Chapter 6: Prepare for the Worst

“And, heave!”

The ropes creaked as a score of men pulled in unison.

“And, heave!”

Slowly, the mass of the ship began to shift, shifting forward in its drydock.

“And, heave!”

For a moment it seemed balanced, and then with a soft groan, it slid out of its cradle, sliding down the channel they’d cut for it and into the water with a massive splash. Whoops and cheers rose into the air as men scrambled out of the way, some swimming as the boat, the first produced by this tiny little village, slid forward in the water.

From the dock (because there was only one at the moment) Rel watched with a small smile. It reminded her of when she was a kid, and the sailors and dockhands would pull galleys into the water. This one only had a single mast; barely a sloop, even.

But even still.

She walked back towards the burgeoning port as the men clambered back up the dock, grinning and slapping each other on the backs. There were enough hands to crew a single sloop, and to train more men to crew the next. The manifest for this vessel was already determined, bringing the goods highest in demand from their trade caravan, and enough coin for the materials for another two ships and more than that besides.

“Well done, dockmaster!” Rel smiled.

“Feh, dockmaster.” The grizzled old shipwright that came with Lady Via from Silverwall waved his hand. Still, Rel could see the pride shining in his stormy eyes. “It’s barely a ship, my lady. The next one will be grander still.”

Rel felt her smile grow. “I know.” She turned towards the sea again, watching as the work crew hauled the ship abreast of the pier. It still had to be rigged, and sails hosted.

And of course, a flag christened. That was the most important part.

Rel had even swallowed her pride and asked the princess to make sure Lady Via’s schedule was clear.

“It’s finished ahead of schedule, too.”

The man chucked, stroking his bushy white beard. “The lads were eager to see it put to water. For a lot of us, it’s the first time we’ve put out a ship in over a decade.”

Rel smiled, nodding. It reminded her so much of home. True, Silverwall had never been as large—or had as many ships—as the capital city Corvandyr, but it had ships.

And now, they would have ships here as well. Just one, but more coming soon.

“If it pleases you, my lady, I’ve yet to see that the hold is filled and made ready for the voyage.”

“Right, best get that sorted.” She nodded. “And tell everyone who helped make the ship to take a day off.”

“There’s still work to be done.”

Rel raised an eyebrow at him. “We’re a full two days ahead of schedule, give the men one.”

He chuffed one last laugh and doffed his hat. “If the lady wishes.” It was only then, on the third time he said it, that the words finally penetrated Rel’s brain.

“Oh, no—I’m—” she raised her hand, but the man was already gone, swept off into the bustle of the port, where even on a day off there was more work to be done. Rel’s ‘I’m not a lady’ died on her lips.

She stared for a moment longer before shaking her head. “Still have more work to do.” She’d see to that misunderstanding later; for now, she still had to check to see that the outer walls were going up on pace. There had been some trouble with raiders in the woods, but so far they were only about half a day behind schedule.

Rel knew Lady Via had all sorts of plans for the new space, once they finished expanding and knocked down the inner palisade.

With a sharp nod to herself, Rel turned and marched back into the village proper. And it was a proper village now. Before, it had been barely more than a few hutches clustered together for mutual protection. Now, after nearly a month, the first set of new houses were well and finished, and another set after that was currently being built.

More and more people continued to stream in from the surrounding countryside, and both of the trade caravans to Corvandyr had brought back able-bodied men and women as well, people looking for steady employment, even if it only meant guarding a stretch of wall and hauling lumber every third day.

Rel felt her heart swell with pride. It was—

She paused, hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Rel turned, catching a sight of a small face peering out at her from behind a stack of building materials. The child’s eyes widened before they ducked back out of sight.

Rel felt a small smile break out over her face. “Hello there.” She sank into a crouch, leaning halfway around the side of the pile. It was stacks of lumber and rope, either bound for houses or for the docks. “Do you have something for me?”

Most recently, Lady Via had enlisted several of the children as runners and administrative assistants on their ‘days off’ from class. Now that they’d started learning their letters, Mistress could entrust them with notes, trusting that they’d be able to read the recipient and get it where it needed to go.

Rel herself usually received several such notes every day, and while she wished she could get her orders in person, things were moving too swiftly, and the currents too deep, for Rel to run back to the Lightning Mill after every job.

That’s what the locals were calling Lady Via’s new headquarters in the village, and Rel found she liked the name. After all, if a saw mill produces cut wood, what else should they call a mill that produced electricity?

In any case, after a moment, the girl peeked out again. She was one of the kitchen helpers, Rel realized. The one that was good with a knife.

“I—I do, Lady Rel.”

Rel blinked again. “Ah, I’m no Lady. The Lady is my Mistress.”

The girl looked at her for a long moment before shrugging and holding out the missive.

Lady Rel stared back at her from the parchment.

“It’s on the paper.” The girl proffered it. “I just take it where it needs to go.”

Rel opened her mouth, before closing it, unsure what to say. After a second, she just shook her head, taking the piece of paper with a mumbled ‘thank you’. She’d have to talk to Lady Via about this later. It wouldn’t do for people to start getting the wrong idea.

Rel flicked open the message, scanning it quickly. She’d been literate before—first from her mother, and later her myriad of apprenticeships—and she recognized the elegant hand as Ishanti’s almost immediately.

