Michael
Everything was quiet. The only sounds came from the wind and Michael's boots on the gravel path.
He was standing in front of a multitude of new gravestones. They were rather simple when one considered who they belonged to, but the late Lord Rowan despised needless luxury and Michael had inherited that sentiment.
Michael laid his hand on his parents' tombstone, he didn't say anything not to disturb the rest of the dead, but his heart was pounding and dying to voice his thoughts.
He smiled as his gaze landed on the gravestone of his father's first wife. His mother would have hated that Michael chose to lay his father to rest between her and his first wife, but this is what his father would have wanted.
The sound of steps approaching him ripped him from his thoughts and he turned around to see Theodore approach him. His friend had arrived a week earlier much to Michael's appreciation. He was sad that neither Mira nor Zen could make it to the funeral, but he understood the reasoning that Theodore had brought from the capital and the letters had helped him through the last days.
In the last two weeks since he had become count, he had mostly prepared for the funeral and met with a never-ending wave of people wanting an audience with him. He was glad that this was beginning to die down and most of the guests had already left or would in the next day or two.
He gave the graves of his family a last glance and then followed his friend out of the cemetery.
“So how are you holding up,” Theodore asked after they crossed the small gate.
“Well, the pain is only like a gut punch rather than being flayed,” Michael replied sarcastically.
“Well, that is something. So, what will you do now that you are done with all this?”
“Gonna start with reform work and get a move on my projects. It is about time that these holdings get up to their potential,” Michael said with a slight smile. He had used the little free time he had had in the last days to prepare his new project which would determine the future of him and his people.
“I still think that some of these are more trouble than they are worth,” Theodore said with a raised eyebrow.
“You lack vision, my friend. Just lean back and watch.”
They made their way back into the castle where Michael had called a large meeting to announce and plan the new project.
Normality had begun to return to the castle, but you could still see the tension in the staff and also many new faces among servants and guards.
Michael and Theodore chatted about the happenings in the kingdom and some of their ideas on the way. Theodore had shown himself to be adept at economic theory and was interested in reforms but not to the extent that Michael was.
“You can't cut out the nobility from change. They are the pillars on which the kingdom stands and should be included in all change,” the tall teenager said.
“I have no problem including the nobility in my reforms but a large portion of them is only in their positions because of their births and not because they are any good at it. Merit should mean more than who your parents are,” Michael argued.
“That may be true, but you can't change that without abolishing the nobility,” Theodore replied with a chuckle.
“You are probably right.” They changed the subject to the actual reforms and discussed tax law until they reached the council chamber. It was a strange sight seeing two ‘children’ talk about taxes like others would about games.
The room was filled with people. Michael let his gaze glance over the crowd. There were traders, artisans, nobles, knights, and the leader of the local adventurer’s guild Thore Xyran.
He was a smaller man but with the body of a fighter. His brown eyes and black beard gave him a stoic appearance, but Michael knew that he was a gregarious man. One needed to be when managing a small army of rambunctious drunks who were on the verge of starving because of the lack of money half the time. The more troubling part was that these drunks were stronger than most and violent.
Another important attendee was the merchant Grur Parak. He was the wealthiest merchant who worked in these parts of the land. He was tall and his dark skin clearly showed that he wasn’t from these parts. The story was that his mother was brought here as a slave and Grur worked himself up until his merchant master passed on everything he had to him when he died. His heritage might be how he got so wealthy by ignoring the cultural norms and system.
He would need both of them in the months to come, either for monetary or military aid.
Michael continued into the room greeting people as he went and took his place at the head of the long table. Everyone followed suit and silence fell upon it as they waited for him to talk.
He had thought a lot about what he should say and the many eyes on him made him nervous. Michael pinched himself in the leg and thought, this is nothing. I need to extrude confidence in these times. After another moment of deliberation, Michael rose from his chair and began to talk.
“Three weeks ago, this land was turned on its head. The seat of power attacked, the count and his family murdered, and allies betrayed us. We have suffered and we have grieved but we have also survived.” His voice was strong, he had worked on this speech with Solon for a while and was confident in it, much more than he was in himself.
“The time for grief is over. It is now time to stop focusing on the past and start focusing on the future. We must all work together to stop a tragedy like this from ever befalling us again.”
