As the rays of the morning light began to spread across the ground the camp became alive with activity. My Bicman Defense Force was getting everybody prepped to move out. There was a slight feeling of excitement in the air as people knew we were almost at the journey's end. Yes, they understood that there wasn't enough housing and that it would be assigned based on a lottery until houses could be made. There were places in Barim where people could stay and a few in Bicman, but definitely not enough.

There was also the matter of the people of Barim and the illness that caused them to have to leave. I put the steward of Barim in charge of talking to the illness survivors who had moved to other areas. He needed to come up with all the information he could on what might have happened, anything that was different that year from other years. Hopefully, he would have something by the time we got back.

I was exhausted from last night's lack of sleep, but I put on a cheerful smile as I walked among the people. I greeted everyone and talked to them about how excited I was to have them as part of Bicman. Their smiles strengthened me against the melancholy that was threatening to overwhelm me. It was not to last, however.

As we were getting ready to leave, Thomas approached me again. "My Lord, I apologize, but there is one more matter I must trouble you with. May we speak privately?"

I restrained myself from letting out a sigh, "Certainly, Thomas, let us go to my carriage. Draves position guards outside and join us."

After Draves finally entered the carriage, Thomas began. "My Lord, Marcus has escaped," he whispered.

"What!" I hissed back, trying not to alert anyone outside, "How?"

"We are not entirely sure. The guard outside the prison had been bludgeoned on the back of the head and unconscious when we found him. He remained unconscious for over a day, and when he woke, he did not even remember his name. He did get his memories back, but the events twenty-four hours prior to the incident are still missing. We think that the guard was unlocking the door for Marcus' mother to enter the prison, and while his back was turned, she hit him with something. Maggie, the medicine woman, believes she hit him multiple times once he was down. She then took the keys and opened the prison and the cell. They escaped via a ladder from the shed over the wall.

The hunters were sent out the next day with as many guards as we could afford. We found the trail after a couple of hours, and a few hours after that, we found Patricia's body. She had been stabbed in the chest. The trail became difficult after it reached the mountains. We searched for a week but could not find him.

"He killed his own mother?" I said in shock. I immediately started to berate myself. I should have taken care of this issue instead of putting it off. Now we had a psychopath on the loose somewhere in Bicman. I would have to put pictures of him up in each village and send some south. Dead or alive with a five silver crown award for the guards and an armed and dangerous warning for civilians.

I suddenly realized that Thomas was still talking to me. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked that you show mercy to Christopher. He is a good man and is trying to rectify his mistakes."

I almost asked him how any of this was Chis's fault. But then decided to excuse him and discuss it with Draves. It would be nice to blame it on someone else, but that would be unfair.

"Captian, does it seem like Chris acted negligently in either of these situations." I said, trying to figure out where the fault lay."

"No, My Lord, I spoke at length with Thomas about both these events last night after you retired to the carriage. He followed the policy that has been standard since your father first became Baron. If anyone is to blame, it is me. I should have enforced that two guards be positioned at the door of Lord Aaron instead of just one. As far as the incident with Marcus, apparently that happened a week after you left. I am sure it would have been attempted before his sentencing if you had been here, and it may have worked then as well."

There was a long pause, and then I spoke. "I know that you and I are thinking the same thing. The Marcus incident could have been avoided. I gave Patricia too much freedom when it came to her movement. I trusted her even though I knew she still would probably do anything for her Psycho of a son. I should not have let her visit him whenever she wanted just because she was grieving. I should have executed the boy or brought him with us to have him sold. In my old world, this is what we called kicking the can down the road. It just means to procrastinate dealing with a problem."

"My Lord, you are learning quickly and as you see, you are not the only one to blame here." Draves said sternly.

I didn't reply. I didn't need his empathy. I needed to remember this failure. I needed to push forward and be better. The problem is that I wasn't sure I would learn everything I needed to before the real problems started. These people were not giving up, and we had no allies. I hoped that Baron Manticole or Baron Tine were nobles that I could become allies with, but they were far away and might be embroiled in their own machinations.

We both stayed silent for much of the trip to Kerisi. I don't know what Draves was thinking, but I was trying to figure out plans to keep Aaron and my people safe. We needed to become stronger and also become an asset to the King.

Cheering suddenly woke me from my musing. My jaw dropped as I saw people lining either side of the road leading into Kerisi. What the crap was going on. Were these the same people that I left a month ago? There was a slight smile on Drave's face as I looked back at him. He was probably trying to hold back a laugh. "Draves, what the heck is this."

