If I had not been sitting in the presence of the count, I might have lost my composure like I did when I found out the king was making me baron. Why is it that most of the letters I received were bad news? It almost made me miss the junk mail I used to receive, stating that a Nigerian prince was willing to give me fifty thousand dollars if I only sent him my social security number and bank account information. At least those were fun to read.

"From the expression on your face, I am assuming it is not good news," the count said in a neutral tone.

"My presence is requested in Kimton. But it does not explain why. What did I do wrong? How did he even know I was here?"

"I would not be too worried. He most likely is inviting you to paint a picture of him. As far as how he knew you were here, it was probably due to pigeons carrying news of important things going on throughout the duchy."

I thought for a moment. "At least I am not being reprimanded, but I really have no time for this. I was planning on leaving after I finished the last paintings I was doing. Well, now that I am painting Philips, it will take a little longer."

The count looked surprised. "I thought you were here to increase your wealth and make contacts this winter," he said.

"Well, yes, but…" I looked over at Casper. "May we speak alone?"

The count raised an eyebrow, looking at me curiously. "No," he said flatly.

I sighed. I trusted the count, but I did not know if Casper had his own agenda. But then again, I think the count was smart enough to surround himself with loyal, trustworthy people. I knew Benjamin disagreed, but this may help us.

"Very well. A couple of days ago, I visited Tanya, the priestess. I am sure you remember her."

"Yes, I have had reports that she is progressing very nicely. She has an excellent memory for the law and is very devoted. She will make an excellent priestess. She also has a few suitors."

Now I feel bad. Most of the conversations I had with Tanya had been about me, not her. I would have to stop back by and congratulate her on her progress and her personal life.

"Well, while I was there, she explained that she had had a dream. She saw a particular wall in Bicman. It contains the people who died in the defense of Bicman. Currently, there are only a few names on it. But in her dream, she saw that the wall was filled with a lot of names. Then she saw herself talking with me, and the names began to vanish as she spoke with me. She did not know anything about the wall or what it was before she spoke with me."

There was a long pause. Then he spoke. "I am not much of a believer in the Endless One. You believe this is a warning from him and that you must return to protect your people?"

"Not necessarily. I am sure you are aware that I have not had much training in military affairs. Nor am I a proficient fighter. But I would like to do what I can to help my people, and that means I must be at my barony, even if it is just so they have their leader among them.."

"Hmm, what do you think, Casper?"

"He should be there, but I do not see it as urgent. Who would attack Bicman in the winter? What are you doing to prepare?"

I explained our plans so far, but when I got to the point of the plan where we were training and arming our peasants, both men frowned.

"You are saying that you are providing military training for all your peasants. That is a very risky thing to do. You cannot stop the unrest, no matter how good of a ruler you are. And that is doubly so if people feel they have the power to confront you." Vaspar said.

"There is always a risk to all endeavors in life, but if you give people hope for a better life, they will be loyal. We had an incident where slavers tried entering our cove. Their ship sank somewhere, but a dozen or so made it to shore. I only have about twenty soldiers. I can only imagine the chaos they could have caused if their entire ship made it to land. A good number of my people would have been captured and turned into slaves, and I would not have been able to do anything about it."

"I had not considered an attack from the cove. I was thinking along the lines of a rogue mercenary company that made its way north. They would definitely be able to kill a lot of unarmed peasants. I was just going to increase road patrols and keep a closer eye on the companies that had not gone south with the armies. But this adds another piece to the board," the count said. "And if they attack from there, I cannot offer any assistance. It would take a large force to assist in protecting you from an invading force from the coast. We are at war, and I cannot spare resources for your barony. In fact, I would say your idea of arming and training your peasants is the only thing that may save you," he said.

"You mentioned mercenaries. Are there any trustworthy mercenaries that I could hire to bolster my forces?"

"You could risk hiring mercenaries, but most times, you use them to attack, not defend. Mercenaries get bored quickly and begin to rape and pillage the land if you are not careful. They may even join with the enemy if the price is right, and when everything is done, they would just sail off with their new employer. I am sorry, but it seems the plan you have come up with is the best. I also don't recommend you bring this up to the duke looking for support. He will do nothing, and then your preparations will probably be leaked. The advantage you have is that they don't know you know they are coming."

"My lord, I have a thought, but it may depend on how large the entrance to his cove is," Casper said. "Could he not put a ballista on either side of the entrance."

Dang, I should have thought about that.

"I haven't been to the cove entrance, but I imagine we could put a couple of ballistas on each side."

"Depending on how many ships come, it may not sink them all, or it may clog the entrance and cause the enemy to retreat. I wouldn't count on it, though. All we are doing now is guessing. But, my lord, we have gone overtime for this meeting." Casper said.

