After forty-two laps, I was beyond exhausted, my large body drenched in sweat, my left arm on fire. Every time a citizen came through they stopped in complete astonishment, sometimes gathering in groups to stare, until a frown sent them scurrying about their work. I lived for the nod of approval from Carradock each time I arrived back at the gate against which he leaned, often in conversation with other soldiers. Also, for the thought of a long, long warm bath.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6XtAuvYq8
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A castle servant, the one from breakfast, was ahead of me, twisting her apron in her hands and looking everywhere but into my face.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BUvrppwnZ
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'Wha'?' I wheezed out.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGQjapydEn
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'Chef–' she flung her hand out in a gesture towards the keep, where a short man in what looked like a grey baker's outfit '–wants to know what to prepare for dinner.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡois7AY9Nwu
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'Dear lord.' I came to a stop, worried my aching legs would not want to resume. 'It's not important. But keep it simple.' My predecessor had obviously enjoyed eating extensive meals with several courses. 'Just a couple of slices of roast meat and …' What would an athlete eat? Food with plenty of protein and vitamins. 'Wait. Grilled fish. Nuts. Fresh vegetables, like tomatoes and carrot, that don't need much, if any, cooking.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLecpVjLteo
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I wasn't really hungry just now, my body was too stressed, but no doubt my appetite would revive later.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRc9oQvKbv
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'Ahh…'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABacLC2Of1
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'What?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgFFYTpul3
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'Chef won't be pleased.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sCgTdhUyB
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I stared at her. 'Hands up if you are king.' I put my own hand up. 'That puts me in charge.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9KpgQzwq6
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Once she had turned away, alarmed, I returned my focus back into my final few laps. Although it was distracting I when I turned a corner and was facing the keep: there I could see the chef remonstrating with the servant. He kept looking over at me, as though in appeal, but I wasn't having any of it and focused on moving one leg, then the next, and on keeping hold of that enormously heavy sword.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGcb3WMvu1
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I wasn't allowed to settle into my rhythm again though, for with a clatter of metal-hooves on cobblestone, a small group of riders came into the barracks yard. Some were soldiers of mine but one was carrying a green pennant (deep green, with a golden wolf's head) and dressed in expensive-looking clothes.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVnjhetU7K
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'King Carlos?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOugDev54C
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Either I looked dumb, having forgotten my name here, or else the new arrival was dismayed by my appearance.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3GQZ6FZx0
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'King Carlos?' he tried again.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz5hW7gRiG
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'Yes?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLMyfcUY6B
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My impression that this was a man who was attentive to his looks was reinforced as he dismounted and made his bow. No one had a beard as neat his without some effort.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvsdHdpHGg
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'Lord Oseso, ambassador to his majesty King Wace of Southway.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ny9Al6lvF
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'Pleased to meet you.' My politeness was automatic. I felt no warmth towards this man. Quite apart from the fact his rich, fur-lined cloak and black, oiled hair alienated me, this was the enemy.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIi1auQAWaV
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A crowd was gathering as soldiers and civilians moved closer to hear the ambassador's words.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxQh7HAbo7
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'Perhaps we can take some refreshment in private?' Lord Oseso suggested.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVVlBfmh2J
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I shook my head. 'There's nothing you can say that I would hide from my people. Why are you here?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡec1Jl9fTA3
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'Are you sure?' There was a knowing sneer in his gaze, inviting some kind of complicity from me.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjeZGE3nXj
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'Get on with it. I'm busy.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pM1npp60Z
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Supressing a smile, the ambassador from Southland shrugged, as if to pass off any blame. 'King Wace, in his generosity, offers to make Greyland a dependency of Southway. You,' he gestured to everyone, 'are spared conquest. And you personally, sire, will be given a comfortable retirement, dining on the finest food of our realm in the company of delightful personal companionship, in return for implementing the decisions of his highness on your interface.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbMfPRDVfe
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A silence fell over the square and even the crows stilled their caws, as if to listen to my answer. I let my heart and breath settle.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDe8NCNHdR
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'Firstly, we are not conquered yet. Secondly, we all know what it would mean for our kingdom to be run by an invader…' I raised my voice for all to hear. 'People dragged off to work wherever your ruler wanted; our soldiers used up in his battles to spare his own troops; our wealth drained into your coffers; starvation and ruin here.' I knew what I was talking about, it's what I intended to do to them.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7YfdQhOUi
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Lord Oseso shook his head. 'Careful what you say next, this offer won't come again.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1cu2AoabZ
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'Good. If we see you again, you'll be executed as a spy. Greyland will never surrender and you can tell King Wace that unless he withdraws from our territory, it is he who will suffer conquest.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOH5B1aQBH
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'I'll tell him of your empty threat and he will laugh. And he will remind you of it when you are in chains at his feet.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaiBD0rXvn
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'That is disrespectful.' I was furious and at least a part my anger was drawn from the uncomfortable feeling, fear even, that he was going to be proven right. I walked over to him, using my height and bulk to lean down and snarl. 'Vincit qui patitur, he who endures conquers. And Greyland will endure.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡft7o0VELJQ
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Perhaps he saw the determination in my eyes. Perhaps he understood how close I was to striking him with the sword in my left hand, which no longer felt heavy. In any case, the ambassador's head dropped and he stepped back, then turned away to find his horse and remount.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPODZSNLbvp
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'Blindfold him and lead his horse. Don't let him look around as he leaves.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38rBlkkWkY
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'Yes sir.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFBoBFvf1A
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'Right, then everyone, back to work. We're going to have to work extremely hard, myself included, to endure and escape conquest.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfpiubKx79
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Muttering broke out among the people and it was hard to judge the tone. Certainly, it was not the cheering enthusiasm of a people rallying to their king. But among the soldiers especially there were several faces that looked brighter and more supportive than they had.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5aeMWHhgx
