As I expected, it was a few weeks later when the young man Musa Ben Eleazar returned with a couple of associates of his own to the audience room of the Exilarch. When he came into the room, the Exilarch graciously bowed his head to the young man, who sought to introduce him to his associates.

“Your Highness,” he began. “As I promised when we spoke last, I have returned both with an answer to your initial question about what we want from your nation, as well as with a couple of guests.”

“I am pleased to see you again as well as see your associates.”

Pointing to the man on his right, dressed in a robe, he said. “Here is Phineas Ben Zadok, who is the chief priest of our people.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Phineas Ben Zadok.”

“And to my left, here is Hezekiah Ben Suleiman, who is the crown prince of my people. His father, alas, was too unwell to come.”

“I hope your father recovers and has many years ahead of him,” the Exilarch said politely. “In the meantime, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well. Would you all be willing to sit at my table and discuss your answer as well as what we can do with the Royal and Parliamentary Cabinet?”

“Lead the way,” Musa said, pleased that they would get to talk business.

The Exilarch stood up from this throne and walked somewhat gingerly, for he was an elderly man and no longer as spry as he had been in his youth, to a large cave room with a large circular table in the middle. He sat at one of the seats and motioned for the group to sit down beside him. It did not take long for one of his pages to respond to his nod by rushing out to bring the officials before him. While he waited, the Exilarch talked a bit.

“Do you wish to have some refreshments while we wait for the others to come?”

“What sort of refreshments do you have?”

“I can offer you some cheese and fruits, as well as some ice water, fruit juices, and sparkling ciders.”

The guests chose among the options. I had some fruit and cheese as well as sparkling apple cider myself, and I must say that they were very tasty snacks. Before too long a group of men came in, and the Exilarch introduced them. Included were the Prime Minister, the Chief Priest, who I had seen before, and a variety of lesser officials, only some of whom were directly relevant, like the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Treasury, as well as the Secretary of the Interior.

“Thank you for coming so quickly to the summons,” the Exilarch said after introducing the parties to each other. “Some time ago, the young man Musa Ben Eleazar came to me stating that there was a situation of some urgency, in that his people needed a place to live that was free from the threat of invasion as well as the damages suffered in their homeland. I asked him what his people wanted from us, and he has come with a couple of associates of high rank, as you have heard, as well as an answer. I would now like to let the young man speak for himself to you all and make his appeal, so that we may determine how to proceed together.”

With that introduction, Musa spoke to the assembled leaders. “As your ruler has stated, I am Musa Ben Eleazar, and I represent a people that springs from the mixture of the men of your country who settled to trade in the land of ________ as well as some of the members of the local population who sought in and around these Bravian trading posts the promise of freedom and the chance to earn a decent living. Your people have always dealt fairly with us, acknowledging them to be their flesh and blood and defending our lives and our freedom with their own lives in defending us against attacks that the rulers of the nation made because of their fears that our people and those of our mothers would become free. We now come before you asking to settle land where we might be able to live according to the laws and ways that we both share. We would like to settle the province that you spoke of, Your Highness, as being vacant and free for us to settle. We would like to survey the ground and see how we might settle there in places where we may live and work freely, with the ruling house of our people serving as royal governors, contributing to the common defense of your people.”

There was brief pause as the Exilarch let the officials muse on this before he answered them.

“We appreciate your request, and now we will determine what is necessary for this to happen. Since you have claimed both an ancestry from Bravia as well as adherence to our laws, I would like our High Priest to examine you with the Umim and the Thummim”

At this the high priest stood up, and on his chest were two stones. “If you and your people do not object, when you are seeking to enter into our land as full Bravian citizens, we will subject you to three tests, if you consent. The first is the test of the Umim and Thummin, by which test the stones will determine if your answers are correct. The second is the test of paperwork, by which your people will, every person and every family, trace as well as you can your origins so that the people may be sorted into the appropriate courses within Bravian society. The third is the test of genetic testing, by which your family relationship may be confirmed and by which you may be connected with your existing kinfolk here in Bravia as well as within the Bravian diaspora. Do you consent to these three tests?”

The three men looked at each other and nodded to each other. “We consent to these three tests.”

The High Priest stood up. “Are the men before me sons of Bravia?” The Umim lit up, indicating a yes. “Are the people they represent children of Bravia?” The Umim lit up again. “Are there Zadokite priests among these people who can stand and serve before you?” The Umim lit up once again. There was some slight whispering among the assembled guests. “Are there any royals among these people?” The Thummim lit up, indicating that no royal blood of Bravia was among the people. “Very well then, the priest said. The Umim and the Thumim have spoken. Some of my priests will examine the family records your people have when they disembark and investigate their family lines. We will also conduct genetic tests on your people to ensure that they are connected with their Bravian kinfolk, so that you will find yourself fully accepted within the sections of Bravia where your fathers’ people came from.”

