Earthquae

I woke up as the sun lit up the state bedroom. A servant had drawn back the curtains on all three windows. Larna was lying next to me, and the servant went around the room to prepare breakfast and a bath in the adjoining chambers.

"Good morning, Your Majesty! I hope nothing got damaged last night and everything is still working. At least the windows seemed to have held."

Maybe I was still a bit sleepy, and I did not understand her right, but the lovemaking session of last night could not have been that wild. I looked at the servant confused.

"The earthquake, around midnight. Didn't you feel it?"

An earthquake. My mind was racing, could this have been at the time, when Larna and I were -- of course, it must have been. Still, I was not sure.

"I think I must have slept through it. I was quite tired last night."

"Really? We thought we heard a scream during the earthquake from the state bedroom down to the servants' quarters, but we were not sure."

But I was sure now, "It must have come from somewhere else." My wife pretended to be asleep, but I saw her grin as she listened to the conversation.

"In any case, it looks like there is no significant damage to the palace and the city. The Commander of the Royal Household has sent me to wake you up earlier. Some officers of the state and of the city came to the palace to see you. Bath and breakfast are prepared for you."

"Thank you." I rubbed the rest of sleep out of my eyes, and before she could leave the room I asked the servant, "What's your name? Since I think we will see each other quite often."

"Kalina, Your Majesty."

"Have a good day, Kalina."

I went into the side chamber with the toilet and the bath and started my morning routine. My clothes were prepared in the bedroom. Larna looked sleepily out of bed.

"An earthquake?"

"It seems so."

"And I thought we had both become a force of nature," she chuckled.

"That would have been better. Hopefully there is not too much damage, but I will learn about this quite soon. Will you get up too?"

"After you leave. Like yesterday three servants will come and help me bathing and with my hair. They are a queen's hairs now, so I need help," She chuckled again. "And despite the earthquake I am in a good mood today!"

"I wonder why..."

I kissed her and went for breakfast.

After the breakfast I walked through the arcaded courtyard to my study in the Garden Wing. I saw some signs of the earthquake. The snow must have come down from the roof in small avalanches.

When I stepped into my study, Mandrak was already waiting for me.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. The officers are gathering in the domed hall. They are quite many, so we won't find enough place in the meeting room. The Commander of the Royal Household has suggested the Great Library. It is big enough and heated."

"Thank you Mandrak. That is fine by me. Are you allright?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, just a bit shaken up. I have never before experienced an earthquake."

In Rallagoah there were earthquakes from time to time. Never anything dramatic, just enough to make us cautious and watch out for building damage that could get worse in the next quake. Mandrak was born in the east, where earthquakes were unheard of.

"It is quite something, yes. Would you please ask the Chrusor to gather the officers in the great library and have them sit there, not stand. And have him and Zurat, the Commander of the Ceremonial Guards come to my office before I walk over."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

When Mandrak left the room, I walked to a window and looked out into the garden. Everything was covered with snow and looked peaceful. I just hoped that all the basins and water pipes were still in order. Repairing these would be very costly.

"Your Majesty, good morning," I heard the Chrusor say. He had come in with Zurat.

"Good morning, Commanders. I wanted to see you both, before I go out there to all the officers, to find out how my own house is doing before I talk about the city."

Zurat answered, "Everything seems in order, Your Majesty. No fire has broken out, the roofs are not damaged, even the water pipes seem to work normal. About the pipes and basins in the gardens we will have to see when spring comes."

"And in the city, anything I need to know beforehand?"

"Nothing dramatic, as far as we know. Two or three people are slightly injured, but the officers were still not sure if this was from the earthquake or from a barfight. And a small fire broke out, but that could already be extinguished."

"Will this meeting be an official king's council?"

"We would advise you to make it one. It would be much easier for the officers then to carry out any orders with this authority."

"Well. Then, let's go."

