Chapter 30

Starhaven, Sidor

The grounds outside the palace were covered in people, more than even the largest celebrations the capital had ever seen. People had held their place for ten long hours, no one wanting to leave lest they miss what was happening. The leaders of the rebellion had gone inside to negotiate with the king to finally end the conflict.

The very city itself was holding its breath. Although the rebels had allowed a trickle of food shipments to resume, Starhaven was no more than a day from starvation again and would be until the rebels gave up their captured ports and went home. The people’s tier had finally ended its rioting and settled down after ten days of mayhem, but the city was a wreck and would bear the scars of this time for years to come. The merchants’ tier, the docks, and even some of the nobles’ tier had significant damage to buildings, and the loss of life had not been limited to any one of them.

Which is why so many were willing to wait, hour after hour, to find out if the rebellion had really ended. When Fletcher and the handful of men with him finally emerged, the crowd exploded with cheers.

Fletcher waved them down, finding a cart to pull himself up onto so the people could see him. Guards, some still bearing injuries from the riots, ringed the palace, in case this crowd became violent like so many had recently, but the people ignored them.

The peasants had identified the limits of the guard and had taken much of the fear they generated away from them. The people knew that, if the tyranny grew too be too much to bear, they could rise up again and defeat them.

Tom raised his hands, calling for silence. Slowly, the cheers and shouts died down.

“Friends, I bring you good news. Our wise and just king has heard our pleas. He has agreed to our demands!”

The crowd erupted in cheers, a thunderous roar that echoed off the stone walls. Tom let them have their moment of elation before gesturing for quiet once more.

“The Edicts of Travel have officially been ended. We can now travel freely to sell our goods wherever we see fit, as free people of Sidor. The fines and onerous taxes that accompanied the edicts have likewise been repealed! Furthermore, His Majesty has graciously consented to reduce the additional taxes burdening the common folk, with taxes going back to what they were on the final day of his father’s rule. Not only have the taxes been reduced, but the king has also pledged not to raise our taxes so unjustly in the future and has agreed to limit the rate of tax increases for the next ten years.”

Another wave of jubilation swept through the throng of people. Men embraced, and women wept tears of joy.

“I know many of you who stood up for your rights have been worried, because to defend the rights given to you by the Ancients, you had to stand up to the laws made by men here in Sidor, sometimes aggressively. It would not do for those who only defended themselves and their families to be punished for doing so, especially after the king himself acknowledged the position these now-canceled laws put us all in. Because of that, the king has agreed to a blanket pardon of anyone who acted in open rebellion against the crown during this period of unrest. That includes those here in the city who demanded food during the shortages and your family members held in the dungeons for protesting the changes, who will be released. I know some of your men were sent to the armies in Lynese, and that will take more time to unravel, but the king has promised to see that justice is done for them as well.

Fletcher could see the relief on the faces of the people around him. The rebellion against the crown had led to violence unseen in Sidor since the unification under Charles Whitton. Had the crown wanted to, a large number of those involved could have been hung for treason. This agreement hadn’t been easy and was one of the parts of the peace agreement that took the longest to debate. The young king had made it clear he thought anyone involved in the rebellion, including Fletcher himself, should be handed over to the crown for punishment. It wasn’t until Duke Edmund stepped in that cooler heads prevailed and the king agreed to their demands for amnesty.

“While those are the things we fought for, neither is our biggest accomplishment. I and the other leaders didn’t speak about this openly, because it seemed an impossible achievement. Which is why I am so happy to announce it now. His Majesty has agreed to the formation of a council of commoners to sit alongside the council of nobles. Two representatives, chosen by the people, shall be sent from every barony to give voice to the common man in the governance of our great kingdom.”

Instead of cheers, a shocked silence fell over the crowd. Never in all of Sidor’s history had the common man had a say in his fate. The very idea that commoners would get a voice in how they were governed was so unthinkable that he could see each person having trouble even processing what he’d said.

“The council will be allowed to weigh in on the king’s laws, offer advice and counsel, and ... most importantly, have some limiting factor on taxation of the people and how those taxes may be used by the crown. This will, however, take time. We are venturing into uncharted territory. But I am told that the people of Gnestig have a similar system, which may serve as a model for our own. Rest assured, the king is committed to ensuring the people have a say in the fate of the realm.”

