Enlightened Empire

Before Corco got anywhere close to the inner city’s harbor, he could already hear the gunshots from his soldiers’ salute. Even though his preparations for the harvest festival were still far from completed, his guests wouldn’t wait on him, and so he would have to make do with whatever Saniya had available. With any luck however, the most recent arrival should bring a few materials with him which would make Corco’s banquet a much nicer affair. Thus, he had decided to come down from Rapra Castle in person, just to welcome his newest guest and take a look at the wares.

By the time he arrived at the edge of the pier, the tall, burly lord with the gray streaks in his hair had already set foot onto dry land and was immersed in a conversation with Atau, who had welcomed all the other guests so far. Even though it might have been poor manners, the old lord broke off conversation with the captain and instead moved towards Corco as soon as he spotted the king come towards them.

"What a pleasant surprise! Lord Huaman Queru greets King Corcopaca!" Lord Queru said with a frank, toothy smile.

"Saniya welcomes Lord Huaman of Vallunaraju," Corco replied, as the old lord trudged towards him.

"Good, good. Now that the greetings are out of the way, let us make away with the formalities. I have hoped to speak with King Corco ever since the king’s speech during his return banquet back in Arguna."

"Yeah, that one was pretty good, huh?" Reminded of his rebuke against the Chutwa scholars, Corco laughed in a self-satisfied manner. Meanwhile, his cousin Atau retained a neutral smile in the background, since he hadn’t heard the speech himself and wouldn’t have shown much interest anyways.

"Indeed it was," Queru said. "A rousing call to arms for the united lords of Medala. What great misfortune then that the elders didn’t see things in the same manner as us, maybe because they failed to hear the grand speech themselves." Rather than answer, Corco just smiled through Queru’s speculations. Accusing the ancestral hall here wouldn’t gain him any favors, as much as he wanted to rant.

"Truly a shame that I could not speak in greater detail with King Corco since then, as most talk about alliance during the succession had to be handled through Governor Sonco, may his path be clear of hurdles..." For a second, everyone within earshot lowered their heads in remembrance, although for most it would be more of a custom, or a reflex, rather than a proper gesture of deference. Just to reinforce the notion, the old lord Queru soon raised his head again and resumed his monologue.

"At least King Corco could prove himself again during the nobles’ assembly and reinforce the status as the most capable and selfless of all the princes. Especially King Corco’s war against Prince Pacha made this old man’s blood boil. It reminded me of the adventures of my youth, if I dare say so myself. Even more so however, I am quite sure that all southern lords found great respect in King Corco’s gesture of solidarity during the proceedings, truly an example worthy of imitation."

With a grin, the lord gestured his head down towards his arms. Like many of Corco’s ghost warriors, and the king himself, Lord Queru had also decided to wear his sleeves short and had his tattooed biceps exposed, with only his forearms covered by white fur sleeves. "In any case, I believe King Corco isn’t interested in an old man’s ramblings. This lord is honored to see King Corco making the journey from his castle all the way down here to the inner city. After all, it’s a long trek just to greet some shine-free old man from the bitter south."

With a smile, Corco looked up to the old lord, and then over to the ships the man had arrived on. Unlike most of the other lords who would appear today, Queru had come with multiple ships. In return, his entire fleet completely lacked any decorations, being entirely functional in nature.

"If today’s arrangements are a success, Vallunaraju’s lack of silver won’t be a problem for long. After all, the unique treasures of House Queru’s territory will be a key to the success of our harvest festival."

"Ahaha, we’re more than happy to help," the southern lord answered, though the slight waver in his voice told Corco that Queru was still not convinced of the true worth of his lands. "Vallunaraju does not have much to offer, so we’re very glad to trade whatever we can. Still, some of the products requested by King Corco are quite strange, are they not? A return to days past, so to say."

With a wistful look, Queru turned back towards his ships. Over there, his servants had begun to unload the product King Corco had demanded to buy off their lands, the ones he had called ’treasures’. Through groans, two especially strong warrior servants shoved a giant cube of ice down the plank and onto dry land.

"In fact, I believe you have no idea what kind of treasures you have there," Corco smiled. "Iceis useful for a good number of things. Most importantly, it’ll be instrumental in the grand finale to tonight’s banquet. It’s good for cocktails too."

