A few minutes after reading the letter that held the duke's seal, I found myself back in the study, trying to pace. The room, however, was just too small. And I ended up almost banging my knee against the desk several times. Add to the fact that Benjamin and Emily were standing near the exit to the room, waiting for me to stop fuming, and the room became almost claustrophobic.

"I hate letters, Benjamin. Why couldn't you wait until morning?" I said while glaring at him. "I'm not going to sleep tonight. The Duke wants 200 soldiers or conscripts from each of my baronies to assist in the Hitub war."

After a moment of thinking, Emily's eyes went wide. "Isn't that half our army?" Emily shouted as she stared at me in shock. It was pretty much the same reaction that I had to the ridiculous letter. "We are not going to have anyone left to defend Bicman."

"That is why they sent the letter. Well, actually, I am not going to accuse the duke of playing games. He is dealing with a lot bigger issues than army recruitment. But somebody down there thought it was a good time to call in the vassal oath."

Emily turned to Benjamin. "Didn't you say in one of your lessons that Bicman was an agricultural barony? Why do we have to send men to the war?"

Benjamin thought about it for a moment while running his hands through his hair, as he often did when he was thinking. "I am guessing because the request was not made to Baron Bicman. It was made to Count Bicman of North Cove. The request was for 200 men from each of his baronies. We could send a reply back with the messenger that the barony is not required to send troops, but that messenger might never deliver the letter. Tell me, Emily, what is the real reason that they are requesting men?" Benjamin said in his teaching tone.

She didn't answer right away, but eventually decided on her answer. "To weaken us before the Rabiss attack."

"Most likely, that is one of the reasons. However, remember that more factions are moving within the kingdom. What else?"

"If Amos can't raise the troops, they could use that as another excuse to take away the county. If he complains, then he will be looked down on for disloyalty."

"Now that he is a count, he has a voice in court." Benjamin hinted.

"They want to make him fail, so he isn't listened to."

"Even if he is within his right to refuse, the other counts have more influence and will spread gossip. Eventually, it would all blow over, but it could be damaging."

"So, does he just have to bend to this unlawful demand?" she said angrily.

I was proud of Emily. She was learning to analyze things. "No, Emily, I won't be bending to their will," I said firmly.

"What are you planning on doing, Amos?"

"We have to show our willingness to serve, but at the same time not become the other nobles' whipping boy. How we are going to do that, I don't know, but let us sleep on it, and then we have a good amount of time to ponder on it as we ride tomorrow."

*********

I did not get that much sleep. My mind spun with different ideas, and although I was very groggy by the time the sun rose, I had come up with a plan.

I called Benjamin into my office. And we both sat down. "I have been reviewing the census report that the other baronies gave us. Malcomp has said that they have around 8500 people. Plimgus has said they have 4000. These are, of course, not exact, and it will be a month before I imagine all the data that I want is collected. We need to know the ages and gender of each of my citizens. And with our mortality rate so high, these numbers will never be exact. But let's assume that fifty percent are males, so that puts the total male population of North Cove county at about 7524. Let's say 30% of those are over the age of 16 and are healthy enough to fight. That puts us at 2257 men. If we take 30% of that number, we end up with 677. I wanted more to give us leeway."

"So you are suggesting we take…" Benjamin paused to calculate. "I am not as good with calculating your percentages yet."

"That's okay. I used decimal points and an abacus. It is 9% of the North Cove male population. So I am going to tell Malcomp he needs to send 382, Plimgus 180, and we will send 115."

"You will probably have Malcomp complaining. I'm sure he already knows the news."

"I understand that, but I am not allowing these people to push us around. We are each sending 9% of our male population. If the duchy sends a letter pushing back, I can remind them that the number we are sending from Bicman is 115 more than is required by the king, since we are still supposed to be an agricultural barony. We will send the men down, but as we pass through Kimton, we will send someone to make an appeal. Call them out on their behavior in a court session. It will probably be too late to get the men back here by the time the raiders come, but this will be a good option to show our teeth. It will most likely embarrass anyone who pushed for this. Maybe we can even get some concessions.

"I am a count, not some lowly commoner or even a baron that they can push around. I have the favor of the king, and that should count for something as well." I said with a smile.

"Please don't tell me you were trying to make a pun."

"Ok, I won't," I said as my smile grew even wider. I had been trying out different count puns on Benjamin and Emily for the last few weeks, but neither of them seemed to like them. Well, I did it mainly just to bug them, so it was a win either way.

