I slammed my fists down on my new desk. I was pissed. Sixty-two of my people were slaughtered and more might not recover from injurys. Those that did may no longer be capable of living a normal life. I looked down at the letter I had just written to Plimgus. It was pathetic. Telling him I was going to take a single village worth of people away from him.

Benjamin said doing more at the time would be imprudent. Well, screw imprudence. I would never have sent my men against a trained mercenary group, not without fifty crossbowmen and better armor. Heck, I would have closed down travel until I could better train my men and make sure everyone had inserts in their armor or made Plimgus do it himself. He had knights and men at arms.

Apparently, the layered cloth armor saved a lot of lives. But even the best armor can't protect a soldier who has been training for a few months against an experienced killer who has been fighting for years.

I looked down at the letter. Screw it. If Benjamin doesn't like it, I don't care. This is the letter I am sending to Plimgus, and he is lucky that I am only calling him incompetent. I had spent too much time on this. I had a memorial service to plan.

I stood up and walked towards the door. I was about to open it when there was a soft knock. I sighed. Should I pretend I'm not here? No, my people didn't deserve that. "Come in."

I tried to put a smile on my face as Lieutenant Vance slowly opened the door. "Lieutenant Vance, please come in."

"Thank you, my lord." He said as he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

I waited for him to speak, knowing what he was going to say. "My lord, I have been informed by General Draves that you requested I be promoted to captain. That I am to organize what is left of the platoons and form two new ones."

That jerk. Did he seriously put it all on me? He was the one who suggested it to me when I asked for recommendations.

"It was a joint decision. But yes, you will be the new company's captain. You will choose two lieutenants to serve under you."

"My lord, I feel partly responsible for the deaths of those people. If I had arrived sooner, many might have been saved."

"The ones responsible for the deaths of those men are the mercenaries, but if you want to cast blame, put it on the shoulders of Rylie and Parker. From the information the general gathered, they decided to lay a trap for the mercenaries. His conclusion, after reviewing the facts, says that rather than gather the soldiers for an attack, Rylie should have retreated to the bridge and sent word for everyone to do the same. Then, we could have called up more trained soldiers as well as told the two other barons to help with the problem. We needed trained soldiers, not a bunch of boys who were only ready to face a group of peasant bandits. But really, who knows what was going through their minds as they laid this plan out?

"However, rather than criticize the actions of two men who fought valiantly to defend us and whom I respect for doing so, we could blame me, who took the information I was given by Plimgus and lept to the conclusion that it was bandits. The thought that they might be men that Plimgus hired did cross my mind. But a whole mercenary company?" I shook my head. "I was there when you gave the report. You didn't make the call to lead those men into battle. It was Rylie and Parker who made that call. But, overall responsibility falls on Plimgus, and those who were there are responsible for the outcome of that battle. Your contribution was making sure that the routed enemy didn't get away."

"My lord, I fear you give me too much credit. I am not worthy of this position," he said.

"And I agree," I said casually. Knocking him off balance with my words.

"Then why?"

"Because if we only did the things we were qualified for, we would never do anything. We do it because it is our duty. I would be a better traveling artist than a count. But that is not an option when I have a duty to my people. You will accept the responsibility of captain because it is your duty. And when we do our duty we grow into the people we need to become."

Or we crash and burn. But I am not going to think about that.

"Your wisdom humbles me, my lord," He said with a bow.

I chuckled, "It is not my wisdom. Benjamin and Captain Draves have been trying to beat some sense into me, and some of it is actually sticking. But let's talk about our next step. Remember I talked to you about mock battles and group tactics?"

"Yes, when you first arrived back in Bicman."

"Right, I was thinking we need to plan for some of those. We need to bring in knights that have had experience. The general is great, but we need about five more knights or a few barons to help train our people. I might just invite Malcomp and some of his people up to do a mock battle. Apparently, he has a good military record."

"You're not worried about him spying?" Vance asked.

"Not really, we will do the exercises south of the Nore. Also, everything important is now in Pine Ridge. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, my lord. Thank you for your time."

I was about to leave with Vance when, again, I was interrupted. Emily was standing just outside the door. "Grandma wanted to let you know it was dinner time."

"Eh, not really hungry. It's been a rough day."

"What have you been doing?"

"Trying to write hate mail. Do you want to see my latest?"

Before she could answer, I grabbed the letter from the table and handed it to her. Her eyes went wide as she read. "Amos, you called him incompetent."

I grinned, "I know. I really wanted to call him a traitor, but Benjamin said I shouldn't do that unless he stepped out of line again. This was the next best thing."

