She heard her husband make a soft grumbling sound and knew whatever was in the papers had him annoyed. Her curiosity grew as he requested a ledger be brought in and dismissed the servants after it was laid on the table.

Despite her desire to ask what as the matter, she forced herself to focus on the report in front of her. A report that she found herself rather annoyed with as well. Fortunately, the Elegian court had ensured she gave no hints as to her mental state. She finished the report and agreed that it was best to wait before any other steps were taken. Finally finished with the report she looked over to her husband comparing the notes to the ledger.

If he were a mage that look would set the pages aflame, she thought considering the man sitting opposite her. His blond hair was showing signs of gray, but his need to be be physically active made him appear nearly a decade younger than he was. It also meant the newest court fashion made it appear he was wearing a smaller man’s clothes. One would almost be forgiven for thinking he was a tribal leader for over the spine, trying on the loot from a raid. In some ways he was, his ancestors had crossed centuries ago and carved out a kingdom he now ruled.

“Is it that bad?” she asked despite knowing the answer.

Without looking up he gestured for her to come around the table.

She gracefully walked around the table and placed her hand on his shoulder to let him know she was ready to help him sort through another mess. He responded by reaching up to squeeze her hand.

“Yes, look at this,” he began to point out lines in the ledger. On each one she could see the tribute had fallen recently. Eventually he reached the one he was looking for. “But here is what my cousin the Duke of Sapphire sent.”

“It is more than last year,” she said as her eyes traveled along the line and back through the years. “By quite a bit actually.” She was beginning to understand the case of his concern.

“It is, and it makes it difficult to push this issue to hard,” He slid her a paper with numbers on it. “One of the nobles who usually leaves the tribute in Sapphire brought it directly to me this year. I do not know why he did this, but the amount is more than his county has ever provided the crown.” The corner of the letters in his hands traced a line of zeros and small sums back through the years.

She compared the totals and sighed, “So the Duke worried we would think he was skimming and made a show of providing more than he should this year to plead innocent?”

“I thought that, but the date of the message he sent and the arrival of the Count’s payment do not add up,” He reached up to hand her the letters in his hand. “Take a look and tell me your opinion”

She carefully read the letters carefully while he waited silently, for her to come to her conclusions. Her father and the younger nobles of his court might approve, but the many of the older families would be horrified. She could imagine the response if any of their heirs were to ask their wife for her thoughts in such a manner. We consider the Kingdom backwards in so many ways but in this at least they are so far beyond us.

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Once she finished she squeezed his shoulder. “The duke knew what was coming. To predict the amount either means they were working together, and fell out. Or the Count has provided a predictable amount each year.”

“Count Blackthorn is an honorable man, and obstinate to a fault. He would not collude with my cousin. I think it more likely the duke knew about what to expect in terms of tribute,” he replied shaking his head.

How did he get a reputation like that from you?! She tied to imagine what the man had done to make her husband think so highly of him, but found no answers. All these years and there are still things I do not know. I will need to ask him about that later. She pushed aside her musings, just in time to catch the words ‘monster stones’.

Noticing her surprise he repeated himself. “I was surprised as well. I did not expect that he was paying tribute in monster stones. My cousin probably sold them and skimmed the gold before passing it on. At least I hope he did, I can only think of a few other uses for them and I do not like where those paths lead.”

“Did you...,” she hesitated to finish the question. If they only have mana in them I could do so much.

“I had the steward pull them aside as I knew you would want to look at them,” he smiled at her. “But that is for later. Do you think he is ready to move?”

“No,” she considered what she knew of the Duke and their spies reports on his clandestine actions. “He is a careful man. Something would need to change for him to move now. He does not have the allies he needs yet. I think, at worst, he has more money that we guessed, or has sent them as bribes to my brother. I will try to track them, but we should try not to dwell on the worst case scenarios.”

She glanced at the name of the count in question and raised an eyebrow when she saw the abbreviation for a knight path. “He is a count and a knight? I did not know that was possible. Also if he is a knight why did you not say that? I their oaths force them to be loyal, I could have disregarded him out of hand.”

“I did not think you would suspect him,” he shrugged. “But for your reference, only the first oath matters. This is why the emperor is wiping out everyone in rebel families over a certain age. So only those bound to him can rule those lands.”

“As for the count, he was bound to the old count who died in the war,” he continued slowly. “He did me a great service and I needed a nobleman to manage the area. It seemed a good idea to raise his standing to count. I have still have no reason to regret that,” he paused for a moment as if thinking back on something. “Besides, if he wanted to hurt me he would be more direct about it. He knows a great deal and if he wanted to hurt me there are easier ways.”

She took a moment to absorb yet another surprise. He sounds as if the count knows where the bodies are buried. I did not think that was even possible for this kingdom to have such secrets. I definitely need to get more information on the count and learn to what happened.