It took two and a half days to reach Plimgus. The group I traveled with included my guards, John, the messenger sent by the Baron of Tine, Sanders, and Harry. If there ended up not being a group that my companions could travel with from Plimgus, half of my guards would go with them to Decmoore or whatever it is called now. They really need to leave the names of towns alone. I guess it makes the nobility feel special or something.
As we entered the village, I noticed that, unlike Bicman, not much had changed. The children still lined the streets, and I saw the curious looks of the men and women. I waved as we passed, but there was no enthusiasm in the villager's response.
I thought I had done a good job building rapport. Was this the new baron's fault?
As we turned toward the manor, I noticed one thing that had changed. The Headman's house was burnt to the ground, and the sight of it made me queasy. "I don't think I am going to get along with this new baron," I muttered under my breath.
As we rode through the gates into the courtyard of the manor house, I saw that the manor had been freshly painted and the grounds cleaned nicely. Unlike my manor, there were rows of flowers around the outside.
Why hadn't I thought to do that?
I was greeted by a man wearing a steward's sash. As I exited the carriage, the man bowed deeply. "Welcome to Plimgus Manor, Baron Amos. I hope that your travels were pleasant," the man said stiffly.
"Indeed they were, Master Steward. I hope that the messenger I sent ahead was early enough not to inconvenience you."
"Not at all. We have a room prepared for you and availability for your entourage in the barracks. Unfortunately, the barracks are not back to standard due to the neglect of the previous headman." He said with disgust in his voice.
"Well, your grounds look lovely. I am quite impressed."
"You must direct your praise to the baroness, for she orchestrated the work."
"I shall indeed."
"The Lord and Lady are expecting you. Please follow me."
"Excellent. Captain, have the men bring the gift," I said.
"Yes, My Lord."
The great hall we entered was similar to my own, except the ceiling was not as high because there was a second level here. At the head of the hall sat a large middle-aged man with a very stately posture. He was very finely dressed, making me glad I had put on the clothes I had gotten in Vaspar. As I got closer, I even noticed he had a waistcoat with button holes. That made me smile.
His wife sat next to him with an expressionless face. Draves would have stiff competition if they had a stare down. Two men stood behind them. One was in his twenties and looked very similar to his father in size. The younger son was in his mid-teens and looked to take after his father as well. He, unlike the rest of the family, seemed shy and had trouble making eye contact.
"My Lord, Baron Curtis Plimgus, may I introduce Baron Amos Bicman and guests."
I gave a half bow while the rest of my company gave a full bow.
The baron gave a polite smile and said, "Welcome, Baron Bicman. Falmoren's new famous artist. Your painting of Count Vaspar is all anyone in the duchy was talking about after you debuted your talent. I wish that I moved in circles that allowed me to view this hidden treasure."
I guess the count must have hung it in his study or someplace where only the elite could see it.
"That is very kind of you to say, Baron Plimgus. I do apologize for the short notice of my arrival, but I had matters to discuss with you, and some of my guests were on their way back to their home cities. May I present this humble gift as a way of an apology."
At my words, the guards closest to the back opened the door as I had instructed, and two men came in carrying a cloth-wrapped painting. A third man came in with an easel. Approaching the dais, they set the picture on the easel and removed the cloth.
I loved the reaction of people in this world to my paintings. I was a good artist on earth, but certainly not the best. Compared to anyone that they had here, though, I was like a god.
When the cloth was pulled away, I got my first reaction from the lady of the house. Her hand immediately lifted to her lips to quiet a gasp. The painting was the one I did of the ocean from the cliff.
I had taken a lot of creative liberties with this picture. I made the cliff higher and the sun in the wrong position. If it had been where it was supposed to be, you wouldn't even be able to see the coast.
While I had been in the process of painting it, one of the guards told me, "I don't think you and I are looking at the same sunset."
I told him to shut up and stop trying to stifle my creativity.
The shy son began to unconsciously walk towards the picture as he stared at it.
