Chương 97: Book 3; Chapter 96; City Gates

The further they walked, the more Anniet came out of her shell. Their little trip turned out to be much nicer than Anniet had pictured in her head. The evening was nice and quiet; everyone was occupied with their own tasks and didn't pay too much attention to them. Within the Royal palace walls, life was not what Anniet expected it to be. She expected to see the same crowds as on her first day and all the yards to be jammed with people. That wasn't the case.

The place was buzzing with life, but in the same way as any other busy place on earth. And Old John was right; he was much more popular than she was. Why would she even wonder about it or expect it to be otherwise? But this attention didn't bother him at all. Many people greeted him, and many people looked at her, but apart from exchanging greetings, Old John never stopped to talk to anyone. Many curious glances followed them, but it didn't feel like staring or judging.

So with every minute passing, this strange guard Anniet was keeping up against the outer world was gradually fading, and she was feeling more and more like herself again. With it, interest returned, and instead of going to find a dining place, they ended up having a proper tour around the Royal grounds before eventually heading towards the large gates leading to the city. Well, it should be called a gateway or an archway more than the city gates, as there was just a large, arched passage between the houses.

As high as the tallest buildings and even wider than them, this archway was really magnificent and impressive. What otherwise would be just some sort of tunnel between houses, because of its impressive size and beautifully crafted frame, was transformed into an impressively sized archway that could be seen from any direction. But there were no doors or gates that could be opened or closed. The city gates captivated Anniet's attention more than anything else. But not because of their indisputable beauty.

She was examining them from afar and eventually shared the core of her interest with Old John.

"Rainee said that Blake lives above the city gates. Was she talking about these gates?" she asked, trying to understand how one could live above gates. She knew that Blake could turn himself into a flying creature, but surely he could not just live on top of a gate as a bird. Old John smiled more at her thoughts than at her question.

"Yes," he said, "General Blake lives above these gates. There is a very large room above these gates. If you look to the right and left of the centre, you will see a window on each side. It escaped your notice just because we are still some distance away, and it is also very high, so it might look to you as a small window or ornament, but it is not. It is a full-size window of his apartment.

It is not really an apartment, as it is just a large single room, and long ago it was used as a room for resting by workers of the palace. But Blake claimed that place as his own. I cannot blame the boy. The views up there must be outstanding, and those who wanted nothing else from him except to annoy him, had to think twice if they want to come up just for the sake of doing it. Shall we go and have a look?" Anniet shook her head vigorously. No way she would be sneaking around Blake's place while he was away.

"Why not?" John asked.

"Didn't you use to visit his place while you lived at School?"

"Yes, I did," Anniet could do nothing but agree, "but it is not the same."

"How come?"

"At School, he wasn't a general…"

"I cannot agree with this statement," Old John disagreed.

"It has been more than a century since he became a general and there wasn't a single day since thet when he was stripped of this title. So no, you are not right. While living at School, he was a general, the same as he is now." Anniet wanted to object but couldn't come up with any reasonably strong argument. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Everyone kept telling her that Anthony and Blake were the same, and in her mind, she understood it herself.

However, it didn't feel that way, no matter how logical it sounded. With a fond forlornness, she thought about that little cottage where they met; still, she would not dare to barge uninvited into his apartment here. But it was strange to hear that other people were afraid to visit him too. Surely, they cannot suffer from the same reasons as she did, as everyone here knew that Blake was General Blake.

"Would people be afraid that Blake might push them off if they aggravated him too much?" That was all that Anniet could come up with. She could not imagine either Anthony or Blake doing so, but still, that was the only reason she could think of. Old John tried to conceal his laughter, but without much success. In fact, with no success at all.

"Your instincts are right," he said after a good laugh, "but your conclusion was very poor. No, I don't think Blake would push anyone off, no matter how irritating they were. However, he didn't make it too easy to access his place. Those who are trained can get to it easily, but they would not do it, as they know better than to disturb him when he doesn't want to be seen. And those who can do only little would need a lot of courage to climb these narrow and steep stairs that lead to his place."

While talking, he showed her the construction that truly looked more like a collection of ladders than stairs to the general's place.

"So he doesn't like to be disturbed by others?"

"He spends very little time there, and on top of that, he can hear all the troubles and commotions happening around. If he chooses not to interfere, then there is no need to bother him, as it is highly unlikely he would interfere anyway. But I think you yourself know very well how little he interferes with what people do."

"Sometimes I think he is bored around others."

"Sometimes I think the same."

"Did people upset him so much that he doesn't want to stay in their company?"

