Michael

With a stroke of his quill, Michael finished the page; he looked at it with an inquisitive gaze and then nodded when it passed his quality check. A cold breeze blew into the office where Michael was sitting, and he rose to peer through the large windows. He looked down on Reen with a smile, the winter had been rather mild, and the spring was taking hold again. Before he could lose himself in the sight a knock pulled him from his thoughts.

The door opened before he could answer and Geron entered followed by Sola. "Milord, everyone is starting to line up for your father's arrival, you need to hurry," the knight said, he had already reminded him three times.

"Yes, I am done now let's get going," he answered but was stopped in his tracks.

"Not like this, you aren't," Sola said and looked down at his clothes.

"What do you mean," Michael asked and also took a look at himself; his clothes were wrinkled from the sitting and shifting in his seat and also stained with ink. "Oh, yeah I should change and probably wash up a little."

Sola smiled and clapped. Two handmaidens entered the room, one with a bowl of hot water and the other with a pile of clothes.

Michael came to a halt next to Matthias a couple of minutes later. The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You made it, …, barely. And what happened to your hands?" They had gotten all red and so Michael said with a grin, "Turns out getting ink off your hands is not that easy if you let it dry too much." Matthias simply chuckled and turned back toward the gate.

It has been over half a year since the king had died and King Zenial had risen to the throne. Michael and Matthias hadn't stayed long in the capital, only attending the coronation, and then leaving for Reen. His older brother had ruled with Michael's support and had proven himself a competent leader with a good sense of what he could and could not do. Now their father was returning for Matthias's imminent wedding.

Michael was looking forward to seeing his parents and sisters again; his mother had left for the capital shortly after they returned to aid her husband in the politics of the capital and had taken Michael's sisters with her. She said it was to train them in the art of politics, but Matthias had guessed it was to show them off to the powerful houses.

A wordless signal went through the courtyard as the guards and knights stood at attention and the nobles followed shortly after. The first rider crossed the gate only a moment later, it was Lord Rowan himself on his large black steed. He looked tired, something Michael had rarely if ever seen. After him followed a small attachment of knights and then a richly decorated carriage. The nobles, knights, and guards got down on one knee while, Michael and his brothers lowered their heads.

Lord Rowan came to a stop in front of his sons and got off his horse. "Rise," he said to the other present and then stepped over to them.

"Welcome back, Father," Matthias said respectfully. His father simply nodded with a hint of a smile, "Sadly I won't be able to stay long."

Their conversation had little time to develop any further when Lady Rowan joined them dotting about her sons whom she hadn't seen in over half a year.

- Some time later in Lord Rowan's study –

Lord Rowan fell into his chair that he had not occupied in a long time, "So, how are my counties doing?"

Matthias and Michael took a seat on the other side of the table. Matthias cleared his throat and began, "The winter was very mild, which has led to a calm population. Everything is as usual, but we do experience a higher rate of beastmen raids from the east. This is not unexpected; the beasts have probably learned a while ago of your departure, but we are keeping them in check for now." He handed his father a statistic of the attacks.

After studying it for a while the count frowned, "I see boars, bears, foxes, but I don't see wolves anywhere."

Michael nodded, "We noticed that too. It is quite strange that the clan that occupies the largest part of our border doesn't seem to raid us. We assumed they took heavy losses in a tribal conflict or some sort of sickness and don't want to provoke retaliation."

"They could also be watching what the other tribe's raids accomplish and how we react and prepare a large incursion," Lord Rowan suggested.

Matthias frowned at that and scratched his head, "That could also be a reason. We should increase our border patrols and maybe place a couple more of the knights close to the border for a while to show strength."

"I agree. I will also talk to the king to prepare for the eventuality of an incursion, to be ready to lend swift aid."

"That also connects to some other things we would like to discuss with you, Father," Michael said and grabbed a stack of papers from the table. "You said we were not allowed to make big changes without your approval, so we have compiled a couple of things that we would like to show you."

He handed his father the first packet which he looked at with interest while Matthias explained. "The raids that cause the most damage are the ones that enter the land without being noticed. So, we propose to tighten our borders by expanding the already placed fortifications with smaller guard towers placed between them. They should be fortified enough that they can withstand a coordinated attack for a short while to light a signal fire and alert the next fort and reduce the time they can move unchallenged and even hold out until reinforcements come."

Lord Rowan studied the papers for a moment longer and then raised his head, "This is well put together and there have been suggestions like this before, but we cannot afford it."

Michael nodded, "Yes, we also found that it would be too expensive that is why we worked on this." He gave his father the next two stacks of paper. "The first one is a proposed reform of our tax system, taking the burden of tax collection away from the nobility and placing it in the hand of a new tax collectors’ institution. We would have to invest a little bit of money to raise taxation forts to organize and protect our taxes. It would increase our tax revenue and reduce population unrest at the same time. If we have a dedicated tax institution their job would be to keep track of whom they taxed already and who they didn't and make the collection process more efficient while at the same time prevent the over taxation of select communities."