"Why is there a blank with the village name?"

"Because I haven't gone down there and invited anyone to my barony yet. I will go down and meet some village heads and say that I require that a village relocate to Bicman."

"Will they come?"

"Of course they will. I am going to give them two meals a day during the winter," I said.

"Amos, you're going to spend all your money on feeding your peasants," she chastised.

"Food is cheap compared to the gold we are bringing in."

I didn't tell her, but with the amount of money Emily was making from the paper production, she could probably feed the village of Bicman for the winter.

What are these?" she asked, pointing to two objects on the table.

"Those are ball bearings. I am hoping to attach them to the generator and see if I can get it to spin faster. Other bearings might work just as well for what I am trying, but I thought it would be fun to try these."

"Have you gotten it to spark yet?" she asked.

I shook my head, "No, I was about to run an experiment when Vance came in yesterday with the news of the battle. Since then, I have been writing hate mail to Plimgus."

"This one looks different than the other ones you made." She said while bending down to get a closer look.

"It is. Instead of spinning the magnets, I will spin these two wires between them. Then, it touches the plate attached to this wire, and that wire travels down to this gap and loops around. The gap is where we should see the spark."

"Should we try it?"

"Yeah, let me get the rest of it set up," I said.

About ten minutes later, I laid a piece of paper between the gaps and said, "OK, Em. Spin it."

She spun the wires for almost a minute before I told her to stop. "Ok, let me adjust it a bit. Come on, Endless One, let this work." A moment later, I said, "Spin it, Em!"

But still nothing. She hadn't stopped spilling the metal when I tried to adjust the paper. As my finger brushed against the two wires, I felt a slight tingle. I jerked back reflexively, and she stopped spinning it. I moved the paper, and I lay my finger down, touching the two wires. "Spin it."

She hesitantly grabbed the handle and began to spin. It wasn't a lot, but it was definitely what I was hoping for. Well, not exactly, but it was a start.

"Holy Crap, it worked!" I said while grabbing Emily and lifting her off the ground in a big hug. She let out a squeal and began to squirm. I let her down. Stepping back, I could tell she was not happy with me.

"Amos, you can't do that," she said as she straightened out her dress.

I really didn't care. "Em! We made electricity!"

"Uh, I didn't see anything."

"Here, put your finger here," I said while grabbing her finger and putting it in place.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

I spun the generator, and suddenly, Emily stepped back, letting out a shriek. She stared at her finger. "What…what was that?"

"Electricity," I said.

"I thought you said it made a spark, like a small lightning bolt," she said.

"Yeah, well, I am beginning to think it is going to take a lot longer to make a spark than I first thought."

"So what do we do?"

"Now, we just need to run experiments to see how to make it stronger."

"Oh, there is one more thing," Emily said as if she had just remembered something. "Benjamin asked me to remind you that there is a memorial service tomorrow. Have you decided what you are going to say?"

My head dropped. "I suck as a count. I completely forgot. Wait, no, this is your fault for distracting me with the generator. Yeah, I'm blaming you."

"Me?" She said with a glare. "Amos…Ugh." She turned and walked out.

I chuckled.

Teasing her always makes me feel better. Technically, it was Vance who got me off track, but he wasn't here to blame. On a more serious note, she is right. I need to get to work. I should have been working on that rather than trying to find the best way to insult Plimgus.

The memorial service would not be for everyone. Just the family of those who had died. I would express my gratitude for their family's sacrifice. We would hold the service on Valor Hill, where the dead who had sacrificed their lives in defense of Bicman were buried.

It would be a more solemn event than the one we were planning for the victory over the vanquished. That would be in about a month when we had the pins ready for the families of those who had fallen. As well as having their names carved into the monument. There, we would celebrate and hand out awards for valor.

I would also need to figure out what to do with those who ran during the battle. Do I execute them for desertion? Not all of the men had come back, and two of those that did had already committed suicide from the shame. The rest were being kept in the work prison until their trial.

*********

Two days later, I headed to the Barony of Plimgus to secure one of his villages in compensation for the loss of our people. Once again, I asked Benjamin if we could continue to Plimgus and behead the prick. Of course, he objected and told me to be patient while we waited for his next mistake. I knew he was right, but I really hated that man. Since I couldn't behead him, I would not actually go to Plimgus. I would just take his people. Even if he didn't care that a whole village went missing, it would still be a slap in the face.