"Kevin," his father snapped. The boy suddenly came to and walked back to his place behind his father. His eyes, however, never left the painting.
The baron got up and walked to the painting, "Lord Amos, the rumors do not do your work justice. The sun looks so real, and I am afraid that if I touched it, I would burn. You have a true gift."
"Your praise is most kind," I said.
"My Lord, if my information is correct. You debuted your work in Vaspar, and no other noble has any of your works." Lady Plimgus said. Her voice carried only a hint of emotion.
"Yes, though I do have a few people coming to my barony over the next few months who will have their portraits done."
Baron Plimgus grinned, "And in doing so, they will stop by my manor, and I will boast that I am the second to have received a painting from the master painter, Lord Amos Bicman." He looked like a kid who had just won a race.
"I suppose you will. And I am truly glad that it brings you joy," I said sincerely.
"Well, this calls for a celebration. I will have my man show you to your room, and after you freshen up, we will meet in the dining hall for a meal."
******
The meal was served an hour later. I have to say I was jealous of their dining room. It was nothing special other than the fact that it was a separate room with a nice table and chairs. It would have been nice to have a room where I didn't have to be stared at by everyone in the manor house sometimes. That is why I ate in my study a lot of times.
The painting I had done for Lord Plimgus was already hung on one of the walls of their dining room, and all of the family except the baron were in their seats. The steward showed me to my seat, and we sat there quietly, waiting for the baron. There were a few new faces at the table. A woman not much younger than the eldest son sat next to him. Two young girls under the age of ten sat next to her, and she looked like she was pregnant with another. Kevin also looked to have a bride who was probably younger than Emily, unless it was a sister who wasn't invited to the first meeting.
I would have to say that it was a very awkward wait, but fortunately, it wasn't too long. When the baron sat down, he immediately started to eat, and then the rest of us began. Either their cook was better than mine, or they just had better ingredients to work with. It was a meal of steamed and salted vegetables with a well-cooked honeyed ham hock. The bread had nuts and fruit in it with a honey glaze. It wasn't my favorite, but the variety was nice.
Most of the family ate in silence, but Kevin was fidgeting. Suddenly, the silence was broken when he blurted out. "Baron Bicman, will you teach me to paint?"
I sat there stunned for a moment by what I assumed to be a breach of protocol. Marshandra had told me that my family had always waited for my father to speak first before anyone else at the table was allowed to speak, and that usually didn't happen until after he was completely done.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Kevin's mother glared at him in disapproval, and his father's face started to turn red. His brother just rolled his eyes. Kevin's wife looked nervous.
"Kevin, your behavior today is unseemly. Please forgive the rude interruption to our meal, Lord Amos."
"Think nothing of it," I said. "I, myself, remember when I saw true art for the first time. It stirred something within my soul. I lost myself in the magnificence of what I saw."
Not really, but I thought I would save the kid.
"As to your request, Lord Kevin, let us speak after our meal."
Kevin turned red and nodded.
With that, the meal resumed in silence. Only broken when the baron was done. "Lord Amos, now that we are all gathered, let me introduce my family. This is my wife, Lady Wilma, the daughter of knight Cameron Firff. My heir, Rufus, and his wife Natalie, daughter of knight Fredrick Tamku. Their daughters are Krissy and Mona. My son, Kevin, and his wife, Suran. She is, unfortunately, a merchant's daughter. Had we known of my elevation in status sooner, I am sure that we could have found him a more suitable wife."
This caused the young girl to turn bright red and look down in shame.
What a jerk.
"A very beautiful family. I was also engaged to a merchant's daughter. A beautiful young lady with a good head on her shoulders. If I had not been elevated to the title of baron, I feel I would have been quite happy. I am sure your new daughter, Suran, will become a great asset to your family. I was once told that behind every great man stands an equally good woman.
