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“You are most kind, Bursar Tachora,” stated Lord Marak, “but I find it interesting to plow through these mundane reports. You will require time to make up for the loss of your assistant and you will be too busy, as it is. No, I will go through the reports myself and that settles this discussion.”

Tachora patted his forehead with a handkerchief as he nodded and backed out of the study. Marak scribbled another note after his last. It reminded him to check out whether Tachora might have also have profited from the Ragatha agreement. Lord Marak rang a bell and a soldier appeared.

“No one is to enter my study when I am not here,” Marak instructed the guard. “Not for any reason.”

The guard saluted and Marak strode to the Meeting Chamber. The room was already full of slaves and Marak saw Kasa conversing with Seneschal Pito at the far end. The slaves were all standing around the room and all of the chairs were unoccupied, but the crowd opened wide to allow the Lord to pass through.

“The Seneschal and I were just pondering the pitfalls of eliminating slavery,” Kasa informed Lord Marak.

“I am not eliminating slavery,” corrected Lord Marak. “I am freeing these slaves. There is a difference. Slavery can be a useful tool as a deterrent to crime, but these people have done nothing to me to deserve slavery. I personally abhor the very idea of slavery and I will not stand for the foul treatment and living conditions that have been considered normal until now, but I will continue a policy of using slavery as a punishment until I can come up with a better idea.”

Marak turned and faced his anxious audience. The slaves had been instructed to attend the meeting without being told the purpose of it.

“Slaves of Fardale,” Lord Marak addressed, “by now you should all be aware that your homes are being repaired. You will inhabit barracks until the homes are ready for your use. The work has already begun and will continue until each of you has a decent place to live. You may have heard that I am organizing a Council of Advisors and that there was to be a seat on that Council for a slave representative. That has changed. There will be no representative for the slaves because Fardale does not have any slaves. As of now, you are all free men. Whatever infraction cost you your freedom is forgiven, but I would hope that you remember it well. Slavery is not abolished in Fardale and it will still be used as a punishment.”

Marak glanced around at the joyful faces, which were all trained on him. “Those of you with guild skills,” continued Lord Marak, “may apply for positions with the appropriate Guild Master. The rest can apply to the Seneschal for employment opportunities. Each of you has sworn Vows of Service to me and the Vows will not be forgotten. The slave quarters that you have lived in will be repaired or rebuilt and the living conditions will be brought up to the standard of other free men. You are all welcome to volunteer your free hours to help that effort, as is true for every person in Fardale. I hope that your freedom will spur your efforts into making Fardale successful and a model to the rest of Khadora. I would love to show Khadora that our society can live without enslaving people to do our work. A lot of that success rests on your shoulders. You have the choice between using your talents to better Fardale or returning to slavery. For both our sakes, make the wise decision, be productive. Are there any questions?”

One young male slave raised his hand and was recognized by Lord Marak. “Will we be allowed to enter the Army?” he asked.

“As of now, you are no different than any other member of Fardale,” smiled Marak. “You may apply for any position you wish.”

The former slaves grinned and hugged each other. Many tried to reach out and touch Lord Marak as he moved to exit the Meeting Chamber. Kasa followed after Marak and Seneschal Pito just stood and shook his head.

Marak walked out the door of the mansion and basked in the sunshine. Kasa came up alongside him as he surveyed the work on the slave shacks.

“I see that work as begun already,” Marak remarked. “Do you think Seneschal Pito will try to fight my edicts?”

“No,” answered Kasa. “He may think that you are young and inexperienced, but he will follow your directions. Actually, I think he was bothered more by abolishing the institution of slavery than the actual freeing of Fardale’s slaves. You may have eased his mind somewhat with your remarks.”

“Do you think he was involved with Tachora in any financial matters?” quizzed Marak.

“I don’t think so,” commented Kasa. “He is old and steadfast in his ways, but he is not ambitious. He will try to do the best job he can, but I think it is time to find him an assistant.”

Marak nodded as he watched men repairing a roof on one of the newer slave shacks. “What do you know about the Ragatha agreement?” queried Lord Marak.

“Not much,” admitted Kasa. “Lord Lashendo had Tachora draw that up personally. I know it gives the right of passage through our lands to Lord Zawbry, but not much else.”

“I want a list of anything that Tachora did personally for the last two years,” ordered Marak. “I think that is the key to the pattern of siphoning off money from the estate. See what you can find.”

Without waiting for a reply, Marak stripped off his wide belt and laid it on the porch. Next, he added his shirt to the pile and strode off across the courtyard towards the workers. The workers paused momentarily as Marak picked up a hammer and a handful of nails and pulled his way up the ladder to the roof of the shack. Marak grabbed a plank and began nailing it in place. The other workers looked at each other in concern as if the Lord was showing them the proper way of doing their job. Marak looked over at them and smiled.

“You looked like you could use a hand,” he grinned. “There will be many volunteers to help you with the shacks and you should not have to worry about their station when they are up here with you.”

The other workers smiled back and returned to their tasks. Several soldiers saw Marak’s half naked form on the roof and soon a dozen of them were helping on the other shacks. Unoccupied guild workers soon joined in and within an hour there were more workers than jobs. Marak took a break and ordered a barrel of ale and some food brought out for the volunteer workers.

Over the next few weeks, the reconstruction party became a daily event with Marak always managing to get at least an hour in on the work. There were always enough workers and the building continued at a rapid pace. Friendships between people of the Fardale estate who would not normally come into contact with each other flourished and Fardale developed into more of a large, extended family than an estate ruled by a Clan Lord.

* * *

Lord Quavry sat at the head of the table in his Meeting Chamber while his guest was shown in. The Sorgan Lord was surprised by the meeting request and was curious what had brought about the visit.

“Lord Quavry,” the visitor began, “I thank you for agreeing to see me. I have information that can be mutually profitable, but I am a bit hesitant to begin.”

“You think that I may speak of this meeting to those whom you would rather not know?” surmised Lord Quavry.

“That and other things,” the visitor confirmed. “I must ask that this meeting and any others that may come out of it be kept in the strictest confidence,” demanded the visitor. “Further, if you do receive gain with the information I have for you, you will entitle me to fair recompense.”

“Done and done,” agreed Lord Quavry quickly. “What possible information can a Situ have that will aid my coffers?”

“Information on your new neighbor, Lord Quavry,” the visitor smiled. “Information on how he can be easily conquered.”

“I think it wise to bring my Marshal into these talks, then,” declared Lord Quavry as he signaled for a runner.