ã€ŠChosen of the Endless One [Kingdom Building]ã€‹


 Chapter 1

    "Looking back, I cannot help but shake my head at my naivety when I first arrived here on Marth. However, growing up in suburban America is not the best place to help you develop the mentality necessary to survive in a world so different from Earth. Though I am a far cry from the boy who first came to this world, I am grateful for my past. We are all an amalgamation of our experiences, both good and bad." - An excerpt from the hidden journal of Baron Amos Bicman.

    I hurt everywhere. The pain was a dull throb that penetrated every cell of my body. I was supposed to be dead. I remember fading into oblivion on the hospital bed. I had watched from above my body as the monitor flat-lined. The light was there. It had called to me, and I had answered its call. Did I go to hell? Was I to experience pain for the rest of eternity because I didn¡¯t join some religion?

    I opened my eyes and saw filtered light coming through some sort of brown cloth. The blanket was lightweight and prickly. As a chill ran down my body, I suddenly realized I was completely naked. I could feel a softer sheet under me, but it definitely wasn¡¯t a hospital bed. The cushioning was like laying on a pile of straw or soft sticks. I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. Was I back in my body being prepared for a cremation? That didn¡¯t make sense either.

    I tried to sit up and found that, besides the pain, my body was incredibly weak. Trying to sit up felt like I was doing triceps dips with heavy weights on my chest. As I slowly struggled to lift myself off of the mat I was lying on, my head began to throb more intensely. Nevertheless, I persisted until I was at an angle where the sheet fell off my face. As I looked around, my brain had trouble processing what I saw. The shock of it caused me to collapse back onto the stiff straw-filled pillow my head had been resting on. As I lay there, I tried to rationalize what I had seen. I was on a twin sized canopy bed with the deep maroon cloth pulled back and tied with a thick rope to each corner. The walls of the room were made of stone blocks. Nothing adorned them, which made the room seem drab. A solid wooden door was on the far wall, and as I turned to the left, I noticed a small window with no glass in it. I saw that there was a shutter on the outside that had been left open.

    Nope, I¡¯m not going to be able to rationalize all this. Where the crap am I?

    As soon as I thought that, snatches of memories swirled around in my head. Memories that were not my own. I was looking through the eyes of a young man as he sat at a large dining table. The old table would seat about ten people but only had me and five others at it. The room was large, and the group¡¯s table was at the end of it.

    The man at the head of the table looked regal in a fine-cut outfit. He wore a plain white shirt with an open maroon jacket. On his neck, he wore a white scarf tied in a knot over his left shoulder. The two tails of the scarf hung down over his heart. His neatly trimmed black beard with a hint of gray hid a strong jawline. He was huge and not in a fat way. This guy was broad-chested and big-shouldered, a football quarterback for the NFL. The type of body women swooned over.

    The woman to his right looked to be his wife. She had straight, light brown hair that complimented her heart-shaped face. The orange light of a setting sun coming in from a window behind her lit it with a subtle luster that made it glow. She wore a simple yet elegant maroon dress with a high neckline collar. There was no embroidery, but a beautiful gold brooch was pinned over her heart. It looked to be in the shape of a family crest. The woman next to her had thick gray hair. The signs of age showed on the skin of her face that had just started to wrinkle. She wore solid black with the same style broach the woman to her left wore. The only difference was that the brooch was on her right breast.

    On the opposite side of the table was a young man who looked to be in his late teens. His hair was similar to the man at the head of the table, but his face did not show a strong jawline, and his build was not nearly as impressive. His features were similar to the woman who sat across from him. He may not have looked like his father physically, but the air of dignity mirrored the other man exactly. The outfit was identical to his father¡¯s. The only difference was that his scarf was over his right breast.

    To his left was the last member of the table. She had black hair like the men, but other than that, her features were nothing like the rest of the members at the table. She was beautiful, with high cheekbones and beautiful emerald eyes. The only thing that ruined it was her haughty air. She gave off such a better-than-thou attitude that it almost exuded from her pores. Her dress also showed her desire for extravagance; it was finely made with extensive embroidery. However, the beauty of the dress did not hide her round pregnant stomach.

    I focused on the body I was in. I was sitting next to the older woman. I couldn¡¯t see myself, of course, but my mind provided me with the details I was looking for. The body belonged to a chubby young man who was¡­15 or 16. He was large but not at all like his father. The kid must have never exercised a day in his life. His maroon jacket was tight on him, and the scarf hung behind him rather than in front, signifying he was not the heir. He also boiled with jealousy towards¡­his brother. Yes, this was his family. I started to gain insight into this situation slowly. Suddenly, I found my mind flooded with lustful thoughts about his sister-in-law. Ugh, I didn¡¯t need to see that.

    ¡°The fields did not produce well this year.¡± The father said. Baron Aaron Bicman.

    ¡°Will we have enough for the taxes?¡± His wife questioned. A look of worry in her eyes. This was Isabel.

    ¡°We will be fine.¡± Lord Bicman replied firmly. ¡°The fields have lost their potency. We must create more fields south and let the current ones lie fallow."

    ¡°The land south is hard, and it will take more workers than we can spare,¡± Brother Aaron the Second said, ¡°we could purchase more serfs. We have the money.¡±

    ¡°We then have more mouths to feed, and hopefully, the fields produce enough,¡± Father said, looking up at his son.

    ¡°We have enough stores until the harvest comes in, and in the winter, we can put them on half rations. The older ones will die due to giving food to the younger ones.¡±

    ¡°No, it is still a waste of money.¡± Lord Bicman replied, "We can get a few more years out of the older ones if we feed them.¡±

    That was shocking. He wasn¡¯t worried about the lives of the people but the money he would spend buying people just to lose some anyway.

    ¡°What if you enacted a no-breeding policy? That way, the women would be able to work more next year,¡± Sister-in-law Martha said.

    Aaron the Second snorted, and Martha glared at him. This was obviously a marriage of convenience. ¡°We are not the Tine Barony with their large fertile lands. Our profit margins are smaller, and we need to expand. The need for workers is greater. If we stop them from breeding, not only will the men be less productive, but we will lose future manpower.¡±

    ¡°You should make your serfs work harder and plant new fields.¡± She shot back.

    ¡°They can only work so hard,¡± Aaron said, getting heated.

    ¡°You are probably going easy on them in exchange for favors with their women,¡± Martha grumbled.

    Aaron''s jawbone tightened, but he said nothing.

    ¡°Any thoughts, Amos,¡± Lord Bicman said, interrupting the argument.

    I was shocked. At first, I thought the father was talking to me. I tried saying something, but nothing came out. Then the boy whose body I possessed was roused from his thoughts of female conquest and just shook his head. ¡°I think you all have the right of it.¡± Of course, he had an idea, but he felt it was a dumb one that would get him ridiculed. All his ideas ended up being stupid. So, we shared the same name. That''s interesting.

    His father gave him a piercing look of disapproval that lasted almost ten seconds but felt like an hour. If I were in control of this body, I would have been sweating buckets under that gaze. Amos, however, just shrugged it off.

    Finally, Lord Bicman nodded and turned back to his heir. ¡°I am hesitant to do so, but I think your idea is the best. Do you have the report on the peasant villages and the mine?¡±

    Aaron the Second nodded, ¡° Actually¡­¡± The vision faded, leaving me with a splitting headache.

    What was that? Who were those people? I propped myself up on my elbows and noticed my body for the first time. I stared at a flabby stomach. Looking at my thick fingers, it dawned on me that I was a body snatcher! What in the name of all that is holy is going on here?

    I mean, I wasn¡¯t completely stupid. I had watched enough TV to see plenty of reincarnation plots. Well, something like reincarnation. I wasn''t being born again after all. Seriously though, why would God do this to me? I was a CGI YouTuber, definitely not noble family material. I really should know not to ask the ¡°Why¡± question. Answers usually were not forthcoming in that way. Answers came through action.

    So, let''s see what I know so far. I am in the body of the second son of Baron Aaron Bicman. I wonder if he was a first-generation noble since my older brother was Aaron the Second. We lived in a pre-industrial era. I don¡¯t know if it is the medieval period or earlier. Heck, I didn¡¯t know if I was even on earth. As I thought about the language, I realized it wasn¡¯t English, but I was reading it from Amos¡¯s mind. Was it a lost language? Was he still in the body, or had he died? I am pretty weak, and my stomach lurched every once in a while with nausea. I lay back down as that seemed to help.

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    The barony seemed to be extremely unprofitable. I wish I had heard the report on the peasant villages. Were peasants different from serfs? I couldn¡¯t remember. Maybe the words were interchangeable here. Serfs were slaves, that much I was sure of. I had full control of their lives. Well, my father did anyway. The idea made me sick. Could I change that? I was the second son of a baron who was not well off, so probably not right now. You eat an elephant one bite at a time.

    OK, what else? Oh, I can¡¯t forget that the body I inhabited seemed to be that of a layabout. His father was disappointed in him but didn¡¯t seem to really care enough to fix the problem. The baron had his heir, who was to be groomed for handling the barony, and that was good enough for him. Aaron the Second had his marriage arranged for him, or he had made his own decision based on a good dowry and connections. That means that I would probably have my marriage arranged and then be kicked out of the manor. In the end, it seemed like one big happy family, I thought, with a sigh. Could I change my father''s opinion of me so I wasn¡¯t forced into something awful?

    Further thoughts became difficult as my stomach grumbled. I needed to get something in my stomach before anything else. A light soup would be best due to my weakened state, but anything was better than this constant gnawing in my gut. Again, I sat up. The bed I was on was pretty high up. I scooted to the edge and looked over. A small wooded nightstand with a candle on it was next to the bed. The candle was almost completely melted. Though small, the nightstand was finely made, with heavy varnish coating it. I swung my legs over the side and steadied myself.

    Was I larger than in vision, or had I not been paying attention?

    I held on to the small table and tried to stand up on the step stool that was positioned right below my feet. My head spun, and before I knew it I was leaning forward off balance. The tall nightstand was not sturdy enough to support me, so I and the stand tipped forward. I twisted just in time for my meaty shoulder to take the brunt of the fall, but my head still cracked against the floor. The heavy brass candle stick clattered across the floor, giving out what would have been an almost melodic sound if it weren''t for the fact that my head was ringing on its own. I would have vomited, but my stomach was empty, and I only got the taste of bile in my throat for the effort. The world spun violently, and I was pretty sure I had a concussion.

    Then the door opened, and I heard a high-pitched squeal followed by the pattering of slippers on stone as some poor girl fled the scene. I am sure she would be scared for life by seeing my noble noble self in his underwear. My treacherous blanket did not land on top of me as I fell.

    It would be punished for its insolence later. I would request my father replace it with a proper blanket that could perform its duty of covering me with all due haste in potentially embarrassing moments. Ok Amos, focus no time for lame jokes.

    Stupid jokes were a crutch to take my mind off situations I was uncomfortable in right now I needed to focus.

    As I lay there thinking of various ways to get back at my blanket, I became aware of a heavier set of footsteps coming down the hall. I tried to reach for my blanket, but the throbbing in my head was too much. The voices in my new language could be heard down the hall.

    ¡°I swear it, the body is on the floor.¡± Said a frantic young teenage girl¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Emily, you must be seeing things, it is¡­¡± The voice froze as the sound of his feet entered the room. ¡°By the Endless One¡¯s shiny bald head, the body is on the floor! How did it get on the floor.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I swear. I was passing by the room when I heard a clattering noise. I peeked in, and there it was.¡± the girl said.

    I tried to ask for help. But it came out garbled, more like ¡°Ehhh.¡±

    The girl screamed. ¡°A zombie! It will rise and devour us.¡±

    More footsteps came down the hall to see what was going on.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool, girl. The young lord is obviously alive.¡±

    I could almost hear the man rolling his eyes.

    ¡°But the priest pronounced him dead last night.¡±

    I focused my thoughts and slowly groaned, ¡°Not dead.¡±

    ¡°My lord,¡± the man said in shock, ¡°How did you come to be on the floor?¡±

    ¡°Gravity,¡± I said in English, as the word was not one in the vocabulary of the late Lord Amos.

    ¡°Did he say gravy?¡± another voice said.

    ¡°Could someone please cover me,¡± I said in what I hoped was a coherent sentence.

    ¡°Everyone out." A new authoritative voice spoke up. "And Emily, go fetch the medical woman. It appears her efforts weren¡¯t wasted after all.¡± The man said.

    The once-filled room emptied, and I felt my treacherous brown blanket lying on me. I almost asked him to get me a different blanket and burn this one at the stake for its negligence, but I didn¡¯t have the energy. Although now that I think about it, being covered in a blanket that Amos had died in last night was probably not the healthiest thing.

    ¡°Sir, I am not sure who I am addressing, but could you fetch me a different blanket? If I did indeed die in this one last night, I should like another that is not disease-ridden.¡± I said.

    ¡°Of course, my lord, but if I might ask. If you died last night, how are you alive this morning?¡± The man said.

    ¡°By the Endless One¡¯s will, I suppose,¡± Using the same term for God the other man used, ¡°Though he ought to have damned me to hell instead?¡±

    ¡°I see, my lord,¡± the man said in an uncomfortable tone. Was he uncomfortable because I had criticized myself so openly, or did he agree and not want to say it?

    ¡°I will have a servant fetch a new blanket.¡±

    ¡°Also, my mind seems to be somewhat muddled. May I ask to whom am I speaking?¡± I said. There was a long pause.

    ¡°Captain Draves, Lord Amos,¡± He finally said.

    ¡°Thank you, Captain. Your attention has been most welcome.¡±

    ¡°It is my duty, my lord. I swore to your family before you were born. One that I fulfilled under your father and one that will continue to my death.¡± Something bothered me about that statement, but my headache prevented me from processing it.

    ¡°A man of honor and duty is worth more than a legion of men who bend whichever way the wind blows, Captain. Thank you for your service to the House of Bicman.¡±

    Although I could not see it, I could imagine the shocked look on the captain''s face for receiving a compliment from this nuisance of a noble. Without saying a word, he got up and exited the room. A few minutes later, he returned.

    When he entered, I said, ¡°I know, Captain, that it is probably not the most dignified of things, but would you be able to help a noble of large stature and size up onto his bed?¡±

    ¡°Are you sure, my lord? Your behavior is quite¡­odd. I fear you may be concussed. I would hate to move you and make it worse.¡±

    ¡°You may be right, Captain, but I fear I must insist. First, however, I must have a covering of some sort. Could you fetch a maid to find me some bedware and some soup? I feel like I haven''t eaten in a decade.¡±

    ¡°If you insist, my lord. I will be but a moment.¡± He swapped blankets with me and once again left the room.

    I decided to roll over on my back. And stare at my lovely wooden ceiling. At that point, I noticed a small rope attached to wooden pulleys along the ceiling. I followed it to where it hung down next to the bed. Well, that is a good idea. I wish I had known a bell rope was there previously.

    As my head began to clear, I thought back to the captain''s words. He used the past tense when he spoke of my father. Had something happened to my father between my vision and now? Was Aaron the Second now the ruler of the house? What did that mean for me? Could he decide my fate? Did we have a good relationship? More and more questions flooded my head. I needed an escape plan.

    Before I could get myself any more worked up, the Captain entered the room with an older woman with graying hair. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt and a long brown skirt. She was thin and looked like she had been accustomed to hard work. She did not look happy. "The captain has said you require assistance getting dressed."

    ¡°Dear Lady, I would not subject you to such an awful chore, but I require you to assist me in finding something comfortable to wear. I will put it on myself,¡± I said while trying to give her a winning smile. Watching the myriad emotions play across the aging lady''s face was fun. Shock, probably that I had addressed her politely, confusion over the simplicity of the actual request, and then a glare, fortunately, that was directed at the captain.

    ¡°It seems you were mistaken, Draves.¡± She said curtly. Then she turned back to me and said, ¡°Certainly, Lord Bicman.¡± She went to a trunk at the end of my bed and pulled out a¡­dress. No, it was definitely a nightgown. It in no way looked like a dress, I told myself. After handing it to the captain, she turned and bowed in my direction. ¡°I will see to your meal.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing I should avoid getting on her bad side,¡± I said with a smile.

    ¡°Definitely a wise course of action. She still hasn¡¯t forgiven me for¡­¡± He trailed off while turning slightly pink. Giving an uncomfortable cough, he changed topics. ¡°Shall we get you dressed?¡±

    I sat up slowly. ¡°Just hand it to me, Captain. Everyone in the manor is probably already talking about my semi-nudeness."

    ¡°But, my lord! I would never-¡± The captain started to say, sounding affronted.

    I kicked myself mentally. Why couldn''t I keep my stupid comments to myself? Actually, I knew why. One of the psychologists said that it was a coping mechanism I had developed for stressful situations.

    ¡°Forgive my humor, Captain. As you can tell, I am not quite myself. Actually, maybe I am; with my lack of memories, this may be completely normal for me.¡±

    ¡°Definitely not, sir.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what was I like,¡± I said casually. I had backed him into a corner.

    ¡°Sir, it would be improper for me-¡±

    ¡°Come on, Captain, I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    ¡°You were more¡­disagreeable, my lord.¡± He said with a sigh.

    ¡°I knew it. I was a noble pain in the butt, wasn¡¯t I.¡± I said with a laugh. Which I promptly ended due to the headache it caused.

    ¡°Sir, I-¡± He stammered.

    ¡°Alright, Captain, let¡¯s get me back into bed,¡± I said, extending my hand. He grabbed it with one hand and put the other under my elbow. With a heave, he lifted my bulky frame off the ground and my nightshirt, yes, that is what I will call it. My nightshirt, not a gown, slid down the rest of my frame. After getting into bed, I thanked the captain. ¡°I really think I will have to request my father give you a raise, Captain. You have gone way beyond your duty.¡±

    The captain coughed uncomfortably. ¡°My lord, I fear that due to your state of delirium over the past weeks, you were not made aware of your father''s departure from this world.¡±

    It was as I feared; Aaron number two was now lord of this house. I tried not to think about it. "He died of the same disease that took me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord, it spread quickly throughout the house. Most of us got sick, but¡­"

    ¡°How is my mother?¡± faking concern, I really didn¡¯t know these people. ¡°Is Aaron handling things okay?¡±

    Again, he sighed. Shifting uncomfortably, he spoke, ¡° My lord, I regret to inform you that Lady Isabel, Lady Matha, and Lady Margrett passed away last week. Lord Aaron the Second passed yesterday. You are now the lord of the manor."

    My next thought flew out of my mouth before I could think about it. "Well, that sucks."

 Chapter 2

    "No, no, no, and heck no! By all that is holy, Endless One. What are you thinking? Seriously, I¡­"

    Just then, I noticed Captain Draves''s stoic-looking face was starting to show signs of concern.

    "Could you please excuse yourself from the room for a moment while I rant? I will call for you when I need you."

    "Certainly, my lord." He said with a bow.

    "Thank you," I said as he walked stiffly from the room. I really wanted to know what was going through his mind right then, but that wasn''t a thought I could entertain at the moment. I had bigger fish to fry. Namely, this Endless One character that everyone was keen on here.

    In a softer voice, I said, "Where was I? Oh yeah. Listen here, Endless One. If you think for one moment I am going to be some sort of baron in a backwater estate, you have the wrong guy. And whoever referred me was obviously lying about my qualifications. I mean, seriously, in what universe is my being a Baron a good idea? Barons are politicians with military backgrounds, so they can support the King in defending their territory. In what way does Youtuber translate to "Great Military Leader" or "Politician"? I spent most of my life screwing things up and the last part trying to fix all the damage I had caused. What exactly do you expect me to do here?"

    I then remember to take some deep breaths. I spent the next few minutes leaning back against the headboard and centering myself. After I gave one last exhale. I said, "Ok, fine, you want this train to wreck, so be it. I already died a slow death; what does it matter if the next one is quick? Just don''t think you can put a black mark on my Endless scorecard if this all goes bottom up." I waited a minute just to be polite. "Fine, have it your way," I said. Sometimes, acting like a crazy person was very therapeutic.

    The first problem was I had no way to fit in here. That glimpse of the past of this body was not enough to develop a profile of the culture. That vision only showed me that he didn''t get along with his family and some of their financial problems. I watched a documentary on spies on the History Channel, and it took months of training to blend into society, and even then, a lot of spores were uncovered. Not only would I have to fit into a culture, but also an actual persona. Everybody had tells, and I knew none of Amos''s behavior patterns.

    Sure, the stories are cool where someone can just seamlessly fit in when they get dumped into a situation, but habits and behaviors are a hard thing to break, and I had no idea how to even identify mine that wouldn''t work. One of the things said in the documentary is that you have to do what everyone else is doing and model the behaviors of others. That might work if I had been put in the body of a servant or peasant, but I needed to model a noble. I had no one to model if my whole family was dead.

    Then there is the fact that I freaked out and blew it with the first people I had met. Sure, it is possible that the old Amos would react that way, but I doubted it. I would have to stick with the amnesia angle and see how long it lasted. But it wouldn''t fool people for long. It was best to just hope that people were not allowed to question noble behavior. Trying to fake another personality was also something they said would get you caught. Dang, I wish this guy''s family were still here. It would mean I could just act upset and hide myself away until I figured things out. But apparently, I was in charge now. I had to interact with people. People who knew what Amos was like.

    Try to blend in, but don''t force it so that it raises red flags? Yeah, this wasn''t going to work at all.

    Succeed or fail, I had already made peace with death. Why try to do the impossible when I hadn''t signed up for this?

    I had screwed up badly on Earth. I had ruined lives, including my own. I thought I had gotten myself straightened out. Maybe one life wasn''t enough to make up for what I did.

    Ok, time to call the captain back in. I already screwed things up with him so

    "Captain, please come in here," I yelled.

    The door promptly opened. "Yes, my lord." He said as he walked back into the room in his usual stately manner. He totally would make a good Baron. Can I abdicate?

    "First, I want to apologize for my outburst," I said as he approached the bed.

    "We all grieve in different ways, my lord. Your outburst was not unwarranted."

    "See, look at that," I pointed at him, "You pulled that off so perfectly. I don''t think I am ready to be a baron. You want the job?"

    The captain opened and closed his mouth several times, words lost in his throat. I needed to stop this before I broke his brain. I needed to rein it in. Turning everything into a joke was a great way to get myself locked up in an insane asylum.

    "Sorry. Bad joke. Just a little overwhelmed here. I don''t think I am ready for this. Is there anyone else around here that could run things?"

    I know the responsible thing would be to try and help, but really I was not qualified for this. If we could find someone capable of leading, it would be much better for these people. I could just help in the background.

    "No, my lord," You are all that is left of the line of Bicman."

    I said, "So be it. Endless One, help us all. Captain, you are the only one I trust with the information I am about to share," not that I knew anyone else, "We have two problems. I was not trained as a baron, nor did I prepare myself for this. As you may have guessed, I have lost most of my memories. I remember the names of my family members and a little about their personalities. I know we have serfs in the village and some peasant villages around us. I need production numbers, though. I need to know who is doing what in the manor and in each village. I need-"

    There was a knock at the door, interrupting my train of thought. I sat there staring at the door for a moment before Draves said, "You must give them permission to enter."

    "Oh, right. Umm... you may enter," I said.

    The door opened, and the older maid came in carrying a tray with a clay bowl on it. A wooden spoon sat on a white linen cloth. A mug of something sat opposite the spoon.

    I scooted further up as she set the tray on my lap. "A light vegetable soup, my lord."

    "Thank you," I said with my most charming smile. Her stern face showed the barest hint of confusion. Dang, another fail. Evidently, the kid didn''t say thank you. This was all going to unravel so fast. Well, screw it. There was no way I was not going to be polite just because the last guy was a jerk. Besides, saying please and thank you was ingrained into me. Maybe with time, I could learn to be a prick, but it was going to take some practice. Or try really hard to act like I did when I was a teenager.  As she left the room, I said to Draves, "What is her name?"

    "Marsh, my lord."

    "Marsh? Well, that might explain her frown. She must be very unhappy with that name." I said softly.

    The captain snorted, "I believe it is short for Marshandra."

    "Ah, well, that''s not bad. I will try and remember that. I feel bad I can''t remember anyone''s name."

    "They would probably find it odd if you did start addressing them by name. Your relationship with the household was not the friendliest."

    "At least I didn''t discriminate; I was the south end of a donkey to everyone."

    "An interesting phrase, my lord," Draves said hesitantly.

    See, this is why fitting in was just not going to work. Too many ingrained tells. Maybe there was an etiquette teacher around this place.

    "How familiar am I with the people of the estate and barony?"

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    "You mostly keep to yourself."

    "So, no friends."

    "There are no nobles here except your family."

    So maybe my odd way of acting wouldn''t be too obvious.

    "Ok, well, I better not let this soup go cold," I said, completely ignoring the fact that I couldn''t have friends outside of my social status. I was in no way going to fit in right now anyway. After a few spoonfuls of the soup, I realized I really missed salt. My mind was also calming down, and exhaustion was setting in. I had definitely done too much while sick. "Captain, I am sorry. I should have excused you. Thank you for taking the time to help me this morning. I am feeling quite tired and will need to sleep after this. Why don''t you go about what you need to do? When I wake, I will need a bath and to look over the reports. Do we have someone who handles the finances and other reports?"

    "The master steward used to handle that for your father."

    "Used to?"

    "He also passed away during the illness."

    "Well, bugger that," I said in frustration. "Do we have anyone who could fill in?"

    "His son is sixteen. He can read and write."

    "Good, we will have to check his competency. For now, let me rest."

    "Yes, my lord." Draves said with a perfect bow. Turning on his heels, he left the room.

    I finished the bland soup and set it to the side. The drink was slightly sour and warm. Something fermented. It probably wouldn''t be so bad if it weren''t warm.

    ''Where are my ice cubes when I need them?''

    The meal finished, I set the bowl on the bed next to me. I was afraid that, in my state, if I tried to place it on the nightstand, I would fall over. As I was about to drift off, my stomach started to cramp. I turned to the side and vomited everything I had just consumed onto the bed, nightstand, and stool. Oh, bugger, Marsh is not going to be happy about that. I didn''t have the energy left in me to call for someone and subsequently drifted into oblivion.

    ******

    A twelve-year-old Amos was in a hallway listening to a conversation behind a partially opened door. "The boy is a fool. He will never pass as a courtier for the king. I don''t think I can even pass him off as a servant for Count Vispar. Not that we are even in favor with him. The military may be all that''s left," said Baron Bicman''s annoyed voice.

    "He will die. If you had given him the attention you gave to Aaron, then it wouldn''t be this way." Lady Bicman retorted

    "Amos was your responsibility. Besides, do you honestly think that layabout would ever become half the man Aaron is becoming? He doesn''t have the brains or the will."

    "Find a wife for him in a good family?" Lady Bicman said questioningly.

    The baron snorted. "Who would take him? No baron or count in their right mind wants a connection with us."

    The Baroness sighed, "You are right." There was a pause. "We could train him as best we can and then marry him to a wealthy family that wants nobility in their blood."

    A longer pause, "It will not look good on our family if he marries someone without noble blood. It will most likely be the military for him."

    I felt the young man''s indignation inside of me. He had tried. He constantly struggled with focusing. Nothing he did was ever good enough. What''s the point of even trying anymore? Amos wandered down the hall and into his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to a chest. Opening it, he looked around the room and pulled out a bottle of sweet wine. He had recently discovered a stash of it and found that he quite liked it. It dulled the pain of his own failures. The old Amos''s mind became fuzzy as the new inhabitant of the body came back to consciousness.

    ********

    Ah, we now have a clue about Baron Amos Bicman''s emotionally scarring backstory. A certain cartoon character from my youth would be proud, I thought to myself. Dang, times like these are when I miss my childhood cartoons. Childish as it may be, sometimes regressing can be helpful in high-stress situations.

    I pulled myself up into a sitting position, and remembering the bell, I gave the rope by the side of my bed a tug. I heard a soft clanking of a bell outside my door.

    A moment later, a young girl no more than fourteen walked into the room. She had long brown hair pulled up into a bun and held by some sticks. She wore the same drab uniform as Marsh but kept her eyes down as she stopped in the doorway. "How may I assist your lordship?"

    "It appears I have vomited up the food I tried to eat before I slept. Would you mind assisting in cleaning it up? Also, I will need a bath."

    She turned bright red, nodded quickly, and practically fled the room. I did not think much about the obviously shy girl until, once again, the ray of sunshine, who goes by the name of Marsh, stormed into the room with a cloth and bucket. The look she gave me could have melted steel, and the anger in her voice was no less piercing. "My lord, I request that you continue to follow the rules set down by your father and not require my maids to be in compromising situations."

    ''What? How in the world was asking for my room to be cleaned and¡­ Oh, she thought...'' The mortified look on my face was probably priceless. I felt the heat rush to my face. "Um, she didn''t think that¡­" I trailed off. I couldn''t even say it. It was way too embarrassing. Seriously, like I would ask that of a minor. Scratch that, like I would ask that of anyone.

    After a very uncomfortable pause, I cleared my throat with a cough and said, "Marshandra, next time you have the chance, would you fetch me a large stick? I want something to hit my head against whenever I say something utterly embarrassing. It may happen frequently enough that I may need two sticks. I uh¡­ I know my past behavior has led to her drawing certain assumptions about my request. I really only wanted her to get someone to get a bath ready for me. I in no way meant for her too... err... um, anyone really to¡­" I couldn''t bring myself to say it.

    Dang it, I grew up on 21st-century TV; I should be immune to witnessing embarrassing moments. I guess it is different when it''s you. "Could you apologize to the girl for me? And maybe you should attend me when you''re not busy rather than the younger girls so there won''t be any misunderstandings."

    "That would be acceptable." She said as she bent down to clean the step stool and floor. When she was done, she stood up and examined my sheets. "We must change these sheets while your lordship is bathing." Marsh then promptly turned and left.

    I leaned my head back against the headboard when she left and let out a long sigh.

    Amos, you idiot! How many embarrassing situations will I have to blunder through because of your slimy reputation? With the gossip mill here, it''s going to be harder to clean up than a bad review on Google.

    Deep breath. One step at a time. "Oh, and you, I am sure you''re up there somewhere just laughing your head off," I said as I glared at the ceiling.

    Marshandra

    I left the room at a slow, dignified pace, but as soon as I was out of the room, I put my hand over my chest to stop my heart from beating out of it. Putting my back against the stone wall, I slid down to sit on the floor. ''Did I really just tell the Baron of the House not to molest my maids?! He isn''t a boy whose parents would have his head if he was caught with one of my maids. Now, it was my head that was on the line.

    Well, he probably wouldn''t go that far but lashing me or throwing me out of the manor. My mother always said that my tongue would get me in trouble. I was just so mad when my little Emily told me the letch wanted her to bathe him. I didn''t even think about who I was talking to. Not until I was almost done cleaning up. How did I even manage to get out the door before I collapsed? I am too old for this.''

    After calming down my racing heart, I thought back to the conversation. ''He was embarrassed! I hadn''t seen him that red in the face since I found him drunk in the dining hall last year. I embarrassed him, and he did nothing. No, not nothing, he apologized. He said he felt bad about his reputation.''

    "What are you doing on the floor, Marsh," said the stern voice of the Captain of the guards.

    I looked up at him, and his stern face melted into one of concern. "You''re as white as a sheet, Marsh. Are you ill?"

    "I," Gulping, I said in a whisper, "I just told the Baron to stop attempting to molest my maids."

    "You what?!" He shouted.

    "Quiet down, Charles," I hissed while standing up. "I didn''t say it exactly like that, but I might as well have. Emily came to me in a panic after she answered the bell contraption he came up with. She said that he had asked her to bathe him."

    "What!" He whispered back.

    "I went storming in there and told him that he shouldn''t request things of my maids that compromise their femininity. Well, something like that. I wasn''t thinking straight, and you know how I sometimes say things before I think."

    The big brute just nodded at that. Seriously, don''t men know when they are supposed to disagree with a woman?

    "Do you know what he did? He apologized, Charles. To me! He got embarrassed and apologized."

    The big idiot just stood there stone-faced. He was supposed to help carry the conversation. Then, a stray thought struck me.

    "Charles, I¡­ I don''t think that is Amos. He doesn''t act or talk like the young master. It must be some trick."

    To my surprise, he nodded. "I thought as much myself."

    "What do we do?"

    "Would it be such a bad thing? He seems like a much better person."

    I couldn''t believe what I was hearing. "Charles, he could be possessed. If it is some evil being, he could be laying a trap."

    There was a long pause before he spoke again, "We will call the priest to verify. If he is a demon, I will kill him and say he died of the sickness. We will report it to the King, and he will seek a new Baron."

    It was as good a plan as any, I supposed. I took a deep breath. "I need to make sure the bath is being brought in." Charles nodded and entered the Baron''s room. As I walked away, I heard the voice of the young baron greet the Captain cheerfully.

 Chapter 3

    "Ah, Captin Draves, my good man! How are you this fine¡­ where are we at in the day?" I said in the most cheerful voice I could.

    "Two bells past noon, my lord," Draves said in a tone opposite to mine, completely void of emotion.

    "I see."

    I really didn''t, though. Were bells like hours or every couple of hours? What was the standard measurement of time? I would figure that out from observation, I suppose. Right now, I have a more pressing question.

    "Captian, how old am I?"

    "Seventeen as of last month."

    "Wow! What did I get for my birthday?" I said curiously.

    "Get for your birthday, my lord?" Draves said in a confused tone.

    "You know, presents, gifts, that sort of thing," I said.

    "You were not baron at the time."

    "You have got to be kidding me?! Are you saying only the baron gets presents on their birthday? What a ripoff," I laughed, "Well, no point in dwelling on the past. We will move forward and spur the economy by introducing presents for everyone on their birthday. Ok, next, the reports. Have you got anything for me?"

    I was only half joking. I didn''t know what I was going to do yet, but if I stuck around here, I had to learn how to improve this place. Now I wish I had taken a course on feudal economics.

    "Marcus is gathering the papers from the Master Steward''s study as we speak." If I didn''t need Draves so badly, I would be trying to get under this guy''s skin. He was just so stiff.

    "Good. While we wait, let''s go over what your duties are."

    "I am responsible for the safety of all your territories and training your men. Most of my time is focused on guarding your person, but I visit each village."

    "I look forward to meeting those in charge of my safety. Should I ring this bell thing, or could you let the kitchen know I would like some¡­ broth." They don''t raise chickens here! I knew this because I had the word for duck, goose, and quail but nothing for chicken. "The soup and wine did not sit well with me this morning."

    "I can let the cook know if you have nothing else to discuss."

    "What type of bird do we get our eggs for cooking from?"

    "The kayver and the goose, Lord, would you also like some eggs?" Draves asked. I think he was over the shock of me asking odd questions. Well, hopefully. Let''s try another.

    "Are you familiar with a people called Romans?"

    "No, my lord."

    I should have realized as much because of the fact that the name came out in English, not whatever language they spoke here so that eliminated kingdoms that were born from the Roman Empire. Was it pre-Roman, or was this truly a different world? Or maybe it was an alternate earth? It dawned on me that none of the countries or civilizations I knew of translated into this language.

    Also, the Endless One was mentioned. I had never heard of that god on earth. But he seemed like a convenient god for me to blame for my current situation. I mean, seriously, I was at least 50% sure I was not going to some version of Hell. If I went to paradise, I was pretty sure there would be beaches there, and I had been looking forward to learning to surf, especially if the surf instructor was some hot angel.

    I had forgotten about Draves until he looked like he was about to leave. But then stopped halfway to the door and shifted uncomfortably. "My lord, I find myself at a loss as to what to do. Not only have you lost your memory, but also you are acting like a completely different person. I fear I must, in good faith, call upon the priest to check if an evil spirit has possessed you. The problem is that I gave you my word that I would not tell anyone you lost your memory, and I will not break my word."

    To say I was shocked was an understatement. Not that he wanted a priest to check me out, but that he was asking permission. This man was worth his weight in gold¡ªa true man of honor with no deceit.

    "Captain Draves, you are frankly the best of men. If all men were like you, I don''t think there would be a need for any man to wear a sword. I release you from your oath towards me in any situation that may put your integrity in question. However, I would prefer if you only told the priest I was acting strangely, not that I may have an evil spirit or that I lost my memory. If he determines that the Endless One deems me a threat, do what you must. I think I was on my way to go surfing when this whole memory loss thing happened anyway."

    For a moment, he just sat there, very confused. I am pretty sure he thought I was insane. "Thank you, my lord. We will have the priest come after you meet with Marcus," he said with a bow and left the room.

    Well, crap! I hope the priest is not the type that would call me out for my odd behavior. I really don''t want to be burned at the stake. How will they test me anyway? Fortunately, I don''t weigh as much as a duck. Well, maybe 100 ducks. Then again, I think that was witches.

    There came a knock at the door.

    "Please come in," I said.

    A guard I didn''t recognize swung open the door, and a young man with sandy brown hair and a wiry frame came in carrying a stack of papers. He seemed to be slightly younger than me. As he approached the bed, I noticed that he kept his expression blank. His eyes showed an emotion, but I couldn''t quite pinpoint what it was. Was it grief or anger? His father had just died, hadn''t he?

    "Marcus, thank you for coming. First, my condolences to you and your family concerning your father''s death. How is your mother doing?"

    This almost caused the mask to crack, but he recovered quickly. "As best as can be expected, my lord, thank you for your concern."

    His words did not match his expression. I hoped we would get along, but I had my doubts. "Marcus, I fear that I have been negligent under my father''s rule and do not know the people in my house well enough. What is it that your mother does in the manor?"

    At this point, his eyes hardened. Oops, I guess that was the wrong thing to say. However, it did give me insight into how he felt about me. He really didn''t like me.

    "She is a gardener on your estate and helps in the kitchen." He said sharply.

    "I see." I decided not to ask if he had any siblings. I had already dug myself into a hole. I didn''t need to dig any deeper. I mean, what if he had a sister like everyone else around here? He would probably think I wanted her to give me a bath or something. Reputations can suck sometimes. "I know there is nothing I can do to fill the void that the loss of a loved one brings, but I want to assure you that I will try to make sure your family''s needs are met."

    This got me a brief look of surprise from him. "Such generosity is not necessary, my lord."

    "We will have to agree to disagree on that. Right now, I am sure you would like to set down those reports. Why don''t you set those on the nightstand."

    He did as I asked, and I pulled off the first paper in the stack. Except it wasn''t paper; I think it was parchment. The handwriting on it was very neat and legible. Did they have dip pens here, or were they still using quills? I used to sign my artwork with a dip pen. I thought it was cool, but it wasn''t easy to get just the right amount of ink on the canvas to make my calligraphy legible. I had even taken an online class to do illustrations with it before I got into graphic design on my PC.

    Ok, Amos, back on track.

    "Very nice writing. Is this your work or your father''s?"

    "It was his," Marcus answered flatly.

    "I understand you were training to take his place. Do you know how to read and do your numbers?"

    "Yes, my lord."

    "Excellent, let''s go over these." To say I was disappointed with the accounting system was an understatement. Everything was on one page with one column for everything. It was hard to wrap my head around things because the numbering system was different from what I was familiar with. Also, they had not invented the zero as a placeholder yet. It was a toss-up between this and Common Core math regarding which one I hated more. I wanted him to fetch me an abacus or something like that, but apparently, that wasn''t a thing here. I was definitely going to have someone make a Chinese abacus like the one I played with as a child at Grandma''s house. She had made fun games out of it to help me learn addition and subtraction.

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    What was even more depressing was the results. Harvest last year hadn''t been any better than the year before. And the serfs were on tight rations until the next harvest came in. What was worse was that I learned we were behind on our spring planting due to the illness that had taken the village by surprise. I wondered if I could send some of my soldiers out to help. If I could get out there to help, then they would have to be out there anyways. Unfortunately, my body at the moment could not handle a lot of moving around and exercising. Should I be worried about my dignity or what the gossip would be? Captain Draves was already bringing in a priest to check if I was possessed. Next, I would probably receive a visit from a psychiatrist. He would probably give me a lobotomy and be done with it.

    I didn''t want to do what I was about to do. I didn''t like Marcus. Nevertheless, I had no choice. "Marcus, I would like you to continue as a steward for the house. I will pay you half what your father made for the first three months. Once you are master steward, I will pay you the same as your father."

    After an initial look of shock, he responded with a nod.

    "Excellent; I will expect daily reports from you even if you only let me know nothing has changed."

    "As you wish, my lord."

    "Thank you, Marcus. Please return these reports to the study."

    He bowed, grabbed the stack of reports, and left.

    Alright, next up: inquisition time. How do I convince him not to burn me at the stake? Maybe I can bribe him. Just then, a knock came at my door. Well, here goes nothing, I thought.

    "Come in."

    It was not a priest or the captain. It was Marsh coming with my broth. I let out a sigh of relief.

    "I am sorry for the delay, my lord. The captain told me to wait until you were finished."

    I gave a wave of my hand. "It''s fine; I thought you were the priest."

    "You requested the priest, my lord," Marsh said in surprise as she set the tray in front of me.

    ¡°No,¡± I sighed, ¡°Draves did. He thought my odd behavior might indicate I am possessed."

    "Really?"

    I raised one eyebrow to show I wasn''t buying the shock. "That was terrible. I give you a 1 out of 10 for your acting skills."

    "My lord?" She said, clearly not understanding my meaning.

    "I mean, on a scale of one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best, I give you a one in acting for your poor performance in pretending like you have no idea what I am talking about. I know you spoke with Captain Draves outside my room after the whole debacle where you accused me of trying to molest your maids."

    "I-" she stammered and blushed.

    Interrupting her, I continued. "I didn''t hear the conversation, but I did hear the captain''s initial response. I imagine the conversation went something like this."

    Using my best imitation of a female voice. "Captain, I just accused the baron of trying to get jiggy with one of the maids."

    Jiggy, of course, didn''t have a meaning in their language, but I am sure she got the drift.

    Then, using a deeper male voice, I said, "You what?"

    "Well, I was wrong. The baron is a super duper guy. He didn''t even try and chop my head off. There must be something wrong with him."

    "You''re right. I''ll go get the priest so we can accuse him of possession and burn him at the stake."

    "That''s a great idea. You are so smart."

    "But first, because I am such an honorable man, I will go in and tell the baron we plan on killing him soon."

    By this point, Marsh was as white as a sheet. But by that time, I was so worked up that I wasn''t paying any attention.

    "It''s my fault, though," I said. "If I had just had you whipped, then you would have thought everything was normal. Do you think it''s too late?"

    At that point, Marsh collapsed to the floor. "My lord, I, I, I-"

    I was so caught up in the moment and my own anxiety that I didn''t even realize what I had been saying to the poor lady.

    Did I seriously just say I should have beaten her? What the crap Amos, get it together.

    I realized I had been lying to myself when I said I was ok with dying again. I did not want to be burned at the stake.

    I banged my head against the headboard in frustration. "Crap, Marshandra, I''m sorry. When I get nervous, I start to make stupid jokes. I''m really sorry. It''s not your fault that I am no good at being a baron. I am just... It doesn''t matter. I would never beat you for being concerned about the sanity of your lord. I don''t even know if I could stomach having someone beaten."

    I had hurt enough people in my past life. I didn''t need another debt to repay. "Please get off the floor and sit on my chair before the captain and priest come in and see you like this. Then I would have to explain to them what a big jerk I am for making a woman cry."

    I didn''t think she was going to move for a moment, but then she slowly lifted herself. Wiping her eyes, she got up and sat in the chair.

    "See, I did make you cry," I growled in frustration.

    "I, I am fine, my lord," She said quietly.

    "Well, I''m not. I am sorry Marshandra.¡±

    "Thank you, my lord."

    I started to drink the broth. I thought it was beef broth, but I wasn''t sure. "What type of broth is this?"

    "Beef, my lord."

    "It''s perfect. Give my compliments to the chef."

    "The who?"

    "I mean whoever made it."

    I sighed.

    Just relax, Amos. You''re not going to fit in anyway.

    "Of course, my lord."

    There was silence in the room until I finished my soup. It was a little awkward having her just sit there, but I ignored her as best I could. When I finished, I set the tray on the nightstand. I expected Marsh to collect the dish, but she didn''t move. When I looked at her, she was staring right back at me with pursed lips as if examining an odd creature and didn''t know what to make of it. Finally, she spoke.

    "Are you truly Lord Amos Bicman?" She said suddenly. Well, there''s no beating around the bush there.

    I looked down at myself. "As disappointing as it may be, I am afraid I am." I lied. Just because I didn''t think I could keep this charade going didn''t mean I was going out myself intentionally.

    "You don''t act like yourself," she said with slight frustration in her voice.

    I shrugged, "I know."

    More silence.

    "Why do you call me Marshandra?" She asked.

    Oh crap, that is her name, right? I distinctly remember the captain saying Marshandra.

    "Because that''s your name?" I said questioningly.

    "Up until today, you have always called me Marsh."

    "I like Marshandra better. It is a nice name." I said offhandedly, trying to give the impression that I had the right to change my opinion whenever I wanted to.

    "You used to call me Muddy Marsh."

    I nodded as if I remembered. "I am ashamed to think of what a terrible person I have always been."

    Marsh shook her head. "Not always, my lord," She said softly. "I remember a very bright little boy full of life. He was a handful, always getting into everything. I swear he was the cause of much of the grey hair in the manor. How often I have wished for that young boy back." She said with emotion. The stern woman I had met this morning was gone, replaced by a woman who was grieving for the loss of a child that wasn''t even hers.

    It was heartbreaking to hear. Her voice was that of a mother who had lost her child. I just sat there silently. What could I say? I couldn''t bring back the little boy she was hoping for. I would have choked up if I had tried to answer her back. So we sat there, both lost in our thoughts.

    As my thoughts wandered, the heavy knock of Captain Draves came at the door. Marsh went pale. "I am sorry, my lord, I shouldn''t have-"

    I silenced her with the raise of my hand. "It was bound to happen. The captain couldn''t, in good conscience, keep this from the church. It is in the Endless One''s hands. Have faith. Come in."

    The captain and a stately man in straight, undyed robes walked in. He glanced at Marsh, "Ma''am, this is a private meeting, and I must ask you to leave."

    Marsh stood to leave, but I stopped her. "Marsh stays. She has my trust and deserves to hear what is spoken here."

    All three people looked at me with surprise, but the priest nodded, and Marsh resumed her seat. The priest''s face was somber as he walked up to me. "Lord Bicman, Captain Draves has informed me that you have acted outside your normal behavior and appear to have lost much of your memories."

    I glanced over at Marsh and saw her eyebrows raise in surprise. Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now. Thanks a lot, Draves. Technically, I gave him permission to spill the beans, but did he have to bring up the memory thing?

    "That''s the word on the street. Ok, not really the word on the street. Only you three should know about it." I saw Marsh''s lips turn down into a frown of disapproval. Crap, did Marsh think she had the right to mother me now that we had our heart-to-heart? I am in so much trouble. The priest, however, didn''t react.

    "He also informed me that you have given your permission to have me check for any signs of possession."

    "Yes."

    "Very well," He said, and without any further explanation, he placed the ring and middle finger of his left hand on my forehead. "I call forth any spirit that has possessed this body to depart." I felt a slight tingle in my skull, so small I might have imagined it. There was a tugging on my mind as if it were trying to be forcefully removed from my body. It left as quickly as it came, and then, in a surprised voice, the priest said, "A pronouncement: A life lost, a new life given. Go forth and be a light in the darkness."

    I looked at the priest in shock.

    "Well, that''s a first." the priest said with a smile.

 Chapter 4

    Marcus

    I walked through the doorway of our two-bedroom apartment in the manor house. We didn''t have the finely decorated furniture the lord liked to show off in the rest of the manor. The stone walls were bare of any ornamentation, and the main room held only my parent''s bed and a rough wood table. The back room had a bed that my sister and I shared. It was really getting too small for the both of us, so with Dad passing, Carrie would probably sleep in the larger bed with Mom. I had my table for studies. Until last week, Dad would come and check my work each evening after he finished his duties. Now, they were my duties.

    My mother sat in the chair, her hands gripping her green skirt so tight that it made her knuckles white. "What did he want?" She said nervously as I shut the door.

    I snorted in disgust as I remembered having to deal with that man for the last hour. "The big oaf wanted to go over the reports and ledger. I didn''t even know he could count."

    "You shouldn''t say such things. What if you are overheard?" She said in a whisper.

    I couldn''t help but roll my eyes. "I''m not saying anything anyone else in this house hasn''t already said."

    "Times have changed. He is the baron now. Other servants may be vying for his favor. Reporting on malcontents is a way to get that favor."

    I thought about it, and she was right. "Let''s go to the back room."

    We entered my room, and she sat on my chair while I sat on the bed. "So, can we stay? He isn''t making us leave because your father died, is he?" Her voice was almost panicky.

    "No, he wants me to do Father''s job for now," I said, anger beginning to boil in my blood at the memory of the conversation.

    "Thank the Endless One." Mother said as she sagged in her chair. Tension drained from her face.

    "He is only paying me half of what Father received for the same work," I grumbled.

    "But Marcus, that''s wonderful. What person at your age could boast of making so much?"

    I ignored her thoughtless comment. I knew what was really going on. "He says it is just until I prove myself, and then he will raise it half again and then to what I deserve when I become the master steward."

    "But that is wonderful, isn''t it?" She said, confused by my reaction.

    "Think about it, Mother. He gave me the job because he had no one else to do it. He is too stupid to figure out a simple ledger. I had to go through it line by line with him. He should be paying me father''s wages. What he really wants is cheap labor until he can find someone else. He will keep putting off giving me more and then drop us as soon as he can find a replacement."

    "Do you really think so?"

    I hid the scorn on my face. "This is Amos Bicman we are talking about. The one who has ridiculed me and used me as a practice dummy again and again over the last few years. He will use us and then get rid of us. We also have to think of Carrie. We no longer have his father to keep him under control."

    My mother sighed, "You''re right, of course. In the kitchen, they said he asked little Emily to bathe him today."

    "That vile¡­" I couldn''t even finish what I was going to say. I was so mad.

    "Fortunately, old Marsh went in instead and somehow made him see reason. She said it was all a big misunderstanding, but the cook said Marsh looked pretty shaken up."

    "We have to leave before that man ruins this whole place. Fortunately, we have enough stored away that we can leave."

    "We will go to your father''s brother''s house in Abberton if he will have us. You should be able to buy an apprenticeship with the scribes. Write to him explaining the situation and ask him if he can put us up. If he replies favorably, I will see if I can get Marsh to write me a recommendation."

    We talked for a little longer until Carrie showed up. Mother left to speak with her. Meanwhile, I laid plans for how to skim money off the books in the short time we had. My dad had been a master at it and taught me how he did it. If only he had let me know where he hid it. It had to be outside the manor somewhere. He possibly left it in Cofi. No use worrying about what I couldn''t have. Now, it was my turn to see how well I could fleece the idiot. Maybe on the way out of town, I could do the world a favor and stick a knife in his back.

    Amos

    My dream that night was less clear than the previous ones. I was a little child trying to show my father something I had done. I was so eager to get his approval that I interrupted a fencing lesson he was giving to my older brother. The rage on his face and the cruel words that he spoke caused me to flee the field. As I woke, I remembered how the previous Amos never could stand to go to the practice field, and every time he did, he felt the fear that he had the first time he had entered it.

    As the memories cleared, I was brought back to the conversation that the captain, maid, priest, and I had had last night. Would that make a good joke? A captain, maid, and priest walk into a bar, and the priest says,¡­

    Ok, come on, Amos, stay focused.

    Last night was weird. Of course, that is to be expected when the Endless One is involved. After the proclamation, the priest discussed how he had heard of them happening but never witnessed one himself. He certainly hadn''t expected to give one, considering his background, whatever that was supposed to mean. Maybe he wasn''t highly favored in the church. Seeing how he was out in the middle of nowhere, it kind of made sense. But what were we to make of it all?

    The Endless One brought me here to bring change. What kind of change was he talking about? What type of change could a shut-in like me bring to the barony? I was pretty good at art. I had spent my youth in hospital beds learning to draw. Soon, that turned into painting and calligraphy. The final step was graphic art and CGI. Some of the CGI instructional videos might help.

    I hadn''t seen any pictures here. If artwork was rare in this world, I could become a world-famous artist and maybe even change the way art was done. Maybe start a school of art?

    We all discussed together how I might change things. Of course, they all thought of it in terms of a young man who had lost most of his memories. Marsh went on and on about how I had been such a creative child, and if I could get my memories back, I might have something I had come up with to help the barony. She muttered something under her breath about being Chosen, but I missed it.

    I wasn''t quite sure whether I should let them know I wasn''t the Amos they thought I was. It was what they were checking for in the first place. But the proclamation made it clear the Endless One was on my side. Or would they think the same power that allowed me to possess Amos also helped deceive them? I let out a long sigh.

    I never did end up getting my bath yesterday. Marsh had forgotten, and of course, I was too wrapped up thinking about all the changes in my life. She apologized profusely when a maid finally knocked on the door and asked if the bath was still needed. I told them to wait until morning. I shouldn''t have waited. I had flea bites everywhere, or were those bed bugs? Was there a difference?

    I rang the bell, and a night guard stepped in. He was tall and well-built. He reminded me of a professional basketball player, toned lean muscle. I looked down at myself.

    Don''t worry, Amos, we''ll get there.

    "How may I help, my lord?" He said in a higher-pitched voice than I expected for such a big dude.

    "Thank you for your quick response. I am afraid I have forgotten your name," I said in what I hoped was a chipper morning voice. After all, I was trying to build a more positive image.

    He appeared surprised. Hopefully, he was surprised that I asked and not that I forgot his name. "Hyrum, my lord."

    Hmm¡­ Hyrum, high voice. There''s nothing like a little association to help with name memorizing.

    "It is a pleasure to see you this morning, Hyrum. Could you let the maids know that I am ready for my bath? Wait, don''t say it that way. People take things the wrong way when I say them. Say uh¡­ Say, I would like somebody to bring in the bathtub and water. Make sure they know I can bathe myself and that I don''t need any help. Yeah, that should work." I said while nodding to myself.

    Hyrum looked confused for a moment but carried out my request. I shook my head. I hoped I wasn''t going to get a visit from Marsh about this. Since the Endless One had left the interpretation of the pronouncement up to us. Marsh interpreted her part as her making sure I don''t screw up. Well, she didn''t say it like that. She said, "I will make sure you relearn proper manners." I guess she decided I still needed a mother.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Captain Draves took to his assignment very well. Then again, nothing really changed, as far as we could tell. He was the captain of my guards and my sort of, kind of bodyguard, so, yeah, me becoming a changer of worlds did nothing to affect his duties. Of course, when I said, "Well, Captain Draves, I guess this is a, you do you, thing." He gave a look that meant, how did I get myself into this? I guess it could have meant I am thrilled to be here. It was hard to tell with his stone-like face.

    After I said that the priest then said, "I am beginning to understand your concern, Captain." Seriously, what did he mean by that? I was just trying to lighten the mood.

    In the end, we finally concluded that the Endless One wanted me to help the barony prosper. At least, that is the interpretation we were going with for now. That meant that today, I was going to learn more about the workings of the barony. From what we discussed yesterday evening, besides the Manor village, we also had four others.

    We didn''t have exact numbers, but Melnon to the east of us was the smallest with less fertile farmlands, so they didn''t export any food in taxes, but they did have a copper vein that was worked there and provided for the barony. It was a steady production, but because the land in Melnon was not as suitable for farming and importing food was not very cost-efficient, we couldn''t keep a large enough population to produce more. We traded what we could for tin so we could make bronze.

    There was also an iron vein. We used it for a few things around the barony, but converting iron ore into something workable was very labor-intensive, making it impractical to export to other baronies.

    Alfer to the southeast of us was slightly larger with more fertile land that butted up against the mountains to the east. There were plenty of trees, but they were fir, and the forests near the Manor village were better. It was still our primary source of wood, though, because that is where the woodcutter''s camp was. If I remember correctly, the wood from fir trees was good for paper, and after seeing the parchment last night, the paper was on my to-do list; if I could remember how to make pulp, that is.

    Straight to the south, down the main road, was Kerisi. It had a good size population with decent farmland. Well, decent compared to Bicman. It probably would have been a better town to have the manor due to its location, but it wasn''t part of our barony until about three years ago.

    My grandfather was a knight who had been made baronet of two villages on the edge of civilization. His only claim to fame was his right to a hereditary title. My father was the one to get the other towns.

    Last on the list was Cofi, which was our largest food producer. Alfer and Colfi also gained at the same time as Kerisi. Cofi was situated on a large lake and produced a decent supply of fish for its size. Enough to supply the village and my household at least.

    All our villages belonged to the Pollman barony before Amos''s grandfather received the title of baronet from the last king. He got Bicman and Melnon for saving the king''s life. We obtained the southern three villages when Baron Pollman was caught avoiding taxes and trying to raise an army for rebellion, so he lost his title.

    Another rumor was that it was actually more political than that. Duke Darmus owed Baron Decmoore a favor and made a deal with Duke Kimton to give the best of Baron Pollman''s land to him. It left Baron Pollman with only Alfer, Kerisi, and Colfi. Baron Pollman complained to the king but was accused of sowing discontent, so he was beheaded. The Duke did not want to give too much land to one baron, even though Decmoore ended up being one of the largest baronies in the dukedom anyway. So, in the end, we ended up with everything north of the Nore River. It gave us the right population for our low-ranking title of baronet before he became a baron. We were on the low end of population size as far as a baron goes. We had plenty of poor land and about thirteen hundred people. All this meant was I had a lot to manage and no idea how to do it.

    There was also Barim, which was abandoned. It was west of Bicman, further down the river. It had been rebuilt twice after massive illness struck. The last one was two years ago, just before harvest time. It was a devastating blow for the new barony and set us back quite a ways. I would have to check out the location and see if it was just bad luck or something in particular.

    Farther west was the ocean. I was excited about the prospect of a beach until I learned that our barony ended with cliffs and massive rocks protruding from the sea. There were tales of broken hearts and maidens throwing themselves off the cliffs. They became spirits that caused ships to sail too close and get smashed on the rocks. Wasn''t that story similar to the German Lorelei? I guess sailors had to have some excuse for why their ships hit rocks.

    In the middle of my brooding, two men came in carrying a small brass tub. I was sure that it would barely fit my bulk. Two other men came in with four buckets of water. A maid came in while the tub was being filled. Laying down a towel, a washcloth, and a bar of soap, she left promptly. The water had filled the tub about a quarter full. One man turned and started working on the fire in the fireplace. By the time he had it burning, the two men came in with more buckets. After filling the tub to half full, two of the men left. "Do you require anything else?" the one who lit the fire asked.

    "No, I will ring when I am done. Thank you." I replied.

    He executed a bow and left. Putting my hand into the tub, I was prepared for it to be quite cold. Instead, it was only slightly less than lukewarm. I pulled off my nightshirt and looked at myself. Yeah, I really have to fix that. I grabbed the washcloth and soap and got in. I had to squat down to soak my body. It was uncomfortably cramped with all my excess weight, but I managed. I wonder how Amoses father did it. Maybe he stood while others bathed him? I stood up to scrub myself and then dunked down again. I used the cloth to wash my hair and face and then rinsed again.

    Getting out of the tub was somewhat of a chore, but I managed without falling on my face. I then dried with a towel and went to the trunk at the end of the bed. Apparently, my father was too cheap or too poor to have closets or dressers. I grabbed some sort of underwear, shirt, and pants and put them on. Next, I put on a pair of thin wool socks. I saw my shoes near the exit. But didn''t put them on. They looked similar to modern shoes, except they had no tongue and a thin sole. The "shoe strings" were strips of leather. We had a long way to go before Air Jordans. I rang the bell, and Hyrum stepped in. He looked a little shocked but said nothing.

    "How may I help, my lord?" he asked politely.

    "Uh, could you get someone to take this away and ask the captain to come?"

    "At once, my lord." He said as he turned and left.

    I paced my room. I had recovered quickly over the night and was excited to get out of here. I wanted to see what my manor and the village looked like. It took almost a good ten minutes before Draves came in. He didn''t give much of a reaction, but I could tell he thought I looked strange.

    "Sir, why are you not fully dressed?

    I looked down at myself, "What do you mean?"

    "That shirt does not go with the pants you were wearing. And you are missing the scarf of your title and your vest."

    "Remember the part where I''ve lost my memory, Captain?" I said with a chuckle. "Perhaps you could help me pick out appropriate attire."

    "I apologize, my lord. Some of the things you don''t know still surprise me. Let me assist you, and in the future, we shall have Marsh pick something out before you dress in the morning."

    Apparently, the pants that I picked out were for a more formal occasion. Also, the shirt required a vest on top. We changed the pants and added a vest. I put on the scarf, signifying my title, and the captain helped me put on my shoes; bending over that far without hurting my stomach was a problem. After that, I was ready to go. Rock''n it in my swag¡­ uh, well, whatever this clothing was called.

    "First, I thought we could tour the manor. Kind of like I was doing an inspection. After that, we could travel to the village. You would really help me out if you greeted everyone by name. Or at least in any situation where it isn''t awkward to do it. I''m going to have to relearn everyone''s names." I said with a sigh.

    "As I said before, you normally didn''t use others'' names."

    "And it was bad of me to do so. So now I need to correct it."

    We left the room, and the first thing I noticed was that I had two guards positioned outside. I guessed I would have at least one, but I felt like two were overkill. Hyram was no longer there. The two guards wore the standard breastplate and carried a shorter version of a halberd. Something that could be swung and jabbed in the hallway.

    I also noticed that the hallways were not adorned with any artwork. They were solid, utilitarian stone walls. The hall extended both ways, but we were near the end of one. It ended with a plain wooden door. Apparently, that was the study, and to the left, light filtered in from a large window at the end. There was no glass, but a small rug was hanging to the side. Was that what they used before tapestries to cover windows? Or maybe tapestries were very expensive? I knew my barony was not flush with money. Maybe I could invent Venetian blinds?

    We moved down the hall to the left. Where the hallway made a sharp turn to the right. When we got to the end, he turned to the two guards trailing us. "You are dismissed from your duties at present." Both guards bowed and left around the corner. After they were out of earshot, the captain said, "This room is the baron''s. Marsh will be moving your things in here today. Would you like to see it?" Pointing his finger at the last door in the hall.

    "Not particularly. I''m more interested in everything else. Speaking of sleeping, will I always have two guards watching my door at night? I know I''m important and all, but it''s not like I''m the king or that we have something here that everyone is trying to get their hands on. Unless we have a secret gold mine no one is telling me about."

    "I have no evidence to support my thoughts, but when the entire ruling body of the manor suddenly dies, it leads me to suspect foul play."

    "Wait, I thought it was a disease?" I said.

    "Most in this house were sick, and a few died, but your entire family died. No one in the town was hit that badly. It would have been simple for someone to slip poison in with the food and kill the already weakened bodies. I have already suspended all those who worked in the kitchen from their duties and brought in temporary ones. I questioned those I released, and I got nothing out of it except outrage for losing their jobs.

    ¡°There isn''t enough evidence to point to an assassination, and you are right that your family doesn''t have quality land, but in my opinion, anyone who owns land is a target for those who want more. It may just be another baron who thinks they can do better with your land than you could. They may try to eliminate you if they feel they are the next person in line to get the land. Or it may be that the Duke wants to give land to someone who has pleased him but doesn''t have an excuse to relieve you of your land. The land was given to your family by the king, after all. It could be an individual your family has offended somehow."

    "But killing an entire family with poison seems risky?" I said doubtfully.

    "I agree, unless someone took the opportunity to do it during an outbreak. They couldn''t plan for a plague, but what if they took the chance when the outbreak happened?"

    "You''re right. It is a bit of a stretch, but at the same time, it is odd that my whole family died. I would rather we both be a little paranoid at this point." At least the guy wasn''t one of those people who didn''t look deeper into coincidences. "Why don''t we head to the dining hall, and we can get something to eat?"

    Captain Draves nodded and led the way, explaining the manor''s layout in a hushed voice.

 Chapter 5

    I found out that there wasn''t much to the manor after all. Besides the four bedrooms on the side of the manor, there was the great room, which counted as the dining room, courtroom, entertainment room, and communal sleeping area for the serfs¡ªno wonder the whole house got sick. There was a fire pit in the center to heat the room.

    The steward''s family had a two-bedroom suite. I imagine it was supposed to be a bedroom and a study, but for some reason, the Baron had the man using his personal study instead. Besides the kitchen and storage room, the only other room was the baron''s personal study, used for the daily business of the steward. The manor had a garden and about two acres of fields within the walls. The perimeter walls were made of logs about ten feet tall. The manor wouldn''t last a day against a military siege but would deter bandits. We also had our own well. That was nice¡ªno need to walk down the hill to the river near the village.

    There was a barrack that looked similar to the great hall with a storage shed and a stable behind it. Each member of the family had their own horse. In my opinion, those horses were the extent of our show of wealth.

    I also thought it odd that there were no torches on the wall. Minecraft lied. Apparently, torches were completely inefficient lighting sources. Instead, we had small alcoves for oil lamps. Pieces of polished metal were placed at the back to help reflect the light into the halls. There was a chandelier in the great hall that I expect was only used for special occasions. Oil seemed to be cheaper than candles.

    Since everyone else had already eaten, the tables in the great hall had been set aside, along with the benches, stools, and chairs. The chairs, of course, were used for my no longer living family and me. Servants got the stools and benches. I will say one thing, though: this place didn''t stink as bad as I thought it would. You always hear of the powerful odors that were common in ancient societies. I could tell that the floors and tables of the great hall had already been washed, and the girl, Emily, was washing an alcove as we entered. Upon seeing us, she immediately left.

    "Is it protocol to leave the room when nobility enters, or is that just people''s natural reaction to me?" I asked Draves.

    "It is so they aren''t in your way."

    In other words, out of sight, out of mind. Oh, well, one step at a time.

    We had a meal of leftover broth and grainy bread. I asked for water rather than the diluted wine. A young lady about my age brought it out. She was pretty with long chestnut-colored hair but had a nervous look as she set down her meal. I almost gave her a charming smile to disarm her so she wouldn''t be intimidated by my presence, but then I realized that due to my reputation, it would probably have the opposite effect. So, instead, I kept my face neutral, nodded, and gave a polite thank you. Making sure my eyes did not linger on her. It sucked that I had to maintain an air of complete indifference toward my female employees so they didn''t think I was sexually harassing them.

    Had the past owner of this body really been that bad, or was it just rumors that got out of control? Was I going to have any ladies knocking on my door asking for child support? I would see what the future holds and not worry about a past I couldn''t control. I still wanted to know all of their names. Draves informed that the young lady was Carrie, and she was Marcus''s sister. Maybe that is why Marcus didn''t like me. Had I said or done something to his sister?

    "Captain, Do you know if I have done anything¡­ inappropriate to that girl?" I said, trying to keep the blush off my face. "She seemed uncomfortable in my presence."

    "I was not in your presence often, my lord, but you were often drunk the last few years, leading you to say or do things considered unacceptable in polite society. If you are asking if you took any young ladies to your bed, they most likely are rumors."

    "But did I umm¡­" And here, my face did go red, "touch them."

    "Ah, my lord, may I refrain from answering that?"

    "So I was a crude, handsy buffon that was kept in line by my father?"

    "I would not recommend referring to yourself in such a way." Draves said.

    "Just trying to get a clear picture of who I was. I am not that man anymore. Also, I refuse to drink any more alcohol. I will be drinking water only. We will probably want to boil the water to make sure I don''t get dysentery or something like that. Can you even get dysentery from a well? Anyways, water for me from now on. I am the lord of the manor and have no wish to embarrass myself any further. Not that going alcohol-free will stop me from making a fool of myself, but here''s hoping, right?"

    I don''t think Draves had a good response to that, so he just nodded.

    After breakfast, we finished the tour of the manor compound, going everywhere he had already told me about.

    I have to admit that the task of bringing my barony out of poverty was daunting. I would need art supplies. Some may laugh at that, but art was how I kept down my anxiety in my past life, and I would definitely need it here. I wonder what I could use for canvas. Probably linen would work. I always used cotton canvas, but I had no idea if we had access to cotton.

    Oh, and I can''t forget to see if we had a silversmith or something that could make a calligraphy set.

    "Draves, Do we have anyone who can do detailed metal work, like a jeweler or a silversmith?"

    "My lord, we do not employ a wide variety of tradesmen. If you need something like that done, you may be able to have Jorb, the smith, do it.

    By the time we had walked around the manor, I was exhausted. I was too heavy to walk this far. I must be around 350 pounds, if not more. At least, that is the way it felt. I really wanted to walk down the hill to the village, but there was no way I could make it even halfway down. I felt ridiculous. But fortunately, I knew how to work out. There were even times in my past life when I did it religiously. After the cancer, I was constantly reminded of the importance of exercise and a good diet. I understood its importance, but I wasn''t going to change overnight. Today, I requested a carriage readied while waiting on a stool in the great hall.

    Like the rest of the manor, the carriage was not very impressive. More a box with doors on two axles. It was a chore to get up and into it. And once we were on our way, I wished I hadn''t. No shocks meant we felt every single bump on the road. The padding on the seats and padding on my butt was not enough to keep me from bruising.

    By the time I was done, I was ready to head to the carpenter and blacksmith and get some basic springs made for my carriage. I could do it, too. In Middle School, I had to do a shoebox diorama after reading Charles Dickens''s "Great Expectations." I decided I would do a street view of the Satis House. Unfortunately, I had a crush on my 8th-grade English teacher. She was tall, at least compared to a scrawny 14-year-old. She was blonde and had beautiful green eyes.

    So, what do you do when you have a crush on your teacher? You try to impress her by coercing your dad into helping you make the most accurate model possible. That includes making cobbled streets with a carriage that was 100% accurate for the period, including carving stupid pieces of wood to make dual axel leaf-springs like I saw on the internet. Topping it off, you buy extra paint and brushes so you can draw gold patterns on the outside of the carriage. Two weeks of work, and she didn''t even invite me out on a date. I was crushed¡ªstupid teenage hormones.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "Do we have a bowyer in town?"

    "We do, my lord," Draves said with a confused expression.

    "Do you think he would be available to speak with me?" I asked.

    The good captain''s lips twitched almost imperceptibly. He seemed to be trying not to laugh. "My lord, there isn''t a person within any of your lands that doesn''t have time to speak with you whenever you ask."

    I just rolled my eyes. Being the top dog was going to be hard to get used to. I wish I had the respect of people to go along with it.

    "Could you let the driver know?"

    "Certainly," He pulled back the cloth curtain and spoke with the driver. "Take us to Samuel the Boyer''s place."

    "How do I pay the boyer if I want something made?" I didn''t have any coins on me, and I didn''t know if he would refuse to do the work before he was paid. I probably had credit or something. I was utterly wrong.

    "He''s a serf, my lord." He said as if that explained everything. It didn''t, so I had to embarrass myself by asking the next question.

    "So, how do I pay serfs?"

    I could tell he wanted to sigh. "Serfs owe you their labor in exchange for their food and clothing, Lord. You don''t pay them, and they do the work."

    "That doesn''t seem to promote a good work ethic," I said offhandedly.

    "Work ethic?"

    "You know, what drives him to do his best if he isn''t compensated?"

    "You feed him and cloth him, and you make sure he has somewhere to sleep. You allow his children to marry when the time comes. If he doesn''t do the task to your satisfaction, then you beat him."

    I must admit, on the inside, I was screaming about human rights, liberty, and justice for all. But outwardly, I just nodded. I couldn''t bite off more than I could chew for right now. "Are all of the people in the village serfs?"

    "All but the miller and the blacksmith. They are peasants and can be paid in extra grain or linen that they will then use to trade for what they need with other villagers."

    "How do serfs get things that I don''t provide?"

    "Serfs usually set aside a small amount of their food that you provide as trade between themselves."

    "I see. I appreciate your patience."

    "You''re welcome."

    We arrived at the bowyer''s place shortly afterward. Stepping out, I got my first look at the village. It was exactly what I expected to see. Ok, not exactly, but close enough.

    The houses were poorly constructed cottages with sticks and thatch. They looked like large tents. Some had doors, and some had thick hides hanging over the doorways. Each was no bigger than my hospital room.

    They all had a garden out front. Some women were weeding theirs and getting ready for planting. There were a few gardens that had women already planting. Little children were running around mostly naked in the chill spring weather. I saw some older boys and girls bringing water in buckets from the river nearby to a communal stone water reservoir. The kids looked happy but malnourished. The women and young adults looked nervous. It was time for my PR campaign.

    After breakfast, I had the kitchen staff make loaves of bread as I toured the rest of the manor. By the time we left, I had enough loaves to hand out to every household in the village. Draves held the bag while I reached in and pulled out the still-warm bread one loaf at a time. Kids saw the bread and immediately ran to me while the women stopped their chores and looked nervously at what was happening.

    The first child to approach was a boy of about ten. He had dirty black hair and wore clothes of some sort of rough material.

    I knelt down next to the boy and asked, ¡°Would you like a loaf of bread?¡±

    Of course, he eagerly accepted it. He was about to run off when I said, ¡°Wait just a minute, young man. What do you say when you are given a gift?¡±

    ¡°Ah- thank you?¡±

    ¡°You are welcome. I want you to go straight home and give this to your mother. Which home is yours?¡±

    He pointed it out and then took off. Probably eager to devour the loaf.

    I continued until there were no more children to hand out loaves to. I noticed a few homes that didn''t receive bread due to a lack of children.

    To those, I went up and either handed it to the woman of the house or knocked on the door frame. Some places looked so poorly built that I just called out.

    The women weren''t much for conversation. All I got were single-word answers. It was as if they were afraid that at any moment, I would order Draves to chop off their heads.

    Some homes had no one in them. One of the women explained that the children had lost their parents and were living with neighbors.

    I then walked over to the bowyer''s house. His daughter had been carrying water when I handed out bread and brought the loaf into the house. This caused the bowyer to leave his shop from behind and come to watch what was going on. I greeted him as I approached. "Samuel Bowyer, I presume?"

    He was a tall man with what I assumed were the things my big sister used to call sleeper muscles. They didn''t bulge like a weightlifter''s, but you knew they were there. Sis used to drool over those guys. I uses to mock her.

    "Uh...forgive me, my lord. It is just Samuel. I am one of your loyal serfs. Not a Freeman. How may I help you, my lord?"

    I hoped there weren''t too many serfs with the same name, or this would get confusing fast. "I understand you both make bows and do carpentry projects around the village."

    "Yes, my lord."

    "Excellent, I''ll get straight to the point. Due to my obese nature and delicate butt, I need unique springs for my carriage." Draves did not look happy about my self-deprecating statement; if Marsh were here, she probably would have throttled me.

    "Springs?"

    "Springs for my carriage. Yes, let me explain. Do you have parchment and quill?"

    "I''m sorry, my lord, but I can charcoal a stick and get some cloth."

    "Not necessary. I can use a stick and the dirt, for starters. I will draw it out in more detail and have it run down to you later.¡± I had him follow me to the carriage, and I picked up a stick from the side of the road. I proceeded to explain how the bowed wood was layered and fit under the carriage.

    "This is a good idea, my lord. I will complete it to the best of my abilities. If you will beg my pardon, my lord," He said nervously, "I have never attempted something like this, and it may take a while for me to get it right."

    "Samuel, I don''t want you to make it exactly how I showed you. I want you to take the idea and make improvements as best you can. You are the expert, not me. If it doesn''t work, then I designed it wrong. The worst that can happen is you fail, and we try something else. Because this is a unique request, I will give your family five loaves of bread upon completion, whether you succeed or fail. If you find a way to make it work, I will give your family a bag of grain."

    His eyes went wide in shock. "Thank you, my lord," He said with an awkward bow. Still, he pulled it off better than I could.

    "Make sure to get with the blacksmith about the fittings. I will stop by his shop sometime to let him measure the carriage. I want to offer him the same deal as well."

    "No need, my lord. Give me a moment to get my rope, and I will make the measurements and share them with him. I will let him know of your generosity."

    "Thank you, Samuel." I really hoped this worked. I don''t think the ones in the 1800s were made of wood.

    After he got all the specifications, it was time to head out to the fields. I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to help, but I highly doubted it. I was a city boy, and the closest I had ever been to a farm was a 65-inch flat screen in my house.

 Chapter 6

    The fields started only a stone''s throw from the edge of the village. I could see a few men with oxen plowing fields. I saw how they struggled with the tough soil as we got closer. It made me tired just looking at them. Other men dug with hoes, turning up the dirt. I saw a man trying to replace the blade of a plow by the side of a field. I had the driver stop. Hoping there was something we could do to help. The man was stocky and drenched with sweat. When he saw the carriage stop, his eyes widened, and he stood up immediately. Wiping his dirty hands on his even dirtier pants, he gave a bow.

    "May I ask your name?" I said it in what I hoped was a polite, friendly voice. Was it too much to ask for people not to look at me like I was a monster come to each of their children?

    "Please forgive me, my lord. I didn''t mean to break the plow. I will use a plow stick instead, so I don''t waste time."

    Fortunately, his head was still down, so he didn''t see me rolling my eyes. But he most definitely heard my sigh, though.

    "You''re not in trouble. I just want your name so I don''t have to call you. "Hey, you."

    "Forgive me, my lord, my name is Harold."

    He was really doubling down on this whole thing, thinking I was going to beat him for displeasing me. "Well, Harold, can we help you fix your plow?"

    "My lord?" The question seemed to have confused him.

    "We have three extra hands here. I want to help you fix your plow?" I said exasperatingly.

    "Oh, thank you, my lord, but I wouldn''t want to trouble you." He said, his eyes shifting to Draves to try and confirm my sincerity. Draves''s face, of course, gave nothing away. He nodded, however, to assure the trembling man.

    "My lord, I just need to attach a new head. A tip of this one is broken."

    As Draves helped him attach the head, I stared at the device. This was not like the plows I had seen on TV. This one looked like a bull''s horn made of wood attached to two handles. This can''t be very effective, I thought. The one that I had seen was made of iron. The plow thing was like two bird wings attached together. It had wheels on either side to help support its weight. As I watched the other farmers in the field, I could tell this narrow stick of a plow would not turn up the dirt like the plows that I had seen. They were also using oxen that just plodded along. Wouldn''t horses work better?

    If I could get the blacksmith to make the plows that I have seen early Americans use in their fields, I think it would be more productive. We might get a decent harvest if we could get a few of those out on the field.

    I walked over to Herold as my driver, Jack, was helping to hitch the oxen. The ox was different than what I was used to seeing. It seemed to have hair more like boar bristles, and its head was shaped differently. The snout was longer, less like an ox, and more like a pig. Maybe a cow and a pig had a baby?

    "So, Harold, what would you say are the biggest challenges you are facing with farming this land?"

    His head immediately went down, "You have a wonderful land, my lord. Forgive us for our inability to plow the land you have graced us with."

    "Ugh, You''re killing me, Smalls," I said. I let out a sigh." Look, I know you are struggling to work this land. I don''t blame you or the other farmers, but in order to fix a problem, we need to know the situation. Now, the only way I will get upset with you is if you lie to me again. So I''m going to ask you one more time: what is wrong with the land?" Personally, I think I pulled off the stern lord act very well.

    "Forgive me, my lord."

    "Not until you tell me what''s wrong."

    "The soil here is hard to work. It''s heavy and has clay. Near the capital, the soil is lighter and easier to turn. This means we can''t plow more land each year because of the time it already takes to plow what we have, so we have a small harvest. The soil is turning bad in our overworked fields, so we need to dig more, but that''s even more time-consuming." He stopped and wouldn''t look up at me. I walked over and slapped a hand on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise.

    "See, my good man, Harold, that wasn''t so hard. Thank you. I see you''re leaving the ground in some fields to preserve the nutrients. Crop rotation is very important. Which fields are for wheat, and which fields are for beans?"

    "Beans, my lord?"

    "Yeah, you plant beans to restore nitrogen to the soil.

    That fact stuck with me from high school when my history teacher discussed crop rotation. When he said leguminous plants like beans help balance the soil and prevent bugs, the kid beside me said, "It''s probably because bugs don''t like having bad gas." And that''s how beans became stuck as part of my memory of crop rotation. Also, how I got detention for laughing while the teacher was talking.

    "Are you only flipping the two fields?"

    "Yes, my lord, planting grains one year and leaving it fallow the next."

    "OK, well, now we''re putting beans into the rotation before the fallow years. Where can we get those?"

    "Most people plant beans in their personal garden. you may find some people who have some, and you might be able to go to the other villages." Harold said.

    "Good, Captain, let''s go speak with the blacksmith. I think peas work, too."

    "Pardon, my lord, but what is a pea?"

    "Hmm, maybe you guys don''t have them here. Interesting. Well, let''s go, Captain." And with that, we left poor Harold scratching his head about his odd conversation with his lord. We drove back to the village, this time stopping in front of the blacksmith shop.

    The Blacksmith shop was slightly apart from the other shops. It was not quite as far as the tanner''s house, but it was closer to the river than the other houses. His home was not attached to his shop for obvious safety measures. It was also the only building made of stone in the area. I was about to get out of the carriage when I slapped my forehead. I needed to draw out the design. Even if the blacksmith had parchment, I wouldn''t use his. Besides, I would want to take my time drawing out my idea. I yelled out to Jack to take us back to the manor.

    After another uncomfortably bumpy ride, I reached the manor. I headed directly to my study. I found Marcus there looking over reports. As I entered, he pushed back the chair and stood up. He gave a bow without saying anything.

    "Good afternoon, Marcus. I need parchment, a quill, and an inkwell."

    "At once, my lord." He stood up and went to a small table in the corner, which held the things I needed. As he was doing that, I was busy looking around. The study was small but functional. It had a bookshelf with a few books but mainly loose parchments separated into cubbies. I even noticed a stack of scrolls. I would have to look over this room another time.

    After getting the supplies, I raced toward my room, but when I entered, I realized I didn''t have a desk. I went to look in my father''s room. His room was, of course, larger than mine. His bed was the same size, but he also had a desk, which, to my chagrin, had all the writing supplies I needed. His closet was bigger, which made sense since my mother shared the rooms. It also had two very comfortable-looking chairs. I sat down at the desk and immediately started drawing.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Well, actually, drawing might be too kind of a term to describe the mess I was making all over the page. The quill was hard to use, always picking up too much or too little ink. After making a complete mess of my first piece of parchment, I slowed down and started practicing on the second sheet. It took me three sheets to get to the point where I was pretty sure I could make a fair representation of what I wanted. First, I drew out the entire thing on one piece of parchment, then separated each component by part. The blacksmith would make some of it and some by the carpenters. After completing ten diagrams, I left to find Draves.

    He was out front drilling five of his men. They were all looking exhausted. "Captian, I apologize for taking you away from your duties, but could you attend me to go to the Blacksmiths?"

    "Yes, Lord, let me have the groomsman ready the horses." He said, leaving his men to sweat and gasp. The whole thing looked less than pleasant. Hitching up the carriage took longer than it would have taken to walk down if I wasn''t so unhealthy, but I would probably die with all this weight on me.

    Once again, I found myself bouncing around in a wooden box. I would eventually be able to develop immunity to this or become so battered that I couldn''t move. I groaned as I exited the carriage. That''s it. I swore I would walk back up to the manor if it killed me. We walked up to the door and just entered. He would have never heard us knock over all the banging.

    The immediate temperature change caused my head to swim. Draves called out to the man hammering at the anvil. "Jorb, we have a request for you." Jorb turned and glanced over his shoulder.

    "A moment, please," he said between hammer blows on whatever he was working on. The iron was at an orange bloom, so stopping now would be a waste. We waited for him to finish hammering. When the iron was ready to be bloomed again, he set his tools down and turned around. He was shocked when he saw me there. But then his face went blank, and his voice was flat and carried no emotion as he said, "I''m sorry, my lord, I didn''t realize it was you. I did not intend to make you wait. Samuel stopped by with your request. I apologize for not starting on it immediately. I didn''t realize it was this urgent. I can-"

    I held up my hand to stop him. First, his words did not match his tone. He was not sorry he didn''t see me and was not sorry he hadn''t started on the project. In fact, his stance and face looked like he was hiding a boiling rage inside. He did not want me here. Secondly, I didn''t want to spend more time in this sweltering place than I had to. "I am not concerned with that project. That was mainly for my comfort and possibly something we could export to generate revenue. Could we step outside to speak? Although standing in this heat will probably help me to lose a few pounds, I don''t think my current constitution could handle it."

    We all stepped outside, and I handed him the parchment that concerned his part of the plow. "Could you work with the carpenters to make a plow like this? I believe this will turn the dirt better than our current plows. The wooden plows we have just don''t cut it." He looked over each sheet, his face still trying to hide his emotions.

    "I believe it can be done. It won''t be easy, but I don''t believe it is beyond my skills. But you are wanting it done in iron? I do not have enough iron to do this. I also don''t know how much the iron mine has on hand."

    "If you had your metal, could you complete it in a week?" I asked.

    "This is a new design for me to create. If I get it right the first time, then yes. But, my lord, must understand I cannot in good conscience guarantee it until I have tried it."

    "Oh, well, that makes sense. Could you make it out of another metal like copper or bronze?"

    "Yes," He said, in a tone that made it clear he thought I was an idiot. Realizing his mistake, he said, "Yes, my lord, you can, but copper would be too soft, and we don''t have enough tin to make bronze."

    I looked over to Draves to see if he had any ideas when my eyes landed on his sword at his hip. "Swords into plow sheers," I muttered. "Captain, does my family have any weapons or armor we could turn into this plow?"

    "My lord, I must protest. Your father and brother''s armor is worth much more than a plow." He said sternly.

    "Is it worth more than the lives of our citizens?"

    He thought for a moment and then nodded. "I see your point, my lord, and I believe your heart is in the right place, but you are going about this wrong. If we absolutely need it, we could sell the armor in the city of Vaspar and buy enough supplies to last us through to the next planting if we fall short on the harvest this year. We could even buy even more iron for your plow."

    I wanted to slap my forehead. I am so stupid. But really I had never even thought about the cost of making Armor. Sure the material wouldn''t be much but labor would be significant. I tried to search the old Amos''s memory to see if I could remember what my families armor even looked like. Charles was not plate armor. It was strips of metal pieced together somehow. It also didn''t cover everything. I had a vague thought it reminded me of what the Chinese wore in accent times but different. Was my family''s armor the same?

    "Thank you for your council, Captain. I was in too much of a rush, and as they say, haste makes waste." Of course, in the language I was speaking, this didn''t rhyme, so I didn''t sound quite as clever. It translated more as. Rushing causes you to be wasteful. Still good but not witty. "How about this then? Jorb, please have someone request the iron you require from the mine. I will pay what is required. Who do you recommend to do the woodwork we need?"

    "Mikel is the carpenter who handles most of the plow equipment, my lord."

    "Excellent, I will drop these designs off to him and have him get started. I am trying to think of how to reward you for this unique request. How about one of my pigs? You can split it with Mikel when the work is done."

    "That is quite generous, my lord," the blacksmith said in surprise.

    "Oh, I almost forgot. Since we are not working on the plow right away, could you make me some wire about this thick?" I showed him the size, and he nodded. Going to a bench, he held up a heavy metal board with a bunch of holes of various sizes in it. Pointing to one, he said, "Will this do, my lord?"

    "That will be fine. It was a pleasure speaking with you." I left the surly man''s shop, hoping he wouldn''t sabotage me because he didn''t like me. "Captain, do you know what I did to offend that man?" I said as we walked to the carpenter''s house.

    "No, my lord, I do not know how you managed to offend most people. You have been drunk more often than not in the last few years, which means there were plenty of opportunities."

    "Was that a joke? Captain, I have to say I am very impressed." I chuckled.

    His lips twitched slightly.

    "Not with you, of course. I am congratulating myself for being such a good influence on you," I said with a laugh.

    Jorb

    I was seeing red. That monster had dared to come into my shop. That man had no right to be anywhere near me or my family. His father had warned him never to go near me again. It had been two years since I had ever had to be that close to that spawn of hell. My son would never be able to work because of him. Soon, my son will be able to sit and hold the tools or work the bellows as I worked the metal, but he would never be able to inherit my shop. All because that drunk fool rode through the village like a maniac.

    I stormed into Mikel''s shop. "Did that fool come by yet?" I practically shouted.

    Mikel held up the pieces of parchment in response. I started to pace the room, "How dare he come into my shop. He thinks he can do what he wants just because he is the lord now. I swear to you, Mikel, as soon as I finish his job, I leave. I''m a freeman; I can do as I please. The only reason I didn''t leave after he trampled my son was because the lord promised he was getting rid of the boy. I would leave now if He didn''t force this work on me. I''d leave anyway if it wasn''t against the law to refuse a job from a noble. He would track my family down for not completing a task he ordered of me. He would kill us all. When the job is done, we will leave in the middle of the night before he can ask anything else of us. You can turn in the invention and keep the pig." I stopped talking when I realized I was ranting and hadn''t even let Mikel speak. "Well, say something."

    He stood up, came over, and patted me on the shoulder. "You needed to get that out."

    I wasn''t done yet, though. "This job he wants of us is stupid. The boy knows nothing about farming, and the moment he gets made lord, he gives us worthless projects."

    "I like it. I wish I had thought of it."

    "You can''t be serious." I almost yelled at him.

    "I know you hate him. You, above anyone in this village, have a right to. But you are letting your hatred blind you. Did you even look at the design? Really, look at it?"

    "Yes, I did," I growled. I was ready to storm out. How dare he take that fiend''s side over mine.

    "No, you didn''t. You looked at the parts and how much iron it would take. You looked at how much time it would take to build. But you didn''t look at what it is supposed to do."

    "It''s a plow. It turns the soil."

    Mikel shook his head. "It''s how it will turn the dirt. You and I make wood plows and simple iron ones because they are light. A plow like this without the wheels he proposed would be too heavy. But with them and with the wing shape, the plow should churn the dirt better. A farmer may only need one pass to make a solid run. This may cut the time in half. I suggest you work hard, make the plow, and run as far away as possible. Set up shop somewhere and continue making these. You may revolutionize the plow industry."

    I didn''t say anything except snatch the picture of the plow he had. In a rage, I had almost burned my copy. Looking it over, I grunted. It might work. "He wanted to melt down his family''s armor just so he could get it done faster. The boy is an idiot and an impatient fool. There is no way he came up with this himself."

    "Does it matter? The fool is giving us a whole pig for it on top of paying for supplies."

    That thought did make me grin.

 Chapter 7

    I woke early and couldn''t fall back asleep. My mind raced with all the information I had learned yesterday as I tried to process it all. The day itself had gone pretty well. I hadn''t felt any lingering effects of the illness after the first day. Ever since I vomited and rested, my body has been improving. Maybe I had been poisoned. Or I could just be paranoid. I was sick, and that meal might not have sat well with me. Maybe my family had caught a worse strain of the disease. I couldn''t be sure of anything right now. I would have to keep my eyes open and let Draves do his job.

    The carpenter had been more pleasant to deal with than Jorb. Most people were wary of me, but Jorb looked like he wanted to punch me in the face. Mikel actually looked interested in the design, which was good. He also promised to make a frame to put the metal wires in. It was to lay the wood pulp in to make paper.

    I joined the Boy Scouts for a couple of years. During that time, I got the dumbest merit badge ever: Pulp and Papermaking. Seriously, when was I ever going to use that out-of-date merit badge? That might have been the boring merit badge that finally made me dig in my heels and refuse to go back. Oh, the irony. We didn''t actually make paper, so I can''t remember the exact process, but that paper was made of old rags.

    I knew that environmentalists would curse me in the future, but I swore to myself that once I had established myself, I would write down all the information I learned about the effects of deforestation and land conservation. I would also encourage the planting of trees.

    While I was ruminating, I got dressed. After dressing myself, I called the maids to have a bath ready for me in one hour. Then I left the bedroom and did two laps around the inside of the manor wall as fast as I could. I believe I would have beaten a tortoise, but not by much. Then, I did my old seven-minute workout routine. I got two pushups in, and my high knees looked more like a shuffle. The guards were not impressed.

    Draves came over when I plopped down on a stump.

    "Are you alright, my lord."

    Just... peachy," I huffed out. "By the way, do you know where I can get some rags?"

    "I can fetch you some if you need to clean your sweat."

    "That would be nice, but I actually want to make paper."

    "What is paper?

    "It is like parchment. Something to write on, but you can make it from old rags."

    Draves gave me a dubious look. "Why would you need that."

    "To record and share information. If I can make it cheap, more people will use it. Than more information can be shared between everyone, and when you share ideas, civilization progresses faster."

    Draves did not look impressed. "If you need a lot of them, then I recommend speaking with Marshandra."

    "Thanks, Captain"

    After spending about 10 minutes near the well trying to rehydrate and calm my heart, I dragged myself back inside and headed to the bathtub. I swore I would have them make me a bigger tub at some point. I might as well have them make me indoor plumbing as well, I laughed. Chamber pots were no fun. When I heard that they had just dumped the crap into the pig pen, I almost vomited. Apparently, pigs here could eat anything. Could they do that on Earth?

    I checked myself out in the only mirror the manor had. It was a polished piece of metal in a wooden frame hanging on the wall. It was no 21st-century mirror, but it reflected my image well enough to show I looked very similar to my father. The problem was that while he was tall, dark-haired, and handsome, I was tall, dark-haired, and obese. Also, unlike his thick yet neatly trimmed beard, I had a few days of scruff. I needed a razor. I sighed and straightened up. This was not the end. This was just the beginning.

    I sat down at my desk and drew out the shape of a dip pen nub as if it were flat without any bends. Afterward, I was satisfied with the results. I called for a softened clay tablet. While I waited, I picked up a bundle of scrolls that either the baron or his wife kept on a table near the two sitting chairs. Unfurling one, I found that it was poetry. I wasn''t into that stuff, but I wondered if they were original works or if they had gotten them from somewhere. There was also a half-done embroidery work set there as well. It wasn''t anything I could recognize, unfortunately. The poetry was simple and discussed the love of men for their women and vice versa. Only a couple were about the glory of men in battle. I stopped when I got to the "fifty shades of gray" style. I wasn''t into literary pornography.

    I was relieved when the clay arrived. I handed the servant the scrolls and asked her to put them in the library. She must have recognized it because she arched her eyebrows. At that point, my face turned fifty shades of red, and I told her it wasn''t my type of reading. She just gave a polite nod and left the clay and sculpting tool. Before I let her go, I asked her about shaving. She said she was deft with a razor and usually did that for me. That felt wrong, but I was likely to cut myself with a straight edge, so I asked if I could get a shave tomorrow morning after my bath.

    First, I went and found Marsh. She was cleaning my old room with Emily.

    "Good morning, Marshandra. Good morning, Emily."

    Both of them bowed respectfully.

    "Good morning, my lord. How are you feeling today?" Marsh said.

    "Thank you for asking. Today, I am feeling large and sore, with just a hint of exasperation from my failings. I mean, seriously, look at my feet and ankles. I haven¡¯t done hardly anything today, and they are already starting to swell.¡±

    ¡°My lord, you have asked me to let you know when you are saying things you shouldn¡¯t. Putting yourself down is one of those things.¡±

    ¡°Ah, um, that is going to be a hard habit to break. It¡¯s one of my favorite things to do. I''m sure it has to do with some sort of psychological issue I''m dealing with.¡±

    ¡°Psycho-what?¡± Marsh said in confusion.

    ¡°Just ignore me when I ramble. It is safer for your sanity.¡±

    Marsh started to complain again about how I was talking, but I cut her off.

    "Marshandra, we don''t happen to have any old, worn-out clothes that I could cut up, do we?" I asked politely.

    "All our old clothes are cut up into these rags." She said, holding up a dirty cloth.

    "Excellent, all the better. Would you mind if I had a small stack?"

    "My lord, if you don''t mind me asking, whatever for?"

    ¡°To make paper, of course," I said as if I was stating something that should have been obvious.

    "What is paper?" Emily blurted out before she realized what she had said and turned bright red.

    I just smiled, "Paper is like parchment. You can write on it. But unlike parchment that is made from animals, this is made from plant fibers."

    Emily kept her head down and didn''t even acknowledge that I had spoken. I sighed. "Emily, I am sorry for embarrassing you the other day. I sometimes say things that come out all wrong. I know it sounded like I wanted you to do something inappropriate, and I feel bad about that. I want us to be friends, so if I ever say anything that makes you uncomfortable or hurts your feelings, you let me know. If you don''t want to let me know, tell Marshandra, and she will come and yell at me for you."

    Her head came up and cocked to the side. She looked at my face, trying to determine if I was telling the truth. "You want to be my friend?"

    "Of course, I need all the friends I can get," I said with a smile.

    "But I''m just a¡­"

    "A maid? A serf?" I asked. "Remember this, Emily: You are a person. And not just any person; you are a smart, hard-working person. Do you know what would happen if I didn''t have you and Marshandra here?"

    She shook her head.

    "My manor would become a mess and very dirty. Not only is dirt very bad for you to live around because it sometimes brings disease, but nobody would want to visit me in my dirty, smelly manor. You and everyone else here are very important people."

    Emily''s surprised look was mirrored by Marsh''s. Marsh recovered first. "I will get you the rags, my lord."

    "Good deal," I said. "Actually, right now, put them in a pot and let them soak in water. I will need something like a mortar and pestle."

    "My lord," Emily said meekly, "May I watch you make paper."

    "Of course you can. The first part is really boring. I have to soak it all and then mash it up. But after that, you can help as long as Marshandra or another adult is with you. Also, I am not sure how well it will work the first time. It may take some time to get it right."

    "Thank you, my lord."

    With that, we all left the room. I went to the kitchen to see if I could get some bread or something. I know most of my people only ate twice a day, but I just had to have a lunch snack. Sorry, diet, I can''t handle not eating lunch. The cook must have stepped out momentarily because the place was empty. I opened a box to find a few loaves of bread wrapped in what looked like cheesecloth. I grabbed a loaf and tore it in half. I started eating it. It was a little dry, and I wished I had some butter. I would have to ask the cook at dinnertime. I didn''t want to get caught stealing from the kitchen. The cook might get mad.

    I snuck away as quietly as my large feet would allow. And I am not making fun of myself here. I was never going to be a sneaking individual. I was built like a tank.

    Carrie was entering the great hall as I was crossing the room while shoving a piece of bread in my mouth. When our eyes met, we both stopped. Me because I was caught shoving food in my mouth in front of a pretty girl and her because, well, I''m not sure why. Probably because she was alone in the same room as the lecherous baron, I looked away when I realized I was staring. Where was Marsh when I needed her? I really didn''t know how to talk to pretty girls; this was Marcus''s sister, so I had to be careful. Anything I said might be taken wrong, and I didn''t want to make things even more complicated between me and my steward.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    The problem was she had frozen in the doorway. I would have to talk to her. I tried to chew the bread quickly. But it was a somewhat dry piece of bread, so of course, it didn''t go down properly without water. So I stood there trying to force my mouth to produce enough saliva to swallow the bread. It was so uncomfortable. Looking at her may be taken wrong, and looking away was rude. Finally, enough of it was gone that I could look at her and ask her to move. When I looked back, however, she looked terrified. It was like I was a lion and about to pounce on her.

    "Um, could you please move? I need to get through." She didn''t even blink. Oh no, what if she was working up the courage to ask me something? What was I going to say?  I had not had to talk to girls since high school. Even then, it was for class projects and stuff. I kind of shut myself off after the car accident for a while and only got back into the social scene when I started my graphic design and animation business. I needed to meet people then. When I got back into the social scene, it was just with the guys I worked with. The few girls I hung out with were playing a couple online games and VCs

    I breathed out slowly. Then, in a rush, I said, "Carrie, is there something you need?"

    Her face went bright red. "Forgive me, my lord," she said as she took quick steps to the side. She kept her head down. So I started walking to the door. Should I say something? Would she take it the wrong way?

    "Um, thank you, Carrie. Have a nice day." That would be safe, right? Nothing that could be interpreted as sexual harassment. Ugh. I needed someone with me at all times. I put my back to the wall and let out a deep sigh. Just at that moment, Hyrum came around the corner.

    "Are you okay, my lord?" He said with concern evident in his voice.

    "I was just¡­ I passed Carrie in the great hall, and I fear I may have said something to her at some point while drunk that may have been inappropriate."

    "If you will forgive me, my lord, but it wasn''t just once," Hyrum said seriously.

    "Blast it, that stupid alcohol," I put my hand to my face. "How bad was it?"

    "My lord, I would rather not. I don''t¡­"

    "Hyrum, Please. What did I do? I didn''t, um, you know, do anything to her." I know I had asked Draves, but Hyrum may know something he didn''t.

    "My lord, your interaction with her might have been similar to what a drunk might done to a tavern wench. If you will, please forgive me, my lord." He did not look happy about having to say that.

    "Well, crap buckets. At least I didn''t try and force myself on her."

    "My lord, if you don''t mind me saying so, you have changed over the last few days."

    "I''m trying, Hyrum, I really am. It''s just I have been such a¡ª"

    "Lord, you need to not dwell on it. It will not help you to think of a man you never want to be again."

    "You''re right, of course, but it''s so hard when everything surrounding me constantly reminds me of who I used to be. People are either afraid of me or disdainful of my presence. And it''s not like they don''t have cause to be. Even my people''s struggle to farm the land is a reminder of what a pathetic human being I am."

    "The fields are not your fault. Your father and brother made decisions concerning fields."

    "But I had ideas that could have helped. My father asked me if I had suggestions, and I stayed silent. I think he did it to embarrass me, but still. I should have said something or just done it myself."

    "Are you speaking of your new plow? Would your father have even let you?"

    I didn''t say anything because I had no idea what Amos had come up with for a solution when his father asked. I just let Hyrum assume he was right.

    He hesitated momentarily before saying, "Did you know I almost cost the Captain his life once?"

    I took my hand away from my face and looked at him.

    "We were on patrol on the western edge of the land east of Alfer. The people said they had seen bandits in the hills. I had moved away from my position in the formation, allowing a group of bandits to get the jump on him. When I arrived, he was fighting off three and had already killed one. Of course, as you can tell, we walked away, but Captain almost died of a fever caused by a slash to his side. Do you know what he told me when I said I wanted to leave the guard? Mistakes happen; do better. And I have. The regret of what I did hasn''t gone away, but I have never been out of formation since."

    "Thank you, Hyrum. You''re a good man."

    "That''s all I can hope to be. Now, how about I escort you to wherever you need to go so you don''t scare any more pretty girls?"

    "Do you think putting a bag over my head would work?"

    "For fear of offending you, my lord, I will refrain from answering."

    That made me laugh. "Alright, let''s go find Marshandra and see if she has my rags ready."

    "Rags, my lord?"

    "I will show you if my idea actually works."

    We found my two favorite maids back in my room, cleaning out the fireplace. "Can I help?"

    "My lord, this is not the work for a lord," Marshandra said sternly.

    "Ah, that is alright. I was thinking of taking more of a supervisory role."

    "Supervisory, my lord. What does that mean." Emily asked.

    "Oh, it means I stand over her and make sure Hyrum helps you."

    Hyrum''s eyes widened. "Actually, my lord, I must get back to my duties," he said as he backed out of the room.

    As he left, Emily laughed. "You''re funny, Lord Amos,"

    "It is always a pleasure to bring a smile to my friends'' faces. Now, where are those rags?"

    Marsh recovered and just shook her head. "Your cloth is outside on the west side of the manor house. I also put a mortar and pestle out with it. Let me know if you think it is soaked enough, and I will have someone grind it for you."

    "Thank you, Marshanda, and thank you both for your work," I said and left the room.

    I was not going to have someone else grind the cloth. I wanted to do it myself. As I left the front door of the manor house, I turned around and backed up to look at this sad excuse for a nobleman''s home. It was a shabby stone and mortar building shaped like a rectangle. It had only one story and a wood-shingled roof. When Draves first told me I was a noble, I thought of the Elizabethan era¡ªthree-story manors with arching windows. Before I left my room, I thought that because I was unloved by my parents, my room was sparse. Nope, this place was just all-around crappy.

    I went around the side of the manor house to the bucket and found the rags thoroughly saturated. There was a stump of wood with the mortar and pestle sitting on it. I picked up the mortar and pestle, then scooped some rags into the bowl. Sitting down on the log, I began to mash the rags. After about two minutes, I could see the gray cloth begin to fray. Unfortunately, it was also about that time that my arm began to ache. Amos really was a lazy git. Seriously, I was pretty much bedridden for the last few years of my life, and my body wasn''t this weak. After a few more minutes, I had to switch hands. Half an hour and many breaks later, I had this small amount of fibers ground to a pulp. I had nowhere to put it, though. Hindsight truly is 20/20. I looked behind me and saw Jack walking across the yard.

    "Hey, Jack. Can you get me a bucket of water?"

    Jack did a double-take when he noticed me. After staring at me for a moment, my words were finally processed in his brain, and he bowed. Then, he took off quickly towards the well. I would have done it myself, but I had to act like a baron sometimes. Okay, maybe sitting on a stump while grinding cloth was not very lordly, but hey, I did delegate a task.

    When he came back, I dumped the goop into the bucket.

    "If you don''t mind me asking, my lord, what are you doing."

    "Making paper. And before you ask the next obvious question, paper is like parchment, except instead of animal skin, you use plant fibers. I am grinding up this old cloth, and then I will lay it in a frame until it dries. When it does that, I will have a flat sheet of paper that I can write on. It should be faster to make than parchment."

    "Well, good luck, my lord."

    "Thanks, Jack. Have a good day." Looking at the small glop of pulp in the bucket and the huge amount of rags in the other, I groaned. This was going to take forever. Halfway through the next grind, I heard feet moving across the lawn.

    "Baron Amos Bicman. What by the Endless realms are you doing?" Marsh shouted at me.

    Oh man, she totally had the mom voice down. Jack must have snitched on me. It was probably all over the manor now that Baron Amos Bicman was sitting on his fat butt grinding cloth. Not that I was doing this in secret in any way. I decided to answer her before she got really mad.

    "Is this a trick question?"

    "What?"

    "Well, you asked what I was doing, but you know what I am doing, so maybe it''s a trick question."

    Her shadow, Emily, had followed her out and gave an adorable laugh. Marsh glared at her.

    "Don''t encourage him, dear. He needs to act like a baron, not a common worker."

    I have to admit this kind of annoyed me. "What is wrong with common workers? Would you rather me go back to being a drunk fool who embarrasses himself and humiliates everyone else?" I snapped.

    She stepped back as if slapped. Then she sighed and, in a softer voice, said, "There is nothing wrong with being a common worker except for the fact that you don''t get to be one. You are the lord of this manor, and you have to act like one. And in case you are wondering, being a drunk fool is not part of being a baron. Now get up and let someone who knows how to use a mortar and pestle do that."

    "Ouch. That was unnecessarily harsh. How do you know that I was doing it wrong?"

    "Your posture is all wrong. Let me show you."

    Carrie

    I sat on the bed that Mother and I shared. My thoughts were all muddled. I hadn''t gone down to the great hall for supper. I stared at the wall, trying to figure out what had happened. He hadn''t done anything. Before his father got involved, he was always touching me or saying the most awful things to me. Afterward, there were still the looks that made my skin crawl. Like I was being undressed right there in front of him. It was almost as if¡­

    "What happened? Why weren''t you at dinner?" my little brother said as he entered the room. Blunt and to the point, as always.

    "I wasn''t hungry," I said in a voice that sounded distant to me.

    "Carrie, what happened?" Marcus demanded.

    ¡°I¡­ the lord¡­ I-"

    "Did he touch you?" Marcus roared.

    I shook my head. I was still trying to figure things out, and my brother was just making things worse. ¡°He¡­ he¡­¡±

    Marcus came up to me and shook me roughly. "What did he say to you?!"

    "Stop it, Marcus. He just told me to get out of the way."

    Marcus released me and started pacing the small room. "That self-righteous, arrogant, stuffed-up-"

    I interrupted him before he could get even more worked up. "He didn''t say it like that. He said could you please move. I had frozen in the doorframe. And he asked me to move."

    "Why did you freeze? Was he doing something? Was he hiding something?"

    "No, I was just surprised he was there."

    "Are you covering for him?" Marcus growled. "You wouldn''t be hiding here if he hadn''t done something to you."

    "NO! Marcus, he wouldn''t even look at me. He just stood there looking anywhere but at me as if he were afraid of me. I don''t think he wanted to talk to me, but he had to because I froze in the door frame."

    "He was afraid? No, no, that doesn''t make sense. It must''ve been Marsh. She''s got him under control. She stopped him from making Emily bathe him. Or maybe he doesn''t want to lose his good-guy image. He''s trying to make everybody think he''s changed. He knows you would''ve told Marsh. This whole act would be for nothing. We''ve got to get out of here before he does something. I wrote a letter to my uncle. As soon as we hear back, we can leave, and we will take as much as we can with us."

    "Don''t worry, Carrie, I won''t let him hurt any of us ever again. And soon, everyone will know he has been lying to us. I will force him to tip his hand and reveal his true nature."

 Chapter 8

    I walked into the great hall for the first time when people were all having supper. Not everyone was there, of course, but most of the twenty-person staff was there. Some people I knew by name, like Hyrum and Draves. Some of the maids and stable hands I had seen around but didn''t know yet, and others I didn''t even know were part of the staff. I saw Marcus sitting at a table alone, who I assumed to be his mother, Patricia. Marsh and little Emily led me to the table upfront and showed me to my seat.

    "You guys are eating with me, right?" There was no way I would sit by myself while everyone else surreptitiously looked at me.

    "We cannot, Lord Amos, but the offer is appreciated," Marsh said more formally. Emily had looked excited at the offer, but her face fell immediately.

    "Can''t or won''t, Marshandra," I said pointedly.

    "Both, my lord, can''t because it is against the law for a peasant or serf to sit at a Nobleman''s table and won''t because it is improper for you to do anything unbecoming of your station."

    "So you won''t sit with me. If nobody can sit here, I will sit elsewhere." I picked up the chair I was supposed to sit in and walked over to the guard''s table. By the time I reached their table, everyone in the hall was staring at me. Plopping the chair down at the end of the table, I said, "Mind if I join you, gentleman." I sat down before anyone could say anything.

    "Sir, why are you sitting here?" Draves said.

    "Well, Captain, I just found out no one is allowed to sit with me at that huge table. I''m guessing it''s the varnish. Peasant and serf skin must be too delicate." The guards I hadn''t met yet were completely confused while Hyrum tried to hide a smile.

    "Lord, this is highly improper." The captain tried to continue, but I cut him off.

    "Captain, How would you like it if you were in a room full of people and everyone refused to sit with you? You can''t tell me it wouldn''t be awkward. I mean, at least with you all, they have an excuse."

    "What excuse?" Hyrum couldn''t help but ask.

    "You''re sweaty, smelly guards. No wonder you sit by yourselves. And that means I fit right in."

    At that point, one of the older guards sprayed the drink he was trying to swallow across the table, and another guard laughed. Most, though, just looked at me in confusion or sympathy for my early onset of insanity. Emily was staring at me open-mouthed as if she couldn''t believe a lord would deprecate himself in front of someone. The only ones that didn''t look happy were Draves and Marsh.

    Before they could say anything, I said, "Marshandra, could you please bring me some water and something light to eat? No bread, I don''t need the carbs, and the captain and I will leave for town shortly. Emily, do you want to sit with us?" I offered politely.

    She looked nervously around the table of large men. "My lord, if you don''t mind, I am going to sit with Grandma," she said while looking back at Marsh. I looked between the two and then slapped my forehead.

    "Grandma?" I said, looking at Marsh, "You''re too young to have a granddaughter. No wonder you almost ripped my head off and shoved it¡­ Uh, never mind."

    The men at the table looked confused, probably wondering if I relly had no clue that Emily was Marsh''s granddaughter or if it was another of my jokes.

    "I''m lucky you weren''t carrying a knife when you entered that room."

    I could tell Marsh was holding back a sigh as she turned to get my meal. I took the opportunity to look around the room. It wasn''t a large enough hall that some would not have overheard our conversation, so there were quite a few furtive looks. I noticed Marcus had left the hall, and Patricia sat alone. This was probably as good an opportunity as any, so I got up and walked over to her.

    She looked up as I approached, surprise evident on her face. She then stood abruptly and curtsied. "My lord," She said.

    "I just wanted to give my condolences for the loss of your husband, Patricia. Please let me know if I can do anything for you or your family."

    "Thank you, my lord. That is very kind. Thank you for allowing us to stay at the manor."

    "We both lost family to the plague. As the new baron, I will do what I can to ease the burden. Please tell Marcus I appreciate his work and tell Carrie I am sorry for startling her today."

    "Carrie?"

    "Yes, we crossed paths, and I think I surprised her. Then I lacked tact in dealing with the situation and asked her to move out of the doorway instead of inviting her past me."

    "I see," Patricia said, somewhat confused. Maybe because, to her, a lord asking a peasant to move out of the way was standard protocol. It probably was here, and I really needed not to stand out, but my mother always taught me. Ladies first.

    "Look, umm¡­ Just tell her I''m sorry. I''d do it myself, but I have already embarrassed myself enough in front of her, and I feel uncomfortable talking to her." Ok, so that was a little white lie. I didn''t feel embarrassed because I had been an idiot in front of her. I was embarrassed because she was a beautiful girl around my age; I was never very good at talking with girls my age. It always felt like they were judging me. I figured that if I tried to talk to Carrie, my anxiety would spike, and I would say something stupid like I had to Jill Simmions in the tenth grade when I decided to get up the courage to speak to her. I had nightmares about that event until the car accident. Then, I had other things on my mind. I left, trying not to think about what Patricia must feel right now.

    I returned to the soldiers to find warm soup and water at my seat. The smell made my stomach growl. I immediately started scarfing it down. It tasted so good. Back on earth, I would have said it was bland and watery, but right now, I could eat anything. I was trying to avoid carbs in the evening, so that meant no bread. I had three bowls of the soup before I was done. I knew we were running short on time before nightfall. So, I told the captain it was time to leave.

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    "Well, boys, it was a pleasure sitting with you. Please don''t eat me out of house and home. And the drinks are on me tonight."

    A couple of the men chuckled as we left. I went to my room and picked up the clay tablets to drop off at the blacksmith''s shop. As we arrived in the courtyard, I turned to Draves. "Captain, could you have Jack get the carriage ready?" He can bring it down to the village, but I would like to walk down there. I want to lose this weight, and walking is pretty much the only exercise I can do right now."

    "Of course, my lord."

    After he came back, we began to walk down to the village¡ªthe setting sun at our backs. I was about to start a conversation with Draves about what we would be doing in the village, but he beat me to it. "My lord, I would not presume to know your mind, but I would feel it negligent of me if I were to refrain from giving a word of advice. Your manners at the table were unbecoming of you. You are those men''s lord, and as such, you must have their respect."

    I interrupted him. "I hate how everyone avoids me and looks at me like a demon. I want to show them that I am just a person like them."

    "I understand where your heart is, but it is misplaced. Let me share a story with you. I was once in the King''s army as a spearman. I was good at what I did, so I became a squad leader over my own group of spearmen. Because, like you, I wanted to be liked and thought that they would respect me more if I were one of them, I tried to fit in. Joking around, making light of the fact that I was their leader, and sometimes going out drinking with them."

    Really, I couldn''t imagine Draves doing that. But I had the tact not to mention it.

    "It was fun. We all got along, but there were times when I tried to lead them, and because I was one of them, they didn''t respect my orders. They would complain to me just like I would have complained to a buddy if I were one of them. My commanding officer saw it. He noticed I didn''t have the respect of my squad and called me in. He said I had lost the respect of my men, and a man who couldn''t maintain the respect of his men was not worthy of the position over them. I was demoted to the position of spearman.

    For the next three years, I watched the leaders above me whom I respected. The ones who had disciplined soldiers underneath them. They weren''t buddies to their soldiers, nor were they tyrants who used their position to maintain order. They were the ones who raised themselves to higher standards. They showed concern for those under them, but they weren''t their drinking companions. The men respected and trusted them. Once I learned this lesson, I rose quickly through the ranks. All the men I lead are my friends and respect me, not because I lower myself but because I elevate myself, and they follow."

    "So what am I supposed to do, sit at my table and act like I am better than everyone else? Just be like the rest of my family?" I said in frustration.

    "You must not act better than everyone else; you must be better than everyone else and show others respect no matter their station. Your father kept order in his barony by reminding everyone of who he was and exacting discipline quickly. It earned him obedience but not respect, which was fine with him. He wasn''t interested in his people''s respect as long as they produced the required amount."

    "I don''t even want to be a baron! I didn''t sign up for this."

    "So why haven''t you left? You could leave and travel to Ith-Tam. Just take what you have in the treasury."

    Was he trying to get me to leave? "What would happen to the barony?

    "A new lord would be appointed when the King found out."

    "What would happen to the people?"

    "The headmen would maintain order. Some people will starve, some will leave, and some may even prosper."

    "So me being here doesn''t even make a difference?"

    "It could make a difference. But that is up to you."

    "I''ll screw up. Just like with your men. I''ll make mistakes."

    "We all do. Since you woke up, I have seen a young man trying his best to do the right thing for his people, even when you were going about it the wrong way. As foolish as it was, you were willing to sacrifice your family''s armor in hopes that it would help your serfs. Do you think our next lord would give so much to his people?"

    I thought about the last Baron and his concern for his money above the lives of his serfs. I thought about the desire to free the serfs. Then I thought of a particular quote from Uncle Ben and cursed Stan Lee.

    "A rising tide raises all ships," I muttered. Crap, I so want to take the suggestion to run away right now. "Come on, Captain, let''s go see if I can make it through the rest of the day without making a fool of myself. Then maybe tomorrow I can figure out how to help the Barony make it through the year."

    We had just entered the town, and I first asked Draves to take me to the stone mason''s shop. Apparently, we didn''t have a stone mason in this village. He lived up near the village in the hills, Melnon. I needed a grinding wheel. Where was Amazon when I needed it? Well, I guess that idea was out the window. I decided to get the unpleasant job of dealings with Jorb over with first. I wanted to give him the molds and see if they would work. We went over to his shop and clapped. "Come in," he said.

    When we entered, we saw that he was heating metal in the furnace. A younger boy, probably around eight or nine, sat on a stool next to him. He was pumping a hand-bellow as his father worked. The thing that made my eyes linger on him was the missing left foot and most of the calf. I noticed a crutch off to the side.

    The boy turned first to look at us. His eyes went wide with terror, and his face drained of all color. Of all the people I had encountered so far, I had never seen anyone as afraid of me as this boy. He may have been more comfortable in the presence of Death if he showed up in a cloak with a sickle. Then his father turned to see who it was. Looking between me and his son, his face became bright red. His eyes filled with pure rage, and I had to look away. I couldn''t even talk. The captain, as perceptive as ever, intervened before the man lost it and ended up killing me. "We are here for the wire."

    "A moment, Captain," he said while turning to a stack of wire cut at two different lengths. He grabbed the wire and handed it to the captain. You must excuse me. I must get back to work, and it appears my son is unwell." With that, he turned around, scooped up his son in his massive arms, and left out the side door.

    As we left, I let out a sigh. "Captain, I don''t know if I am sharing too much information, but I nearly wet my pants in there. Did you see the rage on his face?"

    "Yes, and it was a completely unacceptable way to treat his lord. I will speak with him and make sure he apologizes."

    "What? Captain, you need to learn to read the room. I caused his son to lose his leg."

    "Do you have your memories back?" He said doubtfully.

    "No, but it is pretty obvious. You can''t tell me you don''t know what happened."

    "I was away at the time. It was three years ago. If I recall correctly, he was trampled by a horse. When I came back, I could not get any details."

    "It was my horse. And my dad covered it up. I was probably riding through town drunk as a skunk and trampled the kid."

    "It could have been any horse."

    "It was mine, and I ruined that boy''s life. Why else would he hate me so much? Why else would he be that afraid of me? Most people are afraid of me, but that was terror." I said stubbornly. "How is he supposed to provide for a family now? He will have to live on the charity of others unless he becomes a scholar or something he could do while sitting. But who would he be a scholar for? We don''t need scholars here, and we don''t have any teachers. I guess I could teach him, but he would never come anywhere near me. Amos, you''re such a moron. How could you screw things up so badly?"

    "You cannot do this to yourself, my lord. What happened was not your fault." Draves said sternly.

    "I don''t care what you say. That boy was trampled because of me." I shouted.

    "No, my lord. He was trampled by Lord Amos''s horse, and you are not Lord Amos," he said as his hand moved to his sword.

 Chapter 9

    Captian Draves kept his hand on his hilt as he said, "Let''s move out of town ways, my lord, and we can speak further."

    Crap, apparently having the blessing of the priest, didn''t mean much to the captain. There had to be a way out of this. I tried to think of a solution as we walked, but each was more ludicrous than the last. I was too fat to run. I didn''t have a weapon to defend myself; even if I did, I didn''t know how to use one. Maybe if I acted more like a Baron, could I get all indignant and stuff? No, he wouldn''t believe it. He has seen too much. If I told him the truth, would he kill me as a demonic possession?

    When we got out of earshot, he told me to stop. His sword slid smoothly from his sheath as he said, "You are not Lord Amos Bicman, son of Aaron Bicman, Baron of the land of Bicman." He paused, looking at me sternly, "And it doesn''t matter."

    He took a knee with the tip of his sword on the ground, "I must know what is going on in order to help, and for that, I need you to trust me. Lord Amos Bicman, By my sword and my honor, I swear to you and your descendants, no matter your origin. I will serve your house faithfully until my death."

    OK, so that was not what I was expecting. I could tell I was supposed to say something, but I had no idea what. So I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Rise, Captain Draves; I accept your oath." As he rose, I continued, "And you are so lucky that I have excellent bowel control today, or I would have crapped myself right now, and you would be in so much trouble when the wash woman started laughing about the brown stains in my royal undies. Now, what gave it away?"

    "Everything, my lord. I could believe that you had lost your memories, but then you started saying things that made no sense or words that didn''t have meaning. And to have a completely different personality. I think the thing that surprised me the most and what wouldn''t have changed even if the memory was lost was the fact that Lord Amos was a raging drunk, and you not only won''t drink any but aren''t experiencing any withdrawal from not having any. So, could you please tell me who you are and what is going on so I can best serve you?"

    "As far as I can tell, the Endless One pulled me from my world into this one. The only clue I received was from the Priest''s proclamation. I know things that may help us prosper and advance our civilization."

    "Do you have other things that may help?"

    "Possibly, I was more an artist than any sort of brainiac. It isn''t like I will be helping bring a fusion reactor online."

    "An artist is an interesting choice for the Endless One to bring, but you lost me at the term brainiac, my lord."

    "Sorry, that means a brilliant person. Don''t worry about a fusion reactor. I have no way of explaining that one. "

    "Were those words from a different language? They sound odd."

    "Yes, my original language was English. For some reason, I also know whatever language we are speaking."

    "So, another question. Why do you think this plow would work if you weren''t a farmer?"

    I didn''t want to explain the History Channel and Western movies, so I just said, "I went to school since I was four years old, and a lot of things I learned didn''t have to do with art."

    "Since you were four!" Draves said in surprise, "And how many years of schooling did you have?"

    "I died at twenty-two and was working to get my bachelor''s in graphic design," I said proudly. Yeah, I was boasting a bit, not that he would know what a bachelor''s degree is or what an online college is.

    "Why would anyone need that much school? And why do you need a degree signifying you were a single male?"

    "Let''s answer the first question. The answer is ''to advance the human race,''" I said dramatically. I tried to think of an example. "What''s the world we are on called?"

    "Marth"

    "OK, are you aware that Marth is round?"

    "How would you know? Have you seen the whole world?"

    ''If you stand on the ground and look as far as you can with nothing obstructing your view, you cannot see as far as if you are on a tall tower. That is because the curve of the world intervenes in our ability to see farther. If you can calculate the distance between here and the farthest distance you can see and then from a tower. You can take those numbers and figure out how much the world curves when you know that it shows you how big the world is and that it is actually round. If you can prove that and show it to others, they will start asking why everything isn''t falling off the other side. Then, someone discovers that smaller objects are pulled towards larger objects, and since the world is so big, we are all pulled towards it. This leads to the knowledge of why the moon rotates around us, why we rotate around the sun, and why the large size of the moon pulls at the water on the planet, creating tides." I might not have gotten that all right, but that is what I remember from science class. Meagan Dormuson was much more interesting than Mr. Piper at my age. Darn, my teenage hormones.

    "How would any of that help, though?"

    "You and me, not a clue, but I know the study of that led to the people of my world being able to build things that could fly into the sky and reach the moon. The point is that the more educated people are, the more questions they can ask, and the more they ask, the more knowledge they can obtain. Even a farmer made a discovery while plowing a field because he was studying other things. He learned to create a picture in one place and have people able to see it many miles away as if they were right next to him."

    "Can you teach me these things?" Draves said earnestly.

    "I can try. I was thinking about creating a school in the village and teaching all the children as well. Just for a couple of hours a day."

    "What will serfs use reading, writing, and mathematics for."

    "Because they won''t be serfs forever."

    There was a long pause during which the Captain said nothing. Then, finally, he started to walk back toward the carpenter''s house. Was he upset that I had pretty much told him my idea of freeing people from slavery? That''s what it was. These people traded their labor for food, clothing, and shelter. They didn''t have any way of earning more or bettering their lives.

    We passed Jack and the carriage, and Draves explained where we were going to him. After that, he said, "You are planning on making your Barony''s serfs into peasants."

    "Is that a problem?"

    "Possibly, let me think about it." At that point, we had made it to the carpenter''s house. The captain knocked on the door frame. About a minute later, as the captain was about to knock again, Mikel opened the door. "Ah, you must be here for the frame. Do you have the wire?"

    Thinking of the wire in my hand made me remember the boy. As I handed the wire to Mikel, I asked, "Mikel, what is the name of the blacksmith''s son, the one I trampled with my horse?"

    Mikel''s eyes went wide. " Your father told us not to mention that incident in private or public."

    I knew it! "His name," I said firmly.

    Mikel pursed his lips and said, "Mathew, my lord," but quickly added, "But I assure you we all know it was a tragic accident. If the boy had not-"

    I grew angry when I heard him trying to make an excuse for me, but I tried to keep my voice level. "That was no accident. An accident is when you bump into someone because you look the other way; an accident is when you pick up something hot and burn yourself. An accident is not when a young man with no regard for others carelessly tramples a child because he is too drunk or too stupid to pay attention to what he is doing. That boy could have died. I will not have anyone in this town disrespect that boy or his family by calling this anything but what it really was."

    I didn''t think Mikel''s eyes could have gotten any wider, but they did at that last statement. Draves put his hand on my shoulder. I pushed his hand away.

    I said in an even tone, "No, Captain, I will not allow you, others, and especially not myself, to disrespect the blacksmith''s family by covering up what really happened."

    After taking a few deep breaths, I said, "Mikel, I''m sorry; I know you were probably told to say exactly what you said to me."

    He said nothing, so I tried to change the subject from this uncomfortable topic.

    "Let''s see if we can get this wire in the frame.

    He handed me a rectangular frame. Along the perimeter were holes for the wire to slide into. Putting a little glue in each hole, he slid the wires through from left to right. Next, he wove the wires from top to bottom across the other wires, giving him a screen to lay the pulp on and let it dry.

    As we left Mikel¡¯s shop, Draves turned to me. ¡°My lord, are you¡­alright?¡±

    He was probably asking if I was sane enough to keep alive.

    ¡°Sorry for that outburst. Since you already know I am not the original Amos, I might as well tell you that I went through some things in my last life. This situation reminded me of it. I let my emotions about what happened last time affect me. I will try not to let it happen again.¡±

    ¡°I have seen this after men come home from war. Something lingers deep within. Try and separate your lives.¡±

    My psychologist said that we tie strong emotions to significant events in our lives. Even hearing about similar events can trigger unwanted emotional responses. Apparently, shifting worlds does not free me from the consequences of my past.

    The ride back to the manor was quiet. Draves must have known I needed time to think. I didn''t know how to fix this problem. What do you do for someone after you ruin their life? Draves was right. It wasn''t my fault that the original Amos trampled the boy. But it opened a flood of memories. Lives I had destroyed because of what I had done in my past life. There were just certain things about my past life and Amos''s that lined up painfully similar. I thought I had finally forgiven myself for some things, but maybe I had just buried them.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    By the time I got back to the manor, I was depressed. I hadn''t even given the blacksmith the molds for the pens because I was so ashamed of what Amos had done. I didn''t really feel like going and trying to make paper even though I had been so excited earlier. I wanted just to lay on my bed and be mad. But then Emily appeared out of the manor with a big smile on her face.

    "Are you going to show me how to make paper now?"

    I couldn''t disappoint her, too. So I put on a smile and said, "Sure, let''s go get this party started."

    When we got to where we left the pulp, I expected to only have the little bit done that Marsh and I had made earlier. Instead, I found the pot empty and the bucket covered with a lid. Lifting the lid, I found the rags had all been pulped, still heavy with water.

    "Did you do this?" I asked in surprise.

    "Yes, my lord, Grandma let me work on it while she did my chores." She said with a smile.

    "Thanks, Em, you did great," I said as I ruffled her hair.

    "Hey, only grandma does that," Emily pouted a bit.

    "As Lord of this manor, I must sometimes take all the responsibilities of my servants upon myself," I said in my most pompous and formal tone. "Since Marshandra is not here, it falls to me to take up her duty of messing up your hair."

    "Well, I will be sick tomorrow, and you can do my cleaning." she quipped back.

    "Falsifying your health status to an employer is a punishable offense. So instead of less work, I will give you more."

    "Not fair!"

    "OK, enough slacking. Let''s get to work." I lay the frame on the stump and scooped a handful of pulp out from the bucket. I spread it evenly across the frame and pressed down a little. I didn''t want to push it through the frame, but it looked like it was going to. It would probably be hard to get it off. I know this is how they originally made paper, but I was doing it wrong. It would end up too thick if I didn''t press down. I was frowning at the result when Emily looked at me.

    "What''s wrong?" she said.

    I explained the problem. And she frowned in concentration. "Could we put cheesecloth on top of the wire?"

    "Great idea, Em." I dumped the stuff back in the bucket. And Emily ran off to the kitchen to see if the cook had any.

    While she was gone, I sunk back into the funk over Mathew. I could give the blacksmith one of my family''s horses. They were worth a lot of money, and Mathew could ride it to get around. No, that''s just stupid. How does a horse make up for hurting the boy? He might even be afraid of horses now. Then Jorb would probably think I was giving a hidden insult. I had beaten that idea down by the time Emily came back.

    "We''ll have to nail it down eventually, but let''s just lay it down for now."

    It worked much better, but we needed a sponge or something to press it down and soak up the water.

    "Hey, Em, do we have anything to soak up the extra water with?"

    She thought for a minute and then snapped her fingers. Jumping up, she ran around to the main entrance. I''m guessing that snapping your fingers like that meant the same thing here that it did back on Earth. I hoped she could find something quick because we were almost out of daylight. She ran back around the corner with an armful of gray stuff. Dumping it on the ground, she looked up at me and smiled. I think she expected a compliment, but I had no idea what this was. I picked up a piece. It looked to be a dry gray moss.

    "What is this?"

    She arched her one eyebrow in an "are you seriously that stupid" look. I was starting to see what Draves was talking about. Emily was getting way too comfortable with me. I should never have messed up her hair. Actually, all my interactions with Emily were way too informal. Combine that with the fact that she was a teenager, and I had a big problem. Give a teenager an inch, and they will take a mile when it comes to disrespect. The other problem is I really didn''t want to change the relationship. It was nice having someone to tease and would be willing to tease me back. I couldn''t have her doing it in public, though.

    "Emily, I want to be your friend, you know that, right?" I said seriously.

    Her face fell back into her normal, cheerful look. "Aren''t we already?"

    Seriously that was too fast for someone to go from being afraid I was going to rape them to being besties. I was starting to worry about the mental state of this girl. Or maybe she was just lonely.

    "I guess we are," I said with a smile, "but Emily, I need you to do something for me. I''m the Baron, which means that when we are around other people, you must treat me like a Baron and not my friend. Does that make sense?"

    She pursed her lips. "Yeah, I think so."

    "That''s good because I would just hate to have Captain Draves chop off your head; it would make such a mess, and then I wouldn''t have anyone to clean it up," I said with a laugh.

    "He would have to catch me first," she smirked.

    "OK, enough messing around; what is this?"

    "Spunge moss."

    We began to soak up the water, and the gray slurry became a gray sheet of thick, wet paper. "Well, now we need to let it dry," I said. "Then tomorrow, you will figure out how to really make paper."

    "Didn''t we just do that?" She said, scrunching up her nose.

    "We, maybe, figured out one way to make paper, but even if we did, is it the best way? Remember when your grandma took over grinding the cloth fibers? She did it much better than me, right?

    "Yeah"

    "If we assume that one way is the best or that we can''t do better, nothing improves. Does that make sense?"

    "I think so, but how do I make it better?"

    "That''s for you to figure out," I said.

    She gave a pouting face.

    "Well, you could try a few things like thinning out the pulp or squeezing out more water before laying it down. The fun part is experimenting with it."

    "I guess." She didn''t look convinced. Suddenly, she changed the subject. "So, what were you so upset about earlier?"

    "What do you mean?" I said innocently. I was not going to tell her.

    "Come on," she pleaded, "I promise I won''t tell anyone."

    "Don''t worry about it. It''s not important," I deflected.

    "It looked important to me, and maybe I can help."

    I sighed. I told Mikel not to cover it up anymore. She would probably find out about it sooner or later. It''s better she finds it out for me. "Do you know Mathew, the blacksmith''s son?"

    "Sure, I play with his older sister sometimes."

    "Do you know what happened to his leg?"

    "Sure, he was trampled by a runaway horse. One of his hands doesn''t work quite right, either. He has trouble holding stuff with it. It was awful, and Grandma says he is lucky to be alive."

    One of his hands, too! I had seriously started thinking maybe if we found him a way to move around, he could sit down and do some blacksmithing. This was such a mess. Would she hate me for what I was about to say? I steeled myself, remembering it was either me or someone else. "It wasn''t a runaway horse, Em. It was my horse, and I was riding it. I trampled him, and I was too much of a jerk to even care."

    I watched her reaction, looking for any sign of disgust. She looked like she was deep in thought for a moment and then looked me straight in the eyes. Her face was that of a mother who was very disappointed in her child. "That''s just stupid. That wasn''t even you."

    "What do you mean it wasn''t me?" I said, taken aback by her assuredness.

    She gave me her arched eyebrow. She was really good at that. "No, that was the other Lord Amos. The one who died." She pointed her finger at me. "You are definitely not him. So you didn''t hurt Mathew."

    "How do you know?" I said, holding desperately to my cover.

    "I just know. So stop being mad at yourself." This time, she seemed slightly upset, like a friend was lying to her.

    "Even if you are right, Em, that boy can never have a normal life because of Lord Amos, whether it was me or some other guy. And I am Lord Amos. So how do I fix this? It''s not like everyone else thinks I''m a different Lord Amos."

    "Mmmm, say you''re sorry?" She said with a shrug.

    "That''s not enough," I said with a sigh

    "It''s a start."

    "His dad is probably more likely to kill me if I brought it up."

    "I can tell him," Emily suggested.

    "Thanks, Em, but I need to do it. Oh, also, please don''t tell anyone you think I''m not Lord Amos."

    "Don''t worry, I won''t tell anyone I know you are not Lord Amos." She said mischievously.

    If this is what having a little sister is like, I am so glad I never had one. My older sister was a big enough pain in the butt.

    Mikel

    I strode down the road as the sun set in the west. The Baron''s carriage had left a quarter bell ago, but I had sat in my shop thinking of the conversation. Something was wrong, or maybe it was finally right. I shook my head as I walked. Maybe Jorb could give me some perspective. He was no longer at his shop, so I clapped at his door. Jacklyn answered and smiled up at me.

    "Hi, Mikel, are you looking for Papa?" she said in a hushed voice.

    I smiled and nodded.

    "OK, but be quiet. We just got Mathew calmed down and sleeping. He had a bad experience earlier, and Ma had to hold him until he fell asleep. The door opened further, and I saw Jorb with a bowl at the table. Mathew was on the bed he shared with Jacklyn in the corner. Kim was probably nursing little Ryan in the back room.

    "Jorb, can we step outside and talk?" I said quietly as he looked up at me from his bowl. He nodded and stood. He led me to his workshop, which we entered through the side door. He stood there with his arms crossed. I could tell he was in a foul mood, and I probably wouldn''t make it any better. "How is your family?"

    He ground his teeth. "That devil spawn showed up today and asked for his wire. I had forgotten that he would return today, and Mathew was in the shop. Seeing that man caused him to have a fit."

    "I know this may be upsetting, but he also came to my shop today. He was acting¡­ odd."

    ¡°How?¡± Jorb said bruskly.

    "Well, he asked me the name of your son."

    Jorb snorted, "It''s not surprising that he didn''t know my son''s name. He has no concern for any of us."

    "That''s part of what was so odd. He asked for the name of the boy he had trampled. He admitted it was him! The family spent so much time covering it up that he just admitted what he had done. I''m sorry, Jorb, but I was afraid he was about to punish me or my family¡ªmaybe even the whole village¡ªso I told him we all knew it was just an accident."

    Jorb''s face turned red. "So you just tucked your tail between your legs, and he patted you on the head."

    "I know you''re mad, Jorb, but that isn''t fair," I said calmly. "I have my family to think about. If I die, are you going to support them?"

    Jorb just huffed.

    "It doesn''t matter because instead of calming him, he was upset."

    Now Jorb looked intrigued, "About what?"

    "I can''t remember everything he said. He went on a bit of a rant. Basically, he told me I shouldn''t lie about what happened. He said it wasn''t an accident and I was disrespecting your family by lying about it. He said that you deserve compensation or something."

    "What do you think it means? What''s his angle?" Jord asked.

    "I don''t know. I was thinking maybe he''s just gone insane. I don''t know what he would gain by admitting to trampling your son. Or maybe almost dying put the fear of the Endless One in him?"

    "Insanity makes sense. He did lose his whole family and almost died himself. Now, suddenly, he is the Baron with no clue what he is doing. He is trying to build weird plows and be nice to people so that he has them on his side. We may need to warn the villagers that he is insane and may be trying something. People may have to flee."

    "That''s a good point. Let''s not be hasty; we don''t want word to get back to him. Let''s keep an eye on him for now."

    "The other thought I had, and don''t get mad at me for saying this, but maybe he has felt sorry for all this time and was afraid to do anything because of his father." I said.

    "That boy is a demon, Mikel! You have heard the way he treats the people in the Manor house. There is no way he feels sorry for anything."

    I sighed, I knew he was right, I had just hoped...

 Chapter 10

    I hurt everywhere again. My legs and arms burned with lactic acid build-up and strain. My ankles and knees felt like they were on fire from the inflammation. I hated this. But there was no way to lose it without getting out of bed. As Marsh grabbed my clothes for the day, I pushed myself into a sitting position while groaning.

    Marsh scolded me, ¡°If you push yourself too hard, you will be laid out with an injury.¡±

    ¡°And if I don¡¯t push myself enough, my health will suffer, and my heart will fail by the age of thirty. Not to mention, my people may suffer if I don¡¯t figure out a way to help them. We are partway through planting season, and our fields are not plowed. We need to have a way to increase field production or gain an export that we can trade for the supplies we need.¡±

    ¡°Emily was really excited about your new parchment idea. She told me you want her to make it better.¡± That last part was said almost as a question.

    That surprised me after her grumbling last night. I guess she wouldn''t be a teenager if she didn''t grumble. ¡°She is a smart girl. She came up with a couple of ideas that helped already. I want her to make it strong as well as bendable.¡±

    ¡°Why is this so important, my lord? Do you really think people will buy enough of it in the cities to help us?¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but it also gives us a way to make a lot of something to write on. The next step will be stamping words on a page. That will allow us to make a lot of books and things, and those will sell.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    I chuckled, ¡°If you did, I would be jealous. You would be making better logical leaps than I could ever make. Be patient, Marshandra, and you will see.¡±

    I stretched and then ran my tongue along my teeth. Gross. ¡°Marshandra, do we have a way to scrub my teeth?¡±

    ¡°I will get you a bowl of chalk pasted and a cloth.¡±

    Wait! Chalk? She definitely said chalk. At least, that''s how it translates. This could be good. Do we have the White Cliffs of Dover here? ¡°Where do we get the chalk from?¡± I said excitedly.

    There is chalk West of Cofi Lake, about half a day. Once a year, we send a cart down there to get some. And store it in Cofi. We can use it to help supplement the taxes to the traveling merchants that bring it to the city. I believe they use it to powder women¡¯s faces. Not much use for it here except some of us scrub our teeth with it.¡±

    ¡°Have any of the farmers used it for fertilizing the fields?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Why would you use rock as fertilizer?¡±

    I wasn¡¯t going to explain that chalk was formed from dead sea creatures. Plankton, I think. How far were we from the ocean if we had chalk west of Cofi? I remember my European history teacher explaining about the White Cliffs of Dover. It stuck in my mind because he sang an English drinking song about it. He was really off-key. It was hilarious. One of the lines was, ¡°It heals our fields and paints our women¡¯s faces.¡± Then Bart changed it to cruder lyrics, and the joke lasted the rest of my High School experience. I know, teenage boys are so disgusting. I was certainly not going to mention the song to Marsh.

    ¡°Trust me. We need to get some and grind it up for some of our fields. Turn it into a test. OK, I will get dressed, visit Marcus, and see if he can get me some chalk. And if you wouldn¡¯t mind getting me some of the chalk paste.¡±

    I got dressed and did some stretching. When Marsh returned, I brushed my teeth with chalk paste and a cloth. It was disgusting, but at least my teeth felt clean. I wonder if I could add mint somehow? Minty chalk breath. It¡¯s a thought. I was also starting to feel the scruff on my face. I wondered if Draves could show me how to shave. I was going to miss my electric razor.

    After getting set for the day, I headed to the study. As I walked in, I found Marcus reading a letter. Setting it down, he stood up. My lord, we should receive a small shipment of wood from Alfer soon for the carpenters and blacksmith. All the villages besides Bicman have enough fields plowed to probably bring in a harvest that will pay the taxes and may help most survive the winter next year unless we have a bad harvest. About half of those are planted with spring wheat. However, without the rest, we will not have enough for seed. Due to the illness in the village and the deaths of six of your serfs, we are pretty behind in Bicman. I understand you want our manor fields planted last to test your new plow.¡± That last statement seemed a little like he was attempting to hide mockery.

    I ignored it, ¡°Yes, and speaking of the fields, we will need chalk from Cofi to grind up and test as fertilizer.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± He said in a tone that made it apparent that he didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Did you send the request for iron from Melnon?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lord. I wrote the letter yesterday and will have a runner send it up this morning.¡±

    ¡°It''s not a big deal. I hear there is a stonemason up there that I need to speak with anyway, so I am going to head up there.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± I asked, about to turn and go find the captain.

    ¡°There is one last matter we need to discuss. I meant to discuss it last night with you.¡±

    I interrupted him, ¡°Yeah, sorry about forgetting to meet last night. I think mornings will be better.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, my lord, the matter concerns your nephew.¡±

    ¡°My nephew?¡± I said dumbly.

    ¡°Yes, Lord Aaron and Lady Martha sent him to a small cottage outside Kerisi when they found they were both ill. The child did get the illness, but a message came yesterday that he had recovered. As the new Lord, they wish you to decide on the child''s fate.¡±

    I was blown away by the information that I had a nephew and lost as to what he was asking. ¡°Uh, what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You are the Baron, my lord. I would never say otherwise, but some would contend that you are regent until he is of proper age. It presents a problem for your future reign.¡±

    It clicked, and I realized this dude was pussyfooting around the issue. ¡°So you are saying to keep peace in the barony, some might suggest I send my nephew away.¡±

    ¡°I would never presume to tell you what to do, my lord, as you have a better grasp on politics than I, but yes, that is how some recommend preventing future disputes over the barony. Sometimes, they put things in place so the family members can''t return."

    You slick little weasel. ¡°Listen here, Marcus, the fact that you even mentioned such a solution disgusts me.¡± I snarled, ¡°I would rather give up my barony than murder my nephew. It is his if he wants it when he comes of age. It isn¡¯t like I have any children, and I doubt any ladies will be beating down my door to marry me. Now, be so kind as to fetch my nephew and bring him here. I will be back this evening.¡±

    I slammed the door in anger as I left. After I left, I let out a growl. That punk. What type of person would kill their own nephew? I wasn''t ignorant to the fact that it happens, but to think that he would think of me as such a person just- Ugh. Was I going to have to raise this kid? I didn¡¯t even know his name. Probably Aaron the third. How old was he? Well, I would just have to ask Draves. No matter what, I would not turn this into some tragic story. If I did have children, they would just have to accept that Aaron came first. Alright, enough brooding, let¡¯s find Draves. Oh, wait, breakfast first. I should have waited to brush my teeth. Now, I was going to have to put that nasty stuff in my mouth again.

    When I arrived in the kitchen, only the maids were left to clean the floor. Have I mentioned how glad I am that I wasn¡¯t stuck in a world where they didn¡¯t make an effort to clean? Anyway, I stuck my head in the kitchen and asked ¡°Cookie,¡± the cook, if I could have whatever was left. I don¡¯t think that was her real name, but that is what everyone called her. I ended up eating a wheat porridge with ham. I wish we had corn. I missed grits. Of course, we didn¡¯t have salt and pepper either. I bet getting those would be crazy expensive. I also got my first taste of cow''s milk here. I don¡¯t know if it is the cows or the fact that where I came from, everything was so thoroughly processed, but this milk was certainly creamier.

    After my meal, I headed out the door towards the training ground, where I hoped to find Draves. Instead, I ran into Emily, literally. Well, technically, she ran into me and ended up on her rump. ¡°Ouch,¡± She said as she stood up while rubbing her backside.

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    ¡°Sorry, Em. I think that is Newton¡¯s third law or something. Or is it the second? Who knows? Somebody will have to rediscover them and then tell me.¡±

    She ignored the rambling once she saw who it was. ¡°Oh, Lord Amos, you have to come to see. Let me show you.¡± She took off back in the direction she came from around the side of the building. What a rude child. Could she not wait for the slow guy waddling behind her?

    When I got around the corner, she was holding up the sheet of paper. It was a greyish splotchy color, wavy, and warped a little, but when I grabbed it, I was sure I would be able to write on it. But it felt stiff. ¡°Excellent work. What are you going to do now?¡±

    She pointed to four buckets and said, "That one, I''m going to squeeze out the water. For that one, I added more water to make it thinner, and I am going to dip the frame into it and scoop it out, then try and see if that works. I will add that one more pulp, too, and that one less."

    I nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s nice, and then what?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean,¡± She asked in confusion. ¡°That¡¯s all you told me to do.¡±

    I smiled, ¡°And how about you? What are you planning on trying?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she shrugged. ¡°Is there more we can try?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s always more. You just have to discover it.¡±

    ¡°You''re not going to tell me?¡± She pouted.

    ¡°Nope,¡± I said with a smile, mainly because I had no idea. "Try and come up with as many things as you can on your own.¡±

    ¡°What do I do if I can¡¯t figure it out?¡± She whined.

    ¡°Then get some friends involved. There is no shame in asking for help after you have tried for a while. Just don¡¯t always run to someone first. You¡¯re going to be this world''s first real paper maker.¡±

    That caused her eyes to glow with excitement. She gave a solemn nod, and then she grabbed the pulp she was going to use less water in. Laying the frame on the stump, she squeezed out as much water as possible and then spread it thinly over the bottom. Pressing it gently to even it out, she turned to face me with a cute little smile.

    ¡°The neat thing is once you figure out how to make a good strong paper, you can write down all the things you tried and continue to try new things.¡±

    She frowned, ¡°I can¡¯t write.¡±

    ¡°Not now, but we are going to fix that, and then the whole world will know that Emily of Bicman Manor was the first Papermaker,¡± I pronounced dramatically.

    She sat there and stared at me. I could see the vision I had painted playing across her mind. ¡°You are going to teach me to write,¡± She stammered.

    ¡°Of course. We can¡¯t have the world¡¯s first paper maker unable to write.¡± I said as if it were obvious.

    Suddenly, I found her arms around me in a hug. Then, there was a squeak, and she backed away. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, my lord.¡±

    I chuckled, ¡°Yeah, you better not do that. I do have the image of the scary baron to maintain.¡± I ruffled her brown hair, causing her to grimace.

    ¡°Then you can¡¯t do that,¡± She pouted.

    I laughed, ¡°I, young lady, am Baron Amos Bicman.¡±

    ¡°Be nice, or I will call you what I called the other one,¡± she said.

    I raised my eyebrows, ¡°And what is that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not nice, so I¡¯m not going to say it,¡± She huffed.

    ¡°Out loud,¡± I said with a grin.

    She narrowed her eyes at me.

    ¡°Ha, I told you. You just thought it didn¡¯t you.¡± I said.

    Her cheeks turned pink, and I laughed. After laughing for a bit, I could see I may have taken it a bit too far. I put my hands up, ¡°OK, I¡¯m sorry, Em. I shouldn¡¯t tease you so much.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she grumbled. Then, softly, I heard her say, ¡°You big fat head.¡±

    That made me laugh harder. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s me, Baron Fat Head. Just keep that name between me and you; I just know that name would stick, and your grandma would probably kill you.¡±

    Her face grew pale, ¡°You are probably right, Lord Amos. Sorry for getting mad.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for teasing you so much.¡± I almost reached out and ruffled her hair again. Dang it, I promised myself and the captain I would be better about this. It was just so hard with Emily. She was like a little sister I could be real with, except she wasn¡¯t a sister. She was a serf, and I couldn¡¯t keep acting this way, or someone would eventually see us. Being a baron sucks sometimes. Maybe it would be different near the capitol where there are more nobles, but here it is just me. ''I don¡¯t even have my nice, warm, loving family,'' I thought sarcastically.

    ¡°Well, Em, good luck. I have to go find Captain Draves and get going up to Melnon. Oh, and let your grandma know that my nephew is coming back today.¡±

    Emily¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Aaron¡¯s alive, I¡­ I thought he was dead.¡± Tears filled her eyes.

    ¡°Were you close with him?¡±

    She shook her head, ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t allowed to be around him. I¡¯m just a serf, and Martha didn¡¯t want any of us near him¡ªonly her maid and the wet nurse. But I saw him sometimes. He was always so happy. He never really cried. I¡¯ll go tell Grandma right away.¡± Then she took off running.

    I made my way to the back of the manor, hoping to find Draves. He was indeed back with his men doing morning training. There were a few men there that I hadn¡¯t seen before. They were doing what looked like a kata. Spears were lying beside them, but their movements were slow punches and jabs. You could tell that some had been doing this far longer than others. Those were the ones that were in perfect sync with each other. I decided that I would get up and do that with them tomorrow. I probably wouldn¡¯t last ten minutes, but I really needed to do something with my body. When the routine was over, they all stood and bowed to me. I gave a slight nod in return. I needed to learn protocol on who to do what with.

    The captain told Hyrum to take over and walked up to me. I nodded to the group and asked, ¡°Who are the new guys?¡±

    ¡°They are not new; they are just on rotation. They normally operate out of Alfer, but now they are on patrol. Some of my group is covering Alfer for them.¡±

    ¡°Do we have a big need for patrol? You or Hyrum mentioned bandits to me at some point.¡±

    "Not really. This side of the kingdom is pretty poor, and there isn¡¯t much use robbing people traveling out this way Unless they are Merchants, but they also don''t come out here often. Bandits don¡¯t want to lose lives any more than we do, so unless they are desperate, they won¡¯t attack our villages. But it does happen. There aren¡¯t any big groups out here. They are just small groups trying to grab as much food as possible. We don¡¯t have anything worth risking their lives over.¡±

    ¡°How about other Nobles?¡±

    ¡°That could be a problem, but not one fought with weapons. We are at the bottom of the ladder regarding influence, so if someone inside the dukedom wanted your land, they would bribe the duke. Then, they would bribe the king, so there would be no one for you to complain to. Fortunately or unfortunately, they are all too busy plotting against each other to fight over a backwater barony that the old king gave to a landless knight for saving his life on the field. That would be your grandfather.¡±

    ¡°My father saved his life, and all he got was some crappy land?¡±

    ¡°It was your grandfather, and the king wouldn¡¯t have even given that if he thought he could get away with it. Your grandfather was not a very likable individual. My father said that the king was a little bitter about the fact that he was saved by a nobody knight when his own son died trying to protect him.¡±

    Ah, that made sense. The king was still a prick. I wonder what the new king is like.

    ¡°So, changing subjects completely. Were you aware that my nephew is alive?¡±

    Draves shifted uncomfortably, ¡°I was aware that his wet nurse had taken him to Kerisi. The last update I got was that he was ill. Has he recovered?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said with a nod.

    ¡°And your plan for him?¡± He asked flat-faced.

    I started to get angry again, ¡°Does everyone think I am a child murderer?¡± I accused him.

    ¡°I am sorry, my lord, I should not have doubted," He looked ashamed," Had someone asked me a few days ago if I thought you would let the child live, I would have probably said no. The other, Lord Amos, hated the child almost as much as he hated his brother. He would probably have felt it was the best course of action. Many nobles would agree, unfortunately. Knowing you these last few days, I am ashamed to have thought such a thing.¡±

    I put my head down and rubbed my fingers on my temples. I let out a sigh and said, ¡°No, I cannot expect you to separate me so easily from other nobles if that is a common practice. Maybe I should apologize to Marcus. Maybe he was saying what he thought might be the right action. I doubt it, but I still need him, and causing a bigger rift won''t help the barony. So, since we are keeping Aaron, does the term regent apply to me?¡±

    ¡°I know very little of the law outside my duty, my lord, but I believe that is an option. You may also petition the duke to transfer the barony to you. Either of those may cause contention when you have children.¡±

    ¡°If I have children. As I told Marcus, I don¡¯t think I have many prospects.¡±

    ¡°I believe your father was in negotiation with a merchant a few years ago for his daughter''s hand. But, neither of you got along very well. I don¡¯t think anything came of it.¡±

    ¡°All the better. An arranged marriage with someone who doesn¡¯t like me would be painful.¡±

    ¡°That does bring up a good point, though. There are Barons who make it past the age of being able to have children or whose wives are barren, and they name an heir from outside their direct line¡ªsometimes not even a relative."

    ¡°So, adopt my nephew as my son. I don¡¯t know that I am ready to be a dad. That kind of weirds me out,¡± I thought for a moment and then said, ¡°How about this? So that the people know Aaron is safe and I am not some baby killer, I want a proclamation sent out saying Aaron is alive and that he is under my protection.¡±

    ¡°That will work for now, but if I were you, I would make a decision soon so your people aren¡¯t confused.¡±

    ¡°OK, I will go tell Marcus. Do you mind escorting me to Melnon for the day? I need to speak with the stone mason."

    ¡°I will make ready the carriage.¡±

 Chapter 11

    I immediately became wary as we entered the forest east of Bicman village. This was the part in all the books I read where arrows rained down from trees, and we all died. However, it didn''t happen; the birds continued chirping, and the morning sun shone through the trees, painting the ground with patterns. The captain and I rode in the carriage, and five of his men rode in the cart to carry all the bronze or iron we could get. Maybe even a grindstone if the stone mason had a spare.

    I wonder how long it would take to make one?

    So much to do and not enough time to do it.

    It was only a three-hour trip to the hills where Melnon sat. The village here actually looked a little nicer than Bicman. It was laid out more orderly, with most of the houses made of stone. I would have to see what they used for mortar. Hopefully, it was lime. I had been worried about what Draves had told me. I wasn''t sure that another baron wouldn''t try to take the barony from me. What if the kingdom collapsed and it became every man for himself? I never wanted this job, but would I let them just kick me out? Would I fight back if the king decided I needed to go? I know it wouldn''t mean much to most people around here, but now I had to worry about Aaron.

    As we rode through the village, I could see that the streets were clean and lacked the foul odor I had expected in all villages before sewers were invented. When we arrived at the headman''s house, he was there to greet us. He bowed low. "My lord, what brings you to our humble village." He had an edge of nervousness in his voice.

    "My good man Richard, it is a pleasure to see you in good health. As the new lord of this barony, I have decided to come and tour my villages as time permits. I understand this was a surprise, and I was wondering if you could lend me some time to tour this lovely village and its operations. If you are too busy, would you assist us in locating someone who could? That would be much appreciated."

    "Of course, I can set aside time to guide you through our village. It is an honor to serve you. Where would you like to start?"

    "Let us take a stroll through the village, and I will acquaint myself with my people." I had been thinking about what to say here on my way up. I wanted to avoid using such terms as peasants or serfs and establish in their minds that I saw them as people first. I also said ''my people,'' not ''the people'' of this village, to show that they were essential to me, and I wanted a unified barony. I had no idea if it would work, but I needed them to believe that. We had a lot of work to do, and making people feel like they mattered was a big deal to me. It might take a long time to drill it into them for them to accept it, but it was a foundation on which I wanted to build my rule.

    As we walked once again, I saw mostly women and children in the village. I tried to stop and talk with some, but most had trouble looking at me, let alone talking to me. I thanked each one of them, and some even smiled in return. The children were more curious and didn''t understand who I was. They probably had never seen me before. I would try to lower myself and compliment the boys on how strong they looked and the girls on how pretty they were. Squats were not easy for me, even if it was one every once in a while.

    I really wish I had candy to hand out. I would become a dentist''s nightmare. Sugar cane grew in tropical climates, and sugar beets in temperate. I would have to figure out where we were. Not that I was a candy expert. I used to love taffy and even tried making some a few times. It turned out as hard as a rock every time, so I gave up. I didn''t remember the recipe anyway.

    As we reached the edge of the village, I turned to the headman and asked, "So what resources do you mine here?"

    "We provide the copper for the barony." He said proudly.

    "Excellent. How about coal or limestone?"

    "We use limestone in our masonry, but coal has little value as trees are easier to harvest."

    "I assume you have a kiln here then," I said.

    "Of course, my lord."

    "Perfect. Have you tried crushing coal and putting it in the oven used for limestone?"

    "It doesn''t burn as well as wood and leaves a hard-to-remove substance."

    "Sorry, I didn''t mean using it as fuel. I meant crushing it and cooking it like limestone is cooked for the mortar. Other than the tar, what is left behind is coke, which burns much hotter than charcoal, wood, or coal. It is so hot that we could build a furnace using indirect heat that melts the iron into a liquid. Adding lime creates a slag that we can drain off the top, leaving us with pure iron. We won''t have to bloom it at all."

    The last long video I did was for a grad student who wanted a video presentation to accompany his History of Iron report. I got to make videos of several different processes, including a puddling furnace and a blast furnace. If we could make large quantities of steel as an export, that would be amazing. Again, because we were in the backwater out here, I had no idea if puddling was already being done. China had blast furnaces almost 2000 years before Europe, and historians still can''t confirm whether the idea came from China or if the Europeans invented it separately. Information is critical, and we lack it here.

    "If necessary, build a separate kiln and find a way to separate the coke from the tar. I will design a puddling furnace, and we can produce a lot of iron. We will also need lime to help pull the slag from the iron."

    So why didn''t I make blast furnaces and large quantities of steel? Wrought iron was a more straightforward process. I wish I had access to manganese. That did something to the steel to make it more usable. Where do I find that? I don''t think the old Amos had ever seen or heard about it, so I didn''t have a word for it. We were going to need a lot of experimentation. I knew what went into it and what should happen, but I was not sure I could get the correct temperature or the right mix for steel. Heck, I didn''t even know what the correct temperature was.

    These guys knew their job better than me. I would try to point them in the right direction, as I did with Emily. I also felt like I should do things in order. Not that I exactly knew the correct order, but I didn''t even know the order. All I knew was that I had to advance my barony without getting squished by the bigger guys. Make myself indispensable to the kingdom or the dukedom. If all else fails, we could try bat droppings, sulfur, and charcoal, but I would like to keep a tight lid on that experiment.

    I wanted to visit the mine, but about a quarter way up, I was so winded I had to sit down. I hated this body. Rather than call for the carriage, I waited until I had mostly recovered and pushed myself to walk back down. It was a little easier, but my thighs and glutes were hurting by the time we got back to the village. We went to the headman''s house, which had three rooms. That was the first three-room house I had seen. I sat in a rather uncomfortable chair while he called for the stone mason.

    When the stone mason came, I stood, trying not to groan. I probably didn''t have to stand, but I was still pushing my PR campaign and thought standing would be polite. I was so out of my depth in all this that I had no idea if this would just make me look like a crazy person instead.

    "My good man, Carl," I said politely.

    "My lord," He said with a bow. "How may I help you today."

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "I need a grindstone." With hand gestures, I showed him the approximate size.

    He looked confused, "Is the one at the manor broken?"

    I turned and asked Draves, "Do we have a grindstone at the manor?"

    "Yes, your father ordered one for us so we could grind swords ourselves instead of going down to the blacksmith. But it takes skill, and Jorb does a better job, so we take the swords to him."

    I sighed and shook my head. I can''t believe I didn''t ask earlier. I just assumed that the blacksmith would own the only grindstone, and I wasn''t about to ask him for anything I didn''t have to. "Well, this is actually a good thing. We can check that off my list. By the way, how do you make your mortar?"

    "Lime powder and sand."

    "Richard, when burning coal, collect the ash that sticks to the ceiling and from the bottom. When you have a barrel, I want you to try it in the mortar, also adding clay."

    Volcanic ash works better, but modern blast furnaces collect fly ash and bottom ash and use it in stuff. The only thing I remember it for is cement and concrete. Part 6 of the video series I did had to do with what the by-products or waste material has been used for in steel making. I want to say maybe fertilizer, but maybe that''s just because I have been trying to think about how to restore our fields. Does lime work as fertilizer? Does chalk work as mortar?

    I need like one hundred more peasants and about fifty more fields to run experiments. Fields would need to come first, though, and then I can feed all the extra nonfarmers. And if I can''t get the fields to produce more, then we still won''t have much extra. If I screwed this up, people were going to die. And that''s enough pessimistic thoughts for the day. When I got in this type of funk back on Earth, I used to slap my face. That wouldn''t be a good idea right now.

    "It isn''t a primary focus, but I would like that second kiln built to convert coal into coke headman. Send me word when it is done."

    "Yes, my lord." He bowed. "We don''t have ready access to clay here, but I believe there is clay west of here near the riverside. It is about an hour.

    "Now for what we really need. I need as much iron or bronze as you can give me. At least enough to make two plows out of iron." I said two plows because my better plow would take more iron than the standard plow.

    "We have enough iron, but iron plows would be very heavy." He said

    "True, but we will be adding wheels to it."

    "Interesting. I look forward to the success of your new plow. Are you sure you don''t want our blacksmith here to make it?"

    "I appreciate the offer, but I already promised the work to Jorb. It would be wrong of me to renege on that deal. Is there anything you need from me while I am here?"

    "I am humbled by your offer, my lord, but I believe we have what we need. As long as the flour shipments keep coming from the mill."

    "In that case, keep up the good work and pass my best wishes and thanks to the people of Melnon," I nodded. Then I turned to Draves, "Captain, we will leave the cart here with a few of your men to bring back the iron. We will leave in the carriage, and two of your men can ride up with the carriage driver on ours."

    "As you wish, my lord."

    After hauling myself into the carriage, we took off down the road. I finally decided to approach a subject I had been mulling over for quite a while: "Captain, Emily was very excited when I said I would teach her how to read and write. This got me thinking. What if I offered to pay for schooling for Mathew, the blacksmith''s son? Could he get a job as a scribe or something that wouldn''t require physical labor?"

    "Hmm, I don''t know if it would be possible for him to attend any sort of academy as that would be outside our barony. Depending on the academy, we would have to get permission from the count or possibly the duke. It might work if you bribed the count to give a recommendation. Mathew would get paid well for a job somewhere in the dukedom. The other option is the Church. If you are willing to educate him yourself and request the Preist take him on afterward, he could make his way up. He wouldn''t make as much, but I don''t know if your coffers are big enough for the bribe and the schooling. Pardon my frankness. Also, there would be no benefit to your barony except if he stayed as a local priest."

    "I''m not looking for personal benefit. This is for a family that I have harmed."

    "I understand, my lord, but please don''t take upon yourself all the damage that the old Baron Amos did. You will find yourself stretched too thin."

    "Understood. So, do you know how I might approach Jorb about this? I don''t even know if he would accept help from me."

    "With Jorb, you are best just asking. I doubt he will accept, but there is no harm in trying."

    "Then we will head straight to his place when we return. I will apologize and see if this is acceptable." I spent the rest of the trip thinking about what to say to Jorb.

    When we arrived at Jorb''s home, I had the Captain exit and ask him to meet with me. I had decided I had no right to enter his home or shop without permission. I also didn''t want to run into Mathew, as it would give him anxiety. I sat nervously, hoping this would work.

    The captain exited the shop and nodded to me. I shuffled out of the carriage and saw a woman washing something in a bucket near his house. "Jorb, would it be ok if your wife joined us for a moment?"

    He did not look happy but called her over anyway. When they both were standing in front of me, I said, "I came to apologize for the wrong I have done to your family, especially Mathew. I do not ask for your forgiveness as I am unworthy of it. There is nothing I can do to fix the damage that I have done, but I seek to, in some small part, give restitution for my crime. As such, I want to offer to pay for your son''s education and make sure he is set up as a scribe or an apprentice within the dukedom in an occupation of his choosing. In order to send him to an academy, I will need permission from the count.

    "Also, it would be best to start his education here first in case he is denied permission from the count. I suggest he be fully educated here and then either join the priesthood or I will provide him 50 acres of good land and enough serfs to work the land. He would receive that upon his 18th birthday. So, my options for him are to be a scholar, priest, or educated landowner.

    "If none of these options are acceptable to you and you feel it is best for him and you, and if you leave the barony, I will free you of your service to the barony and provide you with the funds to set up elsewhere. You don''t have to answer now if you want to think about it. I wish I could do more. I would trade my foot for his if I could, but this is all I can offer you for the crime I have committed. I swear all of this to you in my honor as a baron in front of Captain Draves."

    I stopped and waited for a response. It seemed like an eternity as Jorb stared at me with hard eyes. As I spoke, Jorb''s wife''s eyes grew larger. By the end, she was staring at me with an open mouth.

    "If you are truly sorry, do I have permission to speak freely?"

    I nodded.

    "I hate you, Lord Amos. I have hated you since you hurt my son. I have always disliked your family. If you are serious about your desire to make restitution, then I will take your money and leave."

    I sighed, "As you wish. I will provide you with thirty silver tomorrow and a hand cart. I will give you a writ of travel and you may leave whenever you are ready. May the Endless One bless you and your family and keep you safe in your travels."

    With that, I turned and entered the carriage.

    I had failed.

    Janice

    After the carriage left, I recovered my wits. The devil had apologized and offered my son an education. As realization dawned on me, I turned to my husband and glared. "You fool! You absolute idiot, how in the world did I get saddled with such an ox? He offered our son an education. He offered him land and people to tend it. And you threw it away."

    "It is better this way. We don''t have to live here anymore in the presence of that monster." He snapped back.

    "Better for who, you or Mathew? Think with your head instead of your hate. Do you think moving will help Mathew? Will he suddenly have a better opportunity in a different barony? What happens when you die? He will die a starved beggar. This nightmare has plagued me for the last three years. No, there is a solution, and because you hate the man giving it, you throw it away. I hate that man too, but not enough to sacrifice my son''s future."

    "You honestly think someone like that is telling the truth? I might not know what game he is playing with us, but there is no way that man would give us the thirty silver. At most, he has given us a way to leave by his consent. As far as the rest of his promises, he could just as easily change his mind by the time Mathew turns eighteen. In the meantime, he will have worked me to the bone."

    "That man was sincere. I can tell."

    "That man is a liar, and you will see tomorrow."

    "No, you will see." I said, as we both glared at each other.

 Chapter 12

    I sighed as we made our way back up to the manor. "That could have gone better."

    "Were you expecting forgiveness?" Draves said.

    "No, but I hoped to temper his hatred enough to have him stay. I need a smith, and I just let mine go without any thought of what I would do if he left. I really screwed that up, didn''t I? I''m an idiot."

    Rather than answering that question, he asked another. "Where will you find the thirty silver you promised? I don''t mean to doubt your word, but last I recall, we were rather low on funds."

    "My father had some money squirreled away that I found in his room," I said, still depressed.

    "Using personal funds is very generous, my lord."

    "It was my mistake. It shouldn''t have come out of the treasury even if we had the funds."

    "It was not you, my lord." Draves said sternly.

    "I know, I know."

    When we got back, I left the captain and Jack to deal with the carriage. I was beat. Everything was sore from either the exercise or the carriage. As I entered the manor, I was greeted by the nervous face of a woman in her thirties. On her hip was a baby who stared curiously at me. The boy was dark-haired and pudgy with baby fat. He was also dressed better than any other child I had seen here.

    "Well, hello, Aaron. Are you here to take charge? It would be really nice if you could because I don''t think your Uncle Amos is cut out for this." I said with a smile. He babbled something and then reached out to me. Kind of trusting for a kid who probably only saw disgust from this face up until a few days ago. "May I," I asked the wet nurse.

    She pried him off her hip and cautiously handed Aaron to me. She really did look afraid.

    Sheesh, lady, what do you think I''m going to do, throw him down the hall?

    I set the kid on my hip and held out my hand. "Alright, give me five, little dude." He just grabbed one of my fingers. I looked at him with disappointment on my face. "That''s terrible. What has your dad been teaching you?"

    All I got was "Ba-ba-do" followed by a raspberry.

    "Aaron, seriously," I said in a disappointed tone, "I''ll have you know that when I was your age, I could speak fluently in two languages and was an entrepreneur. That''s totally true; you can trust your uncle. I was a used diaper manufacturer¡ªprobably the largest in the state."

    I continued to talk to him as we walked towards the great hall, making sure to show proper enthusiasm at all his babbling. This was very cathartic after a stressful day. The nurse followed behind us. "Remind me your name again."

    "Amy, my lord." She executed a perfect bow.

    "OK, Amy, does this young man prefer beer or wine?"

    "My lord," She gasped, "He-"

    "Just kidding, Amy. It''s been a stressful day, so sometimes I just say stupid stuff to unwind."

    She sighed in relief.

    Then I looked at Aaron and said in that weird voice adults talk to babies in, "Of course, we aren''t going to give you alcohol on an empty stomach. That would be downright irresponsible." We both laughed, even though I don''t think he got the joke. I returned Aaron to Amy while I snuck into the kitchen and grabbed some bread and hard cheese. I know it wasn''t healthy for me, but this was as close to comfort food as I was likely to get. I wonder where they aged their cheese here. Or was it an import? I grabbed a mug and scooped some water from an uncovered barrel.

    Heading back out, I asked Amy to tell me how Aaron was doing while I was eating. She mentioned fleeing the manor and how she and Aaron both had started showing symptoms around the same time. Aaron wouldn''t eat for about two days, and after that, he couldn''t keep much down. She had been delirious during one of the days, and both had high fevers. She started to recover a day before Aaron began to. Three days after they had recovered, she felt it was safe to go into town and get a runner.

    "You saved my nephew''s life. Thank you, Amy," I said sincerely.

    She looked surprised at my comment but then nodded. "Thank you, my lord."

    I''m not sure if I was right, but it didn''t seem she was very fond of the child. It seemed more like he was just a duty she had. As the baby''s nurse, I thought she would react more. Maybe I am reading too much into it. She is probably just frazzled from her time at the cottage.

    "Why don''t you rest here, Amy? You look tired. I''ll hang out with this young man for a while. Does he need to go down for a nap anytime soon, or does he need to eat?"

    "He slept and ate just before you arrived."

    "OK, buddy. I''m exhausted, but let''s go check the paper. If we have some duds, I am sure we can see if Emily will give you some to tear up or gnaw on. How has your fiber intake been lately?" With that, we left Amy very confused, sitting at the table with the remaining bread and cheese.

    Once we got outside, I set him down and held one hand. He toddled next to me on unsteady legs, babbling as we went. It took a long time to make it around the corner, and by then, he was ready to be picked up. I just admonished him about the importance of growing longer legs. When we got to the paper stand, I noticed that the frame had a piece of wood almost the exact size of the paper pressed down on it. A rock was on top of the board. That was an interesting idea. I was about to move the board off but thought better of it. I didn''t know where Emily was in the process. We should move the process inside so the sheets don''t get blown away.

    As we walked back inside, I explained the paper-making process to Aaron. He didn''t seem interested. When I got to the family hallway, Emily and Marsh were washing the floor on their hands and knees. They both stood up, and Emily ran over excitedly. "Hi, Aaron," she said in a friendly voice. The little traitor reached out for her, so I took him off my hip and held him out to her.

    Emily''s eyes went wide. "Really?"

    "Of course," I said, "but don''t try to explain paper-making to him. He isn''t interested."

    She grabbed him away from me and stood there, cooing at him. In under a minute, she had him laughing. I walked over to Marsh and asked her how things were.

    "Fine, my lord," She said, "How was your trip to Melnon."

    "Excellent, I got the iron needed, but now I need a smith. I may have to send the designs and the iron back up to Melnon now and have their smith do it."

    "What happened to Jorb?" She asked in confusion.

    I explained how I had botched things up, and she nodded. Patting me on the shoulder, she said, "Experience is a great teacher but very harsh sometimes."

    "Truer words were never spoken."

    "So you had a chance to reconnect with your nephew, I see."

    We both turned to look in his direction. Emily was doing precisely what I told her not to do¡ªexplaining paper-making. Of course, I had said not to in jest, but her explanation had the boy enraptured. He was smiling and laughing at her hand gestures and expressions.

    "I guess you''re a better storyteller than I am." I laughed.

    Emily turned a slight shade of pink. "I kind of got carried away."

    "So, are you enjoying paper making?"

    She frowned. "No, it''s annoying. I can''t get it flat enough, and it''s either too stiff to bend or too flimsy. I''m going to figure it out, though. I will make the paper as good as parchment," she said with a mix of frustration and determination.

    "I like your idea with the board and the rock. Do you think it will work?"

    "I don''t know. I hope so." She tried to say that casually, but I could tell she was a little excited and anxious.

    "So let''s see what you have so far."

    She led him down the hall to his old bedroom with Aaron still on her hip. I wanted to chuckle because she looked like a perfect big sister taking care of a little brother. Then I stopped grinning when I could figure out if that made me the big brother or the dad. When we entered the room, we saw three pieces on the bed. One was still a little damp, but it also looked a little thicker than the others. They didn''t look like something I could write about, but it was a good effort.

    "Good work," I said encouragingly.

    That just caused her to snort. "You can''t write on them."

    "True, but you eliminated three ways that won''t work," I said with a smile.

    That made her think. After a moment, she shrugged. "I guess. Do you want to go look at that other sheet I made?"

    All I really wanted to do was go back to my bed and lie down. It had been a long day, and it wasn''t even dinner time yet. But I put a smile on my face and said, "Sure." And off the three of us went to see the latest results.

    Emily ran ahead with Aaron bouncing on her hip. He giggled as they went. I think they were going to be good friends. Suddenly, I heard shouting down the hall, and I hastened my pace to a shuffle. When I rounded the corner, I saw Amy standing in the hall, trying to grab Aaron away from Emily and shouting that she wouldn''t let Emily steal the baby. Emily was trying to shout over her that I had given Aaron to her. I really wanted to laugh at the game of keep away. The look on Aaron''s face was pure joy.

    "Why would the Lord let you touch a noble?!" Amy shouted.

    "Because I''m his friend!"

    "Noble''s aren''t friends with serfs!"

    I really should have been indignant for Emily''s sake, but I just started laughing instead. This was straight out of a comedy show. If I ever got this place advanced enough for TV, this would be going on Saturday Night Live. Both women turned to me as I was trying to gasp for air.

    "Amy," I said between laughs, "I¡­" Laugh, "gave Aaron to Emily to hold."

    "But she was running away with the child," Amy said with apparent confusion.

    "No, we were all going out to look at Emily''s paper project. I''m just fat and can''t move very fast."

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    "But she is a serf."

    I could not get angry at this woman. Social hierarchy was ingrained in their culture. Being mad at her for generational bias would be unfair. "Amy, I understand how you feel. All your life, you have been taught that freemen are superior to serfs. And because of your freedoms, you do have something to be proud of. However, Emily has proven to be a capable girl with a creative mind. Please think back to when you were her age. Were you a whole lot different?" I gave just enough pause to let that sink in. "If you were not a wet nurse, would you be allowed to hold the child? Now I will make you a deal. If you can give me a logical reason why Emily should not be able to hold him, I will make her give him to you. I don''t want to hear because she is a serf and unworthy. Take some time to think about it. Also, wouldn''t it be nice to have a helper with Aaron? Since you are a wet nurse, you must have your own children who have recently been weaned. I am sure they would like some time with you."

    Wow, did I really say all that? That almost sounded logical.

    Amy first looked shocked and then like she was about to cry. "I shall think about this, my lord, if you would excuse me. I shall return later for his feeding. I will be down in the village if needed."

    I watched her leave out the door. Uh oh, I turned to Emily and saw her covering her mouth, a look of pity on her face. "Em, what did I say wrong."

    "She lost her child shortly after Aaron was born. Lady Martha''s milk dried up, so Amy was called in."

    "So I just told her to go and take care of her children and¡­" I put my palm to my forehead and groaned. I suck at this.

    Emily reached out her hand and patted my arm. "She does have other children to take care of, but I think the loss of her little girl was tough. If you weren''t here, you couldn''t have known. The other Amos wouldn''t even have cared."

    "Thanks, Em." I took a deep breath, "Let''s go check that paper."

    "You were right about her being unable to hold the child if she hadn''t been the wet nurse. She was elevated to the status of freeman from serf so she could care for the baby. She has been a little snobby about it ever since."

    As soon as we got to the frame, Emily handed over Aaron. Apparently, she was not going to let me mess with her work. Taking off the rock, she flipped the frame. The board slid out with the paper attached. She frowned. The pressure of the stone had caused the paper to press down on the cheesecloth and into the wireframe, leaving slight groves in the paper. The paper was still a little damp from not being exposed to as much air.

    Emily''s shoulders slumped, "It didn''t work."

    "You don''t know that yet. The other side is probably flat."

    "But this side has ridges." She complained.

    I actually thought it looked cool. It made it look almost like a watermark. What if¡­ "Hey Em, since we are only writing on one side, this may not matter. It looks pretty cool. What if we were to get the blacksmith to make the family crest out of wire? Then, it would have that on the paper."

    That got her excited. "Really."

    "We will know when this dries, but good job making your first watermark on paper."

    I automatically raised my hand for a high five. I was totally left hanging while she stared at my hand. I chuckled, "So, this is called a high five. You need to slap my hand with yours. It means "good job." She raised her hand and patted my hand.

    I shook my head. "That was terrible, Em. I''ll show you. Raise your hand like mine." She did. I slapped it and said, "Good job."

    She looked at me and said, "my lord."

    "Yeah."

    "I hope you don''t mind me saying this, but you are strange sometimes."

    "Yeah, you''re right."

    The paper ended up being something I might be able to write on. It was a little floppy, so no paper airplane, and it was a little thick. We took it back to the room to let it dry some more. "I''m sorry I didn''t ask your permission to use this room, but I thought the paper might blow away if I left them outside."

    I waved away her concern. "I was going to have you move the operation inside anyways, so this is fine. Which room do you think would be best to set up the operations in?"

    "Really? Um, we could use Lady Kristine''s room. The bed was small, and it had a writing table. We could probably fit everything in there."

    "Excellent. Have the grooms move things. If they give you any trouble, find me." She took that as permission to leave and left quickly.

    "Hey, Aaron, I got a question for you. Are you my only living relative, or do we have others? You know like how I''m your uncle. Do I have any uncles or aunts?" Apparently, by the expression on his face, he didn''t know what I was talking about. Kids these days. He was squirming by then, so I sat him down. He crawled around a bit and then used the bedpost to stand up. After doing some assisted squats, he started tottering around. Watching it was fun, but I was too exhausted to do anything else. Everything I had been doing today was making me sweat uncomfortably. After about ten minutes of exploring the room, he came over to me, and I picked him up. "You are one lazy kid. I had climbed Mt. Everest by your age. Come on, let''s go find the captain and ask if I have any relatives. I don''t want any surprise visits."

    I got myself moving again and made it to the yard. At that point, I found out he was in the great hall, and I had to walk all the way back. Ugh, the next invention on my list was the smartphone with a Find My Captain app on it. I entered the dining area, and the tables were out. The captain was sitting with his men. "Captain, might I have a word with you at my table?"

    "Of course, my lord," We went up to my table, and both sat down. Aaron sat on my lap and patted the table.

    "So, I was wondering if I have any other relatives?"

    "You have two aunts, though I cannot recall their names. I believe the last visit was before you were born. They didn''t get along with your father."

    "That seems to be a theme here. Well, at least I won''t have to expect any visits or pretend to be the old Amos. It would be polite to let them know of their brother''s passing and try and heal the rift."

    "Marcus probably would have the information somewhere."

    "Ugh, that kid just rubs me the wrong way. I wish he would lighten up."

    "You could remove him."

    "No, he needs the job, and I need someone to manage everything. It''s not like he is doing a terrible job."

    At that point, Carrie brought me my food: a bowl of stew and a piece of bread. "Thank you, Carrie," I said simply.

    "You''re welcome, my lord." She said, not looking at me. She bolted as soon as she set down my food.

    Well, at least she spoke to me. That''s progress. After she left, I started to eat. Aaron kept grabbing at my spoon, and it became a game of keep away as I tried to get food in my mouth. Suddenly, Emily was there holding out her hands. "If my lord needs, I will gladly take the child that you might continue your meal," she said, trying to maintain a formal appearance.

    "Thank you, Emily. That would be appreciated."

    I handed her Aaron, and he went to her readily. The captain gave a surprised look but said nothing. Watching her sit back down, I noticed other women suddenly surrounded her. I also saw Carrie standing next to Hyrum at the guard table. They were both smiling and seemed to be enjoying each other''s company. I have to admit there was a pang of jealousy. She was a beautiful girl. I had no chance with her, though. First, I was a noble, and she was a peasant; second, I was not attractive; and third, my former self had ruined any possible chance of even a friendly relationship with her.

    "So, Hyrum and Carrie, that seems like a good match."

    The captain looked down, "Yes, he hasn''t said anything, but I think he would like to marry her."

    "Now? Isn''t she a little young?" I said in surprise.

    "She is sixteen. They should have already been wed," he said, as if that explained things.

    "So what is he waiting for?"

    "First, to build up the courage. The second is you."

    "Me? What do I have to do with anything?"

    "You have to lift the ban on commoners'' marriages and allow him to."

    "So they did end up enacting that stupid law," I grumbled under my breath. "Why do they need my permission."

    "All commoners in a barony need the permission of their lord to marry. You can delegate it to your headman if you would like. This helps with managing farmland distribution and skill or trade management.

    "Oh, so there is a point. That still sucks."

    "He is also worried about getting your permission."

    "Huh, why is that?"

    "Well, if you don''t mind me saying it. Your previous attention to Carrie has been very blatant."

    "Oh," Now I felt bad for my jealousy. I was standing in the way of these two wonderful people.

    Actually, this could be great. It might get Marcus to lighten up a bit. I stood up.

    "Attention," I said and waited for everyone to calm down. "As part of my new reign over the barony, I am removing the restriction on marriage. All may petition for marriage. Please spread the word to the villages. I will have the official proclamation sent out tomorrow."

    There was no clapping or cheering. Man, this is a tough crowd. Or maybe this was standard. I sat down awkwardly. "Not much of a reaction," I said to the captain.

    "What were you expecting?" He said in confusion.

    "Clapping, cheering, something at least. It was like I stood up and said, ''The sky is blue."

    "Normally, these things are not announced in the great hall unless there is an official gathering. Most things are sent out via a crier. Also, these things change all the time based on the whims of the ruler. Also, if they cheered, you might have become offended as if we disagreed with the initial decision."

    "That''s messed up. Next time, I will tell you to start clapping if I think they need help," I said, and he nodded, "Hey, Hyrum. Get your butt up here!" Oh wait, I wasn''t supposed to talk that way. Dang. I looked at the captain. "Sorry, I didn''t mean for it to come out that way."

    Hyrum got up quickly and headed to the table. He looked nervous. "Hyrum, there is a young lady who cannot stop blushing every time she looks at you. Do you know the one?" He looked back at Carrie, who looked at our group with concern. He turned back around and nodded. His face turned solemn as if bracing for my next words.

    "So here is what I recommend. Invite her to take a walk with you outside the village, get down on one knee, confess your undying love for her, and ask her to marry you because I guarantee other men would love to ask me for permission to marry her. I don''t want to deal with a line of petitioners."

    His mouth dropped open. "Are you giving me permission to marry her?"

    "I thought I made that clear. That girl will have to put up with a lot if you really are this dense."

    "But I thought you-"

    I interrupted him. "Look, Hyrum, you have every right to hate me. I have been nothing but crass and rude to a girl you have held in high esteem. Yet yesterday, you came and gave me friendly counsel. You are a good man. Both of you deserve to be happy. Now, gentleman, although it is not yet night, my body is not used to running around all day, so I am going to retire to my bedroom, do some meditation, and have another serious talk with the Endless One where I complain that he has the wrong man for the job. He won''t respond, and then I am going to bed."

    "My lord," Hyrum said while looking at me intensely, "Thank you."

    I stood, "You are welcome, Hyrum."

    Hyrum

    I walked beside Carrie in the fading light. Her hair and face glowed, and her shy smile played across her lips. She said nothing, just walking with her hands clasped in front of her. We often needed nothing to say. Unlike my first wife, Tamera, who died in childbirth with our child, Carrie was often quiet.

    My hands were sweaty. I had done this before. Why did it feel like I was doing this for the first time? I still am shocked that the young lord gave me permission. I had hated him so much. I had envisioned myself splitting his head open so many times. Every time Carrie had tears in her eyes, it was because of him. I had even thought of suffocating him in his sleep while he was in his fevered state. The captain knew of my hatred for the man, so I was never put on guard duty for him.

    After the lord recovered, the captain came to me and said that the young man had a change of heart and was trying to be a better person. I didn''t believe him. I kept watching and waiting for him to slip up. Then I saw him in the hallway, back against the wall, panicking. The look of devastation on his face when I told him how he treated Carrie in the past could not have been faked. My hatred for him melted away. This was a child who was out of his depth and trying to do the right thing. I must admit I was nervous that he might be trying to win her favor to get her to sleep with him. But it seemed he was more afraid of interacting with her than anything.

    I forgave him, and now I was standing next to the most beautiful girl in the barony, and I was about to propose. I had to do it now, or I would make up an excuse not to. I stepped in front of Carrie, and she looked at me in confusion. I got down on my knees and looked up into her amber eyes.

    "Carrie, I love you. I cannot imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?"

    She stood there staring at me. At first, I thought she was trying to find a way to reject me gently, but then she said with tears welling in her eye, "I¡­ We can''t, the lord, he would never-"

    "He told me to," I said with a grin

    "He did!" She said in shock.

    I laughed, remembering exactly what he said. "He told me he didn''t want to sit through rejecting every other man''s petition for your hand, so I needed to do it quickly."

    "But he¡­"

    "He has changed Carrie. He is trying to be better. I shouldn''t say this, and you must promise not to tell a soul, but I found him panicking in the hall after he had to talk to you in the great hall. He was so upset that he had made you afraid of him and treated you poorly. I think-"

    "Yes." She said softly, tears running down her cheeks.

    "What?"

    "Yes, of course, I will marry you. You are the most wonderful man in the world."

    I stood up, wrapped her in my arms, and just held her. She leaned her head on my shoulder and sobbed. I could have sworn the last time I proposed to a girl, she squealed in joy. I did not understand women at all, yet here I was, holding the love of my life in my arms.

 Chapter 13

    I woke up refreshed but stiff. The sun was not yet above the horizon. I pulled the rope, and Chuck, one of the guards, came in. "What''s up, Chuck?" there were a few things wrong with saying this. One, the words in this language didn''t rhyme, what''s up was not a phrase used here, and upchuck did not mean throwing up. Needless to say, the joke fell flat, and Chuck just stared at me.

    "Hey, Chuck, do you mind letting someone know I would like a bath after breakfast?"

    "Of course, my lord." He exited the room, and I changed into something to wear for breakfast. I left the room and nodded to Chuck. I was about to head down the hall when I heard talking behind the door beside mine. "Chuck, who is in there?"

    "Aaron and the nursemaid, my lord. The captain instructed her to stay with him since his mother is gone."

    I slapped my forehead. "I am such a terrible Uncle and boss." I walked over to the door and knocked.

    "Come in," I heard Amy call out in an exasperated tone. I opened the door to find Amy sitting in a chair with Aaron. She had a spoon in her hand, trying to feed him what looked like cream of wheat. He wasn''t interested, and I totally agreed. Seriously, the kid had teeth. Give him some Cheerios.

    When she turned and saw me, she immediately stood. "My lord, I''m sorry. I didn''t know what to do. I came back and found the girl, Emily, with the child. After I fed Aaron, I realized I didn''t know where to put him. When his mother was alive, he slept in here with her. I normally sleep in the great hall with the others, but I couldn''t bring Aaron there; he is a noble. The captain saw me and recommended that I stay here with the child. I was against it, but I couldn''t leave Aaron alone. I promise I didn''t sleep in the bed. I-"

    I interrupted her, rambling by holding up my hand. "Wait, you slept on the floor?"

    "Yes, my lord, I would never presume to¡ª"

    "Are peasants not allowed to sleep in beds or something?"

    "But, my lord, that''s a nobleman''s bed."

    "No, it''s not. The only nobleman around here is me, and I''m not sleeping in it."

    "But it''s your brother''s bed."

    "Well, you can use it until he comes back to use it. I don''t think he is coming back, though, so you are probably good for now."

    Amy covered her mouth in shock. Yes, I know I should be more respectful of the dead, but really, the whole Bicman family was a bunch of jerks. "Look, it isn''t a nobleman''s bed because there is no nobleman to use it. The idea of having you in this room is a good one and really the only thing that makes sense since Aaron''s crib is here." It wasn''t a nice crib. It looked like a mini shipping container made of wood and no top.

    "I can''t sleep on a bed like that."

    The beds were crap, in my opinion. They were just reed-filled cloth sacks. I miss my "Sleep Number" so badly I could almost cry. Also, the bed bugs were a problem because they would keep me up sometimes. The bathing helped, but if we were going to get rid of the problem, everybody in this place would have to bathe regularly. Not necessarily daily, but often. That included the dogs that roamed this place. I wonder how long it would take to eradicate the problem without modern insect killers¡ªhad another place already come up with something? I also thought some people here might have lice. OK, focus, Amos.

    "OK, does Aaron sleep through the night now, or do you feed him?"

    "He needs to be changed, but because he eats a few other things besides milk, he has not needed feeding at night."

    "OK, here is an idea. I think you need to have more time for your family. I want you to find an assistant. It doesn''t have to be Emily, but that way, you could even go back home at night and spend time with your family. Don''t worry, I will still pay you."

    "Pay, my lord?"

    "They didn''t pay you?"

    "It was an honor to serve the family, and I was allowed to sleep and eat at the manor for free."

    Well, that''s a load of crap. I knew my family was a bunch of cheapskates, but seriously. At least she could save the food at home for her family. "Tell you what I am going to do. I will tell Cookie to make two extra loaves of bread a day. After the evening feeding, you can take the loaves of bread back to your family as payment and spend the night with them."

    "Two loaves of bread, my lord?" She said in disbelief.

    "That seems fair for the work you do."

    She fell to her knees, Aaron still in her arms. "Your generosity, my lord, I¡­" Her gratitude overwhelmed her at this point, and she couldn''t speak. I was baffled. The loaves of bread were not large. I felt like I was cheating her, but I really didn''t know the state of our food stores.

    Well, this is awkward. I didn''t really know what to say, "I''m going to go get breakfast now." And with that, I quickly exited the room. I left and went down to the great hall, but I remembered my commitment to exercise right before I entered. So, instead, I headed to the yard. No one was there, so I decided to do Tia Chi. There had been a time after the heart surgery when I couldn''t do much exercise, so I took up online Tai Chi. Hopefully, this would help without killing me.

    I was sweaty by the time I was done, which was a good sign. Now, I was starving. I went into the kitchen and explained the new payment to be given to Amy. Cookie nodded and said, "You seem to be feeling better, my lord. What can I get for you?

    "What..." I was about to say, ''What do I normally have?'' but that would give away more than I wanted to share. "What do you have?"

    "I could get you the cured ham, eggs, a loaf of bread, and wheat mash with a mug of beer."

    Beer in the morning? Yeah, no thanks.

    "I will take two eggs and the wheat mash. I need to lose some weight." Wheat mash was probably like cream of wheat, but I would have to learn to enjoy it." My kingdom for a bowl of Rasin Bran Crunch! "Oh, I have given up drinking alcohol, so don''t bother with the wine or beer. We will save that for guests."

    Cookie''s eyebrows went up in shock.

    "I need to have a clear head if I am going to run the barony."

    She tried to keep her neutral expression, but I could see she was pleased with my decision.

    I sat down to eat and waited. I saw Emily and Amy walking into the room together. Emily was holding Aaron while Amy was talking. I wondered if they had worked something out. They both sat amicably with each other, and I didn''t want to interfere. My only worry was that with Emily''s household activities, paper making, and my teaching her to read and write, she might not be the best of choices. I would let them figure that out, though.

    After breakfast, I went around and greeted some people, wishing them a good morning, then headed to the study, where I hoped to find Marcus. I found him bent over the table, looking at numbers. He heard the door open and stood up straight. "What are you looking at?" I said.

    "This is from Alter, my lord. It is the wood harvesting numbers as well as field numbers," he said in a cold tone.

    I walked over to look while he reviewed them. After he finished, I said, "We need a spreadsheet-style report."

    "What is that?" He asked.

    "Let me show you."

    I grabbed a piece of birch and wrote out a simple spreadsheet. In the first column, I wrote 1, and then in the next column, I wrote 5. The next was blank, and the next was 5. On the next row, I put a 2, then a 6, then a 3, and then an 8. I kept going down until I made five columns. I showed how the first was for the date, the next for trees harvested, the next for trees exported or used, and the next for the total. I left room on each row to make notes like what the wood was used for or where it was exported.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    "If we could get each Headman to send reports in this manner, you could compile it into an easy ledger that prevents errors and is easy to trace if trees, grain, or whatever it is for go missing. It wouldn''t work for things like how many fields we have planted, but it would work for anything where the items come in and out. We can even track our production better if we do it every year. Oh, I almost forgot. I put the first column for the date."

    "I will review this and try to implement it. Though most of your headmen are not very literate and won''t be able to write details."

    "Well, we will have to fix that. Those who are running the towns need to be educated." I shook my head. I was hoping I could get the Headmen''s assistance in educating my people, but it looks like I would have to educate the headmen first.

    "We will also need more parchment."

    "Em is working on that," I said with a grin. I better not use that nickname. If it spreads, she will be furious.

    "Who?"

    "Sorry, that is what I call Emily sometimes in my head. It just slipped out. Anyways, she is working on a project I gave her to make a different type of writing medium. It''s called paper. Maybe we will call it Bicman paper so people know where it came from." I chuckled.

    Marcus didn''t look impressed or amused. In fact, he looked like he was trying not to frown. I thought he would be impressed with Emily doing it. I wonder if he doesn''t like Emily for some reason.

    "Oh, I almost forgot. Could you send out a crier to the different villages letting them know the ban on marriage has been lifted? That should make some people happy, don''t you think?" I gave him a wink, hoping he would smile thinking about his sister. Nothing. Seriously, this guy was a tough nut to crack. I was really trying.

    "Dang it, I almost forgot. Jorb is leaving with his family."

    "What?!" Ah, finally, some emotion. Shock.

    "Well, I messed up a while back, and he has been mad at me ever since, so I gave him the option to leave if he felt like it. He has decided to leave."

    "I see. And when is he leaving?"

    "Whenever he feels he is ready."

    "Should I request the Blacksmith in Melnon come here?"

    "No. If our metal comes from Melnon, we can ship finished products from there until we get a new blacksmith."

    He just nodded.

    "I am off to speak with the blacksmith to see if his family needs anything else," I said, "Let me know if I can do anything for you."

    And with that, I took off to my room to get the silver and then to grab Draves since he would probably have a conniption fit if I went down by myself.

    Draves and I headed down the hill after getting the silver and putting it in a small pouch. He had told Jack to follow after us.

    "May I speak freely, my lord?" Draves asked.

    "Always, Captain. As my mother always said, ''Communication is the key to good relationships.'' Of course, she was talking about girls and marriage, but I am sure it also works for Barons and guards.

    "Why are we doing this? You already offered him so much, and this is as if he is snubbing your generosity."

    "Because it brings me peace. I was a screw-up for most of my teenage years, but then I did something that I couldn''t undo. I..." I shook my head. "It doesn''t matter. Toward the end of my last life, I sought to understand how to obtain peace. This may or may not hurt the barony, but I feel it is the right thing to do for Jorb. I need to repay my debts in order to have peace."

    "People will always try to take what they can and harm you, and if you do not show them you will fight back, you will not have peace." Draves said.

    "That''s not the type of peace I am talking about. Sometimes, people find peace by being willing to lie down and not fight their enemies. Some find peace in defending that which they love. Others find peace in helping others.

    "You can''t have peace by taking what does not belong to you. You can''t find peace in hating others, even those you must oppose. You cannot find peace by putting yourself above others. These things can bring temporary happiness but not lasting peace. So if, at the end of my relationship with Jorb, I have done all I can to mend the relationship, then his choice doesn''t matter. I will be sad about the loss of a potential friend, but it will not destroy my peace."

    "What if he causes trouble or spreads rumors about you elsewhere?"

    "Then he may destroy happiness, but it is up to me whether or not he destroys my peace," I said.

    "I don''t know if I can believe the same as you."

    "I''m not asking you to. When I was laying in a¡­" How do I describe a hospital? Ah, this word makes sense, "An infirmary. I had a visit from a priest. I don''t know about this one, but in my last world, people worshipped many Gods. He pointed me in this direction."

    "I have never read the scrolls of the Endless One, and I have also not spoken with many priests about peace. Is this a teaching of the scrolls?"

    "Not a clue. I''ve never read any of the scrolls of the Endless One. I didn''t even know there were any. The priest I met gave me some advice and told me to find a way to obtain peace within myself. So, I came up with my own belief system because I read about a lot of different gods. I took all the things I read and picked out the things that were consistent between them all. The end result was how I decided to live my life."

    "So you aren''t a follower of the Endless One."

    "For me, reading only one god''s teaching is like putting one nail in a signpost. If there is only one nail, you can twist the sign around. By studying more than one god''s teachings and picking the teachings that are consistent with all of them, the sign became stable for me," I said. "Look, I am not trying to preach. I could be completely wrong. One of the gods could be right about everything, and the others imitate him. Maybe there is no God, and it''s all in my head. Maybe all the gods are working together, and their teachings harmonize better with their followers. I have found the principles that bring me peace, and if I am wrong and there is a better way, I just hope for mercy when I die."

    "You are a good man, Baron Amos. I am glad the Endless One sent you." Draves said solemnly.

    "Maybe he borrowed me from a god of my past world. That would be funny."

    Our conversation ended as we approached the blacksmith''s house. "Why don''t you check to see if he is available? I don''t want to enter his shop if Mathew is there."

    He nodded and left for a minute, returning with Jorb. Jorb was stone-faced. I handed him the thirty silver coins. "As I promised, this is not me kicking you out. Take as long as you need to get your affairs in order. If you need anything before you leave, let me know. I have some other things I would like to give you to help you on your way."

    "Yes, my lord," Jorb said and promptly returned to his shop.

    Draves pursed his lips, and his eyes hardened.

    "Captain," I said firmly.

    "I didn''t say anything," He said in a startled voice.

    "You didn''t have to. He has spent many years building up an intense hatred. The walls don''t always come down easily. Let''s go see if those children over there will talk with us. That should lighten the mood."

    A group of children was playing with a leather ball slightly smaller than a soccer ball. They were playing a game similar to dodgeball and tag. One person had the ball, and the rest had to run away. It was fun to watch them laugh and play. They were so engrossed in their game that they didn''t even notice us.

    "Do you feel it, Captain?"

    "Feel what, my lord?"

    "The joy, these children wear no shoes and threadbare clothes. They may never have tasted food that we take for granted. They will grow up and work tirelessly in a field from sun up to sun down. Yet they experience joy and peace within this moment."

    "Maybe they have not lived long enough."

    "Perhaps. Have you lived long enough that you can no longer have peace?"

    "I have witnessed atrocities; I have done atrocities." He said softly.

    "And what do you witness now? What do you feel now? For me, I feel peace, and I share their joy. Find joy in the moment, Captain."

    Then we stood there watching. Neither of us said a word. Just standing there as the sun rose higher in the sky.

    Marcus

    I silently raged as I sat in the study chair. That jackal was working my Emily to the bone. Cleaning the manor, forcing her to help with the little brat, and now he says he is having her make some ridiculous thing to replace parchment. He even admitted he would steal the invention and give it his name. I must warn her. I would bring her with us when we left. I had to get her away from that lecherous man, thieving man. I already swore to her two years ago that I would marry her. She knows my heart, and she would come with me. I would tell her everything. She is mine.

    The barony is ruined anyway. He kicked out the best smith because Jorb wouldn''t prostrate before him. He probably wanted him out to further cover up what he had done to poor Mathew. It makes me sick. And then he repeals that stupid law and expects me to treat him like some hero. It was his stupid family that put the law in place. Then he winks at me as if I would stoop to asking him for the honor of marrying Emily. How did he even know my intentions?

    "The new bookkeeping method was interesting. I wonder who he stole it from. I knew why he was doing it. He suspected me of stealing. He didn''t have anything to steal yet. If we hadn''t left by harvest time, I would grab some before we left. He was wealthy enough, and I deserved the money for what he did to me. I wonder how long it will take to get a response from Uncle.

 Chapter 14

    "Well, Captain, let''s go see Mikel. I need a recommendation on how to turn the grind wheel into a pulp maker." I said as we left the field with the kids playing in it.

    "This is for your replacement for parchment, my lord?" Draves asked casually

    "Yes," I nodded.

    "Why, my lord."

    "Well, for a few reasons. One is because once it is developed, paper will be easier to produce than parchment and may make us some money. Two, with an easy way to record information, we can spread ideas around and collect new ideas. And the third one is something I came up with a little later: to test the waters."

    "To test the waters?"

    "As I have been discovering more and more about myself and my family, I have realized that we have no allies. Would that be correct?"

    "None that I can think of."

    "The only reason we haven''t been ousted is that it would look bad if the king dumped us after my father saved his father. But we would be out rather quickly if there were a legitimate excuse. I think we were thrust upon the duke, which might have annoyed him since he could have given this land to someone else. Does that make sense?"

    "I believe your estimation is correct."

    "So, without any backers, I guess someone will steal the process, and the king won''t even lift a finger. I''m not sure how this will work out, so I am testing the waters. In the best-case scenario, the duke and king see our success, laud us, and help us secure our position. In the worst case scenario, they come for my head, and I toss them paper-making and the new plow and run for it."

    "So you are willing to give up your inventions just to see how they will react?"

    "It''s not like it wouldn''t be discovered anyway. It may take a thousand years, but hey, it would happen."

    "You have other things in mind, don''t you, my lord?"

    "Yep. So if we lose the right to make paper, we do something else, which brings up a point. Are there patents or ways to protect your inventions from being copied?"

    "There are Writs of Exclusivity. They are given by the king to those who desire to protect their ability to make money from others trying to copy a new trade."

    "How likely are we to be able to obtain one?"

    "I am just a guard captain, my lord. That is as far as my knowledge goes."

    "Don''t sell yourself short. You have been an amazing help," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "Well, that time you had the priest try and exorcise me was weird, but other than that, I couldn''t have gotten along without you."

    I could tell Draves was trying to figure out if I just admonished or praised him, but by then, I had already knocked on Mikel''s workshop. After a few minutes, Mikel stepped out of his shop. He looked depressed.

    "Mikel, it is good to see you today, although you look a little down. Can I assist you with something?"

    He bowed, "My lord, it is nothing you need to concern yourself with."

    I tried to give him one of those penetrating stares. You know, the ones that moms give when trying to ferret out the truth. It didn''t work, and it probably just creeped him out. I looked away and coughed. "Well, let''s see here," I said, trying to get the conversation back on track. "I was wondering if you could come and look at the grindstone at the castle with me and see if you could convert it into something that could grind bark into small pieces."

    This seemed to distract him from his worries. "If you pardon my asking, my lord, what might this be used for?"

    "When the wood is smashed into small enough pieces and then mixed with water, the fibers bind together and can make something similar to parchment, except it is made from plants."

    "This is related to what you are having Emily do at the manor?"

    "Wow, news travels fast," I said in surprise.

    "Amy came back to the village last night and said to her husband, '' You were having Emily make something called paper. '' He started telling others, and it got to me.''

    "Yes, well, she is using mashed-up linen rags. I tried to do it myself, but Marshandra said that I was making a mess of things and it wasn''t proper for me as the lord to do it. Really, I don''t think it''s fair she gets to be the first person to make paper, and all I get to do is run a barony." I said in a fake pout.

    That put a smile on Mikel''s face. "I have time now, but I think we should find Samuel. He may be able to give some insight."

    "Good idea!" I said, "Two heads are better than one."

    "An interesting phrase, my lord," He said.

    ''Plus one point for creating a new phrase.'' I thought. We talked as we walked. I was discussing the plow project as we went. He had most of the pieces cut out, but many hours of filing and shaping were left to go. Since the distance was short, the conversation ended abruptly when Samuel stepped out of his house. "My lord, I wasn''t expecting you so soon. I have some of the wood warped, but it isn''t¡ª"

    I interrupted him. "It is actually a different matter that brings me here. I know the wood will have to be set up, as well as all that stuff. Now that Jorb has decided to leave, it may be on the back burner for a while."

    "I heard that," Samuel said, "I''m sad he is leaving. He is a good man."

    "He is a great man and a good father to his children. A man like him is sorely needed here."

    "But if you agree, why are you letting him go? He cannot leave without your permission."

    I sighed, "Because I value the freedom of choice. It is hard for him to have a baron who has committed a crime against his family rule over him. So he has decided to leave."

    All the men nodded as if what I said made any sense. Did they actually agree, or were they nodding because I was the baron?

    "So if it isn''t the spring, how may I help you, my lord?"

    "I am trying to convert my grindstone into a pulp grinder. Mikel suggested we involve you in it, and maybe we can figure out the best way to make this work."

    "OK, I''m all for trying something new. What is a pulp grinder?"

    So, on the way up the hill, I further explained the papermaking process to them. Instead of going to the shed, we went into the manor house. I took them down the hall to sweet old grandma''s room. I actually had no idea if she was sweet or not. The only images I had of her were of her sitting perfectly still. Emily was there when we entered the room. Her head was bent over the mortar, and she felt the consistency of the linen pulp she made. When she looked up, she gave me a big smile. "Lord Amos, come look at this," She said while standing up.

    "Sir," Samuel said, his face confused as he looked at the furniture pushed against the wall and the various pots of water on the floor. "This is a nobleman''s room?"

    "Yes." I think I was missing something.

    "It''s just that you have a serf making goop in the bedroom of a nobleman."

    "Now that you mention it, it is kind of funny," I said, chuckling, knowing quite well that Samuel did not see the humor in the situation. "So what do you have for me, Em-Emily?" I had to use proper names in front of the guests. It''s a good thing I didn''t say little Em.

    "Feel this."

    I felt a slightly stiff piece of cloth smooth enough to write on. I flipped it over, and it was smooth. "No watermark?"

    "Nope, she said excitedly. I took it out when it was dry enough not to fall apart and then laid it on a board. I borrowed a rolling pin from the kitchen and gently rolled it back and forth.

    "Great work," I said.

    "It still isn''t quite as strong as I would like, but it is the best I have done." She beamed.

    "Do you guys have any questions?"

    "This is fascinating," Samuel said with excitement. "So you want to do this with wood? You might be able to do that with tree bark the same way she is doing this."

    "Great idea. Emily, do you want to try that?" I asked.

    "Sure. If it makes this better, I would be happy to."

    I could tell she was really getting into this. She was starting to think for herself about what else to try. "Do you want to come with us to look at the grinder?"

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    She fidgeted uncomfortably. "I snuck in here while I was supposed to be cleaning. I just wanted to mash up some more really quick before I did my next assignment."

    We all laughed as she blushed.

    "Well, you better get going before your grandma finds you''re ditching your chores. Well, use me as an excuse. I did hold you up."

    "Thank you, my lord," she said as she took off. Leaving the rest of her pulp in a bowl. We all continued to laugh as she left.

    "Well, now that you know what we are trying to make. Let''s go check out the grindstone." I grabbed the latest sheet of paper from the stack and headed to my room for an ink and quill set. I may need to write ideas down. After gathering the supplies, we headed out back. Draves left us to check on his men while the carpenters and I headed to the shed. The shed was dark inside, and we hadn''t brought any candles or lamps. Fortunately, the sunlight filtering through the door was enough to see the grindstone in the back of the shed amongst the other junk. The two men helped me drag it out into the yard.

    "OK, gentleman, let me explain how I think this should look, and let me know if you have any thoughts on how to improve it." I described the pulp grinder picture I had seen on the internet. I don''t remember much about it. It had been a while since I had seen the picture, but I have a good memory of pictures. I just wish I could remember what each part did. In the end, I used the paper I had to draw what I remembered the machine to look like. They asked me a few questions about the machine, which I couldn''t answer very well. Fortunately, the two modified what I had shown them, including a better way to raise and lower the grindstone. Samuel seemed extremely excited about the project, and he decided he would be the one to tear the grinding wheel down and build the pulper. He also said if we used the wood currently there, He could have the project done in a couple of days. They both agreed to bring their wood chips up the hill every few days.

    When we were done, they left, and I went back to the room with the pulping operation. I checked over some of the other pieces of paper. None of them were a solid color, and none were perfect, but seeing what she had done was really cool. We would need more frames. I was proud of how much Emily had done, but was this all worth it? Will it make a difference for the barony? Would the plow? What was I even doing here? I was not some smart historian or scientist. A specialist of some type would be able to advance this civilization. A politician might be able to negotiate their way out of this. A doctor or surgeon could bring medical advancements that could save millions of lives. I was an artist, could play the guitar, and made YouTube videos. Well, I watched a lot of YouTube videos. I knew a dozen ways to make cats act up. I knew a bunch of comedy skits.

    I sat on the side of the bed and put my head in my hands. I knew I was making progress with some people, but I had lost my Blacksmith. On a stupid whim, I had offered him most of the money I had found in the manor. And for what? A hope that someday he might be able to forgive a person who wasn''t even me. That money could be used to buy things for the barony. The fields produced enough last year to replant this year but not for planting much more. Was anything I did going to make a difference?

    I took a deep breath. I sat up and started to time my breathing. Within moments, I was deep within my practiced meditative state. I let go of my worries, sinking even deeper into myself. I found my center and floated within the nothing thoughts came, and I let them drift through me, acknowledging them but not letting them disturb me.

    As was often the case, I had no idea how much time had passed before I emerged, but as consciousness returned to me, I heard a whisper in my mind, "Keep going." It was a voice I had often heard before. I had no idea whether it was mine or some higher being, but the voice resonated with my soul and strengthened me.

    One last exhale, and I was ready to face my weird new reality. I did the first thing that popped into my head. It was time to go hang with Aaron for a bit. I left my room and wandered into Aaron''s room. I peeked my head in and saw that he was sleeping peacefully in his box. It was kind of like a crib, but there were no bars. Also, no toys. The kid needed toys. After the other projects, maybe I could have one of the carpenters make him one of those boxes through which kids drop shapes. Oh, and a rattle. Maybe a bell, too.

    Amy was in the corner of the room on a chair. She was dozing, so I quietly backed out of the room. I needed a hobby for when there was nothing particular going on. I learned from the captain that my father and brother spent a lot of time out hunting, but he didn''t know the old Amos''s habits or hobbies other than drinking. I wish I had a guitar. I decided to head to the study and look through some of the books.

    I entered the room, praying that sour puss wasn''t there. My prayers were answered, but now I had to figure out what all the scrolls were on my own. I found some scrolls on the bottom shelf that seemed to be the king''s edicts. I knew I would need to look through these, but I really didn''t want to do it right now. The best discovery was a family tree starting with my Grandfather. His name was Bartholomew. He had three children: Ashley, Aaron, and Susan. Aaron the First had four children: Aaron, Charles, Amos, and Rebeka. I would have to check, but the two siblings not on the tree may have died early. They weren''t in Amos''s memories. I would have to add Aaron the third to this. Maybe I could have a tapestry made. That would be cool. If I could get the suitable paints, I could paint it.

    I looked at my aunt''s names. Ashley had the name Mancole under hers, and Susan had Mit Trading House of Carok under that. So, my best guess is that Ashley married a nobleman, and Susan married a merchant. I would have to write to them and let them know about the family situation. I hope the damage to our relationship isn''t too severe. I would like to be on good speaking terms with my relatives. I needed a map of the kingdom as well. I was about to start looking for one when I was interrupted by a knock.

    "Come in," I said.

    Carrie opened the door slightly and looked in. She really was a pretty girl. She was not my girl, though, and I had to remember that. I had to talk to her, and this was actually a perfect situation. I had practiced in my mind what I would say to her. Now I just needed not to screw it up.

    "I''m sorry, my lord, for interrupting," She said quietly, "I was looking for my brother."

    "I haven''t seen him, but I would like to speak with you before you go. Please keep the door open for propriety''s sake."

    She froze like she had before. When she was caught in the same room as me. I really caused her some psychological damage.

    I sighed, "Carrie, I''m very sorry for my past behavior. My relationship with my father drove me to drink and act out in awful ways. I was especially cruel and rude to you. You did not deserve to be treated in such a manner. I ask for your forgiveness if it is within your heart to do so."

    There was silence for a long time. I have to admit I became very uncomfortable as she stared at me. Finally, she nodded, and I let out a breath I didn''t realize I was holding.

    "Thank you, Carrie. I give you my word that I will treat you with the utmost respect from now on."

    Trying to make the situation less uncomfortable, I grinned and said. "If not, I give you permission to have Hyrum smack me."

    Her eyes grew wide in shock. Dang, I know better than to joke around. People take what the boss says seriously. I put my hands up. "I''m just kidding. Sorry, I shouldn''t tease you. Thank you for listening."

    "My lord," she blushed, "Thank you for um¡­ Hyrum he¡­"

    I smiled, "He proposed, didn''t he?"

    She nodded.

    "Congratulations. When do you wed?" I said with all the excitement I could.

    "We don''t know. I haven''t told Mother. We¡­ I¡­ I don''t know what she will say."

    "Well, then, I am honored that you shared the good news with me. I think your mother will be fine with it. Hyrum is the best of men."

    She nodded. "I really do need to go find Marcus, my lord," She said, shifting uncomfortably.

    "Thank you, Carrie, for accepting my apology. You have no idea what a burden you have lifted from my shoulders."

    For some reason, my comment seemed to make her even more uncomfortable. I don¡¯t know what triggered the reaction, but I felt she was hiding something.

    I wonder what time it is.

    I was starving all of a sudden. I heard the commotion in the great hall before I entered. Groups of people were already sitting down. Everyone quieted as I entered. It was weird to have this happen when I entered a room. It made me feel as if I had something on my face. I ignored the feeling and smiled as I passed them. I asked a few how their day was as I headed for my lonely table.

    The captain came to the table and sat. "How did things go this afternoon, my lord?" He asked.

    "Well, the carpenters and I think we have a way to make the pulp grinder. This will be really cool to try. Anyways, then I had a moment where I wallowed in self-pity and then did some meditation. Then I went to my office and found where my aunts were located. I will have to write to them. Then, I was interrupted by Carrie, who was looking for Marcus. I finally apologized to her, and now I am here. How were things with your men?"

    "Routine as it should be. My lord, the writing of letters does remind me of something."

    "And that is?"

    "Lord Aaron''s Grandfather of the house of Tine must be made aware of the family''s death."

    "Oh, crap! That is going to be the most difficult letter to write. Now, I will have to tell a father of his daughter''s death."

    "You ascending to take the title of baron might also generate some hostility. The money of Lady Martha''s dowry elevated us to a Barony."

    "You mentioned that my father had elevated our status before. What is the difference between baron and baronet?"

    "A baronet has fewer responsibilities to the duchy as far as taxes and is only required to maintain a personal army of which you have twenty soldiers and no knights. Since your father purchased the barony, with the money received from Martha¡¯s dowry, he was required to raise the number of soldiers to sixty and pay an increase in taxes. He was given five years to do so or would be made a baronet again. This was two years ago."

    "So my father marries my brother off to get enough money to elevate his status with the condition that he could meet the standards of a baron in five years. Did he even have a plan to do so?"

    "I don''t know."

    "I will have to ask Marcus if he can dig up anything. Personally, I think his ambition was greater than his forethought."

    Draves said nothing. Respectful as always.

    Speaking of the steward''s family, Carrie became increasingly nervous the more I apologized to her. It started off okay, but then it became weird. Is there any reason why?¡±

    ¡°I have heard that she started taking placid root a few years back. She keeps more to herself. I think Hyrum will be good for her. He told me this morning that he proposed.¡±

    Placid root? Maybe it helps with anxiety. Did she have a mental disorder? I wouldn''t be surprised if a lot of people in this house had to take it.

    "One thing that should please Aaron''s grandfather is that I am not planning on stealing the barony from my nephew."

    "He may petition the king to provide a different regent within his family line. It would be unusual, but it wouldn''t be unheard of."

    "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. You know the title itself means nothing to me. I feel an obligation to these people, however. I will start writing letters as soon as Emily finds a way to make decent paper."

    "Forgive me, my lord. The responsibility of this project is too great for a young child."

    "Possibly, but I don''t think so. Children have open minds and can be very creative. If she ends up needing help, that is fine. But can you imagine how this might change things for her? A serf creates a new form of writing material. I might be able to elevate her status. Can you imagine if she can go from serf to peasant or even higher because I allowed her to take credit for this?"

    At this point, the food arrived, and I dug in. I ate a dinner of salted pork and a rye cake. It was once again bland, but I could tell they had added some herbs to the cake to make it more flavorful. I thought when Marsh had told me about cake, she meant actual cake, but it was more like a pancake.

    I decided to go on a walk around the manor to let dinner settle. I was not as tired today as yesterday, but my joints still felt slightly inflamed. I wish I had some Motrin. After my brief walk, I retired to my room to sleep. I said a prayer to the Endless One. Back on earth, my prayers were not to any particular god. I knew something was out there, but I wasn''t sure who to talk to. I was 96.73% sure that the Endless One brought me here, which meant he was probably the closest to me right now. My prayers were always more of a one-way conversation. Sometimes, I felt like I would receive some sort of inspiration, Napoleon Hill called it, grabbing thoughts from the ether. But the inspiration usually didn''t lead to any significant change in my life. Sometimes, it was a phone call or painting a picture. I felt like I should take a specific job or YouTube about something. Often, I didn''t see any results, but maybe it made a difference. So, I kept up the habit of prayer and meditation. Somehow, it relaxed me.

    I slept deep that night with no dreams.

 Chapter 15

    I awoke to a loud chittering squawk. I had never heard it before. It had woken me up before my usual time. I wonder if it was like some sort of rooster. Was it the male kayver? I had woken this early yesterday, though. Had it woken me yesterday, I just wasn''t fully awake. Oh well, it was good to be awake and feel well-rested. I also didn''t feel as sore. This was awesome. I wanted to jump out of bed, but I wasn''t quite ready for that. I needed to exercise and didn''t want to put on new clothes for it. I got out of my nightshirt and picked off any bedbugs I could find. I rang the bell and asked them to get a bath ready and then started in on my Tai Chi.

    When I was done with my exercise, the bath was ready. I was really hopeful that bathing would help eliminate the bugs. I would also have to start making my servants take regular baths. Maybe not as much as me, but I really wanted these bugs gone. It probably would help prevent illness.

    When I finished the bath, I dressed and went to breakfast. I was enjoying my eggs and bread when the captain approached me.

    "Samuel just arrived, my lord. He brought some things he worked on yesterday and will pull apart the old grind wheel. He also brought news that Jorb and his family left a little before dusk yesterday."

    "What! Why would they leave so late in the day? Where would they go?"

    "He told Mikel that he would stay with family in Kerisi and then head out early to make it to the Nore by this evening."

    "That idiot. He is carrying thirty silver. What if he gets robbed? Didn''t I tell him to let me know when he was leaving? I was going to provide him with an escort until he could join up with a caravan or something. However, people travel safely."

    "I am not sure the reason."

    "He needs to think of his family. Okay, this is what we will do. I hate to do this to you, but I want you to take five men and a cart. We will load it with supplies for the men and extra food for the family. Go find them and have your men assist them until they are safe."

    "Have you not already done enough?" Draves said, anger leaking into his voice.

    "It isn''t about that, Captain. It is about doing more than is required. Success is found in going the extra mile. I could not rest at night knowing I didn''t do all I could to keep them safe while they were in my barony."

    "As you wish, my lord. I will have the group ready in an hour. I will report back as soon as I have brought my men to him."

    "Thank you, Captain." I said, "I would go with you, but I don''t want my presence to cause distress to him or his family. Now, I have to figure out what to do today. Oh, I think I will travel with you to Kerisi. I could meet with the headman while you travel on with your men. Make sure my carriage is ready as well and-"

    Suddenly, the door burst open, and Emily quickly approached my table. She was grinning from ear to ear and holding something in her hand. Forgetting protocol for a serf, she began speaking without requesting permission. "Lord Amos, look at this!" She said while bounding up to the table. She thrust a piece of paper into my hands. It was not a full sheet, but it was almost smooth. It was stiffer than cloth. There was room for improvement, but this is certainly something I could write notes on. I would need it better if I wanted to send out a formal letter, but overall, it was very impressive. I really wanted to muss her hair.

    "Excellent work, Emily. Let''s go to the workshop, and you can explain your process. Captain, if you will excuse us." We left, and Emily practically flew back to the room. I, however, strolled in a dignified manner to the room. Well, honestly, it was just as fast as my legs could carry me.

    When I arrived, I found her with her hands in a bucket, mixing a heap of pulp. There was no actual water in it, and it looked a little dryer than I had expected. "This is your fault."

    "My fault," I said in surprise.

    "Well, you know how you interrupted me while mixing yesterday. I had to leave because I ran out of time. I left the pulp in the Mortar. When I got back, it was a little dryer than I usually make it, so I broke it up a bit while it was still soft and just pressed it into the frame. There wasn''t enough to fill the whole frame, though.

    "This is great, Em. Get me a few of these sheets, and I''ll try writing some letters on them. Also, we need to start your writing and reading lessons. I want you to ask Marshandra when a good time of day works best for your schedule."

