The first thing I became aware of was the pain. Not as bad as it had been, when the bastard had used me as a pincushion or canvas for whatever the fuck he was carving. That did not mean it did not hurt though.

The next thing that my foggy mind brought to my attention was the fact that I was moving, but lying down. That fact became obvious because something sharp was poking my shoulder blade. I tried to move a bit, which released a wave of pain and that made me groan.

“Lie still, Milord,” a feminine voice whispered. It took a moment for me to recognize as belonging to Nathalie.

“Shoulder. Hurts,” I managed to croak and tried to open my eyes. I saw Nathalie’s worried face hover over me, though she was rather blurry. Some red blood splattered on her dress.

“I don’t understand, you’ve no injury there,” she said. “Lift him up slowly.”

Strong hands grabbed me gently and lifted me slightly into a sitting position. Nathalie vanished from my sight. Looking around I found myself in the back of one of the wagons. A bunch of serfs were sitting on the benches on the side. It was two of them who had lifted me. I recognized most of the serfs as the new mages I had bought, and all of them looked bushed, except one of them, but she was concentrating on creating a manacrystal.

There was the sound of hammering behind me suddenly. When it stopped, Nathalie said, “Sorry, Milord. We had not seen the nail sticking out when we placed you there.”

“It’s. Okay,” I managed. “Water.”

As I was lowered back down, she brought a waterskin to my lips. I only managed a few sips before unconsciousness claimed me again. As I drifted off I heard snippets of someone whispering, “... see his assailant…

“...like a wild animal...”

I awoke again later, and after getting something to drink, I asked for Caspar. While waiting I had a little time to think, though the pain made it hard to concentrate. When he sat next to me, I asked, “Did you bring the bodies with us?”

“Yes Milord, I thought we might preserve them so we can find out who’s behind it.”

“No need, I already know who’s behind it,” I said and beckoned him closer. I then leaned in and gave a set of instructions that had him looking a little green. I knew what I asked of him was gross, but it would send the right message. With that bit of housekeeping done, I asked Nathalie to dampen my pain, so I could go back to sleep.

The next time I woke up, at least that I was conscious of, I found myself staring into the wooden rafter of a roof. They looked slightly familiar. A voice from my right startled me. “Oh, you’re awake, Milord.”

As I was turning my head, I recognized the room. I was back in the hall, and upstairs in the master bedroom. I found Nathalie sitting next to the bed I was in, with the cat in her lap. Seeing that cat made me think about the whole ordeal, and I could not help but shudder. I had been carrying around a freaking catwoman disguised as a house cat in my hood for days.

“Are you still in pain, Milord?” Nathalie asked worriedly. The cat meowed happily and jumped from Nathalie’s lap to my chest. I stared just a bit frightened at it. It started purring before sticking its face in mine.

“Milord?” Nathalie queried again, the worry in her voice had increased.

Taking stock, I found that I did in fact not hurt. “No, I’m feeling fine. All your work?”

“And Tilly’s, she’s very knowledgeable, Milord,” Nathalie said. Then quickly added, “But not as powerful as me.”

The last statement felt weird, but I thought I knew what was bothering her. “Don’t worry Nathalie, you’re not going to be replaced. You saved my life. I’ll never sell a serf unless they refuse to work and cause trouble.”

“Thank you, Milord,” she said. “If I may speak freely?”

“Of course,” I said and out of habit reached up to stroke the cat’s ear. Which just made her purr even louder. A thought struck me, ‘Wait, this is wrong. That’s not a cat, but a woman.’

I lifted my hand to stop petting her, but the cat’s head followed my hand and kept rubbing against it. I reckoned that she wanted it, so I continued petting her.

“Thank you, Milord. I know it’s not long since you bought me, but already you’ve been better than all my previous owners. You’ve treated us with respect, even the unskilled serfs which are often afforded no decency. But I’m not sure I like you forcing people to fight for you,” she said, looking very frightful.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be punished for stating your opinion. I don’t like it either, I don’t have a choice or I’d end up a serf myself,” I said. “I know that sounds selfish, and I guess it is. However, if I can’t remain free, I can’t take care of all of you. You deserve to be treated better.”

