Chapter 161: The Road
The torches kept moving.
Aria counted them again.
She stopped at thirty.
There were more behind them.
Much more.
The settlement had gone completely silent.
People had woken from their homes and gathered outside, confused and frightened.
The Duke’s soldiers were already moving.
"Everyone inside," the Duke ordered.
A farmer looked toward the road.
"Who are they?"
"We don’t know."
"Then why are we hiding?"
The Duke looked at him.
"Because not knowing is exactly why we don’t walk toward them."
Aria glanced at the Duke.
"That was surprisingly reasonable."
He ignored her.
"Soldiers, take positions around the settlement. Nobody leaves without permission."
Eight trained fighters moved immediately.
The rest of the settlement remained clustered near the houses.
Aria looked at them.
Children.
Elderly people.
Farmers.
Builders.
Potters.
People who had never held a weapon.
People who had spent their lives being told what to do.
She couldn’t let panic spread.
"Everyone!"
The crowd quieted.
Aria stepped onto the wooden platform.
"We don’t know who those people are."
That made several people nervous.
"So nobody is going to guess."
She pointed toward the eastern road.
"We’re not going to run."
Some looked surprised.
"We’re not going to attack."
Others relaxed.
"And we’re not going to do anything stupid."
Kelme raised a hand.
"Can we make that last rule permanent?"
Aria looked at him.
"You’re the reason we need it."
"Fair."
A few people laughed.
The tension eased slightly.
Aria continued.
"If they’re merchants, we’ll talk."
She looked toward the Duke.
"If they’re soldiers, we’ll ask why they’re here."
The Duke nodded.
"And if they’re hostile?"
Aria paused.
"Then we protect ourselves."
She didn’t say anything more.
She didn’t need to.
The people understood.
---
The first messenger arrived twenty minutes later.
A horse approached from the darkness.
Two soldiers immediately stepped forward.
"Stop!"
The rider pulled on the reins.
The horse stopped.
The rider raised both hands.
"I come under a white flag!"
The Duke stepped forward.
"State your name and purpose."
The rider swallowed.
"I’m Captain Roderic."
"From?"
"The Northern Trade Authority."
Aria frowned.
The Northern Trade Authority?
She had never heard of it.
The Duke apparently had.
His expression changed.
"You’re far from your territory."
Roderic looked uncomfortable.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I’ve been ordered to deliver a message."
"To whom?"
Roderic looked around.
Then his eyes landed on Aria.
"To the woman responsible for New Beginning."
Aria raised her hand.
"That would be me."
The captain stared at her.
"You’re Aria?"
"Yes."
He looked genuinely surprised.
"You’re younger than I expected."
Aria frowned.
"Everyone says that."
Kelme whispered:
"Because you look like you want to bite people."
Aria elbowed him.
Roderic continued.
"I’ve been instructed to deliver this."
He pulled a sealed document from inside his coat.
Aria didn’t take it.
"By whom?"
"Lord Harven."
The Duke stepped forward.
"Harven?"
Roderic nodded.
The Duke’s face hardened.
Aria noticed.
"You know him?"
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
The Duke looked toward the distant lights.
"A regional governor."
Aria’s eyes narrowed.
"Why would a governor send an army?"
Roderic immediately corrected her.
"Not an army."
Aria pointed toward the hill.
"There are dozens of people carrying torches."
"An escort."
"An escort?"
"Yes."
"For a letter?"
Roderic looked uncomfortable.
"For a negotiation."
Aria slowly took the document.
She broke the seal.
Inside was a formal notice.
She read it.
Then read it again.
Kelme leaned closer.
"What does it say?"
Aria handed it to him.
His eyes moved across the page.
His expression changed.
"Oh."
"What?"
He handed it back.
"They want control over the eastern trade road."
Aria frowned.
She looked at the letter again.
It wasn’t asking permission.
It was announcing that the road would be placed under Northern Trade Authority administration.
New Beginning would have to pay a road usage fee.
All merchants would need permission to use it.
And settlements benefiting from the road would contribute to its maintenance.
Aria slowly lowered the paper.
"They’re taxing the road."
The Duke nodded.
"That’s normal."
Aria looked at him.
"Normal?"
"Road maintenance costs money."
"I understand that."
She pointed at the letter.
"But they haven’t built the road."
The Duke read the document.
Aria watched his expression.
He frowned.
"They intend to."
"When?"
"Eventually."
Aria stared.
"They’re charging us for a road that doesn’t exist."
Roderic looked uncomfortable.
"The authority has already allocated resources."
"Where?"
"I don’t know."
"When will construction begin?"
"I don’t know."
Aria folded the letter.
"Then why are they here?"
Roderic hesitated.
