As we approached, we could hear several men arguing. As I took in the sights around me, it became clear that this was the edge of the agricultural section of the kingdom. Farmland stretched as far as I could see, and the homes weren’t as close together. At this point, I’d caused enough of a stir that I didn’t want to immediately jump into some kind of personal conflict that had nothing to do with me.
I ducked behind an empty cart and watched from a safe distance, using the enhancer to improve my hearing and sight. Four men stood in front of a home with a large field behind it.
“Please. I’m the only one in my family still able to work. Both my parents are dead, as well as my younger sister. I can’t afford our taxes this month.”
“Arrest him,” an older man with a gray beard said.
“Please! All our livestock will die with no one here to take care of them. Just give me more time. I’ll try to have it next month.”
“No one is above the law,” the older man said.
“Taylor…” Ghost whispered.
It was so hard to hear the conversation that even his whispering drowned it out.
“In a minute, Ghost. I can barely hear them,” I whispered back.
“Taylor,” he repeated.
As I turned my head to answer, I noticed two men standing in my periphery. It was the prince, soon to be emperor, glaring at me. The look of disgust on his face was almost palpable as he watched me hiding behind a cart, spying on the spectacle ahead. The other man was the chief adviser, who barely seemed to notice me at all.
Before I could answer, the two men continued walking. I could’ve sworn I saw the faintest grin on the chief adviser’s face as he stared ahead.
Meanwhile, the young man was struggling against the soldiers, and they’d begun to beat him.
“What’s happening here?” the prince asked.
“This citizen is delinquent on his taxes, Your Majesty. We are punishing him in accordance with the law. He will serve thirty days of imprisonment.”
The prince looked to the young man, his expression unreadable.
“Why haven’t you paid your taxes?”
“The plague has taken my whole family. It’s everything I can do just to keep the farm running.”
The prince turned back to the older man.
“I ordered a moratorium on taxes for those with a member of the household passing from the plague. The Ministry of Taxation must be mistaken,” he said, turning as though he were about to walk away.
The old man smiled sheepishly, bowing.
“Your Majesty… this law does not go into effect until your inauguration ceremony is complete. Until then, the nation still follows your father’s laws.”
The prince nodded, adjusting his robe.
“True. This is true,” the prince said, rubbing his chin.
“I’m glad you are reasonable, Your Majesty.”
“Release the farmer,” he said, gesturing to the four soldiers.
They obeyed him without hesitation, unbinding the young man’s wrists and standing aside.
“Thank you,” he said, rubbing his wrists.
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“He must be held accountable!” the tax collector shouted.
“Certainly,” the prince said. “And I will not stop you from doing so.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You may arrest him yourself, if you like. However, he is free to resist with my reassurance that he won’t be punished.”
The tax collector looked at the much younger, stronger farmer and seemed to actually consider it for a moment.
“Your father—”
The prince’s glare was instant and intense.
“Go on,” he said.
The tax collector looked horrified. Though I couldn’t really appreciate the look on the prince’s face at this distance, it was clearly enough to shut the old man up and put a bit of fear in him.
He dropped to the ground, kowtowing, his arms stretched above his head and lying nearly flat—a position that couldn’t have been comfortable for a man his age.
“Forgive my loose tongue and insubordination, Your Majesty! I will honor your request.”
“Don’t ever let there be a repeat of what took place today. Understood?” the prince said, his tone noticeably harsher than before.
“Rest assured, Your Majesty,” the tax collector shouted.
Without another word, the prince adjusted his robe and continued walking. The four soldiers followed, leaving both the farmer and the tax collector in an awkward moment.
After a bit of waiting, the tax collector scrambled to his feet and ran off. I took that as my signal to leave my hiding place, trying my best to stroll casually down the street toward the farmer, my mind still reeling from the spectacle I’d just witnessed. It seemed the prince was every bit as cold and harsh as he appeared, but seeing the farmer being treated this way clearly upset him in some way. He didn’t let his emotions show, but his actions made that much clear. What a strange man…
“Hello,” I said, waving to the farmer.
He lowered his head, and for a moment I feared he’d run into his home, but it seemed that being saved from imprisonment at the last moment had somewhat lightened the young man’s mood.
He nodded, fixing a barrel that had been knocked over in the struggle with the soldiers.
I approached, standing up another barrel that had been next to it, doing my best to be friendly. Ghost stayed quiet on my shoulder.
“Quite the bird you have there,” he said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a falcon that big.”
I reached up and stroked Ghost’s chest, and he played along, behaving like any other falcon might. He nibbled at my finger a bit, then continued staring ahead.
“Thank you. He’s been my companion for a while now. We do everything together,” I said.
“Too bad you didn’t meet the prince just now. I’ve heard his passion for falconry started in his youth. His father…” The young man stopped, looking around, as though the prince might hear him and come back, deciding he deserved to be punished after all. He lowered his voice. “His father did not approve of the hobby.”
I filed this information away in the back of my mind, hoping it might be useful later.
“I overheard some of the conversation. I’m sorry about your family,” I said.
His expression darkened, and he seemed to struggle with a response.
“Thank you,” he finally said. “You’re an outsider? Your clothes and accent are strange.”
“I’m from a desert zone, quite a distance from here. More recently, PanTech,” I said. I was sure this would end all conversation. It almost always did. To my surprise, he seemed undeterred.
“PanTech, huh? Are the rumors true that this sickness came from there?”
I nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. That’s the truth. It was manufactured and unleashed upon the world. The full answer is more complicated, but that doesn’t change the simple fact. I tried to stop it but may have only made things worse."
He sat on the barrel he’d just picked up, looking at the sky.
“How long do you think we have left?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Before we’re all gone.”
“Sorry. That question’s even more difficult to answer. I’m trying to help, but I’m having a hard time getting through to your leaders.”
He looked around again, apparently still afraid of being overheard.
“I’m not sure how much of that exchange you saw, but the previous emperor was… very obedient to PanTech. The ministries that served him were very corrupt and focused on exploiting the people as much as possible.”
“And this new emperor… he’s different?”
“He has a reputation for being cold, harsh, and distant, but I think he cares for his people. At least more than his father did. However, unlike his father, he seems to favor force. All the ministers are already afraid of him. It seems most of the citizens are too, but not so much us farmers. We rarely encounter royalty, or even members of the court. Today was one of the few days I’ve ever seen the prince in person. The previous emperor almost never left the palace. Out here we just… want to live our lives, sell our rice and our meat, take care of the fields and the livestock that provide it and…”
He paused, stuck on the next words. I knew what they were meant to be.
“Take care of your families…” I said, finishing his sentence.
His eyes welled with tears, and he nodded.
“I promise I won’t give up just yet. I think I should find and speak to members of Adversity Management. Do you know where I can find them?”
“There is no more Adversity Management,” he said, wiping his eyes and sniffing. “I don’t know all the details.”
“Right, I heard they fell in with the new emperor. Do you know where I can find them?”
“Not really, but the palace would be a good place to start. You’d have to get access, of course, and that won’t be easy.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Nothing was ever easy, after all.