Chapter 39 - The Circle of Life
October 14, 888 AD
Khagan Zachariah sat at his desk in his comfortable chair and sifted through some papers that somehow had ended up here. He wasn't really reading, but he liked to read to himself aloud and give the words that had so little meaning a rhythm at least. And if he concentrated, sometimes they even gained meaning and actually told him things about how everything went in his Khaganate. He hadn't been disturbed all too often lately. That was good.
Today was no different – the only thing of notice was that about an hour ago a messager from Bulçan had brought a letter about a council meeting being imminent for important security reasons. Zachariah figured Bulçan would know what he was doing if he came in from Tunis, and sent word to his steward who he trusted to have everything arranged accordingly. No one was as experienced and loyal and diligent as Ezra. Even though Zachariah hadn't heard much of him for some time.
Ah, there was the messenger. Surely he would say what he always said: that Ezra was glad to take care of it.
"Sir, I'm afraid I have to....inform you.....Ezra has passed away this morning."
Zachariah froze. Then he relaxed and said "No, this must be a joke. This morning? Someone would have already told me. Who's sent you to make a fool of me again?"
The messenger was visibly struggling. He knew how unpredictable the man he had to bring the bad news was. "I...when I came to his place and proclaimed I had a message from you, his older daughter who seems to be in charge of his affairs just told me to...well, to go away. The second I mentioned your name, she almost came at my throat. I don't know why.
Remember the stray dog you tried to flog twelve years ago, Khagan?
I had to bribe the neighbours' child to tell me what happened. I then asked around and it's no joke. Ezra is gone. I am terribly sorry, your majesty." A drop of sweat ran down his forehead and he awkwardly looked to the ground.
For seconds that felt like hours, Zachariah only sat there and stared into the void before he slowly slumped a little more into his chair. The world was collapsing around him. Breathing felt heavy, as if a ghostly fog was coming to suffocate him and suck out his soul. All he could utter was a stifled "Go". The messenger bolted out.
Why does he leave me? I have no one. Everybody who means well...just dies. This is not fair. THIS IS NOT FAIR!
"WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?", Zachariah screamed to the top of his lungs and kicked his desk over, sending paper flying through the room.
I need to break something, burn something, kill something. Break something, burn something, kill something. Break something, burn something, kill something, break something, burn something, kill something, break something, burn something, kill something, break something, burn something, kill something break burn kill something break burn kill something break burn kill break burn kill break burn kill break burn kill break burn kill
The mantra slowly grew to a choir in the Khagan's head.
Break! Burn! Kill!
Over the next hour, Zachariah let his rage flow free and thoroughly trashed the interior of his yurt before he collapsed on the floor sobbing. The choir kept shouting, ever more impatient and demanding. But he was empty, so empty... When would they stop?
Zachariah secluded himself for three days and spoke to no one but his imagination. Whoever passed the yurt witnessed endless rambling and occasional subdued yells of rage. After several unsuccessful attempts of his courtiers to approach him, people just started walking by as quick as possible and pray for their Khagan's sanity – although most had a sense it might be too late for that.
October 27, 888 AD
In lack of a steward (to date Zachariah had refused to listen to the slightest word about a replacement) and with the army in friendly lands, Khan Hezekiah had taken over the organization of the council meeting. That was a major responsibility at a time when the Khagan didn't bother much with setting the agenda for his realm, and Hezekiah gladly declared his willingness to help out. As he'd expected, Zachariah had shown no signs of recognizing the voting block that Kibar of Bulanid had organized. His interest for politics had never been very distinct, but nowadays he seemed to care little if he even got such information.
He cleared his throat and the mumbling around the large table subsided. "In the name of Adonai himself and Khagan Zachariah Ashina, I declare the council fully present and the meeting opened." Hezekiah went through the proposed order of the day, largely following the course that he and the triumvirate had planned towards – although there had been disruptions. Itakh had decided a few weeks ago to put weight behind his words with a daring move, much to the irritation of Hezekiah and presumably the other Khans. He declared war on the Kievan Rus – with the objective to completely subjugate them, as his father had unsuccessfully tried. Only that now their territory was much larger. Keeping a low profile was apparently not among his intentions.
