"My lord, I have brought the information on John," Roger said as he shifted a paper to face me. "He arrived in the barony twelve days ago. He said he was a serf from Rut, a barony southwest of Vaspar. He was a simple farmer. After the harvest, his master cut down his family's rations because he had developed a gimp leg. He gave his children most of the food, but they still got sick and starved. His wife took her own life, and he fled to Vaspar.

  "His gimp leg did not affect him too much, but he was not able to chop wood like many of the men, and he would have been useless for long days in the field. We had him mudding the homes."

  "Anything else you can tell us?"

  "I didn't hear any complaints about him. Forgive me, lord, but between my family's job dying, all the clothes, and recording everyone's information, I have not been as focused on individuals that have newly come in."

  "No problem, Roger. It isn't your job to keep track of everybody's day-to-day activities. I was just curious if anything stood out to you."

  "No, my lord. He seemed like every other struggling peasant."

  "We'll just wait on Neil then. Hopefully, he will have good news," I said.

  Neil did not have any good news. "I am sorry, my lord. I was not able to get much information. When he was not at work, he sampled various types of homebrews. Most of it came from enterprising people in Cofi who would make trips here and sell their brew. We will have to continue our investigation there. One thing that can be said is that he came with a lot more coin than most serfs had. Since most serfs were not paid, most people thought he might have stolen it. Nobody said anything, though, because he never caused any trouble. He always did his work without complaint and was generally kind to people, if a bit withdrawn. Forgive me for not watching my people more closely."

  "Thank you for your report, Neil. And please, don't let this ruin your relationship with your other residents. There will always be a few bad apples in each village. Continue to treat each individual with kindness and respect. That does not mean to go easy on them if they break the law. Nor does it mean you should not look for suspicious behavior, but remember everyone is innocent until proven guilty," I said.

  "You have said it before. Kind, but just with zero tolerance for those who disregard the law," he confirmed.

  I nodded. "Well, I think I will speak to the people one last time before I leave and then return to Cofi for the night."

  And that is what I did. Since everyone had been brought in for the investigation, they were easy to gather. I saw many worried looks on their faces as I looked out into the audience. There was a much larger perimeter this time between the people and me. My goal was to alleviate their fears. I welcomed everyone to the barony and once again expressed my gratitude for their hard work. I said I looked forward to visiting them in the future and made a quick joke about how I hoped the next visit would be a little less exciting. I got a few chuckles from the crowd. I think it helped to break the tension that had built up during the day.

  We made it back to Cofi for the evening meal, and Mary began fussing over me. Barak looked me up and down and said, "My lord, we received word of the attack shortly after it happened. Then, Neil sent a runner up here about an hour ago. He has been speaking with everyone who sold their brew to that scoundrel. Many people are shaken up, and some rumors have been spreading. Would you mind speaking to the people?"

  I agreed and spoke with the people. I explained that my life was never in any real danger due to the BDF. People were jealous of Bicman's success and used this as an opportunity to try and scare me. I told them that those people were mistaken. It is not me who has caused the success of this barony; it has been all of us working together.

  The speech struck a chord with the residents of Cofi and quelled their fears. I was complimented on the speech by Benjamin, which was good because, normally, he mainly pointed out mistakes that I needed to pay more attention to. Maybe, when Jason the Bard comes up here, I will have him as my speech writer. Every good politician needed one. It's too bad he refused to leave Kimton during the festive months. It was his primary source of income. Well, once he took the job as chief editor at the publishing house, he would realize he had made a mistake..

  After a good night's sleep in Cofi, we traveled on to Karr, where I gave a similar speech and spent some time speaking with the people.

  While I was there, I saw children writing with pieces of chalk on stone. They were practicing their words and numbers. Since we were trying to hide the ease with which we could make paper, Edward had explained that the school students had been using chalk to write with. Sometimes, they used clay tablets as well. Only the most advanced classes in Bicman used rough paper and pens.

