After thinking about it for a moment, Kivamus explained to Duvas, "It's true that other nearby nobles haven't attacked this village in the past, but our situation is also not the same as in the past two decades, is it?"

He continued, "Tiranat is not going to be a poor, starving village any longer than I can help it. That means our immediate neighbours are always going to be jealous of us, and their greed will prevent them from becoming good friends or allies of us - whether it's Baron Farodas of Kirnos, Count Ebirtas of Cinran or that bastard Zoricus. It's the same for my brothers in Ulriga, one of whom is going to become the Duke in the future. None of them want to see me breathing another day if they can do something about it, even if the reasons are different for all of them."

Kivamus shrugged, "Simply said, my brothers would like to remove a possible competitor in their power grab for the duchy, whenever my father - the Duke - dies after his current sickness. Looking closer to our home, Zoricus' greed knows no limits, and most likely he was the one to assassinate the previous baron to capture our coal mines, and he has no reason to stop trying for it now."

He added, "From what Feroy has observed on his last two trips, Kirnos has always remained friendly to Torhan's bandit to continue getting clay at cheap prices to sell to visiting ships and earn gold, and our enmity with Torhan means Baron Farodas is never going to become our ally. As for the Count, he is likely too busy dealing with Binpaaz in the east, but for him we are the same as some lowly work animals, from whom he extorts a thousand gold every year for doing no damned thing to help or protect this village from bandits or wild beasts - simply because we can't afford to do anything about it without all nearby nobles ganging up on us."

Kivamus glanced at the nearby coal miners who were looking exhausted as they unloaded the wagons of what they had mined after working hard all day. They were just normal, ordinary people, who just wanted to go for an honest day's work every morning, with the simple hope that their families would be safe and their children happy when they returned in the evening. That had never happened in the past two decades, but no more. He would make sure every single one of his people remained safe and happy, all the greed of the nearby nobles be damned.

Duvas looked at him. "I guess the same logic applies to crossbows then? Those would have sold for good money too, but just like the paper and the medicine, we can't risk letting people know that we even have them in the village, not to mention us having a craftsman here who's capable of making new ones."

Kivamus nodded. "Of course. If this were a safe and ideal world, we would have been able to sell some crossbows, a few jars of medicine and a stack of paper, and we would easily have been able to earn enough gold to pay all the taxes. But you already know that dangers surround us from everywhere, so we just can't risk it." He snorted. "If the count found out that we could make crossbows, we would have already seen the last of Darora and Cedoron - who would have been taken away from Tiranat to keep producing those weapons for the Count cheaply."

"That doesn't leave us with anything else to sell to raise the gold..." Duvas spoke dejectedly, "although I'll still try to talk to Ustaimo again later today, to see if there isn't some other way he can help us. He seems favourable to us now, even though there isn't much in his power."

"Yeah, do that," Kivamus muttered as he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw that a servant was running towards him.

Reaching closer, the young man took a moment to catch his breath with his hands on his knees, before standing straight again. "Milord," he reported excitedly, "someone just saw a merchant entering the northeastern gate of the village! Some of the longhouse kids were very excited about it - since this is the first merchant coming to the village after the winter - so they counted his wagons, and they said there are six wagons in his caravan!"

Duvas looked at him with a grin. "It seems the goddess has heard my prayers again!"

Kivamus gestured to the servant to return to his duties, wondering if this was Pydaso. Could they really be so lucky?

He started walking towards the manor gates with Duvas, before recalling that Pydaso was the only merchant to whom they had given permission to park his wagons inside the manor, since they wanted to make sure all that wheat remained safe before the winter. Usually all the travelling merchants who visited Tiranat had to ensure the security of their wagons by themselves, with their wagon-drivers who doubled as guards, staying with the wagons in the nights for it, while the merchant usually went to the alehouse to relax after the journey, and slept there.

For a moment he thought that he should offer this merchant the same benefit as Pydaso, and allow his wagons to be parked within the walls of the manor, but unlike Pydaso - whom they trusted well by now, after doing all that trade with him and Feroy travelling along the portly merchant to Cinran many times - this new merchant could be in anyone's pockets. That meant letting his wagon drivers stay overnight in the manor would only be inviting trouble.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He exhaled. If this merchant really was Pydaso, all would be great, but he couldn't believe that they would be so lucky. He looked around and found another idling servant nearby, who had just finished emptying one of the coal wagons, and called him up. The servant immediately jogged to him, before Kivamus ordered, "There is a new merchant who has just entered the village from the north. Run to him and tell him that the baron wants to meet with him. He can bring only one other guard with him, and no more, and he should come here as soon as he can.

