“My sweet, you should never worry about money. I’ll be on my back here at the inn for two more days. I might as well spend the time making money.”
“Dear, there is something else you may not realize. The aid we sent north was called the Michael’s Relief Fund. Everyone believes in your generosity, but also they assume you have vast wealth because you gave so much away. Every robber and brigand in Glastamear may think you’re the richest commoner in the kingdom. You need to be cautious. They could kill you for your purse or hold you for ransom.”
“I’ll be careful my love. I realize that you can’t go to balls and entertainment without me or some other family member available to escort you. Do you have any idea if there are plantations for sale in the province.”
“Actually I have a lunch here at the apartment for forty to sixty women every week. We call ourselves the Southport Relief Society. It includes many of the wealthiest merchants’ wives, many aristocratic matrons, and the wives of both the governor and the high priest. I’m quite well informed. I know of two large properties for sale. The last survivor of the Houston family died without heirs, and the plantation near the Easter Barrier Mountains went to the church. There is a second property for sale down in Government Fields; Governor Talton controls it. I can ask around and find out if there are more.”
“Good, when I get home, I need to explain something that I’ve learned about the history of Glastamear. For now, let me just say that food will get more scarce, and land here in the south more valuable.”
For the next two days, Jim and Roger made repeated trips to the local representative of the merchant banking partnership that Michael used for his business interests. With each deposit of gold, the balance of his letter of credit grew. On the third morning when they were ready to leave for Southport, his balance was back to the level it had been before the purchase of relief supplies. He wanted to buy land and do some and do some spring planting as an experiment.
Chapter 30
Michael came from the bathroom of their apartment into their bedroom where Diana was waiting for him anxiously on their bed. He’d only been in Southport for half an hour, and he’d rushed home to embrace her.
“Oh, good Father God.” Diana rushed forward and put one hand on each of his two largest scars.
“I’ve been repairing my insides; I haven’t gotten to the scars yet.”
“She bent and kissed each of the five scars. I can fix them for you.” She was a powerful healer although not very experienced. She would certainly be a master healer within a few years considering her powerful manna. Diana cast spells on each wound, and slowly the scars transformed into normal unmarked flesh. After a few minutes of healing, they moved onto the bed to complete their reunion.
Michael whispered, “I missed you terribly. Even though we could communicate with mage thought-talk, I needed your touch, your comfort, and your strength.”
“And I needed yours, my love. We won’t need to part for this long again,” Diana answered.
Michael knew what was coming to Glastamear in the spring, but said nothing to contradict her. It was several hours later that Michael brought up what he’d learned about the weather cycle and the starvation that was likely to plague them in the future.
Diana’s voice cracked with emotion. “How bad will it get?”
“From my readings, I believe that the sea ports will suffer less because of the moderating influence of the sea water. Inland cities like Hearthshire Town and Briarton will need to import food. The agricultural areas around Briarton will suffer from too short a growing season and not be able to feed their own population, much less feed Min Hollow. They will be able to grow only cold weather vegetables and winter wheat. All over Glastamear farmers will need to shift to other crops that are more tolerant of the cold. There will be no farming north of the Great Northern Forest.”
“But what of Min Hollow? It’s high in the mountains and already cut off by avalanches in the winter.”
“Diana, you know how stories change in the telling. Some accounts have attributed the power of the Holy Son to moderating the temperature in Min Hollow. During the previous cold periods it was a much smaller city, but at least in legend, Arthur the Seventh cast a spell on the whole Valley of Min that melted all of the snow and caused flowers to bloom in winter. That was during the Great Civil War.”
“Wasn’t there an invasion from the three kingdoms of the east during that war?”
“Yes, they saw the turmoil in Glastamear and decided to invade while the king’s army was fighting in the south. Arthur was reported to have destroyed a whole army by calling down a hailstorm of fire after trapping them between walls of flames that rose on all four sides. The ancient text from William’s library claimed that over twenty thousand lancers of the Yellow Plains and horse archers of the Black Forest were killed by the magic of one man in a single hour. I know that fire mages can cast spells together, and that their casts multiplied the force of the spell. That may have been what actually happened.”