    "She is not going to be happy that she has to do more work by herself," Emily said, looking down.

    "Nonsense, what grandmother wouldn''t want their grandchild to succeed in life? I will have to get her a new helper, though. Once we get the grinder up and running, you will be making a lot of pulp and paper. You won''t have time for cleaning."

    "Really?" She said excitedly.

    "We will be making hundreds of sheets a day. Your paper will be sold all across the kingdom." Then it dawned on me. "Um, Em, what is the name of the Kingdom we are in?" I felt awkward asking, but she had already realized I wasn''t the original Amos. What is one more confirmation that I wasn''t the old Amos?

    She stared at me for just a moment and then burst into a fit of giggles.

    After putting up with her laughter for almost a minute, my face started to turn red. "Stop it. I already feel stupid. No need to rub it in," I grumbled.

    That only made her laugh harder. Finally, she gasped, "You are so smart but don''t even know the kingdom''s name." Then, she immediately broke down in a fit of laughter again.

    "I''m going to leave," I said in a huff.

    "Wait!" she said as she struggled to regain control. It''s Falmoren."

    "And the Dutchy?"

    She snorted, trying to stay in control. "Kimton."

    "Thanks," I said dryly.

    We chatted briefly about how she was doing, and I asked some questions about the kingdom. She really didn''t know much at all. It wasn''t a surprise. Why would a serf at the far end of the kingdom need to know about anything outside of the village? Soon, though, Draves found me, and we headed out for Kerisi.

    Kerisi was about a two-hour trip from Bicman village. It was a nice-sized village and was based entirely on agriculture. Any carpentry, blacksmithing, or stonework came from the other villages. The headman''s house was the only one made of stone. The rest were the more common stick and mud houses. Again, kids ran the streets while the women watched wearily from wherever they were doing their chores. Over the last couple of days, I have seen fewer of those looks from the people of Bicman. I had hoped the news would spread, but that was not the case. That, or news of a new and improved Amos, was hard to swallow.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    After inquiring, we found that the blacksmith had left at first light, giving him a four-hour lead. The captain said he would ride ahead and catch up to them since the cart and the men on foot would be slower. He could stop them and wait for the rest of the party to catch up. He had two of the guards from Kerisi act as my escorts around the village until he returned.

    After he and the soldiers left, my escorts and I met with the headman, who had nervously been waiting for me to finish up.

    "Headman, It is a pleasure to see you this fine day. If I am not mistaken, it even looks like we may get some rain later on. Have the fields been plowed and planted?"

    "All the fields have been plowed, but not all have been planted."

    "Well, tell your farmers I am very pleased with their dedication. It is always good to have such people in the barony."

    The headman''s look was priceless. I don''t know if he had ever received praise from a noble in his life.

    "I know most of our lands did not produce much more last year than the year before. Any thoughts on how to improve them?

    "The insects were bad last year, and the soil could use some extra rest, but we cannot slow down."

    I expressed sympathy over his situation. "I agree. Sometimes, I wish I could stop the taxes for a season. Have you tried rotating to a different crop to cut down on the bugs? I know the bugs that are attracted to wheat and rye are not fond of beans. If you rotate between the two¡ªmaybe rotate three fields instead of two¡ªthen you may be able to reduce the insects."

    The head man considered it: "I don''t believe we have enough beans to cover more than a few acres."

    "Dang, I should have brought some coin, and I could have had the soldiers pick up some beans after they escorted the blacksmith."

    "Excuse me, my lord, but soldiers would probably not be the people I would send to pick out proper beans."

    I laughed, "You''re probably right about that. I do want to get some beans, though. I would welcome your recommendation on who to send when I get them."

    "May I have some time to reflect on the matter?" He said hesitantly.

    "Certainly, why don''t we walk, and you can expound upon the virtues of Kerisi. You can introduce yourself as well because I have forgotten your name."

    "Paul, my lord," He said.

    "Well, Paul, let''s take a walk."

    Jorb

    We had made decent time. We had left in the evening, hoping to escape notice until we were well into the next barony. If the baron were as honest as he was pretending, he would send no one after us. If not, I was hoping to be far enough away that they wouldn''t get to us. I had an itch in my back, and it probably wouldn''t go away until we crossed out of the barony at the Nore River. To truly be safe, I wanted to be past the Vaspar. I had never been to a city before and was nervous. The farthest away I had been was the town of Decmoore. It had been many years ago.

    I could tell the family was tired. All our possessions and Mathew were on a hand cart I was pulling. The road was poor, and it was hard to move the cart. We had to stop frequently and rest. I was afraid I had overestimated how fast we could all travel, and we would have to spend the night huddled under the tarp I had brought. I can only imagine the amount of complaints that would happen tonight. The children had been irritable all day. Janice didn''t complain, but there was a look of despair in her eyes that haunted me. It made me mad. She just didn''t realize what would happen if we stayed. I was pretty sure the baron had lost his mind. He had become entirely unpredictable. Our only chance was to flee.

    Then, I heard a sound that dashed my hopes. From down the road in the direction we had come, I heard the trotting of horse hooves. Looking back, I saw that it was none other than Captain Draves. I knew the boy would send someone, but not the captain. Maybe he could be persuaded to tell the baron that he couldn''t find us. The captain was a good man. Surely, he wouldn''t slaughter us. But then, why come at all? He didn''t need to catch us in order to leave us in peace. I started to get angry.

    "So the monster sent you to get his money back. I should have known it was a sham. Pretending to be generous just to stab us in the back. I can''t believe you are doing this." I yelled at Charles as he rode up to us.

    The first look he gave was surprising, and then a look I don''t think I had ever seen on his face: fury. "You listen here, you ungrateful fool." He said, "I would strike you right here in front of your family if I didn''t know Lord Amous would be disappointed in me doing so. Do you think he would have bothered giving thirty silver if he was planning on taking it back? Five silver would have been enough to be heralded as one of the Endless One''s chosen. Then, even if you lost it or were robbed, he would still have enough to take care of his barony. He gave you more silver than most people in the barony would see in their lifetime, and you just spit on his generosity. He didn''t send me here to take back the silver. He sent me because he had promised you additional supplies for the journey to make it easier for your family. He also feared you would be robbed, so he wanted to provide you with an escort until you were safely in a city."

    "I can''t believe I called such a selfish man a friend. First, the lord offers your son an opportunity that any other peasant child could only dream of. You reject the offer and take a bag of silver instead without even saying thank you. He goes even further and offers to help you get to a safe location, and instead of telling him you are leaving, you sneak off into the night. Rather than telling me to chase you down for your rudeness or just wash his hands of the insult, he sends out his personal guards to ensure you are safe. If I didn''t respect the man so much, I would turn around and tell him I couldn''t find you. But instead, I will do my duty and wait for my soldiers to arrive with a cart full of provisions to help you on your way."

    I sat there stunned. What he said couldn''t be true. That monster didn''t have feelings. He was a devil and a trickster. "No, I can''t believe it. You know what he has done. If he is so different, it is because there is something wrong with him."

    "No, there is something right with him. Marsh even speaks of how much he is like his younger self now that his family is gone. You remember an angry, bitter youth who drank away his problems. That young man is dead. He died with the rest of his family. He has changed; you just don''t want to see it."

    "No, I can''t accept it." My voice came out more as a plea than the angry retort I meant it to be. "Charles, look at my son. Look what he did to my son. Can''t you see he has ruined his life? How can you expect me just to let that go?"

    "You are the one ruining his life. He has been offered an opportunity, and you throw it away because you want to be bitter. I see what Lord Amos meant now. He said that sometimes people become angry because they have nothing to be angry about," Charles said while shaking his head.

    "I¡­" the words I wanted to say stuck in my throat.

    "Charles," Janice said beside me. When had she come up? "Do you think the Lord would still give Mathew an education if we gave the money back?"

    I could tell Charles was still upset when he answered, "I wouldn''t, after the insult you gave him, but knowing the lord as I have come to over the last few days, I almost guarantee it."

    "Janice, we can''t go crawling back. He would just mock us."

    "No, Jorb, Charles is right. You are being an idiot. I can''t believe you convinced me to give up our child''s future to satisfy your pride. You kept telling me, "Watch, you''ll see just what an awful person he is." Well, I have watched, and all I see is a young man trying his best to make amends. He is going far beyond what the Endless One requires. I am taking our children, and you can come back when you finally wake up and realize that the lord has changed."

    I couldn''t believe this. How was I supposed to forgive, Lord Amos? He was a monster. He had to be a monster. If he weren''t a monster, then¡­ then I would not¡­ the anger I was carrying, it would mean nothing. Just a burden I was carrying for no reason. I didn''t want to let it go. What if they were wrong? What if he hadn''t changed? My anger was my shield against¡­ something.

    "Jorb, Lord Amos does not expect you to forgive him. He has already told you that, but you do need to think of your family. Mathew needs this," Charles said.

    I don''t know how long I stood there. I had already decided to stay but was having trouble taking that first step. But then it happened. I turned to Janice and sighed, "Let''s go home."

    She threw her arms around me and cried.

 Chapter 16

    I was standing with Paul next to one of the fields, watching some of the men planting. We were talking amicably about his two grown children. His son was a woodcutter in Alfer, and his daughter had married a farmer, Kerisi. In fact, it was those fields we were looking out at as his son-in-law and two of his Grandchildren worked. He had briefly introduced me to his family, but now they had returned to the fields. I needed candy to hand out to kids. It would be part of my PR campaign. I was actually happy about how things were going. The people in Kerisi looked less wary the more I walked around and greeted them.

    "Hey Paul, do you have any sweet-tasting plants around here?" I asked out of curiosity.

    "We have honeysuckle? The children will soon be sneaking out of town to grab some. Cofi has a small apple orchard."

    "I am looking for a vegetable or stock-like plant."

    "Oh, are you talking about a sweet pootba? The one that looks like a brown carrot. It isn''t very sweet, but some like the taste of the water left behind after boiling it. It has a slightly sweet flavor."

    "Yes, that is it," I said while snapping my fingers. Actually, I had no idea, but I didn''t want to sound stupid.

    "They are a little bland by themselves, so we don''t raise many in our gardens. They are sometimes used to bait rabbit traps."

    Ok, this might work. How do they extract sugar from sugar beets? Did they use the water? Or maybe press the beats into juice? Maybe they added something to it.

    "Paul, I have a project I would like someone in your village to try. I want you to grab a bunch of Pootba and boil it for a while. When the pootba is soft, I want you to squeeze out the juice. Let me know how it tastes. I also want you to save the water you boil the pootba in and continue to boil it down. Let me know if anything remains at the bottom. I am looking to make something sweet. Maybe make a sweet bread or candy."

    "What is candy?"

    Oh, these poor people. If I could make a Snickers bar, they would crown me king. "If we can make it, I will share some with you. It might be a good export good."

    "I will trust in your wisdom," he said. They will probably be ready to harvest in a few months."

    We continued to talk about this year''s harvest as we walked. As we got closer to Paul''s house, we saw Captain Draves and, to my surprise, Jorb standing there. I have to admit I kind of freaked out. I hastened my pace towards them. Before I reached them, I called out in panic, "Jorb, where is your family? Are they alright? Is anyone hurt? Were you robbed? What is going on?"

    "My lord, all is fine." Draves said in a calming voice.

    "My lord Amos, will you accept us back? I want my son to have a future even if I am no longer welcome. Can I return the money, and you will accept him and train him to be a scholar?"

    To say I was shocked would be an understatement. My shock soon turned to excitement, and I couldn''t contain myself. I stepped forward and embraced the man in a hug. Immediately, I realized what I had done and backed up. "Sorry, I uh¡­ Thank you, thank you so much for coming back. I had no idea how we would get everything done without you."

    I looked between the men, my embarrassment probably quite visible on my face. Paul looked shocked, Draves looked like he was trying not to grin, and Jorb¡­ Jorb looked like I might have broken his brain. I can''t imagine a nobleman hugging a peasant like a long-lost friend was a common occurrence. Ok, so it was probably more likely that the sky would turn purple than to see me hugging Jorb.

    After what felt like forever, Jorb spoke, "My lord, this is hard for me. May I speak openly?"

    "Oh, course, Jorb. Honesty is the best policy. Except for when women ask you questions they really don''t want an honest answer to."

    I saw Paul nod solemnly as if I had given sage wisdom.

    I really should stop cracking jokes when I am uncomfortable. Sometimes, one of these commoners will take me seriously.

    "I am having trouble letting go of my hate. For the sake of my son, though, I will try."

    "As I said before, Jorb, I don''t expect forgiveness. In your position, I don''t know if I could even speak with the man who committed such a crime."

    He nodded. "My lord, I gave one of the silvers to my wife''s sister. She is a widow, and we wanted to help her before we left. I will repay the silver."

    "You gave her an entire silver?" I said in surprise, "Jorb, if all men were as generous as you, the world would be a much better place."

    "And the cloud accuses the snow of being white," the captain muttered to Paul. I think he was teasing me, but I was not familiar with the phrase. Paul just smiled.

    Is your family ok? They must be exhausted."

    It was a long trip. Fortunately, they rode in the cart on the way back. They are resting at my sister-in-law''s house now."

    "Good," Then it dawned on me. We have a free cart and men. "Paul, you mentioned that sending some farmers to get beans would be a good idea. Since we already have a cart here, could you spare some farmers to take a few silvers and buy some beans to plant? The men were already planning on traveling out to the city."

    "My son could go. I will help his sons plant the fields."

    "The silver is back with my family, my lord," Jorb said.

    "Excellent. Will four silver be enough?" I said.

    Paul thought for a moment. "Well, at this time of year, the prices are slightly higher, so I think it would be enough for about forty bushels of beans. The wagon could probably carry that much. But I wouldn''t buy more than thirty-five just to be safe. These roads are not the best.

    Note to self: They call it a wagon, not a cart. Why didn''t anyone correct me? Too afraid to probably.

    "How many fields can we plant with that?" I said, exposing my ignorance.

    "Our fields usually take about two bushels per acre," He said patiently.

    "So we will only get twenty acres out of four silver." I sighed.

    "At least it is not wheat. At this time of year, wheat is up to six silver pennies per bushel."

    "Six of these for a bushel!"

    Jorb coughed, probably trying to hide a snicker. Paul was the one to answer, though, "I said silver pennies, not crowns, my lord."

    "Oh, of course. I wasn''t paying attention, sorry. I wish my brother or father were here. They would know all this already. I am trying to play catch-up for all the things I never learned."

    "My lord, Don''t be so hard on yourself. You were not expected to learn the things your brother did."

    "That is no excuse. I had every opportunity to better myself and the people of this barony, but I wasted it. Excuses are tools used by fools to build monuments of nothingness."

    I caught Jorb nodding out of the corner of my eye. "Well, Paul, I will let you take care of the details of that project."

    I think it is time we head back. Jorb, your family is probably exhausted. I could let your family ride in the carriage, and I could ride up top with Jack."

    "My lord, I must protest. It would be improper for a peasant to ride in a nobleman''s carriage." Draves said. He didn''t seem shocked at my suggestion. I must be losing my touch. Or he was getting used to my way of thinking.

    "Nonsense, we are in the middle of nowhere. It''s not like anyone is going to report me to the king. The closest thing to a nobleman other than myself around here is you. So I just won''t let you go to town and gossip about me."

    "My lord, I would not do such a thing."

    "I know that, so it doesn''t matter. Let''s go get all the preparations done." I said cheerfully.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Draves just sighed.

    Paul and I returned to his house, where we went inside and sat on the only two chairs. It was nice that he had chairs. A few serfs'' houses I had seen in the village had only reed mats and no tables.

    When Jorb''s family arrived, they tied the handcart to the back of the carriage. I did not come out of the house until Mathew was in the carriage with the windows covered. It took me some effort to get up next to Jack in the driver''s seat. The afternoon sun was above the trees when we returned to the village. Jorb and his wife brought their children into the house. The two youngest were sleeping. Jorb and his wife returned just as I was getting down from the carriage. My butt really hurt.

    "Thank you, my lord, for accepting us back," his wife said.

    "Thank you for coming back. As I told Jorb, I wasn''t sure what we would do without all of you. And please, may I ask your name."

    "I''m sorry, my lord, this is my wife, Janice." Jorb interrupted.

    "A pleasure to meet you," I said with a smile. "Now I thought of how best to teach Mathew on the way back. Since I scare the boy, I wondered if I could use your daughter as a go-between. I will be teaching Emily at the manor. She is one of the maids, though you probably have already met her. Anyways, if you could spare your daughter for an hour a day, I could teach her along with Emily. If that makes you uncomfortable, know that we will be doing lessons in the great hall so that we will be observed often to maintain a level of propriety."

    Both of them looked surprised. "You would teach both our children?" Janice said.

    "Well, I would teach your daughter, and she would teach Mathew." I shrugged.

    "My lord Amos, for this, we will be forever in your debt. If she is given an education, she might be able to catch the eye of a freeman. She might be able to marry the son of a freeman."

    That got me excited. "Excellent idea. I understand that as a freeman, you would want to marry her to someone of your same status, and if we cannot find her someone who may come here, it leaves her little options but to travel outside."

    "Yes and there is no garenty that we would be able to find her someone sutible to marry in Decmoore which means we would have to travel further south. I will not have her just marry any freeman.

    "I would be happy to send you south with an escort to a city. I think the blacksmith in Melnon could handle the workload you have for a month while you find your daughter someone to marry. There may be places where young people gather. Your daughter would surely catch a young man''s eye."

    "You would do that?"

    "Of course, well, it is a little selfish of me. If she marries well, it will reflect well on the barony. Now, I would love to stay and chat, but if I don''t get something in this stomach of mine, I think I will pass out. Oh, Jorb, can I borrow your hand cart? Since the wagon is gone, we must transport some more of the ore from Melnon. And we cannot use the planting wagons because we need to get the seeds in the ground."

    "Of course, my lord, if my estimates are correct, I can finish the blade in five days. But I believe they have a mule driven cart in Melnon that they use for the mine. If you want them to bring down a larger load than what a hand cart can."

    "I am so glad we needed to use the wagon for this trip. Otherwise, I would have sent the wagon back up to the Melnon blacksmith today, and then we would have just had to bring it back down for you. Also, Samuel is making a machine to grind wood for the paper I am making. He may need some pieces made."

    "Yes, my lord," Jorb said.

    "Jorb, I just want to thank you again for coming back. It really means a lot to me. If there is anything I can do for you, just ask." I turned and left them standing there. A huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Success is found in going the extra mile. Now, I needed to figure out how to get through to Marcus.

    When we got back to the manor, most people had already eaten. Marsh and Emily were at a table talking, and Carrie was with her mother. There were a few others I didn''t know. The captain and I sat at my table, but I longed to have some more company. I wanted to know if Emily had discovered anything else with the papermaking. I wanted to share the news about Jorb and his family and tell them about my trying to make sweet treats. Apple, pie, that was it. I was going to make pie filling.

    I wanted to know if Carrie had told her mother her news, but when I looked up at her, trying to see if anything in her face would give it away, I already found her looking at me. Her face was drained of color, and her expression was one of... fear? That didn''t make sense. I apologized for my behavior and let her marry Hyrum. What else did I have to do? As soon as our eyes met, she stood up and left. What the heck is going on here?

    I was lost in my thoughts until the stew and bread came. I was starving and shoveled it down as if I was afraid someone would steal it. I probably looked ridiculous. I looked up from my food to find Marsh standing there.

    "How was your meal, my lord." She asked politely.

    "Well, if you couldn''t tell by my shoving everything down my throat, it was good, thank you," I said with an unabashed smile.

    Emily stood behind her and giggled. "How''s the paper making, Em?" Marshandra gave an arched eyebrow.

    "Oh, sorry, queen of propriety," I said to Marsh, "I meant Emily."

    Emily brightened, "It''s good. I have been able to make a few more sheets just like the last one."

    "Good, I can''t wait to try it."

    "Oh, and Samuel has the wood grinder mostly put together. We need to finish the tray for the water and wood chips. And he will need a smith to make the¡­ what did he call it? A weight for the grinder."

    "Counterweight," I said," And don''t worry, Jorb decided to come back."

    "What?! Why?" Emily said in surprise.

    "Because he is a good man and wants what is best for his children."

    "What did you offer him," Marsh said.

    "Nothing, I was just trying to help him safely get to the next town. He decided it would be best for his family if they stayed. Either that or Captain Draves convinced him, but our good captain isn''t saying anything. Either way, Jorb decided to stay, and that''s all that matters."

    They quieted at the last statement, so I switched topics. "Marshandra, do you have a time that would work best for Emily to be taught?"

    "Would it be possible to do so after supper?"

    "That works for me. I can get everything else done earlier. Oh, and Jorb''s daughter will be joining us. What''s her name?"

    "Jacklyn''s coming?" Emily said excitedly.

    "Yes, so tomorrow morning, I want you to run down there and tell her. You could go tonight, but they just got back from a very long trip and probably need some rest. I would also invite Mathew up, but with his leg and the fact that I scare him, I will have Jacklyn teach him."

    "That is a good idea, my lord," Marsh said.

    "Thanks, it happens every once in a while," I chuckled.

    "Well, speaking of people who have had a long day. I think I will retire for the evening. Emily, I need you to make as much paper as you can."

    I departed the hall and retired to my room. I sat in my chair and started to meditate. I sank deep within myself and tried to ground myself. I floated in a state of semi-hypnosis. Thoughts of all the things I needed to do kept bombarding my mind. I had learned early on the best way to break focus was to try and force out the thoughts you didn''t want. Instead, I let them pass through me, continuing to direct my thoughts toward the peace of null consciousness.

    Janice

    I sat at our small table, enjoying the bread and cheese left by Lord Amos. I was never so happy to be home. No home we could have built would have made up for replacing this one. Thirty silver in trade for our home and our friends, in trade for the life we have built. It was foolishness. Jorb sat silently brooding, not touching the bread or cheese. Even the small glass of sweet wine in front of him was only stared at.

    Finally, he broke the silence. "Did we do the right thing?" he said almost in a whisper so the children wouldn''t hear.

    I couldn''t help but smile. I knew he was just trying to protect us. "Yes, my love, and I could not be happier."

    "What if he returns to his evil ways?" He said, finally voicing his real concern.

    I laughed, "He cannot return to those ways?"

    "How are you so sure he will not?"

    "He cannot return to those evil ways because he is not Lord Amos Bicman." I laughed at what my husband couldn''t see.

    "His head jerked up, "What do you mean?"

    "Can you not see it? There is no possible way that man is Lord Bicman. The only thing he keeps is the boy''s face. Have you ever seen Amos Bicman smile? Have you ever heard him concern himself with others? What of this plow he is having you build? It is not some fanciful creation of a child. I have seen his precise drawings. Or what about the thing he calls paper? A replacement for parchment. Who thinks of these things? You told me he hugged you," I laughed, "What type of noble hugs a peasant? He is more like a freeman or peasant, disguising himself as a nobleman by how he acts."

    "Maybe the death of his family has driven him mad?"

    "We have seen mad men before. He is not mad. I am telling you that is not Lord Bicman, or rather he is Lord Bicman but not the one we knew."

    "Do you think it is a demonic possession?"

    "A demon handing people a sack full of silver? Demons delight in misery. You see how eager he is to prevent anyone from feeling sorrow or discomfort?"

    "Then what is he?"

    "You may think your own thoughts, but I believe he is of the Endless Realm. He is a Chosen of the Endless One sent to Marth. He knows nothing of our ways, only the goodness of the Endless Realm."

    "I will think about this, but I believe you are right. He cannot be the same person. It is the only thing that makes sense. Should we tell others?"

    "Let them make their own decisions, but if someone asks, I will tell them what I think."

    "Jacklyn, come here," Jorb said. She left little Ryan on the floor with Mathew and came over to the table. "We will send you up to the manor to study your letters with Emily."

    "Why?"

    "Because an educated girl will have better prospects for marriage. You might be able to marry a freeman someday and live in a house with a servant. You will have actual coin to spend on dresses. In some places, Freeman even goes to plays and dances."

    "Who will teach us."

    "It will be the baron himself."

    "You want me to learn from the person who hurt Mathew?" She said in fear.

    "No, the Baron we have now is not the one who hurt Mathew. The old one died, and the Endless one gave us this one. Let me tell you what happened¡­"

 Chapter 17

    I woke up feeling great. I had no bedbug or flea bites this morning, and that was a total plus. I had to find out where they came from. I had to find a way to help everyone to have regular baths. What if I created a bathhouse by the river? Redirect some water into an artificial pool and then a drainage system. That would be a wintertime project. What I needed to do was come up with a to-do list. Come up with ideas of things that would help us. First, I needed to get my morning routine out of the way.

    I got up, did my exercises, took a bath, and then went for breakfast. After breakfast, I went and found Marcus. He was in the study going over yesterday''s reports. "Hey, Marcus, how are things going?"

    "Other than the plague setting us back, we should be fine this year. Few should die over the winter."

    "What is causing the winter deaths?"

    "Illness."

    "Citrus fruit doesn''t grow around here, does it?" I asked

    "Citrus."

    That word didn''t translate. I wanted vitamin C in our diet. What else would help? I wish I knew some herb lore. I would have to talk with the herbalist. I wonder if other stuff would work. You always hear you should drink orange juice, but other things have to have vitamin C in them as well. Would a kayver soup help with sickness like chickens?

    "My lord?" Marcus said, bringing me back to the present.

    "Sorry, Marcus, I got lost in thought. Fruit that is very sour."

    "I have never heard of those?"

    "They are probably too exotic. Maybe we could get them in the capitol, but they would be prohibitively expensive. They are supposed to help with illness. I think the best thing to do is expand our fruit and vegetables. This would make people healthier. We are also adding herbs to our diet. That will probably have to wait until next year. I hate to do it, but we are really in an uphill battle with trying to raise the crops we have. How much grain is needed for each person to survive? We need to find that out. Then, determine how much each acre produces. Then, set a goal to increase yields so we have more time to plant other things. Forgive my ignorance, but how do we preserve vegetables?"

    "I only know of pickling, but the cook may know more."

    "What about the summer illnesses?"

    "Marsh feaver. It is bad air from the marshes."

    More likely the mosquitos, I thought.

    Could we use natural remedies to protect against bugs? In scouts, we just stayed near the fire when it was smoky if we forgot our bug spray. Maybe burning or rubbing herbs on you like sage, thyme, or¡­ Basil. I have no idea. We would have to increase the production of herbs if we wanted to run experiments. We would also have to find a way to drain the swamps. We just didn''t have the manpower. I might be able to buy serfs or grab poor people from cities or something, but where to get the food to support them? Everything came back to that. My projects could not be completed without people, and I couldn''t increase the population without food. If I could increase the amount of food, where would I get the people? Babies just take too long to grow.

    So, make a trade that is good for buying food. Hopefully, the paper will do that. Let''s face it, though: Someone will try to steal the idea. There would be more profit producing it in a city. The other option is to increase field production. Hopefully, we can make some money off the paper while finding a way to increase crop yield.

    "Dang, I''m sorry, Marcus. I don''t mean to space out. There is just so much to try and get done. Is there anything I should be aware of?" I said apologetically.

    "No, my lord," He responded in his stiff manner.

    "Very good. Have a pleasant day, and thank you for all you do."

    He nodded, and I departed. Trying not to think about how uncomfortable conversations were with that boy. Maybe I will try and get my lesson prepared for tonight. I would need to write out the alphabet and have them practice writing each letter while memorizing the sounds for each. I wish I had a song like the ABCs, but the tune didn''t match the letters here. There were thirty-seven letters in the new alphabet. There were also syntax differences. But fortunately, I didn''t have to teach syntax unless I wanted to teach them English.

    I went to the room where the paper was being made. Samuel was there attaching the lever for the counterweight. He also had a bin full of wood chips and shavings next to the machine. He didn''t notice me come in, and I didn''t want to disturb him until he was done. He swore as he tried to position it on his own and had to set it down to readjust. I realized this was a two-man job, so I decided to jump in.

    "Let me help," I said.

    Surprised, He looked up, "Do not trouble yourself, my lord." He said.

    "Nonsense, Anyone can see this is a two-person job. I will hold it, and you put the pin in."

    Between the two of us, we were able to put it all together. "So, is it done?"

    "We still need Jorb''s counterweight, but we should have that by this evening or tomorrow. When I came by this morning, he was working on part of that new plow blade and said not to bug him until the afternoon."

    I chuckled, "Well, make sure to grab Emily before you test this. She will be disappointed if you do it without her."

    "I will, my lord," he nodded.

    "Well, I am going to grab some of this paper and start preparing my lessons."

    "Lessons, my lord?"

    "Yes, I am teaching Emily and Jacklyn to read and write. Then, we will work on math, which reminds me. I have something I want you to make for me. Just a moment." I went to my room and grabbed a quill and ink set. I really needed to get those dip pens made.

    When I returned, I drew out an abacus. Grandma Benson was my Grandmother on my mom''s side and married my Grandfather when he was on a Peace Corps mission to Japan. She had grown up using the abacus for math and taught me how to use one. She even had a vintage Lee Abacus that she let me bring to school in the fifth grade for show and tell. OK, actually, she came with me so nothing would happen to it and wowed my class by how fast she could do math problems with it.

    "What does this do? It looks like one of those number counters."

    "It is an advanced number counter. I am going to call it a Benson Abacus."

    "That is an odd name. Why not a Bicman number counter?"

    "Because I like the other name," I said as if that made any sense.

    Samuel just shrugged. "It may take a while. This is fine work."

    "No worries. There is no rush. I know I have taken you away from other things."

    "It has been my pleasure, Lord. This contraption that can make paper is fascinating. When I finish it, you will have to show me how the number counter works."

    "I would love to. Thanks for all you do, Samuel. I am off to try and prepare a lesson."

    "Forgive my ignorance, Lord Bicman; I know your wisdom is greater than mine, but why teach these things to those who may never use them? We are quite far away from a city."

    "See, that is where you are wrong. I intend for this barony to become the greatest center of learning in all of Falmoren. If you did not have basic knowledge about wood, how could you learn to build this contraption? Ideas and advancements are based on what we know. The more people know in the barony, the more discoveries we make that will improve our lives. Without writing, we cannot share our ideas effectively."

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    "It is all beyond me, but I will trust your wisdom."

    And with that, I took the paper and left for my room. Setting everything down, I thought about how best to teach. Could I make flashcards for sounds and letters? That would be good, but not until we had enough paper. It would also be nice to have a printing press to make multiple copies of the cards; for right now, though, I would write out two copies of the alphabet, and we would practice that until they had all the letters down. Wish I actually knew a lick about teaching.

    Very carefully, I drew out each letter. Trying to make it look almost artistic. I would not have any student of mine go out in the world and be mocked for their illegible writing. I drew some simple sight words and pictures when I finished the two copies. They were all on the same page, but that was OK for now. It was noon when I was finished, and I had to figure out what to do next. I heard a rapid, frantic knock on the door. Rather than say come in, I leaped to my feet and quickly went to the door. Emily was there panting.

    "What is it?" I said anxiously.

    "Do you want to try out the pulper?"

    "Em, your pounding almost gave me a heart attack. I thought this whole place was burning down," I said with a smile.

    She put her head down as if embarrassed, "Sorry."

    I rubbed her head. "Let''s go, Em. This will be fun."

    "Don''t do that!" She groaned.

    I ignored her and moved right past her. Heading down the hall to the room with the "pulper," as she called it, was sitting. "Um¡­ Em, there is still no counterweight.

    "Well, Samuel said it would work if I had something heavy enough, so I figured you could hold it," she said casually, as if she didn''t realize how insulting that was.

    "Em, are you calling me fat?" I said with an offended tone.

    "You weigh a lot," She still didn''t get it. Either that or she was just pretending she didn''t insult me.

    I sighed. "So you want me to try and hold it steady while you spin the wheel."

    She nodded excitedly. So, I pushed down until I reached the first mark for the grinding. Then Emily dumped some wood chips in. Next, she added enough water to cover the wood. She started to turn the wheel, and I lowered it down to position. It hit the water first and caused a small spray to come up, but Emily kept turning it faster and faster. Then, I felt the smooth rotation of the wheel turn rough as we hit the first layer of wood. Emily tried to turn it even quicker, but the resistance kept her at the same speed. I was tired from holding this at just the right level, but Emily was worse off. Every time the resistance slowed, I lowered the wheel. Finally, it started to be soft enough that it was beginning to clump to the side. I lifted the wheel, and Emily opened the side shoot to scrape out the pulp. It looked pretty good to me, but Emily started to pick out small pieces that hadn''t been pulped.

    "So what do you think?"

    "It''s amazing! That was like five mortars worth of linen pulp. And it took no time at all." She exclaimed.

    "Not perfect," I said as she continued to pick out bits.

    "This will take no time at all," she said, waving away my complaint. I will just put these bits back in with the next batch."

    After she was done, she pressed it into the frame. "Do you want to make some more?" she asked.

    "My arms are tired," I complained.

    "So are mine. Come on, just one more batch."

    "You don''t have a frame to put it in." I countered.

    "The next one, I am going to let soak in water for a while," She responded

    I groaned.

    "Come on, Amo- Lord Amos," She pleaded.

    "Fine, one more. But just because you almost called me Amos."

    That made her blush.

    After the next batch, which we ended up doing twice, we paused to add a little more water and scrape the sides."

    This came out a little better. Emily decided to let it dry rather than soak it.

    "You''re going to need a partner and more frames. We will have to hire someone from the village. You can ask Jacklyn if her mother doesn''t need her right away after school is out. I''ll pay her a loaf of bread."

    "I am also going to need more wood."

    "Noted. Alright, I am going to get back to figuring out what to do with my life."

    Emily and I left at the same time, and she went back to her duties as a maid and me to tour the castle.

    I walked around to the side of the Manor where the garden was. This was in a separate area but not far away from the fields. I found Marcus''s mother, Patricia, on her hands and knees with two other servants. I didn''t have anything better to do, so I got down and started digging up the weeds'' roots. It was funny how long it took for servants to notice me. when one of them did, she gasped, "My lord, what are you doing?" This made the other two look.

    "Well, I thought I was weeding, but evidently, I was doing such a poor job you couldn''t even tell," I said with an exaggerated sigh of disappointment.

    "My lord, you will get yourself dirty," The other unnamed one said.

    "I fear it is too late for that. All I can do now is press forward." I said with a smile as I rose to a kneeling position. Who would have thought that pulling weeds was hard? "So Patricia, how are your children?"

    She beamed, "Carrie has become engaged to Hyrum the guard. Of course, you already know that. She told me that you said she must tell me."

    "I did not!" I said in surprise, "I think she was nervous about telling you, so I said that I was sure you would be fine with the match."

    Patricia gave a smile. "Many would take that as a command, my lord."

    That is just ridiculous. I mean, what if I got frustrated and told someone to jump off a cliff?

    I didn''t voice my opinion out loud, though. I started to weed the garden again, and the women remained silent. When I could do it no more, I got up. "My dear ladies, your skill and endurance far exceed my own. Thank you for allowing me to join you this afternoon. Have a pleasant rest of your day."

    I brushed off my knees and then my hands and retreated into the house. As I was walking, I realized that I had been neglecting my responsibilities as an Uncle. I took off towards his chambers and found him in the room with Amy. He was crawling rather than toddling.

    "Hey buddy, how''s your day?"

    Immediately, he changed trajectory and crawled toward me. I scooped him up and spun him around. He was initially surprised by it, but as soon as I stopped, he started to babble at me. I got a gasp from Amy when I tossed Aaron into the air, but as soon as I caught him, he smiled and laughed. So I kept it up until he got tired of the game. Next, we played peek-a-boo, and then I became a tickle monster. Pretty soon, I could tell he was running out of steam when things stopped being funny.

    I turned to Amy and said, "I think I wore him out." Amy gave me a genuine smile.

    "Those were some interesting games you were playing. I will have to remember them."

    "Well, I enjoyed my time, but I need something to eat," I said.

    Amy came over and picked up Aaron. He started to cry as soon as I left the room.

    Well, at least I have one friend in the world, I thought as I headed to the great hall. Venson and a root plant I didn''t recognize were on the menu today. It was a little bitter, but it was a nice change of pace. The captain was absent, so I sat alone, which was a little disappointing.

    When I was through, I noticed that Jacklyn had arrived and was speaking with Emily. I walked over to the table and said hello to the girls. I told them I would be right back with the letters and paper I had snatched. I also made a trip to the study to get some extra sheets of parchment and some extra quills.

    When I returned, I found that Emily had brought some additional paper. No, it was wood paper.

    "Is that it, Emily?" I said with excitement.

    "Yes," She said with equal enthusiasm. "It''s not great yet, but we will be able to make a lot of it. So I can run different experiments."

    "Excellent!"

    "My lord, Emily has said I can help if it is OK with my mother," Jacklyn said shily.

    "That is an excellent idea, Jacklyn. If you can help Emily sometimes, I will have Cookie make you two loaves of bread to bring home to your family as payment.

    "Thank you, my lord," She said excitedly.

    "Now, no more lazing about. It is time to learn your letters." For the next hour, I taught them the first half of the alphabet. Jacklyn was a faster study, but by the end of the hour, they had both mastered it.

    "Alright, that''s all for today. Jackie, you go home and teach your brother. Take the sheet with you. Em, you go help your grandma."

    Jacklyn looked shocked, "Are you alright?" I said.

    Emily giggled, "You called her Jackie."

    "Oh, oops. Sorry." I said.

    Emily turned to Jacklyn, "He isn''t really sorry. He will pretend to be, but he will just do it again later."

    I huffed, "Em, stop spreading vicious rumors about your baron."

    "See, he can''t stop calling me Em even though he told me he would stop." She said, ignoring my reproach.

    "Alright, get out of here, munchkin," I said and ruffled her hair.

    "Lord Amos," She groaned. "You promised."

    "That''s what you get, you little snitch," I said as I walked away. I caught Jacklyn''s look of disbelief and knew she would tell everyone she could about this. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. I think I will do some exercises before bed. I feel good.

 Chapter 18

    I was just finishing a bowl of wheat porridge for breakfast when Emily came bounding up. "Can we make more pulp now? I came up with some ideas last night and almost couldn''t sleep."

    I''ve created a monster, I thought to myself. "Fine," I said with a dramatic sigh. I knew that others in the room were giving sideways glances. My relationship with Emily was that of two siblings, even though we had both promised to be more formal. I couldn''t help it. I needed this relationship, or I would probably go mad. I just needed someone I could treat as family.

    After dad left we all had to lean on each other and no matter how messed up I got I could always count on them. It made family kind of a big thing for me. I had Aaron, but he was not a good conversationalist.

    We headed to the Papermaking room and ended up making four sheets of paper. One of her ideas actually got rid of some of the grittiness, and the color was more of a uniform tan. Since we didn''t have enough frames for all of them, we flattened them out on the table to dry, and Emily would flip them. Hopefully, that would work until we got more frames. I would have to get some frames of different sizes.

    After that, my arms were sore because I had already been working out this morning. I felt like I was getting healthier, but I didn''t look any different. The polished bronze mirror I had wasn''t the best at giving reflection. Glass wasn''t a thing here. Did they even have glass in the capital? I shook my head. Focus. I had seen glass blown at the renaissance fair and their explanation, but that didn''t mean I would be able to figure out how to make it. The kiln would have to be at the right temperature. Or how much to heat the sand. All I knew was white sand was the best for it. I think it was silica, and I would have to find the sand and then find someone to figure out how to build a kiln. Then run a bunch of experiments which could take years.

    So no point in trying to make glass mirrors. I know they used mercury at one point, and all the mirror makers were dying, like the mad hatters that used mercury to make felt hats. I don¡¯t know what they used to replace it. I just thought it was interesting that everybody was going crazy making glass mirrors. So I needed something different.

    I needed a team of chemists. I knew how to balance a chemical equation, sort of. But I didn''t remember all the different elements in the periodic table. Did they have different ones here? How would that even be possible? Long-term goal. Get a team of chemists. I didn''t have to do everything myself. I just needed people I could point in the right direction.

    Speaking of pointing in the right direction, I needed to check to see if Jorb had a counterweight. I was tired of holding that blasted lever. OK, I was lazy. Or efficentcy focused. Yeah, that is what I will call it. I was from the 21st century. What do you expect? So I went to find the captain so I could go down to see Jorb. I found him practicing with the men, and when I explained what I wanted, Hyrum jumped into the conversation. "I will take him." Maybe he wanted to discuss his upcoming nuptial.

    I was right. As we walked, he remained silent, but I could tell something was on his mind. "Spill it, Hyrum. I know something is on your mind."

    He took a breath and said, "My lord, I was wondering if it might be possible to rent one of the unused peasant''s houses. Carrie has accepted my marriage proposal, and we will need a home. Normally, I would ask for some land to build on, but I thought since the plague took some and you have extra¡­"

    He left the sentence hanging. Of course, I took almost a whole minute to answer, not because I was actually thinking of denying him but more just to tease him. Finally, I said, "Well, that solves one problem."

    "My lord?"

    "Well, I was wracking my brain about what to give you as a wedding gift, and I had no idea what to do. This solves the problem."

    He stopped. The look on his face was priceless. "My lord, I am a peasant, not a serf. We must rent the homes if we are not living in the barracks. You must deduct it from my pay. It is the law."

    "And who checks to see if the payment is being made?"

    "The steward keeps the records."

    "And who does he report to?"

    "You."

    "And so what''s the problem?"

    "But it is money you use to pay taxes to the duchy."

    "Does it ever get audited?"

    "The count may send an auditor."

    "I see. That, I guess, would be a problem. I will just have to work around that. I will talk with Marcus. We can find a way. But the answer is yes. You may pick out a house and let me know. I will have Marcus write out a contract."

    "Thank you, my lord."

    "Well, if I can''t make this work, I will have to figure out something else for a present. We also need to have a wedding party."

    "My lord, feasts and parties are for nobles. Freemen sometimes have gatherings in the cities, but serfs and peasants do not have public parties."

    "Is that a law?"

    "I don''t know."

    "Look, an auditor may care if I am giving away property, but who is going to care out here if I decide to throw a party? Sorry, my friend. I am putting my foot down on this one. You two are having a party in the great hall for those you wish to invite. I am even going to slaughter a pig," I said excitedly. "Life must be celebrated."

    "I don''t know what to say, my lord," He said. He sounded as if he was choking up a bit.

    "Come on, Hyrum. It''s just a party. Let''s get going, or I''m going to start getting embarrassed."

    We walked silently down to the blacksmith''s shop. I sent in Hyrum first to make sure Mathew wasn''t in there. It was about ten minutes before Hyrum came back out. "Sorry, my lord. He was in the middle of something. And then he had to take Mathew out the back. No worries. A couple of minutes later, Jorb came out.

    "How may I help you, my lord," He said politely.

    "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Did Jacklyn enjoy her lesson?" For the first time, I saw a slight smile on his face.

    "She said she enjoyed it very much. She was showing off to us last night about the letters she knew."

    "Well, she was a pleasure to teach; she picked things up quickly. I think Emily may have been a little miffed that she didn''t have everything memorized as quickly as Jacklyn. Don''t tell Emily I said that, or I will never hear the end of it." I said conspiratorially.

    That made him smile. I don''t think a parent likes anything better than to be told their child is exceptional. "My lips are sealed, my lord."

    "Also, thank you for allowing Jacklyn to help Emily with the papermaking."

    "Between the two of them, I believe the barony will become quite prosperous," I said.

    "You really think it will make that much of an impact?"

    "Think about it: for parchment, you have to kill an animal, skin it, soak it, stretch it, scrap it, dry it. For paper, you chop down the tree, cut it up, pulp it, and dry it. You can make a lot of paper quickly. Also, we are just using Mikel and Samuel''s scraps right now. We can make it cheaper so the cost will be less even though we have to send it from here to the cities. Once people start using it in a few years, it may replace parchment, and those two may become the wealthiest people in the barony."

    "They? Why would they become wealthy?"

    If she and Emily each received a tenth of the profit, she could be earning silver crowns in a few years.

    "You would give the girls a 10th each?" The blacksmith said, shocked.

    "Of course, why wouldn''t they get paid as craftsmen just like you?" I said as if it were the most obvious conclusion in the world.

    Jorb looked like someone had struck him with a hammer.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    "As soon as you make the counterweight and more wire for frames, I am sure they will be able to figure out the perfect way to make it. They are both smart girls."

    "Oh yes, the counterweight. I have it, but it is quite heavy to carry around. I can run it up later on. After I get this part of the blade done, I will make as much wire as I can."

    Nah, that''s OK; that''s what I have Hyrum for."

    Hyrum looked at me sideways but said nothing. "Don''t worry, Hyrum. I won''t make you lug it around the village. We will come back for it when we return. Let''s go see Mikel."

    Knocking on the door of Mikel''s house brought an immediate response. He hurried over when he saw me. "Thank you, my lord, for convincing Jorb to stay."

    "That had nothing to do with me. He decided to leave and came back on his own. It was his desire to do what was best for his family that brought him back."

    "But you made it the best option for his family."

    "You''re giving me too much credit for a man who made his own choice."

    "My lord, please forgive me for disagreeing on this matter," he said, trying to ensure I was the winner of the argument. And that wouldn''t do.

    "Mikel, I am not going to be upset at you for disagreeing with me. We cannot learn without challenging what we believe. I am perfectly happy to have you disagree with me as long as it doesn''t cause the barony to suffer. I certainly don''t see how our opinion on this matter affects anything in such a way."

    "Now, how is the plow coming?"

    "I have done all I can without the blade. When I get that, I can shape things to fit."

    "Excellent. Can you also make more frames for the paper? One of them should be about half the size. Ten should do." I said thoughtfully.

    "That will not take long." He said, "I will squeeze it in between my other work and should have them done in a few days."

    "Perfect, I look forward to it. Is there anything I can do for you?"

    "My lord, your generosity exceeds the grandest of priests. There is nothing I need."

    "Thank you for the compliment, but don''t let any priests here you say that."

    I spent some time visiting with those around the village, trying to learn about their lives. Once again, the children were more open to me than the adults, but I knew that there would always be a separation because of my station in life. Maybe as the kids grew up, I would have more friends. It was time to go back to the manor.

    After we returned, we went to the papermaking room and hooked up the counterweight. I tried it out with Hyrum, and it worked great. I had no doubt that the two girls could make the paper on their own. Mine did not turn out as good, so I just dumped it in a bucket. I would let Emily fix it.

    After I left the paper room, I went to the study." I found a map of the kingdom. It wasn''t very detailed and I am guessing the surveyors didn''t spend a lot of time past my swamps because the northern edge just said "Marsh". I knew the sea was beyond that, but it was not on the map. East of me were the Melnon and the mountains. South were my other three villages. I could tell that the lines of our barony had been drawn in after the original was made. I couldn''t judge whether the map was accurate or not, seeing how I had never been outside the barony.

    It looks like Baron Decmoore was the closest to me. He actually had a town rather than a village, and that was most likely the furthest north any trade caravans went. It is also where I was initially planning on dropping off Jorb and where I hoped my people would be able to find beans. If the map were to scale, which I doubted, it looked like Decmoore wasn''t too far away.  I think my territory extended to the Nore River, as I didn''t see any villages between the river and Kerisi. From what I was told, the Nore was a day and a half to two days. That would put Decmoore about four days according to the map. Again, I didn''t trust this map.

    The County we were located in was Vaspar, and Vaspar was also the name of the city by the sea. The duchy was Kimton, and Kimton was a city south of Vaspar.  I wonder if it was always that way. That would get really confusing if the names of places changed every time someone took over. Or maybe the family name changed to match the city.

    To the west of me was the abandoned town of Barim and, further on, the coast. There was no suitable place for ships to dock along my coastal area, as it was all sheer cliffs that dropped into the ocean. There was no surfing in that direction. Maybe past the marshes, I would find a spot to surf and a place for a port. Also, I think they evaporated seawater to make salt somehow. It was another thing to try. I would have to see if they are already doing that somewhere else so I could steal the method if I had a beach north of me. Technically, the land wasn''t mine, but I didn''t think the king would mind as long as I could supply him with goods.

    I pulled out one of the edicts and found the name His Royal Majesty King Lenord Asput IV. Poor guy, that''s an unfortunate name, at least in my opinion. Marsh interrupted me when it was time for dinner and walked with me to the great hall. Fortunately, the captain was there. We had a nice conversation, and when dinner was over, I sat down with the girls for their next lesson. We were going over the second half of the alphabet when I noticed Carrie was cleaning tables near us. She seemed to be listening intently while trying to do her work. I would have thought that since her father and brother could read and write, she would be able to do so as well.

    "Carrie, would you like to join us, or has your father already taught you this?"

    She seemed hesitant to answer. "I know my letters from listening to Father teach Marcus."

    "That is wonderful," I said, smiling, "Did he teach you to read?"

    "I¡­ I know a few words, but Father said I didn''t need to know how to read."

    "I''m sure he thought he was doing what is right. Why don''t you join us for lessons once we are past the alphabet."

    "I... I don''t think I can, my lord. I-"

    "If you''re worried about having all your responsibilities done, we can set up a second lesson then."

    "May I come, my lord?" said a high-pitched boy''s voice from behind me. It was one of Cookie''s assistants.

    "Everyone is welcome to come." we can meet after Cookie is done with you.

    "I will have to get more paper, but fortunately, I have connections with some very good paper makers," I said with a smile. "By the way, girls. Did you know the counterweight was delivered today?"

    Both girls looked excited. Emily got up as if about to go check out the machine.

    "Slow down, young lady. You have lessons to complete."

    "But-"

    "No, you can play with your pulper later. You must finish your alphabet." I said sternly. Emily pouted but said nothing.

    "The sooner you memorize the alphabet, the sooner you can go." With that one statement, I had her full attention back. Carrie and the boy went back to their duties. It was not long before Emily and Jacklyn could remember most of the alphabet, and after an hour and a half, they had it now; if they remember it all the way until tomorrow, it is another question.

    "OK, girls, you have done an excellent job. Go have fun with the pulp. I am going to go see if Aaron wants to play."

    Marcus

    When Carrie came back from her duties, it was later than usual. She seemed to be beaming with excitement. She shouldn''t have been happy. We were living in the house of a villain. She had to try to be less conspicuous if she wanted to escape his notice. Her smile was beautiful, and it would attract his attention.

    "Why are you late?" I asked, not even bothering to hide my annoyance.

    The smile immediately left her face. It didn''t matter. She needed to understand she had no reason to be happy here.

    "I was watching Emily and Jacklyn make paper." She said softly.

    "Now he is forcing you to help with his foolish idea?" I hissed.

    "But it-"

    "The man is stupid. Nothing he comes up with will work. He thinks he can replace strong parchment with cloth and trees." I scoffed. "You need to keep your head down. Find excuses when he tells you to help. Do you want him to take an interest in you? He could come and get you in the night, and no one could do anything about it."

    She mumbled something too soft for me to hear.

    "Speak up when you are talking to me."

    "I said he wouldn''t do that," she said in barely a whisper.

    "Are you mad? Of course, you are. Have you forgotten what he has done? I am trying to make sure you are safe until we can flee, and you are making yourself an easy target."

    "I''m not going. I''m marrying Hyrum," she said in a rush.

    "What?" I shouted, then remembered that the monster was making friends with people. He probably had spies now listening for dissension in the house. I lowered my voice. "You cannot marry that fool sycophant of the baron. This must be why he became friends with the baron. So the baron would let him marry you. Well, you''re going to have to break it off because we are leaving."

    "No, she is not Marcus," My mother said quietly from the doorway. She must have heard my shout. "This is a good match. She will be happy with Hyrum."

    I sneered at both of the foolish women in my life. "And what if he finds out that our family took part in the murder of the Bicman house? Do you think that your precious Hyrum or the monster will let you live? All it takes is gossip from the Kimton court to reach the ear of the baron, and he will start to investigate. No one is going to protect us now that we failed to kill the new baron."

    "It was your father''s doing. We can just say we weren''t involved." Mother said.

    "But we were involved. We are the murderer''s family. I can''t believe Father died of the plague, and the baron escaped poisoning. The one person who should have died more than any of them."

    "I won''t leave Hyrum." My foolish sister said.

    "Then you will die here."

    "Maybe if we tell him of the plot, he will be lenient." My mother said.

    "Are you mad? He is not a merciful man. He manipulates and uses people as long as they are useful." I can''t believe how quickly these foolish women had been taken in by him. They had lost their senses, and I wanted to smack them both. They would be better off dead than in the same house as this demon. I needed to be as firm as Father if I was to be respected. "We are leaving. And I will have no further discussion on this matter. I am protecting you!"

    Carrie started to shutter.

    "Get her some placid root, mother, or she is going to have a fit again." With that, I left the room. I couldn''t bear to look at them anymore.

 Chapter 19

    A rapid knock at my door awoke me. I don''t think I had been asleep for long, but waking during a sleep cycle was unpleasant. Well, it must have been important if I had been woken up. I took a moment to clear my head before calling out for whoever it was to enter. I sat up in a more dignified position.

    Chuck came into the room, followed by Emily. "Sorry, my lord. She said you would find this important," Chuck said apologetically. I waved away his concern.

    "What is it, Emily," I said sleepily.

    "You have to look at this!" she said, rushing towards the bed. She shoved her paper tray in my face. The paper on the tray was still uneven, as many of our attempts had been, but this time, it was thin, almost resembling actual paper.

    Suddenly, I was awake. "How did you do it?"

    "Well, we made one batch like the last one thin, but still thicker than parchment and probably won''t bend when it dries. Then we kind of got carried away grinding and wanted to see how thin we could make it, so we kept grinding and adding water until it looked like a light brown broth. We were just going to throw it out, thinking it wouldn''t hold together like the goop we usually use. We thought it would make a mess with how watery it was, but then we decided to pour it in over a bucket. We had to get a mug from the kitchen to scoop it up. When we dumped it in, all the water immediately went through the cloth, leaving this. I don''t know how we can spread it evenly since it seeps right through. I don''t think we can roll this flat."

    I thought for a moment, and then I snapped my fingers. "What if we strapped a board to the bottom and then filled it? That would keep everything soaking in the solution evenly until you removed the board. Just get a pan big enough to set it all in so you can lift it straight out of the pan without making a mess."

    She sat there for a moment, probably trying to visualize it. Suddenly, she grabbed the tray back from me. "I am going to go try it."

    I looked out the window, and we still had a little light left. It was frustrating that my body got so tired towards evening, or I would be up helping her. "Don''t you have chores to do?"

    "Grandma won''t mind. I am helping you."

    "No, you are not going to leave your grandma to do all the work while you play with the paper. No matter how important I feel it is. Until we can get your grandma another helper, you still have your duties to attend to. You can try it after your morning chores."

    She looked crestfallen but knew when not to argue. After she left, I sat back. We had been doing this all wrong. I thought pulp would be thicker and just spread out thinner. Really, it was the opposite. It was so cool to be part of making history. I wanted just as badly to go into that room and experiment. No, scratch that, I don''t think I could match that girl''s excitement. Let''s see if I can help her out, though. I rang my bell, and Chuck came in.

    "Yes, my lord?"

    "You saw how big that frame was, right?"

    He nodded.

    "Great, I want you to find someone to watch your post and see if you can find a board around here that can sit underneath it."

    "Yes, my lord," He said with a smirk.

    "OK, what''s so funny?" I said with a mock glare.

    "If it isn''t too bold of me to say, sir, you dote on that girl like a father," He said, still not hiding his grin.

    I looked at him, a little shocked. "She is only like three years younger than me. If I did dote on her, which I do not, then I would dote on her like a big brother."

    "Then maybe more like..." Suddenly, he looked up, and the color drained from his face.

    "What is wrong, Chuck?" I asked in alarm.

    "Forgive me, my lord. I was about to say something that may have been offensive. Please forgive me but it is hard to remember sometimes, I am conversing with my lord."

    "Well, don''t tell the captain that or he will have both our hides. Now, what were you about to say?

    "I was just going to say I remember my sibling and me being more quarrelsome than the way you treat her. I will go find the things she needs."

    That was not at all what he was going to say, but I wasn''t going to throw my weight around and demand he tell me. I didn''t want to embarrass him.

    ***************

    The next morning, at breakfast, Emily came up to me beaming. "Thank you for finding me a board to use."

    "You''re welcome. Have you tried it yet?" I said.

    "No, I will need to strap it like you said or at least have someone hold it down so it doesn''t leak." She smiled.

    "And that is why you are speaking with me." I sighed.

    "Please, my lord." she wheedled.

    "Alright, let me finish breakfast, then go speak with Marcus. Then we can do your project. Do we have enough pulp?"

    She nodded.

    "Good. I will meet you in the paper room in a little bit."

    After breakfast, I made my way to the study. I found Marcus waiting for me. At least he kept his appointments. "How are you this fine day, Marcus?" I asked pleasantly.

    "Well, enough, my lord." He said stiffly. He looked extra sour today. I didn''t like the kid, but I hope everything is OK. Maybe Carrie told him the news, but he doesn''t like Hyrum.

    "How is your family?"

    "Fine, my lord. We have reports from all the other villages besides Bicman that their fields are all plowed, and planting is being done."

    OK, so he doesn''t want to chat. "Excellent, that is wonderful to know," I said.

    "I also received a letter from Melnon''s headman for you," he said, handing me the letter.

    I read the letter and smiled. They had created a batch of lime and mixed it in a few different amounts with their mortar. It seems to set the mortar faster. Also, they were in the process of building a coke kiln. I would have to send him a fruit basket or something.

    "Anything else?"

    "You have two requests for marriages and a court request."

    "I am not going to marry anyone. I am certainly not going to marry two women. Polygamy sounds like a headache." I said with a smile. However my joke fell flat. I blame the audience.

    "I would like to meet those getting married," I said. "But what is the court request?"

    "It is a matter of theft, my lord."

    "Really," I said in surprise, "Where is the theft taking place, and what is it?"

    "It is in Cofi, and I believe it is pies."

    "Pies! Someone is making pies and not sharing with me?" I said in mock offense. If it was in Cofi, it may have been pies from the orchard. What did we grow there again? "So, do I go to Cofi, or do they come here?"

    I swear Marcus was about to roll his eyes. "Judgements are made in the great hall."

    "Alright, set a time and let me know."

    "As you wish, my lord."

    "Is there anything I can do for you, Marcus?"

    "No, my lord," Marcus said.

    "Well, have a splendid day," I said cheerfully. At this point, I was hoping the cheerful attitude would annoy him. He was such a grouch.

    I went to the paper room where Emily was idly stirring her hand through the wood slurry she had made. Looking at everything, I nodded to myself. "OK, Em, we should take this outside. I am sure you made a mess trying to get all the water into a bucket."

    She blushed.

    "I will grab the board and frame. You grab the cup of your pulp water."

    She nodded, and we went outside to the stump. I set the board down and then the frame on top of it and pressed down hard. Emily poured the cup in, but there was too much room between the frame and the board, so the water settled beneath the cheesecloth, and we were left with wavey pulp rather than flat. The water started to leak out the side of the board.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "It didn''t work," Emily said sadly.

    I didn''t act discouraged. "So how do we fix it?"

    "Add more mixture so it fills up more?" She asked hesitantly.

    "That would work," I spoke encouragingly, "But it would make the paper thicker."

    "Oh, we need to add more water and then use a bigger cup."

    "Good thinking. How do we fix this, though?" I said.

    "Um, could we get a bucket of water, pour it in, and swirl it around?"

    I smiled, "Why don''t we try that?"

    She rushed off to the well to grab a bucket of water. I swear I would have been a gentleman and done it, but she took off too fast. Within a couple of minutes, she had brought up a half bucket of water.

    "OK, I am going to hold down the frame again, and you can pour it slowly."

    When the water was almost to the top of the frame, and before it could all drain, Emily gave a few quick swirls with her hand, and the pulp evened out. When it settled, we were left with a brown piece of thin paper.

    We both looked up and grinned at each other. "You did it, Em."

    "Not without your help."

    "No, you and Jacklyn had the breakthrough last night that made this work. I am guessing that if I hadn''t said anything, you would have found a solution to this problem by the end of the day today, all on your own. I just sped things up. You and Jacklyn are the official inventors of paper. I get to take credit for the pulp grinder, though." I winked.

    "OK, let''s take this inside and let it dry for a bit, then pull it out and sponge it."

    On the way back to the room, I heard Aaron crying, so I left Emily to her work and went to Aaron''s room. Amy was walking with him, and she looked a little frazzled.

    "Anything I can do to help?"

    "He has teeth coming in. He will be having this pain every once in a while."

    "Let me take him on a walk. See if I can distract him."

    It didn''t work. He still cried as we walked down the hall and out into the courtyard. He cried when we went to the town with Captain Draves and did a quick look before heading back. He cried until I gave him back to Amy to feed.

    "Thank you, my lord. The break was helpful," She said gratefully.

    "I thought you got an assistant?"

    "She is not always able to be here."

    We chatted for a little bit. She talked about her family and how their farm was doing. They shared fifty-seven acres with her brother-in-law''s family. Due to the illness, they could not plant all their fields this year. The disease also took two of the children. It was hard to sit here and listen to the lives of my people. I was grumbling because I missed having my electric razor and because I was fat. Amy and her family were happy because they still had the rest of their family and were sure they could make due this year. These were hearty people.

    In the afternoon, I decided to visit Jorb with the molds for the pens. I didn''t want to interrupt him, but I figured I needed to try to make some before writing letters. When I first started using dip pens, I almost gave up because using a brush was easier, but the beautiful script was worth it in the end. Quills were just so much worse. On the way down, I asked the captain about protecting ideas. I don''t know if you could get a writ for that. The king probably thought all ideas belonged to him, just like the land. So, the best thing I could do was make my land as prosperous as possible. I couldn''t keep the idea of the plow to myself, but if I could cast the iron, I could produce them faster. The problem is I needed a furnace that could heat the iron hot enough. That would require coke and a large bellow.

    Draves left me to my thoughts until we got to Jorb''s shop. After we made sure Mathew wasn''t there, I went in. Jorb was in the process of fixing a pot someone had brought from Cofi. I never really thought about what a blacksmith did all day. I only thought about nails and horseshoes. I knew Jorb made nails, but I had never seen a horseshoe in his shop. I would have to ask him about that. Maybe since There weren''t many horses, there wasn''t a big need. I explained what I wanted done with the molds, and he actually seemed interested.

    "It is finer workmanship than I normally do, but I can do the melting. Would you mind if my son did the shaping?" Jorb said, seeming nervous about suggesting it.

    "That''s an excellent idea. I would be happy to pay him for his time." I said.

    "But you are already providing his education," Jorb said in surprise.

    "That is what I owe him for my crime. I must pay him for services rendered. How is he doing in his education?

    Jorb smiled, "He has finished memorizing the alphabet and is constantly repeating it."

    "Good. I am going to make some simple cards with words on them. That is one reason the pen tips will be helpful. It will be easier to make them with those."

    "I can probably get them made by tomorrow morning. Would you like to see the work on the plow blade?"

    "Sure, let''s take a look."

    It really was starting to take shape. I could see how this would not be easy. It would be simpler to make a wooden model to make a mold, but it still came back to melting the iron, which we couldn''t do without at least a puddling furnace.

    "I was able to do the wire last night, and Jackie ran it over to Mikel''s house this morning," Jorb said, interrupting my thoughts.

    "Thank you for getting that done, Jorb. I will have to go pay him a visit."

    Next, we took off to see Mikel. He had completed a few frames this morning, which was good. The girls would be happy. Once again, I wandered the town, speaking with people and talking about their day. We did not bring the coach this time, so we walked back up the hill. I immediately went to the paper room. Emily was there trying to sponge off some water while the paper was still in the frame.

    "What are you doing, Emily?"

    "Trying to get out the latest piece of paper."

    "How did you do it without me?"

    "Carrie helped."

    "It seems to be hard to remove."

    She sighed. "The paper has to dry a little in the frame because it is so thin, but even then, it is a little tricky to get out."

    "Hmm, that definitely slows things down, I suppose."

    "Don''t worry. I thought of an idea. What if we flipped the frame upside down and then put the cheesecloth on it from that side? We could make another frame to sit on top, and one person could press down while the other poured. Then, we could just lift the top frame when it drains and settles."

    "Sounds good. You can return all these frames to Mikel and explain what you need."

    She made a face at that. "Fine, I will need more wood soon anyway. Maybe he can bring some up when he is done."

    "How many of the thin sheets have you made?"

    "I have three of them drying, including the one we made. I will pull out this one in a bit and let it dry."

    "Excellent. I will be writing letters tomorrow to a few different people, and I will be using your paper."

    Emily looked excited. "As soon as I am done with my assignments, I will go tell Jacklyn. I will have to run the frames to Mikel to see if he can make something to go over the top of them. If we had enough frames, I could make a lot of paper. Thank you for letting me do this, Lord Amos."

    I couldn''t help but smile. "Just wait, Em, this is just the beginning."

    "What is next?"

    I wasn''t ready to make a printing press yet, if ever, so I wasn''t going to blow her mind away. "You''ll have to wait and see. Let''s make as many sheets as we can and sell them."

    "How are we going to sell them?"

    "I was thinking of sending twenty-five to each of my Aunts. One is the wife of a merchant, and the other is the wife of a baron. They can sell them and tell me what they sold for."

    "What if they take them and don''t sell them."

    "We will send them twenty-five sheets each. If we don''t get anything back, then I will know they are untrustworthy. I may have to take some to Decmoore and see if we can sell it. I would hate to go all the way to Vaspar or even Kimton, but they may have a parchment merchant there and give us a good price."

    "I know, my lord, that I shouldn''t ask this, but-"

    "But you want to come with us. We are selling the paper," I said knowingly.

    She blushed.

    "I don''t have a problem with it, but Marshandra might. You will need her permission."

    "But you''re the lord. You could just tell her."

    "True, but I also have to think about how that would affect my relationship with her. We respect each other, and she is responsible for you. I will not impose my will on a whim."

    "OK, now I need all those thicker sheets you made. I want to make sight word Flashcards."

    "What are those?"

    "They are for your lesson tonight," I said as I gathered the paper I thought might work. I know I told Jorb I would wait for the pens, but I really didn''t have anything to do, and I was bored. The paper made from rags and those first made from wood did not have the same texture or firmness. Some were easy to write on, while others were not good at all. In the end, he made about five and gave up.

    I need to make thicker paper. Maybe use three or four cups of the slurry for the sheet instead of one. I couldn''t do it without someone else to pour in the mixture while I held it down. Unless¡­ I wonder if we have a roasting pan in the kitchen. Then, I could just set the frame down in the pan and pour water into the pan full enough that it covered the bottom of the frame. Then, when I put the slurry in, it wouldn''t drain right away and would only settle when I lifted out the frame. Em was going to be so mad she hadn''t thought of this. I hurried to the kitchen as fast as my fat legs could carry me. Cookie had a pan, but I could tell she wasn''t happy I was stealing it. I assured her I would bring it back momentarily.

    When I got to the paper room, I set the pan on the table and then put the frame inside it. I poured four cups of slurry into the frame, and the water drained into the pan. Then, I poured water in until the water level in the pan was halfway up the frame. I swirled everything around until the pulp was even in the frame. Then, I slowly lifted the frame until it was above the water line, and the pulp settled at the bottom evenly. I waited for it to stop dripping and then put the frame on a piece of cloth on the table. I dumped the water from the pan back into the water bucket and went to return the pan. Emily would think I had gotten help. I was excited to see what she said when I told her how I had done it. Hopefully, the paper will be closer to card stock.

    After dinner, I showed the flashcards to the girls. The pictures were not my best drawings, but they liked them all the same. The boy, Helm, showed up after his kitchen duties to start learning the Alphabet, but Carrie left as soon as she was done. She wouldn''t even look at me. I wonder if I had done something to offend her. I will have to speak with her tomorrow.

    I went on a walk around the manor a few times before retiring to my bed for the night.

    Carrie

    I didn''t sleep last night. I spent the whole night thinking about what he said. I was in the kitchen when... when my father... no, I did it. I must have. I was a murderer. I was a murderer. "I was a murderer! Amos knew, yes, he must know I... I was in the kitchen. I am a murderer. Hyrum... he will kill me! He hates me. I''m going to die. I have to leave. They are waiting for the wedding to expose me. Yes, that must be it. Humiliate me and chop off my head. I''m going to die!

    "Carrie!"

    I swung my head around to find Hyrum glaring at me.

    "You are terrible. You must go to your room."

    "No, I..."

    He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my room. "Stay in your room, Carrie!"

    I ran to my bed when he shut the door. He knows! He knows, and he is going to kill me! I have to run. I... I...

 Chapter 20

    Getting moving in the morning was more manageable today. Looking in the polished copper mirror, I couldn''t tell a difference, but I guess I couldn''t expect miracles. I was going to have the servants start collecting feathers, though. I really wanted a feather bed. I wonder how long that would take.

    Emily interrupted me during my morning meal of Kayver eggs and wheat porridge. Her expression was that of a very unhappy girl, but a fourteen-year-old angry face was actually kind of cute.

    "Where were you last night?" She demanded.

    "I know we are friends, Em," I said softly, "But I am still the lord. Interrupting my meal would get you a beating with a different lord."

    She blushed and started to back away. It looked like she was about to cry, and I felt awful about it.

    "You have not been dismissed," I said sternly, "I just want you to remember that you must keep up appearances in front of the staff. You, as my friend, have to set an excellent example for the other servants. I enjoy the fact that you and I have the relationship we do, but we have to save it for when others are not around. I am sorry I had to be stern with you. I wish you were my little sister, and then it wouldn''t matter, but right now, we are stuck in the roles we have."

    She relaxed slightly at my words.

    "Now, why don''t we meet in the paper room after breakfast, and you can bully me with questions there? OK?"

    "OK." she said quietly.

    I sighed. I really did hate having to reprimand her. I made my way to the paper room after breakfast with a roasting pan. When I got there, Emily hadn''t arrived yet. I wanted to go see Aaron but decided to wait until Emily came. The papers were drying nicely. I held up our first good sheet of paper now that it was completely dry. I wanted so badly to write on it but thought maybe I would have Emily and Jacklyn use it to write their names on it and date it. If we could find a way to preserve it, someday it might become a historical artifact.

    She had four sheets drying on the table and one in a frame. My thicker sheet was one of them. I could see that she had managed to get one of the new types of frames to make paper with. I was excited to see how it worked. Unlike the pan method I used yesterday, though, with the two frames, it would require someone to press down on it while it filtered through. As I was musing, Emily walked it.

    She still looked a little abashed. "Sorry," she said.

    I ruffled her hair. "There now we are even."

    She glared at me, "Now, will you please tell me where you were last night? I wanted to know how you made the thicker sheet."

    "I knew you would. That''s why I hid outside the manor until I thought you might stop looking," I said with a smile.

    Her glare only intensified. I laughed and pointed to the pan. I grabbed the pan, put the frame in, and poured four cups of pulp and extra water into it so the pulp didn''t settle. Then, I slowly lifted it out. I got a look of shock From Emily.

    "And you didn''t tell me! Jackie and I had to keep going outside to make sure we didn''t spill water everywhere. We could have done everything faster."

    I just grinned, "I see you got one of the new frames." I said, trying to divert her attention.

    It worked. She stopped glaring, picked up the tray, and brought it over to the pan that was still full of the excess water. "Pour in a cup."

    I did and swirled the pulp around to mix it with the existing water. She lifted it up and waited for the excess water to drain. As soon as it stopped dripping, she set it on the table and removed the top frame. She easily peeled off the paper and set it on a dry piece of cheesecloth. She put another piece over it and pressed down firmly and evenly with sponge moss. She lifted the cloth and had a somewhat dry piece of paper.

    I guess we won''t need that many frames if this is how fast you are doing it."

    "But what if we got more people? Two people could be grinding paper; if we had a few more frames, we could make things faster." She said excitedly.

    "Slow and steady. I can''t pull people away from their families until we know that we can sell enough paper to make the cost of hiring them worth it. Right now, we need to make sure people have enough food. Now, let''s make a couple more sheets, and then I need to speak with Marcus."

    I actually had to hunt Marcus down this time because he was not in the study. He was in his room speaking to his mother. They were talking in whispers, but I could tell Marcus''s voice was harsh. I knocked on the door so I could interrupt whatever was going on.

    When Marcus''s face appeared at the door, he looked like he wanted to shout, but when he saw who it was, he quickly schooled his features. I could see his mother sitting behind him on her bed. She was trying to clean up the tears on her face. I gave Marcus a disapproving frown.

    "Marcus, I know that I have never really been a good example of proper behavior. It may be hard for you to take criticism from me, but I must say that I have recently learned that women deserve the utmost respect¡ªespecially the one who raised you. As my steward, I expect you to set an example for others. If you wish to remain, my steward, you must control yourself no matter what the disagreement is. Your mother is a hard worker and a kind person, and she should be treated with kindness by her son. I had matters to discuss with you, but they can wait until you have reconciled with your mother. I hope you both have a more pleasant day."

    I left without saying anything else. I was not in any mood to speak with Marcus. It was morning, and I wasn''t sure what to do with myself. I wanted to write the letters but didn''t want to do it without a nice pen. Should I go down to see how Jorb was coming along with things? I decided not to pester him. Just as I was concluding that it was going to be a lazy day, Hyrum came around the corner.

    He looked to be brooding and almost ran into me. Not good for a guard to be this distracted. "Hyrum, you OK?"

    He stopped abruptly and looked up. "Oh, um, sorry, my lord. I um... my lord, may I speak with you?"

    "Sure, what is on your mind?"

    "Have you noticed Carrie acting... strange lately?"

    "Well, hmm, we don''t really talk. She was going to do reading lessons with the class but never came. She seems to be avoiding me. Not that I find that strange. A lot of people do."

    "Well, she is avoiding me, too."

    "Did you get in a fight?"

    "No, my lord. The last interaction I had with her was when she was in the hall muttering to herself. She must have been deep in thought because I had to shout her name to finally get her attention. She must have jumped a foot high, and when she looked at me, she was white as a sheet. I was concerned, so I said she looked terrible and needed to go to her room and get some rest."

    "Well, there''s your first mistake. Hyrum, you should know better than to tell your fiance that she looks terrible. No matter how you mean it, she will take it the wrong way. Did she slap you?"

    "No, I escorted her to her room and told her to get some rest."

    "So she was distracted, you startled her, told her she looked terrible, and then shared an unsolicited opinion with her. Yeah, she is probably mad at you. You will need to apologize."

    "But I-"

    "No buts, you want to fix this. You need to apologize, even if you are apologizing for something you didn''t do."

    It was then that we got interrupted by Darin, one of the guards.

    "My lord, I was sent to inform you that there was a wolf attack last night," he said in a calm tone. I hope his demeanor meant that everyone was alright.

    "What details do you have?"

    "The wolf got into one of the mar''s pens. It killed two before the owner of the pen got the wolf with a sling to the skull. The tanner is taking care of the pelt for you. And the mar meat is being smoked," he said.

    "For me?" I blurted out before remembering that not everyone knew I had "lost my memories."

    "All game killed on your land is your property," he said.

    "I agree if he went out hunting for the creature, but he was defending his property, lost two goats, I mean mars. in the process, and did a service to the village."

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    He decided not to argue with me. Maybe people were getting used to my strangeness, "Let Captain Draves know I need to visit the village."

    Mars were really cute. Well, the male''s horns scared the jeebies out of me. Think of a goat with thick white wool like a sheep. The horns on the billie are similar in shape to that of a longhorn bull.

    With that, he left, and I made my way to the manor entrance. It looked like it was about to rain, so I had them prepare the carriage in case we needed it. Captain Draves met me, and we headed down to the village.

    We talked about the reports from the soldiers on the status of the villages, and there wasn''t much to say other than that everything was fairly peaceful. I was happy that the most pressing issues in my barony were poverty and disease. I know that may seem terrible, but I did not want any of my people to be murdered. Also, I had no ability to raise an army now. All I could do was try to pull us out of poverty; if I could do that, they might be willing to listen to me regarding hygiene. When we got to the village, Draves led the way to a young man''s house near the edge of the village. His name was Herbert. Of course, he wasn''t at home, but his wife, Nina, was. She was a young lady with two kids underfoot. I gave her two loaves of bread and told her how happy I was to have people like them in the village. To say she was shocked was an understatement. When I asked her where Herbert was, she directed me down the road to the nearest fields.

    "As we approached the four men working the field, they all stopped and turned to us. When they came near, I started to speak. "I know you are busy preparing for the upcoming rain, so I won''t take much of your time. I am looking for Herbert.

    The youngest of the men stepped forward and bowed awkwardly, "My lord, I assure you that the hide and meat have all been sent. I promise I kept none for myself."

    I laughed. This was just ridiculous. Everybody was so afraid I was going to punish them. "Herbert, I didn''t come to interrogate you but to congratulate you. You defended your herd and family admirably. I am grateful to have such a good man in the village. I also came to reward you. For killing the threat to the village, I awarded you the carcass and pelt of the wolf. My only regret is that you lost two Mars in the process."

    The look of surprise on all the men''s faces was worth two wolves. "I best let you get back to your work. Have a wonderful day, gentleman." And with that, we left to head back through the village. Just as I entered the village, I saw Jacklyn coming to greet us.

    "My lord, we saw your carriage and figured you were in town. Mathew finished these things for you this morning. She dropped two different brass pen nubs into my hand. They looked excellent. I wish I had brought a couple of copper for the boy.

    "These are perfect. Thank your brother for me. Now I am going to go see if Mikel has some wood I could use." The rain started to fall as I made my way to Mikel''s shop, and by the time we reached his shop, it was really coming down hard. The captain, Jake, and I ran for cover into Mikel''s shop, only stopping briefly to clap outside the door. "I am sorry for barging in without you opening the door, Mikel, but it is really coming down out there. I am in need of your service."

    He smiled at the sight of us. "Looks like you got a good dousing of our spring showers. How may I help you?"

    "I need a stick of wood about the length of my hand. This little piece will wrap around the end of it."

    "If you don''t mind me asking, what is it for?"

    "It is like a quill for writing, except it works much better."

    "Interesting. Unfortunately, I don''t have anything ready, but I could make one. The other option is Samuel. Being a fletcher, it is almost certain he will have something like that."

    "Well, that makes sense," I said, rubbing the stubble on my chin. "Gentlemen, I suppose we must depart before the storm gets worse."

    We all hurried down the street, Jack bringing the carriage behind us. The rain was steady, and we were soaked through by the time we got to Samuels. I should have worn a cloak. Upon entering, I saw a partially completed abacus. I had almost forgotten I wanted him to do that.

    "Hey, Sam, the abacus is looking good," I said cheerfully. "Sorry for dripping water on your floor."

    "Thank you, my lord, and don''t fret about the floor. It is one of the hazards of having floors. They get wet occasionally," he chuckled. "How may I help you?"

    I explained my needs, and he pulled out a partially completed arrow. He held it up to the nub and nodded. He cut it about a hand''s length and whittled down part of the end to fit the tip. Then, he did it again with the other tip. The wood was still a little rough, but for my purposes, it was perfect.

    "Do you have ink and something to write on?"

    "I believe I have some birch around here somewhere." He went to the back side of the store and found a jar of ink and some birch. Dipping the pen in the ink, I started writing on the birch. It was rougher and more challenging to write on than parchment or paper, but it was much better than a quill pen. When I looked up from writing, I could see the excitement on Samuel''s face.

    "That is an incredible invention, my lord. If it is not too bold of me to ask, may I try?" he said eagerly.

    "No problem," I said while handing him the pen.

    He didn''t write words but instead drew a few pictures of bows and arrow tips of different types.

    "My lord, I am hesitant to ask, but how much would you require to purchase one?"

    "Just tell Jorb I said you could have one. All I require is that you provide Mathew with the sticks he needs when making them."

    He looked dumbfounded. "All you want is sticks in exchange for such a marvelous tool."

    "They don''t work without the sticks. So yeah, get yourself one from Jorb. Just make sure the sticks are of excellent quality. We may be selling these.

    "Of course, my lord, you will have my best work." He said with a bow.

    "OK, well, let''s get going, guys. I think we need to go home and get out of our wet clothes."

    Poor Jack had to drive the coach through the rain, but fortunately, he was more sensible than his Lord and had brought a cloak. When we arrived, I found a servant and requested that a fire be started in my room. For some reason, lighting his own fire was beneath a lord. Once the fire was giving off warmth, I stripped down and dried off. Then I got in some new clothes. Next, I went and grabbed the best paper I could find and started to write letters to all the important people. First to the king.

    To His Majesty Lenord Asput IV,

    Your Majesty, I regret to burden you with the grievous news of the death of Lord Aaron Bicman. A fever recently moved through the Barony of Bicman and was especially grievous to the House of Bicman. All of the Bicman line has been killed, save Aaron Bicman the third and myself. As Aaron the Third is still very young, I ask you to consider me for the position of regent until his eighteenth year, at which time he will take on the mantle of Lord Bicman. I, as your loyal subject, will submit to any judgment you make.

    Your Loyal Servant,

    Lord Amos Bicman

    I sent similar letters to the duke and the count. They were all short and to the point. I assured the duke we would be able to make the harvest tax this year. By the time I was done, I was tired of writing¡ªnot necessarily from the actual process, but of trying to think of the precise words to say. Even after taking an hour to write three short messages, I still worried I had done a poor job.

    I decided to take a break and play with Aaron. I went and hunted down Amy, but she had given the child to her helper, Nora. Nora ended up being in the great hall, trying to get Aaron to walk more. He wasn''t bad at it. All the tables were against the wall, and he would walk with one hand on a bench until he reached the end. Then, he would toddle to the next. When he finally noticed me, he immediately sat down and held out his hands.

    "Really, Aaron, you think that just because you are my favorite nephew, I am going to pick you up? Well, I have news for you. You are my only nephew, so the title doesn''t amount to much." My show of disapproval didn''t amount to much either since I ended up doing exactly as he asked. We played airplane for a while, and I tossed him in the air a few times. We both ended up dizzy after I was done spinning around, but we were both laughing. Nora stood in the corner, looking at us curiously. Playing with Aaron always gave me mixed feelings. I loved playing with him, but it reminded me of when I played with my niece back on earth. It made me homesick.

    We played until he was tired, and just like my niece, I handed him off once he got cranky. That was the best part about being an uncle. By the time we were done, the staff was coming in to set out the tables. I started helping, which caused some uncomfortable looks, but no one dared to say anything. Carrie was there, but she refused to look at me. Something was definitely up, and no matter how badly I wanted to pull her aside and ask about it, I thought it best to let her come to me when she was ready. After dinner, I worked on more sight words with Emily and Jacklyn. They were each allowed to use one piece of paper per lesson, and I let them use the new Bicman pens, as I had called them. I shortened it to Bic Pens in my head but didn''t bother saying it out loud because no one would get my joke. After they left, I started working with Helm. He actually brought another servant with him. She was one of the garden ladies who had been working with Patricia. Apparently, she was Helm''s mother.

    "My lord, thank you for teaching my son his letters. May I watch? I promise I will not interfere, " she said with her head down.

    "Do you know your letters?" I said, trying to use my kindest tone.

    "No, my lord."

    "Well, why don''t you join us?"

    "As you request, my lord," She said, keeping her head down.

    I rolled my eyes because, with her head down, she wouldn''t see it, and Helm was looking at his mother with a grin. "It was not a request." I sighed. "It was an invitation. I will not force anyone to learn, but I recommend all my staff learn."

    Both Helm and his mother were very determined to learn the alphabet, and I saw the effort they were putting into it. I complimented them enthusiastically at the end. Maybe a little overexaggeration was used, but hey, everybody loves a compliment.

    Hyrum

    I could tell Carrie was avoiding me. I just couldn''t figure out why we had kissed for the first time two days ago, but after yesterday, she hadn''t spoken to me. What had I done? I didn''t agree with the Lord. She was acting strange even before I scared her. I knew she was shy, but I had to confront her. This was not going to fix itself. I knew she hated confrontation but I had to figure out what this was all about.

    I went to her door and knocked. Patricia came to the door, and when she saw me, her face immediately fell. "How may I help you, Hyrum?" she said in a voice that seemed to be holding back tears.

    "I would like to speak with Carrie."

    Patricia backed away, and Carrie came forward. She didn''t look at me. Her eyes were locked on the floor like it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and fix whatever was wrong. "Carrie, please look at me," I said pleadingly.

    She kept her eyes down.

    "Carrie, whatever is wrong, we can fix it. Why are you avoiding me?"

    "I¡­ I can''t." She took a deep breath that almost turned into a sob. "I can''t marry you. My family has to leave."

    "What! Why?"

    "Please, Hyrum, Please forgive me. I should never have said yes."

    With that, she stepped back and shut the door, and I stumbled away in shock, still trying to make sense of what she said.

 Chapter 21

    After breakfast, I felt it was time to send the letters out. I was still nervous the letters were not good enough, but they were the best I could do. I would have Marcus look them over. He was trained as a steward and may have seen communications between nobles. He gave me his typical cheerful greeting of a blank face with hidden emotions underneath. The kid made my skin crawl sometimes. I thought about getting rid of him, but I didn''t want to cause a rift between the rest of his family and myself.

    "I have three letters for you to send out, Marcus: one for the King, one for the duke, and one for the count. I would like you to review them and send them out," I said.

    "You want me to review them?" He said, showing just a hint of surprise.

    "Of course. You were being trained as a steward. I assume your father showed you communications between our family and other nobles."

    "No, My Lord, communication between nobles was always kept private."

    "I see. Well, look it over anyway, and let me know what you think. This is written on Emily''s new paper. Don''t you think she did a great job?"

    "It is very fine, My Lord. Emily is a talented girl," he said while admiring Emily''s work.

    "Any updates from the villages?"

    "Things have been progressing smoothly. I did receive the population report from Kerisi and Alter for the month. We had two births in Kerisi, and we had two deaths and three births in Alter."

    I was surprised they kept such a report, but I was glad they kept some sort of census. "Did they say the cause of the deaths?"

    "No, My Lord."

    "I guess I will need to write letters to the Headmen and ask them to include that in the reports. I will also have to write a condolence letter to the families of the deceased. The headman can read it to them."

    Marcus nodded.

    "Looks like I have some more letters to write. Have a great day," I said with a smile.

    I had enough paper in my room for the letters to my aunts but not for the headmen. I went back to the paper room and found paper drying everywhere. The table had one small stack of dried paper; the rest were scattered everywhere. The bed was completely covered with them. I can''t imagine Cookie was not happy with how much cheesecloth was being used. I am sure Emily somehow bullied her into it.

    I grabbed the stack of dried paper and headed back to my room to start my letters.

    To Lady Ashley of Mancole,

    Dear Aunt, I regret to inform you of the demise of your brother, Baron Aaron Bicman, and most of his family due to an illness that swept through the village. I understand that there was discord between family members of our house, but as the regent of the heir, Aaron Bicman the Third, I seek to mend the rift. I would enjoy the opportunity to converse via letter if you would be amenable to such communication.

    With love and respect,

    Regent Amos Bicman

    To Lord Cameron Mancole,

    I am writing to inform you of the demise of Baron Aaron Bicman and the majority of the family. I Have enclosed a letter to Lady Mancole to this effect. I wish to open dialog between our two houses so that we might establish a better political relationship. If this is of interest to you, I would be honored. May your people and lands prosper.

    With respect,

    Regent Amos Bicman

    Also, as a gift, I include with this letter ten sheets of an alternative to parchment that we make on our estates.

    I enclosed the first letter within the second, and I would have to get some wax from the study to seal it. Next, I wrote to Susan and her husband but tailored her husband''s letter toward trade. I felt Lord Mancole might be interested in purchasing the paper but did not know if he would be insulted if I spoke of trade with someone from his station. If trade was beneath me, I didn''t really care.

    The next letters were to the headmen: one to all of them concerning the desire to have more detail concerning the deaths of each citizen and one to the headman of Atfer concerning the two deaths this month.

    I went back to the paper room to see if any more sheets were dry. I needed eighteen more sheets to send the ten to each of my relatives. I had downgraded the amount from twenty-five to ten because if they couldn''t appreciate ten, then twenty-five would not make any more of an impression on them. I found Emily shifting around papers. She was adding dry ones to the stack and moving the others around. I think she was organizing them based on how dry they were.

    She stopped what she was doing and looked over at me. "You stole my paper!" She said accusingly.

    I put my hands up. "I used your paper. I am sure the king will be very impressed." I smiled.

    That stopped her. "You used my paper to send a letter to the king?"

    "Yes, and it looked beautiful. It bleeds through a bit but once dry that isn''t such a big deal. We will make it thicker, change the ink or find a way to make sure the surface takes the ink without soaking so much in.  I think we will need a smaller frame, though. I had to tear each sheet in half because they were too big. The normal size is excellent for writing stuff down, but my letters are too short to need a whole sheet.

    "The king is going to have my paper," she said in awe.

    Great, another broken brain.

    I decided to go further and tear it to shreds. "And the duke, the count, the Baron Mancole, and the Mit Trading House. Oh, and all our headmen." I said with a smirk.

    Now, she was speechless. "Well, when you have eighteen more, we can send extra paper to my aunts," I said while turning to leave. She woke from her stunned state just as I was about to leave.

    "Wait! You have to see this!" she shouted and ran around the room, looking for a particular piece of paper. When she found it, she held it up to the light with a grin. At first, it looked just like all the others, but as I got closer, I could see a watermark. In big letters, it said BICMAN.

    Now, it was my turn to be stunned. ''How did you do that?"

    "It was Jackie. Remember how I tried sponging up some of the water while I had the old frame to try and dry it faster? Well, it left one of those water marks from the wires. Jackie saw it and thought it was really neat. She went home and had her dad make this. She went over to the frames and grabbed a piece of cloth. There were wires shaped into letters and sown into it. "We laid it down on top of the paper once we removed it from the frame. Then, when we spunged it, we pressed down on the wires, and it made the mark."

    "Excellent work," Then a thought hit me. "Except you used the wrong letters."

    "No, we didn''t." She said stubbornly.

    "Yes, the letters should be right here in the lower right-hand corner. There should be a circle with EJ inside it."

    "EJ?"

    "Emily Jacklyn, It is a mark of authenticity stating that this paper was crafted by you and Jacklyn. Anyone who sees the mark will know they have high-quality paper made by you two."

    "Why does that matter? We are nobody. No one will care if we were the ones who made it."

    "Not yet, but as paper sweeps across the nation in trade, people will come to see that mark as a mark of quality. Sooner or later, your names will get out, and people will know that you and Jacklyn are the first-ever paper producers. You may be elevated to Freemen. That is the goal anyway. I think we will eventually have to make the symbol more fanciful so it isn''t copied."

    "If you don''t want it copied, then you should make it your crest, not EJ. It would be treason to use another house''s crest without permission of the head of the house."

    "Great idea. We will put my crest in the background with EJ upfront. That will be some detailed work. We may need a jeweler to create it."

    She sat down and shook her head. "I¡­ This¡­ This is too much, Lord Amos. I''m just a serf. I can''t become a freeman."

    "Well, it hasn''t happened yet, but if it is possible, then I will do it. You two have changed the world and should be recognized for it. Jacklyn is already a Freeman, but you should be recognized for your work as well. I will give you some time to think about it. I have to go see if I can hunt down the captain. I would like to travel to Cofi and Alfer sometime this week."

    I walked down the hall and headed out back. Then, I almost ran into the captain talking with Hyrum. "Oh, Captain, I was looking for¡­" I noticed Hyrum''s face. It looked haggard, almost like he hadn''t slept in days. "What is going on?" I blurted out before I could remember that this was a private meeting. "Scratch that. I shouldn''t have interrupted. I will meet with you later, captain."

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    "No, it''s okay. You would have found out soon enough. Carrie broke off the engagement," Hyrum said tiredly.

    "She what? That doesn''t make sense. You two are perfect for each other."

    "I appreciate your kind words. I am glad to know you agree with my confusion."

    "She had to have given you a reason."

    "She wouldn''t say. She said it would ruin her family. She said she would be leaving with her mother and Marcus soon."

    "Well, that''s news to me," I said in surprise. "I know they are Freemen, but that doesn''t mean they can just spring this on me."

    "I told you, Lord Amos knew nothing about this," The captain said.

    "I shouldn''t have doubted. I am sorry, My Lord."

    "Well, I should have known. I should have been the first to know," I said, trying not to be angry. I took a deep breath. "Ok, well, it makes sense why she has been avoiding me now. Let''s figure this out. Just because her family is leaving doesn''t mean she has to. She is of marriageable age, so she really doesn''t have to leave with her family. It must have to do with the whole secret she can''t tell. It''s obvious that she isn''t the type to give herself to someone before marriage."

    "I am glad you think highly of her," Hyrum said.

    "Well, now that I know that the family is leaving, I am going to try to convince them to stay. I bet it was Marcus''s idea. I think I will have to find a way to make peace with him." I sighed, "Don''t worry, Hyrum, I will get to the bottom of this. You and Carrie shouldn''t suffer just because Marcus doesn''t like me." With that, I turned and left to go back to my study.

    This being baron thing was going to kill me; I just knew it. As I walked down the hall, I saw Carrie coming out from the door to the study. When our eyes met, she immediately dropped her head and hurried her step. Ok, this was just ridiculous, I said to myself.

    "Carrie, might I have a moment of your time?"

    She froze in place and her face turned pale, I would say she looked like a statue except her body was quivering.

    "Calm down, Carrie. I''m not going to hurt you. But I have a dilemma. Two people I admire very much and who are very much in love with each other want to get married, but for some reason, one of them wants to leave town. Could you please help me figure this out? I only want you two to be happy."

    Her shoulders tensed as if she was about to start sobbing. She looked so miserable I wanted to give her a hug.

    "Carrie, you are one of the kindest people I know. Hyrum is lucky to have someone like you."

    With bitterness in her voice, she said softly, "I am a wretch. I don''t deserve to live."

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said while holding up my hands, "I know for a fact you are a good person. Please help me to understand what is going on. I promise I won''t tell Hyrum whatever it is." I decided to try to redirect her thoughts.

    "I mean, you aren''t a puppy kicker, are you?"

    She looked up at me in confusion, "What?"

    "You know a person who goes around kicking puppies."

    Her face scrunched up in shock, "Why would anyone do such a horrible thing?"

    "Exactly. See, you and I both agree that kicking puppies is a very bad thing. And if you wouldn''t even kick a puppy, it''s not like you would do something so unforgivable that Hyrum wouldn''t ever forgive you, right?" I smiled. I think I was getting her calmed down, so I decided to say something extreme again to make my point: "You haven''t committed any murders lately, have you?"

    I was about to laugh to lighten the mood when her eyes went wide, and her face drained of all color. Okay, maybe I took things too far. I was about to apologize for my horrible joke when Carrie collapsed to her knees.

    "Please spare my family!" She cried out, "Kill me. I swear they weren''t involved." Then she began to sob.

    OK, I admit it took me longer to put the whole situation together than it should have. I actually had to replay what I said to her a few times before it clicked. Crap! I was expecting to have to counsel her on not overindulging in alcohol or some sort of misdemeanor. Once it clicked, I grabbed Carrie''s arm and pulled her to her feet. Then I drag her to the papermaking room. She collapsed again once I let go. There was so much paper in here no one would accuse us of doing anything inappropriate.

    Now, I may have been a little slow on the uptake, but I wasn''t a complete imbecile. I had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and if I was off, she would tell me because if it was what I was thinking, it couldn''t get any worse.

    ¡°You are saying that you poisoned my family?¡±

    Saying it out loud solidified it in my mind. I think she killed the entire Bicman family. I had to make sure.

    ¡°Carrie?¡± I said.

    She said nothing, just continued to sob, but I also could smell that she had lost control of her bladder. Crap! How was I going to fix this? I didn''t want to behead anyone. I hadn''t even ever punched someone. I turned to the ceiling and shouted. "Endless one! You are in so much trouble right now. I could have been surfing, but you had to make me responsible for this. I mean, seriously, you can''t expect me to know how to fix this! It¡¯s been, what, eleven days? I am still trying to get my own crap together, and then you drop this in my lap. This isn''t who I am. I''m no judge. I''m not an executioner. If you wanted a King Soloman, then you really screwed up.

    "And Carrie, shut up! If someone burst in here to see what is going it is going to be a lot harder to save you and your family."

    That actually worked. It probably wasn''t easy, but she forced herself to stop wailing.

    "I¡­ I killed them¡­ I should die. I want to die. Please kill me.¡± She sobbed.

    Wow, this may be hopeless. She might end up committing suicide. Her mind was about to break, probably broken already. Her mind was screaming for a way to escape this torment. I had once learned that when the mind was in pain, it could come up with incredible lies to get away from it, which gave me an idea.

    One of the therapy techniques that I enjoyed while trying to deal with my own trauma was hypnosis. Once I started using it, I began to study how it worked, but along with hypnosis, I decided to figure out the difference between hypnosis and brainwashing. I did not want to be brainwashed. From what I learned, I found they were similar in a lot of ways. I wasn''t an expert, but in my opinion, it was a matter of approach.

    In hypnosis, the person willingly relaxes their mental state to access the subconscious mind. In brainwashing, you put the brain under extreme amounts of stress to make it more suggestible and rewrite the mind. Maybe I could help the brain rewrite the memories like they do with brainwashing.

    I could tell she was mentally broken. She was not the type to kill. Even if she did hate me, she was nothing like her brother. He totally pulled off the ¡®I am a sleeper agent vibe.¡¯ scratch that. The whole point of being a sleeper agent is that you don¡¯t give off vibes. So, yeah, that doesn''t work.

    Ok, focus Amos.

    So, she had probably been slowly descending into madness since the poisoning. Then Hyrum proposed, and when she realized, after saying yes, that she would have to lie to him for the rest of her life, it destroyed the rest of her sanity. Now, she was looking for an escape from the mental anguish and felt that her death was the only option.

    And as lord¡­ as lord, I-

    I couldn¡¯t. I had been here what, eleven days, and now I was supposed to kill someone.

    The thought made me want to vomit.

    I couldn¡¯t do this.

    The image of Nathan''s body crushed and bleeding flashed into my mind.

    No, I am not going to be responsible for killing someone else.

    I should just run away, but then they would find Carrie. She would confess to someone else, and they would kill her. Her life was in my hands. I wouldn''t kill anyone ever again!

    I choked on some vomit that was threatening to come up.

    If I saved a murderer, was I going to go to hell? I couldn¡¯t do it, though. I- Dang it, Endless One. This is all your fault. What did I tell you on my first day here? Oh, yeah, I remember now. You¡¯ve got the wrong guy. I can¡¯t believe I am about to do this, but¡­ Crap! I can''t kill her.

    I had a handgun in the drawer on the side table next to my bed, just in case of a home invasion. But now I began to think it might been pointless since now that I am in a situation where I have someone''s life in my hands, I can''t pull the trigger.

    Did this make me a coward? Or did it make me a good person? Screw it all. I was going to do this my way and pray I still get an angel for my surf instructor.

    The other thought is that she was delusional and had never done anything to my family. The fact that she took a root to help calm herself made the second option a possibility as well. I just needed to convince her of that.

    "You didn''t poison the family. It was your father''s doing. All you did was carry the cups. You and I both know you could never have put the poison in the cups. You thought it was to help the family sleep. Your father only told you afterward. Don''t you remember?"

    "No," she cried, "He told us he had been paid to get rid of all of you."

    "He told you that afterward. When you found him putting something into the drinks he never told you what it was. It was only after that he told you?"

    "No, that''s not¡­"

    I had to stretch this lie. Make it work.

    "I was there, Carrie. I came to the kitchen to see if there was anything to settle my stomach. When I stuck my head in, I saw everything. Your guilt is making you believe it was your fault."

    "You couldn''t have been there. I¡­¡±

    My mind was working overtime to make this lie a reality, "How do you think I survived? I didn''t drink it because I already knew it might be poison."

    "Then why didn''t you say anything?"

    That was an excellent question, and I was stumped for a moment until inspiration hit me. "I only thought it might be poisoned. Who would have believed me? My father and brother never believed me. Like you, I felt I was probably wrong, and I would just be beaten for lying. So I just didn''t drink. You imagine yourself as the killer because your father died. You can no longer blame him, and your mind is trying to protect him. It''s called survivor''s guilt. Don''t you see the truth? It was your father, not you."

    "Why didn''t you¡­"

    "Why didn''t I accuse you earlier? Why wait until now? I almost did several times. Don''t you remember the meeting in the great hall where we were both afraid to talk? I didn''t know what to say. I decided to wait to see if you felt guilty for what happened. When I heard that you broke off the engagement with the love of your life because you did not feel worthy of his love, I knew it was time. I came to find you so I could poke around the issue until you told me. I didn''t expect you to have come up with such a ridiculous lie in your mind about you having poisoned us. I thought you would confess to the fact that you knew your father had done it."

    "But¡­"

    "Don''t you think I would be a little more outraged right now if I had just learned that my entire family had been murdered?"

    Actually, I wasn''t upset with her because I was directing my anger at her father and whoever hired him. I was also trying to lie to myself, convincing myself that what I was saying was true.

    "Your father told you what he had done after the fact and swore you all to secrecy. The fact that you confessed when confronted with the truth shows what an honorable person you are. You need to let go of this burdensome lie you have been telling yourself."

    She started to cry. For the next half hour, I stood there, coming up with lie after lie.

    "Unfortunately, you will need to stay in the room next door to my old room until I get this fixed. We can''t have people asking questions if we are going to save your family. I will let Cookie know you are not feeling well and I have quarantined you. Spend some time thinking about the real truth. I know your family wants to leave because they are afraid of the consequences, but if you all leave, it will cause the captain to become suspicious, and I won''t be able to protect you if he starts an investigation. I am not saying there isn''t going to be a punishment for your family. In this world, the sins of the father may haunt his children, but I can at least mitigate the punishment. Maybe there won''t be one. I want to see you and Hyrum wed. Now let''s get going."

    I left her in my old room and went to go find the captain and Hyrum. Hopefully, she doesn''t run off and do something reckless. I hope I was doing the right thing. The right thing for her, the right thing for Hyrum, and the right thing for the barony. I am sure of one thing, though. If she had hurt my nephew, I would have thrown her to the wolves without a thought and watched them as they devoured her. Now, it was time for a little prisoner''s dilemma with the other two family members. I think that is what they called it, anyway.

 Chapter 22

    I hurried as fast as I could to find Hyrum and Draves. I did not trust her not to try and hurt herself or run. I found both of them on the practice field training with the other men. I ran to the ring and shouted out their names. I tried to say it in a calm, friendly manner so as to not alarm the others, but I couldn''t help the fact that I was wheezing from the run. Curse this stupid body. When I had their attention, I waved them over. They were both sweaty and wearing training pads.

    "Get in your uniforms as fast as you can," I said quietly. "We have a serious matter that may turn ugly if we cannot fix it right away."

    Hyrum looked shocked and rushed to get out of his training gear while Draves gave no reaction except to walk swiftly over to his gear. He changed quickly but in such a way that it looked as if he didn''t have a care in the world. How did he do that?

    As we hurried back to the room where I stashed Carrie, I gave a brief synopsis of what had transpired. I left out her confession of poisoning the drinks and instead said she had walked in on her father doing the deed and stayed silent. She had not been a gardener at the time, so she was not in charge of preparing the food. There were a lot of holes in my story that could be explained by her being the actual one to do it. Why was I even trying to protect a murderer? Well, a probable murderer. I knew why. I didn''t want a person''s blood on my hands. Did that make me weak? Could I even survive as a Baron if I wasn''t willing to pass proper judgment? I was so out of my depth.

    "My Lord, you cannot let this stand," Draves said seriously, "Even if she was not aware of what he was doing at the time, she did not confess."

    Though he didn''t say it, I could tell he didn''t believe her to be innocent. I needed to double down. "She confessed when the guilt was too much for her. If it weren''t for her, the plot would never have been uncovered. She has had plenty of time to do me harm since you moved her from the garden to the kitchen staff."

    "Please don''t remind me of that mistake, Lord Amos," he said with a grimace.

    "We all make mistakes. Including the young lady behind that door. We need to find the whole truth before we pass judgment."

    "As you wish."

    "Hyrum, I need you to go in there and make sure she doesn''t leave. More likely, she will try and kill herself."

    "It might be best if she did," Hyrum said, stone-faced.

    I admit I was shocked. "Hyrum, you and I both know she is a good person."

    "She lied to me. How could I trust her when she did something like this," he said, his face turning red.

    "She was afraid, Hyrum. Most people would be afraid if they were caught up in a plot like this. I was going to have you go in and try to calm her down, but I can see you''re in no mood to do that. Right now, she might commit suicide. But if you entered right now with that attitude, she would definitely commit suicide. And I don''t care how mad you are, if you caused her to harm herself, you would be burdened by it for the rest of your life. Maybe not right now, but it would start to gnaw at you and then turn into full-blown guilt."

    Hyrum looked like he wanted to refute that, but Draves was nodding at what I said, and so he stayed silent.

    "Now stand here and think of better times. If she pokes her head out, be polite and say, I put you here to protect her. Captain, we have a murder to unravel. Let''s go."

    I burst into the study to find Marcus at the table. He looked up in annoyance until he saw it was me. Before he could even put on his mask of subservience, I started talking. "Marcus, you are found guilty of treason against your lord. Your sister and mother have confessed all they know. What I do with you will be determined by whether or not your stories collaborate. If your stories do not line up, or I feel one of you is hiding information, you will all be tortured and executed. If you all tell the truth as baron of the manor and as Captain Draves as my witness, I will show all the mercy I can."

    The look on Marcus''s face was one of pure terror. His hatred of me couldn''t help him now. Beneath his mask was always hatred, but fear always won out when your life was on the line. It is easy to be brave when you think you can get away with something, but in the prisoner''s dilemma, you cannot be sure what has already been told. He cracked as easily as an egg. He started to blubber.

    "My Lord, I had nothing to do with it. It was all my father and mother. I didn''t know about the poison until he was on his deathbed. I would never do such a thing. I-"

    "I told you not to lie, you fool," I shouted, "Do you want to be tortured? I know you would have been happy to slip me the poison if the opportunity was given to you. You are horrible at hiding your contempt for me. Now, let''s start from the beginning. When did you first find out your father was stealing from my father?" I started with that because even though Carrie had said nothing, I couldn''t imagine a guy trying to poison my family without having stolen from us as well. His mother at least would have known about it, and I already said that I had talked to her.

    It turned out he was not involved in the murder, and he was not aware of the fact until afterward. He did know that his father had been receiving letters and money from someone but he never saw the letters. His father said the duke was paying him to keep tabs on the baron. Whether that was true or not, Marcus couldn''t say. The letters were always burned. As far as he knew, his father had not told his sister either. Maybe she really didn''t put the poison in the drink. That would be hilarious if the lie I concocted had any bearing on the truth. Another score was when he confessed that his father had stolen from my barony but didn''t know how much. His father had never told him where he hid it, and he was going to look for it right before they left so he wouldn''t cast suspicion on himself if he was caught with it.

    "Well, Marcus, if what you said is true, you may have just saved your family''s life. I have one other task, and then your fate will be decided. Captain, escort Marcus to the great hall where he will await judgment." With that, I left for the gardens. Hopefully, Patricia was not as deeply involved as I thought. She seemed so nice.

    I did find her in the garden. I asked if I could have a moment of her time in private as it was concerning her daughter. I was hoping she thought I was just going to ask why she had broken off the engagement. I took her back to the study, passing Hyrum on the way. He kept his face as calm as still water. I am so glad he didn''t glare at Patricia.

    When we entered the room, I invited her to sit on the chair. I stood. "Patricia, you are guilty of conspiring to kill the members of the house of Bicman. Your children have confessed all they knew of the plot, including the fact that you had foreknowledge of the poisoning of the family and theft of the family''s funds."

    The chair was no help. Her face turned pale, and her eyes rolled up into her head as she passed out.

    Well, that didn''t go as planned.

    I waited for about a minute before I bent over and shook her. It was at that moment that I realized something. It was getting easier to bend over. I love Tai Chi. Anyways, back to my interrogation. She came to slowly, and when I could tell she was conscious, I continued.

    "You might be able to save your children if you can remain conscious long enough to tell me everything you know about the doings of your husband."

    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡±

    "Then you will watch your children die." I felt like a monster saying that. I kept telling myself I was doing this to try and save them, but really, if I was honest with myself, I just wanted the truth and to avoid killing anyone else.

    She was silent for a long time before she said, "I don''t know when he started to spy on your house. I don''t even know who he was spying for. All I cared about was the silver he was getting for the information. It wasn''t much, but it came regularly. I wanted to leave. I just wanted to get enough money to leave. I hate it here. We all did. I thought if we could save up enough money to buy a house in the city, he could find work as a clerk there. And I hated you most of all. The way you treated my children. I wanted him to find something out that would hurt you." she said fiercely.

    "And you never told anyone of what your family was doing?" I said sternly

    "Who would I tell, My Lord? If I told someone, my entire family would be killed."

    "And the poison?"

    "I knew. I swear I tried to convince him not to do it. He said they would pay us fifty gold crowns if we killed the entire family. They even sent five Crowns to help him do it. He came up with many plans, but all were too risky. I told him to just send the money back. We had almost had enough money to leave. He bought poison with the money. He thought about hiring mercenaries to kill your family when you traveled, but the expense was more than he wanted to spend. Then, the illness hit. When some of the villagers died and people in the manor started getting ill, he decided to risk the poisoning. I told him it was foolish. He didn''t listen. He was obsessed with getting the gold. He wanted to buy a knighthood for our son."

    I did my best to keep my face emotionless. I was not cut out for this. "Your story doesn''t match that of your children," I said, trying to portray disgust.

    "No! You have to believe me. They must have thought lying would save them. Please spare them. Only I knew of the poison. I am guilty. They found out as he was dying."

    "Carrie said that she poisoned the drinks herself, and Marcus claims to have known your husband was spying and stealing."

    "She couldn''t have. Ronald didn''t trust her. He thought she was a fool. I don''t know if Marcus knew about the spying, but I didn''t know he knew."

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    "Come with me, and don''t make a scene," I said in a flat voice.

    She got to her feet, and trembling, she followed after me. As we passed Hyrum in the hall, I told him to fetch Carrie and bring her along. When I arrived in the hall, I found Draves standing over Marcus, who was on his knees with his head bowed. As I came around in front of him, I could see that he was crying. His mother knelt down next to him and put her arm around him. He didn''t react at all. He may not have even realized what she had done. Finally, Carrie came in half-supported by Hyrum. He led them over to the other two and made sure she didn''t collapse as she got down on her knees.

    The great hall had once more been turned into a meeting room. Tables and benches were pushed to the side, and all that remained of the baron''s table was the large chair. The judgment chair, as they called it. I sat down in it and waved the two men forward. As they approached, I looked at the three miserable people on the floor. The mother knew of the poisoning before it happened. The daughter saw something and didn''t say anything, and the son probably wished he had done the poisoning. I had justification for killing all of them. As Regent, I probably didn''t even need justification.

    "Captian, what do you suggest?" I said softly.

    "Death by beheading." He said, with no emotion. Hyrum, however, was not so calm at the words. His body immediately tensed.

    "Even if they were only told of the poisoning at the father''s deathbed and were sworn to secrecy?" That, of course, was a lie, but he didn''t know that.

    "They should have come to you immediately." His eyes were flat, and I felt there was more to this than just the standard punishment.

    "And if they had, what would the punishment have been?"

    Draves said nothing.

    "Is it possible that you are angry because you did not prevent the murder and were not even able to discover if a murder was done?"

    Still, he was silent.

    "Draves, you are to stand guard outside the door. Hyrum, go through the kitchen to the garden exit and stand guard there. I will speak with them in private before I sentence them.

    "My Lord-"

    "Now, Captain," I said in a tone that brooked no argument.

    The captain gave me an uncharacteristic frown of disapproval but went. Hyrum, taking that as his cue, also exited.

    I sat there for a moment contemplating. I was about to do the stupidest thing that could possibly be done in this situation. I should have a public audience and let everyone know of their deeds then have them killed, but I was a foolish young man who had no idea what to do. So I did the crazy thing. I stood and walked towards the family. "Family of Ronald the Freeman. Due to the fact that Patricia Freeman had foreknowledge of the murder of my family, according to the law, you all are to be put to death. However, before I was taken by the illness, I made all three of you my enemies through my actions. Carrie, I was a beast in the way I treated you. Marcus, I abused you for no other reason than because I was rejected by my own family. Patricia, because of my actions against your children, I made you my enemy. I have tried to atone for what I have done, but it looks like there is one more thing I can do.¡±

    "Patricia, I declare that you had no foreknowledge of the poisoning. All three of you were told at the time of your husband''s death and sworn to secrecy. He did not trust any of you with this secret before that point. Carrie finally cracked under the pressure of guilt of her family''s betrayal and confessed to me. This is the story we will tell the captain and Hyrum. Only I heard Patricia''s confession of having knowledge of the plot against my family. It will not spare you from punishment and shame. At least two of you were aware of the theft and spying, but it will save you from death. To the people, we will say nothing of the murder. I truly wish I could do more for you but even I must uphold the law."

    I called in Draves and told him to go get Hyrum. When they had both returned, we went up to my chair. "This is what I have determined. None of them had foreknowledge of the murder. Patricia and Marcus admitted that they knew of the spying and thievery. Carrie was not thought of as a trustworthy accomplice in this matter and so was never told of the theft and spying.

    "And you believe them?" Draves said disapprovingly.

    "They were given no time to get their story straight between the three of them. I told them that if their stories did not match up, I would kill all of them. Their stories do not contradict one another. What is the most lenient punishment I can give them?"

    "You are not the king. You cannot pardon them."

    "I will not kill them."

    "It is the law." Draves said.

    "Strip them of their title and make them serfs." Hyrum said at the same time.

    "Make them serfs?" I said in surprise.

    "Yes."

    That was an interesting thought. Reducing their title. I wonder¡­

    Up until now, the three family members heard everything we said, but now I whispered to the two guards. "I need a new steward. I was wondering if I could sort of make a trade in one of the cities, a family whose father used to be our steward but passed away, for a steward.

    "There isn''t a way that you could do that. Serfs are traded for serfs. A steward is a freeman and receives a wage. You could go to a city and find a steward''s son who has been trained by his father. Marcus would probably have been sent to become a clerk at another house at the age of eighteen and worked his way up to steward if he was good enough.

    "Can a peasant become a clerk?"

    "If given a recommendation from his lord. I have never heard of a serf being¡­" Draves''s face grew hard, "Lord, I can look past the fact that you are not giving them the death sentence, but to only reducing them to peasants for their crimes is-"

    "Is what I am going to do," I said, cutting off the captain.

    "Why are you doing this? Even if they had no knowledge of the plot, knowledge of the theft and spying needs to be punished harshly, or others will try and take advantage of you."

    "Who do we need to tell? We can just get them out of town."

    "If you are reducing their title, There must be a public sentencing. You should have the priest witness the event."

    I thought for a moment and said, "The public charges will be theft and spying by Ronald. That will reduce them to serfs. Then we will send them away."

    "They need to die. They will stab you in the back."

    I looked at the family kneeling in the great hall. "I am not going to kill anyone else. Ever!"

    "Anyone else?" Hyrum said, shock evident on his face.

    I said nothing.

    The captain was silent for a while and then said, "May I be frank, My Lord?"

    "As always."

    "You are a good man, but you are foolish and not fit to be a baron."

    "Thank you for the compliment. I am quite aware that I am not fit to be baron." I said, a little deflated.

    We stayed that way for a moment before I straightened my shoulders and looked up at the two men, "Hyrum, take this family to their rooms."

    "Not to the prison?" He said in surprise.

    "You will guard their door. Captain, Find the priest and let the people know that after field work is done today, there will be a sentencing of Patricia, Carrie, and Marcus. There will be no supper today until the sentence has been passed."

    "The priest may be in another village."

    "Then find out and bring him back. We will get this over with as soon as he returns."

    They both bowed and left.

    After they left, I collapsed into my chair. I was too soft. I couldn''t do this. Draves was right, I couldn''t just let people go and expect them not to stab me in the back. But every time I tried to steal my resolve and tell him he was right, I thought of Nathan. I thought of the heart beating in my chest. I swore on his grave I would be better a better person.

    I would have to find a way out of this. Maybe the king could appoint another baron. Give it to the baron south of us or something? Then, my thoughts turned to Aaron. This was his inheritance. I doubt if I tried to put this burden on someone else, they would just hand it back to him when he came of age. I had to do this, not for me but for him. I had to learn to be a proper regent until he was of age. I couldn''t fail him by letting his villages collapse or be taken away. By the Endless One''s shiny bald head, I had to do this.

    '' wonder if the Endless one had a bald head. Did he have a head?

    Marcus

    The beating of my heart quieted as the door shut behind us, and I was not too proud to admit it was fear. Who wouldn''t be afraid, facing the knowledge that they were about to die? A new emotion started to grow within me. Rage. I rounded on my foolish sister. She was sitting on their bed with her head in her hands. I grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. I pulled her into my room and slammed the door. I slapped her hard across the face and shoved her down. "You moron! All you had to do was stay quiet. We were almost out of here, and now he will kill us all."

    She mumbled something under her breath. I snapped. I could not contain the anger I felt towards my worthless sister. I kicked her in the stomach. "Don''t you dare talk back to me!"

    Just then, my mother walked in, "What are you doing?" She gasped.

    "Trying to teach this idiot to keep her mouth shut, even though it''s too late. We''re all dead."

    "But he said-"

    "Mother, are you as much a fool as her?" I said, pointing to my sister, "He was obviously lying. He is a cruel monster. Nothing has changed except for the fact that he has become more crafty. Trust me, he is just trying to keep us calm, give us hope before he destroys it."

    "I hope he does kill me," Carrie muttered.

    "You-"

    "That is enough, Marcus. I may not be your father, but you will respect me," my mother said firmly.

    I stayed quiet, not out of respect but because I wanted to hear what she had to say.

    "How did Lord Amos find out?"

    "Isn''t it obvious, she-"my mother held up her hand, interrupting me. I ground my teeth.

    "He already knew," Carrie said.

    "What? How?" I shouted.

    "He saw Father putting something into the cups."

    "I knew you were delusional. You kept saying Father had you do it, but you were as surprised as I was when speaking with Father."

    "I thought¡­"

    "You thought Father would entrust you with something like that." I scoffed, "So he was just toying with us, waiting for us to confess. He knew you were the weakest and just waited for you to snap. We should have run."

    "He hates me," Carrie said as she started to cry.

    "So what if he hates you? He''s a monster."

    "Not, Lord Amos." My mother said.

    "Hyrum," I snorted in disgust. "He never loved you. He just wanted someone to have his way with. If he really loved you, he could help you escape. Instead, he is loyal to that monster, guarding our door like the faithful dog he is. Trust me. He won''t shed a tear as we hang."

    I slapped my sister again, not even caring about my mother''s protests. She was as stupid as my sister.

 Chapter 23

    Captian Draves

    That fool of a boy was going to get himself killed. He was just another Chosen who would die for his ideals.

    I almost ran into Marsh as I exited the front door to the manor. She jumped back and looked at me in surprise.

    "Sorry, Marsh," I grumbled as I stepped through the door to pass her.

    "What is wrong, Charles?" She asked with concern.

    I wasn''t surprised she could see through my mask. She always did. "That boy is going to get himself killed."

    "Lord Amos?"

    "He isn''t fit to be Baron. Why would the Endless One choose him?"

    "Maybe because he isn''t fit to be baron," She smiled.

    "Marsh, this isn''t funny. I am serious when I say he is going to get himself killed. He has strange ideals that others will take advantage of."

    "He is seventeen. What seventeen-year-old doesn''t have strange ideals? On top of that he has had no one to guide him. Personally, I am glad he is not like his father or brother. If you are concerned, then help him change."

    "I am trying. He won''t listen." I said while straining to keep my composure.

    "Why won''t he listen?"

    "I don''t know?" I said, my frustration leaking out.

    "Then maybe you should find out. Seems to me like you can''t fix a problem if you don''t know what it is."

    I wanted to snap back, but then I remembered what Amos had said. I was so frustrated at the time I hadn''t really been listening. He said he didn''t want to kill anyone else. He had killed someone before. I knew soldiers that only lasted one battle before they gave up the sword. This wasn''t a battle, though. This was justice. Who had he killed that robbed him of his ability to perform his duty?

    "Thank you, Marsh. I will try and help the boy."

    Amos

    I sat on my chair for a long time. The year before I exited my last life, I had tried to expand my business. Instead of just posting my work on the internet and hoping to pick up gigs, I wanted to have a team of people. Do large-scale CGI projects. Maybe even be part of making a full-length movie. I hired two guys to help with the work and one person to work on sales. I grew close to the guys. We did two jobs together before things fell apart. Parker, our sales guy, ended up dipping into the petty cash for personal reasons. It wasn''t much, but it was a betrayal. I spent nights worrying about how to confront him. I didn''t want to fire him. I knew he needed the job. He had a young family, and the economy was tough. Then I found out he was changing the contracts and pocketing a percentage. Splitting it with the purchaser for the third job. I could have prevented this by tackling the problem early and letting him go. Now, I had to confront him. I had to let him go, and I still spent all night worrying about his family. That is when I realized I could never be a proper business owner. I had trouble making the hard decisions.

    I sat in the chair feeling even worse about this latest betrayal of my trust. And this one was so much more serious. I should not feel bad for what I was about to do. I should be furious. They had done this to themselves. According to the law, I could do whatever I wanted to them. Even kill them. And here I was, worried about what would happen to them when they left.

    I don''t know how long it was before the captain came back. But I was so deep in thought I didn''t hear him enter. It wasn''t until he was almost to me that I registered that someone was in the room, and I looked up. Man, if someone had been trying to assassinate me, I wouldn''t have even known they were there until the knife was in my chest. And now we knew someone wanted me dead. I needed to be vigilant.

    "My Lord, the priest is believed to be in Melnon. I sent a runner to bring him back. I don''t think we will have him here before it is time for the evening meal. I would like to go in and interrogate the family to find out where any money may be hidden and see if we can find anything out about who might be behind the plot to assassinate you.

    I snapped back to reality and slapped my forehead. That was so obvious I can''t believe we hadn''t already been doing that. "Sorry, Captain, I should have already asked you to do that. I just¡­"

    "I have been thinking since I left. I apologize for my earlier frankness. It''s a job you didn''t expect to have. You were not trained as a noble, so you are doing what you can. In most things, I think you are doing a fine job. We will, however, want to get a steward as soon as possible. Managing the staff and reviewing all reports personally is not something a lord does."

    "Then what should I be doing?"

    "Well, much of Lord Aaron''s time was spent training and hunting in the forest."

    "Is that what is expected of a lord, or was that just what Lord Aaron liked to do?"

    "Both. Lords are expected to have training in the defense of their land, especially since nobles may be challenged to a duel of honor if they cause offense. Sometimes, though, it is overlooked. I recommend a lot of training or getting someone to teach you all the niceties of court etiquette."

    "Not to get off topic, but where does etiquette training come from?"

    "Your mother taught it to you, or rather the former you, but Lord Amos tried to be the exact opposite of his brother. Hence, even if Amos were still here, I doubt he would have survived in court. In some noble houses, the child''s governess is responsible for the education of the child."

    "So if I got a governess for Aaron, I could learn from her. I would just need to find a governess crazy enough to move out here."

    "If you had enough money, anyone would. You say that your new parchment will be successful. Maybe that will be the key."

    "Have you ever seen the paper?" I asked.

    "No, my lord, I have not."

    "Let''s go check it out. I need a distraction," I said, hopping up and hurrying out of the room.

    The stack of paper had grown, and more was laid out in its place. When did Emily have time? Oh well. Those girls were doing great. I handed Draves a sheet, and he inspected it. He held it up, bent it, and nodded. "I had my doubts when you first started this project, but I believe this will sell well."

    Then, I realized something that I had not yet done. I grabbed a piece of paper and started to fold it. I will let you know that being a bedbound patient in a hospital whose drawings did not always turn out to my liking made me an excellent paper airplane maker. What else are you supposed to do with failed drawings? Crumple them up? What a waste. So, I quickly made a paper airplane and tossed it across the room. It flew beautifully straight, hitting the far wall and crumpling the nose. I got the rare look of surprise from Draves. He walked over and picked up the plane. Turning it every which way in his hands.

    "Where did you come up with this?" He said.

    "It is something from where I lived before. Paper will become so cheap in the future that every kid will be able to afford paper and make these. Give it a try," I said with a smile.

    His did not go as straight as mine and ended up on the ground after a few feet. "I should have had you straighten the nose first. Don''t worry, it takes practice," I said. Then I had a thought, "Let''s go down to the village. The kids will love to try this."

    "You''re going to let the kids in the village play with paper?" He said.

    "I told you, Draves. This will become a cheap commodity. Now come on, captain. I can''t wait to see the look on the kids'' faces."

    We made it down to the village, where the younger children were playing ball again while the older ones were doing chores. I gave a high-pitched whistle as loudly as I could, interrupting the game and getting all the kids'' attention as well as the nearby adults''. I then gently threw the plane further down the road. It flew smoothly for a good distance before gliding to the ground. I heard a few gasps and some excited shouts from the children. I walked over and picked up the plane. Holding it up high, I asked who wanted to try. There was a stunted silence for a moment before a few of the brave ones started moving forward. Suddenly, the dam burst, and all the children came rushing over.

    I had them stand in line, and for the next twenty minutes, I taught them how to throw the airplane properly. The kid at the front of the line would throw the airplane, retrieve it, and bring it back to the next kid. The adults nearby slowly made their way over, and although I encouraged them to try, only a few accepted the offer. At one point, I saw Mathew sitting nearby and made a note to myself to make Jacklyn one to bring home to him.

    After a while, I explained to the kids that it would eventually wear out, and when it did, I would make them a new one. I had already straightened the nose a few times. After we finished with the children, I decided to visit Mikel. When we arrived, I was actually surprised to find him gone. His wife said he was out in the fields trying out the new plow. Without me! Draves and I rushed to the nearest field as fast as we could. Unfortunately, I found out it was not the near field they were trying it out on. That made sense since the nearest ones had already been plowed. As I approached, I saw Mikel and Jorb there talking. A group of farmers were out in the field studying the plow as it moved along. Halfway through the furrow, the farmers switched. I almost laughed as I realized the farmers were taking a turn with the new plow as it trailed behind the ox.

    I moved up behind the two men at the edge of the field and shouted, "Caught''cha!"

    Both men jumped.

    "Using the plow without even waiting for me. I see how it is."

    "My lord, we um¡­ you see, we did go up to the manor, but they said you were busy. We decided to test it and let you know." Mikel said

    I held up my hand. "It''s alright. I am glad you took the initiative. If everybody waited around for my permission. Nothing would ever get done. So how is it working out?"

    "It looks fine, but the farmers would know more," Jorb said.

    "Captain, call over the farmers who are just standing around. I want their opinion."

    He nodded and gathered the farmers back to me. "So what is your assessment, men?"

    "It is wonderful, my lord!"

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    "You are a genius!"

    The compliments kept coming, and I felt really good until I noticed one guy standing off to the side. "You, what is your name?" I said, pointing to the young man.

    "Me, My Lord?" the young man said nervously.

    I nodded, and suddenly, everyone was nervous.

    "Jonathan, my lord."

    "Well, John, you have a different opinion than the rest of these men. I would like to hear it." I said encouragingly. At least, I thought I had said it encouragingly.

    "I am sorry I did not praise your glorious invention, My Lord. It is, of course, magnificent, and there is no way to improve upon it."

    "Ha! You all already figured out a way to make a change that might improve it. Great, tell me what it is."

    "But, My Lord, I said¡­"

    "Oh, do shut up, John. If I wanted to have smoke blown up my butt, I would go find myself a courtier. I want you all to tell me what would make this better. You are the farmers, not me."

    Another farmer spoke up, "My Lord, it truly is a marvelous invention. It cuts deeper than the standard plow, and the way it churns the soil is excellent. It also only needs one pass to make a furrow, which means we can cut the plowing time by half."

    "Again, thank you, but how can we improve it."

    "Well, the wing plow ¡ªthat''s what we are calling it, My Lord. You may name it whatever you want. Anyways, if we made it just a bit narrower and put a straight blade in front, it might cause it to cut through the dirt better."

    "A blade in front?"

    "Yes, you see, we were thinking, what if there was a thin blade that went before the plow to make a cut in the dirt? It might make it easier to churn."

    "Would that make it faster?"

    "We were thinking it would make it easier to pull, My Lord. The oxen can only go so fast."

    "Why not use horses? Can''t they go faster?"

    "Normally, horses are faster, My Lord, but with the heavier load, the harness chokes the horses. Also, their hooves become damaged quicker in the soft soil even with the leather shoes."

    There were two things in what he said that didn''t make sense. First, the harness. I looked at the oxen and saw the harness they were using. It wasn''t like the harness I had seen horses use. Did they use similar ones for horses? When Nate and I were younger, we used to go to Grandpa Griffin''s house, and he had a whole bunch of farm stuff decorating his house. One of the things he had on his garage wall was a horse harness. It was circular and had two knobs up top. The only reason I really remembered what it looked like was that we had managed to get the heavy thing off the wall. Each of us was trying to outdo the other by seeing how long we could hang it around our necks without collapsing to the ground. I had him pose while I drew a cartoon picture of him wearing the horse harness. I gave him a horse''s body, of course. I found the picture tucked away in his stuff after he died. I will never forget that horse harness. And maybe that type of harness made all the difference.

    The second was the mention of the leather shoes. I had seen the boots they tied around the horse hooves but thought they were ornamental. What if¡­

    "Why not use metal horseshoes?"

    Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "Beg''n your pardon, My Lord, but I believe they might be too heavy."

    They didn''t have horseshoes? What type of crazy medieval world was I living in? I thought all blacksmiths made horseshoes. That was like the signature theme of what a blacksmith did, right?

    "Horseshoes only go on the bottom of the horse''s feet and are nailed into the hoof. I have some pictures to draw when I get back to the manor. Jorb, figure out with these guys what they need to get that blade attached. Also, you two gentlemen are going to start needing to make as many of these plows as we can. Get the other carpenters and blacksmiths involved. We are running out of time to get things planted. Even if we can get four more of these, that would be great. Congratulations on inventing the Jorb-Mikel plow, guys. Your invention will change the world."

    "But, My Lord, it was your idea," Jorb said.

    "Well, I certainly couldn''t have made it. I am already famous for being a baron. It is much better if you two are the creators. That is what we will tell the history books. Jorb, your family is going to be doubly famous with your daughter helping to invent paper."

    "But¡­"

    "No arguments. I will be writing a history of this barony, not you. So even if you go around telling everyone it was all me, they will just think you were trying to earn my favor. Trust me, nobody would believe that a baron would give credit to a freeman if it actually belonged to himself." I seriously wanted to stick my tongue out to emphasize the point but restrained myself.

    Let''s go back to the manor. Walking through town, I saw the kids still playing with the paper airplane. Some had left, and some new ones had joined, but they were still taking turns. It looked like it had turned into a contest with lines drawn in the dirt. I was in a hurry to get back and draw out my horse harness and the shoes.

    With the Bicman pen and nice paper, things went a lot better. I even grabbed a piece of charcoal and started to shade the harness, getting several views at different angles. The horseshoes again were drawn from different perspectives, as well as a close-up of one of them attached to the underside of a hoof. When I was finished, I called for the captain to have the designs run down to Mikel and Jorb. Mikel, for his part, would have to get with our leatherworker. What was his name? Dang, I forgot. I would have to ask.

    The captain came in with the priest on his heels. I greeted them both and explained to the captain what I needed. He left to go find someone to run the errand. "So, I suppose you have heard the news?" I asked the priest.

    "Both the gossip and the truth." He said with a smile.

    "Gossip."

    "You can''t lock up three people in their rooms with a guard posted at their door and not have gossip exploding from everyone''s mouths."

    "What''s the gossip?" I asked.

    "Too numerous. Some are close to the truth. Spying, theft, and murder."

    "They are not accused of murder," I said sharply.

    "I didn''t say they were, at least not by you. But the other things are more radical. You got Carrie pregnant. You got Patricia pregnant. Incest. Why do those always get added to the mix? Anyways, worshiping evil spirits. Summoning evil spirits. The captain briefed me on the version you will be telling of the events¡ªor rather me. Don''t worry; I have them written down."

    He showed me, and everything looked good. I made some slight modifications to the wording, but after that, I said, "Would you like to join me for dinner, priest?"

    "Certainly."

    We went to the dining hall, where food was placed before me: Ham, boiled eggs, bread, and cheese. I took a look at the food and pushed it away. I couldn''t think about eating right now. After dinner, I would have to pronounce judgment. Unfortunately, as soon as I pushed my food away, it was taken as a cue. A kitchen help came and picked up my food, and the priest started shoveling his down as fast as he could. Oops. "Please save that plate. I may want something later." The lady nodded and walked back to the kitchen. Soon tables started being moved to the side while the benches were rearranged. People from the village started coming in, and I even saw some from Melnon. Apparently, the hurried departure of the priest had not gone unnoticed, and people were eager for gossip.

    Finally, the family was brought in, escorted by two guards. Hyrum was not one of them. He stood at the back of the room. I stayed seated as the family knelt before me. The priest stepped forward. "Patricia Steward, Carrie Steward, and Marcus Steward, you are brought before the lord accused of wilfully withholding information about the plot against the House of Bicman. Your husband and father was a spy and a thief. The sum of six golden crowns, twenty-one half crowns, eighteen silver crowns, and one hundred and fifty-nine copper pennies. These were found in various hiding places in the study." This actually caused the family''s eyes to go wide. Marcus looked angry. And why not? His father had confessed to murder but not told them of the hidden wealth. I was surprised as well.

    "Although your father received a salary and may have saved some money, this does not account for the wealth stored in the secret compartments. According to your own testimony, your father was receiving bribes and shaving small amounts of money off the already meager income of this barony. Although your guilt is clear, the Baron has asked that I graciously allow you to speak in defense of your actions and Ronald''s actions. Do you have anything to say?

    All three kept their heads down and said nothing. And after it was clear they had nothing to say, he turned to me. "My Lord, the charges have been read. They have not refuted the claims. You may now pass judgment."

    "It grieves me to see the lives of any of the people I have responsibility for be destroyed, especially due to the greed of another. Through an examination of events, we have concluded that you all knew nothing of the spying on the house until Ronald was dying. You are hereby exempt from the charge of spying on the House of Bicman. However, Patrica, you are a conspirator in the theft of money from the barony. Marcus, you are also found to have foreknowledge of the theft. Carrie, it appears that your only crime was to have been born into a family of thieves, as your family did not trust you with their secret betrayal. As ridiculous as it seems to me, this is also justification under the law for me to execute you along with your family.

    "I am a man who believes in justice. Without justice, we become a lawless society. Therefore, a punishment must be given. Many nobles would use this as an excuse to kill your family and set an example to  other would-be thieves. Nevertheless, I believe that punishment must fit the crime but not exceed it. So your lives will be spared. Patricia, for your crimes, you will be stripped of your status as a freeman and be branded a serf and sold; Marcus, your sentence is likewise to that effect.

    "Carrie, you found out about this information upon your father''s death, and although you may have withheld the information out of fear, your guilt persuaded you to confess the crimes of your family to me personally. So, for the crime of withholding the information, you are branded as a serf, and for the service to the House of Bicman, I elevate you to the status of a peasant. Although you will not be sold, I will move you to a different barony as is proper Unless someone is willing to vouch for your character and take you into their home."

    I paused and waited. I looked around the room, meeting Hyrum''s eyes for any indication that he had forgiven her. His face was as hard as the captain''s. It hurt to see the normally cheerful man in so much pain that he had to hide it behind a mask.

    "Please, My Lord, do not do this to my daughter!"

    What the heck? Did she seriously want her daughter to be a serf rather than a peasant?

    "You speak out of turn, woman. Be silent!" a guard said, "How dare you interrupt His Lordship after the mercy he has bestowed upon you."

    A murmur began to run through the crowd, and I raised my hand to silence them before things got out of hand. "Explain yourself, Patricia."

    "My Lord, I know you are doing this for my daughter out of the kindness of your heart. You are the most merciful lord this kingdom has ever had. I fear that if you send her away without anyone to protect her, she will be raped, robbed, and possibly murdered." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the captain nod and also saw Hyrum stiffen across the room. "Knowing your magnanimous character, My Lord, you may be tempted to give her money to help her, but it will do nothing but make her fate worse as she will be a target for theft and abuse. You are the only man I would trust to protect her. Any other baron would not even bat an eye for the welfare of his peasants and serfs. Please do not abandon her in another barony."

    "Do you not think it would be difficult for her to stay here? Don''t you worry that she will be mistreated for the crimes of your husband against the barony?"

    "You will protect her against any reprisal. Your people will follow your lead in how she is treated."

    She was right, of course. How could I abandon Carrie in another barony? I''m sure I would have thought of this as I was about to send her packing. At least, I hope I would. I sat there for a minute, gathering my thoughts. Looking over the audience, my eyes met with the widow Maggie, the area''s medicine woman. More like an herbalist/midwife, in my opinion. She was in her late thirties and had been barren her entire life. Not able to bear children, the healer at Decmoore who had married her abandoned her. She wandered to Alfer, where my father heard of her and employed her. An idea struck me.

    "Carrie, the widow Maggie will take you in and train you in her duties. Maggie will be paid for her time training you."

    Maggie, who had been starting to frown, suddenly smoothed out her expression.

    "You will do everything she asks and more or be banished from the barony. You will attend schooling here, and when I feel your education is adequate, you will repay me by writing down what Maggie has taught you."

    "Patricia, you and your son will be confined to your rooms, and a guard will be posted outside. You will be allowed to leave your room but only under guard. This is my decree." I stood and exited the hall.

    Going to my room, I sat down in my chair and pulled out a piece of paper. I began to write down my feelings. I found this exercise on a stress management blog. It helped me to relieve all the built-up tension I was feeling. I wrote down the events of the day, both the discovery of the betrayal and the moral dilemma of what to sentence the family with. I wrote a page talking about the lies I concocted to save the family. That page I burned as soon as I wrote it. I needed to get it out, but I didn''t need any incriminating evidence. I even wrote about the successes of the day. The fun of making a paper airplane and teaching the kids to use it. The plow and how amazingly it worked. Then, the sentencing of the family. Even with this, I felt it was going to be a long, sleepless night.

 Chapter 24

    Surprisingly, I had slept that night. It was the end goal of all my dealings yesterday. What would allow me to sleep at night? If I had been too lenient and not allowed justice to do its job of maintaining order I would have spent most nights worrying over my weakness. If I had condemned them to death, I am not sure if I would ever have slept again. As it was, the rest I did get was not peaceful, but it was enough. Or it would have been if it wasn''t for that blasted kayver. Did they have to screech like that every morning?

    It was later than I usually woke, but I still decided to follow my same morning routine. After breakfast, I went to the study. I no longer had Marcus to do the work. Now, I had to take on the role of Steward of the House of Bicman. Entering the study, I looked around and gave a deep sigh. I had no idea where to start. The first thing I noticed was that things were not orderly like Marcus had them; the bookshelf was moved, and all the books and scrolls were in stacks on the floor. The table was moved as well. I saw that there were a few compartments that were now visible on the stone floor. Also, there is one under the table where one of the legs used to rest. Well, I guess that was where they found all the money. They probably also searched the rooms of the steward''s family. If the family had a huge sum of money this whole time, why didn''t they leave earlier? They were Freeman. Maybe they thought that leaving would look suspicious. That is something I could ask them. I had a feeling I was going to have more unpleasant conversations with the family.

    I went over to the table and looked at the papers on it. The top one was a letter from the Cofi Headman confirming their appointment today at noon for the Judgement. Crap! I had forgotten about that whole thing. On top of that, the judgment was today. I had no idea how to conduct this whole thing. I rushed out of the room to go find Draves. As I turned the corner to exit the family wing, I came face to face with a group of people in peasant garb. One wore the official sash of a headman. There were two wearing the Bicman guard uniform. All of them bowed to me as I stopped.

    "Ah¡­ Um¡­ Welcome to my manor, Headman Jeffery," I said awkwardly. I am so glad he had put his name on the letter. All of them looked extremely nervous upon seeing me. I tried to give a reassuring smile. "I was on my way to find Captain Draves, so if you would like to join me in my search for the captain, we can get to know each other. The rest of you may take a seat in the great hall."

    As the small group of two soldiers and seven others split off and entered the hall, we walked out the main doors and went to find the captain. As we were exiting the manor house, however, Draves was already on his way in with Lou, another one of his guards. "Excellent, Captain. We were just on our way to retrieve you."

    I strode confidently back into the room¡ªat least I faked it. I had no idea how to handle judging these people. I didn''t even watch those TV judge shows with my mom. Captain Draves and I made our way to my chair while the others sat on benches. Before I sat down, I turned to Draves and whispered my doubts, "I have no idea how to handle this."

    "I know," He said solemnly.

    "So what do I say."

    "Greet them and then ask them to speak. Your father was always quick and to the point. He never greeted anyone."

    "Welcome to Bicman Hall. Headman Jeffery, please introduce the case."

    It was evident that he was surprised by this. I can imagine my father just asking for the accusation from the aggrieved party. He got himself together quickly, though.

    "My Lord, I have brought one of your peasants, Mary of Cofi. She has accused Bernum, a freeman of Cofi, of stealing her meat pies. My Lord, may I say that Bernum has always been an upstanding Citizen."

    "Thank you, Jeffery; before I get your assessment, I would like to hear both the accusation and the defense." I looked at Mary and said, "Mary, please tell me why you are accusing Barnum."

    "My Lord, I am the widow of your late peasant, Michael of Cofi. Part of how I support my family is by making meat pies and trading them for things we need. Barnum was seen trading my pies with other members of the community after I had four of my pies stolen. My friend Marie said she saw Bernum giving a meat pie to Arthur the very day mine went missing."

    "Bernum, what is your defense against this accusation?"

    "My defense?"

    "Yes, why did you steal the pies?" I hoped to trip him up by accusing him.

    He looked down and then back up and said, "I didn''t take any pies from your peasant, My Lord."

    "Then where did you get the pies?" I said.

    "My wife made them."

    "That''s a lie. Your wife doesn''t know how to make meat pies."

    I was about to tell her to be quiet when Barnum spoke up. "Silence, woman. How dare you speak ill of my wife in the presence of the lord," Then he went to one knee, "Your lordship, I request that you punish this woman for speaking that way about my wife."

    "Mary, you have spoken out of turn, and if you do so again, I will have to punish you," I said, trying to seem stern. This caused her to collapse to her knees and bow her head. Now I felt bad. I had to continue, though, and uncover the truth. I asked another question to the now satisfied Barnum. "Does your wife know how to cook meat pies?"

    "Of course, My Lord," Barnum said more hesitantly.

    "Mary, did your friend really see Barnum giving a meat pie to Arthur or did she only see him give something to Arthur? Was she close enough to see what it was?"

    "My Lord, forgive me." She practically wept, "It is what she told me."

    "And what did you do when you found out?"

    "I accused him of taking my pies."

    "And what was his response?"

    "He said that he did not, and a peasant should not accuse a freeman of such things."

    I was starting to really not like this guy, but I had to be fair.

    "Have the witnesses been brought?" I asked Jeffery, looking at the remaining few people in the party.

    "The who?" He asked.

    "I would like to hear from witnesses, people who can vouch for either side of the story. I would like to hear from people other than the plaintiff and defendant."

    The head man looked utterly confused. At first, I was upset. How was I supposed to figure this out without more information? Then it dawned on me. This actually might work out in my favor. If they didn''t think to bring witnesses, then nobody prepped them on what to say.

    "I will have one of my guards travel to Cofi and interrogate Arthur, Marie, and Barnum''s wife. To Barnum''s wife, he will ask if she makes meat pies for him. To Arthur, he will ask if Barnum shared one of his wife''s meat pies, and to Mary, he shall ask if she could, in fact, identify the gift as a pie. I will figure out if the pie was, in fact, one that Barnum''s wife made. Do both of you know what will happen if you are caught lying to a noble?" Both of them looked at me, eyes wide. "Good, so let''s be honest from this point forward. Now, do I need to go through all the trouble of having a soldier go to Cofi to investigate, or perhaps do one of you want to make an amendment to your statement?"

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    Barnum''s face turned white, and he looked uneasily at Jeffery. He was about to say something. But Jeffery''s face turned a slight shade of pink, and he growled something at the frightened Mary.

    "Headman Jeffery, do not threaten her. I may come to the conclusion that you are favoring one side over the other. Justice is no respecter of status."

    "I did take the pies, My Lord. If I had known she was going to make such a big fuss over it, to the point she would waste all of our time, I wouldn''t have done it. I am sorry you had to be disturbed by this woman''s whining. I have brought you some of my finest cider for your inconvenience." Barnum said, trying to smooth things over.

    What to do here? He was trying to bribe me. Should I lash him? "Captain, are there laws regarding trying to bribe a nobleman?" I said for all to hear.

    "There is no redress for a peasant, such as Mary, if you feel the cider is sufficient compensation, My Lord."

    "So our laws are left up for my interpretation? Just great," I grumbled under my breath. I needed to create hard-coded laws. I couldn''t punish the guy for trying to bribe me when bribes were standard.

    "What is the punishment for theft?" I said.

    "Ten lashings for a first offense."

    "And for lying to a noble?"

    "It is up to the interpretation of your lordship. As this is a court, your father would usually behead the man."

    Barnum fell to his knees and started to blubber, but I ignored him. Thinking for a moment about what to say next, I turned to Jeffery.

    "Headman Jeffery, did you know of this crime? Answer carefully, as there will be an investigation. I would hate to have to hang two men for lying today."

    "My Lord," He said, falling to his knees, "I did not ask. I just assumed that you would not care if a freeman took a few pies even if it was true."

    "Headman, know this," I said firmly, "I will defend each of my citizens no matter their status. If you had committed a crime against a freeman, I would punish you. If a nobleman committed a crime against you, I would defend you. As a Headman, you have the responsibility of keeping the peace over the village of Cofi. When you ignore your responsibilities, it is not only a stain on your character but also reflects poorly on me. For this offense, I will give you a warning, but if I find that you are mismanaging the village of Cofi, you will be stripped of your title and reduced to the rank of a common peasant. Do I make myself clear?"

    "Yes, My Lord." he gulped

    Looking at the man weeping on the floor. I sighed. The law says I should kill him. If I don''t, I will come across as a weak baron. Rumors would spread that I could be taken advantage of. I couldn''t kill him. It churned my stomach and made me want to vomit thinking of this man hanging on a rope. I had an idea I hoped would work. "As for you, Barnum, I believe your status has blinded you to the suffering of others. You are to turn in your status papers. I will issue papers signifying you have been reduced to the status of a peasant. I will not submit the redaction of your title of freeman to the dukedom, but I will hold your papers for five years. If you commit no further crimes, then in five years, you will be given the papers back. If, however, there are more complaints about your actions, I will hang you for your crimes. Secondly, you are to pay Mary twice the price of the pies as well as give her the jug of wine you tried to bribe me with. Always remember you have been shown mercy when you should have been hanged."

    "Yes, My Lord." he choked out.

    "Mary, as I understand it you are widowed, is that correct?"

    Yes, My Lord."

    "I need extra help in my household. Would you be willing to help in the kitchen and garden?" I asked, praying she would say yes. I had been racking my brains over how to replace Patricia.

    "My Lord, she said hesitantly," I have three children that would need tending to. I would have to bring them with me."

    "That is acceptable. They will be cared for. Will you take the position?"

    "Yes, My Lord."

    "Excellent, this case is dismissed. "Headman Jeffery, who are these others?"

    "These others are petitioners," he said while still on his knees with his head bowed.

    "Well, stand up and present them."

    Mary sat down on a bench, but Barnum was still too shocked to move. Jeffery presented a young couple to me.

    "My Lord, Amos," the young man said in a shaky voice, "I request permission to marry Jodi."

    This lifted my mood a little. But it also gave me concern.

    "Young man, I would love to approve of this marriage, but I must ask you if you have a way of supporting your young bride."

    "I do," he said more confidently. "I have plowed and seeded 10 acres and assisted my father in his field this spring, and I will be able to increase that next year."

    I could see pride in the eyes of the woman next to him.

    "Do you promise to provide for her and your children for the rest of your days?" I think he was surprised by the question but answered in the affirmative.

    "And do you, young lady, promise to care for and support your husband and future children?"

    She answered in almost a whisper. "Yes?"

    "Then I pronounce you married. Go with my blessing."

    The young man grasped his new bride''s hand and sat back down.

    The next petition was the same, except the young man was a cobbler''s son who had a place already set up in Melnon. That was good to know. I readily approved their marriage.

    The last petitioner was a middle-aged man who immediately fell to his knees. "My Lord, my son has broken his arm while working in the field. I have nothing to give, but I plead that you send the medicine woman and¡­ "here he paused, gathering his courage for some reason. "He has a wife and two children to support, my lord, you see." He licked his lips. Why was he so nervous?

    "I beg you send for a bonesetter," he said in a rush.

    Everyone in the room looked surprised. Even Draves could not hide his shock.

    I called over Draves and whispered in his ear. "What is the deal?"

    "Setters are very expensive. They''re more money than a peasant would ever see at one time. Probably fifty silver pennies." My eyebrows rose in shock.

    "I see," I said softly. Then louder, I said, "Your petition is granted. I will send for a Bonesetter and see whether or not he can help your son. In the meantime, go to the medicine woman on the way out of the village and get what you need. I will pay for it."

    The man began to weep.

    I really wanted to have a "Bonesetter" come anyway so I could pick their brains about what medical knowledge they had. I was no doctor, but I had watched plenty of doctor shows on TV. Even if half of it was fake, it was probably more realistic than whatever the people here practiced. I also watched a few live surgery streams on the internet. I probably couldn''t pull off that heart transplant, though. I watched it since I wasn''t awake for my own. As soon as I thought that, I clamped down on my emotions. I was not going down that depressing road. That event needed to be locked away.

    I need to get out of here. "Since there are no more cases and all judgments have passed, you are all dismissed. You may all pass along the news that some laws will be made clearer in the next few days. Captain Draves, join me in my study."

    The Captain and I went to my study, and I slumped in my chair. "Tell me, captain, how bad did I screw that up."

    "You should have killed that man for lying to you. Others may get the idea that lying to you is okay."

    I sighed, "I know, I just¡­ Draves, I couldn''t do it. I should have, but I couldn''t."

    He just nodded. "Other than that, I found the way that you were able to uncover the truth impressive. In a situation like that, your father would have fined the lady for wasting his time. Even if the man had confessed without trying to lie, he would have accepted the bribe and told the man not to do it again. But, My Lord, why are you sending for a bonesetter? It would be cheaper to give them money to hold them over for a year. You could even probably buy a few more serfs to cover the labor."

    "I want to see the knowledge of this bonesetter. Whenever I talk with people, it helps me remember things that I might be able to use here."

    "People may start expecting you to send for a medic for other things. It may increase petitions?"

    I shrugged my shoulders. "It may. And people will be disappointed, but I''ll do what I can. It''s not as if they''re any worse off if I can''t help them."

    "True."

    "Okay, I am off to play with Aaron for a bit to relax, and then I need to head to my study and get back to work."

    Playing with Aaron was fun. It really took my mind off of the whole trial thing. It also kept me from running away from it all. I really hated most of this stuff. I wanted to take some money and maybe go to the capitol. I could set up an art studio and then paint amazing pictures for nobility.

    I am sure I could make enough money for Aaron and me to be happy. But was it stupid that I wanted to try and hold on to his inheritance for him? I could give my nephew a barony when he grew up. How cool would that be? I looked down at him as he was sitting on the ground, pushing some small blocks of wood around, and smiled. Why did I care about him so much? Why did I want so badly to provide the best life I could for this little kid? He wasn''t my son. He wasn''t even my real nephew. But as I looked at him, I just knew I had to make this work. I would make this work.

 Chapter 25

    I was experiencing d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Again, I entered the office completely overwhelmed but with a firm conviction that I would make this work. I started sorting through all the parchment and Birch bark in the study and what I gathered from the various rooms. They are organized by category and then by date. It was a slog. Letters to my father, brother, mother, and even grandmother. What did it say about me that I couldn''t find a single letter addressed to me in my room or the study? There were various tax records, production records, and supply counts. I left the personal letters alone and dug into the records.

    I thought it would distract me from my problems, but it made things so much worse. I found out the true state of our affairs by using all the records we had, speaking with the farmers, and forcing Marcus to explain things to me.

    Bicman fields produced about three and a half bushels per acre. About two bushels of that was used for reseeding. Because the Bicman village consisted mainly of serfs, all of the remaining belonged to me. I had to use it to feed my serfs while budgeting for taxes. The other villages had a 20% tax on all goods produced after seeding. The fields of Cofi and Kerisi produced about four bushels per acre. Our small amount of iron and chalk exports helped to subsidize our taxes. We couldn''t keep much livestock due to feeding issues, and I was seriously considering selling off most of my family''s horses so we didn''t have to feed them. My serfs worked all day long with very little return. I averaged it out to be them getting 1.2 bushels per acre after taxes. After the grain consumption, a family would be left with about six to eight bushels to trade for other needs. That was about twenty-four silver pennies in the poorer farms and up to eighty in Cofi and Kerisi. Not that peasants would see many coins in their lives. Everything out here on the edge of civilization was done as barter.

    I also figured out the monetary values. One gold crown was equal to five half-gold crowns or ten silver crowns. A silver penny was a little smaller than a silver crown and had copper in it, which made its value one-tenth of a silver crown. A copper was pure copper and was the largest size coin. It was a tenth of a silver penny. A penny was made of copper and tin, and one hundred copper pennies equaled one silver penny.

    This put into perspective that I have given Jorb a third of the total amount we paid in taxes every year. It also put into perspective how much the old steward had squirreled away, over a year''s worth of taxes. Some was probably his savings, but I wondered how much was paid by some outside source. This was ridiculous. Well, now it was the Barony''s. It would be a good buffer, but If I could get more animals to pull the plows, then next year might be a very good year for us.

    My father had somehow managed to scrounge enough money together to build a watermill and bribe a miller to come to live here. This allowed the women in the village to spend less time thrashing and hand-grinding the grain. Instead, they planted bigger gardens to supplement their diet. Of course, my father''s investment was not altruistic. He was able to pay off more taxes with flour than raw grain. I got to meet the miller at that time, and he seemed to be a nice enough fellow. He had his own land that he worked with his children, and for his pay, rather than getting anything monetary, he was exempt from taxes. That was good because, with how poor the land was, my people couldn''t afford to sacrifice any of their grain to pay for the grinding. However, the miller made money off the peasants, whom I didn''t have to feed or clothe. Overall, the miller had it pretty good if you took out the fact that he had to live in a backwater barony. As I looked at the mill, I wondered if we could extend the shaft of the waterwheel to another building. Part of my history of steel videos talked about how the ancient Chinese used the waterwheel to power trip hammers and bellows to smelt iron. Well, they were the first to do it, at least. If we had a trip hammer, I bet Jorb would be able to cut down the time it took to make the plow heads by a lot.

    I spent three days trying to sort things out, and by the end, I was so depressed by the numbers that I just wanted to curl up in my bed and cry. I had no solution as to how to make these people''s lives better. Sure, I had ideas, but what did I know? Were they really going to work? Would more animals to plow really work, or would we just have more animals to feed?

    At the same time I was doing all this, I reworked their number system to include zero. And it wasn''t as simple as just adding a zero. When I say I reworked it, I mean I really had to rework it. I couldn''t wait for Samuel to finish my abacus.

    A soft knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. "You may enter," I said with a sigh.

    Emily came over with a stack of paper. "Are you ready for dinner?" she said as she set down the sheets. These were thicker and about the size of children''s flashcards¡ªactually, that is exactly what they would become. I was making sight word flash cards for the students. We had five students now, and they were all at the point where they knew their ABCs.

    "Is it that time already?" I said while stretching my back.

    Emily leaned over the table and looked at the papers I had out on it. "What are these pictures?"

    I had taken the time to draw out a few of my ideas. First was the horseshoe. I held it up to her. The paper had a horseshoe by itself and then a close-up of one attached to a horse. She looked at it, confused.

    "How does this stay on the horse''s foot."

    "You pound nails through the holes there and into the hoof."

    "Doesn''t that hurt the horse?!" She said in shocked surprise.

    "Not any more than if you were to put a hole in the white part of your fingernail or toenail. There aren''t any nerves there."

    "What''s a nerve?" she said, pronouncing the odd word that I had spoken in English.

    "A nerve lets us feel things on and in our body. Any time you feel anything, it is because a nerve is being touched. Don''t worry about it. First, we will learn to read and write, and then we will discuss more scientific stuff."

    She held up the picture of the horse collar. It looked like what I remembered a horse collar should be. Another picture showed it on the horse. I had found some charcoal to use for shading so that all the lines weren''t just done in ink. It wasn''t perfect, but I did not doubt that the woodworkers and tanner would make it work.

    "These pictures are amazing. The horse almost looks alive." She said excitedly.

    "Meh, thanks for the compliment. The charcoal was hard to use. I wish I had some graphite pencils with different hardness."

    "Amos, you''re rambling about things I don''t understand," Emily whined.

    I ignored her. "Better yet, a Wacom tablet with a printer."

    "Still rambling."

    "I''m not rambling. I am giving you valuable information."

    "How is that valuable information when I don''t even know what it is?"

    "You''ll know what to get me for my birthday," I said with a smile.

    All I got in response was an arched eyebrow.

    My smile turned into a laugh. Releasing a lot of my pent-up stress. I sat there, chuckling at my own joke and Emily''s reaction. I know it is so nerdy to laugh at my own joke, especially when it is so bad, but I think the stress of trying to make sure over a thousand people survived the year and didn''t starve this winter was making me crack.

    I had the money I had gotten back from the old steward, but I was hoping I wouldn''t have to use it. Suddenly, Emily interrupted my train of thought.

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Um, where did you learn to draw?"

    "When I was younger, I had something called Childhood Leukemia. It was a disease that made me very sick. I spent a couple of years mainly in bed. I didn''t have much to do, so I took art classes online. After I got better, I continued to draw and became¡­ I guess you would call it a merchant who sold his artwork." Unlike some other scars, this one had healed, so I didn''t mind talking about it.

    "I''m sorry." She said, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

    "It''s really OK, Em, it was a long time ago. Thanks for caring."

    We were both silent for a while, and then Emily hesitantly asked a question. "Um, Lord Amos, can you¡­ draw me a picture?" she said, her face turning bright red.

    I smiled, "Sure, grab that chair over there and sit a little closer to the window so I have some light to work with."

    "What do you mean? What are you drawing?" She said as she dragged the chair to the window.

    "You, of course."

    "Me? You can draw me?"

    "Why not? It will look great. Now, I want you to turn your head slightly to the right and don''t move."

    She sat there as stiff as a board.

    "Relax and smile. I promise this won''t hurt."

    She gave a weak smile. "No, a real smile. An, Emily, smile." That seemed to just confuse her.

    "OK, how about this? Think of me with a kayver on my head. Perfect! Hold that smile."

    I started to sketch as best I could. I couldn''t use some of the lines I would normally use to lay out the face because I had no way to erase anything. The whole thing took about half an hour to do. If I had more tools, I would have taken more time and made something really spectacular, but I was pleased with my work all the same. After I was done, I called Emily over, and she just stared at the picture. Tears started to flow down her face.

    "I''ve never had someone cry over my pictures," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

    "It''s¡­ It''s beautiful. It''s better than looking in your polished mirror."

    I stood up and handed it to her. "Well, it is yours. Just don''t touch the ink. I wish I had some sort of lacquer or something to protect it."

    "My name is on it. What are the other words?"

    "It says, Ms. Emily, the first Papermaker."

    She dropped the paper on the table and threw her arms around me. Well, not all the way around me. I was too fat for that, but the hug felt good. Then she started to sob. I awkwardly put my arm around her and patted her head. After sobbing for a minute, she said, "Please don''t leave us. I don''t want you to go."

    "I''m not going anywhere," I said in confusion.

    She was silent for a while, and then softly, she said, "I worry. I worry that one day I will wake up, and the other one will be back."

    Now, it was my turn to be quiet. Finally, I said, "I can''t go anywhere, Em. In the place I came from, I died."

    Her body relaxed a bit. Stepping back and looking up at me, she hesitantly asked, "What happened?"

    The words stuck in my throat. I wanted to wash my hands of it, but I didn''t want her to see me differently. "I don''t really want to talk about it."

    "Sorry," she said, hanging her head.

    I ruffled her hair. "Not your fault, Em. Maybe I will tell you someday. Why don''t we get to dinner?"

    "Can I leave the paper here? I don''t really have a place to put it," she said, a little embarrassed.

    "Put it in the paper room. We could even get a frame for it."

    "What if someone takes it?" She said worriedly.

    "Who would do that? Tell you what. I will get Mikel to make a frame, and you can put it above the fireplace."

    "You can''t put it above the fireplace! I''m a serf."

    "It''s my manor; I can do what I want. Now, let''s go find Draves and get him to have someone run these papers down to Jorb and Mikel. Then we can have dinner and your lessons. Do you have all the sight words memorized?"

    "Yes, I have been practicing with Jackie. She even got Mathew to learn them all." She said proudly.

    "You guys are doing great. I am going to have to start making books soon."

    "What''s a book?" She said, her eyes going wide.

    "Well, it''s like a bunch of sheets of paper sewn together in order to write out a story. But yeah, I think I can make some simple books." I shrugged. I would make some simple picture books that I remember reading when I first started. ''Oh, maybe I can make comic strips. I haven''t done that since the sixth grade,'' I thought.

    As my mind wandered, we meandered around until we came across one of the stable boys, Drake. I asked him if he knew where Draves was, and when he asked what I needed the captain for, I explained that I needed the papers taken to the men in the village. For some reason, Drake blushed and offered to run them down himself. I handed him the papers, and he shot off like a rocket.

    Emily saw my confusion and giggled. "He has had a crush on Jackie for forever."

    "Oh," I said, smiling back, "I guess I know who to send messages to when I need them sent."

    After Drake took off towards the gates, we headed to the great hall for the evening meal. The captain wasn''t there, so again, I ate alone. I ate quickly, and instead of just sitting there waiting for the tables to clear, I made a few sight word cards. Mathew was starting to fall behind the girls a little bit, but they were older than him, so I was OK with that. Yesterday, I had the idea to turn my old room into a public library. I put up some paper with the Alphabet on the wall and started writing out simple stories on sheets of paper. It was basically beginning reader books done as comic strips. See Henry run. See arrow fly. See Henry die. OK, not really. Nothing that morbid, but that was the idea.

    I would have to get tables put in that room and my old bed taken out. I had those men able to do woodwork working on the plows. With the four oxen I had for my fields, I could only really use two since the oxen tired quickly. So, any more would be rented out to the peasants in the other villages. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn''t happen until next year since the other farms had all been planted. I wanted five total made this year. Some for spares. This is why I sent the horse collar and horseshoe idea down to Jorb and Samuel. There was no point in making more just yet.

    By the time the tables were cleared, I had finished six sight word cards. I could have done more, but I wanted them to look nice, so when Jacklyn finally arrived, she couldn''t stop staring at the pictures.

    "So, did Drake get the drawings to your father?" I said off-handedly, looking for her reaction. And I wasn''t disappointed. Her face turned beet red at the mention of Drake. "Hmm, it looks like he isn''t the only one who has a crush."

    If she got any redder, she was going to explode. Emily walked up just then and said, "Lord Amos, stop being mean to Jackie. I did not tell you about Drake so you could tease my friend. Besides, she is so red right now that people in the hall are going to think you are speaking indecently."

    That killed all the fun. "Seriously, you sound just like your grandma. But you''re right, of course. Sorry, Jacklyn. I will have to tease you when all these people are not around."

    "That is not what I meant!" Emily said while stamping her foot.

    I tried not to laugh. I really did. After stifling a few chuckles, I calmed down.

    "Lord Amos, you owe Jackie a picture."

    "What? Why?!"

    "Because you embarrassed her," She said with a glare.

    "Who died and made you baron?" I said, glaring back. She was really becoming like a little sister to me.

    "What does that even mean?"

    "Never mind, it doesn''t matter. You are just looking for an excuse to make me draw another picture." I said in mock annoyance.

    She looked at me with puppy-dog eyes. "Please, Lord Amos, it would be so nice of you," she said, changing tactics.

    I gave a deep sigh. "That''s fine, but we''re doing it after your lesson."

    I could probably draw everyone in this castle without having them sit still. My mom called it my snapshot memory for drawing. It was easier with them sitting, though. It made sure I got every detail right.

    Emily turned to Jacklyn and grabbed her hand. She was beaming as she said, "Jackie, you are going to love it. He drew the most amazing picture of me."

    I just rolled my eyes dramatically. I think Jacklyn was still in shock at the way Emily had conned me into drawing a picture of her. Oh well, I really did love drawing. I would have to find some paint. I could make artwork like the world had never seen.

    "OK, ladies, it looks like the other students are here. Let''s get to work." We had one of the laundry women and Drake join us this time. I had opened the invitation to everyone, but I think people were still nervous about me. Jackie probably invited Drake, and he sat at the table with the girls. I had those two help Drake start working through the Alphabet. And I worked with the other students. We went over the regular time because everyone was at different stages. Some of them left a little earlier because they had work to do.

    After the lesson, I spent the evening working on Jacklyn''s picture. It turned out really well. I had to use a candle to work with, so there were a lot more shadows involved, but it gave it a wonderful look. I am glad the ink was of good quality, but I would have to get more if I continued to use it. I may have to switch completely to charcoal rather than just using it for shading like I was. Overall, I felt the day had gone pretty well.

 Chapter 26

    I have to admit I was proud of myself this morning. Not only did I do my Tai Chi, but I also did a whole set of my seven-minute workout routines. Of course, I had no idea how to measure the thirty-second interval, but I hoped my internal clock was good enough. I decided to forgo my walk. The exercise had taken too much out of me. I think I was going to be paying for this later. After my bath, I got a fresh pair of clothes and my Scarf of Title on and then headed to breakfast.

    Draves was there, and I remembered that I needed to ask him about how to send a letter to the people I had written to. He recommended sending a runner to the town, and then it would travel by caravan.

    "Have you written to Young Aarons''s grandparents?" He asked

    I slapped my forehead. "How am I supposed to remember all this?" I sighed.

    "You need a steward. You are not meant to keep everything in order. You''re responsible for protecting the people and dealing with interactions with other nobles."

    "I don''t know any stewards and don''t know where to look for one."

    "You may also have trouble convincing one to come out this way. A steward is a very enviable position in the homes of nobles and other powerful men. But there would be little prestige in working out here, I''m afraid." Draves said with a slight frown. "Maybe¡­" He became lost in thought.

    I was about to ask him what he was thinking but held my tongue at the last minute. After a moment, Draves looked at me thoughtfully and said, "I know a man who may fit our needs. It isn''t a perfect solution, and I don''t know if he will accept, but I could write to him.

    "It doesn''t seem that you are proposing a man who is a steward. What type of man is he?" I said hesitantly.

    "When I was in the king''s army, I was privileged to meet many different men. James was a Quartermaster in the king''s personal service for his guard. He took his pension when the old king stopped campaigning. With his large pension, James opened three inns run by him and his sons. He has four sons, but they don''t get along. His first three sons managed the individual businesses, and he and his fourth son managed them as a whole entity. When James died, the three brothers parted ways with each other and left the fourth son with nothing. He has been working as a bookkeeper in Kimton for the last five years. His name is Edward. The young man is very organized and detailed in his work. If he still is employed at the same place, I could send him a letter. He may be interested or know someone who is."

    I shrugged my shoulders. "It couldn''t hurt to try. Send him a letter and enough silver to help him get here."

    "That is generous, My Lord, but if we are doing that, we may want to send one of my men with the letter. The men got back with the beans yesterday so that I can spare one or two for the task."

    "I am glad they are back. It''s only a four-day journey to Decmoore. I was beginning to worry."

    "That is your fault, My Lord." The captain said seriously.

    "Wait, my fault? How is it my fault?!" I said in shock.

    "You told them to enjoy themselves with the extra coin before they came back, and there was no rush for them to get back. They got an excellent deal on the beans and had fun with the rest."

    I slapped my forehead. "I guess I need to be careful with what I say. Oh well, your idea is excellent. We could have him take all the letters and expedite this whole mailing problem. I will go write that letter to my brother''s father-in-law. I know it is lying or at least misdirection, but I think I will forgo telling them that it was murder that was the cause of death. I feel bad about doing it, though."

    "It is probably for the best," Draves nodded.

    "Draves, I would like to see the ocean. Is there a way to get through the marsh?"

    "It is twenty miles away, at least. Not even our hunters go that far. Why not head west to the cliffs?

    I sighed.  I had two reasons I wanted to visit the ocean. First, I heard you could make salt from seawater by evaporating it somehow. West of us were the cliffs with no way down, but if we went north, we might find a place suitable to evaporate the water. I am guessing it wasn''t quite as simple as putting it in a pit and letting it evaporate, but I am sure we could find a way. Second,  I had never seen an ocean before.  I wanted to go surfing.  How cool would it be to make the first surfboard!  I loved watching surfboarding competitions on TV. Ok, admittedly that may have been the first reason.

    "I don''t just want to see the ocean; I want to jump into it. I don''t think jumping off fifty-foot cliffs with rocks below them is the way to go about that unless I want to be immortalized in a foolish tale about unrequited love."

    "I know that there are hunters who have gone that far. They say there are game trails through the marsh that will keep you on high ground. We could take horses, my horse, and my brother, to pack supplies. We could probably make it in three or four days.

    "I have to advise against it, My Lord. You are not in the best physical condition, and it is not far from the time when the poisonous snakes will become more active."

    I ignored most of what he said. "Well, we better make the trip quickly before it gets too warm. We can go tomorrow or the next day."

    "You weren''t listening to me, were you, My Lord?" he said, his lips turned down.

    "So I can''t go?"

    Draves took a deep breath and probably wanted to roll his eyes. "No, My Lord, we can go if you can ride your horse around the yard for a few hours a day for the next couple of days. Your body will need to get used to it, and no matter what we do, you will be sore."

    "Let''s go down and see Jorb and Mikel. I want to see if they have made another plow in the last few days."

    "When I was last down there, I saw two out in the fields. They are certainly better than the scratch plows, but they still take time with the oxen."

    "Would horses be faster?"

    "Horses don''t have the endurance of oxen and are more expensive to maintain. They don''t do well with plow harnesses."

    Hopefully, my new harness will help. "Are there any other farm animals that we can use?"

    Draves pondered for a bit. "They have a mule up in Melnon. Again, it has trouble with the harness on heavier loads, but from what I know of them, it is a good balance between endurance and speed."

    That might be a good animal to test the new harness on. "OK, Captain, enough dallying around. Let''s get me on a horse."

    We went to the barn, where I watched Drake saddle my horse. There was something wrong with the saddle, but I didn''t figure it out until they brought out a large step stool to help me get up on the horse. don''t these saddles have stirrups?" I said in an alarmed voice.

    "What is a stirrup, My Lord," Drake asked.

    I noticed that the word didn''t translate. "You have got to be kidding me! What sort of backwater place am I living in? Captain, there should be straps that hang down with loops on the end to help the person stay on the horse."

    "I have never heard of such a thing, My Lord."

    I sighed, "OK, we are postponing my lessons until I get the stirrups drawn up." I headed back inside, grumbling as I went. Seriously, what was wrong with these people? Were they trying to make me break my neck?!

    I did a quick sketch of a stirrup at my table and hurried back to the stable. My horse was still saddled, but Draves had wandered off. Drake was mucking out the stables, so I waved for him to come over. "I need you to go find Draves and tell him I am ready, and then take these sketches down to Jorb. I don''t mind if you take a little time to say hi to Jacklyn while you are down there," I said with a wink.

    At my words, Drake snatched the papers and headed down to see his lady friend. I smiled and waited for Draves. I put my hand on the horse''s neck and ran it down its beautiful black coat. "Well, Mr. Horse, I don''t know your name, but it looks like we will be going on an adventure. Let''s make sure we get along. I have a secret. I''m not the Amos that used to ride you. "I whispered conspiratorially. "I''ve never actually ridden a horse. So, I was wondering if you could kind of go easy on me. Don''t Tell Draves, but I am a little afraid of riding you."

    The horse just looked at me with his big black eyes and gave a whinny. "Are you laughing at me?" I asked the horse sternly. "I am your baron; I demand respect from my subjects."

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    The horse snorted.

    "Fine, I deserved that. I''m not very good at playing the part of a noble. You just remember to keep our secret."

    "My Lord, I assure you that you have nothing to fear with horses. I have told many secrets to my horses throughout the years, and not once has one betrayed my confidence."

    I spun to see Draves standing a few feet behind me. "Dang, Captain, how are you so sneaky?"

    "Practice, My Lord. Let''s see how well you ride." He brought over the stool, and I climbed up into the saddle. It wasn''t easy to get my leg over. Even with the stretching I had been doing, I wasn''t very flexible. From the very start, it felt uncomfortable. Draves started giving me tips on correcting my posture. It felt better on my body, but the uncomfortableness was still there. "How''s that?" I said as he looked me over.

    "Now, I will lead the horse around the pen.

    "You''re not going to give me the reins?" I said. I was a little offended.

    "I will if you insist, My Lord, but I counsel you to let me lead you for a while until you and Blaze get familiar with one another. You don''t seem to have ridden a horse much in your past life.

    "Well¡­ Uh¡­ to tell the truth, I have never ridden a horse before." I said sheepishly.

    "And you wanted to go for an eight-day round trip through the marsh?"

    "I''m sure I can learn quickly," I said defensively.

    ''I''m sure you can, My Lord, but it takes time for the body to get used to riding horses. You would be traveling on horseback for a large portion of the day or at least three days to get to the coast, as well as three days back. I would prefer to lead you around for the first day and, on the second day, let you ride in the corral with instructions. Hopefully, within four to five days, we will be able to have you trained well enough to go through the marsh."

    "Fine, lead on, Captain," I said.

    I will admit. Riding horses sucked. I am so glad I had good cushioning on my butt because this was almost as bad as the carriage. My posture kept slipping, and my legs rubbed uncomfortably on the saddle. After an hour of being led around, I begged the captain to give me a break.

    I got off the horse unsteadily and hobbled over to a bench where I could sit down. I hurt, and I had to admit that Draves was right. I would not last an hour on the trail. Draves could see I was discouraged and came over. "Do not worry, My Lord. It will get better. No one does well on their first time in the saddle.

    "I don''t know if I should have sat down. I might not be able to get up," I said. I stayed sitting there for an hour and then got back on the horse. I was not going to let this beat me¡ªat least, that is what I thought. After another hour in the saddle, I was done for the day. Drake had taken over for the captain once he was sure he wasn''t going to break my neck.

    When I got back to my room, I took a bath to help with the soreness. When that was over, I wrote letters to my nephew''s grandparents. I assured them Aaron was well and that he would be taken care of. I hope I didn''t demand that they raise him instead of keeping him here. It probably would have been better for him, but I would miss the kid.

    I took all the letters I meant to send out. And put them in a stack. I had written to the King, Duke, and Count over my lands, my aunts, and Aaron''s grandparents. I needed to give them to Draves and have him send them out with the letter to his friend''s son. I had increased the amount of paper to thirty sheets for each of my aunts and wrapped them in oiled cloth to prevent the rain from ruining them. These sheets also had the new watermark I had designed for the paper. They looked so good. Emily was so proud that her paper was being sent out of our barony. I decided to have one of the stable hands give them to Draves with a piece of silver to get them over to the mail system in Decmoore.

    I hadn''t been to see Carrie since her family had been locked in their rooms a few days ago. I needed to make sure she and her mother were doing well. I didn''t want them to do anything drastic. I should probably feel concerned about Marcus''s well-being, but I didn''t think he felt any guilt. I know that, according to the law, I should just execute them and be done with it, but I couldn''t do it. Not even to Marcus, who I figured would, given the chance, happily stick a knife in my back.

    I shook my head. And headed to the steward''s quarters first. I could check on Carrie later. Curtis was guarding their door, and I could tell he was bored. I knew we had a prison behind the barracks, but I was trying to make this easier on them and not make them feel like criminals. I also wanted others to see that I didn''t view them as such. The guard standing at the didn''t help the image I was trying to portray of the family, but there wasn''t much I could do about that.

    I knocked on the door and waited for it to be answered. Marcus yanked open the door and glared at me. When he recognized who it was standing across from him, he immediately put his head down and apologized. I ignored his hostile attitude. Curtis entered the room first, and I followed. Looking around, things seemed to be in order. The small room was clean and orderly. Two plates sat on the table with the remains of their last meal on it.

    "I came to inquire after your mother," I said stiffly.

    "She is well but has secluded herself in the other room, My Lord," he said in his normal icy and formal tone.

    "I would like to speak with her," I replied forcefully. This guy was such a jerk; I couldn''t wait to get rid of him.

    His demeanor cracked for just a moment, and he looked uncomfortable. "My Lord, unfortunately, she is not well. It would be best if she rested."

    So, um, that wasn''t suspicious at all

    "You said she was well, and now you say she is unwell. On which point are you lying, Marcus? Curtis, watch the boy."

    I knocked on the door and said, "Patricia, It''s me, Amos."

    ''Dang, I forgot to add my title.''

    "Uh, Lord Amos, I am coming in."

    I heard some shuffling on the other side of the door, "My Lord, wait I¡­" I would have waited a bit to make sure she was decent, but something told me I needed to go in before she could come up with an excuse to refuse me. The room was mostly in shadow. Only a small amount of light came in through the small cloth-covered window. I had noticed that all the windows in this place had windows that would be too small for an adult to fit through.

    ''Must be to deter robbers.'' I thought.

    Patricia stood in the corner where she was enveloped in shadows. Something was definitely wrong. I walked over and pulled back the cloth. "Patrica, come over here, please. Hesitantly, she walked towards the window where I could see her better. Her head was down, but it didn''t hide the bruises on her face or the swollen eye. At first, I just stared in shock, but then my blood began to boil. "Follow me, Patricia," I said firmly.

    "Yes, My Lord," she said meekly as we entered the other room.

    "Curtis, were you aware of this?" I said, trying to control my anger. Curtis''s face left no doubt in my mind that he had no idea what was going on. He looked at Patrica''s bruised face and torn blouse in utter confusion. When things started to click into place for him, he began to look between Patrica and Marcus in disbelief. His eyes turned steely as he started to draw his sword. Marcus''s face turned pale, and he only made it two steps toward the door before Curtis seized him.

    "Marcus," I growled. "I have given you every opportunity to redeem yourself. I have given you the lightest punishment possible for your crimes. I have treated you as a victim of your father''s greed rather than a criminal. And this is how you repay me. I warned you to respect your mother. I am done. Curtis, take him to prison, and there is no need to guard this room anymore. Patricia won''t leave without her family."

    Patricia collapsed to the floor, weeping and pleading for mercy for her vile son. I wanted to comfort her, I really did, but I said nothing. Anything I said right now would not help. I needed to cool my head first. I turned and walked down the hall towards my room. I needed to calm down. Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours. On my way to the room, a messenger intercepted me.

    "My Lord, I have a message for you," he said, handing me a message written on Birch.

    The penmanship was not very legible, but I got the jist of the message. The young man whom I was going to send a bonesetter for had contracted a fever and, according to Maggie, would most likely be dead by the time this message reached me.

    Trying to keep my voice from cracking, I thanked the boy for the message and told him he was welcome to eat with us here that evening before he returned. Also, to tell the cook he was to receive two loves of bread for his service. With that, I turned and left.

    The next thing I knew, I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands. Tears ran down my face as I thought about the poor family that had just lost a son. Was he married? I couldn''t even remember that whole discussion with his father. Did I have a way to help support the man''s family if he was? I allowed myself to grieve for a while. I could feel self-pity creeping in, and I shook myself. I would not allow that. How could I help these people if all I did was care about my own situation? We didn''t have medicines like antibiotics here, and from what I had seen, cleanliness was important to these people, but I should ask about what they knew and how wounds were treated. Did they boil their water and bandages? Did they sterilize anything that toughed wounds? Did they use any plants with antibacterial properties? My mother swore up and down that onions were the key to a healthy life. Have an ear infection. Use onion juice in the ear. Cut yourself a slice of onion in the cut with a vantage wrapped around it.

    I wanted to go see Aaron, but there was work to be done and people to serve. I could see him after dinner. Right now I decided to write down all I knew about medicine and compare it with Maggie.

    I was still fuming when Curtis found me.

    "The prisoner has been locked away, My Lord."

    "Thank you, Curtis," I said. My blood began to boil again, thinking of what Marcus had done.

    "May I be of any further assistance, My Lord."

    "I want Marcus gotten rid of as soon as possible. He does not deserve the mercy we have shown him," I growled. Curtis''s eyebrows rose in shock, but he bowed and left.

    Mikle

    "So, how are things going with those new shoes for horses?" I asked as I entered Jorb''s shop.

    "Good, I think. I made my first set of metal horseshoes. After almost getting kicked by the horse, though, I made a hobble. Once I put on the first two, it calmed down a bit. I am just not used to working with the beasts." He shrugged

    "Do you think they will make a difference?" I asked.

    "The plow worked, the paper idea worked, and that stirrup thing seems like a good idea. I guess we will just have to see," he said.

    "Well, it will be interesting to see. Jim came by today to let me know that the fields were doing great and told me to thank you."

    "Lazy git. He could have come by himself."

    "He is lazy. He asked if we could make a seat for the plow, and then they could drive it like a wagon." I said with a grin.

    "Actually," Jorb said, rubbing his chin, "That would be interesting. Of course, we would have to lighten it. Those wheels are too heavy as it is."

    "Spoked wheels?" I suggested.

    "Oh, you''re a wheelwright now, are you?" He chuckled, "Good to know, that will save Lord Amos a lot of money.

    "Ha. I know how they work. I could probably do it."

    "And when would you find the time?"

    "I still think we should try." I shrugged.

    "OK, if you want to do it, that''s fine. You make the design, and I will make the fittings. But if Lord Amos gets upset, I am blaming you."

    "He will love it, you''ll see," I said, faking confidence I didn''t have.

 Chapter 27

    I added a speed walk around the manor last night before I went to bed, and let me tell you, I was sore this morning. On a positive note, I think I was going to have to invent a belt with a buckle on it. Give it a month, and these clothes will be too big for me. This little bit of improvement helped me renew my commitment to eating less carbs. The only problem was that carbs were the main staple here in this backwater.

    When I got to my study after breakfast, I found Captain Draves waiting for me. He had a look of deep concern on his face. I had mixed emotions about this. I was glad that he was comfortable enough around me to let down his mask, but the look did not bode well.

    ¡°What is wrong, Captain?¡± I said starting to run through all the tragedies that could descend upon us.

    ¡±Did you request that we execute Marcus last night?¡±

    That was not what I was expecting. ¡°What? No! Why would I¡­ All I said to Curtis was to lock him up, and then when he came back, I said¡­ Oh, oh no! Did¡­¡±

    Draves put his hand up, silencing me. That probably was a big no-no, silencing your lord and all, but he could tell I was getting worked up.

    ¡°No, we did not. When Curtis told me what you requested, I said there may have been a misunderstanding and that I would speak with you in the morning. To be honest, though, had you said those words the first few days after you woke up, I would have done just that.¡±

    ¡°I never meant¡­¡±

    ¡°May I give you some council, My Lord.¡± He said seriously.

    I nodded.

    ¡°You are a lord. You must be clear in your orders. Say what you mean because most people will not question you, fearing to upset you. An off-handed remark may have dire consequences.¡±

    I nodded again. ¡°He still must leave as soon as we can arrange things. I would have sent him with the messenger if he hadn¡¯t already left. I guess we will have to wait until our bean supply gets back.

    ¡°What will you do with his mother?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. If she wants to stay with him even though he beats her, it will surprise me. But like she said, a lone peasant woman would be taken advantage of. I will leave it to her. I will go see her after I look through the reports that came in yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Very good, My Lord,¡± Draves said. He turned to leave but then stopped and turned to me. ¡°I almost executed the boy even though I knew that it might not have been your orders. It is what he deserves. Your compassion may make you feel better now but may cause more problems than it is worth. You must be willing to do the hard things to maintain order.¡± With that, he left, and I plopped into my chair with a sigh.

    Was he right? I wanted to rule my barony with compassion and understanding, but was I setting myself up for failure? Was I being naive? Would I gain the love of my people, or would people not understand and just see me as weak? Should I execute Marcus? What message would the decision send? Would it make me a tyrant or a just ruler? I sighed. Another hearing would have to be held if I decided to execute him.

    My table had some petition requests for marriage and land expansion. I wrote letters back saying that their requests would be heard at the fourth bell tomorrow. I think I was figuring out the bell system. We, of course, didn¡¯t have a bell here. A bell tower would have been too expensive. Instead, we had a trumpeter. The first bell was at dawn, and I think the fifth bell was around noon. Water clocks were used for time. A full day would be twenty bells if they were rung every bell, but my guards let the Kayvar sound the first bell, and they did the rest during the day. No need to trumpet all throughout the night.

    OK, so the agenda for today is exercise, check, eat, check, get told I almost got Marcus killed, check. So, all that is left to do today is horseback riding, larger frames for books, giving myself a raise for being awesome, adding counting to lessons tonight for students, and addition for those who already know their numbers. The addition would expand their current knowledge to include zero.

    I had the guys in the stable saddle my horse, and instead of walking around in the coral, I rode down to the village with Draves. I needed to have him bring a stool along with us so I could get up and down. It was a little embarrassing, but riding to town was better than just riding around in the corral. The sun was shining, and there was a spring breeze blowing across the land. Trees were starting to bud, and the temperature was great. Overall, it was a perfect day for a ride. This time, I had brought a few more pieces of paper for the kids and a stack for Jorb, Mikel, and Samuel.

    As I entered Samuel''s shop, the normal smell of sawdust tickled my nose. Sam was bent over a workbench. As I knocked on the door frame and called out to him, he stood up abruptly and turned with a smile. ¡°Lord Amos, so good to see you. To what do I owe the honor? Oh wait, I have your abacus. You will have to show me how it works.¡± He said as he rushed to a corner of the shop where a cloth package sat. He unwrapped the cloth, revealing a beautifully polished and lacquered abacus.

    As he presented it to me, I whistled. ¡°This is excellent craftsmanship, Samuel. Nice work.¡± I said excitedly.

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord.¡± He seemed slightly embarrassed by my praise.

    ¡°OK, so let me show you how it works,¡± I said as I went over to the table with the stack of paper I had brought. ¡°Do you have one of the Bicman pens I can borrow? He opened a small box on the table and pulled out a pen and some ink.

    I started writing things down on the paper. Let''s say you have 354 crowns. Congratulations, you are rich; you spend 293 but then earn 425.¡± I quickly did the calculation on the abacus. Now you have 486.¡±

    Samuel looked between the abacus and the paper. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be.¡± He said, rubbing his scruffy chin. ¡°That was fast. I can see if you were running a barony it might be helpful.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very helpful, so thank you very much. How is the leaf spring coming?¡± I asked.

    Sam grimaced. ¡°I am not sure they would last long being made of wood. I completed one, and it seems to work, as you asked, but Jorb came by the other day and grabbed it. Then, he told me to get him another one as soon as possible. I thought it was something you asked him to do. He was being all hush about it.¡±

    ¡°Well, that means it is something with a single axel. What is he up to? I would hate to ruin the surprise, so let¡¯s just roll with it.¡±

    ¡°Roll with it?¡± He asked in confusion.

    ¡°Sorry, I mean, let¡¯s let them surprise us. Well, here are a few loaves of bread for all your hard work.¡± Technically, as a serf, I didn¡¯t have to give him anything for his work, but I loved doing it¡ªespecially the looks of gratitude when I did.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Our trip to Jorbs went well, particularly since I didn¡¯t even bother getting on my horse. Jorb seemed to be working on another plow blade. After he was done hammering, I knocked on the door frame and called out.

    ¡°It looks like you are making another plow,¡± I said probingly. Was this the project? No, he wouldn¡¯t need a leaf spring for a plow, would he?

    ¡°Yeah, I wanted to make another in case we had a breakdown of the current ones.¡±

    ¡°Good idea. If we got those horse harnesses made, we could hook up my father and brother''s horse to this one, and we would get more done,¡± I said excitedly.

    Jorb rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Well, a few of your serfs are working with Mikel to get all the woodworking done on this one. They all want to use the plow, so he said if they help him, they could use it. I know it is your plow, but we figured you wouldn¡¯t mind. Forgive us for our presumption.¡± Jorb said with a grin.

    I waved him off. ¡°It¡¯s an excellent idea. I know I put a lot on you two, and if this hurries up the planting, then I am all for it.¡±

    ¡°Actually, we are doing better than expected. From what Harold tells me, they should have enough time to even plow the fields of those who have passed away in the last wave of illnesses.¡±

    ¡°I guess I will pass the message along to Mikel to let people know I will be paying in raw grain for those who want to help him with the woodwork. Then the tanner needs to know. Guess I have plenty to do. First, however, I am going to go make some paper airplanes for the kids.¡±

    And that is what I did. I interrupted the game of tag the little ones were playing and spent a couple hours showing them all how to make their own paper airplanes and just messing around with them.. It was relaxing playing with the kids, and we even found a hoop that we could set up to fly them through. Then I told them all a story about two brothers named Orville and Wilber that made a machine that could fly. They all loved it, and by the end, they were all bragging to each other that they were going to be the first to fly.

    As we led our horses away from the children, Draves turned to me. ¡°How much of that story was fiction?¡± He said probingly.

    ¡°Less than you might think,¡± I said while trying not to smirk.

    ¡°And do you plan on making one?¡±

    I laughed, ¡°I wish I could tell you I was some brainiac who could push our kingdom into the Industrial Revolution, but such knowledge is beyond me. I would need to know much more chemistry and engineering to do anything truly magnificent. The most I can do is draw pictures of things I have seen and have people smarter than me figure out how it all works.¡±

    Just then, a young man came trotting up to me. ¡°My Lord,¡± He said with a deep bow. When he straightened, he handed me a letter. ¡°The head man of Melnon asked me to give this to you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, young man,¡± I said as I opened the wax seal. After reading it, I turned to Draves. Well, it looks like the first batch of coke was successful. Their smith will be bragging to Jorb within the next few days, I imagine, and then he will be hounding me to make them give him some.¡±

    ¡°We need to build a blast furnace, but we just do not have the manpower and supplies,¡± I said sadly.

    ¡°What do you need besides manpower?¡±

    ¡°Well, if we skip the earlier versions of the blast furnace and go straight to the one they used in the Victorian era, we will need a lot of bricks, a lot of stone, a lot of mortar, a lot of wood, a lot of lime, a lot of coke. A large bellow and a waterwheel to pump it. That will get us Cast iron. This would be a great export product in and of itself, but if we built another furnace to reheat the iron and pump oxygen into it to further extract impurities, I don''t remember which ones. However, it also removes the carbon, so we have to put it back in a blast furnace with the exact amount of carbon we want in order to make steel. This may sound simple, but for all I know, it could take us years to build everything correctly and get the right mixtures. That isn''t even including the fact that we need all the men we have right now just to provide enough food to feed the people we have.¡±

    ¡°OK, so why don''t you get the masons together and use my men to help build it all? Those in rotation who come here could do that. We couldn¡¯t spare many at a time, but it may help. But does it really matter if it takes a year or so? What would the process be?¡±

    ¡°Well, we would probably want to do it closer to Melnon to reduce transportation time of coke and iron once everything is up and running. First, we need to find a place for a waterwheel to be placed. Then we can build the furnace with bricks and the building around it, maybe. I think it would be best if I drew out what we wanted and then gathered masons, the tanner, Mikel, and Jorb together and came up with a plan. Young man, if you wouldn¡¯t mind joining us at the manor for a bit, I would like to get you fed and send back a letter to Melnon.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, if you are feeding me, I will go wherever you want.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. What is your name, young man?¡±

    ¡°Charles, My Lord.¡±

    That is a great name, don''t you agree, Captain?" Without pausing, I said, "Well, Charles, Have you ever ridden a horse?¡±

    Charles''s eyes went wide. ¡°No, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Well, I want to walk back to the manor, so why don¡¯t we let you up on my horse, and I will lead it back to the manor?¡± The boy couldn¡¯t have been more than twelve, so of course, he accepted. It would certainly give him bragging rights in Melnon. I didn¡¯t bother to mention that I didn¡¯t want to embarrass myself by trying to get up on the horse in the middle of town.¡±

    As we approached the manor, I noticed a young man about my age or a little older speaking with Ben, the stable master. The young man was gesticulating animatedly. As we approached, Ben saw us and pointed toward me. The young man turned toward me, and his attitude changed to one of a very nervous young man. He fell to his knees and prostrated himself in the dirt. I sighed at this. Hopefully, he didn¡¯t think I was some sort of cruel dictator.

    The young man wore the simple clothes of a laborer, most likely a farmer. I assumed he came with a request. Hopefully, it was one I could handle, not something like, ¡°Can you train your Kayvers to be less noisy in the morning?¡±

    ¡°Rise, young man. How may I assist you?¡± I said in my most noble tone. It probably didn¡¯t fool Draves, but it worked for the boy. He got up but kept his eyes on the ground. Who taught this kid how to act in front of nobles?

    ¡°My Lord, I- um¡­ you can, no can you¡­¡±

    This was going to take forever. ¡°Spit it out, man. I won¡¯t bite your head off.¡± I sighed in exasperation.

    Unfortunately, my comment made him fall to his knees. I groaned. Patience Amos, you can do this, I thought.

    Ben spoke up. ¡°My Lord, he was just telling me that he and a few of his friends want to move to the abandoned town of Barim and start working the fields there. They have only been fallow for a few years, so there shouldn¡¯t be too much work to get them up and running again.

    I was stunned. This was not what I expected, but it was great, though. I didn¡¯t know how many acres they could get done, but it would be great for the barony if we could get extra food. ¡°Excellent idea. I like your initiative, young man. What is your name?"

    ¡°Joshua, My Lord,¡± He said with more confidence. Although he still was on his knees.

    ¡°Joshua, I''ve named you Steward of Barim until we get a Headman to run it. Do you know how to read, write, and count?"

    Joshua, who was looking more excited by the minute, suddenly became glum. ¡°No, My Lord.¡±

    "Are you a serf, peasant, or freeman?¡±

    ¡°I am the son of Fredrick of Kerisi. A peasant farmer on your lands.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. After the spring planting is done, I will probably need to put one of your friends in charge for a while, and we can teach you up here. If you do well in your studies and the harvest is done properly, I will elevate you to headman.¡±

    The look on the boy¡¯s face was priceless. ¡°Truly, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I need go-getters. People who take initiative and want to take control of their fate. If you prove yourself worthy, you will have the position.¡±

    Ben cut in. ¡°Josh, don¡¯t forget your other request.¡± He said with a sly grin.

    I frowned, and Joshua grimaced. ¡°What do you need, Joshua?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Well, we have heard of your new plow, and my friends and I were wondering if we could borrow it.¡± He said, almost moving into a prostration again.

    I pondered this for a moment. ¡°You shall have it on two conditions. One, stand up and look me in the eye while asking. You are not some lowly dog. You are a man. You are the Steward of Barim. You will bow but not kneel. You will always look me in the eye when making a request. And secondly, I will loan you a plow and a team of oxen or horses when one is available. The loan will be for 50% of the profit of the fields. To put it more simply. You take out the amount you need for living and the amount you need for reseeding the next year. Whatever is left over, you will divide in half and give half to me, and the rest is for you to sell or trade. We can negotiate next year, but remember that part of that 50% is your taxes.¡±

    I was proud of him for pondering for a moment before answering. Looking into my eyes he said, ¡°I agree to your terms.¡±

    ¡°Excellent,¡± I said while clapping him on the shoulder. ¡°I will write up a contract for the use of my plow. I will also write up a letter showing you accept the title of Steward of Barim and the responsibilities of the title. I will sign at the bottom of each and send them on to Kerisi. I will have the headman read them to you, and if you accept, just bring them back here on your way to Barim.

    ¡°Thank you very much, My Lord.¡±

    Finally, I was back in the manor and was able to get all the things done on my list I had compiled throughout the day. That evening, I noticed that Jacklyn was progressing faster than everyone else in the class. It must have been because she was spending time teaching Mathew as well. After the hour lesson, I asked her to help teach some of the students that came in later. I started to have thoughts about making her a school teacher within the next year if she did well. Overall, I felt it had been a productive day. I was just really wondering what Jorb and Mikel were cooking up.

 Chapter 28

    The next week flew by. The planting on all my fields had been done. We had finished with enough time to replow some of the acreage that hadn¡¯t been done by the Bicman plow. The young men, including a married couple, had moved down to Barim and had started restoring the houses. Since our plowing was done, including replowing the fields at the manor and even squeezing in an extra acre, we were ready to send the plows down to Barim.

    The paper-making process hadn¡¯t changed, but other workers at the manor were taking shifts. Soon, we would have enough to sell in Decmoore. If we couldn¡¯t find a buyer in Decmoore, we would bring it further south. I was sure it would sell well despite it not being as good as parchment. I was having Mathew work on the pens.

    After the success with the coke, I was having them use the kilns to make bricks. I wanted to try making a small puddling furnace. If we could melt the iron and add some lime, we could probably get the impurities down to a pretty decent level. The iron would probably still be over 4% carbon. Unless the places were below that that elsewhere we could probably export the iron. What we really needed was more people to work the mine, a blast furnace, and a second furnace to oxygenate the iron. I forget what those ones were called. Adding the oxygen reduced the carbon content to where it became steel.

    We weren¡¯t producing enough coke to get the needed fly ash. Most of the usable stuff was scraped off of the walls and ceiling. Any fly ash that settled was mixed with the tar and was unusable. This made it impossible to try and figure out the right ratio of fly ash to add to the cement. We needed a larger operation. Well, preferably, we would find an inactive volcano where we could break up the volcanic ash left behind. Oh, well, if wishes were fishes and all that.

    I also had a few long chats with Maggie, the local herbalist. In doing so, I found that they weren¡¯t too far off on where diseases come from. They believed it was unseen spirits that lived in unclean things. This was why they tried to keep things clean around here. They found that the spirits were repelled or killed by different things. The Endless One was clean, so evil spirits were hesitant to be around cleanliness. Certain herbs help to protect the body or expel the spirits. Boiling water removed them. The body tried to expel them through coughing and sneezing. Puss was the body trying to remove them from the skin. They could be found in human waste, so the waste was treated properly. This all led me to believe that if we could increase the nutrition of the population we could reduce even more deaths. Without proper nutrition, the body can¡¯t fight off diseases. Not everyone believed this, of course, but even in my world, there were still people who believed the earth was flat.

    I never did get a chance to talk to Carrie, but Maggie let me know that she had been keeping an eye on Carrie and that as long as she kept her busy, she was improving. Wounds to the mind and soul take time, she said. I knew how true that was. I always told Maggie to let Carrie know I had stopped by and wished her well.

    I was just looking over a report on the estimated amount of fruit we should produce this year when there was a knock at the door. I told whoever it was to enter, and Marsh came in. ¡°My Lord, I received a message from Jorb that he had something that he would like to show you the next time you¡¯re in the village.¡±

    ¡°Well, I need to stretch my legs, so let¡¯s go see what Jorb has cooked up. He and Mickel have been kind of secretive lately. Maybe I should throw them in my dungeon for their insolent behavior.¡± I said with a huff.

    Marsh must have been getting used to my sense of humor because all she did was smirk and say, ¡°My Lord, we would first have to build a dungeon. I can put it down on your list of things to do if you would like.¡±

    ¡°Nah, we would have to import some rats and skeletons to make it worth it, and I don¡¯t know who sells dungeon decor. Well, I guess I am off to find Draves.¡± I said as I stood up. As we walked down the corridor, I asked, ¡°So, how has the new help we brought in been?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I would rather have Emily back than those three, but I know she is needed. She also loves what she is doing. I know it has only been a few days since she started this, but she is always so happy. Even the older papermakers listen to her. The way she is managing things is impressive.¡±

    ¡°Well, She had a great teacher.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord, that is very kind of you to say,¡± She said.

    ¡°Oh no, I meant me,¡± I said with a laugh.

    She harrumphed, and that just made me laugh harder. After I calmed down enough to take a breath, we continued on our way to the yard. As we rounded the corner, we almost ran into a very distracted Hyrum.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± he said with a sudden jump backward. He bowed, ¡°Forgive me, My Lord, my mind was elsewhere.¡±

    ¡°No problem. By the way, are you busy?¡±

    ¡°Captain said I should take some time to clear my head. I have been slightly unfocused.¡±

    I had a good guess as to why. ¡°Perfect, Hyrum, I need an escort to the village. Could you please accompany me?¡±

    ¡°As you wish,¡± He said.

    ¡°Excellent. Marshandra, could you let the captain know where we have gone?¡±

    ¡°I would be happy to, My Lord,¡± She said while splitting off from us to go to the training yard.

    I thought about taking the horse now that Jorb had attached the stirrups. I still had to use a step ladder, but it was much easier to get on the horse now. Still, I decided to walk. One, I needed the exercise, and two, I thought it would be weird being mounted while Hyrum walked next to me. It was only a quarter mile to the village anyway.

    Our trip down the hill started off in silence. I could tell something was bothering Hyrum, and I didn¡¯t want to intrude as he figured things out.

    Suddenly, he said, ¡°My Lord, What do I do?¡±

    Since I wasn¡¯t privy to his thoughts, all I could say was, ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°Carrie, I mean, I was so mad when I found out what happened. She should have told me. Didn¡¯t she trust me? Or should I have figured it out? I should have stayed calm and not lost my head. I knew she hated you and your family for how you treated her, but she never would have intentionally participated in murder. I knew that, and I still took out my frustration on her. Now I have screwed everything up. It¡¯s too late now.¡± He said. Even with such a heavy heart, the man was steady as a rock and kept his shoulders back and head up.

    ¡°You think so?¡± I said.

    ¡°Well, yes, I mean, why would she want me back after what I did? She hasn¡¯t tried talking to me since then.¡± There was a long pause. ¡°I haven¡¯t really tried either. I¡¯m just so sure she wouldn¡¯t want to talk to me after I screwed up. Do you think she is feeling the same way? Is she waiting for me to come talk with her? That isn¡¯t fair, though; she is the one who hid the murders. But she has to be just as afraid now as she was then, and she doesn¡¯t have anyone to lean on now that she is separated from her mother.¡±

    There was another long pause, and then he said, ¡°I guess you are right, Lord Amos. I just need to go talk with her, and if she doesn¡¯t forgive me, then at least I will know. Thank you for your help, My Lord.¡±

    How? What? I only said similar sentences to clarify what was going on. Oh well, I guess all¡¯s well that ends well. His steps seemed lighter after that, and when I looked into his eyes, I could see determination.

    The rest of the walk down the hill was in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. When we arrived at Jorb¡¯s house, I could not hear the sound of a hammer striking an anvil. I clapped outside the open door.

    I heard Mathew''s young voice calling out for us to come in. I looked nervously at Hyrum. ¡°Maybe you could go in and ask where Jorb is.¡±

    Hyrum turned to me and, with a serious face, said, ¡°My Lord, Just as you have counseled me, I recommend you go in there and just face him.¡±

    ¡®What?¡¯ I thought, ''I said no such thing. This guy is crazy.¡¯ Unfortunately, he was right, though. I took a deep breath and walked in. The boy was sitting on a stool, and upon seeing me, his eyes went wide. Then he stood up and awkwardly bowed with his hand on the table for support. ¡°My Lord, I am sorry. I did not know it was you. If I had known, I would have come to the door.¡±

    I got down on one knee so I could be closer to eye level with him. Looking at him seriously, I said, ¡°Mathew, you are the one person who should never have to get up on my account. I have wronged you, and because of that, you are in the current condition you are in.¡±

    When he stood back up, he shook his head, ¡°Mother says you were sent by the Endless One to get rid of the last Amos and lead our barony.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, so I ignored the comment and said, ¡°Well, at least sit back down for me. By the way, you are doing an excellent job with the pens, Mathew. Thank you for your hard work.¡±

    That made the boy beam, ¡°Thank you, My Lord. I really like doing it.¡±

    ¡°Did you know you have made enough for everyone in the class to have one? Speaking of which, how do you like learning to read and count.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    This made him grin even wider, ¡°I love to read. I especially like the stories you wrote. Did you really draw all those pictures?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I like to draw. I have been doing it for a long time.¡±

    ¡°I wish I could draw like that,¡± He said softly. Then, realizing he had said it out loud, he became embarrassed.

    ¡°I would be happy to teach you,¡± I said.

    ¡°Do you mean it, My Lord?¡± He said excitedly.

    ¡°Sure.¡± I noticed a stack of papers and a pen on a wooden shelf nearby, and I went and grabbed them and headed over to the table. I drew a circle, a triangle, and a square. ¡°I want you to practice drawing these three shapes. I want big ones and small ones. Don¡¯t rush it. It took me a while to get to where I had enough practice to where I could do them all well. Have Jacklyn bring you more pages and ink if you need it. When you are done with a page, have her bring them back up with her, and I will look them over.¡±

    ¡°Why do I draw shapes? I want to draw people.¡± His tone wasn¡¯t demanding. It was a sincere question from a child.

    ¡°I thought the same thing when I was first learning. Simple shapes are the basis for everything else you will learn. They are also easier to master when you are first learning to control a pen. This will be the foundation for everything you do.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord. I will do my best.¡±

    ¡°I know you will,¡± I said with a Smile. ¡°Now, where can I find your father?¡±

    ¡°He went with Mr. Harold to the field with that new plow. I wish I could use it, but Father said I will have to wait until I am older.¡±

    I didn¡¯t see how the boy would ever be able to use the plow, but I wasn¡¯t going to be the one to shatter his dreams. ¡°Thank you, Mathew, and keep up the good work.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    As we walked to the field, my thoughts drifted back to what Mathew had said. Some people were convinced that I was sent by the Endless One to save them. That may be true or it may not, I didn¡¯t know. But one thing I did know: I didn¡¯t want that news to spread. All I needed was for people to start calling me a messenger from some God, and others would take offense. What did they say, a prophet was never accepted in his own country. I wasn¡¯t a prophet, so hopefully, I wouldn¡¯t be stoned or crucified.

    As we approached the field, I saw Jorb. And what a sight it was. The large man was sitting on a bench that looked like the seat of a carriage. I couldn¡¯t make out details, but I am sure this is what they were using the leaf springs for. As I approached, I noticed that two of the horses we had in my stable were being used to pull it. Draves must be in on this as well. As straight-laced as he was, I am surprised they got him to agree. Or maybe they just told him they needed to shoe the horses. Ah, that is more likely it. I also noticed they had made the new harnesses for the horses I had designed.

    I snuck up behind Harold and slapped my hand on his shoulder. ¡°Now that is something to see. It''s impressive that you managed to pull it off without your lord''s notice or permission.¡±

    Harold''s face turned white as he looked at me. ¡°My Lord, We, um, that is Jorb thought that you...¡± He couldn¡¯t even finish the sentence, and I started laughing. I was wiping tears from my eyes as I struggled to speak.

    ¡°You should see the look on your face.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I almost died of fright. I thought you were upset with me.¡±

    When I got myself under control, I said, ¡°So how¡¯s it working.¡±

    ¡°We have only run two furrows, but it seems to work well. Mikel and Jorb claimed the first rides since they came up with it. So, I haven¡¯t had a turn yet. With the third wheel and the supports for the seat, a man would never get tired and could do the work all by himself using the horses. The horses are faster than oxen, but we do have to rest them more often than oxen. It is too early to tell, but I believe the new Bicman harness will alleviate some of that problem. Even the oxen would probably do better with them. If we are lucky and rest the horses properly, we might be able to do three acres in a day with just one man working. My Lord, I truly believe that with the two new types of plows you have, we could plow all the fields you own, including the ones in Barim, with just the people you have. Your only problem will be animals to plow.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t remember who I was talking to, but they mentioned mules. What do you think?¡±

    Harold scratched his cheek, "I don¡¯t know, My Lord. Never worked with mules before. They have one up in Melnon to work the ore cart. You may want to ask them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do that. Thanks for the suggestion. I think it is time I go harass Jorb now,¡± I said with a wicked grin.

    I was not very fast on my feet, and I didn¡¯t want to trudge through the freshly turned dirt. So, I took the long way around the field. I was a little out of breath, OK, more than a little, by the time I got there. They had just got the horses turned around, and Jorb was standing next to the plow, talking excitedly with a farmer I hadn¡¯t met yet. I am sure he had already seen me approaching, so I couldn¡¯t sneak up on him like I did Harold. I just decided to shout out from where I was.

    ¡°So, this is what you were wasting your time on for the last week,¡± I said in as stern a tone as I could produce.

    Jorb turned and grinned at me. ¡°Isn¡¯t she beautiful?!¡±

    ¡°You do realize you could have made two plows in the same time as it took you to make this contraption,¡± I said pointedly.

    Some of the farmers backed away, fearing that I would demand Hyrum beat them. Jorb, however, stayed excited. ¡°Think about it, Lord Amos. We could plow a lot more fields with fewer people.¡±

    ¡°Less people, but more animals. Have you been hiding a heard of oxen or horses somewhere, Jorb?¡±

    ¡°No, but I bet with that thirty silver, you could buy quite a few more for next year''s planting. Then we could get all of here and Bicmin planted with just the people you have. If you rented the plows like you are doing for the fellows that are already there, you may even make some money.¡±

    ¡°Dang it, Jorb. How am I supposed to portray the persona of an angry lord if you are making so much sense?¡± I said with a grin.

    ¡°My Lord, I hope you don¡¯t mind me saying so, but lately, I have decided you don¡¯t have a mean bone in your body,¡± Jorb said.

    ¡°Stop spreading such vile rumors about me, Jorb; someone might take you seriously.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, My Lord, I believe the cat is out of the bag, and it isn¡¯t getting back in on that fact. And you only have yourself to blame for it.¡±

    ¡°How about this, Hyrum, beat this man for his insolence.¡±

    Hyrum turned to look at me and, with a serious face, said, ¡°I would be happy to, but could you please say it with a straight face? It would help me to determine your sincerity.¡±

    My mouth dropped open in mock surprise, ¡°That¡¯s the problem with subjects these days, no respect.¡± Then not able to help myself any longer I began to chuckle. That caused everyone else to begin laughing.

    When I finally calmed down, I said, "Don''t tell the captain I was joking around. I am trying to be a more respectable lord. It is just so hard."

    "Don''t worry, My Lord, we prefer you to your father," Jorb said boldly.

    ¡°Well, Jorb, this is truly amazing. Who came up with it?¡±

    ¡°Actually, it was an off-handed remark made by Jim over there.¡±

    When Jorb pointed him out, Jim looked like he was about to faint. I walked over to the wirey young man. ¡°Well done,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Well, My Lord, I was only joking. I didn¡¯t expect those two to make one.¡± He said, somewhat embarrassed.

    ¡°All the progress man has ever made has been built on one question, ¡®What if?¡¯. What if there was a way to make a better plow, what if there was a way to have the animals do all the work, what if there was a way to plant seeds better, what if there was a better way to harvest crops? If we didn¡¯t wish for something better and ask the question ¡®what if?¡¯ man would still be using sticks to carve up the ground in order to plant seeds.¡±

    Another farmer seemed hesitant to speak, but I could tell he wanted to say something. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?" I said.

    ¡°My Lord, I was wondering something.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± I said encouragingly.

    ¡°I was wondering if we have a good harvest if you are planning to try and plant winter wheat.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, why don¡¯t we normally?¡±

    ¡°Your grandfather had three bad years of extreme cold in a row, which killed most of the crop and caused him to lose money. He decided never to plant it again.¡±

    ¡°So why do you think we should try?¡±

    ¡°Some folks aren¡¯t sure your plows will make a difference. But I can feel it in the dirt. Even before planting, I know we are going to have a good yield this year. We¡¯ll have to go south of Decmoore to get some, though. They had the same problem, and so now, like us, they stick to root vegetables.¡±

    ¡°Well, We will see what our harvest looks like and go from there. As you said, it will depend on our yield this fall.¡±

    I stood and chatted with the farmer for a while before Hyrum, and I headed back. When I got back to the manor, I was wiped out. Since Jacklyn had gotten so much farther ahead of everyone in their lessons, I asked if she could handle the lessons, and I decided to relax and play with Aaron before heading to bed early.

    Hyrum

    My hands were sweaty as I knocked on Maggie''s door. I knew that I had really messed up, but Amos was right. I had to at least apologize. I was ready for anything. If she yelled at me and told me to leave, I would understand. If she hit me, I would not hit back. That was only something I could see in my imagination. I knew she would never do that, but my mind was racing with all sorts of ideas.

    When Maggie opened the door, a look of surprise crossed her face. But in her usual blunt manner, she said, ¡°You don¡¯t look well, boy. Is there something I can do for you?¡±

    ¡°I would like to see Carrie if I may?¡±

    As understanding crossed her face, her expression turned dark. ¡°Come in,¡± she muttered something under her breath, but I didn¡¯t hear it. In a completely different tone of voice¡ªnot sweet but definitely not her usual gruff manner¡ªshe said, ¡°Carrie, you have a visitor.¡±

    Carrie walked out of the back room. Her mouth hung open as she just stared at me. When I began to approach she immediately cast her eyes at the floor as if she found something very interesting down there.

    The words were stuck in my throat. I was as nervous as when a bandit had got the jump on me from behind. I didn¡¯t have Chuck here to save me this time. Maggie seemed like she would jump me if I said the wrong thing. But my mind went blank, I had a whole speech I was planning on giving but it was gone. I finally stammered out, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Carrie. I shouldn¡¯t have gotten mad at you. I know you are probably really angry with me. So umm¡­¡±

    It was at that moment that Carrie collapsed to her knees and began to cry. Looking at her, I realized I was wrong to come. Now, I had made her cry. I turned to leave when faster than I thought was possible for the short old lady, Maggie grabbed a wooded spoon off the table and whacked me on the head. ¡°Sit down, you stupid boy. I told her you would be by sooner or later. I just didn¡¯t realize it would take you this long.¡±

    I sat down in the only chair that was in this small room. As I rubbed my head, I looked back at the sobbing Carrie. ¡°But she¡­¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s crying because she has been holding back her hurt for a long time, and now she doesn¡¯t have to. So just sit there and shut up. This will take a while. What she sees in a big lumbering idiot like you, I have no idea. Girls these days are always mooning over the big ones. Guess I¡¯ll go make some tea while we wait.¡± The little, spry old lady sighed.

 Chapter 29

    A few days later, I was feeling especially good and decided to do something I knew I was going to regret¡ªat least, my body probably would. I approached Captain Draves as he was doing his morning drills with his men. Swallowing the nervousness that was in me like a child who knew the medicine he was about to take was bad, I said, ¡°Captain, I need to be trained in combat.¡±

    He nodded, ¡°It would be wise. You have to be able to defend your land.¡±

    ¡°I know I am starting much later than most, so I will probably never be proficient, but I am afraid that at some point, I may have to use the skill.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t cut yourself short, Lord Amos. I have watched you do your Tia Chi. You have good balance and coordination, which is a big part. You move smoothly from one stance to the other. It will be similar to that when you train with the sword. Your main issue is your weight and flexibility. That will improve. Already, you look much better than you did a month ago. I think we will be able to turn that fat into muscle very quickly. You can thank your late father for inheriting his build. Your brother was built more like his mother, so he had a harder time with the armor and wielding the sword for any length of time. If he had been given light armor and a spear, he could have made a devastating soldier. Within a year, I bet you will fit well into your father''s armor. In a few years, you will be a worthy opponent for the common soldier, and who knows, if you show real talent, you might even be able to hold off a fellow knight.¡±

    Before I started fantasizing about being a knight in shining armor, I changed the subject: ¡°So I was thinking we could get a group together, and I could go visit the coast.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you are up to the trek through the swamp?¡± Captain Draves said.

    ¡°I can do it. The worst that could happen is that we have to turn back.¡± I said, starting to get excited.

    ¡°You have no steward or family. Who will be in charge while you are gone?¡±

    ¡°Oh, good point. Well, I guess I will bring Hyrum instead of you.¡±

    ¡°Me? My Lord, I am a soldier. I cannot run a barony.¡±

    ¡°Really, Draves? Has anything urgent happened the whole time I have been regent?¡± I said pointedly.

    ¡°No, My Lord, but what if it does happen?¡±

    ¡°What could possibly happen in a week that you cannot handle or put off until I get back?¡±

    We spent the next half an hour going back and forth until I finally got my way. Then, we spent the rest of the day preparing for my departure. We gathered four guards and a hunter who had trekked his way to the coast a few times. I spent most of the day writing out a plan for Draves on how I wanted him to handle any situation. It wasn¡¯t much. Then, I wrote a letter giving him the authority to handle things in my place until I returned. By the next morning, we were ready to go. I would have waited longer, but I wanted to see the coast before it started to get warm enough for the mosquitoes to start swarming and the snakes to come out of hibernation.

    The first three miles into the marsh actually weren''t bad. We brought two horses. One for me to ride and one for supplies. The hunter knew what he was doing. He was able to lead us around most of the deep bogs and also commented that we picked a good time to come. Much later, and the snows from the eastern mountains would start to melt and make some of the area we were traveling to become impassable. The weather was mild and a little chilly until mid-morning. Fortunately, there weren¡¯t a lot of trees to cause shade.

    As the day wore on, we started having to avoid larger and larger bodies of semi-stagnate water. It really did remind me of a wetland preserve I had visited during my biology class in high school. Not much to look at and the visibility was good.

    Hyrum tried to hide it, but I could tell he wasn¡¯t particularly happy to be here. He just didn¡¯t have the poker face that Draves was able to produce. I moved my horse up next to him and said, ¡°Not a fan of the marshes, Hyrum.¡±

    ¡°No, they are fine, My Lord,¡± He said in a distracted tone. I thought he was still trying to figure out what to say to Carrie, but he proved me wrong as he continued.

    ¡°I apologized to Carrie last night.¡± He said.

    I really shouldn¡¯t try and insert myself into things if he didn¡¯t want to talk about it, but when he didn¡¯t continue I couldn¡¯t help but dig. ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Well, she started to cry, and then after a while, I held her.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that makes sense. I just pulled you away from her for a week. Sorry about that.¡±

    Hyrum shook his head. ¡°I would have left on rotation this week anyway. The only reason I hadn¡¯t left earlier was that Draves wanted to monitor me, I think.¡±

    ¡°Well, I will insist Draves keeps you out of the next rotation. That will give you some time to fix things and get things ready for the wedding.¡± I said cheerfully. I could tell this shocked him.

    ¡°I¡­ Do you think she will say yes? I know that she cried and let me hold her, but maybe it was just that moment.¡±

    ¡°Nope, it will all work out. What do you think about her traveling with you during rotation after she is trained by Maggie? Then she could be there for those in the town and take care of all the soldiers.¡± That idea brightened his mood, and we continued in silence.

    When we broke for a break and to let the horses rest, I got to know the other soldiers. Hector, Franklin, and William. They were nervous at first, but after seeing the causal manner in which I spoke with Hyrum, they loosened up. Remembering the warning from Draves, I still tried not to cross the line into being all buddy-buddy. I wasn¡¯t cracking jokes or anything. I was just trying to be friendly. After an hour''s break, we resumed our trek through the marsh. These guys were amazing. I wish I had their stamina. Every time I wanted to complain about my sore rump, I just looked at these guys navigating the marsh on foot. It made me want to offer to take turns on the horse. I knew that was inappropriate, but I still felt a little guilty.

    After our next break, I decided to walk for a bit. It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Unlike the smooth path down to the village, the ground here was uneven, and my feet sank into the soft ground. I would love to say I stuck it out and made it until the next break, but I only lasted about a bell¡¯s worth of time. It also slowed us down a bit, so we reached our next resting point a little late. The small, dry island in the moist marsh was a welcome sight to me. We set up camp for the evening, and I collapsed on my sleeping mat right after eating a few slices of bread and some jerky that we had packed. We would run out of water by the time we got to the sea, but Dwaine, the hunter, said he knew of a slow-moving stream near the coast.

    When I woke the next morning, I was stiff and groggy, but I did some stretches and my Tai Chi. None of the guards except Hyrum knew I did these exercises, and since we had developed a relationship over the last day, they started asking me questions. I explained how it helps with balance, flexibility, strength, and coordination without being too stressful on my body. It also helps to release stress and center myself. When I lose more weight, I will start doing more aggressive workouts, but for now, this will help my body start to recover from my excessive drinking and eating. This, along with the walking I do, helps me to lose weight without the risk of injury. I could see they weren¡¯t convinced, but I coaxed Franklin into committing to try it the next morning.

    Today was more of the same except towards the evening when we entered a more wooded area. There was more standing water here, so the going was even slower. Dwaine said this area was home to a lot of different snakes and small furry creatures. The bores that were more frequent in the marshes did not come into this area. After a long day of trudging through this area, we set camp on a dry patch of land.

    By morning, however, it was no longer dry. A light rain had started that, by the time we broke camp, had become a downpour. Needless to say, I skipped my morning exercises so we could hurry on our way. We were all soaked by noon when the rains started to let up, but the sky remained overcast, keeping us chilly. An hour after that, the air started to become salty, and we knew we were close. As the afternoon dragged on, the scent became stronger, and as we crested a hill, I could finally see the ocean. I stared in amazement at something I had only ever seen in pictures and on TV. The overcast sky gave it a greyish hue. There wasn¡¯t the strong sea breeze that I had always heard about, but it was amazing all the same.

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    There was a sharp drop on the other side of the hill, about five to ten feet deep in some areas. The ground below was more pebbles and rocks than sand. The waves that lapped against the shore reminded me more of a lake than those I imagined rolling in off an ocean. No surfing for me here. As I looked around, I noticed another peculiarity. The ridged extended as far as I could see, curving as it went, making this a bowl-shaped with only a small portion of this area open to the ocean itself. My mind took in the picture as a whole, and I realized what I was looking at. This was one of two things, in my opinion. The sight of a large meteor strike hundreds of thousands of years ago or a volcano that collapsed after an eruption. It was two perfect of a bowl. It was so big. If I weren¡¯t at a slightly higher elevation, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to tell. I suddenly had a thought. This may be the reason for the marsh. If, before the meteor struck, the water from the mountains flowed to the ocean and the meteor pushed the ridge higher up, it would mean it would block the water and make it flow to the west rather than north. If we broke through the rock and dug canals to the river, we could make this land arable.

    ¡°I think this is the site of a meteor strike,¡± I said excitedly.

    ¡°What is a meteor?¡± Hector said.

    ¡°A rock that falls from the sky.¡±

    The men looked doubtful but didn¡¯t say anything out of politeness, I imagine. ¡°Out here in the back woods, you may not have heard of such things, but scholars have been documenting them for a long time. Most are small and cause little damage. This one was massive, and the impact pushed up the ground. It must change the flow of the water. Dwaine, are there any places where water flows to the ocean around this ridge?¡±

    ¡°A few streams of water have made it through cracks,¡± Dwaine said.

