Enlightened Empire

Unlike Balit, nothing much had changed about the city of Eniila in the two years of Atau’s absence. Just as it had been before, the view from within the Aureus merchant guild’s top floor, down onto the streets, exuded a lazy atmosphere of old-world charm. In the distance, Atau found his ships moored along the pier, exactly where he had left them. They had already been guests in the city for a week now. Today was the day they would finally leave for new waters, as happy as he may have been to stay a while longer.

\"What are you looking at?\"

When he turned his head, he realized that someone had managed to sneak up on him, though Atau didn’t mind the intruder. Who would mind a visit from such a mature beauty? The pale skin of the Arcavians was contrasted by her dark, wavy hair that ran all the way down her back. Though her most seductive part were her eyes, always teasing, her shrewdness hidden deep within.

\"Did you sleep well?\" Atau asked, his arms still on the windowsill.

\"As well as I could,\" she complained. \"You did not give me much of a chance yesterday.\"

\"How could I? All this time, I saved all my strength for you, my love.\"

\"Oh save it for the tavern girls and don’t condescend me. If you lie to me in bed, I don’t mind. That’s fun. But lying to me out here is just an insult. I heard all the rumors, so don’t try to talk your way out of this. You know if I’m good at one thing, it’s collecting rumors.\"

In fact, The young lady Aurea, Master of the Aureus merchant company, was good at far more than just one thing. Though one of her greatest talents had always been to find the morsels of truth within rumors before anyone else could. So it was no wonder that she had grown her enterprise into one of the largest merchant companies along Arcavia’s east coast. Still, Atau wouldn’t ruin his time here by admitting to something he wouldn’t have to admit. Where was the romance in honesty?

\"I’m not sure what you mean, my love.\"

With a sigh, Aurea leaned on the wall next to him and looked at him with a displeased look. He was reminded of his youth. This was the look his etiquette teacher had given him after he had sneaked outside.

\"Is that so? Tani, Biana, Livia... you want me to continue? We can check if I found all of them. Really, this is fault, letting you in again. I only hope you carried no bug from one of those floozies to me.\"

At first he felt like he was in trouble, but soon he realized that she was more worried about disease than about his infidelity. No wonder, since their relationship had always been mostly physical anyways, and when it wasn’t physical, it was professional, just between a captain and a merchant. In the end, Aurea had always been too rational for her own good.

\"There’s no need to worry about that,\" he answered with a wide grin, happy about his answer. \"My cousin’s got me a miracle medicine, you see? Whatever I catch, it’ll heal like nothing ever happened. No problem at all. So even if I caught something, it died long before it got to you.\"

\"And that cousin of yours is what, some sort of miracle doctor?\"

Although Atau made her laugh, it wasn’t the sort of laugh he wanted to hear. From head to toe, she was dripping with sarcasm. Though he didn’t really mind. After all, he was telling the truth for once.

\"Sure. Laqhis is a lot of things. Miracle doctor is bound to be in there somewhere.\"

\"Please allow me to remain skeptic.\"

*Nothing unusual then.*

For a while, they just stared out of the window, into the peaceful morning streets of Eniila. In the end, Atau was the one to speak up first again.

\"You know, I was a bit curious and wanted your opinion on something. I’ve heard rumors that there’s some religious war going on between the north and the south. Anything I should worry about as I travel along the north coast?\"

\"Is that why you came back to me?\" her dry laugh felt like a sting deep into his soul. \"So you could squeeze me for rumors?\"

\"Nah, it was mostly because you got a great ass,\" he said and grabbed for her waist, though Aurea moved out of reach like the wind.

\"How charming.\" Although she turned away, a smile had returned to her face, clearly happy with the compliment. However, the harmony only lasted a moment, before she became serious again. \"Though you did hear right. The southerners have their new religion, and the great priests at the top, around the continent’s center in Valerna, want to retain their exclusive right to be the most important people in the world.\"

\"Sounds like you support the south. I always thought you weren’t interested in the Ioannites.\"

\"I support no one, not between those two. They say they fight for principles or freedom. But really, they just fight for money or power. If I support anything, I support the war in general. Lots of money to be made from war. Though I am still an Arcavus adherent, if that is what you were asking. I think little of those new heretics down south, celebrating and praying to some ordinary man as if he could compare to a god. Still, the war is far away and has nothing to do with me, or you.\"

\"When I was in Borna, their king had just converted. Clearly, he sees things differently.\"

\"Yes, because he doesn’t want to send money to Valerna any longer, I would wager,\" she said as she rolled her eyes. \"There have already been several wars between smaller lordships in the center of the continent. About a year ago, some radical Ioannites took over a small town in Trocina. They stormed the local steward’s mansion and plundered the old Arcavus shrine there. If you believe them, that form of worship is ’heretical’, so they liberated all that gold and all those gems from the shrine’s statues and insignia.\"

As Aurea spoke, she sauntered over to the bed in the corner and fell onto it. Even as she lay in bed, her feet remained on the ground.

\"Though it seems like those robbers failed to make their just case in front of Trocina’s lord,\" she continued while looking at the ceiling. \"He declared them rebels and set off with his army, to crush the rebellion and clean up the nonbelievers. Then some southern countries who already converted to the Ioannites thought they needed to protect their brothers in Trocina and got themselves involved as well. Now it is no longer a rebellion, but a proper war. So of course Trocina’s allies would send their own soldiers to die over some gold that is long gone by now. So far, the north and east coasts are staying out of it, but the entire affair is getting bigger and bigger. I hear that the emperor in Valerna might declare some sort of holy war, like the one to push back against Shimoa over west.\"

As always, Aurea was a spring of knowledge. While it was nothing he couldn’t have learned elsewhere, he was still glad to get the information from someone reliable.

