Rex Regis

63

Neither Quaeryt nor Vaelora felt comfortable bringing the terms of the agreement with the High Council of Khel to Bhayar until midafternoon on Meredi, when they had finally considered all the provisions and then written out their recommendations for changes to those provisions that they thought were unacceptable or needed improvement.

The terms suggested by the Khellan High Council only comprised three pages, the actual terms consisting of little more than a page and a half, but when Quaeryt and Vaelora entered Bhayar’s study, both carried leather folders filled with other papers, ranging from tariff reports to the proposed legal code Bhayar was considering … as well as other calculations that Vaelora and the clerks had worked out.

Bhayar walked from the window and sat down at the conference table. “Before I read it, tell me what you think their terms mean.”

Quaeryt settled into the chair on Bhayar’s left, and Vaelora on her brother’s right.

“They accept your sovereignty and protection on both land and sea,” began Quaeryt, “but will not pay any reparations, since they have done no damage to either Bovaria or Telaryn. They agree to the same tariffs as levied, by category, on merchants, factors, holders, and growers in Telaryn, and paid at the same times and collected by local councils. They agree to your building military establishments as necessary in Khel, provided the land or other property is purchased at a fair price. They wish you to agree that the ruler of Lydar will not use his position to require any specific form of belief or worship…”

Bhayar nodded. “So far … so good.”

“Those are the provisions that we thought you would generally agree with. There are others, however…” Quaeryt cleared his throat. “The Council agrees that all Khellan troopers and officers who served you may now return to Khel if they wish, but that they must not be compelled to do so. There is one exception. Former Marshal of Khel Calkoran must never set foot on the lands of Khel for the rest of his life.”

“What?”

“He disobeyed the Council’s orders in dealing with the Bovarian invasion. Rather than break his army into smaller units and fight scattered battles against the Bovarians, he massed his forces at Khelgror. He was defeated and lost most of his command-except for those he brought to Telaryn. But in doing so, he also almost won and killed nine out of ten Bovarians-one reason why Kharst couldn’t hang on to Khel once you attacked.”

“They feel strongly about this?”

“Yes,” said Vaelora.

“I suggest that you give him a small high holding, sir.”

“You have one in mind?”

“Vaestora. High Holder Seliadyn is failing, and he requested that I intercede with you to find a proper successor. It is not that large, but prosperous and well managed. It has a walled keep whose gates are never closed, and Seliadyn tariffs his underholders less than other High Holders … and that will likely be necessary for his successor.”

“I suppose…” mused Bhayar.

“You can point out that it’s a small recompense for a man who lost his homeland in opposing Rex Kharst and essentially made it possible for you to unite Solidar.”

“I’ll think about that. Go on.”

“They do not want Khellan lands confiscated for high holdings…”

“I can’t agree to that!”

“You can … in a way,” suggested Quaeryt. “Kharst already confiscated lands and established six large high holdings. You can agree to not confiscating any more lands, but on maintaining those six … and on recognizing any landholder or factor whose success in creating a holding that meets the standards of a high holding can be recognized as such in the future. That way, any future additional high holdings would be established in the same way that many already have been.”

“What else?”

“They want to maintain their own laws.”

“So?”

“You don’t want that. We need to come up with a way of combining their laws with the code you’re already working on. Maybe put in a provision that the laws of Solidar will take full force in five years or some such.”

“Which laws? The ones you sent me?”

“Exactly.” Quaeryt grinned. “Vaelora and I worked on the codex, and you changed it, and we sent it back to you. Most important, it was based on both the Telaryn codex issued by your grandsire and what reasonable Bovarian laws there were. It also creates more controls over the factors. If you’ve lost your copy…” He took the sheaf of papers from the leather folder and laid it on the conference table.

Bhayar shook his head. “I have what you sent me. You two did take some liberties with the codex.”

“Very few. We did add a section on imagers, saying that, while they were subject to the laws of Solidar, they could not be executed or imprisoned for more than two seasons for violations of the code without the express written consent of the Rex Regis, and that the Collegium Imago had the right to investigate any death or injury to an imager. We also simplified the sections on tariffs, and made misuse of tariff revenues by a regional governor a crime with penalties ranging from fines to death, depending on the severity of the abuse, and we spelled out each level of abuse. We also allowed High Holders to retain the right of low justice, but high justice must be meted out by regional justicers appointed by the Rex Regis-”

“Enough! After we work out the terms with Khel, I’ll sign it, and the Ministry of Administration and Supply can send copies to everyone, and you’ll spend the next year explaining it to all the High Holders and factors. Here and in Khel.” Bhayar paused. “What about governing?”

“They want the High Council to govern on your behalf.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“We suggested that you appoint a regional governor and that he have two princeps, rather than the usual one. One would be for logistics, and the second would be to advise the governor, and would be the head councilor of the High Council-or, alternatively, an appointee of the High Council.”

“That might work. Who would you suggest as regional governor for Khel?”

“Subcommander Meinyt. Promote him to Commander and make it clear to both Meinyt and the Council that the governor’s role is gentle oversight, the collection of tariffs, and that, so long as the Council maintains order under the code of laws you’ve promulgated…” Quaeryt offered both a smile and a shrug.

“I’ll have to think about that.” Bhayar squared his shoulders. “We might as well go over the terms line by line.”

Quaeryt did not sigh, much as he felt like it.