The trip to where the Linn family’s hold started was not that long. We crossed the river that marked the border of my Hold shortly before noon. Hrothgar, Nina, her sister Mina, and Nathalie were riding behind the first wagon, which was driven by Allister and his wife. I rode alongside them, with Caspar on the other side. We had one man riding vanguard about fifty metres ahead, with two soldiers riding rear and the last two riding alongside the caravan.

There was not much talking going on, I was still thinking about the conversation I had with Lily the night before and the dream I had. I tried to deny what she had told me, and though I knew I was right in some way, I could not help but think it might be time to start trying to control my outbursts. They had brought more troubles than they had potentially solved. However, they kept screwing me over, and I was not one to just take that.

Maybe I needed to alter my approach. For a long time, I had relied on violence or the threat thereof to get what I wanted and secure myself. That had worked, but it seemed to be less effective here. Especially since other people than just myself were affected by my actions.

The dream had also been disconcerting. First I had found myself back in the forest clearing from the last dream I had. The same beautiful woman was standing there. However, the place was dark and unwelcoming. The woman frowning and radiating disappointment.

Unlike last time I had not woken, but the dream had transformed into another dream. I was holding a little girl in my arms, and I just knew she was my little girl. Suddenly hands had grabbed me from behind and something had ripped my daughter out of my arms. The hands holding me released me, just as the something and my daughter vanished into the dark. I could hear her cries and started to run in the direction. Whenever I got close, the cries stopped, just to start from another direction. No matter how hard I struggled, I could not find her.

That was when I had awoken, bathed in sweat. Lily had been sleeping at the other end of the room. The cat which had slept on my chest awoke and meowed quietly. Giving me a lick and then tried to entreat me to pet it, which I had absentmindedly obliged.

“Milord, riders approaching. Most likely a toll crew,” the scout said and shook me out of my reverie. I had not even noticed he had ridden back.

“Toll crew?” I asked.

“Yeah, most Lord’s have a patrol of soldiers riding around with a fideomancer,” Allister answered. “Making sure that any carts have paid a road toll, thirteen thalers per wagon. Milord.”

He was not used to dealing with lords it would seem. His milord was pretty delayed. Actually not delivered until his wife elbowed him in the side. I just smiled, it was kind of refreshing. Sure the subservience was good in those that needed to follow your command, but I grew tired of everyone calling me it.

“Thanks for the explanation, guess I need to put up something similar,” I said with a shrug.

“Honestly, it would not gain you any coin, Milord,” Alister said.

“Oh? How come?”

“There are quicker routes since the roads are better maintained and they’re less hilly that goes through the Hold south of yours, Milord. Your hold also has little trade goods that can be picked up, so it’s less profitable running through your Hold.”

“Lord Erthal’s?” I asked for verification.

“Yes, Milord.”

“Thanks for your frank advice, if that be the case it would seem a waste of time,” I said with a shrug. Inside I was fuming again at being offered a practically worthless hold.

When the patrol, fourteen men total, came riding up to us, the man in the lead called out loudly, “Halt in the name of Lord Martin Linn the Tenth. This is a toll inspection.”

Alister started to slow the caravan, timing it so that we stopped within a few metres of the troops. They were wearing a light green uniform with brown trimming. Their bit of burnished orange to represent the King came on their uniform’s shoulder straps. Not the most pleasing colour. It ruined everything, not that their uniforms were great, to begin with. The only difference to be seen in the uniform from the squad leader to the normal trooper was a brown armband on his left arm.

The fourteenth member of the patrol was a woman with a serf collar around her neck. Clearly the fideomancer. She was dressed in clothes of the same standard as the freewomen on my hold had been. So not great, but not as bad as it could be either.

“Greetings Squad Leader, we’ve not paid toll yet. We’re coming from the Wolf Ridge Holding and after picking up a load of charcoal in Linnwoodcroft, we’ll head southeast towards the High Hold,” Alister said and held up a pouch. “One mark and four thalers.”

The squad leader signalled for one of his men to get the pouch. He then turned to look at me up and down. “What mercenary outfit are you with? I don’t recognize the uniform.”

“The uniform was chosen by the new lord of Wolf Ridge, we’re travelling with the caravan to do some trading,” I said. I choose not to divulge who I was, mainly because he had not asked.

“Where’s your allegiance to the king? All soldiers should wear the king’s colour,” the man protested.

I opened the saddlebag and pulled out the sash and slipped it over my head. “There. Satisfied?”

