Hostages, page 16
“I could make a small building with water and heat that way, to see if it will work well enough? A workshop, perhaps? The carvings on the outside of this... I was working on something as I rode earlier, and... I got carried away. I can remove them.” He bowed his head then, as if in shame.
The woman laughed, if lightly.
“Forgive me. I’d thought... Honestly, it felt as if I was being judged again. My Baron lives his own life. It was as we agreed, when we married, but it means that this place is... Perhaps not as well regarded by some as it should be.” The woman tightened then and looked away. “Not that... He’s a good man, in his way. We never lack for coin or treats from far off places. It’s simply...”
Anders could see her point. He also wasn’t going to get involved in the situation. It wasn’t his to see to, after all. After a moment, he started walking, making suggestions.
“We can form a new wall, outside of the current one? That should give two zones of protection, in case of attack. The water situation here is nearly perfect. I was thinking we could build a barn for each of the flocks or herds you plan to have put in?”
The woman liked the sound of that, and also saw the value in glass houses, for winter growing, if they would work. He built a wood working shop, with running water and heated from below, to show what he meant by that. It worked well enough that the glass houses were allowed, before noon that day. At the same time he was walking around, doing such things, everyone else was as well.
There were a lot of them, which meant that, even spending time on a large glass house farm outside of the outer wall, he came back to find the old keep gone, with a new, larger, much tighter seeming, stone palace in its place. The outside was being shaped by Depak Sona and Darren, with Kip and Alice aiding where they could on the effort, as he approached.
The work was good. Not better in execution than what he’d done on the smaller guest house, but the themes were, he had to admit, both subtle and attractive, at the same time. His work was a bit crass, he realized. Dragons and large cats, with large trees and brush, accompanied by birds in flight, and several forms of fictional animals mixed with real ones.
It was colorful, but he’d kept that subdued enough that it wasn’t a painting.
The main palace was shining in gold metal on the roof, with rounded towers that had points, sticking up above it all. There were relief carvings on the walls, but the stone was stone colored, which worked better than what he’d done. Instead of random patterns of realistic plants and animals, the stonework told a story on the outside of the place. One that he didn’t know, but had to suspect was religious in nature.
At least he caught imagery of the three main gods of Istlan.
It was lovely, of course. Better in many ways than his own efforts, though that was the part of being young. You had time to learn to improve. So, instead of allowing himself to feel bothered by his failures, he turned to look at the rest of the work going on. The Baroness had spoken of their plans to everyone else, it was clear, since what was growing was well in line with what he’d spoken to the woman about. There were four large barns and another six giant warehouses, in different places. Also, cleared fields for animals, where there had been scrub and uneven terrain before.
Depak, seeing him there watching, smiled and moved over to him.
“I think it will be a day on this, then tomorrow we can work on new furnishings? We can’t do everything, and shouldn’t, but this is a decent practice for everyone here. I’m pleased with the new apprentices so far, as well. They both work hard and are willing to learn new things, when they find gaps in what they can do. We should, perhaps, see to their other training, as we travel to Barquea?”
Anders didn’t get the idea, and was about to ask what was meant, since the man seemed a bit sly on the topic. As if he meant something secret and dire. Which wasn’t going to be the real case. Still, Farad took over, speaking eagerly.
“Languages, reading, and of course, history. Do you have any texts for that? My own historical memory is still a bit outdated. That’s inexcusable, if the goal is to train others in that field. Also, we need fighting. It comes up far too often to leave the students unprepared that way. Magical sparring should be part of the daily work, as well as weapons. Not that I have great skill there.” He meant in all of it, but Depak simply shrugged.
His voice was merry sounding.
“We can all improve in things we don’t regularly practice. That sounds like a good initial course of study. Do you have plans for anything else? In the future, that is?”
Anders was able to take back over then, smiling a bit, understanding that Farad was actually eager to see to things other than magic. It wasn’t a bad thing at all, of course.
“I want to add in various forms of healing. I can do a few things, so far, and it works well, but herbs also can be very effective. Alchemy has access to many products that aid in cleanliness and health as well, I think. At the same time, doing things like working in wood and stone, metal as well, can be useful in both times of war and peace. I know that we are training martial mages, but hopefully they won’t spend most of their time doing such things, so we need to get them ready for that, as well.”
He danced in place a bit, to show he understood what he was actually saying.
“Not that we should do all of that in a single day. I think a combination of magical sparring, working, using their new skills, and languages, for the trip? Reading... That needs to be a part as well. It’s key to further efforts, after all.” It sounded like a lot, to make people do on a ship, or from horseback, but Depak merely nodded.
“Do you intend that for everyone, or merely Apprentice Kip and Apprentice Alice?”
The words were spoken gently, as if in warning. A thing that he understood, of course.
“Mary as well, for the languages and reading. Everyone should be encouraged to spar each day, if we can promote that as a healthy activity. As for work... Well, clearly, we should place Apprentice Lissa and Apprentice Salina in charge of the others that way. Mary, Alice and Kip, as well as Javina, Mathia and... I don’t know about Jasmin...”
