Randport was on the Rand river, that ran from the Lenten mountains to the north to the eastern sea. The river estuary formed a small harbor and Randport was built on that harbor. Its prosperity came from two things, rich fishing grounds and herds on the northern plains. The winters here could be harsh so the buildings were substantial, built more for providing warmth and shelter in the winter than coolness in the summers. Duchess Sophia, her husband Rupert and co-wife Olina ruled the city. Sophia’s father had died unexpectedly three years before. He fell from his horse and broke his neck. This thrust Sophia and her family into the position of running the Duchy years before they expected to. Sophia’s mothers were still around to provide some advice, but it all really fell on her and her family.
Randall and Morton and their families were welcomed with open arms. There was very little bowing and scraping in Nordia, for which both men grateful. The found that Olina was seven months pregnant and was pretty much confined to the palace. Her husband and co-wife fussed over her, which she dismissed as worrying about nothing. The first night everybody ate a simple private meal and then got some rest. The next couple of days would be filled with royal duties and then they could get to work.
Morton’s wives took one look at Sophia and recognized her resemblance to their sister-in-law Joanne. They simply looked at each other and nodded. Both clearly knew what the other was thinking; that Sophia’s biological father was Dr. Jorgenson. Neither were going to say a word, but they were sure that Morton knew.
The next day was taken up with Randall and his wives meeting all the nobles and the heads of the most prominent families in the area. While this was going on Morton toured the city, looking at the buildings and what new construction was going on. Brandt and James headed out on their own exploring, accompanied by two guards. Both of them knew that slipping their guards would just get everyone in trouble and was not worth it.
That night they all got together to go over the day and what they heard. Randall started off. “Sophia, Rupert and Olina, it should be no surprise that nobody had any real problems that need to be addressed today. Like all of this trip it was a matter of just wanting to see and talk to the royal family. I just hope that the rest of this trip is as easy.”
“Thank you, your highness,” answered Sophia. “Tomorrow night well have a big feast and there will be more of that. I hope that in the morning we can review the plans that we have for the harbor. Just to make sure that all our roles are understood. I’m the politician in the family, Rupert is the idea man and Olina is the organizer. Between us I think we make a good team.” She smiled at Rupert and Olina. “I'll let Rupert layout our proposal.”
“Thank you dear. Fishing brings in half of the wealth in the city, with the herds brining in the other half. Most of our goods are now sent either by sea to Nordport or by road Centralia. The one problem is that as our fleet has expanded and the natural harbor simply doesn’t offer the protection that all the ships and boats need. What I propose is to build a breakwater to increase the size of the harbor. Besides providing protection, it will give us other benefits as well. It will make loading and unloading cargos more efficient because there’ll be more space. It will also provide protection to the city in case of severe storms. I’ve got drawings of my proposal that we can go over in the morning. Olina has set down some initial estimates on what needs to be done and how long it will take.”
“Thank you dear. I’ve got some preliminary plans, which I’ll share with both you your highness and Baron Morton. We’ll need a quantity of stone and there is an excellent source some two hundred miles north in the foothills. We would have to build a loading dock there and then transport the stone by barge to the harbor. The stones could be placed right from the barges. With the number of men we can spare for this and the weather; the total project should take four or at most five years. Hopefully any questions will be answered in the documents I’ll provide you.”
Randall smiled. “Thank you, I see you’ve got this well in hand. Baron Morton can consult with Rupert and suggest any refinements needed. Do you agree Morton?”
Morton nodded his head and then looked meaningfully at Randall.
“Oh yes before I forget the boys would like to ride out and see the herds while they’re here. Young William would like to go along as long as there’s a pony he can ride, and they won’t be gone more than four hours.”
Sophia nodded. “I don’t’ see a problem. I’m sure our son Christon will want to go as well. He’s a year or two older than your sons but I’m sure they’ll do fine. We do have a very gentle pony that William can ride. Christon was all for riding his pony at that age. If he’s forgotten, I’ll remind him.”
“Thank you so much for that Sophia.” Said Randall. “I’ll detail half a dozen guards to go with them.”
Rupert was about to say something but didn’t when he got a gentle elbow from Olina.
When they got to their rooms, Rupert asked “That went well, but why six guards. I don’t see the crown prince as being the nervous type. What do you think?”
“I don’t know” Answered Sophia. “He isn’t the nervous type at all. In fact, the opposite is true. Something seems to be going on. Our daughters won’t learn anything, all they will be interested in is the upcoming wedding. I doubt that the Randall would tell his children much at all. Olina, Rupert and I will be going with Randall and Morton in the morning to review the plans and the site. Their wives will be with you see if you can pick anything up, but discreetly of course.”
“I will, I’m tired can we go to bed now?”
With that they retired for the night.
In their rooms Randall and his wives were reviewing everything. “As far as I can see this is a well-run duchy. Sophia and her family have seemed to have it all in hand and they are a very effective team.” Said Randall. His wives both agreed with him. With that they went to bed as well.
