《A Tale of the Golden Crown》
V.1 Ch.1: The worries of a new life
The worries of a new life
The last week was the ride of my lifes. Well, more like the beginning of it. You see, I died and isekaid.
Okay, that is a little short to convey my situation ¡ imagine this: you are a student at a university and one sunny and beautiful summer morning you realize you overslept. Then you realize that you have an exam on this very day, and you already failed one time and you really really really need to pass this. So logically, you get dressed in the clothes nearest to you (which results in a breach of all dress codes that there are in the world) and start running like a madman to the nearest bus stop. Luckily for you, there is a construction of a building on your way to the bus stop and just as you run by, lady Luck pushed a package of bricks on a higher floor of the building over the edge. So, someone shouts to warn me, and I have enough time¡
to look up and see the bricks just a second before they crushed me to death.
And then the next moment I suddenly wake up in a bed, while drenched in sweat and my body aching all over. Yes, a bed, because I realised, this was whether my bed nor my room! As the cherry on top of this revelation, my head began to hurt, until I passed out again.
When I woke up again, I started to collect my thoughts, calm myself down and tried to make sense out of my situation. After a week of my emotional crisis and questioning of the world, I came up to a conclusion today.
Well first, I died in a very dumb construction accident but had the luck to be given life again. While I cannot remember being summoned by an old wise man, a cute loli or by the flying spaghetti monster, there was a distinct pause between my transmission. But I had no further clues, so that¡¯s a thing for another time.
Next, my situation is good and bad at the same time. I was transported to a medieval world as the Baron Leonidas de Aineidas, Lord of Red Rock Castle and Heir to the Grand Duchy of the Sarembrian Islands of the Kingdom of Mitalica. I inherited all his memories and as far as I could deduce, I was in an alternate world of 10th century Italy, and the Sarembrian Islands were a pendant to Sardinia and Corsica. And as servants and doctors went into my chamber daily and helped me eat and gave me medicine, I was delighted I could understand them without any problems. So, I was a highborn noble in a medieval setting with the knowledge of the modern world, and my morale rose again, as this was the first good news I had after dying, right after reincarnation of course. But this were the good news¡This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
You caught it, right? There were doctors daily around me and at least one servant was always watching me. And it seems the headache I had was not only from the fusion of memories but also from heavy poisoning. I listened to the whispering of the servants and reliving of my host''s memories: Leonidas was poisoned when he was out with his retinue hunting, but the effect started to kick in while he was chasing after a white deer. So, he collapsed from the saddle and bruised all his body, but also broke his right leg. His loyal servants rushed him to the capital of the Duchy Salaria, where the Duchess hired the best doctors, she could find to save him. Apparently, Leonidas died, and I could reincarnate into his body. As such, I decided to accept my fate, which could be worse, and accept my identity as Leonida¡ at least to the outside.
So, I, Leonidas, realized that my body was getting better by the day, I could even move my whole upper body as the stiffness from the poison vanished, even though I was bedridden for at least six months. But my broken leg was a big problem, especially for medieval times: although the bone seemed to have healed well, something was utterly wrong with the muscles or nerves around it, as the stiffness was still there in the leg. I even tried today to stand up from my bed, but my right injured leg could not hold me.
The really bad news was, that if I was poisoned, someone was trying to kill me, and while I could find one obvious suspect, the man was powerful in his own right. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Mitalica was surely steering into a disaster in the long term, as there were powerful enemies on the outside and on the inside.
Rubbing salt into injury, while I was now a seventeen your old, ca. 1,80m tall caucasian youngster with red hair and blue eyes, there was not a pound of muscles on my bones and I will have to limp in the best case while having a name like Leonidas! That is a rather tame and toothless lion!
But the worst of it all, was my realization, what this world truly made different from all the novels I read: I was fine that I would walk with a limp, I was fine (even happy) with no magic, I was fine that there was conflict around me.
Coming from around a thousand years into the future, I could make a technological, economical, and scientific revolution and leave a great legacy¡
if I had this knowledge! But who in their right mind would know all the accomplishments of mankind and how to get there?!
V.1 Ch.2: Eleonora
Another week passed by. I did not do anything special other than to eat and drink medicine the doctors gave me. And although they were proclaiming to see gods doing in my healing, which was joyous news for the duchy, it did strike me as at least strange, that a poison which made someone to be bedridden for half a year and brink him to death''s door, could (almost) stand up on his own legs after only 2 weeks after the symptoms disappeared.
Wait!... God, I am not complaining, ok! No need to prove me wrong, thank you for your cooperation! Amen?
So I decided to use the week to further calm my emotions of my reincarnation and to analyse the memories I got, so I would not scare my family to death and to understand the world around me better.
¡°My poor little Leo! I am so sorry I could not visit you any sooner. I ¡ I feared that if I saw you bedridden, that I would lose my mind as last¡ I was praying for your health, but it just got worse and worse ¡ I am really happy to see you alive!¡± An old woman hugged me since the early morning and just repeatedly talked, kissed and cried. She was really a mess, but so were my own emotions as I hugged her back, even though my body hurt all over.
In my memories she was red-haired 1,95 tall woman with brown eyes, packed with muscles and always having a sword or Warhammer (most of the time both) at her side. And while she was not a heavenly beauty, she was a proud woman that would do and say what she thought, even if standing in the Lord''s Hall berating the king in front of the realm. Even with an age of over 60 years, she made most of the kingdom''s knights question the meaning of life and was still duelling every morning her knights into shape. And now this woman, my grandmother Eleonora, was shivering and crying while hugging me for half the day. Which did not help my emotions any bit.
