It seemed at least some of the gods had chosen to abandon the capital, maybe even the entire kingdom. After a prolonged period of warmth and wealth rapidly growing on the peasants' fields there had been no such thing as benign weather for weeks on end. The many alleys with their rare trees brought here from far away lands, the many parks with their maticulously laid out stone patterns, hedges and flower patches had fallen dysfunctional in terms of public attention, and now were slowly but surely even doing so with regard to the botanic aspect as well. It just had become increasingly impossible to maintain them with the steady rain and thunderstorms.

Good thing the capital city was built on solid foundations! The founders had not chosen any treacherous field full of earth that would reveal itself as a swamp ready to devour any buildings on it if just watered long enough, and they had also not fallen victim to the temptation of cutting corners when it came to anything artificial that was beneath any inhabitant's feet: The elaborate network of channels, canals and reservoirs had proven to be up to the task, as least as of now. What the next days would bring ?

Valentin was not to find out, nor was the companion he had been assigned to but whom he had yet get to know in more detail. The two of them had been scheduled to arrive at the royal guard's main barracks this dreary morning -- and if there was anything the city guard was notorious for, then it was its punctuality, or rather the steady insistence on it whenever somebody outside their ranks had to deal with them for some reason.

The barracks themselves were in complete lack of the splendor many of the city's other official buildings were decorated with. A sturdy building of simple architecture, designed for mass housing with at least some comfort left. Could be a lot worse, but better also. Valentin had been told to just wait in the courtyard, a task that made him increasingly nervous as the next drill was soon to begin and he'd be left just standing in the middle of shouting, marching soldiers while doing absolutely nothing. Was he really that hard to miss ?