The pair were walking down the corridor and Dima decided to strike up a conversation.
"What were you doing here?"
"Hee, hee, hee, I finished my business early, and decided to meet you, otherwise you'll be wandering the corridors at night again, scaring the guards." With difficulty hiding a light chuckle the girl answered.
Dima only smiled in response, a joyful chorus was singing in his soul, of course, he was a little upset, after all, he had already prepared himself morally for the difficult road through these 'catacombs'.
'So it's not fate, and let it be all the more so with such a beautiful escort.' Dima looked at Lia and smirked to himself.
"What did you do today?" Lia asked quietly, as last time it was difficult to restrain her curiosity.
"We discussed your territorial organisation," Dima answered without a shadow of doubt, observing Lia's surprised reaction.
"And what do you think?" the girl asked with interest.
"I didn't understand anything, but it was very interesting." Was the guy's answer, of course, he was far from the truth, but Dima was curious to hear what Lia would say.
"If you want you can ask me, of course, I won't tell you much, but I'll try." Lia said, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully.
"How do you have everything tripled here?" Dima still had a question about how this state functioned in general, and more precisely where all the wealth went, because here you could not see it for ten kilometres.
"The kingdom is now ruled by the Emo clan, led by King Tuna, with eleven clans subordinate to him, each of them ruling their own province. In turn, they are subordinate to the smaller clans that are in their territory. They also have their own smaller vassal clans, but now it is rare since the beginning of King Tung's reign, the smaller clans are broken up or are part of the larger clans." At the last words, the girl's voice trembled and her hands trembled slightly.
"Were you part of a clan too?" Asked Dima, Lia was clearly uncomfortable with the topic, but the guy asked the question hoping to get a clearer picture of the current situation.
"Yes, I was part of a small clan on the border territory between clans, two clans ruled over us, but because of our location they fought with each other more than ruled over us. All in all, things were pretty good, modest, maybe a little richer than everyone else."
"And then King Tun issued a decree that all the lands were taken over by the kingdom, and we were compensated, of course." At each word the girl's voice trembled more and more, in some places you could hear light sobs.
"Lia, if you don't want to..." It was obviously hard for the girl to talk about it, and Dima as a gentleman wanted to interrupt her, but....
"No, it's all right." The girl turned her head towards Dima, small tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, illuminated by the light of the dim lamps, the boy wanted to hug her and comfort her, but he managed to hold himself back in time.
"We got quite a lot of money, we wouldn't have made that much in ten years... that's what ruined us. My father wanted to put the money into business, but my brothers and uncles were against it. The clan council lasted three days and finally my father backed down and gave each clan member his share."
"After receiving their money, most of them left and we stayed to live on the estate. The joy of the money didn't last long and six months later a terrible news visited our house. My uncle had squandered his fortune and was caught stealing. Soon he was executed, and after that sad news entered our house without a knock or an invitation."
"Most of my relatives squandered their fortunes: some froze in the street, died in a drunken brawl, some were robbed or killed, some invested in unprofitable businesses or were cheated. Few returned home, all squandered, dirty and hungry."
"Each one on their knees begging my father to let them back in and each one leaving with nothing. 'You betrayed the clan for a tidy coin and now you come crawling back to me begging for forgiveness, so you know it's not going to happen, get out!' Each time he said."
Dima listened attentively with each word his understanding of this world grew stronger. Here even a fool would understand: if you give to a poor man it will not solve the problem, but will only make it worse. The boy could understand Lia's father's train of thought, but he definitely couldn't do the same.
"Don't think my father wasn't a cruel man, just..." The first tear fell from Lia's eyes to the floor. "Just honour for him was not just a word, who husband received money almost all to a coin were invested in business. We made our own living from bread to water."
"The next year was like a bright ray of sunshine in a dark forest, my father's business went uphill, he did everything: he kept a sawmill, opened a tavern and a brothel, helped the orphans' home. He spared no expense for the family, even hiring a healing teacher for me."