Chairs were set up in the Great Library as if for a play. But instead of a stage, there were chairs at the front end. It seemed, for me and several high-ranking officials. As soon as I came into the room, everyone became silent. I took my seat. On my right side was the Mayor of Rallagoah and the commander of the municipal fire brigade; on my left side were Chrusor, Commander of the Royal Household and Zurat, Commander of the Ceremonial Guards. Several government officials were in the room, along with about 100 other people from the city, who seemed to hold an office of relevance in case of an earthquake.

I stood up and told everyone to stay seated.

"This is an official king's council. Orders from this council are the king's orders. The council is to be held within the limitations and protocols of a king's council. Those of you, who don't know it's rules will be helped."

I let my words sink in for some moments, and after everyone seemed to calm down a bit, I continued, "As it is custom in a king's council, a story of wisdom is to be told in the beginning, to clear our minds and set us in the right mood. For this occasion, we will share one ourselves:"

One day a government official walked on his way to the office through the theatre courtyard. He saw some birds flying in the sky and watched them with awe. When he had admired them enough and was on his way again, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his head. The next thing he saw, was the soft face of Naletha, the goddess of the dead.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"Don't you know me, my boy?" she asked back.

"I am no boy!" he said back to her, "I am a government official of His Majesty's!"

"No, where you are now, you are just a little boy. You sleep in my arms and are nourished by my soft breasts."

Now he knew, where he was. His eyes filled with tears, and he leaned into her. After some time of sobbing, he asked her, "Why did I have to go so early? And how did it happen?"

"It was your time, my boy. The goddess of the living gave your life to me. You were ended by a roof tile falling down from the palace."

"So that was the stabbing pain in my head." And he leaned back against her. After a while he got angry and told her, "For months I've been talking to the Commander of the Royal Household about the bad state of the roof. He is to blame for my death, I want my revenge!"

"My boy, if a roof tile hadn't hit you, a window sash would have fallen on your head."

"Those idiots cleaning the windows; they are always careless. Then they would be to blame! I still would want my revenge."

"My boy," she added quietly, "if it were not by the window sash or by the roof tile, it would have been a stroke or a heart attack. Nobody is to blame. It was your time!"

"But why? There is still so much to do and so much to see!"

"You have lived your life, you have done enough, you have seen everything that was important for you."

Two days later an earthquake shook the city and many died in fires breaking out because of the quake. They died in fear and in pain, seeing their family, friends and colleagues suffer.

The government official saw them and felt sorry for them. They lay in Naletha's arms, and she comforted them like children. He came to her. Among those in her arms he saw the Commander of the Royal Household and the craftsmen, he accused of being clumsy with the windows. He helped her soothe them for some time.

When he could talk to Naletha alone again he said, "Thank you for taking me away in a moment of beauty. We never know, what is best for us, until we see for ourselves."

Again, I let some moments pass by, before I began to talk, "Today we were lucky; as far as we have heard there was no great damage in Rallagoah. Let's hope we can say the same for the rest of the kingdom. The Mayor and the Commander of the Municipal Fire Brigade will now explain what our next steps are."

The council went on for about an hour. After that everyone had a task -- mostly it was to check whether any damage had been done to the buildings in the city.

I closed the session and walked back through the Ambassadors' Hall. On the way to my study, I asked Chrusor to gather the heads of the ministries in my meeting room for a session in half an hour. Before that I wanted to check for any damage in the Inner Palace for myself.

Larna was already waiting for me in my study, "Everything seems in order in the Inner Palace. I talked with some servants from the Children's Palace, no damage there too." I exhaled reassured and embraced Larna.

She giggled again. "I know, I know, never underestimate the power of love!" I said to her.

"I had some more colourful remarks in mind, but that's fine too."

"In twenty minutes, I will be presiding over a meeting of the Chief Ministers. I would like you to attend. And no stupid remarks about the power of love."

The time we had until the meeting began, I took to show Larna my father's letter, and to ask her, what she made of the code at the end.

"It really looks like a shelf number from the gardening section. Maybe your father wants you to redecorate the palace gardens?"

"That would be a bit petty for his wishes to his son, the future king."

