Three days had gone by and each day I had returned to the small workbench to work on my runes.

I tested out several principles of varying runic configurations, I did not make something in the sense that I completed an item, nothing that I could sell or even put to use.

Rather I worked on configurations that would be pieces of a larger whole, to have a proof of concept before I truly made something that would be put to use.

During this time Marley and I had settled on a final plan for my wagon's design, he had even begun putting together the thick wooden beams that would make up the base of my wagon.

It was enough progress, that I felt it was the right time to begin my own work on the wagon in earnest.

I had brought in several cut pieces of stone and wood with a little help from the workmen.

The stone I had to work with was mostly dark grey, almost black save for the beautiful bluish marbling along it's smooth surfaces.

It added a richness to the stone that spoke of a high quality.

Now I simply had to produce some high quality rune carving for it, otherwise the materials would be ruined.

I took my time just marking down the configurations on them with a pencil, checking them over then rechecking them again to be sure they were perfect.

In the end I didn't actually do any carving that first day but instead marked out all the pieces I would have to work on, both the stone and the wood.

I ended up back in the office building with Marley at the end of the day.

“Are you sure you don't want the coin?” Marley asked me again for what seemed like the tenth time.

I sighed slightly, Marley had come to find me specifically to ask about the coin.

It was coin that had been made since I had bought into the business and Marley was still unsure about spending my share of the profits despite me telling him otherwise.

“I'm sure, Marley.” I said once more. “In fact, I think it's time we talked about our first expansion.”

Marley seemed a little surprised by this.

“So soon?” He asked me. “Don't you think it's a little early to buy another place? We've barely got started again here and the coin we've made so far won't be enough for that yet.”

I shook my head and waved this away.

“I can always put in a little more coin for now, it's not a problem. My share of the coins afterwards can be used to pay myself back.” I told Marley.

“I've thought about this and I think the sooner we get going with this particular idea, the better.” I said and shifted a little in my chair to get more comfortable before I explained. “We'll be able to buy existing buildings and yards in most places but I think for this, we should have one built in Diggin.” I told Marley.

“We don't have to have a place as big as this one because at Diggin, we can specialise in wagon repair and other things that the miners will need.” I told Marley.

“It's something they actually need there and the way I see it, if we build a place there, the wood and stone for the building would be cheap and up in no time.” I explained. “We could have a team of workmen there whose job it is to repair or even build wagons for the mines, they could also do all the other things the miners might need and if that isn't enough to keep them busy, then they could make things for the village too, furniture, do general repairs. It would be like all the things that go on here just as a secondary priority.”

Marley was frowning in thought but he was also nodding along slightly, as he examined the idea.

“I think our biggest problem is going to be finding workmen.” Marley said after a moment of deep thought.

“Hm.” I hummed out as I too thought it over.

The two of us thought in silence for a while before Marley broke it.

“If we can... No, that won't work.” He cut himself off.

“What?” I asked, wanting to hear anyway.

“It won't be viable, not if we expect to make a profit.” Marley said shaking his head.

“Tell me anyway, it might help me think of something else.” I said.

“I was thinking that I could ask some of the lads from here to move down there but we'd have to make it worth it. Some of them have families here in town and asking them to move away or take them with them is too much.” Marley explained but I tried to work through solutions for it.

In the end, neither of us could come up with anything that didn't involve hiring men from Diggin which was something we didn't want to do.

Marley had a reputation to maintain and he only wanted workmen who he knew were good at their job, we both parted ways that evening but the idea still lingered in my mind as I returned to the inn.

I felt like a moved around in a daze when I went down for an evening meal, my mind still working over possibilities for expanding to Diggin.

I doubted myself at first, thinking that I'd had the idea back when I came through Diggin and it had just stuck since then.

I thought I was clinging onto the idea for no real reason but after the meal and when I had returned to my room I was struck with the beginnings of a solution.

I had been laying in bed, trying to fall asleep but I sat up quickly and got up and out.

A small orb of light flickered to life in the dark room and floated in the air, at the same time I hurriedly found my notebook.

I began writing down my idea.

