Back to Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-four � Vesna Rog�skt-Orsktacktna
So�
Danka S�luckt�s travels ended when the Path of her Life finally brought
her back to Rika H�ckt-nem�t. Who would have thought she�d end up
precisely where her journey started? Certainly not the traveling singers
and story-tellers, who already were making up increasingly sorrowful and
outlandish versions of her adventures.
It seems that she lost all desire to travel after she married and became
known to the world as Vesna Rog�skt-Orsktacktna, Farmer Tuko Orsktackt�s
wife from the east. She became the partner he needed to repair his
broken farm, and in doing so, she helped him repair his broken soul.
Within eight years she bore him seven children, of whom six survived to
become adults. There were four boys and two girls, all of whom were
vital to the rebuilding of Rika H�ckt-nem�t. One son became a city
councilman, another became the town Church�s leading priest, another
served in Parliament, and the youngest boy�the roughest one who was
always causing trouble, eventually became captain of the city guard. The
two surviving girls did just as well: one married the mayor of Rika
Chorna, and the other stayed behind, to marry a farmer and double the
size of the Orsktackt estate. The Orsktackts became one of the leading
families in Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia during the nineteenth century.
Although she lost the desire to travel, Vesna�s soul remained restless.
She took over the abandoned trading house in her city and converted it
into a medical research center. The project had humble beginnings, just
a few doctors, alchemists, and potion-makers studying medical texts and
cadavers, but over time the medical library grew, a hospital was added,
and the project flourished into the medical university that we have
today. Vesna frequently visited the hospital, constantly asking
questions and occasionally assisting the staff when they had to set
broken bones.
Rika H�ckt-nem�t started to recover the same year the girl-with-no-name
secretly returned home. Farmer Orsktackt impressed upon the city council
the need for rat-control programs and improved sanitation. When word got
out that the city was safe, outsiders came to take advantage of the free
houses in the town and the free land outside. Eventually there were
enough workers to re-start the aqueduct project. Workers returned to
farms and orchards, the harvests were good, and the plague and famine of
1750 became a distant memory. Farmer Orsktackt and his wife continued
their rides and hunting trips in the fields and forests, observing the
countryside and noting with satisfaction the province�s recovery.
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The Grand Duke of Danubia spent the following decades working on a
multitude of projects. In 1761, the son of the Lord of Novo Sokut Tok
went to the capitol to talk to the Grand Master of the Trader�s Guild.
From there he planned to travel to Austria, to see about procuring some
new muskets for his father�s militia. The night before he was supposed
to leave, he accepted an invitation from the Grand Duke to have dinner
at his castle. Seated with the sovereign was a beautiful young woman who
had just braided her hair. The young woman captivated the visitor, and
turned out to be available for marriage�very much so. Three days later,
without understanding what exactly had happened, the son of one of the
men most loyal to the Vice-Duke of Rika Chorna was in the Great Temple
of the capitol, getting married to the daughter of a man his father
considered an enemy. The ceremony was very public and greeted with the
blessings of the highest clergy members in the nation.
The young man had to cancel his plans to go to Vienna. Instead, he
returned home with the Grand Duke�s daughter and the shocking news that
his entire family had just switched allegiance. Along with his marriage
certificate, the young man brought home a letter from the Grand Duke
addressing his new in-laws with kind words of greeting and the �pleasure
we will have working with each other as we address the challenges the
Destroyer has placed at the feet of the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia.�
That marriage was the first out of many. Some ambitious politicians even
traveled to the capitol to intentionally seek an audience with the ruler
and bring back one of his daughters. In 1763, a junior council official
from Pl�tnackt D�k persuaded the Grand Duke to allow him to marry one of
his daughters. The ruler normally would not have given a daughter to
such a low-ranking official, but there was something about the young man
that appealed to him. Perhaps he saw a lot of himself in the petty
representative. Anyhow, he reluctantly followed his instincts and
allowed the man to take away one of his less attractive offspring. Upon
returning home the councilman used his new family alliance to seize
control of the entire city, declare the area loyal to the sovereign, and
appoint himself the local governor. The Grand Duke was very impressed
with the young man�s audacity and rewarded him by adding several nearby
towns to his jurisdiction and making Pl�tnackt D�k a separate province.
Because of their perception of public honor and Danubian protocol, the
Grand Duke�s sons-in-law never warned anyone else not to travel to the
capitol or let their friends know how they had been duped. They had to
pretend they had willingly married the sovereign�s daughters. As a
result of the informal code of silence, years went by and no one could
accurately calculate how many daughters the ruler actually was marrying
off. Over five years the Vice-Duke lost family after family of his best
allies to the wiles of his rival�s daughters. By June, 1767 he realized
that more than half of the provincial governors, town council leaders,
and guild chiefs had someone in their family who had married a daughter
of the Grand Duke. At that point the idea of starting a rebellion or
threatening a rebellion as a political maneuver had become impossible.