"Back to what we were talking about. Benjamin, we need to build the North Cove Military Training Academy just south of the Nore."

"Are you talking like the School of Arms they have for nobles?"

"Excellent. They already have military schools. Oh! I know if it becomes popular, we will call it North Point since West Point is already taken." I chuckled, but Benjamin didn't get it.

"Not many people go to the Capital's School of Arms. The school is exclusive and very expensive."

"Well give it a hundred years and North Point- Crap I'm all ready calling it North Point. That was supposed to be a joke."

"A joke from your old world?" Benjamin asked.

"Yeah. Anyways, the military academy will not be just for nobles, but we will probably have to have leadership classes for knights. The problem is where to find… I wonder if we could convince Baron Malcomp to take up a teaching position?" I thought out loud.

"I doubt it. Besides, is he not working for the council?"

"It isn't like we will be training in crossbows. But you are right. He is a hero of the military. I doubt he will want to train peasants."

"So we will be moving all our training south?"

"Yes, we will build a camp there. Men from the other baronies have already been to war. So, if we gather everyone for training before they leave after the spring planting, we should be able to get them to help train some of the new people. Hopefully, it will create a unified force. Also, we have too many people who do not have work, even with all the projects we have going on. Building a camp and supplying it with enough people to support it will help keep people busy."

"Making the other barons provide more people and pulling them off their lands for training is going to make your barons upset."

I could feel my expression darkening. "I don't really give a crap. They aren't loyal to me anyways. I am trying to make sure as many of their people come back from the battle in one piece. So if they want to complain that I am not going to use the peasants of North Cove as arrow fodder, they can pull up their panties and deal with it." I said in an agitated voice.

Benjamin raised his eyebrows. "I can tell you did not get enough sleep last night."

"I'm pissed, Benjamin. I am doing my best to make life better for my people, and these nobles don't give a crap about my people. They are trying to get as many of my people killed so they can push me around. What is the point of everything I am doing if it doesn't protect the people I am trying to help?"

"We cannot stand against the might of the duchy. One mercenary group took out a huge portion of our fighting force. What would happen if they sent a thousand trained men?"

"So what do I do, just let them keep trying to kill my people?"

"I think what you are doing is fine. Just don't lose your sense over what they are doing. Remember, they want you to fail, and if they can goad you into doing something drastic or you push back too hard, it will all come apart."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I need you to write letters explaining what we want from the other barons. I want men gathering in North Point in no less than two Tendays. We will send people earlier to prepare the site. You have until noon to write out the orders to organize the building of North Point. Also, let Plimgus know that he will be receiving the taxes for the commerce on the land. That should make the fact that I am stealing it from him more palpable to him."

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"I am guessing he will still have to pay his dues to you on those taxes," Benjamin said with a slight smile.

"Of course," I said. I paused and took a deep breath. "My life keeps getting crazier. Every time I think I start getting a handle on things, something else comes up. It is times like these that I wish I had Aaron around. He was always a great distraction from the stress."

"We should not have left Kimton without finding you a wife. That would have solved this problem."

I glared at Benjamin. "I am not marrying someone just so I can have a kid to play with. And I don't need more land or money right now. Let me at least build a nice place for my wife to live. Maybe I'll go borrow some of the kids running around here for an hour or two and play some games. Now stop trying to get out of your work and write those letters for my review. I have training with Chris."

********

We did not leave exactly at noon due to all the organizational questions people had for me, and I had been putting off holding court for several days now. Since I didn't know when I would return from up north, I had to spend at least a few hours handling people's petitions and making judgments. Fortunately, the town meetings had cut down on a lot of the requests.

Two days later, the people of Pine Ridge greeted us. And since we had a few hours until dusk, I decided to see how the projects were doing. Emily left my side immediately to run off to her new papermaking shop. I went over to figure out how the puddling furnace was performing.

As I approached, Mac, the foreman, walked up and greeted me. "My lord, it is good to see you." He said with an excited look on his face.

"By your expression, I can see you have had some success with the iron," I said.

"My lord, I believe we have achieved pure iron, or wrought iron as you call it."

"Excellent news. How are the molds? Are you able to put it into molds?"

