Tales of Anyar

by Olan Thorensen

  Another item not detailed was how and by whom the coin would be stored, expended, and accounted for. Yozef foresaw more bureaucrats.

  “I noticed Nyvaks and Pawell looked like they bit into something bitter when you said you intended to resolve inter-clan disputes only as a last resort,” said Culich.

  Yozef flashed what he’d told Maera was his “Evil Yozef” grin. “Yesterday after the meeting, Nyvaks and Pawell cornered me. Their fishing dispute has festered for years, both sides claiming the other regularly violates the supposed territorial limits on fishing in the Gulfs of Beedo and Kurvak.”

  An isthmus connected the two provinces. Flanking the land bridge were two thirty-mile gulfs, both of them wind-protected waters and rich fishing grounds.

  “There’s a forty-year-old agreement by previous hetmen specifying where each clan is allowed to fish. Apparently, both clans began violating the agreement as soon as it was made. When they accosted me, I reluctantly went with them to one of the small meeting rooms and listened as they accused the other and urged me to side with them. Maybe I was hungry or tired. Anyway, I got annoyed and told them the dispute was settled. Nyvaks could fish only in the Gulf of Kurvak this year and Pawell in the Gulf of Beedo. Next year they would switch. ‘There,’ I told them, ‘now your fishermen won’t come into conflict.’

  “Both of them howled that my solution was impossible. Whole villages would have to move each year from one gulf to the other. I told them that if they wanted a different solution, it was up to them to come up with it; otherwise, the Paramount Hetman had ruled. Only after I left them fuming did I realize no one had said I had the authority to make such a ruling, and how would I enforce it, if they ignored me?

  “The next day, Onvak Pawell, the Pawell heir, caught me during a break and whispered that he and the Nyvaks heir were negotiating fishing boundaries and a protocol to settle disputes between the two clans. The hetmen wouldn’t talk to each other, but both had enough common sense to know my solution was worse than the current situation. They delegated discussions to their sons, who evidently get along well enough. Onvak also hinted that his father was actually pleased with me. He just didn’t want to be seen as backing down from Nyvaks, but if the paramount ruled, then what could he do?”

  Yozef shook his head. “I guess whatever works.”

  Culich stroked his beard. “You know, Yozef, this may be fortuitous. If the Pawellese are satisfied—and I’m sure most of the Nyvaksians want this settled in any fashion—then word will spread to other clans and make it easier for you to dispense rulings that people accept.”

  “Hmmm . . . ,” said Yozef. “You mean by setting a precedent? I hadn’t looked at it that way.”

  “A what?”

  “Precedent.” Yozef had used the English word. “When one decision serves as a model in future situations. A guide to what may be acceptable. Justice systems often use precedents. For example, if a particular punishment is handed out for a crime, then a similar punishment is more likely for the same type of crime in the future.”

  “Whatever word you use, the position of paramount will only work if clans come to accept rulings from you,” said Culich. “The Senate is all well and good for major decisions, but even with lower criteria in voting, the future will require faster decisions and ones whose perspective is from Caedellium and not individual clans. I know we’re still defining the paramount’s powers, but I don’t envy you establishing these ‘precedents’ over the next months and years.

  “You know, Yozef, the time will inevitably come when you and I will not agree. I won’t be pleased when that happens. However, if you rule against me, at least the other hetmen will see you don’t favor me. In fact, now that you mention these precedents, I’m thinking a bit of deceit might be useful. If you and I agree with an issue where you can publicly rule against me, I can pretend displeasure. I can even grumble to other hetmen at the terrible treatment I’ve received from an ungrateful son-in-law.” Culich laughed.

  Yozef joined in, drawing looks from other hetmen. “Maybe something between Keelan and Moreland?” he proposed.