"I think they did."

"How?"

"That's what you will have to ask him yourself." Anniet didn't even try to probe further any longer, as she already knew there would be no success.

"He used to like spending time with me," she said in a quiet voice." At least I think he used to like it," she thought to herself.

"He did, didn't he?" Old John smiled at that statement, neither confirming nor denying it. After passing through the city gates, they emerged into a completely different environment. The open grounds around the palace were gone and replaced with the heavily built-up centre of the city. Streets were wide and sidewalks spacious. But there were as many houses squashed in as there possibly could be.

It was as if everyone wanted to live as close to the palace as possible, and only the wall around the Royal grounds was drawing a line and telling them where to stop. Even the wall itself was very peculiar, made not of stone but of houses, strengthening the impression that people wanted to live as close as possible — right up to the very border.

"It really looks like entering a different place!" Anniet said in wonder while looking around.

"I cannot argue with that," John agreed.

"That's why both places now have different names. You must have heard both of them: Royal City and Capital. Most people thinkthey are the same place under two different names, and to some degree it is, at least for those who have never seen this place with their own eyes. But those who come and see the difference will never mix them up. We just left Royal City and walked into Capital."

"I see…" Never before had Anniet heard that Capital and Royal City were not the same.

"Why, then, is it called Capital?" There was no need to ask why it was called Royal City, as it was plainly obvious.

"This name came from the Old World," John explained.

"In the Old World, it is not even the name of a city, as it carries a different meaning. There, they have many kings, and each King has a piece of land, some very big, some very small. But you probably know that. What you don't know is that sometimes, in that land ruled by one King, there can be more than one city, and the most important city, where all the ruling people live, is called the Capital in addition to its name.

I am sure this city, at the very beginning, had a name too, but it has been millennia since anyone used any other name than Capital. So other names became unnecessary. And as there is only one King in our world, we need only one Capital, so there is no mixing up."

"So if the King were to move in a different city, that other place would become Capital."

"Indeed, it would," John confirmed, "but there is no reason to dwell on it, as it will not happen. Even if he wanted to do so, there is a restriction that forbids the King to make such a move. Under this restriction, the King could spend most of his time somewhere else, but all leadership would still come from here. So while, in theory, yes, it could happen, in reality, it is not going to happen."

"I thought the King doesn't have any restrictions." Now Anniet was completely puzzled.

"And that's where you are wrong, along with the rest of society. The King's power is given to the current King, and it provides him with immense power beyond what you could even imagine. But still, this power is given to him, and by accepting it, in addition to all benefits, he accepts all the limitations that power brings. To go beyond these limitations, he would have to outgrow that power.

In other words, his personal strength would have to become greater than the one he carries now, and then he would be able to ignore the rules that the King's power imposes on him. I must say it would be incredibly difficult to do."

"Even for the King?"

"Especially for the King. While everyone else doesn't know or have a taste of what it is like, they still can seek it and reach for it, and it is possible to achieve. However, the King has no need to try to achieve it, as he can already has it at his disposal. And I must tell you, it is close to impossible to try to learn something that you can already do, as it defies any logic available to humans."

"What limitations does the King have?"

"That is something I cannot tell."

"You don't know?"

"If I do know, then I cannot reach that knowledge, and it becomes equal to not knowing. But one limitation you already witnessed for yourself."

"Did I?" Anniet was confused.

"Indeed, you did. The King himself told us openly that it has been many years since he wanted to enter the School, but only succeeded recently. Isn't that a restriction? When you want something but cannot get it?"

"It must be," Anniet agreed, walking through the door that John opened for her. They had entered a spacious, half-empty dining hall. Anniet looked around with surprise.

"It looks like home…" she said, not knowing what to think. It truly looked like a dining hall in the town next to the place where she grew up. She had been there only a few times, but there was no mistake; it looked so alike that she wasn't even sure that this was not some kind of trick and this door wasn't some magical device that transferred them.

"There is no such magical device," Old John said to her unspoken question.

"If it is possible to make one like this, then nobody has yet come up with the idea of how to do it. I wanted to take you here to show you that, despite the world being a very vast place, it is also the same. Sometimes you can go only a short distance and end up in completely different surroundings; sometimes you can travel an immense distance and find that nothing really has changed that much."

"But how is it even possible?" Anniet asked, allowing herself to be led to the table. The interior and layout looked so familiar that she was even looking around, searching for familiar faces. But every pair of eyes she met belonged to a complete stranger. Even the menu looked very similar. She was completely bewildered.