What should I say in this situation? My own situation was not the best, but Eleonora was a loving grandmother for me and my little sister Donita. My own body, maybe out of reflex, hugged her and tried to calm her down. And there was already the ten-year-old tragedy, when my parents died, which devastated Eleonora and brought her to the brink of insanity. And to almost lose her grandchild after this¡You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°Grandma¡, I am so sorry to make you worry about me so much.¡± I finally got out of my throat.
¡°Shhh, child. It is okay, everything will be alright.¡± Eleonora interrupted me, shushing and hugging me even closer.
As time went by, we both stabilised again, and Eleonora, my grandmother and the current Grand Duchess of the Sarembrian Islands, sat up on my bed and slowly shifted the blanket away to look at my legs. She looked at my right leg and touched lightly it to feel any disfigurements on it.
¡°My little lion, how could this be. The scar will not heal, sure, but I really cannot find anything that would stop you to walk normally. Are you in much pain?¡±
¡°No grandma. It is fine now, but when I stand up, I have to shift my weight to the left. It is more of a sharp pain: there more weight there is on the right, the more pain I feel. And walking is more like jumping around¡¡± I explained to my grandmother, which just made her look even more worried about me. ¡°¡ but! I am lucky to be still alive and it could be even worse. I am just happy to soon leave the bedchamber grandma!¡± I smiled with a toothy grin, trying to break the ride of emotions for her and for myself.
Yeah¡ that did not help, as Eleonore looked even sadder as tears started to build up in her red eyes. But she caught herself and tried to smile back (which really did not look good) ¡°You are right little one, you are right. We need to treasure what we have.¡± She nodded at me and looked into my eyes. ¡°I am so happy that you are well. And your sister is also. But you need to know, I could not bring it to my heart to tell your sister about you¡ I just told her that you were away travelling. It is my fault she is not here today.¡±
She took the walking cane, more a massive wooden stick with a bronze knob on top than an elegant cane, and put it down next to me, so that I could reach it with my hands. ¡°At least try to walk some Leo. You need to build up at least some muscles to be healthy again. Will you?¡± She asked me in a loving voice.
¡°Yes grandmother, I promise. And thank you for your gift.¡± I nodded to her.
She smiled, stood up and walked to the door of my chamber. A quiver of sadness, hope and rage was in her voice. ¡°Take the next month to get back into some shape. The situation is not stable out there and I need to make you ready for your succession. And do not hope to have some free time with your friends, Leo! Your uncle Gennach will come tomorrow to look into your rehabilitation.¡±
V.1 Ch.3: Questions over questions
As I talked to my grandmother, the servants, and the doctors, I realised I could speak and understand three languages: English from my first life; Mital and Empyrian from my second life. And that is where questions started: why could I imagine myself writing something in English, but not my other two ¡°native languages¡±? While most of the doctors spoke mital, as they were from all the kingdom of Mitalica, why did they have trouble speaking empyrian? And while the local doctors spoke empyrian very well, most of the servants on the other hand had a very heavy accent.
Also, I could remember that the kingdom was on the brink of civil war, but the concrete evidence eluded me. And while I knew that I was a baron and my grandmother was the grand duchess, I could not remember if there were counts or other nobility.
Even as I heard the name Gennach, I knew that he was my uncle and only a few years older than me, but I had no idea what my relationship with him was.
Less a question, more of a problem was the fact, that the questions that I had should have been known by the real Leonidas, which means that either some memories disappeared, or I just lost access to them but could regain them. But my loss of memory could be discovered by the doctors and by the people who know me. I mean, what would they know about medicine? Maybe they think I am a demon and they will burn me?
So, I panicked and decided to fill the gaps in my knowledge as fast as possible, grabbed my new walking club and stormed into the library, which should be just a short walk away from my chamber (no idea why I did remember that).
Well, storming is a strong word. More like limped. And I never reached the library. You see, when I finally got out of my chamber and walked a few steps along the hallway ignoring the frightened servant, I nearly fell on the floor from exhaustion. Yeah¡ being for half a year in a bed and being ravaged by poison did nothing good to my endurance.
I leaned on my walking club and the wall for at least half an hour to catch my breath and walked with the help of the servant back to my bed, where I decided that I had enough sport for one day and fell asleep in the late afternoon of the day.
I woke up early in the morning with the first light of the sun and the servants brought me breakfast to my bed. It was more of a buffet of some variations of bread, many fruits like oranges, pomegranate, apples and grapes, as well a lot of meat. Well, to rebuild my body I dug in and surprisingly I ate almost everything the servants brought me. At least my appetite was not lost.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
As the servants brought away the food and helped me to change my sleeping clothes into something more representable, I heard a commotion from the window as if a group of horsemen arrived. I decided to wait (as if I had other options) until I heard a knock on my door. A little surprised, I welcomed them in.
A 1,90 cm tall, energetic, and bit eccentric man with short red hair, brown eyes and a squarish face walked into the room. While he was shorter than grandmother, he was ridiculous wide as about 2 guards in armour, as I saw them yesterday in the hallway. He had no armour on him, just a red shirt with golden embroideries of flowers at the edge of the fabric, green pants that suspiciously looked as if they were loaded with hidden weaponry and heavy leather boots.
¡°Nephew, I am glad to see you! You look even worse than ma told me, did you at least get a shot at the white deer?¡± His voice joyously reverberated across the room as he rushed to the bed and fell on it. Thankfully the bed did not break or even make a sound as the mountain of an uncle sat on it.
¡°Glad to see you too, Gennach. No, as sad as it may be, but I could not shoot the deer, as I fell unconscious before I had the chance. Grandma told me you wanted to help me get my body in form?¡± I answered him and made up a fa?ade so he could not see that I could literally not remember a single conversation with him.
