The palace of Unkud was the traditional meeting place of all the nobility of the Acadian Empire. It was located on the steep shore of the white sea. No architect would have risked building a palace on a cliff that could have collapsed into the water at any moment. But a team of earth mages drawn from the First Academy cast so many fortification spells that this very cliff would have stood unbroken for tens of thousands of years, even under the incessant pressure of tsunamis, alternating hurricanes and typhoons.
The meeting, held once a year, was designed to address several issues at once. At it, the nobles determined their list of demands and recommendations for the policies implemented by the emperor. His Majesty, of course, was not obliged to implement everything his loyal subjects asked for, but if he ignored all the wishes of the nobility, they, in turn, would begin to sabotage their orders and then revolt would not be far off. It was no less important that almost all the nobility of the empire saw each other at these gatherings. After all, balls, hunts and other entertainments held in the provinces were mostly attended by neighbors only. The same events held in the capital could not be attended by most of the nobility, as the city was not the largest and was far from all trade routes, densely populated areas and industries.
Ur was the capital for historical reasons. It was from here that the conquests of the present imperial dynasty began, and the rulers, respecting their ancestors, were in no hurry to move the capital to seemingly more suitable cities. Ur was a beautiful city with a population of no more than fifty thousand people. It was close to the coast of the Jutland Ocean. It was home to all the highest bureaucracy in the country, a few dozens of the oldest but now almost impoverished noble families, and a variety of servants, among whom were predominantly gardeners. Such a number of gardeners was due to the fact that the Ur stood almost in the middle of a man-made forest. The forest appeared here under the great-great-grandfather of Emperor Raphael, who, after capturing one of the settlements of the race Jastorfs in the north, was struck by the beauty of such a symbiosis of human buildings and ancient trees. At that time, almost half of the capital was demolished to expand the space allocated for green spaces. If the forest were ordinary, the gardeners would not be too necessary, but it was a mixture of almost all known plants. And wizards sometimes gave away the results of their experiments to the landscaping service. So even trees with purple vines that resembled octopus's tentacles instead of leaves were not uncommon, standing in pots here and there.
In general, it is worth saying that each branch of government in the Empire had its own capital. The emperor, along with the permanent government as already mentioned, lived in Ur. The palace of Uncud, which in a sense represented the power of the nobility, was ten kilometers from the spa town of Assiut. There the rocky shore just turned into a beach with the purest white sand. Most of the nobles stayed in this town for the duration of the assembly, as the palace itself was a place to live only for the higher aristocracy. The priestly power was naturally concentrated in the same city where the main temple stood, in the city of Adab, which was situated approximately in the center of the country on the bank of one of the few rivers. But the priests no longer had the power that they had had even two hundred years ago. The Emperor's father issued a law making the spiritual authority entirely subordinate to the authority of the emperor. But even before that, they usually did not interfere with either pole of power, only giving advice and occasionally asking for favors.
The meetings of the chamber of commerce were held in Tinis, which stood at the crossroads of the two main trade routes of the kingdom, one leading from the barbarians, the other from the west of Acad, then they joined at Tinis, which was in the southeast of the empire and led to the white sea coast, where it was already possible to get by ship to Innsbruck or Sharot. The city was densely populated and wealthy. More than a million and a half people lived there and about a third of all industries were located here. From here a seventh of all taxes went to the treasury. Not only merchants were invited to the meetings, but in general all people of non-noble origin who were rich enough to pass the highest property qualification. They were not yet integrated into the system of state power; it was simply an ordinary unofficial assembly. At which, however, the most important questions were decided, from the minimum prices of various commodities to the amount and percentage of the next credit to be extended to the state. So it was quite obvious that the gaining power of the merchants in the future would try to increase their political weight as well.
The only exception was the mages. The palace of the Council of Masters was located in the same place as the nine academies, and most of the laboratories - deep underground in places unknown to anyone except the archimages, which could be accessed only through portals. Caves created thousands of years ago were fortified by earth mages, sunlight was imitated by the most complex spells of light magic, water was partly created by the same magic, partly taken from underground sources, food was delivered from the surface, and the perimeter was a high-level illusion of meadows and forests, yet man was not used to seeing only stone around. This was the reason for the problem with expanding the territory of the academies. If it was not difficult to remove the land and build new structures, although the amount of work would be enormous, but to remove the complex spells combining all the elements and then to install them again was a task that required enormous mental and magical efforts.
