Chapter 2

Dheg looked out at the lands below and the sprawl of the city he had attracted over the decades. He built himself a sandstone palace, with foreboding walls and pillars so large they seemed in a perpetual state of falling onto whoever walked by. Date palms and coconut trees lined the outer courtyard where common people wandered and enjoyed. In the construction of his palace, he wanted to evoke a feeling of being as small as beetle. He wanted the tall, gaping windows, the incredibly high ceilings, some with art so small you could barely see them, and the enormous halls to strike whoever walked the palace with such incredulity at their mortal and meaningless life, that they submitted all pride and sense of meaning. Not a drop of arrogance would remain in whomever so decided to enter his abode. That, and the security advantage of course.

Every man was born with his fists grasping for something and in these walls, his fists would lay bare and he would realise, with fear and then with awe, that nothing could be taken except what the Almighty gave.

The people looked up to him, Dheg, and saw a man beyond comparison. They saw a king though he humbly called himself a leader. They came from far and wide in search of new beginnings, and word in the country was that this city, Shodimo, was a fresh parchment waiting to be filled. Traders, animal dealers, crop sellers, basket weavers, shoe menders and everything of the sort made nests in Shodimo. Come one, come all.

Dheg felt the presence before he heard the knock He turned his head just as his guard raised his spear to tap the cool tiles. He announced a visitor, an old man by the name of Malsan. His slight frame was eclipsed by the guard and though they both wore the plain white cloths of his palace, the guard’s were shorter and tighter for ease of movement and fitted with leather straps around his arms and ankles whereas the old man appeared to have draped a never ending sheet around himself.

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“The balances are fine as I had assured you already,” said Malsan. “We have enough to finance twice the army we need. I never miss a coin.”

Malsan was from the south where his people were slightly shorter and more stout, suited to the long workdays on farmland and forest. Though he was old he was a rather cunning man with an astute eye for people. Somehow, he had never really figured out Dheg and joked that he must be a truly evil man to evade any calculated assumption.

Dheg smiled kindly at his councillor of finances, “Thank you for putting my soul at ease nonetheless.”

Malsan, annoyed before, now relaxed his shoulders and let the indignant frown dissipate from his brow. “Have a peaceful evening Sir.” He said and left.

Just as Dheg began to turn back to the windows he felt someone else approach. Heavier footsteps. Dheg had an idea who he was and what he was here for but braced anyway.

“Sir how can you expect me to train this many soldiers at once!”

“Would you want to build only one fence for your hens and then turn in for the night?” Dheg asked.

Kungul pursed his lip. Usually a fiery man, Kungul was known for holding his tongue and his enormous fists around the leader despite Dheg himself encouraging him in order to build brotherly camaraderie rather than a submission to leadership. But Kungul always declined and reasoned it was for respect and not fear nor arrogance.

Dheg walked over to him, his stride long and his head held high. Even the manner in which he walked made others feel like ants.

“I trust you to train them because you’re my best soldier. If you cannot handle the task then I shall ask you to train a small strike force for me.” Said Dheg.

Kungul nodded and muttered something about tending to the war Camels. Dheg watched his subordinate’s broad shoulders recede into the distance, flanked by the towering halls.

The day was nigh begun and yet he’d already dealt with two officials of his flock with more to be done later. That afternoon he had a full council meeting and in the evening he would set off to see Kungul’s progress with the strike force. A shepherd was a dutiful job, but the yield in meat and wool was more than plenty.

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