“So let me make sure I understood this properly. You are saying Diplomat Levedi has brought technology capable of changing the economic outlook of the nation?” asked Sir Bucken.

“Yes. No. Kind of. I believe Sir Levedi spoke freely to me about his work and its importance, and the papers in his room seemed to contain physical evidence of his progress. Despite that, I don’t think he has actually brought the technology itself.”

“Girl, you know that if you are lying or wasting my time, I will have you working double shifts till first snow. No, triple shift. Understood?”

Nira gulped. “Yes sir.”

“Alright, follow me. We will discuss this with Advisor Sweren.”

Nira followed Sir Bucken down the winding internal halls of the castle. At first, they passed through familiar paths; however, they eventually reached the Golden Gates, the entrance guarding the section of the castle that held the kingdom’s most secretive affairs. Nira had heard that treasures beyond any comprehension and documents since history was first written could be found inside. Rumors said that treasures behind these gates were worth more than the rest of Estand. Only a trusted few personnel were allowed to wander through these gates. Neither Nira nor her friends were part of that trusted group.

They entered.

Inside, the corridor was chiseled stone, neverending arches stretching as far as Nira could see. On each side, ornate pillars, with aged flowery and leafy designs running up the columns, alternated with statues of various people solemnly looking down at them. Sometimes, a painting broke the pattern, but it was hard to make any of them out in the shadows cast by the dim lighting. Since there were no windows, the lamps had free reign over all light in this domain and they saw no problem in greedly withholding their light. And soon after the initial excitement of entering the gates ebbed, it became apparent that the air had a very distinct similarity with the Courtesan Quarters, not in its smell but in its weight; both lingered heavily on all those that entered.

They walked through the chambers for some time, but during their journey, Nira saw no one. The only clues that life existed here were the constant echoes of footsteps from hidden feet. Considering the amount of effort put into building and securing this area, it was surprisingly grim, nothing about it signaling that you were in the grand castle of the capitol city. It would almost be akin to a dungeon if it weren’t for the obvious effort put in designing it. And while the Courtesan Quarters were also a dungeon of a sort, their unpleasantness was expected. The paths here were supposed to be the Kingdom of Estand’s heart and soul.

She finally came to a small wooden door that looked like it might lead to a closet. A big name printed on top in gilded letters that Nira couldn’t read. Nira would have missed it had Sir Bucken not abruptly stopped. She wondered how many of these closet doors she had passed unknowingly. He knocked twice at the door, hard, and opened it without waiting for a response. Nira went in right after him.

The bright, golden room was lit in stark contrast to the hallway, almost blinding Nira with the sudden change. The walls, covered with wallpaper and tapestries, looked alive in comparison to the dreary corridors. Large and small artwork hung on every wall, depicting people or battles that Nira didn’t know. Windows flooded the room with light, aiding the many scattered lamps, which honestly didn’t need any help. Not a single crevice was left dark or forgotten in the room. In the center of the room stood a giant, oblong wooden table with elegant chairs circling it. They had cushions, the wasteful kind that don’t increase comfort and only exist to look pretty. Nira recognized them as the same pillows used by some of the women for sleeping, though the ones used by the women were much more tattered.

On one end of the desk, a shriveled old man sat beside another, much younger, man. Unlike the flashy room, the old man wore a long, dull black robe with gold thread embroidered at the seams. Much of the old man’s hair had surrendered to age, and the ones left fighting were located in a wispy white beard that hung down to his chest. He was stroking it as he spoke sharply to the man beside him. That man might have been much younger, but his hair was also running from the front of his head to the stubble on his face. Similar to Sir Bucken’s formals, he wore gold and purple half-plate, matching the Estand royal colors, and kept a small short sword on his belt. However, unlike Sir Bucken, the young man’s armor and colors were much more muted, simpler… and worn.

“So you say that the Synthians have removed all their men from their small border posts, and instead, crafted a secondary layer of defences a few kilometers inland?” the old man said. His voice so gravelly that had Nira not seen the face, she might have thought it belonged to some type of monster. Although, he still might be some monster wearing human skin.

“Yes sir. Our scouts were walking their usual patrols two months ago when we started noticing some unusual activity. Suddenly, one night a few weeks ago, we found all their posts empty. We launched a full attack based on the instructions by Count Alerson, but stopped immediately when we saw their newer fortifications,” the young man spoke. His voice was much more normal, and representative of a man, though there was a small wobble that appeared every now and then.

“Intriguing. Were you able to challenge these new fortifications?”

“Sir, these new fortifications were something we haven’t seen the Synthians build before. They have walled off a significant portion of the border and have positioned significant ranged troops on them. We tried everything, but we couldn’t even get close.”

“Did you send in any specialists?”

“No sir. They wouldn’t-”

“Then you haven’t tried everything. Gather up the specialists, and have them personally see to the matter.”

“Sir-”

“This is my personal command.”

