by Zack Finley
We ‘ported our supplies to the front gate and loaded them onto a wagon. There was now a shuttle service from the front gate to our main building. One poor basas trudged from gate to building and back, dropping off a filled wagon at the building and picking up an empty one. Sometimes they varied the route by going to the port buildings or the farms.
I chatted with the young man in charge of the station. He was very pleased with his current assignment. He received several stings in the jervin invasion. Alba healed him and returned him to the Keep. He liked his assigned basas and was trying to keep it happy.
Argon then made excuses to drag me away. Tobron wanted to brief us on the extermination efforts. We joined Tobron and Ronar walking near the palace entrance.
“The jervins have left,” Tobron said. “Ronar’s workers are backfilling the voids under our buildings where they were nesting.” Tobron pointed to three locations where workers not in Duchy livery were working. “We don’t want anything else moving into them. If unfilled it might make some areas unstable.”
I nodded. Made sense to me.
“I apologize Duke Steve for not detecting the jervins sooner,” said Ronar, bowing to me. “I believe the death cult site must have masked the life forms from my people. They are very sensitive, and I should have known they would avoid areas with painful spiritual vibes. I have asked them not just to verify there are no other nests but also to mark any remaining areas with a strong spiritual signal.”
“What happened to the jervins?” I asked.
“We took some of their scouts to several areas that we thought suitable for a new nest. All are a significant distance from the keep. After a bit of negotiation, they chose a site. The jervins are now marching to the site to establish their new nest. We’ve put up cautionary signs around the perimeter of land they intend to settle in but that was all they wanted from us,” Ronar said, adding “it was very fortunate your people exercised restraint last night, killing very few jervins. I’d never heard of that technique before, but it was brilliant. Too often we get called in only after the death toll on both sides makes a peaceful solution unlikely.”
“Who should I meet with to review the spiritual areas?” asked Argon.
Ronar and Argon set off to locate his lieutenants, leaving Tobron and me to review the meeting with King Arvich.
“You should take Capt. Malek and Marfo with you, tomorrow,” Tobron suggested.
I had expected to bring Argon and Tobron, but I paused to consider Tobron’s suggestion.
“Capt. Malek is the most experienced trader we have. While there can be some land-only trade between the kingdoms, everything else must go by water. Malek knows the status of things in all three ports. Marfo has too much to do right now. I think Marfo has a real talent with logistics and supply. Since we will be a net purchaser of goods for the foreseeable future, I think we’ll be smart to turn her loose in this area. I think she will add a lot to any proposals for economic cooperation,” said Tobron. “You also need to get to know Malek and Marfo better. And they need to understand you better as well.”
Tobron’s suggestion made sense. While it pushed my comfort zone, maybe that was a good thing. I couldn’t complain about Capt. Malek’s shipping line. And Marfo had handled her tasks just as well. She had a talent for matching individuals with the job assignment. The people she has brought in to run communications were doing a marvelous job. I was ready to promote Ellte.
“Okay, invite them. Tell them we need to discuss our strategy after dinner.”
“Yes, my liege.” I glared at Tobron, but he didn’t seem to be joking.
By popular demand, I was reassigned to help the farmers and foresters for the rest of the day.
When I checked in with the crews, they handed me a list of irrigation projects awaiting my attention.
The first assignment required water tanks on the inside of the Keep wall. Perga, who was familiar with the other irrigation work I’d done, marked the locations where he needed water. I systematically set about providing the water supplies.
I sent one of the Duchy Guard to get leather for my valve packing, figuring there was no need to ask for donations of belts. I then started conjuring cast iron pipe. This time I buried the large pipe to reduce impediments to traffic. I laid the system out in an orderly way. Offshoots were a smaller pipe. I sent the guard who had brought back the raw leather to make some wooden pipe plugs for these. I made butterfly valves for each mainline. Making them was easier today than it had been yesterday.
Experience counts for something.
I was enjoying myself, getting our infrastructure set up. Perga and I talked farming as we worked. He said the first crops being planted were the same ones King Rufix was pushing his farmers to plant. The foresters were concentrating on salvaging as many trees as possible before determining which trees we needed to replant.
“What will we need to feed a city the size of Klee or Augun?” I asked as I conjured a full tank of water and put another system in service.
“We have enough land to feed them, but it will be very difficult to balance food with appetite. While everyone prefers to eat fresh locally grown food, it will be hard to provide the diversity a large city needs. It only takes a few hours to plant a seed, but the art is knowing what to plant. To provide the diversity you seek, we will need farmers willing to do more than just plant one kind of seed. We will also need farms to provide meat, eggs, grain, and cheese,” said Perga.
“I need to find ways magic can help,” I said. “It can warm things up, cool things down. We can provide light around-the-clock. Force magic can break up the soil. Consider setting up experimental plots to test different growing methods. We also need to integrate our farming focus with our logistics.”