\"Have you heard anything about Borna or Cahlia getting involved?\" he asked what really bothered him.

\"Well, they are across the entire continent, so I wouldn’t know. Though I would reckon that they will stay out of it for now. Mostly the center that has been involved so far. Still, the air smells of fire and iron. Some incense too, from both sides. In another year or two, the whole continent might go up in flames. Even this place might not be safe anymore.\"

\"Death and murder are at least good for business, as you said.\"

\"Not if they burn down entire cities. Some war is fine, but the way these pious people waged this new religious strain is a complete mess. No one has adhered to any of the old rules of conduct, nor do they understand civility. People are being burned alive once they are caught, just because they thought the wrong thing. Entire cities are razed just for some extra rations. Feels like everyone has gone mad from one day to the next. At this point, we are only trading at the fringes of the conflicts, mostly to lordships who border the battles and may get involved soon. I refuse to send my people any closer to the war zones. They are just as likely to be robbed by the marauding bands of soldiers as they are to turn a profit.\"

\"Well, if you ever find yourself in hot water here, you can always just move to Medala. I know a couple people over there, can help you get settled in pretty quickly.\" Although he had made the offer with good intentions, both of them knew that Aurea would never accept. That wasn’t the kind of woman she was.

\"A month-long trip across the waves sounds like hell to me,\" she replied. \"And it sounds like I would have to see even more of you than I do already. So allow me to decline.\"

\"If that’s your biggest concern, you should pack your things and leave right away. I won’t be in Medala much anyways. What with all the traveling around the world and exploring and everything else.\"

\"Feels like everyone is an explorer nowadays,\" Aurea sighed. Reminded of something, she shot back up from the bed, a twinkle in her eyes. \"Hey, have you heard of Captain Dolemius?\"

\"The idiot who was trying to make it all the way to Chutwa from here?\" Atau sneered. \"Yeah, I’ve heard the name.\"

\"I would never dare to call a great explorer an idiot, but then again, I am not the greatest captain of all time. Are you jealous when I praise a man besides you?\"

\"Hah, that phony isn’t even in the same league as me. At least I understand basic mathematics. How can one man so dramatically underestimate the size of the globe? Pretty sure he traveled without proper navigation too. If he hadn’t gotten so lucky, he would be dead by now.\"

\"Maybe that’s true for all of us in these times,\" Aurea said with a sigh. \"But if he made a mistake it is the kind of mistake I would like to make myself. He found an entire new world in the process, that is some luck.\"

\"Or so he claims.\" Atau scoffed.

Ever since he had arrived here, locals had been talking about nothing but the exploits of the great Captain Dolemius. According to his own stories, he found a new continent far to the east of Arcavia. Atau had heard all kinds of tales of the new land, about people with two heads, man-eating giants and mountains of gold. It was the kind that storytellers would make up of places they had never seen. To Atau, all of it was nonsense.

\"You don’t need to believe the rumors on the street, but you should at least believe me,\" Aurea replied in a sour tone. \"I saw the captain and his crew come home. Don’t tell me you don’t trust me, great captain.\"

\"You did?\" he asked, finally interested.

\"With my own eyes. The brave explorers were paraded around the street to get the people excited for further expeditions. I saw the gold, the strange statues, and the stranger savages they brought with them from the new world.\"

\"That’s... unbelievable. A new world? How large is it? Where?\"

As if a fire was lit inside Atau, all the suspicion was blown away and replaced by a dim haze, as if the entire world had become more mysterious. Though for once, Aurea didn’t have all the answers for him.

\"That much even I don’t know,\" she admitted. \"And if I did, I would risk my head if I told you. Something like this is secret knowledge of the crown, just as bad as a map of the kingdom. No one is allowed to know the location of the new world, or any other details. Though I did hear that on their first expedition, they only explored the edges of the new continent they found. Captain Dolemius believes that he will still be able to sail for Chutwa once the new continent is sufficiently explored. Though maybe he only said so to gather support for his next journey.\"

The development made Atau fall into thought again. While it was great that the Arcavians were busy with all kinds of matters and didn’t seem all too interested in Medala for now, the discovery of new routes to the east could spell trouble in the future. He had heard Corco talk about his long-term plan more than once. Monopolizing the trade between Chutwa and Arcavia played an important role in that plan.

However, the threat of a new eastern passage to Chutwa also offered an opportunity for them. If there was new land in the endless waters between Chutwa and Arcavia, then Medala had just as much access to it as the Arcavians did. Wouldn’t this be a chance for their expansion as well? At the very least, they could compete with the Arcavians for their new route to Chutwa and intercept their new trade routes.

*It’s all too complicated. I can’t decide anything on my own.*

\"What are you thinking, oh great explorer? Do you want to travel east as well, and compete with the great captain for glory?\" Aurea’s joking tone brought Atau back to reality.

\"Nah. He was an idiot the first time he tried this, and he’s still an idiot now. Maybe he’s a lucky idiot, but that doesn’t change anything. Why explore new worlds, when there is so much of the old one left to see?\"

Reminded by Aurea’s question, the haze in Atau’s head cleared. Whatever path others took wouldn’t matter to him. He would forge ahead on his own regardless.

\"At best, the idiot has his route, and I have mine. And my route does not lead me east. Today I’ll set sail for the west again. Soon, we’ll reach farther than any Medalan, or any Arcavian has ever gone. We’ll see who the greater explorer is then.\"

With a spring in his step, Atau walked over to his lover and kissed her lips.

\"Don’t wait up for me, my love. I’m sure we will meet again.\"

His final goodbyes spoken, he reached for the door, to return to his men, and his mission.