The Line of Illeniel

Chapter 25

The next morning brought its own challenges, Joe had returned from the capital with the first string of wagons and men. I was about to head down to the dam to try out some of my new ideas when they came through the main gate.

“Joe!” I called to him. He was riding with a small group at the head of the procession.

He rode over to me, “Morning your lordship!” He doffed a cap he must have picked up in the capital and executed a bow while staying in the saddle.

“Your trip seems to have been good for you,” I remarked.

“Not half so good as it has been to you,” he replied. He pointed back along the line of wagons and men. “You can’t see the half of it yet. More than two hundred men have signed on, most of ‘em hoping for land. I’ve also got twenty wagons of lumber, seventeen of grain, several more with stock iron and tools… I’ll have to make you a list.”

“How many of the men are workers?” I asked.

“About half of ‘em, the rest are mercenaries, though I bet they’ll work a shovel as good as anyone,” he winked at me. “Let me introduce you to my new friend here… Angus McElroy. He’s a stone mason by trade, and a damn good one. Angus this is our Lord Mordecai Illeniel, the new Count di’Cameron.”

The man riding beside him looked short, though it was hard to tell since he was in the saddle. Balding on top he had possibly the broadest shoulders I had ever seen. “Nice to meet you your lordship.” He attempted a bow from the saddle as well, though it was a bit clumsier than Joe’s had been.

“Excellent to meet you Angus, I’ve got a rather complicated dam building project at the moment. I don’t suppose you have any experience in that area?” I asked eagerly.

“I worked on the pier construction in the port city of Krytos. I’ve never worked on a dam but I’ve overseen several large projects in the capital and I’m familiar with the issues of masonry and water,” he answered smoothly.

He projected a calm confidence. I took that as a good sign, the one thing we sorely lacked was experience. None of the masons I had working with us currently had ever been involved in large projects, much less managed them. “I’ll introduce you to my father; he was about to head over to the build site this morning. He’s currently in charge of the project but he could sorely use your help.”

“Let the man get settled! He’s only just arrived,” protested Joe.

“It’s fine Joe, the sooner the better. I’ll trust you to watch my things,” Angus reassured him.

I took Angus aside and introduced him to my father in short order. I had been planning to ride to the dam with him but I figured I’d better stay behind today and help organize the new materials and men. I left them discussing the current state of the dam and returned to help Joe find places to store the materials he had brought.

The rest of the day was occupied with logistics. It was soon apparent that we wouldn’t have enough room to permanently house so many people. Rather than assign the new men to the dam I made plans to have them work on building temporary housing for themselves and the other people we expected to be arriving soon.

“Rose thinks we can find a lot more people. You’d best be ready for at least this many over again when the next load arrives,” Joe told me.

I had needed more hands, but now that I had them it was clear they brought their own issues, “How are we going to feed all these people?” I explained that we would be relying almost entirely on purchased food and grain to make it through the winter.

“You’re going to need a lot more then. If you’re feeding the duke’s men and all their dependents, plus these, and whoever else Rose finds… you’ll need several times more than what I brought,” Joe replied.

“I have to have enough to make it into late spring, at least until the first summer harvest comes in… assuming we have a chance to plant,” I rubbed my forehead to try and relieve the headache I felt coming on.

“Relax a bit your lordship. Make me a list and give me your best estimate for how many mouths we’ll have to feed. That Lady Rose is amazing. She knows more about supplies than anyone I’ve ever met. She’s already thought of things that never occurred to me,” he assured me.

“Well her father is in charge of managing logistics for the royal army, in time of war,” I reminded him.

“Speaking of which, things seemed a bit tense between her and Lord Hightower,” said Joe.

“You met him?”

Joe scratched his head as he answered, “Yeah, he showed up while we were loading the wagons. He was none too pleased about what she’d been doing. I got the feeling it wasn’t their first ‘discussion’ about it.”

I was curious, “What did he say?”

Joe laughed, “That he’d have her locked up if she kept at it. Said the king was after him to put a stop to it. She gave him hell when he told her that. Don’t think I’d ever seen her lose her temper before.”

I rubbed my chin, I hadn’t shaved in over a week and the stubble on my cheek was starting to itch. “You think he was serious?”

“Seemed like it to me, but who knows? He might have just been trying to scare her,” Joe started laughing then.

