Changing Perceptions
By Nerwen Calaelen
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I don't own LotR. I (possibly) own the characters that I invented and the plot of the story, nothing else, so don't sue me!
A/N: Here is chapter 9. It hasn't been beta read, but as I won't be able to post until at least the 9th of May, I decided that I was going to post it anyway. Apologies in advance for the fact that there are probably a lot of errors as I am very tired due to exams. I finished tonight at 10pm, and the last one was very, very, very nasty, so I'm probably not making much sense at all by now.
After I get home, I am planning to rewrite/reedit the whole story and so any criticisms or suggestions would be very welcome.
Rating: I've said PG-13, but I don't think it merits it at all at the moment, but there will be more violence if I continue and I was not really sure about the rating anyway.
Reply to reviewer: Blue Iris: I like your suggestion, I've kind of used it. I'm not sure if any of what I've written about trade makes much sense, but I wanted to get this chapter posted tonight so didn't have any time to do any research.
***
Razzuga led Olrat to her reception room, where she had met with her friends since her marriage.
\\ I hope the others have come and that they will help. I do not know if I would be able to convince Olrat by myself. How can he not see that this is the only possible course of action? \\ She pushed open the door so see the two men and Arraga there. Grimtrak was standing on the opposite side of the room to the others. \\ I wonder whether they have any idea why they are here tonight. Arraga has probably told her father something as he looks worried. However, I can not read any emotions on Grimtrak's face, but then I would not expect to. I hope he will help us. His sister said that he was dissatisfied with the Emperor's rule, but it is a large step from dissatisfaction to a coup. \\
"This is my cousin, Olrat, who, as I am sure you are aware, was imprisoned by the Emperor for treason. I expect you would like to know why I have asked you to come here tonight. You are two of the most important men in the city, after the Emperor. I have reason to believe that you are both honest and that you do not entirely support the Emperor …" she paused and looked at their faces, trying to gauge the reactions before continuing on to speak her next words, "I believe that we should organise a coup. I intend to assassinate Azklash tonight. We will need your support to ensure that the aftermath is favourable."
"Are you mad? This is impossible; it will lead to civil war, which will spell the end of our country…" Totally surprised by her words, Grimtrak was unable to keep the shock from his voice, however his thoughts were running along different lines to his words, \\ There are indeed many good reasons for this, but what of the risks? Olrat no doubt will be the new Emperor and his "alliance" with Gondor will open up new trade routes and more opportunities for profit…\\
"It would not be much of a civil war, as there are few I believe who would fight for him, especially with the city garrisons on your side. Promise the soldiers better rations and they will applaud his downfall."
"It is clear why you are acting now, however it is not so clear how we will benefit from supporting you in placing your cousin on the Imperial throne…"
"What!..."
"You will gain influence, you sister has told me of how you believe that the Emperor should listen to the traders. Also, as I am sure you are aware, we would be allies of Gondor as so you will be able to trade to the west as well as to the east. With Olrat as Emperor, Gondor is sure to desire to trade with us, and as they do not trust the Easterlings, you will be able to make larger profits by carrying the trade between them." Razzuga paused, having finished saying all she had planned and hoped that he was convinced.
"You are talking sense." \\ Indeed, the opportunities would be huge, and with the support of the new Emperor, I would be able to ensure my predominance. \\
"Wait. You are all assuming that I will be the new Emperor, but I will not. Can you not see how much harm the Emperor had done to the country? Surely if we are to change things we should totally change them for the better, and I do not believe that exchanging one Emperor for another is the way to do this. I believe that we should start afresh and have the country governed by all of those who live in it, then no one man can reek such havoc."
"Stop. Are you insane? You would make a wonderful Emperor, cousin. You know what needs to be done and I believe that you can carry it out with my help. We have a real chance to improve everything and you are just going to let is pass you by?"
"Have you not listened to a word I said? And if I were to be Emperor, who would be Emperor after I die? My son? If so, what is there to say that he would be fit to govern? Was not this Emperor's father one of the best Emperors we have had?"
"You make a lot of sense, but what is your alternative? How can all the people rule? What about the administration that has been carried out by the Emperor's slaves up to now?" Zagburz, as he sensed that this way he would get the opportunity for more power, and the chance to carry out some of his long cherished goals of army reform.
"I have some ideas, but no total plan. However, I suggest we start out with this and then change it as we proceed to ensure that it works. Our fist step would be to make up a list of all those who are citizens. Then every year, we could have them gather in the nearest town or village, and choose who should govern them. I envisage an assembly of about three hundred men, all from good families, who meet to discuss laws to be passed and how perform the tasks that up to now appointees of the Emperor have carried out. The Emperor's council could form the basis for it. Most of the administration would still be carried out by slaves, but under the supervision of elected officials."
"Who would get to vote? How would laws be passed? Who would be eligible to be a member of this assembly? And most importantly, where would the money come from to support this?" Grintrak lent forward, he could see the possibilities in this and had decided that it was to a degree a good idea, if not seemingly very convenient.
