The stronghold of the Umi clan...
Hito was sitting on a crate in the main hall. Why on the crate? This question had plagued many before him, as there were so many options: a throne, a rich rug decorated with cushions, a chair at the very least. But the Umi clan, according to its tradition, favoured a simple box, a tradition that dated back to the very origins of the clan.
Which in the beginning was a collection of vagabonds, bandits and thieves. Headed by an ambitious and very old leader, poor as the last beggar. There were no other alternatives, especially such a move favourably influenced the subordinates, who saw in their leader not another nobleman who was mad with wealth and permissiveness.
But their own man, close to them not only in thought, but also physically. And so this tradition was established in that gang, with a great future. Hito was aware of all this, and did not think it necessary to change anything. The young man himself was holding an ornate scroll, whose broken seal was lying on the floor.
He reread the message several times, then put the parchment aside and rested his hand on his jaw, thinking hard.
"What is Arisa writing there?" The woman's voice was quiet and soft, turning around Hito saw his sister standing near the wall. The girl was smiling softly, trying to placate her brother before the difficult conversation.
"Our queen asks, no, demands that we join the coastal coalition for the duration of the foreign invasion," Hito picked up the parchment and ran his finger over it.
"Not for free, of course, this fool believes that ten thousand gold as a deposit will make me throw the clan into the thick of things."
"Is that quite a low?" Anko objected, figuring out in her mind how the money could be put to use.
"Corpses don't need money," Hito continued with a cold tone in his voice. "We can cope with our own problems, there is no point in protecting others, and we will get much more in the future."
"Arisa will not forgive us for refusing, the consequences of our stubbornness could be fatal." Anko answered him, hoping in her heart that her brother would come to his senses and accept the alliance proposal.
Hino listened to her remark and got up from his seat and slowly walked to the window. Before him stretched the vast domain of his clan: forests, rivers, mountains - all of it belonged to him, not by law, but by the right of the strong.
He had taken on this burden, to lead the rabble his father called his clan, and he led, in his own way. And protecting Kali, Kimo and the others was clearly not part of his plans. 'If that stupid bitch thinks I can be bought that easily, she's sorely mistaken, and what's worse for her, I'll remember that.'
"Brother, answer me." Anko called out to her brother, the girl often watched her brother's thoughts, and at those moments she felt uneasy, just thinking about the ideas in his head made her shiver.
"I'll deal with it." Hito replied simply, getting ready to leave the room. Anko didn't like it, she quickly ran up and grabbed his sleeve and turned him round to face her.
"What exactly are you going to do, answer me," Anko hesitated a little, her brother was standing in front of her and she was not the one who had to explain what kind of person he was, the realisation of it hit the girl, she gingerly looked into his indifferent eyes, waiting for his reaction.
"Very simple, no message no problem." The guy showed no signs of aggression, answering calmly and coldly.
"How, you've already read the message, you've already broken the seal and accepted the messenger... no don't do that!" Anko grabbed her brother by his kimono and started to shake him, but the difference in weight and height made it look more comical than intimidating.
He only smiled slightly and in one motion put his hand on Anko's head, which made her freeze like a stumbling block. But Hito didn't think of harming her in any way, just stroked her head and said.
"There was no message, no seal, and the messenger, of course, was gone too - he had been killed by bandits on the road and stolen all the gold, and the message of our honoured queen had been lost." With each word Anko's face darkened more and more, her hopes that her clan would finally cease to be a hodgepodge of murderers and bandits scattered to the wind.
Removing her hands from her interlocutor's kimono, she settled to the floor. 'What was I hoping for, my half-brother is definitely not a man capable of this, I just thought I could influence him, I just hoped...'
Hito crouched down on one knee and pushed back her dishevelled curls to look into her eyes, his gaze was cold and indifferent, unlike his voice - soft as a feather.
"We are who we are, it's too late to change that, if you don't want to end up like our father, just accept it as a given and move on." Having said all he wanted Hito rose to his feet and left the hall without turning round.