"I was not serious about it, I think. Some parts of the gardens could really do with a bit of redecorating. You should find the book and read it -- maybe there is another hint inside."

A few minutes later my secretary, Rallgar Nabuk, opened the door to my study and announced, "Your Majesty, the Chief Ministers have assembled in the meeting room."

"Thank you, Rallgar, we will join them in a minute." He walked back out, but I stopped him before he could close the door, "Are you not in the afternoon shift?"

"I got promoted to the morning shift, when there is much more and interesting work to do, Your Majesty. It seems somebody said something positive about my performance to the Commander of the Royal Household."

With a smile on my lips, I walked into the meeting room through the wallpaper door from my study. Larna followed right after me.

Seventeen Chief Ministers were waiting in there for me. At the head of the table to chairs for me and Larna were left free.

"Chief Ministers, thank you all for coming on such short notice, but I imagine you were near the palace already after what happened last night." I saw some nodding in agreement as I looked around.

"So far everything concerning the city is in order. I want to know as fast as possible if any part of the kingdom or the empire has suffered damage."

Manur Shrakvy, Chief Minister for Home Affairs, stood up, "Your Majesty, with the first light, we sent out 25 riders on our best horses, to gather information as fast as possible. We expect the first will be back this evening."

"Thank you. What do we know about this type of earthquake? Where do they usually hit hard?"

This time Zivrar Hamul, Chief Minister for Foreign Affairs, stood up and began to speak, "Your Majesty, in the last 400 years most earthquakes, that could be felt in Rallagoah, caused damage in the southern bay area. The free cities on both sides of the channel tend to be damaged heavily in those earthquakes."

Rallagoah was located at the point where the river Ralla flowed into the sea. However, this was an inland sea connected to the ocean by a narrow channel to the southwest. Along this channel were some free cities with which the kingdom had a relationship that was not always free of conflict. Some also supported pirates, sometimes covertly, sometimes outright.

Shafala Hamabi, Chief Minister for Trade, stood up and said nervously, "The last time one of the Free Cities was destroyed by an earthquake, they blocked the channel and took several merchant ships hostage, demanding the rebuilding of the city as ransom."

They all took their seat again.

"So, what you tell me, is that we will know as soon as possible if anything like this could happen, because your riders are on their way to gather information already?"

Manur Shrakvy stood up again, "Yes, Your Majesty, we expect our riders to the free cities to be back in three or four days."

"Good, has anybody anything to add? No? Thank you! I think this is everything we can do for now. Keep me updated at all times. Some of you I will meet again later in the privy council."

Larna and I stood up and we got back into my study.

"They seem like a well-coordinated team." she said.

"Father always said that his government is most reliable, but you have to urge them to be kept informed. Sometimes they tend to be a bit too independent and coordinated by themselves."

"Did he ever tell you, why he did not name a Prime Minister in the last twenty years of his reign?"

"I think he never trusted anyone from the cabinet enough to hold a position of such power. And he didn't leave the city very often in the last twenty years. He presided most cabinet sessions himself. When he was not able to do so anymore, he also was not able to name a trusted Prime Minister."

"And what do we do now? Wait for news?"

"No, we prepare an agenda for the privy council I have called in so surprisingly for this afternoon."

"I had nearly forgotten about that."

For the next two hours we sat at my office table with many lists of topics we did want to discuss, and some we did not want to be discussed right now. Some members of the Privy Council would push me to make hasty decisions, especially on personnel matters.

After two hours of concentrated work, Larna stood up and with a quiet groan she moved, "I need to move my legs. Let's look for the book from your father's letter."

"That's a good idea. Some change would be fine, and we need a sharp mind this afternoon."

We left for the great library. Rallgar was in my study's antecamera, but this time he was not so surprised to see us walking through. The ceremonial guards in the Ambassadors' Hall saluted, and I greeted them back with a nod and a smile.

The great library was deserted. Sometimes this was a space of humming activity. The books were used by the government officials and for educational purposes in the Children's Palace. When we heard the sign from the bell tower, it was already noon, and most people would probably be having lunch now. So, we could work undisturbed.

