Chapter 13: The Lady and the Lacky

Safe Words

Your words cannot be overheard unless you want them to be. If this effect is penetrated, you will be immediately aware of it. In addition, your orders will be conveyed immutably through (lvl)2 intermediaries.

I raised my eyebrow at the description of the skill. Usually, I had to use the skill a few times, work things out on my own, before the description would update.

“Maybe it’s something to do with my second class.” I’d have to ask Ishanti about that, but as always, the direct effect of the skill was less useful than what I could do with it.

Sending secure messages, for instance, meant I could finally do something I’d been putting off for a while. Rel was off handling work distribution for the first true set of walls now that we had some breathing room, and I wanted to talk to her, but didn’t expect her back for another hour at least.

So, I was surprised to step out of my office just in time to see her crest the top flight of stairs.

I shook my head, letting out a laugh. “I thought you were still busy. Any problems?”

Rel smiled, coming to bow before me. “None. I simply felt that you’d need me soon, Mistress.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “I guess I am actually your Mistress now, aren’t I?”

If anything, her smile grew even wider. “You always were, My Lady.”

I laughed, gesturing for her to follow me. “What happened to that shy little girl I almost killed on my first day in Silverwall?” Relia fell in step at my side, the fabric of her sleeve brushing past my shoulder.

“She found you, Mistress.”

I laughed again, but Rel’s smile stayed constant. She just looked happy to be at my side. Really, my adorable little minion had bloomed since we’d arrived at Lady’s Port. Rel had taken to her new duties like a fish to water, often taking care of issues for me before I even became aware of them.

She was invaluable.

I decided that we weren’t in such a rush that I couldn’t tell her as much.

I turned, reaching up to cup her cheek. Rel blinked down at me, cheeks tinting red as her breath caught.

It seemed that I could still get a reaction from her, hmm? I smiled.

“I’d be lost without your help,” I said. “I don’t tell you that enough.” Rel sucked in a breath, long eyelashes fluttering. God but when did she get so tall. When we’d first met, she’d been barely a few inches taller than me. Since then, she’d stopped slouching and sprouted like a beanpole.

I hadn’t realized that I had to look so far up to meet her soft brown gaze.

Her hand came up to cup mine. “And I, you.”

I swallowed. “What happened,” I said again, “to that shy girl who couldn’t even meet my eyes?”

“You did.”

That startled a laugh from me. “So cheesy. Christ.” I stepped forward, pulling the tall woman into a quick hug, before stepping back. I cleared my throat. I had stuff to do, after all. I just wanted to let a girl know I appreciated her, not get sucked into a heart to heart.

I started down the stairs. “Anyway—”

Rel caught my wrist. “I mean it nonetheless, My Lady.”

I swallowed. “Duly noted.” I nodded once, then again. “I need you to get me a messenger that will be fine going back to Silverwall.”

Rel let herself be pulled along down the stairs. “What are you looking for? I have a few that shouldn’t be known to the guard.”

I released a breath, but not Rel’s hand. “Someone smart enough to get into the city without raising suspicion. I just need them to pass on a message.”

“The message?” Rel asked.

I squeezed her hand. “I’ll tell you both at the same time. New skill.”

She nodded. At the bottom of the Lightning Mill, she slowly, almost regretfully, slipped her hand from mine. Outside, the town was bustling. I waved at the group of men laying flagstones for the main road up to the mill itself.

Rel whistled, two sharp notes. I took a breath, putting the earlier encounter out of my mind. I wasn’t some romance novel protagonist; even I could see such blatant interest. I suppose it was only what I deserved for feeding her crush on me.

But she just looked so cute!

I brushed a hand through my hair. “How goes it!” I waved at the work crew. “It’s Stenvin, isn’t it?”

Stenvin laughed. He waved the rest of his men to keep working. They were pounding the ground flat and laying gravel for the eventual flagstones themselves. “Didn’t think you’d remember just another nobody like me, Lady.”

