A Dubious Peace

by Olan Thorensen

  “You know what will happen if the other hetmen get word of this?” asked Maera.

  “At least a good number will want him executed, although I doubt whether there are laws before or after unification that might cover something like this. The clan hetmen were always free to do whatever they wanted and thought was best for their clan. We also don’t need this right now. The struggle to keep the clans focused on immediate problems is enough.”

  Maera anticipated that Yozef was about to say something else, but she moved first.

  “Thank you, Sissel,” said Maera. “I think Yozef will be turning this over to Gartherid and Isla to look into.”

  Sissel took the hint, excused herself, and left. As soon as the door closed, Maera turned to Yozef.

  “This is also a golden opportunity to get rid of Janko.”

  “Yes, but done quietly. Even if Janko is despised by his own clanspeople, he’s still their hetman. Nothing creates a martyr better than for outside forces to remove a leader. Best if we can make it so it seems to be an entirely internal Nyvaks Clan decision. I’ve probably paid way too little attention to that clan . . . Janko Nyvaks is such a turd. Hell . . . I’ve never even visited the province . . . something I see I’ll have to do. What do we know about the heir? Sildor is his name, isn’t it? I think he was the one who seemed to quiet Janko down during the conclave’s setting up the War Council.”

  “All reports are that he’s quite different from his father. Sissel didn’t mention it, but her people also relayed the fairly widespread wish that Janko would die so Sildor could become hetman.”

  “I guess we can’t hope Janko dies anytime soon,” moaned Yozef. “In that case, either we’ll have to force a voluntary retirement or maybe his son will do it for us. Could that happen? Does Sildor have enough support?”

  “I don’t think we know enough to make any plans,” said Maera.

  “All right, so I’ll pass this on to Gartherid and Isla and see if they can get more facts and maybe some hard evidence.”

  The Kennricks reported four sixdays later.

  “We had the answer almost immediately, Paramount,” said Gartherid. “In fact, the evidence was so clear and easily obtained that we double- and triple-checked everything, thinking it was just too easy. Turns out that the secret is widely known in northernmost Nyvaks. Janko was meeting with Narthani representatives for quite some time. The knowledge wasn’t all that widespread outside the area because of the sparse population and the very conservative support of the district hetman. We also think word didn’t spread because movement between districts has been deliberately restricted by the Nyvaks hetman the last few years. I think we now know one reason why.”

  Gartherid pushed a folder across the table to Yozef. “Inside is a summary of our findings and copies of affidavits from three eyewitnesses to the meetings. Also included are statements by one district boyerman, a man who had served as a bodyguard for Hetman Nyvaks when one of these meetings happened, and three prominent Nyvaksians who had secondhand knowledge of the meetings.”

  “How exactly did you and Isla find this out so quickly?” asked Yozef.

  Both Gartherid’s and Isla’s faces turned blank. “Is this something you really need to know, Paramount?” asked Isla.

  “Uh . . . hell. Maybe not as long as you assure me it’s accurate.”

  “It’s all in the folder,” said Isla in a tone suggesting offense that anyone would question their thoroughness.

  Yozef suppressed a smile. Isla Kennrick-Luwis’s prickliness was well known, as was her competence and utter honesty.

  “No, that’s fine. Thanks to both of you for the speedy and thorough investigation. You can leave the folder with me and forget all about this.”

  Isla shrugged, Gartherid grinned, and they left the room.

  “So, that’s it,” said Maera. “I assume this means you will be making a trip to Nyvaks, but there’s the other thing.”

  “How none of this got to us sooner,” said Yozef, filling in the “other thing.” “I knew Nyvaks was relatively isolated from the main part of Caedellium by that thin isthmus, but this restriction of movement between districts is something I never heard of.”

  “One thing I advise, Yozef, is not to keep this completely secret. If you do something to remove Janko, there’s always the chance it comes out and makes the other hetmen start wondering whether they could be removed by the Paramount. If it does come out, the effect would be blunted if at least a few of the leading hetmen knew why it happened.”

