I was just finishing a bowl of wheat porridge for breakfast when Emily came bounding up. "Can we make more pulp now? I came up with some ideas last night and almost couldn't sleep."

I've created a monster, I thought to myself. "Fine," I said with a dramatic sigh. I knew that others in the room were giving sideways glances. My relationship with Emily was that of two siblings, even though we had both promised to be more formal. I couldn't help it. I needed this relationship, or I would probably go mad. I just needed someone I could treat as family.

After dad left we all had to lean on each other and no matter how messed up I got I could always count on them. It made family kind of a big thing for me. I had Aaron, but he was not a good conversationalist.

We headed to the Papermaking room and ended up making four sheets of paper. One of her ideas actually got rid of some of the grittiness, and the color was more of a uniform tan. Since we didn't have enough frames for all of them, we flattened them out on the table to dry, and Emily would flip them. Hopefully, that would work until we got more frames. I would have to get some frames of different sizes.

After that, my arms were sore because I had already been working out this morning. I felt like I was getting healthier, but I didn't look any different. The polished bronze mirror I had wasn't the best at giving reflection. Glass wasn't a thing here. Did they even have glass in the capital? I shook my head. Focus. I had seen glass blown at the renaissance fair and their explanation, but that didn't mean I would be able to figure out how to make it. The kiln would have to be at the right temperature. Or how much to heat the sand. All I knew was white sand was the best for it. I think it was silica, and I would have to find the sand and then find someone to figure out how to build a kiln. Then run a bunch of experiments which could take years.

So no point in trying to make glass mirrors. I know they used mercury at one point, and all the mirror makers were dying, like the mad hatters that used mercury to make felt hats. I don’t know what they used to replace it. I just thought it was interesting that everybody was going crazy making glass mirrors. So I needed something different.

I needed a team of chemists. I knew how to balance a chemical equation, sort of. But I didn't remember all the different elements in the periodic table. Did they have different ones here? How would that even be possible? Long-term goal. Get a team of chemists. I didn't have to do everything myself. I just needed people I could point in the right direction.

Speaking of pointing in the right direction, I needed to check to see if Jorb had a counterweight. I was tired of holding that blasted lever. OK, I was lazy. Or efficentcy focused. Yeah, that is what I will call it. I was from the 21st century. What do you expect? So I went to find the captain so I could go down to see Jorb. I found him practicing with the men, and when I explained what I wanted, Hyrum jumped into the conversation. "I will take him." Maybe he wanted to discuss his upcoming nuptial.

I was right. As we walked, he remained silent, but I could tell something was on his mind. "Spill it, Hyrum. I know something is on your mind."

He took a breath and said, "My lord, I was wondering if it might be possible to rent one of the unused peasant's houses. Carrie has accepted my marriage proposal, and we will need a home. Normally, I would ask for some land to build on, but I thought since the plague took some and you have extra…"

He left the sentence hanging. Of course, I took almost a whole minute to answer, not because I was actually thinking of denying him but more just to tease him. Finally, I said, "Well, that solves one problem."

"My lord?"

"Well, I was wracking my brain about what to give you as a wedding gift, and I had no idea what to do. This solves the problem."

He stopped. The look on his face was priceless. "My lord, I am a peasant, not a serf. We must rent the homes if we are not living in the barracks. You must deduct it from my pay. It is the law."

"And who checks to see if the payment is being made?"

"The steward keeps the records."

"And who does he report to?"

"You."

"And so what's the problem?"

"But it is money you use to pay taxes to the duchy."

"Does it ever get audited?"

"The count may send an auditor."

"I see. That, I guess, would be a problem. I will just have to work around that. I will talk with Marcus. We can find a way. But the answer is yes. You may pick out a house and let me know. I will have Marcus write out a contract."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Well, if I can't make this work, I will have to figure out something else for a present. We also need to have a wedding party."

"My lord, feasts and parties are for nobles. Freemen sometimes have gatherings in the cities, but serfs and peasants do not have public parties."

"Is that a law?"

"I don't know."

"Look, an auditor may care if I am giving away property, but who is going to care out here if I decide to throw a party? Sorry, my friend. I am putting my foot down on this one. You two are having a party in the great hall for those you wish to invite. I am even going to slaughter a pig," I said excitedly. "Life must be celebrated."

"I don't know what to say, my lord," He said. He sounded as if he was choking up a bit.

"Come on, Hyrum. It's just a party. Let's get going, or I'm going to start getting embarrassed."

We walked silently down to the blacksmith's shop. I sent in Hyrum first to make sure Mathew wasn't in there. It was about ten minutes before Hyrum came back out. "Sorry, my lord. He was in the middle of something. And then he had to take Mathew out the back. No worries. A couple of minutes later, Jorb came out.

"How may I help you, my lord," He said politely.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Did Jacklyn enjoy her lesson?" For the first time, I saw a slight smile on his face.

"She said she enjoyed it very much. She was showing off to us last night about the letters she knew."