“What’s so funny?”

His blue eyes were crinkled with humor, “I ain’t never seen anyone like that woman. If there was ever someone that couldn’t be scared, it was her. He’s wasting his time if he thinks she’ll quit. If she was my daughter I wouldn’t bother with threats… just lock her up straight away. A woman like that won’t listen.”

“That’s what I was thinking too. I’m sure her father knows it as well,” I replied. I was worried Lord Hightower might just do that very thing. “How soon can you be ready to go back?”

“Soon as the wagons are unloaded and the drivers have had some sleep. They’ll want a good meal before we get back on the road,” he answered.

I felt bad pushing them so hard but time seemed to be the one thing we lacked. “We’ll start tomorrow then. I’m coming with you.”

Joe’s face showed surprise. “I’d be thinking you’re more needed here your lordship. Isn’t that why Lady Rose stayed behind, to help with arrangements?”

“I suspect that even the formidable Rose Hightower might need some help now and then. My father and that master mason you brought back can worry about the dam for a week or two without me. I’ll put Dorian in charge here, he can handle mercenaries as well as I can, better actually.” I didn’t bother telling him I had another idea as well, since I wasn’t sure it would work.

I left Joe eating in the great hall and went to find Dorian. He was out in the yard, already working to organize the new mercenaries turned guardsmen. Cyhan was with him. I caught Dorian’s eye and he came over as soon as he was done talking to them.

“Mort! Look at them… worst soldiers I’ve ever seen!” he seemed rather irritated.

“Well they are mercenaries…” I began.

“Even mercenaries should have some pride! These men are just barely this side of being outright bandits! I’m surprised Rose had the nerve to bargain with such ruffians. I have serious doubts about their usefulness in the spring.” Dorian seemed to be his usual optimistic self. I don’t think he’d ever gone more than five minutes without having something to worry about.

“Well you have till spring to whip them into shape.”

“I’d need ten years to turn them into real men,” he groused.

“You have a few months, put ‘em to work on the housing first. After that, see if Dad needs any help at the dam, if not start them digging earthworks around the outer wall.”

“That’s not going to stop Vendraccus,” said Dorian.

“It doesn’t need to. We don’t have enough room inside the outer wall to put all the temporary housing and shelters. Build a palisade and a steep ditch to protect the new quarters, I can’t afford to lose men to the shiggreth before the spring gets here,” I replied.

“There hasn’t been any sign of them since that night but I can’t fault your logic there,” Dorian agreed.

“I’m going back to the capital with Joe,” I told him without preamble.

Dorian frowned, “Why? Is Rose alright?” Leave it to Dorian to immediately think of her. Unfortunately in this case he might be right.

“She’s fine,” I lied. There was no force on earth that would keep him here if he thought I was concerned about her, and I couldn’t afford to have him elsewhere. “I have an idea to speed up the transfer of materials between here and the capital. If it works I’ll be back within a week.”

“It takes almost a week just to get there Mort,” said Dorian dryly.

“Trust me,” I winked at him.

“I hate it when you say that. It usually means you’re about to do something stupid,” he grumbled.

I gave him a looked of wounded innocence, “Have I ever let you down?”

“Yeah remember when you stole those berry tarts?” When we were ten I had stolen three tarts from the kitchen in Lancaster. Dorian’s bedroom had seemed the safest place to hide them while they cooled. No one would suspect him I had reasoned.

“Well… technically that wasn’t my fault,” I protested. It had been Marc’s idea, and he had taken another three without me realizing it. The cook had been so incensed they interrogated every boy in the keep.

“The hell it wasn’t! You showed up and hid them in my room, ‘trust me’ you said. Remember what happened? I still have the scars. I couldn’t sit for a week,” Dorian’s eyes lit up. He loved telling a good story, even if it involved childhood pain.

I didn’t bother arguing. We’d have gotten away with it if he hadn’t blown our cover. As soon as the duchess put him to the question he had frozen up. Eyes wide and face pale they had immediately known he was guilty of something. It was the only time the duchess ever taken a switch to me personally.

“It will be fine,” I reassured him, but I had to wonder. If things went wrong this time I would get much worse than a switching. I went back to my room, I had a lot of work to do before we left in the morning and I needed a certain book.