¡°What a shame! I too tried to catch him, but the white deer was always so slippery. But worry not! On the next hunt I will¡¡±. He boasted loudly, more talking to himself, looked up and started posing as the hero of a great battle, when suddenly he stopped and his eyes went wide. His hands packed me at the shoulders as he held me still. He looked sharply into my eyes, while his eyes started to narrow into tiny slits.
¡°No, you look just like him. And you do have his body language. But your manner of speaking¡ do you have a memory loss? Well, that is not surprising, you were for half a year in delirium, it would be surprising if only your body was weak. That is bad, you know. There was this saying - you need a strong body and a strong spirit, or something like that! Okay, enough chit-chat, we need you to start to work out!¡±
I do not know how many times the emotions on my face changed. And I thought how dumb I was: memory loss from a heavy illness and a violent accident was not so farfetched. Well, and I was really thankful that Gennach thought that way.
Without asking me he pulled me out of the bed and made way with me to the library, claiming that on the way they would do exercises to better my body while reading and remembering books to train my spirit. Well at least someone will look after me if I collapse again on the way to the library.
V.1 Ch. 4: Little Danita
The next two weeks Gennach helped me to get back on track. I woke up in the early morning, ate my breakfast after which I took a short nap so I could digest the food better. Although I could feel a change for the better in my body, as I could move more cordially and walk steadier, my body still needed time. In the early afternoon, Gennach came into my chamber and helped me to stretch my body, after which we went to the library.
The library was not far away, just a few minutes of walking and one set of stairs down. But for me, this was parkour and I needed at first about half an hour just to get there on my own, as I had to stop several times to catch my breath. Although I made progress, Gennach told me that a wheelchair would be made for me. The idea was to allow me to move about in the villa I was currently staying at and to get to the gardens around the building to get some fresh air.
As we got to the library, my uncle would answer all my questions about the world and my family. I realized a rule of thumb, that the number of memories I had of a certain person or topic was correlating with how important they were for me/Leonidas.
At first I was very sceptical about my uncle¡¯s offer, so I asked him broad questions about the world, until I ran out of options and threw caution into the wind and asked the riskier questions about why I could not read mital and empyrian or what my relationship with him was.
To my relief and disappointment at once he did answer all my questions to his best ability and even started to teach me how to read and write the two native languages. ¡°Uncle Gennach, why are you so open-minded in answering my question? Should it not be strange that I know some things and others not?¡±
¡°Well I know this situation, Leo. If a person has trauma or a strong enough ailment, they can forget some of their memories. I did witness it during my service as a commandant.¡± He told me with the voice of a knowing general that has seen much during his campaigns.
¡°I thought you are too young for the Corlantion War, are you not? When did you experience it then?¡± I asked back.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
¡°Hm, oh yeah totally. Well, I fell down of my horse during practice and could not remember for at least half a year who I was.¡± he said grinning at me widely. It seems he likes to make things dramatic.
One day as my uncle and me sat in the library and he taught me how to write the annoyingly curvy letters of empyrian, the doors into the room flung open and a young girl at the age of ten with red hair, big blue eyes and a round face scanned us two, noticed me and ran without regard to me. She jumped and landed onto me but put her hands around my head and hang like a sack of potatoes.
¡°Brother! Why did you not visit me when you came back! I was really bored! Grandma is bullying me the whole time! Can you believe she made me listen to this stupid etiquette and language teachers? And when I did what any sane person would do, running away that is, she even forbids me my sweets! That is tyranny!¡± my little sister spoke like a waterfall.
¡°I am also happy to see you, Danita.¡± I smiled at the young girl, my only sibling, and a person, to whom Leonidas had sworn to protect her at all costs.
¡°So where were you? Grandma told me you were travelling. Tell me everything!¡± She asked me with excitement in her eyes and completely ignoring my poor uncle.
¡°Well, I was just sailing around Corlantia, no big thing. But tell me sunshine, did you not promise me to study hard, so you could visit me in the barony?¡± I tried to change the topic.
The excited face of the little girl became troubled ¡°Ughh¡ well I promised. But it is so hard! They just talk and talk, it is much more fun to be in the gardens! But the maids are always looking after me¡±. She pouted and hugged me closer. ¡°What are you doing brother?¡±
¡°Well, I am trying to learn how to read and to write¡¡±
The girl suddenly jumped from me, turned around to face my uncle and pulled at his sleeve and looked with puppy eyes. ¡°Uncle Gennach, please help me to get past the guards into the garden and to play there, I cannot see any book or I will go insane.¡±
My now truly poor uncle tried to resist her pleadings, but she just pulled at him harder and looked at him with big watery eyes. Finally, he crumbled and the pair of a little girl pulling a bear of a man vanished from the room as fast as Danita arrived. And it seemed to be on time because just a few minutes later a couple of exhausted maids opened the library and pleaded with me to tell them, if I had seen the young mistress. I decided to tell them the truth ¨C my little revenge for my little sister as she decided to abandon me here.
V.1 Ch. 5: The Grand Duchy of the Sarembrian Islands
The Grand Duchy of the Sarembrian Islands
As the maids closed the door of the library, I decided to assess the information¡¯s I collected from my memories, questioning of Gennach and the books I read. Now is the summer of the year 838. Thankfully, they are using pretty much the same calendar as on earth, just that they did not have names for the months and just numbered them through. So today is Wednesday, the 6th day of the 7th month of the year 838, and I was in the library of an old empyrian villa, which was located on a small hill in the city of Salaria an towered over the town and the harbour, with the only exception being the Salaria Castle.
