PART IV - WHAT MAKES ONE RICH

"Delicious soup," Feldwin said.

"You added a little something, didn't you? With your flavor spell?"

Feldwin winced. "A little spiciness. Not a lot, but just a bit for a deeper flavor. I had hoped it was subtle."

"It was, but still noticeable." He tapped his nose. "Good senses. No complaints, though."

"It's not a complicated spell," Feldwin said. "You or your wife could probably learn it given the time."

"Maybe." Yovel walked over towards the drimling pen, leaning up against the top of the fence surrounding it. Looking up at Feldwin, and then down at Vanis, he sighed and returned to staring somewhat blankly over the pen. "So … I know who you are," he said quietly. He then added a simple, "Your Majesty."

Feldwin took a long pause, searching the face of his dinner host, or at least the side of his face he could see, before leaning on the top of the fence next to him, likewise not really looking at anything. "What gave it away?"

"To an extent, something about how you spoke, and how you stood, seemed a little off for being a wandering traveler. But, really, it was mostly the fact we met once."

"What? When?"

"When I was in the army, back in Imor. You arrived to do an inspection, which I mostly remember being a tremendous hassle for everyone. As you passed through the ranks, you shook my paw and told me 'thank you for your service'." Yovel laughed. "I was probably one of a hundred people you said that to that day, and that was the extent of our interaction. It took me a while to finally recognize you today."

"I regret I do not recall the meeting," Feldwin said.

"It's fine. I wouldn't expect you to." Yovel paused for a few moments before adding, "My condolences on your wife's passing."

"Thank you. She is greatly missed."

Yovel thumped the top of the fencing with a thumb, and then looked down. "This is Prince Vanis, maybe? King Regent Ruvan inside?"

Feldwin nodded. He looked down to Vanis. "Introduce yourself properly. It's alright."

Vanis swallowed nervously, but a second look of encouragement set his focus. "Good evening, I am Prince Vanis del Montano, son of King Feldwin the Second. It is my pleasure to meet you."

The little Elf started to extend his hand, but Yovel turned, pressing his hand to his chest as if still in the army. "The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty." Looking back to Feldwin, the Tigerkin said, "What are you doing here? Please say you weren't looking for me for some reason."

"No, not looking for you," Feldwin said with a chuckle. "Ruvan and I try to do this from time to time; to get out and meet the people informally and incognito. It helps us learn things that might never reach our ears. It's something the kings and regents have been doing for generations, actually. Normally, I'd simply take a seat at a local tavern to just listen and chat with people or the tavern's owner. It is amazing what you can learn from those simple interactions, and maybe buying a round or two."

"And we kept you from doing just that, by making you have dinner with us, didn't we." Yovel frowned and then sighed, realizing what he'd done. "My apologies."

"To hear you and your wife's warning, It sounds as if you saved us from the misery of an awful meal," Feldwin said, adding another chuckle. "We still have enough time for a few hours of socializing. But we won't be staying with you much longer. We'll leave as soon as the clean-up is done." Then he put his hand on Yovel's arm. "Please, no need for an apology."

"Why did you stop to talk to me?" Yovel finally asked after several seconds of reflective quiet.

"We'd heard from a passing wagon about a shortage of fish. Initially, we just wanted to determine if there was anything to it, and if it might be as simple as natural circumstances." He gestured towards Vanis. "Getting you to show him how to use your fishing pole was a way to justify chatting longer."

"Well, I was happy to do it." The Tigerkin then shrugged. "As for the fish, it could be natural. I haven't lived here long enough to know if it's happened before, but even the long-time residents are starting to talk about it being abnormal. Nobody's ever seen that black blight, though. For now, we have plenty of other food, especially if we start to butcher animals. If there's a complete fish die-off, though, it will eventually make things more difficult."

Feldwin hummed in thought. "Tell me, what's up-river from here?"

"Up the river? Not much. The road follows the valley, the river on your left side, until you get to another village in about thirty kilometers. It's bigger than this one, since it's a crossroads. There, you'd turn left to go north and across the river, if you're continuing on towards Marindine."

"Is the way wooded? Fields? What is along the route? Do they have fish problems in that next village?"

"Wooded for a bit, then it gets a little barren for about five kilometers, before turning wooded again as you arrive. I haven't heard of any fish issues, but I haven't been there for over a year. Nobody coming through has said anything, though."

"What else is along the road? Anything else of note?"

"A few scattered farms, but that's it, save the abandoned mine."

Feldwin perked up at that. "A mine? What was it digging for? You said it was abandoned."

