This is a short sequel to my story And Eat It, Too, which is summarized in two paragraphs here:
www.deviantart.com/ophion8118/…
If you want to read the whole thing, though, you can start with the Prologue, found here on Dims or at this link on DA:
www.deviantart.com/ophion8118/…
A final note: “stone”as used in this story is equivalent to about five pounds, NOT the 14 pounds of the British system.
~~~
From the Proconsul Hovanor to the Viceregent Vatarmet, this 32nd day of Miyaz in the year 484
I write you at the beginning of my first official visit to Jabel, this remote, mountainous quarter of the kingdom of Lajjar with which your Viceregency has had so little contact. I arrived just days ago and plan to spend the season here, seeking to knit ties with the local nobility and deepen our knowledge of the outer reaches of Lajjar. My every action furthers your edict that Geta’s stewardship of this land can only be effective if we know every corner of it, to hold it securely in our care. The Lajjari will cease to call us an empire when we come to know them truly, and they us.
My journey from the capital city of Qala took me and my small caravan almost due north. The mountains only grew larger as we went, and we saw them long before we even entered the foothills. It was nine full days until we arrived at the Haqqal estate, which sits near the southern boundary of this rocky district. With good reason: what little agriculture is in these hills takes place where the soil is still somewhat fertile. As one works one’s way deeper into the foothills and up into the mountains, farming gives way to husbandry, mostly of sheep and goats. Jabel is thus a poor and rugged region, experiencing little of the bounty that characterizes nearly every other acre of Lajjar.
That very poverty is evident in the Haqqal estate and in the family that occupies it. Put from your mind the image of the Ladies of Qala and the wealthy estates that encircle it, with their corpulent bodies, their wide legs and burgeoning bosoms and bellies. The women of Jabel are meager and emaciated by comparison; the same is even true of the Lady of the land, Hezela Haqqal. Admittedly “meager” is an exaggeration, as there is a pleasant roundness to her cheeks and to her arms, a curve to her hips as they spread from the slight narrowing of her waist. In short, she hardly look like a commoner, but she is the envy of none of her peers throughout the realm.
I write all this, Viceregent, not to pass undue judgment on the poor woman but to communicate faithfully and honestly the circumstances of her life. Indeed, she is to be pitied: a native daughter of Jabel and married to Lord Haqqal in her youth, she was widowed when her Lord perished (may the Earth receive him in peace) in the fight against the thief Sadesh over a year ago. Her husband was the last in the line of Haqqal--there wasn’t even a single cousin with a claim to be found--and so the estate has passed to her. I confess, this loophole that allows the rule of women is a Lajjari practice to which I have had difficulty reconciling myself. Moreover, she has failed to take a new husband in the meantime, perhaps out of grief, perhaps because even the most desperate social climber blanches at the thought of living out his days in Jabel.
The Lady Hezela is, to be sure, a gracious host who welcomed us into her home with warmth and generosity, which is more than most Getayin proconsuls can say in their tours of the outlying lands. The Jabelis seem willing to share what little they have and to treat us like kin. Even so, I was unnerved when our welcome meal was introduced by the estate’s Chef, a woman! And a woman who appeared just as plump as the Lady of the land, perhaps even more so. Why Lady Hezela permits this insubordination I cannot say, but it goes without saying that a Chef more prosperous than her Lady is a Chef more prosperous than the land can bear.
In conclusion, Viceregent, my first days in Jabel have confirmed the urgent need for the very project you have commanded and we have undertaken. It is imperative that we establish strong bonds between Qala and the exterior, the better to stabilize and regulate Geta’s stewardship of this land, and the better to secure its cooperation in finding and apprehending the thief Sadesh.
I will write you again once the month is out. I remain steadfast in my service to you and pray for your good fortune and success in this strange land we hold in our care.
www.deviantart.com/ophion8118/…
If you want to read the whole thing, though, you can start with the Prologue, found here on Dims or at this link on DA:
www.deviantart.com/ophion8118/…
A final note: “stone”as used in this story is equivalent to about five pounds, NOT the 14 pounds of the British system.
~~~
From the Proconsul Hovanor to the Viceregent Vatarmet, this 32nd day of Miyaz in the year 484
I write you at the beginning of my first official visit to Jabel, this remote, mountainous quarter of the kingdom of Lajjar with which your Viceregency has had so little contact. I arrived just days ago and plan to spend the season here, seeking to knit ties with the local nobility and deepen our knowledge of the outer reaches of Lajjar. My every action furthers your edict that Geta’s stewardship of this land can only be effective if we know every corner of it, to hold it securely in our care. The Lajjari will cease to call us an empire when we come to know them truly, and they us.
My journey from the capital city of Qala took me and my small caravan almost due north. The mountains only grew larger as we went, and we saw them long before we even entered the foothills. It was nine full days until we arrived at the Haqqal estate, which sits near the southern boundary of this rocky district. With good reason: what little agriculture is in these hills takes place where the soil is still somewhat fertile. As one works one’s way deeper into the foothills and up into the mountains, farming gives way to husbandry, mostly of sheep and goats. Jabel is thus a poor and rugged region, experiencing little of the bounty that characterizes nearly every other acre of Lajjar.
That very poverty is evident in the Haqqal estate and in the family that occupies it. Put from your mind the image of the Ladies of Qala and the wealthy estates that encircle it, with their corpulent bodies, their wide legs and burgeoning bosoms and bellies. The women of Jabel are meager and emaciated by comparison; the same is even true of the Lady of the land, Hezela Haqqal. Admittedly “meager” is an exaggeration, as there is a pleasant roundness to her cheeks and to her arms, a curve to her hips as they spread from the slight narrowing of her waist. In short, she hardly look like a commoner, but she is the envy of none of her peers throughout the realm.
I write all this, Viceregent, not to pass undue judgment on the poor woman but to communicate faithfully and honestly the circumstances of her life. Indeed, she is to be pitied: a native daughter of Jabel and married to Lord Haqqal in her youth, she was widowed when her Lord perished (may the Earth receive him in peace) in the fight against the thief Sadesh over a year ago. Her husband was the last in the line of Haqqal--there wasn’t even a single cousin with a claim to be found--and so the estate has passed to her. I confess, this loophole that allows the rule of women is a Lajjari practice to which I have had difficulty reconciling myself. Moreover, she has failed to take a new husband in the meantime, perhaps out of grief, perhaps because even the most desperate social climber blanches at the thought of living out his days in Jabel.
The Lady Hezela is, to be sure, a gracious host who welcomed us into her home with warmth and generosity, which is more than most Getayin proconsuls can say in their tours of the outlying lands. The Jabelis seem willing to share what little they have and to treat us like kin. Even so, I was unnerved when our welcome meal was introduced by the estate’s Chef, a woman! And a woman who appeared just as plump as the Lady of the land, perhaps even more so. Why Lady Hezela permits this insubordination I cannot say, but it goes without saying that a Chef more prosperous than her Lady is a Chef more prosperous than the land can bear.
In conclusion, Viceregent, my first days in Jabel have confirmed the urgent need for the very project you have commanded and we have undertaken. It is imperative that we establish strong bonds between Qala and the exterior, the better to stabilize and regulate Geta’s stewardship of this land, and the better to secure its cooperation in finding and apprehending the thief Sadesh.
I will write you again once the month is out. I remain steadfast in my service to you and pray for your good fortune and success in this strange land we hold in our care.