Zachariah himself cared little for Itakh and expectably wanted nothing to do with an invasion of the Kievan Rus. He had immediately expressed that Itakh couldn't count on any kind of military support. At least this didn't rule out providing an alternative base in Ushytsia – on the contrary the Khagan's continued fear of the Russians might be the lever to convince him to give up his border with them. This seemed to be Itakh's course of thinking too – but the repercussions upon failing would be inconvenient for him at the very least. Anyways, Hezekiah had put the matter on top of the agenda for today.
"This would be the course of discussion points for today. Are there objections?" asked Hezekiah.
Zachariah, who had been coming off apathetic until now, sat up straight and looked very stern. "Yes. As the Khagan, I exercise my right to put an additional issue on the agenda. It's going to be handled right now, and I hold the entrance statement. After a minute of silence for our distinguished companion Ezra, who deceased two weeks ago."
Everyone hushed. Now was definitely not the moment to get on the Khagan's bad side.
"Now, as I was speaking of the late steward – he left a few very interesting documents. Especially an exchange of letters with our distinguished colleague Khan Kibar Bulanid was very insightful."
Bulçan grinned for an instant. He had seen that the right documents would reach Zachariah in time. He knew he couldn't take a stand on the Khagan anytime soon, but a renewal of his confilct with the Bulanid would be beneficial on several levels. Now things unfolded as he had wished for.
"Now, you have never been very subtle about your plans, dear Kibar", Zachariah went on sharply, "but trying to block the council just by promising everyone you'd pay them back somehow and some time? That's embarrassing, Kibar. How stupid do you think the Scourge of God is?"
Kibar sat silent, only looking at Zachariah with hateful eyes. This man who was occupying the throne that had belonged to his lineage for over a century, squandering its wealth for wine and parties.
"Now while I am no tyrant" - Zachariah snickered for a moment - "I can't have you disrupting the Khaganate's business with your petty promises. You may go and get your Khanate in shape, but you're no longer a council member as of now. I wish you success paying back your debt."
Kibar protested vividly, but the guards kept him from trying anything and ultimately dragged him out of the venue under numerous maledictions. The other councillors kept silent, though Bulçan barely hid his amusement. While he could have imagined harsher repercussions, having Kibar out of Khazarian politics was worth the effort.
With Zachariah's spontaneous intervention through, the meeting could now take the course Hezekiah had concerted. Itakh declared he would be committed to the Kievan lands for quite some time and made his case for Ushytsia as an alternative base to speed up the process of sieging down their lands. Zachariah seemed to have no objections. Only Hezekiah himself voted against the proposal, which surprised Itakh, but didn't mean much for the result and he forgot about it quickly.
Furthermore, the council could convince Zachariah that his tributary Burtas would likely pose more of a danger and a drag than paying off in the future. In fact, they were longing for their lands, but again Zachariah followed through with the suggestion that especially Hezekiah was arguing for. The decision to release Burtas as a tributary and send the Khazarian army to their borders was put through the council unanimously. As usual, the war was to be declared when the troops arrived.
After two hours of more (yet comparatively minor) matters of importance, Hezekiah closed the meeting. Everything had gone according to plan, with Kibar's demission being of little importance to his agenda. Itakh was fully committed to his campaign in Kiev and the Khazarians would soon march to do the deed for him in Burtas. When Hezekiah walked out of the clan gathering hall, he clandestinely sent out a dove with a tiny slip of paper.
It was the order to stab the Jabdertim into the back. Two days later, with the troops absent and sieging the lands around Kiev, the Hekel horde showed up in Itakh's capital province Priluk and started pressing the local populace for their belongings. The small garrison was in no shape to hold the encampment for long. And this while they were fighting an uphill battle against Kiev.
With this betrayal, the triumvirate was factually dysfunctional again, with Itakh declaring his refusal to work with Hezekiah and his withdrawal from all according agreements days later. As Marshal, he was still Hezekiah's superior when it came to the Khazarian military – and he would pay him back soon enough. Khan Bulçan had suspected something like this the whole time and chose to condemn Hezekiah's actions. The power vacuum in Khazaria kept descending into a free-for-all where everyone vied for his own advantage.