Upon returning to Bicman, I found some good news: The Pine Ridge puddling furnace had been completed, and the first run did, in fact, melt the iron. The issue was that they did not extract as many impurities as they were hoping to, so the iron was only slightly less brittle than pig iron. They were going to try a few experiments to rectify the issue.

Hopefully, the fault was not with the designs I had given them. All the work I put into making that CGI video better come in handy because I never ended up getting the final payment from that student. People tend to stop paying you when you die.

The glass kiln and cooling kiln was also complete. The only issue we had was that Tumlus was not sure what to use as a replacement for the glass crystal from Turabe, which helped reduce the temperature needed to make glass. There was also the grass used as a substitute, but we did not have it here. Apparently, it was the ash that was important. We would just have to try a bunch of stuff.

Next Tenday, Emily and I will be heading up to Pine Ridge to open the new paper shop. Edward had left for Vaspar with five more scribes and the remaining paper that had not been stored in the paper shop. I had married him to Nancy while the priest stood as witness. That was weird. Of all the things I thought I would do in my life, performing marriages was not one of them.

I was traveling around the barony, trying to keep busy. I visited each of the new villages, encouraging the people and thanking them for their hard work. The rain was very cold, but we continued to add layers to our people's clothes. There was even clothing being passed around between shifts of work so those who were working outside could all be protected from the elements. I was also waiting for the caravan, which should arrive any day now. Apparently, the rain had slowed its progress.

In preparation for the caravan, new silos were being dug in each village. The silos here were different from what we had back on Earth. They were large pits lined with bricks. It had been a long time since the old ones were full. Heck, they may have never been full. The new ones were for next year, and we were only building a single extra in each village. If things went the way I hoped, these new ones wouldn't be enough.

The amount of wood we were turning into usable planks was impressive. This allowed us to put fortifications up at an incredible rate.

I couldn't wait for the river to be redirected into a canal/aqueduct going all the way down the mountain past Pine Ridge. It was a design that was specifically created to allow for multiple water wheels all the way up the mountain and expandable to both sides of the river. When it was completed, it would be a masterpiece of engineering, allowing for massive amounts of production. We would be at the forefront of automation. Forges, lumber mills, ironworks, textiles, maybe even metal stamping. Anything and everything that can be automated with a waterwheel would be.

Ten years was my goal. I wanted to be the leader in every area of manufacturing in ten years. The only issue would be finding a way to defend it all. I had a lot of ideas, but could we gather enough people in time? We needed to make it more profitable to trade with us rather than take a bite out of us.

I pulled my mind back to the present as I left the sawmill and headed back to Kerisi. What else could we do to prepare for the upcoming raid? We started bringing in more people to the cove and having them work on the fort. We also were creating smaller forts along the edges of the cove. All of them would be boobytrapped to the point where even One-Eyed Willy would be impressed.

When we finally entered Kerisi, there was a lot of commotion. A large wagon train entered the main square, And the street was crowded with people. It was the wagons I had sent to Plimgus to retrieve our supplies. Back when I first requested the caravan transfer goods, they stated that they would only travel as far as Plimgus. So, the wagons were the ones we had sent to Plimgus to retrieve the supplies. There was a lot of food, but I would need to get more in the spring. I am sure the prices would go up by then and would continue to climb until the next harvest.

The man I sent down to retrieve the goods was in the middle of speaking with Paul when I approached. They both bowed.

"All went well, I hope?" I asked.

"Better than expected. We received more than we went down there for. Lost mars come back to the fold," the man said with a smile.

I was about to ask what he was talking about when I heard a voice I recognized from behind. "Stop trying to be cryptic. You just sound stupid."

I turned to see Chuck's smiling face. I immediately reached forward and clasped hands. "Chuck, what in the name of the Endless One happened to you?"

"Ha, an adventure I hope to never repeat," he said with a hearty laugh.

"Now you're trying to be cryptic. Out with it. Where are Kirt and Vern? And what happened with the mercenaries?"

"They are fine. They were eager to see their families, so I let them go ahead. As far as what happened to us in Vaspar, well, we were all set to head North when, all of a sudden, people started trying to join the camp. We were spending all our time trying to kick people out of the camp as we prepared to leave. One night, after sitting around the cookpot, we all got sick. We thought it was food poisoning since the three of us, as well as four of the mercenaries hired by the king, were layed low. But it lasted for days. I swear I felt like I was going to die. At some point, I am not exactly sure when, someone came into the inn that we had been moved to and loaded us onto a cart. Next thing I knew, we were on a ship."

"Seriously! You got Shanghaied?" I asked.