    ¡°Excellent, let''s head east towards the mountains. There must be decent ones there.¡±

    Dwaine expression suddenly changed to one of apprehension. ¡°Actually, there are some better spots. I was thinking of going to the west.¡± With that, he turned and started leading the party in that direction. I hesitated for a moment before deciding that if he was the guide, then he knew best. We came upon our first crack an hour later. The drop to the rocks below was only about four feet, so I dismounted, and Dwaine, Hyrum, and I hopped down onto the pebble beach. The water was not clean after seeping out of the marsh, but the detritus was being pushed into the sea by the ever-flowing stream. The rock was very solid when I tried to scratch it with my knife. It would be tough to break through. I shook my head.

    ¡°Not a very good spot to start digging through, I think.¡±

    ¡°Do not worry, My Lord. The spot where I was going to take you to fill our water is further down.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, well, we would still need to probably start more towards the east. It wouldn¡¯t make sense to spend so much energy redirecting the river this far west.¡±

    Dwaine was just about to respond when something whizzed overhead. ¡°Ambush!¡± William shouted.

    I stuck my head up over the ridge line and saw what looked like twenty men flooding out of the woods. Before I could do anything else, Hyrum lunged at me and tackled me to the pebble stone beach. Had Dwaine led us into an ambush? I should have realized something was up when he insisted we head west. I was going to die here. I was an idiot. I just had to come to see the ocean, didn¡¯t I? Now, all these men were going to die because of me. Suddenly, I realized Hyrum was shaking me.

    ¡°Are you listening to me, My Lord?¡± Hyrum was shouting.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hyrum. I¡¯ve gotten us all killed. This is all my fault.¡±

    ¡°You need to snap out of it, My Lord.¡± He shouted at me. Then, softer, he said, ¡°You are not responsible for other men¡¯s actions. We will hold them off. You need to get out of here.¡±

    ¡°But I¡­¡±

    ¡°He is right, My Lord. We cannot protect you and fight them all off.¡± Dwaine said as he stood up and sent an arrow flying towards the oncoming men. How did he get that thing strung so fast? ¡°He ducked to grab another arrow and said. ¡°Stay low along the ridge for a quarter mile, and by that time, the ridge will be high enough for you not to be seen while standing. Run east, and we will catch up with you once these brigands are dealt with.¡±

    Just then, my brother''s horse and Blaze bolted east along the cliff. Hyrum unbuckled his shield and threw it and his spear up to the ridge. As he climbed up to join the other soldiers, he shouted for me to go.

    ¡°Follow the coast, My Lord. To the east, there is a trail that leads to Melnon. You will know it when you see it. The horses will most likely stay near the cliff,¡± Dwaine said confidently.

    I crouched low and started to hurry as I made my way along the beach. I could hear the bandits'' shouts as they started to engage my men. Hyrum was calling out orders to the others. I wanted to turn back and see what was happening, but the rational part of my brain kept me moving forward. They were right. I was a liability.

    A quarter mile further down, The ridge had risen to about seven feet, and I couldn¡¯t have climbed out if I wanted to. Dwaine¡¯s recommendation that I run was laughable. I was already struggling. Fear pushed me forward, however, and I managed to pick up my pace. After no more than a mile, I had to slow back down to a walk. I wanted to collapse, but I kept pushing forward. As the afternoon wore on, I realized that my men must have died. If they had conquered the enemy, then they would have already caught up with me.

    As I stumbled along, my thoughts began to meander. If they had known I was there, then I would have been chased down after they had finished my men. That means that they weren¡¯t specifically after me. What were bandits doing this far north? There was nothing out here. How were we so unlucky? My thoughts turned to what Dwaine had said. I needed to find a place I could climb up and look for the path that was supposedly obvious. If it was a good path, why hadn¡¯t we used it originally? Melnon was only two hours east of Bicman. If it was a better path, wouldn¡¯t it have shaved off more time? My exhaustion wouldn¡¯t let me hang on to that thought for long. I had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

    After a few breaks and an hour and a half later, the ridge became low enough for me to climb up. It was easier than walking on the pebble beach. I continued to stubble along the ridge. I wasn¡¯t worried that I might have passed the trail Dwaine told me about. I hadn¡¯t even passed where we first exited. I thought about trying to find my way back from there, but I knew I would become hopelessly lost. I would die without a horse and a source of water. Speaking of horses, I found my brother''s horse half an hour later. Unfortunately, it was lying on the beach dead. If I had to guess, it must have stumbled off and broken its neck. Blaze was nowhere to be seen. Finding my brother''s horse was a blessing all the same. I found a relatively easy place to climb down to check the supplies. I grabbed the water skin and began to drink heavily. After drinking my fill, I began to eat some bread. I was so exhausted by this point that I grabbed a sleeping mat, a blanket, and a tent and just threw them up the cliff face. I climbed back up, and rather than setting up the tent in the dark, I just wrapped up in the blanket and lay the tent over me. After that, I promptly fell asleep.

    I awoke stiff and sore. A rock in my back had most likely created a bruise. The chill night air had seeped through the blanket and tent. I pulled the tent off my head to look up. The grey light of dawn was making the trees visible, and the clouds had moved on, making a clear sky. I stood up and stretched my stiff muscles. My stress returned tenfold as I remembered the events of yesterday. All my soldiers were dead, and I was lost in the marshes. All I had was Dwaine''s promise that there was a way back to Melnon if I headed east. I wanted to settle my nerves by doing my tai chi, but I needed to move as fast as I could. I had no idea if those bandits would be looking for more people. I tried to pack the tent back up but gave up after a bit. The journey back would take me at least three days, and I needed to focus on those things that would help me make it there alive.

    Namely water and food. When I looked down from the cliff, I noticed the tide must have come in during the night. Everything was soaked. Nevertheless, I persevered. There was a pack on the dead horse that I could sling over my shoulder, and I put three skins of water in it, as well as the foodstuff that hadn¡¯t been destroyed. I also kept the blanket. It wouldn¡¯t do me any good to get hypothermia. The tinderbox and starter were also shoved in. There were a few extra spears among the supplies, so I took one of them as well. It could double as a walking stick.

    After a big breakfast of now soggy cheese and dried meat that tasted like salt water, I continued along the coast. I vomited up most of the food about fifteen minutes later. Apparently, I have a delicate stomach when it comes to saltwater saturated food. My body was also in protest due to the excessive walking yesterday. I ignored them both and carried on. I needed to get back to the barony and warn the others. I needed to make sure Aaron was safe. As the sun rose over the mountains to the east, light hit the water, turning it into a brilliant blue-green color. I stood there and stared out at the water. If I had paints and a canvas, I would have stopped right there and painted this scene, even though bandits were possibly chasing me. Fortunately, for my safety¡¯s sake, I had no paint.

    I found where we had entered a short while later. I looked into the swampy mess and shook my head. If Dwaine were lying about another trail, then I would be dead. The day wore on, and by noon, I was completely spent, even with the frequent breaks. I just sat down on a rock and looked out at the picturesque scene in front of me. I took some deep breaths of the salty sea air and began to meditate. My frazzled nerves soon began to calm, and I felt the peace returning to me. I knew it wouldn¡¯t last. There were too many raw emotions to deal with, but for now, I lost myself in the sound of the gentle lapping waves as they worked tirelessly to smooth out the stones below. There were some areas where the erosion must have more recently broken the cliff face because there were piles of large, jagged rocks that had yet to be smoothed out. I wonder how long it would take for those to become smooth. This bay or whatever you call these places would be awesome if we imported some white sand. I will have to put that on my to-do list. After a couple of hours of rest, my body was ready to start moving again.

    And so the pattern continued until almost sunset. Then I saw it. A well-trodden path that was right next to a small stream that had squeezed itself between the rocks. Hallelujah! I was so excited and curious that I didn¡¯t even stop to rest. I just turned onto the path while ignoring the obvious questions I should have been asking. One of those questions came to me as a twig snapped behind me. ¡®Who uses this path?¡¯ My question was answered as I twisted myself around sharply. As a spear was thrust towards my chest, I stumbled back and fell on my butt as two boys not more than my age looked down at me with malice in their eyes.

 Chapter 30

    I looked up into the furious faces of the bandits who had captured me. The expressions were cold as ice. One young man held a spear while the other a bow, the string held taut.

    You know those times when you are younger and you imagine being confronted by bad guys? You always said something clever and then used your wits to defeat them. Unfortunately, looking at someone who had a bow pointed at my heart, I couldn¡¯t think of anything clever to say. In fact, I couldn¡¯t think at all. Later I would realize that my career as a hero was over before it even began. If they had asked me for all my money, I would have gladly gone back to the manor and given them everything.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The guy with the bow shouted.

    My mouth moved, but nothing came out. Finally, in a shaky voice, I said, ¡°Amos.¡±

    The guy with the spear stepped back. ¡°Is he the Baron?¡± He said in alarm.

    ¡°He¡¯s not our Baron,¡± the other young man growled.

    "I''m not anyone''s baron," I said obstinately. I was a regent. They ignored me.

    ¡°What do we do?¡± The spearman said. He looked more and more nervous as each second passed.

    ¡°Well, bring him to the council.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t bring him to the village. If he gets away, he will tell everyone.¡±

    ¡°First, he was going that direction anyways, so it doesn¡¯t matter that we show him, and two, look how fat he is. Do you actually think he could make it anywhere without us catching him?¡±

    I didn¡¯t like them talking about me as if I wasn¡¯t there, and I especially didn¡¯t like them pointing out that I was helpless. But what could I do? As my mind started to calm down, I began to think about what they had said. I thought bandits had camps, not villages. Murdering and plundering didn¡¯t go hand in hand with permanent locations unless you were able to support a population. And if they were bandits, why haven¡¯t there been more raids on our villages? We have to be the closest place to them. Was Dwaine a traitor? Was he just pretending to shoot at the enemy? He was the one who told me to use this trail. Now I find out the bandits have an entire village here. This is just crazy.

    My attention was brought back to the two guys when the one with the bow glared at me and said, ¡°Ok, you, get up. We¡¯ll let the council decide what to do with you. Don¡¯t try anything stupid, or I will shoot you.¡±

    I got up off the ground and brushed off my dirty hands on my pants. Fortunately, I hadn¡¯t wet them, my pants, not my hands. That would have been embarrassing. A noble showing up to a meeting with a bandit council with wet pants. The trail was not too far from what I assumed was the village. Tucked away in the trees, it really was a pathetic sight. I thought my serfs had it bad. I saw little kids running around almost completely naked. Their faces were gaunt, and they looked like they hadn¡¯t eaten in a month. The women who were washing clothes in a small stream near the edge of the village did not look much better. Small gardens were everywhere, and a few of the older kids were pulling out some sort of root plant. I saw no old men around. Perhaps the harsh conditions did not let people live long. The houses were made of mud, sticks, and straw. Not a single one looked like it was more than one room. As we approached, people started to clap. It wasn¡¯t the type of clapping you do for welcoming someone home. It was one sharp clap from a few people and then all the other women did the same. Suddenly, all the children had disappeared into the houses, and the women wrapped up what they were doing to follow the children.

    For some reason, I couldn¡¯t help myself and said, ¡°I guess you guys don¡¯t get many visitors.¡±

    I thought it was funny, but the two guys behind me didn¡¯t say anything. I started to feel bad for these families of the bandits. They had it rough here. I had to remind myself these were the people who had killed my men. The only reason I hadn¡¯t already been killed was due to the fact that these two guys looked like they weren¡¯t part of their raiding team. I¡¯m sure this council will have no problem executing me.

    We approached a small straw house with the oldest woman I had seen so far. She may have been in her fifties. She looked as tough as nails, and I was sure she could lead this whole bandit village into battle by herself.

    ¡°Is this the boy who was seen along the shore?¡± she said in a strong, stern voice.

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am. We stopped him when he started heading up the trail to the village. He said his name was Amos. With his fine clothes and fat body, I believe he is the Baron Bicman.¡±

    ¡°That true boy, are you the baron?¡±

    ¡°Well, technically, I am regent to my nephew, you know, since they won¡¯t let kids in diapers make many decisions.¡± I couldn¡¯t help it. I tell jokes when I am nervous.

    ¡°You are regent to a baby! The reports I have of you are not very flattering, little lord. I would have thought you would have gotten rid of him by now.¡± scoffed in disbelief.

    That made me mad. ¡°What is wrong with everybody around here?! Why the heck does everyone think I am going to kill my nephew? I mean, seriously, I know you are bandits, but would you kill your nephew or grandchild just so you could keep your position?¡±

    ¡°Bandits? What makes you think we are bandits?¡± the woman said, raising her eyebrows.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see here. You ambushed me and my soldiers and slaughtered them. Then the traitor who set everything up sent me right into your camp or village or whatever this is so you could capture me.

    The lady¡¯s face morphed into one of alarm. ¡°Your men were killed? Where?

    "On the western side of the bay. Your man Dwaine led us straight into their trap.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Dwaine!¡° One of the guys shouted.

    ¡°Paul, go get the men. Tell them what happened and that I need the council.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t really looked at my captors before. The one she was addressing was about my height but much thinner. He had dark brown hair that was hacked short. He wore a dirty set of rough flax pants and a shirt. The sandals he had on were merely strips of leather tied to his feet. His spear was made of bone or white rock. His face had gone pale at the mention of Dwaine. He only nodded at the instructions and took off.

    ¡°Now, Amos, is it? Let me assure you that the men of this village are not bandits. They are fishermen and farmers. I am calling the men in to see what, if anything, we can do now that bandits have moved into our territory."

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    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize this land was claimed. Does your lord have any men to send?¡±

    The old woman arched one eyebrow in the same manner Marsh always did. ¡°I can tell you''re not that stupid. You know very well there is no baron here, nor has there ever been one. We are here precisely for that reason.¡±

    I did, in fact, realize that, but I was trying to be polite.

    ¡°Well, as long as we are being direct, can I assume that you have liberated yourselves from the status of serf or peasant and founded your own nation here on the shores of this bay?¡±

    This made the woman snort. ¡°That seems like such a nice way to put it. But let me ask you something, Amos. What brings you here?¡±

    ¡°First, you seem not to be big on titles, and frankly, neither am I, but how should I address you?¡±

    ¡°Lisa is fine.¡±

    ¡°Well, Lisa. I was hoping for a white sand beach where I could take up some skimboarding or surfboarding.¡± I was so glad the words surf and serf sounded nothing alike in this language. That could make for some awkward imaging. ¡°I found out this was a pebble beach and not many waves, so those plans were dashed. But I think we could use this bay to drain the marshes, which is another one of my goals.¡±

    ¡°Why would you drain the Marshes? The land is outside your barony.¡±

    ¡°My people are getting sick. Part of that sickness comes from the marshes and swamps around here.¡±

    ¡°How do you plan to do that?¡±

    ¡°Well, my initial plan was to break down the ridge and dig a series of canals that would eventually become streams or rivers, but now that I found out you have already claimed the land. I have to figure something else out. I¡¯m not going to step on your toes.¡±

    This seemed to take the woman by surprise. ¡°You would not build because of us. But we are just a bunch of-¡±

    I interrupted her before she could continue. ¡°You are not on the king''s land, you do not pay taxes to the king, you do not receive assistance from the kingdom, and you have your own laws. Therefore, you are a foreign government. I would consider you a trading partner if you are interested in selling fish. But according to the laws of the kingdom I am part of, I cannot claim land without the express permission of the king. If I were to tell him about the village, he would most likely come and gather you all up and relocate you, but all I would get is a pat on the head. I don¡¯t think he will give me the land. Even if he did, I wouldn¡¯t have the manpower to run a fishing operation two to three days away. No, I think dealing with a foreign government would be much less hassle than dealing with the king.¡±

    She just stared at me for a moment. It seems she did not expect this type of reaction from a baron. Our conversation was interrupted by a few people hurrying over to the hut. There were three men and another woman. Who gathered quickly around us. They all looked me up and down for a moment. A big, burly man stepped forward. ¡°Well, it looks like we found out who that beautiful horse belongs to.¡±

    ¡°You found Blaze,¡± I said excitedly. ¡°Thank goodness. Is he alright?¡±

    Ignoring me, the man said, ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°This is Lord Amos Bicman, and if he is to be believed, he and his men were attacked by bandits to the west. Lord Amos, may I introduce Johnathan Founder.¡±

    ¡°Councilor Founder, it is a pleasure to meet you. I only wish it could be under different circumstances. As Councilor Lisa has stated, my men and I were attacked by bandits to the west. If I am correct, I believe that our guide, Dwaine, is known to you. At first, I thought he had led us into the trap, but now I believe he was just trying to prevent us from discovering your village.¡±

    ¡°My brother, he is dead?¡± The large man said with rage in his eyes.

    ¡°I cannot say for sure. The last I saw of him, he told me to flee east along the coast, and I would come across a trail that would lead me back to Melnon.¡±

    ¡°So you just left them to die!¡±

    ¡°Johnathan!¡± Lisa said sharply.

    ¡°No, he is right. I did leave them. But the reasoning was that I was more a liability than an asset. I was not trained in combat, and they would have been trying to fight off the bandits while protecting me.¡±

    The other woman, younger than Lisa but probably only by five to ten years, shouted, ¡°And now you have led them to us!¡±

    ¡°No, if they knew I had escaped, they would have already had me. I am a fat guy who was traveling slowly along the coast. They would have caught up to me and killed me by now. I do need your assistance. I need to get back to my barony so I can organize my men. I know this is your land, and I hate to intrude, but we need to get rid of this threat before they start to pillage.¡±

    ¡°You will just bring your men here and take our village.¡± The other woman snarled.

    ¡°Cori, I believe this is a matter to discuss as a council. Lord Amos, if you would please stay in my house while we discuss what we have heard, It would be most appreciated.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I would be very grateful for the rest. I am not very fit, and it has been a long day.¡±

    ¡°I will send over some food.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Ma¡¯am Councilor, but I would hate to take food from people who are struggling as it is. I do have a few rations in my sack.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense, Kim¡¯s fish soup is delicious. Now, if you will excuse us."

    Jonathan Founder

    I was seeing red. That fool of a baron had gotten my brother killed. Dwaine was the whole reason we were here. The hidden trail that we had made had been his idea. When he first contacted me five years ago, I told him he was crazy. He had visions of us building up a town on the coast, fishing, and draining some of the swamp to plant crops. We would gather people from all over. Help them to run away and travel to our little town. After Baron Jarmin raped my daughter, I decided he was right. Looking back, I wondered if we were all a bunch of fools. So many of us had starved or fallen to disease. Even my Becky had died. We only survived from the new blood coming in. That slow trickle of people helped us expand the farms just enough to feed our population. Another ten years, and maybe we could have made something of this place. But now¡­ now that cursed baron had to show up and ruin everything.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about Dwaine, Jonathan,¡± Michael said, shaking his head. Michael was a great organizer. He had joined us last year and immediately filled the vacant spot on the council. Michael had planned out the land and work for each person. He could even read and do numbers. His father had been a disgraced steward of some duchy.

    I said nothing back. What was there to say? We were all suffering and starving due to the nobles who only wanted more work for less pay. We starved while they sat at their tables enjoying feasts. The scraps they fed to their dog were better than most serfs could hope to ever get. At least this time, a noble would get to feel our pain.

    As we reached the pavilion, others had gathered. Few could come at this time of day, but anyone was welcome to sit in on our council meetings. Only council members were allowed to speak, but there was always gossip afterwards. Having more people there kept the truth of what was said from getting embellished too much.

    As we sat on the stumps, Brock lit his pipe. He never spoke much, but when he did, it was always good advice. ¡°Well, now what?¡± Lisa said.

    ¡°We kill the baron and prepare ourselves against the possible bandits,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t even know why we are having a council about this.¡±

    Cori nodded in agreement. ¡°One less baron is always a good thing.¡± She knew firsthand the cruelty of the nobility. As a young woman, a baron¡¯s son had raped her, and then when it was discovered she was pregnant, he had his men set fire to her family''s house at night. Even though the door had been barricaded on the outside, a neighbor with an axe had broken through a side wall as soon as the soldiers had left. She was the only one who managed to crawl out of the hole before the building collapsed. She hid with friends as she recovered from her injuries. She fled, but since she had no peasant papers, she was picked up by a tax collector on his way back to the Capital. She was sold as a serf to a count. Because she couldn¡¯t admit to anyone where she was from and who the father of the baby was, everyone in the manor assumed she was a loose woman. She was constantly belittled, and her son was only called a bastard. He died at two years old, and it broke her heart.

    Lisa shook her head, ¡°I know you are angry, Johnathan, but you have to consider the consequences.¡±

    ¡°No body, no consequences,¡± Cori said.

    That sounded logical to me, but then Michael spoke up, ¡°And when they come looking for him?¡±

    ¡°We tell them that there are bandits to the west,¡± I said.

    ¡°What if the bandits have fled or if there never were any, and the boy just got lost in the swamp? The men will return and blame us. The other problem is if there are bandits and his men take a while to come looking for him. Our village cannot withstand a bandit raid. Not without heavy losses. He says he wants to bring men back to kill them.¡±

    ¡°He is lying. Once he is out of the marsh, he won¡¯t be sending anyone.¡±

    ¡°Johnathan, even if you are right, we need to hedge our bets. Too much of his story makes sense for us to believe anything other than that there are, in fact, bandits. If we kill him, then the bandits will come, or his men will come. Either one is likely to kill us. If we get him back to his barony, he may not help, but at least his men won¡¯t be a threat. No matter what, we have been discovered. Getting him back to his barony will at least make him more favorable to us. Before you all came to my house we were discussing possible trade. He wants our fish, but the boy says that it doesn¡¯t make sense for him to try to take this land. He also said if he tells the king, then he will just lose access to the fish because we will be rounded up, and he has no one to replace us with. He said he would treat us as a foreign government.¡±

    I snorted, ¡°The day a baron doesn¡¯t want more land is the day my sow will fly.¡±

    ¡°Lisa is right,¡± Brock said, ¡°There are no good options. We have to choose the one that has a slight chance of avoiding the total destruction of our village.¡±

    ¡°You want to trust a baron?¡± Cori spat.

    ¡°No, I want to save our people, and if letting the baron go gives us a better chance of that, then I will take it," Brock said.

    Lisa and Michael nodded in agreement. This meant that even if I didn¡¯t agree, the vote was cast in favor of the baron going free. I wanted to be angry with their decision, but ultimately, they were right. Cori looked ready to murder everyone here to make sure her vote counted. She held her tongue, though. She knew that she wouldn¡¯t get to bloody her hands today.

 Chapter 31

    Kim really was a good cook. She had elevated the flavor of the fish and root vegetables with the use of herbs. It could use a little salt. I wonder if they knew how to get salt from seawater. I really didn¡¯t know much about it myself, but I knew you kept adding saltwater to pits. The water would evaporate, leaving the salt.

    ¡°This is amazing, Kim! How did you learn to make this.¡±

    Kim was a tall, willowy woman, probably in her late twenties. She had short, wavy brown hair, and her face seemed to have a permanent smile. My compliment made that smile even brighter.

    ¡°You are too kind, My Lord. I am sure the fair that you eat on your estate is much more delicious.¡±

    ¡°Most people overestimate the quality of fair we eat in a backwater barony. We don¡¯t produce much food, so we keep our meals to bread, porridge, and soups for the most part. I would say the quantity is more than here, but there is much to be said for quality. If your presence here wasn¡¯t so essential, I might invite you to become part of my kitchen staff.¡±

    ¡°You give me too much credit, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense, I saw you stirring the community soup pot myself. That means you are feeding a lot, if not all, of this community. Good food increases morale, and morale is essential on such a frontier. I see that you wear a wedding bracelet. Your family must be very proud of you. Do you and your husband have any children?¡±

    This caused her face to brighten again. "Three, My Lord, two young women, and my boy is almost ten. Miranda is fourteen and going to be married this summer.¡±

    If she was wed when she was fourteen, then the age is about right for her to have a daughter ready to be married. The age at which some people wed around here always amazed me. It made sense, though. Young people were healthier and had more energy. Serfs or peasants had harsh lives, and their bodies wore out fast. They needed to start young if they and their children were to survive.

    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful. Give them my best wishes.¡±

    We chatted for a while more, and then she took my bowl so she could get back to work. Then I pulled out my blanket and layed down. Before I knew it, I was asleep. Nightmares flooded my dreams. In them, my manor was in flames, and my men lay dead around me. Bandits loomed over me, their clubs and axes dripping with blood. My body bolted upright as one of the axes came at my head.

    Once again, I awoke sore and stiff from all the exercise yesterday. I knew it would take time for my body to change, but I was so ready to be over the limitations of my mobility. I can¡¯t even imagine what it would have been like if I had to make a hike like that when I first arrived.

    I looked around the small hut and saw that it was empty. I also realized I really needed a bath. I stood up and tried to stretch but realized that the roof of this home was only slightly above my head. So I exited the door, and I noticed the pre-dawn light creeping over the mountains.

    Dang, I slept all night. Where had Lisa had to sleep?

    After doing my morning tai chi, I sat on a stump outside the house. How was I going to repay these people for their hospitality?

    Looking around, I saw their community water barrel. There was also a large washed pot next to the cooling embers of last night''s fire. There was a small woodshed to the left of one of the houses. An axe lay inside. Hmm, well, I had my totin¡¯ chip from scouts. I wonder if this body could handle an axe. I placed a piece of wood on the chopping block and gave the axe a swing.

    The actions were unfamiliar to my new body, but I had plenty of practice from my old one. The axe came down and split the piece of wood right down the middle. I only chopped a few blocks before bringing them over to the fire. Using the embers left underneath the cool coals and some tinder, I lit the kindling. Within a couple of minutes, I had the fire going.

    I found a small bucket and walked northeast in the direction I thought the steam was. Filling it up, I took it back to the firepit. I set the large pot over the fire, and after filling it with what was in the bucket, I returned to the stream. The stream was slow-moving but seemed to be free of much debris. It took about fifteen minutes of walking back and forth to fill the pot and another thirty to get it to a rolling boil.

    By that time, the light of day had become stronger, and the first rays peeked over the mountain. People had already started to move around. None of them were people I recognized, and they seemed to be avoiding me. It was just about time for me to get the pot off the fire when I saw Lisa exit a hut. I stood up to greet her. As she walked over, I decided to speak first. ¡°Good morning, Councilor Lisa. I am so sorry for inconveniencing you last night by taking your home.¡±

    She waved off my apology. ¡°All is well. It gave Tomas an excuse to invite me over last night,¡± She said with a wink.

    ¡°TMI, Lisa, TMI,¡± I said, addressing her by name since we were evidently being informal this morning.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Too Much Information.¡±

    She paused thinking about it for a moment and then began to laugh, drawing the attention of the morning crowd. ¡°I like that, Lord Amos, I really do. So what are you cooking for us all this morning.¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I was just boiling water to add to the barrel.¡±

    ¡°Um, Amos, you add water to the barrel to drink. Why would you boil water and then drink it? Are you a follower of the Endless One?¡±

    ¡°I thought everyone followed the teachings of the Endless One.¡±

    ¡°The priests of the Endless One don¡¯t visit the serfs in most estates. I know of the teaching that boiled water is Holy and that only heathens drink unholy water. We aren¡¯t much for piety towards a God that has forsaken us.¡±

    Hmmm, seems like religious principles get twisted everywhere. This concept of holy water must be a version of the truth that made sense to whatever priest was teaching it to people. A religious game of telephone. ¡°OK, if I understand you correctly, you try not to follow the example of the Church of the Endless One on principle because he has forsaken you.¡±

    She nodded. I could tell she was wondering where I was going with this.

    ¡°So here is the deal. That whole making the water holy thing is a load of crap. Is boiling water a teaching of the Endless One? Yes. But he only told people that because it increases the likelihood of staying healthy. Health has nothing to do with how holy you are. It has to do with protecting your body against parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Nothing can survive being in boiling water for very long.¡±

    ¡°What are these things you are talking about?¡±

    ¡°They are bugs so small you cannot see them.¡±

    ¡°If they are so small you can¡¯t see them, then how do you know they are there?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever looked at a piece of grass through a dew drop?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She said with a nod.

    Other people had started to gather around us, drawn by my excited tone of voice. Many were also nodding.

    ¡°Did you notice how you could see the details of the grass more clearly?¡± I didn¡¯t wait for them to respond this time. ¡°This is because the curved shape of the water causes the things underneath to magnify. I have seen a device that used clear glass to magnify things to an even larger amount. Looking through this device, you can see these creatures. I wish I could obtain it to show you, but they are so rare that I doubt I will ever have a chance to use one again. I have heard the cost to produce them would make a king grimace. These bugs can live in water, but they breed best inside warm, moist environments. Our bodies are a perfect environment for them.¡±

    ¡°This sounds far-fetched.¡±

    ¡°OK, let''s think about something you can see. Have you ever seen someone poop out worms? My brother did once after playing in a muddy stream.¡± It was actually my sister, and it was another world, but we didn¡¯t really have to make that distinction.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it inappropriate to be talking about what people poop out of them?¡±

    ¡°Probably about as inappropriate as talking about one''s love life, but we will just have to ignore the issue for the sake of progress,¡± I said with a mischievous grin. Lisa rolled her eyes. ¡°Anyways, for those who have, let me ask you something. How did they get in your body? Wouldn¡¯t you see them if they were in the water you drank or the food you ate? The truth is that they lay small eggs that we can¡¯t see, and we ingest those eggs. Then they hatch inside us and make us sick. They come out with our poop to try and lay eggs somewhere else.¡±

    While we were talking, Kim and a young girl came over and started to add grain to the pot. I guess they assumed that someone was just helping get things going in the morning.

    ¡°I really could go on for hours about what I have learned. But the main takeaway should be that boiling water does not make it holy. It just kills bugs. We really need to talk about me getting back to the barony so we can send men to get rid of the bandits.¡±

    ¡°We cannot provide you with anyone to help you. Every man and boy is going to be needed here in case the bandits attack. The path is easy enough to follow. This time of year, you shouldn¡¯t get bogged down.¡±

    ¡°I could lead him,¡± A young woman about my age said as she stepped forward. She looked very much like what a younger version of Kim would look like. She wasn¡¯t as willowy, and her light brown hair was a bit longer and tied back with a string. Her eyes were the color of caramel and sparkled with the morning light. The real difference between the two was the smile. Unlike Kim, whose smile was like a ray of sunshine, this young woman¡¯s smile was one of a predator. Another warning bell sounded when I saw no bracelet or wrap showing that she was married.

    ¡°Kylie,¡± Kim said sternly while looking over from where she stirred the pot.

    I held up my hand to prevent this from becoming an argument. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kim. As the men are all needed here, I think it would be best if I travel alone.¡±

    This caused a glare from Kylie, ¡°You think I cannot lead you just as well as a man.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I said quickly. Do I do this delicately or straightforwardly? What the heck, I¡¯ll just wing it.

    ¡°It¡¯s actually a matter of my honor. During my more rebellious years, when my father showed his distain for me, I reciprocated by acting like a womanizer without actually being one. I think he would have had my head for that. It made him furious, and I thought nothing of it. Now, however, I am trying to repair the damage I have caused to my reputation. People do not see me as a man of integrity, so I try not to be alone with women in case people get the wrong idea. I follow this rule even in my own home.¡±

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    I saw some nods of approval from all around me, but then Kylie spoke again, this time in a sultry voice, ¡°So you won¡¯t let me come with you because you are worried you won¡¯t be able to control your urges?¡±

    I wanted to strangle her, but all I managed to do was to gape at her as my face turned beet red. As the silence stretched on, I heard a chuckle in the crowd, and then some others began to laugh; most, however, were too nervous to laugh, and soon the laughter died down. Before Kylie could say anything else embarrassing, Lisa stepped in. ¡°That¡¯s enough, Kylie. Lord Amos is our guest, and you will treat him with the same respect you would show any of your elders.¡±

    Their eyes met, and there seemed to be a battle of wills going on for just a moment. Then suddenly, Kylie turned on her heels and walked away, sashaying her hips. What was that all about?

    The crowd started to disperse as Kim banged on the pot announcing breakfast. A line formed up, and small bowls of the wheat porridge were dished out. It was bland, but its flavor wasn¡¯t any blander than the stuff I ate at the manor. It isn¡¯t like there was any sugar here. Even some honey would make a huge difference.

    As I was eating my porridge, Kim came up to me. ¡°I am sorry about my niece. She is, um¡­ well, I think she tries to make everyone feel uncomfortable. She isn¡¯t a bad person. She really works hard; it¡¯s just¡­ Well, her marriage didn¡¯t end well. And now she takes it out on others. She is a bitter young woman. She will probably grow out of it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; it takes a lot more than a manipulative minx to get me upset,¡± I said, trying to cover up my initial embarrassment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a minx is, but I get the reference. I don¡¯t think she is bitter anymore. I really think she just likes messing with people.¡±

    My sister was the same way growing up. She was relentless with my brother and me. Fortunately, unlike my sister, I could avoid Kylie.

    At that point, a man approached us, and Kim hurried away. ¡°Lord Amos, I am Michael. Your horse and what supplies we could part with are ready if you will follow me.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Michael. I appreciate your help,¡± I said as we walked towards a path east of the small village. Blaze was waiting just to the side of the path. I walked up and checked on his straps and made sure everything was tight. I ran my hand down his neck, and he whinnied. I was so happy to see him. ¡°I¡¯m glad you are OK, boy. We¡¯ve got a long trip, and I couldn¡¯t do it without you. After strapping my supplies onto his back, I led him over to a fallen log. I used that to help me get up into the saddle.

    ¡°My Lord, I don¡¯t know if we can fight bandits. If you don¡¯t send men, I think we all might die.¡± Michael said solemnly.

    I could see the fear in this man¡¯s eyes. He and his family were depending on me. I nodded to him. ¡°You have my word that as long as I am breathing, I will send men to aid you.¡±

    ¡°Be careful, My Lord, there are not many, but some predators exist in these swamps.¡±

    ¡°I will do my best. If the bandits come before we can get back, see if you can get your women and children to Melnon.¡± Michael said nothing, so I turned and left down the small footpath.

    Birds were chirping, and the early morning light dappled through the sparse trees, making interesting patterns in the shade. Once again, I had found myself in a picturesque scene that I wished I had my art supplies for. ¡°My horse for a digital camera and Photoshop,¡± I whispered. Then I patted Blaze¡¯s neck. "Just kidding, boy."

    Blaze was not much for conversation, so we fell into a comfortable silence. We walked at a pace that any healthy man could keep. I knew we were in a hurry, but having Blaze come up lame because he twisted or broke an ankle on this uneven terrain would have been the worst thing I could have done. Haste makes waste.

    A few hours down the road, I turned back in my saddle to see the path behind me and caught a glimpse of movement before whatever it was darted into the tall reeds that lined the path here. The distance was such that I barely heard the audible splash that accompanied the creature''s movement into the marsh. I pulled back lightly on the reins, and Blaze came to a stop. I sat and listened for a moment. I couldn''t be sure what I had seen. Was it someone''s foot or a small animal? I was pretty sure whatever I saw swayed the reeds too much and made too big of a splash to be just a small creature. I decided to tell a fib and see if anything came of it.

    ¡°You have been following me for quite a while,¡± I yelled out, ¡°Would you like to come out and join me, or would you prefer I just pretend I don¡¯t know you are there the rest of the way to Melnon?¡±

    I waited a couple of minutes, then said, ¡°Fine. But you may want to stay on the path so your feet don¡¯t get wet and muddy. You may catch a cold that way.¡± With that, I turned and continued down the path. A few minutes later, I heard quick steps catching up with me. I tried to act cool. I didn¡¯t even look at the person even though my heart was beating fast. ¡°A nice day for a stroll, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said casually, without checking to see who was beside me.

    The person, whoever they were, didn¡¯t respond. I so wanted to turn my head to the side and see who was walking next to me. Instead, I tried to keep my composure and kept my eyes on the trail.

    ¡°Such confidence, I like men like that,¡± said a sultry voice.

    I sighed. I should have known. ¡°Kylie, I thought we agreed that it would be best for proprieties'' sake that you did not accompany me,¡± I said as I turned to address her.

    She smiled, and the hairs on the back of my neck raised. ¡°You may be observant, but your memory is lacking. Besides, what man wouldn¡¯t want the company of a beautiful girl as they travel this lonely road?¡±

    ¡°The company of a young woman would be nice. However, you seem like more of a fox than a girl. And that is dangerous company.¡±

    That got a confused look, ¡°I do not know what a fox is, but I feel I should be offended.¡±

    ¡°It depends on how you look at it. The fox is a very beautiful creature. It has red and white fur. In fact, in the area of the world they come from, beautiful women are often described as foxy.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so it is a compliment.¡±

    ¡°There are always two sides to every coin. The fox is also known to be a very sly predator. Although they are small and may look harmless, they are very skillful hunters. One of their favorite prey is the hen. A small bird like a kayver. The foxes are very skillful at getting into hen houses and grabbing their prey. The fox¡¯s smile is disarming but deceitful. You should never trust the smile of a predator such as a fox.¡±

    This made the girl laugh. A sound that was as beautiful as the rest of her. ¡°I like this creature. So, My Lord, do you consider yourself prey.¡± She said mischievously.

    ¡°No, that is not really my concern. The concern is that you consider me prey. The true fox recognizes the difference between prey and another predator.¡± I said with false bravado. She was crafty. I didn¡¯t understand her motives. If she wanted to kill me, she could have done that with the bow on her back while I was riding. Did she think she could seduce me? Why would she even want to? These people fled to the marshes to get away from people like me. Maybe I was just a source of entertainment. Some people liked to tease. I knew foxes couldn¡¯t be domesticated, but with the right food, you could sometimes tame them to the point that they were friendly.

    ¡°Since you seem to like the fox so much, would you like me to tell you a tale about a particular fox?¡±

    ¡°Oh, a story. I do love a good story. Can I sit on your knee as you tell it?¡± She said mockingly.

    Ignoring her comment, I said, ¡°This story comes from a distant land. It is called the fox of nine tails.¡±

    I actually combined a few different versions of the mythology into one story. Some people considered the fox of nine tails as benevolent and a sign of prosperity. Later generations turned the fox into a demon seductress. In my story, the fox that appeared depended on the person to whom it was attracted to. A benevolent king who sought the good of his people could possibly attract the nine-tailed fox of wisdom. If he were fortunate enough for this to happen, she would stand by his side and help bring in an era of prosperity. If, however, the king was obsessed with the beauty of women and lust, he may attract the fox of seduction, who would slowly poison him.

    After I finished the story, Kylie smiled slyly, ¡°So which one am I?¡±

    Trying to sound wise, I said, ¡°That is for you to decide. As a fox, you will never be subservient to anyone, but your presence can bring prosperity or ruin to whomever you decide to associate with.¡±

    This made Kylie chuckle. ¡°Me, bring prosperity. I have no schooling. I could never bring prosperity to anyone.¡±

    ¡°I once had a teacher who said that schooling gave you knowledge. Wisdom was the application of knowledge. You may lack knowledge about some things, but you are quick-witted. That which you do know you most likely use well. Your cleverness will be a great assist to the village.¡±

    ¡°I am a nuisance in the village, according to the council.¡±

    ¡°I had a friend once, one of the smartest kids I ever met. However, he was constantly getting in trouble. Building explosives and destroying part of a farmer''s field and a smoke bomb in the girl''s locker room. He once hacked a city''s website and rearranged it with all sorts of false information. When asked why he was doing it, he said he was bored. You may just be bored, it¡¯s probably why you are following me. I am something new that can entertain you for a bit.¡±

    She said nothing for a while and then said, ¡°What is a bomb?

    I rolled my eyes. Of course, she picked up on the one thing that would destroy a field. Well, actually, I probably would have done the same; I wasn¡¯t much better than Matt. It isn¡¯t like I wasn¡¯t there when he was getting into most of the mischief. I decided to indulge her since I knew she would never be able to make one. ¡°The easiest one to make right now would be using black powder. It is a combination of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. You grind up each one separately and then combine them. I can¡¯t remember how much of each specifically. After it is combined, you put it in a metal container and add a wick. Next, you light it and run as fast as you can. It will explode, sending metal fire and smoke everywhere. The sound is so loud you can hear it from miles away.¡±

    ¡°I know what charcoal is, but I have never heard of these other things?¡±

    ¡°Potassium nitrate can be gotten from dried bird or bat poop. I think it is also found in urine, but I can¡¯t remember. Sulfer is a light yellow rock that is soft and grainy. I think the largest quantity you need is potassium nitrate.¡±

    For the next half hour, we discussed black powder. I had never seen someone so excited to learn how to blow stuff up. Not even Matt was this excited about explosives. For him, it was just something to do because he was bored. I was so glad that she didn¡¯t have access to this stuff. When she had wrung everything out of me that she could, she became quiet for almost half an hour, and that silence worried me more than anything she had said. She was going to try and do this. I could tell.

    ¡°Um, Kylie. Don¡¯t do what you are thinking of doing. A lot of people have died playing around with this stuff. A single spark or ember while you are near black powder, and you will either be seriously hurt or die.¡±

    No response. She had been drawn into her own little world. ¡°Kylie, did you hear me?¡±

    All she did was mutter something about guano and bats.

    Sure, Amos, just great; you wanted her to think you were so smart, and in the end, you created a monster. Someone was going to get killed. Kylie, you need to keep this a secret. If people find out how to make this, a lot of people will die.

    ¡°Tell me another story.¡± She said suddenly. Her sly smile and mischievous looks had disappeared, and an almost child-like innocence appeared on her face. Looking at her, I had to remind myself that she was a fox. I decided I would go with something safe and told her all the Aesop¡¯s fables I could remember. She sat quietly, listening to them. When I found a rotted stump on the side of the trail, I got off of Blaze and let him take a break. We had eaten travel food while walking, so now we just sat and talked. She started to tell me about life in the village. It wasn¡¯t much different than what the life of my serfs was like. It just seemed harder to do the same things.

    As we started to travel again, she said, ¡°I¡¯m not keeping the black powder a secret. We aren¡¯t even part of your nation. If your nobles have it, then we should have it, too.¡±

    I hesitated before saying, ¡°The nobles don¡¯t have this knowledge. Kylie, please, this knowledge is dangerous. If all it was was your village getting a hold of it, then it wouldn¡¯t matter. Your village couldn¡¯t produce enough to make a difference. Can you imagine what would happen if the nobles found out?¡±

    ¡°How do you know about it, then? Is this just one of your stories?¡±

    Time for a little white lie. I sighed, ¡°Yes, I just wanted to impress you. I don¡¯t want you to waste your time. I¡¯m sorry I lied to you.¡±

    She looked into my eyes and gave a sly smile. ¡°You may be good at telling stories but not as good with lying. As you said, I am a fox. You will have trouble beating me at my own game.¡±

    I groaned in defeat. I am sorry Endless One. I may have doomed us all.

    Looking up at me, Kylie said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Amos, if you are right, I may just end up killing myself.¡±

    It was almost sunset when we found a place to stop. Actually, Kylie found it, as she had traveled this road before. It was a small clearing of dry ground surrounded by reeds. There was a small fire pit and a place to set up my tent. Kylie had not brought one, so I offered mine to her. There was enough room for two, but there was no way I was putting myself in that situation. Besides, it didn¡¯t look like rain. After having a quick bite to eat and starting the fire. I tried to lie down and sleep, but it took a long time for my thoughts to quiet down. The fear I felt of unleashing black powder into the world would not let me rest. Where did my determination go to make sure I was the only one who could make it? I guess I really was trying to show off. Late in the evening, exhaustion finally overcame me, and I drifted off to sleep.

 MAPS!

    OK, ladies and gentleman,  I have some maps for you.  The first is of Bicman Barony which I also added to the notes in Chapter 4.  Second is The Road to Decmoore which I added to Chapter 18. This map is just to give a perspective of distance.  It takes about four days to get to Decmoore.  It also had the River Nore which is the boundary between the two baronies.  I did not add all of the roads and villages in the Barony of Decmoore.  I could say because they don''t really matter for the story but mainly it is because I am lazy.  Next is Amos'' journey to Crater Bay.  The Red line shows his travel itinerary.  Last is a 3D Rendering of the Bicman Manor done on Tinkercad.  I am attaching the link but I don''t know if you can view it without a tinkercad account (they are free).  Also if you want to print it on a 3D printer that''s fine but the bottom tends to curl without a raft.  I am planning on redesigning it without a flat bottom but for now, it is what it is.  If I get really ambitious I will watch a YouTube video on how to add mesh (I think that is what they call it) to it and so It actually looks like a manor.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    https://www.tinkercad.com/things/98N2Y3VuNy0-bicman-manor

 Chapter 32

    I woke groggy the next morning. I wasn¡¯t as sore, but my head was fuzzy from not getting enough sleep. As I cracked open my eyes, I could tell by the sun that it was later than I had gotten up the last two days.  I walked over to the small stream that ran on one side of the camp and started to scoop some water into a small pot we had been given for the journey. After starting a fire, I did my Tai Chi while I waited for the pot to boil. After fifteen minutes, I removed it from the heat and waited for it to cool. By the time it was only warm to the touch, Kylie had woken up and was stretching like a cat.

    Stupid hormones. Stupid girl. Stupid situation. Trying to ignore her I kept cleaning up the camp and getting ready to leave.

    As we were almost ready to leave, Kylie said in a coy voice, ¡°Umm, Lord Amos, I was¡­ well¡­ I was wondering if I could try riding the horse.¡±

    What! Now, she is trying to act all shy and cute so she can ride on my horse? I took a deep inhale through my nose.

    ¡°We have to get back as soon as possible, and I am not in shape enough to keep a good pace.¡±

    ¡°Please, I¡¯ve never ridden a horse, and I promise it will only be for a little bit.¡± She wheedled.

    ¡°Fine, but only for a little bit, and I am holding the reins,¡± I grunted, Not trusting this girl not to do something crazy. The smile on her face was like that of a little kid who had just gotten a shopping spree at a candy store.

    I helped her up on the horse, and we began our trek down the path. After half an hour, my legs were burning again. My question is, where were all the fallen logs or rocks to help me switch places with this girl? It was like they all just disappeared, and all we had was reedy marsh on both sides. Did she know that this part of the trail would be like this? She really was a fox. Every time I looked back at her, she gave me a winning smile. There was a hidden message in that smile. One that spoke of victory.

    I was beginning to become grumpy when she suddenly said, "You never answered my question yesterday. Where did you learn about black powder?¡±

    ¡°I did answer that question,¡± I said stubbornly.

    ¡°But it was a lie.¡±

    ¡°It was an answer.¡±

    She humphed and gave me a pouty face. Just another one of her devious ploys to get her way. What a Kitsune.

    ¡°Fine, you want the truth. I got it off the internet.¡±

    ¡°The what?¡±

    ¡°The internet,¡± I said slowly.

    "What is the internet?"

    "It''s like a very large library."

    ¡°What¡¯s a library.¡±

    ¡°It is like a collection of books that people can share with one another.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a book?¡±

    Seriously, this was getting ridiculous. ¡°Do you know what a scroll is?¡±

    She rolled her eyes, ¡°No need to be rude. Of course I know what a scroll is.¡±

    ¡°Excellent, so a bunch of people wrote a bunch of information in books, which are like scrolls. They put all those books in one place where everyone can read about whatever they want to.¡±

    ¡°And you are saying you have been to this internet place, but no other noble in the kingdom has.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    She looked at me, scrutinizing my face. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you are lying. Where is this internet?¡±

    ¡°Far away. And no, I am not telling you where.¡±

    ¡°What, why not?¡±

    ¡°Because some things are better left unsaid.¡±

    ¡°Fine. What other things are at this internet.¡± she huffed.

    I decided to shatter her sense of reality. ¡°The world is round.¡±

    She laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid. No, it''s not.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡±

    ¡°People would be falling off.¡±

    ¡°Not if everything is pulled towards the center of the world no matter where you stand.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because that isn¡¯t how it works.¡±

    ¡°How does it work.¡±

    She thought for a moment. ¡°Well, we stay on the ground because we are heavy. Lighter things can be thrown higher in the air, but their weight makes them come down.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It is just that way.¡±

    ¡°We come back down because of a thing called gravity. No matter where you are in the world, it works the same. It is why the world is round. All things are pulled to a center point. Ok, I think the roundness of Marth would be easier to explain. Let''s imagine that the shelf that butts up against the bay is not 6 feet tall but 600 feet tall. I stood on the pebble beach, and you were up on the shelf. You will see further, why?¡±

    Kylie closed her eyes just like I do when I am trying to picture something in my mind. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never done it.¡±

    ¡°Well, others have, and you would be the one to see farther.¡±

    After a moment of silence, she said in an awed voice, ¡°It¡¯s because I can see over the curving part. Like seeing over a hill, but that would mean the world would have to be... How big is the world!? If you had a boat, could you go all the way around it? Or is there other land in the way? Do people live there?" She began to mutter to herself.

    Wow, she really was smart, I thought. Oh no, she is definitely going to make a bomb. My thoughts were interrupted by her sudden exclamation.

    ¡°You have to take me to this internet.¡± There was a passion in her eyes that I had never seen on this planet before. Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for the rest of humanity, she would never get a chance to explore the internet. Having lived a month without it, I realized how much my life had revolved around the internet, how much the ability to get any information with the click of a mouse button made such a difference.

    ¡°I wish I could. I really do. But I will never get a chance to go there again,¡± I said sincerely.

    Again, she scrutinized my face. When she realized I was being serious, her face fell. I really hated to see that look. I knew she was being a little manipulative, but I still felt bad.

    ¡°Even though I no longer have access to the internet, I want to create my own library. I want to gather information from all over and put it together.¡±

    ¡°That would be amazing!¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to read?¡±

    She gave me an offended look. ¡°Of course, I can read.¡± Then she blushed, ¡°Well, a little. My husband taught me before things went wrong.¡±

    I was so curious that a question almost slipped from my lips. I clamped down on the urge, however. Her life was none of my business. I was not going to insert myself into her drama.

    ¡°I can tell you want to know. It isn¡¯t a big deal.¡± Her words didn¡¯t match her expression. ¡°I was married when I was thirteen. He was the son of a freeman wine merchant, and I was the daughter of a peasant chandler. His parents didn¡¯t really approve, but we were in love, or at least I thought we were. It was two years before we realized that we couldn¡¯t have children. This caused Melvin to become distant. The gap just kept growing wider. Having a barren wife was enough of an excuse to divorce me. But I constantly pleaded with him not to leave me. I found out he started to tell people I was sneaking out to places. Hinting around the fact that I was unfaithful. It was obvious he felt guilty about what he was about to do. We were divorced, and I was sent home in shame. My parents were ashamed of me. They told me about Aunt Kim and sent me here.¡±

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    This world had a different view of women''s roles than the one I grew up in. If a family in my world were not able to have children, it wasn¡¯t a shame. Sure, the women may have felt embarrassed or ashamed, but they would often adopt rather than separate. Or was that just what I believed? I realized that she was looking down at me, waiting for my reaction.

    ¡°Just because a person is educated doesn¡¯t prevent them from being foolish. Your ex-husband''s pride made him look over the qualities that make you special and focus on a condition that you could not help."

    Now, she was looking at me like I had two heads. "But I can''t bear children."

    "And do you really think that is all you are good for?"

    There was a long pause, ¡°That is really how you see this.¡±

    "Look, I don¡¯t presume to know your feelings, and this is probably a delicate subject for you, but that''s how I feel. He could have adopted a child with you. Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t say that. That¡¯s your personal business.¡±

    ¡°So you would marry me.¡± The intensity came back to her face.

    ¡°Whoa, let¡¯s not get the cart before the horse here!¡± I said. Trying and failing not to sound flustered.

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°You know what I mean. You would marry a barren woman.¡±

    I actually hadn¡¯t realized she wasn¡¯t proposing to me, but I recovered. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t put much thought into it but I do have Aaron so¡­ Hmmm¡­ you know I guess I don¡¯t know. I certainly wouldn¡¯t divorce my wife if it was found afterward. Besides, I have Aaron, so it isn¡¯t like I don¡¯t have an heir of sorts.¡±

    ¡°Who is Aaron?¡± She said curiously.

    I smiled, ¡°He is my nephew. His father, who would have become baron, died with the rest of my family due to illness in my manor. Aaron and I were the only ones to recover. I¡¯m just filling in for him until he is old enough to take over.¡±

    ¡°You have a nephew who is going to become the baron? How old is he?¡±

    ¡°He is almost one.¡± Then I glared at her and said, ¡°And if you say one word about being surprised that he is alive, I will kick you off my horse and tell you to leave. I love Aaron, and he is the coolest nephew ever. I am not going to take what is rightfully his.¡±

    Her mouth clamped shut, and she just stared at me for a moment before nodding. ¡°You are a bizarre man. You didn¡¯t try and take advantage of me last night, you let me ride on your horse like I am an equal to you, and you let a competitor to your position live.¡±

    After a pause, I said, ¡°First, you are carrying a knife, and so even if I had the inclination to force myself upon your person, I am sure I would have had a knife in my back before I could so much get near you. Second, the difference between you and me is a difference in authority, obligation, and responsibility, not in who we as people are. Third, I am not suited to be a baron. I have too many beliefs that do not fit into the system. All I can do is hope not to ruin the barony before he is old enough to take over.¡±

    Her eyes went distant for a bit, and then she gave a thoughtful nod. She hopped off the horse and said simply, ¡°You can ride now.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the permission,¡± I said dryly.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± she said with one of her mischievous smiles.

    It was another fifteen minutes before I found a rock large enough to help me get my foot up into the stirrups. It was such a relief to get off my feet. I felt bad for Blaze, but at least I was losing weight. Now that I was on the horse, our pace picked up a bit. The day was pleasant, if a bit chilly. For a while, neither of us spoke, both lost in our own thoughts. I was trying to hold it together. Knowing I had left men to die was weighing heavily on me. The guilt for surviving when they had died. I was so incompetent that I couldn¡¯t even help my men.

    ¡°Tell me more about this knowledge at the internet,¡± Kylie suddenly said. I grasped at the opportunity that was presented. I was tired of dwelling on the fate I had led my men into.

    ¡°Did you know that hot air rises above cold air?¡±

    And so my random facts continued. Kylie asked a lot of questions, some of which I didn¡¯t know the answers to. I knew that white light was made up of all the colors in the visible spectrum, and a prism refracted light at an angle that separated them. However, I didn¡¯t know why rainbows were arched.

    I found out she had an inquisitive mind, and for some reason, we started talking about boating in the cove. Or was it a gulf? How big did it have to be to be a gulf? It was probably a cove, even though you couldn¡¯t walk around it in one day. Well, maybe that was just me. Anyways, that thought brought us to sailing. None of the boats these people had were sailboats. They were more like canoes. We discussed different concepts of sailing for over an hour. I loved that merit badge. I needed to import a boat maker. I think they were called shipwrights or something like that.

    She told me the villagers'' diet consisted mainly of fish, crabs, and a few other sea creatures. One that she described sounded like sea cucumbers. If the council would trade with me, these would be good trade items. When I mentioned this, she got a mischievous look on her face. I wasn¡¯t sure, but I think they were already trading with someone¡ªprobably Melnon. I had my suspicions about what they were trading for.

    Gradually, the landscape changed as we started to move upwards into the hills. By evening, we were out of the marsh and had reached a small camping area. I could hear a mountain stream that ran off the gentle slopes to the east of the camp. It looked like it had seen regular use. There was a fire pit that had half-burnt logs still in it. And I didn¡¯t even have to ask before Kylie started to explain.

    ¡°I might as well tell you since it is already pretty obvious. This is a camp that people rest at as they are escaping your kingdom.¡±

    Looking around, I could imagine this as a stop along the underground railroad that I learned about in US history. I shook my head at the courage of these people. ¡°How many die along the way?¡±

    Kylie lowered her head." We had half die on my trip. There were ten of us. We never had enough food.¡±

    ¡°I imagine not many can make the trip. This camp shows signs of it being used a little more often than your population suggests. Also, from what I gather, there hasn¡¯t been a recent group. So how else is this camp used?¡±

    She gave her signature smile and said, ¡°You, Lord Amos, are smarter than you look.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said hesitantly, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should take it as a compliment though.¡±

    She just shrugged, ¡°You will probably find this out as well. We trade with Melnon.¡±

    ¡°I kind of figured you are getting some of my iron as finished products and grain from what I saw in the village.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem all that upset.¡± She said in confusion.

    ¡°A little after all, resources are leaving my barony without the barony being compensated. However, I will have to look up the laws about trading with foreign cities. It may be that my citizens just have to pay taxes on what they receive. I don¡¯t know if there is an import tax. I didn¡¯t expect to have to deal with foreign trade. I wanted to trade with your village anyway. This means trade is already established. We just need to tweak things a bit. Whatever the law may be, I will make sure it is fair and does not restrict the flow of necessary goods.¡±

    She tried to hide it, but her posture did relax a bit. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You are welcome, Ms. Fox.¡±

    ¡°What is a Mizz Fox.¡±

    ¡°Ms. is the title of an unmarried woman in some societies of the world. Fox is an appropriate name for someone as clever as you. I kind of like the name Kylie Fox. It has a nice ring to it.¡±

    ¡°Only Nobles have last names.¡± She said with not a little shock in her voice. Point for me for surprising her for once.

    ¡°Stop thinking like a peasant. You are not a citizen of the kingdom, and there is no nobility in the village you are from. Therefore, the rule does not apply to you. You can have a last name or not. They call Johnathan, Johnathan Founder. Besides, even if you don¡¯t want it, I will forever think of you as Kylie Fox.¡±

    She sat there stunned for a moment. Great, I think I broke another person''s brain in this world. After a while, she gave a small smug smile. I had always seen her as a confident individual but now it seemed to become even more intense. ¡°I like it. It is a good reminder of what I have gained. Thank you, Amos Bicman. You are a very kind man.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Her look turned serious, ¡°Amos, you are too kind. It may be alright for a peasant or a Freeman to be as kind as you. Always thinking of others. But you are going to get yourself killed. I was not of high enough status to see the things that the nobility did, but I always heard rumors. You will either have to become more like a baron or flee your kingdom because if any noble turns their eye on you as you are now, I fear you will be ground to dust.¡±

    This was said in a tone more serious than I had ever heard her. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be less kind than I am. It brings me peace.¡±

    She frowned and shook her head. ¡°Then you must flee.¡±

    We ate in silence after that, both in our thoughts. Once again, we set up camp, and I slept buddled in a blanket. I was worried that the ground would be too rocky to sleep on, but I found that previous campers had built up some softer areas near the fire pit where I could sleep. I tried not to think about what she had said, but her words would not leave me. I could run, run with Aaron, or send him to his other family. But I would be fleeing my duty to all the people I had met. Their lives were not great, but I was trying to change that. Did I really have to give up who I am to survive? Could I find another way? I didn¡¯t know enough about how my fellow nobles thought. I needed information. I needed a spy network. I needed people who could get close to nobles without them being suspicious. Without merchants coming to Bicman barony, I didn¡¯t even have the basic information.

    Kylie was once again still sleeping when I awoke. I dipped my hands into the frigid stream by the edge of our camp and scrubbed my scruffy face. As my thoughts cleared, another thing dawned on me. Shouldn¡¯t we have been keeping watch? What if we had been attacked by wild animals or bandits?

    I turned around and saw Kylie sitting up and stretching. She looked pretty, but she also looked as filthy as I felt. ¡°Kylie, why didn¡¯t we rotate watches last night or the night before, for that matter? Aren¡¯t there animals out here that could attack us?¡±

    She shrugged, ¡°Probably.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­¡±

    ¡°Because I was cold and tired.¡±

    My mouth hung open for a moment while I tried to come up with something to say. My expression made Kylie start to laugh. All I could do was sigh. This girl really was crazy. As hard as it was to do, I decided to try and not let it bother me. It was to late now.

    ¡°So, Amos, now I get to tell everyone you shared a tent with me.¡± she said with a mischievous grin.

    ¡°No one who knows you will believe that you actually did anything with me.¡± I said defensively.

    ¡°Thanks for the compliment, but you overestimate people''s opinion of me. And hopefully, you aren''t stupid enough to think that everybody is willing to think the worst of any noble." She said with a laugh. Before I could respond, she stretched and said. "Well, I think I am going to get going. I¡¯ve got a long walk back.¡±

    ¡°You''re not coming any further?¡± I said, a little worried

    ¡°No, the tree with the cloth is not far from this camp. Take the trail next to it, and you will get to Melnon.¡±

    The cloth she was talking about was apparently a signal for Dwaine or a few other contacts they had in Melnon. Lisa explained that when they needed to talk with Dwaine, they would change their clothes to green and wait at a camp nearby. Now, I knew it was to trade for various things. There were only a few people who knew specifically what was going on.

    ¡°Well, Ms. Fox, do take care of yourself, and I would say stay out of trouble, but I am afraid that would be impossible for you.¡±

    The Cheshire cat would have trouble giving as wide of a smile as Kylie did at my banter. We wrapped things up quickly, and we both parted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sleep with too many women while we are apart, or I may get jealous.¡± She said as I got up on my horse. I decided not to rise to her provocation.

    ¡°Thank you for your company on this journey, Kylie. Be safe.¡±

    ¡°You too Amos.¡±

    With that, I headed down the road, only a few minutes before I found the cloth. The trail was narrow and looked like something animals would use rather than humans. It went downhill, and I decided to walk the trail rather than have Blaze carry me. I didn¡¯t want to take a tumble on this narrow slope.

 Chapter 33

    Ronald- (not the old steward, he¡¯s dead)

    Stretching my back after hooking up Jez to the cart full of limestone, I groaned. We had mined more yesterday than I could bring down so that meant I was stuck making a morning run. We had not bothered much with the limestone before the new lord wanted us to start trying to make things other than our mortar. I would grumble about it, but the results were interesting.

    I wondered what Carl and the rest of those guys would come up with next. The fact that the new baron wanted us to experiment was strange, but I liked sitting down with the guys at the end of the day and discussing what they had tried. I was lost in thought as I began to travel the road down to Melnon, and that is why I didn¡¯t notice the man coming down the small hunter¡¯s trail to the left of me.

    Jez suddenly stopped, causing my lead rope to go taut. Looking up, I saw some sort of wildman turning onto the main path. It was Dwaine¡¯s trail, but this was definitely not Dwaine. He was a tall, bulky man with ragged clothes and a week''s worth of unkept growth on his face. It wasn¡¯t until my eyes moved from the man to the horse trailing behind him that I realized this was no wildman. Wild men didn¡¯t have fine horses. I took a closer look and noticed that even though his clothes were worn, they were well made. This man was a nobleman or wealthy merchant, for sure. Had he gotten lost?

    ¡°Excuse me, but is this the trail to Melnon.¡±

    ¡°Yes, umm¡­ I am sorry, but I don¡¯t know how to address you,¡± I said hesitantly, fearing to insult the man if he was indeed noble.

    The man smiled and said, ¡°I apologize. That was rude of me. I was just so excited to see someone. I am Lord Amos, and I have an urgent message for Headman Richard.¡±

    I immediately fell to my knees, ¡°Forgive me, My Lord, I didn¡¯t¡­ That is to say you¡­¡±

    ¡°That I look like a crazy man and carry a stench that would make a pig grimace,¡± He chuckled.

    I had heard that the rumors of him being a cruel young man were false, but I couldn¡¯t fathom a lord making fun of himself.

    ¡°Now, my good man, What is your name?¡±

    ¡°Ronald, sir,¡± I said, still keeping my head down.

    ¡°Oh, sorry, you may rise, Ronald. I forgot that you needed permission.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord,¡± I said while standing.

    ¡°No problem. Now you aren¡¯t, by chance, Headman Richard¡¯s nephew?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord,¡± I said in surprise.

    ¡°I thought so. I heard you had a mule. Tell me, do you think a mule would be able to pull a plow well? I was thinking about buying some more plow animals.¡±

    The sudden question caught me off guard. ¡°I¡­ I believe so, my lord. I have never hooked Jez to a plow, but she pulls the cart just fine. They would probably be faster.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I am thinking. I am just trying to figure out if the added cost would be worth the increase in speed.¡±

    The lord became lost in thought for a bit before saying, ¡°Well, Ronald, it was a pleasure seeing you. I must hurry to the village to deliver my news. Do you think this trail would be safe to ride Blaze down?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about horses, My Lord, but I would guess so.¡±

    ¡°Excellent,¡± he said with a relieved look on his face while leading his horse over to a large, flat rock.

    ¡°Sorry, Blaze, break''s over. Time to get back to carrying me. Ronald, I look forward to seeing you in the village.¡±

    With that, the baron took off at a pace Jez and I couldn¡¯t keep up with. I guess they were right. The boy really was a friendly person. They now whispered he was blessed by the Endless One. Maybe.

    Amos

    As I rode into Melnon on Blaze, everyone began to stop what they were doing and look at me. One of the women recognized that I wasn¡¯t some hobo wanderer. Getting up from kneeling in her garden, she ran to me.

    Bowing, she said, ¡°My Lord, are you well.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know her name, and I was too drained to try to be a gentleman. ¡°I must see Richard. Is he in?¡±

    ¡°I believe he is at the new kiln, My Lord. Follow me,¡± she said politely. Was my PR campaign actually working?

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with a smile.

    We walked through the town and rounded the bend of a hill. The new kiln was a sight to behold. It was larger than their other kilns by a half. Several men were loading crushed limestone into the furnace to produce the lime. Richard was standing next to a large man gesticulating wildly about something. I rode up to them on my horse, ¡°Headman Richard, we need to talk.¡± I said loudly before he even knew I was there.

    Both men turned to look at me. Richard''s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw my state. The other man, whom I don¡¯t think I had ever met, immediately dropped to his knee.

    I sighed, ¡°Thank you for the respect, but you may rise. I am in a bit of a hurry, and the headman and I have some business to discuss. Would you mind finding someone to tend to my horse?¡±

    ¡°Of course, My Lord,¡± He said with a bow.

    ¡°My Lord, why are you here? I thought you had gone to the coast?¡± Richard said in a worried voice.

    ¡°We should discuss it in private,¡± I said, trying not to let my stress show in my voice.

    ¡°Oh course, My Lord, I will lead the way.¡±

    He strode quickly to his home, and I noticed something different about it. I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it, and my mind was too frazzled to come up with a description. As we entered the house, Richard lit a candle and then shut the door to give us some more privacy.

    ¡°My Lord, what has happened?¡±

    ¡°We were attacked by bandits. My men fought to protect me while I ran. Dwaine pointed me towards the village on the bay, and they helped me get here.¡±

    ¡°The village?¡± he said in confusion. When it suddenly hit him what I was talking about, the color drained from his face.

    Despite my exhaustion, or maybe it was because of it, I couldn¡¯t help but freak him out a bit, ¡°You have been holding out on me, Richard.¡±

    At that point, he fell to his knees. ¡°My Lord, I-¡±

    ¡°Seriously, Richard, why didn¡¯t you tell me we had neighbors we could trade with? Hogging all that seafood for Melnon was just wrong. Cofi¡¯s fish are good, but have you had Kim¡¯s fish soup? That alone was worth the trip.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ so you are upset that we have not been giving you the trade goods?¡± He said, sounding extremely confused. ¡°Not that we have been hiding escaped peasants?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any escaped peasants there. I only met a bunch of people living on unclaimed land. I have no idea where they came from. Anyways, they need our help. Bandits are living not even a day away from them. Bandits that have killed our people. I need to get to Captain Draves and gather our troops.¡±

    Richard hung his head. Grief is apparent on Richard''s face, ¡°Dwaine is dead. Is it possible that they were only captured?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I then went on to explain what happened in more detail. When I was done, I put my hand on his shoulder and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s my fault for insisting on the trip.¡±

    Richard shook his head. ¡°No, My Lord, if it wasn¡¯t you and your men. It would have been someone else. They may have been able to attack the village before anyone knew they were even there. Thank you for warning them.¡±

    ¡°I will let Blaze rest here for half a bell and then continue. I have to gather the troops as quickly as I can. For all we know, the bandits could already be in the village. I need to be distracted, Richard. Tell me how things have been going here.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose. There have been arguments about how much lime and how much coal we are cooking. Jorb found out about the coke, so he wants some as well. The coke makes copper easier to cast and mix with tin. The bronze is getting better results. I know you wanted to experiment with iron, but we can¡¯t get the temp high enough to melt it, and it is brittle. Phillip, the man I was just talking to, says he can get the metal to a temperature that makes it very soft and easier to remove impurities, but it still isn¡¯t as useful as bronze.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect it to be. It won¡¯t really become useful until we can melt it and remove the extra carbon and slag. Once we do we won¡¯t have to import as much tin.¡±

    The head man nodded and said, ¡°The masons have taken up your challenge to make something more durable than our current mortar with the lime, but scraping the ash from the sides of the kiln is not producing much. Most of the ash escapes through the vent.¡±

    I sat there and thought for a moment. I had no idea how to collect the ash. I have no idea how this stuff worked. Fortunately, necessity was the mother of invention. Or a properly motivated individual.

    ¡°Tell you what, Richard, any man who manages to find a way to trap all the fly ash will receive a Billie-Mar, Butchered or alive. Whatever they prefer.

    ¡°That is quite generous, My Lord. Are you sure?¡±

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ¡°Trust me, the idea is worth much more.¡±

    ¡°I will spread the word. In fact, I am going to take a crack at this myself.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to tell Ronald. I met him on the trail down to Melnon. He looked like he could use something to think about as he hauls lime.¡±

    Richard nodded.

    "I don¡¯t remember if I asked you yet, but do you have a spot near the river where we could build a water wheel?

    ¡°I believe there is a place that would work, but what would we use it for?¡±

    "Crushing coal and lime. We could also power a bellow for the furnaces. That may get the temp high enough to melt the iron.¡±

    ¡°How would we crush rocks with a water wheel.¡±

    I explained how, with the right gears, you can convert the wheel''s rotational power into an up-and-down motion. This would allow us to create trip hammers, rock crushers, and bellows.

    I grabbed a charcoal stick and some of the paper I had sent him. I drew out the various designs for the gears for the hammers and pistons for the bellows. The more I explained, the more excited he got. I was pretty sure this wasn''t going to work on the first try. The History of the Iron Computer Animation Project I didn''t have the weights of each piece and measurements for the smaller parts, but I was sure that within a couple of years, we would have something that worked.

    ¡°My Lord, this would change everything. A man could do the work of at least four men. You could have so much surplus we wouldn¡¯t know what to do with it.¡±

    ¡°If we could capture that fly ash we could make a lot of concrete, It would be much better for building next to the river. I think concrete is more water-resistant than mortar. Not sure, but worth a try.¡± I said with a shrug.

    ¡°Indeed, My Lord. We could build massive buildings from it if what you say about it is true.¡± Realizing what he had said, he quickly added. ¡°Not that I doubt your wisdom.¡±

    I smiled, ¡°Time will tell.¡±

    "By the way, something is different about your house."

    "Oh, yes, well, while we were experimenting with the lime, we came across a mixture that was easily spread. We are trying it on the sides of some of the houses to see if it will crack or maybe give an added layer of protection and keep out the cold when winter hits."

    ''Hmm, sounds like plaster or stucco. I really didn''t know the difference.''

    "Well, done. Keep experimenting, and I may ask you to do the same for the manor. Of course, we would need a lot of trips back and forth with a wagon."

    We chatted for a bit, and then I decided Blaze had had all the time I could give him. Blaze was around the back of the house, and I used a chopping block to get up on him. My legs protested as I positioned myself. I could almost hear Blaze protesting as well. ¡°Hey, what are you complaining about? I have to have lost at least 100 lb. over the last few days.¡± I think the horse actually snorted.

    Richard walked with me to the road leading to Bicman village.

    ¡°Well, Headman Richard, Thank-¡± My farewell was interrupted by shouting from the cutoff leading to the river. Without even thinking, I kicked Blaze into a cantor, and we rushed towards the cries.

    When we got there, two women were dragging a limp body onto shore. Another woman who had been rushing along the bank of the river scooped up the body of the young boy and started to weep. Hopping down off of Blaze, I called out to the women. The one with the child ignored me, but the other two soaking-wet women bowed to me as they saw me running forward. One spoke up and said, ¡°My Lord, The boy fell in the river up there while playing on the rocks. When we heard the shouts, we rushed into the river to catch him before he passed. But we were too late. He is dead.

    I knelt down next to the woman and said, with as much authority as I could muster, ¡°Give me the boy.¡±

    At first, the woman ignored me, but then I shouted, ¡°Give me the boy, now!¡±

    Startled, the woman almost dropped the child, who couldn¡¯t have been more than eight. I didn¡¯t bother checking for a pulse but went straight to CPR. Fortunately, this wasn¡¯t a TV Drama where intense music was playing, and they were doing CPR for five minutes of the show. I didn¡¯t even have to shout, ¡°You are not going to die on me!¡± it only took 30 compressions and three breaths before the boy was coughing up water.

    As I straightened up into a kneeling position, the mother immediately scooped up the boy and started sobbing for an entirely different reason. As the other women from upstream arrived, I heard the words chosen and blessed being murmured among the people gathered. I ignored the comments and said, ¡°He may have a concussion. Try keeping him awake for a while and out of the light. Letting him fall asleep may make him slip into a coma.¡±

    I am glad I decided to recertify my CPR after the accident. I don''t think that I would have remembered my two years of classes from scout camp.

    With that, I got up to leave. Everyone immediately backed up, but it looked as if some of them wanted to touch me. It was seriously weirding me out. At the edge of the group was Richard, staring at me in amazement. I didn¡¯t say anything, and it looked like no one else was willing to speak first. I got back up on Blaze and cantered back to the trail. I continued at a canter for the next fifteen minutes as I tried to sort out my thoughts. The whole incident seemed like a dream or something I would see on TV without all the added drama. I had just saved a kid''s life. It was so surreal. And it happened so fast I didn¡¯t even have time to be nervous. Now that it was over, the enormity of it all came crashing down on me. All the nervousness that I should have felt in such a stressful situation hit me all at once, and I felt like vomiting. I took some deep breaths and repeated a steady mantra of ¡°Relax.¡±

    Due to the pace I was pushing Blaze, we arrived at the manor in about half the time it had taken me the last time I traveled this road. I slowed at the gates, yelling to the guards to go find Draves. One took off while the other stayed in position. After getting off my sweating horse, I tossed the reins to Jake and headed towards the manor. As I got to the doors, Draves burst out of them. I took a moment to look over me, and seeing that I was filthy but uninjured, he let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to my study,¡± I said before he could open his mouth. The pace we set to get there was almost a jog. Emily poked her head out of the paper room and gaped at me in alarm. ¡°Emily, have Cookie bring me something to eat, please,¡± I said as we rushed past. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her dart down the hallway. As soon as we entered, I collapsed into my seat.

    ¡°What happened, My Lord?¡± Draves said evenly.

    ¡°Bandits,¡± I said simply.

    ¡°How many did we lose,¡± he said gravely. He wore his military mask now. The one that protected him against the pain of losing men.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain, I¡¯m the only one left,¡± I said, trying not to look away.

    The Captain''s look did not change, but I could see the pain in his eyes. I went on to explain everything that happened in detail and my commitment to the villagers to send help.

    The more I spoke the deeper his frown became. Finally, he interrupted me as I explained my plan to exterminate the bandits.

    ¡°My Lord, may I be frank with you?¡±

    "Always, Captain. Your council is welcome.¡±

    He sighed, ¡°Although your idea is honorable, committing to help these people was extremely foolish. Especially committing your men to this fight. We do not know who these bandits are or how many they are. They could be a mercenary band charged with hunting down the escaped serfs and peasants. If they were as numerous as you say, we would be fighting with fewer men. We would also be leaving our own land empty if I were to gather your guards. Are you willing to send men to their deaths and leave your own citizens open to attack in order to help a village that isn¡¯t even part of our Barony?¡±

    I was stunned. None of this had occurred to me. I just saw people who were worse off than my own and decided to try and help. I didn¡¯t even think about the lives of my men. I hung my head in shame. After thinking for a moment, I looked back up. ¡°I gave my word, Captain. I have to do something.¡±

    Draves gave a small nod. ¡°I respect you for your decision to keep your word, My Lord. It is what I hoped you would say.¡±

    ¡°But you said-¡±

    ¡°I wanted you to know the consequences of your actions. And forgive me, but I also wanted to see how you would react. The fact that you are keeping your word, even when you gave it foolishly, is a trait I can respect. We can figure out a way to keep your word and minimize the risk.¡±

    ¡°A test then,¡± I sighed. I needed to find a way to minimize the threat to my men while at the same time keeping my word. We sat in silence for a while until an idea came to me. ¡°OK, how about this? The bandits will still probably follow the coast first. They are only about a day away from the village, so we may already be too late. If they reach the village, though, then they will probably send men up the trail to Melnon. I want you to gather ten of your men and two horses with supplies. Travel back down that trail to the village. If your scouts spot the men traveling the road to Melnon retreat. The branching path to Melnon looks like a game trail, and hopefully, they will pass it by. The same goes for if you reach the village and it is destroyed. If, however, the people are still there. Offer to help them evacuate. Bring extra spears. I know they are just peasants, but a larger armed force may deter the bandits.

    "If the bandits are traveling through the marsh and swamps, they will most likely come across Barim or Bicman first. I will evacuate Barim and have the men drafted to bolster our forces. I will also ask for volunteers from the peasants to train with the remaining men to prepare for an attack. They will get a small amount of compensation for the hours they train.¡±

    Draves did not immediately respond, and I started to get nervous. Finally, he nodded. ¡°I like it, My Lord. I fear that the peasants will not do much in the face of a bandit raid, and I don¡¯t think any other baron would arm unconscripted peasants, but it is the best of bad options. We will need more actual spears made. But they can train with sticks. I will send out the request to gather the troops I need and give your orders to the rest. We will gather at Melnon tonight and leave in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your support, Captain. Now, I must go and write letters to the families of the deceased. I don¡¯t think I could handle giving them the news in person.¡±

    ¡°It is never easy, My Lord. I am normally the one to give the news, and I will, but the families will appreciate the letters. It is not normal to receive such from a member of your family.¡±

    With that, Draves departed to make preparations, and I began writing letters. I was in the middle of the first one when Emily opened the door. She had a worried look on her face. As she set down a plate of buttered bread, cheese, and salted pork, she asked hesitantly, ¡°Amos, what happened.¡±

    I swallowed the lump in my throat and said, ¡°We were attacked by bandits. I got away, but¡­¡±

    When she realized what I was not saying, Emily put her hand to her mouth, and tears filled her eyes. She knew these men better than me. I can¡¯t imagine any of the villagers handling this news well.

    After a moment, she said, ¡°Are you OK? Were you hurt?¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°No, but it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. If I hadn''t been so focused on getting back here to warn all of you, I would have never made it. I still can¡¯t help feeling this is all just a horrible nightmare.¡±

    ¡°You should be resting.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t. We have to be prepared for if they come.¡±

    ¡°What can I do to help,¡± Emily said with determination in her eyes.

    ¡°I am writing letters to the families of those we have lost. When I am done, bring them to the Captain and ask if there is anything he needs.¡±

    ¡°OK, I will hurry up with everything else and come back when I am done.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Emily,¡± I said.

    She gave me a weak smile and left.

    My letters were not eloquent, but I hoped that the family would be able to tell their sincerity. After Emily had left with the letters, I had one more thing I wanted to do. Something I dreaded more than anything else I had done in the last few days. I tried to think of what I was going to say as I approached Maggie¡¯s hut. Everything I thought of sounded hollow to my ears. I stood outside the door, my hands frozen, not able to take the next action. I don¡¯t know how long I stood there mustering my courage, but I never got to the point where I could knock. Instead, Carrie opened the door and jumped back in surprise when she saw me standing there. Then her expression turned confused when I didn¡¯t say anything. Finally, I said, ¡°May I come in.¡±

    She nodded and stood aside. I walked in and sat on a chair without being invited to. Maggie came in from the back door. Before I could say anything, Maggie, perceptive as always, asked sternly, ¡°Where¡¯s the boy?¡±

    All the words I thought to say fled my mind. All I could manage was, ¡°We were attacked. I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Carrie.¡±

    When the realization of what I was saying dawned on her, she collapsed to her knees and started to sob. After a moment, Maggie said, ¡°Well, boy, hold her.¡±

    ¡°What? But I-¡±

    ¡°Why are boys so stupid? You brought this mess to my house. Now comfort her. I don¡¯t comfort, I instruct.¡±

    I wanted to say, I¡¯m a lord, and this is highly improper, but I couldn¡¯t muster the strength under Maggie¡¯s steely gaze. Were all old ladies this cranky and bossy? I knelt down next to Carrie and wrapped an arm awkwardly around her shoulder. She remained stiff and continued to sob. All I could do was kneel there and wait for her to cry herself out. It was a long wait.

 Chapter 34

    I lay on the ground, battered and bruised. My lip was bloody, and I felt a bruise forming on my face. Every muscle screamed in protest. If I had just kept Draves here, none of this would have happened.

    ¡°Come now, My Lord, how could you have expected this to go any other way? Your frontside is as flabby as my sister¡¯s backside.¡± My torturer laughed as he stood over me.

    He was right, of course. But as I got to my hands and knees, I shouted in defiance. ¡°I was lied to! Training montages suck!¡±

    ¡°My Lord, not to be rude, but you are once again spouting nonsense. Maybe you should call it a day.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t sound like nonsense if you had ever been introduced to 21st-century media, you uncultured swine,¡± I grumbled as I leaned back.

    ¡°I now understand what Emily was talking about,¡± Chris, Draves¡¯ next in command after Hyrum, said with a sigh.

    ¡°Oh, that little brat is talking about me behind my back, is she?¡±

    ¡°Um, forget I said that, My Lord,¡± Chris said while his face turned bright red.

    ¡°Nope, just like I am not forgetting to tell your sister what you said next time I see her. You did say she lives in Alfer, correct?¡±

    This caused Chris¡¯s face to go white. ¡°Please, Lord Amos, you wouldn¡¯t.¡±

    Ignoring him, I said, ¡°Maybe I need some minstrels to play background music. How would ¡°Eye of the Tiger¡± sound on a lute? Do we even have lutes?¡±

    ¡°You''re doing it again.¡±

    ¡°Help a fat guy up, will you, man,¡± I said, ignoring my commitment to not be casual with my guards.

    The morning after Draves left with his men for Melnon I went to the training yard where young men from all over the barony had been gathering to train with the spear. I had gone right up to Chris and demanded to join them. Of course, up until that point, Chris and I had never really talked, and he knew better than to talk back to a lord, so I was fit in with the rest. I did fine for the first while, but I began to lag behind. The professional guards ignored my dismal performance and only yelled like drill sergeants at the others who were there. That didn¡¯t bother me too much. I agreed that it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to yell at their baron, and besides, I didn¡¯t need to be yelled at in order to be motivated. I had the memory of running away like a coward as my men gave their lives for me because I was absolutely useless in battle.

    What really bothered me was when it came to the sparing with dummy spears. I had to force Chris to spar with me, and even then, he wouldn¡¯t strike back. That is until I told him if he didn¡¯t start training me like the rest of the recruits, I was going to dock his pay. That gained me a personal trainer and, soon after, a very good friend. I didn¡¯t mean to break my promise to Draves. I tried to keep it friendly but formal, but have you ever had those people that come into your life, and you instantly connect with? You can''t help but become instant friends with them. That was me and Chris. It was a little like having my brother back.

    I grasped Chris¡¯s hand, and he mock grunted as he helped me up. ¡°Oh, come on, I¡¯m not that heavy. I¡¯ve probably lost half my weight since you have been training me.¡±

    ¡°And so you must have weighed as much as your horse when we started,¡± Chris said with a grin.

    ¡°Just you wait until I become healthy enough to unleash my inner Kung Fu,¡± I said while stretching out my back.

    ¡°You have said that before.¡± he snorted.

    ¡°Just trying to prepare you, man.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see this Kung Fu of yours.¡±

    ¡°All right, Chris, let¡¯s do some cool-down stretches. Then I have to get back to checking on the needs of everybody with their various projects, going over reports, and then working on my own stuff.¡±

    ¡°Ah, the trials of being a baron.¡± Chris sighed dramatically.

    ¡°You want the job?¡±

    ¡°I think I will wait until you get things up and running first.¡±

    ¡°I bet you would. I think the next children''s book I will write is ¡°The Little Red Kayver.¡± Then I will force you to take reading lessons from Jacklyn.¡± I was so glad Jackie had taken over the lessons. I personally instructed her and Emily, and then Jackie became the official school teacher. She had the patience of a saint as far as I was concerned.

    ¡°Oh yes, Lord Amos. Lessons from a cute girl sound like just the punishment I need,¡± Chris said with a grin.

    ¡°You''re going to have to fight Drake over her.¡±

    Chris scoffed, ¡°Ha, I have conquered many a fair maiden''s heart. One look at me, and she will forget all about Drake. Then I will sweep her off her feet, and we will ride off into the sunset. That is, of course, if My Lord will let me borrow a horse.¡± He laughed.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll have Drake saddle you one.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, maybe we will forget the horse and get straight to our first kiss.¡±

    ¡°Talk about delusions of grandeur. One looks at your ugly mug, and she will ask to borrow a horse and ride off into the sunset.¡±

    ¡°Ouch,¡± Chris said with a mock grimace.

    We both started to laugh and continued to poke fun at each other until we reached the front of the manner. ¡°Well, I am off to do lordly stuff. You have fun training the rest of the grunts, I mean recruits.¡±

    ¡°None of them grunt as much as you.¡±

    I laughed, but inwardly, I sighed. I got the fact that the old Amos hated training to be a knight. Especially with a father who was so critical and was constantly comparing him to his brother. But could he not have done something other than sit around? Even if he had done the bare minimum, I wouldn¡¯t be in so much pain. I knew I was being unjustly critical of the kid who was despised by his father. The fact that he was ignored by his mother, who thought more of her needlework and the latest gossip brought in by the runners, didn¡¯t help either. It was just hard when I had prided myself on exercising my whole life, even after the heart transplant.

    These were my thoughts as I made my way to the paper room. I decided I needed to weigh myself. The problem is I found that each occupation here used its own measurement system. The smiths coordinated with one another, but the weights and distances they used were different from those of the woodworkers, tanners, or farmers. And except for grain, even that didn¡¯t extend beyond my barony if I understood them correctly. It was all about what was convenient.

    I grew up with the standard English measurements. Well, I guess only America uses them now. At least, I think so. Guess I should have checked that before I left for this world. Fortunately, I knew a little about the metric system since some of my artwork measurements were done that way. How would I be able to recreate the metric system without knowing the distance between the equator and the pole, though? How the heck did they do it in the Age of Enlightenment? Did it even matter as long as it was base ten? When I was about twelve, I found out that my pinkie nail was about a centimeter in length, and I would use that for scale drawings. Looking at my hands I realized that wouldn¡¯t work now. Even if I wasn¡¯t fat, I had an American football player build.

    Maybe I could use Emily¡¯s pinky. The ¡°Emily Meter.¡± No, that¡¯s the meter I use for how mad she gets when I tease her. The ¡°Emeter.¡± Never mind, we will leave it at the meter. Then, we will have to do an Emily Pinky Nail Cubed or epn<sup>3</sup> in order to get the volume of water that makes a gram. Thank you, 7th-grade science teacher, who made us learn that supposedly useless information. If they had just explained in school that someday one of us might become a noble in some backwater barony in another world, I am sure that would have put an end to the question, ¡°When am I ever going to use this?¡± When I write my autobiography I will put that in there for future generations.

    By the time I was done with my musings, I had reached the paper room. When I opened the door, I found things in full production. Emily and one of her assistants, a boy of about twelve, were grinding wood. One girl was layering sheets of paper, and another was sewing them together down the center.

    ¡°Hey, everyone, how goes the work?¡±

    Everyone turned and bowed as I entered. ¡°Excellent, My Lord, we have completed two books this morning. We only need the wood for the binding. We have reached 1000 sheets of standard paper and about 100 sheets of the smaller message paper,¡± Emily said in a professional tone.

    ¡°Great work, team. I can¡¯t wait to see the profit we can make from selling all this in Decmoore or the other towns.¡± This brought smiles to all the kids¡¯ faces. "Emily, I require your assistance for a moment.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord,¡± she said with a nod.

    We left the room and went to my room. I left the door open for propriety''s sake.

    ¡°So why did we need to come down here?¡± she said while looking around.

    ¡°It¡¯s so I didn¡¯t have to talk to you so formally with everyone around.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ You left the door open?¡± She said in a confused voice.

    ¡°That¡¯s just so no one can accuse me of doing anything improper.¡±

    ¡°So¡­¡± She said slowly, ¡°You wanted to talk to me in private so you could speak casually, but you left the door open so everyone could hear or see us so that you didn¡¯t get accused of doing anything with me that would be deemed inappropriate?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said with a nod and a smile.

    She closed he eyes and sighed. ¡°Amos, nobody that knows you would think you were doing something inappropriate with me. At least not without my consent.¡± Her cheeks turned a little little red.

    ¡°Well, yeah, everyone here has seen me talk to you like my little sister. But it¡¯s the principle of the thing.¡±

    ¡°Yep, little sister Emily, that¡¯s me.¡± She said with a sigh.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said while ruffling her hair. ¡°You¡¯ll grow up someday.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re so annoying,¡± she said, stepping back.

    I smirked. ¡°Yep, now how would you like to be the basis for a revolutionary universal measurement system?¡± I said dramatically.

    ¡°Amos, why don¡¯t you ever speak like a normal person?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s part of my mystique,¡± I said while doing jazz hands.

    ¡°You''re so weird!¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re so flat!¡± I shot back.

    Emily immediately looked down at her chest, and her face turned beat red. ¡°What did you say?¡± She shouted.

    My eyes went wide when I realized what I had said. That was my standard retort for getting under my sister''s skin when we were growing up.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°That¡­ Um, it wasn¡¯t meant for you¡­ You know, like that. I- well, what I meant was-¡±

    ¡°Sure it wasn¡¯t for me,¡± She said, cutting me off and adding sarcastically, ¡°You¡¯ve just been going around here telling all the other women that they have flat chests!¡±

    ¡°Shhh,¡± I said while waving my hands in front of me. ¡°Someone will hear you. I was, uh¡­ talking about your voice. Yeah, uh¡­ it¡¯s a little flat when you sing?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve never heard me sing,¡± She growled. ¡°And do you think I¡¯m going to be appreciative of you telling me I have an awful singing voice!?¡±

    The Emily Meter was rising, and I was digging the hole deeper. At least we were off the chest area.

    ¡°Look, I am sorry. It just slipped out I-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling Grandma.¡±

    I could feel the color draining from my face. ¡°No, don¡¯t tell Marshandra. She¡¯ll tell Captian Draves, and then he is going to-¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll wait till the captain is back and tell him directly,¡± she said with a glare.

    I had to defuse this quickly. ¡°Em, I didn¡¯t mean it. It¡¯s just my sister and I. We used to-¡±

    ¡°Stop comparing me to your sister! I¡¯m not your stupid sister! And you can find someone else to do your stupid thing with- you big jerk!¡± Before I could say anything else, Emily darted past me and out the door.

    ¡°Well crap,¡± I said to nobody in particular as I sat down on my bed. As Jimmy used to say, ¡°That was a big fat one on the d20, my friend.¡± He was such a nerd.

    Even though I was sore and feeling stupid, I had things to do. I was just about to get up when Patricia looked into the room. Stepping fully into the doorway, she gave me the deep bow I was used to ignoring them by now. Seeing the look on my face, she said, ¡°Um¡­ Excuse me, My Lord, I will come back later.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°No, come it.¡± I said, switching to Baron Mode. ¡°Tell me about your visit with your son.¡±

    She and her guard escort came in fully. ¡°He¡­ he is getting worse, My Lord. If maybe you could let him out or send us away.¡± She said hesitantly.

    ¡°No, I am sorry, Patricia. He has been given every opportunity to correct his behavior. You have spoken with him. I have spoken with him. I cannot let him out because of his abusive nature. You may love him, but I cannot let him be near people. He believes everything wrong in his life is my fault, even though I have tried to rectify the situation multiple times. I believe it may be some form of psychosis.¡±

    ¡°Psychosis?¡±

    ¡°An issue of the mind where the person is disconnected from reality. From what you and the guards have reported, he is obsessed with his hatred towards me. Have you tried to convince him that I am not the same person I was when my father was in charge?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°And, what are the results?¡±

    ¡°He does not take it well,¡± she said hesitantly.

    ¡°You mean he becomes violently mad,¡± I said pointedly, ¡°I¡¯ve heard the reports from the guards. Emily ran away in tears after talking to him.¡± The guard, whose name I couldn¡¯t remember, nodded.

    ¡°What will you do with him,¡± Patricia said fearfully.

    I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. According to the law, your family could all be hung. In fact, most barons would do it. I believe people should be allowed to correct their mistakes, which is why you are all alive. You, I think, can eventually be freed and have a normal life. Your son, no, I don¡¯t think that is possible.¡±

    Her shoulders slumped, ¡°Then what, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°I am not sure yet. Please understand I do not wish to cause you grief, Patricia, but there are no good options. I will do what I can.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord, and thank you for what you have done for Carrie. And thank you for letting me visit her. I admit I do not understand your kindness towards me after what I have done.¡±

    ¡°We have already spoken on this. We are all blinded by our desires sometimes. You allowed the desire for a better life for your children to blind you. You stood by while your husband robbed the barony. What you did didn¡¯t just impact my family but also the people of the barony. If he wasn¡¯t already dead, then¡­¡± I left it hanging.

    ¡°Thank you for your mercy, My Lord. I will strive to show I am worthy of it. May I be dismissed?¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    After she left, I decided to get down to the village and see how the projects were coming along. When I entered Jorb¡¯s shop, he was pouring molten bronze into molds. As I waited for him to finish, I noticed one stack of wood poles and another stack of bronze spearheads that Mathew was fitting to the poles. I walked over to Mathew and said, ¡°How is the studying going? Is Jacklyn doing a good job teaching you?¡±

    He looked up at me in surprise but then quickly smiled. ¡°It is going well, My Lord. I can count up to 100. I have made 24 spears so far.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± I said encouragingly, ¡°That is amazing. You must be a great student.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord,¡± He beamed proudly. ¡°I really like those books. They are very funny. I read them to the other kids.¡±

    ¡°Good for you.¡±

    ¡°Um, I don¡¯t understand the comic strips that you make. Dad likes them, though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s OK. I made them for adults.¡± I had made a comic strip about an old man and his dog. I wanted to make it about an absent-minded knight and his page, but I figured if it ever spread outside the barony, someone might take offense. I have to admit I stole a lot of material from my favorite comics growing up. It wasn¡¯t too hard to modify them for the barony¡¯s daily life. It also encouraged people to attend reading lessons with Jackie.

    ¡°Mathew, the Baron is a very busy man. I am sure he has better things to do than write stories for you.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, My Lord,¡± Mathew said, looking down.

    I chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s ok, Mathew. I love to read, too. Maybe when you learn how to write, you can write a story for me.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I would love to read something you came up with.¡±

    ¡°It probably won''t be very good.¡±

    ¡°My first story wasn¡¯t all that good. I had to practice.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best, My Lord.¡± He said proudly.

    ¡°Good, now I need to talk to your dad. Keep up the good work.¡±

    Turning to Jorb, I saw him smiling proudly at his son. ¡°Well, how are things going?¡±

    ¡°The coke is great for heating metal, but bronze is still easier to work with than iron, which you want us to use, and the results are better.¡±

    ¡°I know. We need a different type of furnace to get the results we need for it to replace bronze. And we are going to need more workers to build and maintain it as well as more miners.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand. Why bother?¡±

    ¡°Because I want all of my people to be wealthier than some minor nobles. I want the standard of living to improve. I want merchants to come with their luxury goods so your wives can be happy.¡±

    ¡°Our wives are happy. If we give them more, they will demand more,¡± Jorb grumbled.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re such a good friend, I won¡¯t tell Janice you said that.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Yes, My Lord, thank you.¡± Jorb said. Then he turned to Mathew. ¡°Forget everything you just heard.¡±

    ¡°Ok, can I go read?¡±

    ¡°Fine, I will let you go. Just keep your mouth shut.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Dad. And uh¡­ Lord Amos,¡± he said hesitantly, ¡°Thanks for being um¡­ you?¡±

    ¡°Mmmm¡­ you¡¯re welcome?¡± I said as Mathew grabbed his crutch and started to hobble out the back.

    I looked at Jorb questioningly.

    ¡°He means he is glad you aren¡¯t like you used to be.¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, OK,¡± I said, lost for words. Seriously, how do you respond to that?

    Jorb and I chatted a bit longer, and then he got back to work. I went around town and visited a few places to see how everyone was doing. Then, I went back up the hill to change back into my training outfit. I was not really looking forward to another beatdown, but it was an amazing workout.

    Heading back to the manor reminded me of my conversation with Emily. Dang, I know it was stupid of me to say that, but wasn¡¯t she overreacting a bit? Maybe she is going through that time of the month? If that¡¯s true, I need to write it down so I know kind of when to avoid her. It was on my sister''s calendar in her bathroom at home, so I would often check that to make sure I knew when it was safe to talk to her. Maybe it¡¯s just part of the angsty teenager phase. Either way, I was the one who was in the wrong. I looked to the side of the road and saw some wildflowers. Maybe pick some for her? Crap, why was this so hard.

    Emily

    ¡°Stupid, stupid, stupid,¡± I gowled for the thousandth time. Why was I so stupid? Why do I let the things Amos says bother me so much?

    A light came around the corner towards me. ¡°Emily, are you back here?¡±

    Of course, Grandma would find me. Not like there were many places to be alone in this stupid manor. As the light filled the back of the storage room, I wiped at the angry tears that had once again formed in the corners of my eyes.

    ¡°You, OK, hun? She said as she approached with the small flame of the oil lamp. Fortunately, the light was probably not enough to see my puffy eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I grumbled. Grandma said nothing. She just stood there and waited.

    ¡°I got in a fight with Amos,¡± I said with a little more petulance than I meant to. Again, there was no response, and I couldn¡¯t keep quiet anymore.

    ¡°Grandma, I called him a jerk. I called the Baron a jerk!¡± I said, trying to get some sort of response out of her. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have gotten so mad at his stupid insult, but I hate the fact that he treats me like a little kid. He keeps acting like I¡¯m a little sister he can tease. I am fourteen years old, Grandma! I am old enough to be engaged. I¡¯m not a child.¡±

    ¡°He insulted you? That doesn¡¯t sound like him,¡± she said in a slightly surprised tone.

    ¡°Well, I think he meant it as a joke, but it hurt.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡±

    I could feel my face turning red as I mumbled, ¡°Something he used to tease his sister about, I think. He said it just kind of slipped out.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It does sound like he is using you to replace what he has lost. I will speak with him and remind him to speak with you more formally.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want him to speak more formally to me. I want him to talk to me like I¡¯m a young woman.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly what is going through his head-¡±

    ¡°Probably nothing," I muttered under my breath.

    ¡°But if he is going to treat you like a young woman, then it is best that he speak to you formally.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because you are a young woman, and unless he was courting you, which as a baron he cannot, then there must be some formality to it.¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t treat Carrie that way.¡± I countered.

    ¡°When he is speaking with Carrie, he always has someone there with him, and there is no indication he is doing anything other than trying to help her cope with her situation. In order to do that, he is being friendly.¡±

    ¡°So I am being stupid.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re a young woman who is in a very strange situation. You are a serf who is friends with a baron.¡±

    ¡°He is probably mad at me now,¡± I sulked.

    ¡°Amos? Mad at you?¡± She said with a chuckle, ¡°That might be harder to believe than the fact that a baron ¡®s best friend is a serf.¡±

    ¡°Best friend, he has Chris now,¡± I huffed.

    ¡°Chris doesn¡¯t replace you, Dear. If Chris had, then you two wouldn¡¯t have gotten into a fight.¡±

    Why did she always have to make sense?

    ¡°So what do I do?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll work out. Just take some time to think about it. Think about what you really want.¡± Grandma said as she turned to leave.

    I don¡¯t know how long I sat there before the light came back. I was about to get up when I heard a voice, ¡°Hey Em, you back here?¡±

    ¡°Amos?¡±

    ¡°Oh good, it was getting really awkward walking around the manor with these flowers. Everyone was staring at me?¡± He said as he came around the corner.

    ¡°Flowers?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, I wanted to apologize for what I said and for making you mad. So I¡­ uh¡­ got you flowers.¡±

    ¡°Amos, you can¡¯t get me flowers!¡± I said, getting flustered. It was starting to make sense what Grandma had said.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I thought girls liked flowers. Or is that only little kids?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head, ¡°Why is he such an idiot?¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°I like flowers Amos, But you can¡¯t get me flowers. You are the baron.¡±

    ¡°Regent.¡± He corrected me. ¡°Why can¡¯t barons give their friends flowers?¡±

    ¡°Because I am a young woman,¡± I said slowly as if talking to a simpleton. But all I got in response was confusion.

    ¡°Amos, I know you think I am a little kid.¡±

    ¡°I-¡±

    ¡°But, I am at the age where I should be getting engaged.¡±

    ¡°Really? But¡­ Oh¡­ Oooh,¡± He said, realization dawning on him. ¡°Yeah, I should have thought of that. I was just so mad at myself for upsetting you. I really didn¡¯t think¡­ Uh¡­ and now everyone saw me walking around with these.¡± He said with a blush.

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t we leave them behind this barrel,¡± I said with a laugh.

    He threw them into the corner and said, ¡°So, we''re still friends.¡±

    ¡°I guess so, even if you are a little weird.¡±

    In the dim light, I saw his eyes narrow, ¡°By the way, what exactly did you say to Chris the other day?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I said in confusion.

    ¡°He said, Emily was right, after I told him he was an uncultured swine?¡±

    ¡°Uncultured¡­ Ohh,¡± I closed my eyes. I¡¯m going to kill Chris.

    ¡°Well?¡±

    ¡°Look, that was an accident.¡±

    ¡°An accident?¡± he said in a tone that was as sharp as a knife.

    ¡°Well, it just sort of slipped out,¡± I said, turning red.

    ¡°Hm, last time I used that excuse, someone got really mad at me.¡±

    ¡°It was when you guys came over to the well after your training yesterday. You were saying something¡­ interesting to Chris, and after you left, he asked if you always said weird things like that. I kind of said, sometimes weirder. Uh¡­ Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Ha, besmirching the good name of your proxy baron. You owe me a favor.¡±

    ¡°What, no, now we''re even.¡±

    ¡°No, I gave you flowers,¡± He said with a grin.

    ¡°You threw them in the corner!¡±

    ¡°Not my fault you rejected my heart-felt gift.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± I grumbled, ¡°What is this favor?¡±

    His grin grew even wider, ¡°I need to borrow your fingernails.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

 Chapter 35

    Captain Draves

    The trip to the fishing village was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The trail meandered a bit, but for not having been made into a road, it was in good enough condition to make decent time. This trail was definitely being used enough to keep most of the overgrowth from taking it back. Just how much help were the people of the village receiving without the lord¡¯s knowledge? This would need to be addressed.

    My men stationed in Melnon told an interesting story. They claimed that the baron brought a boy back from the dead after drowning. The witnesses to this event included the headman. According to the tail, he literally breathed life into the boy, and he coughed up water. I will have to speak with Amos about this when I get back. If it is true, why didn¡¯t he say so when I spoke with him? I already knew the answer to that, though. Amos didn¡¯t boast of the things he had done. In fact, most of the time, he gave credit to others. I shook my head. If what they said was true, I needed to know how.

    It took us almost until the second evening to reach the village, and fortunately, the scouts reported that it did not appear to have been captured. A faint breeze carried a tinge of salt. We were greeted by men holding clubs and shoddy farming implements. I halted my troops and stepped forward.

    I addressed a large, stern-looking man who had stepped forward at the same time as me. ¡°I am Captain Draves of the Bicman Gaurd. I have come to assist in the evacuation of your village due to an impending bandit raid.¡± There were looks of surprise and anger on the faces of the crowd.

    The man¡¯s face darkened, ¡°Your Lord promised he would send men to fight the bandits, not take us back to his land.¡±

    ¡°He promised to protect you against the bandits. This is the solution he came up with. The baron does not have enough men to attack an unknown force. We are half of his guards. If his report is correct, then this is the largest group I have heard of in a while. Bandits usually don¡¯t bother with this area. Even if he were to send all his men, it may not be enough, and then where would that leave the barony?¡±

    ¡°So we live, but we become your baron''s serfs.¡± Another angry man shouted.

    ¡°That would not be possible. Only citizens can become serfs and you are not citizens of Falmoren. Since Baron Bicman does not agree with the idea of keeping slaves, you are to be treated as refugees until your town can be reclaimed. You may live in the town of Barim until that time. If these are not acceptable terms, then we will leave the weapons and food Lord Amos sent with us and be on our way.¡±

    There was quite a bit of commotion as the men discussed our plan. The large leader said, ¡°I still think he deceived us.¡±

    ¡°The only one who deceived you is yourself. You made assumptions on how the lord would be able to fulfill his promise. Personally, I would have left you to deal with your problem. But my lord is a man of his word, and I am bound to obey his requests. Also, he requested that I find out if a young woman named Kylie made it back safely.¡±

    The big man finally lowered his club and snorted. ¡°Fool girl made it back yesterday night. She was all excited about something and took off this morning up towards the hills. Harder to pin down than smoke, that girl. If you''re serious about helping, then I¡¯ll let the council know. As for me, give me one of those promised weapons. I¡¯m staying here.¡±

    We set up a small camp outside the village while we waited. Half an hour later, the village became alive with activity. Women and children were gathering things up, and the men had all grabbed spears. A couple even received small bucklers. Just as we were about to leave, Chuck and Dean slipped back into camp.

    ¡°Seven men are approaching from the west, two bowmen and five with spears or swords. Some of the armor is our men.¡± He finished darkly.

    ¡°How far?¡±

    ¡°At their current pace, I would say a quarter bell.¡±

    ¡°Curses. They would catch us on the trail. We have to make a stand here. Chuck call Johnathan over here quickly. He is the leader we spoke with. We need a plan.¡±

    When the bandits arrived, they found the same sight as my group had seen when we had come down the trail. A rag-tag group of men with sticks and clubs. Some of the men started pointing and speaking in a language I couldn''t understand. A short, burly man stepped forward and said in broken common. ¡°You surrender all, you live. We will kill you resist.¡±

    Fortunately, the men and women that shielded me from sight did not waiver. All of them lifted their clubs and started shouting curses. The enemy archers nocked their arrows, and the rest began to charge. ¡°Now," I shouted. Four arrows sailed towards the enemy archers from where my men were positioned in the trees. The men rushing forward suddenly found metal caltrops in their feet as they crumpled to the ground. The two in the rear who had not yet stepped onto the trap turned to find my men closing in on them from behind. One man had a spear in his gut before he even had time to scream. The second swung his spear in an arc, trying to give himself some room, only to get an arrow in his back. The three remaining men were bound, and the questioning began.

    Hyrum

    I wasn¡¯t sure if I was awake or asleep. The screams and cries had become continuous. It had started with William. The man with broken common had asked him questions, and any time William didn¡¯t answer or answered in a way that the man didn¡¯t like, the man would burn his flesh with hot metal. The torture lasted a bell before they moved to Hector. Franklin had died to the first arrow when they attacked us on the shore. Dwaine died during the night due to a knife wound.

    Hector died the next night. Now it was just me and William. At first, none of us said anything, but they never let us sleep, if we fell asleep we would wake to our flesh smoldering. We weren¡¯t given anything to eat or drink. At some point, we all started talking. I don¡¯t even remember what I said. All I cared about was keeping them from burning me more. I had heard of torture, and I thought I understood what it was. Nobody understands torture until they smell their own flesh smoldering.

    I knew that any moment now, they would be back, back to burning me. The screams grew louder, and I shut my eyes to try and block out the sound. Somebody kicked me in the stomach, and the trickle of remaining bile that I had in my stomach came up. Maybe if I could just move enough to bash my head against a rock, it would all be over. I tried to twist my body once again, but I could do nothing against the bonds that held me. All it did was cause me to scream as my raw, bleeding flesh scraped against the ground.

    William¡¯s screams suddenly stopped, but everyone was still shouting. I would be next. Endless One, why?

    ¡°Hyrum.¡±

    More shouting.

    Hyrum!¡±

    They were shouting. Why were they always shouting?

    ¡°HYRUM!¡±

    Why-

    SLAP!

    ¡°Hyrum!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not responding, Captain,¡± came a voice.

    ¡°Hyrum, look at me. Can you hear me?¡±

    It was a dream. The captain was right there in front of me. I had to wake up. I couldn¡¯t sleep. If they found me sleeping, they would burn me. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP. ¡°AGGGHHHH!¡±

    The captain was gone. More voices came from the side. ¡°Sit him up and see if you can get him to drink anything.¡±

    ¡°Should I cut his bonds?¡±

    ¡°No, He is more likely to do himself or one of us harm if we let him free. We just need to try and keep him alive until we get back to the manor.¡±

    ¡°Will he be ok, sir?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Chuck. His mind may be broken. I have seen this happen before. Sometimes, a quick death is the best thing you can give to a soldier.¡±

    ¡°But-¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to do anything that isn¡¯t necessary. As it is, he may not live until we get back.¡±

    Another voice cut in. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain, but William¡­ He¡¯s dead, sir. I can¡¯t believe they would rather take the time to stick a knife in their captive rather than flee.¡±

    ¡°We would have caught them either way. It was just one last bit of spite before they died. All we can do is be grateful that we ended his torture and got Hyrum. Oh, and you know how we promised to spare the lives of those who cooperated with us.¡±

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°Sir?¡±

    ¡°Burn them alive. I want to hear them scream.¡±

    Count Vaspar- A few days earlier

    I stretched and cracked my back as I went through the final reports of the day. I wish I could leave all of this to my assistant but some petitions only I could sign off on. As a count, I should not have to work as hard as a serf. I was only half serious. Making the money flow is what I live for. But, if I am late for tonight''s reception I will have to listen to my wife¡¯s nagging. I just have to remind myself how much that dowry was. I think I will have Carla visit tonight. Matilda is always so drunk after the receptions she wouldn¡¯t even notice if we were in the same bed.

    As my mind wandered to more pleasurable thoughts, a knock came at the door. ¡°Enter¡±

    ¡°My Lord,¡± Casper, my assistant, said with a deep bow, ¡°I received a letter and a gift from the barony of Bicman.¡±

    ¡°Bicman¡­ Oh, the Marsh Dwellers? I thought that he was a Baronet?¡±

    ¡°He purchased his Baron title a couple of years ago with the money he received from the dowry at his son''s marriage.¡±

    ¡°You have a good memory, Casper. I had almost forgotten about that man.¡± I said, shaking my head. It didn¡¯t do me well not to check up on my baronies.

    "You flatter me, My Lord. In actuality, after receiving the letter, I went over the information we had on the barony to familiarize myself in case you had any questions. The letter arrived a couple of days ago, but I wanted to be prepared."

    ¡°That¡¯s what I like about you, Casper,¡± I acknowledged. ¡°Isn¡¯t he the one whose father saved the old king, and all he got was that land up north.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the one. The last census shows he currently holds five villages under his control. The population is slightly over 1000 people.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Didn¡¯t he have six after the fiasco with Barron Pollman?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but one of them failed after an illness swept through the town. Those who remained moved to other villages. He has no knights and only an armed force of about twenty guards. The soil is hard to work and so they have trouble maintaining a larger population. Taxes are paid on consumables. Mainly grain and flour. They have a small mining operation for copper, and iron is plentiful there, but it is high in impurities. There is plenty of wood from trees. There is a chalk deposit which they use as an export good, but they don¡¯t have the food production large enough to support nonagricultural workers.¡±

    ¡°That was a lot more information than necessary, Casper, but I do appreciate your diligence.¡±

    ¡°I actually have more. The history of the barony is quite interesting, but I won¡¯t bore you with it.¡±

    ¡°It is a valid excuse to miss some of the reception. Enlighten me on what you find so interesting.¡±

    ¡°We weren¡¯t the first people to settle there. When King Lenord Asput the First was trying to expand the kingdom in order to make a name for himself, he sent an expedition team across the Nore River and found a tribe of people already living there. The Karr, which means Marsh Dwellers in their native tongue, claimed they were from across the North Sea. The King decided he didn¡¯t want neighbors, even if they were far away from any of the claimed land. So he built a bridge across the Nore, brought in a subjugation force, and claimed their land. They have been ¡°loosely¡± part of Falmoren ever since. The Pollman family collected their taxes occasionally until Lenord the Third renamed Karr as Bicman and stuck the Baronet there. Things have mostly settled down now, but the first Bicman had a rough time.

    ¡°You''re right, that was interesting, if utterly useless,¡± I said with a smile.

    ¡°Anyways,¡± Casper said, ¡°If I remember correctly, a friend of Duke Kimton requested the information. So, a thorough investigation was requested of us from Kimton. I never looked at the report until now.¡±

    ¡°Is someone looking to make a play for the Barony?¡±

    ¡°Possibly, I don¡¯t know why they would want it. The barony can¡¯t even meet the required taxes most years. Should I look into it?¡±

    I thought for a moment and then nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do that. Somebody may be looking to dump one of their unfavored children there. If we can help it happen, then we may be owed a favor.¡±

    ¡°You want to get rid of the current Baron?¡±

    ¡°Why not? It isn¡¯t like he is doing our county any good.¡±

    ¡°The position was appointed by the King. If we are found conspiring, it may be used against us in court. We would certainly make an excellent scapegoat if things do not go in the noble''s favor.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, an excellent point, Casper. Let¡¯s just keep an eye on the situation. We can do a bit of snooping, but not too deep. Let¡¯s not muddy the water. There could be bigger fish involved. Now, hand me the letter.¡± Casper set a small box down on the table. It was nothing impressive. Just a simple wooden box with varnish on it. Not that I would expect much from a poor baron. Then he handed me the letter. The material was like nothing I had ever felt before. It''s not as smooth as vellum and not as sturdy. ¡°Casper, do you know what this material is?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord. I was going to ask you the same.¡±

    After breaking the wax seal, I found that there were actually two pages. My eyes were immediately drawn to the lower right corner, where a light marking was made in the corner of both sheets. Had water gotten on it? Very unprofessional of him to send marred material to his better. Holding it up to the light, I could clearly see the image of a crest identical to the one on the seal, except this one had an E J in the center. Very curious. I wonder how it was made.

    My eyebrows rose as I read the letter. When I was finished, I read it again. The letter was short and to the point¡ªnone of the regular eloquently written words that you would see from a true noble. It made me suspicious. Had the young man really written such a simple letter, or was there a hidden subtext?

    ¡°Come read this, Casper, and tell me what you think. Note the mark in the bottom corner,¡± I said as I handed my steward the letter.

    After spending a minute reading and re-reading the first letter, he said, ¡°On the surface, it appears that his family was taken by the illness, and he and his nephew are the only ones remaining. He says he is going to request regency over the barony until his nephew is of age. He also states his commitment to pay the full amount of taxes after this year''s harvest. The questions I have are: why did he not just have his nephew killed? Why is he requesting to become the regent from the king rather than the duke, and why is he sure he will be able to make his tax payment this year?¡±

    ¡°What do we know of Lord Amos?¡±

    ¡°The reports I have state he is disliked by all of his family, and although he does not express it, the feeling seems to be mutual. All indications are that he hates his father and brother the most. He spends most of his time drinking and eating. There are reports that he is lecherous and spends his time chasing skits, but the report also claims that this is unlikely, seeing how most of his time is spent in isolation, trying to avoid his family and his duties. According to everything I have heard, there is not a single virtue that the young man has. There is also the fact that his father was trying to marry him off to a daughter of a merchant, but whatever became of that, I don¡¯t know. It may have fallen through.¡±

    ¡°How old is the nephew?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Around one or two years old, maybe?¡±

    That shocked me. ¡°You mean to tell me that this Lord Amos claims he is protecting the baby of his hated brother? Any other claimant to a barony would have done away with the heir before the sun had set upon his brother''s fresh grave. What is this man playing at? What does he hope to gain?¡±

    ¡°Maybe he wants to make sure no one accused him of having murdered his family. If he doesn¡¯t claim the barony, no one can claim he was after his father''s barony.¡±

    ¡°Does he seem shrewd enough for that?¡±

    ¡°Maybe someone else is guiding him. Should we find a replacement for him?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m holding to my earlier decision. Let¡¯s let the duke and his friends do what they want with him. As I said before, I¡¯d rather not step on anyone''s toes. It would not be good to have the ire of the duke. I want you to send Mathew to that barony and have him make a report.

    Let¡¯s read the next one. I sighed after reading it. I wasn¡¯t sure if this letter was going to get that young man killed or not.

    ¡°Take a look,¡± I said.

    After reading it, Casper shook his head. ¡°The letter is as bad as the first. Do you think it really was the steward, or is the boy framing a dead man?¡±

    ¡°You think he killed his family and is framing the steward?¡±

    After a pause, Casper shook his head, ¡°Not likely. What do you think he meant by ¡°Dealt with the family¡¯¡±

    ¡°Execution. If he wanted to bother with giving them to the king as slaves, they would be here with the letter. After torturing them, he probably didn¡¯t want to deal with the expense of handing them over to the king to be sold.¡±

    "Do you think the letter is going to get the young man killed?"

    "Probably, if someone thinks silencing him won''t cause a problem. They may want to lie low and let it blow over first. The Duke is good at coming up with reasons to kill people. He may take offense to whatever letter he gets and just get rid of the kid. My question is, did he write it with the intent to make the other party back down? I really need to get to that reception, but I am curious as to what this new regent sent me.¡± Grabbing the box, I found that it was very lightweight. Whatever was in it was probably not the standard jewelry or golden trinket I usually receive.

    ¡°Lifting the lid, I found a curious instrument and a note. Whatever it was had a smoothly polished stick of wood with varnish on it attached to what appeared to be a brass nub.¡± Was this some sort of joke? It looks like a child''s toy of some sort. Despite my misgivings, I opened the note and began to read.

    To His Lordship Count Vaspar,

    I would like to present to you this gift created by excellent workers in my barony. The item is a writing implement to replace the quill. We call it the Bicman Dip Pen. This pen has been proven to write more smoothly than a quill and last much longer. May you enjoy its use.

    With Respect and Best Regards,

    Lord Amos Bicman

    Now, this was interesting. I flipped one of my reports over that I had just been reading and dipped this pen into the ink well. It had a different feel at first, and my first line was almost illegible, but as I wrote, the writing became smooth and precise. Staring at the pen in my hand, I took my time to think of the ramifications of such an implement. This may be how Lord Amos plans to make up the difference in taxes. It would infuriate the quill merchants.

    ¡°What do you think, Casper?¡± I asked as I looked up. He had a calculating look on his face.

    ¡°This has been tried before, but the ink ran off the metal. May I see it?¡±

    I handed the pen to him, and he studied the nub. ¡°I see. This is a very simple design. We need to request a writ of exclusivity from the king and start making them in mass.¡±

    I nodded, ¡°I was thinking the same thing, but do you think the boy has already sent one to the king? If so, wouldn''t he have already requested one? I think I will request that the young man visit. Then we can help him see that it would be better for us to produce them here. Well, offer him some gold and take over from there.¡±

    ¡°An excellent idea, My Lord. I will send the request with Mathew. And I will make sure we get our hands on this business first.¡±

 Chapter 36

    I ended up using Emily¡¯s ring finger nail instead of her pinky. I had no idea her hands were so tiny. After I got the measurement etched into wood, I then took another piece of wood and duplicated it 100 times. I took that down to Mikel and told him what I was doing. Needless to say, he was not happy when I told him we were changing how he was going to measure everything.

    I explained the importance of universal measurement as we expanded, and even though he understood in principle, he didn¡¯t understand why we had to be the ones to do it first. Let the king do it, he had said. In a very baronly manner, I told him to suck it up and get ready for the age of enlightenment. I had him cut the first piece to the right length and make me ten more. I marked those ones using the first stick and went to go and let Jorb know he had been doing everything wrong.

    After the meter was done, I had Mikel make three containers, one centimeter cubed and one decimeter cubed on the inside. This gave me the weight for a gram and kilogram once I filled it with water. Liters were easier. I estimated the size of a liter and then compared it to cubic decimeters. It seemed to be about 1 dm3. That kind of made sense, since the people who invented this all were trying to be precise. I didn¡¯t understand why a meter, liter, and gram were not all based on the same thing. I mean, why not make a gram equal to one cubic meter in weight and a liter equal to one cubic meter in volume?

    Why don¡¯t I just use a size they are already familiar with and base everything around that? Like how much grain is in one loaf of bread. Nah, I didn¡¯t need any more work. The rest of the world can adapt. It seemed to work for Earth. It will probably work here. I did find out that I was 188 cm tall. Saying that instead of 6 foot something or other was going to be a pain to get used to. It¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯t know my conversion tables, or I would probably be constantly switching things around.

    I had Jorb make me some weights on the new gram measurements. I thought Jorb was going to give the most pushback on the changes, but after he finished grumbling and let me explain it, he became excited.

    I could tell the women were upset when I explained the new length they would be using for their future looms. Oh well, who said revolutionizing the world would be easy? Thinking of looms, however, made me think of my online Java class when I thought for a semester that I may want to become a computer programmer. One of the first modules was on binary code. Whoever made this video must have thought they would sound smarter if they added a section on the first binary machine. It was called the Jacquard Loom. It used binary cards to create patterns in the cloth.

    The only reason I remember it was because halfway through the class, I was so fed up with the poor quality of the videos that I redid the first few of them and sent a copy of my videos to the creator with a scathing letter that he should not be creating videos if he wasn¡¯t halfway competent. One thing I did was make a digital working 3D model of the Jacquard Loom. Even if we didn¡¯t use the binary patterns here at Bicman, I could see that the loom was superior to the one the women were using. This would probably have the same effect as the new plow had on the fields. Maybe even greater! I skipped my other projects that evening and started drawing out designs for a non-binary loom. What if I could have a few women producing all the fabric we needed for the entire barony?

    I really enjoyed all these projects but the most fun I had was with Aaron. I made some cubic centimeter blocks at one, five, and ten centimeters to show the classes at the school. Aaron was very happy to test them out. No, I¡¯m not stupid. I did not give him one-centimeter cubes. I¡¯m at least a somewhat responsible uncle. Anyway, we had fun stacking and knocking them down. And when he wore out and got cranky I would just hand him back to Amy. I don¡¯t think she felt it was very fair, but hey, that¡¯s what she is paid for. Just wait until I figure out how to make sugar. I will definitely get the Best Uncle of the Year award.

    Four days after the age of enlightenment started (maybe I should make a new calendar for this), I was out in the yard still getting beat up by Chris when there was a commotion at the gate. Then I heard a shout, ¡°Captain¡¯s back.¡±

    Everyone dropped what they were doing and jogged to the front of the manor. That¡¯s right, people, I jogged. Admittedly I was still the last one there but it was a marked improvement from where I had started a little over a month ago.

    ¡°Captain is present. Attention!¡±

    All forty recruits got into a semblance of order. All of them were young men between the ages of thirteen and their mid-twenties. Not sure how old the oldest was, but we put a restriction that they had to be unmarried for this first recruitment; otherwise, there would be more than the small group of trainers could handle. Yes, thirteen was a little young to be in the main line, but I was looking at this long-term.

    Before Captain Draves had left, I explained my desire to have all the men and women, if they wanted, trained in basic spear handling. I wanted enough spears locked up in each village to have the people able to mount a resistance against bandits. I grew up with the concept of home defense thoroughly ingrained in my head. I don¡¯t know if I could¡¯ve ever pulled a trigger on someone, but I had a 9 mm in a secret compartment at my bedside.

    Needless to say, the idea of arming serfs and peasants did not go over well with the captain. I had a feeling we were going to have a few more arguments on it. I mean I know he was worried about peasant uprising, but I argued that we should be able to build trust in my people. If we were going to grow, we were going to need more guards anyway. I may be putting the cart before the horse a little bit here, but I wanted my people to feel safe and that I had faith in them. Captain Draves thought it was just another way people could kill me. I didn¡¯t care. I was going to form the Bicman Militia whether he liked it or not.

    When Draves met my eyes, he immediately strode over to me. ¡°My Lord, what happened to you.¡± I didn¡¯t have to guess what he was talking about. I was bruised on my face, and I was covered in the grime of the training yard.

    ¡°It¡¯s the new Bicman exercise routine. You¡¯re guaranteed to lose 10 kg in only two weeks. Order now, and you¡¯ll get a personal trainer that beats you black and blue.¡±

    Draves kept a straight face, but I could see he wasn¡¯t happy.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to my office, Captain, and we can discuss what¡¯s been going on the last few days for both of us?¡±

    ¡°Of course, My Lord.¡± He turned to his men. ¡°Everyone knows their orders. You are all dismissed.¡±

    We walked back to my study in silence. I had questions I wanted to ask but was afraid to. No villagers had returned with him. Did that mean they decided to stay or that the captain was too late? Also, none of my group returned with them. Had they all been killed, as I thought? In the back of my mind, I had still held out hope that we would find them alive.

    As soon as we closed the door of the study I turned and gave the captain a big bear hug. After his initial shock wore off, he gave me an awkward hug back. Releasing him, I said, ¡°I am so glad you all returned safely. Did¡­¡± I was having trouble saying the words. I was afraid of the answers I would receive.

    Instead, I was cut off by the captain. ¡±I am also glad to see you are safe. Let me explain what happened to put your mind at ease. When we arrived the people were preparing the best they could for the attack that would come. We convinced them to at least send the women and children with us. Most of the men wanted to stay and fight. Just as we were preparing to leave in order to escort the people, my scouts reported spotting seven men approaching the village. We devised an ambush and used the villagers as bait. We killed a few and captured the rest. Only one of the men spoke common. The rest of the men spoke Rabiss. That, of course, gave me an idea of what they were doing here, and after interrogating the man who spoke common, I confirmed that they were slavers. They had been exploring the coast for a northern port that they could either raid or trade with. Their ship was destroyed on the reef entering the bay. Only fifteen men survived, and by the time we found them, there were only eleven left. They were looking for a road south when they discovered your group. They tortured our men and found out that there was a village to the east. The day before we arrived, they had scouted it out and then returned with the seven men to raid the village for food and supplies so they could make their way south. I had the man who spoke Common lead us back to their camp, and we surprised and overwhelmed their men. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, only Hyrum was alive.¡±

    ¡°Hyrum is alive?!¡±

    Draves put his hand up. ¡°He may not survive. Their method of torture was extreme, and he had many open wounds when we got there. His body had been burned in many places. His mind also seems to have been broken. He is with Maggie now, but I don¡¯t know if he will live. Even if he does, he may never recover his mind. I will be honest with you. I know you may not agree, but I have had to put men down whose minds were broken because they were a danger to themselves and others. This isn¡¯t something that can be determined anytime soon. I will do everything I can to make sure he recovers.¡±

    ¡°He saved my life, captain. I will go to hell and back to make sure he recovers,¡± I said with steel in my voice. Hell didn¡¯t translate, by the way, but I think he got the jist.

    He nodded.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this was all just such bad luck. I never should have asked to go to the beach.¡±

    ¡°It may seem like something awful to you, but what do you think the people in the village are saying? Without you pushing to get us there, I don¡¯t know if they would have survived. Seven against a whole village may sound like a bad bet, but those slavers had good weapons, and the villagers had sticks, clubs, and a few farming tools. People would have died, and the women might have been raped. Did our people die, yes, but you may have saved a lot more.¡±

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    ¡°The slavers may have just traveled through the swamp rather than go down the coast.¡± I knew the argument was weak, but I still wanted to blame myself.

    ¡°Not likely, and even if you had, then they might have used the ford near Barim. The few people in Barim would have been easy pickings. So no, any way you look at it, people would have died. This was probably the lowest casualties we could expect in this situation.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know if he was just trying to make me feel better, but I appreciated it all the same.

    ¡°Now, if your Lordship would please let me know what has been happening here, I would be most appreciative.¡±

    ¡°We have about forty young men in the first recruitment of the Bicman Militia. Chris says they are doing well even with their complete lack of experience, and in a few months, he thinks a few of us might be able to tell which end is the pointy one.¡±

    ¡°I am glad you have been training, but why are you so bruised.¡±

    ¡°Because I told Chris I would dock his pay if he continued to just defend himself.¡±

    ¡°So you asked him to hit you in the face?¡±

    ¡°Well, no, but- Wait! Are you making fun of me?¡±

    ¡°Trying to make you feel better, My Lord.¡± He said in a flat tone.

    ¡°I appreciate it, Captain. Well, other than training, I have been trying to keep up on production in each village. Writing down knowledge that may help people, you will have to look at my loom design.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fascinating, My Lord. May I ask, have you been shaving your own face?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I said, my hand automatically going to my face. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t like my goatee and mustache? Dude, I was never able to grow anything before, and now that I have awesome facial hair, I¡¯m going to rock it. Just you wait, this combo is going to be all the rage by next year.¡±

    ¡°You do realize that I have to parse together half the words you say to make any sort of sense, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Well, you will just have to roll with it,¡± I said with a grin.

    ¡°On my way back, Melnon was in chaos.¡±

    ¡°Chaos?¡± I said, concerned.

    ¡°Something about you offering a billie-mar.¡± He said questioningly. ¡°They were all talking about capturing ash.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah. Well, when you mix ash with cement, it becomes hydrophobic. At least, I think it does. All I know is the Romans used it for something.¡±

    ¡°What is this Hydrophobic?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I was just trying to sound smart; it means it repels water better.¡±

    ¡°I recommend not using those words around other nobles. Using words in other languages does not make you appear smarter.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, probably not.¡±

    ¡°So it is like adding wax and oil to cloth.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I have no idea. I sometimes used online history courses to fall asleep. They were interesting but didn¡¯t keep me awake like watching action flicks.¡±

    ¡°Again, I don¡¯t understand what you are saying other than you don¡¯t know, but I will¡­ Ah, roll with it,¡± he said hesitantly. ¡°My Lord, may I ask how you brought the boy back to life. Most of the women in Melnon believe you are touched by the Endless One now, but I know that you were brought to us from a place with great knowledge. I was wondering if anyone can be brought back to life and if others can do it.¡± I saw the hope in his eyes.

    ¡°It is called CPR. It stands for Cardio, something that starts with a P, and Respiration, I think. I guess it is not really important since the words and letters don''t really translate. Anyways, yes, anyone can learn it. It has to do with inflating the lungs with air and forcing the heart to pump blood. In the boy''s case, he got water in his lungs, which stopped him from breathing. I basically breathed for him to help start the process again. If the trauma is severe enough or the body has been dead for too long, then it won¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°How long is too long?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know. Maybe five minutes. I will take some time today to give some instructions to you and your men. I would like to have it taught to everybody now that I think about it. Sorry, I have been a little frazzled. The last few days, I haven¡¯t really been very focused. Do you think I could visit Hyrum?¡±

    ¡°You may have to argue with Maggie, but you can try.¡±

    ¡°Ok, tell them to saddle a horse, not Blaze. I will go grab some wine.¡±

    ¡°A bribe might help.¡± He said with a nod.

    ¡°The wine is not for her.¡± Then I thought for a moment, ¡°Maybe I will grab a second bottle.¡±

    By the time I grabbed what I needed, the horse was ready. Mother''s horse was a gentle mare, so I wouldn¡¯t have to fight her head like my brother¡¯s horse. I moved as fast as I could without breaking the bottles on my way down to Maggie¡¯s. Knocking on the door, I entered without waiting for permission. It appeared that Maggie had just stood up and was heading to the door when I barged in. She glared at me, but instead of letting her give me a tongue lashing, I quickly said, ¡°I apologize for my rudeness. I brought wine to clean Hyrum¡¯s wounds and honey and pickled onions. I couldn¡¯t find raw onions in storage. Oh, here is some wine for you as well.¡±

    There was a pause, and then, still, in a miffed voice, she said, ¡°Thank you for the wine and honey. That should help, but what am I supposed to do with pickled onions?¡±

    ¡°Raw onions have antibacterial properties and are good for burns. They can be used in a poultice of honey and onion. I am not sure if pickled onions will work, but it was all Cookie had.¡±

    ¡°You are forgiven. You can keep your other wine. I don¡¯t drink the stuff. Now, let me get to work. And while I am doing that, you can explain to me why you didn¡¯t tell me earlier that you had brought a boy back from the dead.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you, ah, heard about that.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I heard about it,¡± she snapped. "The guards who brought this boy in asked if I had heard. Child out of my way. I have to apply this to your boy''s wounds.¡±

    It was only then that I bothered to look at the bed where Hyrum was lying. He had bandages all over him. His breathing was labored. Carrie knelt next to him, weeping silently while holding his limp hand. She moved out of the way as Maggie approached with a basin of water.

    ¡°Pay attention, girl. As I said earlier, I boiled the water to remove the spirits that could have made the water bad. Now that it is cool, I will soak his bandages in water to make them easier to remove. Normally, if I had done the bandaging myself, I would not remove the bandages but just soak them in the wine so that I wouldn¡¯t reopen the wounds every time I removed them. However, I do not know how well the guards cleaned the wounds and prepared the bandages. Now, My Lord, if you will, please let me know how you brought a drowned boy back to life.¡±

    Is that the first time she has addressed me by title? I can¡¯t remember. As she worked, I explained what I knew about CPR. I made it clear I was not an expert on everything by I had taken a course in it.

    The wounds were ghastly. Some were open and weeping, and many were red and showing signs of infection. Sitting back and looking over her patient she said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen worse, if the honey works then we may not even need to remove limbs in order to make sure he lives.¡±

    She continued to discuss treatment with Carrie, completely ignoring me. Finally, I interrupted her, ¡°He saved my life, Maggie. If there is anything you need to help him recover, then let me know, and if it is in my power, I will get it.¡±

    ¡°I have what I need. What he needs is time.¡±

    ¡°I see. Please send for me if you need something. I will get out of your way.¡±

    There was no response as I left. Why did I always feel like talking to her was like walking through a minefield? I was the regent to a baron, dang it. I shouldn¡¯t have to feel this way about my medicine woman. As I traveled back toward the manor I decided to stop by Jorbs and see how he was doing.

    Knocking on the door frame, I looked inside. It looked like he was working with copper or brass. ¡°So what are you up to?¡±

    He turned around, blocking my view of what was on the table. ¡°Ah, My Lord, it is good to see you. Why don¡¯t we step outside? It is hot in here, and the day is pleasant.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, ¡°great idea. Now, what were you working on?¡±

    ¡°Oh, just a little project I¡¯ve been thinking about,¡± he said evasively.

    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s just a little project, then what¡¯s the harm in telling me about it?¡±

    ¡°Because it will ruin the surprise,¡± he said without thinking. He groaned after he realized what he had said.

    ¡°Jorb,¡± I said sternly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying,¡± he said stubbornly.

    ¡°You know, Jorb, I appreciate all you do,¡± I said as we reached my horse. Pulling out the wine, I said, ¡°This is for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord,¡± he said while reaching for the bottle.

    I pulled my hand back quickly and said with a grin, ¡°What¡¯s on the table?¡±

    The shock on his face made this all worth it. ¡°Lord Amos, that is just evil. I thought better of you.¡±

    ¡°And you see the trouble thinking gets you into.¡±

    After a moment, he grumbled out, ¡°Fine, it is a leaf spring.¡±

    ¡°A leaf spring? Out of copper? Would that work?¡± I rattled off. Why hadn¡¯t I thought of that earlier?

    ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t just any copper. It is flex copper.¡±

    ¡°Never heard of it,¡± I said in surprise. Not that I knew much about copper.

    ¡°Some traveling merchant had a mineral among other goods he transported. He spun a tale to your father about making bows that could shoot twice as far if he made an alloy of copper and the mystery metal. He must have been really trying to dump the stuff because your father didn¡¯t like to buy anything. Well, the man gave the instructions on how to make it, but your father died before I got a chance to experiment. When I saw how the leaf springs worked I wondered if this would do. It seems to flex properly. I know you wanted to use iron, but it may be a while before we can make the quality of iron you are looking for. Oh, I have also changed the design slightly. I think it will work better.

    ¡°This is brilliant, Jorb. Sorry, I ruined the surprise. I was just trying to tease you.¡±

    ¡°It is fine, My Lord. It is off my chest now, and I am glad you approve.¡± He beamed.

    ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll open this when we test these on the carriage,¡± I said while putting the wine back in the bag.

    ¡°My Lord,¡± Jorb said with pleading in his voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. Here you are, and again, thanks for all you do. I could not do this without you. How is Mathew doing on making the Bicman pens?¡±

    ¡°Excellent, he has a box full of them. And is making more.¡±

    ¡°Great, I can¡¯t wait to see if his pens or the paper sells for more profit when we bring them to town. Your kids will have more money than you by the time the trip is over.

    Jorb just shook his head in disbelief at the thought, ¡°Thank you, My Lord, for making it possible.¡±

    I waved him off, ¡°Tell your family hi for me.¡± With that, I got back up on the horse. I was almost flexible enough to do it myself.

 Chapter 37

    Steward of Kimton

    I sighed inwardly as I approached the doors to the study of Duke Kimton. Unlike his father, I shuddered every time I entered his presence. He was rather immature for a man in his thirties. A result of always getting his way, I suppose. When he wasn¡¯t being immature and lazy, he was volatile and unseemingly aggressive. I hoped he was in a lazy mood. Although annoying, it was much easier to deal with than his fierce rage. Every time I stood at this door, I thought back to my friend, the previous duke, and cursed at him for the request to serve his son faithfully. The last ten years were filled with constantly trying to steer this fool in the right direction while navigating around the latest scandal the duke had tried to get involved in.

    I raised my hand and gave three sharp raps on the door as was required.

    ¡°Enter,¡± came the bored voice of Duke Kimton. Bored was not good. It meant he was itching to get involved in something. I gripped the brass handle with one hand and forced my face into the mask of a faithful servant.

    The duke sat in his chair, his posture regal, but his expression did not hide his boredom. In my opinion, it was his own fault. He loved the authority being a duke brought him, but not the responsibility. In order to make sure he kept the dukedom running I had managed to convince him to delegate most of his responsibilities to more capable advisors. Now, he just reviewed things and decided who should take care of them. I realized that in trying to help him, I had done him a disservice. He had not grown into the leader his father had been.

    ¡°Your letters, My Lord Duke,¡± I said stiffly.

    ¡°Wonderful,¡± he said without any real enthusiasm, ¡°Well, let¡¯s get on with it.¡±

    ¡°At once, Your Lordship. The first is from your second cousin, Lord Eric Nelman,¡± I said, opening the letter.

    ¡°Skip it,¡± he said, ¡°his letters are always so depressing.¡±

    ¡°Of course, My Lord,¡± I said while setting the letter down. I would read it later and report on anything significant.

    ¡°The next is from Lady Nancy-¡°

    ¡°Do you have anything but the usual drivel?¡± He said with a sigh.

    ¡°A letter and package from Lord Amos Bicman.¡±

    This caused the Duke to raise his eyebrows. ¡°Who is that?¡±

    ¡°He is the son of Baron Aaron Bicman. They are your Northernmost barony.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes, the Marsh Dwellers.¡±

    I cringed at the slur. ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t somebody making inquiries about them last year?¡±

    ¡°I believe so, but I do not recall the specifics.¡± That was a lie, of course. I believe I was aware of most of the maneuvering that happened in the Duke''s court.

    ¡°Well, open the letter. Let¡¯s see what it is all about. Maybe what those inquiries were about will be revealed.¡±

    "It appears there are two letters here.¡±

    I had learned to speed read several years ago. It allowed me to quickly scan letters to prevent anything that the Duke could make poor judgments about from reaching his ears. Finding nothing that I believed would lead to anything significant, I read the first letter.

    ¡°Is this man unwell in the head, or should I take this letter as an insult?¡± Duke Kimton asked with no small amount of umbrage.

    I was not really concerned about whether or not he punished the young man who wrote the letter. Even if the boy¡¯s head should roll because of it, I don¡¯t think anyone would care, but I decided to give my input all the same.

    ¡°According to my reports, I believe this letter is the result of a poor education. He was disliked by his father and brother. I believe he was to be married off when he turned eighteen to a merchant family. He is probably requesting regency from the King out of stupidity and ignorance. If he really was intentionally insulting you, he would not have informed you of his decision.¡±

    ¡°Make sure we never invite him to court. What embarrassment that would be.¡± There was a pause, and then he said, ¡°On second thought, that might liven things up a bit. Do you really think the deaths were an illness? We really must find out more about those inquiries.¡±

    ¡°Maybe the second letter will give us some insight,¡± I said while quickly scanning the next letter. Again, I decided to read it in full.

    ¡°So it was an assassination! That is more exciting than the usual drivel,¡± Duke Kimton said, ¡°He says he has dealt with the rest of the family. Execution, most likely. Too bad the barony was left with an idiot. I should just get rid of the boy myself. If someone is already trying to kill him, it would be easy to pin it on someone.¡±

    ¡°We will want to wait until we have someone to pin it on, My Lord. We cannot act hastily. The land was received for saving the previous king''s life. We don¡¯t know the disposition of the current king.¡± I was pretty sure the current king couldn¡¯t care less, but I wanted to be cautious.

    ¡°Is that how it was obtained? Interesting, we will wait to see how the king responds to these crudely written letters before we do anything. In the meantime, find out who was responsible for the assassination.¡± He was lost in thought for a moment and then nodded. ¡°Your son, the one who cannot see right. We will send him to the barony.¡±

    ¡°My son?¡± I could not hide the surprise in my voice.

    ¡°Yes, they need a steward, and he is no good here. You had requested I find him a position somewhere. Where better to place such a lame duck than with a bumbling baron who cannot even write a decent letter and does not provide the proper courtesies to his betters.¡±

    I ground my teeth. My son was the best of men. Intelligent beyond his years and worth of a position in a high noble''s court, not some lowly backwater baron. His eyesight was the only thing that kept him from a prestigious position. I worried this was my fault, a curse of having fathered a child so late in my life.

    I schooled my features and said, ¡°It shall be done.¡±

    ¡°Good, now let us open the package.¡±

    As I lifted the lid, I found a small utensil inside. Lifting it out, I stared at it in wonder. If it was what I suspected it was and it worked as intended, then this would change much.

    ¡°What is this,¡± Duke Kimton said in annoyance, ¡°A miniature scepter? Do they seek to impress me with the craftsmanship of this marshland trinket? Have it returned with your son. I am almost persuaded to have the boy''s head brought back to me. First, though, I would like you to find out who is making a move on this barony. Also, I want to see how long the nephew survives.¡±

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    I almost thought to explain the thing''s true significance, but after the insult to my son, I decided to let him remain ignorant.

    Benjamin Steward- A few days later

    I was sitting in my father''s study. Deep in a game of tiles when the door burst open. Jumping up from my seat at the sudden interruption, I turned to find Father storming into the room. His usual mask of serenity was nowhere to be found. This was never a good sign.

    ¡°What is the matter, Father?¡± I said with concern.

    ¡°The duke is ordering you to go to the Barony of Bicman.¡±

    It took me a moment to place the name on the map I held in my head. ¡°The Northernmost barony?¡± I said, not hiding my surprise. ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°Their previous steward killed most of the family and then died himself. All that remains is the second son, Amos, and his nephew.¡±

    ¡°What concerns you so much about this?¡± Inwardly, I was ecstatic at the opportunity to leave this place, but I knew better than to show it on my face.

    ¡°The man is incompetent. I know that, with your condition, you struggle to read. Let me read you the letters he wrote to the Duke, and you will see what manner of man you would be working for.¡± I inwardly grimaced at his unintended insult. I could read just fine. I just needed the parchment to be some distance from my face.

    As he read the letters, I could not keep the grimace from appearing outwardly. That was indeed a poorly written letter. ¡°And the Duke did not order the young man executed or at least punished.¡±

    ¡°It is because there is a game being played that involves that barony. He is keeping the baron alive for that reason only.¡±

    ¡°You said ¡®would¡¯ not ¡®will¡¯. You do not intend for me to go to Bicman.¡± I stated.

    ¡°You have always been perceptive. I want you to make it as if you are going there but then leave evidence somewhere along the road that confirms that you were robbed and killed. Then head to your Cousin Mathew¡¯s estate in Baylemis. He has requested you previously, and the only reason I have not sent you is because I was hoping the Duke would help me get you a more prestigious position. But now¡­ I am afraid this is your only option. It is far enough away that your presence with them will be unknown. The Duke may already have forgotten about you. I will not have you caught up in some scheme. Especially with an imbecile running the barony.¡±

    I had no desire to go to my cousin''s estate. I did not want any more pitying looks and quiet whispers about my condition. I had to phrase this next part carefully. ¡°Father, I appreciate what you are trying to do for me, but this is a direct request from the duke. You do not respect him, and yet you still serve him out of loyalty to the dutchy. Can I do any less? Though he may not have meant it as an honor, I have a duty to improve the dutchy by any means. Even if it is working for an incompetent lord.¡±

    ¡°You are a good man, Benjamin. I had a feeling you might say that. That is why I have spent the last few days preparing all the information I could gather on the barony and Lord Amos. Read it carefully before you make your decision. It may change your mind. And there is no rush to leave. If you decide to, a month or so will not be noticed by the duke.¡± With that, he dropped a stack of parchment and several scrolls on the table and left me to read.

    After he left, I began to read through the documents. Some of the writing was so small that I had to hold it quite far away. I could see the reason for my father''s concern. This man was possibly worse than the Duke. By all accounts, he was a dimwit that was also a drunk and a chaser of women''s skirts. Not that this was uncommon for noble children, but the barony might be burnt to the ground by the time I even get there. That or all the people may have starved due to poverty.

    Nevertheless, the idea of visiting the Marsh Dweller''s land intrigued me. There was also the question of intrigue. Could I discover what it was about this land that made someone kill a whole family over it? Also, the nephew, what made the Lord request regency rather than claim the barony? Were the nephew''s grandparents of any significance? Did he fear offending them in case they learned that he murdered his nephew? By all accounts, there was no love between him and his family. What was his game?

    The next day, I went to speak with my father. ¡°Father, I will go and do my duty. If not for the duke or the regent, then at least for the people of the Dutchy.¡±

    My father sighed. ¡°As you wish. Since I cannot persuade you otherwise, I might as well show you some things. I withheld them because I feared they alone would compel you to leave straightway to the Barony of Bicman.¡±

    He presented a box to me. When I lifted the lid, I found a stick with a brass nub at the end. After staring at it for a moment, I had to admit I had no idea of its importance or use. ¡°I am sorry, father. I fear I do not understand the importance of this implement.¡±

    ¡°Watch,¡± He said with a smile. With that, he removed the stick. Dipped it in the ink on his table and began to write with it.¡±

    I watched in fascination as the letters were written smoothly on the parchment. ¡°That is wonderful. Where did it come from?¡±

    ¡°The lord sent it with his letter.¡±

    ¡°Then why do you have it,¡± I said in confusion.

    ¡°The duke did not understand what it was, and I didn¡¯t feel like telling him at the time. He told me to send it back to Bicman with you.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t feel like¡­ Father! You¡­ If he finds out what it is.¡± The color drained from his face.

    ¡°He will eventually, but he will assume I was ignorant as well. He only has himself to blame. After throwing you to the wolves, I was not in the mood to be helpful.¡±

    ¡°This is not like you, Father. We should tell him. It¡¯s a simple design. It can be easily made. The Dutchy could make a lot of money.¡±

    ¡°Unless there is already a writ for it. I am sure the king will receive one of these pens as well. When you go to Bicman, take this with you and find out where the baron got it.¡± He said, handing it to me. Then he held out the notes he had not let me read yesterday. ¡°I did not let you read these yesterday because this would have also piqued your curiosity.¡±

    I immediately understood what he meant when I felt the material. This was not something I had ever seen before. What was it made of?

    ¡°Hold it up to the light. You may not be able to see it with your eyesight, but there is a lighter mark on the corner. It somehow has the crest of Bicman and EJ stamped on it. We need to know about this material and how much it costs to produce.

    ¡°This is very curious. I can see why you withheld this from me, even if I am disappointed that you did.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want it to affect your judgment.¡±

    I smiled, ¡°You just don¡¯t want me to go. So who is it that is conspiring against the Bicman¡¯s?¡±

    My father raised his eyebrows, ¡°You assume I know.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you know, Father.¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Yes, I know. But it is nothing you need to worry about. I will take care of it. I will not have you caught up in these issues.¡±

    ¡°Father, I may need to know.¡±

    ¡°No, the family is dangerous. I will not have you getting involved. Just don¡¯t go snooping around, or you may end up with a knife in your back before you leave.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I trust your judgment. But I don¡¯t think the knowledge will hurt me where I am going.¡±

    ¡°It is before you leave that concerns me. I don¡¯t want you to act unnaturally around the family. They most certainly know that their plot failed, and they will be looking for people who act suspiciously around them.¡±

    ¡°You will tell me before I leave then.¡±

    ¡°I may.¡±

    That was probably the best I was going to get.

    ¡°Do you know why?¡±

    ¡°They want to place one of their own there. The problem is I don¡¯t know why. Be careful, Benjamin.¡±

    Behind closed doors

    ¡°The steward of Bicman failed, My Lady. The youngest son and his nephew survived. What¡¯s more, the steward tried to use poison during an outbreak to cover it up. Not a bad idea, but his family confessed after the steward himself died.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Who knows?¡± said an icy voice.

    ¡°Unfortunately, there was a letter sent from Bicman that reached the duke. The court will be a buzz with it in a day or so.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­ Unfortunate.¡±

    ¡°Should I send someone to clean up the mess?¡±

    ¡°No, those who request the land once it is available will become suspect¡ªdoubly so for the one who receives it. And if we aren¡¯t going to request it, then we might as well not open it up for anyone else unless we can find a way to frame them.¡±

    ¡°There are some who will be displeased with the delay.¡±

    ¡°We have time, and worst case scenario, we take a more forward approach.¡±

    ¡°I should note that it is very likely the land will open up without us having to do anything. From what I have gathered, the new baron is an incompetent drunk. Likely, he has already run off with all the barony has left. If not, then he will ask for help from the Dutchy and get executed for his incompetence.¡±

    ¡°I want an updated report on the barony. Send a man to investigate. Also, see if he can kill the nephew and pin it on the baron. That may help to draw the attention of the court away from things we are planning. They are always looking for extra gossip.¡±

    ¡°I will see it done.¡±

 Chapter 38

    I sat at my office table. My hair was still damp from my morning bath. I had sweated like a pig this morning while training with Chris, but it felt good. I was no longer getting hit as much, and we had added a buckler. It was a whole new game when adding the shield. Some of the previous stances and movements no longer played into my strategy. As I sat there, musing on how I might land a hit on Chris, a knock came at the door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I called.

    Drake entered and bowed. He was carrying a letter. ¡°My, Lord, this arrived from Melnon,¡± he said, handing me the letter.

    ¡°Thank you, Drake. I will call you if I need anything.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± He said while excusing himself.

    The first letter was short and a little disturbing. It was from Lisa. They were asking for me to keep an eye out for Kylie. Apparently, she had been missing for several days. Although this was concerning to me, there wasn¡¯t really anything I could do about it. Had she gone and blown herself up? There is no way she took the information and was already able to recreate black powder. Yes, I gave her the information I found in the pdf of the anarchist''s handbook and some other YouTube videos, but it is not like she could run down to a store and get saltpeter and sulfur. I hadn¡¯t even been able to get a hold of it. You know, being fourteen and all.

    That was an interesting time in my life. There''s nothing like trying to get yourself put on the FBI watchlist to excite the young teenage mind. Poor Mark: After that, I never saw him again. Nah, I''m just kidding. The only thing that disappeared was that old Reebok shoe. We couldn¡¯t make black powder, but there are plenty of other things that teenage idiots can use to cause explosions. Man, those were some good times.

    Back to Kylie, it just isn¡¯t possible that she found all the things necessary and recreated black powder based on what I said. I¡¯m still blaming that whole thing on my hormones. I normally wouldn''t have given the knowledge of a revolutionary weapon to a crazy girl in my normal state. I hated myself for thinking it might be safer for the world as a whole if she messed up with the black powder.

    The second letter was much better. They had found a way to capture a larger quantity of fly ash. This was the second such letter I had received this week. They had started to experiment with the larger quantities, but the set time meant they were waiting for the results. The other news was that a family was seeking refuge in our Barony. They were at the camp near Melnon. They had gone to the fishing village, but the wife was having a reaction to something in the air there. They were seeking our help.

    This was tricky. If they made it all the way to the village and then back to Melnon, I doubt anyone was chasing them, but it still made me nervous. Yes, I wanted more people, but we still had to make sure we could feed them all. After going over all the villages'' reports, we weren''t as bad as I thought. If we had been actually paying our taxes in full, we would have been running lean, but I found that each village was storing some away for safety''s sake.

    I sighed. It was just one family, though. We could keep them in Barim. I wanted to interview them first. I didn¡¯t need a family of slackers. I started to dictate letters to Richard and Lisa when there was a knock at my door.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    Captain Draves entered and bowed. ¡°My Lord, I request to speak with you on a matter that has been weighing heavily on my mind.¡±

    I braced myself for the bad news. ¡°Please, sit down, Captain. What is on your mind?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, what are your intentions toward the criminal Marcus.¡± He said while looking me squarely in the eyes.

    I took a deep breath, ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know. I feel death is too harsh, but he has intentionally deceived me and disobeyed me. I believe he is mentally ill. I know you want me to kill him, but could I sleep at night knowing I had killed a man just because he is insane?¡±

    Draves sighed deeply, ¡°My Lord, you are too concerned with your sleep. You are the baron and have duties as such.¡±

    I did not feel it was appropriate to point out that I was not technically a Baron.

    ¡°You have the potential to be an excellent Baron. Your desire to see things from other''s perspectives keeps you from making rash decisions most of the time. However, it also tends to paralyze you when making a difficult choice. I had told the slavers that I would spare their lives if they led me to their camp. When I saw what they had done to my men, I burnt them alive.¡±

    This I hadn¡¯t heard.

    ¡°I did not sleep that night. I saw the faces of my men and the faces of those I had ordered burned alive. But it was my duty to execute justice. I have said it before: you need to either take on the duties of the baron or step down. I have been trying to understand why it is you are having such a hard time. Then, I remember meeting a man from a different country whose beliefs and cultures were so different that I could not understand him. You have the face of Amos Bicman, but I have to remember you are from a place so far away that you may see things differently. Your beliefs don¡¯t fit here. If you truly want to help these people, and if you truly want to preserve this Barony for Aaron, you must change. You must be willing to dispense justice. There is no peace without justice.¡±

    I sat there, stunned. I do not remember much of what was just said to me, but what did make it through hit like a ton of bricks. I was too concerned with my personal feelings. My feelings had nothing to do with justice. I had accepted the mantle of Regent and must do my duty regardless of my personal feelings. I had chased after peace for the last few years of my life after the accident. I thought I had found it. Maybe I had, but I was no longer in that world. I was no longer a twenty-first-century artist. I was the Regant of a barony, and the peace of the Barony must be put before my own. There can be no peace without justice.

    I took a deep breath and straightened in my chair. ¡°You are right, Captain. I must not neglect my duty as a baron. I will¡­ I will put him to death if that is the only way we can keep him from harming others and the Barony. Having him sit in prison his whole life is foolish. So unless you have another suggestion, We need to¡­ to¡­ Curse it all. We need to kill him! According to the laws of this land, his offenses require him to die.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord. I will arrange for the sentencing to take place tomorrow. I hesitate to mention it because I believe it will waste our resources, but there is always the option of slavery.¡±

    ¡°Slavery is illegal here,¡± I said in confusion.

    ¡°There is a loop hole. You cannot sell him, but you can turn him over to the crown. They will sell him to another country to be a slave. They may just kill him, though. The reason I hesitated to mention this is because I know you prefer to take a less violent route. This will add the expense of transporting him, and he may prefer death over being made a slave.¡±

    ¡°I have to do this in public, don¡¯t I?¡± I said, putting my knuckles on my forehead.

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°I will do it. He will either be a slave or be executed. I promise that I will not neglect my duty to execute justice."

    ¡°Amos,¡± He said without the honorific. ¡°I am proud of you. You have proven yourself worthy of the title you hold. I swear that I will remain by your side to help you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Captain. I truly appreciate your friendship.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of friendship. It seems that you are going to continue to speak with Chris in a manner that would be unacceptable to the nobility despite my warnings.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain. I was raised with the concept that all men were equal. Maybe if I had been raised as a noble, I could endure the isolation, but I cannot handle all this without friends. It¡¯s too much.¡±

    ¡°I will not push you to end your friendships, but I will warn you. If the knowledge of your behavior towards others reaches beyond the Barony, there may be social consequences.¡±

    ¡°They can stick their consequences up their rear, Captain,¡± I swear he was trying not to grin at that. Changing the subject, I said. ¡°I have not taken the time to check in on Hyrum the last couple of days. Has there been any improvement?¡±

    ¡°The wounds are healing, and Maggie says he is out of danger, but the times he is conscious, he just stares blankly at the wall. They have moved him out of Maggie''s house to an empty one nearby. The people in the village say he wakes up screaming throughout the night. Carrie is still blaming herself.¡± I could hear the pain in the captain''s voice as he spoke of his friend. After what Hyrum had been through, I figured this might be the best we could hope for now. This may take some time. As far as Carrie was concerned, I was starting to think that she was dealing with her own mental problem. It was apparent that she had been physically and mentally abused. We had someone in my therapy group who had something similar. I think it was called self-blame under the general anxiety disorder. It might have been something else. That would make sense with her twisting reality to make it her fault my family was killed. We needed a local therapist for this Barony.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to swing by there later.¡±

    Just then, there was a knock at the door. ¡°Come in,¡± I said.

    The door opened, letting in a very nervous looking tanner.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lord. I didn¡¯t know you were busy. I will return later,¡± he said while closing the door.

    ¡°Nonsence Gerold, come in.¡±

    He hesitantly came into the room.

    ¡°Now, is this a sensitive matter that will require me to have the captain withdraw?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord, forgive me, My Lord, if this request is too bold, but I heard that you were giving a mar to the person in Melnon who can collect more ash for you.¡±

    ¡°Have you thought of something to help?¡± I said excitedly.

    ¡°Well, Um¡­ No, My Lord. Forgive me, My Lord, but I was thinking I may have something to whiten your paper. Mikel said, well, he uh¡­ He said you were somewhat disappointed in the color. I¡­ I have some things I use that may help to whiten it.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I said, standing up without thinking.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know, but they may help.¡±

    ¡°So you heard I was giving rewards for helping make ash, and you thought I might reward you if you could whiten the paper.¡± I gave a slow, considering nod, ¡°Now that is the type of thinking I like. What would you want?¡±

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    "Well, um¡­¡± The poor man was so nervous he started to wring his hands. ¡°I would like some clothes for my children.¡±

    ¡°Clothes for your children,¡± I said in surprise. ¡°You are one of my serfs, are you not?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Aren''t you already being provided with clothing?¡±

    "Forgive me, My Lord. I should not have been so bold."

    "I wasn''t chastizing you for wanting clothes for your children, Gerold. I am concerned about your family."

    ¡°They are growing, My Lord, and well, some of the clothes my wife is struggling to repair.¡±

    ¡°I understand how children go through clothing, Gerold. What I meant was why you haven''t been provided with more.¡±

    ¡°Your Father, may he rest in peace, said that they could wait another year. He did not want to waste the flax on the children.¡±

    His face fell as I said, ¡°No, Gerold, I will not provide clothing for your children for making the paper white.¡± His face lifted, though, as I continued.

    ¡°As the Regent of Bicman, it is my duty to make sure your children are provided for. The clothes will be provided. Now, what would be a suitable reward for making the paper better?¡±

    Gerold looked too stunned to speak. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t keep giving away livestock,¡± I said more to myself. Then I snapped my fingers. ¡°If you can improve the paper, I will pay you as I would a peasant for all the goods that you produce for the next year.¡±

    Finding his tongue, Gerold finally spoke. ¡°My Lord, your generosity knows no bounds. My family and I thank you for your grace and kindness.¡±

    ¡°It is a small thing to reward such ingenuity. Speak with Emily and see what you can come up with. You may be excused.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord,¡± he said while hurrying out of the room.

    ¡°Word will spread of this.¡± The captain said in a contemplative voice.

    ¡°Of what?¡±

    ¡°Releasing him from his obligations as a serf for creating something.¡±

    ¡°Is that a bad thing? I mean, don¡¯t we want to find ways to make the Barony more prosperous.¡±

    ¡°I just wanted you to be aware of your actions. You must think ahead of what the consequences might be.¡±

    ¡°What do you think they will be?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He said simply

    ¡°So you just want to worry me,¡± I said with a sigh, ¡°Well, now I need to go play with my nephew to unwind. Thanks a lot.¡±

    ¡°I believe you are making an excuse to put off what needs to be done.¡±

    ¡°I will admit to nothing. Now let''s go.¡±

    I left Draves and headed to look for Aaron. I found him being nursed by Amy, and that really bummed me out. I needed to invent a bottle. I loved feeding babies. I had gotten used to women feeding their babies out in the open by now. I have to admit the first time I came into the room to see Amy feeding Aaron. I practically ran out of the room. Emily told me I was weird when I told her the embarrassing story.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, My Lord, he will be going down for a nap soon.¡±

    ¡°Aaron, as your Regent, it is my duty to tell you that when I was your age, I didn¡¯t take naps. I left the manor at the first bell and didn¡¯t return until dinner. You kids have it so easy these days. Also, I refuse to invent a phone with apps or social media.¡±

    Amy was used to me spouting nonsense at my nephew by now and just ignored me.

    ¡°My Lord, with your busy schedule, I don¡¯t know if you recall, but Lord Aaron¡¯s Birthday will be in two weeks.¡±

    ¡°What! Are you serious? Aaron forget the naps, by the time I was one I had two jobs. What have you been doing with your life? Never mind, forget all that, Aaron, you can¡¯t turn one; I haven¡¯t got a clue how to make you an actual birthday cake. Give me about a year, buddy, and I am sure we can come up with something. That will work. Aaron, as a responsible Regent and uncle, I demand you wait until next year to turn one. No, ok then, I guess we will just have to throw you a really big party. Well, Amy, you are responsible for making sure we throw the future Baron a proper party. I am off to take a quick ride on Blaze.¡± I exited the room and ran immediately into a flustered Marshandra.

    ¡°My Lord, there is a personal messenger here from Count Vaspar.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that isn¡¯t normal,¡± I said with concern.

    ¡°The only messengers we get are those dropping off letters that have been passed through several runners. This man actually came straight from Vaspar.¡±

    ¡°Well, let''s go meet him.¡±

    Marsh sighed, ¡°My Lord, you can¡¯t go in there looking like that?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± I said, looking down at myself.

    ¡°Because this is a personal messenger. Everything you say, do, or wear will be reported on.¡±

    ¡°Ah, he is spying on us. Well, then, I guess I will try and use proper etiquette.¡±

    ¡°Please do, now let us get you dressed. And please, My Lord, for the hundredth time, let me shave that ridiculous goatee and mustache.¡±

    ¡°Not happening, Marshandra.¡±

    Half an hour later, I entered the Great Hall from the study entrance, walked to the center chair, and sat down to face an empty audience hall. I sat with a straight-backed posture, one hand resting on my arm and one on my lap. As soon as I was seated, a guard opened the main door, and Draves and Chuck escorted the messenger in.

    The man who entered with my guards was most likely in his late thirties. His face was blank when he first entered, but a brief look of surprise crossed his face as our eyes met before he could school his emotions. Very curious. Was he not expecting to find me on the chair? The only reason I could imagine he was here was due to the letter I had sent. Surely, the count would have informed him of my father''s demise.

    As he approached, he got down on one knee and bowed his head. Draves said, ¡°My Lord Amos, may I introduce Sir Mathew Vaspar, Messenger of Count Vaspar?¡±

    ¡°I greet thee, Sir Mathew, you may rise and speak.¡± Dang, I hope I nailed that. The brief council I was given by Marshandra, who was also not well versed in this, was all I had to go by.

    ¡°Thou art most gracious, Lord Bicman. I bring his Lordship, Count Vaspar¡¯s greeting.¡±

    ¡°We are honored to have a member of the House of Vaspar come to our humble Barony. To what do we owe this visit?¡± Dude, I totally got this.

    ¡°My Lord Vaspar was most intrigued by both your letter and your gift. He asked me to express his desire to visit with you at his estate in Vaspar.¡±

    Ok, that one got me. I was not expecting to receive such an invitation. I was speechless for a moment until I saw the Captain nodding his head encouragingly. ¡°Forgive me for my delay, Sir Mathew. This news caught me by surprise. The honor of receiving such an invitation is quite overwhelming for a young man such as myself. I will, of course, make preparations to attend, Count Vaspar. Please, your journey must have been taxing. I have had my maid Marshandra prepare a room for you as we speak. My guard will show you to the room.¡±

    ¡°That is most kind, My Lord.¡± He said with a bow.

    I nodded in response and said, ¡°Guardsman Chuck, please escort Sir Mathew to the guest quarters.¡±

    ¡°As you command, My Lord,¡± Chuck said with a bow. ¡°If you would please follow me, Sir Mathew.¡±

    With that, Chuck escorted Mathew out of the room, and I was left with Draves. I sighed, ¡°Well, That just happened.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I have to admit I was impressed with your handling of the situation. The manner of your speech was almost as well done as your fathers.¡±

    ¡°Well don¡¯t expect much of it, Captain, That was exhausting. Now tell me what you know about messengers and our current situation. One thing that surprised me is that he was a member of the house of Vaspar but was given the job of a message boy.¡±

    ¡°That is because you are unfamiliar with the position. A Special Messenger of the Nobility is usually not a blood relative of the family. They are, in a sense, adopted into the house, but their position is nonhereditary. This gives them the title of sir, similar to a knight. The reason for the increase in rank is because, in some limited capacity, they will act in the name of the Lord. They also act as informants to the nobles they serve. Their responsibility only extends within the noble''s territory itself. Envoys or ambassadors are used to represent a noble outside their territory.¡±

    ¡°So messenger is really a deceptive title. They are the eyes and ears of the noble and, to a lesser extent, roaming judges.¡±

    ¡°Precisely, so please tread carefully.¡±

    ¡°Can we hide the things we are working on?¡±

    ¡°You cannot restrict his movements. He already has seen the paper and pen. The more you discourage him, the more intrigued he will be. The plows have been put away, so I don¡¯t think that will be a problem. But if he asks questions, don¡¯t evade. They are trained to sniff things out better than a dog.¡±

    ¡°So when do you think we should leave?¡±

    ¡°We will leave with the messenger.¡±

    ¡°But, he said at our earliest convenience. We have a lot to do.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, when a noble of a higher rank says, "at your earliest convenience" it means now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, bugger. I¡¯m going to miss Aaron¡¯s birthday. Dang it, Jorb has my carrige. We need to get that up and running. Of course, if the leaf springs don''t work, then I might just prefer to ride Blaze.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, you cannot show up to the Count¡¯s riding a horse. It would make you a laughing stock of the court.¡±

    ¡°Well, guess Jorb is going to have to hurry up.¡±

    Sir Mathew Vaspar

    I sat at a table that had obviously been brought into the room in a hurry before I had been given it. I had been here for a day and a half and was trying to wrap my head around what was happening here. I had been given the most up-to-date reports we had on the Barony, but they seemed to be wildly inaccurate in a lot of ways. The Barony was poor, to be sure, and the serfs looked underfed, but in general, they were in good spirits. I was told they were behind in their taxes, but from what I could tell, there wasn¡¯t even a patrol that came out this far, not to mention no roads were maintained past the Nore. Even the bridge was well due for maintenance. So they were paying for all the things that other baronies were without the benefit. At least, they would be if they actually paid their taxes. What they did pay barely covered the cost of the military dues. A military they would never see.

    I had read the history of this region before I came. This was a barony in name only. The conquest of the Marsh-Dwellers was just a matter of pride. Nothing has really changed for these people. Of course, now only a small percentage were Marsh-Dwellers. The rest were imported with the baronette two generations ago. It made me wonder what would happen if the Nore River Bridge collapsed. Would the current king even bother to restore it? If he didn¡¯t, the Baron would have an excuse not to pay taxes. Personally, I think this place would be forgotten until the kingdom actually needed to expand. With the war of expansion to the south going on, with no end of stopping until the lands of the Hitub were brought under our control, I doubt it would be in the next hundred years.

    I shook my head at the pointlessness of it all. But then I looked down at the ¡®paper¡¯ and ¡®pen¡¯ sitting in front of me. How in the world did a people of a backwater barony develop such things? I snuck into the paper room this morning while others were sleeping. Everything was clean and put away. I saw the machine that must allow them to make this paper, but I was hesitant to assume I knew how it worked. Also, the trays and water. One impressive thing was the hundreds of sheets of paper that were in stacks. This had to be cheaper than making parchment. Then there were the books. The first time I saw one was after dinner when the students gathered. The sight of it was bizarre. Children and adults of no station were being taught to read and write. They had so much paper that they didn¡¯t even bother to use clay or slate. A peasant was teaching serfs to read! And they all had one of the special pens shown to me by Casper before my departure.

    Children and adults grouped together, taking turns reading what they called picture books. Each takes turns reading a page and then passing it to the person. The stories were unique, but the detailed drawings were even more interesting. Upon questioning where they had obtained the books, they said that the baron himself made them. Upon looking closer, I saw that they were indeed written on the barony''s paper.

    There had been no reports of the baron having skills in artistry, and the works that these simple people were passing around would be worthy of being in a nobleman''s collection. The best word I could find to describe the baron was ¡®enigma.¡¯ He was the one most unexpected thing. I had been sure that I would find a fat drunk man waiting for me. He was large, to be sure, but not nearly as much as the reports made him out to be. And at dinner, although he offered me his best wine, he refused any himself. I thought maybe he was trying to be conservative with a limited supply, but when surreptitiously asking a servant about it, I was told that he had not drunk any alcohol since he recovered from his illness and became a regent. He had been rumored to have said he needed a clear head at all times. I, of course, was happy to drink a decent vintage.

    The rumor that he was lazy was also untrue. He was always doing something. All day today, he was hurrying about, involving himself in different matters. The only break he took was to play with his nephew, who, by all accounts, was well cared for and loved. When I asked the nursemaid about the baron, her answers led me to believe that the baron treated his nephew better than his own father had.

    I had been expecting to return to Vaspar as soon as tomorrow but was informed that the carriage was being modified. I first thought this was an excuse, but to assuage my doubts, the baron took me to his blacksmith shop, where a large man was working furiously on large pieces of copper. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was building something to make the ride smoother. He called it a leaf spring. It did not look much like a leaf, though. It would be interesting to see if I could dig up anything tomorrow.

 Chapter 39

    Jorb was a rock star! It was noon on Mathew''s third day here, and the carriage was complete. Now we could get this nosy messenger out of here. Seriously, I swear that man was either following me around or talking to different people in the barony every second of the day. I had taken the carriage for a test run up to the manor, and although not a perfect solution with the roads the way they were, I was not going to be black and blue by the time we reached Vaspar.

    For the trip, I brought my nicest clothes with me, but Marshandra insisted that I bring money with me to buy new things. She ganged up on me with Draves, and when I complained to Chris, he turned traitor. Of course, he commented that maybe I could get clothes that didn¡¯t make me look so ugly.

    It wasn¡¯t the only thing I needed money for. I figured as long as I was going, I would buy stuff with the old steward''s money. I wonder how much of it was stolen from us and how much was being paid as a bribe to spy on and assassinate my family. It really didn¡¯t matter. We were running low on ink with all the new students. Honestly, I had been stupid and going through it a little too quickly without resupplying. In my History of Art class, I learned about different inks and paints. Flaxseed and ash was simple, but nobody saved the flax seed around here for ink. This meant that I would have to buy some. I wonder if that is what they used here. If I were going to eventually make a printing press, I would need to start saving the flaxseed. Thank goodness the main ingredient was ash. Paints were another matter. Learning about the different paints and how they were made was interesting. We even made a few batches in the class. Unfortunately, those raw materials were not something we had on hand here, and I was not going to wait 2000 years so I could do an online order. I realized that buying paints was a luxury and that I needed to be frugal with our money, but there was no harm in looking, right.

    I promised myself I would only buy paint if I got the things I thought were essential for the barony. I wanted to see if I could get winter wheat, mules or sturdy horses, tin, and a myriad of other things. Yes, Harold and the other farmers had convinced me to try the winter wheat again. They said that there hadn¡¯t been a rapid freeze and thaw like those that had caused the northern baronies from using it in a long time. I figured that even if a winter freeze did occur, we could take what survived and use that for the next year. Eventually, we might get a strain that was resistant to the abrupt changes.

    If the Messanger wasn¡¯t there, Draves and I might have gotten into a big fight. He wanted to bring ten of his men and leave the rest with the recruits. I told him there was no way I was going to leave Aaron with so few trained men. I would bring Draves, four of his men, along with ten recruits. He argued that those recruits also had responsibilities to their farms, but I said that it was either that or we would only take him and five. When the Messanger approached Draves, he bowed his head and said, ¡°As My Lord commands.¡± And took off to find the people he wanted to bring. I was really hoping Mathew hadn¡¯t heard much of that.

    I had written diagrams for a few things I wanted my people to try if they got the chance, but I was pretty sure they would all be too busy with other things. I was having a really hard time leaving Aaron. What if something happened while I was gone? I wanted to bring him with, but I was assured he would be safer at the manor than traveling the roads. A long journey would be hard on him, and we would be camping some of the time. I had to put my faith in my people.

    This Count should be more considerate since I am the only member of my family. Wouldn¡¯t it be best if I sent a representative so I could continue to run the barony? I didn¡¯t even have a steward, and the one who I considered to be the closest thing to a steward was coming with me. Draves refused to allow me to go anywhere without him after the slaver incident. I ended up borrowing Richard to oversee everything while I was gone. He probably was my favorite headman.

    I wish I could have brought Chris instead of the captain, but I ended up having to put him in charge of maintaining the guard force while I was gone. He was also excellent with the recruits. I felt bad for those kids. They left their families in the late afternoon. Came to the manor, slept in the barracks and tents, got up in the early morning to train, and then headed back home if they were needed. If they lived in Alfer or Cofi. They would usually spend one out of every five days training instead of heading home. It all depended on family situations. We just didn¡¯t have enough people.

    Sooner than I would have liked, it was time to leave. And I have to admit the trip to Kerisi was actually quite pleasant. The leaf springs were doing their jobs, and although there was a little jostling, it was hardly noticed. That all ended when we reached the outskirts of the farms south of Kerisi. The road started to narrow, and it became very rough. It felt like more a wide trail than an actual road. I had a client from Georgia who swore the roads there were just paved over cow trails. This is how the ¡°road¡± to civilization felt as we wound our way south. I was so glad for the leaf springs, or the trip would be so much worse. As it was, even with the slower speed and leaf springs, I felt like I was once again riding without them. No wonder no one ever came north. I would rather be riding a horse right now.

    ¡°Who maintains this road? I asked the guard, Nicolas, who was riding the coach with me.

    ¡°Your guards, serfs, and peasants try and beat back the forest from swallowing it up. We usually start the process after the harvest is in. Forgive us for our inability to do more, My Lord, but there is a lot of road to cover between Kerisi and the Nore River.¡±

    ¡°Wait, are you telling me that we are responsible for maintaining the road all the way down to the Nore? Isn¡¯t it considered a trade road? What are we paying taxes for? We are supposed to pay taxes for civic upkeep. We have no military presence, and there are no civic improvements. I have no records of us getting relief in any way. This is ridiculous.¡±

    I probably shouldn¡¯t be spewing out my discontent with the government, but seriously. Yes, it is true that we rarely paid our taxes in full, but this seemed more like a tribute to keep us in the good graces of a foreign government than taxes. As I was jostled along, my mood became worse and worse. Then it started to rain.

    Overall, it was a miserable day and a half down to the Nore. I did feel a little guilty because most of the people were outside. Once it started to rain, Mathew, the messenger, joined me. He had preferred to ride a horse rather than be jostled like me. But he also preferred to be dry rather than wet. He spent some of the time reading a few of the books that I had made. Books that I hoped would present me in a better light to the Count.

    When we got to the Nore River bridge, I had to admit that I was quite impressed. The bridge was an arch type, showing that I lived in a civilization that had at least developed that. It was a large bridge that took three arches to reach across. I marveled at what the cost of building it must have been. I knew a little of the history of my barony after living there for over a month, and the fact that good old Lenord had wasted a bunch of money and resources to conquer a few backwater villages showed a level of incompetence that I just didn¡¯t understand. I wonder if they built the bridge before or after it was conquered. Either way, it looks like it was conquered and forgotten. We had our taxes collected once a year after harvest, and very few of the years did the tax collector even come to the manor. Unless directed otherwise, he just met our people at the Nore. Like I said, we were paying tribute.

    The next day, we started to see the roads that were branching into other villages. I¡¯m guessing these were the old Pollman villages. The road also started to improve, and with each passing village, they slowly became closer to the level that I had going between Bicman and Kerisi. Later in the day, we made it to a village near a large lake. It had kept the name Pollman even though all the Pollman¡¯s had been forcefully moved out. The manor was impressive. It was twice the size of my own and even had a second floor. The only reason I knew that was because it poked out above the wall surrounding it. I have to admit I was a little envious, but I remembered that if I had something this big, then it would have to be maintained, and since I wasn¡¯t a big fan of the architecture anyway, it didn¡¯t really matter. Our entering the village caused quite the commotion. People were running to get the headman, and children were lining the streets to see my carriage. Dang, I wish I had candy.

    As my group reached the headman¡¯s hut, he came running out of his house. He was dressed in simple, sturdy clothes with the sash of his office tied around his waist. He fell to his knees as I approached. ¡°My Lord, had we known of your arrival, we would have prepared you a feast. Not that you are at fault, My Lord, it was simply an oversight on our part. Please forgive us.¡±

    ¡°Stand up, headman. It is not your fault, and I do not desire that your people be forced to make exceptions to their daily lives to accommodate my abrupt arrival. We are only here for the evening, and then we will continue on. May I have your name?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, forgive my thoughtlessness. My name is Barak.¡±

    ¡°Well, met Headman Barak. I am Lord Amos Bicman. You may arise.¡±

    After he stood up, he said. ¡°My Lord, I am having the guest quarters prepared for you, and although I do not have a place for your men, I will have some of my serfs relocated for the evening to accommodate them.¡±

    I was stunned. I had not thought about the fact that there wouldn¡¯t be an inn for my men to sleep in. I mean, it made sense. These people would not see a huge number of travelers, so why put up an inn? I recovered quickly and said, ¡°Nonsense, I will not have you expel your people from their homes for the comfort of my own. We are guests here, and my men have the means to provide shelter for themselves. Now, if you will have someone show my men to an area where they could set up camp, that would be wonderful. I see that you have some family at your door. Would you be so kind as to introduce us?¡±

    At this, the man brightened. ¡°Of course, My Lord, this is my wife Mary, my son Patrick, and his son Patrick."

    Patrick Jr. was shyly peeking out from around his grandmother.

    ¡°Well, young man,¡± I said, kneeling so that we were at eye level. ¡°I think I have something that you may like. Draves, could you fetch a piece of paper from the trunk?¡±

    Draves returned quickly with a piece of paper. By this point, Patrick had hidden completely behind his grandmother. ¡°Now watch this, Patrick.¡± I knelt in the dirt. You know, exactly like I wasn¡¯t supposed to do. Then I made the boy a paper airplane. Standing up, I ignored the shocked look of the people around me. I tossed the paper airplane, and it floated right past Patrick¡¯s amazed face. ¡°That is for you, young man, but don¡¯t be too disappointed if it gets ruined. It isn¡¯t made of sturdy material.¡±

    The boy went over to the plane and gently picked it up. After staring at it for a moment, the little boy turned to me and bowed perfectly. ¡°Thank you, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°You are certainly welcome. Excellent bow, young man. Your father taught you well.¡± I said with a smile.

    Looking around, the only people who weren¡¯t in shock were my own guards. Even Mathew seemed surprised at what I had done. I don¡¯t know if it was the airplane or me kneeling in the dirt that surprised them more. Now that I had created that little spectacle, I turned to the headman and asked, ¡°Is there a place where I can bathe?¡±

    That night was spent eating more food than I had had since I came to this world. At least they tried to feed me all the food in the village. I had to politely decline most of it, explaining that I was trying to get down to a healthy weight. That confused the headman as he was pretty sure all nobles prided themselves on how much they could eat. When I refused alcohol and asked for water, I think he almost had a heart attack. That brought us to a conversation on healthy foods. Try explaining macronutrients to people who were lucky to get two meals a day sometimes.

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    Besides all that, it was a pleasant evening with the headman and his family. The guest room behind the headman''s residence was twice the size of his own and was only used for visiting nobility and their representatives. I asked him what the manor was used for now, and apparently, it was a great place to keep livestock, and the farm there was still maintained. Living in a manor was against the law for any person except a nobleman. I chuckled at the loophole that animals didn¡¯t count. Waste not, want not.

    The morning came earlier than I would have liked, but I got up and did my earlier morning routine. My men were used to it by now, but the early-rising villagers were stunned to see a baron moving in slow, practiced movements followed by jogging and exercising. I knew that many barons fought, so they had to know that at least some nobility exercised. Maybe it was the fact that I was doing it out in the open rather than on training grounds. It isn¡¯t like I could use the training grounds at the manor. It was probably filled with pigs. Maybe it was the Tai Chi that caused them to surreptitiously stare. I caught Mathew openly staring at me when he saw me doing it for the first time.

    We left shortly after I bathed and continued to the next town. The road had greatly improved, and we reached the village before evening on the next day. The reception was about the same, and though it was a little annoying, I bore it well and tried to make a good impression. The guest house was almost identical to Pollman¡¯s. I had to push a little harder before they accepted the fact that I wouldn¡¯t expel the villagers from their homes to accommodate my men. I left early the next morning when I found out we could make it to Decmoore if we hurried.

    We did indeed make it to the town of Decmoore by evening. The town had a wooden palisade around the inner town, much like the manor house I had. The city had expanded beyond that, but a new palisade had yet to be built. Fortunately, those citizens who were outside the town wall lived along the main roads, so it was easy to get to the town proper. Oddly enough, the town didn¡¯t smell as pleasant as the villages. Those who maintained the street and allies must not have been doing their jobs well. As we walked along the street, people moved out of the way and bowed. I was really not looking forward to this next visit.

    As we approached the manor the light was just beginning to fade. Two guards stood to either side of the grand doors that led inside the manor gates. The road up to the actual manor house was lined with well-manicured bushes. Leaving the coach, I found a man in the livery of the baron standing there to greet us. The sash tied around his waist was white, with black tassels on the end, marking him as the Steward of the house.

    ¡°I am Steward Barney of the Barony of Decmoore. Welcome to the manor, My Lord.¡± He said with a bow.

    ¡°Steward Barney, I present Lord Amos Bicman Regent to Baron Aaron Bicman the third,¡± Captain Draves said. Although it was getting dark, I thought I saw a flicker of surprise on the steward''s face. "Also, may I present Mathew Vaspar, Messenger of Count Vaspar?¡± I knew Mathew had visited with Decmoore on the way to my barony, so the introduction was one of courtesy.

    ¡°Welcome, honored guests. I will escort you to the Baron of the house.¡±

    The manor was built more like I would imagine a squat keep. It was an intimidating structure that would not be easy to penetrate. I was jealous. If I had something like this, I would have nothing to fear from a band of slavers. This was so on my to-do list. Well, maybe my ten-year plan. The foyer was small but well-lit, with expensive candles in a chandelier on the ceiling and candelabras in alcoves on the wall. Somebody was trying to show off.

    We entered the manor¡¯s great hall, which was again well-lit and impeccably clean. I was frankly worried about how it was going to smell because of the way his town was maintained. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that they kept the rules of cleanliness in the manor Most of the faint odors in here came from unwashed bodies. On a raised dais at the far end of the hall were three ornate chairs. Sitting in the center is who I presumed to be, the Baron. He was a bit on the larger size, not because of his frame but due to an abundance of fat. He had dark black hair and a full beard. He appeared to be in his thirties.

    To his right was a young woman who I thought might be his daughter. Her face was beautiful, with bright green eyes that complimented her long brown hair. The only thing that ruined the image was her stone-like expression of indifference.

    The young man to the left of the baron was his heir. He was the spitting image of his father. Except for the fact that he was my age. What truly separated them was the muscle that covered his body instead of flab. This boy was a warrior, and the clothing he wore accentuated this fact. Unlike his father, he did not hide his disdain when looking at me. Behind the three chairs stood a young lady, probably about Emily¡¯s age or just a little younger. Although she was impeccably dressed, she, like her older sister, must have taken after her mother, whom I assumed was deceased. Awfully rude not to give her a chair.

    ¡°Baron Decmoore, may I present Mathew Vaspar, Messenger of Count Vaspar, and Lord Amos Bicman, Regent of Baron Aaron Bicman the Third.¡± Once again, my introduction elicited a look of surprise from my host and his family.

    ¡°Messanger Vaspar, Lord Bicman, may I present Baron Kyle Decmoore, his wife Margret Decmoore, his son and heir Lord Kyle Decmoore the Second, and his wife, Amelia Decmoore."

    Wait! That lady was his wife? She had to be at least fifteen years younger than him. I was starting to get used to the whole kids marrying each other, so Kyle the Second and Amelia were less of a shock now, but Decmore and Margerate were still a little hard to wrap my head around. Logically, I knew it happened; I was just not used to seeing it.

    ¡°Welcome to my home once again, Messanger Vaspar.¡± In a tone that showed the utmost respect. In a less respectful tone, he said, ¡°Lord Bicman, you are also most welcome. I was surprised when Sir Vaspar told me of his reason for traveling to the lands of the Marsh-Dwellers.¡± The title Marsh Dwellers was not something I had ever heard before, and the condescending smirk the baron gave me made me realize it was a slur. Rude!

    I caught myself before I snapped something back at him, which gave him time to continue. ¡°So the young Baron is in good health, then?¡±

    I would not let this man get under my skin. I put a smile on my face and pretended as if I was talking to someone who was actually concerned, not just fishing for information. ¡°My nephew is in excellent health. He has shown himself to be quite a quick learner. He has learned to walk even before he is one year old, and I fear it won¡¯t be long before the nursemaid is run ragged from chasing after him. He is teething right now, though, so it has been hard on him.¡±

    ¡°Not yet one. Then he is still very young, and with the marshes so close, it is possible that he might not survive long.¡±

    Again, he was fishing so blatantly that he must have thought me stupid. I decided to put this matter to rest, ¡°I have sworn an oath to do everything in my power to make sure that Lord Aaron makes it to his eighteenth birthday in excellent health so that he may officially take over his barony. And I keep my word,¡± I said firmly.

    Amelia''s eyes went wide at this declaration, and Kyle the Second''s eyebrows rose slightly, but there was no emotion on the baron¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Very honorable of you. I understand it has been a long journey, and you must be hungry. Although my family and I have already eaten, I have instructed my cooks to prepare a meal for you and yours. It is late, and as I age, I find staying up exhausting. I beg that you excuse me. We will continue our discussion in the morning." With that, he stood, and the rest of his family followed suit. As they said their goodbyes, servants flooded the room, bringing the tables back to the center and laying out food. Leaving us to eat alone would be considered a snub in normal society, but due to the late hour, he was able to get away with it.

    At least the dinner was good. They had actual sausage! I needed to borrow their chief and bring him to Bicman. The sausage wasn¡¯t quite as good as a bratwurst, but the sauce they had to dip it in had a nice tangy flavor. I have to admit when I first got here, I wasn¡¯t a fan of some of the weird foods like pickled eggs, but they were growing on me. The bread was dense and had a multitude of grains in it. I don¡¯t know if everything tasted so good because I was tired of the fare we had been eating on the road or if it was just that good, but in my opinion, it was the best meal I had had since I got here.

    I woke up stiff and tired. Fortunately, there weren¡¯t any bugs in the bed. Breakfast was had with the Baron, but everyone was silent the whole time. It was rather eerie. Amelia kept giving me odd, furtive glances. When we all stood up from the table, I noticed something I hadn¡¯t last night: she was pregnant. We might have Kyle the Third soon. Hopefully, he and Aaron could be friends, but I wouldn¡¯t be holding my breath.

    As we prepared to leave, Lord Decmoore approached me with a young woman in her mid-teens. She wore a plain grey servant dress, and she kept her eyes down. ¡°Lord Bicman, As you have shown yourself to be an honorable man, I was wondering if you might do me a favor.¡±

    ¡°As a fellow noble, I would love to assist you in your time of need. However, I must know what this favor is. I would not want to give my word if I cannot fulfill it.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. But do not worry. It is but a trifle. This girl is the daughter of an old favorite of mine. On her deathbed, I foolishly promised the woman I would take the girl under my protection. A mistake I made in my youth. I have since learned better. The girl has been a servant in my house since the death of her mother. Recently she has taken up the practice of whoring herself out.¡±

    At this, the girl''s face turned bright red.

    ¡°I ask that you have her join your party down to Vaspar. There are expungers there that should be able to remedy her most recent indiscretion. You need to worry about her slowing you down as she is a sturdy girl used to walking.¡±

    So the girl had gone and gotten herself pregnant, and now he wanted me to take her to a clinic in Vaspar to fix the problem. Though she remained silent, I saw a tear dripping from her cheek. To be honest, I was very uncomfortable with this. I knew this was a touchy subject for people back in my world. There were clear battle lines, and the internet was full of haters on both sides. Personally, I did not feel good about abortion, but I also wasn¡¯t one to hate those who made the choice. I would express my opinion if asked, but I refused to get in a fight about something that I would never have to personally make the choice for. Maybe I was wrong, but this decision was not mine to make.

    ¡°I would be happy to escort your daughter to the clinic and return her to you.¡±

    The baron ground his teeth. Apparently, I had hit a nerve. ¡°This girl will not be returning. I am sending her with enough money to set herself up in Vaspar. Thus, I have fulfilled my duty to her mother.¡±

    ¡°You have my word that I will put my life between hers and danger until we reach the clinic.¡±

    ¡°A very gallant promise and above what I require.¡± He said flatly. ¡°Your help is appreciated. Now, I must bid you farewell as I have pressing matters to attend to.¡± With that, he turned on his heels and left. Very rude treatment to give to a fellow noble. If this is what I had to look forward to with every noble, I will be happy to hide away in Bicman.

    ¡°May I have your name?¡± I said, addressing the girl who now stood quivering in front of Captain Draves and me.

    She mumbled something too soft and garbled to understand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t quite get that. Could you repeat it?¡±

    ¡°Tanya, My Lord,¡± She said only slightly louder.

    ¡°Well, Tanya, allow me to escort you to the carriage,¡± I said cheerfully.

    This caused her head to snap up, and she looked at me in bewilderment. ¡°But, I¡­ I cannot ride in the carriage with a nobleman,¡± she whispered in a mortified voice. I glanced at Draves, who had a look of disapproval on his face, but said nothing. I would get a lecture about this later.

    ¡°Nonsense,¡± I said, ¡°The baron acknowledges you as his daughter, and therefore you have noble blood. I would not be a man of honor if I allowed a young lady with noble blood to walk like a commoner. And how am I supposed to protect you with my life if you are walking.¡±

    I heard Draves mumble under his breath. ¡°He allows commoners in his carriage anyways.¡± Probably referring to Jorb¡¯s family. That just made me smile.

    I still got pushback from Tanya. ¡°He told you I¡¯m a whore,¡± she muttered while putting her face back down.

    ¡°You are as far from being a whore than I am from being a king,¡± I said sternly. I had a theory, but I was not going to shout it out here. If the baron cared so little for the girl, why was he so willing to have the child aborted?

    Again, her head jerked up, and she stared at me. ¡°How-¡±

    ¡°Come, Tanya,¡± I said, interrupting her, ¡°You may have noble blood, but I am the Regent of Bicman. That means I automatically win every argument with you. So let¡¯s get going.¡±

    I turned and she followed behind me and Draves. After Draves got to the carriage, I assisted Tanya. I was about to climb in afterward when I felt like I was being watched. Turning around, I saw Kyle the Second standing not too far off with a malicious grin on his face. It sent chills down my spine. I couldn¡¯t help but feel like I was a fly that just got caught in a spider''s web.

 Chapter 40

    All the members riding in the carriage were silent until we exited the town. I then tried to break the ice. ¡°So, Tanya, have you ever been to Vaspar?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord,¡± She mumbled.

    ¡°Oh, well, I guess I won¡¯t be using you as a tour guide,¡± I said jokingly.

    ¡°Sorry, My Lord,¡± She said uncomfortably.

    ¡°I was only joking. So, have you ever left Decmoore?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord.¡±

    I sighed. I think it was going to take a lot of work to get this girl to open up. We rode in silence for a while, and then I said, ¡°So, have you ever ridden in a carriage before?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Well, dang, now you won¡¯t be impressed by the smoothness of the ride.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡± I rubbed my hand on my forehead. ¡°Tanya, please stop saying you¡¯re sorry for things that aren¡¯t your fault.¡±

    ¡°Sor¡­ Yes, My Lord,¡± She said, her cheeks turning a slight pink.

    I started to chuckle at the ridiculousness of this situation, which made the girl turn a deeper shade of red. I held up my hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about how ridiculous this situation is. You, the daughter of a Baron, are acting like a serf. Do you even know the laws of the kingdom concerning illegitimate children of nobility?¡±

    She shook her head.

    ¡°So, I wasn¡¯t really educated in it and have only had a brief time to look over the laws since I have become regent. Half of them don¡¯t make sense yet. I¡¯m hoping to find a steward that can help me. But that is beside the point. Some kings a few generations back felt that children with noble blood had rights above the commoner, even if they were illegitimate. Otherwise, what was noble blood worth? So, hence came the ¡°Bastard Laws.¡± I¡¯m guessing you haven¡¯t read them.¡± I had read them because I was going through all the laws I could find pertaining to children. No, I wasn¡¯t planning on sleeping with all my maids. I just ran across them while looking for information to help solidify Aaron¡¯s claim. Making sure there were no loopholes that made it so someone could swoop in and take Aaron¡¯s barony.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know how to read, My Lord.¡± Tayna said, somewhat embarrassed.

    ¡°Now that right there is the first problem. All illegitimate children of a noble are to receive an education up to the level of a clerk. The noble is also required to find suitable employment at the level of a clerk or above by the child''s eighteenth birthday or when they leave the home. Whichever is first. Though you do not hold a title, you can request that commoners address you as madam. You cannot be barred from any public building, just the same as any nobleman. There are some other rules. Also, you are held to the same standards that nobles are supposed to maintain. Don¡¯t ask me what that means. There are a lot, and I am still trying to figure it out.¡±

    Tanya looked completely dazed. I could understand why. Her whole life was a lie. She wasn¡¯t some fairy tale princess, but according to the law, she was far more than a common wash woman.

    Suddenly, she burst into tears and covered her face with her hands. My 21st-century instincts overrode my common sense. I stood up and braced myself against the sides of the carriage, switched to the opposite side of the carriage, and sat down next to her. I placed my arm over her hunched shoulders.

    The awkwardness of the situation intensified a few minutes later when the girl leaned into me and continued to sob. Looking up, I saw Draves frowning at me. I looked back at him pleadingly. All I got in response was a slight shaking of his head as if he was asking, ¡°How was it possible for me to always get into stupid situations.¡±

    I had no idea what to do. Should I pull away from her or wait for her to calm down? I really need to think before I act. Not knowing what to do, I just continued to hug the young girl until she calmed down.

    After about ten minutes she had cried herself out, and I got up to move back to my seat. The silence for the next hour was extremely uncomfortable¡ªat least for me. Tanya kept her head down and said nothing. Finally, I said, ¡°Draves, do you have any idea how to find this clinic when we arrive at Vaspar?¡±

    Tanya gave a slight shutter but remained silent.

    ¡°We will have to ask, My Lord. There may be more than one. Baron Decmoore did not indicate a particular one.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ Tanya, did your father tell you anything?¡±

    She just shook her head.

    ¡°Sorry, this is probably uncomfortable for you. We¡¯ll figure it out when we get there.¡± Trying to cheer her up, I said, ¡°Well, at least there should be plenty of work for you in a town as big as Vaspar.¡±

    She started to cry again. In between sobs, she muttered, ¡°I¡¯m not a whore.¡± Tanya immediately covered her face with her hands.

    I jerked back at the sudden outburst. I held up my hands, not that she could see them, ¡°Whoa, girl, I already told you I know you''re not doing that kind of work. I was talking about general employment.¡±

    So, once again, we fell into silence while she got herself under control. Maybe I should have taken Lord Decmoore¡¯s advice and made her walk. I repented of that thought quickly. She couldn¡¯t be more than fourteen or fifteen, and her father had allowed her to be abused.

    After a while, she said softly, ¡°Sorry, My Lord, I¡­ I was told that is all I would be good for in Vaspar.¡±

    My fists immediately clenched into balls. Angrily I said, ¡°Who would dare tell the daughter of a nobleman that they are a whore!¡± I actually thought I knew who told her that, but she needed to see my indignation. I had to get through to her that she was more than what she believed herself to be. ¡°Captain, you have traveled this road before. Are there any towns along our route that would carry clothing suitable for the daughter of a baron?¡±

    ¡°I am sorry, My Lord, it has been a long time since I traveled to Vaspar.¡±

    When I turned back to look at Tanya, her mouth was agape, and her eyes were wide.

    ¡°What?¡± I said uncomfortably, ¡°Why are you staring at me?¡±

    ¡°You want me to get new clothes?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± I said, dragging the word out in a way that made it more like a question.

    ¡°From a store?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, it isn¡¯t like I brought a personal seamstress with me.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°I mean, this all happened so fast I didn¡¯t even think to get your clothes from the manor. I can¡¯t believe your father just sent you in your work clothes.¡± I said, setting up the direction I was trying to get this conversation to go.

    ¡°Both my sets are work clothes.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you only have two sets of clothing?¡± I said in exaggerated mock surprise. Of course, she only had two sets of clothes, which is pretty much standard for serfs and peasants. I was such a good actor. I really should have gone out for that school play. ¡°This will not do,¡± I said indignantly.

    She put her head down in shame.

    ¡°Hey, I will have none of that. This isn¡¯t your fault. I will buy you some clothing myself so you don¡¯t have to worry about using the money your father gave you. He did give you enough to get established there, right?¡±

    ¡°Um, I don¡¯t know,¡± she said, opening a little pouch at her hip and pulling out five coins. ¡°This is what he gave me, but I have never had silver before. Is it enough?¡±

    I looked at the coins and then over at Draves. His face remained stoic, but I knew him well enough to know he was as shocked as I was. Was her father trying to make sure she died on the street? She didn¡¯t even know what five silver pennies were worth. How was she supposed to survive in a large town like Vaspar?

    ¡°That is way not enough for you to survive in Vaspar. Not for the daughter of a baron.¡±

    Her head fell into her hands, and her shoulders slumped.

    I shook my head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will teach you about money on the way down there. I will also give you five silver crowns to get yourself established. Draves may not have been to the town in a while, but he knows how to live in cities, so he can probably help teach you how to navigate a large town. We have a lot of work to do before we get to Vaspar. Prepare for an information dump.¡±

    ¡°Information dump?¡±

    ¡°My Lord has a unique way of speaking sometimes.¡± Draves said dryly.

    ¡°Thank you, Captain. Anyways, tell me, Tanya, how high can you count.¡±

    And with that began Madam Decmoore¡¯s five day education. Fortunately, she was a smart girl, and she learned how to add and subtract within the five days. She also surprised me by learning the entire alphabet and the sounds that each letter made. Of course, that did not give her time to learn how to read, but fortunately, the language here was phonetically based, so she could sound out a few words.

    At the same time as we were teaching her this, I made sure that everyone in my party knew to treat her as a lady with noble blood. The regular soldiers all bowed and addressed her as madam, and the captain always nodded when addressing her. Compared to how she was treated in her father''s house, she was now practically a queen. She learned how to address people properly, and we practiced good eye contact. I role-played with her on how to interact according to her station. Captain Draves was quick to correct me when I was doing it wrong.

    What really changed her were the clothes. I wanted her dressed up like I saw her sister-in-law Amelia. Unfortunately, there were no places in the villages that had those types of shops, and even if there were, Mathew would not have appreciated us taking the time to get the dress fitted. So we settled for overpaying a wealthy merchant''s wife for her daughter''s best outfit. I was surprised to find such a nice one in the villages we passed. It was worth it, though. She put it on after having the woman help cut and wash her hair. The effect on her was like switching on a light. She walked into the room as a beaten down girl with no self-worth and walked out with her back straight and a radiant smile on her face. Her face turned bright red when we made eye contact. I could tell the years of viewing herself as worthless were still going to affect her, but she was moving in the right direction.

    The lady of the house came up to me and whispered. ¡°Sorry it took so long, My Lord, she must have spent a quarter bell looking at herself in front of the mirror.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your assistance,¡± I nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, My Lord. I wish my daughter had been as appreciative of the dress when I bought it for her.¡±

    With that as the final touch, Tanya finally started to see herself as a person of worth. She held her head high and spoke with a little more confidence.

    Captain Draves was indispensable in helping to train her to act according to her station. I was completely useless when it came to non-noble etiquette, and I was only slightly better at noble etiquette. He was hesitant at first and had even confronted me the first night. He was upset that I had taken responsibility for the girl.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t leave her there.¡±

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°My Lord, I don¡¯t trust Baron Decmoore. No noble willingly puts himself into the debt of another. Well, except perhaps you.¡±

    ¡°True. Don¡¯t think that I am completely oblivious to the fact that I may have stepped into a trap.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you do it?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m not used to thinking that everybody around me is trying to deceive me. I¡¯m not a very good noble in that regard, but now I¡¯ve given my word, and we will just have to see what happens.¡±

    Draves nodded, ¡°And why are you so convinced that she is innocent of any indiscretion.¡±

    ¡°Because I believe the only reason that the Baron would want her to go to an Expunger is if there was something to cover up. He doesn¡¯t care about her.¡±

    ¡°You have a suspicion of who the father is?¡±

    ¡°Someone whose involvement would be very bad for the barony. I know you are trustworthy, but I don¡¯t want to spread gossip.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense, and I think I also know who you are talking about. Now that you say that, though, it makes things even worse if we are involved. But we are already neck deep. We just need to find our way out of it. I¡¯m not sure helping this girl is the best thing for us. The sooner we drop her off, the better.¡±

    ¡°No, Captain. We have at least four days, and we are going to do everything possible to make sure Tanya not only survives but thrives in her new life. I can¡¯t do this without you.¡±

    Captain Draves sighed, ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    And that takes us back to the present as we enter the walled town of Vaspar. I have to admit I was shocked. The only other towns I had seen were dirty and ill-maintained, but Vaspar must have had some fines laid down for throwing filth around. Although I saw no signs of a sewage system, the streets were clean and evenly cobbled on the main thoroughfare. I also found out that cobbled streets were meant more for walking than carriage riding. It was definitely bumpy. I was so glad for the leaf springs to smooth things out. Some side streets were graveled. Buildings were not in pristine condition, but none seemed ready to collapse. There were patrols of guards both on the wall and roaming the streets. The design was such that two carts could pass each other without squishing pedestrians.

    ¡°Wow, this is pretty impressive,¡± I said, voicing my thoughts out loud.

    ¡°This looks more like a city than a town. Every time I have escorted your Father south, it gets bigger.¡± Draves said, ¡°All this was not here last time I came through. I believe their port is becoming more popular.¡±

    ¡°So do we really have to go to the count''s keep first?¡±

    Tanya giggled at my question. She had become less guarded and more relaxed. She now involved herself occasionally in conversations. I had been begging to go to the port since Draves had confirmed that they had one. Her laughter, however, was because she knew I was trying to avoid the inevitable meeting with the count.

    Draves just gave me a look. I think he was tired of giving the same answer over and over again. He also knew I was just saying it because it had become a joke. One that he didn¡¯t find very funny.

    The count¡¯s dwelling was a three-story mini castle. It wasn¡¯t just a keep. It had an outer wall with parapets. It sat on a hill, which I¡¯m sure had a good view of the town and sea from the top level. Large flags adorned the high towers that connected the parapets. This guy didn¡¯t seem to be hurting for money.

    We were greeted by a handful of servants at the entrance. Mathew, the messenger, had a quick word with a sharply dressed man and then left us in his care. Our baggage was quickly unloaded by the servants as I was stepping down from the carriage.

    ¡°Lord Bicman, I am house steward Geoff." A tall, stately man said with a bow. I had learned that a House steward was different than a nobleman''s steward. They were more like chief butlers. He would report to the count''s steward. "I apologize, My Lord, but it will be a few days before the Count will have time to meet with you. This evening we will be holding a dinner party which you are requested to attend.

    ¡°Excellent, thank you for the invitation. This gives us time to explore your lovely town. If you could show my men where they are to stay and have my luggage taken to my room, that would be much appreciated, my good man.¡±

    There was a slight quirk to Geoff¡¯s eyebrows, but he recovered quickly. ¡°Would you like a servant to show you around the town?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but that will not be necessary. I prefer to explore new places without a tour guide.¡±

    ¡°A what?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, that was just an idea I came up with. A person paid to show people around a city.¡±

    ¡°Interesting. What is the point of such a thing?¡± The steward said, sounding intrigued.

    ¡°Well, the count could put a booth at the docks or near a gate. The person is either paid by the city or individual to take them around and show them different sights such as historical or shopping areas. The main goal is to get people to spend money while they are in the city.¡±

    ¡°I see. I will not detain you any longer from exploring the town of Vaspar.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your assistance, Steward Geoff.¡±

    With that, he left, and I asked one of the members of the Bicman militia to come over.

    ¡°My Lord, why did you not ask for assistance?¡± Captain Draves said before I could explain my plan.

    ¡°I would like to make inquiries as to the location of an expunger as discreetly as possible. You must have noticed how uncomfortable Tanya is with this.¡± Turning to the young man, I said. ¡°Now, remind me of your name.¡±

    ¡°Thomas, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Ah yes, now Thomas, I have a particularly sensitive mission for you. Can I trust you to remain silent on this matter?¡±

    The young man stood up straighter, ¡°Yes, My Lord,¡± He said firmly.

    ¡°Excellent, we need to find the best expunger in this town.¡±

    The young man¡¯s eyes went wide.

    ¡°Unfortunately, the young woman who we carry was raped, and her father asked us to assist her.¡±

    He nodded in understanding.

    ¡°When we get to the market, your job will be to find out where the best one is located. Then, meet back up with us as we walk around. Tell us the information and then head out of the market in the direction of the place. Once we are done in the market, we will head in that same direction. When the coach passes you, we will pick you up.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I think I understand now. You are trying to prevent us from being linked with this situation.¡± Draves said.

    ¡°I think you put it nicely a few days ago. We are neck-deep in this situation, and I am just trying to prevent us from going all the way under.¡±

    ¡°Good thinking. Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±

    The driver took us down the main road leading towards the docks. As we exited the more wealthy residential district, we began to see actual taverns and shops. Decmoore had a single tavern/inn, and I saw a couple more as we got closer to civilization, but here, there was one on every corner. The stores turned into stalls the closer we got to the dock and Thomas hopped down from the front of the carriage and got lost in the crowd. A street later, my eye caught on something in one of the stalls, and I yelled for the driver to stop. I got down from the carriage and walked up to the stall. The stall was filled with odds and ends. But shoved off to the side was a hat that caught my eye. It was a felt hat with a similar style to one you would see worn by a gentleman in a Western film. Solid black, and it seemed to be made of felt. I, of course, did not let my eyes dwell on it. Other patrons backed away from the stall as soon as I arrived, and the short, balding man with dark skin was watching me like a hawk. My eyes fell on what I assumed to be a mirror. It was an intricately worked piece of bronze. It was round and had a pattern of interwoven vines along the edge. The center was about ten centimeters in diameter and looked like it was coated in polished silver. It gave better images than the polished bronze that most mirrors were. My mustache and goatee were growing in nicely, I thought with a smile.

    Putting on airs, I said, ¡°Yes, this will do as a gift for that brat of a sister. It will keep her from nagging at me for the rest of the trip. I will give you five silver pennies for it.¡±

    His eyes went wide, and his expression turned into one of exaggerated indignation. ¡°My Lord, at that price, you might as well just steal it while my back is turned. For artistry such as this, I could not ask for less than five Silver Crowns!¡±

    ¡°You call me a robber, but you appear to be a con artist. You could pick up such a small mirror for only a few silver pennies elsewhere. The only true value is the silver coating. But I will not be accused of being ungenerous. I will give you a whole silver crown for it.¡±

    ¡°Even if it were polished bronze rather than imported silver, I do not know where you have found such a shop that would sell you such a fine mirror at a price of only a few pennies. You must tell me where it is so that I might buy up all their stock and resell it at five times the price. Truly, I could not part with this for less than four silver and a half."

    We went back and forth until we were at two and a quarter silver. ¡°Two and a quarter silver, it is as long as you throw in that hat in the corner.¡±

    Looking back at the hat in the corner, he said, ¡°My Lord, truly a noble personage such as yourself would look splendid in a hat such as that, but alas, it is imported all the way from Hipnon. Even at a discount, I would not take less than five silver pennies for it.¡±

    I smiled, I had only seen haggling done in books and on TV, but this was kind of fun. Personally, I had no idea if I was doing well or getting robbed. I snorted, ¡°If it was imported all the way from Hipnon, then this was probably their last stop on their journey, and they were offloading their excess for copper on this silver. The style of hat is not popular here, and that is why it is sitting back in the corner. It is also made of felt with no real adornments. Since you seem to be bent on getting something out of this worthless stock, I will give you five copper for it.¡±

    ¡°You must not be acquainted with many in this town, for this is last in stock. Also, it is not some cheap wool felt but the fur of an animal that spends most of its time in the water making the hat resistant to water. Just imagine how difficult it is to make felt from water-resistant fur.¡±

    This guy was so full of it. We went back and forth, and I got it for a silver penny and a half.

    After we shook, and the mirror was wrapped in a soft red cloth¡ªwhich I had managed to get for free, by the way¡ªI had Draves pay the man.

    ¡°My Lord, might I have your name? I must admit this has been a most enjoyable exchange.¡±

    ¡°My name is Lord Amos Bicman of the Barony of Bicman. And the pleasure was all mine. For this mirror is most certainly a gift fit for my most beloved sister,¡± I said with a smile.

    He shook his head, ¡°Most nobles hand over their money like water in a rainstorm, but you hold to your coin like a lion to its prey.¡±

    Hmm¡­ I guess they have lions here. ¡°I was taught by the best,¡± I said, not bothering to bring up the fact that the best was a Reality TV I used to watch.

    With that, I turned and left.

    As we turned to leave, Draves whispered, ¡°Thomas reported back. We have directions. And, My Lord, that was some impressive bargaining.¡±

    ¡°Did I get a good deal?¡±

    ¡°I do not know, but you attracted quite the crowd. But why the hat.¡±

    Handing him the mirror, I held the hat between my two index fingers and flipped it around as I put it on my head. Opening my arms wide, I said, ¡°Because it completes my ensemble.¡±

    Draves just gave a slight shrug and opened the carriage door for me. After I gave the directions to the coachman, Draves also hopped in.

    ¡°So, Tanya, do you like my hat?¡± I said with a grin.

    She just smiled politely in response.

    ¡°See, Captain, she likes it.¡±

    ¡°She did not say yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t say no. Besides, we have something I know she will like.¡±

    Draves raised his eyebrows, ¡°That-¡±

    ¡°Was for her,¡± I said, finished. ¡°Hand her the gift.¡±

    Tanya didn¡¯t immediately grab the package. I thought she would be used to me giving her stuff by now, but once again, she proved how much neglect she had been through.

    ¡°Open it,¡± I said eagerly.

    After opening it, her eyes went as wide as saucers. And then, for the next few minutes, I let her just stare at her face in the mirror. After what I figured was a sufficient amount of time to get over her shock at receiving such a gift, I said, ¡°Tanya, I know life has been hard on you. You have been treated as nothing more than a common maid and abused in ways I cannot imagine. But I got you that mirror for a reason. I want you to carry it with you. Any time you feel like you are less than the amazing person that you really are, I want you to look in that mirror. I want you to see the beautiful young woman with noble blood who is worthy of her station. I know we have discussed this before, but before we part ways, I wanted to remind you that you are more than the bad things that happened to you. You are not at fault for the cruel words that were said to you or the actions that were inflicted on you. You are special because you are you. You deserve respect, and I admire you for the struggles you have persevered through. You are a woman of courage who has not given up in the face of her trials.

    A tear trickled down her face and dropped onto the polished silver mirror that she gripped tightly in her hands. I really hoped the message sank in. The first part was impromptu but the second part I had been practicing in my head for the last few days. I let the silence linger as we headed back towards the wealthier part of town. About halfway there, we turned onto a side street and headed two blocks south. We drove past the clinic and continued for another two blocks before turning east again. There was a large inn there that we stopped in front of. ¡°Thomas, go pay for a week''s stay here for Madam Tanya Decmoore,¡± I shouted to him out the window. He hopped down and grabbed the small coin purse I gave him.

    ¡°Lord Amos,¡± Tanya said in a quivering voice, ¡°What should I do?¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°Tanya, we have already discussed this. I cannot tell you what to do. This next part is your choice.¡±

    ¡°Will¡­¡± She paused, gathering herself, ¡°Will you be disappointed in me.¡±

    I smiled at her. Reaching out, I placed my hand on her hand, still gripping the mirror like a vice. ¡°No, Tanya, the very fact that you are taking this seriously shows me what a wonderful person you are. Whatever you do once you step out of the carriage, know that I am proud of you. If you need anything, come to the castle and ask for me. I know you can make an amazing life for yourself here, but if you ever want to, you are welcome in the Barony of Bicman." Thomas came and knocked on the door. "OK, Tanya, here is the satchel I prepared for you. It has a written letter of introduction, a coin purse with various coins totaling five silver crowns, and the different reading primers and flashcards I stole back from Mathew. I also wrote down the story I told you about the swan.¡±

    Both the captain¡¯s and Tanya¡¯s eyes went wide at the mention of the five silver crowns.

    I had to read Tanya¡¯s lips as she muttered, ¡°Five silver crowns.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry I could not give more, but I could not leave someone of your station with the pitiful amount of pennies you had. Just promise me you will go to a dress make and spend part of it on a dress befitting your station. We have already discussed your various employment opportunities, and my letter of introduction should secure you a good income.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord.¡± She grabbed the satchel and stood up. Hesitating for a moment as if trying to decide on something, she quickly leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. With that, she fled the carriage and grabbed the key Thomas was holding out for her. I stared at her as she ran into the inn.

    As the carriage started to roll away, I turned to see Draves looking at me sternly. I sighed, ¡°Just say it, Captain.¡±

    ¡°You are too kind, My Lord.¡±

    I smiled, ¡°I know.¡±

 Chapter 41

    Count Vaspar

    Mathew bowed as he entered my study. ¡°My Lord, you wished to see me?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be evasive. You know why you are here. Report on your findings.¡± I said curtly as I sat at my writing table.

    He smiled as he strode forward to stand in front of the table, ¡°I think, My Lord, this has been the most interesting assignment I have ever been given. There is so much going on in that small barony that I don¡¯t know if words are adequate to describe it all.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not a storyteller, Mathew. You are a Messanger, so out with it.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord. First, the Bicman pens, as they are called, are, in fact, made there. I believe Lord Bicman brought a large quantity in hopes of selling them here. He also brought a good deal of the paper, which is what he calls the parchment-like material they make. Testing proves that it is not as durable as parchment, but I have seen that they make it in different thicknesses. From my investigation, they can make quite a bit of it daily, even with the small workspace they have.¡±

    This was very intriguing. ¡°What is the process for making it?¡±

    Mathew frowned, ¡°Unfortunately, I never saw it being made. I thought it might be best if you were the one to push him on the matter. I feared that if I pushed too hard, things would start disappearing before I caught people using them."

    ¡°You said other things. How much more is there?¡±

    "Three things he brought with him, which I hope others don¡¯t notice until he is back from the markets. First are what he calls stirrups. A simple invention that I am surprised we haven''t already thought of. They are leather pieces and ropes that hang down from the saddle with metal loops at the end to put your feet in. I was able to test them out, and they truly make a difference in turning the horse at faster and sharper angles, as well as securing the rider. I recommend having all our saddles adjusted as such. The next is the horseshoes they use. Small metal plates that are attached by nails to the horse''s hooves. Apparently, they have been using them effectively to protect the hooves of the horses and oxen while plowing. Even better is that I think they would be more effective on the cobbled streets than the leather we now use.

    ¡°He is using the horses to plow.¡±

    ¡°That is what the farmers say. Though I didn¡¯t see it as the plowing was all done.¡±

    ¡°You said there was something else?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Mathew said excitedly, ¡°You must take a ride in his carriage. He has attached something to the axles to make the ride smoother. I used the rain as an excuse to join the young lord in his carriage. We were jostled around quite a bit on the roads in the backwater, but not nearly as much as I had expected. There was a short downpour between Vaspar and Yett that I used to test it out on more civilized roads, and I have to say I could have fallen asleep in the carriage.¡±

    ¡°Now that I have to have. I hate riding in carriages on these cobbled streets. Who invented this thing.¡±

    Mathew¡¯s eyebrows scrunched a bit. ¡°That is something else interesting. The baron can point out everyone who invented the various items, but when discussing their inventions with the peasants and serfs, I got the feeling that it was all a fabrication. Honestly, if I were to guess, every idea was directly created by the baron, or he had a major influence in its creation.¡±

    ¡°A creative genius then,¡± I said. I couldn¡¯t wait to get my hands on some of these things.

    ¡°Oh, you will like this next part. There are whispers of him being a Chosen.¡±

    ¡°Chosen are just pompous pricks that rise up to change the world only to get their heads stuck on a pike. I swear, every time someone tries to help out the peasants in some new way, they immediately proclaim the person Chosen of the Endless One. Sometimes, it isn¡¯t even a new way. Well, we better milk him for all he is worth before he gets his head chopped off.¡±

    ¡°He isn¡¯t proclaiming himself as one.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The rulers of the Kingdom and upper aristocracy do not like change. Only those of us on the lower end might benefit.¡±

    ¡°Can we protect him in any way?¡±

    ¡°Why so keen to help this marsh dweller?¡± I asked curiously.

    ¡°This may interest you.¡± He handed me a leather portfolio. At least, that is what I initially thought. It turned out to be pieces of paper bound together with string sandwiched between two pieces of hardened leather.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I said, opening it up to the first sheet.

    ¡°He calls it a book. He gave me several, but this one is called Asop¡¯s Fables, and he thought you would find this one particularly good.¡±

    The artistry on the first page was incredibly beautiful. It felt like the picture was almost about to jump out of the page at me. This was done by a master artist. Flipping through the book, I saw that every few pages, there was another work of art drawn on the page. ¡°Who drew this artwork? It is incredible.¡±

    ¡°The servants of the manor told me that Lord Amos is a master with ink and charcoal.¡±

    ¡°Surely there is no master artist out in Bicman. Where would he have learned to do such work?¡±

    ¡°It is my opinion that he developed his ability during his long years of isolation.¡±

    ¡°Truly a genius,¡± I said in wonder. ¡°But enough of that, why did he think this book would interest me.¡±

    Mathew shrugged. ¡°He did not say, but when he gave it to me, one of the corners of a page towards the middle of the book was bent down. I think that is the story he wanted us to see.¡±

    I read the title ¡°The Kayver that Laid the Golden Eggs.¡±

    It was a quick read, but I still paused to admire the artistry and calligraphy. After sitting back and pondering for a moment, I said, ¡°It appears quite similar to the story of the foolish man and the Cura Tree.¡±

    ¡°I thought the same. The man chops down the tree to get to his fruit quickly, but the next year, he starves.¡±

    ¡°He allowed you to see much while you were there but is promising more,¡± I said thoughtfully. I set the book down, not wanting to be distracted by something I could look over later on my own. ¡°Any other golden eggs?¡±

    Mathew smiled. ¡°He is trying to change the world¡¯s counting and measuring systems.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t be cryptic, Mathew,¡± I said flatly.

    ¡°Sorry, My Lord,¡± he said while setting a long stick down on the table. It had lines along one edge along with numbers and circles.

    ¡°This, My Lord, is a meter stick. It is to measure length. This is one meter long. As you can see, there are lines dividing it up.¡± Mathew then began to explain the concept of this new measuring system. After understanding what a meter, gram, and liter were, he went on to explain that this strange young baron wanted to figure out how to measure everything.

    ¡°But I am confused by these circles with a slash through them?¡±

    ¡°This is the symbol for zero or nothing. He calls it a placeholder. He reworked his counting system to include it.¡±

    "Explain this to me. Why does he need a number for nothing?¡±

    ¡°At first, I was confused by it as well, but I spent some time in his education classes and found that with this method, peasants were completing addition and subtraction problems faster than me. And with this device, it only takes moments to do the higher math of multiplication and division.¡±

    He pulled out a frame with rods and beads on it. ¡°This was one thing I took without permission. Much of my time there was spent with an instructor who taught me how to use this and the number system.¡±

    ¡°You felt it was that important?¡± I said with surprise.

    ¡°My Lord, everything was important, but this took me the longest to understand. With the proper writs for the things, I think you would probably be wealthier than the duke. Of course, he would probably have you killed for that, but I am sure you could find a workaround. Now give me two large numbers.¡± Mathew said excitedly.

    We tested the device a few times, and he was right. Anyone who had to manage numbers should have at least one of these.

    ¡°We will discuss this in more depth after supper. I will invite Casper to join us, and we can figure out how to use this system. Is there anything else?¡±

    ¡°Here are a few books that he also gave me. Unfortunately, a few days ago, he asked for some of the collection back. He called them primer books and flash cards. I think he was giving them to a young woman who joined us.¡±

    This made me frown. ¡°That does not sound good. I was hoping the rumors of his lifestyle were false with all that you have told me. I would prefer that he refrain from having children until after he is married. Illegitimate children before then can cause too many complications. And he shouldn¡¯t be just picking up random women with his station. Where does she come from?¡±

    ¡°That is the thing. I think she came from Decmoore, but I didn¡¯t even realize she was with us until the night after we left Decmoore, and by that time, we had passed through a few towns. I do try and refrain from digging into nobilities choices in their harlots if at all possible. She looked like she may have been a servant girl in Decmoore.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. ¡°It was hoping to cultivate this boy, but if he is willing to just sleep around with anyone¡­ We shall see.¡±

    ¡°It is odd, though. Up until that point, I would have thought the young man to be free from such vices. His manner of treating everyone, including the serfs, was with respect and modesty. Strange that he waited until we were on the road, but then again, he is noble. Some nobles do tend to put on a manner of falsehood when around their subjects.¡±

    ¡°Your tongue may get you in trouble someday. You need to watch it."