"Well, she was a pleasure to teach; she picked things up quickly. I think Emily may have been a little miffed that she didn't have everything memorized as quickly as Jacklyn. Don't tell Emily I said that, or I will never hear the end of it." I said conspiratorially.

That made him smile. I don't think a parent likes anything better than to be told their child is exceptional. "My lips are sealed, my lord."

"Also, thank you for allowing Jacklyn to help Emily with the papermaking."

"Between the two of them, I believe the barony will become quite prosperous," I said.

"You really think it will make that much of an impact?"

"Think about it: for parchment, you have to kill an animal, skin it, soak it, stretch it, scrap it, dry it. For paper, you chop down the tree, cut it up, pulp it, and dry it. You can make a lot of paper quickly. Also, we are just using Mikel and Samuel's scraps right now. We can make it cheaper so the cost will be less even though we have to send it from here to the cities. Once people start using it in a few years, it may replace parchment, and those two may become the wealthiest people in the barony."

"They? Why would they become wealthy?"

If she and Emily each received a tenth of the profit, she could be earning silver crowns in a few years.

"You would give the girls a 10th each?" The blacksmith said, shocked.

"Of course, why wouldn't they get paid as craftsmen just like you?" I said as if it were the most obvious conclusion in the world.

Jorb looked like someone had struck him with a hammer.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"As soon as you make the counterweight and more wire for frames, I am sure they will be able to figure out the perfect way to make it. They are both smart girls."

"Oh yes, the counterweight. I have it, but it is quite heavy to carry around. I can run it up later on. After I get this part of the blade done, I will make as much wire as I can."

Nah, that's OK; that's what I have Hyrum for."

Hyrum looked at me sideways but said nothing. "Don't worry, Hyrum. I won't make you lug it around the village. We will come back for it when we return. Let's go see Mikel."

Knocking on the door of Mikel's house brought an immediate response. He hurried over when he saw me. "Thank you, my lord, for convincing Jorb to stay."

"That had nothing to do with me. He decided to leave and came back on his own. It was his desire to do what was best for his family that brought him back."

"But you made it the best option for his family."

"You're giving me too much credit for a man who made his own choice."

"My lord, please forgive me for disagreeing on this matter," he said, trying to ensure I was the winner of the argument. And that wouldn't do.

"Mikel, I am not going to be upset at you for disagreeing with me. We cannot learn without challenging what we believe. I am perfectly happy to have you disagree with me as long as it doesn't cause the barony to suffer. I certainly don't see how our opinion on this matter affects anything in such a way."

"Now, how is the plow coming?"

"I have done all I can without the blade. When I get that, I can shape things to fit."

"Excellent. Can you also make more frames for the paper? One of them should be about half the size. Ten should do." I said thoughtfully.

"That will not take long." He said, "I will squeeze it in between my other work and should have them done in a few days."

"Perfect, I look forward to it. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"My lord, your generosity exceeds the grandest of priests. There is nothing I need."

"Thank you for the compliment, but don't let any priests here you say that."

I spent some time visiting with those around the village, trying to learn about their lives. Once again, the children were more open to me than the adults, but I knew that there would always be a separation because of my station in life. Maybe as the kids grew up, I would have more friends. It was time to go back to the manor.

After we returned, we went to the papermaking room and hooked up the counterweight. I tried it out with Hyrum, and it worked great. I had no doubt that the two girls could make the paper on their own. Mine did not turn out as good, so I just dumped it in a bucket. I would let Emily fix it.

After I left the paper room, I went to the study." I found a map of the kingdom. It wasn't very detailed and I am guessing the surveyors didn't spend a lot of time past my swamps because the northern edge just said "Marsh". I knew the sea was beyond that, but it was not on the map. East of me were the Melnon and the mountains. South were my other three villages. I could tell that the lines of our barony had been drawn in after the original was made. I couldn't judge whether the map was accurate or not, seeing how I had never been outside the barony.

It looks like Baron Decmoore was the closest to me. He actually had a town rather than a village, and that was most likely the furthest north any trade caravans went. It is also where I was initially planning on dropping off Jorb and where I hoped my people would be able to find beans. If the map were to scale, which I doubted, it looked like Decmoore wasn't too far away. I think my territory extended to the Nore River, as I didn't see any villages between the river and Kerisi. From what I was told, the Nore was a day and a half to two days. That would put Decmoore about four days according to the map. Again, I didn't trust this map.

The County we were located in was Vaspar, and Vaspar was also the name of the city by the sea. The duchy was Kimton, and Kimton was a city south of Vaspar. I wonder if it was always that way. That would get really confusing if the names of places changed every time someone took over. Or maybe the family name changed to match the city.

To the west of me was the abandoned town of Barim and, further on, the coast. There was no suitable place for ships to dock along my coastal area, as it was all sheer cliffs that dropped into the ocean. There was no surfing in that direction. Maybe past the marshes, I would find a spot to surf and a place for a port. Also, I think they evaporated seawater to make salt somehow. It was another thing to try. I would have to see if they are already doing that somewhere else so I could steal the method if I had a beach north of me. Technically, the land wasn't mine, but I didn't think the king would mind as long as I could supply him with goods.

