by Candy Rae
Paul was Elliot and Zilla’s third child. He became a priest and had a long and distinguished career within the Church.
Isobel, their second daughter, born in AL 615, married the senior Earl of the Island Confederation of Galland and was the longest lived of the five children, dying in AL 699.
Ian, the youngest, married Margravessa Catherine Duchesne, the granddaughter of Count Peter Duchesne, the Lord Marshall who had lost his life in Brentwood in AL 608 holding back the Larg.
Of Elliot’s three sisters, the eldest, Princess Susan got her wish and married Duke Robain Hallam in AL 611, aged eighteen. Princess Mary married Duke Ernest van Buren in AL 614 and Princess Janet married Duke Euan Kirkton of the Eastern Isles in AL 616.
The Dowager Queen Mary, Elliot’s grandmother who had been so kind to Robain during his first days at the palace died in AL 609. Elliot’s mother, the Dowager Crown-Princess Susan lived until AL 635.
On the political side, Elliot became known as Elliot the Twelfth, ‘The Great Reformer’. During the thirty-nine years of his reign his kingdom was transformed beyond all recognition. He forced though many changes.
In AL 610 he promulgated the decree, commonly known as ‘The Rights for Women’, repealing every one of the old laws forbidding them to hold titles, land and coin in their own right. Primogeniture remained as the basis of inheritance, titles and land rights still passed to the nearest male heir but provision had now to be made for any unmarried daughters and sisters and also for the widow. Fathers and brothers no longer had the right to force daughters and female siblings into convents.
Lower down the social scale, widows and daughters could inherit family businesses and farms. They could also become fully-fledged members of Guilds and of the farming co-operatives that began to spring up.
From AL 610 all Dukes were encouraged to abolish slavery in their own demesnes. The Northerly Dukes and Duchesses, those of Duchesne, Graham, Gardiner, Brentwood and North Baker declared slave emancipation in AL 611. South Baker followed in AL 613.
Hallam of course, the new name for Sahara, had declared all slaves free the month Robain became Duke.
In AL 615 Elliot declared that every slave remaining in the Kingdom free and outlawed the slave trade.
As Elliot had predicted and to everyone’s surprise the mines and plantations began to make much larger profits than they had when slavery was endemic. The ex-slaves, now being paid a wage for an honest day’s employment worked harder than ever, wanting to earn the bonuses that the Edict of Emoluments insisted employers pay their workers when profits reached a certain level.
This was not to say that ‘all was a bed of roses’. These changes were not accepted overnight. Many ex slave owners resented the emancipation and the disruption it caused.
Elliot had to put down a number of rebellions as disgruntled plantation and mine owners took to arms, calling for a reversal of policies. He had to call in the regiments to quell the most serious but eventually the kingdom settled down and Elliot was free to promulgate the Subsidy Decrees relating to the building of hospitals and schools.
Zilla stayed in the background during these tumultuous years, bringing up their family.
She and Elliot however, did do a lot of talking and discussing about what was happening and she gave him a lot of practical advice, which, wise husband that he was, he heeded and acted upon. So subtle was she that very few realised just how many of the new ideas emanated from her.
It was Zilla who insisted for instance that every child had the right to a basic education and that healthcare should be free to those who were unable to pay for it.
Whether they knew about these activities behind the scenes or not, the people loved her and when she died, two years after Elliot, the numbers who came to mourn during her funeral rivalled that of Elliot’s procession.
She is buried beside Elliot in the royal graveyard at Fort, Zilla, the Innkeeper’s daughter who won the heart of a Prince.
* * * * *
The Larg
After the battles of Fort, at the ridge in Duchesne and through Brentwood, the Larg fled back to their nadlians, desperate to find out what had happened to those they had left behind and to pick up the threads of their lives.
The Largan was dead as were most of the members of the ruling pack, those who had not died with the Largan having been killed by the Dglai or by the blast that had destroyed the Ammokko.
Largdom still existed but in a state of flux and confusion.
As AL 608 changed into AL 609, Zuvavdr, Kohortangan of the Larg army in Duchesne, was confirmed as Largan.
Once confirmed, he set about making peace between Largdom and elsewhere.
He was aided in this endeavour by the Lai who acted as go-betweens between him and the rulers of the other countries.
The first to agree to a peace with Largdom was Vadath. Zuvavdr attended the peace conference in Vada. He was flown there by Malaku so that he would not have to travel through Murdoch and Argyll whose inhabitants were not so keen to accept the Larg as were the Lind and those humans who lived with the Lind.
The first treaty was signed and paw-marked in AL 609.
In AL 612, perpetual peace was agreed between King Elliot of Murdoch and Zuvavdr the Largan, the boundaries of their respective lands being set.
In AL 614, Argyll followed suit.
This was not to say that the Lind and the Larg became firm friends but the Lind were prepared to forgive and the Larg were prepared to accept this forgiveness.
Some Larg packs were not happy about this, yearning for the days when fighting was at the heart of Larg culture.
