"I ate," he muttered, writing something and sometimes sketching on a second page.

"You ate last night. And it must have been your last meal."

"I told the servant to bring me lunch."

"I see." She glanced at the plate, which was left almost full. "Leave it, that's enough! I order you to rest!"

Galaspiael laughed and shook his head. When Lin-Si pulled the armchair, he almost fell to the floor. She helped him stand steadily and began to pull into the chamber. With each pa.s.sing moment, he resisted less and less. He no longer had the strength to struggle, so he let her lead him.

"You don't have to work so much why don't you use Okiani?"

"They're not for sitting here with me." Galaspiael rubbed his face with his hand. "Sometimes they advise me, they are hardworking."

"My father doesn't do that. The king should not overwork himself like a slave. He has people who think for him and present their ideas. And he only rejects them or sometimes approves if they're good."

"Any Okiani can tell me what he came up with if he wants. Sometimes they come with really good ideas. But I can't rely on them, your father also shouldn't. They think short-sightedly, their plans are not applicable throughout the country."

Lin-Si snorted.

"As always, you act like you know everything best. I worry about you," she confessed, "you hardly eat at all, you have been sleeping here lately. I don't want to be a widow too soon, but it seems that I will if you would go on like that."

"I'll rest when I'm done."

"When you finish one thing, you start doing something different. It's always like that!" the queen took his hand and put him on her bed. He sat staring blankly at the floor and fighting the wave of exhaustion he didn't feel when he was in the studio.

Lin-Si sat on a leather chair and told her to comb her hair. Two servants took care of it quickly. They carefully removed decorations and cufflinks from her thick, wispy strands. After a few minutes, she began tapping impatiently on the edge of the decorated cabinet, now transformed into one of the dressing tables.

"Go out!" She commanded when they finished. "And close the door!"

When the servants' steps stopped in the corridor, Galaspiael felt even more sleepy. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. Almost immediately, he felt like he's floating away.

"Sleep," she said when he suddenly raised his head. "Unless you want to eat something. But I won't let you work."

"I wouldn't despise a snack."

"Here you go." She handed him a fruit platter. "Tomorrow I'll order to bring a fresh batch."

"Good idea."

"I'll also order your guard to look after you with this job," she said firmly. "You won't be finis.h.i.+ng off yourself anymore."

"I won't," he nodded. "If I don't listen, will you make them lock me in the dungeon?"

"If you don't listen, I'll find out and I take care of it myself. Eat everything and rest. You have to sleep until noon. Then go to Kalena, but to relax without any sword fights or experiments."

"For a good and loving wife, it's far too easy for you to persuade me to go to her," he mocked. "I feel like a traitor, and I haven't even done anything yet."

"It won't take you long. Kalena is a simple girl who is easily intimidated. Say that you love her, that she is more valuable to you than the crown, give some trinket as a gift and she will be yours."

"It's not that easy."

"What's so hard about it? Trust me, I have experience with the girls like her."

Galaspiael sat on the bed.

"Tell me, has anyone ever... has anyone ever rejected you after you told them your feelings?"

Lin-Si shook her head and laughed softly.

"Silly, of course not. I am a queen." She looked into his eyes and laughed again when she understood what he was trying to say. "No way! Galaspiael, don't say that she… How did this happen?"

"I don't know. I wanted to make her fall in love with me, and before I realized myself I was already in love with her. Complete stupidity."

"The slave rejected the king who liberated her! Is she aware of what she has done? As a royal concubine, she would have a much better life than in the guard!"

"Lin, she won't be interested until she's in love with me. And when I last checked, she wasn't." Galaspiael laid back and closed his eyes. "I just have to accept it."

*

"Where did you learn to shoot so well?" Bosu patted Zarkin firmly on the shoulder. "You are invincible!"

"I've always been able to hit my target, not only from the bow," he said, "no one can surpa.s.s me." Neither Scribe nor Righteous"

"Have you trained with Scribes?" Zao raised one eyebrow. "It must have been interesting."

"I didn't train, I just tried them, like you now," he lied, ?they shoot well, but not one could do it like me."

"It never works out for me," Ces.h.i.+ admitted. "I look at the point where I want to hit and I hit somewhere else."

Zarkin smiled. He liked to be treated as an expert and being admired. He felt good in the company of young Righteous Conspiracy members.

"Because you don't just shoot with your eyes," he revealed. "What the body does is equally important. You need to aim the arrow where you want it to go, not just look in that direction."

"You should apply to the Imperial Guard," Ces.h.i.+ said, and the rest nodded approvingly. "A few years of training and you could protect the throne room. Or become a captain."

Zarkin almost laughed.

"I don't think I could. Only citizens of Madegald can enroll in the Imperial Guard. I have what they call... suspicious origin. Do you want to see anything else, or can I go now?"

He was glad that they watched his performances with such admiration, but training tired him. They declared that they would escort him to his home, so they returned together. Raian was surprised to see such a large group, but he gladly invited them inside.

They sat in the living room until late at night talking about what was going on in the capital. Preparations for the war had not yet begun, but everyone knew that the emperor was going to invade Sekania. His new friends were very happy and couldn't wait to join the imperial army. No one showed fear, even if he was afraid. It would be unmanly and could be perceived as disloyalty. After all, they parted in seemingly good moods.

At night, Zarkin did not sleep well. It felt like ice steel tearing his guts.

He felt terrible, so far away from home, all alone, in Madegald. From day to day he learned more and more terrible things. He was struck for the first time by how lonely he was.

At one point, he agreed with Raian. Once, during a conversation, or rather a long Zarkin's monologue about the mistakes of the Conspiracy, when he asked Raian about the restriction of access to knowledge, he quietly answered him in one sentence:

"Sometimes it's not good to know too much."

It was the truth. As a Scribe, he couldn't think like that, but he knew the Conspirators were right about it. The knowledge about the coming war was like heavy baggage. Zarkin fell asleep for a moment, although he thought he was awake. He dreamed of the room he was in. Outside the window, it was red from proudly waving war banners. When he looked out, he saw an army walking in an even procession. The end or beginning of this march could not be seen. It looked like an endless river.

He woke up sweaty and did not fall asleep that night.

THE END OF BOOK 1 PART 1