    ¡°Of course, My Lord. Thank you for your wisdom. I will refrain from speaking so around nobles that actually care.¡± He said cheekily. He always did this when he knew he had the information I wanted.

    ¡°Are you perhaps looking to get your job changed to court jester?¡± I said with just a hint of annoyance in my voice.

    Instead of responding, he straightened and took on a more formal tone. ¡°Well, perhaps he was trying to get his people to perceive him differently in the barony but decided to let go of his inhibitions on the road.¡±

    ¡°If that is the case, then he truly is a fool. It will be on all his guards'' tongues when he returns to his estate. But let us stop gossiping like women of the court. The matter is of little concern to me. Let us get back to the important things.¡±

    We spent the next hour discussing in more detail the things that he had discovered in the barony. I was quite pleased with the findings. We would have to be careful when leveraging these things, or the duke would get angry.

    Amos

    There was a certain feeling of emptiness in the carriage now. But I had no time to dwell on the loss of our companion. I had to do the shopping, and I had to do it fast. I needed at least two outfits. One is for dinner tonight, and the other is for my meeting with the count. Tonight I would not be the only noble in attendance and I had to wear something befitting of my station.

    There were three shops in the main district that sold clothing, but only one that catered specifically to my needs. I apparently couldn¡¯t buy clothing at the same shops as freeman. When I walked into the small shop that catered to nobility, I saw a man in his late fifties behind a counter speaking with a younger man who looked very similar. Most likely father and son. They both had coal-black hair which was predominant everywhere I had been. In fact, the only place I had seen anything other than black and brown hair was in my barony. It was very odd. A long aquiline nose was prominent on both their faces. And with their wiry frames, they reminded me of birds.

    Before I could say anything, the younger man in his thirties or early forties gave an expression of shock as he looked between me and Draves. ¡°My Lord, were you robbed!¡± He said in a concerned tone.

    That caught me completely off guard, ¡°What?¡± I said, losing the eloquent and dignified sentence I was about to say.

    He rushed around the counter and reached me before I had made it even halfway into the room. Bowing, he said, ¡°Forgive me, My Lord, my name is Jasper Draper. I see that you must have had your clothing stolen and been forced to wear this out-of-fashion and ill-fitting clothing.¡±

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Was this guy making fun of me? I looked at Draves, trying to see if he was getting the same vibe. Before I could say anything at all, though, the man continued on. ¡°Fear not, My Lord, we are at your disposal. My father is the finest draper in all of Vaspar, and I myself am also quite competent. We shall have you in the latest styles in no time. How may we assist you?¡±

    After that fun deluge of information, it took me a moment to get back on track. ¡°Uh¡­ Yes, good Drapers, I am indeed in need of your assistance. You see, I have just arrived in town and was told that I must attend a dinner with Count Vaspar in a few hours.¡±

    Jasper let out a dramatic sigh, and his shoulders slumped. I had a feeling this man did not do or say anything without a little extra drama added to it. ¡°Alas, My Lord, though we are truly masters of our craft, there is no magic in this world that can make an outfit befitting a baron that would be suitable for such a dinner in a near couple of hours.¡± The man seriously did act like he was telling me about a child who had been eaten by a bear.

    The older gentleman came around the counter while staring hard at me. Finally, he said, ¡°Havermar.¡±

    Everyone looked at him in confusion. Jasper said, ¡°Haver¡­ Ah! Father, you are a genius! I will be right back.¡± Jasper shot out of the room like an arrow. There was an awkward minute while no one said anything. The old man seemed quite content with this. Maybe the reprieve from listening to his energetic son was something he looked forward to.

    ¡°Here we are, an outfit fit for a meet with the count. You are so fortunate as Baron Havermar was recently here and commissioned these to be made for his son. Unfortunately, they were called away early and requested that we send it to him when we were done. We were told that if his son liked it, he would send us money. Well, we are not in the habit of doing that type of business, you see, and so we have this available for you. Which is so fortunate as it is in the most modern of styles, and the embroidery is exquisite. See the stitching along the sleeve,¡± he said while practically shoving the black material into my face, ¡°Yes, my father is excellent at judging sizes, and I think we can have alterations done in an hour. And since you are new in town and we would love your return patronage, I insist we give this to you at a discount of three silver crowns.¡±

    Without thinking, I said, ¡°Three silver crowns! That is outrageous. These are just clothes.¡±

    The look of offense Jasper gave me was like he thought I was the bear who had eaten the child. ¡°My Lord, I apologize for wasting your time, but I cannot help you.¡± He turned as if to put the clothing back.

    Even Jasper''s father looked annoyed with me. Realizing I must have said something seriously insulting, I tried to back peddle. ¡°Master Draper, forgive me for the insult. I truly spoke without thinking. You see, I was recently out in the market haggling and was in that mindset. Of course, three Silver Crowns would be an excellent price for such an exquisite work of art.¡±

    Jasper immediately turned around with a beaming smile, ¡°Ah, I see. I myself enjoy a good haggle in the market. Not that I participate in such things. Alas, my face gives away my excitement, and those market vendors always get the best of me. Nevertheless, I do wander the markets sometimes, listening to the hagglers. Fascinating that a baron, such as yourself, has such a talent.¡±

    ¡°Now, the scarf of your mantle seems to have seen much wear. I must insist we provide you with a new one. Seeing as you are a shrewd man who knows the value of a coin, we have a fine white scarf with silver embroidery for only seven silver pennies.¡±

    I just nodded. I hope this doesn¡¯t become much more expensive.

    ¡°Very good. Now, Uh¡­ Do you, Ah, insist on wearing that hat.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I said with a smile, ¡°It is part of my signature look.¡±

    Jasper''s eyes lit up. ¡°Signature look! I dare say I truly love that term, My Lord. I will most certainly be using that in the future. Now, Hmm¡­ Well, I am sure that that will look splendid with the outfit, and with your good looks, you may even start a new fashion with that style.¡±

    ¡°See, he gets it,¡± I said to Draves. I could tell the captain wanted to roll his eyes.

    ¡°Indeed, I do get it. Now, I do know a good barber. Unless that is, the mustache and goatee are part of your Ah¡­ signature look.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± I said proudly, ¡°What is the point of being nobility if you cannot start a new trend.¡±

    ¡°A man of confidence I see, well, very good. Let us take your measurements.¡± He said, leading me into the back.

    As we stepped into the back room, I said, ¡°I truly appreciate your excellent service.¡±

    ¡°Do not worry, My Lord, we will make you look like a true baron. Take off your pants.¡±

    It was only an hour later when his father, Ferdinand, had finished my outfit. After trying it on, I was amazed at how comfortable it felt. I also looked amazing. I am so glad that the current style was not chock-full of lace and other frilly stuff. This looked more like a military uniform. The strange thing was that although there were buttons, they were only decorative. That made me wonder. Did they use buttons how they were supposed to be used? Everything here seemed to be tied. If they had buttons, why didn¡¯t they have buttonholes? I decided to just ask.

    ¡°Ferdinand, Jasper, have either of you heard of the concept of a buttonhole.¡±

    Ferdinand just shook his head. Jasper raised one eyebrow and said, ¡°A buttonhole?¡±

    ¡°I see. Maybe you have a different name for it, but it is an idea I thought of. Do you have a scrap of fabric?¡± We were in the back, so it didn¡¯t take long for Jasper to find a small grey piece of fabric.

    ¡°Make a silt here about this long I said, holding out my thumb and forefinger.¡±

    After doing that, I used a button on my coat to show off the concept. Then, I went through the various uses of it, including button-down trousers and shirts. Also, I reminded them to strengthen the hole with stitching.

    ¡°You are a genius, My Lord,¡± Jasper exclaimed excitedly.

    ¡°Just don¡¯t forget my commission,¡± I said jokingly. I did regret getting so curious that I let out the knowledge of this without having compensation, but no use crying over spilled milk.

    ¡°Well, uh, I¡­¡± Jasper was, for the first time, at a loss for words.

    I smiled, ¡°I¡¯m just joking. I need no compensation. It isn¡¯t like we are producing a lot of clothing out in Bicman.¡±

    ¡°Ah, a fine joke. A fine joke indeed. I know! I will call it the Bicman Buttonhole. Has a ring to it. Your name will be famous everywhere.¡±

    I doubted the longer name would last outside of Jasper''s shop, but I appreciated his effort.

    ¡°Well, I would love to stay and chat, but I have a dinner to attend. Captain, please pay the man.¡±

    Ferdinand, who looked lost in thought up until then, raised his hand up to stop him. ¡°No.¡±

    I was confused at first, but after a moment, he continued. ¡°Your idea will bring us much wealth and prestige. Take the clothes as a gift.¡±

    At first, Jasper looked shocked, but then, a second later, his face lit up again. ¡°Brilliant! What a brilliant idea, father. Gentleman, it has been a pleasure, but we really must be off. I have so many ideas. Father, where is the charcoal.¡±

    We left without so much as a goodbye from Jasper. I sighed. I really needed to keep my mouth shut.

    The trip back to the castle was quiet. I was nervous about my upcoming debut with nobility. Well, I guess Decmoore was my first, but I really didn¡¯t count him since I didn¡¯t care about his opinion, and he didn¡¯t have the ability to execute me.

    Since we had time before dinner, I decided to go to my room and request a bath. As our carriage entered the courtyard, servants came out to welcome us. After stating my desires, I followed the servants to the room they had set apart for me. It reminded me of the original room I woke up in. A bed, a bedside table, and a trunk at the end of the bed. I was starting to get annoyed with this world. I figured it was the fact that I was in a poor barony and that we didn¡¯t have dressers or closets. It¡¯s not like I had a lot of clothes. But now I was starting to think they just didn¡¯t exist. I justified Decmoore¡¯s manor, but for a count not to have them, it was just ridiculous. Nothing really had drawers. Even the desk in my study was just a table. Had I even seen a drawer?

    Then I started to get excited. What if they didn¡¯t exist? I could corner the market on desks and dressers. If they didn¡¯t have closets, then they probably didn¡¯t have hangers, and that meant they probably didn¡¯t have Armoires. I needed more carpenters. I needed to expand the road to my estate. That stupid Mathew had stolen some, if not all my ideas, and with the road the way it was I couldn¡¯t transport goods effectively. Dressers and other things would be too heavy to transport cost-effectively, and as soon as one showed up on the market, somebody would start making them closer to civilization. As I had looked into writs of exclusivity more, I realized that there was no way the king would grant me one unless I could meet the demand generated by my idea. The idea of paying a percentage for the right to produce a good didn¡¯t exist, and as far as I could tell, neither did guilds.

    If I could build a train and transport goods that way, then we could probably get goods to market fast enough. Unfortunately, I only knew the basics of boilers and steam power and little about locomotives. I really never looked at that type of stuff. Maybe I could build a port in the bay and use ship travel. I became obsessed with ships for a while after getting my small boat sailing merit badge. Maybe¡­

    Just then a brass tub arrived carried by four men. They set it in the center of the room and left. A group of women entered with buckets of water. I was starting to fit better into the tub at home, and this one seemed a little bit larger. Water was filled halfway, and all the women left except for one of the young women. When our eyes met, she immediately looked down and gave a coy smile. Uh¡­ this was not the reaction I was expecting. Girls were supposed to be afraid that I might ask them to do something, not smile as if they were eager to please me. A test from Count Vaspar, or perhaps she was hoping for a gift in return for services rendered. I know I was not as obese as when I got here, but I was definitely still at least thirty to fifty pounds more than I wanted to be. I mean, umm¡­ Dang, what was that in kilograms? If I was going to make everyone else do it, I had to do it too. It was like two pounds to a kilogram. I decided to get it over with before it got any more awkward, ¡°You may leave. I will call for someone when I am done.¡±

    She bowed and left without saying a word. There was a bar of soap and a wash rag left on the table. Also, I found a small jar that ended up containing some sort of liquid. The scent was strong, so I was supposed to either dilute it in the water or put it on afterward as a cologne. I decided not to mess with it as I didn¡¯t want to use it wrong. I wish they had back brushes here or any type of brush, really. I needed to get around to trying different animal bristles to make those.

    After my bath, I pulled myself out of my thoughts and the tub. I used a rough towel left by the servants and then got dressed in my new outfit, which was lying on the bed. The comb I used was made out of some sort of animal bone and actually worked quite well, considering the thickness of my hair. Then I stuck my head out in the hall and asked about the time until dinner. I was told it would be half a bell and so I followed up by asking if the servant was able to give me a quick tour. And so began my tour of the keep. The walls were adorned with tapestries, but their artistry was not very impressive.

    I had seen examples of Renaissance-era tapestries that were much more magnificent. Most decorations were in the form of sculptures, which I had to admit were, in fact, very striking. We actually didn¡¯t get too far into the tour because I kept stopping to observe the sculptures. Another disappointment was the paintings. The techniques used were just so crude and allowed for no depth of picture. It was just¡­ ugh. As an artist, though, looking at it from a historical perspective, it was quite interesting. I don¡¯t recall if any antiquity-era canvas paintings survived, but if they had, I imagine they would look like these. Somehow, before I realized it, we were at a small waiting area with a few groups of people around chatting like old friends. I got a few odd looks from some of the gentlemen standing around, but most of them ignored me.

    My servant left to say something to a man who was announcing people as they went into the next room. Then he returned, and we waited in line. As we entered, the man proclaiming names said, ¡°Lord Amos Bicman, Regent of the Barony of Bicman.¡± Coming from him, it sounded very impressive. I was guided to a seat almost at the end of a long table in the center of the room. The room was well lit, both by a chandelier and wall lighting. The table itself was finely crafted and set with bronze knives, forks, and spoons. What I called a fork did not look like the forks we have today. They were more like two-pronged spears used to hold meat in place as you cut. The talking around me continued without my involvement. I knew some etiquette, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I was allowed to introduce myself or insert myself into a conversation.

    The parts of the conversations I did hear seemed to be full of inane chatter or on topics I had no knowledge of. Mainly, it was about what was going on in the capitol and the latest fads. I was getting bored, but then the count finally seated himself, and servants started coming out with the food. The count took his first bite, and the room became silent as everyone dug into their food. Dinner consisted of salted pork, heavy rye bread, and some fruit soaked in honey. Wine in bronze goblets were placed in front of each of us. But I abstained from drinking it. As the plates began to empty and more and more wine began to be poured, the conversations started up again. I asked the servant, refilling the wine, to get me a cup of water. A man in his twenties, two seats down, leaned around another young man sitting next to me and said, ¡°Lord Bicman, I have to say I am unfamiliar with the name. I fear I was not very attentive during my geography lessons.¡± He had the standard black hair that most people at the table had and a slightly pudgy face.

    ¡°It is no wonder, Sir Helgar, it is the northernmost land. The Marsh Dwellers, ¡° A man across the table said. This man was older, with hints of grey in his hair. He had sharp features and a long nose that made me want to flick it after his derisive comment.

    ¡°The Marsh Dwellers. Didn¡¯t I hear the whole family was assassinated?¡± A man about my age said. He was one of the only ones at the table with brown hair.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for listening to court gossip rather than official records. This young man and his charge are the only ones left in the family. But I am sure those things are common in such an uncivilized wilderness.¡± Said the sneering man.

    ¡°And now you are regent?¡± Said Sir Halger, surprised. ¡°Is um¡­ the boy in good health?¡± This elicited a chuckle from someone.

    ¡°At the time I left, he was in excellent health. His first birthday is tomorrow, and I am grieved that I am missing the opportunity to spoil my nephew on his first birthday. But fear not, I have sworn on the grave of my brother that I will do all in my power to raise Lord Aaron to fulfill his duty as Baron of Bicman.¡±

    ¡°A noble gesture indeed.¡± the boy next to me said.

    "A toast to the health of Lord Aaron!¡± He proclaimed loudly. He seemed to have been drinking more than his fair share already. I raised my wine glass with the rest of them but did not drink.

    ¡°Lord Amos, do you refuse to drink with us?¡± The boy said.

    ¡°Please take no offense. I have sworn off alcohol of any kind. It does not agree with me.¡±

    ¡°It is a shame,¡± the sneering man said, ¡°But I suppose when you are used to drinking swamp water, how could you expect to understand the pleasures of a fine vintage?¡±

    This got a chuckle from a few people. I did not rise to the bait. I had been prepared from many years of historical dramas and fantasy TV shows to know better than return tit for tat. ¡°My Lord, I am afraid I did not catch your name?¡± I said with a smile to the sneering man.

    ¡°Baron Kithmoore,¡± He said in a tone that made it obvious he was preparing for a fight.

    I just smiled and said, ¡°Well, met Lord Kithmoore. Well, gentleman, it would seem that Lord Kithmoore had extensive knowledge of the region I come from. We do indeed boil our water. You must have a great passion for the field of education.¡±

    He had nothing to say to that. I think he was trying to find a hidden insult in that statement. There were a few chuckles, as I am sure some people were also assuming I had just tried to insult him. They must have wanted to seem as if they had gotten the joke even though I hadn¡¯t made one.

    Making fun of the ¡°Northman¡± seemed to die down for a while until the young man next to me, Lord Issac, once again tried to draw me into a conversation. ¡°So, how are things going up in the Barony of Bicman.¡±

    ¡°Very well, we expect to produce a good amount of grain this year and may even have some to export.¡±

    The sneering baron scoffed, ¡°The day the Marsh Dwellers have enough of anything will be long after we are all dead.¡±

    ¡°Ah, once again, Lord Kithmoore, your understanding of northern economics is a boon to us of the younger generation. In truth, you are right. It takes quite a bit of ingenuity to produce anything from the lands of Bicman. However, the harsh conditions do help to stimulate creativity. If you doubt my word, go see Ferdinand Draper and ask about their new clothing line. Let him know I sent you.¡± I said while sitting back with a smile.

    ¡°Lord Bicman, this is most unkind.¡± Sir Helgar said excitedly. ¡°A new clothing line from Ferdinand and Jasper, and you won¡¯t say a word. And how does this relate to your barony.¡±

    ¡°My lips are sealed, my friend. You must find out tomorrow.¡± From his clothing, I was guessing Helgar was quite the fashion junky.

    ¡°Tomorrow? I will rush there after dinner.¡±

    ¡°Sir Halgar, control yourself. Master Ferdinand is getting old. Come with me tomorrow morning, and we shall see this latest fashion for ourselves.¡± Another man said.

    And with that, once again, the conversation was diverted. Lord Kithmoore had a few more quips that evening, but I ignored them. Count Vaspar stood abruptly, thanked us all for joining him this evening, and left. As soon as he departed, the rest of us were escorted out. Some of the people were guests at the castle, but not all. The servant escorted me back to my room, and I spent the next bell writing out another story in a blank book. As evening came, I lay back in my bed and fell asleep.

 Chapter 42

    I woke up the next morning a little out of sorts. I hadn¡¯t slept well. I was awake half the night, worried about whether I had acted the right way at dinner. Would I be judged poorly for my words? I thought I was to be introduced to the count, but as far as I could tell, he hadn¡¯t even looked in my direction. I also didn¡¯t know when I was supposed to meet with him.

    The lack of information was annoying, and my irritation made me want to get out of the castle as soon as possible. I did my morning routine, except for combat practice, of course, and headed to the barracks where my men were staying. In the town, I didn¡¯t have much use for my people, so I gave them leave in shifts until we went back. For most of the militia in training, this was their first time out of the barony. Some of my guards had also never traveled this far south either. It amazed me that people could live their whole lives in a place as small as my barony. I let none of my militia guys go out without a more disciplined guard. I also explained that any of them would be kicked out of the Bicman Defense Force for any disorderly conduct. The Bicman Defense Force, or BDF, was what I started to call them as a whole.

    I only need a few of the BDF as an escort, and that is what I found at the barracks. ¡°Captian, I need to get out of here. Let¡¯s go to the docks. I want to see the ships they have here.¡±

    Ships were something of an unreachable dream for me when I was back on Earth. The year before my dad left us was the only year I got to go to Scout Camp. Well, more like forced to go. Scouting was something that my dad decided I needed to be involved in to curb my more troubling behavior. Really, the reason I pushed back against it so hard was because my parents thought it would be good for me. On the first day at camp, I signed up for the small boat sailing merit badge. I really don¡¯t even remember why. After learning some basic safety stuff and knot tying, we went out on the lake with an instructor. I loved it. I spent every free moment I had taking out one of the boats. With one hand on the rudder, one hand holding the main sail, and holding the jib sail rope between my toes, I would race back and forth across the lake.

    Coming home to the boring suburban life where there were no boats was depressing. I spent weeks drawing pictures of various sailing ships and boats. Then, six months later, while walking home from school, I found a ship in a bottle on the side of the road set out with the trash. I took it home and got fixated on model ships. I did odd jobs just to earn enough money to buy my next model. By the time I was fifteen, I had a whole flotilla of ships. My most prized one was a replica of the Spanish Galleon, The Santa Ana. It came with everything pre-cut, but I had to build it from the ground up. The eras didn¡¯t match for the various vessels, but I didn¡¯t care. A little while later, just as my fixation was dying down, my mom introduced me to a rich guy at the church she went to who had a racing yacht. He took me to the shipyard while it was in dry dock. He told me if my scout troop would help with some small repairs and help get the hull ready for its paint job, he would take us out on it. I went home and started memorizing everything I could about that model of yacht and then expanded it to other yachts. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t get my scout troop motivated to help, and it was about that time that Dad left.

    It took a long time to stop blaming myself for Dad leaving since I was the bad kid who was always goofing off and not listening. During that time, I lost interest in everything. But a couple of years after the accident, it came back with a vengeance. I set a goal to one day own a boat that I could sail across the Atlantic on. Unfortunately, all the money I had managed to save ended up going to medical bills in the last few months of my life. But, now I was a regent of a barony, and I was going to buy a boat, dang it! Oh yeah, and build the first surfboard. I just needed to find a beach.

    Things became very crowded as we got closer to the docks. This was the first time I noticed people of distinctly different races. I had never really paid attention to it back home because we had a good mix of everything in my suburb. But everyone I met here so far had black or brown hair with skin ranging from pale white to a light tan. Now, I felt more at home in this melting pot of people. Some people you could only tell were foreigners by their dress, but others were distinct in their skin color and facial features. I didn¡¯t see any segregation here at the docks either. Business was business, and it didn¡¯t matter who was dealing with whom. It made me feel a bit like I was back home.

    Vendors lined the streets yelling out their imported wears. One such stall caught my eye. A large rock was sitting squarely on the center of the table. Other rocks were stacked on top of it at odd angles. Some rocks hung from strings at the top of the stall. Then it hit me. These were not rocks; they were loadstones- magnetized iron. I didn¡¯t know the scientific name for the rocks. In fact, the old Amos must have never heard of them before either because he didn¡¯t leave me with the word for it. ¡°Stop the coach!" I yelled to the driver.¡± After the carriage stopped, I got out on the opposite side of the stall I wanted to visit. I told the driver to meet us at the south end of the wharf. ¡°Captain, do you know what the metal that sticks together is called?¡±

    Drave''s head started to turn towards the stall where I had seen the metal.

    ¡°Don¡¯t Look!¡± I hissed at him.

    His head snapped back, and he said, ¡°That is loadstone, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Perfect, now here is my plan,¡± I said conspiratorially.

    After I explained myself, Captain Draves nodded and said, ¡°Are you sure you were not a merchant in your past life?¡±

    We began looking at some fine ceramic and clay sculptures in one stall. They were very nicely painted, which made me remember that I needed to buy paint. As we wandered around, we found a variety of fruits and vegetables that were not common up north. I bought an orange and some plums. They had a date like fruit that was very sweet. Dang, I missed grocery stores. We eventually wandered towards the stall with loadstones and a few other random goods. As we passed, I barely glanced at it. Draves, however, spoke up, ¡°Look, My Lord, would not be an appropriate gift for your nephew.¡±

    I turned on my best haughty noble voice and said, ¡°What would my nephew do with rocks that stick together? Everyone knows that loadstone is a curiosity with no actual value except its rarity. This makes them expensive and worthless.¡±

    The vendor immediately jumped in to defend his wares. ¡°My Lord, these stones are highly prized everywhere. They make excellent gifts.¡± He said in a thick accent.

    "I am not looking for expensive and useless gifts to give my worthless nephew. I wouldn¡¯t pay more than four copper for such a rock."

    ¡°Ah, that is because you do not know all it can do. Watch the magic of this stone,¡± He pulled down one of the hanging pieces of magnetized iron on a thin string. There was a red dot on one side. ¡°See how the red dot always points north.¡± He gave several demonstrations and then said. ¡°This has prevented many men from being lost in the woods. Is it not worth at least two crowns?¡±

    This guy was trying to fleece me. Did everyone think nobles just threw their money away? No matter how badly I wanted it, I was not going to pay two silver crowns for it. I put on a shocked look. ¡°Two crowns, I could buy a decent cow for that. And do I look like the type of person that goes wandering through the woods? Let us go, Captain.¡±

    ¡°Wait, My Lord; I see now that this has little use for you outside of curiosity, so as long as you do not tell anyone, I will give it to you for two silver pennies. Would this not entertain your nephew.¡±

    ¡°He is quite dull so that thing might give him some pleasure. Very well, I will give you six copper for it.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I must make a profit. I could go no lower than a penny.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°Very well, the dunce better appreciate the amount I am spending on him. Give the man eight copper, Captain.¡± I grumbled.

    "My Lord, nine pennies, please."

    "Fine, whatever," I said with a backward wave.

    ¡°My Lord, at that price, I might also be able to afford one. Would you mind if I paid you back for one?¡± Captain Draves said in his usual stoic tone.

    I waved my hand dismissively. ¡°As you please.¡± At that, I turned away and went to the next stall as Draves paid.

    When he caught up, he was actually smiling. ¡°Well done, My Lord. I think he would have gotten three crowns from most nobles around here. And you managed to get two for eight copper a piece.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not rich enough to go throwing my money around.¡±

    ¡°What will you use these for?¡±

    ¡°First, when I got my orientation merit badge, my sadistic scout leader made us make our own compasses and then navigate a course he plotted out. So I will make compasses. Like this rock on a string, a compass is a way to find north, but it is a better design. The second is to experiment. I don¡¯t know how it is done, but they used magnets to make electricity. I think you spin a magnet around metal or metal around a magnet. I really wasn¡¯t paying attention in science class that year. Anyways, it has to do with magnets, metal, and spinning. I mean, I also watched a TV show when I was a kid where this science guy used to do all sorts of stuff. He made a potato battery and a capacitor using a jar full of water. That was weird, but I am not quite sure how he did it. Well, the potato battery I am, but I can¡¯t quite remember how he did the capacitor.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about.¡± Draves said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am not sure I do either. I don¡¯t even know what I would use electricity for. It¡¯s not like I can make a light bulb. Oh well, let''s go check out those ships over there. They look like Chinese Junks.¡±

    As we approached, I found that the Country of Falmoren did, in fact, use ships with a sail that looked very similar to early Chinese Junks. That was kind of cool. As we got even closer, I noticed some differences in the hulls. They looked a little like what I thought the Greek penta¡­ something or other would look like. I couldn''t remember the name. These, however, had a single bank of oars. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t very familiar with that era. I also didn¡¯t know much about Chinese Junks. I only remember the name because I thought junk, which literally translates into ¡°ship,¡± was a funny name. I wonder if they were double hulls? I guess I needed to find a shipwright. This time, I would be more circumspect and not give away my secrets.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    I stood there for a while, watching men scurry around the harbor, unloading and loading ships. After about a quarter bell, I even got to see a ship row out of the harbor and unfurl its sails. I fell into a state of tranquility as I looked out at the ocean. The only other time I got to see the ¡°ocean¡± was that saltwater cove. It was cool to see, but the vastness of the open ocean was majestic. I wanted to jump on that ship and sail off with them.

    Eventually, I sighed and turned around. I had things to do before I went back to the barony, and I didn¡¯t have a lot of time. ¡°Captain, we need to go check out the prices for livestock and grains.¡± We wandered back towards the carriage, enjoying the breeze that carried the smell of the saltwater.

    The carriage driver had filled my request that I made earlier and discovered where different shops and locations were around town. The first place we went was to the livestock pens. Although it was south of the city, it wasn¡¯t too far from the ocean. Nevertheless, the salty scent of the sea was completely overpowered by the stink of manure. As soon as I got down from the carriage, I was approached by an older, wiry man with sinewy muscles. He strode up to me confidently and bowed. ¡°My Lord, it is an honor to see you at my humble establishment. I am Master Herbert, at your service. How may I assist you today?¡±

    ¡°Well, met Master Herbert, I am Lord Amos Bicman,¡± I said with a nod.

    This caused his eyebrows to rise. ¡°The younger son. I wondered why you looked so familiar. You look much like your father.¡±

    ¡°You knew my father?¡± I said in surprise.

    ¡°Yes, I had dealings with him a few years back when he purchased a stallion for your brother. I see he has entrusted you with some of the family affairs.¡±

    ¡°I regret to inform you that most of my family had passed away during the last illness that went through the village. I and my nephew, Lord Aaron the Third, heir to the barony of Bicman, are all that remain.¡±

    Herbert bowed his head, ¡°My condolences, My Lord,¡± He said in a solemn voice.

    ¡°Thank you. It has been a difficult time for us. But I must do my best to look to the future and prepare the barony for my nephew¡¯s reign, which is why I am here. I have come to inquire about your stock.¡±

    ¡°I see; well, in that case, I have a fine assortment of equine beasts. Are you looking for something for your nephew?¡± He paused for a moment to think. ¡°No, that can¡¯t be right. He must only be a couple of years old now.¡±

    ¡°You are correct. Although it would be quite the birthday gift, I think I will wait. What I am actually looking for are mules for plowing.¡±

    ¡°An excellent choice, My Lord. Mules are hardier than horses, and their diet is much easier to maintain. We have twenty-three head right now trained to plow. The females are a little more docile, but the males have all been gelded, so they''re also not very hard to work with. Let me bring you to them so that you may inspect them.¡±

    I really had no idea what I was looking for, and I think Herbert picked up on that. He explained the different features of the mules and what they meant. I should have brought my stable master. Even though I believed Herbert to be honest, I didn¡¯t want to make a mistake.

    After the tour, I asked the question I was dreading. ¡°And what is the cost of each mule?¡±

    This caused Herbert to put on his salesman smile. ¡°My Lord, each of these fine beasts has excellent breeding, and none are over four years old, giving them many long years of service in front of them. I could not ask for less than sixteen silver crowns.¡± Giving a proud smile.

    I almost choked at that. I had wanted to get six of these beasts, but there was no way I could afford ninety crowns. That was the annual income of my barony. If I could talk him down, and with the money I brought, I could maybe buy two and have money left to purchase winter wheat. I would not be able to afford tin or other things.

    I somehow managed to keep my composure and say, ¡°Excellent. As we have time in the city to spare, and there are other places we have to visit, I may be back to buy a couple of mules.¡±

    ¡°Very good, My Lord. I look forward to seeing you in the future. If I might ask, My Lord, upon your approach, I noticed that your horses were not wearing shoes, which was concerning as the streets of Vaspar can be hard on Horse¡¯s Hooves. But upon closer inspection, I noticed metal plates on the bottom of them. If you will forgive my curiosity, may I have a look at them?¡±

    I sighed inwardly. I knew this would happen. Of course, the cat was out of the bag with Mathew, and I think I was a little naive in thinking I could get writes for these inventions. Even if I did, I was too far away from the center of things, and I doubted anyone was going to monitor who stole my inventions. I needed to protect processes, not easily made items. Things like paper, concrete, and steel would be things I could protect. Even that was subject to industrial espionage. Also, we had brought spare shoes, and if one of my horses threw one on the road, I would have to have another smith put it back on.

    I put a smile on my face and said, ¡°Sure, it is an invention of one of my smiths. It prevents wear much better than leather shoes, especially on the hard cobblestones you have on the main thoroughfare here.¡±

    Herbert gently lifted one of my horse''s hooves and studied the horseshoe. ¡°Fascinating. How long have you been using these?

    ¡°All my animals have been wearing them for the last thirty or so days with no ill effects.¡±

    Herbert thought for a moment. ¡°My Lord, if you will permit me to use these with no reprisal, I will give you a discount of five silvers on each mule you buy from me.¡±

    This was a good deal for me since I am sure these would be on all the Count horses by the end of the week anyway. ¡°That is agreeable,¡± I said. ¡°Captain, have we any shoes with us at the moment?¡±

    ¡°I believe everything has been unloaded,¡± He said.

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad. I will drop some off at the time of our transaction then. You are welcome to try making them on your own, though. Do you perhaps know a respectable wainwright?¡±

    ¡°I do, My Lord,¡± Herbert said enthusiastically, ¡°Blaine is the best wainwright in the town. His wagons are more expensive, but I wouldn¡¯t go anywhere else to purchase one. If you tell him I sent you, you could probably get him to sell you one for three silver crowns.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Master Herbert. Have a pleasant day." I thought about viewing the other livestock, but looking at the mules was enough to depress me about the finances. Hopefully, we could sell the trunk of paper and pens we brought for a good price.

    As we made our way back to the main shopping district, we passed Ferdenand¡¯s shop. I noticed there were quite a few people outside, crowded around it.

    ¡°Do you think he is having a sale?¡± I said off handedly.

    Draves looked at me, confused. ¡°That is what they do there.¡±

    ¡°No, not like that. I meant like discounting his prices to get more people to come purchase.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t think they are the type of draper to discount prices. More likely, word has gotten out about the buttonhole. Those people look like commoners, so they are probably there just to see it..¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s make sure to stop by before we leave. I¡¯d like to see how things are going. They were only able to get one outfit for me, and that was off the clearance rack. I cannot imagine him being able to get another one before I leave. Next time we visit, I will have to send someone to pre-order.¡±

    Draves just nodded.

    I looked at the town as we traveled. I decided I liked it. I think I will model Bicman after it. Well, I would make a few changes, like sidewalks. Yeah, I definitely wanted sidewalks. This was all for the future when we had more trade coming to Bicman. I looked at the many shops and wondered how we could get some of these items to Bicman. It would be very cool to have all my serfs wearing nice shoes rather than walking around barefoot or with crummy sandals.

    ¡°Captian, how can we get more traveling merchants to come to Bicman? I want some of these things there.¡±

    ¡°There are not many merchants that travel outside of their own barony, and the prices are extremely high. Mostly, it is only exotic goods that come from far away, and then only the Nobility can afford them. ¡°

    I was trying to figure this out. Why didn¡¯t this work? ¡°But what if a cobbler were to make a whole bunch of shoes, and then a merchant were to buy them at a lower price and then bring them to Bicman and sell them at a slightly higher price?¡±

    ¡°Why would a cobbler spend all his time making shoes just to sell them at a lower price? Also, the merchant would have to be willing to barter for livestock or crops, which he would have to bring back with him?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ Wait, hold on, I think this is starting to click.¡± I sat there for a while and thought about what Draves had said. Then, I started to make connections. It all made sense.

    ¡°It really isn¡¯t worth it, is it? Oh my gosh, I think I am starting to understand the economics of ancient civilizations. Because we don¡¯t have mass production, costs are high for most goods. Because the economy is so dependent on agriculture, those who control who gets the land are the wealthy. Merchants cannot export goods effectively unless they can increase prices or lower production costs and time to produce an item. There is no real money to be made in exporting simple goods or goods that take a long time to produce."

    Did they teach this in history class? If they did, I was totally not paying attention.

    OK, so that is another way we can increase the wealth of the barony. We need to produce goods so much cheaper than everyone else and in larger quantities so that we can export at a cost that will give us a high enough return on the investment. That means we are on the right track with the paper, and assuming that the loom we are making is not in use elsewhere, then we can make larger quantities of better quality material at a cheap price. I need to think of other things. I know that Mathew stole a lot of stuff from us, but it doesn¡¯t matter because he doesn¡¯t have our processes. The pens, horseshoes, and other items that are simple to make would not have stayed secret for long.

    ¡°Captian, I have been thinking about this ever since Mathew showed up, and I don¡¯t know if I have expressed it yet, but I don¡¯t think we could have gotten a writ, and even if we did, no other noble would enforce it in their area. Why stifle their economy for some backwater barony? The king is definitely not going to care what they do. Intellectual property though, that¡¯s the key. We have to find a way to protect it. That means we need a secure location for anything we want to be kept secret.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t wanted to leave the barony with all my projects, but coming here was a good thing. I think there was some Chinese saying about a frog in a well, or was that Japanese? We¡¯ll just go with the Asian. Yeah, gotta love those Asian sayings. My mind began to wander, trying to think of simple manufacturing processes that we could use for mass production.

    By the time we got back to the castle, we had explored most of the town. I liked the residential districts. I wanted wooden houses for my people. That made me think of a sawmill, and suddenly, I realized I needed two more mills, not just one. One for Melnon and one for Alfer. I also needed a larger paper-making factory and a printing press. I bought that mirror for Tanya, but what if I could figure out how to make glass? I had seen some ceramics here, and something I thought was possibly colored glass or glass with impurities but no clear glass. It didn¡¯t let much light through it. Even if I could make that glass a little clearer, I could make windows.

    As we got out of the carriage, a man in a sharp outfit with the sash of the Steward approached us and bowed. ¡°Lord Amos Bicman, by order of Count Vaspar, you are hereby ordered to remain in your room until two bells past noon tomorrow. At which point you will be brought to stand trial at a public hearing.¡± He said in a matter-of-fact tone

    ¡°What! Why in the Endless One¡¯s name am I bring brought to stand trial?¡± I shouted.

    The man took a startled step back.

    Realizing my mistake, I said, ¡°My apologies. I was just surprised. Could you please explain what this is all about?¡±

    Recovering, he said, ¡°I am not aware of the details, but you have been accused of stealing the property of Lord Decmoore.¡±

    And the other shoe drops, I thought to myself. I turned to Draves and said quietly, ¡°Go find Tanya. You and I both know what this is about.¡±

    Turning back to the man I said, ¡°I have nothing to hide nor reason to run I will gladly defend myself before my accusers.¡±

 Pictures

    Charcoal sketch of Emily Papermaker, by Lord Amos Bicman

    Charcoal sketch of Marshandra, by Lord Amos Bicman

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Charcoal sketch of Captain Charles Draves, by Lord Amos Bicman

    Fictitious rendition of Miss Kylie Fox, by Lord Amos Bicman

 Chapter 43

    Again, another sleepless night. I needed to punch something. Preferably Decmoore¡¯s face. Draves had come back late last night, having found no sign of Tanya. When he went to the inn, the owner said he remembered the girl because she had sat at a table for an hour, staring into space. Then, she abruptly got up and left. Upon the captain''s asking, the owner found that somebody had returned at some point, but he must not have been around. Draves went to the Expungers, but the man had closed shop, and the owner of the place next door said the Expunger would be out for the next few days. Draves then went on to search every inn he could find. None had even seen a fourteen-year-old girl by herself. Draves was going to go back out this morning and look around, but he didn¡¯t have much hope.

    He thought Tanya might have been part of this scheme from the beginning. I had my doubts. Could she have been an excellent actor who had been part of Decmoore¡¯s plan to¡­ Well, actually, I didn¡¯t know exactly what his endgame was, but he was at least hoping to discredit me at a public hearing. Anyways, sure, that was a possibility but not likely. First, they would have had to devise the plan and train someone for the part. That is assuming that when Mathew stopped by Decmoore on his way up to get me, he had told them his plans. Then they had spent the time from when Mathew first came to their Keep to when he came back with me to make up this plan. The current trap I had fallen into was not likely one they would have used if they had any knowledge about the former Amos. At least the actor they used would have a different story. She probably would have been an actual whore.

    I think they threw it together after realizing I was all about doing the right thing. They gambled on my naivety, a gamble that may have just paid off. They probably didn¡¯t clue Tanya in so that it would look more genuine.

    In the end, Draves and I decided this was much like the poisoning of my family. An opportunity my enemies just couldn¡¯t pass up. Someone raped Decmoore¡¯s daughter. Along I come acting all nice and naive. He sees an opportunity and takes it.

    My main concern was with what happened to Tanya. I do not doubt that her disappearance was Decmoore¡¯s doing, but how could I prove it? Did they kill her to silence her or just kidnap her? If it was a murder, were they going to try and pin that on me? Too many questions with no answers.

    None of my men could figure out what the specific charges were. All they discovered was that the news was spreading like wildfire throughout the town. Everyone was speculating on what I stole from Baron Decmoore. The Count''s servants who attended to me had no clue, and my request for more information was stonewalled. I was beginning to think that the count may also be in on this.

    What did the baron hope to gain by discrediting me? Was he hoping to get me removed and expand his territory? Was he part of the plot against my family? Maybe by discrediting me, he hoped that it would turn people against me so they wouldn¡¯t care about any future assassination attempts. I just wasn¡¯t good at this type of thing.

    I didn¡¯t eat breakfast or lunch that day, and Draves came back just before the start of the trial. I had been sitting at my writing desk, just doodling. It was something I sometimes did when my mind was racing.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, My Lord. She has vanished,¡± Draves said as he stepped up next to me, his frustration breaking through his stoic mask.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t have much hope of finding her anyway,¡± I sighed. "Were you able to gather any more information about the accusation?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord, I am afraid not. My Lord, if it is Tanya they are accusing you of stealing, I do not believe they would have enough evidence to make it stick. And if they do have something, I believe the punishment will be the cost of a serf and a fine. The true damage will be to your reputation.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wouldn¡¯t they claim I stole his daughter?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If that were the case, the accusation would be kidnapping, not theft of property. Also, unless Decmoore dressed her up as a serf and she acted out the part extremely well, then I believe she is an unclaimed illegitimate child who has been living as a serf. I agree it would have taken a master actor to pull that off. If it came out that he was not abiding by the ¡°Bastard Laws,¡± it would be very damaging to him.¡±

    ¡°So kidnaping people is only punished by a fine?¡± I said in shock.

    ¡°Taking property, not kidnapping. And yes, as a baron, it will be more of a scandal than anything. The fine, however, could be quite large. The count likes order, and he is not known for leniency.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least I am not going to go to prison or beheaded.¡±

    Before we could discuss the matter further, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Enter,¡± I said resignedly.

    In came a short, balding servant who bowed low to me. ¡°My Lord, your presence is requested in the Hall of Judgment.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. You may lead the way.¡±

    Draves¡¯s words about only getting a fine was not comforting to me. This situation brought flashbacks of walking to the courtroom back on earth. As I walked down the hall, memories of the juvenile detention center flooded my mind. That was not a good time in my life, and I began to crack under the pain of remembering the events that had led me there.

    Standing before the entrance to a room, I squeezed my eyes shut and shook off the memories. This case was not the same. I was innocent this time. I had done nothing wrong. ¡®I will get through this.¡¯

    The doors opened to reveal a large room. An aisle led up to the far end, where the count sat on an oversized chair on a raised dais. Even at this distance, I could tell his stern eyes were boring into me. Even his full beard couldn¡¯t hide the frown on his face. The look he gave me was not a good sign. An older man in the robes of a priest stood next to him.

    The room was packed with people standing and staring at me. The ones farthest back were commoners. The final group of people I passed were all nobles, many of whom I recognized from the dinner the other night. They were all sitting on benches. Some gave looks of disgust or had sneers on their faces, but most held looks of curiosity. A feeling of eagerness permeated the room. They were all here to watch an exciting show.

    Then, I noticed one more bench containing three women with their heads bowed. They wore a similar garb to that of the priest. They looked like they were praying. One was even muttering a prayer under her breath. I really couldn¡¯t make out the words.

    My accuser, Kyle the Second, and another well-dressed man sat at a bench off to the side. The same malicious grin I had seen on his face as I left their keep now formed on his face once again. The servant led us to a similar bench on the opposite side of the room. Draves took up position behind me. ¡°Are those priestesses?¡± I whispered while nodding to the three women. ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    ¡°Priests and priestesses help ensure the law is followed. In this case, the priestesses are here to pray to the Endless One that he will grant wisdom to the count. Some records say there has been divine intervention in court cases.¡±

    ¡°I think we will need that,¡± I whispered back.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Draves said gruffly.

    At that moment, the old priests called out in a voice that must have reached the back of the hall, ¡°Nobles of the court and people of Vaspar. Today, Baron Kyle Decmoore has brought an accusation against Lord Amos Bicman, Regent of the Barony of Bicman. The accusation is theft of property. Councilor Dunham, Baron Decmoore''s legal representative, will present the facts.¡±

    Dang, Of course, they have lawyers here. I wish I had known I could get a lawyer. He probably would have acquired access to the accusation beforehand, and we could have created a defense.

    Councilor Dunham stood up and approached the stand. Bowing, he said, ¡°My Count, I stand before you to give the facts of this case. Several nights ago, Lord Amos Bicman requested the hospitality of Baron Decmoore so that he might stay at his keep on the way down to Vaspar. Shortly after his leaving, they found that one of the house''s servants, Tanya, was missing. Upon investigation, it was found that a servant had witnessed Lord Amos requesting Tanya come to his room that night. She-¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help myself. I stood up and shouted, ¡°I object! That is a lie!¡±

    Whispers started up all over the room.

    ¡°Silence,¡± The priest said in a loud but even tone. ¡°Lord Bicman, you will have a chance to defend yourself after the accusations and questioning.¡±

    I sat back down, fuming. I heard a whisper from behind me. ¡°The lawyer wants you angry and not in control. It gives them credence to their accusations.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Captain,¡± I whispered while letting out a calming breath.

    ¡°As I was saying, before I was interrupted, she was found missing.¡± the man said, glaring at me like I was some annoying bug. ¡°By the time they had finished searching the town and gathering testimonies, Lord Bicman was a day and a half ahead of them. Knowing his destination, they rode hard to make it to Vaspar, but unfortunately, they were too late.¡±

    ¡°They requested to meet with Lord Bicman upon arriving at Vaspar castle yesterday but found that he was out. Also, they discovered disturbing information: a girl matching Tanya¡¯s description traveled to Vaspar with Lord Amos Bicman, but she did not come back with him after Lord Bicman claimed he wanted to explore the town by himself. Your messenger, Mathew, provided this information. Kyle Decmoore the Second and his guards began to explore the town and found that several people had noticed a carriage similar to the description of Lord Bicman¡¯s. This investigation eventually led them to the Expunger in town.¡±

    ¡°I have written testimony from the Expunger stating that he did, in fact, meet with a girl named Tanya. During the preliminary examination, she told the Expunger, Freeman Emmle, that she had been in a relationship with a Baron, and he had brought her here and paid for her to make sure no child resulted from the situation. If written testimony is not enough, we can call upon the Expunger to testify. Unfortunately, Lord Decmoore¡¯s men could not find Tanya.¡±

    At this point, I was grinding my teeth. I was pissed off. They were both besmirching my honor and Tanya¡¯s. Also, they had bribed the Expunger.

    ¡°Lord Bicman, did you escort the girl Tanya to Vaspar.¡± The filthy lawyer said.

    ¡°Yes, but-¡±

    ¡°And did you bring her to the Expunger?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You deny that you brought her to Vaspar for the express purpose of having her Expunged.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but-¡±

    ¡°My Lord Vaspar, Lord Bicman answers both yes and no to the same question. It seems this boy is confused or trying to get out of this situation. Maybe the stress of being found out has addled his brain. Since he may not be coherent enough to continue, I recommend we end his suffering. I believe he should pay the cost of a serf who applies the trade of prostitution and one hundred gold crowns. If he cannot afford the payment, he may give it in the form of land.

    ¡°Thank you for your opinion, Councilor Dunham, but as you very well know, Lord Bicman must be given a chance to defend himself. Lord Bicman, do you wish to refute any of these claims?¡± the priest said.

    I took a deep breath, ¡°First, I would like to apologize for my earlier outburst. I was extremely shocked about the claims leveled against me. Let me clear up this little misunderstanding. Indeed, it must be a misunderstanding, for I cannot imagine Lord Decmoore claiming I did something he expressly asked me to do. In his eagerness to prove himself to his father, I must assume that Lord Kyle took it upon himself to find Tanya without inquiring of Lord Decmoore concerning the girl''s whereabouts.

    Furthermore, during his investigation, the servant he questioned must have had a reason to hate Tanya, as I cannot see another reason they would lie about her coming to my room. Count Vaspar, I assure you that I only met Tanya right before I departed. Baron Decmoore asked if I would take his illegitimate daughter to Vaspar to be expunged because she had committed an indiscretion."

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    There was a murmur in the crowd at the mention of her being an illegitimate daughter.

    ¡°That is a lie! Tanya is no sister of mine!¡±

    ¡°Silence,¡± The priest said, a little louder this time.

    ¡°Well, maybe Baron Decmoore kept it secret from you,¡± I shrugged. I tried to sound confident as if nothing he said could bother me. Inside, however, I was freaking out.

    ¡°Anyway, I decided to do him this small favor as a good neighbor. Knowing she was a Baron''s daughter, I strove to treat her with the utmost respect. In fact, your Messenger, Mathew, can attest that I tried to teach her how to read and count money since I knew she would be on her own after I dropped her off. She was a pleasant girl and confided in me on the way down there that it had not been a consensual relationship that caused her pregnancy. After arriving at Vaspar, I decided being discreet about the matter would be best. I did not bring her straight to the Expunger; I brought her to an inn around the corner. I am sure you could speak with the innkeeper, and he can attest to the fact that we did indeed get her a room there.

    ¡°I realized Baron Decmoore¡¯s steward must have made a mistake because he only provided the daughter of a baron with five silver pennies to make her way in the world. Maybe he didn¡¯t realize that the Baron had requested that I not bring Tanya back, and she was to be on her own after the expunging. So, I covered for the error by giving his daughter five silver crowns. That is the last I saw of her, even though I told her she was welcome to come find me here if she needed anything.¡±

    ¡°You gave that wench five silver crowns! She must have given it to you good.¡± Kyle jeered at me.

    I was about to tell the jerk to shut his mouth when the count spoke up for the first time. In a strong baritone, he said, ¡°Lord Decmoore, you will keep your foul comments to yourself. Now, we have two very different stories but only one truth. Baron Bicman, though your story was quite enjoyable and may have some truth to it, you lack sufficient witnesses to bring a strong case. What¡¯s more, you accuse Baron Decmoore of breaking the law concerning illegitimate children by your assertion that the girl is his daughter. Might I suggest you retract that statement and confess that Tanya told you the lie and that she is to blame for your confusion? To accuse your fellow noble of such an egregious crime without evidence carries with it severe consequences.¡±

    ¡°I cannot do that, My Lord. I will not besmirch another''s name unjustly. As a noble, I must hold myself to a higher standard than others. I will be honest in all my dealings, whether it be you or the lowliest of men. I stand by what I said. Baron Decmoore told me specifically that Tanya was his daughter, and I was to take her to the expunger and leave her there. I had no relations with the girl outside of instructing her on how to survive on her own. What you hear from me today will be the truth as I know it.¡±

    The count sighed. ¡°We will investigate the matter, but if you are found to have accused him falsely and refused my advice to rescind your statement, you will lose your title and will be reduced to the title of knight in Bicman. The title will become non-hereditary. Your nephew will also lose his title. Regarding the theft of property, we only have the words of two Barons opposing each other and the words of a bunch of commoners. I am throwing this whole matter out, and you, Lord Bicman, will pay Lord Decmoore and myself five gold crowns each as a reminder to be more careful with your actions.

    ¡°Do you have anything more to say for yourself?¡±

    What could I say? Even if Tanya were here, it wouldn¡¯t be like she could prove she is the daughter of the Baron anymore than I could. Well, it would have saved me ten crowns, maybe, but I had just lost Aaron, his barony. I suppose I could have left out the part about her being Decmoore¡¯s daughter. If I had just left out that fact, I could have avoided having to defend it. How was I to know that accusation would be the biggest issue in this trial. I sighed, ¡°No, My Lord. I spoke honestly and with integrity, and if you cannot find evidence of Tanya¡¯s parentage, a barony is a small price to pay in order to maintain my honor.¡± I said the last part with as much conviction as I could muster. I said it. Now, I just had to convince myself I believed it.

    ¡°Very well. I-¡±

    At that moment, one priestess fell off her chair and landed on her knees. She knelt there, her hands crossed over her chest, shaking.

    ¡®Holy Crap! Was this really happening? Was she getting inspiration from the Endless One?¡¯

    ¡°Priestess, what is the meaning of this?¡± the Count said. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was concerned or angry.

    After a moment, the girl spoke softly, ¡°My Lord, forgive me, but I must speak.¡±

    She said this in a voice that I¡­ recognized. My eyes looked away from the girl and landed on Kyle¡¯s face. There was clear shock there, and he must have realized what was happening at the same time I was.

    ¡°Rise, child, and speak.¡±

    The girl rose and removed her hood. Her long brown hair spilled down her back, and her hands fell to her side. A small bronze-framed mirror was held tightly in her hand.

    There was murder in Kyle¡¯s eyes as he shouted, ¡°What are you doing here, Tanya?! Father told you to disappear. He warned you. He-¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lord Decmoore, for confirming this girl''s identity,¡± the count said coldly. ¡°It saves us a lot of time. Lord Bicman, is this the young woman you transported?¡±

    I was still in a daze but managed to get out, ¡°Yes, but she¡­Uh¡­ I¡¯m confused. Tanya, when did you become a priestess?¡±

    The count ignored my obvious blunder of asking a question to another person and continued his investigation. ¡°A question I would also like an answer to,¡± Count Vaspar said, trying to be heard over the buzzing voices of the crowd. ¡°Care to enlighten us, Priest Brady.

    But the priest looked just as confused as the rest of us. ¡°I did not know this was the girl in question. She came to us two days ago. As often happens when joining the priesthood, she gave up her name and took a new one. She goes by the name Rose, and I only met her this morning. I was encouraged to bring her along. I thought it was to show her some of the aspects of the life we live, but now I think it may have been for a different reason. Rose, why have you kept silent.¡±

    ¡°I was¡­ I¡­ I am afraid.¡± She said with a quiver in her voice.

    ¡°You are a Priestess of the Endless One now. You have covenanted to not only seek the truth but to speak the truth,¡± he said sternly.

    ¡°It is also obvious that Lord Amos was not the one to get you pregnant.¡± The count said, while looking at her stomach.

    ¡°I am the Daughter of Lord Decmoore,¡± she started slowly. Her posture straightened as she looked down at the mirror in her hand. Then the words came rushing out. ¡°My mother was a favorite of his when they were both young, and it continued after he wed the late Baroness. I have been raped many times over the last year. Only recently did Lord Decmoore learn that I was pregnant, though. He didn¡¯t want a scandal, so he planned to send me to Vaspar with his next merchant caravan. I was told not to return. The plan changed when Lord Amos came.¡±

    She turned to me and, with tears in her eyes, said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lord Amos. I didn¡¯t know.¡±

    I just smiled at her, ¡°I know. Thanks for speaking up.¡±

    She smiled weakly, ¡°Lord Amos is the nicest person I have ever met. He let me ride in his carriage, bought me new clothes, and taught me to read some words and count. He did it without asking for anything in return. When we got here, he took me to an inn and gave me five crowns to help me find an apprenticeship. He left me, and I sat for a while, trying to decide whether or not to visit the Expunger.

    I decided to go to the temple of the Endless One to see if he would give me wisdom. When I entered, I just felt peace. It was like all my problems were left outside. I sat for a long time, attempting to figure out what to do. Then, I felt the baby move inside me. And¡­ and I knew I couldn¡¯t do it. I couldn¡¯t go to the expunger. So then I decided-¡±

    Suddenly, the young Lord Decmoore was on his feet. ¡°You were supposed to get rid of that thing. It is an abomination!¡± He roared. The lawyer next to him went pale. And I knew why. His own client was tearing down the carefully crafted lie he had built. I was in shock, but nothing prepared me for what happened next.

    Tanya turned from a meek lamb to a roaring lion. ¡°It is not an abomination!¡± she shouted, ¡°Even though its father is a monster pretending to be human.¡± Okay, this was getting weird. I just saw Tanya go all ¡°mother bear¡± on Kyle Decmoore. ¡®Dang, why don¡¯t I have any popcorn?¡¯

    There was an audible gasp from the crowd. You would have to be a complete moron not to hear the accusation in Tanya¡¯s voice.

    All hell broke loose as Kyle lost all reason and lunged for and tackled Tanya. His sudden attack caused me to freeze up, and when my brain finally kicked back into motion, I was ashamed to admit that my first thought was not, ¡®Dang, I need to jump in and save my friend.¡¯ No, it was, ¡®Dang, if we posted this on Youtube, we would make millions!¡¯

    Fortunately, by the time I thought to jump in and save Tanya, Draves, and a few other guards were already pulling Kyle off of her. I immediately knelt next to her. I felt awful about myself as I saw a bruise forming on the side of Tanya¡¯s face where he had gotten a hit in. She was utterly dazed. I about stood up and attacked the stupid prick even though he could probably make mince meat out of me.

    ¡°Guards! Restrain that man. And Priest, attend to your priestess. Casper, call for a healer.¡± His steward, who had been off to the side of the room, quickly left. I thought the count would adjourn the meeting, but since Tanya was still conscious, he refused to let anyone leave.

    Half an hour later, Tanya could stand on her own feet. A sticky salve covered the side of her face, and one eye was slightly swollen shut, but she was standing.

    Count Vaspar looked down at Tanya sternly, ¡°Young girl, due to the seriousness of your accusation, I could not end this meeting until I have answers to all my questions. You are a commoner and have made accusations against your lord. That means that, unlike Lord Bicman, you will be put to death for your claims. Do you still stand by your claim?¡±

    Though the words were harsh, I could tell the count was trying to convince Tanya to retract what she said to spare her life. It was very unlikely that Baron Decmoore would have offhandedly told me she was his daughter if he had left evidence to prove she was. That remark was a trap¡ªone that I had fallen for. I was praying that she would do as he said. It wasn¡¯t worth her life. Mine maybe, but not hers.

    Tanya took a steadying breath and said, ¡°I am a Priestess of the Endless One. I will not just seek the truth but speak it as well.¡±

    The count''s frown deepened, and he muttered something under his breath.

    Tanya interrupted his thoughts, ¡°My Lord, I believe I may have something that may help.¡±

    Hesitantly, she reached into the small coin pouch she had left the keep with and pulled out a small golden pendant. There was no chain, and it was about the size of a silver penny. ¡°This was given to me by my mother''s best friend after my mother passed away. She said my mother told her it was given to her by Lord Decmoore when he first made her his favorite. It has writing on it, but I can¡¯t read, and neither could my mother''s friend.

    ¡°Casper.¡± Lord Vaspar said.

    Casper walked over to Tanya and picked up the pendant without further instructions. After reading the inscription, his face turned grave. Out loud, he said, ¡°To My Beloved Tanya from Lord Kyle Decmoore.¡±

    ¡°That was my mother¡¯s name,¡± Tanya said softly.

    ¡°How could Lord Decmoore have made such a mistake.¡± Count Vaspar mussed more to himself than anyone else.

    ¡°I think he tried to find it after she died. At least, that is what Nat said. She hid it until I was older."

    ¡°My Lord, this pendant has a maker''s mark on it.¡±

    ¡°Very good. Go to the archives and see if you can find out who the mark belongs to. Mathew, You are to go to Decmoore and meet with this Nat as well as anyone else this priestess may deem helpful. When you find out all you can bring the Decmoore family back here, they will be here to either witness Baron Bicman¡¯s title being stripped and the girl''s execution or their own punishment breaking the ¡°Bastard Law¡± and false accusations brought against Baron Bicman. No member of either party is allowed to leave the castle until this investigation is complete. Guards escort these lords to their rooms. We are done for today.¡±

    Baron Klint Tine

    I sat at my table, staring at the letter on my desk. My wife, Maria, sat across from me, quietly sobbing. I usually forbid her from expressing such emotions in my presence. But today, I could not bring myself to do it, not with the news of Martha¡¯s death.

    Unlike Maria, I could not morn right now. I needed to figure out how to preserve my Barony. Our agreement with Bicman was that his son would give us his secondborn to inherit Tine. It would be another couple of years before we could marry Ashlyn off, and hopefully, she would bear at least two boys. Who would be as desperate as the Bicmans, though, someone willing to give up their secondborn for such a small price? Not even my own relatives were willing to do it. They were holding out until I became truly desperate.

    Now, I needed to start from scratch. Maria almost didn¡¯t survive the last pregnancy, so I may have to find a new wife if I can¡¯t get our grandson back. The question is, what was it going to cost me?

    ¡°First, our boys die on the field, and then Erica is barren, and now Matha. What have we done to bring this curse upon us.¡± Maria cried out.

    Normally, I would scoff at the idea of being cursed, but right now, I was having the same thoughts. The war had taken both our sons, and we had married off Erica with the same deal we gave the Bicmans. After a few years, she was found to be barren and came home in shame. Martha was promising, as everyone thought she might have become pregnant on the wedding night, but the Bicman¡¯s death ruined everything.

    ¡°We will need to see how much it will cost us to keep Aaron safe until we can go and get him,¡± I said.

    ¡°Cost us? But the letter says that he will take good care of Aaron.¡± Maria said in confusion.

    I loved the woman, but she could be so naive sometimes. ¡°You know you can¡¯t just read the words on the page, my dear. You must look for the meaning behind them. We have both met Amos Bicman, and you know as well as I do the type of boy he is. This letter is full of meaning beyond what you read. He will keep Aaron safe as long as we meet his demands.¡±

    ¡°But he didn¡¯t ask for anything?¡±

    ¡°He invited us to come to the barony to visit Aaron. I think he will make his demands known then.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just take him while we are there? Surely Amos would want the barony to himself.¡±

    ¡°Of course he does, but if he had petitioned the king for the title of the barony and received it, then we would have a claim over Aaron. By making himself regent over Aaron, he has given himself leverage over us. Now, we need to give him something in order to get Aaron. He must know we are desperate for an heir.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get the feeling he was all that clever,¡± Maria said in confusion.

    ¡°He isn¡¯t, but that doesn¡¯t mean somebody isn¡¯t directing him. We will go to Bicman and negotiate for our Grandson.¡±

    ¡°Should we bring Ashlyn? Maybe-¡±

    ¡°No, I am not giving him Ashlyn. First, he is a louse and a wastrel. I would never subject her to such a life. Second, there may be someone trying to eliminate the Bicman line. We will go there and see what he wants. I promise you, Maria, we will get our grandson back.¡±

 Chapter 44

    It had only been twenty-four hours since the hearing that sent the whole of Vaspar into an uproar. Mathew had rushed off to Decmoore to stay ahead of the gossip that was spreading through Vaspar like wildfire. If Decmoore could silence enough people before Mathew uncovered the truth, Tanya would die. Now, I sat in a chair in the center of Count Vaspar''s office. At the far end of the room, Vaspar sat at a table with a few rolls of parchment and an inkwell on it. He was rolling a Bicman Pen back and forth between his fingers. He took is eyes off the pen to look at me. His stare was intense, and it made me want to squirm. We both sat silently until he finally said, "I am trying to decide if you are really a Kayver who lays golden eggs or just a very lucky idiot."

    This guy was nothing if not blunt. At least with those he had power over. Trying to break the tension and falling back on my bad habit of making light of things in uncomfortable situations, I said, "Is it impossible for me to be both."

    The count raised his eyebrows, and I could swear the corners of his mouth twitched. "That is something I will have to consider. The reason I brought you to Vaspar was to judge your character and decide whether or not I should give you my favor or throw you to the wolves. After Mathew''s report and your performance at the dinner gathering, I felt you were level-headed enough to support."

    Something clicked. "The dinner was a setup," I said without thinking.

    "That comment there shows your naivety. Of course, it was set up. A noble must always be evaluating those beneath him. Those I selected played their parts well. Though I could not hear your conversation, Baron Kithmoore said you maintained decorum even amidst ridicule. Your manner of speaking, however, was a little base, but that was to be expected of a Marsh-Dweller."

    "Were they all in on it?"

    "Only a few, and two of them were only there to observe."

    "I see. So what type of support are we talking about?" I asked curiously.

    "None," he said flatly, "If that had been the end of things, I would have shown you some small amount of favor. Nothing that would block another assassination attempt, but enough to keep some of the smaller nuisances from causing you trouble. But then you fell so easily into Baron Decmoore''s trap that I realized you would be nothing more than a liability. Then the question became whether I strip you of your barony or execute you. I decided that striping you of your title may be better for you than having you get yourself into any more trouble. Then you could continue to invent things, and it may even save your life.

    "Then suddenly, that girl involved herself, and I was forced to give you the opportunity to keep the barony. The people would not let this scandal go uninvestigated, and the news would eventually reach the duke or the king. I need to have a satisfactory answer as to what I did to investigate the matter."

    "So, you don''t care about the fact that they lied in court and almost got me stripped of my title or the fact that they broke the law by concealing an illegitimate child? You only care about the fact that it caused a scandal."

    "This is why you are not fit to hold your title. You have no clue how the world works. Everyone lies. It is whether or not they get caught that matters. The reason to uncover a lie is to find out how to use it against the person who told it. It was evident from the start that it was a setup, but what would I gain from revealing it? The commoners wouldn''t care about your fate. Amidst the nobles, you are a nobody. Decmoore has backers you do not.

    Your second point is also laughable. If I tried to dig up every scandal caused by my nobles, I would be doing nothing else all day. And I would need a hundred people like Mathew. Do you think Baron Decmoore is the only person who breaks the Bastard Laws? Do you think that his son is the only one to sleep with someone he shouldn''t have? I can name a dozen nobles I have enough information on to strip them of their titles. I know a hundred more that might be breaking the law if I care enough to dig deeper. The fact is, boy, I don''t care. Not as long as they don''t steal too much, don''t go too far, and keep it discrete. That is the reality of things."

    I sat there stunned, and Count Vaspar seemed happy to let it all sink in.

    "Why are you telling me this?"

    "There are a few reasons: First, I am a good judge of character and know that you would not spread such information around. Second, you would lose your tongue if I found out you were spreading this around. Third, I think you will come to realize I am trying to help you. You will never be a good baron, and I recommend you leave it to someone else."

    I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, "I can''t. And like you, I also have a few reasons. First and foremost, it is not my barony to give away. The heir to the barony is my nephew, and I am doing my best to ensure he receives what is rightfully his. Second, because I do not know who would replace me and whether they would treat the people of the barony with kindness, there seems to be a lot of prejudice against the area, and anyone given the barony may view it as a punishment. Their anger over having to be there would be taken out on my people. Third, unlike you, I think I can help bring changes to the kingdom that will improve the lives of everyone. Changes that cannot be made without a diverse group of people to work with."

    The count''s eyes bore into me, trying to see if I believed my own words. Finally, he gave a slight nod, "You are not out of the woods yet. Mathew may not find enough information on the priestess''s origins to charge Decmoore with anything. In that case, we are back to you losing your land and the girl losing her head."

    "But she was brought there by divine guidance. The priest said it himself. We both know the baron is guilty. Can''t you show leniency?"

    "He said he was encouraged to bring her. He never said who encouraged him to do it. I believe he phrased it that way to protect her and make it seem like divine guidance. I think he did know her origins and was playing his own game. Never underestimate the craftiness of priests. I am sorry, but I did give her a chance to take back her words. Her fate was her own choice."

    He paused momentarily but then changed subjects, "Now let us discuss other matters. It should take Mathew no more than fifteen days to get back, sooner if everything goes well. Let us discuss what happens if Decmoore is found guilty. The charges will be false accusations of theft and besmirching your name. Of course, false testifying in court will be something I will deal with separately.

    "You could request the death sentence since not only was it a false accusation, but it was also done by setting a trap for you and deliberately trying to steal your lands, but that would have to go through the duke, and since Decmoore influences the Ducal Court I don''t think you will get it. In fact doing that may cause one of his backers to convince the duke to kill you as well. He does like finding reasons to kill people. The best you can hope for is that Baron Decmoore''s friends will distance themselves from him after this all comes to light.

    "However, you must not appear weak. If you were anyone else, I would suggest requesting to be given the lands of Pollman, but I don''t think you could handle more land. No, I believe monetary compensation will be better. Let''s say five times the annual income of the Pollman lands. If I am thinking about that correctly, it may be between one hundred and two hundred Gold Crowns a year."

    "That''s a lot of money. Can he afford it," I said in shock.

    The count looked like he wanted to sigh. "Again, you show your ignorance. That is nothing. Pollman''s lands are better than yours but certainly not the best. If I gave you the income for all of Baron Decmoore''s lands for a year, you could live a very long life in luxury out in your swamp. I will have Casper figure out the exact amount. He is enjoying the abacus, by the way. It is a very intriguing device."

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    "Wait, Mathew took an abacus?" I said in shock.

    My alarm caused the stone-faced man to actually smile.

    I sighed, "I don''t know why I am surprised. That man of yours ferreted out all of my people''s inventions. So much money gone. I promised my people their inventions would bring them a lot of money."

    "Do not try and fool me, Boy. Your people invented none of those things. You are the creative genius behind it all. That much Mathew did figure out. Don''t think that I am so stupid as to believe that as soon as your family died, your people suddenly became more intelligent. You were just waiting until you were married off in order to implement your idea."

    I shrugged, "They all helped. I couldn''t have done it without them. I promised them they would earn money from these things."

    "And what, did you expect to be given a Writ of Exclusivity?" he said with just a touch of mockery in his voice.

    "Initially, that was my hope, but I realized it was just wishful thinking. It became especially apparent when I came to your town. Writs of Exclusivity are not for barons like me. They are for people of influence. Someone who is in the center of things: Why would you tell your subjects they have to purchase easily produced goods from some backwater barony? Or even maintain a record and give me a percentage of the profits. It would limit the production, which would reduce taxes. Also, who is going to enforce it? I couldn''t afford to pay the king enough to enforce it, and it would just create a black market for them."

    Now, the count was staring at me curiously. Leaning forward, he said, "A percentage of the profits for the right to use the product?"

    I could tell he was making it a question, not a statement. "Yes, I don''t know if it could be enacted on a large scale, but I thought of implementing it in my barony as it grows. An individual comes up with an idea and writes down every detail about how it works. He pays me a small annual fee or a large fee for up to ten years. I use those fees to hire someone to audit everyone in the barony who wants to make the same product. They have to get permission from the original owner of the design and then pay a percentage of everything they make off the product to the inventor. If the owner wants to keep it all to himself, that''s fine as long as he produces enough to meet the demand. We will encourage him to use the other method if he can''t. He could also sell the¡­ Well, I call it a patent, to another person. If he doesn''t want to produce it himself."

    Count Vaspar stared off into space for a long time. It became awkward, and I thought, maybe, he wouldn''t notice if I got up and left. I should go get something to eat.

    "Perhaps you aren''t such a lost cause." the count said matter-of-factly.

    "Thank you," I said with a smile.

    "I will give you five silver Crowns for each of the inventions that came from your estate," he said as if that were even remotely fair.

    "I was told you took a ride in my carriage this morning while I locked in my room. I hear that you were very impressed."

    "There are too many loose lips around this place," the count muttered. "What do you want?"

    "Thirty gold for everything. You could make a killing off of these things."

    "What would I do with it? I am just rewarding you for your creative mind."

    "You could set up a patent system with you owning all of the patents on my inventions. Even if you got a copper per horseshoe, you could make a good profit, not even to mention the leaf spring. And it is all profit because you don''t have to pay a patent fee."

    "You are a shrewd man, Lord Bicman. You put the patent idea in my mind because you saw where the conversation was going."

    I smiled back at him but said nothing. Actually, that had never occurred to me, but I would certainly try to leverage it now.

    "I don''t have to pay you anything, you know," He said when he realized I wasn''t going to respond.

    "Then we are back to the question of whether or not I am a golden kayver. What is a mere thirty gold to you."

    "Twenty."

    "Twenty for ideas that will bring you gold on the penny. You would make thirty gold within the first year, and it would only increase as the ideas were implemented in more towns and villages," I said, looking him in the eye.

    He smiled, "You are wasted as a baron. You would make more money working directly for me."

    "Give me eighteen years to make sure my nephew is set to take over, and I may just take you up on that."

    "Thirty gold it is. Now, speaking of golden kayver, Mathew tells me you are responsible for all the drawings in your book of fables. He also said that your ability to draw life-like images of people is impressive."

    "Yes, and I couldn''t help but notice that your castle is sparsely decorated, and the paintings you do have are somewhat¡­ lacking."

    That put a look of shock on Vaspar''s Face, "I recommend you refrain from criticizing the art of my castle. My pieces were painted by Griffin Asput, the first cousin once removed from the King. A master painter who has perfected his art after a lifetime of study." He said coolly

    I held back a snort. That last name always made me want to laugh. "My Lord, give me seven days, ten at the most, and I will make a full-length portrait of you that even the king will be jealous of."

    The count looked at me dubiously. "And what would you want for this masterpiece?"

    "Sixty gold crowns."

    "You must consider yourself a god among painters. I will not pay such a ridiculous price for a painting by an unknown artist."

    "I doubt you paid much less for what you have on your walls, but I conceded to your point. How about this? Once I complete the painting, you will pay me however much you think it is worth. Pay me nothing if you think it is not worth the canvas it was painted on."

    "That I will agree to. We shall see if you live up to the praise given by Mathew."

    For the next two days, I practiced mixing colors with these people''s paints. It was oil-based and suited for painting on the linen fabric they used as canvases. I really would have preferred cotton and some modern paints, but I was pretty sure I could pull this off. I hadn''t done any oil painting since shortly after I was cleared from the suicide risk list. One of my therapists had recommended it as a good way to cope with the trauma and guilt since it was something I had done when I was younger. Well, more like obsessed over when I was younger. If I hadn''t fallen in with the guys I hung out with after Dad left, I probably would have gotten a scholarship in art. Ok, that''s not fair. I had already been hanging out with them, but they were the ones who got me the drugs to deal with the pain and rejection I felt from Dad leaving us.

    ''OK, time to get out of my head and get to work.''

    I needed to show the count I could back up what I was saying. I had scheduled a bell''s worth of time with the count. It had to be done every day. Of course, the count didn''t do it himself every day. I only needed his head, so for the rest, we just needed a person of similar size to do it while wearing the count''s clothes. Standing in place for an hour is hard work. I must hand it to the count''s nephew for his willingness to do the job.

    I got to meet a lot of the people in the count''s family. His wife was a stuck up snob who barely spoke two words to me, and his daughters and their husbands were all the same. His second son, Fredrick, was cool. Not as aloof as his older brother and father. He caught me doing Tai Chi on my third day there and was making fun of me for the next two days until I told him he wouldn''t last a whole session doing it. That got him all riled up, and he tried to outlast me. He joined me for the next two days, trying to make his movements as smooth as mine. He then ended up bringing two cousins, three nephews, and a niece the next day. I think he was just trying to prove he was better at it than someone else. He insisted I do sword practice with him to get back at me. And he did get back at me. I lost a day of painting after I was too sore to move my arms the next morning and had several welts. We were forced into a truce after that by his father, who didn''t want me to waste any more time.

    Frederick was a great source of information, and I learned a lot about the running of the county as well as the different places in Vaspar. I even learned what the whole "Marsh Dwellers" thing was about. I was right. It was a slur. The funny thing is it had nothing to do with me. Apparently, the local''s ancestors came from somewhere across the sea, landed in the bay, and found their way south. They were later conquered by Lenord the First. I would have to talk to the people living there and see if anyone knew where they came from. If I could build a sailing ship, maybe we could find a new place to sell goods.

    I had overestimated my abilities, it was on the eleventh day of painting that Mathew returned. I was already finished with 95% of the painting and was planning to reveal it tomorrow.

    ''Is there a way I could work it into a showing after the trial? I would have to check with the count. It would be pretty cool if I could.''

    Fortunately, I realized that I really had nothing to worry about. My abilities were far above the Master painters of this time. Of course, the best I could hope for right now was, "You are clear of all charges. Thank you for the painting. Have a nice life."

 Chapter 45

    I am just going to say that this next hearing was very drama-free. No commoners were in the room, but the number of nobles had doubled. I sat on the same bench with Tanya, now Priestess Rose. On the other bench sat Lord Kyle Decmoore and Kyle the Second. His son had manacles on him. The women of the house were not present. Decmoore glared at me with fury in his eyes.

    The priest standing next to the count said, "We have come here today not for a trial but to pass judgment. All evidence has been gathered and witnesses'' testimonies verified."

    There was a pause as Count Vaspar looked at all of us. Then the count''s voice cracked like a whip, "Baron Kyle Decmoore and Lord Kyle Decmoore the Second stand to be judged."

    I let out a sigh. Seriously, the count was a jerk. He had refused to give a single hint about what was happening today. Decmoore''s face took on an ashen hue. Kyle looked like he was ready to go on a rampage, and he probably would have if it hadn''t been for the two guards standing behind him. As they stood, Count Vaspar began to speak again.

    "First, we will address the false charges and slander you have brought against Lord Amos Bicman. For the false accusation of theft and creating a trap to ensnare your neighbor, I give to him what you requested I do for you when you brought the charges against him. I strip you of the land that used to belong to Baron Pollman and award it to Baron Bicman."

    I thought this would bother Decmoore more, but he actually seemed relieved. Maybe he thought it would be worse, or maybe the Pollman land wasn''t worth the effort it took to manage it. Either way, hadn''t the count already said we weren''t going to do this? Is he really this fickle?

    "Second is the matter of your illegitimate daughter Tanya, now Priestess Rose. You have broken the Laws concerning illegitimate children and deprived her of the lifestyle and education that were due to her. As such, you will make a payment of 200 golden crowns to Priestess Rose."

    This punishment actually got a bigger reaction from Decmoore than the loss of the Pollman lands. He visibly reddened and ground his teeth. If Count Vaspar noticed, he didn''t react. The guy had an awesome poker face.

    "Next, we will deal with Lord Kyle the Second. Lord Decmoore, you have been found guilty of rape and battery of your sister. The act of incest and rape have only one punishment under the law for such people as yourself. You are hereby sentenced to death by hanging."

    It was like the guards knew what Kyle was going to do because before he could even think about running, the guards seized him, and one held a dagger to his throat.

    "There will be no bloodshed in my court. Take him away," the count said with a wave of his hand, like a parent dismissing an annoying child.

    The baron''s face was now full of grief, and he became despondent, not even realizing when the count began to speak again.

    "If this were all, you could count yourself lucky, baron, but this was only offenses made against a fellow baron and your daughter. Now, we turn to the offenses directed towards your superiors. You have made a mockery of my court by the attempt to steal Baron Bicman''s land. You have bribed men to conspire with you to this extent. Both of which will now hang for their crimes. I cannot abide attempts to make my court into anything other than a place of justice. This is not all, though; as the investigation deepened into your actions, more things were revealed."

    My mouth began to drop as a long list of misdeeds committed by the baron were expounded upon. Bribery, extortion, falsifying taxes, and hiring a killer were only a few of the charges. It was apparent to everyone there that this information hadn''t been gathered just in the last ten days. This was an example of what the count told me about in our earlier conversation¡ªholding all the information about a noble until it was time to bring them down.

    I shuddered.

    ''I am so glad I hadn''t been in the body of an actual baron when I was brought into this world. It would probably have come with a lot more baggage.''

    "For all this, the name of Decmoore shall be stricken from the record of nobility, and all your personal assets not belonging to the barony will become the property of the County. The women of your house will be sent back to the families from which they came. They are guests of those houses, not members of the houses. Thus I have decreed may it-"

    Just then, the doors opened from the back of the room, and Casper walked in. The count had a rare moment of emotion flicker across his face as it was apparent he was not pleased at the interruption. Even his tone of voice lost its usual cool. "What is the meaning of this disturbance, Casper?"

    Casper bowed, "My Lord, I ask for your forgiveness as I have urgent news regarding this judgment via carrier pigeon. The duke has responded to your letter."

    "Very well, bring it here and read it before the audience." As Casper approached, Vaspar continued to speak. "When the investigation started, I sent a letter to the duke informing him of the matter and what we might find. It appears that he has written back giving his own judgment."

    This brought hope to Baron Decmoore''s eyes. The count had told me that Decmoore had friends in high places who may try to persuade the duke to influence the judgment in the baron''s favor. I heard the man was volatile, and I began to worry that he might come up with some reason to punish Tanya and me.

    As Casper turned to the audience and began reading, I immediately became lost in all the flowery speech. "Was that how I was supposed to write? Dang, I thought I had been eloquent. Now I am sure everyone I wrote to thinks I am some country bumpkin.''

    Fortunately, I got the gist of the letter.

    "¡­ any offending party and their entire family are to be put to death. They have betrayed their duty to the crown."

    ''I didn''t think I was part of that group.''

    "If Lord Bicman is not found guilty, he must be punished for his ignorance and stupidity in falling into such a blatant trap. Strip him of half his lands and redefine the boundaries of the relinquished lands to allow for two Noble children that have found favor in my sight.

    "¡­ she must expunge the abomination. If she refuses, then by my order, I forbid her to marry for the rest of her life."

    The duke just hit the top of my most hated people list. Well, technically, it was still Decmoore, but he wouldn''t be there for long. I didn''t know how I felt about it. I said the phrase that I had heard from Draves almost as a mantra: There is no peace without justice.

    "The will of the duke will be obeyed." the count said firmly. The house of Decmoore is no more, neither in name nor person. Lord Bicman, by the will of the duke, I strip you of the lands promised you, and you shall receive no compensation for the crimes against you by Baron Decmoore or his family. Priestess Rose, you have been favored by the duke in being given a choice, so choose wisely."

    Count Vaspar nodded to the priest.

    The priest stepped forward and said, "This Judgement is closed. Justice had been served."

    The audience echoed the priest, "Justice has been served."

    Guards grabbed Decmoore and began to drag him out of the room amidst quiet jeers from those who were once his peers. Before anyone else could move, I stood up, stepped forward, and took a knee before the count.

    "Speak, Lord Bicman," Count Vaspar said in his imperious voice.

    "Count Vaspar, the gift I have prepared for you is finished. If I might have your favor at this time, I request that I may present it to you now."

    "Your request is granted."

    Casper and a few servants immediately left the room, and a few minutes later, Casper returned with servants carrying the full length picture wrapped in a heavy linen cloth. A large easel was brought and set on the side of the room so that all would be able to see the picture when it was displayed.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    The cloth was removed and allowed to be dropped to the floor. The portrait caused a spell of silence in the audience. I was pleased to see that not even the count could keep the look of awe off his face. Within a gilded frame stood the count in his finest clothes. Of course, I took the liberty of giving him a tighter stomach and reduced the wrinkles and fat on his face. The picture was in just enough profile to make it appear as if he was looking off into the distance.

    This pose would not have made sense if I had used the backdrop he and his model stood in front of while I was painting the picture. In fact, I received criticism from both of them when I positioned them as such. The backdrop, however, was completely different. The count stood upon the parapet of his castle. The sun was setting on the ocean, causing it to glisten, and the clouds were a brilliant mix of oranges, purples, and white. The soft light touched the count''s face, emphasizing his strong features and making his personage stand out like a beacon.

    The silence lasted almost five minutes as the count stood and examined the details of the picture. Finally, he spoke. "Lord Bicman, when you first promised to gift me a portrait worth no less than sixty gold crowns, I thought you arrogant. Now I see that you are actually humble in your estimation of your talents. Though you offer it as a gift to showcase your talents, I would be considered a thief if I accepted it without compensating you for something no other noble in the kingdom can claim to have. You shall receive one hundred gold crowns, and I will be commissioning your work in the future."

    "Suddenly, the room was filled with buzzing voices as they discussed the portrait. A line had formed, and people were taking turns examining the details of the picture. I, however, bowed to the count, thanked him for his generosity, and requested to be excused. I was determined to sleep for a week to catch up on all my sleepless nights caused by this ordeal.

    However, it was not to be. I only got a single night''s sleep before I was told to get out of bed because the count requested my presence. Once again, I sat before him while he examined me like a curious creature he had never seen before.

    "You surprise me, Lord Bicman. I think you would do better by giving up your barony and applying yourself to what you are truly good at. However, as we discussed before, you have a duty to your nephew. But when you lose your barony due to your inability to manage things, I will have work for you."

    His bluntness almost made me laugh, but I was trying to learn from him how to act as a nobleman. With a duke like Kimton, he may be right. Nevertheless, I put on a brave face.

    "Are you so sure that I will fail? My Grandfather was given the land with no experience. I at least have the memories of my father and brother, who managed."

    "Your Grandfather was given a competent steward who pretty much ran everything. After he died, your father hired your late steward, and you know how that went. Now, you have no one competent to run the barony. You are barely keeping your people fed and will be unable to make money from your inventions because you are too far away from the center of trade. What could you possibly do?

    I smiled. "You will have to wait and see. I was just generously given one hundred gold crowns. What I have done so far was without the means necessary to accomplish anything important. Now I can get to work. Do you have any recommendations for people I could use as a steward?"

    "Yes, but I will not help you. You are still a liability, and people are trying to destroy you. Until I know who they are and if I can handle them, I cannot help you succeed as a Regent outside of money for your painting and inventions. Our agreements must be seen as strictly transactional monetarily. You must hunt down your own assistance. If you want a good steward, the best place to go would be Kimton or the capitol. That is where you would find someone qualified to run a barony."

    I sighed. I would have to send someone trusted there to get one. I needed to get back to Bicman. "Do you have prisoners that I could take off your hands? Not murderers or rapists, I don''t want violent criminals. Just people I could put to work doing menial labor."

    "Murderers and rapists are executed. We don''t keep those types of people alive. I have prisoners I could sell you though. How many are you looking for."

    "Twenty for a road crew and some skilled laborers would be good, too, depending on what they can do."

    "Tell the servant that attends you you wish to meet the debtor warden. I will give you a note to deliver."

    "Thank you."

    "Pawning prisoners off on you is no favor. I have no more time to speak with you. When do you expect to leave?"

    "Two days," I said while standing. "I hope to sell my paper, buy all the necessary supplies, and then be on my way."

    "You do not have a merchant or trader license for the town, so you cannot sell it here. However, I have seen your paper and will pay you a copper a piece."

    "Count Vaspar, once again, I think you are trying to undervalue what I have here. I have a thousand sheets of fine paper, which I planned to sell to a parchment merchant for a silver penny a piece. It would be worth getting a license so that when I have larger quantities in the future, I could sell 100,000 pieces at a discount of a few coppers a piece. Papyrus is selling for a silver penny and a half for a large sheet. With my sheets being smaller, I would still beat that price and be able to provide more."

    "You would flood the market, and prices would have to go down. Parchment makers would request your head. There is no demand for that much paper."

    "The demand will increase when everyone, including the poorest merchants, can afford it. Parchment merchants sell both parchment and papyrus. The paper is not as high a quality writing material as either. It would give them a third product to sell and remove the need for clay tablets and other writing surfaces. People use wood and clay because it can be erased, and they don''t have to pay exorbitant amounts for parchment or papyrus. Now, we give the merchants something to fill the demand. The merchants aren''t making any money when people are reusing clay tablets."

    There was a pause, and then the count pointed his finger at me. "You want to create patents on processes, don''t you?"

    Ignoring the question, I said, "Imagine if I provided you the paper, and you resold it to parchment merchants to sell it?"

    "You have seen my books. Those are just the basic ones. Imagine the amount of information that could be shared if more paper were available. A library full of books would be needed. More scribes would be needed. We could open a bookshop in every city and hire parchment makers to run them. It is a few years down the road, but it will happen. You stand to make a lot of money if you work with me."

    There was another pause, and then he said, "Survive the next year without being killed, and we will discuss it. I will give you five silver crowns for all your paper."

    "Deal. Before I leave, I will teach you how to make a paper airplane. Share it with others, and they will be begging you for more. How about you give me a gold crown, and I will throw in all the pens as well?

    He just shook his head. "Fine," He said while pulling a gold coin from a small box on his table.

    ''I wish I had a change drawer like that.''

    He handed it to me and said. "May the Endless One grace your journey. I will most likely not have time to meet with you personally before then, but you will attend a party I am holding tomorrow to show off my painting. Take care to make some connections."

    "Thank you, My Lord," I said with a bow.

    After leaving the room, I was approached by a servant.

    Bowing, he said, "Lord Bicman, a commoner by the name of Edward, has requested that you be informed he wishes to speak with you. He says you had requested his service. He is waiting outside the gate."

    I had no idea who he was talking about. And that must have been written clearly on my face.

    "Do you know him, or should I send him away?"

    "No, I am curious as to who this man is. Lead me to him." I said

    As we approached the gate, I saw a man standing beside one of the guards chatting. He was in travel warn clothes but was clean shaven, and upon approaching, I could tell he had bathed recently.

    He bowed to me as I approached.

    "My Lord, may I present Freeman Edward," the servant said.

    I nodded my head. "You may speak."

    "My Lord, thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I was sent a letter from a friend of my late father requesting that I accept an invitation to come and work for you as a steward." He said in a highly formal tone

    I smiled and snapped my fingers. "The innkeeper''s son. How did you find me?"

    "My Lord, you are all that is being talked about. I heard your name mentioned in a tavern two towns south of here. I arrived five days ago, and the news of your hearing was on everyone''s lips. Rumors about divine intervention have spread far and wide. I decided to wait until after the judgment to continue in case things did not go in your favor."

    "A wise decision."

    Taking a deep breath, he hesitantly said, "My Lord, I have to admit I am probably ill qualified for the job. I am a scribe and record keeper. I have never been trained as a steward."

    "Thank you for your honesty. I am sure you will do fine. And if not, then I still need you in those areas in which you excel. I am just about to go shopping for everything I want to bring back to Bicman. I have been given a large sum of money, and you are now in charge of making sure I get the most for my money. Welcome to the team," I said with a smile.

    Kimton Five Days Prior

    A report sat on my table. It had been a good year for gaining favors and blackmail. My network was growing, and soon, we would make our move.

    Just then, the door opened, and the steward entered. "My Lady, we have just uncovered news that the duke received via carrier pigeon from Vaspar. It was a three-pigeon letter with quite a bit of information, but here is the general information on its contents."

    I sat back in my chair and read the letter. Sighing, I handed it back to the steward to be burned.

    "Should our agent encourage the duke to shift the blame?"

    "No, Decmoore is at the end of his usefulness. It seems he has overstepped. He is insignificant to the plan and not worth saving. We should encourage the duke to dispose of him for us. We have other people who are not so rash in their actions. And¡­ suggest that the Bicman boy be punished. Not killed, but he is to blame for me losing one of mine. That should not go unpunished."

    "As you command." The steward said with a bow and left.

 Epilogue

    King Lenord Asput

    "No, Bartholomew. Nothing else today." I said to my steward as he entered the room. I thought it would be the young lady who brings me my tea. I couldn''t deal with any of the nonsense the nobles kept pestering me with.

    Bartholomew stopped at the entrance to my study and bowed. "My apologies, Your Majesty. It is a trivial thing. It is just a gift and a letter from the Barony of Bicman. I will return later."

    "Bicman," I said in surprise as I leaned forward across my table. "I know that name. They are the ones up north. The man who saved my father''s life."

    "Yes, My Lord."

    "You know, I always meant to send that man a gift. If it weren''t for him pushing my father out of the way, the Arrow would have hit my father in the head rather than piercing my brother through the heart. If my brother had survived, all I would have gotten was the Dukedom Kimton has right now. The old man is dead now, but I really should send something to his son."

    "Actually, most of the household is dead, My Lord. There was an assassination attempt by the steward of the house. He tried to cover it up during a recent illness that took many people at the same time. The only other information on the matter is that it was done at the request of someone at Kimton."

    "Who in their right mind would try and kill off the Bicmans? That land was given as a punishment by my father." I mussed, "Who is left?"

    "Lord Amos Bicman and his nephew Lord Aaron Bicman the Third. Lord Amos is requesting regency over his nephew until he is old enough to take the mantle of Baron."

    "That would normally fall under the duke''s responsibility. Why is he asking me?"

    "Maybe he is afraid of the duke''s response." Bartholomew shrugged.

    "The man should be more afraid of the duke''s response when he finds out Lord Bicman went above his head and asked me. I swear, if that man weren''t my cousin, I would have done away with him long ago."

    "How old is the nephew?"

    "I don''t have the accounting of his nephew''s birth, but I do know that he can''t be over two, according to his father''s marriage license."

    "Regent over a baby? Why didn''t he just kill the child?"

    "Maybe he needed the goodwill of the people, and perhaps his brother was loved by the people. If the child is only two, then there is no rush to kill him."

    "Perhaps¡­ Actually, this gives me a great idea. We will deny his request for regency and give Lord Amos the Barony. Then, he will have no reason to kill the boy. This way, I have given a gift to both of them, and I can stop worrying about it. Yes, write a letter explaining to our new Baron that the boy is too young and that, therefore, Amos must take the barony or forfeit the land."

    "Very well, My King. Would you like to look to see the gift? It is quite intriguing."

    Lady Ashley Manticole

    "My dear, this letter says that your brother and his family have passed away," Jerimiah said solemnly as we sat next to each other in the sitting room, reading the daily mail.

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    "Really? Well, I guess I shouldn''t be surprised. Did he pick a fight with Decmoore?" I said, intrigued.

    "I don''t know. The letter is from your nephew, Amos, and he has enclosed a letter to you," he said while handing me another letter that also came with the package.

    I quickly scanned the letter. "Well, Aaron made an enemy out of someone. His steward poisoned him and the rest of the family. Amos and Aaron the Third are the only two who survived. It appears that he wants to mend relationships."

    "Hmm¡­well, if someone is out to get them, we best not get in the way. In fact, send him a letter to that effect."

    "That is quite honest of you, My Lord."

    "Well, yes, there is no point in beating around the bush with the boy. The boy is a fool. Remember how he destroyed his relationship with Elizabeth so thoroughly."

    "That was a bad match on my part. I shouldn''t have let my brother talk me into finding Amos a bride, especially since I had never met the boy." I said, shaking my head, "Well, maybe she can stop being angry at me now. There is no way that Amos will keep the engagement now that his father is dead."

    "Especially since he is about to be a baron, and he can probably get a baron''s daughter to marry him. Well, maybe not a baron''s. There are some knights wealthier than him. But he will marry nobility nonetheless. Society would never accept an heir who marries a mere merchant''s daughter."

    "So you think the Nephew will be dead soon," I said. I had the same thought.

    "If it hasn''t happened already, it will soon. Have Catherine go tell her friend the good news."

    "Good news! Most of my family is dead, and you call that good news."

    "I meant about the engagement, and you know it. As far as the rest goes, my dear, I think you and Susan will be all that is left of your family before the year is out."

    Susan of the Mit Trading House

    "Well, what does yours say? Is he asking for money?" Said Johnathan in a very bored yet impatient tone.

    "Actually, no, it sounds about the same as yours. All he mentioned was that the family was dead, he desires to become more acquainted with us, and hopes that the gift he sent could be appraised by us for its value," I said with a sigh. I hated that bully of a brother. He was as stupid as he was big, but for some reason, the thought of my family members dying gave me a sense of melancholy.

    "Well, then, why did he even bother writing two letters?"

    "The reports have always said the child was never all that bright. Amos probably didn''t know who to write to, so he decided to cover his bases. In his letter to me, he did specifically ask to mend familial relations. He is probably in way over his head and is reaching out to anyone who might be able to help."

    "Him surviving was probably the worst thing that could have probably happened to that barony," Jonathan muttered.

    "Johnathan, That is unkind. Neither you nor I have met the child."

    "You heard the report from your sister. The boy was an arrogant monster of a child who treated Elizabeth poorly. I can''t believe that they decided to go through with the engagement after what he did to that poor girl."

    "It is likely they were hoping to get Elizabeth pregnant and then find a way to get rid of him. They wanted a noble grandson, not a noble son-in-law."

    "Hmm¡­ you know, I never thought about that."

    "What about this paper he sent us," I said, holding up the letter.

    "It is not as durable as parchment. If the cost is low enough, then it might be worth something, but not if it is being produced in Bicman. The barony is just too far away from anything. I am sure it will not come to anything immediately."

    "But what if it was one of our parchment suppliers that was producing it? If it is a cheap process we could make good money in the capital. Or¡­ Maybe we wouldn''t need one of them. We could send John to visit his cousin. If he can figure out the process and bring it back here, we might be able to undercut the other merchants."

    "John would be perfect. We will bribe him by booking him passage via ship to Vaspar. He has been begging to go on another voyage. We just need to explain how to act around his cousin. Amos may only be a baron in the middle of nowhere, but that doesn''t mean he won''t do anything stupid if John annoys him. Nobles back each other more than they do the law."

    "You think there will be a problem?"

    "Not as long as John acts respectful and keeps his opinions about nobles to himself."

 April Fools Alternate Ending

    For those of you who refuse to look at chapter title names this is not actually part of the story. I specifically wrote it for April Fool¡¯s.

    I stood in the courtyard of Count Vaspar''s Castle. A crowd of people waited for me outside the gate. These were all the people I paid to come to work for me in Bicman. I was not looking forward to the long ride back but was eager to arrive. The trip to Vaspar had been educational and fruitful. I had obtained a lot of money and spent quite a bit of it just as fast.

    The news of my paintings had spread, and even within the few days since the count''s painting had been revealed, I had received numerous requests from various nobles for similar paintings. Even with the exorbitant price I demanded, the requests kept coming. Most dropped out when I explained that I must return to my barony and they would have to go there to get the painting done. No one wanted to visit the marshes. There were a few die-hards and I ended up scheduling one each month for the next year.

    I was just stepping into my carriage when pain erupted in my brain. I screamed in agony as I tried to maintain consciousness. When the pain started to subside, I found myself lying on my back in the stone-paved courtyard. Struggling to look around, I found everyone had collapsed in a similar manner. Some were groaning, and some were weeping. Then, a blue screen appeared in front of me.

    Welcome to the system!

    Calibrating neural link

    ''Oh heck no, Endless One! This is a transmigration story; you are not adding a System to this mess you have gotten me into.''

    I got no response, so I sat up. The headache was still there, so I stayed seated for now. If this followed standard System Novel protocol, I knew what would happen next. Sure enough, more messages started to pop up.

    Mana density has reached 10%. F-rank mobs have begun to spawn.

    ''Crap.''

    Interface is now available.

    ''Crap!''

    First quest has been issued.

    Survive the trip home!

    ''CRAPITY, CRAP, CRAP! We''re all screwed.''

    I sighed. "Well, system, show me my interface."

    <table style="width: 37.2055%">

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Name

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    Amos Bicman

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    Age

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    17

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    Race

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    Human

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Level

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    1

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    Experience

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    0/100

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    Class

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    Nobleman

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Health

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    56/70

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    Stamina

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    65/70

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    Mana

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    1000/1000

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Stats

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Strength

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    7

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    Charisma

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    12

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Agility

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    9

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    Intelligence

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    14

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Dexterity

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    11

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    Wisdom

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    12

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Vitality

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    7

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Skills

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Artist

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    26

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Diplomat

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    1

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Haggler

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    6

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Leadership

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    2

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Titles

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Baron

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    10% to allure

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    You gain 1% of all experience earned by your subjects.

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    Barony interface unlocked

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    Chosen of the Endless One

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    1000% normal mana

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%"> </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    Skill Development

    Accelerated

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%"> </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%"> </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%"> </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%"> </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

    <td style="width: 12.5387%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 14.7059%">

    3 to charisma

    </td>

    <td style="width: 12.8483%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 7.27554%">

    </td>

    <td style="width: 43.808%">

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    ''What the actual heck! I am not a baron,'' I thought. ''At least I have magic... Wait, hey, Endless One, I''ve got no spells.''

    "Help- Interface," I said

    The Interface is the way that the system interacts with players.

    "Help- Magic"

    Magic is the manipulation of mana.

    ''Thanks a lot,'' I thought sarcastically. ''Help- obtain spells''

    Spells may be obtained through spell scrolls, grimoires, learning from another, or experimentation. Warning- Spell creation can lead to serious side effects.

    After closing my Interface, I looked around. Draves was back on his feet and had a hand against the carriage to support himself.

    "Captain, we have a problem. Help me up."

    "My Lord, do you know what is going on?" He said as he walked over.

    "The Endless One is having fun at our expense."

    "My Lord, I urge you not to speak such words." Draves said in alarm.

    "Well, That is neither here nor there. Draves, I want you to think ''Interface.''"

    "What is this, My Lord?"

    "Now, ask it to close. I will explain on the way. We must return to Bicman as fast as possible. I know we have all these people, but they will be safer here."

    "Safer?"

    "Right now, the Endless One is creating creatures from our nightmares to test us. They are called mobs. We must hurry home and help defend Bicman. We need to leave now before they close the gates."

    I exited the gates to the panicked crowd. I am sure this area will soon be flooded with more people demanding answers from the count. I would love to stay and help, but my first obligation was to my own people.

    "Those who have been contracted to me. Due to this bizarre circumstance, I am releasing you from all obligations to me. I will depart immediately and at a fast pace to make sure my people are safe. I will give a silver crown to those who wish to stay. Due to the possibility of unrest, I cannot guarantee your safety on the road.

    A silver crown per person would hurt my bank account but would not be as painful as knowing that some may die on our travels. When I made this announcement, the count''s servants were in the courtyard, and I asked them to let the count know what I had done.

    We had purchased eight mules and three additional wagons, but I decided to leave the wagon with metals. The two extra mules would be good to rotate out so we could keep a good pace.

    Once we were outside of the town and marching, I began to speak to Draves. "Draves, I am going to tell you all I know about what this might mean, but you will be responsible for disseminating the information to the people traveling with us. First, let''s go over your status page."

    After reviewing it, I found out that Draves''s class was Gaurd, and he had the title of Captain. His physical stats were all slightly above ten, as was his Charisma. His willpower and intelligence were eight. I explained how to ask the system for help and explained what we might encounter in the future. I told him that monsters could be gathering near our barony to attack right now.

    "If I were not seeing these screens right now, I would call you crazy."

    "I wish I were. If the legends of my world are correct, we are in for some tough times. There will be political upheaval at the bare minimum, and many will die if the monsters start to rampage. Let''s take a break, and you can go explain things to the men and those who came with us. Show them the Interface first so they don''t think you are crazy."

    "Most of them cannot read. How will they know what it all means."

    "I don''t know. I will start writing down the alphabet, and we can teach them in the evening."

    The break lasted almost two hours. Draves was helping everybody understand the new reality. Even though they could see the Interface, a few balked at what he was saying. Eventually, we were ready to move again, and Draves stepped back into the carriage.

    "How did it go?"

    "We have a lot of people who are nervous. I told them what you said about monsters, and there was almost a panic. The really strange thing is that all of them instinctively knew what the interface pages said, even those who can''t read. I need to be out there with them, My Lord, especially if your belief that monsters may be in the woods is correct."

    "Go, I have plenty to keep myself occupied with. I need to learn how magic works."

    Draves just shook his head, "Magic. I just can''t believe it."

    "I don''t know if I can either, but I will try."

    I spent the next few hours trying to figure out how to manifest my magic. I decided to go with the basic flameless light spell as I didn''t want to try anything destructive in the carriage. I tried every method I could think of from the novels I had read, but nothing worked. It may have been the bumpiness of the ride. No matter how much better the leaf springs made the carriage, it didn''t replace modern suspension and paved roads.

    The first attack happened three hours later. I heard a shout from behind us, and suddenly, Draves was calling out commands. He never left the carriage''s side. Growls and chittering came from behind, and I stuck my head out the window.

    "Goblins, of course, it''s goblins." I groaned. I couldn''t see many of them because they were about the size of an eight-year-old child, and my men towered over them. Dark green, rough skin with sharp teeth and claws, they looked like overside gremlins from that old movie. They were naked and had no weapons, but they were very good at dodging my men''s spears. The younger men were inexperienced, and everyone was a little freaked out. It took a while, but my men managed to put the little creatures down.

    I got out of my carriage, much to the captain''s displeasure.

    "Is everyone ok," I called out.

    I saw some people getting bandaged as I started to head over.

    "Hey, I got + 1 in my spear skill; does anybody know what that means?" He said.

    "That means the system decided that you have improved your spearmanship. Congratulations." I said.

    The young man stood up straighter. "Thank you, My Lord."

    Did you get XP?

    "It said I got 10 XP.

    "Good job. With 90 more, you will gain a level, which will strengthen you."

    Other people started shouting out different amounts of XP.

    "Congratulations to everyone on their first victory."

    A few people cheered, but it quieted quickly.

    "I suspect that these were level-one mobs. The system said there would be level one to five mobs. We must be vigilant. Nobody is to go anywhere alone. I don''t care if you are just taking a leak on the side of the road. We have no idea what is out there. A minimum of groups of three at all times, and no one is to go more than twenty meters away from camp. If anyone levels up, let me know immediately. If it gives you points to distribute, do not do so without my help. I will try to help you distribute the points so that you all maximize your chances of surviving."

    I continued over to the wagon, where injuries were being treated. A fire had been started, and water set in a pot ready to be boiled.

    As I approached one of my militia in training, I saw that he had a piece of cloth on his forearm.

    "May I see your injury?"

    The young man looked up at me and grimaced. "Yes, My-My Lord, of course."

    I had an idea that I hoped would work. Maybe to learn mana, it must be put to use, or there must be a need. Lighting up a well-lit carriage might not have been a strong enough reason. The wound was deep and looked dirty. It would probably become infected from the filth on the goblins'' razor like claws.

    I placed my hands on the open wound, and the boy grit his teeth in pain. "Heal," I said in a commanding voice as I envisioned the wound being cleansed and then the tissue regrowing.

    I felt the mana flowing out of my body and into the young man. A vague impression of a rune popped into my mind, but it was fuzzy and distorted. I felt lightheaded and a little drained. When I could finally focus again, I noticed the young man staring at his wound. He lifted his eyes, and I saw his face filled with awe.

    "How?"

    Looking around, I saw people start to gather, and the crowd began to mutter.

    "The Endless One may have introduced monsters into the world, but he has also given us the means to fight them. The creatures will get stronger, so we must use the system to do the same. I will come around and try to heal all those who were injured."

    It did, in fact, get easier, and after the initial heal, I did not become woozy. The amount of mana consumed was proportional to the severity of the wound. After practicing my spell on every member with an injury, including bumps and bruises, we were ready to move out again.

    After I got into the carriage, I looked at a blinking dot in the corner of my vision, which I had been ignoring.

    You have learned Minor Heal. Due to prior knowledge, your proficiency has increased.

    You are the first person in the system to unlock magic. 10,000 XP awarded

    You are the first person to learn Minor Heal. 500 XP awarded

    Due to prior knowledge of Anatomy, your Healing spell is Level 5.

    Due to your prior knowledge of pathology, Non Magical Cleanse effect has been added to your spell.

    You have opened up a nonstandard class, Healer. 1000 XP

    You have obtained a new title, Trendsetter. 25% to XP gain. 2000 XP

    You have obtained a subclass Healer. All healing related spells cost 50% less mana.

    You have gained 720 XP

    You are now level 8

    You have 14 stat points to distribute.

    You have seven skill points to distribute. Points must be distributed within 24 hours, or they will be forfeited.

    ''Dang, I was at an even higher level than all the Mobs.''

    With how much experience all the men gained from killing the eight goblins, my baron bonus hadn''t even given me one point. I would have needed 10,000 combined experience of all my subjects to reach level two, which would have meant that everyone in my barony would have needed to reach level 2. I guess that is a way to get nobles to not be so flippant about their people''s lives. It also encourages them to increase their subjects'' levels.

    I would need to help defeat higher-level monsters or gain more bonus experience. Healing minor injuries will not get me very far. I had healed five injuries, not including bruising or sore muscles, and had only gained 720 XP. As my men became more competent, they would receive fewer injuries. I wonder if they have a party feature for sharing XP?

    For now, I need to distribute my stats and try to formulate new spells. I had heard terms like min-max and read some system novels, but I was not very good at the whole gaming thing. I decided I wanted a mage focus, but right now, I was so squishy with my low vitality that a strong breeze could kill me. I started with an experiment. I dropped one point into vitality, intelligence, and wisdom. My health and stamina increased by 10, but my mana increased by 100. That 1000% mana bonus was awesome. I am guessing that wisdom controlled mana regen, and with my larger mana pool, I would need the higher regen. I dumped seven points into wisdom, two more into vitality, and the rest into intelligence.

    Now for spells. Offensive spells would need to be practiced in combat, but that didn''t mean I couldn''t decide on what I wanted to create. Since I didn''t want to burn down the forest, I figured an earth spell would be best. Now, could I make an earth spike from mana, or did I need to use stones and shape them?

    I called out of the window, "Draves, Can you grab me a stone?"

    "Yes, My Lord."

    He called out to a nearby guard, and a moment later, he handed me a stone. For the next hour, I attempted to shape the stone. When I used pure infused mana, I got no results. It wasn''t until I squeezed the stone in frustration that I got results. Using both physical and mental force, I slowly changed the shape of the stone. Once again, I became dizzy. When I moved my hand away from the stone I could see impressions in the rock. I was so amazed that I almost missed the blinking notification. Pulling it up, I saw:

    You have created the spell Earth Shaping. 1000 XP

    You have opened up a nonstandard class, Mage. 2000 XP

    Would you like to switch your class to Mage? All Mage-related spells cost 10% less mana.

    Hmm. Not really worth it unless I was going to switch to a straight mage class. I looked at my screen and found that the spell was level 1. I thought about increasing the spell using skill points but then decided I needed to save them for when I got to higher levels. I''m sure raising the spell at higher levels became more difficult. That meant I had less than twenty-four hours to master Earth Spike and add levels to it before I lost my points. Fortunately, I could practice a lot with my high mana pool before I ran dry.

    I inserted mana into the stone and tried to mold it like clay. I wanted to make it into the shape of a spike, and this took both mental and physical effort.

    You have gained a point in Earth Shaping.

    You have gained a point in Earth Shaping.

    You have gained a point in Earth Shaping.

    You have gained a point in Earth Shaping.

    I had raised my Earth Shaping to level five. I could now hold the stone in my hand and will it to shape the way I wanted it to. Not that I could do much with it. I needed to be able to accelerate it at my enemy using wind magic, gravity magic, or telekinesis. For all I knew, gravity magic and telekinesis could be the same thing.

    Due to understanding a fundamental principle of magic, you gain 1000 XP.

    ''Isn''t this just cheating a little bit? I''m going to become one of those OP characters!''

    Then suddenly, I heard shouts of alarm. I looked out my window to see goblins charging my men again. It was a larger group, and now, some of them were wearing ragged leather armor.

    ''Never mind, I''ll take the Over Poweredness, thank you very much.''

    I tried to focus my mind on pushing my magic into those I was fighting to try and give buffs. So, I knew that beta waves caused alertness. Serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and epinephrine were all chemicals that affected alertness. Too much was a bad thing, but what if I could create a similar effect with mana? If I could-

    You have created the buff Battle Ready. 1000 XP

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ''Thank you system''

    My men started to move faster, and their spears seemed to hit more often. I focused on the goblins, trying to see their stats. It wasn''t until I tried to push the mana into my eyes that I got a result.

    You have created the spell Farsight. 1000 XP

    You have created the skill Anylize. 1000 XP

    Suddenly, my vision was sharper, and a window popped up in the corner of my vision.

    Goblin Grunt LVL 1

    Health 16/30

    Abilities- None

    Skills- None

    Goblin Warrior LVL 3

    Health 24/40

    Abilities- None

    Skills- None

    Those Warriors were definitely faster and stronger than the grunts, but with my buff, they were no match for my guards. It wasn''t long before the guards had slaughtered the little monsters. When they were done, I wanted to get out and start healing people, but I had a splitting headache from learning three spells in quick succession.

    Draves came to my window and asked how I was doing. I explained what I had done and that I had a splitting headache, and in return, I got one of those rare looks of surprise on the captain''s face.

    "That was you. I felt like I could lift a mountain. You increased everyone outside of the carriage. Are you OK?"

    Then it dawned on me: Maybe excessive mana use caused the issue, not the spells.

    Mana 643/1400

    ''Wow, I was in 1292 when I started. That area buff used a lot of mana, but that was only half of what it would have cost if I hadn''t been a healer. Of course, that was also a pretty massive buff.''

    I wasn''t bottomed out, though, so I wasn''t sure which thing caused the issue.

    "I''m not sure, but the headache is already starting to go away. I''ll be ready to start healing now."

    I could tell Draves wanted to protest, but I wasn''t about to let a headache stop me from healing the men. I made my rounds and then chatted with a few men. Some of them had gotten the Spearman Class, and when they picked it, they got 500 XP. That got them to level 3, and I helped them each distribute points. The rest were grumbling a bit, but I was sure they would get theirs soon enough. We looted the corpses, giving those who participated the few shards of crystal that goblins dropped.

    After another two hours of traveling, we reached a village. Most of the men were in the village square, and the women and children were nowhere to be seen. The village had obviously been raided by the goblins because there were corpses in a pile.

    When we arrived at the square, we were greeted by the headman. Everyone was extremely freaked out, so I requested that the headman meet with me privately for a moment. We still had daylight, so I wanted to make it to the next village before we slept, but I couldn''t just ignore the villages we passed. I gave the headman an hour of my time. I explained that he should expect the number of monsters to increase and get stronger. They needed to build a protective wall around their village.

    At first, he protested, saying that the new baron would probably displeased to find that they had done so without his permission. I explained that because this was happening everywhere, their baron would be too busy to help. He probably wouldn''t even attempt to travel to his new barony until he was sure it was safe. He should assume that they were on their own for the near future. I told him that he could tell the new baron that I demanded he do this thing.

    After I explained all I could, I answered his questions and healed him from the injury he had received during the fight. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. I decided to try to teach him how to heal. I had discovered his mana pole was 110, which meant 11 in intelligence. First, I held his hand and tried to let some of my mana flow into him. He felt the mana, and then we tried to do the opposite.

    Once he got a feel for his mana, we went to where his men were. Now that our people had arrived, more of the town folk had come out of their homes. I healed one to show them what we were trying to do. Now, it was his turn.

    I explained that intent was the most important thing, followed by need. I had deduced that magic filled in the parts you didn''t know, which is why intent was so important. As he began to focus on healing, I tried to explain what the mana needed to do. I explained that muscle tissue, fat, nerves, and skin all needed to regrow. I explained that fuel and liquids were needed. I told him I didn''t know everything, so magic filled the gaps. The local medicine woman joined us in the middle of my explanation. Just as I began to think it wouldn''t work, a light glow appeared around the wound. It was only a few seconds later that the headman collapsed to his side and began to vomit.

    After a minute, the man sat up and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

    "Ugh, that was awful. I never want to experience that again."

    "Check your mana as I showed you."

    After a moment, the man said. "Zero of one hundred-ten."

    "What you experienced was mana fatigue. It happens when you run dry on mana. It is similar to running until you can''t run anymore and begin to puke. Did you get a class?

    "It says I can choose the healer class. If I choose it, I cannot change it for six months."

    ''Hmm, I wonder why it didn''t impose that restriction on me when I was creating classes. Was it because the classes were new to the system?''

    "It should cost you less to cast heal if you take the class."

    "Thank you, but I think I will pass. From what you explained, I think I will choose Fighter Class. We are going to need more of those. Tammy, come learn this," he said to the medicine woman.

    She was nervous but came over all the same. She had heard my teaching the headman, but I reviewed everything with her anyway. Only a few minutes later, the man''s wound began to glow and heal. Tammy was tired but wasn''t nearly as bad as the headman. A moment later, she began to smile.

    "Did you get the class?"

    "Yes, My Lord, and I also gained two levels."

    OK, Let''s review your stats and explain them. Then you can help the headman explain to others.

    Reviewing both their stats, I found that the headman had gotten Heal level 1, and Tammys was at Heal level 3. She was able to heal one more person before her mana was out. I would let her continue to train on all those who were injured. It would be great for leveling. We had stayed longer than I wanted to, so I rounded up my men, who had been helping craft stone spearheads for the peasants and left.

    After I was in the carriage, I addressed the notification I had received when the headman had collapsed. Focusing on the blinking icon in the corner of my vision, I pulled it up.

    You have unlocked the Scholar class.

    For being the first person to train someone in a nonstandard class, you receive the title Mentor. When teaching a nonstandard class, you will be 200% more effective. 2000 XP

    This was getting ridiculous. And at the same time, I loved it.

    I was coming up on the time that I would need to drop my points into something before I lost them, so I decided to put them in Battle Ready. I used it every time we were in a battle, but the cost was high, and it wasn''t really leveling. Dropping all my points into Battle Ready, it was now at level 10.

    After another two hours, I was proficient enough at Earth Shaping to mold it just by thought. Then, I got the bright idea of practicing outside. Draves was once again not happy with me, but I needed to practice this in order to turn it into something I could attack with. I started by turning by compacting the dirt on the side of the road into something similar to stone. After a few more levels in it, I was able to do it while walking. Compacting it lowered the road level in those areas, and I hardened slightly. So, I got the bright idea of starting to smooth out the ruts in front of us.

    When we were again attacked, I rushed back into the carriage and waited until the fighting ended. The enemies attacking were about the same composition as last time, and all my fighting men were now at level 3 or above and had the fighter class. After receiving a small amount of healing and helping the men distribute points, we were on our way.

    By the time we reached the next village, I could continuously shape the road in front of us to smooth, hard-packed dirt. I was also able to gather the earth around an area and turn it into a spike on the ground. Not as good as the Earth Spike in video games and LitRPGs, but I was getting there.

    This town had not fared as well as the last one. It was abandoned, and the largest grouping of Goblins we had seen had made their camp there. They even had a level 5 Goblin Chief. Without my buff, I fear we might have lost. I was also on the back line, constantly healing people. By the time we were done mopping them up, most of my men were injured, and one had died before I could heal him. I was lower on mana than I had ever been by the time we were done.

    After we had looted all the goblins and the bodies were vanishing, we started to search the town for any possible survivors. We only found corpses. We built a pyre outside of town and burned the bodies.

    After the short service, we set rotations, and everyone fell asleep. Before I went completely under, I looked at my notifications and realized I received more healing experience during combat. It wasn''t enough to get me close to the next level, but I suspect that was because we were fighting much lower level monsters than me.

    In the morning, we started to march, and I continued to practice with my Earth Shaping. I wasn''t really getting any more levels from using it this way since I had leveled it to 14 by now, but it made it easier for the men, and that made it worth it.

    Due to lower stamina and my health, I had to rest more often than my men, but I seemed to be getting better. Hopefully, by the time I got back to Bicman, I would be almost done with it. Fortunately, we had my carriage, so I didn''t have to slow us down while I recovered.

    We were just having a midday break when one of the noncombatants approached me and bowed.

    "My Lord, may I trouble you for a moment."

    "No problem, though I have forgotten your name since I hired you."

    "Devin, My Lord."

    I snapped my fingers, "That is right. You are one of the Laborers I hired for the mines and road crew."

    "Yes, My Lord, I was¡­ Well, I saw that you taught those people to heal, and I was wondering if you could teach me the thing you do with the road." He said, looking embarrassed.

    I smiled, "I thought that was what this was about. Have there been others that were interested as well?"

    "A few of us have discussed it."

    "Well, gather them up, and let''s see what we can do."

    I spent the rest of the break trying to instruct the five men who were interested in learning it. Two of them were able to learn it. When reviewing their stats, I found that both of them had a ten in intelligence while the others were at level 7 or 8. I explained that a minimum intelligence score may be required, but there was no rush or shame in not having the score where it needed to be. I explained how they could level it but also that there were benefits they may get from taking the approach of a strength and endurance based class with the class of miner or stone mason.

    The two men who could do it were exhausted after one casting of the spell, and there was only a slight indentation in the rock. I told them not to be discouraged; the more they practiced, the easier it would become. Their mana regen was also dismal, so we only got one cast in before we had to leave.

    As I took my next break in my carriage, I decided to try something. I wanted mana sight¡ªthe one you read about where people can see the flow of mana. I pushed mana into my eyes again, but this time, I focused on the stone I was trying to shape. After several minutes, I began to see a blurry symbol in front of me.

    You have learned the skill Mage Sight. 1000 XP

    ''Yeah, a fun new thing to try.''

    I started to practice the skill. By our next break, the symbol was becoming more defined, and I could tell it was some sort of rune. It had to be massively complex. Because it was still blurry, I was unsure if I would ever figure out all the lines.

    Practice, practice, practice. I practiced this skill for the rest of the day, but I never got to the point where I could see it. I did notice that as I shaped the rock, different areas of the rune began to glow more brightly. That led me to notice that that was also true when I wasn''t trying to affect it at all. Some parts were always brighter than others. I kept trying to figure out what this meant but couldn''t wrap my head around it.

    We began to slow down as we reached the village where we were about to stay. I noticed one of the areas dim slightly. It was still brighter than most, but something clicked. I was sending mana through this rune to manipulate the rock, which meant that this spell had to identify what it was affecting. If this rune was defining its target, then the most likely thing changing right now would be its location in time and space. The spot that was always slightly bright and never changed intensity may be its location in time. The one that dimmed when we stopped was its location in space. An object never truly stops moving through space, so it wouldn''t go completely out as long as my mana was identifying its location. Were spells like programming languages. Functions, objects, and variables?

    Congratulations, you have unlocked a principle of The System. +2 to intelligence. 5000 XP

    ''Crap! I knew I should have paid more attention in that class.''

    If I could learn to manipulate those symbols for time and space, could I teleport myself? I probably didn''t need to figure that out by myself, though. Intent and understanding were the keys, and mana filled in the gaps.

    Wait! What if I tried creating a portal instead? I could send us all home right now! Okay, I had read enough Steven Halking and sci-fi to create a portal that bent time and space, right?

    I started thinking about the different theories and how they were all possible. I got out of the carriage and focused on the area in front of me. Then I thought of my room back in Bicman. Next, I started pumping mana into my intent.

    There was a loud explosion, and I was flung back into the carriage. As I focused on the space in front of me, a hole opened in space, showing an inky blackness.

    You have unlocked the spell &@7%&. 1000 XP

    You have unlocked the nonstandard class Space-Time Mage. Space-time related spells cost 50% less.

    Warning: Your lack of mana has made your portal in space unstable. Because this happened inside a solar system''s gravity well, imminent destruction will occur.

    You have received the title World Ender. 10,000 XP. 500% bonus to all Destructive spells

    Congratulations, you have caused the destruction of your solar system in record time! Beating all previous records of System Inc.

    Your accomplishment has been posted.

    Critical failure in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­

    Time froze, and the tear disappeared, but another message appeared.

    The owner of this Universe has requested a patch be created for this System to prevent the Destruction of this Solar System. System Inc. apologizes for the loss of experience due to 2,372,986 spawns not being destroyed and receiving the title Murder Hobo. As compensation for this, you will receive seven levels and a spell scroll. Due to the fact that the patch was put in place after your title was received, we at System Inc. will honor the title and record. Thank you for your cooperation.

    You have received external messages from outside the System.

    Eroc: Dude, if you had managed to destroy the planet, I would have been so pissed! However, the event is going viral on Godnet, and I got the best screenshot of your face when you found out you were the cause of the destruction of the world. The memes it generated were awesome. So all''s well that ends well I guess. Try not to get into too much trouble, "World Ender."

    Rondo: Great work, Amos. You almost gave Eroc a heart attack. Well, if he had a heart, I guess. Keep up the excellent work. Love''n the system vid''s

    Tor: Love it!

    Finor: Your a moron!

    Tamis: So cool!

    Guinness: Record Breaker. Woot! Woot!

    Hantarius: Are you one of those people who can''t chew gum and walk at the same time?

    Donis: Dang, you beat my guy''s record! Guess I will have to load up another system world. WTG!

    ''Were these Gods?! They''re all crazy.''

    Seven levels are nice. That puts me at fifteen.

    Suddenly, the world around me started up again.

    "My Lord, are you ok?" came the somewhat panicked voice of Draves.

    "Yeah, give me a moment. I''m just playing around with space and time. I got a little carried away."

    I opened the scroll that had appeared in my hand.

    Looking at it, knowledge flooded my mind

    You have gained a deeper understanding of portals.

    Previous spell &@7%& has been replaced with Portal Creation. +5 to skill

    Wow. I could now create a stable portal. My experiment has been completely foolish. It was missing so many components to link the two spaces together. This scroll also gave me a general idea of how much mana it took to create a gate and send something through. This was much more mana intensive than anything else I have tried. I immediately dumped the seven skill points I had into this spell.

    Now, the portal cost for the diameter was 13 mana per meter. It was about ten mana per kilometer. And about one mana per Kilogram of mass passing through the portal. I could adjust the shape of the opening, so I would probably need about 20 mana for the shape of the portal. If I were to go all the way to Bicman, it might be about 250 Kilometers, and I probably was about 130 kilograms. So if I went myself, it would cost 2650 mana. For a normal person, they would need an intelligence score of 265 to do that. I currently had 1800 mana at my max. We would need to be only a day or two away before I could send someone through to scout it out. I could always switch to Space-Time Mage, but I was still needed as a healer. Looks like I need to raise my level a bit. This was going to be so fun to play with, though.

    "Hey, Captain. Watch this," I grinned.

    I opened a portal about the size of a basketball hoop in front of me, and the exit point faced down right in front of Draves. I tossed the rock at my side into the portal and laughed as it dropped down straight in front of the captain.

    As I looked around, I couldn''t help but see the shocked expressions on everyone''s faces.

    "Thank you, and now for my next performance¡­" I opened a portal and stepped through. From behind the gathered crowd, I watched as people gasped.

    I started laughing with glee, and the whole crowd whipped around to face me. This was the best thing ever.

    "My Lord, can you teach anyone to do that." a brave young soldier called out.

    "Actually, I don''t really know. Just doing that cost about 160 mana."

    "My Lord, does that mean you have more than 16 intelligence?! H-How?"

    "Well, um, actually¡­"

    ''Ugh, this is so embarrassing, but they were going to find out eventually.''

    "You see, I got extra mana as a reward for being the first to get mana."

    A little white lie never hurt anybody, right? Besides, there was no way I was going to tell them I got it for being the "Chosen of the Endless One." however, I had no doubt that those who considered me as the chosen one would use this to strengthen their belief.

    "Anyways, that is not important. Let''s greet the people who are now all hiding in their houses." ''

    Having been here before, I was hoping for a warmer reception, instead of bothering to go to the headman''s house. I had Draves just call out.

    "People of Inmar, we have come to provide assistance on our way back to the Barony of Bicman. My Lord requests the presence of the headman."

    It was a few minutes before a woman stepped out of a house near the carriage. Falling to her knees, she said, "My Lord, forgive us. The headman died in an attack on the village from monsters yesterday. We had another attack this morning, and then the soldiers of Decmoore came and told us that they were drafting the rest to fight against the monsters. Our men refused to leave us defenseless, and so the soldiers slaughtered them. If you are here to recruit more men, there is no one left."

    My mind went blank for a moment, not able to process the thought of killing people for trying to protect their families. Then, I was filled with rage.

    "Rise, woman. We cannot stay to protect you, but neither am I willing to leave you defenseless. Prepare yourselves to leave. You will journey with us until we can find a safe place for all of you. With monsters attacking and no one to defend you, you cannot survive."

    "There are over sixty of us left in the village. Where will we go?"

    "All the way back to Bicman if we must. I cannot force anyone to go, but I will not condemn you to death either."

    "We have sick and wounded."

    "I have been granted power to heal," I said confidently. Knowing that a demonstration was needed fast if I were to avoid being called crazy. I drew my belt knife and sliced my palm. The pain was sharp and penetrating, but I fought through it and helped myself.

    When I looked up, the woman was in shock. The blood remained, but I whipped it away. "Now lead me to your injured or meek, and we will get them healed. We need to leave as soon as possible tomorrow."

    "Captian, get the camp set up. I am going to start healing people." Turning to the woman, I said. "What is your name?"

    "Tara, My Lord."

    "Come Tara, we have work to do."

    I spent the next half hour treating wounds and illnesses.

    Fortunately, about ten men had been injured to the point that the soldiers of Decmoor did not pay them any mind.

    The people of my group were sitting down with people of the town explaining the System. I was still amazed that people who couldn''t read intuitively knew what everything said. That didn''t give them an understanding of what it meant, but all of them, even young children, could read off their stats.

    Two of the wounded men were Level 2, and the rest were getting close. After healing them, I had them distribute their stats, and they were amazed at the boost they received. We needed to hurry to get back to Bicman. I was sure that some of my people had already leveled, and I was sure that they probably hadn''t learned how to open their stat windows yet. That meant they would lose their skill points.

    We found the first person who had gotten a noncombat-related class. It was a woman who had been weaving bandages and cloth for the last two days. She was a Level 1 Weaver with a skill at level 16. It appears after she got the class, she started to get small amounts of general experience for every yard or so she finished. When I showed her how to open her Stats, we found that she was about halfway to level 2.

    We all crashed hard that night. I had used a lot of mana, both when healing and when zeroing out at the first portal. I was glad for my decision to dump a bunch of stats into wisdom so that my Mana Regenerated fairly quickly. It wasn''t quite fast enough to keep up with my healing, but for things like Mage Sight, it was no problem.

    Everyone rose at dawn the next day and made final preparations to move out. We gathered hand carts and what remained of their storage and continued our trek north.

    I really thought I could learn translocation magic by shifting the numbers inside the data that made up the rock, but I had no desire to bottom out my mana. And although the System said a patch had been created to prevent world ending events, I still didn''t want to push it. So, I decided to play with something simple, like gravity. I once read a novel where people could fly by changing the direction in which gravity asserted itself on them. There are a thousand reasons why that doesn''t make sense, but¡­ What if I filled the rock with mana and then willed gravity to¡ª THUMP!

    I jumped as the rock in my hand dropped onto the sealing. I watched as my mana steadily began to drain. Cutting off the flow, the rock fell back into my lap.

    You have unlocked the spell, Gravity Anchor. 1000 XP

    Sweet! I continued to practice, and soon, I was able to change not only the direction of the gravity but also the intensity. I learned that what I did did not cancel the standard gravitational pull on the object but gave it a counter pull. So, I was able to make the rock float in the air by giving it an equivalent gravitational pull upward. I could move the rock laterally as long as I pulled it up and in the direction I wanted it to go. Without the upward pull, the rock would fall to the ground and then begin to slide.

    At one of our breaks, I borrowed a spear for an experiment. I filled the tip with mana. Running forward, I threw it like a javelin. At the last second, I altered the gravity to make its horizontal pull five times greater. The object accelerated towards the tree I was aiming for. Unfortunately, my aim was off, and I missed the tree by a large margin. It would have been embarrassing if it hadn''t been for the fact that it flew into another tree twice the distance away.

    Once again, I had awed my audience. I started using rocks instead since I wouldn''t have to retrieve them, and after a few more practice runs, I found that I could anchor the gravitational pull to the object I was trying to hit. Now, even if my hand-eye coordination sucked, it would always "drop" to the tree I was aiming at. It was hilarious.

    I found out mass also played a part in the amount of mana drain. Lifting myself off the ground caused my mana to plummet. Floating was fun to show people but not practical. But after I restored my mana, I reduced my pull enough to simulate walking on the moon. That was also pretty fun.

    One of the young children from the village surprised me when he came up to me and said, "Can you teach me to do that?"

    I looked up to see a mortified mother looking at her child. I wonder if she thought I was going to behead him for talking to me. I gave her a reassuring smile and turned back to the child. Squatting down to eye level with the boy, I said, "What is your name, young man?"

    "Brock," He said with a grin.

    I placed my hand on his shoulder and filled him with my mana. "Well, Brock, let''s see how high you can jump."

    Adding just a touch of pull, I watched as he jumped a little higher than a boy his age should.

    "Come on, Brock. I am sure you can jump higher," I said, adding a little more pull.

    This time, he jumped almost higher than his own head before coming down gently. Suddenly, he was swarmed by other kids all chatting about him jumping so high.

    I withdrew my mana and said to Brock, "OK, I have to stop making you jump so high. It is wearing me out. I will try to help all of you jump as high as Brock sometimes, but for now, I must get something to eat.

    After lunch, we continued on our way. The following two villages had been turned into goblin camps. My fighter''s average level now was three, and they were getting noticeably faster and stronger even without my buff. I had vomited the first few times I had seen dead people, but my mind had started to adjust. I guess there is only so much you can see before your mind forces you to become numb to it, or you descend into madness. Yelling at Eroc did nothing, and so after allowing myself a few hours of melancholy, I sat up straight and committed myself to save who I could without slowing us down too much. We did not take all the supplies in each village we found just in case others passed through the village and were in need of extra things.

    We often found evidence of fighting on the road but never any bodies. I shuttered to think what the monsters were doing with the corpses. I started to try to manipulate metal arrow heads. I noticed that the harder the material, the more it resisted. I don''t know if that was a mental block on my part or an actual law of the universe. Slowly, I began to mold it until I got a new message.

    You have unlocked the Class Geomancer. Geomancer spells cost 50% less with this class.

    Nope, I''m still not changing. It was nice to see that my Earth Shaping had gone up another level, though. It had slowed to a crawl after level 10. Of course, that may have been because I was playing around with other things. I molded two arrowheads together and then attached a wooden stick. I could throw this at a goblin, and I bet it would punch right through the little beasts. I made 5 of them. I wish I had a dimensional storage bag, but I didn''t want to play more with that until I practiced with standard portals. It appeared that single tears in space without an exit were unstable. Were bags of holding even possible? Maybe if I created a portal attached to an actual container. Something close by like my clothes chest. Then, I could reach in and grab things. Not quite as good, but it beat carrying a bunch of darts on my body.

    I couldn''t find an appropriate container without dumping out supplies, so I just grabbed a leather satchel, which I would use for the time being. Spacial storage could wait. Now, it was time to practice more road paving.

    We had found five people who were capable of manipulating the earth. They were practicing smoothing out dirt as we traveled. They would mostly walk at the edges of the road and smooth them out. It was tough for them, and they had to take breaks often, but they were steadily improving.

    When I got up next to my carriage driver and started to harden the road in front of the mules, I once again got odd looks. I decided to do it this way so that I could practice the spell and use Mana Sight at the same time. I really wanted to understand all these squiggly lines.

    Now that I was no longer focusing on a single object in space, different areas lit up. The function or object I assumed was time was still constant, but different areas were shifting constantly now. If I could just pull¡ªSuddenly, the blurry mass of squiggly lines separated into five separate masses of lines. Mana passed through one after the other before it created the effect.

    Congratulations! Your understanding of spell crafting has increased. 1000 XP

    I had a thought and really knew I shouldn''t try it, but I couldn''t help myself. I deleted the first fuzzy mass¡­ I''ll call them runes. When I deleted it, my mana suddenly started to drain faster, and maintaining the spell became harder. Aborting the spell, I picked up my trusty rock. I started to mold it and pull apart the spell at the same time. There were three runes this time. I deleted the first rune, and the spell stopped working. Same with the second one. Deleting the third one did not stop the mana flow, but I could no longer manipulate the rock. I tried using Mana Sight again while casting the Identify spell.

    Rock- Metamorphic

    Ignoring the information, I looked at the two symbols that appeared in front of me. Because I couldn''t see it clearly, I couldn''t be one hundred percent certain, but one of the runes may have been the same as one I had seen in the last spell. The other must be the Identify portion of the spell. What would happen if I duplicated that rune in a manner that didn''t specifically target that object and then added a rune that would cause a duplicate? Could I create a copy? Focusing on what I wanted, I gave the intent and fed it mana. I watched in fascination as I saw my mana building the spell in front of me. The dizzy feeling I got when I learned a new spell caused me to almost lose focus. But after the spell was done and consumed the mana it wanted, an exact duplicate rock popped into existence in front of me, freaking out the carriage driver.

    You have learned the spell Create Object. 1000 XP

    You have opened up an Advanced class, Arch Mage. 4000 XP

    Would you like to switch your class to Arch Mage? All Mage-related spells cost 25% less mana.

    I hesitated for a moment before accepting the change. Yes, I would lose the discount I received from the Healer Class, but only 25%, and I had the mana to spare for those spells. That creation spell cost a lot more than the healing. If I had a normal mana pool, there is no way I could have created even that simple stone.

    "Draves, fetch me a leaf, please." He looked at me curiously but complied.

    I held it in my hand and cast Identity.

    Leaf- Cypress

    Removing the Identify portion, I focused on casting Create Object.

    I got a splitting headache, but nothing happened. I sighed. I wasn''t surprised. This probably meant that mass wasn''t the only thing that affected the spell. A leaf was a much more complex object than a rock, and I only had a little less than 500 mana left. I decided to try again when my mana was full.

    Next, I tried creating only a small portion of the rock I had been molding. A pebble popped into existence and clattered to the floor. This time, it cost less than 200 mana, and my level had gone up. Score!

    The next goblin attack was from our rear, so I didn''t get to try out my dart sticks. This was disappointing, but I still cast my buff and healed people afterward.

    On our way to Decmoore, we encountered a few more groups of people, gathered them, and taught them about the System. After another day, a few of those who started with me got an opportunity to pick the Pioneer class, which gave bonuses to endurance and a bunch of general skills. It also only lasted three months rather than the standard six months. It was also the only class that had been offered to children as well.

    When we arrived at Decmoore, the town was mostly empty. We could hear people inside their homes, but nobody answered our calls. The smell of decay was in the air. I saw traces of where bodies had been dragged away. We approached the keep and saw soldiers at the gates.

    When we got close, Draves called out. "Lord Bicman is here to speak with the current head of Decmoore."

    The man on the hill called back. "Captain Nib is in charge now, and we are not accepting refugees. All able-bodied men in the barony are being recruited to defend it. Your men must surrender themselves to our military, and the rest must continue on to Vaspar."

    I broke into the conversation at this point. We have just come from Vaspar. We were returning home and found some of your people on the way. They are not refugees. As Baron of Bicman, I demand to speak with Captain Nib."

    The one guard turned to the other and sent him to go get Nib.

    When the captain exited the keep, he was escorted by ten spearmen and five archers. Analyzing them, I found that none were above level one. Either they hadn''t fought or had no idea how to open the help or status screen.

    As baron, I should have spoken first, but the captain wanted to assert his dominance.

    "I understand that you have demanded to speak with me and are requesting our aid. As the highest ranking individual in Decmoore, I have assumed the barony until I receive further instruction from Vaspar. You will surrender your men to be conscripted into our military, and the rest of you may depart.

    OK, now I was pissed. None of what he said had followed the laws of the kingdom. It looks like he was going to take the might makes right approach. So be it. I would show him might.

    "You want my men," I said in an aloof tone. Then you must fight me for the right. If you win, you will receive not only my men but all our supplies. If I win, I receive the keep and the Barony of Decmoore with all the privileges that entails until the king restores order."

    The captain grinned maliciously. All he saw was a large, prideful noble. Murmurs began to circulate through the crowd.

    "You have a deal. Let us duel. You vs me only."

    Soon, a large circle was formed. The captain pulled out his sword, and I pulled out my belt knife, which caused even more whispering. I was glad to note that Draves didn''t even bother to try to stop me.

    The match started, and the captain immediately went on the attack. I dropped him into a hole and buried him up to his chest in stone. The soldiers on Nib''s side gasped while most people who had traveled with me laughed. I casually walked around him while speaking to everyone. "I am Baron Amos Bicman, Arch Mage and Master of Magic. As I came around him from behind, I bent down and grabbed his breastplate. Embuing it with my magic while loosening the stone, I flung him into the air with my magic of gravity. He landed with a thud.

    One of his men shouted demon, and I looked up in time to see an archer loose an arrow at me. I immediately opened a portal in front of me and another behind the archer. Before the crowd could even contemplate what had happened, there was a cry from behind them. The archer fell forward, and I rushed towards him.

    My portal shield, as I called it, was something I had been practicing with Draves the last couple of nights, and so I had done it instinctively. It was something that I was supposed to use on monsters, not humans. The sight of what I had done sickened me, but I kept my calm demeanor. I am sure that most in the crowd thought I would finish the job.

    Instead, I bent down and yanked the arrow out, not bothering to be gentle. I immediately shouted, "Heal." and the man''s wood closed before the onlooking soldiers. All the men who could see this display gasped and took another step back.

    In my best acting voice, I shouted in rage, "Fool, No mortal weapon can hurt me. You are lucky I need your worthless group to defend my new property while I am away, or I would not have merely wounded you."

    Turning around, I glared at the captain, who was now on his hands and knees, staring at me as if I were Death himself.

    "Captain Nib, your life and the lives of your men are in my hands. Do you yield?"

    "I yield, My Lord."

    "Good. You will be sentenced to ten days of hard labor for your arrogance. Again, if I didn''t need every man for the defense of our kingdom, you would be dead. Now take me to the steward of the keep."

    I met with the steward of the keep and put him in charge. As with the Captain, I had to prove my power, but after convincing him that I could appear anywhere I wanted, which was not technically true, but it was an impressive display, I discussed how to utilize the System properly. I discussed strategies common in LitRPGs for defending safe zones. I was able to get two individuals to level two in Geomancy and got them three healers. I explained the possibility of Druids helping grow crops quickly before the new denizens of this world destroyed their food supply.

    Before we left, I once again reminded everyone that I would be thoroughly displeased if I found out they had abused the power I gave them. All members of the kingdom must learn about the System before the real threats start to appear.

    It was the next day before the world got another system message.

    Mana Density 12%. Nonsentient flora and fauna of this world now have the chance of random mutation. Mutated creatures are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior, which may be countered by skills.

    Great, now come the Dire Wolves, Owl Bears, and cute bunnies that ram you with horns. We will also probably see the Alchemist class as well as Beast Tamer. We needed to hurry. Fortunately, our party size had decreased, and we could travel slightly faster.

    By the time we reached Pollman, our party''s average level was four. Some lucky ones had even almost hit six. The people of Pollman were all found crammed behind the manor walls. They had started to create another wall further out, but it was slow going. They had lost about half their people due to the goblin attacks. We were welcomed with open arms, and I spent the afternoon teaching the people about the System. I taught as I helped them build the wall. OK, so actually, I was using my Geomancy to dig the ditch that all the logs would be buried in to make the wall, but I saved them tons of time. They had some woodcutters who had reached level three, and once they distributed their stat points, the trees were being felled at an incredible rate.

    Again, I was able to train a few magic users before we left, and my soldiers were teaching their men how to fight goblins. That morning, I once again tried to create a portal to Bicman. I felt the portal connect just outside of Kerisi. I couldn''t see what lay on the other side of the portal, but three brave men volunteered to go through.

    I only had enough men left for two to enter: a healer and a soldier. Those two jumped through immediately, and I released the portal. Gods be with them.

    220 Days Later.

    Mana Density 100%. Raid Level Dungeons available.

    I rubbed my temples as I looked at the message. This was not the time to be dealing with raid-level dungeons. The kingdom was in turmoil¡ªat least the newly created Kingdom of Asput was. The old king had been assassinated, and his son took the throne. He ruled with an iron fist, and unfortunately, the information I imparted to Vaspar allowed him to gain great power.

    When I returned to Bicman Barony, I received a flood of XP from all the levels my people had gained while I was away. Of course, it was a drop in the bucket compared to what I needed for my next level. Only Bicman, Melnon, and Kerisi were still standing. We quickly expelled all the goblins and began constructing walls. Three months later, I received word from Decmoore that a new baron had been appointed, although I was reluctant to let them go and had no right to keep the land. I worried for their safety just like I did my own people.

    It was another month later that we began to get a flood of refugees. It wasn''t just from the old barony of Decmoore. People as far away as Kimton had heard of our prosperity here and fled so they did not starve. They really weren''t a burden since my Geomancers had drained the marshes and, together with the druids, made the land flourish.

    I had strengthened my portals to the point that they could go both ways now, and if I needed to, I could send people back and forth as far as Kimton. I had mastered all the elements and even worked on delving more into the runes that appeared when using mage sight. Dissecting them and then inscribing the portions necessary would have different effects. This created the runesmith class.

    Seven months later, we were the main exporters of Magical weapons and armor¡ªnot that anyone knew it was us. I used the newly built port at Crater Bay to facilitate all our exports. No one knew where the shipments into Vaspar were coming from. Our ships were faster, and we always sailed west out of the harbor before heading to any port. I exported the most valuable pieces straight through a portal to our contact in Vaspar.

    For the first clear, I went on every single dungeon run, and we even sunk across the Nore to clear dungeons that the Kingdom of Asput hadn''t reached.

    A few months ago, I decided that there was no way I would subject my people to the rule of that tyrant, so I left the Kingdom of Asput without a resignation. I wasn''t even sure they knew I declared my independence. OK, technically, I hadn''t bothered to tell anyone except my steward, Benjamin. I don''t think they cared much, though. We have not had a single visitor to Bicman since the system came.

    My kingdom probably had about the same population as the County of Vaspar, and it was growing rapidly. The king was bound to take action soon.

    Soon may have been too generous of a term. One year later, I received news that the king himself was moving at the head of his army toward the Kingdom of Bicman. My intel showed that he had a handful of people who were strong enough to take on A-class Moster threats, so I wasn''t overly worried.

    My soldiers gathered at the Nore, waiting for Asput and his men to meet us. I had built an impressive guard tower for the occasion. I stood on the guard tower, watching the approaching army.

    For men came and stood in front of the bridge. They were all A-rank. One, of course, was the king himself. I curiously jumped off the tower and gently landed on the bridge within speaking distance.

    "What brings you to my humble kingdom, Your Majesty," I said with a smile.

    The king''s eyes narrowed. "So the rumors are true; you are an usurper."

    I put on a mocking look of shock. "Usurper is such a nasty word. Besides, in order to usurp something from you, it would have had to belong to you in the first place. Even when this land was part of the Kingdom of Falmoren, the kings did not fulfill their duty to the barony. That kingdom is no more, and since this land needed a governing body the Kingdom of Bicman was formed. I thought things were going quite nicely. Why don''t we just keep the status quo and good neighbors, and we can even open some trade agreements?"

    I think the king was about to burst a blood vessel. "You have stolen what is rightfully mine! You will submit to my rule or die!"

    "Well, since we are dealing with threats now, let me make a counteroffer. By using my wind magic, I was able to make my voice carry for miles without even shouting.

    In an icy tone, I said, "You have come to the Kingdom of Bicman. Threatening to shed blood to obtain that which is not yours. Leave now, or I will take you all prisoner, and if you are lucky, you will be ransomed back. If your men attack, I will reign destruction on your camp, the likes of which have never been seen. Leave now or face the consequences."

    "Kill him!" Asput shouted.

    ''Wrong answer,'' I thought as I dropped every single Arank and all the commanders into a portal. There was a small Island 100 miles west of here that had a C-rank Dungeon. I thought it would make a fitting place for a situation like this.

    Before anyone could move, I teleported myself to the wall and shouted. I have captured your fool of a King and all your commanders. My words are not an idol threat. Any person who tries to harm one of mine will die. Behold my power."

    I was so excited about the little demonstration I had prepared. Filling a boulder with my mana, I dropped it into a portal and let it fall from the sky as a kinetic weapon.

    "Look to the east to see my power."

    Everyone turned to see a small speck in the sky getting close to the earth. After a minute, the ground shook as there was a huge cracking sound. Clouds of debris plumbed in the distance.

    "If I had wanted to, I could have dropped it on your heads. Flee before I unleash my wrath."

    A few men started to turn, and then it was like a dam broke, and their army retreated.

    It was three months later that Lenord''s Brother sent me a letter saying that under the current circumstances, their kingdom could not afford to pay the ransom. So It was with a heavy heart he took the throne. That made me laugh.

    The next part did not, however. King Berny Asput was sending his daughter, who just happened to be sixteen, on a diplomatic mission to Bicman. And we all know what that meant.

    Benjamin, though, was ecstatic. "My Lord, This is a perfect opportunity."

    "I am engaged to Emily! How many times do I have to say it."

    "And do you expect that poor girl to bear all your children by herself? As I see it, you will need at least twenty children; hopefully, many will be boys. If you could produce thirty, I think we could avoid a lot of conflicts that may happen in this new world."

    "Twenty! Are you insane?"

    "My Lord, you must make political ties. You are the most powerful man in the world. You cannot afford to offend future leaders. If you would ever care to look at my reports, I have found six young women that I would recommend as prospective brides. You can even marry that crazy fox girl. How in the world did she manage to give herself a tail by the way?"

    "By becoming the most powerful Alchemist in the world. But stop distracting me. I am not forming a harem. I will not betray Emily."

    "I have already talked to Lady Papermaker and she agrees with me as long as she gets the spot of first wife."

    "You went behind my back!"

    "Are you now saying I should cease to converse with Lady Emily?"

    "Now you are just twisting things."

    "My Lord," Benjamin sighed, "When will you get over these odd sensibilities? This is the way of Kings. I agree that twenty children may seem like a lot, but it is necessary. Your power comes with great re-"

    "Don''t you dare finish that statement, Ben," I growled.

    "What?"

    THE END

 Update on Monetary System and Resources

    Coinage

    1 Gold Crown (Pure Gold) = 10 Silver Crowns

    1 Half Gold Crown (Pure Gold) = 5 Silver Crowns

    1 Silver Crown (Pure Silver) = 10 Silver Pennies

    1 Silver Penny (Silver/Copper alloy) = 10 Copper

    1 Copper ( Pure Copper) = 10 Copper Pennies

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    1 Copper penny (Bronze)

    Current tradeable resources in Bicman

    Grains, Vegetables, Chalk, Apples, Cider, Livestock, Iron, Copper, Cement, Coke, Lime, Linen

    Currently available goods for taxes

    Chalk, Iron, Grain

    Exports

    Paper- Vaspar

    Inventions

    Paper, paper airplane, abacus, books, plow, coke, horse collar, horseshoe, stirrup, advanced loom, concrete, leaf spring, dip pen, buttonhole, zero, double-entry bookkeeping.

    Inventions created in Bicman that are now available to be produced elsewhere

    Horseshoe, abacus, zero, leaf spring, dip pen, buttonhole, stirrup

    Note: I did not include the horse collar because the value of it wasn''t apparent to the people of Vaspar.

 Book 2 Chapter 1

    Dust

    Inky blackness covered me as I moved silently through the grounds of the manor¡ªa perfect night for the job. For the last few days, I had scouted the manor from afar. This would probably be the easiest kill I had ever had. Yesterday was the young lord''s birthday, and apparently, by order of the regent, it was a day of celebration. I had no doubt most would be sleeping soundly. The back wall was easy to climb with a hook and rope, and no guards patrolled the grounds. I slipped through a gap between the stone wall and a poorly positioned roof overhang of this falling-down manor.

    Working my way through the study, I thought to myself that I might check around on my way out to see if the Regent had anything of value. Opening the door, I strode down the hall without care and went towards the young lord''s room. I almost laughed at my luck when I found that they hadn''t even bothered to lock the door. Not that a lock would stop me. Locks were to keep honest people from temptation. They mattered little to assassins and thieves. As I opened the door, the hinges gave a high-pitched squeak. I waited to hear if there was any movement in the room, ready to bolt if the maid woke. When nothing stirred, I slipped into the room and moved to the corner where the darkness was complete. It was a simple plan. Snap the neck and exit. Spread a rumor that the baron hired an assassin while he was gone to make it look like he wasn''t involved, giving the duke a reason to kill or remove him.

    Just as I was about to move forward, a strong wind from the open window pushed against the door. The door barely moved at all, but the accursed hinge gave a small squeal. The boy stirred and woke with a cry. The child began to whimper. And I flattened myself back against the wall. ''Looks like I would be waiting.'' Not that I minded. This job was about patience.

    The woman woke groggily and sighed. She stood up and scooped up the young boy into her arms. Then she went and sat in a chair in the opposite corner to me. It was only a few minutes later that the boy began to calm down. Just then, a young girl pushed the door all the way open and entered.

    "Emily, what are you doing awake?" The older woman chided softly.

    As the girl approached to stand in front of the woman, she said, "I fell asleep in the paper room at the desk. Then Aaron cried and probably woke the whole house."

    "And it is all you young people''s fault. He probably has an upset stomach from all the honeybread you all were giving him yesterday. I even stayed here to help him stay calm rather than go home. Nora does not know how to take care of him properly."

    "It was his birthday. He had to have something sweet," Emily said as if that explained everything. "Do you want me to rock him?"

    "You just want to sit in the rocking chair."

    "Yeah, but at least you could go back to sleep."

    "Go get some sleep, girl. This is my responsibility, not yours."

    "Please. The chair has to be the best thing that Lord Amos came up with."

    "I can''t disagree with you there. If I could only get you kids to stop playing with it," the older woman said. I couldn''t see her face, but by the tone of her voice, I could tell she was smiling.

    "Come on," the girl weddled, "Let me hold him."

    "Fine," the woman said while standing up. As she stood, her eyes looked to the corner I was in, and her body stiffened.

    I was already moving by the time she screamed. The girl whipped around, and right before I reached her, she flung her hands out. I kicked the girl in the stomach, and she smashed the older woman and little child against the wall and then collapsed to her hands and knees. The baby began to scream, and I stepped over the girl to plunge my knife into the child. At the last moment, the woman hunched down and twisted, trying to dart around me. The only thing she succeeded in doing was getting a knife stuck in her back just below the shoulder blade. She flung the child as she fell, and he rolled halfway across the room, where he curled himself into a ball And began to whimper. I turned to go get him when the woman¡¯s hand reached out and grabbed my ankle. Yanking it free, I stumbled, and suddenly, I felt an arm around my neck. The girl had launched herself onto my back and was trying to keep me from moving. I ignored her and moved to pick up the baby. The accursed girl bit down on my neck and jabbed one of her fingers in my eye. Yelling in frustration, I dropped my knife and grabbed the girl by the hair. Using my other hand to grab her arm, I flung her off my back and smashed her head into the wall. She collapsed next to the now-dead maid.

    I decided to end this and lifted my foot to stomp down on the child''s head. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I twisted out of the way as a young man thrust a spear at me. In one fluid motion, I yanked the spear out of his hands, flipped it around, and plunged it into his gut.

    I was turning around to finish the job as I felt the pain of a dagger piercing my back. There is no doubt, it had punctured my lung. The world spun as I collapsed to the floor. The screams of an awakened house faded into a buzz as I closed my eyes.

    Amos

    I stared out the window of the carriage as we crossed the Nore River and sighed with relief. We weren''t home yet, but I could be patient for another two days. Why two days instead of the one and a half that it took before? Because I had a whole caravan of people with me. I had meant to leave two days after the judgment of Baron Decmoore, but with the one hundred and twenty gold that I had, I kept finding things I just had to get. Most notably people and food.

    Instead of the two mules I wanted to buy, I bought ten. We ended up showing the castle smith how to shoe a mule with our horseshoes, so we were ready to go. I got four wagons. Which means I doubled the amount of wheat I could bring back. That is not saying much since each wagon could only carry 400 "stones," as they called it, which translated to about nine bushels of wheat. I wasn''t exactly sure because the steward and farmers didn''t keep precise records as far as measuring the amounts of grain, but it was about ten to thirteen acres. Not even a full farm.

    The other wagons had a good supply of tin, salt, and other hard-to-get commodities, as well as supplies for the trip back. Yes, I spent money on some spices. I justified myself because I wasn''t spending money on wine. A human mind can justify anything as long as it tries hard enough. Cookie was going to be so happy. Yes, I am doing this for her; it has nothing to do with my own desire to eat food that actually tastes good.

    The price of salt bothered me, though. We had the ocean two days north of us. Wasn''t extracting salt from water done by heating up the water or something? Maybe they used evaporation. That was never covered in my wilderness survival merit badge, and quite frankly, that was not something I had even thought to look up during all my random internet searches. Another thing to put on the to-do list.

    Ok, now, onto the people. Yes, I bought people. These were a few types of people. First were the serf contracts. Technically, I was buying their labor and not them, meaning I exchanged food, clothing, and a place to stay for their service. A politician''s way of justifying slavery. The problem was that was how you got farmers here. I was thinking of finding a way to change all of my serfs to peasants, but I wasn''t able to do that right away. Next were my construction crews. These guys were going to build my roads and help me drain the swamps. These were mostly made up of debtors. People are working off their debts through hard labor. Among the debtors, I found someone I was ecstatic to meet.

    Barry was a large, burly guy, and when I was interviewing him, I found out that he and his sons used to be part of a shipbuilding crew. They had all been thrown in prison because a count had purchased a ship and put his son in charge of bringing the extremely expensive gift down to the capitol. He was going to show it off to his betrothed. The ship was lost not even one day outside of Vaspar on its maiden voyage. Since the captain and crew were not alive to blame, the count blamed the shipwright and his builders.

    The count complained to his friend Duke Kimton, and Kimton had the shipwright executed, and the entire work crew were put in debtor''s prison until they could repay the cost of the gift. That work crew was the most expensive thing I bought. After many years of working together, they had brought the cost of the debt down to sixty-seven gold crowns. To say that Draves was unhappy with what I had done would be an understatement. I, however, thought this could be the best investment I had ever made. Time would tell.

    I hired a few freemen on a temporary basis. One was an engineer of sorts, and another had experience with building waterwheels. I was hesitant to bring on temporary workers because I didn''t want them to see certain things, but I was hoping to have them look at my rivers and determine the best place to build an overshot waterwheel. The one at Bicman was an undershot, but I wanted one at Melnon and Alfer. I definitely wasn''t going to tell them what I would use them for. They would be curious, of course, but these inventions would be top secret.

    After we factored in families that were brought along, which was seventy-eight people in total, we were moving along the northern road. The wagon we had brought down with us was now packed with travel tents and blankets. I had bought a horse so that one of my men could travel as fast as he could to make it back before us and let Bicman know to prepare for a large crowd.

    I remember watching some old show about hand-cart pioneers. Large groups of people all working together to make a new home for themselves somewhere. This was not like that. The only thing we had in common was handcarts. Most of these people were not looking forward to going to Bicman. Walking long hours, travel rations, and sleeping in tents to go to a backwater barony was not these people''s idea of a good time.

    A lot of fights broke out, and my small contingent of men had to break them up. People arguing over the best place to sleep, accusations of theft, and just plain grumpiness were the most common things to start it. There were also more serious problems like actual theft, and some altercations came to blows. One man struck another with a rock, and he regretted it when my men came to break up the fight.

    After that, nothing else got that far out of hand. We did have a few people run away, but when people saw a few brought back in chains by my men, those who had ideas of running fell into line. I hated the fact that I had to put these people in chains, but I had bought their debt, and they had signed a contract with me. I explained to them that if they wanted to go back to the labor camps at any time, I could arrange that. In the contract, I had shortened everyone''s sentence by 20%, so they were coming out with a pretty good deal.

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    I was pleased that by the time we reached the Nore River, most of the fighting and other issues had started to calm down. I was hoping that it was because I had been out among the people at every stop we took to speak with them and get to know them and their backgrounds. I really didn''t remember their names, but I tried.

    Once upon a time, when I thought I was going to be a successful businessman, I took an online class on leadership. I wish I had paid better attention, but to me, it was so boring. One thing I did remember was a study about empathy and how it was the first step in any relationship. I was hoping that this applied to gathering people as a feudal lord.

    ''I mean, I was basically running an agriculture and mining business, right?''

    The trip north hadn''t been all bad. Some people considered me their savior. Most of the shipbuilders'' families thought I was some sort of saint, come to answer their prayers. It became a little awkward as my constant presence around them caused the novelty of talking to a lord to wear off. Suddenly, I had young girls surrounding me, and some became so bold as to throw out veiled hints. I was actually looking forward to the reprieve of being able to hide in my manor.

    Barry and his sons were great to talk to. I learned a lot about the current ship-building techniques. When I started discussing the things I knew about modern shipbuilding, he immediately brought over the assistant shipwright Cammeron. He was kind of the foreman for the operations under the former owner of the company. He was also the cousin of the executed shipwright.

    Needless to say, he was very dubious when I tried to convince him of the benefits of triangular sails. I could tell he was trying not to call me crazy outright. I mean, try having someone who admitted they had only recently been to the ocean tell you how to build a ship. There is no way he could accept that a triangular sail could allow you to sail into the wind at a thirty-degree angle. I mean, the best reference to how it worked was how airplanes created lift. So it was best to just show him.

    However, some other concepts about the hull and rigging interested him. He was really curious to see if he could figure out how to create a double hull compartmentalize the lower decks to reduce the risk of sinking. The first thing I was going to have him and his men do was build me a small sailing ship with a Bermuda and jib sail. The other concepts that I didn''t realize their junks didn''t have were centerboards and rudders. I convinced myself that building this ship was important in our future endeavors to take over the shipping industry.

    These discussions of ships helped to pass the time as we made our way through all the villages and eventually got to the Nore. As we crossed the river, I noticed a large shed-like structure off to the side of the road that I hadn''t noticed before.

    "Captain, I didn''t notice that structure before. What is that?"

    "Ah, that is the tax barn, My Lord. The count''s tax collector does not always want to come all the way to Bicman, so he had us build a barn and bring our taxes here. In fact, there have been years when he didn''t even come in person but instead hired a caravan that stopped in Pollman to journey a few days further to collect the taxes.

    "Wait! How did he know that we were paying the proper amount?" I said in disbelief.

    Draves shrugged, "That was the steward''s responsibility. It isn''t like he didn''t come at all to verify our yields. It was just that it didn''t happen every year¡ªor every few years, for that matter."

    "Talk about being the red-headed stepchild," I muttered. We weren''t even worth a visit from the tax collector, let alone anyone else.

    It was late spring by now, and there were a lot of buzzing insects. The first time I slapped an insect on the way north, it made me think of the Marsh Fever. We really needed to drain the swamp and marshes, but I wanted my road crews to venture there during the seasons when they were least likely to be affected. So, for the summer, I wanted them to build a road from Bicman to the Nore. We would also straighten the road so that there weren''t so many twists and turns.

    I needed to start talking with the engineer and the guy who built waterwheels about what I wanted, but they were just so annoying. Constantly complaining about this and that and how unbecoming it was that I was talking to peasants in my carriage. I also didn''t want them to know any more than they had to. I would have told the guards and militia not to speak with them about anything we have done in Bicman, but as Freeman, they felt like they were above everyone because of their education anyways.

    It annoyed me to no end that I would have to house them in the old steward''s room until they were gone. That meant Patricia would have to move into the great hall to sleep, which, technically, because of her status, she should be there anyways. I had just had her on house arrest, but as long as she was behaving herself, I think it would be okay to stop guarding her. Maybe I would wait until after the trial.

    I had put off Marcus''s trial due to my trip, and I was not looking forward to it when I got back. I only had two choices though, kingdom slave or death. I hoped my hesitation made me a good person and not a coward. I already knew what I would decide. Killing someone was a line I wouldn''t cross if I had another option.

    I was staring out the window, deep in thought, when suddenly we passed a field of a brambly plant. Most of the buds were closed, but some had opened up, and a white fluff ball had appeared.

    "Stop the carriage!" I shouted out the window.

    As soon as it stopped, I was out of the carriage and running over to the field. That''s right, I could run. Go me.

    As I approached, I pulled at the ball of fluff, and it came off in a clump. I could see the many seeds inside and started to chuckle. Cotton, we had cotton!

    "My Lord," Draves said as he caught up to me, "What appears to be the problem."

    "We have cotton, Captain. Where I come from, this was a huge part of our economy."

    "I believe cotton is very labor intensive. We would have to bring in a lot of people to harvest and pick through the cotton to extract the seeds."

    "True, but that is why we are going to find a way to increase crop yield. The mules will allow us to plow more fields faster. This will mean we can implement a three-field crop rotation if we can get our crop production up to what others are getting. Then, we can get more non-food things into the rotation. Maybe grain, cotton, and then beans.

    ''And you are sure this three-field rotation will work better than the two?"

    "I think so. I''m not a farmer. The information I have comes from three sources: school, 4X video games, and random searches on the Internet, when a miscellaneous thought popped into my head. I never paid much attention in class, and the other two sources could be completely wrong. I will be generous and say that I am 50% sure that the information I have on farming may be helpful."

    "50%?" said in confusion.

    "I''m sending you to school when we get back, Captain. It is not good if our serfs have a better education than our soldiers."

    "As you wish, My Lord."

    I decided to walk back to the carriage in silence. I would have to put my plans for cotton on hold until we got more things in place. I also sent a quiet prayer of gratitude to that annoying girl in history class. Buttface was the only reason I knew anything about the cotton gin.

    We were just settling down for the evening when a group of my guards came marching down the road towards the campsite. "My Lord," the one leading the group said, with a bow, "It is my pleasure to welcome you back. We are extremely grateful for your safe return."

    "Thank you. I am so glad to be back. I need more family members so I can send them instead next time. How is it that you came here?"

    "We were commanded to come down every day for the last three days in hopes of catching you. We began to fear bandits had accosted you."

    "Well, you see our large party. Unfortunately, they are not well-disciplined soldiers, so it took us time to move them all."

    "News of your incredible fortune has reached us, My Lord. Praise be to the Endless One for preserving you, My Lord."

    At first, I thought his words were just the usual platitudes spoken to gain favor, but there was a fervor in his eyes that confirmed the sincerity of his words. This guy was actually glad I was back. It was weirding me out a bit to have one of my people that I didn''t really know give me genuine respect.

    "Well, thank you. Uh¡­"

    "Thomas, My Lord."

    "Thank you, Thomas. I am trying to learn everyone''s names, but it appears I have a way to go. Well, Thomas, can you give me an update on what has been going on since I left?

    "My Lord, there is both good news and bad. I want to assure you that Lord Aaron is ok, but there was an attempt on his life."

    Before I even realized it, I had reached forward and grabbed the man''s shoulders. I almost shook him as I roared, "What happened?"

    The man probably would have taken a step back if it weren''t for the fact that I was gripping him. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I had not been touched in such a way since I had come here, and the sudden physical contact of a comforting hand woke me from my rage.

    I released Thomas, and Captain Draves released my shoulder. What the captain had done would have been considered an insult by most nobility, and he would have been beaten for it. I just sighed and said, "Thank you, Captain, and I¡­ I am sorry, Thomas. Please continue."

    "Thank you for the apology, but it is I who spoke without tact. I just didn''t know what else to say. As I said, Lord Aaron was well. An assassin entered the manor and snuck into the young lord''s room. The babe woke, and Emily came in."

    I immediately tensed. "Is¡­" I couldn''t get the words out as my throat closed up.

    "She is well, My Lord. She killed the assassin," He said seriously.

    If my throat weren''t so tight, I would have laughed. I couldn''t picture the small fourteen-year-old girl killing anyone. It took almost a moment for me to pick my jaw up off the floor. "Are you sure? My Papermaker, Emily."

    "It was her, My Lord," he said with a nod, "My Lord, Your Nursemaid Amy gave her life protecting the boy."

    Shock returned to my face. I tried to hold myself together as I quietly said, "Tell me everything."

    The guard told me how they found the grappling hook the man had used to scale the walls and the hole in the roof that led into my study. However, after an investigation, they found that the young militiaman who had been assigned to watch the door was snuggling with one of the maids in the hall around the corner. When the boy got in the room, he attacked the assassin but was overpowered and killed with his own spear. Emily had gotten a fractured arm and a concussion, but she still managed to pick up the assassin''s dagger and knife him from behind before she collapsed.

    As soon as he was finished, I quickly said, "Thank you, I must retire and think about this situation. Captain, please make sure no one disturbs me." with that, I walked as nobly as I could to the carriage, but I was pretty sure I was shaking when I got there.

    Amy had not started off as anything more than an employee in my eyes. She had a stick up her butt when we first met, and it took a while for her and me to get along, but you don''t spend time caring about the same child without getting to know the other person.

    Amy was a good person who cared not only for her own children but also for the orphaned child of another. She was not my favorite person, but we were at least friendly. Her last action was to try to protect a child who was not her own, and so I wept.

    I wept for Amy, a dedicated mother, and nursemaid. I wept for the foolish young man who was shirking his duties, but when he heard the cries for help, he ran in and tried to stop the assassination. I wept for the families of those who had been lost. Lastly, I wept for myself. I was not strong enough to handle this. I just didn''t have what it took to do this.

    It was in the early hours of the morning before I had gained control enough to start meditating. It took fifteen minutes for my mind to start to clear. When I did, I began to see the forest through the trees. I would do this. Life is about learning from mistakes.

    ''I would mourn with my people and move on.''

    ''I will learn from this and move on.''

    I will conquer my fear and move on.''

    This was the mantra I chose as the night passed and dawn broke over the mountains in the east.

 Book 2 Chapter 2

    As the rays of the morning light began to spread across the ground the camp became alive with activity. My Bicman Defense Force was getting everybody prepped to move out. There was a slight feeling of excitement in the air as people knew we were almost at the journey''s end. Yes, they understood that there wasn''t enough housing and that it would be assigned based on a lottery until houses could be made. There were places in Barim where people could stay and a few in Bicman, but definitely not enough.

    There was also the matter of the people of Barim and the illness that caused them to have to leave. I put the steward of Barim in charge of talking to the illness survivors who had moved to other areas. He needed to come up with all the information he could on what might have happened, anything that was different that year from other years. Hopefully, he would have something by the time we got back.

    I was exhausted from last night''s lack of sleep, but I put on a cheerful smile as I walked among the people. I greeted everyone and talked to them about how excited I was to have them as part of Bicman. Their smiles strengthened me against the melancholy that was threatening to overwhelm me. It was not to last, however.

    As we were getting ready to leave, Thomas approached me again. "My Lord, I apologize, but there is one more matter I must trouble you with. May we speak privately?"

    I restrained myself from letting out a sigh, "Certainly, Thomas, let us go to my carriage. Draves position guards outside and join us."

    After Draves finally entered the carriage, Thomas began. "My Lord, Marcus has escaped," he whispered.

    "What!" I hissed back, trying not to alert anyone outside, "How?"

    "We are not entirely sure. The guard outside the prison had been bludgeoned on the back of the head and unconscious when we found him. He remained unconscious for over a day, and when he woke, he did not even remember his name. He did get his memories back, but the events twenty-four hours prior to the incident are still missing. We think that the guard was unlocking the door for Marcus'' mother to enter the prison, and while his back was turned, she hit him with something. Maggie, the medicine woman, believes she hit him multiple times once he was down. She then took the keys and opened the prison and the cell. They escaped via a ladder from the shed over the wall.

    The hunters were sent out the next day with as many guards as we could afford. We found the trail after a couple of hours, and a few hours after that, we found Patricia''s body. She had been stabbed in the chest. The trail became difficult after it reached the mountains. We searched for a week but could not find him.

    "He killed his own mother?" I said in shock. I immediately started to berate myself. I should have taken care of this issue instead of putting it off. Now we had a psychopath on the loose somewhere in Bicman. I would have to put pictures of him up in each village and send some south. Dead or alive with a five silver crown award for the guards and an armed and dangerous warning for civilians.

    I suddenly realized that Thomas was still talking to me. "I''m sorry, what did you say?"

    "I asked that you show mercy to Christopher. He is a good man and is trying to rectify his mistakes."

    I almost asked him how any of this was Chis''s fault. But then decided to excuse him and discuss it with Draves. It would be nice to blame it on someone else, but that would be unfair.

    "Captian, does it seem like Chris acted negligently in either of these situations." I said, trying to figure out where the fault lay."

    "No, My Lord, I spoke at length with Thomas about both these events last night after you retired to the carriage. He followed the policy that has been standard since your father first became Baron. If anyone is to blame, it is me. I should have enforced that two guards be positioned at the door of Lord Aaron instead of just one. As far as the incident with Marcus, apparently that happened a week after you left. I am sure it would have been attempted before his sentencing if you had been here, and it may have worked then as well."

    There was a long pause, and then I spoke. "I know that you and I are thinking the same thing. The Marcus incident could have been avoided. I gave Patricia too much freedom when it came to her movement. I trusted her even though I knew she still would probably do anything for her Psycho of a son. I should not have let her visit him whenever she wanted just because she was grieving. I should have executed the boy or brought him with us to have him sold. In my old world, this is what we called kicking the can down the road. It just means to procrastinate dealing with a problem."

    "My Lord, you are learning quickly and as you see, you are not the only one to blame here." Draves said sternly.

    I didn''t reply. I didn''t need his empathy. I needed to remember this failure. I needed to push forward and be better. The problem is that I wasn''t sure I would learn everything I needed to before the real problems started. These people were not giving up, and we had no allies. I hoped that Baron Manticole or Baron Tine were nobles that I could become allies with, but they were far away and might be embroiled in their own machinations.

    We both stayed silent for much of the trip to Kerisi. I don''t know what Draves was thinking, but I was trying to figure out plans to keep Aaron and my people safe. We needed to become stronger and also become an asset to the King.

    Cheering suddenly woke me from my musing. My jaw dropped as I saw people lining either side of the road leading into Kerisi. What the crap was going on. Were these the same people that I left a month ago? There was a slight smile on Drave''s face as I looked back at him. He was probably trying to hold back a laugh. "Draves, what the heck is this."

    "Thomas did tell you there was other news. He did not want to tell you while you were dealing with the other issues, so he left it to me. Part of the reason they kept coming down to check on your arrival was so that the crowd could gather for your return."

    "But why?" I said in utter confusion."

    "First, the farmers are saying that the fields plowed with the new plow are growing larger amounts of grain. They think it may be up to double the amount of bushels this year. Next, news of you saving the boy has spread everywhere. Third, concrete, as you call it, has proven to be harder than some stone and, as you predicted, bonds even better in water. I think you called it hydrophobic. The masons have been shaping it into walls inside wooden frames. They call it knowledge from the endless one. The tanner, in conjunction with Emily and, surprisingly, Cookie, has made a stronger paper. The ash extraction has gone up to the point that they can easily keep up with the demand for the concrete."

    At this point, I interrupted him. "I had nothing to do with that. The paper and the ash were all things the people did themselves."

    "Would they have done it if you hadn''t asked them to? Would they have put in much effort if you hadn''t promised something in return? Under your father and grandfather''s rule, the people were only as productive as they had to be in order to survive. Now, people know you will pay for improvement. They see you treating them as people who can be more, and so they become more. I almost forgot the weavers. The loom you created has increased the speed at which it can produce fabric and even the tightness of the weave. The tighter weave takes more time, but they can fit fifty more threads per five centimeters if they want to. The women are having trouble keeping up with thread production and said we could export if we planted more flax this next year."

    "The rider we sent ahead of us told the people you used all the money you obtained from the Count to buy the Barony things to improve their lives. What do you expect them to do? They now believe that you were sent by the Endless One to give them this knowledge. A Chosen One."

    Something clicked in my brain at that, and I groaned. This was a conspiracy and a cruel joke. There is no way this could be a coincidence. When I was in high school, there was this girl named Britney. Beautiful long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, the figure of a supermodel, and large¡­ assets. Besides that, she never stopped talking. I swear she thought everyone was her friend, and everyone wanted to hear what she had to say. I guess it was better than her being a stuck-up snob because she looked better than everyone else. Anyways, I guess she was some really religious person because one day, she came up to me and said, "Hey, Amos, did you know that your name was in the bible."

    She said it as if it were the most amazing news in the world, but really, every old person I ever knew had to mention that fact. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know," I said flatly.

    "Well, I was in my early morning church class before school, and we were studying the Bible, and I totally memorized a scripture about you. Do you want to hear it?"

    ''Not really,'' I thought.

    "Yeah, well, it is Amos 3:7. It says¡­"

    Then she rattled off some scripture about God revealing secrets to his prophets, and they share them with the world or something like that.

    Then, the full implication of what she said hit me, and I realized the girl was insane. "Why would you get up even earlier than you have to just to go to church? Are you trying to become a minister or something?"

    "Actually, in my church you¡­" I zoned out after that, and even after the accident, when I was studying religion, I never found out what church she belonged to. But the verse number stuck with me, and I thought of it afterward. While I was trying to put my life back together after the accident, I even looked up that scripture. The King James Version did, in fact, say that God would reveal his secrets to his prophets. It became a running joke between me and God. I would say, "Any secrets you want to reveal to me today, God?" I never did get an answer.

    The connection between what Brittny told me all those years ago and what Draves said now clicked in my head, and I started to laugh. When I was over my fit of laughter, I looked up to the heavens and said, "Seriously, man? You really must think you are quite the funny guy. Amos 3:7." I just shook my head and started to laugh again. Draves looked at me like I was crazy.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "Well, Captain, smack me if this ever goes to my head. I''m not really happy about this whole chosen one thing, but I am glad the people are happy."

    "I will remind you, My Lord, but I will not slap you."

    "No respect. What is the point of being a lord if your people won''t even do what I say?" I said as the carriage stopped in the center of town. After I got down, I walked straight up to him, and before he was even able to bow, I stuck out my hand in greeting. "Paul, It is a pleasure to see you."

    After I let go he finally had a chance to bow and then say, "My Lord, the pleasure is mine. It is an honor to serve you."

    "Now that the greetings are out of the way tell me what has been going on in Kerisi."

    "The crops are coming in, and we will have a decent harvest this year. But that is normal for Kerisi. It is not as impressive as what has been going on in the other villages you have plowed."

    I cut him off. "Do not worry, Paul. I brought mules so that we could see if all the farms would be able to plow their fields to the same standards. I will rent them to each village for a small portion of their yield."

    "Your Lordship is most generous. I promise that our fields will produce the most next year," he said proudly.

    "I''ll hold you to that," I said with a smile.

    "My Lord, one other thing. My wife has found some wild pootba and has tried extracting the sweet water. After pressing the boiled pootba into the water, she was able to extract more juices, as you said. She then found that by boiling it above another pot of water, she was able to reduce it and make it sweeter. Unfortunately, she ran out of pootba to experiment with. We will have to wait until later in the season until we can get more."

    "Excellent. If she can find a way to get the sugars within the water to crystalize, then that stuff will be worth its weight in gold. We need crystals like salt and then grind it into powder. You will be paid handsomely for this if she makes it happen."

    Paul got a huge grin on his face. "I am sure she can do it, My Lord."

    "I have no doubt."

    "My Lord, we have prepared a feast for your return and a place for your people to stay before they move on to Bicman."

    "Excellent, Paul; I would love to feast with you. Afterwards, I will be moving on, and the people can rest here for the night. I am eager to see my nephew."

    "Of course, My Lord."

    The feast was roasted pheasant and a stew made of root vegetables and ham hocks. After the fare of the last few days, this was heavenly. As we exited the headman''s house a crowd had gathered. I was a little uncomfortable with all the attention I was getting. When I came here the first time, I was treated with suspicion and nervous bows; now, everyone was crowding the village streets to look at me. Parents were pointing me out to their children. I was so nervous I wanted to start cracking jokes with Draves. Fortunately, I was able to restrain myself and just greeted the crowd with smiles and waves. I felt like a celebrity. So weird.

    "My Lord, It would be a good time to speak to the people." Draves said.

    "What!" I hissed, "Like give a speech."

    "Yes."

    "What would I say?"

    "I don''t think it matters. But I think they would like to hear from you."

    My nervousness ramped up to a whole new level, but I stood up straight. This was about them, not me, "My people. I¡­ Um¡­ I am proud of the work you have done while I was gone. I am pleased to know that I can leave my barony and that I have no fear of what will be done when I return. You have proven yourselves to me and, umm¡­ to the kingdom as faithful stewards of the lands you were entrusted. You¡­ you have made me proud. Continue the work and service you have provided, and we will show the kingdom and the world the true strength of Bicman." I was sweating buckets by the time I was done. I became more nervous when the silence persisted for several seconds. Then suddenly, someone in the crowd pumped his fist and shouted. "For Bicman."

    A dam broke, and suddenly, the crowd was cheering. It continued to cheer as the people parted around me, opening a way to my carriage. I felt hands reach out and touch me as I walked with as much dignity as I could towards my carriage.

    When we got into the carriage, I sagged in my seat. "That was insane. I felt like I was a rock star. No, I felt like I was someone pretending to be a rock star."

    "I don''t know what a rockstar is, My Lord, but I don''t think I have ever seen such an enthusiast crowd."

    "I don''t get it. I haven''t done anything yet. They are still wearing raggedy clothes, they are still underfed, and they have so few things. Shouldn''t they be cheering after we have a good harvest?"

    "My Lord, these people are simple farmers. This is how they have always lived. Suddenly, they see that this next year, they will not starve because their lord has made it possible to double the crop yield. They will now have a surplus, and if it continues, then in a few years, we will be able to export. They know you will give them a fair price for their crops or they can sell or trade them to the craftsmen here in your lands. Then those men will sell you the excess, and you can get money from Vaspar. They do not doubt that you will use that money to make their lives even better. You have given them hope for a better future."

    "Maybe, but I doubt the secret of the plow will last that long. Then the farmers south will produce their own, and ours will not be needed."

    "At least they will be well fed."

    "True¡­ Actually¡­¡± I thought for a moment. "We wouldn''t have to export if we could grow the local economy. I could incentivize tradesmen to come here. We will have enough food to support them. I will have to make nice with the duke. Apparently, he is a volatile psychopath. But, if I can buy his favor, we might get him to ignore us long enough to become strong.

    "To become strong?"

    "We have multiple ways to make a lot of money and processes that could make anyone rich. It will be a slow start here, but anywhere else, people could double their income quickly. Remember what happened to Pollman. Unless we can protect our assets, we will be forced to give everything away or die. Look what happened to Decmoore just because Kimton felt like it. We are on a razor''s edge here, and one slip and we could fall off and be split in two. That isn''t even to mention the fact that someone is still trying to kill me and Aaron."

    "You paint a grim picture, My Lord."

    "Mainly for me. The people will still have the plows and be able to feed themselves. They can prosper without me. I am the one who will be killed either by assassins or other nobles."

    Draves shook his head, "I would think the way the people treated you in Kerisi would open your eyes. If you die, what do you think the next baron would do? Do you think he would keep giving so freely to the people? If the people produced more, he would raise their taxes. There are very few barons who treat their peasants and serfs with dignity. None would allow them to gain wealth. They would cause the people to either return to a life of poverty or rebel. If they rebelled, then they would be slaughtered. You are crucial to their prosperity, and they know it."

    "Well, crap, now I feel even more responsible. Ok, first thing first, make sure not to die."

    "A wise decision, My Lord."

    "Don''t worry. I think I have some ideas that may help. I just need to get back to the manor first and get a full picture of what is going on.

    I actually fell asleep as I was musing about how to help my people. I was startled awake by cheering. I groggly looked out the window and saw the people of Bicman village cheering. I pulled my head back in and groaned, "Is this going to happen every time I go out now?"

    "It will calm down. Just smile and wave to them."

    "Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave," I muttered under my breath.

    I put on a smile and showed my face out the window again. As we passed through Bicman, I waved to the people out the window. I had learned a lot of their names in the previous months, and I hoped that, eventually, I would be able to know them all. But I was sure we would be growing, so that may be an impossible dream.

    As we approached the hill leading up to the manor I saw a man on a stand looking over the wall. He was at one corner, and when I looked out the other side, I saw another guard standing on a similar stand. Leaning my head far out, I saw that the gates were shut, and there were two guards on either side. It didn''t take a genius to figure out what all this was about. I thought it was a great plan.

    As we approached the guards at the gate approached the carriage and looked inside before bowing and calling out for the gate to be opened. As we entered the courtyard, I saw two men patrolling around the lawn.

    ''Holy crap Chris, I get it, but¡­''

    The carriage door opened, interrupting my thoughts. I stepped out and was greeted by two guards. They flanked me as I made my way to the entrance to the manor. At the front door, two more guards stood along with Chris.

    As we approached Chris took a knee, "My Lord, we have tightened security to ensure the safety of yourself and Lord Aaron. I hope that the new protocol is to your satisfaction. I am ready to give my resignation and accept punishment for my failures."

    I noticed the guards stiffen at his words. I, on the other hand, became irritated. I really wanted to smack the guy for his idiocy. In an astounding act of self-control, I kept my voice flat, even as I said, "We will discuss this in my study. Captain, you will accompany us."

    So the captain, Chris, and two guards escorted me into the manor. As we passed Aaron''s room, I noticed two more guards at attention outside his door. I really wanted to go see him, but I knew I had to deal with this first. The two guards took up position outside the study door while we entered. Something that caught my eye right away was some patchwork masonry on top of the regular wall. I assumed that was where the assassin had entered.

    As I sat down in my chair, Draves took up position next to me. Chris stood across the table from me as rigid as a board, with a look of resigned determination on his face. I, however, had a look of annoyance on my face.

    "Report on everything related to the two incidences as well as the training of the militia."

    "Yes, My Lord." Chris proceeded to tell me everything that I already knew with only slight variations. "We are up to training sixty men and twenty women for the militia. After a week of training, they are required to do two days of training every week and go on patrol with guards at least once a week. Their competency with the spear is low but increasing. Several have shown aptitude with the bow, so we will be training with them."

    He went on to give several other figures concerning the training of the men before I stopped him.

    "Guard Christopher, thank you for your report. Now, it is my understanding you wish to resign, and you feel you deserve punishment."

    "Yes, My Lord." He said stiffly.

    "And on what accounts precisely do you find yourself worthy of punishment?"

    "I allowed an assassin to get close to Lord Aaron and kill two of your people. I also allowed Marcus to escape."

    "I see," I turned to Draves, "Captain, did Guardsman Chris break protocol during our absence?"

    "No, My Lord, he was sticking to the standard procedure implemented by you and your father."

    "Would you have been able to prevent these two incidences from occurring?"

    "Only if I had had foreknowledge of the events."

    "Hmm¡­ It appears, Chris, you are trying to prove that the phrase military intelligence really is an oxymoron."

    "My Lord, I-"

    "You are an idiot, I know. That became apparent when you tried to take the blame for others'' failings. We will have to do some training on deductive reasoning. As for your punishment for your inability to see the future, I promote you to Lieutenant in the Bicman Defence Force under the command of Captain Charles Draves. You will be in charge of the recruitment and training of the militia. Now you are dismissed."

    Chris sat there for a minute, trying to process what I had just said. Snapping out of his daze, he said, "Yes, My Lord." Then he left.

    After he left, Draves said, "I thought you were friends?"

    "We are."

    "Then why would you make him a lieutenant over the militia? I wouldn''t wish that job on anyone."

    I smirked, "I''m just getting him back for all the fat jokes."

    "I see." Draves said with a slight grin.

 Book 2 Chapter 3

    ¡°You are going to make him sick!¡± An annoyed voice snapped at me from the bed.

    ¡°Oh, come on, Em, he likes it,¡± I said as I continued to spin Aaron in a circle. He was, in fact, smiling, and every time I stopped, he let out a happy laugh. I stopped spinning him and tossed him into the air. Not very high due to trying not to hit his head on the rafters, but again, he squealed in delight.

    ¡°If I weren¡¯t stuck with this dumb sling on my arm, I would throw something at you.¡± She growled in annoyance. She was more annoyed that I wouldn¡¯t let her show me the new paper until I finished playing with Aaron than anything else.

    ¡°You have two arms.¡±

    ¡°It hurts to move, fat head.¡±

    ¡°You may be Aaron¡¯s Knight Protector, but that doesn¡¯t mean you can disrespect the Regent of the Barony,¡± I said mockingly. Yeah, we had been backsliding to a less formal way of speaking since I came into the room. It''s so hard to be formal with your best friends.

    ¡°I am not a knight protector, and I am grumpy because my arm hurts, and you are teasing me.¡± She pouted.

    I turned to her and said in a serious tone, ¡°Of course, you are a knight protector. You saved his life. Emily Papermaker Knight Protector.¡±

    ¡°Knight Protector isn¡¯t even a real thing. You made that up.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s in the dictionary,¡± I said in my best know-it-all tone.

    ¡°What¡¯s a dictionary?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a book that lists every word in a language and tells you what it means. I am at least 50% sure that it is in there.¡± I¡¯m pretty sure Em hadn¡¯t learned percentages yet, so I probably still sounded smart.

    Aaron started to squirm, so I looked back down at my nephew. He began to get impatient, so I held him up and looked him straight in the eyes. ¡°Now listen here, young man, just because I stopped playing does not mean you can start fussing. I-¡±

    Aaron let out a belch and then proceeded to spit up all over his outfit.

    ¡°Aww, come on, man. Hold it together.

    ¡°I told you!¡± Emily scolded

    ¡°Eh, what¡¯s a little puke between friends,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Hey Em, you want to clean this up.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± She said flatly.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I said with an exaggerated sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll go find a maid.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, there are rags right over there,¡± Emily said with a hint of irritation.

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°By the Endless One¡¯s bald head, Amos, just wipe him off before you leave to get someone.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, OK.¡±

    I got Aaron mostly cleaned up and then headed out of the room. Before I shut the door, I turned to Emily and said, ¡°Hey Em, I know I said it before when I first came in and got all teary-eyed and stuff, but umm¡­ Thanks for saving Aaron. You¡¯re the best.¡±

    Emily¡¯s look of annoyance softened into a blush, ¡°You¡¯re welcome, Lord Amos. I love him too.¡±

    Just before we left, Emily shouted, ¡°Hey, what about the paper!¡±

    I did not answer. Instead, I just shut the door. Emily yelled something else, but I wasn¡¯t paying attention.

    As we walked down the hall, I looked down at Aaron and said, ¡°Man, that was fun. I haven¡¯t gotten to annoy Em in like a month. Thanks for the assist.¡± I held my hand out for a fist bump but only got a burble.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, buddy, you¡¯ll get there. Fist bumps are an essential part of noble life.¡±

    With that, we made our way to the great hall, where I hoped to find one of his minders. There were a few girls and one boy getting things ready for supper. I spotted Hanah and called out. The girls curtsied, and the boy bowed. Hanah approached, and I held out Aaron, ¡°Would you mind changing him? He spit up, and I have things I have to get done.¡±

    ¡°Of course, My Lord,¡± She said with a smile. Aaron reached out for her, and Hanah grabbed him from me.

    ¡°Thank you. Have a pleasant evening,¡± I said as I turned abruptly and left the manor.

    I still had daylight left, and although I dreaded the attention I would get in Bicman village, I needed to go see Mikel and Jorb. I found Captain Draves in the courtyard, speaking with Chris. They were watching a group of young men practicing thrusts with spears. It looked like Captain Draves was giving some pointers to Chris, but I was happy to interrupt them. ¡°Well, Lieutenant, how are our men?¡±

    Chris glared at me. ¡°You know, My Lord, I don¡¯t think Lieutenants train troops.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what rank does what. Pick a rank that fits the job and take it. Or divide the groups up and put people over them with the right rank. Whatever it is, you are in charge of these greenies.¡±

    ¡°Greenies?¡±

    ¡°It means they are new at something. You know, like plants that have just sprouted. They are green.¡±

    ¡°I like it, My Lord,¡± the Captain said with a thoughtful expression.

    ¡°Great, glad you approve. Now we need to go down to the village, Captain. Have fun training the recruits, Lieutenant.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± He grumbled.

    As we walked down the hill, Draves suddenly spoke up. ¡°You are being casual again.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°I need it, Captain. You know that. This job is stressing me out, and this helps.¡±

    Draves nodded, ¡°Be careful. We have many new people around. Some will not stay, and those that don¡¯t will spread rumors.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±

    ¡°I will speak with the men about this, and I ask you to try and remember.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    Upon arriving at the village, several women stood from their gardens and bowed. One wore a new flaxen skirt and blouse. Before I left, I had told the weavers that I wanted the people in the village to be clothed better. Any family that provided their own thread was to be supplied with fabric from the loom so that they could make themselves new clothes. I would pay or trade for the time it took to weave. I needed to visit the weavers.

    As I approached Mikel¡¯s shop, I knocked on the open door frame. He looked up from his bench and smiled. ¡°My Lord, It is truly a pleasure to see you. How may I assist you?¡±

    ¡°You outdid yourself with those looms, Mikel,¡± I said with admiration in my voice.

    ¡°Bah, It was easy with the detailed drawings you gave me.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, in that case, next time, I will build it.¡±

    That got a laugh from him. ¡°Your point is well taken. Thank you for the praise. I hear you brought us some tools.¡±

    ¡°I did indeed. I hope they will help with the next tasks I have for you and Jorb.¡±

    ¡°And what might those be?¡±

    ¡°First things first. I need you to carve this into a one-centimeter piece of wood and press it into a slab of clay so Jorb can cast it in gold.¡± I explained while giving him a drawing.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    It is an honorary token given to the families of those who died in the service of the barony. ¡°I want one to go to Amy¡¯s Husband and one to go to the parents of the young militia man.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, that is very generous.¡±

    ¡°I want to hold a memorial service as soon as it is finished. How long will it take?¡±

    "This won¡¯t take too long for me to make, and if you provide the gold to Jorb, I am sure he can cast in before tomorrow evening.¡± Mikel said thoughtfully.

    ¡°Good. We will hold the memorial service in two days then. Captain, make sure all the villages are aware and the families of the fallen are in attendance.¡±

    ¡°It shall be done.¡±

    ¡°Good, now Mikel, these are designs I came up with in Vaspar.¡± I walked over to his table and started laying out papers. "The first one is called a dresser, this is an armoire, and this is called a desk with drawers. This last design is called a hanger. It is to hang outfits in the armoire. I know these pictures are very pretty, but don¡¯t focus on that. Focus on the functional parts.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, only nobility would have enough clothes to fill this dresser and armoire.¡±

    ¡°It''s a good thing you will be making them for a nobleman,¡± I said with a smile. Then, we went over each design in detail.

    ¡°My Lord, If I were in the capitol and had a dozen workers, we would make gold by the fist full. It is a shame that transporting these to sell is out of the question.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯est la vie,¡± I sighed.

    ¡°What does-¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said, waving away the obvious question. Actually, I wasn''t exactly sure about the translation. My sister used to use it all the time. "This isn¡¯t a top priority. I¡¯m going to go give Jorb the gold, so everything will be all set.¡±

    As we left the shop, farmers were returning from their fields. They all waved in our direction, and one familiar face came walking hurriedly over.

    ¡°Harold, how are you? Word on the street is you are going to have a bumper crop this year.¡±

    He looked confused and said, ¡°If that means we will have a lot of grain, then yes. I can''t keep up with the younger generation''s words; they are always changing.¡±

    Before he could get any more carried away, I decided to change the subject. ¡°Well, I have bought more plow animals, so we should be able to plow more fields,¡± I said excitedly.

    There was a long pause in which Harold fidgeted uncomfortably. Finally, he said, ¡°My Lord, I do appreciate all that you have done, but um... If we plant more fields and they all produce as well as they should this year, we may have a problem harvesting it all in enough time. Also, we may have trouble storing it.¡±

    ¡°Dang, I hadn¡¯t thought about that. I mean, we do have more people, but next year, we start a three-field rotation, and if that helps like it is supposed to, we may get a few more bushels on top of what we are already getting.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°If we had everyone work together, even those who don¡¯t normally farm, we might be able to do it. Or just get a huge lawn mower,¡± I laughed.

    ¡°A what?¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°Never mind, it wouldn¡¯t work anyway. We don¡¯t have a combustion engine.¡±

    Both the men looked at me with confused looks on their faces.

    Breaking the awkward silence, Harold said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, My Lord, you will come up with something.¡±

    Harold¡¯s words exuded faith. It frightened me. I didn¡¯t want to be placed on a pedestal.

    ¡°Don¡¯t hang all your hopes on me, Harold. You are a farmer. You can think of a way to solve this problem as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just a farmer, My Lord; I¡¯m not sure what I could do.¡±

    ¡°Remember, you guys improved the plow. Emily was a big help in creating the paper. I couldn''t have created concrete without experimenting for a long time, but it only took the people of Melnon a week. I read something by a man named Lewis. He said, ¡°There are no ordinary people.¡± I think he was referring to the fact that we are all extraordinary people, but most of us live our lives in ordinary ways. It is up to us to make our lives extraordinary. I think I have an idea that may get us started, but I will need you to make it extraordinary. Just think about it. And ask the other farmers, too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord. We will do our best.¡±

    I slapped my hand on his shoulder and said, ¡°You''re a good man. Thanks for all your help. Have a good evening."

    We walked the rest of the way to Jorbs place and knocked on the door. ¡°My Lord,¡± The gruff man said with a smile. ¡°I hear we will need more plows for the next planting with all the mules you brought.¡±

    I laughed. "Actually, I have a few projects that will require the mules. I am creating a road crew and building water wheels, and I may have an idea for a harvester, but that will require a group effort because I am not quite sure how to get it to work.¡±

    ¡°A harvester,¡± Jorb said, surprised. ¡°Is that something to cut the grain?¡±

    ¡°Yes, well, hopefully.¡±

    ¡°Have you seen the grain fields? Those plows really did work. I can¡¯t imagine what it will be like when all the fields are planted like that. Oh, and those looms are quite something. Janice has a dress as nice as any you would find in the towns.¡±

    I¡¯m guessing he was exaggerating, but I was glad to see him happy.

    ¡°Excellent, Jorb. I can¡¯t wait to see it. I will have some other things for you to work on, but the first will be a token of gratitude for the family of the young man who died protecting Aaron, as well as Amy¡¯s family.¡±

    ¡°A token?¡±

    ¡°It is a small gold pin for the family members of those who have died in the service of the barony to show my appreciation. Mikel is making the template so you can press it into clay. Then you can pour gold into it.¡±

    ¡°Gold!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I want you to melt down a gold coin and make a few of these tokens. It isn¡¯t much, but I want to give them something to let them know I appreciate their sacrifice.¡±

    Jorb just shook his head and muttered something I couldn¡¯t hear. Before I could say more, a young boy hobbled into the room.

    ¡°Mathew! How are you?¡±

    ¡°Lord Amos,¡± He said while trying to bow.

    ¡°Mathew, didn¡¯t I say you don¡¯t have to bow to me,¡± I said with a frown.

    ¡°Yes, My Lord,¡± He said without any hint of remorse.

    ¡°You¡¯re still going to do it, aren¡¯t you.¡±

    This time, he smiled. ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    I chuckled and decided to let it go.

    ¡°How are your studies going?¡±

    He frowned. ¡°I have learned everything that Jackie knows. Now, she is teaching other people. I can read the books you left, and I can count to really high numbers, but I don¡¯t know what comes after one thousand. I learned how to add numbers up to ten. Um... I memorized that table thing that you wanted us to, but I don¡¯t get how it works, and neither did anybody else.¡±

    ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t I explain what the multiplication table was to Jacklyn?¡±

    He looked a little uncomfortable. ¡°She said it was the last thing you gave her, but she didn¡¯t understand your explanation, so she just told everyone to memorize it.¡±

    I slapped my forehead. If I hadn¡¯t been in such a rush to leave, I could have explained it better.

    ¡°Well, if you have it memorized, I can try and explain it to you.¡±

    I spent the next quarter bell trying to explain multiplication to him. It wasn¡¯t until I described it in practical terms that he understood the concept. Then he got excited and started using a bucket of nails to separate into groups and visually multiply them.

    ¡°That¡¯s great, Mathew. Jorb, do you mind if I bring a small box of nails to help explain this tonight? Lessons should be starting soon.¡±

    ¡°That should be fine. Jacklyn can bring them back down when she comes home.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. Mathew, I will be back down in a day or so to check on the shapes you are drawing and give you something else to work on.¡± I turned to leave but then remembered one of the reasons I came to speak with Jorb and Mikel. ¡°Oh, Jorb, I almost forgot. I promised that you and Mikle would become wealthy from all the inventions you have helped build.¡±

    ¡°But, My Lord, you-¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I don''t think that we will be able to get a Writ of Exclusively like I was hoping. We are just too far away from a city. So here are five gold crowns. It isn''t as much as I was hoping all the inventions would bring in, but it is what I could squeeze out of the count.¡±

    As I dropped the five crowns onto the table, both Jorb and Mathew stared at the glittering coins. ¡°And here are two for Mathew. For his pens.¡± I grinned as I dropped two more gold onto the table. ¡°Sorry, Mathew, but your pen idea was stolen as well. I was really hoping that would become a permanent revenue stream for you. Looks like Jaclyn and Emily¡¯s paper is the only thing he didn''t manage to steal.¡±

    Neither of them could speak as they looked at the gold.

    ¡°Well, Captain, it looks like my job here is done. I have befuddled my subjects. Now we have to go back to Mikel¡¯s place and give him the gold I brought for him and the hit up Samuel. I can¡¯t believe I didn''t give Mikel his gold. We were even talking about gold,¡± I ranted. I turned to see Draves looking at the pile of gold. His eyes tightened a bit as he looked back at me.

    I slapped my forehead. ¡°Jorb, here is the gold coin for the token I am having you make. Let''s go, Captain.¡± I dropped another coin on the table.

    ¡°My Lord, did you bring a purse full of gold with you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, how else was I going to give it all out?¡±

    ¡°Give it all out?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I promised wealth to those who helped with these inventions. I was planning on it being an income stream, but this will have to do. It is why I pressed so hard for the thirty gold from Count Vaspar. Five gold to each of the men and two to the kids that leaves us with nine gold left to distribute for other contributions.¡±

    ¡°You will run out of that gold quickly at this rate.¡±

    I nodded, ¡°Yeah, I know. That is why I am not going to be making any more promises of wealth like I did before. Matthew¡¯s visit and the trip to Vaspar taught me a lot. Now let¡¯s go drop off this money so I can go see how Jacklyn¡¯s class is going.¡±

    Talking with Samuel took a lot longer than I expected. He wanted to hear all about Vaspar, and I didn''t have the heart to refuse his interrogation.

    After returning to the manor, we went straight to the hall. We had almost missed dinner. Not that they would have refused me, but I hated to give them more work.

    On our way back from Vaspar, I had been especially quiet for the first couple of days as I thought over what I had learned. Draves had tried asking me what was wrong, and I had sagely said, ¡°I had eyes but could not see Mount Tai.¡± that just confused him, so I said, ¡°I have been a frog in a well.¡±

    When he asked me what that meant, I told him he needed to read more Chinese web novels. That just made him sigh and say that he was glad I was feeling better.

    As we sat at my table eating, the Captain once again tried to pry my future plans out of me.

    ¡°Sorry, Captain, I already told you. I will reveal my plan to you tomorrow. Today is my time to visit with people and center myself.¡±

    ¡°Of course, My Lord.¡± Draves assented

    ¡°Don''t tell Cookie, but I miss the food in Vaspar. I hope she is able to put the spices and herbs I brought back to good use.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring much back with you except seeds.¡±

    ¡°Hey, the spices were expensive. I figured she could use the small amount to experiment with and then grow her own. Of course, that depends on if the seeds I got would grow in this environment. They said I need sandy soil for black pepper, and I don¡¯t know if we have that here. Also, their salt is expensive. I wonder if we could evaporate it out of the seawater.¡± I mussed.

    When I was ten, I really wanted a kangaroo. Seriously though, what kid doesn¡¯t dream of having one? Anyways, I was just learning how to use internet searches to get what I really wanted, and so I looked up Australia, export, kangaroo, or something like that on the search engine. Along with telling me I couldn¡¯t have a kangaroo ¡ªAustralia sucks¡ª it also said Australia was the leading exporter of salt and had pictures of large salt flats. Then, I went down a rabbit hole of how to make my own salt, which was stupid because I wasn¡¯t anywhere near an ocean. I don''t remember much, but I am pretty sure I could make some salt.

    ¡®Maybe I could trade with the Bay Village. No, better to do it myself. I didn¡¯t mind helping them, but I have my own plans, and this might become part of them.

    ¡°My Lord?¡± Draves interrupted.

    ¡°Sorry, I was lost in thought.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by evaporating the salt?¡±

    ¡°I misspoke. You don¡¯t evaporate the salt. You evaporate the water.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I have heard of salt beds before. Do you think this is what they are doing?¡±

    ¡°Probably. I am sure this is being done elsewhere, so we probably won¡¯t be exporting it. But it would be nice to have.¡±

    ¡°Is this part of your plan?¡±

    I scowled at Draves, ¡°I am on vacation today. We will talk about it tomorrow.¡±

    Just then, I noticed that the servants were starting to clean up, so I hurried up with my meal. I wanted to observe Jacklyn¡¯s lesson.

    ¡°Could you go grab the box of nails I brought back from Jorb¡¯s place? I am excited to see what everyone has learned.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord.¡±

    After a decent meal, the tables were cleared in preparation for the lessons. It was at that point that I finally got to speak with Jacklyn. I really wish I could invite my people to sit with me at the table. We could have been talking about how everything had been going at the same time we ate.

    I caught her eye and waved her over. ¡°So why don¡¯t you give me a report on how things are going?¡±

    She beamed, ¡°We have so many people coming now that they have divided into groups. A lot of people have already learned everything you left for us and are now helping me. Some of the earliest ones have stopped coming, waiting for new material before they come back.¡±

    ¡°Well, fortunately for you, I wrote up some notes on new books I will be creating. Also, Mathew pointed out that I hadn''t explained what the multiplication table was all about so we can work on that today. I want to teach you how to add and subtract large numbers, so after today''s lesson, I will be teaching you.¡±

    I could see she was excited, ¡°New books would be great. How large of numbers?¡±

    ¡°Once you learn this next step, any number you can think of.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll start learning it after class today. Then, in a few days, you can start teaching it.¡± I grinned. It was cool to see her so excited. When I was fourteen, I tried to avoid learning anything.

    The room began to fill, and Emily walked up to the front with one of her helpers trailing behind her. He was carrying a stack of papers. When he set them down in front of me, I gaped. These sheets were almost white and looked smooth. I snatched a piece of paper and held it up. Emily grumbled quietly about me being rude, but I ignored her. I dipped a pen in some ink and began to write. The quality was far superior to when I had left. There was no bleed-through, and it was tougher when I tugged on it.

    ¡°Wow, this is amazing. How did you do it?¡±

    The comment made Emily glow with pride. ¡°It took a lot of work to get it this good. We tried a lot of different stuff, but we found something that helped the fibers break down and stretch so that they came together better. One of the things we added also changed the color if we let it soak for a day. And one of the things that really helped was Cookie¡¯s starch."

    ¡°Starch?¡± I said in surprise.

    ¡°Yep. We added a bit, and it helped everything hold together and stop some of the ink from running through.¡±

    ¡°Amazing! Well done. It looks like both of you ladies did exactly what was needed while I was gone. Let¡¯s hand out those papers and get to work.¡±

    As Jacklyn had said, the many people who entered the room were divided up into groups and began either reading, learning to write, or doing math. There was no shifting around, and when I asked about it, I found out that they rotated every day. Some of the students who had learned enough words were writing down sentences. I read some of them, including Jacklyns¡¯s, and found that the syntax wasn¡¯t great, but they were learning. I wasn¡¯t surprised because I hadn¡¯t had a lot of time to teach Jacklyn that before I left. I told Jacklyn that I wanted her to write a story, and I would edit it. That way, we could review the syntax. I thought it would be a good idea to have the students write down their folklore and compile it into a book.

    I stood up towards the end of the lesson and said, ¡°My people, I want you to know how proud I am of you. Some of you may not see the importance of such lessons. You have come for the novelty of learning. I want you to know that I plan to make the people of Bicman the most well-educated people in the kingdom. Those outside of our barony look down on us for our place in this backwater, but we will make this a center of learning.

    By the time we are done, you may very well be more educated than some nobility. Whether you are a servant, a craftsman, a serf, or a freeman, I expect great things from you. Thank you for your effort and commitment.¡±

    There was no applause, but there wasn¡¯t a single person who wasn¡¯t beaming with pride.

    I excused myself and went to my study. I had designs to make.

    Old man Miller down the street from my house had been fanatical about his lawn. Cutting through his lawn was a great way to save a couple of minutes off your time if you were late for the bus and had to run to school. Few of us did, though. Miller was always at his window, just waiting for a trespasser. When he caught you, he would immediately call your parent.

    The one time I was caught, he demanded that my parents send me to his house once a week for the next month to mow his lawn. To this day, I don¡¯t think he cared. He really just wanted someone to mow the yard. So, the first week that I showed up at his house with my lawnmower, he started shouting at me about how unhealthy it was to breathe in the fumes that lawnmowers produced and that they were also bad for the lawn. So I had to use his lawnmower. It was one of those old-time lawnmowers that was a cylinder made of blades attached to two wheels. It was a lot harder to push for an eleven-year-old, and sometimes, it took two passes to make sure it caught everything.

    Afterward, he would make me clean and sharpen the blades. I never made that mistake again. I hated that man, but now he may hold the key to my success.

    I drew a lawnmower and some notes. I then wrote a note on how I thought this might be changed to make something that could cut wheat. I had no idea how since pushing it in front of a couple of horses seemed difficult and caused the grain to be trampled, and the same was true for behind. I wondered if trampling it afterward would ruin the wheat. Well, it really wasn¡¯t my problem. If the farmers wanted it, they would have to figure out how to make it work. I was working by oil light by the time I was done and crashed into bed as soon as I finished.

 Book 2 Chapter 4

    ¡°So now that you reviewed some of the current situation, are you ready to tell me your plans?¡± Draves asked.

    We had been sitting in my office this morning going over reports. I wanted to look things over before Edward got here. Then, I could sit down and review the operations with him and let him take over. I had brought Draves in as a sounding board. He really had no interest in these types of things and was more interested in what my plans were, but I refused to get ahead of myself.

    So much had happened in the last three months, and at the same time, I felt like we had barely accomplished anything. The fields were producing well, and the animals were healthy. The numbers for copper and iron production were steady. The coke was being accumulated since there was no need for it right now until we built a blast furnace. Right now, all we wanted was the fly ash byproduct for concrete. This made me think of something. It was shortly before I died. I didn''t read the news much, but my home screen always popped up with the latest news. Someone had found a way to take used coffee grounds, heat them in an oxygen-free environment like we do with coke, and then substitute the sand in concrete with coffee grounds. Apparently, it made it 30% stronger somehow. I miss coffee, but I don''t think I could drink enough to replace the sand we used.

    The women were out of flax for linen. They had gone through it all fast with the new looms. The mar had just been sheered, so they were starting yarn production. I had previously seen how they made yarn. The material was attached to a wooden stick they called a drop spindle. Then, they spun a piece at the bottom that would twist the yarn. Somewhere among my notes was a drawing of what I thought a spinning wheel looked like. I had no idea how it worked, though, so I was hoping to show the women and see if they could figure it out. I hadn¡¯t done it yet because I wanted to make sure my loom idea worked so they wouldn¡¯t think I was crazy when I showed them a picture of something that I didn¡¯t know anything about.

    ¡°Alright, Draves, Now that we have gone over all this stuff, let me tell you what I think. Frankly, we''re screwed.¡± I paused to see if I got a reaction, and I wasn¡¯t surprised when I got none. ¡°OK, not exactly screwed, but we have some big problems. First, someone is still out to get me and Aaron. If I had to make a guess, they were trying to kill Aaron and frame me because otherwise, they would have gone after me. If they had gone after me, though, then everyone would know that it was an outside person.¡±

    ¡°Next, we have no way of making money off of our inventions because there are no guilds or patents. I¡¯m really not too concerned about that because, with our current production numbers, we will be self-sustaining this next year. The problem is if we are successful, people may try to take the barony. Everyone was fine with us as long as we were poor, but success creates envy. All it would take is for the Duke to find out we have a prosperous barony, and Aaron could have it snatched away from him.¡±

    Draves nodded in agreement.

    ¡°We could just not improve things to keep the status quo, but I want my people to produce more with less effort. I want them to have time to enjoy life, not just labor all day until they drop from exhaustion. I want them to have time to become educated.¡±

    ¡°It is a nice dream, My Lord, but like you said, it will be taken from us.¡± Draves frowned.

    ¡°True, and I actually want some of it taken from us. Let them think they can take what they want."

    "What do you mean?"

    I thought for a moment, "Do they have street performers that do magic tricks here?¡±

    ¡°I saw one in the capitol. What does that have to do with anything?¡±

    ¡°Let me show you.¡± Grabbing a silver penny, I walked around my table, demonstrating the trick my dad used to do of pulling a penny from Draves¡¯s ear.

    He was shocked until I showed him how it works. ¡°You see, Captain, all magic is misdirection. I have you focus on one thing while hiding another.¡±

    ¡°You want to hide our wealth?¡±

    ¡°Precisely, they may come and see our plows, carriages, and horseshoes¡ªall the things that they can produce without much effort on their own. We will have to give up concrete because if we start building with it, then those who visit will want to know how it is done. We will lose concrete and coke making. I am not going to have my people live in poverty just so I can hide those things.

    ¡°Paper and fine linen, however, require implements they don''t have. Once we get a blast furnace up and running, we will have steel as well.¡±

    ¡°They will know it is us when we try and sell it.¡±

    ¡°Not if they don¡¯t realize we are selling it.¡±

    ¡°All shipments are checked before they enter Vaspar.¡±

    ¡°That is why we have shipbuilders,¡± I grinned. ¡°I want to build a harbor at the bay and then export goods.¡±

    ¡°You are going to pretend we are a foreign entity? ¡°

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    My Lord, I see a few problems with this. One, if you travel down the coast, they can just follow us back, and two, we will have to pay an import tax if we do manage to fool them. Also, hasn¡¯t Vaspar seen your paper.¡±

    ¡°OK, let¡¯s address these issues. I am going to continue to sell low-quality paper over land. That is part of the misdirection. People will buy it because they can get it cheap but it won¡¯t replace parchment due to the quality. There were a few batches that I even thought of using as toilet paper. We¡¯ll discuss what that is later. The high-quality paper will be able to compete with parchment, but even though we can sell it for cheaper and make it faster, we won¡¯t. I don¡¯t want it to affect the economy.¡±

    ¡°As far as the import tax goes, paper is so cheap that if we set the better paper at the same price as parchment, it will not even affect our margins.¡±

    When it comes to avoiding discovery, the ships I plan to build can travel faster and further into open waters. We may even skip Vaspar altogether. Heck, we may even find a way to trade with other countries.¡±

    ¡°They will realize that we are from Falmoren.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll have to think about that. Maybe use the original settlers¡ªthose with red and blond hair. I know it has been a hundred years, but I wonder if they have a different language than the one that has been passed down. Captain, I want you to gather some of the older people in this area who are descendants of the original settlers. Set up a time for us to meet in the next few days.¡±

    Draves thought for a moment and then nodded.

    ¡°We have to make this work. I need to buy political favors, and I don¡¯t think my paintings will be enough.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot about that plan. When is the first person coming to receive their painting?¡±

    ¡°I have Baron Kithmoore coming in three months.¡±

    ¡°He is only a baron, though. Can he give us any support?¡±

    ¡°True, and I don¡¯t even know the first thing about how buying support works. How much it will cost me is another thing. How do I make sure that someone doesn¡¯t chop off my head? I am hoping that when my fame spreads, I can start painting counts and possibly even Duke Kimton. That may make him less likely to kill me.¡±

    ¡°Kimton, is volatile. He may show you favor one day and chop off your head the next. Might even chop off your head so that no one else can get a painting from you.¡±

    ¡°That is dark, Captain. Let¡¯s stay positive. I was also thinking that the money we get from the paintings can be a cover for our prosperity.¡±

    There was a sudden knock at the door. ¡°Captain, let¡¯s think about this for a while and meet again later. We have a lot of work to do first.¡±

    The captain walked to the door and opened it. Standing there was Joshua, the steward of Barim.

    ¡°Joshua, it is good to see you. I saw you last night at the lesson but didn¡¯t want to interrupt, and then forgot about it before I left to retire. How are the studies going.¡±

    He sighed, ¡°My Lord, I am a simple farmer. I don¡¯t know that I will ever be able to write or read good.¡±

    ¡°Patience, my friend, that is what it takes. I am not trying to turn you into a scholar, but you will have to stick with it until we can communicate properly via letters and you can keep records. The most valuable things in life are difficult.¡±

    ¡°As you say, My Lord,¡± He said with a respectful nod.

    ¡°Now, how can I help you.¡±

    ¡°I believe I have fulfilled the task you set for me before you left.¡±

    ¡°Really, you found what caused the illnesses?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I looked for people who had survived the last instances. The illness started with a rash and then vomiting and diarrhea. Most could not tell me much after that, but people called them cursed years.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°Well, both times it happened, the crops that year were destroyed by too much rain. The fields became flooded.¡±

    ¡°So you think that there may be a correlation between the flooding and the disease?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but maybe.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ were people boiling their waters? Maybe the rising marsh level polluted their drinking water.¡±

    ¡°They were all followers of the laws of cleanliness.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but isn¡¯t there a pond or lake there?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord, but-¡±

    ¡°Did they swim in the lake?¡±

    ¡°I would assume so. We certainly do now.¡±

    I had a friend¡ªwell, not really a friend, but a kid I knew. I heard he got giardia by drinking lake water.

    "What if this was one of the swamp diseases? Perhaps the lake is becoming polluted by rising water levels in the marshes. The disease may be festering in the marsh water and running into the lake. Until we drain the marsh, I want to be careful about the lake water, especially after heavy rains. If you even suspect the water levels are rising in the marsh, you must ban people from going near the lake and have them wash upstream.¡±

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for looking into that, Joshua. How are the crops looking?¡±

    This caused Josh to grin, ¡°They are doing extremely well. I wish my father''s crops had done half as well as the fields we planted. Even the fields we planted late seem to be doing well.¡±

    ¡°Excellent work, Steward Joshua. I think you will make a fine headman.¡± I complimented.

    ¡°My Lord, Your praise humbles me. Thank you. I will strive to be worthy of your trust.¡± He said with another bow.

    ¡°Do you have anything else to report?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Then, you are dismissed.¡±

    It was about lunchtime, so I walked into the great hall, my two guards trailing behind me. Yeah, that was another thing that had changed. I had to be escorted everywhere. I had a simple meal and then went to go find Emily. Really, it wasn¡¯t difficult. She was on bed rest, after all.

    ¡°How are you feeling,¡± I said as I walked up to the bed. She was reading one of the storybooks I had left behind.

    ¡°Bored, but the pain is a little less today. It itches really bad,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Think I remember hearing that broken bones itch when they heal because of nerves being repaired.¡±

    ¡°What is a nerve?¡±

    ¡°Well, one thing they do is to allow us to feel.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ How do you know so much?¡±

    ¡°Where I come from, we had so much knowledge that it took buildings many times larger than this to hold all the books that knowledge was on.¡±

    ¡°And anyone could go to these buildings?¡± Emily said in surprise.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I wish I could live there,¡± she said wistfully.

    ¡°Well, if it makes you feel better, I hope to create buildings where all the knowledge of this world can be gathered. One of the books that will be there will be written by you.¡±

    ¡°Me!? Why me?¡±

    ¡°Who would not want to read a book written by the first papermaker? You will write about the experiments you have tried and what you learned. Do you think you are done making a better paper?¡±

    ¡°I-I thought-¡±

    ¡°Never stop asking, ¡®What if?¡¯ What if we could make different-colored paper? One thing I need you to make is extremely soft paper. We have done it before, but it was rough. I need it as soft and smooth as possible. Extremely floppy. If it can absorb a lot of ink, that would be great.

    Emily gave me a confused look, ¡°Why?¡±

    I just grinned. ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t have me make something and not tell me what it is for.¡±

    ¡°Sure I can. It is one of the things governments are best at. We''ll call it Project X. Don¡¯t worry when it is done. I will let you test it first.¡± I had no desire to test the first batch of toilet paper. ¡°Also, I need you to make a lot more of the low-quality paper. Stop making the good stuff.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why would we go back to making that stuff?¡±

    ¡°Because that is what we will be exporting to Vaspar?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we want to sell the better paper?¡±

    ¡°The better paper is just as good as parchment, and we can make a lot more of it for a lower price.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean people would buy our product first? I thought that is what we wanted.¡±

    ¡°What would happen if we put the parchment makers out of business?¡±

    ¡°They would get angry? And¡­¡±

    ¡°Not only the parchment makers but also those who sell the skins of the animals to make the parchment. It would affect a lot of people. But if we make cheap paper that is not as good and then sell it for a reasonable price so as not to affect the demand for parchment, then everybody wins. From what I understand, papyrus is imported, so if we make our stuff cheaper than papyrus, we can cut down on the import, and the only people who are unhappy are the people who are not even part of our kingdom.¡±

    ¡°I think I get it, maybe. What do we do with the good paper?¡±

    ¡°For now, we hide it. Then, when we are ready, we sell it to other countries, and then they can try exporting it back to Falmoren at a higher price instead of papyrus.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. But what you''re saying is that we are going to make both.¡±

    ¡°Not right away. We have visitors. For right now, we are going to pack things up and not produce anything until we can find a secure place where nobody can see what we are up to. No more using paper for classes until some of the people I hired have left, and we make sure others can be trusted.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡± she complained.

    I ignored her and continued. "Also, I need you to let everyone know that if any of the newcomers ask about paper, we need to convince them it is very expensive and time consuming to make. You are in charge of making sure everyone tells the same story.¡±

    ¡°But-¡±

    ¡°Oh, with everything I have been doing, I almost forgot to pay you your percentage of what we sold in Vaspar. I promised you and Jacklyn each 10% of the profits. Now, technically, with the cost of making it and the production cost, the profits would be less than this, but we sold all the paper for five silver crowns. That means you made five silver pennies. Don¡¯t let me forget to give those to you.¡±

    The last statement caused Emily¡¯s eyes to go wide and her jaw to drop. Then she whispered to herself, ¡°Five silver. I-I get five silver pennies.¡±

    Then she looked confused: ¡°Lord Amos, what would I do with five silver?¡±

    I smiled, ¡°Why, you and everyone else I am paying in Bicman will be responsible for kick-starting the local economy. I will be giving you coppers and regular pennies instead of silver, of course. I converted a lot of silver into copper pennies. You can buy fabric from the weavers and make better dresses or fruit from Cofi. Buy salt so you can add flavor to your food. Buy your own rocking chair from Mikel. You will be helping me convert Bicman¡¯s barter economy to one based on coinage.¡±

    ¡°Me!¡±

    ¡°Besides my paintings, you have one of the only products that people outside of Bicman will pay for. We cannot bring more coinage into Bicman without you.¡±

    Emily turned white and looked like she was going to pass out.

    ¡°Your employees will also need to be paid. A copper a month is good. Technically, since they are all serfs, and I provide their housing, food, and clothing for their labor, they shouldn''t get paid, but hey, they deserve it. I will pay them for their work so far, but in the future, the money will come from Jackie and you. Don¡¯t worry. Next time we send paper, it will be a wagon full, so you will have no problem paying them.¡±

    ¡°You want me to make a wagon full of paper?¡±

    ¡°Yep, and at that point, we will be bringing in gold instead of silver.¡±

    ¡°Gold? You can¡¯t be serious.¡±

    ¡°Serious as a heart attack. Of course, we will have to find a way to give you peasent status because there is no way I will be paying for your food, clothing, and housing at that point. You will have to have a very nice house built for you in the village and fill it with all sorts of fine food and clothing.¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m going to be¡­¡± She burst out into tears.

    I knew they were tears of joy, but I couldn¡¯t help but tease her. ¡°Now, Emily,¡± I said sternly, ¡°Do not try to make me feel guilty for not allowing you to mooch off of my hospitality. I refuse to help those who can help themselves. You are just going to have to grow up and become a peasant.¡±

    She sniffled and then looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and a pout on her face. ¡°You¡¯re teasing me.¡±

    ¡°Just a bit. Now get some rest, and when Jackie comes in, tell her what I want from you and her.¡±

    After I left the room where Emily was, I went back to my study and pulled out some copper coins. Going to the paper room where the children were making paper, I started handing out coins according to how long they had been working. Technically, they were serfs, so the law said I only had to pay for their labor by providing for their basic needs. However, my goal was to have no serfs in the barony within five years. Their reactions to the money were just as good as Emily¡¯s. I wish I could be there when they went home or back to the great hall. I¡¯m sure their parent''s faces would be priceless.