After a moment, Rel sighed, tucking the parchment into the pocket of her pants.

She didn’t like the Princess, still.

“It’s a good idea.” She gave the girl a smile. “Can you tell Ishanti I said as much? I’ll take care of things on my end.”

The girl tilted her head the other way. “Can I come instead?”

“What?”

The girl nodded. “I’ll get Mattew to tell the silver lady.”

Rel blinked as she waved another boy over. “Go tell the silver lady that Lady Rel said,” she cleared her throat. “ ‘It’s a good idea, I’ll take care of things on my end.’ ”

Rel could only watch as the boy nodded. “Thank you, Lady Rel!” Then he dipped into a brief bow, sandy blond hair flopping, before dashing off.

“But I’m not…” Rel stopped; he’d already gone around the corner.

There was no way he would have heard her anyway. The street was full of people. In fact, in the time it took to have this conversation, two men had come and carried away the bundle of building materials the girl had been originally hiding behind.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Rel asked.

The girl shook her head. “M’ done.”

“Then…” Rel grasped around for something else to say. For once, her Dream Sequence skill had nothing to help her. “Shouldn’t you be back home?”

“Don’t wanna.” The girl pulled a face. “Mama gave me to an uncle I didn’t know ‘bout.”

Rel opened her mouth again, before pausing.

“Ah.”

The girl looked up at her with big red eyes beneath her black fringe. Rel knew that there were lots of orphans that came with Lady Via, and that Mama still took care of many of them. There had been a concerted effort to find family for the children where possible.

All well and good, but most of the people who’d fled the city with Lady Via had been poor, criminals, or poor criminals.

Rel never had wanted to go back home, either.

She opened her mouth; to say what, she did not quite know.

Then there was a rush of heat and light to the east of the village. A moment later, the alarm bell started to ring.

“Shit.” The curse felt like a razor against her lips, but she held in the cutting word. She’d need it soon enough. “Get to the Lightning Mill,” she told the girl, before turning and running towards the wall.

She met up with Electra and a band of combat classers at the gates. The women shared a look, before nodding. There wasn’t time for anything more.

So far, no one had come back from the farms.

They set out from the village at a brisk jog.

The cause of the light became apparent almost immediately. Nearly a mile from the village itself, one of the farmsteads had gone up in flames.

“Round up everyone!” Rel called as they ran. “Keep away from the flames! Anyone with water magic, with us!”

They’d gathered a few—water magic was a useful skill on an island—by the time they’d made it to the barn. Electra organized the water brigade, spraying down the arounds around the blaze and working their way inward, trying to quench the flames. Electra took a tenman of her own and rounded the property, searching.

They found a few survivors, two men and a woman who had been far enough away when the barn had gone up to run, and they were still covered in soot.

“The animals all ran,” the man managed after a moment and a cup of water. “Someone—” He coughed, doubling over for a long moment as his lungs spasmed. “Someone opened the doors before they set fire to it.”

Rel frowned. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“One of the horses caught fire.” The woman choked back a sob. “It’s what caught the fields, I tried to catch her, but…”

Rel looked over towards the fields, where even now most of the crops were still burning. Electra’s team had managed to put out the buildings, but all they could do was hope to contain the grass fire.

There was a rush of air, and Rel looked up just in time to see Lady Via land her demon bird. The woman jumped off, striding forward. Her black cloak and hair whipped around her, and it took the woman only a moment to pinpoint Rel.

As always, Relia knelt before her Mistress. “My Lady.”

“Up and attem, Rel.” Lady Via crossed her arms. “We don’t have time to waste.” She looked over the scene. “Any sign of who did this?”

Rel paused for a moment, but shook her head. “No. We don’t… know if someone did this on purpose.”

Via drummed her fingers against her bicep. “Did any of you set your own farm on fire?”

The three survivors shook their heads vehemently.

“Yeah, didn’t think so.” Via glared at the flames. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a massive demon made almost entirely of water. “Devour the flames, and nothing more.”

The demon burbled happily at her command, launching itself into an arc like a waterfall in reverse, before crashing down onto the burning field.

A moment later, all that remained was steam.

“Coordinate with Electra; she has the most experience with crime scenes,” Lady Via said. “It’s too much to hope anyone will still be here, but maybe we can figure out how they set it all up.”

“Yes, My Lady.” Rel ducked her head. “You’re sure then, that it was intentional.”

Via snorted. “Of course it is. It’s what I would do, in their situation.” She glanced over at Rel, before finally cracking a smile. “Cute kid. About time you picked up an assistant.”

Rel blinked in surprise. Her head whipped around to see the red-eyed girl from earlier just a few steps behind her.

By the time she turned back, Lady Via had already returned to her mount. “I’ll trust you to handle things here. I need to head back and make sure no one tried to sneak in while we were distracted!”

Rel opened her mouth, before nodding. “Yes, Mistress!”

Via snorted. “Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that in public?” Then she was in the air, and Relia was left with three sooty farmers, a burnt-out farm, and a little girl. She decided to do the reasonable thing and deal with these problems in order of least to most difficult.

Rel turned towards the girl.

“So,” the child said, kicking a foot against the ashy ground. “Can I come?”

Rel turned towards the farm.