Chapter 134: The Lighting Ceremony Part 2
For several long seconds, nobody inside the carriage spoke.
The only sounds came from the distant rhythm of the steam engines hidden inside the power station and the growing murmur of hundreds of residents gathering beneath the newly illuminated streets.
King Edward remained standing.
His eyes followed the row of lamps stretching farther down the avenue as each one awakened in perfect sequence.
The light itself was unlike anything he had seen before.
Oil lamps produced a warm glow that flickered with every breeze.
Candles danced constantly, their flames forever shifting.
These did neither.
The electric lamps shone with quiet confidence.
Lord Ashford slowly closed his notebook.
"I finally understand."
Ernest looked toward him.
"What do you understand?"
"Why you insisted on demonstrating an entire community instead of a single building."
The Prime Minister swept his gaze across the marketplace.
A few minutes earlier, merchants had been lighting oil lanterns outside their shops.
Now several stood beneath the electric lamps instead, staring upward in complete disbelief.
Customers remained outside instead of hurrying home before darkness.
Children ran across the square laughing while parents called after them.
Nothing extraordinary had happened.
Nothing except the disappearance of darkness.
"You were never trying to sell lamps," Lord Ashford said quietly.
"You were selling the night."
Ernest smiled faintly.
"I was selling time."
The Prime Minister looked back toward him.
"Time?"
"When people no longer fear darkness, businesses remain open longer. Workshops gain additional productive hours. Students continue reading after sunset. Streets become safer. Markets stay alive."
He gestured toward the square.
"The lamp is only the tool."
"The real product..."
"...is extending the day."
King Edward remained silent.
He continued watching the people rather than the technology.
That interested Ernest more than anything else.
Machines impressed engineers.
People impressed kings.
The carriage resumed its journey.
The horses moved at a walking pace beneath rows of electric lamps while citizens respectfully stepped aside.
Some bowed upon recognizing the royal carriage.
Others hardly noticed because they remained too fascinated by the lights overhead.
One elderly shopkeeper slowly removed his spectacles before cleaning them with his sleeve.
Then he looked upward again.
"They’re still on..."
His wife laughed.
"They didn’t disappear."
"I know."
He continued staring.
"I simply thought they might."
Further ahead, several children stood beneath one of the lamp posts.
One little girl stretched both hands toward the glass globe.
"Papa."
Her father smiled.
"Yes?"
"Where’s the fire?"
He looked upward.
"There isn’t one."
"But... it’s making light."
"I know."
"How?"
The man hesitated.
Finally he looked toward Ernest’s carriage rolling past.
"I imagine only that young baron knows."
King Edward heard the exchange.
"So even ordinary people are asking the correct question."
"They usually do," Ernest replied.
"The answers simply arrive later."
The king nodded thoughtfully.
"I rather like that."
The carriage continued toward the commercial district.
Every intersection they crossed revealed another section of the electrical network functioning exactly as intended.
Street lamps remained equally bright.
No visible flickering.
No dimming.
No failures.
More importantly...
No panic.
People adapted with astonishing speed.
Several merchants had already extinguished their oil lanterns to save fuel.
Restaurant owners pulled additional tables onto the sidewalks.
Customers lingered.
Conversations continued.
Business refused to end simply because the sun had disappeared.
Lord Ashford noticed it almost immediately.
"They’re staying."
Ernest nodded.
"They no longer need to rush home."
The Prime Minister watched a bakery serving customers beneath bright electric lamps.
"They’re making money."
"They’re making additional hours."
King Edward smiled.
"I suspect the treasury will appreciate that."
The carriage gradually climbed the gentle road leading toward Beryl.
The atmosphere changed almost immediately.
Arcada had reacted with excitement.
Beryl reacted with curiosity.
Nobles and wealthy merchants stood outside elegant homes discussing the lights in hushed voices while servants gathered behind estate gates.
Several residents already possessed electric lighting inside their homes through Ernest’s experimental installations.
Even so, seeing the entire district illuminated proved very different.
The roads themselves glowed.
Gardens remained visible.
Stone fountains reflected white light across their surfaces.
One elderly noble quietly shook his head.
"I’ve lived here forty years."
His companion looked toward him.
"And?"
"I’ve never seen this road after sunset."
The other man frowned.
"You’ve walked this road countless times."
"No."
The old noble slowly gestured toward the surrounding trees.
"I’ve walked through darkness."
He looked toward the lamps.
"This..."
He smiled.
"This is the first time I’ve actually seen it."
