“Finally, I will be able to sleep in a proper bed.” Gerald said to himself as Braydon came down from the carriage, helping Nela and Father Odom down after him. Braydon could understand the sentiment. They were used to travelling on the road, but that combined with there not being normal beds on the ship, Nela being the exception, had meant that there was no way to have a comfortable time.

“That’s only if Rhydian doesn’t think of something for you to go and do.” Braydon poked fun at him, getting a sour look in return. With Rhydian that was not outside the realms of possibility. Work came before everything for that man, with the possible exception of training and practise.

“You have a rather nice place here, young Braydon.” Father Odom said as he looked around the courtyard. Braydon was unsure if the praise was just a platitude or genuine but he would take it.

“It is better than when I arrived that’s for sure. There were very few people here, be that servants or soldiers, the place almost felt dead.” Dead might have been an exaggeration, but the headache that Braydon had had when trying to get enough people to have the castle up and running warranted it. At least it did to him.

“Steven, bring Father Odom to a room that he can stay in for the night. He will probably not be spending most of his time in the castle, so remember to send word to Mapjess. We wouldn’t want there to be nowhere presentable for him to stay.” Word had been sent of their return when they had arrived in Milmond, so Steven and Colin had been waiting for them to arrive. Now that Father Odom had been dealt with for now, Braydon turned to Colin.

“So is there anything that has happened whilst I was away?” Braydon asked as he walked with Colin and Nela towards the keep, it was late in the evening but he might as well ask for the 30,000 foot view now rather than tomorrow.

“Almost all of the vagrants have been settled into new houses, there are still about 100 or so that need houses, but they are being built now. Though, since many of them left in a hurry there is a shortage of farming supplies such as tools and seeds. Normally that might be alright but merchants are still hesitant to go east of the castle.” Colin gave the good with the bad, one problem had been solved but there was a new one to deal with.

“Have you looked into getting these things? And is there anything else that I should know? From what you said, merchants have started coming to Mapjess?” Colin had a better idea of finances than he did, but if he had been running low on funds, Colin would have already mentioned it to him by now, so there should be enough denars to buy supplies in a hurry. Even if it would be a bit more expensive.

“I have sent a letter to Wathamalin to ask how much they have in the way of farming tools and how quickly they could make more. What they have on hand is not nearly enough for tens of families, but the blacksmiths guild said that they could make enough for our needs in about a month. That would mean that planting crops would be later than normal though.” Colin took a pause for breath and looked to see if Braydon had any more questions about that. When he saw that there were none he continued.

“And it is just as you guessed, merchants have started returning to Mapjess. From what I have gathered there are more visiting now than before it was captured, though many were short trips to gather information. The area being more peaceful now has attracted more to come, if I am right the town should be getting more revenues from tolls in the future.” They weren’t doing bad for money, the mine would ensure that for a while. Even so, one source of income would not be good in the long term, and Braydon was happy to see that Mapjess was showing signs of prospering.

“Anything else can be brought up tomorrow, you look like you could do with a rest after your travels.” With that Colin finished his initial report, the other things that he would need to report were more details and future planning. Such things were better done all at once, and that might take several hours.

“Thank you for your work, I am sure Rhydian will have things to report when he returns too. Oh and before I forget to mention, we made quite the sum of money, you can get the servants to bring it to the ‘treasury’.” Braydon mentioned the money that they had earned but he found it quite funny calling a small room a treasury. As he spent more time in the castle than in Mapjess, most of his wealth was stored in the castle. But since it was built to be a border fort, there was no place to store his money, a small room near the great hall had become that place.

“Then I will say goodnight to you here and go do that.” Colin made a small bow before he went to get that dealt with. Braydon and Nela split up to go to their own quarters not long after. Steven was already waiting outside of his chambers by the time he got there, sans the new priest.

“Is he settled in?” Braydon asked.

“He seems to be quite happy, Sire. But that is not saying much considering he spent the past several days on a boat or in a carriage.” Steven said, apparently feeling humorous.

“I cannot argue with that logic.” Braydon himself did not like travelling in a carriage, and traveling by ship had turned out more boring than he had thought. Likely because he was a passenger rather than a part of the running of the ship, Braydon was sure that the crew did not have time to be bored with all of the jobs that constantly needed doing.

“Now I really need to sleep, you would not believe how much Nela and our good Father spoke about the new school. They did not know how to talk about anything else.” Braydon started to complain as Steven undressed him.

“You should really be the most excited about this, the school is going to be training people who can work for you.” Steven replied. Braydon could think of a few responses to that but he was tired and just wanted to sleep now, getting into a debate would be too much effort.