“That treatment doesn’t involve freeing them, I hope,” another voice said. Looking over to the door, I saw Ethan coming into the room. His demeanour was changed. Gone was the subservience. Replaced by the arrogance of a holy man, just like when we had first met.

“No. That would be against the law,” I said coldly. I turned to Nathalie. “Please leave us, and ask Caspar to bring up the gift for the Cardinal.”

“Yes Milord,” she said and hurried out of the room.

“Good to see that you’ve recovered your senses,” Ethan said with a smirk when the door closed behind her. “I’ve transferred all the bindings from the temporary binding stone to the Hold’s binding stone. Your plan of a serf army will never work.”

“Can’t say that I’m happy to see the smug look on your face again,” I said with a frown and slowly started getting out of the bed. I looked around for a weapon if needed, but there was none. The only change in the room since I left was the fact that there was a large bed instead of sleeping furs.

“I’m surprised you survived,” he said.

“Oh, you knew of the Cardinal’s plan?” I asked cautiously.

He gave a shrug. “After the fact. He has been admonished for acting out of order, though now I’ve to reconsider if you’re worth leaving alive.”

“So you got long-distance messaging magic,” I stated while latching on to the fact that it was the Cardinal and not the clergy as a whole who wanted me dead.

“Yes, amongst many other forms of magic, which I’m sure you found out,” he said and waved his hand. Again I felt my body lock up, unable to move. This time I was unable to breathe as well. I saw my—no I did not own her, so I saw the cat stalking towards Ethan, which made me calm down. I focused inward, on what was happening to me.

Like every time magic had affected me, I could feel the slight tingling as it coursed through my body. However, this magic seemed to take control of my own magic energy. Not just the energy that naturally coursed through my body, but also my mana pool. I was unable to reach it.

“Oops, overdid a bit,” he said after a few seconds and finally I could breathe again. Still could not move. “I see in your eyes that you’re not unfamiliar with this trick. If the dispatched agent used it, I wonder how you’re still alive?”

After that he released me, but he looked ready for me to attack him. Which I did not. Instead, I shook my head. “Neat little trick. Though if you do that again, you’ll die like the other dickhead, you’ll find I’m not without my own tricks.”

“Still feeling powerful and acting out?” he sneered.

“Powerful, yes. Acting out, no. Tell the Cardinal he’s won. I’ll be a good little summoned hero and do what you guys want,” I said. “I’ll follow the law to the letter, and be respectful as long as I’m not pushed.”

Ethan thought that over for a moment, and then sniffed. “I guess that’s the best we can hope for. You know we could still just put a collar on you and have you serve our purpose in another way.”

“As I told the cocksucker who attacked me, I’d rather die than be a slave.”

“Serf,” Ethan corrected me.

“I call it like I see it.”

“Which is disrespectful.”

“You just threatened to make me a slave, which is pretty disrespectful,” I pointed out.

“Touché.”

“So what do you fuckers want with me?” I asked. He did not get to answer, because there was a knock. Without taking my eyes off Ethan, I called for whoever it was to enter.

“Milord, I got the gift,” Caspar said with great distaste in his voice. Thinking to hell with it, I turned my back to Ethan and retrieved the box from Caspar.

“Thanks, you may leave,” I said and put the “gift” on the bed. Turning to Ethan I said, “I’d like you to ride to the Cardinal with this gift, and tell him that I capitulate. He won.”

“I don’t need to ride anywhere to do that.”

“I find that this is best delivered in person. As I said, I’ll follow your laws to the letter, and do what is needed of me, but I’ll not be threatened, which this gift is a reminder of,” I said. “And true, you might be a former high priest, but you work for me now. The law says that either you do what tasks I give you, or I can have you punished,” I said.

“Stupid laws meaning nothing. I’m not a former high priest, I’m still a high priest,” he sneered.

“Yet you’re making this charade for some reason. I wonder why that is?” I asked.

“None of your concerns, we accept your capitulation.”

I nodded. “You’re not here to advise me, but to keep me in check. It’s the same for all the priestly advisors.”

“Finally catching up,” he scoffed.

“What about Linus and Hrothgar?”

“They know nothing, but you do realize that you’ll need constant supervision now that you know more than you should,” he said.

“What I wonder is why you don’t just do away with me anyway?”

“If you had asked about our religion you would know.”

I cocked my head. “I guess that’s something you’ll have to tell me about when you return from the Cardinal.”

