Bastions
Chapter Forty Four: War and Peace
Part 5
Prelude:
The reign of Ramon III Mohoma bin Abbas had been generally quiet. The death of his main rival, Peer Mohammad of Holstein, left him in a position of great power. But it came with its own negatives. The Germans were convinced that the Caliph had something to do with the death of their great leader. Ramon was forced to assert his authority and with the assistance of the Italian states pacify parts of Germany. With a more direct rule over Leon secured and the Christians there convinced that their churches would be left standing, Caliph Ramon III and Peer Txomin bin Iñigo then had to work against the strongest remaining Peer: the Grand Duke of France. Peer Francis Mohammad de Beauce ruled over most of France (France in this instance refers to the Northern Oil regions of what was then known as Gaul) from his center of power: Paris. Francis was a paranoid old man, fearful that any one of his four sons would try to usurp him and his authority. He kept the four of them divided and pitted them against one another, often for his own amusement. He was never keen for the Duke of Holstein, and like Ramon saw the death of the German leader as a step forward in his own plans. But his plans of grandeur were interrupted in the spring of 1374.
May 17th, 1374
Caliph Ramon III Mohoma bin Abbas was sitting still as his court artist continued a portrait of the leader. To the side Peer Txomin bin Iñigo stood watching the artist gracefully capture their master's likeness. In the painting, beside the young ruler, was his new coat of arms. Specifically designed to represent the greatness of the Caliphate it was a four-headed black eagle over a solid shield of white. It represented the purity of the Caliphate and the four regions that comprised it: Iberia, Gaul, Italia, and Germany. Txomin turned his head toward the doors as a young rider entered the room, and upon seeing the Caliph lowered himself to the ground. The Peer glanced at the Caliph and got a barely visible nod before walking over to the lad groveling on the ground.
The four-headed eagle of the Caliphate.
"What is it?" Txomin asked in a hushed voice.
"My lord, I bring news from Paris!" the rider answered in an equally hushed and extremely reverent voice.
"Well quickly, what is it?"
"Peer de Beauce is dead!"
Txomin took a moment to let that soak in, enjoying the wave of relief that washed over his mind and body. "Which son has succeeded him?"
"That is what I needed the Caliph to know: none of them! Peer de Beauce's testament divided his all of his lands except for Paris up amongst his sons and gave no indication to who was to succeed him as Peer. Each of his sons has adopted a new dynastic name and has begun fighting the other for control over the capital."
Txomin looked at the Caliph and after clearing his through stated, "M'lord. You might want to take some time from your portrait to hear this."
An hour later Caliph Ramon and Peer Txomin walked in the gardens of the Barcelona palace. Ramon especially was highly pleased with the way tides were changing. The Iberian dynasty which had built the Caliphate and came so close to losing it was now once again supreme. Now he only had to settle the matter of the fighting brothers. Txomin pushed that he directly intervene, but Ramon refused. It was his hope that they would fight for a decade and leave themselves weak and useless. It was the Caliph's dream of building a strong and united Caliphate like the ones of the past. He would not have Frandism labeled as ineffectual because they could not build a strong Caliphate. They only inherited one. He only inherited one. Txomin didn't arguing against it because he actually agreed with the Caliph, and chose not to play Devil's advocate for long.
"If I can get the support of the Peers, I will have the Caliphate restored as a hereditary monarchy, as it should be," Ramon began, his arms folded neatly behind his back, "I will not live to see my son's rule, but I want to die knowing that the Caliphate was safely in the hands of the dynasty that had forged it out of the quivering Christian states."
"It will be hard to gain that sort of support, even though the French and German pretenders are crushed."
"And why is that, Txomin?" Ramon asked.
"When you give a man a right, he too wishes to die knowing that his sons would have it as well. And even if you could forge a tight bond with those around you, get them to promise to always vote for your line... eventually someone will break that promise. It might not be tomorrow, it might not be one hundred years from now, but eventually someone will break it. People are vile, evil little creatures."
"Do not talk of God's ultimate creation like that. We are not creatures, we are divine: and the rule of Frandism is the purest interpretation of God's words and will. And the Abbas dynasty is the pinnacle of Frandism."
"Then why do you fear the French and Germans so?" Txomin asked.
Ramon turned around quickly, expecting to see the sneer of a victorious man, but instead only saw the calm, friendly face of Txomin wearing a sad look. The initial anger of the Caliph boiled away, replaced with a naive feeling of defeat and not that of enlightenment.
"Would you invade Britain, Ramon?" Txomin asked, more forcefully.
"N-no... that would be silly..."
"Why not, m'lord? Are you afraid that we will lose; that the Christians, despite their division and disorganization might actually win?"
"Yes." Ramon answered after a long pause.
"And there you see: we are not perfect and we are certainly not the pinnacle of anything. We are only human, and we can never truly understand God's will, so please... don't do anything harsh. There are Christians who believe that they can still recover Europe for their own creed."
"Then what can I do? Am I powerless even as the ruler of half of Europe? I cannot even guarantee that my son shall rule after me. Are we to lose everything?"
"I don't know, Ramon. I don't. And I won't be here to answer these questions forever."
"I understand, I just thought when I was Caliph I would have all the answers... that God would send angels to whisper the answers into my ear so that we could carry out his will. It was supposed to be so easy. Now I am paralyzed by the rights of the Peers and the unwritten laws of monarchy."
"It is not easy being King, huh?" Txomin asked, "I do not envy you or your position, m'lord. To be honest if you or the Peers were to offer me the throne, I would turn it down without hesitation."