The Dragon Star (Realms of Shadow and Grace: Episodes 1-3 of 7)

THE THRONE - KAO-RHEE

"They run them to ground and kill them the same as we do, or they catch them on the Old Border Road." Tafan-Lu leaned forward, obviously intending to say more. "My tahn, the problem posed by the pilgrims is more than one of faith or armies; it is one of coin. We cannot afford to continue to pay militiamen to hunt the heretics while losing the revenue their taxes once provided."

"Yes," Tin-Tsu said. "I see your point. Without the coin from taxes, we cannot pay our armies. And without the men and women to work the forges and tend the crops, we cannot arm or feed our forces, much less the palace."

"Exactly, my tahn." Tafan-Lu looked pleased to have so easily impressed his concerns upon the future zhan.

Kao-Rhee appraised his high tahn and soon-to-be zhan in silence. Tin-Tsu had readily grasped a concept that had eluded his elder brother for weeks. That worried him for reasons he wished he did not have to contemplate. Another issue concerned him as well.

"We must also consider the implications of the Atheton pilgrims spreading the Living Death as they pass through our nation for the port of Tanjii." Kao-Rhee had received new messages from his spies in the neighboring dominion late the previous night.

"The Living Death?" The high tahn's voice rose in curiosity as he intoned the words.

Kao-Rhee noticed the other members of the council turn to him with concern in their eyes. The last outbreak of the strange plague a generation and a half ago decimated wide swaths the realm. Once infected, a person had only days before they became a mindless living corpse wandering the countryside, with no purpose beyond spreading the disease to others. A new wave of contagion threatened more than merely the outcome of the war.

"Reports tell of several villages in Atheton being afflicted by the illness," Kao-Rhee said. "The Atheton Teyett is concerned enough that she has ordered her armies to burn all of the infected and raze the towns and villages to ashes. If this vile infection were spread by Atheton pilgrims, my tahn, it would devastate the Daeshen Dominion and our hopes for a successful conclusion to the war."

"Do you propose closing the border with Atheton?" High Tahn Tin-Tsu placed his hands flat on the table, his face tightening in concerned thought.

"No, my tahn." Kao-Rhee straightened in his chair. "To close the border imperils trade with our neighbor and would be nearly as deleterious to the prosecution of the war as pestilent pilgrims. I suggest checkpoints at the borders, allowing only merchants and their goods to pass, holding them in quarantine for a few days to ensure they pose no threat. It will slow our supplies, but guarantee their eventual arrival. It will also stop the majority of heretic pilgrims from passing into our dominion. Although I am sure many will seek to traverse the border through forests and fields, these can be stopped from potentially spreading plague by the militias."

"Sound advice." High Tahn Tin-Tsu removed his hands from the table to place them in his lap.

"So you will support the militias in their cleansing of our own heretics and those who cross our borders, my tahn?" Tigan Rhog-Kan's tone indicated his desired response.

"No." High Tin-Tsu cast his gaze around the table, briefly catching each man's eye. "If what you tell me is accurate, killing our pilgrims will only lead to our own deaths and the demise of the dominion. It may be three in ten today who have the dream, but it may be seven in ten tomorrow. Can we stop such a large number of our own people from leaving with the threat of slaughter? Might they not kill us as they flee to follow the false god of their deluded slumber? And if a quarantine is sufficient for Atheton merchants, it will surely suffice for Atheton pilgrims. While the Atheton Teyett may wish to rid her nation of the problem of her pilgrims, the Athetonions are an often duplicitous people. It is not difficult to imagine the Athetonions using the butchering of their people in our lands as a feigned excuse to seek redress for the death of their subjects. No, we must find another way, an option that preserves our advantage in soldiers for the next assault against the Tanshen Dominion and protects us from a possible plague from the east, all while allowing for those who have strayed from the path of Ni-Kam-Djen to return of their own choosing."