Enlightened Empire

Chapter 322: Buying Support

A sharp cry woke the drinker from his shallow, bumpy sleep. As usual, the first thing he noticed in the morning was a buzzing and ringing in his ears. With a groan, he tried to rise, but only managed to push his cheeks away with his forehead, his eyes still pressed together.

These days, the mornings were even worse than usual. Maybe it was the dour mood in the city, or maybe simple habit, but he had been drinking a lot more lately. The drab loneliness of his home certainly didn't help matters.

To shake away the noise and pain, the drinker shook his head, but only rubbed his skin red on the hard straw of his bed. Finally, the chafing became uncomfortable enough to force him awake.

Although his feet were wobbly when he stood up from his cheap wooden bed, he was experienced with hangovers. He always had some water ready right next to his bed, put there every time before he went to the tavern. For a moment, he stared at the reflection of his squished face with the red forehead, before he took the entire ice-cold bowl of water and dumped it over his head.

If the shock didn't wake it up, his own scream surely did. Finally, the drinker managed to properly open his eyes. However, something was weird. Even though he was awake now, the noise in his head hadn't disappeared yet. Usually, that was the first thing to go when he woke up with a hangover, but this time, the sounds stuck around like a bad smell.

A constant, low buzz framed bright rings and deep thumping sounds. It took the drinker another three seconds until he realized that the sound didn't come from inside his own head. Instead, it was the noise out on the street that had woken him up. Annoyed, the hungover drinker rushed through his depressing room and over to his closed windows, before he slammed the blinds open.

The light robbed his sight, but the noise hit him like a wave. After he had retreated back into his house for a few seconds, he finally saw what was happening outside, and he was shocked by the view. Over night, the city had completely transformed.

Ever since the death of King Taoco, the streets of Rasacopa had been almost empty, and most people were afraid. Things had only gotten worse ever since Tayali – the bravest warrior of Rasacopa – had disappeared and foreign troops had begun to patrol the streets.

Now however, the sun shone on a crowd so large that the road below them had disappeared. The people were marching towards the city center, with a common purpose, though the drinker did not know what that purpose was. Many of them carried musical instruments and played them as they pleased, while the rest of the crowd talked and laughed, creating the kind of lively atmosphere the city seemed to have long forgotten.

All along the road, shrewd businessmen had set up stalls to make good use of the people's loose mood. Judging from the many passers-by carrying food, it seemed like they would make a mint today. Cloth streamers in the royal color of emerald green were hung up all along the road, and led the people ever deeper into the city and towards their goal, whatever it may be. Over night, the city was back to its former glory. It was as if the king had never died.

What is going on?

A confused drinker leaned out of his window and looked around, until he found a familiar face who could answer his many questions.

“Hey, Stickboy! What's going on here!?” he called towards his neighbor, who stared out the open window just the same as him.

His neighbor's name wasn't really Stickboy, of course, but some years back, the young man used to make some money by carrying firewood for the people in the neighborhood. Ever since then, he was stuck with the nickname. Although he would sometimes get annoyed by the name, he didn't react this time. The drinker shouted again, louder to break through the constant noise around them. It took him several tries to overpower the crowd and gain the brat's attention.

“Good morning, neighbor,” the brat shouted back, just barely audible. It seemed like he hadn't even heard the question, so the drinker tried once more, so annoyed that he was almost screaming by this point.

“What's going on here!?” he asked while he pointed at the crowds below them. Stickboy stared back with a blank look, seemingly confused at the question, before he shouted back.

“Today's Queen Sumaci's coronation day, neighbor! You didn't know!?”

In his head, the drinker somehow tried to make sense of the words. He mentioned 'coronation', so this was about a king somehow. But 'queen'? When did they get a queen? Princess Sumaci was only the king's little girl, and on top of that she was a foreign hostage until recently. Wait, one moment. Was Sumaci about to ascend the throne? When had that happened? As he thought about the shocking news some more, the haze in his head cleared some more.

Maybe he had heard about this in the tavern at some point. His memory was still clouded by fog, but maybe someone had mentioned something about a celebration. No wonder everyone outside was so excited! After today, the island would finally have a stable ruler again.

And after the disappearance of Captain Tayali, Princess Sumaci really was the best choice left to take the throne. Still, the drinker wouldn't just believe the sticky brat's words like that, and if there was a celebration, there may be drinks as well. Thus, he stormed out of his house and into the crowd, to investigate of course.

As soon as he joined the masses, he was taken along by the stream. He wanted to look around first, but didn't get a choice in the matter. Although he didn't really mind being taken in by the crowd like this, he felt entirely out of place here. The grumpy, hungover drinker seemed like a fish out of water in between all the happy, energetic people. Just as he thought about forcing his way back home so he wouldn't feel awkward anymore, he heard a voice next to him.

“Hey friend, why so moody?”

