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Morning arrived with a lot of cries from cockerels and the scents of food cooking. It was probably very early, but I couldn't wait to get started. Rolling out of bed, I dressed myself in a long, loose tunic and a very fine cloak, it was a real struggle, though, sitting on the edge of the bed, to bring my foot up to a position where I could get a sandal on it. Should I wear my crown? For now, I just carried it in my hand.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjRPWIwKkY
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On leaving my room, a guard outside looked at me in astonishment before composing his face into a neutral expression.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvgmSnNuHM
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It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea of my way around this castle, yet it would be very strange if I were to ask the guard. So I just followed my nose and again, was met with looks of disbelief and alarm by servants and soldiers until I found my way down and around some wide stairs to a hall big enough for a feast, though all the tables were bare.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxXtisYvnQ
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'Ah, sire, we weren't expecting you for many an hour yet. I'll hurry the cooks.' A female servant came over as I sat myself at the top table in what was obviously the king's large, padded chair.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJG0vYMneh
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'Just two poached eggs please and an apple and an orange.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQNpWryAUo
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'We have apples, sire. Not the other.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdcBBc9eJ0
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'Ahh right. Two apples then. And if you can press a few more to get juice out of them, I'll drink that.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjkWPwKGkJ
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'Yes sire.' The servant, a middle-aged woman, had worry lines across her forehead. 'So no roast pork?' She gestured towards a door that I presumed led to the kitchen, judging by the concentration of cooking scents from that direction.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgsMeAmXLZ
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'No.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVj1g1ggNje
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'Er… forgive me, but just to avoid error, sire, no beef slices in horseradish sauce?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ecuJxXOAI
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'No.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy9n4B4bZN
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'Nor the chicken breast in garlic? The bread-and-butter pudding? The…'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcq4vnIp9yR
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I caught the servant's eye and with a gulp she stopped speaking.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXO0utvzrpf
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'Nothing,' I said firmly, 'other than the eggs, apples and the juice.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy0zUlwB95
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'Certainly sire,' the woman backed away with an anxious bow.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiw1910PNi
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It would have been interesting to chat with someone and learn something about the world, but none of the guards and servants would dare look at me. The large dining hall was silent as though empty, even though I could count six guards and four servants.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrw2DS7XyT
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Oh well. I raised my right arm and cascaded some menus. Good, steel pickaxes had been researched, my town now had the knowledge of how to produce them. So I opened up the smithy and planned for a build of 84 new pickaxes, one for every miner. That left my research queue empty and I crunched on one of the hastily delivered apples as I eyed my options, there were hundreds of possibilities, grouped into three core categories: economic, cultural and military. Currently, the food crisis was my biggest concern and my plan to solve it was via exporting ores. Assuming all my neighbours were hostile (and even if they weren't, I wouldn't want any of them to have extra iron supplies), I needed to get my ores further afield. And that meant… Navigation. A six-day research project.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPqFkjY0rX
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After breakfast, with the help of a servant, I changed into tunic and trousers and good boots, then sent for my trainer.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBok9poD125
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Carradock Goblinbane was missing an arm at the elbow. I didn't ask; maybe the king knew his story already. On the short walk from the castle to the barracks training ground, I briefed him. I needed strength training as rapidly as possible. I didn't voice it aloud, but I knew that I just could not risk progressing my character until I understood the issue of stats better and, in particular, whether I could push them up through training.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrIsYekyqo
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'Strength it is, sire, and all-round fitness.' He looked at me longer than most people did. In fact, most people here didn't look me in the eyes at all. 'It will take a while. We must not rush. You're too big and too – excuse me – soft. You'll hurt yourself. For the first day, I just want to you walk around this ground fifty times.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvddZaDUeI
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'Fifty?' How hard could it be to walk fifty laps of a square whose sides were only about a hundred metres?433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeeKU98ay1n
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It was very hard. After one lap I was sweating. After the second my thighs began to ache and I found myself slowing down from my fast initial pace. After the third, I was panting and my huge body was complaining pretty much everywhere. On ten, Carradock handed me a tankard with cool water in it and I gulped it down. Then he offered me a sword hilt. It was a practice weapon, a rod of iron with no sharp edges. I reached out for it.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKNzC3VcxA
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'Are you sure?' Carradock looked sceptical.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LRQmBdvo9
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'Of course. I can do this.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5j6K6pKsyO