If we were going to buy the land to have a huge workyard in then we would have plenty of room, the idea was to build up a smaller warehouse with workshops in that land as well as store materials.

Because there would have to be room for wagons to come and go too then the land we bought would have to have plenty of extra space, space enough to build a second building.

I could easily pay for this, hell I could probably help build it myself and cut down on what would already be a fairly quick build time.

The more I thought about it the more sure I was that this was a good idea, it even had long reaching effects that could come in very useful.

****************

“So once this second building is done...” I was explaining to Marley the next day as we both sat in the office. “We can have it filled with rooms for workmen and any apprentices they take on. They can spend a week there and a week back home, that's if they don't want to stay in Diggin full time.”

Marley was looking thoughtful but he didn't speak up as I clearly had more to say.

“A little of the profits from the workshops there can go to looking after the apprentices and a little extra to the housing, it won't cost anything for maintenance because the men can repair most things, I think most of it will end up going on food and clothing for the apprentices.” I told Marley and took in a breath before continuing.

“Think about it, it's a perfect place for the apprentices to be trained by men you trust and when we eventually open more places there will be lots of locations for them to choose from where they're guaranteed work.” Then I asked Marley. “So what do you think?”

The older man chewed on his lip a little and rubbed at his moustache before he spoke.

“It's a good idea.” He admitted. “Especially about training up the apprentices but won't this cost you too much? I know I keep going on about this and you've told me you're not hurting for coin but...” Marley trailed off and I sighed.

“If I prove to you just how little this coin is to me, will you drop this?” I asked him as I reached for my leather satchel. It was time to put this worry to rest and I had an easy way to do it at hand.

I set down the leather satchel on the desk and looked to Marley who had a curious expression on his face, after a moment though he nodded and watched.

I opened up the satchel and slid out my book of chests.

I knew that Marley could clearly see the runes all over the oversized book but I could also tell that while he knew it was obviously magical in nature, he had no idea what this had to do with coin.

I flipped open the few pages, stood the book up and pushed power into the runes.

They shimmered to my eyes and I pulled on the small handle.

“Gods above!” Marley exclaimed as he watched a chest sized compartment slide out of the apparently flat frame.

Almost immediately he made a choking sound as he got a good look at the contents.

There was probably more wealth in it than had ever been in the town at one time, not just in gold coin or the ingots but the gems were clarly on display too.

I picked one of the hefty pouches of coins I had minted and tossed it onto the table before I slid the chest shut.

Marley remained silent as I put away my book of chest and set my satchel back down on the floor.

I met Marley's eyes when I spoke next.

“That's just what I decided to bring with me.” I said seriously. “I could have brought a lot more.”

“Do you believe me now?” I asked after a moment.

“Damn it, lad.” Marley said. “How can I not? I've never seen the-” He cut himself off and shook his head, even though it was only mid-morning, he headed over to a wooden cabinet and poured himself a drink.

He wasted no time in downing the contents before carefully replacing the bottle back inside. He squared his shoulders and turned back to me.

“Alright, I guess we're expanding to Diggin then.” Marley said and I couldn't help but grin.

It would almost be worth taking Marley to the mountain to show him the true hoard just to see his reaction, almost.

I took my leave and headed back into the warehouse to get back to work, feeling a little thrill of excitement at the small expansion that would be coming soon.

More days went by as I worked and during that time a few more of the workmen returned, I ended up having to move from my workshop to the one at the far end where Marley and his team were rapidly making progress on my wagon.

The workshop I'd previously occupied was now home to another team of workmen, leaving me to take up a single workbench in Marley's workshop.

Marley had told the workmen about the plans to build another workyard in Diggin, he'd explained, which a little help from myself, about the housing we would build there and asked that the men think it over.

There were several men who were interested, one of which was Jessep.

Having to take on an apprentice was a mixed blessing according to him when we were talking one afternoon in the Three Hens over another group lunch.

The idea of actually having to teach an apprentice was anathema to the man because naturally, it involved actually having to work.

The fact that he complained about it actually being hard work was a good sign though, because it meant that he fully understood, even if he bemoaned it, that he would have to do a good job at it.

He might be lazy but he knew how to work when he needed to.

