Enlightened Empire

As it was a city by the sea, any westerly and northerly breeze would carry salt and moisture through the streets of Saniya. Every breeze would cleanse the streets and buildings. Thus, Saniya had always been a relatively clean city by medalan standards, even when it had been a neglected backwater under Sawo's control.

After the city's sewer system had been built and several sanitation measures had been taken, the city became even cleaner than before. Even here, in a rather ordinary neighborhood near the harbor, the environment was quite pleasant.

After Sami had spent the last two years renting small rooms here and there, he had recently purchased a house of his own, in this very neighborhood. Although the house was small, and the neighborhood poor, at least their little brick-and-concrete home with the white plaster was clean and cozy.

This neighborhood had been recently built to address the city's rapid increase in population. The houses here were cheap, small and mass-produced, in an attempt to provide housing for all the new citizens. Even so, construction could only barely keep up with immigration, so even a humble home like this had come at an outrageous price.

Thus, Sami's family had taken out a large loan to afford it. Luckily, many banks were willing to give good conditions for housing loans to anyone with stable work, not least because a lot of the bankers were also running construction companies on the side these days. Thus burdened with a large debt and now without a job, Sami stood at the start of a long journey. At its end, he would repay everything he owed, or end up bankrupt and homeless.

Back when they had first bought the house, he — a poor craftsman's apprentice from Vallunaraju — had been proud to have his own, to be the first in his family to own a piece of land. Now however, the picturesque little windows looked like scornful eyes, teasing him for his hubris.

Don't be stupid. You already have a plan, just need to go through with it.

Sami shook his head to drive away the uneasy feeling and decisively stepped into the yard and through the front door. As soon as he entered, he saw his wife Ulan wait for him at the top of the stairs.

Even after all these years, her appearance always served to overwhelm Sami, who acted like an experienced grownup in front of others, but was still a boy from the province at heart. Unlike him, his wife was a noble lady from Medala's capital — though her family had become destitute — and she had the bearing to match. With her impeccable aura and outstanding appearance, the former noble lady had quickly become the star of Saniya's royal theater, a position so much higher than his own, and much more profitable. In fact, Ulan's income had been the main reason they had decided to buy a house in the first place.

It was only unfortunate circumstance — as well as his wife's deep-rooted worries about their future — which had forced Sami to take drastic measures and forego his safe job at the manufactory.

"How was it?" Ulan asked, as she gracefully walked down the stairs.

"It went well," Sami replied. As he took off his thin raincoat made of waxed wool, he showed his wife a confident grin and a devious wink while he added: "I am now officially unemployed."

Without a word, Ulan took the kettle of boiling water hanging atop the family hearth and filled a cup for each of them. As usual, the cups would be filled with foraged herbs from outside the city, a cheap tea alternative they could afford, and even then only every once in a while.

Every time he came back from work, Sami would sit down and watch his wife make this tea, just as he did for her when she came home from a performance. The only difference today was that he still wore his cheap boots, since he intended to leave the house again soon.

As he watched his pregnant wife go through their usual routine in silence, Sami's unease rose up through his stomach once again. Even though she was a famous actress in the city, Sami had always been able to read Ulan like an open book. Thus, he could see the worry written on her face, hidden behind a mask of calm elegance. Finally, after Ulan had poured tea for both of them and sat down, he could no longer stand the silence, nor his wife's anxiety.

"Please don't worry too much," he said as he sat down in front of the steaming cup. "Everything will go well."

"You know I dislike your plan," Ulan just replied after a while. "Merchants live dangerous lives even in the best of times. Yet we live in times of war."

Although they had long come to an agreement about his plan, Sami's wife always felt insecure, always looking for more safety in her life.

Only he knew that this confident queen of the stage slept a light and anxious sleep, always on the verge of waking up with a pounding heart. Thus, rather than brush her off with a 'we talked about this' or a 'this was your decision as much as mine', he simply took her hand and put it on the table between them, his atop hers.

"I know, I don't like it either," he finally said into her eyes, while trying to prevent his own anxiety from leaking into his voice. "I don't want to leave you here alone and do something so risky, but we have to do it, for our future."

"Yes, and for the little one," Ulan added, and put her free hand atop her non-existent belly. Even so, Sami could still feel her other hand tense and jitter from nervousness. This was already hard for him, but how much worse would it be for her, who always struggled with her nerves? How bad would it be for their unborn child?

"You know, I don't really have to do it," he concluded, and acted out some confidence to take away his wife's worries. "I can always just go look for other work elsewhere. Your husband's a genius, you know that well. I can do anything."

"And what about the money?" Ulan just asked. Such a simple question, yet it represented an impossible problem for the two of them, as it did for so many in this city. Still, he would rather be poor and happy than risk it all for some unreliable chance at wealth.

