The she-wolf and the boy went around the base for a few moments. They were greeted by many of the guards and soldiers in reverence and respect, standing out of their way.
The two of them steered clear from the prison, with Forcas giving a small offhand comment.
"They're going to Zerem soon. Hopefully, you'll get to join us soon, but you're pretty much allowed to go wherever you want now."
She smiled and rubbed his head, and he swayed like a happy dog. "Oh? That's the capital, right? I heard it a few times when the guards talked."
Forcas gave him a nod of approval. "Correct. It's my proper home and where my master lives. It's a great city right in the heart of Nahar, surrounded by a freshwater moat."
It came about there before Forcas was even born, and she believed that it was formed through creatures of the land rather than anything man-made.
Nasiah's golden eyes sparkled as Forcas talked about Zerem. "Wow, can you tell me more?"
His natural curiosity simply grew day by day as he discovered more about this wonderful world he was placed in.
The she-wolf looked around, finding a small white structure behind the main building of the outpost. "Sure thing, I know the best place to go to for us to talk."
The young boy tilted his head. "Oh? Where?"
Forcas smiled and began to walk towards the strange structure. A cute idea just popped into her head. "It's a bathhouse where people go to clean themselves and bathe."
Nasiah looked at the building, and they began to enter. It was made of sandstone and supported by wood. He could feel some heat emanate from it.
"Really? I usually just have my mother clean me when she says to or if I feel dirty."
The she-wolf gave a small chuckle and nodded her head as she walked through the wide halls and into a closed-off room that had a pool as wide as a small court within it.
The water seemed warm, if not hot, as steam rose through the air and into carved ventilation shafts near the ceilings so as not to fill the room with it.
Forcas grabbed a few towels from a nearby rack and proceeded to dress herself and Nasiah down before covering them both up with the towels.
She then walked into the waters, holding Nasiah's hand before placing him on his lap and began to wash his hair.
"So, you want to know more about Zerem? Well, aside from the capital status, as I said before, it was my home, where I grew up, or rather, grew up beside."
Forcas remembered the days of running in the desert; she would often find herself dealing with bandits on the sides of roads that would try to runsack caravans.
Nasiah stayed still for the she-wolf to clean his hair up. "What was it like living there? What was the ruler like? Was it always Forenus?"
The little boy wanted to know more about how many monarchs took their rule and how they handled and treated it. If he was to become one, he needed as much second-hand knowledge as possible.
The knight began to straighten out the boy's hair. "It was great. I loved it there. The people were kind, and the food was wonderful. If you were to head to the other nations, you would notice it's not as grand, with tall buildings of stone and iron, but I've always preferred the lowlands, which have clustered structures like caves. You honestly don't need that much space to live in, right?"
She remembered heading to Balthalem, seeing the massive roads with buildings that all seemed to be trying to compete with each other for size. It was scenic for sure, but to her, it was a little bit too much.
The little boy thought about it. Honestly, to him, it depends on what kind of buildings you're going to make and for what purpose. For example, a grand spectacle-like area such as a temple needs large spaces to showcase its grandeur.
However, he understood that sometimes it took up too much space at a time and needed to be carefully planned out.
He nodded his head. "Sometimes it's a little too much, but I guess people want to seem more grand than they really are."
Forcas laughed and moved to clean his arms and neck. "That's right; as for the ruler, well, my master was not always the one in charge; before, he was a woman known as Abyzou."
She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how she stole from her people, constantly forcing them to do taxes via offerings to appease herself and her patron.
"She was a greedy woman who made a pact with a powerful creature known as a Behemoth. It gave her the power to conquer lands and transform them to her whim, and as payment, she needed tribute from those under her rule."
"She would forget about how the people lived, only focusing on herself and a select few who she considered close. No one could do anything about it; anyone who did simply was bought out or killed."
Even she was not safe from this. Forces had to give her nearly all her belongings until she was essentially living in a hole in the ground.
"That was until my master, Forenus, came under the rule of Duchess Astorath and defeated her. He took over as the one to rule over us, and as you can see, he has tried his best to give us peace."
She then grinned and turned Nasiah around to face him. "I became his knight after I saw how he handled Nahar. He rebuilt it from the ground up and focused on those that mattered, the people."
The she-wolf placed her forehead on Nasiah's. "If you want to be king, always remember, they are nothing without their subjects, without the land they rule. That's what makes a king."
A smile grew on her face, and the boy mirrored it. "Got it! I'll make sure to take care of my people, and that includes all of you!"
Forcas laughed. "I'm going to look forward to that."
Then, without any further words, she continued to wash the boy.