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"I thought the convicts were building the road," I interrupted

"Convicts labor et solid work out of them, but if the driver is lazy or absent, the mules are useless In the case of the convicts, they can be worse than useless; they can be trouble of a destructive nature in our nens and on the frontier When they have served out their time, few of them wish to settle to peaceful lives of hard work and hway trade, preying on the very King’s Road they helped to build Others return to being the drunks, thieves, and whoremasters they were here in the west When you are stationed to your first posts, you will discover that our cavalla and foot soldiers are used as much to keep order in our border towns as they are to cal’s claims You and Spink are soldiers in a troubled time, Nevare I understand why ues, but soon, as an officer, you will have to navigate those uneasy waters I think it is best that you knohat you will face"

"I thank you, sir, for sharing these things with s are closer to the borders, and I know that often we have had to defend our people, not fro bands of outlaws To hear the other cadets speak of their hos made me wonder if perhaps we are the only folk so troubled Now I see that we are not But I still do not understand why brother should stand against brother in this Surely the nobles, closely related as they are, could band together to act for the greater good of their king and themselves"

"Some of us believe that to be true Obviously my brother and I have kept our close bonds, and feel it is in our best interests to continue the ‘stole’ their soldier sons Many nobles felt that the lands granted to the soldier sons as their noble portions should have instead been given to the first sons of the families, to hold in trust for their soldier brothers Why, they wonder, did the king not enrich them instead of their soldier brothers?"

"But the soldiers had earned both honor and estates! They were the ones who shed their blood and risked their lives to gain those lands for the king"

"So the soldier son sees it, of course But tradition was that honors and rewards that the soldier son earned were for his family, not himself There are now noble families who have sons who have openly expressed the areat deeds in battle, they too may rise to the status of lords And I fear that not all soldier sons who have risen to noble titles have conducted themselves nobly Many were ill prepared to deal ealth and power They have squandered as granted to therace Yet even so, they are ‘lords’ with the option of voting in the Council of Lords They are vulnerable to those ould buy influence Thus it is that many old families feel vulnerable to the new nobility in many ways"

"But…but hoe threaten theenuinely puzzled

"The new nobility threatens our power, and in sonity But oals, which , the benefits of division a his nobles are undeniable The Council of Lords is seldom able to achieve a majority vote with a quorum on any question, let alone the questions that relate directly to taxation or the king’s authority But even on uilds and constructing works for the good of all, such as building bridges,have difficulty in reaching a consensus Often new nobles in the outlying areas have no care to attend the sessions or vote on things that seem not to have any impact on them Why should they be taxed to lay rail lines in Old Thares? Then, to accos, we are forced to send an advisory to the king, who then cos should be so"

"If the nobles get what they want, why do they care?" I asked I knew the answer but I was suddenly feeling stubborn Were these the reasons that soldier sons of new nobility were treated poorly at the Acadeavelook Then he answered and did not answerto be in control of their own lives Even a loyal servant, given authority over his master’s business, will soon wish for ht to profit when he runs it well It is human nature, Nevare Once a man has had authority over his own affairs, he does not surrender it easily"

Saying that see emotion in him He stood, rolled his shoulders, and then strode across the roolass of brandy When he turned back to us, he said more calmly, "But I remain one of the old nobles who is convinced of the wisdo’s current a our borders I think that if we can gain a seaport on the Rustian Sea, on the far side of the Barrier Mountains, we could gain trade contacts and alliances with the people of the far eastern lands I know his dreareat change Perhaps one e risks to increase our stature in the world" He lowered his voice suddenly "And here at home, I think ould be wiser to unite and support hi of first sons has led to a division in the Acade our soldier sons That should not be It starts with hazing at the Academy, but where does it stop? That I do not even wish to consider"