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'No, I mean, your left hand.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LFBvwRMUn
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I had grasped the sword and raised it in my left hand. I tried it then with my right, shook my head, and shifted it back. 'This is better.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAdZCdFLjr
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Back on Earth, I was left-handed. Had the king been right-handed? Was this a sign to everyone I wasn't their old ruler?433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtXtmcbOEy
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'Carry it as often as you can. It will make your sword arm stronger.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28zLxPstFb
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'Now?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1WkXpOIVM
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Carradock nodded, perhaps with a hint of a smile on his narrow, fox-like face.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pTfz3pLT9
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Then off I went again, with a new source of pain slowly moving up from my left wrist, my arm and along my left shoulder. At twenty I took another breather. One side of the barracks square was a two-story, grey stone building. The other three were enclosed by a low, wooden fence. And at the fence were gathered a dozen people, looking in at me. On their faces were expressions of dislike but also astonishment.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIzw6IDwAX
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All this walking had been good for my thinking. 'You,' I pointed to a woman with dressed in a tunic whose design matched that of the other castle servants. 'Get me the ambassador, Figus.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNfdiUQG7n
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'Yes, sire.' She curtsied, but I could tell from her body language she didn't like the duty.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxfu2RO9ZL
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'And the rest of you, get along with your business.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RvzaCoQdd
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No one spoke, but they all immediately hurried away.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerBT3TOAZt
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It was another two laps before my ambassador came to the square around which I was walking. No doubt I was red-faced and quite a sight, but that didn't excuse the smirk on his face. Figus was quite the rock star. Unlike everyone else here, his hair was not a natural colour, rather it was bleached somehow and stood up in clusters of spikes. With a grace in his walk and a cynical smile in his bright blue eyes, I could see his Charisma of 15 was definitely in play. What was mine again, 3? I suddenly felt very conscious of my frown lines and a posture that was sagging at every point, including my face.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFA0oPRnrhl
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The ambassador drew up close, took in a breath and then bowed. 'Sire?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6dzQtkMOT
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This was a welcome excuse for a break, though I was aware that Carradok was watching and probably disapproved.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb07zPmtFIb
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'We need to trade ore for food, what's the best way to go about it?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqDOwtJBMx
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Figus looked up with some surprise on his face. 'You are seeking my advice?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVD70ypKWb
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'Uh huh,' I was still catching my breath or I'd have pointed out that he was our ambassador after all.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgYmHqQnUA
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'Well, as you know, we are at war with Southway and Trolland, our nearest neighbours. So they are out. That also blocks the inland routes. By sea, we could trade with Cantreth, the Kingdom of Lost Souls and Rockguard…' he paused in thought. I paused in tiredness.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVXCDmA7BV
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'Your majesty has no scruples dealing with a Necromancer?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYi3JLGbqU
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'Not at all, some of my best friends are Necromancers.' I was thinking of Storm Wars of course, but the look of consternation on the face of Figus made me feel like laughing.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡow1W6q6kHj
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To be fair to him, the ambassador recovered his poise quickly, 'in that case, I think the best deal we could make would be with the Kingdom of Lost Souls.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFZfffYDW2
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'Right so, off you go and make that arrangement.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhoVAW3t4s
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'Now sire?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoWv6OlIxC
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I nodded.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94yOi9yPyK
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He hesitated. 'How much ore and of what kind and quality will we be offering?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwNeYuG2st
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I didn't have to call down the menu for the mines, we were currently producing 2 ingots of standard iron ore per day. Assuming that would rise with the new pickaxes… 'Fifteen standard iron ingots a week.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAQVuPSsoV
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Figus nodded and then with a temerity that was unusual in the people around me caught my eye. 'One more question, sire, if I may?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnUNrXx3hI
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'Yes?'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJChWWXQKp
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'We don't have a trading vessel, but we would get much better terms if this exchange happened in our ship.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqmYfUuwzV
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'I'll make that a priority.'433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiwd7vexzs
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'Right so, I'll be off then.' There was a jauntiness to the man's step as he left me to my circuits. Had he deliberately just parrodied my turn of phrase? If so, I rather admired him for it.433Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYdiqWsdzF
