Moonstones and Madness

Two

     Knight-Master Lei dressed carefully, trusting the advice of the servants attached to his palace apartment to help him make the right impression at the council meeting. He still chaffed a bit, not so much at the extra duties, as at the political maneuvering his newly minted position as Lord of the Gonlong prefecture demanded. His cousin may have assumed bestowing this honor would increase the resources available for the new training yard but so far it had only multiplied expenses.

Urgent repairs were needed for the canals and he had still not gotten to the bottom of who should be responsible for the maintenance costs. Today he was proposing increases for both the riverboat and highway tolls in the prefecture to bring them in line with what other routes charged. He also aimed to reduce the different fee exemptions offered to the local nobility. This latter point was the most controversial since the lords on the council seemed fine with increasing the rates for others, just not themselves. As a former soldier he readily accepted exempting activities related to the defense of the realm but parades of pleasure craft and fancy carriages did nothing for the country's tactical position. The notion that the loyalty of the ruling class needed constant reinforcement through such petty privileges offended his sense of honor but he knew better than to tell the members of council what he thought.

When he vented some of his feelings on the matter with his grandmother, the Dowager Queen laughed at him saying, "Your little experiment must be rubbing off."

"I don't know what you could possibly mean," he admitted.

"In the army you were used to the chain of command and how the ranks keep to themselves, but your boys are really mixing things up. When would you have gotten to know the son of a farmer, or even of a healer? Before you start arguing, tell me when you last sat down to eat with a merchant?" She sat back watching different expressions play across his face until he accepted her point before continuing, "Just don't rush into being a reformer. Your Broken Wheel friends have the King's court in a twist and you won't get the sponsorships you need for your team to succeed if the elites turn against you."

Knight-Master Lei bowed to her wisdom and expressed his deep gratitude for the support she already provided. "I hate to mention it, but the champion's league requirements are putting us into a bit of a bind. I really don't want to have to ask one of the boys to drop out, especially since we barely got Trainee Park Junseo back in time." He paused not knowing how to explain the magnitude of the current shortfall. "Manager Doak is threatening to dye Rufus to meet the parade requirements."

The Dowager laughed at the thought of the war horse being pushed into such a service, "It's bad enough you had to turn your old roan into a school master, trying to disguise him for parade duty is really beneath his dignity. I thought you said that horse deserved a metal. That is no way to treat an old soldier." She waved to one of the ladies who hovered along the edge of the room. They returned with writing tools and a small chest. She passed the box of silver over, then penned a note to the stable master. "This horse is just a loan so tell the boys not to get too attached. Oh, and you can tell your cousin the parade master's requirements make it look like the championships are just for the benefit of his own training yard and the academies might just start their own league."

"Some of the team are already talking about a different kind of invitational. One that moves around to the provinces and splits the pot a bit more evenly. Trainee Go San Jin and Trainee Park Junseo insisted the difference between first and just placing is often just the luck of the draw."

The Dowager nodded before observing, "They must be the trainees with the most tournament experience."

"Undoubtedly, but Manager Doak had to wade in when it seemed like the others were ready to start throwing hands. A couple of the boys didn't like the notion that coming first was not all their own doing." He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say I would have thought differently when I was their age."