With a satisfied groan, Sawo di Pluritac stretched his hands over his head and greeted the midday sun. After a late start to the day, there was nothing like a hot bath in the bathhouse to freshen up his spirits. He had been quite stressed in recent days; and for good reason. For today, he just wanted to forget his troubles and relax.

“Administrator Sawo, there is a message from the south.” His attendant Iyo, always annoying, interrupted his peaceful day once again. Sawo knew well enough that the princeling had gone south to Puscanacra, but the constant nagging from the servant about offered help from the Ichilia clan was little more than an annoyance at this point. He was more than capable of dealing with some short brat, no matter what the rumors said.

That dwarf defeating the great Prince Pachacutec in duel? Ridiculous.

“Can't this wait? It's dinner time soon and I have barely eaten all day. My cousin has brought a cook from the capital. I hear he can create all manner of delicacies.”

“Lord Sawo...”

“No!” An imperious wave of his hand interrupted the whiny voice. Once the noise had been silenced, Sawo turned to look at the upright posture of his assistant, always correct. Truly a perfect servant to the Ichilias. However, Sawo had no interest in being servant to anyone. No, he had much bigger plans. “I will not hear any more of this. Are we in a hurry? Are you worried about your new master Corco, or how he will see you? Believe me when I tell you: The brat is nothing to worry about.”

Even when he had stood right in Sawo's front, the childish king had turned tail and run away. As far as Sawo was concerned, King Corcopaca had no honor, no courage and no strength. Never would Saniya's administrator hand his city over to a brat like that. No, his plans were much too grand to accept servitude under someone so lacking.

“Sawo d'Ichilia!” the boot licker said with more urgency in his voice. As always when he wanted to be heard, the servant reminded Sawo of their backing, of the reason he was here. Of course he should also know that Sawo hated nothing more than be reminded of his heritage as a watchdog of the Ichilia clan. However, he wouldn't stand for these insults, not any longer. Eyes narrowed, he marched over to the servant.

“What did you call me? Say it again and I'll have you whipped to death.”

In response to the threat, the servant made a simple step back. Wide-eyed, the coward stared at Sawo, who began to grin, finally free of his constraints.

“Why do you think I've been recruiting those warriors non-stop? Why do you think I've been working with the bandits and pirates, cut them in on my deals? It's all for this day. If those princelings, or anyone else, think they can control me any longer, they're at fault. This is my city! No one will rule it but me! Within the month, House Sawo will rule over these lands as the eighty-eighth estate of Medala! So maybe you should learn your place and think about who puts the rice on your table.”

While Sawo made his declaration, his voice gained more and more in sharpness. No longer would he be an obedient dog to the Ichilias. Rather, he had his own plans. If they wanted to work with him after his ascension to lord he wouldn't mind. However, he wouldn't take any more orders, from no one, never.

“Lord Sawo! Lord Sawo!” Just as he imposed his will onto the weak-hearted official, another annoyance closed in from Sawo's back. At least this one had used the right form of address.

“What!?” he shouted towards the skinny warrior who came running from the outer city. As soon as he had reached his goal, the former fisherman stemmed his hands onto his knees to catch his breath.

“Speak, damn you!” With a kick to reinforce his words, Sawo convinced the man to hurry himself up. There was little time. Before his cousin's banquet started, the lord of Saniya would have to put on his new robes.

“There's attackers!” with large eyes, the sweating soldier uttered in a single breath.

“Nonsense! What attackers?!” Another grand gesture and the lord of Saniya threw the bothersome servant to the floor to continue his preparations for a relaxing day, but Iyo's inopportune voice ruined his plans like they always did.

“Those attackers would be King Corco's returning troops,” the bothersome official said.

“How would you know?” Annoyed, the lord turned to the servant, his clean robes swinging in the sea breeze. With a smile on his face, Iyo fixed his posture before he picked up where he had previously left off.

“Administrator Sawo, there is a message from the south. The southern river king reports that a large number of troops under the Pluritac family banner are moving north and towards Saniya.”

Angered by the man's incompetence, the Lord marched over to the official to give him a shove and a good slap.

