Boundaries

In the morning, the refugees triumphantly bound the thief to the topmost cart and marched back the way they had come. The thief, they said, would be kept under close watch in their village until the Prince determined what should be done with him. Steven was content with this for, in truth, he was not looking forward to traveling with the thief. Instead, he set his face back toward Rich Reach. With a light step, the ground, even though uphill, seemed to fly beneath his feet.

As Steven neared a dense stretch of forest, he heard an argument. It seemed to be coming from just off the road ahead, and while two sides of an issue were being hotly discussed, it sounded like only one voice.

“It’s been moved.”

“How do you know?”

“It didn’t used to be here.”

“Where did it used to be?”

“Over there.”

“Prove it.”

“Can’t prove it. I’d have to go over there.”

“Ha! So it hasn’t been moved.”

“It has been moved.”

Steven rounded a bend in the road and saw a man pacing back and forth in front of a small pole with a flag on it. As the man paced back and forth, he continued to argue… with himself.

“Dare you to go over there and show me.”

“Can’t go over there. Over there is not here.”

“Take the marker and move it.”

“Can’t move it. That’s illegal.”

“But if someone else moved it…”

“…then they broke the law.”

“So move it back.”

“But moving it is illegal.”

Steven approached the man cautiously, making a great deal of noise to announce his presence. Eventually the man looked up and noticed Steven. His posture was defensive until he looked carefully at Steven. Then he suddenly relaxed and called out.

“Here, you. Come here and help me with this,” the man called out. Steven approached cautiously. The man was armed with a sword, but Steven recognized the uniform of a guard, complete with the leather thong and rock around his neck. He pointed at the pole with a flag on it and commanded, “Look!”

Steven looked.

The guard looked.

Together they looked at the pole for several minutes.

“Well, what do you think?” asked the guard at last.

“What do I think of what?” asked Steven.

“Of the marker pole,” answered the guard.

“Well,” Steven said brightly, “it seems to be sturdy. And straight. It is a fine pole stuck firmly into the ground.” Steven smiled at the guard and raised an eyebrow.

“Has it been moved?” the guard asked.

“I don’t know,” answered Steven truthfully. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“Ah! Now what do you think of that? There’s proof. He’s never seen it before. Therefore, it wasn’t here. Now it is here, ergo it has been moved. QED. Quid pro quo. Suma cum die.”

“I beg your pardon sir,” Steven began. “Whatever are you asking?”

“I am attempting to prove that this boundary marker, marking the boundary of the Principality of Rich Reach in the Kingdom of Arining, has been moved. The fact that you have never seen it before is proof positive that it was not here.” The guard retrieved a tally pad from his uniform and began marking in it the exact location of the errant boundary pole.

“But I have never seen you before, either,” said Steven. “I’ve never been here before.” Suddenly the guard looked at Steven suspiciously.

“You are a member of the royal guard as tokened by the rock hanging from your neck,” said the guard. “How can you have never seen this boundary pole?”

“I’ve just come from Mariria to visit the Prince Valentine of Rich Reach on behalf of King Montague Magnus,” said Steven.

“Really?” said the guard.

“Yes,” said Steven.

“Well that is no help at all, then,” said the guard. “How am I supposed to show that the boundary marker has been moved now?”

“Where was it before?” asked Steven.

“Over there,” said the guard pointing off a few yards.

“Let us go see if there is a hole where the pole was removed over there,” suggested Steven.

“You can’t do that,” said the guard.

“Why not?” asked Steven. The guard looked at Steven as if he were explaining things to a child.

“These flags mark the boundary of the Principality of Rich Reach and the Kingdom of Arining,” began the guard. “This side of the boundary flag is Arining. That side is not. If we, two guards of the Kings Court were to cross to that side, it might be seen as an act of aggression. We would have crossed the frontier into foreign territory.”

“What would happen?” asked Steven.

“Why all matter of evil might happen,” said the guard. “We might even become one of them,” he whispered.

“Who are they?” Steven whispered back.

“Why the others,” said the guard surprised that Steven could not see what was so obvious.

“What are the others?” persisted Steven.

“Why people like you and me, of course,” said the guard.

“So what is the problem?” asked Steven.

The guard paced back and forth in front of the flag. It appeared that he had begun to argue with himself again, but so far he was doing it quietly. Finally, Steven decided to take matters into his own hand.

“I will just go over there to check for holes while you discuss the situation,” said Steven.

“Oh, you can’t do that,” said the guard.

“Why not?” Steven asked.

“Because then you would be over there and not over here,” answered the guard worriedly.

“Now what is the worse that could happen?” Steven asked. He stuck a foot over the imaginary line. “Will my foot fall off?” He leapt over the line and back again. “Will a war start?” He stepped deliberately across the line and turned to face the guard. “Will my teeth fall out? My nose grow longer? My hair turn green? Will I grow into a giant or shrink to a dwarf? Will my hands grow an extra thumb or my face an extra eye?” Now Steven was becoming worked up as he warmed to the idea of being blocked by an imaginary line from traveling wherever he might want.

