CHAPTER 244: SANCTUARY PLEA

The Merchant ended up sending two entire trailers full of goods to the Manor.

Dominic didn’t recall ordering that much, but what they were unloading was mostly large items, furniture and drapery, as well as bolts of cloth that would be used to make new dresses once they had a proper seamstress on staff.

That would be a harder position to fill.

A Royal Seamstress was a lifetime sort of appointment, unless you did something truly unforgivable. The Cygnia Royal Family only had five of them in total, and while some fell from favour among certain family members, they always ended up making clothes for a rival instead.

Now, they might not be able to find a seamstress up to the Royal Standard, but Dominic was sure that they would manage to find a decent one eventually. The position was on the list of employees that they had requested for the Merchant’s Guild to attempt to obtain for them.

They weren’t expected to find them right away, but they had done pretty well on the rest of the list, and there was a seamstress or tailor in town now. Dominic had seen them on the list.

If they were good enough, Alexis would probably go to them for the majority of her clothing purchases.

"How is the loading going?" Dominic asked as the farmers finished emptying their carts.

"All done. We’ve got enough coin to get through the season now, as long as we can get the items we need.

I think that everyone has a wish list at the toolmaker’s forge already, just waiting on coin to pay him with. We’ve sold him all the food he’s willing to take, as he says he eats most of his meals in the Manor.

But he’s been good about making items on credit, as long as they’re urgently needed." One of the men explained.

"Well, now we’ve got the Khalil Family store and the bakery as well. I see that they both got a sizeable shipment from the Guild today. I don’t think that you should be short on too many of the essentials." Dominic replied.

The farmer laughed. "Sweets might be hard on the budget, but the Mercantile got in smaller bags of sugar, so we can make the simple ones at home. They got plenty of baking powder as well, for quick rise biscuits that are nice and fluffy."

That was one of the lesser concerns of most of the refugees when they left. But soft biscuits and pancakes made daily life much more tolerable.

Dominic was about to return to the manor when a rider in the distance caught his attention. He was riding hard, and the horse was lathered with sweat from the exertion. Not good for the animal, but they could have the new grooms and Jasmine take care of it.

He raised his hand to call the rider over, and the man skidded to a stop only a metre short of collision. He was dressed in a ragged Dagos Army coat over what looked like it had once been a nobleman’s finery.

"Whoa there. Hop down and let the animal rest before you ride it to death. Now, what is so urgent?" Dominic asked.

"Sanctuary." The man gasped. "Sanctuary."

Dominic stared at him for a moment, and then watched how all the locals were either backing away or preparing weapons.

"Tell me your name. We don’t offer sanctuary to those who have committed crimes against the people." Dominic demanded.

"Jerome Wall, son of Baron Wall." He began, then raised his hands in surrender. "I am not my father, I never swore fealty to Dagos. When my father found out that I had been helping peasants escape into Stansia Province after the declaration of reparations, he disowned me, and his men have been chasing me across the country.

I bypassed Lympsbury, the guards there might not be accommodating, unless they’re all Cygnia soldiers, and those might just kill me anyhow.

So, I beg you, Lord Wavemates, please grant me Sanctuary."

Dominic hummed as he considered it.

"Follow me to the Manor, we will discuss it there. If there are no objections, we will grant you sanctuary, and you can remain our guest until the matter of the mercenaries following you is settled." Dominic decided.

The Merchant’s Guild guard closest to Dominic made a discrete hand gesture, drawing his attention.

[He’s not telling the whole truth. He was a Dagos Officer during the battle of Lympsbury. His father is a right bastard, though.]

[Thanks.]

Dominic escorted the fallen Noble to the manor, and then to one of the sitting rooms.

"Alright, we will start with the easy parts. What was your position in the Dagos Army, and what was your last deployment?" Dominic began with.

The man should have a story for that if he was planning to lie. He was still wearing his military jacket, and while it was in bad shape, Dominic took it as a telling sign that he hadn’t discarded the last remnants of his uniform.

"My last station was in Lympsbury. I was a Lieutenant in the city guard. When the city fell, I returned to my home in the north, just outside Kinewen.

Everyone knows that Cygnia has taken Stansia Province, and they announced their intention well in advance. So, the peasantry is desperate to flee across the border. You know how the poor are, constantly looking for greener pastures.

Well, I saw an opportunity to help them out.

The Merchant’s Guild has refused to service the city of Kinewen during the war, at the request of the Kingdom of Axbridge. But they were happy to buy up the debt contracts for the travel fees to bring loads of peasants back to Lympsbury.

The local Lords and the patrols all know me, so nobody asked any questions.

Until my father found out, that is.

He declared me a traitor to Dagos and disowned me from the family." The dark-haired Noble Son explained.

Dominic frowned. "You do realize that none of what you said makes you sound like the good guy, right? Human trafficking, selling refugees into debt contracts, dumping them into an occupied city that is already on the verge of starvation."

Jerome froze. Dominic had a point. When you looked at it like that, it didn’t sound nearly as altruistic. In fact, if he had phrased it any worse, he might have come across the same as his father, who constantly advocated for the extermination of demihumans.