"Speaking of good women, Lady Plimgus, I hear you are the one with such a great eye for beauty, and it was under your direction that such a marvelous courtyard exists. The arrangements of plants and attention to detail are truly artistic."
All I received in response was a grateful nod.
"Ha, you are quite the flatter, Lord Amos. Please refrain from trying to steal my wife. If you are looking for a wife, Krissy will be of age in a few years." Lord Plimgus said good-naturedly. However, I wasn't completely sure if he was joking.
"We will see what the future brings. But I think my steward intends to marry me off by spring." I said in a similar tone. "Moving here, away from the luxuries of civilization, must have been quite the change for your family."
"Yes, I fear it is quite from an ideal barony to have, but the large amount of land brings in a great deal more income than the small amount I had under my brother. As soon as I get things in order and find the proper people to help Rufus run it, we will most likely buy a place in Kimton so we can spend our time among the more civilized people."
"A wise decision. I would enjoy spending more time among the more civilized society, but alas, I am too busy trying to make sure my peasants are fed," I said with a sigh.
"You certainly are not in an enviable position, but I have a suggestion. What if you moved to the city for part of the year? You could spend a few months doing paintings for your peers and probably bring in three times the income your barony produces within the rest of the year."
I sat back and thought about that. It wasn't actually a bad idea. Especially since I didn't really think that our barony would be where I wanted it to be for another five years, this might accelerate our growth.
"Baron Plimgus, I am glad to have such a wise neighbor. I will certainly look into doing that next year after the harvest. I would like to fix some of the issues my father left me to deal with before committing to such a venture."
"Yes, there were some things I had to set straight after Decmoore was beheaded. Can you imagine my surprise when I came to take possession of my manor, and I found out the headman had been using it as a barn?"
That explains why the Headman's home was burnt down.
"Actually, yes, I saw that on my trip to Vaspar. When I reported to Decmoore what his peasants had done, he waved it off, saying that he had approved of it so he wouldn't have to pay to build a new barn after the old barn collapsed. If I remember correctly, he said something about the fact that it didn't make a difference because the old Baron Pollman was an animal himself."
I was impressed with my impromptu lie. In fact, I was stretching the truth a lot in this conversation.
"Ah, well, perhaps I was too harsh with the headman. He said nothing of this when questioned. He only apologized and asked for forgiveness."
"Well, at least he knew not to criticize his Lord even after death."
"That makes sense. Maybe the man isn't such a fool after all."
"If you don't mind me asking, where is he now?" I said, trying not to show my emotion even though I was fearing the worst.
"Oh, I locked him up in a cell for a week. And then shipped him off to the smallest of our villages. I thought about killing him, but I didn't want to waste good labor. Now I wish I hadn't. But to change my decision now would not be good for my image."
"Would you be willing to allow me to take him? I just so happen to need a headman."
Now, it was time to spin the tale I had been creating since I discovered we were selling chalk illegally.
"One of the reasons I journeyed down here is that I found out there was a trade agreement set up between Baron Decmoore and my father to supply chalk to a merchant who would use a small cove off your coast. My father paid Decmoore 10% of the profit in order to use the cove. When my father died, the headman neglected to tell me about the agreement and kept the money for himself. Fortunately, my new steward found out about the theft, and this month's shipment has not been delivered. So, rather than take it all the way down to Vaspar, I was curious if you would like to continue the agreement."
"Well, this changes things," the baron mutter.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, just talking to myself. I would have to say that 10% is very stingy. I would consider 20% more appropriate, considering the amount you would save in transportation costs."
"Lord Plimgus, I had considered you a reasonable man. Please don't make me change my opinion of you. At 20%, we may as well just leave the chalk on the ground. There isn't much margin in chalk, and I would be left with nothing but a pittance. I might be able to make a profit if I am gifting you 13%."
"You are using peasants or serfs. I am sure you are paying them too much if your margins are that low. 17% would be more than enough for you to make a profit."
