“Yes, that is the conclusion that we both reached. He’s thirty. It would be criminal for us to marry a teenager to him,” Viktor admitted.
“So what do the rules say happens next? Does the High Council just vote someone to take over Castle Dorumova?” Zoran asked.
“Well, if all else fails, yes. It will take a majority of the High Council to approve such an appointment, once such a person is found,” Viktor answered.
“But before it goes that far, the rules clearly state that, in the event the appointed heir is invalid at the time of appointment, then the eldest remaining son, who is valid, may become the heir. Failing any valid remaining sons, then any remaining eldest daughter, who is valid, may become the baroness. If none meet that criteria, then it falls to the High Council to pick someone, as Viktor said,” Milan finished up.
“Well, that is interesting. There is one more valid son and two daughters,” Zoran explained. “I took your advice and rounded up the other known offspring of Kazimir’s. Jan Vavrin is only ten, but he is Duska now. Priestess Anezka performed the Ceremony of Ascension. I had her conduct it for all three. His sister, Zuza, is also ten. Finally, Kamila Lota is fifteen. We’ve got three valid candidates.”
Milan grimaced. “Bastard son and daughters will be the argument our enemies will put forward.”
“Can we argue for them?” Zoran asked.
“Certainly,” Viktor replied. “Jan would be the likely candidate, though he is too young. Isn’t there a regency rule for under-aged heirs?”
“Yes, somewhere, let me see.” Milan produced his copy of the rules, a hefty sized manual, which he had shrunk to transport it. Unshrinking it, he began to rifle through the pages. Zoran noted that the pages were well worn from extensive use. He realized that he ought to have a copy of the Federation Rule Book. Viktor promised to send him one soon.
“Ah, yes, here it is under Regents. It says that, if the valid heir is not yet eighteen, then the Circle can be held for him by an appointed Regent,” Milan read.
“Yes, that’s all well and good, Milan,” Viktor complained, “but who can be the appointed Regent? And who appoints him?”
“One moment, I haven’t been over these rules in years, Viktor. Let’s see here.” He rifled the pages back and forth. “Ah, a Regent can be anyone whom the under-aged, valid candidate chooses, subject to the following. A Regent cannot at the same time be another baron. While it is preferable for the Regent to also be a Duska, it is acceptable if he or she is not. If the Regent is not Duska, some provision must be made for the protection of the Circle of Ascension.”
“Terrific, all of the bases are covered, Zoran. We present to the High Council that the legal new baron of Dorumova is Jan Vavrin. His Regent can be Damek, with Kamila acting as Duska, when needed,” Baron Viktor replied, greatly relieved.
“By golly, this will work! Will Jan accept becoming the baron? Will he allow Damek to be his Regent? Will Kamila volunteer to act as his Duska when needed?” asked Baron Milan.
“I don’t know, but I sure don’t see why not. Should we present this to them now?” he asked.
A few minutes later, Zdenka brought all three children into the dining room to meet with the barons. She cleverly stayed, most curious to hear what transpired. Zoran did the talking. “Jan, we’ve been studying the Federation of Planet’s Rule Book to try to find out who the next baron of Castle Dorumova and its Circle of Ascension should legally be. It’s you, son. You are the next qualified heir of Baron Kazimir.”
“But Damek is so much older. Why isn’t it his?” Jan asked, confused.
“Because he is not Duska and you are. The baron must be a Duska or have a Duska wife. Damek’s Duska wife died, so he can no longer be its baron. Are you willing to become the next baron of Castle Dorumova?”
“Me a baron? Have my own castle? You bet, wow! Wait until I tell mom! We can live in a castle!” Jan was exuberant. What child of ten would not be?
“Now you won’t actually get to be the baron until you have your eighteenth birthday. Meantime, you must learn to read and write and learn your magic spells and how to be a baron,” Zoran explained. “In the meantime, you need to have someone who actually does run the Castle for you. That person is called a Regent. I cannot be your Regent because I already am a baron here. However, Damek can be your Regent. He knows how to deal with the army and has lived in the castle and how to run it. Would that be a good choice for your Regent?”
“Sure, he’d be perfect, only I wish you could be it, Zoran.”
