The Courageous Emperor: Bravery

After braving the blazing sun of the Arrakis desert, which the Emperor traversed fifteen years ago, Doran collapsed by a thin, scummy brook, and delved deep enough to taste the sandy bottom. Without external cause, he might have remained unreflecting, eyes, as well as mouth, gulping sweet fluid mixed with the sour accompaniment of rotting organic debris. But his lungs rebelled, forcing the boy to rise, and then slump again, now parallel to the ditch.

A rough hand lifted him, and when Doran refused to secure his footing, it was accompanied by a voice.

“It's prohibited to reside along the city's sewage outlet.”

Accustomed to the glare of the sun and its million flashing companions, Doran reflexively shielded his eye with his right hand. Yet this action produced no impact his sight, and upon reflection, he said, “Where am I, though it be day, with not a cloud gracing the sky, my vision perceives a dimness of twilight?”

The man, for Doran could see that much, stood in a state of disapproval and perplexity. He prepared to shake Doran again, but hesitated, and stepped back.

“Are you sick, contagious, delirious from the foul scooped into your mouth?”

Doran, still desiring to submerge his body in neighborly liquid, instead lifted himself into a sitting position. Supported by a warm surface, he explored it with trembling fingers, and felt the bricks and mortar of a wall. With leveraging from hands, feet, and back, he stood, steadying himself. Then he send his hands creeping ever upwards, on a quest to locate the rim. But they were above his head before he desisted and turned to view the structure. It rose another six feet, and from over its edge he heard the sound of people in the market. He smiled in relief, and turning back, reached out a hand to the man. As one they walked through sprawling town, where the man brought Doran into a modest house.

After a filling meal, foreign in nature, surrounded by a warm and friendly household, the man led the youth outdoor to two chairs. The horizon eclipsed half the sun, and the faint twinkling of an early star could be seen overhead.

“Now you are in a state to speak, indulge my curiosity, who are you, and where you do you come from?”

“You mean to ask,” replied Doran, “Why am I here? And I can tell you, for the noteworthy elements of my tale are not long, and I shall in the same telling, answer your less crucial queries.”

“We haven't seen anyone cross the Arrakis in more than a dozen years.”

“That was when you saw the emperor return?”

“Yes, it was him, and not a soul has crossed one way or another since.”

“Needn't he collect taxes?” asked Doran. “And what about ruling? How can he enforce his will upon a people who never hear from his servants?”

“Sounds to me like your people believe he rules you. What need have he of physically enforcing his dominion, if your minds do it for him. And from what I understand, he and his palace have no need of the meager wealth you could offer him. No, I think he explores for another reason, not encompassed by land or gold.”

“How could you possibly know the emperor's intentions?” Doran interrupted.

The man observed Doran for a time, and the youth understood his hesitancy.

“You can trust me,” said Doran.

“I served with him...”

“What..!”

“Let me finish. After our ragged coup which brought him into power, our desperate victory at the battle near the ford of Beruna, and our exhausting struggle before this very city, I abandoned the bravest man the world has ever known. And, when he rode back over a decade later, I couldn't bring myself to look at my Emperor.”

Duran could no longer contain himself, “I seek the emperor so I might ride with him!”

The man laughed, “At his advancing age, the roughness of the campaign may preclude him. But his bravery would not. Well do I remember and revere the memory of the battle we fought here. Though fools will tell you that we were always fated to win, those of us who rode behind his banner knew it was his fearless, indomitable will which carried the day. Let me set the scene for you: two thousand mounted men, outmaneuvered into a precarious position in the desert, hampered by beasts not suitable for sand, and harried by men handy with the bow and the treacherous terrain. They alone outnumbered us two to one, supported by a foundation of swordsmen, five thousand strong, and the city's petty barbarian ruler, with his fifty mounted bodyguards.”

“And you won?” Doran asked with eyes lit by star and moon.

“They say our master is cunning, and he is. But his bravery (along his sword arm, for what use is courage without skill to wield it) subsumes the courage of his entire company, and through his will it flows out again, doubled in quantity. When the enemy thought us weary and beaten, he led us on the attack. Though he thrust himself into every danger, no edge could pierce his skin. And the enemy, unexpectedly panicked by our fierceness (and reputation, for you must remember this was our tenth year upon campaign), threw reinforcements upon us. But he stood like a rock, rescuing each of his faithful men in turn.”

The man paused to drink from a glass of water, and it looked like he would fall silent.

“Go on please,” said Doran.

“There isn't more to tell. Haphazardly, desperately did they charge us, disorderly, and each man the Emperor saved was reinvigorated, as fresh as if he had been reborn. The surviving enemy surrendered to him an hour later, the those who remained.”

“There must have been only a few.”

“No, boy. Our emperor does not seek blood. There were many, and they live here, citizens of his mercy.”

Now Doran let the silence stretch, until the sky was a tapestry of silver string against black cloth.

“You must know where he resides.”

He could see the man nod in the starlight.

“He may no longer seek battle, but I wish to learn of his wisdom.”

“You needn't seek farther, for I can tell you. He fears no wound. But I feared even the thought of one, and that day I recognized, to my shame, a blemish of cowardice I could not clean. Though he rescued me, I could not stand. I did not earn his mercy, and so I remained here.”

“Where must I go?”

“If you wish to find the Emperor, the way is not difficult, and men make regular trips between here and his palace. Go ever eastward until you find the river Sirion, and then search for the ford of Beruna. When I crossed, long ago, it was a dirt path passing through a small town, but stories say it has grown large, and I would be surprised if a splendid road didn't lead directly across it.”

“Then I will seek it. I thank you for your hospitality, and wish you well.”












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