  The whole village had changed to match the layout Edward had been showing off. After tearing down the homes, they rebuilt them in a half-timber style. They must have gotten a hold of the new method of building homes and run with it. The homes were all very small, not much bigger than the stick and mud wigwams they had before, but they were uniform and nice. I can't imagine how many extra hours these people had to put in each day to get this all done.

  It didn't stop there, though. I got to see the literal fortress they were building. I had asked for a palisade of wood, but the people of the village were not satisfied with that. They worked longer hours than anyone in the barony so that their fort might be the most impressive and unassailable. If the Rabiss came for them, I was sure they would leave and look for an easier target.

  Those who were over the age of fourteen had the right to bear arms. And so almost every male was not far from a spear. I am sure if a noble came to visit me and see the people of Karr, they would have a heart attack. The meek people who had suffered through oppression were gone. In their place were people with zeal. A fire burned in these people's eyes. No one was going to take their freedom away again without a lot of bloodshed.

  Even the kids younger than the age limit for military service were practicing to defend their homes. Many of the kids, as young as eight, were using slings to hit targets on a board. Some of the boys who were barely able to handle the weight of a spear were still trying to practice with them.

  At this point, I was kind of glad they revered me as some sort of demigod because otherwise, we would have a huge problem. In fact, if my entire personal guard were made up of the Karr, I probably wouldn't have to worry about betrayal. I was definitely going to talk to Draves about adding some.

  After that insightful visit to Karr, I came back to Cofi to find Sanders, the engineer's wife, Francine, talking with her best friend, Mary. She had just gotten back from visiting with her husband in Melnon. I was at first worried that she could possibly leak information about Pine Ridge, but according to Edward, she was not aware of what was going on there. She had never once been to Pine Ridge or the Cove. She would meet Sanders in Melnon for a few days a month, and then he would get back to work. Apparently, she thought he was working at Fort Cove.

  When I asked after her husband, she said he was doing well and had been working on a waterwheel for the village up north. I discovered that she knew about some of his projects, but they were more about local things. She went on and on about how the rock crusher her husband had come up with was amazing, and I just had to see it. She also spoke of the reaper he had created.

  I told her that I was looking forward to seeing these things and also praised her husband. I reminded her, however, that her speaking about them to anyone would soon cause the information to spread, and someone south of us would take credit for her husband's hard work.

  She assured me she was well aware of that, as it had happened to her husband before in Vaspar when he was just getting started as an engineer. She would not speak to anyone other than me and those who already knew about it so that her husband would get the credit.

  I really wasn't too worried about these eventually getting out. There was no help for it, but I did want to get a leg up on others as I was the first person to use them. I was already having to tell people that the king had invented the plow.

  Finally, after my short visit with Francine, it was time to head home. I was so looking forward to my horsehair mattress and goose-down pillow. Before I could return to the manor, however, I had to visit the village of Bicman. It was so good to see everyone and greet my friends. We left chatting about projects for another time. Right now, we are focused on everybody's lives and how their families are doing.

  I did spend some time making sure Jacklyn was okay, though. She had taken Drake's death hard. She admitted that Hyrum and Carrie had helped her work through the pain and loss. After I was done talking with her, Benjamin took over, and she walked off with him. He was dead set on apologizing to her even though what happened was not his fault.

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  Hyrum and Carrie were doing well. Hyrum was rarely having episodes anymore, and I found out Carrie was expecting a child next year. I was really happy for my friends. They deserved happiness. I also noticed a spear in the corner of the house.

  Hyrum noticed my look and shrugged. "I have been helping with the training of recruits. I felt like I was not doing enough tho help the barony. At first I thought it would cause things to get worse but it actually has been helping."

  Carrie had been traveling to different villages and speaking with all the medicine women. She had learned a lot from Maggie, but now that Maggie had passed away, she needed to get as much information as she could from others. Maybe I would have her write a book on medicine. I could add pictures of herbs.