"Thank you for the input, Casper. Baron, we will do what we can on our end here to make sure that a force doesn't come from the south, but ultimately, you are responsible for the defense of your borders. We will delay the picture for my son. I will send your new four hundred residents onward with the supplies you are purchasing. The wagons and oxen that are transporting the supplies for the four hundred can be considered a gift. Casper will see if he can find people to build ballistas for you. Finish up what you need here and head to Kimton as soon as possible. I will send a response to Duke Kimton's request."

"Thank you for your time, my lord. I will strive to serve the kingdom."

"One more thing, Lord Amos. If you happen to invent any more things that will help in the war effort, you will be well rewarded. This war has gone on long enough, and there are things that need to be accomplished here."

"I will do my best to serve the kingdom."

*******

"We are going to Kimton," I said to Benjamin as soon as I entered the carriage.

"My lord, is that wise."

"We have no choice. It is an order from the duke. Most likely, he wants a painting, but be ready for anything. Also, not only are we sending food, but the king is gifting us four hundred peasants that they have gathered."

Before Benjamin could respond, I explained the situation.

"There is no way that the King is providing enough food to truly keep the people well-fed enough that they can survive the Bicman winter. Not to mention clothing. Many of these people will die."

"I think that is why they sent so many people," Benjamin said. "In fact, if he gathered four hundred, I am not sure that all four hundred made it to Vaspar."

"Apparently, they are expected to arrive in five or six days. We, however, may not be here by then. I cannot put off my departure to Kimton once I finish these paintings. Accept no more invitations to the various gatherings."

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"Yes, My Lord."

"We will need to write a letter and have a messenger sent to Bicman today. All focus needs to be on building large shelters. We probably won't have enough lime and ash to build them out of concrete. We also need to reserve that for fortifications. So that means we do it like we did with the last influx of people. We will have to buy more food for storage. We are going to use what you have lined up so far to stretch whatever rations they are given."

"If that is the case, we may have to import it from further away or purchase it from Kimton when we are there," Benjamin said.

"It is what it is. Others may be okay with losing half of these people, but I will do my best to ensure that as many survive this winter as possible."

"We should purchase more tools while we are here as well. We are going to need a lot more raw material."

"We will send word about clothing as well. We need the weavers to produce more low-quality but warm clothes. "

"Should we purchase wool as well, my lord."

"Check the prices. We may end up burning through our money faster than I can make it."

"I don't think you will have to worry about that, my lord. You have thus far made more money than Bicman made in the last five years. And we are buying the cheapest of everything. Our real enemy here is time. We have to get all these people settled before winter comes, and we still don't know when we will be attacked."

We sat in silence for the rest of the trip to the manor, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Why is it that every time I come up with a plan, things seem to start to settle, and something else comes up? I was supposed to come to Vaspar, become stinking rich and famous, and then head back to the barony and build it into something amazing.

Instead, I am spending all my money to take in refugees and prepare for war. What an altruist I am.

When we arrived back at the manor, I got straight to work painting. The sooner I got to Kimton, the sooner I could leave. However, I did not sacrifice the quality of my paintings for speed. I had to be here for at least the next four days due to various commitments to different social gatherings, and I did not want to alienate myself. I wasn't quite at the level of popularity where I could do that—not that I would anyways.

The next few days seemed to flash past as I prepared to leave. The caravan we were building to bring supplies to Bicman was growing but had a departure date of ten days. It would also be traveling very slowly. If it were only a small group, it would most likely take double the time a normal trip would require. It was actually good because they would also be bringing all those other people. On the fourth day, I was invited to meet with Fredrick before the get-together that night.

"So, couldn't wait until the party to hang out, Lord Fredrick," I asked after I bowed to him.

He gave me one of his signature grins and said, "I hear you have no excuse not to get engaged now."

"Seriously, is my personal life so interesting to people."

"You're a noble. There is no such thing as a personal life. Especially once you become popular, don't worry, though. I already spread the word, so you don't have to worry about doing it yourself."

"You fiend! I thought we were friends."

"We are. That is why I am helping you find a wife tonight before you go down to Kimton. We wouldn't want you to get roped into marrying one of those Kimton girls."

"Now you're just mocking me. There is no way I am getting engaged tonight."

"No, I suppose not. I did, however, want to warn you that there are several young women who will be interested. I will let you know if any are worth pursuing."

I decided playing along would be better than digging my heels in. "OK, just give me a thumbs up if the lady is worth my time or a thumbs down if she is not."

Frederick gave me a questioning look. "Thumbs up, Thumbs down?"

I showed him what I meant and explained its uses.

"Ah, like the call signs for hunters. I like it."

"Of course you do. I came up with it." Before he could throw back a barb, I said, " Actually, I brought something to give to your father. You can pass it along, but it must be kept secret."

I pulled out a stack of papers. "This is the design for the Bicman plow."