“I’m not the right person for this,” Perga said. “I’m a traditional farmer. I love the soil and the emotional high generated by growing plants. Some of our younger farmers might be a better choice for that role. I will, of course, do the best I can to fill this role, until we find a more innovative farmer.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “When you talk with Marfo about logistics issues, give her some hints on where she might find this innovator. You should also let her know how many farmers and foresters you will need to keep our farm production expanding.”
“Marfo,” I sent on the company net.
“Yes, Steve.”
“Perga will be coming to you with a personnel search for an innovative farmer. We need someone to head up our experimental farms,” I sent.
“What experimental farms?”
“The ones we need a leader to manage,” I answered. “I’ve also asked Perga to let you know how many farmers and foresters he will need in the coming months. You and he will also need to coordinate closely with the food preparers to begin introducing our locally grown foods into our diet.”
“We may need to set up a food management group,” Marfo sent.
“We definitely need to set one up. I don’t know who we have to head it up but feeding the Duchy isn’t something we can leave to chance,” I sent. “We can get everyone’s input into it tonight during our management meeting.”
I turned to Perga, “Marfo is expecting you to contact her with details about the kind of person we need to head up our experimental farms. If you have any ideas about someone to lead our food management group to coordinate what we grow, what we buy, what we do without, and what we store for emergencies, let her know that as well.”
“Yes Duke,” Perga said clearly discomfited by the entire discussion, although it took him only a few moments to shake it off and get back to farming.
I was working on the last of my worklist when Argon ‘ported to my side. She rubbed a smear of dirt from my face and kissed me.
“Looks like you have been having fun,” she teased.
“Actually, it has been fun. Lot’s more fun than eating lunch with kings,” I said. “Did you find any more places you need to cleanse?”
“Ronar is going t
o post warning signs in the main spots. We could probably wait to see if they dissipate on their own, but I’m inclined to call back the acolytes and set them loose to purge them. None even approach the strength of the lich lord’s lair. I didn’t sense any active spirits but they bounce between so often I can’t be sure,” Argon said, heading to fill the last irrigation tank with water.
My guardsman hurried to pound in the last set of pipe plugs before the tank filled.
I called Perga to join us. “Would it help if we conjured an inch or so of water for the fields you have planted? They look bone dry.”
“It would help a lot. It would also help if you could wet the soil throughout the area. We don’t want to work in mud, but I’m worried it is too dry to actually absorb the water,” said Perga.
I built a force magic lip around one-third of the smallest finished field. I then conjured a thin force field resting on the soil and filled the basin this created with water. I let the thin force field collapse slowly. Sloshy and muddy.
“Maybe we are going about this wrong,” Argon said. “Think the opposite of how you dried the warehouse floors.”
I settled into the copilot spot as she chose a section of the fallow field. She basically hydrated a large cube of dirt. She sent Perga to assess it.
“We could plow this now,” he said. “But if it had been planted, I’d like to see it wetter.”
Argon settled in to treat another third of my original field. Once Perga had blessed it we moved out to hydrate each of the planted fields. I went outside the keep walls and hydrated all the planted fields. A forester asked me to do something similar for his orchards. He worried it would shock his trees if I added as much water as I used on the fields. He picked two trees he thought could better stand the shock and I hydrated the area around them. Sensing the extent of their roots, I deepened the area hydrated.
My forester staggered and nearly fell when I was done. I’d have been quick to undo the spell, but I sensed he was staggered not by distress but by sheer pleasure.
“Please, quickly do that to as many trees as you can,” he gasped.
I went from orchard to orchard repeating the hydration cycle. By the time I returned to my original forester his fellows were seated around him in a meditation circle. I was turning away when one of the foresters I hadn’t spoken with before stood up and came toward me.
“Thank you so much, my lord. We are so grateful; our trees are so grateful. They have been distressed for so long, they didn’t even know how bad it was.”
“I like to help,” I explained. “I just didn’t know. We’d have done something about it days ago.”
“We may need you to perform your magic for several more orchards?” said the forester.
“Just let us know,” I said, nodding. He went to join his fellows, and I sought out Argon.
I didn’t have to tell her about the trees’ response, she’d felt it in the force.
Perga joined us but stood by politely as I approached Argon. “Did you have something more?” I asked him.
“I guess this was some of that experimental stuff you were talking about?” he asked.
“Yes, I think it is.”
“Maybe us farmers and foresters have been thinking about magic in the wrong way?” Perga said. “We may have a few more thoughts on ways to use magic to improve things.”
I reminded him to make sure everyone got in before dark and had dinner. He promised, but I could tell he was likely to forget eating in favor of some farming task.
“Don’t worry, Tobron has a dinner bell rigged now. Ellte will announce it over the coms, too,” she sent “If we are going to have a meeting after dinner, we should probably clean up early. I brought a few more clothes, towels and the like to our new suite.” With that, she threaded her hand in mine and she ‘ported us to our bare suite in the Keep HQ.
“Let’s clean up and see if we can help fix dinner,” Argon said, ditching her clothes and heading for the shower. I wasn’t far behind. Both of us concentrated on cleanliness, at least most of the time. I wiped down our armor while Argon gathered up our dirty clothes and tossed them into the laundry cleaner.
