"Under the great grace of Pacha, another day of spring has graced this... gracious master in his great undertaking..."
Although the buffoon before them rambled on the same as he had every morning so far, Sawo didn't hear a word. Rather than consider the man's speech, the former lord was far more focused ontheir overseer's body language. With one hand on his hip and the other shouldering a brand-new iron shovel, his smug grin did not leave him for so much as a second while he gleefully spoke of the work he had not lent a singular bead of sweat to. To Sawo's great fortune, Wasikato the architect was as quick to bore as he was vain. Although his daily speeches would begin with great enthusiasm, they never lasted long. Soon after he had begun his inane talk, their overseer sent them out of their camp, into their daily grind.
"The divines have smiled upon us. Our master builder is done talking," a voice next to Sawo ripped him out of his brooding mood. By his side walked Tawo, Sawo's cousin. Even though he still resented the idiot for letting Iyo open the west gate without a fight, Tawo had stuck around when many others had left him. Thus, it had become easier to forgive his own cousin, no matter how buffoonish his actions had been.
"Words to echo across the marshes. The idiot acts as though he had any part in our work." With furrowed brows, Sawo grabbed the shovel he had gotten used to calling his own over the past thirty days.
"No matter what you say about the king, at least our equipment is of the finest grade," Tawo said as he once again inspected the robust shovels with the metallic heads.
"A waste. How many great axes and helmets could have been forged from all this iron."
Silence crept between them while they marched out of their camp, slotting into the stream of men on their way to today's building site. At least today's march up the hill had been made easier by the stomped dirt path they themselves had created before.
"Waste or not, you cannot deny that the work has been made much, much easier than it would have been otherwise. I mean, we managed to build a road from Saniya all the way here. I checked. Even on top of the hill you can barely see the city anymore." In response to his cousin's words, Sawo turned and looked towards the north, back to the city which had almost been his. Although they were halfway up the mountainside, he couldn't see a trace of its mighty castle or unscalable walls. Sawp would have to take his cousin's word for it.
"No matter how easy the work is, remember that all men here are still prisoners. Do not forget how that so-called king has treated us!" With a thought back to the day of the king's 'grand proclamation', once again Sawo's blood began to boil. "He tells us that he will pardon all crimes from before his ascension, and then he says that only treasoners will not be forgiven! How is it a pardon of every crime if he fails to include several thousand men?!"
"Shhh, brother. Did you forget what happened last time you insulted the king?"
Enraged, Sawo thrust his shovel into the ground and leaned on the grip, all the while ignoring Tawo's attempts to sow his brother's mouth shut.
"Do not forget that I was a ruler once. The tricks played by the bastard king are of no secret to me! New laws he says? How very convenient that he is the only man who can read his strange font! Like this, even hanging them up in the city square will not be of use to anyone. Just another attempt at deception, to keep the people of Saniya under his thumb! I shout tyranny, with all my heart!"
Once he had talked himself into a rage, again, he forgot everything around. Sawo knew that ignoring those around himself was a bad habit he had failed to shake throughout his life, but he still succumbed to his own vices and started to ramble. There he stood, halfway up the hill, and cursed at the new king across the horizon. He didn't stop until his shoulder received a dry push from one of the passing workers. Put off balance, Sawo stumbled to the side, digging his fingers into the freshly dug soil by the wayside to catch his fall.
Still in a broad stance, he stared at the shovel which had fallen to the ground, before he looked up to the man who had pushed him. Although he didn't remember the name, Sawo knew that it must have been one of his own, one of the warriors he had sworn to share joy and glory with. Instead, the former lord had taken their freedom. Over his shoulder, the warrior shared a look with his former lord, before he spat on the ground and continued in his path, to the laughter of his friends.
"Brother, you need to stop insulting the new king." With a worried look, Tawo held Sawo's shovel towards him, handle first. Annoyed, the former lord of Saniya ripped the shovel out of his cousin's hands and marched ahead.
"They should try to remember just who gave them their new chance at life, brought them out of poverty and starvation. Just who was it who taught them their cultivation and initiated them into the world of invisible flow," Sawo grumbled. The thought back to all those afternoons spent on cultivation training did nothing but further sour his mood.
Unperturbed by his cousin's grumpy attitude, Tawo followed along with his steps, though not with his thoughts. Instead, he played the voice of reason.
"You need to understand the men. In the end, the king's offer is not undesirable to them. Solid, guaranteed work for five years, which includes free food and shelter and even some additional coin to send to their families. Many of the men followed us for the very same reason: Because we promised to feed them."
"But we are prisoners!" Sawo replied in defiance.
"For many here, it is better to be a prisoner than a beggar. If the king had just let all of them go, what would have happened to them? Four Thousand men in this tiny estate, they would have had no place to work either way. So they would have had to resort to banditry or other dishonest occupations. Many are not very keen on this, not after they have seen what a real army looks like."
As his persuasion came to a close, Tawo lowered his voice and hinted with his eyes over to the side, where single members of the king's so-called wolf warriors marched along with the trek and made sure that there would be no stragglers or escapees. If nothing else, Sawo had to admit that that the king's troops were indeed of high quality.