"This wouldn't go very well with the nobility," Lord Rowan interjected, "Can we just incorporate this institution under the command of the local nobility?"

Michael shook his head, "The nobility is the problem in this. I spent months collecting documents, population estimates, and the levels of trade and I estimate that we lose at least 30% of tax revenue to incompetence, lack of effort, and corruption on the side of the nobility. You can find that on pages eight through twelve."

Lord Rowan drummed his fingers on the table, he then laid the stack of papers down and looked at the second, "And what is this?" Michael knew that he didn't like the idea of taking privileges away from the nobility, they tend to not take things like this lying down.

"Those are the foundations of a development plan for Emall that we have been working on, mostly infrastructure and surveying basics with cost estimates and a projected path that the development could take. There is much business to be had in Emall that is not being used and by increasing it we would in turn increase our tax income and general economic strength."

Lord Rowan shook his head slightly, "This is all very expensive, where will we take the money from?"

"We do have reserves to start these projects which are larger than projected because of the mild winter and we can lend more. They would pay for themselves rather quickly, by preventing damages of raids and increasing tax revenue," Michael explained, he had a couple more projects in mind, but he didn't want to lead his father to the conclusion that he was overreaching by burying him in plans.

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"What do you have to say for this, Matthias? You would be the one to reap the benefits of these plans one day or the bloom of their failures." Matthias stayed silent while thinking of a good way to express his thoughts. "I don't understand every calculation or even every reason for some things to happen that Michael stated but I can say that I understand the foundations and the problems that led to these plans. I can assure you they are real, the raids affect us, parts of the nobility are corrupt, and the economic power of Emall is just sad. I believe that these plans that we have drawn up are the best way to go forward."

"Where do you take these ideas from by the way," Lord Rowan looked at Michael inquisitively.

"It's just things that I learned from Solon, Kiran, and Eydis. Different cultures and races have made advances that we haven't and many of our own have been lost. I am just trying to reset the board to what it should be." Of course, this was not the whole truth, he had many more ideas that were more drastic than this and some of them came out of dreams he had been having more often lately and some came from the weird part of his mind that he couldn't place.

"Alright then, I will look through these and discuss them with Lord Telp as well when we are in Emall for Janna's birthday and the wedding," Lord Rowan said, "Once you follow us there later, we will talk again."

Michael nodded; his family except for him and the two youngest - because they were sick - would leave tomorrow for Janna’s birthday, she was turning eighteen, and Michael would follow them two weeks later with the younger boys if they were better then. Someone had to rule after all when the whole family was gone.

Lord Rowan rose from his chair, "I will now spend the rest of the day listening to complaints about you two if you would excuse me." He smiled a little, but Michael knew that it was probably true. They weren't allowed to make big changes but that hadn't stopped them from making small ones and not all of them had been received well by everyone.

- The next day in the courtyard -

"We just got back and now we are leaving again," Lira groaned.

"Oh buhu, you can go to a party while Michael has to stay here and work," Matthias commented with a chuckle, "Have you had so many of those in the capital that you have grown sick of them already?"

"Oh, believe me, the capital is boooring, all you do is have tea parties and gossip," Lira rolled her eyes and Luciel interjected, "I actually like it, there are so many interesting things happening, and the fashion there is miles better than here."

"Who would have thought that you would like it," Lira said with more sarcasm than most people could handle.

"Oh, come on Lira, you could swap places with Michael," Luciel replied with a smile, not affected by her half-sister's remark. "Hey, don't punish me for her transgressions," Michael exclaimed to the amusement of his siblings. It was true he had volunteered to stay behind even though he would attend the wedding itself.

"We could ask for Harlov to stay behind, I don't think he would mind," Matthias suggested again, he would rather have Michael there than Harlov.

Michael shook his head, "You know that is not gonna work. He just hasn't been the same since Oska left, he has been introverted and quiet. I still can't believe that he didn't even utter a bad word about me for months."

"Losing your second half without warning can do that to you," Lady Rowan's voice suddenly appeared behind them, "He took it hard, so I expect you kids to be nice to him." Ever trying to be a saint, Michael thought with a smile. She continued on to a group of servants tying down the chests.

"I really can't feel sorry for him," Michael said a little guilty.

Luciel shook her head at that, "Don't be, you got the worst of them and Oska chose his own way. I think it is better this way." Michael felt better with the assurance of his older sister, and they made a little chitchat.

"Make ready," Lord Rowan's voice sounded from the front of the column and Michael could see the figure of his father lifting himself into the saddle.

"Take care of our home, we will see you in two weeks, dear brother," Matthias said with a smile. After a couple of short farewells, Michael watched his family leave.

- Two days later in the audience hall –

"Milord, he defiled my daughter, how will she find a husband now that she is not pure anymore!" The man talking was a thin lesser noble; his daughter had slept with the son of a baron. "I demand that he marries her or at least pay restitution.”

