It was the 10^th of the eighth month of 1835, over a month had passed since I bought Alina. Since then she had gained weight and no longer looked malnourished, she had taken up work as a maid and was taking lessons in learning combat. On the side Otto was teaching her Tuargic literacy while I was teaching her the roman alphabet. Alina diligently did her duties and was a fast learner in both literacy and combat. Her eyes were slowly getting a bit of life and emotion back. It seemed like she was slowly recuperating from her trauma and gaining some self-esteem, though this was being inhibited by the snide and discriminatory comments from some of the maids and servants that have too much time on their hands but I was able to get Otto to shut them up by firing those that needlessly gossip instead of doing work.

I suppose it has been long enough, I cannot wait forever for paper to invent itself. Calling Alina to my private study I handed her a parchment detailing various tools and saying that she was completing activities on behalf of the lord’s son and gave her a very specific set of instructions. ‘’Alina, I want you to  go to the woodworker in town and order these items listed here, afterwards you are to go to the forest village and survey what types of trees the forest has and bring back samples of their bark. Once you have returned you are to check the woodwork shop and collect the ordered items at the time they are finished. You will order the items today and set out tomorrow for the forest with a guard to accompany you’’. ‘’Yes master’’ Alina responded, with a respectful bow.

‘’Good, make sure to get the knight to help carry the samples. Once you complete this job, I will have a reward for you’’ I said. This caused a ripple came across her face as her calm and obedient demeanour broke for a second betraying her surprise and curiosity before she reverted back into her calm and obedient manner. It seems like I’ll need more time before she becomes comfortable with me.

The next day

‘’Master I have returned with the samples’’ Alina said bowing with her arms full of different types of bark. Walking over and placing my practice sword on the rack I said ‘’very good, can you lay them out for me to look at’’. ‘’Yes master’’ she said, immediately laying out the different types of bark, the knight behind following suit while grumbling about how he was doing such a menial task.

Stepping towards the rows of bark lined up I began inspecting the different types of bark. Tree in particular stood out, a mulberry type of bark that was a somewhat flexible,  a bark that looked like it was peeled off from a paperback maple while the other was a really soft white bark that looked like it came from an Australian paperbark tree. I inquired about the populations of each of the tree trees the bark had come from. Though I couldn’t get a defined answer I was told that the mulberry tree was located on ground level with the mulberry trees accounting for around a third of the forest on that altitude. The other two were found on a higher altitude that the mulberry trees and often on rocky soil or on an incline, likely due to the mulberry tree being significantly bigger and likely requiring more ground water. The paperback maple tree accounted for 20% while the Australian paperback trees accounted for 30%.  Hearing this I smiled and told Alina ‘’good job, bring these three to my room and place the rest with the firewood.

I finished up my practice and went up tp my room where Alina was waiting for me outside the door, the three bark in her hands. She seemed to be waiting for me to come, it was a pretty unusual order after all. Opening the door, I directed her to place the bark onto the study table while I picked up a wrapped loaf of sweet bread from the dining table, sugar was rare and expensive so anything sweet was costly, though it was only a proto-treat to someone from these times that only ate bland food it would be delicious. Handing it to her I said ‘’this is your reward, you are also free from your duties from the rest of the day’’. Hesitantly she took the loaf from my hands and held it inquisitively, unsure why a slave was being rewarded or if this was some kind of trick. Seeing her hesitation I said ‘’its yours eat I’’. hesitantly she brought it up to her mouth and started nibbling on it before devouring the tasty treat in a matter of seconds. Cute, very cute. Snapping back to my senses I dismissed her lest she stand there awaiting her next orders. ‘’you are dismissed and have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow you will visit the woodwork shop to see if it is finished.

A week later

I was standing in the work shed the servants that tend to the manor use. With me were the three sample bark, buckets of water and Alina. I instructed and guided her on mixing the bark with the water, mashing it into a pulp and pressing out the liquid. After the process we were left with three thin squares that were left out to dry. ‘’This is called paper Alina, be sure to keep the process to make it a secret okay’’. ‘’Yes master’’ she responded. ‘’Alina, make sure to bring the paper to my room. Now that I can make paper I can begin mass production in maybe a month, once I set up the manufactory.