  “Perfect!” said Culich. “I’ve never been shy about my opinions of the Moreland clan. Ask Maera to think of something. She’s taken notes at many a meeting and on issues where Gynfor Moreland and I clashed. She might have a better perspective on an issue where you can come down on Moreland’s side. I can also grumble privately to a few of the hetman about my displeasure at your taking a wife from the Moreland family. Anarynd’s a dear, but few of the hetmen have ever met her.”

  A speech by Paramount Kolsko concluded the final day of the Senate session. The previous days, the attendance had been restricted to the hetmen or to the hetmen with limited advisers. Today, the Senate held the meeting in a large hall with more than two hundred attendees. Although the address aimed overtly at the hetmen, all present would hear the paramount’s words.

  After greeting the individual hetmen, Yozef sat on the speaker’s platform. The previous times he’d addressed hetmen gatherings, he’d wondered how qualified he was to advise seasoned leaders. Those days were gone, and he was aware of the change within himself. He wondered whether he would recognize Joseph Colsco, if he could meet the man he had been those few years ago.

  At precisely nine bells, Paramount Hetman Yozef Kolsko, wearing a gold sash from shoulder to hip, struck the same ceremonial gong they had used for All-Clan Conclave meetings. It had been transferred to the Senate to preserve tradition and remind attendees of the connection between conclave and Senate. He then walked to the lecturn at the front of the room. After customary salutations and acknowledging the Senate’s role, he spoke.

  “Hetmen, there will be times when the new conditions will seem oppressive, unnecessary, or interfering, and at those times, you might understandably be tempted to look backward to the perceived halcyon days of total clan independence. What you have done is make rational decisions—exchanging some of your clan’s independence for peace, security, and prosperity. Some days you might doubt the wisdom of your decisions, and those times will come. All of you must remember why we are in this situation today and how the present might have been tragically different had the clans not united against the Narthani. Also, remember that unity did not come quickly or without dissent.

  “Everyone who was at Orosz City on that fateful day knows how our future hung by the thinnest thread. That we were victorious should harden our resolve to never again let the future of Caedellium veer so close to the abyss. This determination forms the foundation of our new beginning, signified by this gathering today. Those of you who know me best will understand it is not my desire to stand here in the position of paramount hetman. Neither should we fool ourselves that most of you hetmen, perhaps all, would not rather keep your traditional clan independence. Yet here we are—committed to a new order and bound by our belief that peace, liberty, and prosperity of all the people of Caedellium require a new understanding of the island’s place on Anyar.

  “One of the changes is how we, and people everywhere on Anyar, should now think of the word ‘Caedellium’ as naming not only an island but a nation—the nation of Caedellium, located on an island of the same name, where twenty-one independent clans previously existed but now are permanently united.

  “This means that everyone on Caedellium needs to think of themselves not only as an Oroszian, a Stentese, a Mittackian, or a member of any of the other clans, but also a member of the nation of Caedellium, the same as others regard themselves as Fuomi, Frangelese, Iraquiniks, or, yes, even Narthani.

  “This also means we must consider what is common to everyone on Caedellium and not what makes us different. Does anyone doubt that people from clans on different ends of the island share far more with one another than they do with anyone living elsewhere on Anyar?

  “One of the paramount hetman’s duties is to identify any individual or group that works to serve their own interests over the greater good of all the people of Caedellium and to counsel against
selfish motives. Another duty is to refute claims that Caedelli from one section of the island are inherently more deserving or noble than people from another section. We are all equal in God’s eyes, and though there will always be differences, all the people are equally entitled to justice, security, prosperity, and respect.

  “The days of active strife between clans are over . Many of you have witnessed violent disputes, ranging from isolated incidents to serious fighting. The All-Clan Conclaves had stopped the worst of the fighting known from history, but even those gatherings had limitations. The paramount, in his position as commander of the Army of Caedellium, will ensure peace and security among the clans.”

  Yozef ended the speech by describing his vision of a secure and prosperous future for all the peoples of Caedellium and calling on God to grant them wisdom.

