Tales Of Gallanol : Ch.8 Morith (Part 1)

         Chapter 8 : Morith

Part 1

 

       Morith, the second city of Elladein, was nevertheless very large. Built in the Vale of Morith along the south bank of the River Ella, it was the northwestern outpost of Gallanolian civilisation and culture. To the west, beyond the fertile Vale land, successive ranges of foggy, windswept and barbaric moorland hills and mountains, interspersed with river and stream valleys and forests, spread upwards to the borders of Assuria. To the north and northwest lay the forests and hills of Nardyrria, which used to be the land of the Martans and Old Telmartans of Teleria and Rilmar before the eleventh century migrations, in which they vacated those lands.

 

    Morith was one of the earliest founded Gallanolian cities, Elladein being the land where Rodin’s people had first settled. Its buildings dated from a bewildering variety of periods. The Palace was early third century, built in the period soon after the Gallanolian Unification of the second century. Earth had been deposited on its site, which was not far from the river in the centre of the city, for defensive reasons, prior to the Unification. The central part of the original town must have been built on the Palace hill. After Unification the town expanded into a sprawling city in all directions and the whole hill had been used for the Palace, which had served partly a military, but mainly an artistic purpose, being a sign of the great newfound wealth of rapidly expanding Gallanol.

 

    The Palace’s architectural complication was a radical new departure and heralded the onset of the Golden Age of Gallanol, long before even Emywid’s White Palace was built. Within the walls of the Palace were beautiful ‘Galancian Paradises’, Gallanolian gardens, small, set in among high walls, despite the fact that the Morith skies, being near the uplands, were often cloudy. Exotic trees, birds and flowers, were placed in these gardens.

 

    The Palace was a thick mass of domed towers and buttresses, within a tall grey brick wall. The Palace within was built of large Agal stone bricks, plastered over and painted a yellowy faun Agal stone colour. The domes were slated in grey Morith slate from the Carn Deag Hills to the north. Paths down the hill were lined by fully grown deciduous trees. Around the bottom of the hill in a huge rectangle were the Palace gardens, on flat grounds. Some parts contained flowerbeds, fountains and hedges.

 

     North of the Palace were the warehouses of the great merchant houses, the industrial workers’ and artisans’ houses, and the docks along the shore. South of the Palace were the public baths and library buildings, in classic Golden Age styles. The market places and shopping areas. There were other parks, and further out, in all directions the residential districts. Most people had garden plots. Their houses were in many varied styles. Some were red bricked, most grey slated. Many were plastered in shades of faun, yellow or brown. The architecture of the rich residential areas was more ornate. Spired houses from the eighth century complimented domed and arched buildings from the Golden Age, and more simply designed Creadd style pillared, rectangular or pyramided buildings.

 

   A couple of miles away from the Palace in the southern part of Morith was an outstanding Creadd structure called a Ca Dagh, which served no particular use except as an entertainment for the people to climb.  Built of Agal stone in the ninth century they were round stairways up to a small point on the top where a good view of the city could be had. The stairways on the outside were wide and gradual.

 

    The city was bounded by walls of grey stone and red brick, built, like Caerella’s for defensive purposes against marauding Telmartans, ninety years before.

 

 

They stood considering the future in one of the Paradise Gardens at the Palace of Morith. Prince Trahearn stood with his attractive wife Morgana, his careworn father King Lew, his hotheaded cousin Eocha, as yet ignorant of his father’s murder, and a couple of important army captains. It was a warm morning. They had come here to lift their spirits. The Prince turned to greet Jovian as he was shown through the small, arched door into the garden.

 

   “Well well,” said the Prince, “I did not think we should meet again so soon. I hear you have left Deneldinhew! May I ask why, when he is winning a war?”

 

    “I did not exactly have much choice, but I should have come to you in the first place. They did not want me in their army and they tried to kill me. I had no choice but to join up with you.”

 

    “Last time I saw you, you were in rather an important position,” said Morgana, like a young woman ribbing a friend, “What happened?”

 

“Deneldinhew gave me that task. I think he recognised my capabilities at first. Owen of Girithon always hated me. He turned Eric Cadawllon, the other King’s companions, and Deneldinhew himself against me.”

