Chapter 9 #2
Something clattered, like wood upon wood, before I heard the patter of footsteps coming in at a run.
A young boy probably only two or so years older than his sister skidded into view, sporting the same red hair but with vastly more freckles.
He looked at us uncertainly but spied Maggie with her Bear Bear and flushed, clearly caught out.
“Toby.” I sank onto one knee to put us more at eye height. “I am James, Third Prince of Zuskal.”
The mother sucked in a breath and looked abruptly faint. I ignored her, though, my focus on the wide-eyed boy who was almost shaking.
“Your sister asked me for help,” I said. “Explain to me why you thought it a good idea to throw a beloved toy into a dangerous place like that.”
He mumbled something about it being funny.
“Funny, eh. Was anyone else laughing? Was she laughing?”
He shook his head, eyes on the ground.
“Then it wasn’t funny, was it? It would have been a disaster if I hadn’t helped her—she may have become desperate enough to climb the fence to fetch the toy herself.
The rocks are slick from moss and water, dangerous even for me.
She would likely be either very hurt or dead if she’d attempted it, which you knew, so it wasn’t funny.
Bullying people never is. I’m very disappointed in you, Toby.
I expect the men in my country to safeguard the fair ladies. ”
He was red all the way to his ears now.
I judged I’d gotten my point across and stood. “I trust this won’t happen again. Maggie, some of my knights will be stationed here. If ever Toby bullies you again, you are to go to them and they will aid you.”
Her broad smile showcased her two missing front teeth. “I will. Thank you, James!”
“Prince,” her mother hissed at her. “Call him prince.”
I laughed this off, as it wasn’t important. Instead, I lifted Maggie’s hand and bowed over it in full courtly manners. “I’ll see myself out. Have a wonderful evening, Miss Maggie.”
“Bye, James!”
The door had barely closed behind us when I heard the mother go off on Toby. I didn’t comment until I was well off the porch, though. “Kid’s going to have a brand-new asshole by the time his mother’s done with him.”
Sir Alloways snickered behind a hand. “Sure sounds like it to me. You did that on purpose.”
“I’m sure his mother’s scolded him before about being mean to his little sister, but boys of his age don’t put a lot of stock into what adults tell them. A little fear of the gods is healthy at this stage.” I shrugged, as it was no skin off my nose. “Well, let’s get dinner.”
Somehow, before I’d even fully settled into my seat in the inn’s taproom, the story had made the rounds among my knights.
I didn’t find my actions to be remarkable, but I had to remember my royal siblings would never have done something similar.
Royce and Helena would help people, but they’d send a knight in to help.
Being raised nobility, they just weren’t trained to think they should personally help.
They’d been trained to delegate. But I wasn’t of that mindset.
It hadn’t cost me more than twenty minutes of attention.
Wasn’t a little girl’s safety worth that?
But Victor especially wouldn’t have viewed it as such.
So, to my knights and Edwin, what I’d done was remarkable.
Edwin sat right next to me without a by-your-leave, studying me like he’d never seen me before. “Do people normally do that?”
“Do what?”
“Come up and ask for your help.”
“Oh, that.” I thought about it for a second. “Hmm, yes? It’s happened more than once. I seem to have one of those faces. The I’m Helpful face. Children especially have no fear of me.”
“So you’re used to saving teddy bears and little girls in distress?”
“Something like that.” Seeing he didn’t quite know how to take my answer, I pointed out, “I’d rather spend twenty minutes saving a teddy bear and seeing a little girl properly home than have a dead child on my conscience.
Her bear was very much in a precarious state.
She’d have been in true danger if she’d tried to rescue it herself.
I want to like the man I shave in the mirror every morning. ”
Edwin softened, ducking his head with a smile. “I quite understand.”
Seeing how I more or less had the full table’s attention—all my knights had settled in while I’d spoken with Edwin—I chose to address the table at large. “Now, since we’re all here, I have a question. What changes do you want to see in this country?”
I didn’t expect an immediate answer, but Dame Remfrey’s hand shot up.
“Yes, Dame Remfrey?”
“Rent control,” she pleaded.
“Explain.” I immediately pulled out my Goals book, ready to jot down notes.
“In some areas—like this one here—there’s not much in the way of housing or free land. Almost all the land up here is either the baron’s property or imperial property. It forces people to rent, as they’ve no other option, but the landowners take advantage. They mark up the rent to absurd heights.”
I hadn’t even known this to be an issue, but it was definitely a serious one.
Charge too high, and it either pushed people to do desperate things, or forced them out onto the streets, which was ridiculous.
I now questioned whether this had been an issue in my first life, one I had failed to realize.
Had everyone been so focused on the other, more disastrous situations, that they’d just not brought it up to me?
“I’ll immediately see to fixing this issue.
It’s absurd. Even greed should have limits. ”
Relieved, she relaxed back into her chair. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
It might take some legislation and a few months to get this sorted, but I would definitely make it a priority. “What else?”
With that first request out there, the others felt more comfortable expressing their own wishes.
I listened to each as they came, jotting down what they requested and who had requested it so I could follow up with more questions later.
Some of what they said I’d never realized was a true issue.
Some of what they asked for aligned with my own plans.
In any case, it was eye-opening for me to realize how fucked up this country had become.
I’d always been surprised by how adamant people had been that I become king in my first life. In my opinion, I’d done very little to deserve it. Hell, I’d barely done more than two or three things to improve a citizen’s life when the call for me to be king started rising.
Now, though, it made more sense to me. So much had gone wrong, without any apparent notice or concern from the nobility, that people had seized upon the one man willing to fight for a better life. It made for a very sad state of affairs.
I wouldn’t become king this time, though. I’d fight from the sidelines.