The other side of the coin though was what had convinced him he should take on an apprentice and head to Diggin.

He would essentially get an assistant that he could order around all the time, he would get free housing and would be one of, if not the most senior workman at the new location which he informed me, 'would practically make him one of the bosses'.

He was joking and poking fun the entire time as he usually did but I could see a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

I had noticed that while he worked, he complained loudly, much to everyone else's amusement, he was frequently found sitting around in his own or another team's workshop chatting away but despite all of this, his work always got done.

His work was always good quality, according to Marley, and he was never last to finish either, despite the many many breaks he took from actually working.

He knew his craft and he knew it well to be able to have such free time during his work day without falling behind.

I'd brought this up to Marley privately in the office and he had told me that he'd been trying to light a fire under Jessep for years to get him to have a little more ambition, but the younger man had proved too stubborn about his lazy persona to do anything.

It seemed that potentially being one of the bosses of an entire new workyard had finally awoken something up in the man.

Initially, there were three other workmen who were interested in going to Diggin, though only two of them were willing to move there full time.

One of them was what Marley considered 'seasoned' and would be a good fit for a leadership role.

Bistan was a grizzled looking workman who was no nonsense, a long time hard worker and a master at his craft.

We both agreed that Bistan would be a perfect counterpoint and partner to Jessep, someone needed to be there to keep the mischievous man in check sometimes and Bistan was the man to do it.

We decided that both Bistan and Jessep would be nominally in charge at the new location based on Bistan's well known and long-standing reputation as a hard working and sensible man, while Jessep would be his partner as someone who had the charisma to deal with customers as well as being a great craftsman.

Under them would be the other two workmen and each would take on an apprentice too.

That would have four workmen and four apprentices to assist and learn at Diggin, it was more than enough for the use of one workshop, it might even be enough for two depending on what they were working on.

A few other men agreed that if the need arose they would go to Diggin to help out for a week or two if their numbers weren't enough to manage the workload, though they made it clear that they would not be doing it permanently and they expected to be compensated for travel and food.

Both Marley and myself thought this was fair and agreed.

What was surprising though was that they agreed to take on apprentices too though they would be apprenticed here in Moreland's Rest but would travel with their masters if they needed to go to help out at Diggin.

We would be losing four men here in Moreland's Rest but we would be gaining three apprentices who could at least help out as they learned.

After many hours of discussions, Marley would be heading out to Diggin with plans to buy some land.

Being his partner meant that while Marley was gone, I would technically be in charge of the workyard here in Moreland's Rest.

While Marley was only going to buy the land and make some arrangements, he would still be gone for the better part of a week including travel time.

I had been a little apprehensive of being in charge of the business, I just didn't have the experience with pricing up potential builds, nor with estimating how long things would take to make.

I could follow the project schedule easily enough but that only told me what was currently being worked on, what came next and in what order.

I had a brief bout of inspiration though and Marley agreed that it was a good idea.

Bistan and Jessep would be the ones to actually run the business in Marley's absence.

It would be a great way to test how well they did while getting me off the hook, I would still be here to give official approval if it were needed but I could probably spend most of my days finishing off my carving.

I hoped I would be able to, though I would probably have to spend a lot of time sitting in the office.

****************

I stepped out of the inn and onto the streets of Moreland's Rest, I followed the now familiar route to the workyard after making a brief stop and soon enough I was using the keys Marley had had made for me.

I opened up the warehouse first then I unlocked the office building to put my satchel inside after taking out a small bundle from one of my chests.

I relocked the door and headed into the warehouse to wait for the workmen to arrive.

This was the first day I would be in charge, Marley would probably already be on his way to Diggin by now even though it was still early.

I made myself useful in the mean time though.

I was in the small 'break' area, it was mostly just tables and chairs but it had a small kitchen area and I headed towards the fireplace.

I piled up some wood and focused on it for a moment before the smaller pieces began to smoulder, I waited until the first few licks of true flame took hold before I turned my attention to the counter.

I opened up the top of the ridiculously large kettle and with a little more will, a steady trickle of water began to fall from my palm into it.