The woman could do some magic, and from what he’d seen had tried to actually keep up with that, working well enough that she was out helping to raise buildings, not just doing furnishings or decorations. Javina was clearly working on that part, mainly, being it was her area of specialization. That and clothing.
At the same time, he didn't want to press the woman to do things that would be uncomfortable. That he was willing to do that with the others was, he realized, a bit strange of him. Meaning he shrugged, thinking the reasons through.
“I think... We should include her, in that, if the others think it’s a good idea. Jasmin is a powerful magic user, and might be needed to go to war, if Dutchy Lister is ever attacked, given that. Probably not, but not preparing her for it and it happening in the future is worse than most of the other options. I guess... We should get with the other Apprentice Great Ones and ask? I’ve been several things in my life, but never a Duchess or a Princess.”
After a moment, looking away, pulling his robe away from his sides, to release heat, Depak nodded at him.
“That might work. I’ll call them all together, for the late meal? You and... Who do you wish to work on that with you?” There was a smile, as if he thought he understood who that would be.
Who that was, didn’t show on his face.
Anders simply considered who was actually good with food so far, and then picked the people who were doing the worst.
“Mary, Lyse and Duke Ford.” There was a grin, knowing that asking two of those people might not go over that well. Not for food preparation efforts.
Mary should be fine.
Depak got the joke, but nodded anyway.
“I’ll suggest it to them? Now, I think we should review the buildings with Baroness Kilroy?”
That was a good enough plan, though it meant finding the woman, who was inside the new, much larger, palace. Going room to room, speaking to a female servant, a woman who looked no older than Mary, and her three sons.
Anders bowed, using first courtly, with Depak Sona using the Barquean version, with his arms spread, palms down. He was met with decently performed bows from the boys, and the Baroness managed a good enough curtsy. The maid, or advisor, didn’t do that as well, and seemed uncertain if she was supposed to do that at all.
Anders smiled at her.
“Anders Brolly. This worthy is Depak Eta. We call him Depak Sona, but Sona just means master, in his own language. Scara.”
The largest black-haired boy, who was dressed in a loose tunic and black trousers, with brown leather shoes, raised his hand to shoulder height.
“I’m Niven. This is Warald and Niklaus. Um, you know Mother, but the other woman is Kara Tollis. She’s a relative of ours, through the maternal line.” There was, gently spoken, a warning in the words.
Letting him know that Kara Tollis wasn’t a simple serving woman, which he might have assumed, if he hadn’t been given that information. It was helpful, actually.
He bowed again.
“Well met! Would you all like to review the day’s efforts? The current plan is to put in furnishings tomorrow. It won’t give you everything, of course. Beds, chairs, tables and some decorations, but only that, in the main. A bit more for the kitchens, such as counters for working on?” They could, of course, come up with other things, but doing too much for people was asking for trouble.
As it was, Anders was almost certain that many people would think that he had some kind of special relationship with Baron Kilroy, when they saw what had been done there. That or the Baroness. Which, if he had to be romantically involved with one of them, would be his personal preference. Not that there was anything wrong with the Baron. It was just that having women think they should throw themselves at him for gifts was slightly more pleasant to him, as an idea.
Farad actually harrumphed in his head, to let him know that the old man would rather not deal with either state. Which he could agree with, to be fair. Not that anyone there was going to be making such offers to him, anytime soon. At least he assumed that to be the case.
The Baroness seemed worried suddenly. It was a bit false seeming, but also mildly teasing.
“I don’t know, Nevin... You have your lessons in Yansian now, don’t you?”
The boy actually looked down.
“Yes, Mother.” He seemed a bit disappointed, but not really worked up over missing the tour.
Which made sense, to Anders. It would all be there later, when the lesson was done, after all. The Baroness moved in, and hugged the boy, suddenly.
“I’m only jesting! Of course, you can come. If invited, at least? I know you said all of us, but that might be a polite turn of phrase.”
Anders nodded, even as Depak smiled. The older man waved at everyone there, then.
“It will provide a lesson, in its own way?”
That was probably true, if the boys were of active mind and drawn to the interesting features involved.
“That could work.” Then he glanced at Niven and repeated the words in Yansian.
The boy laughed and spoke in return.
“You have good use of Yanse tongue?”
Winking, Anders started to walk out.
“I do. I was there recently, in fact. I’m technically a prince there, by their rules. My younger brother Leopold was put in as the future king, when he comes of age.”
Niven went wide eyed, but answered in the correct language. He was decent at it, as it turned out.
“That’s different. You... led the army to take Yanse, didn’t you?”
Depak Sona looked over at them, and spoke, his own Yansian being slightly more accented than what Anders was using. Then, he’d spent more time in that land, talking to people in that language, daily. It could make a difference on the finer points. Still, the man was very understandable.
“Indeed. Anders was the person in the very front, when each battle came. Princess Salina, Prince Darren, Prince Erold and a sturdy war mage of Istlan, Master Jeld, protected the men behind them, using magic. Not that there wasn’t blood enough for all of them. I witnessed it, wisely hiding in the back, with my father, while these others faced Istlan’s foes.”