“Tell me this stuff sooner! How come I only hear of this now, as they arrive?” As he berated the little bastard, Sawo looked down on the official's sorry figure on the ground. That should teach the scoundrel to withhold information from his lord.

“The distance between Puscancra and Saniya is not very large... and administrator was busy with his bath.” Through the pain, the official smiled, as if the greatest crisis to their success was some sort of joke.

“Out of my way, useless bastard!” He pushed away the useless servant and turned, to find his warrior who had recovered from his previous shove. “Go barricade the gates! Don't let those bastards inside and wait until I've arrived at the walls!” With that, the lord of Saniya retreated back towards his castle, to ready himself for war.

By the time Sawo arrived atop the walls, ready in full lamellar and equipped with his trusty axe, the foreign invaders had already taken formation outside the gates. Several hundred steps from the walls, the foreign soldiers were set up in long, thin rows of men, armed with strange pikes.

What an atrocious formation, clearly their commander knows nothing of warfare.

Maybe not all hope was lost. Although their troops looked disciplined and well-equipped, they were commanded by a child and Sawo had the defensive advantage. All he had to do was fend off the invaders to defend his new lands. After all, who would still support a King without any lands? Once Corco was repelled, he could cut a deal with Puscanacra and make sure they wouldn't get themselves involved. This would be easy enough.

As he was thinking about his next steps, Sawo could see an enemy close in towards the gate. If the man wished for entrance, he would have no luck here.

“King Corcopaca Titu Pluritac, King of the South and Lord of Saniya has returned with his troops. Open the gate!” the brazen warrior screamed up the walls. How dare he call some stranger the lord of Saniya, how dare they take away his title!

“What king? We won't let a foreign army into our walls! If you want inside you will have to fight us tooth and nail! Archers!” Sawo called out as he looked down the alignment of the wall walk. Since Sawo had given his orders, on top of the walls had positioned themselves the elites of his troop. Genuine, high quality archers, recruited from the hunters of the region and given methods of cultivation. Though the techniques were simple ones meant for ordinary soldiers and they had started their own training somewhat late, it would still be more than enough for the mess of foreign mercenaries this so-called King considered and army. “Kill the impostors!”

With a smile on his face, the Lord of Saniya gave the refreshing order. From today on, he would serve no man. Without a word of question, his men drew their bowstring and began to fire their projectiles. In panic, the shameless bastard in his front ran away, scurried back to his master. As he watched him run, arrow upon arrow missing their target, as Sawo's smile turned into a look of annoyance.

“Damn you, useless bastards! Can no man here aim rightly!?”

“Lord may excuse our inability! The target is moving at a great speed and the wind turns from the west. Any hit would be pure accident.”

With a dark brooding look, Sawo leaned over the short crenelations. Though the battle might not be as easy as he had first thought, his heroic mood soon recovered.

“Let him run then. Make him tell the little brat just what the men of Saniya think of his so-called rule.” With a sneer, he turned to the side, to the archers who had since stopped firing. Though they were not perfect, they were his men. His own troops, and they would accompany his great legend.

“Brave men of Saniya, how long have you lived under tyranny!? Will you accept the rule of more kings and emperors, more of these highborn who only exploit you, tax you? You want to go back to being a commoner? Lose your warrior status? This is it, the great moment which, once and for all will, elevate you to warriors and with you your entire families! It is time for heroics, for a battle which will go down in history! Fight with me to repel the tyrant and we can create an estate all of our own, subject to no man but myself, the one who has taken care of you all this time. Do you feel fear, upon the mighty King's army? You should not! You have seen this so-called king mere days ago. A chubby brat, nothing more. Look at his troops, barbarians, with no order, no discipline and no plan! And how many are there? A thousand maybe? We have four thousand brave and true Saniya men to hold them back! I like to see them try climb our walls and break our wi-”

He had them won over, of that Sawo was sure, every man ready to fight to the death for his new lands. They would be the foundation of his rule, and he was more than willing to share with them in the bounteous treasures of the lands. More and more his speech gained in momentum as a rousing mood swelled atop the walls. Almost it was done, almost he had finished. The moment he stretched his hand towards the heavens, ready to declare their destined victory, he was interrupted by a string of dull explosions from beyond the walls.

