Baron Klint Tine

"I wish we could have Amos's carriage for the trip home," Maria grumbled as we were jostled along the uneven city streets.

I said nothing, but I had to agree with her. The road wasn't really that bad compared to most places, but after riding in Amos's carriage, it was hard to go back to this. How quickly we get used to luxury once it is available.

Fortunately, he was kind enough to give me the design so that I could outfit my carriage with it. As I thought of the money I would get for selling this design back home, I had to laugh. The boy wasn't an idiot, and he and I had gotten to know each other well enough for him to know what I was going to do, but he gave it to me as if it didn't even matter.

Actually, I was pretty sure I understood him well enough to realize what he was thinking. He was thinking about Aaron, not me. That was why he had also given me the design for the plow. If he couldn't give Aaron a prosperous barony, then he wanted to help him wherever he went. I planned to exploit that as best I could. The thing that made me laugh was that Amos knew that and didn't even care.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted. "What will we tell the council, dear?" Maria said.

My mood immediately darkened.

"About what?"

"About the barony and all its wonders. They will want to know what we learned there."

"We will tell them that the boy is a very simple individual who is an excellent painter. We will say that he relies heavily on his advisors, who are helping to stabilize the barony. If they want anymore then they can find it out themselves." I said, anger seeping into my voice.

"But-"

"You and I both know who must have been the one behind the assassination. They killed our daughter and almost ended our line entirely, all because they didn't want to try and sway the Bicmans to our cause. They didn't even need the barony to enact the plans. I agree with their cause, but I cannot forgive them for killing our daughter and almost killing Aaron."

Ashlyn looked up from her book, and her eyes went wide. I had let my emotions get the better of me and spoken carelessly in her presence.

"Young lady, this is not to go beyond this carriage. Do you understand?" I said sternly.

She nodded.

"Good. When everything is settled down, and things have changed, I will do what I can to assist Amos. Hopefully, I can convince them to spare his life."

Aaron was sitting on Maria’s lap, happily shaking a toy that Amos had made for him. He called it a baby rattle. When she looked back up at me, she nodded. "It will be as you say, husband. I will see if I can find him a wife after things settle down. That will help tie him to the new government and hopefully stop the assassination attempts."

I looked over at Ashlyn, who had grown quite fond of Amos during our visit. "Ashlyn, you must keep this all secret, or Amos may die. Can you do that for him?"

"Yes, Father, I would do anything to help Amos." She said seriously.

Amos

"Ferdinand, Jasper, it is good to see you both. I did not expect a baron such as myself to be honored with your company." I said to the tailors as they entered the sitting room.

And in his usual excitable manner, words tumbled out of Jasper's mouth. "My Lord, you could not possibly expect me to stay in my shop after such an intriguing letter. Why, I almost ran out of the shop as soon as I received it, didn't I, Father? I mean, you completely changed the fashion industry last time you came to town, and now you say you have something new. And you look fabulous, by the way. Well, your outfit is a little baggy, but with how much weight you have lost, that is to be expected. Are these your paintings? They must be, as I have never seen their like. You left the city in such an uproar after your last visit. I was dying to see your famous painting. I cursed myself for not attending the trial."

"Yes, this is some of my artwork." I squeezed in before I was interrupted again.

Jasper's eyes went wide as he looked around the room. "Look at this all, father. Are you seeing this? It is like looking out a window to another world. What is this massive creature sitting outside a city with the body of a winged beast and the head of a woman? It is horrifying."

"It is called a sphynx, and it guards the city of Thebes. It tells riddles to anyone who tries to enter or leave the city, and if they answer wrong, they are eaten."

"My Lord, are you a traveling storyteller as well as an artist? I do love new and interesting stories. Why I am a big-"

There was a quiet cough from Ferdinand.

"Sorry, My Lord, perhaps another time. I think my father is eager to see your latest creations."

"I am sure that you will be most pleased with them, but we need to discuss my price. My last invention made you fabulously wealthy, and although I got a very fine suit out of the deal, I believe you got the better of me on that deal."

Jasper's smile dipped a little, but his father's face remained motionless.

"My Lord, I must admit we did get the better end of the deal that time, but please remember we are simple merchants, and we have to live modestly."

"Jasper, I am not a cruel man. I simply ask for 10% of the profits of what you sell that uses my inventions."

Jasper's eyes went wide, "My Lord, 10% is quite the sum. What about-"

"That's fine," Ferdinand said quietly.

"Father, I-" Jasper sighed, then did a 180 with his expression and once again became excited. "Of course, my lord, I am sure that even with the sudden loss of income, we will be making up for it much more in volume."

I grinned. Jasper was hilarious, "Trust me. You will be able to raise your prices and not even feel the difference, and as you say, your volume will increase. Now let me show you what I call pockets."