There was a small grin, from the boys, who clearly all had at least some understanding of the language.
Anders grinned as well.
“Hide in the back? We had to order him and Hoatha Eta, his father, to not be in the front, in order to leave the rest of us something to do. He’s the Great One of Barquea, after all. Apprentice Salina and Apprentice Lissa are his students. Slated for that task. It’s basically the top war mage of their entire land, and they are much better than we are in the use of such things.”
The Baroness looked at him then, closely, and carried on in the same language.
“This building effort does not seem a minor thing. Some of these people are from here, are they not?”
That was true, of course.
They went to see the glass houses first, the conversation altering as they moved from place to place. It took about two hours, even doing it quickly. At the end, Niven twisted his lips a bit, and shrugged.
“This is boggling to the mind. Would... I don’t know how to say it.” The boy slipped into Istlan then. “We could make it so that the water for horses and ducks wouldn’t freeze, couldn’t we? Making one of the deep tubes you spoke of, but instead of air, we could put in water and then it would keep it from freezing?”
Anders let his head tilt side to side, noticing the Baroness going wide eyed, as if she thought it might be offensive for the boy to suggest such a thing.
“You know, I’ve never tried that? It might be too hot. We should test that out? We’ll want the others to help with this part. This way, Niven!”
It was simple to make a small pond, though he made several of them, and used channeled water from the ground to fill them. Then he spoke, asking the boy’s opinion, as he worked.
“First a very deep line, as you suggested. In the next pond here, I’ll put in four. Over here, this one is... Wait for a moment, please?” He waved, muttering the spells he needed, using wizard sight to arrange things inside the ground carefully for each pond.
As soon as he said fen, the first two ponds started to steam and bubble over the vents. The second pond did it far faster, and began to boil, even before the work on the last of the four small collections of water were finished. One of them steamed as well, but the last one just sat there, seeming normal. The clouds of steam caused everyone to come over, to see what was going on. It was late enough in the day that he needed to get to making food soon. A thing his middle reminded of him of by growling.
Loudly enough that Niven noticed it.
He explained, instead of bothering with embarrassment.
“There is a cost in magic, if you do a lot of it. You have to replace the energy used. That’s normally done in food. I need to start eating more again. I’ve been a bit lazy that way, in the last weeks. Keep that in mind for yourself? For when you start practicing magic?” He didn’t whisper the words, not hiding his recruiting efforts at all.
No one glared at him, but the first people to get there were the Princesses. All of them in a single clutch, with Kip, Alice and Mary coming in with Lyse and Duke Ford. Far, when Anders turned, was already standing next to him, on the other side from Niven. That was disconcerting, since he hadn’t noticed the man approaching at all.
Carefully, the ancient man, who looked young enough for the Baroness to stare at, with a pleasant smile on her lips, put a finger in the water. Then, tested the boiling pond and each of the others. Finally, he nodded.
“For best bathing, you’ll want to graduate the heat a bit. The hottest one is too much for most people. About half that warm? This one is about right, at least for use in the cold months.”
Kara Tollis stepped forward then, and did her own testing, but nodded, with a smile.
“I agree, Master Far. Perhaps we could build a stone ring for each of these? We could use the hottest one for cooking. Boiling things like puddings, or setting pots in the water to warm things already prepared?”
Those were all, once mentioned, very good ideas.
Anders waved at the ponds however.
“We need to test these, to see how they respond to cold temperatures. The idea is to leave drinking water for animals. A duck pond as well. Though... We can do some winter bathing ponds like that? I just ran channels down into the warm area below us. The cooler ponds have chimneys with warmed air in them. I think that might work, but I was thinking that we’d get you new people to do the cooling for us. We need it to be from the top, and to not just steal all the heat. It will have to last for at least a day, too.”
He honestly had meant Kip and Alice, but Lyse stepped forward, and started to work on a spell. One that, while not that complex, was being spoken well. When it was done, Niven, seeming scared, walked forward and put his hand out, over the hottest pond.
“That’s cold! The air above it? Like a harsh winter’s day.”
Kip did the next one, but Duke Ford did the first of the chimneyed ponds, with Mary, seeming nervous, taking the last one. There was a claim of her being weak in magic, but the spell was firm. The power flow was good, as well. Not the blasting power of Depak or Salina, but it was at least pairing up with what Darren could do.
Honestly, for the first time, Anders wondered if Darren wasn’t weak in magic, but rather that he was actually very strong, and that his true main talent was just in a different area. He set that aside, for the moment, simply waiting for a few minutes. Not for the ponds to freeze or not, since it would take a while to determine if that was going to happen. No, he was making certain no one was gasping from the effort, too much to bear. They all seemed fine, so he waved.
Mainly to Alice and Mary. Then at Lyse.
“I’m going to make a meal? Depak Sona asked for us to produce a feast, for the family here, and their people. Your names were mentioned to aid me with the project?”