    I wanted to stay longer and watch the process, but just then, one of my guards stuck his head in the room. ¡°Chuck just brought word that the other people have arrived. The Captain is dividing up the housing, as you requested. Lunch is being served, and then the men will get to work constructing the new homes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said as I walked out of the room. Turning back to the kids, I said, ¡° Please keep this door shut. Clean up the room and hide the equipment. You have the rest of the day off. Also, you are not to tell any of the new people what you do or brag about the money you make, just like we did with that last visitor. Papermaking is a secret. If someone asks about paper, say it is expensive to make and takes a lot of work for one piece of paper. If you can''t avoid talking about it at all.¡±

    I got nods from all the kids and left. Most people I wouldn¡¯t care about because they couldn¡¯t leave and wouldn¡¯t be allowed in the family wing of the manor anyway. I was going to have a guard posted at the entrance to my hall, claiming it was for protection. All these kids in my hall would be suspicious.

    ¡°Chuck, good to see you. Please send Edward to my study so that I might discuss the affairs of the Barony with him. Also, Marshandra should show the two freemen to the old steward''s quarters. That will be theirs for the duration of their stay.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord.¡±

    Elizabeth of the Manticole Trading House - three weeks prior

    I tried to keep the smile off my face as I prepared to enter my father''s study. This news would not make Father happy. Squaring my shoulders, I knocked firmly on the door.

    There was a long pause before my father''s sharp voice penetrated the door, ¡°Enter.¡±

    His cold eyes met mine as I entered. No words were spoken until I had bowed and looked him in the eyes.

    ¡°What is it, child?¡± he said in his usual brusque tone.

    ¡°Father, I have received news from Catherine concerning the House of Bicman. Apparently, the entire family other than Lord Amos and his nephew are dead due to illness.¡±

    I stood patently in front of my father as he stared at me. His eyes bore into mine. I knew better than to squirm under his gaze. I sunk into myself, pretending I was looking at a sculpture rather than my father. He was the greatest merchant in the county, and everyone knew it was because of that gaze. He read people as easily as I might read a scroll.

    After what felt like an eternity, he finally said, ¡°Curse that blasted family of Marsh Dwellers. I suppose there is no hope of him keeping the deal I made with his father. It wouldn''t be appropriate for a baron to marry someone who is not nobility.¡±

    He said all this as if he was discussing the weather. There was another pregnant pause before he continued. "You will have to go and sign the cancellation. I have no time for these things.¡±

    I couldn''t help it. I shuddered at the thought of meeting that horrid man again. I still had nightmares about my last visit. I involuntarily reached up and ran my fingers through my hair.

    My father frowned at my nervous tick. I couldn''t help it though. It happened every time I thought of Lord Amos.

    ¡°Father, when will I leave?¡±

    "I am sending a caravan as far as Vaspar after next year''s harvest. You will travel with them and then take a small contingent of men to travel the rest of the way to Bicman.¡±

    I suddenly had an idea. ¡°Father, I would like to ask Sir Murrey''s son, Aramis, to escort me.¡±

    ¡°Your lover?¡± Father said flatly.

    I couldn¡¯t help the blush that crept onto my face. Of course he knew.

    ¡°Control your emotions, girl. Did you really think I wasn''t aware of your dalliances? I ignored them because I knew you would soon have to marry a brute that has probably slept with every woman in his barony.¡±

    A realization hit me then. He said this with no emotion, but he had shown kindness to me by allowing me happiness before my fate was sealed. I didn''t even know he knew how to be kind to his children. I knew saying thank you would be pointless, so I said nothing.

    ¡°You may take him as an escort. And when you return, we will find you a suitable husband. Do not worry. I have some wealthy merchants with whom I can make ties. They aren''t young, but they will be able to provide for you. You will be married as soon as you return.¡±

    I tried not to show my sadness about losing Aramis, but I thought that marriage to anyone would be better than Bicman. I expected to be dismissed, but instead, we stood in awkward silence. He stared straight through me as if I wasn''t even there.

    Finally, his eyes focused on me, and he said, ¡°I am loath to have this deal fall through without receiving anything as compensation. I will make you a deal. Suppose you are able to get appropriate compensation from Lord Bicman for the termination of the wedding. In that case, I will enter into negotiations with Sir Murrey for your betrothal to his son.¡±

    I was shocked. ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± I said with a bow.

    ¡°As the third son, he is not my first choice, but you are my fifth child, and having a connection to a knight might open doors. Your future is in your hands.¡±

    ¡°How much do you require?¡±

    ¡°As much as you can get, obviously. I will determine if it is enough when you return. You are dismissed.¡±

    As I exited the study, my heart threatened to burst from my chest. I was free of the monster. Now, I had to figure out how to convince him to give me money.

    I had been ecstatic at the prospect initially, but as I wandered aimlessly through the house, I realized how hopeless the idea was. We were so below his notice as merchants that he hadn''t even bothered to inform us of the fact that the wedding wouldn''t happen.

    I became angry. Did he expect me to just show up on his eighteenth birthday so I could be humiliated by his rejection? I needed to speak with Aramis and come up with a plan to get the money. Father probably would expect me to get just as much as he would have paid for the dowery, if not more. This wasn¡¯t going to be easy.

    I also needed to write a letter and send it by pigeon to Vaspar. They could then get it up to Bicman via courier. My father said my fate was in my own hands, and I would find a way to have Aramis.

 Book 2 Chapter 5

    ¡°Edward, please have a seat. We have a lot to go over.¡± I said, gesturing to the seat in front of me.

    We had a few good conversations as we traveled back to Bicman, and I thought he had started to relax around me, but now he seemed really nervous.

    ¡°Relax, Ed. We''re just going to go over the finances and operations of the different villages. After we get everyone settled, we will tour the villages. If you''re going to work with me, you are going to have to chill. I mean, this is a job even I managed to do for a while, so I have no doubt you can do it. Before we begin, do you have any questions for me?¡±

    ¡°Um, My Lord, I have to admit that my nervousness comes from your popularity. It makes me worried I might fail you,¡± Edward said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

    ¡°My popularity?¡± I exclaimed in confusion.

    ¡°Yes, well, when we arrived in Kerisi, and I saw all the people out to greet you, I thought it was all staged,¡± he said, sounding embarrassed.

    I had to admit to myself those thoughts had been seeping into my mind over the last day as well.

    ¡°I expected that as soon as you left, people would start grumbling about how they had been taken away from their work just to come and pretend to respect you. But the opposite was true. Everybody was talking about how excited they were to have you back. People that you had waved to or acknowledged as you passed were talking about how you had noticed them. The people whom you greeted at the feast were bragging to everyone else. The lines of your speech were on everyone''s lips as if they had been spoken by the Endless One himself. I am ashamed to admit that on the journey here, I thought your attitude towards everyone may have been an act just to keep everyone moving and cut down on desertion. I realize now that you really are the man you portrayed yourself to be. I ask for your forgiveness.¡±

    I sat there stunned for a moment, trying to process what he was saying. I really hadn¡¯t done much for these people yet. I knew what I wanted to do, but we were a ways off from it: a coined-based economy, increased education, diversified job market, and elevated standard of living. Suddenly, I noticed Edward shifting in his seat nervously. It almost made me laugh. He had to be at least twenty. I was just a kid compared to him.

    ¡°Sorry, Edward. I just got lost in my thoughts. There is no need for an apology. If I were in your position, I would have felt the same way. I don¡¯t get offended easily, so let¡¯s just move on."

    Edward''s expression changed to one of determination. He stood from his chair and then dropped to one knee. ¡°My Lord, although you have not requested it, I, Edward, scholar of Kimton, do hereby swear fealty to the house of Bicman. I promise to serve you and your posterity to the end of my days.¡±

    This guy was really good at throwing me for a loop. Although I wanted to just gape, I pulled myself together and responded as best I could. "I, Lord Amos Bicman, do seal your oath with a covenant. My posterity and I will treat you and all those in your household with fairness. Serve me well, and the success of the house of Bicman will be your success. This I swear. Rise, Edward, Steward of Bicman.¡±

    ¡°Now, are there any more surprises for me before we get started?¡± I asked lightly.

    ¡°No, My Lord. Thank you for your confidence in me.¡±

    ¡°OK, let us begin with the map of the territory.¡±

    I pulled out a map and started showing him the different villages. Next, we went over the resources and production numbers in each village. I went over the production numbers from last year as well as the current estimated projection for this year. When I went over the projection, he started to argue with me because he didn''t believe I could produce the quantity of crops I predicted.

    At least he was becoming more comfortable with speaking to me.

    At that point, I began to reveal my plans. I started to pull out drawings of our creations and future projects. Edward immediately wanted to jump up and go see the plow and the fields that we had used them on, but I made him wait.

    I went on to explain why I had brought in the engineers and that I wanted two additional water wheels for my land: one for Melnon and one for Alfer. I showed him the designs for the water powered bellow, rock crusher, and trip hammer. The design for the sawmill blew him away.

    ¡°And- And this thing will work?¡± he exclaimed.

    ¡°Well, assuming that we can get a rotary blade that is perfectly symmetrical and balanced, yeah. It¡¯s going to be tough.¡±

    I wonder if a linear motion with a straight blade would work?

    ¡°My Lord,¡± Edward said, interrupting my thoughts, ¡°These things are incredible. The work of ten men is being done by one or two. What will the rest do?¡±

    ¡°Trust me, there is always more to do than time to do it.¡± We will find work for everybody¡ªat least, I hoped so.

    While I was going over things, I was testing him on various concepts. He was a bookkeeper at heart, so he was not familiar with all the laws and statutes of the land, he had no management background, and his multiplication and division weren¡¯t all that great. He filled a role, though, and he would get better. I need him to consolidate information from all areas and give me reports. He would be a liaison between me and my people. I would still try to meet and talk with them, but I wanted to have him handle most things.

    We left the study together, and I was about to go hang out with Aaron when one of the guards stationed at my door said, ¡°My Lord, I was told there was a dispute while you were in conference. Apparently, one of the new citizens struck a member of your militia after the housing lottery. The man has been locked up.¡±

    ¡°Do you know the details?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord, but the man is in the cell.¡±

    I held back a sigh. This was probably my least favorite thing about being a regent. Dispute resolution was just not my forte. I put on a neutral face to hide my discomfort and turned to Edward. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go figure out what this is all about.¡±

    ¡°You want me to come?¡± He said in surprise.

    ¡°Why not? A second opinion may help, and as steward, you should become familiar with these things.¡±

    ¡°Will this be part of my duty?¡±

    ¡°Partly. You won¡¯t be judging crimes. But you may need to gather information and let me know the details. That is what we are doing now.¡±

    We discussed a few of the finer points of Edward''s duties as we walked to the cell. When we arrived, I found Curtis outside the cell, lost in his own world. It couldn¡¯t have been a very fun job.

    He stood to attention as soon as he saw me and bowed. ¡°My Lord, are you here for the prisoner?¡±

    ¡°I would like to speak with him.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± he said as he opened the jail.

    As I walked in, I noticed a man in his early twenties sitting on the mat in the corner with his head down. He looked pretty dejected as he looked up at me. Upon realizing who I was, he immediately stood up and bowed.

    ¡°My Lord,¡± was all he said.

    ¡°What is your name?¡±

    ¡°Taylor, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Taylor, I find it interesting that you would strike a fellow citizen after the laws had been read a few times to everyone on the way to the barony. So I have come to hear your side of the story.¡±

    This seemed to come as a surprise to the young man, but he straightened and began to explain. ¡°My Lord, I do apologize for my actions. The lottery had been drawn for the first houses, and my family didn¡¯t receive one. I was upset because my wife is in the last stages of pregnancy, and we have two other children, one who is not yet one year old. It was a long journey, and I was hoping we could receive a home. I approached one of the young guards and tried to explain the situation to him and that my wife was having a difficult time. I wanted to know if an exception could be made. He responded that I should have kept my pecker in my pants after the first one. I sort of lost it and struck him.¡±

    I wanted to admit to the man that if that were what had truly been said to him, then I wouldn¡¯t blame him for hitting the man, but unfortunately, he broke the law.

    ¡°Taylor, I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. The first offense of fighting without causing serious injury is a night in prison, and I will not go against my own law. Still, I had overlooked the matter of pregnant women and possibly other conditions that could have been considered in the housing situation. I will see what I can do to make your wife''s situation more comfortable. If necessary, I will have her and your children sleep in the great hall. I will also speak with the guard about what he said. That was uncalled for.¡±

    Taylor fell to his knees. ¡°Your Lordship is most generous.¡±

    I nodded and left.

    ¡°What do you think Edward.¡±

    ¡°It is nice of you to offer them a spot in the great hall. Will there be a lot you have to house there?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many with special needs didn¡¯t get a home. I will have to see if the people who won the lottery are willing to give up their spot to those in need.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think many would be willing. It has been a hard journey, and no one wants to sleep in tents.¡±

    ¡°True¡­¡± I started to run through different ideas in my head as we headed to the camp that was housing the new citizens. There were definitely fewer people because they had moved into their homes here or traveled to Barim to fix up the abandoned ones.

    Chris approached me as I was just entering. Before I could say anything, he spoke first.

    ¡°My Lord, have you come to talk about the incident with the fight?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I think we have it under control. After Lance finally admitted what he had said to the man, the older guys gave him a tongue lashing. They wanted me to ask you to release the guy.¡±

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Well, I cannot go against my own law, but I promised Taylor I would find a place for his family to sleep.¡±

    ¡°Actually, when the story spread, one older guy and his wife offered up their home to the woman and her kids.¡±

    ¡°Excellent, and¡­ why don¡¯t you tell anyone that would be willing to give up their home to people in similar situations that I will give them two copper.¡±

    ¡°Not a bad deal. I¡¯ll let the men know to spread the word.¡±

    ¡°The people that are receiving help must be in a situation similar to Taylor''s family. A need, not a want. Tell the people to come speak with Edward for their compensation.¡±

    ¡°Alright, next, we need to¡­ Hmm, hey Edward, what do I need to do next.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you shared your plans with me, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. As a steward, it is one of your responsibilities to tell me what is next on my schedule.¡± I said in a demanding tone.

    Edward looked utterly confused. ¡°I-¡±

    ¡°Ignore him, Edward,¡± Chris interjected, ¡°He will randomly start teasing people. He isn¡¯t insane. He just likes saying things that throw people off. He must like you if he is already teasing you.¡±

    ¡°Lieutenant Chris, if you don¡¯t keep your mouth shut, I will promote you to general. I could have gotten at least a few more shocked expressions out of him before he figured it out.¡±

    ¡°You know, most people just think you''re insane when you speak nonsense. Then those of us who know you have to explain to them that you are just a bit eccentric.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± I sighed, ¡°It¡¯s a shame though. It is a great way to relieve stress.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go practice your spearmanship. That should do the trick.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, I remember now. I was going to spend quality time with Aaron. Sorry, Chris, but I have a lot to do since I just got back.¡±

    I walked quickly back to the road leading to the manor. Edward hurried to catch up.

    ¡°My Lord, you are not what I expected." Then he paused. "That might not have come out right. I meant it as a positive thing. You are friendly and caring towards your vassals. I understand now why your people respect you.¡±

    That stunned me. I knew that the popular belief about barons was that they were aloof and uncaring toward their people, but I hadn¡¯t really considered how that separated me from other nobles. I am sure I wasn¡¯t the only noble who treated his people with dignity. Vaspar may not have been a caring individual, but I believe he was, for the most part, a just man and fair with his people. I wanted to be both. Would that help or hinder the barony? It certainly hadn¡¯t helped with Marcus.

    Patricia, as well. She was a criminal, and I had let my emotions thwart justice. I should have kept her locked up. Now Marcus was on the loose, and I was worried he might hurt someone. I could only hope that he got eaten by a bear.

    Speaking of the old steward¡¯s family, I heard a voice call from behind me.

    ¡°My Lord.¡±

    I turned to see Carrie heading towards me. The one good thing that came of the whole situation was saving her life. As she approached, she knelt down in front of me. She was her usual nervous self around me.

    ¡°Carrie, you look unwell. How may I help you?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, Hyrum has locked himself away and is refusing to speak with people. He barely eats, and when he does sleep, he screams. Please help him, My Lord.¡± she pleaded.

    Her voice was heart wrenching, but what could I do? I wasn¡¯t a psychologist. I had been the one on the couch. I had been the one trying to commit suicide. I couldn¡¯t just do nothing, though. Not because of Carrie and not even because I owed Hyrum my life. It was because, as Edward said, I cared about my people. I didn¡¯t want him to go through what I had gone through.

    ¡°I will do what I can, Carrie. Lead the way.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take us long to find the house on the edge of the village. Carrie turned and faced me. ¡°Will you be able to help him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just a man, but I will do my best.¡±

    The look she gave me was one filled with hope and trust. I wished I deserved it.

    ¡°I will be speaking with him alone. Edward, has Marshandra shown you your room yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord, Are you sure It is OK for me to sleep in the family wing?¡±

    ¡°Better you than those stuck up guys I put in the stewards room. It is only temporary until they are no longer around. Carrie, I will come find you when I am done.¡±

    I turned to the door, knocked, and entered. The large one-room hut had a bed in one corner and a small table and chair on the opposite side of the room. Hyrum sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows rested on his knees, and his fists gripped his greasy hair. He was rocking slightly. It brought back memories that I would rather forget. Had I been this bad?

    I pulled out the chair and sat facing him. What was I supposed to say? I spent five minutes looking at the broken man. Did he even know I was here?

    ¡°Hey Hyrum, sorry it took me so long to come see you. The Count demanded that I come down and speak with him. Have you ever been to Vaspar?¡±

    Hyrum lifted his head and looked at me through bleary eyes. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°How long ago?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I was a kid when my dad was guarding some supplies. The baron gave him permission to let me tag along. I saw ships. I-I thought maybe someday I would become a sailor.¡±

    ¡°I have always wanted to be a sailor.¡± I agreed.

    Hyrum didn¡¯t respond.

    I waited for a minute and then continued. ¡°You want to talk about what¡¯s going on with you.¡±

    We sat silently for, I don¡¯t know how long. At least fifteen minutes. How did that councilor get me talking?

    ¡°So, have you talked to Carrie lately? She seems pretty worried about you.¡±

    ¡°Why are you here, My Lord,¡± Hyrum said in a dead voice.

    ¡°Because you¡¯re my friend, because I owe you my life, because Carrie loves you, because I¡¯m your liege because you''re a good man. Take your pick."

    ¡°I should be dead. I shouldn¡¯t have survived. I-I¡¯m broken. I can¡¯t stop seeing their faces. All I remember is the pain. I should be dead.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say. I¡¯d been there, though. Not exactly, I hadn¡¯t been tortured. Not unless you count me trying to cut myself up.

    ¡°Hyrum, I owe you my life. Do you mind if I share something with you? Something I haven¡¯t told anyone else.¡±

    There was no response to that.

    I braced myself and took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m not the Lord Amos who was originally in this body.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t see his expression with his face down, but I could hear his snort, ¡°Of course you¡¯re not. Nobody thinks you are that kid.¡±

    That took me off guard, ¡°What do you mean, nobody?¡±

    ¡°Do you think we are all idiots? Even those who have never met you have heard the rumors. You may have his face, but you don¡¯t talk like him, you don¡¯t act like him, and even your walk is different. That boy didn¡¯t care about people. You care about everyone, even those you shouldn¡¯t. The people of Melnon think you walk on water and crap out gold after you brought that boy back to life. To everyone in this barony, you are Chosen of the Endless One. Well, that or the Endless One himself come to help us.¡±

    Dang, that¡¯s not good.

    We were off topic. ¡°Actually, that isn¡¯t what I wanted to talk to you about. I¡¯m not the Endless One. You know that just from just hanging around me. Draves, Em, and I think Marshandra know I lived before, but I want to tell you how I died.¡±

    This got Hyrums attention. He sat up straight and looked at me.

    "When I was a teenager, I wasn¡¯t a good person. Nothing serious, but my grandma called me a little hellion. I had an identical twin brother, and we were almost exactly the same in every way. We looked alike, we liked the same food, and we loved the same movies. Our only difference is that I was always getting into trouble, and he was always covering for me and cleaning up the mess. He was my best friend.

    When I was fifteen, my dad left us. Just up and left without saying a word. I blamed myself. I was the bad one. I was the screwup. I started drinking and doing drugs to cover up the pain of rejection I felt. When I was seventeen, my brother found me drunk at a friend''s house. He dragged me out of there and tried to get me in his car¡­ let¡¯s call it a carriage. Anyways, it is hard to explain, but the carriages where I came from moved on their own. Horses didn¡¯t pull them. You could steer then and increase the speed many times faster than a horse can gallop.

    I was so angry with my brother that I punched him in the face, took the keys he had dropped, and scrambled into the driver''s seat. I tried to take off without him, but he jumped into the passenger seat. I immediately started speeding down the road as fast as I could. I blew through an intersection right in front of another fast moving carriage. The carriage collided right into ours on my brother''s side.¡±

    I had to pause and collect myself. I took some deep breaths. I spent a long time learning to forgive myself, but that didn¡¯t stop the memory from being painful.

    ¡°It killed him instantly and damaged me to the point where I shouldn¡¯t have lived. The carriage that collided with ours had a family of four in it. A father, a mother, and two small children. All of them were injured, and the little girl was never able to walk again.

    "In my old world, we had advanced to the point where some parts of the body could be replaced if a similar one were found. My heart had been damaged beyond repair, but my brother¡¯s was intact. When I woke up after the accident, I found that they had given me my brother''s heart. I had killed him, and he had saved my life. I had stolen a little girl''s future and her family''s happiness, and yet they forgave me.

    ¡°Hyrum, I don¡¯t know what it is like to be tortured, but I do know what it is like to have a best friend die. I know what it is like to scream during the night because the fear and hate won¡¯t leave you alone. I know what it is to hate yourself because you survived when others didn¡¯t.¡±

    I realized that my nails were digging into my palms. I had spoken of this probably a dozen times in group therapy sessions, but it never got easier. Tears dropped from my chin. They always did when I talked about Nate. The room remained silent for a very long time as I stared at the floor.

    ¡°How¡­ How can you be happy?¡±

    ¡°It took a long time. It is always easier to fall off a cliff than to get back up it. I can promise you this, though: You can get back up. You can find peace.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°When I lay on the bed recovering, a priest came in to visit. I don¡¯t know what religion he was. We had a lot of different religions where where I was from. He talked about finding peace through religion. I brushed him off, and it wasn¡¯t until a year later, after I had gone through a a lot of therapy sessions, that I started thinking about what he said. Some of the people in the group were finding peace through religion. The strange thing is that they weren¡¯t all the same religion.

    ¡°I started studying a bunch of beliefs and looked for what they all had in common. I also read a ton of biographies and books on different philosophies. Sorry, I am kind of rambling, and some of this probably doesn¡¯t make sense. Basically, I found some key things that helped me find principles of peace, even if they aren¡¯t exactly the same for everyone. OK, I guess I didn¡¯t need to go over all that, but I want to know if you are willing to work with me. I know you can get through this.¡±

    He looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. ¡°Can you really help?¡±

    ¡°You''re going to be the one to do all the work. I can just give you some ideas that helped me. First, you can¡¯t do it alone. You need Carrie and maybe Draves.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You need support. You need people that love you. You need to discuss your feelings with them. Next is service. You need to get outside yourself and help others. When you are helping others, it helps you let go of your own problems. That is all I want you to do for now. I have some other things, but that is what I want you to do now.¡±

    ¡°Will this take away the nightmares?¡± He said nervously.

    ¡°Post-traumatic stress is difficult. I have some things that may help, but everybody is different. Let''s start with a Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique I used for my own bad memory. I want you to close your eyes and think of a bad memory, not the worst one. We will save those for later. I am going to try to help you disassociate yourself from that memory. Do you have a memory in mind?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Good. Notice how vivid the colors are. Memories attached to strong emotions stand out in our minds more. I want you to pull yourself out of the scene as if you were watching it as an audience in a play. Then, I want you to freeze that memory in place and focus on draining out all the color from it. Make it dull. This takes practice, so don¡¯t worry if you don¡¯t get it the first time. There are a few other steps, but I want you to practice this for right now. You are training your mind to be able to distance yourself from bad memories. It doesn¡¯t erase the memories, but it makes them less significant.

    ¡°OK, I really want to stay, but this is something only you can do. So I want you to go talk to Carrie and tell her everything you are feeling. Hold nothing back. You have to release it, not hide it. I want you to go help people. It doesn¡¯t matter if it is helping someone hang up laundry or dig a ditch. Just serve others. Finally, I want you to practice what I taught you with memories.

    ¡°I will follow up with you in a few days, and we can go over a few more things that may help. But if you need to talk, come and find me.¡±

    There was a long pause before Hyrum said, ¡°Thank you, My Lord, for sharing your past with me. It helps.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a good man, Hyrum. You deserve to have peace,¡± I said as I stood up.

    As I reached the doorway, Hyrum called out, ¡°My Lord, you said you were going to tell me how you died.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I did, didn¡¯t I? Well, that will give you something to look forward to on my next visit.¡± I said with a grin.

 Book 2 Chapter 6

    Once again, I was making my way back up the hill. I hoped I had done the right thing with Hyrum. I wasn¡¯t worried about him telling anyone my story. He was probably considered crazy. I know when I was recovering, other people''s stories helped. None were exactly like mine. In fact, I would have gladly switched places with anyone in those therapy groups.

    Would NLP and Hypnosis work? I used them for myself, but I never helped others with it. I was always the ¡°You think you screwed up? Your life could be worse. Just listen to Amos¡¯s story.¡±

    There were some good signs with Hyrum, though. He talked, he asked questions, and most importantly, I saw hope in his eyes. Now, he just needed a bath and a shave. If he hasn¡¯t done that by the time we meet next, I am going to insist he do it.

    I spent the next little while playing with Aaron and then got to work on making my next set of picture books.

    I had just started working on my comic strip ¡°The Farmer and His Dog¡± ¡ªI had really missed doing that while I was gone¡ªwhen I got a knock at the door. ¡°Come in.¡±

    Edward was standing there with a small scroll tied with a ribbon in his hand. ¡°Um, My Lord, you have received a letter from Manticole.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it must be from my Aunt. How did it get here so fast? Manticole is further south than the capitol.¡± I mumbled to myself.

    Edward handed me the scroll and then stepped back. I unrolled the scroll and read it twice.

    ¡°What the heck is this?¡±

    Looking up, I realized Edward was still standing there. Shoot, he must have been waiting for me to dismiss him. Oh well, it worked out for the best.

    ¡°Edward, go fetch Marshandra. Oh, wait, have you met her yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    "Good. Also, find Captian Draves. This will be a private matter between the three of us. Make sure we are not disturbed.¡±

    ¡°OK.¡± He said with a nod. Then he strode quickly out the door.

    I reread the letter.

    Regent Amos Bicman,

    I have heard by way of Lady Catherine Manticole that you have lost your family. My condolences to you. I assume that your grief is the cause of my not receiving a personal letter. I also understand that you have become Regent over the land. I am glad to hear Lord Aaron is well. Due to your elevation in status, I thought it best that we terminate our wedding quickly so that you might find a suitable bride befitting your rank. Unfortunately, as you know, the betrothal must be annulled in the presence of a priest with both parties present. I am not able to travel to Bicman until next year after the harvest. If you wish to reach a more rapid conclusion regarding this situation, please feel free to join us in Manticole. I am sure your Aunt would welcome the visit.

    Elizabeth

    To say I was stunned was an understatement. How the heck was I betrothed? Not a single scrap of paper in this manor indicated I was betrothed. The only time the name Elizebeth came up on anything was on a parchment I had read. Some guy said he would be arriving within the month with his daughter Elizabeth. I would have to dig that one up.

    Just then, Marshandra entered. ¡°Edward said you seemed troubled. How may I help you?¡±

    "Let me read this to you, and you can tell me what you think."

    Marshandra¡¯s eyes went wide as I read the letter.

    ¡°So he did go through with it. After what you did to the girl, I was sure that her father wouldn''t go through with it.¡±

    I became uncomfortable. ¡°What did I do?¡±

    Marshandra started to become flustered, ¡°Well, not really you, My Lord, you¡¯re, ah, not really the same¡­¡±

    ¡°Marshandra, what did I do?¡± I said firmly.

    Marsh grimaced. ¡°Well, you convinced her to play a game where you blindfolded her. Then you brought her to your room, tied her to a chair, and cut off most of her hair. You had found some sort of dye that you poured on her the rest. Then you left her there. When she was found, they washed her hair, and the dye had caused splotches of orange in her beautiful black hair.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?! Dang, I''m going to have to have a bodyguard with me any time I am near her, and probably an extra hundred guards patrolling the manor. I also will not be able to eat anything for fear of being poisoned. How do I even apologize?¡±

    ¡°My Lord, you were young. You have matured since then. You-¡±

    I cut her off. ¡°Marshandra, you are someone I trust the most in this world. You have also seen me every day for my whole life. If everyone else is whispering how I am not the real Lord Amos, then when we are in private, you don¡¯t have to pretend. I know I am not him, so this isn¡¯t really my fault. But due to the situation, I still feel bad for the girl, and I will have to take responsibility for the previous Amos¡¯s actions.¡±

    ¡°You admit it?¡± Marsh said in shock.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just keep it between you, me, and the fencepost, shall we.¡±

    ¡°The fencepost?¡±

    ¡°Something my grandpa used to say. Anyways, I-¡±

    Just then, there was a knock at the door. ¡°Enter,¡± I said.

    Draves entered and said, ¡°My Lord, Edward said you had something to discuss."

    I handed Draves the letter. His expression didn¡¯t change as he read. When he was finished, he asked, ¡°Where is the agreement?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. I swear I have looked over all the papers in this place. My only thought is that the old Amos found it and destroyed it. I can¡¯t imagine my father or the last steward losing it. He may have been a murderer, but he was an organized one.¡±

    ¡°You may be right.¡±

    ¡°Amos was really not looking forward to this marriage, was he? Marshandra told me what he did to the girl. I can¡¯t imagine a¡­ Hm, actually, I have no idea how old she is; she could be older than me.¡±

    ¡°I believe she was a year your junior, My Lord,¡± Marsh said.

    ¡°Well, that poor girl had to get her head shaved, and she probably wore a wig for at least a year. I don¡¯t know how I can ever make it up to her. At least her letter was polite.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, she didn¡¯t write this letter.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Her letter was sent by pigeon. See the symbol on the bottom. Pigeon mail is rare because it is expensive. Also, when you write the letter, it is coded in a shorthand so it can be attached to the pigeon. Then, the code is interpreted at the end of the journey, and they recreate it. The words are probably not the same."

    ¡°Dang, this certainly would fool me.¡±

    ¡°Their letter writers are very good at extrapolating meaning from the code and making well-written letters. But what this means for you is that she may have been put in hidden insults that didn¡¯t make it into the translation. I see some things that could be interpreted as such.¡±

    ¡°What? Where?¡±

    ¡°She mentions your neglect of not sending her a personal letter. It is more of a rebuke to shame you.¡±

    ¡°I thought she was trying to be considerate. Of course, I kind of thought that before Marshandra told me what I had done. So yeah, now I can see that she was probably taking a dig at me.¡± I said with a shrug.

    ¡°The second she mentions her pleasure in knowing Aaron is in good health, she probably is mocking you for having a baby as a roadblock to your becoming a Baron.¡±

    ¡°Ha, little does she know that Aaron is my key to only having seventeen more years of having to be in charge.¡±

    Both Marsh and Draves looked uncomfortable at that last statement.

    ¡°Oh, come on, guys. Aaron will be a great Baron. You just have to wait and see.¡±

    ¡°If he is raised by you, then I am sure he will be,¡± Marsh said placatingly.

    ¡°OK, so how do I respond? If she was willing to send this by pigeon, then should I respond in the same way?¡±

    ¡°I believe that would be appropriate. You will have to send someone to Vaspar with some gold to send it.¡±

    ¡°Gold?!¡±

    ¡°Pigeon mail is expensive, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°She must really want this over with quickly. I imagine she was counting on me having enough time to travel down to Manticole if she got it to me soon enough. Unfortunately, I have all those nobles coming for painting throughout the year.¡±

    By the time we finished discussing how I should respond to the letter, it was dinner time. Unfortunately, due to their status, the engineer and water mill designer were allowed to sit at my table. They weren¡¯t nobles themselves, but they were children of nonhereditary knights, which gave them the necessary status to be invited to my table. I didn¡¯t have to allow them to join me. Some nobles would never have allowed anyone other than another noble to sit at their table, but I wanted to discuss the plan for tomorrow with them. Also, I didn¡¯t need them annoying my people.

    The waterwheel maker was a recommendation I got from Casper, Vaspar''s steward. He was in his forties and had been designing watermills his whole life. His name was Sanders, and he was the son of Sir Timothy Blackmon. The guy he had brought along with him was Harry, Son of Sir Rick Portlow. Sanders recommended him because he had studied in the most recent schools of engineering. Sanders felt he was a real genius when it came to dam design. As sons of knights, they were both allowed the title of Gentleman.

    ¡°Well, Gentlemen, we have a busy day tomorrow. We will be traveling to Alfer to look at suitable locations for a dam so we can build a watermill.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I had the opportunity to look at your maps this afternoon. I hope you don¡¯t find it impertinent of me to ask why Alfer? They do not produce much grain,¡± Sanders said.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    Now, it was my turn to act like an incompetent lord. Really, it wasn¡¯t hard. ¡°My Barony has to be known for something. Imagine the prestige of letting others know I have dams and watermills in even my villages. I will eventually build one in all my villages. I received money from the count, you know. Why waste it on things like clothes?¡±

    ¡°I see. Truly an inspired plan, My Lord.¡± Harry said.

    I knew he was mocking me, but I played along. ¡°Thank you. I knew that you, as a scholar, would understand my idea.¡±

    We chatted a bit more, and I found that the conversation wasn¡¯t as terrible as I thought it would be as long as I kept them talking about news from the Dukedom. They talked about people and things that they must have assumed everyone knew about, so I just asked follow up questions or nodded along. I gleaned some interesting tidbits.

    When dinner was over, the two men went back to their shared room, and I helped get things ready for school. I made sure Eward attended, partly to impress him and partly so he could practice his multiplication and division. Also, he needed to learn my new number system.

    It wasn¡¯t new for him. We had discussed it all before on the trip to Bicman, but he needed practice. I wanted him to be able to have his multiples and division tables done up to ten.

    The new book I finished was read out loud and then passed around so that everyone got a chance to admire the pictures. I hadn¡¯t even sewn it up yet, but they had made me bring it out as soon as I mentioned it.

    I refused to bring out ¡°The Farmer and His Dog.¡± There had been a tradition of it being read and passed around in the mornings at the town square Whenever I finished one. I refused to break that tradition. The nice thing about the Comic was that I had read a ton of comics when I was younger, and not all my material had to be original. Thank goodness there were no interplanetary plagiarism laws.

    I went back to my study to see if I could find out any information on Elizabeth or her father but then got distracted with a project I had been working on in secret before I got my summons to Vaspar. I had Sam make me a small, thin board about the size of my hand. I had him put a lot of small holes in it of different sizes and distances apart. Whenever I got bored in my study, I would take a few minutes to thread cow hairs through the holes and loop them back around. The cows here had slightly shaggy hair that was moderately stiff. I wanted to find a way to make a hairbrush. The combs were OK, but they didn¡¯t give the same smooth feel you get from a brush. So I was left with experimenting with this board on how many bristles I should tie in each bunch and how far apart they should be. I think I figured it out, but I was trying a few more hole patterns. As the light faded, I finished the last knot. I marked the holes that I liked the most and went to bed. I would bring the board to Sam tomorrow and have him make me one that had the pattern of holes I wanted. I was going to become a hero to women everywhere.

    *******

    I got up slightly before the Kayver crowed and went on a jog. After that, I did some Tai Chi on the training field. I still hadn''t integrated swordsmanship into my training, as Draves suggested. Chris and his recruits were just getting set up, so I joined them for some training spear training.

    ¡°You''re starting to move like a soldier, Lord Amos.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said while wheezing, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

    ¡°A few more years, and you might actually look like one.¡± He said with a mocking grin.

    And there it was.

    ¡°If looking like a soldier makes me as ugly as you, I think I will pass.¡±

    ¡°Are you calling soldiers ugly,¡± he said loud enough that those around us could hear.

    ¡°Nope, just you. Look, I would love to stay and once again beat you in a battle of wit, but I also have a barony to run. Have a good day." I waved to all the people on my way into the manor and got similar waves back. My guards, who had been shadowing me ever since I got up, paused at the door, and I went in to soak in the bath that had already been prepared.

    After I got dressed, I found that the guard at my door had accepted a package for me. It had been delivered by Jacklyn. When I looked inside the box, I found the pins I had been waiting for. They were perfect¡ªsmall but beautifully crafted. He had been able to make six from a single gold coin. Hopefully, I won¡¯t need to give out more of these anytime soon.

    After a bath and a quick meal, it was time to go. Sanders and Harry had their own horses, and I let Edward and my two guards use the horses belonging to the other members of my family. Drives had his own horse, so our party of six headed out towards Kerisi.

    We stopped in Kerisi to have lunch. The headman took me aside and held out a small pouch of yellowish crystals¡ªthe largest was no bigger than my pinky nail. ¡°My Lord, is this what you were looking for?¡± he said softly.

    My eyes went wide at the sight. I looked over at the other members of my party, who were sitting on stumps or logs eating their meals. They were all looking at us curiously.

    ¡°How did you do it?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Quite by accident. We left the pot on the coals overnight, and in the morning, most of the liquid evaporated. As my wife was mixing it, she found a lump at the bottom. We thought it was wrong because it didn¡¯t look like the salt crystals you told us about. When we pulled it out, some of it broke apart, and a few of the smaller pieces looked more like crystals. We ground it up, and this is what we got.¡±

    It didn¡¯t taste like the white sugar I was used to. It was more similar to brown sugar, or was this what they called raw sugar? I wonder if that is why they called white sugar refined sugar. That must have been sugar with nothing else mixed in it. How would you separate the different chemicals?

    ¡°This is excellent,¡± I said in a hushed voice. ¡°Have you tried it?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord, I didn¡¯t-¡±

    ¡°Try it,¡± I said excitedly.

    He pinched out a crystal and popped it in his mouth. ¡°My Lord, that is extremely sweet! Forgive me, but I am not sure I care for it.¡±

    ¡°To each their own, I guess. It would probably be better in baked goods or sprinkled on top of something. OK, this is what I want you to do. Grind this up as fine as you can. The crystals need to be very fine. How much more do you have?¡±

    "We managed to find a dozen more, but I don¡¯t expect them to be ready to pick until next month. We got lucky with these. If you pick them too early, they don¡¯t have any sweetness at all.¡±

    ¡°Given that these came early, do you think if we planted them ourselves, we could get two harvests a year?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, My Lord, would you like me to plant the eyes of the plants we have harvested.¡±

    ¡®Eyes? Were these like potatoes?¡¯

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s try.¡±

    I looked over and saw that my men were getting up.

    ¡°Store this in a cool, dry place in a sealed container. Moisture will ruin it. When we have about few kilograms of it, we can start experimenting with baking sweet treats.¡±

    ¡°It will take a lot to get that many kilograms.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there is no rush. Thank you for your hard work. With this product, we will be able to increase the available jobs. Farmers, sugar makers, toothbrush manufacturers, and even need to have a local dentist.¡±

    I chuckled at that last one.

    Paul politely ignored the things I said that didn¡¯t make sense and said. ¡°It will be as you say, My Lord.¡±

    My group started the next leg of our journey slightly before noon. About half a bell later, we heard voices coming from the direction of the river to our left. I could barely make out people doing something near the river.

    ¡°Draves, what is over there?¡±

    ¡°The cutting camp.¡±

    ¡°The what?¡±

    ¡°Forgive me, My Lord. I forgot that this is your first time to Alfer," He whispered. "The logs from Alfer are floated down the river and collected here.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    Now I felt bad. I had neglected to visit some of the villages in my barony. Alfer, Barim, and Cofi were under my rule, yet I had not bothered to visit them. This would change as of today. I met Headman Tarrence of Alfer when he came to my Manor one time. He was a gruff man, but he had a good head on his shoulders. Cofi¡¯s headman annoyed me every time I saw him. There was just something about him that was off. I needed to go see what was going on in Cofi.

    ¡°Draves, I want to go check out the camp.¡±

    ¡°Certainly, My Lord.¡±

    Another few minutes up the road, there was a cut-off that headed towards the river in a southwest direction, making its way back towards the river. The voices became clearer as we traveled, and we came upon the camp. Logs off to the side were being pulled up onto large frames. Men worked in pairs to saw through the wood. The wood was braced on a platform over a ditch. One man was below the wood while another was up top. The top man guided them as they worked the saw up and down. I would not want to be the bottom man with all the sawdust falling in his face.

    There was a waterfall here, about a fifteen-foot drop. Right before the drop, posts had been driven into the river. They trapped any floating logs that made it past a group of men with poles. The poles had hooks on the end that were used to masterfully pull the logs to a muddy shore.

    Someone noticed us, and the work around the camp slowly came to a stop. Well, everyone except those pulling logs from the river stopped. Someone in a lone tree near the river was still counting logs coming down, so those men couldn¡¯t stop.

    A stocky man with thick red hair and a beard strode over and gave a deep bow. ¡°How may I help you, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°We were on our way to Alfer when we heard your voices, and I decided to stop by. I regret not making my way out here sooner.¡±

    ¡°We are honored that you have come to visit.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you explain what you all do here? I have seen some production numbers, but I have to admit I am not sure how this whole process works.¡± I said curiously.

    As Brian explained their operation to me, I decided he would be a good man to review my designs and determine how best to build the mill.

    Partway through my explanation, Harry called out to me. ¡°My Lord, would you mind taking a look at this.¡±

    He and Sanders had walked over to the river and were animatedly talking about the falls. As I approached, Henry turned to face me.

    ¡°My Lord, I know your heart is set on having a watermill in each village to increase your prestige, but this location would be perfect for one. We wouldn¡¯t even have to do much work to convert it.¡±

    Personally, I loved the idea; I could visualize the sawmill sitting just below the cliff. I could have my men pulling the logs ashore just like they had been doing all along, and then they could slide the logs right into place rather than lift them.

    Also, it was far enough off the main road to keep it from prying eyes. This was another design that I could only make a lump sum on. I wanted to sell the design to Count Vaspar. Maybe I should

    ¡°You want my people to share the mill?¡± I said, trying to sound shocked.

    Henry continued to argue his point. ¡°It will allow you to produce flour more quickly.¡±

    I didn''t want to push too hard, so I decided to pretend like I was caving. ¡°Yes, well, that is one of the reasons I requested to come here. We shall build a mill here just as I hoped.¡±

    Dang, pretending to be foolish was much harder than doing it naturally. I needed to keep up the ruse that I was being prideful about trying to put waterwheels in places that didn¡¯t make sense, or they were going to figure out these weren''t grain mills I was attaching to the waterwheels. Then they would start getting nosy.

    I wasn''t worried about the information spreading. Again, we didn''t have a patent system. I just wanted to sell the idea to Count Vaspar for a lot of gold.

    ¡°My Lord, won¡¯t a mill interfere with the logging,¡± Brian said.

    ¡°Brian, come with me. I must speak with you concerning how you address your lord,¡± I said sternly. Really, I just wanted to speak with him in private.

    He nervously followed me towards the camp. His other men drew near but gave us a few meters of space.

    ¡°Sorry, Brian, I didn¡¯t mean to make you nervous, but I needed to get away from those two engineers. They¡¯re not my people, and I didn¡¯t want to discuss our plans in front of them. I¡¯m not building a grain mill here. I¡¯m building a watered-powered sawmill. Once we get these guys out of here, we will start working on it. I only need them to place the water wheel and the shaft in the correct place. I want you to come to the manor and look at some of the designs I have come up with.¡±

    The look on some of the men¡¯s faces who were listening in was priceless.¡±

    ¡°A water-powered saw. It sounds fantastical,¡± Brian said in awe. ¡°How does it work?¡±

    ¡°Come pick up the plans later. Then, you can bring a copy back to your men, and you all can discuss it. You will also need to get your woodworkers involved. Mine will be too busy to build the gears and such.¡±

    The men began to chuckle and smile. Brian said, ¡°Do not worry, My Lord. If there is one thing the people of Alfer know, it is woodworking. Some of us have seen that plow of yours and were wondering if we could build our own.¡±

    ¡°I know you have a smithy that is used part-time. Would he be up to the task?¡±

    ¡°May have to have Jorb do the blade. Bo mainly does small things like nails and stuff.¡±

    ¡°OK, so just so we are all clear, the new people I brought are not to know our future plans. Brian, I want you to meet me at my manor tomorrow. I am going to leave the two engineers with you all for now. I am going to go up to Alfer and pick up the family of the kid who fought to protect my Nephew. There is a memorial service for anyone who wants to come. It will be just before dusk in the square at Bicman.¡±

    I left the men and went to explain my plans to those I brought. ¡°Gentleman, I am planning to travel to Alfer to visit some people there. As we have already found a place for the mill, I do not think it is necessary for you to travel with me. I want you to stay here and assess the place further so that you can start building the dam and wheel as soon as possible. I should return in three to four hours. If you need to leave before then, I will leave one of my guards to escort you.¡±

    ¡°Edward, you will be coming with me. For your duties, you will need to get to know all the headmen of each village.¡±

    We mounted up and were on our way in a few moments.

    ¡°My Lord, I have to admit I am curious as to why you have decided to put a watermill out here. Forgive me, but I do not think it is for the reasons you told those freeman.¡± Edward said as we traveled.

    ¡°Oh, that''s right. I haven''t discussed the real reason for the waterwheels with you.¡± So, for the rest of the trip, we discussed what the wheels would be used for.

 Book 2 Chapter 7

    When we arrived at Alfer, some of the children were out playing in the street near the entrance to the village. They had the same dirty, rough clothes and gaunt faces that most little kids had around the barony. They scattered as we arrived. The homes were simple wood structures. A young boy went into one of them, and shortly after, a woman came out holding an infant in her arms. She approached us wearily and awkwardly dropped to her knees.

    ¡°My Lord, welcome to our humble village. I assume you are here to speak with my husband. He is out supervising the logging currently. Have you come to deal with Ned''s family?¡±

    I had learned that Ned was the name of the young man who died protecting Aaron. However, the way she spoke confused me. ¡°Deal with them?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord, their son has disgraced them. He was not at his post when the assassin came.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, I have, in fact, come to see the family. Please show me to their home.¡±

    ¡°Certainly, My Lord, you will see that we have all properly shunned them.¡±

    With that, we were led to a rundown house at the edge of the village. There were three children outside and a girl that looked about my age. They were all filthy and unwashed. The young woman looked like she was pulling apart some flax. She immediately fell to her knees and began to breathe quite heavily when she saw us approaching. The little children noticed and rushed inside to hide.

    Oh, brother, this was going to be one of those meetings.

    ¡°Are your parents home?¡± I said in a cheerful tone.

    It took the girl a second to answer as she tried to calm her breathing. ¡°My mother died in childbirth, and my father died of an infection after a tree landed on his leg.¡±

    ¡°Well, Crap, this is worse than I thought,¡± I said. Only afterward did I realize I had said it out loud.

    ¡°Please spare us, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°What is your name?¡±

    ¡°Nancy, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry for your loss, Nancy. I did not come here to punish your family. I came here to give my condolences and escort your family to the memorial.¡±

    ¡°I-I heard I was supposed to come to this memorial, but I thought the memorial was for the wet nurse and that¡­¡±

    ¡°You thought it was so that I could publicly shame you?¡± I said, disappointment creeping into my voice. I sighed,

    I thought we were over this whole, our baron is a scary jerk thing.

    I shook my head, ¡°Quite the opposite, I assure you. I consider your brother a hero. I do not condone the fact that your brother left his post. If he had not returned to it when the cry for help came, this would be a different story. But he sacrificed himself to save his lord. His blood not only wipes away the mistake he made but does so much more. He is to be honored for his sacrifice and remembered. Lord Aaron and I will never forget what he has done for the House of Bicman. For his sacrifice, your family will be taken care of.¡±

    Nancy began to cry. I wanted to do something to comfort her, but I knew that would be inappropriate. Dang it, I hate not being able to hug people that needed one. In therapy, I learned how much difference it could make. Should I tell Edward to give her a hug? Ok, that almost made me laugh. Edward, as your lord, I command you to comfort that girl. Yeah, that would be funny.

    ¡°Ok, how are we going to get all these kids down to Bicman, Draves? This is going to be quite the walk for little kids. I should have brought the carriage. We could have had them all ride in there.¡±

    I turned and looked at the headman''s wife. She was watching me with her mouth agape. I didn¡¯t know her name, so I just said. "Spread the word of what I have said here. Ned¡¯s family is to be honored, not shunned. Now, do you have a wagon or something we can hook up to our horses?¡±

    ¡°There is a cart we use when moving things to Kerisi.¡±

    "Perfect. Let¡¯s go hook it up and get these children loaded. We have things to do before the memorial service, and I would like Ned¡¯s family to be cleaned up beforehand.¡±

    It took about a half bell to get everyone settled, and then we were off. We would arrive just before dinner if all went as planned.

    As we traveled, we chatted. Well, mainly Edward and Nancy chatted. I just eavesdropped. I found out that the family had been suffering for the last couple of years since their father had died. Nancy and Ned worked hard to keep things going, but nothing was the same after their father died. Then, the militia was formed, and Ned immediately signed up. Things seemed like they were moving in the right direction. They were recognized in the community for Ned''s service in the militia. He was learning to read and had even let them know he had a girl he was courting. Nancy¡¯s own engagement was broken off by mutual consent when her father died. She just couldn¡¯t leave her siblings. Then Ned died, and they fell into disgrace. They were shunned by the community and were barely able to survive.

    Edward constantly told her how impressed he was with her fortitude, but from the way he looked at her. I think he was more impressed with her eyes and figure. Well, dang, this guy moves fast. But from the way she looked at him, she didn¡¯t seem to mind. Maybe I should have commanded him to give her a hug. He would have thanked me for it.

    Instead, I just said, ¡°Edward, I want you to take responsibility for Nancy and the children while they are at Bicman Manor. Make sure they are fed and washed. Also, see if you can find some clean clothes for them all. Get with Marshandra for anything they need. Don''t forget the memorial service starts just before dusk. I expect you to take good care of them.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord.¡± He said with a grin.

    As soon as Nancy turned away, I smiled back and gave him a wink. This caused his grin to go even wider.

    We didn¡¯t catch up to the gentlemen on the way back to Bicman. Brian said that they had left about a bell before we arrived. He said both of them seemed very knowledgeable. Henry kept griping about how foolish I was when he thought nobody was listening.

    ¡°I almost knocked him out for disrespecting you, My Lord.¡± He seemed visibly upset.

    I just smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Brian, if he thinks I am foolish, then he won¡¯t suspect what we are really doing. As long as he does his job well, I don¡¯t mind if he spreads rumors about the foolish baron who built grain mills for no good reason.¡°

    That caused Brian to laugh. ¡°You are a shrewd one, My Lord. How long do you think you can hide this marvelous invention?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not planning on hiding it for long. Once it is up and running effectively, I will sell the design to the count. He will then sell it to the duke. I want the political protection that coming up with these ideas brings. Trying to hide them would do the exact opposite if anyone gets wind of what we are doing. Jealousy is a powerful thing. And making entitled nobles jealous is a good way to get a knife in my back.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what entitled means, but I think you are insulting your own class of people.¡±

    ¡°Well then, we best keep this between you and me,¡± I said with a grin.

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord.¡±

    I slapped him on the shoulder, ¡°Good man.¡±

    We arrived in Bicman right on time. Before I left, I had not gotten a chance to do some things that I wanted to get done before the ceremony. First, I went to see Sam. I gave him the practice brush and showed him which holes I wanted.

    ¡°This will be interesting, My Lord. I look forward to seeing the results.¡±

    ¡°I do as well. Now, I would love to stay, but I have a lot to do and not much time to do it. I hope to see you at the memorial tonight.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss it. Amy was a wonderful woman. Tom hasn¡¯t been the same lately.¡± Sam said sadly.

    With that, I went on to finish my next task. I approached the next home with a heavy heart. Getting down off of Blaze, I went and knocked on the door. ¡°A young boy about six came and opened it. This was Tom Jr or Tommy.

    ¡°Daddy, lord is here.¡±

    I bent down and mussed Tommy¡¯s hair. ¡°Thanks, Tommy.¡±

    Tom came to the door, grief evident on his face. Unlike Nancy and her siblings, this was a hard meeting. I knew Tom. What was I supposed to say? So, I just did the first thing that came to mind. I reached out and pulled him in for a hug before anyone could object. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Tom. I wish- I wish I had the right words to express how sorry I am.¡± There was a long pause before he finally hugged me back. It was a brief hug, and then we both stepped back.

    ¡°Thank you, My Lord. It means a lot to know you care,¡± he said with tears in his eyes.

    ¡°Tom, I know that I sent someone to tell you earlier, but I wanted to personally invite you to the memorial service tonight.

    ¡°I- We will be there. And thank you for doing this. I can¡¯t say that I wouldn¡¯t rather just have Amy back, but¡­ but this means a lot. You are a good man, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Tom. I would rather that all my people see me as such than all the nobles in the kingdom. I will see you tonight.¡±

    And that concluded all I needed to do before I bathed, ate, and prepared for tonight. I found Nancy and her siblings at a table with Marshandra and Edward. The little ones were stuffing their faces as if they hadn¡¯t had a good meal in a long time, which was probably true. I sat at the table with my engineers, and we discussed their findings. They were quite excited about the ease at which we would be able to build the new watermill.

    ¡°Tomorrow, we will go to Melnon. There, we can put in a waterwheel for just that settlement.¡± I said firmly, as if somewhat disappointed about the last location. Then, I paused as if an idea had just struck me. ¡°We should build two up there with a bridge between them.¡±

    ¡°Two, My Lord? Why would you need two?¡±

    ¡°Think about how fascinating it would look. A dam with two wheels on either side. Then, we build a bridge between them. As the area expands, we can mill grain twice as fast. Even if we didn¡¯t, it would be impressive.¡± I could see Henry struggling not to roll his eyes. I actually did want two mills up there: one to crush the rocks and one to run the bellows and trip the hammer. I didn¡¯t think one was sufficient to do it all.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    We continued to talk, and I became bored as the conversation turned towards some count whom the king had chastised for a particular scandal. It disgusted me that the count had been given a slap on the wrist and sent on his way rather than being given prison time. A public shaming was not going to change behavior. Well, actually, I couldn¡¯t guarantee that. I just didn¡¯t have the background to understand how public censure from the king would affect a noble. He may lose connections and influence, which may be more effective than prison time. I really needed someone to train me in court politics.

    Draves approached the table, interrupting my thoughts. ¡°My Lord, might I have a word with you?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, ¡°Excuse me, gentleman, but it appears I am needed.¡±

    We left through the door to my study.

    ¡°My Lord, I can tell you are nervous about addressing your people, but remember they trust you. You are not speaking to a court full of nobles. These are simple people, and simple words will be fine. Just the fact that you are honoring them is more than enough.

    ¡°Thank you, Draves, it is a good reminder. I just worry that my words will not express the gratitude I feel.¡±

    ¡°None of these people are fools. That already know that you care.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. That means a lot.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I also wanted to inform you that your hunters have reported on your compass. They are all very impressed. Of course, having used it on our way home from Vaspar, I was already aware of its excellence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad it is useful. How is the rope coming along?¡±

    "It will probably take a week to finish the one hundred meters. That is a lot of rope.¡±

    "That is true, but I want to measure the new road we are building and make it as straight as possible.¡±

    ¡°Without following the existing path, a road to the Nore will probably take a year to build with our current manpower. It will require removing quite a few trees.¡±

    It can follow the existing road for the most part, but I would like to avoid any major deviations. This is all part of our five-year plan anyway. First, we need to focus on food production. Then, we can move more people from farming to other occupations. Right now, we need at least five farmers for every other type of laborer. I want to reduce that to a two-to-one ratio.

    ¡°I will leave that up to you, My Lord. I am a simple soldier.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which. How did you enjoy learning the new math last night?¡±

    ¡°It will take some time. I fear I do not have the head for it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It takes time for everybody, especially since the method is new. You will get it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your confidence, My Lord.¡±

    It was time to head to the square. To say I was nervous was an extreme understatement. Draves said I didn¡¯t have to worry about what I was going to say, but he wasn¡¯t the one standing before all the friends and family of those who had died.

    The light of the sun was just over tree tops when we made it to the square. It was packed with both old and new residents of Bicman. A stand had been erected for me, and I climbed the stairs nervously. I really just wanted to flee. As I looked out into the crowd, I saw the friends I had made smiling at me.

    Speak from the heart, Amos. You can do this.

    ¡°Citizens of Falmoren, my people, my friends. We come together on this day to recognize the valor of our people, to mourn death, and to celebrate life. I would like to express my gratitude to those who fought to defend their lord. First, to Amy. She was no warrior, but her love for my Nephew compelled her to fight for his life. She was my friend and your family. Her sacrifice will be remembered.¡±

    I opened a small box. And pulled out one of the pins that had been made for this occasion. Though small, it glistened in the setting sun.

    ¡°This pin is a token of her bravery and sacrifice. All who die in the service of the barony shall receive such pins. It is to be worn by the oldest living relative or put in a place of honor within their home. Tom, please step forward and receive your pin.¡±

    Tom stepped forward, and I personally pinned it next to the collar of his shirt.

    ¡°Next, we are to honor a young man who ran towards danger when the call for help came. There have been rumors that the boy disgraced himself. These rumors shall stop," I said firmly ¡°His blood was spilled in the defence of his lord and shall be honored alongside all those who fall in the defence of Bicman. Nancy, please come forward and receive your pin.¡±

    For proprieties sake, I had Marshandra put the pin on Nancy¡¯s collar.

    ¡°If it were in my power, I would bring these people back from the dead. I cannot. All we can do is remember them. I swear that they will never be forgotten. As proof of my commitment, I will be preparing a special field where all those who die in the defense of Bicman will be buried. Each grave will be marked with a tombstone.¡±

    This caused a murmur in the crowd. Tombstones were not common. Most graves were marked with sticks and a wooden sign with the person''s name painted on it. Family members would come and maintain them, but most fell into disrepair after the spouse or parents died, and soon, nothing remained but a memory and an unmarked grave. Tombstones were for the nobles and wealthy freemen.

    "Furthermore, a monument will be erected holding all the names of those who died protecting Bicman. So that all may look upon it and remember the fallen.¡±

    Suddenly, I felt embarrassed. I had already forgotten my saviors. Wrapped up in the sacrifice of the two who had given their lives for Aaron. That could have turned into a disaster.

    ¡°I have not forgotten the others who have died, Sacrificing their lives for me. Guardsmen Franklin, Hector, William, and Hunter Dwayne. Their families shall receive tokens, and their bodies will be moved to Valor Field.¡±

    ¡°My people, we are not just here to honor our dead but also our living. Emily, please step forward and turn to face the crowd.¡±

    Emily had been standing next to Marshandra at the front of the crowd, and I saw her face turn red in the dying light. I smiled as soon as she turned to face the crowd. Nothing quite like embarrassing your friends.

    ¡°Emily, you stood side by side with the fallen to protect Lord Aaron. You slew the Assasin with his own blade. Many would consider this impossible, but with courage, even the impossible becomes possible. If I could, I would grant you nobility for your actions, but I am just a humble baron. And so, for the feat above and beyond what any person could expect of you and your loyalty to your lord, I grant you freedom to choose your destiny. Turn and kneel.¡±

    As she did so, the crowd once again began to whisper about the meaning of my words.

    ¡°Emily, henceforth, you shall be Freeman Emily Papermaker. You may rise.¡±

    I had no idea if the law even allowed me to free her. I couldn¡¯t find a single scrap of paper in the study on it. When I asked Edward about it, he said I should be able to free a serf, but he wasn¡¯t knowledgeable about the procedure. He had shown me a scroll with a statement to the effect that he was a freeman. It had some official''s signature on it as well as the signature of a priest. It also had a seal of the barony he was from. All children of freemen had to get one at the age of eighteen. It cost him a silver crown. I figured I was out in the woods far enough that it didn¡¯t matter if the procedure was followed exactly. I mean, who was going to verify it as long as it looked right?

    Emily¡¯s mouth was hanging open, and Marshandra had tears in her eyes. Someone in the crowd began to cheer, and then the crowd erupted in applause.

    When everyone calmed down, I continued. ¡°We face the reality that there are those who wish us harm. Whether it is to destroy our barony or seize control, we know not. I will seek answers to these things through my connections in Vaspar. One thing I promise you is that I will not stand by idly while people try to harm my people or their efforts. We are Bicman, citizens of Falmoren. We will protect our land and country.¡±

    As people cheered, I thought to myself how I actually didn¡¯t give a crap about Falmoren, just like they didn¡¯t care about us. I believe most of my people felt the same way, but I had to put that in for the new people.

    ¡°Thank you all for coming, and please travel safely,¡± I said.

    With that, I got off the stand and started to walk back toward Draves, Edward, Sanders, and Henry. Edward looked like he was trying to hold back tears. Draves was his normal impassive self. Henry looked bored, which didn¡¯t bother me. I wasn¡¯t really looking for his approval. Sanders, however, had an appraising look on his face like he was trying to analyze me. More like dissecting me with how intense his gaze was.

    ¡°That was a very moving speech, My Lord,¡± Edward said.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± was all I could think to say.

    ¡°If you would excuse me, I would like to give my condolences to Nancy and her siblings.¡±

    ¡°Of course, as long as you pass along mine as well.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord.¡± He said with a bow.

    Before I was able to greet the others, I noticed Headman Richard approaching.

    ¡°My Lord, may I say that your words were very moving. Thank you for inviting me.¡±

    ¡°You are welcome, and I am flattered by your praise. If only I were more eloquent.¡±

    ¡°All who were present could tell that the words came from the heart, and that is what matters.¡±

    ¡°Thank you again. But let us move on to other matters.¡± Turning to the others, I said, ¡°Gentleman, forgive me for my rudeness, but I must speak with Richard in private.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, My Lord,¡± Sanders said, and both the engineers left.

    ¡°I am glad you got my message.¡± When we moved far enough away not to be overheard, I said, ¡°How are things going?¡±

    ¡°We are hurrying as fast as we can, My Lord. Most of the evidence of coke and concrete production has been covered up, but we may need more time to disguise the things we have already built out of concrete.¡±

    ¡°You will have until tomorrow afternoon.¡±

    ¡°Why do we even need a mill up there?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t. You need a rock crusher, trip hammer, and automatic bellow. And before you ask, I will show you all of it after these men leave. First, we need to hide everything.¡±

    ¡°You think that these men will steal the processes.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am worried that they will share what they have seen with others and that it will attract unwanted attention. I am not ready to reveal it yet, and when I do, I want to make as much money as I can. Because of its weight, concrete is not a viable export material. I will sell the process to Vaspar.¡±

    ¡°I hope you get a lot.¡±

    ¡°I do, as well. He won¡¯t just be getting Melnon Concrete but also coke. As we have discussed before, that is how we are going to make high-quality steel. That will definitely be worth exporting.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that cause a stir as well?¡± He said with a hint of worry.

    ¡°Only if they know it¡¯s us,¡± I said with a grin.

    ¡°How-¡±

    ¡°All in good time, my friend. I will reveal my master plan when it is ready to implement. By the way, are any of your people from the original clan that Falmoren conquered?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord, I believe the greatest concentration is Cofi. That was their original settlement.¡±

    ¡°I see. I really need to get down there and meet people. I feel so negligent.¡±

    ¡°There is only one of you, My Lord.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Well, do you have a place to stay?"

    "I will be staying with my cousin tonight and returning to Melnon in the morning. And fear not, My Lord; we know how to act our part. We will pull the wool over these outsiders'' eyes.¡±

    Sanders

    ¡°Quite the day,¡± I said as I sat down on my bed. Removing my boots.

    ¡°Yes, I am already regretting being here,¡± Henry said.

    ¡°Really, why is that?¡±

    ¡°This place is just like I thought it would be. A backwater dump. On top of that, the baron is a clueless idiot.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    "He wants to build a dam and waterwheel in the middle of nowhere.¡±

    ¡°He did listen to us when we recommended a different location.¡±

    ¡°What is the point, though? They can¡¯t possibly have enough grain to require another mill. And he even wants more. The man is a fool.¡±

    I was about to share my thoughts when Henry continued. ¡°And the way he was acting in front of the peasants? I can¡¯t figure out whether he was trying to impress us or keep the peasants from uprising.¡±

    ¡°So you don¡¯t think he is truly concerned about how they are feeling.¡±

    ¡°Everything is a game of manipulation for nobles. The only thing I am curious about is what he has to gain. Did you hear him call that girl a paper maker? What even is paper?¡±

    "I actually saw a few pieces. When I asked about it, the servant was very nervous. She said it was something like parchment but not as good. She said she was told it was extremely hard to make and very time-consuming, so they didn¡¯t have much of it at all. It was something the lord thought was impressive.¡±

    ¡°See, just like I said, the man is a fool. More expensive to make than parchment, and yet the lord wants it made."

    I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. The girl had been trying to be evasive. I thought she was lying. The baron was giving me mixed feelings. He did seem like a fool sometimes, but other times, I had seen him act completely rational. It was like he wanted us to think he was an idiot.

    Then there was the fact that he wanted us to design everything but not stay for the complete construction. We were paid to help build the dam and the wheel, but then claimed he would have his people do the rest. I had lived long enough to know he was hiding something. I had to be careful, though. I didn¡¯t want to get killed. I didn¡¯t know who was backing him, and sticking my nose around in places it didn¡¯t belong was a good way to get it chopped off.

    One thing I can say for sure is that this man did love his people. Henry could say what he wanted, but the way he treated his people was genuine, and for that, I had to give my respect.

 Book 2 Chapter 8

    ¡°My Lord, I believe it might be time to start training with the sword. We need to get you ready to wear armor.¡± Drives said over breakfast.

    ¡°What? You are not the type to joke around, Captain. I can barely handle a spear. From what I have heard, the sword is harder to use.¡±

    ¡°The fact that you are using a spear at all is a problem. The spear is the weapon of a soldier, not a lord. Even if I agree that knowing how to wield a spear could save your life on the battlefield, it is not the weapon of a noble. Now that you have drawn the eyes of nobles, you must learn how to use the sword. After that, we will work on armor. Remember, you have already discussed learning to use the sword with me."

    "That was before Chris started showing me the spear. It is hard enough to use the spear. The sword is supposed to be even harder."

    Draves said nothing. He just gave me a penetrating stare.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I sighed, ¡° but you''re going to have a hard time fitting me in armor.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, Have you looked at yourself recently? You no longer look like the young man with too much weight. You are large, but so was your father. Another three months of training like you have been doing and you will look exactly like your father. I wasn¡¯t working for your family when he was your age, but I imagine you would be the spitting image of him.¡±

    The memories left by the previous owner of this body showed his father as a bear of a man. He was fit and strong, with the face of a movie star action hero. I, however, still had fat on my face, and it would be a while before I sported a six-pack. I had to admit, though, that even with my lingering fat, I could still keep up with my daily routine now.

    I had probably lost weight at what doctors in the modern age would consider an unhealthy rate. What else was I supposed to do, though? I was trying to eat healthy and pushing myself to do more each day so I could get everything done. In order to do that, I needed to walk everywhere or wait for my horse to be saddled.

    When I came back to reality, Draves was waiting for a response. I think he was getting used to my mind wandering sometimes. ¡°Sorry, Captain. I was lost in my thoughts again. We will start tomorrow. Today, I want to go see the weavers, check up on Hyrum, and see what the farmers think of the drawing I sent them. After lunch, we will head to Melnon.¡±

    ¡°Very well, My Lord. Should we ride to the village?¡±

    ¡°Nah, let¡¯s see if I can cut that three months down to two. We can let the horses rest until we get ready to go to Melnon.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    We arrived at the weaver''s hut a quarter bell later. They were in the process of pulling apart flax. When we walked in, they all stood and bowed. ¡°My Lord, it is a pleasure to see you this morning.¡± The eldest said I had forgotten her name, ¡°How may we help you?¡±

    ¡°I have good news and bad news,¡± I said.

    They all tensed at my statement.

    ¡°No one is in trouble, I assure you. You have all been doing marvelous work. The problem is that new people are here who may want to steal our loom idea. I plan to send this cloth to other countries. It should bring in a fair amount of money, more so when we get the Binary Loom up and running. If others have the process, then they can sell it for cheaper and make all the money. You will be receiving a cut of the money, so I don¡¯t want you to lose a potential source of large amounts of money.¡±

    ¡°How will we stop them?¡± One of the younger women said in concern.

    ¡°We need to move the loom to Barim, where other people won¡¯t be going to visit. But that won¡¯t solve the problem entirely. Our people cannot be seen wearing the fine linen right now, or those who are here will start to ask questions about where the material came from.¡±

    ¡°We have to go back to making the old linen.¡± The eldest sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there is no other way.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, forgive me for asking, but what is the good news?¡± the third woman asked.

    ¡°This,¡± I said, holding out a picture.

    The three women stared in awe at the piece of paper, all with reverence on their faces.

    What the heck? They couldn¡¯t possibly have figured out what it was yet. Were they impressed with the drawing itself?

    The youngest spoke again, ¡°My Lord, is this¡ªIs this one of your visions from the Endless One?¡± Her voice rose into a high soprano.

    What? Was everyone seriously thinking all my drawings and ideas were like inspiration from their god? This is ridiculous.

    I really couldn¡¯t contradict them on this one since I didn¡¯t have a clue how a spinning wheel worked. Well, I could, but then I would have to explain that I came from a different world. I decided to just ignore the question.

    ¡°This is supposed to help spin the thread. I just don¡¯t exactly know how. You see, this foot pedal causes this arm to move up and down, causing the wheel to spin. I just don¡¯t know what comes next.¡±

    After a couple of minutes, I was about to give up when the girl in her twenties said, ¡°Um, My Lord, i-is that a spindle there?

    ¡°Hmm¡­ you know, I think you are right. Yeah, that makes sense because, in the movie, that is where Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger.¡±

    ¡°Movie?¡± All three of them said.

    ¡°Forget it. I will have to write down that story. Anyways, if that is the spindle, then what does that mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, it should be the thing spinning, not the wheel.¡± The youngest said.

    ¡°What if you looped a string around here and here.¡± the oldest said. Beth, that was her name. Glad I remembered it.

    ¡°So, if I understand you correctly, you are saying that you would push the pedal, which would spin this wheel. Then, we attach a belt of some sort. String or a strip of leather here, and look it around here, and that causes the spindle to spin and twist the flax or wool or whatever into thread.¡± I asked.

    ¡°That makes sense!¡± the girl in her twenties said excitedly.

    ¡°Excelent, work ladies. You are all the proud inventors of the spinning wheel.¡± I said with a smile.

    ¡°But, My Lord, didn¡¯t you say that we were the inventors of the loom.¡± The girl my age said.

    ¡°There is no end to the things you can invent. I mean, what if you invented something that didn¡¯t even require you to hold the thread at all? You just push the pedal, and it does everything else.¡±

    ¡°Can you do that, My Lord?¡± Beth said.

    ¡°I have no idea, maybe, but that is really up to you. As you can see, I didn¡¯t know how the spinning wheel worked, and who knows if I would have ever figured it out without you. Now, I want you to take this to Mikel and see if he can get this made. Tell him he can pause his work on the dressers while he gets this done.¡±

    I was about to leave when I remembered something. ¡°Ladies, I completely forgot it at the manor, but I will send down some pictures of buttons on clothing with button holes. I know you don¡¯t know what they are, but I think you will get it once you see them. They are becoming very popular in Vaspar. Get with the other women and show them as well. Have a great day.¡±

    Now that that was done, it was time to go see Hyrum. As I traveled to the small hut where Hyrum was living, I found him outside with Carrie, pulling weeds in a small garden.

    ¡°Well, this is a pleasant sight to see. How are you doing?¡± I said with a smile.

    Carrie gave a slight smile. Hyrum''s smile was forced, though, and there was still a hollowness in his eyes. I was OK with that. These things take time.

    Both Hyrum and Carrie stood up and bowed.

    ¡°Things are¡­¡± Hyrum looked for the right word, ¡°better. I-I think.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not expecting a miracle, Hyrum, and neither should you. Trauma takes time to heal. What I am seeing now gives me hope.¡±

    I saw Carrie slip her hand into his and give a squeeze.¡±

    ¡°As you say, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Hyrum, may we go inside? I want to show you the next step in visualization and some deep breathing exercises.¡±

    As we talked, I found out he was getting better at quickly graying out the images, and it did seem to reduce the effects a little, so I taught him the next step.

    ¡°Alright, now I want you to push the image back away from you. In the distance is a thick fog. As you push the image away from you, it slowly fades into the fog.¡±

    ¡°Next, we¡¯re going to go over deep breathing exercises. These are not something the body is used to doing. It took me a month to really get the hang of this. I want you to practice it three times a day for half an hour. Let¡¯s get started.¡±

    I worked with him for about an hour, practicing his breathing and clearing his mind. I was pretty sure he was going to have to do some self-hypnosis, but this would be our foundation for that, so he needed to get comfortable with quickly entering a relaxed state.

    "OK, this is what I want you to focus on for now. Keep practicing, and I will follow up next week. Now get back out there to your beautiful fian?e.¡±

    Hyrum looked down, ¡°Carrie and I we-¡±

    ¡°-Are going to take it slow,¡± I interrupted firmly. ¡°You both love each other, and you deserve her just as much as she deserves you. You two belong together. Now, go back out there and enjoy the day with her. I have other things to do.¡±

    Next, I was off to visit Harold. I found him and his family out in the fields using a bucket brigade to water the crops. I really need to build an irrigation canal or aqueducts to get the water closer to the fields. I also need to build a public bath and run household water. While I was at it, I also needed flush toilets. Pig toilets were disgusting.

    ¡°Harold saw me before I could reach him. He exited the line, and the others filled in the gap.

    ¡°Any luck on that idea I gave you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, My Lord, we just can¡¯t figure out how to make it work.¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°Harold, call the crew over.¡±

    The crew included him and several other families that worked the nearby fields. When they were all gathered, I said, ¡°Alright, can everyone hear me?" I called out a little louder than I probably needed to.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Everyone nodded.

    ¡°Has everyone seen the paper I sent to Harold about cutting the wheat?¡±

    Again, I got nods. ¡°Good, now there seems to be a mistaken conception among my people that just because I draw something out, it is a good idea. Some of my ideas are good, some of my ideas can be changed and made to work, and some are just stupid. This one either needs to be changed or tossed. I want you to take a look at this and say, ¡°What if we did this instead?¡± if, after thinking about it and studying it, you still decide it is a bad idea, then throw it out. However, I expect you to find a way to cut wheat faster. I don¡¯t know how, but it can be done.¡± I said with confidence.

    I noticed a young man about fourteen in the back, fidgeting and looking at the dirt. My gut told me he had something to say: ¡°Hey boy, what is your idea?¡±

    Everyone turned to look at the boy I was pointing at. At first, he didn¡¯t look up. He must have noticed no one was talking, though. ¡°Me, My Lord,¡± He said while the color drained from his face.

    I smiled, ¡°You have an idea, don¡¯t you?¡±

    He shifted uncomfortably, looking to the side at the man standing next to him. Then suddenly, words spilled out of him in a rush. ¡°Well, I asked my pa yesterday if we could just put it on the side of the wagon so the horses wouldn¡¯t trample the wheat, but he said that if we made it large enough, then it would be too heavy, but you just said that it didn¡¯t have to look like yours so I was thinking ¡®what if we made it lighter and raised it up higher. We could attach a rod to a wheel and, um, well, I¡¯m not sure¡­¡±

    He immediately ducked his head after he lost his courage and trailed off.

    ¡°What is your name, boy?¡±

    ¡°Seth, M-My Lord,¡± He said, while his face turned red from the attention.

    ¡°Alright, people, I think this is a great starting point. I want you to think about what Seth said and come up with ideas. See if you can make a lightweight cutting machine that sits to the side of the draft animal. We could call it Seth¡¯s Side Scythe. Hmm, it¡¯s an alliteration, but it¡¯s more of a tongue twister.¡±

    Just as I was about to start throwing out names, a man I didn¡¯t recognize ran up to me. Falling to his knees, he said, ¡°My Lord, forgive me, but there had been an explosion in Melnon. One died in the explosion, and the other seriously burned.¡±

    My mind stalled as I tried to process what had just been said.

    An explosion? How? Why? No, I needed to focus.

    ¡°Draves, we are leaving.¡± I looked around. "Seth, you look fast. Run to the manor and tell them to prepare my horse. Harold, send someone to Maggie''s place and have them ask her to prepare anything she uses for burns. We will pick it up on our way out of town.¡±

    Draves interjected, ¡°The man with the burns, is his life in any danger right now.?¡±

    ¡°He has got a lot of bad burns. He is in a bad way, but they said he should live as long as he doesn¡¯t get any serious infections.¡±

    ¡°Thank you." Draves said, "We will pick you up on our way out of town. Wait by Maggie''s house for the lord''s carriage.¡±

    ¡°As you say.¡±

    ¡°Remember, we need the carriage, not just the horses. Now go.¡±

    As Draves and I hurried back to the manor. I said in an annoyed voice. ¡°Why did you contradict me? Horses would be faster.¡±

    ¡°Because you are panicking, My Lord. You are ready to push Blaze hard to arrive there, but in the end, you might just break his leg or your neck. The man is not going to die, and us being there a quarter bell earlier is not going to do him any good. You need to calm down. Your people know how to treat burns. Even if they think you can raise the dead, I don¡¯t think it is needed right now.¡±

    I wanted to argue, but I would have just sounded like a petulant brat. He was right, but I needed to hurry. How was there an explosion? Could it happen again? What was up in Melnon that was combustible to the point of explosion? Had Kylie found a way to create gunpowder and gone to Melnon to show it off?

    ¡°Calm down, My Lord. I can see you are upset, but we won¡¯t know anything until we speak with the people who were there.¡±

    Deep breaths, Amos, just breathe.

    When we arrived at the manor, they were still hooking up the carriage, so I asked Seth to go request some honey from the kitchen and also to inform Edward, Harry, and Sanders that I would be leaving early and they could follow after lunch with the guards that I had just ditched. By the time he was back, we were ready to go. Draves, Seth, and I all hopped into the carriage and took off towards Maggie''s place. I was glad I didn¡¯t have the habit of biting my nails, or they would have been nubs by now.

    When we arrived at Maggie¡¯s place, Seth got out, and the man from Melnon and Maggie got in.

    ¡°So, I guess you¡¯re coming too, Maggie?¡±

    ¡°Course I am," she said in her usual blunt manner. ¡°Not gonna leave a severely burnt patient to Tammy. She¡¯s a sweet girl but young.¡±

    Everybody is young compared to you, Maggie.

    I turned to the man across from me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t get your name.¡±

    ¡°John, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°What can you tell me about what happened.¡±

    ¡°It was last night, My Lord. We were taking down the Ash capturer, and the thing exploded.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t gotten to see the device they had come up with, but I didn¡¯t think pipes could explode unless they were under pressure. I thought it was just pipes with a cloth sack on the end. The pipe came apart, and they would clean out the sack and pipes that trapped the ash.¡±

    I voiced my thoughts, ¡°Why would taking apart the pipes cause an explosion?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, My Lord, it was dark, so we were using oil lamps. All I saw was the ball of flame.¡±

    I put my head in my hands. ¡°I¡¯m an idiot,¡± I muttered. Of course, the gas it produced would be flammable. Wasn¡¯t that why they put canaries in coal mines? It¡¯s coal gas, for crying out loud. I should have thought about this.¡±

    ¡°What is it, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°I should have thought about this. We are working with coal. Heating it up would, of course, release gasses that could explode. This is my fault. If I hadn¡¯t been-¡±

    ¡°Stop being stupid, boy. Others may think you are some all-knowing gift from the Endless One, but all I see is a kid barely off his mamma¡¯s tits trying to run a barony all by himself. You may know a lot, but nobody can keep track of everything.¡± Maggie sounded really annoyed.

    ¡°I could have-¡±

    ¡°You could¡¯a what? You gonna fix everybody¡¯s mistakes? You gonna make sure nobody dies? The men in Melnon are going to fix their own mistakes. They ain¡¯t idiots. They know not to bring a flame near whatever contraption you all are talking about.¡±

    ¡°I knew about it.¡±

    ¡°Apparently, you didn¡¯t. Now you do. So does everyone else. All ya do now is go up there and see what you can do to help.¡±

    I stayed quiet. I wasn¡¯t going to win this argument. I didn¡¯t think Maggie was right, but she also wasn¡¯t entirely wrong either. I couldn¡¯t fix what had already happened, but I could help prevent it from happening again.

    I sat quietly for the rest of the trip. It was a long time to brood, and it was probably not all that helpful to try to figure out all the ways I could have prevented this accident. When the trip was over, we exited next to Richard''s house.

    He came out to greet us and bowed low. ¡°Forgive me, My Lord. We were careless and caused the death of one of your fine people.¡±

    To say I was shocked would be an understatement, ¡°You have nothing to be forgiven of. I should have thought to warn you that the gas produced by burning coal could produce something flammable.¡±

    ¡°You are mistaken, My Lord. We have run into bad air in the mines before. Coal isn¡¯t always safe to mine. Everyone smelled the pungent odor of the air that the oven produced. Jobo he just¡­ He just wasn¡¯t thinking.¡±

    ¡°I told you they weren¡¯t stupid, boy.¡±

    This made me mad. ¡°Maggie, I do not mind if you speak frankly to me in a private setting, but this is a public setting, and you will show respect. I never said they were stupid. I just thought they didn¡¯t know about the fumes.¡±

    This caused Maggie to arch her eyebrows. She gave me an appraising look and then nodded with satisfaction. She bowed her head and said, ¡°Forgive me, My Lord. I will strive to be more respectful of you in the future.¡±

    ¡°See that you do,¡± I said firmly.

    Maybe I needed to show a little more firmness with her.

    ¡°My Lord, forgive me, but the ash catcher was destroyed.¡±

    ¡°I am not concerned about that. It will need to be redesigned so that the exhaust pipe is not near where the ash is captured. Best if it was a vertical shaft that couldn¡¯t be easily reached by a flame.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, My Lord, we will not let this happen again. We have been all working to find a better way to make this work.¡±

    ¡°I am glad you are already working on a solution. I am proud to have such competent people working in Melnon.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, I will admit. It really is due to you.¡±

    ¡°Me, it looks like you are already working on the problem. I have nothing to do with it. I just came up to see if I could help.¡±

    ¡°And that is why, My Lord. Forgive me if it sounds as if I am speaking ill of the dead, especially of our late lord, but under your father, we were not supposed to change anything without first letting the steward know. If your father found that we had made changes, we would be severely punished. If he found out a mistake was made, he would have us beaten. You, however, have rewarded us for making changes and fixing problems without you. You have said you would pay more for the improved work. Why would we not fix our mistakes and make things better if we were rewarded for it? We now discuss with each other how to make things better.

    "I knew that when I sent a runner to explain that we had an accident, you would come to help, not beat us. We know you will do everything you can to help Felix get back on his feet. You value us, and it makes us feel¡­ I¡¯m not sure I have the words for it, more equal, I think.¡±

    His face suddenly paled as he realized he had just told a nobleman he felt his equal. He fell to his knees and bowed his head, ¡°Forgive, My Lord, That was not what I meant to say. I, ah, I-¡±

    ¡°Well, dang, that¡¯s too bad. I wish it were what you were trying to say. Equality was kind of what I was going for.¡±

    He looked up, shocked, ¡°My Lord, you can¡¯t possibly want us to be equal?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Why not? I have seen the amazing things you have done, and you said it was because you felt more equal. It seems obvious that if I want the barony to improve, I should try to make all my people feel equal and give them opportunities to do their best.

    ¡°That is not saying we are equal. That would bring disorder, but I do want us all to work together. You know things I do not know, but why would you put in effort if you do not have equal opportunity to grow?"

    "Thank you, My Lord. I and the rest of Melnon will serve you to the end of our days. And fear not, my Lord, the people of Melnon will take good care of the widow and her family. We will assist with Felix''s family until he is back on his feet. It is the way we have always done things.

    "Is there a lot of deaths in Melnon?"

    "More injury than death. But it is not so bad."

    Hmm, I wonder if I could set up an insurance program once we switch to a coin-based economy. I could pay into it as well as those I pay. I don''t know enough about risk management and that stuff to do it, though.

    "I admire the care you all provide for each other, but I will still help. Now, it looks like Maggie has gone off to treat the patient, so if you could please escort me to the family of the man who passed away, I would like to give my condolences."

    I loved the people of Melnon. They were really down-to-earth people and easy to talk to. The funniest conversation I had was with the woman. I don''t know how we got on the topic, but I brought up the spinning wheel. Then I went to my carriage and pulled out the paper and ink I was always bringing with me. I started drawing it out. I separated some of the components so it was easier to see. I also explained that the weavers in Bicman had helped me figure out how it should work. That caused an immediate uproar with the few women who were there.

    "My Lord, We can make a better one."

    "Yes, and make it faster!"

    "We are much better at making thread than those women!"

    The raised voices caused others to come, and soon, the paper was being passed around. I was forgotten about as all the women started talking about the spinning wheel. I would have to tell the women of Bicman and hopefully turn it into a friendly competition.

    I had just finished having a late meal after speaking with some of the miners when the engineers and Edward arrived. As soon as the men got off their horses, they were swarmed by the children of the village in their filthy clothing. The children immediately started asking for coin clothing or food. They shouted over each other, shocking the newcomers. Harry looked disgusted, and Sanders looked appalled. Edward was frozen stiff at the sudden attack of the children.

    ¡°Children,¡± Richard barked, ¡°these are guests of the lord, away with you."

    The children scattered in all directions.

    "Forgive me, My Lord and Gentleman, it seems that our children have forgotten their manners. Let us move away from the village so that we are not disturbed."

    "Yes, let''s do that," I confirmed. "But I must return to Bicman shortly. Could you find someone to escort these gentlemen and guards along the river? They know their business better than I do¡ªat least, I hope so."

    "A splendid idea, My Lord," Richard said as we walked through the village. Richard called out to a young man of about fourteen. "Paul, you will take these men along the river. They will be building us a dam."

    Paul stood up from the gardening plot where he was kneeling and bowed. "It would be an honor."

    I turned to the engineer. "Gentleman, I will leave you in Paul''s capable hands. I must steal away Edward so that he might get to know the headman. Please take your time and find a few locations that you feel would be suitable for a dam and wheel."

    "As you wish, My Lord," Sanders said with a bow.

    Harry bowed but said nothing. He seemed unhappy to be here, which was too bad for him. His desire not to be here made me very happy. It meant that he would be out of there as soon as he could get the job done. As long as it didn''t affect his work, I didn''t care what he thought of Bicman.

    After they left, my face broke out into a grin. "Whose idea was it to sick the kids on them?"

    "My dear wife came up with that idea, My Lord."

    "That was perfect. Did you see Harry''s face? Hopefully, they will develop an aversion to the villages.

    "Wait, that was intentional?" Edward said.

    "Of course, we don''t want them to see what''s going on around here," I said.

    "And what is going on around here?"

    "I''ve mentioned a few things to you before, but let''s take a walk, and I will show you what''s really going on in Melnon."

 Book 2 Chapter 9

    The next three days were painful ones. I thought I had been getting stronger, but then my evil captain started making me wave a sword around all morning. The sword was actually lighter than I thought it would be. It was probably around two kilograms, but when you swing it around for an hour nonstop, it starts to seem like you are lifting fifty pounds. By hour two, keeping the tip up became impossible. I couldn''t even hold a pen by the time we were done.

    Fortunately, having done Tai Chi For the last few months, the stances he had me perform were not a problem. I was able to flow naturally from one form to the next. I figured the years of Tai Chi in my past life also helped. Draves said that the truly talented swordsmen were able to flow across the battlefields like dancers. That''s not to say my footwork was perfect, but he was able to skip me from the basic katas to the more advanced ones without ruining my foundation.

    "Yes, I agree. I have never seen such a fat man move so gracefully." Chris laughed.

    "And I have never seen a soldier that has such an enormous desire to clean the pig toilets."

    "Neither have I, but if I find one, I will certainly let you know you are looking for one. You did give me a bunch of peasants and serfs to work with."

    "Speaking of soldiers, How is the BDF coming along?"

    Before Chris could say anything, Edward spoke up, "The Bicman Defense Force currently stands at one-hundred and twenty-three individuals, excluding the initial guards. Ninety-three are considered to still be in what you call level one proficiency. The rest have shown some natural talent and have been deemed worthy to move to level two. These numbers are not expected to change much in the near future as these men and women are peasants and have only a few hours a week in which to train. We have found twenty-two that the hunters have been training with the bow."

    "Thanks for stealing my thunder, Eddie," Chris grumbled.

    "That is only because you never use precise numbers, Lieutenant Chris. The amount of times you use the word about in your reports is staggering."

    "He is the Baron. He doesn''t need precise numbers."

    "But I do. We have to feed and supply all of our men and women."

    Before this could escalate into a full-blown argument, I said, "Speaking of supplies, do we have enough weapons and armor for the men?"

    "The spearheads are simple to make, so we currently have one hundred and sixty-seven. However, because bows and arrows take so long to make, we are short on them."

    Hmm, What is that device that spins wood? I think it is called a lathe or something like that. Could we make a water-powered one? I don''t even have a picture of how it would work. If we got one up and running, we would probably put it next to the lumber mill. I wonder if Sam would be willing to move to Kerisi?

    "My Lord, did you hear me?" Edward said.

    "I''m sorry. I was thinking of something we might be able to use to speed up production in woodworking. It is a tool that spins wood and-"

    "Excuse me, My Lord, Are you talking about a lathe? One man spins the wheel while the other cuts the wood as it spins."

    Huh, I guess they do have a word for it. Amos didn''t know about it.

    "Well, dang, it''s already been invented. Why don''t we have one?"

    "I don''t know, My Lord, a woodworker would not be able to keep up with demand or the competition in the city without one."

    "Well, if they have one, then we need to get one here. Do you think I could buy one in Vaspar?"

    "Or you could go look at one and draw it out for our guys here."

    "Industrial espionage, great idea. Now, where were we."

    "Reporting on the men."

    "Ah, yes, how are the newcomers doing."

    "Everyone is currently working on lodging right now. The women are attempting to cultivate gardens even though the planting season is over. After looking over your stores, I fear that you may have overestimated the amount of supplies you have. I would suggest we tighten the rations. But even then, you may have problems."

    "That won''t do. I don''t have a problem cutting the rations slightly, but these people need energy to work. What if we used the winter wheat we purchased?"

    "That would alleviate the problem a little, but I still think we would have to run tight rations."

    "Ok, what if I sent wagons south to purchase some?"

    "We need at least four more wagons full of grain."

    "Dang, well, it can''t be helped. We had better do it sooner rather than later. Organize a team to go get more food. If we have extra, we can always use it for planting."

    "Very good, My Lord," Edward said with a nod.

    I sighed, "I think I may have been too ambitious. I should have waited until next year to hire people."

    "Perhaps, but other than the food issue, which we should be able to make up for after the harvest, the extra laborers are needed for all the projects around here." Draves said encouragingly.

    "Gotta spend money to make money, I suppose." I quipped.

    "A nice way to put it, My Lord."

    Nothing like stealing phases from another world to make you seem smart, I thought.

    "Are the engineers still in Kerisi?"

    "Yes, they want to get that one done first while the men in Melnon are still cutting a road to the sight of the mill you want there. Sean sent a report that arrived last night. He has been sticking close to the engineers and converting all their measurements into meters. He also has said how fascinating the work is and how much he is learning. Sanders is, in return, asking a lot about the modified number system and measurements. He has also asked if he might be able to acquire one of our abacuses. Harry, however, seems to find Sean''s presence annoying and is tough to get information from."

    "Might just be annoyed that one of my serfs can do calculations faster than him. Of course, that boy is freak''n scary when it comes to math calculations," I said. "When Jacklyn recommended him, I was surprised. He has only been at the school for a month, and I think he would be able to do most of the simple math faster than me. I may have to start him on algebra. I don''t remember a lot of trig or geometry, but I could get him started. Sorry, I am rambling again. That does remind me, though, how circles are divided up?"

    "Do you mean the degrees of a circle?" Edward asked, "There are 360 of that, which is what you are asking."

    ''Interesting, that is the same as earth''s.''

    "How did they come by that number?"

    "It is for the three-hundred and sixty days of the year."

    I was about to put my foot in my mouth and mention the coincidence between how close the days were in this world and mine when, thankfully, Draves interrupted.

    "They removed the four Holy Days of Equinox and Solstice."

    "Captain Draves, Lord Amos may not know where we got three sixty from, but I am sure he knows that the holy days are not considered days of the year." Edward chuckled.

    Thanks for the save, Draves, I thought. That would have been a dead giveaway that something was off about me.

    "You would be surprised about what our lord neglected in his studies," Chris said offhandedly.

    "Are you calling me stupid, Chris?"

    "My Lord, I would never call you stupid. You were just very selective in what you decided to retain in your studies. You saved room in your mind for only the most insightful things." Chris said with an innocent smile.

    "Pig toilets, Chris," I said with a steely voice.

    Chris slightly paled. "I believe I must get back to training your men, My Lord," he said as he quickly walked away.

    "My Lord, why is it that you allow your lieutenant to speak to you that way?" Edward asked in confusion.

    "I need someone I don''t have to be completely serious with. If I didn''t, I would explode. Maybe some nobles like it when everyone treats them completely formally, but I hate it. Chris is my best friend. I wouldn''t be able to handle life if I couldn''t joke around with someone. Don''t worry, I don''t have many I do that with. And nobody to the same extent as Chris."

    "Well, you are the first noble I have conversed with. If you will forgive me for saying so, you are not what I imagined a noble to be like."

    "Yes, I have misplaced the stick that used to be up my butt, and I haven''t been able to find a suitable replacement."

    "I do not believe I am familiar with that phrase, My Lord."

    "Don''t worry about it. How are the new citizens doing?"

    "Houses are going up faster than expected. Those who moved to Barim approached me with a request to build a large communal home to get everyone inside and then work on individual homes afterward. I hope you don''t mind, but I approve the idea."

    "Excellent work. I don''t mind as long as it doesn''t interfere with the layout of the village I planned."

    "I explained that to Joshua, and he confirmed that it would not be a problem."

    "Great. How about overall morale."

    "There are few complaints on that front. Most are just happy that you are prioritizing their houses over getting them to work on your projects first. The complaints are really more or less worries about the future. One thing I have noticed is that the headman of Cofi has not sent a weekly report since you left to go to Vaspar. I think we need to check up on what is going on there."

    "Is there any reason that we could not do that first thing tomorrow morning? I would love to do a surprise inspection. Jeffery has always kind of rubbed me the wrong way."

    "My Lord, I don''t know if it is worth mentioning, but Cofi also has the lowest number of participants among the recruits for the Bicman Defence Force," Draves interjected.

    "Wow, there is so much to keep up with."

    "Well, that is why we are here," Edward said.

    "True, well, my friends, if you don''t mind, I would like to get cleaned up and go spend some time with Aaron. He is much more fun than you two." And with that, I went to go find my nephew.

    At least, I thought that was what I was going to do. As I rounded the side of the manor, I found an exhausted looking Mikel standing near the entrance to the manor speaking with Chuck.

    "Hey, what''s up?" I asked as I approached.

    Mikel''s exhaustion looked worse up close. He had bags under his eyes, and his shoulders were slumped.

    "Mikel, you look awful, and you need to get more sleep."

    He gave me a grim smile. "I would love to have slept, but I had to let you know that your blasted spinning wheel is done."

    "What? How is it done already."

    "Please, My Lord, never again tell the women you are having them see which village can build a better of anything. Those women have been driving me to finish it for the last two days. Fortunately, I had a lot of people volunteering to help, or there is no way I would have gotten it all done."

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    "So it works?"

    "Of course, it works; otherwise, I wouldn''t be here."

    "And?"

    "Oh, yes, well, it is quite an impressive machine. All the women have been taking turns, and they have concluded that they can probably spin thread a lot faster with the wheel."

    "Probably?"

    "Well, it takes more skill, and they are all just learning. I also want to apologize, but it is not my finest work. We were rushing to get it done."

    "Well, they weren''t listening to me when I said I wanted the best they could do, not the fastest. Don''t worry, Mikel. I won''t blame you if the Melnon one is better."

    "You may not, but all the women in Bicman will want Sam''s and my heads on a platter."

    "Well, good luck, and thanks for all your hard work." With that, I once again tried to get cleaned up and go play with Aaron.

    "Hey, Emily and Nora, how is my favorite nephew?" I said with a smile as I entered the room.

    "Your only nephew is over here on the other side of the bed," Emily said with a grin.

    "Shh, don''t let him know that. The future baron needs to know that he is beloved by all his subjects."

    Nora, who was slightly older than me, giggled. "How are you and Alex doing Nora?"

    "Alex is doing well, My Lord. He is in the south field today, helping with the watering and weeding. I''m doing well, thank you."

    "How is your baby boy?"

    "My Lord, I am only five months pregnant. You cannot know it is a boy?"

    "I am at least fifty percent sure it is a boy."

    "Fifty percent."

    "It means he is only half sure," Emily said offhandedly.

    "I should have never told you what that meant. You can be such a party pooper."

    "Party Pooper? That sounds gross, Lord Amos." Emily said while wrinkling her nose.

    "It means you ruin fun."

    "Teasing Nora and making her feel ignorant is not very noble of you."

    "Hmm, I suppose that is true."

    "Also, you shouldn''t be flirting with married women."

    That caught me off guard, "I was not flirting."

    "Uh, Emily, I don''t think he was flirting," the older girl said.

    "Ah, I see what''s happening here. Emily, you are jealous that I wasn''t teasing you. Well, I will strive to tease you more in the future."

    Emily blushed bright red. The embarrassment caused Nora to look confused at first, and then, after a moment, she gave Emily a pitying frown. And now I was confused.

    "Don''t worry, Nora. Em will be okay as soon as I tease her enough."

    Looking between Emily and me, Nora stuttered, "My Lord, I-I don''t think you¡­" She suddenly blushed, "Forgive me, Lord Amos, I shouldn''t interfere with your relationship with¡­ Never mind, I''m just babbling."

    Was she going to tell me to stop teasing Emily?

    I don''t think that was even possible. I loved teasing my friends.

    "Okay, then, now that I have embarrassed you both, I shall steal Aaron away," I said while scooping up the baby boy who was crawling towards me. "Hey buddy, what did I tell you about crawling? Crawling is for babies. You''re like practically two. Let''s go play in the great hall."

    After closing the door behind me, I heard Nora say in a raised voice, "Emily, you can''t be serious! He would¡ª"

    By that time, I had walked far enough away that I couldn''t hear their conversation. I did not want to eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about. She was probably chiding Emily about trying to take off her sling again. That girl was stubborn.

    Aaron and I went to the great hall and stole some pots from the kitchen. We proceed to bang on them with wooden and metal utensils. We may have gotten carried away because, before we knew it, servants were in the hall cleaning and getting ready for the noon meal.

    Aaron was not happy to have been interrupted, but he needed to learn that his people came first, and he couldn''t deny them a scrumptious meal of porridge. Since Amy''s passing, Aaron has moved to a complete soft foods diet and mar milk. Mar Milk actually wasn''t that bad. It was quite sweet. It was especially good when chilled in jugs that were set in the river water. Aaron was not a huge fan of porridge. It was an acquired taste that I was still working to develop.

    I was in my study, working on next week''s course material. Things had slowed down for most of the students when it came to adding and subtracting large numbers. I thought that because most were adults or in their teens, they would pick it all up quickly. Unfortunately, just like on Earth, people had to master the basics before they could progress. Some were really smart and were already doing long division. But I could count those on less than one hand. We also switched to clay instead of paper for writing since we had told the engineers that paper was expensive.

    We had moved the paper production all the way out to Alfer. At first, I thought of Barim because the engineers wouldn''t be there, but I decided that most of the new people didn''t need to know about it either. Since the engineers would be building the waterwheel closer to Kerisi rather than Alfer, Edward persuaded me that Alfer was the most secluded. Families in Kerisi were helping house my papermakers. On the plus side, all our paper production was going towards reselling it to Vaspar.

    There was a knock at the door, and I told whoever it was to enter. Edward entered into the office with a man who looked to be in his early twenties. The dirt and dust from traveling did not hide the fact that his clothes were of a very fine material. Both men bowed before Edward introduced him. "My Lord, may I present Benjamin of Kimton, son of the Steward of Kimton."

    Yeah, I definitely wasn''t expecting that. What the heck was this guy doing here? Probably not to apologize for the assassination attempts coming from Kimton. Most likely a spy like Mathew. Glad I have everything pretty much hidden away. I decided it was best to be polite all the same.

    "I welcome you, Benjamin Steward. It is quite a rarity to have anyone from Kimton visit us, let alone a man so close to the noble house. What brings you so far from Kimton? It must be no small matter, or his lordship would have sent a letter."

    "My Lord, I am here at the request of the duke himself. He received your letter concerning the death of your family and the steward. He has sent me to fill the role of steward."

    My mouth hung open for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what the angle was. Why put a steward in as a spy? That is kind of a long term position. I wonder if I could refuse?

    "I am sorry for the trouble it must have caused you to come all the way out here, but as you can see, I already have a steward, and the barony is quite small. I would not be able to afford the services of two stewards. I would be happy to pay for any trouble this has caused you, as well as any expenses you have accrued on your travels here. I could also loan you my carriage as far as Decmoore. Well, I guess it isn''t Decmoore anymore, is it?"

    I saw the young man''s shoulders tense at this, and after a pause, he said, "My Lord, forgive me for my rudeness or if this seems like a threat, but neither you nor I can refuse this order by the duke. It would bring shame both on me and the Bicman House. Most likely, you would receive a censure from the duke, and I would not dare return to Kimton. I have a letter from the duke, dictated by the hand of the steward, explaining the situation."

    Benjamin handed me the letter, and I read through it. It was not a nice letter. It almost read as if I was to blame for my family''s death. Also, I was chastised for writing to him and the king. He called me incompetent many times and said that he was sending me a steward that would fit well with my pathetic barony. He also demanded that I keep my feeble attempts to curry favor with myself and never again send him a letter. If he hears that I have sent another letter to the king, he will have my head.

    I looked up from reading the letter and saw that Benjamin was trying to keep a calm demeanor.

    "Well, dang. Edward, I have come to the conclusion that our most benevolent duke does not care for my personage."

    Benjamin Steward

    I had been excited to finally leave Kimton and gain my independence. I practically demanded it of my father. But, with each passing day on my travels Northward, my resolve weakened. The city of Kimton had poverty, but the further north I traveled, the more pathetic the people looked. By the time I reached the Nore, I was almost ready to turn back and consent to my father''s plan of fleeing to my uncle.

    I could not back down and admit I was wrong, though. Also, there was the courier I had caught up with on my way. He was heading to Bicman as well. He confided in me that he had a letter with the seal of Asput on it. I wanted to know why someone in the royal house was sending letters to Bicman. It had to be something official, or it would have been sent by pigeon. I knew the Baron had written to the king. Was this a response to that letter? Was it a positive or negative response?

    When the courier and I reached the first town in Bicman, I was shocked. The people were still underfed and wore clothing that only beggars would wear in the city of Kimton. However, the air of despair that was so common in other villages along the way was not present in Kerisi. The people smiled, and the children played without even a hint of warriness towards us. I thought that this might be due to the fact that the lord didn''t often leave his manor, and they had a good headman who took care of them. That was until I entered the village square in Bicman. Two groups of women stood arguing with each other. The courier left, seemingly wanting to complete his errand and get back on the road. I, however, stayed. I was fascinated by two contraptions sitting next to each other. Each contraption had a large wheel on it that they were making spin somehow with their feet. They called it a spinning wheel, and apparently, they were arguing over which was better. Some men were standing to the side, chuckling.

    "Excuse me," I said to one of them. "Might I enquire what this is all about?"

    Most of the men immediately clammed up, but a young boy answered me before the men could silence him. "It''s the lord''s latest invention. They created two spinning wheels and are trying to impress Lord Amos. Ma''s is going to win, though. Bicman is way better than Melnon."

    A man suddenly grabbed the boy and took him away. The women saw what was going on and, after looking at me worriedly for a moment, they gathered up the spinning wheels and went inside one of the buildings.

    When I tried to ask a question, they politely told me I should seek out the baron. Were they worried that the baron would be displeased that I found out about this thing? Was this something new, or did I just not know about them? I still wasn''t quite sure what they were even doing.

    Upon reaching the manor, I found that the courier was just finishing up his conversation with a man wearing the sash of a steward. Well, this would make things awkward. I guess I should have assumed he would find someone to fill the role after all this time.

    I approached and declared who I was and my intent to speak with Lord Bicman. The man seemed surprised but bade me follow him. I entered the study to be surprised yet again. The reports had said the regent was an obese man who was rarely ever sober. He supposedly shied away from people and didn''t leave his room unless it was to eat.

    This man was not fat at all by noble standards. Well fed certainly, but the man looked as if he was a very active person. He had numerous papers layed out in front of him with writing and well-drawn pictures on them. One sheet seemed to contain mathematical computations. Was he studying?

    I also did not expect him to have a pleasant demeanor. I could tell he was unhappy about my presence, but he still treated me cordially. The most astonishing thing, though, was when he read the letter I handed to him. My father had told me of its contents. I was sure I would see outrage at the harsh words. Instead, he laughed it off.

    "Well, dang. Edward, I have come to the conclusion that our most benevolent duke does not care for my personage."

    "I don''t believe you told me of any of your interactions with the duke, My Lord."

    "I only wrote him one letter and sent him a small gift. Apparently, he didn''t like my gift and considered me an idiot. One thing I do have to say for the guy, he writes very well. My only critique is that he used the word incompetent five times. He should have changed it up a bit. Uncultured swine or back-water bumpkin would have fit perfectly in there. I would recommend it to him, but he demanded that I never write to him again." Lord Amos said almost gleefully.

    "Really?" Edward said.

    "Oh, here, just read it. It is a work of art, in my opinion," he said while handing Edward the letter. This man was bizarre. Why would nobles share the fact that they had been insulted with their servant? He treated it as if it were one big joke.

    "Have you read the letter, Benjamin?" He asked.

    I shouldn''t have known what was in the letter, but my father briefed me on it before I left. I think he was again trying to persuade me not to go. It was probably not a good idea to admit the fact that I knew the contents of his private letter, but I wanted to see his reaction. "I have been briefed on its contents, My Lord."

    "Perfect, perhaps you can explain a few points to me."

    I gave an internal sigh of relief, but at the same time, I was confused. Did he really not care that I knew the contents of a private letter?

    "Okay, first, do you know what he is talking about with the whole feeble attempt to curry favor? I don''t remember writing anything that might be interpreted as an attempt to curry favor."

    "If I remember correctly, it was the pen you sent him," I said hesitantly.

    "What? Why didn''t he like the pen? Count Vaspar thought it was great. He liked it so much that he stole the idea."

    This was the first time I saw disappointment on Lord Amos''s face.

    "I don''t believe he knew what it was. He called it a backwater trinket and told my father to throw it away. If it makes you feel better, my father loves it. I found it quite ingenious."

    "Are you serious? He didn''t even read the note. That''s hilarious. His loss, I guess. Glad your dad is getting use out of it. Anyways, now, what is this about a steward to match my pathetic barony? Apparently this is supposed to be a punishment for you, no?

    I gritted my teeth and tried to calm myself. "My Lord, I assure you I am quite competent. I have studied at my father''s side my entire life. I am well versed in law and etiquette. I can read and write and do higher math. I do not know how familiar you are with mathematics, but that means I can not only add and subtract but multiply and divide large numbers."

    For some reason, this caused Edward to stifle a laugh. I frowned, but then Edward apologized.

    "I am sorry it is no disrespect to you, Benjamin Steward. I am laughing because I have never met anyone as competent at math as Lord Amos. You do not have to worry about him understanding you."

    "Let''s get back to the matter at hand. It goes without saying that the son of a steward would be competent in his trade. What I want to know is what you are being punished for. Why were you truly sent?"

    We locked eyes, and it felt as if he was trying to bore into my soul. I knew that if I stayed here, he would find out anyways, but speaking about my weakness always created ridicule or pity.

    "My Lord, I have what they call old men''s eyes. I have to hold papers far away from me in order to see them."

    "Wait, so you''re nearsighted? Or is it farsighted? I think it is farsighted, that''s the one where you can see far but not near. Is that really why he sent you here? I thought you had, like, slept with his daughter or something. Why would he send you here just for that?"

    I was shocked by this casual accusation. "My Lord, if I had slept with his daughter, I would be dead."

    "I was exaggerating."

    "He does that a lot," Edward interjected.

    "Regardless, I am not buying it. That cannot be the only reason."

    I steeled myself, "My Lord, I assure you a weakness such as that would be ample enough reason for the Count to punish me. It is his nature, but you are correct. I also must read slowly because, for some reason, words and letters jumble on the page at times."

    The look on Lord Amos''s face was not the one I expected. It was a surprise. "So, if I understand you correctly, you are a fully trained steward¡ªtrained by the steward of a duke even¡ªand he gets rid of you because you are farsighted and have dyslexia?"

    I had not heard those terms used before, but he seemed to understand my situation, so I nodded.

    "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. That''s like throwing away a pair of shoes because one of them has a scuff on it. No, that''s kind of demeaning. You''re not a pair of shoes. It''s like, like¡­ Oh, I''ve got it. It is like throwing out a gem-encrusted gold goblet just because one of the gems is out of place or missing. Why not just get you an assistant when you need to read through a lot of stuff? I swear the more I hear about the duke-" Lord Amos shook his head. "Never mind, we''ll figure this out. "Thank you for being honest."

    I was shocked. Did this man truly not see me as defective or broken? My father was the only other man who had ever treated me with respect after learning about my problems. Serving this man was supposed to be a punishment for me. But maybe-

    My thoughts were interrupted by the lord speaking again, "Hey, Edward. What is that packet?"

    "The courier who brought it said it is from the King of Falmoren."

    "Wow, let''s take a look. I''m sorry, Benjamin. I am postponing your interview. Let''s see if the King liked my letter better than the duke."

 Book 2 Chapter 10

    I was pissed!

    "What the frick''n heck, Asput! What are you thinking? I asked for one simple thing: Make me regent. Is that really too much to ask? I can''t believe this. I even sent him my best pen! And this is what I get? Well, thank you very much, you stupid king!"

    I crumpled up the letter that came along with the Certificate of Title and threw it across the room. Both Edward and Benjamin were white as a sheet and stared at me wide eyed. The guards had also come in when I started yelling, but they just stood their ground stoically.

    Edward said, "But, My Lord, the title¡ªit declares you Baron of Bicman."

    "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I am well aware of what the king has done. He took the barony away from my nephew. I asked him to make me regent, not baron."

    "My Lord, I thought-"

    I glared at him, "What! You thought I lied when I said I wanted to make sure Aaron kept the barony! You''re just like everyone else, so sure, I want to get rid of my nephew. Curse it all. He has already lost his parents, and now he has lost his rights as a baron."

    "Forgive me, My Lord. I did not doubt your love for your nephew. I-I just didn''t really think about it. I never thought that someone would really not want to receive a title. It is just hard for me to understand." Edward said placatingly

    I gritted my teeth, breathed in deeply, and let it out slowly. "No, Edward, it is I who should apologize. You did not deserve that. We have only known each other for a short time. Besides, there has got to be a way to fix this. Maybe I should just abdicate when he turns eighteen."

    "And Benjamin, forgive me as well. That was not a good way to act in front of you. You too, Rick and Mark. Sorry, you had to rush in here."

    "If you will forgive me for my boldness, My Lord, that was more or less the reaction I thought you would have when you read the duke''s letter."

    I paused and thought about that and then chuckled. "This kind of played out like an SNL skit, didn''t it?"

    That got a bunch of blank stares. That''s it. We needed a stage built where people could act out plays and skits. "Edward, write down on my list of things to do, build a stage, and create Tenth Day Live. Low priority."

    "As you wish, My Lord."

    "What is Tenth Day Live?" Benjamin asked in confusion."

    "Benjamin, might I recommend waiting until he has actually put the plan into action? His Lordship often has ideas that are hard for him to explain. Also, I have yet to see a low-priority task actually being accomplished due to all the other things that need to be done."

    "A perfect explanation, Edward."

    "My Lord, you are looking for a way to give your nephew the barony, correct?"

    "Yeah, you got any ideas?"

    "Perhaps, but let me be clear on some things first. Have you thought about how your own children might react to their cousin receiving the barony instead of them? It may cause strife within your household. I would hate for you to regret the decision once you have your own children."

    "First, it is his, to begin with, and that would be made clear from the beginning. Managing expectations is the best way to avoid conflict. Second, I was just dumped by my fianc¨¦e, and I don''t have any prospects for obtaining a wife. I am the only one around to run things, so it is not like I can run off somewhere and find a bride. I would have to at least go to Vaspar in order to pick up a date."

    "A date?"

    "Yeah, you meet a girl, and if you like her, you ask her out on a date to get to know her."

    "My Lord, I know of a few eligible ladies in Kimton, and I am sure we could obtain a list of more. I would be happy to write letters to their fathers to negotiate a dowry."

    "So, what, I have a bunch of girls come out here, and I decide which one I like?"

    "They don''t have to come out here until the wedding?"

    "Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting that everyone around here marries for political reasons and money, not for love. No, I am not cool with that. I want love in my relationship."

    "My Lord, that is what mistresses are for. As long as you provide a few children for your legal wife first."

    "I''m not cheating on my wife."

    "As long as you acknowledge the children as your own, there is no problem with it. It is the privilege of nobility. Are you going to expect the same of her?" Benjamin said in surprise.

    "Of course, I am going to expect the same of her."

    The raised eyebrow Benjamin gave me suggested that he was thinking, ''Good luck with trying to convince your wife of that.''

    "So what? My wife is going to have a bunch of children that are not mine."

    "My Lord, I am surprised at your lack of knowledge concerning these things. Favorites must be declared to the spouse, and your wife would need to expunge any resulting child."

    "But these same rules don''t apply to commoners?"

    "Of course not. As commoners, it would be shameful for us to have more than one wife. Our seed has no noble blood in it to grace children with."

    "Alright, I am done with this conversation. Let''s go back to how we make Aaron a baron," I said. The thought of being unfaithful to someone I was supposed to love a cherish made me feel dirty.

    "The solution is simple. You may adopt the child."

    I slapped my forehead. "I forgot, that is what I was planning on doing when I initially found out I might become a baron. Let''s do that. How do I do that?"

    "Well, that is the part that is going to be a problem for you. You need to notify the duke of your intentions."

    "Well, crap. The duke doesn''t want me to write to him."

    "I recommend waiting a few years until the duke has forgotten about you and his annoyance with you. Then, write to the count, and he can pass it along."

    "Can''t I just do that now? I won''t be writing him directly." I said hopefully.

    "I wouldn''t recommend it, My Lord. He is upset with you right now. He would deny any request that came from the barony, and even if it came indirectly, he would most likely accuse you of sending him a letter and behead you."

    "Well, we need to at least let the people of the barony know my intentions. I don''t want my subjects to think I am trying to steal the barony from Aaron."

    Edward entered the conversation. "My Lord, I don''t think anyone in your barony would accuse you of doing anything that would not be in the best interest of your nephew. But we will write up a formal letter of acknowledgment."

    "Well, this sucks, but it is what it is. Benjamin, I appreciate your assistance. I fear I have, in my shock, disclosed information that would have been best left until after I could confirm your loyalty to me. I have things that are not illegal but still best not to be discussed outside of my most trusted advisors. I would hate to have to lock you up in order to protect information."

    "A wise decision, My Lord. I would also prefer not to be locked up and promise to take an oath of fidelity to you. I have decided that you are a man worthy of my service. Also, I have some information that may hopefully convince you of my loyalty."

    "What might that be?" I said curiously.

    "My father is the steward of Kimton and, as such, has access to much of the information flowing through the court. He is also an expert at digging into the various machinations going on there. I doubt there is much that he has not uncovered. This includes the people responsible for the death of your family." He said solemnly.

    This caused me to sit up straight, "Really?"

    "Before I disclose it, I prefer we do it in private. I also ask you not to act too rashly on the information. There is not much you can do with it. Trying to involve yourself will most likely get us all killed.

    "I agree. Men go find Captain Draves. I trust you, but this is dangerous information."

    "As you wish, My Lord," Rick said.

    After they left, I said, "Edward, I will leave it up to you whether or not to stay."

    "To be honest, I would prefer to leave. Dangerous situations are not really something I enjoy being involved in. That being said, I am your steward, and I would be a poor one if I did not strive to help and counsel you in all situations."

    "Thank you. So Benjamin, tell me about yourself. What was it like growing up in Kimton."

    "My Lord, I have to admit the difference between a small barony and the capital of a dutchy is quite a shock for me," Benjamin said with a smile.

    With that, he launched into the details of his life and schooling. If I could truly trust him, he would be a great asset to the barony. I thought about the drive this guy must have to overcome the difficulty of training as a steward while dealing with dyslexia, not just in learning to read and write but also in dealing with the pushback from everyone around him. This was not the type of world that would allow for such a weakness.

    "Your father must be very proud of you."

    "He is my rock; he pushed me to achieve what others said was impossible."

    I gave a bitter chuckle, "Wish I had had a father like that. Mine thought I was a waste of space. Tell me about your father."

    "He is the best at what he does. As a steward, you must know everything that is going on in the house you serve. You must know all the ins and outs of the law. You must know the businesses that are running in the land over which your lord is responsible. Most importantly, you must know everything that the nobles under your lord are doing. My father manages all that by building a network of competent people."

    I saw reverence in Benjamin''s eyes, usually reserved for the worship of a god. "I am glad you have such a respect for your father. If I wasn''t forbidden from getting anywhere near Duke Kimton, I would love to meet him."

    "Speaking of my father. May I request that I be allowed to send a letter to my father? I would like to let him know I arrived safely. I promise to only speak well of you."

    "You can say whatever you want about me to your father. Your opinion is your own. Honesty is the best policy. Scratch that. Honesty with Duke Kimton might get you killed, but let''s make that a general guideline. I would like you to be honest with me as well. I have not beaten or beheaded a single person for disagreeing with me since I became regent."

    "Even though some have deserved beheading." The familiar voice of Draves said as he strode into the room.

    "Ouch, Captain, that cuts deep. I admit Marcus was a mistake. However, thank you for proving my point. I will not have you beaten even though you have criticized my actions."

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "As always, thank you for your magnanimity, My Lord."

    "See, Benjamin, honesty. As long as it doesn''t call down the wrath of Duke Kimton, please be honest with your father. Oh, and with me. I am ill-suited for this position and need all the help I can get. Now, let me introduce you to my captain of the guard, Captain Charles Draves. Captain, this is Benjamin Steward, son of the Steward of Duke Kimton. He has been sent to make sure I don''t screw up anymore. Here is the letter from the duke."

    I had Draves read the letter, and then I explained what it meant and that there was no other option but to take Benjamin on as a Steward.

    "Now, Benjamin was about to explain why we should trust him."

    "My Lord, I have information that may be vital to you, and if it was discovered, I knew it would lead to my father and my deaths. As I said earlier, it concerns your enemies in the court."

    "Enemies, as in I have more than one," I said nervously.

    "They are all part of the same group. My father disclosed this information to me before I left so that I might pass it on and hopefully find a way to protect myself. Needless to say, he is not happy for me to be leaving to serve a baron who has a target on his back.

    "The person who ordered the assassination is Countess Cynthia Blackwell."

    "A woman?" I said in surprise.

    "It surprises you that a woman would do such a thing."

    "No, I believe women are capable of doing just as much good or harm as any man. Rather, it is because she is in a position to do so. I thought women were more subservient to men in society."

    "Maybe out in these backwater baronies or if the husband keeps his female family members away from court, but in court, they are like snakes in the grass. They have their own way of playing the game, and some are very good at manipulating the men around them."

    "Are you sure it is her? She is the younger one who is married to that old count." Edward said, "I have always heard she was somewhat flighty and not a popular member at court."

    "And that is how she gets away with running a faction that opposes the king''s rule. Also, she is older than she looks."

    "Wait, why am I being targeted by a faction that is large enough to try and oppose the king? There isn''t anything special about Bicman."

    "My father is not too sure about that. He does know that the two new nobles elevated to baron by Duke Kimton are on her side. My father''s best guess is that they want all of the north under their control."

    "So, did they approach my father, and he rejected their offer?" I said

    "I doubt it. The previous king gave your family nobility. It would be better to get rid of you and put someone in who owes them their allegiance. In the game of Fours and Nines, your family would be considered a wildcard."

    "So the duke is on their side, and he is putting people loyal to their faction in place throughout the dukedom."

    "He isn''t a direct member. He is too volatile. But his passions are easily ignited, and he is being played like a puppet on strings." Benjamin said, shaking his head.

    "How about Vaspar?"

    "Vaspar is the king''s man through and through. He plays the game well, though, and getting rid of him would cost too much right now."

    "Does the king know about this?" Draves said.

    "He does, but there is nothing he can do about it."

    "What do you mean by that?" Edward said in surprise.

    "Well, not nothing. But his war with the Hitub has most of his troops tied up along the border. He has been trying to conquer them for the last ten years. It is bleeding our country dry of both manpower and resources. People are tired of the war, and he is losing support."

    "So why not create an armistice? Then he could make the people happy and bring his troops home." I asked.

    He shook his head. "One, the king went into this war boasting that he would turn his kingdom into an empire. His pride will not let him stop. Two, If he retreated in any way, the opposing faction would use that against him. Claiming he is a weak king. Third, the Hitub would never agree to stop fighting unless they got their lands back."

    "So he sees it as an all-or-nothing situation, and the other party is gaining power. I by no means wish to disrespect our king, but would it be a bad thing if the other faction took over? It doesn''t sound like the king is doing the right thing. Our people are being sent to their deaths for no other reason than to make our king an emperor. Don''t get me wrong. I''m not a fan of the side that is trying to kill me, either, but could it be any worse."

    Benjamin sighed, "I see that you are not at all familiar with the political situation. Our king has done many good things for his people. There has been a crackdown on corruption, and for the most part, he is just.

    "The war was due to aggression on the side of the Hitub. They came across our border and slaughtered half of a barony before they were stopped. We retaliated and took almost a quarter of their land easily. This created a fervor in the court, and people demanded that we conquer our long time enemies. The king committed himself to the war and continued to push, but now we are fighting for every step of ground we conquer. What was supposed to be over in a year has now dragged on much longer."

    "And the opposing side, what would happen if they won."

    "First, in order for them to win, there would be a civil war. All our troops would have to withdraw, and there would be anarchy. The Hitub would probably steal some of our Southern land."

    "I''m not saying I would, but what if we went to the opposing side and offered to join them? Would they stop trying to kill me?"

    "They may just invite you in and then kill you. You owe them nothing, and they have plenty of other people they could put in your place who would be completely loyal to them."

    "So what do I do? Wait for them to kill me. Hope the king wins quickly. If they are as powerful as you say, they could squash me at any time. They could come and kill Aaron." I said, my heart racing a bit.

    "And now you see why my father didn''t want me to come. In fact, I doubt me coming here was part of their plan either. This was one of those impulsive orders from the duke. On my way here, I kept looking over my shoulder, thinking they were going to kill me on the road. I doubt they are pleased you now have a competent steward."

    "Excuse me, ''" Edward said in an offended tone.

    Benjamin blushed a bit. "I am sorry, Edward. That is not what I meant. I just¡­ Uh, sorry."

    Edward didn''t look happy, but he stayed silent.

    "Ok, well now, after that incredible faux pas, let''s get down to the problem at hand. How do we protect my nephew? Just because I am the baron now doesn''t mean they won''t try to kill him again."

    All of them stared at me blankly.

    "What, seriously, none of you have any ideas? I was thinking maybe a cabin in the woods. Or we could pretend he is a servant. Those two things work ok in stories. Maybe we could fake his death?"

    "My lord, shouldn''t you be concerned for your own life as well?" Benjamin said, perplexed.

    "Well, yeah, but Aaron comes first. Besides, I am a lot harder to hide than my nephew."

    Edward thought for a moment and then said, "Well, My Lord, now that you are baron-"

    "Wait! What do you mean?" Draves asked in confusion.

    "Oh, yeah, sorry we kind of got carried away with other stuff. The stupid king made me baron," I said, pointing at the document on the table.

    "My Lord, you cannot say such things," Benjamin exclaimed.

    "Sorry, what I meant to say was that the stupid king, bless his heart, made me baron. Now continue with your idea, Edward."

    Benjamin shook his head but didn''t continue his protests.

    "As I was saying. Do you not have any relatives you could send him to be with?"

    "You want me to send him away?! Not happening. I was talking about hiding him around here. Besides, I have never met any of my relatives. Well, at least not since I was very young, and I don''t know what type of people they are. I don''t want him to be mistreated or grow up to be some stuck-up noble."

    "Did you not mention that you wanted to mend those relationships?" Draves said.

    "Yeah, but I haven''t gotten anything back. And I don''t want him that far away."

    "You may have to consider it." Draves said. "Two attempts on his life in three months is not a good sign. You also won''t be able to adopt him until you get this resolved, or you put his life in more danger."

    "Wait, two attempts? We only heard about the one." Benjamin said in surprise.

    "There was an attempt while I was away."

    "Do you mind if I tell my father about this? It may be nothing, but finding out who ordered it may help further strengthen the king''s position."

    "So, pin it on the countess?"

    "No, she would never leave herself that vulnerable. But, it may lead back to someone."

    "I don''t really want it to get out yet that there was another attempt. It may just spur them to try again.

    "Don''t worry. I will code the message so that he will be the only one to know about it. And, like I said, if my father can prevent assassins from coming anywhere near me, he will do it. I also agree with the Captain and Edward. Until this gets resolved, Aaron would be better off outside the barony."

    I gritted my teeth. I really wanted to hit something right now.

    "What about his grandparents?" Daves said

    "No, that''s not happening. You know what Martha was like. She was a snob. She had to have gotten it from somewhere."

    "My Lord, that is uncharacteristically rude of you. You are usually more willing to give people a chance. The girl came from a wealthy barony, was married off to a man she didn''t love and was isolated in the middle of nowhere without any of the usual luxuries. Might it be possible she was slightly bitter?"

    "This is one of those, the pot calling the kettle black sort of things, isn''t it," I grudgingly admitted.

    "If that means a young bitter person calling another young bitter person, who acts out, a snob because she hates her situation, then yes. It is."

    I sighed, "You''re right. I am just coming up with excuses to justify keeping Aaron. I am not going to give him up, though, if they are a bunch of pricks!"

    "I just ask that you keep an open mind. I know this is hard, but we must keep Aaron''s safety at the forefront."

    "I am thinking of his safety. I want to keep him safely away from douchebags." I held up my hand before Draves could respond, "I am not calling his grandparents douchebags. I will give them the benefit of the doubt."

    "My Lord," Benjamin said, "May I ask a question?"

    "Go ahead."

    "Some of the words you say don''t make any sense to me. I can generally understand the meaning of your intonation and contest, but are they of foreign origin? What is a douchebag?

    "Don''t worry about it. They are made up words I am using to substitute for other words." I was not going to give him the actual definition of a douchebag.

    I saw Edward grin. This was a question he had asked me on our travels up to Bicman.

    "Carrying on. Benjamin, I appreciate all the information and assistance, but I am still not going to trust you completely. You could still be gathering information for someone, so I need to review all the messages you send, and you will need to teach me the code that you use to send and receive messages to your father. For the foreseeable future, you will be under scrutiny."

    "It is understandable. To tell you the truth, I was not sure whether or not you would lock me up when I got here." Benjamin said. "May I swear my allegiance to you now?"

    "You may."

    After that was all taken care of, I said to Edward, "Why don''t you show him around. Also, let Marshandra know that he will be in the recently vacated room. They will have to put a bed back in there as well as a desk. Make sure he has grade B paper. He is level three."

    "As you wish, My Lord." Both men bowed before exiting.

    "Grade B and level three?" Daves asked.

    "Oh, dang, sorry, it''s something we came up with. I call it clearance levels. Level one is for the most trusted among us, including those who are my top advisors. People like you, Edward, Marshandra. People who know my future plans. Level two is people like Richard, Jorb, or Mikel. I don''t share all my plans, but I trust them to know everything that is currently going on in Bicman. Level three is people who will see the current projects, but we will be hiding resources like the fine linen and advanced paper. Most of the people of Bicman have had the level two clearance up until now but will be moving them to level three. Then there are people that we want to hide stuff from intentionally, like the engineers and our new people. They don''t have a level."

    "I see. So you are telling Edward that Benjamin is allowed to know about our current projects. But not the ones you have tucked away."

    "Yep, again, these are things that will get out eventually anyway. I just want to make money on them."

    "Hence, not allowing him to send out letters."

    "Got it in one."

    "Grade B paper?" He asked.

    "It is the stuff we are selling to Vaspar."

    "Can we trust him?"

    I chuckled, "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing. I think if I can help him see better and help him with his dyslexia, we might secure his loyalty."

    "You can do that?" Draves said in surprise.

    "My older sister had dyslexia. My mom made Nate and I practice her therapy lessons with her. Also, when I was into self-hypnosis, I downloaded a script to help my sister with dyslexia anxiety. She didn''t last longer than me going over it with her two times, though. Dyslexia can be like stuttering. The more stressed or agitated a person is, the harder it is for them to speak clearly. And, crap, I''m doing it again, aren''t I? Saying stuff that you have no reference for. Sorry, Draves."

    "I''m getting used to it. I know if it is critical for me to understand the details, you will fill me in, My Lord. What about his vision? Can you heal him?"

    "Not exactly, but if we create clear glass, I might be able to help make a magnifying glass."

    I knew a little about that from the last time I hung out with Mark. It was after Dad left, and my mom was trying to get me to stop being angry all the time. She begged Mark to help, and he pushed me to go to a Renaissance fair with him. I knew my mom was desperate because she gave me a hundred bucks to go have a good time. I had never even gotten an allowance before, and I knew we were tight on money. It was more that fact than anything else that got me out the door.

    I wasn''t a huge Renaissance nerd, so most things there didn''t interest me at all. However, I did find a place where they were blowing glass crystal balls. You pay twenty bucks and wait in line for almost an hour, and you get to blow your own ball with them helping. Pay another ten bucks, and you could add things like cobalt, copper, or tin to add color.

    The whole thing was a total rip-off, but waiting in line for an hour gave me plenty of time to listen to them explain over and over everything about glass blowing in the Renaissance. I don''t remember all of it. I think I was high at the time. Scratch that, I know I was high because later that day I was caught vaping and got kicked out of the fair. That caused a big fight between me and Mark and ruined what remained of our friendship.

    I just hoped I remembered enough of what they were talking about to recreate it. I had contemplated making glass since I got here, but I had so much going on that I thought it would be a few years before I attempted it. It still might be. But with needing to secure Benjamin''s loyalty, I may have to move up the making of glass on my priority list. Having telescopes for when we built ships would also be good.

    "You''re lost in thought again, Baron Bicman."

    His use of my new title snapped me out of my thoughts. I cringed. "Please don''t call me that. Let''s save it for the rare visitors."

    "Yes, My Lord." Draves said with a flat expression.

    He was mocking me. I just knew it.

 Book 2 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11- Day 104

    Several days after Benjamin arrived, I was sitting in the seat of judgment at the head of the great hall. I had passed a few judgments while on this seat, but right now, I was in a no-win situation of my own making. This was not going to end well for me.

    "My Lord, may I present the spinning wheels of Melnon and Bicman," said Edward in a clear pronouncement.

    Two groups of women stood next to their spinning wheels. The women all had quite serious faces on, while the few men standing next to them all had smiles.

    "My Lord, as you requested, I have evaluated each machine and identified their strengths and weaknesses. The Melnon wheel is larger and uses two pedals to rotate, whereas the Village of Bicman wheel is smaller and uses the bow flexing method with a single pedal. Both wheels are effective, but the thread twists differently with each, causing differences in the thickness of the thread."

    "Is one thickness better than the other?"

    "Both have their uses, My Lord, but the women could explain it better than me."

    "Well, I can''t judge them against each other if both have different uses." This caused the women to look disappointed. I held up my hand, "What you have done is do something much better together than either of you could do separately. What would have happened if we had only built one wheel? We would not have learned the importance of wheel ratio."

    I jumped up out of my chair and hurried to the wheels. "Look, which one spins a tighter thread?"

    "The Melnon one, My Lord."

    "Perfect, I thought so. See how this wheel is so much bigger than the Bicman wheel. Now, both the wheels on the spindle side look about the same. That means that it has a bigger ratio. We would have to measure how many times this whorls around for each time this one does. We could set the small wheel as the first number and the big wheel as the second. So let''s count it."

    I started spinning the big wheel, and the small wheel began to spin, and I counted out 7.5. "Perfect, now we see that this wheel has a ratio of 7.5 to 1. For every one rotation of the big wheel, this spins seven and a half times."

    We did the same with the other wheel and found a four-to-one ratio. I excitedly explained the concept of ratios to them.

    ¡°Now, what does this mean?¡±

    Everyone looked at me in confusion.

    ¡°It means you are not done. Women of the Barony of Bicman. It is time to experiment! What is the best ratio for whatever you''re making? Is it different for flax or cotton? Never stop trying to make it better.¡±

    Suddenly, I heard laughter off to the side. Emily was trying to stifle her laughter. She had been on the receiving end of this. She knew what it was to present me with something only to have me tell her to make it better.

    ¡°All of you women have done an amazing job. Your efforts will bring fame to your barony. Now, it is time for you to join together and make a spinning wheel that all the women of Falmoren will envy. Pick a name for your invention so that the world may associate the spinning wheel with you.¡±

    The hall was completely silent. All the women before me were stunned. It would have become awkward, except one guy began to clap. Then, the rest of the audience began to cheer.

    The two groups of women were giving sideways glances at each other. One of the Bicman girls went over and shyly asked a Melnon girl something while pointing at the spindle. Then, they began to talk animatedly to each other. Some others started to come over, and that was all it took to break the ice.

    I decided it was time to escape. I used the exit to my study to get away. The women could use my hall to figure out their next steps.

    I had barely sat down when a knock came at my door. ¡°Come in.¡±

    The door opened, and the new assistant steward walked in. Well, at least that is the title I gave him. But it seems Edward, and he decided to switch roles.

    I had asked Edward to show Benjamin around, but in the end, Benjamin went on a three-day marathon tour of my barony, dragging Edward along with him. Yesterday, they started truly compiling the information. That is where they started having their first troubles.

    Edward had become familiar with my accounting methods, including using zeros, double entry bookkeeping, and using an abacus. Benjamin, however, did not want to change how he had learned to do things. The friction made me have to step in.

    I had to explain to him that it was not just a different way of doing things. It was my way of doing things, and if he didn¡¯t want to do it my way, I didn¡¯t have a use for him. I told him he was banned from touching the books until he could properly use the Bicman method. I think the problem was his loyalty to his father. I think he felt that his father was infallible when it came to being a steward.

    So I had foisted him upon Jacklyn until he could learn our number system, the metric system, our accounting system, and the Fibonacci sequence to the 20th number. OK, I didn¡¯t make him learn the Fibonacci sequence, mainly because I didn¡¯t know it myself. Also, I really didn¡¯t know what it was used for. I remember, though, that the math geeks talked about it as if it were something important. Making him learn it would¡¯ve been a great punishment.

    After Benjamin shut the door behind him, he said, ¡°My Lord, that was most interesting. Is that how you are able to make all your unique inventions?¡±

    ¡°No, that was a mistake on my part. I should have never pitted two groups of women against each other. That almost ended in a disaster.¡±

    ¡°Fascinating. With how it turned out, I was sure that you had planned this thing.¡±

    ¡°It certainly did turn out OK in the end. All¡¯s well that ends well, I guess.¡±

    "Do you think the women will be mad at you?"

    That confused me. "Why would they be mad?"

    "They came to show you their spinners, but you didn''t even stay to watch."

    I didn''t. Hmm, time to come up with an excuse in the form of a story.

    "Let me tell you something I once heard. A king once hired a man to design something. The man spent a month planning everything out. When he was done, he showed his plan to the king. The king took the plans, thanked the man, and then excused him. The next day, the king called the man back and, while staring at him sternly, said, "Is the best you can do."

    The man stood there, shocked for a moment, then took the plans back and said, "I will try harder."

    Two weeks later, the man came back. Very excited and said, "Your Majesty, I am sure you will be most impressed with the changes."

    However, the next day, he was called back, and the king, in a stern voice, said, "Is this the best you can do?"

    The man stammered out an apology and said he would try and do better."

    This happened twice more. Each time, the man took more time to review and modify what he had done, hoping that this time his king would finally be pleased."

    On the fifth time, the king said is this the best you can do? The man fell to his knees and pleaded with the king, "Your Majesty, I have reviewed this with all that I have. I have poured my soul into this for you. I have nothing left."

    With a frown, the king said, "You are saying this is your very best?"

    In almost a whimper, the man said, "Yes."

    The king then said, "Very well, I shall read over it now. Thank you for giving me your best."

    You see, Benjamin, those women will rise to my expectations of them. They will be rewarded when they give me their very best."

    "They are just peasants with no education, My Lord."

    "And look what they have accomplished so far. Mark my words, Benjamin. Those women will bring before me something that will change the world. They will realize they are more than just peasants. They are women of ingenuity who, when they work together, can accomplish much. Now, where is Edward today?"

    "He is down in Barim. He is checking on the homes under construction and the citizens'' needs. He is also getting a report on plant growth and the projected yield. I still cannot get over the effectiveness of those plows you invented. There is a marked difference between the fields plowed with it and without. Also, although you haven''t allowed me to see how the paper you produce is made, it is intriguing. I know the workers say that is expensive and time-consuming to make, but only someone who has not seen you would believe that you would waste your time making something that had no benefit or that was a waste of time."

    I wanted to deny it and say it was just something I liked, but I couldn''t outright lie to this man if we were going to work together. "The fools are the ones that those rumors are for."

    "I am sure there is even more going on in this barony than I am aware of. Do you realize the potential of the spinning wheel?" Ben shook his head, "Of course you do. Before I left, I heard one woman say that with practice, she could make ten times the yarn or thread she made in a day. Imagine how much cloth could be made. What will you do with it all? You will have to export it. You cannot possibly have enough looms to handle all the threads you will be making. And what will your women do with all the extra time they have?"

    That is right, he hasn''t seen the new looms. It would blow his mind.

    "They will have time to invent more things to make us more wealthy."

    Or daytime television if that gets invented.

    "With your genius, I have no doubt."

    I snorted, "I stand on the shoulders of giants, my friend."

    "I don''t understand, My Lord," Benjamin said.

    "It means that those who came before me were much greater than I am and that any success I have is because of better men than me. Now, on to more important matters. What does my schedule look like for the next few days? I would like to finally visit Cofi. And while there, see if I can make a trip to the seaside. Now that I have you and Edward, I want to take some more time to see for myself how my people are doing.

    "I neglected both Alfer and Cofi due to getting settled as regent. The last time I tried to visit Cofi, the Headman said there was an illness in the village. I admit I should have visited sooner, but we are going to do a surprise inspection."

    "We have caught up on most things, and if you trust Edward and I to handle things, you could leave for a few days," Benjamin said confidently.

    "Very well. When I come back, I will expect a detailed report. I want things running even better than when I left."

    "It shall be done, My Lord."

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "Hey, I have a question. Do people really have to say, My Lord? Draves said yes, but I was hoping you might know if I could have people call me Amos. At least those who advise me or something."

    "No, My Lord. Only people of nobility can, and even then, it is considered rude unless the person of higher rank initiates it."

    "So it is reserved for friends within the nobility?" I sighed.

    "Yes."

    "No exceptions?"

    "Hmmm, not officially, but that does not mean it doesn''t happen in private."

    "Well, I think that concludes everything we need to discuss. I am going to prepare some things to teach Jacklyn so that she can pass them on."

    "My Lord, If it is not too forward, may I sit in on your lessons with Jacklyn Smith? I will even help her with her teaching during the evening if you permit."

    "Actually, that isn''t a bad idea. I think Edward should sit in as well."

    The look in Benjamin''s eyes was one of, I think, disappointment. I wondered what that was all about. I thought they were getting along.

    "If you three could work together, I would like you to identify people who are struggling. We may need to find a way to give them extra help."

    "Why expend more effort on people who are obviously less intelligent," Benjamin said.

    That was rude, but he didn''t have the advantage of a 21st-century educational system. Not that it was perfect, but they did understand learning methods.

    "Because they may not be intelligent. Often, people just learn differently than others. You never know when someone is a genius because they see things differently. I mean, they could come up with the quadratic formula or the Pythagorean theorem."

    "What is that?"

    "You know, I am not quite sure. It has something to do with math. I always thought the names were goofy, though, so I remembered them. I think one was a2+b2=c2, and it may or may not have something to do with triangles."

    "Where did you learn about it?

    "In a large building dedicated to torturing children."

    "What?!"

    "I''m just kidding. It really doesn''t matter. On to bigger things. It looks like I will be heading out tomorrow, so make sure the carriage is ready tomorrow morning."

    "Of course, My Lord."

    ******************

    We left at dawn the next day in order to make it to Cofi by noon. Did I ever mention how stupid I thought the layout of this barony was? There was so much usable land between each village. It wasn''t like each village had a thousand people. We could have made Kerisi the Manor town and then expanded out from there. Cofi, Alfer, and Melnon were important, but even the resources of Melnon probably could have been found closer to Alfer. I get the fact that the Bicman River is a good water source, but our whole population could have fit along the Cofi River.

    Upon mentioning this to Draves, he said it was because the Karr had originally settled along the Cofi River. When they were conquered, the new inhabitants did not want to mingle with the few remaining inhabitants of the Karr. So, the Village of Bicman was founded, and the manor house was built.

    ¡°So the majority of Cofi is inhabited by people who used to be Karr?¡±

    ¡°No. They are very insular. I have had very little interaction with them. Your father pretty much told us to leave them alone when I got here. Before I had come here from the capitol, there was some sort of uprising, and most of the Karr were slaughtered. Now, there is a truce. They pay their taxes, and we leave them alone. Fortunately, the Cofi Guard are on rotation there. I am sure they can give us more information."

    "They are the group that have their homes there?"

    "Yes, although we rotate the various groups through each area. The groups are mainly organized by their permanent residences."

    "OK, that makes sense. I should have remembered all that. I know we have discussed it before. So Karr is kind of like a vassal village. They pay their taxes, and we protect them?"

    This caused Draves to squirm a little. "Actually, it may be closer to how the Kingdom treats us."

    I can see why he was uncomfortable. "Draves, you know how I feel about people being treated unjustly. Why was this not mentioned before?"

    "Forgive me, My Lord. This was definitely a grave oversight on my part. Most people avoid talking about the Karr."

    "So the Karr is the dirty little secret nobody wants to acknowledge, so we all just forget about them," I said angrily. I wasn''t necessarily angry at Draves. I was angry at myself for ignoring Cofi for so long. If I had been more proactive, I could have possibly made a good impression.

    "I am sorry, My Lord."

    "I would be lying if I said I wasn''t disappointed in you, Captain. But I am more disappointed in myself. How must it look to the citizens who have been neglected to hear they have a new ruler and that he hasn''t even bothered to visit them? It''s not like I can tell them I had no idea they existed because I am not the original Lord Amos."

    "With any luck, they may not even have known that the old baron died."

    "I was surprised. Do you think that is possible? Wouldn''t the Headman¡­ Scratch that. He is unreliable. He can''t even send in a proper report. Well, I guess we will see."

    "My Lord, I must warn you. They won''t want you there. There is bad blood that goes back one hundred years."

    "And it is time we see if we can fix it."

    I sat in contemplation the rest of the way to Cofi. To be honest, it was futile to try to figure out what to do about the Karr. I had no knowledge about their situation or their disposition toward me.

    We only made a quick stop in Kerisi to speak to the headman, and then we were on our way. My entourage made it by my desired time, slightly before noon. I thought I would have to call in the headman, Jeffery, from the field, but instead, he had been alerted that we were coming at some point and was awaiting our arrival.

    The town itself was a picture perfect village. The little houses and streets were well maintained. The people looked better fed than most in the barony. This shouldn''t have surprised me. I knew that the Cofi lands produced more than the others in the barony. Their clothes were also newer than most, which was very interesting.

    He bowed deeply. "Lord Amos, your visit is quite unexpected. Your father usually informs us so that we might prepare a feast."

    "I am not my father," I said stiffly.

    I am usually the type of person who believes in treating everyone with kindness. Heck, Marcus was a psychopath, and I still tried. Jeffery, however, brought out the worst in me. "I am here to inspect my holdings and assure everything is in order."

    My men picked up on my mood and straightened their posture.

    "I have to admit that things are looking good in the village. I will spend some time visiting with the people. I will call on you if you are needed."

    "Are you sure you would not like me to escort you?"

    "Not at the moment. I prefer to get to know my people on my own. You are dismissed."

    "Thank you, My Lord. I am at your disposal." He bowed and quickly returned to his home. It was a large home compared to any other I had seen in the barony. It looked like it might have up to four rooms.

    We walked among the people. Like most of the other villages, they were a little nervous at first, but after talking for a bit with a few groups of women, they relaxed. Then I pulled out the paper for making paper airplanes and gathered the children who weren''t working. I spent an hour playing different things with them.

    One brave child said, "You aren''t an angry mean baron."

    I assumed he was talking about the times that my father came to visit. I smiled, "I try not to be."

    "Why''d they say you were."

    "I don''t know who they are."

    "Old people, I hear them say mean things sometimes."

    I wanted to be angry, but instead, I said, "This is why you should always get to know people before talking about them. The old people must have just thought I was like other barons they know."

    He tilted his head and said, "That''s dumb."

    "Yes, and I can see you are very smart."

    He smiled up at me and then took off towards the line of kids throwing paper airplanes. I loved kids. They were so much fun.

    Next, I visited the fields. Here, I came up against a wall. The men were polite and answered my questions, but none really opened up. Well, there was the one guy I had permitted to marry.

    "How are you and Jodi doing? Are you enjoying the married life?"

    "My Lord, you remembered me." He said in shock.

    "Of course I do. You and Jodi were the first marriage I ever approved."

    "Jodi is doing very well. We can''t be sure yet, but we think she is pregnant."

    I gave a genuine smile. "Congratulations, I will have to crochet the baby a hat when it is born."

    That got me a confused look. "What is crochet."

    "Ah, ignore that. I never did pick it up very well."

    I actually did know a little about crocheting. When my niece was born, my mother started crocheting a bunch of stuff for her. She insisted I help make a hat. After getting me started, she left me to it. I ended up paying a girl down the street to do it. It was just so boring. I wonder if they knit or crochet here.

    After wrapping things up with the farmers, I went and spoke with the Cofi Gaurd.

    The guy in charge, Ned, gave a genericly bland report. Apparently, nothing happened much around here.

    "How are the people of Karr doing?" I asked casually.

    He looked surprised but then said, "Still keeping to themselves."

    "Good. When was your last visit there?"

    "My Lord, I assure you we do not visit there," he said defensively, which made me think the exact opposite was happening. I didn''t look, but I was sure Draves picked up on this, too.

    "Well, Ned, thank you for your report. I''m off to have a very late lunch."

    I decided I had had enough of my PR campaign for now, and unlike my men, I had not eaten. I took my meal with the Headman, and when we were done, I told him I wanted to visit the Karr.

    Red flags began to fly as soon as he opened his mouth. "My Lord, I assure you you don''t want to visit there. They are a filthy people that wallow in the muck. Their whole place is probably disease infested. They are also very savage and may attack if they find out you are here. We don''t want another uprising."

    I didn''t believe him. I had met some people that I thought might be mixed blood, and if they were truly what he said they were, that wouldn''t have happened.

    "We shall see, Draves. Ready the carriage. The headman will be joining us." This declaration made the man pale. He immediately began to make excuses for why he needed to stay.

    I didn''t care about his whining and had Draves practically shove him into the carriage. The trip around the lake was a quiet one. As we exited the trees and entered the secluded village, my mouth dropped. I shouted for the driver to stop and jumped out of the carriage. My eyes went wide in shock as I looked at what was in front of me. For a moment, I couldn''t speak.

    "Jeffery!" I growled, "What in the name of the Endless One is going on here?

    Count Vasper

    I stood on a hill overlooking a small field. In the chill morning, an ocean breeze whipped my cloak, and the salty smell filled my nostrils. I turned to the man standing next to me, "Alright, Captain Harv. What was so important and secret that we are standing out here at first light? You realize you are risking your position at the very least by having me cancel appointments based on what you say may change the war.

    "My Lord, you asked me to review the Bicman Stirup and see if it would benefit our horsemen. At first, I had my doubts, but now¡­ now I am sure we have just entered a new age."

    Turning to ten men mounted on horseback, he shouted, "Drill one."

    As one, they charred the field dotted with many obstacles about the height of a man. The first thing I noticed was the speed. I had seen a charge fall completely apart because a few over-eager men charged at a speed that caused them to lose control when they hit the enemy line. However, in this case, they smashed through the practice dummies with their lances without a single man losing control. The men struck with a force that destroyed the dummies completely. There is no way that a horseman should be able to use that much force. The stirrups allowed the full weight of the rider and horse to be put into the blow. I couldn''t imagine what it would do to a soldier on the field. The strength of our cavalry had always been their mobility, not their power. After punching through the enemy line with their lances, they pulled out their swords and began to hack at the back lines.

    After charging all the way through the line, the horsemen would normally make a large arc so as not to be thrown off the saddle. But what I witnessed next surprised me just as much as the power they wielded. After riding out a short way, they pivoted on their horses and, as one, charged again. The speed at which they were able to reset their charge would give the enemy no time to regroup and face our horsemen unitedly. The broken front line would be an easy target for our foot soldiers. Meanwhile, the archers at the rear would be destroyed by our cavalry.

    Captain Harv smiled as he called for group two. What I had not noticed about this group initially was that they carried a modified bow. It was smaller, so he probably had to sacrifice both range and power, but if what I thought he was about to do worked, it wouldn''t matter. The men fired three volleys from their horses with similar accuracy to what I would see from a field archer. Then, as one, they moved to another position. The stirrups allowed them to keep their shots steady and gave them mobility. Archers were effective as long as the enemy couldn''t get to them. This would make it almost impossible to get rid of the archers. The enemy would lose many lives without even being able to hurt my men as long as they kept moving so they didn''t become a target of the enemy archers.

    After the demonstration, I turned to the captain. Keeping my calm demeanor, I said, "Is there anything else you wish to show me?"

    The captain couldn''t keep the satisfied smile off his face. "No, My Lord."

    "Very well, I want you to get with General Lucus and Captain Soris. Together, you will devise a suitable battle strategy that incorporates the entire army. I will send a letter to the king requesting permission to give a closed demonstration. I would like to see these men on the battlefield within two months."

    This caused Harv to grin even wider. "I told you it would be something special. With these stirrups, I can train men to ride a horse in a quarter of the time. I can''t believe this idea came from that backwater baron all because he was afraid of falling off his horse. If we had had these at the beginning of the war, it would already have been over. The fact that you only paid a few gold for the knowledge is laughable. If word ever gets out about that, the young man will not be able to show his face in public."

    This soured my mood. I glared at the man. "Then I suggest you keep that to yourself. If this works, then we owe a debt to that young man. If I find out that the information about how much I paid for the information leaked, I will be very displeased. I will not allow the Baron of Bicman or my reputation to suffer because of the transaction."

    The Captain wilted under my gaze. "Of course, My Lord. I would never speak ill of a fellow nobleman."

    I nodded, "I will have to reconsider what amount he deserves for his contribution to the war."

 Book 2 Chapter 12

    The scene before me was something that would haunt my dreams. The homes the Karrs dwelled in were little more than pig pens. In fact, some I wouldn''t even keep pigs in. The children I saw before they fled into their hovels were barely clothed. Their ribs were visible through their skin.

    Where were the clothes? Where was the food? Why were these people living in abject poverty when, only a few kilometers away, you had a village of thriving people?

    It reminded me of Cove Village before we began seriously trading with them. Not the small amount they were getting before with their illegal trades with Melnon. I had heard they were doing better now that they could send their surplus to us and get essential goods in return. This, though? These were my people, my responsibility.

    Then, the horror show ramped up as the few women who had been tending small gardens lined up along the streets and prostrated themselves. Every man, woman, and child who was currently in the village took the same position. Even a couple of pregnant women were doing so.

    I just stared, my mind trying to process this all. Finally, Jeffery was shoved out of the carriage and fell on his face. Draves came out after him.

    Jeffery quickly got to his feet, brushing himself off. Putting on the mask of a perfect politician, he said, ¡°I am shocked, My Lord. These people are even worse than I thought. Your father so generously gave them this land, and this is what they have done with it. At least they have learned respect over-¡±

    I have not punched anyone since I was a freshman in high school. It was Jimmy Davis after he made a crude comment about my sister. I am embarrassed to admit it felt good. I am even more ashamed to admit that hearing the crunch of Jeffery''s nose as my fist collided with his face felt ten times better.

    He dropped like a puppet with its string. ¡°You filthy piece of crap. How dare you try and lie to me,¡± I roared as I kicked him. ¡°You think I don¡¯t see what¡¯s going on here? You know how I treat my people. I would think that after our first meeting, you would have come back here and tried to clean up what has happened here.¡±

    ¡°Captian, wipe him off and take him into my carriage. I want him interrogated.¡±

    ¡°Jeffery, I am going to go and speak with these people. Then, I will be back for Captain Draves¡¯s report. If I feel you are lying, I will interrogate the nice people of Cofi. For every lie I uncover, I will have one of your fingers chopped off. Ten lies, and then I will hang you. You have seen my mercy. Now you will see my wrath! Take him away, Captain.¡±

    I turned away from the weasel. My anger melted away, replaced by pity and a bit of self-loathing. I have been in this world for almost four months, and if I had bothered to come here earlier, I could have stopped this. I had been too wrapped up in my own life. Worrying about paper, concrete, and taking trips to the beach instead of looking after my people.

    I stood there, not knowing what to say. Looking at these people made me want to cry. They had heard me yelling at Jeffrey, and still, they hadn''t moved. What had they been subjected to to make them so completely subservient? This type of behavior didn''t happen without training. How often and who did this to them?

    I took a deep breath and said what came to my heart. ¡°People of the Village of Karr, please stand up. I have come to free you from those who have oppressed you. I do not know how this started, but I promise I will not rest until I uncover what has been going on.

    ¡°As your Baron, I should have known everything that was going on in my barony. The only excuse I can give is that the barony was thrust upon me suddenly. I promise you I will do my best to fix what I can. I need to speak with whoever is in charge.¡±

    Most lifted their heads but did not dare move. Their faces displayed a myriad of emotions, ranging from hopeful to confused. I tried not to step out of my role as Baron, but it was a struggle. I needed their respect. I waited until, finally, a lady in her forties stood. She hid her nervousness behind steely eyes.

    ¡°We greet thee, Master. I am Velma. Chief Victor is with the men mining the chalk.¡±

    That confused me. ¡°Is this done often?¡±

    Now, it was Velma¡¯s turn to be surprised. ¡°All men must mine one day in five, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°And where does this chalk go?¡±

    ¡°It is delivered to the south waystation. Where it is taken from there, I do not know.¡±

    ¡°Do the men of Cofi participate in the mining?¡±

    ¡°No, My Lord, the peacekeepers are only there to watch over our men.¡±

    ¡°How many men of Cofi guard the miners, Velma?¡±

    ¡°Usually three, sometimes four.¡±

    "Are there any peacekeepers here in the village?"

    "We have three today. They usually are in that building right there, but they fled towards the mine a few minutes before you arrived, Master," she said in a respectful tone. However, her words were tinged with hatred.

    "OK, stop with the master thing. You are not slaves, and I am not your master. You are my people, and I am your baron. You were supposed to have the same rights as any of my people. I have no clue what is going on here. And I can''t fix this without your help. So stop trying to pretend to be all meek when I can tell you are a strong woman. Speak to me as you would your chief. You may address me as My Lord, Lord Bicman, or Baron Bicman. Now, how many Men would you say are part of the entire Peacekeeping force?"

    "There are twenty-two men, My Lord. I can give you names and descriptions."

    We had brought fifteen of the BDF with us. Seven regular guards and eight of the militia. I thought Draves was being paranoid about our trip to the beach, but it appears we were fortunate he had. I turned to the nearest guard. ¡°Quin, take the four guards and six of the trainees and have someone lead you to where they are mining chalk as fast as you can. If you find resistance from the Cofi peacekeepers, you have permission to kill them. Any who do not resist subdue. I will follow behind in the carriage. Go!¡±

    He bowed and began to gather his men. I wish we had brought more than pack mules and the carriage for this trip. We could have ridden down the first three before they alarmed the ones at the mine. I had thought about staying here and waiting for their return, but if more of the Cofi bullyboys came, I didn''t want to be overpowered. That would suck. They could kill the small group of us and blame it on the Karr.

    "My Lord, your carriage won''t fit on the trail."

    Looks like we are all going on foot, then.

    "Captain, bring the headman out."

    Draves pushed Jeffery out of the carriage and stepped out afterward.

    "Is he guilty?"

    It is rare for Draves to show emotion, but on this occasion, he was glaring at the man. He turned to me and nodded.

    "Tie him up, gag him, and throw him in a hut, Captain. Velma, you are in charge of making sure he doesn''t escape and nobody kills him. If he is bruised when I get back, it will be overlooked."

    Within five minutes, we were on our way to the mine.

    As we walked, Draves explained the brief amount he had learned before I interrupted things. He had been taskmaster over the people of Karr for over twenty years. The people of Cofi were aware of it, but most did not know the extent of it. No one not authorized by Jeffery was allowed to go to the village. Draves gritted his teeth when he told me that the Cofi were in on it.

    Draves had heard about the peacekeeping force when he first arrived in the, but they had been put in place by the Steward of Bicman, and Jeffery was in charge of them. Because they were outside of his chain of command, he had always kept his nose out of it.

    "So, did he mention the chalk?"

    "The chalk?

    "Apparently, one day in five, the People of Karr are made to work the chalk mines. Apparently, they are shipping it south."

    "This is very bad," Draves said gravely.

    "I agree. Depending on how many people are involved in this, we could have an uprising. This is corruption that reaches all the way up to the steward. If my father had been involved, there would have been no reason to keep it secret."

    "I am glad you see that."

    "But we cannot be lenient on this one either. This is slavery. We need to get with Benjamin and figure out the exact law on slavery and the punishment for practicing it. We do not need this leak. I would hate to have this stain on my barony."

    "My Lord, why are we going to the mine as well? Twelve against six should be good."

    "Unless there are more. Murphy''s Law and all that. But my main concern was us. I didn''t want the rest of the peacekeeping force to get the jump on us while our forces were split. We were seen heading to the Village of Karr, so they might try organizing something. They could kill us and blame it on the Karr."

    "Village of Karr?"

    "That is just what I am calling it in my head."

    "A wise decision, My Lord."

    "It happens." I grinned

    After that, we started to walk in silence. Our pace was almost a jog, but I had to pace myself. I am glad I did because it was probably about three Kilometers to the mines. When we got there, there were seven men on the ground. One of them was one of the recruits, and the rest were peacekeepers.

    Quinn is holding a bandage on the side of our guy on the ground. "Report, Quinn."

    "Yes, My Lord, we came upon them as they were grouping up. All of them had swords. We told them to lay down their weapons, but they refused. This young man got overly eager and charged them. Fortunately, they weren''t very skilled with their weapons, and he will be fine as soon as the bleeding stops and we get some bandages on him. Fortunately, we have plenty of those."

    "Where in the world did they get swords?"

    "Some of them are alive. You may question them."

    "We''ll question everyone back in the village. Let''s tie up their wrists and get them back."

    "My Lord," called out one of the guards. We found some slavers'' chains we can use."

    Slavers chains! Perfect. This day just keeps getting better. "Fine, let''s get everyone rounded up. I know we have a wounded man, so we will leave two behind with him. Let''s move people. I don''t want to leave the people of Karr alone for too long."

    Due to the prisoners in chains, the trip back was much slower. Suddenly, some of my men surged ahead of the group. I was in the middle of everyone, so I didn''t see what was going on until I was able to start jogging towards the village. My men at the lead started shouting, and there were angry shouts in response. I came upon the scene where six of my men were surrounding a group of men from Cofi.

    As I came up on the group, one of my guards said, "My Lord, we caught these men harassing the people of this village."

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    I strode up and addressed the men. "What are you doing here?"

    None of them spoke. I turned to two citizens kneeling on the ground. It was a pair of middle-aged women. ¡°Are these four members of the peacekeepers?¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord,¡± one of the women said while still looking down.

    I turned to my men. ¡°Tie them up. We have ten more men to go, as well as the Cofi Guard. Leave two men here to watch over the prisoners while we continue on to Cofi."

    "Yes, My Lord," Draves said.

    As we walked the path, Thomas, one of my militiamen, said, "My Lord, If we all go into the village to arrest these people, won''t they flee or fight?"

    "A good point. Do you have a way around the problem?" I said.

    "What if one of us goes and gets them to come towards us? Tell the Cofi Guard that we have suppressed an uprising, and we would like just a few more men there to watch everyone. They will come unprepared, and we will surround those who come. That way, we won''t be trying to round them all up at once. Once the Cofi guards are captured, we could round the others up from the fields or wherever they are working. I doubt they will have their weapons with them."

    "Not a bad idea. What do you think, Captain?"

    It is a sound plan. "Thomas, do you think you can pull it off?"

    "I''ll get them here, sir."

    Once again, I was surprised when the plan went off without a hitch. The phrase ''A plan never survives contact with the enemy'' is not a catch all. The Cofi Guard and two of the peacekeepers fell right into our trap. I promised leniency for their crimes if they threw down their weapons. After we brought them back to the village of Karr, the rest of my troops went on to Cofi. I made an announcement that any of the peacekeepers who stepped forward would be shown mercy for their crimes against the barony, while those who fled would be considered enemies of Falmoren.

    Seven of the remaining men came forward, but the eighth fled the fields as soon as word reached them. Many of the people in Cofi looked shocked, as if they had no idea why their peacekeepers would be in trouble.

    I had a lot of time to think of how to fix this as my men were gathering up people. How was I supposed to integrate everyone together? We had blood lost on both sides. We had one of the groups put into slavery. And Cofi was not going to be pleased that I arrested some of their own. I had an idea, but I wasn''t sure whether or not it would do any good. Heck, it might do more harm than good, but I had to try something.

    I told Draves to have his men spread the word that I would be giving a speech the next morning in the village of Karr. I expected all the people of Cofi who could attend to be there.

    I meant for the word to spread only to the village of Cofi, but when I got up in the morning and stepped outside the house I was provided with, people from my other villages had already started to pour in. They must have gotten up way before sunrise. Some might have even started their journey as soon as they heard the word the day before. Apparently, everyone wanted to hear me speak.

    I had spent the evening before speaking with the people of Karr, hearing about their lives and the things they had gone through. I wanted a clear understanding before I spoke in the morning. At first, I felt this place was like Bay Village, but I began to feel it was more like a concentration camp. The more I heard, the angrier I got. That didn''t even include the information I found out from Draves and his men.

    I found that Benjamin and Mathew had arrived last night sometime after I went to bed. When I found out how crowded it would be, I erected a platform from which I could speak. All morning, I watched as people came into the village, looking at the pathetic state of the place and its people. Looks of shock and disgust filled many of the faces. Some, if not most, may have been from disgust for the people of Karr, not those who put them in this state. I hoped to change that.

    I stood upon a platform just outside of the village. I looked out at a crowd of no less than five hundred people. More people were still flooding in. I don''t know if I was more worried that my voice wouldn''t carry far enough or the fact that both Mathew and Jacklyn would be writing down my words.

    My palms were extremely sweaty, and I had to keep reminding myself why I was there. I was trying to end racial tensions, which almost made me laugh. In my old world, that had never happened on a large scale. Everyone wants to feel special. One poem that I read while trying to find my philosophy for life was ''The Cold Within.'' It''s a great poem about how people justify their hate or disregard for others, proof that the human mind can justify anything.

    I took a deep breath and began. "People of Falmoren. My People of Bicman. I have gathered you here to witness a tragedy of human pride and greed. I can see by the faces of many that you were unaware that a place such as this even existed in our barony. This is what remains of the village of Karr. Many years ago, before my father was even a baron, the headman of Cofi conspired with the old steward before Ronald to separate and enslave the original inhabitants of this land. Under the king''s law, there shall be no slaves in the kingdom."

    Now, it was time to mix truth with some exaggerations.

    "When Lenord the First found the land which is now known as Bicman, they brought a large army. The people of Karr defended their land but soon realized that they could not fight against the might of Falmoren. As part of the peace accord, the people of Karr would join the Kingdom of Falmoren as peasants. The village of Cofi and Kerisi became part of the Polman Barony. Due to the fact that only a few of the Karr were left after the battle, they gave up Kerisi, and all moved to Cofi. Later, My Grandfather was given the land for his service to the late king. Many people were sent with my grandfather. Those were your parents and grandparents.

    ¡°All was at peace until twenty-five years ago. Jeffery had been recently appointed as the new headman, and in his greed and pride, he began to require more taxes from the descendants of Karr. Petitions were made to my grandfather, but he allowed the steward to handle all complaints. Rather than disciplining Jeffery, he conspired with him to steal the taxes. They split the excess tax between the two of them and spread lies about the descendants of Karr."

    ¡°After the people of Karr''s taxes had doubled, the people of Karr rebelled and tried to flee. They were chased down and slaughtered until only a small portion remained. More lies were spread about how the Karr and they were forced to build this pitiful excuse for a village, all while being oppressed. The peacekeepers were created. Paid for by the slave labor of the Karr.

    ¡°When the old steward retired, Ronald took his place and received the old steward''s portion. He created a plan to further enslave the people by making the men work one day in five at the chalk mine. This is why the people hiding in their homes are in such a wretched state and live in a state of starvation. They have no time to fix their houses or store extra food. More and more of them are dying each year.

    ¡°Peacekeepers were allowed to come in and steal whatever they wanted. Living like locusts off of my people.

    ¡°Hatred for these people was born of lies told by a few to blind us. Not only did they rob from my family but also from all of my people. Jeffery and the peacekeepers were selling the Chalk illegally. If what they stole from me had been paid in taxes, then more of the grain we produced could have been kept. You suffered for their greed. You suffered because they told you some of my people were evil."

    Angry murmurs filled the crowd. Off to the side of me, I had Jeffery, the peacekeepers, and the Cofi Guard all tied up and kneeling. I had them in washed and cleaned clothes. I didn''t want them to look pathetic so that some might pity them. I wanted them dressed in their best clothes so that people saw them for what they were. People who had taken advantage of my citizens and were better off for it. I saw some people up front picking up rocks. But before it could turn into a stoning, I continued.

    "I do not tell you this to incite you against the people of Cofi. Many of them were ignorant of the crimes being committed. Citizens were told to stay away from this slave camp. Only the thieving peacekeepers were allowed to come here. Those involved will have justice brought upon them in a legal manner.

    ¡°I brought you here so you could understand my future actions. Can you imagine what it would be like to be in the people of Karr''s situation? All they want is relief from the burden that has been put unjustly upon their backs."

    I looked out at the crowd. I knew my little speech would not end the prejudice. Also, I wasn''t some great orator who could move people with my words. I only hoped my actions might help these people. I would lead by example.

    "Citizens of Falmoren, People of Bicman. I have strived to be a just ruler. I am striving to lift the burdens that seem heavy on your back. I seek the prosperity of all of us. I hope that my actions thus far have reflected that.

    ¡°My people, as I have gotten to know you, I have been impressed with your unity and devotion to each other. I want you to join me in raising up our fellow citizens. These people live in homes not fit for livestock. Their fields need watering because they have not had time to do it all. If any of you can donate time to help me as I try to help these people. I know food is scarce until harvest, but any donations could save the lives of our people. If each of us gave a handful of grain, think of the difference we could make.

    ¡°I will be here for the next few days working side by side with any who can spare time. Thank you, my people. Let us show the world what it means to be Bicman. Any who wish to help or donate to this cause, please get with my stewards and they will guide you to the appropriate location."

    It didn''t take long to devise a plan of action, and we were flooded with people wanting to help. May had brought food with them, not knowing when they would be returning home. Instead of eating it themselves, they gave it to the donation pile before leaving. I, along with some other men, got to work fixing homes'' fences and other things. Women helped in gardens.

    Over the next five days, we worked hard. I moved my home base to Cofi. Edward stayed with me, and we had runner boys deliver messages back and forth to Benjamin. It was a sort of an organized chaos. It was amazing to watch as the people of Bicman came together. I had to admit I did not expect such a response. By the end of the five days, everyone in Karr had clothing. Some of it was just sewn together from scraps from around the Barony, but there were no longer kids with only fragments of clothing covering their privates.

    The people of Karr could not believe their change of fate. I heard whispers about waking from an endless nightmare or that their gods had finally heard their cries.

    This is how I found out that there were actually different religious beliefs in this world. I knew that the people of Falmoren and the Southern Kingdoms all believed in the Endless One, but apparently, the Karr came from a land where there were multiple gods. There was a Father God and his Children. No one worshiped the Father God. Only his children were allowed to commune with him. So they sent their prayers through the children of the Father. It seemed somewhat like the Catholics praying to saints. But unlike Catholics who also pray directly to their God, the Karr did not think of the Father as their God. He was the power that the children drew upon.

    They believed that their gods had abandoned them because they fled the Northland. That was an interesting story in and of itself. Apparently, giants had invaded their lands and were taking the Karr as slaves. Many got on boats and fled south, braving the sea in a desperate hope to find new lands. Many were lost at sea because their ships were terrible. I was really curious to know if there were actual giants in this world.

    From what this generation of Karrians knew of their history, the Karr seemed to be in the early stages of the Bronze Age. I have no clue how they managed to build a ship at all.

    I was also excited to find out that the Karr did have their own language, but it was more primitive than the common tongue of this continent. No wonder they were easily conquered.

    I had been walking around the village inspecting the work when a particular plant in a garden stood out to me. I turned to a woman in the garden and said, "Excuse me, is that a red cabbage?"

    The woman, shocked to be addressed by me, placed her head in the dirt and said, "Forgive me, Descended, but we call it a purple cabbage. But if you wish for it to be called a red cabbage, thus it shall be called."

    I rolled my eyes. This was really getting bothersome. The Karr believed that some people descended from the heavens to intercede on behalf of their people. Unlike the Chosen of the Endless One, whom the people respected but weren''t supernatural, the Descended were worshiped. I think the difference was in how the Falmorens viewed the Endless One. He had priests and other stuff but was not really worshiped¡ªkind of a casual God.

    Being Descended was so much worse than being a chosen one. Chosen to help people I could handle, being divine though, yeah, that ain''t happening.

    "I am not some being sent from the gods." I said exasperatedly, "I will call it a purple cabbage."

    It didn''t matter anyway because it was mostly magenta.

    More importantly, was the fact that, if it was red cabbage, then I remember using it in chemistry class. We tore off a bunch of pieces and put them in a plastic bag. Then we added some water and squashed it all up, turning the water the color of the cabbage.

    Ok, now I just have to remember what we used it for, I thought to myself. I know we added lemon juice and milk to different cups, so¡­

    I snapped my fingers. PH, It had to be a pH tester. Well, that''s cool and all, but what use was it going to be for me? Could I¡­ Wait, I wonder if we could test the soil with it? Did I even know if the soil had to be basic, neutral, or acidic? How would I even change it if it was? I guess that was something for someone else to figure out. I would have to show some people the experiment and then let them play around with it.

    Right now I just needed to get away from these people. The more I stayed and helped out, the more divine they thought I was. It was time to resume my trip to the coast.

    John of the Mit Trading House

    The road had been long and hard, but fortunately, it had been hassle-free. The squad of six mercenaries I had brought along had made sure the bandits stayed away. At least no bandits showed up to bother us, so I assume they did their job. As we entered the village proper, I waved down a child who was about ten or so. The boy was filthy, but he looked a lot better than the children south of the Nore. But that was only because he looked happier than the dour children of those villages.

    "Excuse me, child. I was wondering if you could direct me to the knight in charge of this village."

    He smiled up at me. "No knight, just a head man. Are you a knight?" He said, looking wonderingly at me and the men who were traveling with me.

    I smiled back. "No, just a trader."

    This got me a confused look. "Where is your wagon?"

    "Well, this trip is different. I am here to see my cousin."

    His eyes went wide. "I don''t know anyone who has a cousin outside of our barony."

    I really enjoyed talking to kids. They were always so excitable. I hoped my next statement wouldn''t cause him to run away in fear, "Actually, my cousin is the regent. I guess that also makes the baron my cousin, too."

    "The baron! Wow! You are so lucky. The regent is our baron now. I wish I were related to my baron. He is so cool."

    So Amos was now the baron. He must have disposed of his nephew. I couldn''t say I was surprised. From everything I had heard, he was a scoundrel. This poor kid must have been told that the boy died of natural causes. I had promised my parents I would be polite, but if I saw that unholy swine right now, I am sure I wouldn''t be able to keep the disgust off my face. My spiraling thoughts were interrupted by the boy.

    "So, you are related to both Lord Amos and Lord Aaron? You are so lucky.¡±

    This confused me. "The child is alive?"

    "Of course he is alive. Emily, the knight protector, saved him. She is amazing. If I were older, I would marry her. She killed the assassin and saved our baron!" The boy said excitedly.

    What the heck was a knight protector? And what was all this about an assassination? I think I need to find someone more reliable than this boy to speak with. This kid was clearly off his rocker.

 Book 2 Chapter 13

    I let out a deep breath as we rode our horses past the chalk mine. There was no road to the cliff, so we left the carriage in Karr. The previous five days had been a furious whirlwind of activity, but it was now time for a break. I left Edward and Benjamin in charge while I took off with my men. We had developed a plan for moving forward with integrating the Karr into Bicman.

    First, I no longer used the name Karr to refer to them. They were my people or the people of the village of Karr. Next, they were paid for the chalk they mined. They were experienced miners, and their chalk was more valuable than the taxes they were paying. I was not going to pay reparations for their past treatment. I believe reparations lead to dependency. I am glad the people had never heard of such a concept. If we could make it so the people no longer paid taxes in foodstuff, and if we got a coin based economy where the farms were producing double the produce, they could become very wealthy selling their chalk.

    Now, I just needed to convince them I wasn''t some sort of saint.

    The other problem we had was the chalk smugglers. I didn''t know their temperament, so I needed to figure out what to do. We came up with various solutions, from continuing to let things go as they were to just not even showing up.

    The problem was that the dropoff location was south of the Nore. This put it in the new baron''s territory. I had found out from Benjamin that the new baron''s name was Curtis Plimgus. I sighed when I heard this. It was another name I would try not to laugh at. Pollman had now been renamed Plimgus. And I felt bad for the guy. He was going to have to have his manor thoroughly scrubbed. Unfortunately, Benjamin didn''t have much detail about the family because Curtis was the son of a nonhereditary knight. The only other thing that he knew was that his three daughters and son were all in their teens. I recommended Benjamin write to his father, but he waved off the suggestion. He had no doubt that we would be receiving a detailed report shortly from his father.

    Anyway, I did not feel comfortable making transactions in another baron''s lands, so I would need to reach some sort of agreement with Plimgus or stop the shipments altogether. I was worried about retaliation from the smugglers. But I couldn''t imagine a baron not wanting to get something for nothing. I mean, all he had to do was have one of his men show up at the site of the transaction and take his cut. I would need to figure out the disposition of the baron first.

    The crazy thing was the amount of money that should have been brought into the barony over the last twenty-some-odd years. If the prisoners were to be believed, then the amount should be over 2000 gold. After interrogating everyone further, I found out where it all went. Jeffery had various coinage totaling about 83 gold crowns. That doesn''t include the money paid to the peacekeepers and the Cofi guard.

    Why were all the corrupt people around me more wealthy than me?

    I would be upset, but in the long run, everyone involved ended up worse off than me. Jeffery and some of his men would be executed. The rest would be sentenced to hard labor. Ronald, the steward, was also dead. What surprised me the most was that most of the money actually went to Lord Decmoore. I had figured that it would be kept secret from him, but he had found out about a year after the headman and steward had been operating their little scheme. Then, he used it as blackmail to extort the majority of the money. Plimgus wouldn''t know about this, so I could probably convince him to honor the agreement that my barony had with Lord Decmoore and the traders. I would have to check with Benjamin if there was a tax I would have to pay when I sold goods to chalk traders.

    So, the story that came to light was that roughly twenty years ago, Jeffery realized that there was chalk on the west side of Lake Cofi. He let his good friend Ronald know. They came up with a plan to tell the baron that there was chalk, but it was hard to mine, and they could have the Karr mine it for a few extra gold a year. They didn''t tell the baron that the Karr would be turned into slaves, and the steward helped to twist the story to make it sound like all the complaints were just the people rebelling against their required tasks. Since Aaron already had his own prejudices against the people of Karr, it wasn''t hard for Ronald to get the old baron to turn everything over to Jeffery and the steward and completely ignore the issue.

    My thoughts were interrupted as I once again spotted some cotton plants. I decided to grab some cotton on my way back and see how well it spun on the spinning wheel. I still wanted to make that cotton gin, but I really wasn''t in any hurry right now. Until we started producing more food, I couldn''t move people away from their current tasks.

    We reached the shore by late afternoon, and the sun was at a forty-five-degree angle in the sky this time of year. This made me really excited. I was sure the picture I drew of the setting sun would be spectacular. Then, another problem suddenly dawned on me. The salty sea breeze was so strong it would probably knock over all my stuff. It was so strong that I was wondering if we should put a windmill here. Of course, I have no idea what we would grind.

    "Be careful not to get too close to the cliff, My Lord, this place is covered knee deep in bird crap." The captain said. "I have actually never ventured here from Cofi, but if it is like the cliffside farther north, then seabirds have been nesting here for centuries.

    I froze as something tickled my brain. Like bats, seabirds produce guano suitable for making gunpowder. But that was not what I was excited about. When I was exploring the making of gunpowder, I ran across a story about Peru and how it had an island that was basically a big poop factory for seabirds. Once it was discovered that it was a superfood for plants, a war was fought over it.

    Nate and I almost peed our pants, coming up with names for it. My favorite was Crap Wars, Episode 1- The Pooping Menace.

    I mean, can you imagine being a pirate at the time? You capture a ship, and it''s just bird poo. The captain probably shouted, ¡°This is a load of crap!¡± Yep, I''m guessing that is where the phrase comes from.

    Maybe we could build a windmill to help with the processing of guano. We would have to see if it needed to be ground down. I can''t remember if in my reading if it talked about it being ground down. All I remember is the guano tea bit because the name made me laugh.

    ¡°Alright, boys, we have a problem with all this wind. I won''t be able to paint the ocean. I know what you¡¯re thinking. ¡®These are nobility world problems.¡¯ Well, now they are your problems.¡±

    They didn''t get the joke, but we did come up with a solution. Using our tents as windbreakers, we angled them so that I could hide my easel from the wind. My guys rocked!

    I was really glad it didn''t rain. Talking about first world problems, no weather apps. I mean, some of the people around here were pretty good at determining what weather was coming, but nothing to the point of being able to plan vacations or invasions. Seriously, what if I got in the mood to go and invade and plunder Plimgus¡¯s land? A freak storm could ruin all the fun. Fortunately, none of the people who lived here had ever seen a hurricane. When I described one, Draves was the only one who knew what I was talking about. Our coast must be more like the West Coast of the United States.

    I finished the painting by lantern light. It needed to be done that way so that I could capture the sun on the horizon. As I finished, I looked up at the stars that were just now becoming visible now that dusk was turning to night. It always made me feel odd not seeing the normal constellations. I once took an online astrology class as part of my exploration of different belief systems. I ended up not really getting into the whole predicting fates by the stars, but I loved memorizing the stars and constellations. There were different ones here but each had their own story. Storys that I wanted to learn.

    In the morning, we packed up and got ready to move out. I stood looking out at the sea as the sun rose behind me in the east. It cast its light upon the ocean, and the surface of the water sparkled like sapphires. I closed my eyes, breathing in the salty air. I visualized myself on a ship out in those waters. It will be amazing when I am finally able to step onto a ship and actually sail down this coast. I wish I had my old sextant. Well, technically, it wasn''t old. I had bought it online and mounted it on my wall along with all the other sailing paraphernalia, like my Rolly Roger''s pirate flag.

    Before we left I had the men grab a bag of guano. They were not happy about gathering poop.

    On the way back, Draves decided to bring up a topic that I think we had both been avoiding. "So what are we going to do about the Marcus situation."

    "You mean the fact that Jeffery helped him escape. I can send out a general announcement with pictures to all the baronies in the county. Count Vaspar might be able to help spread the word, but he really could be anywhere by now. If Duke Kimton gets word of it, though, he may use it as an excuse to punish me. Not that that will stop me from doing it. Justice has to be served."

    Draves nodded, "And Jeffery?"

    I sighed, "Captain, we already went over this. He and the men who atacked us will be executed according to the law. There will be a trial. Even if everyone knows he is guilty, I refuse to forgo that. The men who surrendered will get ten years of hard labor, after which they will be eligible for parole."

    "You know that even those people caused the deaths of people in the village of Karr."

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "So are a lot of other people who weren''t peacekeepers. I am trying to create a balance here. Being too heavy-handed will cause excessive animosity. There will be hostility and bitterness no matter what, but if I can show a bit of leniency, we may be able to keep the pot from boiling over. If we have an uprising, it is just going to cause the deaths of more people."

    Draves said nothing, which wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.

    "What did you do with the four individuals from Cofi in the BDF that didn''t pass the screening?"

    "Do not worry, My Lord. I did not kill them. I just kicked them out. I did as you said and told them they could come back after two years of probation."

    "Do you think they will cause problems?"

    "No, they know what their relatives did was wrong. They just need to calm down before we give them a spear."

    "Good. By the way, thank you for indulging me and agreeing to come on the trip." I said.

    "My Lord, it isn''t like I could refuse."

    "You know what I mean. You didn''t tell me this was a bad idea or a waste of my time.

    Draves just shook his head in disbelief, "My Lord, you work harder than most nobles I have seen. If your father spent half the time you do running his barony, then I am sure you wouldn''t have most of these issues to deal with. He spent most of his time hunting and trapping."

    We made it back to Karr by late afternoon. This was only because we stopped to pick some more cotton. Picking cotton sucked. Our hands were bloody after a couple of hours of work, and I swear that between all of us, we were only able to pick about twenty kilograms. There was a lot more swearing than picking going on. Hats off to all those people who picked cotton by hand before the harvester.

    When we finally arrived, I looked over the progress we had made, and it brought a smile to my face. I decided we would need to have a celebration in Kerisi for everyone''s hard work. The village of Karr had already started calling the day I rode into their village Liberation by the Decened Day, or Liberation Day for short. It made me cringe thinking of the fact that they had basically turned me into a saint. The most disturbing thing was that I think it was having an influence on the others who came to help.

    As soon as we were spotted, a man I didn''t recognize came rushing up to me. "My Lord, I was told to inform you that your cousin had arrived."

    "Wait, what cousin?" I said in shock. I expected something bad, but unannounced relatives could be disastrous.

    "I believe his name is John."

    "Where is he from?"

    "I''m not sure." The man said, seeming somewhat embarrassed.

    He is probably Johnathan and Susan''s kid since his name is John. Why would they send him, though? Unless this is a spy in disguise sent by those who have seen some of my inventions. I don''t have the proper protocols set up to prevent industrial espionage, and it isn''t like I can verify his identity. The trip must have taken him at least a month.

    "Where is he now?"

    "I believe he left Kerisi this morning with Edward and headed towards Bicman. The guards who traveled with him left to return to Vaspar. "

    "Well, I guess I can trust Edward to keep him out of trouble. Draves, let''s head to Kerisi, spend the night, and then get to Bicman in the morning."

    I tossed and turned that night, nervous about meeting my cousin. Draves assured me we had never met, so he shouldn''t have anything to base my behavior on, but that isn''t really what I was worried about. My worry was about what he would think of me and the barony. What would he report back to his family? Was he sent as a spy?

    Needless to say, I woke up groggy in the morning. However, this did not stop Draves from punishing me with sword training. I didn''t get beat up like I did with Chris and the spear, but it was a weapon that took more skill to wield. A spear could do a lot of damage and was easier to wield. It also gave a longer reach. It was also a lot cheaper to produce. The sword, however, was great at chopping and slashing. If someone could afford the cost of the metal and the blacksmith''s time, a strong man in armor could be devastating. So, because I already had both the armor and sword, Draves felt it was a good use of my time.

    I couldn''t wait to develop gunpowder so that we could make plate armor obsolete. Of course, then I would have to worry about someone getting a hold of my weapons and shooting me.

    We arrived at Bicman around midmorning. Upon entering the manor, Benjamin greeted me.

    "My Lord," he said with a bow, "I ask for your forgiveness, but the Man claiming to be your cousin has disappeared.

    Great, now I have a spy on the loose. I ground my teeth.

    Marshandra, standing behind him, rolled her eyes. "I have already told you, Benjamin, he is definitely Lord Amos''s cousin. He is the spitting image of his father, Johnathan."

    "Are you sure?" I said.

    "Yes, His father was a dashing young man when he married your aunt. I have to admit I was quite infatuated with his looks at the time. He had a face that was hard to forget. John looks just like him."

    "Great! Not only do I have a spy on the loose, but he is also a Casanova. Or wait, because he is a spy, does that make him James Bond?"

    Draves interrupted my rambling, "When did he disappear?"

    "Edward gave up his room last night for your cousin, and when breakfast was announced this morning, we found his room empty. The guards at the gate said he left just before dawn to get some exercise. No one has seen him since. I have just dispatched messages to the villages. Edward is out with a contingent of men looking for him."

    I sighed. "Well, what''s done is done. Did you send a message to the various people to tell them to hide any sensitive projects?"

    "Yes, I sent out a code red, as you call it."

    "Good, well, there isn''t much we can do until he turns up. Why don''t we retire to the study, and we can go over reports?" I said as I turned down my hall.

    I was also behind in writing out training material. Also, I had just come up with a few good comic strips for the Farmer and his dog.

    It was lunchtime when a man in his early twenties strolled into the great hall with two guards positioned on either side of him. Walking up to the table, he gave a deep bow, and with one of those million-dollar smiles, he said, "Lord Amos, forgive me for the tardiness of my introduction. I was not sure when I would have the chance to meet you, so I took a walk around some of your barony. Had I known you would be back this morning, I would not have left."

    Somehow, I doubted that.

    "My Lord, We found him walking rapidly away from the weavers building. After questioning both the weavers and him, we found that he had been peeking through the window."

    His smile faltered at my frown. He sighed apologetically, "Forgive me, My Lord. I assure you I meant no harm. Upon arriving at your barony, I discovered that a few of the women had very fine undied skirts and shirts. A few of your men had shirts made with just as fine a weave. Unfortunately, neither your man Edward nor your citizens would tell me where they were obtained."

    "So you decided to sneak around and see if you could find anything out."

    "My mother said I was curious to a fault, and you have to admit serfs wearing fine clothing is not normal. I am also a bit of a fanatic when it comes to clothing. So I found myself in your fabulous village of Barim," he admitted. "My Lord, your weaving machine is ingenious! I did not get a good enough look to understand it. But it is unlike anything I have ever seen."

    "Did you ever stop to consider there may be a reason that people might be keeping a secret? Now that you have seen the machine, do you think that it would make someone rich? Would it be something a noble might kill another noble who had no backing just to get it?" I said, stone-faced.

    I could see the moment the truth dawned on him, and his fearless facade started to crack. I hated playing the part of the villain, but I had no choice.

    "Did you think, Cousin, that I would not kill any who found out about it to protect my own life?"

    When I raised my voice at this declaration, all the people in the room looked shocked. I am sure if I could see Draves''s face, it would still be an impassive mask.

    "My Lord, I swear I will reveal nothing. Please, I have a wife and children. I came to repair the relationship between our families."

    What was I going to do? I couldn''t kill him, but maybe I could make a deal. First, though, I was going to have a little fun at his expense.

    "You leave me with no choice, Cousin. I will have to write to your wife and tell her that you were peeping through a window at other women."

    The look of shock on John''s face was priceless. By that time, I had the full attention of the hall. There was a pregnant pause for about ten seconds before the guard, Mac, let out a snort. That caused chuckles to roll throughout the room, which quickly turned into full on laughter.

    John still looked confused even after my hard face turned into a smile. I got up from my table and came towards him. "Welcome to Bicman, Cousin John," I said with a grin.

    "So, My Lord-"

    "Just, Amos, we are family, after all."

    I knew Draves was not going to be happy about this, but I had a plan.

    "Uh, yes, well, Amos, does this mean I am not in trouble?"

    "No," I said, shaking my head, "I am still disappointed in your behavior. But I am not going to do something as drastic as killing you or locking you up."

    John let out a deep breath. "It appears that you people do not exaggerate when speaking of your kind nature."

    "Come, John, Let''s eat, and you can tell me about yourself."

    John of the Mit Trading House

    I was sitting on a chair, watching my cousin''s nephew sit on the floor, stacking wooden blocks of different shapes and colors. Amos was helping him build while, at the same time, claiming that when he was Aaron''s age, he had already built an accurate model of the Taj Mahal. Whatever that was?

    I was positive when I had been caught looking at that incredible loom that I would be killed or crippled. I had seen the tyrannical nature of the nobility. When I was a teenager, I had even had the opportunity to feel a young noble''s wrath. He had tripped while walking with his friends in a market. They all began to laugh at him, and because I was the one who was closest to them, he accused me of tripping him. I still have scars along my back from where I was whipped.

    The look on Amos''s face when I was brought before him brought back the painful memory and caused my back to itch. That memory, coupled with the rumors I had heard about him, made me sure that I had sealed my fate.

    Then he makes a big joke about it and asks me to call him Amos. Sure, I called Catherine by her name, but she would never have allowed me to do it in public. Then Amos declares in front of all his subjects that I can address him casually. I don''t know how many rules of etiquette that breaks, but by the look on his steward''s face, I imagine quite a few.

 Book 2 Chapter 14

    "Uh, My Lord, we may have a problem," Chris said. The slight panic in his voice caused me to look up from the notes I was reviewing.

    I tensed a little at his words. I was hoping there weren''t more complaints of racism.

    After the return, I found that things were actually going better than I expected, but we still had a few fires I had to deal with. I was actually rather surprised at how well the integration was going. The mine had been reopened, but now the people in Karr were going to get a percentage of the profit.

    Even though the place had been a dump a few days ago, some of the people I brought with me from Vaspar expressed interest in moving there. Its location near the lake and the empty farmland made it a good location for new families. I liked the idea because I didn''t think the new people would have as much prejudice, but I also wanted the village of Karr to integrate with the rest of the barony. I think we had a good chance of that if this two fold increase in crop yield continued and we were able to bring in more people. Ideally, I would like to double the amount of people.

    "Hey, Lord Amos, you still with me?" Chris said.

    "Yeah, sorry, Chris. What''s up?"

    "It''s that engineer."

    "Harry?" He was the one with the stick up his butt.

    "No, it''s the other one, Sanders."

    "Sanders? What has he done?"

    "It isn''t what he has done. It is what he is doing.

    "One of my men just reported that he is in the village talking with the farmers. He is being really nosy."

    "Ah crap, let''s go see if we can get ahead of this."

    We hurried down to the town, not bothering to get a horse saddled. It took about a quarter bell to reach the group of farmers hunched over a stump with Sanders in the center of them.

    I want an actual bell, by the way. That would be cool.

    I did not immediately interrupt Sanders as he spoke to the men. "Of all the ideas, I think the boy''s is the best. Look, if you put the blades off to the side of the wagon and had a supporting wheel, I think it would work. Your problem is finding the right rotation, and I think if you put your belt idea here, it might just work. The gears are a bad idea. I-"

    "My Lord!" One of the farmers said as I was finally noticed.

    Everyone stood and bowed. Some of the men looked embarrassed as if they had been caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Sanders stood there with an excited gleam in his eye. I walked over to the drawing and saw that it was a rough sketch of what I imagined their future harvester would look like.

    "So, you have all decided to put Sanders to work building your harvester," I said jokingly. They didn''t take it as a joke, though. They all bowed their heads in shame.

    Surprisingly, Sanders came to their defense. "My Lord, it is I who intruded upon them. I overheard a conversation about gears. I have to admit I was surprised to hear such a thing from simple farmers, so I asked if I could listen to what they were talking about. I was probably a little overbearing.

    "My Lord, if you don''t mind me saying, all these men are more than what they seem, especially this boy Seth. I would ask you to allow him to apprentice under me. Sean is a good kid, and I would take him too, but he doesn''t have the passion for it. I think I could make Seth a true engineer. May I take this boy as an apprentice?"

    That not only surprised me but all the farmers as well. After a long pause, I found all the eyes on me. "Well, uh, yeah, so Seth," I said, turning to the boy, "You interested in an apprenticeship?"

    No one said anything for a moment. Then Seth''s father bowed and said, "My Lord, if you do this, I will find a way to repay you, I swear it."

    "Don''t worry about that. If he promises to come back and work here for one year after his apprenticeship, we will elevate him to the status of peasant right now and send him with Sanders. That is, of course, if Seth would want to specialize in engineering waterwheels and such.¡±

    Seth looked at me with awe. "You will let me go, My Lord?"

    "Of course, I want all my subjects to reach their full potential. If I can help with that, I will."

    Sanders spoke up, "My Lord, I have to admit that when I learned you were teaching your people to read and do math, I thought you were mad, but now I see wisdom in it. How much potential in the kingdom is wasted because we, as nobility, do not educate everyone? When you sent Sean to work with us, I thought he was just an oddity¡ªa fluke of nature. But after seeing the drawings of your farmers, I can see I was wrong.

    "Men of Bicman, thank you for indulging my curiosity, but I must speak with your lord. I will come back later today so we can finish the design. We only have a short time before harvest."

    As we walked away, I asked, ¡°So what can I do for you, Gentleman Sanders.¡±

    He took a deep breath and said, ¡°My Lord, would you be willing to share with me what is going on in your barony.¡±

    ¡°I am not sure what you are talking about.¡± And I really didn''t. There was a lot going on here, and I wasn''t going to give out any information if I didn''t have to.

    "My Lord, I know I am an outsider, but I can see that your people respect you. They trust you to have their best interests in mind. That would not be done without reason," he paused as if that explained everything.

    "Thank you for the compliment," I said with a smile.

    There was another long pause, and then he said, "To me, that means you wouldn''t build a watermill in a location that made no sense. What are you really trying to build for your people? Also, what are the people of Melnon hiding from us? Where do the salted fish come from? I have been around a long time and worked on a lot of mills. That means I have seen a lot of fields. I was told that you were a poor barony that struggled to even pay their taxes due to bad soil. But if that were true, then why do those fields over there look like some of the best I have ever seen?¡±

    I said nothing for a while, trying to figure out the best way to express my thoughts. If I blew him off, he would just go back to Vaspar and spread his suspicions around.

    ¡°How much do you think my secrets are worth?¡± I said.

    The question caught him off guard.

    ¡°Do you think they are worth your life?¡± I said causally.

    He bristled at that. ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I am merely trying to put things in perspective. If I were, say, the duke, would you be asking such questions? Or what about the count?¡±

    He sighed when he realized he was reaching above his station. It was time to see if I could reel him in.

    ¡°What could you offer me for my secrets?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I could work for half my price,¡± he said confidently.

    I scoffed, ¡°The secrets I keep are worth more than what you and Harry make combined.¡±

    ¡°Then I do not know if I could give you anything. I am well off as far as gentlemen go, but my best years are behind me. My wife and I live modestly now. Unless¡­ My Lord, it appears to me you are trying to elevate your barony. I can move my family here, and I will work for you for minimum pay and a well-built house. I will use my expertise to assist in building up your barony for two years.¡±

    Looks like I was right. He hooked himself. Now, it is time to reel him in.

    ¡°Three years, a nice house, and I will pay you what you are worth. I do not believe in underpaying people in order to save money. That leads to poor work performance. You will also have to sign a contract not to disclose anything you see or work on.¡±

    He took his time to think about it but then smiled and said, ¡°You have a deal, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Now, is Harry going to be a problem?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ probably not in the way you think. He hates it here. He misses civilization and all its comforts. His hatred makes him blind to what is going on here. He is more likely to go home and spread rumors about what a miserable dump your barony is. I will go back with him and return with my wife. Then you can show me what is truly going on. To be safe, however, I would recommend you have us leave sooner rather than later. We are done with the designs, and things are underway. If we leave in the next few days, then I can be back up here within a month. My children can take care of my house while I am here.¡±

    I nodded, ¡°I agree. I don¡¯t want Harry around here any longer than he needs to be. I will have a house built for you by the time you return.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. I will see you this evening at dinner and the sentencing. There are a lot of rumors going around about that.¡±

    I grimaced. That was not something I was looking forward to. I guarantee he would not be seeing me at dinner. There is no way I could eat before the sentencing.

    ¡°I will see you later then. Make sure to tell Harry you will be leaving soon.¡±

    I decided to go and stop by Jorb¡¯s place. Jacklyn had told me that Mathew really wanted me to stop by. It would take my mind off of this evening.

    I was so deep in thought I had forgotten about Chris.

    ¡°Do you think this is a wise idea, my Lord?¡± Chris said as he followed next to me.

    ¡°You mean the thing with Sanders? He¡¯s an honest man, and he will be a good asset for us. We need a good engineer. He may not be exactly what we need, but it¡¯s a good start.¡±

    ¡°I think you need to find a way to keep people away from Bicman. It¡¯s becoming obvious that we can¡¯t hide things here. I know you want people to come and be painted in one of your pictures, but those same people could pose a threat to us if they uncover anything.¡±

    ¡°I know. I thought it would be a good way to earn money, but I am starting to regret it. It¡¯s too late now, though. For one thing, we really do need the money, and canceling their visits would make enemies. We will have to tighten things up after the engineers leave. We need to get Draves and the stewards together and come up with a plan.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, probably for the best. And, Lord Amos, you are going to do fine tonight. You''re only telling the people what has already been decided on.¡±

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Thanks, Chris. It is times like this that I question whether I am the right man for this job.¡±

    ¡°Oh, come on. I have it so much worse. You forced a bunch of kids on me and told me to turn them into men.¡±

    ¡°They aren''t all kids.¡±

    He glared at me, ¡°Seriously, I thought we were friends.¡±

    ¡°Friends are a luxury that nobles cannot afford,¡± I said imperiously.

    ¡°Dang, I was doing this as a favor to my friend. If we aren¡¯t friends, does that mean I can quit?¡±

    ¡°Chris,¡± I said in a hurt tone. ¡°I would never make you do anything beyond your capabilities. If you feel this is too hard for you, I can always give you a simpler job. I need a head toilet cleaner.¡±

    ¡°You suck, Lord Amos,¡± he said in a whisper that only I could hear.

    We reached Jorb¡¯s place, and Chris left to get back to work, leaving me with my two shadows. Knocking on the door, I only had to wait a moment before Janice answered.

    ¡°Lord Amos, what a pleasant surprise. How may I help you, My Lord?¡±

    ¡°Jacklyn said Mathew had something to show me.¡±

    She smiled and said, ¡°Oh, yes, let me go get him from the forge. He has been very excited.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to bother. I should have checked there first. I can go over there."

    "Nonsense, you come in, and I will go get him. He has been working on it over here anyways."

    After a minute, Janis was back with Mathew, hurrying as fast as he could on his crutches. I wonder if I could design a wheelchair. It probably wouldn''t be much use until we pave the streets.

    "Hey, Matt, what''s up? I hear you have something to show me."

    "My Lord, I made a comic just like you!" He said excitedly.

    "Excellent, let''s see it."

    He pulled out some of the better paper where he had, in fact, created a comic strip. The drawings were crude, but it was cute to see the effort the boy had put into making it.

    I was impressed that he got the words and sentence structure down. Sure, they were short and lacked expression, but I was still pleasantly surprised.

    "This is great. I am really impressed."

    He beamed at the praise.

    "It isn''t as good as yours," he said.

    I laughed. "I have been doing this for a long time and had lots of practice. Let''s sit down, and I can show you some things that may help."

    I spent the next bell working with Mathew. It was fun and very relaxing. I think I should request to be transmigrated as an Art instructor on my next go around.

    When I returned to the manor, I had a surprise waiting for me. A very frustrated Kylie Fox. I was shocked. I didn''t think I would ever see her again. At least not in one piece.

    Dang, even when mad, she looked as stunning.

    "Uh, Kylie, it''s good to see you," I said. "I-"

    "Did you lie to me?" She said while stepping up to me.

    My guards interposed themselves between her and me. And when she realized what she had done, she took a step back.

    "Lie about what?"

    "Black powder. It doesn''t work. I tried mixing what I found, and I barely got it to do anything. I spent months trying to find everything and nothing happens."

    "Look, I didn''t lie to you, Kylie, but it isn''t an easy thing to make. Why don''t we go to my office and talk?"

    Her posture relaxed a bit, and she nodded.

    Maybe her impatiens would save her life. She might get bored trying to get it to work.

    As we walked down the hall towards my office, I asked her how things were in her village.

    "It''s not a village. It''s a dumping ground for unwanted people." She grumbled.

    "That''s not fair, Kylie. I am sure Johnathan Founder is doing his best."

    "All they are doing is surviving," she said in frustration. "I want to do more than just survive. I want to build someplace better than your kingdom. I want to prove that we don''t need a king to tell us what to do."

    "You know any other noble would have you punished for saying something like that."

    She snorted, "Any other noble would rape and then kill me for just being who I am."

    By that time, we reached my office. I entered to find Benjamin sitting next to Jacklyn. She was reading documents to him but stopped abruptly when we came in.

    ¡°Benjamin, Jacklyn, this is Ms. Kylie Fox of Cove Village. Kylie, this is one of my stewards and his assistant. Everyone, would you mind leaving? I need to speak with Kylie in private. Ralph and Blaine, please position yourselves right outside the door.¡±

    Both men looked at Kylie and then back to me. "My Lord, are you sure it is safe?"

    "Don''t worry, if I wanted to kill him, then I would have done it while we were sleeping together," she said while giving a sly smile.

    Every pair of eyes in the room went wide, and I felt my face flush. "We did not sleep together, Kylie. You climbed under my blanket while I was sleeping."

    She gave a fake pout. "Not the second night. You were definitely awake."

    "Kylie, if I find out you are spreading false rumors about me. I will have no choice but to punish you, even if you are not my citizen."

    "I''m sorry, Lord Amos, you are so fun to tease."

    Jacklyn couldn''t stop herself from letting out a small giggle.

    "Jacklyn," I said sternly.

    She quickly regained control and said, "I am sorry, My Lord. It just reminded me of how you tease Emily."

    "Don''t you dare tell Emily"

    "I won''t, I promise," she said with the face of a penitent saint. I had my doubts about the sincerity of it, though.

    "OK, all of you out. I need to speak with Ms. Fox."

    As soon as the room emptied, I sat in my chair. Then, I invited Kylie to do the same.

    After taking a seat, she took a moment to look over me. "You look good, Amos. Almost like a new person."

    "Thank you, Kylie. It''s been a long road, and it is not over yet. So, what is the problem that brought you all the way to Bicman for?

    "Were you lying to me about the black powder?" She said in a firm voice.

    "No, black powder will explode if made correctly."

    ¡°I found the bat crap. One of the men in the village took me to a place near the mountains that smelled like eggs, and I found the yellow rock. I have the charcoal. I made the tea and dried it out. You said it would be a white crystal, but it wasn''t. I''ve tried over and over a hundred times. You have to know something that would help." She said pleadingly.

    "I''m sorry, Kylie, I really don''t know. I read it a long time ago. Maybe I am missing something. Even if I did know, I am not helping you anymore."

    She glared at me. "You don''t want me to have it. You''re just like every other noble."

    "I hope I am like every other decent person. I don''t want you to make black powder because it is dangerous. I don''t want you to die, Kylie. I should have never told you about it. I was being stupid and trying to impress you. After we parted ways, I was worried I might never see you again and that it would be my fault."

    My words caused her to soften a bit. "Please, Amos, you have to help me."

    "No, Kylie, I don''t, and I won''t. Please, stop messing around with this stuff."

    "No, if you don''t help me, then I will do it myself. I want to do more than be a useless burden on the village."

    "You aren''t useless, Kylie."

    "I don''t want to be alone, Amos. The men in the village look right past me all because of what I am. Maybe if I made this, someone would notice me." She said angrily.

    "You don''t need a man to be important, Kylie, and you don''t need to blow yourself up to be noticed."

    We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before she finally looked away. "Thank you," she said softly. Then, in her usual fashion, she did a complete 180. "So, who is this Emily that you were so quick to replace me with?"

    "Seriously, Kylie. Emily is my friend, and apparently, Jacklyn thinks I tease her too much. Kind of like like you do to me."

    "I tease everyone. If you are just teasing one girl, then it is flirting."

    "She is like a little sister. She is only fourteen years old."

    "And she isn''t engaged?"

    "No."

    "Is she ugly?"

    "What, no, why would you say that?" I said, a bit offended on Emily''s behalf.

    "Ugly girls don''t get married as fast as pretty ones. I was married by fourteen."

    "She is very pretty, and I don''t know why she isn''t married. Let''s stop gossiping behind Emily''s back."

    "Fine," she sighed.

    "Why don''t you have dinner in the hall? We can find you a place to sleep tonight."

    She gave me a penetrating gaze and then nodded.

    "Good, I have things to do. Let the guards outside know I have invited you to stay."

    "Thank you, Amos. I will take you up on that." She gave a sly grin and said. "Which room is yours."

    I just shook my head, "Get out of here, Kylie. I have things to do."

    She laughed as she left the room.

    Dang, that girl really gets into my head.

    Blaine stuck his head in, and I said, "Blaine, make sure I am not disturbed until the sentencing."

    Time flew by, and before I knew it, there was a knock on my door. "My Lord, it is time."

    **********

    I sat on my chair and looked over the packed room of the great hall. Jeffery, the peacekeepers, the Cofi guard, and anyone else who was caught up in the oppression and killing of the people of Karr were kneeling in front of me. I had practiced the words I was about to speak, but my hands were still sweaty.

    "People of Bicman, I bring you here not to witness a trial but a sentencing. The people before you have committed crimes against the barony, the kingdom, my family, and all of you.

    "Jeffery, you are accused of enslaving the people of the village of Karr, deceiving your lord, falsifying reports, creating an independent military force not loyal to the Barony of Bicman or the Kingdom of Falmoren, using said military to kill and enforce your laws, bribery, stealing resources from the barony, assisting in the escape of a known murderer. Your greed and the greed of those who followed you caused the suffering and death of my people. And not just the village of Karr. I have seen the income you have brought in from your illegal trade deals. That money could have been used to better the lives of all my citizens. We could have bought more grain when food was scarce or more resources to make the lives of everyone better."

    I knew I was stretching the truth here. The money would have gone to my father, and he would have only used it on himself. But it sure would have helped me get more things in Vaspar.

    "According to the laws of Falmoren, which I have sworn to uphold, I¡­" I paused, trying to get the next words out. "I sentence you to death. And¡­ Though I desire to show as much mercy as I can to your family, I cannot break the law. I am only allowed to show mercy to children under the age of ten."

    I couldn''t say it, but everyone knew what that meant. Only his descendants under the age of ten would be allowed to live. Before Benjamin explained the specific laws to me, he told me that he was honor bound by his office to report an infraction I made against the law. I knew he didn''t have to tell me that. He could have just waited for me to buckle and then report me, but he wanted me to do the right thing.

    I had already sworn to myself that I would no longer break the law. If I were to show mercy, it would be within the bounds of the law, and I would just have to suck it up. Even then, when he explained how many people I would have to sentence to death, I almost buckled and ran from my duties. The thought of Aaron and all the people I would be letting down if I failed to do my duty was the only thing that kept me here.

    I unwillingly continued with the sentencing. "All those who murdered one of my citizens will be put to death. I promised leniency to all those who layed down their arms willingly when confronted by my people. Unfortunately, I cannot spare your life, but I will give you an option. You may accept your death immediately or be put in a labor camp for five years. After which time, you will be given the choice of accepting death or becoming the property of the king to be sold as a slave. Your families will be spared.

    "Those who were not responsible for any deaths but were involved in assisting in the illegal actions of the headman will be sentenced to up to twenty years as laborers, depending on your involvement.

    "Those who were not involved but kept silent about the plot will be given community service hours to atone for their inaction."

    "I have spoken, and thus shall it be."

    As I stood up to make a hasty retreat, I made sure to avoid the eyes of those I had condemned. Instead, I looked out at the crowd. All my headmen were there, as were some of my friends. There were a variety of reactions to my speech. There were tears and quiet murmurs. I saw a few angry people whom I am sure Draves would take note of. Mostly, though, I saw solemn faces. When my friends caught my eyes, they nodded approvingly. Before I could become overwhelmed, I left through the door to my study, locking it behind me.

    I dropped to my hands and knees and dry heaved. I tried to focus my thoughts on other things, but all I saw were the faces of the people I had just condemned to die.

    I saw the face of my brother. I had not seen the images of his accusing eyes in a long time.

    It''s not real. It''s not real.

    I stood up and stumbled to my chair. I had just killed not one but over a dozen people.

    It''s not my fault. It was the law. The people of Karr needed justice.

    I knew it wasn''t logical. I had done the right thing. But that didn''t stop the PTSD. It didn''t stop my mind from seeing the faces of all those who would die today because of my decision. It didn''t stop me from seeing the faces of those I had hurt in the car accident. Where are my anti-anxiety meds when I need them? Maybe this is why you always hear about nobility drinking so much.

    Breathe Amos. Focus on your breathing. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

 Book 2 Chapter 15

    I did not sleep that night because of the images of those I had caused to be put to death. The worst was when Nathans''s face appeared among them. I kept reminding myself of the possible consequences of not passing the judgments, but those were only possible consequences. The reality was that a bunch of people were put to death last night, and families were destroyed. So, I spent the night attempting to use NLP to overcome the trauma. It wasn''t a perfect fix, but I had rearranged a lot of the events in my mind to help reduce the intensity of the emotions.

    I had to get up and get moving. Work was the best medicine. Although the sleepless night left me with almost no energy, I still called for a bath and did my tai chi. I wanted a bigger bathtub, but at least I was fitting in this one better.

    I went to my chest and pulled out an outfit for the day. I was really looking forward to Mikel finishing my dresser. Not that I had a lot of clothes to put in it, but some semblance of modern life would be nice. I also wanted a filing cabinet for my study. That was going to blow Benjamin''s mind.

    I asked for breakfast to be brought to my study. Even thinking about the great hall brought back memories of yesterday. As I was sitting in my study writing down my thoughts, a knock came on the door.

    "Come in."

    Emily came in with a tray of food. And a cup of water.

    "How are you doing, Lord Amos," She said hesitantly.

    "I didn''t sleep last night. Right now, I am recording the events of yesterday and writing down my feelings about everything."

    "Why?"

    "A few reasons. One, it is good to keep a record of your actions for posterity. My grandfather kept a record of his life. He called it a journal. I always enjoyed looking through it. I hope that those who read it will be able to understand why I chose to do the things I did. Two, it helps me work through my complicated feelings about things."

    "Grandma said you don''t feel good about the things you did yesterday."

    "I don''t. I feel awful."

    "Why? They were murderers and stole from you." Emily said matter-of-factly.

    "I believe bad people can become good people. I certainly did. I¡­ It was my fault that my brother died. Several other people got hurt at the same time. But everyone forgave me. I changed; I became a better person. I know it isn''t the same, Em. I didn''t intentionally hurt anyone. A lot of the people I sentenced did. But not everyone who died or had their lives destroyed yesterday killed someone. What if I could have saved some? What if, with help, some could have walked away better people?

    "After Marcus got away, I promised myself I would not allow something like that to happen again. Still, I wonder if there was another way." I said with a sigh.

    "You care about everyone," she said with a gentle smile.

    "Not everyone; I didn''t feel bad about Jeffery dying. I feel bad for his family members, though. I intentionally did not ask how many he had just so I didn''t know how many people were put to death."

    "Everybody last night was talking about what a good thing you did. I- We are proud of you, A- Lord Amos." She said with a blush.

    "Thanks, Em. That means a lot. I am glad I have friends like you. I don''t think I could handle this without you guys."

    Her blush deepened, and she stammered out, "I- I need to get back to work. I hope you feel better."

    I called out a thank you as she rushed out of the room.

    As soon as she left, John walked in with a big grin on his face. "Dang, Amos, that girl was as red as a beet. What did you do to her."

    "I just thanked her for being a good friend. She doesn''t handle compliments well."

    "Are you sure that is all you did?" he said with a sly grin.

    I laughed. "Shut up, John. She is just a kid and one of my best friends. Now, how was the hunt yesterday."

    "It went well. We bagged a deer. Thanks for letting me go. Uncle Jeremiah was always a prick about letting me hunt."

    "So where did you learn to hunt then?"

    "What a noble doesn''t know won''t hurt them." He said with a wolfish grin.

    I tried to pull off a Marsh eyebrow raise, but I think I failed because all it did was make John laugh.

    "Seriously though, Amos, are you doing okay? You look terrible."

    I sighed. "Having the blood of a bunch of people on your hands will do that to a person."

    "I got back too late to witness the event, but from what I understand, you just rid the world of a bunch of murderers and rapists."

    "Not just murderers and rapists. I had to kill the Headman''s entire family. And for what? So I could make sure none of the teenage kids were going to kill me for revenge. It''s stupid."

    "It seems to me like you''re in the wrong line of work," he said, shaking his head.

    "I''m kind of stuck with it until Aaron''s old enough to take over."

    "You have got to be the weirdest noble I have ever met. Most people would kill to be a noble."

    "You want a headman position. One just opened up."

    He wrinkled his nose, "Ugh, seriously? You couldn''t pay me enough to live in this backwater. Besides, I almost have my father warmed up to the idea of me being in charge of the shipping side of the business. I just have to not screw it up here."

    "You mean like getting caught snooping around the barony to steal all my secrets."

    "Nah, more like pissing off my ill-tempered cousin to the point where he kills me or imprisons me for life."

    "Ill-tempered? I am not ill-tempered."

    "Tell that to Elizabeth," He laughed.

    "Wait, you know Elizabeth?" I said in surprise.

    "Not really. I only met her once before she got engaged to you. But I did hear what you did to her. I can''t believe you are the same person."

    "That''s not fair," I huffed. "I was like thirteen, and all of a sudden, my dad suddenly said, '' Hey kid, I''m marrying you off because I hate you.'' You can cut me some slack."

    "Well, I don''t think she will ever forgive you, especially since Cousin Cat says she has been sleeping with the same guy for a couple of years now." He said this while carefully watching my reaction.

    "Well, that''s good. I hope they are happy together."

    "Do you not remember the part where you two are engaged?"

    "Not anymore," I said smugly.

    "Wait, when did that happen? Every time Cat talked about it, she acted like there was no way Elizebeth''s father would end the marriage." He said in surprise.

    "I''m a baron," I said haughtily, " and I could never marry some lowly merchant''s daughter."

    He Laughed "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that part. Quite an impressive way to get out of a marriage, cousin."

    "Actually, it is too bad I screwed things up with her. She might have been better than some stuck-up noble girl."

    "I don''t know. Some of the ladies in my social circles are pretty full of themselves."

    "You should have met Aaron''s mother. Her nose was so far up in the air I have no idea how she managed to see what was in front of her."

    This got a guffaw from John. We would have probably continued trying to one-up each other with stories about stuck-up girls if we hadn''t been interrupted by Draves.

    "Alright, John, it looks like I got to get back to work. What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

    "Probably see if I can catch your guys before they leave for the hunt. I also heard you have some shipbuilders here. I would love to chat with them."

    "Alright, have fun. Sometimes, we need to sit down and discuss why you are really here."

    That produced a grin from John. "Yes, we do."

    After he left, Draves said, "You did well."

    "Thank you," I said, "but I need to do anything other than think about that. Let me actually eat my breakfast. People keep interrupting me this morning. Let''s go practice the sword after I finish."

    "As you wish."

    After finishing breakfast, I changed into my training clothes and walked out to the yard. Something felt off. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the men were working on their usual routines. Nothing had changed¡ªnothing except me. I was a different person than I was yesterday. I guess we all are different than we were yesterday, but for me, yesterday was one of those points of significance in my life. The world had not changed; I had. I just didn''t know how yet.

    The training helped. In group therapy, I learned that many people overcome their problems by finding other things to focus on. For me, acts of service helped me focus away from myself and my own issues. So, after burning off some energy, I decided to go down into the village and see if there was anything I could do to help out.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    The number of people in the village had jumped significantly. It was not as large an increase as Barim, but there were at least an additional twenty-five people. Draves was his usual quiet self on the way down. So, I was looking forward to the distraction the villagers would bring. The first thing I noticed was three people outside Mikels place working on various pieces of wood. One I recognized as one of the shipbuilders, while the other two were in their teens. Father and sons? After saying a quick greeting, I entered Mikels workshop.

    "It seems like you have some extra hands," I said to Mikel, causing him to look up from his work.

    Mikel nodded, "Greetings, My Lord. An excellent idea to grab shipbuilders. They know their way around a block of wood."

    "What are they working on?"

    "That new contraption the farmers are all excited about. I have to admit I am curious to see how it will work. Especially since it is probably going to take all your mules to pull."

    "Really, It''s that big?"

    "It is, and it will be heavy. Jorb is trying to pound out iron as fast as he can. We even have Melvin and his assistants up in Melnon trying to churn it out. The blades and fasteners are going to take a lot of metal, and we don''t want to waste the bronze or copper to make it lighter. Draves says he is glad for the coke because of how much harder it is to keep the forge hot enough with wood."

    I really couldn''t wait to get a blast furnace so we could make wrought iron in quantity.

    After chatting for a while and asking Mikel if he needed anything, we left to walk around a bit more. We came across another interesting scene. Five women were in one garden, quickly weeding it. Up until now, I had only seen families working in their own gardens. In fact, I knew that the woman whose house this was, Beverly, was missing from the group. I wondered if she was ill.

    Upon inquiring about this, I got a very different response than I expected.

    A woman whom I didn''t know said, "My Lord, since we had to send our spinning wheel down to Barim to keep it secret, we have decided to send two women down there every day, and the rest of us do their work for them. Since they can do the work of ten women on the spinner, it doesn''t make sense for all of us to spend some of our time during the day spinning."

    To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Was this specialization? No, otherwise, it would be the same woman each day. Division of labor? I guess it didn''t matter. They had found something that worked and saved everyone time.

    "I am very pleased with all of you. You have shown your ingenuity in finding a solution to a problem. Keep up the good work."

    I really needed to learn everyone''s name, at least in Bicman village. Some guy once said that the most important word to any person was their own name.

    I tried to forget yesterday by focusing on what needed to happen in the near future, the near future being a relative term. This society was so dependent on agriculture that things progressed slowly. The latest estimates I got were that we would get anywhere from eight to ten bushels from the acres plowed with the Bicman plow. That was over double what these fields averaged last year. Over the winter, we would have to build silos in preparation for next year.

    If my paintings sold well, we wouldn''t be paying taxes in grain but in gold. That meant that even if we produced no more than ten acres per field, we could support three times the people we currently had if we kept things tight. I was not planning to do that, and even though it may have seemed excessive, I was planning on trying to build up a three to four year supply of extra foodstuff. Also, we could plant more things to feed livestock.

    So, let''s say we double the population. The amount of infrastructure and other things we could work on would be incredible. People could stop wrapping their feet in cloth. Shoes would be on every kid. None of my people would have their ribs showing. Women could stop worrying about having more than a couple of children before they ran out of food. Not that I cared how many children someone had, but I wanted my people to have choices.

    I would have to spread these inventions across the kingdom. I could sell them, but if people noticed we were getting wealthy, they would try to take what we had. Until we could hold our own, we couldn''t be greedy.

    I was glad the harvest would start soon because we were running low on stores. Nobody would starve this winter, but we wouldn''t be living in luxury either. Next year, however¡­

    Just then, I noticed a man on a horse traveling into the town from the direction of Kerisi. A messenger? He was a man in his thirties. He was travel-stained and weary. He carried a short spear at his side. Every time someone entered my town, I felt like the wheel of fate began to spin.

    Examining my scarf, he let out a sigh. My scarf was as good as a name badge around here, so I assume he was just glad his journey had come to an end. He hopped off his horse and bowed respectfully. "My Lord, I bear a message for Lord Amos Bicman."

    "I am Lord Amos. You look weary, good man. We are a poor barony at the edge of nowhere, so we have no inn. But you are welcome to stay at the manor house and eat while you recuperate."

    "I am honored, My Lord, and if you don''t mind me saying so, middle of nowhere is an apt phrase. I could not get anyone to travel closer than the new Plimgus village. Well, not unless I wanted to pay an outrageous price. Fortunately, I was not attacked by bandits or wild beasts."

    "Well, if you don''t mind waiting a few days, I have business to discuss with Lord Plimgus and will be heading in that direction. You are welcome to join us."

    "That is most generous of you, and I will, of course, accept."

    "Good. Please speak with my steward, Benjamin, at the manor, and he will get you taken care of."

    "Thank you, My Lord. If you will allow me to excuse myself, I will accept your offer of rest."

    As soon as the messenger left, I opened the letter. I was not looking forward to its contents. Recently, letters have not brought good news. This one, however, brought mixed feelings. It was from Aaron''s grandparents. They had accepted my invitation for a visit. On the one hand, the fact that they were coming was a good sign, but on the other hand, they had not bothered to wait for an appropriate time to visit. Instead, the letter gave the approximate time they would arrive, which was about a month from now.

    I had planned to build a guest house for visiting nobles. I simply didn''t have room for more people in the manor, and I wasn''t impressed with its construction in the first place. Any visiting noble would be of higher standing in society than me, so I had to have suitable housing for them. If you considered people''s standing to be based on connections and the influence those connections provided, then even the two gentlemen visiting my estate may have better standing than me. That was only a possibility, though. I doubted noble society would let them get so full of themselves that they would think themselves above a baron.

