In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Fifty Two

  From the beginning there was steady interaction between the two cities. Families visited each other occasionally, and some people traveled there just to see what another city was like. Over time a few people moved back to Enoch, while others decided to move to Kalou-Car. Lataan found that there were a few items of produce that grew better at that location, while others grew better at Enoch, so a trading relationship between the two cities slowly developed.

  Daily life and the responsibility of governing Enoch, while also making sure all was well in Kalou-Car caused time to pass very quickly. Kalou and I had several more children, which kept me even busier, and while I barely noticed the passage of time, forty years passed rapidly.

  Enoch had once again reached its population limit. Kalou-Car was a complete success and had grown just as rapidly as Enoch over the last forty years. As it grew Kalou-Car had added storehouses, fields and houses, and though it could grow still larger without becoming a difficult place to live and work, it was catching up to Enoch in size.

  It was time to build another city and repeat the process all over again. After the success of Kalou-Car everyone was even more open to building and moving to a new city.

  We would build the next city as I had previously planned on the Green River, three days south of Kalou-Car. We followed the same procedure that we had with Kalou-Car and asked for volunteers from both cities that were interested in building another new city. As before, most people liked where they lived and didn’t want to move, but there were still plenty of adventurous ones that wanted to try someplace new.

  One year later the city was complete, and people from both Enoch and Kalou-Car had built it. My second son Garon would rule this city. Shadan had been willing to move again and would now serve as the top leader and chief advisor, helping Garon run the city.

  Once again, this city was founded on all the principles that had been developed under my kingship; a common language, belief in the only God, and the farming, livestock and building practices that were used in the other cities. This city, which I named Caladar, began to thrive immediately.

  Over the next one hundred and twenty years this process was repeated four more times, each time with the same positive results. My kingdom continued to grow and was filling the land. The seventh city, Salar-Dun, was built south of where the Southerners originally had their village, and was a full twenty day's journey from Enoch, the capital of my kingdom.

  Each city was governed by one of my sons, who ruled as princes under my kingship. While I had recently decided that the next city would be built north of Enoch, most of the future cities would continue even further down the southern plain. For better or worse, my kingdom would continue its inexorable march towards the southern mountains.

  While I tried not to take all the credit, I was proud of the success I had achieved and the way both my family and my kingdom had prospered. My children had grown into strong and honorable leaders; men and women that worked diligently to do good for their nation. They were thoughtful rulers that tried to do what was right for their people.

  Kalou and I would have no more children. By this time she was at least two hundred and seventy five years old, while I was now three hundred and fifty two. While I was still vital and would have been able to father more children, Kalou’s time for bearing children was past.

  I was now entering what would be the prime years of my life, having not yet lost any of my strength or endurance. Sadly, Kalou was already into the middle years of her life, and though still intelligent, vivacious and beautiful, was obviously aging faster than I. We had always known this would happen, and the painful thought of life without my wife would occasionally appear unbidden in the back of my mind.

  Kalou and I had twenty one children; twelve sons and nine daughters. While ten of our children were not yet married, we now had many grandchildren from our older children. Enoch alone had already fathered nine sons and ten daughters with his wife Kataran, with another child on the way.

  My older children were charged with ruling, and occupied the highest positions of administration in the cities throughout the kingdom. But I often thought of what the future would bring for my younger children, my future grandchildren, and those that came after.

  There were only so many positions of high authority to go around, and all of my offspring had strong personalities. They would chafe if forced into positions that did not allow them to innovate and excel. The need to explore and lead was in their blood, and I could not see how this would be possible in the future as our world became more settled and my descendents increased.

  While most of my children now lived in the outer cities, four sons and six daughters still lived in the capital city of Enoch with their mother and me. Soon they would all be ready to go into the world and make their mark.

  The future, once so simple, was becoming more complex and less certain as time went on. What would my descendents do?

  I was proud of all my children. Unlike me in my younger years, the quest for power was not foremost on their minds. They had been raised to believe in the free will given mankind by God, as well as the need to follow the will of God by trying to do good. The way they would use their talents and abilities to do good was the only question.

  I had always stressed to my children that leading our nation was the best way to exercise our nature. But there had to be other ways to do this, ways other than leading. But what? This question often kept me in thought during the night. Besides ruling, what could my descendents do that would be God’s will, and be right for them and the entire nation?

  While I worried about my children’s future, other more pressing problems truly kept me awake at night. All was not right in my nation. As mankind is apt to do, not everyone chose to follow the law of the land. There were people that had no desire to live in the cities and did not want to farm, build or help support the common good. Some men and women wanted to be free to pursue whatever they desired, whether it be through good or evil means.

  When I arrived in this land my only thought had been to become King over all the people. Though it had not been my primary intention, the knowledge I brought from my homeland had allowed the people to flourish. This land had become a place of civilization, and the barbaric people I originally found now lived much better lives.

  Now, some of these people had decided that civilized life was not for them, and they were leaving the cities to live in the forests. This movement was yet a tiny trickle. When it first began I thought long and hard about whether I should allow people to leave, and I realized that forcing them to stay would be against everything I believed. Mankind had the right to choose its own path. In the end, though I did not endorse their behavior, I stopped no one that wanted to leave.