He looked at the faces of the listeners, there was support or doubt on most of them.
“Not every one of you knows me. Some of you have just seen me in passing or at some kind of event; all some of you have seen of me is a ten-year-old child. I ask you to give me a chance to prove myself as a worthy successor, just give me a chance to change your mind. The footsteps I am trying to fill are those of a giant, but I am confident that I will do my father justice.”
A polite applause followed his little speech and Michael hoped that he could sway a couple of the doubtful attendees.
After the room had quieted down Michael spoke up again, “There are many things to get through so we will keep things short. I will begin with assigning some of my council positions.”
The tension rose in the room, this was always an important moment in a new lord's ascension, it would decide the power situation between the nobles and also the merchants.
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“Firstly, I would like to appoint Viscount Telp as my chancellor,” he declared. Surprise rippled through the room and the viscount asked with a frown, “Still after my failings?”
Michael tapped his finger on the table. “I want to make something clear; I will decide who failed and if there should be punishment. I don't see a failing in you Lord Telp, at least none that has any bearing on retaining your position as chancellor. You have the experience and the knowledge to serve me well.”
The viscount bowed his head while saying, “I will humbly accept this position, milord.”
Michael nodded and continued, “For the position of the court cleric I will recommend Sister Sola to the holy mountain and until we get word she will act on this position.” This wasn't a surprise for anyone.
“Lord Eckbert Oligan, you will also retain your position as steward.” The man accepted his calling without much emotion.
“Sir Geron will take up the mantle of the Knight Commander in Sir Pyke's stead and will also take over the position of the Marshall. Sir Pyke will retain the duties of recruiting and training the squires and knights.” Both knights bowed in agreement and accepted their roles.
Uneasiness spread among the present nobles and Lord Uger was the first to speak up. “Milord, with all due respect to Sir Geron but there are more veteran knights that should not be so easily overlooked. They are more experienced and have the needed authority.” Most nobles seemed to be in agreement.
“You mean others that are nobles,” Michael smiled, this would be the first but not the last decision he would make that would anger the nobility.
“It is a concern, milord. Your father liked to take in very talented lowborn but knights are traditionally of noble blood and to have a commoner command them could lead to problems for his command. I say this with the utmost respect of course.”
“Of course, Lord Uger. But my decision is final. I would have retained Sir Pyke's rank but in this situation, I trust Sir Geron the most to do the job. He also doesn't have any of the opinions that you just voiced which will help him open up the knighthood to all levels of society.”
“You want to allow anyone to become a knight,” Lord Plon exclaimed and looked at Michael with a horrified expression.
Michael nodded as the lord's expression began to be mirrored in the faces of many nobles. “My father already inducted a couple of commoners into the knighthood, and they have proven to be a success. The knights are supposed to be the best fighters that we can have, and we will no longer gather these gems from a severely limited pool.”
“Knighthood was a privilege of the nobility since before the Great Cataclysm,” Baron Plon argued and looked to his fellow nobles for support.
“Do you want us to be strong or weak, Lord Plon,” Michael simply asked.
“I am just trying to preserve our tradition.”
“Maybe some of our traditions are wrong. My father wasn't of noble blood, but he was one of the greatest knights in the kingdom. Sir Geron isn't of noble blood, and he is the strongest knight of his peers. There are strong warriors to be had from any station and I will not deny my people the protection they can bring just to preserve a little bit of tradition and pride.”
Michael heard many grumbles, and he knew they wouldn't be satisfied with this change, but he didn't care. In his eyes, the majority of the nobility were standing in the way of the progress he envisioned anyway.
“In this meeting, I will just tell you what is going to happen. You can bring your grievances about my decisions to me at a later date,” Michael tried to pacify them, he knew that he couldn't antagonize them too much.
“Commander Irem Stanes you will retain your position as commander of the town watch and take over the responsibilities as the Constable of law enforcement in all holdings.” The tall man had taken over for the previous commander shortly after the raid on Red Fredrick. He was more suited to the job and was a hard-faced man.
“Solon Gremson will serve as the Master of Knowledge. This position will be as my mentor and also to bring different viewpoints into discussions and offer suggestions on how other races and nations handle things.”