"I was instructed to secure your agreement before construction begins."
Aria stared at him.
"So they want us to pay for something they haven’t built."
"Essentially."
"And if we refuse?"
Roderic glanced toward the hills.
"They may reconsider the route."
Aria understood.
That wasn’t a threat.
Not exactly.
It was leverage.
If New Beginning refused to pay, the road might simply go somewhere else.
Without the road, transportation would become harder.
Their merchants would pay more.
Their pottery would take longer to reach markets.
Their entire business could suffer.
Aria looked at the darkness.
Someone had finally found a way to make her pay for being successful.
She hated how efficient it was.
---
The next morning, the settlement held a council meeting.
Everyone was exhausted.
The Duke stood at one side of the table.
Martha sat opposite him.
Kelme was eating bread.
Aria stared at him.
"Are you seriously eating?"
"Yes."
"We’re discussing a regional trade authority."
"I can’t negotiate while hungry."
"You’ve negotiated while eating before."
"That was different."
"How?"
"There were muffins."
Aria sighed.
She turned toward the Duke.
"What happens if we reject the fee?"
"The road may not pass through New Beginning."
"How much would that hurt us?"
"Significantly."
Martha nodded.
"Very."
Aria looked at her.
"How much?"
Martha thought.
"Transport costs could increase substantially."
"By how much?"
"Enough to reduce our profit."
Aria frowned.
"Could we build our own road?"
The Duke laughed.
Not mockingly.
Just genuinely.
"You don’t have the manpower."
"How much would we need?"
"Hundreds of workers."
"And money?"
"A great deal."
Aria leaned back.
"So we’re trapped."
The Duke shook his head.
"Not trapped."
"What then?"
"Negotiating."
Aria looked at the document.
"What can we negotiate?"
"The fee."
"The route."
"The maintenance responsibility."
"The access rights."
Martha added:
"And who controls the road."
Aria looked at her.
"Can we?"
"Yes."
Martha smiled.
"You’ve been thinking like a manufacturer."
She pointed toward the pottery.
"Now think like a merchant."
Aria frowned.
"What would a merchant do?"
"Ask what the other side wants."
Aria looked at the Duke.
"What does the authority want?"
"Revenue."
Martha nodded.
"And control."
Aria thought.
"If they want revenue, we can give them revenue."
Kelme stopped eating.
"You’re going to pay them?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"We give them a reason to make money from us."
Martha’s eyes lit up.
"Exactly."
Aria stood.
"We need to make the road more valuable to them than it would be without us."
The Duke nodded slowly.
"That is possible."
"How?"
"More merchants."
"Already happening."
"More trade."
"Already happening."
"More settlements."
Aria paused.
Then smiled.
"Then we make New Beginning a trade center."
Kelme swallowed his bread.
"You’re thinking big again."
"Yes."
"Should I be worried?"
"Probably."
---
That afternoon, Aria requested another meeting with Captain Roderic.
He returned with two officials.
One was an accountant.
The other was a road engineer.
Aria immediately liked the engineer.
He looked exhausted.
She trusted exhausted people more than smiling ones.
They sat around a table.
Aria placed several documents in front of them.
"You want revenue."
The accountant nodded.
"Yes."
"You want road maintenance."
"Yes."
"And you want control over the road."
The accountant hesitated.
"That is the authority’s position."
Aria smiled.
"Fine."
She pointed at the map.
"Then build it here."
The engineer leaned forward.
She had marked a route.
It connected New Beginning to three existing roads.
Then to a market town.
Then to a larger trade route.
The engineer studied it.
"This route is longer."
"Yes."
"It would cost more."
"Yes."
"Why choose it?"
"Because it passes through New Beginning."
The accountant frowned.
"That benefits you."
"Yes."
The engineer continued examining the map.
"And it connects to the southern market."
"Yes."
"And the western agricultural region."
"Yes."
"And the river route."
"Yes."
He looked up.
"This would create a significant trade corridor."
Aria smiled.
"That is the idea."
The accountant leaned back.
"Your settlement is still small."
"For now."
"And you believe it can support this?"
Aria pointed toward the pottery workshop.
"We already have more orders than we can produce."
Then toward the fields.
"We’re expanding agriculture."
Then toward the storage buildings.
"We’re increasing capacity."
Then toward the road.
"Your road would bring more merchants."
She looked directly at him.
"More merchants means more transactions."
The accountant frowned.
"More transactions means more revenue."
"Yes."
The engineer nodded slowly.
"She has a point."
The accountant looked at him.
"You’re supposed to be neutral."
"I am."
"You’re agreeing with her."
"Because she’s correct."
Aria smiled.
Kelme whispered:
"I like him."
