A month has passed. Cold winds fell to the ground. Snow has come. Swirling in the fields swirled, but people rejoiced. The tavern owners prepared snow for the long summer, filling huge stone tanks and impressive cast-iron boilers with a snow, in which they melted it into the water and distributed it free to everyone. Here the supply was put on stream, not like in the villages. In the summer, water was supplied to the city from seven oaks standing on the hills around, and winter reserves were also used. Over the past time, the city has changed. Around him appeared the shrines of pagan gods. Delius issued a decree obliging each person, regardless of his condition, to make sacrifices to the gods once a week. By his decree in the temples issued a special receipt that a person made a sacrifice to the gods. However, this hit hard on the poor townspeople, who found it difficult to absorb any unnecessary expenses. However, the law was firm. Those who disobeyed were executed or subjected to humiliating public punishments. Then the poor became the first to show dissatisfaction with the new ruler.
The next month, even more snow fell. The roads were blocked up so that even on a sleigh sometimes it was not possible to drive from the fact that the ashen horses were walking through the level of snow that was reaching their chests. By a new decree, the usurper expelled foreign merchants from the city. Not only people from the border areas of the valley, but all the karatans and representatives of the bee-people, Madumaks, were taken out of the cyties walls, despite the fact that all their property was nationalized and left in the city. Delius understood that their goods were necessary for the city, but he did not want to leave strangers in the city at all. In fact, he used his power to rob the merchants, which terribly angered the merchant class of the city, which had been doing business with foreigners for many years.
The third month of winter allowed the warm to melt slightly the snow, after which it again hit with severe frost, turning the snow filled with water into the strongest ice. The doctors houses were overwhelmed by the sick. Some had a terrible cough, while others came with fractures received after falling on ice. The healers pleaded with the usurper: they lacked medicines, and they could no longer buy the necessary drugs or ingredients for them from foreign traders. They also did not have enough beds in their own houses to accommodate all those who were suffering, so then Delius, without hesitation, ordered the prosperous citizens who own solid mansions to transfer three rooms of each house for use by doctors. He ordered the owners of the houses to share food with the victims and provide the healers with the necessary drugs from their own supplies at the first request of the healers. Ordinary people reacted to this decision with a fair amount of sympathy, but the nobles were stunned by the new decree. The number of patients increased rapidly. Often, homeless citizens injured each other, just to get into a cozy, warm house and not freeze on the street. Among the new wave of sick people there were many thieves who found an easy way to get into the homes of the rich. Only one nobleman, who lived in his estate near the city, publicly ridiculed the usurper's decree and refused to follow the will of the ruler. Many nobles and prosperous merchants supported the rebel's words, but they themselves did not refuse doctors and patients so vehemently. The reaction of Delius was not long in coming. Very soon his squad appeared at the estate of the dissent. The sons of the owner were killed in battle, the servants, daughters and wife were enslaved, and the nobleman died from cruel torture. It was then in the nobility the first conspirators appeared.
Vtorak was already familiar with one of them. That was Pat. He was a very energetic young man from a noble family that existed even before the Great Fire. Pat hated Delius. He was preparing an attempt, which was supposed to put an end to the rule of the usurper. Another ideological inspiration and leader of the conspiracy was Okha. The nobles were going to put him on the throne after the overthrow of Delius. He was a middle-aged man, dry and feeble due to illness, but a fire of determination burned in his eyes. He exuded confidence, and his every word pushed people to deeds.
Of course, very soon the nobles needed forces that they could oppose to Deliuse's squad. A secret hiring of mercenaries and other people who possessed combat skills and weapons began around the city and its environs. Vtorak received an offer to lead recruited mercenaries personally from Pat. The nobleman remembered the help provided by Vtorak in a timely manner and completely trusted him.
- You need to agree, - said Khali confidently, - the one who controls the army decides for himself who will be seated on the throne. We need to get influence here to prevent the cult from growing.
- What is the trouble with this cult? - asked Rosha. - Are dwarf humans so afraid of the dark?
- We serve the light, we do not fear the darkness, - objected Vtorak, "But the cultists sacrifice people to Akshayah. Often peasant children also become victims. These fanatics cannot be trusted with power over the valley.
- Aah! An evil cultist kills children... Rosha understood. All power to those who stop it!
