Galafriëlla

Galafriëlla, who was given the name Galafriël at birth, had struggled to survive all her life, but things had become much better of late. Throughout her childhood having had no relationship with any, adult or child, male or female, rendered her completely isolated for many years. She hadn’t been able to relate to any, and understood none. For certain none wished to relate to her and none understood her, least of all herself. Primary school had been a nightmare for her, and secondary school even worse. At both schools the pupils and staff alike had been disgusted by her unnatural perversion, for such was being trans considered to be. They were also frightened by her uncanny ability to occasionally predict the future. It was the latter that made the staff physically abusive towards her.

As they grew older the boys had hated her for being the ultimate in femininity and as a result inescapably attractive to them, for in their opinion that indicated latent homosexuality in themselves which terrified them. That she’d never considered talking to any of them made no difference, for Galafriëlla was the prettiest girl in the school, and despite their better judgement they were desperate to talk to her. Then they hated her for being what they considered to be arrogant and dismissive of them.

The girls who’d regarded themselves as the ‘real girls’ had hated her for what they considered to be her artificial prettiness, which upset Galafriëlla since she’d had no control over the matter and would have preferred to be invisible. It had been a miserable existence, but that was her life in Arbret, the powerful, but intolerant totalitarian nation state she’d had the misfortune to be born into.

College had been even worse. Eventually she’d graduated from the University of Gilbern which was the most prestigious university in Arbret as the highest achieving psychology student ever, which had not meant anything to her at all. After that life had been in her words, ‘Absolute nihility’, despite her being paid a fortune by the government for her now fully developed ability to look into the future. She had never told anyone but she could see it as it would happen in her mind as clearly as she could see what was in front of her eyes. She worked at the department of internal security at their headquarters in Gilbern, the capital, though her employers had no idea just how gifted she was, for she had led them to believe that what she saw was due to pure chance and she had never been able to focus her gift in a direction of her choosing.

Then there had followed a remarkable series of events that gave her not only a future, but a place in the world she felt happy to be in too, for she’d discovered being able to see the future meant she was able to change it to a degree too, a degree that increased with time. Her abilities had enabled her to be in the right place at the right time to help grateful, kind, powerful persons who said they owed her much and all she had to do was say she needed something and it would be provided. She never used her gifts on her own behalf in a way that could be noticed by others, but it meant she could avoid those who would hurt her. Coupled with her work to help others with problems like her own and her vindictive paying of her debts to various individuals in the corrupt, harsh and cruel society she had grown up in she finally started to feel confident concerning her life. She wasn’t proud of her vindictiveness, but she certainly wasn’t ashamed of it either. Arbret law was quirky and it gave all the right to whatever medical procedures they wanted, providing of course that they could pay for them. What the law did not do was allow any privacy, so medical staff could legally take money for informing any one they chose concerning the GRS treatment of the trans or the psychological problems dealt with by psychiatrists. It was a system that ensured conformity due to fear and any who was in any way different was hounded and victimised mercilessly.

Galafriëlla was incrementally increasingly confident about her life till she met a senior agronomist named Arondial when her life became much better and her confidence soared, yet at the same time it became unpredictably more difficult. Arondial was in his own words, ‘As off the wall as yourself.’ He was the first person she had ever met whom she actually liked, for he was gentle and considerate, interesting and more to the point she enjoyed the time she spent in his company. Arondial said he liked her, but unlike other persons she had no idea of what he was thinking or what he was going to do. That she couldn’t read him was exciting, but terrifying too, for it was completely outside her experience, and it meant she’d be unaware if he intended to hurt her, even unintentionally.

Galafriëlla gradually became entranced by Arondial who eventually admitted he’d been born genetically female, but he’d been medically changed to match his sense of self identity. In turn Galafriëlla admitted she’d been born genetically male, but had likewise been medically changed to match her sense of self identity. “What of it?” asked Arondial. “I like you. Do you like me?”