---
The negotiation lasted hours.
The authority wanted a fixed annual fee.
Aria wanted a percentage of trade instead.
They disagreed.
They argued.
They recalculated.
They argued again.
Eventually Martha entered the discussion.
She proposed a tiered system.
A small fixed contribution during the first year.
Then a percentage of commercial activity once the road became profitable.
The authority would maintain the road.
New Beginning would provide workers for minor local maintenance.
Merchants using the road would pay normal tolls.
New Beginning would receive reduced transport fees because the road passed through its territory.
The accountant stared at the proposal.
"This is complicated."
Aria nodded.
"Business is complicated."
He looked at her.
"You hated that word."
"I still do."
The engineer laughed.
Finally, the accountant agreed to take the proposal to Lord Harven.
Aria stood.
"Then we have a temporary agreement."
"Temporary?"
"Until the governor responds."
The accountant nodded.
"Yes."
He collected the papers.
Then stopped.
"One question."
"What?"
"Why do you care so much about controlling your own affairs?"
Aria looked at him.
For a moment, she didn’t answer.
Then she said:
"Because I’ve seen what happens when people don’t."
The room became quiet.
The accountant nodded.
He didn’t ask anything else.
---
Three days later, the answer came.
Approved.
The road would pass through New Beginning.
Construction would begin within the month.
The settlement would contribute a reduced initial fee.
The authority would receive a percentage of trade passing through the settlement.
Merchants would have access to the road.
And New Beginning would have a recognized market station.
Aria read the document twice.
Then smiled.
"We won."
Kelme looked at her.
"You’re not supposed to say that."
Aria frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you told me we’re not supposed to think in terms of winning and losing."
She stared at him.
"I said that about the settlement."
"Still."
She sighed.
"Fine."
She looked at the document.
"We negotiated successfully."
"Much better."
Martha smiled.
"You’re learning."
Aria pointed at Kelme.
"Don’t you dare start."
---
Construction began two weeks later.
Workers arrived.
Stone was moved.
Trees were cleared.
The road slowly took shape.
New Beginning changed again.
The road brought merchants.
The merchants brought money.
The money brought new businesses.
A blacksmith opened a small workshop.
A tailor rented a building.
A baker arrived.
Then another.
Someone opened a general store.
A carpenter began selling furniture.
The settlement was no longer just a settlement.
It was becoming a town.
Aria stood at the edge of the new road.
She watched a caravan pass.
The driver waved.
She waved back.
Kelme stood beside her.
"You know what this means?"
"What?"
"We need a bigger sign."
Aria looked at the old wooden sign.
NEW BEGINNING
She smiled.
"Probably."
Kelme pointed at the road.
"And maybe a gate."
"Why?"
"So people know where the town starts."
Aria looked at the settlement.
Then at the road.
Then at the growing collection of buildings.
"We’ll need one eventually."
Kelme grinned.
"Town."
Aria smiled.
"Don’t get ahead of yourself."
---
That evening, Aria returned to the council building.
There was a letter waiting.
She opened it.
Her smile disappeared.
It wasn’t from Lord Valen.
It wasn’t from the guild.
It wasn’t from the government.
It was from Lucan.
She read it once.
Then again.
Then slowly sat down.
Kelme entered.
"What happened?"
Aria handed him the letter.
He read it.
His face changed.
"What?"
Aria pointed at the final paragraph.
Kelme read it aloud.
"The northern supplier has informed us that clay shipments will be suspended indefinitely."
Aria’s stomach tightened.
"What?"
He continued.
"Reason: revised trade restrictions."
Aria stood.
"That’s impossible."
She grabbed the letter.
"Lucan’s supplier has a contract."
"Apparently not anymore."
"Who changed the restrictions?"
Kelme looked at the bottom.
His expression became serious.
"The Northern Trade Authority."
Aria stared at him.
The same authority that had just agreed to build their road.
The same authority that wanted a percentage of their trade.
The same authority that had arrived with dozens of guards.
She slowly understood.
The road wasn’t the only thing they controlled.
Aria looked toward the window.
Outside, the settlement was thriving.
The new road was being built.
Merchants were arriving.
Money was flowing.
And now someone had quietly reached for their supply chain.
Aria folded the letter.
"We need another source of clay."
Kelme nodded.
"Immediately."
Aria looked toward the darkness beyond the settlement.
"No."
She shook her head.
"We need to know why."
A shadow moved outside the window.
Aria turned sharply.
Someone was standing across the road.
Watching the council building.
The figure disappeared into the darkness before she could see their face.
Aria’s hand tightened around the letter.
Someone wasn’t merely trying to profit from New Beginning anymore.
Someone was testing how much control they could have over it.