  “Then I think it would have to be the four hetmen in the War Council. If I tell one, I have to tell them all. How do you think they’ll respond when I show them the evidence?”

  “I think you can assume Farkesh will want a public hanging. Stent will be sympathetic to Farkesh but will understand why that can’t happen. Tomis Orosz and my father will support and understand the reasons to keep this as quiet as possible.”

  It took two sixdays to discreetly gather the four hetmen in Orosz City. It took twenty minutes to calm Feren Bakalacs, Hetman Farkesh, from wanting to skin Janko Nyvaks alive; another twenty minutes to explain why hanging was also not a good option; and the remainder of an hour for the disgruntled hetman to accede to the other four men that Janko Nyvaks’s simple removal from office and public life was best for all Caedellium.

  Ten days later, a Fuomi sloop anchored at night in a small cove two miles from the Nyvaks fishing village of Dabus on the province’s south coast. A platoon of Paramount dragoons landed first. They checked everything within a half-mile before signaling when the small beach would be secure enough for Yozef to come ashore, along with four personal bodyguards. Yozef had traveled to Adris City supposedly to meet with Klyngo Adris, who was sworn to secrecy without being given the reason. From Adris, Yozef traveled on a Fuomi sloop to avoid being seen passing through Adris and Pawell provinces on horseback or crossing the fourteen-mile-wide isthmus connecting Pawell to Nyvaks.

  Three lanterns were lit to signal Sildor Nyvaks, waiting on a hilltop a mile away. The eldest son of Janko Nyvaks arrived, accompanied by an older man resembling a scholar, rather than a soldier. While he waited for the signal, Sildor reviewed a letter’s contents—which he had read so many times, he had it memorized.

  ***

  The Nyvaks heir had been approached by one of Isla’s agents who had not identified himself but who gave Sildor a letter from Paramount Yozef Kolsko.

  Greetings to Sildor Nyvaks, Eldest Son and Heir to Janko Nyvaks

  I am writing to you on a matter of the greatest significance for the future of the Nyvaks Clan. For reasons that can only be told to you in person, you and I must meet personally and without the knowledge of your father or any other Nyvaksian. On the first Godsday of the next month, I will arrive by ship and anchor after dark in Mabarz Cove two miles east-northeast of the village of Dabus. As your Paramount, I order you to meet me at Mabarz Cove. You may bring one other person with you, but no other persons are to be nearby. Paramount dragoons will confirm this before I come ashore. Until then,

  Paramount Hetman Yozef Kolsko

  As the son of Janko Nyvaks, Sildor was accustomed to clanspeople approaching him in public. He enjoyed knowing they were comfortable doing so, which was quite different from his father’s aloofness toward the people he led. Thus, he was not surprised when a man walking in the same direction as he was in the Montron marketplace suddenly turned and said, “Sildor Nyvaks, I have a message for you. I am instructed to say you should take it most seriously.”

  Sildor had not recognized the man, but he automatically accepted the folded but unsealed paper held out to him.

  “Who is this—”

  Without waiting for Sildor to finish his question, the man disappeared amid the market throng. It was not the first time this had happened to Sildor. Clanspeople wanting redress for real or imagined injustices occasionally appealed to Sildor as the heir. On a few occasions, he had interceded for the clansperson, but only when he could do so
without going to his father.

  On several occasions, mainly before he married, the notes proposed assignations with women, known or unknown. Thus, he was only mildly perplexed when he unfolded the paper and started to read. The day seemed suddenly cold, even though the mid-day sky was cloudless, and he’d even had a thin sheen of sweat from the sun only moments earlier.

  He reflexively scanned the crowd quickly again, even though the man was long gone. Nothing. He refolded the paper to its original shape and then folded it again twice more, making it small enough to fit into the change pocket in his trousers. He didn’t notice the slight trembling of his hands, but he could think of only one topic leading the Paramount to meet with him secretly.

  Struggling to appear unfazed, Sildor worked his way through the market and walked at a normal pace to the residence of Feederk Nyvaks, a first cousin twice removed with whom he shared a great grandfather. Feederk was thirty years older, from a branch of the Nyvaks family not in favor with the hetman and was a friend and mentor to Sildor.

