EA#24:
Read From the Beginning or the start of Trial Two or Three or Four
The Mountain in the Clouds, Part Twenty-Seven
“
They all stared at me. King Garamund, Queen Ishabelle, and the advisor named Gareth.
I didn’t know what to say.
They expected an answer from me. No, from a Magi. Which I was not. In fact, I wasn’t personally too sure about the Magi myself. To me, they were not like the gods. They were not incarnated forms, just energies of the universe. To claim that a Magi could be standing here in the flesh before these people… well, each holds their own beliefs. And there is a world religion devoted to the Nine Magi. Clearly the lords of Castle Greene were believers.
They wanted to know how I could help them with their money worries. They had none, it seemed. Money, not worries. Yet, how was I to help them? I had no special powers, I had no purview over their financial well-being… In fact, I had never had much financial well-being to speak of myself.
How could I, a man purporting a lie, help these people with something I could not help myself with? What should I tell them?
Then I remembered one of my earlier trials. That of strength. And I recalled that a strength I had found in myself was that of words. I could always talk through this, I suppose, and see what happens. Maybe the gods will even lend me their words and guide the dialogue.
It was worth a shot.
But where to begin?
With questions, I heard from inside.
My guides were already on it.
“My lord,” I began.
But King Garamund interrupted me already, “Please, do not call me lord. For I am no lord of you. It should be the other way around, if it were any way at all.”
“Very well,” I started again. “You tell me that you have no more money. And may I inquire first as to why? Where did it go?”
“Ah,” the king said more shyly. “Well, to be honest it is rather embarrassing. To leave the kingdom in the hands of a fool. Well, I am not a fool, but perhaps with money I am… My father left me over a decade ago in prosperity that he had built over his lifetime and I had but reveled in in my own. It was always easy for me, always present. I had never to lift a finger and I could have anything I wanted.” He glanced down at the table for a moment, taking some sips of ale and a bite of bread.
His wife, Ishabelle, drinking her wine, rested her hand on his thigh in comfort, offering him a loving gaze and nodding to continue. So the king did, “Well, my father passed quite unexpectedly. Bout of bad health, as it were. It seems all the money in the land cannot buy you a strong body. So he left me the kingdom. And he begged that I take good care of it, to honor his legacy and keep the realm in continued greatness and well-being. Uh… I must admit something here. I have some habits that are, well, rather expensive. So, while I lorded over the castle and pretended to do good by my subjects, I was living it up, you could say.”
“My lord, is it wise to reveal all your deeds to the great Magi?” Gareth interceded with an air of indignity.
“My most loyal advisor,” the king replied, “I am touched by your concern. But remember this is a creator of all that we know. How can he not already know? Or have means to find out? There are no secrets, only human shame that you and I feel for what I have done. Well, to be blunt, Lord Magi, I have spent the money on frivolities. Wine and festivities, games and gambling…”
“And girls,” the Queen bemoaned heavily.
“Yes, that, too,” the king returned, offering a heartfelt look at his wife. “My dearest, you know that I am sorry for those youthful urges and the excesses this throne let me believe were excusable. That is behind us and I have made right by you. You are my beloved.” She rolled her eyes but held her hand on his leg. “Also, I initiated and funded works of art and architecture and aesthetic improvements to the kingdom. And sometimes less honorable enterprises… I will admit to funding a couple wars with our neighbors. At the time there seemed a benefit from doing so, but more often I was misled…”
“By my incompetent predecessor, of course,” the advisor, Gareth, claimed in defense of his own name.
“True,” Garamund picked up. “But I saw the havoc and the bloodshed of those choices and I am deeply regretful. Alas, all these years of reckless spending and no restraint… well, that brings us to our dire situation now.”
I was amazed at the king’s story. But I had to ask, “Why did no one stop you? Surely there were advisors for the treasury? Your wife did not know of the money issues? Did you not tell?”