“Yes, but I am frightened of where it may lead us, for I have no picture of you in the future I know I shall soon be stepping into, and there is much I have not yet had the time to tell you of me.”

“I am earning five hundred credits a year which is more than enough to manage all those problems. Officials are easily bought for far less. Are you willing to share your future with me?”

“Yes, if you will have me when all becomes clear to you. This is the point it makes sense to tell you that I earn in excess of five million credits a year, and I have no concerns other than how that will affect our relationship, for I am wealthy with powerful, close connections who care about me greatly with vastly more wealth than I.” She hesitated before continuing, “I shall be leaving Arbret soon to join those friends, however I cannot in good conscience leave here till I have completed some outstanding tasks.”

Arondial was completely perplexed by that and eventually asked, “Why would you be interested in someone like me, for compared with you I am nothing?”

“You underestimate yourself, Arondial. Those who are real don’t measure others by their wealth but by their generosity which is a yardstick of their lives. Thus I care about you, for I have seen, despite the contempt many treat you with, you are generous to those less fortunate than yourself.”

“If that is truly the way you view persons and life I have no idea what to say in response. What would you have me reply?”

There was a considerable delay before Galafriëlla replied, “I love you, and if, and only if you truly mean it, I would like to hear you tell me that you love me too. We could try to work our way forward into a life together from there. If you don’t care about me the way I care about you I would rather know now, so I could seek someone else in good conscience. But this is the time for truth, regardless of embarrassment, and I should warn you I can immediately discern those who would hide their motives from me.”

Arondial was bright red as he said, “I do love you, and all else is as naught, but still I wonder why such as you are interested in such as I.”

“That is as maybe. I should be pleased for us to essay the future together, but it may not be to your liking. My birth family have made it exceedingly clear they don’t care about me, and no one else does here. I started working for the department of internal security, but I currently work for all of the government’s security departments, but the ability to foresee the stock markets has earnt me much more than my salary which earnings I have safely invested out of the government’s reach, so I do not have to work again should I choose not to. My employers regard and treat me as a resource, an asset, a weapon, and knowing I am trans they’ve never treated me as a person. Whether they ever respect my person as I see myself or not, I shall shortly be ceasing to work for them. If in what time remains to them they coerce me, as they have done in the past, the visions of the future I shall provide them with will be disastrous to them. I shall not feel bad about lying to them, nor about the effects of those lies. No matter what I do it can’t hurt them as much as they have hurt me. I shall be able to discern what they will do, and I shall take steps such that they will not be able to connect events to me. That will avoid their actions hurting either of us. I said my family here do not care about me, however, I do have other options.”

“You sound as if you have seen this coming and have deep laid plans against all.”

“I have, and I’ve been planning and taking steps concerning it for several years. Meeting you has, however, complicated matters, for I can not see the future clearly when it involves my emotions and that means all concerning you is clouded to me. I have left my savings from my my salary within my employer’s reach so that they can confiscate it thinking I shall then be penniless and thus manipulable. I can see that they’ll look no further, but I have dozens of escape routes planned. However, I should prefer it if we simply took a holiday on a commercial flight to South Gerantus where the government will laugh at any attempts to extradite us. There is nothing to stop any citizen here from so doing other than poverty, for the only planes that fly in and out of Arbret are owned by the government and are exorbitantly expensive to use. If we buy return tickets, but don’t return, all will be well. I know that shall be, for I have seen that much. I have done the South Gerantian government a few favours over the years and I am held in the highest respect possible over there. Neither the government nor the populous there have any issues with the trans, nor indeed any other, and there are any number of branches of the GHS [Government Health Service] set up specifically to assist those disparagingly referred to here as the LGBT+ freaks. Unlike in Arbret where medical services cost more than virtually all can afford the GHS delivers services free to all at the point of delivery, and all members of the medical professions are bound by law to secrecy regarding their patients. A breach of that would cost them their licence to practise for life.”

“Free‽ To all regardless of income?”

