West

The day went as quickly as it came, and by sundown, we welcomed back Father and those; who had been away defending the village. The villages cheered at another successful triumph against the tribes. Still, I noticed that my father did not share the same enthusiasm. He held the head of what I assumed, to be that of the tribe chief. Despite such an achievement, he had his head low. He seemed tired of this life.

Out of everybody, I knew him the best. So, I made my way through the crowd and greeted him, he lightened up, a bit. He threw me the head of his kill, asking me; if my mother and the children were safe. I answered, yes. It relieved him a bit, but I wondered; if anything had gone wrong, and he answered: no.

If everything went well, why did he not seem happy about it, I asked him. He hesitated to answer, sighing a bit, thinking of how to reply. ‘The truth,’ He said, ‘is that this triumph of ours will be temporary. To be honest, son, I am getting old, and I do not know; if I will be able to shield Belomas once more. I have reached my thirty-second year, but I have not accomplished much.’

‘In the times of my ancestors, my accomplishments would have been the cause of envy; but what is there to envy, my son,’ He said, ‘I will leave this world, but what have I to distinguish myself!? What legacy do I leave to my sons? What stories of worth shall my grandchildren have to distinguish themselves from the sons of other men?’

I did not know, what to say; but anyhow, he kept going, ‘I wept the other day at the statue of our country’s father, grieving that I had failed to put an end to these tribes. It brings me sorrow. Oleg, at my age was already establishing our great country, I have yet to achieve, such brilliance. And look at what has happened, my son, the great Oleg establishment of a nation has fragmented, to puny villages, like our own; and what audacity of us to claim his flag!’

‘Disputes between the commons and kings have brought us to these circumstances, a house that's become so divided, they cannot protect themselves from those scavengers! What use was to demolish the institutions of our ancestors; if we were not going to install something greater? The institutions of great men may be improved, but to abandon them? In the days of our ancestors, we could enjoy time with our children, in our time, we can only hope to catch a glimpse of them before they marry another, to journey through the way we call life.’

‘Father,’ I said, ‘If you desire to settle down, why not reestablish the institutions of our ancestors? There’s no better man to lead us than you, do you not think so?’

These words sparked something inside my father, almost as if these words of mine had been what he had been meaning to hear. He cheered up that night, deciding to attend the banquet, but this would not be without inciting the revival of the monarchy, essentially desiring to reestablish the independent villages, settlements, and cities into a kingdom. Stumbling around, he had managed to come across a table, where he pushed everything aside, to stamp his foot and gather the attention of his people.

‘People of Rus, you and I have shared many victories and tragedies. Many of you have lost sons and daughters, as we struggled to deal with these tribes. Many of you have shed tears for these children, many of you have regretted sending them out to defend, I assume,’ Illya said, ‘You do not have to admit, it is natural to lament and regret sending your brightest son, to fight. It is lamentable to lose your virtuous daughters, who could have bared you many grandchildren and kept your lineage alive. The pile of corpses of our people continues to pile up year after year, and we never manage peace that is not temporary, do we? I no longer have any father or brothers and sisters, to cry for my people. They have all died for this village of ours.’

‘And as time passes, I realized that I will succumb to their same fate, and so will my children here. How long will we continue letting the blood of our people spill before we ought to do something? The tyrant of the past is gone, but we face greater dangers today with this division amongst our country, some having abandoned their flag of origin and establishing their own country within ours! How ridiculous, isn’t it!?’

‘And want to know the best part of it? They enjoy greater lives than we do, and they continue to feel pride in a flag that no longer carries the prestige, it did four generations ago! Oh my, Oh my, are these the words of a drunk man; or the words of a hurt man that desires something greater for his people? That is up for you to decipher, but if I am to leave you with anything, my people, we are to reestablish the institutions of the past, putting the power in the hands of one, once more!’

‘We are to do this for the sake of our descendants and their descendants. Put your mortal needs aside, for you do not have the great needs that you suppose yourselves to have. Night after night, the men of service provide you with the comfort of safekeeping and peaceful sleeping. Not once had the tribes entered beyond the lake, and how can that be? It was not easy, I can tell you out of personal experience; the easiness you enjoy is at the cost of many men, who will not be remembered by most; aside from their loved ones, if they had any left to weep for them.’

‘If easiness is what you enjoy,’ Illya said, “What do you have to lose, by not accepting my proposals? For the greater good, we must rise and forge our way through blood and steel once more to reestablish that great Kingdom. There is no worthy man to lead, but if you trust me, I can bring you to greatness. Who better than you to decide the fate of your descendants? I mean, who better to provide them with a better life than the life you had? For that is the purpose of life, to provide a better life for the children compared to the life that you and I live at this moment.'

This was the speech, my father gave at the banquet, and surprisingly, it was met with great support. If there was anybody of status, who could pull that off; it would be him. At the time of this declaration, it was winter, and that would give my father time, to establish his plans for campaigns outside the village. However, he would first have a census of the people taken: to figure out the amount of men available for service.