I felt my brow tighten as I frowned slightly and I pushed a little more power out. The trickle of water increased in size to a steady pouring and even then, I still had to stand there for a while to fill the thing.

I replaced the lid and hung the now heavy kettle over the flames to boil.

Next I spent a little time walking along the warehouse, lighting lanterns and opening up the rest of the bay doors.

By the time I was satisfied with the light levels and the soft breeze in the warehouse, I headed back to the break area.

Naturally the water in the oversized kettle hadn't boiled yet but I could already hear a couple of voices outside. As I set about taking some cups out of the cupboard I focused my will on the hanging kettle.

I began to shift the density of the metal that made it up, nothing dramatic though, if you looked at the kettle it would look no different that usual, but that wasn't the point.

The rapid changes taking place in the metal heated it even faster and by extension the water it contained heated up too, I quickly pulled my will back when the lid of the kettle started chattering, bobbing up and down as the water came to a boil faster than I expected.

I took it off the flames using a cloth and brought it over to the counter setting it down next to the cups.

I turned around to collect the bundle I'd set down on one of the tables and as I did I saw Jessep, Bistan and two other workmen entering the warehouse all chattering away.

Well, Jessep and the other two workmen were talking, Bistan was looking around the warehouse distractedly, I could tell he was thinking through the day ahead.

“Just in time!” I said cheerfully. “The water just boiled and I'm sure I heard Jessep bragging about his tea making prowess the other day?” I ended it at a question but there was a grin on my face.

Jessep laughed and so did one of the other workmen, Bistan looked slightly amused but the last workmen was the one who spoke up.

“I heard that too!” The man lied good naturedly. “Something about how he'd prove it to us all just as soon as he got the chance!”

“Piss off!” Jessep said still laughing.

“And just think, I bought all these sweet cakes to go with a world famous Jessep tea!” I said with mock disappointment as I opened the bundle to reveal the mound of sweet cakes. “I guess I'll have to throw them all away then.”

“Bastard!” Jessep cursed me as he eyed the prize. “How am I supposed to refuse now?”

“That's not what you should be worried about.” Bistan said in his gravelly voice.

“What do you mean?” Jessep asked as the men started taking their seats near me.

“You should be more worried about how long you spend arguing about it.” Bistan told him. “Because the longer you argue about it, the more men will show up...”

It took him a moment of looking confused before his eyes widened with understanding.

“...the more I'll have to make!” Jessep cried out in horror and dramatically jumped to his feet as if someone were about to attack him.

He snatched a sweet cake, shoved most of it into his mouth and ran towards the kitchen area as the rest of us laughed.

I only ended up having to be the boss once that day and even then, it was only a small thing.

A man named Bryll came to the office to commission a complete set of furniture for the tavern he had opened, I had called in Jessep and Bistan to talk over design with the man and they had taken care of the rest.

Jessep had set a reasonable price for the man once the Bistan and the man were happy with the design they had agreed upon, I'd simply overseen a contract signing for the commission.

It was on the second day that things got interesting.

I was sitting in the office reading about life in the desert when a knock on the office door interrupted me close to lunch time.

The door opened and in walked Captain Holt followed by the dark skinned southerner Sal.

I was surprised enough that I froze in place momentarily, wondering what the hell was going on.

Luckily, I was sitting so it wasn't really noticeable.

“Captain Holt.” I said a little warily in greeting as I stood, I nodded over to Sal who returned the nod with a frown.

I saw the moment that both of them recognised me.

Their eyes widened slightly and Holt caught his breath.

“Lad?” Holt said questioningly.

I shrugged slightly.

“I used to be.” I told him.

Holt was a little greyer than he had been but he looked just as sturdy as ever.

I'd only once caught a glimpse of him during my visits back to Moreland's Rest over the years and even then, my look at him had been a fleeting thing and from a distance.

He still had the same piercing blue eyes though, I saw them clearly as he gazed at me.

“Would you like to take a seat?” I asked after a moment of silence, gesturing at the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.

Holt's shoulders lost some tension I hadn't noticed and he glanced back at Sal.

“You can get back to the guardhouse, I don't think you'll be needed after all.” Holt told the man.

