Young Lord of Khadora (11 page)

“No,” answered Marak, “I barely know the man. I suspect our good Lord expects us to fail in Fardale. I do not know how he expects to profit from our failure, but I do know that he is going to be sorely disappointed because I do not intend to fail.”

“I do not know where to begin,” sighed Zorkil. “Fardale was not in good shape before the Chula started to cause trouble. Our yield from the fields gets less every season. That is why Lord Lashendo was trying to clear the Sitari Valley. People are unhappy about many things. The Seneschal and Bursar are both very old. Seneschal Pito doesn’t leave his room on most days, so there is no one to watch the mansion help. Bursar Tachora was known as a brilliant man, but even Lord Ridak knows that he is long past time for pasture. Most of the Army is old and cast off from other estates. I often think that Fardale is like a retirement estate for the other Lords. They send someone who is no longer efficient to Fardale and it counts as a contribution to the Situ Clan, the same as if they sent young men to serve in Lord Ridak’s Army.”

“You are not that old,” Marak observed. “How did you come to Fardale?”

“I married a woman whose father is a smith at Fardale,” answered Zorkil. “She did not want to leave her father and I had no family ties at River’s Bend, so I requested a move to Fardale and got it. I think the older men of the Army may have trouble accepting you as our Cortain or Lord. That may very well be your first obstacle. The men may feel that their first allegiance is to Lord Ridak and then to the Lord of Fardale. If Lord Ridak is expecting you to fail, they may help him. The Chula will be another major problem. The Army will use your young age as a reason to refuse to follow you back to Sitari Valley. Your age will not really have anything to do with it. They are afraid to go back there and I do not blame them. If an enemy can sneak into a well-guarded camp and kill all of the officers, you do not want to face them in their own forest. Every group who has tried is dead.”

“I admire you for exposing your fears to me,” stated Marak. “Why do you trust me when you do not know me?”

“I don’t know, My Lord,” answered Zorkil. “Perhaps a lot of small things. I saw the way you handled yourself last night and compare it to the way Lord Ridak handled himself. I saw the way your men felt truly happy for you this morning and the way your slave mother was loved by her son. Also, the way you are talking to me now indicates that you really want to help the people of Fardale. You could have accepted what Lord Ridak told you to do, but, instead, you want to understand what the problems are. Everything about you indicates that you are going to make life better in Fardale if you can accomplish it. That does not mean you will succeed, but you have my willful help just for the asking.”

“Thank you,” accepted Marak. “A miracle starts with believing and you are my first. I am going to need your help to influence the others to actively work to solve our problems. Now, start with the very basics. I want to know each of the crops grown in Fardale, how they are doing this year, why they are performing the way they are. Then I want to know about the organization of the Army. Every name that you can think of and that person's characteristics. I will not remember them all, but I will absorb as much as I can.”

Squad Leader Zorkil spent the entire journey chattering in Marak’s ear. At certain times, Marak took notes and scribbled suggestions for actions to be taken later. Towards the end of the journey Marak began to sense the immense proportions of the task ahead of him. Lord Lashendo was an experienced ruler and he had failed to overcome Fardale’s problems, but Marak did not lose hope. He was committed to making Fardale work better than anyone had ever envisioned.

As Marak’s Corte got close to Fardale, he called the column to a halt.

“Squad Leaders,” Marak shouted, “assemble your men before me.”

Marak waited while the Squad Leaders formed their men. Everyone was curious about the reason for the stop when they were so close to Fardale. Marak waited patiently for the group to settle down.

“Situ warriors,” Marak began, “we are soon to enter Fardale, our new home. We are going to be facing some difficult times in the next few months and it is important that we start out on the right foot. Every one of you heard Lord Ridak’s pronouncement when we left Lituk Valley. The same cannot be said for our friends in Fardale. I expect all of you to form a solid backbone of support for me during these troubled times. I need your support.”

Marak scanned the faces before him and wondered if anyone would raise objections. Most, he knew, would readily embrace his plans for Fardale, but even one objection could mean trouble.