“Indeed. Free to all, regardless of income. All medical services, for they believe a well cared for populace is one that cares for their state, and they point out that a happy folk is a wealthy folk well able to pay for the health services required by all regardless of income. Their belief is that they rule with the approval of their populace and any can aspire to the House of Speakers. All it requires is the ballot of the populace who they contend own the state, for they are the state.”

“A ballot‽ Who can vote?”

“Any and all over the age of twenty-one Gerantian years old which would be not quite twenty-five here, regardless of income.”

“I’m sure few know about that here because it seems almost beyond belief. Why have you stayed here so long? Why haven’t you left for South Gerantus years ago?”

“The government here deliberately suppresses all media mention of the South Gerantian GHS for obvious reasons. I’ve stayed for a couple of reasons. One a decent and charitable one and the other a vicious and small minded one.” Galafriëlla smiled a bittersweet smile before continuing. “Over the years I’ve collected rather a lot of old scores to settle and I wasn’t prepared to leave without discharging those debts. I have only ever pretended to be sweet and naïve, and I have a well developed but equally well hidden vicious side too, but given the hurts, both physical and psychological, I have suffered at the hands of persons who had no reason other than to treat me well my vicious side presented itself to them rather than my sweet side. I’m not justifying my behaviour, for doubtless some of what I have done is unjustifiable. I’m merely saying that I have done what I have done and I feel no remorse concerning it. I’ve now settled all my debts and have little left to do before I leave.”

“I can understand that, I and can’t condemn you for it, for I wish I had the ability to pay such debts off too. All it means is you are human, despite your doubts. What is the decent and charitable reason?”

“I have been setting up safe houses and escape routes out of the country for those of the LGBT+ and others in need too for many years. I had planned to leave once it were finished. The system is now almost finished and when complete it will be self supporting and able to keep going indefinitely. The tragedy is without the persons that the system trapped, who will now be able to escape, many already have, Arbret will collapse. That will ultimately lead to chaos and massive civil disruption leading to a huge loss of life, for a significant proportion of the escapees are of superior intellect and ability, the sort of persons whom Arbret has systematically exploited and abused for generations. Without them the Arbretian totalitarian state will not be able to continue in its present form. The persons who will suffer most are the persons who had little to do with the system, but who did not oppose it either, so I do not feel sorry for them. Those who found the system unacceptable and helped us at great personal risk, and not all by any means were persons of great intellect, will prosper in South Gerantus. As for the rest, one either accepts what is wrong or one rejects it. Either way when what is wrong is brought to account all will be judged according to their past actions. The so called Nürnberg defence(1) has never been morally acceptable to justify crimes against humanity. I’ve often wondered where the name came from but none seem to know. Brutal maybe, but that is how they will be judged by their peers. Their peers that were on the winning side I should say. For it has long correctly been said that history is written by the victors.”

“I’m thinking you had all this planned, and that your part should have been finished and you should have been gone by now. What happened? Are you in danger?”

“I am not in danger, and you happened. I met you and that was too important for reasons you can not imagine yet to me to ignore for several reasons, so I slowed down on some of my other activities. However in a week, ten days at most, I shall be finished here.”

Arondial looked thoughtful and said, “I think I see. After we leave and take our holiday what then?”

“I’m not sure, for despite what we were born, I’m the girl here, so I believe traditionally the next step is up to you.”

“How long would it take you to prepare for a wedding, Galafriëlla?”

“Are you are proposing to me?”

“Yes.”

“I accept. The answer to your question depends on whether we allow the government of South Gerantus to be involved. A quiet, simple, civic wedding can be arranged within twenty-four hours. If the government is involved a full blown state wedding will take several months to organise, but at least we wouldn’t have to be involved in any of the planning. We’ll just have to turn up to the dress fittings and the rehearsals.”

“How by all that is holy do we go from being runaways and refugees to having a state wedding?”

