Chapter 51: Epilogue

The official merging of Atene and Thurn is accomplished with great ceremony and plenty of celebrations throughout the city. Smaller celebrations occur in other towns and cities. For many there will be little real change to their lives, which is currently focussed on recovering from the war.

The only change of any significance is the transfer of Thurn’s government from Thurn to Atene. Thanks to the ability to communicate between Atene and Thurn using the Lampetia Potiora, it is possible to leave a regional government in Thurn to administer local affairs. The Thurnian army is supplemented by elves as it works its way through the hills of central Thurn.

For the following few weeks Bea and I work tirelessly towards helping both Thurnians and elves recover from the war. Law changes mean adolescent elves gain the same legal rights as every other citizen. With the shortage of labour to work the farms, factories and mines, the employment of adolescent elves in those industries will continue much as before. However, regular inspections by government officials, and hefty fines on employers for not providing proper care for their elven workforce, will rapidly improve the lot of the elves.

By the time Bea and I are ready to return to Atene, Bea has confirmed that she is pregnant. Clearly I’m the source of the pregnancy, but we must wait to see if her child is a half-breed or a clone. Her contract with me means that she intends to come with me to Atene, even though I would be prepared to release her from our agreement. With Defina35 and Defina36 still respecting their contracts with me, I now have three Elf Maidens as part of my harem. However, to me, Cassandra will always take pride of place.

Over recent weeks, a preferred route between Atene and Thurn has been established. Some enterprising traders have established inns along the way, and ferries to cross the main rivers. For the moment, the inns are little more than large tents, and the ferries hastily built rafts. I expect more permanent constructions will soon follow. The journey time between Stormguard and Atene has been reduced to three days by fast horse, and eight days on foot. There’s no proper road for wagons south of Stormguard, but surveying work is already underway to create one.

Ikaroa’s exploration of the western bay has been successful. A settlement has been established on the coastline near the mouth of the river that stretches north-east to south-west across the route between Thurn and Atene. I don’t know why the river isn’t shown on the maps in the Potiora as the eastern section is navigable for the whole distance between the coast and the new ferry crossing on the route between Stormguard and Atene.

There is speculation ... as yet unverified ... that the river estuary Ikaroa has selected for the new settlement is the same estuary where Thurnians first encountered the Atenex over half a century ago. Without exploring the coastline east and south-east of Thurn, we can’t be certain if the speculation is correct.

Trade with the Mariners has started to build now that trade with Thurn’s ‘western’ cities has decreased. The elves who were dumped at the Mariner’s settlement during the war have either returned to the newly enlarged Thurn or have chosen to remain in the Mariners settlement.

Relations with the Merope and Phebes remain tense. The Phebes leadership is inward looking and driven by dogma created in the distance past by people who effectively destroyed themselves. I’m not the only one who believes that such doctrines are both obsolete and dangerous. However, the mountains between our respective territories mean we have little need to deal with the Phebes.

The Merope are harder to ignore. Explorers from both Merope and Atene have pushed into the unclaimed land between the coast and the river we travelled along on our southward exploration. Cassandra and the other leaders in Atene want to claim this land for Thurn, but the Merope want it for themselves. At the moment, only Merope has the size of population capable of taking, holding and settling this virgin territory, but the majority of Merope are wedded to their underground city. Negotiating a division of the land requires a willingness on the part of the senate in Merope to open discussions. Their arrogant attitude and feeling of superiority makes that unlikely for the foreseeable future. The Merope senate has ambitious designs on occupying all the territory of its neighbours.

Fortunately, Horowai is still Atene’s spy in Merope. She reports that growing civil unrest in Merope makes any military incursion into Thurn highly unlikely in the near future. Indeed, Horowai speculates that the real interest the Merope senate has in the unclaimed territory to the west of their lands is to round up all the Merope who have fled there to avoid being reclassified as serfs, and drafted into the Merope military.

Relations with the ‘pure’ Atenex living in Maunga and its surrounding forests is cordial. Many of Maunga’s Atenex openly visit Atene to trade and socialise. Only the leadership in Maunga keeps itself remote from the newly enlarged Thurn. Makareta and Ihapera make every effort to welcome visiting ‘pure’ elves, and more than a few have chosen to relocate back to Atene.