Having a non-human in the council was probably rubbing people the wrong way as well but they kept their mouths shut heading his previous declaration.
“Further positions will be assigned at a later date when needed,” Michael concluded. His new council members took their seats at his sides, and he nodded with a smile.
“Now we come to the second part of this meeting. We have several problems that need attending. The population is uneasy with my father's passing. Our neighbors will see us as weak - especially the beastmen raids have already increased - now that he is not only gone but dead. And most importantly the counties are poor so we can't afford to solve these problems long term and still grow at a satisfying pace.”
He looked around the room if anyone wanted to add something, but they stayed silent.
“There is one thing we need to solve all these problems,” he held up a silver ruan piece, “We need more money.”
“Do you want to raise the taxes,” Lord Oligan raised his eyebrow, “That would worsen the civil unrest.”
Michael quickly shook his head to prevent more speculation. “No, we will have to increase our economic strength and through that our income without raising taxes. Increasing taxes would be a short-term solution to a long-term problem.”
“Such developments take a lot of time and money, milord, and the benefits are generally reaped only years later,” Lord Telp said while pondering about it.
“It will indeed take a lot of money to get it done but I have an idea to reap the benefits in just a couple of months and after that with the money we earn start the slower projects,” Michael said and looked over to the merchants.
“I suppose that is the reason why we are here, milord? Do you wish to ask for a loan,” Grur Parak said with a polite smile, but Michael saw the spark of opportunity in his eyes.
“That is one reason but not for right now. We do have adequate reserves to start the project and I have already secured some additional funds from Duke Wallsten. The main thing that I need you here for is for your expertise in economic matters.” The merchant looked intrigued but still unsure what this was about.
“Well, this is all very nice and stuff but why exactly am I here,” the leader of the adventurer’s guild Thore Xyran asked with a smile.
“Well, we are going to clear out the Ereic Mountains to the south and claim the natural riches. Who would be better to support our effort in destroying the monster dens than the adventurer’s guild,” Michael smiled back as the face of Thore lit up.
He was the only one though as the merchants frowned and the nobles and knights stared at Michael.
“Milord, the mountains are infested by monsters. Clearing them out would take hundreds of men and tens of thousands ruan in equipment. How would we ever make back that investment from there,” Lord Uger asked carefully after no one else stepped forward.
“Yes, it will but don't forget the dwarven kingdom of Garekha is in the same mountain range and they are rich from the mineral wealth of the mountains. I believe there will be a similar kind of wealth in our part of the mountains and with those we can easily finance the clearing and many more projects in the future.” Michael looked at the faces of the present with excitement and some of them seemed to turn around to his idea but not everyone.
“This will be a huge gamble, milord,” Lord Oligan said with a pained expression that Michael already knew from every time he had asked for money. “If we don't find substantial riches or Idas preserve us fail in clearing the mountains, we will go bankrupt and will probably be invaded.”
“I understand your point, but we can't just sit here and wait. We are too weak, and we need to do something drastic to change this fast so that we don't drown. I am certain that this is the path that we need to take so we will go there. Now don't tell me that we should not do this and rather begin telling me what we can do for it to succeed.”
He hadn't convinced them yet but at least now they were thinking about how to do it and not about how stupid they think this idea is. Michael would have doubted it himself were the situation different but with the added factor of his dream he was certain that this would pay.
“Well, you would need a large number of workhorses for supply carts and to clear out paths,” one merchant started slowly.
“We would need to keep the number of soldiers and knights low so that we don't threaten our border security,” another man added.
Slowly but steadily, everyone started discussing the different things they would need and what strategy would be best for dealing with the monsters.
After a while, Michael knocked on the table to regain the attention. “Sir Geron will take point in planning the cleansing of the mountains, I would like you, Mr. Xyran, to lend your expertise.” He looked at the leader of the adventurer’s guild.
“And you expect me to do this for free,” he didn’t sound offended or accusatory, it was more amusement in his voice.
“This operation will generate a lot of work for the adventurers and inadvertently will pay well for the adventurer’s guild.”
The small man nodded with a grin. “Alright then, who am I to ignore the call of duty.”
Michael gave the man a nod of appreciation and then turned back to everyone else. “I would like everyone but Grur Parak and my council to leave. You can move the discussion to the great hall if you want.”