"Thomas did tell you there was other news. He did not want to tell you while you were dealing with the other issues, so he left it to me. Part of the reason they kept coming down to check on your arrival was so that the crowd could gather for your return."

"But why?" I said in utter confusion."

"First, the farmers are saying that the fields plowed with the new plow are growing larger amounts of grain. They think it may be up to double the amount of bushels this year. Next, news of you saving the boy has spread everywhere. Third, concrete, as you call it, has proven to be harder than some stone and, as you predicted, bonds even better in water. I think you called it hydrophobic. The masons have been shaping it into walls inside wooden frames. They call it knowledge from the endless one. The tanner, in conjunction with Emily and, surprisingly, Cookie, has made a stronger paper. The ash extraction has gone up to the point that they can easily keep up with the demand for the concrete."

At this point, I interrupted him. "I had nothing to do with that. The paper and the ash were all things the people did themselves."

"Would they have done it if you hadn't asked them to? Would they have put in much effort if you hadn't promised something in return? Under your father and grandfather's rule, the people were only as productive as they had to be in order to survive. Now, people know you will pay for improvement. They see you treating them as people who can be more, and so they become more. I almost forgot the weavers. The loom you created has increased the speed at which it can produce fabric and even the tightness of the weave. The tighter weave takes more time, but they can fit fifty more threads per five centimeters if they want to. The women are having trouble keeping up with thread production and said we could export if we planted more flax this next year."

"The rider we sent ahead of us told the people you used all the money you obtained from the Count to buy the Barony things to improve their lives. What do you expect them to do? They now believe that you were sent by the Endless One to give them this knowledge. A Chosen One."

Something clicked in my brain at that, and I groaned. This was a conspiracy and a cruel joke. There is no way this could be a coincidence. When I was in high school, there was this girl named Britney. Beautiful long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, the figure of a supermodel, and large… assets. Besides that, she never stopped talking. I swear she thought everyone was her friend, and everyone wanted to hear what she had to say. I guess it was better than her being a stuck-up snob because she looked better than everyone else. Anyways, I guess she was some really religious person because one day, she came up to me and said, "Hey, Amos, did you know that your name was in the bible."

She said it as if it were the most amazing news in the world, but really, every old person I ever knew had to mention that fact. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know," I said flatly.

"Well, I was in my early morning church class before school, and we were studying the Bible, and I totally memorized a scripture about you. Do you want to hear it?"

'Not really,' I thought.

"Yeah, well, it is Amos 3:7. It says…"

Then she rattled off some scripture about God revealing secrets to his prophets, and they share them with the world or something like that.

Then, the full implication of what she said hit me, and I realized the girl was insane. "Why would you get up even earlier than you have to just to go to church? Are you trying to become a minister or something?"

"Actually, in my church you…" I zoned out after that, and even after the accident, when I was studying religion, I never found out what church she belonged to. But the verse number stuck with me, and I thought of it afterward. While I was trying to put my life back together after the accident, I even looked up that scripture. The King James Version did, in fact, say that God would reveal his secrets to his prophets. It became a running joke between me and God. I would say, "Any secrets you want to reveal to me today, God?" I never did get an answer.

The connection between what Brittny told me all those years ago and what Draves said now clicked in my head, and I started to laugh. When I was over my fit of laughter, I looked up to the heavens and said, "Seriously, man? You really must think you are quite the funny guy. Amos 3:7." I just shook my head and started to laugh again. Draves looked at me like I was crazy.

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"Well, Captain, smack me if this ever goes to my head. I'm not really happy about this whole chosen one thing, but I am glad the people are happy."

"I will remind you, My Lord, but I will not slap you."

"No respect. What is the point of being a lord if your people won't even do what I say?" I said as the carriage stopped in the center of town. After I got down, I walked straight up to him, and before he was even able to bow, I stuck out my hand in greeting. "Paul, It is a pleasure to see you."

After I let go he finally had a chance to bow and then say, "My Lord, the pleasure is mine. It is an honor to serve you."

"Now that the greetings are out of the way tell me what has been going on in Kerisi."

"The crops are coming in, and we will have a decent harvest this year. But that is normal for Kerisi. It is not as impressive as what has been going on in the other villages you have plowed."

I cut him off. "Do not worry, Paul. I brought mules so that we could see if all the farms would be able to plow their fields to the same standards. I will rent them to each village for a small portion of their yield."

"Your Lordship is most generous. I promise that our fields will produce the most next year," he said proudly.

"I'll hold you to that," I said with a smile.