“You should be glad I’m not your superior, I’d have you flogged for insolence,” the squad leader said as parting words, before spurring his men on, back the way he had come.

The caravan started moving again, and I packed the sash away. It would just get in the way if we had to fight. We had travelled for almost ten minutes before Alister asked, “Why did you not tell them who you were? They’d afforded you more respect.”

“As you probably figured out, I’ve got a tendency to flaunt your traditions. I reckoned it would be better to not announce my presence unless needed,” I said and got an idea. I sent Caspar down to rotate the rear guard. When he was out a couple of wagons away, I added, “Much like your wife hides the fact that she’s in charge. At least of negotiations.”

“Milord, I don’t know what you mean,” Alister protested, completely pale. His wife sat completely still on the bench next to him.

“I saw that sign language you had going on, while we negotiated,” I said in a friendly tone. “Listen, I don’t care. Where I’m from women can run businesses, though we’re still working on the whole gender equality thing.”

“Milord, please don’t tell anyone,” the wife said. Her voice had a musical note to it.

“I won’t, I’m merely curious how it came to pass, but this is not the best place to discuss it,” I said and indicated Caspar who was riding back. “However, we were never introduced. My name is Karth.”

“Melissa,” she whispered.

“Pleasure,” I said with a smile. I knew it was a dick move. However, it insured me that they would not talk too openly about my eccentricities when our working together was over, and the rest of their drivers were all serfs, so the couple could easily prevent them from talking about what they had seen at my Hold. Who knew, maybe I would even get better deals in the future. Would just have to make sure not to take too much advantage of the situation.

The price for the charcoal had been as advertised and was loaded up without too much trouble when we got there the next day. Two wagon loads for me and one for Alister, or rather Melissa. We had then made our way southeast and crossed over into Erthal’s lands, and were set upon by another set of toll collectors, this one without an opinion with regards to our uniform, at least not one that was voiced out loud.

When we finally rode into Wilbur’s city we had been on the road for four and a half days. I was glad I had brought Nathalie along because I definitely needed her help with my saddle sores. Spending that much time in the saddle would take some getting used to.

Alister introduced me to some almost honest traders who gave me an okay price on the luxury furniture and the barrels of alcohol. I managed to get almost a hundred and fifty marks for that. Unfortunately, since I did not have the original receipts that would show I was selling at a loss, I was taxed for the full amount. Meaning for every thirteen thalers, I only got to keep nine.

Fortunately, we had the bills for the two wagon loads of charcoal, so we only had to pay taxes and tithes on the profit. Those bastards surely got fat and rich from other people’s hard work. For the charcoal, they would get to dip into the coffers four times. First time when the trees were cut down, they would receive the first four trees cut down of every thirteen trees. The King first, then the High Lord and lastly the Church. If they cut down thirteen trees, they only got to keep nine. If they cut down seventeen trees, they only kept ten.

The second time the bastards had their hands out was when the charcoal was produced. Again they would take four out of thirteen bushels of charcoal produced. The third time the crooks got their hands on other people’s money was when the charcoal was sold to us. There they took four out of every thirteen coins sold, just like they got their gravy when we sold it. If we had sold to a wholesaler instead of directly to the smiths, they would have gotten a piece of the cake a fifth time.

To ensure that they would get their due, they had designated a portion of the city as the Trade Quarters, which was completely walled in. The only way in or out was at the four gates, which was manned by goons, sorry Tax Inspectors, and clerics of Ghidana. You had to allow them to read the truth as you entered and left. If you refused you would not be allowed to pass through the gates.

I had asked Alister if he had more wagons, and it turned out that they had more than enough for our needs, but the rest of their wagons were out on a run. They expected their son-in-law and daughter to be back in two days. However, the animals would need to rest for a single day, and they would need to go over the wagons to make sure there were no troubles.

Since we had several days to kill, I found a decent inn and rented us some rooms for four nights. I made sure that included food for all of us and cost me two marks. I spent the next couple of days walking around taking a look in the Bazaar, Alister accompanying me most of the time. The Bazaar here was not a building, but just a large open field where the different sellers set up their stalls and pens. Unlike what Hrothgar had said, I saw plenty of males.

Later when questioned about it, his reply was, “Milord, the sellers all told me the males were reserved for the High Lord.”

I reckoned the High Lord had told the traders not to sell male serfs to Hrothgar or anyone else from my Hold. Probably threatened with revoking the license to sell serfs or some shit like that. Since I was dressed in normal clothes, and so were Caspar and the other soldier serving as my bodyguards, I was able to inquire about the prices. I would end up paying around eight thalers for the men and seven for the women of the age and build I wanted.