"Uh, yeah," Yovel said. His demeanor got more focused to match the Regent's. "Nobody's worked it in at least fifty years; since before I was born. I think it was a vein of low-quality manastones that was exhausted quickly. You'd have to ask someone that lived here longer for more details. I know that the entrance was purposely collapsed when it closed down, though. You wouldn't want kids playing in there."

A smile crept onto Feldwin's face. "That could be the problem."

"That it's collapsed?"

"No, just that the old mine is there. If I remember correctly, low-quality stones like that need to be purified to be of any value. That requires baths of acids and molten metals as part of that process. If any of that was abandoned in place…"

"Something could be poisoning the water!" Yovel said, completing the thought, his tone alarmed.

"Possibly," Feldwin said, holding up his hand in a 'slow down' motion. "I'll say again, possibly. If it is related, it's likely only a tiny amount, or the results would be much more obvious. But, even a tiny amount of, say, a heavy metal or the manastone dust leaching into the water, could have consequences, given enough time. It might be hardly noticeable at first."

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"So what do we do about it?"

"We have access to people to investigate, including Geomancers and mining experts."

Yovel did not like that answer, and you could see it in his eyes. It was obvious he wanted to be part of the solution, but at the same time, logically understood he likely wouldn't be of much help if it required something as rare as Geomancer magic to address. Eventually, his shoulders sagged a bit. "May I make a request?"

"What's that?"

"I'd like to be at least kept informed. Even if it ends up being nothing, I'd like to know to ease my mind."

Feldwin nodded in consideration. "I can make that happen, too." Then he smiled. "I'm sure whoever looks into this could use a guide, after all. I do ask that you keep confidence, for now. We don't need a panic if it does, ultimately, end up being unrelated."

'Alright, and I'd be happy to be a guide, if I can get away with the twins coming soon. Honestly, she'll probably want me to just go and get out of her sight. It's exhausting enough with kids, let alone her husband being a bother."

"I remember when Ruvan was born," Feldwin chuckled. "My wife flat out told me to just go away. The look in those eyes said I had no choice."

The two fathers enjoyed a laugh over that simple, shared experience. There was no sense of one being royalty while the other was a simple fisher and part-time farmer. They were simply two dads, one with stories to tell, and the other with stories to come. It was exactly the kind of interaction the Regents had been hoping for on this expedition, and the kind where they would learn more about the people than from any report they might receive..

Eventually, the laughing subsided, and all three turned to casually watch the drimlings. One of the females had skulked her way into the collection nest, the male keeping a very close eye on the people watching. In fact, the others appeared trained enough that a few were quietly standing around, awaiting their own turn to try to make someone else a parent.

"Show me your paw," Feldwin eventually said.

Confused, Yovel did as he was asked. "What? The wound? It's fully healed."

Feldwin smiled and held up a small leather pouch that he'd serendipitously pulled from a bag of holding at his belt. "This is for you and your family."

Curious, the Tigerkin opened the pouch, pouring out some of the contents. Several coins tumbled into his paw, most being a bronze-ish color, while a few others were silver. "What's this for?"

The King Regent didn't say anything, simply returned to gazing idly at the animals.

"I … I don't want your money, your Majesty," Yovel finally said, pouring the coins back where they had come from and offering to return the pouch. When it wasn't taken, he offered it again, this time a little more aggressively. "We don't need your charity," he added with a growl, offering a third time.

"It's not charity," Feldwin said, laughing. "Over the past few hours you have taken your own time to teach the boy how to fish, provided us with invaluable information and intelligence about the state of your village and the surrounding area, introduced the Prince to drimlings, and then fed us a wonderful meal. From what your wife says, you may have even saved us from a night of indigestion or worse, due to the cooking of your innkeepers."

"But …"

"Consider it payment for your time and services, Yovel."

The Tigerkin looked at the pouch again, stunned and trying to find a response. "It's … It's too much. Far too much."

"You have two babies that will be here soon, as well as a toddler. They will constantly need new clothes. You need another high-chair. You need to add on to your home. Consider the rest as a gift to them."

You could see on Yovel's face that he was having an internal argument, part of him objectively pointing out that the Regent was quite correct. Babies came with expenses, a lot of them, especially with the needed home expansion. And Feldwin was right, they really could use the money, even if only as an emergency reserve for the unexpected. Still, while he hadn't counted it, there were a lot of coins in the pouch. Yovel looked back at the house, where he could distantly hear his wife's laughter at something Ruvan must have said. She hadn't done a lot of laughing recently, the strain of carrying twins taxing her strength as well as her patience. Could he really turn away something like this?