The girl was left alone, she looked at the ceiling and said quietly, 'Chorus only gives us a choice, and we make it ourselves. The girl smiled to herself and stood up and decided to act.
The fleet of the Webian trading company...
Maser lay in his cabin, spitting at the ceiling in boredom. Two days had passed for him in endless meetings and conversations. And the amount of thanks and words of encouragement had begun to make his ears ache by the sixth hour of the war council. 'Who would have thought that only I, a savage from the desert, would have the courage to contradict that stupid cunt.'
He had no noble titles or family estates. He was just a free captain on the payroll of a trading company. In short, he was a nobody in Webia, and that was his strength.
"Captain, permission to enter." A voice came through the barely open door. It was Alan his deputy, seeing no reason to refuse he nodded lazily.
"We'll be there tomorrow night," the deputy reported, coming closer.
"I know without you, isn't it exciting?" The man looked at Alan with a keen eye, and grinned smugly.
"You're trembling, kid!" He said, causing the boy's face to contort in a grimace of incomprehension and surprise. "Oh, no, where did you get that from?" Alan justified himself ridiculously, trying to examine himself properly.
"HAHAHAHAHA," Maser couldn't contain his emotions any longer and burst into a hellish laughter, not stopping even under the stern gaze of his subordinate.
"Eh... okay don't take offence, no one has died from a stupid joke yet, I'm just bored." Maser with a smile halfway down his face stretched out on the couch and lazily pointed Alan to the table with a large pitcher. The guy understood him without words and pouring wine into glasses brought one to his boss.
"To our future success," Maser said solemnly and downed the glass in one sitting. Alan only nodded and hurried to follow the example of his boss.
...
Kimo Clan Palace, Aquino City ...
Niro stood on the balcony in the company of his twin Hin, both men contemplating the sunset, accompanied by conversation.
"War is near." With little bitterness in his voice said Hin.
"Spare me your pink snot, it should have happened a long time ago." Niro replied, filling his pipe with a new batch of strong tobacco. Hin looked at him sideways, he remembered today's advice: 'Our leaders are fragmented, our armies are fragmented, what does the future hold for us?"
Hin gazed cautiously into the oceanic distance, soon it would become a veritable battlefield. Burying the beauty of this world under countless corpses. Seeing that his interlocutor was once again in the clouds Niro puffed a cloud of acrid smoke at him.
"Gha, Gha. Niro don't breathe your shit on me."
"I'm sorry for upsetting your delicate arse with my worthless Nordic flavour." Niro told him with a cheerful smile, still puffing like a steam engine.
"It's just that you've got nothing growing in the north but marsh grass and pale muckleberries, that's why you're so mad." Hin dug around in his pocket and pulled out a small pouch of tobacco. Without a second thought he held it out to his companion.
"Try it, for once in your life you'll taste something better than grated horse shit." Niro and Hin looked at each other for a couple of seconds, their patience wearing out rather quickly and they both laughed heartily. Niro remembered to grab the pouch from his companion's hands and hid it behind his back.
"Do you think we can do it?" Hin asked seriously, laughing hard.
"I have no idea, there are too many unknown variables, but I just know that we'll do our best, and let Chorus help us make the right decision."
"That's right." The men were silent for a while, admiring the red semicircle slowly receding over the horizon.
"I wonder how Dima is?" Niro asked a little enthusiastically, as if to himself.
"I think he's giving me a good word for me right now. Ason is a good man, but he's not a gift."
Mena clan territory...
Dima had been travelling with the horse group for the fourth day already, all his emotions could be described by one word - pain. Ason said that they would arrive soon.
Suddenly a scout came out of the bushes, he quickly rode up to Aseon and said something quickly and went away.
"Folks, the river has overflowed and swept away the bridge, so we'll have to take a detour."
'Fuck.' - Dima thought, he had nothing more to say.