"Presumably by everyone you would only include citizens? At what age would voting start? If it is to be truly representative, I would suggest 14, that is the official minimum recruiting age and so it would seem to me that if they are expected to die for their country them they should be allowed a say in how it is run."
"That certainly makes sense; however I hope that we will be able to stop having to recruit such young children. I observed from the war, it is not the numbers of fighters, but their training and experience that makes the difference. I would suggest, if we are agreed on this as a starting point we discus what our first steps should be and leave the details to be sorted out later."
"We are agreed that Azklash should die at once, are we not?" Razzuga paused for a minute to allow anyone to disagree, the continued, "Very well I will go and kill him. I leave you to decide what other actions need to be taken." She left, but had not given up on her own ideas,
\\ All this idealism is impractical, but I will persuade Olrat of that later. For now it is enough to make a start. \\
"We must ensure that anyone in the city who will be a danger to us is imprisoned tonight, we can later decide on their fate. Who do you consider to be in this category?" Olrat asked.
"I know those that Razzuga considered to be threats, here, I have written down the list." Arraga handed it over, "We should also consider freeing all those who have been imprisoned by the Emperor for treason. The other important thing is to ensure the loyalty of the people by arranging a distribution of free food to them. The palace kitchens are well stocked and the store rooms full, that food would mean the difference between life and death to many people." She stopped, realising that Olrat and Grimtrak were staring at her, but then continued,
"Do you require more plans? Or will that be enough for the moment? In the slightly longer term, I believe our first priority must be to secure the alliance with Gondor, and to trade either east or west to ensure that there is plenty of food to last through the winter."
"That is good, but not even the Imperial Treasury can afford to distribute free food through the winter at the prices being charged for essentials at the moment."
"But hopefully we will be able to trade with Gondor on much more favourable terms, they want the gold and gems that are mined in our mountains and we need food, which grows abundantly in their lands." Olrat paused before continuing, "Also, need we give out the food free? If we charged a reasonable amount, so that everyone could afford it, but it would decrease the burden on the treasury."
"There are many families for which any charge would be far above what they could afford, but we could create work for them so that they could earn the money. With your plans for this new form of government, there are many changes that need to be made to these buildings, and there is so much that could be done in the city to improve the welfare of everyone." Arraga was speaking from the plans that had been formed in discussions with her friends. Grimtrak seemed unsure about listening to her, but the other two men did not seem to mind her participation.
"That is certainly a good plan. Also, we should try to ensure that the families of all the soldiers, who were killed in the war, are supported. It seems to me that we should pay our soldiers properly as relying on booty for pay is bad and as they leave their families to fight, they should earn money to support their families."
"All these plans will cost money. Where do you intend to get it all from? There will be revenues from the Imperial properties and the taxes the Emperor collected, but these were disorganised and unjust. However, if we were to reform the tax system maybe we could raise the necessary money, without putting too much of the burden on any one group of people." Grimtrak, looked around at the faces of the others trying to ascertain whether they had understood what he said. It amazed him that he had gone in so little time from shock at the possibility of a coup to considering how to govern the country once it was over.
"There is one more issue that we must consider at once, and then everything else we can leave until we have had time to gauge popular reaction. That thing is the possibility of war with Harad. Whether we attack first or they do, I have no doubt that there will be war soon." Zagburg, changed the conversation to what he considered a far more important issue that taxation.
"I believe if we strike out across west, as it would be greatly to our advantage to have a border with Gondor. And by the time they know and are ready to attack us, we will have proved our strength and have a firm alliance with Gondor. As we matched back we defeated what I believe to be most of the forces in the area, and so it would be mostly consolidation and trying to win over the people, which I think will be easy, especially if they are also to be citizens and get food. That would mean more to them than what country they belong to."
"That should work, and it would give us the advantage of controlling the trade route to Gondor. But in the longer term it would hugely lengthen our frontiers and make it much harder to defend." Grimtrak added his opinion.
"However, we would then be able to control trade and so take tariffs on everything passing over the borders and so raise the money to support the army needed to defend it." Arraga added.
"So that will be our basic plan for now. Tomorrow, we will start by making a proclamation to the people from the dais in the market place. We should plan now what to say, and then leave everything else to be dealt with later."
***
While they were still talking, Razzuga arrived in her husband's room, with a long knife hidden in the fashionably long sleeves of her gown. She was pleased to notice that he was still awake as it would have spoilt her triumph if he did not know who had killed him.
"Good. I have been waiting for you. Come here." She obeyed, but reaching the side of the bed, instead of kneeling in greeting as he expected, she pulled out the knife and slashed his throat with it, as if he were a sacrificial offering to the gods.
He looked at it in puzzlement, as the blood gushed out, bright red all over the clean white sheets. He hardly tried to move, being so much in shock, he had come to believe his advisors telling him that he was invincible, and certainly had not expected such a death.