"My Lord, one other thing. My wife has found some wild pootba and has tried extracting the sweet water. After pressing the boiled pootba into the water, she was able to extract more juices, as you said. She then found that by boiling it above another pot of water, she was able to reduce it and make it sweeter. Unfortunately, she ran out of pootba to experiment with. We will have to wait until later in the season until we can get more."

"Excellent. If she can find a way to get the sugars within the water to crystalize, then that stuff will be worth its weight in gold. We need crystals like salt and then grind it into powder. You will be paid handsomely for this if she makes it happen."

Paul got a huge grin on his face. "I am sure she can do it, My Lord."

"I have no doubt."

"My Lord, we have prepared a feast for your return and a place for your people to stay before they move on to Bicman."

"Excellent, Paul; I would love to feast with you. Afterwards, I will be moving on, and the people can rest here for the night. I am eager to see my nephew."

"Of course, My Lord."

The feast was roasted pheasant and a stew made of root vegetables and ham hocks. After the fare of the last few days, this was heavenly. As we exited the headman's house a crowd had gathered. I was a little uncomfortable with all the attention I was getting. When I came here the first time, I was treated with suspicion and nervous bows; now, everyone was crowding the village streets to look at me. Parents were pointing me out to their children. I was so nervous I wanted to start cracking jokes with Draves. Fortunately, I was able to restrain myself and just greeted the crowd with smiles and waves. I felt like a celebrity. So weird.

"My Lord, It would be a good time to speak to the people." Draves said.

"What!" I hissed, "Like give a speech."

"Yes."

"What would I say?"

"I don't think it matters. But I think they would like to hear from you."

My nervousness ramped up to a whole new level, but I stood up straight. This was about them, not me, "My people. I… Um… I am proud of the work you have done while I was gone. I am pleased to know that I can leave my barony and that I have no fear of what will be done when I return. You have proven yourselves to me and, umm… to the kingdom as faithful stewards of the lands you were entrusted. You… you have made me proud. Continue the work and service you have provided, and we will show the kingdom and the world the true strength of Bicman." I was sweating buckets by the time I was done. I became more nervous when the silence persisted for several seconds. Then suddenly, someone in the crowd pumped his fist and shouted. "For Bicman."

A dam broke, and suddenly, the crowd was cheering. It continued to cheer as the people parted around me, opening a way to my carriage. I felt hands reach out and touch me as I walked with as much dignity as I could towards my carriage.

When we got into the carriage, I sagged in my seat. "That was insane. I felt like I was a rock star. No, I felt like I was someone pretending to be a rock star."

"I don't know what a rockstar is, My Lord, but I don't think I have ever seen such an enthusiast crowd."

"I don't get it. I haven't done anything yet. They are still wearing raggedy clothes, they are still underfed, and they have so few things. Shouldn't they be cheering after we have a good harvest?"

"My Lord, these people are simple farmers. This is how they have always lived. Suddenly, they see that this next year, they will not starve because their lord has made it possible to double the crop yield. They will now have a surplus, and if it continues, then in a few years, we will be able to export. They know you will give them a fair price for their crops or they can sell or trade them to the craftsmen here in your lands. Then those men will sell you the excess, and you can get money from Vaspar. They do not doubt that you will use that money to make their lives even better. You have given them hope for a better future."

"Maybe, but I doubt the secret of the plow will last that long. Then the farmers south will produce their own, and ours will not be needed."

"At least they will be well fed."

"True… Actually…” I thought for a moment. "We wouldn't have to export if we could grow the local economy. I could incentivize tradesmen to come here. We will have enough food to support them. I will have to make nice with the duke. Apparently, he is a volatile psychopath. But, if I can buy his favor, we might get him to ignore us long enough to become strong.

"To become strong?"

"We have multiple ways to make a lot of money and processes that could make anyone rich. It will be a slow start here, but anywhere else, people could double their income quickly. Remember what happened to Pollman. Unless we can protect our assets, we will be forced to give everything away or die. Look what happened to Decmoore just because Kimton felt like it. We are on a razor's edge here, and one slip and we could fall off and be split in two. That isn't even to mention the fact that someone is still trying to kill me and Aaron."

"You paint a grim picture, My Lord."

"Mainly for me. The people will still have the plows and be able to feed themselves. They can prosper without me. I am the one who will be killed either by assassins or other nobles."