“I know, but I can’t and he can. Now then, there is the Circle of Ascension there that must be considered. You know that it has to be very well protected. It is what gives the barons their powers. For that, you need a Duska to help you. If it is all right with you, how about having Kamila be your Duska helper with the Circle?”
“Sure, she’s really nice.”
“Kamila, are you willing to take on this extra responsibility, ensuring the safety of his Circle of Ascension?”
“Wow! Super, but I don’t know much about it, excepting we had that Ceremony with it.”
“Not a problem. I’ll get you trained up on it fast. Really, there are only a few things that you must know how to do — protection spells, which any Duska can learn quickly. I’m sure that you can manage it. Thank you, Kamila.” She beamed, for she was now going to become an important person at this fabulous castle!
“But I’m left out,” complained Zuza.
“I know, sis. How about you get trained to help out Kamila when she needs it? You can be her backup Duska. How about that?” Zoran improvised. This totally appeased Zuza; that she had a part to play was all that she wanted. She sat tall in her chair now.
“Okay, then it is back to studies with you all,” Zoran said. Grinning ear to ear, Zdenka lead them back downstairs.
“Okay, let’s clear this with Damek next. If he agrees, then we must fill out our formal request and send notices to all of the other barons. It is vital that our request gets to them before Eckhard figures out some way to take control, vis a vi his daughter,” Milan explained. Hence, the three Shadow Walked over to Castle Dorumova.
“Hi Zoran. Oh, hello barons. I have a little lunch prepared,” Damek greeted them as they materialized in the study.
While they dined, Zoran explained the rules and their solution. “Wow, Jan can legally become the next real baron here? That’s great. We get to keep it in our family,” Damek seemed greatly relieved that these men were not going to try to convince him to continue as baron.
Zoran then explained the need for a Regent and a Duska to monitor the Circle. When he found out that Jan wanted him to be his Regent and that Kamila would deal with the Circle business, Damek was very pleased. “Now that is something that I can do. For once, I am given something I can manage on my own! Thank god for that! Yes, I would love to be his Regent.”
“Good, good. The whole thing must be approved by the Spring High Council, but it seems that we are totally legal at every step. It ought to be approved. If you will excuse us, we must get this drawn up properly and submitted before Eckhard comes up with some devilish plan of his own,” Milan replied. He and Viktor made a hasty exit.
Alone for the first time, Zoran said, “Well, brother, you inherit our father’s mess. You have a golden opportunity to begin to set things right here.”
“Yes, there has been far too much bloodshed on Adapazan. Let’s not have any more wars, not for a very long time. My Generals are completely behind me. Say, I don’t know where any of the baron’s secret chambers are located, much less his treasury. I have to pay these people soon. Ideas?”
Zoran spent the next week going over every inch of the Castle. First, he dispelled every spell that Kazimir had cast upon the rooms. Together, they pitched the possessions of Kazimir, such as his clothes — cleaning house, Damek said. All of the secret chambers Zoran managed to locate, though more than once, he had to consult the ancient volumes of the original baron. Once Kazimir’s pr
otective spells had been dispelled, he recast new ones, and gave Damek the key word that allowed him access without dispelling said spells.
His week actually turned into several weeks work. He’d forgotten just how large the castle complex actually was! By February, Castle Dorumova was now completely in the hands of Damek. The Archmage tower there was another matter entirely.
In February, the combined Archmages and Mages finally gained entrance, having at last cracked Archmage Milos’ protective spells. They spent the whole month carefully identifying and dispelling all of his protections that he’d place on the various rooms and contents. Once it was safe, they then cleaned house here as well.
Zdenka carefully examined all of the books and scrolls to see if any were useful to have at her tower. To everyone’s amazement, Archmage Oldrich’s collection greatly exceeded what Milos had. Only two volumes did she confiscate for their use. Once they finished at the end of February, Zdenka cast a protection spell on the main entrance. When a new Archmage could be found for Baron Jan, the tower would be given to him or her.
The 15th of March was now only two weeks away. Much hinged upon this High Council. The balance of power shift was nearly complete.