“We’re neither runaways nor refugees, and I have reasons for not wishing to be seen as either which is why I would rather take a holiday on a commercial flight than take flight. I told you I have done the South Gerantian government some favours in the past. One of them foiled an assassination attempt on King Ludovictus. Technically I’m The Princess Royal of South Gerantus. I say technically because though the king officially adopted me I haven’t been formally invested as a princess of the blood royal yet which is a matter of state that has to take place in the Palace of Law Makers in front of the entire assembly of Law Makers and Speakers from the House of Speakers which is in the same building complex. Doubtless if the government gets involved my investiture would be immediately followed by our wedding and then just as rapidly after by your investiture as prince consort. Probably all in one exhaustingly long ceremony. Though doubtless knowing the queen you would shortly be granted lands, an arch duchy probably, and the title of prince in your own right. She’s a great believer in things being seen to be done properly by the populace because it makes them happy that what they wish is being respected. I suspect the day being a paid public holiday may have something to do with that, but as the queen says, “Generosity, especially out of money the populace has already paid in taxes, always pays dividends, mostly in goodwill which is beyond calculable value, and that the folk and the powers that be regard each other with approval means life is pleasanter for all. All should strive for a pleasant life be she milk maid or queen.’ The queen is a very astute woman, and I am really happy that she refers to me to as her daughter and treats me as such. I’m very fond of her. I have no idea what having a birth mother is like, but I do know it couldn’t be any better than having her insist I call her Mother.”

“How does such a thing come to be?”

“I admit I was surprised by it too. The Royal family of South Gerantus has for centuries produced those born with arcane gifts. Mind readers, those who could see the future and others of various gifts too. Not all of the family have been born gifted, and those persons have always been rare, but in every generation of the extended family there are one or two so gifted. Those persons are valued, treasured even by the public as well as their family. The king explained to me that many generations ago there was a prince who abused his gifts causing great damage to the country and great hurt to the family. Some only come into their gifts late in life, so since that time all the family swear an oath at the age of sixteen to the crown and the country never to abuse their gifts. Should they refuse to swear the oath they are exiled, should they take and subsequently break the oath they are likewise exiled. Should an exiled person return the penalty is death.”

“Has either ever happened?”

“The king didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. However he looked pretty bleak during his explanation, so at the time I guessed one or the other had happened at least once and reasonably recently too. He told me that despite my gifts he couldn’t legally demand that I took the oath, for I was not a member of the royal family, but he asked me as a personal favour to take it. It seemed churlish to refuse, so I took the oath witnessed by several members of the royal family and a dozen or so Law Makers and Speakers. A few days later I was requested to go to the palace where much to his embarrassment the king informed me that the constitutional experts had informed him that as soon as I had taken the oath I was a royal personage. He assured me he had not known that was so and he hadn’t been trying to trick me in any way. He said that a royal personage without a specific position in the royal family was of problematical status. He said since he’d put me in such an anomalous position, albeit unwittingly, he believed it was his responsibility to rectify the situation. He offered to adopt me as his daughter which he said would make my status absolutely crystal clear to the entire populace and was appropriate due my foiling the assassination attempt which he was certain would without my intervention have resulted in his death and a long period of political instability. Public opinion had been quietly gauged and it had been unequivocally in favour of my adoption. Despite that, initially I refused. I don’t really know why, but I just didn’t feel it was appropriate.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“It was a who not a what. It was Queen Margot. She visited me in my rooms that evening. She sent her ladies in waiting away who were clearly not happy at that. She then explained sadly she and the king had only ever had two children, the heir was a six year old very sick son who was unlikely to live to the age of twelve and would certainly not live to take the crown. There was little likelihood of them having any more children and they needed an heir. I hesitantly asked what of her other child thinking that the child had possibly already died, but it was not the time for reticence. That was when the conversation became grim. It appeared that their elder son had been twenty-six and gifted. He was the one who attempted to assassinate his father by abusing his gifts. As a result of my information he had been apprehended. The queen told me that her husband and herself had signed the execution order. There was a very long silence after that. The queen was hurt, and I was not prepared to apologise for saving her husband’s life.

