A Short Ride and a Hard Trip
He had only a two hour ride today, having slept with a friend last night, and Ishvi was not required to be at his destination until late this afternoon. Not being one to put off unpleasant tasks, however, Ishvi had started out at dawn.
As the oldest marriageable nephew of Lord Joktan, he had been called as a hostage. He couldn’t decide whom he was angriest at: Lord Joktan, whose impetuous, foolish treason had gotten him into this mess, or King Caleb, whose naïve policies were going to drag the entire kingdom into destruction.
He could not believe that anyone could be so foolish as to think that the Human King had the obligation to be King over all the races. Most of the races were helpful enough; the Dwarves did metal work, the Visseren fished and traded. But some, particularly the Horsemen, simply wasted good land-- land that the Farmers needed.
His future was devastated. Even before this question of Hostages he hadn’t been clear on his inheritance. It would have depended on his betrothal and a host of other factors. Now, his whole future depended on the whim of this young Prince, a Prince who had no reason to love him, and every reason to hate him and his family.
Everyone’s life had been disrupted by this rebellion; a rebellion that few had even known was going on. The King had chosen to take Hostages from the southern families, fourteen lads and eleven lasses, then the King and the Prince had ridden to the northern estates and had rounded up marriage partners for each of the Hostages. As the families involved from the south had included some of the more powerful Lords, they had not found their task difficult.
Taking Hostages and marrying them off was standard practice in Human communities. By controlling who married who, the victorious King or Lord determined future control of land and thus increased his own power.
Ishvi noticed that he had finally come into Duke LaCrosse’s land, and dismounted from his horse, squatting down and feeling a plant, a corn plant.
The plant was a bit bedraggled from the heavy rain of last night (and a fun ride that had been!) but otherwise it looked like a fine, healthy plant. He straightened up, looking around. The fields were all in excellent condition, very well kept. He saw some Plowlads in the fields, eyeing him curiously, but he ignored them and got back on his horse.
Well, the Prince wasn’t such a fool, anyway. Keeping his betrothal with Hadassah, and taking control over these lands… he could have done worse.
Hadassah, although no beauty, was well built, and would no doubt bring forth strong sons; as the land would bring forth strong crops.
He had been to the Duke’s Chateau before and, as he came close, urged his horse into a trot. Several servants were working in the grounds and seeing him one of them darted away into the house, while another came running out to take his horse.
“Thank you, my good man,” Ishvi said, handing the man a small coin, and stumping off toward the house.
But, before he reached the front door it opened to reveal Seth and Hadassah. Ishvi stopped, and stared, then caught himself and blushed, looking down. What was going on? Hadassah was dressed as a Horsegirl! And Seth as a Horseman! “Greetings, my Lord Ishvi,” the Prince was saying, using a title to which Ishvi was not actually fully entitled.
“My Lord Prince,” he answered, dropping down onto one knee, as was proper for this, his first formal meeting, “My Lady Princess.”
“Rise,” Seth said, “we are well met.”
“Indeed,” Seth continued when Ishvi stood and looked at him, “my Lord Ishvi, we are very well met indeed. You are the earliest to arrive, and I am impressed with your punctuality. However, I am afraid I cannot reward it as it deserves, as I and my Wife still have much to do, much to prepare for. If you will come with me, I will show you where you will wait.”
He led Ishvi to a large room. He had been in this room before, but it was very different now. It had been divided in half, and all of the fancy gilding, etc. had been removed. It reminded him now more of a Plowlad dormitory than the dining room it had been. Instead of bunks, there were various piles of blankets on the floor.
Against one wall was a long table, with food already set; Not ‘good’ food, but plentiful standard fare. He looked around the room, very confused.
He had heard of some great plan, one in which he was going to take part, but what was this? Seth watched him for a few seconds and then said, “I will send the tailor in momentarily. Until we start though, I must ask that you stay in this room.” With that Seth grinned and left.
Ishvi paced around the room and brooded. After a few minutes the tailor came, took his measurements and left. Ishvi got dressed again, then sat down for a minute, then got up and paced from side to side, occasionally grabbing something to eat from the table. As the morning and then the afternoon wore on other lads arrived, other young Lords; Hostages and marriage matches. They too were brought to the room by Seth, and then visited by the tailor. They too wondered what on earth was going on. Some of them had come all the way down from the north. Others, the other Hostages, were, like him, from the south.