Tom paused, letting all of that sink in. The idea of using Gnestig, the island nation to the west of Lynese, as a model for their system of government, even in part, hadn’t occurred to Fletcher. He hadn’t even known that they had a way for people to participate, at least not until Duke Aldric had told him about it and made suggestions when they’d discussed what he should ask the king for in the negotiations. Fletcher had actually been skeptical, at first, that it would even work, which is probably what all of these people were feeling. He trusted the duke, however, and if he thought it a good idea, who was Fletcher to argue?

“Now, let us give thanks to our king for his wisdom, his compassion, and his willingness to listen to the needs of his subjects. Long may he reign!”

“Long may he reign,” the people echoed, almost reflexively.

Most probably wouldn’t have had the same sentiment just a day ago, even with the long-bred habit of repeating the phrase in honor of their monarch, which showed just how stunned they all were by the sheer scope of what they’d gotten the crown to agree to.

Of course, it went without saying that they had achieved this only because they gave the king no choice in agreeing to their demands.

“And now, my friends, it is time to return to your homes and your lives. Go in peace, knowing that a new era has dawned in Sidor. An era of justice, of equality, and of hope.”

Tom hopped down and gathered the men who’d traveled with him. Together they would hand out their last orders. He’d told the king that they wouldn’t relinquish the ports, returning to their homes, until he signed the orders and word went out on wyverns to all of the barons.

Already, some had flown, and a decree from the king, stating these changes, had begun going up on the walls around the palace courtyard. It would probably take a week to get the word out across the city and the kingdom, but seeing the first ones go up was what Fletcher had been waiting for.

The rebellion was over.

Edmund watched the rebel leader finish his speech, getting swarmed by the rest of the mob like he was some kind of hero. It was pathetic. They pretended to be on some kind of noble quest for the common man while telling none of their supporters that they were essentially puppets for the very nobles they claimed to stand against. Edmund was sure that was never mentioned to the others.

As the people began to celebrate below, the door to Edmund’s quarters burst open and the king stormed in. As angry as Edmund was at how this had turned out, he was a far cry from the level of rage of the king, who was practically fuming, pacing from one side of the room to the other as he vented.

“I can’t believe these ... these peasants. I’m supposed to not only sit with them, but they really expect me to listen to their demands? The very idea that this council of commoners would have the right to tell me what to do...”

“We talked about this, Your Majesty. The council is a shell, nothing more. A bone to throw them to make them happy, let them think they can claim a long-term victory, and to allow us to push the blame for our future decisions to them, insulating you from this kind of reaction in the future. We made no guarantee of how the representatives to this council would be chosen. By the time it goes into effect, most of these people will be back to work and focused on their lives, and we can simply have the barons choose their representatives, ensuring the vast majority are people who unequivocally support you.”

“I shouldn’t have to take anything to the people, or anyone else, for support. I am the king. THE KING. My people listen to and obey me, not the other way around. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. You and your sycophant barons. You failed me, Uncle.”

“Things did not end ideally, I will admit. But...”

“Ideally? Ideally?” Serwyn interrupted, his voice rising. “This wasn’t some minor setback, Uncle. I was forced to sit with those filthy peasants and listen to their demands. To even bend to them, even if just as a gesture, weakens me and strengthens them. This entire situation is how kingdoms fall. I have to ask myself, is this what it felt like when the Ancients fell? Their world turning upside down, everything they knew crumbling around them?”

“Your Majesty, you’re being dramatic. The situation is not nearly as dire as...”

Serwyn rounded on Edmund, jabbing a finger at his chest. “You promised me control, Uncle. You swore that under your guidance, my reign would be unquestioned. Yet look at us now, bowing to the whims of the rabble. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you thrown in the dungeons for your failures.”

Edmund didn’t flinch or step back. “You are the king, Your Majesty. You can do as you wish. But if you had followed your original instinct, to arrest the barons and take their land, we wouldn’t have faced a peasant army, we would have faced the barons and their retainers. An army of peasants, even a well-supplied one, is a far cry from that. We both know the real danger lies with the barons. They are the ones behind this rebellion, pulling the strings from the shadows. If you choose to take them on in the open, then you must be willing to accept the consequences of that decision.”

“And what would you have me do? Roll over and show my belly like a beaten dog?”

“A good leader understands that in this kind of war reverses sometimes happen. Even your father faced setbacks during his reign. The key is to adapt, to bide our time and play the role of benevolent rulers until we are strong enough to strike back.”