The shore should have been loud with the noise of work.

  Instead, it was loud with people.

  Crates thudded onto wet sand. The cries of infants cut through the murmur of prayers and whispers. Women craned their heads around, searching for any signs of human settlement, finding nothing but the pristine curve of the bay, the green-blue sea and a line of makeshift piers meant for small fishing boats, not ships full of lives uprooted and unloaded.

  Aprilia watched realization spreading through the crowd like a wave. They had expected walls, or at least roofs.

  A crate near her, riddled with holes, shifted. She crouched and looked into it. Dozens of tiny chicks stared back at her, blinking and peeping in confusion. They did not know where they were either.

  She closed the lid gently.

  Behind her, the General gave clipped orders to sort the supplies, bring materials and establish a perimeter. Soldiers moved, their boots biting into sand with practiced certainty.

  The civilians clustered around their belongings, eyes darting around.

  Their presence made Aprilia just as uncomfortable. It reminded her of Nanon; the realm that forced her people to leave their homes behind. The exodus that cost almost a third of the Cha their lives. An ember that had almost gone cold smoldered again. She took long breaths to calm herself.

  Not these people’s fault. She reminded herself. They were going to be a crucial part of Chadom’s future, whether she liked it or not. She would have to learn how to live together with them.

  Voices began rising as the newcomers didn’t see anything resembling a town or even a village.

  “My lady,” Jaklen appeared at her side, uncharacteristically quiet.

  “I told you, I’m not-”

  He interrupted her in a serious voice, “I know, but if you want them to take you seriously,” he pointed to the people, “you will accept it. They’ve never tasted true freedom like us.”

  She nodded meekly, chastened. He was indeed a man of contradictions.

  He brought out a piece of parchment from one of his myriad of pockets.

  “Here’s the manifest for what we brought over. The General asked me to hand it over to you.”

  “Me?” she asked in confusion, and found the General himself walking towards her. The new arrivals gave him a wide berth; his gait signaling his position of authority.

  “You,” he said. “Didn’t Jack make you his secretary?”

  “Yes, to help him with schedules, planning and such. Not all this. I don’t have any experience.”

  “We all have to begin somewhere. Besides, you’ve been doing a fantastic job with the school.”

  Her face flushed red.

  The crowd’s concern began turning into anxious questions.

  The General pointed to the crowd. “Address them.”

  “Shouldn’t you be doing that?”

  “It’ll be good practice for you.”

  Aprilia felt her legs getting wobbly, but she shook them awake, and turned to again look at the newcomers. Their nervousness was rising, like a bowstring pulled taut.

  I can do it. She chanted the mantra. If she could wrangle a couple dozen children, she could do this as well.

  “Everyone,” she said out loud, catching their attention.

  “Welcome to Chadom, your new home.”

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  Heads turned toward her. Eyes fixed on her at once, as a hush fell upon the crowd.

  “Where is it?” a young bold woman, barely more than a girl, asked.

  “If you mean where our settlements are, they are elsewhere,” Aprilia answered her. “Lord Jack is concerned about spies infiltrating the realm, so you will not be allowed to visit them for some time.”

  “Are we supposed to live in the wild, like animals?” the fiery young woman asked, while an older one tried to shush her.

  “Of course not. Our craftsmen are going to arrive with materials and will begin constructing homes for you here. It will be a few uncomfortable weeks, but I promise you will not be spending the winter under tents.”

  The young woman was about to make a cutting remark, but the General shifted to put his considerable bulk behind Aprilia, giving the girl pause.

  General Lothar lowered his voice, so only she could hear him. “Good job. Jack told me to prepare you for the position of a council member. Sorry, I haven’t been myself.”

  She hadn’t failed to notice, but the earlier part caught her attention.

  “The Council chooses only older men as members.”

  “Not the Council of Elders, but one made up of people from every segment; old and young, men and women.”

  Aprilia’s eyes widened. She looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

  “Those are dangerous words!”

  “Why? We’re not toppling the Elders, just setting up another body to help them govern. Can an old man truly understand the plight of a young woman?”

  She looked at his determined expression and saw that he would not be deterred.

  “Fine,” she said, shoulders relaxing. “Don’t blame me if things go south.”