"Is that so," the lord replied with a strained smile, obviously unaware of what a cocktail was.

"Yeah. Your estate has all kinds of goods. Amber, fish and whales from the sea, Ice and lifestock from the land. In the future, our two lands will be intertwined like the strings on a rope!"

*And co-dependent, just like the estates around Porcero,* the king added in his head.

After a good while, Corco was still lost in thought, transfixed by the precious cubes and all the possibilities they held. Only when his cousin Atau cleared his throat did Corco wake up again. With great haste, he turned to see that Lord Queru had waited without complaint, so he just gave the man a nod before the two made their way along the Mayura River, towards the bridges that would bring them into Rapra Castle.

"Anyways," Corco picked the conversation back up again, "ice will always be something desired by the rich and powerful, especially in a warm year like this one. But Saniya, and the entire west coast for that matter, are far away from any mountains, so the south is by far the most convenient way to get ice these days."

"Apart from the saltpeter," the southerner added with a bitter voice.

"That’s how it used to be. It’s true that you can cool a room down with some saltpeter, but these days, the stuff has become too important as gunpowder to be wasted like that. These new weapons, the cannons and the guns, will only become more and more important in warfare as technology progresses. As a result, saltpeter becomes rarer and so it will be more and more expensive as well. No one will use it to cool their house any longer, not even the spendthrift lords around Sallqata or Huaylas."

With another look back towards the harbor, the large man nodded his head with a smirk.

"That would be why King Corcopaca fired all of these shots in greeting?"

"It was supposed to be a wake-up call for the southern lords, to adapt to the new times. Though I won’t deny that it was also meant as a demonstration of power. Sorry about that." Corco replied, not willing to hide any of his intentions. Rather than be offended, lord Queru returned a roaring laugh. Back in the capital, just the few interactions with the southerner had told Corco that the lord was extremely concerned with honor and what he would call ’proper conduct’. According to Corco’s assumptions, Queru would appreciate the full truth far more than a polite lie, no matter how harsh.

"A good answer. Any Sachay man worth his salt should show his muscles a bit. One more reason to appreciate our new bit of Sachay fashion. I’ve really had enough of all the fine silks and frilly folds from the north." A crooked grin was followed the lord’s spittle, as he spat on the ground in their path with nothing but contempt for what he must have considered northern softness.

"In any case, I hope we can work well together," the prince said, unwilling to join in on the lord’s rejection of progress and sophistication. At this point, they had crossed the first bridge and were on their way through Sillu Island. Some ways inland, they could even spot the central island square, where the commoner and warrior inhabitants had already begun to stack giant wooden logs. With the pyre as its central anchor point, this was the spot where the harvest festival for the commoners would take place later. Already, Corco could hear their songs and smell their cooked meats as the men of Saniya celebrated a most successful harvest. Even though the first good year for his citizens brought a smile to the king’s lips, not everyone was so lenient.

"Not to offend King Corco, but this seems like trouble to me," the lord said with a frown. "Is the commoner festival not too close to the castle? Only one island over. It would be better to keep the commoners apart from the lords, for safety’s sake if nothing else."

Although the lord’s words were somewhat rude, of course he was correct, at least according to tradition. Throughout Medala, commoners would be strictly separated from the nobles. Even in the most liberal of estates they would always remain trapped on the outside of the solid city walls. However, here in Saniya, the commoners had been led into the inner city, and even onto one of the city’s fortified islands, in order to hold their celebrations. It was inevitable that the old lord would criticize his king’s lax standards when it came to segregation between the noble and the banal. However, Corco had no interest in the old traditions, not when they clashed so thoroughly with his own beliefs on human rights. As he had already expected pushback on the implementation of his ideas, he had a well-prepared answer ready to fire back.

"How could a handful of commoners ever possibly do harm to me? In the first place, they’re still a full island away from me. They can’t swim through the powerful stream of the Mayura and the bridge to Rapra Castle can be held with ease, even more so against some simple farmers. I won’t need more than fifty men to turn Rapra into an impenetrable fortress, against any kind of army. Considering our position and geography, this setup is safer than most estates having a festival right outside their walls. Plus, there’s another important reason why I would let those commoners onto my flanking islands."