"Ah, no. My lord, I fear you were mistaken in what pure iron was like." He hurried to continue, maybe afraid I might take offense. "My lord. The more impurities you remove, the more solid it becomes, and by the end, we shape it into globs or balls, which we take out with long tongs and then are able to work. However, if we simply melt the iron ore without the layer of the special powder on the clay lining and adding lime, it becomes liquid with enough heat and can be poured into molds. It is like the pig iron if you pour it straight into a mold, except it is tougher. Unfortunately, it has to be scooped out, and it ruins the clay lining. We are in the process of building a second furnace with a drain so we can turn the pig iron into molten iron that is usable. Testing it, we found it more brittle than wrought iron, but it still makes things a lot faster."

"So you have to melt pig iron a second time to get a stronger cast iron? Can't you just put it in the blast furnace again?"

No, we think it has to do with the air. It is amazing, though. With enough Coke and the right furnace, you can make iron just like copper or bronze."

The second furnace must remove some more of the carbon, just not as much as if you line the walls with the iron oxide powder. I tried to remember everything I could about the thesis video. It was amusing that I had created a furnace capable of producing wrought iron, and then they had been experimenting, or had messed up, and accidentally created a stronger cast iron.

I wonder if it was different closer to the capital or in other countries. In Bicman, we were in the middle of the Bronze Age. My smiths were just not used to working with iron, and I had only a surface-level knowledge. Now that we have the blast furnace, I wonder how fast we will advance things. The Romans didn't have blast furnaces, but the Chinese did. At least I remember that much from the timeline video.

"How have the results been with cast iron?"

"Better than the original, it takes a lot to break it, but if it does, you cannot repair it. You just have to melt it back down and recast it. So you can't shape it like the wrought iron."

"So if I make a plow and it cracks on a rock, then it has to be reforged? That seems like a waste."

"Well, one of the men wants to try and put a wrought iron edge on a cast iron blade."

That is interesting. Maybe you could cast the plow with holes and bolt the wrought iron to it. Then you could just remove it to replace or sharpen it."

Mac nodded.

"The wrought iron and cast iron will be good for us to use," I said. Mac may have to work backward to fill in the gaps, as this was a few thousand years too early. However, it should be easier than working through all the steps.

"Well, tell the team I am proud of them, and you will all receive a bonus for finding a way to make wrought iron. Also, if you find a way to get consistency in steel, I will give you another bonus, but the amount will be doubled. Remember the carbon content needs to be higher than wrought iron, so it still melts, but it will be lower than cast iron, so it is a lot stronger."

"Thank you, my lord. Your generosity is beyond compare," Mac said while bowing low.

"Well, I am off to find Tumlus and see how the glass-making is going," I said with a wave as I left the area and walked to the opposite side of the fort. The Fort was looking less and less like a fort and more like a walled village. The flames of the glass furnace glowed brightly as Tumlus looked on, holding a long pipe in his hand. Two boys, whom I was pretty sure were some of Emily's papermakers, were standing next to a bellow.

"A little more," Tumlus said in a confident voice, and one of the boys started to pump the bellow. Tumlus had completely changed. Gone was the boy who could not even look a person in the eyes. The Tumlus who was in front of me was a master of this domain and completely in his element. I waited and watched as he stuck the pipe into the molten glass and pulled it out. Blowing it and then laying the pipe down on the edge of a beam as he spun and shaped the glass into a cylinder. Then he began to blow it. Soon, he dipped it back into the molten glass and gathered more. Repeating the process, he began to shape it with tools, and after a while, he had made… something. He grabbed some large tweezers that sniped the part attached to the pipe. He put the object that ended up looking like a pitcher into another furnace.

As soon as he shut the door, I said, "Why are you putting it into another furnace?"

He almost jumped as he turned around. His eyes went wide when he saw me. "M-my lord. I-I did not expect you. It, um, cools the glass slowly to help prevent cracking."

I sighed. What had happened to that confidence he had before? "How goes the work towards clear glass?"

"Forgive me, my lord. I have not found a solution to what you are looking for."

I waved off his worry, "I told you, Tumlus, that I don't expect it to happen right away. I think we need higher silica glass. Or maybe remove the impurities somehow. Hmm, have you tried lime?"

"Lime, my lord?"

"Yeah, we use it in the iron-making process to pull out impurities. Maybe it is the same with glass. Or maybe adding coke. Try throwing anything and everything in with the glass to see what you come up with. It looks like you are doing a good job of perfecting glass blowing, but now you need to experiment. Did you find something to replace those crystals that lower the heat needed?"

At this, he smiled. "Yes, my lord. There is a plant that grows near the bay. The ash works almost as good as the crystals."