Michael let his gaze fall onto the parties, the baron was also present with his son and looked just as angry as the father of the girl.

"Did you sleep with her," Michael asked the son of the baron.

"He did, milord," the baron answered for his son, "But he did not take her purity, it was lost already to several other men."

"Thank you for your insight, Baron, but I would appreciate it if the person I am talking to answers my questions." The baron apologized and stepped back.

Michael had been dealing with these cases the whole day already, some were easy where a large landowner claimed that the neighbor had moved the marking stones, but others were more complicated like this one.

"Is that true, milady? Has your purity already been lost beforehand?" Michael had already learned the basics of sexual acts after having a case like this and not really knowing what the thing was and Sola had shared the spiritual meaning of purity with him. He really didn't get the significance of it, but the law was clear.

The father of the girl wanted to answer but Michael stopped him with a stern gaze. "Remember that lying in this court is a punishable offense." The woman avoided his eye contact and Michael knew the truth before she spoke.

"It is true, milord," she mumbled nearly too quiet to hear. Her father looked at her with disappointment and Michael sighed. "There is nothing for me to do then. The law is clear, I can neither compel this young man to marry you nor can I ask him to buy himself out of this responsibility. You would have to search out the man who was first."

"Milord, I beg of you, what will she become like this," the father begged.

"I am truly sorry, but this is the law."

An hour later Michael was in the office again, slugging through reports and working on his projects. He was still working on a written suggestion for his alchemy shop, he had never gotten the approval of his father before he stayed in the capital and Michael had decided to put it at a low priority as it was a personal request.

Solon entered with a knock, "Michael, could I have a word with you?"

"Uh, yeah sure, come in," Michael said while finishing a letter.

The dwarf walked inside and sat down. "I wanted to talk to you about the ruling you made today about the noble boy and girl."

Michael knew what case he meant, he put down what he was doing and focused on his teacher, "Yes that was a sad affair."

"Do you think it was right," Solon inquired.

Michael nodded, "It was the correct ruling in the eyes of the law."

"No, I mean do you think it was right?"

"Hm, I think it was the only choice to make. I couldn't force the man to marry her, that would have been unlawful," Michael said after a short thought.

"How did you feel when you made that choice," Solon kept pressing. Michael wasn't sure what his teacher was trying to get at, so he simply shrugged. "What is there to feel, it was a clear-cut decision that everyone could have made."

"Come with me," the dwarf said with a sigh and rose from his chair. Michael tried to protest that he had much work to do but his teacher just walked out.

Michael found himself in the gardens a couple of minutes later, sitting at a table with a set of Choice of Kings in front of him. "Why are we here playing, I really have many reports to go through," Michael protested again.

Solon looked at him calmly, "You are spending a lot of time with work, and I am gonna give you a lesson."

They played in silence; Michael was getting agitated because he couldn't figure out what Solon wanted from him.

"As always you choose to be aggressive," Solon said and traded a pawn. Michael didn't answer and put his queen next to Solon's, if the dwarf took it, he would then be able to pin the queen and also get a knight, if he didn't then Michael was pressuring his king's side and had a good position.

"How do you feel about this move, Michael?" Solon looked at him and Michael was just confused. "It is a good move." Solon nodded, "Maybe even the best one from your perspective, but how do you feel about sacrificing your queen."

Michael frowned, "It is just a piece, this is the most sensical move, everyone would make it."

"It is but you are sacrificing something, you could have also moved your priest here and been in a good position without sacrificing your piece."

"But it would have been a worse move," Michael argued.

"True but what if that queen was your mother, what if that knight that you traded two moves ago was Geron? Those were all the correct moves from your point of view but what if the pieces weren't just pieces but people." There was no accusation in the tone of the dwarf, but Michael was on the defense now. "I would do things differently if those were people."

"Like you did earlier," Solon asked, "You made the correct move, but did you stop to think about what it meant for this girl and her family? She will probably not be able to get married, she will get shunned and maybe even cast out of her family."

"What was I supposed to do? Force the man to marry her?" Michael now understood what Solon wanted to talk about and returned to his calmer self, interested in the thought experiment that the dwarf was proposing.

"It doesn't matter what you should have done, what matters is, did you ever stop and think about what you could have done?" Michael paused, no he hadn't. "I want you to think about it, this time it was one life, and she was partially at fault herself, she was not forced after all, but what if you lead an army." He pointed at the game board, "Will you also sacrifice everything to the best plan you can think of at the moment, or will you pause and think about better alternatives that might not be as fast but preserve your strength and the people that rely on you?"

Michael sat in silence thinking about it, would he make a decision like this when people he cared about were at stake? Would he sacrifice hundreds of soldiers he didn't know to achieve a goal he could achieve in other harder ways?

Solon got up from his seat and moved his priest out of a corner attacking the king. Michael stared at the board noticing that he missed this move and that he would lose.

"Let's call it a draw," Solon said with a smile and left Michael.