The man nodded. "Until ten years ago."
"And there was a revolution. We guessed that much, didn't we, Kino?"
"You saw it, then – the graveyard?" His expression clouded.
"We didn't mean to intrude," said Hermes.
"Oh, I don't mind. And they... they certainly won't. I suppose it makes the story easier to tell."
"Those are the graves of your people?" Kino prompted him gently when he fell silent.
He swallowed several times as if the words were stuck in his throat, "Yeah... no use crying over it now, I suppose."
"Was it plague?" asked Kino. She didn't think it possible for him to look more wretched, but he did.
"No. Of them all, only one person died of disease." He took a deep breath, and said, "I should start at the beginning. This was a monarchy, as you guessed. We've had dozens of kings; some ruled wisely and were loved. But they were vastly outnumbered by the ones who ruled poorly and were despised. The man who took the throne forty years ago was one of the worst. He was crown prince for a very long time, and the moment he became king, he did whatever he liked. He rarely paid any attention to affairs of the state; he was more interested in his own... pursuits. Anyone who opposed him was killed, or at least disappeared."
The man paused. "We had a string of bad harvests, but he ignored the financial difficulties they caused and continued to devote himself to his expensive amusements. We had three lean years; so many people either starved or left. He didn't care. It's possible he didn't even know the meaning of the word 'starve.' "
The man grinned ruefully, then continued. "Eleven years ago, life got so difficult that a group of farmers begged the king to reduce taxes. He killed them all."
Hermes' gasp rattled his tailpipe.
The man nodded. "Yes. He was a despicable tyrant. When we could no longer abide his violence, we began to plot a coup, a revolution – to take down the king and the entire system of monarchy. I was studying literature in the university at the time. My family was comparatively well-off, but I felt the same pain as those less fortunate. I was involved in the plotting from a very early stage."
"And if you'd been caught?" asked Kino.
His expression was grim. "I would have been put to death. Several of my friends were – arrested first, then executed without trial. Do you know the traditional method for execution in this kingdom? Your legs and hands are bound, and they hang you upside clown and drop you on your head in the middle of the road. And your family is executed with you. I have personally seen too many public executions to count. Right in the middle of an intersection. First your friends' families are dropped. Their parents, their spouses, and then their children. Many refused a blindfold; some prayed as they fell. We watched them die. So many."
Kino looked out across the barren plan, trying not to imagine the scene.
"One spring morning ten years ago, our uprising began. First we attacked the guards' armory, so we could get our hands on weapons and explosives. It was strictly forbidden for the general population to own weapons, you see. I suppose that's only natural. The worse the leaders are, the more afraid they are of an armed populace. Anyway, we succeeded in liberating a great number of guns. We had a number of guards on our side as well. The plan was to rush the palace and seize the king. But in the end, we didn't have to seize him – he ran, coward that he was."
He paused for a moment, smiling.
"A bloodless revolution," commented Hermes.
"Nearly so. The king and his family – no, the king and his treasures would be more accurate – were hidden in the back of a large farm truck that was headed for the open country. We found them rather quickly." He snorted derisively. "Well, of course we did. He tried to take so many of his riches with him that they gleamed through the pile of vegetables he was using to hide them. And so the revolution succeeded with very few casualties."
"Impressive. What happened after that?" urged Hermes.
"After that? We created a new system of government – a democracy. We would govern ourselves – a new way of life, a new system of law. Special rights were granted to no one; everything was decided by referendum. We vowed that no one man would ever again be able to rule this realm. It belonged to everyone."
"That sounds... ideal," said Kino.
"Yes, it was. Someone would have an idea pertaining to governance or the common good, and everyone would be told about it. We then had a poll to find out how many people agreed with it. if the majority of the people agreed, then it became law. The first thing we decided was what we would do with our ex-king."
"What did you decide?" Kino suspected she already knew the answer.
The man narrowed his eyes. "The ballot results were ninety-eight percent in favor of his execution. The king, his minions, and all of their families."
"I was afraid of that," whispered Hermes.
"The royal family were trussed up and dropped," he said quickly, as if eager to speed past the memory. "And when it was done, we thought the age of fear and despair was finally over. After that, we busied ourselves with rebuilding our system of government. First we made a constitution. The clause stated that the realm belonged to everyone, and its administration would take place by majority rule. Then we decided on taxes, police, defense, law..."
He frowned, seeming to lose himself for a moment in his tale, then brightened. "I most enjoyed setting up the educational system. Deciding how to educate the children, the future of this city..."