The Council of Masters was the chief authority among mages, with the same privileges and powers as the Noble Assembly. While underground, wizards did not have as much influence on people as they could when they lived and worked on the surface. But if one were to try to find a city where the presence of wizards was at its maximum, it would be Delv, an ordinary city in the north of the country, whose only peculiarity was that the headquarters of the magical association was located there. It was chosen as the residence by chance, literally as the result of a lottery in which cities wishing to host the association's headquarters participated. It was won by Delv, who gained no money, fame, or anything else.
Returning to Uncud's palace, it was truly the greatest work of mortal architects. Though they were far removed from the abilities of the mages, they tried to make up for it with their imagination and diligence. The palace was not openwork or "airy" at all. It was a heavy and monumental Gothic structure, weighing down both the ground on which it stood and the man admiring it. Stretched upward, it did not seem to reach for the heavens, but threatened them with its power. Inland from it went a park with bushes lined with various real and mythical creatures. There were many arbors wrapped in vines and other structures that looked insignificant against the palace. The park was surrounded by a fence, behind which were stables and servants' quarters.
From the palace itself to the water led several descents carved into the rocks. The palace itself had several descents from the water, which were carved out of the rocks and ended in spacious stone terraces, popular with young nobles. Here they liked to listen to music, dance, and in general to have all sorts of fun away from adults. By the water, all these slopes led to a large, about a kilometer-long promenade, which, however, was usually empty. Whether so it was conceived or at the design no one guessed that to overcome a few hundred meters of stairs - not the most exciting thing to do. And if the descent did not scare anyone, then the ascent...
On one of these terraces, the First and Second Swords of the Empire were now fighting. Although the title "Second Sword of the Empire" did not exist, but these two were a head above the other warriors, so the one of them, who had never even participated in tournaments or official duels, without flaunting his skills, was dubbed the "Second Sword" by knowledgeable people. The two best swordsmen of Akad were almost complete opposites, yet best friends. One was Raphael's brother and the Crown Prince of the Empire, the other was only the son of a baron. The prince wielded nothing but the lance, which he now used to pummel his opponent, who excelled in the use of edged weapons of all kinds. Azrael chose a spear as his primary weapon, when his teachers said that he has poor muscle memory and he simply cannot master at a high level more than one, two types of weapons. And although the sword was far more associated with war, power, and wealth than the spear, that was only a consequence of its far greater value. The spear was the primary weapon of knight's cavalry and foot ranks, and in a duel gave a huge advantage because of its length. The fact that now with a spear he was pushing his opponent armed with a sword and a shield showed the reasonableness of his choice.
Azrael himself was tall, about two meters, with long arms that allowed him to use longer weapons than his opponents. He was not muscular, but rather athletic and wiry, a trait that made him long enough not to tire in battle and extremely fast for a warrior of his stature. His opponent, Leran Marten, the best duelist in the empire, was thirty centimeters shorter, ten years older, tired incredibly quickly, and of all physical conditions the gods had gifted him only with incredible accuracy. He could pierce with his sword without cutting a falling cotton thread. His tactics against armored opponents were simple enough: approach within striking distance, make a feint that the opponent would remove his sword and shield from his helmet, and then without a swing stab at the sight slot, piercing the enemy's brain. To opponents without armor, Leran would inflict several painful stab wounds, then finish with a stab to the heart or eye.
Azrael used his advantage in height, strength, and weapon length correctly. Marten was no match for the prince, and his shield was already beginning to crumble under the pommel's blows. And fatigue was taking its toll. A blow, another blow, and the wooden shield flew apart, and Leran took a step back and raised his arms. There was a sparse, loud pop above the terrace.
- Your Highness appears to have a claim to the title of the first sword of our empire.
- I have enough titles as it is, at least let Leran have one.
- But you know, Your Highness, that in order to take my title away from me, you must defeat me with three weapons. You may be stronger with a spear, but you will not be the first sword until I am quite old.
- Well, Leran, even though the joke amused me and the archmage, I don't think he came to hear your fantasies about your own power, but to talk to me. And I certainly don't think Crassus en Janet is interested in our sparring.
- You are right, Your Highness. I would like to talk about the future of our country. I understand you are friends with the Baron's son, so he can stay with us if he wants.
- Yes, he is my friend and advisor; if you had asked him to leave, I would have retold our conversation to him later anyway.