  Sometimes individuals would go. Usually they were young men wanting to experience freedom, not wanting to go into their fathers’ trade but not sure what else to do. They would just leave, disappearing into the night. They would end up in a forest, banding together with other people that had left the safety of the city.

  Young couples would sometimes leave, especially if the parents of a young girl did not approve of her choice in a mate. The parents would awaken one morning to find their daughter gone.

  There were even occasions when entire families left; parents and children just picked up and disappeared. Wanting more of something; freedom, privacy or space, they would leave behind their home and move into the forest to live off the land.

  Given the lions, bears and other predators in the forest, people would usually band together, forming small villages for protection, where they farmed, hunted, and lived much like those in the cities. For the most part these villagers would remain true to the ideals that were common across the land. They treated each other with respect, and sought to live in a way that pleased God.

  Unfortunately, some of these villages became places where the wicked congregated. Some were those that had run from their city before they could be capt
ured and judged for doing evil. Others left because they wanted to do evil, and knew it would be easier if they were away from the constraints that existed in the cities.

  I first began to hear whispers and stories just after our sixth city, Darron, was completed. Someone had attacked travelers between Darron and Sankalar, the next city to the north. As time went on, I began to hear more stories of evil deeds. The most common tale was of traders between cities being attacked. People were being waylaid on the roads and their goods stolen.

  Though news traveled slowly, by the time the seventh city Salar-Dun was complete I knew that the problem had grown too large, and the hunters were no longer able to control those intent on doing evil. The guest houses along the roads had even become a target. Though most had grown larger than one house, they were still small settlements, usually consisting of no more than three families.

  I was considering my options to deal with this violence when I received word that my son Corran, the prince of Darron, would need help. He reported that two separate guest house settlements had been attacked by groups of men, that evil was done and the guest houses were burned.

  Some of the hunters of Darron had followed the trail into a forest near the city. He reported that the hunters were overwhelmed by these lawless men, and only one hunter had lived to tell the tale.

  When I received this word I was furious, furious at myself. I had let this go on for too long while I thought and talked. I had not immediately moved to control the situation, but had believed that good would win out, and the individual cities would be able to control those few that wanted to do evil.

  I saw now that this was not true. Those that wanted to do evil always seemed to gather together, where their evil would fester and grow, breeding on itself like it had in the eastern lands. I had to stop this evil now and insure that it could not grow to this level ever again.

  I could not stop men from being evil, but as the King it was my duty to stop them from doing evil. And I would do everything in my power to punish them for the evil they did.

  It was my duty as King to protect my people. I had let this violence go too long and done nothing. I was ashamed, and could see only one way to right the wrongs I had allowed.

  I spoke first with Kalou to tell her of my decision. She was initially opposed to my plan, but as I explained myself she slowly came to agree that I was right. She knew in her heart that what I planned was the best way to deal with the threat to our people. Though she was frightened and concerned, she had faith in me.

  I brought together my leaders, Kalou, and our children that still lived in the city, and I told them of my plan. Their reaction was exactly what I expected.

  A shocked silence followed my announcement, but Cadune was the first to speak. “Are you crazy? You’re the King! You can’t go out and fight against thieves and murderers! You have hunters that will do that. It’s their job.”

  I had to smile at his reaction. Cadune, who had been my good friend as well as my second-in-command in Enoch for so many years, never had any problem telling me what he thought.

  “Actually Cadune, I must do this because I am the King. It is my responsibility to protect my people, and I have sat here in the capital and done nothing. I thought the local hunters could deal with it and this problem would just go away. But it has not gone away, it has gotten much worse. Those intent on evil have seen my lack of action, and they now believe they can do whatever they want.”

  “Apparently, some of those living outside the cities do not realize they are still ruled by me, and they do not fear the King's justice. So as the King I must personally bring judgment to the people and the villages that are doing evil. It is that simple.”

  Cadune responded, “But you can’t do it alone, there are too many of them. Even with your mark, eventually they’ll kill you.”

  I looked around the room. Gathered here were all my sons and daughters that still remained in the house. Eight of my sons were gone as princes and leaders in cities to the south. Two of my daughters had married and no longer lived in this city, having moved with their mates to build new cities. One more daughter had just wed, and she would be going to Salar-dun in a few weeks with her new husband, where she would be in charge of the storehouses.

  Seated in front of me were my youngest children, four sons and six daughters. While three of the girls were still children and too young, all four of my sons and the other three daughters were adults, and would be able to go with me if they so desired.

  I looked at my children, making eye contact with each of them. They returned my gaze evenly, hope showing in some of their faces as they guessed what I had planned.

  Finally I said, “You’re right, I can’t do it alone. That is why my children are here with us. I invite the children that have reached the age of adulthood to join me. I am going to hunt these outlaws, and I will bring the King’s justice to them. I will make our land safe once again.”

  The reactions of all those gathered were immediate. While astonishment spread across the faces of my leaders, expressions of joy and exclamations of excitement came from my children.

  My son Esan actually shouted, “Are you serious? That’s incredible! When do we leave?”

  There had been no hesitation, and it was obvious they all desired to go. My children were ready.