Aiden's Quest

by Dane Bagley

Though no one knew when Aiden returned the previous evening, he was up at the crack of dawn. Daxton was up early, too. Food had been brought in by the servants and it was unclear how they were supposed to occupy themselves.

  “Why’re you up so early, Aiden? You can’t have slept much.”

  “Mirinda will be introducing me to the military command this morning. I don’t want to keep her or them waiting.”

  “You’re joining the Cardsten military? I thought that you wanted to just check the place out.”

  “I did check it out and I found it desirable.”

  “Oh?”

  “I found Mirinda, didn’t I.”

  “Oh.”

  “And you. What brings you to such an early arousal?”

  “Tasha. She will be introducing me to her father. He may have a commission for me in his business. Her family is the wealthiest of those of Cardsten.”

  “But we just got here? Don’t you want to check it out for a while first before you jump right in?”

  Daxton smiled. “You’ve said it yourself, there is no other place quite like Cardsten.”

  “Is she the one, then?”

  “Yes.”

  “Poor thing. She has no idea what it’s like living with you and trying to keep you out of trouble.”

  Daxton’s eyes narrowed briefly and then he relaxed. “She’s a fortune.”

  “Yes.”

  “If her father goes along, if I get my commission then I will marry her and live here like a king for the rest of my life.”

  “Daxton, I wish you well.”

  “I’m off. And you?” said Aiden.

  “Tasha will meet me here shortly. I’ve not been to her place.”

  “It’s very nice.”

  Daxton nodded. Aiden left.

  Tasha arrived shortly. They kissed for a time in the entrance way. If possible, Tasha looked even better and more made up than she had the night before. She must have been up for hours with her short blond hair done up so nicely and wearing the most exquisite blue outfit. Her skirt was longer today, nearly knee length—she had already impressed Daxton, today she was impressing her father.

  “You will need more outfits than just the one,” she said looking over him. “I know a place. This was fine for last night but it won’t do for today.”

  Once Tasha was satisfied with the preparations they made their way to see Mr. Cards. His office was in a majestic stone building, taller than the rest. The streets were paved with tiles and wider than in other parts of the city. The men and women who made their ways up and down the streets walked at a fast pace. They looked fine in their dress and were single minded in their demeanor. This was the heart of Cardsten both in geography, being located in the city center, and in practice. The seat of government was located elsewhere but that was not the power center of Cardsten. It was here, the business district.

  Reaching the fourth floor, Tasha walked into the reception area. The woman at the desk looked up and smiled kindly upon seeing Tasha.

  “I’ll be right back, Miss Cards.”

  Only a minute later she returned and said, “Go ahead,” gesturing to her right.

  Daxton took a deep breath.

  The office was large with a beautiful desk and several filled bookshelves. The rug was bright and the workmanship superb. Mr. Cards came to Tasha and embraced her warmly. He seemed to have not noticed Daxton or was just utterly uninterested in him. Tasha talked pleasantly with her father and made no reference to her companion. Daxton felt awkward like he was a fly on the wall. He stared at Tasha and her father for some time but then felt uncomfortable and began to look around. It must have been a quarter of an hour before his presence was acknowledged.

  Mr. Cards broke from his daughter and walked directly toward Daxton. “Max Cards,” he said directly and held his hand out for Daxton to shake.

  Daxton accepted his hand and shook it rapidly. “I’m Daxton.”

  “You’re from away?”

  “Yes sir, I’m of Tengeer.”

  “Medicine people.”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you skilled?”

  “No, I’ve never learned. I don’t think that I was ever meant for such a life.”

  “Ninety-nine percent of everyone does not think that they were meant for the life that they are leading.”

  Daxton did not answer, though there was a pause. This man had a presence not unlike Aiden’s. Daxton had learned to listen when a man such as this spoke.

  “You are tall, strong, and handsome. You and my daughter will make fine children.”

  Tasha smiled, her father was satisfied.

  “You look the part—now you must be the part. The Cards are not to be trifled with—by anyone. No one is to feel equal to us. We are good, and kind, and fair to everyone but they are not equal to us.”

  “Yes, I understand that your wealth and fortune is beyond anyone else’s fortune,” Daxton ventured.

  “Wealth, yes. We could live comfortably with the wealth and be worthless and unknown. We are more than our wealth, young man. Our wealth is fitting for our position but it is not the only defining aspect. If we were slothful, and lazy, and simply indulgent then we would be hated, used, and destroyed. But we are not. We are the visionaries. I awake before anyone and put in more hours in than anyone else. I eat well, I sleep well, and I have any and all comforts needed. But I push for a better place. The secret of Cardsten is that those who have wealth are visionaries. We push for art, for beauty, for security and protection, for science, for knowledge, for wealth. We are the keystone of this great society. Without us as we are, the whole thing falls apart. There is no Cardsten without the Cards.

