Present Moment...
His last day at the monastery started as usual, he had been warned in advance that today he was on his own and no one would touch him today. After a light exercise and washing up Lia brought breakfast, and it did not disappoint, whether Hin decided to please him last, or finally it was time to slaughter animals today was meat, and quite a lot.
Fried chicken, rice, a lot of meat was on the plates, flavoured with a delicious smelling sauce. Having devoured it all in five minutes, the boy lay back on the bed and autism into the wall. He was brought out of this vegetable state by a knock at the door.
"Come in!"
The door opened and Lia entered the room, the guy immediately noticed that she was a bit shy and gestured for her to come closer.
"Hi."
"We've already seen each other today."
"It's not a sin to say hello to a good person a second time." After these words Lia blushed visibly, and suppressing excessive modesty sat down next to him.
"Soon there will be a war!" she said with anxiety in her voice.
"I already know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it's just that so many things came up."
"I understand." There was an awkward pause in the conversation.
"What are you doing here?" Dima asked, remembering the abbot's words, 'He must have done his best here, too' flashed through his mind for a moment.
"Today I was relieved of all my duties, I am a healer and my abilities will be needed later, so" Lia shuddered and looked at the boy hopefully.
"Can I stay at your place?"
"Sure, I'm completely free today too." After his words a smile blossomed on the girl's face, which was passed on to Dima.
"Since we're not doing anything anyway, can you explain something to me?" Lia nodded her head. Dima spent the next day on getting information, asking about everything, how people lived, their problems, traditions, asking a lot about clans and neighbouring countries, and with every story of Lia his face darkened and filled with laughter.
To summarise, the situation in the kingdom was deplorable: apart from the medievalism that reigned throughout the continent, the local king had his own quirks. He was rumoured to be a great lover of luxury and women, which undoubtedly affected the negative growth of the country's economy. He didn't share his money and treasury, which of course didn't surprise Dima.
The rumours were many, and most of them concerned two persons, the Queen, Arisa, and the master of Tun's nephew, Lin. The former was described by Lia as a woman of indescribable beauty and indescribable cunning. With the help of which she was rumoured to be spinning the king as she wished, and for all the troubles on 'earth' not all, but many blamed her.
Lia spoke about Lina with a slight aspiration and undisguised respect; the girl described him as an honest, proud and intelligent man - her words made the boy think deeply, firstly, why such a man should serve Toon even if to take into account his kinship with Toon.
'There isn't enough paper on Earth to describe all the cases where brother went after brother.'
Secondly, not all members of the Emo clan are goats and freaks, unfortunately, the world is not black and white, and Haro's kingdom is not an exception, whether he wants to or not, but good people will have to be killed.
Dima formed his opinion about the tsar based on a simple fact, after buying the land from the nobles, he did not give it to the peasants and did not even put them on the analogue of medieval mortgage. He simply kept it for himself, taking the entire tax base under himself, not forgetting to raise taxes every year, ignoring all the efforts of his father.
The reforms of which had been nailed to the coffin, and the huge sums invested in modernisation had disappeared in a puff of smoke. Lia told a lot about the new vervia that foreigners from Midgard were building, about concessions for the extraction of timber, oil, steel and whatever the hell else, about the hundreds of foreign specialists that were so often seen in the capital.
But she ended all her stories with one phrase: after the death of her father, Tun threw them all out into the countryside.
The couple talked until the evening, and after dinner Lia wanted to say goodbye, but Dima grabbed her hand.
"Lia," the girl's body trembled, and Dima clearly felt it.
"Dima, I don't rea..."
"I'm leaving today," the guy interrupted her, watching her reaction.
"What, how?" Panic settled on the girl's face, and her hand shook even more.
"I can't tell you where to, it just so happened" Dima paused, trying to pick up her words more precisely.
"I just want to say thank you for everything you did for me," Lia could hardly hold back her tears, 'Again, it's happening again, I'll be alone again.' That thought hit her with the force of a steel crowbar, the girl could barely stay on her feet.
"I'm sorry." All she managed to squeeze out, her voice was choppy and weak. Dima, taking advantage of her confusion, took her palm and pulled her to him, Lia tilted her head, two small white rectangles in her hand.
"What's that?" The girl asked.
"Gum, just chew it and you'll understand everything, but don't swallow it." Setting an example Dima put the white rectangle in his mouth and actively moved his jaws. Lia followed his example.
