The Fire Queen

Chapter 59

The civil war in Dranii went on for six months. The faction of regents that opposed King Gregorio were able to use the greed and corruption of the regents that supported King Gregorio to rally more people to their side and their superior numbers proved decisive. The Council of Regents was reformed without the members that supported King Gregorio, and Philip, after the war ended and he returned to the castle, agreed to accept the regents' offer to become the new king, a decision that was supported by the Overseer. Philip's first act as king was to extend clemency to all who had participated in the war. Everyone who had fled the kingdom during the war returned and the process of rebuilding began.

Philip's first trip as king was to fly over alone with Rolf and visit me in Aseron. He came to tell me about everything that had happened in Dranii since the conclusion of the war and to inform me of his plans as king. He told me that he planned to recall all of the merchants and civil administrators that his father had dispatched to those kingdoms so that those kingdoms could retake control of their affairs and that he wanted to give them the opportunity to repay their debt on fair terms, and he hoped that I would act as a neutral arbiter between Dranii and the other kingdoms, Volstaff and Kandalar in particular.

"Why me? I've got nothing to do with any of this."

"Word of the plan that you formulated to help Kandalar and Volstaff traveled not only to Dranii but across the realm; it's burnished your reputation as an honest and honorable leader."

"If you're hoping for a revival of that plan the chances of that happening are slim, I'm not prepared to trust Quenn Herana just yet after what she did."

"Your plan was a good one, but the fact is that there was no way my father was ever going to let you put it into effect. Queen Herana understood this, and she understood that the best way to deal with my father was to have those in Dranii that were unhappy with his leadership to turn on him."

"So you're not angry that she caused a civil war in your kingdom?"

"Well, it's because of that civil war that I've become king, so I can't be too angry about it, can I?"

"You've taken to your new status as king like a duck to water, despite you telling me in Dranii that you had no interest in the throne."

"I'm interested in the opportunity that it gives me to do good, like you have done in your time as queen."

"I'm just doing what needs to be done, I'm not doing anything special."

"That's not true, what you have done in your short time as queen is nothing short of miraculous; if I can achieve half of what you've achieved I'll be proud of my work as king."

"Now that my father is no more," Philip continued, "the balance of the realm has been disturbed; if an alliance doesn't emerge to impose some kind of order there will be chaos."

"Queen Herana warned me to prepare for the coming chaos; is that what she was talking about?"

"Almost certainly; her ambassador was the first one to come and see me when I became king to discuss the possibility of a new alliance between our two kingdoms. I explained to her that I don't plan on continuing to do things the way my father did and that consequently Dranii would not be as beneficial an ally as we used to be."

"So who is it that will bring order to the realm then?"

"I think many will look to you for that."

"They can look all they want; I've decided not to involve myself with the politics of realm any more, my entire focus henceforth will be on Aseron."

"You've already brought about so much change; what else do you have planned?"

"That's a secret."

The secret in question was a steam powered locomotive that Brumli was working on in Galand.

"When I was flying over here I saw some of your water towers sticking out of one of the rivers. I had Rolf land on the ground nearby and I had a long talk with a farmer who told me that he's able to cultivate five times as much land as he was able to before because of those water towers; how do they work?"

"That's another secret."

"He also told me that thanks to your land reforms he owns the land that he is farming and is free to do as he wishes with it."

"Yes, I took the land that they had been farming for the nobles and gave it to them; half the land they must keep to pass on to their children, the other half they may sell. Some of them have sold that land to merchants who are paying them to work the land for them, it's proving very lucrative for those farmers."

"It's not only merchants that they're selling to though, is it? I've been told that many of the people that fled here during the civil war returned to Dranii to collect their wealth and belongings and then returned here to purchase land and settle here."

"It's not only people from Dranii that are coming here; the opportunity to own land, engage in commerce as they see fit and have their children receive an education is proving a powerful allure, and the immigration is proving a boon for the kingdom."

"All of this prosperity is precisely why the other kingdoms are going to look to you for leadership, and why it is inevitable that you will have to return to playing a role in the politics of the realm."