After forty-two laps, I was beyond exhausted, my large body drenched in sweat, my left arm on fire. Every time a citizen came through they stopped in complete astonishment, sometimes gathering in groups to stare, until a frown sent them scurrying about their work. I lived for the nod of approval from Carradock each time I arrived back at the gate against which he leaned, often in conversation with other soldiers. Also, for the thought of a long, long warm bath.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2RgLzp188
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A castle servant, the one from breakfast, was ahead of me, twisting her apron in her hands and looking everywhere but into my face.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoV4EBw2zRB
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'Wha'?' I wheezed out.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFIspmITDJ
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'Chef–' she flung her hand out in a gesture towards the keep, where a short man in what looked like a grey baker's outfit '–wants to know what to prepare for dinner.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgxxxePd2m
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'Dear lord.' I came to a stop, worried my aching legs would not want to resume. 'It's not important. But keep it simple.' My predecessor had obviously enjoyed eating extensive meals with several courses. 'Just a couple of slices of roast meat and …' What would an athlete eat? Food with plenty of protein and vitamins. 'Wait. Grilled fish. Nuts. Fresh vegetables, like tomatoes and carrot, that don't need much, if any, cooking.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeyPtpU11L
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I wasn't really hungry just now, my body was too stressed, but no doubt my appetite would revive later.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wV6zl5Job
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'Ahh…'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrqY11BuXn
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'What?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpSYh5mQui
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'Chef won't be pleased.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0cPfNC5JF
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I stared at her. 'Hands up if you are king.' I put my own hand up. 'That puts me in charge.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKS1bQG6Hd
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Once she had turned away, alarmed, I returned my focus back into my final few laps. Although it was distracting I when I turned a corner and was facing the keep: there I could see the chef remonstrating with the servant. He kept looking over at me, as though in appeal, but I wasn't having any of it and focused on moving one leg, then the next, and on keeping hold of that enormously heavy sword.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeziuMKiciE
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I wasn't allowed to settle into my rhythm again though, for with a clatter of metal-hooves on cobblestone, a small group of riders came into the barracks yard. Some were soldiers of mine but one was carrying a green pennant (deep green, with a golden wolf's head) and dressed in expensive-looking clothes.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0Z53PUfn4
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'King Carlos?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLWMyQGd9q
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Either I looked dumb, having forgotten my name here, or else the new arrival was dismayed by my appearance.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGqbmZEowo
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'King Carlos?' he tried again.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvscMyz8Fg
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'Yes?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3p2aHxnLW
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My impression that this was a man who was attentive to his looks was reinforced as he dismounted and made his bow. No one had a beard as neat his without some effort.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6sXi1M2eA
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'Lord Oseso, ambassador to his majesty King Wace of Southway.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jo2MZyGXk
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'Pleased to meet you.' My politeness was automatic. I felt no warmth towards this man. Quite apart from the fact his rich, fur-lined cloak and black, oiled hair alienated me, this was the enemy.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8ITXD41Mf
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A crowd was gathering as soldiers and civilians moved closer to hear the ambassador's words.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzxQC516zV
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'Perhaps we can take some refreshment in private?' Lord Oseso suggested.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsD2i13kcma
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I shook my head. 'There's nothing you can say that I would hide from my people. Why are you here?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqloIbhiUB
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'Are you sure?' There was a knowing sneer in his gaze, inviting some kind of complicity from me.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Qh7f0tfFj
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'Get on with it. I'm busy.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDDfPvt1t6
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Supressing a smile, the ambassador from Southland shrugged, as if to pass off any blame. 'King Wace, in his generosity, offers to make Greyland a dependency of Southway. You,' he gestured to everyone, 'are spared conquest. And you personally, sire, will be given a comfortable retirement, dining on the finest food of our realm in the company of delightful personal companionship, in return for implementing the decisions of his highness on your interface.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjX8CDAoMGZ
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A silence fell over the square and even the crows stilled their caws, as if to listen to my answer. I let my heart and breath settle.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70LKEs6VVA
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'Firstly, we are not conquered yet. Secondly, we all know what it would mean for our kingdom to be run by an invader…' I raised my voice for all to hear. 'People dragged off to work wherever your ruler wanted; our soldiers used up in his battles to spare his own troops; our wealth drained into your coffers; starvation and ruin here.' I knew what I was talking about, it's what I intended to do to them.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezaXRDUBuh
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Lord Oseso shook his head. 'Careful what you say next, this offer won't come again.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAdB52iUcw
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'Good. If we see you again, you'll be executed as a spy. Greyland will never surrender and you can tell King Wace that unless he withdraws from our territory, it is he who will suffer conquest.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9M3ER8oYS
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'I'll tell him of your empty threat and he will laugh. And he will remind you of it when you are in chains at his feet.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9B7paxW9g4
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'That is disrespectful.' I was furious and at least a part my anger was drawn from the uncomfortable feeling, fear even, that he was going to be proven right. I walked over to him, using my height and bulk to lean down and snarl. 'Vincit qui patitur, he who endures conquers. And Greyland will endure.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyPXV05Pso
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Perhaps he saw the determination in my eyes. Perhaps he understood how close I was to striking him with the sword in my left hand, which no longer felt heavy. In any case, the ambassador's head dropped and he stepped back, then turned away to find his horse and remount.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBObAJTR9cc
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'Blindfold him and lead his horse. Don't let him look around as he leaves.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljzAuOxpk5
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'Yes sir.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovgwmrqkAY
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'Right, then everyone, back to work. We're going to have to work extremely hard, myself included, to endure and escape conquest.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd20lDQh4t4
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Muttering broke out among the people and it was hard to judge the tone. Certainly, it was not the cheering enthusiasm of a people rallying to their king. But among the soldiers especially there were several faces that looked brighter and more supportive than they had.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHYQ3q8Z8S