The Vice-Duke realized another awful fact; that his two surviving sons
had recently departed for the capitol. The Vice-Duke desperately sent
messengers to find the young men, but already it was too late. An
elaborate entourage of Danubian Clergy members, Royal Guards, and
ministers were escorting the happily-married young men back to their
homes in the east. The Grand Duke led the procession, bringing with him
gifts and bottles of his best wine to celebrate with his new in-laws.
The Vice-Duke became dishonorably drunk at the festivities, while the
Grand Duke looked on and coldly smiled.
The Vice-Duke died the following year. One of his heir�s first
announcements was that farming taxes throughout the Vice-Duchy would be
reduced. The heir also announced much of his father�s artwork and
jewelry would be sold-off to pay debts.
In 1770, after a decade of planning, the Priests of more than half of
the parishes in the Vice-Duchy declared they were switching allegiance
to the Old Believers� faction of the Danubian Church. The religious coup
brought western Danubian religious traditions to the east and ended all
foreign religious influence in the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia.
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The Grand Duke�s attentions were focused on the Duchy�s borders and
securing control of the east, but occasionally he received reports about
the plague town Rika H�ckt-nem�t and its recovery. Yes, a town that he
had considered completely dead seemed to have recuperated and was
starting to prosper. He sent a group of doctors to investigate the
inhabitants and see if the quarantine should be lifted. Sure enough, not
only was the town�s population healthy, but a new medical institute was
operating, using a lot of the knowledge from the Cult of the Ancients.
The messengers brought back news of the impressive work of the town�s
leading couple: the farmer Tuko Orsktackt and his wife Vesna Rog�skt-Orsktacktna.
The Grand Duke lifted the quarantine and re-routed the trade road to
enter Rika H�ckt-nem�t. He decided to pay a visit to the city to see its
progress for himself and investigate what the Crown could do to assist.
Tuko Orsktackt, the town�s entire Clergy, and the City Council received
the ruler in the most elaborate ceremony the city had seen in many
decades. The Grand Duke and his ministers attended the Council to listen
to suggestions that would improve the region.
The Grand Duke visited the medical institute the following day. He was
eager to meet its director and see if she really did have knowledge from
the Cult of the Ancients. When she approached him and saluted, he stared
at her in shock. She looked very familiar� no� it was impossible� but
there she was, right in front of him. He was looking into the face of
his favorite concubine� the smart young Follower who had mysteriously
vanished during the Great Fire. Yes indeed, it was her!
Director Vesna Rog�skt-Orsktacktna smiled at her former Master. There
was defiance and mischief in her expression, because there was no way
the Grand Duke could do anything against her without seriously harming
his own interests. He had come to the city to honor the achievements of
the Orsktackts, with the entire political elite of the country watching.
The ruler quickly regained his composure and congratulated her on the
medical institute�s remarkable progress. When he asked what he could do
to assist, she responded:
�Your Majesty has conducted extensive medical research and our people
are grateful. I trust that Your Majesty would wish to see that
remarkable work expanded for the people of the Duchy. This city would be
most appreciative if Your Majesty could share your research materials
with our school.�
�Yes, of course. Send your students to the Royal Library, and I will
make my research available to your institute.�
Vesna couldn�t resist another mischievous smile and a final question:
�I trust that Your Majesty finds your loyal subject�s service to the
Duchy satisfactory?�
�Yes. Your service has been� truly remarkable� exceptional...�
The Grand Duke kept his word and opened the Royal Household to students
from Vesna Rog�skt-Orsktacktna�s institute. She sent 14 young people to
transcribe the entire contents of the Followers� research. When they
returned to Rika H�ckt-nem�t, a wagon crew transporting a gift from the
Royal Household accompanied them. When Vesna took off the cover, she saw
a printing press with a supply of parchment and bookbinding materials.
Vesna reciprocated the following year. She traveled to the capitol,
passing the new ministry buildings that would comprise the ruler�s
vision for the grand new city. She visited the castle and met with the
Grand Duchess, who was the daughter of the Vice-Duke in Rika Chorna. She
surprised the castle staff by not having any visible gifts for the
ruler, but she asked to meet with him in his private study.
The Grand Duke seemed nervous, wondering if his former concubine wanted
to confront him about the past. However, there was no mention of her two
years in the castle at all. Instead, she presented her gift to him: a
supply of blue powder. She showed him how to use it by making tea and
explained how the Followers had set it aside to extend the lives of
their most important researchers.
