by J. A. Day
“Is everything set?” the curly haired woman said.
“Yes, my people are in place,” Hannes said, leaning towards the woman. “When they go in, my people will move the wagon and that’s when we storm in.”
“Do you think they’ll really do it?”
“I think a group of people holding swords is very persuasive.”
“As long as the Keeper steps down, that’s what I ask,” the curly haired woman said, harshly.
“After we get what we want, I promise,” Hannes said.
Sigrun had no idea what they were planning but it didn’t sound good. It sounded like Sonja was in danger. She had to warn her.
She rushed into the square, peering around for Sonja. She found her near Gregor’s wagon, talking with Sven and a few other important Baldurs. Sigrun didn’t care if she was barging into something sensitive, this was more important.
“Sonja, I have to speak to you.”
Sonja narrowed her eyes, and glanced guiltily at the Baldurs. “Sigrun, this is an inappropriate time. Can you wait until after the funeral?”
“No, your life is in danger.”
“What do you mean?”
“Please, can we speak in private?”
Sigrun didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to tell the Baldurs what she overheard with Hannes. There was still an element of distrust when it came to Sven and what he truly wanted. She knew Gregor wanted to go against Hannes, but did that extend to the rest of his family?
Sonja glanced towards the Baldurs. “Sorry about this.”
They nodded and said they understood, however their faces showed that they were a little insulted about a mad Sigrun disrupting their chat.
“If this is a way for me to forgive you, I can tell you now it’ll backfire,” Sonja said, annoyed.
Sigrun shook her head. “It’s not about us.”
She told her what she had overheard Hannes and the Priestess say. Sonja looked visibly shocked by the end.
“Britta is really going to violently go against me? I can’t believe it has gotten that far...we used to be friends,” she muttered.
Sigrun grabbed Sonja’s shoulders. “I don’t know what they’re planning but I want you to be safe. Get any weapon you can and have it on you at all times, but keep it concealed. I will keep an eye out, but without more details all we can do is react when it finally happens.”
Sonja shook her head, clearly not able to process the severity of what was going on. She looked into Sigrun’s eyes. “Have I done a good job as Keeper?”
“You’ve done a brilliant job. These people are just violent extremists that will never listen to reason. I’ve been trying to stop them with this party law, but they still have an army with swords, they can do some damage if they wanted to.”
“Maybe I should get some bodyguards.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
The two of them stood next to each other, silent and a little awkward. Sigrun’s heart pumped, and her brain buzzed. She slowly noticed that she was still holding onto Sonja’s shoulders, and they were alone together. A dirty thought flashed in her mind, but she dismissed it. Then she thought this was the perfect time to try to speak to her about the wagon train’s destination, but that decision felt so unurgent now. Eventually she just decided to take her hands off Sonja’s shoulders.
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” she said, sounding a little lame.
“Do you truly feel that, after the argument we had?”
“It was my fault, I was being too bullheaded and didn’t think about what you were really saying.”
Sonja laughed. “No it was my fault, I was the one that was stubborn and didn’t think about what you were saying. I was just following the path I have been all my life, not really thinking whether anyone else wanted to go on it.”
“Do you forgive me for my stupidity?”
“Do you forgive me for mine?”
“Shall we just say we were both stupid and forgive each other,” Sigrun said, laughing.
“That sounds like a good plan.”
They both hugged, which turned into a passionate kiss. Sigrun’s heart leapt for joy, she hadn’t completely fucked up her relationship with Sonja. The two of them could come together again, even after a fight.
This gave her some hope that the wider wagon train could come together as well. Sure, Hannes and Britta were going to try to attack that, but as long as her and Sonja were together they could take that on. And like she had said, they were extremists that wouldn’t listen. Not everyone thought like them.
IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF SPRING WHEN HANNES ATTACKED
‘The History Of The Wagon Train Vol. 8’ by Jarl Sigrun
Sonja fished out a long knife from the faith’s weapon storage and wrapped it around her leg. If Hannes or Britta decided to attack she would be ready. To protect herself further she searched around for Priests and Priestesses that looked hardy and strong and picked them to be her bodyguards. Two of them would stand outside her wagon, or flank her when she went out walking, and two of them would be patrolling the faith encampment or wider wagon train, and would report anything suspicious they found.
The first few days after being warned by Sigrun that an attack was imminent, Sonja’s paranoia ate at her. She still had duties to do as a Keeper, and she had to search and interview faithful to find a new replacement for Britta as Head Teacher. But every time she sat down in a wagon to interview a candidate, or chatted to a faithful outside, she glanced behind or kept her gaze on the shadowy corners, imagining Hannes or Britta standing there ready to pounce. It was hard to sleep, as she stared at her bedroom door, hearing out for any creak of wood or any sound of metal. She was so on edge that she didn’t really hear the answers from the people she interviewed, instead imagining any numerous ways that she could die.