“As I said, no need for me to go to him, and I’m your advisor in name only. Think of me as your warden.”

Gesturing to the gift. “Open it. And if we’re going to continue working together, I must insist that you do deliver it in person. Otherwise, go ahead and kill me. You might end me, but I assure you that you’ll not leave this room alive if you do.”

He laughed at that, and then I was paralyzed again. “You don’t do subservience well. I wonder how you’ll kill me when you can’t even move.”

He then released me, and I had to catch myself from falling. “Only way you’ll find that out is if you kill me. Which you haven’t done yet. Meaning we’re at an impasse. You either do that one small task, or you kill me.”

“Fine, I’ll do it, not because you scare me. You never did,” he said and walked over to the bed. “Do you know how hard it was to fake being scared for my life, even piss myself a little, when all I wanted to do was squash you like the bug you are?”

He opened the box and showed no reaction except curiosity. “The distasteful act I’ve come to expect from you. His head in a box, how melodramatic. Tell me, why’s his mouth sewn shut?”

“To keep his other brain in the mouth,” I said with a sneer.

“Other brain?” Ethan asked, not getting the reference.

I had a vicious grin on my face. “He’s literally a dickhead now. Dick in a head. Told him he was a cocksucker. Do I need to go on?”

“How juvenile.”

“Tell the Cardinal that he and his son will end up like that if he tries again,” I said. “You may leave now.”

“Fine, I’ll deliver your message. Be glad that the prophecy protects you for now. I’ll allow you this last little bit of defiance, but then I expect obedience,” he said.

“I’ll obey the law to the letter,” I promised. He gathered up the box and left.

As soon as the door closed, I dropped down on the bed, my body shaking with adrenaline. That had been a close call. Not happy about having to concede to those bastards, but it was the best I could hope for in these circumstances.

I felt a little furball lying down on my chest. Without opening my eyes, I whispered in Elvish, “We need to talk when he’s out of the Hold.”

I got a meow in reply. I reached up and started petting my protector and saviour, as I slowly drifted back to sleep.

Waking up again, I felt a weight on my entire left side, something warm and purring. It took me but a second to realize someone, someone female at that, was snuggling up to me on my left. What was weird was that this someone had soft fur everywhere. It took me an embarrassingly long time to put two and two together.

My cat, my saviour, had transformed into her human form again and was pressed hard against my left side. Naked, or as naked as a catperson could be. Naked enough for my baser male instincts to react and harden.

“Finally awake,” she purred in my ear. Still speaking elvish. Her hand stroking my abs, sending delicious feelings through my body.

With some reluctance, I grabbed her hand gently and extricated myself. “Yeah, seems getting almost killed by a psycho priest and then healed takes a lot out of me.”

“It does indeed,” she purred and sat up. Stretching languidly and oh so invitingly. She settled into a lounging position, supported by her arms, which had the effect of pushing her breast out. The room was lit by a low burning fire in the fireplace, with the light playing seductively over her body.

“Can I get you some clothes?” I asked while staring and drinking in her alien beauty.

“Am I distracting you?” she asked teasingly.

“Pleasantly so.”

“Why don’t we engage in something strenuous and sweaty, so we can take care of that distraction?” she asked and gestured in the general area of my boner.

“Ah, unfortunately, I can’t,” I said with a sad headshake.

“Am I too non-human for you? Are you scared of me?”

“That’s a hard no,” I said with all the double entendre intended. “And I’m not scared of you, I’m grateful. You saved my life, and I realize you could have killed me many times over. Name anything, and I will give it to you if it’s within my power. I have many questions though.”

“What if I want you to bed me?” she asked with a smile that revealed her sharp teeth. Which made her look dangerously exciting and attractive. I wondered what it would be like to have her nibbling at my shoulder in the throes of passion.

“If you had asked but a week ago, I would have done it happily.”

“Why not then?”

I shrugged. “It’s ridiculous I guess. I’m a man of low ethics, a criminal where I’m from. However, I keep my word and I’m a married man.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked with a cocked head. Her teasing gone in an instant, only curious remained. She might not have seduction mode switched on, but she was still a stunningly beautiful woman—catwoman?