 

     “Did Owen Gireald consider you a threat to his own influence on Deneldinhew, perhaps?” suggested King Lew sagely.

 

     “That is possible,” said Jovian vaguely, “But he knows his own power. Without his influence, and even control of Deneldinhew, I am sure my way with Deneldinhew would have been easy. But I am only a civil servant, never destined to hold the reins of power. Owen Gireald is a kingmaker and a tyrant. I think he took a dislike to me. Being a tyrant he persecuted me.”

 

     “I have been aware of Owen Gireald in the past,” said King Lew. His father is an ambitious man. I have met him many times. He brought his son up in his own image! By accident he was a close friend of Deneldinhew in his youth. Little did House Gireald realise that Deneldinhew would one day become a High King. Owen Gireald has become an Ap Maneddonist, which makes him popular with some of the city folk, and a war hero, which gives the common people reason to admire him. I can see that he is a powerful man, but until today I did not realise the extent of his power, and it worries me even more.”

 

     “It is older men, not Owen Gireald, who are really behind Deneldinhew, I always thought,” said Morgana. “Luneid Lenwar and the Unificationist Party…..”

 

      “Of whom Owen Gireald is one,” cut in King Lew.

 

      “….. House Cadwallon, and Deneldinhew’s mother Cythryn,” continued Morgana, “And the Emywid merchant houses.”

 

     “I tell you,” said Jovian conclusively, “Owen Gireald is the ascendant power in Gallanol, and although he fights for the Unificationists, Deneldinhew, House Gireald, and the large merchant houses, he will only be satisfied with complete power for himself.”

 

     “What are your own political beliefs?” asked Prince Trahearn.

 

     “Jovian replied, “I am a practical man, Prince, not an idealist. I want what is best for Gallanol. I asked King Alentin to send me to Deneldinhew, because I wanted to be where all the important decisions were being made for Gallanol. I believed that he would win this civil war with ease, because Baerwys and Lanardein own the greater part of Gallanol’s economic power, and of her population. And I will admit, I was attracted by his youth, and by the youth of many of his top men. I felt it was a new beginning for Gallanol, and yet I am no Unificationist. I want peace and prosperity.”

 

    “Many people made the same decision in the south, alas, without understanding the true implications of Deneldinhew’s rise to power,” said King Lew soulfully. “New movements have arisen to divide and upset the ancient equilibriums. But there is little we can do. Further resistance in Morith can do no further good. Young man,” he addressed Jovian, “We intend to surrender today. We will bide our time until we may be of use to Gallanol. Some of us will go up into the hills. Eocha is one of them. He will not surrender. Some of us will seek refuge with King Lewden and King Rhodri in the south. My son and my lovely daughter in law will attempt to travel south. They will go to Nardarric and take ship for Prydein. I will remain here to surrender. What think you will be my fate?”

 

    “My lord, do not stay in Morith,” advised Jovian. “Flee with your son. Owen Gireald is now Lord Protector of Elladein. Prince Trahearn’s flight from Caerella, and the Battle of Kelsa, have made it certain the the Royal Family of Elladein will be dispossessed. Even if you had surrendered completely at Caerella, I am not sure that any of your family would have kept the throne, despite Deneldinhew’s promises. Rodin Boyne was kept, and still is as far as I know, under a close house arrest after the surrender of Caerella, and he wasn’t the only one. If Owen Gireald tried to have me killed it shows he cannot be merciful to his enemies. Eric Cadwallon also seems bloodthirsty, and the King’s Companions will do anything for Owen. I fear that at a suitable, and without fuss, He could execute Rodin Boyne if he chooses. That could even be your fate, King Lew, if you remain here!”

 

    “Yes, father, you must come with us,” said Prince Trahearn.

 

    “We could have use of you in the hills,” said Eocha.

 

    “I am too old for the hills,” said the old King. “That is certain. But I do not wish to leave my people. If I desert them we will lose their sympathy. Already I have done them some disservice. Offa the Relf massacred a mining settlement in the Carn Deags. The miners’ heads were stacked in the middle of the road. Some of the women and children were raped and left behind, others were taken northward. A farm on the Nardyrria road was burned and trampled. I have sent messages to the Nardyrrians, but they are probably too late. Never again must we use mercenaries! They are a worse enemy than Deneldinhew. At least Deneldinhew is a cultured Gallanolian.”

