40 Chapter 40 Contract With The King (1/2)
The capitol was huge. Joseph had never seen such a large city in all his life. His guards and Stella stayed close, to ensure that nothing happened to him in the busy streets. They were led straight to the castle, by the messenger. Once in the courtyard, their horses were taken and they were led into a series of rooms, where they could freshen themselves up. The king would see them within the hour.
William made no show of hiding his nervousness. He had already explained to Joseph that he went out of his way to avoid all of the kings. When the kings summoned them, they were all shocked to be taken to his personal study, instead of the great hall.
”You must be William?” he asked, not bothering to stand.
”Yes, Your Grace,” he said, bowing. Joseph quickly followed suit, falling into the pattern the etiquette teacher had taught him.
Stella actually curtsied, and it stunned him for a moment. She was so natural and smooth, it would seem she saw kings all the time.
The royal mage stepped forward to verify them, pausing on Joseph, but finally pa.s.sed over him. Joseph could tell he was a level 2 mage, which was why he probably felt weird around him.
”There are barbarians to the north of my kingdom. They live in the tundra, and there has been some trade between us,” said the king, not wasting any breath on pleasantries.
”I have received reports that they are ama.s.sing and preparing to attack. With the looming war to the east I can't afford a fight on two sides.”
”What does this have to do with me?” asked William, uncertainly.
”I need soldiers. I wish to make a deal with you for slaves. I have contacted every slave merchant in my kingdom, and they have all told me that you provide the best slaves.”
”But, your grace, I only deal in children. What you are asking for is cannon fodder. I'm afraid my slaves would be insufficient for what you want.”
Everyone in the room knew that William did not want to sell his slaves for cannon fodder. The fact that he dealt in children was truth, but many times he sold them as adults, fully trained.
They haggled for a long time. William wasn't able to refuse directly, but if he started grabbing people off the streets to bring here for cannon fodder, he would lose the trust he had developed in the common folk throughout all three kingdoms, as well as raise red flags for the other two kings. They would never believe this king merely wanted them for the northern border. They would see William as taking sides and all of the work he had put to his business would be gone.
”What if I release you from ever having to pay taxes ever again?” asked the king. ”Also, every slave that survives will be freed.”
Joseph wasn't sure that the slaves wanted to be freed, but he couldn't interrupt, so he had to keep it in, in order to talk to his dad about it later.
”Do you want the barbarian problem handled? I can try and work out something with the right privileges.”
This is what the king was obviously wanting, because he leaned forward eagerly.
”Yes, I want the entire mess to be dealt with.”
”How long can you give me to figure things out?” asked William.
”I can hold off any armies from the east with the troops I have, but that leaves my northern border unprotected. I had just planned to wait out the coming wars, using the mountains to protect my kingdom. I think I can hold the barbarians off for a period of five years, but that will be stretching it.”
”All right, leave it to me and I will deal with it. You will need to provide anything I need.”
”I can do that,” the king hurriedly agreed.
William pulled out a magical contract and quickly had it filled out.
This was the first time that Joseph had actually seen a magical contract.
(YOU HAVE SEEN YOUR FIRST DOUBLE RUNE, LAW. IT IS A COMBINATION OF TWO RUNES: COMMUNICATION AND MIND CONTROL. YOU NOW HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMBINE THEM IF YOU HAVE THE BASE RUNES UNDERSTOOD TO THE ADVANCED LEVEL.)
Joseph realized the mages probably didn't know that the rune LAW was a combined rune. Because of that, those who dedicated themselves to learning how to make the magical contracts would take years learning how.