“I grew up an orphan, never knowing what it was like to have a family. Every day of my life I wished to be part of a happy family,” I started explaining. She had saved my life, she deserved an honest answer. “Yet all around me I saw families torn asunder by spouses cheating on each other. I swore to myself that if I ever got married, I would never cheat on my wife.”

“But you don’t lie with her, she’s afraid of you,” she pointed out.

“Doesn’t change the fact that she’s my wife, and I just have to show her that she doesn’t need to fear me. Hopefully, in time we can find comfort in each other’s company.”

She stood up, walked over to me and started walking around me. She was not very tall, about one metre and sixty would be my guess. A set of perky breast covered in white fur, a thin waist, and flaring hips. Her tail was swishing behind her. Like a predator stalking prey. Now that I took the time to study her, I saw her head was not that of a house cat, but more one of a panther or something like that.

“What if that day never comes? Will you forever remain celibate?”

“I went for two years without sex, it can be done. And if what I’m told is true, I’ll probably live three times longer than her, I can always have sex then,” I said with a shrug.

She brushed against my shoulder and whispered. “You know that you could always just marry someone else, plural marriages are a thing.”

“Something to bring up with Lily then, but I doubt humans here are open to a marriage between a summoned human and an incredibly beautiful catwoman. Or whatever you call yourself,” I said.

“You think me beautiful?”

“No need to play coy, you know that I do,” I said.

She laughed quietly. “Still, a woman sometimes likes to hear that said out loud.”

“Are we done playing games though? I have a lot of questions I would like to have answered.”

She sauntered over to the bed and sat down. Patting the bed next to her, she said, “Only if you come and cuddle with me. The cat in me likes to cuddle and be petted.”

“Nothing more than that,” I said firmly and walked over to join her.

“I can live with that,” she said happily. “So what do you want to know?”

“What time is it?”

She looked taken aback for a moment and then laughed. “Is that really the most important question?”

“Actually yes. I’m starving, but I don’t want to disturb anyone if it’s the middle of the night. I also need to know if someone is going to be barging in here. And I’d like to know how long it has been since I was attacked,” I said. “Last time I was awake, did not really lend itself to a conversation of that nature.”

“Oh, you didn’t ask the priest when it was?” she asked with curiosity. Then shrugged. “I guess it seemed to be a very intense conversation for such simple information.”

“You don’t speak human?”

“Elvish and kin only, though I’ve picked up a few words when you’ve been teaching my bond-mate and the other captives,” she said, pushing me back on the bed, before curling up on top of me. She gave me an imploring look. “Scratch my ears?”

I complied and she started purring immediately, which echoed through my entire body. A feeling that was all too pleasurable. Focusing on the task at hand, I said, “That brings up so many new questions, but could you answer the ones I asked first?”

“It’s the middle of the night, everyone is asleep, and I can hear if someone approaches the door. So don’t worry, we’re entirely alone for the moment,” she replied and somehow managed to keep purring at the same time. “It has been three days since the attack, so you only slept a bit over a day here at the hall.”

“Thank you. Now that I know we’ve time, the most important question I have is, what is your name?”

“My kin-name would translate into She Who Stalks Too Large Prey, but my bond-mate call me Emerald,” she said wistfully. “After my eyes.”

“Emerald. Do you mind if I call you Emma?” I asked, and switched to English for the name.

“No that’s okay. Just don’t ever call me Silly Kitty ever again,” she said and her claws emerged from her tips, lightly digging into my chest.

“I thought you didn’t understand human,” I said with a slight groan.

“My bond-mate translated for me.”

“Which of the three is your bond-mate? And what is a bond-mate?” I asked, glad that her claws were gone. Would make for interesting scratch marks during passionate lovemaking.

“Yathanae. Thank you so much for having her eye and ear restored,” she replied and her purring deepened for a moment. “A bond-mate is what kin choose. We choose one partner for life, usually of the same gender.”

“What about children?”

“Breeding has nothing to do with love,” she said with a deep inhalation. “You’d make for a good father. You smell of strong magic.”

“If you get Lily’s okay, then we can talk about that,” I said. “Why are you here though?”

“I saw Yathanae go down and get captured in the raid on our village. I followed to make sure no one harmed her, without being punished,” she said with a low hiss. “More than a dozen people died in Central City for laying a hand on her.”

