King Godwin looked at the man. The risks in far sailing are well known. Go beyond sight of land and you rely on the stars and on charts.

Indeed, the merchant said. But if a farmer shall be paid for the loss of his harvest, should we not be paid for the loss of ships with so many aboard?

Godwin suppressed a flash of irritation. Are you asking the crown to underwrite your profits? You take risks with others lives in the hope of making a fortune, while a farmer grows what he can to see his family and those around him fed. So no, I will not recompense you for your losses, but my men will be visiting the House of Merchants to make sure that you are compensating the families of the sailors who have been lost in your ventures.

It was not the politic move, of course, and Godwin could see the irritation on the merchants face, but sometimes such men had to be put in their place. The trick was knowing when to do it and when not to. Godwin had chosen this merchant because the loss of his ships already made him weak. He could afford the mans hatred.

They came then, one after another. There were common folk with grievances about the ways they were being treated by the guard or their lords. Godwin tried to listen seriously to these. There were more merchants, and men from the various Houses, and these always seemed to think too much of their importance. There were, inevitably, more things to prepare for the wedding.

If we do not have enough wine for so many guests, he declared to one surprised-looking servant, then go out and find more. This is not a matter that requires the kings authority.

He tried to be a good ruler, to be patient and just with the people who came to him. A part of it was that it was what he had always promised himself he would be, the memory of his own fathers reign far too fresh. Godwin II had not been a kind king, and Godwin III found himself determined to make up for it.

Another part of it was that Rodry and his friends were in the hall, helping with the feast, but seeming to spend as much time cavorting as doing anything useful. One day, his son would be the king, and that meant that Godwin needed to set an example for him. He needed to show his son that not everything was about charging around the countryside, playing the knight, fighting and hunting.

The problem was that right then, Godwin would rather have been doing any of those things.