Chapter 138: A Place Worth Living In
Morning came quietly to Blackwood.
The sound of hammers broke the silence before the sun had fully risen.
Kael stood near the northern road, watching the workers begin another day.
The road had changed.
Only slightly.
The surface was smoother, the worst sections had been cleared, and piles of stone waited beside the road for the next stage of construction.
But Kael wasn’t looking at the road.
His attention was on the people.
A family stood beside a small wagon.
Three adults and two children.
Their belongings were tied beneath a cloth covering.
Kael recognized the man from the letter.
He approached.
The man immediately bowed.
"My lord."
Kael nodded.
"You came from Stonebrook?"
"Yes."
"What is your name?"
The man hesitated before answering.
"Edric."
Kael waited.
"Edric Harrow."
"And these?"
"My wife, Mara. My eldest son, Tomas, and my daughter, Elin."
Kael looked at the wagon.
"You’ve brought everything you own?"
Edric nodded.
"We were told there was work here."
"There is."
Edric looked toward the road.
"And a place to stay?"
"That is being arranged."
Relief appeared on the man’s face.
Kael noticed something else.
The children were staring at the construction workers.
Tomas looked especially interested in Garrick’s forge.
Kael followed his gaze.
"Your son likes the forge?"
Edric smiled.
"He has always liked watching a smith work."
Kael looked toward Garrick.
Then back at Edric.
"Perhaps he should watch."
Edric looked surprised.
"My lord?"
"Not as a worker."
Kael glanced at the boy.
"He’s too young."
Tomas lowered his head.
Kael smiled.
"But he can learn."
The boy looked up.
That small smile was enough.
Kael turned toward Lily.
"Make certain their house is near the northern road."
Lily nodded.
"I will."
Edric bowed deeply.
"Thank you, my lord."
Kael simply nodded.
As the family walked away, Lily stood beside him.
"You didn’t have to do that."
"I know."
"You really want people to come here."
Kael looked toward the family.
"I want them to stay."
By midday, Kael was inside the old orchard.
Master Rowan stood beside him, examining the ground.
"This could work."
Kael looked around.
"How many houses?"
"At first?"
"Yes."
"Twenty."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Only twenty?"
"Twenty proper houses."
Rowan pointed toward the ground.
"Foundations. Walls. Roofs. Storage."
He paused.
"And wells."
Kael nodded.
"What about the drainage?"
Rowan looked at him.
"Drainage?"
Kael pointed toward the lower part of the field.
"When it rains, where does the water go?"
Rowan studied the ground.
"Downhill."
"And if the houses are there?"
"They’ll get wet."
"Exactly."
Rowan scratched his beard.
Kael crouched and drew lines in the soil with a stick.
"The water should be guided away."
Rowan watched.
Kael continued.
"Channels here."
He drew another line.
"And here."
Rowan slowly nodded.
"You’ve thought about this."
"I don’t want people living in mud."
Rowan smiled.
"Then we build properly."
Kael stood.
"And the wells?"
"We’ll need to test the water."
"Do it."
Rowan looked toward the orchard.
"What are you planning for the center?"
Kael paused.
He looked across the empty land.
"A market."
Rowan frowned.
"Already?"
"If people are moving here, they’ll need somewhere to buy and sell."
"Then you’ll need storage."
"Yes."
"Stalls."
"Yes."
"Covered walkways."
Kael nodded.
"And somewhere travelers can rest."
Rowan looked at him.
"You’re building a village."
Kael shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the distant road.
"Not yet."
Rowan smiled.
"But that’s what it will become."
That afternoon, Kael visited Garrick’s forge.
The heat struck him the moment he entered.
Garrick stood over an anvil, hammering a glowing piece of metal.
Each strike rang through the workshop.
Kael waited.
Garrick continued working.
Another strike.
Another.
Finally, he plunged the metal into water.
Steam rose.
"How many tools can you make?"
Garrick wiped his forehead.
"Depends."
"On?"
"How many men do you expect me to employ?"
Kael smiled.
"I want to expand the forge."
Garrick stared at him.
"How much?"
"Enough to support Blackwood."
"That’s not a number."
"I don’t have one."
Garrick laughed.
"You truly enjoy making my life difficult."
Kael walked toward the workbench.
"I want tools for farmers."
Garrick nodded.
"Ploughshares. Sickles. Axes."
"Hammers."
"Knives."
"Construction tools."
Garrick thought about it.
"You aren’t asking for weapons."
"Not yet."
Garrick raised an eyebrow.
Kael met his gaze.
"Weapons will come."
Garrick smiled.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Kael laughed.
"How long?"
"If you give me three more apprentices and enough iron, I can double production."
"Done."
Garrick’s smile disappeared.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"My lord..."
"What?"
"Where are you getting the money?"
Kael stopped.
Garrick folded his arms.
"Because everyone keeps asking me to build more things, but someone has to pay for them."
Kael stared at him.
For the first time that day, he had no immediate answer.
Garrick laughed.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The face of a lord who has discovered that building an estate costs coin."
Kael shook his head.
"You’re enjoying this."
"Very much."
Kael turned toward the door.
"I’ll find the money."
Garrick called after him.
"I believe you will."
That evening, Kael sat with the accounts.
The numbers were less pleasant than the maps.
Blackwood had income.
But not enough.
The improvements had already begun consuming funds.
Stone.
Timber.
Tools.
Worker wages.
Food.
Housing.
Kael leaned back.
He needed another source of wealth.
Not a one-time payment.
Not a gift.
Something that could grow.
His eyes moved toward the map.
The roads.
The quarry.
The farms.
The villages.
Then he remembered the travelers.
The merchants.
The expedition.
The monster outbreaks.
The dangerous roads.
Kael’s fingers stopped moving.
There were people willing to pay for safe travel.
There were merchants willing to pay for protection.
There were villages that needed help.
There were monsters that needed to be dealt with.
And there were capable warriors who needed work.
The thought remained in the back of his mind.
He didn’t pursue it.
Not yet.
Instead, he returned to the accounts.
Blackwood needed money first.
And Kael would find a way.
Outside his chamber, the sound of construction continued late into the night.
The first houses were already being planned.
The first road was being repaired.
The first new families had arrived.
Blackwood was changing.
Slowly.
Quietly.
But it was changing.
And Kael was beginning to understand something his tutors had never taught him.
A territory did not become powerful because its lord possessed power.
It became powerful because its people had reasons to build it with him.