Chapter 29 The Spring High Council Meets
Per Baron Milan’s request, Zoran took his party to the High Council around three in the afternoon the day before the meeting. He wanted to hold a private meeting with him. This time, the event was on the desert planet of Anwyn, home of one of Zoran’s enemies, Baron Carwyn Alun and Baroness Elain. Besides Zdenka, Zoran took Karel, Bernard, Jarka, and General Janos, who added three Security guards as well. Back home, Emil took charge of their defenses, while Renata continued teaching the students their magic lessons.
Anwyn was an arid planet, that is the largest land mass, several thousand miles long and a thousand wide, was dry. Sandy deserts and scrappy, arid hills predominated. That is not to say the continent was without water. While many oases dotted the desert, two huge rivers, running north to south, roughly divided the continent in thirds. One river was Y-shaped, called Aeronwy or wy-river. In the north at the Y lay the capital city of Aeron, where Baron Carwyn’s castle was located. The port city of Rhian lay at the mouth of this great river. The other river was called Ysbail. It was shaped like an enormous Z, hence it was the Z-river. At the two bends lay the other two large cities of Tarren in the north and Seren in the south.
Zoran carefully Shadow Walked his party to the wy-river and then zeroed in on Aeron and the sprawling castle and fortifications there. Because it was early March, the weather was not yet unbearably hot; rather the temperatures were in the low eighties during the nearly always sunny days. As they drew close, date and fig trees could be seen along with a large number of palm trees rising like stark sticks above the bleak, barren, brownish sands. Their landing point was a large brown stone platform, centrally located within the secure walls of the fortification, some distance from the sprawling castle complex. The castle itself was only two stories high, but was quite large. Land they had aplenty here. Besides there was no reason to erect taller buildings for the land here was quite flat.
As they arrived, the dry air was quite noticeable compared to the snow which still covered the high country of Brn. Baron Carwyn and Baroness Elain were there to welcome them, along with their three teenagers. He was tall and thin, perhaps thirty-five, with short brown hair and moustache. Carwyn was handsome. He wore native dress, a white robe and sandals. His wife was perhaps a year younger, with very long, straight brown hair and a pale oval face. Everyone’s skin was a light tan from constant exposure to the hot sun.
“Welcome to our home and Anwyn. This is the Castle Aeron. My wife, Baroness Elain, my eldest son and heir, Cadfael.” He was fifteen and a splitting image of his father, though smaller. He carried a wicked scimitar at his side. “My charming daughters, Beanwenn and Ceri.” Both dressed like their mother and wore their brown hair long as well. All the women wore court ball gowns similar to those that Zdenka and Jarka wore, not the latest in fashion, rather the ones that billowed out only five feet. Zdenka was thankful that she remembered that Elain had not worn the latest fashion dresses on Terra. Hence, she and Jarka, while they brought those confining dresses and heels, chose to wear the more practical gowns.
After exchanging pleasantries, Baron Carwyn said, “Baron Zoran, my condolences on the death of your father. I would very much like to speak privately with you before the High Council opens tomorrow. Baroness Elain wishes you to dine with us and the other early arrivals at five. Perhaps we can get together for a word after dinner?”
“Thanks. Yes, we’ve never really had an opportunity to chat, one on one. I know that my Uncle wishes to speak to me as well. Shall I contact you when I am free?” he replied politely.
Carwyn agreed. “Come, let us show you to your rooms and then perhaps you would like a tour of our fortress?”
“Thanks. Sure, I’d love to see your place. Already I can see that Anwyn is vastly different than our mountainous Brn,” Zoran replied rather formally. The Baron led the way, escorting them into the extremely large castle complex. Their suite of rooms was on the second floor. From the signs on the doors that they passed, all of his enemies and many of those that were Neutrals were given suites on the first floor. Theirs was between the suites occupied by the Matous and by the Pavels. Once settled, they got their tour. Zoran noted that the Archmage tower was the tallest building in the complex and even the city, rising a full five stories, round as expected. He wondered just why wizard towers were cylindrical in shape.
