Liina stood up, stretched, and shook herself, ready for another afternoon of walking. It was getting easier, for her, at least, though Nopsa would probably take a few more days, possibly a week. Or he might never get into proper travelling shape, is he was able to sweet-talk anyone with a cart to letting him ride. Less likely for now, but once they got onto the King's Road, the number of travellers should rise sharply. And they'd have to start being more careful with their belongings as well. She sighed, and walked over to Katrin, ready to continue the journey.
"So, anything you want to know about today's destination?" Katrin seemed full of quiet energy, as ever.
"Well, I know Catamburg is a decent sized town, being a seat of a baron and all. I think I've heard some mocking songs about him a few times, so I'm guessing someone doesn't like him."
"He can be a bit touchy, apparently. Ulrika would know better. And his taxes are quite high, which can bring inspiration to many a person. You'd be more likely to hear such songs, of course, him not being in your liege-chain."
"I know that Kuno and the lord of Greenrow both swear fealty to Baron Filippa…"
"As does Ulrika's farther Mantlind."
"Oh, I thought they'd be under…"
"Burkhart of Catamount?"
"Yes. We've travelled quite a few days, already."
"You are on the opposite sides of the same barony. Ulrika's father might be a lot more careful about those songs being sung in his village, since his neighbours could see an insult to their liege lord as also applying to them. Or they might not, if in Catamburg the ties between knight and baron are more strained."
"I would've thought you'd know about these things."
"No, we're getting off my traditional hunting grounds. Filippa encourages trade in her domain by keeping the tolls and taxes moderate, so hers is the westernmost I'll usually go to. Besides, as my license requires me to sell my wools to the guild of Kassburg, going further west would usually be unprofitable. Now, even if our good king hadn't declared no toll-gathering for these few weeks, the deluge of people going to see the coronation would make collecting them unpractical. So I'm taking the opportunity to ship my wares through Kalaun, meet some old friends, maybe try to find some new business on the side."
"I wish Ulrika was close enough to hear that. She seems to think that being a merchant might be for her, but it seems to revolve around money too much to my tastes."
"We all have to make a living. Merchants pay their taxes and tithes, same as you do. More than many peasants do, it seems. Ah well, that's what we get with the head of the Seven also being the protector of peasants, the mother of crops and all that."
"You would no doubt like Janda being the head of the family, wouldn't you? The endless clinking of coins. Or maybe Haine, to bless you with more wool from the sheep?"
Liina was a bit surprised with the vitriol seeping into her voice. She'd been taught that all the gods had their place, even Marlee, but had never realized how much higher she held Samuela than the others. The laugh from Katrin dispelled her fears of being placed at the end of the caravan to choke on the dust.
"I'll admit to favouring the daughters to the mother. Samuela's blessings have thus far held much more importance in your life, so naturally you favor her. And I don't dismiss the power of the Sun-Mother. It's the labor of the peasantry that fills our bellies and keeps us clothed. I've just found a different niche, one that fewer enjoy but in which I thrive."
"Speaking of which, how large is this caravan going to grow? I always thought you rich, coming and going so easily with so many mules and buying our wool, but you don't seem to see yourself that way."
"I'm not poor, but certainly not rich either. I've seen how my elders give loans to counts and fund entire fleets to sail away, to be gone for more than a year. They certainly wouldn't call my meagre mule train a caravan."
"But, still, in each village people are happy to see you and respect you, and you seem to find business to do in every one. With so many villages, even small ones like ours, I'd think that would come together as a goodly sum."
"Unfortunately, the costs of travel also add up, and the trade I do happens in silver, not gold. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly aiming high, trying to build relationships and gain allies, people that will trust me and trade even if it's Elmar that will come some years and not I. Only the luckiest of merchants – or those born into a wealthy family – can get away without travelling to build their fortunes."
"So bloodline matters among merchants as well?"
"It can. Sometimes, though, later generations see not the hard work put into building a business, and can waste it away. The more sensible merchant-houses make sure everyone has to start at the bottom, only gaining a word at the second-floor tables once they've shown their mettle at street business."
"And so your mother put you to work up in north, gathering wool for her? Or wait – I think you said she was of the guilds?"
"Yes. I changed estates upon coming of age, then worked as an assistant, much like Elmar, until I got my licence. All the work of weaving still helps when choosing which wools and threads I wish to buy, of course."
"But now we're going to Catamburg, off your regular paths."
"Indeed. I suppose I should've called Ulrika to talk with us, teach us both what we need to know of greedy Burkhart."
Ulrika needed little encouragement to come talk with Liina and Katrin. Nopsa had been able to tell a couple of decent stories, but his hunger for descriptions of fine feasts or glorious tourneys would go unsated by her, a small country noble. The things they would see at the capital would vastly outshadow any of her previous experiences.
"The baron Catamount? I've met him a few times. Polite enough, but I could feel that I was beneath him. My mother had some idea of me maybe marrying a grandson of his, but we can't offer anything important enough that he'd go to the trouble of arranging an underaged marriage."