“I ask you,” Steven continued, “why do you need a boundary marker? Will people on one side or the other suddenly speak a different language? Will they not still raise their families, market their goods, and bury their dead? Would the world fall apart if there were not boundary poles? If kings did not know where their lands ended, would they not be forced to be fairer when dealing with all people? Would they not be more peaceful if they didn’t claim to own so much at all?”

Steven plucked the boundary pole out of the ground, much to the guard’s consternation, and began parading with it around the guard.
“Is this a magic wand that might turn the grass on one side to grain and the grass on the other to tares? If I carry the boundary pole around you, are you inside the boundary or outside? If there was no boundary pole here, would people stop traveling the road? Would the rivers cease to know where to flow?” Steven pulled the tiny leather shirt-flag from the top of the pole and continued to march with the pole. “Is it the pole that marks the boundary or the flag?” he asked. “Without the flag is the pole anything but a stick of wood? Without the stick of wood is the flag nothing but a tiny leather shirt made for a child’s toy? Make all the poles into kindling and all the flags into doll clothes. Would the world not be better off if people were free to live where they will without fear of poaching on their king’s land or trampling on their neighbor’s melons?

“A kingdom without boundaries extends as far as the eye can see, and what difference if some other king sees the same thing? Come! Let us tear down all the boundary poles and bring them to the Prince as homage, bringing all that is rightfully his back to him.” Steven was off and searching for the next boundary pole. The guard, paused for a moment and then followed him. Then in a burst of glee, ran ahead to the next pole and tore it down, taking the flag and rushing to the next pole some yards away. Steven watched, bemused as the guard worked his way further and further up the boundary. Steven regained the road and continued his journey toward Rich Reach.

By evening, Steven was rejoined by the guard who showed him an entire bag full of flags and grinned as if he had a new puppy. The two made camp for the night and ate in companionable silence, though occasionally Steven thought he heard the guard talking to himself.

“So who are you, young revolutionary?” the guard asked Steven at last. “I will need to introduce you when we get to Rich Reach.”

“I am Steven George the Dragonslayer,” said Steven.

“Oh, that explains everything,” said the guard, nodding his head knowingly. “Father said things would change when the Dragonslayer got here. Father was certainly right about that!”

“Who is your father?” asked Steven George.

“Oh, that would be Montague Magnus the Fourth, King and liege of Sylgale, Puissant Paragon of Mariria, and the Simple Pride of Arining,” said the guard. “Also Lord Liege of Rich Reach, which he leaves in the hands of his less-than-shining son, Montague Valentine, Prince. Me.”

“Oh, Your Majesty,” Steven began, “er… Royalness, er… Princeness,” he continued. “I didn’t know.”

“Imagine that! He didn’t know,” laughed the Prince as if he were talking to another person at the fire. Steven looked carefully, but saw no one else. “I would be addressed as ‘Your Highness’ if we were being formal, but here we are, two companions camped in the woods leading a revolution. You should call me Val. Only my closest friends call me Val,” he said nodding to his right. Steven looked again, but no one materialized.

“Yes, but Your Highness… I mean, Val,” Steven sputtered, “what are you doing out here in woods by yourself, dressed as a guard of the royal court and wearing a rock. I thought only the King’s servants wore that symbol.”

“And who would be more of a servant to the King than his son?” asked Val. “It is tradition that the crown prince will wear the symbol of servitude until the day he ascends the throne, thus marking him as one of the people so that they will know him when he is their king.”

“But why do you wander out here alone?” Steven asked.

“Oh, I’m not alone!” Val laughed. Steven looked around again. “I’m with you!” Then Val looked around himself. “You keep looking like someone else has appeared near me. Is there someone else around?” Val whispered.

“No your… Val,” Steven answered. “But I was not with you when you came out here. Sergeant Busker taught me that soldiers never travel alone.”

“Well, that would be the truth of it if it weren’t absolutely necessary,” Val sighed. “The Terror has the people so frightened that once inside the city of Rich Reach, they refuse to leave. That includes the guard, who actually have all they can do to keep order in the overcrowded conditions as it is. Someone had to come out and check the boundaries, and we were all that were left. Of course, now we understand that the mission was to take down the boundaries and expand the kingdom as King Alli did in the days of old. Father was very clever in sending you.”

“I hope he is happy with the results,” Steven sighed.

“I have been practicing ever since I got word that Father had summoned you,” Val said proudly.

“Practicing what?” Steven asked.

“My story,” Val said. “Father sent very specific instructions that if I was to find out anything of importance from you, I would have to tell you a story first. Are you ready?”

“Certainly,” said Steven. “When we tell each other stories we are both one story richer. Please once upon a time me.” And so Prince Valentine began his story.

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