"I am a poor barony, and every worker we use to mine the chalk means less to work the fields. Besides, you will be getting all the chalk you need at cost; I am sure that your woman will be quite pleased to have all the chalk they need for their faces. How about 14%."
"Ha, you are shameless, Lord Amos, turning my women against me. Very well, 14% it is. We will sign the new agreement this evening."
"Excellent. Now, on to the matter of the of your old headman. You can take half of this month's shipments chalk if you give me the old man."
"You said the chalk isn't worth much. I will need more than that."
"No, I said the profit wasn't much, but that was because of the cost of extracting it. You are making a pure profit on the entire 50%."
"Let's make it the whole shipment, and you can have him and his family. They will not work as well if they are separated."
"Fine, but I am going to have to take back all the nice things I said about you," I chuckled.
"You are in the middle of nowhere," he laughed, "Who do you have to complain to?"
I was not happy about losing the profit, but I figured it would have been lost money if I hadn't found out about the problem. I would have been overpaying if the old man had just been a serf, but he was a headman, and I am sure he had educated his son to that extent as well.
"Well, now, let's get back to more pleasant topics," I said.
For the rest of the meal, we discussed the life they lived before they came to the barony. I learned a little about the different things nobles were involved in, as well as some of the prominent figures in the dukedom. They did not move in the highest circles of society since they had only been related to a baron. But the information flowed freely from Lord Plimgus and his daughter-in-law Natalie.
Kevin and I had a separate conversation about art, and I wrote a few notes and drew out a few things for him to practice. Overall, it was a more enjoyable time than I thought it would be, but since the deal was done and I had things to do back home, we cut the visit short.
The next morning, I said my farewells to the group heading south. They did, in fact, need an escort, so we would be departing with half our guards.
"Well, dear cousin, it was a pleasure to finally meet you. And thank you for the brush. It will make an excellent gift for my lovely wife. It will probably get me out of trouble when I get back," John said with a smile.
"You're a thief and the biggest liar I have ever met. You stole that brush from my room, and you aren't going to give it to your wife. You are going to give it to whatever craftsman you can enter a partnership with and make a killing off of my invention." I retorted.
"Hey now, I am going to be in your debt, and I promised you I would send you your share when the money starts coming in."
"You better."
"Seriously, though, Amos, it has been an unexpected pleasure, and I wish that we lived closer so that we could get better acquainted," he said sincerely.
"And make more money," I grinned back.
"And make more money," He said in agreement.
"Safe travels, cousin John," I said while hugging him.
Soon, we were all on our way. I decided that Plimgus wasn't such a bad guy. I had feared a lot worse. Of course, one thing I was sure of was never trust a noble. Especially one put in place by your enemies. At least he was friendly, though.
Baron Curtis Plimgus
"I like that boy," I said once my wife and I had retired to the study.
"We were supposed to gather enough information to find him guilty of trading chalk on our land. And you decided to create a contract instead," Wilma said waspishly. "We were supposed to have leverage if the nobles needed it."
"What was I supposed to do? He came prepared. He wasn't even supposed to know about the illegal shipments. It isn't like we were given any information to prove he had been doing it. For all we know, Decmoore could have been involved in it, like he said. They told us to expose the deal during the next chalk shipment."
"True. The boy hung their agent, who was supposed to give us incriminating evidence. Those nobles are not going to be happy when they learn that their second agent is dead. Do you think we will be punished?"
"For what? They can't be upset at us because the baron thwarted their plan. Besides, they need us to become friends with him and gather information. If he needs people, we can probably help slip someone in. Maybe sell him an agent disguised as a serf. Personally, I don't see why they don't just bring him into the fold."
"And if he finds out they were the ones who killed his family, what do you think he will do?"
"If he were smart, thank them. I wish they had killed off my older brothers rather than stick us out here."
"The king's supporters will die when we take over. We will have your brother's barony soon enough."
"Well, in the meantime, let's see if we can get a few more paintings out of him. Can you imagine our house filled with the works of a soon to be famous painter?"