“Thank you, your grace,” the Exilarch said. Turning to the crown prince, he stated. “I am willing to recognize your father as royal governor and you as his heir apparent. I will send some of my people with you so that you may choose an appropriate place to build your provincial capital according to the ways of our people so that you may dwell in a place where you may be protected and may serve your fellow people.”

“Thank you, your Highness.” the crown prince replied.

“When your people settle, we will have a ceremony where your father will be installed and where you will all receive your appropriate positions within Bravian society. I imagine that you, Musa, will be the inagural First Minister of the new province?”

“I believe that is how it will be, though we will try to set up areas where people can vote freely. I imagine there will be some need of education for my people so that they are equipped to handle the duties of Bravian citizenship. From what I have seen in my time here, those duties are heavy,” Musa replied.

“We will help with that,” the Secretary of Education piped up. “Once you have determined settlement locations we can work on providing your area with teachers, and also setting up a teacher’s college so that your people can be trained to education themselves. I believe that will help the education appear to be less of an imposition to your people and more of an uplift that comes as a result of your decision to choose to live according to our laws and ways.”

“I am sure the people will appreciate that greatly,” Musa said. “For the moment, most of our people are simple people of the land, and it will be a bit of a shift for many of them to handle the increased responsibilities of governing families as well as towns. Some of our people have experience in leadership but many more will need to learn and grow.”

At this the secretary of the Navy spoke up. “Where are your people currently, and are there enough ships to bring them to their disembarkation points?”

“Our people are currently living in temporary housing in the Bravian trading posts on the north coast of _______. Admittedly, there are some trade ships that would be able to take our people in several rounds, but any trading ships that are devoted to that purpose are unable to be used in more profitable business, so any help you could provide with shipping would be appreciated,” Musa replied.

The Secretary of the Navy turned to the Secretary of the Interior. “If we were able to do some initial site work in setting up plats, if we knew how many people needed to come we could at least provide initial places where your people could immediately build their first houses upon arrival in towns that were already platted. At that point, we could also set plots for farming to take place when they arrive and are able to begin work. Then, with the natural increase of your people, land further from the initial towns could be settled with farms and villages in an orderly and organic fashion.”

“About how many people do you have that need to be settled?” the Secretary of the Interior asked.

“There are currently fifteen thousand of my people that need to be resettled, give or take a few hundred,” Musa stated. Currently, they live in three trading cities that are pretty crowded.

“We can settle them in, say, six smaller towns that can be easily platted, each of them a town of somewhat small size with land around it that could easily be cleared for farming or foraged as the situation demands,” the Secretary of the Interior responded.

The three people nodded to each other and the Secretary to show their acceptance.

At this, the secretary of the Navy responded. “Given that you need to transport fifteen thousand people to six different places, we have seaworthy transport ships that can easily carry five hundred people and their property apiece that can be detailed for this job. We would need thirty transports, in groups of five for each of the towns that will be set up, so that people can be grouped from their starting destination. Adding a small escort of destroyers alongside those ships, we should be able to protect them during the journey and demonstrate to any ship that we encounter that your people have come under the protection of Bravia at a small expense, relatively speaking.”

“That would be great,” Musa said. “I think we want to send a message of that kind, though I’m not sure who we would meet along the way.”

At this the Secretary of War looked at the Secretary of the Interior and then looked at Musa and his associates. “Since you have already dealt with fighting, I assume that there are at least some capable militia fighters among you?”

“We do have some people who have experience in fighting, yes,” Musa replied. “We do not have any professional soldiers, I would say, but some have experience as bodyguards and many others fought to defend themselves and their farms in the late unpleasantries.”

“Are your people willing and able to serve as a well-trained militia that can be called upon to protect the towns and farms you will be setting up as well as manning various fortifications to defend the frontiers and naval installations that will be built in the area as well?”

“We will be able to do so, though more training would always be helpful,” Musa said. At this the Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of War nodded at each other.

“Before all of this happens, we will need to do some preliminary work. For example, we will need to know what sites you all wish to settle and divide out the land. We will also need to make sure that there is some docking set up so that the ships can disgorge your people in a timely and efficient manner. I propose therefore that your party take a look at the land where you will be moving, so that you can see what sites would best suit your people, as you know them, and also that you may know how to describe to your people their new homes. When we site the towns, we will also look to see if there are any obvious ports where larger naval establishments can be set up, as well as look for places where lighthouses and fortresses would be most appropriate. Given the layout of the land in question, I think we will want to set up four or five of the towns in areas along the coast, with one or two cities within the Eastern River delta region, with at least one of the towns close to the hills that mark the boundary of our nation with the Republic of _______ to the north and the Princedom of __________ to the east,” the Secretary of the Interior said. There was thought and reflection along with nodding all around the table.

