An Elder Speaks Up

"You are quite right," the davar replied. "I do thank you for your cooperation. You are free to go."

The two men shook hands, and Ferratus left.

The davar now had to wait. It was late in the afternoon when one of his servants informed him that Agha Kiristani, the patriarch of the oldest and most prestigious family in the city, wanted to talk to him.

The davar rode out to Kiristani's hacienda, which was about a league outside the city. It was built on a low hill. One of Kiristani's servants told the davar that his master was in the garden, by the rose bushes, and gave the davar the option of waiting for his master or going directly to him. The davar chose to see Kiristani in the rose garden, as it would be doubtless be a pleasing place to be, and the davar could use some relief from the business of the last few days. He dismounted, and Kiristani's servant led him to the rose garden.

Kiristani's face was tanned and wrinkled. He had lost most of the hair on the top of his head, but had a long, gray beard. He had a staff, which was more for show than for need, as age had not affected his gait. Kiristani took the initiative and held out his hand and the two men shook.

Kiristani said, "Shaheen Agha! Thank you for coming. I am glad that you met me here. It is been too long since you have seen my garden. I hear that you have been very busy."

The davar replied, "Indeed. Busier than I would have liked to be, lately."

"Ah! Well, please relax. Let us sit on the bench by the statue of the West Wind here. These white roses are of a species that comes from the park of Gana. It has a strong scent, with a hint of clove to it. Please take a sniff."

The davar gingerly pinched the stem under a flower, brought the flower up to his nose, and inhaled. The white rose had a pleasant scent.

The davar said, "You have done well here. I have heard much about your garden, but words do not do it justice."

"You are too kind. But I find it a necessity in order to clear my mind. It is danger, when you are in the public service, that you can spend so much time working for others that you become a stranger to yourself. Do you know what I mean?"

"I do not find it to be a problem."

The elder grunted. There was a moment of silence, and he said, "You have become zealous in the last couple of days over matters of border crossings. I would like to know why the sudden vigilance."

"I have noticed that smuggling and trade in illegal goods has become a problem. I am trying to fix a problem that has been ignored."

The elder knitted his brows. "So you are going keep this harassment of merchants up from now on? You are going to have to build another tower or two if this keeps up."

The davar answered, "I do not think that I can keep the level of special viligence for a long time. But right now, I need to crack down."

"Why, pray tell? And why have not consulted us, the town elders? This is not like the davar that I have known for these many years."

The davar replied, "May I sit down?"

"By all means," said the elder, as he sat down on the other end of the bench.

The davar said, "I am responding to the emergency. As you know, we had a problem where that man was trampled by a horse outside of the city, and where that woman was attacked."

"Yes. That was bad. But this is an open-and-shut case, right? Punish those involved. Why are you taking it out on innocent traders?"

The davar leaned forward. "Those involved were traders. And, uh, there have been signs that some other traders from rival groups were going to cause problems. I wanted to put a stop to that before these problems happened. I had to act quickly."

"I don't understand."

"I found out that some couriers in the town were angry at a man named Gog, and may have planning revenge. I have placed Jegar and some others under arrest to cool things down. There is something going on that I do not know about. I need to ask questions, and be satisfied that whatever feuds exist in the interior do not spill over here."

The elder took a deep breath, and nodded slightly. "It will not spill over here."

"With all due respect, how can you be sure?"

1. "There are some important men that do not want to see trouble, Shaheen Agha. They will take care of it."

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