“Eventually the queen continued to say their nieces and nephews were likely to fight for the crown leading to if not civil war at least civil unrest, and in any event none were fit to rule. All this you must not repeat, Arondial, for it is not known outside higher government circles. The queen insisted it had been a happy yet serendipitous mistake of her husband’s to ask me to take the oath, for other than her husband there were now none alive in the family shewing signs of any gift of any sort. That I was so gifted would make me acceptable to all, the royal family, the government and the populace which she said would calm any civil unrest. She begged me to accept the king’s offer, saying ultimately it would mean I should be queen. I explained I was trans and so could not have children to continue the line, hence there was little point in having me as royal heir in any degree whether her younger son lived or not. It was a brutal continuance of what had been a grim conversation.

“The queen paused in thought at that for several minutes during which I could see her thinking deeply and unhappily. Eventually she smiled and said her husband had had a third cousin who not long ago had tragically died with her husband in a train accident. They’d had four young children, a pair of twin girls nearly three, a just two year old son and a baby girl of not quite six months. The children carried the same bloodline as her husband, all being descended from king Bartholemew the third who’d been a powerful mind reader, and they were currently being looked after in the palace by their governess and an emergency wet nurse. It would she said be an ideal solution from many points of view, if I adopted the children. Her husband would have a gifted heir, I would get the reward she and the king truly believed I deserved, but most significantly the children would have a mother and when I married as she was sure I would do before very long a father too. That her husband’s gifted line would continue would quiet all reservations she was sure. Most of what she had said was irrelevant to me. It was having a family that persuaded me. I didn’t care about the royalty connection. It was just about the children, and when I met them I couldn’t reject them. They wanted and needed a mum, and I have always been desperate to have children. The older two had been told I was a potential mother and they were desperate for love. I was desperate to love and to be loved by children. The result was inevitable and I have promised them I shall never go away for more than a month. So I have to go back soon. They have to have at least forty-eight hours of my time, before I return one last time to finalise things here. I shall be travelling using a small South Gerantian seaplane.

“I had not met you at that point and I had had no vision of meeting you. I signed the adoption charter as well as the the king and the queen, but I explained why I could not stay long enough for the investiture. That was how I left things. The young prince died from a seizure a month later. Now I have met you, and I have told you all. If you still wish to marry me, my answer is still yes, but I’ll let you off the hook if you don’t wish to become king consort of South Gerantus with a ready made family of four children who I assure you are absolutely wonderful and already call me Mamma. I have already signed the adoption decree, it came by royal courier and was returned the same way, so it is now binding. I am The Princess Royal Galafriëlla the heir apparent to the throne of South Gerantus, daughter of King Ludovictus and Queen Margot and mother to Princess Marianette, Princess Glæssemarie, Prince Hans and Princess Eveanna. None of that is negotiable. Take as long as you will to think it over, but it’s Prince Arondial of South Gerantus or nothing I’m afraid. Yes I truly do love you, but not enough to walk away from my children, who I desperately hope will become our children.

“The other matter you need to be aware of is that of the North Gerantus problem. North Gerantus is a smaller nation state that South Gerantus, perhaps a quarter of the land area which makes it may be eight times the area of Arbret. It is wealthy in minerals and has a well developed industrial sector. It imports most of its agricultural food needs from its southern neighbour, for it is too cold to supply most of its needs. It is supposedly a democratic republic, however, elections are bought by the highest bidder and though it has neither a landed aristocracy of historical antiquity nor a modern elected equivalent it has been ruled by what is effectively a cabal of wealthy organised criminals for generations. The populace is needlessly poor and the cabal was not intelligent enough to realise that a folk with nothing to lose make for extremely dangerous neighbours, especially as nothing can be hidden from servants.”

“You make it seem that it is on the edge of revolution.”