    Fortunately, I had already created a design for the guest house. I was planning on using hollow concrete blocks and mortar and then covering it in plaster. This would allow us to put it up quickly and still look nice. Each room would also have a closet with a small set of shelves and a rod for hanging clothes.

    The problem I now faced was that I wanted to start this project after the engineers had left, and I hadn''t expected John to be here. The engineers should only be here for a few more days. Now that I had Sanders on board and they were almost done with their projects, I could send them home. Sanders could grab his family and be back here to help.

    As far as John went, we hadn''t even discussed his plans. I doubt his family sent him here just to say hi. That meant he had an objective, and if he could meet it, then he would leave. I just needed to figure out what that was.

    "Okay, Draves. It looks like it is time to head back to the manor," I said as I handed him the letter. ¡°We need to get with Benjamin and figure out what to do about this."

    After reading the letter, Draves nodded, and we began to walk back up the hill. As we were walking up the hill, I saw John riding his horse down towards us. "And if you speak the devil''s name, he shall appear," I muttered.

    "So Amos, I just got wind a messenger arrived. Is there any news worth hearing?"

    "You are as bad as the gossiping laundry women, John. Weren''t you supposed to go hunting?"

    "They left too early, and come on, you live in a backwater barony where nobody comes to, and all of a sudden, you have a messenger come. Of course, I am going to be curious." He said with a gleam in his eye as he got down off his horse to walk beside me.

    "As it happens, Aaron''s grandparents will be arriving shortly, and I am trying to figure out how to shuffle things around so that they will be comfortable. Speaking of which, how long are you planning on staying?"

    "Ready to get rid of me already," he chuckled.

    I thought of the quote by Benjamin Franklin, ¡®Guests, like fish, stink after three days.¡¯

    I did not say that out loud, though. Instead, I voiced my opinion bluntly, "I am sure that you are here for something other than a social call. I expected a letter in response to mine, but instead, I find my dear cousin on my doorstep. The trip does not come without cost, so what is the real reason for your visit? Other than spying on my weaver women."

    "You are not going to let that go, are you?"

    "Not until I get the chance to meet your wife and tell her."

    John shook his head, "See, this is why I despise nobility. You are all so devious."

    There was a pause where neither of us spoke, and then, finally, John sighed dramatically. "Fine, my parents were interested in the paper you sent. He wanted me to find out how much it cost to produce and then if we could make it ourselves."

    "You came to steal the paper-making process."

    "Seriously, Amos, Do you think I came here to rob you? I came here as a merchant''s son. I came here to buy it at the lowest price possible. However, I would much rather purchase the cloth-making method."

    "I am sure you would," I said with a smile. "However, either one of those processes would make a man fabulously rich within a few years. If you expect me to give it to you for less than a few thousand gold, you would be out of your mind."

    "No, you are out of your mind. Where would I get a few thousand gold?"

    "I''m sure you could get a loan. You would have it paid off in a few years with how close you are to the capital."

    "I was planning on selling the idea to several cloth-producing merchants so that I didn''t ruffle any feathers. I don''t know if I could get enough to buy into the idea before others started selling the ideas themselves."

    "Well, there are a few things we could do. What if you made me a partner, and we developed a system of franchises?"

    "What is a franchise?"

    "It is an idea I have been developing, but I haven''t got all the kinks worked out yet."

    And I really didn''t. I knew the general principles of franchises, but I didn''t have a complete understanding of all the intricacies. I had looked into a few franchises when I was taking my online business courses but decided It was too much of an upfront cost for me. Also, my doctors had started to become concerned about my heart again.

    "Let me explain how it works."

    For the rest of the walk up the hill, we discussed the concept of turning the cloth producers near the capitol into franchises.

    "So we get a Writ of Exclusivity on the process. Then, we go to the cloth producers and cut a deal to provide the raw materials at a slightly lower cost and lease the machines. We guarantee the machine''s functionality and fix them as needed. I don''t know if it is the best approach." He said skeptically. "My father might be able to make it work, though."

    "Well, I am sure it will need adjusting. I don''t know how the economy works in the cities, but I could give you all the numbers relating to how much can be produced and how many labor hours are needed. I am sure your father can create a plan. How about, instead of a flat payout, we partner for ten years? Let''s say 25% of the profits come to me.¡±

    "Amos, I thought you weren''t like other nobles. I can''t believe you would try to rob your own cousin."

    "Rob! You would be making money hand over fist with this process. I am sure your father would agree."

    "I need to introduce you to my father. Look, this is a much bigger deal than I expected to be making, so I think it will be best if we do as you say. You give me the numbers along with a cart full of cloth, and I can let him decide. He will probably have to meet you to finalize everything."

    "Sounds like a plan. If things go well, we might even come to another agreement on a faster way to produce cotton."

    This caused John''s eyes to light up. ¡°If we could produce and manufacture cotton cloth from start to finish at a cheaper rate, we would be¡­ "

    "Very rich," I grinned. ¡°Now, I am leaving in two days to discuss a chalk deal with Lord Plimgus. If you want, we can escort you down there. And if you need to, I can send a few men on further."

    "Ready to get rid of me, huh? Well, actually, that works well for me. Sorry to say it, but your barony is not very exciting."

    "Hey, I''m the one that lives here. I know exactly how exciting this place is."

    Things were looking up. I would soon be able to get rid of all my guests and really get down to work.

    We were coming up on the front gates when I heard footsteps approaching rapidly from behind. Turning around, I saw a man running up the hill. I recognized his face as that of a man from Melnon.

    As soon as he caught his breath, he said, "My Lord, I was sent by Headman Richard to inform you that there was a case of attempted rape in Melnon."

    I was shocked. I knew this sort of thing happened, but Melnon was such a small, tight-knit community that I did not expect something like this. "Who?¡±

    "It was the Gentleman Harry."

    Crap. Crap. Double Crap.

 Book 2 Chapter 16

    I sighed as I listened to the report of the messenger. I thought things were going to go better today.

    When we reached my study, I found Benjamin at the table, dictating some notes to Jacklyn.

    ¡°John, Jacklyn, if you will excuse us, we have to discuss how to fix this issue.¡±

    It looked as if John wanted to argue, but he just nodded and left. He seemed a little more respectful when around people other than Draves and me. I wonder if Benjamin had spoken with him. It was probably for the best. I need to keep our informal relationship behind closed doors. It wasn''t easy, but I was getting better at it.

    Jacklyn closed the door behind her.

    As soon as the door closed, Benjamin asked with concern, ¡°What is the problem?¡±

    I was trying to keep my anger under control, so I had the messenger relay the news.

    ¡°A little after midnight, a miner named Turner heard a scream. Noticing his daughter was not in the room, he hurried to a small corpse of trees behind his house.

    ¡°It was too dark to see well, but he could see the figure of a man pinning down someone else. He rightly assumed it was his daughter. He yanked the man off his daughter and beat him half to death. He left the man there and brought his daughter back to the house.

    ¡°Others heard him screaming at the man in the woods and rushed to help. Turner explained that he had left the man in the woods, so the others went to the woods to retrieve the man. Meanwhile, Turner and his wife calmed their daughter down.

    ¡°When they pulled the man out of the woods, they discovered it was the Gentleman Harry.¡±

    This caused Benjamin to give a deep frown. ¡°Where is the gentleman now?¡±

    ¡°He is at the healers.¡±

    ¡°And the man Turner?¡±

    ¡°He is in his house being watched by two guards so that he doesn''t try to flee.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t tell me that. Why is he being arrested? He was just protecting his daughter.¡± I demanded.

    ¡°My Lord, may we discuss this without the messenger present,¡± Benjamin said cautiously.

    "Oh, yes, excuse us while we fix this matter. In the meantime, please wait in the great hall."

    The man bowed and left.

    Benjamin immediately started his analysis of the situation when the messenger left.

    "My Lord, this may become complicated. A peasant does not have the right to strike a member of the nobility, no matter the circumstances."

    "What father wouldn''t fight for his daughter''s honor? What was he supposed to do, just let the creep rape his daughter?"

    "I agree that this is unfair, but it is the way things are. If he had just pulled the man off his daughter and blocked her from harm, then the fault would have all been on the Gentleman. Do not worry. We will be able to punish the gentleman as well, but that is a separate offense. If the Gentleman was indeed beaten senseless, then he will probably request that the peasant be executed."

    "I am not executing a man for defending his daughter!" I shouted.

    "I understand, and we won''t," Benjamin said calmly. ¡°If the man were an actual noble rather than a nonhereditary son, we would probably have to yield to him. However, maiming would be the maximum punishment Harry could reasonably ask for. If it were only a single punch, then we could probably just fine the man Turner."

    "What do you mean by maiming?"

    "A finger or ear would be chopped off."

    "That is unacceptable," I said.

    Benjamin pursed his lips. "We could give him up to ten lashes, but there is a risk of killing him that way."

    I grit my teeth. "Are you saying there is no way to get around physically harming my citizen?"

    "If Harry went back to Vaspar, he would begin to complain. Not only would it destroy your reputation, but you would most likely be forced to give an even harsher punishment."

    "So what can we do to Harry for his crimes? I am assuming that the laws I have set out for my people won''t apply here." I said with disgust.

    "He will have to pay a fine."

    "That''s it!? He tried to rape the girl."

    "Tried but did not actually succeed. If he had, then the punishment would have been paying a fine to you and providing a small yearly stipend for the raising of the child. Also, he would have the damage to his reputation when we sent the letter explaining the situation to his liege lord.

    "That''s it! I would have the man on a road crew for ten years. Wait, what about the Bastard laws? Wouldn''t he have to do more if he actually raped the girl and she got pregnant?"

    "He is only a Gentleman, not a true noble. So, only a small stipend or marrying the girl would be required."

    This is the problem with separating judgment by class.

    "Do you think we could lower it to five lashes if we removed the fine?"

    "You could lower it to one lashing if you like, but you must start thinking of the consequences of your actions. I have come to know you as a man who cares for his people, so you will not like what I am about to say. The peasant is one man. Is sparing him lashes or a finger worth the ire of men with much more influence than you?"

    "I feel it is unjust."

    "Are you mistaking kindness for justice, My Lord?"

    I wanted to say that justice is when the laws are the same for everyone. But as I thought about it, I almost laughed. This world was no different from the world I grew up in. People in power always got away with more. The only difference is that these people were honest about it. Sure, on Earth, they were willing to sacrifice a few to maintain the appearance of justice, but you would have to be an idiot to believe the politicians and wealthiest people there did not play by different rules.

    He was right. My perception of justice did not mean I could ignore the laws of my new reality.

    "Alright, I conceded to your point. Turner committed a crime and must be punished."

    "Do not worry. Whatever punishment we give, your people understand that it would have been worse under anyone else."

    He was right. Having lived in this world for almost four months, I was starting to see that fairness was a matter of perception, and what I considered just was often seen as overly merciful to my people.

    "Alright, we will return to this matter in a bit. The messenger said that the headman and the accused would be here in about a bell. I have one more thing I would like to discuss."

    I handed him the letter from Aaron''s grandparents. His eyebrows rose as he read through the letter.

    "Well, this will be interesting," is all he said.

    **********

    The gentleman, Harry, was down on one knee before me. His face was bruised, and one eye was swollen. The peasant, Turner, was on his knees and had his hands tied behind his back.

    I kept my face stern as I said, "Gentleman, Harry, I have invited you to my land and treated you with hospitality and kindness. I am paying you more than the proposed price for your services. And instead of being grateful for my hospitality, you have abused it. You are a Gentleman, not some common thug who cannot control his appetite. You show disrespect not only to your station as a gentleman but also to your family and to Gentlman Sanders, who recommended you."

    Looking at Turner, I said, "You, Turner of Melnon, have displeased me. You allowed your emotions to rule you. Acting like a savage, you beat my guest. It does not matter the situation. Violently taking matters into your own hands is against the law. My guest is the son of a Nobleman, and the punishment for such is the loss of the hand that was raised against him."

    That, of course, was not exactly true, but I wanted it to seem extremely harsh.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    "Gentleman Harry, I should send you home with a fine equal to the amount I paid you. I should also write letters of complaint to both your father and my friend, the count."

    The last statement caused Harry''s face to turn pale.

    "However, I am merciful. I will sweep this matter under the rug and give you the satisfaction for the violence that has been committed against you by allowing you to lash my peasant five times against his back. If I find that you have beaten my peasant excessively to the point where he is crippled, I will write a letter explaining this matter to your lord. A gentleman who cannot control himself is no gentleman. This I decree. Captain, make sure my orders are carried out."

    I stood and left the hall without meeting anyone''s eyes.

    As I sat in my study, I was surprised to find that I was at peace with the situation. Did I like the fact that Turner would be lashed? Not at all. But I was still satisfied that I had made the best decision possible. I had ordered Maggie to be present and for her to bring her ointments. As soon as Harry was out of sight, she was to start administering to his wounds.

    I was pondering whether or not the judgment would be satisfactory enough for Harry not to spread gossip when Benjamin came through the door.

    "Well, how do you think I did?"

    "It went according to plan. So I see no further reason to dwell on it. I did like the touch at the end where you threatened to write a letter if he attempted to kill Turner with the lashings. I believe that will help."

    "I''m just glad I could skip the whole trial thing and proclaim my decision. I have had to flounder through some of my judgments, and I hope that I have gathered enough information to make the right decision. By the way, how is Edward doing down in Cofi?"

    "He says things are calming down but doesn''t much care for the position of headman."

    "Well, unfortunately, he is the best I have got."

    "Oh, also, I wanted to let you know that he sent a report saying that the young woman Kylie is there."

    "What? Why is Kylie there?" I asked, concerned. That girl''s unpredictability made me nervous.

    ¡°Apparently, she told him she was a good friend of yours from the village by the cove. After taking a tour of the village, she asked if she could help with the preparations for the apple harvest in exchange for a place to stay. Since the guilty have been moved to the road crew camp there were plenty of homes in Cofi."

    What is that girl up to? She was so bent on blowing herself up, and now, all of a sudden, she wants to help pick apples? Something didn''t seem right. Or was this job making me paranoid? No, Kylie makes me paranoid.

    "So what about the camp?"

    "The land is being cleared, and barrack style housing should be up in a couple of weeks. The plans you have laid out for it make it seem like a mini village if you exclude the security wall."

    "Any attempts to run?"

    "Where would they run to? Besides, there is not much difference between the life they were living and what you have given them, other than the fact that the work is harder and they can only see their families once a week."

    "We have guards watching them, and they don''t have rights?" I said, almost defensively. "I thought it was a harsh punishment."

    "Oh, it certainly is for the peacekeepers and Jeffery''s friends. But really, compared to the life of a serf, there isn''t too much of a difference. Their situation could be a lot worse. I am sure that most of them thought they would die. Also, those who didn''t kill anyone have the opportunity to receive¡­ What did you call it, parole? You also haven''t punished their families. Just like Turner, they know that they could have gotten much worse."

    "Fine. Are we ready for our departure to the new Plimgus village?"

    ¡°Everything should be ready by tomorrow. About ten kilometers of the road have been improved in that direction, which should help on the way there."

    "We may have to pull them off that project in order to help plaster and whitewash the manor. I know the Baron of Tine said they would be here in a month to visit Aaron, but if they arrive early, I want them to see a well maintained home."

    "I do not doubt that they will be satisfied. The pictures alone will probably be impressive enough. But I do agree that your father did not spend enough time maintaining the manor.¡±

    "What about your plan to build a guest house?"

    "That will have to wait. Now that some of the rooms have been freed up, we can put them in those. I just hope enough armoires have been made by the time they get here to fill all the rooms."

    "It is a shame you don''t own a business in the capitol. All your inventions are so revolutionary." Benjamin said with sincerity.

    "No, it wouldn''t work. What we need are more people here. If we increase the food production and bring more people here, money will start moving into and around the barony, increasing tax revenue, and then we will become wealthy regardless of what we export."

    I had been thinking a lot about this lately. Sure, there were some key things that I wanted to export exclusively, but I needed to remember the status quo. I could not rock the boat by hoarding wealth. Two years, two years, and I would have enough food to start increasing the amount of people.

    "How can we get more people to move to our lands?" I must have spoken out loud because Benjamin answered.

    "That will be difficult. People are a resource that nobody wants to give up. We don''t have a slave market, and even if we did, good slaves can be expensive. You did well to purchase people from the debtor''s prison, but if you go purchasing up all the people available, you are going to end up with other nobles asking questions."

    I sighed. "We have some time, but we need to figure this out. Well, I am done with worrying about things for the moment. I need to go spend some time with Aaron before we leave tomorrow."

    "As you wish, My Lord."

    My guards and I made our way down the hall to Aaron''s room. When I opened the door, I found Emily on the bed and Aaron toddling between the rocking chair and the bed.

    "Hey buddy, nice work. I can see that you''re improving in a few weeks if you-"

    When he heard my voice, he turned to try walking towards me but ended up falling down on his rump. I shook my head, "Look, Aaron, that was terrible. Your problem is you are flat-footed. Your left heel should have come up, and then you could start the turn. This allows the ball of your foot to pivot. Here, watch me."

    I executed a perfect turn, but when I looked down, he was stretching out his hands.

    "You were supposed to clap," I said as I scooped him up.

    Emily chuckled from the bed. "I am glad you are doing OK, Lord Amos. I was worried that you would be upset after the sentencing. The Captain said you had been trying to find a way not to punish Turner."

    "I swear everyone around here gossips too much. And, yeah, I don''t think he deserved to be whipped. He was just defending his daughter, after all."

    "You shouldn''t feel bad. It was nice of you to only let that man only whip him five times." Emily said, trying to cheer me up.

    "So I''ve been told. How is the paper making going? Have you been given the latest reports?"

    "Yes, but I don''t know why you have them send them to me. All I do is look at them and pass them on to Jackie, and she reads them to Benjamin. I really feel useless."

    "Because sooner or later, you will be back on your feet."

    "I am back on my feet! I have been helping Grandma clean around the manor I am just sitting here because Nora needed a break. My arm is healed."

    "I don''t know. I read once that girls heal slower than boys. You may need a few more months." I said with a grin.

    "Now, you''re just teasing me. And it was lame. I give it a one out of ten."

    I coughed, "Ouch. Anyway, back to your question about why I am having you do this. We will be building more pulp grinders, and you will have to manage all the people. Imagine a large room full of pulp grinders and drying racks. When we figure out the printing press, we may have one of those in there as well. You may be supervising it all."

    "Amos, why are you doing this? That is a job for men. I don''t know how to do this."

    "It''s called on-the-job training. But if you don''t want to do it, I won''t make you. I can have someone else do it."

    "It''s not that I don''t like it, but I am just a¡­ you know," she said in a quiet voice. "Besides. I will get married and have children. Then I will take care of them."

    "If you don''t want to do it, that''s fine. When you are ready to marry and focus on raising children, hand it over to someone else. But if you enjoy it, find someone to marry who will enjoy it with you. You are a freeman now. You have wealth. When we get more freemen here, I am sure they will have sons. Heck, I don''t even care if you marry a peasant or a serf. I will just elevate their status. But you better not try to marry some idiot just because he is handsome. Friends, don''t let friends marry idiots. Especially when it''s one of your best friends getting married."

    Emily turned bright red at that and mumbled something I couldn''t hear.

    "What was that?" I smirked.

    "Thank you, My Lord," she said a little louder. "You better not marry some stupid noble, though."

    "Fat chance of that. They''re going to force me to marry a noble, and you heard what I did to my soon to be ex-fiance. I am sure that my reputation is shot in the noble circles. Nobody is going to want to marry me."

    "I would," she blurted out but then turned bright crimson.

    I chuckled, "See, that is why you are my best friend. You know how to build me up. Whoever marries you better be an amazing man. Don''t worry about me, Em. I am not sure I am ready to give up the bachelor life, and I am afraid that if I did, whoever I marry would want their own children to inherit the barony. I can''t let this little guy get his inheritance stolen away from him. It''s probably the biggest reason I can''t think about marriage. Or maybe I am afraid of commitment."

    That is what my sister told me. I never told her, and I certainly was not going to tell Emily that I was still struggling with the idea of me being happily married when I had taken away any chance of Nate having a family. He had wanted to have four children, two boys and two girls. He said I could be the crazy uncle who was always causing trouble.

    "OK, enough of this. It is time to play with Aaron. OK, buddy, blocks or pans."

    "No pans, please," Emily groaned.

    "Pans, it is, buddy. Emily thinks we need to work on our musical talent."

    Countess Cynthia Blackwell

    "My Lady, our agent in Cofi sent a report with the last chalk shipment. Dust was killed during his assassination attempt."

    I was not surprised that Dust had failed. It had been too long since he had left to assume anything else. It was surprising, though, that he had died. It should have been a simple matter. I thought he had failed and then fled.

    "How?" I said

    "Apparently, he was killed by a little girl who stuck his own knife in his back."

    "Pathetic, but it interferes with nothing."

    "Have we managed to persuade Duke Tomus?"

    "He has decided to give his support if the price is right. Our promise to end the war while maintaining the conquered lands if the king is removed has given him the push we needed. Can we trust the Hitub?"

    "As long as their government collapses, they will have no time to deal with lands they don''t have control over."

    "My Lady, I have been assured that their own government is about to collapse, and those that we have given support to will be placed at the head."

    "Excellent. As long as we time the coup correctly, we will be able to secure the throne just as they are about to fall. They will, of course, eventually want some of it back, and we will make a deal," I said.

    "It will happen within the year, most likely by next spring."

    "Then I think it is time to prepare the Rabiss raid. They will land at the cove and head south through the swamps once word reaches the capitol that our people were left defenseless against the Rabiss slavers. We should be able to generate enough unrest to start the coup." I couldn''t help but smile. "I think this will work better than the last idea of blaming the assassination of the Bicman family on supporters of the king. It weakens him, not just his support. Now leave me. I have a ball to prepare for."

    "As you wish, My Lady"

 Book 2 Chapter 17

    It took two and a half days to reach Plimgus. The group I traveled with included my guards, John, the messenger sent by the Baron of Tine, Sanders, and Harry. If there ended up not being a group that my companions could travel with from Plimgus, half of my guards would go with them to Decmoore or whatever it is called now. They really need to leave the names of towns alone. I guess it makes the nobility feel special or something.

    As we entered the village, I noticed that, unlike Bicman, not much had changed. The children still lined the streets, and I saw the curious looks of the men and women. I waved as we passed, but there was no enthusiasm in the villager''s response.

    I thought I had done a good job building rapport. Was this the new baron''s fault?

    As we turned toward the manor, I noticed one thing that had changed. The Headman''s house was burnt to the ground, and the sight of it made me queasy. "I don''t think I am going to get along with this new baron," I muttered under my breath.

    As we rode through the gates into the courtyard of the manor house, I saw that the manor had been freshly painted and the grounds cleaned nicely. Unlike my manor, there were rows of flowers around the outside.

    Why hadn''t I thought to do that?

    I was greeted by a man wearing a steward''s sash. As I exited the carriage, the man bowed deeply. "Welcome to Plimgus Manor, Baron Amos. I hope that your travels were pleasant," the man said stiffly.

    "Indeed they were, Master Steward. I hope that the messenger I sent ahead was early enough not to inconvenience you."

    "Not at all. We have a room prepared for you and availability for your entourage in the barracks. Unfortunately, the barracks are not back to standard due to the neglect of the previous headman." He said with disgust in his voice.

    "Well, your grounds look lovely. I am quite impressed."

    "You must direct your praise to the baroness, for she orchestrated the work."

    "I shall indeed."

    "The Lord and Lady are expecting you. Please follow me."

    "Excellent. Captain, have the men bring the gift," I said.

    "Yes, My Lord."

    The great hall we entered was similar to my own, except the ceiling was not as high because there was a second level here. At the head of the hall sat a large middle-aged man with a very stately posture. He was very finely dressed, making me glad I had put on the clothes I had gotten in Vaspar. As I got closer, I even noticed he had a waistcoat with button holes. That made me smile.

    His wife sat next to him with an expressionless face. Draves would have stiff competition if they had a stare down. Two men stood behind them. One was in his twenties and looked very similar to his father in size. The younger son was in his mid-teens and looked to take after his father as well. He, unlike the rest of the family, seemed shy and had trouble making eye contact.

    "My Lord, Baron Curtis Plimgus, may I introduce Baron Amos Bicman and guests."

    I gave a half bow while the rest of my company gave a full bow.

    The baron gave a polite smile and said, "Welcome, Baron Bicman. Falmoren''s new famous artist. Your painting of Count Vaspar is all anyone in the duchy was talking about after you debuted your talent. I wish that I moved in circles that allowed me to view this hidden treasure."

    I guess the count must have hung it in his study or someplace where only the elite could see it.

    "That is very kind of you to say, Baron Plimgus. I do apologize for the short notice of my arrival, but I had matters to discuss with you, and some of my guests were on their way back to their home cities. May I present this humble gift as a way of an apology."

    At my words, the guards closest to the back opened the door as I had instructed, and two men came in carrying a cloth-wrapped painting. A third man came in with an easel. Approaching the dais, they set the picture on the easel and removed the cloth.

    I loved the reaction of people in this world to my paintings. I was a good artist on earth, but certainly not the best. Compared to anyone that they had here, though, I was like a god.

    When the cloth was pulled away, I got my first reaction from the lady of the house. Her hand immediately lifted to her lips to quiet a gasp. The painting was the one I did of the ocean from the cliff.

    I had taken a lot of creative liberties with this picture. I made the cliff higher and the sun in the wrong position. If it had been where it was supposed to be, you wouldn''t even be able to see the coast.

    While I had been in the process of painting it, one of the guards told me, "I don''t think you and I are looking at the same sunset."

    I told him to shut up and stop trying to stifle my creativity.

    The shy son began to unconsciously walk towards the picture as he stared at it.

    "Kevin," his father snapped. The boy suddenly came to and walked back to his place behind his father. His eyes, however, never left the painting.

    The baron got up and walked to the painting, "Lord Amos, the rumors do not do your work justice. The sun looks so real, and I am afraid that if I touched it, I would burn. You have a true gift."

    "Your praise is most kind," I said.

    "My Lord, if my information is correct. You debuted your work in Vaspar, and no other noble has any of your works." Lady Plimgus said. Her voice carried only a hint of emotion.

    "Yes, though I do have a few people coming to my barony over the next few months who will have their portraits done."

    Baron Plimgus grinned, "And in doing so, they will stop by my manor, and I will boast that I am the second to have received a painting from the master painter, Lord Amos Bicman." He looked like a kid who had just won a race.

    "I suppose you will. And I am truly glad that it brings you joy," I said sincerely.

    "Well, this calls for a celebration. I will have my man show you to your room, and after you freshen up, we will meet in the dining hall for a meal."

    ******

    The meal was served an hour later. I have to say I was jealous of their dining room. It was nothing special other than the fact that it was a separate room with a nice table and chairs. It would have been nice to have a room where I didn''t have to be stared at by everyone in the manor house sometimes. That is why I ate in my study a lot of times.

    The painting I had done for Lord Plimgus was already hung on one of the walls of their dining room, and all of the family except the baron were in their seats. The steward showed me to my seat, and we sat there quietly, waiting for the baron. There were a few new faces at the table. A woman not much younger than the eldest son sat next to him. Two young girls under the age of ten sat next to her, and she looked like she was pregnant with another. Kevin also looked to have a bride who was probably younger than Emily, unless it was a sister who wasn''t invited to the first meeting.

    I would have to say that it was a very awkward wait, but fortunately, it wasn''t too long. When the baron sat down, he immediately started to eat, and then the rest of us began. Either their cook was better than mine, or they just had better ingredients to work with. It was a meal of steamed and salted vegetables with a well-cooked honeyed ham hock. The bread had nuts and fruit in it with a honey glaze. It wasn''t my favorite, but the variety was nice.

    Most of the family ate in silence, but Kevin was fidgeting. Suddenly, the silence was broken when he blurted out. "Baron Bicman, will you teach me to paint?"

    I sat there stunned for a moment by what I assumed to be a breach of protocol. Marshandra had told me that my family had always waited for my father to speak first before anyone else at the table was allowed to speak, and that usually didn''t happen until after he was completely done.

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    Kevin''s mother glared at him in disapproval, and his father''s face started to turn red. His brother just rolled his eyes. Kevin''s wife looked nervous.

    "Kevin, your behavior today is unseemly. Please forgive the rude interruption to our meal, Lord Amos."

    "Think nothing of it," I said. "I, myself, remember when I saw true art for the first time. It stirred something within my soul. I lost myself in the magnificence of what I saw."

    Not really, but I thought I would save the kid.

    "As to your request, Lord Kevin, let us speak after our meal."

    Kevin turned red and nodded.

    With that, the meal resumed in silence. Only broken when the baron was done. "Lord Amos, now that we are all gathered, let me introduce my family. This is my wife, Lady Wilma, the daughter of knight Cameron Firff. My heir, Rufus, and his wife Natalie, daughter of knight Fredrick Tamku. Their daughters are Krissy and Mona. My son, Kevin, and his wife, Suran. She is, unfortunately, a merchant''s daughter. Had we known of my elevation in status sooner, I am sure that we could have found him a more suitable wife."

    This caused the young girl to turn bright red and look down in shame.

    What a jerk.

    "A very beautiful family. I was also engaged to a merchant''s daughter. A beautiful young lady with a good head on her shoulders. If I had not been elevated to the title of baron, I feel I would have been quite happy. I am sure your new daughter, Suran, will become a great asset to your family. I was once told that behind every great man stands an equally good woman.

    "Speaking of good women, Lady Plimgus, I hear you are the one with such a great eye for beauty, and it was under your direction that such a marvelous courtyard exists. The arrangements of plants and attention to detail are truly artistic."

    All I received in response was a grateful nod.

    "Ha, you are quite the flatter, Lord Amos. Please refrain from trying to steal my wife. If you are looking for a wife, Krissy will be of age in a few years." Lord Plimgus said good-naturedly. However, I wasn''t completely sure if he was joking.

    "We will see what the future brings. But I think my steward intends to marry me off by spring." I said in a similar tone. "Moving here, away from the luxuries of civilization, must have been quite the change for your family."

    "Yes, I fear it is quite from an ideal barony to have, but the large amount of land brings in a great deal more income than the small amount I had under my brother. As soon as I get things in order and find the proper people to help Rufus run it, we will most likely buy a place in Kimton so we can spend our time among the more civilized people."

    "A wise decision. I would enjoy spending more time among the more civilized society, but alas, I am too busy trying to make sure my peasants are fed," I said with a sigh.

    "You certainly are not in an enviable position, but I have a suggestion. What if you moved to the city for part of the year? You could spend a few months doing paintings for your peers and probably bring in three times the income your barony produces within the rest of the year."

    I sat back and thought about that. It wasn''t actually a bad idea. Especially since I didn''t really think that our barony would be where I wanted it to be for another five years, this might accelerate our growth.

    "Baron Plimgus, I am glad to have such a wise neighbor. I will certainly look into doing that next year after the harvest. I would like to fix some of the issues my father left me to deal with before committing to such a venture."

    "Yes, there were some things I had to set straight after Decmoore was beheaded. Can you imagine my surprise when I came to take possession of my manor, and I found out the headman had been using it as a barn?"

    That explains why the Headman''s home was burnt down.

    "Actually, yes, I saw that on my trip to Vaspar. When I reported to Decmoore what his peasants had done, he waved it off, saying that he had approved of it so he wouldn''t have to pay to build a new barn after the old barn collapsed. If I remember correctly, he said something about the fact that it didn''t make a difference because the old Baron Pollman was an animal himself."

    I was impressed with my impromptu lie. In fact, I was stretching the truth a lot in this conversation.

    "Ah, well, perhaps I was too harsh with the headman. He said nothing of this when questioned. He only apologized and asked for forgiveness."

    "Well, at least he knew not to criticize his Lord even after death."

    "That makes sense. Maybe the man isn''t such a fool after all."

    "If you don''t mind me asking, where is he now?" I said, trying not to show my emotion even though I was fearing the worst.

    "Oh, I locked him up in a cell for a week. And then shipped him off to the smallest of our villages. I thought about killing him, but I didn''t want to waste good labor. Now I wish I hadn''t. But to change my decision now would not be good for my image."

    "Would you be willing to allow me to take him? I just so happen to need a headman."

    Now, it was time to spin the tale I had been creating since I discovered we were selling chalk illegally.

    "One of the reasons I journeyed down here is that I found out there was a trade agreement set up between Baron Decmoore and my father to supply chalk to a merchant who would use a small cove off your coast. My father paid Decmoore 10% of the profit in order to use the cove. When my father died, the headman neglected to tell me about the agreement and kept the money for himself. Fortunately, my new steward found out about the theft, and this month''s shipment has not been delivered. So, rather than take it all the way down to Vaspar, I was curious if you would like to continue the agreement."

    "Well, this changes things," the baron mutter.

    "Excuse me?"

    "Sorry, just talking to myself. I would have to say that 10% is very stingy. I would consider 20% more appropriate, considering the amount you would save in transportation costs."

    "Lord Plimgus, I had considered you a reasonable man. Please don''t make me change my opinion of you. At 20%, we may as well just leave the chalk on the ground. There isn''t much margin in chalk, and I would be left with nothing but a pittance. I might be able to make a profit if I am gifting you 13%."

    "You are using peasants or serfs. I am sure you are paying them too much if your margins are that low. 17% would be more than enough for you to make a profit."

    "I am a poor barony, and every worker we use to mine the chalk means less to work the fields. Besides, you will be getting all the chalk you need at cost; I am sure that your woman will be quite pleased to have all the chalk they need for their faces. How about 14%."

    "Ha, you are shameless, Lord Amos, turning my women against me. Very well, 14% it is. We will sign the new agreement this evening."

    "Excellent. Now, on to the matter of the of your old headman. You can take half of this month''s shipments chalk if you give me the old man."

    "You said the chalk isn''t worth much. I will need more than that."

    "No, I said the profit wasn''t much, but that was because of the cost of extracting it. You are making a pure profit on the entire 50%."

    "Let''s make it the whole shipment, and you can have him and his family. They will not work as well if they are separated."

    "Fine, but I am going to have to take back all the nice things I said about you," I chuckled.

    "You are in the middle of nowhere," he laughed, "Who do you have to complain to?"

    I was not happy about losing the profit, but I figured it would have been lost money if I hadn''t found out about the problem. I would have been overpaying if the old man had just been a serf, but he was a headman, and I am sure he had educated his son to that extent as well.

    "Well, now, let''s get back to more pleasant topics," I said.

    For the rest of the meal, we discussed the life they lived before they came to the barony. I learned a little about the different things nobles were involved in, as well as some of the prominent figures in the dukedom. They did not move in the highest circles of society since they had only been related to a baron. But the information flowed freely from Lord Plimgus and his daughter-in-law Natalie.

    Kevin and I had a separate conversation about art, and I wrote a few notes and drew out a few things for him to practice. Overall, it was a more enjoyable time than I thought it would be, but since the deal was done and I had things to do back home, we cut the visit short.

    The next morning, I said my farewells to the group heading south. They did, in fact, need an escort, so we would be departing with half our guards.

    "Well, dear cousin, it was a pleasure to finally meet you. And thank you for the brush. It will make an excellent gift for my lovely wife. It will probably get me out of trouble when I get back," John said with a smile.

    "You''re a thief and the biggest liar I have ever met. You stole that brush from my room, and you aren''t going to give it to your wife. You are going to give it to whatever craftsman you can enter a partnership with and make a killing off of my invention." I retorted.

    "Hey now, I am going to be in your debt, and I promised you I would send you your share when the money starts coming in."

    "You better."

    "Seriously, though, Amos, it has been an unexpected pleasure, and I wish that we lived closer so that we could get better acquainted," he said sincerely.

    "And make more money," I grinned back.

    "And make more money," He said in agreement.

    "Safe travels, cousin John," I said while hugging him.

    Soon, we were all on our way. I decided that Plimgus wasn''t such a bad guy. I had feared a lot worse. Of course, one thing I was sure of was never trust a noble. Especially one put in place by your enemies. At least he was friendly, though.

    Baron Curtis Plimgus

    "I like that boy," I said once my wife and I had retired to the study.

    "We were supposed to gather enough information to find him guilty of trading chalk on our land. And you decided to create a contract instead," Wilma said waspishly. "We were supposed to have leverage if the nobles needed it."

    "What was I supposed to do? He came prepared. He wasn''t even supposed to know about the illegal shipments. It isn''t like we were given any information to prove he had been doing it. For all we know, Decmoore could have been involved in it, like he said. They told us to expose the deal during the next chalk shipment."

    "True. The boy hung their agent, who was supposed to give us incriminating evidence. Those nobles are not going to be happy when they learn that their second agent is dead. Do you think we will be punished?"

    "For what? They can''t be upset at us because the baron thwarted their plan. Besides, they need us to become friends with him and gather information. If he needs people, we can probably help slip someone in. Maybe sell him an agent disguised as a serf. Personally, I don''t see why they don''t just bring him into the fold."

    "And if he finds out they were the ones who killed his family, what do you think he will do?"

    "If he were smart, thank them. I wish they had killed off my older brothers rather than stick us out here."

    "The king''s supporters will die when we take over. We will have your brother''s barony soon enough."

    "Well, in the meantime, let''s see if we can get a few more paintings out of him. Can you imagine our house filled with the works of a soon to be famous painter?"

 Book 2 Chapter 18

    The trip back to the barony was pleasant enough. The only problem was having to listen to Barak and his family express their gratitude over and over again. When Curtis said his family, he meant all of them¡ªa total of 14 peasants. I almost felt like I had gotten too good of a deal.

    As we rode into Kerisi, I was greeted by Headman Paul.

    "My Lord, we have another bag of sugar done. I think my wife is getting better at making it. She also tried boiling it with fruit juice, and one batch hardened it and created this."

    He handed me a cheesecloth with purple chunks wrapped up in it. I popped the smallest one in my mouth, and a moment later, I was smiling.

    "What is this flavor?" I said excitedly.

    "Miscum, My Lord."

    Immediately, a memory of the original inhabitant of this body popped into my head. A berry that looked very similar to a blackberry or raspberry, only blue, popped into my head.

    "Excellent work. Have you tried some yet?"

    "After my last taste of sugar, I am hesitant, My Lord, but if you are looking for a second opinion, I will try."

    After popping it in his mouth, his eyes went wide. "This- This is very good. The sweetness balances out the sourness of the berry."

    "I know, and if we can make enough of it, we could make a lot of money."

    "Next year, we are going to have to plant a lot of Pootba and see if we can cultivate the Miscum. My wife will be pleased to hear that you are happy with the results. It was very hard to get out of the pot."

    "Well, tell her thank you very much from me. Return this to her, and you may share them with whomever you like."

    I knew they had cranberries here, but I didn''t know where they grew. Mom would make cranberry sauce every year for Thanksgiving. It was super easy: a little bit of water, cranberries, and a cup of sugar. I''m totally going to do that this year.

    "Oh, My Lord, there were a few messages for you from Cofi while you were gone. Also, the young lady Kylie wanted to meet with you when you returned."

    I really wanted to roll my eyes.

    "Do we know what she has been up to?"

    "I do not know. I imagine it is in the reports." Paul said.

    "Good point." I grabbed the letters and began to read. One was a report on the village''s happenings. Things had calmed down, and those families without fathers were being taken care of.

    The second letter was a quick message about my friend Kylie. Apparently, she had been helping with the apple harvest preparations. She had gathered the few orphans left after the sentencing, and they had been repairing and making baskets.

    That kind of made sense since the guy who was over the orchard was part of the conspiracy. But we were going to need more than one teenager and a bunch of kids to run it. I hoped Edward had a plan for that. Of course, now it would be Barak''s problem.

    Apparently, even though the community had taken care of the orphans, it was an added burden that most didn''t want. Kylie was managing them, and the community chipped in to provide some things. She had also been given a home to house them all.

    To say this shocked me would have been an understatement. I had always considered the girl irresponsible and self-centered.

    "Well, it''s a good thing that I am going down there to drop off our new headman."

    "New headman?"

    "Yes, let me introduce you to Barak. He was the headman of Pollman before Baron Plimgus acquired it. Apparently, he was not needed anymore, so I brought him with me to run Cofi."

    We went over, and I introduced the two men. They seemed to get along, and their family situation seemed very similar. I was lucky to have snagged Barak.

    I really wanted to head straight home, but I needed to get Barak and his family settled. Besides, I might deal with the Kylie issue as well.

    When we arrived at Cofi, we found Edward at the headman''s house. Talking with his girlfriend, Nancy, and Kylie. Barak''s son Patrick stared at the headman''s house. "This is a very large house for a headman. How many families lived here?"

    "The only thing that lived here was a wolf dressed like a mar," I said.

    "An interesting phrase, My Lord," he nodded in approval.

    "I believe this should be sufficiently large for two of your families to live in."

    "Certainly, My Lord. If necessary, we could probably fit three." Barak said.

    "Let''s see what is available first."

    When Edward noticed me, he left the conversation and approached my group.

    "My Lord, I am glad you have returned safely," he said with a bow. "I see that you have brought some new residents."

    "Edward, my friend, you owe me a thank you. This is the old headman of the Polman village, Barak. He has agreed to take over for you here."

    "I will thank you and the Endless One. I am not cut out for this. Welcome Hedman Barak. It is a pleasure to meet you."

    Barak gave a nod. "Likewise, Steward Edward. Lord Amos told me you would be happy we arrived."

    "Indeed I am. If you will give me but a moment with Lord Amos, I would be happy to show you around."

    Taking a few steps away from the rest of the crowd, Edward said, "My Lord, I need you to speak with Kylie and see if you can convince her to stay."

    Of all the things I expected to hear, that was not one of them. "Edward, why would I want her to stay? I have been wracking my brain trying to find a way to get her to leave."

    "I don''t know what conflict you had in the past, but she has been a big help. She told us she was leaving after she finished talking with you today. So, could you please try to get her to stay?"

    "We''ll see. It is not so much that I had a conflict with her as that I think she likes to stir up trouble," I said.

    "Well, I have had quite the opposite experience with her."

    I sighed. It is probably just me or my title, then. Or she can read me like a book. As I approached the two young women, Nancy broke off her conversation and left to go see the headman and his family. As I approached Kylie, our eyes met briefly before she dropped her gaze. This was very unusual for Kylie, and it made me think she was up to something.

    "My Lord," She said with a bow. "I wanted to apologize before I left."

    I wanted to say something, but I was so surprised that I couldn''t find any words.

    "I wanted so badly to be right. To prove that you were just like everyone else. I was rude to you and did everything I could to make you lash out at me so that I could convince myself that you were a bad person. But you never retaliated. I went to the sentencing of the headman the other day, not even knowing what it was all about, but I was hoping you would show that you were unfair to those beneath you. But only the families of the accused seemed unhappy.

    "I figured that I needed to find out what was really going on, so I came to Cofi and visited Karr. Do you know what I found out? Everybody loves you. Well, not everybody. Some people call you a Marsh Lover, but that is just because you executed their friends."

    I wanted to interrupt her and defend myself, but she continued.

    "But even they know you did the right thing. So now I am stuck knowing that you are a good person. I stayed because I wanted to make up for being terrible to you."

    She kept her head down as I thought about what she said. Her sister explained that she had become bitter, but I think I finally figured out what was going on. She was sabotaging all her relationships. She knew what buttons to push and kept doing it until people rejected her. Then, she would have proof that the world was a cruel place and people were intolerant of others. Maybe that wasn''t exactly it, but it had to be close.

    "So tell me about the kids."

    "What?" She said in surprise.

    "Tell me about the kids. They say that you have been helping with them."

    "Well, um, ok¡­" She said hesitantly. "There is Jamie. He is the oldest. He is nine and really rambunctious. Well, they are all rambunctious, but he has the rest of them beat. He can''t sit still for even a second, so I have to have him doing errands for me. Sue is seven, and she is really the opposite of her brother. She has a little stick and grass doll that she carries everywhere with her. She has a few friends in the village that she used to play with, but I think her friend''s parents are keeping them away from her now."

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    I could see a little anger in her eyes at that.

    "The twins are eight and are never apart. Those boys are also my biggest helpers. I swear they do twice as much work as any of the rest of them. We have a few toddlers who take a lot of work to handle, but Chelsi helps a lot with them. She is twelve and comes from one of the families whose dad is in the labor camp now. We have Miri, who is six months old and spends some of her time with Dorothy, to be nursed."

    There was a long pause as I tried to figure out what to say next. "So¡­ what now? I hear you are going back to the Cove Village."

    "Yes, I thought that would be best. My sister is probably worried."

    If I asked her to stay directly, would she? She does seem to care about the children.

    "I try not to hold grudges, and I will not hold our best interactions against you. Thank you so much, Kylie, for helping with the kids. I am sure it was good for them to feel all together. They will probably miss you a lot."

    "I''ll miss them too."

    "Edward asked me to convince you to stay. He says you have been a big help. I would be happy to hire you if you would be willing to take care of the children."

    Kylie looked torn. "I¡­ I can''t. I have to get back to work."

    "Black Powder?" I asked in disappointment.

    She didn''t say anything. I was unhappy about it, but she wasn''t even one of my subjects.

    "Ok, that''s understandable. Again, thank you for your help. Could you do me one last favor before you leave? You know these kids better than anyone else here. Could you help me find good homes for them?

    "But what if nobody will take them?"

    "You are in charge. I will write a letter authorizing you to find suitable homes for the kids. I trust you won''t just drop them off randomly. It should only take a couple of days, and I will give you ten copper to trade for anything you need.

    "But nobody here uses copper."

    "Yeah, but it won''t catch on if nobody starts it."

    She gave me a look that told me she wasn''t buying it.

    "Fine. I will tell the new headman that you are responsible for the orphans and that he is to assist you. So, what do you say? Can you stay for a few days and help the kids find homes."

    She was silent for a minute but then nodded. "Ok, I guess I owe you that much."

    "You don''t owe me anything, Kylie. I''m serious about that."

    "Alright, Lord Amos, you have a deal."

    I spent about an hour with my steward and new headman and then decided it was time to head back to Bicman. I left Edward there to make sure everything went smoothly, but he would be back to overseeing all the various projects we had going on.

    When we got back to Bicman, it was dusk, and I was exhausted. As we drove through town, I saw the partially assembled reaper. I really wanted to stop and see how things were going with it, but then I would be bothering people when they were on their way to get the rest of the things they needed to get done before all the light was gone.

    These people didn''t waste daylight when they had it, and they didn''t waste fuel at night. Most of them didn''t have the fuel to waste. It was a weird concept for me that I had to get used to. No light at night meant nothing really to do. Sure, I went camping in Scouts, and it was similar, but here, there were no flashlights. I had been here for about four months, and it was still weird to me.

    So, instead, I let the carriage roll through the village and head up the hill. When we got to the Manor, I immediately crashed into bed. I was out like a light in no time and fully intended to be lazy the next day.

    That didn''t happen, though. My early morning schedule was known to my staff, and there was a knock on my door half a bell past dawn.

    "Come in," I grumbled.

    "My Lord, sorry to disturb you," Benjamin said as he saw that I was still in bed.

    "It''s fine. I was just being lazy. What''s going on."

    "I have the monthly reports, My Lord. With the new laborers, numbers are up across the board. There has been a 20% increase in tree harvesting and a 12% increase in copper and limestone. The rest are smaller increments that can be left with you. We are, however, using a lot more, so it is balancing out. If your fields do well next year, we will do as you say and shift the jobs around to compensate.

    "We had a total of twenty-eight deaths this month. 83% were infants or children under ten. 35% of those were newborns and those that did not survive their first 6 months. Matching that against the number of children born means we had a 40% mortality rate, as you call it. That is down 5% from last month, but I will need more long-term information to determine if we are making the progress you want.

    "It is common knowledge that healthy, well-fed women conceive healthier children, so I think your determination to feed your people more will help. I know that you have said that you want to lower it down to 10%, but I just don''t see how we could do that. Children dying is just how things are."

    I was frustrated. I knew nothing about health and wellness. Well, I knew a lot more than these people, but that didn''t mean I could do anything about it. I wasn''t a doctor who could diagnose problems and give solutions. I didn''t have penicillin or aspirin. I knew you couldn''t eat moldy bread, but could you put it on an infection?

    "I know my people try to stay clean, but can we get them more soap? I asked Marshandra about this, but she said we wouldn''t have enough lard to make some so that people could use it on their hands before meals and wash with soap every day."

    "That would be an extremely large amount of soap. I heard of places where they mix the ash with clay to scrub their bodies, but that is a lot of effort. Would it really make a difference?" Benjamin said

    "I think so. What about giving just the kids daily baths with soap since the younger ones are more susceptible to disease?" I replied.

    "And you think this would lower the rate of death?" He asked skeptically.

    "If it saves lives, it is worth a shot."

    "Do you want me to assign someone to work on a cheap clay soap?"

    "Also cleaner water. I know our people are good about not crapping near our water, but I think we should collect the night soil and put it even father away. Make sure all drinking water is filtered through cloth and boiled. Even if it takes several years, I want our child mortality rate down below 20%."

    "As you wish, My Lord."

    "Thank you, Benjamin, for your hard work. Still no news from your father?"

    "No, but that may be a good thing. If there were any urgent problems, he would have said something. He should get the letter we sent with John, and hopefully, we will get a response."

    "Anything else?"

    "No, My Lord, Except that they are starting to work on your bath house on the other side of the river. It should take a month to complete. I like your idea of draining the waste into the swamp."

    "If it works well, we will be building one in each village."

    "That will be a lot of concrete, My Lord. Could we use stone and mortar for now on the others? It may take longer, but it will save on the concrete until we get production up."

    "If that is what it takes, clean people are healthy people. If we have a lower mortality rate, we don''t need to worry about not having enough people. I would rather have our own people whom I am educating than have to bring in others whom I would have to integrate. In ten years, I want to have the healthiest and most well-educated people in the world. I want to build a system that every barony in Falmoren will emulate."

    "You have big dreams, My Lord."

    "And a big appetite. Let me do my morning exercises and daily beating with the sword. I wish I could stick with the spear."

    "You are not just a common knight. You are a noble. So, your mastery of the sword is a reflection of your station. You must know how to fight with both, but a sword is a weapon you will need in society."

    I had previously asked Draves about dueling to settle disputes, and he looked at me like I was crazy. So, at least, I was sure that I wouldn''t be killed because I accidentally insulted someone. Any major disputes were handled in court. The fights between nobles were for prestige and were with blunted weapons. Plenty of injuries but rarely any deaths.

    "Ok, I get it. I am off, Benjamin. Have a good day." It wasn''t until I was almost at the training field that I realized I hadn''t talked to him about Barak. Oh, well. We will get to that later. He probably had been informed already.

    After breakfast, I decided to head into the village to see how the projects were going. As I approached the reaper, I found a few men arguing about something.

    "So what is going on?" I said as I approached.

    "It is the tension on the belt that is causing it to snap. We think we can solve the problem with an extra gear, but we have a few different ways to place it. It would help to have that Sanders guy here," one of the guys I had picked up from Vaspar said.

    I looked it over, but although I knew how gears and pullies worked, I was no engineer. I wasn''t sure how to deal with weight and tension. "Sorry, men, I wish I knew more about this stuff, but I don''t."

    "My Lord," another man said. "I fear we may not have it done by harvest time."

    "Hey, I am impressed with what has happened this far. To tell the truth, I am surprised by how far you have come. Things like this can take years sometimes." I said encouragingly.

    "We wouldn''t be nearly this far along if Sanders hadn''t shown up."

    "Well, I am sure you guys can do it. Good work so far."

    "My Lord, have you seen the road they are making in Melnon?"

    "I know they were trying to do something with concrete. Did they get it to work?"

    "I was up there yesterday helping to bring one of these blades down, and they had a section of about thirty meters made of slabs of concrete. The strangest road I ever saw, My Lord. They said they were going to run it all the way through their village," said the first man.

    That should be interesting. I hope they don''t use too much or we won''t have enough for the baths.

    "Anything else happening?"

    "Other than all the women folk going crazy over those brushes you made, it has been quiet."

    "I figured they would be a hit," I said with a smile.

    "I would say so. None of the women needed one before, and now, all of them need one. They want them more than those fancy skirts."

    Dang, I should have made John give me a few gold for the one I gave him.

    "Well, men, good luck with the project. I am off to find out what else is going on.

    It wasn''t long before I found myself at Mikel''s place.

    "My Lord, It is good to see you." said one of the new boys outside Mikel''s place, "You should go in and see the dresser being made for you. Two of the drawers are done."

    The older boy slapped him upside the head. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

    "What, Lord Amos was the one who asked for it. Why would he be surprised by something he asked for?"

    Before the boys could get into more of an argument, I interrupted. "Thank you, boys. I will go in and see Mikel now. Is there anything you need?"

    "No, My Lord." The eldest said, at the same time as the younger one said, "A paper airplane."

    For which he got a slap upside the head.

    "What was that for? The other kids said they were amazing."

    "He meant for work, you dolt."

    "I would be happy to make you a paper airplane. Next time I come to the village, I will bring some of Emily''s paper." I couldn''t imagine what these kids would think if I only had a rubberband propeller plane.

    What if I made one of those propellers on a stick¡ªthe ones you rub between your palms to make them fly? Could I make a proper propeller? I totally have to try.

    "My Lord, Have you come to see your dresser," Mikel said as I stepped into his shop. The smell of wood and glue permeated the air.

    "Yes, one of your helpers out there said I should come see."

    "We have two of the four drawers done, and the last two should be done in a couple of days. I know you won''t mind, but I found a better way to slide the drawer along the rails."

    I pulled out one of the drawers, and it came out smoothly. "Good work, Mikel. How are your other projects?"

    "Not too bad now that I have help. I really hope that all the effort we put into the reaper pays off."

    "You and me both, my friend. I have to say I''m excited for harvest time. I can''t wait to see how much we bring in."

    "I have heard that your subjects are trying to figure out how to thresh the wheat with another invention. I can''t imagine how they would do that."

    "Neither can I, Mikel."

    Especially since I had no idea what threshing was.

 Book 2 Chapter 19

    The next several days flew by as we prepared for harvest. Everyone was running around getting things ready, and I was no exception. I was trying to work with Benjamin to coordinate the best use of our men to harvest everything as quickly as possible. Everyone participated in the harvest. It didn''t matter if you were a farmer or a cook. The harvest had to be brought in, and it had to be done as quickly as possible.

    A thought occurred to me about a harvest festival. I asked Draves, and he said that in the kingdom of Falmoren, people held a harvest feast after the work was done. People gathered and ate a meal, but it was nothing more than that. In this barony, Lord Bicman would come out once everyone was gathered. He would make a speech about how grateful he was to the Endless One for a good harvest, even though they really never had one, and then go back into the manor.

    Suddenly, I was frantically trying to prepare a harvest festival. It wouldn''t be huge this year. A few games that the locals played, one seemed very similar to cornhole, and a feast. A real feast, not just some lame meal. Next year, I promised myself it would be a big party. The type where people celebrate for a couple of days and then need a day to recover. We would have more things to do and bring in crafters with wares to sell. I would set up booths and have contests.

    On top of getting all of this ready, I was forced to learn to shoot a bow. Why? Because if a noble came or I visited others, I might be expected to go on hunts. I figured out it was kind of like how all the rich people of my time took up golf. I decided then and there to invent the game of golf. That way, I wouldn''t have to huddle in the woods waiting for prey to come. I had nothing against hunting. It just really wasn''t for me. Of course, neither was golf, so maybe basketball would be better.

    So, each day, in addition to sword and spear training, I would shoot arrows. I had gotten my archery merit badge, so I knew a little about it, but that didn''t make me very good. Fortunately, all the work I was doing had already built up callouses, so I didn''t get any blisters from practicing.

    During all the craziness, we managed to complete the reaper. Unfortunately, it was an utter failure. The large blades were supposed to act like those old-fashioned mowers, but instead, they just caused most of the stocks to bend. Those they did cut scattered due to the force of the blade. After making some adjustments and trying several more times, we put the project away. It also ended up being so huge it took four mules to pull. That was resources that could have been spent elsewhere.

    We could not afford to destroy a field just to get this thing working. To say that my people were dispirited was an understatement. They had put a lot of effort and time into building this, and it was utterly worthless. I knew there was a way to do this and that we would figure it out, but I just hated to see my people like this.

    And that is how I found myself standing before a group of men giving a pep talk. "I want to thank all of you for your work on this first attempt to make a reaper. I know you are discouraged. I feel the same way. It is never fun to have your hard work go to waste. In my opinion, though, this is not a waste. We have learned what does not work and why. When experimenting, failure is the norm. But I want you to think of this failure as a large stone. We can look at it and tell ourselves it is an obstacle that prevents us from succeeding, or we can think of it as a stepping stone that will eventually lead us to success. We may have many of these stepping stones disguising themselves as obstacles blocking our way. But if we overcome them, we will succeed. I want you all to think about what we learned and figure out what we can do to make something that works. By the next harvest, I want to have something new to try. The first mechanical reaper will be built in Bicman, and it will change the world."

    My speech helped to lift their spirits a little, and as they walked away, I could tell they were determined to make this work.

    I wish I could say that harvest time was exciting, but it really wasn''t. What I can say is that the grain warehouse in Bicman was full for the first time in anyone''s memory. We may have to build an extra one in each village for next year. The harvest did not stop with grain, though. Vegetables were harvested and preserved. Cotton was also being gathered, which meant it was time for me to try and recreate my sketches of the cotton gin.

    Why was the cotton gin something I remembered? It was all thanks to Buttface. I don''t remember her name, but I do remember how annoying she was when we were assigned groups to research and present inventions in agriculture. She insisted we do the cotton gin because some people believed that some woman with the last name Greene invented it and the guy who got credit for it didn''t. There was no concrete proof either way, so I couldn''t see how it mattered. I couldn''t care less who got the credit, but every time we met up to work on the project, she got on her soap box and complained about how women were undervalued. A true hard-core feminist.

    She wrote the report, and all I had to do was draw pictures on fake aged paper to make it seem like the original schematics. The other guy in the group did nothing because she insisted on doing all the research. She wanted me to pass the drawings around the room as she presented. Right before class, I wrote at the bottom of each page, "Really invented by:" whoever that guy''s name was. So, as she was giving her long-winded report about the injustice of the treatment of women when it came to getting credit for their work, guys in the class were snickering about what I had written.

    We got an "A" on the project, but Buttface never forgave me. Win-win, in my opinion.

    A few days after the grain harvesting, I was getting reports from Benjamin when we got news from Melnon that the dam was starting to be worked on. We had put all other projects on hold while we were preparing for harvest, so it was nice to see that things other than the harvest were starting up again. We had laid the foundation for the mill northeast of Kerisi, but we had decided to wait for Sanders to return and look over the sawmill design.

    We had received a letter about ten days back asking if he could bring a trusted friend. An older gentleman he had worked with for many years. Older probably meant around fifty. People usually didn''t last too long around here once their health started to decline.

    Also, he informed me that nasty rumors had been popping up about my barony and me. Most likely started by Harry, who he had cut all ties with. I was slightly concerned with how this would impact my standing. Everyone loved gossip. But, really, in the end, there wasn''t much I could do about it.

    The harvest festival cheered me up, however. We cleared a few fields and had women from all over the barony helping to prepare a meal. There were games and a few contests with prizes. Next year, I wanted to have a dunking booth. And some other carnival games. In the future, I swore to myself I would have a water-powered carousel. I spent the day doing sketches for prize winners. It was a roaring success. I am sure I got some points towards a "We Love the Baron Day!"

    "My Lord, I wanted you to take a final look at the furniture that we put in each room before the Baron of Tine arrives," Mickel said one afternoon.

    That would be the final touches on the house. At first, when my inner circle demanded that I spruce up the manor before our noble guests arrived, I balked. We had too much to do. But Benjamin insisted that if we wanted to fix the impression people had of the barony, we would have to start concerning ourselves with impressing our guests. That is how I got roped into creating an impressive new look for our manor.

    After plastering the outside walls, I whitewashed them. Then, I created a half-timber design that went halfway up the exterior wall. It would be considered old-fashioned on earth, but all my people were impressed with it. A concrete driveway ran up to the manor from the gate, ending in a large circular area where carriages could be turned around. Eventually, it would contain a fountain or something, but now it was just bushes. Bushes also lined the front of the manor.

    The interior had also been spruced up. I painted small scenic pictures for each room. I would have loved to do large ones, but I was running low on paint. I had designed a mosaic of the Bicman seal to be placed on the floor as people entered the great hall. I wanted a large one, but with all the other work, I didn''t want to risk it being half-done by the time the guests arrived.

    As we entered the old steward''s room, I was impressed by what I saw. I decided to give my guests the steward''s room and turn the front room into a small sitting room. The steward''s original table was sanded, new lacquer was applied, and a drawer was added to store paper and writing utensils.

    The goose-down pillow I had made for myself, a novelty here, went to their room. Benjamin said horse hair was becoming popular in the cities as a mattress filling, but it was too late to gather enough hair to switch out their mattresses.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    When we entered the bedroom, a smile lit up my face. A large armoire sat against the far wall. It had both regular hangers and hangers with clips for skirts. It had two drawers on the bottom. It wasn''t the most beautifully crafted piece of furniture, but Mikel''s crew was working on a decorative top and wings that could be attached to the sides. If we had enough time before our guests arrived, we would add them.

    *********

    Two weeks later, our guests arrived. Fortunately, I had gotten word from Kerisi before their carriage arrived. I had time to put on one of my outfits made of the new cotton weave. It wasn''t anything fancy on the outside, but it did look a lot better than most of my other clothes, and it was probably one of the most comfortable things I had.

    I wished I could have gotten their reaction when pulling up to the manor. From what Marshandra told me, their last visit was four years ago, when the father came to discuss Martha''s betrothal to Aaron. Apparently, none of the party was impressed, and I didn''t blame them. It took a lot of people to maintain a manor, and my father did not put much effort into it.

    The looks on the two people''s faces as they entered were those of two people who had recently had a good shock. Aaron''s grandmother, Maria, looked down at the black mosaic and gave out a little gasp that carried across the silent hall. This surprised me as I was pretty sure that mosaics were not a new thing. At least in my history of art class, I think I remember them being found in civilizations thousands of years ago. Maybe she just didn''t expect to see it here.

    Baron Tine gave her a sharp look while I tried to hide a smile. I could see a young girl hiding a bit behind the two adults. This was unexpected as I had not been told about any other guests coming with them. She was dressed as a noble, so I had to assume that she was not a handmaid or something like that. She was probably around ten years old and had the same straight, glossy black hair as her mother, Maria.

    Benjamin stepped forward and said, "Baron Amos Bicman, may I present-"

    "Baron! I thought you were regent. What has happened to Aaron?" Maria shrieked.

    "Maria, silence. Forgive me, Baron Bicman, but she is quite fatigued from the trip. I request you let me escort her to our room." Baron Tine said.

    "Nonsense, it is quite understandable for her to be concerned about her grandson''s well-being. I would be disappointed if she wasn''t. Let me assure you that Aaron is quite well. He is napping at this time. I wanted to have him here when we greet you, but he gets quite cranky if we wake him up during nap time. I shall introduce him to you as soon as he awakes and is dressed.

    "Regarding my elevation to the title of baron, I had wanted to discuss that with you later, but it looks like now is as good a time as any. It was an unfortunate miscommunication between the king and me. Like the letter I sent to you, The king received a letter explaining our situation and request for regency, but he must have misunderstood my request. Instead of granting me regency, he said that Aaron was too young and made me the baron instead. We will discuss it all later. Benjamin, please continue."

    "Lord Amos, I present Baron Klint Tine, his wife Lady Maria Tine, and their youngest daughter Ashlyn Tine."

    Because we were equal in status, Baron Tine gave a nod of the head, and the ladies curtsied.

    "Baron Tine, May I introduce you to Baron Amos Bicman," Benjamin said.

    "Greetings, all of you," I said with a smile. "Now, I apologize, but I only expected the two of you. So it is most fortunate that I had thought it would be best if you stayed in the old steward''s room, as it has a bit more room. We will have another bed brought in for you, Lady Ashlyn.

    "I will have Benjamin show you to your rooms and will call you as soon as Aaron awakes."

    Lady Maria Tine

    All of my expectations had been shattered since the moment the gate to the manor was opened. The hardened stone slabs that made up the road were like nothing I had seen before. The bumpy ride through the barony suddenly became as smooth as glass. At first, I thought the baron had torn down the manor and built a new one. The design on the outside was unlike anything I had seen before, but it was an appealing look.

    Not only had the outside changed, but all the walls on the inside had become smooth white. I had to restrain myself from reaching out and touching them. When we walked into the dining hall, I couldn''t help but gasp at the beautifully done mosaic on the floor. The black stone was polished so that the light from the chandelier and wall lamps caused it to glow.

    The boy, no, the young man who sat on the chair before us only slightly resembled the monster that we had met four years ago. He now looked like a younger version of his father. Gone was the shifty look of the boy who had skulked around the manor, leering at all the girls.

    And instead of being offended by my slight when I practically accused him of killing our grandson, he played it off with such decorum that I could scarcely believe it. He even praised me for my concern¡ªmore the actions of one of our courtiers rather than a baron.

    "This is your room, My Lord." The steward said as he opened the door.

    As we entered, My eyes were immediately drawn to a picture on the side wall. It was a depiction of a beautiful green valley with a lone outcropping of rock on one side covered in grass. On the outcropping sat a lone tree with pink and white blossoms on it. A stream ran to the side of the rock. The sunlight sparkled in the water, and the fallen petals of the tree drifted lazily.

    Before I was even finished examining the picture, Ashlyn had run up to it. After looking at it for a long moment, she turned to me and said, "Mother, are we in a fairy tale? This picture must have been painted by magic. It is as if I am looking out a window."

    "That my lady is one of My Lord''s favorites. He calls it "The Lone Sakura."

    "What is a Sakura?" Ashlyn asked.

    "He says it is an ancient word meaning a blossoming cherry tree."

    "What is a cherry tree?"

    "I do not know, My Lady. Most of the master''s paintings come from his imagination. So, the name may have come from there as well. He is known throughout the barony for his excellent stories."

    "Are you saying Lord Amos painted this himself?"

    "Painting is his passion. In fact, Count Vaspar paid one hundred gold crowns for a portrait of himself. It was all the news in Vaspar a couple of months ago. May I show you your room?"

    We left the sitting room and entered the bedroom. A small table sat to one side with a polished brass mirror on it, as well as what I assumed were cosmetic supplies. The scent was that of honeysuckle. I preferred a milder scent, but I knew Ashlyn would approve. What surprised me was what stood along the far wall. A large wooden box with doors. It looked like an armor case, but the open doors showed that it must have been something else. All our clothes had been hung neatly on hooks of some sort.

    "This, My Lord and Lady, is an armoire inspired by the armor case used by knights, but it is for nobles to hang their clothes in to keep them from getting creases," Benjamin said.

    The steward then went on to explain how dresses, shirts, pants, and skirts could be hung. Then he proceeded to explain the drawers below, which held our undergarments and stockings.

    I looked over to see that Ashlyn had picked up a strange wooden circle with what looked like bristles attached to it.

    "What is this?" She asked.

    Benjamin smiled, "That young lady is a hair brush. You run the bristles through your hair. It is much better than a comb. It is another of Lord Amos''s inventions. Two months ago, no one had ever seen one, and now all of the women of Bicman cannot do without them. He had that one made for your mother, but I am sure he will have one for you by the end of the day."

    She immediately began brushing her hair and, after a few minutes, began to sigh with delight as the last snarl was removed. She continued to brush and look at herself in the mirror. After a few more minutes, she reached back and felt her hair.

    "It feels so good," she whispered.

    "If you will excuse me, I must attend to my other duties. Some rosemary mint tea is being made for you and will be brought in shortly. Is there anything else you require?"

    "No," Klint said, "You have been most kind. "But might I ask where you are from? You are not the steward that was here before."

    "No, My Lord, I am the son of the steward of Duke Kimton. The duke specifically requested that I take over the duties of the steward when the old steward died."

    "Did he die due to the same illness that took our Martha?" I asked.

    "That is something best discussed with the baron," He said formally. "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave. I will retrieve you when Lord Aaron awakes."

    As soon as the man left, I turned to Klint and said, "What is going on here? This is not the same manor we visited four years ago. It is, like Ashlyn said, a fairytale or an illusion."

    "That is exactly what it is. An illusion. Someone wiped out the family and is using Amos as a puppet. There is no way the son of a duke''s steward is here by chance. He is working for someone. For some reason, they are propping Lord Amos up."

    "But why? There is nothing here."

    "If that is, in fact, his artwork and a single picture sold for one hundred gold, then I would assume that he is making someone rich in exchange for getting rid of his family."

    "Do you truly think so?"

    "It is a possibility. He sits out here painting, and someone sells his work for more than this barony is worth. But that is not why we are here. We are here for our grandson. That is all I care about. We are not even a part of the same duchy. Let the nobles of this land play their own games."

    "What do you think it will cost us?" I whispered

    "Leave that to me," He whispered, looking back towards the other room.

    I shuttered, "Klint, No. We can''t. She wasn''t even supposed to come."

    "Things have changed. We need an heir."

 Book 2 Chapter 20

    "So what do you think, Benjamin? Were they suitably impressed?" I said, trying not to show my nervousness.

    "You did well, My Lord," He nodded. "The young lady was particularly impressed with your painting. She said it was like she was in a fairy tale.¡±

    That made me smile. "I may be losing that picture then."

    "You do enjoy spoiling children," he agreed.

    "It is a curse I have to bear," I said with an exaggerated sigh, "So what next?"

    I believe we follow the first plan. Introduce them to Aaron and explain your future plans. With the young lady here, it might be good to assign her an escort. I am sure she has a maid, but I thought Emily might be able to show the young one around as you deal with the parents.

    "Our knight protector would be a perfect fit," I agreed. "I did not like how Lady Tine automatically assumed that something had happened to Aaron just because I was baron. I almost lost my composure."

    "It was to be expected."

    "I get it, but it still gets under my skin," I grumbled. "How are we going to find out why they are really here."

    "Patience. They will reveal it when the time comes. I doubt they brought their daughter to marry you. The alliance would be unprofitable for them."

    "Marry? She is like ten years old!"

    "My Lord, it continually baffles me why you think this is a deterrent. She would be able to bear children in a few years. The marriages between nobles have always been about alliances. Why do you insist that yours should be different."

    "Just because I don''t want to marry a little kid doesn''t mean I am opposed to alliances."

    "But you are limiting yourself. It would be a good match. The information we received from my father the other day shows that they are wealthy and most likely have excellent connections. Just because your father didn''t see fit to utilize their influence doesn''t mean we cannot."

    "So what? You want me to propose an alliance through marriage? We already have Aaron, and if we make him my heir, that will be more than enough."

    Benjamin thought for a moment, "That is true, but again, I do not like your idea of adopting Aaron. It limits your prospects of potential brides. No baron worth allying with is going to create a union if the offspring do not have the right to inherit. Well, except Baron Tine."

    "We will play it by ear," I said to end the conversation. "How many people did they bring with them?"

    ¡°Five servants and ten guards. Three of the servants will stay in the great hall, and the rest will stay in the barracks.¡±

    ¡°I''m glad we got the barracks cleaned up and plastered. Do you think that the other people who visit will bring the same amount of people?¡±

    ¡°Most likely.¡±

    ¡°Good, then the design for my guest house should be just right?¡±

    "The Architecture is certainly unique."

    Just wait until I can make glass. Then I will show you unique.

    We discussed some reports until Emily finally came in with Aaron. He was all dressed up and ready to meet his grandparents.

    "Where is Nora?" I asked.

    "She was too nervous. She was worried about meeting a baron."

    "Hey! I''m a baron." I said indignantly.

    "Yeah, but this is different."

    "I am thinking I should be offended."

    "That just proves my point. She doesn''t have to worry about upsetting you because you''re... Well, you''re you."

    "Ok fine. I get it. I am a kind, wise, and magnanimous leader, and not everyone is as great as me."

    This caused Emily to snort.

    "Should you be carrying Aaron in your delicate condition," I said with a smirked.

    "Now that I am a Freeman, what are the consequences of killing a baron, Steward Benjamin," Emily whispered in an annoyed tone. I am sure she was faking it.

    "Death." He said flatly.

    "It must be nice to be nobility," she said with a grumble.

    "Come on, Em. I am just looking out for you."

    "I don''t see how teasing me is, looking out for me."

    "I am a misunderstood baron. Well, Aaron, ready to go meet Baron Gramps and Lady Grams."

    Benjamin cringed at that. "You are slipping, My Lord. Please remember your manners around the guests."

    "Will do."

    A few minutes later, Benjamin knocked on the door. A maid greeted us and turned back into the room to say, Baron Amos Bicmon and party to visit, My Lord.

    "Let them enter," Baron Tine said in a dignified voice. I entered with Aaron, followed by Benjamin, and then Emily.

    "Lord and Lady Tine, may I introduce you to Aaron Bicman the Third, your grandson."

    I smiled as Maria reached out to grab Aaron.

    He shied away at first, but I said, "Come on, Aaron, This is your Grandmother."

    I held him out, and eventually, he went to her. He was used to being passed around from person to person in the manor, so he was pretty easygoing around new people.

    Lady Tine hugged Aaron tightly, and when she held him back a bit, tears were in her eyes. Ashlyn came up beside her, and Maria knelt so Ashlyn could see her nephew. Klint held a stoic expression, not giving any indication he would show any affection towards his grandson. I was not going to judge. Some people aren''t good with children or don''t express emotion well.

    "Thank you for keeping my grandson safe," he said in an emotionless tone as he looked at the boy.

    "Of course, he is family. I would give my life for him if necessary." I said. Trying to convey the seriousness of my words. "He is all the family I have left and the true heir to the barony. My only regret is that he was passed over by the king. Do not worry, though it is an issue I hope to rectify soon."

    "How so?"

    "I want to adopt him. This way, he can have back what is rightfully his."

    "I see," he said, giving a slight frown that I didn''t understand. Shouldn''t he want his grandson to inherit? Or was it me that he was dissatisfied with?

    "I also wanted to present a Freeman, Emily Papermaker. I know it is common for the children of visiting nobles to be shown around by nobles of a similar age, but unfortunately, I am the only one here."

    This caused Klint''s face to darken a bit, and I could see he was about to object.

    "And I will also note that Emily was raised to the status of Freeman for saving Aaron''s life. If the law had allowed it, she would have been given a higher status. She put herself in harm''s way and almost died to protect him."

    Ashlyn''s eyes went wide at my statement, and she turned to her father. "Please, Father, I will take the guard with us. I do want to see more of the manor."

    There was a long pause before he said, "Fine, but also take your maid. It appears that Lord Bicman and I have things to discuss."

    Lord Tines''s eyes were hard as he looked at me. He was definitely not happy to hear about his grandson''s life being in danger. I hadn''t even meant to say it. It was one of those "foot in mouth" moments. I was just trying to defend Emily and explain how amazing she was.

    "I agree," I said in a formal tone. I was going to go all in on this and hope for the best.

    After the children left Baron Tine gave me a hard look, "What is this concerning Aaron being in danger?"

    "First, you must understand the true nature of the conspiracy that caused my family''s death. After I wrote my first letter to you, we discovered that the cause of death was actually poison. They used the illness that was spreading through the house to mask the murders. We found out that the steward was the one poisoning them and that his orders had come from someone close to the duke. We have ruled out it being the duke, but it is someone in his court."

    "How did the girl save my grandson?" Klint said abruptly.

    "That came later. I was visiting Vaspar when a man broke into the manor. He attempted to kill Aaron. During the attempt, the man killed Aaron''s nursemaid and the guard that was posted there. After he had flung Emily against a wall and broken her arm, she attacked him from behind while he was distracted.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "Since then, we have caught the last man in the employ of the one who was trying to kill my family and increased the security. We are taking every precaution to make sure Aaron is never put in harm''s way again."

    "You are not doing enough. Do you think these people will stop? It was not just your father they were after. They want to wipe out your family. You must give me the boy and take him to Tine. I will adopt him, and then they will have no reason to try and kill him."

    "What!?" I shouted, "Are you saying that I cannot protect Aaron? I did not let the king take away his birthright, and I am certainly not going to let you!"

    "Stop playing this foolish game, boy. You know my situation and are using Aaron''s life as a bargaining chip," he said cooly.

    "What situation?!¡± Unlike him, I did not do a good job of controlling my emotions. "I invited you here because I wanted you to see your grandson. I figured you would be grieving over the death of your daughter, and I was hoping meeting your grandson would help."

    "You act like you care about the boy, but you deliberately put him in harm''s way by trying to adopt him."

    "I am not going to sit here and listen to this. Benjamin, we are leaving," I said.

    Before I left, I said, slightly calmer, "Enjoy your time with Aaron, but I will not let you take the last of my family away from me."

    ********

    As we entered my study, I began to pace, trying to calm down. Benjamin stood there quietly. "What do they want with him?" I grumbled. That jerk thinks I can''t take care of Aaron. He thinks I''m not good enough. What a jerk."

    I growled in frustration. "Say something, Benjamin."

    "You want me to agree with you, and I cannot." He said sternly.

    "What are you talking about? The man was talking nonsense."

    "You are the one acting foolish, not him."

    "I''m not the one trying to steal Aaron''s inheritance; he is," I said stubbornly.

    "And why is he trying to take Aaron away," Benjamin said calmly.

    "Because he thinks he can raise him better than me."

    "Lord Amos, I have come to expect better of you than this."

    "Fine, I don''t know why he wants Aaron. He said something about a situation." I said. All I wanted to do was throw something right now. I wanted to rage. I haven''t been this upset since I saw how the people of Karr were being treated. Benjamin was right, though. I needed to calm down. No one thought clearly when they were angry.

    "Sorry, Benjamin, give me a minute to calm down."

    I sat down in my chair and did some relaxation exercises. It didn''t really help, but  it gave me some time to think.¡± He said I knew his situation and I was using Aaron as a bargaining chip. That pissed me off. Why would he assume I knew anything about his family? Was it something to do with the marriage? How would¡­ I looked up at Benjamin. "Benjamin, get me the marriage contract of my brother. I know I have seen it, but I cannot remember where."

    "I know where it is. Just a moment."

    Dang, I am glad that guy is so organized.

    After retrieving it, I began to read it out loud. The language was so flowery that I could not make heads or tails of it. But I heard Benjamin say "Ah," and I knew he had found something.

    "What?" I said in confusion.

    "The last passage you read. It said that they would receive the second-born son from the union."

    I looked at the paper. "Maybe if you tilt your head sideways and squint, but I am pretty sure it does not say that."

    "I am rephrasing it, My Lord."

    "I know, I am just messing with you."

    "Glad to see you have your sense of humor back." His expression gave no indication that he really meant that. "My Lord, they have no sons. They need an heir."

    I let out a slow, "Ohh¡­ Well, they can find a different one. They can''t have Aaron."

    "May I be frank with you, My Lord."

    "I''m not going to like this, am I?"

    "No, My Lord. You will not."

    "You want to tell me that Aaron would be better off with his grandparents," I said unhappily.

    "I was going to say he would be safer."

    "But he is going to inherit this barony. I am going to make it the most amazing barony ever. He was going to be so proud of me. He was going to see how hard I worked to make everything. Everything I am doing, I am doing for him. Without him¡­ Without him, what''s the point of it all?"

    "If he were not here, would you be fine with another baron taking over? Would you just walk away? How would Emily be treated if you weren''t here? Would she get to continue to be in charge of papermaking? Would Jacklin be allowed to teach? What about the other freedoms you give to everybody?"

    "Fine, he isn''t the only reason I am sticking around. But he''s a big one. I can''t let him go just because some baron who has better lands than me wants him."

    "Not just some baron, his grandfather. In court, he might be able to use the marriage contract as a legitimate excuse to take Aaron. You are young and healthy. According to the law, you are the true baron, so there is no reason for you to need to adopt when you could just get married."

    I snorted at that.

    "You have to think of the political consequences as well. Do you want to make an enemy out of the Baron of Tine?"

    "So you think I should let him take Aaron?"

    ¡°I think you should hear him out and not act like a fool when he gives his reasons for why he would be a good option for custodian."

    "I shouldn''t be the south end of a donkey, got it. So do I request he come in?"

    "First, we have to decide what we want. In return for Aaron."

    "No! I am not using him as a bargaining chip. If Aaron does go with him, it will not be an exchange."

    Benjamin sighed, "My Lord, this is how things are done."

    "I am not going to use Aaron as leverage in a negotiation."

    "Then don''t. Ask for something less valuable and say that all you ask in return is that Aaron is well taken care of. You get something, but you are still showing that you are more concerned about your nephew than what you are getting in return."

    "And you have some ideas, I assume?"

    Benjamin gave a slight smile, "Yes, I do."

    *******

    Half a bell later, I invited Lord Tine back to my office. As he came in, I gave him just a slight bow.

    ¡°Lord Tine, I apologize for my rudeness earlier. It was unbecoming of me.¡± I said.

    ¡°I am also at fault. I misread the situation as a negotiation and sought leverage in my remarks. My wife pointed out afterward that I was being insensitive to your true feelings about our grandson. I thought you were trying to hold on tight to Aaron as a resource with which to bargain. In hindsight, this was not the case.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Apparently, your visit is more important to you than just a social call. After you left, I reviewed the marriage contract between my brother and Martha. It appears that you are in need of an heir.¡± I let out a deep sigh. ¡°The idea that there is a better option for Aaron than living with me and receiving his birthright causes me to feel I have failed him. However, one thing you said does ring true. His life is indeed in danger here. I cannot allow my pride or selfishness to put Aaron''s life in danger.¡±

    ¡°You are not the man I expected you to be. You have changed, and you have changed this barony. This is not the same place I visited four years ago. It is not just the physical change but the change in the atmosphere. I almost regret asking to take Aaron from a place I believe he could be happy. But I must again request that you allow me to take my grandson.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know if what he said was just to make me feel better. Like all nobles, he was a politician. But this wasn''t about me, and it wasn''t Lord Tine. This was about what was best for Aaron.

    Keeping my tone business, I said, ¡°So let us define what Aaron will be receiving. If I am giving him up into your care, I need to make sure it is the best. Right now, my only reason for giving him up is for his safety.¡±

    Klint gave me a penetrating stare. ¡°You truly only care for Aaron''s well-being, don¡¯t you?¡±

    I felt the question was rhetorical, so I waited for him to answer.

    ¡°We currently have six knights on our land, but some of them are hereditary and control up to four villages. All of our knights have a full contingent under them. As we are at war, there are not as many at home, but we have only had to replace three knights during the king''s campaign. They have been replaced, and when our people are called back, we shall receive three more. Even though we are not as well off as some Barons, like your uncle, who is closer to the capital, we have more land, and our population is expanding."

    Called back? Was the war close to ending? I need Benjamin to look into this information.

    He continued, ¡°Aaron will receive a prosperous barony with valuable connections. We have scholars prepared to give him the best education possible. He shall want for nothing and rule over a growing barony. Even if he were not in danger, I doubt you could expand your barony to be as great as what he will be given."

    We''ll see about that. I thought spitefully

    "Though I disagree with your assessment of what this barony will become within the next twenty years, I cannot ignore the fact that my nephew''s life is in danger here."

    This sucked. Tine was a good option for Aaron, considering the danger he was in here. I wished I could just hide him away somewhere, but if I died, I doubt he would get anything. Well, maybe Lord Tine would have me assassinated and take Aaron anyway. Even if he didn''t, this would turn into a legal battle, and here, possession wasn''t nine-tenths of the law. Benjamin was almost positive Klint would win if it were brought to court. His influence alone weighed heavily on the scale.

    I had a crappy hand.

    "I am willing to do this, but I have a few conditions," I said. The words were painful to speak.

    "I would not expect you to relinquish him without conditions. What is it that you want?" He said, putting on a serious face.

    "First, I would like to be allowed to visit him at any time. Second, when he is five, I would like him to visit my barony. Third, I would like him to be allowed to visit me at least once every other year until he decides he no longer wishes to visit."

    A look of confusion crossed his face, "Is there nothing else? I thought you would require¡­ Well, to tell the truth, I did not know what you would want."

    I gave a sad smile. "The well-being of my nephew is all that I want. But I am getting more all the same. A good relationship with the house of Tine is worth more than any gold I could ask for."

    "I thought you might ask for my daughter''s hand. Which is why I was reluctant to bring her."

    I blinked and knew that I had involuntarily let my mouth drop. Gathering my thoughts to save myself from embarrassment, I said, "If I am willing to give up Aaron for the sake of his safety, I would never put your daughter in danger by requesting her hand."

    The real issue was that I wasn''t about to marry a preteen.

    "Again, I have to apologize for my assumptions about your character." He said.

    I grinned, "I have changed a lot since we last met. So, it is not hard to imagine that your initial impression was less than favorable. I have had to repair a lot of damaged relationships since I have matured."

    "I see. This being the case, there is a way I think I might be able to return your generosity. I have a good acquaintance in Vaspar. If you are planning to attend the winter gatherings in Vaspar, he has a nice manor in the city that I am sure you could use. I am sure he would house you if I asked. He moves in prominent circles within the Duchy, so most likely, he will be there rather than Vaspar. Even if he is staying in Vaspar the whole time, I am sure he has room for you and a small entourage."

    I had no idea what the winter gatherings entailed, but there was no way that I would have time to go down there. I just had too much to do. I was about to explain that I would not be able to attend when Benjamin spoke up.

    "My Lord, I understand that we did not intend to visit Vaspar this winter due to the many things that we must get done here and the fact that you have visitors coming. But I believe we can organize anything that needs to be done before we depart and put Edward in charge. Also, If you were in Vaspar, you could get even more of the paintings done and would not have to have people come here to get them done."

    I thought for a moment. I really didn''t want to go. I was afraid to screw things up, but on the other hand, it would keep people out of my barony, and I would still be making money for us. It wasn''t like I was going to be directly building anything for us here. I caught Benjamin''s gaze, and the look in his eyes told me this was one of my noble duties if I wanted the barony to prosper. Even if Aaron''t did not become Baron of Bicman, I still wanted him to be proud of this place. I would make this the best barony in the kingdom.

    "Lord Tine, this is most appreciated. I look forward to attending." Inwardly I groaned.

 Book 2 Chapter 21

    Emily Papermaker

    I looked at the girl walking next to me. She was a few years younger than I was. She was wearing her black hair in a braid. Her dress was very heavily embroidered, much like Martha''s dresses. She didn''t have the same sneer on her face that Martha always wore. She was actually staring at me as we walked down the hall.

    "I have never heard of a serf who saved a noble to become a Freeman." She said in awe.

    I bristled a little bit at that, and I don''t even know why. Maybe it was because I was used to the way Amos treated me. He was worried for me, but he didn''t seem the least surprised that I had helped to kill the assassin. It was almost like he believed I could do anything.

    "Well, now you have," I said, a little sharper than I should have when dealing with a noble. I wanted to kick myself. I couldn''t speak with a baron''s daughter this way. She could have me beaten. This was all Amos''s fault. I was about to apologize when Ashlyn said something else.

    "It is so weird that you are a Freeman and a servant. All of our servants are peasants."

    "Actually, I am not a servant. I am a Papermaker." I said, with pride in my voice. Ugh, why did I say that? It wasn''t a big deal to a noble what I was.

    "What is a papermaker?" she asked in surprise, "It sounds strange."

    "Paper is something you write on. Like parchment or papyrus."

    "Really! And you make it! Why don''t we have paper." She rambled.

    "Do you want to see some?"

    Her eyes lit up. "Yes."

    We walked through the great hall, where they were setting everything up for the evening meal. Navigating around the people in the kitchen, we went to the back storage room, where the extra paper was stored. I opened the small box, pulled out a sheet, and handed it to her. She held it up and looked at it.

    "How do you make it?"

    I beamed with satisfaction at her interest, but I bit my tongue. "You will have to ask Lord Amos. He asked me not to tell anyone."

    "Not only did you save a noble''s life, but you also are entrusted with the secrets of your Lord!" Her eyes went wide. "Are you his lover?"

    I immediately turned bright red. "What? I-I, why would you say that?"

    "We had a traveling minstrel come to our manor one time. He told a story of a girl who once saved the life of a Baron''s son, and he fell in love with her. She became his lover. I really didn''t understand why everybody liked the story, but in the end, the baron killed both of them because of the shame his son brought on the family. You are lucky Lord Amos''s father is dead."

    "Wait, we aren''t lovers." I almost shouted. Oh no, everyone in the kitchen probably heard that.

    "But you like him, right? Father said freemen and peasants turn red when they like someone, but nobles are more dignified and don''t show their emotions openly. He gets really mad when Mother does. I don''t really like anyone, so I am not worried. But Father said if I find someone handsome, I should never show it; otherwise, they will try and take advantage of my foolishness. Do you find Lord Amos handsome?" She said excitedly.

    I tried not to blush, but my face felt hot, "Well, yes, but, um, that doesn''t mean¡­" Ugh, I wish this girl was a peasant so I could tell her to shut up.

    "Don''t worry if I get married to Lord Amos; you can be his mistress, and we can be best friends. I saw that in a play at the capital last year. It was a really funny play. But I didn''t understand all the jokes."

    I felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped on my head.

    "Wh-what do you mean, married?"

    "I didn''t know until just before you came in. They were discussing about how they were worried about Amos not giving them Aaron and-"

    "Wait, what do you mean, give them, Aaron?"

    Ashlyn let out a dramatic sigh as if she were trying to explain something to a child. "That''s why they came. They need Aaron to be the heir, and so they came to ask what Lord Amos wanted in exchange. Mother and Father were arguing, and Father won. If Amos insists I marry him in exchange for Aaron, then that is what will happen."

    I felt a little dizzy, and my heart started beating rapidly. Ashlyn continued to drone on, but it was just buzzing in my ears.

    Exchange Aaron for- for this girl? Marry her, he couldn''t.

    "Hey, are you OK?" Ashlyn shouted.

    "Does Amos know about this? Aaron, I mean." I wanted to shake the answer out of her.

    "Well, of course, that is why he invited us."

    I thought for a moment and then shook my head. Amos had no clue. I know Amos. There is no way he would have let these people anywhere near Aaron if he thought they were going to try and take him away.

    "Hey, I saw a picture in the great room. I want to look at it." She said, completely changing the subject.

    Amos

    "How was the tour of the manor with Emily?" I asked Ashlyn as we sat at the table, eating salted pork and a vegetable stew.

    Her eyes sparkled in delight as she said, "It was a wonderful day, Lord Amos."

    "Please call me Amos or Cousin Amos. We are practically related. What was your favorite thing you did?"

    She scrunched up her face for a second and said, "Everything, My¡ªI mean Amos. We looked at paintings. That one is my favorite in here," she said, pointing out a picture of a waterfall flowing into a lake. The lake was crystal clear, and you could see the myriad of fish in it. There was a white sand beach with two palm trees across the lake. It was called a hidden lake due to the high cliffs and mountains that surrounded it.

    "My favorite, though, is the Lone Sa- Sakura. Did I say that right?"

    "Yes, very good."

    "Oh, and Emily showed me how to make paper airplanes. They are so fun. Amos, can you draw a picture of me like you did of Emily?"

    "That is quite enough, Ashlyn. Lord Bicman is a busy man and does not have time to deal with such things." Lord Tine said.

    "It is quite all right. Painting and drawing is my passion. It should not take too long to draw her. And please call me Amos. We are family."

    "As you wish, and you may call me Klint and Lady Tine, Marie."

    "Excellent. Actually, I would love to paint all of you together with Aaron."

    Ashlyn gave a small pout, but it quickly changed to a smile when I said, "Don''t worry, Ashlyn, I will draw a picture of just you. Now, onto the next thing. After discussing things with my steward, we decided that we would be ready to leave within the week. He believes that that will put us in Vaspar just in time for the winter festivities to start. I am sending a letter down to one of my contacts there to see if I can get some outfits made. If you would like, he can carry a message to your friend to inform him of our coming."

    "That would be an excellent plan," Klint said. "If you don''t mind, it has been a while since I had a moment to relax. How is the hunting around here?"

    ¡°The most common animals to hunt around here are stags and boars. At least, that was my father''s preferred quarry. We do have hounds that I hear are very good at their jobs."

    "You say this as if you do not hunt yourself," Klint said in surprise.

    "Unfortunately, my father refused to take me hunting, hence my proficiency with art. Now that I have the freedom to do as I please, I am in the process of learning the appropriate skills."

    I loved the fact that I could blame all my faults on Amos''s dead father. It made things so much easier.

    "I am beginning to understand some of your behaviors when we first met. You must accompany me on some hunts while I am here. I will help you so that when you are with others of our status, you can be more welcomed."

    "Your offer is greatly appreciated. I almost fear leaving my barony due to my inadequate education." I said.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    We chatted for a while longer before I told them that I needed to catch up on correspondence.

    I went to my study and tried not to think about losing Aaron. I looked over the report on the construction projects and the estimated concrete production. My next project for the manor was to expand it with concrete walls. I had wanted the Manor to look as impressive as possible for when my visitors came, but now I was wondering if I should waste the concrete.

    Benjamin would probably tell me to push forward with the idea. Appearances were everything to nobles, so I had to do things to keep up with them now that I was trying to get trade moving in this direction. Was this that whole, spend money to make money thing? Fortunately, we were only saving 20% of the concrete for this project.

    We had to turn the soil after the harvest and plant the winter wheat and beans in the fields. The fields that had wheat planted would be left fallow, and the others we would plant with the wheat and winter vegetables. We will be plowing more fields this fall to get ready for a larger crop next year. We will also start experimenting with the guano next year.

    It was too bad the reaper hadn''t worked. But that was the nature of progress.

    Once we had the trip hammer and large water-powered bellow, we could start experimenting with the blast furnace or puddling furnace. A puddling furnace would be initially easier, but why waste the effort if we could just skip to the blast furnace? Building it would also require a lot of brick. In the end, though, we would be able to produce a large quantity of iron. Once we are able to balance the carbon level, steel would be next.

    My thoughts kept turning back to Aaron as I tried to distract myself. I wanted to just wallow in pity, but I knew that was the worst thing I could do when depressed. It was a fine balance between allowing myself to grieve versus not allowing myself to spiral into depression.

    There was a knock at the door, and I looked up from my doodling, which I enjoyed doing when I was thinking.

    "Come in," I said.

    Emily came in, and she didn''t look well.

    "You OK, Em?" I said in concern.

    She was hesitant to speak at first, but after waiting for a minute, it all came out in a rush, "Lady Ashlyn said they came to take Aaron away. And¡ª Um¡­" She turned red and stopped talking.

    "I know," I said with a sigh. "We have already discussed it."

    "But you aren''t, are you?" She pleaded.

    "Em. He isn''t safe here. None of us are. I wish I could stop the attempts on our lives from happening, but this is an opportunity to keep him safe. They also have the law on their side. His father was supposed to give the Baron of Tine his second son. Because I am now the baron instead of him, the courts would side with the baron in taking him away."

    I saw tears well up in her eyes.

    "I''m sorry, Em. There isn''t anything I can do. It is hard for me, too. I just have to remind myself that I can still visit, and they promised that they would visit with him. Tell you what, when I go visit, you can come too."

    There was a long pause while she tried to get her emotions under control.

    "What about the¡ªthe other thing."

    "Uh, the other thing?"

    She turned slightly pink. "You know, the other thing she said."

    I rolled my eyes. "Em, how am I supposed to know the other thing she said?"

    Now, she became a little angry. "About you and her getting married."

    I paused for a moment to process what she was saying, "She said she was going to marry me?"

    For the first time, I seriously thought about the image of me marrying a little kid. The vision I came up with in my head made me laugh. As I was laughing, Emily started turning red with anger. "Don''t make fun of me. That is what she said."

    When I finally calmed down, I said, "I wasn''t laughing at you; I was laughing at the image of me marrying a little kid. Don''t worry, Em, I am not going to marry some kid who hasn''t even lost all her baby fat. Besides, if I am trying to keep people from being in danger, why would I marry someone."

    She looked relieved, and I didn''t blame her. I had no idea how that little kid would treat my servants if I married her. Well, actually, I am sure that Em and the rest of my people would warn me if I did something stupid like try and marry a jerk.

    I knew that her anger was probably more due to her crush on me, but that was an issue I did not want to touch. I had tried to pretend I was imagining it at first but I had to admit it''s probably what was going on. I couldn''t bring myself to discuss it with her. I didn''t want things to be awkward for her.

    "But seriously, Em, we will try to see Aaron as often as we can," I promised.

    "OK, I''m sorry about everything. I wish there were something else we could do."

    "Me too, Emily. Thanks for caring." I said, trying not to think about it.

    We both stood there for an awkward moment before Emily headed for the door. "You''re a good person, Amos. Aaron is lucky to have you," she said as she left.

    "Thanks, Em," I said softly enough that I doubted she heard.

    I sighed and decided it was time to write another short story¡ªwell, write down a story that I stole from Earth. I wonder if I could start a magical school fad like what happened at the turn of the century. I certainly wasn''t going to touch vampires or werewolves. I needed a printing press.

    The problem was that I only had a general idea of how the printing press worked: carve out blocks, put them in a frame, and press paper on them. Oh, and I also had no time to work on it, nor did I have anyone else to do it. My carpenters were all busy, and so were the smiths. I might die before I get the darn thing invented.

    I wrote the story of a boy with a really long name who fell into a well. I loved that book as a kid, and my niece always loved it when I read it to her. Right now, I would give anything to see my family. Family was the best.

    Dang, I was going to miss that kid.

    By the time I finished the text and a couple of the pictures, the light was starting to fade. I would have an early morning if I went out hunting, and I didn''t want to waste lamp oil, so I headed to bed.

    **************

    The next morning, I was up before the sun rose over the mountains. One thing I loved about this place was the fresh scent of crisp air in the morning. We headed to the forest west of Bicman. The game we were hunting for was rabbits, pheasants, or deer. Fortunately, I wasn''t expected to hit anything. Actually, I was told not to try on this hunt. They wanted me to observe and say nothing, so I didn''t scare the game. It was the type of thing noble children would learn when they were first taken out.

    I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I learned a few hand gestures to communicate and practiced walking quietly through the woods. Lord Tine said he actually preferred to hunt with dogs, but this was good practice for me. We found several trails, and I was shown some of the hunters'' snares. By the end of the day, I was still pretty clumsy, but I managed not to scare away all the game.

    One thing that impressed Lord Tine was the stirrups and horseshoes. He was very impressed with my ingenuity and, like everyone else, could not figure out why someone hadn''t invented them before.

    We took a tour of Bicman in the afternoon, and he got to see the farmers in the field with the new plows. I had thought about hiding it from him, but this was one of those inventions that I wasn''t expecting to make money on, so I didn''t try to steer him away from the fields.

    In fact, I decided to specifically show it to him. This would improve his barony, and that would, in turn, help Aaron. I wanted Aaron''s barony to succeed just as much as I wanted my own to. If the kingdom became wealthy, maybe it would prevent more wars. I wasn''t sure, but I thought that perhaps the reason why there were so many wars in ancient times was because everyone wanted more land. If we could support the same number of people with less land, would that help relieve some of the need for expansion? I wish I had paid more attention in history class.

    I wasn''t naive enough to think it would fix all problems. It may even do the exact opposite. Some people just wanted power over others. But maybe it would. All I could do was hope.

    I explained to Klint how the plow increased the yields of my crops and promised to send him home with the designs. He was fascinated with the idea and ended up with the horseshoe, the collar, and the plow. I would make sure he had no clue about anything that I thought could give us an economic advantage, such as the trip hammer and sawmill.

    Well, technically, everything could give me an economic advantage if I were in the right location. But it was more about factoring in shipping costs and time.

    That evening, I introduced him to the bathhouse. The water was moved from the river through a concrete channel to the bathhouse. The pool itself was made of concrete, but the walls were made of wood. I would have liked to make it like the Romans by heating it from underneath, but we didn''t have the know-how to build it. A project for down the road. We filtered the water through a few Iron grates and then through a mesh cloth. Children of the village cleaned out the filters every day.

    The good thing about the river water being anywhere between freezing and cold was that nobody soaked for too long on most days. Braziers with charcoal were lit during the hours of use. The pool wasn''t huge, but it was enough to fit a couple of families in at a time.

    Washcloths and towels were provided on the first visit, and the family was responsible for washing them. Additional towels could be purchased.

    Eventually, we would need to create a tax on amenities maintenance, but for right now, I was footing the bill. I couldn''t wait until we had more people doing less labor-intensive jobs, and then I could create gyms and scam people into yearly subscriptions.

    The baron was fascinated by the idea but thought it was a waste to make it public. He felt I should have reserved this type of thing for nobles and those with status. In return, I explained my feelings on cleanliness and how I felt that I would see an increase in work performance from people.

    We continued to hunt every morning for the next five days. I got my first kill on the fourth day. A huge rabbit that hopped right into my line of sight. It was a lucky shot, but we cooked it for the celebration that night.

    On the evening of the fifth day, the survey team that I had sent to the coast came back. They laid out a map of locations where they thought we could break through the ridge on the shore and create a canal. The main river that flooded the marsh would be redirected into the cove through the canal. The canal would flow into the cove north of Cove Village, and we could create offshoots to irrigate the land to the south once the marsh had dried out.

    Fortunately, the canal''s length would be relatively short, about the same distance as Bicman to Melnon. That means that if we had enough people working, we might be able to build the whole canal within a year.

    This would only drain the northern portion of the marsh. Later, as we expanded, other rivers and streams south of the first river would be rerouted. So far, it didn''t look like Aquaducts would be needed, but that might change as we expanded.

    Draves and the other members of what I considered my council questioned why I even bothered with this as a priority. For me, it was paranoia. I was afraid that the nobles would decide to do something stupid, and we would have to flee. So, I decided I wanted a location near the coast. My plan was for a fort of sorts up in the mountain area where I could put a few water wheels and build it into a village. I could put a sawmill there and float wood down to the coast in order to build ships. It was going to be awesome. The road to get to it would be hidden. And its location is well fortified. I mean, who wouldn''t want a secret base?

    We planned to build a Pootba plantation and sugar factory in the drained marshes. Once we proved a sound business model and started making money, we could hire more soldiers. I would become the Sugar Baron.

    The project would start as soon as the road from Melnon to Bicman was widened, as well as making the trail to Cove Village into a road. Then, we would move the road crew from road building to fort building. It would initially be made of wood and stone, but after the canal was built, I wanted a keep built out of concrete and, later, a wall large enough to encompass a town. Like I said, it was going to be awesome.

 Book 2 Chapter 22

    Sanders

    "Dear, why would you ask me to come to this place? Look at it. The houses are little better than hovels, and everything is so plain." Francine said to me in a weary voice.

    "Because I couldn''t live without you, my darling," I said with a gentle smile. We had just arrived in Kerisi, and I was prepared to receive this reaction. Going from the center of society to this barony would be a hardship for her.

    "Flattery will get you nowhere, dear. You have taken me away from my friends and grandchildren. The winter ball is coming up, and instead of being with my friends, I have to live in a hut in the middle of nowhere while you tinker with a noble''s crazy ideas."

    "We have discussed this. It is for you as much as me. Lord Amos is willing to pay me a salary for three years. It was becoming harder and harder to get work in Vaspar, and I was having to spend more time away from home. The prices there were also rising. We had already had to reduce the size of our home once. Doing it again would set us back socially, and you could forget about being invited over to any receptions."

    She sighed, "Three years, Sanders, without civilization."

    "The baron is providing us with a house and a salary. If I save that money, we can live comfortably in the city when we return. I have picked out a lovely location here for us to live. The town of Cofi has a beautiful lake, and I secured a place there that any of your friends in the city would be envious of."

    Just then, Headman Paul approached us. "Gentleman Sanders and Gentlewoman Francine, A meal has been prepared for you. Let us go to my home so that I might host you, and then we shall continue to Cofi. As I understand, your home has been nearly completed and is ready for you to move in."

    "Delightful. Thank you for the invitation."

    We were treated to a meal that I had grown to love here: a flatbread sandwich with river-chilled mar milk. Afterward, we had one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had. She called it apple pie. The tartness of the apple was balanced by a sweet flavor that I couldn''t identify. My wife became fast friends with the headman''s wife, and she accompanied us down to Cofi. I think the friendship was due to because Paul''s wife, Suzy, was such a good listener.

    On the way down, Suzy shared another treat with us. She called it hard candy, and it had a sweet huckleberry flavor. Well, at least that is what Suzy said. It was quite a bit sweeter. Before we knew it, the small bag was empty.

    Apparently, the same ingredient was used in apple pie. And this mystery ingredient was what made both taste so good. It was exclusive to Bicman. Also, it was very difficult to make, and they only produced it in small quantities. That small amount shared with us was the last available currently. I had a feeling that the baron would become very wealthy if it were exported throughout the kingdom. I can see now why the baron had me sign a contract to keep silent. There were some who would kill for such a product.

    When we arrived in the village of Cofi, we were greeted by the new headman, Barak. He was joined by his wife, Mary, and soon, we were all headed to our new residence. The whole way there, Mary kept talking about how jealous she was of our new home.

    When we arrived, it was exactly as the Lord and I had discussed. It was a three-bedroom home with an additional sitting room and kitchen. The construction was something I had never seen before. It must have been one of those things the lord had not been willing to share with me. The floor was a solid slab of rock, something Barak said was called concrete. The walls were built of large bricks made of the same material. They were being plastered, and then they planned on painting them. When we went inside, the women immediately went to the bedroom and started discussing the armoire.

    "I cannot wait until these become available for the rest of us to purchase," Suzy said with envy in her voice. "Paul has promised me that I would get one."

    They went on to discuss the dresser with a polished brass mirror on it. There were cosmetics and one of Lord Amos''s new inventions, the hairbrush.

    The two headmen''s wives did an excellent job making my wife feel as if she were a royal guest here in the village. What I was excited about was the porch that looked out on the lake. On it was a rocking chair. It was an invention of Lord Bicman''s that I had not seen yet, though I had heard it mentioned a few different times by various people. Apparently, they were very relaxing to sit in.

    I got all of a fraction of a bell to sit in it before the women came out and insisted that Francine be allowed to sit in it.

    "I believe we will have to get a second one of these, or I may never get a chance to sit in it," I chuckled.

    The last thing we were told was that a maid had been provided for us to assist Francine with anything she needed. Lord Bicman would pay for her services. I don''t believe any of this would make Francine desire to stay here for more than three years, but I was pleased that Lord Amos had gone out of his way to make our time here enjoyable.

    Amos

    I stood at the entrance to Bicman Manor as my personal carriage pulled up to the roundabout. Edward stepped up to the door and opened it for my guests. Sanders and his wife stepped out with the assistance of Edward as I walked forward to meet them.

    Francine was a plump woman with a cheerful smile on her face. Both she and her husband had graying hair and looked like the textbook grandparents. If I were to paint her and her husband, I would like to do it as a generational picture with a family barbecue setting I still needed to invent a meat grinder for making the hamburgers I guess we could mince and pound it by hand, but that would be a pain.

    Focus Amos.

    "Gentleman Sanders, Thank you for coming. Gentlewoman Francine, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I know it is quite a distance from Cofi to Bicman. I hope your ride was pleasurable?"

    "My Lord, Your carriage is quite comfortable. Usually, my bones ache by the end of any long journey, but the springs on your carriage truly have changed my opinion of carriages. Also, not only are you an inventor, but these books, as you call them, are very entertaining. It made the time traveling on the road enjoyable. You are quite the man of many talents."

    "Thank you for your gracious compliments. Let us adjourn to the great hall so that we can enjoy some refreshments." With that, I turned, and we all headed to the great hall. I would have preferred the sitting room I had set up for the Tine family, but Lady Tine was still occupying it, and I didn''t want to intrude. I really needed a dining room.

    As we entered the great hall, Francine''s eyes were immediately drawn to the pictures along the walls, but she quickly tore them away. I could tell she wanted to discuss where the art had come from but refrained.

    We went to the table, where wine and a few refreshments were set out. They had already eaten in Kerisi, so we spent the time chatting a bit. The first topic was the half-timber architecture of my home and the concrete roundabout, but then we got on to the subject of art. I could tell it was what Gentlewoman Francine was most interested in.

    "My Lord, I have heard that you are an artist. Are these works on the wall yours?" Francine said.

    "Yes, they are. In fact, I was about to take Gentleman Sanders around to view some projects we are working on. I was wondering if I could introduce you to Lady Tine, my late brother''s Mother-in-law. The family is here visiting, and I feel she would make excellent company for you today. She is also a lover of the arts and literature. She could take you around and show you the various paintings."

    "That would be splendid. I would love to meet the Baroness," she said enthusiastically.

    "I warn you, though, her daughter will talk your ear off if she gets a hold of you," I said with a smile.

    After introducing her to Lady Tine, Sanders and I headed towards the barn, where we were keeping the plows and new reaper.

    Sanders spoke as they rode down the hill. "My lord, I am impressed with the design for the sawmill. I don''t know if you could get enough power to run the thing you call a rotary blade, but the regular blade has a simple design and will be an amazing machine once it is completed. I really could not find fault in the design that you came up with. Of course, nothing is perfect. We won''t really know anything until we try it."

    "Kind of like the reaper," I said.

    "What do you mean?

    "My design was all wrong. The huge rotary blades only cut a few of the stocks, and the others just bent. Then, most of the seeds were lost in the mess. It was an utter failure." I said with a self-deprecating smile.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "Hmmm. You don''t seem too bothered by it."

    "Like I told the farmers. There is a way to make it work. We just need to think about it. I thought about laying a blade horizontally and then making it spin as it moves, but again, it would just make a mess."

    "Lay it horizontally," Sanders said quietly to himself. After a pause, his eyes lit up, and a grin formed on his face. "My Lord, we just got done talking about a water-powered saw that cut wood. Couldn''t you turn it horizontally? With a smaller gear, it would move more quickly, and we also wouldn''t need it to move the same distance."

    I started visualizing it in my mind and also began to grin. I thought the reaper would be like a lawn mower, but instead, it was actually a saw to cut the stock. Then, another thought struck me: If I had shown the sawmill design to my farmers, would they have come to the same conclusion? They weren''t stupid, just ignorant. Maybe I should be showing the various inventions in the barony to each group of citizens who worked on other projects to make sure we all knew how everything worked.

    There was the worry of people stealing ideas. But for right now, I knew all the people working on these projects and felt I had a good team that wouldn''t betray me. We had been having the militia keep alert to all the gossip, and I had the women gossiping with each other. A few of them reported things to the head man who sent the info to me.

    It wasn''t the best spy network, but gossiping women were an excellent source of information.

    All I needed now were taverns so I could have my spies hang out there and listen for gossip, I thought with a laugh.

    "Well, Let''s go take a look at how we can improve it," I said.

    As we entered the barn, I first decided to explain the plow. He had seen the horse collar before when I rode in the carriage, but he didn''t realize its significance.

    "You mean to tell me you doubled your crop yield and cut down on the plowing time? If-if you get the reaper to work, do you realize what that will do?" He said in awe.

    "Economic prosperity and a decrease in the need to expand as much. More people can be trained in other jobs," I said with a satisfied smile.

    He shook his head. "That is true, but it also frees up people to serve in the military. Dukes and kings can increase the size of their armies and expand even further if they can conscript more men. They would use the extra food in order to feed their military, not fatten their peasants."

    I was dumbstruck. I tried to wrap my head around such a stupid concept. Would the nobility really do that? Of course, they would if they thought it would increase their power. The current King is in the middle of a war. If he could throw more men at the problem and hurry up the conquest, why wouldn''t he? The rebels need more troops to take over the kingdom.

    Giving these people more food was not going to change how they thought. My first thought was to try and hide everything away, But then I just shook my head.

    I cannot stop people from using these inventions to further their gain. I didn''t know where the Renaissance started in my world, but I would try to prove to the people of this world that more can be gained by working together with people than expanding their territory. They may initially keep expanding, but if I focus on what I believe to be right, the ideas may spread. I would write down my ideas and spread them. Even if it takes centuries, I believe my ideas will change things for the better. I had to believe that, or I would go mad.

    "That may be what others do with this knowledge, but I will improve the lives of my people. I will show the world they have more to gain by elevating their citizens than by conquering more land."

    Was I being idealistic? Yes, Would I try anyway? Also, yes.

    "Ok, enough of this," I said. "Let''s look at the reaper."

    We decided we needed two wheels and several gears, but in the end, it would be extremely light compared to the last machine. It still left the problem of the grain stalks falling in all directions Unless¡­

    "Hey Sanders, you know how I told you that the blades just flattened most of the wheat? What if we used that idea to bend the wheat in the direction we want it to lay, Like a smaller wheel made of woo? What used to be blades would just be wooden beams to knock down the stocks before we cut them." I said questioningly.

    He thought for a moment, "It sounds like it would work. Let''s talk it over with the farmers and see what they think."

    We grabbed the paper and pen I always carried with me, and I started drawing it out as Sanders kept making corrections. After about six sheets of paper, we had what we wanted. Now, it was off to gather a few farmers.

    When we found Harold, we explained the drawings to him and told him we would be back later after he had discussed things with the others when the day was over.

    "My lord, congratulations on finishing this road," Sanders said as we traveled to Melnon. "I am impressed with the speed of completion."

    "Well, If we didn''t, it would become a bottleneck in the future. I expected a lot of material to be transported between Melnon and Bicman, and straightening the road so that it isn''t just curving around the hills is going to make the transportation of goods much easier. Besides, I was told that the hills past the forest would make excellent grazing areas as we expand. We may even build a settlement between the two villages."

    "It would be a good idea. Your barony is set up strangely. You have wide gaps between each village." Sanders said.

    "That much is obvious. When the kingdom first conquered the land, they wanted to isolate the subjugated Karr and build a new settlement. But because they didn''t just use Kerisi as the main village, they also needed to create a mining camp, which became Melnon. We have never really had the people or the quality of land to expand. Had it not been for the conquest of the Karr, any expansion north of the Nore River would have started at the river not over a day away."

    "True, but you have your men doing the same thing to the road south as you are doing for this road, and that should speed things up a bit. In fact, this road is smoother than the one just south of the Nore. Will you be putting that concrete on all your roads?"

    "Not right away, But eventually, I would like to. First, I want to build a road between Melnon and Kerisi as well as one between Bicman and Alfer. But even that will not come until we can get 1,000 more people and another couple of settlements."

    "I have no doubt you can do it. Now, let''s discuss the trip hammer and rock crusher you were talking about. I can''t wait to see the design."

    After we made it to the site of the water wheel, I pulled out the designs for the trip hammer, the bellow, and the rock crusher.

    Sanders spent almost an hour reviewing my multiple designs. The designs were created through the combined efforts of the miners, the blacksmiths, and me.

    "I think the bellow and the hammer will work, but I am not sure about the rock crusher. In fact, putting a larger head on your trip hammer idea may be just as good."

    "That''s too bad. I was hoping to crush a lot of ore at once." I said Disappointment was evident in my voice.

    "And we still may be able to do it, But this design lacks stability. If we do get it to work, though, your lime production will also increase drastically. Wait, What is that!" He said, pointing at a man heading towards the kiln with a load of lime.

    "Oh, we call it a wheelbarrow. It is like a cart but much more maneuverable and works better on rough ground."

    I got the idea when I was trying to come up with games for the festival. I remembered wheelbarrow races and then realized that we didn''t have any. This was only one of two that we had, but we would be churning out more for all our upcoming projects. My people loved them, and it was another invention that once people had them, they couldn''t do without.

    Soon after that, we were on to the last part of our journey before heading back to Bicman. We hiked up the road to the mine. About halfway up, we came across another invention. My men were laying down gravel and wooden beams evenly spaced.

    "What is this?" Sanders asked.

    "This is our new wooden rail system for mine carts," I said proudly.

    "I do not understand."''

    "You will when we get to the mine."

    I had been raised on TV shows and movies where characters raced through mines on out-of-control mine carts. We also can''t forget a particular video game that was very popular. So, of course, when I first got to the copper mine, I thought about building one. Oh, what I wouldn''t give for some Redstone.

    Of course, I was not going to attempt to build iron rails just yet, but when I showed the design to the miners, explaining that we would have to wait until we had enough iron, they asked if we could try using wood for the rail. The mine didn''t go very deep, but it was a pain to haul out the ore due to the rough ground. With the rails, we had a smooth track that made it easier for the mules to pull the ore out. The path back to Melnon was also very rocky, so it put a lot of wear on the normal carts, and it was difficult to get them up and down. Once we put the rails in, though, we should be able to move more ore in half the time.

    I had Robert explain all of this to Sanders as we walked around the mine inspecting it.

    "This is incredible. Is there nothing you haven''t thought of? You can now move the ore faster, and soon you will be able to crush it faster, and with the bellow and hammer, you will be turning it into usable parts faster."

    I almost felt guilty for stealing other''s ideas and claiming them as my own, but at the same time, I wanted to smirk. He hadn''t even seen the paper production and the weavers building. Once we got a ship and built a better road from Melnon to the cove, we were going to be able to ship large quantities of things from here to Vaspar in as little as six days, Two years. Two years, and our exports would be through the roof.

    It was late in the afternoon when we made our way back down to Bicman. We ate with the Tine family, and then I went to see Aaron.

    He was walking well now, and his favorite game was run away baby. He would wait until you were looking away and then try to walk off. He was not at the point where he could run, so he never made it out the door, but it was a really fun game to play, especially when I got to tickle him afterward. After wearing him out, I sat with him in the rocking chair until he fell asleep. I wished I could forgo all my responsibilities and just spend time with him. But the work I had never ended.

    When I got to my study, I found another couple of books transcribed by Jacklyn and her best students. Jacklyn had now become the third most well paid person among my staff. My two stewards were first. She was not only the school teacher but also the secretary to Benjamin, and she oversaw the transcription of my books so that we could have multiple copies.

    I didn''t count my guards as part of the staff. If I had, then the Captain would have been above her in pay. I had started paying people in coins and using our stockpile of grain as our backing since it was the main trade good among peasants. One kilogram of wheat was worth one copper. I was the guarantor on everything, which made me a little nervous, but we were only using it in Bicman for now, and I should be able to acquire a lot more gold when I got Vaspar. I would be selling cloth and paper to the Count and paintings to the nobles. Once we had more trade going between Vaspar and here, we could move to a gold standard currency.

    There is so much to do, and I hope I have time to do it all.

 Book 2 Chapter 23

    King Leonard Asput the Third, two weeks earlier

    I sat in my chair, looking out over the courtyard in astonishment. "This is quite impressive, Count Vaspar. You have changed everything. In an open battlefield, your cavalry could do massive amounts of damage. I wish we had had these stirrups two years ago. Unfortunately, the enemies are now holed up in their cities," I said.

    "This is why we will retreat, draw them out, and use the calvary to quickly strike their rear. While they are confused, we will charge our armies from the front. If we can disrupt their archers and create confusion in the rear, we will be able to break their line." Vaspar explained.

    I wish I had a military mind. Were we missing something, or was it that simple? Of course, it wasn''t that simple. It was never simple.

    "I am also impressed with the quantity of men you have trained. You have exceeded the amount requested."

    "This, again, is due to the stirrup. We are able to train a man to ride a horse in a quarter of the time it takes to do so without them."

    "You also say that the new baron of Bicman developed the new shoe and harness?"

    "And the new leaf springs. We have put them on wagons, and not only are they more comfortable, but the amount of stress put on the axles has decreased. We have noticed a difference in the amount of maintenance required to carry loads. That, along with the collar, will allow our supply lines to be much more effective."

    "First the pen and now all this. I should relieve him of the burden of being a baron and bring him here. He would be much more valuable as a scholar or advisor than a baron."

    "If you will forgive my boldness, may I speak freely?"

    "Please do so."

    "I think he may be safer where he is. Bringing him here may put a target on his back for our enemies. Also, he is not suitable for the court at this time. He would get crushed in court. He does not have the background to survive here. His level of etiquette will also get him ostracized. He does have the steward of Kimton''s son as his steward now, so that should help, but I need to do some further evaluations of him to determine his readiness."

    "Perfect, his steward''s father is a good agent, and I would imagine his son will lead Bicman in the right direction. So, how do I reward the young man without marking him as a person of interest? Do you think a second wife would draw too much attention?" I asked.

    This caused Vaspar to give one of his rare smiles. "He has no wife, and neither is he engaged. I don''t know if now is the time for him to receive the privilege of having a second one."

    "Nonsense, you have the option of three wives for your service, yet you only have one. It will just be a sign of prestige if he ever decides to take a second one. Besides, a talented young man such as him should have as many heirs as he can."

    "I did have a thought. While he was here last, he purchased the debts of a lot of commoners. And he also bought mules. If I remember well, my son said that he was disappointed in the amount he could afford. We could provide him with more people from around the country who are not fit for military service but are still well enough to work. We could provide enough food to help feed them for a year."

    "Good idea. It will alleviate the burden put on the cities that have to deal with refugees and the poor, as well as allow us to place spies."

    "Yes, I will be interested to see how he deals with the spies."

    "It will be a good test of his abilities."

    Amos

    "What are those posts with numbers we keep seeing?" Ashlyn asked while pointing to a kilometer marker.

    Half of the roads down to the bridge had been widened and smoothed. As we were straightening the road, we were putting up the posts. The Tine Family had joined me in my carriage since the ride was so much smoother with my leaf springs. It was also a decent company. Baron and Lady Tine were reading some novellas I had written, and Ashlyn was looking out the window while holding a sleeping Aaron.

    Klint really liked the "Harvey Boys" series. Two sons of a nobleman who uncovered plots against their family and their local knights. Maria enjoyed some adaptations of romantic comedies I had been forced to watch when it was Mom and my sister''s turn to pick movies for movie night.

    "Those are what we call kilometer markers. It shows the distance from Bicman to the bridge. We are guessing that there should be about 60 Markers by the time the road is done."

    "That is the new measurement system you are using, right?"

    "Correct."

    "Are you planning to try and persuade the whole kingdom to use such a method when one has already been established?" Lord Tine said doubtfully.

    I chuckled, "No, that would be too much trouble. If it becomes popular because it is easier for tradesmen and merchants to use, then it will eventually spread. If not, then we will just be using it in Bicman. Part of the training my people go through is how to quickly convert between the two."

    The baron tried to hide a look of disapproval from showing on his face. We had had a few discussions on the matter, and he was strongly opposed to educating peasants. He believed that educating peasants would cause them to think they were equal to the nobility. I didn''t bother telling him that is how I hoped my peasants would feel. I believed that a person''s work performance was directly tied to their self-worth. And I had already seen that effect in my barony.

    Our travel down to Vaspar was pleasant, especially since the two barons south of me had already left for the festivities. That meant that I did not have to deal with introducing myself to a new baron who could possibly be a stuck-up snob. Apparently, his name was Julius Malcomp. He was the second son of another of the rebel''s toadies.

    We did stop by each of the manors for a night as well as a few of the villages. We tried to make it to a village every night because I didn''t want to camp outside one of the farming hamlets that were dotted along the road south. It seems to make the people nervous.

    Oh well, I hoped they got used to it. I would probably be doing this at least once a year. I did give the leaders of each hamlet a gift as we traveled. Most of them could read a few words and knew enough numbers to give a report. I gave each one a pen, but I didn''t know if they would use it. It''s the thought that counts, I guess.

    We arrived at Vaspar after ten days of travel, and Baron Tine brought us to his friend''s house. His friend was Lord Minsum, and as Baron Tine stated, he had gone to Kimton for the opening festivities and would not be returning until later in the winter for the ending festivities of the Vaspar winter socials.

    The staff at the manor was prepared to receive us, and we were not the only guests. One of Lord Minsom''s knights had been given the privilege of staying at the manor, as well as Lord Minsum''s brother, who was a landholder in Minium''s land. He had two headmen underneath him with enough land to be considered a baronet in his own right. Both of the other nobles were out at the moment with their families. Probably rubbing shoulders with the bigwigs in the community.

    The house was not large compared to modern-day homes I would see in many of the wealthy communities. It was two stories and probably 300 square meters of space. The difference between modern homes and these was the size of most rooms. Bedrooms were usually about half the size here, and they would put more than one child in a bed. It helped to conserve heat.

    We were given two rooms. One for me, one for my steward. While my other men slept in a barracks.

    Fortunately, there would be room enough for me to set up my art supplies in a spare room. I had already sent out letters to those who had been planning to come to Bicman for paintings that I had arrived. By the time I got to the manor, there were already a few letters asking after my health and when they could set an appointment.

    In the main sitting room of the house, I set up some paintings I had brought with me. I pretty much turned it into an art gallery to show off my works. I had brought everything from drawings of peaceful forests to modern-day city skylines. I separated the paintings by category. Pictures of modern-day things from Earth I put in the fantasy section.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Why did I draw things from Earth? Because if any of my paintings managed to last a thousand years, people would think I was some sort of genius. Can you imagine the conversation people would have when they suddenly noticed that my paintings had electric lamps plugged into walls? It would be hilarious.

    As we dined that evening, Benjamin went on the attack. "My Lord, we have put this conversation off long enough. We must discuss our strategy for finding you the best possible match."

    I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat as he stared at me.

    "I-I am not ready. Besides, I can''t get married until my engagement is broken."

    "Although not technically true, we will factor that into our plan." He said in a business-like tone.

    "Our plan?"

    "Yes, you being currently unavailable makes you all the more attractive a prize. Now, as to the plan. I know you love your barony, and it can be used as a reason for a man to give you his daughter, but it is not currently your best asset. It will not allow you to marry up. In fact, it really doesn''t even give you that much of an advantage when marrying the daughter of a baron. But if we stack that with your artistic ability and the ability to create these novels that we have brought, you stand a good chance of making some excellent connections."

    I sighed. I felt like a horse being prepped for a sale. Benjamin ignored my sigh and continued.

    "This first month, it will be very important to show off your talents, and by the next month, you will have people beating down your door to introduce you to their daughters."

    The look in his eyes was manic with glee. I knew this had to be done, but I was going to make sure it didn''t happen until I was at least twenty. In the meantime, I would just have to worm my way out of any possible situations where Benjamin tried to get me hitched.

    "So for the first month, I can just hole up here and paint right."

    Benjamin gave me a flat look. "You will accept every invitation you can for social gatherings. You must get noticed by the nobility. What I am going to push for in my letters is for us to set up your artwork in people''s homes so that their guests may admire them."

    I wanted to deny that my artwork would make that much of a difference. I would just be lying to myself. I was the best artist in the world as far as anyone knew, and humans love novelty.

    "Fine, so what are your big plans for my novels? I thought we were going to sell them?"

    "We will do that too, but we are going to set up book readings like they do in Bicman and Kerisi," He said.

    "You mean the women''s book club?"

    "Precisely, by the end of the month, I want your books to become a reason for social gatherings."

    "And this is your plan to get me married off as soon as possible to some snob I don''t even know."

    Now, it was Benjamin''s turn to sigh. "I can''t force you to marry anyone, but the likelihood of your wife being someone who doesn''t necessarily see eye to eye with you is highly likely. You are not marrying for you. You are marrying for Bicman."

    Every time I thought of getting married, I thought of my sister-in-law Martha and the utter contempt she had for my whole family. If I married up, I would probably be stuck with a snob that looked down on me and my people. I would pick marrying a commoner who cared as much about my barony as I do over a noble who looked down on my people any day of the week. Yeah, I know I was being judgemental, but the few female nobles I met last time I was here were really focused on status. I was not looking forward to my visit with the women of Vaspar.

    "Well, we have plenty of time to discuss everything over the next month. Please excuse me while I go see Aaron. They will be leaving in a couple of days and heading south. I don''t have much more time." I said as I stood up from the table.

    I knocked on the door where Nora and Aaron were staying. Nora had accepted the offer to go with Aaron as his nurse. That made me feel a little better as I knew she had a good head on her shoulders.

    I opened the door to find Aaron stacking the colored blocks with letters and shapes I had carved into them. As soon as the door opened and I stepped in, Aaron forgot about the blocks and started to crawl towards me.

    "Hey kid, what did I tell you about crawling? If you don''t stop that, I will be telling all your girlfriends that you were still crawling on the ground like a baby when you were almost fully grown. When I was your age, I had already run in the Boston Marathon."

    He started climbing up my pants leg as he reached me. Once he was upright, he reached up his hands and said, "Da!"

    "Don''t try and sweet talk me, you mongrel!" I said as I picked him up and tossed him. "If you think you can get out of your fine motor skills training just because I am here, you have got another thing coming. How are you supposed to learn to write by the end of the year if you don''t have proper muscle control? Now, we are going to sit back down here and construct the Taj Mahal."

    I caught a smirk on Nora''s face as I continued to wow Aaron with all of my exploits.

    *******

    The next morning, I wrote a letter to Jasper and Ferdinand requesting an appointment. After my last visit and introduction of the buttonhole, they had become very popular. They were now only seen by appointment. They only made house calls for select individuals now of the upper nobility. I also hinted that I had something new to show them.

    Although I would need clothing that was in style and made by well known tailors in Vaspar, I had my seamstress create several items that I was sure Jasper would be ecstatic about. I am sure Ferdinand would be ecstatic as well, but he wasn''t the type to show emotion.

    Upon entering the dining room, I was greeted with the sight of the Tines speaking with two other couples.

    "This is my grandson''s uncle. Baron Amos Bicman. Though we are only linked through our relationship with my grandson, now I am pleased to call him family."

    I nodded since I was the same rank or above those at the table. Then, they each stood and either nodded or bowed.

    Each addressed themself in order of rank. I tried to remember the names, I really did, but by the time we got to Sir Barret''s granddaughter, Gentlewoman Penny, I had forgotten the first names of most of them. Benjamin would remember, and we could practice later.

    As I sat down, the conversation started up again. "Lord Bicman, Baron Tine says that you live in the north most Barony." Sir Paris, the knight said.

    "I do, and though it lacks society, it is a quiet place that has a charm all of its own."

    "Have you ever been to the great desert, My Lord?" Penny said excitedly.

    I had learned a while ago that the other side of the mountain had no inhabitants. There was a desert on the other side that extended all the way to the eastern shore of the continent. I was excited when I heard that. It would be a source of sand that I could test. I was pretty sure not all sand was good for making clear glass. Unfortunately, now was not the time to start experimenting with glass. I would need to wait until I had a ship built. By that time, most of the other projects should be up and running, and I would be able to sail around the coast rather than travel across the mountains. Also, I wanted to put the glass blowing kiln in the fort we were building in the mountains. Blowing clear glass was going to be a huge money maker. The type of process people would kill for.

    I smiled at the young girl. "Unfortunately, no, it is a hard journey through the mountains, and there are the wild beasts such as the dragons."

    "What is a dragon?" She asked.

    "It is a huge lizard the size of this manor. It has four legs and a long tail. It has a long snake-like neck and horns on its lizard head. They are highly intelligent creatures that hoard gold. They are most well known for capturing young virgins of high birth and holding them for ransom. The nobility are either forced to pay the ransom in gold or send out knights to fight the dragons. Unfortunately, dragons breathe fire. Many a poor knight has fallen to the dragon''s flame all for the chance to win the hand of a fair maiden," I said regretfully.

    Penny''s eyes were the size of saucers, and her mouth was hanging open by the time I was done. But before I could get myself in any more trouble, Lady Tine spoke up.

    "You will have to forgive Lord Amos for his teasing, Penny. He is a master storyteller and loves to write them down and have them read. I believe that story comes from his book, which he calls The "Fairy Tale Collection."

    "Maria, how could you? I was just getting to the good part," I said with a chuckle.

    She, however, just gave me the exasperated look of a mother who was trying to teach an unruly child good manners.

    I sighed, "Well since I have been found out, I guess I will just have to let Penny borrow the book."

    "You have books?" Minsum''s brother said.

    This surprised me. I knew that I had only introduced books to Count Vaspar the last time I was here. Had they already spread?

    "So you have seen books?" I said in surprise.

    "They are all the rage since Count Vaspar introduced them a few months ago. Of course, with the cost of parchment and scribing them, it is almost impossible to get one. I am surprised that you even knew about books. Being so far north."

    I began to laugh. I just couldn''t help it. It was almost too funny for words.

    The other guests looked at me oddly. Until Lord Tine finally spoke up. "Please don''t think Lord Bicman is mad. The reason he finds this humorous is because he is the creator of Count Vaspar''s books. Amos brought quite a collection of books from the North with him to give to Lord Vaspar while he was here.

    "So, are you willing to let us see one of your books?" One of the women said curiously.

    "Benjamin, why don''t you retrieve the book we were just discussing? After breakfast, we can let everyone pass it around," I said.

    "As you wish, My Lord," He said with a bow.

    After a delicious meal, We all adjourned to the sitting room, where I brought out my leather-bound copy of short story fairy tales. It was one of my nicest books, and I was hoping to get a good price for it.

    When it reached the hands of Sir Paris, he looked up at me. "What type of parchment is this? I have never felt something so smooth, and the color is that of snow."

    "It is what I call book parchment. It is specifically made for books," I said. I was really trying hard not to be smug about it. I had wanted to find a way to sell my higher quality paper without upsetting the parchment industry and had decided to use it only in books.

    "Tell me, gentleman, what do you think a book like this would sell for here in Vaspar?"

    "Twenty-five gold if it is an original." Minsum''s brother said.

    "You must be joking. If you brought this to a nobles'' auction, it would go for no less than fifty." Paris said.

    The men continued to argue, but all I was thinking about was the books I had and the cash I was about to rake in.

 Book 2 Chapter 24

    Baron Klint Tine

    "I wish we could have Amos''s carriage for the trip home," Maria grumbled as we were jostled along the uneven city streets.

    I said nothing, but I had to agree with her. The road wasn''t really that bad compared to most places, but after riding in Amos''s carriage, it was hard to go back to this. How quickly we get used to luxury once it is available.

    Fortunately, he was kind enough to give me the design so that I could outfit my carriage with it. As I thought of the money I would get for selling this design back home, I had to laugh. The boy wasn''t an idiot, and he and I had gotten to know each other well enough for him to know what I was going to do, but he gave it to me as if it didn''t even matter.

    Actually, I was pretty sure I understood him well enough to realize what he was thinking. He was thinking about Aaron, not me. That was why he had also given me the design for the plow. If he couldn''t give Aaron a prosperous barony, then he wanted to help him wherever he went. I planned to exploit that as best I could. The thing that made me laugh was that Amos knew that and didn''t even care.

    Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted. "What will we tell the council, dear?" Maria said.

    My mood immediately darkened.

    "About what?"

    "About the barony and all its wonders. They will want to know what we learned there."

    "We will tell them that the boy is a very simple individual who is an excellent painter. We will say that he relies heavily on his advisors, who are helping to stabilize the barony. If they want anymore then they can find it out themselves." I said, anger seeping into my voice.

    "But-"

    "You and I both know who must have been the one behind the assassination. They killed our daughter and almost ended our line entirely, all because they didn''t want to try and sway the Bicmans to our cause. They didn''t even need the barony to enact the plans. I agree with their cause, but I cannot forgive them for killing our daughter and almost killing Aaron."

    Ashlyn looked up from her book, and her eyes went wide. I had let my emotions get the better of me and spoken carelessly in her presence.

    "Young lady, this is not to go beyond this carriage. Do you understand?" I said sternly.

    She nodded.

    "Good. When everything is settled down, and things have changed, I will do what I can to assist Amos. Hopefully, I can convince them to spare his life."

    Aaron was sitting on Maria¡¯s lap, happily shaking a toy that Amos had made for him. He called it a baby rattle. When she looked back up at me, she nodded. "It will be as you say, husband. I will see if I can find him a wife after things settle down. That will help tie him to the new government and hopefully stop the assassination attempts."

    I looked over at Ashlyn, who had grown quite fond of Amos during our visit. "Ashlyn, you must keep this all secret, or Amos may die. Can you do that for him?"

    "Yes, Father, I would do anything to help Amos." She said seriously.

    Amos

    "Ferdinand, Jasper, it is good to see you both. I did not expect a baron such as myself to be honored with your company." I said to the tailors as they entered the sitting room.

    And in his usual excitable manner, words tumbled out of Jasper''s mouth. "My Lord, you could not possibly expect me to stay in my shop after such an intriguing letter. Why, I almost ran out of the shop as soon as I received it, didn''t I, Father? I mean, you completely changed the fashion industry last time you came to town, and now you say you have something new. And you look fabulous, by the way. Well, your outfit is a little baggy, but with how much weight you have lost, that is to be expected. Are these your paintings? They must be, as I have never seen their like. You left the city in such an uproar after your last visit. I was dying to see your famous painting. I cursed myself for not attending the trial."

    "Yes, this is some of my artwork." I squeezed in before I was interrupted again.

    Jasper''s eyes went wide as he looked around the room. "Look at this all, father. Are you seeing this? It is like looking out a window to another world. What is this massive creature sitting outside a city with the body of a winged beast and the head of a woman? It is horrifying."

    "It is called a sphynx, and it guards the city of Thebes. It tells riddles to anyone who tries to enter or leave the city, and if they answer wrong, they are eaten."

    "My Lord, are you a traveling storyteller as well as an artist? I do love new and interesting stories. Why I am a big-"

    There was a quiet cough from Ferdinand.

    "Sorry, My Lord, perhaps another time. I think my father is eager to see your latest creations."

    "I am sure that you will be most pleased with them, but we need to discuss my price. My last invention made you fabulously wealthy, and although I got a very fine suit out of the deal, I believe you got the better of me on that deal."

    Jasper''s smile dipped a little, but his father''s face remained motionless.

    "My Lord, I must admit we did get the better end of the deal that time, but please remember we are simple merchants, and we have to live modestly."

    "Jasper, I am not a cruel man. I simply ask for 10% of the profits of what you sell that uses my inventions."

    Jasper''s eyes went wide, "My Lord, 10% is quite the sum. What about-"

    "That''s fine," Ferdinand said quietly.

    "Father, I-" Jasper sighed, then did a 180 with his expression and once again became excited. "Of course, my lord, I am sure that even with the sudden loss of income, we will be making up for it much more in volume."

    I grinned. Jasper was hilarious, "Trust me. You will be able to raise your prices and not even feel the difference, and as you say, your volume will increase. Now let me show you what I call pockets."

    I had my seamstresses at home make some clothing that I could show off to the two men. It was not as nicely made as the tailors, but that was to be expected. The pants I was currently wearing had both front and back pockets, and I reached into my front pocket and pulled out a coin. When I did this, Jasper knelt down next to my side and looked at the pocket.

    "My Lord, I would not request that you take off your pants here, but-"

    I chuckled, "Just a moment, Jasper. I have a few things to show you in this box."

    The first thing I pulled out was a black pair of woolen pants. I demonstrated how the pockets were sewn in, and we discussed the different types of items that would be put in them. Then I pulled out a vest and showed him a pocket with a button to close it.

    Jasper was getting more excited as the demonstration went on. The next thing I revealed was a suitcoat with tails on it.

    "The split in the bottom of the jacket allows gentlemen to sit on a horse without their jacket bunching up. Also, you can see that there are pockets on the inside of the coat. The pocket on the outside can be used to hold a handkerchief. It really makes the outfit stand out when a person uses a handkerchief with the color of their station."

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "A handkerchief in the pocket over the heart. Such genius! And if I might ask, where did you get this cloth? The weave is incredibly tight. Now, not to discredit the individual who made this coat, vest, and pants, but it seems to be such a waste that you use such splendid cloth on a poorly made article of clothing."

    "The cloth was a gift, so I am not sure of the value of it. What would you estimate the clothes value at?"

    One thing I had no clue about until my good friend Edward sat me down and explained to me how expensive clothing was. Clothes were usually the most expensive thing a person had. On the barony, I did not concern myself with what peasants had paid for clothing compared to how much their income after taxes was. My serfs were given clothing as part of their service to me. Now, the cost of producing cloth in my barony has dropped due to the time it took to make it. Also, the quality improved due to a tighter weave. So my peasants and serfs were paying about the same as what they used to, but now the clothes felt nicer and lasted longer. The clothes were still plain and unadorned, but nobody visiting would think they were any less quality than what a merchant family would wear.

    "My Lord, I wish you had brought such cloth to me before turning it into clothes. The weave is so tight it might hold water. Whoever gave it to you must truly want your favor. What would you say, father? How much would we pay for cloth such as this?"

    Ferdinand came over and felt the cloth, and after examining it for a moment, he said, "Three."

    "There you have it. Three silver crowns a measure."

    A measure here was roughly two meters long by one meter wide. That was about the amount of fabric it took to make a fine tunic.

    I realized after I got back from Vaspar the first time that the clothes prices were ridiculously expensive, especially for nobles. The fact that I only paid three silver crowns for my first outfit was great. Even though the material was at the bottom end of what would have been acceptable for nobles, it was still an amazing deal. Edward wasn''t sure of the exact prices, but some noble''s clothing cost more than my mules. I had no idea how much money I had saved my barony with the invention of the spinning wheel.

    "Alright, I have one more thing to show you," I said as I pulled out two measures of our finest woven cotton. "What do you think of this?"

    I layed the cloth on a table. And both men felt it. For the first time, I saw an expression show on Ferdinand''s face. The look of awe on his face was priceless. "Pure cotton. Extremely tight weave," was all he said.

    Jasper turned to me as he dropped the cloth as if it were a live snake. "My lord, What are you doing with such a fine weave of cotton? Please don''t ask me to make you something from this. If the high nobles found out you were wearing pure cotton, they would never forgive you." He said in a voice as if he were afraid of being heard.

    To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Apparently, wearing this would break the status quo, like the fact that only royals were allowed to wear certain colors. I hope none of the nobles come to visit me. I was totally going to have cotton shirts made for me. "How much is it worth?"

    "Other than silk, it is the most expensive fabric. The difference is that cotton is more easily available and doesn''t have to be imported from such a far distance. That being said, it is not native to Falmoren, so the price is high. The fact that your weave is so fine means that you could probably get about nine silver crowns for it. Again, anyone less than a count would find themselves ostracized by wearing something of this quality."

    It made me want to laugh. Just wait until they see the cotton sails that I am going to make.

    "Alright, you have a deal. This is yours, and you will give me a gift to present to the count. I will give you another measure as payment."

    "Another measure! My Lord, where did you find such treasure in your out-of-the-way barony?"

    "That, my friend, is a secret." Originally, I had actually been planning on telling him that I could get him large quantities from my barony. Now that I knew its value, I was going to have to keep the information close to my chest. The cotton gin had risen on my list of important things to make, and I was definitely sending the weavers to the fort I was building. This was going to be another secret I had to keep from spies. I was also going to build the Jacquard Loom there as well. I think I will change the name, though.

    We discussed the advantages of different clothes for a while and ways to promote the pocket. Jasper told me outright not to wear anything with pockets for a week. He needed to make the upper nobility think this was something unique and a novelty that other people would want to copy from them. Maybe I should introduce runway modeling?

    I explained the idea to Jasper, and although he thought it was interesting, he wasn''t sure how to integrate it into high society.

    I had some other fashion ideas, but I held them back. If things went well with the pockets, I might introduce them next year.

    Next, we got down to fitting me with what I had requested in the letter I had sent when I found out I was coming here. It was a tedious process that took over two bells to complete.

    I immediately had to leave to make it to Baron Kithmoore''s place in time. He was the person who gave me the hardest time at the dinner party I had with the count the last time I was here, but he was also the first person to request a painting of me.

    I wasn''t surprised since he was good friends with the count and had been under the count''s orders when harassing me. He was actually a pretty polite guy. At least he was when he wanted something from you.

    We arrived at Kithmoore''s city manor four bells past noon. It would be too late to start any painting, and we were planning on dinner first anyway. This would be more of a positioning and lighting consultation.

    I was escorted to a sitting room and only had to wait a few minutes before I was invited into the dining room. Baron Kithmoore was sitting at the table with his wife.

    "Ah, Baron Bicman, please let me introduce my wife, Lucille." She was a plump lady with a genuine smile. Her black hair had streaks of grey.

    I gave a polite nod and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kithmoore," as a servant pulled my chair out for me.

    "Ah, the young man I had heard so much about. You are quite the handsome one. Tell me, are you presently betrothed?" She said with a gleam in her eye.

    Baron Kithmoore let out a sigh, "My dear, does it always have to start with this?"

    "Of course, I need gossip, and I need to know who to introduce him to at tomorrow night''s event."

    "We haven''t even invited him yet."

    "Baron Bicman, would you do us the honor of being our guest at the Harris ball tomorrow?"

    Benjamin warned me about this and told me that until I became well-known, I must accept every invitation. That made me wince, but I needed to act like a baron if I wanted to survive. "I would be glad to accept. I must place myself in your care, though, as Baron Kithmoore can attest, my social manners are not the best. You can imagine how little opportunity I get to attend events of polite society out in the backwaters of the kingdom," I said with a smile.

    "See, that wasn''t so hard, dear." She said, "Now, are you engaged?"

    "I am currently engaged to a lovely young lady. However, due to my elevation in status, we will be breaking off the engagement this coming fall. I would be grateful for your introductions, but I cannot make any promises until the engagement is broken."

    "Oh, aren''t you a sly one? Keeping yourself just out of reach while you establish yourself. This will increase your value and open up even more marriage prospects. Why, I might even be able to get you a daughter of a count if we use some of my connections, I am not familiar with many of the counts outside our own dear Vaspar, but we know some people who are. However, it would be better if you were in Kimton to meet them. Do not worry. We will find you the perfect match. Promise me, young man, that you will commit to no one without first letting me review their pedigree."

    "I am sorry, Baron. I asked her not to do this before you arrived, but as you can see, she is stubborn," Kithmoore said. "Now, let us eat before the meal goes cold."

    After dinner, I brought out a few 8x11 paintings of various backgrounds. I had things like gardens and waterfalls, as well as palaces and castles. I explained that I could give them an artificial background or use them somewhere around the manor.

    Lady Kithmoore was enamored with the garden picture, but her husband put his foot down and demanded that they use the manor house as the background. To ease her disappointment, I let her know that my smaller paintings were also for sale and that I would allow her to purchase them at a reasonable price.

    That naturally brought us to the discussion of price.

    "I work in a very simple manner. You pay for the materials, and when I am finished with the painting, you pay me what you believe it is worth."

    I decided to do this based on what I had learned about noble pride. It was already known how much the count paid for his painting. So, nobles, who were always trying to one-up one another, would not only brag about the fact that they had one of my paintings but how much they had paid for them. There would probably be some who tried to underpay me, but their peers would mock them as cheapskates or too poor to pay the full price. Nobody wants to have people gossip about them.

    "Hmm, that is a very generous offer. I accept. Can you start tomorrow?" the baron eagerly asked.

    "As long as we have the right paints and you secure a canvas, we can start whenever you would like. It would be best if I go to pick out the paints once we figure out the clothing lighting and exact background."

    "Very well, tomorrow we shall figure all that out, and then you must attend the ball with us tomorrow evening."

    "An excellent plan. If you would like, you may stop by tomorrow morning. We have set up the paintings that I brought down in the sitting room of the manor."

    "Wonderful idea," Lady Kithmoore said. Now you must tour our home. "Also, let us discuss the possible prospects who will attend tomorrow''s banquet."

    The Kithmoore''s had a very nice home. Both the tapestries and decorations adorning the manor were very tasteful. Kithmoore had a banquet hall in his manor and decided he would like to set the scene for his painting in that room. He and his wife would sit in chairs as if looking out at a crowd. The reason for this was that his wife had a bad knee and had trouble standing for long periods. I explained that all I really needed them for was their heads and that we could use body doubles for the rest of the time. In that way, it didn''t matter whether they sat or stood. They appreciated the thought but still decided to sit.

    I was very excited to get started. The amount of money I was going to make for my barony over the winter would change everything.

 Book 2 Chapter 25

    The manor we were staying at had a nice courtyard. It was perfect for my morning training, and I did a full hour of spear and sword fighting. As I soaked in my bath, Benjamin went over more etiquette lessons. After I was dressed, there were dance lessons.

    Ever since Benjamin became my steward, he had been pushing me to be instructed in all forms of noble life. Although I appreciated his efforts, I dreaded the lessons. I always tried to push them off.

    I had forced Emily to be my partner the few times Benjamin had succeeded in getting me to practice at home. It was just easier to fumble my way through the lessons with her than with anyone else. I couldn''t say the same for her. She was constantly blushing at all her mistakes and couldn''t even look me in the eye. Her feelings for me were starting to make it awkward. But even worse than a blushing Emily was when I had to use Benjamin as my partner.

    Now, I wish I hadn''t skipped out on so many lessons. We were cramping now.

    After my etiquette lessons, I went to the dining room to have breakfast. As I passed the sitting room, I noticed quite a few unfamiliar people mingling around my paintings. They were discussing them and making critiques. I lingered just outside the door, listening. Most of them had nothing but praise for my paintings, but there were a few who were critiquing them harshly. It made me want to laugh. These types of people were everywhere, critical of subjects they had no knowledge about.

    The guests must have been friends of the other residents of the manor since I hadn''t told anyone about my art gallery. I had no desire to interact with them, so I decided to move along and get breakfast. Benjamin was waiting for me, and as I ate, he watched me. It was extremely uncomfortable but necessary. Table etiquette did not have a huge list of rules like some societies I had heard about, but I needed to execute the ones that existed precisely.

    After breakfast, I became more familiar with Vaspar by wandering the streets with my escorts. It wasn''t like modern cities, which have shops or interesting places to visit on every corner. Only the places near the docks sold unique and interesting things. The rest of the city was more practical. Without the discretionary money of modern society or high-interest credit cards, the common person couldn''t buy frivolous things. So although the homes were nicer than the ones in my village, they were small and practical. Many were two levels with the shops on the first story. Even the small homes sometimes had two to three generations of families living in them.

    I wondered how long it would take for Bicman to get to this point. I had a feeling our housing situation would change radically once we were producing more concrete. The hollow concrete blocks were easy to make. Although they didn''t look as pretty as wood homes, once people could afford to plaster them and we had our sawmill up and running so we could produce lumber at a cheaper cost, I had a feeling we were going to start to see half-timber homes popping up.

    My guess was ten years, if not sooner. We may not have the population, but we would have the quality. If I could get people to figure out how to make a sewage system, that would be really cool. Transportation would be key. The last pandemic on Earth proved that. It wasn''t just because people weren''t going to work to produce the goods, but the pandemic slowed the speed at which we were transporting goods, which caused a supply shortage. If we could improve the transportation method, then it would decrease costs. At first, that would be a better road to the Nore River, but what I really wanted was to link both Alfer and Melnon to the road that went to Cove Village, preferably with a rail system allowing the mules to transport heavier loads to the cove. Then, we could build our ships and ship the goods to anywhere along the coast.

    I needed a map of the entire continent with borders. Not that borders were ever very accurate. It wasn''t like they had survey teams going out and marking stuff. I learned that unless there were rivers or other landmarks, borders were kind of flexible. We had a map at Bicman, but I had no idea how accurate it was. I was just glad we had the Nore and the mountains to give us a precise border. Anyway, we at least needed a reliable map of the coastline so we could figure out shipping times. Our times should be different from the ships that I had seen so far. The Bermuda sails and shape of our hulls should give us a few more knots than the current ships, and being able to tack into the wind should mean less rowing. Again, though, ships took a long time to build, so that was not going to happen next year.

    These were my thoughts as we wandered through the streets of Vaspar. The paints I wanted could not all be found in one shop, and some were not of the quality I wanted. So, I spent a good portion of the day looking for what I needed. It had been nice when I only had to request what I wanted from Vaspar''s servants, and it was brought to me.

    When I finally found the location of all the shops and what I wanted, I sent the paints to Lord Kithmoore''s place. Then we started looking for a lathe. I had promised my carpenters that we would get one. It would be all sorts of useful once we had it set up in Bicman. As a noble, the carpenters couldn''t refuse my questions when I asked them about their devices, and in fact, they seemed to be all for showing me how their lathes worked once I complimented them on their incredible machines and asked how they worked. The few coins I gave them helped as well.

    After each shop we visited, I spent time drawing out its details with charcoal on the sketchpad I had brought along. The sketchpad was a flip style with some of our better paper bound between two thin pieces of wood. Once I had visited five shops and drawn out the details of the device along with notes, we returned to the manor to get ready for the reception.

    To say that I was nervous would be the understatement of a lifetime. At first, I thought of going to talk to Benjamin, but in the end, my feet took me to find Draves.

    "I''m going to screw this up, Draves," I said.

    "Possibly. I would say even probably." He said seriously.

    "Then why am I even going?"

    "You know why you are going."

    "I am glad you know that I know why I am going. I just wish I knew why I know why I am going."

    I groaned, "Dang, that doesn''t even make sense to me, and I am the one who said it."

    "It is your commitment to your duty."

    "Yeah, it is my duty to screw up and fail."

    I knew he was right. I could not keep my barony safe without mingling with the other nobles. I needed friends and connections, and that required me to go to social gatherings and try my best not to make a social faux pas.

    "Sorry, Captain. I just needed to get that out."

    "I understand, my lord. You are nervous, and I have learned that when you are nervous, you become somewhat nonsensical. Try not to do that at the event, and you should be fine. Remember that you''re unique among the nobility because of your ability to paint. As long as you are not intentionally offensive people will forgive you due to your novelty. It happens in the military as well."

    "So there are some good artists in the military?" I said with a smile.

    All I got in response was a flat look.

    "Ok, fine, I got it. People with unique skills have more leeway in how they act. But I need people to want to associate with me. I have to get long-term relationships."

    "You will. Just remember that there are many factions within the dukedom, and you cannot be friends with everyone. Don''t rush to commit to any one party, but eventually, you will have to join a faction. Sometimes, there are factions within factions. Stay aloof for now. There is no rush to join anyone on your first visit."

    "Thanks, Captain. I''m going to get ready, and then we can make our way to Kithmoore''s place."

    ********

    "Sir Ivy, Let me introduce you to Baron Bicman," Lady Kithmoore said. She had been dragging me around for the last bell, and I had lost track of all the people I had talked to.

    "Ah, so you have decided to finally get around to introducing this young man to the lesser nobles. How gracious of you, Lady Kithmoore." The tall, thin man said with just a hint of disdain in his voice. "I can see how people would be so ready to praise this boy. A marsh-dweller that can paint must be a true novelty for many."

    I actually wasn''t surprised at the jab. He wasn''t the first noble to brush me off as inconsequential. Not everyone agreed that I should even be allowed into society. Many thought my artwork was just a dog and pony show without any real substance or value. This, however, was the first time I came across a lesser noble who was willing to give an insult. It was quite bold of him to offend not just me but also Lady Kithmoore.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    I usually allowed Lady Kithmoore to deal with the insults, but I felt that allowing a lesser noble to insult me and not say anything back would make me look bad.

    "Thank you for recognizing my worth. It is so refreshing to have those of the lesser class be able to understand the true value of art. I was almost beginning to wonder if the lesser classes had some sort of deficiency in understanding what true talent really was. You have proven me wrong. I find that we rise to the level of our associates. Tell me, do you perchance mingle in the higher courts?"

    I had thrown several insults his way, but the most obvious was that he was of a lesser class and not a lesser noble. In this case, they were technically the same since I had a higher title than him, but it grouped him with everyone lower than me.

    I was so glad that they didn''t have the barbaric traditions of duels of honor here as they did in some other civilizations. Otherwise, I couldn''t run my mouth. Of course, insulting the wrong person might also make things extremely difficult, but my value is currently in my paintings. Also, the goods I wanted to export were things people couldn''t get anywhere else. So I didn''t need everyone to love me. Just the right people.

    "I shall tell my Uncle Count Dunger about you. He will be most interested in your opinions."

    Dunger? Was he trying to make me laugh?

    "Ah, so you do live among the upper nobles. How fortunate for you. It is a shame he could not get you a better title. With your intelligence, I am surprised he was not able to help you get a more advantageous marriage. Do not worry, though. Upper Nobles often time allow us to struggle before truly rewarding us. I am sure he will see your potential someday and elevate you. I am sure you could show your prowess on the battlefield and even be bade a Baron. We must all strive to rise above our circumstances no matter how humble they may be, am I right." I said with a smile.

    Sir Ivy''s face began to darken, but before he could say anything, I said, "It is good to know you are related to the count. Let him know that I am always at his disposal to paint his likeness. I have found that counts have a refined appreciation of the arts and understand true worth. I would love to stay and chat, but I am new here, and my time is limited. I look forward to speaking with you in the future, and although my schedule is filling up, I would be happy to paint you at a later date. Have a wonderful evening."

    As we walked away, the baroness whispered to me, "I thought you were trying to make friends. His uncle is a count and loves his nephew."

    "Is that why he thought he could get away with insulting us? I have to put up with rudeness from my peers, but I will not allow myself to be insulted by some knight who thinks that his uncle will save him from stepping above his station. My value is not in the fact that I am a baron but in the uniqueness of what I will bring to the kingdom."

    "Your artistic talent will not save you from the plotting of an insulted noble." She said worriedly.

    I did not respond. It may have been foolish, but I could not allow myself to be pushed around by a lesser noble unless I wanted others to think they could do the same. Risk and reward. Several people had been eavesdropping on our conversation, and I am sure all of Vaspar would know that Sir Ivy and Baron Bicman were not on good terms.

    The next stop was a young lady, probably in her mid-twenties. "And this is my good friend, Lady Yent. Unfortunately, her late husband, Baron Sammuk, passed away last year, and his brother was given the barony. She has three handsome young boys, so we know she is able to produce heirs." Maria said with a smile.

    I nodded to the lady before me and smiled. She was quite beautiful, with long black hair and deep brown eyes. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Yent. I am Baron Amos Bicman. Lady Kithmoore has been kind enough to introduce me to society."

    She gave a polite yet indifferent smile back. "It appears you are up to your usual practice of trying to find a match for every man in the County, Lucille. This boy is fortunate to have met you, but I think you may have bitten off more than you can chew."

    Did she just call me ugly and unlikely to find a bride?

    After a moment of awkward silence, I started to laugh. "That was great. See, Lady Kithmoore, you could not ask for better confirmation than that. Your good friend has plainly said I am too ugly to find a bride."

    "I was not referring to your looks, as you seem to be quite a handsome young man. I am referring to the fact that you are a Bicman. You have no exports of any consequence and can rarely scrounge up enough money to pay taxes every year."

    "My Lady, I am most impressed that you studied Bicman''s tax records. You must have a lot of time on your hands. Might I recommend a few extracurricular activities to help you pass your time? Perhaps competitive underwater basket weaving."

    She ignored my jab, probably because she didn''t understand it was one. Instead, she simply said, "A barony can hardly be successful if it does not understand where money is flowing. Knowing the economy of Falmoren is paramount to success. Due to your location and poor agriculture, your marshes will never prosper. Why would a father of any consequence pay a dowry to Bicman?

    "Dowery''s are overrated, in my opinion. I would take a wife I can love over a dowry any day," I said defensively.

    "I see. Well, my lord, I have somewhere to be. Have an enjoyable evening."

    As she turned and walked away, I turned to Lucille. "Well, that was abrupt."

    "My lord, you must not say such things," Lucille said while shaking her head.

    "What I just said was that I value love in marriage above money. Why is that bad?"

    "A woman''s value is tied to their dowry. Not caring about the dowry is an insult to a family and the daughter. I am afraid that she may spread this news about you."

    I did not understand this at all. This was definitely one of those cultural things. The people here viewed the world so differently from me. Just another thing that Benjamin didn''t warn me about. He was a great teacher, but trying to cram every rule of etiquette and a whole new system of values into me within a month was impossible for anyone.

    "I am sorry for my ignorance and any offense that I caused. Being raised in the north without guidance has perhaps skewed my thinking."

    "Oh, I am not offended, dear boy. Just don''t lie to these women and tell them you are not interested in the size of their dowry. They can see right through that lie. It would be like a man saying he doesn''t care about how big a woman''s breasts are."

    That almost caused me to stumble. "But I¡­"

    "No, my boy, don''t try and convince me otherwise. All men desire large dowerys and large breasts."

    Suddenly, the English translation for what she was saying popped into my head. Dowerys often contained money in chests. Another word for breasts was chest. Even though these two words in Falmoren Common were not the same, in English, both words were identical. So she was basically saying all men cared about was chest size.

    I wanted to laugh so badly, but instead, I controlled myself and apologized again.

    "Just remember, if you ever want to find a wife, you better be interested in her dowry."

    "I am grateful for your advice."

    The evening continued, and after Lucille was tired of introducing me to people, I sat down at a table and pulled out my sketchbook. I began to sketch out the ballroom and the many people gathered together in their groups.

    This wasn''t the type of gathering where the children of nobles gathered, so I was the youngest person here. It was awkward, but I wasn''t sure it would have been any less so if I had people my age here. Sir Ivy and some of the other nobles I had been introduced to were bad enough. I wasn''t looking forward to interacting with younger people.

    Not that all of the people were bad. It actually went better than I had hoped. Most people were quite welcoming, even if I could tell that they didn''t consider me quite their equal.

    "What is it that you are doing, Lord Bicman?"

    I looked up to see a portly man with long salt-and-pepper hair standing in front of the table. I knew I had been introduced to him, but I had forgotten his name among the myriad of introductions. His wife, who was his opposite in stature and had a stone-like face, stood beside him.

    "Ah, my lord, please join me. I am sketching the room. It is not really done yet, though. Sit, and I will sketch you and your wife."

    "Lord Kithmoore said you were a painter, but it appears that you are using charcoal. Will this take long?"

    "I have been sketching people for a long time. It may take half a bell, but we can talk while I work."

    The couple sat down, and as the Baron and I spoke, I drew them. His wife looked at me unhappily the whole time. We talked mainly about his barony and his new son-in-law. He had three daughters who were all married. His second daughter had just remarried. She was eighteen and had two children.

    The Baron she married was in his thirties and was also a recent widower. He had four children still living and left the running of the barony up to his eldest son, who was twenty. Apparently, his daughter was quite happy, and they already had a child on the way.

    It was just so hard to wrap my head around some of the age gaps in marriage that was so common around here.

    "I hear you are more interested in having love than a valuable wife with a large dowry." His wife said bitingly

    Well, that got twisted around fast. No wonder she looks so angry.

    "I believe I was misunderstood. Of course, a woman''s dowry is extremely important. My comment was more to the effect that no matter the size of the dowry, you must have joy in your marriage. I made a bit of an exaggeration to emphasize the point, and it was taken poorly."

    "I see. Well, that makes sense." He said with a nod.

    "And done," I said as I turned the sheet around. Both of their eyes went wide at seeing the sketch. I had removed about five years off their faces by leaving out some of the lines and also gave his wife a barely noticeable smile. I carefully tore the page off the strings that held it and handed it to the couple.

    "This is a very fine likeness of us. I must pay you something."

    I smiled mischievously, "In speaking with you, I feel that you are the type of person who likes to get the better of people and cause some mischief."

    He grinned, "What do you have in mind?"

    "Why don''t I give this to you for free, but you show it around and tell people whatever you want as far as the price goes."

    He laughed, and for the first time, I saw his wife give the hint of a smile.

    "Just remember, if our joke gets out, we won''t look very good," I said.

    "Don''t worry, boy, if there is one thing we love, it is making our fellow nobles look foolish."

 Book 2 Chapter 26

    I woke up the next morning very pleased with how the night had turned out. By the end of the night, I had drawn four more pictures. We decided to price them at five gold per head, so Baron Rens, the man who I had first sketched, was telling everyone he paid ten gold for his charcoal sketch. One of the couples I drew was, of course, the host and his wife.

    I ended up making forty-five gold in total. It was truly overpriced, seeing how it took hardly any time at all. I expected the average painting to take me a few sittings and be priced at at least fifty gold. If I worked a total of six hours a day, I would probably be working on three different paintings at a time. If I could spend the same amount of time just doing sketches, I would make at least double. I liked painting better, though, and I am sure it would get me more renown for my efforts.

    And so that is what I was doing now. I had set up my easel in the Kithmoore Great Hall and began to paint the couple as they sat on their high-backed chairs. The first day was positioning lighting and starting to work on how the background fit with their general position. After a while, I let them take a break as I continued to paint. At their next sitting, I would finish the basics of the background, and we would use others as body models. Why sit when you could pay someone else to do it?

    I took a break around noon to eat with the family and then headed to my next appointment, Baron Cever Jenni. He had practically accosted me after seeing Vaspar''s painting, begging for me to paint his family. They were scheduled to come to my Barony after the Kithmoore, and when I sent news down ahead of us asking if we could do the painting here, he was ecstatic.

    As I entered the sitting room, the tall, gangly man in his late twenties was waiting for me.

    "Baron Bicman," he said in an excited, high-pitched voice. It''s so good to see you. When I heard you were coming, I could hardly contain my excitement. I wanted a family painting, but traveling does not agree with my wife. Now, I insist that you allow me to introduce you to my family."

    We walked into a garden where his wife and children were playing. His wife did, in fact, have an unhealthy pallor, but she had a gentle smile on her face as she played with a boy of around ten. There were two twin girls who were just a bit younger than the boy. It looked like the perfect happy family.

    After the introductions, I had my people bring in some small paintings that showed different backgrounds. I told him we could paint his family in a location they chose or even paint them in an imaginary setting. All of them oohed and awed over the small paintings. The baron actually wanted to discuss my picture of the skyscraper and how I thought they could actually be built.

    I had no idea how they were actually built, but I decided to humor him.

    "Well, first, it would need a very solid foundation. Then, the whole thing would be built as a frame of strong metal. We would need to make glass that was unbreakable and so pure it was transparent. Then we would need large cranes to move everything into place."

    He loved the stuff I was coming up with and said that if I ever lost my barony, I could travel the countryside telling stories. Actually, if I were not responsible for the lives of over one thousand people, it didn''t sound like such a bad option.

    The young boy wanted to be painted in the picture with the sleeping dragon, but his mother vetoed the idea. Instead, the family decided on the Lone Sakura. The husband and wife would be sitting under the tree with their children, playing near the stream. Of course, the picture would be three times the size of the scaled-down version I had brought with me.

    After the decision was made, I left to work on the painting. Since the background was artificial, I did not need to be at their home to do it. I would paint the background and then add them to it. Afterwards, I would paint the fine details.

    When I returned to my temporary residence, I found a few letters waiting for me. The first was a request to attend another gathering in a few days. This one was from one of the guests of the last one. They hinted in it that showing off my talents at the function was truly a splendid idea. Basically, they wanted me there to sketch them or their guests. I didn''t care what it was for. I was making money, and that was all that mattered.

    The next was a request for a portrait. That would be my seventh prearranged one. I am sure that soon I would be wanted for my service all over the city. I felt I had a good chance to make a couple thousand gold in the two months I had planned to be here. If that happened, I would need to buy the services of a caravan to bring all the goodies back with me.

    The third letter was a true surprise. Frederick, the second son of Count Vaspar, had caught wind that I was in the city and demanded that I visit tomorrow to have lunch with him at the noon bell. We got along the last time I was there, and we had a lot of good talks. He could be a little pushy, but he wasn''t a prick like his other siblings. Regardless, this was a huge honor, so I responded immediately. I would have to move an appointment around, but connections with the count''s son were more important.

    I spent part of my afternoon worrying about Aaron and my people. Then, trying to distract myself, I decided to start working on the background for Baron Jenni''s picture. I had brought one of the carpenters from home to build frames for me, and I had two large trunks with enough of our superior linen to make one hundred full-length pictures. It might have been overkill, but I figured I could sell the extra to Jasper. Under the table, of course, since I didn''t have a merchant''s license.

    As I started to paint, the tension in my body began to recede, and I lost myself in my work after getting a general outline done. I began to paint more of my smaller pictures to show as examples. I would sell the small Lone Sakura picture because I didn''t want to use the same picture twice. I painted the Egyptian pyramids and sphinx. I would sell them as exotic, far-off places, and the person or family It painted would be exploring them.

    I had been so engrossed in the painting that I had lost track of time and missed dinner. The sun''s light was no longer adequate to paint by, so I headed downstairs and added the Egyptian painting to my collection in what I now claimed as my art gallery.

    I woke early in the morning and did my regular exercise and training with Draves. Every time I held the sword, I felt woefully inadequate. Even though noble duels were only done for pleasure and prestige, I knew that I was behind in skill. I wonder if I could use the excuse that I am a lover, not a fighter, in order to get out of a duel.

    "My lord, you are improving greatly. By next year, I am sure you will be able to hold your own in a lesser tournament," Draves said.

    "Thanks, Captain. I wish I had as much faith in me as you have, " I said while trying to get my breathing under control. "Well, thank you for the duel. I have to get some work done now."

    After a bath and breakfast, I headed out to Kithmoore''s to start painting the background for their picture. I really liked the family, and they were fun to talk to while I worked. Lord Kithmoore had a noble genealogy that went back to the first duke of this territory. This Dukedom had been around for over two hundred years. He enjoyed complaining about the government and how it was all going downhill. He was openly vocal about his dislike for the king''s policies and the corruption of Kimton.

    I listened with half an ear as I painted. I was glad to get his opinion, and I hope he didn''t get carted off for his seditious remarks. I am sure other nobles were not keen on the idea of freedom of speech. He also praised Count Vaspar very highly, which made me wonder if Vaspar was part of the resistance to dethrone the king.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    When I left Kithmoore''s manor to head to the castle, it was half bell to noon. I had brought a book as a gift for Fredrick. I meant for it to be for his father, but since Frederick was the first to request my presence, I figured it would be appropriate. I was again greeted by the steward who had greeted me the last time. I sat in a small waiting room for another half bell before Fredrick entered.

    I stood and immediately bowed deep. "Thank you, my lord, for your gracious invitation."

    "Ha, if you were so grateful, then you would have come here as soon as you arrived in Vaspar. I hear there is a waiting list for your paintings, and I am not even on the list."

    "I am sorry, my lord. Had I known that my humble services were needed by you, I would have come directly, but I would never have thought to come here without an invitation," I said with all the noble bearing I could muster.

    "Now you sound like those ridiculous courtiers that my brother is so fond of ordering around. If you don''t knock it off, I am going to take you to the training yard to try and teach you how to fight."

    "Well, in that case, I think I can schedule you in about ten days."

    "How about I lock you in a cell and force you to do nothing else but paint me." He said with a self-satisfied smirk.

    "Although the peace and quiet might do me some good, I do love the fresh air, so why don''t I stop by tomorrow with some background paintings in case you would like something other than a real location?"

    "An interesting idea. Painting me into a setting that does not exist. I am very curious to see how that works."

    "So, how is your father?" I said, "I heard from Lord Kithmoore that he is not in town."

    "He will be back within the next ten days. It was a sudden visit to Falmor, and I think it involved you."

    I couldn''t hide the shock on my face. "Me? What did I do?"

    He laughed. "Well, this is just a guess, but Father began to invite more of his military personnel over after your last visit, and the bits of information I heard involved the stirrup."

    "Oh, so he wants to put the stirrups on all the horses in the military. That makes sense. I wouldn''t want to fall off while charging. Why do you think it is a big secret?"

    He laughed, "At first, I didn''t understand it either until I had some stirrups made for my horse. It is amazing what you can do with a weapon when you are riding with a horse. You are so stable that you can hit things while riding at full charge without being knocked off. Do you have any idea how advantageous it is to be able to do that?"

    "Not really. I just don''t like the idea of falling off horses." I said.

    "Well, I won''t bother explaining it. Just know that your stirrups and horseshoes make a big difference."

    "Will it help us win the war?"

    "Hopefully not until I get there. I need to win some merits. It is too bad you are stuck up north with no posterity, or you could join me on the field."

    I did not mention that I had no desire to go get myself killed.

    "So, Baron, have you got any more inventions?"

    "Maybe. Are you trying to steal my ideas and give them to your father?" I said with a knowing smile.

    "What? How could you accuse me of such a thing?" Frederick said with mock hurt in his voice.

    "Sorry, I am giving no knowledge for free this time. I can say that I found a way to double crop yield. But that information is worth more than I think your father would allow you to spend."

    "You''re lying! There is no way you can increase crop yield by that much."

    "I have already done it on some of my fields, and it has made a huge difference."

    "How much do you want?"

    I was nervous I was going to ask too little, but I also wanted to maintain a good friendship. Also, I had already given the information away to the Tine''s.

    "Well, Lord Fredrick, how much do you think doubling the amount of food your fields produce is worth to the county? Don''t forget that all of this excess can be exported or put into storage for hard times. It is pure profit. Oh, I almost forgot. It also reduces the amount of time it takes to plow a field."

    "Well, I know it isn''t nearly enough to get you one of those ships you want, but how about one thousand gold."

    "That''s a little lower than what I expected, but I know where you are coming from. You have to blindly trust me on next year''s harvest. So why don''t we say two thousand, and if you don''t get at least a fifty percent increase, I will pay it all back. Then you are not in as much risk."

    "I don''t know. My father and brother are better with money. I will have to talk with the chief steward."

    "That''s fine. I will put the money in a bank and not touch it until next year. I don''t need that much money in my small barony. Any purchases I make would be down here."

    "Ah, what the heck, it is only two thousand. Let''s do it. I will ask our steward, Casper, to let me know of a good bank. Now, what is this thing that has increased your harvest so much?"

    "It is a plow that can quickly churn the soil in a way that brings more nutrients to the surface. I will bring you all the designs and even sit down with a blacksmith and woodworker to answer any questions they have."

    "You''re telling me that your big secret is a plow? I am not sure I can really believe that." Frederick said doubtfully.

    "That is why there is a 100% money-back guarantee."

    "What is 100%"

    Sometimes I forgot that although nobility could do basic math, anything beyond that was left to specialists.

    "It means you get all of it back if you are not satisfied with the results. The money will sit in a bank for a year, and when you are satisfied, I will pull it out."

    There was a risk that he would find out that I had given the designs to Lord Tine, but it was minuscule. They lived in different Dukedoms, and Baron Tine had no incentive to share the idea with his neighbors. Frederick, however, might have some of the barons under Lord Vaspar try it.

    "You know what? On second thought this might be something you want to wait on my father to discuss. Lets discuss what you brought with you," Frederick said while eagerly looking at his gift.

    I was a bit disappointed about him backing out. Count Vaspar would be harder to negotiate with.

    "Ah yes, this is my latest book," I said while standing up to hand it to him.

    He read the title out loud, "Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn."

    I have never read any of Mark Twain''s books, but I have watched movie remakes. I guess it was okay, though, since I had changed the story enough that I don''t think good old Mark would mind.

    I was very proud of the fact that the title was on the outside of the leather cover¡ªor rather, of the way I added the title. I had been working on a way to make the titles on the front of the book and the spine, but the ink didn''t soak in very well, and embossing the leather did not stand out enough.

    Then I remembered an art form I had heard about but never tried. Leather Pyrography. I had a wood-burning art kit when I was younger, so I knew the basics, but it was not as easy as I was hoping it would be. My scribes and I were getting better at it, but we all still had a way to go before you could call it true art. So, the book only had the name burned into it. I wanted to eventually emboss it and then burn it so that it would really stand out.

    After running his hand over the book''s surface and flipping through it, he looked up at me with a grin. "This is much better than my father''s books. The paper is so white."

    "I call it book parchment. It is more expensive to make than regular paper, but it is smoother, and you can write on both sides without it bleeding through."

    "And I am the first to own such a book?" He said excitedly.

    "I have others that I was told to sell at a nobles auction, but I will make you a deal. If you manage to spread the word about my fantastic new books and that I am selling them at an auction, I will give you a second one free."

    "I know the perfect place. There will be a gathering next week of the younger nobles, and we could show them off there. So make sure to dress to impress. I might be able to find you a bride."

    "What is it with everyone trying to get me married off as soon as possible."

    "Heirs, my friend. You are the last of your line, so you need heirs," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

    Trying to change the subject, I said, ¡°Speaking of dressing to impress. I was at Ferdinand''s place, and they had gotten a unique shipment of cotton that was almost as smooth as silk. Too fancy for a lowly baron, but a count''s son would look great in it."

    "I am not so particular about the fabric I wear, but if it is unique, and I got it before my brother, it would really annoy him, so it might be worth checking out. Now, enough of this business. Let us go to the dining room and eat."

 Book 2 Chapter 27

    The days became routine. I would spend my days painting and my evenings writing or attending various events where I was introduced to more people. The house became popular as the news of my artwork spread. There was usually a crowd of people at the manor waiting to be let in by fourth bell in the morning, and then they would form a line and walk through the manor as if attending an art exhibit. It was very popular for the young men to bring dates to.

    The fact that I drew sketches at parties soon became known, and I then received piles of invitations. Benjamin would sort through them all and write responses. I also had to attend private luncheons, where sometimes it was only me and a particular couple. It was just another excuse to get a sketch out of me. I really didn''t mind, though, because that meant I was getting paid at least ten gold per luncheon.

    All the money I was collecting was going into the bank as soon as I received it. I was getting close to two hundred gold, and it didn''t look like the money was going to stop flowing any time soon. I wanted to use my money to find things that would benefit my barony. I would love to have time to go out and explore what Vaspar had to offer, but I was stuck making money all day.

    It reminded me of when I was self-employed. Some people think that being a business owner is the same as being self-employed. Self-employed people still do all the work, while business owners get to delegate. I really didn''t have much to complain about, though. In the last week, I had made more than the total annual income of my barony.

    So I ended up sending my men out and having them report back on all the shops and tools they came across that we didn''t have at the barony. I had already made a copy of the design for a lathe, but we would need more. I was also sending out inquiries for skilled laborers who wanted to move to an expanding barony.

    Then there were the educators. Slowly but surely, my people in Bicman were beginning to learn to read. Now, I wanted to get people who had more technical knowledge and start a trade school. It was going to be really essential when I needed fewer people to produce the same amount of food. Some of that could be offset by using more land for cash crops, but if I am also able to get the death rate down to 20%, we would have a population explosion. I wonder if I could evolve my militia training into a full-blown military academy.

    I couldn''t flood my barony with money unless people had something to spend it on besides grain. Otherwise, the value of the money would go down, and the price of food would skyrocket. By the end of this trip, I wanted to be able to move to a gold standard for the barony. That won''t be too hard with such a small population. Most of my people have never even seen silver, let alone gold.

    Most of the gold would be stored in Vaspar banks since I didn''t want to carry it back and forth every time I needed something. Then, as we expanded, I would build a treasury/Bank of Bicman.

    And that is why we were currently in the market district in front of a large building. I had brought the captain, four guards, and Benjamin. My escort, as well as the small chest the captain was carrying, immediately caught the eye of a well-groomed man standing near the entrance.

    "Welcome to the Vaspar Market Square Bank. The man said with a bow."

    No points for originality on the name of these guys.

    My name is Manson. How may I help you, my lord."

    Benjamin stepped forward. "Let me introduce his lordship, Amos Bicman. He is attending the Festivities and would like to open an account while he is here."

    "I see. Well, let me get you a private room and a scribe, " he said in a monotone voice.

    I wonder if he had to take classes to get it that flat. We were led to a small room with simple wooden chairs and a table. Before I could sit down, a new chair was brought in for me. The procedure went well, but it did not end as I expected. I had come here because I heard they offered investment opportunities, but it hadn''t been brought up at all. Not very good salesmanship. Isn''t that how these people make their money?

    "Excuse me, but I was wondering about your investment opportunities," I said.

    This caught the man off guard. "Investments?"

    "Yes, one of the reasons I came to this particular bank was that you also manage trade investments."

    "Well, Um¡­ Forgive me, my lord. It is not common for one of your standings to desire investing."

    "Too bad for my peers who don''t get to experience the pleasure of investing. Now, what do you have available?"

    "My lord, I cannot guarantee a return on your investment, and some are quite risky," he said nervously.

    "You seem to be worried about upsetting me if things don''t turn out," I said with a smile. "Don''t fear. I am not one to take out my anger on others. I understand that investing is a gamble. People waste their money in gambling dens all the time, knowing they are just throwing their money away. The risk here is much more acceptable."

    The man noticeably relaxed. "Very well, my lord. What type of investment are you looking for."

    "What do you have?"

    "We have a few people looking to start businesses in the city as well as overland and sea trade. Overland is less risky, but the return is much lower."

    "What do you have for sea shipments?

    "There is a ship in the harbor about to leave on a silk run. The investment slots fill up pretty quickly, but I can see if they need any more capital. There is a spice run that is trying to gather a few hundred more gold. They will be exporting grain south and returning it with spices after the winter. They are a new trading company, so there is quite a bit of risk involved, even if you don''t include the risk of shipwreck or damaged goods. Also, it will take at least six months before you see any returns."

    I was still going to make plenty of money here, so I really wanted to risk the spice trade, but I knew it was foolish to do so. High risk is something you do when you gamble. I only wanted moderate risk.

    After going over the land options, I settled on a cargo shipment of reapers oil. I had no idea what that was. I also invested in an expanding Fuller/Laundry service business. I had fond memories as a kid of waiting out a rainstorm in Ms. Pham''s Laundromat. She fed Allen and me some really good cookies. As my barony grew, I was going to need one there, so I figured it wouldn''t hurt to have an in with a current successful business.

    The last thing I did was ask where I might find someone who made glass. Unfortunately, glassmaking wasn''t a popular profession, and Vaspar did not have one. So, with that business out of the way, I decided to head back to the house and get more painting done before I had to attend Fredrick''s get-together.

    "Are you sure I look ok," I asked Benjamin nervously as we headed towards the castle.

    I could tell he was holding back a sigh as he said, "My lord, I have not changed in my opinion that you look fine. Also, there is no need to ask me about your dancing or social skills. You will be fine."

    "I wish Chris were here. He would tell me the truth."

    "He would only insult you. If you want to be insulted, I am sure we could stop by a tavern and ask someone drunk to insult you," Draves said.

    "Sorry, just nervous," I said lamely.

    "It has been noted, and remember, these events are quite informal, so you don''t have to stay long if you are feeling uncomfortable."

    At that moment, the carriage pulled up, and a servant opened the carriage door. I stepped out. After Benjamin and Draves got out, Benjamin introduced me as "His Lordship, Amos Bicman."

    "Ah, yes, you are expected." The steward looked into the carriage. "I see you have come without a companion or escort."

    Seriously! Was I supposed to bring a date? I''m going to kill Fredrick.

    "I was not made aware of the need for a companion."

    "Do not concern yourself. Although it is most common, it is not a necessity."

    Translation: You''re going to stick out like a sore thumb.

    "Young Lord, if you will follow me, I will bring you to the hall," the servant said.

    "Thank you," I said. I gathered my drawing materials and was escorted to the hall while my men were sent to different quarters. I had to wonder if all the gathered servants had a good time hanging around each other. I became lost in thought until we entered the hall.

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    "I present Lord Amos Bicman," the servant said as soon as we entered the room.

    I looked out at the gathered crowd. There were about twenty people already in attendance, gathered together in various small groups. At the mention of my name, all of them turned to look at me. I don''t know if the same attention was paid to everyone who entered or if it was because I was a new name among peers who were well acquainted with each other. There seemed to be an equal amount of each gender, which gave weight to my assumption that I was the odd one out. It was like those kids who showed up to prom all by themselves.

    I was quickly approached by a couple of guys about my age with predatory smiles on their faces.

    "Well, well, well, it looks like we have some fresh meat, Henrick." One of them laughed. He was a thin, wiry boy who had a lot of acne. His voice was high-pitched and nasally.

    The pudgy boy next to him chuckled as well. "It looks like you lost your escort, Baron."

    It was obvious they were testing me, so I smiled and laughed along, "I believe I was a last minute addition to this party of Fredricks, and he conveniently forgot to mention that I should appear with a partner."

    "Sounds about like Fredrick, but don''t worry, he is probably going to ambush you with one of his many lady friends." The unknown kid said while shaking his head. "I''m Nick, by the way. This is Henrick."

    Both of them were wearing baron scarves over their right shoulder, indicating they were the children of Barons. "A pleasure to meet both of you," I said with a nod.

    "So where in the world is Bicman? " Henrick asked.

    "If you go as far north as you can travel and then swim across the Nore River, you will reach my home."

    Understanding showed in Nick''s eyes as he said, "You''re the one that was caught up in the Decmoore scandal. The painter, right?"

    "I am."

    "I am not much for art myself," Nick said. "But Milinda, my wife, said she heard you are displaying your artwork. She insisted yesterday that we go to view it."

    "I am surprised the news of my paintings has spread so quickly," I said.

    "You shouldn''t be. Vaspar is small enough that news travels from one end of it to the other within a night sometimes."

    "I hear your winters are cold up there." Henrick butted in.

    I had actually not experienced it myself, but Draves explained that Bicman became unusually cold compared to the other parts of the kingdom. It was thought to be the north wind. And how close the coast is to the mountains. But I wasn''t a meteorologist, so why this world had strange pockets of weather in certain areas was not something I was going to try and find an answer to. All that meant to me was that I had to keep my people from freezing in the winter. Also, I heard that even though the Kingdom took a few months to travel from top to bottom, the temperature did not change too much. Did that mean that the world was larger or tilted less? Or did it have to do with all three? It really wasn''t a huge concern of mine, but it was interesting.

    "Yes, it is an odd phenomenon that we will get snow a few times a year. The mountains get quite a bit in winter."

    "Not to be blunt. Well, I guess I am being blunt, but I ask that you excuse me for my forwardness. You are the youngest baron I have ever met. What happened to your father?

    "Actually, my whole family was murdered. I almost died of the poison as well."

    The reaction I got surprised me. Neither of them looked shocked. They looked more curious than anything. "Interesting. Did you find out who did it?" Henrick said.

    "Yes, it was actually a conspiracy involving the steward and one of our headmen. They were trying to cover up the embezzlement of funds and a slavery operation that they had been running for the last couple of years. I believe they meant to kill all of us, steal whatever wasn''t nailed down, and flee in the confusion."

    That wasn''t the truth, but I didn''t want the speculation that it involved people higher up in the Dukedom spreading.

    "Awfully bold of a bunch of commoners. But all''s well that ends well. At least you get your barony at a young age. It will probably be another fifteen years before I inherit unless my father falls in battle." Henrick grumbled.

    I kept my face neutral even though I wanted to let my jaw hit the floor. This kid was complaining because his father wasn''t going to die soon enough.

    "At least you get to inherit. I will be lucky if my brother gives me a fiefdom to run. At least my Milinda is not a shrew, always complaining about our lot in life. My poor brother William has to deal with his awful woman''s nagging constantly. It''s no wonder he has two on the side."

    I wanted to shake my head at the weird world I had landed myself in.

    "Hey, looks like Fredrick is trying to catch our attention," Henrick said.

    At the far end of the room, Fredrick stood with a group of people. He kept looking over at us, though. As we walked up, Henrick said, "So what''s up, Cousin Freddy?" He smirked as if he just told a funny joke.

    "Oh, things are going well. How is your father''s health?" Fredrick grinned maliciously.

    Henrick looked like he had just bit into a lemon.

    Diverting the conversation, I said, "Fredrick, thank you for the invitation, but I think you forgot to mention that I was supposed to escort a lady to dance with."

    He waved off my comment. "If you had brought someone, I could not have introduced you to the lovely ladies I have lined up for you to pick from. Let me introduce my cousin, Jamie."

    A very tall woman with a lovely figure and black hair done up in an elaborate bun turned at the mention of the name. She looked to be in her early twenties.

    The look she gave Fredrick was icy, "I told you I was not interested." She looked up at me and then spoke again. "Did you pick me out just because this man is taller than me? Or did you think I would be impressed by the books and paintings?"

    "Both and more. He is already a Baron. You could get straight into your politicking." Fredrick said with a smile.

    "This is Lord Bicman, is it not? What sort of politicking do you expect me to do in the middle of nowhere? The barony is too poor to support my ambitions."

    "It appears you know a lot about me and my barony. I have to say, I am flattered," I said, trying to establish some sort of rapport with her.

    "Don''t be," Frederick said. "She knows everything about everybody in the kingdom."

    "I also know that your grandfather is to blame for the current problems in the kingdom," Jamie said in an irritated tone.

    "Whoa, how do you figure that?" I said in surprise.

    "If he had saved the king''s son rather than the king, we would have the true heir on the throne, not the sad excuse for a king we have now."

    "That is quite the leap in logic. We have no idea if his brother would be a better king. You can gather all the information you want, but this is politics. Until a person has the position, you cannot be sure." I said defensively.

    Fredrick sighed, "She knows that; she is just trying to get under your skin."

    I tried to lighten the mood. "Well, then, this is your fault. She is probably trying to make me avoid her so I won''t propose marriage. Don''t worry, Jamie. I am not planning on sweeping you off your feet and whisking you away up north with promises of a passionate and adventurous marriage. I am already engaged. I thought Fredrick knew that."

    He shrugged, "You won''t be for long."

    Jamie was still looking hostile at the both of us. But I had a thought, "Jamie, to make up for your cousin''s teasing I would like to draw a sketch of you and discuss politics while I work."

    That got her attention, and after a moment''s hesitation, she said, "That would be acceptable. Let us retire to a corner."

    After getting her properly positioned, I began to work.

    "So, what do you want to talk about," she said.

    "Politics," I said.

    "I thought that might have been a ruse to get me over here."

    "Then why did you agree? I said.

    "For the picture, of course. It is rare that I have someone in this crowd who actually wants to discuss something other than the latest fashion."

    "Well, you probably already know that my family was murdered. I believe the order came from somewhere in Kimton. I don''t expect you to know who it was, but if I knew more about the political situation, I might be more prepared in the future."

    Jamie tilted her head a bit as if looking at me for the first time. "You are smarter than you look."

    "Not really, you just haven''t spent enough time with me," I said jokingly.

    "Well, then, let''s give you the basics of what is going on. The king is embroiled in a war with Hitub that has been going on since before he was king. Unlike his father, he cannot get himself out of it. He has surrounded himself with advisors who have told him what he wants to hear, and he has started accruing debts in money and favors. He is pretty much beholden to his debtors, who benefit from the war.

    "His biggest opponents are based out of Kimton and call themselves the council. I do not know who is on the council. I don''t think even the king knows who is on it. They are saying the war has gone on long enough and that we need to sign a peace treaty. I agree, but they also say that we need to get rid of the current king and his family. That would help with the animosity between our nations."

    "What do you think?"

    "People are idiots. We need to end the war so we can build up our economic base. But killing the king would plunge us into civil war. Instead of making concessions as part of a peace treaty, the Hitub would just rampage and steal everything we bleed for as soon as we pulled back to fight amongst ourselves. The king needs to step down and let a relative take over. That would be a decent compromise."

    We continued to discuss various government issues at a high level and some local issues. Although I didn''t have much interest in politics, this was information I sorely needed.

    "So I am almost done, but I was wondering if you could help me with one more thing."

    "Well, you have been pleasant company so far, so I am willing to hear your request."

    "I am extremely impressed with your information gathering abilities. I would be willing to pay you as an informant if you would keep me updated on the politics going on in Falmoren. A monthly letter is all I am asking for."

    "I will think on it. If I decide to take you up on the offer, I will write to you," She said.

    "That sounds fair," I said with a nod.

    I turned the picture around, and she looked at it for a moment before saying. "It is lovely, thank you."

    Then she stood up and left. I should have expected that type of reaction from Jamie. But she was the first person not to be excited about the picture they received.

    As soon as she vacated the seat, a young man sat down. "I would pay well for you to draw my friend and me." He said quickly while pointing to a young lady. It was then that I noticed a crowd had started to gather a little ways away from the table.

    Well, it looks like I know what I will be doing for the rest of the night.

 Book 2 Chapter 28

    <h2>Chapter 28- Day 191</h2>

    The night before was awesome, mainly because those kids loved to throw down money. In the previous functions, I had been with adults who, although still prideful, knew what they could get away with in terms of payment. The kids, however, netted me one hundred gold in one night. Most of it was in the form of IOUs, but the money should come in today.

    As I was exercising, a thought popped into my head. I really wanted to check up on Tanya. When I first got here, I had written her a letter, and she simply replied that she was very pregnant but happy. Then things got busy, and I never got around to it. So, after breakfast, I explained to Benjamin my desire to visit Tanya at the temple and to make preparations.

    The temple was on the other side of the city, so it took a little while to get there. On the way, I looked over the gifts I had for her¡ªwell, for the baby. I had made a painted rattle and a few baby books. Baby books were a market I was definitely going to exploit once literacy rates started to rise. And don''t worry¡ªI made sure not to use lead paint, which was so common around here.

    When we got to the temple, a woman in her forties came out to greet us. She wasn''t dressed in priestess robes.

    "How may I help you?"

    "I am Lord Bicman. I have come to check up on my friend Tanya. I wanted to make sure she was doing well with her pregnancy."

    "Ah yes, she mentioned that you may come by soon," she said with a smile, "Curious. Well, follow me."

    I wondered what was so curious about a friend stopping by.

    When we arrived at a small room, the lady knocked three times. "Come in," Tanya''s gentle voice said from the other side of the door.

    Draves had insisted that he be on guard duty so he could also see Tanya and wish her well. When the door opened, I saw a very pregnant Tanya propped up on a low bed. When she turned and looked at me, her face lit up in a smile. "Lord Amos, you came."

    I smiled back. "How are you, Tanya?"

    "This baby won''t stop kicking." The words made it seem like she was annoyed, but her tone told a different story.

    "So, have you picked out names yet," I asked.

    "It is unlucky to pick out names before the baby is born."

    "Oh, well, I had no idea."

    It kind of made sense that a superstition would arise like that since the infant mortality rate was so high.

    There was a pause, and Tanya became fidgety.

    "Something wrong, Tanya?"

    "I, um, I''m not sure I should say."

    That set the alarm bells going off. "You can trust me. I will keep it a secret."

    "I am afraid it might be bad for you to know."

    I thought for a moment and then said, "Tanya, I think you need to tell me. A thought popped into my head this morning about coming to visit you. Maybe it wasn''t a coincidence."

    "It may be nothing."

    "Tell me, and we will see," I said firmly.

    "I had a dream. There was a big stone slab outside of a village. There were a lot of names carved into it. Then the scene changed to me talking to you. It wasn''t here. It wasn''t really anywhere. I just knew I was telling you about the stone slab and all the names on it. But when I told you what I saw, a lot of the names started disappearing off the slab."

    My face paled as I realized what she was talking about. She saw my face and became worried. "I shouldn''t have told you. The names were important, and now they are gone." She looked like she was about to cry.

    "No, Tanya. Those names are important, but if the slab of stone is what I think it is, then you did the right thing. Outside of the village of Bicman, we have a stone monument. Anyone who dies protecting Bicman has their name engraved on that stone. If the names disappeared when you told me, it means that you telling me about this will save a lot of people''s lives."

    I bent down and gave her a gentle hug. "Thank you, Tanya. I don''t know what this is about, but you may have saved my people. I am sorry to cut this short, but Draves and I have to discuss this. I brought these gifts for you and the child. I handed her the books, the rattle, and a small picture of an idyllic forest. Draves gave his wishes, and we hurried out the door.

    As soon as we got to the carriage, I said, "Draves, what do you think?"

    "If she had ever been to Bicman and seen the monument, I would think it was her having a bad dream. But the fact that she hasn''t and that she is a priestess leads me to believe it is a warning."

    "I got that much, Captain. I want to know if you have any specific insights."

    "Since it is the wall, it has to do with the defense of Bicman. Now, I am sure that if our men were sent to war and died, their names would be added to the wall, but I think it is an attack on Bicman itself."

    I nodded. "I agree. If my men were called up for war, they would be used as fodder for arrows, and us knowing about it probably wouldn''t make too much difference. But we can certainly prepare Bicman and our people for something. I need to finish up my current paintings and hurry back. You will leave tonight to help prepare defenses. The question is whether the attack will come from the north or the south."

    "I would like to stay with you and send a different messenger," Draves said.

    "I appreciate your concern for my well-being, but you know that is not the best option. We need you where you can make the biggest difference, and right now, that is in Bicman. We need to make a list of things that may help. I want to buy more mules and carts. You hurry back, and I will hire people to escort supplies out to Bicman.

    "There are a few flip books that I keep separate from my other ideas. It is underneath the desk in my office. Under the stone we found Steward Ronald''s money in. It is filled with a few drawings of things we may be able to build that will assist in the defense of Bicman. Give the design for the crossbow to our engineer and blacksmith. I haven''t figured out the trigger mechanism yet, but they will get the idea when they flip it. I am sure they can work something out.

    I took a deep breath, knowing I was going to regret what I was going to say next. "Find Kylie. Tell her what is going on and to get a group together to help her work on her project. It must remain an absolute secret. Our entire barony depends on her being able to keep it a secret. I don''t want to open this can of worms, but it may be what saves us. It will be our plan C, or maybe we push it back to plan "we''re screwed if we don''t." How large of a force do you think it will be?"

    "Large enough that if they caught us unaware, they could kill a lot of our militia. We don''t know how well trained the group will be."

    "Ugh, we need more information." I ran my hand through my hair and said, "Ok, we need to focus on what we can do. Captain, make sure the trip hammer and bellow are up and running. I want our smiths pounding out as much armor as they can for our people. That stuff that comes in strips that I see most of the soldiers wearing or if there is something else faster to make do that. You know more about this than I do, so I give you full authority to act in Bicman''s best interest. Just promise me you will save as many lives as you can."

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    "Do not worry, my lord, we will prepare in every way we can. However, we have no idea when they will come to Bicman. It may be a month; it may be a year."

    "The longer, the better, but we need to prepare as if it is coming soon."

    For the rest of the ride home, we discussed strategy. Most of it involved building quick defensive structures and training more long-range troops. We needed a fort large enough to hold all our citizens of that area. If they came from the north, they would probably land and find Cove Village. Then, they would travel the road to Melnon. If they were crossing the Nore River, they would probably travel straight to Kerisi.

    The first thing we did when we got back was speak to Benjamin about the conversation with Tanya.

    He was quiet for a moment and then said, "I agree with your conclusion. I will send a pigeon to my father asking if he has heard anything at all concerning Bicman. I will hint at the fact that there may be a threat. Leave scheduling a supply run for Bicman up to me. I will check the prices of weapons and metal. Armor is expensive, so it would be best to just ship raw metal and have our smiths work it into something. I know we have enough food to last until the next harvest, but if we come under siege or they burn our fields, we will need a lot of extra food.

    "So food and raw material is what you''re thinking?" I asked.

    "That seems like the best idea. Bows are lightweight, so purchasing them might be a good idea as well. I know we discussed buying more livestock while we are here, and I would still like to do that, but I think we should make sure we have everything else in order. You, my lord, must relax. I know how anxious you get, but it will do your barony no good. The best thing you can do is find ways to bring in money."

    I nodded, "You are right, thank you. I must not let this distract me from my painting. The better my paintings are, the more money I will make. The more money I make, the more supplies we can get."

    I had to put my trust in these men. I was no military strategist, nor was I good at organizing people. That is why I had my subordinates. I spent the rest of the morning writing down stories and then left to go visit the Kithmoores. I was almost done with their painting and two others I had started. I had three more commissions that I had already committed to and started the general setting for. After that, I will be able to return home.

    Upon returning in the evening, however, I was met with resistance to the idea of returning home within ten days.

    "My lord, perhaps you should spend the entire winter here. The captain can handle things up there, and you would be safer here," Benjamin said.

    I truly was surprised at the idea. I hadn''t even thought of the idea of hiding. "Absolutely not. Even if I never fight during the attack, my people need to see that I am standing with them. That I care enough about them that I don''t hide while they give their lives for Bicman. I may not be a warrior, but I will do everything I can to support my people."

    Benjamin turned to Draves. "You were right, Charles. I suppose I should have known better."

    "I did have an idea while I was out. Count Vaspar should be back any day now if he isn''t back already. We have already dropped off his paper shipment, but maybe I can get an audience to meet with him. I could ask him if he knows anything."

    "I disagree," Draves said, "The count may seem like a fair man, but he has his own games he is playing. He may even be involved."

    "I agree." Benjamin said, "You are a small barony at the edge of his territory. He most likely won''t care about a possible attack."

    I kept silent. I didn''t agree at all. I had met the count. He liked the status quo. Sure, if it were something as small as a bandit issue, he may not care, but the possibility of an entire raid on a barony would make him look bad, especially if it came from the South. I would wait until Draves left to set up that meeting if I could. Perhaps even try and talk to Frederick.

    "One thing that surprises me is the fact that once again, the Endless one has interfered in your life. Revelations from the Endless One are usually only spoken about as rumors, but you have had this happen twice now. I am beginning to think there really is something to the people''s belief that you are Chosen." Benjamin said suddenly.

    Actually, it was the third time the Endless One had given revelation, but only four people knew about that one.

    I asked another question to move away from that topic. "What did you find out about shipping goods to Bicman," I asked.

    "I can get about four wagons full of iron shipped up to Bicman at a reasonable price. After talking with Charles, we decided that would be best. Although Bronze is stronger, and we would be able to cast it for quicker production, it is a lot heavier and much more expensive. This should free our people from mining iron or copper, and we can focus on lime and coke for fortification.

    "It is a good time to buy grain since harvest just came in but livestock is another matter. The prices are not terrible, but for the larger animals, we will have to buy feed. I recommend buying Mar or goats as they do not take as much care, and their diet is less restrictive."

    "How many should we purchase?"

    "The people I spoke with say they can reasonably herd 400 hundred head north."

    "What if we were to ship them up to the cove? I know we don''t have docks, but if we built barges to bring the goods to shore. Since Captain Draves is leaving, he could first get crews working on them and, at the same time, warn Johnathan''s people."

    "It would delay things. We couldn''t ship anything until we were sure that we had given Charles enough time to get back, speak with our people, then travel to Cove Village and start building barges. It would probably take them six to seven days to travel up the coast if they had good winds and then a day to unload and start moving everything back down to Bicman, which would take four to five days."

    "It would be cheaper and safer," I said

    "What if the reason we are invaded is because people hear about the Cove from the crews? A poorly defended cove might be a target," Draves said.

    I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head, "No, if we are basing things off of the vision, then it doesn''t add up. We wouldn''t even be considering this if it weren''t for knowing about the vision, and knowing about the vision decreases, not increases, the number of deaths. That means future plans will not be the cause of an invasion."

    "I will look around for ships that may be willing to transport our goods. The other advantage of shipping things is we could get more things."

    "Then I will make sure to speak with Johnathan and get barges built. I will also speak with our people there and see how long it would take to build a dock somewhere near Cove Village. I am sure Johnathan wouldn''t mind collecting taxes on a dock we build."

    Benjamin cringed.

    "Don''t worry, Benjamin. He will have to pay us back first before he can charge us taxes. Also, eventually, we will be building a dock elsewhere closer to where we are building the canal to drain the swamp. We can get the Cove Village taxes waived, and by the time he starts being able to charge us, we will have the other one built," I said mischievously.

    "An excellent thought. Even if this wasn''t in preparation for war, with you making money here, we could use the money to ship supplies up the coast and grow the barony even faster." Ben said excitedly.

    "I need my own ships so that when we get things up and running, I can export goods cheaply."

    "Let us focus on this first obstacle, and then we can worry about building the barony into a major port of trade."

    "Don''t be a wet blanket, man."

    Both of them looked at me in confusion.

    "Oh, come on guys, you smother a fire with a wet blanket. It means don''t ruin the excitement we got going. Seriously, the things I have to put up with as a baron." I muttered.

    Lady Cynthia Blackwell

    "Report," I said sharply. I hated being interrupted while preparing for my meetings.

    "Count Renolds has died, and his son is not being as amenable as needed. I am working on framing the son for his father''s death. There are already suspicions to that effect. We just need to tip the scale."

    "Did he actually do it?"

    "I believe it was Count Renolds son-in-law. Lord Kir wants to cast the blame on his brother-in-law. We will help and collect on the favor."

    "Good, what else."

    "Three of the barons we had secured in Falmor have been executed for treason. The king is becoming paranoid."

    "As he should be. Did they have anything important that they could give away?"

    "No, they were under the Polin group pushing for economic reform. Just a bunch of useful puppets. I don''t like losing my people, though. We need as many people in the Falmor duchy as we can get."

    "There are plenty of barons willing to sell their souls. Find them."

    "Of course, My lady." the man said with a bow.

    "Is there anything else? Nothing of importance. I did receive word that the Baron of Bicman is gaining popularity in Vaspar. I had a report on the quality of his painting last time he was there, and it is said there is nothing that can compare to them."

    "Hmmm, I think I will notify the Duke. Let''s see what happens, shall we." I said. I couldn''t help but give a small chuckle. I knew just what that idiot would do.

 Book 2 Chapter 29

    <h2>Chapter 29- Day 192</h2>

    The next morning, after breakfast, I decided to write a letter to Fredrick asking to meet with him. I kept it vague. I was hoping to catch his attention by the fact that I was not giving him details of the subject I would be discussing.

    The next thing was getting Draves set with all the provisions necessary to make a quick travel back to Bicman. It was nice that Bicman was so far away from everything when I wanted to go unnoticed. But when things were urgent, it was awful that it was ten days away. On Earth, if there had been good roads, he could have made it back to Bicman in a couple of hours. Of course, on Earth, we would have been invaded much sooner, too.

    We saw Draves off just as the midday bell was ringing. Now it was time for me to paint and Benjamin to find goods to ship to Bicman. I also had another party to go to tonight. The parties weren''t as bad as I thought they would be. Sure, there were rude people, but there were rude people everywhere. High Society didn''t have a monopoly on them.

    I will admit I made mistakes. And I was definitely the ''country bumpkin'' of the events, but I didn''t do anything so embarrassing that people stopped inviting me. Of course, a lot can be forgiven of people who have something to offer. Due to people''s desire for my paintings, I felt I could even act like a total prick, and at least some people would still invite me.

    In fact, the problem was quite the opposite. There were more social events going on during the winter activities than I had time to attend. Fortunately, I had Benjamin there to look through all the mail and select the ones that were best for me to go to. Then, he got to write all the rejection letters.

    When Benjamin wasn''t doing that, he was out trying to find information about people and things we may need back at Bicman. I came back after painting in the afternoon to find Benjamin sitting down with an exhausted look on his face.

    "Benjamin, you look like you''ve been run over by a train¡ª I mean a cart."

    "I am having trouble finding someone to ship the goats. I spoke with a Captain from Westcove. Apparently, the shipping season is over in a week. And he is loading up his last shipment to travel home. If the sailors of Westcove are shutting their shipping down, I doubt we will find anyone else to ship things. They start up again in the first month of the year. Sorry, Lord Amos, I should have known that, but living in Kimton my whole life, I never really thought of how shipping on the sea affected transportation."

    "Not to worry, I did live near the coast, and I also had no idea," I remember reading about the Romans not sailing during the winter months. I guess it was similar in this area since the first month of the year started in spring.

    The calendar here was interesting. There were exactly 364 days, so it was pretty close to Earth. There were thirty days in each month. The equinoxes and solstices did not count as days of the month. The two equinoxes were called the Days of Balance. The solstices were called the days of remembrance. The summer solstice was a day to remember all the things you were grateful for. The winter solstice was a time to remember and mourn for the various tragedies of your life. The months were divided up into ten day weeks.

    Though I really don''t know why because there were no rest days. It was something I thought about instituting in my barony. I had to be careful with any benefits I gave to my people, though, because once I gave it, it would be hard to take it back. Nobody wants to give up something good to which they have become accustomed. I believed it was important, but I wanted to be careful.

    ¡°By the way, where is Westcove?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Sorry, my lord, I forget that your father neglected to educate you on such matters. Westcove is the largest shipping port in the Duchy of Herron. Barony of Westcove is owned by Baron Desmond Eval. He could be considered the wealthiest of barons in Herron. His word has great influence in court.¡±

    ¡°With all that, why isn¡¯t he a count?¡±

    "If it weren¡¯t for the constant intrigue and infighting among the family, he probably would be a count. As it is, two other barons have access to the cove. This is what keeps him in check. If he could acquire the other two baronies, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to put pressure on the duke to look the other way as he steals the county from the current count.¡±

    ¡°Good information for when we start shipping our own goods.¡±

    ¡°I only know so much because of his influential status. If you want more information, we will request information from my father about it.¡±

    "Ok, so we will be scratching the shipment by sea thing until next spring." I said, "Draves is not going to be happy when we return and tell him that the barges and dock we told him to have our people build will not be used right away."

    "It can''t be helped, my lord," he said.

    "But that brings us back to shipping via land at least two hundred goats and probably a thousand kilograms of other supplies. We need to buy wagons and people to assist our men in guarding them. I know you are good at logistics, Benjamin, but we may want to hire someone who runs caravans to help us make sure we aren''t missing anything. It is going to be a much slower trip back than it was to get here."

    "Yes, it will. But it will be worth it. Now, you must get ready for the party tonight."

    The parties were starting to become boring. The food was good, but the conversations were mostly stale. I just didn''t have the background on many of the topics. That isn''t to say that I wasn''t learning anything. It is just that I would rather be discussing how to improve our society rather than who knows what about whom.

    The only thing that livened this up was the fact that Baron Jumis got drunk as a skunk. Not that I had ever seen skunks drink. I wonder if they even have them here. Anyways, the Baron began to shout loudly about how his mistress had left him for another man, and they fled to a different barony.

    He kept proclaiming, "She took all my money and my heart, " until he was escorted out of the room.

    The host''s face, Baron Narel, was so red that it looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel. It was such a perfect picture, and I wanted to paint it. Charcoal just wouldn''t do it justice. Sure, it wouldn''t be appreciated now, but it will be a couple hundred years from now. The tour guide would say, "And this is considered one of the greatest works by the famous painter Amos Bicman titled, The Red Faced Baron."

    Ok, now I totally have to paint this picture when I get the chance. Then, I will lock it away somewhere and take it out when I need a good laugh.

    Other than that, I simply did what I always did: I made money at social events. The hosts always loved me coming because it would bring in a bigger crowd.

    At the last event, which was to announce Lord Irusman''s son''s engagement, he asked me to bring my paints. When I found out he had a passion for hunting with falcons, I did a speed painting of a falcon soaring in the sky with mountains in the background. That time, I allowed people to watch as I painted to add some excitement to the event. It netted me one hundred gold.

    Once news spread, I knew there would be more of those types of things. And it was all for the glory of Bicman. The best part is that I was a Baron, so there were no taxes for me outside of the agriculture that my barony produced.

    In a few years, I would be expected to provide men for the army. I was not looking forward to that, but hopefully, if we trained our men well and equipped them, they wouldn''t be just cannon fodder. The commoners I sent to war would be armed and armored. If I could attract some knights to my land, then I could send them and their men-at-arms rather than commoners who would be better off increasing the wealth of my barony. That, of course, meant I needed to turn my villages into Fiefs so that I had something to offer the knights. Just another thing I would be relying on Benjamin for. That guy is a lifesaver.

    The next morning, I received a letter from Fredrick. However, it was not what I was expecting. His father wanted to see me. I had already dropped off his paper, so I wasn''t sure what he wanted to see me for. I wonder if he wanted another painting. It didn''t give a specific time, so I figured I would just show up and see if I could hang out with Fredrick while I waited. I had also finished Fredrick''s painting, so I could bring that along.

    ********

    "So, any idea about what your father wants to talk about?"

    "Oh, if I had to put money on it, it would be your reward for the invention of the stirrup."

    "Reward? Didn''t he already pay for it?"

    "Don''t tell him I told you, but I think the reward is from the king for your contribution to the war efforts."

    "What?" That kind of blew my mind. I wasn''t stupid. I could see the military benefit, but being rewarded by the king would be a big deal. Would it be a title or more money? I could always use more money, but I don''t exactly know what I would do with another title.

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    "Oh, don''t act so surprised," Fredrick said with a laugh. "It isn''t even just about the stirrup, although that is what is most important to the king. The horseshoe and the collar are also being used. However, it hasn''t had time to spread through the kingdom. The springs you invented are on every noble''s carriage in this city and are becoming more popular in the Dukedom. If Father had taken his carriage and not gone by ship to get to Falmor, I am sure everyone in the capitol would know about it by now. I refuse to get into a carriage without springs.

    "Casper fell in love with the mathematics you developed and with bookkeeping. Now, it is standard in the castle for all scribes. Every scribe here has an abacus. Of course, some of us do not appreciate the fact that we have to learn new math. I would avoid my brother if I were you."

    "Your brother didn''t like me before, so avoiding him has always been my plan," I said with a smile.

    "Well, he may forgive you after seeing this masterpiece, " he said, pointing at the picture I had brought in. He will be begging you to paint him. "What did you call this creature again?"

    "A chimera."

    "It is truly a creature of nightmares. I have to admit I did not understand why you put me in such a fierce pose while painting, but it turned out fantastic. I insist you create one of your stories to go with it. My fateful battle of fighting the Chimera of Hitub will be the climax."

    "As you wish," I said with a smirk. It shouldn''t be too hard to adapt one of the stories of Greek mythology to include Fredrick the Great. Unfortunately, I didn''t know the actual story of the chimera. Heck, I didn''t even know if it was Greek. Where is the wiki when you need it?

    We chatted for a bit before Casper came in and invited me to meet with Lord Vaspar.

    I found Varspar at his table, looking over some documents, and decided that if this meeting went well, I would have a desk made for him as a gift. Maybe I could even get the people who made it pay me for the design.

    I bowed to the count as I entered, and he gave me his grim face and nodded in return. Casper led me to a seat, and as soon as I sat down, the interview began.

    "You have been busy, my young kayver." He said it with a straight face and in his usual serious tone. I began to think I made a mistake in introducing the story "The Kayver that Laid the Golden Eggs."

    "Getting integrated into high society is more work than I initially thought. I do have to thank you though. Without you allowing me to paint you, I would never have been so well received."

    "That is pure flattery, young man. Any person you painted would quickly have spread the word, and you would have had no problem. But let us dispense with the pleasantries. I get enough of that at court. Tell me of the progress you have made in your barony. I believe that the amount of money you are bringing in would mean you are able to pay your taxes in full for several years. It almost makes me think I should introduce a tax on business ventures run by my nobility. You would pay ten times the tax you give us for your land holdings."

    I knew that the threat wasn''t real. There would be no point in changing laws just for one baron. Barons were taxed on lands and required to provide men for military service. Unless the status quo became too inconvenient, Vaspar would never change it.

    "I will take that as a compliment. But since we are dispensing pleasantries, let me present you with gifts."

    I brought the box that I had carried in with me and opened it to peruse the content.

    In it were the latest books I had written, bound in leather. He picked them up and flipped through them.

    "I see, son was not deceiving me. You have made your paper as white as snow."

    Hmm, why hadn''t Fredrick just shown his father the two books I had given him? What had he done with the books?

    Vaspar continued in a more severe tone, "This paper is much better quality than what you brought me. Why are you still giving me the inferior paper."

    I smiled, "You know very well why I did that. Can you imagine how many people would want me dead if I upset the parchment industry? I am using this exclusively for my books. It increases the value of my books, and, at the same time, I don''t make waves."

    "Bold of you to flaunt this in front of me. I make mere copper to the gold you are making."

    I couldn''t believe he was trying to play the offended lord card with me. "The amount of volume you are receiving with each shipment makes up for it. Besides, I have a way for you to collect taxes on the paper. I want to create what I call a publishing house here in Vaspar. I will create the stories and ship the paper to Vaspar. The publishers will be a group of scribes who copy my stories and bind them into books. You will receive taxes on the business. I could do it all in Bicman, but then we would also have to produce the leather and other parts of the book. Then, sell them to you or another merchant. Best for me to create the business here and just pay you the taxes. Unless, of course, you want to invest in the business and share in the profit."

    "I am not interested in commoner businesses, but your idea has merit. Where will you get the scribes?"

    "I am training them in Bicman. In fact, the books you are holding have all been transcribed by people I plan to bring down to Vaspar. I need a shop in Vaspar to sell the books and purchase other people''s stories, but I can house the workers outside the city as long as it is within reasonable walking distance. I even brought a few scribes down with me incase we were able to set something up."

    "Do you have someone to run your business?" He asked.

    "Yes, he is currently acting as my steward while I am away, but I think he will enjoy this more, and he is very trustworthy."

    I also figured that if he got the position and had to move down here, he would finally be a man and ask Nancy to marry him.

    The count stared at me for a long while, then nodded. "Casper, find someone to help him find lodging and a shop at a reasonable rent. Baron, I have a proposal for you. I will help you set this up and relieve you of half a year''s rent on the property, but in return, you will paint a portrait of my heir. I understand that you have already begun work on one for Fredrick but not for Peter."

    "That sounds fair. Can I entrust the scribes I have brought down into someone''s care? They can start producing books while I am back in Bicman getting the rest of my people ready to head south. Also, Peter does not seem to care for my presence, and I would hate to approach him without his permission," I said apologetically. "Fredrick''s painting is done, though."

    "I see. Well, then, I will speak with Peter, and we will get things arranged. I raised a proud man, which is good, but too much pride can get in the way of success."

    I nodded, "Moderation in all things."

    Vaspar raised his eyebrows at my statement, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "I like that. I think I will steal that phrase."

    "Go ahead. In fact, in the future, I may credit you for it. The phrase carries more weight when you claim it was said by someone popular."

    "What an interesting man you are, baron. You would give me credit for saying it so that people took the phrase for something more impressive. You are quickly becoming a smarter man than the boy I first met."

    We discussed a few more details of the publishing house, but I didn''t want to give everything away. This was a test to see if I could succeed at business and exporting goods.

    "Very well, it sounds like you have things in order. Now, I must discuss your last visit. You brought with you more than just paper last time, and those things have had a significant impact on the king''s military. He has requested that I reward you, first, with people. Last time you were here, you strove to buy contracts and entice people to move to your barony. You claimed that you could provide for them and even pay your taxes. Is this still the case?"

    I was a little confused, but I nodded in agreement.

    "The king has gathered four hundred peasants to transfer to your fields."

    My jaw dropped at the statement. "My lord, this is very generous, but I cannot feed them all. Not until the next harvest."

    "A food stipend will be provided, and your taxes will be waived for two years. This is the generosity of the king."

    I interpreted this act of generosity differently. He was dumping four hundred destitute people in my lap along with who knows how many spies. This was going to be a nightmare.

    "I will do my best, my lord, but winter is coming, and they will need housing. Our winters are colder than they are in Vaspar."

    "I have heard that, but the king and I are confident that you will succeed. If you do, then you can be assured that your barony will see even more growth in the future," he said as if that was supposed to make me happy.

    Sure, I needed people, but I didn''t want my barony to become the king''s dumping ground for the destitute.

    "The king has been made aware that you have created a settlement outside of your allotted land."

    What was this?

    "I-"

    He interrupted me, "I understand that you have created a small camp on the northern coast of the continent. This land is, of course, unclaimed by another barony, but it is still the king''s land. It was bold of you to seize the land of your own accord. It is good that you reported the camp on your tax evaluation this fall. And that you are using it to acquire fish. Fortunately, the king has deigned to extend your land to the coast as long as you continue to provide the taxes required."

    That was a bunch of bull. He just added that in to make the king look good. I am sure that if the king weren''t looking for ways to reward me, Vaspar wouldn''t have brought it up. "I appreciated the magnanimity of the king."

    "Indeed. And lastly, the king has decided to give you an honor usually granted to those who have shown great valor. He has given you the right to have a second wife."

    If I had thought Vaspar had a sense of humor like his son, I would have started to laugh; instead, the comment made my brain freeze. "I know the king is well-informed about most things, but does he realize that I am not currently married?"

    "It is of no consequence. It is the prestige that goes along with receiving the right to a second wife that matters."

    I tried to keep the look of annoyance off my face as I said, "Could you possibly keep this information just between you and me? You see, the fact that I am currently engaged is the only thing keeping the hounds at bay presently."

    "The hounds at bay," the count said slowly. "Young man, I would encourage you not to let the women of the court here you refer to them as hounds. Even if you are not eager to get married right away, that sort of thing will ensure you never marry."

    "A slip of the tongue, I assure you."

    "Regardless, your elevation is a matter of public record. It will soon be discussed among the nobility, especially since no one knows exactly why you are being given the honor. We would prefer to keep it that way as long as we can due to the fact that the stirrups give us a military advantage."

    "Have no fear, my lord. I am only interested in my paintings becoming popular. I have no desire to have a target put on my back by Hitub spies."

    "A smart move. However, speaking of popularity, a pigeon arrived yesterday that was meant for you. I have not looked at the expanded form yet, but I have the letter here," he said as he slid the letter across his table.

    My eyes grew wide as I read where it arrived from.

 Book 2 Chapter 30

    If I had not been sitting in the presence of the count, I might have lost my composure like I did when I found out the king was making me baron. Why is it that most of the letters I received were bad news? It almost made me miss the junk mail I used to receive, stating that a Nigerian prince was willing to give me fifty thousand dollars if I only sent him my social security number and bank account information. At least those were fun to read.

    "From the expression on your face, I am assuming it is not good news," the count said in a neutral tone.

    "My presence is requested in Kimton. But it does not explain why. What did I do wrong? How did he even know I was here?"

    "I would not be too worried. He most likely is inviting you to paint a picture of him. As far as how he knew you were here, it was probably due to pigeons carrying news of important things going on throughout the duchy."

    I thought for a moment. "At least I am not being reprimanded, but I really have no time for this. I was planning on leaving after I finished the last paintings I was doing. Well, now that I am painting Philips, it will take a little longer."

    The count looked surprised. "I thought you were here to increase your wealth and make contacts this winter," he said.

    "Well, yes, but¡­" I looked over at Casper. "May we speak alone?"

    The count raised an eyebrow, looking at me curiously. "No," he said flatly.

    I sighed. I trusted the count, but I did not know if Casper had his own agenda. But then again, I think the count was smart enough to surround himself with loyal, trustworthy people. I knew Benjamin disagreed, but this may help us.

    "Very well. A couple of days ago, I visited Tanya, the priestess. I am sure you remember her."

    "Yes, I have had reports that she is progressing very nicely. She has an excellent memory for the law and is very devoted. She will make an excellent priestess. She also has a few suitors."

    Now I feel bad. Most of the conversations I had with Tanya had been about me, not her. I would have to stop back by and congratulate her on her progress and her personal life.

    "Well, while I was there, she explained that she had had a dream. She saw a particular wall in Bicman. It contains the people who died in the defense of Bicman. Currently, there are only a few names on it. But in her dream, she saw that the wall was filled with a lot of names. Then she saw herself talking with me, and the names began to vanish as she spoke with me. She did not know anything about the wall or what it was before she spoke with me."

    There was a long pause. Then he spoke. "I am not much of a believer in the Endless One. You believe this is a warning from him and that you must return to protect your people?"

    "Not necessarily. I am sure you are aware that I have not had much training in military affairs. Nor am I a proficient fighter. But I would like to do what I can to help my people, and that means I must be at my barony, even if it is just so they have their leader among them.."

    "Hmm, what do you think, Casper?"

    "He should be there, but I do not see it as urgent. Who would attack Bicman in the winter? What are you doing to prepare?"

    I explained our plans so far, but when I got to the point of the plan where we were training and arming our peasants, both men frowned.

    "You are saying that you are providing military training for all your peasants. That is a very risky thing to do. You cannot stop the unrest, no matter how good of a ruler you are. And that is doubly so if people feel they have the power to confront you." Vaspar said.