Salaria is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of the Sarembrian Islands, which in turn was a vassal state to the Mitalican king, which made it sort of part of the Mitalican kingdom. The current Duchess was my grandmother, Eleonora de Aineidas, who is now 67-year-old and ruled already for about 47 years. She is kind of famous in the kingdom, as she followed many times the call to war of the Mitalican kings against their northern, southern and oversees enemies. Although her most famous war was against another duke of Mitalica, the duke of Etrusko over the island of Corlantia, the ¡°Corlantion War¡± in the year 828. The island of Corlantia was part of the Duchy of Etrusko, but the population was sarembrian and in the times of the old empire, the islands were one entity. After trying to settle the dispute in the royal court failed, war was the only way for Eleonora.
The war was almost an utter disaster for Etrusko, as Eleonora conquered with a small force of a thousand man the island of Corlantia with a garrison of 3 thousand in under 2 months. At the same time her son and my father Marcus travelled on boats to the shores of the duchy of Etrusko on the Mitalican mainland. In just a year he conquered with an army of 4000 men all castles of the duchy, including the capital. The duke had to run with the rest of his army but could buy with the help of his allies and his own savings a great mercenary company. After half a year since the fall of the duchies capital, duke Lorenzo Itanta-Etrusko with an army three times the size of my fathers clashed on the fields before the ducal capital city of Eronia.
And this was the pyrrhic victory of Eronia: The Sarembrian forces were led by my grandfather Teodorich, my father Marcus and my uncle Barisone, and they destroyed the etruskian forces for the final time of the war. But in this battle my father led the final charge at the enemy forces and was killed in action. The heir to the ducal throne of Sarembria died that day, leaving a 7-year-old son and a pregnant wife behind.
As the news travelled back to Salaria, my mother Maria fell in depression and Donita was born a month after the battle. But my mother could not find herself and died a year later. My grandfather also had a hard time and died 5 years after the battle.
The gravity of this event had also a political accent: the heredity rule of the duchy of Sarembria was Primogeniture, which means that the oldest son would get all titles. But when my father died, he left behind a 7-year-old boy as heir to the ducal throne, while my grandmother was already old ¨C the ducal throne was in danger of instability.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
To change the heavy note, let me talk about Mitalica itself: The kingdom is relatively young, just about 250 years old and has now 9 duchies. Initially it broke away from the Holy Western Empire, as two brothers could not decide, who should be emperor. Since then the HWE tried many times to conquer its lost lands in the south, but without success.
The kingdom resembles northern Italy on earth. The grand duchy of the Sarembrian Islands consists of the duchy of Corlantia and the duchy of Sarembria and are the two large islands that are situated in the west and along the Mitalican mainland. The other seven duchies can be divided by two: four duchies are quartering the land that are on the Mitalican peninsula, while three duchies are situated on the continental mainland in the north. Also, there are two merchant independent cities as well as other smaller entities such as religious orders.
To the north there are three neighbours: the Frankian Kingdom in the west, the Holy Western Empire in the north and the Bergandian Kingdom in the east. In the southwest the Mitalican Kingdom borders the Holy State in which the New Faith resides, while in the southwest is the border with the Eastern Draconic Empire.
While the other duchies are mostly true vassals of the Sarembrian king, meaning their ancestors got their lands in exchange for the loyalty of the dukes, the Great Duchy is more of a vassal state. The reason for this is that Eleonoras father Duke Alexandros bend the knee to the Mitalican king, after he united the Sarembrian island and defeated a religious war of the desert tribes from the south. Since he bent the knee from his own free will, the land of the duchy of Sarembria was recognised to be of the Aineidian dynasty and we only need to provide with military or monetary support as well as advice to the Mitalican king. Which means the king can not take away our lands by law.
The last thing to cover would be the political situation of the kingdom. The king of Mitalica Edward de Itanta is already old and sickly, and while there is the royal heir prince Richard, who is also a Great Earl having two earldoms, his younger brother prince Edwin is trying to get support to take over the throne. This conflict is years old and some duchies are openly supportive for the princes. The dukes of Tolania, Medrugo and Bolenia are supportive for prince Richard, while the dukes of Etrusko and Longardia are supportive for prince Edwin. The royal duchy of Medwiga is in the hands of the king and would be in control of Richard if the current king would die, while the duke of Estenes and the duchess of the Sarembrian Islands are neutral for the time.
With this information I realised, that the Islands need more time, as my grandmother is not able to go into war because of her age, while I, even if I already reached maturity of 16, am still too young to wage a civil war. Do I even need to get involved in a war, that has literally no meaning to me? I mean, it is not like something would change if another person would be king, at least not for the duchy. But if I were to enter the war, I would need soldiers, meaning I will lose people in the war without gaining something.
So, I decided to take a stance of neutrality in this conflict and moved to my bedroom as it was already getting dark and I was tired of the day. I hoped tomorrow would be also a relaxed day as the last ones.
V. 1 Ch. 6: Deliberations
It was a sunny day as I was sitting in my carriage and looked curiously outside. At the first sunshine Gennach presented me with a few presents made by the carpenters of the villa, to make my rehab a little easier: a wheelchair, to get around my floor more easily and a simple palanquin to get down the floors and move about the villa faster. And my uncle used the palanquin to get me out of the villa and to a carriage and now I was observing the people on Salarias streets going about their day.
The streets were proper stone roads, and the houses were mostly either complete out of wood or half-timbered. All of them were painted in white and the corners of the buildings in red at least, the two colours of the duchy. Often you could see paintings on the wall of the houses: depictions of people going on hunts and slaying mythical beasts, foreigners in dazzling clothing coming to the town for trade, miners going into the mountains and extracting iron, copper and gold, smiths making weapons or beautiful jewellery, pirates attacking the trading ships or a romantic love story with an tragic end.
