FULL NOVELXO Chapter Learning more.
That first evening, when she was at last able to sit down to rest, even for just a few minutes, Monique reached out to Liam to find out more of what he had hinted at as she had left Bradshaw’s office.
Liam always seemed to be close by, even if he didn’t say much, and that was a comfort.
‘You mentioned that the cities were able to communicate with each other. How is that possible? Why did you even help them do that, if you really wanted to deter it?’
She sensed his eagerness to tell her, while revealing more of this mischievous side to him and about all Thorians. He seemed to find it funny.
’There are clever words to describe it. It’s like telling a wayward child not to do something… Don’t look in that box! Don’t open that door… don’t close that door. Don’t do this, don’t do that.
’What you tell them not to do, becomes something that they are inevitably drawn to do in an act of rebellion, as they learn to push boundaries.
’We started it, so that we could monitor it and control it. Surprises, can cost lives.
’We had help from the traders, of course. They would trade ‘special goods’, made, or produced in the neighboring cities. Eventually, small complimentary messages came with those trades, reaching from city to city. Wine from Fenn, getting as far as Dorian, and gracious thanks getting sent back with Dorian goods reaching Fenn.
’All of the cities soon learned they could exchange more than just compliments and thanks, but that they could also complain about the aggravations in their lives; about the tyrants who ruled them from afar and who were seen each month, robbing them of their best and most beautiful.
‘At least that was how they saw it.’
Monique nodded.
‘The Tributes.’
She knew about them, but she had also seen her views adjusted on what that process was all about, and in just the last few, tumultuous days.
’Yes. The Tributes. So… they conspire, plot, and… as they do from time to time, every few generations, they rise up in rebellion against us. We know it is coming.
‘It blows off steam, just as Tomtom… the volcano on Hera… does every few decades when he blusters and roars, shaking a few foundations, clearing his throat, before settling down again.’
He thought for a few moments before continuing.
‘The cities get to renegotiate certain things, and so do we. Eventually, the new rules become irksome to them again, and we go through another cycle of disruption. There is one such disruption approaching the walls of Fenn even now’—he had already mentioned that—’but they are not having such an easy time of it. They are used to trees and gentle creatures within their cities, not those that inhabit that wasteland.
“The Frexes are keeping them awake. They fear, for no solid reason. The Kelts will look after them as they always do.
’Don’t worry. It is all under control, and it will all work out as it should, though never quite in the way the participants intend. There will be no serious injuries, but there will be many egos wounded, along with a few unexpected changes.
‘You’ll see. You will also be part of it, and so will we. That is why we… they, these Thorians… are here… there, with you.’
He smiled. Monique was already drifting off to sleep and hadn’t noticed his slight, verbal gaffes.