Some had escorted lasses from their own areas. One lad from the north had even brought his Sister down, others, their cousins. They each said 32 Vonsbooks.com that the lasses they had brought had been escorted by Hadassah off to another, similar, room. No one commented on Seth or Hadassah’s dress code, although Ishvi knew they all must be wondering about it.
What on earth was going on? None of them knew, although most were full of wild speculations. None of them found out until late in the afternoon, when Seth, Hadassah, two Elves, a Svømte, and three Horsemen walked back into the room.
“Well, my Young Lords, I must apologize for your welcome. We have had very little time to prepare, and indeed were still in the midst of preparations when you arrived. But our time is limited. My Father has given us only a few weeks to do what we need to do here, and it will take us all that time.”
“Over the next few weeks you will be preparing for the greatest adventure that our peoples have embarked on since we first came to this planet. For decades now, 250 years (if the Elves have their facts straight), we have been saying ‘Come the Day.’ Gentlemen, that is our job here: to bring ‘The Day’! If we succeed here, your names will go down in history as among the greatest of our people.”
“It will not be easy. You will be doing some things that you will find most difficult, along with others that you should find much more pleasant. In all of them, you will have to trust me and these others, as we know and have experienced things that few others have done, things that will throw much of what you believe into question.”
“Gentlemen, your first task will be to learn to be Horsemen. You and your betrothed Wife will be dressed as Horsemen and Aviovamen. You will begin to learn Kelii, their language. We will be your teachers. You will live in this room all day every day, until I decide that you have learned enough for the next step.”
“When you are ready, when you can speak Kelii well enough to tell a good story, then you will be taken on a trip out on the plains, and learn some of the rest of our plans. Are there any questions?”
For a few long moments the room was silent as everyone struggled to digest this bizarre announcement. “Bring the Day?” Ishvi thought to himself, Was the Prince a raving lunatic? Was he going to turn a meaningless religious formality into an actual event?
The group had no natural leader. There were no actual Lords present.
Everyone was a Son or Nephew of a Lord. In many cases they were second, third, or even fourth sons; in any case not succeeding to the decisive ruler.
Eventually, Ishvi himself, seeing no one else ready to speak, burst out, “What nonsense is this?”
The frustration of the last two weeks boiled up. His impetuous Uncle was not here, the naïve King was not here, and part of his rage and frustration focused itself on this young Prince. “Are you really expecting us to go along with you in your belief in this outlandish farce? Do you expect us and worse, our Wives, to parade around in that ridiculous garb the Horsemen call clothes, to learn to pronounce that meaningless babble that the Horsemen call a language?”
The silence in the room was profound as Seth walked slowly over, looking Ishvi directly in the face from several inches away, and then was broken as he said, quietly but clearly, “I expect your obedience. I expect you to work diligently at the task to which you have been assigned-- assigned by me your Prince and the holder of your oath.”
“Or do you intend to repudiate your hostage vow? Do you intend to declare yourself, your family and the Lord who sent you here traitors and rebels?”
Ishvi paled. It had been a long time, perhaps since he was three years old, that he had so directly and blatantly challenged an authority… probably his nurse. He was sure that the authority in question, when he was three, had given him a thorough spanking, just as thorough, if less metaphysical, than the spanking he had just received.
Ishvi bowed and stepped back into place. Seth did not hold his heart, but he vowed that never again would he have need to question his obedience! No one else had any questions, and if they had, they probably wouldn’t have asked. Instead the tailor, who had come in while Seth was speaking, began handing out the Horseman clothes. As each lad stripped and put on their new clothes, the atmosphere changed, almost palpably. Everyone looked awkward, but some of them looked excited as well. Ishvi looked around, shocked beyond words. When it was his turn he pulled on the split pants awkwardly… feeling the harsh leather grate against his skin, and feeling very exposed. This was going to be a tough few weeks.
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Von
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Island People
Island People is a young adult fantasy book centring on a young prince. The book starts with his kidnapping and follows his adventures as he not only escapes from his kidnapper but gains critical allies and friends.
The entire book is scheduled on Substack, and there are several sequels. This is a book I wrote years ago, so it is in a bit of a rough form. Critiques and comments are more than welcome, they are requested.