Buildings out of stone were only some administrative buildings, the lonesome building of the university, the ducal castle on the Red Hill, the empyrian villa in which I was living and the two churches of the lower city and the minster of the higher city. And of course the massive 12m high city walls with numerous towers, which separated Salaria from the outside as well an older 9m high wall separating the Higher City from the Lower City of Salaria.
As we travelled through the two cities, the differences became more apparent: while you could see merchants and traders in the Higher City, it was mostly populated by craftsman making weapons, jewellery, locks, metallic instruments for other professions, scholars making research and others. The Lower City was mostly populated by merchants haggling with each other about their goods, and that also in other languages then empyrian or mitalican. The people had other clothes, manners and looks, indicating that they were merchants most likely from very far away for this age and time, even further than the nomadic tribes or the Eastern Draconic Empire. And in contrast to the many workshops and the characteristic noise of craftsman by their work, you could hear the tumult between the merchants trying to outsmart each other, workers taking goods from the warehouses to the ships or the other way as well as see fisherman selling or processing their fresh catch and the dock workers repairing or building new ships.
The Higher City had a population of about 4000, while there lived about 3000 in the Lower. A total of 7000 people lived in Salaria, which made it the biggest city in the Grand Duchy but paled in comparison to the capital city of the kingdom Wiganburg with a population of 22000 souls and was rather on the smaller side for a ducal capital. For example, the capital city of the dukedom of Etrusko, Eronia, had a population of over just 10000 people.
And that indicated the first problem I would face, if I ever ruled over this land: there were only about 300 000 people living in the grand duchy, that was by its size alone the biggest territory belonging to an duke with the lowest population of all.
The second problem was the circumstance, that the two islands had a mountain range in the middle of them, which had large deposits of rare metals and solid stone, both important for the smiths in the cities and the city walls to protect them. But because of the mountains, the islands nearer to the shore were also hilly, which in combination reduced the total land for agriculture and made transportation on land arduous work. That meant that the roads from farms, villages and mines on the islands led straight to a port on the shore, where the goods and people would travel by ship around the island toward their destination. This meant that there were still uncharted and therefore unused regions on the islands and travel by road between the earldoms was almost impossible, as the roads were mostly in a desolate state. That meant an overly dependence on trade by ship, which could be easily stopped if there were pirates or an enemy fleet.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
And the division of Salaria showed the last big two problems of the duchy: the late duke Alexandros, my great grandfather, separated the city into two separate entities. The Lower City of Salaria had a defined territory, adhere to the criminal law of the dukedom and had no right to raise any tolls from any merchants, but was free to write its own economic laws and to govern itself. The cities citizens were part of a Great Assembly, which had some legislative power but primarily nominated the City Counsel and at its head the Mayor. The last two had the full power for their city, minus some exceptions. There were many treaties and laws about the Lower City, but to cut it short it was an experiment of Alexandros to solve his many problems.
Just after the collapse of the New Draconic Empire the five judges of Sarembria, which were like administrative serviceman, took their respective territories under their rule and tried to take out the other judges. But as they were all about the same strong and nobody was trying to conquer them, as the warring imperial households were preoccupied by murdering one another, Sarembria declined over the span of over a century from one of the most prosperous regions of the empire to a den of robbers and pirates.
This went on until the households of the southernmost judges went almost in extinction and the respective heirs of Salaria and Moruna, Konstantin and Theodora married. Their plan was a unification of the two most weak judges and that their first son would inherit all titles of their parents. The union was formed in 676 and the de Aineidas family was founded. Since then, my family consolidated their power and could defeat their other rivals. As to prevent another separation of the earldoms, all other judges were removed completely from power, except the last family of Arborea, whose heir married my grandmother and had still some holdings in the northern part of Sarembria. After that Alexandros bend the knee to the Mitalican king and after his death, Eleonora took the ducal throne and challenged the rule of the Etrusko over the island of Corlantia. After conquering it, she formed the Grand Duchy of the Sarembrian islands.
The rule over Sarembria was after the conquest in the hands of my family, and while only the duke had the right to have a levy and troops, and the guards were paid by the ducal household directly, the duke could not be in all earldoms at the same time. He needed competent representatives. And while the ducal family had some other members, there were to many cities, castles, and other positions to fill. So, he used the common people and mostly local merchants, as they had often the most appropriate education. And to counteract a strengthening of merchant families or the separation of the earldoms from the dukedom, Alexandros monopolized the army, most of the taxes and allowed the only trade with outsiders of the dukedom through the lower city of Salaria.
Now the Lower City became one of the big trading hubs of the Western Great Sea, but that had baited merchants from other countries and especially ones from the Mitalican Kingdom, who had now an interest to get a slice of the pie that was the city and the resource rich mountains.
We travelled further trough the cities as I observed the citizens haggling at the markets, looking at the goods of the craftsman, eating and singing at the taverns. Several decades since the complete conquest of the Sarembrian island its capital became a lively city and trading hub with a bright future for its population. As I was thinking about the circumstances of the dukedom and watched the people around me going about their day, I realised that I have almost forgotten the fact, that I am not native to this world. Nevertheless, its history and possible ways of development intrigued me. As I read more and more about the dukedom, I was even more interested in how things would go from here and I wanted to improve the lives on these islands. And it is not as if I have something better to do.
V.1 Ch. 7: Roots going deep
¡°What are you thinking about, Leo? You did not even say one word since we left the villa.¡± Gennachs words took me back to reality and made me realise, that I have ignored everyone while in thought.
¡°Nothing much really, uncle. I just thought about what I have relearned the last weeks and I am troubled.¡± I replied while Gennach knocked a rhythm on the carriage and the coachman changed direction.
¡°Troubled? About what? I thought we are in a great situation, are we not?¡± Uncle asked me curiously.