That meant 33 and 38 marks for the serfs alone. Then I would need to pay a registration fee to the Church for them to change to a temporary binding stone. That would be another five marks, or thereabout, for the fee and twenty for the temporary binding stone and getting bracers for each of the soldiers. Which would leave me with a little less than 300 marks. Then, of course, I would need to pay for transport and food for the road. Which would end up a bit over fifty marks total.

There was also the issue of powder and shots for the muskets. Hrothgar had only bought around a hundred for each musket, but that would not leave us a lot to train with. Not that it was terribly expensive, only ten bits per shot with powder, however, it could quickly become expensive in the long run. He had also only bought enough cloth for two uniforms for each man, and the serfs that had come with the Hold would definitely need some better clothing.

The little I had learned from the few days spent at the Hold was that most of the serfs were classified as unskilled. Sure they had gotten pretty good at the manual labour jobs they were doing, but none of them had actual training. There were trade schools for serfs. The different schools bought the serfs, trained them in their speciality, and then sold them at a steep markup. Most of the schools only took in male serfs. Some of them had a questionable reputation. However, Alister was all too willing to share what he knew about the different schools, and I found a few good ones. At least if Alister was to be trusted.

I quickly found out that the ban on male serfs only extended to unskilled labour. The different schools had no problem selling me male serfs. Probably because they were that more expensive. Upwards of a mark per serf, depending on the trade he or she was taught.

I ended up getting myself five trained apiarists, maybe a bit of overkill, but I bought them from different schools, to ensure that I did not get shafted if one of the schools had been negligent in their training. However, they would have to travel far and wide on my hold to find wild beehives and get them into our empty beehives.

Those were not all I bought, I also bought a couple of bowyers, ten fletchers, and a handful of blacksmiths. Not that we had any source of iron, but it would be cheaper to buy the iron needed and then fashion whatever we needed. These blacksmiths were not trained in making weapons. Weapon and armour smiths were highly guarded secrets that only the High Lords and Kings were allowed to employ.

The trade schools were not the only places I visited, I also visited a few magic schools. There were only three in the Northern High Hold. One for fideomancers, one for lapomancers, and one I had not run into before: Lignumancer. Truth, stone and wood mages.

At first when I visited they tried to convince me to hire their male mages, but when I insisted on buying serfs, they tried to sell their pure ones to me first. It was a matter of economics for me, so I bought the tainted ones which they reluctantly brought forth. These serfs were much better treated than the ones in the Great Bazaar. They were almost treated like human beings, even the tainted ones.

In the end, I bought another ten mages, two truth mages, five stone mages and three wood mages. They ended up costing me 70 marks. Which was way cheaper than what had been the price at the Great Bazaar. One of the benefits of cutting out a middleman or two. Of course, them being tainted also helped lower the price.

The day we were leaving, I went to the biggest of the foreign serf traders early in the morning. By foreign, it meant that they came from another High Hold. The one to the south of Wilbur’s.

“Good day and welcome, dear customer,” the man said with a slimy smile. The one that every used car salesman is notorious for.

I nodded my greeting and said. “I’d like to buy four hundred and seventy-three unskilled serfs, young and in good physical condition. Half male and half female.”

The slimy smile got bigger and more genuine. “Certainly, such a large order must be for a Hold, for the record, which Hold are this for?”

“Wolf Ridge.”

The smile slipped off his face. “My apologies, my good man. Unfortunately, the High Lord has reserved all the male serfs.”

“Funny, he didn’t just a beat ago,” I said with a frown.

“My apologies, your new Lord has angered the High Lord, and an edict has gone out. I cannot sell you any males,” he said very apologetically.

“I’m that new Lord.”

He paled at that. “My apologies, Milord. But I cannot sell them to you. I would lose my license to conduct business in the entire High Hold.”

“Figured as much,” I grumbled.

He sighed with relief. “So you understand.”

“Yeah. I understand clearly,” I said and took a step closer to him, forcing him to look up at me. In a low voice, I explained my position to him, “This is not a threat. I’m just telling you how I see things. The High Lord has commanded me to raise a levy force equal to a squadron in two moons. My Hold has less than two hundred serfs and thirty freemen. Not enough for a squadron. Now he’s preventing me from buying serfs.”

It was most definitely a threat, but I had talked at great lengths with Mina about fideomancy, and by saying that it was not a threat, I could tell truthfully that I had told the man I was not threatening him. A very thin legal argument, but better than none.

