Tristan just rolled his eyes as Andráska talked about investing in infrastructure and merchants and nobles using their wealth to help solve the housing crisis. Was he honestly that naïve? Most nobles wouldn’t be willing to part with their precious nels in order to ensure that a bunch of former slaves had a roof over their heads. They would probably rebel if their king demanded that, and another rebellion was the last thing that Rynmere needed after Veljorn and Zvezdana!
But then he suddenly mentioned rent, and Tristan’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. Everybody liked receiving rent. “That”, he said. “Could actually work. If we don’t give the houses away for free – if the former slaves have to pay rent as soon as they are able to – there’ll be few complaints from the merchants and nobles. And investing in infrastructure is always a good idea. We need better infrastructure!”
“Of course”, he conceded. “Investing in our infrastructure and making our cities look better won’t automatically increase tourism. We also need to assure the foreigners that it is safe to come to Rynmere again, that whatever troubles we had are a thing of the past now. But that is a matter that is best discussed another trial.”
Had they come to a decision? He looked at Andráska and Rey’na who had been suspiciously quiet for the past couple of bits, and then he realized that the decision would be up to him because he was currently playing the part of the king. He still thought that keeping slavery would be best option, but there were plenty of people that wanted to see it abolished or at least changed, and a king had to make compromises sometimes.
“We’ll do it your way”, he decided. “We’ll keep the slaves that were captured in battle and free the rest. But if any slaves would rather remain slaves and stay with their owners, we won’t force them to leave. And we won’t punish foreigners that visit our kingdom with their slaves, no matter what kind of slaves they are. We want more tourists and not fewer tourists.”
With that he fell silent again and glanced at the host, wondering who was behind the mask and what they thought of his performance. Had he played the part of the king well? Of course he had!
But then he suddenly mentioned rent, and Tristan’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. Everybody liked receiving rent. “That”, he said. “Could actually work. If we don’t give the houses away for free – if the former slaves have to pay rent as soon as they are able to – there’ll be few complaints from the merchants and nobles. And investing in infrastructure is always a good idea. We need better infrastructure!”
“Of course”, he conceded. “Investing in our infrastructure and making our cities look better won’t automatically increase tourism. We also need to assure the foreigners that it is safe to come to Rynmere again, that whatever troubles we had are a thing of the past now. But that is a matter that is best discussed another trial.”
Had they come to a decision? He looked at Andráska and Rey’na who had been suspiciously quiet for the past couple of bits, and then he realized that the decision would be up to him because he was currently playing the part of the king. He still thought that keeping slavery would be best option, but there were plenty of people that wanted to see it abolished or at least changed, and a king had to make compromises sometimes.
“We’ll do it your way”, he decided. “We’ll keep the slaves that were captured in battle and free the rest. But if any slaves would rather remain slaves and stay with their owners, we won’t force them to leave. And we won’t punish foreigners that visit our kingdom with their slaves, no matter what kind of slaves they are. We want more tourists and not fewer tourists.”
With that he fell silent again and glanced at the host, wondering who was behind the mask and what they thought of his performance. Had he played the part of the king well? Of course he had!
