The next morning, Dominic found that there were a surprising number of Noblen at the table for breakfast, and that there was a place of honour for him reserved between the Earl of Totbu and the City Lord.
Being around the mbers of various Royal Families so much, Dominic had forgotten just how high he was up the rankings.
Most cities would not have a Duke visit more than once every few years, and it wasn’t just Noble courtesy that demanded he be treated well, it was law. Legally, he was considered above them, though the City Lord held rights within his own city, and the Earl of Totbu wasn’t directly his subordinate.
However, the rest of the people in the room were the Earl’s vassal Lords, co to greet the Lords with birthdays over this week.
And they were all more than happy to suck up to the wealthy Duke.
"Your Grace, I have heard wonderful things about your construction projects. I don’t suppose that your new equipnt designs will be making it to the market soon, will they?" One of the Barons asked.
Dominic was about to answer, then rembered vaguely hearing earlier that the man had a factory for the existing road graders in his territory.
"While they are being produced, the number being made is limited.
They’re also primarily designed for a hard surfaced main highway. It’s not really practical to convert every road to a major highway, you see. The maintenance alone would collapse a nation’s budget," Dominic joked.
The Baron looked relieved. Those road graders to smooth the spring ruts in dirt and gravel roads were the lifeblood of his Barony.
"Oh, I heard sothing about that. I believe that the City Lord has started a similar project."
The City Lord smiled. "Not quite as grand, as the project is being done by the Royal Infrastructure teams. But you are right, in that there is an improved road being built between here and Wistover.
It’s said that the project will cut down the travel ti to the farming villages by weeks during the wet season."
The nobles quietly applauded the news, not wanting to be seen as too exuberant, or too hungover to want to make any loud noises.
The young Nobles who had been at the party last night were definitely looking under the weather this morning. Unlike Amie and Dominic, who appeared to be in perfect shape, the future Mayor looked like everything, right down to the movent of his own hair, was painful this morning.
So spared a mont to wonder if he even rembered his own celebration, given the condition that he was in by the end of the evening.
Either way, he would hear about it soon enough.
It was going to be hard to ignore, when one of his best friends was still sitting tenderly from a misplaced dart to the backside.
"Your Grace, I hear that you did not partake in the darts’ competition last evening. Are you not a fan of the ga?" One of the Barons asked, hoping to start an actual conversation.
Dominic chuckled. "It would be a bit unfair, as I arrived late and sober. However, I am quite adept at the ga. It’s a great way to pass ti."
It was also very similar to the throwing knife training that Alexis had all the staff doing.
Dominic didn’t often join in, but he did practice it enough that he wouldn’t be massively embarrassed by the maids in an attack. You could only rely on magic for so much, and throwing knives were easy enough for soone with decent dexterity to learn.
A few of the military Barons nodded. They also played the ga with throwing knives, and suspected that was why Dominic hadn’t joined in.
The Princess was well known for her skill with the weapon, and the rumours were spreading that Dominic had always indulged her.
The al was brought out, and Dominic chuckled as he noticed that there was both Wistover coffee and the distinctive yellow potatoes that the trolls grew. To everyone else in the room, the coffee was a luxury item. But the potatoes had beco the staple of everyone’s diet.
They were the core of every food relief shipnt, there was no way around that.
They stored entirely too well, lasting a whole season if kept cool and dry. But there were also local turnips, eggs, bacon, buckwheat pancakes, and various sweet baked goods.
It was a much heavier breakfast than usual, but that seed to be the tradition for birthdays.
The Mayor’s heir was looking a bit queasy as he stared at his plate, but his father simply had the maids pour him so form of dicinal juice after he drank his coffee.
Dominic tilted his chin toward Amie, who shrugged and gestured in the Wavemates hand signals.
{He will be fine in a minute. That tonic will settle his stomach and clear away most of the hangover. It’s made by the local witches.}
Earl Totbu noticed the exchange, and gently tapped the table.
"I see that the influence of the rchant’s Guild is strong in Wistover," he noted.
Dominic laughed politely. "Actually, it’s quite the other way around. They learned the hand language from my family, not the other way around. But usually, we would use the standard Guardsman’s signs. They’re more widely understood, and just as easy to use without disrupting the conversation."
That was not true at all. Dominic almost never used them.
The Earl smiled. "You know, they’ve flat out refused to teach , no matter how many tis I have asked. They insist that it’s not sothing that is shared with outsiders."
"That is true, normally it’s only the Guild and the Wavemates Family households that use it. Not exactly a widespread language. Not like the standard signs, which most of the armies in the region use."
The Earl sighed as he realized that Dominic wasn’t going to volunteer to have soone teach him.
It sure would be nice to know when the Guild was planning to hustle him and when they were just negotiating a proper way to distribute goods after purchase. That not knowing had been bothering him ever since he realized that the subtle shifts of body language were actually a complex language.
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