"Ah, the one you told me about. My father is busy, but let us go see Casper. I was thinking you could get more than just money for an invention that doubled the crops. "

"What, you want me to ask for another two wives? Or maybe another eight hundred people to feed? Don't get me wrong, I do want more people, but what the king has done is put a lot of strain on my resources."

"Additional titles and lands are what you need. Why only have one barony when you could have two? And why not four wives? That is a huge amount of prestige and a lot of dowry."

And now we are back to talking about tracts of land. I thought with a chuckle.

"What am I going to do with more land? Especially if I have a huge amount already, and I can double what I produce already on that land."

"Oh, my poor sheltered friend. It is obvious that you are woefully ignorant. Do not say such things to other nobles, or you will be laughed out of the room. Land and titles are everything. Land can be traded or used for favors. You can give them to knights to increase your military might. There is much you can do with land and titles if you know how to play the game."

What he was saying started to sink in. Benjamin had tried to explain this concept to me, but it didn't make sense. Was this like a trading card game where lands and titles were your cards? No, that didn't quite fit. I would have to figure out a proper analogy. I still thought land would become less important the more food we could produce, but I wouldn't be putting money on it. Land will always be important.

We found Casper in his personal study reviewing documents.

He looked up in surprise when we entered. He stood up and bowed. A habit I had tried to break Benjamin of without success. "How may I assist you, young lord?"

"Baron Bicman has an invention he believes would interest, Father."

"Really, and what might that be?" He asked while turning to me.

"It is a new plow that churns the dirt faster and more effectively. By the end of last year's plowing season, we were able to get some fields plowed three times faster. We plowed the fields after harvest and had even better results on those fields we had already plowed once.

"In conjunction with that, our fields produced up to double the yield that we had the previous year. After you remove the amount used to feed the peasants and what was used for reseeding, you will have a threefold increase of grain for storage."

"I do not mean to doubt your words, but-"

"Then don't," I said, cutting him off. He was the count's steward, but that did not give him the right to doubt my words. "My word as a baron is more important to me than making myself look good. Besides, it is easy to verify."

"Forgive me, my lord. You are, of course, correct."

Look at that: Benjamin's lessons were sinking in.

He continued. "Just to clarify. You are saying that you have found a way to double the yields of our fields?"

"Not exactly. As far as the speed of plowing goes, you will definitely see a benefit, but I believe the increase in yield has to do with our soil. As I understand it, my fields have harder soil. Perhaps the nutrients in our soil are buried deeper, so it took something other than a scratch plow to get to them. Most fields in the kingdom produce 6 to seven bushels per acre. Mine were produced three to four. So it could just be the difference there. But let's say you only got a quarter increase. How would that affect the country?"

"That would be a great benefit to the kingdom. It also might decrease political tensions." He mused. "Who else knows about this?"

"Outside of my barony, only the Baron of Tine. Well, unless there were spies that found out about it." Ever since I found out that headman Jeffery was a scumbag, I wondered if he had passed along any of my secrets. Maybe he was planning to sell them once he robbed me of as much money as he could.

"I am surprised that Mathew, our messenger, did not bring these new plows up in his report."

"Well, by the time he came, the plowing was done, and we had them put away. He probably overlooked them."

"Mathew misses nothing unless it is hidden very well. It is what makes him an effective messenger. The only way he would have missed this is if you ordered none of your people to talk about them and hid them. You must have very loyal people for them to avoid discussing things with a messenger," he said pointedly.

I said nothing.

Finally, he said, "Very well. I will speak with the count about this. What do you want for this?"

At this point, Fredrick came to my aid. "Casper, all of us know the value of such an invention. If it works as promised, this will revolutionize farming. I hope you will consider rewarding him generously."

"That is up to your father."

"And he will ask for your recommendation."

They both stared at each other.

Finally, Casper spoke again, "Anything given will be conditional upon proof that it works. I will pass the information along, but if you will excuse me, I must prepare these documents before your father is free."

"That is alright. We will be late for my party if we don't hurry. Come, baron; my guests await."

"Thank you for your time, Steward Casper. Have a pleasant day."

The party went as expected. Frederick did not keep his mouth shut. He let everyone know that the king had rewarded me for something and had given me the option to have a second wife.

Of course, that caused me to become the center of attention. Everyone wanted to know what I had done. Most of them assumed it had to do with my artwork, but I just told them the king would reveal it later.

The young men congratulated me, which led to more open discussions. They spoke highly of all their female relatives. Not even their ten-year-old sisters were safe from being propositioned.

The young women constantly tried to speak over each other, hinting at large dowries and family connections. I felt like Fredrick had thrown me into a shark tank. The worst part was that I did not make any money that night, and with my expenses piling up, I needed every penny I could get.

When I got home that night, I crashed into bed and dreamt of ways to get even with Fredrick.