Sal simply nodded at these words then nodded once more to me before turning around a leaving.

While Sal left Holt took one of the chairs and sat down heavily.

“So you're this young lord who has bought into Marley's business.” Holt said, it wasn't a question but his voice had the tone of wanting to know more.

I nodded once I'd reseated myself.

“I am.” I admitted. “I take it that's why you're here?”

Holt smiled a little under his thick beard but nodded.

“I heard about some strange young noble who had bought into Marley's business, I was curious after-” Holt stopped to censor himself briefly. “-After what happened, but I didn't think much of it. I heard rumours about expanding and a few other things. Thought I'd come see who you were...” Holt trailed off and seemed uncharacteristically embarrassed.

“Well.” I said ordering my thoughts. “I can only give you my word that I'm not trying to pull a scam or steal from Marley? I'd say you could ask him yourself but he won't be back from Diggin for at least a few days yet.”

I half shrugged and half raised my hands in a gesture that meant 'what can I do?'.

“You can always talk to the workmen I suppose...” I said.

“I might.” Holt said but his tone said that he thought it would probably be a waste of time. “I'd like to know what you have been doing all this time, lad.” Holt told me. “And why you're back too, first though, why did you buy into Marley's business?”

“I'm just passing through really.” I said which wasn't a complete lie. “I heard about what happened to Marley and had the coin to help out.” I admitted. “I'm more of a silent partner really, I don't actually have much to do with the actual business.” I gestured to the office we were sitting in.

“I'm only in here right now because Marley is in Diggin, I doubt I'll be here in a months time though.” I said honestly.

“I see.” Holt said. “I don't mean to accuse you of anything, lad, but I will be asking Marley when he comes back.”

I nodded, not offended.

“Feel free.” I said. “Do you want a drink or something?”

“No thanks but feel free to have one yourself.” Holt said in a voice that told me he'd said the same thing a thousand times. I guess he didn't drink when on duty.

I shook my head slightly with a little smirk.

“Don't want one either, just thought I'd be polite and offer.” I admitted.

Holt's beard twitched with a slight smirk of his own.

“So are you going to tell me where you've been all this time?” Holt asked me after a moment. “I'm guessing you managed to sort out whatever it was you were running from.”

I shook my head slightly.

“Not exactly.” I told the older guardsmen. “I'm not running away any more I guess, but I've managed to stay out of sight long enough that they probably think I'm dead.” I shrugged. “Other than that, I've been around, just not often.”

“It's evasive answers like that that make me want to start getting some better answers from you.” Holt said pointedly.

I rolled my eyes, I couldn't help it.

Holt really was a guardsman, a Captain no less and it showed.

I wondered idly when was the last time the man had just had a normal conversation with another person without his job bleeding through.

“I've been in seclusion.” I said. “Studying my, gift?” I said it questioningly not sure what to call it other than 'magic'. I shrugged it away and continued. “Like I said, I've been around occasionally just not very often and not where people might recognise me.”

Holt just raised a thick eyebrow at me.

He wanted to know more but a mischievous part of me didn't want to just tell him anything he wanted, just to see what would happen.

I raised an eyebrow back at him but said nothing else.

We stared at each other, the silence building between us, neither wanting to be the first to speak and after what felt like an hour but was probably closer to a minute, Holt grunted.

“I see.” The Captain said. “Well, I hope you managed to learn some better control.”

The mood soured slightly between us at that, pulling up my lack of control that day when Miller had attacked me.

“Shouldn't have brought that up.” Holt admitted. “Sorry, Lad.”

I waved it away.

Holt had clearly been trying to make a joke of it but hadn't thought it through.

“It's alright.” I said. “But I have learned some control, I've learned a lot of things since then.”

“I'm glad to hear it.” Holt said then after a moment he spoke on a little hesitantly. “He's not here any more you know? Miller that is.”

I was conflicted at the words.

I didn't really want to talk about it but a part of me still wondered what had happened to the man afterwards.

I managed to raise an eyebrow in question but not to ask aloud, Holt seemed to understand though.

“Lost his job of course.” Holt told me. “But after all was said and done though, he ended up only having to pay coin for what he did and that was paid by his father.” The bitterness in Holt's words was as clear as day.

