Lia was squatting with her back against the wall, the girl was waiting for him, the first person who became her personal ray of light, not that her life within the walls of the convent was so bad, not at all.
Lia had a lot of problems in her life and she always remembered those times when she had to sleep outside in the rain without a crumb in her mouth. The convent had food and a roof over her head, it was just that she was strangely lonely. Even though there were all sorts of people living in the convent, Lia couldn't find common ground with anyone.
The other maids didn't like her for her nobility and talent in magic, the monks were mostly busy doing their own thing and didn't care about her problems. The male labourers were more concerned with her pretty face, even to the point of molestation, but her teacher was quick to put a stop to any such attempts. And they began to ignore her.
Eventually she was left alone, the days dragged on like a continuous grey streak, and she just lived from day to day, running her feet over the stone tiles. Until recently, when he came along, for the first time, no one had judged or ignored her, he was the first to just listen to her as a person. Bringing back kind thoughts of the times when her clan still existed and her own people were still around.
A small tear rolled down Lia's cheek. 'They must be discussing something important right now.' The girl wiped the tear away and looked with hope in her eyes at the cherished passage from where it was supposed to appear at any moment.
...
Dima left Hin's office close to dawn, he and the abbot had discussed a lot of things during the past hours, and in general Hin's plan seemed reasonable to Dima. To simplify, they would simply wait until a full-fledged civil war started in the Ruyen Empire, by which time they would be prepared and would sweep away the current king with a decisive, sudden blow. Then there were details, lots of details - they discussed everything from potential allies, to the tactics of the local general army battle.
Which, by the way, did not surprise him, it consisted in one thing: both forces line up opposite each other in a standard formation: infantry in the centre and cavalry on the flanks - and that's it. Dima did not believe at once that it was so simple. In his childhood it seemed to him that a medieval battle was a real chess game between the lords of two armies. Deception, bribery, manoeuvres - everything for the medieval commander.
The reality was more prosaic than the Total War series, all of the above certainly took place, but in most cases everything was decided by good old-fashioned wall-to-wall combat.
The main problem was that once the battle started, it was almost impossible to contact the commanders on the ground, so the original battle plan was basically the only one.
'Something should be done about it', Dima thought to himself, trying to systematise the received information somehow, but the guy's brain had another opinion, and more specifically - to sleep.
Dima turned the next corner and he saw an adorable picture: his acquaintance was sitting curled up, leaning against the wall and sniffing softly. The guy hurried to her and seeing her sweet face he wanted to hug her again. But he just shook her by the shoulder.
"Ah, I'm getting up." Lia mumbled through her sleep, slowly opening her eyes.
"AAH! Dima, what are you doing here?" With a mixture of fright and bewilderment asked the girl.
"I wanted to ask you." Not fully understanding the meaning of his question, Lia frantically looked around and with a flushed face searched for a plausible explanation.
"I... was waiting for you." Was all she said.
"Thank you," Dima said and gave her hair a friendly pat, 'It's so soft.' Dima thought to himself and reluctantly removed his hand to Lia's great dissatisfaction.
...
The couple walked in silence, Dima was busy thinking about his meeting with Hin, while Lia just enjoyed his company. Soon they reached Dima's chambers.
"Good night," Dima said quietly and was ready to open the door to his room.
"Dima..." Lia whispered quietly, trying to draw the guy's attention to herself.
"Ah, yes..."
"I don't know what you were talking about with the abbot, but..." Lia came closer and took the guy's hand, "I'm sure you will cope with all the difficulties."
"Thank you," Dima said with a smile.
"Em... you can close your eyes..." Dima, whose brain was shutting down literally on the move, just fulfilled her request. Only nothing happened further, the guy thought for a moment that it was some kind of a joke. He opened one eye and saw Lia desperately trying to reach for his cheek, but because of the height difference, she couldn't do it.
Heartbroken to the core, the boy smiled, and squatted down.
'Smack."
"Goodnight," Lia said, bashfully hiding her eyes to the floor, apparently in her imagination this kiss should have been a little less comical. Having seen his shy girl off with his eyes before turning round, Dima lay down on the bed. Sleep didn't come at all, but the guy couldn't think about saving this world.
'And why didn't I pay attention to such girls before?' - The boy asked himself. On Earth, he liked perky and combative girls, those who would not go into his pocket for a word, and quiet mice somehow sailed past him.
'And for nothing.' - Dima summed up today's experience and fell into a saving morpheus.
...
Hin remained in his office, the man was satisfied with the past conversation, but even more he was pleased with the fighting spirit of the guy, so far Dima tried not to show unnecessary emotions and just got into the local order.