¡°Well, I mean that we need to develop our duchies, our logistics are sea-based and prone to attacks from pirates and fleets, and the merchants are just the middleman to themselves and the other dukes, and they just want to get our resources. And we really lack manpower. Do we even know how many settlements and people we have?¡±
¡°Nephew! I did not know that you have an urge for drama! Ha! Do you know how much the other dukes need to wrestle control over their own territory from their vassals? Most of them cannot even pass laws without the majority vote from the knight, bishops and mayors, that are supposedly in their ¡°service¡±. Relax Leo!¡± He laughed at my concerns, as if they were just silly thoughts.
¡°You need to get out of your books Leo! I know you cannot go an hunts or spars since your incident but look at the bright side of life! Enjoy this sunny day and the hustle of the city. It is amazing how many spices and exotic clothes are sold here!¡± Gennach eyes shined as he thought about the wonders from the foreign merchants.
Then a smirk appeared, he leaned forward as if he was a conspirator ¡°Or look at the fair maidens walking along our streets, summer is the best season of the year as you can see yourself. Let¡¯s talk about the real important things, what is the type of girl you desire?¡±
While he looked as if he was really into discussing these kinds of conquests, I then saw only a calculating look in his eyes.
I tried to change the topic. ¡°Uncle, look, I think I really need to concentrate on more important things now. Especially since I can not lead troops with my injury, I should be at least prepared.¡±
¡°So, you do not give up, huh? Ok, then let us do it your way: you are already 17 and eligible for marriage, so when will you sire an heir to the ducal throne?¡± Gennach shot back to me.
¡°I... eh¡ I mean, I am still young, right? Would it not be too soon? And marriage is an important thing, for sure, but I should find someone I like. I¡ really did not think about that, let us talk another time uncle.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
¡°Nice try kid, but I am warning you now.¡± Gennachs eyes became serious and not even a clue about his carefree and lecherous demeaner was left. ¡°You are a noble heir, which means that there are only three things important for your marriage: a healthy heir as soon as possible, a noble status of your spouse and a strong alliance based on that marriage. Love or even friendship is a nice bonus, but ultimately that is what mistresses are for. And since Ma is old and tired, she will not give you much time to think. So, if you want to think about problems, find for yourself a good woman.¡±
I gulped and nodded at that. If I used the excuse of a weak body to read more and be prepared with knowledge, well then, I should not be surprised that my weak body would be a factor of instability. ¡°How much time do I have?¡± I asked.
A happy face returned on my uncle¡¯s face as he relaxed back on the seat of the carriage. ¡°As you know, the two princes are preparing for a war over the throne. A marriage with one of the dukes could guarantee our neutrality or be a reason to join one of the sides. So, you should find a proper candidate until the king dies, or else we would have to resort to one of the daughters of the local knights. And last time I was out drinking with an old friend of mine, a captain, he said that the king is not leaving his private chambers due to his health.¡±
¡°So not much time. But¡ why do you think we should side with one of the princes?¡±
Gennach stopped grinning and stared at me for a moment, as if lost in thought. ¡°Several reasons really. First, even if we remain neutral, we will have to concede something to both sides because of the possibility that both could become king, but in turn we will get almost nothing. Secondly, although we did not much on the stage of Mitalica, we did earn some rivalries, it would be a good moment to pay some of them back.¡± He looked me in the eyes with hateful eyes as he said the second point.
¡°And lastly: while they call themselves kings and duke and claim that their ancestors were for generations rulers over their lands, which is true, they also come from families that began to rise after the Empire broke up. Which means they are not Empyrians.¡±
He looked at me with pride and determination. ¡°But our family dates back to the descendants of the old empire, that were allowed to rule in the name of the imperial dynasty of the New Draconic Empire. Sure, most of the times we were local mayors, but do you not think we should remember these peasants, why they should fear us?¡±
I was intrigued by such a revelation. I did not know this from the memories of my old me, or the books I read in the library. ¡°Are you sure uncle about that? I did not know anything about our¡ roots.¡±
¡°Hah! Of course, I am sure, it is one of the secrets of the Sarembrian judges! But while this is a very good claim to any throne in the Great Sea, it is also makes you a target of all the kingdoms, that were once governed by the Empire. Do not forget that.¡±
As I thought about such a revelation, a commotion broke outside of the carriage. As I looked outside, I realised that we had come a big stone building, the bailiff¡¯s office. A young man in colourful and sophisticated clothes and a young woman in a tasty, but slightly too revealing dress were talking with one of my guards. They were both of my age and¡ wait isn¡¯t that¡?
V. 1 Ch. 8: New old friends
¡°Guards, let them through!¡± my uncle ordered, as he helped me to get down the carriage. The men in heavy armour let the two nobles through while I took my walking cane and approached them. Manuel was a little shorter than me, but while I had lost much of my muscle mass from my involuntary diet, Manuel was even thinner than me. He had brown hair and the signature grey eyes of his house of Arborea. He looked, as he just left the bathhouse, as his hair was neatly combed and there was even a smell of perfume around him. His clothes rich with embroidery of flowers showed a distinctive taste, a little too much for someone of his age. It remembered me the style of clothing of my grandmother Eleonora, but while her clothing looked clean and in peak conditions, the fabric of Manuel¡¯s clothes looked worn and a size too big for him. He looked tired and nervous, his steps a little too fast.