  The formal adjournment of the Senate only meant that Yozef spent the next two hours “kissing and shaking hands,” as he told Maera. He took time to talk with each milling hetman and ended the session by hosting a lavish mid-day meal where more “pressing the flesh” occurred.

  It had taken several months to complete the political and physical requirements for the first session of the Caedellium Senate, which took place a year after the Battle of Orosz City. As expected, the physical details proved easiest with completion of a new Senate building a mile west of Orosz City. Nudging the more reluctant, or more obtuse, hetmen to think in terms of the whole island, instead of only their own clans, took far more time and often tested Yozef’s patience.

  Yet the delays allowed Yozef to divert his frustration into focusing on construction of a new Kolsko manor, once the entire family accepted that Orosz City would be their permanent home. Yozef appreciated their new house in the mountain cleft north of Orosz City because it took him twenty minutes to make the trip home from the island headquarters complex just west of the old city. When traveling from home, he could think about the coming workday, and when heading to home, he could relax and process the day. It also gave him time to reorient his thinking from “Paramount Hetman Yozef Kolsko” to “Yozef, father and husband.”

  After Carnigan Puvey finished work at the rehabilitation facility for minor offenders, he went to the HQ complex and waited with two guards assigned to follow Yozef’s movements. They often rode home in silence, as the three companions respected the paramount’s need to be with his own thoughts.

  Morwena Puvey assumed the role of lookout for Yozef and Carnigan’s arrival each evening. From a ridgeline two hundred feet above the Kolsko Manor grounds, she focused a telescope on Orosz City and the newly finished headquarters building of the Paramount and staff. In that building, from a window facing the mountains, a fifteen-year-old female aide hung banners to communicate the paramount’s status: a white banner signaled his presence, blue meant he had left for home, green indicated he would be working late, and red meant he had left for elsewhere, with more information coming by messenger. If darkness came without a clear signal being sent, Morwena would return home, disappointed at not fulfilling her role.

  Today, the sun hung two fingers above the eastern horizon when the white banner withdrew through the distant window and a blue banner unfurled. Squealing, Morwena raced barefoot to carry the news down the smooth path built by her step-father, Carnigan.

  She ran past her home, stopping only to check if her mother was there, then on to the Kolsko house to alert the other children. When Yozef and his party turned off the road and into their lane, they were ambushed by a band of scoundrels led by Morwena and her main cohorts, Dwyna Killin and Aeneas Kolsko. Future members of the band—Xena, Odysius, and Anida Kolsko—remained at the manor. Yet their mothers were resigned to the inevitable day when they would progress from toddling to running and join the outlaw gang. The other prospective gang member, Galyn Puvey, showed signs of precociousness in walking, and his mother, Gwyned, bemoaned the effort it would take to keep tabs on the large, strong redhead.

  Carnigan had held steadfast in not naming his son after the paramount. “Don’t we have enough damn Yozefs around already? I can’t walk through city streets without hearing someone calling after one of them. People should give their children their own names and not name them after anyone else, even a Paramount. When I’m at the manor and call out, ‘Yozef,’ I don’t want more than one person to look my way.”

  On this late afternoon after the first Senate meeting, Yozef dismounted and gave his reins to Synton Ethlore. He walked ahead, oblivious to danger, only to be surprised and fall into the grasp of three desperadoes.

  “Whose turn is it today?” said Yozef.

  “Me, me!” said an excited Dwyna, who was lifted onto Yozef’s shoulders for the rest of the walk to the manor. When Aeneas furrowed his brow, Yozef anticipated tears were forthcoming.

  “Aeneas, I’m sure Synton will let you ride Mr. Ed.”

  The furrows vanished, as Aeneas transferred his interest from his father to the guard holding Yozef’s horse. Morwena had already run to Carnigan and grabbed one big finger, then she was twirled onto the broadest back in Orosz Province.

  Two hours later, family time and dinner over, Yozef and Maera relaxed on the front veranda, while Anarynd and Gwyned finished putting the children to bed. They sat on opposite ends of the wide swing, with Maera turned toward her husband, feet on his lap, while he massaged them. They’d taken to swelling during her pregnancy with Anida, and Maera had suggested that her husband’s foot massages didn’t have to end with the baby’s birth.