    "There is always a risk to all endeavors in life, but if you give people hope for a better life, they will be loyal. We had an incident where slavers tried entering our cove. Their ship sank somewhere, but a dozen or so made it to shore. I only have about twenty soldiers. I can only imagine the chaos they could have caused if their entire ship made it to land. A good number of my people would have been captured and turned into slaves, and I would not have been able to do anything about it."

    "I had not considered an attack from the cove. I was thinking along the lines of a rogue mercenary company that made its way north. They would definitely be able to kill a lot of unarmed peasants. I was just going to increase road patrols and keep a closer eye on the companies that had not gone south with the armies. But this adds another piece to the board," the count said. "And if they attack from there, I cannot offer any assistance. It would take a large force to assist in protecting you from an invading force from the coast. We are at war, and I cannot spare resources for your barony. In fact, I would say your idea of arming and training your peasants is the only thing that may save you," he said.

    "You mentioned mercenaries. Are there any trustworthy mercenaries that I could hire to bolster my forces?"

    "You could risk hiring mercenaries, but most times, you use them to attack, not defend. Mercenaries get bored quickly and begin to rape and pillage the land if you are not careful. They may even join with the enemy if the price is right, and when everything is done, they would just sail off with their new employer. I am sorry, but it seems the plan you have come up with is the best. I also don''t recommend you bring this up to the duke looking for support. He will do nothing, and then your preparations will probably be leaked. The advantage you have is that they don''t know you know they are coming."

    "My lord, I have a thought, but it may depend on how large the entrance to his cove is," Casper said. "Could he not put a ballista on either side of the entrance."

    Dang, I should have thought about that.

    "I haven''t been to the cove entrance, but I imagine we could put a couple of ballistas on each side."

    "Depending on how many ships come, it may not sink them all, or it may clog the entrance and cause the enemy to retreat. I wouldn''t count on it, though. All we are doing now is guessing. But, my lord, we have gone overtime for this meeting." Casper said.

    "Thank you for the input, Casper. Baron, we will do what we can on our end here to make sure that a force doesn''t come from the south, but ultimately, you are responsible for the defense of your borders. We will delay the picture for my son. I will send your new four hundred residents onward with the supplies you are purchasing. The wagons and oxen that are transporting the supplies for the four hundred can be considered a gift. Casper will see if he can find people to build ballistas for you. Finish up what you need here and head to Kimton as soon as possible. I will send a response to Duke Kimton''s request."

    "Thank you for your time, my lord. I will strive to serve the kingdom."

    "One more thing, Lord Amos. If you happen to invent any more things that will help in the war effort, you will be well rewarded. This war has gone on long enough, and there are things that need to be accomplished here."

    "I will do my best to serve the kingdom."

    *******

    "We are going to Kimton," I said to Benjamin as soon as I entered the carriage.

    "My lord, is that wise."

    "We have no choice. It is an order from the duke. Most likely, he wants a painting, but be ready for anything. Also, not only are we sending food, but the king is gifting us four hundred peasants that they have gathered."

    Before Benjamin could respond, I explained the situation.

    "There is no way that the King is providing enough food to truly keep the people well-fed enough that they can survive the Bicman winter. Not to mention clothing. Many of these people will die."

    "I think that is why they sent so many people," Benjamin said. "In fact, if he gathered four hundred, I am not sure that all four hundred made it to Vaspar."

    "Apparently, they are expected to arrive in five or six days. We, however, may not be here by then. I cannot put off my departure to Kimton once I finish these paintings. Accept no more invitations to the various gatherings."

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    "Yes, My Lord."

    "We will need to write a letter and have a messenger sent to Bicman today. All focus needs to be on building large shelters. We probably won''t have enough lime and ash to build them out of concrete. We also need to reserve that for fortifications. So that means we do it like we did with the last influx of people. We will have to buy more food for storage. We are going to use what you have lined up so far to stretch whatever rations they are given."

    "If that is the case, we may have to import it from further away or purchase it from Kimton when we are there," Benjamin said.

    "It is what it is. Others may be okay with losing half of these people, but I will do my best to ensure that as many survive this winter as possible."

    "We should purchase more tools while we are here as well. We are going to need a lot more raw material."

    "We will send word about clothing as well. We need the weavers to produce more low-quality but warm clothes. "

    "Should we purchase wool as well, my lord."

    "Check the prices. We may end up burning through our money faster than I can make it."

    "I don''t think you will have to worry about that, my lord. You have thus far made more money than Bicman made in the last five years. And we are buying the cheapest of everything. Our real enemy here is time. We have to get all these people settled before winter comes, and we still don''t know when we will be attacked."

    We sat in silence for the rest of the trip to the manor, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Why is it that every time I come up with a plan, things seem to start to settle, and something else comes up? I was supposed to come to Vaspar, become stinking rich and famous, and then head back to the barony and build it into something amazing.

    Instead, I am spending all my money to take in refugees and prepare for war. What an altruist I am.

    When we arrived back at the manor, I got straight to work painting. The sooner I got to Kimton, the sooner I could leave. However, I did not sacrifice the quality of my paintings for speed. I had to be here for at least the next four days due to various commitments to different social gatherings, and I did not want to alienate myself. I wasn''t quite at the level of popularity where I could do that¡ªnot that I would anyways.

    The next few days seemed to flash past as I prepared to leave. The caravan we were building to bring supplies to Bicman was growing but had a departure date of ten days. It would also be traveling very slowly. If it were only a small group, it would most likely take double the time a normal trip would require. It was actually good because they would also be bringing all those other people. On the fourth day, I was invited to meet with Fredrick before the get-together that night.

    "So, couldn''t wait until the party to hang out, Lord Fredrick," I asked after I bowed to him.

    He gave me one of his signature grins and said, "I hear you have no excuse not to get engaged now."

    "Seriously, is my personal life so interesting to people."

    "You''re a noble. There is no such thing as a personal life. Especially once you become popular, don''t worry, though. I already spread the word, so you don''t have to worry about doing it yourself."

    "You fiend! I thought we were friends."

    "We are. That is why I am helping you find a wife tonight before you go down to Kimton. We wouldn''t want you to get roped into marrying one of those Kimton girls."

    "Now you''re just mocking me. There is no way I am getting engaged tonight."

    "No, I suppose not. I did, however, want to warn you that there are several young women who will be interested. I will let you know if any are worth pursuing."

    I decided playing along would be better than digging my heels in. "OK, just give me a thumbs up if the lady is worth my time or a thumbs down if she is not."

    Frederick gave me a questioning look. "Thumbs up, Thumbs down?"

    I showed him what I meant and explained its uses.

    "Ah, like the call signs for hunters. I like it."

    "Of course you do. I came up with it." Before he could throw back a barb, I said, " Actually, I brought something to give to your father. You can pass it along, but it must be kept secret."

    I pulled out a stack of papers. "This is the design for the Bicman plow."

    "Ah, the one you told me about. My father is busy, but let us go see Casper. I was thinking you could get more than just money for an invention that doubled the crops. "

    "What, you want me to ask for another two wives? Or maybe another eight hundred people to feed? Don''t get me wrong, I do want more people, but what the king has done is put a lot of strain on my resources."

    "Additional titles and lands are what you need. Why only have one barony when you could have two? And why not four wives? That is a huge amount of prestige and a lot of dowry."

    And now we are back to talking about tracts of land. I thought with a chuckle.

    "What am I going to do with more land? Especially if I have a huge amount already, and I can double what I produce already on that land."

    "Oh, my poor sheltered friend. It is obvious that you are woefully ignorant. Do not say such things to other nobles, or you will be laughed out of the room. Land and titles are everything. Land can be traded or used for favors. You can give them to knights to increase your military might. There is much you can do with land and titles if you know how to play the game."

    What he was saying started to sink in. Benjamin had tried to explain this concept to me, but it didn''t make sense. Was this like a trading card game where lands and titles were your cards? No, that didn''t quite fit. I would have to figure out a proper analogy. I still thought land would become less important the more food we could produce, but I wouldn''t be putting money on it. Land will always be important.

    We found Casper in his personal study reviewing documents.

    He looked up in surprise when we entered. He stood up and bowed. A habit I had tried to break Benjamin of without success. "How may I assist you, young lord?"

    "Baron Bicman has an invention he believes would interest, Father."

    "Really, and what might that be?" He asked while turning to me.

    "It is a new plow that churns the dirt faster and more effectively. By the end of last year''s plowing season, we were able to get some fields plowed three times faster. We plowed the fields after harvest and had even better results on those fields we had already plowed once.

    "In conjunction with that, our fields produced up to double the yield that we had the previous year. After you remove the amount used to feed the peasants and what was used for reseeding, you will have a threefold increase of grain for storage."

    "I do not mean to doubt your words, but-"

    "Then don''t," I said, cutting him off. He was the count''s steward, but that did not give him the right to doubt my words. "My word as a baron is more important to me than making myself look good. Besides, it is easy to verify."

    "Forgive me, my lord. You are, of course, correct."

    Look at that: Benjamin''s lessons were sinking in.

    He continued. "Just to clarify. You are saying that you have found a way to double the yields of our fields?"

    "Not exactly. As far as the speed of plowing goes, you will definitely see a benefit, but I believe the increase in yield has to do with our soil. As I understand it, my fields have harder soil. Perhaps the nutrients in our soil are buried deeper, so it took something other than a scratch plow to get to them. Most fields in the kingdom produce 6 to seven bushels per acre. Mine were produced three to four. So it could just be the difference there. But let''s say you only got a quarter increase. How would that affect the country?"

    "That would be a great benefit to the kingdom. It also might decrease political tensions." He mused. "Who else knows about this?"

    "Outside of my barony, only the Baron of Tine. Well, unless there were spies that found out about it." Ever since I found out that headman Jeffery was a scumbag, I wondered if he had passed along any of my secrets. Maybe he was planning to sell them once he robbed me of as much money as he could.

    "I am surprised that Mathew, our messenger, did not bring these new plows up in his report."

    "Well, by the time he came, the plowing was done, and we had them put away. He probably overlooked them."

    "Mathew misses nothing unless it is hidden very well. It is what makes him an effective messenger. The only way he would have missed this is if you ordered none of your people to talk about them and hid them. You must have very loyal people for them to avoid discussing things with a messenger," he said pointedly.

    I said nothing.

    Finally, he said, "Very well. I will speak with the count about this. What do you want for this?"

    At this point, Fredrick came to my aid. "Casper, all of us know the value of such an invention. If it works as promised, this will revolutionize farming. I hope you will consider rewarding him generously."

    "That is up to your father."

    "And he will ask for your recommendation."

    They both stared at each other.

    Finally, Casper spoke again, "Anything given will be conditional upon proof that it works. I will pass the information along, but if you will excuse me, I must prepare these documents before your father is free."

    "That is alright. We will be late for my party if we don''t hurry. Come, baron; my guests await."

    "Thank you for your time, Steward Casper. Have a pleasant day."

    The party went as expected. Frederick did not keep his mouth shut. He let everyone know that the king had rewarded me for something and had given me the option to have a second wife.

    Of course, that caused me to become the center of attention. Everyone wanted to know what I had done. Most of them assumed it had to do with my artwork, but I just told them the king would reveal it later.

    The young men congratulated me, which led to more open discussions. They spoke highly of all their female relatives. Not even their ten-year-old sisters were safe from being propositioned.

    The young women constantly tried to speak over each other, hinting at large dowries and family connections. I felt like Fredrick had thrown me into a shark tank. The worst part was that I did not make any money that night, and with my expenses piling up, I needed every penny I could get.

    When I got home that night, I crashed into bed and dreamt of ways to get even with Fredrick.

 Book 2 Chapter 31

    The next morning, I was up early. I was hoping to see the count today and take off. After breakfast, I got my daily report from Benjamin.

    "So we have found suppliers for most of the goods we need, but prices are rising. It is harder to negotiate with merchants. I don''t know what gave our position away as urgent. Maybe it was the quantity we were buying or our time frame. It might even be that they heard you were making a lot of money, so they are trying to squeeze as much as they can out of you." Benjamin said in an annoyed tone.

    "Are you sure it is not a supply-and-demand issue? Are we taking too much from the market?" I asked.

    "No, they are just greedy. I warned them that if they did not start being reasonable, we wouldn''t do business with them in the future. It helped a little, but we don''t do enough business with them that they would be concerned."

    "Well, we shouldn''t need as much ever again, so just make note of who we will not be dealing with in the future," I said.

    "Yes, my lord. Also, I received a letter last night while you were away. The four hundred new people should arrive late tomorrow or the next day. I recommend waiting until they arrive before departing."

    "Good. I wanted to see them before we left, but I wasn''t going to wait around if it was going to hold things up too much."

    As we were talking, a messenger came. It was an invitation from the count to visit him. I was to come at two bells past noon. Speaking of bells, I purchased one thing that was completely unnecessary: a large brass bell to ring in the square of Bicman village. It was nothing like the huge church bells you see, but the sound would carry to the manor on the hill.

    Why not put it at the manor, you say? I didn''t want a bell going off right over my head if I was trying to take a nap. I used the possibility of a battle as an excuse for the purchase. You know, an alarm bell.

    So, after painting one last piece of art, which I was leaving for the family who owned the house, I headed to the count''s castle.

    I was ushered into the count''s office as soon as I arrived. Once again, both the count and Casper were waiting for me. The count looked more serious than usual, and that was saying something.

    He started right in, "Casper says you are claiming to be able to create miracles." He made it sound like an accusation.

    Benjamin trained me for this. The count was trying to put me on the defensive. Sneaky nobles and their games. "I will assume we are speaking of the Bicman plow. And yes, the results we have seen so far this year have been very impressive. We are planning on using the plows on all our fields this year, and if the results are the same, we will be able to prepare the fields in half the time. And even if we didn''t expand the amount of fields, we would still have spare grain."

    "And why was this not reported earlier? I understand you hid it from Mathew. Why?"

    "Because I was not done testing it. I could not verify that it increased crop yield."

    "But the fact that it can plow the fields quicker was already verified and would have been enough to be considered a success."

    "But what if the churning of the soil had a negative impact on crop production? I needed to finish the experiment."

    "You are making up excuses." He said sternly.

    I kept silent.

    He gave a quiet harumph. "Very well, I understand that Fredrick has been counseling you on this matter and believes you should request another barony upon the report being verified. I agree, but the reward will not come from me. It will come from the king."

    I tried to keep the surprise off my face as he continued.

    "You are probably aware that the kingdom is divided at the time. Many people are upset, and the king''s political opponents are preparing to make a move. With his support eroding, he needs something to bolster the people''s faith in him and help him gather supporters. Therefore, I am bringing this invention to the king. The plow is now an invention of the king''s scholars, who were tasked with developing a way to increase the prosperity of our kingdom. If you agree to keep your silence, I can guarantee you two additional prosperous baronies. It will either come as land that the king currently holds himself or through an introduction to a heiress. Depending on the success of this venture, I can guarantee you will receive more."

    This seemed like a hail mary on the part of the count. The king must be very desperate if the count can offer this without even consulting the King. It also shows the level of trust the king has in Count Vaspar. I was expecting to receive just money for this, and truthfully, I would have been fine with that, but Benjamin would strangle me if I refused this. And once Fredrick found out he would raise me from the dead and run me through with a sword.

    "Lord Vaspar, your offer is most generous, and I accept it. But what are you going to do about Baron Tine? I told Casper he has also got the design. "

    "Do not fear. He will be well compensated for his silence. Unless there is anything else, I will have Casper show you out."

    It appeared that he was in a hurry, but a thought popped into my mind that may have been crazy. But if it worked, it would be the perfect gift for Emily. "My lord, I do have a small request. The inventor of the paper, Emily, has worked hard to bring this invention that I believe will change the kingdom with time. I ask that you raise her to the status of an untitled noble."

    This definitely caught the count off guard. He leaned forward and looked at me as if he were trying to understand my motive. "You cannot possibly be thinking of marrying this girl. If I recall, Mathew''s report said that she was a serf. A maid in your manor. To waste one of your wives on such a person would give you nothing in return. Just take her as a mistress after you marry. If you treat her well I am sure she will be happy."

    I was getting used to this type of thinking now, and his assumption only slightly surprised me. "Forgive me if I was unclear, my lord. I have no intention of marrying Emily. I owe her a great debt. She is the one who saved my Nephew Aaron the Third, now Aaron of Tine, from assassination. She is like a sister to me and one of my best friends."

    After a moment, he said, "I see. I have no objections to it. But the request will be sent to the king. I have no doubt your request will be granted since you are an out of the way barony that no one pays attention to. I will have Casper write up a Passive Title of Nobility. It will be non-hereditary but will give her status higher than anyone in your barony other than you. Just so we are clear, even after the king sends the actual title, it will mean very little outside of your barony. The peerage would never accept an uneducated serf, no matter what title she is given.

    I smiled, "Emily is literate and can figure out higher math. She is also a good dancer, better than me anyways. I suspect it would take little training from Benjamin to make her fit right in with the nobles."

    I laughed as I thought of one of my mom''s favorite movies. "My Fair Lady" I wonder if I could remember enough of it to turn it into a book. Would the nobles like it or be offended by it?

    "My lord, as a parting gift, I would like you to try another invention developed in my barony."

    I opened a pouch at my waist and grabbed a paper-wrapped candy. I handed one to both Vaspar and Casper, then unwrapped one myself and popped it into my mouth.

    "Just suck on one of them for a while. These are a sweet treat I call hard candy. They are very delicious but extremely expensive to make."

    "Hmm, it has an interesting taste but is a bit too sweet for me," the count said. Casper said nothing, however, and just continued to suck. The count also did not spit it out, so he must not have found the candy disgusting, even if it wasn''t his favorite thing.

    "Thank you for your time, my lord," I said. Count Vaspar nodded, and Casper took that as a cue to lead me out.

    As we stopped at the carriage, waiting for my guards to return, Casper turned to me and asked. "How much would you like for the rest of those?"

    I smiled and took the pouch off my belt. "A gift for all your help."

    "A most generous gift, my lord. I am extremely grateful.¡±

    Well, even if I couldn''t get the nobles on board, I could use candy to bribe Casper.

    At that moment, my guards and Benjamin came around the corner, and I hopped up into the carriage.

    As soon as Benjamin entered, I started to explain what had happened during the meeting.

    ¡°This is happening faster than I expected," Benjamin said with a hint of excitement.

    I narrowed my eyes, "And what exactly were you expecting?"

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    He had the decency to look abashed. "I did not want to get your hopes up, my lord, but I was hoping that your creativity would lead us to get recognized and given more land. I was counting on it coming from Vaspar. The fact that we bypassed even the duke and will receive it from the king, though, is even better."

    "Why? I just don''t understand why this all matters. We have plenty of land in Bicman, and once we drain the marshes, we will have even more. Why should I want baronies who may be on the other side of the kingdom?"

    "If you manage to find an heiress with huge tracts of land in a good location. Actually, now, with the option of multiple wives, you could find two. That would be the best case since the land the king would offer you without an established baron will most likely not be as good. That being said, either way, you would become a tenant-in-chief. You wouldn''t even have to visit as long as you put the right people in charge."

    You have got to be kidding me. Huge tracks of land? Was this guy a fan of British comedy?

    "Ok, but you are too excited for this to just be about additional baronies. What is your plan." I said forcefully. I did not like the fact that he was plotting behind my back.

    "It wouldn''t take much to persuade Plimgus to trade you baronies. From what I can tell, he is not overly attached to the location he is at. Even if his barony is not as good as the one we are trading him for, we would have a larger territory. It is always best to have them close together than far apart. We could find a knight to be in charge of the town of Polman and surrounding areas."

    "And then you want me to use the other barony to trade for Decmoor. Scratch that. I meant Malcolm."

    "That might be trickier. We may need more than just a single barony to entice him. He will know what you are doing and demand a higher price. I don''t know how long it will take to get everything moving."

    This felt like the game of Monopoly. Get three baronies close to each other rather than three separate. Wait¡­

    I glared at Benjamin. "Are you trying to turn me into a count?"

    "Of course, that is the end goal." He said as if I should have made this conclusion much earlier.

    "Why? I can barely manage my barony."

    "No, you are doing an excellent job for someone who was never supposed to have a barony. Your people are prospering more than they ever have, and that they love you is proof of that. You are also expanding rapidly already. You don''t have to know everything or do everything. You have been gathering the right people in order to get things done." Benjamin said.

    "And all the other nobles are going to be just fine with me taking over the northern teritories? You think Vaspar is just going to let me split his county?"

    "Of course not, but they are all trying to do the same thing. I am sure Malcomp wants to take Plimgus and vice versa. Vaspar is trying to steal some of Count Nurik''s land. Duke Kimton is trying to grab more of the Duchy of Falmor, and Githum is expanding south. In fact, I am beginning to think this is why Vaspar is so sure that the king will agree to give you baronies. They will want to see what you do with them. They will try to use you as a piece in their games. They need people loyal to the crown, and if they can give you gifts and have you push Plimgus and Malcomp out, that will give them more influence in Kimton, which is where the main opposition to his rule is," Benjamin concluded.

    This is like Monopoly, only with multiple levels of play. Or maybe 3D chess. I should invent chess. The board games I saw at some of the noble houses I attended were more like Othello, Backgammon, or that tile game you see in anime.

    "So you think that these gifts I am given are part of the king''s larger plans?" I asked.

    "It is how things are done. Gifts and rewards are not given if it isn''t to their advantage to give it."

    ¡°And how long have you been cooking up this plan?¡±

    ¡°Well, I started thinking about it as soon as I saw the paper you were making. Then, everywhere I turned, something new was being done. I had to admit I was not hopeful at first, but you have shown yourself capable of learning. Once I realized how dedicated you were to your people, I knew you would do everything you could to improve people''s lives. That is when I really started to think about how we might be able to expand your influence. I wouldn''t have planned anything if I didn''t think you could do it," He said.

    "Thank you for your confidence. But I will not let the fact that you hid your plans from me slide. Even if this plan was meant to happen far in the future and might not even happen, it was too big for you to hide from me. It destroys my trust in you."

    At this, Benjamin put his head down. ¡°Forgive me, my lord. It was not my intention to hide this from you. I really had thought this would be something we would discuss in a couple of years once you had integrated into society. I think the king is scrambling to gain more support.¡±

    Again, I had the feeling I was being used as a Hail Mary pass.

    ¡°Be more transparent with me in the future.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, my lord¡±

    When we got back to the manor, my guards and the couple of extra hands I had brought along started packing things up. I had planned on doing something with my paintings towards the end of my trip, but now I would have to bring them down to Kimton. Each of them was wrapped in a separate cloth and laid gently in the wagon. Paints and chests were brought out, leaving only a few things that I would need before I left tomorrow.

    It was late in the afternoon when I received word that the people that had been gathered to be my new subjects had arrived. I decided that now would be a good time to meet them so I wouldn''t be delayed tomorrow.

    When I arrived at the camp, people were still setting up tents, and campfires had been started. Men were guarding the outside perimeter, and a few were walking among the people. The people sat around eating what looked like hardtack. Others were gathering water from a nearby stream. Many turned to look at me as I approached.

    A guard stepped forward. He was a gruff-looking man who I could tell even from a few yards away needed a bath.

    "How may I help you, my lord." He said with a bow and in a voice that matched his looks.

    "This is Baron Amos Bicman. The owner of the land you are bringing these people to. Bring the leader of your mercenary group here." Benjamin said.

    He nodded and left.

    "How did you know they were mercenaries?" I asked once the man was out of earshot.

    "The red band around his belt. I hope they haven''t lost too many on the trip up here. Mercenaries are not known for their kindness."

    "You think they will push them to the point where we will lose a lot along the way?"

    "They get paid by the job. So they will rush these people north as fast as they can without losing too many."

    "Looking at the condition of some of these people, I would say you will lose up to one hundred."

    I grit my teeth. "That is unacceptable."

    "Travel is not easy on the weak and the young."

    I looked around at the exhausted faces of these people, who were gathered together in families and small groups. There were several groups around each fire. Many looked like the people of Bicman had before I started allowing them to eat their food rather than pay it all in taxes.

    "My lord," A tall, dark-haired man said as he approached. He carried himself with confidence. "I understand you wished to see me."

    "Yes, how has the trip been so far?" I said. I was not planning on getting angry at this man for doing his job. Even if I thought it was a crappy job.

    "Well enough for a transport mission. The people have been mostly quiet since we beat the most rowdy of them."

    "And how many have we lost?"

    "You would have to ask our quartermaster. I put him in charge of that detail. If I had to guess, we lost thirty on the way to Vaspar from illness and fatigue. A few ran away."

    I wasn''t sure if I believed him on all accounts, but we would see if I could improve the situation.

    "How many men do you have."

    "Thirty-two."

    "Gather ten of them. Leave the rest to guard my people so they don''t run off. I have some things to say to you all."

    He turned to the guard I had sent to go find his captain, "Thomas, gather the men."

    Tomas nodded and left. While he was gone, we chatted about the road conditions and the weather they had on the way here.

    When the men arrived, I turned and began to address the group. "First of all, thank you for your efforts in bringing my people here. Now, I would like to improve things for both you and my people. In order to keep losses to a minimum, you will leave with my caravan, which I am sending north. This will slow your pace and make it easier to travel. I understand that you were not expecting to have to stay here for five extra days, so I will be giving your captain three silver crowns to compensate you for your time.

    "The slower pace means you will have to spend more time on the road than expected. To compensate you for that, I will be sending a letter to the caravan master to hand to my steward at Bicman. You will be given one copper for each of my people who arrive at Bicman safely. That would mean, if the captain''s estimates are right, thirty-seven additional silver pennies."

    I paused, waiting to see if there would be any sort of response, but the men kept their mouths shut. They were well disciplined.

    I continued, "I will discuss some other things later, but right now, I need to address some of my people. Please help gather them in groups of fifty. I will need to repeat my message several times."

    I soon found myself standing before a group of fifty adults and a few small children who couldn''t be left alone. I figured the older people could pass the message on to the youth.

    As I looked out at the crowd, I saw a myriad of expressions. None good. I saw distrust, anger, depression, and, most common of them all, fear. Rome wasn''t built in a day, and neither is trust.

    "My new citizens, I am Lord Amos Bicman. Thank you for answering the call of the king to travel to my barony and settle in the north."

    I knew they really didn''t have a choice, but, hey, maybe this would make them feel better.

    "The first thing I want to say is that the well-being of my citizens is very important to me. As such, there will be a five-day rest period before you continue north. During this time, supplies are being gathered and brought with you. The supplies were initially meant to help increase the stores we already have in Bicman, but when I found out a few days ago you were being sent to my barony¡ª"

    I paused as my last statement caused a murmur in the crowd. So, I guessed right. They had no idea that they had been sent to a barony that the lord didn''t even know they were coming.

    "I decided to procure more and send it along with you. From today on, you will receive double rations. I have procured four hundred goats. Every fifth day on your journey, enough goats will be slaughtered that every person will get a small portion of meat. Every tenday will be a day of rest.

    "I have with me a list of the laws of the Barony of Bicman. You will be subject to all the laws of Falmoren as well as the laws of Bicman. These laws are there to protect you, not to oppress you. I do not expect you all to trust me right now. You will see by my actions that I value my citizens."

    I then introduced the laws, discussed sanitization in the camp, and told them we would be back tomorrow to evaluate everyone''s health and look for people with specific job sets. I wanted additional guards on the way up to Bicman and promised to pay those who passed the interview.

    By the time I finished addressing the crowd, night had fallen. I had planned on leaving tomorrow, but after seeing the people''s poor state, I decided I could not leave them until I had done everything I could to give them the best chance to arrive at Bicman safely. These were my people now, and I would not fail them.

 Book 2 Chapter 32

    The next morning started with my regular morning routine but then quickly turned into a mad race to get everything done. First, I sent out messengers to find people with various professions: herbalists, bone setters, fullers, carpenters, wheelwrights, and a few other types of merchants. I was going to be spending money like water. Most nobles, heck, almost anyone, would probably consider me insane.

    Spend money helping to ensure that every single one of these commoners made it to my barony alive. Why not save the money and just get more? These people hadn''t done anything for me yet, and despite my spending money on them, they may still die. But these were people. What is the worth of a life?

    I first had the herbalist and bone setters come in. I discussed with them various types of injuries or illnesses that are common right now and what might happen on the road. I asked them how they would treat each condition. I found out that ash paste was a much cheaper alternative to honey and that I should purchase plenty of cloth and apply the paste to wounds. Other remedies for coughs and flu were discussed. I asked for remedies to be prepared for the road and even hired one herbalist to travel along with the caravan to see to any major problems. It wasn''t going to be enough, but I didn''t have infinite money to spend. Most had already been invested in the caravan.

    I asked if there were launderers in the city. And got a disgusted look from Benjamin.

    ¡°You have something against clean clothes?¡± I asked, in confusion.

    That confused Benjamin for a moment before he said. ¡°My lord, it appears living in a small barony has sheltered you from the full extent of what fullers do. They not only clean the clothes but prepare new wool and bleach cloth. The process is quite awful.¡±

    ¡°Oh so they work with chemicals like the tanners do.¡±

    ¡°Specifically with urine, my lord. The smell tends to cling to them.¡±

    ¡°Well someone has to do the dirty work. I hope they get paid well.¡±

    I convinced Benjamin to find some fullers to speak with. Well I actually convinced him to convince someone else to find some fullers. I needed soap and a lot of it. I wanted all my peasants'' and serfs'' clothing washed before they left, and I needed enough for them to wash their clothes at least twice on the road. The harsh lye soap that was used on clothes was not suitable for the skin, and there was no way I would spend money on softer soaps.

    One of the fullers, who looked to be around thirty and had short-cut, dark brown hair, approached me after the rest had departed.

    ¡°Excuse me, my lord, would you happen to have a need of a fuller in Bicman?¡± The young man said.

    I didn¡¯t answer him immediately. Most of our lye was produced by all the women in town gathering their ash. I wasn¡¯t going to pay for the production, but I was working towards a wealthier Bicman. Maybe this next year would bring enough prosperity that people would want to hand over their money so they didn¡¯t have to produce their own soap.

    ¡°I am assuming you are inquiring for your own sake,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes, my lord, my father is the best soap maker in the County of Nartor. However, he refused to move to a larger city where the quality of his work might be recognized. He taught me all he knew, but I told him that I would travel to a city where I could make more money." He sighed. "I should have listened to my father. Establishing a business where there are already so many fullers ended up being extremely difficult. I thought that more people meant there would be more sales. What it really meant was more competition. I cannot face my father after everything I said to him before I left."

    I was such a softy for sad stories, and I hated damaged relationships, so I didn''t immediately reject him.

    "Why Bicman? We are a poor barony. Do you honestly think my people will be able to afford your services?" I asked.

    "Call it a hunch. I am looking at all the supplies you are asking for around town. I also see how much you are spending on people who are not even at your barony. I see a man who is investing a lot of money in growing his barony. Even if I have to sell for less initially, you are trying to make your people prosper."

    One thing I have learned is to take everything I hear from people in this world with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to commoners. It''s not that they were trying to lie all the time. They just had the habit of always trying to put me in the best possible light. I wonder if commoners went through some educational program in the art of suck-upery. It was definitely taught to stewards. They were masters at sucking up to their lords.

    I looked at him for a moment and then said, "I think that is mostly flattery, and in actuality, I am your last hope before you have to return home in shame."

    He steeled himself, preparing to be rejected.

    "This is what we are going to do. I will allow you to journey North with my group on the condition that you write a letter or dictate it to my steward. In it, you will apologize to your father."

    He hung his head at this.

    "A fight takes two people, so I am sure there are some things he said or did that were also wrong. Trust me, I have been there. But, I also want you to write that you have accepted a position as a fuller for the Baron of Bicman. Fix the relationship with your father before it is too late. Trust me. I waited, and now my father is dead. Something I regret but will never get the chance to fix."

    Actually, I didn''t care at all about Amos''s dad, but I do wish I had reached out to my own dad. He was a loser for leaving us, and he may have even hated me for killing Nathan. But now I wondered if I could have fixed it.

    "It is a deal, my lord. My pride would not allow me to make amends with my father. You have provided me the opportunity."

    "No, I am afraid what I am doing is not the best thing for you. Your pride is the problem. Pride can help you push past your limits while trying to succeed, but it can also stop you from doing what needs to be done. It would have been better if you had just apologized without needing me to give you a job first."

    "As you say, my lord," he said with a bow.

    I don''t know if I would ever get used to giving advice to people twice my age and having them actually listen.

    "Now for your responsibilities. Every fifth day will be a rest day on the trip north. You will be responsible for making sure people are as clean as they possibly can be. You may hire others to help, and all of you will be compensated. You will be given a silver a week and your laborers a copper. Hire as many as are needed, but not more. You are not to charge anyone for your service. Think of this as promoting the business you will be building when you get to Bicman. My peoples'' cleanliness is essential to their health."

    "My lord, forgive me. I fear I may fail at your task. It will be difficult to ensure there is a good water source on each fifth day, " he said hesitantly.

    "The rest day does not necessarily have to be every fifth day. It could be the sixth or seventh. Even if you are halfway through the day and find a source, stop for a day and a half. What I care about is that as many people make it to my barony as healthy as possible."

    "I will do all I can, my lord."

    "Good. Benjamin, did you get all that?" I said as I turned to my steward. He was holding a notepad and, as he was getting used to doing, wrote down my orders.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "The orders are here, my lord. Give me a moment to make the duplicate."

    "Before you do that, I need you to write something else down. The thought keeps popping up, but I never write it down, so I forget about it. I want to have Emily make a paper that allows the ink to pass through, much like our first attempts, but it needs to be stronger. Maybe a thin, strong sheet."

    "What for, Lord Amos?" Benjamin asked in confusion.

    "If the ink passed through onto a regular sheet, you would not have to write duplicates. The thin sheet could be given to whomever we want the orders to go, and the thick ones we would keep like we do now. We may have to work on the ink mixture, though."

    "An interesting idea. However, I am afraid Emily will not appreciate the extra work."

    "Don''t be ridiculous. She loves working with paper. She will be ecstatic for the new challenge."

    "If you think so, then it will be as you say. You know your subjects well," he said straight-faced.

    I knew he was just saying that because the fuller¡­ Dang, I didn''t even know this fuller''s name. Well, whatever it is, he is the reason Benjamin agreed with me. Benjamin was good at not arguing at inappropriate times. And he was right. Emily was going to groan at the news, but I really did think she would enjoy it in the end.

    I turned to the fuller. "Now you see what Benjamin just did. That was a masterfully done job of suck-upery. Actually I really like that word. As soon as we get a patent office up and running I am going to trademark that term."

    By the look of confusion on the fuller''s face and the look of disappointment on Benjamin''s, I knew I had slipped again. Dang, I have been doing so well lately, not saying stupid things in public. Oh well, no one is perfect.

    "Excuse me, but I never got your name," I said to the fuller.

    He turned a little pale. "Forgive me, my lord. Meeting such a great baron such as yourself made me forget my manners. I am Roger Fuller."

    "Suck up," I muttered under my breath. "Well, Roger, I hope we can work well together. I must get going, however. Benjamin, Are you done?"

    "Yes, my lord."

    "Excellent. Roger, hand this sheet to the caravan master. He will help you organize things. Benjamin, we have much to do and not a lot of time to do it if we want to get out of here by tomorrow. Let''s go check on how the search for people is going."

    We approached a small table with a few of my guards near it. Chuck had a stack of paper, and people formed a line in front of the table. Each sheet was titled with an occupation or skill.

    In a very bored, monotone voice, he said, "Please state your name and occupation. If you have skills other than your current occupation, please let us know. Please do not lie if you have no occupation or skills. You will still be going to Bicman. If there are skills that you want to learn but currently don''t have, let us know, and we will see if you can apprentice to someone."

    That was the best government-employee service desk worker voice I have heard in all my time in Marth. It had just the right amount of "I hate my job, and I hate you" in it to make people want to get through this line as soon as possible. That guy is awesome.

    I whispered to Benjamin, "We need to give Chuck a raise. That guy really knows how to do his job."

    Benjamin raised one eyebrow questioningly, but I just smiled.

    Kirt was sitting at a table next to him, sounding cheerful as he spoke with people.

    Poor guy, I don''t think he has got the aptitude for this type of work. His line is going to get backed up. I thought, chuckling at my own joke.

    Turning to another soldier, Vern, I said, "So, have we got some good prospects?"

    "Yes, if we get the supplies, we can build our own wagons to cut costs. But mules will be expensive."

    "Did you find any blacksmiths?"

    "We found a few apprentices, none of whom had ever owned their own shop. And yes, we sent them to your friend to have them trained on shoeing horses."

    I had asked Herbert, the horse merchant I had met on my last visit if there was anyone who could train some of my newly acquired people to work on horseshoes. Since I was the one to introduce horseshoes to him and the fact that I had purchased a heck of a lot of horses and mules this time, he was happy to help.

    "Oh, we also found some horse handlers and grooms among the people," Vern said.

    "Excellent news."

    "We have stone masons, miners, bakers, one cobbler, and two leather workers. But before you get your hopes up, almost everyone just worked their fields.

    "We have enough food here to get these people to the next harvest. With all these extra hands, we will be clearing a lot of land and plowing a lot of fields. It will be a lot of work, but if we all work together, we will prosper.¡± I said.

    I looked out at the field of people. It was a lot. I was a little overwhelmed. The people were exhausted. Hopefully, the five days of only having to do menial labor would help them recuperate. I also hoped this didn''t backlash and they all go stir crazy.

    I started counting the hand carts among the people, and I realized that there weren''t many. People either had nothing or carried as much as they could on their backs. An idea struck me. We were going to have four hundred goats. Could the goats be hitched to the carts to help pull? How many goats per cart would we need?

    If we managed to get all the tools and supplies to build three wagons, we would have enough mules to haul them and even rotate them out. But what if the goats could be used as well?

    "Vern, I have another task for you. Find the goat herders and ask them about hooking goats to hand carts to help pull things. We need to know if it can be done and if it is worth the effort. It might even be a good way to transport some children so the parents don''t have to carry them the whole time. Well, that is as long as goats don''t bolt. We don''t need a runaway buggy with a bunch of kids on it."

    "I will get on it. Although you may not be here by the time we have a suitable answer."

    "That is fine. You will make the call. You and Kirt will be going with the caravan to ensure that my laws are followed."

    "So we are the lucky ones who get to try and make sure the mercenaries are in line, " he said disappointedly.

    "I wish I could send more men with you, but Benjamin says that the road south has seen quite a bit of bandit activity. It shouldn''t be a problem for me as long as I keep my flags on either side of my carriage, but there is always the risk of the men being desperate." I said apologetically

    "I understand my lord. I wish that I could be there to protect you on your way down, but I recognize the trust you have put in me, and I will fulfill my duty with the utmost care."

    "I have no doubt you will, Vern."

    "My lord, a concern has arisen as we have been speaking with these people. There have been reports of theft, fights, rape and other crimes. I don''t think anything at all would have been reported if Shawn hadn''t caught a man in the act of beating and robbing someone. He stopped it and then told them that they are now under the rule of Lord Bicman and that they do not tolerate that type of behavior." Vern chuckled and then said, "Shawn then went further and recited the laws of Bicman concerning criminal actions and justice. Chuck said it was the words verbatim from your law book."

    "Impressive."

    "So now, at the end of recording things, we ask them if they have any crimes to report. The mercenary group has been abusing their authority."

    "I will be sending Shawn with you as well. I am entrusting you with the lives of almost four hundred people. I will make copies of the important parts of my law regarding what you will come across on your way north. I want you to read the laws of Bicman every night and ensure that cases are brought before you." I sighed. "It looks like I have a lot more work to do. I will be handing everything else off to Benjamin and the others."

    "What is it that you need to do?"

    "One of my least favorite things. I am going to judge these people. You will be standing next to me so that people will see you as an authority figure. I want you to gather as many of the mercenaries as are available. Use the excuse that we want men there in case things get rowdy. But in actuality, I want to show them what I deem unacceptable behavior."

    Not that it would make much difference when I was out of sight.

    "As you wish, my lord."

    And then began the afternoon of doing my least favorite thing as a baron: passing judgment. It wasn''t so bad in Bicman anymore. People knew what I expected and knew the consequences if they got caught. Not that crime was non-existent, but for the most part, it could be handled locally, and nobody pushed too far.

    Once the first judgment was passed and people saw that a man accused of rape was actually punished for his crime, a crowd started to gather. Sixteen verified accounts of rape, four murders, and a lot of theft. Most of the theft could not be verified. One of the murders had no suspects, and about half of the rape victims could not identify their attackers. I fear that some of the reasons that suspects weren''t identified were because the mercenaries did it, and no one wanted to accuse people who were supposed to protect them on the way north.

    By the time the sun was setting in the west, I was emotionally drained. I should not have spent so long doing that. The stress caused by hearing crimes and dispensing justice is immense. Normally, I would have spread the work over a couple of weeks, focusing on the worst cases first. I heard more cases in an afternoon than I had heard in almost a month in Bicman.

    I wondered how most nobles did it. Oh, wait, I know, they didn''t.

 Book 2 Chapter 33

    <h2>Chapter 33 - Day 195</h2>

    I did not sleep well, and I was no less stressed in the morning. I was afraid for these people I had taken into my care. They were on their last leg by the time they reached Vaspar, and if I had not stopped the crazy pace the mercenaries were pushing them at, I am afraid they would have lost at least half my people over the next leg of their journey. I had done what I could, but how many more would die on the way? It was hard to get used to how many people died without modern advancements.

    I wonder if I have any hope of lowering the death rate.

    We were now in my carriage, traveling the road to Kimton. The problem with traveling long distances here was that there was nothing to do. No music or audiobooks were playing in the background. And you couldn''t even play the alphabet or license plate game.

    The only positive was that while in Vaspar, I invested in horses for all my soldiers. This allowed us to travel much faster than we had on our way down to Vaspar from Bicman¡ªwell, relatively faster. Horses still need to rest, and I wasn''t planning on pushing them to exhaustion. But the men did not have to worry about keeping up with our carriage and the wagons.

    Benjamin was a good traveling partner, but even then, there was only so much you could talk about. Etiquette lessons were not a fun conversation topic, so we mostly stuck to geography. I knew the basics: the four Duchies: Falmor, Kimton, Githum, and Herron. We went over the major players and their main exports and imports.

    In the end, though, it was frustrating that it would take at least fifteen days to reach Kimton. That was if the roads were good. On Earth, even if you traveled only on gravel roads, a car could make it to Kimton in six hours.

    We would travel through three counties and a bunch of baronies. The further towards Kimton we got, the more developed the baronies would get. That, in turn, meant that they were smaller because they could support more knights. That isn''t to say there were more massive amounts of barons. There were tenants-in-chiefs, who were basically people who owned multiple baronies. Then, they would be given to their children and, once again, owned by different barons, only for their children to try and get more baronies.

    It became quite a mess for cartographers, and that is why they did away with the changing of Barony and city names every time there was a new baron. Baron Malcomp was over the Barony of Decmoore. An exception was Plimgus. Since it had split from Decmoore and the Polman Barony had not been around in a long time, he was Baron Plimgus in the Barony of Plimgus, and he lived in the village of Polman, which wasn''t on a whole lot of maps, so the village may change to Plimgus on the maps within ten years especially if the population grew.

    What I learned from it all was that memorizing the names of barons is pointless unless they are well-established. It is important to know the major players. The rest, myself included, could be ground under the heel of the more well-off nobility.

    Once boredom set in, I tried writing in my notepad and decided never to try that again. My carriage was smooth compared to whatever else was available here, but it was not like riding in a modern car with shock absorbers and springs. Add to that the fact that the roads were garbage here, and you get a total mess.

    So I sat doing nothing for most of the day. We passed through the first barony and stopped in the second fiefdom of the Barony of Waterford towards evening. As a baron, I had the right to request a room in the manor. The lord was not there presently. But his steward graciously prepared rooms for our unexpected visit.

    The knight, Egon Miter, was not at home presently. He was attending a feast in Vaspar after having had a very successful harvest this year. His lands were known for their feed. They raised quality grain and hay for livestock. According to the Steward, their barley was famous across the county, and if we had bought mules and horses in Vaspar, then most likely, they were fed Miter Feed.

    Dinner that night was salted pork and oatcakes with honey. It was quite good. It made me want to grow more oats this next year and share the wonders of honeyed oatcakes with my barony. We would need them for our growing herd anyway. I had been planning on buying horses in Vaspar along with the mules so I could start a herd, but with all the other expenses, I had decided to forgo that little venture. I had some mares and a couple of studs, so we would start small.

    I got up early in the morning and painted a picture of the manor house with the rising sun behind it. It took me a couple of hours to get it just the way I wanted it, but it was well worth it. I needed to do that after the last couple of days.

    I did not have a frame, but I did have a couple of prebuilt canvases since I had been expecting to paint more in Vaspar. When I handed the painting to the steward, he was ecstatic at the gift for his master and couldn''t stop thanking me.

    The next few days were uneventful¡ªthat is, until we reached the Barony of Newmoor. Newmoor was heavily wooded and shipped a lot of wood. The trees branched over the road in some places, and sunlight streamed through the leaves, dappling the road. It was quite picturesque.

    I wanted to stop and paint the scenery, but it was a good thing I didn''t. Suddenly, there was a thunking sound coming from the front side of the carriage. I heard Drake cry out along with a few of my guards. Shortly after that, there were a few more thunking noises, and the carriage jolted forward a few meters but then stopped. Metal clashed on metal as men began to shout.

    I knew the answer before I said it, but I had to ask. "Bandits?"

    "Yes, my lord," Benjamin said gravely.

    After listening for a bit, I heard no more arrows. I looked out of the window on each side. About thirty men were surrounding the carriage. If it weren''t for the fact that they were less well-equipped, I would have thought we were dealing with a mercenary crew. They were fighting defensively, but that didn''t mean they didn''t know what they were doing. They had to have all fought before I was down to seven men since I had sent three of my men north. It was only a matter of time before they wore out my men.

    When I pulled back into the carriage, I said to Benjamin, "I see at least thirty men out there. Our men have trampled a few with their horses, and even though they have the high ground, the bandits have spears. We could try to flee, but for some reason, our carriage was not moving, and the horses may have been shot. I believe they will eventually wear us down. I didn''t think there would be so many. Weren''t they supposed to avoid nobles?"

    "Normally, yes," Benjamin said. "Also, that is a large group to be here."

    I had to do something. Before I could chicken out, I opened the carriage door. "Cease this fighting!" I yelled. "I seek to negotiate with your leader. Men pull back."

    The bandits were stunned by my presence long enough for my men to disengage. However,my men did not lower their spears or swords. A man with a bow stepped out of the woods.

    He was a short, wiry man with dark brown hair. When he smiled at me, I could see he was missing a few teeth. Maybe I could sell him some chalk powder?

    No, Amos, this is no time to get nervous and start cracking jokes.

    I had to remain calm even though seeing us surrounded by thirty men made me almost pee my pants. My thoughts turned to that time on the beach. This time, however, there was no running away. I steeled myself, remembering the faces of Hector, Franklin, William, and Dwaine. Men that had given their lives for me as I ran away.

    "Well, my lord, how can we help you on this fine day?" The wiry bandit said.

    "I would appreciate it if you would leave and let us carry on our way," I said, "You must have noted my flags your act will not go unpunished by the nobility."

    "Normally, I would have left you quite well alone, but you see, those wagons you have with you look to be too much of a prize to pass up. So if you don''t mind having your drivers get off my wagons, you may leave," He said with a grin.

    "You would rob me of all my supplies? How about one wagon?"

    "Ha! I like you, Baron. No demanding or threatening. But no, this is not a negotiation. We have the upper hand. The wagons for the lives of you and your men. If you decide it is difficult, we will shoot the horses, and you will have to leave the wagons anyway. We are not leaving without those goods. It is a small price to pay for your life and those of your men."

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    I turned to the two men and my servants cowering in the wagons. "It looks like we will be traveling at a slower pace. You all get out of your wagons and come here."

    "Leave the women." The Bandit leader said, eyeing my servants.

    I looked at the terrified faces of the women as they took in his words.

    "No, I will join my men, and we will fight to the death before we allow any of my women to be violated. Are more of your men willing to die for your lust," I said, fury radiating from me.

    We stared at each other for a long moment before the leader said, "Very well, keep your whores."

    All thy people departed the wagons and came to surround the carriage. A bandit hopped down from the front of the carriage where he had been holding our horses steady.

    "It looks like you will need a new carriage driver, Lord." The leader laughed as he got up into the lead wagon and turned around.

    My rage was boiling over as I rushed to the front of the carriage and saw the body of Drake slumped over. An arrow protruded from his chest, and the wound was leaking blood. "Get him down off the wagon and lay him on the ground gently," I shouted.

    I took off my jacket and took my belt knife off my hip. I started to cut up my jacket. I had no idea what to do. The arrow was between two ribs. Was I supposed to pull it out? Had it punctured the lungs?

    "Does anyone know what to do for an arrow wound?" I asked in a panic. No one answered.

    "Do I leave the arrow in?"

    "Why would you leave the arrow in, my Lord?" My wagon driver, Moss, asked.

    "So we can get him¡­"

    So we can get him where? There were no emergency services. If I left the arrow in and put pressure around it, would that be better then pulling it out and putting pressure on it? I froze in indecision.

    "My lord, please save him. Jacklyn is expecting him home. He asked me if it was ok to propose to her when he got back." Benjamin said desperately.

    "I can''t," I said pathetically, "I don''t know what to do."

    "Do anything, my lord. Anything you think might save him."

    Trying not to think about what I was doing, I pulled out the arrow and put the pieces of my jacket over his chest. As I applied pressure, I tried to distract myself by talking to Benjamin.

    "Why did he ask you?"

    "They have loved each other for a long time, but he knew that Jacklyn and I were close. I was the steward of the house, so he was afraid of offending me. I like Jackie, but I knew she loved Drake. Her happiness is important to me."

    Drake gave a weak cough, and foamy red bubbles formed on his lips. The boy was dying, and there was nothing I could do. Suddenly, I felt his chest shutter, and then I could no longer feel the movement of his chest. It took me a few minutes of kneeling next to the boy before Benjamin pulled me away. I still gripped the blood-soaked cloth. I barely registered all the blood on my hands.

    Drake was dead. He was just a kid, and those men had slaughtered him like he was no more than a cow. I wandered down the road for a few minutes before I fell to my knees and howled.. I sat there until Benjamin came and got me. "The men have buried the boy. It is time to leave. Let us head back into the carriage. The sooner we report this, the sooner justice can be served."

    I was skeptical about justice around here. Those men didn''t seem too concerned. What made them so bold?

    "I want to walk," I said quietly

    "My lord, it would-"

    "I need to walk," I said more forcefully. It isn''t like we can go any faster than our men. The flags on the carriage are their only protection now that we have been robbed of our horses and wagons. Though it doesn''t seem to matter much here."

    Benjamin backed down after that and just walked beside me. It took a bell and a half before we reached the next fiefdom and approached the manor. I had calmed down a lot as we walked, but I was left with a cold furry. I did not care if I had to bring all the men of Bicman to this pathetic barony and burn it to the ground. I would not leave the murder of Drake unanswered.

    I had cleaned myself up and entered the carriage before arriving. I was greeted by a solemn-faced steward. He noticed our state and probably guessed the reason for it.

    "My lord, his Lordship Aethelried Cumfrence, will want to see you immediately." It was another name that I might have laughed at in better times. Now, I only wanted to rage at such an incompetent knight who could not keep his Fiefdom safe from bandits. The Steward introduced me as we entered an audience chamber as big as my great hall. The knight was not on his chair at the head of the room but rather was in the center of the room. Men were surrounding him, strapping on the last bit of his armor. Fortunately, this wasn''t the Middle Ages when men were encased in steel. I hear it took a long time to get a knight into their armor in those days.

    As soon as it was on, he stood forward, a stern look on his face. He bowed low. "My lord, forgive me for my rushed introduction, but my men and I must move quickly if we are to find these bandits before nightfall. If you can send a few of your men with me to appraise me of the situation as we travel, it would be much appreciated. His eyes were alight with a ferocity that you only see on men about to enter the battlefield. He was eager to spill blood.

    "Yes, take all of my men if necessary. They all have horses and a score to settle with these bandits," I said with equal ferocity. "I would join you, but I fear my men would spend more time trying to protect me than they would be killing bandits."

    "If you insist, I will not turn down the help. Please walk with me as I explain the situation."

    This knight was practically ordering me around. Not something I was used to from someone of a lower station than me.

    "My lord, I am sorry for what has happened, but I assure you their blood will be spilled before the sun sets. Endless One be willing. We have been scouring our lands trying to catch these bandits, but they seem to retreat to Lord Kizis''s lands before we can catch them. Lord Kizis Is down south fighting the Hitub with his men, and the steward claims he has searched but found no evidence of the bandits. He also refuses to let us enter Kizis''s land while his master is away."

    "You believe he is in league with the bandits," I said, catching on.

    "Precisely. Up until now, I could not have moved into his land since our baron was also participating in the war. Now, however, they have gone too far. They have attacked a baron, and you can demand justice. Only Baron Moren could stop you from requesting we take action on his land. And since he is one of the best military minds in the duchy, they will not be allowing him to come home any time soon."

    "Then I request that you find these men and slaughter them all. I do not care if you find our goods, but do not let these men harm anyone else. I will also write a letter to your count explaining my request." I said.

    "That would be much appreciated. Count Rathmar is a just count, but a letter from you would carry much more weight than a letter from me."

    As we reached the exit to the manor, he bowed again and said, "I will prevail, my lord."

    And as I looked at the fifty men fully equipped and on horseback, I did not doubt that he would.

    He turned back to me right before he led his men out of the gates. "Oh, please don''t kill Becca while I am away."

    I stared after him in confusion. Who the heck was Becca?

    The steward guided Benjamin and me back into the Manor and to their dining hall. He escorted us to the table at the head of the room and told me that dinner would be out shortly. As I sat there, lost in my thoughts, a man poked his head in at the far side of the room. He wore a large hood shadowing his face. He looked left and right as if trying to be sneaky. As soon as he was sure Benjamin and I were the only ones in the room, he opened the door slowly and stepped in. He definitely ate better than most in this world. Either that or he was wearing a lot of clothes.

    As he approached the table, he pulled the hood back, and I had to correct my assumption. It was a woman. She looked to be in her fifties, with slightly graying black hair done up in a messy bun. She strode up to the table and sat down, the myriad of bags tied around her waist jiggling or rattling as she sat down across from me. She had a knowing look in her eyes. "You lost your dog, didn''t you? Is that why you travel?"

    Ok, maybe I was mistaken. Knowing might have been too strong of a word. I faltered at the sudden comment. "Um, I don''t have a dog."

    "Ah, that is why you are sad. Every boy should have a dog. I will help you pick out the right dog for you. It is one of my specialties."

    "Ah, I am assuming you are Becca."

    Her eyes went wide. "We have not introduced ourselves, and he knows our name. You must be a seer."

    "Well, actually-"

    "A dog for a seer. Now, that will be tricky. You see, it can''t be just any dog. I think we need to consult the mushrooms."

    She fiddled with the pouches at her waist, peering into them one at a time. Finally, she smiled and pulled out something that looked like a gray dried-out sponge. She thrust it towards me. Here we are. Eat this."

    I leaned back, "I am not eating that."

    "Apparently, someone doesn''t want their dog badly enough." she huffed.

    "Stop!" A voice shouted from behind me. We all turned to look and saw the steward coming in with a few serving girls.

    By the time I turned back around, Becca was halfway across the room, fleeing towards the door.

    The steward let out a sigh. "I don''t know why he tolerates that woman. Please forgive the interruption, my lord. She is a little different, but she means well. And sometimes she even has some good advice."

    "So what''s her background?"

    "I believe it would be best for Sir Cumfrence to explain why he keeps his hermit around. I believe my opinion is skewed, " he said with an unhappy look on his face as he glared at the door Becca had exited.

    We finished dinner, and I stayed up until the candle burned out, waiting for news. None came.

    He said they would be done by sundown. Was there a larger force than they thought? Were they ambushed?

    It wasn''t until the early morning hours that I finally fell asleep, too tired for even my troubled thoughts to keep me awake.

 Book 2 Chapter 34

    No one came in to wake me, so I slept a good portion of the morning. I woke up with extremely tense muscles. I got up and stretched, then washed my face in a cool basin of water. I started to do my Tai Chi, focused on anything but yesterday.

    It didn''t work. The ice-cold fury and numbness I had been feeling yesterday vanished, and intrusive thoughts broke through the wall I had put up like a dam bursting and crashed into me like a train. Another name to add to the wall.

    I dropped to my hands and knees and threw up. The image of my bloody hands on Drake''s chest burned itself into my mind. Drake had begged for the opportunity to be our carriage driver, and Ben, the stablemaster, had relented.

    Everyone was so sure that bandits wouldn''t attack us as long as we flew our flags on our carriage. We were so sure of the protection those tiny flags would bring. Seven soldiers on horseback should scare off the usual bandit threat. Yet some lord had let a nest of bandits grow and fester in his land until they were bold enough to attack and rob a baron.

    I crossed my legs and started on my meditation. Letting the grief wash over me. Accepting Drake''s death as part of this cruel world. It was an hour before my mind had settled into acceptance. The grief and pain were still there, but I had accepted it. Servants were used to my schedule, so I slept in, which meant no bath or breakfast at the regular time. I don''t think I could have eaten even if I had wanted to. Instead, I decided I would find someone to clean up the mess I had made on the floor.

    I opened the door and immediately jumped back. Becca stood mere inches from the door. For a moment, I stared into her deep brown eyes. The trance was broken when she spoke.

    "You are better this morning," she said confidently. "But¡­ You still need a dog. Every boy your age needs a dog. I can see past the pain that clung to you like a thick fog yesterday. Dogs are everywhere, all wanting your attention. You need the one that is right for you."

    She started to rummage through her pouches.

    "Um, Becca. I am not interested in your method of finding a dog." I said as she finally found the pouch she was looking for.

    She looked up at me with a penetrating gaze. Finally, she shook her head. "Children," She said as if the word were an accusation. She popped a small gray lump into her mouth. "They always think they know best."

    With that, she turned and walked away. I stood there shaking my head for a moment before heading in the other direction, looking for a servant. There was a set of stairs at the end of the hall that led to the foyer of the manor, and when I reached the bottom of the stairs, I found two servants washing the floor. Both were teenage girls with their brown hair held up with sticks. When they noticed me, they both stood promptly and bowed.

    "Excuse me, but is your lord back yet?" I asked

    "No, my lord. A message arrived this morning saying that there were some complications and that they would arrive this afternoon, " the younger of the two asked. Now that I was closer, they actually looked to be sisters.

    "What sort of complications?"

    "Forgive me, my lord. I was not informed, " she said in a nervous tone. Was she afraid I would be angry? Lord Cumfrence didn''t seem the type to treat his servants poorly, but I am sure they host a lot of traveling nobles because of where they are located. Maybe she had some bad experiences with them.

    I smiled and said, "That''s OK. I do apologize, but I threw up this morning. Could you please send someone to clean it?"

    "Of course, my lord. We will do so immediately." The older one said.

    "No need to rush. Finish what you are doing." As I said this, I pulled two coppers from my pouch and handed one to each of them. "For your troubles."

    They both stared at me like I had two heads as I turned around and left. I needed to find the captain. I shook my head.

    No, Draves is not here right now. If he were, it wouldn''t change anything. All I can do is wait for Sir Cumfrence.

    I went to my carriage and grabbed the one pad I had kept in it. I had the ink and pen that I had tried to write with and some charcoal sticks. There was a small garden on the east side of the manor, but I avoided going there to draw. Apparently, that was where Becca resided. There was a small pond on the opposite side of the manor, and so I made my way to a large rock that overlooked the clear pool.

    Putting the pad in the crook of my arm, I began to sketch what I saw. A small pool of water with a few fish. The fish were patterned like koi but had the color of a rainbow trout mixed in with the white.

    The rocks around it were red sandstone¡ªat least, they looked like sandstone to me. I could tell that the plants around the lake were arranged to complement the setting. This was definitely a mixture of artificial and natural creations.

    My peace was interrupted by Benjamin. "My lord, it is time for lunch. They asked if pickled eggs and grilled cod would be agreeable to you."

    "That''s fine," I said as I stood up and brushed off my pants, "Any word on the men?"

    "Not yet, my lord. I am sure all is well." Lord Cumfrence seems like a capable man."

    "I hope so. I am sorry, Benjamin, that I have not been considerate of you. How are you handling this?"

    "It is¡­ difficult, my lord. I know it is not right, but I feel I should have told Drake to stay at home. I should have said it would be hard for Jacklyn to be away from him for so long. If I had just said that¡­ but then it would have been another driver."

    "I think that is pretty much how we all feel. It is why I allowed all of our men to go. They will be able to get some sort of closure for having Drake killed."

    "I still disagree with your decision. We are now under the care of a different noble''s guards."

    "Your disapproval is noted. I do take your council seriously, Benjamin, but my men needed this, and I could not deny them this," I said firmly.

    "It will improve morale, I suppose."

    "No, Benjamin, not for morale. This is for my men. There is a difference. I suggest you learn it," It came out harsher than I meant it, but I didn''t know how else to express how I felt about the situation.

    My men were not numbers. They were not a bunch of happy or sad faces on a computer game to let you know how well you were doing. I did think of morale at times, but I could never forget the individuals.

    If I were honest with myself, there was something else bothering me. Something I could only share with a few people, and Benjamin wasn''t one of them¡ªnot without revealing where I came from. I needed Draves. He was a rock I could depend on when things got crazy.

    I was changing, and I didn''t know if it was for the better. I did not hesitate when I told the knight to kill those men. Was I more focused on justice, or was I just becoming callous? I had no remorse for the order, but it wasn''t what I would have said when I first came here six months ago.

    It felt like a lifetime ago. I let my feelings rule my actions. I didn''t want to feel guilty for causing others harm. But I didn''t want the pendulum to swing to the opposite extreme. I did not want my anger to cause me to do something I could never take back.

    The comment Draves made so long ago still stuck with me. "There is no peace without justice."

    But I believe there is no justice without law. A solid foundation of right and wrong. The men I sentenced to death should be brought before the baron to be judged even if the guilt was evident even if we were going to put them to death as soon as they were judged. Just because I was a baron didn''t mean I could use cowboy justice. I didn''t want that type of thing happening in my barony, so I shouldn''t be doing it here. The rules have to be followed even by me.

    I needed Draves as a sounding board. But for now, I was on my own. No time for an existential crisis. As I told the Endless One in the beginning, I will do my best, but there better dang well be a surfboard waiting for me when I die.

    I hardly tasted lunch. I was too nervous to wait for news of the fight. At a bell past noon, another messenger arrived, saying all was well and that they would be here shortly. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    It ended up being just before the sun set. A very rowdy group of men entered the manor. It reminded me of how Nathan''s lacrosse team would act after they won a game. Two of my men were guiding our wagons into the manor. These were not the only wagons that came along with them, though. Apparently, the bandits had been very active.

    I approached one of my men, who was still on horseback. "What happened, Arthur?"

    "My lord," he said while getting down off his horse. "We rode into their camp just as the sun was beginning to set and then slaughtered them all. Derek and Alec were both wounded, but it was nothing serious. I-"

    "Excuse me for the interruption, my lord, but might I have a word with you," Lord Cumfrence said as he strode up to us. Arthur immediately backed away.

    "Of course, I am eager to hear news of what transpired."

    "Thank you, my lord. If you do not mind, let us walk as we talk. I must stretch my legs."

    "That would be fine," I said as we turned and walked towards the pond.

    "My lord, I wanted to apprise you of the situation before the rumors started to become inflamed. We traveled north to the point where you buried the boy''s body. From there, we continued northward, and I sent my scouts out among the trees.

    "We had a stroke of luck about a bell''s worth of time into our search. One of your wagons got stuck in the mud, and the bandits had to unload everything to get it out. When they loaded things back in, they left some things that they didn''t find essential. At first, we figured it was a trap. Who would leave such an obvious clue as to their retreat? Fortunately, they had just gotten lazy with their success and felt they could come back and get it later.

    "Our scouts found the camp at about five bells past noon, and we rode in and slaughtered or captured them all. The leader was not among them, but after interrogating those who were left, we discovered their leader, Gaelyon, was posing as a garden hermit on the estate of the lord. I do not believe he was aware of the interloper''s presence on his grounds. It was arranged by the steward he had left behind."

    "What is a garden hermit? This is the first I have heard of them." I said.

    "Ah, yes, your men explained you were the lord of the northmost barony. Forgive me, my lord, for my lack of diligence in knowing the geography of our country. I had not heard of your barony until yesterday. The garden hermit, sometimes called the ornamental sage, became popular in Kimton a few years back. It became very fashionable to have one on an estate. They live in the gardens of nobles. Sometimes, nobles build them grottos. They live alone in isolation most of the time but do sometimes make an appearance upon the lord''s request. Sometimes, they are sages, or sometimes, they are eccentric and used for entertainment." He explained.

    "I heard Becca lives in your garden. Is that what she is?"

    "Yes, I got the idea when I visited Kimton last year. My friend who I stayed with had one. His was supposed to be a sage. However, after talking to the hermit, I found that he was lacking in that aspect. When I found out they could also be oddities, I came back and elevated Becca to the status of hermit."

    "An oddity is correct. She interrupted me during dinner and insisted I eat something in order to find me a dog."

    Lord Cumfrence''s perfectly stoic face paled a bit. "Forgive me my lord. She means well. She is not supposed to leave the garden. Especially when guests are around."

    I laughed a bit to help him relax. "Don''t worry, I took no offense."

    "Well, at least you did not eat the mushroom."

    ''How can you tell?" I asked.

    "You would be laid up in bed if you had. I hear the experience is interesting, but the after-effects are horrible. But I digress. Let me continue the story, and I will explain more about Becca when we are finished."

    "Go on then."

    "Well, once we found out all the information we could, we hid ourselves outside the gate of the manor during the night. In the morning, I requested a brief audience with the steward on my way north. Of course, he could not refuse. As soon as the gate was open, the few men I had brought, and I rushed the gate and held it while the rest of my men rose up and charged into the manor grounds. We rounded up everyone, including the bandit leader, and hung those who were guilty in this affair. It ended up that most of the house was aware of the treacherous dealings of the steward."

    My face turned green as I realized the massacre that must have taken place. There must have been people who had no way of stopping what was going on. Also, there were probably people among the bandits who had not taken part in the robbery and murder. With a group as large as the one that attacked us, there was no doubt they had wives and children among them. If I had been thinking clearly, I could have ordered this knight to try and save them so the count could try them. Even if he would most likely kill them, it would have been the right thing for me to do."

    "You seem disappointed by the news, my lord." Lord Cumfrance said in confusion.

    "It is not your fault. In my anger, I was not clear. I should have requested you spare those who did not take part in the banditry. I try to give trials to those who may not be guilty."

    "My lord, forgive me for my boldness, but that seems excessive for a bunch of bandits. You do not spare a rat''s nest just because all of them are not stealing from your storehouse. Baron Moren would be very disappointed if he came back to find I had saved the spawn of bandits."

    By the laws of this land, he was right, and I had no right to interfere with how the baron decided to rule his lands, but that did not mean I was suddenly released from the burden of guilt.

    "It is what it is, and it is not my place to keep you from doing your duty. What delayed you after that?"

    "Two of my men died, and a few were wounded. We had to treat the wounded. Then there was the questioning of prisoners. I needed to write up a full report to the count. Then, we needed to make an accounting of all the goods at the camp and anything we suspected of them bringing to the manor. After that, we tried to find someone to handle the manor once we left, but all the leaders in the fiefdom were executed, and no one else was competent. So I left a few of my men. We brought back the stolen goods, and we will be sending them to the county seat."

    "That makes sense. I didn''t realize it would be so involved." I said.

    "May I ask for you to give a written testimony with your seal before you leave? It would go a long way to making this go smoother. I cannot guarantee that my count will not request Count Vaspar send you down for a verbal testimony."

    "Certainly."

    "Excellent. Could we now go look over your wagons to make sure all your possessions are accounted for?"

    "That seems like a good idea. I would like to leave tomorrow morning, and if we get this done while there is still light, then we can move on to supper."

    ******

    "My Lord, again, I have to say how impressed I am with your artistry. When we unwrapped the clothes to check on them, They took my breath away. I heard of the painting of Count Vaspar, but I was not aware it was your work. Nor that the rumors of its magnificence were true." Lord Cumfrence said.

    "Thank you. If it were possible, I would stay and paint you, but I must get to Kimton before the duke''s patience wears thin. Instead, I will let you pick two paintings to keep."

    "My lord, the gift is too much. I could not possibly accept."

    "Nonsense, I insist. If it weren''t for you, I would have lost them to the bandits anyways. And I owe you for helping kill the people who killed Drake."

    "Then I must thank you for such a generous gift. I will pick one for me and one for my wife." He said, no longer containing his pleasure.

    "I have not yet had the opportunity to meet with your wife."

    "She is away at Tannor at the moment. She and my youngest daughter are celebrating the winter festivities there, and she enjoys staying with them for the whole affair. I, however, tire quickly of such events, so I attended the opening and then hurried home while she spent her time with her cousin and my youngest daughter. This will be a pleasant surprise for her when she gets home."

    "May we change subjects for a moment?" I asked. "Tell me about Becca."

    "Ah, yes, well, she came to us about five or six years ago. I am not sure. She has never been right in the head, but she is excellent with animals. We found her in the stables brewing something in a small pot and feeding it to one of our sick mares. The stable master was furious and chased her out. But by evening, the mare was completely whole, and we found Becca asleep in the loft. The stable master waited to wake her until morning and then gave her some coins and asked her to leave. She left, but the next day she was back. The stable master sent me to deal with her.

    "I came down with my wife and spoke with her. I asked her to leave, but she said she had creatures to look after. Then she turned to my wife and told her she would give birth to the prettiest swan in the county. My wife thought that was hilarious and asked me to let the woman stay. I would often find my wife sitting with her as she rambled about different animals. After my wife missed her second cycle, she was convinced Becca was some sort of sage."

    "Is the fact that she is obsessed with animals why she feels I need a dog?"

    "Possibly, it isn''t always so straightforward. She could have seen you don''t have a wedding band and decided you needed a loyal companion. Maybe you just need a friend, or maybe she thinks you need an actual dog. She sees no difference between animals and humans most of the time."

    "I see. Even crazy people are trying to get me married." I muttered.

    "Don''t ignore her just because she is insane. She is rarely wrong if you can parse out the meaning of her words. She said that the baby we are expecting will be a strong bear able to challenge anyone who threatens his family, and I believe he will be."

    "Well, my lord, it was a delicious meal, and again, I thank you for your hospitality, but I really must retire. I have to continue my journey."

    "I will send twenty men with you to the border of our barony. That is as far as my men may go without the count''s permission. I bid you a good night, my lord. Oh, speaking of which. Were you looking for company tonight?"

    "Wait, what?!"

    "You gave two of my maids a week''s worth of pay earlier today. I receive a lot of guests on this road, and they often look to have a servant attend them by such means. I give my servants the right to refuse, and both of them have, but as a baron, I would not refuse you a willing partner."

    Was this guy seriously running a whore house? No, that wasn''t fair. He gave them the right to refuse, but still, he offered to help find someone. Why couldn''t I have been sent somewhere normal? Well, actually, Earth wasn''t all that better. It was just I would have to go looking. Maybe not hard, but I would have to look.

    Lord Cumfrence was still expecting an answer. "Oh, um, sorry, I was just being polite because they were going to have to clean up my vomit. I didn''t realize how much I was giving them."

    "Very well. May the Endless One grace your dreams."

    For his sake, he better not. I thought.

 Book 2 Chapter 35

    As we were about to enter the carriage, I looked around me, and along with my seven guards, twenty others stood at attention. The sight of them took a huge weight off my shoulders. Never again would I wish for a more exciting ride anywhere. Give me mind-numbing boredom any day.

    We only got about a kilometer down the road when we suddenly stopped. I tensed for a moment, but there were no shouts. A soldier approached my door and said. "My lord, the hermit Becca wishes to speak to you."

    I sighed and got out of the carriage. I figured I really wouldn''t have to worry about her after this, so I might as well humor her one last time. I approached the hooded woman and nodded. "Becca, the men said you wished to speak with me."

    She held out a small pouch, and I looked at it suspiciously. I did not grab it. "I am not eating your magic mushrooms," I said.

    She snorted. "There is no magic in this bag. It is to help with the wolves that circle you. It blends well in soup."

    I rolled my eyes and grabbed the little bag. Then I slid it into my inside jacket pocket. "So when you were telling me I needed a dog. Did you mean like an actual dog or like a human?"

    She gave me a look like I was insane.

    "Well, I mean, like, you know, a wife or something like that," I said awkwardly. It was made more awkward by the fact that a crazy lady was staring at me like I was the crazy one.

    "Never mind," I said as I turned and left.

    I mean, Lord Cumfrence said she didn''t really understand the difference between animals and humans, so it isn''t like she would even understand my question. Now, I just had to figure out where to dump the hazardous material she gave me.

    I got back into my carriage, and we took off towards Kimton. I pulled out some books that I had brought along, and I began to read them, hoping to distract myself. Reading books I had written wasn''t as entertaining, and I had yet to see any of the nobles having stories written on parchment or reed paper.

    I ended up trying to edit them to make them more interesting, adding detail and using more metaphors, stuff that I learned in English class but never applied. I just wasn''t a very good writer. I was fortunate that neither were most people in this world. I had heard at some of the parties in Vaspar that the seed of the idea I had planted was taking root. There were exclusive women''s book clubs popping up. Apparently, they were not just being used for reading books but also for spreading rumors and information.

    Only the upper nobility were invited, but when I got my publishing house up and running, I was really hoping that I would be able to spread books far and wide. I had left the small group of scribes in Vaspar to start creating books, but I was still not sure how well it would work or how many people we would be able to reach without a printing press. Once I figured out how to build one, though, information was going to spread¡ªand I would control the information.

    And then we build a secret press, print seditious books, and overthrow the government that is oppressing people. That, of course, would get a lot of people killed including me, but hey it was all in the name of progress.

    I had more important things to worry about than overthrowing governments, though. Prosperity for my barony had to come first. And that meant surviving the upcoming attack. I hope my Barony can put the new three hundred and fifty people to work. How many would survive the trip north? Would we have enough shelter before the north winds brought the cold? Those people will either be a boon or a curse. Thank the Endless One that I had made so many gold crowns.

    According to the sundial in the last town of Newmoor, we made it to the border of the Barony of Ridgeland by about third bell afternoon. This is where Lord Comfrence''s men left us, and I had to admit that I was a little nervous. He assured me that there was a knight in the next town who actively patrolled and that we would make it to Ridgeland within a few hours. But, the last experience had unsettled me quite a bit. I would never look at travel in this new world in the same way again. Traveling in this ancient world was a risk. If I weren''t a baron, I would have died as soon as we were surrounded.

    But I did survive and made it to Baron Sophis''s keep. It was much nicer than any keep I had seen so far. The craftsmanship was exceedingly fine, and you could tell that he liked his castle spotless. The grounds were likewise impressive, with decorative plants and works of neatly arranged stone paths everywhere. What made the whole thing really cool was that it was built on a very impressive ridge. It was like a scene straight out of a painting, and my fingers itched to draw it.

    Upon pulling up to the entrance, I was surprised to see not only a steward but the Baron himself in an exquisite set of clothing. As I approached, I could tell his Scarf of Station was finely embroidered, to the point that it probably cost as much as the nicest outfit I have.

    The first thing I noticed when I stepped out of the carriage was how short he was. He couldn''t be over one hundred and sixty centimeters. His straight, glossy black hair was slightly longer than most men I had seen. The strangest thing to me, though, was when he greeted me by name before Benjamin could introduce us.

    "Welcome, Baron Amos Bicman," he said cheerfully. "It is so good to finally meet you."

    I recovered from my shock, and with a smile of my own, returning his nod, I said, "Baron Sophis, thank you for your warm welcome. I am, however, surprised you know who I am."

    He chuckled, "My boy, even if you weren''t flying the Bicman flag on your carriage, there was enough information to give you away. First, the quality of the carriage and then the outdated armor of your men show that you are from a poorer barony. Next, even though you have a low-quality carriage, you have bronze leaf springs. The springs are a recent invention, and most of the poorer barons were introduced to them when they came to the festivities. Also, the Bicmans are known for their rather large build. If that is not enough, you are on your way to Kimton, and most low-ranking barons stay in their counties for the festivals unless they have a special invitation. And, we both know you have been summoned by the Duke. Most likely to paint his glorious figure."

    This guy was a regular Sherlock Holmes.

    "An impressive display of deductive reasoning," I said in admiration.

    "Deductive reasoning," he said slowly. "I am not familiar with the phrase, but its meaning is pretty clear. I like it. I will have to think on it, and how best to apply it. Now, my boy, it is well past mealtime, but I think I can round up some food for you and your men. Cedric, please have his men escorted to the barrack. Lord Bicman, Steward Benjamin, please follow me, and we shall get you something to eat as we discuss your travels. I received word just this afternoon that you were attacked on the road by the bandits of Kizis."

    "Might I say I am impressed with how well-informed you are? You are even aware of my steward''s name."

    "You, my dear young baron, are an enigma. A baron who survived poisoning when the rest of his family succumbed and then had a messenger of his count come to investigate him. Afterward, the count requested your presence. Your visit put you in the middle of a scandal that nearly got you publicly shamed. But what really caused me to dig into the affairs of your visit was when I started receiving reports of new items coming out of Vaspar."

    I think he really loved the surprised look on my face.

    "You see. When I learned of the leaf spring, the stirrup, the horseshoe, the paper, and the abacus all appearing in Vaspar at the same time. I decided to find out what was going on. The leaf spring and horseshoe were easy to figure out where they came from. Novelties, both of them. Then, the other things started to appear, and all were attributed to Count Vaspar. You are the only irregularity in the household at the time. You also discovered a new painting method that makes your artwork come alive. I took a trip to Vaspar just to see it."This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Who was this guy? He was a baron from a different county and had access to the exclusive painting in Count Vaspar''s study.

    "You are a creative genius. You are not the smartest of barons, but you are definitely a genius in your own right."

    "And you, Baron Sophis, are most likely the most well-informed person I have met in my journeys south. But information is worth nothing if you do not know how to use it. And looking around at your beautiful keep and lands, you certainly do know how to use it."

    The short man smiled up at me as we walked. "Flattery, my boy, is wasted on me. I am not impressed by it. What I want from you is an idea."

    "An idea?"

    "Yes, more and more people will be receiving your paintings. With your idea of a publishing house, your books will spread, although I would like to see one of those new ones you have. I hear the paper is as white as snow. So what I want is an idea."

    How the heck did he find out about my publishing house idea? This guy was starting to freak me out. Had he been having someone shadow my moves around Vaspar.

    "What type of idea are you looking for?"

    "A novel one, of course. Something no one else has. Preferably not even you. For an idea like paper, I would give you my daughter if I had one. Unfortunately, I was given three foolish sons who were all off at war trying to earn glory. I set them all up with excellent marriages. All three are now barons, not just my heir, and now one is dead, and I haven''t heard a word from the others in almost a year. All because our foolish king can''t stop his own campaign for glory. Trying to live up to an image that no one but him and his sycophants cares about."

    He remained calm, but his words showed a fury just below the surface. When I saw his lawn, I had an idea but was trying to think if there was something better I could offer him. I had thought about doing this at my manor, but there wasn''t enough room. Also, what would he offer me in return?

    "I have one thought that you may like immediately. But what are you willing to give me in return?"

    "It depends on the idea."

    "I have noticed how beautiful your lawns are and how careful they are maintained. I have an idea I believe that even the duke would want to imitate. Lesser nobles would not have the ability or skills to keep it as nice as you can."

    "Intriguing, not necessarily what I was looking for, but as long as it is unique, I will consider it acceptable. For such a thing, I will give you access to my herds."

    "Your herds?"

    He smiled, "Young man, do you not know what the barony of Ridgeland is known for? We breed the Starlight Mar. They produce the finest wool in all of Kimton. You don''t have a keep like this just from being a baron with a bunch of farms. I will sell you my female mar at a reasonable price and assist in their transportation up to Vaspar. Know this, though. Breeding them with lesser mar will not produce the quality of wool that a purebred Starlight Mar produces. Fifty heads is all I am willing to sell you, but that is more than any other of the barons in Kimton have."

    I liked the idea. Buy the mar, get the wool, and sell it back to this man at double the price using my better looms. "Agreed. After dinner, I will show you my idea."

    The dinner was fabulous. Herb roasted kayver and a sweet tomato soup. We discussed everything from the proper care of mars to the trial I had in Vaspar. I could tell, though, that the baron was eager to see what I had in mind. I got my charcoal, paper, and sketchpad from my room and brought them back to the dining hall. I began to sketch and continued our conversation, not wanting to reveal what I had in store until I was finished. This time, I was hoping to glean specific information.

    "I have heard rumors of a group that wishes to remove the king from the throne."

    This caused Baron Sophis to laugh. "My boy, there has never been a moment in history that a king has not been opposed. Even before a king puts on the crown, he must watch his every step. Even the greatest king in history will have opposition. But concerning this king, there are many who oppose him."

    "I am speaking of a particularly large group."

    "I know whom you are speaking of. It actually is not just one group. They have not one leader but a council. The council members have slightly different agendas, but it is based on the idea of ending the war."

    "Do you know who they are?" I asked. I knew Benjamin said Countess Blackwell was involved, but was she a member of the council?

    The baron gave me a smile that showed all his teeth. "I have my suspicions, but, Boy, I do not believe you have enough ideas in your head to pay for the information I have on the council. I will say I agree with some, while others are fools who just want a piece of the kingdom. Some just want to see the kingdom burn to the ground."

    I realized that he wasn''t going to share any more information about the council. For all I knew, he was a member of one of the groups. He certainly had no love for the king.

    I laid my sketchpad on the table and showed him the first drawing. "Are you familiar with the concept of a labyrinth?"

    "Yes, I have seen these before. This brings back fond memories of my brother and me designing them for each other. Are you suggesting I put a maze on my property?" He did not seem impressed.

    Until I flipped the page and showed him an aerial view of a hedge maze. The next view was a first-person perspective of traveling through a hedge maze. "Think of your guests walking through the maze where, around each corner, they could discover something new. A fountain, a garden, or a sculpture could be placed at various points throughout the maze. Make it visible from a balcony," I said excitedly.

    Now I got a smile out of the man. "You are what they say about you, boy. Now, here is what I propose. Walk around my grounds tomorrow morning and observe what is there. While you are in Kimton, design an exquisite maze for me. Do not share this idea with anyone. On your way back north, share the design with me. I will send fifty mar to Vaspar ahead of you. In addition, I will provide an escort for you down to Kimton. Just remember to write them a letter explaining their purpose for moving through other nobles'' territories. It isn''t necessary, but they will want it on their way back. Some nobles get very nervous when soldiers travel through their lands without their liege."

    "I can agree with that," I said.

    This ended up being a very fruitful visit. My only frustration was that I did not know if he was involved with the council. No matter how much I liked him, if he was part of the council we would never be friends. The council sent an assassin after Aaron and that I could never forgive.

    Captain Yargus of the Falmor Defenders Mercenary Group

    "Are we ready to move out?" I asked Brad as he came up beside me.

    "We are," He said.

    "Excellent, the caravan leader is eager to head out. And I think we have gotten all we can out of Vaspar." I smiled.

    "This really got out of hand."

    "It sure did. I did not expect so many people to accumulate it in just a few days. Things happen, though. and we adapt."

    "And you are sure the steward will honor the agreement," Brad said doubtfully.

    "I have looked over the letter. It says that he is to pay us a copper penny for every person that we successfully bring to his lands. It does not say they have to be the people the king sent to Vaspar."

    "The extra people will make the journey slow."

    "It doesn''t matter. We are getting paid extra for every person we bring. With all the rumors spreading about free food, we will probably pick up more along the way. These peasants are desperate now that winter is approaching."

    "And then they will starve when the winter comes because the barony cannot support them." He said with a frown.

    "That is not our problem. We''re doing nothing but following orders. As long as the food doesn''t run out before we get to Bicman, it will be fine. Besides, the baron was upset when he found out that some of the people were missing. He will be overjoyed when he learns that more people want to come to his barony. It is sad that we will not be there to see the look on his face." I laughed.

    "What about when the guards finally make it to Bicman and tell them what we have done? They will eventually recover from the illness," Brad said in a troubled tone. If they recover quick enough, they will rush to Bicman before we can be gone."

    "I have an idea about that. What if after we leave, they get forcefully taken on the crew of a ship."

    "Okay, so let me get this straight. First, you make Bicman''s men and some of ours get sick. Then, after we leave, you have them grabbed by a sea captain and taken where?"

    "I know a guy who will be heading to Carok in a few days. He can nab them out of the inn while they are sick and have them work on the ship."

    "Our guys are going to be pissed."

    "They can escape right before they leave. We just need to make this work." I said.

    "Is all of this worth it?"

    "The king paid us almost nothing for this trip, and that amount of money will last us through the winter. So yeah. As long as we line everything up right, it will work out great."

 Book 2 Chapter 36

    The next morning, I started with my regular routine, followed by a delicious breakfast that included something that reminded me of Greek yogurt with honey. After that, we walked the grounds of Ridgeland Keep. I think with the grounds the way they were, it deserved a castle around the whole keep. Unfortunately, due to the keep''s closeness to the ridge, it just wouldn''t look right.

    I started making different sketches and writing down ideas on the various pages. As we walked, we talked about what I could expect to find in Kimton. First, he recommended I find myself a place to stay before even approaching the Kimton Castle. They will not invite me in right away and may make me wait, which means I may have an uncomfortable time finding a place to stay in the evening.

    I should not expect the meeting to take place within the same tenday as I arrive. That means I must find people to associate with as I wait. He gave me two letters of introduction to barons he knew. If I made a good impression, I would be invited to parties and expand my list of contacts.

    I finished my drawings at the third bell past dawn. I thanked him, Baron Sophis, For his time and information.

    "My boy, it is unfortunate that you have such a poor barony, or I could introduce you to a few barons that would gladly give you their daughters. Unfortunately, the circles I move in would never give their daughters to such a poor baron, no matter how talented you are. Find a good wife. Raise your children well, and I am sure you will be able to pull your barony out of obscurity."

    I wanted to laugh. Apparently, Sherlock Holmes had not deduced everything about me. I wouldn''t have to wait until my children were grown to have a prosperous barony.

    "Thank you, Lord Sophis. Your hospitality has been grand. May the Endless One bless you with continued prosperity."

    "Oh, I don''t bother the Endless One with such trifles. He is busy enough. I bring about my own prosperity," He said with a chuckle.

    As we left, I took one last look at the impressive keep. I hoped that we would be able to maintain friendly relations in the future, but I had a feeling that the upcoming conflict would pull us in different directions.

    We traveled quickly with Baron Sophis''s mounted men, and the next few days were peaceful. Benjamin and I spent the time discussing projects that we might be able to implement with the different people we had received from the King. If all went well, we would have more food than we would need, even with the added people. That meant I would need to find something for the people to do. We could definitely increase our mining operations. Cash crops like cotton and pootba would bring in a lot of money, especially if the cotton gin were built. The publishing house was a side project, and at this point, I just wanted to see how well it would do. Of course, with Fredrick helping things get started in Vaspar, maybe it would take off. Or maybe it would be burnt to the ground. I wasn''t too worried; when we figured out how to build a printing press, it would definitely take off. The bonus of building a publishing house now is that if we were already known for making books when we built the press, we would be making money hand over fist.

    Most of the Barons were not at home when we passed through their lands. They were either at war or at the annual festivities. The closer we got to the capital of Kimton, the more people seemed to be gone. On the sixth day, we arrived at the castle of Count Zimen. After we were ushered into his great hall and introduced, the tall, sour-faced count stood up. He was quite young. Maybe in his late twenties.

    "So, you are the famous painter, Bicman. You must think you are something special to be invited to Kimton by the duke himself. You are not, boy. You are a marsh dweller and little better than a commoner. You will be forgotten within a year once the novelty of your paintings is no longer uncommon. My advice to you is to finish your painting quickly and slink back to the marshes where you belong."

    This wasn''t anything I hadn''t heard before. He may be a little more blunt than the others, but I had plenty of people who didn''t believe I belonged in civilized society. I was just glad that there were no duels of honor here. I would have died a thousand times over if I had to challenge people to duels when they insulted me.

    "Thank you, Lord Zimen. It is sound advice. And I have to admit that a quiet life is much preferable to this constant attention I have been receiving. At times, I wish my talent had not been discovered."

    I got no reaction to my response. "You may find my manner of address harsh, but you will not find guile in my speech as the sycophants are so eager to spout. Now I have more important things to attend to. Steward, make sure my guests are fed, and the baron''s needs are met tonight."

    "Of course, my lord," said the rat-faced man who introduced us to the count. "Lord Bicman, if you would please follow me."

    The best way I could describe Count Zimen''s castle was sterile. It had no adornments anywhere. Other than Bicman Manor, this was the first time I had seen a place so bland. After a dinner of bread and a watery porridge, I was brought to a room that reflected the rest of the manor. A reed mattress bed, a nightstand, and my trunk were all that adorned it.

    "My lord, might I have a word." The shifty-eyed man said.

    "Of course," I said.

    "Please forgive Count Zimen. He has recently lost his third wife and is very distraught."

    "That is a shame. Did they die in childbirth?"

    "No, my lord, That is the tragedy of the situation. All three committed suicide after not being able to produce a male heir. He has eight girls and no heir."

    What was that quote? Once is a chance, twice is a coincidence, and third is a pattern. I think we have a Henry VIII thing going on here. And all because his X sperm are faster swimmers than his Y. I was so looking forward to not being in this castle anymore.

    We left the next day straight after breakfast. The place gave me a bad feeling, and I had trouble sleeping that night. As soon as we left the castle grounds, Benjamin let out a sigh. I am glad it wasn''t just me.

    ********

    "So Benjamin, we know the king sent spies among the peasants. Do you have any idea why the king didn''t just send a messenger to ferret out our secrets?" I asked as we sat in the carriage, trying to pass the time.

    "I believe the question has two answers. The count has already sent a messenger. That could be explained by the fact that there was a change in the head of the house. However, a messenger, especially from the king, would draw a lot of attention. Second, sending a messager is a short-term thing. I think the king expects more surprises from you and wants to keep an eye on you.

    "Well, that is just peachy. How do we prevent it? The letter I sent to Draves ahead of the caravan said to hide everything, that we could not move to the fort. I hope it gets done.."

    "I think that is a good first step, especially if we can evacuate all the critical workers there. They won''t be happy, but if we can keep the three hundred new people from traveling to the cove, then the most valuable secrets can be kept safe. Then we can just work on trying to identify spies."

    "That is a problem because I have no idea how to identify spies. Also, the secret of paper is out. If we move it to the fort, then the spies will search for where we move it. I wish we had had more time to think this over before sending the letter." I said in frustration.

    "Draves is a smart man. Between him and Edward, they will get things figured out. As far as discovering the spies, we can ask my father when we get to Kimton. However, he is a spy for the king. So he may approve of them being there. He may even have requested it just to make sure I am safe." He said, with just a hint of annoyance in his voice.

    "Not your fault, Benjamin. Parents are going to be overprotective."

    Just then, we were interrupted by the driver as he started to slow. "My lord, soldiers ahead."

    "Well crap, can we not just make it to Kimton without any more delays?" I said as Benjamin and we stepped out of the carriage.

    A large man in chest armor and a helmet rode forward. "What is the meaning of this, captain?"Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    "We will be inspecting your carts."

    I was so stunned at the man''s audacity. I almost didn''t stop him. But I composed myself as he waved a few of his men forward.

    I recovered and said, "You will not touch my wagons. How dare you, a soldier, stop a baron for such a thing. Do I look like some common merchant?"

    His expression did not change, "These are our orders from Baron Bacob himself. I must insist."

    "And I say you will not touch my wagons on the pain of death." There was no way I was going to show some of what I had to these men.

    "Then you must come with me to see the baron. You cannot refuse the request of a baron whose lands you pass through."

    "Take me to your baron then. He will have to answer to the duke for this delay."

    "As you say, my lord, " he said with a bow. It was always impressive how they could make a bow look good while on horseback.

    When we got back into the carriage, I asked Benjamin how I had done.

    "You are getting better, my lord. You regained your bearing quite well after his attack."

    "What is this all about?"

    "Most likely, we have run afoul of a robber baron whose appetite has grown too large. They are little better than thieves," he said, disgust evident in his voice.

    "I am surprised that he would try this with a baron."

    "He will blame it on his soldiers and promise to reprimand them while at the same time trying to get access to your goods."

    "Seriously, what is with these nobles? It is like dealing with children sometimes."

    The trip to Salacs, the city where the Baron lived, was not on the main road. It meant we had to travel several kilometers away to reach it. I was more agitated the closer we got to the city. I hated jerks, and the fact that I had had to deal with more jerks in the last month than I had to in high school was saying something.

    Arriving at the baron''s manor, we were escorted into his great hall. The Baron sat in his chair casually as if my very presence bored him. Courtiers and knights gossiped in corners as we approached.

    "May I introduce Baron Amos Bicman?"

    The Baron looked indifferent as he said. "The Barony of Bicman must be very small, I don''t think I have ever seen it on a map."

    "Apparently, you need a new mapmaker."

    "Perhaps. But why have you come seeking an audience with me?"

    This guy was really starting to bug me. "I did not seek an audience with you. I was waylaid by your soldiers, who claimed they needed to inspect my wagons. I refused to subject myself to such humiliation even though I told them I had urgent matters to attend to."

    "Urgent matters? Intriguing." He said in a tone that implied he did not believe me. "What is so pressing that you could not be delayed

    "That is between me and the duke."

    "Well, that is interesting, but nevertheless. It is the law of the barony that we inspect all carts to make sure they are not contraband."

    "The goods I carry are for Duke Kimton. They are not for the eyes of common soldiers or even a baron unless approved by him. And this delay will be reported to him if he cares to ask why I was late."

    "Hmm. I find that hard to believe," he said with a sneer.

    I was prepared for this and pulled out the letter I had received via pigeon. Fortunately, the transcribers who receive the Duke''s pigeons have a seal to stamp onto the transcribed letter, signifying its validity.

    "Steward Benjamin, show this to the baron''s steward so that he may verify the seal. Do not open it as the contents are private." I said as I pulled the letter from one of my inside vest pockets.

    Benjamin approached Baron Bacob''s steward. After the steward inspected the seal, he turned slightly green. "It is genuine."

    A frown appeared on the baron''s face. "I apologize for the misunderstanding, Baron Bicman," he said calmly. "If you had shown this to my soldiers I am sure that this whole misunderstanding would have been resolved on the road."

    "What is the point of being nobility if you have to explain your actions to common soldiers? I find that the actions of a soldier reflect that of their Lord." I didn''t mind figuratively slapping this guy in the face. Nobles here did not duel, so I didn''t have to worry about that type of retribution. However, getting stabbed in the back or poisoned was tolerated, but I wasn''t too worried about this baron doing anything now that I had shown him the seal.

    He ignored the jab and said, "Nonetheless, I apologize for the misunderstanding. It is too late in the day to make it to the next respectable town. I insist on you dining with me, and I will give you a room for the night."

    I really didn''t want to, but on the other hand, he was correct. It would be unwise to head elsewhere so close to evening. "I will accept your offer of hospitality. But I am afraid I am not in the mood to eat at this time. If you have quarters prepared for me, that would be appreciated."

    "Certainly, and if you need any companionship tonight, let my steward know, and we will find someone to attend to you."

    I grit my teeth. What a slimeball. What is it with some of these nobles?

    "I will be sure to keep that in mind. Now, if you don''t mind, I will be off to see my men and consult with my steward," I turned and walked out of the hall without letting the conversation go any further.

    Once out of earshot, I whispered to Benjamin, "One to ten, how did I do?"

    "A solid seven, my lord."

    "Dang, are you serious? I thought I portrayed enough confidence."

    "Your confidence wasn''t the problem this time. It was that you showed your irritation. Irritation can be a good tool when you are trying to pressure someone, but in this case, we had no need to do so. You are getting better, and it was a good idea not to dine with him. I doubt he would have poisoned you, but drugging you would not have been off the table."

    "Well, I hope we aren''t murdered in our sleep," I said cheerfully.

    Captian Charles Draves

    My horse was nearly spent as I rode into Kerisi just as the sun was setting. The children had noticed my presence, and they rushed to get their parents. By the time I reached Paul''s home, he was already stepping out of his house. Looking at my state and the state of the horse, his eyes grew wide in alarm.

    "Draves, what has happened? Where is Lord Amos?"

    I climbed off my horse and handed the reins to his wife. "We will speak inside. The lord is fine."

    There was a look of relief on his face as we stepped into the home.

    "Please don''t leave me in suspense. Why have you returned."

    "This information is for the headmen only, but it will eventually be spread to the whole barony. We received information that a large force is coming to attack us." I said. I watched the color drain from Paul''s face as I spoke.

    "We do not know if it will be in the north or the south. We most likely have a few months, but we must prepare as if it is coming now. Send messengers to the two headmen and the Chief of Karr. They are all to meet us in Bicman tomorrow morning. I must leave immediately for Bicman."

    "But it is night soon. Should you not stay here until morning?"

    "This cannot wait. I must speak with Edward. My horse is too exhausted to travel. Bring him in the morning when you arrive. I expect all headmen to be there by no later than the noon bell.

    With my message delivered, I moved on as quickly as I could to Bicman before the last of the light faded, forcing me to use a lamp to light the way. The road, however, had been greatly improved and straightened since we left. It was not as good as Amos''s grand vision, but it was smoother, straighter, and wider than when I left. I had my doubts as to whether we would ever need a road that could fit two wagons comfortably on it, but for some reason, the lord insisted. All roads should be built at least ten meters wide.

    Lord Amos claimed that where he came from, there were roads twenty meters wide so that faster traffic could pass slower traffic on each side. When he spoke of things like automobiles and airplanes, I had a hard time believing he was actually sane. Nevertheless, I believed he would lead these people to prosperity. We only had to survive.

    When I arrived at the manor, I was pleased to see that there were two guards at the gates and more patrolling the wall. My light was easily seen, so I was greeted partway down the hill.

    "Captain Draves!" said a young man as he stopped to salute me. I didn''t recognize him, but he wore the shirt of a member of the Bicman Defense Force. "We did not expect to see you back so soon."

    "I am glad to see you are alert at your post, young man. Please let me through the gates."

    He beamed at my compliment and hurried to the gate. Shouting up to the guard on the wall, the message was relayed to the men on the other side, and the bar was removed. I slipped through and went to see Edward.

    Knocking on his door, I heard two voices talking with each other behind me. It was probably Nancy. A tired face looked out at me a minute later. The sight of me caused his to vanish.

    "Meet me in the study as soon as you are dressed," I said, and I left immediately to go to the study.

    Pushing aside Lord Bicman''s table, I pulled out a stack of his flip books from under the stone. Amos''s flipbooks were something he was very proud of. They were small books that you could use the force of your thumb to rapidly flip the pages, causing the image on the page to seem like it was moving. I looked through the stack, which included a few things that I had already seen, like the catapult and ballista, but there were a few I didn''t know what they were. The words trebuchet, rifle, pistol, land mine, and cannon I was not familiar with. Amos had admitted to me that he did not know how all the things he drew worked, but he was hoping that we might be able to build them together. He said that some of these ideas he actually hoped he never had to use but needed to be written down anyways.

    I finally found the crossbow I was looking for. There were actually a few books bound together by string. The first showed a man pulling a string back on the bow while his foot was in a metal stirrup on the ground. The second showed a man cranking a shaft while the string was pulled back. It was not very detailed. It made me think that Amos was not quite sure how it worked. The third book showed a man with a crossbow against his shoulder and firing it. The last thing in the bundle was a sheet of notes; unfortunately, it was in the code language Amos called Cursive English. I had not had time to study much of it, and that is what I had Edward for anyways.

    The crossbow was interesting and looked useful, but I did not know how helpful it would be in staving off invaders. Amos had to know more about this weapon than I understood. Hopefully, it would be worth the time it took to make it.

 Book 2 Chapter 37

    I was not stabbed in the middle of the night, probably because of the guards outside my room. I did check the room for secret passages where assassins could sneak in and slit my throat. Either this guy didn''t have one, or it was well hidden. When I explained to Benjamin what I was looking for, he thought I was being overly paranoid. He had only heard of secret passages used as an escape route or to access secret stashes of food during a siege.

    I said, "It is only being paranoid if nobody was out to get you, and as a noble, it was best to assume that someone could be out to get me at any time."

    "I suppose I have to concede that point. But remember, more nobles have died due to stress from the fear of assassination than the act itself. I recommend finding a balance. Trust your men to protect you."

    "Ok, but when I finally get a castle, I will definitely build some awesome secret passages."

    Our carts hadn''t been touched either. It was possibly due to the threat I had made but more likely due to the guards I had watching our stuff that night.

    We rode out of the gates to the manor just as dawn was breaking. We had a lot of time to make up, and I had no desire to be in this guy''s home any longer. In fact, I made an executive decision: I decided not to stay in any more noble homes on the way down to Kimton. I stayed in the best inns I could find for the next three nights, and by noon on the fourth day, we reached Kimton.

    I was somewhat surprised to see a large wall around the city¡ªmuch larger than Vaspar. I mean, yeah, I knew that Kimton would be bigger than Vaspar, but the size was impressive. Even with the wall, the population had spilled out past it. There was a checkpoint on the road into the outer city, but the flags allowed us to ride straight through. It was at this point the soldiers of Lord Cumfrence left us. I gave them a gold crown for their service and to get themselves a place to stay for the night before their return.

    It was when we got to the inner city where the wall was that we were questioned. I identified myself and was sped through once I produced the letter from the duke. The current portion of the city was dirty and smelly, much like what I would expect a medieval city to be like. There were shops lining the street all the way up to the inner city. Due to our noble status, we were allowed to drive our carriage through the city during the day, but our wagons had to stay in a warehouse until dusk.  It was then that I realized that there was one more wall for what was most likely the original city.

    When we reached the inner gate, we were met with suspicion. That was until I produced the letter from the duke. Then, they became very accommodating. They gave me directions to a few different inns where nobles were staying. Fortunately, we were coming later in the season. For the opening festivities, reservations had to be made in advance in all the inns, including the ones outside the wall that no noble would be caught dead in. Now, we were closer to the middle of the season when all the activities were going on, so there were several rooms available in each of the inns. All of them were about the same quality, so I booked us for a week at the one furthest from the castle. It was the least expensive one. Waste not, want not. Now, it was time to visit the castle.

    As the carriage came through the castle gates and circled the turnaround, a servant stepped forward. Benjamin stepped out and handed him the letter. After reading it, he gave a slight sneer towards me as I exited.

    Just great. Even the servants were stuck up here. Of course, it also lets me know where I stand. Nice of him to let me know.

    "I will bring you to a waiting room where you will be given a time for your appointment."

    After, "Mr. I''m too good to talk to you", led us to a small room with a few simple chairs and a rug, he left. We waited for three bells before anyone came to check on us. Too much longer and I would have just laid down on the rug and gone to sleep.

    Finally, a short man with a bald head came into the room. In a high-pitched nasally voice that did not match his squat frame, he said, "You will arrive here in one tenday and a day from today at the second bell past noon.

    I really wanted to say, "Dude, just say eleven days. The whole, Tenday and a day thing does not make you sound any smarter." But I refrained.

    And with that, we were done. I had eleven days to do as I pleased, and I would explore this town to its fullest. But now it was time to get back to the inn and sleep. I was hoping they still had supper available.

    ********

    The next morning, I sent letters to the two people Baron Sophis had recommended I visit, asking for a time we could meet. I would personally hand the letters of introduction to them when we met. Then I decided to go out into the city and explore. While I was curious about what the city had to offer in Kimton, Benjamin was eager to visit with his father. So, while I was exploring the city, He went to see if he could gain an audience with his father.

    "Do not expect me back anytime soon. I am no longer a member of the household, so I will most likely be treated similarly to how they treated you. Depending on what we discuss, it may be a long wait and an even longer conversation. And, my lord, I will not betray your secrets, " he said solemnly.

    "You have shown yourself to be honest and trustworthy. I have no fear of your conduct," I said.

    "Thank you for your trust."

    With that, we went our separate ways. I left for the city to see what I could discover. The first thing that I found was that they didn''t have much I wanted in the upper city, as they called it. It was all stuff for nobles. The shops had jewelry and fine clothes. All these things would give a noble a sense of self-importance, but they were useless to me. I needed stuff for my barony, even if it were just ideas. So, the first place I went was the merchant quarters. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Even more so than when I visited the merchant district in Vaspar. I saw an occasional noble there. Nobles here must feel mingling with commoners is beneath them. Send commoners to do anything that deals with other commoners. Their loss.

    I was getting a lot of sideways glances from the adults, and children were openly staring as I walked down the street.

    "Excuse me," I said to a man calling out his wares outside his candle-making shop. Immediately, the man put his head down.

    "Forgive me for shouting in your presence, my lord. I did not see you there. I mean, forgive me for not observing that one such as yourself has graced us with your presence." He said quickly.

    Seriously, did the nobles around here get mad at people for doing their jobs?

    "Good man, there is no need to keep your head down. I just wanted to ask where I might find a woodworker who can make some frames for me. I also need a weaver or cloth merchant to construct me a canvas." I said.

    "A canvas, my lord?" His face suddenly drained of color, and he put his head down again. "Forgive me, my lord. I did not mean to ask a question. I was just confused, so I wanted to clarify so I could help you in the best way possible."

    "I appreciate that, thanks. I will be painting pictures on cloth, and I am almost out of frames that hold the cloth." I said with a smile that he could not see because his head was down.

    "I would be most honored if you would allow me to have my son guide you as a way of an apology."

    "I would appreciate that very much, thank you."

    The man hurried inside his shop, and a minute later, a boy of about ten came out with his father. His eyes went large at the sight of me as if he had seen some mythical beast.

    "Boy, take this noble lord to Archer''s workshop. Do you understand?"

    "Yes, Pa," said the boy. And he immediately took off down the street without even checking to see if I was following.

    The man shouted after the boy to slow down, but he was almost out of sight in the maze of people before words left his father''s mouth. The boy''s father looked like he was about to faint. The expression was so hilarious that I doubled over in a fit of laughter. It almost looked like one of those Reel videos that I always came across on my phone back home.

    Once I got myself under control, I wiped the tears out of my eyes. "Good man, I have had an extremely tiring last few weeks, but that right there made up for it. You should have seen the look on your face. I bet right now he is racing through the crowd, proud of himself because he will get the giant nobleman to Archer''s house in record time. I wish I could see his face when he gets there, looks around, and wonders why I am not there."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The man looked at me for a moment as if questioning whether I was sane. Then a grin spread across his face, and he also began to laugh. A few people who had drawn close enough to hear me also began to laugh, and they all began to discuss the foolishness of youth these days.

    When the boy came back, he looked confused when he saw me, as if he were wondering why I hadn''t moved. The boy''s father looked like he was about to lecture the young boy, but I stepped forward. "Boy, I appreciate your excitement in trying to help your father. You must be the fastest boy on the street, but I ask you to please walk beside me. I am sometimes easily lost, and I do not wish to get left behind."

    "Yes, my lord," he said with a large gap-tooth grin. So this time, we walked down the street as the crowd parted around us. I looked at the various shops on my way down the street, and one in particular caught my eye. A boy stood behind a display in front of the shop. There were a variety of glass beads in a bowl and a few glass cups. The glass was not clear, but light would definitely pass through it. There was a servant of some noble standing in front of the boy discussing a purchase.

    "Hey, boy. Is that a glass shop?"

    The boy looked to where I was pointing.

    "Yes, that''s Meany Mark''s shop. He has a son who is actually a monster. He has the monster hide his face and everything. Any children who go into Meany Mark''s shop get eaten by the monster. Timmy said he knew a boy who went in and never came back out. My friends, we dare each other to go in, but none of us ever do."

    "Well, it is a good thing nobles are not scared of monsters. When I have the chance, I will visit the place."

    "Ok, but can I have your hat when you are dead? I really like it."

    I was caught off guard for a moment but then said, "I shall live a long time. But if you come to my funeral, I will make sure they give it to you." I can just imagine what the boy would say to his father.

    ''I asked the noble if I could have his hat when he gets eaten by a monster, and he said yes.''

    The guy is never going to let the kid out of his house again.

    The next thing that drew my eye was a stall selling Bicman pens. I have to admit my jaw almost dropped. I walked over and started looking at them. The craftsmanship was adequate, and they had smoothed and varnished the wooden stick.

    "Might you be interested in the new dip pens? They are a fascinating writing implement. If you would like, I could show you how they work."

    "No need. I come from the county of Vaspar, where they were created. I have a few myself. Have you ever heard the story of how they came to be?"

    "The count invented them." He said it as if it was an obvious fact.

    "Actually, the count purchased the idea from a young nobleman from the marshes. You see, the young nobleman, Lord Bicman, he trampled the son of their smith. The boy lost his leg. When the young nobleman realized what he had done, he felt so guilty for what he had done, but he knew his guilt would never help the boy, so he designed a nub that would be easy for the boy to produce while sitting. In the end, the idea had to be sold to the count because the barony was too far away from everyone to make any money on it up north. If you ever travel to Bicman, you can meet Mathew, the blacksmith''s son who made the first dip pen. Now, don''t tell anyone I told you this. The people of Vaspar are very proud of their count''s invention even if some of them know it wasn''t actually him."

    "My lips are sealed, my lord."

    With that statement, I was sure that half of the commoners in Kimton would be telling the story by tomorrow. It is just such a better story than ''The count created this.'' It made the commoner the hero of the story. Of course, the nobles would believe the other story, but in the end, both sets of people would be happy.

    We arrived at the woodworker shop a couple minutes later. I dropped a whole copper into the boy''s hand. "You did a good job, boy."

    He looked like he was thinking for a moment, "Did the nobleman give money to the boy?"

    "The boy got gold crowns from his baron," I said with a smile. The boy smiled back and then took off running. There was another person who would spread the tale, but I imagine it would be a much more fanciful tale in the mind of an eight-year-old boy. The nobleman would probably end up having trampled the boy while riding a lion and giving the boy a castle as an apology.

    Archer was a bland man who liked his explanations short. Once I told him what I wanted and the sizes, he said he would procure the clothes, and I could pick them up in a couple of days. I didn''t mind the conversation being brief. I was eager to get back to the glassmaker''s shop. So now it was just me and my two guards walking back towards the shop. Once again, the mass of bodies parted for me. It was both awkward and convenient at the same time.

    When we arrived at the shop, I approached the boy who was running the stall. "I need to speak with Mark the Glassmaker, please."

    "The boy''s eyes widened in surprise at being addressed by me. Then he bowed and led me inside. It was very warm inside, and the room was open all the way to the kiln in the back, where the glass was being heated.

    A large man had his back to me, working on something near the furnace. Another young man in his teens was working a bellow. The boy was looking uncomfortably between me and the man. He probably had strict instructions not to disturb the man while working. But, I was a nobleman if he didn''t do as I asked immediately, he might get his head chopped off.

    He was about to move forward, his fear of a nobleman greater than the wrath of his master, when I put my hand on his shoulder. He started in surprise, but when he looked at me, I put my finger to my lips. We sat there and waited for Mark to finish.

    The back door opened, and an interesting sight appeared in the doorway. A hunched-over figure shuffled into the room. It wore baggy clothes and gloves on its hands. The most peculiar thing was the cloth sack on its head. This must be Mark''s son, the monster. It looked more like someone trying to dress up in a scarecrow costume for Halloween¡ªexcept there was no straw.

    He made his way towards his father and set down a large sack he was carrying.

    "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from the fire, fool boy!" Mark shouted.

    The boy jumped back, and his head lifted up. Two holes were cut out for his eyes, but no hole was cut out for his mouth or nose.

    Dang! That has to be really uncomfortable.

    When our eyes met, the boy froze. I imagine in fear, not due to my dashing good looks, but with the sack over his head, it was hard to tell. I smiled kindly, trying to put the kid at ease, but it didn''t seem to help. The boy next to me was making a shooing motion, and finally, the boy fled the room.

    Mark must have noticed his son''s odd reaction because he stood up and turned toward us. Seeing me, he bowed deeply. "Forgive me, my lord. The boy is not meant to be seen by others."

    "I am not concerned with such things," I said, putting on my noble airs. I did that when I didn''t like people. "What I am concerned with is glass. I have looked around this shop and seen some of your work. Is this the clearest you can make your glass?"

    "I assure you this is the clearest anyone can make glass," He said proudly.

    "Excellent. I am looking for someone who knows how to make glass to come with me back to the Barony of Bicman and work for me."

    The man raised his eyebrows. "My lord, it would be impossible for me to come with you. I have a business here and noble clients that would be very upset if I left. Forgive me, my lord, but I don''t know where Bicman Barony is."

    I smiled. I could tell he was trying hard not to offend me, but he wasn''t very good at being polite. "I don''t want you, Master Mark. I want anyone who knows how to create glass. We will be traveling to the northernmost barony. It''s almost a month away when the roads are good."

    "I am sorry, my lord, without my workers, I would fall behind on my orders."

    "Hmm. Do you know any other glassmakers in the area who may be able to help me?"

    "I know all the glassmakers in the city. There are only a few of us. I could give you their names, but there is always more work to do than time to do it all. I doubt they will let those they train go."

    A thought popped into my head, and I pushed it back down. But like a beach all covered in water, it just resurfaced. I grit my teeth.

    Why am I such a sucker for charity cases? What the heck? It isn''t like he would agree.

    "What about the one with the sack on his head?"

    This stunned the man for a moment. "Tom?"

    "If that is the one I saw bringing in the bag for you, then yes. Does he know the trade?"

    "But¡­ I¡­" He let out a sigh, "My lord, he is horribly scared on his face due to an accident when he was a few years old. He refuses to take off the sack unless he is alone. His pinky and ring finger on his left hand are fused together due to the same accident."

    "Does he know how to make glass?"

    "Yes, but¡­ He is mute."

    "Can he write?"

    "Yes."

    "Then name your price," I said, trying to close the deal.

    There was a pause, and then he said firmly. "One hundred gold."

    Dang, I didn''t have one hundred gold right now. Most of what I made went to getting supplies for up north and those people I had taken in on the king''s orders. I was planning on making a lot here, though, so it shouldn''t be a problem. This is the problem when dealing with specialty merchants. They always want so much."

    "I will be leaving in a month. Write a contract, and I will have my steward review it. I do not want any misunderstandings. You will receive fifty gold when I come to pick up the boy. You could buy this shop twenty times over for that price, and I know the cost of a servent is not nearly that much. Accept my generosity." I said forcefully. Truly if this boy could make glass he was worth the one hundred gold, but I just couldn''t let this slimeball get away with such blatant robbery

    "My lord, I would ask of you one thing." He said nervously.

    "Ask."

    "The boy is my son. He is my shame. I ask that you never remove the mask from him. And give him a separate place to eat and sleep away from people."

    "That won''t be a problem. I will be building him a house and a workshop similar to this one. He shall have all the privacy he desires."

    "Then you have a deal. The boy is nothing but a burden to me, but if you want a glassmaker, he knows the trade."

    I grinned inwardly. I had my glassmaker.

 Book 2 Chapter 38

    Benjamin Steward

    I stepped back from my father''s embrace and smiled.

    "It has been too long, Benjamin." He said.

    "It has only been a few months, Father," I said, almost rolling my eyes. Amos was a bad influence on me.

    "I have received very few letters from you, and they have not given me much detail about your life in Bicman. I feared that you were taking extra precautions because that noble was reading the letters you sent, but they were all coded, so that did not make sense either."

    I could sense the concern in my father''s voice. He was usually very logical and calculating, but when it came to me, he seemed to get a little paranoid. I smiled inwardly.

    "Father, I told you in the letters I was fine. The reason I sent so few letters is that the mail takes at least a month to get to you, and although the baron does not make me pay for the use of his soldier to take a message to Malcomp. The message cost from Malcomp to Kimton is absurd.

    ¡°Lord Bicman knows I write in code. Did you not get the letter I sent saying that Baron Bicman found a scribe for me so that I could dictate all my thoughts and orders? I am valued there. I am considered second only to him. He does not care about my difficulties. Even now that my scribe is not with us, Lord Amos writes anything necessary or reads everything to me. That is how much he values me."

    This caused my father''s eyebrows to twitch slightly. For a man who kept his facial expressions always under control, this meant he was extremely surprised. "The baron has taken on the role of your servant."

    Now, I could not help but smile, "It''s more like he treats me as an equal. He says a true friend he doesn''t mind helping when needed."

    He sat there with a contemplative look on his face. "This does not make sense. We had reports on his past behavior. How could a person change so much?"

    "From what I have gathered, he changed as soon as his family died, and he recovered. There are several different accounts by people in the barony. Some say once his family was gone, he was no longer suppressed by their influence and acted according to how he truly wanted to act. Others say he lost his memory, and so he no longer acts the way he used to. That makes more sense than the first option because when I got there, he knew nothing about being a noble." I paused at that point, but my father latched onto my hesitation like a dog onto a bone.

    "But I can tell there is one more." He said.

    I sighed, "The predominant belief among the common people of Bicman is that Amos died and was replaced by a Chosen of the Endless One. The people of Karr, who I told you about, have their own beliefs. They call him a Descended. They believe that one of their gods sent him. There is a debate among them as to which god sent him, but among them, there is no one who doubts that he is a Descended. "

    My father nodded. "And that is what you believe," He said with confidence.

    "It is," I said firmly. I had wanted to fight against it, but there was no other logical explanation in my mind. His ignorance of our society, his slip ups when words that no one else say, his beliefs about how the world should be, the code language he claimed to have created himself, and the wonders that he had invented, all these things pointed to something greater than just a boy who had lost his memories. But these things had to be kept secret, even from my father.

    "And so is he now gathering peasants and serfs to rise up in rebellion?"

    I chuckled, "No, Father, he is wise enough to know that there is no possibility for the commoners to fight against the kingdom. What''s more, he considers his role as Baron an obligation. The reason he keeps the office of Baron at all is his fear that if he left, the people would become subject to a cruel lord. He has no desire to lead, but he has a great desire to protect the people of Bicman and help them prosper. Not for his own gain, but so that he can improve the lives of his people." I said.

    "If this had come from anyone other than you, I would have said they were a fool. But you are no fool. I am not ready to believe in the foolish dogma of commoners. I cannot accept that there are such things as Chosen. But I will concede that you have found yourself in the service of an incredible man. I am happy for you." He said.

    "Father, I also wanted to speak concerning my last message. Have you been able to find anything?"

    "I believe I have. We intercepted part of a message that was sent to an agent of Countess Blackwell. They send their messages in fragments and with different ciphers so that no single message will give away their plans. This one gave the location ''Northern Cove.'' It was sent from a slaver in Rabiss. When we first intercepted the message, we assumed it was a meeting place on Rabiss for Blackwell to sell slaves. However, a raid to gather slaves from Bicman makes much more sense since the Council has never participated in selling or buying slaves."

    "I just don''t understand. Why would the council want the people of their own Duchy to be attacked?"

    "Think, Benjamin, How can they use this to further their agenda?"

    I thought for a moment and struck on a few ideas. "Even if the king wants to help, he cannot. He has invested too many troops into the war. He cannot move troops away from Falmor and leave himself open to attack. It will show that the king cannot defend his country. They will use it as an excuse to recall the soldiers of Kimton."

    Then another idea struck me: "The king just sent four hundred people to Bicman, claiming that it was a service done by the baron to the king. After it comes out that raiders took all the people as slaves, rumors will spread that it was a deal between the King and Rabiss."

    My father rubbed his chin, "That is a possibility. I will send a message to the king. The council is closing the noose. It is time for a counterstrike. We will send a message to Vaspar and have the Count send a message to Bicman with what we know."

    "Can our navy stop them?" I said, already knowing the answer.

    "Our navy is weak and slow compared to Rabiss. We also do not know when they will arrive, so we cannot patrol properly."

    "If we flee south, many of the people will die due to starvation even if we spread out across the country. Also, now that Amos has instituted mandatory military training for all men over fourteen and armed them, many will refuse to leave."

    "What has he done?"

    "A few months ago, Amos and some men stumbled across Rabiss Slavers, who had been shipwrecked near the cove. I now believe they were scouting the area for the upcoming raid. Four of his men died, and one was tortured to the point of insanity. Lord Bicman was able to flee. He gathered all the soldiers he could and killed the raiders. Since then, he has feared another attack. He also fears that his men will be called up to fight in our current war and be used as fodder. He Instituted mandatory military training for all men over the age of fourteen. Every member of what he calls the Bicman Defense Force has their own spear and will be trained to fight in armor when he can make it.

    "He has armed his commoners? Does he not fear that the people will rise up in rebellion?"

    "He believes that the only reason his people would rebel is if they feel oppressed by their baron. He has written laws specific to his barony that even he is bound to. One law is what he calls ''The right to keep and bear arms.''"Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    "That is a very bad idea." My father said firmly.

    "I agree, but the baron will not budge on this. Any man or woman who is trained has the right to keep a weapon in their home."

    My father shook his head in disapproval, but I continued, "This may be what saves Bicman. Captain Draves went back to Bicman to prepare the people for the attack. A caravan of food and metals is also traveling north. He will build defensive structures in each village and stock each one in case the raiders try to siege our forts. The raiders will arrive to find prepared people."

    "Those raiders have been training their entire lives for this. A barely trained group of peasants will have no chance. I want you to remain here."

    "No, Father, I was taught duty and honor by you. I will not forsake my duty just because the situation is desperate."

    "I understand. I am proud of you, son. We will discuss this in more detail later and see what we can do to help. Now, without revealing the secrets that you have been keeping from me, tell me how life has been going up north."

    Amos

    When I returned to the inn, I found a letter waiting for me. It was from Baron Sophis''s associate, Baron Yamis. He invited me to dine with him this evening. I have to admit I was tied to all the social functions. I was always trying to make sure I said and did the right thing, but at the same time, my barony needed the money. It was my duty to generate enough money so that we could last until the next harvest. I did not doubt that we would need to buy more food to support all the people.

    So, I spent the next few hours writing stories. They were all short stories, but that was okay because even my short stories sold well. I would need wood planks and leather. My servants were good at sewing and gluing the books. I would see if I could spread the idea of book clubs here. In a year, I would like to start spreading my publishing houses to other cities, and one in such a large city as this would be amazing.

    At the appointed time, I arrived at Baron Yamis''s manor. In the yard, two boys about thirteen were playing with wooden swords. Actually, playing might not have been the right word. They were really going at it, and I think their skills were better than mine.

    A servant opened the carriage, and I stepped out. "Lord Bicman, I presume."

    I did not have Benjamin with me to give introductions, so I simply nodded.

    "If you would please follow me, I will show you the sitting room."

    The sitting room was quite nice. Several chairs had maroon cushions. I was getting good at identifying the various cushioning stuffings, and I could tell this was horsehair. As a connoisseur of fine cushions, I would have to say I was quite pleased.

    It was only a moment later when a large portly man stepped into the room. He had a stern face on as he looked me up and down.

    "Baron Yemis, It is a pleasure to be invited to your home. I have a letter from Baron Sophis for you."

    He read the letter quickly and said, "So you are a famous artist in Vaspar who has been invited to Kimton to paint the duke. Sophis recommends that I request a portrait myself because he believes that once the city sees the duke''s painting, you will only have time to paint the highest of nobility. He is rarely wrong. He also recommended that I invite you to accompany me to any social gatherings. Therefore you will attend the Blasec Ball with me tonight. You appear adequately dressed, so we can leave as soon as we have dined. We can start on the painting tomorrow."

    This guy was bossy to the extreme, but hey, if I got introductions out of it, I was all good.

    Dinner was served a half bell later, and the whole family was present. He introduced me to his two wives and seven children. I totally forgot everyone''s names as soon as they were said. It was the quietest dinner I had ever attended. All the children, from the oldest to the youngest, sat straight back and did not speak. No one spoke. I had never heard a pin drop, but now was the perfect opportunity to see if the idiom had any validity.

    When Baron Yemis rose from the table, so did everyone else, even the few who had still been eating. Then, I sat in the sitting room for half an hour, waiting for Baron Yemis and his wives to get ready. While I was sitting, one of the teenage girls came in. I couldn''t remember her hair, but she bowed politely and asked if I needed anything.

    "Actually, yes," I said with a smile. "I need someone to draw. Would you mind sitting down?"

    She looked confused but complied. I pulled out a small notebook that I kept in my inside jacket pocket and a charcoal stick from the other pocket. The girl''s eyes went wide at the sight of me pulling things from my hidden pockets.

    "Now, I want you to tilt your head slightly to the right. Perfect."

    I began to draw a small sketch of the girl.

    "What is your name?" I asked.

    "Salina," She said softly.

    "Ok, Salina, I need you to smile."

    "Father said a woman should be demure at all times. Smiling is an unrestrained expression."

    People are so weird.

    "Okay, well, to each their own, I guess. We don''t want you to get in trouble with your father. So just sit there and be extremely demure."

    I was just finishing up the small sketch when The baron came in. He frowned when he saw his daughter sitting like a statue on the chair.

    "What is going on here?" He said in his usual gruff manner.

    I stood up and handed him the sketchbook. "I needed something to draw while I waited, and your daughter just so happened to come in the room at the time."

    He looked it over and nodded. "How much do you want for it."

    "Please, Lord Yemis, consider it a gift. In the poorer county of Vaspar, I decided to be quite generous with my talent and offer my sketches for ten gold crowns. However, in a more prominent society such as this, I would most likely charge the regular price of fifteen gold crowns a head. If you are amenable to it, I would love to draw you and your wives to the ball tonight."

    "Yes, for work such as this, that is quite a reasonable price."

    I smiled inwardly. The sketches I did at the parties were done with both ink and charcoal. If he thought this was good, I couldn''t wait to see the reaction I would get at the ball. I tore off the piece of paper and handed it to him. He didn''t hand it to his daughter like I thought he would but instead told her to leave us, and we left for the ball.

    The fact that the two women were ready in half a bell was a testament to the women of this household''s ability to overcome insurmountable tasks. Even with all the modern conveniences and the lax dress code, it took my mom and sister at least an hour to get ready for anything. Actually, I had heard other nobles complain that it took their women hours to get ready.

    When we arrived at the ball, Baron Yemis immediately brought me over to meet a tall, stately man. I had not even had time to set my supplies down. It was a little embarrassing to be introduced to someone while still holding my supplies. When I got the chance, I was going to have someone make me a briefcase.

    "Count Fenro, I would like to introduce you to a friend of our mutual acquaintance.¡±

    ¡°And which acquaintance might that be?¡± He said in a demanding tone.

    ¡°Baron Sophis."

    This caught the man''s immediate attention, and he looked me up and down.

    Yemis continued, "This is Baron Amos Bicman of the Vaspar County. He is quite a famous artist there and came to paint the Duke. Look at the image he drew of my Salina." Baron Yemis said while handing over the sketch.

    "A very fine work. Tell me, Lord Amos, how much is the cost of your paintings?" Count Fenro said.

    "To ensure that the work I do is my very best, I let the person who receives the work determine its value," I said.

    "A novel approach. I approve. I would like to invite you to my estate tomorrow so that I might receive one of these paintings."

    I could see the slight disappointment on Baron Yemis''s face at the request, so I hurried to explain. "I usually do my paintings in multiple sittings. For instance, I will be painting some of the background and outlines for Baron Yemis tomorrow, which will be for about two bells in the morning. Then I can head to your estate. When I get to the faces, I will need about four hours of your time, but it can be split into multiple sessions. Once the face is painted, I can use someone of about your size to paint the body with your clothes on it. How does tomorrow at first bell past noon sound?"

    "That will be splendid. Now, let me introduce you to my wife."

    For the next two hours, various people led me around the room and introduced me to almost everyone. When I was finally able to sit down, Lord Yemis and his wives were waiting for me.

    "Ah, it was a pleasure to meet everyone, but I have to admit I am glad to be off my feet," I said as I sat down.

    Pulling out my paper and tools, I began to capture the people in front of me. Much like in Vaspar, people were constantly passing behind the table, surreptitiously trying to glance at my work. And so the night continued in my favorite way. I got to draw many people and, more importantly, make a lot of money.

    By the end of the evening, the chandeliers had been lit. And the candles on the wall sconces glowed with light. I finally had to end it when I ran out of charcoal, and my inkwell was almost dry. I had worked furiously to complete as many as I could and was able to complete seven pictures with multiple family members in each. I made more that night than in two nights at Vaspar. My calendar was also booked two weeks out with evening social events. Maybe being here wasn''t going to be so bad after all.

 Book 2 Chapter 39

    Elizabeth of the Manticole Trading House

    My curiosity flared as I knocked on the study door. It was so rare that my father had any dealings with me anymore. Not since news of my engagement to Lord Bicman had ended. So, being called now made my palms sweaty.

    Did he decide not to wait until the engagement was over to announce who I was to marry? No, he wouldn''t go back on his word. Not even to me, who was just his daughter.

    "Enter," his sharp voice commanded.

    He looked me up and down. The look was the same way he always looked at me. Like a prize horse whose value he was trying to evaluate.

    After a long moment, he said, "News has reached Falmor that the marsh dweller is in Kimton."

    I shuttered and reached for my hair, running my fingers through it. There was only one person he called a marsh dweller, and so I knew immediately he meant the monster, Bicman.

    "I- I mean, why would that be news? He is a baron from the marshes," I said, stumbling over my words at the surprise.

    "Apparently, the duke invited him, and anything the duke does is of note. Especially something as odd as this. The rumor is that the young baron was gaining popularity in the county where he lived due to his talent for the arts. He created a new method of painting that truly makes the pictures seem alive."

    My mind reeled at the thought. The fat, lecherous slob was invited to Kimton to paint the Duke? Impossible. He was nothing but a drunkard.

    "This provides you with an opportunity?"

    "Me?"

    "Of course. Why wait until next year to cancel your engagement when you could travel to Kimton and break it there."

    My heart began to race. It was easy to think about confronting the monster when the time was so far away, but now, facing the demon who haunted my dreams became a terrifying thought.

    "But- but will I make it in time?" I said.

    "The pigeon that was sent from Falmore said he had just left Vaspar, which means he has probably just arrived in Kimton. If you take the riverboat up to the Kimton Road and travel from there to the dukedom capitol, you should arrive in about fifteen days, weather permitting. Just remember. If you want to marry your knight, I suggest you find a way to get a large compensation for the cancellation. Enough to compensate for you marrying the third son of a non-hereditary knight. You are also to evaluate his skills as an artist and, if possible, obtain one of his paintings."

    And that was the true reason he was having me go. He did not care when I got the engagement canceled. This was all about gathering information. It didn''t matter, though I must do this. I must convince the monster to give me compensation.

    "Is it still ok if I bring Aramis?"

    "You may bring anyone you like if you think it will help you succeed, but bringing your lover to this meeting may do more harm than good."

    "He will only be my escort," I said defensively.

    "Do whatever you want. Just accomplish your task. You are dismissed."

    I bowed and then left quickly. As soon as the door was shut, I raced down the hall. I had to tell Catherine about her cousin.

    Amos

    I woke in the morning to find Benjamin up and about already. He had already gone to bed by the time I got home, so I did not bother him. Not to mention, I was exhausted myself. He seemed to be anxiously waiting to see me.

    "You have news?" I asked.

    "Yes, my lord. My father intercepted a message a while ago that they were not able to interpret, but it indicates that it may be related to us. The message was headed to an agent of Lady Blackwell. The only part of the message they got was northern cove. That in itself wouldn''t mean anything without the source. It came from Rabiss slavers. The same people that you ran into before when you went to the cove. I believe they were a scouting party. The raid will most likely come next year once it is safe for their ships to travel.

    "Ideas?"

    "The shipping season starts in six months, but if they are cautious, they won''t sail for seven. So, we must do all we can to prepare for an invasion in five months. If they have the latest numbers on our barony, they will bring enough men and ships to enslave at least a third of our population. They will slaughter anyone who doesn''t flee. This is based on past reports of how Rabiss raiders operate."

    "Do you think the Bicman Defense Force can stop them?"

    "I don''t know. The Rabiss slavers are trained fighters but are used to rounding up commoners who have no defense against them. With our fortifications and our current strength of four hundred people with weapons, it may be possible. But none of our people have been tested in war. Many may flee at the sight of opposition."

    "So our advantages are that we know that they are coming so we can prepare. They don''t know that we know they are coming, so we can lay traps with them in mind. I think the crossbow will help. Money is coming in. Do you think we could purchase enough horses to build a cavalry?"

    "We would need someone to train them?"

    "We could ask Fredrick in Vaspar for a suggestion. Possibly even the count." I said.

    "We cannot let them know why, though," Benjamin said with insistence.

    I grimised, "I, uh, kind of already asked Count Vaspar about it."

    Benjamin put his hand to his face. "I thought we already discussed that, but that was a bad idea."

    "I disagreed, and it turns out I was right. He wasn''t involved and did give a bit of insight as to how the king will react. He said the king will not be able to help us."

    "Forgive me, my lord, we could have gotten that information from my father."

    "True, but he will be keeping an eye on the southern road to make sure no large forces move through it. Of course, the fact that we will be invaded from the cove by Rabiss raiders kind of makes that a moot point. On a positive note, I found a glassmaker to bring back to Bicman." I said excitedly.

    On a positive note, I found a glassmaker to bring back to Bicman." I said excitedly.

    "You found a glassmaker in the Upper City willing to come to Bicman?" He said

    "Well, it was an apprentice, and I actually found him in the craftsmen quarters of Middle City."

    The color drained from Benjamin''s face. "You went yourself?"

    "Well, I need to find someone to make canvases and a place to buy paint. I found both, by the way. I also found a glassmaker shop and snagged an apprentice for fifty gold. I may have overpaid, but it was the man''s son, so he should know what he is doing."

    "My lord, do you not remember me saying that nobles were not to mingle with the commoners of Middle City?"

    "Yeah, you said the duke dislikes it when nobles mingle with the commoners of Middle and Lower City. But I just went there to pick up the goods. It''s not like I went down there and hung out. I had to pick out paints, and none of our servants know what I am looking for."

    "Then you have your servant buy the paints, bring them here, and return them if you are displeased." He said.

    "That sounds like a lot of work for such a simple thing. I found what I was looking for quickly and left. No one could accuse me of mingling." I said, a little frustrated that Benjamin was chastising me like I was some little kid.

    "Perhaps I should have been more clear. Any interaction at all with commoners can lower your status here in Kimton. I understand it is ridiculous, and I don''t think anywhere else in the Kingdom has these unspoken rules, but this is one of the quirks of living in Kimton. All the nobles complain about it, but at the same time, they would not hesitate to turn someone in who has broken the rule. Gossip is more important. My lord, I hope that word of this does not get back to the duke or that he is in a good mood when he does."

    "All I am here for is to paint his picture and leave. What can he do? Send me home, saying I am not worthy to paint him."

    Benjamin just shook his head. "I hope that is all. But it is done, and we have something else to discuss."

    "Ok, you know what, I shouldn''t be arguing with you. I guess I messed up. Sorry about that. I really didn''t think it was going to be a big deal."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    "It is also my fault. It is hard for me to remember all the things you don''t understand. I should have been clearer on what I meant by mingle. It is best to just not associate with any commoner. On another note, you have a letter from the son of Baron Gaven Frabak to visit at your earliest convenience. I recommend seeing if he is available to meet this morning before your scheduled meeting with Yemis."

    "Yes, I would like to deliver Baron Sophis''s letter to him as soon as possible."

    "I will write a response, and we will see if we can schedule something for this morning."

    "Good, now I am going to exercise, take a bath, and get something to eat. Because as Sir Kellogg once said, ''Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.'' Of course, that was just good marketing and not an actual fact, but hey, it sounds good, right?"

    "I don''t think I have read that story," Benjamin said. I had started to use the excuse that anything odd I said was a line from a story I was working on. It allowed me to make quips, and sometimes, I would get feedback, or it would lead to a discussion. I still kept it to a minimum, but it gave a good reason for my slip-ups.

    It turned out that today was not going to work for Carter Frabak, so we will postpone it until tomorrow morning. That means I had a couple of hours to write before I went to Yemis''s home. And so I wrote another short story about a girl with way too much hair.

    The visit to Baron Yemis went very well. He had a splendid garden that he and his wives enjoyed sitting in, so they asked for their painting to be done there. After the initial positioning, I got to work. As they sat on the bench, I wondered if I should invent a garden swing. I always loved sitting on ours back home. Maybe I could sell the idea to Baron Sophis or maybe Lord Cumfrence. I am sure Becca would love a swing.

    "Benjamin, remind me to dispose of that stuff Becca gave me. I keep forgetting." I said to him as we were about to leave.

    "Of course, my lord. I will dispose of it when we get back to the inn." He said.

    "Just be careful. I don''t want it just thrown out where anyone can grab it. If it accidentally ended up contaminating drinking water and poisoning everyone, I would feel bad. Or, if the bag released spores, everyone who touched them would grow mushrooms all over their skin. Yeah, just be careful with it, ok."

    We left and returned to the inn for lunch. Shortly after that, we were off to Count Fenro''s place. When I arrived, I explained that we could paint him in a natural setting or in a fantasy setting. I showed him the various pictures. He was so fascinated with them that I spent the next hour going over what each one was. The picture he decided on was him walking through a forest and picking a cocoa bean from a tree. I explained that it was the primary source of trade from an ancient civilization lost to time and that the beans within were processed and turned into a dark, bitter drink.

    "Are you familiar with the Arrock then?" Count Fenro asked.

    "I''m afraid not," I said in confusion.

    "Ah, well, they have some plant or tree down south, and the fruit is turned into a white powder from which they make a drink. It is very bitter."

    I didn''t know if they fermented cocoa beans, but the fact that the powder was white made me think it wasn''t the same thing. But if it is mixed well with sugar, then it might be similar. Or¡­

    ¡°Does it give you a burst of energy or make you feel jittery?¡±

    ¡°No, just a bitter-tasting drink.¡±

    Okay, so I didn''t know anything from Earth that fit this description, but maybe it wasn''t too far off from chocolate¡ªmaybe it was even better.

    "So, how could I obtain this powder?"

    Count Fenro smiled at me as if I were a child who had said something incredibly foolish. "Lord Bicman, not even I have tasted it. I said that it came from Arrock. It is a great way south and comes by the way of the Mahador port. From what I understand, it must be grown in a specific climate where the air is so heavy with water that it can be hard to breathe. Only a limited amount makes it to Falmoren each year. Therefore, the price is many times more expensive than that of your paintings."

    Crap, I keep forgetting how much more shipping costs are here without modern transportation.

    "This isn''t to say I couldn''t afford it. It is considered a great status symbol, but I prefer investing in wine. The duke buys some of the powder every year but never drinks it. It sits in some storage room until it spoils. But it proves that he can. Many nobles, including the king, do the same. I sometimes wonder why I pay taxes to these people if they are just going to waste the money," He said while shaking his head.

    I wanted to laugh. I had seen this guy''s fine clothes and amazing manor, and I thought most of it was impractical if he was using taxes to pay for it all. However, throughout social classes, value was placed on different things.

    And so we continued to talk as we found out what type of clothing he would wear for the picture. I had to admit I never really thought that these nobles would want such bizarre scenery for their backgrounds. I guess, once again, it was all about novelty and uniqueness.

    It was a long visit, but I had gained more information concerning the political situation in the country. And to tell the truth, I was undecided on which faction was the most correct. I was becoming less naive and knew that both sides used manipulation and intrigue to gain what they wanted. If it benefited the king or one of his noble supporters to poison my family or attempt to assassinate Aaron in order to frame me, I have no doubt that he would have done it. I was only a lowly baron, a pawn easily sacrificed in their attempt to gain power.

    I would never side with the council, even if I believed in their cause. Countess Blackwell and her cronies were enemies of mine, and as long as her group was part of the council, I would never join their side.

    When I arrived home that evening, I had a letter from the son of Baron Gaven Frabak asking if the second bell past dawn tomorrow would be acceptable, and I sent a message back confirming the appointment. Then, it was off to another function. This one was actually a birthday party where part of the entertainment would be me sketching those who the host wanted me to. It was a little demeaning being invited as part of the entertainment, but it isn''t like I wouldn''t have been doing it anyway. And there was quite a hefty sum involved as compensation.

    Really, I could make an amazing living as a painter here. Sure, the novelty would wear off eventually. Still, there were thousands of nobles throughout the kingdom, and even if I only got a gold crown from each, that would still set me as one of the top earners in the nation. I could also do landscape paintings instead of people. When the novelty of what I was doing I could show off a new form of painting. Something like cubism.

    It was a long night, especially since the moment I got there, I was sketching people. I also learned that my father was a bigger jerk than I thought. The birthday party was for the son of a baron. Apparently, outside of my barony, nobles did celebrate their kids'' birthdays. I gave the kid, who was fifteen, a book as a present. Maybe he would pick up the meaning behind Shel Silvertein''s book "The Giving Tree," or maybe he would just see it as the way a servant should be towards his master, but he loved the artwork.

    ******

    The next morning came early. And I was so glad of the fact that I had given up drinking because there was a lot of alcohol at the party. I can only imagine the pain of trying to fit everything I need to do today into my schedule while dealing with a hangover this morning.

    I arrived just a little before the second bell to the manor of Baron Gaven Frabak. The steward was just bringing me into the house when the ugliest man I had ever seen walked down the narrow staircase to the side of the foyer. I kept the shock off my face by sheer force of will. I now had a new reference to the term ''As ugly as sin.''

    "Who is this man, Jimmy." He said in a deep baritone voice.

    The steward said, "My Lord, this is Baron Amos Bicman. An acquaintance of Lord Sophis. And-"

    "Is that conniving midget trying to get one of his sycophants to marry my daughter again?" He said in an extremely displeased tone.

    Sir, if I let a drop of your genetic code into my line, my children and all the generations afterward would never forgive me. I thought.

    Fortunately, I did not let that thought slip. I was getting better at that.

    "No, my lord, he is here at the behest of Lord Carter."

    The baron grunted. "Keep an eye on him. Welcome to my home, Baron Bicman. My son is in the training hall."

    We walked through the finely decorated house to the back, where a yard revealed a dueling arena. Two men in their twenties were on the field exchanging blows with long wooden swords. They wore padding, but with the strength they were putting into the blows, I am sure they felt those strikes.

    Two women in their late teens or early twenties watched them from the side. One of them had a little girl about two years old clinging to her very fine emerald green dress. She also held a baby in her arms. The other woman was slightly older and watched the two duelists with a concentrated look on her face.

    As I approached the younger of the two women, I heard her say to the other, "He is going to win again."

    The older one snorted. "He hasn''t lost to Cater in years."

    The younger sighed, "I wish he would lose. His head is swelling from all the praise."

    "Your husband is a natural with the sword. Just be glad of the income he gets from it," The elder said.

    "His dueling skills would mean nothing without Baron Frabaks patronage." The younger said meekly.

    "If it weren''t Baron Frabak, it would have been another baron or count. Talent like Rulot''s does not go unnoticed for long. Besides, It would be dull in this house if it weren''t for visits from you and Rulot."

    It was at that time that one of the men, who must have been Rulot, knocked over Carter and put his sword to his chest. Rulot put his sword away and held out his hand to Carter. I would have been able to tell who Carter was even without the commentary. He was not quite as ugly as his father, but that may have been because he hadn''t been punched in the face as much as his father had. Either way, a career in modeling was not in the cards.

    As the men approached the two women, they saw me and the steward behind the ladies.

    "Hey, Jimmy, have you brought someone to beat me." Rulot beamed cheerfully.

    The ladies suddenly turned to face me. They also had curious looks on their faces.

    "I am afraid not, Sir Vamar. He is here on invitation from Young Master Carter. He carries a letter of introduction from Baron Sophis."

    I nodded politely to all of them and said, "Lord Carter, here is the letter from Baron Sophis. And I might add that if it mentions trying to set me up with your sister, your father has specifically told me that she is out of reach for someone like me." I said it with a smile so that there would be no misunderstandings.

    This got a laugh out of the gentleman and a small smile from both women.

    "I want to tell her. Please let me tell her." Rulot asked Carter.

    "Rulot, Don''t you dare," Carter''s wife said sharply. "That girl is difficult enough to deal with. If she finds out father turned down another individual, I will be hearing about it for the next month."

    They both got into a little argument while Carter read the letter. After he finished, he turned to me.

    "It looks like you are in luck, my new friend; there was no mention of wooing my sister, " he said with a wink. "She has the personality of a hurricane."

    "She is not that bad," his wife said defensively. "And she would be calmer if your father allowed her to have a man in her life."

    "Do not blame my father for protecting all the young men of Kimton. And now I have even less hope for her. If he wasn''t willing to give her over to a young, handsome man such as this, who already has his own barony and also comes highly recommended by Baron Sophis, then she will surely die alone without ever feeling the love of a man."

    "You are so incorrigible," His wife said.

    He smiled back, "Thank you. Unfortunately, it is my only redeeming quality. Now, let me make some introductions. Baron Amos Bicman, this is my wife, Trish. My best friend Rulot and Nina, his wife."

    "It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances. I would like to express my gratitude to Baron Sophis for the introduction. I have to admit, as the Baron of my house, most of my meetings have been with the older members of society in Kimton, and they tend to be quite¡ª stuffy." I said.

    This got another laugh. "There are plenty of less stuffy nobles around, but we just aren''t invited to those types of parties. Let us adjourn to the sitting room and speak. Give us both a quarter bell to change."

 Book 2 Chapter 40

    The morning had been pleasant. We had just relaxed and talked about what they enjoyed doing in Kimton and my life in a backwater barony. Surprisingly, both couples expressed an interest in visiting. They thought it might be relaxing. I was pretty sure they would be bored to tears¡ªwell until they started snooping around and found all the things I was trying to keep secret.

    We also discussed politics, and I realized that Carter must be a recruiter for the Baron Sophis faction within the Council. He subtly planted seeds of doubt in the minds of the people he talked to. The comments were crafted to cast doubt about the king''s wisdom. He was not as good as 21st-century media, but he had some excellent skills. I would definitely hire him as a campaign manager.  I began to wonder if he came up with them himself or Baron Sophis had coached him. Unfortunately, our time was cut short, and it was back to work for me.

    The next day, my canvases were done, but I had to send a servant out to get them because I was barred from visiting the crafter''s district. It was such a nuisance. I could not understand how nobles here could tolerate having to be restricted in their movements. I suppose I could use a disguise, but how close were we being watched? Besides, I had to trust Benjamin on this one. What is the point of a steward if you blow off all of his warnings?

    The days flew by in a flash. I painted and partied every day and night for five days. I told Benjamin I needed a break. After these first three paintings were done tomorrow, I was going to take a whole day off even though I had other commissions lined up. He agreed that that was the best option, and so I sent a request to meet with Carter and Rulot in two days.

    I was meeting many nobles and making connections, but getting accepted as one of them would require a lot of work. Right now, I was unique, but I would have to have prosperous lands if I truly wanted to be one of them.

    It was the morning of the sixth day, and I was going to deliver the paintings today. I woke to a sharp knock on my door. "My lord, I must speak with you urgently," said Benjamin''s voice from behind the door. This was odd behavior from him, so I, of course, told him to enter.

    "My lord, you have been summoned to meet with the Duke at the first bell past noon today. We have to get you washed and dressed, and you will need to be there before the third bell of the morning.

    "Why so early?" I asked as I jumped out of bed. "If the appointment is not until the afternoon."

    "Because it will be during court, we will need to be there early to get a spot in the room. If the room is full, they will not let you in, and that will not excuse you from missing the meeting."

    "I thought we had another five days? Why is he willing to meet me earlier?" I was actually glad for this. The sooner I painted him, the sooner I could leave.

    "This is not a good thing. He would have had to rearrange things so that he could meet with you earlier than the scheduled time. So he is doing this to¡­ I don''t know, but it isn''t good." He said nervously.

    "Thanks for freaking me out, man," I muttered under my breath. "Well, then let''s get me cleaned up and ready for my execution."

    Benjamin frowned at my grim humor. But he also did not deny the fact that it was a possibility. This, of course, caused me to shudder. This was not going to be good.

    We arrived at the castle early, just as Benjamin had instructed. A large group of commoners was already there, lined up in rows. We, however, were escorted straight to the doors of the throne room. It was quite impressive. Large golden thread embroidered tapestries of every color covered the walls. The throne itself was finely crafted and also covered in gold leaf. It sat empty, however, and so we all stood waiting. There were chairs, but only a few counts were sitting in them. Was this some sort of power play by the duke? I had heard he was the king''s cousin, but does that really excuse him? Showing disdain for the barons seemed counterproductive. Or was this just standard behavior? Maybe I still didn''t understand the culture.

    I looked around the room and saw many people I recognized, but I was surprised by the number of barons that I did not recognize. I had only met a few counts, but I saw Count Fenro sitting and discussing something. He looked up at one point, and our eyes met. I couldn''t identify the look in his eyes, but he looked away quickly. Something was off, and it made my stomach twist into knots.

    About a half bell after the last noble had entered, the back of the room was filled with commoners. When I say commoners, I do not mean peasants and serfs. These were strictly Freemen.

    The people around me were chatting amicably, but I had no one near me to give an introduction, and in this society, it would have been rude to introduce myself. Unfortunately, those I did recognize were not near me, and the way we were arranged did not make it convenient to go to them. So I went back to people-watching.

    I noticed that there were three countesses among all the counts. I had no doubt one was Lady Blackwell. The first one I observed sat with a bored expression on her face. She had long black hair done in a thick braid that hung over her left shoulder. She looked to be in her mid-thirties. She looked as if she was here out of duty rather than necessity. She spoke when spoken to but did not engage freely in conversation, preferring to observe instead.

    The second was very similar in appearance but almost the exact opposite in demeanor. Her black curly hair fell past her shoulders. She chatted amicably with the people around her and seemed to be having a good time with her fellow nobles. I wish I could hear the conversation.

    The third had gray streaks running through her black hair, which was done up in an elegant bun. Her face was like stone as she scanned the room. She reminded me of a bird of prey¡ªa hawk observing a field full of rabbits.

    Any of these women could be the viper. Was it the one who had no desire to be there because she had plotting to do? Was it the one who looked like she was enjoying herself, playing the role of a pleasant woman while all the while pulling strings to make those around her dance to her tune? Or was she the hawk, taking in everyone and looking for those who would benefit or be a threat to her plans?

    I was no detective who could deduce the motives of these individuals by subtle tells in their behavior. Just as I was looking for further insight, the doors behind the throne opened, and the duke walked out. The counts stood, and all the nobles bowed. The commoners all took a knee.

    "Announcing His Highness Duke Philip Kimton." Said a servant of the duke.

    The duke was a slightly obese man in his mid-thirties with curly black hair. His robes did not hide his beer belly, and his eyes confirmed all my worst fears. This man was not right in the head. I had seen this in some of my group therapy sessions, and the people didn''t usually last long in the group setting. This guy was a puppy-kicker.

    I mulled over all the possible implications of this, ignoring what the servant was saying until the judgments started. And just as I thought, there was no rhyme or reason to how he ruled his cases for the nobles. With some, he looked at how much pain he could cause one party or the other. Some he outright ignored and told them to figure out themselves, and for some, he simply made a judgment, and that was it. His expression was either bored, annoyed, or indifferent.

    Was I missing something? Benjamin had told me never to take anything at face value when it comes to court and nobility.

    "Lord Amos Bicmon of the Bicman barony, you have been called to stand before His Highness to be judged." The servant''s voice called out. A chill ran down my spine. I hadn''t been the first to be judged, and not all were bad, but in my situation, I had no hope for a pleasant interaction. I took a knee and bowed my head. I was not supposed to speak unless asked to.

    "You have been busy, Lord Bicman," The duke said in an annoyed tone. "I hear that you have visited the crafter''s district in Middle City."

    It was said as an accusation, and you could hear a pin drop in the room.

    "I am a tolerant man, and because you are new to town, I will forgive this lack of propriety." His voice began to rise as he continued, "However, I invited you to Kimton to paint me. How dare you start painting other common nobles before me! My picture is to be a novelty above all other pictures in Kimton. You will burn every painting you have painted in Kimton as well as all others in your possession."

    This man was truly insane. I was beginning to understand the depths of his madness. He wanted me to destroy my art to cause me pain. He could have just as easily claimed them for his own, but he must understand this would hurt me more. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Fortunately, I was not foolish enough to argue. I would burn my paintings no matter how much it pained me.

    Smuggness entered his voice as he continued. "Seeing how you enjoy the common rabble so much, you have my permission to mingle with them. You are henceforth barred from Upper City. You will only be allowed to travel through Upper City in order to visit the castle and paint me. You may speak."

    I think he was hoping to get me in trouble by saying something wrong or not saying anything at all. I stayed on one knee but removed a small green leather-bound book from my vest. The cover had the title burned into it: "A Rise to Power."

    It is about an amble who plots and murders his way to becoming king. Personally, I hated it, but I hoped the nobility here would love it.

    "Your Highness, I am grateful for the mercy you have shown me. And as a gesture of gratitude for your leniency, I would be honored if you would accept this humble gift. A book from the Vaspar publishing house. It is the first copy they have ever made and is currently the most popular book in Vaspar. In fact, the demand is so high that the scribes cannot keep up with it."

    On the first page, you will see that the Publishing house has stamped it with a seal of authenticity, which is number one. This indicates that it is, in fact, the first copy made.

    This was only partly true, and I hoped he wouldn''t thoroughly investigate. Yes, this was the first edition of the book. Yes, it was popular among the nobles at the reading clubs. But although the seal of authenticity was real, the publishing house hadn''t opened by the time I left. So, to say it was a book from the publishing house was a bit of a stretch. The publishing house should be open by now, and this was the first book slotted to be produced, but I did not know how many were in circulation from the actual house. It could have been zero for all I knew.

    The servant came down, grabbed the book, and brought it back to the duke. The duke did not touch it. Instead, in a flat voice, he said, "You are dismissed."

    I went back to my spot, but it was taken. This had happened occasionally throughout the session. Those of us who had not pleased the duke or whose judgment was not in their favor were pushed back. But even among the rejects, there was a small bubble around me.

    The next person up surprised me. It was Count Fenro. "My lord, I come bearing a gift. He pulled out a gold ring with a red stone. This is a ring crafted by Marc, the Goldsmith of Mahador, The most renowned goldsmith in all of Githum. The stone is a blood ruby imported from the mines of Kar-Tem."

    I guess I knew what that look was all about when our eyes had met earlier. He had known what was happening.

    The servant came down from the dais, grabbed the gift, and returned to the duke. The count was excused, and the two other barons I had painted approached with gifts of their own. They both glared at me as they returned to their places among their peers.

    Seriously? It wasn''t my fault you asked for me to paint you.

    Oh, well, that''s the way the cookie crumbles. We all get to live with the consequences of our mistakes.

    The rest of the session went by in a blur, and I hurried out as soon as possible. When I got back to my carriage, Benjamin was waiting for me. The look on his face was like a thundercloud. "Ah, did you already hear about the judgment?"

    "No, but I confronted my father, and he knew. He didn''t bother warning us about it. I think he does not want me to go back to Bicman due to the upcoming invasion."

    "Let it go, Benjamin. If you had children, would you act any differently?"

    Benjamin didn''t argue the point. Instead, he said, "Apparently, the duke was in a good mood. I am glad you are still alive."

    "Yeah, me too. I am also glad he didn''t tell me to return the money we made from the drawings. I am disappointed that we didn''t make money on the paintings, but it is even more disappointing because he is making me burn all the paintings I have. It hurts when you put your heart and soul into your work, and then it is destroyed. Alright, let''s go back to the inn. There is one good thing in all this." I said with a smile.

    "And that is?"

    "He said I should go mingle with the commoners."

    I got a subtle glare of disapproval from Benjamin, but he said nothing.

    We rode the rest of the way in silence. When I got back to my inn, I was surprised to find a letter waiting for me.

    To the Baron Amos Bicmon,

    If you are reading this, then the judgment went better than I feared it would. I hope that you will forgive me for not warning you of the judgment in advance. News spread of you painting others. We were chastised severely before the judgment but were sworn to secrecy. However, I feel this is a good lesson for you to learn. Tread carefully in the lion''s den. Please burn this letter and do not contact me again.

    Sincerely,

    Count Fenro

    This letter must have been intentionally delivered after we had gone to the trial.

    The news of the duke''s displeasure spread quickly, and the proprietor of the inn started to try to rush us out. If it weren''t for my disgrace, he could be whiped for that. I didn''t throw up a fuss, though. I had places to be. Apparently, I was not the only noble banished to Middle City. There was a district in Middle City called the Noble District. It is where knights and barons who somehow lost favor stayed. The inns were just as nice on the inside as the ones in Upper City, but the outside made them look drab. It was probably intentional. I am sure the duke didn''t want those who had fallen out of favor with him to have a nice place to stay.

    As soon as I settled in, I realized that I had a few hours before the sun went down, and I wanted to see the middle of the city. I wanted to see what was being made and if we could make it better in Bicman. The first place we visited was a smith shop. He was making pots at the time but stopped as soon as we entered. The man was so nervous to see a noble in his shop that he was barely coherent as he sputtered out answers to my questions. I was left disappointed.

    "I fear that is how most of the Freemen will be here, my lord. It is probably best if you just send me with a list of questions to ask." Benjamin said.

    He really didn''t want me here, and I probably would have taken his advice if all I needed was someone to answer questions. But I also wanted to see what was going on in all the various shops. We stopped by a wheelwright, a wagonmaker, a fuller, and a brewer.

    I was not going to drink alcohol, but I was not going to force a prohibition on my people. Not only was it a freedom of choice, but it also didn''t turn out well in America. So I figured if I was going to have alcohol in Bicman, it might as well be good. From what I understood from those in Bicman, our brew there was awful. The only thing that had any god flavor was the stuff made from the apples. They also didn''t have any distilled spirits. The fact that everything in Bicman had a lower alcohol content could be a good thing, but I would need to create a distillery for other things besides alcohol, and once I did that, someone was going to get the idea to try and distill alcohol. I hate to say it, but it might be a good export. Wish I could remember how Jackie''s Dad''s contraption in his shed worked. Unfortunately, I only had a general idea.

    I struck gold at a woodworker''s shop. When I traveled out back, there were about four men fitting slats of wood into a long pole. They were building it in a spiral shape, and I immediately recognized it.

    "Are you building a pump for ships?" All the men turned to look at me, but the owner, who had been showing me around, looked at me in confusion.

    "No, my lord, a mine recently filled with water, and we are building this pump to draw out the water. Although¡­" He paused for a moment. "A smaller one could be fitted to ships."

    He smiled and said, "My lord, you must be very wise to think of such a thing. I would not have ever imagined that a lord such as yourself would dain to share such wisdom with a commoner such as myself. May I attempt to build one for the river boats, my lord." There was pleading in his eyes.

    Well, the cat was out of the bag. And like the plow, once it was out, there was no way I could put it back in. Not that I cared. This spurred a lot of ideas for me. I once built a snap-together model of an early American steam-powered ship. There was a piece on the ship I didn''t recognize, so I looked it up. It turned out to be a bilge pump, and that led me to wonder how it worked, so down the rabbit hole, I went. Soon I found out that before they used a bilge pump, they used Archimedes screw. That is what they were building here.

    Learning about the Archimedes screwW led me to find out about the original design of the Screw Steamer Propeller. Then someone hit the bottom of their ship on a rock and broke off most of the screw. The shorter propeller caused less drag and¡­

    I slapped my forehead. The turbine! Why were we not trying to build a turbine rather than a water wheel? Hydropower didn''t use water wheels in the modern age. We used turbines. Did they have to be made of metal to handle the pressure? I could cast a bronze one, but would it be better than a wheel right now? I had to get back to Bicman and experiment.

    Benjamin coughed and brought me back to reality.

    "Sorry, good man. Yes, you may use it without concern. It was just a passing thought and is of no use to me. Benjamin, we are leaving."

    On the way back to the inn, I thought of the pump. That same rabbit hole had me looking at different types of pumps, so I had a general idea of how they worked. Should I try and build a pump? The problem was I didn''t have enough people to experiment. Well, now I do, but first, I would have to make sure we had enough food to last until the next harvest. Oh, and also possibly the fight of an invading army. But if we did. I would have my people figure out why a turbine was better than a water wheel and how to build a pump instead of a well.

    When we arrived home, a messenger was waiting for us.

    He bowed and said, "My lord, I have a letter from Lord Carter Frabak for you."

    He handed me a letter and a silver coin. "He said to have a drink for him for old-time sake."

    He turned to leave and said. "Oh, yes, 5,2,7,4,3. Have a good day, my lord."

    I opened the letter and began to read.

    Baron Bicman,

    I can no longer meet with you. You are no better than a rat''s tail. You belong in Lower City. As of tonight, we are no longer associated.

    -Lord Carter Frabak

    When I was done, I thought through the numbers and smiled. "Well, Benjamin, It looks like we have somewhere to be tonight."

 Book 2 Chapter 41

    The Rat''s Tale gave me images of a dirty tavern along the riverfront. I thought we were going to have to go into the slums of Lower City to find it. Rather than get ourselves lost, we decided to ask the way once we got to Lower City. The first person we asked showed us for a copper penny and a ride up front with Brad, our new driver. It was only two streets over from the south exit of the Middle City, but that meant that we had come out at the wrong exit initially and had to take the carriage along a road called the outer loop. It was wide enough to fit two carriages and had extra room for pedestrians. In general, the lower city was quite nice, close to the wall.

    The area where the Rat''s Tavern was located was actually very clean. The tavern itself was a squat, whitewashed stone building. What it lacked in height, it made up for in length and width. It took up a whole block of the area. The doors were wide, and they had a bouncer out front. It had a nice stable to the side for horses and carriages. To say I was impressed would be an understatement.

    The bouncer let us straight in without even a glance. The inside was no less impressive. It had dim lighting and nice tables surrounding a dance floor. Musicians played, and people clapped along to the beat as commoners in the center of the room danced. Along the walls were three different bars. I felt like I had entered an ancient nightclub.

    Benjamin and I walked to the first bar, and I set down the coin, "A friend of mine recommended this place." The man examined the coin and said, "I''m not serving what you are looking for. Go visit Freddy," he said, pointing to the bar across from him.

    After figuring out the code on the letter, I had examined the coin, and just like I thought, it wasn''t a regular silver crown. The face on it was not that of King Asput, but rather, it was a pig. I assumed it was some sort of token I needed to show.

    When I got to the next bar, Freddy was serving another customer. As soon as he was done, he came over to help me. "What can I get you?" he said with a smile.

    "The barkeep over there said I could find what I was looking for over here," I said as I set down the coin.

    "Most likely," he said while making the coin vanish into a purse almost faster than I could follow. "What is your name, my lord?"

    "Baron Amos Bicman."

    "Welcome to the Rat''s Tale, Lord Bicman. I think I have just the thing for you." He reached down and pulled out a clay jug from under the counter. "Now, I recommend not drinking this stuff alone. It is always good to have company. I recommend Old Dan." He said, pointing to a man sitting near the back end of the room. He wore the outfit of a noble, but it was wrinkled and stained.

    This was quite the event that Carter had set up. I walked up to Old Dan and sat down across from him. He looked up at me with a glare. "What''ch want."

    "Just come to share a drink," I said as Benjamin set down the jug.

    He snatched the jug, uncorked it, and sniffed it. Satisfied, he poured the liquid into his mug. He took a swallow. Tried to set down the mug and spilled it across the table onto my lap.

    I jumped up the table with a shout of alarm.

    "I''m sorry, my lord. Let me show you where you can get cleaned up, " he said, not looking sorry at all.

    He stood up and started to walk out of the bar. I followed him with a big wet spot on my crotch. We got a few stares as we left, and I am sure that news of the baron who had wet himself would spread.

    We walked to the building next door, which looked like a bakery. Although it was definitely closed for the evening, he led me around back to a cellar and opened the door.

    "Ah, you want me to go into the creepy cellar?"

    "How much do you trust your friend?" the man asked, his smile barely visible in the dim light cast by the moon.

    Benjamin was silent, but I could see the disapproval on his face.

    "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," I said after giving it a thought.

    We followed him into the darkness. He told us to shut the cellar door behind us, and we were plunged into darkness. At the bottom of the stairs, we started traveling down a long corridor.

    "Stop," Dan said, and Benjamin and I froze in place.

    We heard some rustling and clicking, and then the door opened into a dimly lit room. After entering the room, Dan shut the door behind us. "Wait here, " he said as he walked through another door.

    ¡°So, do you think this is a trap of some sort?¡± I said more out of a need to fill the silence rather than any conviction that we were in trouble.

    ¡°If it is, it is too late to worry about now.¡± Then he lowered his voice to a whisper. ¡°I believe the walls have ears.¡±

    That gave me an idea. It would be just like Carter to be laughing behind one of the walls.

    ¡°Have I ever told you how bad of a swordsman Lord Carter is?¡± I said very loudly.

    Benjamin''s face immediately paled.

    ¡°I mean, I have yet to see him win a duel. I wonder if he is trying to let Rulot win."

    "My lord, is it wise-"

    The door Dan went through opened again. This time, Rulot was standing there. He grinned, "That was rude."

    I smiled back. "So is spying on people."

    Then Carter walked in. "Seriously, you didn''t have to say that."

    "If I hadn''t, you would have kept spying on me until I did something stupid."

    "I challenge you to a duel. You don''t get to mock me about my dueling without being better than me."

    I put my hands up and took a step back. "Whoa, let''s not get carried away. You know I have no idea how to duel. You would beat me black and blue. I didn''t ever say that I could win against you."

    "Then it is time you learn, " he said with a smile. And this is the perfect place to do so. Let''s go."

    I have to admit I was intrigued. "What is this place?"

    "It is Kimton''s premiere underground Dueling Arena," Carter said proudly.

    So, it is a gambling den for duels.

    "Nice, but you owe me new pants. I don''t think the swill you had Old Dan pour on me is coming out." I said. I had to admit I was a little upset.

    "Yeah, sorry about that. I''ll make sure to compensate you. You took that very well, though. I lost a silver to Rulot over your reaction."

    I decided to ignore the fact that my friends were spying and betting on my reaction.

    "I am flattered to be invited, but why me?" I asked.

    Rulot snorted, "Because the duke and his cronies are pricks just like the duke''s cousin, the king. That whole thing was a farce. That whole court is a farce."

    "What do you mean?" I had an idea, but I wanted to hear it from him.

    "I am sure that they planned to do something like that to you even before you arrived. They want you on your back foot." Carter said.

    Benjamin had mentioned that possibility when we had discussed things earlier; he had, after all, been raised here. He was beating himself up for not realizing that painting someone else before I painted the duke would be part of it.

    "There is even a thought that a program of sorts is sent out to the highest nobility on what judgments will be passed so that they know if they want to attend," Carter said.

    "Forgive my interruption, my lord, but that is an exaggeration," Benjamin said.

    "Maybe, but are you saying that the high nobles don''t discuss the judgments beforehand?"

    "Of course not. It is well known that the Duke is only allowed to toy with certain people at his discretion. The idea that the Duke is making all the decisions randomly is to keep the commoners fearful of displeasing him."

    "So he is not insane?" I asked.

    "No, he is quite malicious, but not to the point where he is uncontrollable. If he were, then he would have been killed a while ago."

    "I still don''t see why they keep him around. Wouldn''t it be better to have a sane puppet?"

    "His value is his royal blood. It gives him legitimacy. Even if they were to put a different royal in his place, the person would not be as easy to manipulate."

    "Doesn''t his behavior threaten the King''s position? Why doesn''t the king get rid of him?"

    "The king is not all-powerful. If he were to get rid of Duke Kimton, he would have to replace him with someone else. Right now, he has more pressing issues to deal with. At least, that is what his advisors are telling him. He is not a strong king like his father. Besides, think of those judgments that seemed irrational or cruel. How much impact do you think they will have on the Kingdom as a whole," Benjamin said.

    Thinking about it, they wouldn''t have much of an impact at all. They were just entertainment for the nobles. Also, a mad duke couldn''t gain enough support to threaten the king''s rule, so why would the king worry about the duke''s cruelty when he had bigger things to deal with?Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    "Personally, I think you handled your judgment very well," Carter said. "You kept your head after making the duke furious. That is one of the reasons I am inviting you. And, of course, you need to see nobles dueling in order to become any good. While you are here in Kimton, I plan to help you learn the basics. You won''t be any good by the time you leave, but at least you will know where to stick your sword."

    We exited the room and entered another corridor that led to the left. At the end of this hall, we entered a large room, which, by its size, made me assume that we were under the Rat''s Tail. There was a second stage for musicians, which led to a large open pit. People were gathered around the pit, cheering. There was also another bar here. There was a bookie booth with a slate next to it. Names were written on it with odds. I saw Rulot on it, with odds so ridiculously in his favor that it would be stupid for anyone to bet against him.

    "So Roulot, I see that you are quite good."

    Carter snorted, "There is a reason I never win. Rulot is a champion with the sword and not just dueling. You put a sword in his hand, and he is unstoppable. When he is called up to war, he will slaughter everyone within reach."

    "I thought you were opposed to the war?" I said.

    "I am. That doesn''t mean the king will take that into consideration when he sends us to war. I am fortunate enough to go with Rulot and a few other knights and all their men. I also have my own trained soldiers.

    "From what you explained, if you ever get called up, then all you have are a bunch of peasants. You had better hope that all the king ever asks of you is food, or you most likely won''t survive. It is a shame that the king is so willing to throw lives away." He said.

    "Enough of this. Let''s go watch the match." Rulot said.

    The current match was over before we got there, so there was a ten-fraction pause before the next duel. Fractions were basically Earth minutes. It was a fraction of a bell. I just called them minutes. Once we got clocks, we would do away with bells.

    So, after the ten-minute break, the next match began. These matches were not like when I was practicing with Chris or Draves. Those were long-drawn-out things. These were two people circling each other, looking for an opening. Once the first attack was made, though, most of them were over within half a minute. If the two opponents were equally matched and highly skilled, then the match would last longer. One lasted almost ten minutes. Rulot''s was over so fast that I barely saw what happened.

    "Why fight if it is that obvious they are so unequally matched?" I asked Carter.

    "That is just Rulot. He accepts one challenge a night, no matter who it is. People love fighting against him just for the experience of it." He said.

    "I guess that makes sense. Carter, thank you for the evening, but I must go. I do not know when I will be called upon to paint tomorrow, but I need to get some rest."

    "Ok, but you must come tomorrow, Amos. Tomorrow is the sword dance. I know you haven''t seen one, so you must come."

    "Ok, should I leave the same way I came?"

    "No, that is actually the emergency exit. Just use that door over there, and it will take you up to a room in the Rat''s Tail. Go through the opposite door, and it will take you to the bar. Come back tomorrow through that door as well."

    "Why did I come in through there then?"

    He smiled, "I thought it would be more fun."

    I rolled my eyes but then smiled. "You owe me a pair of pants, Carter. Thanks for the entertaining evening."

    ***********

    The next morning, a letter came from the castle. I was to meet the duke one bell past noon. When I arrived, I had to wait two bells before I could enter. He was in a room where he sat in a wide chair with one arm propped up against an armrest.

    I bowed deeply and said, ¡°Your Highness, thank you for allowing me to bask in your glorious presence today. Where would you like me to paint you.¡±

    ¡°You will paint me in the throne room, of course.¡±

    ¡°Ah, an excellent choice, my lord. With your permission, I will request that my people bring the paints to the throne room, and we will position you to give the best possible portrait of you.¡±

    The bored expression vanished off the face of the mad duke, replaced by one I had seen a few times during the judgments. Maniacal glee.

    ¡°Oh no, young baron. You misunderstand me. I do not mean my throne room,¡± He clapped his hands, and a painting of another throne room was brought in by two servents. It was an adequate picture at best, but you could tell what you were looking at. An unfamiliar man sat on the throne. It was very dull, though.

    ¡°This is a recreation I had made. My cousin''s throne room. You will make a better painting of it and paint me into it."

    My mouth dropped in shock.

    Was this guy insane?

    Never mind, I knew the answer to that. If word got out that I painted the duke into a picture of the king¡¯s throne, I did not doubt that I would be a dead man. However, if I did not paint it, I would be dead by the end of the day. I really, really hate this man.

    My next words came out forced, ¡°As you wish, Your Highness.¡±

    And so I was left with the other painting and spent the next two hours recreating some of it. I had no idea how close the picture was to the original, but I had a lot I could improve. They had brought in a lot of paint for this, and I ended up having them call back each of the suppliers. I had to know how these paints were made and what was in them. If they were made using incompatible ingredients, they would not blend well. I also didn''t want to poison myself with unfamiliar ingredients.

    The fact that most of the paints contained lead did not bother me. Hopefully, the Duke would like the painting so much that he would eat it and die. I always wore gloves when painting in this world. I knew that in my own world, a lot of toxic chemicals had been added to paints throughout the centuries. I didn¡¯t know enough about chemicals to know which ones were safe.

    I remember reading about a few in my art classes. Paris Green contained something like arsenic. Radium was used in stuff in the early 1900s, and asbestos was used as a filler. I could not identify any of those chemicals. There were probably a hundred other chemicals that I shouldn¡¯t have touched.

    So why not warn other people? Because all I was was a backwater baron. Nobody would listen to me, and even if they did, that didn¡¯t mean they would give up what they were doing. These people made their living selling these paints. They would starve before they could find an appropriate substitute. Besides, how much stuff did we do on Earth knowing it was bad for us? It boiled down to money or convenience.

    If I were asked why I painted with gloves, I would explain that the paints contained hazardous substances, such as lead. But I didn¡¯t demand change. All I could do was plant seeds and keep myself and my people as safe as possible.

    After painting, I went back to the inn and started drawing various designs for water turbines. I had no idea which design would work best. Would it be best to make a lot of blades or only a few? What would be the best for maximum power output?

    I divided the design into components and reduced the size to that of a model, so each blade was only about five centimeters. Of course, I had to convert it all back into the measurements woodworkers used around here. Blades would be glued into the centerpiece, and an arm would be attached.

    I sent each component with a different servant to find woodworkers to make the pieces. I didn''t want the whole design to be distributed to one person.

    I also finished the last of my book paper. I had not expected to be gone from Bicman so long, so I ended up running out. Most of my other works were already sewn together, and we just needed more leather to bind them into complete books.

    So now, I did not have much to do since I was a pariah among most nobles, which meant there were no parties to get ready for. I had already practiced my blade and spear work this morning with the soldiers, so now I needed something to entertain myself with until this evening''s events. I was quite curious about this sword dance. So, I did something I thought would be fun. I had one of my men go out and see if they could find a good lute for sale.

    I took a guitar class in high school for a year. That was back when I assumed girls thought guys who played guitars were cool. I did enjoy it, but they canceled the program the next year because there was not much interest in it in the school.

    I knew playing a musical instrument here was not something male nobles were supposed to do, but I wanted to see how much different a lute was from a guitar.

    "How many strings on the lute would you like?" the guard Zane asked. Apparently, he knew a bit about the instrument.

    "I don''t have any idea. Uh, how about as close to six as you can get." I said.

    "As you command, my lord."

    I think they were getting used to my weird requests.

    Unfortunately, Zane had not been able to find one by the time I needed to leave. They had found me a long gray woolen cloak with a hood. Now that I was entering the underground arena through the regular way, I needed to disguise who I was. That meant no scarf and covering my face before entering. The barkeep would check me at the door.

    It was a flimsy disguise, and everyone pretty much knew what was going on, but the bribes were paid, and it was ignored. As long as you keep yourself hidden, people will look the other way.

    The first thing I noticed when I entered was that some of the people in attendance were wearing very flamboyant clothing. The colors were bright, and all of them wore capes. I found Carter, Rulot, and their wives surrounded by people. I decided to wait off to the side and not interrupt them. That worked until Trish caught my eye.

    Her expression suddenly became intense, and she pushed her way out of the crowd. She made a beeline straight for me, and I took a step back as he got right up in my face. She had an odd, manic look in her eyes. It was so scary that I thought she might be related to the duke.

    "You!" she shouted at me

    "Me?" I said hesitantly.

    "I need the next book," she said, holding up the copy of the short novel I had given her yesterday morning.

    "Ah, I haven''t written the next book yet," I said.

    Her voice rose an octave as she said, "What! What do you mean you haven''t written it yet?"

    "Well, books take a while to write, and I have a lot to do, so I-"

    "You mean you gave me a story that is only part-way done? I need to know what happens to Diane now!" She shouted at me.

    Crap, I had just given birth to a new type of monster in this world. A book addict.

    "I don''t even know what happened to Diane. I mean, I kind of do, but I haven''t got it all thought out yet, so it may change a bit and-"

    "Go write it then. Why are you wasting your time at this stupid place when you could be writing me a book."

    "That''s not how it works. It will probably be a month or so before I can write it."

    "A month! But you will be gone in a month." She whined.

    "I will send you a copy. You should have it within less than half a year."

    "You can''t do this to me. I- I hate you, Amos! How could you give me only part of a story."

    Just then, Carter and the rest came up. "Wow, that is an abrupt change. Last night, she wouldn''t shut up about how amazing you were. She kept me up most of the night talking about your stupid book." Carter said with an exasperated sigh.

    "She will get over it. She is just on a reader''s high. Her dopamine levels are elevated, and now she is going to go into a state of depression for a bit." I said placatingly.

    "I didn''t understand most of that, but as long as she returns to normal, I am okay with it. I thought you had broken her."

    "I don''t know if it is exactly the same, but imagine if you were in the middle of an intense hunt or a duel and it was suddenly called off. How would you feel?" I explained.

    "Ah, I see. And this happens to women when they read books, " he said as if understanding something profound.

    I wanted to laugh. It happened to guys, too, but I wasn''t going to worry about that at the time.

    "Trish, since you are done with the book, I will take it back. I think I have a book you would like that does have an ending."

    Suddenly, she squeezed the book to her chest as if she were protecting a baby. "You can''t take it back."

    Oh, boy, she was going to be one of those people who racked up library fines and made it impossible to get a hold of books.

    "Trish, that is my only copy. I need to have it transcribed, and I promise to send you a copy."

    "How much do you want for it? Carter, pay him one hundred gold." She demanded.

    Carter''s eyes went wide. "Seriously, it is just a book," he said.

    He really shouldn''t have said that.

    "It''s not just a book! It''s-"

    I interrupted her, trying to de-escalate things.

    "Listen, Trish. Why don''t you see if you can get a few of your scribes to transcribe the book? You can keep the original and just give me a copy. I just need it by the time I leave. And I promise I will try to get you the next book as soon as I can."

    After a moment, I could tell her breathing had started to calm down, so I continued. "Now, why don''t you guys tell me what this sword dance is all about and why all these guys are dressed like peacocks?"

    There was a pause. And then Rulot said, "What is a peacock?"

 Book 2 Chapter 42

    Catherine Manticole

    I stood at what the sailors called the bow of the riverboat. A gentle breeze helped to cool the hot, muggy air. I could not keep the grin off my face. I was going to Kimton! I had never been farther away from home than Falmor. I was excited to see what the other capitals of the duchies in the kingdom were like. I turned to look behind me to see Elizabeth pacing the deck.

    "You''re going to wear a hole through your shoes," I said with a laugh.

    Her head snapped up, "What?"

    "Come over here, Liz. With all your walking about, you are getting in the men''s way."

    "Oh," She blushed and quickly walked up to me.

    I grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes. "Liz, it''s going to be okay. We are going to break off the engagement with my cousin, and then you can marry Aramis."

    She grabbed her hair. "You''ve never met your cousin. You have no idea what he is like,¡± she said as her voice rose in pitch.

    I squeezed her hand reassuringly. ¡°It will be okay. After his visit, John wrote to my parents, saying Amos was quite affable.¡±

    ¡°Only because he wants to restore relations with your families. He will try and humiliate me again. He¡¯ll do it in front of Aramis. Aramis is only the son of a knight. He can''t stand up to a baron. This is all going to be a disaster, Kate. I¡¯ll be shamed and sent home with nothing to show for it, and father will be displeased and-¡±

    ¡°Liz. Listen to me. Nothing bad will happen. I am with you. You said it yourself: he wants a good relationship with my family. What would happen if he tried to embarrass you in front of me?¡±

    Elizabeth stayed quiet.

    ¡°Exactly. He would ruin everything. So don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll go to Kimton, talk with my cousin, convince him to compensate you, end the engagement, and come home. If he tries anything else, I will protect you. Also, I have an idea of how we can feel about the situation before we get down to business. At least we can if he doesn''t recognize you.¡±

    Suddenly, her arms were around me, and she squeezed me tightly. I held her close and stroked her hair.

    Then she stepped back and smiled at me. ¡°You''re seriously the best friend ever, Kate. I am so glad your father let you come.¡±

    ¡°He wants me to spy on my cousin and find out about the things that John said. But it was an excellent reason to be out of the reach of all those boys at the balls. I have to go to all of them, and each one gets worse. The last one was a disaster. I wish you could have been there. What with Sir Welmon¡¯s son declaring his love for me in a drunken stupor.¡±

    We both laughed at the stupidity of the young men.

    Amos

    Other than Trish almost attacking me last night, the evening went rather well. I have to admit the sword dance was actually really fun to watch. It was initially created in the Duchy of Githum a few years ago and has been slowly growing in popularity throughout the kingdom. Trends, information, and new ideas spread really slowly here. Even in the late 1900s, fads spread quickly. But here, where most travel was local unless you were a merchant, only important things that had an impact on the economy or politics spread with any speed.

    The sword dance was sword fighting, where you fought to the beat of the music. The object was not to actually strike your opponent but to match their strikes with yours. There were standard forms and strikes for each dance, and as the tempo of the music increased, the moves became more complicated.

    If both opponents made it to the end, they were allowed a single attack. They were judged on their ability to keep to the beat of the music and match their opponents.

    One person would lead, and the other would follow, just like in a dance. But in this case, it was attack and defense. Then, suddenly, it would switch. Nina explained the whole thing to me. She said that for each portion of the dance, the attacker could make about ten different moves, and the defender had to know each defense that went along with them.

    The attacks and defenses were completely impractical. They were flashy and fluid, but if you used them in an actual battle, you would get skewered within the first five seconds. It was beautiful, but not even Hollywood could get away with such moves. Well, no, Hollywood got away with almost everything.

    Of course, Rulot was excellent at the dance, but unlike in an actual fight, there were others close to or equal to his skill level. My guess is that this was created by someone who wasn''t good at swordplay but was excellent at dancing. So, he made it to impress the women.

    With all the twirly and twisting, I now understood the capes. It added a flare to the dance.

    Just like everything else down here, bets were made. The contestants were judged, but I was not knowledgeable enough to figure out exactly what the judges were looking for. All the judges were female, which I thought was very open-minded for this day and age, but hey, good on them.

    Now that the night was over, though, I was brought back to my current problems. An attack was coming toward Bicman, extra people were coming to Bicman who would have to be fed, and a mad duke was trying to get me killed by making me paint a picture of him on the throne of the king. I kept trying to convince myself that there was no way he would show that off in public. Seriously, the king would not tolerate such blatant disrespect.

    It wasn''t really a comfort, though, since if he got executed, I am sure I would be as well. So, while I was recreating the throne room as best I could, I tried not to think about what I was doing. The painting was coming along quite nicely, though. I enhanced the colors quite a bit, which allowed me to add more depth to the painting through the contrasting shades.

    I also painted what I called easter eggs. In a shadow, I had the faintest hint of an assassin ready to strike at the duke. I had the face of the endless one in the light of the chandelier, looking down disapprovingly. They didn''t use the skull and crossbones as a symbol of poison in this world, but there was a small bottle with a very faint outline of the symbol near a goblet.

    Basically, I fit in as much as I could so that if I was allowed to speak in sentencing, I could point them all out, proving that I had been forced to draw the painting. There was a big if when it came to the idea of me even being allowed to speak. The king was just as likely to kill me without there even being a formal sentencing.

    By tomorrow, I will have enough done so that I can start painting the duke. I was not looking forward to that. Being in the presence of that man made my skin crawl. Two hours a day for at least two days just to make sure it was the best painting I could make. It made me shutter.

    When I returned from painting, a lute was waiting for me. However, after about a bell of playing around with it, I realized I was going to need help. So, I sent Zane back out to find someone who could help me learn the lute. Did I mention Benjamin was not happy about me learning a "useless commoner profession?"

    About two hours later, a man in a very bright orange pair of pants walked in. This signified him as a traveling minstrel. He was tall with long black hair and must have been in his mid-twenties. When he saw me sitting there with the lute in my hands, his expression changed to one of confusion.

    He bowed and said, "My name is Jason. Forgive me, my lord, I thought I was to come and instruct an individual on the playing of the lute. But I can certainly attempt to play that lute for you. Though you will have to forgive me as it has been a while since I have played a lute with so few strings."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "Oh, no, Jason, you are correct. I thought I might learn a bit about music. Perhaps you could help me learn. I have some great song ideas but no way to express them. Perhaps you could instruct me on how to get the right notes out of this. I just need to learn a few cords to make this work."

    "As you wish, my lord."

    Over the next hour, I learned a few things. First, they used a five-note scale, not the seven-note scale I was used to. Second, this lute could not produce the rich sound of a guitar. It might have been easier to build a guitar and use the scale I was used to rather than learn their scale and adapt the chords I knew to the lute.

    I learned a few chords and the basics of some notes that I recognized.

    Before I excused him, I thought of an idea.

    "As a traveling minstrel, you must have a good voice for storytelling," I said.

    "Yes, my lord. You do not make it very far as a bard without a good voice."

    "How good are you at reading?"

    "I am proficient. I have sometimes written down my own poems and sold them when I have been fortunate enough to acquire parchment."

    I pulled out a book. "Please read the first page of this book and tell me what you think."

    He turned the book over in his hands, fascinated by the object. He knew better than to ask questions rather than obey an order from a noble, so he began to read. He didn''t stop at the first page but continued for a few more.

    "This is quite a unique story, my lord," he said kindly.

    "But it is not good enough. Tell me what is wrong with it."

    "My lord, I would not dare to-"

    "Stop," I told him in an annoyed voice. "I am not a professional storyteller. I have the ideas, but they are lacking. Sure, they are good enough for people who don''t know any better, but what are they missing?"

    We sat there in silence for a moment until finally, he said, "Imagery, my lord. You need to show more and tell less."

    "Can you give me some examples?"

    He flipped to the first page and started to tear into the book, showing how to make the story come alive.

    "Jason, I want you to rewrite the book and make it better. You are to take this book and this gold. Buy any writing material you need and rewrite this. If I like your work, I will hire you as an editor for my books."

    "As you wish, my lord"

    If this worked, the cost of books would skyrocket. If people would pay gold for my subpar recreations of stories, then I can only imagine what they would do with actually good books. I thanked the man and sent him on his way with an additional silver crown for his time.

    He thanked me profusely for such a generous amount, and I told him it was for his discretion as well. I didn''t need rumors spreading about me messing around with playing the lute.

    I would have to decide if this was really something I wanted to spend my time on. Sure, I was limited in how I could help my barony right now, but was this really the best use of my time? After thinking for a bit, I decided it wasn''t a bad option to prevent burnout. I would keep the lute and practice, but I had other things I had to do as well.

    I added playing "Johnny B Goode" on a lute to my bucket list. Because if I am going to be thrown back in time, playing "Johnny B Goode" on a guitar-like instrument is a must. It wouldn''t sound as good as on an electric guitar, but hey, one step at a time. I think I remembered the cords. If I could recreate them on the lute and change up the words, I could create a new type of music.

    Well, maybe. They might have something similar elsewhere in the world. Have I mentioned how slow information travels around here?

    ********

    I got up the next morning and took some extra time meditating. I was painting the psychopath today, and I was not looking forward to it. I didn''t even bother eating because my stomach was all twisted in knots.

    When I got to the room that had been set up for painting the Duke, he was already there, looking at what I had done so far. He was muttering something to himself as he looked over the painting. After a minute of ignoring the fact that we had entered the room, he finally turned to the servant and me. We both bowed deeply and waited for him to respond.

    "I like this!" he said in his manic voice. "It isn''t exactly the throne room, but nobody would mistake it for anything else. And it looks so real. It''s perfect. You will begin painting me now."

    I don''t know how I felt about this man complimenting my work. It was like someone saying I had made a nice-looking knife that they were going to use to stab me with.

    "Your Highness, thank you for the compliment. If you would please sit like this," I said. I spent the next few minutes positioning him and the various lamps to give the right lighting effects. Then I got to work¡ªat least, I tried to. After about fifteen minutes of sitting there, the duke stood up and left. The servant immediately followed him out, and I was left standing there with a dumbfounded look on my face.

    I wasn''t about to leave the castle. If he decided to come back and I wasn''t here, who knows what he would do. I walked out into the hall just as he was striding around a corner. I followed after him quickly. At the intersection, I found that I had lost him.  I waited there for half an hour before a servant walked by.

    "Excuse me, could you inform the Kimton Steward that I was painting the duke, and he suddenly left? I need to know what to do, and I don''t want to leave without permission," I asked.

    The servant bowed and left.

    I waited another hour before a man who looked very similar to Benjamin. The greying of his hair and the flat expression were the only differences. Of course, the flat expression was something that Benjamin had when he first came to work for me. It was probably a requirement for anyone who wanted to keep their head in the castle.

    He bowed deeply. "Lord Bicman, I have come to apologize. It appears that the duke has decided he is done for the day, and you may come back tomorrow at the same time."

    I was not the least bit surprised. In fact, I would have been more surprised if the duke had decided to continue later today. The duke was a person with whom you had to set no expectations.

    "Thank you, Steward. I have actually wanted to speak with you. I wanted to compliment you on raising an excellent and competent son. I truly do not know what I would do without him," I said with a smile.

    "The compliment is appreciated, my lord. It is always a pleasure to hear a compliment concerning one''s children." He said in a neutral tone.

    This guy was completely stone-faced and emotionless. There was no way I was going to break through. He had a good reason to be. He was probably always thinking about how anything a noble said could be a trap meant to ensnare him and get him killed or punished. What a horrible way to live.

    "I also wanted to thank you for the information you gave to Benjamin. It will help me in better managing my barony. You truly are a wise man. I wish there were a way to reward you directly, but I am reserving most of my talents for the duke. I will promise you, though, that I will do everything I can to protect your son. I will make sure that if any trouble comes to Bicman, he will leave immediately with the other noncombatants."

    I had no idea if we were being spied on, so I didn''t want to mention the raid directly. I thought I saw a split second of gratitude in the man''s eyes, but I most likely imagined it.

    "That is greatly appreciated, my lord. Though with his handicap, we really have no use for him here."

    Now, I knew we were being spied on. Benjamin and his father had a great relationship, and the steward probably had to act indifferent to his son''s fate lest his love for his son be used against him. Or maybe we weren''t being spied on, and I was the one he was worried about. I needed to get back to Bicman, where things were simpler.

    ***********

    The next ten days were a test of my patience. I would rise and get my morning routine done, then head to the castle. I would wait around for the duke to show up and then paint for as much time as he saw fit to sit still. Sometimes, that was as short as five minutes or fractions, as they called them. The most I got out of him was half a bell.

    Fortunately, my model pieces for the turbine arrived at about day five, so I could start to experiment. Unfortunately, things did not go as expected. Pouring water on the various versions of the contraption caused it to spin, but not quite like I wanted it to. I spent hours adjusting the blades, adding more or less. I also had a few different shapes.

    I had a bathtub in my room and a bucket on a stand with a hole in it that I could uncork to let water out. I actually had several buckets with different-sized holes. The water would hit the propeller and then go into the tub. It worked great, but the contraption took up a good portion of my room.

    I don''t get it. This should work better than it is.

    When I spun it manually, there was no problem. The problem was that no matter how much or from what height I poured it, it didn''t make a difference. I thought back to all the pictures of hydro-power plants I had seen, but I really didn''t know how they looked on the inside.

    During one of the experiments, I accidentally removed the turbine propeller before the water stopped falling. As I pulled it out from under the water, I tilted it, and the speed slightly increased.

    The angle? I tried again, and it worked better when the water was at about a 25-degree angle. But the speed still wasn''t enough, so I restarted my experiments with various blades. Maybe if the pressure was greater, but if that was what it was, how did hydropower plants do it? I wish I were back in Bicman, where I could discuss my ideas with people.

    After a few more days of painting, I would be out of here. At least, that is what I thought.

 Book 2 Chapter 43

    Did you read the pre-chapter notes, or did you ignore them as I usually do?

    On the tenth day, I was done with the moody duke. After that, I used a model for the body and brought the rest of the background details to life, which took an additional three days.

    Unlike my other pictures, where I was eager to show off my work in front of other people, I was hoping that the duke would keep this one to himself. Surprisingly, he did. When I told the servant that the painting was done, he went and fetched the Duke. After looking it over for a while, he left the room without saying anything.

    Again, I waited to be dismissed. It was another hour of waiting before I got a hold of someone to confirm I could leave.

    When I got back to my room in the inn, I started packing up to leave, glad the whole ordeal was over. I was not expecting a reward or anything, so I decided to leave this place as soon as possible. I might have been allowed to paint more people but it just wasn''t worth it. Maybe I would stop in another county on my way home and drum up some business.

    Unfortunately, my escape did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. Partway through my packing, a letter was dropped off. I had been called to attend another session of the duke''s court. This time, the letter did not indicate whether I was being punished or rewarded. It also told me that I was allowed to move back into the Upper City, which meant the duke was at least a little pleased.

    I really didn''t want to move again. It probably meant that I would not be allowed to visit the shops in Middle City anymore. Although I wasn''t making any money, it had been nice to have a break from the parties. I wonder if it was worth risking the Duke''s ire to start drawing people again.

    When we got back to Upper City, I picked a different inn to stay at and paid for only one night. I actually had to show the letter in order to get a room. Apparently, hotels had blacklists and my name was on everybody''s lips since I was painting the duke.

    The rooms in this inn were nicer, but there was a price for the luxury. I would trade all this luxury for the rooms at my manor. I missed my dresser and desks back home. I really was contemplating sharing the idea here just so that it would spread and I could stop living out of a chest. After I spread the idea, I just needed to create an IKEA furniture store, and we would be all set. I wonder how pressboard is made?

    By the afternoon, news had already spread to some corners of the Upper City that I was back. That meant that I had already received two invitations to events later in the week. I wrote back that I must first attend court tomorrow, and that would determine my future availability.

    I also received an invitation to visit Carter at his place. One thing I learned from my evenings with him and Rulot is that I was horrible at betting on fights. I was actually excited to go back to his place because I missed watching the two of them fight. They were the best of any two duelists I had seen. Unfortunately, they did not duel each other at the arena. I planned on visiting tomorrow afternoon after the meeting in court.

    **********

    The evening had passed quickly, and I soon found myself in the throne room of the duke. The proceedings went as they had last time. People came to petition, and the mad duke dealt out judgment according to his whims or according to whoever was pulling his strings. I sat there the whole time, waiting for something to happen, but it wasn''t until the third bell past noon that anything regarding me was said.

    ¡°The Baron Amos Bicman has finished my painting. I am pleased with it. There are three members of the nobility that I have decided will have the honor of being painted by my artist.¡±

    His artist? What does he mean by that?

    ¡°Count Blackwell, Count Vimb, and Count Awell. This session is adjourned.¡±

    What the Crap? I have to stay here longer. How long am I going to be trapped here? I have people to take care of.

    When I met Benjamin in the carriage, I explained what happened. He looked very worried.

    ¡°This is not good, my lord. To answer the first question you have. You will be here until Kimton tires of you. It will probably be less than a year."

    ¡°A year! Benjamin, my barony could be gone by then if we aren¡¯t prepared.¡± I shouted.

    ¡°Which might be the objective here. I will need to speak with my father."

    "Is this something your father would do to try and keep you here?"

    "I won''t say that the possibility isn''t there, but I doubt it. I know my father, but this isn''t his way of handling things."

    I wasn''t so sure. Sometimes, we do things we wouldn''t otherwise do when loved ones are involved. I would have to let Benjamin get to the bottom of this. Right now, I just want to go home, eat something, and take a nap. This whole day has been emotionally exhausting.

    I wrote a letter to the two people who had sent me invitations, letting them know I would be happy to attend. I also sent a message to Carter and said I would love to stop by.

    **********

    When I arrived at Baron Frabak''s home, I was greeted by the man himself in the entryway. He looked me up and down and said, "As a favorite of the Duke and a friend of my son, I invite you to stay with us."

    By the ugly grimace I was getting from the man, I could not tell if he was pleased with the idea or if it was something his son asked for. "Your generosity is appreciated greatly. I would be honored to stay in the home of such an illustrious resident of Kimton. I hope I will not cause any imposition."

    "Not at all. This mansion is big enough to hold multiple families. Most of my other guests left last week. There will be one other guest arriving sometime this week. She is the daughter of a man I fought side by side with at the Hitub border."

    "If you insist on me staying, I will not refuse, and once again, thank you for your hospitality."

    He nodded and began to walk away but suddenly turned back and gave me a menacing glare. "Do not think this gives you permission to court my daughter," he said.

    Once again, I was so glad for his disagreeableness. From the stories Carter had told me of his sister, I was so glad I hadn''t met her.

    The steward, Jimmy, had been standing off to the side. "Allow me to take you to the young Master Carter, my lord."

    I nodded, and we left to go see my friend. Carter and Trish were sitting outside relaxing in their little garden. From the back, I could see Carter''s hand around Trish''s waist, holding her close as they sat on a stone bench. They were watching the fish swimming in the pond. Trish had her head on his shoulder as they spoke softly to each other. I was glad I had brought my small notebook. I had to draw this picture.

    I held up my hand to Jim before he could announce me. We both paused, and I brought out my notebook. Pulling my pencils from my inside pocket, I began to draw. Jim stood there watching me as I took the next ten minutes to draw this beautiful scene of two people in love. When I finished, I showed the picture to Jim, and he nodded with approval.

    We continued to walk up to them, and Jim announced me. "Lord Carter, your guest has arrived."

    Both of them stood up and turned to face me.

    "Welcome back to society, my friend," Carter said while coming up to give me a hug.

    After we embraced, I stepped back and said, "I brought you a gift to commemorate." I then showed both of them the picture I had just drawn.

    Trish stared for a moment, and then her eyes began to glisten with tears. Suddenly, she had her arms around me in a hug.

    "Hmm, maybe I should try my hand at artistry," Carter said with a contemplative look.

    "It is never too late to start," I said as I handed Trish the picture.

    "So, how are you feeling about the honor of being the Duke''s personal artist?" Carter asked.

    "Honestly, I just want to go home. I miss the quiet country life. Don''t get me wrong, I love having friends like you with whom I can associate, but I am tired of most parties and social events."

    "Why are you still going then?"

    "I need to become well-known and make connections with people. Also, what else am I supposed to do? I cannot paint who I want to anymore, and I am out of book paper to write. The hunts have to be scheduled, and I do not yet have as many friends as you do."

    Carter laughed. "That is about to change. You just became one of the most famous people in Kimton. Do not worry about making friends. In fact, I may be able to find you some associations outside of Kimton shortly," he said. "A good friend of mine is coming to town, and I would love to introduce you to her."

    I groaned. "You are not seriously trying to set me up again, are you?"

    "Ha, you wish. She is much too good for you. Her father would never allow you to drag one of his daughters off to your swamps. She will be married to a baron who actually has money and land worth something."

    "Wow, cutting deep there, Carter," I said with false dismay.

    "You''re too afraid of girls to get married anyways."

    "What?"

    Trish giggled. "He is right. You avoid the subject of marriage as if it is a plague."

    "I just don''t want to be rushed, is all. I am not afraid of marriage." I said defensively.

    "Good. We have a social event tomorrow, and there will be a lot of eligible ladies there who would love to have a moment of the Baron of Bicman''s time."

    I took a step back. "Whoa, I never said-"Stolen story; please report.

    "You," a voice called out from a balcony above.

    We all looked up, and Carter groaned. On the balcony stood a girl of about thirteen or fourteen with the longest black hair I had ever seen. Not only did it go almost to her ankles, but it could definitely use a good brushing. I wanted to run back to the inn and get my brush for her immediately. The best way to describe the girl was slightly feral.

    "Carter, don''t let him leave!"

    "Don''t worry, Dianne. Father invited him to stay." Carter said with an exasperated look on his face. She probably didn''t hear him, though, because she had already disappeared from the balcony."

    "I am really sorry about this, Amos. I knew you would not be able to escape her once Father invited you, but I was hoping it would be at dinner when she would be more manageable."

    "More manageable?"

    "She is always better behaved when my father is around. Well, uh, you''ll see."

    A minute later, she came charging out into the courtyard like a bull released from its pen.

    "You will paint me," she said with such force that I almost agreed.

    Instead, I gave her my best bow and said, "Lady Dianne, it is a pleasure to meet you. Let me introduce myself. I am Lord Amos Bicman."

    She looked at me like I was the stupidest person she had ever met. "Of course you are. Do you think I would ask someone else to paint me?"

    Well, she did have a point there. "Nevertheless, manners are important."

    "You are as bad as him," she said while glaring at her brother.

    "I will actually accept that as a compliment," I said with a grin.

    "It doesn''t matter. Paint me!"

    "Ah, no."

    "No? No! What does he mean no?" She said to her brother. Trish had started to back away.

    "I believe he means to deny your request," Carter said, trying not to show emotions.

    The girl started to turn red. Some girls were pretty when they were mad. Dianne wasn''t ugly, but she wasn''t going to win any beauty contests. When she was angry, though, she became absolutely terrifying. "Paint me!"

    "No," I said flatly.

    "Paint me!"

    "No."

    Her nostrils flared.

    "Why not?"

    "A few reasons. First, the Duke forbade me from painting anybody but who he said to. Second, I don''t have my things. Third, and probably most important, you are rude."

    Now Carter started to back away. I, however, stood my ground.

    "I am not rude!"

    "Yes, you are," I said calmly.

    "I''m telling Daddy!" She said threateningly.

    "Ok."

    "He will have you killed."

    "No, he won''t. Otherwise, the duke will find out and kill your family."

    "My daddy isn''t afraid of the Duke. My daddy is the most important person in the city."

    Suddenly, Carter jumped in, "That is enough, Dianne. Father will not be happy."

    She stood there glaring at me for a minute and then said, "I hate you!"

    Spinning around, she stormed off.

    "Well, that went surprisingly¡­horrible," Carter said. "You have such a way with women. I now understand your aversion to them." Carter said.

    "She wanted to get me killed. What did you want me to do, lie to her? I am a guest here. I can''t just leave." I replied defensively.

    "Humm. I guess you have a point. Just watch out for any dark corners. I will have the staff make sure she isn''t allowed near the knives until after you leave."

    "She isn''t that bad," Trish said as she walked back up to us.

    "You backed away awfully fast," I said in a teasing tone.

    Trish lifted her chin. "I don''t like when she screams."

    "Well, that was fun. Fancy going to the archery range? Conversations with my sister always make me want to shoot something," Carter said.

    "Let''s do it," I said.

    *******

    Dinner that evening was wonderful. It included some sort of steak with mushroom gravy. The vegetables were steamed and salted. Baron Frabak sat at the head of the table, which easily accommodated sixteen people. Carter and Trish sat to his left. I sat next to Trish. Dianne sat on the right side of the table, except she sat at the far end, away from the rest of us. Carter said she did this when she was mad at someone.

    I wanted to shake my head. We had a lively conversation in which we discussed politics. Carter talked, and the rest of us listened. The topic was how the king''s foolish appointment of the Magister Ulom to oversee the taxation of grains had led to large amounts of corruption.

    "The problem is mainly in the Duchy of Falmor right now, but it is spreading. More and more money is being spent bribing the right person, causing the price for grain to go up," he said passionately.

    "And the solution?" I asked.

    "First, we have to cut out the infection. That means getting rid of the minister and then auditing every business in the capital. Once that happens, the other businesses will start to worry and get in line."

    It was a nice thought. I was not convinced it would work.

    "And who will do the audit?" I asked.

    "Well, they could appoint¡­"

    He realized the problem. Would we just be substituting one corrupt official for multiple?

    I continued, "The problem is that there has to be the proper motivating force. Also, those who are auditing have to be protected. A noble whose sister''s husband got audited will not be happy if you put a commoner in charge of the audits. So it would be best if those doing the audits were nobles, but we are both nobles, and we understand that favors are how things really get done among nobles."

    "So how do we fix this?" He said, throwing his hands up.

    "We think on it. Then, we poke holes in ideas and find solutions. When we can poke no more holes in the idea, we create a petition." I said with a smile. I didn''t really think it would change anything, but it was a fun mind exercise. We discussed more ideas for about half a bell until the Baron apparently became bored.

    As much as I enjoyed dinner, though, the after-dinner entertainment was even better.

    "So, my daughter tells me you have greatly offended her, " the baron said with steel in his voice.

    I did my best to keep my composure. "She made a request that I was not able to fulfill. However, I have retrieved a gift that I hope will make up for it."

    The girl at the end of the table grunted as she glared at me.

    "Good man, could you hand me the box I left with you?" I asked a servant. He brought over the small box I had left with him at the start of the meal.

    I opened the box and produced a brush with a handle. It was finely crafted with a glossy dark brown finish.

    "This is something that a master craftsman made for me. I call it a hairbrush, and it works better than a comb," I said as I began to brush my hair.

    "Ooo, may I try, " Trish said.

    "That is up to Lady Dianne. It is my gift to her," I said, looking down the table at the girl. She intentionally looked away as if uninterested.

    After a moment, I said, "I suppose she doesn''t mind." And handed over the brush.

    Trish began to brush, and after a minute, a moan escaped her lips as she felt her hair. "This is wonderful," she said. "Carter, I must have this. How much?"

    I started to respond, "Ah, well-"

    "It''s mine!" Dianne shouted from the end of the table as she leaped to her feet and marched towards us.

    "Dianne." Came the steely voice of Baron Frabak.

    The girl immediately changed her whole demeanor. Her march turned into a dignified walk, and as she approached, she asked politely, "May I have my gift?"

    As Trish handed it to her, she smiled and thanked her.

    Whoa. That was Dr. Jeckley, Mr. Hyde, type crazy.

    The calm didn''t last long. Dianne''s hair was thicker than Trish''s and not well maintained.

    "This isn''t working."

    "You will have to work through the snarls. Given how much hair you have, it will take some time. I recommend being patient, and once it has been thoroughly combed it will become easier. Your hair will look beautiful when it is done." I said, trying to be helpful.

    After a few more brushes, she growled in anger and lunged forward, snatching my knife off the table. At first, I thought she was going to stab me, but then she reached behind her hair and began to hack at it. We all sat there in shock until the first locks started to fall.

    "Dianne, if you desire to cut your hair, have a servant do it." Baron Frabak said calmly.

    She immediately tossed the knife on the table and huffed. "Jimmy, have Kristy come to my room and cut this stupid hair," she said while storming off with her brush.

    The Baron let out a sigh. "Please excuse my daughter. She was not raised with a strong hand. Her mother died shortly after she was born, and I spent most of my time away at various battles. The nursemaid spoiled her, and her tutors were little better. It takes a lot of pruning to correct a tree that has grown crooked."

    "She certainly makes things lively," I said, trying to be polite.

    "Well, congratulations on fixing one of the issues that were plaguing this house," Carter said.

    "What is that?" I asked.

    "Her foolishness about her hair. She refused to let anyone cut it."

    "I still want one of those, Carter," Trish demanded.

    "Of course you do." he sighed. "How much, Amos."

    "Free. I will send her one as soon as I can procure another one. I will see if I can have one made in the next few days."

    "You need to keep him here, Carter. Don''t let him go back to that little barony of his." Trish said.

    "You can''t have two husbands, Trish. That''s not how it works." He said with a grin. "Let''s go out to the courtyard."

    So we left for the courtyard to stretch our legs after dinner.

    As we walked, Carter began to regale me with stories of Dianne growing up. The conclusion was that the girl was spoiled rotten. Rulot and Carter even bet how long it would take Baron Frabak to fix the girl. The guy would have to have the patience of a saint to fix that mess. She may have a slight mental affliction, but I wasn''t going to say that out loud.

    Just as the shadows were starting to grow long across the yard, a voice called out from the south entrance. "Carter, Trish."

    Trish immediately stopped talking and ran over to greet their new guests. The girl was tall and slender, with a beautiful figure. Her dark hair was done up in a traveler''s braid. The girl who walked in next was petite but also surprisingly beautiful. Next to enter was a young man in a well-cut outfit. He was slender but toned¡ªthe body of an anime hero.

    This must have been his friend from the capital.

    Dang. They have a good breeding program there.

    "Catherine!" Trish said, running up to give the young woman a hug. "You finally came. How in the world did you convince your father to let you out of the barony?"

    "Hey, little Cathy," Carter said cheerfully. She was at least his height, so it made it all the funnier when she glared at him while looking him straight in the eye.

    "You''re such a bully, Carter. I haven''t seen you in two years, and you immediately try to embarrass me in front of my friends."

    "That is simply not true. I am trying to embarrass you in front of my friend, " he said, looking back at me.

    At that moment, our eyes met, and after a moment, her jaw dropped. She stared at me for an uncomfortably long time.

    Did I have something on my face?

    I sighed internally. I wasn''t clueless. This wasn''t the first time young ladies had done this. It started in Vaspar when I was introduced to young ladies there. After six months in this world, I had slimmed down. I wasn''t at my goal weight, but I cut an impressive figure.

    Most girls who were interested in me gave sideways glances, but there were a few like this Catherine who got the deer in the headlights look when they met me. To be fair, though, she was hard not to look at as well. If I had time to date, I would definitely ask her out. The Endless one did me a solid when it came to my body.

    I looked around at everyone else. Trish was trying not to smirk. The girl who came with them looked at me as if I were a mystery she couldn''t quite put her finger on. The young man looked friendly, as if he was ready to introduce himself and try to lessen the awkward moment.

    "Well, my friend, this is the lovely Catherine Monticole," Carter said, politely ignoring Catherine''s gawking.

    The name bounced around in my head for a bit before clicking into place.

    Well, dating is off the table. Talk about serendipity.

    "Excuse me, Lady Monticole. You do not happen to be the daughter of Jerimiah and Ashley Monticole?" I asked.

    She had just started to recover when my statement caused her jaw to once again drop open. "How¡­"

    I smiled my most dashing smile, and I said, "Let me introduce myself. I am Baron Amos Bicman, dear cousin." I finished with a flourishing bow.

    As I finished my bow, I heard a small shriek escape her friend''s lips. As I looked up, I could see that all the color had drained from the petite girl''s face. Her right hand was clenching her hair so hard I thought she was going to pull it out. She gave a quiver, and then her eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed.

    Well, dang, that''s a first.

 Book 2 Chapter 44

    Elizabeth of the Monticole Trading House

    I awoke lying in a bed I do not remember falling asleep in. As I sat up, I saw Catherine and Aramis''s concerned faces.

    "I- What happened? Was I screaming again? I''m sorry. The nightmares are getting worse. It was so real this time."

    "It''s ok, Liz. I won''t let him hurt you," Aramis said as he knelt down next to me. "I will defend your honor if it costs me my life."

    Catherine rolled her eyes. "I swear you two are perfect for each other. You are both so dramatic. Of course, I am not much better. I made a complete fool of myself. He was just so¡­Oh, gosh, I have to stop thinking about him. Father will never let me marry him." She said with a sad sigh.

    "Wait, are you saying-"

    "You made me think he was some sort of hideous deformed monster." Then she looked at Aramis. "And you, what were you thinking? As soon as you found out who he was, you started glaring at him. You looked like you were ready to draw your sword. Is that what you call it when you promised you would stay calm?"

    "Then it wasn''t a dream," I said, running my hand through my hair to make sure it was there.

    "Ugh, the whole plan fell apart so quickly. We need to fix this. If only I could get his face out of my mind long enough to think straight."

    "Catherine, please, listen to me. He is not a good person. He will trick you and then do something horrible to you." I pleaded.

    "Liz, seriously. You should have seen how worried he was when you fainted. Actually, your fainting was the best thing that could have happened. It gave me an excuse to get out of there and collect myself."

    The door suddenly slammed open, and in stomped a girl who was probably about fourteen. "Catherine, why did you not come to see me immediately? I wanted to show you what that big man did to my hair." She said with a stormy expression.

    "It looks lovely, Dianne. Who convinced you to do it?" Catherine asked.

    "That baron, daddy invited. He made me do it."

    I couldn''t help myself, "I told you. I told you, Catherine. He is evil. He did it to this girl, too. He is going to cut my hair again."

    "What? He made you cut your hair, too! How dare he. Did he give you a brush? He better not have. I''m telling Daddy. I won''t marry him if he did." With that, the girl stormed out of the room.

    I couldn''t help it; I burst into tears. This was worse than I thought. I had hoped I would be able to do this, but now¡­now, I couldn''t face him, knowing that he was still cutting girls'' hair off just to be cruel.

    I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Catherine''s reassuring smile. "Look, Liz. I think this is a big misunderstanding. Dianne is not the most reliable person in the world. Besides, her hair looks wonderful. It used to hang all the way down to her ankles and was always a mess."

    "You heard her. He got engaged to her and cut off her hair! Why won''t you believe me?"

    "Liz, I promise I will get to the bottom of this, but for now, let''s get some rest. I will stay with you tonight."

    Amos

    "So when you told me women swoon over you, is that what you meant," Carter said.

    "Seriously, Carter, not cool to make fun of a traumatized girl," I said.

    "I wasn''t making fun of the girl. I was making fun of you. But speaking of the fact that the girl was absolutely terrified at the very mention of your name, I have to assume there is more to this story."

    "I believe there is," I said without offering anymore.

    "And¡­," Trish said.

    I seriously did not want to discuss this, but I knew that one of them would get the story from Catherine. So, I decided to just tell my side of the story. I didn''t have to be a genius to connect the dots.

    "If she is the person I think she is, then she is Elizabeth. Her father owns a trading house in Manticole." I paused.

    "You know, I think you are right; I know of the Manticole Trading House. Last time I was in Manticole, I visited it. And I have heard that the man''s daughter is a friend of Cathy''s. But how did you Deduce that."

    "I think¡­ she is my betrothed," I said with a grimace.

    Trish''s eyes went wide. After letting out a quiet gasp, Trish put her hands up to her lips.

    Carter, however, immediately doubled over in laughter.

    After a minute, Trish decided she wasn''t going to wait for her husband to stop laughing.

    "Baron Amos, please explain what you did to that poor girl," Trish said, trying to contain the disappointment in her voice.

    "In my defense, I was thirteen at the time, and I wanted to ruin my father''s plans for my engagement." At least, that is what I thought was going through the young man''s mind at the time.

    "Amos," she said sternly.

    Sighing in defeat, I said in a rush, "I tricked her, tied her to a chair, cut a lot of her hair off, and dumped something in the rest of it to turn a blotch orange color."

    I could feel my ears turning red. It was seriously so embarrassing, even though I didn''t even do it. Heck, it might have been more embarrassing because I had to admit to doing something I really didn''t even do.

    Carter was sitting down now, wiping tears from his eyes. "I-I thought you-" he took a pause. To catch his breath, "I thought you were afraid of marriage for your own sake. I didn''t realize you were trying to save the girl you would have to marry."

    "I believe I am ready to retire for the night. Trish, could you show me my room? I believe your husband will not be able to walk for a bit."

    She looked over at him and nodded. "I will lead you to the guest quarters, and we can find a servant to show you your room."

    We walked in silence for a moment, but then Trish spoke up. "So, Amos, how are you going to fix this?"

    To be honest, it was a surprise for her to ask the question. Most nobles would just look at her commoner status and say that it was nothing I should worry about. Technically, I hadn''t broken the law in any way, and she was just a step above a peasant.

    "I don''t know. I thought I would have more time to find a solution. We were supposed to meet next year after harvest. Tell me, Trish, if you had to shave off all your hair due to someone''s stupid prank, how would you feel? Sure, you could wear a wig, but that wouldn''t stop the gossip from spreading. You would be ostracized from society. You would have to hide yourself away. Not to mention, if you were a commoner, there was no way you could get satisfaction. No, there is no way I can make up for that. The very sight of me caused her to faint."

    "I think you are making her out to me more fragile than she actually is. She came all the way here to meet you after all. I think it was just a shock."

    "You may be right. I will speak with Catherine and see what she thinks." I said.

    "I think that is a good start," she said as we approached a servant. "Could you please show Baron Bicman to his room?"

    The servant bowed and said, "Of course, Lady Frabak. Please follow me, Baron Bicman."

    I knew this was going to be another sleepless night.

    ********

    I found myself back at the duke''s castle about mid-morning. I had come to paint Count Blackwell. I was nervous about meeting the man since I knew his wife was responsible for a lot of the problems I had faced so far. Benjamin tried to reassure me that he liked to keep his nose out of politics, but his assurance did little to calm my nervousness.

    I was glad that Benjamin was right¡ªat least, that is how it appeared. Count Blackwell was an elderly gentleman who seemed like the kind grandfather type. He was sitting on an unadorned wooden chair in a bare room with no ornamentation. Upon entering the room they had set up for me to paint in, he greeted me with a smile. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    "Hello, boy. You must be the young Baron everyone is talking about. I had heard you were young, but I couldn''t believe you were still in your teens. Why, you can''t be more than sixteen or seventeen. Shouldn''t you have a regent?" He said in a strong voice that belied his age.

    The question stunned me into silence.

    Why didn''t I have a regent? Shouldn''t a relative like Baron Manticole have ruled over the barony until I was eighteen? Did nobody check on my age, or did they not care since I was out in the middle of nowhere?

    This made me want to laugh. Surely, some of the people in my barony, like Draves, knew I wasn''t eighteen. I did look older than I was, so maybe everyone else just assumed I was old enough not to need a regent. I didn''t know the law when I first got here, so I just assumed that when Draves said I was Baron, that was the way it was. Then things got so crazy I hadn''t put any thought into Amos''s age. I was twenty-two when I died, and I still felt that way, so the fact that Amos was seventeen was kind of put in the back of my mind. This was hilarious.

    I decided not to tell the truth. "At your age, Count Blackwell, I am sure everyone looks like a child. But I assure you I am old enough to rule a small barony out in the middle of nowhere with only a little more than a thousand people," I said with a smile.

    That got a laugh out of the older man. "Well, that is certainly true. How would you like me to stand."

    "For now, let us determine the background. This is a quite drab room. I could paint you in an environment more fitting for one of your station."

    Count Blackwell waved off the suggestion, saying, "I believe our duke would prefer it this way. He has become quite difficult lately."

    I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "He wasn''t always this way?"

    "Oh, no, he has always been bored with most aspects of ruling since his father passed away. He would much rather spend time hunting or fooling around with women. I have tried to help him in any way I could to relieve him of the burdens that were bothering him, but over the last ten years, his boredom has taken a more aggressive turn. He has also become more paranoid. I believe the stress of ruling has begun to change him. Sooner or later, I fear the king will declare him unfit to rule and place his son on the ducal throne."

    This was interesting information, and I was surprised that the count was willing to share it with me.

    I decided to change the subject in case we were being spied on. This may have been a trap set for me to see if I would complain about the duke. "Then we will support him as long as his reign lasts. Let me see where the best lighting will be. Please stand up, and we can find a good position."

    He stood, and we started walking around the room. As we moved him around, I changed the position of the candelabras until I was satisfied that the light from the window and artificial light was exactly where I wanted it.

    "I, actually, can start working on the background without you if you would like to step out. Then, either tomorrow or the next day, I can add you."

    "Excellent. At my age, I don''t think I can stand for too long. I am already getting tired." He said.

    Inwardly, I sighed. This may be another one that takes a while to complete.

    **********

    I was not invited to dine at the castle, and I preferred it that way anyway. Since I wasn''t painting the Duke, I didn''t have to wait around for permission to leave, so I left at the noon bell so I could have lunch with the Frabaks.

    I worried the whole way back to the manor that another incident would occur with Dianne or Elizabeth. On the way back, I spoke with Benjamin, who confirmed what Count Blackwell had said about the Duke. It was about ten years ago when the Duke started to exhibit more aggressive and cruel tendencies.

    When we arrived back at the manor, I took time to freshen up before lunch. Carter was out with Rulot somewhere, and so it was only Baron Frabak, his wife, Trish, and Catherine who were sitting at the table eating fried bread with boiled root vegetables.

    I wonder if I could take some of their vegetables and make french fries. The fatback that Baron Frabak loved so much would make a great oil to cook it in.

    I smiled at everyone, and when my eyes met Catherine''s, she seemed nervous and unsure, but she quickly plastered a smile on her face.

    "Lady Catherine, it is so good to see you. I am sorry that the fatigue from your journey caused your friend to have a spell and disrupt our first meeting. How is she feeling today?" I said, hoping she heard the concern in my voice under the formality of my statement.

    "Thank you for your concern, Lord Amos. She is, unfortunately, still a bit under the weather."

    "Please call me Amos. We are cousins, after all," I said.

    She seemed pleased by this, and her smile became more genuine.

    "I will, and you may call me Catherine."

    "Thank you. Once again, I am so pleased that this happy coincidence occurred. I have been looking forward to getting to know the Manticoles."

    This is where Lady Frabak entered the conversation. "This is so serendipitous. My dear, how did we not know until now that Ashley was a Bicman?"

    "Probably because she was embarrassed by her relations. And did not want to be associated with them." Frabak said in his usual straightforward manner.

    The insult he directed at my family caused Catherine''s face to immediately drain of color, and when she turned to look at me, her face went bright red with embarrassment.

    Trying to lessen the tension, I began to laugh. This caused everyone at the table, except the baron, to give me a shocked look.

    "I apologize for my outburst," I said. "If I didn''t know better, Baron, I would think you have been to Bicman and met my father."

    At this point, Catherine was so off-balanced by me that she looked like someone who had just seen an unexplainable magic trick.

    "Catherine, would you mind joining me in the garden after our meal so that I might get to know you better? I have longed for the opportunity to meet you."

    At first, all she could do was give a simple nod, but then she managed to say softly, "That would be nice, thank you."

    Trish gave me a wink, and I wanted to roll my eyes.

    Sorry, Trish, it ain''t happening. I''m not marrying my cousin.

    After lunch, I found myself escorting Catherine to the garden. I couldn''t bring myself to ask what I really wanted to ask, so instead, I said, "It is an odd coincidence that we should meet in Kimton. What brings you here? Did you only come to see your friends?"

    Her face turned a light shade of pink, and she wouldn''t look at me as she said, "Actually, word came to us that you were in Kimton and that you were going to paint the Duke. As you can imagine, my father and mother were curious, so they asked me to come and meet you to see if the rumors were true."

    This surprised me. How would news of me reach all the way to the barony of Manticole? I asked her that very thing.