  We arrived at the manor at about three bells past noon. The palisade walls had been expanded to neatly double the area inside. Not only that, but it was a meter taller. They had asked me if I thought we should cover the concrete drive they had created, and in the end, we decided not to. After thinking about it, I decided that, unlike textiles and paper, concrete would not be worth the transportation cost of selling. If it were discovered, we would try and sell it, but it would not be a huge loss. If I had trains running to Vaspar, it might be different, but it would take years to build the infrastructure necessary to make it profitable. Where the garden used to be was the frame of a two-story home. Well, there are three if you include the concrete-lined basement. Apparently, my people got it into their heads that I needed a new manor. They started working on it as soon as I left, but the project was put on hold when news of the attack arrived. It didn't completely stop, however, as materials were still being piled up next to it.

  There was a big welcome-home feast prepared. I wanted to introduce Tumlus to everyone, but he was not up to being in a crowd just yet, so he stayed in the carriage. The guards would sneak him in during dinner.

  When I first came into the hall, I made my way around and greeted everyone. Emily was sitting in her usual spot with her grandma, and I saved them for last. I walked over and gave a nod to both of them. They both stood up and bowed.

  "Lady Emily, Marshandra, how are you two doing?" I said with a smile. Marshandra smiled back, and Emily blushed bright red.

  "We are well, my lord. How was your journey?" Marsh asked.

  I laughed, "More eventful than I would have liked, I fear. How are the new maids doing?”

  “I miss my Emily, but they are adequate. I know she has more important things to do.”

  “Excellent." Turning to Emily, I said, "Lady Emily, would you like to join me for a meal?” At first, she didn’t register what I had said, but soon, her eyes went wide. I could tell that she still didn’t comprehend exactly what her status meant.

  “Come on, Em,” I said with a wink. “You wouldn’t refuse your count, would you?”

  “Um, no, my lord.”

  “Please, call me Amos,” I said while extending my arm. She had been my partner for many of Benjamin’s etiquette lessons, so she knew just what to do. She placed four fingers on my arm, and we went up to my table. She was very stiff and trying not to shake. A servant pulled out a chair for her and then one for me.

  “Well, Em, what do you think?” I said with a grin.

  “Amos, this is so uncomfortable. Everybody is looking at me,” she hissed.

  “You’ll get used to it. Remember when my family died, and everybody was staring at me when I ate? Now, they completely ignore me. Actually, some of them are staring at me and wondering what I’m doing. Just pretend they are all staring at me.”

  “I don’t think that’ll work.” She said nervously.

  “Well, then, let’s talk about something else. First of all, I wanna apologize to you for springing the news on you. Suzy explained to me that I did that at an inappropriate time.”

  “It’s not your fault. You were just being you.”

  “Hey now, what is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

  “You are always trying to surprise me. I really am grateful, though. It’s just… It’s just so overwhelming. I don’t feel like a lady.”

  I waved that off. “I totally get that. I don’t feel like a count. Your problem is you just don’t have the right wardrobe.”

  She looked down at herself, and I could see that I had said the wrong thing. So I hurried to fix it.

  “Which is why I brought you a new one,” I said.

  Her face changed from embarrassment to surprise in an instant.

  “You bought me clothes?”

  “Well, technically, Fredrick’s servants did. He is Count Vespar’s son. When he found out what I had done, he let me know how much trouble I would be in if I didn’t provide you with adequate clothing. So I brought you what they said was the latest fashion for nobles of your rank. They will have to be altered, however. And then there is the jewelry. It’s nothing excessive. Sorry, but some of that stuff is downright ridiculously expensive.”

  Now, she was gawking at me with her mouth open. It made me smile. She was right; I really did like surprising her.

  Finally, she said, “Forgive me, this is just… I don’t even know what to say.”

  “A thank you is all I need. Actually, the expression on your face was good enough."

  This got a slight frown out of her.

  "So, let's talk about how things have been going. For now, let's ignore the incident with Marcus. Have you been enjoying paper-making? As a lady you are welcome to hand that job off to someone else," I said.