Someday I’d have to figure how the cleaner worked.
Just not today.
◆◆◆
Chapter 7
We were cleaned, dressed and out the door before Ellte sent the word for dinner. We went into the dining hall, and Argon immediately pitched in. I was still pretty inept in the kitchen but could help put tables and chairs back into place.
I was pleased with how clean the place was after last night’s encounter with the jervins. The vibe was tired but filled with a sense of accomplishment. As people came in from the fields, most left after a few minutes to go clean up. We were still waiting for the main courses to arrive from HQ but the kitchen staff had pulled together several side dishes and desserts.
Argon and I were the only directors to arrive so early. We got shooed away from the kitchen and retreated to the head table with cups of chee. Our kitchen staff had everything under control and more than enough help from the workers coming in from the fields.
I told Argon about my day and about Tobron’s suggestion that I take Marfo and Capt. Malek with me to the summit. She heartily endorsed it, though I had the distinct impression it had everything to do with her own happiness about missing the summit. She did offer one piece of advice, no matter what King Arvich said I wasn’t to hurt him.
She also suggested Gera as a possible food manager. He hadn’t joined the Duchy yet but had expressed interest as soon as his deployment in Augun was over. “I suspect Marfo already has his application.”
Gera had already proven his worth under fire. He’d shown he could handle more than his past suggested. Even if he wasn’t the best food czar, we had plenty to keep him busy.
Tobron and Marfo arrived together. Both spotted Argon and me sitting at the table and angled sharply toward us. Marfo arrived first since Tobron was delayed doing his chamberlain thing. Marfo was disheveled and looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Argon got up and brought her a cup of chee as I suggested she take a seat.
“I can’t go to your economic summit. I have way too much to do,” Marfo said without preface.
“Do you know someone else who should go instead?” Argon asked, taking the lead.
“Send dad, that is the kind of thing he enjoys,” Marfo replied.
I felt a bit guilty having spent the afternoon helping the farmers instead of carrying more of the management load.
Tobron and I had talked about the need for me to be a hands-on duke, pitching in where I could rather than spending all my time managing. The Duchy was so new that our people had to get to know and respect their leaders or we would never survive adversity. He reminded me that we could overcome the management problems with the organization, but no one else had my magic. I had to be free to train and expand my magic.
“What is so overwhelming?” I asked.
“I have a huge stack of resumes of people who we need to hire and no time to get to them. Even when we bring them on board, no one has time to help them get up to speed,” said Marfo.
“Do we know any of those on the list to hire? Perhaps they won’t need quite as much time to begin reducing the load on everyone else,” Argon asked quietly, clearly trying to soothe Marfo’s anxiety.
“A lot of them are family,” Marfo admitted. “Some could help out right away, but I’m trying to diversify. They aren’t blacksmiths, foresters, farmers, Duchy guard though.”
“Do you have a list?” I asked.
“I definitely have a list. I carry my list of the top candidates around all the time, not that anything comes of it.” Marfo handed a stack of papers to me. The top two sheets were a list of names. The other pages were skills assessments or resumes. About half were mages and all listed someone in the Duchy as a relative.
I checked with Inoa and learned she was on her way to the dining hall.
I thought it was funny tha
t Tobron arrived at our table only seconds before Inoa.
“We have a little problem,” I started. “I have been so focused on getting everyone here that I screwed up. Marfo has this list of people she wants to hire but doesn’t think she has the authority to do it.” Marfo’s face reflected her dismay at my announcement, but Argon stopped her from jumping up and protesting.
“She is just trying to comply with my conflicting orders. Hire people but hold up until after we get settled. Barring any security issue, we will be hiring every one of these people. We need help, now. So, I again apologize for setting up an irreconcilable conflict. Inoa, I’d like you to hire these people, assuming they pass your security check. Have them report to Tobron or his designee for assignment. I’m sure everyone we are hiring is willing to pitch in anywhere they can help out in the short term. Some have management potential so, plug them in where they can help.”
“I’d be happy to bring this group in as soon as we can meet and process them. I recognize quite a few names on this list, and I’m sure they can be here tomorrow,” said Inoa, slipping her hand into her daughter’s.
“Tobron, we need a someone to put in charge of managing our food supply. Marfo has done a great job getting many of the Klee area farms to sell to us directly, but we need to make sure that between what we are growing and what we are buying in Klee and beyond gives us a solid supply of food. I also need to have someone work with our farmers, foresters, and mages to increase our Duchy grown food supply. By sheer accident today, Argon and I repaired problems with our orchards and new crops that could have limited production for several cycles. Without a mage working with them, they would have accepted the problems as natural and inevitable,” as I finished Marfo looked like a cat who swallowed the canary and Inoa looked like she was sitting on a sharp object.
“Aunt Maude,” Marfo said.
Tobron looked at her in horror. “You can’t be serious,” he roared.
“I know she is eccentric, but this is right up her alley,” Marfo added.