"And what reason would that be, cousin?" From the front, an annoying voice interrupted Corco’s carefully crafted speech. With a frown the king stared at the intruder, only to see his cousin, Governor Mayu Sonco Saqartu, walk towards them from the castle, followed by his warrior servant.

"...I wanted to keep that part as a bit of a surprise for the banquet, actually," the king answered his cousin with a frown of his own. Up until now, Mayu had been surprisingly well-behaved during his visit. Since he had arrived several hours earlier, he had in fact caused no trouble at all. His greeting had been respectful, and as warm as the self-centered young lord of Puscanacra could reasonably muster.

However, now that the first outsider had shown up, he changed his tune quickly. Maybe the fact that Corco had only made the trip down the castle for the simple Lord Queru and not for the governor of the south had annoyed Mayu. Maybe he had felt slighted by this difference in attitude. Corco regretted that choice now, but in the moment he had been far too excited about the ice and what it meant for his party to consider politics. He reminded himself to be more careful about these issues in the future, and once again rued the absence of the always proper Fadelio, who would call him out on these sorts of mistakes.

"In that case, cousin might as well not have made any excuses at all," Mayu smiled. Although Corco was about to defend himself, and Atau was about to step up and do the same, Lord Queru was faster than all of them.

"Are these words to exchange with your king, youngster!?"

To everyone’s surprise, the old lord showed nothing but hostility towards his new governor.

Perhaps it was Mayu’s long sleeves, Corco thought. Just as confused as Corco, the governor’s face twitched for a split-second, before he readjusted his expression. With a faked smile, Mayu turned to the southern lord and bowed in a polite greeting.

"Lord Huaman, this governor is truly glad that his invitation has been accepted by house Queru."

Even though Mayu’s attitude was humble enough, his words did nothing to pacify the lord.

"Lord Mayu. It might have been your men who distributed invitations to today’s banquet to the lords of the south-west, but the invitation’s origin is still from King Corco after all. As such, I am here on invitation of the young king, and am bound to enforce respect towards my host. Lord Saqartu should consider the same. It is unseemly to decorate one’s home with another man’s pelts."

Poked again, Mayu turned over to attack. The new Governor of the South had never been the most patient man in the first place and so stepped up to confront his nominal subordinate lord.

"In that case, this governor wonders where Lord Huaman’s respect towards the office of governor would be?"

"How dare an unproven brat speak of respect today!" Queru shouted. "Respect needs to be earned, not demanded! In Arguna, I have seen King Corco’s greatness. His steadfast dedication towards Medala and Sachay throughout. His dedication towards his father. His desperation and true emotion when Governor Sonco lay on his death bed, all the while you sitting at home without a motion-"

"That’s enough!" Before the conversation could devolve any further, Corco shoved himself in between the two men who had gotten dangerously close to one another in their anger. At least they still had the good graces to step back by themselves, since the king lacked the strength to really move them by force.

"There’s no reason for any of this. Lord Queru, insulting my cousin right before my eyes doesn’t only disrespect me, it also does a great disservice to Governor Mayu. Uncle Sonco’s death was my fault, and it’s a debt I will always have towards House Saqartu. Even then, Mayu still chose to cooperate with me. Not only did he invite all the south-western Houses to this festival, he also supported Saniya with additional food and timber throughout the summer. Without these supplies, we would have never even made it to this harvest, not without a major famine.

"To top it all off, I can find no fault in the way Mayu has handled his territory, or the entire south for that matter. While most lords were busy letting themselves get courted in the capital, Mayu was training soldiers at home, ready to support whoever would become the emperor candidate of the south. Even now his new troops will be a great boon to all of us. If we want to survive the inevitable attack from the northerners, we will have to work together, not fall apart in petty squabbles over which one is the most honorable."

Humbled, Lord Queru lowered his head and acknowledged Corco’s words with a slow nod. Even though Mayu did the same, Corco was still unsure whether his cousin really appreciated the support, or whether he would consider it another slight against his independence. As the two lords apologized to one another and then walked back towards Rapra Castle together, Corco’s frown only deepened further. There had already been an incident, but the biggest troublemakers had yet to arrive.

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