The servant nodded, and ran towards the gates of the manor before turning right towards the north.

Kivamus looked at Duvas. We don't know who this merchant is, but he has certainly arrived at a good time. Him coming here with six wagons, means he can buy that much coal, which is somewhere above 70 gold at the usual rate of 12 gold per wagonload of coal. That is hardly going to help much, but at least it's a start."

Duvas nodded. "He likely would have brought some wheat with him, but unless he agrees to give us on credit, we have no way to pay for it right now."

Kivamus sighed. "Well, we'll find out soon enough."

***

Kivamus was waiting near the manor gates for the new merchant, along with Duvas. The sun had already set and it was nearly dark by now, but the light from the braziers burning nearby was more than enough. A group of guards who had been on gate duty had moved to stand near him, just in case. Before long he saw the servant walking towards them from the north, being followed by a young man in a tunic, along with someone who was wearing leather armour and had to be the merchant's guard. He wasn't yet sure who it was but it certainly wasn't the portly merchant Pydaso.

As the small group came closer, Duvas seemingly recognised him. "Oh, it is Trevalo. He is also regular visitor to Tiranat, and he's a bulk dealer who mainly trades wheat for coal - unlike Pydaso who is more of a speciality trader and has good contacts for buying such stuff in Cinran and even Ulriga, like butter, cheese, ale and soap, as well as iron ingots if we need it."

Soon, the small group had reached close to them, and the servant returned to his tasks. The young man glanced curiously at Kivamus before he looked at the majordomo and bowed. "You called for me, Sir Duvas?"

Duvas nodded, and gestured to Kivamus. "This is the new Baron of Tiranat. Lord Kivamus Ralokaar."

"Ralokaar...?" Trevalo backpedalled hurriedly, and bowed much deeper this time. "Forgive me, milord! I didn't recognise you! I really didn't expect that the new baron would be standing in front of me!"

Kivamus shook his head at his embellished antics. "Stand up, Trevalo. We have important things to discuss right now." Once the young merchant was looking at him again, Kivamus began, "So how many wagons did you bring with you?"

"All six of them, milord!" Trevalo replied. "There is usually enough coal available to buy in Tiranat, but six wagons is all I own. I'll visit once again later this month for another trade, like usual."

"Good," Kivamus said. "Duvas will negotiate an exact price with you later on, and we do have enough coal right now that you can fill all your wagons with it. Tell me, what did you bring with you this time to sell to us?"

"Uh..." Trevalo glanced at Duvas in confusion before looking back. "Just wheat, milord. I have three wagon loads of wheat with me. I couldn't buy any more without knowing if Tiranat would buy it for sure, with the current high prices of it. Anyway, in my experience this village only needs around five to six wagonloads of wheat in a month, which is why I usually bring three wagon loads on both of my trips every month. Sir Duvas rarely buys more of it from me."

"Three wagonloads, huh..." Kivamus muttered. "That's 30 sacks for you too, right?" Once the young trader nodded, he continued, "What are you selling it for?"

"Five gold and two silvers."

Duvas winced. "It's above five gold...? That's insane! We were buying wheat at under four gold just a year ago."

Trevalo shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it. I bought the wheat at just above five gold per sack in Cinran, and I can hardly sell it for any lower without taking a loss."

Kivamus nodded, understanding his situation, not that it helped them any. He remembered Ustaimo saying that the Binpaazi raids had started last summer, which meant the farms they had been burning in the east of Cinran had also contributed to a lower harvest last year, apart from the usual ebb and flow of nature's whims which had already lowered the harvest for the last two years. The situation wasn't going to improve this year either, with Binpaazi knights continuing to damage farms there, which meant the prices would keep increasing for quite a while.

"That is very high," he remarked, "but I'm sure we can negotiate a price which suits both of us."

"I still have to tell you," Trevalo said uncertainly, "I can't give you a good price for coal this time. Most of my usual customers - including the blacksmith and armourers - have reduced their purchases of coal, which means coal is selling for lower than usual right now."

Kivamus shook his head. Coal selling for lower prices and grain for higher prices meant they would be on the losing end in both transactions. "Fine. Duvas will discuss it with you tomorrow to find a compromise which works for both parties." He was going to let the merchant leave, before he remembered something. "Before you go, tell me, are you willing to sell us the wheat on credit?"

Trevalo looked stunned. "On credit? You mean you can't even pay for the wheat?"