I allowed a self-deprecating smile to cross my face. “I do my best.” Though the daily audiences at lunch had helped me learn some of the people working under my command, it was clear that the town was growing faster than even my incredible intellect could manage.

That gave me an idea.

I glanced over to see one of the runners, a young girl with straight black hair, finally jog out of the crowd up to Rel.

I caught sight of her hat, a copy of Rel’s that was still a size and a half too big for her head, and laughed. Still, it was good to see that Rel was building her own support network. It was time for me to work on mine.

“How has it been, hopping between crews?” I asked Stenvin. That was the other reason I remembered him. He was one of the few stonemasons we had, and even with him taking a few apprentices, we still needed him for nearly everything.

“Ah, well, ‘tis a bit different from the work I’m used to.” He patted his hands against the fabric of his pants. "But I get ta see the…bigger picture, yeah?”

I nodded. “You like seeing how it all fits together?”

He chuckled. “I s’pose I do, at that. Why I got into cutting stone in the first place.”

And really, he and his apprentices were a lot better at cutting rocks than I’d expected with this level of technology. Apparently, there were ways you could use water to make stone split more easily? To say nothing of the skills that came with his class.

“That’s good.” I clapped him on the shoulder, a feat only possible because I was standing on the front steps of the Lightning Mill. “In that case, I think I have a job you’ll like.”

“Oh? If it’s working with stone, Lady, I’m your man.”

I nodded. “I think it’s pretty clear that you are more or less running the stone production in my town.”

“You tell me where it goes, I’ll put it down.” He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck “S’always been like that. Though, most nobles are a bit less forgivin’ if things take longer.”

“That’s the point.” I gestured out toward the road they were laying down. “I need someone like you who has a better idea of what it takes to get stone quarried and put in place. Especially now that we’re starting on the walls.”

“Ah, well, a lot of the other crews have been coming to me asking for help, it’s true.”

We had about five, going on six, work crews that were working on stone: quarrying, transporting, all of it. I was planning on getting more, now that the first ship had finally been put out to sea, but there was a limit to how many hours I had in a day.

“I want you running the whole project.”

“The whole…wall?”

“Everything to do with stone, from the walls to the roads, I want you to organize it. I’ll get you some help for the ‘managing other people’ side of things, but it’s become clear just from the main road that you know more about what it takes to get things built out of rocks than I do.” I gave him an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to take over planning the whole town, just to take a more active role in projects you’d practically be running anyway.”

He blinked in surprise. “I…ah, don’t know what to say, Lady.”

My smile turned sharp. “Well, since people keep telling me I rule this little town, I imagine you could say, ‘Yes, my lady, thank you.’” I clapped him on the shoulder and he laughed.

“Yes, Lady, thank you,” he said.

“Good man. After tomorrow’s audience, we’ll get you settled. For now, think about who you want replacing you on the work crews.”

He nodded, and I let him get back to his job.

“What was that about, My Lady?” Rel asked when I came back to her side. I caught sight of the Mini-Me making her way across the square with a nondescript-looking man.

I grinned at Rel. “You may have shoved this town on me, but if it’s going to survive, it will need more than just me.” I pointed to the man just now coming across the road to the Lightning Mill. “He’s part of it.”

“What do you need, My Lady?” the man asked. At his side, Rel’s little Mini-Me bounced in place, looking at my Minion with an expectant expression.

“Good job.” Rel patted her on the head and the girl beamed.

Was that a knife I saw strapped to her back? Kids these days.

But then, I’d never been the type to micromanage my subordinates. Instead, I turned back to the man and activated my Safe Words skill. “I have a message for Maarin the enchanter, in Silverwall.”

He nodded. “I can get in, hope your man is still there though. Last I heard the Enchanter’s Guild got eviscerated.”

“Good thing he’s not in the guild then.” I crossed my arms, feeling Safe Words prickling at the back of my neck. “Tell him there’s a place for him here, if he wants to create more wonders.”

I smiled. “A place for him to make his own mark on the world.”