    "Well, the news of the Duke being painted is quite an important piece of gossip, and so when¡­ Ah, my father''s friend heard about it. He passed the news along to my father."

    I was pretty sure I knew who that friend was.

    "And he sent you here to spy on me," I said in a teasing tone.

    Instead of refuting that claim, she turned a brighter shade of pink and became flustered. "Well, it''s just¡­what I mean to say is¡­"

    I smiled, "I''m sorry, Kate, I shouldn''t tease you. I am sure your family has a lot of questions concerning me."

    "Kate?"

    "Short for Catherine," I said if it was the obvious thing for me to call her.

    "My friends call me Cathy." She said hesitantly.

    "Ah, those are just your friends. Of course, they can only shorten your name to two syllables. I am family, so that gives me the one-syllable privilege. It''s a rule, trust me." I said with a wink.

    Finally, she picked up on the fact that I was teasing and hesitantly attempted to joke along. "Does that mean I can call you A? " she asked with a sideways glance.

    I chuckled. "Yeah, that kind of sounds weird."

    "And Kate doesn''t. I don''t think I have ever heard someone use that name."

    "Well, it has to start somewhere."

    "If you call me Kate, I will call you A." She said threateningly.

    I shrugged, "Call me what you want, Kate."

    "Ugh, but I don''t like A as much as I like Amos." She whined, then immediately blushed.

    "Ah, now you''re loosening up," I said while bumping my shoulder against hers playfully. "If we are going to be friends, you have got to relax."

    "Friends?"

    "Of course, and now that we are friends, you can feel comfortable asking me the questions your father wants to know. And anything you want to know."

    At first, she hesitated, asking very general questions, but then, when she realized I was really going to be open with her, the questions poured out. She asked about my barony and how things were going there, about my paintings, and what I thought of Kimton.

    I would occasionally ask about Manticole and living so near the capital. She was very easy to talk to and had a very nice laugh once she finally started to feel comfortable around me. Slowly, she began to walk closer to me until our shoulders touched. I wanted to step away, but I didn''t want to ruin our budding relationship. I needed the support of her family, and I needed her to go back to Manticole with a positive report on me. But there was one topic I had been avoiding that I felt could not wait any long.

    "Kate, I need you to be honest with me. How is Elizabeth doing? That had to be hard on her last night."

    "Wait, you knew? Did you recognize her?"

    I snorted, "Come on, Kate. It really wasn''t that hard to figure out. Who do you and I both know that would clutch her hair and faint at the very mention of my name?"

    "Oh¡­Uh, yeah, hmm."

    "Kate, I think you know me well enough to know I am not going to do anything. I''m just worried."

    "I don''t¡­What about Dianne?" She blurted out.

    That caught me off guard. "What about Dianne?"

    "She, well, she said you made her cut her hair and that she was going to tell her father that she wouldn''t marry you?" She said.

    "She, what? How¡­?" I paused and thought about it, and I groaned. Then I couldn''t help myself. I started to laugh. It totally made sense in a very Dianne way. And the way it must have sounded to her was almost like I was going around cutting off the hair of every girl who wanted to marry me.

    "Amos, be serious. It sent Elizabeth into a panic attack."

    "What! She told Elizabeth? Carter is never going to let me live this down. Look, I did not make her cut her hair. I gave her a hairbrush as a present since she has such long hair. She got frustrated that it was taking so long to brush her hair, so right there at the dinner table, she grabbed my knife and started to cut off the locks of her hair. As far as the marriage thing goes, I have no idea. I swear that girl is a few sandwiches short of a perfect picnic."

    "A what?"

    "She is not the sharpest tool in the shed."

    "I don''t understand, but as long as you didn''t cut her hair¡­"

    "Ask Carter, no scratch that, don''t ask Carter, ask Trish. But seriously, I need to speak with Elizabeth. I need to fix things. I thought I would have more time, time to come up with a way to make it up to her."

    She sighed, "I will talk with her. She just¡­"

    "Thinks I am the embodiment of all the evil in this world."

    She grabbed my arm and turned to me. Looking me in the eye, she said firmly, "You''re not, though; you''re a good person."

    I smiled, "Thanks, Kate. Now I just have to convince her of that."

 Book 2 Chapter 45

    Edward, Steward of Bicman

    The production reports on the new power hammer were in, and I could hardly believe what I was seeing. When Draves first arrived with the news that Bicman would be attacked and that our lord wanted all of our men fitted with some sort of chest armor, I thought he was asking for the impossible. Now, however, I was beginning to believe this could work.

    First came Chris''s idea. He said that given the amount of cloth, the women were producing, as well as the amount of wild cotton they had gathered, we should just layer the cloth until it was thick enough to protect the soldiers. So, all the soldiers'' wives or mothers were busy quilting padded armor. Cotton was being used as stuffing.

    The general population didn''t know we were going to be attacked. We used the excuse that all the men needed similar uniforms. Soon, we would be attaching metal strips to the armor.

    Now, the bottleneck was extracting the ore. But if the rock crusher was as effective as the power hammer, we could free up more men to work in the mine.

    There was a knock at the door that interrupted my thoughts.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I said, slightly annoyed. I had asked not to be disturbed as I went over the reports. We had a lot of people coming soon, and we needed to be ready.

    A young man about fourteen wearing the dark gray padded uniform of a Bicman Defence Force cadet stepped in. He must have come straight from the training field if he was still wearing his padded outfit. He immediately saluted me. Technically, he was supposed to give a slight bow to me, but these kids have been drilling almost nonstop, so I doubted I would break the habit.

    ¡°Report, cadet.¡±

    ¡°Steward Edward, I have come with news from Kerisi. The new people and supplies have arrived.¡±

    Finally, that took much longer than I expected. At least it gave us more time to prepare.

    ¡°Good, is Paul settling them into the new villages?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But there is a problem that requires your assistance.¡±

    Of course there was a problem. There had to be some reason that it took them a month to reach us. Even with a large group, it should have taken twenty to twenty-five days. My first thought was heavy rains that ruined supplies. The north wind had started to blow, dropping the temperature, if it rained as well we could be looking at heavy losses.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Steward, there are too many people. We cannot house them all.¡±

    ¡°We expected this cadet. Some will have to stay in their tents.¡±

    "I''m sorry, Sir. That''s not what I meant. Housing is not the problem. Well, it is, but sir, there are a lot more people than we thought."

    This got my attention. ¡°How many more, Cadet?¡±

    ¡°They hadn¡¯t counted yet, but the lieutenant told me to tell you, possibly more than one thousand.¡±

    My jaw dropped, ¡°One thousand. Are you sure he said one thousand?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, he made me repeat it. And I don¡¯t know how much a thousand is, but sir, I have never seen so many people in one place. I didn¡¯t even see that many people during the harvest festival. At least, I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    I tried to keep my composure. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go, Cadet. I need to see this for myself.¡±

    Amos

    ¡°No, Benjamin, I am not going to lead on my cousin to gain a favorable relationship with her father.¡±

    Benjamin sighed, ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean by that phrase, but I can guess, and you would not be leading on your cousin. This is a favorable match. You need to find out if she¡¯s already engaged.¡±

    What I need to do is invent engagement rings so questions like this don''t have to be asked. Why don¡¯t they have those here?

    ¡°It isn¡¯t even that good of a match, and I am sure that once the King rewards us for the plow, we will be in a much more advantageous position. A heiress is also a posible. Do I really want my first wife to be the second daughter of a Baron when I could marry someone with an entire barony?¡±

    I was just making up excuses and putting off the inevitable, but I was also correct.

    ¡°Fine, but we should consider her for your second wife. The relationship would be good.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough, but now we need to figure out what to do about the girl I owe a debt to for ruining her youth.¡±

    Benjamin frowned. ¡°It is in the past. Giving a verbal apology to a commoner is more than even a knight might do. If you do more than that, it will show you consider her equal to the nobility.¡±

    I stayed silent.

    Benjamin sighed, ¡°You are going to do something excessive anyway.¡±

    ¡°I will ensure that she is compensated properly, but I promise I will also ensure that she understands the value of what she is receiving.¡±

    Now, I wish I hadn¡¯t been so open with Kate about how I felt. I now had to find a way to backtrack a bit. I had to make it sound like I was doing something outside the norm. I guess it was time for another talk with Kate. Before that, though, there was dinner and an event tonight to attend.

    I was surprised when Kate came into the dining room with Elizabeth and Aramis. Two things were odd about this. First, Elizabeth was willing to be in the same room as me. But more importantly, why was a commoner sitting at the dining table of a noble? Was it because she was escorted by the son of a knight, or maybe because she was a guest of a noble? Maybe Frabak just didn''t care. I would have to ask Benjamin.

    I tried not to look at Elizabeth, but I soon realized that she would not lift her eyes up from the meal set in front of her. So, I guess I would be doing this without her looking at me. Before I could say anything, Lady Frabak spoke up.

    "So it appears that you are acquainted with the young lady Elizabeth, Baron Amos. I did not get the details on the matter, however," she said. Giving a pointed look to Trish.

    Carter gave a small laugh, which he covered with a cough.

    I shot an accusing look at Trish, and she immediately mouthed sorry to me with a helpless look.

    "Yes," I said, "and I have to admit I was quite surprised to see both my cousin and her friend here."

    As soon as I began to speak, Elizabeth began to run her fingers through her hair. I guess it was time that I said it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    "About four years ago. Catherine''s father helped arrange a meeting between my father and Elizabeth''s father, during which they might discuss our betrothal."

    "You are betrothed?" Lady Frabak said in surprise

    This caused Elizabeth to grip her hair.

    "It is the reason that she has come to Kimton. She received word that I was here painting the Duke and wished to finally end the betrothal now that I am a baron."

    "I see. Oh, Elizabeth dear, no wonder you see melancholy. If you had married him but a year ago, you would now be a true lady. I am so sorry. It must be painful to be so close to having been elevated in status and have it snatched away from you by fate. Do not worry, though. A lovely girl such as yourself will have no trouble finding a husband. I am sure that your father will find you the perfect match."

    "I must correct your assumption, Lady Frabak," I said, "It is my fault she is in such a state. I believe it is fear, not sadness, that troubles her heart."

    "Fear of you? Baron Amos, I have to say I find that hard to believe," Baron Frabak said. I wasn''t quite sure if he meant it as a jab. He was hard to read.

    "I would like to publicly acknowledge in front of my peers that I have wronged Elizabeth. I in no way dishonored my virtue, but I did cause harm to her and her reputation due to my uncontrolled anger towards the betrothal and my father. I will not disclose what I did to her without her permission, for I would not want to embarrass her further, but if she wishes, I will do so. I would also like to compensate her with two hundred gold crowns. Elizabeth, I am truly sorry for harming you."

    The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity, to the point that it started to become uncomfortable. Finally, Elizabeth nodded. For some reason, Aramis frowned at her reaction. Then Elizabeth suddenly stood up and quickly left the table, and Aramis followed after her.

    The silence continued until Lady Frabak said, "Do not fear, Amos. I am sure the girl did not know how to react to such generosity from a noble. She was most likely overwhelmed by the fact that you were willing to publicly acknowledge your mistake. Who would imagine that you are so generous as to give two hundred gold to a mere commoner for something that happened so long ago."

    Everybody nodded in agreement. Everyone except Catherine. She had a look of disappointment on her face. I could not imagine what that was all about. Benjamin was furious when I told him what I was going to do. Was two hundred gold really not enough? It made me mad. What did she expect of me? Two hundred gold might not be a lot to some baronies, but for mine, I cannot even fathom how long it would take to save up that much money. I decided to ask Catherine about it after dinner.

    So, an hour later, I was walking alongside Catherine in the garden. We were speaking about the dueling arena and Rulot. I abruptly interrupted the flow to see if I could catch her with her guard down. "I couldn''t help but notice that Elizabeth and Aramis did not seem all that thrilled about the gift,¡± I said casually.

    It didn¡¯t work. She had been ready for the question.

    ¡°I think the public apology was a little overwhelming for her,¡± Catherine responded in kind.

    We walked silently for a while. I didn¡¯t know how to get the conversation going again. It was time to take the bull by the horns, I guess.

    ¡°Look, Kate, I want to fix this. I thought that was what I was doing. Tell me what I need to do.¡±

    ¡°No, what you did was fine, Amos. It was very generous of you. It is more than most would do.¡±

    ¡°Kate, you¡¯re holding something back,¡± I said, putting more force into my words.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. You¡¯ll think she¡¯s ungrateful.¡±

    ¡°Kate, on my honor, I will not be upset. I just want to know what¡¯s going on.¡±

    There was a long pause. Then she said in a rush, ¡°Elizabeth¡¯s father said that if she were able to get compensation from you for breaking the engagement, then he would allow her to marry Aramis.¡±

    ¡°What sort of compensation,¡± I asked.

    ¡°She told me that it needed to be equivalent or greater than the dowry.¡±

    She waited for me to respond, but I really didn¡¯t know what to say. So, I admitted the truth.

    ¡°Kate, I actually have no idea how much that is. There are no records of the betrothal anywhere in the manor. I didn¡¯t even know we were engaged until Elizabeth¡¯s letter. My father never brought it up after she left.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious!¡± She said with a look of total disbelief.

    ¡°I am. So I need you to find out how much the dowry was.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know that. It was two thousand.¡±

    I stumbled. ¡°Two thousand Gold Crowns.¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s a lot, but-¡°

    I interrupted her. ¡°Kate, that is not just a lot. That is more than my barony is worth.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not serious.¡±

    ¡°When speaking of my barony, I did not discuss the state of our finances. To be frank, many fiefdoms make more money than my entire barony. Maybe even villages.

    ¡°Our fields do not produce much. So what we produce has to go straight back into the ground to feed my people. Our other trade goods can be gotten cheaper elsewhere.¡±

    ¡°You''re that poor?¡±

    Well, that was blunt.

    ¡°Elizabeth¡¯s father is probably wealthier than I am.¡±

    ¡°No, this is awful! You can¡¯t be poor, Amos. You¡­¡±

    Suddenly, there were tears in her eyes, and she fled the garden.

    Was she upset because Elizabeth wouldn''t be able to marry Aramis, or was she upset because she had a poor cousin?

    I laughed at that. I was probably wealthier than 99% of the people in this kingdom, yet I was still poor in the nobles'' eyes. And to think I told Benjamin that it would be disadvantageous if I married Catherine. In the next few years, maybe, but for now, most would consider her out of my league. I would change things, though. I would make it so that my people were the best off in the world.

    I decided to retire for the night. There was no point in thinking about this further. I would have to tell Benjamin about this and he was not going to be happy.

    I mean, I understood why Elizabeth was upset now, but did she really come here expecting me to give her two thousand gold crowns? What noble in their right mind would do that?

    ********

    "You are not serious, my lord? She really wanted you to give her two thousand crowns?" Benjamin said in disgust.

    "I don''t think she came here expecting to get it. She wants it, but there is no way she actually thought she was going to get it. I think Catherine got her all worked up and excited that it might happen. She probably convinced Elizabeth that I was a nice guy and that I would surely help her. If you think I''m an optimist, then you really need to spend a bell talking to Catherine. That girl has her head in the clouds."

    "Well, at least you didn''t promise Catherine that you would find a way to get the money. Even if we had it, we need to make sure we purchase everything we can to strengthen the barony," Benjamin said.

    "Well¡­about that. I had an idea."

    Benjamin stiffened. "My lord, I am not going to like this, am I."

    "What about the cloth?"

    First, he was confused, and then he said. "No, my lord. Absolutely not."

    I gave him a stern look, and he immediately apologized.

    "I am sorry, my lord. Please forgive my rudeness. It is not my place to speak to you in such a way. But, my lord. You mean to give her the cloth."

    "I mean to establish trade."

    "Ah, I see. But do you really intend to give away both of those boxes? Our barony needs that money."

    "I have always been concerned about selling it here in Kimton. Well, ever since I met the duke, that is. If he had gotten a hold of it and traced it back to us, we could have been in big trouble. This, however, could work. If we sent it to the Falmore Duchy and distributed it from there, we might be able to keep it a secret longer. It is not like the production cost is huge. If we sent him this and got a contract for more, we could turn this into something very lucrative. Selling the cloth here may be only a one time thing."

    "You make a good point, and it is a good idea. But it is not our best option. Do not think I do not see what this is about."

    "Yes, Benjamin, it is also about the guilt I feel for causing the girl so much pain. I have also been in a situation where I was shunned and looked down on, and that is also driving my actions. I promise you, though, that if I didn''t believe we would benefit from this in the long run, I would not do it. I owe it to my people to not just throw away the cloth," I said.

    There was a long pause before Benjamin sighed, "I am being somewhat hypocritical. I am telling you not to help this young woman when, if it were not for your generosity, I would never have risen to anything more than a simple scribe. And I would have only been given that low position due to my uncle''s pity. You, however, changed my life. I came to the barony with only the hope of being away from people who looked at me with pity and only tolerated me because of who my father was.

    "You, however, saw more in me. You made me feel valued in a way I never felt outside of my father''s presence, and even he looked at me with pity. It is because of you and your generosity that I have the respect of others. You saw so much more in me than I saw in myself. I will support you in this matter. We will make this work."

    I put my hand on his shoulder. "I do value your advice, Benjamin. I would be lost without you to guide me. I appreciate your loyalty. Now, let''s figure out how to make some money on this. If we''re going to give out free samples, we better get returning customers."

 Book 2 Chapter 46

    It had been three days since the crazy encounter with Catherine. The next day, she approached me and apologized, and our relationship settled into a friendly one. She no longer tried to get close to me. I didn''t feel like she was not interested in me, but more like I was too poor to be a prospective match, which, in my opinion, worked out perfectly.

    I rarely saw Elizabeth or Aramis, but when I did, Elizabeth would glance at me occasionally. Also, she was no longer gripping her hair every time she saw me, so that was progress.

    Aramis, however, was a different matter. The guy was cold towards me. It was not as bad as Marcus was, but it was definitely not friendly. There was no menace in it, however, so I tried not to judge him too harshly. I had caused a lot of problems for his girlfriend, and on top of that, I was not going to be able to fix it so that they could marry. Well, that wasn''t exactly true. The cloth idea would probably work. What merchant didn''t want exclusive rights to a product? Also, my uncle would make a tidy sum on the taxes once production had ramped up. I was not planning on bringing up the cloth until I fixed the relationship or right before they left. I really didn''t want our future relationship to be based around me giving them something. I admit it was probably a stupid thing to worry about. The likelihood of meeting any of these people again was rather small. Especially Arimis or Elizabeth.

    Over the next few days, I actually started enjoying the painting sessions with Count Blackwell. He was very interested in painting and how I made the paintings come alive. I shared many of the concepts of painting with him, but it was all general stuff, so I wasn''t worried about my abilities spreading. Knowing how something worked was a lot different from putting in the thousands of hours that made it work.

    Fortunately, things sped up when I also started painting Count Vimb in the afternoon. Vimb was the exact opposite of Blackwell. He was young and did not have the refined, stately appearance of Count Blackwell. He also flaunted his wealth by having gem-encrusted gold rings on every finger, and his scarf of title had more silver thread than red on it.

    His attitude towards me was that of someone who had to be in the presence of a foul smell. He did not speak to me; instead, he had a servant who spoke to me. It was probably the most awkward conversation I have ever had.

    On top of that, I was not allowed to use a model. He wanted his picture done with all his finery but refused to let anyone else wear his stuff. So rather than being able to just paint his face, I had to listen to his gripe to his servant about the laziness of the Duke''s painter at every session that I actually needed for his body. It was good that all the people I was painting had the same background because otherwise, I would have needed him more often for positioning.

    Finally, the day came when I ran into Elizabeth alone. I went to the pond in the garden to throw crumbs to the fish. As I was walking, Elizabeth suddenly stood up from behind a rose bush. I stepped back in surprise, and upon seeing me, her hand immediately went to her hair. Before things could get out of hand, I gave a shallow bow and said, "Forgive me, Elizabeth. I did not realize you were here. I will come back later."

    I turned and began to walk away.

    "Wait," Elizabeth said softly.

    I turned and looked at her. She studied my face for a long time. "You aren''t him," she said confidently. "Your eyes are different. Amos'' eyes were cruel. He was always angry. I- I read the words written in Trish''s book. She said you wrote them. I saw some of the sketches you have drawn. That monster could not have created such beautiful words and pictures. I don''t know who you are, but you aren''t him."

    I don''t think she actually believed those words, but she was looking for a way to cope with the situation. I decided to help.

    "No, I am not the boy you met four years ago. He is long gone. We will never see him again, and the world is better for it," I said simply.

    That was probably a cruel thing to say about a kid who had a terrible childhood, but I think it was what Elizabeth wanted to hear.

    "Thank you." And with that, she turned and left the garden. The sight of me probably still made me uncomfortable.

    After that, however, she stopped fleeing my presence or refusing to meet my eyes. She even attended a few of the evening events at the Rat''s Tail. Many boys seemed interested in her and would carry on polite conversations with her and Catherine. Aramis, however, stuck by her side and made sure none of the boys took advantage of the situation to get to know her better. The only time he left her was when the ladies would separate from the men and do book readings.

    Catherine had been mainly occupied with the social scene. At first, I had been taking her to balls, and Carter and I would make introductions, but now other young men were inviting her, and we would occasionally attend separate events.

    All seemed to be going well until Duke Kimton started showing up during the times I was painting.

    "I understand you have been explaining your art to Count Blackwell. You will show me how you make these amazing paintings," He said in a voice that brooked no argument.

    I was completely stunned by his demand, to the point where I didn''t even respond. Suddenly, my brain turned back on when I could see he was starting to get angry.

    "Of course, my lord. Forgive me for my speechlessness. I was just overwhelmed by the request. It would be an honor to show you the art of painting," I said humbly.

    Unfortunately, the duke demanded a much more thorough explanation than the count. I was required to explain every movement of my brush and the reason for each color I was using.

    Soon, another canvas was brought in so that I could show examples of things he had questions about without disturbing the count''s painting. Sometimes, he would suddenly request food, and we would have to pause and wait for him to finish eating.

    Then, a third canvas was brought in so that he could practice. Fortunately, the painting seemed to calm him down. He would still get angry, and he got in the habit of slapping me when something didn''t go right, or he wasn''t satisfied. An explanation I gave him. Some might question whether that was really any better. I would say yes because it was a more consistent behavior.

    I had just finished a session with Count Vimb and was heading home when I noticed that Benjamin was trying to hide something that was bothering him.

    "Spill it, Benjamin. What is wrong? Did the meeting with your father not go well?"

    "I wish I was better at hiding my emotions. But this is- it is-" he paused for a moment, "My lord. The duke is planning on killing you."

    I could feel the blood draining from my face, and my muscles went weak as I slumped in my seat of the carriage. "Are you sure?"

    "No. But I hope that is the case. The alternative is much worse."

    I was trying not to freak out. "Tell me."

    "One of my father''s agents had a conversation with someone. The duke said after he learns all he can from you, he will make sure you can never paint again." Benjamin said as solemnly as he could manage.

    "And you don''t think that means killing me?"

    "I hope that is what it means, but as I said, I don''t think so."

    "What do you think it means?"

    "If he were kind, he would just burn out your eyes or maybe cut off your hands. But, my lord, that is not what he likes to do when he has decided to get rid of someone. Depending on how insane he is feeling that day, he will demand torture. I will not tell you the details, but I have seen the results of what he does to people. You will need to find a way to flee. If you are willing, I will support you."

    Of course, I was going to flee. What sane person would not attempt to flee when they would be tortured until they were insane? I- Unless¡­

    "Benjamin, tell me the truth. What are the consequences if I manage to escape?"

    He hesitated, "My lord, it¡­It is your only option."Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    "How many of my people will suffer?"

    "He will¡­" Benjamin sighed. "The manor and the village of Bicman will be burnt to the ground. Everyone in the manor will be killed. He probably won''t touch the villagers. Everyone who might be close to you will be executed and possibly tortured."

    This no doubt included Benjamin. Yet he was still willing to help me escape. Even if we were to gather as many as we could and flee, where would we go? He would hunt us down and punish even more people if he couldn''t get a hold of me. If I fled others would be tortured. This news should have depressed me, but surprisingly, it strengthened me. I sat up straight and said, "Then I will not flee. I promised to defend my people, and if this is my last act, then so be it. I am honestly surprised that I lasted this long."

    We sat in silence on our way back to the manor, and I went to my room immediately upon arrival. I would be lying if I said I did not become depressed. Not just for me and the fear of being tortured. But for my friends and my people. I had wanted such amazing things for them. I wanted to better their lives. And maybe what I had done would be enough, but I would never see it.

    I would not be there to help with the preparations for the Rabiss raiders. I would not be there for Hyrum or Carrie''s wedding. I would not help Jorb¡¯s son Mathew learn to sketch. I would never get to see Emily again.

    I pulled out some of the last paper I had brought. It wasn''t the book paper¡ªjust some cheap stuff to write notes on. I first wrote down my thoughts on everything that was on my mind. Then, I pulled out a sheet and wrote a letter to Draves and Marshandra. I thanked them for everything they had done for me. Then I wrote another to Edward and the various headmen, thanking them as well and giving my thoughts on their various projects.

    Last, I pulled out some parchment I had purchased. It had been even more expensive than I thought, but I wanted to compare the parchment they had in Kimton to my book paper, so I splurged. I used it to write a letter to whom I considered my first friend in this world. I told her how much her friendship meant to me and how much I wished for her happiness. It took a long time to find the right words to say to Emily, and I wrote the last portion by candlelight.

    I thought that I would not be able to sleep that night, but all the emotions that I had expressed drained me so thoroughly that I fell into a deep sleep.

    *******

    When I woke the next morning, I thought everything that had happened was a nightmare, but then I saw the stack of letters. Before I could spiral, I began to sketch. I sketched various pictures of my barony and pictures of places I had been to on my travels. When my heart had finally settled, I started my morning routine.

    As I was getting dressed, Benjamin came in.

    "My lord, I want you to keep this in your hidden vest pocket," he said while handing me a small pouch. It contained the powder that Becca, the crazy garden hermit, had given me.

    I was not pleased to see it again. "Benjamin, why is this still around?"

    He shifted uncomfortably, "I don''t know why I kept it. I meant to throw it out many times, but every time I looked at it, the lady''s warning kept popping into my mind. My lord, if they take you to the dungeons to torture you, I want you to take this. It would be better to die than deal with the torture they will put you through."

    "We don''t know what it does. It could just be hallucinogenic."

    "I will try and find something else that will kill you."

    Geeze, thanks Benjamin, what a great friend.

    I knew he was trying to help the only way the thought he could but still.

    He continued. "The purchase of what I get will have to come through my father, though. Otherwise, it will get back to the duke, and they will assume you intend to poison him. It may take a few days. Keep this on you in the meantime. Even if it is a hallucinogenic, it may take away the pain or make you seem like you have already gone insane, so they let you go.¡±

    When we arrived at the castle, Benjamin turned to me. "Remember, we have time to think of something. It may be a year before he is through with you. A lot can happen in that time."

    True, but it could also be today.

    I nodded and left for the room where I would be painting the count. We would be done with him shortly.

    "You look unwell, young man. Are you ok?" Count Blackwell said.

    "I am just a bit fatigued. I did not sleep well last night," I replyed

    "Ah, a troubled mind is not something that any man can escape. Perhaps we can convince the duke to allow you a day of rest," the man said.

    "I am fine. It will pass, and I will have no problem continuing." I said as I continued to set things up.

    "Well then, let''s get started," he said with a smile.

    It was about an hour later that the duke came in, and instruction began.

    "Why did you mix that darker red? It does not look like his outfit," the duke asked as I was about to apply some paint to the count''s scarf.

    "It is because of the lighting. This will give the illusion of a fold in the scarf and give it depth," I said as I began to apply the paint.

    The door opened, and two servants came in carrying bowls of something that was steaming.

    "My lord, we have brought mushroom soup with new wine and cheese." a servant said.

    "Do not distract me. I am painting. Set it on the table and do not return." The duke said.

    We continued his lessons as I helped him create a forest on a mountainside. The smell of the soup was distracting. I had not eaten breakfast, and my stomach began to growl at the thought of the food.

    Something tickled the back of my mind. A remark that seemed like the ramblings of a crazy lady at the time. "It goes well with soup." I muttered.

    I felt my breast pocket as a lightbulb clicked on in my mind. Is this what she meant? Did she really have clairvoyance, or was she just a mad woman who liked her mushrooms? Did she seriously expect me to poison the duke? This was the duke. I don''t care if he was crazy. This was murder. Or was it self-defense? Would I not defend myself if he had a knife pointed at me? No, this wasn''t the same. But would it be a bad thing?

    This man was a murderer. He delighted in the sorrow of others. The food had already been tested for poison. All I had to do was find a way to get the packet in the soup. So many wrongs could be avoided if this man was dead. His son would take his place. I had heard that his son was a decent man. But I would be a murderer. I still had nightmares about ordering the execution of everyone in the thieves'' camp. Images of unknown women and children cut down in a bloody massacre. This would be murder by my hand.

    Then, I was brought back down to reality. This wouldn''t work. I could not get close enough to the soup to do anything anyways.

    "Boy, what is your problem? You are supposed to be watching me. If this painting is ruined because of your inattention, I will have one eye removed from your head. You only need one to see."

    I growled internally. This man was evil. How many people had died because of his foolish whims? I needed to find a way to kill him. Even if I die with him, I will pay the price.

    Trying to cover up my anger, I said, "Your picture is coming along nicely, my duke. The trees are starting to come alive. Count, come take a look." Trying to make the compliment sound sincere. Actually he was pretty good and a quick learner. Painting really did seem to relax him.

    "This I must see," the count said as he got up from his chair.

    "Boy, get me my wine," the duke said.

    My heart started to beat rapidly in my chest as I looked at the table. Two knives sat on it. I could grab one and plunge it into the duke''s back, but the guard would see and reach me before I got to the duke.

    My thoughts spun rapidly as I got to the table. Looking behind me as I grabbed the clay decanter of wine, I glanced over and saw that all eyes were on the painting. I could grab the knife or¡­

    I pulled the pouch from my pocket and quickly dumped the contents entirely into the duke''s soup. I didn''t dare look up. Fearing that doing so would draw attention. I held my breath as I put the packet away. I was afraid that at any second, the guard would attack me.

    I poured the wine and returned to the duke with the cup.

    He slowly sipped on it as he explained the painting to the count. After appreciating his own work for a while, the duke invited the count to the table to eat. I continued working on the painting of the count.

    About halfway through the meal, the duke suddenly started to become louder. "That is the problem with the king. He has spies everywhere! Always trying to find out what I am doing. And then there are the demons! They come in the night and try to rip my head from my shoulders."

    I was shocked when I looked over. The duke was staring off into space, rambling, but Count Blackwell looked absolutely calm. He turned to the guard and said, "Please have one of your men get the healer. It seems as if the duke is having one of his episodes."

    The guard stuck his head out in the hall and began to speak with someone. Meanwhile, the duke became even louder. "Demons! You are all demons!"

    This caused the count''s expression to change. Apparently, the episode was more than he expected. Then, without warning, the duke grabbed the knife off the table and lunged at the old count.

    Faster than I thought possible for such an old man, the count''s knife was in his hand. The guard and I both froze as the duke knocked the count out of his chair, and they both fell to the floor.

    Then I was in motion. If the count died, they might kill me just for being here. I rushed around the table to find the duke plunging the knife into the count''s lifeless body over and over again. I reached the duke at the same time as the guard. The duke had a wound on his left side, and blood was leaking onto his fine clothes.

    It did not stop him, though. He continued to mutilate Blackwell''s body. "Pull him off. We have to stop the bleeding, or the duke will die." I shouted to the guard. I didn''t really want the duke to live, but if he died without us doing anything, we could easily be blamed.

    The guard wrapped his arms around the duke and pinned his arms. I grabbed the tablecloth and yanked it off the table. I ran forward and tried to get the wadded cloth in my hand to cover the wound while fending off the knife that was still being swiped back and forth by the duke.

    I grabbed his wrist and held it while trying to press the cloth against his wound. I felt a sharp pain in my leg and looked down to see the knife sticking into my thigh. I screamed in pain but continued to try and cover the wound.

    A second guard arrived, and they were able to force the duke down as I fell on top of him and continued to press down on the wound. The guards finally managed to completely subdue the duke as my mind began to become hazy, and I could no longer focus through the pain. I heard shouting all around me as I drifted off into oblivion.

 Book 2 Chapter 46.5

    Amos dies of blood loss.

    The End

    Each chapter has a minimum requirement of 500 words, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of my followers personally. Right now I am at 1,355 followers.

    So, thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  thank you,  and thank you.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

 Book 2 Chapter 47

    Amos dies of blood loss, but Heaven doesn''t want him, and Hell is overcrowded.

    The darkness was absolute. When I first opened my eyes, I thought I had gone blind. The only thing that gave me assurance that I was alive was the pain. I had a splitting headache, and the pain in my leg was excruciating.

    I tried to move and let out a heavy grunt. Then I heard movement in the darkness, and the curtains were pulled aside. This itself did not add much light, but I could make out the outline of a dark figure in front of me.

    "My lord, are you awake?" said the voice of my guard, Rick.

    "Pretty sure, Rick. I don''t think I have ever been in this much pain in a dream."

    "I have a root given to me by the bonesetter if you need it," he said.

    "Maybe later, tell me what is going on," I said.

    "I only know the basics. Nobody in the palace is talking. You got stabbed in the leg while saving the duke''s life."

    "He is alive then?" I said in disappointment.

    "As far as I know. Like I said, the news is being kept quiet. Alternatively, news that the Baron of Bicman saved The duke''s life at great risk to his own is spreading like wildfire," he said as if he were a proud parent.

    If the duke did survive, that is going to suck, but maybe they won''t hang me for treason. Can''t blame me for putting something in his soup if I was trying to save the guy, can they?

    "That is excellent news."

    "The count, however, died."

    Guilt welled up inside me. This was my fault. Had I not put the powder in the soup, that kind man would still be alive. It felt like no matter how much good I tried to bring to this world, some of my choices would always lead to harm.

    I began to breathe deeply and center myself. I had to remember that as long as I was doing my best, I could not let my mistakes weigh me down. That is the way to despair, and I had no desire to go down that road again. Worrying about it would not help my people. And getting rid of the duke would have been a good thing. If the count died without the duke dying, I am going to be pissed.

    "Rick, I think it is time for some of that root. Staying awake and in pain is not going to help me recover."

    I chewed the small brown root until it was nothing more than paste, and half an hour later, I had drifted off to sleep.

    When I awoke next, I had a splitting headache again, and my mouth felt like sandpaper. The pain in my leg was a dull throb, but when I shifted, it intensified to the point that I almost thought I had been stabbed again.

    The sun was shining through the window now, and Benjamin was in the room.

    "Am I going to live, Doc?" I said.

    "Doc?" Benjamin asked.

    "Sorry, Benjamin, bad joke."

    "Oh, I thought you had become delusional. I had almost forgotten about your bad sense of humor."

    I smiled. "Nice Benjamin. So, do we have any more information? Is the duke still alive? I would hate to have gotten stabbed for nothing."

    That was a balf-faced lie. That was the exact opposite of what I was thinking. I would have gladly gotten stabbed if it meant the duke died.

    "Eh hem, my lord, may I present the duke''s son Phillip the second."

    I looked over and saw a man who looked very similar to Duke Kimton standing near the doorway. He was shorter and had less fat, but the biggest difference was that his eyes did not have a manic look. Two other men in the uniforms of scribes stood behind him.

    "I apologize, my lord. I must still be under the influence of the root," I said with a grimace.

    His expression remained indifferent, "Indeed, I came to see if you had woken, and it looks like I arrived just in time. I wanted to thank you for your astonishing bravery in saving the life of my father even while he was threatening your life with a knife."

    He didn''t seem all that thrilled about it.

    "I am a loyal subject of the duchy. It is my duty to protect the duke even unto death."

    "That is the type of service that I would hope from all our subjects. You have pleased me, and so you shall be rewarded. Such a heroic deed, though, requires a reward fitting the service rendered. Discussing the matter with my advisors, we feel that your deeds are worthy of elevating you to the title of count. As of today, you are now Count Bicman of the County of North Cove. This county includes the Barony of Bicman, Plimgus, and Malcomp. As well as all the lands north of Bicman. Though it is unusual to have only three baronies in a county, my advisors assure me that each of those baronies can be split at least once. We will assist you in the development of these baronies and your county. My advisors and I have one requirement. The County seat must be built on the cove. We believe that in the future, that cove will become a major trading port. You are required to stay there and defend the northern border of our lands."

    I was stunned. He made me count just like that. Something wasn''t adding up. Before I could lose myself in my thoughts, I said, "Thank you for this great honor and responsibility. I will serve with all diligence."

    "There is much more to the swearing-in and obligations, but we feel it is important that you return to Bicman and begin work on organizing your county now. Then, you will come back next year and swear your fielty to the Duke. As soon as you are well enough, you should return to your lands. We will find a new Baron to govern Bicman at a later date," he said.

    A chill ran down my spine at those words. How much influence would I have over the new Baron to make sure he treats the people well? How many of my own people could I bring to the North Cove with me? Surly Benjamin would know. Now was not the time to discuss private matters, though.

    And with that, he turned to leave. One of the scribes handed me a stack of parchment.

    "These are your titles and obligations as a count. Familiarize yourself with them. You will be required to adhere to them whether you know them or not, my lord."

    "Of course, thank you, scribe."

    With that, the man left, and Benjamin asked, "Do you have any thoughts, my lord."

    I looked around and said, "None that I wish to share here. Unfortunately, I do not think I will be moving any time soon."

    "There is a litter being brought for you so that you may return to Baron Frabak''s residence, and from there, we will make preparations for travel to Bicman, my lord."

    "Fish and guest," I said with a sigh.

    "What is that, my lord?"

    "Oh, just something a wise man once said. Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days."

    Benjamin thought about it for a bit and then laughed. "I really want to know who some of these wise men you speak of are."

    "Maybe later. I think I am overdoing it here, and this is a lot to take in. Let me rest for a bit.

    ******

    I chewed some root before the carriage ride and ended up passing out the whole trip, which was good, but again, I woke up with a splitting headache.

    Ok, that stuff can''t be good for me, and it might be addictive, so I am going to try and suffer through the pain from now on.

    I was back in my room at the Frabak mansion and trying to get some sleep, but people kept coming in to check on me and make sure I wasn''t getting sick. There didn''t seem to be any infection, and the bonesetter had said that it pierced the muscle, but there was no major tearing. He recommended bed rest for a week and no pressure on it for two weeks.

    After he left, I had my first real visitor.

    "Count Bicman, it is an honor to have you in my humble home," Carter said as he entered.

    "Seriously, I was just told this morning, and I told Benjamin not to tell anyone."

    "Ha, you think you knew about it before the rest of the nobles. You, my dear count, were probably the last person to hear about it. Don''t worry, though, nobody is coming to visit you. Nobody cares about a backwater count any more than they care about a backwater baron."

    "Thank goodness for small favors."

    "Well, you will still have a few people stop by and congratulate you. It never hurts to have a good relationship with a count. So what are your thoughts?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I did not tell him my actual thoughts.

    "It will be an interesting opportunity. I have a small fishing village on the cove that I have to turn into a County Seat."

    "Now that I did not hear. So they want you in the swamp."

    "Yes, I am Count Bicman of the County of North Cove."

    "Sorry, my friend, but I would say someone is not too pleased with you."

    "I will say nothing," I said with a smile.

    Just then, other well-wishers entered. Catherine was beaming, while Elizabeth was slightly subdued. Aramis was nowhere to be seen.

    "Amos, I can''t believe you have become a count," Catherine practically squealed. "My father will be so pleased. He may even¡­ Well, it will be very good."

    I gave an internal eye roll. Sorry, girl, I am not going to marry you.

    "It is good to see you, Kate. Elizabeth, it was kind of you to visit," I said with a smile. "It looks like I will be immobile for a bit, so I will need to depend on you both for the gossip."

    "Of course, Amos. We have a function to attend in an hour, and there will be plenty of gossip to hear. May I bring one of your books?" Catherine asked.

    "Of course, just remember I need to know what people are talking about, and not just what outfits are in style."

    "You have my word, Amos," Catherine said.

    We talked for a bit, and then Benjamin came so I could finally dismiss Chatty Cathy and her silent partner.

    "Well, Benjamin, I have had time to think over what is going on and read through some of those documents, and I would say that this title I have been given is a very bad joke or a setup."

    "A very astute observation. I think it is very similar to what happened to your grandfather. You saved the life of the duke, so you need to be rewarded. They want you in Bicman so you can die during the invasion. Vaspar loses almost nothing from the three baronies except for the mines Malcomp and Plimgus have. Ours are too small to mention. He will probably send a letter of complaint to the Duke and the king, but it will only be a formality. He will be compensated for the loss in one way or another."

    "So why make me a count? Why not just tell me they want me to build a city on the cove and stay there to protect it."

    "Because when the commotion started in the castle, the room quickly filled with people. Guards and servants mainly, but there may have been spies as well. I guarantee that most of the cities in the duchy know some version of the story. Falmoor may even already have news of it."

    The council had great sway in the duchy. They will hold you up as an example of how they reward loyalty. By doing this, it quickly shows that they did not wait for the king to do something. It shows independence on their part.

    It was just what I thought it was. I was the poor, lonely orphan a senator needed for a PR campaign. The masses would be told of my heroic deeds and how I had been rewarded. The lower nobility would see that the Duke had the power to give them more, and the upper nobility would not be angry because I was a count in name only. They would laugh as they told the joke about how the Count of North Cove was exiled to live in a swamp. Of course, this was only one possibility. The plot could be much more complicated.

    "Benjamin is the duke''s son working for the council?"

    "Not as far as we can tell, but the majority of his advisors are. Like his father, he is not really interested in the title of duke other than the power it gives him."

    "So they just told him what to do, and he did it."

    "Don''t simplify it too much," Benjamin warned. "Remember that the council is not a cohesive unit. I imagined this worked with some of the council members'' agendas, and they got to Philip the second''s ear first before the others.

    Blackwell, no doubt.

    "Well, Benjamin, at least we learned a few things from this. We now know the attack is most definitely coming from the north. We also know it hasn''t happened yet, or there wouldn''t be such a rush to make me leave. We also know that I am supposed to die in the attack. Well, actually, they could just want to make me look bad, but I bet they are hoping for my death."

    "I think I will have to agree with you on your deductions. So what are your orders?"

    "I think it is time we pack our things and get back to Bicman as soon as possible. I want to be gone in three days."

    "I believe that is doable. But it means you will have a lot of well-wishers coming in back to back."

    "I thought Carter said nobody cared."

    "He was somewhat truthful. But there are still barons and knights who want to have the favor of any count. Especially if they do not pay attention to the political situation. And then there are wealthy commoners. We also need to call the priest to cancel the engagement. And we need to pick up your glassmaker."

    "Dang, I almost forgot about that. Things have just been so crazy. OK, get a hold of the priest. We will pick up the kid on our way out of town."

    The next three days went by in a blur. Many people wanted to see me. Most brought small gifts like coins or jewelry, and others brought trade agreements they wanted me to sign.

    "My lord, as you can see here, I am incurring a huge expense in traveling to the county seat. I believe the terms of three percent are quite reasonable.

    "Three percent is ludicrous. We will sign for seven percent," I said to the well-tanned merchant.

    "That is most generous of you, my lord. I hope that we are able to add you to our stop sometime in the future."

    "What, that''s it?"

    "My lord?" he said questioningly.

    "You folded easier than the first piece of paper I made, and then you threatened not to be able to come anytime soon. Where is the fun in that? I thought we were negotiating here," I said disappointedly.

    The man looked confused, "You are a count."

    "We are negotiating a contract, so let''s negotiate," I said in an exasperated tone. If no one was going to negotiate with me because I am a count, then this was definitely a deal breaker. They can have their stupid title back.

    Finally, the man decided I was serious and continued his counter. Now, this is what I am talking about.

    News quickly spread that the new count liked to haggle, so I received calls from merchants and traders. Some of the offers were actually investments in trade opportunities, and I used some of the funds I received as gifts to invest in trade.

    I didn''t want to travel back with a caravan, so I didn''t buy a lot of stuff for the trip back. Really, just enough to get us to Vaspar, where the prices were cheaper due to the port.

    Finally, it was time for the visit with the priest. Only the priestess, Elizabeth, and I were in the room. The priestess was probably in her thirties and had a permanent look of disapproval on her face. I could tell she valued efficiency, and I could tell that the fact that I had lost my copy of the contract displeased her. Apparently, a copy was to be kept by both parties and in the county seat of whatever barony the male was from. After the annulment was signed, everything was to be sent to Vaspar, and they would all be destroyed together. The fact that I didn''t have mine meant that I should have needed to go and get another copy from Vaspar before it could be annulled. The thing that saved us was that I was now a count. Counts did not marry commoners. Even if I had been a baron, it would have been enough to void the contract without my own copy since my father was dead.

    So, even though the lady complained, she signed the termination of the engagement contract. I wasn''t going to stiff Elizabeth on the 200 gold I had promised, but I included that in the paperwork anyway. Dot your "Is" and cross your "Ts," as they say. I was still mad that I had wasted that money on something that didn''t work.

    Finally, it was over, and Elizabeth gave me a bow and left. It was odd, but it was more than I would have expected from our first meeting.

    The next day, Catherine''s company packed up to leave. I was in a device that I had ordered built as fast as possible. It was a thrown-together rickshaw with a place for my leg to stay extended. A servant could easily roll me around. Baron Frabak was intrigued by the device, and I explained that I thought it would do well as a means of transportation in a city like this one where space was limited on the road. He loved it.

    I found Carter speaking with Catherine. "It is imperative that your father get this letter, Cathy. It is from a mutual friend of ours."

    "Don''t worry, Carter, I will get the letter to Father," she said with an eye roll.

    He smiled at her and then turned to look at me. "Well, Count Bicman, do you have any final words for your beautiful cousin?"

    "None that concern you," I said jokingly.

    "I see. Well, then, I will leave you to propose on your own," he said.

    Catherine blushed deeply, and I really wanted to smack Carter. It was mean of him to tease her like that. "Enough of that. Kate, it has been a pleasure getting to know you. I truly hope to see you again."

    "You must come to Manticole next winter. I want to introduce you to Father and Mother. Promise me you won''t marry before then. I am sure we can find you a suitable match," she said with a beaming smile.

    "I will do my best. Now, I have a private matter to discuss with Elizabeth. Could you please escort me there?"

    "Of course."

    We left Carter, and my servant brought me toward Elizabeth and Aramis, who were standing in the courtyard. They both bowed to me.

    "Elizabeth, I am sorry that I could not provide you with what you desired as repayment for what you suffered at my hand. However, I do have something that may work." I waved to some soldiers who brought over a large chest.

    When she lifted the lid, the cotton cloth was exposed. She did not look impressed, but being polite she knelt and grabbed the cloth. Her eyes went wide. "Catherine feels this. I have never felt anything like this. It is almost like cotton, but look at the thread¡ªit is so fine, and the weave is so tight.

    "Where- How?" was all she managed to say.

    I had prepared a lie earlier when I first decided to gift this to her, but now that I had been made count, I had a better idea.

    "I have had many visitors and many more gifts brought to me over the last few days. I now have access to this special cloth. I am giving the two chests of the cloth to you as compensation for the termination of the engagement. I don''t believe it to be equivalent to 2000 gold, but now I have a supplier, and I can get much more. Tell your father that I have with me a contract. I will give your father access to my supply chain as compensation for the termination of the marriage. It is a five-year contract."

    I did not bother to mention that Mit Trading House would be handling the shipping. I would just have to make sure the Mit''s didn''t try to gouge them. I had a feeling I was going to need a lot of cotton.

    Elizabeth looked up at me with disbelief. And then a single tear rolled down her cheek. She turned to Aramis. "This will work, Aramis. My father will not refuse this."

    For the first time since he first found out who I was, Aramis smiled in my presence. "Thank you, my lord. This is more than I could have hoped for."

    I reached out with my hand, and he came forward to grip it. "I am glad that I could find a way to help."

    Just then, Another of my guards arrived. "My lord, everything is loaded. We are set to travel."

    "Excellent, I am so ready to leave. We need to travel quickly. I have had no news from Draves since we arrived, and I am beginning to worry."

    "If there is one person I feel you don''t have to worry about, it is the captain, my lord."

    "I am sure the captain could hold back an army, but I worry about the collateral damage."

    We continued to joke about Draves until I was lifted into the carriage. I had already said my goodbyes to the family and Rulot. Frabak had left for the day, and Carter said he wasn''t big on good-byes, so in the end, only Trish was there to see us off. She clutched a book in her hand as she waved farewell.

    "Well, Benjamin," I said with a smile. "Let''s go get ourselves a glassmaker."

    "My lord, I don''t see why you are so eager to have a glassmaker. It was painful for me to hand over that fifty gold for a mere apprentice."

    "The glassmaker will help you see that himself. Very soon, that fifty gold will be a drop in the bucket compared to what we will get in return. I would hate to ruin the surprise. It is time to make North Cove County the greatest place on Marth. There is just the little matter of Rabiss Raiders to deal with first."

 Book 2 Epilogue

    Countess Cynthia Blackwell

    "From the beginning, Sal," I said, trying to control the fury in my voice. It disgusted me to have to be in the presence of this man right now. Everything had gone wrong. Not unfixable, but definitely not according to plan. "That fool of a husband swore that the duke would not go completely mad."

    "He could have made a mistake with the dosage. We fed the remains of the soup to a dog. For a normal dose, the dog would not have reacted, but whatever was in there caused the dog to temporarily become erratic."

    "There is nothing temporary about the duke''s condition. The man is completely insane," I said in frustration.

    "It doesn''t affect dogs the same way. The fact that there was a reaction at all means the doses were high."

    "If the boy hadn''t been trying to save the duke''s life when everyone arrived, we could have blamed him for this whole mess. I want to know which council member got Philip to make the boy a count. I will be having words with him. I now owe Count Malertis a favor for convincing Philip to shove him right into the path of the raiders. I am sure he would have hidden himself away near Decmoore if not for that. It disgusts me that Malertis has more influence over the new duke than I do."

    "We have thought about how to fix that problem. The duke killed your husband, after all. You deserve compensation," Sal said calmly.

    "Good. Let us review your plans in a moment. What about the other matter concerning Bicman?"

    "Yes, my lady. As you know, we received a report from Vaspar stating that Bicman may have been aware of the raid. Upon further investigation, we gathered supporting evidence of that. We found that, for some reason, the Baron had his Captain of the Guard return to Bicman. At the same time, he began buying large amounts of food and supplies. No weapons but metals that could be turned into weapons. After arriving here, Kimton''s steward sent a message to Vaspar that was supposed to be sent to Bicman. We intercepted the letter, and it was never passed. It said two words; Cove Rabiss."

    The short man paused for a moment and then continued. "If that information is all that was sent, then we must assume that they know there is a threat. We sent a spy up to Bicman. He has just now returned to Vaspar. The pigeon he sent states that Bicman has a small fighting force of about four hundred men and women. They are all at various levels of training, and many will flee before a battle even starts."

    "But he has them. Where did he get them?" I said angrily.

    "They are all his peasants. The spy was not overly impressed with the quality of their gear or ability. But they are also building fortifications, which will cause problems for the raid. Since his captain did not receive the message of where the raid would be coming from, he is building fortifications in the north and the south. All the villages are capable of housing three hundred people, and they are building more."

    "What about the people that the king sent? I hear there are more than was expected," I said.

    "This is actually a very good thing. They are all a bunch of peasants. They will only drain Bicman''s limited resources. Our spy left when the north winds began to bring winter to Bicman. Many will freeze and die of starvation while the new count attempts to save them."

    "Good. Let''s make sure our people continue to stop the flow of information to and from Bicman. Send some mercenaries north and seize any supplies going to Bicman."

    "We will send the news to Rabiss. Let the raiders know that they are expected. They will want to know that more slaves will be available for the taking. Tell them we recommend that they at least double the number of raiders. Is there anything else?"

    "The source of the leak," Sal said.

    "Ah, yes. Explain."

    "We discovered that Bicman went to the Temple of the Endless One shortly before seeing the Count. He spoke with the Priestess Tanya. If you remember correctly, she assisted him in removing Decmoore."

    "You are not seriously suggesting the Endless One is actually interfering in the events of this world?"

    "It would seem a coincidence except for the fact that the count himself visited the girl shortly after. After that, an agent reported that the count offhandedly mentioned that "it appears the Endless One has an interest in Bicman."

    This didn''t make sense. The Endless One did not care about the wars of mere mortals. Whole nations were slaughtered at the hands of others. I didn''t think the Endless One would care about a single barony. However, it was never good to leave things to chance. We will have to test this. After what I have done for that old man, I am far past redemption anyways.

    "If Bicman survives this, I may be willing to admit that the Endless one has an interest in the affairs of men. First, we must eliminate the variables. Have the priestess killed."

    This caused Sal to take a step back. But he eventually nodded his head. "As you wish, countess."

    "Also, respond to Baron Sophis''s letter. I agree that now is the time to remove the steward of Kimton. However, we cannot act independently on this. We have lost the count and his connection to the duke. Organize a vote in the council."

    "Yes, my lady."

    I sighed. I should have never bought into Blackwell''s plan. Now, I am stuck with his blasted faction. Unless Sal''s next plan is good enough, those blood-sucking members of the council will turn on me.

    "You said we can benefit from my husband''s death. Tell me everything," I said. Hoping for some good news.

    Duke Norris Falmore

    I stared down at the ruby-red liquid in my mug. It seemed that I needed more and more wine to settle my nerves these days.

    Denise entered the room, and a look of concern immediately appeared on my young wife''s face.

    "What troubles you, husband?" she said as she walked over and sat on my lap. I wrapped my arm around her waist, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. She was my one joy in this increasingly dreary world.

    "It is the usual. My nephew refuses to act. He is so paralyzed by fear of losing everything that the kingdom is falling apart. We found another few agents of the council and traced them back to the barons they work."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    "What will you do?"

    "There are knights in the kingdom who deserve elevation. We will execute the traitor and his family and give the land to one of those who helped us uncover the spies. I am not even going to bring this to the king''s attention. And that bothers me."

    "He is a good man," she said.

    "And I love him for that, but he is weak. He is too eager to please. And fears his own councilor''s displeasure. If it had not been for people like Vapar, he would have lost the kingdom long ago."

    "Do not give all the credit to your friend, dear. The king needs you more than anyone. And not all is lost. I have gathered a lot of information. Even if the people are displeased with the king, most understand the dangers we face and that unity is the best option. Dissensions only serve to weaken our nation. They want the war to end, but not at the cost of all we have gained. How are the negotiations with Turabe going? Are they willing to attack from the south?"

    "We offered them the Hitub capital and all the lands south of it if they would assist, but they are weary of us. We are known for our desire to unite the world and fear that aiding us will only open them up for an attack. They enjoy the buffer Hitub provides. I think we have enough outposts and men along the front to secure what we have gained. The supply chains and roads have been improved, so I think it may be time to withdraw and secure the border. It is only a matter of convincing my Nephew it is time for an armistice."

    "That would be nice. Who is the traitor?"

    I sighed. I had hoped to avoid this. It was what was troubling me most. Executions were always harder when you liked the people.

    "It is someone I know, isn''t it?"

    "Manticole."

    Denise''s body stiffened. I looked down and saw a single tear roll down her face. The words were barely audible as they escaped her lips. "Oh, little Cathy."

    Tom

    I was dying. The hunger faded days ago, but I ran out of water, and now my world is consumed by thirst. I couldn''t leave the shop. The master had taken my coverings. All of them were thrown into the fire before he abandoned me. He knew I might try and flee before my new master arrived.

    He told me to wait here for my new master. I had waited. I didn''t know how many days it had been. I did not wait for my new master to come and get me. I was waiting for him to kill me. He would be disgusted by what he saw.

    Misery, life was only full of misery. Before they took me from my mother, she had said to find the hand of happiness. I had tried. I had tried so hard for her. But how could I find happiness? There was no such thing as happiness for someone like me. And now I was dying. I had failed her.

    I prayed every night to Lord Malitouma just as Mother had taught me. I prayed for my mother and for his hand. Now, I prayed for the hand of death, and still, he denied me. Why couldn''t I just die?

    Was that a pounding on the door, or was the delirium back? Voices like the whispers of ghosts drifted to me from somewhere.

    "My lord, there is no answer, and it is quiet inside."

    The response was too soft to hear.

    There was a loud crash, and suddenly, light poured in from the open doorway. Soldiers started to enter.

    "It looks empty, my lord."

    "Well, crap. There goes my fifty gold. I need a glassmaker."

    "We will find the man. We will put out a notice."

    The one they called lord, my hand of death, laughed. "Good luck. He is probably halfway across the kingdom by now. Why would he give up his shop for a measly fifty gold."

    "I''m guessing there is more to him leaving them than meets the eye," the soldier said.

    They had come. They will kill me.

    It was at that moment I realized I wasn''t ready to die.

    MaIitouma, send thy hand of protection.

    I scooted further into the corner. A loose stone moved and made a soft noise.

    "Who''s there?"

    "Rick, if they are hiding, they aren''t going to answer you. Men open the windows."

    Suddenly, light flooded the room, exposing me. I huddled tightly into a ball, waiting for the angry shouting to start. Instead, there was a long pause.

    "Huh, well, that''s not what I expected. Hey kid. Show me your face."

    I didn''t move. The terror of death had gripped my heart.

    "You heard the count, look up," said a harsher voice.

    "Chill, Rick, looks like the kid has had it pretty rough. Kid, I got some food. Can you tell me what happened to the people who used to be here?"

    I looked up at the largest man I had ever seen standing with crutches. And I saw something¡ªsomething I don''t think I had seen since I last saw my mother. What was the expression? Worry? Was he worried about me?

    I heard another voice farther away. "My lord, I must insist you get off your feet. It is not good for your leg."

    "I''m not on my foot, Benjamin. I''m on my crutches, so stop babying me. Now come look what we have here."

    Another man stepped into the light. He looked down at me and then took a step back with a look of concern on his face. "My lord, that isn''t who I think it is, is it?"

    "Oh, I think it is exactly who you think it is," the count said in a voice that made it seem like he thought the sight of me was a big joke.

    "This is not good, my lord."

    "What are you talking about? It''s fine. I don''t care what color the boy''s skin is."

    "Many in Bicman will have a problem with it in a few months. Nobody is going to want someone from Rabiss near them."

    "The kid will just join our merry band of misfits. We are going to help this boy to help us to change everything." The count said

    "You are a true optimist, my lord," the man he called Benjamin said.

    "It''s a good thing, too, or this whole situation would drive me insane."

    When the man turned back to me, he smiled. He smiled at me. When was the last time I had seen a smile?

    "Well, I am going to assume you are Tom. I think it is time we all went home," the large man said.

    Emily Papermaker

    I ran my hand along the polished wood of the new pulp maker. I thought it was funny. Even though it did the same thing as the first two, it was special¡ªnot just because the stonecutters, Jorb, and the woodworkers had all put extra care into it, but because it was my first birthday gift. People weren''t supposed to get birthday gifts unless they were noble. We were allowed to do nice things for each other, but birthdays were supposed to be a time to reflect on one''s last year of life.

    Amos said that was stupid. He said it was ok to reflect, but birthdays should be celebrated. He would give a loaf of bread or a small scoop of honey to the children on their birthday. For adults, he had started giving them things they may need, such as new bowls or plates. Sleep stockings or caps. He sometimes wrote small letters to people wishing them a happy birthday. They were always folded in half. Sometimes, they were funny. After he brought back coins from his first visit to Vaspar, He started giving copper pennies to the children.

    The pulp maker reminded me of him. It made me smile, but it also made me sad. We hadn''t heard any news from him in so long. I missed him. I missed his smile. I missed the way he would make me laugh. I missed the way he would call me Em, even when Benjamin frowned at him.

    I wish he were here. I wish he could see all the papers we had made for the publishing house and all the cheaper papers we had just sent to Vaspar. He would probably ruffle my hair and say, "Good job," and I would hate it and love it at the same time.

    I looked around one last time at all the work that had been done. It had been a good day, and the other kids had worked hard. Thanks to the new pulp maker, all the racks were full.

    As the light from the sun started to fade, I hurried to make sure everything was in order for tomorrow when the boys came in. Suddenly, the door to the paper-making shop opened. When I turned around, Billy was in the doorway. At least, I thought it was Billy. He was wearing Billy''s cloak with the hood pulled up, but I had been working every day with Billy''s for the last few months. Billy was taller.

    My heart started to pound rapidly in my chest as the person closed the door behind him. I was about to scream when he pulled his hood back.

    ¡°Marcus,¡± I said in a barely audible voice. His hair was a mess, and he now had a scraggly beard, but I knew it was him.

    Carrie''s brother looked at me like a predator who had just caught its prey. He smiled. ¡°Happy Birthday, Emily.¡±

    The End

    Up next: Book 3, The Hand of Malitouma

 Book 3 Chapter 1

    There are some things I never thought I would do in this life. This one was so far out there I hadn''t even thought about it. I sat in my carriage with my leg propped up, trying to find a way to speak with a Rabissian slave.

    I remember the first time I saw a man from the island country of Rabiss. They had a darker skin tone than those of us from the country of Falmoren. Had I not been trying to keep them from killing me, I would have realized that they had many features similar to Native Americans. However, my first encounter with them had not been as cordial as this one. I remember their screams as they tried to kill or capture me. Hyrum and my soldiers had sacrificed themselves to let me get away.

    When I was in Vaspar, there were Rabissian merchants and traders, but I always stayed as far away from them as possible. Logically, I understood that raiders from Rabiss did not make up the majority of the island, but it would take a while for the prejudice to fade.

    That being said, Rabiss was not a peaceful place either. Benjamin had limited knowledge about their society, but what he told me confirmed that it would not be an ideal vacation destination. The people were divided into clans. There was constant fighting, and defeating a clan meant they would gather slaves. Some women would become part of their clan, as well as some of their warriors, if they found them worthy. The rest would become slaves. They would be used to working in their fields or being sold to other clans with whom they were not at war. Many of the people would be sold to Hitub or Turabe. In a way, it was part of their population control on the island.

    The Kingdom of Falmoren did not buy slaves, so its main exports to us were spices. Its whalers traded whale meat and bones. Apparently, the Rabiss channel was a great place to trap whales.

    I asked about whale oil, but Benjamin didn''t know, and I wasn''t ready to talk to Tom yet. The only reason I knew about whale oil was because I had to read Moby Dick in high school. Part of what the class discussed was what whales were used for in the whaling industry during the 1800s. The blubber was rendered down into oil for candle making and a good lubricant. I don''t remember much else.

    Now that I have thought about it, should I try to invent whale oil? It was a cheap source of fuel, and the lubricant could have been used if I had ever managed to spur an industrial revolution. The only thing that made me hesitate was that I think humans on Earth had hunted some species to extinction.

    On the other hand, if I was fast enough, I could also find a way to use other sources of light, such as electricity or the kerosene lamps we used at scout camp. That would be a huge leap in technology. My goal was to educate my people and point them in the right direction. There had to be people smarter than me around here if they just had the necessary education. Ok, so whale oil was on the table because it would help us to get to the next step. I still didn''t know how to make electricity, though, so yeah, it is whale oil until I can get a magnet to spin around metal or vice versa. I can''t exactly remember. A magnetic field and something spinning. Why didn''t I study electrical engineering? The electricity merit badge was definitely not enough. Well, actually, maybe it was if I had actually paid attention. I''ll blame it on the merit badge instructor''s inability to teach well. Yeah, we will blame the teacher.

    Benjamin said something, and I snapped back to reality.

    "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."

    "I asked. If you have decided what stops we are going to make on the way back?"

    "I would like to stop by and see Lord Cumfrence and Lord Sophis.

    "Are you sure he will like your gift?"

    "Baron Sophis is a genius. Just because you do not like the game of chess doesn''t mean others won''t."

    Besides, I paid a lot for this to be made so quickly, so he would appreciate it better.

    I really wasn''t as confident as I tried to seem. "In Vaspar I need to see Fredrick and posible Count Vaspar. I want to remain on good terms with them since I have technically stolen some of his land."

    It does make for an awkward relationship. Fortunately, they are his three least profitable baronies with the lowest population."

    It was time to address the Rabissian in the room. Tom had his head down, and he looked as tense as a bowstring.

    It had been an ordeal getting him into the carriage. First, we gave him some water because he was completely dehydrated. It had to have been at least a couple of days since he had had any food or water, and that is on top of the fact that he didn''t look well-fed in the first place. He guzzled down the water and took the small portion of bread we gave him without saying a word.

    His father, who I was sure really had no relation to him, had said he was a mute, but he had lied about his face, so I am sure this was a lie, too. His pinky and ring finger were, in fact, fused together, so I guess that was one honest response. What I was really nervous about was whether this boy really knew how to make glass. Fifty gold wasn''t a terribly large amount for me at the moment, but I could have spent it on other things. Actually, I had a feeling that now that I was a count, my expenses would skyrocket. I was expecting a huge return on investment from the boy.

    "So, is Tom your real name?" I asked, trying to get the conversation started.

    Tom said nothing.

    "You will answer when his lordship speaks, do you understand," Benjamin said sharply.

    The boy nodded.

    I wanted to tell Benjamin to lay off, but then again, the boy would need to learn to respect me, or it would be hard to integrate him. Maybe a good cop bad cop was a good idea.

    "Can you speak, Tom?" I asked gently.

    He nodded.

    "Tell me what your real name is."

    He whispered something.

    "Speak up, boy. His lordship shouldn''t have to repeat himself."

    "Tumlus," he said, barely audible.

    "Well, Tumlus, was Mark really your father?"

    He shook his head and then corrected himself.

    "No, Master."

    The boy''s thick accent confirmed my suspicions about why he was not allowed to talk.

    "Wait, are you saying he was your master, or are you addressing me as your master?"

    Tumlus paused for a moment and then said, "He was my master, and now you are."

    "Uh, no. I''m your lord." Then I paused and chuckled. I guess there isn''t much difference unless¡­ "Tumlus, are you a slave?"

    "Yes, master, uh, lord," he said.

    "Care to explain this, Benjamin," I said.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    "The man must have traveled south and bought a Rabissian slave."

    "Slavery is illegal here."

    "It is done, anyways, especially in the borderlands," Benjamin said

    "How old were you when you were made a slave?" I asked Tumlus.

    "Eleven¡­ my lord."

    I sighed. I was pretty sure he didn''t want to talk about it. "How did it happen?"

    "The Polutus Clan attacked our town. My father was killed, and my mother was taken. They brought me to the mainland, where I was sold to fighters."

    "Fighters?"

    "I have heard that our military men will sometimes pool their wages to buy a porter from the slave market. People to do all the menial tasks," Benjamin said.

    "Laws are a lot more flexible in some noblemen''s camps."

    Not much different than Earth. The wild west of America was that way.

    "I see, so Mark was part of the military. Did he leave after his service was done? And set up a glassmaking shop.

    "No, he found my father''s necklace," Tumlus said in a sad voice.

    "So your father was a glassmaker?"

    Tumlus looked up for the first time, and in a proud voice, he said, "He was the glassmaker of Rabiss."

    "The glassmaker of Rabiss. Was he the only one?"

    This caused Tumlus to become confused. "I don''t know. People came to the shop and would ask for the glassmaker of Rabiss."

    "Well, we''ll come back to that. So he found out you were the son of a glassmaker. What happened next?"

    "He fled and took me with him."

    "So the man deserted the war as well. I am sure the tale of how he managed to set up a shop is interesting, but we will forgo that part for now. So you taught the man everything your father was teaching you, and he put a bag over your head as a thank you. I suppose he took your necklace as well. Stupid git."

    "He broke my necklace when he got mad at me. I saved some beads, but¡­"

    I put my hand over my face and slid it down in exasperation. I sighed. I should have asked if there was anything he needed there. We didn''t see anything but a starving kid in a corner of a glass shop and just assumed he had nothing.

    "You left the beads in Kimton, didn''t you."

    He said nothing.

    "Benjamin, have the carriage stop."

    "My lord?"

    "Just do it? Tumlus, where are the beads?"

    "Under a loose stone where I was lying."

    "Rick, find another soldier to ride with you and go back to Kimton. I need you to retrieve the beads."

    "Yes, my lord," he said without hesitation. He hopped out as soon as the carriage came to a stop. I knew it was at least a three-bell ride back to Kimton, so the fact that Rick did it without any argument spoke highly of him.

    "You''re going to get my beads?" Tumlus asked in total disbelief.

    "I am. Something like that should never be separated from you."

    The glass beads were probably worthless, but we all kept things that were more precious than their face value. For me, it was a stupid keychain. I had gotten it from a gas station for Nathan''s sixteenth birthday. It was one of those cheap plastic ones that lit up. It blinked the name Nathan. I got it because I knew that he would think it was stupid. And he did. But he still used it.

    After I had recovered enough to cope with things, I found the keychain. I kept it with me even after the surfboard decal on the back had worn off and the battery had run out on the LCD. I would travel halfway around the world to have something here that belonged to Nathan or my mom, even if it was that stupid plastic keychain.

    "Tumlus, I have been interrogating you, and I am sure you are scared and wondering what is going on. So let me tell you what I am planning on doing. We are going to my barony¡ª I mean county. Dang, that is so weird. Anyways, we are going to my home, and I want to hire you to make glass for me. I won''t force you to make glass, but I really need you to teach people how to do it. I need to know how to build the glass furnace and the right temperatures. You are not a slave. I will pay you for your work. How does that sound?"

    He said nothing for a long time. Then he asked in his quiet voice. "Why didn''t you kill me?"

    That caught me off guard. I looked back and forth between Tumlus and Benjamin. "Why would I kill you? Do people in Kimton kill Rabissians?"

    "Rabissians are not well-liked in Kimton. In fact, in many of the country''s inner areas, they are considered pirates and slavers. The only reason I know differently is because of my education. The first time I saw one was in Vaspar when I visited the docks. I only knew what they looked like from the descriptions father gave me."

    I always had to remember that these people did not have the advantage of meeting people from other places. Some may never meet anyone outside their country in their entire lives, so of course, there would be strong prejudices.

    I turned to Tumlus. "I am assuming that your master told you that people would kill you if they saw you?"

    He said nothing. He probably realized that Mark had been lying to him his whole life.

    "He wanted to make sure you didn''t flee or take off your outfit because what he was doing was illegal. You never have to hide again, Tumlus. I will help you as best I can."

    Tears formed in his eyes. Although the kid was close to my age, I still wanted to reach over and comfort him, trying to give him some sort of assurance. It would have been inappropriate, though. I was a count and had to act the part. That would stop me from making sure this kid didn''t have a frick''n awesome rest of his life, though.

    "Tell me something. What is the method you use to shape glass?" I was really curious. From what I could tell, they did a good job, but it was nothing sophisticated. I wonder if we could do it better or if it would take machines to get good quality.

    "We melt the sand, glass crystals, and lime to make glass and then use clay molds."

    "That is interesting. I didn''t know that you used other things besides sand. What are glass crystals?"

    "A powder from Turabe."

    Interesting. I wonder if that is what made the glass not clear or if this was something I missed at the Renaissance fair.

    I had no clue where Turabe was and was not going to embarrass myself by asking. I would have to ask Draves. I needed a map. I just kept forgetting.

    "So we need to get this glass crystal if we are going to make glass?"

    "Tree ash works. It was just easier to get large amounts of glass crystals from Turabe."

    "Thank you for being so open with me," I said appreciatively.

    Tumlus shifted uncomfortably and then said, "It is common knowledge among glassmakers. I would need it if I were to make glass for you."

    "But there is something you are not telling us¡ªsomething you kept hidden from your master," Benjamin said accusingly. When I looked at him, he had a stern face.

    Tumlus''s face drained of color, and his eyes went wide. I am sure he would have run if we weren''t in a moving carriage.

    "It''s fine, Benjamin. It is probably what made his father the glassmaker of Rabiss. Let him hold on to that. I am hiring him to make a special glass. If he can, then it doesn''t matter if he keeps his father''s secret. Tell me, Tumlus, have you ever heard of blowing glass through a tube?"

    Emily Papermaker

    Marcus, what was Marcus doing here? Was he insane?

    I took a step back. Closer to my new pulper. There was nowhere to run to. My paper shop only had one exit. And the windows were shuddered tight. No one was supposed to know what we did in here. I was too shocked to scream and worried he might kill me if I did. I finally found my voice and managed to say, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± My voice was so soft I wasn''t even sure he would hear me.

    ¡°I came for you. I couldn''t leave you in the hands of the monster. He is forcing you to do man''s work,¡± he said as if that made complete sense. Amos was right. He was insane.

    ¡°Marcus, you killed your mother," I said. It was all I could think to say.

    As he approached me, a manic gleam entered Marcus''s eyes. ¡°No, no, that was that evil monster. He made me do it,¡± he said.

    What was he talking about?

    ¡°He wasn''t even in the barony,¡± I said, trying to defend Amos.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t you see? She twisted her ankle. She couldn''t walk. She wouldn''t be able to escape the monster. I had to leave her, but If he had caught her, the monster would have tortured her to find out where I had gone. Then he would have killed her anyway.¡±

    I wanted to deny that Amos would do that, but I knew Amos had changed. He regretted how he had not locked up Patricia. The Amos we had now would have sentenced her to death for treason and then felt bad about doing so. But he wouldn''t have tortured her.

    ¡°Amos would never-¡±

    Marcus palm slapped me across the face. Knocking me to the floor. He had moved so fast I didn''t even have time to defend myself. My cheek ached, and tears filled my eyes.

    ¡°I came here to rescue you, and you just casually used the name of the monster in front of me. Get up, we''re leaving,¡± he snarled.

    My head was ringing, but I was still able to notice the dagger in his hand. I froze, unable to move. Marcus¡¯s hand squeezed my wrist and yanked me to my feet. It was almost dark now, but I could still clearly see the insanity on Marcus¡¯s face.

    Suddenly, the door opened, and Alfa walked in carrying a small oil lamp. I was in such shock that all I could think was, Alfa, you idiot, you know that no fire is allowed in the shop.

    ¡°Hey Emily, are you still here? Paw told me to check and see if... Hey, who are you?¡±

    I tried to scream a warning, but Marcus¡¯s was too fast. He leaped forward and plunged the knife towards the younger boy''s heart. Alfa dodged just in time, and the knife ended up being embedded in his shoulder.

    He dropped the lamp and began to scream. Time seemed to slow as I watched the lamp bounce twice before shattering and spilling oil across the floor. The flames quickly spread to where the oil had run underneath a drying rack. The flames licked at the loose paper.

    Time sped back up as Alfa''s scream brought me back. He was on the floor writhing in pain. Marcus stood over him. I ran to Alfa, covering his body with my own and trying to press down on his wound as I had been told to do.

    I thought at any second, I would be yanked off the boy or have a knife plunged into my back. Then, I caught the pungent smell of smoke. My beautiful shop was on fire, and it made me want to cry. But right now, I had to save Alfa. Looking around, I couldn''t see Marcus anywhere. He had fled.

 Book 3 Chapter 2

    Our travel North was less stressful. With the escort of thirty guards we were given, I did not fear bandits, but the guards seemed to be there more to hurry us along than to actually protect us. That was fine by me because I was eager to get back. In fact, we probably would have moved faster without the soldiers marching since all my people were on horseback, and I had sold a lot of what we were carrying in the carts. It allowed me to sell a wagon so we could move faster by rotating out the horses. But our trip down here, where we were all on horseback back, made me forget how slow it was to travel with people on foot. But I learned my lesson on that trip. I would rather travel slowly with guards than not have a protective force with me when bandits attacked. Even the flags of nobility did not guarantee safety. A lesson that cost me, Drake. The fact that my flags were now red instead of white, due to me being a count now, meant very little to me.

    Slowly, Tumlus opened up as we made our way north. I had a few sets of clothes purchased for him at the town we stayed in the first evening.

    Toward the end of the day, we saw the spectacular Ridgeland Castle. I was sure that Baron Sophis was already well aware of our approach. And I wasn''t disappointed as we were immediately brought to the dining hall to sup with Baron Sophis.

    "My lord, it is an honor to be greeted most magnanimously," I said with a nod.

    Baron Sophis stood and bowed. "Not at all, my dear count. It is I who am honored by the presence of the newest count in the duchy," he said with a knowing smile.

    He knew exactly what game the nobles were playing when they made me count, but I doubt he would answer me if I asked.

    After dining in relative silence, I said, "I am most grateful for your introduction into society. I hope you were not expecting me to come home with Lady Dianne at my side."

    This caused the man to give a hearty laugh. "Not at all, though I am surprised Baron Frabak did not insist after you finally convinced her to cut her hair."

    Of course, he knew. How did the man gather information so fast? He must have had pigeons or riders constantly coming into his estate.

    We had been passed by a few messages on our way here. I wonder how they avoided bandits. Even if they only carried messages and not gold, the horses were valuable.

    "Well, I am sure that you knew I could not pass up the opportunity to return the favor of the introductions. So, I have brought you a creation I hope you will find appealing and enjoyable."

    I had Benjamin bring over a tiled board made of white and grey marble. On top of it rested two ornately carved boxes, one black and one white. Benjamin opened the boxes and started setting out pieces. I explained the pieces as he set them out.

    "The first piece there is called the Hier. The object of the game is to protect him. Standing beside him is the king. He is the most powerful piece. To either side of them are the King''s Queens¡­"

    Yes, I had changed the names of the pieces on the chessboard. I did not want to offend the rulers of the land, who certainly would not appreciate the king being the weakest piece, even if I told them he was the most important piece. I explained the basics of the rules, and Sophis seemed intrigued.

    "The name of the game is Protect the Heir, or just Heir for short. Would you care to play?"

    "This does seem interesting. I am not much for the game Tiles, but I see that this game may have a bit more complexity. Show me how it is played."

    After setting up the board, I sat down across from him and began to explain the rules. I was not an excellent chess player. The only time I really played chess was with Nathan when we were extremely bored. I did know a couple of strategies, but I couldn''t think far enough ahead to call myself any good.

    Of course, I won the first game, but not by as much as I had hoped. By the third game, he had beaten me. I figured he would pick this up quickly and start to beat me, but not so rapidly.

    "Well, I may not be a strategist like you, but at least I invented a game that seems to interest you."

    "Indeed, it is quite an intriguing game. However, I think I would get bored quickly playing against someone like you," the baron said teasingly.

    "Yes, I am afraid you will have to find someone with a quicker wit than I am in order to truly be satisfied with this game."

    "I have a few friends that I would love to teach this to," he said in a slightly excited voice.

    "I am glad you like the gift. May I ask you some questions that I feel you would most likely have the answers to?"

    "You may ask," he said in a tone that made it clear he wasn''t necessarily going to answer.

    "Do you know why they made me a count? Nobody does things without reason."

    "Of course, I know. It was a counter-move, which was part of the biggest game in the kingdom."

    "I figured I was a pawn."

    Even though I knew this was the case, it was a difficult pill to swallow. "I just don''t understand the move."

    "No, I would put you as a little more valuable than a pawn. Still, someone who would be sacrificed," he said, deflecting the real question.

    "What do you want?" I said.

    "What do you have that is worth the information? What I know can assist you in the future if you survive the attack on your barony."

    Of course, he knew about the Rabiss raiders. With the people he had introduced me to, I was sure he was involved with the council. Not that it mattered. Part of why he had introduced me to the people he had was to show that the power in Kimton was not held by the King but by the nobility.  But what should I give him for the information I need? He was the sort of person who preferred information over things, but¡­

    "I will give you the design for something that will increase the speed at which you can cut lumber and reduce the amount of manpower needed. When I left, my people were building and refining the process. I can give you the designs now, and then I can send you updated designs and notes," I said.

    Why was I willing to give this information up? Because there was no way to hide it. If I gave Sophis a few months to a year''s head start, then I am sure he would be able to make a successful business out of it.

    "And no one else has this? I already know about the plow you created and how you gave credit to the king. But I have not had any information on this."

    "The sawmill shouldn''t have gotten out yet. As I said, we were designing and building it."

    He thought for a moment. "Alright, so let''s discuss why you were made count. What do you know of the political situation in the kingdom?"

    "It''s falling apart at the seams. The king has a lot of people mad at him because of the war with Hitub. They want it to end. The king has very few supporters in Kimton, to the point where some people flaunt their opposition openly without fear of consequences. I don''t know what it is like in other duchies, but Githum seems to be in the same situation. The gossip I got at the different functions pointed to a council that was in opposition to the king. Not all the members of the council see eye to eye. I believe the only reason why the king has not lost all power is that the opposition is not as united as they should be.

    "The Duke was part of that opposition, but it may have been his madness that caused it. Maybe he was before the madness took hold, or maybe he was a loyal supporter of the king. Either way, he doesn''t seem to be stable enough to have been leading anything on the council.

    "You say my position as the count is due to a counter move. I am guessing it was a faction within the council that was trying to keep another from gaining too much power. That is the shortened version. I picked up a lot in the time I was there, but I am still missing something."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    He nodded. "Good enough. I am glad you didn''t waste all your time down in Kimton. Now, let us assume that the rebel faction starts a coup that does not go as smoothly as they hope. It would turn into a war. What you are missing is that during a war, there are refugees."

    And with that, things clicked into place. "Someone in the council wants to use Bicman as a dumping ground for refugees. But then, why the raid this spring or summer? Maybe it is a different faction, or they are cleaning out my barony as an excuse to put more people there. We have plenty of space, so that doesn''t make sense. Unless they expect our fields to be somewhat intact, we still wouldn''t have enough food, though."

    I was letting my thoughts spill out as soon as they came to mind.

    "No, I have to remember that I am a pawn. I could be used as a scapegoat. They send people there so that I can take care of them, but I can''t, and they can claim negligence on my part. Then they take my barony and give it to someone loyal to them. If it is the same faction that installed Malcomp and Plimgus, then they have grabbed another barony within Vaspar. And we know Vaspar is loyal to the King," I said.

    So why make me count?

    "Somebody in the council doesn''t want the other faction to have the whole north and wants me to build a port there. If I have the resources of the whole county and am able to spread people out, I may be able to help the people survive."

    "Do not forget the raid. You will have the resources of your entire county to assist you. But remember. If I know what you know about the raid, there is no doubt that the faction that is causing the raid knows what you know. They will certainly take measures to prevent the raid from failing," Sophis said.

    He knew that I knew about the raid as well! Either Vaspar or Benjamin''s father tipped them off about the raid. I don''t think it was intentional, but should I have kept my mouth shut?  Maybe, but we needed the information we received from the Steward of Kimton. I doubt Sophis would have shared that information with me willingly. I wouldn''t have even known to ask.

    "Thank you for that information. At least they don''t know that I know that they know that I know. So I can prepare for their counter move."

    "Don''t assume that," he said sternly. "Assumptions get people killed."

    "Any idea when they will attempt the coup?"

    "I have no clue. Everything I told you was conjecture based on the belief that there may be a coup," he said with a completely straight face.

    That was a bald-faced lie.

    "Well, it has been a long day, and I am ready to retire. If you don''t mind, I would like to go over the designs for your hedge maze in the morning," I said

    "Excellent. I look forward to seeing the designs. May you have a good rest."

    The next morning, we reviewed my designs for his hedge maze and some unique things to put at dead ends, such as statues or little flower beds.

    "You ought to build a grotto at the center of it and put a sage there," I said half-jokingly.

    "I find the trend of garden hermits lacking in appeal."

    "Ah, but here is the good part. Train an old man to play chess. Those who make it through the maze to him must play him in chess to receive answers."

    His eyes lit up at that. "Now that does sound fun. However, I may spend all my time posing as the garden hermit."

    "Yes, I don''t think you could find a sage to match your intellect. In that case, you may have to build a secret passage that lets you access the center directly. As your guests are finding their way through the maze, you head straight there and greet them."

    Sophis laughed. "I have no idea where you get your creativity from, but it is a treasure. I will not send the Starlight Mars to your barony until after you resolve the matter with the raid. I don''t want to waste them."

    If they were as precious as he claimed, then I could understand his point.

    After bouncing some more ideas off each other, I departed just before noon. I was eager to get home, but having a large group of soldiers escorting us slowed things down. If they had all been on horseback, we would have had a much better time. Fortunately, they were no slackers, and we moved faster than most regular travelers.

    We pushed hard to reach Newmoore by the evening, where we stayed the night. The baron, of course, was off at war, but his wife greeted us kindly. Well, that is until she saw Tumlus in our company. Her first reaction was shock and then disgust. We were treated coldly after that.

    I had just handed my crutches to Rick, and I was about to be assisted into the carriage by Benjamin and Tumlas the next morning when the baroness approached me.

    "Count Bicman, I know it is not my place, but may I give you some advice?"

    I knew what it was going to be, but I decided to hear her out. "Of course, Lady Newmoore. I am always open to advice."

    "You must get rid of your Rabissian servant. They are foul people and are always willing to betray those around them."

    Tumlus put his head down and hunched his shoulders. Having lived his life with a bag over his head, he was not good at hiding his emotions. He looked like he might cry. He reached up and grabbed the new necklace that hung around his neck. It held the three glass beads that Rick had retrieved from the Tumlus''s hiding spot.

    "I see," I said in a cold voice that matched hers. "Although I appreciate your concern, I will have to decline your advice. Tumlus is a master glassmaker. And is valuable to me. He has proven himself trustworthy and loyal. I feel that with his help, my barony will prosper. Thank you for your hospitality. May you have a pleasant winter."

    With that, I got into my carriage. And we got moving. After about half an hour, Tumlus spoke up in his quiet voice. "Why, my lord?"

    I smiled. "Why what?"

    "Why did you say what you did to the baroness?"

    "Because she was wrong, and I don''t appreciate it when someone talks badly about my people."

    "But I''m¡­"

    I laughed. I understood that this society valued a lady who did nothing but sit around and do needlework all day more than a boy who could make glass. But it was still funny to me how hard it was to help my people see their own value. "You are much more important to me than some stuck-up baroness. I can''t make you understand, but eventually you will."

    Our next stop was Lord Cumfrance''s manor.  As we entered the courtyard, I got the same reaction from many of the people I had visited. They looked shocked to see my red scarf with silver trim. The red scarf, of course, signified my office, but the silver trim signified that I had earned it in the service of the Duke. My Grandfather had been allowed gold on his scarf for saving the king''s life.

    I found the shock amusing because everyone knew of elevated status, but they still had a hard time believing it. A backwater baron being elevated to a count for saving the life of the duke was a thing of fairy tales. And it would have been the same this time except for the games being played by the court.

    The steward got a hold of himself quickly and bowed deeply, "Count Bicman, your presence is most welcome. Please let me invite you in to dine. We have the table set for you."

    "Thank you," I said with a polite nod.

    We entered the dining room to find Lord Cumference waiting for us. He stood and bowed deeply. "Count Bicman, It is an honor to have you in my home."

    I smiled, "Please, call me Amos. You have done much for me, and I consider you my friend."

    "Very well, you must call me Aethelried."

    "Excellent. We should have done this from the start," I said.

    We enjoyed an excellent meal of beef and thick, honeyed bread. The subject turned to the war, and we spoke of Aethelried''s military service. He had received this fiefdom after helping his baron capture and defend a border town in the Hitub War. The baron was lauded as a genius strategist, and Lord Cumfrance was awarded this fiefdom.

    I wish I had a man like this in my lands. He was a true man of honor. I also needed more military men to train my people. If I had a few knights on my lands, then the prospect of fighting off raiders would seem a lot less daunting. No, not just knights, but knights who had served in the military. Technically, even as a baron, I could have raised anyone to the status of knight within my barony. All I had to do was give them some land and have them swear an oath of military service.

    However, I wanted trained men¡ªmen who had served and fought. My guards were great, and now that we had a larger population of fighters, I would look into knighting some of them. But they had never been trained for large battles. I also needed to make sure they could handle the responsibility of owning land. It was something I had been working on during this trip back. If we all survived the raid, I would be giving the villages in my barony over to knights.

    At first, I was worried because I felt I would be lowering the status of the Headmen when they became stewards. Benjamin, however, assured me that the opposite was true. A steward of a fief was an elevated position, so I would be killing two birds with one stone.

    We would be leaving early the next morning, so I decided to take care of my other reason for this visit before I retired.

    I made my way through the garden towards a small hut at the rear. I could hear humming coming from somewhere within it.

    "Becca, I would like a word with you," I said as I approached the hut.

    Becca, Lord Cumferance''s Garden Hermit, emerged from the hut holding some sort of creature in her arms. It looked like a cross between a lemur and a cat. It was about the size of a cat but had a raccoon-like tail. Its body and legs were like cats'', but the head reminded me of a lemur. The eyes, however, were larger than those of the lemurs I had seen in zoos.

    "Ah, it is you. I see that you have escaped the wolves. You have even been elevated. Good for you."

    I didn''t want to admit to what I had done, but I wanted to know if this lady really saw the future or something like that.

    "Ah, did you know that your powder can have a negative effect on people?"

    "It gives insight and wisdom," she said as if I were stupid.

    "I had someone tell me that a person could be driven mad if they used it."

    She snorted. "Only if you are stupid about it."

    "How so?"

    She shook her head, "Too much enlightenment at once can be bad for anyone."

    "Are you saying that people should not put the whole thing in their soup?"

    This caused her to laugh. "That would be a terrible idea. If you are thinking about using it that way, you should just give it back to me before you harm yourself."

    "I see."

    So apparently, she hadn''t intended for me to use it that way.

    "You still need a dog," she said, changing the subject.

    "I am a count now. I must be even more selective of the dog I take responsibility for," I said seriously.

    She smiled, "You are a good man. Your dog will be very happy. I will keep my eyes open for just the right one."

    "Thank you, Becca. You have answered my question. Have a good evening," I turned to leave, but Becca spoke up.

    "My lord, beware of rats. They can destroy your household from the inside. You will probably need a lot of creatures now that you are a count to help with rats."

    I considered asking for more information, but I felt like I already knew what she was talking about. I needed to hurry home.

 Book 3 Chapter 3

    A few days after I visited with Lord Cumfrence, we made it to Vaspar. I wanted to head straight home, but I needed to speak with the count from whom I had just stolen three baronies. I did not want any bad blood between us, and I also needed information.

    We had sent a message ahead to inform them of our arrival, and since I was of equal rank to the count, a room at the castle would be provided for me. The thought made me think about the castle I would have to build in North Cove. I was totally going to have secret passages and rooms. There was no point in building a castle without them. The other thing they didn''t have here was servant''s passages.

    Some people may say that it is degrading to our servants to have to use different passages to get around. I thought it would be nice for them. Imagine if I had rude guests that they wanted to avoid or if they needed to get somewhere without being bugged by people.

    The other thing I wanted was those pulley systems that could raise and lower things like food or laundry up and down between floors. My servants would love me for it. I would need an engineer to help with that because I believe it involved a system of weights. I would give them the idea and see if they could figure it out.

    We arrived at the castle three bells past noon, and so we would be having dinner with the count in a few hours. As soon as I arrived, though, I got a message that Fredick wanted to talk. I did not let that rush me, however. I was a count now, and Frederick would have to wait. I took a bath and got changed before I was escorted to visit with Fredrick.

    As I entered the sitting room where Fredrick was standing, he bowed to me. I gave a bow in response, though it was not quite so deep. I could have just nodded, but the bow was appropriate when showing respect to someone, even when your title was above them. I was only forbidden from bowing as deep or deeper than him.

    He smiled as he said. "Welcome, Count Bicman."

    "Seriously, Fredrick. What is with the formality? "

    "You know very well that you have to set the terms of our relationship now that you are a count, Amos."

    "Did you honestly think it would change?"

    "Proper manors must be honored, my friend."

    I sighed. "I have to learn a whole new set just as I was getting comfortable with the ones I had learned."

    He laughed.

    "So, is your father upset at me?" I asked.

    He shook his head. "I don''t think so, but you know how he is."

    "Mmm, yes, he isn''t the easiest person in the world to read," I said.

    "Peter is the one you should watch out for. He is mad as a bear. It is a good thing he is only the heir and not the count, or he would challenge you to a duel."

    "It wouldn''t get him the baronies back, so what''s the point?"

    "To embarrass you, of course. He will try to provoke you to challenge him, though."

    "Don''t worry, I won''t let him bait me."

    "Bait you?"

    "Fishing term. Haven''t you ever been fishing?"

    "Nobles hunt, commoners fish," he said matter of factly.

    "Nobles do whatever they want. When you come to visit me, we will go fishing in the cove."

    "Just don''t let my father find out, and I will be happy to," he said with a grin. "Now I see that you have dressed for some sword training."

    "I figured that is why you had requested me so urgently. You needed someone to beat. And I could certainly use some instruction."

    And so, for the next hour, Fredrick and I traded blows in the training yard. It was actually fun. My improvement caught Fredrick off guard.

    ¡°You have improved, Amos," Frederick said after our third match.

    I was having trouble catching my breath, but I managed to say, "Are you serious? You..."

    I trailed off as I realized something. I was about to say he mopped the floor with me. But I suddenly realized that there was no word for ''mop'' in this language. Nor had I seen a mop. Why hadn''t I thought of this before? I could have made a mop. Ok, that is on my to-do list. Maids would laud me for the rest of history!

    "Amos?" Frederick said.

    "Sorry, I just had an idea for an invention."

    "Oh, what is it?"

    "Nope, You will find out when I send you one as a gift."

    "As good as books, I hope."

    "It depends on who you give it to," I said. "Your maids will love you for it."

    He gave me a questioning look. "I am actually quite satisfied with the relationship I have with our servants."

    "Oh well, I am sure you will find it interesting all the same. Speaking of books, have you been raiding my publishing house?" I asked.

    "Of course I have. I think I have the first copy of most of the things that come out of there," he said without any shame. "Though you need more workers. Your books are becoming extremely popular, and they cannot produce enough to keep up with the demand among the nobility."

    That was strange. "Five more scribes should have arrived after I left with the shipment of book paper?"

    "Oh, they did. But I think you underestimate how popular the books are."

    "And don''t worry. I have been helping your scribes price their work. Your people are great scribes, but they are not businessmen. You need to get a manager down here as soon as possible," he said.

    "I do have someone in mind. Thank you for your help."

    He shrugged. "Really, it has been my stewardship. Besides, I am getting the first copy of every book. Do you realize the value of what you are giving me? I am getting more than enough."

    I smiled, "I would have had to postpone this whole venture if it weren''t for you, and your backing has no doubt assisted in the enterprise''s popularity. Any idea on how much we have made?"

    "Enough that you should just give back your baronies and focus on what you are good at," he laughed.

    "If it were that simple, I would do that, but I have a duty to the crown and my people. Besides, who would have dealings with a man who gave up his country so generously given by his duke?"

    "True, I would have to hide all your books I had and claim I had burned them. I think you are stuck being a count."

    ¡°By the way, is there a way to get census data for villages throughout the duchy?¡±

    ¡°Are you looking to attack your neighbor now that you have your own county?" He said with a smirk.

    I guess that would be helpful to barons or counts who wanted to stir up trouble.

    I didn''t want to tell him I was trying to get estimates on how many refugees I might get from border villages. I had mentioned being raided, and that had consequences. If it got out that I knew we were going to be flooded with refugees, I might have people trying to put up more roadblocks.

    "Actually, I was thinking about enticing people to come to my county from overcrowded baronies," I lied.

    This caused Frederick to laugh. "Didn''t your last stunt work well enough?"

    "What last stunt?"

    "The one where you allowed anyone who joined your caravan a free trip up to Bicman while you fed them along the way. Also offering them work once they were there."This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    "I never said that?"

    "That is the rumors that were being spread. And the caravan left with a lot of people from the surrounding areas, " he said, now looking confused.

    "All I did was tell the mercenaries to take extra good care of my people. I¡­" I paused and thought for a moment.

    Oh crap, I said a copper penny per person. That means they gathered extra people to scam me. I will have to hunt down a bunch of mercenaries now. Since the king hired them, can I still punish them? I certainly don''t want to cross any lines. I will need to see who they have connections with. If I complain to the King and they have connections with the duke, it may be more trouble than it is worth unless what they have done negatively impacts my barony. Depending on what I find out, I may just deal with them directly.

    "Well, this is why I should never have gone to Kimton. I could have avoided becoming a count, and I wouldn''t have more mouths to feed. Any idea how many more?" I said.

    "No, but you seem upset that you are getting what you wanted," he said.

    "I wasn''t ready yet, and I was looking to do a more targeted approach. Looks like I will be buying more supplies."

    "You''re not short on money with the publishing house up and running. Well, I think it is time we get ready for super."

    "We''ll see you there," I said with a nod.

    *******

    At first, I thought dinner was going to be a quiet affair. The count and his family greeted me cordially, but after that, it became awkward. Lady Vaspar and her daughters and their husbands had never much cared for me, but now it was as if a leper had come to sit at the table with them. Peter''s look was that of someone who was forced to sit down next to his worst enemy. He probably also didn''t like the fact that because I was of equal title to his father, I sat where Peter would normally sit. The count ignored it all. Frederick had a grin on his face as if this was the best entertainment he had seen in a long time.

    This continued for most of the meal until, finally, Peter asked his father, "Are there any laws about the population of a county?"

    "No," was all the response he got.

    "Then how do you determine if the land is worthy of being considered a county?"

    "Why don''t you ask Count Bicman? He may have insight as a new count."

    Peter gave me a malicious sneer. "So, Lord Bicman, any thoughts?"

    "Of course," I said with a smile. "A county only exists because there is a count ruling over it."

    Frederick turned a laugh into a cough.

    Peter looked displeased with my opinion, "But what makes a count a count?"

    He was looking for an argument. I wasn''t going to make it easy. "Someone with authority to do so appoints him. I think the more important question is what makes a good count. Now that I have had the opportunity to meet with several counts, I think I have a better understanding, but what do you think makes a good count? What makes your father good at what he does?"

    "He just is. It is something he was born to do." Peter snapped back.

    "Possibly, but not all leaders were born with your father''s education and intelligence, but they can still rise to be good leaders. History is full of these people. I would suggest a few things that I have learned while being around them."

    I was about to pull out the good old acronym for Lead I had learned back on Earth. Of course, it wasn''t an acronym here since we didn''t have the same word, so I didn''t try to say it was an acronym.

    "Four words come to mind. Learn. A leader is always learning. They never stop because they know if they ever stop learning, they will fall behind. Example. The leader must set an example so that people will know how to act. Accountable. A leader holds himself accountable for his actions, words, and even thoughts. If he makes a mistake, he owns it rather than passing the blame to someone else. He knows that if he blames others, the mistake will keep happening. Discipline. A leader is disciplined. He has a set code of conduct by which he lives and does not deviate from that unless, through his learning, he finds a better way."

    I think that''s how it went, but I can''t remember if I got it exactly right. It sounded good to me, and I think it at least made me sound smart.

    Peter didn''t respond to me. I am not sure if it even sunk in. He just gave a snort and went back to eating. I looked over at Fredrick, and he gave me a wink. I gave him a quick thumbs up. I had been showing that to a lot of people, and I was hoping it would catch on.

    Looking around, I saw that the count didn''t seem to care about all this. His wife was still glaring at me, and the rest of them had lost interest in everything and started their own conversations.

    I used the opportunity to speak with Frederick about the secret underground dueling arena that everyone in Kimton knew about. It had actually been a secret at one point, but now it was just like an exclusive club. The city''s leaders ignored its existence due to its influential backers.

    ¡°So you were hanging out with the best duelist in Kimton. That explains you getting better,¡± Fredrick said.

    ¡°I am still way behind you,¡± I said.

    ¡°But you could probably hold your own against a common opponent. Especially with your size and reach. You¡¯re also pretty fast for your size. You just lack experience in technique.¡±

    ¡°Thank you."

    If I were honest with myself, I was scared. I knew that I had my guards and a nice set of armor to protect me, but I really was worried that I would need to fight to defend my people in the upcoming battle. Especially since we didn''t have a lot of people. I knew barons and counts fought in battles here. It is one reason that there were not as many noble children who reached adulthood. Now that I was count, I could call upon Plimgus and Malcomp to assist me in the raid.

    Maybe if I invented plate armor, I would feel a lot safer. Of course, then I would have to learn to fight in it, or I wouldn''t last long.

    Actually, it would be nice if there was a way to make armor for many of my people. I needed the Bessmer furnace, but there was no way I could make it with the time we had. The best I could probably do was a puddling furnace. And even that was not a guarantee. I wasn''t sure I could make it work like I thought it should.

    Okay, it''s time to stop worrying about things I couldn''t change. I was proud of what I had accomplished. And I would do my best to protect my people.

    Soon enough, dinner was over, and I was invited to Count Vaspar''s office.

    "So you are now a count," Vaspar said simply.

    He appreciated frank conversation, so I started with the most pressing matter, "Is that upsetting to you?"

    "Not at all. First, you acquired the least profitable area of my land. If the plow works as you say, that may change, but I also now have the design and will be able to produce more than you. Even with the people flooding into your barony, you don''t have the numbers to prosper. The other reason is that I doubt you will be count for very long."

    "You don''t think I will do a good job?" I wasn''t offended. Vaspar was straightforward. It was just who he was.

    "You have come a long way, but I doubt you can hold onto your lands. The problem is not your competency. It is that you don''t have the necessary backing. My guess is that whoever put you in that position will sell you out to someone else, and the king or duke will make you a baron of the marshes and give someone else your old barony. Most likely, you will end up in a worse position than you started."

    "And if I do maintain the title, will I have trouble with my neighbor?"

    "Not until my son takes over for me. Of course, I am pretty sure he and Frederick will be called down to fight in the war next spring. Maybe battle will cool his ire."

    "I am glad to hear we can still be good neighbors."

    "I''ll be honest with you. I think your books and paper will be more valuable to me than your land. As long as you keep supplying me with those, we will have a profitable relationship."

    "You mentioned people flooding into my barony. Frederick mentioned the same. What do you mean?"

    "I took some time to look into this when I found out, but apparently, you gave permission for anyone to travel with your caravan. You also promised to feed the people traveling with your caravan. Word spread, and Barons that had too many mouths to feed this winter allowed their peasants to leave. Out of work, freemen also joined. Some are probably even runaways."

    "That is not what I said. Well, I may not have been specific on who they were to feed or take north. But the mercenaries had no right to invite others along on my behalf. I thought it was obvious what I was talking about."

    "People will interpret your words in any way they can to take advantage of you. I heard some of the rumors that were being spread. At first, it was free food, but eventually, people were convinced that you were going to make sure that they had two meals a day for the rest of their lives."

    "So a bunch of desperate people went north expecting to be fed for the rest of their lives."

    "The fact that you were willing to feed them along the way was enough to get them moving. It was a better option than waiting around to die of starvation."

    "I need to get back to Bicman, and it looks like I will need to buy more supplies."

    "So you are planning on feeding them."

    "They will have to work for it, but I have plenty of land and projects that need doing. Maybe I can expand my military."

    When life hands you lemons, make lemon bars. They are much better than lemonade. I wonder if I could actually make lemon bars? I really need lemons.

    "Does the mercenary group have any backers that would make them feel comfortable so brazenly misinterpreting my words?"

    "I don''t know, but I will make an inquiry. But I also wanted to mention that I was disappointed to find out that others found out that you knew about the attack. If I may give you some counsel, you need to be more careful about who you trust with important information," Vaspar said.

    So, Sophis was right. The council knew that I knew. But how did Vaspar know that they knew that I knew?

    "I only told you and Benjamin''s father. I am sure that he did not tell anyone. It would put his son at a bigger risk. I was sure that it must have been you who leaked it, though I didn''t want to make an accusation because the damage was already done."

    This caused Vaspar to frown. "Then, I am not sure how it leaked. After I got reports from my network that people were making inquiries, I went to see Tanya, who was getting ready to leave town. She said she did not say anything but received a warning that she needed to flee. They were sending her away, but she did not know where."

    I felt the color in my face drain at the news that Tanya was in danger, but it seemed like the Endless One was protecting her. I also knew that it was my fault that she had to flee. I wanted to know where she was going, but it would probably be safer for her if nobody knew.

    "Well, Benjamin''s father got some information. Also, I have a friend who knows everything about everything. He let me know that those who are coming know that I know."

    "I will not ask you more about the subject, and I will keep this conversation between us. Also, Casper told me that the sweets you produced should be at the top of our import list."

    I smiled. "We can determine a price once I see how much we can produce next year. I won''t set a long-term contract until we can determine the demand."

    "That is fair. I will not keep you any longer."

    "Thank you for your time. I think I will retire as I have a lot to do tomorrow."

    "Oh, here is one more bit of information that just came in via pigeon yesterday. It appears that the nobility did not take Count Blackwell''s death well. The duke murdered a popular count, and his wife was left a widow. It almost caused a riot in court. In order to appease them, our new duke, Philip the Second, took Countess Blackwell as his wife."

 Book 3 Chapter 4

    I stayed awake all night, mentally beating myself up. I had inadvertently allowed Countess Blackwell to be raised to the title of duchess, which would only accelerate their starting a coup.

    I had to prepare my people for what was to come. That meant increasing the focus on our military. What really shocked me was the expense of my military. When I left, we estimated that we would have four hundred people in the Bicman defense force. Most of them were not going to be permanent military forces, just trained to respond in case of an attack. Now, however, I was a count with three baronies. I would be expected to have a larger military force On top of the baronies.

    If I had knights, they would have their own forces supported by the lands that I had distributed. I had headmen in Bicman, though, which meant that the cost fell squarely on my shoulders. Before the plow, and if I didn''t have my additional income, there is no way I would have been able to raise a force large enough for the expectations set for us.

    The stipend for an infantryman was one hundred and eighty silver pennies a year. Sure, they would have to reinvest that into their armor, clothing, and supplies, but it wouldn''t all come back to me. That meant if I had four hundred soldiers, the cost would be seven hundred and twenty gold per year. That doesn''t include the other expenses involved and the noncombatants needed to support them.

    Also, I wanted to ensure that my people had good equipment and superior training so they could survive. After I had built a military force, I would probably end up having them all sent down to the war in Hitub, where they would be tossed into a meat grinder. I still hated the council for the evil they were perpetrating, but I was starting to see the need to end this war. Of course, if it wasn''t the war they were fighting, it would be the civil war.

    After a sleepless night, I spent the next day finding a caravaner willing to travel to Bicman before the roads became a muddy mess from the rainy season. I finally had to negotiate a deal where the caravan would only go as far as Polman village, and then I would have my own wagons pick up the supplies from there. The caravan will depart in five days.

    Once again, the main problem was money. I had no idea how many people would show up at Bicman. If not for the personal income I had earned down in Kimton and the gifts I had received, I have no doubt we would have a lot of starving people.

    Barley and rye were cheaper, so, based on what I had already purchased last time in Vaspar, I decided to buy 500 bushels extra. However, the price had risen due to the war, so it would have cost a silver penny and five coppers per bushel. That was ridiculous because outside of wartime, it would have cost four times less.

    Housing was going to be a problem as well. Winter was coming, and we needed to house people. I was worried about housing three hundred and fifty people. What if we had five hundred extra people?

    Last night, before I left, I asked about getting the latest census and tax data for my three baronies. I had the census that I had gathered from the headmen for Bicman, but I wanted to see how closely the last census I had on file matched the county''s.

    The census included the population and the amount of land plowed. However, past censuses only included working men in the population count. I will gather more detailed reports. They would be helpful when we move away from a completely agrarian society.

    After receiving the reports in the afternoon, I found that the last census report for Bicman was three years ago, but it was exactly the same as it was thirteen years ago. I was surprised, and I believe Casper was, too. Whoever was in charge of census records probably got a huge tongue-lashing. Of course, Casper would also be to blame, but I think it may have been overlooked because we are not even able to maintain our current taxes. I received the past three censuses. They were done every five years. It would be a good place to start.

    Of course, they were done with the old numbering system, which Casper also apologized about. Apparently, he and all of Castle Vaspars scribes were in love with the new system I had developed. I was even starting to see signs up in places around Vaspar where quantities and prices were posted in both number systems. I thought it was pretty fast progress, but apparently, anyone dealing with the castle was looked down upon if they couldn''t give them the information using my new method. Once merchants found this out, it became a status symbol to know and use the new system.

    Thank you, Count Vaspar.

    I finally managed to grab a map of Falmoren. It wasn''t anything special, and it lacked many details. I would spend some time drawing in what I knew. The map maker also said that the borders between areas were constantly changing, so it would not be exactly accurate.

    [See map in chapter notes or on Patreon public access]

    One thing the map did for me was give me a better understanding of what the rulers of Falmoren were trying to accomplish. They wanted all the land North of the mountain range that separates Turabe from us. I could also see why they didn''t want to stop. They were so close.

    After gathering personal supplies for the trip home, I picked up my escort from the castle and headed out. The count had provided me with fifteen soldiers since I had decided never to travel with less than twenty trained men.

    I also acquired a young man whose father was a pigioneer. Not to send and receive messages from Vaspar but from the fort. If we were going to be raided, it would be important to receive messages from there. It would also allow me to receive any important updates.

    I set a goal of reaching the second town North by evening and made it just before sunset. There was something strange going on in the town, though. I saw some people who seemed to be homeless. They slept in small camps just outside of town. It was just a couple of families, but it stood out to me. They seemed to be peasant farmers. I thought about asking them where they were going, but I figured they were on their way to Vaspar. They would also be uncomfortable speaking with a count or his retinue. Better to just leave them in peace.

    One reason I tried to make it to this particular location was that I had stayed at the inn before, and I liked the establishment. The staff took care to wash their sheets and did a good job with our animals. When the proprietor saw me, his jaw dropped.

    "Baron Bic-I mean Count Bicman. It is an honor to see you at my establishment. When your rider came earlier to ask me to prepare a room and meals for his lord. he neglected to tell me I would be hosting a count. I am afraid I have never hosted a count before, and I am not sure my accommodations would be worthy of your station," he said. Stumbling over his words.

    "Nonsense, Goodman Jerimiah, I came here specifically because I was satisfied with your accommodations on my last visit. A room and your delicious food are all I require."

    The proprietor beamed at my praise and assured me that my food would be out shortly.

    I rested well that night, probably because I was finally on my way home. I awoke refreshed and excited to be on our way. But a few days later I had the displeasure of being in the town of Decmoore, at the home of the Baron of Malcomp.

    It was the first time I had the opportunity to meet the man, and it did not go well. When we first arrived, he was out of the keep. According to his steward, he was out hunting with his three sons and two grandsons.

    Benjamin and I were shown into the great hall, where I was met by the women of the house and a few children. It was interesting to me that Baroness Malcomp was no more than twenty-five, which made her younger than her three daughters-in-law.

    They greeted me very formally as if they were automatons running a simple program. If I asked her any other questions, she would say, "I must defer to my husband. " It made it quite awkward. I was invited to take a room and refresh myself before I dined with the baron in the evening.

    That night, I was finally able to meet the baron. He was a tall man with greying hair and a permanent frown on his face. It wasn''t the stone-faced look of some other nobility but of constant dissatisfaction. His voice had an edge to it that made him seem constantly angry. I would have thought it was me, except he seemed to use that tone of voice with everyone. The memories I had of Baron Aaron Bicman were not even this bad. Amos''s father was just gruff.

    Needless to say, there was no conversation at dinner. Fortunately, his cook was good at their job, and the meal was delicious.

    I had gotten some information on the Baron''s background from Casper. Baron Malcomp was a cousin of Baron Yabeth. He had distinguished himself in battle in the South and had lost his eldest son to the war while taking a fort. His men called him the hammer of Yabeth. Casper did not explain the details of how he acquired Decmoore and his title, but he did not seem pleased about it.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    After the meal, we adjourned to his office to discuss his barony. Like the rest of the keep, his office had an austere feel, which was quite different from Baron Decmoore''s. Benjamin had coached me on what to say, and after taking this man''s measure, I decided to mirror his body language.

    "Baron Malcomp, I have read the reports from Count Vaspar concerning your performance since you have taken over this barony and can say I am quite pleased with your ability to govern your affairs. I am sure that it is a reflection of how you conducted yourself as a knight. I see no reason to change the way you have been handling your responsibilities. Tomorrow morning, you will gather your household, and you will swear your allegiance to me as your count." I said firmly.

    He bowed, "Yes, my count."

    "Furthermore, I request ten of your men to accompany me to Plimgus Manor. I had to send a few of my men back with the group that King Asput sent to Bicman."

    "Understood. Your escort will be ready tomorrow morning."

    The guy may be unhappy, but at least he did not give me any reason to complain about his willingness to serve.

    "Speaking of the group that traveled North, The mercenary company the king sent to guard my people misinterpreted an order of mine. And started gathering people to bring along. Do you know how many people came through your lands?"

    "I am sorry, my count, I was still away at the festivities when they passed. My people said there were quite a few."

    "I hope they did not cause any problems," I said.

    "I am not aware of any problems by that group, but there have been reports of missing food after future groups have passed."

    That statement caught me off guard, "Future groups?"

    "Yes, apparently, rumors are spreading that you will feed and clothe anyone who comes to your barony. There are some who are desperate enough to believe it."

    I was stunned. One letter, one letter caused a mass exodus to my lands. The weather was not freezing yet, but it was certainly not warm. This was all the fault of the caravan and mercenary company.

    "Did the mercenary company and caravan I sent north pass back through here yet?"

    "I believe it was ten days ago. However, they turned south to take the road to Grethnes. If what you say is true, it was probably to avoid encountering you."

    "I agree, and I will have to send a complaint to the king about this. Have you had any come back this way saying that the rumors are false?"

    "None so far. But they could just not have made it back yet. I doubt that all groups made it there to start with. These were the desperate."

    Draves was probably waiting for me to come back before making a decision. Why hadn''t they sent a letter? Something was wrong.

    "Baron Malcomp, is there anything I, as your count, can do for you or anything that you are in need of?"

    "Not that I am aware of. While down in Vaspar, I saw the new shoes you invented for horses. Quite useful. We have started producing them here."

    So word did get out that the shoes came from Bicman after all.

    "Are you familiar with the new plow the king created?"

    I was a little annoyed that I gave the king credit for that.

    Since most of my inventions were public knowledge for those who knew where to look, I decided to see if I could get my county to take advantage of these things first. I was hesitant, but mainly because I wanted the Barony of Bicman to be the most successful of any of my baronies. It would prove that I had been a successful baron. I, however, was no longer just the Baron of Bicman. I was the Count of North Cove. That meant that I could not hoard the success to just Bicman. I needed to spread it to my whole county. My power, influence, and safety now depended on my having a strong county. If I had a strong county, that would protect Bicman.

    "No, my lord. Although there is gossip in Vaspar about new farm equipment."

    "The king constructed a new plow that churns the dirt better. I got the plans in Vaspar. It should work well with the harnesses we created. The harnesses do not choke the horses when pulling heavy loads. I will be sending a wagon with one of each to you and Plimgus. That way, your men can make more. Apparently, according to rumors, it doubled our crop yield in the fields that they used them. It also sped up the time it took to plow significantly."

    "That is most generous of you, my lord. I welcome the assistance."

    "You are part of my county. We are a team. During your time on the campaign, would you not want the soldier next to you to have high-quality weapons and armor? We rise and fall together."

    He still had a sour look on his face, but I wanted to imagine it was less so.

    "One last thing. I require a census of all your people and a survey of your land. I will send the exact census data I require after I return to Bicman, and I will send my own survey team in the future.

    The next morning, the family gave their oaths, and we departed our way.

    We traveled for half a day before we found a group of people camping along the road. There were eight in their company. I had the driver pull over, and I got out of the carriage. Immediately, everyone in the group prostrated themselves on the ground before me.

    "Please rise," I said in a cheerful voice, hoping to put them at ease. It didn''t work. These were peasants in the presence of a count. Some peasants would not see a count in their entire lives. The people were filthy and barely clothed. They all had fear on their faces.

    "Who is in charge here."

    A man of about thirty stepped forward but kept his head down. "I am in charge, my lord."

    "Your name?"

    "Tony, my lord."

    "Where are you headed, Tony."

    "We seek the safety of Bicman," He said hesitantly.

    "What makes you think you will find it there?"

    He paused for a long moment. I knew he was searching for the right words to say so that he didn''t offend me. "It is said that the fields in Bicman produce plenty, and work is abundant. They say the Baron is generous and will feed those who are in need."

    "Tony, I have seen many people traveling to Bicman, and at least five hundred have already arrived. There may not be as much opportunity there as you think, and eventually, the food will run out with so many mouths to feed."

    I had an idea. I pulled out a silver crown. "Tony, I am concerned that many, like you, will find their way to Bicman and not be able to support their family. I will give you this silver crown, and I ask you to make your way south and tell people what I have told you."

    The man fell to his knees and wept. After a moment, he calmed down and said, with despair in his voice. "I will do as you command, my lord."

    I was completely confused. A soldier received eighteen silver crowns a year. What was bothering this man?

    "Tony, I can tell you are still concerned. I need you to answer me honestly so that I might know how to help others. What is troubling you?"

    There was a long pause before he said, "My lord, your generosity is beyond anything I could hope for. But there is no work for me south. The good land is overcrowded. Many lords will only allow serfs to tend their fields. Peasants must give up their freedom to work their lands. The money you have given me will dry up, and we will starve. Lord Bicman is our only hope."

    I was shocked. This was something I had neglected to discuss with other nobles. It was all about making connections and who was doing what in high society. I had not looked into how the nobility was handling their people. I paused for a long moment as I thought of something I had had to memorize for a play. I think it was in the third grade, but it stuck with me. I didn''t even remember where it came from.

    Keep your lands and your pomp! Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the refuse of your shore. Send me, the homeless, the tempest-tost. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

    I think that may have been how it went, but it had been a long time since I had even thought about it.

    Could I refuse these desperate people? I have always been a strong supporter of strict immigration policies. And I still see the point, but was my situation the same?

    I had the land¡ªheck, I had more than enough. If Sophis was right, I would also need people to clear the land so that when the true wave of refugees came due to the civil war, I would be able to accommodate them. The duke may force me to accept them. If I could plant and fertilize enough fields this spring, we may be able to pull this off. It wasn''t like I was making the gold to buy a mountain of food, but that would soon dry up as my expenses grew as a count. If we had more people, then we would have dealt with it. I would need someone down in Vaspar to shut down the rumor mill. I need to convince people that my barony was not the land they were promised.

    "Stand up, Tony. I am the Baron of Bicman, and I am also the new count of these lands. I have a job for you. And I will make sure you survive. I want you to do what I asked regardless of the fact that some people may not have anywhere else to go. I want you to take a letter to Bicman Publishing House in Vaspar. We need to stop this mass migration so that people do not travel all the way to Bicman just to starve there. Even if they don''t starve, the north winds of winter may cause them to freeze because there is not enough shelter." I tossed him the silver crown. "Once you are done delivering the letter, return to Bicman, and I will have more work for you."

    I wrote a quick note to the person over at the publishing house to spread the news that the rumors concerning Bicman handing out free food were false and another one for them to give to Vaspar, telling him what happened. I told him to post guards on the borders of his lands to prevent his peasants from crossing the borders. As I entered the carriage, I turned to Benjamin. "Did you hear all that?"

    "Yes, my lord. Please forgive me. I did not think the masses would have this type of reaction to gossip."

    "Nor did I. But if you think about it, the amount of generosity I showed in Vaspar had never been seen before, and these types of rumors were bound to spread. Any idea how to stop them?¡± I asked

    ¡°We will send people back along the road after we arrive in Bicman, and they will spread the word that their hopes were false."

    I stayed silent. He was right. We could not let this continue. But was there truly nothing I could do for these people that would starve?

 Book 3 Chapter 5

    King Lenord Asput

    "You seem to be in a good mood, Lord Arok," I said as my captain strode into the room. This was unusual. There had not been too much cheer in his countenance lately.

    "And with good reason, Your Majesty," he said in his booming voice. "Your stirrup invention is working out better than expected. I received reports on three battles that turned into a complete rout for our enemy. I know that you do not appreciate the details of the battles, but our ability to flank and then quickly reposition has decimated the enemy lines. Then, once they begin to flee, we can quickly ride them down and slaughter their remaining troops.

    "It used to be nearly impossible to use bows on horseback, but after seeing the stability of our men riding on the horses, General Harkcom decided to try it. I do not know if you remember the Gigket Tribe your father conquered in the Yaris Mountain range. They used a short bow that was good but not as effective as our longer bows. However, the general adopted them for horse archers, giving them a weapon that is easier to wield from horseback. With their mobility, they can quickly fire and then reposition.

    "My king, I believe that if we hurry, we can push all the way to the Hitub capital by the time the rainy season starts."

    This was excellent news. Showing the people that the war was nearing its end would surely help to erode the rebels'' support. People would see our progress and know that we could start bringing their people home within a year¡ªsooner if we could get them to surrender their king.

    "We must spread this news among the people. This will quiet down those rebels and boost my position. We will squash them beneath the weight of my kingdom''s greatness. I need to have a council with my magisters. Could you please send in a servant?"

    "At once, Your Majesty."

    Amos

    "Congratulations, my lord," Lord Plimgus said as he welcomed me into his great hall. His whole family was there to greet me. "We have prepared a feast in your honor. But first, let me and my household swear allegiance to you."

    "Thank you for your welcome, Baron Plimgus. I will gladly accept your oath of vassalage."

    After the family had sworn their allegiance, we feasted. I tried not to eat too much, but they had really pulled out all the stops with this party. It was very good. I was getting used to a blander fair than I was used to on Earth, but this fair was far from bland. I tasted salt, pepper, and several other spices that were considered a luxury even in Kimton. The conversation was pleasant and light for the most part. Of course, I had to tell the story of how I became a count. At first, I had been hesitant to tell people, but then I realized that avoiding the topic would only create rumors.

    "I am still amazed at your rapid rise to power. Such a young man being given a county is unheard of. You cannot be over twenty."

    I laughed on the inside at that. I was once again grateful that my large stature made me seem older than I was.

    "It is probably even more amazing to me than it was to you."

    "How is Count Vaspar taking the news?"

    "Surprisingly well. Of course, he does not think that I will be holding on to the county for long," I laughed. "I intend to surprise him."

    Curtis smiled. "I am sure you will. I assure you all of the household is happy for your elevation. Well, everyone but Krissy, that is. She was hoping to be a potential match for you."

    This caused the girl to turn bright red.

    I smiled. "I am sure that such a beautiful young lady will have plenty of suitors, especially since I plan to help you make this barony prosper."

    "Speaking of help," Plimgus said, suddenly turning serious. "A bandit problem has arisen in the barony."

    This caught me by surprise. "Tell me what is going on. I will help eradicate the problem in any way I can." I hated bandits.

    "I believe it has to do with all the people traveling to your barony. Groups of people are plundering my villages and waylaying travelers on the way to and possibly from Bicman. According to reports coming in from my villages, the number of bandits has begun to swell."

    I was ready to kill those mercenaries and that caravan leader. They had spread rumors and caused all this. What did they do with the men I had sent back with them? Chuck would not have simply allowed this to happen. The mercenaries wouldn''t have dared kill them. If they did, they would not just be criminals in the eyes of the law; they would be hunted down and killed. As it was, they would probably just have to return my money and pay a fine. If I actually caught them.

    Focus, Amos, they are waiting for a response.

    "So you are requesting help in dealing with this bandit issue?" I asked.

    "If we want to clean it all up quickly, then yes. The bandits may all starve during the winter, but so will my people. I just don''t have enough guards. I should have a couple of knights by next spring, but right now, I only have about forty to cover everywhere. I know you don''t have many yourself, but if you could send a few, it would be very helpful."

    This wouldn''t be a bad way to give the Bicman defense force some experience before the raiders come. I was worried they weren''t ready for this type of thing, but as Benjamin constantly reminded me, this is what they were there for.

    "Okay, I will gather my men and prepare to assist in cleaning out your barony. I will write to Malcomp and tell him that travel down the road in our County is restricted to merchants and nobles. Peasants are to be told they have been lied to and that they need to turn back. From now until things settle down, expect county military forces to patrol the main road," I said confidently. I really hoped we could make this happen.

    Kevin, Curtis''s son who was interested in my paintings, said, "My lord, forgive me for my impermanence. But I have a request of you." He did not look me in the eyes as he spoke.

    "What may I do for you?" I asked.

    "Would you be willing to take me under your tutelage? I desire to learn the art of painting."

    I looked at both him and his father. He seemed nervous, but his father seemed hopeful. I would have thought the baron''s expression was strange if I hadn''t been dealing with a lot of nobles lately. There was an ulterior motive here, and it was that the baron wanted a spy. I did not doubt that Kevin really did want to learn to paint, but his father would never agree to this unless his son were reporting on my activities.

    "Unfortunately, I will have very little time next year to assist you with your efforts. I, however, will have you accompany me on my next year''s trip to the festivities, where I can instruct you. If I end up staying in my county, I will invite you next year to come and learn. Right now, I will be spending all my time dealing with the affairs of my county." I tried to sound truly sorry that I could not help him.

    Both father and son seemed disappointed, but I didn''t really care. I had a feeling I had enough rats in my county as it was. After a delicious dinner, I was ready for bed. Tomorrow, I had a long day of traveling before I reached the Nore River.

    In the morning, we headed off with as many of Plimgus''s guards as he could spare. I also ordered Malcomps guards to continue with us until we reached the border. I was really starting to become curious about how many people ended up in Bicman and how much money the mercenaries got. Even if he brought an extra two hundred people, it wouldn''t be a huge hit to my finances. A half-gold crown. That would be able to do a lot for a small mercenary band, but for me, it was a drop in the bucket. What was going to cost me were all the extra mouths to feed.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    The only thing that really saved me so far from being bled dry was the low amount of expenses I had. That was about to change, but I was sure we could make it to the next harvest with the funds I had. With the publishing house profits increasing, we may even have a surplus. If I lived closer to civilization, I would have to spend money on all the extravagances that all the other nobles had. Hosting events and feasts and, in general, keeping up with the Joneses. And it wasn''t something I would be able to ignore. Not unless I wanted to be ostracized. The fact that I had just a small manor with little maintenance fees also helped.

    This was about to change, though. I was a count. I needed knights or to build my own military force. I needed to build a defensible home near the northern cove. That meant a keep at a minimum. That would require a lot more servants to maintain. The cost would be astronomical to the point where I may have to take out a loan. I would also have to host other nobles as we grew.

    The fact that I didn''t have a wife currently was a bonus, but soon I would have to marry to some rich snob and pay for all her crap. Now that I was a count, she couldn''t just have a servant. She would have to have multiple attendants. Needless to say, my expenses were about to skyrocket all because some idiot decided to make me count.

    The day went by smoothly, and we began to see groups of people heading south or just camped along the side of the road, looking lost and confused. I had the guards ask people what was going on. Apparently, my people had built a guard station on the Bicman side of the Nore and were turning people away. They were giving them small sacks of barley and telling them that until the baron returned, no one was allowed in. Well, at least my men were doing that for people. I started handing out copper crowns to help people on their way back south.

    My men told people I was the Count of North Cove. But that made no difference to them. These were peasants who didn''t know who all the counts were. They would just return, saying that Bicman was closed and that the Count of North Cove had given them some assistance on their way back south.

    We saw no sign of bandits on the way north, but with a large party like ours, the fact that I was a count may have deterred them. They were not insane enough to attack nobility like the thieves on the road to Kimton. However, some people reported being robbed of their goods. I would have to get my defense force down here quickly.

    We made it to the Nore just as the sun was beginning to set. We had pushed ourselves to make it here because I now knew Draves had guards stationed here. What I didn''t expect was guard towers on either side of the bridge.

    As we exited the forest that was situated before the Nore, we found two tall guard towers erected on the Bicman side of the bridge. They were made of wood, but they looked well made. A wooden gate had also been positioned between the two towers. It looked solid.

    I sent a rider ahead to announce us so my men didn''t think we were invading. There was some shouting back and forth, and then the gates began to open.

    Rick came back and reported. ¡°Sorry, my lord. When I announced Count Amos Bicman had returned, they told me their lord was a Baron. I tried to explain, but they were suspicious. Better than being lax, I guess. There were some new guys I didn''t recognize, so I asked them if any of the original Bicman guards were there. Fortunately, Vance was there, and he recognized me.¡±

    So they really didn''t receive any news that I had been made count. I did want to surprise them but I thought at least someone had spread the news to them. This was odd.

    When we made it through the gate, we found that a proper fort was being built there. There was a barrack that could probably fit thirty people right now. Guards that had been getting ready for bed were pouring out of it as others shouted for them to line up.

    I needed whistles. I wonder when militaries first started using them. That would be a great way to give out orders without all the shouting.

    I got out of the carriage just as the last of them got in line. As soon as I got out, all the men dropped to one knee, bowed their heads, and put their right palms over their hearts. It actually was pretty cool, even though I felt a little awkward.

    ¡°Thank you men. I am proud of your efforts to protect and maintain order here in Bicman. It is because of you that our people can sleep peacefully at night. Carry on.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what else to say, so there was an awkward pause before Vance finally said, "Rise and back to your posts. Baron, sorry, I mean Count Bicman. Please let me show you to your room. You must be exhausted from the journey. Would you like anything to eat?"

    "No, I need a report on what has been going on. Let us go to whatever you have for an office here and have some food brought in." Vance bowed. And with that, everyone departed while we made our way to the lieutenant''s office.

    "Congratulations on your elevation of status," I said as he, Benjamin, and I walked towards his office.

    "Thank you, my lord. It still amazes me that we now have enough men to have platoons now."

    "How many men do you have here?"

    "Currently, we have fifty. We are under Captain Rylie. He has us rotate with Lieutenant Hale every two weeks."

    "So we have a hundred trained men," I said in surprise.

    "Forgive me, my lord, but we actually have four hundred who have made it through basic training. Most are in reserve and are not what I would call battle-ready, but they all have spears and know how to take orders.

    "Captain Chris and his men are training the next one-hundred."

    I had to laugh. Before I left, I gave Draves some names and various titles that I remembered from watching military movies on Earth. I mixed them with the ones they already had here. I had no idea if I even had the names correct from Earth. But I did explain that some men had administrative roles while others were actual troops. I had Draves figure it all out. Apparently, a lieutenant was someone who led a group of around fifty. I didn''t know if the role of captain had changed.

    "So, explain how General Draves has divided up our forces."

    "We have companies of one hundred led by captains, platoons led by lieutenants, and troops led by sergeants."

    "We have four companies currently. We are in the third, and the new trainees will be folded into those four."

    "How are we paying them?" I was worried about this. Men not taken care of would flee.

    "We provide food and clothing for their families, and we are not charging them rent on their homes or lands if they have them."

    "Hmm. That will change. After we get things in order, they will be paid five copper crowns a day for a soldier, seven for a sergeant, nine for a lieutenant, and eleven for a captain. That means you will be making¡­" It took me a moment to do the calculating. "Three-hundred and 24 silver pennies a year, lieutenant. Nothing will be free anymore, but at least you will be paid well."

    His eyes went wide at this. I did not want to spend all this money, but it would be necessary. A trained soldier was welcome anywhere, and I wanted to keep mine happy. A noble could pay their men whatever they wanted, but I found out the stipend I told him was standard in most baronies to the south of us. I also wanted to change to a currency-based economy to attract more people. So, regardless of how well the current system worked, it needed to change. Bartering could be done on a local scale but not for those employed by the barony or county.

    "My lord, your generosity is¡­" He trailed off as he couldn''t find the words.

    "Serve me well, Vance, and I will take care of you and your men. Now, it will be different for those you call the reserved forces¡ªthe ones we used to call the militia. They are not full-time, so we will give them a much smaller stipend and bonuses during wartime. How many would you say are part of the reserve forces?"

    "About three-quarters. Most of the active ones are here or at what used to be Cove Village."

    "What used to be?" I said in surprise. I was now concerned. Had we forced them out? "What happened to the village?"

    Vance smiled. "Most are still there fishing, but some have relocated to Barim. It is just that it is now quite a bit larger. It has become a fort and the main base for the defenses along the coast. There are about thirty soldiers and their families that live there now, and the land around there is being drained into the cove. There are many additional workers. Once the new channel for the river is finished, the land will really start to drain. At least, that is what the guys up there are saying."

    Looks like we will have a spot for my keep or castle.

    A thought struck me when I realized how many people we had that were training to fight.

    "Have you guys done mock battles?"

    "I have never heard of that, my Lord."

    "Basically, instead of fighting man to man or as a small group, you pit one platoon against another and practice large-group tactics."

    "That¡­ I don''t think I have ever heard of an army doing that. You want one group to pretend to be the force that is attacking us and another to defend?"

    "Exactly, it will train not just the individual troops but also all the Lutenents and Captains to think of strategies."

    "That would be interesting. I have been nervous about the attack and how many men we would have to defend against."

    This solidified the idea that my messages weren''t getting through.

    "Did you not receive my communications?"

    "The last communication we received was from a messenger sent back when you were halfway to Kimton, saying that you had been attacked and Drake had died." He looked sad at the thought.

    I then realized that if my messages hadn''t reached them, something much more sinister might be going on than just bandits. I hadn''t sent news that I had become a count because I thought the reaction to the news would be fun to see. But when Baron Plimgus found out about my elevation in status, I thought everyone must know by now. This made me think something had been going on North of Plimgus for longer than just the last few days. He might even be encouraging these bandits.

    I would need to send men south to flush out the bandits. If Plimgus was involved, I may even need to get rid of him. I knew he was a pawn of the council. It looks like they are raising the stakes.

 Book 3 Chapter 6

    "Wait, you''re telling me that we built this all for nothing? We aren''t even going to be attacked from here," Vance said in disbelief

    We were sitting in the Lieutenant''s office, and I had just finished explaining that while I was down in Kimton, we had discovered that the men coming against us were Rabiss raiders, and they were most likely coming from the North.

    "Not necessarily. It is possible that they are going to use the beach that the chalk traders use. The problem is that they somehow found out that we know they are coming. That means they will probably bring more men, and it will be harder to ambush them."

    "We have already removed the chalk ferry and obscured the path from the Plimgus side. If they come during the spring before the snow melts in the mountains, they may find a spot to cross, but it will be difficult. We do have regular patrols that roam the bank of the river.

    "Good. But I am now a count, and I own Plimgus. We need to build a small lookout at the beach there. I doubt that they will use that tactic because we can easily defend the bridge and it won''t be easy to cross. Just know that it will be Rabiss raiders, so I will leave it to you and yours to make the call on how to best defend the river," I said. "Now, I have given you all I know, and now I need a WTHIGO report."

    "WTHIGO?"

    "What the Heck Is Going On? I sent something like three hundred and fifty, but I heard the number was expanded."

    "I apologize, but I was up in Fort Cove with General Draves when it occurred, so everything I have is secondhand. From what I was told, the mercenaries showed up here while the gate was still being built. We knew people were coming from your letter, but there was no specific number. You just said ''prepare for hundreds of more people''."

    "I thought I was being smart by not specifying a number because I knew people would die along the way, and I wanted you to be more prepared, not less. That was a huge oversight on my part."

    "In the end, it was helpful. If we had prepared for three hundred and fifty, we would have been in a lot more trouble. We were preparing for six hundred. Double what we thought you meant. All the children were scouring the whole barony, looking for usable material to make cloth with. We built more spinning wheels and looms."

    "We cleared land south of the Cofi River and started putting up large shelters."

    "Did you use concrete blocks or wood?"

    This made Vance uncomfortable. "My lord, I am not an expert on such matters, but although your concrete is durable and easy to shape, it is hard to produce quickly. We have mainly been creating standard structures. However, a few have incorporated your new design."

    "My new design? Wait, are you talking about the half-timber? Why are we wasting materials on decorative outsides?" I said. Had some of the wealthier people got it in their heads that now was the time to be extravagant?

    I could tell Vance held back a laugh. "My lord, I am so glad I got to see your reaction first. The builders found a way to incorporate your design into the structure of the building. What you have as a pattern of logs on the outside is actually being used as the frame, and then the walls are built into it."

    I visualized it for a moment, and then it clicked. I had to restrain myself from turning red. It makes so much sense now. Of course, the half-timber houses weren''t just decorative. It was purposeful. "And how are these buildings?"

    "They are very strong, and they keep the heat in them. With the two sawmills now up, we are putting up houses quite quickly."

    "Two?"

    "Yes, as soon as the first one was up, they used it to build the second one."

    Well, that was cool, but we were off-topic.

    "Ok, back to all the people. How many showed up?"

    "Well, I think the last report I got was nine-hundred and thirty-something."

    If I hadn''t already been sitting, I might have fallen over. As it was, my jaw dropped. I looked at Benjamin. He had turned pale.

    "How?" was all I managed to say.

    Vance sighed and said. "So, as far as I understand, the mercenaries showed up here with all the people. They asked for a receipt for delivery for all the people so that they could collect their pay from Edward. The mercenary leader also said that there were a few stragglers that may show up, but he needed to hurry because he was escorting the caravan back. Hale was there at the time, and he sent two guards with their captain while the rest of his men went back across the bridge. We only had the work crew and about fifteen men here at the time to take care of all these people.

    "From what I understand, it became a total mess. There was disease, a lot of fights, and robberies. There were also some murders. They quickly started trying to separate people into groups of no more than twenty and had the people working on building latrines and such. They had to kill some to restore order.

    "Anyway, I think Edward didn''t trust everything that was going on and refused to pay the full amount. The captain was unhappy when he returned, but it had been almost four days since the mercenaries left. Fortunately, Captain had brought fifty men back from the cove with him to help restore order. After everything was sorted out, it took a few days for people to start talking, but we soon uncovered what really happened.

    "While they were at Vaspar, some of the people who were part of the original group went into town. They started to gossip in the different taverns that they were being fed two meals a day by a lord who needed people on his land. The news spread rapidly throughout the city. People started showing up asking for handouts or to come with them. At first, the mercenaries just told them that the food was only for those who were traveling to Bicman. But people started sneaking into the camp, claiming that they were part of the original group.

    "The original people complained, but the mercenaries just turned a blind eye and said that if the people said they were part of the original group, then they weren''t going to try to sort it out. They even punished those who complained. This gossip started to spread, and some of the stories were quite outrageous. People came from all over to join. Once they started off to Bicman, more joined along the way. It all snowballed into a crazy mess."

    "What happened to the soldiers I sent along?" I asked

    "The captain of the mercenaries said that a few days before they were about to leave, a few of his men and ours had shared out of the same stew pot, and they all came down with something. He had to leave two of his men behind with the five sick men in order to watch over them. He said that he thought they would have already caught up to him, but he was going back for his people, and he suggested we do the same if ours didn''t show up in a couple of days.

    "We sent a detachment down to Vaspar, and on the way down, they intercepted a messenger from the inn where they were staying. It said that the men had been grabbed by sailors and pressed into service. They would either be going to Carok or West Cove."

    "This all sounds far-fetched to me," I said.

    "That''s what we thought, especially since more people were flooding into Bicman now, and they were just saying that they were told they could find work here. We tried to chase after the caravan and mercenaries, but we couldn''t find them. We didn''t know what to do with all the new people. We knew they wouldn''t make it back to where they were from, so at first, we let them stay, but we decided to close the border when we realized we wouldn''t last the winter with more people."

    I sighed. "Well, Benjamin, what do you think?"

    "With the money you raised in Kimton and what we are scribing from the publishing house, we could definitely feed them all. We will be gouged on the prices, but as we said before, we won''t see a huge jump in our expenses until the end of next year. Right now, we have discretionary funds. It would be best to see if we have enough stock to last through the winter before we make decisions."

    This was all a huge amount to take in. Fortunately, the cook arrived with some food so I had time to think about all this. We ate a meal of warm porridge and root vegetables. It was nothing fancy, but it was exactly what I needed. With the meal done, I washed myself down with a damp towel to rid myself of the travel dirt and found a bed to sleep in. I was so looking forward to my horsehair mattress with cotton sheets and goose-down pillow at the manor.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    The next morning, we were up early. I instructed both Plimgus and Malcomps guards on what to report to their masters and prepared to head out.

    Vance had been looking nervous this morning. And just before we left, he couldn''t contain himself anymore. "My lord, I have been wrestling with whether or not I should give you some news all night or if I should let Edward or a headman tell you. You see, well, your¡­friend, Emily, don''t worry, she is fine." He rushed to assure me when he saw the look on my face.

    "What happened," I demanded.

    "The boy Marcus showed up. You remember the old steward''s son. He accosted her in the papermaking building after everyone else went home. He was interrupted by one of her workers who had come to walk her home. The boy''s name was Alfa. Marcus stabbed the boy, which caused his lamp to drop, and it started a fire. Marcus fled, and Emily received some minor burns while trying to pull the boy from the shop. I am sorry, my lord, but the shop went up in flames."

    "Who cares about the shop? What about the boy!" I was upset about the shop, but it was secondary.

    "I''m sorry, my lord. They stopped the bleeding, but the wound became infected, and they couldn''t stop the spread. He died a week after."

    I took a deep breath. This was not the first death, and it would not be the last. "What about Marcus? I had made plenty of copies of wanted posters when he first fled. Don''t tell me he got away?"

    "I am sorry, my lord. However, everyone was focused on containing the fire, and Emily collapsed as soon as she got out of the building. It wasn''t until morning that anyone even knew Marcus had been the cause of this all. We scoured the countryside, but it was as if he had vanished. Emily now has a guard at her side wherever she goes. And any of the new people to Bicman have had their movements restricted. A reward of two silver crowns has been issued for any information leading to the capture of the criminal, as is standard per your laws."

    "Spread the news. I am personally adding to that amount with my funds. A gold crown for the capture or death of the criminal Marcus."

    Nobody touches my friends.

    This raised Vance''s eyebrows, but he said only, "I will spread the word."

    We took off with my original seven guards. Now that we were all being drawn by a carriage or riding on horseback, the trip was shorter. Not by much, as we still needed to straighten this road and make it more even, but I knew it wasn''t a priority now. In fact, as we got closer to Kerisi, I could see where the project had been interrupted. The last few kilometers to the village was one of the smoothest roads I had been on in months. Apparently, the people of Kerisi wanted quality roads.

    About half a kilometer away from the village, I started to see kids waving and shouting along the road. Soon, it was not just kids but adults crowding the side of the road. Everyone began cheering. This happened the last time I came home, but then it was just a village full of people. Now, it was like a city''s worth of people had come out for a parade. I felt like I should have a bag of saltwater taffy. Then I got an idea. I had the men stop the carriage and grab a small box from the cart. It was full of the copper pennies I had hoped to infuse our economy with. I didn''t want to give them always, so I didn''t toss out handfuls like you see in the movies, but I did toss a few out of each side of the carriage as we moved along. Maybe I could start a new trend if this reached the cities. Then again, some of those nobles were real tightwads.

    Since I only threw one out at a time, people weren''t scrambling to dive at money on the ground and fighting. The lucky person would just snatch it out of the air. It was actually a lot of fun.

    I couldn''t help but notice the large palisade around a huge chunk of the village. Also, some land that I knew was not part of the village before was now inside the walls. The cheering intensified, and we approached the palisade. When we entered, I was shocked to see that it was not the same village I remembered. They had moved homes away from the center and put them in orderly rows. Not that that would have been hard since the homes of my peasants were basically large tents made of sticks and mud. But seriously, this must have taken some work. I first wondered where they had gotten the idea, but then I realized that there were posts at each house with a number on them.

    They had gone through my stuff! This was one of my ideas, and I had put it in a notebook and drawn some pictures of it. This was further confirmed when I saw street signs with some of the names I had doodled down on one page. South Main St was the first sign I saw. I even saw an Aaron Way. That one almost made me choke up. I had been suppressing the sad thought that I would not come home to find my nephew at my manor.

    I was going to have a talk with Edward about implementing my cool ideas without me. If I weren''t so impressed, I would be mad. Most of the homes were still the stick and mud type. They probably didn''t have the time or resources to start building better homes. There was, however, a large building on the corner of South and East Main that was the half-timber style. I was guessing it was the town hall I wanted every village to have. A home was also built on that lot, and Paul''s family was standing there waving. The headman, Barak of Cofi, was also there.

    I would have to ask them why they had spent the time doing all this when there was so much to do. I got out of my carriage and walked right up to Paul as the crowd moved closer. In fact, they only stopped when the guards insisted. Paul bowed deeply, and afterward, I clasped his hands in a sign of friendship.

    "I couldn''t believe the news when the message came in this morning that you had been granted the title of count. This is wonderful news, and all the people from the surrounding villages have come to see their new count. That thing you did with the coins was very entertaining."

    "I am glad you are well, my friend, and believe me, no one was more shocked by my elevation in status than I was," I said with a smile.

    "I''m sure of that. Now, we are preparing a feast for you in the town hall, but all the headmen and Steward Edward have not arrived yet. If you have not been told, I regret to inform you that headman Tarrence of Alfer and his family passed away shortly after you left. The whole family became ill and never recovered. They have been waiting for you to return to select a new headman, but Gregor has been taking care of things while you were away. He will be at the meeting as well but will be coming by cart due to the fact that he is missing a leg. A logging accident, I believe."

    "Very good," I turned to Barak, and he bowed as well. After shaking his hand, I asked him how Cofi was.

    "Well, we have been trying to help the new villages get up and running," he laughed. "If I had known that the area was going to grow so large overnight, I might have stayed in Plimgus. Your new people are somewhat rowdy."

    "Any major problems?" I said, becoming serious.

    "Nothing we can''t handle, but I suggest we head inside to have some tea before the meeting. It will be good for you after the long journey."

    "You are always looking for an excuse to have tea," Paul scoffed.

    "What can I say?" He shrugged. "Suzy makes excellent tea." He gave Paul''s wife a wink.

    She looked at him sternly. "No more sugar. The rest is for our lord."

    "But it''s a special occasion. Don''t you agree, my lord," he said, giving me an almost pleading look.

    Great, he was addicted to sugar in his tea.

    "Speaking of sugar, how goes the seed collection?"

    "It is going well. We have had the children running everywhere, bringing back pootba that were left growing wild. A lot were no longer usable as they had turned bad, but the seeds were good. We have about ten kilograms worth of seeds now, and that should give us two acres. It is actually way too much. Everything will go bad before we can even process a quarter of what we make."

    Well, it''s a good thing we have more hands now. The only thing is that we need to keep their mouths shut and not run off and tell anyone about our process. I could move more of my original people to the secret projects and have the new people plowing the field. I don''t even know if we could get our original people to do that.

    I went back to the conversation. "I know that pootba is not delicious, but we have a lot of mouths to feed, and we can use anything not processed into sugar as a supplement to people''s diets."

    "Not delicious is an understatement, my lord. I suggest feeding it to the prisoners. That will straighten them up," Paul said.

    He and Barak continued to come up with ways to use the gross-tasting vegetables to torture people as we walked into the home.

    The tea really was good. With the sugar in it, it reminded me of a sweet raspberry tea.

    We were avoiding heavy topics as we spoke. We talked about their families and my adventures and misadventures down in Kimton. Barak was he-hawing like a mule as I told the story of how Carter had sent me a coded message and had me running around the outer city. Just then, Edward walked through the door. I stood up at the same time as he bowed.

    "My lord, welcome home," he said.

    "Thank you, Edward. It is good to be home. I told you that I had absolute confidence in you before I left, and I am glad that confidence was not misplaced. From what I hear, you have done an incredible job," I said with a smile.

    "Thank you, my lord, but I believe I am ready to step down from the responsibility."

    "That is fine. I have another one I am sure you will enjoy."

    He looked dubious as he stepped to the side. The room was already crowded by this time. But we still had one more guest. Emily walked into the room with her head down. She looked like she was about to cry.

    She bowed and then tried to speak, "I, I¡­"

    She collapsed to he knees and began to weep.

    "It''s all my fault. He came for me. I''m sorry. He burnt it all down. Alfa, he¡­"

    I heard Edwards sigh of exasperation. Apparently, he had tried to convince the girl that this was not her fault.

    I walked over to Emily and grabbed her arm. "Please stand up, Emily," I said gently.

    With my assistance, she got to her feet. Her eyes were puffy as she looked up at me.

    I smiled sadly and said, "You are not to blame for Marcus''s actions. If you were, then I would be just as guilty, if not more. I let that criminal slip through my fingers all because I refused to do my duty. I should never have broken the law by letting his mother get off with a light sentence. I let my compassion get in the way of justice. I gave her the perfect opportunity to free her son.

    "In the end, though, he decided to abuse my mercy, he decided to beat and later kill his mother, he decided to try and kidnap you, and he decided to kill Alfa. You are not responsible for anyone''s actions but your own. It is not your fault you are a beautiful young woman who attracted the attention of a despicable individual. Would you blame the flame for attracting moths? You are a beautiful flame, and you shine so very bright."

    With that, she wrapped her arms around me and began to sob. I could only imagine the look on the people''s faces behind me. A count hugging a commoner. It was ok, though. They just didn''t realize that now, she had the highest title in the room besides me. That was going to be a fun announcement.

 Book 3 Chapter 7

    I held Emily in my arms for a while. When she started to calm down, suddenly, her body stiffened, and she pushed away from my embrace. She looked around the room at all the people there, and her face turned bright red.

    "I''m, I''m sorry, my lord. Please forgive my outburst," she said.

    I smiled. "You, Emily, are probably the only one in this room that, according to society, is allowed to be informal with me."

    This got surprised reactions from everyone but Benjamin. He did not look happy, though.

    "Benjamin, can you go retrieve Emily''s birthday gift?" I said.

    "Yes, my lord," he said as he turned and exited the room.

    "You got me a gift?" Emily''s face showed confusion.

    "I can''t take complete credit for it. I only requested it. But the gift itself was not something I had the authority to give."

    "Lord Bicman, I fear your veiled speech is leaving my wife in more suspense than she can handle," Paul said while looking at his wife''s excited face.

    I wouldn''t say any more until Benjamin returned with two sheets of paper. "Edward, could you please read the letter?"

    He took the letter and began to read. "To the commoner known as Emily, who is in the service of Baron Amos Bicman. Through your bravery in the defence of Lord Aaron of Tine, in which you suffered severe injury in order to save the life of this noble, you have earned yourself a boon from His Majesty King Lenord Asput. Through your merits and at the request of Lord Amos Bicman, who vouches for your loyalty to the Crown, you are hereby granted the title of lady with all the rights and obligations to that title. You shall henceforth be known as Lady Emily Paper. Signed Magistar Edwin Farlet of the High Court of His Majesty Lenord Asput.

    "This, this has the seal of the king on it," Edward said in shock. He moved to the next sheet. This time, with eyes wide and in a voice barely above a whisper, he simply said, "A title of nobility. From the king himself."

    The fact that it came from the king was a big deal. I had learned now that I was a count I could have elevated Emily myself. However, it wouldn''t carry the same weight that the King''s seal had. In a social setting, saying that the King himself had bestowed the title would elevate Emily''s importance.

    Edward turned and showed everybody. Emily''s lips moved as she silently read the title. Finally, she mumbled, "This is a dream. I can''t be a lady. This is a dream," she started to hyperventilate and then fled the home.

    Well, that went differently than I expected.

    Everyone sat there in silence for a moment. No one knowing what to say, finally Suzy threw up her hands and said exasperatedly, "Men."

    Turning to Edward, she said, "May I have the letters? I need to go talk to the girl. And Lord Bicman, please forgive my impertinence, but I wish to assist you with some counsel. In the future, I recommend you do this sort of thing in a more private setting and not spring these types of things on young girls. Their emotions are quite delicate. I will go sort things out."

    Well, it works in the movies. Maybe I should have started with the dresses, shoes, and jewelry I got her to go along with her elevated status.

    "Thank you, Suzy. I appreciate your assistance," I said. "I will try and remember your words in the future."

    After Suzy left, all the men just looked at each other for a moment. Suddenly, Paul burst out laughing.

    "I agree with the young lady. This appears to be a dream. Or one of the stories you are so fond of telling, my lord," he said.

    I could see the direction this conversation was heading, and I decided we should direct it elsewhere.

    "Headman Paul, could you tell me why you decided now would be a good time to restructure the layout of your village? Should we not be more focused on providing houses for our new people and preparing for winter?"

    He looked a little uncomfortable. "My lord, forgive me. We should not have done so without your permission. Edward planned out the design for the new village, and when we started building the new villages for the people who would be joining us, he explained that this was your design. During our weekly town meeting, a proposal was brought forth that we should start doing the same since we were building the palisade anyways. The vote ended with people strongly in favor of the idea, so we have slowly been restructuring our village. I assure you we have not been slacking in our efforts to prepare for the new people, and we have worked as a community to make this happen. We had hoped to please you."

    I had completely forgotten about the idea of the town meeting. It had been an offhand comment I had made while discussing things with my village heads. I suggested a weekly meeting be held for all adults of each village. They would discuss the current issues they were facing and even put things to a vote on issues. It was just a thought on how to help people feel more connected. I really didn''t even think the headmen would do anything with it yet. It was not easy to remember how seriously these people took my suggestions.

    "Actually, I am pleased. It looks wonderful. I am also glad you decided to try the town meeting idea. How is that working?"

    Paul relaxed. "Very well, Lord Bicman. It seems to have elevated the mood of the citizens."

    "Good, now you mentioned new villages. I have not heard of this yet."

    "Ah, yes. They have not yet been named, but we had decided to create one between here and Cofi and a second one on the south side of Lake Cofi. We had planned for three hundred people in each but have two more villages planned and one under construction. One east of Kirisi near the lumber mill."

    "Do we have a steward of headmen for the new settlements?"

    "They each are run by a member of your guard. We are helping them as best we can. The villages do not have names yet."

    "I will put that on my to-do list."

    I wonder if I can delegate that responsibility.

    Just then, Richard, the Headman of Melnon, arrived.

    "Everyone, why don''t we head over to town hall? We can discuss all the issues that need to be addressed and how to proceed," I said. Suzy and Emily were nowhere to be seen when we exited the home but standing with the guards I had brought with me was Chris. He was chatting with them about the trip. He was wearing the grey shirt of the Bicman Defense Force. This was an off-duty shirt. When I left, we had been making them out of cotton, and they looked like crew-cut T-shirts. However, after my talk with Jasper, the tailor, on the use of cotton, I sent a message back with Draves explaining that all clothing production should be made of things other than cotton.

    We could still spin it and weave it, but we could not use it for commoners. The shirt he had on now was made of linen.

    When he saw me, he gave me a big smile and bowed. "My Count, it is good to see you."

    "Captain Chris, you look well," I said.

    "Ah, that is because I am married now."

    "Married? Who would marry you?" It wasn''t a very noble thing to say, but it just kind of slipped out.

    He laughed, "Well, you see, Bixy''s Dad was so impressed by me that he insisted I marry his daughter. She wasn''t opposed, and I certainly wasn''t going to argue, so here we are, and signs indicate we may have a child next year."

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    I wasn''t quite sure if we were dealing with a shotgun wedding or if this was just Chris''s humor.

    "Good for you. I am glad you found yourself a bride and such a great father-in-law. It is not always easy to find a father who is pleased with his daughter''s choices. Especially when the groom is ugly," I chuckled.

    "You know it isn''t nice of you to tease me now that you aren''t fat. I have no comeback. Besides, aren''t counts supposed to be above such things as teasing their subjects?"

    I looked at Benjamin, who was frowning at me. I sighed, "Yes, as a count, I should be above such things. Unfortunately, as a friend, I am required to. It is quite the problem."

    "Well, I have a solution. It appears that you are in the process of elevating the status of your friends, so if you make me a noble, I think that should do the trick."

    "I swear gossip spreads faster here than a fire does in dry grass,¡± I grumbled. ¡°Tell you what, Chris, I can elevate you to the status of a knight, and we will ship you off to Hitub.¡±

    ¡°Um, let''s not be hasty. I have got a lot of men to train here."

    "Speaking of which, how has the Bicman Defense Force training program been going?"

    Chris changed to professional mode. "It is going well. I have ten infantry trainers and five archery instructors as well.¡±

    ¡°I would like a cavalry unit. According to Fredrick Vaspar, the stirrups have been very effective. The men can fight better from horses now that they don''t fall off when swinging weapons and can make better turns."

    "You have brought us quite a few more horses, but we still have two problems: One, we need more horses, and two, they need to be horses trained for military use. I don''t think you are going to find any available. Horses that have been trained to be ridden already are probably going to be expensive. We could buy some foals in the spring, or maybe some raise our own. You need to ask Ben, your stable master, how long it takes to raise a horse before we can be ridden. Also, we need to train them, and I don''t know how good Ben is at that. I don''t know if he trained your family''s current horses to be ridden or if it was done by the person they were purchased from," Chris explained.

    "So we need a different group of horses that can be ridden and also find a way to train a cavalry. I think that may have to be put on hold. I wonder if any of the nine hundred people who just came in are anything other than farmers. I had Chack and the other guys sorting them out, Vaspar, with a list of all the skills."

    "There may be. We found out from the people who were originally sent by the king that you had been creating lists of skills each person had. But the list did not arrive with the mercenaries. Thanks to a fuller who says you offered him a job, we were able to figure out how you were dividing this up. At first, he just explained what you had done and helped organize your scribes to take everything down, but then he took over the job for Edward. He probably knows everything about everyone in Bicman. He has been working with the headman now to create lists of all your original people as well."

    "Wow, I don''t even remember that guy''s name."

    "Roger, my lord," Edward said. "And as Chis has stated, he has been very helpful."

    I wonder if I should create a census bureau. It''s a little too early to create government agencies that I will have to pay for. How about a third-party employment agency?

    "We will have to have a meeting with him and anyone else in charge of census data. Has he been able to make soap?"

    "Not yet, my lord. We have all been quite busy," Edward said

    "Hmm. Soap is going to be important, but it will have to wait. We need to implement proper immigration policies."

    I didn''t bother telling them the reason for immigration policies and procedures was the knowledge that we would be flooded with refugees from possible upcoming battles. That was a thing that should be discussed behind closed doors.

    "So, will Draves be in attendance?" I asked.

    "He is at Fort Cove. A message has been sent," Edward said.

    "Good. Hopefully, I will be able to go there sometime," I said.

    There was a small table and two chairs at the front of the room and a whole lot of chairs and benches lined up in the center.

    I went to the front of the room and sat in one of the chairs. "Edward, you are going to be the scribe for this meeting, so sit next to me. Benjamin, grab a chair and sit on my other side. Everyone else, create a circle with the chairs. Before we get into anything else and the other headmen get here. I would like to go over general information that all of you know, but I do not. Everyone here is free to talk. We don''t have time to waste on formalities."

    "Most pressing, in my opinion, is the well-being of the immigrants and security of our sensitive projects. Do we have any idea how many people died on the way up to Bicman and how many are ill currently?"

    Edward spoke up. "There is no exact count on how many died along the way. I can have someone investigate that if you desire."

    "It is not urgent. I was just wanting to know if all the money I spent trying to help people survive actually did anything."

    Paul answered, "It certainly did. We may not have exact numbers of those who died, but most people arrived in good spirits. There were and still are some illnesses, but those people are being quarantined. Unfortunately, it hasn''t completely stopped the illness from spreading."

    "Alright, let''s address this and then sanitization. What does Maggie say?"

    The room stayed silent, and some of them put their heads down, refusing to meet my eye. Finally, Edward spoke. "My lord, the healer Maggie passed away. She spent too much time around the ill and became ill herself. Her body could not handle it. I am sorry."

    My heart tightened at the news. I should have known this type of thing would happen. A young, healthy person might be able to recover, but not someone Maggie''s age. What was she doing walking around sick people? I get the fact that someone had to do it, but with the huge amount of people¡­

    "How are those people in quarantine being treated?" I asked

    "The people in the quarantine camp are not being treated. There are too many of them."

    I hadn''t put much thought into medicine since I have been here. I knew people would get sick in my barony, but I figured that since I wasn''t a doctor and Maggie seemed to know what she was doing, I should just let her do her thing. I knew I shouldn''t beat myself up because I couldn''t do everything for everyone. I was sure there were ideas I had learned about that could help these people if only I could remember them all. I thought for a moment.

    "Ok, I am not sure how much this will help, but I know it will help some. The reason why we have been taught to boil water is because it kills diseases that are in the water. We can also get diseases from open cuts, which means diseases can be picked up from surfaces that touch our skin. So touching things that have the disease and then putting it near areas where the disease can get inside us can spread the disease."

    "What are you suggesting, my lord," Barak asked.

    "When treating patients, all areas that the disease can enter through need to be covered. Let''s assume that anything that a deceased person touches can also have disease on it. So those who help with sick people need to cover their hands and faces with cloth to prevent sickness from getting inside them. We will have gloves and masks made for the healers. Any time they are in the presence of a sick person, they must wear them. Afterward, they will put them in water and boil the cloth. If they have multiple people they are treating, they must switch out after each visit.

    "Actually, to be extra sure, we will make coats that cover the healers. They should also be boiled each day."

    "You think this will help?" Paul asked.

    "I know it will. I just don''t know how much. I wish I had gotten around to having medical discussions with Maggie."

    If I had followed her around for a week, maybe it would have jogged my memory of medical practices. I will have to interview any other medics we have and get some more.

    "Ok, so we got off track. What are all these people doing? We mentioned villages, right?" I asked.

    "Yes, they are constructing their own villages and because we are providing the food, the villages are going up quite quickly. Everyone is constantly working. Children and women are gathering fibers to make additional clothing for themselves. The clothing we were able to provide was not enough, and Draves said that now that the people are here, we cannot make them any cloth quickly. Any spies will start to wonder how we are able to make so much cloth. Also, the spinning wheels and looms have been moved to the fort. None of the new people are allowed there," Edward said.

    "What about our other projects? The paper and the coke production?"

    "As you know, the paper shop is burnt down. We were going to close it down when the new people arrived anyway. We were just getting things set up in the fort but didn''t want to stop production. I am sorry."

    "Well, now, Marcus knows about our paper," I said disappointedly.

    Several heads dropped again. "I am sorry for my failure, my lord," Edward said.

    "On the other hand, if you had moved the paper production there sooner. That kid would have probably tracked down Emily, and he would have found out about our secret base. Also, the fact that the boy is alive is my fault. I must take some responsibility for anything dealing with Marcus. Let''s move on."

    "Coal is still being mined, but it is being put into storage after being extracted. The coke is not being created. The furnaces are only being used for lime and charcoal production. A road is being built from Alfer to the copper mines south of Melnon. And don''t worry. It does not go near the road to Fort Cove."

    "Ok, to clarify, Fort Cove and The Fort are two different places, right?"

    "Yes, my lord. The Fort is the one being built near the mountains to hide our projects."

    "That is confusing, but maybe it is good that it is confusing. If anyone slips up and mentions The Fort, people will just assume we are talking about Fort Cove."

    "I told you it was a good idea, Paul," Barak said.

    "Okay, there''s no need to rub it in. I just get confused every time we have a meeting, " Paul retorted.

    "Back on track, coke, paper, sugar, and easily produced fine cloth are all being hidden. Let us assume that everything else is out in the open. Now, let''s discuss our rat problem."

 Book 3 Chapter 8

    "The rat problem?" Barak asked in confusion.

    "Forgive me; I am being allegorical. The rats are the spies and other people who may wish to sabotage our success," I said. "Have we caught any?"

    "Actually, we have caught a few. At first, we told all the new people they were not allowed to leave the camps and were watching them. Of course, that didn''t work perfectly. As people like Marcus slipped through our grasp and were visiting places they shouldn''t have been. Then, a conversation in the town hall gave us another idea. We have dyed the shirts of each of the new village residents in various colors. They are not allowed out of their village without a pass from the stewards.

    "So nobody is allowed to leave their villages." The blatant disregard for people''s freedom that hadn''t even done anything yet bothered me, but I knew that with this flood of new people coming in, there was no help for it.

    "It is a common practice. The law states that peasants are not allowed the freedom to move without the lord''s permission. Here in Bicman and some other baronies, that has always meant leaving the barony, but lords have also restricted movements between fiefdoms or villages," Benjamin said.

    "Yes," Edward confirmed. "Most of the peasants had no reaction to the fact that they were not to leave their villages unless they had written orders. It is very common in counties where all the baronies and fiefdoms are close together. Nobody wants their best workers moving elsewhere. Here in Bicman, peasants don''t really have anywhere to flee to, so we have a more lax policy, but in many areas of the kingdom, people live and die all within several kilometers of the place they were born, never leaving their fiefdom."

    "If they aren''t allowed to leave, then why did so many come?" I asked.

    "The harvest is over, and winter is coming. The people that came to us would have just starved anyway. Most barons account for this eventuality. So rather than starve, the people took the risk, betting on the fact that their masters would be happy that they did not have to feed people who were just going to die anyway. If it had been summertime, I am sure more barons would have put a stop to the flow of people. In fact, with how overcrowded some baronies are, if some barons did not stop their people, we would have had double the numbers. They probably turned a blind eye to some people fleeing. I am sure that the barons knew exactly where their peasants were fleeing to as well," Benjamin said.

    I guess when you have hundreds of thousands of people in a duchy, a thousand is not really that much.

    "Alright, so we have restricted their movement and made them wear different colored clothing. We need to make sure our policies do not cause segregation. Even though these people have their movements restricted, they need to be made feel as if they are just as important as our original citizens. If they are to integrate and work towards the success of Bicman, then we need to make sure they know they are valued. Our current residents also need to know these people are valued. To that end, I will be visiting each village. Have you had people try to sneak out of the villages after you implemented this law?"

    "Of course," Edward said. "When they are caught, they are interrogated. We then put them on the prisoner work crews. If they try to escape again, we execute them."

    "Execute them?" I said.

    "We don''t have the resources to do otherwise. Also, anyone who runs is assumed to be a spy. We are feeding everyone two meals a day. Also, anyone over the age of fifteen who works that day gets an extra half portion. Everyone has been very pleased with that, and it is more than generous. That is why we assume people who are trying to leave their villages must be spies."

    He knew I did not like killing unnecessarily, but I was no longer going to impose judgments that might harm the barony. I had learned that lesson. I could not end the rat problem if I just kicked them out of the barony.

    "We even caught some spies from Plimgus and Malcomp. We decided that it was important to maintain good relationships with our neighbors so we didn''t kill them. But they got to witness another spy being executed. We politely told them to report back to their barons that a complaint would be sent to the count," Edward said.

    "A wise decision. So we have got the villages pretty much locked down. I see that the palisade is up here in Kerisi. How are the other villages doing?"

    "Bicman village now has a palisade. We left the palisade at the manor where it was, but they are building a stone wall that doubles the space on the manor grounds. We figured once it was built, we could tear down the inner palisade."

    "Or we leave it up as a fallback point," I said. "How are we going to utilize the extra space?"

    "Storage for a siege, and we will expand the inner fields."

    "What about housing for people?"

    "We were planning for them to just use tents. We are planning on additional barracks."

    I guess that made sense. Don''t waste space on housing. We will only use it during a siege. I would have to take a look when I got there.

    "And the other villages?"

    "Yes, the palisades are the first thing to go up in our defenses."

    "Can all the people of each village fit behind the walls?"

    "Not comfortable, but they will all fit along with all the food storage. Each fort also has its own well. The storage, wells, and latrines are still under construction."

    "And how are we explaining these projects to the people?"

    "They all know how you feel about protecting your people after the raider attack. It seems to make sense with how you have built up the military here. So, the new people are more interested in the fact that you are arming peasants than the fact that you are building defensive forts."

    "We aren''t conscripting the new people yet, are we?" I asked nervously.

    "No, my lord," Chris said. "We have told them they will be allowed to join after we have vetted them."

    We will have to work through more divisions among the people, but it is necessary. I am starting to like this different-colored shirt idea.

    "How will the newcomers defend their villages if they are attacked?"

    "They will rely on the thirty guards stationed there. I''m sorry to say this Paul, but I actually hope Kerisi is attacked first if word comes from the south that they are coming up the main road. This place is much better equipped to handle an attack," Chris said, turning to Paul.

    Paul grimaced.

    "Actually," I said. "We got some information from Benjamin''s father. It appears that the attack will most likely come from the north. Countess Blackwell is in contact with Rabiss raiders."

    This caused everyone''s jaw to drop.

    "We don''t know exactly how they figured it out, but after we found out who it was, the countess found out we knew they were coming. I have no doubt she has sent word via pigeon to the raiders."

    This news caused Chris to swear. Then he flushed. "Sorry, my lord."

    "Well, there is good news and bad news about this. The good news is that we know the direction they are coming from. The bad news is that we won''t be able to ambush them. Well, we can, but they will be looking for us."

    "So the plan was for them to come in, cause some havoc, capture some people, and leave?" Barak asked.

    "Most likely, it is probably meant to make the king look bad or give a reason to call troops back from the war."

    "But the Rabiss raid coastal villages all the time."

    "I am guessing this will be more than just a raid. They won''t be coming just to harass and capture. They are coming to kill as many as they can," I said.

    "They would hire people to kill us just to make the king look bad?" Paul said in shock.

    "Well, if they can recall their troops, then they can gain more power to overthrow the king."

    "Wait, my lord, forgive me. Who is trying to overthrow the king?"

    "Someone is always trying to plot. We are just so far out in the backwater that it doesn''t much affect us. Nobody is going to seek the support of some barony with no power or influence."

    "Which means we are also disposable if they need to stir up some trouble," Barak said.

    "Ok, we are off-topic, and these are matters that need to be discussed with all the head men. Let''s get back to the information that I need. How are we on food?"

    "With the caravans you sent, we should be okay through the winter. We will reduce people''s meals to one per day¡ªat least for those who will be sitting inside and not moving around much. Workers will get two," Edward said.

    "And the goats. With all the extra people, did we have any left? I bought four hundred.

    "We did. But probably not as many as you would like. Not only did the men steal your money, but the people who arrived said that the mercenaries ate at least one goat a day. We have about one hundred and sixty."

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    "Mercenaries suck," I muttered under my breath. Without oversight from my guards, I would assume the caravan must have been in on it, too. Then they left for the Githum Duchy, thinking that some lowly baron who would never be on their trade route again would just roll over and let this pass. In their eyes, it would probably be a joke for the other nobles if a baron like me complained about a few goats. But they didn''t just steal from a lowly baron. They stole from the Count of North Cove. I would become the dominant exporter of fine goods and the greatest center of learning in the kingdom. No one would want to do business with them in a few years. I would make sure of it. And if anything happened to my guards, the punishment would be much worse than having nobody doing business with them.

    Just then, Richard, the headman of Melnon, arrived, along with Joshua, the steward of Barum. They both bowed deeply and apologized for their tardiness.

    "It''s no problem," I said. "We were just reviewing what I missed while I was gone. Before we get started on what you have been up to, I wanted to inform you of what you missed."

    I went over what I had told the others. As I did so, Richard''s face began to pale. "I hate to say it, my lord, but I was hoping the invasion would come from the south. They will use the road to reach Melnon. We cannot do without that road if we are going to continue to supply Fort Cove or The Fort."

    "Ok, you know what. I have decided that I don''t like having to say Fort Cove and The Fort. I am officially changing the name of the Fort to Pine Ridge. People are used to calling it a fort, so if we slip up and mention The Fort, they will think we are talking about Fort Cove even though we have changed the name. Since we are moving all our special projects to Pine Ridge, we will continue to expand it to house all our hidden knowledge."

    "Why Pine Ridge?" Edward asked.

    "Well either that or Area 51, but I like Pine Ridge better. In a story I haven''t written yet, the city of Pine Ridge was a source of great knowledge. "

    This was, of course, not true. Oak Ridge, Tennesse, was the secret city where the Manhattan Project took place. It was a reminder to me that what I was attempting to do for the defense of my people could have very bad consequences.

    Was creating gunpowder worth it? Maybe I should call it Eureka. They got close to destroying the world in almost every single episode.

    "Again, I digress. Benjamin, I believe, came up with a good solution for this issue. Since the road closest to Fort Cove is barely above the level of the swamp, we will redirect some water from the mountains. Then, build a dam. As soon as the invaders come, we will break the dam, and it will flood and become an impassable marsh. Maybe it will become a lake."

    Benjamin and I had plenty of time on our way back from Kimton to come up with ideas for various situations. My idea was to just block it with stuff and disguise it, but he said their scouts would find the road, and it would be obvious we didn''t want them to use it. Turning it into a marsh would be better.

    "We are also going to start construction on a road from Fort Cove to Bicman. It won''t be finished by the time they get here, so it will just lead them into the middle of the marsh. Speaking of Melnon, though, how are things going?"

    "Excellent, my lord. With all the new people here, we have been able to increase the number of miners, and that has been helpful."

    "You''re using the new people?" I said with a look of concern.

    "No worry, my lord, we are just moving some of your original peasants from other projects to the mines. None of the new residents have been allowed north of the Cofi River. We also have a prospecting team. They have found another coal deposit next to our new copper mine." He said excitedly.

    "Well, that''s good. Hopefully, it is a good one," I said. "Anything other deposits?"

    "Nothing yet, but they all came back last week. Snow has started to accumulate in the mountains, and they might get stuck soon. We will have to start shutting down Melnon mines soon as the small pass that leads there sometimes gets blocked by snow. We have had men die in the past due to not being able to get back to Melnon."

    "I didn''t think we got that much snow," I said in surprise.

    "The mines are at a higher elevation, and the mountains trap the rain clouds so it snows more there. Oh, but good news, we got the wheel issue fixed on the rail carts.¡±

    ¡°There was an issue?¡±

    Richard scratched his head, ¡°Hmm, I guess you weren¡¯t here when we started having that problem. The wheels that we were using for the mine carts were fine when we were moving the cart in a mostly straight line, but when the path down the mountain curved around a bend, the wheels would pop off the track.¡±

    ¡°So how did you fix it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°By accident, you see, we had one wheel that never popped off the track when going around a curve to the left. After pulling it off and comparing it, we found that it was smaller on the outer edge. It had to be a mistake when making it. We changed the other wheels so that they were the same, and now they don¡¯t pop off the tracks.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I call a happy accident. Good job.¡±

    ¡°Was not me, my lord. I am just the lucky man that has to report it to you.¡±

    ¡°So how is the rail system working out? Is it worth the effort that it took to build it?¡± I asked.

    Richard smiled, ¡°My lord, I do not know what I like better, the wheel barrel or the rail system. They both make life in Melnon so much easier.¡±

    ¡°Better than the trip hammer, rock crusher, and bellow?¡±

    This caused Richard to flush a bit. ¡°Sorry, my lord, I didn¡¯t mean to sound ungrateful for the other things you¡¯ve given us as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant, Richard. I¡¯m glad everything is working out well.¡±

    ¡°The bellow was not complete yet. I¡¯m afraid when it is, our boys will become lazy. Pumping the bellows is good for them.¡±

    ¡°We will have other work for them, don¡¯t you worry,¡± I said with a grin. Then I turned to Joshua. ¡°Well, Josh, how are things in Barium?¡±

    ¡°My lord, things are going well. We converted the old loom shop into a town hall. The palisade is up, and we are clearing out any trees closer than two hundred meters to the fort. We are collecting rocks and trying to build a stone wall inside the palisade. I doubt that it will be very high by this spring, but it should help fortify the wood.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. Is your village prepared for winter?¡±

    ¡°We have a list of all our residents. My wife has been attending classes at the manor and can add and subtract,¡± he boasted. And not without good reason. A peasant who could read and write was head and shoulder above even some noblemen. ¡°Edward has verified her calculations, and everything is in order.¡±

    "Excellent work, Joshua. We''ll make a real Headman out of you yet."

    The praise caused him to blush.

    "Anything else to report?" I asked.

    "We found more evidence that the marsh water may be the cause of the disease. One of our townspeople has a friend in Karr. They said that one of the reasons that the Karr moved south of Bicman River is that the illness they call yellow-eyed fever was more prevalent in the marsh. We are building up the bank on the lake''s northern edge and trying to create runoff channels to the West for the marsh that will prevent the water from seeping into the lake. Eventually, we''ll drain the areas north of the lake."

    I nodded in approval. "Does anyone else have anything else to report before I bring up a more urgent matter?"

    There was silence for a moment, and then I continued. "I received a report from Plimgus that bandits are plaguing his barony. He says it is due to people flooding Bicman. He says he does not have enough men to deal with the increase in banditry. I have not received the messages you sent south, and the letters that I sent north have not reached you. This means that someone was stopping the messengers even before people started coming North. So maybe it is a group of his guards disguised as bandits. It wouldn''t be hard. Just give them crappy weapons and no armor, and they will look like peasants turned to banditry."

    "So, do we help him?" Chris asked.

    "If Vaspar were still the count, then I would send a complaint to him. But it is my land now. I also think this will be good for our men. It will prepare them for the invasion."

    "How many men do you want to send?"

    "I want two hundred men sent south."

    This caused everyone to look at me in surprise. Paul said, "Isn''t that too much for just bandits?"

    "If Plimgus works with them, he will not make it easy for us to find them, and they may ambush us. Overwhelming force is what we need. They have to know that I do not tolerate banditry in my county. And we need to make Plimgus afraid to cross us. If I can link this to him, then I will have one less spy on the council when I am done with him," I growled. The fury of losing Drake to the bandits still burned strong in my heart, and the men before me could see it on my face. "I swear to all of you. Never again will bandits think they are safe in my lands."

    We went on to discuss how much farming equipment we had and what we would need for next year''s planting. We also talked about planning out areas for new fields. Each headman was responsible for finding the best places for new fields. I told them I wanted to double the amount of fields in each village.

    "Forgive me, my lord, but why would we need so many more fields?" Barak asked.

    I decided to drop the next bombshell. "A good friend of mine warned me that we may need to prepare for the dukedom to send us a lot of refugees if war breaks out in the kingdom. We may become a dumping ground for people fleeing the war. It almost seemed like they were going to intentionally direct them to us. That means we will need to plant more grain, vegetables, and flax. We need to clear forests and store wood. We need to plot out new sites for villages."

    Edward looked very concerned. "My lord, we will not have enough people to clear new village sites."

    "We are not going to necessarily clear them. We just have to have them planned out and clear trees leading to the areas. We will have to pray that my gold is going to buy enough food to last while the people build their villages. If we are lucky, we won''t have any refugees coming in for a few years. Right now, I want to survey land and plan."

    What I really needed was some civil engineers. I also wanted to make a compass. Not the type that points the way but the type that you use to draw circles and measure distances on a map. I didn''t know how much help it would be, but we used them for my orientation merit badge. I wonder if they already had them here. They divide circles into 360 degrees here. I wish I had been able to spend time among the laborers in Kimton. I probably could have gotten more ideas other than the pump and the turbine.

    "Any word on the canal from the mountain to the bay?"

    "From what I understand, they were able to break through the ridge and start draining some of the swamps, but they are having trouble with the hilly terrain closer to the mountains. There are too many low spots. They will have to smooth out the land in order to get the water to flow," Edward said.

    I knuckled my forehead. "We need aqueducts."

    "A what?"

    "Never mind, I review it when I get there."

    "Yes, my lord."

    We will need an engineer to help us build cranes. And I hope we have enough concrete. This may take a year or two.

    The meeting went on until late in the evening. The days had become shorter, so it was dark by the time we left, and the minutes of the meeting were being taken by candlelight.

    ¡°Before we retire for the evening, gentleman, I have an introduction to make. Rick, please bring in Tumlus. He is probably bored in the carriage.¡±

    ¡°If I may be honest, my lord. I very much doubt that. The boy has been obsessed with your reading lessons, and every time I check on him, he is rereading the few stories you made for him,¡± Rick said before he left to get the boy.

    There had not been a lot to do in the carriage on the way back so I had spent my time teaching Tumlus the alphabet and then words. The boy absorbed the information like a sponge.

    Tumlus had his head down when he came in. I could tell he wanted to put his hood up. I had commanded him to never put the hood of his cloak up unless he was in the rain.

    ¡°Gentleman, this is my friend Tumlus. He is a glassmaker from Kimton and will be working for me here.¡±

    There were shocked looks on the men in the room as a Rabiss entered.

    ¡°Until I met you, Lord Bicman, I had only seen people of the Kingdom. Now, I have met people with strange hair, and now this boy who has odd skin. Where is this one from.¡± Barak said.

    It still boggled my mind that people around here would not know what other cultures look like. But most people spent their whole lives inside their barony or village.

    ¡°Tumlus is from Rabiss.¡±

    The room went silent. Unfortunately, I did not have a pin to drop to test whether or not everyone could hear it. Joshua was the first to speak.

    ¡°I knew my granddad was a liar. He always said Rabiss had horns.¡±

 Book 3 Interlude 1

    Catherine

    I exited the Carok Travelers Inn and smiled. I missed it here. Not even Elizabeth''s sour attitude could ruin my mood.

    "I want to go home, Catherine. We have been on the road forever," She complained as soon as I exited the inn.

    I sighed. "I haven''t seen John in forever, and I want to tell him the incredible news. It''s not like it was too much longer, and we will leave soon."

    "An extra week of traveling with miserable weather is a long time. And as I have said before, he probably has already heard about Amos."

    "I still want to see him. We have more details than he does, and it will be satisfying to tell him I have more about something than he does. Look, I just paid for the inn. Why don''t you go to the room and relax? It will give you and Aramis some alone time. I will go see John, and maybe we can get a decent meal."

    "We could have been having decent meals all along if we had stuck to the Kimton road. Instead, you wanted to take the scenic route on the back roads of the duchy."

    "I know you want to get home to show your father the cloth. But just give me a couple of days here, and we will leave straight for home."

    She sighed, "Fine, I''m sorry, it''s just¡­"

    I gave her a hug. "Thanks, Liz. I will hurry."

    I made my way down to the docks. John ran the warehouses down there for his father. It was going to be so nice to surprise him. I walked into the first of their warehouses, but it took me until the third before I found him. He was at the counter speaking with a worker. When I walked in, our eyes met, and I smiled. He, however, just stood there with his mouth agape. Then, the color drained from his face, and he became white as a sheet.

    I was about to ask him something when he unfroze and said to the worker. "Excuse me, I must deal with this customer." Turning back to me, he smiled and said. "Dear Peggy, it has been a while. Let us go to my office."

    I was so dumbstruck that I didn''t even resist when he led me by the arm to a small office. It was just large enough for a table and a few chairs. He did not sit down, though, nor did he offer me a seat.

    "How are you alive Catherine, and why did you come here of all places? Do you realize what you have done?" He said angrily.

    "What are you talking about? I came to visit you. I thought you would be happy." I said in an annoyed tone. He had never treated me this way.

    "How did you escape?" He demanded.

    "Escape what? I have been traveling. I just came up from Kimton via the Metsum Caravan route."

    "Which probably saved your life." He said thoughtfully. He shook his head. "It doesn''t matter. You need to leave now. You were never here."

    "What is going on, John? I demand you tell me."

    "You really don''t know? You can no longer demand anything of me. Your family has been caught."

    "Stop talking nonsense! Caught doing what? This better not be one of your pranks."

    "Your father is part of the rebellion. How could you not know?"

    "What rebellion?" I asked.

    He looked at me in shock. "How can you be so ignorant? What rebellion? Those who oppose the king, of course. Your whole family is dead."

    "No! You''re lying! My father would never-"

    "Believe it. Not only did your father get himself killed, but my whole family almost died. We had Royal Investigators crawling over every inch of our property, looking for evidence that we had been helping him. It nearly sank our business, and we have already had to shut down two warehouses. All of our credibility is gone because your family was a traitor to the crown."

    I fell to my knees, and the world began to spin.

    I awoke slowly, looking at the rafters of a building.

    I looked around and found John sitting in a chair. Everything came back to me. "John, please, please tell me I was only dreaming. My family, they aren''t¡­" I said weakly, not able to finish the sentence.

    "I''m sorry, Catherine. It was no dream, " he said with a sad expression. "I have been sitting here struggling with the idea of whether or not to turn you in. It would solve a lot of my family''s problems. It would restore some of our credibility. It is also the lawful thing to do."

    I could feel the color drain from my face. And I began to cry.

    "Curse you, Catherine, I''m not going to turn you in. No matter how badly I want to. You will crawl out this window and flee. Take these letters to the docks. There is a ship called the Flounder. Say that you heard they are leaving for Vaspar and would like passage. There are three guards who are also passengers, traveling to a barony near there. You will accompany them. That first letter is to the guards requesting they escort you, and the second is to the ruler of the land they are traveling to. You are to tell no one of your true identity. You are now the daughter of a merchant fleeing an abusive husband. I have no doubt the ruler will take you in. I will not give you any more information than that on him in case you get caught. You must leave with the tide in two hours. You are not to mention my name ever again. Forget that you were ever Catherine Manticole. Here is some money for your travels. Buy new clothes, the clothes your current travel clothes are too nice. You are a commoner now. "

    This was too much. I couldn''t handle this. "John, I-"

    "Go now. In two hours, I will tell the guards I have captured you and locked you in this room. I will post one of my own men here as if we were making sure you didn''t escape. I have to do this in case you have already been recognized by someone. I am taking a huge risk here. Go before I change my mind." He said as he opened the shutters leading to a back alley.

    I crawled through the window and began to wander out into the main street. I was in a daze; I wasn''t even sure where I was going. I looked down at the meager amount of silver John had given me. I couldn''t live off of this. It wouldn''t even last until I got to wherever John was sending me. I needed my gold. I could borrow Elizabeth''s travel clothes as well. They were very fine, and I couldn''t spend time having a quality set tailored for me.

    I found myself wandering into the inn in a daze. I went first to my room and grabbed my two puses of money from my trunk. I needed to go to Liz''s room and ask her to borrow her cloths. I walked back down to the commoners'' floor and knocked on Liz''s door.

    She opened the door. She looked flushed but decent still.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    "What is wrong, Cathy? You look terrible." Liz said.

    I was supposed to just ask for her travel clothes and leave, but when I saw the look of concern in her eyes, I flung myself into her arms and began to sob. She held me until I calmed down and could finally speak.

    "Liz, I have to go. They- they say my father is a traitor. They killed my family, Liz. I need to go. Please let me have your travel clothes. I need a disguise."

    She stood there shocked for a moment before finally springing into action.

    "Oh my gosh, we have to get you out of here. I''m not letting you go alone." I was so out of it I didn''t even argue. She went to the trunk at the end of her bed and started pulling out some clothes.

    There was a loud thunk behind us, and when I turned to look, Aramis had just locked the door. "I''m sorry, ladies, but neither of you is going anywhere. You see, it isn''t just Catherine''s father who betrayed our king but also yours, Elizabeth."

    "What! No, Aramis. What are you talking about?"

    "I wanted to turn you two in at the capitol, but it looks like I will have to do it here." He said in a flat tone.

    A tear rolled down Elizabeth''s cheek. "Aramis, I, we¡­"

    "You thought we were going to get married. I admit I enjoyed your company the last few years, but you were a means to an end. I needed to get close to the Baron. The third son of a knight couldn''t catch the eye of a wealthy Baron''s Daughter, but her best friend, who had been spurned by society, was much easier. How fortunate it was when I found out the merchant was the intermediary for information passed to the baron. When I turn you two in, I will finally earn my knighthood, and I can be done with this farce. And when I share all the other possible contacts we met in Kimton, I may even get a hereditary title." He said this all in his usual solemn tone.

    Liz fell to her knees and began to sob. I was furious. I should have been furious about him turning in my family. I probably was, but all I could think about now was that my best friend was sobbing on the floor. A farce. He had spent the last couple of years with Liz, and he called it a farce. I charged straight at him, raising my hand to hit him.

    He caught my wrist easily and squeezed. Pain shot up my arm, and I cried out in pain. He flung me across the room, and I landed on the bed. I tried to get up, but he struck me across the face, and my vision began to blur.

    "Get off her!" Liz shouted as she lunged at him. He flung her to the side as easily as a child would throw a doll. I looked over to see her crumpled body on the floor.

    He pulled out a knife. "Don''t move, Elizabeth, or I will kill you. Catherine is the only one I need alive." Then he shoved the knife close to my face. "I only need you alive. If you give me trouble, I will cut you up."

    His knife looked much larger, with it so close to my face. Suddenly, his back arched, and Aramis screamed in pain. He twisted around, and I heard an odd tearing sound. Blood sprayed all over my clothes as his body collapsed to the floor.

    I looked up to see Elizabeth screaming incoherently at Aramis as a large quantity of blood was pooling around him on the floor. She continued to shout as she began to kick the barely moving body. When I came to my senses, I got up and dragged Liz back.

    "Stop screaming. We have to go. People will come soon." I stripped off my clothes and got into the outfit Liz had put out for me. When I was done, I turned to find Liz looking down at Aramis''s body in shock. I took the money John had given me, as well as any money left in the room, and grabbing Liz by the hand, I dragged her to the door.

    Putting up my hood, we made our way quickly towards the docks. I did not want to ask anyone where the ship was lest the guards found out what ship we had left on. Fortunately, it was not hard to find the Flounder as the name was on the side of the ship. Running up to the side of the ship, we saw a man next to it shouting at some sailors.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said.

    The man turned and looked both Liz and me up and down. ¡°What do you want?¡± He practically growled. The man''s tone took me aback. I was not used to commoners speaking to me in such a way. If we were not in such a desperate situation I would have demanded an apology for the insult.

    ¡°I understand you are departing for Vaspar. We seek passage.¡± I said.

    He glared at me. ¡°No, we ain''t got room and you two look like trouble.¡±

    I began to panic, but Liz took over. ¡°There are three soldiers among your passengers who promised to take us to Vaspar. How much would it cost to make room?¡±

    ¡°We ain''t got no accommodations for the likes of you.¡±

    ¡°I have five gold crowns,¡± I blurted out. By the look on Liz¡¯s face, I knew I had made a mistake. I thought it was a good price, but maybe it was too little.

    What I said caused the man to pause. I didn''t understand the look in his eyes, but he gave a gruesome smile and said, ¡°Ok, lass, I guess I can squeeze you in. Don''t complain if you ain''t comfortable. Give me the money.¡±

    As we traveled up the plank, Liz whispered to me. ¡°You can''t spend our money like that. I could have gotten us passage for a couple silver crowns a piece.¡±

    I flushed. ¡°I didn''t know.¡±

    ¡°Let me handle things. Also, you better pray that those soldiers are good men, or we are going to be robbed of everything we have and accidentally fall overboard.¡±

    I paled as I thought of how much I wasted. Five gold was what a decent dress would cost. I couldn''t believe that passage on a ship was less than a dress. We wandered around the deck and finally saw three men in peasant garb not running around helping.

    ¡°Excuse me, are you perchance the three guards traveling to a barony in Vaspar,¡± I asked.

    They all three turned from their conversation and looked us up and down. Not a single one bowed, and before I could get offended, I remembered I was in merchan''s traveling dress.

    One of them spoke up. ¡°We are. How might we help you?¡±

    I handed him the letter, and he opened it. After scanning it, he handed it off to another one of the guards and said, ¡°Looks like John wants us to escort these young ladies.¡±

    ¡°We can pay.¡± I blurted out, worried they might not want to help.

    The man who seemed to be their leader just laughed. ¡°Don''t worry about it. We would have been stranded here if Chuck hadn''t remembered that our lord''s cousin lived here.¡±

    ¡°Your lord is cousin to John?¡± Liz asked.

    ¡°Yes, Baron, I mean Count Amos Bicman,¡± he said with pride in his voice.

    Johnathan

    ¡°When she came to me pleading for help, I told her to wait here. I have locked her in my office.¡± I said to the guard as we walk to the small office. Bill, my foreman, was waiting outside the door. He stepped aside as I pulled out my key. Unlocking the door, I stepped inside and froze.

    The guard behind me shoved me to the side and entered. The shutter was now open and the table was pushed over near the window. The small box that contained my coins that I kept in the office was smashed open. I started to swear. "She took all my money! Quick, I think I know what hotel she would probably stay at. There is only one place near here that wench would be willing to stay at."

    I, of course, was the person who broke my favorite box, and I was actually praying that she hadn''t booked a room at "The Sparrow." It was the only place a noble would stay in this area. I should have asked her before she left so I could have avoided it. If she booked closer to the center of the city, I could lead the guards on a wild goose chase. That girl was going to owe me big time.

    We entered The Sparrow, and I walked straight up to the counter. It was a nice inn with cloth on the tables in the eatery. The accommodations were more spacious than most. It was usually reserved for the merchants who came via ship. "We are looking to see if Catherine Manticole booked a room here."

    The young girl looked at a guest list for a moment.

    "Yes, she booked two rooms for her and her guests as well as rooms in the servants'' quarters for her servants."

    I cursed inwardly at my luck. She should have booked something elsewhere. And of course she has servents but she didn''t mention she was traveling with others.

    "Show us the rooms." The guard demanded.

    We went to her room first, and there were no signs of her having ever been there, but when we entered her guest''s room, it smelled as if someone had used a chamber pot and was not bothered to clean it.

    The location of the smell became obvious as soon as we entered. A young man lay in a pool of his own blood, and it appeared that he had vacated his bowels upon death. I stood there in shock until the young girl who was escorting us screamed.

    I bent down and looked at the corpse. He looked familiar, but I couldn''t place him. Most likely, it was somebody I had seen down in Manticole. I had to improvise. "The blood is dry. That means she did this before she left to see me. I wonder if he is a lover of hers, or did he try and rape her? She never mentioned her companions. When she came to me saying she was in danger I thought she meant the fact that she was to be hung as a traitor. Did she mean this instead?" I said.

    I didn''t think that was true. Most likely, my stupid cousin had told her companion that she was fleeing, and they tried to stop her. Idiot, she was supposed to go straight to the ship.

    "Is there anywhere else she would flee to." The guard said.

    "She hates ships. She gets violently seasick, but I will check the docks. I know what she looks like, and I can pass her description around. I will grab a few more guards on the way, and we will turn the dock area upside down."

    "I will check to see if she left her servants and grab some more guards. We will force the servants to help us if they don''t want to hang alongside their mistress."

    "Alright, I will hurry. I must restore my family''s honor."

    She has already caused enough trouble for me. She better not cause any trouble for Amos. And¡­ Sorry, Amos. I really had nowhere else to send her.

 Book 3 Chapter 9

    King Caraman the Second of Turabe

    "So, Cousin, how are things going in the North," I said as we sat in my parlor sipping on wine from the Vinyards of Oris. It was a forty-year-old vintage. It was of particularly high quality. Probably one of my favorite years.

    "Mmm, always business with you, Caraman," Arkorum said.

    I said nothing, just waiting for his response.

    He sighed and said, "Nothing has much changed. King Lenord is still holed up in his castle, trying to keep himself from looking the fool. His magisters and advisors are pushing him deeper into debt due to this war, and soon he may lose all his power whether or not the council does anything to him."

    "What are those rebels up to?"

    "They have most of Kimton under their thumb in one way or another, and although the king cannot prove it, Duke Githum is most likely a member of this Council."

    "The King''s brother is no fool. Even if he is not a member of this council, Devon Githum will definitely switch sides if the Council moves against the king. The opportunity is too great. What about Hernon?" I said.

    "He is still loyal, but there are people ready to prevent his armies from coming to the aid of the king if the council makes a move."

    "This is all very good. I received a report from our agents in Hitub that Lenord''s army is starting to make progress again. Something about their calvary." I said.

    Arkorum nodded. "Yes, our agents in the Falmoren army have attributed it to an invention they call the stirrup. It is attached to the saddle and holds the soldiers'' feet in loops. We have acquired one, and our men are studying it. The tactics used by the Falmorens have been included in the last report as well. It is a simple invention, but from what my people are saying, it will change warfare."

    "This is the report I have gotten as well. This new invention must be studied quickly and implemented before we make our own move."

    "What of their vassal kingdoms?"

    "The agents are slowly stirring their desire for independence. If it weren''t for the Harbin range limiting our access to them, we would have been able to use them as a staging ground," I said.

    "Patience, Cousin, all in good time. Let the Falmoren eat themselves from the inside for a while longer. The Asputs should have never gotten so greedy. Hitub was their buffer, and now they are destroying it. They will learn that having a border with us will not be as desirable as they think. And trading his sister for a peace agreement was one of the stupidest decisions that king could have made. I know you love interesting news, and one of our agents found some."

    "Are you trying to change the subject?" I asked.

    "Of course I am. I know you love your scheming, but sometimes it gets boring."

    "Fine, what is this news?"

    "Our agent in Vaspar reported that there is a baron in Vaspar who is gaining popularity through his paintings. They say the paintings seem alive."

    "Really, our agents are not known to exaggerate. Would it be worth kidnapping him?"

    "The last report I got was that he had been invited to paint the Duke of Kimton."

    "Pity, he is probably dead by now. If he somehow survives, we may want to find a way to invite him to Turabe.

    Amos

    The next morning greeted me at the crack of dawn. I got up and did my exercises and then began to spar with Chris.

    "Dang, Amos, you have improved quite a bit with the sword while you were away." He said.

    "I got some added instruction from two of the best swordsmen in Kimton," I said with a satisfied grin.

    "Ah, well, it is apparent that your spear work is still crap," he said, trying to take me down a peg.

    "Hey! I almost got you a few times during the fight."

    "Well, almost doesn''t count if you have a spear in your gut."

    "Point taken, pun intended," I said as I wiped the sweat from my brow.

    "And another piece of advice. When the enemy comes, please don''t try to be a hero. We don''t need them capturing or killing you. Especially capture. They would ask for a ransom, and that would drain your coffers. Then you wouldn''t have enough money to pay me."

    "Well, if I stopped paying you now, you could get used to it by the time they attack," I said.

    "Nah, I kind of like being paid."

    "How in the world did I end up being surrounded by such greedy people? I start introducing coin into our barony, and all of a sudden, everyone wants to be paid."

    "What was it you said last time we were together? We always see clearest in hindsight."

    "Alright, you win. But only because I need to wash and get ready to see my new citizens."

    Chris smiled, "A wise lord knows when to retreat."

    I shook my head and headed toward the river. My guards and a servant followed after me with my clothes and a towel. I greeted people as I walked down the street, asking their names and trying to memorize them. I would probably forget most of them, but if I only remembered one, I would consider it a success.

    After I finished washing myself, I got into the carriage. Benjamin, Barak, and his wife got in with me. Edward followed behind on a horse. We were about to leave when I remembered I still needed to talk to Suzy.

    Leaving the rest in the carriage, I went back to Paul''s house.

    As I entered, I called out. "Suzy, I was wondering if I could have a word with you,"

    She turned from where she was kneading dough and bowed. "Of course, my lord, I wanted to apologize to you. I misspoke yesterday. Please forgive me."

    "It is quite alright as long as we keep that behavior out of the public eye. I enjoy the familiarity, but it would not be acceptable outside a private setting." Before she could get nervous, I continued. "It is concerning that matter that I would like to speak with you about. I am wondering where I made a mistake."

    "You didn''t, not really. Most of it was due to an emotional teenage girl. But even then, it can be somewhat justified. She was most likely already nervous about your return due to the fact that she had been feeling extremely guilty about everything that happened while you were gone. Then you came home, forgave her, and made her a noblewoman. It was like something out of one of your tales. There is not a young woman in the world who has not dreamed of a handsome young nobleman falling in love with them and raising her status so that he can take her away to live in his castle."

    That made me pause. It really was like something out of a fairytale, wasn''t it. "Ah, yes, I didn''t consider that. The fact that she has a crush on me probably added to the idea that she thought it was a dream amidst all the nightmares she has been having about Marcus and what I would say when I return. I guess I shouldn''t have sprung that on her as soon as I got back."

    "She has calmed down. Now, she is just embarrassed. She is back at the manor. You can smooth things out when you get there. You should also talk to her about how you feel. It is not good that she views your relationship differently."

    I sighed, "I know. I just don''t want to hurt her."

    She smiled kindly, "You are a good man, Amos. Just be honest. And remember, she is now a noble among peasants. You are responsible for finding her a husband now that you have made it almost impossible to find her one here."

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    That thought did not sit well with me. I wasn''t going to let just any ol'' knight marry her. And I would have to entice them with land here. There was no way I was going to let one of my best friends move away. I didn''t have very many to start with.

    "Thanks, Suzy. I have to go." I said. "Take care of Tumlus while I am gone. I am hoping that by having Paul and you introduce him instead of me, people will feel more comfortable approaching him.¡±

    "He is a sweet boy. We will take care of him. Be safe, my lord. We missed you."

    I nodded and left.

    Getting back into the carriage, we set off for the village between Kerisi and Cofi, which was about an hour away. The village was hidden within the trees, and the sound of them falling could be heard even above the noise of the carriage rattling along the uneven path.

    We were in the village as soon as we exited the forest. It had probably once been a large grove, but now I could see men cutting down trees to expand the area. Edward had explained that this was going to be another source of lumber. They would be transporting the hardwood from here to the lumber mill. With each acre that was cleared, another field was plowed. The village roads were once again lined out in neat rows with street signs denoting each one. There was, of course, a main street and a public square. It was a shame that most people still couldn''t read, but I was hoping to change that. Once these people''s basic needs were met, we would build the school.

    There was no cheering as I came into town. In fact, the looks on people''s faces ranged from concern to curiosity. A few even had hopeful expressions on their face. I am sure some of these people were there yesterday when I entered Kerisi. They were probably just caught up in the excitement of the crowd or maybe just doing what they thought was expected of them. Now, however, they were concerned about why their lord was visiting them. I remember hating it whenever my bosses would stop by for a visit. It made half the people in the office worry about whether we had done something wrong.

    I stepped out of the carriage and looked around with a smile on my face. Most people who were present were women and children, with only a few men scattered among them. Most of the male population currently in town were members of the BDF. I assumed that the male residents were out chopping down the forests. The work on the palisade had not started yet.

    I waited for people to gather before I began to speak. "I wanted to personally welcome you all to Bicman. I am amazed at what you all have accomplished in such a short period of time. I want you all to know you are all an important part of this barony and my county. I will make a promise to you. The same promise I have made to all my citizens. If you are faithful in your loyalty to me, I swear on my honor as a count that I will strive to treat you fairly. The laws of Bicman are set, and I abide by them."

    This caused a murmur among those present. There would be disbelief. Trust had to be earned.

    "I give you this land to cultivate. I will do all I can to help you prosper," I said. Then I turned to Kal, the soldier who was currently acting as headman.

    "Kal, you are to gather the people together in the square tonight. Have them decide on a name for their new village. Then send the name to me for approval."

    He bowed, "It shall be done, my lord."

    I nodded and then began to walk among the people. I asked them where they were from, and once again, I was sad that I had no candy for the kids. I talked to them about what brought them to Bicman. Most people lied, saying that they had heard of my greatness and my greatness inspired them to travel to Bicman. Greatness was the word of the day when it came to Count Bicman. But some were honest, saying they feared starvation, and this was their last chance. I thanked them for their honesty and asked if there was anything they needed. Surprisingly, most of them said they had more now than they had ever had in their life and needed nothing else.

    Afterwards, I went back to Kal''s home, and we sat down to go over things. "So, how are things going? Will people be ready for winter?"

    "I think so. Since we are hiding the spinning wheel, not everyone is completely clothed, but we have received a few shipments of cloth from the fort. Now that the looms are back up and running there, it shouldn''t be long. Most people wept when they saw the new clothes. And don''t worry they realize that they will have to pay back the cost of the clothes with work. As far as food goes, things are going well. There were a lot of people who, I think, assumed that once you got them here, you may stop feeding them as well. But when they realized that as long as they worked, they were still provided two meals a day, they redoubled their efforts."

    "Any problem with people?" I asked.

    "A few people ended up on the service crews for misbehavior, and we had to hang someone for defiling a young woman, but things started to quiet down after that. The people had the laws read to them several times, and once a few people were punished, people started reporting any problems. The priest had been very busy helping us pass judgment. He complained that he may need another judge to help."

    "Do you agree?" I asked.

    "A week ago, I might have, but things have been quiet recently. I have been able to handle most things, and Edward has been very responsive when I have sent him letters." Kal said.

    I turned to Edward, "Thank you, my friend. Maybe I should give the job I have in store for you to another."

    "Forgive me, my lord, but I think I could use a change. I am a little wary that you haven''t explained the position," he said.

    "Oh yes, I want you to head up the publishing house business in Vaspar."

    This caused his eyebrows to rise. "You want me to move to Vaspar?"

    "Yes, I need someone to keep track of things there and pass me information. I need all the info on important events going on there."

    "Forgive me, my lord. I am grateful for the opportunity, but I don''t know anything at all about publishing your books. You have only given me a brief overview of what a publishing house is."

    I lean over and whispered. "You''ll be fine. It''s exactly like working at a fish market, except you won''t be cleaning and gutting fish all day,"

    Edward sighed. "I had forgotten how bad your jokes were, my lord."

    "That''s the spirit," I said, ignoring his comment and slapping him on the back. "Trust me. If you can take care of a barony for two months, you can handle a publishing house. We need to gather more scribes and send them down to Vaspar with you. Each book is going for a minimum of five gold, and they can''t keep up with demand. You can also look for more skilled craftsmen and supplies to send to Bicman while you are down there."

    "I will do my best, my lord."

    "I know you will," I said.

    I wish we had enough time to create a printing press. Right now, each of my scribes could write a few pages per day. I demanded a high degree of perfection on each page, and anyone who thinks writing with a dip pen is easy has never tried. Getting just the right amount of ink for each stroke is an art.

    I planned to hand the printing press project off to someone else, but there were just so many more pressing issues. We definitely needed to train more people. Speaking of which¡­

    "Kal, do you have any people with specialized skills who came up here?" I asked.

    "Yes, we have carpenters, stone cutters, and a man who claims he knows the process for extracting salt from seawater. Among the women, there is a seamstress who has worked at a highly respected shop in Falmor for many years. Most people, however, were just peasants who either lost their land or were not given any due to overpopulation in baronies. People who had escaped being used as fodder on the battlefield but would die anyways due to starvation."

    "Well, let''s go talk to the specialists. We need to know their skill levels."

    As we talked to the people, I assured them we would find them work and pay them for any work they did for the barony unless they wanted to use their goods as part of their taxes.

    The salt worker''s story was interesting.

    "I hear you are the man who knows how to make salt," I said as we approached two men who were working on splitting logs. The short, well-built man with salt and pepper hair looked at me in surprise and then bowed deeply.

    "Yes, my lord," he said.

    "What is your name, good man?"

    "Zed, my lord."

    "Well, Zed, what brings you here? Would it not be more profitable to make salt closer to civilization." I really was curious.

    Zed grimaced. "My father, my brothers, and I had a thriving salt business for many years in Pith, a small town east of Vaspar. We were experts in extracting fine salt cream from seawater. Unfortunately, a friend of Lord Vaspar''s son had expanded a salt business closer to the city. They undercut our prices and took away most of our business. Fortunately, our salt was of better quality, so we were gaining back most of our previous customers. They put pressure on us to sell our business, and when we didn''t, most of my family died. Fortunately, my wife and children were away at the time, and I was¡­" Here, he blushed. "I was deep in the bottle at a tavern. I fled with my family, as well as my niece and her husband, after our baron refused to help us. I think he had no choice."

    "Where did you go?"

    "We were in Decmoor for the last few years, and my niece''s husband and I have been working in the field there. We were trying to save up enough money to open a trading business, but Decmoor isn''t the best place to go if you want to save money.¡±

    ¡°And what do you hope to accomplish here?¡±

    ¡°My lord, we were told that you would help us find work, and we hoped to be able to save enough here to start trading.¡±

    I was a little disappointed. ¡°So you no longer wish to produce salt?¡±

    This caused his bushy eyebrows to climb up into his forehead. ¡°My lord, I would love to return to the salt business, but I have learned that your coasts are cliffs.¡±

    ¡°They are, but Baron Plimgus has a few beaches further south. We could set you up there next year.¡±

    Zed looked stunned. ¡°My lord, if you would be willing to do that and give us protection, you will receive the finest salt in the kingdom.¡±

    ¡°It will be done. In the spring, remind Kal, and we will speak with Baron Plimgus about getting you set up.¡±

    I really wanted to set him up at the cove, but we needed to evaluate his character before we moved him there, so I didn¡¯t want to make any promises.

    I would have Kal pay close attention to Zed and his family. If they were trustworthy, we would send them to Fort Cove and have our salt farm. If not, I will put them in Plimgus.

    After we left Zed, we began our walk back to the carriage. ¡°Kal, I am impressed. I approve of Edward and Draves''s choice. I give you the title of headman.¡±

    Kal bowed, ¡°I am grateful for your praise and will strive to be worthy of it.¡±

    ¡°I know you will. We are off to Cofi. Please let me know if you need anything.¡±

    After I was out of earshot, I turned to Edward and Benjamin. ¡°I want you to work with him to help him find a good steward. I will also need a recommendation from Draves.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure, my lord?¡± Benjamin asked.

    ¡°Of course, I am not sure. I have only had a few interactions with him before today. But I have a feeling he is going to work out, so I want to get the ball rolling. If we need to find somewhere else, we will.¡± I said.

    ¡°Wait, I¡¯m confused,¡± Edward said. ¡°What is going on?¡±

    ¡°Edward, my friend, we are going to build a true county for ourselves. That means it is time to get ourselves a few loyal knights. We will start with those who have proven themselves trustworthy stewards.¡± I said with a smile.

 Book 3 Chapter 10

    <h2>Chapter 10 - Day 267</h2>

    After we left the first of our new villages, we continued to Cofi. We arrived about lunchtime, and a large meal was waiting for us. They brought out the cider for everyone else, and I had my usual boiled and filtered water. All in all, it was a great party. A lot of people I hadn''t seen in a while showed up, and the crowd was primarily composed of the people of the village of Karr and Cofi.

    Talking to the head of Karr village, Jess, I found that the chalk production had increased twofold. Jess was one of the older members of the community. He had been crippled in the mine three years ago and had been living off the welfare of this amazing community. He and his wife had six children, but only two survived to adulthood. They were, however, expecting their third great-grandchild.

    After he told me the news, I asked, "And are the chalk merchants willing to pay for it?"

    "They were the ones that requested it. Some of the people from the new village south of Cofi Lake have joined us in excavating."

    "Any accidents lately?"

    "The gods have blessed us in that regard. Nothing has happened. We also took up the suggestion you gave to the miners in Melnon. We set aside a small amount of our pay to help in case there is an accident. We are grateful that you have been so generous in that regard."

    "Your miners pay their taxes like everyone else, and they have a more hazardous job. It all works out." I said with a smile. I think I just started the first version of workman''s comp. "How are the Grandchildren?"

    "They are all happy, though Natune is very unwell after her latest miscarriage. It broke her heart, especially since the baby was a boy. She wanted to name it Amos." He said with a grin.

    I found that almost every new baby boy in the tiny village had been named Amos in the last four months. Those who were not named Amos were named Aaron. Ten children in their little community were named after me or my nephew. These people believed I was some sort of child of the divine.

    I ignored his grin and continued our conversation. "So, anything else I can do for you?"

    "Truly we are happy, Descended. You have blessed our people and answered our prayers."

    I sighed inwardly. They just couldn''t let it go. "I''m happy that you are all doing well. Have you had any trouble with the new residents?"

    "There were a few that initially came to visit, but not since the laws have changed. Are you having trouble with the new people, Descended?"

    "There were some murders and thefts initially and some spies from outside the barony, but I think things have calmed down."

    Jess shook his head. "How could people jeopardize their place here in this land? They should know that living under the rule of a Descended is a great honor."

    I had a dilemma. I didn¡¯t want to disrespect their religion, but at the same time, I couldn¡¯t convince them that I was not this descended that they kept calling me. Those who thought I was the Chosen at least tried to keep it to themselves. They understood I could get in trouble if other Nobles suspected that I considered myself a chosen one. Those who were devout followers of the gods of the Karr considered it blasphemy not to proclaim me a demigod.

    So, I just began to ignore it. I treated it like the title lord or baron. There was no fighting it, and I just had to hope other nobles would not try to use this against me if they found out.

    "So, have you started building a fort?"

    Jess smiled. "My lord, I ask that you come and take the time to visit our village. We have been using the stone from the mine to build you the most magnificent fort in all of Bicman. Due to the difficulty of its construction, it is taking longer to build than the others. But once it is complete, none of your enemies will overcome it. They will tremble at the might of our devotion."

    I had asked Draves to make sure the headmen understood they were not to tell their citizens of the Rabiss threat yet since, at the time he left for Bicman, we didn''t know where and when it was coming from. However, from Jess''s statement, I wasn''t sure if the news had slipped out anyway. On the other hand, asking them to build a fort for defense may be all they needed in order to assume that we would be attacked. Maybe this was just part of their natural zeal.

    "I am glad you are taking this seriously and are committed to protecting your people. How is the training going?"

    "My lord, our young men are ready to fight to their last breath. They are concerned that the fighting may not reach us or that the enemies will fear our walls so much that they will turn away from our village to the others. They want to prove their valor."

    This was getting ridiculous. I was more concerned for their safety than they were. At the same time, I loved the Karr. They were truly genuine people, and once they had an idea in their minds, they were committed.

    Once I got to know them, I wondered how such devout people did not fight to the last individual when the Falmorens came to conquer them. The response I got from them was surprising. They told me they believed their gods had rejected them and that their enslavement was a punishment for fleeing their homelands. When I came and freed them, they decided that their punishment was over and that the gods were once again smiling upon them.

    "Well, Jess, let your people know I will visit them after I go to see the new village to the south of the lake."

    "It shall be as you say. We will eagerly await your arrival."

    "I thanked him and continued my tour of Cofi. We lost a few people in Cofi after the plot to exploit the Karr was discovered, but the numbers were bolstered by the first group I had brought from Vaspar. As expected, Cofi was flourishing. They had used one of the plows immediately after the harvest to replow all their fields. There had been a controversy among the farmers in Bicman about whether or not they should plow their fields in the fall. Some said that leaving the fields unplowed until spring would allow the leftover crops to provide more nutrients, while others said that turning the soil with the new plow would benefit the soil." My desire for experimentation had begun to take root among the farmers. They had no more fear that they would not have enough food if they tried something new.

    They all assumed that if something they tried didn''t work, I would make sure they were taken care of. And that was true. Even if their fields didn''t produce more, we would still have enough crops from everywhere else. I also started having people gather guano so we could experiment with it. If we got up to twelve bushels per acre with guano fertilizer, then not only would we produce way more than we needed, but we would also produce more than any other Falmoren field.

    The guano harvesting was being done in secret. If people found out I knew how to double or triple crop yield, I would be killed. Even those who were friendly to me right now might kill me for my lands. At that point, the best-case scenario would be for Vaspar to demand that he get his baronies back. The likelihood of that being the only consequence was infinitely small. I would be a dead man if the secret of guano fertilizer got out.

    Why did I keep doing these things?

    I had even considered building a wall along the north side of the Nore River¡ªa miniature Great Wall of China. But then I would isolate my other baronies. Also, if they brought an army of ten thousand, it would not help us. So, the only way to do this is to make sure nobody knew we had fertilizer for now. Then, with the money I was bringing in, I would hire all the soldiers I could. Fortunately, much of the army was in the south, and those that were left could not leave their baronies because of the internal tension. I was banking on the fact that the possibility of the country resolving into civil war was a much more pressing issue than if we had found a way to produce more grain during next year''s harvest. It meant I probably had a year and a half before any sort of force came after me, probably even longer if civil war broke out.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Barak, Jess, and I wandered the newly layed out streets of Cofi and talked with the people. There was hope for the future in their voice. They knew that this winter would be tight this year with all the new people, but they believed that I wouldn''t let them starve. Also, according to the surveys we had done so far, this would not be anywhere near the worst year they had gone through. There had been drought years that made the amount we had stored this year look like a miracle. There is a certain amount of energy that comes with hope, and these people were working hard.

    After walking around for a little while, I finally asked. "Before I leave, is there anything else I can do for you?"

    "Not at the moment. We have our orders, and we know what we are working towards. I will prepare my men for the march south to remove the bandits from Plimgus. How long do you think they will be gone?"

    "I would like them back here in two weeks. I know that there is a lot of food to spare for the short term, but I still scheduled for another caravan to arrive with more food and supplies. They have their guards, but I am sending twenty men down early to meet them. I can''t allow the bandits to get a hold of the cargo. The caravan should reach Plimgus in five days. That means you also need to have your men across the border and into Plimgus at that time. I know that does not give us much time at all, but we have to hurry in order to get this problem taken care of."

    Barak smiled, "We discussed this already during the meeting. We will be ready."

    I chuckled, "Sorry, Barak. Growing up, I never thought I was going to be dealing with this. This was supposed to be my brother''s job."

    "For what it is worth, I am glad it is you, my lord."

    "Surprisingly enough, me too."

    I knew I would still mess up, but at least I was keeping my people''s interests in mind. I would prepare them the best I could rather than just throw them into a meat grinder when they encountered the bandits.

    Barak decided to come with me down to the new village, where a guard named Niel was running things. From what I understand, the fuller named Roger was also there. On the way to Bicman, he had been helping gather census information, and I hoped to get him further involved. I didn''t really want the new people to have access to everything, but if he could continue to organize the data, that would be worth more to me than a fuller in the short term.

    We arrived in the new village south of the lake a little while later, and it was a busy place. Houses were going up, and although most of the roads were not anywhere near completion, they were marked out, and people kept to the paths. There was a mix of tents and homes lined in neat rows.

    One of the walls of the palisade was complete, and I could see that others had been partially completed. Both men and women were out on the lake fishing with nets. They must have been making nets as soon as they got here. Neil met us at the entrance to the village just as I was stepping out of my carriage.

    He had a serious look on his face, one worn by many of my veteran soldiers. Neil was shorter than me, but he had my same build. As he bowed, he said, "Welcome to New Hope, my lord."

    "New Hope," I said with a raised eyebrow.

    "It is the temporary name that the citizens here have given this community. They had hoped that it would please you."

    "I approve. It is a good name,¡± I said.

    The man gave a slight smile. ¡°Your people will be pleased.¡±

    ¡°How are they doing?¡±

    "They are both fearful and hopeful. Some believe this is a trap to turn them into serfs, but they have nowhere else to turn, so they have decided to risk it."

    "Have they given you any problems?"

    "Not really. We have posted the laws and made sure everyone knows what the consequences of their actions are. After a few people were hung and some were sent to the labor camps, people straightened up. There have still been some thefts, but they are rare. Everyone pretty much has the same thing, so when they steal, it is just more of the same. Those who were able to bring some of their possessions with them have got them squirreled away somewhere." He said in a tone that seemed very pleased.

    Hopefully, the prosperity I wanted to obtain would not lead to separation. But Earth''s history shows that unity is never a constant in any society. Even if it is not segregation due to wealth, people begin to separate based on their beliefs, and then social groups form. Those groups fight for their ideas. People are diverse, and they like to fight over what they believe to be right.

    In the end, there was nothing I could really do about it, but I tried to set an example for my people¡ªteach them that no one is above the law. This was important to establish stability, which depended on economic success and growth. Would the ideals I held last more than a couple of generations? Probably not, but whatever came after me would hopefully be better than what it currently was.

    Now that I was a count, however, I had an added problem. Yes, I could guarantee the laws would be followed in Bicman since I was still the baron, but forcing my other barons to obey my laws that were stricter than the King''s law may be a problem. They could complain to the duke. So many more things to worry about. Hopefully, the advantages would outweigh the difficulties my new title caused.

    Much like the other village, people started to gather around us as I traveled through it. I made sure to spend a lot of time complimenting Neil and the citizens. I really was impressed, so I decided to point out the different things I noticed.

    I mentioned the walls they were building, the straightness of the streets, even though it must have taken extra work to remove anything in the way, how quickly they had gathered the material to build houses that would last their people through the winter, and the fact that everyone seemed busy.

    This caused murmurs in the gathering crowd. I decided it was time to introduce myself. Most of those in the crowd were women, as the men were working preparing the lands. The few men who were there were the ones working on the wall or more homes. I walked over to a woman and asked with a smile, "How are you doing this fine day?"

    She blushed and stammered out, "Very well, my lord?"

    "What is your name?"

    She turned an even deeper shade of red and said, "Judy, my lord."

    "A pleasure to meet you, Judy. Thank you for your hard work."

    I knew that she might think I was looking for someone to take for the evening, but I was going to plow through their misconceptions about nobles and show everyone that I was a good person. These people probably grew up on stories about nobles who would just take what they wanted.

    I couldn''t just ignore everyone until they realized that I wasn''t going to accost anyone. I would probably do that if I were visiting another noble, but I decided to rush the process here. I was no longer going to worry about it like I did when I first got here. I would be kind but firm in upholding the law. Someone people could respect.

    Next, I approached a man and gave a similar greeting. With children, I squatted a little¡ªnot enough that we were at eye level, but enough that they could see my eyes. I made my way through the crowd, and most people gave generic responses, but I received some that were not just "very well."

    My lord, thank you for allowing us to come to your county. You have saved my family''s life," a woman said.

    I had heard this a lot lately, and it helped alleviate my worries. But then something unexpected happened. There was a shriek in the crowd, and as I turned to look, a man I had previously greeted was almost at my side. Before I even knew what was happening, I was thrown to the ground.

    I began to try and shove the body off me when I heard Niel''s voice say, "Stay still, my lord. Let your guards deal with the man."

    It was at that point that I realized that it had been Neil who had tackled me. Blocking me from whatever the guy in the crowd was attempting.

    There was a cacophony of screaming and shouting. Rick''s Voice rose over the crowds. "Everyone, stay where you are. Anyone who leaves will be considered an accomplice of this man. Neil, you may get up."

    He did, but then immediately fell to his knees. "Forgive me, my lord, for touching your personage without permission."

    I did not respond as I got up. I was too busy looking at the man who had lunged at me. He lay on his stomach; blood and other fluids were pooling under his guts. The man held a bronze knife in his hand. I wanted to vomit at the sight of the gore but tried to focus on other things. It would not be good for these people to see me spill my lunch on the ground. Not that they would actually see it. They were all prostrate with their faces in the dirt.

    A young man in the uniform of the BDF was shaking slightly off to the side as he stared at his bloody spear. He must have reacted and his training before he even realized what he was doing. After that, he came to the realization he had just killed a man. One of my original guards came up behind the young man, slapped him on the back, and said, "Let''s go clean off that spear and get you a drink."

    Rick continued to give orders. "Bring in all the people of this village. We must question everyone. This man knew he would not escape, so another person would have been responsible for reporting back."

    Adrenaline was still pumping through my veins, but I still had the were with all to say, "Get up, Neil, you deserve to be commended, not chastised. If it weren''t for you and that young man, I might have a knife in my stomach."

    The thought made me want to faint, so I turned my attention to the crowd. Everyone was afraid; some were visibly shuddering and crying. "My people. Fear not. I swear no one shall be punished in any way except those who are found to have conspired against me. This is not a time of sadness but a time to rejoice. My life was saved. We will have a meal to celebrate the occasion."

    I wanted to say feast, but I was not going to waste food while we were preparing for winter.

    "I recommend we bring Roger the Fuller here. He knows most people and may know more about this man or who he has associated with," Neil said.

    "Where is he?'' Rick asked.

    "He left for the mines earlier. He was going to assess things there and reevaluate if we could meet the demand with fewer workers. We felt we may be able to use more people here."

    "Let''s do it," I said. "Neil, you are in charge of this investigation."

    Edward, it looks like I have one more task for you when you go down to Vaspar.