His sister Lucia was an entire head smaller then her brother but had the same hair and eyes. In contrast to her brother, she looked more mature in mind and body: her steps confident, a smile on her face and an arm around her brother¡¯s arm. I realised that she walked slower then her brother, so that Manuel had to stop his sprint and walk in his sister¡¯s speed. Her dress was more modest than her brothers regarding the colours, decoration and craftmanship. It was a simple red dress with some white birds ¡°flying¡± along the edges of the fabric. On the upside the dress was obviously new and made for her and the tight fabric accented her waist, the cleavage her chest. And while Leonidas memories screamed at the scandalous dress of hers, my other self was more¡ amused, as the dress looked more like a more formal ball gown, which seemed pretty to me, sure, but not seductive.
What was not so amusing, was my confusion as to why she clothed herself as she did. So, I decided to stop her approach. ¡°Manuel, my old friend! I am glad to see you on my first walk since my accident. How are you?¡± I called out as I met the duo on the side of the rode.
But my first grand strategy in rhetoric failed, as Manuel¡¯s eyes went wide, his face pale. There was a mix of confusion and panic in his face as he struggled for an answer. ¡°My Lord, I am happy to see you so lively again. Thank you for your concerns, I am fine.¡±
That was the stiffest answer to a question I have witnessed in not one, but two life¡¯s! Granted, both were a little short ¨C but still! I glanced quickly at Lucia and saw confusion written all over her face. I tried to smile at that and put my hand on Manuel¡¯s shoulder to try to sound a little friendlier. ¡°Manuel, relax! Why the honorifics? I am finally out of the villa at the fresh air, so do me a favour and tell me, how come you and your sister are here in town?¡±
With time, my smile became only stiffer, as the panic has fled Manuel¡¯s face only to be replaced with more confusion. Was I so bad with people?
¡°My Lord, forgive my brother, we have just left the bathhouses in the Higher City and I fear the heat there and here outside have made my brother lose control over himself¡±. Manuel woke up at Lucia¡¯s words and was about to rebut her, as the lady rammed her elbow into the side of the young knight. Satisfied with the wincing face of her older brother, Lucia made a short curtsy to me and looked at me with a seductive smile at first.
¡°My lord, we are both very happy as loyal vassals about you regaining your health and assuring the stability of the ducal throne.¡± She squinted slightly her eyes as I was not very happy about her obvious advance and changed her whole demeanour in mid-sentence. ¡°You see milord, we are summoned by the bailiff of the Higher City to his court, and I must confess that my family is in a dire situation. On behalf of our common ancestry, please help us.¡± Lucia looked straight into my eyes and bowed before me. Manuel seemed to have come to some sense and bowed too.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¡°What has happened Lucia, tell me. I do recall that your father, the honourable Viscount Armin de Arborea has his territories in the northwest of Sarembria, where many profitable iron ore mines are.¡±
¡°You are right, milord, but since the Holy war against the Nomadic tribes, our region was devastated. The little infrastructure was destroyed, the farms burned, the mines collapsed, and the serfs killed. Our father painstakingly started to rebuild our fief, but we could not produce enough food, so we had to buy grain from the merchants. And while the grain market on Sarembria did grow, so did the demand and my father went into debt to the Mitalican merchants. And as we finally got the mines rebuild and money flowing, the merchants now demand their debts to be paid. But we do not have the money.¡±
¡°You make it sound as if you finally got on the right track financially. Why do the merchants not want to wait and what role plays the bailiff in this story?¡±
¡°Milord, the merchants want us to sell them all our iron ore mines and the land around them. And the bailiff of the Higher City is called upon, as he has the right to judge over a case which involves the duchess territory and nobility as the representative of Her Grace The Duchess.¡± Lucia answered me and then hesitated for a moment, before continuing.
¡°Milord, the merchants are from the Republic of Borum, a vassal of the Great Duke of Tolania and are actively supported by one of Seats of the City Counsel of the Lower City and I fear the financial ruin of my family with such political connections of the foreigners. I beseech you to be present at the bailiffs court to prevent any underhanded methods and forgive us for our selfish interest in ruining your free time.¡±
I was intrigued, honestly. Firstly, this whole situation felt a little too ¡°accidental¡±. Secondly, while I was not a fan of Lucias advances, I was impressed how fast she adjusted her mannerism. There was not a hunch of seductiveness. Thirdly I wondered how a direct relative of the reigning ducal household could be in a political dilemma while no-one of the reigning dynasty took notice. And lastly, why are the merchants of Borum and the Lower City of Salaria working together to rob a profitable but badly reachable mine on Sarembria. They are traders in the first place and almost never involve themselves into the production of goods.
I smiled the first time earnestly back at Lucia ¡°Lucia, your brother is a friend of mine, and our blood does ties our families tight. I will come with you to the court session and prevent any foul play as good as I can. But please, stop the honorifics. While I am a true Baron, I am still your peer in age. I already have to walk with a cane, so if you call me milord all the time, I will feel old and frail not only in body, but also in mind¡±
Lucia let out a small chuckle while Manuel looked the first time at me without showing his emotions on his face. ¡°Thank you, Leonidas. Let me guide you to the bailiffs keep.¡± So, we moved to stone building which was looming over us from the other side of the street. As we walked, frankly a little slow because of me, I noticed how my uncle wordlessly followed just right behind me. And as Manuel started to retell me the concrete situation of their family and how he was now the Baron Regent of his family¡¯s fief as his father has fallen into depression, my guards already have entered the keep and were making a free way for us three.
Indeed, what a good performance. But for whom is it?
V.1. Ch. 9.: At the bailiff’s court
The bailiffs keep had a round tower of about 15 meters height and a 3-storey stone building attached to it. The building and the woodworks inside of it looked new, as it was built with the latest expansion of the Higher City under grandmother¡¯s rule.
It was one of the few stone buildings in Salaria build out of white stone in a more gothic style and with many statues flanking the various coloured windows, mostly of local figures of folklores and the past rulers of Salaria of the now ruling house.
