingdom is a free market. If your industry cannot survive on its own, then it must die. The crown will not set a precedent by supporting a failing business. It is not our responsibility to ‘guarantee the success of an industry’.”

“Your majesty,” the wagoneer hissed. “I warn you that the wagoneers are a strong union. If the crown won’t aid us, we’ll be forced to go on strike.” There was a murmur of alarm in the crowd listening to the exchange. It was the wagoneers that provided overland transport of goods and commerce. If they stopped working, the economy would suffer greatly.

“Can you give us some idea as to when you plan to strike?” the king asked sarcastically. “We wish to invest in several wagons and pony teams. Without the wagoneers as competition, We should be able to make quite a fortune. In fact we can imagine that there are many entrepreneurs who would like to go into business in the transportation of goods.”

“Those entrepreneurs may find that travel on the roads could be far more dangerous in the future than they are now, sire.” It was a poorly concealed threat, and the king jumped on it immediately.

“Hear this, citizen,” the king barked. “We told you that it was not the responsibility of the crown to ensure the survival of your industry, but it is the responsibility of the crown to ensure the security of private property and safety on the highways. So should there become an increase of bandits on the roads in the near future, we shall turn the legions of High Branch loose and our first suspect will be the wagoneers.”

The king half rose from his desk. “Considering that it has been almost fifteen years since the army has seen action, and they are very eager for battle, we recommend that your people go out of their way to discourage such behavior.”

The wagoneer appeared shaken; his self confidence reduced visibly. He bowed and turned to leave. "Oh, and one thing more,” the king added as the petitioner departed the raised dais from which speakers spoke. “If you ever threaten the crown again, you will spend the rest of your life in the royal dungeon. Do we make ourselves clear?” The wagoneer bowed and hurried whimpering from the room.

“The king seems to be on a roll today,” Crystal whispered from behind them. Dylan instinctively glanced back at her in response. He briefly caught a glimpse of Gage holding her hand. When he did a double take and looked again, he had released it.

“This is a rare treat,” Gage told them. “Very few initiates of the Academy have ever seen this scene. Below you are the four most influential men in the world.”

“King Rigel’s getting very old, isn’t he?” Cindy asked.

“Yes, he is,” Crystal said. “And he’s never married nor does he have an heir. When he passes away, things could get interesting.”

“Who’ll be the new king?” Cindy wondered.

“That depends,” Gage told her. “First of all it will have to be one of the nobles. But which one will be decided by the Senate.”

Something seemed incomplete about that to Dylan. He had read somewhere that it was a little more complex than that. “Is that all?”

“Well, the Senate nominates the candidate for the crown, but either the Grand Guildmaster or the High Cleric must endorse candidate,” Crystal told him. “If neither one accepts the candidate, then the Senate must nominate someone else. But if only one of them reject the candidate, and the other accepts, then the candidate becomes the new king.”

“You mean that it only takes one of them liking the nominee to crown him king?”

“That is correct. It only takes the Senate plus one of the other two to select a king.”

“Has that ever happened?” Cindy asked.

“Never,” Gage told her. “In the past, when the Senate nominated a king, the Grand Guildmaster and the High Cleric either both endorsed him or both rejected him.”

Dylan watched the proceedings of the court for almost an hour before he began to get bored. “It seems that all the king does is listen to complaints,” he observed.

“That’s about the size of it,” Crystal agreed. “It must be a very boring job.

Gage chuckled. “I guess you will never think of royalty the same way again.”

Dylan stepped back from the balcony railing and sat in a chair against the wall. “Well at least we got a chance to see it.”

“Things are often much different in reality than in stories,” Crystal pointed out.

“Are you two ready to go?” Gage asked his charges.

“I guess so,” Cindy admitted. “Where are we going?”

“Well it is almost time for lunch, and we have to set out to go home today.”

“Must we?” Cindy asked. “I want to see more.”

“See more what?” Gage laughed.

“See more of the world,” Cindy replied with eyes full of stars. “Let’s take a ship to Haganaw.”

Crystal laughed hard, getting looks of irritation from other occupants on the balcony. “You’d better reign her in now,” she told Gage. “I know the wandering bug when I see it.”

“No,” Gage concluded. “We must return to the Academy. You have lessons to learn, and that is our primary responsibility.”

Cindy hung her head and Dylan too felt disappointed. He too wanted to see more of the kingdom, but Gage was right, and they all knew it.

They ate a brief lunch and packed their things. Then they loaded their wagon and bade farewell to Crystal and her family. Just before they left, though, Crystal and Gage shared a private moment and embraced tenderly before Gage assumed his place in the wagon and ordered the mules onward.

“Crystal is nice,” Cindy decided as they passed from Keron to the open road. “Don’t you think so, Gage?”

The elf nodded silently. “Are you going to marry her?”

Dylan, who had been dozing in the back of the wagon, woke up with a start. Gage, to his credit made no reaction at all. He rode on for several long seconds then turned to face Cindy. “I think it is time for your lessons,” he decided with a smirk.

The trip back to Allentown was more or less uneventful. They stayed only one night in New Aspberg, and only spent two nights in Seron. The latter was because one of the wheels on the rear axle of the wagon needed repair and so they spent the day on the shore of the Caleko lake watching the fishing boats coming and going. The next morning they departed for the last leg of their journey. Before long they found themselves on the outskirts of Allentown.

“It is good to be back,” Gage sighed as they passed through the sea of tents surrounding the city proper.

“Not if you have to go back to doing chores,” one of his students whispered. Gage couldn’t tell which one it was, so he ignored the comment.

“I want both of you to know that I have enjoyed your company during this trip,” Gage announced as they rode onto the Academy grounds. “I shall report to Master Tesron that you both behaved and performed admirably.”

Dylan and Cindy looked at each other briefly. “Thank you,” Cindy replied. “It was both a pleasure and an honor to accompany you.”

When they at last stopped before the main building, Gage directed Cindy and Dylan to disembark and gather their things. “Tomorrow morning, you must resume your normal schedules,” he told them. “I suspect that Kayla will come by to see you if there have been any significant changes.”

Dylan and Cindy did as they were told and unloaded their baggage from the wagon. There was a brief moment before Gage left them when it seemed that he wanted to say something more, but decided against it.

Dylan sighed as he and Cindy returned to their life as initiates of the Academy.