Feldwin saw the moment Yovel's face changed, dropping the instinctive righteous pride. He'd seen that change on many faces over the years in these same circumstances. The truth was, it wasn't actually a lot of money. It was all small-denomination copper and bronze crowns, with a few silvers mixed in. Normally, it would go towards space at the inn, meals and rounds of drinks for people they might meet at the taverns. To use a gold crown would draw too much attention, and in these smaller villages would likely be too large for any establishment to make change for. Still, it would be more than enough to get the needed high-chair, and maybe small beds for the children, or could also go a good way towards the work needed on the home.

"This … this includes my services as a guide to the mine, then," Yovel finally said, seeming to find a justification he could live with. "That, I have to insist on!"

"Fair enough," Feldwin said, extending his hand. When Yovel tried to return a more-formal army salute, the Regent stopped it with his other hand, then guided Yovel's paw so they could clasp wrists as equals.

A short time later, the two Regents and the boy Prince left the home of Yovel, Dafnese, little Natio and the two new ones soon to arrive. Now, the three were casually walking down the road towards the center of the village. The evening was beautiful. Cloudless and warm, full of just-emerging twinkling starlight. Far above, the glowing red of Ohler hung, while below him the child moon was working its way towards being full in just a few days. Ohler's green streaks in the sky, now filled with a flood of other colors during the night, flickered and danced in random curtains of light.

"Grandfather Feldwin?" Vanis said, interrupting the peaceful walk.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't he want to take the money pouch?"

"What do you mean?"

Vanis frowned, considering his question. "It seems silly to try and refuse it."

The two Regents looked at each other, both gauging how to respond to the question. How do you explain the idea of pride to a ten year old? How do explain the importance of being self-sufficient to someone who's entire life experience is luxury?

"For most people," Ruvan began, putting his hand on Vanis's shoulder, "it is important to know that they can take care of themselves and their loved ones. It's not that Yovel doesn't appreciate what we gave him, it's that he's worried that it might imply he's failed in his duties to support his family."

Vanis looked back down the road in the direction of the home of Yovel and Dafnese, as if trying to reconcile his thoughts against what Ruvan had said. "But … they need the money. They're poor and have things they need for the babies. I would think they would want the help."

Feldwin tensed at Vanis's statement, and then became a little irritated. He knelt down and looked the young Prince in his eyes. "Vanis, I'm going to tell you something, and it's important you hear what I am about to say. It's important you always remember this. Do you understand?"

Swallowing a little in worry, Vanis carefully nodded his head.

"Yovel and his family are not poor. They may not be wealthy, but that is completely different than being 'poor'. Money does not make you rich."

"Huh?"

"What makes a person rich is family. It is having friends and people in their lives. It's enjoying one's life to the fullest. A person can have all the money in the world, but if they are unhappy or alone, if they have no family or friends, then they will also be the poorest person in the land. This would even be so for a king. Never, ever, think less of a person because they aren't as wealthy as you are. You can see Yovel is happy. He has his wife and his children and all his friends in this village and enjoys his life, and because of that, he is probably one of the richest people I have ever met."

Feldwin wasn't sure if the lesson he was trying to impart was getting through to the young boy, but it was an important one to start instilling into him. No king, or at least no king that would be worth remembering, could ever value their subjects based on how much money they may have. To do so flew in the face of their responsibilities to their people. "Do you understand?"

Vanis nodded slowly. His eyes were a little vacant, and you could tell he was still trying to internalize the lesson, but the seed of the lesson had at least been planted.

Ruvan reached down, mussing the hair on Vanis's head. "We'll talk more about this after you've given it some thought. For now, it is important to simply remember what you were just told."

"Okay."

Rising, the Regents each took one of the prince's hands as they continued walking. For now, they'd secure a room at the inn, and then go take a seat in one of the taverns so they could socialize. There would be other rumors and gossip to take in, perhaps some inquiries to make of the long-time residents about the history of the mine. Tomorrow, they'd head out, continuing to look like a trio of travelers until they met up with the captain and the rest to continue the journey, serendipitously investigating another village or two, before ultimately returning back to Imor. Maybe if they had time, they'd even go take a look at the old mine, just to see if anything seemed immediately amiss.

Vanis suddenly stopped walking, and his grandfathers turned to look down at him. "I may be wealthy," he said before smiling. "But I have both of you, and that makes me rich. I'll always remember that."

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