Wilson gave Aella a tight grin by way of response. As they waited, they could hear low voices conversing but not clear enough to understand the words. After a few moments too long, though Wilson, the young lady returned. "The Master has agreed to see you immediately," she said.

Wilson bowed his head slightly. "My thanks to you," he said.

The young lady blushed slightly. "If you will just follow me?"

Wilson and Aella followed her into the back office.

There, behind one of the largest oak desks Wilson had ever seen, sat a small, thin man with a large black mustache. His mustache hung in two long tails from the edge of his lip down below his chin. As he spoke, the two tails bobbed up and down. "So good to see you. My assistant Felicia says that you are here concerning a matter of taxes," he said. Then he slowly folded his hands and laid them on the edge of his desk. He leaned forward as if encouraging Wilson to speak.

Clearing his throat, Wilson said, "Yes, Master. First of all, let me thank you for seeing us on such short notice."

At this the Master waved his hand, as if to say it was nothing.

"Yesterday, as I was visiting my sister on her farm, Basden the Baron's son came and delivered some disconcerting news. The notice said the Baron was declaring my father, Goodman Maravill, an enemy of the state and that due to this, there was an extra tax of ten golds to be levied on his lands. The same lands my mother left to my sister and I when she died not two weeks ago."

The Master's head was nodding slowly as Wilson spoke. Encouraging him to continue.

"I am here to request the tax be waived," finished Wilson.

"Hmm, most irregular," said the master. He opened a file that sat on his desk. He read the top paper. After a few moments, he slid the top paper aside and read the next paper. He went back to the first paper and read some more. He unfolded his hands.

"I am aware of the notice." He sat quite still and said nothing more.

Wilson stared at him for several moments before he realized nothing more was forthcoming in the way of information. "And..." he prompted.

"That is all," said the Master.

Wilson stepped forward one step closer to the desk. "Sir, I am asking you if you can remove or justify the penalty? The decree claimed my father was a traitor. That has never been proven. He left, no one heard again from him. This doesn't constitute treason. “Can you remove the penalty or at least explain it?" he asked in a quiet, tight voice.

The Master looked distinctly uncomfortable. As if he wasn't sure if Wilson was going to strike him. "Now, now," he chided. "No need to become uncivil about this."

Wilson snorted. "Ten golds is definitely something to become uncivil about. For me, a well-paid soldier of the King, that is nearly two years wages. It is an unjust tax and I'm here to have it removed," he raised his voice.

"I understand that," said the Master. "I understand why you are here. There is just nothing I can do about it," he said in a quiet voice that cracked a bit on the last few words.

"Nothing you can, or will?" asked Wilson as he leaned over the desk.

The Master squeaked. "Nothing I can," he said hurriedly, "Nothing I can."

Aella reached forward and tugged on the back of Wilson's shirt. Wilson stepped back from the Master's desk. "Then, thank you," he said to the Master. "Thank you for nothing at all."

With that, he turned on his boot heel and walked out of the Master's office. Aella shrugged at the Master and followed Wilson out the way they had come in.

The Black Oak Sword

Chapter 1: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Chapter 2: Part 1 , Part 2
Chapter 3: Part 1 , Part 2,Part 3
Chapter 4:Part 1,Part 2
Chapter 5: Part 1
Chapter 6: Part 1, Part 2
Chapter 7: Part 1, Part 2
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14:Part 1
Chapter 14:Part 2
Chapter 15:Part 1
Chapter 15:Part 2
Chapter 16:Part 1

© 2017, Stone Golem Publishing, All rights reserved--no part of this may be used without express written consent.

**All pictures used are labeled for reuse. They come from Pixabay

Follow @bigpanda for more flash fiction.