  “I talked with Eina today about the ‘constitutional monarchy’ you say we’re developing on Caedellium. She told me Fuomon has a similar system, although they call it something different than your English words. One difference is that here the clans fill the roles that wealth and family fill in Fuomon.”

  “Any political system needs to take into consideration the local conditions and traditions,” said Yozef. “It’s hard to know what will work well in any specific situation. Caedellium had to change to face the new reality. I’m doing the best I can, but who knows if anything I propose is the best option?”

  “Just don’t push too hard, Yozef. The clans have come further than I would have predicted, but a gradual change has a better chance of not encountering major resistance. Even Father has his limits.”

  “Oh, I’m well aware to be cautious about wanting too much too fast, but it’s just human nature never to be satisfied. I keep reminding myself how many things have gone so well. I expected resistance to the idea of the paramount controlling the military and foreign relations, as well as giving the paramount independence on how to spend coin coming to the central government. It would have been a nightmare if the clans had to approve every expenditure and decision.”

  Maera laughed and folded her arms under her head. “I shudder to imagine Nyvaks and Stent arguing. However, once coin starts going out, I doubt most of the hetmen will pay much attention, as long as they see their clans prospering.”

  “It’ll take time,” said Yozef, “at least a few years, for income from clan taxes and trade to do much of what needs doing. In the meantime, I’ll spend most of the coin from my various enterprises to fill in the budget gaps. It’s not like our family lacks anything meaningful, but we won’t be as fabulously wealthy as we could be.”

  “As if that matters,” said Maera. “We have more material goods than all but a few people on Caedellium. What we do with the coin will fulfill the duty we owe the people. That’s how my parents raised me. I don’t know how you came to believe this, given how you’ve described your family, but I’ve always sensed you saw coin only as a way to achieve great things. Even Ana strongly feels the same way, though in her case it’s come to her later, now that she’s part of this family and mother of the Moreland heir.”

  “Well, don’t anoint me as a saint too soon. My first urge for coin here on Caedellium was for food, shelter, and clothes.”

  “At first, yes, but you satisfied those needs, and your focus moved on.”


  “Speaking of moving on, now that we’re agreed what noble specimens of humanity we are, how we can convince the more affluent members of the current and future Caedellium society to donate more to the common good? Even my enterprises aren’t enough to fund what will be needed in the next few years.”

  “It might be easier than you think,” said Maera. “You still don’t fully understand how the clans function. If trade increases like you believe it will, the hetmen will have a chance to see that a good portion of the increased coin comes to the clan, although individuals will prosper, too. It’ll be yours, Father’s, and some of the other hetmen’s task to convince or coerce the other hetmen to follow your example and put that extra coin into what you call infrastructure—buildings, roads, schools, and everything else with long-term consequences, instead of the immediate.

  “You’ll need to use a different strategy on those Caedelli who become rich from the new trade. But I’m sure the Paramount and Septarsh Yozef Kolsko , combined with the hetmen, will convince them.”

  Yozef shrugged off the Septarsh reference and moved to change the subject. “Speaking of education, how did it go with Eina Saisannin temporarily taking your place?”

  Eina had stepped into Maera’s role as chancellor of the University of Caedellium during the last part of her pregnancy.

  “There were a few disgruntled comments at having a Fuomi leading the university, even if only for a few months, but we expected that. It helped that she was already dean of the Peoples Department. She obviously had more experience of peoples and nations throughout Anyar than anyone on Caedellium, including me. Anyone who interacted with her has never failed to accept, however grudgingly, her intelligence, sensitivity, and charm. She’s been careful to downplay her role as the Fuomon ambassador to Caedellium. The shipments of books and teachers from Fuomon she arranged didn’t hurt, either. They helped tremendously to get the university functioning so quickly.”