- I thought so. Your Highness, I usually speak eloquently to those who do not care for our country, or to those who are not smart enough to see the threat to its existence, promising them what they want, persuading, hiding my goals and motives. To you, on the other hand, I will speak directly. Today I am going to speak at a meeting of the nobility. There I will point out the need to start a war with the barbarians. The anti-militarist leader, bribed by me, will make some very foolish arguments. And I would like you to be the one to contradict him. Then the rest of the nobles will see who they need to support-even if the voice of reason doesn't convince them, let them be satisfied with the unity of the Archmage and the Prince.
- I understand your desire, en Janet, but I have two questions. Why would Acad want it, and why would I want it personally?
- It's easier to start with the second question. I think you even know the answer to it. Your life as a crown prince is directly connected with the Empire. Since your brother has no children, is nineteen years older than you, and his health is not so good, I think you have time to be emperor. But being Emperor of the ruins or the Great Empire is quite different. Although in the first case, I'm afraid no one will need a living pretender to the throne, and your life will be short and not enviable. So your fate is directly related to Acad.
- Why is there something wrong with my royal brother's health? He looked well enough this morning, and I don't remember him ever complaining about his health. - The prince already knew all that Crassus had told him. But the health passage was something new.
- Health is not a permanent thing. One day it might be good, and the next day it's a stroke and that's it. Or it could be a heart attack. Or any other sudden and fatal illness.
- But an illness can be not fatal, but, let us say, traumatic. One after which you can no longer sit on the throne.
- You are right, Your Highness, such illnesses do occur.
- But if my brother falls ill with such a non-lethal ailment, can't some magician cure him?
- There aren't many good life wizards. I know that most of them are busy doing research that they can't tear themselves away from. The rest are either at war in Nippur, or dueling with archmages too often, so they'll probably run out soon.
- This question became clear to me, but still, what will my country gain from this war?
- I would like to answer that war is a property of a healthy society, and that an empire is not an empire if it does not expand anywhere and project its power. But that is an appropriate response for times long past. Times of peace and security. Now I will have to answer differently.
- Soon there will be a war between us and the Federation for complete control of the abyss. This is what everyone understands. And already that would be enough for me to get assistance in all my current endeavors. But for some reason this is not happening, and I get the feeling that I'm the only one going around convincing everyone to do something to increase our chances of victory.
- But what apparently only I understand is that after the war, the country that takes full possession of the abyss will be attacked by all its neighbors. I would say that only Neelam or Elverum can remain neutral. All the rulers and politicians realize that just ten years of undivided control of the abyss will allow us to fight almost the entire world at once.
- Already today I am confident of a victory over Sharot. It will not be bloodless or quick, but you can be sure of it. I am also sure that we will not win a further war with other countries.
- I see your point, Crassus. But your revelations begat two more questions for me. Answer the first one. Since all the other countries will attack the winner, why don't we lose with little loss and then attack Sharot with the rest of the world?
- That would be a good idea, but you are missing several important points. First, I am sure that after our victory, war will be declared on us. But Sharot may have agreements, for example, that they will share access to the abyss with other countries in the event of victory. Second, let's say all the countries unite and attack Sharot. Then there would be no guarantee that we would be taken into that coalition, because then we would have to share the spoils. Or they will take us, and after we take the first blow, they will end us and Sharot all at once.
- But why don't we make agreements with someone ourselves that if we win, we will share access to the abyss?
- And who will conclude them? You have no such authority, and the emperor will be dissuaded from doing so by the First Counselor. But that is not so important. Nor does it matter that these agreements may not exist in principle. What leads to war now is that no country has full control of the abyss. After our victory, what will lead to war is that our country will have sole control over it. Wars are almost always fought over resources. And the abyss is the greatest of all resources. Until it is dominated by a hegemon, a superpower capable of standing alone against the world, wars over it will not cease. And I propose to you the transformation of our country into such a hegemon.
- Assuming you are right, then the second question is. Why would we attack the barbarians? How would that help in defeating Sharot?
- I am glad, Your Highness, that you almost agree with my plan, and I only need to clarify a few details. Most soldiers have zero combat experience. Most mages have zero combat experience. All of our commanders have zero combat experience. And with an equal number of armies, the more experienced army wins. We need to attack the barbarians, not like we did before, with barely a tenth of our army, but with all our forces and conscription. For besides the fact that no one has any experience of war, our mobilization plans are not up to date at all. These reasons are not the only ones, and this step is only the first in a series of others that will prepare our country for war and even allow us to destroy some of our adversaries beforehand. But this step is the most important one. Without a professional army, nothing will help us.
- I hear you, Crassus. And I agree with you. I hope, on occasion, you will support my candidacy for commander in chief in this war.
- Of course, Your Highness.
- See you at the meeting then, Crassus.