“As you wish sir,” the young man said as he slumped into his chair.

“Thank you, Lieutenant. It appears I have some company now, so you may leave. Make sure you keep me updated.”

“As you wish sir.”

The younger man got up from the table and started to leave the room, coming towards the door next to Nira.

“Oh, and one more thing Lieutenant.”

The man turned around.

“Yes sir?”

“Keep a close eye on Count Alerson.”

“As you wish sir.”

The young man brushed by Nira, avoiding eye contact with everything and staring only at the ground ahead. Not looking, he brushed Nira’s shoulder.

“Apologies,” he murmured, not stopping.

Looking back into the room, Nira caught the old man’s cold and dead eyes. Her mind began racing as her mind caught up with where she was. She wasn’t even sure if the young man had left as she didn’t hear the door open or close behind her over the sound of her heartbeat.

“Girl, move!” whispered Sir Bucken, as he yanked her arm and brought her face to face with the old man.

“Hello Roirten, what brought you here today,” the old man asked.

“Advisor Sweren, I assumed you would be best fit to hear what this whore found about our guest.”

Hearing that word, rumblings of fury bubbled inside of her, but this time, her mind didn’t pay it much heed. This plan was far more important than a few insults.

“Our guest? Diplomat Levedi?” asked Advisor Sweren.

“Yes, this whore thinks that he has brought important information into the palace. Information that could have a certain kind of usefulness,” Sir Bucken then looked at Nira, slapping her hard on the back, and said, “Go on, explain to the Advisor what you told me. I am not supposed to be the one doing all the talking.”

That slap hurt. Her back hurt. She felt like she might almost collapse from the pain, and the pressure of the situation wasn’t helping.

“Huff, yes sir. I think that Sir Levedi talked about building a device that could help people grow more crops, make travel faster, and solve many other problems that people face. Huff. He said that was what he worked on. Huff. I think I saw papers in his room that had information about his device. Huff. It was something about a wheel powered by hot water,” Nira said, struggling between each sentence due to Sir Bucken’s blow. She then continued her answer, describing what she had discovered and its potential.

“So, Sir, do this whore’s words carry any weight?” Sir Bucken asked.

“You fool, this is amazing!” Advisor Sweren exclaimed, jumping from his chair and surprising Nira. He had been spellbound by Nira’s monologue from the beginning. “The last few years have plagued us with severe droughts and harsh winters. For some reason, the people blame us, as if we could control the weather, but this device, that the girl speaks of, could change everything.”

The advisor got up and started pacing from one end of the table to the other.

“I had heard rumors that Varus was working on something like this, but this girl confirms it. If we could get our hands on even some parts of the designs, we could reverse engineer a complete solution. I will need the king’s permission before we make any more moves. Wait here. I will be back”

“Yes sir,” Sir Bucken replied.

The old man hobbled as fast as he could out the door, letting it slam behind him.

“Oh curses. He is talking to the king. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have come here,” Sir Bucken mumbled to himself, then looked to Nira and sighed, “I really hope you have something, because now, you will be getting a lot more than extra chores if you don’t. My ass won’t be left unschated either.”

An arduous wait later, Advisor Sweren, King Leopole, and a few royal guard members entered the room. Nira was certain she heard whispered curses from Sir Bucken’s lips with a few of them being directed at her.

“Is this the girl?” King Leopole asked, his voice a mix of regal authoritativeness and nonchalance. It was a voice that said, ‘I don’t give a shit about you, and I hold all the power here.’ Count Olsten, her master in Hanbur, had had a similar voice.

“Yes, this is her,” Advisor Swern replied.

As the king was wondering about her, Nira was wondering about the king. She had seen drawings of him around the castle before, and she had seen him at a distance. However, up close he looked so… different. Older. Fatter. Beaten. His skin was saggier and wrinklier and his face was dotted with blemishes of varying colors, all things not captured by the artists who depicted him. Not helping his case was the fact he looked exhausted. His long wavy hair and beard blended into an unkempt mess, almost like a lion’s mane. This would have matched the gold lion sigil on his green tunic, if it wasn’t for the fact that that lion had warped under his clothing’s failure in containing his substantial gut. Nira was certain that the stories of his skillful duels in the heat of battles were a thing of the past, and had it not been for his royal robes and crown, she would have thought he was just another servant of the king.

The king approached her and leaned down to bring his face level with hers, his putrid breath blowing on her face. He stared into her eyes, but... it felt as if he was looking into her soul, and he saw everything there was to know about her. This was the king who had led armies through foreign lands, who could kill anybody in Estand on a whim, who won debates with even the smartest philosophers in minutes without even displaying the slightest of efforts. And she was Nira, the wrench from Hanbur who could only tell the difference between good and bad vespum.

“Tell me girl, what did you find?” King Leopole spoke slowly, each word deliberate. His eyes locked into Nira’s.