“I myself did not know,” the king offered with his hands up in a shrug. “I know it sounds naive but I just did not ask how much money was there. And whether anyone told me or not, I did not listen. I was certain in my mind that there was no end to what I could do. That the money would always be there. It was only recently that Gareth shook me to my senses and showed me the empty treasure room. And it was only then that I told my dear Ishabelle.”
“So,” I began to form my next thoughts. “Well, ok, then I will ask this. Where did all the money come from to begin with? How did your father accrue such wealth? Why is there not more continuing to come in?”
“Good questions, all,” King Garamund responded solemnly. “Some I can answer and to the rest I will defer to Gareth. My father was an enterprising man. He spent all of his life devoting himself to the betterment of this kingdom and those he ruled. He sacrificed years of his life studying commerce and trade and politics. Across the land he made allies in business and in leadership. He forged relationships that lasted his lifetime and brought continual good fortune to the land. And he was constantly active and busy maintaining these connections. In fact, it seemed to me as a child that that was all he did. I almost never saw the man, never spent time with him. To that end I suppose I was trying to be nothing like him. I lived my life for pleasure. And I spent great amounts of time with my own children and family. In retrospect that may have been my great undoing. Not keeping true to my father’s hard work ethic and maintaining the commercial successes that were his legacy.”
Gareth stepped in at this point, “As to why the kingdom has not continued in the means of prosperity established by former King Garamund the First, it is as my liege has indicated. The proper attention his father spent to our allies and business relations was not tended. And this is not meant as a criticism of my lord, with all due respect, but was an oversight on the behalf of all of us. And again, my predecessor, the king’s former advisor, was not at all suited to the job. Had I been here years ago, I might have stemmed some of the damage done. But what’s done is done. The attention to detail that the late king put into each and every contact was severed and in doing so the ties to the income offered by such relationships was cut as well. Does this make sense?”
“Gareth,” the kind scolded his advisor. “Do not presume that the Lord Magi could not understand what you have said. He is of a power beyond the mortal realm. Show him your respect.”
“Yes, my lord,” Gareth said, cowering slightly before me but more so before his king. “I beg your pardon, Lord Magi, I meant no offense.”
“None taken,” I said. “Do not presume that a Magi’s ego be so easily offended.” When I said this I looked directly at the king, who averted his eyes.
“I like this Lord Magi,” Queen Ishabelle said with a smile.
I took up my part again and inquired, “So, my lords of this realm. If this is the case and you know what has happened to bring you to this point… I suppose then what is stopping you from undoing it? Cannot you simply cease the needless spending? Cannot you reforge the relationships with the businesses and allies through the lands? Cannot this dark night of your treasury end with your own efforts? Why ask me?”
The trio looked sheepish in a way, but the king offered a response: “You are right to say so, Lord Magi. It does seem to be in our hands to change. I would love that it were. But it is to you that I seek assistance. To you that I beg in desperate need of help. For the spending of course has stopped. There is no more to spend. But the allies and commercial entities of this land have cut ties to us severely. They have been appalled at my behavior and have found favor with other lords in other lands. They have told me that I am a farce, a sham, a disgrace to my father’s name. And even if I could beg them to reconsider, and I doubt they would, it would take years of hard work and effort and sacrifice to reclaim even an ounce of what my father built over his lifetime. And before any of that would come to pass this land would have long starved and gone mad. Please, Lord Magi, I am begging you. You must do something to help us!”
At this point the king got down on his knees beside me, clutched my clothing with strong hands, and pleaded with me.
“Enough!” I demanded, taking even the king by surprise. In fact, I think I shocked myself as well.
“Sit down, King Garamund, I have heard enough,” I found myself saying.
The king did as I asked and with haste. He looked as startled as I felt. The others had become extremely attentive, as if what I was about to say next would change their lives forever. And, dear gods, I truly hoped it would.
“
Thanks so much for reading.
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Blessings to you,
Matthew