Zuvavdr stamped on those who thought this with heavy paw and forced them to accept the new state of affairs.
He would not have been able to do this without the help of the Lai. He travelled from pack to pack, teaching and informing their members that this was the way the future was to be. They all listened and acquiesced. They could do little else because travelling with Zuvavdr were a group of Lai who either stood behind him looking stern as he talked or flew above belching flame.
Even the most reluctant Larg did not dare do more than voice unease and a longing for the old ways.
The Lai were never far away, especially during the early years. They maintained a permanent presence in the nadlians of the Larg, making sure that words of peace were spoken and not incitements to war.
As the generation who had fought in the war grew old and died, their descendants began to believe that dominance was no longer the destiny of the Larg.
The Lai began to look forward to the day when the Lind and the Larg would once more be as one as it had been in the old days before the earthquake had sundered the continents.
The Lai are long lived creatures and some of them might even see this for themselves.
* * * * *
The Susa
Zaoaldavdr, the Susa of the Larg Avuzdel took ship with his adult male rtathen to Big Island to the south of Vadath. There they waited for the arrival of the rest of his pack.
Hidden in the mountains they had managed to avoid detection by the Dglai and had waited out the war in safety.
A convoy of ships was sent by Susa Julia and Alyei to pick them up and bring them to Big Island.
The island was stocked with herds of kura and zarova.
The outcasts of Largdom attempted to make the island their home but they were neither happy nor at ease. The island was wooded and as with all Larg they disliked woods and forests.
After three winters, they decided that enough was enough and requested transport to the small northern continent which was the home of the Lai and also of some of the Lind who had lived there guarding the Lai for so long.
Another convoy of ships was chartered and the rtath made the crossing from Big Island to Vadath where they were made very welcome.
From there they journeyed through the rtathlians of the Lind, welcomed by each rtath they met along the way and who were delighted at this sign that the Larg were
here in peace.
They crossed over the narrow natural causeway that linked the two northern continents and entered the continent of the Lai.
There, in an area largely devoid of trees they made their home. They were the first of the Larg to be assimilated by the Lind.
As the generations progressed, the descendants of Zaoaldavdr’s rtath forgot that they had once been Larg. They became Lind, infused with the traditions and ideals of their one-time foes.
Some of these descendants became vadeln-paired with humans and joined the Vada, as Jim Cranston had foretold in the beginning and as the Lai had hoped during the long years of the sundering.
The most notable vadeln-pairing was between a great-grandson of Zaoaldavdr and a great-granddaughter of Danal and Grainne. Zandavei and Danala rose to become Susa of the Vada.
* * * * *
The Lai
The Lai continue to watch over us. There are no longer any wars between countries and species.
Internal disagreements are of course a different matter. The Lai do not interfere in these disputes and there are still the pirates who roam the seas and the predators who hunt in the more remote areas of our planet. The Lai leave the Garda and the Vada to deal with them on their own.
The slavers have been finding life difficult.
With the abolition of slavery in Murdoch they have found that their livelihood is much reduced. What trade in human cargo there is has gone undercover. There are still some islands, those in the western regions of the Great Eastern Sea where slavery has not been outlawed but there are not many.
Although the Lai do not interfere with internal government on them or any other, they do help the Argyllian Navy in their quest to search out and destroy any slave galleys. The Lai believe in freedom and the idea of any person being bought and sold offends them to anger.
Now that the Lai are not restricted to their own continent they are often seen flying in the skies above us. Sometimes they land, to the great excitement of those so honoured.
They are frequent visitors to those who they call their friends.
Vada is a popular stopping off place as are the domtas within the rtathlians of the Lind. It is believed that they also visit the Larg although such visits are unconfirmed.
Some Lai visit so frequently that their names have become well known to us, Aniku, Velu, Haru and Malaku being the names that immediately spring to mind. Haru especially is a well known sight at the reservoir above Stewarton, along with some others. They visit the people who flew with them to the southern continent and who dropped the bombas on the Dglai during the Battle of Duchesne.
The Lai and the Avuzdel continue to work to maintain our safety. They search the length and breadth of our planet making sure that no other intergalactic predators send forth more Botons to spy on us. The Dglai may be gone but there are without doubt others out there.
They also make sure that any weapons with large killing powers are not produced. This is accepted by the majority of our planet’s inhabitants. Now that we have peace we do not want it to end.
The power-core of the WCCS Argyll is being located. When it is found it will be excavated and there are plans to keep it safe on the continent of the Lai, just in case.
As for Quia, the Dglai and her young, they are numbered among the Lai.
It is hoped that their offspring, as long as they mate with the pure-blood golds will be able to fly high and over long distances but that will not be in my lifetime, or even in those of my great-grandchildren or their great-grandchildren. The Lai live a long time, for many hundreds of our years, mate perhaps three times and the Dglai are no different.
* * * * *
The Guildmaster
Annert continued as Guildmaster of the Technicians Guild for three more years. He kept in touch with Haru who flew over to visit his old friend at least once every other month.
