Eastern Problems

Lucia's warm body entwined with his own. She was still sleeping, her eyes shut close.

Timothy accidentally pulled the blanket a little and Lucia's nakedness was revealed. He felt heat rose through his body. Nevertheless he kept on staring.

Lucia yawned and opened her eyes. She then grinned.

"Who gave you the permission to stare?"

"Is it wrong now to stare at my wife?"

"It's not the matter of staring. It's where you're staring at"

Timothy chuckled. He pulled her closer. "And where am I staring at?"

"Somewhere you shouldn't" Lucia pinched his nose "Lest you get any outrageous ideas"

"Too late for that. The idea already crossed my mind" he started nibbling on her neck.

Lucia giggled "Tim! We can't do it in the morning. I'm still tired from last night, and the night before that."

"We need an heir" Timothy stopped his nibbling and grinned at her

"We need an heir? A feeble excuse for your carnality"

"But we do need an heir"

Lucia put her finger on Timothy's lips "And you need restraint my King. Erik and Freya are leaving Nirvana today. We still need to meet them early in the morning."

Timothy remembered that today was the day Erik will return to Greenwater and Freya to Solon. Before they leave, he and Lucia first need to have a meeting with them to discuss further plans.

Timothy grunted "Fine. And after they've left?"

Lucia put a kiss on his cheeks "We'll see"

Timothy kissed her back. He then reached towards the table and grabbed a small box made of wood. He handed the box to Lucia.

Lucia opened the box and pulled out a small iron seal. She looked at him.

"They have agreed to let you join Leo's Tear. But you're not an official member yet until you have sworn the oath in front of the leader. Well that is if you want to join."

"I do" She smiled happily "So who is the leader?"

Timothy sighed before talking.

"My uncle. I don't know his whereabouts at the moment and that's the problem. I guess we should wait for him to pop his head out from some hole in the ground"

Lucia embraced him "It's alright. But can I use the seal now?"

"You could. That's why I gave it to you" Timothy embraced her back.

**********

Timothy was rubbing his forehead. His earlier mood was ruined the moment the meeting started. This was supposed to be just a normal meeting with him giving his final commands to Henry, Freya and Erik before they leave. But apparently some people were brewing an economic crisis in the eastern provinces. The economic crisis could engulf Castonia into chaos as the people were already starving.

Braun, Leopold, Erik, Freya, Henry, Lucia and he were all sitting around the table in the war room. On the table was the large map of Castonia. Timothy eyed the three cities where reports of hoarding came from and his brows furrowed.

It was Henry who first talked. The Knight balled his fist on the table.

"Unforgivable" Henry shook his head "To cause such a thing. To starve the innocents for political gains. Such lack of conscience. Such ugliness. May the Omniscient forgive them. These truly are troubling times for many people's heart are dark"

Leopold brushed his fingers against the map. "I myself also did not expect this. We were informed too late. Given, information travels slowly during the snow season but the rate the news traveled was just too slow"

"And not just that" Braun added "Even though the manner of His Majesty's ascension to the throne is rather peculiar, the nobles should be frightened by your army. But hoarding food? The eastern nobles are playing with fire. They are challenging your rule. They've grown bolder as if someone is behind them"

"I concur. But it's not Ivan for sure. You know he is not capable of doing such thing. You know how incompetent he is" Leopold said

Timothy studied the expression of people sitting around the table. They all wore dark expressions except for Lucia. She was looking at Timothy with sadness written all over her pretty face. She gripped his hand and lowered her head a little.

"I'm sorry but Vanadis can't help you this time. If Escanor's report is correct, then nobles in Vanadis are also hoarding food and spreading counterfeits. Although the effects are not that severe, Vanadis would also face rebellion if I do nothing. We can't spare grains to Castonia"

"It's alright. The problem is not a shortage of food anyway. The eastern region has an abundance of grains from the last harvest. It's just the nobles who are controlling the supply. " Timtohy said. He met eyes with his father "You had to deal with hoardings many times before right?"

"Too many to count Your Majesty. Some people just wanted to go against authority. About ten years ago some nobles and merchants in Ront tried raise the price of food by hiding hundreds of tons of grains. Greedy creatures. When I heard about it, I assembled my soldiers and marched to Ront. I rooted and imprisoned those damn nobles. A few I turned into serfs. Ah that was a satisfying day. You should have seen their faces when I stripped their family of the noble status"

Timothy had heard of the great noble purge ten years ago. His father did indeed imprison a lot of nobles that time. Too many in fact that the eastern nobles all respect his father. The action was still being praised or condemned until now.

"But the number of rebellious nobles now exceeds that ten years ago. Ront, Straso and even Anthapis are all suffering from food scarcity. I can't just march my soldiers into the three cities and punish the nobles"

"That is correct Your Majesty" Henry said. The Knight looked nervous when all the heads in the room turned to him. Nevertheless he continued. "All of your soldiers are currently stationed in the west. Sending them to the east would be difficult especially during the snow season. Cavalry is a worse choice as horses can't graze in winter. The logistics would be a nightmare"

Timothy nodded. Henry was right. Whoever was behind the sudden change in the attitude of the nobles had thought this through. Doing something like this during the snow season had a double effect. First it exacerbated the effects of lack of food. Another thing was that Timothy could not send the bulk of his army.

"What about the people? Will they fight for me? Why aren't they resisting the nobles" he asked his father

"If this happened in the western region the nobles should have already been shredded by now. Unfortunately the eastern regions are different. Most of the inhabitants there are serfs. Unlike landowners who are more welcoming to ideas of loyalty and nationalism, the serfs only desire food, clothing and security. They can't eat ideas nor will ideas give them warmth in winter. Whoever holds the grains, holds their loyalty. And currently the nobles have the grains "

Timothy turned to Lucia after hearing his father's opinion. "We can't send our armies in the east and we can't expect the serfs to rise against the nobles. In fact I think the nobles will use the serfs against us. What do you think we should do?"

Lucia leaned back and was silent for a while. Everyone waited for her to talk. It was apparent that everyone now viewed her with respect. Timothy remained silent too. He was the one who truly grasps and respects the extent of her intelligence.

"We need allies in the east. Not all nobles are against us. If they were then the entire eastern region would have already risen in rebellion"

"I don't think we have allies in the east" Braun rebutted

"We have" Lucia looked intently at Timothy. She opened her palm and secretly showed him the seal he had given her just this morning.

Timothy smiled as he was reminded of Leo's Tear. He was too anxious that he forgot that they had loyal friends in the east. Powerful loyal friends.

"She's right Braun. We have allies we can trust in the east. I have decided" Timothy looked at Erik who had remained silent since the start of the meeting. "As planned you will go back to Greenwater and repair the city"

"You don't need me in the east?" Erik asked with a surprised tone.

"We really need Greewater. We can't afford to have our trade income remain stagnant."

"So who will fix the situation in the east? Don't tell me you are going personally."

"I'm not" Timothy confirmed "I will send someone whose name still strikes fear into the hearts of the nobles there and someone who knows Ivan the best. Also, someone who knows the east more than I do"

He looked at his father.

Leopold was zapped by Timothy's look. He pointed at himself.

"You mean… me?"

"And Braun" Timothy answered as he turned his head towards Braun.