Razzuga stood still and silent at the side of his bed, and forced herself to watch until he finally died. His thoughts were in a whirl, and she realised that she was shaking and covered in blood,
\\ How will I get back to my dressing room without anyone noticing? If he had called out help could have come and I would have failed. I did not realise until now what a risky thing I did. It worked out easily as I had predicted, but now I see all the possibilities for failure. Arraga never seemed to trust my planning, I wonder if she had thought of the problems or not. Sometimes I think that she is too clever, I am not sure if I trust her, but I do not believe that her father would have listened to anyone else so readily. I wonder what they will have planned, while I am here. I am sure that Olrat will listen to me and when we marry I will then be able to control him and destroy his new ideas about the governing of this country. I wonder where he got them from, do things work like this in Gondor? It would not seem consistent with what I have heard, but where else would he had gained such ideas? \\
***
Razzuga sighed with relief when she reached her room safely. She had washed most of the blood off in the bathwater that had been left for the Emperor. However, the trip back had been very nerve racking. She quickly changed and inspected her reflection and tried to remove the last traces of blood. Soon it was all gone, but she could still see it spurting from her husband's body.
\\ He deserved it. I hated him. He was not fit to rule. \\ She tried to convince herself, but now she was less sure about what she had done, rationally she still believed the arguments, but the sight of the blood had shaken her. She was very glad of the distraction when Gutka entered carrying the brief note from Arraga.
My lady,
Do not forget that Skrabada was imprisoned a few days ago. Now you can rescue her. I believe that she will have been in the lower level of cells. That is where they used to put the prisons, who they intended to leave to rot.
Arraga
"I had forgotten about her. Come we will go to find her at once." Gutka did not ask, but simply picked up the lamp and prepared to follow her mistress wherever they were going.
They walked in silence through the halls of the palace, following small deserted corridors. They descended below the level of the ground and continued down and out, the passages got darker and smelly. It was clear that none had cleaned down here in years, possibly not since the palace had been built. Razzuga ignored the stains on the walls and floors, not wishing to know what had occurred there. Suddenly she realised that she had no hope of finding Skrabada easily and she hesitated.
\\ What can I do? If I wait until tomorrow I will be able to simply order the guards to free her, and it will not do her any more harm to remain in a cell for another night. \\
***
Meanwhile, Zagburz had gathered all the palace guards up and explained the situation to them in cautious terms.
"The Emperor has died suddenly. It is clear that his death is a message from the gods that we are not acting correctly. As a result of this we will be implementing a new system of government. You are all expected to be loyal to it, as we do not wish any problems with the change. Once you have finished your duties report to the kitchens, they will have been given orders to feed you and give you extra food to be taken back to the barracks. We will know how much food is given and will check that all of it arrives correctly. The people will also be receiving food, but we consider the first priority to be ensuring that the loyal troops have adequate rations. There has recently been a lack of food in the barracks and now that will be permanently changed. You are the protectors of our homeland and are required to be fit to perform your tasks and therefore deserve to be fed appropriately." Thus he made the bribe clear to them without saying anything which could be considered inappropriate on a surface level.
Olrat and Grimtrak were also busy, working out the necessary trade arrangements. It was decided by them that Grimtrak would leave the next day for the lands of Rhun, where he had many contacts that he could use to help get the trade flowing quickly. Olrat would clearly be needed in the west for further negotiations with Gondor and it was clear that Zagburz would want control of the war with Harad, which left them with the awkward decision of who they could trust to leave them in control of the capital. Several names floated up, but most of them were rejected by own or the other as untrustworthy. Olrat from the beginning had had a plan, but he was hoping to get Grimtrak to mention the name of at least one of the three first. However, it did not seem to be going to occur.
"Have you heard of Bazbog, he is commanding the troops at Nazanalazar?"
"Yeees." Grimtrak tried to think of a face or any information, but could not come up with anything against or in favour of this candidate.
"He seems a good commander and it would be a promotion to him, allowing us to pass over him for the command of the invading army without diminishing his reputation. He seemed in favour of change when I met him, but cautious. The council will be able to take most of the decisions and he could ensure that they act in our best interests."
"However, I think we should have someone else as well, to ensure that he remains loyal to us. What about Arraga? It would seem very unusual, but it would also flatter Zagburz."
"She would seem a good choice and seems to know a lot about governance."
\\ That is enough for the moment. I hope to gain more as we continue, but in this can not think of a better solution. Maybe it would be wise for me to talk to Zagburz about the need to bind this young man closer to us. If he were to marry Razzuga there is no way that he would not become a de facto Emperor, and then what would stop him disposing of us if he chose to. Better to suggest a marriage between him and Arraga and then afterwards to ensure that Razzuga disappears into anonymity. She is too dangerous, murder seemed to signify nothing to her, and who might be her next victim? \\
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A/N: I hope you like this, and stick around to read more, when I next get the chance to update. This is not the end!!! I have lots more ideas, but any suggestions very welcome. Please review. I will have plenty of time to write for the moment, but fewer chances to post, so I will probably be writing longer chapters.