“I promised the people so much, Jonah, and now how am I to keep my promises?” Gaius Prospero asked his right hand. “It will be like it was six years ago. They will blame me for what has happened.”
“Nothing has happened, my lord emperor,” Jonah spoke calmly. “Compose yourself, and look at what you have. You convinced the people of Hetar that the Outlands were rightfully ours, and had been stolen from us by the Outlanders, which enabled you to build a large new army of Mercenaries. The Crusader Knights have been idle for years, and welcomed the opportunity you gave them to lead us into war again. You have stemmed the restlessness that plagued us these past years.
“You said there was much fertile land to be had in the Outlands, and there is, my lord emperor. You will be able to expand our borders without the loss of a single Hetarian life. We will take more trees from the Forest Lords, and set the Mercenaries to work building new villages for themselves, and for the sons of the Midlands who would otherwise have no place to go. It is spring, my lord emperor. There is time for those young men to open new fields and plant crops. The markets will be full by autumn, as you had so wisely planned previously.
“If there are some among the people who complain that it is not as easy as they had thought it would be, we will remind them that very little is easy in life. Then we will give them a small tract of land, exhorting them to work hard for the good of Hetar and their fellow citizens. And we will say we are fortunate that our vaunted might has frightened those dark forces that held the Outlands in their thrall these hundreds of years into fleeing before us.”
“But what of the thousands of slaves I promised?” the emperor whined.
“Of course! Of course!” Gaius Prospero agreed. Then his eyes narrowed. “Where have the Outlanders gone, Jonah?” he asked his companion. “Where?”
Jonah shrugged. “Does it really matter, my lord emperor? We have the Outlands, and for now our problems of overcrowding and unrest are behind us. And you will, of course, avail yourself of the best tracts of land. I think the area near the sea might be best, with its mild climate. You can probably harvest two, possibly three crops, yearly. And with your gracious permission I might take some acreage near you, my lord emperor. I have a mind to plant a vineyard there.”
“Naturally, dear Jonah,” Gaius Prospero replied. He was beginning to feel better now. Jonah always made everything clearer to him. “You shall have whatever you desire in the Outlands. A vineyard, you say? What a delightful idea.”
“We have a great deal of work cut out for us, my lord emperor. I would advise that we visit the Outlands once all is secure. Before the winter. You should see what you have gained for Hetar, my lord emperor. I am sure the Shadow Princes will transport us with their magic, so you need not be burdened by the difficulty of travel.”
“Which of the Princes is in the City now?” Gaius Prospero wanted to know.
“I will endeavor to learn that, my lord emperor,” Jonah said.
“Have a faeriepost sent to my Knight Commander with the larger army telling him to remain where he is, but to send a small expeditionary force ahead to ascertain that the Outlands are completely free of those evil barbarians. They are to meet up with John Swiftsword and his group. Then send a faeriepost to Swiftsword as well telling him to stay at his encampment, and expect the smaller force to join him. When we are certain of our facts, Jonah, we shall announce our great victory over the Outlands,” Gaius Prospero declared. “But I should still like to know where the clan families disappeared to, dear Jonah. We should not like them coming back, would we?”
“In time you will explore the possibilities, my lord emperor,” Jonah replied. “For now you must make the Outlands secure and prosperous. It is important that your people be happy. Contented folk never rebel. Give the masses safe shelters, enough food and a purpose in life just difficult enough to keep their attention, and they are usually well gratified. Those who are not you can use to your own purposes, or dispose of, my lord emperor. But you know these things, and it is impertinent of me to remind you of them.” He bowed low. “I beg your forgiveness, my lord emperor.”
“Jonah, Jonah,” Gaius Prospero said, his mood expanding with goodwill. “Of course I forgive you. I know that in your loyalty you but speak to aid me. You could never displease me. Only one thing disappoints me about this easy conquest. I do not have Lara’s Fiacre children in my charge.”
