For the moment, Baron Zoran was untouchable. “Concentrate, old man. Zoran is
not your most pressing issue here. I must be ready to appoint another heir at the fall
High Council meeting! The real question is who?” He began thinking of his bastard sons,
naturally. He knew that he had fathered two, but there could be more. He’d slept with at
least a dozen women over the years. Of course, he would have to choose them carefully,
first by age. He knew that they had to be between ten and twenty to undergo the
Ceremony of Ascension. Now he had a plan. He called for his advisors and Security
General. “I have a top secret, highly critical assignment for you,” he began, outlining
what he needed done.
At last the moon was full and Zoran saw some action once again. Unfortunately, it
was anti-climactic. Zhou met with him; their new land was ideal, according to her.
Already, they had begun constructing a permanent village. The remainder of the metal
axes she accepted, telling him just how valuable they were proving to her men. Now
their talks began on how best to communicate this offer of moving to a new land to all of
the other tribes. While she could send out runners to many here in Zovou Province, the
other large population of Yellers was totally isolated, way up in the northern Tratky
Province. Additionally, there were small pockets of Yellers in many of the other eight
provinces.
Zhou explained that, if she could somehow send a runner to the northern lands,
those there would not believe the runner. They would insist on speaking directly with his
matron, her. In matters of territory and village locations, the Yellers always depended
solely on their tribe’s matron, who they believed was the mother of their tribe.
Karel actually solved this problem. His idea was for him to teleport some of her
runners to the northern province and then himself morph into his giant hawk form,
circling above the runners. They would in turn search out and find a prominent village
and tell them the news. When they then asked to speak to Zhou personally, the runners
could signal Karel, who would then teleport Zhou to their location. Once the talks were
done, he could teleport them all back to their new homeland. This she accepted. Zoran
realized that she had little choice, since the survival of the tribes depended on their tribal
mother. It was her responsibility.
Within a week, the Mages were busy with routine teleportation of the numerous
villages of Zovou Province. Karel’s plan was set in motion and a week later met with
fruition. The first northern tribe accepted the offer. Emil and Renata began to transport
them, aided occasionally by their parents. Thus, the Mages were kept busy during the
rest of June and the summer as well. General Janos insisted that Zoran stay near the
tower, because it was too risky for him to be traveling all over the provinces. Kazimir
was certain to have spies among them and send out assassins. Reluctantly, he agreed
and allowed his friends to do the teleports.
On the 22
nd
of June, he sensed another new Circle activating. He added this
phenomenon to his list of unique attributes of an original Circle owner. He, Zdenka, and
Lida, were the first to arrive at Duke Leo’s Circle of Ascension and Castle Damek, named
after the city in which it lay. Leo rushed to Lida and she, he. Lovers kissed long and
passionately. At last, Milan broke them up and discussed the importance of the day.
Zoran watched both Jiri and Anezka accept the praise heaped upon them and was proud
of them as well.
Baron Milan stated formally, “At the fall High Council, Leo will become Baron
Leo Matous, and Lida will become Baroness. I will have to announce a new heir, that will
fall to your younger sister here, Katerina.” The fifteen year old teen was very pleased
indeed. She had now become a player and not a pawn. Zoran realized that this was
precisely what she was thinking!
“A word, Zoran, before you go,” Baron Milan requested, taking him aside. “My
spies in Dorumova have relayed that Kazimir is now hunting down all of his bastard
children. Expect that at the next High Council, Kazimir will announce a new heir,
probably one of them. Until then, I suspect you will be safe.” While Zoran wondered just
how Uncle Milan had gotten spies into the castle, he didn’t ask.
“Thanks, I guessed this might be the case.”
“Another thing, Zoran. He might be losing his mind over this. We’ve heard that
he has been going around telling his allies that there is now a Shadow Assassin hiding
out there in the Shadows. He claims the assassin very nearly got him. We all know that
there is no such thing as a Shadow Assassin. Perhaps his mind is indeed going. Please
keep sharp; we don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Zoran smiled; of course he didn’t, for that would upset his newfound political
gains. “I remain on high alert, Baron.” Since other barons began arriving to see the new
light brown Circle, Zoran and Zdenka took their leave and returned home.
“Damn! Double damn! I am cursed!” screamed Baron Kazimir. His men had
returned from their exhaustive search for his bastard children. They had found three
who still lived. One girl was only ten and was of no use. Another was in his thirties and a
sergeant in his army, too old. Another was a fifteen year old barmaid, like her mother;
she, he dismissed at once. He had had far too much trouble with women to even
consider the two girls. “Who is this sergeant?” he bellowed.
“He goes by Damek Kamil, his mother’s last name. I’ve ordered him to report
here at noon.”
“Very well. Let me know as soon as he arrives. Dismissed.” He sighed. “So it
comes down to this, putting a bastard older son on the throne and arranging a marriage
to a Duska so that he can be baron. Damn, damn, damn.”
At noon, Damek was escorted into the Baron’s private dining room. He was a
veteran fighter, used to giving orders. However, he was now fearful; the Baron wanted to
see him personally. Try as he might, he could not envision what he had done so wrong to
have called attention to himself! The Baron’s soldiers hated to be in the Baron’s eye. So
many had met ill fates. Hence, fear was his only emotion as he entered the room to face
the wrath of his Baron.
He looks a lot like me, thought Kazimir, as he looked at his bastard son for the
first time. “Welcome, welcome, Damek. Come and dine with me, your father. I know
that I have not been much of a father to you before now.”
