The Union

"I have an important task for you. Mind you" he pointed at them "The task is so significant that it would mean life and death to you in the future"

There was a commotion in the ranks. The recruits looked at each other with excitement on their faces. Some were clenching their fists, ready to prove themselves. What he would say next will shatter their excitement.

"Has anyone noticed that smell? Putrid. Just putrid. And this camp. Broken pottery everywhere. Look there"s a tunic laying on the ground. Bones of animals are scattered like seeds in a spring planting. The tents have holes in them. The equipment are in disarray. Such a shameful sight. Are we barbarians to use this camp as it is? Now your job is to clean this camp. I want it squeaky clean. I want the garbage to be collected in one spot. I want the tents repaired. I want the wooden palisades in order. I want that putrid smell gone. I want this camp or barracks if we are shameful enough to call it as such, to be comparable to the great palace of Holm. And you should begin now"

The smiles of the recruits vanished like the sun in the snow season. Their expressions were replaced with that of frown. Timothy couldn"t blame them. They must have expected that fancy swordsmanship awaited them. They must have thought that joining the legions only meant fighting and doing honorable stuff. That"s what the plays and the poems and the songs taught them. It was wrong. Cleaning and marching and toiling and maintaining equipment took most of the time. The plays and the poems and the great songs of the bards don"t mention the boring things.

The people in front of him were still dumbfounded. Timothy raised his eyebrows to shove them into motion. In a few moments they scrammed. Some took care of the tents. The others grabbed sacks. A few repaired the tents.

It was frustrating to watch. These people don"t know how to work together. He had the urge to order the royal guards to help but he prevented himself from doing so. In the end, the cleaning took until midday and the result wasn"t satisfactory.

"How was it?" Timothy asked them with a huge smile.

They didn"t answer. They just looked at him like lost puppies. Cleaning after the mess of the mercenaries must have been tough.

"Grab your boots because another task awaits you. This time, you will feel like real soldiers"

The recruits again showed excitement. But Timothy was about to break their false expectations again.

********

Timothy still got it. Lucia was again wrong. He still had endurance. He was fit.

The same cannot be said about the Vanadians marching behind him. They had only circled Holm halfway and yet they acted as if they were dying of exhaustion. Well they must be. The snow outside the city leveled to the knee. It was cold. It was tiring. It was a good ol" march.

Abraham beside him was holding his laughter. He had been doing so since the march began.

"Holding it could lead to instant death" Timothy turned his head towards Abraham "Jolly today aren"t we?"

"Those lots Your Majesty" Abraham showed his teeth "They were so hyped when you ordered them to don their armor. But now look at them. I bet they are sweating despite the cold"

"Well it"s their first time after all. Give them time and they will refine themselves like diamonds from mudpits"

"That is if they don"t quit"

"They won"t. Don"t worry about that. Most of them will not"

"Are you sure Your Majesty? It"s just the first day but more than half them them looked like they wanted to quit and scram back home already. By the end of the month n.o.body would want to continue"

"Same thing they said back at Knightsend and you know what happened in the end"

"Alright. But still, their numbers are still far from the intended one whole legion"

Timothy smiled "I"m not planning on recruiting one legion. Three is the minimum"

Timothy knew that Abraham trusts him. But the way Abraham looked at him after that was just devoid of belief.

"I have a plan Abraham. The Queen has agreed to it. We would make young men flock into the banners like locusts" He put his hand on Abraham"s plate shoulderguard "And I need your cooperation"

The sun was about to set when the march finished. They were slow, sluggish and p.r.o.ne to complain. Still Timothy thanked the Omniscient for all of them returned alive.

They were huddling in their coats. Their faces were pale. They were shaking from the cold and exhaustion.

Timothy and his guards on the other hand were still standing. He again denied Lucia"s accusation that he lacked endurance. He doesn"t lack endurance, he was still fit. He walked towards them, smiling of course.

"How was it?"

"Cold sir!" A Vanadian huddling under his coat replied

"My legs are shaking sir!" another one said.

