Even the children in the Calia are warriors, Eirian realizes, walking the market with a somber Chenzhou and a distracted Yuze. They run around with little wooden swords, reenacting the battles they studied in school. So of them even carry real blades, re daggers to an adult, but they are real nonetheless.
They're all in black, too. Everything is. The signature red of the calia flower the place estate is nad after is almost just an afterthought, which is odd. Red is the color of love, luck, and wealth. It's been the color of the Army of the Empire since its inception.
She thinks Calia is in mourning without realizing it. Could the miasma be poisoning their minds while it poisons the stone?
Chenzhou is a steady presence at her side, lacking the pomposity that Philip had preferred and her father had always insisted on, afraid soone would forget who they were and why they were important.
Chenzhou's people recognize him and nod politely, but he doesn't seem to need more than that.
No one seed to recognize Yuze, which is fitting, she figured. Master spy and all.
"How big is this market?" She asked, examining the long row of stalls selling everything from food to weapons.
"A few hundred stalls," Chenzhou answered. "It runs the length of the Center Bridge."
"That connects the Northern and Southern sections, right?" Eirian had seen the map but hadn't had ti to morize it fully.
Chenzhou still looked impressed, those unfathomable eyes landing on her more and more often. "Yes. It's the main gathering place for the public when the army isn't using it for drills."
It was certainly big enough, Eirian noted. The stalls lined the edges, along the building walls and the guard rails of the bridge, and there was still space for six people to walk side by side in the middle. There were squares that probably had grass once upon a ti and trees that hadn't sprouted leaves in just as long.
It was nothing like the carefully curated marketplace in Aontacht, where colorful banners hung above manicured flower beds.
But it could be.
And it probably had been at one point.
"Tell the history of this place," Eirian said, and she ant it as a question, even though it ca out more like an order.
Chenzhou launched into the sa spiel they still taught at all the schools. "The first stones were laid in the Age of Warfare. The exact date is unknown, but it's believed they were laid by Eldric Arnheim, the Western General who defeated Lao Tzu Lin. After his victory, the war between Sorrow and the Land of Song and Snow ended, and he built the first castle here. The main house is built around it. It was ant to be a watchtower to alert the empire of an enemy from the east, but it grew with the Age and the conflicts that followed. Arnheim's descendants manned it until the line died out completely in the Five Year Battle. It passed through several families, but none of them lasted as long as the Arnheims until my ancestor took command."
"How was he chosen?"
"He was the last man standing," Chenzhou admitted, and for the first ti, Eirian saw a small, bashful smile on his face. "Towards the end of the Age of Warfare, the Land of Song and Snow attempted to conquer the Land of Sorrow. The Tinling Emperor of All Under Heaven led a million strong through the borderlands." He pulled her between two stalls, to the bridge's railing, and pointed.
A huge gorge cut through the earth under them and as far ahead as Eirian could see. Two smaller castles and guard towers rose on either side, and beyond them, Eirian could just make out steep slopes leading down to the rapids.
"They t on those slopes." Chenzhou continued, Yuze looking bored beside him. "The Calia had the better terrain, but the Tingling Emperor-"
"Had the manpower." Eirian supplied.
Chenzhou nodded. "They pushed Calia's forces all the way back to the main castle. Both those guard towers were destroyed and had to be rebuilt after the war. Both of the smaller castles were overrun; everyone inside was slaughtered. The main forces of Calia managed to fortify the main castle and lasted through a thirty-day siege."
"Tinling's forces were actually poised to break through and take the castle when the storm hit." Yuze interrupted. "A week-long storm with winds strong enough to bring down watchtowers and the kind of allgreen trees that grow on the Spine.
The allgreen species of tree was known for trunks wider than a normal man's reach and roots that ran deep. They were famous for their ability to withstand even the strongest storms, including the avalanches that happened in the higher peaks.
A storm strong enough to bring them down would be extrely difficult to survive.
"It washed most of Tinling's army into the fjords. Most of them are still down there." Yuze glanced down at the water, though if he felt bad or found it amusing, Eirian couldn't tell.
"Tinling's generals revolted and refused to continue the siege." Chenzhou at least sounded sympathetic. "By the ti the dead were tallied, the only officer left alive was my ancestor. In his diary, he wrote that he beca general by good luck and got the Calia by bad luck. He was only in control for a decade, but he had four sons. I'm descended from the second oldest, whose line ended up being strongest."
"Hmmm, that's not too different from my own." Eirian mused. "The Soliel bloodline ca to the throne a hundred years ago, but we're famous for second children outliving their older siblings. My father always assud my uncle would die before he could have children and he would get the throne."
Chenzhou humd, looking thoughtful. "Your uncle has been king for almost five decades now."
"Yes, I suspect my father is terribly disappointed, though he's not stupid enough to say it out loud."
~ tbc
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