***
Four weeks later, the Khazarian army stood readily at the border to Burtas. They had already been there for a few days due to a delay in Oleshye. A short while ago, when the war declaration on Burtas was about to be formulated in a gathering of Khazarian diplomats and leaders, delegates from Jabdertim and Bulçir declared they could not support the plan as of now. Hezekiah's actions in Priluk had not gone unnoticed, and the other Khans were not willing to support his claims so easily. With the two council seats formerly occupied by Ezra and Kibar still vacant (because Zachariah kept postponing, then forgetting about it), suddenly there was no majority for the plan that had been approved last time.
Although Zachariah was unemotional about the piece of land that Hezekiah wanted, he recognized that he'd eventually need a full council. He quickly decided to pass Kibar's advisor position to Alp, the son of his former steward Kundaç. The lad was loyal and level-headed, though not exactly bright, and he'd support petty wars like the one Zachariah – influenced by Hezekiah - was up to. For the steward position, the solution would get more complicated as no one in the realm was willing and capable enough. Zachariah had his chancellor Belet look for suitable candidates, preferrably of Jewish faith, through Europe – this would take some time, but for now the majorities were safe again. When Alp took up his duty, war on Burtas was declared with the official intention to protect the lands from Russian invasion that way.
With the enormous military advantage the Khazarian troops had over Burtas, the envoy of Khan Itakh even managed to slip through a minor support operation in Kievan lands. A regiment of 1000 men would wreak havoc along the border to Burtas, causing a distraction for Kiev and staying close to the main army in case they'd react. This was remarkable – apparently Zachariah's policy of not setting foot into Kiev had loosened a bit. Or he hadn't fully grasped the order. It was sometimes hard to determine if he didn't understand or didn't care about proposals from his councillors.
Soon after the armies were sent into march, chancellor Belet presented Zachariah with a possible steward. Zakkai of Bartenstein was a young man from the war-torn southern German lands who had become victim of an anti-Jewish riot, had to flee and was currently with the band of a Norse adventurer based on the Ligurian coast. When being introduced with Zachariah, Zakkai stated he had heard much about the land of the Jewish steppe riders to the east and was excited to serve someone as revered as Khagan Zachariah, the Scourge of God.
Zachariah was pleased about the man's credentials and his manners upon meeting him. Zakkai was hired on the spot, and the council was complete again. Soon after, when a short and uneventful siege in Khopyor came to an end, Khagan Burtas "the Drunkard" surrendered, and the first action of the newly assembled council was to hand over the newly acquired land to Hezekiah of Hekel. Where the war itself had been controversial, no one apparently considered it an option to deny Hezekiah the spoils – even though his troops were still causing destruction in Itakh's encampment.
March 25, 889 AD
It had been a tough winter for the Khazarian people. The cold had got more severe and lasted longer than usual in the rather temperate lands around the Black Sea. Due to the rough weather and the Khagan's increasing obliviousness to public affairs, the public festivals that had become a staple of life around Oleshye grew rare, and everyone was delighted when spring finally showed its beginnings just in time for the largest royal ceremony since some time. Zachariah's oldest sons, the twins Muhan and Tarkhan, were coming of age and would finish their time as squires.
The Ashina camp was colorfully decorated for the big day, and the clan gathering hall which would house the festivities was the center of attention. As for each of their important birthdays, the "twin banner" that had by now become a commonplace term was flagged – this time augmented by symbols signifying maturity and growth. Muhan and Tarkhan, who still didn't know what their father had planned for them now, tried to exceed each other in feigned aplomb – but they were supremely excited.