I had my seamstresses at home make some clothing that I could show off to the two men. It was not as nicely made as the tailors, but that was to be expected. The pants I was currently wearing had both front and back pockets, and I reached into my front pocket and pulled out a coin. When I did this, Jasper knelt down next to my side and looked at the pocket.

"My Lord, I would not request that you take off your pants here, but-"

I chuckled, "Just a moment, Jasper. I have a few things to show you in this box."

The first thing I pulled out was a black pair of woolen pants. I demonstrated how the pockets were sewn in, and we discussed the different types of items that would be put in them. Then I pulled out a vest and showed him a pocket with a button to close it.

Jasper was getting more excited as the demonstration went on. The next thing I revealed was a suitcoat with tails on it.

"The split in the bottom of the jacket allows gentlemen to sit on a horse without their jacket bunching up. Also, you can see that there are pockets on the inside of the coat. The pocket on the outside can be used to hold a handkerchief. It really makes the outfit stand out when a person uses a handkerchief with the color of their station."

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"A handkerchief in the pocket over the heart. Such genius! And if I might ask, where did you get this cloth? The weave is incredibly tight. Now, not to discredit the individual who made this coat, vest, and pants, but it seems to be such a waste that you use such splendid cloth on a poorly made article of clothing."

"The cloth was a gift, so I am not sure of the value of it. What would you estimate the clothes value at?"

One thing I had no clue about until my good friend Edward sat me down and explained to me how expensive clothing was. Clothes were usually the most expensive thing a person had. On the barony, I did not concern myself with what peasants had paid for clothing compared to how much their income after taxes was. My serfs were given clothing as part of their service to me. Now, the cost of producing cloth in my barony has dropped due to the time it took to make it. Also, the quality improved due to a tighter weave. So my peasants and serfs were paying about the same as what they used to, but now the clothes felt nicer and lasted longer. The clothes were still plain and unadorned, but nobody visiting would think they were any less quality than what a merchant family would wear.

"My Lord, I wish you had brought such cloth to me before turning it into clothes. The weave is so tight it might hold water. Whoever gave it to you must truly want your favor. What would you say, father? How much would we pay for cloth such as this?"

Ferdinand came over and felt the cloth, and after examining it for a moment, he said, "Three."

"There you have it. Three silver crowns a measure."

A measure here was roughly two meters long by one meter wide. That was about the amount of fabric it took to make a fine tunic.

I realized after I got back from Vaspar the first time that the clothes prices were ridiculously expensive, especially for nobles. The fact that I only paid three silver crowns for my first outfit was great. Even though the material was at the bottom end of what would have been acceptable for nobles, it was still an amazing deal. Edward wasn't sure of the exact prices, but some noble's clothing cost more than my mules. I had no idea how much money I had saved my barony with the invention of the spinning wheel.

"Alright, I have one more thing to show you," I said as I pulled out two measures of our finest woven cotton. "What do you think of this?"

I layed the cloth on a table. And both men felt it. For the first time, I saw an expression show on Ferdinand's face. The look of awe on his face was priceless. "Pure cotton. Extremely tight weave," was all he said.

Jasper turned to me as he dropped the cloth as if it were a live snake. "My lord, What are you doing with such a fine weave of cotton? Please don't ask me to make you something from this. If the high nobles found out you were wearing pure cotton, they would never forgive you." He said in a voice as if he were afraid of being heard.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Apparently, wearing this would break the status quo, like the fact that only royals were allowed to wear certain colors. I hope none of the nobles come to visit me. I was totally going to have cotton shirts made for me. "How much is it worth?"

"Other than silk, it is the most expensive fabric. The difference is that cotton is more easily available and doesn't have to be imported from such a far distance. That being said, it is not native to Falmoren, so the price is high. The fact that your weave is so fine means that you could probably get about nine silver crowns for it. Again, anyone less than a count would find themselves ostracized by wearing something of this quality."

It made me want to laugh. Just wait until they see the cotton sails that I am going to make.

"Alright, you have a deal. This is yours, and you will give me a gift to present to the count. I will give you another measure as payment."

"Another measure! My Lord, where did you find such treasure in your out-of-the-way barony?"

"That, my friend, is a secret." Originally, I had actually been planning on telling him that I could get him large quantities from my barony. Now that I knew its value, I was going to have to keep the information close to my chest. The cotton gin had risen on my list of important things to make, and I was definitely sending the weavers to the fort I was building. This was going to be another secret I had to keep from spies. I was also going to build the Jacquard Loom there as well. I think I will change the name, though.

We discussed the advantages of different clothes for a while and ways to promote the pocket. Jasper told me outright not to wear anything with pockets for a week. He needed to make the upper nobility think this was something unique and a novelty that other people would want to copy from them. Maybe I should introduce runway modeling?

I explained the idea to Jasper, and although he thought it was interesting, he wasn't sure how to integrate it into high society.