I got a ladder and Larna directed me.

"Section V, shelf 56a, the seventh book."

It was easy to find. A small book, just a few years old, in white parchment binding as were most of the books in this room.

"I have it. 'Stone fruit trees in the modern landscape garden' by Gamuldir Kasha."

On the first page was an entry in my father's handwriting: "For Shathor. Read it carefully, you will need it. Your father!" Why would I need a book on stone fruit trees in landscape gardening? There had to be something more behind it.

"And?" Larna asked.

"Nothing, just a dedication from my father."

"There has to be more to find."

"Let's look through it over lunch."

We went back into my study. Rallgar had a meal prepared in my drawing room fifteen minutes later.

While eating, I leafed through the book but found no further clues. I gave it to Larna. She seemed to be making a closer examination.

"Some words are underlined, but these don't seem to make a code either. But the book itself is quite nice. Lots of good ideas for an orchard."

She kept reading while we ate. Suddenly she squealed in surprise, "Ohhhhh, what's that. Another entry. Do you have a magnifying glass in the study?"

"Yes, do you need it now?"

"Yeayeayea!" She seemed very enthusiastic.

When I gave her the glass, she began to read an entry in a very small handwriting that may have come from my father.

"This is a good book. But R V and S VII like another one much more! You remember that? But don't read the copy from the Great Library, it is quite corrupt."

"That's new!" I stood behind her and she let me read the entry through the magnifying glass, "R V and S VII are clearly father and me. But what is the book we liked better -- and why is the copy in the Great Library corrupt? And why would a book we both liked, be so important?"

"I don't know, maybe there are more handwritten entries in a copy, which is not in the Great Library? Can you think of any books you both liked?"

"Many, we often talked about what we were both reading. Landscape Gardening was never part of it, by the way."

We decided to follow up on this later. I needed to think about it.

Now we had to finish our Agenda for the Privy Council.

Since I became Crown Prince, I was often part of privy council sessions. I knew all its members, what their positions were and how they discussed. It was a circle where the members could tell the king very openly what they thought. Normally nothing went outside either, but I wasn't so sure about that lately. After the sessions were suspended during the mourning period, we would now need a bit of practice again.

In my head I counted the current members: The king; the queen; Hillga Bechara, High Priestess of the Red Temple; Marut Terpenu, provisional High Priest of Naletha; Zivrar Hamul, Chief Minister for Foreign Affairs; Manur Shrakvy, Chief Minister for Home Affairs; Kladal Varish, High Priest of the White Temple; Chrusor Nuhr, Commander of the Royal Household and Sanna Urbal, Head Mistress of the Children's Palace.

The unfilled seats now were the Crown Prince, two other wives of the King, the Prime Minister and another High Priest, but he would be elected by the other leaders of the various cults in the next few weeks.

At two o'clock Rallgar came into my study and announced the arrival of all members of the privy council. They were waiting in the meeting room. Again, we walked in through the wallpaper door. I took the seat at the head of the table, Larna sat at my right side. There were also chairs set up for the missing members to remind us that we were not complete.

"Thank you for coming today. From today on we will meet as usual every Kaldrosday at two o'clock. I think there is much to talk about. The queen and I have prepared an agenda, with topics we think are necessary to be discussed. I invite you to bring up, whatever you see worthy of discussion."

The members leaned back and looked at Larna and me with interest and some of them with surprise. The two Chief Ministers had thick bundles of files with them. Sanna Urbal, the Head Mistress of the Children's Palace had nothing with her, but we had just talked a few days ago. Marut Terpenu was the only one, who had never attended a Privy Council session before. Larna had already been here from time to time as a consultant with my father's invitation.

I added, "Today we will not be discussing any resignations of Privy Council members. This will have to wait. I need your expertise and practice. Kladal, as High Priest of the White Temple and of Kaldros, the God of Wisdom, I want to ask you to start this session with a story. I am sure you have something prepared."