To protect himself, the great lord dove down, his hands used as protection for his head. Once the surprise attack had stopped, the angered lord of Saniya turned to peek over the crenelations again. How dare they attack him like this? What he saw seemed too strange to be true. At first, he believed the distant smoke from the enemy formation to be the result of an internal revolution, but soon he realized what had been the real cause of the smoke. Before the walls of Saniya, the town's lord found a good two dozen deep craters where the earth had been burst from the ground and poured out over the surroundings. Of course the dullwits to his side had no idea what any of this meant, and he heard whispers of witchcraft in his ear, but he, a man of repute even in the cosmopolitan City of Huaylas, knew better of course.

“Cannons! How dare they fire upon our fair city!” Angered, Sawo looked out towards the fog, in an attempt to see just how many of these siege weapons the invaders had brought. However, considering the impact holes alone it must have been a few dozen. Though the slanted walls of Saniya were strong, strong enough that a bit of cannon fire would pearl off the walls like a light drizzle, the gates were a different issue altogether. Like all Medala gates, they had been built from simple wood. Even worse, the salty air of Saniya afforded regular change of the gates; and reinforcing them hadn't been one of Sawo's main concerns. Something he had overlooked. Now he had to pay the prize for having no reliable assistants to help in his great undertaking.

However, he would not give in, would not give up. If they couldn't hole up inside of the walls, all they had to do was storm out and crush the greedy attackers. They might have a few good siege weapons, but their formation looked dreadful, and Sawo's men still had a four to one advantage. If they could just ruin the cannons, they would still be safe to hole up inside the city. He would show them the true strength of Saniya and its great Lord! Ready to turn for another rousing speech, before he would form his storm troops and smash the false king's impudent soldiers to bits, he found a peculiar sight. Rather than continue fire, the cannons had halted, but it did not spell the end of the enemy's attack. Instead, a small force of one hundred rushed the western gate with audacity.

“Have they lost their minds?” mumbled the great lord, unable to understand the actions of his opponents. They were not even carrying siege ladders or rams. Though even if they were, their numbers were not nearly enough to force their way in at the west gate. Over there, his own cousin had command and would make sure to give them a good taste of the underworld. Soon, the audacious troops would be repulsed and with their defeat, the morale of the king's troops would sink as well. With a grin, the great lord got to his preparations. He would hit the enemy at their lowest, just as they reeled from their failed attempt at capturing the walls. He would destroy the cannons and crush them in one fell swoop.

Soon, Sawo had organized his men at the bottom of the walls. Feet shuffled on sand and metal clanged on metal as his troops scurried into formation. Though the organization was far from perfect, the troops were ready to fight and die for him. As soon as his man returned with word from the west gate's victory, they would storm through the east gate and destroy what little spirit their foes had left. Once again, Lord Sawo raised his hand, ready to inspire his brave troops. However, once again, he was rudely interrupted.

“Lord Sawo, Lord Sawo!” the same servant as before. Again, he looked panicked and out of breath.

“What!? We are ready for the great charge of Saniya! Who are you to stand in the way of history!?”

“Many apologies lord, but the enemy has taken the west gate!” As he leaned his hand against the city wall in an attempt to steady his breath and his body, the servant brought bad news, again.

"How could that be!? Cousin had almost a thousand men to defend with!”

“That's... there was no battle,” the awkward servant said.

“No battle?” Finally, the Lord turned away from his men and stepped towards the messenger. “What does that mean!?”

“Official Iyo came and said to let in King Corco's troops, that we would poison them during a banquet as planned before. Thus...”

“How dare they act without my orders?” Utter panic set in as Sawo shook the man by his shoulders.

“...Official Iyo carried Lord Sawo's seal, so the men thought...”

All color drained from Sawo's face as he felt for the wooden seal he always hung from his waist, the symbol of his status.

Not there.

With a sinking stomach, the lord thought back to the moment at the bathhouse, when he had pushed his useless servant to the ground. At last he understood: He had been betrayed. In the end, the great Lord Sawo's reign ended before it could ever begin.