�This is the last of my supply, Your Majesty. Now it is yours. The
Ancients have given you their final gift, and the only thing they ask in
return is that you use your extra time among the Realm of the Living
wisely.�
Vesna left the castle and never again saw the Grand Duke. However, after
that meeting he changed. His arrogance vanished, leaving behind his
intelligence, cunning, and desire to see his realm prosper. He became
even more obsessed with research and education than he had been
previously. He was interested in judicial reforms and infrastructure
development and applied innovations throughout his time on the throne.
He would live until 1816, long enough to guide the Duchy past the
partitioning of Poland, the turmoil of revolution, and the Napoleonic
wars. The ruler remained aloof from Europe�s politics, so the conflicts
that afflicted the rest of the continent never troubled the Grand Duchy
of Upper Danubia.
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Isauria attended the university in Seb�rnekt Ris from 1759 until 1763,
completing the four-year program to become a scribe of historical
events. During that time she wrote and published numerous articles about
the wars of 1754 and 1758. Later she wrote a book of poetry
romanticizing life in the Kingdom before the country's civil war. Her
poems became particularly popular after 1764, when the Ottoman Sultan's
army crushed both factions and re-annexed the entire territory. As soon
as the Kingdom of the Moon was lost, people throughout Europe
immediately began to romanticize it.
Isauria married another student the same year she graduated from the
university. Two years later the Grand Duke, not knowing anything about
Isauria's relationship with his former concubine, assigned her husband
to join the Danubian ambassador in Constantinople. Isauria accompanied
her spouse, undoubtedly passing through Sumy Ris and other parts of the
former Lower Danubia. While abroad and living in a country where living
conditions for women were much more constricted than in the Duchy, she
alleviated her boredom by concentrating on her writing. She had been
fascinated by the stories about her former mistress circulating around
Seb�rnekt Ris and added new material to the tales and gossip she had
collected during her year in Gordn�ckt Suy�stenckt. She also was
fascinated with Danka's ill-fated marriage to Doctor Ilm�tarkt and wrote
a series of sad poems about the short-lived relationship. She
embellished and romanticized many of the details.
Like various writers before her, Isauria did not mention Danka or
Ilm�tarkt by name. She did not use her own name and chose to publish
using various pen-names. When she returned to the Duchy with her husband
in 1775, she published a collection of poetry called "Lovers among the
Ruins" that included not only material based on Danka's adventures, but
also various romantic fantasies and some of her own early sexual
encounters with various boys serving as apprentices with the Defenders'
militia.
During the 1780s, two popular Danubian poets plagiarized Isauria's work
and recast her subject, using the increasingly popular title: "the
girl-with-no-name."
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There was one final tragedy that Danka, or Vesna, or the
girl-with-no-name, had to endure. At the age of four, her youngest
daughter died of appendicitis. Even though she had other children, she
took the child�s death very hard. She refused to allow the girl to be
buried in the family cemetery. Instead, she set off on her own, carrying
the child�s body to an abandoned piece of land on the east side of Rika
H�ckt-nem�t. In the days before the plague, the area had been a
labyrinth of dirt paths and squalid huts, the home of the city�s day
laborers. However, it had been totally abandoned for almost three
decades. And yet, in those woods, next to a pond and the foundation of a
ruined hut, Vesna insisted on laying her daughter to rest.
The following year, Vesna Rog�skt-Orsktacktna had a chapel constructed
on the site of her daughter�s grave, over-looking the pond. On the other
side of the pond she later built another chapel to honor the families
who had died in the rat-plague.
�There were people here. They�ve been forgotten, but that doesn�t mean
they never existed. I plan to remember. My daughter and I will bear
witness to the lives that passed through here, and the ones that ended
here.�
The chapel project brought peace to Vesna�s soul. Over time her workers
cleared away the brush and converted the woods into a large park. Her
husband took official title to the entire area, but the two chapels
became public places where the residents of Rika H�ckt-nem�t made
pilgrimages and performed penance. A final touch for Vesna was
reintroducing the ducks. The ducks were important to her and they have
remained a feature of the pond for more than two centuries.
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Aided by his wife�s mysterious blue tea, Farmer Tuko Orsktackt lived to
be 91 years old. In his old age he jokingly complained that his wife
wouldn�t let him depart the world without her, and �she�s too busy to
worry about trivial things such as dying.�
The year 1800 came and went. As the new century opened, Rika
H�ckt-nem�t�s leading couple frequented the concert house to listen to
musicians and traveling singing troupes. Almost all of the traveling
singers had a version of the legend of the mysterious girl-with-no-name
as part of their performance. As the ordinary citizens whistled and sang
along to the sad tales, Vesna always gave Tuko a knowing look and took
his hand.
The old couple smiled, thinking about the secret they shared, a secret
they would take with them to the grave.
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