"We'll get by somehow. We still have a lot saved up, so we can slowly look for a solution until we run out of savings," Sami thus said, pretending to be calm about their situation.

Maybe, he thought, he would be able to run across another opportunity, one which wouldn't force him so far away from his family, one which wasn't so dangerous. After all, the city was full of opportunities these days. In that case, Ulan would no longer have to worry so much. However, his attempts to calm his wife only made her frown.

"Sometimes, you are too flighty. You cannot always turn your back and take the easy route when you face trouble," she admonished him.

Ever since she had learned about her pregnancy, Ulan had become a lot more judgmental, no doubt worried about their future. Sami himself also realized that this indecisiveness was a big problem of his. He tended to consider problems from every angle, which would always enhance the difficulties in his mind. Thus, he would often pick the safest possible way forward in the end.

As a result, he was still nothing but a poor craftsman, while his friend — who had arrived in the city on the same boat and with the same qualifications — was already an important figure in the city. Though of course, he had never felt much jealousy. Although Sami wasn't rich, he had always been content with this stable way to live his life.

Now however, things were different. Now, he was no longer just responsible for his own future. It was time to shed the timidity, and act like a man for once. Just as Sami was about to agree with Ulan's complaints, his wife spoke up first.

Stolen novel; please report.

"We should never have bought the house," she said, and then after a short silence, she added: "Sorry."

Apparently, she had mistaken his long, introspective silence as blame. Of course, he couldn't let such a misunderstanding stand.

"What are you apologizing for? Without you, we wouldn't have anything," an anxious Sami argued, before he added: "I should be the one to apologize for being so useless."

After all, the only reason they had been able to get the loan for their house was because Ulan had made a small fortune while acting on stage. Back when they had bought their new home, they had thought that they would be able to easily repay the loan with her continued income. Now however, all their plans seemed to have been nothing but fanciful thinking.

"Well, now we are both equally useless," she said with a smile, which somehow felt a lot calmer than before. Her hand slowly slipped out of Sami's, and she stood up to walk to the edge of the room, towards the piled-up firewood.

"In the first place, you know our troubles are not limited to the house alone. What happens if our child is a genius?"

Again with that, Sami thought, while hiding his annoyance.

A while back, Saniya's first 'university' had opened, apparently. He didn't know much about it, but Ulan said it was an institution of learning, even more advanced than the local schools where the king had been personally teaching the next generation of Saniya's upper class. However, while the schools were free, entry to the university was supposedly quite expensive, at least for ordinary people like them.

Thus, after hearing about this new way to lose money, Ulan had only become more anxious, always in the belief that their child might end up smart enough to study at this university, yet his parents wouldn't have the money to support his ambitions. He wanted to sigh at his wife's fanciful optimism, but held back because of her condition.

Even so, it was true that they would need to spend coin on more than just the house in the future. Raising children wasn't cheap, and raising them well was even more expensive. Even if their child only became a craftsman like Sami, they would have to pay a small fortune to have a proper master take him in as an apprentice. If they had a daughter, they would have to provide a dowry for her marriage as well. Of course, all of that didn't yet include the money needed to feed another mouth, among other things.

As he mulled over their money problems, Sami watched Ulan lift up a loose floorboard behind the firewood, and take out an old leather bag, which jingled with every one of Ulan's steps. She came back towards the table and let the small bag down in front of Sami, yet her hand never let go of it.

"I left behind enough coin to feed myself and pay back the due debt for the next five moons. Apart from that, this is all we have," Ulan concluded in a solemn voice. Her words only served to make Sami more anxious.

"You know, maybe this was a bad idea-" he tried again, but this time, Ulan interrupted him.

"You can do it. I didn't marry a hesitant carpenter. I married a man who could do anything, who was always the smartest in the room, and always the most confident," she said in a solemn tone, as her eyes intently stared into his. "Do not bet our future on the vague hope that another chance will come. I might never earn another Silo in my life. We have to prepare for that."

"Just... you are the most popular actress in the city. You wouldn't lose your work so completely, would you?"

In fact, Ulan was more than just popular. Due to a coincidence, she was the favorite actress of some important people. That coincidence alone was the reason she had made so much money in the first place.

Over the past year, most theaters in the city had introduced plays about the miracle king and his heroic victory over the false priests, or his victory over his patricidal brothers, or his victory over the godless foreigners. Meanwhile, Ulan had become the leading actress in a play which focused on Queen Sumaci instead.

In the story, the queen heroically rescued the king from drowning to win his heart. After the premiere, a servant of Queen Sumaci herself had personally handed Ulan a precious bank note worth a hundred Sila, a fortune for normal people. Apparently, the queen had seen the play, and left her the money with the comment: 'Finally, someone is telling the truth for once'.

