Nopsa was unusually sullen. Or, rather, he was being quiet for an unusually long time, by what Katrin had learned of him. He'd had quick bouts of stubborn silence from time to time, but usually his curiosity or love of storytelling had him talking soon enough. She hadn't been surprised that he'd joined her at the head of the mule line, but they'd been walking in silence much longer than she'd thought they would. Maybe the best course of action would be to call Ulrika over? Nopsa wouldn't be able to resist butting into the conversation at some point, and she had some questions Ulrika should know the answer to. No, better, if he was going to stew, let him find another irritant as well. She asked him to switch places with Janos. Janos had been taking care of the mules, and they seemed to trust him, so after some quick instructions, she gave him the lead. He'd be aware enough of the road to guide them properly, could call her back if anything happened, and she could talk with Ulrika a bit more privately.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice we'd been lagging – wait, you left Janos at the head of the line?"
"The road's easy, weather's good, and I don't mind having another person learn the ropes."
"Elmar won't take it badly?"
"I told him I wanted to give the Wortbank three a chance to learn a bit more of the trade. Janos has been the most helpful of the three, so he's the first to get the honor spot. Liina will get her turn at some point, but I'll give her more warning and go through things in the morning before we set on the road."
"And will Nopsa get a chance before we get to Kalaun?"
"Hmm, maybe he should. Might be a good idea to give him something else to chew on, a goal to achieve. Thank you for the idea."
"You're welcome. I… umm, I've always admired your easy confidence at leading them. It must've taken years."
"Well, it's easy enough most of the time. The emergency situations happen rarely, and aren't as easy to train for like the nobles do with their practice and tourneys."
"I suppose there's not much use in battle-training a mule", Ulrika noted with a laugh.
"Not training, really, but we do test them. First choose the ones you feel likeliest to lead, then see how they react to clash of steel, fire and beast. And also, can they still follow their trained commands when under such stress. We don't take months or years at it, but it's a simple insurance that might make the difference of losing a lot of wares."
"I'd never thought that might be part of a merchant's life – scaring your own mules!"
"Well, others might simply be less prepared than I, or just trust however sold them their mules. And I'm not the one waving a torch in the face of one of my own! I had a friend who'd suffered some hardship because his mules bolted, we thought this through, and then each played the villain while the other took care of their own. Repeated it once since then, and seems to have worked fairly well."
"I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of you. You notice a problem, you analyse it's causes, then fix it."
"Most would think that there's a lot more things that nobles could do if they wanted to fix things…"
"I suppose my position doesn't provide me with much power. My mother can get a lot more done, it's true. It's just that… there's just so much tradition and following of the old ways without any rhyme or reason!"
"And you wished you could just forge you own path?"
"Yes. No magical talent, though, so not a wizard's life for me. And the clergy… from what I've seen, even more ritual and strange habits. In the guilds, you can at least get acknowledgement when you've invented something new, but they're not known for being as open about their tricks of the trade like you just told me. I'm not sure I'd like hiding my secrets against other journeywomen or masters."
"I might've asked for a few coins from another merchant before telling the previous, now that you mention it. Maybe don't go repeating that, then?"
Ulrika wondered how serious Katrin was, though she said it with a smile.
"Well.. umm, but if I become a merchant, and get my own train of mules, I can use your idea?"
"I'll come and help you just for the sight of it!" Katrin laughed.
"Truth be told, I probably would be more confortable as a city merchant. Maybe head a large caravan now and then. Well, joking aside, I guess managing a lord's household is much the same thing. Maybe I can try finding improvements in that."
Even though Ulrika managed to make it sound passably light, the laughter in no way managed to reach her eyes. Katrin decided to pass on the subject now.
"Speaking of lords, I actually wanted to speak about Burkhart."
"How he acted last night?"
"Yes. It's the first time I've seen him, but you have more experience here. Did that seem typical of him?"
"Pretty much. In noble company, he's more sweet with his words, but I'd trust them less."
"But against the lower estates, little caring or respect?"
"As you saw. He treats his guards well enough, of course, and won't cross a powerful guildsman or merchant if he can use them. Now, thinking about what I've heard about his conflicts with Roosa – uh, the bishop northwest from him – and Filippa, I'd guess he might have some trouble with women who can claim status equal to his."
"Do you wish the clergy would press harder for equal primogeniture to become the default over male-preference?"