“I’ll never hurt her,” I stated.

“You will, maybe not physically, but spiritually and mentally, just by keeping her captive and joining the human’s war. The Church will make you, their Gods are known as the Betrayer Gods.” Her hiss became a growl.

“Well that’s just lovely,” I said. “Will you kill me too?”

“You’re the best bet of her staying relatively safe, so no,” she said with a purr.

“Can’t we arrange for the elves to raid the Hold and have them rescue her and the others?”

“No,” she said with tears in her eyes. “They’ll be slaves for the rest of their lives. Not even the other Gods know how to break the collars or manacles.”

“You’re making my head spin with all this information,” I said.

“Then you should drink some. We need to take the time to talk without the priest on the hold. Saori left a couple of waterskins next to the bed,” she said and reached down for one of them.

I took a long sip from the skin and then had an awful thought. “What about Hugo?”

“Who?”

“The cleric of Ghidana.”

“He’s not a real priest, she has no real priests and her power is diminished ever since Gyzbohr stole her aspect of Justice. She’s an outcast, but is kept as one of the Thirteen for tradition’s sake. They call her the Whore.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked.

“I’m a priestess of the Wildmother, the kin’s God,” Emma said proudly, sitting up on my midriff. “The gods are terrible gossips, and the Wildmother does not hide things from her children, unlike the other gods.”

“How many gods are there?”

“Thirty-one, and before you ask I’ll tell you. The humans have thirteen, the elves have four, and the dwarves have nine. Making up the bulk of the Gods. Then you have the Wildmother, goddess to Kin and Faries. The orcs have two Gods, one of War and one of Peace. The Merfolk has their God of the Sea and the Giants worships the Sun God.”

“That’s a lot of Gods, why do the humans and dwarves have so many more than the rest of the races?” I asked after a moment. It was a lot of information to take in.

“A story for another time, Nina approaches,” she said and she started to shimmer. When Nina quietly opened the door to peek in, she found me staring back at her, with a house cat curled up on my chest.

“Sorry Milord, thought I heard voices,” she said.

“Just me grumbling about being injured to Emma here,” I said with a smile.

She looked confused for a moment, but then looked at the cat and I could see she figured out who I was talking about. “Oh, that’s a lovely name. Foreign though. From your homeworld, Milord?”

“Indeed it is, it’s short for Emerald,” I said and continued scratching Emma’s ears. “Could you rustle up some food for me, I’m starving?”

“It’ll take some time Milord, but I’ll do it,” she said.

“Just some apples or pears will do. It’ll be time for breakfast soon,” I said.

“Yes Milord,” she said and closed the door behind her.

I gently lifted Emma’s head up with my index finger. “And the two of us will find another time to talk. I still owe you my life.”

She licked my finger and lay back down.

Morning came, and a lot of people seemed surprised to see me down at the high table. None more so than Nathalie, and she was not happy about it. She quietly, and in the politest way possible, tried to insist I should remain in bed for another day.

“Sorry Nat, there’s simply too much to do. But you did an excellent job, there are only faint traces of scarring,” I said and turned to the table where the soldiers sat. Well most of them, there were seven of them patrolling the Hold, keeping an eye on the serfs. “Kiril and Caspar, I want all serfs and soldiers in the hall at noon. We need to talk about the future.”

“Yes Milord,” they responded. A nervous energy spread throughout the serfs.

Turning to Nina who stood behind me, I said, “I want your sister, the highest rated lapomancer and lignumancer in my chamber after breakfast. Make sure that a table and some chairs are moved up there.”

“Yes Milord,” she replied.

“Thank you,” I said and turned my attention to breakfast. Which was applesauce with chunks of apple and pear in it. The high table’s even had some bits of salted meat in it. Pork, if I was not mistaken. It reminded me that we could not keep on eating the animals since we had so few. That meant we had to go hunting. A long hunting trip would solve another set of troubles for me.

“Nina, I also need to speak with Sigrid,” I noted.

“Yes Milord.”

“Now get something to eat.”

“Milord, I—” she started.

“Should eat when I command it,” I said a little more harshly than I had intended.

“Yes Milord,” she said and hurried over to a table nearby, where her sister made room for her.

After a few minutes of silence at the high table, while the rest of the hall was summing with the low murmur of conversation, I turned to my wife. “Lily, I would like it if you attended the meeting, but only if you’d like.”

