Ойкумена / Oikumena: Глава 18

Chapter 18

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 12:05

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Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 12:05

“You don’t sleep well,” Artigo said quietly. “I know.”

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:51

“Yes,” Elena briefly agreed. “There is such a thing.”

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:51

She didn't want to discuss the nightmares of the last few nights.

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:52

“I dream... too,” the child whispered.

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:53

A noble upbringing, Elena thought maliciously. The boy was almost ten years old, and at that age, the locals were already working in the fields and assisting workshop masters, joining infantry battalions as drummers, forming city gangs, robbing late revelers. They say there are even squires as young as eleven or twelve. But the noble boy seems stuck in early childhood, both physically and mentally. And it is far from clear whether he will ever be able to escape this state. Although this raises the same question again: should we even strive for that?

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:46

To drive away unpleasant thoughts, Elena stirred the medicinal broth in her mug with a wooden spoon. The local Nettles had a completely insane sour taste. In the fall, children gathered and dried it, and in the spring, when the last reserves and grain were depleted, this herbarium went into soup and ersatz bread. In addition, it was widely believed that the decoction helped with bleeding gums and tooth loss. Elena reasoned that, judging by the descriptions, the dried weeds probably retained vitamins, which was just what a sick asthenic needed.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:54

"I dream about my esteemed parents," Artigo said even more quietly. He paused for a moment and then added an unexpected question. “Do you have parents?”

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:54

"Of course," Elena snorted and, handing the patient a mug of drink that almost made the boy throw up (but he managed to hold it in), suddenly became pensive.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:55

They sat for several minutes, silently thinking about their affairs. The boy tucked his legs under him on the fresh sheet, wrapped in a blanket, while Elena lowered her arms and hunched over on the stool. Outside the warehouse walls, a herd of pigs squealed madly as they were herded along, and something was being sawed with a heartfelt curse, probably a fresh batch of firewood. Flammable shale had been delivered irregularly over the past week. Since autumn, the whole town had been discussing the need to set up a proper sawmill with an air drive, like a windmill. There were good forests in the area, and the gentlemen had not yet demanded a high price for non-shipbuilding timber. Two traditional questions stood in the way of this good idea: who would invest (and therefore take the main risks), and how to ensure the enterprise against price increases. In general, it was a typical problem for a manufacturer who did not own sources of raw materials.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:57

“I had parents,” Elena said, intertwining her cold fingers. She ran her fingertips over her short nails and remembered that she hadn't worn rings or other jewelry for... yes, years. At the time of the incident, the girl had no jewelry because she had taken it off to clean it. And then, to put it mildly, it wasn't the right time... Flessa wanted and was ready to adorn her lover with jewelry like a New Year's tree, but Elena refused. Then again, there was no time for trinkets; even if they had been at hand, they would have immediately turned into cash. So it turned out that the only jewelry left was two cut coins on a string.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:58

Maybe she should buy a pretty ribbon and tie it around her neck... On the other hand, who is she going to show off to? Thirdly, it's as if a woman must have a partner in order to want to look good.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:59

Elena pulled herself out of her spiral of gloomy thoughts, repeating:

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 17:59

"I had parents... But we were separated. That's how it turned out."

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:01

From the change of direction, thought did not become more cheerful and optimistic. Of course, she remembered her distant home and loved ones, but... they were blurred, like images seen through sanded glass. They did not even cause melancholy, but rather a warm and fleeting memory of irretrievably lost times, when everything seemed, and was, better than it is now. And even more so than it will be soon.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:07

"Did you have any toys?" she asked, just to pass the time.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:07

"Yes."

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:07

Word by word, it became clear that the interlocutors understood different things by the word “toys.” For Elena, a toy was an object intended purely for entertainment and fun leisure. As it turned out, this concept was completely unknown to the young emperor. He had many objects that he considered and called “toys,” but... Take wooden toy soldiers, for example. What could be more natural for a boy than a toy army? Artigo had two of them. But they were not intended for “play,” that is, entertainment.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:10

"Over there," the boy raised his hand. "Look."

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:10

Elena rummaged through his clothes, noting that his clothes were worn, something that needed mending, or better yet, selling and replacing. Her fingers came across something hard, a little smaller than the palm of her hand, and a figure of a foot soldier appeared. I wonder how the boy got it? Had he grabbed the first thing that came to hand while running? Or was it something memorable?

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:11

"Wow," the woman said sincerely, turning the toy around.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:12

The figure, carved with marvellous skill and painted in five colours, depicted, judging by the armour and lance, a rushing cavalryman with a black creature lying at his feet. Elena remembered a similar, but much rougher piece from Baala's house and marvelled once more at the quality of the work, which must have been extremely labour-intensive.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:14

According to Artigo, there were dozens of such figures in his chambers, from gendarmes to cooks. They were not toys, but rather models on which the young nobleman was to learn the practice of warfare and many other things, including the organisation of the castle and other possessions. Elena was interested and began to ask more carefully, trying not to break again the fragile bridge of understanding, not too skillfully built by both sides. What she heard made her hair stand on end. Earlier, the woman had thought the boy was an infantile autistic, but now it seemed as if she was looking at a prematurely aged grandfather.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:14