" I-t a o-very tasty," she chattered without stopping chewing, a bit like 'grassi'.
"Grass... what," the girl calmed down a little, and Dima deliberately continued talking about nothing, not letting her drown in bad thoughts.
"'Grassi', a delicacy prepared by northern monks on holidays, it's made of bee honeycomb, adding herbs and fruits grinded into powder."
"Hmm, we'll have to try it, why don't we stretch our legs, at least in the corridor."
"Let's go," They were not going to go far, the duo was happily sitting on the very windows sill, only now they were contemplating the setting sun. They admired this sight in silence, each of them had his own thoughts in his head, but nobody dared to voice them.
"Dima, we will meet again, won't we?" With hope in her voice said Lia.
"Of course," Dima hastened to reassure her by patting her on the head. The sounds of footsteps echoed in the corridor, and it was getting closer, and both Liya and Dima realised that the time had come.
"Dima, they are waiting for us." A man's voice said, Dima turned his head and Hin stood in front of him in all his splendour, accompanied by his guards. Dima only nodded silently and moved towards him, all his things were with him, there was nothing to take with him anyway. The guy threw a farewell glance to Lia and left, accompanied by the abbot.
Lia remained standing in the corridor, sadness reigned in her soul, turning to the window looking at the setting sun she smiled warmed by Dima's promise that they would meet again.
...
"Ason himself has come for you personally, keep that in mind."
"And how I should behave," Lia was the only one in his head, and with difficulty, but he still switched to the current events.
"Just be brave, Ason is an old school warrior known for his extremely specific humour and manners."
"Even so, I'll be in the know." Dima followed Hin, trying to recreate in his head the dialogue with his future patron. The group left the walls of the monastery and turned into a small courtyard, the monastery was gigantic, and the surrounding area was even bigger. So there were plenty of little nooks and crannies.
"Hin, you devil, I'm glad to see you!" A tall man in his fifties with a gaunt face covered with numerous scars shouted out, and the man stepped forward to meet the abbot and gave him a friendly hug.
"Ason, you're choking me," Hin grumbled, tapping his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yes, I see you're still the same wretch as before, so I've brought you some goodies."
"Ason said, opening his arms and pointing to the heavy bags on the ground, which were filled to the brim, of course."
"But that's not the point, let's see." Hin stepped aside, pointing at Dima, who realised the importance of the moment and made a stern face. Ason approached the boy, examining him from head to toe. After a pause, he said.
"I thought you'd be taller." He said dryly.
"And I thought you wouldn't be such an old wreck," Dima parried his barb; he had heard such fuck-ups at the factory and at the university for decades to come. The faces of Hin and his guards froze as if they were rolled in concrete. Ason stared at the boy in silence, not a muscle in his body quivering.
Hin cautiously watched this scene at any moment ready to give the guards a signal, but Aason was his friend, and he was also a battle-hardened veteran with his own way of looking at things.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha,' you're a stickler for words, good for you." Ason growled a couple of times, clapping the guy on the shoulder. Dima from surprise almost fell down, mainly, of course, because of the fact that Ason's strength was a lot.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Dima," the guy answered with a smile, the conversation had already moved to another plane, and the contrived seriousness was unnecessary.
"And I'm Ason, I'll introduce myself to you," the man shifted his gaze to Hin, who nodded, the men chatted a little more, the main topic of conversation was, of course, the invasion of the Webian trading company, but there were also personal questions and even some jokes from Ason's side.
Dima just stood there, pretending to be a tree. "Are you sure you don't need our help," Ason asked for the second time.
"No, or you doubt in our strength, get ready and keep your hand on the pulse."
"I see, okay, time is of the essence, we have to go now." Ason summarised and shook hands with the abbot and went away. Dima was left alone with Hin.
"Good luck to you Dima, and success in all your endeavours, Ason is a good man, yes it will be hard in the beginning, but when it seems to you that there is no strength to continue, just remember who we are fighting for." Dima clearly caught the hint, and replied.
"Thank you for everything Superior, take care of yourself, and just try to die, the world will not survive the loss of such a great man." Both men smiled and shook hands and parted.
Dima got on his horse, and having thrown an extreme glance at the monastery, accompanied by Ason and his men, the boy rode away towards a new page of his life.