  He gave her a charming smile of encouragement.

  She looked at the manifest.

  Enough food to last the newcomers two months. At least they wouldn’t have to deal with hungry mouths.

  Shelter was a different matter. Most of the free Cha were still sleeping under tents, but these people were going to be less understanding. They would have to be prioritized, even at the expense of the Cha.

  As she kept reading, her eyes widened.

  “All these spices, fabrics and tableware. What are these for?”

  “For setting up a proper noble household, I assume,” Lothar replied.

  She felt the ground slip under her feet. “Is the Queen going to visit us?”

  “Not right now, but you know Jack,” Lothar replied. “It’s better to be prepared for one.”

  “But there’s no one among us who has even worked in a noble household. How are we supposed to figure it all out? Don’t they strike people down for a single mistake?”

  Lothar gave her another of his infuriating smiles.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll turn you into a proper lady.”

  She exhaled in relief, then narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re still not going to tell us about your origin?”

  He shook his head.

  While the high value items were being brought to the shore, the duo of Rennar the mason and Merrin the carpenter arrived with carts of materials. They gawked at the newcomers.

  “They don’t look like us. How many?” the curt Merrin asked.

  “A hundred and twenty-eight,” Aprilia answered.

  “Two insulae should be enough for them.”

  “The Supreme Leader wants four. This place needs to look like a port town.”

  “Four?” he said, choking in anger. “That will stall construction at Cradle! We were going to barely finish enough buildings to house everyone before winter comes calling.”

  “Use the families of the craftsmen as labor.”

  Merrin’s eyes lit up with hunger. “Craftsmen?”

  “Dock and shipbuilders. Not yours to command.”

  His face soured, but he nodded his head.

  “All right, let’s begin with the foundations,” he said to his partner.

  “Wait!” Aprilia stopped him. “You can’t just build anywhere.”

  “I know, girl. We’re veterans. We’ll choose a spot far enough from shore on solid ground.”

  “No. Jack- the Supreme Leader was drafting a plan for a city here. I’ll fetch it for you.”

  Lothar walked with her as she moved towards the cart bound for Cradle.

  “You’ve been learning. Anticipating problems before they arrive,” he commented.

  “When you live with a human hurricane, you learn to adapt,” she said, climbing onto the cart.

  “Good. You’ll also need to hire a servant.”

  “Why?”

  “A proper noble household needs at least a few. You won’t have time for domestic chores on top of handling Jack’s affairs.”

  She just sat on the cart in silence while they rode back to Cradle.

  While he went to inform the Elders about the new arrivals, she stored the valuables in their home. Her heart hammered as she placed them in a cupboard. Each small sack was worth more than what her father used to make in a whole year.

  They went back to the Bay, where tents were already rising and fire pits were being dug.

  She showed the master craftsmen Jack’s plan; a proper city with piers spanning the entire coastline, wide roads, fortresses and multiple districts.

  “Ambitious,” the usually stoic Rennar commented.

  They divided the land into zones for sleeping, cooking, storage and construction areas.

  While the men barked orders to bring a semblance of order to the sprawl of crates, bodies and confusion, Aprilia walked between families huddled together. Eyes followed her with suspicion, but she kept moving, listening. Promising little, but remembering everything.

  She found the fiery girl, crouched by a fire pit.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Gretel,” the girl answered with a sullen face.

  “If you see something that truly needs fixing, bring it to me.”

  The girl did not answer, but nodded once.

  As the sun dipped and shadows lengthened, tensions rose, followed by voices, but the soldiers stopped fists from flying. A crate of chicks overturned near the carts, sending a flurry of peeping chaos across the sand. Soldiers and civilians scrambled to gather them up.

  Order did not return, but disaster was averted.

  Aprilia stood at the edge of the makeshift camp, watching unfamiliar families settle into an uneasy rest. The rhythm of the sea no longer soothed her. It marked time

  This wouldn’t be the only group of people to arrive in Chadom.

  Jack was building something vast.

  His vision required Chadom to grow far beyond its current size; far faster than it could grow naturally.

  Someone would have to make sure it held together long enough to matter.

  Thank you for reading the chapter!

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