  This caused her to frown. "What would I do all day?"

  I shrugged. "Honestly, I have no clue. If there were other noble ladies, you could go have tea parties or something. Maybe you could sit around and do needlepoint."

  "What is needlepoint?"

  Hmm, good question. I wonder when needlepoint was invented. Women were always doing that in historical movies.

  "How about write poetry?"

  That made her grimace, and I almost laughed.

  "Is it wrong for me to work with the paper now that I am a noble?" she said in a somewhat worried tone.

  I turned to Benjamin. "What do you say?"

  He thought for a moment. "There is no specific law against it, but if it gets out to the rest of the nobility, I doubt they would approve."

  Emily looked up at me a bit shyly. "Do you mind?"

  "Hey, Em, if you're happy, I am happy. I will support you whatever you want to do."

  That brought a smile to her face. "I love making paper, and we finally have a method to make toilet paper softer. "

  "Way to go, Em. I have another project for you, though, as well."

  "Really, she said excitedly. What else can there even be with paper?"

  "Actually, it is two projects. The first is a tray in a diamond shape with a length of fifty centimeters and a width of thirty. Then, you will need to have Sam make two sticks of the same length. I need you to have the women spin you some strong thread about fifty meters long. Because, my dear Lady Emily, we are going to make what I am going to call a kite."

  "What is it for?" she asked.

  "I'm not telling. It is a surprise."

  She gave me a pout.

  "Don't worry, Em. This next one will make sense, but it will be up to you and your team to make it happen. I want to try to make a piece of paper that is sturdy but will still seep through to the page below. It will allow us to quickly make duplicate papers. That way, we can hold a copy as well as the individual we give it to."

  She thought for a moment and then said, "It seems simple, but it may end up being difficult to get the consistency for each page. They are still building a new paper shop at the fort, but the pulper is up and running. If I get those frames made, I will head up there in the next few days. Did you hear Jorb is planning on moving there and letting one of the apprentices take over here?"

  "Well, this works out well. We can both travel there together. I suspect General Draves will be here within the next day or so. I can have a meeting with him and then head north."

  This made Emily smile, and we started exchanging gossip about what had been going on while I was gone and my adventures south.

  Marshandra

  I looked at my beloved granddaughter beaming with happiness as she sat and talked with Amos. And it caused my heart to ache. She wanted so desperately for something that could never be.

  When she came home yesterday and showed me what Amos had done for her, she could not stop expressing how much she loved our new count. She talked about the future she would have with him. She was convinced that because she was now a lady, she could marry him.

  How could I possibly tell her the truth? It took more than a title to marry a Count. Heavens, it would take more than a title to marry a baron. Serfs usually did not have enough to save for a dowry, and Emily certainly didn't have one. As a simple serf myself, I cannot even imagine the size of dowry a woman would need to marry a count. She would need land at a minimum and then the gold and connections.

  I knew Amos meant well. He wanted his friend to have a good life. Maybe he would eventually grow to love her. But only disaster would follow. They would both be shunned by society.

  Amos needs support, and he would eventually need to marry another woman. Any other noblewoman would treat Emily with disdain for being his first wife. Not to mention, her family would have to be one of little influence if they were willing to marry off their daughter as a second wife.

  Should I tell her or let her carry on in her fantasy? I did not want her age to the point where she became a less desirable match for other young men. Of course, now that she is a lady, who could she marry around here? A Freeman's son?

  Should I suggest that Amos adopt Emily? I know he would provide her a good dowry. It would crush her heart, but I just don't see any other way. It is so strange that during this time of happiness, I should be so worried. If Emily were worrying about something, I would tell her to relax and that time would work everything out. It is so much harder to take my own advice, though. Especially when it is Amos and Emily I am worried about. The gap that separates them is not one of distance but one of station.

  This whole situation makes my heart hurt, but at the same time, I see her up there next to the man she loves, and I cannot help but be happy for her. I will be here to comfort her when her heart breaks. For now, I must let her be happy.