"The oldest being…?" Katrin asked.
"Oh, nine, I think? There are two granddaughters who are coming of age soon, but the boys came in later. One of them is following her grandfather altogether too well, the other seemed a decent enough sort, if maybe a bit on the thick side."
Liina felt daring, though Ulrika and Katrin seemed to be used to talking derisively of nobles. "Oh, umm, so, greedy, then?"
"No, not exactly. Or, she might be, I didn't feel like getting to know her better. I meant that she's overly prideful of her station and demanding: easily calling for chastisement of anyone lower than her if they in any way gainsaid her. She'd better hope she can find a place in court, for she'd make a landed knight husband's life much worse. Her grandfather, of course, needs to bow to no one but the king."
Katrin nodded. "It fits with what I've heard of Burkhart. To me, of course, it's the tolls that most matter, and his are as high as he can set them for the King's Road, and much worse elsewhere. I understand that he taxes quite heavily as well. Pray tell, if you may, has there been much migration of peasantry to St. Gosbrook?"
"Not particularly. Of those that do, my father usually lets them move on – it's bad form to allow settlement from a neighbour if both lords haven't agreed upon it. I have heard that Burkhart's knights ride easily and quickly to any of their fellow's domain, if any greater number of their peasants would seem to be planning to migrate."
This seemed quite oppressive to Liina. She knew that many lords were much more sceptical of allowing people to move to their lands if the lord they were leaving had not given permission, but Kuno had usually seemed prety open to the idea. And she remembered hearing from the clergy more than once that all peasants were allowed to leave the lands of their lord if he wasn't fulfilling his duties. Kuno seemed nice enough, and what she'd heard of Filippa, she was kind, at least to those not trying to cheat or deceive her.
"How about the guilds," Katrin was saying, "do they have much of a presence in Catamburg?"
"Not much. I believe the carpenters have a solid presence, but they are also rumoured to have some secret agreement with him. Otherwise, it's just a scatter of journeymen from what I've heard."
"That will impoverish him in time. To build a rich town, you need both them and us merchants, and if you have neither, no amount of squeezing the peasantry will save you in the long run."
"My mother has often reminded my father with similar sentiments."
Before Katrin could get into praising the merchantry again, Liina wanted to turn the discussion back to the nobility.
"Um, Ulrika, which is more common? A more harsh lord like Burkhart, or one who's more in tune with us peasantry, like Filippa? Or your father, I'm hoping?"
"Oh, they run the gamut. I hope my father's kind when he can, harsh when he must. Trying to keep your domain safe from goblins, bandits, natural disasters and worse – it sometimes requires being hard towards others as well. In a way, it's easier with us, in the less settled areas. We know we need to work together, all estates, and that we're dependent on each other as the priests teach us. When the need for nobility to protect the others lessens, they often seem to start to overestimate their own worth, or get to scheming against each other."
Katrin snorted. "Well, I've seen scheming all over. Even the peasants, so burdened with labor, seem to find plenty of time to try to put one over each other."
"I've heard that the wizards are the worst, though there might be some attempt to shift blame in that.", Ulrika pondered.
"Oh yes. Never get involved in a wizard's schemes!" Katrin softened. "Well, some of rural wizards are alright. Much less scheming, more puffing of the pipe and growing strange vegetables."
"Oh, does Burkhart have a court wizard? You hear of those in the stories!" Nopsa had sneaked up on the trio.
"Not that I know of." Ulrika seemed a bit perplexed. "In fact, if any lord has then I haven't heard of it. It's possible that they might, in the southern domains, but as I understand it, the wizards in general are at least as status-conscious as any baron, and wouldn't dream of swearing to serve another person." She paused. "I'm sure there are secret dealings, though."
Katrin looked at Nopsa. "Now that you're here, though, I'll remind you again. Start being careful with your mouth. Baron Burkhart wouldn't take lightly some peasant whelp interrupting him –"
"Hey, I'm nearly of age!"
"– and would probably send you jail for a week just for something like that. Or even if you just insulted a guardsman. So keep your tongue in check, at least until we've left Catamburg, all right?"
"Yes, yes, –"
"No 'Yes-yes'. In your own words, tell me how you'll watch what you say."
"I'll keep my tongue in check–"
"Own words. Think it out."
After a bit of muttering, Nopsa spoke, in a lower tone than usual.
"I will watch what I say, so that that dumb Baron Burkhart won't have a reason to punish me. For the next few days, at least."
"We may have to repeat this when we get to Kalaun. But good enough."
Nopsa skittered away. Liina noticed Ulrika looking at Katrin with open admiration, quickly rearranging her face once Katrin's gaze turned back from Nopsa to them.
"Well, there's only another pair to gather up at Catamburg, so we can probably leave early enough. We'll be camping outside the town, on a designated field. Let's hope nothing untoward happens."