"But all good things come to an end, and I will always remember the day when my older brother showed up at our doorstep. Unlike the others, he didn't spend his share on women and alcohol, but, like my father, invested it in business. He went bankrupt and spent a year wandering the country, grabbing any job he could. Eventually his road led him to his father's house. And then something happened that surprised everyone, my father accepted him into the clan, and when asked why, he answered only with silence. We couldn't resist him anyway, and we didn't want to, and that's what ruined us."
"My brother turned out to be quite capable, and my father quickly brought him closer to him, our income grew, and the future seemed cloudless. I had a fiancé, a good man from a wealthy family, and the marriage was imminent." Lia interrupted and sighed heavily, Dima listened silently, the boy had no idea to interrupt Lia, or to interfere in the story with his questions.
"Having reached a high position my brother changed, money spoils people, and he was no exception, but worst of all he began to drag my father into this pit. More and more often, they'd leave the managers and go on long benders. We tried to talk to him, but all he did was wave money away."
"But even so, the clan business was expanding, and my brother offered to invest in a lucrative business of raising sheep and exporting their wool to the Ruyen Empire, and as expected, it failed, but my father and brother persevered, hoping for a good income in the future."
"By this time my father and brother had completely withdrawn from the business and were shifting everything to the managers, who, seeing the lack of control, started stealing, stealing a lot. My mother and I, along with other relatives and members of the clan, tried to open my father's eyes, but he wouldn't listen to us, and one night I tried to talk to my brother."
"After listening to me, he threatened me that if I continued to drip on his and my father's brains, I would get in big trouble. 'Don't get foggy, soon your fiancé's family will sign all the papers and you will leave us.' He said to me and left. That was the beginning of the end."
"The new business continued to gobble up money like a hungry wolf, the managers finally lost their fear and conscience, and someone in the Ruyen empire took over the business streams leaving my clan with a nose." Lia's voice thinned with each word, becoming more and more of a shriek.
"Everything had gone to hell: the managers, like my brother, had taken every penny out of the clan's coffers. Not only that, but my brother was secretly collecting debts from my father, in the name of the clan. When my father learnt this, he came to his senses and tried to save the day, but it was too late... we were bankrupt. And my brother fled with all the money to an unknown destination." Lia sniffed her nose and continued.
"We had to move to the capital, my father tried to start a new business using his old connections, but all his efforts went like sand in a sieve."
"Mum and I tried to help him as much as we could, I worked part-time in a hospital for the poor, and Mum got a job as a maid in some rich house. Every morning my father took our pennies and returned the same evening with a grim face. Quarrels and scandals became commonplace in our small flat, my father started drinking and often raised his hand against us."
"My last hope was my fiancé, I still remember his words, 'Get out of my sight beggar,' said the bastard and threw a handful of coins in my face, then watched me with pleasure as I collected them. My father died first, and my mother followed a couple of months later. I was the only one left, the rest of the clan scattered like rats from a sinking ship. So my clan ceased to exist, like so many others before and after it." Tears were pouring down from Lia's beautiful face, but she just looked down at the floor. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, embracing her in a warm hug.
"I'm sorry for what happened, but remember, no matter how hard it is now, tomorrow will be a new day, which will be better than today." Dima said in one breath, squeezing the fragile girl in his arms. The warmth of her body and breath drew Dima in, stirring his body, but in his thoughts there was real sincere sadness, which turned into compassion.
After standing like that for a few minutes, Dima stepped back and looked at Lia's blushing face, who wrapped her arms around him and stammered.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you with my problems, I ..."
"Don't, let's look at the stars." Dima said and slowly walked to the small window and sat down on the sill. Lia followed his example and sat down opposite to him. Both of them were mesmerised as they looked at the luminaries blurring in the sky.
"My mum used to say that the stars are the souls of those who have left us." Lia said, her voice like honey, soft and gentle.
"And my grandfather said that when it rains, it's angels from the sky peeing on us." Lia looked at Dima like an idiot with a barely concealed smile, after a fleeting pause both laughed with a gasp.
"Lia look, a shooting star, in my country there is a belief that if you make a wish on a shooting star it will definitely come true, so hurry up." Lia with a panicked face, squeezed her eyes shut and opened her eyes after a couple of seconds.
"Did you manage to make a wish?" Dima asked her.
"Yes, and it will definitely come true?"
"Definitely."