"It would seem fairer. Since any direct heir can call for elective succession, though, all the men against it can easily claim it is not needed. And, for instance, in my own case, I'm kind of happy I have a younger brother to take over the fort. At least it gives me more options for my own life."
"Well, back to Burkhart. I believe he's coming to the coronation?"
"All the liege lords have been invited, and I believe all will attend. A few eastern ones missed attending the diet in the spring, so close after the death of the previous king. If they do not arrive now, do not come to pledge fealty, it would be open rebellion. The landed knights, with their greater number and more mixed circumstances, have been given dispensation until the fall diet."
"Was your father there in the spring?"
"Luckily, we had some other business in Kalaun at the time, so yes. For that reason, he couldn't come now, since he'll be guarding the lands of a neighbouring distant cousin so they can travel to the coronation."
"Doesn't that break a bit with the rights and responsibilites of a landed knight and their peasants?"
"Technically, I suppose. As I said yesterday, up north we have to work together more, and the king seems wise enough to allow it rather than demand everyone come bow at him at the same time."
"Unlike, I would presume, a king Burkhart would?"
Ulrika snorted. "He has, luckily, no chance at the throne. Umm…"
Katrin noted that Ulrika had suddenly turned red.
"Oh, something personal?"
"Oh, no, nothing. Forgive me my jest. I was… merely imagining how unfortunate such a thing would be for the kingdom."
"For the lower estates, at least. But, if I recall correctly, the grandfather of our current king, Garan the First, was somewhat like baron Burkhart?"
"Not really. They do share the way they take pride of their bloodline, of grand gesture and sweet speech, maybe also somewhat in their neglect of the more boring matters of running a domain. The twice-late king, however, was a good deal more gracious, and more forgetful of promises than purposefully ignoring them. Similar in effect, less so in intent."
"I'm curious. How do you get to know the intent of a king?"
"By reading his diary or listening in on his confessionals. Since both of those would get you a quick execution, with an unsanctified burial included in the latter, I've had to resort to merely reading the notes and memoirs of many of the court nobles that surrounded the first king Garan."
"You can read those?"
"Well, if you're noble and trusted by the royal scriptorium, you can."
"That seems like a mighty treasure trove. How come it isn't filled with knights, trying to figure out the thougts of their lieges?"
"Well, although all the legal documents are mostly open, the private ones are much less so, even the old ones. I only got to those on a technicality. The papers in question were to be sealed for the reign of the next king, which had ended – just barely. I was able to convince a scribe that that was sufficient, rather than the actual coronation. There is a good deal of fogginess on what all powers transfer at which point, actually. Garan the second had already taken some duties of the state from his father in the last few years, and after the fall diet, he'll most certainly be the true, anointed, enjoined, entrusted, pledged for, full and fulsome king of all Kuiko, but until then… each small custom, event and ritual solidifies his power, makes any counterclaim less likely. Not that there are any clear contenders. Garan is an only child, whereas his father Gallond was the third of five, with probably at least a dozen illegitimate ones."
"Now that you mention it, some of the older merchants or guildmasters might be willing to pay you well if you could write a good treatise of how that succession election went. I still get to hear every now and then them comparing a political maneuver to Gallond played a faction against another, or found an ancient loophole to advance his cause."
"From what I had time to read on that topic, it was complicated indeed, though much helped by the fact that Gallond's only elder brother was much weaker at the great game. But thank you, that seems like a good way to try to gain name as a scholar. I'll have to see what I can find from the archives this coming week, and maybe father would let me visit again later in the summer."
"And your mother…?"
"Oh, maybe I'll dig up some theoretical suitor to be coy towards."
"Scheming, scheming…"
"Anything to find a path I can thrive on."
Katrin fell back, pondering. Ulrika had clearly been going somewhere with her line of thought, something she didn't want to talk about. Burkhart as the king? But she had soon continued with the logical line of succession, should anything happen to Garan: his no doubt numerous cousins. Either Burkhart was one of those cousins, and Ulrika knew something about his plans. Or, he was not, but she had some knowledge of other plans against the king. Or, Ulrika felt that even entertaining the thought that someone else could be king was traitorously disloyal? She hadn't seemed that squeamish, nor blindly loyal. Katrin once again cursed the nobles and their schemes as she thanked Janos and asked him to switch places with Nopsa. Solving the problems of country boys was so much easier.
"Well, feel like talking yet?"
"Not sure what I can say. The world is an unfair place, it seems."