I had some other fashion ideas, but I held them back. If things went well with the pockets, I might introduce them next year.

Next, we got down to fitting me with what I had requested in the letter I had sent when I found out I was coming here. It was a tedious process that took over two bells to complete.

I immediately had to leave to make it to Baron Kithmoore's place in time. He was the person who gave me the hardest time at the dinner party I had with the count the last time I was here, but he was also the first person to request a painting of me.

I wasn't surprised since he was good friends with the count and had been under the count's orders when harassing me. He was actually a pretty polite guy. At least he was when he wanted something from you.

We arrived at Kithmoore's city manor four bells past noon. It would be too late to start any painting, and we were planning on dinner first anyway. This would be more of a positioning and lighting consultation.

I was escorted to a sitting room and only had to wait a few minutes before I was invited into the dining room. Baron Kithmoore was sitting at the table with his wife.

"Ah, Baron Bicman, please let me introduce my wife, Lucille." She was a plump lady with a genuine smile. Her black hair had streaks of grey.

I gave a polite nod and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kithmoore," as a servant pulled my chair out for me.

"Ah, the young man I had heard so much about. You are quite the handsome one. Tell me, are you presently betrothed?" She said with a gleam in her eye.

Baron Kithmoore let out a sigh, "My dear, does it always have to start with this?"

"Of course, I need gossip, and I need to know who to introduce him to at tomorrow night's event."

"We haven't even invited him yet."

"Baron Bicman, would you do us the honor of being our guest at the Harris ball tomorrow?"

Benjamin warned me about this and told me that until I became well-known, I must accept every invitation. That made me wince, but I needed to act like a baron if I wanted to survive. "I would be glad to accept. I must place myself in your care, though, as Baron Kithmoore can attest, my social manners are not the best. You can imagine how little opportunity I get to attend events of polite society out in the backwaters of the kingdom," I said with a smile.

"See, that wasn't so hard, dear." She said, "Now, are you engaged?"

"I am currently engaged to a lovely young lady. However, due to my elevation in status, we will be breaking off the engagement this coming fall. I would be grateful for your introductions, but I cannot make any promises until the engagement is broken."

"Oh, aren't you a sly one? Keeping yourself just out of reach while you establish yourself. This will increase your value and open up even more marriage prospects. Why, I might even be able to get you a daughter of a count if we use some of my connections, I am not familiar with many of the counts outside our own dear Vaspar, but we know some people who are. However, it would be better if you were in Kimton to meet them. Do not worry. We will find you the perfect match. Promise me, young man, that you will commit to no one without first letting me review their pedigree."

"I am sorry, Baron. I asked her not to do this before you arrived, but as you can see, she is stubborn," Kithmoore said. "Now, let us eat before the meal goes cold."

After dinner, I brought out a few 8x11 paintings of various backgrounds. I had things like gardens and waterfalls, as well as palaces and castles. I explained that I could give them an artificial background or use them somewhere around the manor.

Lady Kithmoore was enamored with the garden picture, but her husband put his foot down and demanded that they use the manor house as the background. To ease her disappointment, I let her know that my smaller paintings were also for sale and that I would allow her to purchase them at a reasonable price.

That naturally brought us to the discussion of price.

"I work in a very simple manner. You pay for the materials, and when I am finished with the painting, you pay me what you believe it is worth."

I decided to do this based on what I had learned about noble pride. It was already known how much the count paid for his painting. So, nobles, who were always trying to one-up one another, would not only brag about the fact that they had one of my paintings but how much they had paid for them. There would probably be some who tried to underpay me, but their peers would mock them as cheapskates or too poor to pay the full price. Nobody wants to have people gossip about them.

"Hmm, that is a very generous offer. I accept. Can you start tomorrow?" the baron eagerly asked.

"As long as we have the right paints and you secure a canvas, we can start whenever you would like. It would be best if I go to pick out the paints once we figure out the clothing lighting and exact background."

"Very well, tomorrow we shall figure all that out, and then you must attend the ball with us tomorrow evening."

"An excellent plan. If you would like, you may stop by tomorrow morning. We have set up the paintings that I brought down in the sitting room of the manor."

"Wonderful idea," Lady Kithmoore said. Now you must tour our home. "Also, let us discuss the possible prospects who will attend tomorrow's banquet."

The Kithmoore's had a very nice home. Both the tapestries and decorations adorning the manor were very tasteful. Kithmoore had a banquet hall in his manor and decided he would like to set the scene for his painting in that room. He and his wife would sit in chairs as if looking out at a crowd. The reason for this was that his wife had a bad knee and had trouble standing for long periods. I explained that all I really needed them for was their heads and that we could use body doubles for the rest of the time. In that way, it didn't matter whether they sat or stood. They appreciated the thought but still decided to sit.

I was very excited to get started. The amount of money I was going to make for my barony over the winter would change everything.