He then resigned as Guildmaster, packed his bags and accompanied by an encumbered Miggi who refused to leave him, made his way to the reservoir where Haru and Malaku were waiting.
They left for the continent of the Lai and it was there Annert spent his remaining years.
He founded a settlement, the only settlement inhabited by humans on the third continent. He named it Talastown, to commemorate the life and bravery of his favourite and most talented journeywoman.
Professor Angus returned to the university and continued to teach mathematics until he too retired, not to the other continent (although Annert invited him) but to a small house on the outskirts of Stewarton in the care of a widowed niece whose husband had died in the war.
Jeannie and Jhonas married and had a string of children, the eldest were twins and were called Tala and Annert. Jhonas became a Master in the Guild although not the Guildmaster.
* * * * *
The Archbishop
Tom Brentwood carried on as Archbishop Primate of Murdoch until a few months before his death in AL 614.
He was Elliot’s ‘elder statesman’, mentor and advisor during these first all-important years of his reign.
He was succeeded as Archbishop Primate by Romauld Crawford, brother of Kellen Robert Crawford of Giffnock who, before being appointed Bishop of Hallam in AL 609 had been Chaplain to the royal family. He died in AL 630.
The Church remains important in the Kingdom of Murdoch, providing a continuity of belief and behaviour within the still, often turbulent, country.
* * * * *
The Convent
The Mother House of the Order of Grey Nuns near Brindal in the Duchy of Cocteau was never rebuilt.
The ruins stand and are buffeted constantly by the wind. With each winter more walls tumble down.
It has become a place of pilgrimage for the most devout although the names of those who died there have been forgotten by all but a few.
The new Mother House is situated at Mahler, in the Duchy of North Baker.
All Mother Abbesses in the order now change their name in religion to Breguswið when they take office.
* * * * *
Robain
Robain, First Duke of Hallam, remained in the Kingdom of Murdoch for the rest of his life, dying two years after Elliot at the ripe old age of sixty-eight.
He married Princess Susan, sister of Elliot in AL 612. They had six children, four boys and two girls.
Robain was born at the end of AL 612. He married Delia of Vadath, a daughter of Grainne and Danal. Robain the younger never became Duke of Hallam, deciding that he wished to go and live in Vadath and abdicated his ducal inheritance to his brother. In Vadath he lived happily with Delia who was a vadeln of the Vada and her Lind Kolyei, a son of Taraya and Teriyei.
Robain and Susan’s second son Liam became the second Duke of Hallam. He married a girl from Argyll, one Emily Durand, daughter of General Mander Durand and a niece of Hilla Talansdochter’s great friend Jen. They had five children, all of whom remained in Murdoch and married into various ducal and noble families, Emily, their second child, becoming Duchess of van Buren. Their only son Liam married Lucy Merriman, great-niece of the Kellessa who many had thought might have become Elliot the Twelfth’s Queen.
Robain and Susan’s eldest daughter Zilla married Duke William of North Baker. Their fourth child Derek married Kellessa Charlotte Dubois. Philip married the Daughter-heir of the Duchy of Graham.
Robain and Susan’s youngest child, Rilla, married a prince, Prince David of the cadet line of the royal family, son of Prince Pierre. Their son was called Robain, the first Prince of Murdoch to carry that name.
* * * * *
Robain was a successful and popular Duke. The mine owners at the beginning of his tenure were very antagonistic but they realised his value and good sense eventually.
The mine owners who refused to comply with his edicts Robain fined heavily, the coin going into the ducal coffers to help fund other projects.
The early years were hard for Robain. As happened elsewhere in the Kingdom some rose in rebellion against their new Duke and Ro
bain had to call in his friend, the Lord Marshall, Baron Philip Ross to put them down by force. Philip responded each time, sending in the Regiments to quell the riots. They did this with efficiency and minimum loss of life.
By AL 616, even the smallest mines were beginning to show a profit and the owners began to realise that this way was better for all.
Once things had settled down, Robain began to introduce his other reforms, some of which were later copied, with varying success, elsewhere in the Kingdom.
He brought in his brother Liam to set up hospitals and health facilities, mining being a dangerous occupation and mining related illnesses and accidents a constant hazard. He set up schools for the worker’s children and to educate the adults who as slaves had been kept in ignorance.
This all cost a lot of coin but his duchy was a prosperous one and King Elliot was lenient with his tax demands.
Robain’s people loved him, this was a new type of ducal rule, a benevolent one, never before seen in Murdoch, except once, now over six hundred years ago when the original Duke of Duchesne had tried, failed and fled.
Robain remained as forthright and as true to his beliefs to the end. He also remained Elliot’s closest and most loyal friend. He continued to tell the truth, however unpalatable to Elliot.
He and his wife Susan were frequent visitors at Court. Their children played with those of Elliot and Zilla in the gardens at the Citadel and they shared their governors and governesses. Both their sons, Robain and Liam became Boy Companions to Crown-Prince Elliot and Prince Paul.