Although the brothers were always very close during their childhood and still shared a deep bond, they had turned out in different ways during their adolescence. Muhan was the firstborn and as such the most "natural" heir to the Clan. Zachariah himself had always carefully treated the twins as equals, but his birth advantage – which was of course irrelevant in practice, as succession was earned by blood and glory – left him with a certain sort of entitlement many firstborn royal children tended to exhibit. The pride in his high birth made him few friends in court, and neither did his increasingly intense rage fits (which he had clearly adapted from his father). He was also the physically inferior of the two, which had showed clearly since they had hit puberty, and kept trying to compensate by eating more. Yet, in spite of his obvious character flaws, Muhan was still an attentive and independent young lad, who turned out to be a passable soldier and tactically adept through the course of his military training, though he was far from an exceptional talent.
That was one of the few things he had in common with his barely younger brother Tarkhan. Tarkhan had always been the more versatile of the brothers, and there was little doubt among their closer surroundings that he was the more suitable candidate to succeed Zachariah one day. He had served as squire under a highly decorated veteran who had taught him the philosophies of some wildly successful general from the Far East, who was hard and sometimes ruthless but always staunchly adhered to his principles. That sounded pleasantly different from what his father had been displaying in the past years – in contrast to the fully loyal Muhan, Tarkhan loved and admired their father, but was very skeptical about his manner of ruling and was determined to do things differently should he once become Khagan. Only his occasional mood swings that sometimes lasted for days on end and ranged from phases of deep seclusion to stunning fits of dynamism somewhat worried his superiors, although Zachariah wouldn't see anything out of the order with his behaviour.
The big moment was there. Many a relatives and nobles from the other parts of Khazaria had paid their respects, and now Chancellor Belet called the brothers themselves onto the stage where Khagan Zachariah was already waiting for them, in full regal ornate and sitting elevated upon a pompous chair. They were greeted with thundering applause. The people of Oleshye and the Khazarian nobility greeted their designated ruler – although no one knew yet who it would be. Muhan and Tarkhan were awkwardly hiding their overwhelmedness.
Zachariah got up from his seat with some toil, stepped toward his sons and gave each a hearty embrace while the cheers from the crowd only slowly subsided. They hadn't spent much time together since the boys had taken up their military career four years ago, and he was genuinely overjoyed to see them again. They had grown up so much, and now they were going to stand on their own feet and continue the legacy of the great Ashina clan.
"Muhan and Tarkhan, my beloved sons." he raised his voice and the crowd got quiet. Zachariah was serene and collected, he almost came off dignified. That was a rare occurrence in these days. "This is the big day. Your first day as grown men, full citizens of the great Jewish Khaganate of Khazaria that Muhan Ashina the First founded over three centuries ago. You can be proud of your heritage – and you should be humbled by it. I, in the name of the people of the Ashina clan and Khazaria as a whole, expect you to pursue your quest to be the Khagan in a fair manner. You shall compete for glorious deeds and the respect of the people instead of backstabbing or ruining each other. In order to prove your worth, both of you will soon be given troops to lead.
For you, Tarkhan, it is also the first day as the heir to the Khaganate. But I don't have to tell you to not get sure of yourself anytime. You've both grown up to be formidable men - and tomorrow, your brother might be the one deemed more worthy by God and the people. You're a born ruler though. Adonai knows, you've often taken more interest in all the small and big decisions of a Khagan than I did. You thrive on responsibility, and I admire that. So for today, you shall be named a Major of the Khazarian army and command your own wing of riders. Your first assignment will come in very soon; this is when you will be awarded with your new insignia.
You, Muhan, have indulged in the spoils of life at a court, but you've never loved it and you always told me you wanted to see faraway lands some day – the Holy Land, the Eastern realms or even India and China. This is why I decided to give you your own host of strong and reliable Khazarian men. You shall make your fate as a mercenary leader for the coming years, earning experiences and bringing death and destruction to whoever pays worse."
Everyone laughed and Muhan smiled at his dad. He knew well that virtually everyone favored Tarkhan to become Khagan, and in private he wasn't all too unhappy about it. The perspective of leading his own mercenary band far away from anyone telling him what to do sounded so much more attractive than an army rank to him. There would still be plenty of time to rule over lands.
Zachariah kept on speaking for a few minutes before he closed the ceremony and announced there would be further public festivities all across the camp for the whole night, including free catering. The Khagan and his now adult sons basked in the applause of the crowd.