“If you wish,” she said a bit stiffly. Breakfast ended fairly quickly, and I found my way back to my chambers. It was not that it hurt, but I was still feeling a bit weak in the knees.

While some serfs were carrying in a table and some chairs for the main chamber, I was standing on the balcony, where Lily joined me. “Who attacked you?”

“The Cardinal’s men,” I said with a shrug. “Guess I was a little too impolite to him.”

“I told you that could happen, but I don’t understand why he would go against one of the Gods’ Champions.”

“I’m a what now?” I asked.

“The Prophecy foretells that when humanity faces extinction, thirteen heroes shall be summoned forth to battle the evil. They shall be the leaders of mankind in the struggle against evil,” Lily said. “Or something like that. I’ve never paid much attention when the priest talked about it.”

“I guess I need to talk to a priest about that,” I said. Thinking about Emma.

“Speaking of priests, where did you send Ethan?”

“Making reparations with the Cardinal,” I said with a frown.

“Do I want to know?”

I looked at her. “Honestly, no. If you insist, I’ll tell you. The less you know the better, but know that I’ve agreed to follow the law to the letter, and I’ll be behaving and doing what they want.”

“That’s good. I don’t want my child to grow up without his or her father,” she said.

Nina poked her head out and said, “Milord, the people you requested to speak with, are here now.”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. Stepping back into the chamber, I found the people I had requested. I only knew the names of two of them. Mina and Sigrid. The others were a tall brunette, with purple eyes and a massive underbite, and a medium-height green-haired woman with dark, almost black skin. A weird combo. I held out a chair for Lily to sit down and then sat down myself. Emma chose Lily’s lap and attention.

After I had sat down and indicated for the others to sit down. “Thank you for coming. Well, that sounds idiotic, since you don’t really have a choice. Anyway, I’ve asked you here because there’s a lot of changes we’re going to implement. Since we’ve not been introduced, my name is Karth and this is my wife Lily. First and foremost we need to talk about food.”

Sigrid looked a little frightened at that. I gave her a reassuring smile, and said, “Don’t worry Sigrid, your cooking is excellent. However, five hundred new mouths to feed is not going to be easy. So you need more cooks. I want you to take twenty of the new people, and for the next two moons, you’ll be teaching them how to cook. Who those twenty are, we’ll figure that out after our noon meeting.

“However, it’s not just a question about manpower, but also provisions. You’re to stop slaughtering any of the animals we’ve left. We need to breed them and grow the herds, flocks or whatever they are called.”

“What do we do for meat, then?” Lily asked.

“Well, we’re going to hunt. A lot of hunting,” I said.

Sigrid frowned at that, so did Lily. It was Lily who spoke up though, “I think that’s too dangerous. The mountains do contain wildlife, but the hunters could easily run into harpy or orc raiding or foraging parties.”

“I know, which is why we’re going to hunt in the forest to the east.”

“Milord, that’s the High Lord’s hunting ground,” Sigrid exclaimed frightfully.

“Some of it, yes,” I said with a headshake.

“The law says that any man hunting, or gathering wood in the forest without the High Lord’s permission will be burned alive,” Lily said with a frown.

“True, it does say that.”

“You said you’d not break that law,” she countered heatedly.

“I said I’d follow the letter of the law,” I corrected her. “The law also describes the extent of the High Lord’s hunting ground, and according to it and the communication from when the law was enacted, I would say that it’s only about a third of that forest that are off-limit. Perhaps less.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, husband,” Lily said and folded her arms. Emma looked up, and I could almost see the concern in her eyes.

“I’m simply following the law,” I said tiredly. “Not something I’m known to do.”

I turned away from Lily and addressed the rest of the table. “Now, what I really wanted to talk with you about is something else. Which of you are the lapomancer?”

“I am,” the tall brunette said.

“And your name?” I asked.

She looked a bit surprised at that. “The name is Gudrun.”

“Gudrun, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Now, I need to see if I got this right. As a lapomancer, you summon stone from the elemental planes, correct?”

“Yes Milord.”

“Good. In total, you should be six stone mages, lapomancers. I want the three strongest on one team, and the three others on the other team. The team you’re in charge off will be assigned to the levy troops when we go join the war effort in two moons.”

