Beyond the horizon the last of light caved itself deep, the torches lit a blaze across the full streets of the Varish kingdom capital, Bairen the blue eyes bland kid stood by the old blind man in his office, while a noble man sat on a chair facing them, one leg over another, calm eyes as if he owned the place, fingers wrapped around each other, his face empty of all emotions
"So… You are saying you won't be continuing your funding in the capital anymore?" said the old man sitting in his chair across the fancy table
"If you can manage to move my stakes from the capital and towards the Kazar's or the big market, then I wouldn't have to" replied the noble
"And why are you so desperate to get out of here" replied the old merchant
"I am not desperate" said the noble losing his composer before calming down again
"Look old man, this nation is doomed, I know I'm not the first to pull out from you, many came before me that's for sure," said the noble man
"Perhaps what brought to you such an idea?" said the old merchant
The noble sighed, his facial features got serious he leaned forward "let me tell you one thing, this nation is dead," he said before leaning back and continuing "at least its financial side is"
"I find myself disagreeing, the kingdom looks very stable to me, no conflict with the Kazar kingdom, and the Vikings are being cornered with ease" said the old merchant "And if you think the mad men beyond the sea can cross the water- "said the old merchant before that noble man cut him
"No, it is no where near that" eyes wide staring between his legs with a lowered head, his hands on his legs, fingers back to crossing each other, but this time tighter
"I heard you couldn't attend due to health reasons, I was, staring at that huge malfunctioning body of his, the king is no where near his best, and so is his sanity, all he says and orders is rubbish"
He stared at the old merchant in the eyes as he lifted his head "He is making child soldiers! that is what he ordered all the Kingdom's noble to attend to, him introducing kids!"
"You think a sane person would waste resources like that? And on top of that he is becoming an enemy of his own people, it's not just that he is making weird laws, but the taxes are doubling each year"
The old merchant spoke back and asked "that is not the only reason that many of you are moving out, is it? "
The noble took a deep breath and said "His crown almost failed him, and what it seems is that he is not the one holding it anymore"
The old merchant opened his eyes in shock, and so did the child beside him, but years of experience brought him to his calm state of mind as he said "Don't you think that is a good thing? When his crown fails, and many nobles have already fled, their will be much to harvest with no farmer in sight"
"The last farmer to leave the barren fields, will sell his tools to feed himself, how can he harvest when its green again if that is to happen?" replied the noble standing back up, walking towards the door he looked back and said "I will e coming back when the sun reaches its peak, I wish to be on good terms by then"
The door slammed behind him, leaving shock and disbelief only, "So, when are we going to pull out?" asked Bairen, the blue-eyed bland boy
"We are not," replied the old merchant
"What? Are we going to sink with a ship that us not ours?" said Bairen
"Most of my life was spent on this ship, I witnessed the other king's fall, and the rise of this one, I know how to swim to shore and wait for another captain," said the old merchant
"This is not swimming, and even if it was your legs are of no help for it, you heard the man this time the bite is deep, all efforts from the king are heading towards his army, many people are already living in the dark streets, at any given moment gold might become as worthless as their lives"
"Enough!" said the old merchant cutting the boy "You might be gifted in these topics, but this is my company, if you wish to remove what you own from this place you may do so, but I chose to help it rise, or witness a new"
The boy got back his composer and spoke "You are right, I have fallen into my own greed" as he smiled back at the old man
"No kid, you have the right mindset, it is just, I have a soft spot for this land, I started all my businesses here, I have grown to what I am here, I witnessed falls and rises of kings in here" replied the old man
"What we will need to do now is to first get you your new chair we heard about, and then plan out how to deal with the future" said Bairen, in his voice there was a hint of excitement and on his face a smile appeared
The old man lifted his head, although his eyes couldn't meet the gaze of the boy, for his blurry vision is making his daily life, he stared the boy as if excepting something
"I guess you did do something behind me huh," said the old man
"Don't you worry, it will be ready soon, so don't scratch deep into it, just close your eyes and let me lead the way" said Bairen giving his hand to the old man, helping him walk across the room and towards the door
"I will need to dig deep down anyway, you know, the things that started to happen when we set march towards the capital," said the old man
"Don't you worry about it; I will be pulling the infected roots in no time" said Bairen
"The least I could expect from you is this," said the old man with a smile
", I heard there is a nice bakery around these parts" said Bairen
"You just heard about it? You are falling back kid," said the old man
Closing behind them the door as they stepped out, leaving all that conflict and stress behind
Bairen laughed and said "What about going there tomorrow night? "
"I think the morning would be better, the bread still fresh and hot," said the old man
"What ever you wish gramps" said Bairen
"You know I don't like feeling old" replied the old man, their laughs faded as they went away from the room, and slowly, silence was left alone in there