At his disposal, my father could have an army of 7,393 men. However, he knew, it would not be wise to leave the village defenseless. To his luck, he had to leave behind at least 2,000 men for defense. This would be fewer men than the amount needed to defend the village regularly. Luckily, fate was on their side; it was winter and their enemies would not waste winter supplies, for a war. It was declared, that every man of age was to be put in the hands of the Chief, Illya.

He had not decided on a structure for his army, instead, Illya had the men train daily. Sixteen years of age is the requirement; for those to take part in the army. However, a decent physique is another notable trait, for enrollment. For the first time in four generations, Belomas will use its military, to go on the offensive against foes abroad. It brought many people to join the army, as they hoped to enrich themselves with the pillaging of their foes.

It led to my father passing a decree, stating that the women and children of the village would handle the farms and they were expected to hold it down until the army returned from abroad. The village; Belomas, did not have slaves. They believed it, to be dangerous to have such things in their society, as they could revolt when the men were outside of the village. Slave revolts were common; it was difficult to control. In addition to this, casualties of war had not been captured since the time of the first monarchy, which had led to a decline in the slave class at Belomas.

Throughout the months, my father gathered a small party of his trusted warriors, which would include: Fedar the Wild, Voron Ironside, Yarik the Defender of the Fatherland, Stanilo the Younger, and Illya the Younger. Not only was I invited to this group, but it cemented my place within the future Kingdom. It was difficult not to put your eldest son into your close circle of men. At dawn, we traveled throughout the countryside. It was my first time furthering outside of the boundaries of our village. I felt the thrill of excitement, a sense of danger, I grew to love.

My father surveyed the lands, searching for potential areas to station our camp, when the time came for the campaign. The expedition made everything clear; Father intended to subdue the neighboring tribes to his yoke before campaigning towards neighboring lands. He wanted to ease the pressure on the homefront, I think, and to make it difficult for potential enemies, to ally themselves with the hostile tribes.

He did not think it best to annihilate the tribes, he thought that barbaric. The best course was to confront these people and subjecitate them once more to the Kingdom of Rus. It would not be an easy task. Rumors had it there were about twenty of these tribes that had overtaken the entire western front of the former Kingdom, a significant factor in the collapse of the original kingdom.

The original Kingdom had failed, to respond on time to these tribes coming westwards, leading to a complete loss of the sea routes westwards. It was a brutal blow, to the Kingdom's economic power, which led to its eventual decline. Eventually, the East broke away from the Kingdom, becoming its own independent nation. The South and North remained, but eventually, these places were fragmented into independent territories, ran by different peoples or families. My father desired to restore these parts into one kingdom, but the first step was to retake the west.

“Forgive me, Illya, but why have you brought us? You know, how hostile these barbarians can be, right?” said Stanilo.

“If he did,” Voron Ironside said, “He would have brought more people, or does he trust us that much?”

“Perhaps he does, Voron,” Yarik laughed, “He brought his junior along; what do you think, boy?”

“I do not know,” I said, “Whatever it may be, I trust my father.”

“So do I, boy,” Fedor chimes in, “however, I do not trust these Ugrics. Those scums have killed many of our people.”

Tightening his hold on the reins, my father yielded, arriving at a lake. This led to everyone coming to a sudden halt, as the chief had stopped. For a brief moment, my father surveyed the area, trying to find some use for the place. The lake, it seemed, to be the same river that flowed eastwards to the village. For the first time, my father cackled, saying, “Well, my friends, this explains a lot of this tribe's insistence, to fight us.”

“Insistence? What do you mean, Illya,” said Stanilo.

“This same river is the one that leads to the village,” said Illya.

“And so what?” said Stanilo.

“Do you not see the issue here, my friend,” Illya said, “This river is a safety issue for this tribe, as they seek to push our village boundaries farther from it. Do you not remember that our village was not always this small? It used to be much larger in the past; until those people began to push our people back, to avoid them using this lake.”

“Are you implying this river is a threat to their defenses?” said Fedor.

“Exactly, and it is for this reason they fear to give us entry to the river. This river is not accessible to us, but it is; if the borders of the village were back to their original place. However,  I also notice that this river would be easy to establish a supply line!” said Illya.

“Not just that, Illya,” Fedor laughed, “This allows us, to overwhelm them from many areas, but where could this village lead? We do not have any boats. Any ideas?”

"Do not get ahead ourselves, friend," Illya said, "We need to return home, to make further preparations. We will have to establish camp, a month before the end of winter. The tribes will notice, if there is a lot of movement within their territory."

“We should send a small group of men, father,” I suggested, “We will need people with knowledge of the area.”

“I know,” Illya said, “That is why I will be sending you and two of the people here. Let us return, boy, for I have many things to think.