"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—a 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.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“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.