When he looked over, the drinker saw a group of youngsters who were walking left of him, all of them with food and drink in their hands. The closest among them them had turned to watch him with interest, maybe because the drinker looked so out of place in this atmosphere. Much to his surprise, the young man held out a cup for the drinker to take.

“Here, we should all enjoy the festival together,” he said. “When was the last time we had fun, right?”

Still confused, the drinker took the cup before he even registered the strange offer. He stared at the drink in his hand with suspicion and recognized it as Rasacopa's Unaqha Wine, his usual drink. Still, he didn't feel relieved by the familiar sight. People wouldn't just hand over their drinks like this, would they? In the end, there was always a price to pay. So he searched his pockets for some spare coin to pay up with, before he could be surprised by other costs.

“How much is it?” he asked as he tried to organize his copper with one hand. However, the answer shocked him as much as the surroundings had earlier. After the young had returned a dull stare at first, his face transformed into a frank smile.

“It's free,” he said and hit the drinker's shoulder in a friendly manner. “You didn't know, grumpy senior? Everything is free today.”

The drinker looked to the side of the street, at all the stalls that had set up shop and eagerly distributed their goods among the people. Did all of these people have too much money?

“They're all being paid by the palace today,” the youngster guessed his thoughts and explained. “They say that Queen Sumaci wanted everyone in her kingdom to be well-fed and happy during her coronation, so everything today is paid for in advance by the Green Court.”

“How generous,” the drinker mumbled and chugged down the wine in his hand. Soon, the familiar nectar spread its warmth all throughout his body and drove away the last of his cobwebs. At last, his mind had begun to clear, and things started to make sense again. Now he had almost forgotten why he had been so suspicious of this atmosphere before, so he decided to let go. Finally, he could enjoy himself just like all the others in the city did.

For the rest of the day, the drinker forgot his worries and celebrated with everyone else. With his ample experience, he vowed to teach those brats a lesson or two in alcoholic stamina. After they had reached the large plaza in front of the Green Court, the atmosphere became even looser, as more and more groups with instruments joined in spontaneously. The people celebrated all day, until the shadows of the buildings began to cover them and the first fires were ignited on the edges of the plaza.

“Everyone be quiet!”

The last, red rays of the sun could still be seen reflected in the clouds above, when the generous youngster from before called out next to the drinker. Under the repeated shouts of several perceptive people, the crowd's murmur soon quieted down, until everyone could hear the music coming from within the Green Court itself. Powerful drums hinted at the strength and majesty of Rasacopa's ruling family and heralded the arrival of their new leader. Not long after, a voice was transported across the plaza, impossibly loud.

“All bow, to Green Island's new lord, Queen Sumaci Hulpatec I.”

In response, the commoners lost their previous fervor right away. Even drunk, the people wouldn't dare be unruly at this time. They had all been taught their proper place by their parents and grandparents, so all went on their knees and lowered their heads without complaint. Just as the drinker was wondering what the point of the Queen's entrance was when all he could see were his dirty pants, the loud voice shouted out again.

“All may rise, to venerate their lord.”

When the drinker followed the voice's orders, his eyes were immediately attracted by the balustrade high up on the walls that separated the Green Court from the plaza. Although the sun had just left the city streets, it still insisted to reach the city's highest places with its last rays. As if to celebrate her arrival, the celestial body illuminated their new leader in a golden glow.

High up above the crowd stood their new queen, tall and straight, with a drum in one hand and a golden saber in the other, wearing the ceremonial garb of the green kings and queens, an emerald green robe stitched with complex symbols that none of the commoners could understand. Silently next to her, as if to disappear into the shadows, stood a young man with somewhat chubby features and a confident expression.

As soon as they appeared, the masses couldn't help themselves any longer. No matter how rude or wrong it was, they began to gossip all around the drinker.

“The queen is so beautiful.”

“Finally Rascaopa will be safe again.”

“Who's the one next to her?”

“Idiot! That's her husband, the Medalan King Corcopaca.”

“I heard that his kingdom is the richest in the world.”

“I heard he brought countless weapons for free, to support his wife in our island's defense.”

All around them, the people spread the vague rumors they had heard from who knew where. In fact, the drinker had heard many of them himself during his long evenings in the tavern. Back then, the rumors had been all over the place, good and bad equally mixed. While the most prominent spreader of good rumors had been the little palace maid called Puklla, other gossip had been spread by all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. In the end, the intensity and contradiction of the rumors had made many believe in chaos within the court and had only further increased the city's uncertain mood.

Now however, after a day of free drinking and under the influence of the queen's immortal shine, only the good rumors were left in people's minds, all bad words blown away by liquor and prestige. The Queen hadn't said a single word yet, but had already won the hearts of the masses. All it had taken was a fortune on free food and booze, as well as a perfect entrance.

Seems like our queen was eager to win over the people of the city, the drinker thought as he looked around the crowd of hopeful and enamored faces. And it seems like it worked.