It was especially eye catching, as it followed the Mitalican style of architecture as opposed to the Sarembrian use of the local black-red stone as base material, whitewashing the building after building it and painting scenes of folklore and stories on it. The same could be said about the woodworking¡¯s inside the keep: the doors, tables, chairs had relative thin and curvy legs as apposed to the more massive feel of the islands style. The massive wardrobes for books were made from thick wooden boards in which flowers and snakes, the animal of my family, were curved into.
While the ground floor housed some offices for law counsel, permissions for trade or crafting, and the purchase of land in the city, the first floor housed the keeps hall, where the court would be.
We went to the stairs, where my guards have already set down my palanquin, which was just a glorified chair with four wooden arms reaching out of it to lift it up. I sat down on it and two sturdy men transported me to the upper floor but did not stop there and just brought me into the court room while being flanked by my uncle on my right and the arborean siblings on my left.
While the ground floor had a narrow corridor, many rooms and the ceiling could be reached by raising your arm, the upper court room was almost as big as the whole building, minus the room of the staircase and a hidden room behind the court.
In the back of the room there was a long heavy table on a small elevation with a wooden throne behind it. On the table were mountains of parchment, books and scrolls, while some free space was in front of the throne and one end of the table, were the courts scribe sat on a small wooden chair, already recording the present people.
There was free space before the bailiff¡¯s table. In the middle of the room were tow tables, were the accuser and the defendant could take place. Along the walls were long wooden benches, were other people waited for their court or petitions to the bailiff or the duchess. Well most of them, some of them were more carefree in their behaviour, as if they were just spectators.
There was one group at one of the desks, two men in their forties sitting in chairs and around them three younger men, acting as their servants. They had expensive clothes out of exotic textiles, but while the thinner man¡¯s coat was in the king¡¯s colours yellow, white and black, his other clothes had a wide range from deep blue to pink. To be honest, he looked more like a parrot, than a respected merchant. But in contrast to his clothes he had a more sombre look at us and started to whisper something to the other trader.
His companion was a plump man, and while his clothes were not even nearly as colourful, you could tell by the mixture of red and white elements that the man was a Sarembrian. The steel dagger and the scabbard out of bronze and silver with elements of coins, flowers and two coat of arms on it was another sign for a wealthy and influential merchant, which meant only one city in the whole duchy. He was a small, round, and happy looking man with a wide grin on his face, but his eyes threw a cautious look at my small retinue.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
The people in the room soon stopped talking and looked at us a little confused, as they did recognise the duchess guards but neither Gennach nor me. So, one of the guards saluted and called out into to the room as the crowd stood up.
¡°Lord and heir of the Sarembrian Islands, The Lord of Red Rock Castle Baron Leonidas and Lord and Marshall of the Sarembrian Islands Sir Gennach have graced you with their presence. Honour to the Judges!¡±
¡°Honour to the Judges!¡±
The crowd shouted out as they gave a mall bow toward us and then sat back to their places. Momentarily they started to talk as if we were not there. My guards just nodded satisfied and brought my palanquin next to the bailiff¡¯s seat, while some of them escorted the siblings to the other unoccupied table for the defendant¡¯s.
As the siblings sat down, the two merchants began to whisper more agitated, while the mitalican merchant was more irritated by my presence and looked at me as if I was just about to steal his apple pie, there was more confusion and surprise on the face of the sarembrian merchant.
After a while studying the crowd in the court room, the door of the bailiff¡¯s room opened and the ducal servant with a few clerks entered the court room. The bailiff, an old man in his fifties in green and red leather clothes approached his seat in haste and with a pile of scrolls in his hands. Only as he put down the scrolls on the table did he saw us.
¡°My Lords, what a surprise to see you!¡± He said with genuine surprise.
¡°Sir Gennach and Lord Leonidas, I welcome you to my humble court room. How come you have come here today? Are there again problems with the new blacksmiths and their armour? I thought the last batch of apprentices were better.¡±
¡°No, nothing like that old friend Ruprecht. The armours are good, I as the Marshall have nothing to complain about. I am just accompanying my nephew so that he could pick up something in the art of government. You see, his two childhood friends are today as defendant¡¯s in court, so he wanted to see it up close.¡±
¡°Oh, the case of the pawned iron mines of the Iron valley. The young siblings there are milord¡¯s friends? Of course, I am glad to welcome milords to see this court, but¡¡± The old man stopped, and looked at me earnestly in the eyes. ¡°My Lord, while they are your friends, I judge firstly by the ducal law and secondly by the kings law. I do that at the best of my abilities, and while you are the heir, I am firstly loyal to your grandmother, duchess Eleonora. And as your lordships know, she does not take it kindly if she is interrupted in her work, as my liege puts it, by ¡°nonsense¡±.¡±
I was a little perplexed at how direct bailiff Ruprecht told me to not interfere, especially considering our social standings. Well, he should have some backbone if he was nominated bailiff by my grandmother.
¡°Sir Ruprecht, be assured I will not interfere in your judging. I merely want to know how the court proceeds and give some moral reassurance to my friends. I will ask my uncle about the court, but if he can not answer, please forgive me if I direct my questions to you, Sir.¡±
Ruprecht considered my reply shortly and then smiled at me. ¡°Sure, My Lord, it would be a great first time to start learning about the court. I will be happy to teach my future liege.¡±
The bailiff bowed to us and then went back to sit down in his seat to begin the court. One of the bailiff¡¯s servants announced the start of the court. ¡°The bailiff of The higher city of Salaria, honourable Sir Ruprecht opens hereby the hearing on the case between the merchant Pedro Fugeri and Baron Regent Manuel de Arborea. The accuser has the word!¡±
Let¡¯s see why Gennach wanted me here.