The young prince, Brit, began to calm down. The idea of others of his social rank around was a welcome change. Looking over at Erik, he said, "We can talk there. Though there is little to say. He was wearing black. Tall but light. Probably a village brat that is out of school but not working as much as he should." Something he intended to fix. Lord McCarthy had said the villagers looked like they were lazy. Maybe he could give them extra work to do as a tax break.

*****

Tracy sighed and headed into her main shop. Pulling out a dusting cloth, she started working on the shelves. Her mind was a mile or so away though. The money she was getting wasn't going to any use. She needed to think of a way to use it that would benefit the people without drawing suspicion to herself.

*****

Seeing that Princess Athena was to show them around, Derrick used his role of butler to approach and provide the appropriate social escort. Looking back momentarily at Athena's father, he frowned. Surely he wasn't in on a plot with Lord McCarthy. Looking forward with a careful controlled face, he decided it was more likely that Lord McCarthy or someone else outside the family had talked him into it. It didn't matter. No one would harm Athena with him around. He would make sure of that. The worries he had would have to stay on the back burner until his employer could sort out what was happening.