“He was here in town for a while but once everyone found out what he'd done, when they saw the marks on his-” Holt cut himself off. “-Well, he ended up leaving anyway. Rodrick-his father, swears he doesn't know where he got off too but it was clear he left on his own. Took some of his belongings from home and if I had to guess, he probably took some of his father's coin with him too though Rodrick wouldn't say so.”

I was silent for a while, just digesting this information.

“Why only a fine?” I asked eventually.

“Town politics.” Holt said with that bitterness in his voice again. “His father is a respected man, he might only have started out at the town miller but he's put a lot of coin in other places since then.”

I raised an eyebrow at this but Holt was shaking his head at his own words.

“I made it sound like he's up to no good.” Holt told me. “As far as I know he's mostly an honest businessman but he's made a lot of coin in the town for the last decade or so, so the higher ups listen to him when he wants to say something.”

“You think he did ask them to let Mil-his son off lightly?” I asked Holt, correcting the name midway through, even after all these years it still tasted sour in my mouth.

Holt sighed.

“I don't know, lad.” He told me. “I just don't know. Maybe he did or maybe he didn't need to ask. Either way, I was told that I was 'too close' to it and it got taken out of my hands.” Holt admitted. “All I could do was wait to see what happened.”

We both stayed quite for a while, lost in our own thoughts before we were interrupted by the office door opening.

Jessep walked in and I could see him about to throw some clever barb at me but then he froze as he caught sight of Holt.

“Captain Holt!” Jessep said, sounding slightly panicked at the sudden appearance of an authority figure. “Good afternoon, sir!” He greeted quickly and in the most respectful tone I've ever heard come from the man's mouth.

“Afternoon, Jessep.” Holt said back. “Your mother well? Hows her leg?”

“Yes sir.” Jessep answered. “She's just fine, she says it's stiff sometimes but that's about it. Thank you for asking.”

There was a story there but I didn't think it was the time to ask about it. The reaction Jessep was having to Holt was certainly interesting though, he was uncomfortable enough that it was noticeable.

“Did you need something Jessep?” I asked. “Captain Holt was busy interrogating me to see if I'm trying to con Marley out of his coin.” I stated with a grin but Jessep's eyes went huge.

Holt grunted.

“No need to exaggerate.” Holt said though I thought he sounded a little amused. “Just lookin' in on Marley's new partner to see if all is well.”

Jessep seemed to feel the need to speak in my defence though, despite his obvious wariness of the guardsman.

He managed to work up the nerve.

“Al's a good boss!” Jessep said then quickly corrected himself. “Well, he's been a good boss so far. What I mean is, we've known him since he was a boy and he wouldn't do anything like that! Besides the boss said-Marley that is- said they signed a contract, he didn't say what but he told all us workmen that there's nothing to worry about because of it.” Jessep got out in a rambling rush and seemed to realised just how he sounded to us.

He took a breath then spoke in a calmer voice.

“Hall can go f- Well, it's better now than it was before.” Jessep finished a little lamely after correcting the obvious curse he'd been about to voice.

“I see.” Holt said. “Well, I suppose I'll leave it at that for now.”

Holt stood up and so did I, I moved around the desk and held out a hand to the old guardsman.

“It was good to see you again, old man.” I said with a grin as we shook.

Holt grunted at my words but his eyes twinkled.

“I've got my eye on you.” Holt told me in mock warning, or at least I thought it was a mock warning.

It was hard to tell with Holt.

Captain Holt left the small office building and Jessep immediately set in on trying to dig some gossip out of me.

He continued to pester throughout the work lunch, which had been the reason he'd come to find me in the first place.

Jessep speculated wildly and loudly with ever increasingly improbable scenarios to the other workmen, who all got a good laugh out of it.

My favourite of his many guesses was that Holt suspected that I was in fact Hall, Marley's old partner and that I was really a shape-shifter.

That I'd returned to cause more trouble for Marley and the men.

I'd dryly responded that I was very disappointed that having been found out so easily.

Even Bistan had snorted his half-ale and spluttered at that.