“I’m confused. If the Holy Son could do that in the past, what chance to the three kingdoms have if they attack this spring?”
“That’s a smart question, Diana. You have a way of getting directly to the heart of the matter. In the past six hundred years, the three kingdoms have all adopted the religion of Perry Ascendant. They now have a great many fire mages who are the descendants of missionaries who carried their religion to the east over and had male children in those kingdoms. All men with fire manna have male children who will share their abilities. Glastamear on the other hand, has seen a large number of its priests and knight protectors die from this epidemic because of the king’s pogrom against healers. The three kingdoms may now have more fire mages than Glastamear. What is uncertain is if they have anyone as powerful as Steven the Fifteenth. There is a fire magic spell called asbestos robe. I don’t know the meaning of the words in ancient Elfish, but it protects a fire mage against fire attacks. I’ve used it to enchant the armor of Jim and the Oxbow brothers. Now that there are fire mages in the three kingdoms, defending Min Hollow with fire magic will be more difficult.”
“I understand why the Great Elves despaired of humans and moved away to a distant continent. We are crazy to add to the climate crisis by combining warfare to the death toll. My love, I understand why you want to buy an out-of-the-way plantation. You want to see if you can also enchant a large area with a warming spell like these ancient Holy Sons.”
“Before summer, I hope to do two things, figure out how to feed everyone as the weather gets colder and how to prevent any invasion into the heart of Glastamear by the three kingdoms of the east. There are other kingdoms that might try and capture Southport Province, but the southern kingdoms like the Walker Islands and the South Sedan Islands are at less risk from the change in the climate. They will face less pressure to invade and have fewer people than Glastamear. I still want to ask Governor Talton to increase the standing army and allow the formation of larger militias on the plantations.”
Diana kissed him and said, “I need to get up and get dressed. At noon we have a meeting of the Southport Relief Society. Please come in to be introduced to the ladies you haven’t met. There should be about fifty members here in less than an hour.”
Their apartment took up the whole top floor of a very large building. The back half of that floor had been made into a huge entertaining space. There was plenty of room for balls or large luncheons in that spacious marble-floored room. Three sides were windows that looked out on the city and past the city to the blue Southern Sea. Six huge chandeliers, each holding twenty oil lamps, could light the large space for nighttime events. In the daylight their crystals cast a thousand tiny rainbows.
When Michael entered the ballroom for the first time since it was completed, he saw a purple squall in the distance far in the west. Its lighting attracted his eye, but except for the distant storm this was a beautiful winter’s day with azure skies and cotton clouds. Fishing and cargo boats dotted the bay,
and the docks were busy with traffic.
The beautiful room was now arranged with sixty place settings on imported linen tablecloths on a large rectangular group of tables. All the chairs faced the inside of the rectangle to where the speakers would stand to address the gathering. Michael could only guess how much sixty silver place settings and the fine porcelain plates cost, but he’d always told Diana that cost wasn’t important. It was no wonder that people considered them the wealthiest commoners in Glastamear, but Michael knew that the friends and contacts that Diana had cultivated could be of great help in the time of troubles he expected. Building a solid base of support was critical to their plans, and Diana was outstanding at making friends and winning support.
As part of their apprenticeship, both Michael and Diana had learned healer spell perfect recall. That made introductions much easier since both of them could remember every name and the details of every past meeting. Michael had met only twelve of the fifty-eight women present. The turnout was unusually large because word had gotten out that Michael was back in town, and everyone wanted to meet him and hear about his relief mission to the northern provinces.