She did not look happy to hear that, but there was nothing I could do about that. She just replied with the usual, “Yes Milord”.

I continued, “Until I pick out a spot for some fortifications, I want you to help the other team making roads. The main road from the bridges at each of the rivers need to be large enough for three wagons to travel abreast. I also want the bridges expanded. Convey that to the others.”

“Yes Milord,” she said. I then dismissed her and turned my attention to the lignumancer.

“And what’s your name?”

She meekly said, “Lisette.”

“Lisette, I need you to do something very important for me,” I said and held out the fire log that I had taken with me into the room. “I want you to make some tokens for me. The size of a mark. I want one with a bowl of food on it. One with needle and thread. One with a chair. And lastly, one with a house, can you do that.”

“Yes Milord,” she said and took the proffered piece of wood. However, nothing happened.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Milord, I’m so sorry. I’ve never seen a mark. I’ll accept any punishment you deem necessary.”

I swore under my breath, and she looked even more scared. I picked one of my three remaining marks out of my pouch. “No, I’m not swearing at you. I’m sorry for whatever treatment you’ve had before. If you don’t know something, it’s okay. Just tell me. Anyway, this is a mark.”

She looked at it, and quickly four slices of the log separated from the log, she then held her hand over each of them in turn, half a minute for each. Each one turned out to be exquisitely beautiful and detailed. Much more than needed.

“They’re beautiful, Lisette. Don’t need them so beautifully done in the future, you and the other wood mages will be making a lot of them when you’re not working with the bowyers and fletchers to help speed their work along.”

“What are these for, husband?” Lily asked curiously. Her use of husband told me she was still cross with me.

I gave her a smile and started to explain, “I can’t pay serfs, but I can reward them. Each day’s work will reward a serf with six meal tokens, each meal will be two tokens. If you work extra hard, the supervisors can reward you extra tokens, so you can eat extra if you want. In the future, I hope to grow the hold so large that not everyone can eat in the Hall. Hell, it’s a problem even now.

“If you’ve extra meal tokens you can also exchange them to some of the other tokens. If you want some clothes that are not work clothes, then you need a number of the tokens with the needle and thread on it. You can save up enough tokens for a small hut of your own, or furniture for it.”

“Why go to all the trouble for serfs?” Lily asked. Some of her upbringing shining through.

“I want to incentivize and reward those that are to become soldiers,” I said. “Also, if you work for me, I’ll do my best to care for and reward you. No matter if you’re a serf or freeman.”

“I see,” she said. “Who’ll be supervisors?”

“My little army of truth mages of course,” I said and indicated Mina. “Mina though, you’ll not be supervising though. I need you to travel with me and serve as my personal lie detector.”

“Milord,” she said with a bow in her seat.

“First I need you to organize the other fideomancers. And also, you’ll be the one to check the other supervisors’ honesty. Impress upon them that I do not like to punish people, but I’ll not reward people who don’t do their job, and that if they test me too much, I will punish them. Horribly.”

“Of course Milord,” she said. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Nina grinning happily.

“Okay. That’s all for now. Sigrid, today I just want you to do the best you can without slaughtering any of our animals. Also for the next long while, leave as many eggs as possible to be hatched,” I said.

“As you wish Milord,” she said and the serfs and Nina left the room.

“You really think that rewarding serfs will make them work harder?” Lily asked. “Lord Leminda tried that hundreds of years ago. Got brought down by the Unifiers.”

“He tried to release his serfs as far as I’m told.”

“True, but even before that he had two revolts,” she said. “He didn’t want to punish the serfs.”

I thought about that for a moment. “You ever had a dog?”

“No, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“If you’re raising a dog, you reward it for good behaviour. You reinforce those qualities. If it does something bad, you punish it in some way. If you don’t, it’ll just keep doing the bad thing.”

“We’re talking about humans here,” Lily protested.

“Who are evolved from animals, our whole behaviour is fight or flight. We’re hardwired to avoid doing things that hurt us,” I said.

“Blasphemy, the Creator created us.”

“Where I’m from, humans evolved from monkeys,” I said with a shrug.

“Well, that explains why you’re so stupid then,” she said and stormed out of the room. Emma looked at me and shook her head. I could only shrug in response.