Damek looked shocked. Indeed, his mind reeled. He called me his son! What is
happening? Nervously, he shook the Baron’s hand and took a seat. His stomach knotted,
how can I possibly eat?
“I owe my career in your army to you, Baron,” he finally figured out something to
say.
“Yes, and you have certainly distinguished yourself,” the Baron replied, although
he had no idea if the lad had done anything at all. Until this moment, he’d been a figure
on a paper, one of the endless number of soldiers in his army, nothing more. “Now it is
time for your just reward, son.”
He keeps calling me his son. Why? Reward? Now it comes. I am getting sacked or
worse. I knew I should have deserted in Sholov with the other men.
“Son, I have a proposition for you. As you know, my heir and son, Radek, fell
victim to the dragons. My daughters have abandoned me and married off-world, long
gone from here. My youngest son defies me, having built a new Circle, hoping to take
over half of Adapazan. Son, what would you say to becoming my heir? How would you
like to become Baron Damek, eh? Like the sound of that?”
Damek’s mouth dropped. He stared at the Baron, completely speechless. Kazimir
knew well that he had just given the lad the shock of his life and was wise enough to
allow him time to absorb the news. At long last, after swallowing three times, Damek
squeaked, “Yes, fantastic! Unbelievable, sir! Wait, I am not a Duska, sir.”
“Kill the sir. How about just dad? Okay?” While Damek found it nearly impossible
to call him dad, he did his best to do so. “Now then, that is our only obstacle. However, it
is not insurmountable. You are quite right — a Duska is required on the throne. So we
simply marry you to a Duska woman. Then you can be the baron and she the baroness.
Perfect, don’t you think?”
Still rather stunned, he replied, “Well, yes.” He then added, “Ba — dad. But who?
How? Will she?”
“Son, you leave that to me. I have connections. I will try to find one that is not a
pig,” he chuckled. Damek grinned.
“That would be a good idea. I mean I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I doubt
that I could bed a homely, ugly woman.”
Kazimir roared, “Well said, son, well said. Me either. I will do my best for you.
Yes, indeed, son, in a few years, it will be Baron Damek who runs this castle. Yes indeed.
Now then, General Damek, I believe that you need to go and see the commissar for a
new uniform.”
“What?” he was once again shocked.
“Yes, you must be properly clothed. Then, go and see your mother. I wish that
both of you will move into our castle here and stay with me.”
“What?” Poor Damek was beyond words once more. At last, he nodded and as the
baron waved him off, he left the room. As he walked the long halls to the exit, he began
to dance a jig. “Me, the baron! Me, live here! Whahoo!”
“Well, that went well,” Kazimir muttered to himself, once Damek left. Now came
the delicate choice of bride. While Clav had two daughters, both were as ugly as he. No,
he had to do better than that. Baron Carwyn Alun of the desert world of Anwyn was a
possibility. However, what desert dweller would desire to move to this mountainous,
snowy world? Baron Cheng Meerong of the swampy world of Jing might do, but they
had yellow skins. No, the best possibility lay with Baron Eckhard Hadwig of the snowy
planet Dietmar. Didn’t he have three daughters? He couldn’t remember well. His late
wife, she would know. For an instant, Kazimir missed her presence. Then, he made
mental contact with Eckhard.
An hour later, he reached an agreement with Baron Eckhard. His eldest daughter,
Brunhilda, now twenty, would marry his son and become the baroness here, allowing
Damek to become the baron. At last, Kazimir relaxed. The problem was nearly solved
and would be at the next High Council meeting on the 1
st
of September. Besides, the
Castle would no longer be quite so empty.
He resolved to see, no insist, that Damek and Brunhilda marry soon and move
into Castle Dorumova. That way, nothing would be left to chance. After all, once their
marriage was announced, his enemies may well try to assassinate Brunhilda, leaving him
again without a viable heir. Married soon, well, they could still come after her, but here
at the Castle under his protections, they would likely be safer from assassins than
anywhere else.
That this Shadow Assassin still lurked out there in the Shadows waiting for him
also bothered him. The worst case scenario would be for him to be slain without an heir!
Then it would be totally up to the High Council to pick his successor. That he could not
and would not ever allow! That had happened twice in history, and each time caused a
major shift in the power balance among the barons.
Chapter 25 A Long Summer
Zoran missed having his sister around. He missed the excitement of life. Yes, he was
bored. Constant vigilance, everyone kept insisting. His Mage friends were daily off
teleporting the next group of Yellers to their new island. Zdenka was hard at work with
her students. General Janos continued to get new recruits and held daily training
exercises. The many work crews with their engineers were constantly working and laying
stone. Aldrick was busy mining for gems. Mayor Oldrich was very busy managing Brn’s
affairs. Not only did the improvement and expansion of their few roads require his time,
but the city itself was growing twice as fast as last year. Zoran was reduced to casting a
few Force Wall spells, laying them in place and then casting Make Permanent spells on
them.
Early July, he received news from Baron Viktor that Baron Kazimir was going to
name his thirty year old bastard son his heir and that Baron Hadwig’s eldest daughter,
Brunhilda was betrothed to him. They were to be married immediately after the High
Council fall session recognized Kazimir’s new heir. Baron Viktor said that this
information was reliable and had come from one of his spies in Hadwig’s court. Also, he
relayed news that Baron Hadwig now believed that Kazimir had become slightly mad, if
delusional. Word was that his allies no longer trusted the Baron. Zoran found this
slightly encouraging. No one knew anything about this new heir who went by the name
of Damek Kamil. Zoran had never heard of him either.