“Although you were read part of the pronouncement,” Marak continued, “you did not hear it all. Lord Ridak has granted me, Lord Marak, absolute authority over Fardale, of which you are now a part. To facilitate my absolute authority, each of you will now offer your Vows of Service to Lord Marak. These Vows will replace your Vows of Service to Lord Ridak.”

Squad Leader Rybak saluted and stepped forward. “Cortain,” addressed Rybak, “my men have given Vows of Service to Lord Ridak. We are Situ warriors and we can not replace the Vows we have already uttered.”

Marak smiled when he saw confusion on the faces of Rybak’s men. Rybak had not discussed this protest with his men. He undoubtedly had prior knowledge of the clause from talking with Lord Marshal Grefon, but he did not expect Marak to move so quickly.

“Would you violate your Vows to Lord Ridak, Squad Leader Rybak?” posed Marak.

“Never!” exclaimed Squad Leader Rybak. “That is my point. We can not take your Vows because it would violate our Vows to Lord Ridak.”

“Did Lord Ridak assign you to my command and order you to obey me in Fardale?” Marak asked.

“Yes, Cortain, of course, but . . . ”

“Did Lord Ridak make me Lord Marak of Fardale and specifically state that I should exercise absolute authority over everyone under my command?” Marak pushed.

“Well, yes, Cortain, but . . . ” Rybak said nervously.

“And doesn’t absolute authority mean that all previous Vows of my subjects are negated, with the knowledge of the Lord issuing the pronouncement?” smiled Lord Marak.

Rybak knew about the clause in the pronouncement, but he never considered that it also applied to him. He considered himself part of the command from Lituk Valley, not a member of the Fardale contingent, but even as a soldier on temporary assignment, he was subject to the rule of the Lord of the estate he was stationed at. Marak was correct. The only way that Rybak could get out of issuing the Vows of Service to Marak was to violate the Vows to Lord Ridak and that would mean slavery.

“Yes, Lord Marak,” bowed Rybak. “I am grateful for your explanation.”

Rybak moved back into position with his men and Lord Marak scanned the assembly looking for any other signs of dissent. Seeing none, he began the procedure of allowing each man to step forward and recite his Vows of Service to Lord Marak. The whole ceremony was over in minutes and Marak addressed them again.

“The Vows you have just taken,” stated Marak, “put you in my service until such time as I deem fit to release you. Every person in Fardale must take these same Vows. Until everyone has, none of you are permitted to speak of them. When we arrive I will go directly to the Meeting Chamber. You men will begin the process of bringing everyone into the Meeting Chamber to recite their Vows. No one will be overlooked and no one is to have foreknowledge of the nature of the Vows. Squad Leader Rybak and his men will remain in the Meeting Chamber with me. Squad Leader Tagoro will lead people into the Chamber and Squad Leader Botal will manage those exiting from the Chamber. Squad Leader Zorkil, you will be in charge of the mansion staff. I want to process them first and then the Army. Are there any questions?”

There were no questions and the Corte mounted their horses and continued the journey to Fardale. Marak continued pressing Zorkil for information about Fardale. Zorkil noted that he was impressed with Lord Marak’s absolute authority and further declared that there would be few objections from the people at Fardale. Fardale was fairly isolated from the rest of the Situ Clan and their allegiance had always been to their Lord. Most of the people would not know Lord Ridak if they tripped over him.

Within an hour after taking their Vows, the Corte sighted Fardale and Fardale saw them. A rider came out to greet them and, at Marak’s insistence, Squad Leader Zorkil did the talking. He introduced Marak as Cortain Marak and requested that the Meeting Chamber be made available immediately. He stated that Marak wanted to see every person on the estate and would address everyone as a group only after that. The rider pressed for more information, but Zorkil sent him off to prepare for the Cortain’s visit.