October 14, 888 AD
Khagan Zachariah sat at his desk in his comfortable chair and sifted through some papers that somehow had ended up here. He wasn't really reading, but he liked to read to himself aloud and give the words that had so little meaning a rhythm at least. And if he concentrated, sometimes they even gained meaning and actually told him things about how everything went in his Khaganate. He hadn't been disturbed all too often lately. That was good.
Today was no different – the only thing of notice was that about an hour ago a messager from Bulçan had brought a letter about a council meeting being imminent for important security reasons. Zachariah figured Bulçan would know what he was doing if he came in from Tunis, and sent word to his steward who he trusted to have everything arranged accordingly. No one was as experienced and loyal and diligent as Ezra. Even though Zachariah hadn't heard much of him for some time.
Ah, there was the messenger. Surely he would say what he always said: that Ezra was glad to take care of it.
"Sir, I'm afraid I have to....inform you.....Ezra has passed away this morning."
Zachariah froze. Then he relaxed and said "No, this must be a joke. This morning? Someone would have already told me. Who's sent you to make a fool of me again?"
The messenger was visibly struggling. He knew how unpredictable the man he had to bring the bad news was. "I...when I came to his place and proclaimed I had a message from you, his older daughter who seems to be in charge of his affairs just told me to...well, to go away. The second I mentioned your name, she almost came at my throat. I don't know why.
Remember the stray dog you tried to flog twelve years ago, Khagan?
I had to bribe the neighbours' child to tell me what happened. I then asked around and it's no joke. Ezra is gone. I am terribly sorry, your majesty." A drop of sweat ran down his forehead and he awkwardly looked to the ground.
For seconds that felt like hours, Zachariah only sat there and stared into the void before he slowly slumped a little more into his chair. The world was collapsing around him. Breathing felt heavy, as if a ghostly fog was coming to suffocate him and suck out his soul. All he could utter was a stifled "Go". The messenger bolted out.
Why does he leave me? I have no one. Everybody who means well...just dies. This is not fair. THIS IS NOT FAIR!
"WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?", Zachariah screamed to the top of his lungs and kicked his desk over, sending paper flying through the room.
I need to break something, burn something, kill something. Break something, burn something, kill something. Break something, burn something, kill something, break something, burn something, kill something, break something, burn something, kill something, break something, burn something, kill something break burn kill something break burn kill something break burn kill break burn kill break burn kill break burn kill break burn kill
The mantra slowly grew to a choir in the Khagan's head.
Break! Burn! Kill!
Over the next hour, Zachariah let his rage flow free and thoroughly trashed the interior of his yurt before he collapsed on the floor sobbing. The choir kept shouting, ever more impatient and demanding. But he was empty, so empty... When would they stop?
Zachariah secluded himself for three days and spoke to no one but his imagination. Whoever passed the yurt witnessed endless rambling and occasional subdued yells of rage. After several unsuccessful attempts of his courtiers to approach him, people just started walking by as quick as possible and pray for their Khagan's sanity – although most had a sense it might be too late for that.
October 27, 888 AD
In lack of a steward (to date Zachariah had refused to listen to the slightest word about a replacement) and with the army in friendly lands, Khan Hezekiah had taken over the organization of the council meeting. That was a major responsibility at a time when the Khagan didn't bother much with setting the agenda for his realm, and Hezekiah gladly declared his willingness to help out. As he'd expected, Zachariah had shown no signs of recognizing the voting block that Kibar of Bulanid had organized. His interest for politics had never been very distinct, but nowadays he seemed to care little if he even got such information.
He cleared his throat and the mumbling around the large table subsided. "In the name of Adonai himself and Khagan Zachariah Ashina, I declare the council fully present and the meeting opened." Hezekiah went through the proposed order of the day, largely following the course that he and the triumvirate had planned towards – although there had been disruptions. Itakh had decided a few weeks ago to put weight behind his words with a daring move, much to the irritation of Hezekiah and presumably the other Khans. He declared war on the Kievan Rus – with the objective to completely subjugate them, as his father had unsuccessfully tried. Only that now their territory was much larger. Keeping a low profile was apparently not among his intentions.