He gulped, looking very scared. “I can see that’s not going to be easy.”

“Exactly,” I said and flashed him a cold smile. “Now, if I do not provide that squadron, I’m forced into serfdom. I’d rather die than become a serf. Which means I’ve little to lose, and a man with little to lose might do irritational things to people who stand in his way.”

His whole body was shaking at that point. I put a hand on his shoulder and brushed it off, pretending he had a piece of dirt on it. He was pale at this point. I gave him a friendly smile. “But you won’t stand in my way will you?”

“No, Milord,” he stammered. “I’ll prepare your order at once. Eight thalers for the males and seven for the women, Milord.”

“Make it nine for your troubles,” I said magnanimously.

“Yes, Milord,” he said.

The next trouble came when two priests came over to process the serfs, and bind them to my temporary binding stones.

The older of the two said, “Lord Karth, you’re not permitted to buy unskilled male serfs.”

“Is that a law?” I asked in a confused tone.

“No, but the High—”

I interrupted him, “Then you can’t forbid me from buying them.”

“But we can refuse to process them,” he said and started walking away.

I waited until they were twenty meters away before I loudly called after him, “At least tell me your names, so I can tell the Cardinal who’s to be blamed for his son’s death.”

“Are you threatening the Cardinal’s son?!” the man shrieked. “I will have you brought up in front of the High Lord for that.”

“But I’m not threatening him. If I cannot buy these serfs, I only have one way of raising the squadron the High Lord requires, and that’s to conscript everyone on the Hold. Which includes the Cardinal’s son,” I said. Still loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Now a threat would be me saying I would ensure he had a training accident, like a musket blowing up when he tries to shoot it. Or threatening to put him on the frontlines. But I’m not doing that.”

The older priest was about to scream something again when the younger one tucked his sleeve and whispered something. The younger one gestured to the people who had stopped to listen to what was happening. The older priest swallowed angrily and then walked back to me. “We’ll do it, but the Cardinal will hear about this.”

“I’m sure he will,” I said in a low whisper. “Tell him that if he wants to come after me, then do it. I’m not going to play these stupid games, and I’d rather die than become a serf, or owe him or the High Lord any favour. I’ll fight the elves as I was summoned to do, I’ll even find a way to repay the tithe the church is owed, but only as long as I’m left in peace. If not, you should be preparing more than one grave, because I’ll take as many of you bastards with me as I can. Is that threat clear enough for you to understand?”

“You’re an uncouth man, a sinner. You’ll get what’s coming to you,” he hissed.

“Now, now. That was uncalled for,” I said with a fake smile. “If that’s how you want it to be, then be a good little cocksucker and go do your job, so you can go back to polishing your friend’s knob. If one of these serfs dies because you didn’t do your job, then I’ll come back and rip your heart out.”

He turned ten different shades of red before giving a wooden nod. An hour later, my new serfs were sitting in the back of fifty wagons, as we left the city. I left the city with a very empty coin pouch. Less than four marks in it, after I had paid Alister one mark per wagon. I did not try to negotiate a better price, because they would have to pay thirteen thalers per wagon going to my hold, and thirteen thalers to get back home as well, on top of taxes and tithe on the full mark. Leaving them with less than fifty thalers to pay for maintenance, feed and so on.

I knew there would be fallout from the way I had acted, but fuck them. If they wanted to dance, I would kill as many as them as I could.

A sharp pain in my ear tip woke me. Looking around in the dark of night did me no good, but a slight meow and a furball landing on my chest told me all I had to know.

“What the fuck, kitty?” I mumbled sleepily. There were just light enough from a nearby fire that I could see sitting on my chest, staring down at me. I stared back for a moment but flinched, when it suddenly lunged at my face. Its paws landed on each of my eyelids, and I felt the same kind of tingling rush as when I had touched the artefact back when I had first been summoned.

After a few seconds, it removed its paws and I slowly opened my eyes as I sat up. What I was seeing had to be a dream. Gone were the colours, everything was shades of blue and green. The light from the fire was strangely devoid of the red and orange it should be. One thing became clear though, was that I could see much better in the dark than I normally could. Even if things were a bit hazy. Almost as if I needed a pair of glasses.

“What the fuck?” I muttered at the cat sitting on the ground next to me, but no sound came out of my throat. The cat just hissed and stared off in the direction behind me. Turning around I saw one of the soldiers who were on guard running towards the camp, with three people chasing him. He seemed to be screaming, but I could hear no sound. The lack of people reacting beside me seemed to indicate it was not just me who could not hear him.