The introductions took a long time with so many ladies waiting to be introduced to Michael. He had to briefly chat with each, and it was an hour later than normal when they sat down for their luncheon. Diana asked Michael to say a few words to the matrons of the relief society before they began their regular meeting. Michael’s speech was short but left a good impression. He told of the travels to the northern cities and the gratitude of the citizens of the other provinces for the aid from Southport. He told of tens of thousands of lives saved by their generosity. After his speech, which only included mention of things that would cause goodwill between the provinces, he excused himself and headed to the Great Temple of Southport to see if he could set up a meeting with High Priest Simon to discuss the purchase of the Houston Plantation.
Michael crossed from his apartment building through the beautiful grounds and fountains of the Great Temple of Snowport to the home and office of the high priest. The temple and its grounds were generally considered the most beautiful in Glastamear. Its white marble tower was visible far out to sea, and at night, it served as a lighthouse. The astonishingly tall tower was much older than the temple. It had been constructed before the religion of Perry Ascendant began two thousand years earlier. How the men of the Legend Times had built it was a mystery to modern builders, but Michael assumed they had help from the Great Elves before all the elves moved to another continent. High Priest Simon’s house was surrounded with geometric flowering hedges and beds of tropical flowers. Mango, papaya, and coconut trees were plentiful on the grounds. It was a beautiful setting for a modest house and office.
The High Priest’s secretary recognized Michael, and said, “I’m sure he’ll want to see you, let me check with him.”
The secretary went into the office and High Priest Simon came out immediately.
“Michael, welcome home. I’m glad to see you’re well enough to visit me. I received word that some defrocked knight protectors attacked you in Marigold Meadows.”
He ushered Michael into his office and they both sat in chairs that looked out onto the gardens where colorful parrots ate seeds from feeders hanging in a magnolia tree that was covered with pink blooms. The secretary came in with green tea and sesame seedcakes and placed the serving set in front of them. On the wall was a detailed map of Southport Province. When Michael saw the exact location of Houston Plantation in the foothills of the continent’s greatest mountain range, he recalled another map on the floor of the travel room at Fay Woods. There was a dwarfish ruin with a travel room less than a day’s ride from the plantation.
High Priest Simon had protected the local healers from the pogrom by hiding them on Dragon Crag. Michael assumed that the cleric knew there were healers in the city. He probably assumed that Michael had taken one on his relief missions and that was why he recovered so quickly. Neither man spoke of healers.
“Let me tell you the whole story of my trip if you have time.”
“Certainly, I’m anxious to hear everything.”
Michael updated the high priest on all the details of his trip, at least those that he thought appropriate. The high priest was surprised by the loss of fire magic in some temples, but he seemed to accept that Holy Perry might cut off the power of rogue priests and knights.
At one point he commented, “I knew that the Holy Son was making a terrible mistake by asking all the high priests to isolated their priests and knight protectors. You can’t ignore the suffering in your community and expect people to forgive you. Here in Southport I had the excuse of there being no walls around the temple compound. It has never seemed necessary to hide from our neighbors. I think the church is badly damaged by his decision and even more so by the pogrom.”
When Michael got to the part of his story about the enormous snowfall in Briarton Province, Simon asked, “What of Min Hollow? I know it’s cut off completely in the winter, but did you hear rumors of the epidemic reaching there?”
“My lord, we passed briefly through the town of Crow Crossroads, the nearest community to the capital that can be reached in winter even by using snow-elk sleighs. The men of Castle Gateway come into town a couple of times each winter for supplies. During a previous visit, these soldiers reported that from their highest tower, they could see that a vast number of bodies had been tossed over the city walls to roll down into a valley, which was visible from their castle’s tallest tower. They assumed that the white pneumonia was epidemic in the city and that the death toll staggering.”
“Perry Be Merciful. The crowded conditions in the city’s tenements would be the worst possible place for the spread of disease. Min Hollow was very effective in exterminating all their healers. I pity all those families eating in the common dining rooms and sharing the common baths. Everyone in the city would be exposed. How many bodies did they see?”