Zachariah himself cared little for Itakh and expectably wanted nothing to do with an invasion of the Kievan Rus. He had immediately expressed that Itakh couldn't count on any kind of military support. At least this didn't rule out providing an alternative base in Ushytsia – on the contrary the Khagan's continued fear of the Russians might be the lever to convince him to give up his border with them. This seemed to be Itakh's course of thinking too – but the repercussions upon failing would be inconvenient for him at the very least. Anyways, Hezekiah had put the matter on top of the agenda for today.
"This would be the course of discussion points for today. Are there objections?" asked Hezekiah.
Zachariah, who had been coming off apathetic until now, sat up straight and looked very stern. "Yes. As the Khagan, I exercise my right to put an additional issue on the agenda. It's going to be handled right now, and I hold the entrance statement. After a minute of silence for our distinguished companion Ezra, who deceased two weeks ago."
Everyone hushed. Now was definitely not the moment to get on the Khagan's bad side.
"Now, as I was speaking of the late steward – he left a few very interesting documents. Especially an exchange of letters with our distinguished colleague Khan Kibar Bulanid was very insightful."
Bulçan grinned for an instant. He had seen that the right documents would reach Zachariah in time. He knew he couldn't take a stand on the Khagan anytime soon, but a renewal of his confilct with the Bulanid would be beneficial on several levels. Now things unfolded as he had wished for.
"Now, you have never been very subtle about your plans, dear Kibar", Zachariah went on sharply, "but trying to block the council just by promising everyone you'd pay them back somehow and some time? That's embarrassing, Kibar. How stupid do you think the Scourge of God is?"
Kibar sat silent, only looking at Zachariah with hateful eyes. This man who was occupying the throne that had belonged to his lineage for over a century, squandering its wealth for wine and parties.
"Now while I am no tyrant" - Zachariah snickered for a moment - "I can't have you disrupting the Khaganate's business with your petty promises. You may go and get your Khanate in shape, but you're no longer a council member as of now. I wish you success paying back your debt."
Kibar protested vividly, but the guards kept him from trying anything and ultimately dragged him out of the venue under numerous maledictions. The other councillors kept silent, though Bulçan barely hid his amusement. While he could have imagined harsher repercussions, having Kibar out of Khazarian politics was worth the effort.
With Zachariah's spontaneous intervention through, the meeting could now take the course Hezekiah had concerted. Itakh declared he would be committed to the Kievan lands for quite some time and made his case for Ushytsia as an alternative base to speed up the process of sieging down their lands. Zachariah seemed to have no objections. Only Hezekiah himself voted against the proposal, which surprised Itakh, but didn't mean much for the result and he forgot about it quickly.
Furthermore, the council could convince Zachariah that his tributary Burtas would likely pose more of a danger and a drag than paying off in the future. In fact, they were longing for their lands, but again Zachariah followed through with the suggestion that especially Hezekiah was arguing for. The decision to release Burtas as a tributary and send the Khazarian army to their borders was put through the council unanimously. As usual, the war was to be declared when the troops arrived.
After two hours of more (yet comparatively minor) matters of importance, Hezekiah closed the meeting. Everything had gone according to plan, with Kibar's demission being of little importance to his agenda. Itakh was fully committed to his campaign in Kiev and the Khazarians would soon march to do the deed for him in Burtas. When Hezekiah walked out of the clan gathering hall, he clandestinely sent out a dove with a tiny slip of paper.
It was the order to stab the Jabdertim into the back. Two days later, with the troops absent and sieging the lands around Kiev, the Hekel horde showed up in Itakh's capital province Priluk and started pressing the local populace for their belongings. The small garrison was in no shape to hold the encampment for long. And this while they were fighting an uphill battle against Kiev.
With this betrayal, the triumvirate was factually dysfunctional again, with Itakh declaring his refusal to work with Hezekiah and his withdrawal from all according agreements days later. As Marshal, he was still Hezekiah's superior when it came to the Khazarian military – and he would pay him back soon enough. Khan Bulçan had suspected something like this the whole time and chose to condemn Hezekiah's actions. The power vacuum in Khazaria kept descending into a free-for-all where everyone vied for his own advantage.
