“So how busy have things been in my absence?” After two days of rest, Braydon finally sat down to work once more. Colin could do a lot of things in his stead but there were a number of things that needed his personal sign off or a decision to be made that could not be done without him. He almost dreaded it but, given the relatively relaxed look from the Chamberlain, he had some hope that he would not be swamped.

“Given that there was a war going on, Sire, not too much has changed for us. Other than the logistical challenge of hosting the Kingdom’s armies for a prolonged period, it was quiet. And since the King has already sent some repayment, there has not been a lasting impact.” Colin said that but everybody knew that it had cost more than the King had sent in repayment. A worthwhile investment for Braydon, given the rewards that he gained.

“And what about now?” There might have been few things to do during the war, but that was during the war. All of the work usually came before and after wars rather than in the middle of them.

“Well there has been a number of letters. Merchants, namely.” Neither of them needed to say more to know what they were inquiring about.

“Give approval to merchants affiliated with my allies. If the King makes a recommendation, accept them too. Otherwise reject them all. If they want to legally trade with Shuluk it will be through me, my allies or because the King asked for them.” He had been given a golden goose. Now that he had returned to his territory, he would start making use of it.

“About the villages, the eastern ones. All of the refugees that we have accepted have been properly settled some time ago, you might want to go and meet with the elders of the newly constructed villages. In the same vein, Midbury has grown particularly large for a village. It might be worth considering building a wall and stationing a small garrison there. It will not gain township without a royal decree but it currently acts as one in all but name.” Colin brought up something that Braydon had almost completely forgotten about since he solved his money problems and immediate border security.

“Oh, speaking of the refugees, how has Roan been handling the border?” He would ask the man himself later, but he at least wanted to be caught up on the general idea.

“I have no complaints. He has not requested any significant spending on medical supplies nor have I been receiving comments from the village elders about such issues.” Colin’s answer was almost immediate with no hesitation. At the very least Braydon could say that Roan had been successful in containing any Shuluk problems in Shuluk lands.

“Anything to report about the rest of the earldom?” Braydon had to say it himself, if just to be a little proud. He could now officially call his lands an earldom rather than refer to them as two separate viscounties.

“Mapjess has been running like a town that nobody wants to visit if they have no relatives there for most of the war. Of course that has changed since your rewards were announced this past week or so. There have been a few merchants arriving, mostly small-time and mostly from Wathamalin. I would expect it to take a while longer for anybody more important to show up. The ones that have already arrived likely want to set up shop in a town that might be big business once the border is safer to travel.” Colin had a rather harsh assessment of Mapjess before the special privilege that he gained, though not an unfair one. In a sense it could be considered one of Fiveria’s most remote towns since without the border to cross it sat on a road to nowhere as far as merchants were concerned.

“I guess that none of them have tried to make their way to Midbury then?” Braydon doubted that they would if there were no walls around the village. No matter how good his men were at keeping bandits on the other side of the border, it was not worth the risk.

“Not many of them know about the recent development there. For the most part, we keep the castle closed off to travel between the two halves of the earldom, remember Sire?” Colin reminded Braydon of the more likely reason.

“It slipped my mind. We should be able to change that soon. Security in Cliforge is much better than it was before and none of my neighbours in Fiveria are going to start anything for the foreseeable future. No changes in Grolosar?” Braydon had almost forgotten that he owned a village on the west of the Brimstones. Though since it was the less active part of his territory and Colin had not complained about a lack of taxes, he could only assume that everything was as he had last seen it.

“I believe I received a word that there was a marriage? Or was it a death? I am sure that somebody could go and ask.” Braydon took a moment to look at Colin to see if he was being serious. He might be a compassionate lord compared to some but he really couldn't care less about something so mundane. The small twitch of the chamberlain’s lips told him that Colin found it quite funny.

“That is good then. Look into building a wall for Midbury, wooden. I might have money but I am not about to build a stone one for a village. Whilst we are at it, how about a palisade for Sutherford? A bit fancy for a village its size but the miners live there, I at least want some protection for it.” A palisade was not going to do much against anyone that was determined to get that far into Cliforge with a group of men large enough to take the village but he hoped that once more people started passing through his territory that it might attract a bit more skilled labour to the village. He had a mine but there was a gap between selling iron ore and forged goods.

“And the village elders?” Colin asked.

“I will go meet with them tomorrow.” Braydon had other plans for the rest of the day already.