  “I suspect that the average man lives better here than a great man most anywhere else. We may have more, much more, than anyone else. But we live as we do so that even the poor do not go to bed hungry at night. Everyone has hope. There is work to do and work makes people happy. I am happy because I work, not because I have so much.”

  “So you give to the poor?”

  “I give to everyone, but I never give a penny away. I employ directly, or indirectly, forty percent of Cardsten. The beautiful, quality homes, lived in by nearly everyone, were built by me. The great wall that protects this grand place is here because of my father and I. The government is financed by taxes provided by me, my employee’s, and my industries. We push for what is needed and practically finance the entire operation. We grow and raise the quality foods, or make sure that they are done right.

  “I don’t want to be better than everyone else, for its own sake. It’s necessary. I want to be in the best place possible and it requires someone that I trust at the top. Someone who will ensure that the right conditions are met for a people and a society to thrive. I’m that man. It is essential for me to succeed that I’m wealthier than everyone else. It requires that no one thinks themselves better, smarter, or more capable than I. So, I am, and I must be, or else the greatness will turn to laziness and we will implode and become useless in only a few generations. It is easier to have a society like Tengeer, endure. It is not a bad way, I’m sure. But it is not great; it is sufficient. Greatness requires continual greatness.

  “A society requires a solid top, but it also requires a strong bottom. If those who have the least are fed and cared for by the wealthy, rather than working hard for their needs, then the society collapses. The poor must work hard just as the wealthy must. And there must be every stage in between, and everyone must work. But, if at the top, if the wealthy are at work, are visionaries, are willing to continue to push for greatness, then the poor will be satisfied as they work and hope for better than they now have. The poor in my world are not poor. They are just the poorest; they are merely the relative poor. The poor are wealthy as are the rich. You’ve looked around, we’ve no beggars, have we?”

  “No, I’ve seen none. But what of the infirm, the insane, the blind, those without mental capacity.”

  “There are not many who are so infirm, so
insane, so blind, or so mentally incapacitated that they cannot do something for themselves and for society. Those who are, are cared for by someone. It would not do to have institutions dedicated to providing comfort and sustenance to those who are not living, really living at all. When those who do nothing are simply provided for, then the society will quickly fall apart.”

  Tasha, who had sat quietly aside, entered into the conversation briefly. “Father ensures that those who provide for such, are given employment that will satisfy their ability to care for those.”

  “Yes, my dear, but they are not given anything. They work for what they require. I never turn a blind eye to anyone and I never give anyone anything—not without the opportunity for earning it.”

  “I’ve not been here long,” said Daxton. “But I see many who are at leisure, who are comfortable, who seem to be doing well.”

  “Many? Everyone is doing well. Everyone is comfortable. There is wealth here. There is opportunity for leisure. But most do work. There are some of the wealthy who do not see as I see, perhaps some of the middle class, too. There is always more work to be done. This society will never be able to run flawlessly on its own. There will always be correction, effort, and leadership needed. But, why would we all work so hard if it wasn’t to have a good and enjoyable life. The poorest can have and enjoy as can the rich. They just can’t have as much. They must be willing to do that which is not desirable. A society cannot function without having those who are willing to do that which is least desirable. We cannot feel sorry for them. They work, they have, and they are happy. We are not happier than they. Some say that we could not do the jobs that they do. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps they can do those things which we cannot. But, they are certainly not capable of doing what we do. It is the rare man indeed that can do what I do. If we reversed roles, society would collapse on itself.

  “If I gave to the poor without allowing them to earn it, society would indeed collapse on itself. If we all tried to be equal to each other, then society would collapse on itself. We are not equal; nor can we be. I am not equal to the poor and what they do, in many ways they have a hard life and I am not equal to it. In many ways, I have a harder life than they and they are not equal to it. We do not force anyone down. Those that are meant for something different, perhaps something better, may work to achieve that; and many do achieve it. Many who might have had more were not sufficient to the task and now have less. There are many complications and it cannot be a perfect system. But it is very fair, in its way. It is never equal, however. Equality would ruin it and turn it into something different, worse I dare say.

  “But, equality also seems a worthy goal.”