However nothing actually happened. There was no attack by Hannes or Britta, no suspicious reports by her bodyguards, and no Priest or Priestess harbored any ill will to her.
On the contrary most in the faith encampment seemed to love her as their Keeper. Many faithful kept asking when the next get-together like the harvest festival was going to happen. She told them that they would need to vote for the new party law first, which was going to happen at the end of that week, and she would then sit down with Sigrun to determine on what dates throughout the year they would be held. She also needed to sit down with Sigrun to decide on the future of the wagon train, but she put that out of her mind. The thought of that argument made her anxious, as she didn’t want a repeat of the break they had last time.
Eventually Sonja’s extreme paranoia subsided to a more minor version. It was only as bad as checking the edges of the faith encampment while she was outside and occasionally glancing behind her during an interview.
In those interviews she started to pay attention more. A lot of the candidates that put themselves forwards only knew some of the scrolls by memory, so they were the first to go. Of the candidates that did know a lot of the scrolls, the question she posed to them was how much their teachings would be based on the actual text of the scrolls or someone else’s interpretation.
Sonja felt that the best Head Teacher would teach the scrolls as they were written instead of teaching a specific message they saw in the text. Even though it would be good for her to push her community message further by insisting the Head Teacher taught it, she felt that would just be repeating the same mistakes as her mother in demanding a specific way of being faithful. For the faith to grow they had to be ok with different messages and opinions about the text. Sonja was confident that this wouldn't cause a fracture in the faith. The texts always had unambiguous messages about the truth of Sol coming back into the sky, the things they had to do to bring that about, and the importance of being unified as a community.
After many interviews with different Priests and Priestesses, Sonja decided that the best candidate was a woman named Hildegard. She had a bookish look, and seemed quite shy wh
en talking to Sonja, but when questions about the scrolls came up she became passionate about their content. Her knowledge of the different stories and ideas within the scrolls was impressive, and Hildegard seemed fascinated by what the different sections would mean in terms of their message and what the faith should take away from them, but she never reduced that message to one particular rule that the faithful should follow.
Sure, Hildegard might need to gain some confidence if she was going to teach in front of children, but that could be gained. Sonja felt in every way that Hildegard was perfect for the job.
But the new Head Teachers first action was not going to be teaching the Acolytes. Instead it was going to be voting for Sigrun's party law.
Sven came over to the faith encampment and told them that it was time for the Council to sit. Some of Sven’s old jolliness had come back, as he was smiling when he strode up towards Sonja, but his eyes still had some sadness.
Sonja gathered Roose, Teresa, Sigmund, and Hildegard together, and they all followed Sven out into the wagon train. Sonja’s paranoia began to flare up when Sven took the group towards the east, through the Hoademaker encampment.
“Isn’t the Council wagon supposed to be near the center?” she asked.
“Yeah, but there was some problem with its wheels, so they brought the wagon to the handymen. Unfortunately the wagon is still with them,” Sven replied.
It seemed like a reasonable answer, but something about it didn’t feel right. Thankfully, she still felt the press of the knife against her leg. If anything happened she would be prepared.
***
Every important member stood outside the council wagon. The three important family members stood together: Yael Hoademaker leant on his cane, Rita Mattson stood up straight and glared at everyone, and because Gregor had died his son Sven joined them, looking a little in awe that he was now on their level. To the right of them, standing on his own, was the Administrator of the wagon train. He had long black hair that always shone greasily in the light, and had small eyes that made him look suspicious. Everyone knew him to be Hannes’ puppet so no one gave him any respect, even Rita Mattson. To the left of the family leaders were Sonja and her friends, though there was a new girl that Sigrun didn’t recognize, who looked a little shy and bookish. In Sigrun’s experience you usually had to watch out for the shy types because they always surprised you with hidden passion.
All these people were here to vote on her new law. It felt strange that Sigrun stood amongst these important people. All she had been about a month ago was a lowly cattle rancher that had snuck into a party, and now she was creating laws and voting for them with other leaders. It was crazy, so much so that if she had been told it in one of her mother’s fables she would have found it hard to believe.
Sigrun grinned, as she waited for the handymen to finish fixing back the Council wagon’s wheels. She wanted to bask in this sense of leadership and power for some time, but she did have a job to do: to make sure the vote would go her way.
She strode up to Sven first, and asked him how he was doing after his father’s funeral.
“It’s hard, especially trying to take over everything that he controlled, but I’m getting there,” he said.
“I know it was your father’s wish to vote on this law, but what do you feel?”
Sven scratched his chin. “I’m a bit worried that a few farmers are still against it to be honest.”
“I think that’s to do with Hannes, but with this law in place he won’t hold much sway over the farmers much longer,” she said, keeping her voice low so Rita or the Administrator wouldn’t hear.
“You might be right,” Sven said, looking a little sad. “I feel I should uphold my father’s wishes.”
Sigrun patted him on the arm, and smiled. “You will do great, I believe in you.”