 

     The old King was indecisive, but finally he came to a decision. “Yes, I shall go to Prydein, and then to Paldein with my son and my daughter in law. There is nothing more I can do here.” Inside he felt uneasy, however. Something was trying to tell him it was the wrong thing to do. He sensed the possibility of tragedy in that direction, despite the rational knowledge that they should be safe there.

 

    King Lew turned his warm brown eyes on Jovian. “You are in certain danger if you remain here. Deneldinhew surely considers you a traitor now, and you would be murdered if you remained here. Come with us to Paldein? You may even return to Alentin from there if you wished, although there is a risk that he would betray you to Deneldinhew.”

 

     “I have a friend, Owain Blenith, a merchant’s son from Morith. He saved my life when Owen Gireald tried to kill me. I would rather remain with him. If he wishes, and you will allow it, then we may come with you,” said Jovian.

 

    “He is welcome to accompany us, of course,” said Prince Trahearn.

 

    “I have also a woman, friend, in Caerella, but I suppose I must desert her for now,” he said, thinking aloud. Morgana smiled with humour across at Trahearn. She had told him what sort of a man Jovian was. Jovian noticed, and he smiled back at Morgana.

 

    “Perhaps the solution is that you join us in the hills,” suggested Eocha seriously. “You are proud and strong, and you have a grievance. You could stand a hard life and you would be well rewarded when Deneldinhew and the Cadwallons are finally cast down.”

 

     King Lew was disapproving. Eocha, like his father, was inclined to be rash and overconfident, and he disapproved of Eocha’s methods, which were likely to be violent, and to cost Elladein dear in bloodshed and trouble. To Eocha the end justified the means, but the original ideals tended to suffer. To King Lew a cause was not worth fighting for unless the ideals were adhered to. Eocha was more interested in dynastic squabbles than in level-headed solutions to Gallanol’s problems.

 

   “No Eocha. I will not,” replied Jovian, “although I may come to it one day if Owen Gireald gets what he wants. I am not really a soldier, although I fight well enough. I would prefer to take my skills to King Lewden or King Rhodri. I will not return to King Alentin, although we liked each other, because he will follow Deneldinhew I think, and there is nothing more I can do in his service. I no longer have the great ambitions I once had,” said Jovian.

 

    “Return here to the Palace gate within an hour if you decide to come with us,” said King Lew, taking his hands in his own. “If you are late you may catch us up on the road. Whatever happens, I hope we shall meet again.” Jovian bowed courteously and left the Paradis Garden in a hurry.

 

     “I too must leave, so that I can take as many men as will come with me,” said Eocha, still wearing his worn and dented battle armour and his red cloak. “I may not see you again, but I hope that we will meet in victory. Goodbye.” He kissed King Lew with wet lips on both cheeks, shook hands warmly with his cousin Trahearn, and lifted Morgana lightly as he kissed her full on the lips. Before he disappeared through the arched doorway he turned and said, “I go now!” One of the army captains followed him.

 

     Jovian left the Palace down the path on the south side of the hill. Clouds had come over and it began to shower lightly. He felt confused. Events were occurring too fast. His thoughts were mixed. ‘I don’t want to fight any more. Nothing can be gained. I want to live quietly. I want to marry Rowarna and settle in peace, away from persecution.’ Then he thought of beautiful Ywain Gireald, and desire was awakened to start again where he had left off. To strive for control over his own life and the lives of others. He could not have Ywain, but he loved Rowarna anyway. He could go back to King Alentin, or he could work for King Lew, Prince Trahearn and Morgana, King Rhodri or King Lewden. He could still be a great man. Pride in himself and defiance of Owen Gireald were reawakened.

 

    He greeted Owain Blenith of Morith where he had left him at the Park Gate, “Will you come with me? The King and the Prince are riding in less than an hour for Nardyrria and Nardarric. They will take ship to Prydein or Paldein. We can go with them.”

 

    Owain was not surprised, “I knew you would want to join them,” he said. “Of course I will come. What else is there to do?

 

    They returned quickly to Owain’s father’s house, collected their few belongings and food, and rode back to the Palace within the hour.