  “Were we supposed to meet today?” asked Feederk in surprise when he opened his door and found a pale Sildor.

  The heir pushed past Feederk without waiting for an invitation to enter. He rushed to sit at a table. “I need someone to talk with. Someone to keep everything just between the two of us.”

  Suddenly sober, Feederk closed the door and engaged its lock. He lived alone, a widower for two years, whose children had families of their own. He sat opposite Sildor.

  “What is it?”

  Sildor pulled out the paper, undid the multiple foldings, smoothed it out with both hands, and pushed it across the table. Puzzled, Feederk held the form up at an angle to let more light from the window hit the words. Puzzlement morphed into his understanding of Sildor’s agitation.

  “Did you recognize the man?”

  Sildor shook his head.

  Neither man spoke for almost a minute.

  “And the possibilities are . . . ?” Feederk’s question trailed off to prompt Sildor.

  “I can only think of four. One is that this is a farce or prank for reasons unknown. Second, someone or some persons want to get me alone for some nefarious purpose. The third and fourth possibilities are related to what you can guess. Either father is testing me, or the message is really from the Paramount for the only purpose I can imagine.”

  The fingers of Feederk’s right hand drummed the tabletop. “If it’s the first possibility, then you lose nothing but time and convenience by going to the meeting site. The second possibility is possible but unlikely. The solution is to take trusted men with you and check the cove and the immediate surroundings before they withdraw. I doubt the third possibility. It seems unlikely to be from your father. As far as I know, you’ve given him no reason to have suspicions about your loyalty.

  “If this really is from the Paramount, then it may yet be for some purpose we cannot imagine. However, if it’s what you fear, you still have no choice except to go to find out the depth of the clan’s danger.”

  ***

  Sildor and Feederk stood and held their horses’ reins on the hill overlooking Dabarz Cove on the required night. The Nyvaks heir believed he could make out the anchored sailing ship—Feederk wasn’t sure, his eyesight not as sharp as in his youth. Confirmation came when several armed men appeared out of the darkness, mumbled something among themselves, and disappeared again. Minutes later, lanterns were lit on the beach, and a voice from the darkness said, “Sildor Nyvaks, please follow me.” One of the earlier men had remained out of sight, waiting for the all-secure signal.

  The man was on foot, so they followed, leading their horses down a grassy slope to the west end of the beach. From there, they continued to where half a dozen lanterns hung from the low branches of a tree just off the sand. They were thirty yards away when both Sildor and Feederk recognized Paramount Kolsko and the large man standing behind his shoulder.

  “Thank you for coming,” said Yozef.

  Sildor snorted, but before the heir said anything inopportune, Feederk spoke softly without a hint of rancor.

  “It’s not as if a summons by the Paramount could be ignored.”

  “True,” said Yozef. “Nevertheless, you’re here, and I’m here, so let’s get right down to business.”

  He held out a folder to Sildor.

  When the heir hesitated, Feederk put a hand out. “If I may, Paramount.”

  Yozef gave him the folder but kept looking at Sildor.

  “Inside are copies of confirmed evidence that Janko Nyvaks, hetman of the Nyvaks Clan, conspired with the Narthani before, during, and after the war.”

  This time, the sound from Sildor was a grunt as if he’d been shot in the gut. Feederk sighed heavily, opened the folder, stepped directly under a hanging lantern, and held the folder high to read.

  “You can both read the evidence, but I will summarize,” said Yozef. “Hetman Nyvaks agreed to attempt to prevent the clans from uniting against the Narthani. In return, the Narthani pledged to give Nyvaks control of five other provinces once the island was completely subjugated. He provided occasional updates of his assessment of clan intentions for two years leading up to the war.

  “The only thing that saved the rest of the clans from being substantially harmed by Hetman Nyvaks was that as the war approached and Fuomi warships were in the area, their contact seemed to have stopped.”