"I don't know what that means, but if it means we were put to work on a ship until we got to Carok, then yes. We jumped overboard as soon as we arrived. Kirt remembered that your cousin Jonathan lived in Carok, and we tracked him down. He helped us get passage on a ship back to Vaspar, and as we were about to leave, two women joined us. Jonathan sent a letter asking us to bring them to you. They seem very strange. Barely talked the whole way here. Think one of them might be a noble."

"He better not be sending me his pregnant mistress because I am not covering for him."

"Not a clue who it is. Maybe he is sending you some potential brides. They certainly are pretty. All I know is John wanted them sent to his favorite cousin, " he said with a grin.

I gave Chuck a penetrating glare. "Are those your words or his?"

"His words."

"Alright," I grumbled, "Let's go see what kind of mess John has dragged me into."

We approached the two women, who were wearing thick cloaks with hoods that hid their faces.

As we approached, I gave a slight cough to get their attention, "My ladies, I understand that my cousin Jonathan had sent you to see me."

Both of them bowed, and one spoke, "Count Bicman, I beg you for your kindness. My name is Katrina, and this is my companion, Eliza. Might I have a private word with you?"

My eyes shot up as I recognized the voice. Only the realization that she was trying to hide who she was kept me from blurting out her name.

What are you doing here, Catherine?

Baron Curtis Plimgus

I sat on the chair, rereading the letter sent to me by Count Bicman.

I wonder if he actually wrote this. It does not seem to be from the same man I met.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by my wife storming into the room. She looked as if someone had spit in her tea. I was about to ask that very thing when she interrupted me.

"The steward said you received a letter from that boy." She spat.

I smiled and said, "Indeed I did. Would you like to hear it?"

I did not wait for her to respond.

To Baron Cutris Plimgus,

I have reviewed the information presented by the leaders who returned from the lands granted to you. I am extremely displeased with what was reported. I find your negligence to be bordering incompetence. How am I to understand the fact that you mistook an entire band of sixty mercenaries for mere bandits? Only the fact that I had so many men in the barony of Bicman willing to bleed and die on your soil made it possible to defeat this superior force.

I have reported your negligence to the duke. If ever such an incident happens again, your negligence will cost you your barony. You must know what is going on in your barony at all times.

This is the last time you will be given such generous assistance from another barony, and the assistance of North Cove County will come at a cost. I give you six months to recruit enough soldiers to manage your barony. I don't care if you have to bring people in from the outside. Make it happen.

Furthermore, the main road of North Cove will now be patrolled by the newly formed North Cove Defense Force. You are required to provide fifty men to this cause. I expect your other soldiers to patrol the rest of your roads and villages. I will not accept the presence of any armed force within my county except those I authorize to be here.

As punishment for your neglect and to replenish what has been lost in the Bicman Barony, I am moving all the people from the Village of Naros to Bicman. Do not disappoint me again.

Count Amos Bicman

My wife stood there with her mouth agape. Slowly, her anger turned from a simmer to a boil. "How dare he! How dare that insolent boy address us in such a manner. Does he even realize the backing we have?"

I grinned. "I believe he does, and I think that is what this letter is all about. He knows very well who put us here. He knows that there is no way a large mercenary group would have settled here, and I not know about it. He is just letting us and our benefactors know he does not intend to be pushed around."

"He took an entire village!"

"And as a count, he has every right to allow such a thing to happen. They are peasants, and normally, they would need permission from me to all leave at once, but if the count asks them to come, as long as they are doing it willingly, I have no recourse."

"We must tell the Baron Yabeth."

"Of course we will. Not that it matters. It appears that he has already sent a message to the duke, and he will hear of it through the normal channels of gossip."

"Why are you not furious." She practically shouted.

"Because this is so much fun. It isn't like he did anything other than threaten us. Sure, he took a bunch of peasants in some out-of-the-way village to show his displeasure, but in the end, it will not impact us too badly. It is merely him giving us a slap on the wrist."

"I will not let this slide. I will get even."

"Of course we will, dear. It will make things so much more interesting. However, I think the boy is going to be a bigger problem than the council thinks. They should have left him alone in that out-of-the-way barony instead of making him a count. Someone is acting against Yabeth, but I cannot figure out who."

I don't care about the councils games. We now look like fools."

"Yes, he was supposed to only send a small force down here that the mercenaries would crush, making him look foolish. Who would have thought he would have been wise enough to send two hundred men? He really did outplay us." I said with a broad grin.

Things are about to get interesting.

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