All lords who held land maintained private armies. The fort along the border of the Swangan estate would be crucial if Gaihandar’s relations with the Kingdom of Naris ever deteriorated and soldiers needed to be dispatched here from the capital, but in times of peace, like now, its upkeep fell entirely to its lord.
Up till recently, the Gaihandar Empire had been pouring all its energy into the war in the south, so that particular fort had made the perfect storage place.
“That’s where you can usually find us,” Gail added apologetically.
Byletta had assumed the grain was hidden somewhere on the estate, but not a place as brazen as one of their own forts along the border.
Count Swangan looked incensed, but this was what happened when you neglected your estate for two whole decades. That was why Byletta had continuously nagged him to buckle down and visit more often. If the Gaihandar Empire found out that foreigners had snuck in, taken over a border fortress, and pilfered their grain, his life would not be worth living afterward. He was completely hopeless.
Byletta was glad that Gail had committed his crimes only out of a sense of duty. If he had been stealing purely for profit, her father-in-law’s neglect would have seen him branded a national traitor. And if the Swangans had been really unlucky, penalties would have been levied against the whole family and estate. Even if they were ever found out, the fact that the grain had gone to a good cause would no doubt mitigate much of the trouble they’d get into. It was a good thing that Naris and Gaihandar were on friendly terms now.
“How fortunate you ended up providing them with humanitarian aid, Father…”
“Why are you never happy unless you interrupt with uncalled-for comments?”
“I just can’t seem to help myself… Perhaps it’s due to the sleep deprivation.”
“Hmph. Once we are done here, you may rest as much as you please.”
“How very kind of you! Now then, Mr. Adaltine. I would like to inquire as to your future plans. Do you intend to go back to your homeland?”
“I have no family to speak of there. And even if I did, a soldier who deserted in the middle of the war cannot just shamelessly waltz back home. Plus, though I know now that the royals and aristocracy are distributing medicine, I still hate them for covering up the existence of the disease and allowing it to spread in the first place. If at all possible, I’d like to remain here fixing bridges and things…although that might be a lofty dream for a thief.”
“Don’t worry about that. In fact, I’m just happy to know you have fond feelings for the Gaihandar Empire. We will leave the grain stockpiled in the storehouse as it is. Now that there’s a solution to your disease issue, there shouldn’t be any need to take more, should there? Although mistrust of local crops may persist for a time, the dust will eventually settle as people realize that they do not become ill from eating them.”
Byletta paused for a moment and smiled at the bewildered, wavering eyes of the man before her.
“To move on to the next topic at hand: With the exception of the period we believe Bardu was acting on his own, we have lost three years’ worth of grain in total.”
Byletta showed Gail the precise numbers on the second piece of paper, and the color drained from his face. She knew she was pulling his emotions in many different directions, but he was a thief whichever way you looked at it, so she wanted him to see the true amount of damage he’d done.
Luckily, the Swangan lands didn’t depend on their grain for income, so even though three years’ worth had been spirited away, the loss had not deprived the estate of a third of its profit. But though the theft hadn’t resulted in significant difficulties in maintaining the Swangan estate, Byletta certainly wasn’t going to tell Gail that.
Bardu had probably seen fit to continue siphoning the grain away for much the same reason. It was also why her father-in-law had been able to prepare supplemental supplies despite the “poor harvest.”
“Now, let’s negotiate. We would like you, Mr. Adaltine, to carry on living at the fort. You may be our prisoner now, but that is going to change.”
“What do you mean?” Gail asked suspiciously as Byletta presented the third and final document to him.
The last paper contained blueprints that Byletta had asked her father-in-law to draw up. There hadn’t been much time to prepare them, so they weren’t very detailed—more like conceptual drawings—but a passing glance was enough to tell you what they represented.
“We are planning to build a canal on the Swangan estate in preparation for any future natural disasters. We need men to accomplish this, and while we’re able to secure the manpower from those returning from the war with our neighbor to the south, we don’t have enough people to lead them. Therefore, we’ll hire you—our new friends from Naris.”
“Are you…sure about this? I’m a criminal…”
“It’s my father-in-law who is ultimately at fault, always leaving the maintenance of his estate to his subordinates. He failed in his duties, and I wouldn’t oppose his estate being stripped from him entirely. By all rights, his people should have already rebelled and chased him away by now. The only person preventing that from happening was Bardu. I have nothing but gratitude toward your efforts to repair our bridges and other infrastructure. I refuse to admonish you for it.” Hearing a growl of irritation, Byletta glanced questioningly at her father-in-law. “And what is that look supposed to mean, Father?”
Even back when she’d first guessed the identity of the culprits and explained the whole story to the count, she had taken the opportunity to criticize him. But back then, he had admitted he was at fault and hadn’t bothered raising any counterarguments.
He had no other choice than to accept her censure—though Byletta would admit that part of the reason she was being so hard on him was as revenge for his forcing her to come all this way and putting her to work. Now that she’d been given the chance to lord over him, she was going to make the most of it.
“We didn’t have a bad harvest this year, but with the fire last night, the only portion that hadn’t been stolen was unfortunately lost. Given that, we can only supply the amount stated in the reports to the empire.”
“But what about the grain that we were to receive?” asked Gail.