The next morning the boys were all gathered in the courtyard on their horses. They were joined by Christon, who was the spitting image of his father and with his same good nature and intelligence. William was on a shaggy pony that stood patiently with the other horses. Christon leaned over to William. “I used to ride that pony myself when I was your age. She’s great.” That made William smile.
Morton came up and all the boys greeted him. Morton addressed William. “You’ve got to listen to your guards and the older boys. I’m sure you’ll do fine, have a good time.” William assured his father that he would listen, and they headed out of the courtyard accompanied by six royal guards.
Randall, Morton, Sophia and Rupert met in the palace and set out to the harbor accompanied by six royal guards. Neither Rupert nor Sophia said anything but the noticed that the guards were on alert. They decided to walk as it wasn’t that far and it gave Randall and Morton a chance to see the city.
When they reached the harbor, Rupert and Morton excused themselves and went off to view the harbor. They were soon deep into discussions about the breakwater, tides, storms and other relevant facts. Randall and Sophia walked along the waterfront followed by the guards.
She turned to Randall. “Randall, is there something I should be worried about or anything I should know?”
“No Sophia nothing concerning you or your family but thank you for your concern.”
“Randall, I want you to know that my family and I will stand with you no matter what.”
Randall nodded and they went on. After an hour they collected Rupert and Morton and returned to the Palace
That evening there was a dinner and reception. Morton thought that there were between three and four hundred people in attendance. Luckily, he was not the center of attention. He looked over and his friend the crown prince Randall and his family were surrounded by people who just wanted to speak with him. He saw Olina, who was pregnant, get up and take her leave. Christon, helped his mother out of the reception. ‘That’s one smart boy’ thought Morton, ‘bet he doesn’t return’. His sons and Brandt hadn’t attended.
The youngest William was probably already asleep. The other two boys were probably reading or talking. No doubt Christon would join them. He had to talk with his fair share of people as well. The difference to him was they wanted to discuss things he was truly interested in. At the end of the night everyone retired to their rooms.
The next day was a day of rest. The three families sat around and talked about inconsequential things. The boys took another ride and William went along on the pony that he’d ridden before. Once again there were six royal guards with them. Nobody in the families were dense and Morton was sure that they all had noted the extra security. He was sure that the boys had. They were armed with pistol and rapier and knew how to use them. Morton wasn’t worried about anything happening while they were here. What Randall had confided in him, if it came to pass, would happen near the Sud range.
They discussed their travel arrangements for the next day. Randall and his family would be heading to Centralia as the next big stop. Morton and his family would be heading back to Nordport. Randall wanted to detach several guards and Morton objected. Sophia interjected. “Prince Randall, please keep your guards. I’ll send six guards with the Baron. The chance to visit Nordport for a few days will be viewed as a reward for good work. Will that be acceptable?” Both Morton and Randall agreed.
A week later Morton was back in Nordport and had promised to send up a member of his staff to help with the breakwater once they had the barges and pier for the stone were constructed. Meanwhile Randall was off to Centralia.
Centralia
The journey to Centralia took a day longer than expected. They had to stay an extra day at one of the inns, 'The Travelers Home’. There was good downpour and Randall decided not to make the guards ride in the falling rain as it was still early spring, and it would be uncomfortable at best. Randall and his wives spent the day relaxing and preparing to meet Duke Marvon. That he had no heir, which was the biggest concern. They looked over the list of likely successors and weren’t impressed. “Maybe the Duke has a suggestion” said Juliana “after all he knows the situation and is both experienced and very savvy.”
“I hope you’re right dear” replied Randall. “Otherwise we are going to have a mess on our hands in a couple of decades. Someone is going to have to learn from him while he’s still vigorous or else there will be even more problems.” Both of his wives silently agreed with him and they moved on to other subjects.
Centralia was located on a bluff overlooking the North river. The North ran from the northwest from its headwaters in the Lentin mountains to the southeast where it emptied into the Ro a hundred miles west of Nordport. The roads and the water transportation made Centralia a trade hub, taking goods from the North and sending them to the south. It was also situated amid fertile farmlands and grazing. Along with the Ro valley it helped feed the continent. The north sent meat, but primarily smelted pig iron. Recently, there had been gold and silver discoveries and now those precious commodities would soon be flowing through Centralia.
There were fifty thousand or so people living in the city. Many more lived in the farming communities scattered across the land. The climate was temperate. The winters were cold, but not brutal. It was a good place to live and Duke Marvon and his family had a well-deserved reputation as being fair and honest. The duke and his father before him, had built the city into a thriving trade hub. They’d actively championed all the new innovations that came from Paul Jorgenson.
When they arrived the duke and his wives warmly welcomed Randall and his family. The duke’s wives talked with his wives and to Christiana about her upcoming marriage. What Randall didn’t notice is that when one was talking to Christiana, the other wife was talking to Catrina. They were drawing her out. Finding out what she knew and what she intended to do.