  While Yozef spoke, Feederk quickly scanned the pages. He stopped at the fourth page, read it more thoroughly, and handed it to Sildor, who began reading without moving closer to the lanterns. Yozef stopped talking to give them time. Several more sheets were passed to Sildor. Finally, Sildor handed all the sheets back to Feederk, who first gave a nod to the heir and then, with a slight tilt of his head, indicated Yozef.

  Feederk is telling me not to try and deny any of this, thought Sildor. He doesn’t believe Kolsko would be here if he weren’t completely convinced that the evidence was irrefutable and that our clan’s only chance to survive is to be open with the Paramount and hope for mercy.

  “When the hetman commands, the clan’s people have no choice but to follow,” stated Sildor. “That does not mean that every member of a clan agrees with the hetman’s decisions.”

  “Even if that is true, it does not absolve the clan from the hetman’s decisions,” replied Yozef.

  “Pardon, Paramount,” said Feederk, “if I could make a speculation. The fact that you wanted to meet Sildor secretly, does that not imply the consequences of Janko’s betrayal might be limited to him alone and not the entire clan?”

  “That is possible but not certain. In the future I see for Caedellium, it needs Nyvaks to fully participate, fully commit to that future, and fully integrate with the other clans. I’m sure you realize that there are clans that suffered greatly in resisting the Narthani and would want severe repercussions for Janko’s actions. While I sympathize with those feelings, I believe the greater good is to handle this as quietly as possible.

  “Therefore, I have four demands. Understand, these are not negotiable. While I will not allow widespread retaliation against Nyvaks clanspeople, Janko Nyvaks can no longer be the hetman. The only question is whether that is done calmly or if I have to muster loyal dragoons and march into Nyvaks Province. The end will be the same, but it might result in senseless deaths and lasting enmity of the Nyvaks people toward the rest of Caedellium and the other clans against Nyvaks.”

  Sildor bit his lip. Feederk laid a hand on his younger kinsman’s arm. “I know it’s a hard thing, lad, but we’ve already talked about this.”

  “Feederk is right, Paramount. This possibility has been discussed before, both between the two of us and occasionally with a few others. I confess we never came to a decision on how it could be done or gathered the courage to take action. I accept responsibility for not doing what my gut told me I should do.”

  Yozef moved closer to Sildor and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Believe me that I have a degree of sympathy. No
t only is Janko your father, but he is the hetman of your clan, and traditions are powerful. However, not all traditions should be considered absolute, and sometimes a greater good must be acknowledged. In this case, the greater good is that Janko Nyvaks disappear from public life, never again to wield influence over his clanspeople. Am I reading you correctly that you are willing to depose your father as hetman and take his place?”

  “It’s not something I want to do, but it’s something I’m willing to do for the sake of the clan.”

  “Be honest, Sildor,” said Feederk gently. “We both know your father has never been a good hetman. The clan will be better off with him no longer our leader.”

  Feederk turned to Yozef. “That was one of your conditions, Paramount. You said there were four.”

  “Second is that primogeniture will end in Nyvaks Province. Your father was the eldest son of his father. There were two other brothers. I am told that both of those are more highly regarded than Janko. Under a more rational system, the next hetman would have been chosen from the best qualified among those three. The other clans are slowly moving to eliminate primogeniture, and it was one of the conditions for the Paramount succession before I accepted. Caedellium has become too embroiled with other parts of Anyar to tolerate any leadership other than the best possible. We can go over the details later once the Nyvaks hetman is Sildor Nyvaks, but I want to be sure Nyvaks is assured of more qualified future leaders.”

  Feederk was obviously concerned. “There are serious problems with this proposal, Paramount. Yes, primogeniture can lead to bad hetmen such as Janko, but it also prevents potential civil war among factions that would fight to name the next hetman.”

  “No system is perfect,” said Yozef, “but I believe primogeniture is about the worst. It may take time for the new method of choosing a hetman to become fully ingrained, but that’s something you will have to work to achieve. In addition, the Paramount position will serve as a buffer to prevent serious conflict within Nyvaks. Simply put . . . the Paramount will not tolerate factional fighting.”