“These are weighty matters, and perhaps what I have to ask for may seem less urgent, but does your people have a name?” the secretary of Culture asked. Musa and his associates looked at him and tilted their head. He continued. “So far in your discussions you have mentioned your history and indicated at least a bit of your people’s origins, but does your people have an identity? What do you call yourselves?”

Musa thought a little bit and then spoke up. “We have always known that the Bravians were our fathers and that the common people of _________ were our mothers. The Bravians treated us as their own, though recognized that we were different because our blood was mixed with locals of a very different appearance, as you can no doubt tell. Our identity within our mother’s land was not a name that we wish to claim going forward, as we were known as an enslaved and oppressed people and our identity reflected that. If you do not mind me asking, what sort of peoples exist among the Bravians? We always think of you as one people, but that may not be the case.”

“I am glad you have asked,” the secretary of Culture replied. “Though we may look alike eto you, we are not the same people at all, at least we have various different identities among us. I myself am what is known as a Low Bravian, from one of the towns outside of the Free Port of Bravia. The secretary of War is a High Bravian, from the mountains not far from here. The Secretary of the Interior is a Middle Bravian, from one of the cities near the Eastern river as it winds its way north and west towards the forest. The Exilarch is from the Royal line of the _______, and the high priest is from the Zadokite, which has a special identity as being those who can serve in an official capacity as religious leaders among our people, though our people is in general a kingdom of priests and members of various lines within the larger tribe of Levi, of which we are all a part, despite our differences in which particular lines within that larger tribe we all belong to and what particular roles we serve within the larger society. Though there are no members of some other groups, we have two large areas where a people called the Foresters dwell, one near here that we call the Western Forest, and another across the Eastern River on our northern frontier that we call the Eastern Forest. Besides that we have some areas where a mixture of Middle and Lower Bravians called Lower Middle Bravians live in some of the farming country just a bit north of the Free Port of Bravia as well as the area across from the Eastern River from the rest of our country that is newly being settled. There are also people called Coastal or Island Bravians that have settled various islands and the coasts of other lands, which would include your own fathers. Your people would be another addition to this list of existing peoples.”

“I see, that is far more complicated than I suspected,” Musa said in reply. “I did not realize that the Bravians we knew were but one part of a much larger people. I think that what we want to focus on the most is that we are free men, regardless of our appearance, and that we want to be judged as free men and not from the color of our skin.”

“Perhaps we may call you something like the Fremen,” the Secretary of Culture replied. “And with that, we may recognize and seek to preserve and encourage your culture accordingly.”

Musa and his associates looked at each other and nodded again. “That name would be very acceptable to us. Would it be the name you would refer us to to the world as a whole?” The Bravian cabinet nodded in reply. “We would like that very much.”

At this the Secretary of the Treasury spoke up. “I have held my peace until now, but I feel it necessary to at least comment that what we are considering here is an enormous outlay of expenses. Shipping fifteen thousand people over the Southern Sea, building six new towns for them, platting land, building a governor’s cave fortress, building schools, roads, fortifications, lighthouses, docks and shipyards, and the like will all cost a fair amount of money. While such money could be found, such a grand undertaking of this is going to need not only our consent but the consent of the whole Grand Parliament of the Bravians.”

“You are right,” the Prime Minister said. “I propose that we write up a proposal of what we plan on doing for the Fremen and present it before the Grand Parliament as soon as possible as a matter of business, and open it up to discussion. The discussion will likely take some time, but I think it will go better if you, Fremen, are to address them and explain your situation. At that point you and some of our people can go to the land you want to settle and decide on the sites you want to plat out, all of which can be done at a minimal expense to start, while we work on achieving consent for the larger expenses. We can start with the most urgent matters and then work on the longer-term goals of lighthouses, fortresses, and schools and the like once we are able to get the basic towns set up in the places that would be best for you. I know you are in a rush,” he said, looking at the Fremen, “but do you consent to stay at least until you have made your case to the Grand Parliament?”

“We can do that; I assume it will be very soon,” Musa said.

“You can do it tomorrow, if you wish.”

“We would like that very much.” And with that, the Exilarch thanked everyone for their time and closed the meeting, leaving everyone to rest for tomorrow, when the Grand Parliament was to be convened and brought up to speed on the plans that had been made to show the consent of the people’s representatives.