"It can be, yes. Learning to read situations and people can make it easier to handle, though."
"Oh, so how should that poor man talked to Burkhart? Just groveled and apologized that his rotten eggs were in the way of the handsome and noble baron's son?"
"Probably wouldn't have helped, as you obviously can see. No, cut his losses, take better into account that neither baron nor his son will ever be likely to protect him against anything, and start thinking if maybe life somewhere else might be better."
"What, just move away because of some eggs?"
"You saw him. His rage. Now, it's possible that he's just naturally an angry man, in which case maybe a week in jail will cool him down. More likely, though, is that this was the last in a long string of events, demeaning, impoverishing, embittering, and generally just making his life worse, most of which could be traced back to the baron or his men. A wiser man would have added this to his ledger of slights against him, and left for a lord more appreciative."
"Well, maybe he had had it bad, if that's what you meant. But it's really hard to move away from your home. And the priests? Shouldn't they be telling Burkhart to be nicer?"
"That is one of their duties, yes. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if the Bishop of Catamburg was a frequent guest at he baron's dinner table."
"Well, shouldn't the Seven then tell him to go his job? Or take away their blessings from him?"
"Ah, theology. Not one of my strong subjects. You'll have to ask Liina, or Ulrika maybe, on why the gods do what they do. Or don't. I have noticed, though, that many a small error or mistake can happen in the church, and that members of the clergy can be wrong just like us in the other estates. If he's not being too egregious, though, the gods are unlikely to intervene, in my experience."
"Egre-what?"
"Ah, not doing too many too bad things."
"Oh. There are less stories of priests doing egrejous things than nobles, that's true. I think the stories with priests often have them learn after doing something stupid."
"Egregious. And yes, that's the way it seems to go. We all have our places in life, even in stories."
"Most of the stories about peasants are either funny or tragic. I liked the ones where we get to be heroes and save a prince or princess, but dad said those don't really happen."
"It probably has at some point, or at least saving a daughter of a duke or count. Or maybe if there was a bigger war or some catastrophe. Ulrika might know, since she's read much more about history than I have."
"Well, that still doesn't really help me in figuring out how to stop stupid people like Burkhart."
"You know, here's a lesson: it's easier to work against someone if they don't know you're doing it, right? Harder to play a prank against your brother if he hears you boasting about it beforehand to your friends?"
"Yeah, he put glue on the handle of the bucket and I had to soak it for the rest of day to get it off. Nearly covered myself in –"
"Yes, right, so. Burkhart is powerful. He might have spies, well, probably not amoung us travellers, but certainly in his town, and in Kalaun as well. Or just servants, or guards, or others who might not like to hear you call him stupid. So, instead of using his name, just say 'the baron'. We'll know who you're talking about, and less trouble all around with anyone loyal to him."
"Oh, that seems like a good idea, yeah. But what about if I want to talk about another baron at the same time? Like how he's much worse than Filippa?"
"Well, sometimes you might have to use names. Just remember, talking loudly about how bad others are usually just makes things worse."
"The priests do it now and then."
"Well, they have some advantages over the rest of us there. That's one of the parts where I think the gods do watch over them a bit more closely. And even then, they don't condemn every little thing, only the big ones, right? With small things, they are more likely to come to talk to you directly."
"Yeah, all the time."
"And does it work? Do you follow their advice?"
"Of course. Well, until I forget again. I tried counting when I was youunger, but at some point they talked with dad and gave up on me interrupting others all the time."
"So, try to remember that advice when you can, or when things get dangerous. And hopefully, the advice I or your friends give you as well. You've got a good heart, Nopsa, you're just maybe a bit too eager in following it."
"I don't know. It often seems like others are just sitting on their hands – talking or thinking or doing something else, never getting things done!"
"Sometimes you have to do other things to prepare, to improve your chances at what the main goal is. Speaking of which, would you like to lead the mule line some day?"
"Walk at the head of the line? I saw you let Janos do it earlier."
"It's the place of the leader. I trusted Janos enough, since he's been helping in other things, like your parents said you would. Help with the mules, feeding and cleaning them, loading and unloading, and you too may be a leader one day."
"But that's just mules. Can't anyone do that?"
"Much the same works with people as well. And I'll let you try this evening, once we've made camp, how well the mules trust you if you haven't given them a reason to. I'll bet they'll be guiding you along more than you them."
"Oh, I'll take that on. I'm much smarter than a dumb old packbeast!"
"We'll see…"