CHAPTER XVI #3
Keane slowly turns to Sandam’s cousin, Neeson. He’s still one of the quietest Discerni I have ever met, giving Mana a run for his coin.
“What do you need?”
The young blonde holds the King’s gaze silently, features emotionless.
“At the moment, water, Your Grace. We’ve used more than half of our drinking supply to put out the fires. Our wells run scarce. It will take more than two months for them to replenish. We do have barrels in reserve here at the castle...”
“How long can those retain the city?” Keane asks him seriously.
“A fortnight, at best,” Neeson tries to hide his frown.
“I’ll have the Lord of Agnor send his own barrels in the interim, as will Alston,” the King nods. “Does the waterfall still run heavy here to the west? Off the River Poise?”
“It does,” Neeson nods, “I’ve already sent a group of ten to pull from it. They’ll be moving in and out of Dankworth for the next months to replenish the reserves we take from the castle.”
Keane eyes the man in approval. “Good.”
“This is farther down the road,” he turns to Sandam at his side, “months in advance, but I’m thinking we construct an aqueduct from the fall to Dankworth. I’ll return to help with the build.”
Sandam nods in appreciation as his cousin raises his voice again.
“We also need wood, Your Grace. We have our own supply of white marble that rests just outside the city but our manpower is not large enough to cut both it and the forest in time to rebuild the homes that were lost…”
I turn to Keane with a small smile, knowing of a single village not too far away that has a sound working economy that can supply the full of Dankworth.
“Etter.”
“Yes,” the King smiles in agreement before he turns back to Neeson. “Etter can assist. Their trade with Airea and La Cour will be halted and their supply sent here for the rebuild.”
All trade should be stopped with Airea and La Cour completely, though I know any official declaration of the sort will only further the divide.
“Let’s discuss that rebuild,” Keane turns his sharp features to Sandam and Anders, “there are many without homes at the moment and more to come…”
“Lucky for us,” Anders nods his head first to the King and then to the humans in his council, “there are also many unoccupied Discerni homes to front them. I’m not saying that Merrick did us any favors, Your Grace,” the Woodlands man sighs, “but we can utilize their departure as the first step to integrating our city.”
“I agree,” Keane replies. “Allow the people temporary housing for now. However, I want you to begin spreading the word that any human who wishes to relocate to the vacant homes officially will receive their first three months of rent free. Disce will front Dankworth for the missing coin.”
Ryke’s brows lift in heavy surprise.
“Very good, Your Grace,” Anders bows his head, “the incentive should sway enough people to consider.”
Keane nods and places his hands on the table in front of him, watching the group in calm resolve.
“What happened last night is not something that I wish on any person of Disce, but I cannot deny that Merrick’s departure has presented us with a new outlook in moving forward.
Dankworth will rise from this night as a unified city and we will show the Discerni of La Cour and Airea that their sentiment no longer holds steady within Woodlands Court.
You have the full backing of both the Courts of Warrior and Knowledge behind you.
Let’s rebuild a better life for all here and then liberate the humans to the east… ”
We stayed half a fortnight in Dankworth, overseeing its rebuild just as we did in Etter.
True to the King’s word, scores of delegations came from the surrounding cities in aid.
I got to meet Canon’s brother with the group that rode in from Agnor, another quiet Discerni who was as calm as the lake city he hailed from.
He personally requested to be part of the delegation that brought reserves of water to Dankworth, with Keane and I having a nice lunch with him on the third day alongside Canon, Cal, Holis and Mana.
Brian was the younger of the two brothers and took over his family’s trade on Moonsbay Lake when Canon left for Bardot, keeping it prosperous and providing for their mother and father that still resided in the city.
Lord Crisjan visited with the timber that came in from Etter, riding with a few of the summoning builders that Keane had already trained.
They worked tirelessly to begin the new construction on the outskirts of the city, mimicking the village’s buildings that mixed the wood with the white marble and greenstone facades.
Crisjan also gave an update on the small Woodlands town, letting Keane and I know that everything was running smoothly.
The village square was near completion, with the final construction moving into the other half of the homes closest to the residence.
Lord Walker worked well with Rae and the young Discerni man who spoke for their faction, with the village unsurprisingly content to retain its quiet life.
Some of the homes in the woods above were given to any that braved to move there, mainly those who traveled in from the Court of Knowledge.
The residence and its too many spare rooms was to become a shared home for Walker, Rae and the Discerni leader and their families, also opening up the ground floor hall next to the kitchen as a new child care of sorts, a place where the men who worked the forest could leave their young to be looked after throughout the day.
Lord Alexander still remained with Walker in Etter, overseeing the training of the small guard that acted as its defense.
The two men were still wary of the cities to the north, of course, and set up a silent group of sentries to patrol the woods around them.
Crisjan also spoke to us of Desmond and Alanna, noting that their presence in Etter was talked about in hushed whispers.
The two Discerni were vaguely seen moving in and out of the residence in the thick cover of night with the Ancient Heysan by their side.
The three of them would often be gone for over a full day only to return looking tired and beat, secluding themselves to their rooms or to the small supply room that still held the young Woodlands girl who murdered Arens.
Crisjan didn’t inquire as to the reasoning for the three’s presence back in Etter, but I knew he suspected they all acted in Desmond’s official capacity of Master Informer.
Cal was missing our short blonde friend but kept busy with the rest of us in Dankworth.
Alanna wrote to him through Holis, keeping all of us updated on her silent travels, most notably taking to Airea in stealth.
They searched for her brother Joshua in the Woodlands City, gathering more information on its defenses and how many men sat ready to defend La Cour and its own.
The information that came back from both her and Desmond through Keane was harrowing.
There were no added niceties to the standard of living that the humans in Airea survived under.
They wrote to us of filth and obscenity, of the humans poor and in rags, waking up each morning at dawn to man a grueling labor of white marble mines and returning late in the night without any pay.
On our third night in Dankworth news was finally written to the King by his Master Informer that Merrick’s men were spotted moving slow through the thick Forest of Quiescence.
They had been avoiding both the roads of Gold and Silver on their way to La Cour, taking the smaller paths in woods that were not known to be friendly.
It was said that those woods were denser and thicker than those in Fumagalli, and without any aided lanterns of bottled moonslight to guide their way, it was a slow trek.
But, it was a trek that avoided Keane’s armies entirely, with the men only being spotted by the Master Informer’s silent men of stealth that were on the lookout.
Desmond’s spies were quick to hinder that army’s remaining travel to the capitol.
They removed all weapons in the dead of night and brought them back to Etter.
They released the remaining horses into the forests and stole their water supply, leaving them delirious and walking around the woods in circles.
They fed their packed food to the animals, ensuring the men turned on each other in their hunger.
They did anything and everything to make their travel uncomfortable, slowing down an already slow ride.
It was welcoming news, but I had to ask Keane why he allowed the group to live in the first place.
I couldn’t understand why they’d be allowed to continue on their way to La Cour after everything they had done to the humans here.
His answer made me frown, telling me that it was part of the negotiations Troy was setting up with the prominent Lords of the two cities.
One that gave amnesty to the Discerni to leave Dankworth and safely defect to the Woodlands capitol.
He would honor that negotiation, he told me, but he would not make it easy on them to travel.
If any died in the process, good riddance.
Word finally reached Keane on our fourth day in Dankworth that Heysan would be traveling north with Sianoa to the Kingdom of Aireal to wake their brother Nolan.
The Ancient noted that they’d travel through Airea and La Cour on their way up, assessing the capitol as they wrote back with their findings.
They’d keep an eye out for Gauthier as well, with Keane giving both Ancients his blessing to subdue the man if the moment arose.