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'Now, Carradock. I was on lap forty-four, was I not?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRWbr20Tmc
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'Forty-three sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZzZ0PFG3G
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'Damn pedant.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aOLXADfYm
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The last few laps were painful. It did help, however, that I could study the town menus and take my mind from the constant complaints of my body. That gave me one measure of the effect of my responses to the ambassador from Southway, which was that the score for Happiness under the people menu had risen from 14 to 16. At least it hadn't gone down, so on the whole, they seemed to approve of resistance rather than surrender.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cjEZTE0gc
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It was the military menu that got me thinking again.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOeDxVlKgq
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Military176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kQ1MWpPxm
Light infantry: 32176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuQnwT94GB
Heavy infantry: 12176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrlDCzXoyW
Archers: 18176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWi4o9r6yO
Light cavalry: 24176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgrx0bqXuA
Heavy cavalry: 4176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5QVzBUwwh
Ballista: 1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkasBMSUO3
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Hospital: 17176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ScSFg4vHS
Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhTpnDkkb6
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Currently training: 1 heavy cavalry176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECiieKM8hx
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejkzmnH7b0
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Currently building: tower machicolations, 3 days
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Why was I training heavy cavalry? They were costly in terms of iron and tactically useless. We would be holding defensive positions for the foreseeable future and while I hoped the day would come when I rode at the head of a line of formidable heavy cavalry, that was a long way off. Although it meant losing whatever raw materials my predecessor had invested in the project, I cancelled the heavy cavalry from the training queue and instead added fifteen archers to it, at a cost of 10 iron ingots and 15 gold and 15 of the unassigned townspeople.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqmz1SgI5s
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That left me 12 unassigned townspeople to think about. Before setting them to various tasks, I needed to know about building a trading vessel. When I tried to call up information about ships, I got a frustrating message.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhG0x75y0tr
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Shipbuilding176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYl1t3M9hk
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Unknown.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJHdg2MxXj
Create a Shipwright to unlock this option.
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'Hey, you!' I called out to a skinny youth, who was hanging around near the steps of the keep watching me with earnest eyes as though I was last man in for a cricket team that was over a hundred runs behind. And I couldn't tell if he wanted me to fail or succeed.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzphs20RdzC
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'Sire?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunpPrV4y8G
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'Get the Chief Carpenter for me.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDwGBZHPPf
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'Yes, sire.' The lad got up without any urgency and strolled down a shadow-filled street.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHk3PldPvA
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I was on lap forty-six when the carpenter arrived, he was a bald, confident looking man, with intelligent brown eyes.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8eGOlIoaG
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'Walk with me,' I grunted.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZVWTnUEp5
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'Sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnQmWm2vhA
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'Can you make us a trading ship?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKh1GOKlkxt
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The question came as a surprise but he took it well, hardly faltering in his step. 'No sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZfqm6VfV9
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'What if I researched Shipbuilding One?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZJdW3wwcq
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The man looked at me, surprised, then down at the ground. 'As you know, sire, I only have access to a limited menu in order that I can view my tasks... I couldn't be sure about research, but Shipbuilding does sound like it will make the role of Shipbuilder available to you.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswUWrs7sK2
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'And I can then assign someone to it?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZZ1cthfq0
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'If it becomes an option sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIQJbHs7OM
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'Would you like to do it?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5YTRTagPv
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'Me? It's up to you sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gGb9etoYs
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'Yes,' I said, a little impatiently. 'I know that. But I'd rather people enjoyed their work than hated it.' This wasn't just coming from my innate sense of politeness, it was practical too. I wanted that town happiness score to rise and surely by assigning the right people to the right jobs, at least when it came to specialist roles, that was going to help?176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtIMXpVrJf
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We walked the entire length of the barracks square and turned back towards Carradock before the carpenter answered. 'I think I would like that sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR23tiLg5e6
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'Right so, find someone in your workshop who wants to be the Chief Carpenter and I'll make you Shipbuilder in…' I checked the research menu, dropped Navigation (there was no penalty, but I risked having to restart it again from the beginning), as it still had five days to go, and swapped to Shipbuilding 1, 'four days.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6Y0mB6YHA
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'Thank you sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVv1fiNpBt
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'Now tell me this. I see a lot of people in the town. But not very many on the menus. Why is that?'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXA9KixLsxK
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Again, the carpenter looked astonished. Then a little wary, as if I'd set a trap. 'People want to join the menu, sire, to serve the goddess... and you. But it's limited, isn't it? They can't get on unless you've been able to make room.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3t57Olao0
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That wasn't an answer that clarified very much, but I gave him a grunt to signal he could go back to work. It was as much as I could manage. As for the twelve unassigned people in the town, I decided to leave them for now. Soon I'd want shipbuilders and sailors.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0LM5L8G6v
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Forty-seven.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pE64wNhLO
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Forty-eight.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwQA3ln4sg
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Forty-nine.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Xvn5sk3wr
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Fifty.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8ZDEk378t
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'That's me done for the day.' I spoke to Carradock with as much nonchalance as I could muster. As if I could do another fifty, although every muscle was groaning.176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyvM4ManPa
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'Well done Sire.'176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRa9qxGix4
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That acknowledgement lifted me all the way back to the keep.
and then Add to home screen.