***
Four weeks later, the Khazarian army stood readily at the border to Burtas. They had already been there for a few days due to a delay in Oleshye. A short while ago, when the war declaration on Burtas was about to be formulated in a gathering of Khazarian diplomats and leaders, delegates from Jabdertim and Bulçir declared they could not support the plan as of now. Hezekiah's actions in Priluk had not gone unnoticed, and the other Khans were not willing to support his claims so easily. With the two council seats formerly occupied by Ezra and Kibar still vacant (because Zachariah kept postponing, then forgetting about it), suddenly there was no majority for the plan that had been approved last time.
Although Zachariah was unemotional about the piece of land that Hezekiah wanted, he recognized that he'd eventually need a full council. He quickly decided to pass Kibar's advisor position to Alp, the son of his former steward Kundaç. The lad was loyal and level-headed, though not exactly bright, and he'd support petty wars like the one Zachariah – influenced by Hezekiah - was up to. For the steward position, the solution would get more complicated as no one in the realm was willing and capable enough. Zachariah had his chancellor Belet look for suitable candidates, preferrably of Jewish faith, through Europe – this would take some time, but for now the majorities were safe again. When Alp took up his duty, war on Burtas was declared with the official intention to protect the lands from Russian invasion that way.
With the enormous military advantage the Khazarian troops had over Burtas, the envoy of Khan Itakh even managed to slip through a minor support operation in Kievan lands. A regiment of 1000 men would wreak havoc along the border to Burtas, causing a distraction for Kiev and staying close to the main army in case they'd react. This was remarkable – apparently Zachariah's policy of not setting foot into Kiev had loosened a bit. Or he hadn't fully grasped the order. It was sometimes hard to determine if he didn't understand or didn't care about proposals from his councillors.
Soon after the armies were sent into march, chancellor Belet presented Zachariah with a possible steward. Zakkai of Bartenstein was a young man from the war-torn southern German lands who had become victim of an anti-Jewish riot, had to flee and was currently with the band of a Norse adventurer based on the Ligurian coast. When being introduced with Zachariah, Zakkai stated he had heard much about the land of the Jewish steppe riders to the east and was excited to serve someone as revered as Khagan Zachariah, the Scourge of God.
Zachariah was pleased about the man's credentials and his manners upon meeting him. Zakkai was hired on the spot, and the council was complete again. Soon after, when a short and uneventful siege in Khopyor came to an end, Khagan Burtas "the Drunkard" surrendered, and the first action of the newly assembled council was to hand over the newly acquired land to Hezekiah of Hekel. Where the war itself had been controversial, no one apparently considered it an option to deny Hezekiah the spoils – even though his troops were still causing destruction in Itakh's encampment.
March 25, 889 AD
It had been a tough winter for the Khazarian people. The cold had got more severe and lasted longer than usual in the rather temperate lands around the Black Sea. Due to the rough weather and the Khagan's increasing obliviousness to public affairs, the public festivals that had become a staple of life around Oleshye grew rare, and everyone was delighted when spring finally showed its beginnings just in time for the largest royal ceremony since some time. Zachariah's oldest sons, the twins Muhan and Tarkhan, were coming of age and would finish their time as squires.
The Ashina camp was colorfully decorated for the big day, and the clan gathering hall which would house the festivities was the center of attention. As for each of their important birthdays, the "twin banner" that had by now become a commonplace term was flagged – this time augmented by symbols signifying maturity and growth. Muhan and Tarkhan, who still didn't know what their father had planned for them now, tried to exceed each other in feigned aplomb – but they were supremely excited.