I pulled out one of the edicts and found the name His Royal Majesty King Lenord Asput IV. Poor guy, that's an unfortunate name, at least in my opinion. Marsh interrupted me when it was time for dinner and walked with me to the great hall. Fortunately, the captain was there. We had a nice conversation, and when dinner was over, I sat down with the girls for their next lesson. We were going over the second half of the alphabet when I noticed Carrie was cleaning tables near us. She seemed to be listening intently while trying to do her work. I would have thought that since her father and brother could read and write, she would be able to do so as well.

"Carrie, would you like to join us, or has your father already taught you this?"

She seemed hesitant to answer. "I know my letters from listening to Father teach Marcus."

"That is wonderful," I said, smiling, "Did he teach you to read?"

"I… I know a few words, but Father said I didn't need to know how to read."

"I'm sure he thought he was doing what is right. Why don't you join us for lessons once we are past the alphabet."

"I... I don't think I can, my lord. I-"

"If you're worried about having all your responsibilities done, we can set up a second lesson then."

"May I come, my lord?" said a high-pitched boy's voice from behind me. It was one of Cookie's assistants.

"Everyone is welcome to come." we can meet after Cookie is done with you.

"I will have to get more paper, but fortunately, I have connections with some very good paper makers," I said with a smile. "By the way, girls. Did you know the counterweight was delivered today?"

Both girls looked excited. Emily got up as if about to go check out the machine.

"Slow down, young lady. You have lessons to complete."

"But-"

"No, you can play with your pulper later. You must finish your alphabet." I said sternly. Emily pouted but said nothing.

"The sooner you memorize the alphabet, the sooner you can go." With that one statement, I had her full attention back. Carrie and the boy went back to their duties. It was not long before Emily and Jacklyn could remember most of the alphabet, and after an hour and a half, they had it now; if they remember it all the way until tomorrow, it is another question.

"OK, girls, you have done an excellent job. Go have fun with the pulp. I am going to go see if Aaron wants to play."

Marcus

When Carrie came back from her duties, it was later than usual. She seemed to be beaming with excitement. She shouldn't have been happy. We were living in the house of a villain. She had to try to be less conspicuous if she wanted to escape his notice. Her smile was beautiful, and it would attract his attention.

"Why are you late?" I asked, not even bothering to hide my annoyance.

The smile immediately left her face. It didn't matter. She needed to understand she had no reason to be happy here.

"I was watching Emily and Jacklyn make paper." She said softly.

"Now he is forcing you to help with his foolish idea?" I hissed.

"But it-"

"The man is stupid. Nothing he comes up with will work. He thinks he can replace strong parchment with cloth and trees." I scoffed. "You need to keep your head down. Find excuses when he tells you to help. Do you want him to take an interest in you? He could come and get you in the night, and no one could do anything about it."

She mumbled something too soft for me to hear.

"Speak up when you are talking to me."

"I said he wouldn't do that," she said in barely a whisper.

"Are you mad? Of course, you are. Have you forgotten what he has done? I am trying to make sure you are safe until we can flee, and you are making yourself an easy target."

"I'm not going. I'm marrying Hyrum," she said in a rush.

"What?" I shouted, then remembered that the monster was making friends with people. He probably had spies now listening for dissension in the house. I lowered my voice. "You cannot marry that fool sycophant of the baron. This must be why he became friends with the baron. So the baron would let him marry you. Well, you're going to have to break it off because we are leaving."

"No, she is not Marcus," My mother said quietly from the doorway. She must have heard my shout. "This is a good match. She will be happy with Hyrum."

I sneered at both of the foolish women in my life. "And what if he finds out that our family took part in the murder of the Bicman house? Do you think that your precious Hyrum or the monster will let you live? All it takes is gossip from the Kimton court to reach the ear of the baron, and he will start to investigate. No one is going to protect us now that we failed to kill the new baron."

"It was your father's doing. We can just say we weren't involved." Mother said.

"But we were involved. We are the murderer's family. I can't believe Father died of the plague, and the baron escaped poisoning. The one person who should have died more than any of them."

"I won't leave Hyrum." My foolish sister said.

"Then you will die here."

"Maybe if we tell him of the plot, he will be lenient." My mother said.

"Are you mad? He is not a merciful man. He manipulates and uses people as long as they are useful." I can't believe how quickly these foolish women had been taken in by him. They had lost their senses, and I wanted to smack them both. They would be better off dead than in the same house as this demon. I needed to be as firm as Father if I was to be respected. "We are leaving. And I will have no further discussion on this matter. I am protecting you!"

Carrie started to shutter.

"Get her some placid root, mother, or she is going to have a fit again." With that, I left the room. I couldn't bear to look at them anymore.