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'Now, Carradock. I was on lap forty-four, was I not?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtu0qpkCEBU
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'Forty-three sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVAjekB65Z
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'Damn pedant.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivBivOmf1e
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The last few laps were painful. It did help, however, that I could study the town menus and take my mind from the constant complaints of my body. That gave me one measure of the effect of my responses to the ambassador from Southway, which was that the score for Happiness under the people menu had risen from 14 to 16. At least it hadn't gone down, so on the whole, they seemed to approve of resistance rather than surrender.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtTsI8BIxS
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It was the military menu that got me thinking again.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJrDLQCssV
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Military310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvp9zvF6ag
Light infantry: 32310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKNkhP5L69
Heavy infantry: 12310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgAX9raBmO
Archers: 18310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz38toFyJnz
Light cavalry: 24310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4CI7IRtAw
Heavy cavalry: 4310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkFbbqyGv3
Ballista: 1310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISUGJOmhYS
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Hospital: 17310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8C3cv7c3a
Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTxazJ4aJs
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Currently training: 1 heavy cavalry310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoq8mdXhWT
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAANPO813rX
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Currently building: tower machicolations, 3 days
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Why was I training heavy cavalry? They were costly in terms of iron and tactically useless. We would be holding defensive positions for the foreseeable future and while I hoped the day would come when I rode at the head of a line of formidable heavy cavalry, that was a long way off. Although it meant losing whatever raw materials my predecessor had invested in the project, I cancelled the heavy cavalry from the training queue and instead added fifteen archers to it, at a cost of 10 iron ingots and 15 gold and 15 of the unassigned townspeople.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7seTmUwG2i
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That left me 12 unassigned townspeople to think about. Before setting them to various tasks, I needed to know about building a trading vessel. When I tried to call up information about ships, I got a frustrating message.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7R6Pp4RjQ
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Shipbuilding310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAJzUffdI4
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Unknown.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi11x60bN7g
Create a Shipwright to unlock this option.
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'Hey, you!' I called out to a skinny youth, who was hanging around near the steps of the keep watching me with earnest eyes as though I was last man in for a cricket team that was over a hundred runs behind. And I couldn't tell if he wanted me to fail or succeed.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBldDy8geZP
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'Sire?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuoDoDnm8h
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'Get the Chief Carpenter for me.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOrmOEm69c
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'Yes, sire.' The lad got up without any urgency and strolled down a shadow-filled street.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBhdSICTGJ
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I was on lap forty-six when the carpenter arrived, he was a bald, confident looking man, with intelligent brown eyes.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tJaqdqvvu
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'Walk with me,' I grunted.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw61SljZU9K
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'Sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8g3IZitSf
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'Can you make us a trading ship?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hVV6Ov63P
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The question came as a surprise but he took it well, hardly faltering in his step. 'No sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheDxpa9h2L
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'What if I researched Shipbuilding One?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqWc9QtXx1
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The man looked at me, surprised, then down at the ground. 'As you know, sire, I only have access to a limited menu in order that I can view my tasks... I couldn't be sure about research, but Shipbuilding does sound like it will make the role of Shipbuilder available to you.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHt9xRAEz0M
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'And I can then assign someone to it?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTAiqfAJMO
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'If it becomes an option sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3shf3YCHSO
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'Would you like to do it?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrouYgW5Pf
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'Me? It's up to you sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUlwQmdg7y
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'Yes,' I said, a little impatiently. 'I know that. But I'd rather people enjoyed their work than hated it.' This wasn't just coming from my innate sense of politeness, it was practical too. I wanted that town happiness score to rise and surely by assigning the right people to the right jobs, at least when it came to specialist roles, that was going to help?310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEhUI8FJGA
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We walked the entire length of the barracks square and turned back towards Carradock before the carpenter answered. 'I think I would like that sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLh52UxFr0
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'Right so, find someone in your workshop who wants to be the Chief Carpenter and I'll make you Shipbuilder in…' I checked the research menu, dropped Navigation (there was no penalty, but I risked having to restart it again from the beginning), as it still had five days to go, and swapped to Shipbuilding 1, 'four days.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlNcv7cPrW
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'Thank you sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIZqEns7Qo
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'Now tell me this. I see a lot of people in the town. But not very many on the menus. Why is that?'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHQb2Qe4sN
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Again, the carpenter looked astonished. Then a little wary, as if I'd set a trap. 'People want to join the menu, sire, to serve the goddess... and you. But it's limited, isn't it? They can't get on unless you've been able to make room.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGfX52QQkp
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That wasn't an answer that clarified very much, but I gave him a grunt to signal he could go back to work. It was as much as I could manage. As for the twelve unassigned people in the town, I decided to leave them for now. Soon I'd want shipbuilders and sailors.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnpiLuqw86
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Forty-seven.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7sKW3DuuY
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Forty-eight.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hUMWu43iF
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Forty-nine.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJoYfwtXr6
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Fifty.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhf81SiKGLI
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'That's me done for the day.' I spoke to Carradock with as much nonchalance as I could muster. As if I could do another fifty, although every muscle was groaning.310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtSxZIgJZX
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'Well done Sire.'310Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6YUY2gXsp
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That acknowledgement lifted me all the way back to the keep.
