Now this was something interesting. Alexander was slightly taken aback and therefore did not respond immediately.
"Why shouldn't we do it?"
"Your Grace may not know, but before this area had black cedars growing around," the headman lowered his voice almost to a whisper.
"I am aware of that."
"And black cedars produce their nuts. A good road requires many workers…"
"Ah, here's the first drug dealer on my hands."
All the previous business ventures had been within the law, and the boldest of them was the brothel project in the city, with a staff of village girls who had been shamed previously and thus had no chance of starting a family. But brothels were not prohibited anywhere in this world, and trading one's body brought a good income. And now, such a sharp transition from strictly adhering to the law to its complete disregard and death penalty for it.
"However, my dear, I did not expect you to have such adventurous desires."
The headman clearly did not understand him, hearing an unfamiliar word, so he just stood there blinking.
"So, if I understand correctly, you want to suggest that I trade in black cedar nuts, which is a violation of our kingdom's laws."
The man hesitantly nodded.
"I refuse. And I will execute any traders of these nuts who appear on my land without waiting for a royal court decision. Is that clear?"
The headman nodded vigorously, showing by his demeanor that he had heard and understood, and that he would be the first to report anyone. The knight, not content with just this effect, stepped closer, placed his hands on the headman's shoulders, and then locked eyes with him. This was enough to extract a couple of drops of the headman's blood.
A priest! The whole idea was his. Hence the stark contrast between harmless business ventures and risky illegal activities.
"Then I will not keep you any longer. You may return home."
"Sir, may I see my daughter?"
Although the headman was cowardly, there were no true cowards among men in this world; the environment did not allow for survival. This individual, who had just proposed a serious crime and received a sharp refusal, did not flee like a beaten dog with his tail between his legs but instead asked to see his daughter. Such behavior deserved respect, and therefore the headman was not sent on a sexual journey.
"Come, I'll escort you. I'm curious to see how she is."
The last part was of course a lie, but the interlocutor did not need to know that.
The girl was found in the dining hall, where lunch was being set up for the prisoners. The little girl, showing off a small belly, was desperately flirting with a young man who was helping her. The former convict responded to her somewhat reciprocally, but it was clear that his primary impulse was not a sexual one, but rather the need to protect. The young man was remarkably well-mannered and, seeing the child in such a delicate situation, took great care of her.
The father-daughter meeting went as expected, awkwardly. He apparently did not even know why he occasionally visited his child, whom he had so hastily rejected, and she could not forgive him for that. But both observed the social norms accepted in society. The vampire watched the scene with barely concealed interest, while the former convict was angry, and his active actions were restrained by Alexander's presence.
When the brief and awkward meeting was over and the headman had returned to his village, the knight went not to his warm bed with his lover but to the dining hall, where the prisoners were just beginning to gather for lunch.
The people immediately fell silent at his appearance, no matter what status he had among the beings holding them, but the knight's shoulder bore the insignia of a knight, and this alone made the prisoners behave extremely cautiously. Summoning the girl standing by the pot of porridge with a wave of his hand, the vampire immediately left the dining hall, as embarrassing the prisoners beyond what was necessary was never his plan.
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