The capital city of Thyana was far larger than any I had ever encountered. In fact I'd say it was three times the size of the capital of Smirnaz that I had seen only briefly as a boy. It was far wealthier too.
Everyone seemed to be a person of greater means than I. What was I to do in such a place?
I had no money and no clear path as to how to accomplish the mission with which Kuri had tasked me. It had taken us eleven days to reach the capital city of Thyana and, while I was impressed with everything I saw, I also felt a keen yearning to be away from it.
So many people. It was hard to tell in such a pressed throng as to who was friend or enemy.
It seemed there was to be a briefing before a higher court official as to what had happened in the south. I wanted no part of that, but I had no choice in the matter.
We stopped before buildings that had giant columns rising up all around. The building had pretentiousness written all over it. This must be the government then.
I dismounted and headed for the steps of the building only to see the old farmer keep moving on with the column. Hey, what was the deal here?
They were taking my horse with them!
The old farmer saw my look of consternation and shrugged bitterly, "It's you they want to talk with. As for the horse, it's mine anyway and I'll need the money that it will fetch me here at market in order to start over."
What the old man was failing to state, however, was the fact that he was also cavalierly leading away my saddle, along with what few belongings I had in the world. I made to go after him, but four guardsmen stepped into my path.
Was I supposed to do? Let the old man steal from me?
As I saw it, I had two options before me. Fight my way through the guards and end up in the dungeon, if I proved unsuccessful, or see to whatever they wanted of me first and then track down the ungrateful old man I had helped escort to safety.
I stepped away from the guardsmen and made my way up the steps as I moved with reluctance into the pretentious surroundings of this foreign kingdom. I was led past several grand halls that were filled with people, who appeared to be embroiled in legal work of some kind.
I doubted that Smirnaz had anything like this to boast of, but then again Smirnaz was the poorest of all the Kingdomer Nations.