“My lord, first things first,” Jonah advised. “Once you have made Hetar so powerful and so inviolate that no one will dare threaten us, you will learn all we seek to know. Remember there is this place called Terah. You shall find it, and when you do, the faerie woman will be yours. Her children will not matter, my lord emperor.”
“First the Outlands,” Gaius Prospero said. “Then I will make the Coastal Kingdom an Imperial province with my own governor. I had promised the position to Arcas, but he is not to be trusted. And something must be done about the Forest Lords. They have not been particularly cooperative of late. They do not send their young men for our Mercenary forces. When the Outlands situation is settled I will want to see the Head Forester, Jonah. It is past time he paid me a visit, and that I made certain of his loyalty to me. Lord Enda is a wily fellow, but I believe he has more intelligence than his unfortunate brother had.” The emperor’s voice grew low. “Lara killed him, you know. She admitted it to me, Jonah. Said he was her first kill. She sounded as if she had enjoyed it, Jonah.” Gaius Prospero shuddered with the memory of her words.
A small smile touched Jonah’s lips. “Perhaps she did, my lord emperor,” he replied. There! Let the fat coward consider well the woman he coveted so greatly.
“I think I find Lara more exciting as a strong woman than she was as a girl,” the emperor said. “And more frightening. To conquer such a creature would be a victory.”
“In time, my lord emperor,” Jonah replied. “First we must conclude your conquest of the Outlands.”
The next few weeks brought to light that nothing remained in the Outlands but the mountains and the plain itself. All trace of the people who had once inhabited it had disappeared. There were no villages to move into, no planted fields to till and no slaves. Nonetheless a great victory was declared. The emperor proclaimed two days of celebration and opened his own private warehouses to distribute bread, meat and wine to the populace of the City. The Head Mistress of the Guild of the Pleasure Woman was instructed to open the Pleasure Houses to any who wished to avail themselves of the women within. Records were to be scrupulously kept, and each Pleasure House would be reimbursed by the emperor. No one seeking pleasures was to be turned away.
When the two days had drawn to a close, an announcement was made that those wishing land in the new province of the Outlands were to assemble in the main square of the City and be interviewed for their suitability. The sons of the Midland farmers would be given first choice, for it was important that the land be made fruitful. Houses and villages would be built for all who qualified, all who could contribute to Hetarian society. The celebrations had dulled the hum of the complaints that all was not quite as they had been promised. And now what appeared to be a fair distribution of the new territory distracted the remainder of the malcontents.
Gaius Prospero in the company of Jonah, and with the aid of the Shadow Princes, transported to the Outlands. He was astounded by its vastness and its fertility. He chose a large chunk of land overlooking the sea for his very own, and arranged to build himself a small summer palace. Jonah sought land a few miles inland for his vineyard, and made preparations for a house, and the planting of the vines. Then he and the emperor spent the next ten days riding across the plain to the foot of the mountains where the encampment of John Swiftsword was located.
“You could take some of the onus off the Forest Lords by taking lumber from these forests on the mountain,” Jonah suggested to the emperor.
“Yes,” Gaius Prospero agreed. “Better for now to keep Lord Enda in our camp, eh, Jonah? Besides, the forests on the mountains are thick, and we will have to take the trees down if we are to reopen the mines. We must locate them again, Jonah. They were very rich, and I should be reluctant to lose such wealth.”
Jonah remained silent. It would take several years and great skill to find the mines of the Tormod and Piaras, if indeed they could find them at all. The magic that had rendered the Outlands empty of any evidence of the clan families was strong magic. The Shadow Princes would have been involved, but he would say nothing to Gaius Prospero about his suspicions. The Shadow Princes were probably the strongest power in Hetar. Only their disinterest kept them from interfering seriously in Hetarian politics. If the truth be known, the princes did not need the City or the Midlands, the Coastal Kingdom or the realm of the Forest Lords. As long as their desert was