“No for unlike in Arbret the revolution has already occurred. The Cabal, their families and their supporters have disappeared without trace. The rumour is none escaped the purge and all were consigned to the rail trucks that feed the blast furnaces of the steel works in the city of Quelton. The problem is that the country is falling apart for none left have any idea of how to run an organisation of that size. King Ludovictus has been petitioned to provide administrators to restructure the country along the lines of South Gerantus. He has asked me to oversee those administrators to ensure all is done fairly and no profiteering occurs. It will be up to me to decide how the country will be organised. By that I mean by establishing a landed aristocracy or perhaps a truly representative democracy or may be something between the two. I suspect it will be my life’s work and if we marry yours too.

“The administrators at my request are already starting to establish a health service, and education for all be they child or adult. However, they are hampered by a lack of sufficiently trained medical personnel. Too most of the population is illiterate which means little help is available locally though the populous is willing to do whatever they can. The entire legal system of South Gerantus has been adopted and locals are being trained as rapidly as possible in the duties and responsibilities of a magistrate. They are also deeply involved in deciding what alterations to the South Gerantian model would be advisable for North Gerantus. It would appear that the only changes required will be equally appropriate in South Gerantus too. I haven’t said much to any so far, but have let it be known that given the nature of the North Gerantian folk, which is unsurprisingly the same as that of South Gerantian folk, I consider that a system of landed aristocracy derived from their own folk would probably provide the maximum long term stability they require to prosper and flourish.

“King Ludovictus has had it whispered in taverns that I would probably chose that aristocracy according to who had done most to aid in the reconstruction. He also added to the rumours that I would not favour men over women and that I reacted unfavourably to folk who had any bigoted views regarding any sector of society and that included towards all racial minorities and members of the LGBT+ elements of societies.”

“That sounds like all is at least starting well.”

“The biggest single short term problem we face is mass starvation over the coming winter and spring, for agricultural practices there are primitive and they have never been able to provide enough food to feed the nation. They have always relied upon their industry to provide goods to trade for basic food stuffs. It is essential that industry keeps going and it’s not easy with the Cabal gone but it is proving to be possible. In addition the Law Makers have proposed to the Speakers that several millions of tons of wheat be sent north immediately, for their wheat crop is poor this year, and the exact price in coal be negotiated later. The wheat is on its way and the debate as to how much will be needed is under way. There is a shortage of meat there, but as long as they can bake bread none will starve.”

Arondial frowned and said, “I don’t understand. Why are they growing wheat when barley, rye and oats are more suited to a colder climate? It’s not too late to sow hardy varieties of autumn sown barleys for an earlier crop next year. All the seed needed of appropriate varieties could be bought from Arbret if one were careful not to buy too much from any single source. The price will nigh to theft, but being greedy the managers will sell. Too what of their fishing fleet, for they are right next to the richest supply of quality fish on the planet? They should focus on fish as their major protein source not meat. What meat animals do they raise?”

“Cattle, sheep, pigs and goats further north, and hens are kept everywhere there for eggs and meat. Why?”

“Folly. They should be focussing their attention on the various species of deer that live up there, most of which can be domesticated and all are hardy in that climate. And there are varieties of duck that are better layers than any hen that would thrive there, especially in the north, whereas hens would not. Do they not have any already doing so?”

“They are not really a nation of farmers, which I suspect is a major part of the problem. Would you be willing to take charge of North Gerantian agriculture on behalf of the interim administration?”

“Yes.” Arondial smiled and said, “The challenge of enabling a better agriculture in a cold climate will be irresistible, but I suggest some one from South Gerantus with knowledge of a fishing fleet be appointed to oversee the construction of a fleet of fishing vessels and the training of North Gerantian fishing crew on South Gerantian vessels in the meanwhile.”

“I shall pass all that on, but it looks like you have just taken on a lifetime’s work too, Arondial.”

“It does doesn’t it, but tell me more about our children. Do you have any three dee pics I can enjoy before we meet?”

1 The Nürnberg defence came to be so called because it was used by Nazi war criminals at their trials in Nürnberg at the end of WWII. In essence it boiled down to ‘I was just following orders’.