The Steward – Part 4

“’E got the rizz!”

After Jed left the inn, Solomon sat alone at the table trying hard to stay in control. Despite his strong self-discipline Solomon was literally shaking with fury. Even as he replayed the conversation in his mind, Solomon could feel the anger bubbling up inside.

It was difficult to pick out the most exasperating part of Jed’s… what? His speech? His diatribe? Was it when he mentioned ‘the real Solomon’? Surely Jed did not imagine for a second that the person he was talking to was some kind of fake? If it had not been for ‘the real Solomon’ who knows where the kingdom and its people would be today?

When Solomon spoke to Jed about his ‘talents’, he had not been exaggerating. Surely no one could disagree that he was the most able of all those who had been closest to the old king?

The “four titans”, ha!

Solomon knew he could outfox and outfight Siegfried if it ever came to a battle between the two. Even Noah’s eloquence and lucidity were no match for Solomon’s ingenuity and cunning. And who understood the vagaries of the human mind and body better than Solomon? Certainly not Jacob! When it came to learning and enlightenment, even the magnificent Urielle would have to bow to Solomon’s superior intellect.

Solomon firmly believed that, when he said “My talents were going to waste”, he was being nothing less than honest. But the old king could see none of this. Nor could his son Jed.

Although the steward would not intervene directly to stop Jed trying to win over the people, there were ways and means of bending the human will - flattery and intimidation were just two examples. Hadn’t Solomon already demonstrated his unrivalled expertise in the art of mind manipulation? So he was certain that - when the moment came - the people would make the correct decision.

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The first step in Jed’s plan was to find a handful of people in the kingdom who would listen to his ‘alternative gospel’. If he could persuade them that life – reality - was not as restricted as they had been led to believe, maybe others would listen too. But it would take a lot more to achieve that breakthrough than picking a few holes in Solomon’s fabricated society. The real challenge would be to show the people what life could and should be like. If Jed could do that, surely it would spell the end of the steward’s rule? There were a lot of ‘ifs’ in the way though, and it could all fall apart. But his father believed it would work, and so did Jed.

Jed travelled through the kingdom looking for those few who might be willing to help him. When Jed entered a city square or a country market he seemed to ‘know’ straightaway who he should approach. When he spotted a likely candidate, Jed would introduce himself as a newly-arrived visitor who wanted to learn about the customs and conventions of the kingdom. Invariably his friendly demeanour would encourage the other person to open up and, before long, the two were engaged in lively conversation.

As they talked, Jed would point out how, in his country, things were done differently. These descriptions usually intrigued his interlocutor so much that he or she would want to hear more about this stranger and his unusual background. Of course, what Jed was actually talking about was this kingdom – as it had been before Solomon took over. His hearers, having no sense of their own history, assumed at first he was referring to somewhere else, an exotic place far far away.

It took a while but in the end Jed assembled as diverse a bunch of followers as it is possible to imagine. There were a few ‘normal’ folk among Jed’s little band, that is, men and women with regular jobs and clean habits. But most of his ‘recruits’ could best be described as misfits or outcasts. Among them were a couple of thieves, a prostitute, a hobo or two, a few drug abusers, and at least one anarchist. All of them - the ‘normies’ and the ‘outsiders’ - were, in one sense or another, disaffected citizens of the kingdom.

It is doubtful if many of them could have pinpointed exactly why they found life so dissatisfying. They just had an intuition that things should be better somehow. This feeling left a ‘hole’ inside which some filled with things like drink or drugs, gambling, or sex with lots of different people. If they did not indulge themselves like this, they feared they might become depressed or even suicidal.

Everyone who listened to Jed liked what he said. They hoped in their hearts that what he was offering was true, that it could be true. The idea of a land of plenty where no one suffered or died was really appealing. Could Jed bring about that kind of transformation here in Solomon’s kingdom? With their help, that is what he promised.

But was such a prospect realistic? Some of Jed’s followers wondered if it would not be better for them to set their sights on a less ambitious goal, like creating an equitable society for all – with or without Solomon at the top?

There were others who were more focused on their own self-interest, like the two young brothers, Nicholas and Andrew. They were likeable lads who had been tagging along with Jed since he had come across them one day sitting out in the sunshine. The two were career criminals who had started off picking the pockets or purses of rich passers-by. Now they constructed elaborate schemes to fleece the wealthy of their money. Nick and Andy’s desire to ‘get on’ had led them deeper into a life of crime. They were now accomplished conmen.

Meeting Jed was something of a turning point for the two brothers. He reawakened an unselfish side to their characters. They loved hearing what this fascinating stranger had to say. As one brother said to the other, “‘E got the rizz, don’t he?” However, it was not just Jed’s ‘rizz’ that drew them in.

Nick and Andy felt that being in Jed’s company might turn out to be a profitable move. Jed did not bother with money himself so he was not a good ‘mark’. But one or two of those who came along to hear what he had to say could be ripe subjects for the boy’s ‘skills’. So while the brothers hoped that Jed could transform their lives in the way he described, they would also keep an eye out for opportunities to enrich themselves.

Despite his obvious charisma, if Jed had simply told his followers about life in his world, they could well have written him off as a charlatan or a fraudster. But when he also demonstrated what he meant, they could not so easily dismiss the results. Those close to Jed soon realised that he was not trying to fool them, he was educating them!

What he taught them were the secrets of true life. He told them that learning these did not require an ascetic lifestyle or years of spiritual preparation. According to Jed, all his companions needed was a simple acceptance that this was the way the world works. In short, he was asking for their ‘faith’ in the possibilities he described.

As Jed put it, it was like going deeper into a pitch black cave, or stepping off the edge of a sheer precipice. Those who did so might end up being eaten by a bear or dashed against the rocks below. Their only protection against harm would be their faith in Jed’s words and his example.

Of course the step that Jed invited his companions to take was not a literal ‘leap in the dark’. It was an interior transformation, a mental switch they could turn on if they wanted to. But it was real enough to cause some to shrink back in fear. Those who did make the ‘leap’ would find themselves in a different and better ‘zone’ to the one they had just left. One minute they were in a familiar state of being, the next they would be breaking through to a reality they could never have imagined.

So with all their faults, foibles and fears, this was the ‘motley crew’ in whom Jed was placing his faith. Together he hoped they would change the world.

More in Part 5