100 Words a Day 533

He walked among the little people, and was loved for it. They owed him their taxes, but nothing more, certainly not their affections. He was welcomed into every village with cheers. He ate with lords and farmers and took their concerns to heart. They showered him with adulation because of the way he treated them. They who owed him so much; they had no sword over his head nor hand on his coin purse, yet he treated them as equals. They judged him as a man should be judged, by his behavior towards those who held no leverage over him.