As soon as the Corte arrived, Marak headed straight for the Meeting Chamber with Rybak’s men right behind him. As Marak was getting situated, Zorkil appeared with Seneschal Pito and Bursar Tachora. They were rather amused that young Marak was their new Lord, but were cooperative and recited their Vows. Marak then sent them off to obtain lists of all Fardale personnel. Seneschal Pito would have the lists of slaves and unpaid workers, while Bursar Tachora held the pay records for everyone else. Both men returned with their lists and remained for the rest of the Vows. Considering the large number of people on the Fardale estate, the ceremony was finished quickly. Zorkil helped Tagoro round up everyone after he finished with the household staff and Botal roped off a huge area behind the mansion so the kitchen staff could provide refreshments in a festive atmosphere.

Squad Leader Zorkil was correct and only a handful of people made any sign of resistance. Marak made sure their names were noted as potential problems. By the time all of the Vows of Service had been given Fardale was in the midst of a party. Marak walked out to address them and had to wait several minutes to get their attention.

“Fellow Clan members,” began Lord Marak, “I want to thank you for making my assumption to Lord of Fardale painless. I know many of you are curious about who I am and what my reign will be like. I am not going to give you some grand story and a bunch of meaningless promises. The next few months are going to be hard on all of us. Our number one priority will be to bring in the crops and deliver on our contracts. I know you have been through some terrifying times and the Chula occupy your thoughts every day, but the Chula are a problem for the Army. I have plans for dealing with the Chula. What we need are plans for dealing with the crops. I am not familiar with Fardale or its crops, so I have to depend on you to inform me of what is needed.”

Marak paused to sip a glass of water and survey the crowd. Everyone was listening intently, but in every group there were people shaking their heads. “I have some new rules for Fardale that some will think foolish, but I assure you that anyone interfering with these new rules will be dealt with harshly. Anyone with a suggestion for improving crop yield will have the right to speak with any superior about it. That means that a field worker, even a slave, who has a thought about how to improve our crop yields should present their idea. If they think their suggestion is valid and is not being acted upon, they may take the suggestion to a higher authority without any recriminations. That includes bringing the matter to my attention. If anyone is in any way punished for this, I will deal with those responsible harshly.”

Marak used his glass of water as an excuse to survey the crowd again. Nodding heads were starting to appear to negate the shaking heads so Marak knew he was heading in the right direction.

“This policy,” he continued, “will extend to suggestions in all estate matters, but crop yield must be given the highest priority. This new policy does not excuse anyone from discussing their suggestions with their immediate superiors first. Only go further if your suggestion is not being acted upon. For those of you in the Army, we are going to need new Lectains and new Cortains. Every member of the Army is allowed to make nominations for these positions. No one may nominate themselves and each person may only make a nomination for one Cortain and One Lectain. The nominations shall be written and signed and can be left sealed with the Seneschal.”

This got the soldiers excited and Marak had to wait for the noise level to drop before proceeding. “I am also instituting a Council of Advisors for Fardale,” resumed Lord Marak. “This Council will be made up of one representative from the Army, one from each of the guilds, the Seneschal, the Bursar, one from the household staff, one from the laborers, one from the mages and one from the slaves. Nominations will be the same as those mentioned for the Army, but will be delivered instead to Bursar Tachora.”

Most of the crowd were nodding now and Marak concluded that most of the people, like people everywhere, were frustrated by what they saw as inept rulers with the workers not having any chance to offer suggestions. Marak observed that people tend to put more effort into their work when they feel they have some hand in directing it and the people of Fardale proved to be no exception. There was barely a shaking head to be seen. Squad Leader Botal’s idea about creating a festival atmosphere for the talk was also helpful. Marak saw many smiling faces with the froth of ale on their lips.

“Now, to celebrate the arrival of your new Lord,” smiled Marak, “work for the rest of the day is cancelled.”

Marak stepped down from the impromptu stand, which Botal had erected for him, and returned to the Meeting Chamber to think about what he would do next. Squad Leader Zorkil entered a few moments later.

“What is the matter, Lord Marak?” Zorkil queried. “The people seem happier than I have seen them in a long time. Why are you not happy as well?”

Marak looked up at his smiling Squad Leader. “There is much to do,” sighed Marak. “I am not sure where I should begin or even whether I have the necessary skills to take care of these people. I pushed my way into this position so I would be able to help the people. Well, I have the position now and I don’t know what to do.”