Baron Milan and his party were already present, and he chose to meet with Zoran just as soon as his nephew returned from the tour. “It is as I expected. Baron Eckhard is also submitting a claim for your father’s castle and Circle. The High Council will allow him to make his formal presentation first, and then we make ours. His claim can only be his youngest son, Burkhard, who is now eighteen and of age to become a baron. He is betrothed to Baron Bogdan’s youngest daughter, Cede. If they marry, it will further unite those planets, the Clav’s and Hadwig’s. Adolf, Eckhard’s heir is already married to Bogdan’s daugher, Greta.”
“Can his claim override ours?” Zoran asked, becoming worried that their plan would fail.
“Not very likely. However, if we did not have a good basis, then, yes, his may well win the day. I don’t think that we have too much to fear from his claim. Now let’s get some dinner.”
After diner, Zoran and Carwyn held their private meeting. “It’s about time that we had a chat, Baron,” Carwyn began his carefully planned discussion. “How is the construction of your fortress coming along? It’s been nearly a year now, since construction began, right?”
“Yes, the outer walls are up and the castle construction has begun. I’m afraid that ours will be only a dim shadow of everyone else’s fortresses and castles. We just don’t have the funds or the time to construct as elaborate ones as everyone else has. I’m impressed with yours. It is so expansive.”
“Yes, space we have aplenty here on Anwyn. That, and a whole lot of sand. You don’t need sand, now do you?” For a moment, Zoran thought he was serious, and then the grin told him it was a tease. Both men chuckled. “Sand makes fine glassware. Anyway, Zoran, you mentioned a key element, lack of funds. You see, you should not consider us here your enemies. I know that Barons Milan and Viktor have convinced you that it is us versus them, with the rest being politically Neutral.” Zoran nodded, he stated the obvious.
“However, that is not the complete picture. Between you and I, Zoran,” he leaned forward as if revealing some secret, “it is more like the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-not’s.’ Really, that is what a lot of these alliances are all about. You see, Adapazan is really with our alliance, the have-not’s. Your planet is mountainous; it’s difficult to find much land on which to grow crops. Grains, in particular, have to be imported. It is the same with us here in the desert. We have hot sands and not much else. On Dietmar, Baron Eckhard’s plane
t, snow predominates, nearly year round in much of his world. I cannot imagine living in cold temperatures year round. Then on Jing, Baron Cheng’s world, swamps prevail. Nearly all of that planet’s land mass is swampy and marshy. He does grow a lot of rice, I’ll give him that. In many ways, Rehor, Baron Bogdan’s planet, is much like your own, mountainous and rugged.”
“You see the bigger picture? We are the have-not’s. Admittedly, Asami, Baron Hajime’s water world, at least has pearls in vast quantities so they can import nearly everything a man must have to live. On Chana, Baron Aryeh’s desert planet, they have vast diamond mines and trade such for staples. Gerde, Baron Adolf’s mountainous world does have sufficient plains to grow sustainable crops, and he has plenty of gold mines. These three are Neutral. While they are not wealthy planets, they are able to get by.”
“Now you take Gladno, Valtr, Cosma, Terra, and Gonda. All of these planets are awash in nearly everything that makes life survivable and pleasurable. All five planets are extremely wealthy. Have you not noticed that Cosma and Terra supply much of the grains that sustain so many other planets? These planets have gotten rich off of the rest of the planets. They are the have’s.”
“So you see, it is not some grand scheme of Good versus Evil in play here. It is a game of the have’s versus the have-not’s. Really that is what it is all about. Adapazan is a have-not planet, which is why your late father was aligned with us. Our objectives have always been to get a better compensation from the wealthy planets. Have you not noticed the wealth, the triumph of the arts on Gladno, Terra, and these others? Whereas here, it is mere survival that occupies our daily lives. We have no time for the arts, not on the scale that you saw on Terra, for example.”
“I know that Baron Milan is your Uncle and that Kazimir, the old fool, totally treated you badly, forcing you into exile. Perhaps, that was for the best. After all, you were able to rescue Brother Jiri, and he’s begun to create new Circles for the first time in over two centuries. Did you know that Milan and Kazimir were half-brothers? They had the same mother. I think that is in part why Milan has been so hard on Kazimir, sibling rivalry.”
Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town Page 42