Draves shook his head, "I would think the way the people treated you in Kerisi would open your eyes. If you die, what do you think the next baron would do? Do you think he would keep giving so freely to the people? If the people produced more, he would raise their taxes. There are very few barons who treat their peasants and serfs with dignity. None would allow them to gain wealth. They would cause the people to either return to a life of poverty or rebel. If they rebelled, then they would be slaughtered. You are crucial to their prosperity, and they know it."

"Well, crap, now I feel even more responsible. Ok, first thing first, make sure not to die."

"A wise decision, My Lord."

"Don't worry. I think I have some ideas that may help. I just need to get back to the manor first and get a full picture of what is going on.

I actually fell asleep as I was musing about how to help my people. I was startled awake by cheering. I groggly looked out the window and saw the people of Bicman village cheering. I pulled my head back in and groaned, "Is this going to happen every time I go out now?"

"It will calm down. Just smile and wave to them."

"Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave," I muttered under my breath.

I put on a smile and showed my face out the window again. As we passed through Bicman, I waved to the people out the window. I had learned a lot of their names in the previous months, and I hoped that, eventually, I would be able to know them all. But I was sure we would be growing, so that may be an impossible dream.

As we approached the hill leading up to the manor I saw a man on a stand looking over the wall. He was at one corner, and when I looked out the other side, I saw another guard standing on a similar stand. Leaning my head far out, I saw that the gates were shut, and there were two guards on either side. It didn't take a genius to figure out what all this was about. I thought it was a great plan.

As we approached the guards at the gate approached the carriage and looked inside before bowing and calling out for the gate to be opened. As we entered the courtyard, I saw two men patrolling around the lawn.

'Holy crap Chris, I get it, but…'

The carriage door opened, interrupting my thoughts. I stepped out and was greeted by two guards. They flanked me as I made my way to the entrance to the manor. At the front door, two more guards stood along with Chris.

As we approached Chris took a knee, "My Lord, we have tightened security to ensure the safety of yourself and Lord Aaron. I hope that the new protocol is to your satisfaction. I am ready to give my resignation and accept punishment for my failures."

I noticed the guards stiffen at his words. I, on the other hand, became irritated. I really wanted to smack the guy for his idiocy. In an astounding act of self-control, I kept my voice flat, even as I said, "We will discuss this in my study. Captain, you will accompany us."

So the captain, Chris, and two guards escorted me into the manor. As we passed Aaron's room, I noticed two more guards at attention outside his door. I really wanted to go see him, but I knew I had to deal with this first. The two guards took up position outside the study door while we entered. Something that caught my eye right away was some patchwork masonry on top of the regular wall. I assumed that was where the assassin had entered.

As I sat down in my chair, Draves took up position next to me. Chris stood across the table from me as rigid as a board, with a look of resigned determination on his face. I, however, had a look of annoyance on my face.

"Report on everything related to the two incidences as well as the training of the militia."

"Yes, My Lord." Chris proceeded to tell me everything that I already knew with only slight variations. "We are up to training sixty men and twenty women for the militia. After a week of training, they are required to do two days of training every week and go on patrol with guards at least once a week. Their competency with the spear is low but increasing. Several have shown aptitude with the bow, so we will be training with them."

He went on to give several other figures concerning the training of the men before I stopped him.

"Guard Christopher, thank you for your report. Now, it is my understanding you wish to resign, and you feel you deserve punishment."

"Yes, My Lord." He said stiffly.

"And on what accounts precisely do you find yourself worthy of punishment?"

"I allowed an assassin to get close to Lord Aaron and kill two of your people. I also allowed Marcus to escape."

"I see," I turned to Draves, "Captain, did Guardsman Chris break protocol during our absence?"

"No, My Lord, he was sticking to the standard procedure implemented by you and your father."

"Would you have been able to prevent these two incidences from occurring?"

"Only if I had had foreknowledge of the events."

"Hmm… It appears, Chris, you are trying to prove that the phrase military intelligence really is an oxymoron."

"My Lord, I-"

"You are an idiot, I know. That became apparent when you tried to take the blame for others' failings. We will have to do some training on deductive reasoning. As for your punishment for your inability to see the future, I promote you to Lieutenant in the Bicman Defence Force under the command of Captain Charles Draves. You will be in charge of the recruitment and training of the militia. Now you are dismissed."

Chris sat there for a minute, trying to process what I had just said. Snapping out of his daze, he said, "Yes, My Lord." Then he left.

After he left, Draves said, "I thought you were friends?"

"We are."

"Then why would you make him a lieutenant over the militia? I wouldn't wish that job on anyone."

I smirked, "I'm just getting him back for all the fat jokes."

"I see." Draves said with a slight grin.