“The soldiers told the innkeeper that they were beyond count, many thousands or even tens of thousands.”
“We will dedicate our sermon each week to ask for prayers for the citizens of Min Hollow. Every time I perform the Holy Ceremony of Perry’s Fire, I will think of their suffering and our inability to get any relief to them.”
The unspoken context was that in Southport Province he had not heeded the call of the pogrom. After Michael finished his update, he asked directly about Houston Plantation.
“I visited the property when it first came into the temple’s hands. There is a large but not well-maintained plantation house and a group of tenant farmers totaling about four hundred people, maybe a hundred and ten farmers and their families as well as a blacksmith and a few other tradesmen in the village. The Houston family had been in decline for several generations, and they couldn’t afford to keep all the irrigation channels operating. At least half the property is fallow for lack of water and for lack of enough tenants to farm it. This plantation is certainly not one of the best in Southport Province, but it’s very unusual for any of them to be available for sale. The gentry will never sell any of their land. To do so would make them social outcasts, but to buy one automatically confers higher status, even on the common born. I assume that’s why you’re interested.”
“I want to do some experiments to see if I can improve agricultural practices. The status is not important; Diana and I will never be gentry.”
“I probably shouldn’t be the one to tell you. It’s really Governor Talton’s prerogative, but he asked me to endorse a request for a knighthood for you. That will make you semi-gentry if the king chooses to grant it. We are both extremely grateful for all you and Diana have done to help Glastamear through this terrible Winter of Death.”
Michael was surprised at the proposal but thought a knighthood extremely unlikely. They discussed the sale of the Houston Plantation and they reached a price agreement within a few minutes. His banker and partner, Timothy Son-of-Timothy would settle the payment t
hat afternoon, and the property would belong to Diana and him later that day.
Chapter 31
Three days later, Michael and Diana traveled to their new property. Because she was a healer who could deal with her own morning sickness and discomfort, Diana was well enough to join Michael, Jim Neville, and the Oxbow brothers on their journey to the foothills of the Easter Barrier Mountains to see their new plantation. They left in the morning, but they would need to spend one night in an inn at the town of Archer’s Plantation before traveling to Houston Plantation. Diana decided to travel by carriage rather than horseback, and she insisted that Michael enchant clothing for himself and for her with his earth magic stone armor spell. Michael brought along a chest with the steel tipped arrows that Henry Ironmaster had made from the armor of the rogue knight protectors.
Michael tied Black Dash to the carriage and sat with Diana during the trip.
They chatted as they rode along in the ornately painted rented carriage. Diana asked, “How does this system of tenancy work? We have nothing like that on Mitchell Island.”
“We didn’t have it in Hearthshire either. It goes back to the period of the Great Civil War. After Southport Province was captured and all the rebels executed, the king divided most of the province into large tracks of land, which he gave to his leading soldiers and three of his most loyal priests. There were about fifty families that were made barons of various tracks of appropriated land, which are now called plantations.”
Diana smiled, leaned over and kissed him and said, “You learned so much at William’s library that you can be my teacher. So the local gentry have owned the whole province for over six hundred years. That does explain some of their arrogance. What of the common folks if all the land went to just fifty families.
Michael explained, “Over the past six centuries, the commoners who actually worked the land developed certain rights. They included provisions that prevented them from being removed from the land unless they failed to make rent three years in a row, five years if their family had been there one hundred years or more. The idea was that one or two bad harvests shouldn’t get you thrown out of your home. Nowadays, tenants are almost never ejected from their farms and homes because of the laws of compensation. If a family improved the land, for example by planting fruit trees or building a house, they must be compensated for all their improvements and those of their ancestors before they can be expelled. Of course, the unpaid rents are netted against the settlement. In most cases, an expelled tenant leaves with enough money to start over. If the family has been in the same place improving things for generations, it makes no sense to eject them. It cost too much.”
The Mages' Winter of Death: The Healers of Glastamear: Volume Two Page 21