From that moment on, Ulan had regularly received special rewards from the queen's palace, as well as from other nobles who were eager to flatter the most powerful woman in Saniya.

Ever since she had settled down in Rapra Castle, Queen Sumaci had taken a particular interest in supporting the arts. In that time, Ulan had quickly become her favorite artist. The money from such favor had been enough for them to put up the coins for their house and get a good loan deal. Then, the pregnancy had happened, and Ulan had begun to panic.

No matter how hard Sami looked, he still couldn't see a trace of his wife's pregnancy anywhere on her body, even though the doctor had reassured them that she was two or three moons along. If she wore wider robes, she would be able to keep performing for a few moons more at the very least, and then she would need to take only a moderate break right before and after child birth.

After that, she would surely be able to return and once more win back the favor of Saniya's upper class with her unique temperament and outstanding voice, honed by the sophisticated crowds of Medala's capital. However, his insecure wife thought differently.

"You do not know the stage like I do," she said. "My pregnancy will be a break in my career. As soon as I leave, others will congregate onto my roles like vultures onto carrion. When I return, there will be no more place for me. As for the queen's favor? Such a high-born personage will quickly look for a new toy as soon as I have left her sight. By the time I return, she will surely have forgotten all about me. If we want to keep the house, if we want our child to succeed, we need a better, more secure path to make money. Preferably one which is not reliant on something as fragile as my pretty face. You always said that you hated your work at the manufactory, that you were underpaid and that you had bigger goals and bigger dreams. So make them come true, and take us with you. That's all you have to do."

As she spoke, Ulan walked around the table, knelt down next to Sami's seat to put their faces on the same level, and touched her forehead against his.

"I will," Sami finally said, in a solemn voice which reflected his renewed resolve. "Don't worry. Soon, your husband will become the greatest merchant in the Verduic Sea."

All of a sudden, all his previous concerns and fears were washed away as if they had never existed. Now, he was determined to fulfill his dreams, and become a great man worthy of his great wife. Whether or not she would be able return to her acting career didn't matter any more. He would finally be a man who matched the greatest star in Saniya, and make sure she had the soundest sleep of anyone in the city.

With his resolve restored, Sami picked the bag of money off the table, and Ulan finally let go. There was no need to count the coins and bank notes inside again. He knew exactly how much it was. After all, they had already counted it endlessly over the past few days.

With his free hand, Sami downed the cup of cheap non-tea and stood up, ready to bet everything on their future. Just in time, a man's voice called from the outside.

"Hey! Sami! We gotta get going!"

In response, Sami turned towards the door, eager to set off. In contrast, Ulan's response to the voice was surprisingly cold, considering her previous enthusiasm.

"I only hoped your partner would be more reliable," she commented. "I could not imagine what good that man would do you in an emergency."

"Don't worry, the navy has made the trade routes very safe these days," Sami reassured her. "And I will handle the negotiations with the clients. As for emergencies? Chanca might be a fool, but he will never abandon his friends in a crisis. He is far more reliable than he looks."

Sami's money-making scheme was to become a merchant. Of course, becoming a little trader with an ox cart wouldn't be enough to make the kind of money he thought his family deserved. Thus, he had to get his hands on his own ship.

Luckily, Sami's old friend Chanca had recently mentioned that he wanted to buy one as well, and had even offered Sami to contribute with his own funds. At the time, the offer had felt like celestial guidance, and even the careful craftsman had only hesitated for a moment before he had agreed.

Of course, he had later talked the plan through in detail, with Chanca as well as with Ulan. While she had agreed at first, always willing to support his ambitions, she still seemed hesitant now that push came to shove.

"The Verduic Sea is still a region of war after all," she finally said, and took his hand again. "I worry for you."

Again, Sami had to act confident as he squeezed Ulan's hand.

"We will be fine," he insisted. "That war is happening mostly on the distant islands. Along the main trade routes, almost all the battleships fly the king's flag. And even if we were to meet some of those verduic pirates by chance, they still ride those old rowing boats. They will be easy to scare away, since they don't even have cannons, unlike us. You know who my friend is."

"A braggard and a womanizer." Ulan sneered, her face now mean in a way she couldn't even replicate on stage. At least now, she no longer looked as frail as she had earlier.

"Yes, but you also know who his father-in-law is," Sami joked. Finally, Ulan had nothing more to say, so Sami let go of her hand, tightened his fingers around the bag, and put on his coat again, even though it was still wet from his trip home.

"Please don't worry," he said again, now with a determination he no longer had to force. "I will succeed, and make us happy, all of us."

After his declaration, Sami left his new home, ready to work hard to make sure he would never lose it.