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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUyEZaIq4I
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K0Eqemjnm
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'Wha'?' I wheezed out.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4Q9raqZmP
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipb8vF3YEH
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzLDEKunly
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I wasn't really hungry just now, my body was too stressed, but no doubt my appetite would revive later.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡda0l7H78Ae
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'Ahh…'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JgF0WxyJk
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'What?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrPeIkSDsG
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'Chef won't be pleased.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaGjGA8IAf
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAApAfyFS5
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsSVf2KNBN
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffeQ93b0ml
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'King Carlos?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsYcWDFIxF
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Either I looked dumb, having forgotten my name here, or else the new arrival was dismayed by my appearance.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5S0GlLpGm
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'King Carlos?' he tried again.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHECcpAtcwT
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'Yes?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCTCZOttem
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFGUUxR7Ie
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'Lord Oseso, ambassador to his majesty King Wace of Southway.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRiZTT2gdt
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgWaG9eiTy
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A crowd was gathering as soldiers and civilians moved closer to hear the ambassador's words.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlzB3gCPdD
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'Perhaps we can take some refreshment in private?' Lord Oseso suggested.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokMzyK8BZG
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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?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxxYjsVMD6
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'Are you sure?' There was a knowing sneer in his gaze, inviting some kind of complicity from me.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjkgh9Vhl7
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'Get on with it. I'm busy.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAHhaFubX3
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxu3NI1Q2Rn
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrgKroJYLh
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMmDh4T98K
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Lord Oseso shook his head. 'Careful what you say next, this offer won't come again.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZgiFvhZjz
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8lXPUa1oL
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJbTfnbm8H
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQT5HTSX5Db
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvs2FknHgZ
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'Blindfold him and lead his horse. Don't let him look around as he leaves.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xMBnmAtrY
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'Yes sir.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QvQKeyOpS
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZQMbrycKu
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEByVy3wmxf
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'Now, Carradock. I was on lap forty-four, was I not?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOgtEDvDnA
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'Forty-three sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLMkYS8s4R
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'Damn pedant.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7AegbRKQk
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaOzYfve65
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It was the military menu that got me thinking again.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3SHz2TPl8
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Military377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAIGltXbx1
Light infantry: 32377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIycBgdtBvt
Heavy infantry: 12377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfkSpS7ZAI
Archers: 18377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPxr4IPs29
Light cavalry: 24377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWamQWCWQzZ
Heavy cavalry: 4377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MmB8Da5vk
Ballista: 1377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMadPbXVYaq
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Hospital: 17377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLs79JAvOD
Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bXJAT1oGb
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Currently training: 1 heavy cavalry377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL6hjC7ksw
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SRiZjp4xd
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpAveWx3C6
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttZT2YcTYx
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Shipbuilding377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0YvYNQAPa
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Unknown.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzjudZ1oSe
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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogfqSZ91RP
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'Sire?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywVW2U30Pl
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'Get the Chief Carpenter for me.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaKymqnVkb
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'Yes, sire.' The lad got up without any urgency and strolled down a shadow-filled street.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzhNGpSRdO
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLP6KvlsSEv
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'Walk with me,' I grunted.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWXMN5bWry
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'Sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXBCmbOaPn
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'Can you make us a trading ship?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXGEvbqg4R
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The question came as a surprise but he took it well, hardly faltering in his step. 'No sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNENy9iSeWM
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'What if I researched Shipbuilding One?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBc3KRtBXE
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNeDv2rnVgH
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'And I can then assign someone to it?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdc3H1GCWEx
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'If it becomes an option sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbKEvl3oBD
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'Would you like to do it?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKCalwYkFj
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'Me? It's up to you sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxu3a7M4vk
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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?377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTUKAhv5EW
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQF6FagwdB
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdVBBXDEn5
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'Thank you sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQ9CoAylCo
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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?'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTnOXS2m7H
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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.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSRH2Oa6Oh
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMBNWbHFsl
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Forty-seven.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyux3BHSYKo
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Forty-eight.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD91JRj5gA4
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Forty-nine.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMddAdl2Mgd
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Fifty.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawLxL86H9A
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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.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgNpYAOL1k
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'Well done Sire.'377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6PMOddJvo
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That acknowledgement lifted me all the way back to the keep.