But today was a different case, the guy finally showed himself, which certainly pleased Hina, the man raised his eyes to the ceiling and quietly said.
"Thank you for your help Chorus," the man said absolutely sincerely, without a shred of subservience.
"Zing.'
There was a faintly audible sound from somewhere behind the wall. The abbot opened the secret passage without delay and took out a shimmering orb. The man clutched it tightly in his hand and the light instantly became brighter, more homogeneous.
"Hin, is that you?"
"Do you know any other abbots?" Fatigue, was not a verdict for Hin, he just couldn't miss even the slightest opportunity to make a joke of his interlocutor.
"There's been a big change of plans, we'll have guests in a week."
"What, how?"
"Just like that, our informants miscalculated, the preparations will have to be accelerated as much as possible."
"I hear you."
...
The continent of Migard, port city of the Webi Empire.
In a richly decorated office sat a tall swarthy man, draped in a black uniform, over which was thrown the same colour cloak, the man's head was covered with a triangle, and his face irritation. The man sat in a chair and just waited, long enough to start getting angry.
"Where is this piece of meat?" The man asked himself and rested his hand on his chin.
"I heard the whole thing." A voice answered him from behind the door, which was immediately opened. "At least I'm not fried yet." The owner of this luxurious office, a grey-haired but energetic man of European appearance, entered the room.
"Don't get up, time is precious right now." The man in the mackintosh did not intend to do so in principle, and only unhappily waggled his eyebrow.
"Here look Maser, this is our target," said the man, pointing to a freshly laid out map, Maser took a quick look around, and not finding anything interesting replied.
"And for the sake of that you dragged me out of the brothel, what good is she now?"
"And very simple my dear friend, you are performing the day after tomorrow," the man paused and defiantly coughed to attract the attention of the interlocutor, although after such news it was not necessary.
"What, how, according to the plan we were supposed to sail only in a month?" Maser didn't like the message of this conversation, and he didn't try to hide it at all, even considering that the head of the Webian Trading Company was sitting in front of him.
"Yes, we were supposed to, but plans have changed, so we're on a new schedule."
"We're not ready! Provisions and armaments are not loaded, ships are not checked, I'll be spending at least a week gathering my men from brothels and taverns. Most importantly, we have no approved plan, which, by the way, should have been approved at the war council, even the date of the meeting, which I do not have." Maser gesticulated vigorously to convey his position to his interlocutor, but he only listened silently and at the end of his speech gestured him to sit down.
"I've already taken care of everything, and yes, your people were really hard to gather, but by tomorrow everyone and everything will be in place."
"And the plan, the plan?!" Maser shouted, clutching the map on the table in his fist.
"I always thought that you were a brave man, were you afraid of some savages?" provocatively asked the head of the Webian Trading Company.
"I'm a savage, if you remember, and fear has nothing to do with it, Rigord, we're going to the other side of the world, and there'll be no one to help us there, it would be suicide to sail without a plan, and my God doesn't approve of that."
"I knew you would say that," Rigord pulled out a small package from his pocket and handed it to his companion.
"Which one?" Maser immediately recognised the seal, 'Imperial House of Webia', breaking the wax the man read the neat lines greedily, his eyes darkening more and more with each second of reading. Putting the letter aside, the man stretched out in an armchair and took out a cigarette and smoked, ignoring the angry look of the owner of the room.
"Do I think you're forgetting yourself?"
"And I think you've gone completely fucked up: what the fuck is a prince, and in general, can you at least answer me why such urgency?" Maser's eyes were about to burst out of their orbits because of the tension.
"It's very simple, there's no money in the treasury, that's all. Don't look at me with such big eyes, you won't hear more from me, because I don't know the details myself."
"What's the prince got to do with it, and why was he appointed to lead the expedition?" Maser was not so much offended at being dismissed from his post as afraid for his own life, Prince Edward was a dullard and incompetent, as the whole empire knew.
If he hadn't, Maser would have thought Rigord was just leaking him. Cold sweat ran down the back of the experienced warrior's neck. Seeing his subordinate's depression, Rigord spoke.
"Don't worry, you will have a hundred ships and fifty thousand soldiers at your disposal, just take it as an easy ride. The Empress has promised to give you something incredible at your disposal."
"Well, first of all, it's not mine, it's his." Maser angrily pointed his finger at the letter, "and secondly, I don't like it."
"It's not up to you or even me, that's another thing." Rigord grabbed his companion's arm and pulled him closer to him.
"If anything happens to the boy, it will be the end of you and me, remember that."
"I will." Maser answered without looking, releasing his hand in a single movement, already looking at the map of the barbarian kingdom with the simple name of Haro.