- I agree, - answered Vtorak to the knight, - Not for the sake of power, Rosha. I will simply restore order in the city and return it to the hands of the people. And they themselves will decide who to appoint as a new knyaz.
- Rosha once saw Oha on the street, - said the karatan, - I really don't like it.
- I'm not going to solve political issues, - snapped Vtorak, - We are here to prevent the cult of Akshayah from growing. When people prayed to the Pure at the oaks, they made no sacrifices. But the faith of the ancestors that Delius brought... Unless now they sacrificing animals, not people.
- Rosha like animals better, - exclaimed Rosha, - they are delicious.
- You will have to solve political problems sooner or later, Vtorak, for we have come here for this, - said the knight. There was a knock on the door. A messenger came in and gave Wtorak an invitation to come to Oha's mansion. Vtorak agreed, and the messenger sped away. The warrior cast a last look at Khali and Rosha and followed the messenger. He walked along the street, meeting his eyes with the townspeople and warriors of Delius. Ahead, Oha's mansion appeared, adorned with marble statues, and Vtorak boldly entered the main door. Inside, the room looked no less luxurious than outside. Wooden benches stood along the edge of the hall. People were sitting on them, apparently awaiting an audience. Servants approached Vtorak and led him up the stairs to the reception rooms. Looking around, Vtorak noticed several displeased glances among the people waiting in line. They, of course, did not like the fact that the young warrior was let in before them, saving him from having to wait. In an room in an armchair in front of a wide table, Oha sat.
- Sit down next to me, my friend, - he said in a high, raspy voice, - I need to speak with you immediately. Do you want some tea?
- What is it? - asked Vtorak, sitting down.
- It is... a decoction of the dried leaves of one plant. Madumaki grow them in the sunlight, beyond the clouds. And they are selling it to us.
- I can try, if you insist.
- Of course I am insistt! This is not at all like your daily bread and milk lunch, or what is usually served in the villages? - Oha rang the bell and the servant brought two cups. - How much sugar do you get?
- Little.
- And you know, I love the sweeter, - the master said and poured four full spoons of powder into a cup. Both sipped, - How do you like it?
- Very interesting... obviously not a decoction of ashen wormwood.
- Well, of cource! - the nobleman laughed.
- What did you want to talk about? - asked Vtorak.
- I'll tell you straight. I want to get your support.
- I have not accepted the offer of command, - said Vtorak.
- But you will accept, unless you are a fool! - poked Oha with a finger at the warrior. - Now is not the time to pretend to be idiots. Every moment counts. Every word spoken in the presence of the wrong people can be fatal. I just want to hope that you are the very person in whose presence I can talk.
- I am just a mercenary from the ashen valley. No more no less. I think you overestimate my role.
- Oh no, I don't think so, - the politician shook his head. - When the pieces on the board are correctly placed, even a pawn can checkmate.
- I do not play chess.
- Very vain. Well, let's get down to business. When all the mercenaries of this city are in your hands, you will need to storm the knyaze's tower. This will be done easily on Saturday night, when the warriors revel in a feast in honor of the next pagan festival. Then you will strike. But who will sit on the throne after Delius?
- I suppose you wish to propose your candidacy, - asked Vtorak.
- I want to reveal my goals to you.
- Really?
- In this turbulent time, no one can no longer concentrate power in one hand. Each new ruler becomes a tyrant, and therefore, having come to power, I will change the system to the one that was at the time of the birth of the Kingdom of Sages. Do you know, Vtorak, why it was so called?
- The sages were disciples of the Pure and ruled on their behalf, right?
- Not really. Sage - was a position elected for a year. At the head of the city stood two sages, who also headed the council of the Fathers. It was the Fathers - the eldest members of the fifty oldest families - who ruled the city and its people. Only with the advice of the Fathers can this situation be normalized. And I think that you understand the importance of these changes.
- I see. What do you suggest me to do?
- When power will be in your hands, do not appropriate it, dear friend. You are not from these places and do not understand anything in the management of the people, with all due respect. You are a simple mercenary. So do your job well. Proclaim me the new ruler, and I will change this city. And you will undoubtedly receive a worthy reward. Do not answer anything now, think over my words without haste. You can go now.
Vtorak left the office and the servants escorted him to the door to the street. He understood that now he would not retreat and he would have to take a significant part in the conspiracy. The last preparations remained. The first stone was already rolling down the mountain, pretty soon, it will entail others, falling upon the townspeople with a rockfall.