The Steward – Part 2

Jed

There was a lot to consider. The king realised that even highly-placed courtiers like Solomon and his allies could not have ousted him without at least the tacit consent of the people.

It was not that the people wanted to replace the old king. They would never even have thought of getting rid of him themselves but, once they heard of the coup, they had no stomach for a confrontation with the steward and his fellow plotters. So the people held back and Solomon took over. Maybe some people feared the personal consequences if they resisted. Others perhaps trusted that Solomon would be a better ruler. Or it could have been just plain apathy that did the trick in the end.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the king knew one thing. He did not leave his kingdom because the people bore any hostility towards him or his kingship. It was their indifference that convinced him he should go without a fuss. He might have been a king but he respected the popular will, however formless it was. And so he went, and allowed his steward to replace him.

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But what if the people were asked again to choose between them both? Would the result be different? That is what the king now proposed to do. It would mean sending a trusted envoy into his kingdom to spread an alternative ‘gospel’ to that preached by Solomon.

Although most of the king’s senior lieutenants had sided with the steward, a few had remained loyal and they joined him in his exile. The king had faith in them all. Would one of them be suited to the task?

There was Siegfried, a fierce warrior, whom the king had to restrain from slaying Solomon when the latter made his move against him. Noah was more diplomatic and could win over anyone with his silver tongue, whether through speech or song. Then there was Jacob who, like Siegfried, could wield a sword but whose chief skill was healing pain or sickness whenever he encountered them. Urielle was the most learned of them all. She had absorbed so much knowledge from a lifetime’s reading that it was easier to find out something by asking her rather than consulting an encyclopaedia.

Any one of these would make an excellent emissary to his old land. However, the king’s mind was turning to someone else, someone very close to his heart.

The king had four children: three young daughters and one son, his first-born. His son’s name was Jedediah but everyone called him Jed. That boy (that man!) was now in his early-thirties. There was something special in his nature that drew people to him, especially women and children. Maybe it was Jed’s soft voice or his warm smile that made him so charismatic. The old king could not quite put his finger on what it was, but Jed had a unique way about him.

When the king went out for a stroll in the afternoon sunshine, he would often see Jed under a tree in the woods surrounded by young children, all of them sitting or lying on the grass. The king never got so close that he could hear what Jed was saying but he guessed from the children’s responses that he was telling them one of his stories. One minute the youngsters would be listening with open-mouthed concentration, the next they were falling around in fits of laughter. Whatever the mood of the tale he was telling them, they were enthralled by Jed and his stories.

Things had not always been like that. Jed had been a precocious child. He liked showing off his cleverness and erudition to the other boys. This irritated them so much that they turned against him and mocked him for being ‘different’. From then on Jed became a bit of a recluse. He took to wearing dark clothes all the time and grew his hair long. But he also became quieter and more reflective, and somehow nicer than before. Is that why others were now drawn to him?

One day the king spoke to Jed about his kingdom and his idea of helping the people there to get out from under the steward’s increasingly tyrannical rule. Jed agreed with the plan, but when he heard that he was his father’s choice to go back there he grew quiet. It was not that he was afraid to go into the ‘lion’s den’ (as it were). Nor did he doubt his ability to convey the king’s message to the people. No, his hesitation was based on something deeper and more personal.

Since they were children Jed and Solomon had been the best of friends. So close were the two boys that Solomon had spoken up for Jed against the others when they decided to expel him from their little group. Afterwards Solomon stood by Jed when the latter retreated further into himself. But, as they got older, the two grew apart. Solomon went on to high office in the king’s court. Jed was shocked at the turn of events that led to his family moving into exile. He and Solomon had not spoken to each other since.

Jed felt that, if he were to accept this mission, he and Solomon would inevitably meet again. That is why Jed hesitated when the king outlined what he had in mind. It would be an awkward and uncomfortable encounter between the two former friends. Not only that but, if Jed succeeded in his task, his father would return as the rightful king. Jed’s victory would be Solomon’s defeat. There could be no middle ground, no fudge. As Jed contemplated the road ahead, he was filled with sadness.

There was something else to think about. Solomon would not prevent Jed entering the kingdom. Indeed he could not. Why this should be so needs some explanation. After all, if Solomon was now the absolute ruler surely he could forbid anyone, even the old king or his representative, from setting foot inside the kingdom? But no, that was not the case.

Solomon knew that he was a false king, a usurper, and not the legitimate ruler of the land. No matter how much time passed since he took over, or the fact that everyone else had forgotten the old king’s time, Solomon could not ‘un-know’ the truth. In a sense he was trapped by the truth. There was only one authentic king, and it was not him. Whether or not the old king came back was not up to Solomon. The people alone would decide that.

These thoughts flashed through Jed’s mind in a matter of seconds. Then, returning to the moment, he broke the silence.

“If you send me, father, I will go.”

More in Part 3.