Sven gave her a nod, but there was still something bothering him. She hoped that he could get through whatever it was and do what his father had wanted in the end.
But she couldn’t control whether he did or not, so next went up to Yael. He stood next to Rita Mattson who glared even more when Sigrun walked up.
“You know this law is only hurting people,” Rita said.
She felt it would be useless to try to argue the case with her, so only said, “It’s a mystery how you’re going to vote.” Instead she turned to Yael and asked him what he thought.
Yael glanced towards Rita. “I feel I might sit this vote out. There’s too much bad blood between the families and I feel this is just going to cause more of it.”
Sigrun wasn’t totally surprised by that answer. Yael couldn’t see the clear winning side with this law at the moment so would remain neutral. It was what the Hoademakers were known for after all.
Not wanting to ignore the faithful, she went over to them next.
It was a little awkward being with Sonja in front of others. She wanted to be closer to her, hold her hand, hug her, shout to the sky that they were in love, but instead she had to be at a respectful distance and give nothing away that they were together. It made her feel distanced from her, and a little lonely.
“Do you all like the new law?” she asked, trying to include all of them so she didn’t have to act weird talking to Sonja.
The Priests and Priestesses next to Sonja nodded. They told Sigrun they really liked the harvest festival and wanted all parties to be more like that. The bookish girl looked surprised to be there and didn’t really know how to answer the question. Sonja didn’t answer, but looked suspiciously around the Council wagon.
“Are you still worrying about the attack?” Sigrun asked.
Sonja nodded. “There’s something about this I don’t like. I know nothing’s happened to me yet, but that makes me more worried, not less.”
“I know what you mean, but I’ve come prepared.”
Sigrun had taken her own advice about protection and had wrapped a knife to her thigh, hidden underneath her trousers. If anyone wanted to attack her they would find a surprise stab to the face.
The handyman fixed the final wheel back onto the wagon. Sven walked up to the door and opened it, letting Yael and Rita go in first. Eventually they all filed their way into the wagon. Before Sigrun stepped in, she turned to Sonja and gave her a loving look. Sonja returned her own. Sigrun felt warmth within her heart. If anything happened she had one person she could rely on.
The inside of the council wagon was dominated by a long and wide table, which had drawers set into it. In front of the drawers were cushioned chairs, five on each side of the table. Above these seats hung a representation for the two sides of the wagon train. On the faith’s side there was a shining visage of Sol, on the workers side the three families' runes melded together to make one.
As each member of the Council took their seats, Sigrun stood at the front of the table. Her heart pounded. This was her moment, they would now vote for a law that she had brought in. She felt excited and nervous all at once. What if the vote didn’t go her way?
“We have convened this Council in order to vote for a new law that will ban parties that are not officially sanctioned. After this law passes, the faithful and worker side’s representatives will discuss how many parties there will be in a year and the provisions provided for those parties. The usual Council rules for a vote applies: a majority will bring the law in, a stalemate will mean the law doesn’t pass but the law will be allowed to be voted on again in a months time, a majority against will defeat the law and it will not be allowed to be voted on again unless circumstances change significantly. Do you all understand these conditions?”
Everyone nodded around the table. Sigrun walked to her seat, and was about to begin the vote, but then she heard a whip crack. The wagon shuddered, and began to move.
The door burst open with a bang.
Hannes stepped in like he owned the place. He wore leather armor and wielded a sword. Behind him were many toughs also wielding swords. Sigrun recognized three of them straight away: th
e thin man Thore, the young farmer Daniel, and the thick armed Aina.
The toughs quickly stepped in and took the space behind each council member, there was one lackey for each of them. Aina stood behind Sigrun. The one that stood behind Sonja was the curly haired faithful who had talked with Hannes about the attack. So this was what they had been planning.
Hannes stood at the front of the table, looking as intimidating and powerful as possible. “Now there is going to be a slight change in what people are voting for today. Instead of the party law, you are going to vote Sigrun out as Jarl, and vote me in.”
***
The weight of Britta’s sword rested on Sonja’s shoulder. There was a grim smile on Britta’s lips. The smile let Sonja know that the friend that she had known all her life had gone. The woman behind her now was not Britta. Her friend would not gladly hold a sword to her neck and would have not joined in with a man that wanted to get rid of the faith. Sonja did not know who this new person was, or how the old Britta had become her, but she knew that she must be stopped, even if it meant stabbing her with a knife.
Hannes leant against the table, staring at them each in turn. There was satisfaction and malice in his eyes. He enjoyed this.
“Now, I want you all to vote,” he said.
Rita, Yael, Sven, and the Administrator all put up their hands. Sigrun looked at them in surprise, especially at Sven. It looked like he had betrayed them as well.
Hannes shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s just not good enough. I need to have a majority if I’m going to become Jarl.”
“Why don’t you kill us all now and be done with it?” Sigrun shouted.
