Divine Deception: The Will Traveller Chronicals by Robert James Page A

magnificently furnished guesthouse and sat down to a feast of
fresh fruits, breads and thin slabs of deliciously marinated meat.
Susan and Zoran told the State’s leaders the story we had concocted
on the way over here. That, because the Supreme One was extremely
old, it would soon be time for ascension of the new Supreme One.
That couldn’t be Lady Ursula; she was a woman, it could not be Lord
Peter, because he was dead, as a result of a tragic accident, and
therefore, in due course, the Supreme One would be me! Of course,
this was strictly for the ears of the chosen few, as I dubbed them,
that’s why I was travelling, without fanfare, to every State in the
New World. So I could personally come to know the leadership of all
‘my States’, before the weight of being the God King of this world
prevented me from further travels.
    Being an event of
some note, I permitted them to film and photograph my visit, but
forbid release of any of it, till my ascension was officially
announced. There was one thing most visibly different between
Alpine Grand and what I’d seen of Centropolis. Here they used
horses and dogs as a major part of their goods and people transport
system, only human beings inhabited Centropolis. On our way to an
incognito tour of the city, we passed well fenced and very well
vegetated paddocks, their gentle slopes potted with small,
sparkling dams. Each paddock contained three or four very large
magnificent beasts. I would most liken them to the old English
Draught horses.
    “Hey, spruce up
guys, don’t pay to look old when they’re culling” No-one had spoken
out loud, so that had to be in my mind.
    “Whose that
talking?” I asked telepathically. There was silence.
    “Who’s asking?”
The same voice in my mind queried.
    “I’m Lord Robert
and I order you to identify yourself” I replied.
    “Lord Robert” The
voice exclaimed “We are indeed honoured to welcome you. Please slow
down and look ahead Sire” He requested. I gave the order to slow
down and, to all of our amazement, every horse in sight lined every
fence alongside the road, all of them tossing their heads as we
slowly drove by. It seems this Lord Robert could converse with
horses, I wondered what else was in my current bag of tricks?

Chapter Four
    That display of
loyalty, by my equine ‘subjects’, had a major impact on our hosts
and Zoran, but not so much on Susan, perhaps her recent experiences
had numbed her to surprise, at least for now. The State T.T.V.,
travelled smoothly around the often steep roads of Alpine Grand
city. Though most of the men and women we passed were on foot, some
rode horses that were a much smaller breed than the ones I’d seen
in the paddocks. Also, we passed a few two and four dog drawn
carts. I made no attempt to communicate with any of them, although,
when my hosts stopped their incessant chatter, about this or that
feature of their city, I thought I heard fragments of conversation,
particularly between the dog teams!
    By nightfall I’d
seen all there was to see in and around the city, from outside its
buildings walls. But the day had revealed little about the people
of Alpine Grand, beyond what Susan had told me. That evening
however, I did gain some insight as to the true nature of these
highly intelligent and sophisticated Alpine people. One of the
State’s major annual events was to be staged that evening and our
hosts begged me to be their honoured guest. I agreed, on condition
that Zoran be treated as their guest, from somewhere nearby. I,
along with Susan, would simply be his entourage. I also looked
forward to when Zoran would go back to his old attitude towards
me.
    Currently, it was
embarrassingly awestruck. He had now become convinced that I really
was some kind of God. Ours was the last of the State T.T.V’s to
pull up at the auditorium, there was a crowd.
    “You’ve got a
sell-out show here Governor” I commented.
    “Every time Lord
Robert, every year” Governor Lucas told me