King Edward heard that as well.
He looked toward Ernest without speaking.
No explanation was necessary.
Some inventions changed what people could do.
Others changed how people perceived familiar things.
Electricity belonged firmly in the second category.
They eventually reached the northern overlook where most of Beryl could be seen beneath the evening sky.
The king requested that the carriage stop.
For nearly a minute, nobody moved.
Below them, roads stretched through the district like glowing ribbons.
Light flowed from house to house, illuminating streets, gardens, bridges, and public squares.
Beyond Beryl, Arcada remained equally bright.
Only the distant countryside beyond Oriel still belonged to darkness.
Lord Ashford slowly removed his spectacles.
"I’ve spent my entire life believing cities simply disappeared at night."
King Edward quietly answered.
"So did I."
Ernest remained silent.
Some moments did not require engineers.
They required witnesses.
The king finally climbed down from the carriage.
He walked several steps toward the overlook with his hands behind his back.
His gaze never left the lights.
"I understand now."
No one interrupted him.
"When you first described electricity..."
He smiled faintly.
"...I imagined brighter lamps."
He slowly shook his head.
"I was thinking far too small."
He turned toward Ernest.
"You weren’t proposing better lighting."
"No."
"You were proposing a different civilization."
Those words surprised even Ernest.
King Edward looked back toward Oriel.
"I see roads people are willing to walk."
"I see businesses refusing to close."
"I see families remaining outside together."
"I see workers returning home safely."
He paused.
"And I see opportunity."
Lord Ashford joined him beside the overlook.
"I’ve been calculating tax revenue since Arcada."
The king laughed.
"I suspected as much."
"It isn’t only taxes."
The Prime Minister folded his notebook beneath one arm.
"Longer commercial hours increase trade."
"Factories operate additional shifts."
"Warehouses load cargo at night."
"Crime decreases along illuminated roads."
He looked toward Ernest.
"The economic impact alone may exceed the cost of construction over time."
Ernest nodded.
"That has generally been humanity’s experience."
The Prime Minister blinked.
"...Humanity?"
Ernest caught himself.
"My experience studying history."
Lord Ashford accepted the correction without comment.
The king remained unusually quiet.
Eventually the carriage continued toward Apex.
Unlike the other districts, Apex emphasized elegance above practicality.
Grand estates lined broad avenues bordered by carefully maintained trees.
Tonight those trees stood beneath evenly spaced electric lamps whose light reflected from polished iron fences and marble entrances.
The entire district resembled something from another century.
Several noble families had gathered outside their estates before the royal carriage even arrived.
They bowed respectfully.
King Edward acknowledged them before looking back toward Ernest.
"They’ll all want this."
"Yes."
"Can your company provide it?"
"Eventually."
The king laughed.
"I thought so."
The final stop lay before Oriel Manor itself.
The estate that had started everything.
Its windows glowed warmly beneath electric light while the surrounding gardens remained illuminated by discreet lamps placed along the pathways.
The hydroelectric station could still be heard faintly in the distance.
Though no longer the primary source of electricity for the community, it continued supplying power into the network exactly as Ernest intended.
Nothing went to waste.
King Edward stepped down once more.
He looked at the manor.
Then toward the distant power station.
Then back toward the illuminated districts surrounding them.
Finally he spoke.
"How long?"
Ernest understood the question immediately.
"To build this?"
"Yes."
"One year."
"And Helmarte?"
Ernest considered the scale.
"The first phase..."
He looked toward the city beyond Oriel.
"...between three and four years."
King Edward nodded slowly.
"I thought as much."
Silence settled over the group.
The lights continued shining without interruption.
No flickering.
No failures.
No excitement from the machinery itself.
Only quiet reliability.
That, Ernest reflected, was perhaps the greatest success of the evening.
The technology had stopped demanding attention.
Instead, people simply began living beneath it.
King Edward finally extended his hand.
"Baron Teucher."
Ernest accepted it.
"You have fulfilled every promise you made."
"I appreciate Your Majesty’s confidence."
The king smiled.
"No."
He looked back toward the glowing streets one final time.
"You earned it."
He released Ernest’s hand before turning toward Lord Ashford.
"When we return to the palace..."
The Prime Minister waited.
"...summon the Royal Council."
Lord Ashford smiled.
"I suspected you would say that."
King Edward climbed back into the carriage.
"This kingdom has entered a new age."
He looked toward Ernest through the open carriage door.
"And I have no intention of allowing Belfast to be left behind."