Over the past few days, he had found plenty of chances to observe the warriors of King Corcopaca. Soon he had understood that an open contest of strength would have never ended well for his men, even with Saniya's walls for support. Well-trained, disciplined and well-equipped. Many of the officers even spoke Medalan, despite their foreign origin, so it was impossible for prisoners to make any plans without knowledge of their captors. Not that any of them were interested in defiance, not after the preferential treatment they had received.
"So they have lost their courage before their first proper battle, lost it to some good meat and cheap wine," Sawo snorted. With a sad look, Tawo glanced over to the men around them, who carried themselves so much more humble than the cousins.
"The men are more interested in a quiet life, that is all. In the end, they are no true warriors, merely hungry farmers."
At last, they had reached the top of the hill, where most men had already congregated to their usual spots. For the third day in a row, they would work on the foundations.
"Ungrateful bunch," the former lord said at the sight of his army.
A soft sigh and the sound of the shovel entering dirt answered Sawo's bitterness.
"To them, you are still the man who brought them out of poverty, but these days King Corco is the man who puts food on their plate. Good food as well. Even though our work is hard, no man complains. Not even when they were warriors under you did they eat this well. So when you continue to bad mouth their new master, they will only begin to resent you more and more. You need to stop, if you wish to have any chance at," Tawo looked around before he lowered his voice, "a comeback."
Although he would have loved to reply, Sawo spotted another wolf close by. Instead of telling his cousin about his next great plan, the former lord got to digging as well, while he talked about the work they had been doing all this time.
"Truth be told, I cannot fathom the king's thoughts. This entire effort seems like busy work, really. We build a road made of nothing but dirt and gravel, but this great king should know that the first good storm would wash away the result of our sweat within moments. What folly."
While he leaned into his shovel, Tawo answered with a full voice, happy to talk about something less unsavory.
"In fact, I have heard that the king has brought magic from the east, a spell to liquefy stones and pour them into roads like hot metal into casts. I heard some of the men say that they have already started work on the path behind us. Once the roads are fortified with the magic stone, they will withstand any storm."
Sawo answered with a dismissive look.
"You believe the mad talk of bored men? If the king really had some sort of magic liquid stone, and it really is used in our work, why have we not seen any of these methods yet?"
"...they should limit access to these new methods to only the more trusted workers. If the rumors are true, the magic stone is a monumental secret, well worth protecting. Though I wonder just how they would distinguish who among the prisoners would be more and who less trustworthy."
Although his brother was confused, Sawo didn't have to think for long to find an answer.
"...Iyo."
Again the former lord fell into silence, reminded of his position, how he had been cast out, away from his city, to the most outer reaches of power. In an attempt to lighten the mood, his cousin tried to switch topics again.
"Rather than the roads, I am puzzled by the use of this tower. The foundation is much too small for a proper bastion, so what defensive purpose would it serve? Not to mention that we are meant to build many more like it. Surely even the river kings could conquer one of these."
Even though Sawo was grateful for the attempt, Tawo failed to succeed like he did so often.
"They are not built for defense," the former lord said. Once more his cousin showed his lack of understanding. Sawo was convinced that his dearth of useful subordinates was why he failed to become lord of Saniya. "Once the tower is finished, there will be a signal fire on top no doubt. The fire will be visible from Saniya and from all surrounding towers as well. It is a good method to transmit information and secure an unstable region, but the king will be in for a nasty surprise nonetheless." For the first time in days, Sawo managed a smile, but it was as grim as his prospects.
"What do you mean, brother?" his dim cousin asked. With a quick look around, the lord made sure that none of the king's wolves were around before he answered.
"As we go further south and east, the work will get much, much harder. Chawir is one giant marsh after all. Not far away from Saniya, the land drops and becomes wetter and wetter. Work on the ground will become impossible. No matter how good the food or how magic the stones, the great king's highways will not make it far, I can guarantee you that. Not to mention..." before Sawo continued, he lowered his voice further and stepped to the right, closer to his cousin. His next words were something he wanted the king to find out as late as possible.
"The farther away from Saniya we go, the more unruly the villages become. The river kings have informed me that at the very edges of the estates, tax collection has become almost impossible. I suspect that the commoners there are supported by some other estate, intent on increasing their own lands at Chawir's expense. Not only that, there have been rumors of some fortified town deep within the marshes. This information comes from the river kings and went to me directly. Not even Iyo knew about it, and so neither does the great king Corco."
As Sawo's grin widened, Tawo's eyes bulged. "Brother, you would never-"
"Never say never, brother. In fact, the town in the marshes would have spelled great trouble for my own rule. Now that I am not a ruler, there is little reason why it could not be a great boon for me instead. We should continue to work for a while, and follow the prisoners further south, further away from Saniya."
"But brother, you cannot-"
"I did not say I would do anything, did I? We should wait and see what the future holds, nothing more. Even a dark sky holds the prospect of starlight."
Under the light of the rising sun, Sawo look out of the building site, beyond the prisoner camp and towards the north. By now he was high enough to see all the way to the beautiful walls of Saniya, to what could have been. Once again, he felt the touch of hope.