Timothy chuckled "But still alive eh? Nothing shapes bones like a good ol" march in the snow. Another truth I"m going to teach you is that an army marches on its stomach. Now, who among you is hungry?"

All of them immediately raised their hands. From their faces Timothy guessed that they were starving. Who wouldn"t, he asked himself in silence. They must be expecting hot broths and warm bread to be served to them on silver trays and golden bowls.

He curved a mischievous grin "If you"re hungry, then you better start cooking"

**********

Lucia was sitting by her desk. For the entire day she had managed the affairs of Vanadis.

It hadn"t been easy. Her head started to throb in pain. It was also cold. Although Mylene would sometimes bring hot treats for her stomach, she still missed the warmth of Timothy.

She sighed and took another piece of paper. This one detailed the debt of a certain Gill Mace to the crown. The Vanadian treasury acted like a bank for the Vanadians. Vanadian citizens could loan money from the treasury of Vanadis at an interest. As long as they were of legal age, no criminal records and no unpaid loans, they could take a loan. This was one of the reasons why Vanadis had excelled in trade and business over the years.

The case of Gill Mace shouldn"t have bothered Lucia. This was probably the hundredth time she saw details of debts since morning.

"Father" She called to her father who was sitting not far and also busy writing the invites and planning the upcoming ball. "Did something happen three weeks ago?"

Her father looked at her. His eyebrows met "What do you mean?"

"I just noticed that a lot of loans happened on that day. In fact the same thing happened five days ago"

"Business fervor probably? A lot of people borrow money from the crown during the snow season. They are preparing for the continuation of trade in spring"

"If that"s the case then why on these certain dates? And the difference is large compared to other days"

"How big is the difference?"

"On a normal day twenty thousand gold coins will be borrowed. But three weeks ago and five days ago have seen spikes in the loans. About eighty thousand gold coins were borrowed on those days. This Gill Mace alone borrowed three thousand gold coins"

"And when is the intended payment date?"

"Two months from now" Lucia eyed the details of the debt "Two months. That"s unbelievably a short time"

"That is indeed strange. Honestly I don"t know. What do you think?"

Lucia thought hard about the matter. It could be nothing and she could be overreacting due to stress. But unease still plagued her.

If these people were planning on forming a trading company then she should have heard about it.

She thought about the two dates. Why? Why these dates?

And then she remembered another peculiarity about the dates. She bent and took a pile of papers she had finished reading earlier. She shuffled through the papers and saw what she was looking for.

"Same dates father" Her heart began to race "Three weeks ago and five days ago a lot of merchant ships went out of the harbor. Most of them returned a few days later"

"Where would they go? Trade is almost stagnant during the snow season"

"Exactly. A rise in loans and a sudden trip of the merchant ships. It would make sense if the owners of the ships were the ones taking the loans. That would mean that the merchants were merely buying their goods for the upcoming spring. But that"s not the case. People like Gill Mace are not merchants and they don"t own ships"

Lucia then secured a hypothesis on the ident.i.ty of Gill Mace and the other loaners.

"Mylene!" She called to the girl. Mylene came running towards her after a while.

"What is it Your Majesty?"

"Go to the library. Shelf six and you will find a black book. It"s easy to find because it"s the only black book in that shelf"

Mylene bowed and went on her way.

"The latest census" Her father said "Why would you need the census?"

Lucia didn"t answer her father. Instead, she asked another question.

"When was the last census?"

"Before the snow season. We need to constantly take a census of our population. Merchants are good at record-keeping"

"Good" Lucia nodded

A while later and Mylene brought her the latest census of the Kingdom. It was a thick black book with a tough cover. Lucia wasted no time and flipped through the pages. She hoped that she was wrong. Because if she was right then the situation would become eerie.

Alas, she was right. Written on the page was the information about Gill Mace.

"Gill Mace- deceased- cause of death- wound fever"

Lucia shook her head while frowning.

"The dead can"t takes loans, can they?"