She tried to look away, but couldn’t. Her eyes, her body, her world. Everything was paralyzed. Her focus was stuck. Nothing would respond. Nothing could respond.

“SPEAK!”

“I-I-I th-think I found something important. Umm-”

Nira struggled to find more words, her body shaking just as vigorously as her voice, and her mind was blank except for one sound: a constant scream telling her to run away from this man.

“Is she stupid? Out with it girl! I haven’t got all day.”

A part of Nira came to, and some of her muddled thoughts found their way to her mouth.

“Sir Levedi is carrying plans to build a machine that will change how people normally work and it will make all labor easier and more profitable because the device is a wheel that is powered by heat and water which uses some fire rock to heat the water, I think, and it makes the wheel spin somehow for a very long time and because of the spinning any task that requires spinning like horse carts and mills and-”

“Enough.”

King Leopole broke his stare and lifted himself back up, looking to Advisor Sweren, and with this, her breathing and heartbeat eased in pace and power. All the tension inside her slowly unravelling. She looked to her side and saw that Sir Bucken had backed away from Nira and the king and was as stiff as a statue, his eyes unblinking and fixed on an arbitrary part of the wall. He stood at attention, white-knuckled fists tight against his body, and chest puffed out, motionless. This was the first time since she had arrived at the castle that she had seen Sir Bucken in such a state.

“So Sweren, it appears you spoke the truth,” King Leopole said.

“As I had hoped, your highness”

The king started laughing. At first, normal and a little raspy, but soon it carried a wicked, maniacal edge which cut into Nira ears.

“HAHAHA! This really is a great day!”

He grabbed Nira’s shoulder with both hands, his grip tight. Too tight.

“You know what this means girl? It means I have won. I have beaten that craven and spineless diplomat. Curse his kingdom, his king, his people, and him. I would feed him to the pigs if I could. But this is better. This technology, if we can steal it and give it to our academics, then we can create a version superior to theirs. I know it. And we may slow down their progress as well, by sabotaging numbers, replacing their work with forgeries, or just destroying their books. And the money, we haven’t even started talking about the money. If every single person uses this technology, as you imply they might, the profits will be boundless. And the excess, we can sell it to the other noble houses and nations. They are struggling just like us. Our enemies will starve while we will dine on their wealth, and all without fighting a single battle. The world would be at our fingertips!” King Leopole exclaimed, his voice overflowing with excitement and joy and his body doing a little dance.

A thought crept into Nira’s mind. A thought repeating Sir Varus’ words, with a similar passion as the king’s, but he... spoke of helping families, making lives easier, and crafting a better world. King Leopole only spoke of his victories.

“Advisor Sweren, what a great thing you have discovered. Even if we are a little late in recreating his work, we will still be miles ahead of any of the other kingdoms, barring Istria itself. Once we copy this technology successfully, we can force those other pathetic kingdoms to bow down to us once more. The Kingdom of Estand will once again stretch across the continent,” he let out another boisterous laugh, ”I am getting giddy thinking it.”

Nira slowly began to grasp the meaning behind Sir Varus’ earlier words. He wasn’t just boasting about hypothetical possibilities of what his invention could do; he was achieving them. This technology had real power and giving it to King Leopole meant that lives would be changed, people would die, and the balance between nations would shift. She was literally changing history and she hadn’t even thought through all the consequences.

He leaned in close once again.

“Don’t you worry girl. Once this is over, I will make sure you will be rewarded handsomely. You will get more money and power than anyone in your pitiful life has had. Imagine hundreds and hundreds of gold stacks filling up every section of your estate and servants to answer your every wish. That is only a fraction of the rewards I have planned for you.”

Yes. The money, that was why she was here in the first place. The power wouldn’t hurt either. With that amount of money, she could forget about getting just a mere trinket, and instead, escape with Cheril, Milda, and Ja. She needed to do this. She needed to help them visit their families and start some of their own. Sir Varus could always make another invention to solve another problem. Other people would manage for themselves as well. She needed to help her friends and her family. This was her duty. Right?

King Leopole turned to Advisor Sweren. “Make sure we get the technology at once.”

“Pardon my liege, but wouldn’t that mean intruding on the Sir’s accommodations?”

“Do what you must. If he is in his room, beat him. If his chicken-shit king asks, we will just say his diplomat became a little rowdy, and we had to control him. What will he do anyway? His king can’t even control his own little confederation. Anyways, we are just beating a dead horse; Varus should be busy with Advisor Paerken till six.”

“As you wish my highness.”

The king left with his entourage of guards, leaving behind Sweren, Bucken, and Nira in the room.

Advisor Sweren waited until the steps of the king and his entourage were inaudible and then shrieked, “Well you heard him. We don’t have all day. Let's get a move on.”

“Yes sir.” Sir Bucken replied. He grabbed Nira’s arm and dragged her behind the advisor as the group rushed out the door.

Thoughts buzzed through her brain.