"Congratulations. Will talk more later, but don't forget to experiment and write everything down. Well, I know you aren't that good at writing yet, but I know all of Emily's boys have learned to write, so use one of the boys you have stolen from her to help." I said with a laugh while Tumlus blushed. "I am just kidding. I am glad you found some people to work with. I have a feeling that soon both you and Emily will need more people."

I didn't bother telling him that soon he might become the third richest person in Bicman. I wonder if I could make him a noble when that happened. With the Rabiss raid looming in the near future and the nobles nipping at my heels sometime I wondered if I was wasting my time and I should turn everyone's attention to military preparations, but with how I saw these people advancing and taking pride in their work I couldn't help but be proud of what we were accomplishing.

Baron Desmond Eval of Westcove

I walked down the main street on the east side of the greatest city in the Duchy of Herron, my city. It was a more residential area of the city compared to the west side, but it still had its fair share of taverns and shops due to the road from Westcove to Herron. With the days beginning to cool, it was a nice afternoon for my daily exercise and inspection.

From behind me, I heard a shout, "Hey, Dez. Got your report."

I turned to see Jarl running down the street. I sighed. The man never changed.

"Lord Jarl, your smell is somewhat offensive. I am guessing you came straight from the docks without even stopping to wash."

"Ugh, you know I hate it when you call me Lord Jarl. We are cousins."

"And you know you shouldn't call me by that ridiculous nickname. We are no longer children, though you still seem to act like one."

Unfortunately, my rebukes never seemed to faze him, and he is too good of an underling to get rid of. It is a good thing I like him despite his faults.

"Anyways, I did run up to that palace of yours, but you had already left to scare your peasants."

"It is impossible to maintain proper order in a city if I do not know what is happening among my people. Sitting in a study waiting for people to report is a waste of time."

"So, you have said before," he said with his ridiculous grin.

"Now, what was so important that you came to find me straight from the docks rather than making yourself presentable? Was your trip to Kimton that profitable?"

"You know, actually, I don't know if I should share everything I found out with you. I am still upset that you sent me to that snake pit."

I couldn't help but snort. No matter how I tried to maintain proper decorum with Jarl, his antics were partly why I kept him around. "You are too excited to keep the news from me. Now, what is that thing you are carrying with you?"

He looked down at the small leather-bound item in his hand. "Ah, yes," he said excitedly. "This is a book!"

"A book?"

"It is like a large number of scrolls bound together." He said while handing me the object.

As I opened and flipped through it, I was impressed with this latest invention. "Where are these books made?"

"They are made in Vaspar at what is called a Publishing House." Then Jarum went on to explain the concept and how the business was run, and the rising popularity of book clubs for nobles.

Not a bad idea. The nobles around here would love the novelty. Each of these would be very expensive to make, though, if we were to use parchment.

"What is this material? It does not seem like parchment. And I have never seen anything so white. Did you find out how it is made?"

"It is called paper, and it appears to be a closely guarded secret of Count Bicman."

This surprised me. I had gathered some information on the boy from traders traveling the coast. His inventions were novel and very useful. But this is something truly unique.

"Were you able to get any blank sheets?"

"Not of this. There is lower quality paper being sold, but the white paper he reserves for books."

"What is the difference?" I asked.

"The cheaper paper can only be written on one side, while this paper apparently can be written on both sides without bleeding through. The other paper is also less durable. It is nicer than using bark, but not nearly as good as papyrus. The price matches the quality. I don't know why he doesn't sell the white paper. The rumor is it is much more expensive to make," Jarum said.

I laughed. "I doubt it. I initially thought that this boy was just a creative young man, an oddity if you will, and that he would be crushed by the might of the others in Kimton. But he has a hidden backer that made him count, and now he shows an understanding of money by refusing to sell the paper."

"I don't understand."

"I would think it is obvious. What would happen if he undercut the parchment makers? It would upset the entire market, and he would make a lot of enemies. Also, by not trying to compete with them, it keeps the price of these books higher."

I took the time to think, and as I did so, pieces of the puzzle that was Count Bicman began to fall into place. I had a good sense for seeing opportunities, and this felt like one that could make me a lot of money.

"Well, Jarl, I can't wait to see what else you brought me. And congratulations on obtaining a new position in my barony."

I enjoyed the look on his face as he asked, "What position?"

"Envoy to the County of North Cove, prepare to go back to Kimton duchy in the spring," I smiled.

"Why?" Jarl groaned.

"I believe they may be the next step for us in our plans."

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