Artigo, as it turned out, had little understanding not only of the concept of a toy, but also of any kind of amusement, that is, an activity that brings pleasure and nothing else. Everything he did in his father's house was invariably for some practical purpose. Learning to read - so that the child would be exposed as early as possible to edifying histories and chronicles, and be able to sort through family annals, accounts, vassal lists, and so on. Riding - because an aristocrat should only travel on horseback, and whoever is bad with a horse is a target for ridicule. Drawing - to deftly and legibly depict family ties, sketch models of coats of arms. Etiquette, the Five Thousand Rules. Language. And so on and so forth. Only in the field of sports does the boy have a huge gap, apparently, after a severe illness suffered in early childhood, the consilium of doctors put a cross on any physical training as an excessively dangerous test for a weak body.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:16

The child who drank the decoction from a crumpled mug, holding the vessel as if it were a crystal wineglass, was neither an idiot nor a fool. His head was crammed with so many skills and information that the healer would not have learnt in a lifetime. And the vast majority of this knowledge was confined to the very narrow specialisation of a nobleman of the highest class, and was completely useless in ordinary life. Before, Elena had thought Artigo didn't know how to behave. In reality, it was much worse: the young emperor did not know how to live anymore.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:17

After that, Elena was no longer surprised to find out that Artigo had never been hugged or kissed by his parents in his life. Moreover, the child saw his mother, as a rule, twice a day - at joint meals and occasionally on holidays. The father even less often, two or three times a week at most, usually in the interval between hunts and other activities appropriate to his position. The child, apparently, developed a terrible tactile hunger and, as a consequence, a panic fear of any touch from strangers. In general, there was a real alien sitting in front of the healer.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:20

“Oh my God,” Elena said sincerely and in Russian.

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:54

Yes, many things have become clearer, have found a reasonable explanation. And, Lord have mercy, what happens when such a... creature, whose psyche is formatted in the ugliest way, finally gets the opportunity to satisfy its desires, and any of them.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:21

Nine years... That is, the time when the foundation of the psyche and mental health is laid has been irreversibly lost. Nothing can be fixed, except some correction. And then Elena felt a prick of pity, but not for the boy, but rather for his father. Poor, poor Ranjan. So much sacrifice, so much danger, risk, and all to get his hands on such a thing.... A miracle of pedagogical engineering, impossible to re-educate.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:22

Elena sighed and, after some thought, repeated to herself the already ritualistic question, ‘Why do I need all this?’ and suggested:

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:22

"Let's make a ball."

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:54

"What?"

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:54

"Let's make a ball tomorrow," Elena repeated. "Right in the morning. A rag one. And we'll kick it around in the yard."

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:55

“I don’t have any rags,” Artigo noted sadly.

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:55

"We'll find it."

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:55

“My loyal protector will be against it,” the emperor said even more sadly.

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:56

“We won’t tell him,” Elena winked.

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:56

"But he will find out," Artigo reasoned very sensibly. "He again..." the boy hesitated, apparently looking for relatively "democratic" words. "He will not show me... us the respect due."

Camrad_RIP 31.05.25 в 18:57

"That's for sure," Elena agreed. "So, shall we make a ball?"

Camrad_RIP 01.06.25 в 04:52

And then, for the first time in weeks, she noticed something resembling a spark of life in the young aristocrat's eyes, almost like a normal boy being called out by his friends from the street, luring him to “go to have fun.”

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:50

* * *

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:23

"Can he be helped?"

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:51

"Don't get distracted," the fencing master ordered sternly in the greenish light.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:51

Today the training started as usual, i.e., with warm-up and push-ups on the planks. There were two planks, each with two slits, and one of the edges converged into a ‘wedge’ like a blade. The unpretentious instrument allowed to work hard on the arms with a bunch of three exercises: to stand in a ‘plank’; to push up in all possible ways as from stops and, finally, to push up with both hands from one board, imitating a two-handed grip of a sword with a change of position of the hands. At the same time, Pantin gave picturesque lectures about the correct fight and grabs with examples of how strong hands saved fighters, and weak ones, on the contrary, ruined them in painful ways. Elena doubted every time that it was methodologically correct to put exhausting ‘physics’ at the beginning of training, but it was absolutely useless to argue with Pantin.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:24

“Enough,” Pantin commanded curtly when the student decided that all the ligaments from her shoulders were about to tear. “Now your fingers.”

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:52

And they moved on to ‘finger wrestling’. Here, too, everything was simple: they had to stand face to face, hold hands firmly, left or right, but so that their index fingers were free. And then try to ‘stab’ the opponent with that very finger, overcoming him. Any movement of the body and arms was permitted, but the feet had to remain in place.

Camrad_RIP 30.05.25 в 18:25

"You're trying too hard," Pantin remarked abruptly. "You're holding your breath. Relax. Be more fluid."

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:52

Each round ended the same way: Pantin knocked Elena off balance, forcing her to lift at least her heel, but in fairness, it should be noted that the time she remained stable was getting longer. Just a little bit, literally seconds, but still...

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:53

"Not bad, the mentor said curtly." Unlike Draftsman, Pantin believed that achievement should be rewarded, not taken for granted.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.25 в 08:53