The next morning the duke, the crown prince, prince Brandt and a dozen guards rode out to get a look at some of the farming communities. As they rode the duke kept up a running commentary. “Your highness as you know the Cornu Guernsey as Paul called them, are great milk producers. We’ve got a lot of dairy products here, primarily cheese. The wool we weave into fabric. Right now, we’re shipping a lot of that up to Westland, they can definitely use it. The new beef cattle are shaping up and I expect more meat production. Some will be fresh; most will be preserved as sausages and other preserved meats. I’m thinking of starting to produce some of those pot-bellied stoves for use here. I’ve got some in the palace and some of the merchants have them. They are a God send in the winter. Everything that Westland can produce either is used locally or shipped to Randport. We’ve found a good deposit of coal just under the surface. It would make sense to set up a foundry there and use the coal to make items.”
As he went on Randall, noted it all. The duke, as expected had a detailed grasp of the duchy and what was needed. If only he had an heir.
That evening the families ate together. Brandt was told to sit, listen and learn. Randall promised to talk with him about everything on the way to Westland. The diner was pleasant, and Randall told the duke that he didn’t see any issue with his plans. After diner the duke invited Randall to his study.
Randall and Duke Marvon retired to his study. Randall looked around it was lined with books and had a comfortable leather chairs as well as a large oak desk. The room was well lighted with candles and it gave off a warm glow. He’d been here before on prior visits and always like it.
“Have a seat your Randall and let’s talk, shall we?”
“Certainly, I’d love to.”
“I assume you’ll want to talk about succession. It’s a natural topic given my age and lack of an heir.” Randall nodded. “Please allow me to ramble a bit. As you may well know, Paul Jorgenson and I were good friends. We corresponded regularly and visited each other when time permitted. Your grandfather backed by your father wanted Paul to help provide me with an heir. I talked to my wives about it and we were content to let God dictate these things. Paul was relieved. He did it when asked but was not all that enthusiastic about it. Went against the way he was raised." The Duke paused to pour both of them a glass of wine.
“I think you’ll like this Randall, it’s from the north slope vineyards and quite good. As I was saying we decided to let God dictate what would happen. Although we would certainly continue trying, if nothing else it was enjoyable. Paul was a religious man, but he didn’t believe in divine intervention. He apparently lost that while fighting in that terrible war back on the home planet.”
“Yes, he told me about that.” said Randall.
“You probably got the abbreviated version. Though that is horrible enough. I got more of the stories. The courage, stupidity and cruelty exhibited in that war was simply beyond my comprehension. That didn’t change Paul’s feeling that were in the midst of some grand experiment. He didn’t ascribe it to God, but he was half convinced it wasn’t natural.”
“I know some of that, what’s your opinion Marvon?” asked Randall.
“To be truthful I’m more than half convinced. We humans have been here for thousands of years. If you listen to all the old legends, the people who arrived here were desperate and often near death. They stumbled on to the gates or were guided here. I’ve no idea. What we do know that large numbers of new arrivals haven’t happened in thousands of years. These gates seem to go only one way. Now very few people arrive here. It’s decades between arrivals and it’s almost always single individuals like Paul. I’ve no explanation for all of this.”
He paused to take a sip of the wine. “I do like this wine. But as I was saying, according to Paul our fertility is much different than on the home world, as you are well aware. Paul also said to me, and I don’t think he told this to many people, that the people here look healthier. His guess is it was something like the breeding programs that he did on horses, except with humans and over a longer period of time. There is no incidence of what he called simple minded people. That is people with very low intelligence and who never grow far beyond being
childlike. Also, no incidence of diseases of the mind that make people crazy. No, the meanness, stupidity and cruelty we do see are more the warping of our nature.”
“Now unlike Paul, I don’t think that any of this is really some condition that is caused by something in our world. I believe that God is doing this. And if not God as we think of it then some agency that is powerful enough that it might as well be God.”
Randall leaned forward listening intently as the Duke went on.
“So, that is why I didn’t do more than what was natural to sire a child. I’m seeing this in some of the older families. Not only here in Nordia, but elsewhere as well. I’ve got a network of people I correspond with regularly throughout the continent and even overseas. Some of the noble families are having trouble producing heirs. Now some here took advantage of Paul and had him father a child for them. But at the end of the day it’s the same thing. Another blood line was added to one that was dying out.”
“Marvon, this is the first I’ve heard that there is any sort of pattern. But I believe you. My father always said that you had extensive contacts and a lot of knowledge that went on elsewhere in Landia. What do you think is happening?”
“I simply think that we’re being phased out. We didn’t do a bad job, not bad at all. Just sort of a slow upgrade in the people who run this place.” The duke gave a little laugh and continued. “That brings me to who should succeed me here. I think that your daughter Catrina would be perfect. We’ve had our eye on her for some time. My wives have been quietly questioning her. She’s grown up into what we’d hoped.”
“You do.” said a surprised Randall. “Why do you think that Marvon?”
Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1 Page 35