*Knock Knock*

I opened the door and was greeted by a stranger dressed in thick fur clothing all over. I could barely make out their face as it was pretty much all covered.

‘Can I help you?’ I asked politely, Melissa was the only person I knew in Sivas so far, so I was unsure what this man, or woman wanted.

‘How is your log stock?’ The man asked in a rustic voice.

‘Huh?’ I uttered out unconsciously. What was this about? Was he a neighbor that needed some?

`My stock is okay but I am not sure I can last if I share it, I am sorry’, I apologetically said to the man, I really did not think I had spare stock to share with someone else if I had any ideas about surviving the remainder of winter.

‘No, you misunderstand me’

'It's my job to record people’s stock of fuel', he calmly explained.

Looking at my puzzled face, the man asked in response, ‘Are you new here?’

‘Yes,’ I replied and the man subtly moved his head and looked behind me…

‘I have three bundles left', I interjected in an attempt to move back to the original topic.

I had used during the last two month around six bundles of logs to keep the house reasonably warm, so in my calculations I had enough for around one month which would just about take me to the last couple of weeks of winter. I was not sure about the amount to use, I had initially tried to use logs frugally in order to save up but it was simply too cold.

‘Welcome to Sivas, You will understand how things are here over time.’ ‘Thank you for the information’ the man said briefly and hurried off and I only nodded my head in return and quickly shut the door.

The door was open for only an incredibly short time, but It had cooled down my house significantly. Perhaps, I should have invited him in instead and kept the door shut…

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I sighed in regret...

Now I have to use more logs to heat up the house again…

After feeding the fire chopped pieces of logs, I sat down on my bed once again and started to wonder.

What exactly is the purpose of tracking how much logs I had left?

Then, it hit me… These logs had been given to me!

I had not thought much about it because I thought it was a neighbor.

So in actually it really was something that the government gave as a ration for survival during Winter for the populace!

Do they give these indiscriminately? I pondered

Sivas’s surrounding mountains and harsh environment meant it was closed off territory. So it developed a closely knitted society that was turned inwards especially when it came to conflicts where its harsh environments and its fortification were tall hurdles for any enemies to overcome.

Gradually over time, Sivas gained its title as a fortress. This meant Sivas has always been governed to a certain extent people within its community and it has its own idea of how to govern which is distinct from the empire.

In fact, I had always thought that Sivas had been conquered by the empire. The empire boasted that it had brought Sivas to swear obedience without even needing to enter conflict. History books I had read in the past did not wholeheartedly agree with the view espoused by the empire but they fundamentally argued that Sivas submitted out of necessity and to avoid conflict with the expanding empire.

However, some books here highlight a different outlook, in essence it seems Sivas instead chose a diplomatic route that involved a pledge of allegiance to the growing empire in order to establish ties as an ally instead of as an enemy. The way it was able to completely keep itself politically independent of the empire does give credence to this idea.

I had not yet really understood the core of everything but it did seem like things were a lot more complex since each side had a different understanding of the events. For instance, the empire was keen to express that it accepted Sivas' allegiance pledge as a preemptive submission by Sivas to their mighty power. In a sense they promoted the image that they won the war without needing to sacrifice one single soldier.

But I thought whilst I glanced outside the window, and saw that it had begun to snow yet again.

‘Sivas could also claim it did not lose’

Whuush… Suddenly I felt a cold chill and without delay threw a few sticks into the fireplace.

‘It is easy to take heat for granted’ I thought as I nudged myself as close to the fireplace as possible without getting burned.

It did not take long for the warm air coming expelled out the fireplace and the soothing crackling sounds of wood burning to make me drowsy, and in a short breath of time I laid my head back and shut my eyes.