I grabbed my sabre and one of my daggers as I sprang to my feet. As I rushed in the direction of my soldier, and the three men gaining on him, I could still not hear anything, not even my own footfalls. Two of them were just on his tail, while the last one seemed to be leisurely following.

When I gauged I was within range, I hurled my dagger at one of the leading pursuers. With my magic, I made sure it would strike home in the guy’s chest. It did, just a moment too late as the other guy grabbed my soldier from behind and slit his throat. Again I could not see the colour of the blood that spurted from his neck. My soldier dropped to the ground moments after the other pursuer face planted.

The man following said something, and apparently the other guy could hear him because he looked at his fallen comrade and then to me. He grinned, threw his dagger to the side and drew a sabre as well.

A second later I slid to a stop in front of him, as his sabre caught fire and he lunged at me, in the familiar way the Unifiers had been trained. I responded by meeting his slash, but instead of deflecting, I locked blades with him and created a massive link between our sabres. He tried to pull it back but found he could not, the link I had created was too strong. I gave him a smile before kicking him square in the nuts.

He let go of his sabre and fell to his knees, clutching his manly parts. If I had been able to hear anything, I would probably hear him shrieking his head off. Instead, I took his head off with a powerful swing.

I turned to look at the last guy who was standing there with just a dagger. To my surprise, it was the older priest. He gave me a sardonic smile, “You said to come at you. Well, here I am.”

A low ring of fire erupted around him. Wide and tall enough that I would not be able to get at him. An even larger ring erupted behind me, catching me between the two.

“So, the Cardinal shows his true colours. You here to kill me?” I asked, surprised my voice actually carried. However, I could still not hear the roar of the fire, nor see red hues.

“No,” he said and pulled out a set of collars and manacles, like those my elves were carrying. “I’m here to capture you. You’re too valuable to kill. However, you make too much trouble, so you won’t be free when fulfilling your purpose.”

“Over my dead body,” I growled and felt the heat on my back growing closer. Looking behind, I saw that the ring of fire was slowly closing in. Either I would burn to death or I had to advance.

“I hoped you would say that,” he sneered. As he took a step forward, the ring of fire moved with him. Thinking to hell with it, I sprinted in his direction, and in the last second, I leapt high to clear the flames around him. As I was descending on him, I brought my sabre high to deliver a mighty slash. The moment before I barrelled into him, I stopped moving.

I was hanging there, motionless, in the air, few handspans from him, my sabre a breath away from his head. The flames died, and he stepped to the side with an amused smile. “My, oh my. Did not see that coming, did you?”

Since I was paralyzed, even unable to move my eyes, I could not answer. Something he remarked on with a chuckle. “Wait, don’t answer that. I know you’re surprised, I can see that in your stupid looking face. And well you should be. Now don’t move a muscle while I entertain myself.”

As he finished speaking, I felt a sharp pain on the right side of my stomach. The bastard was slowly stabbing me with his dagger. The pain was worse than anything I had ever felt before. And he was chuckling the entire time. He then twisted it, before pulling it out. I felt like passing out, but a jolt of electricity kept me awake. For the next minute, he had fun with stabbing me, and every time I was about to pass out, he shocked me. All the while I was screaming in my head for him to just kill me.

As I bore through the pain, I saw my cat sneak up behind him, as he was carving a symbol on my chest. In a matter of a heartbeat, the cat shimmered and grew. Not into a big cat but into a human. Well humanoid. It was definitely a woman, but a catgirl. Not one of those with human face and ears. No, a human-sized cat standing on two digitigrade legs, with arms and hands of a human. With black fur, except in front from her neck to her pelvic bone, where she was white. Her face was beautiful but alien. It was that of a cat, complete with whiskers and everything.

She reached out with claws that looked wickedly sharp, and with a quick motion, she used both her hands to tear open the priest’s throat from behind. As soon as she did, whatever magic held me, was released and I fell to the ground, my scream tearing through the night.

In elvish the catwoman said, “Call for your Nathalie.”

Barely coherent, I saw the catwoman shimmer, and in its place sat the cat I had been carrying around almost the entire time I had been on this fucked up world. My brain belatedly registered her words, and it took me a few seconds to comply.

“Nathalie, help!” I weakly screamed. I could hear people shouting and moving. Then I started passing out from pain or blood loss. The last thing I remember thinking, ‘Was it over my dead body?’