Although the brothers were always very close during their childhood and still shared a deep bond, they had turned out in different ways during their adolescence. Muhan was the firstborn and as such the most "natural" heir to the Clan. Zachariah himself had always carefully treated the twins as equals, but his birth advantage – which was of course irrelevant in practice, as succession was earned by blood and glory – left him with a certain sort of entitlement many firstborn royal children tended to exhibit. The pride in his high birth made him few friends in court, and neither did his increasingly intense rage fits (which he had clearly adapted from his father). He was also the physically inferior of the two, which had showed clearly since they had hit puberty, and kept trying to compensate by eating more. Yet, in spite of his obvious character flaws, Muhan was still an attentive and independent young lad, who turned out to be a passable soldier and tactically adept through the course of his military training, though he was far from an exceptional talent.
That was one of the few things he had in common with his barely younger brother Tarkhan. Tarkhan had always been the more versatile of the brothers, and there was little doubt among their closer surroundings that he was the more suitable candidate to succeed Zachariah one day. He had served as squire under a highly decorated veteran who had taught him the philosophies of some wildly successful general from the Far East, who was hard and sometimes ruthless but always staunchly adhered to his principles. That sounded pleasantly different from what his father had been displaying in the past years – in contrast to the fully loyal Muhan, Tarkhan loved and admired their father, but was very skeptical about his manner of ruling and was determined to do things differently should he once become Khagan. Only his occasional mood swings that sometimes lasted for days on end and ranged from phases of deep seclusion to stunning fits of dynamism somewhat worried his superiors, although Zachariah wouldn't see anything out of the order with his behaviour.
The big moment was there. Many a relatives and nobles from the other parts of Khazaria had paid their respects, and now Chancellor Belet called the brothers themselves onto the stage where Khagan Zachariah was already waiting for them, in full regal ornate and sitting elevated upon a pompous chair. They were greeted with thundering applause. The people of Oleshye and the Khazarian nobility greeted their designated ruler – although no one knew yet who it would be. Muhan and Tarkhan were awkwardly hiding their overwhelmedness.
Zachariah got up from his seat with some toil, stepped toward his sons and gave each a hearty embrace while the cheers from the crowd only slowly subsided. They hadn't spent much time together since the boys had taken up their military career four years ago, and he was genuinely overjoyed to see them again. They had grown up so much, and now they were going to stand on their own feet and continue the legacy of the great Ashina clan.
"Muhan and Tarkhan, my beloved sons." he raised his voice and the crowd got quiet. Zachariah was serene and collected, he almost came off dignified. That was a rare occurrence in these days. "This is the big day. Your first day as grown men, full citizens of the great Jewish Khaganate of Khazaria that Muhan Ashina the First founded over three centuries ago. You can be proud of your heritage – and you should be humbled by it. I, in the name of the people of the Ashina clan and Khazaria as a whole, expect you to pursue your quest to be the Khagan in a fair manner. You shall compete for glorious deeds and the respect of the people instead of backstabbing or ruining each other. In order to prove your worth, both of you will soon be given troops to lead.
For you, Tarkhan, it is also the first day as the heir to the Khaganate. But I don't have to tell you to not get sure of yourself anytime. You've both grown up to be formidable men - and tomorrow, your brother might be the one deemed more worthy by God and the people. You're a born ruler though. Adonai knows, you've often taken more interest in all the small and big decisions of a Khagan than I did. You thrive on responsibility, and I admire that. So for today, you shall be named a Major of the Khazarian army and command your own wing of riders. Your first assignment will come in very soon; this is when you will be awarded with your new insignia.
You, Muhan, have indulged in the spoils of life at a court, but you've never loved it and you always told me you wanted to see faraway lands some day – the Holy Land, the Eastern realms or even India and China. This is why I decided to give you your own host of strong and reliable Khazarian men. You shall make your fate as a mercenary leader for the coming years, earning experiences and bringing death and destruction to whoever pays worse."
Everyone laughed and Muhan smiled at his dad. He knew well that virtually everyone favored Tarkhan to become Khagan, and in private he wasn't all too unhappy about it. The perspective of leading his own mercenary band far away from anyone telling him what to do sounded so much more attractive than an army rank to him. There would still be plenty of time to rule over lands.
Zachariah kept on speaking for a few minutes before he closed the ceremony and announced there would be further public festivities all across the camp for the whole night, including free catering. The Khagan and his now adult sons basked in the applause of the crowd.
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