  “Yes, in a way of looking at things it does. But, you see, equality is not possible. Goodness, even greatness, is possible but equality is not. A society would have to force equality in order to achieve any semblance of equality. Someone has to do the forcing. Those who force and those who are forced are not equal to each other. So, in this way only the forced are equal. Yet, are even they equal? I think not. Everything cannot be forced. People are different and even when they appear to be forced into equality they are not really equal, at least in most ways. And those in power are as unequal to them as possible. Equality is the great antithesis to goodness and greatness. I make no attempt for equality; this is so that everyone can be happy, can enjoy a good, hard-working life.

  “A great society, a truly great society, makes no attempt to force the bottom up or the top down. Once you see a striated society as unfair and try to make it different, then you are setting up for its collapse, or for it to be made up of those who are thoroughly unhappy and without hope. Hope requires that there is something better possible. Equality is the destroyer of hope. Hopelessness is a life with no joy, happiness, or satisfaction. Pleasures are a poor substitute for hope.”

  “So, you force inequality?”

  “No! My boy, are you not listening? You neither force equality nor inequality. Forcing inequality is just as destructive. If you force inequality, then you are hated and someday the pendulum will swing and those on bottom will be on top and vice versa. You cannot judge a person because of any external characteristic as belonging to one class or another. These prejudices are foolish and will lead to problems. Any society that forces inequality at any level will one day be forcing equality. It makes everyone look at it from the wrong angle. Force will always be resisted.

  “No, accepting the necessity and inevitability of inequality is completely different from forcing inequality. If you are to be on top then you must accept the privilege and responsibility of such and never feel guilt, sorrow, or that somehow it is unfair that you are in the position that you are in. You must never think that it is unfair that that person must work as they do so that they may eat and enjoy the comforts and privileges that they do. No, they must—someone must work as they do, and if they were privileged more than they are, then they would not do such work. Relatively speaking, they may have less privilege than anyone else, and they may do the least desirable work, but they are happy and they have hope because they know that something better is out there. They have hope. They are not forced to be in the position that they are in. They choose that position. They want to eat, they want shelter, they want what they must work for and the work is absolutely needed. So, we appreciate the work that they do and we do not treat them in a bad way.

  “I get up every morning and work hard so that they may have this position and they may have food and shelter. Their capacity may be much weaker than mine, certainly much different, but they are each valued as a human being, they have a good life, they have happiness and hope, they do not starve or go without shelter and clothing, and they have all of this because I provide the opportunity in the way that I can. I do not devalue these people; not at all. I work hard so that they may have what they do. I am grateful to them for they are necessary for me to have what I have. And, you know, they too are grateful to me. They may not understand it all, but they know at some level that they have what they do because of what I do for them. We are all important and necessary.

  “Daxton, do you see? I cannot give to you a position so that you may be wealthy and marry my daughter. I can, however, place you in a position. A position where you may work—work hard—and enjoy a wonderful life. Where you may lead, and help to keep this great society, Cardsten, continually on the track for greatness. You cannot slack in your position. A poor man may slack and the society will not be weakened, at least not perceptively. But if the wealthy and powerful slack then the society will fall apart. Not in a day, a week, a month, or a year, but it will be destroyed eventually, either from within or from without. You cannot hold an honorary title and play a charade. No, you must be that man. And you must lead your children, my grandchildren, to be that person who will continue this legacy on.

  “Tasha, my lovely child—she knows all of this. She has been taught from birth. She is wise and is filled with power. She knew that it was not in her heart to lead in this way. But she sees the value and she has always known that when she found a man that could be a great husband to her and would fill this role, that she would bring that man to me. This is that day, and you are that man. Will you lead with me? I do not offer you a simple and formal position. I offer you the hardest position in Cardsten. To lead beside me and to never falter. To be that great man that will stand in my position when I no longer have the capacity.”

  He looked Daxton in the eyes as he had never been looked at before.

  “Daxton, I cannot make you that man. Only you know if you are that man. Can you and will you be that man?”

  Daxton had been a bit of a fool when he first left Tengeer. But he had endured the crucible of the dark forest. He had trained under Aiden for many months. He was not the boy that had left Tengeer. He looked over at Tasha who smiled serenely. She knew what she was looking for and knew that she had found that man in Daxton. Aiden somehow knew what Daxton was heading towards this day, and he had wis
hed him well. If Aiden felt him incapable, then he would not have teased him. Yes, he felt his capacity within him and it was confirmed by those who surrounded him. This place appealed to him on every level from the moment that he set foot within its walls. Tasha was everything that a woman could be and he wanted what was being offered to him. Yes, he was that man, and he had everything he ever wanted.

  “Mr. Cards, I am that man.”

  “Yes, Daxton, you are that man.

  Chapter 14