Chapter 126 Moving Day Continued

"Actually," spoke up Alfred, "I really think your time would be better spent dealing with other things, than flying over the countryside looking for rocks. There are plenty of demons that can do that for you. I thought you wanted to go see the elves and dwarves, once you had everyone moved. Unless you don't think that's important anymore, since we're not near them?"

"No, it's still important to see them. You're right," Aella said, nodding thoughtfully. "Alright, I want you to see about sending people out for scouting missions, General Brimsey. Preferably people who can make maps as they go. I'm probably going to be busy for a while, so this will let us get a jump on that.

"I'm going to be focusing on bringing people over to the new city. I want part of the military working to move the people I bring out of the way for the next group, and to be aware that some of the people may not be thrilled with being moved. Firion, I want your assassins in charge of getting people to me, to be moved. I'm not worried about moving any of the nobles or palace people over just yet, unless they're willing to live with the common people for now.

"My castle is complete, thanks to Rupert, but it's not furnished just yet. I plan to move things after I get people moved. A lot of the buildings can be broken down and reused for other things, since we're having Rupert build a lot of things out of stone. Once I'm done moving people, and that includes the workers in the palace and the nobles, and I've moved the buildings and stuff, I do still plan to visit the elves and dwarves to the south of the mountains."

"Shall we plan what you want the city to look like, since we have time to do that?" asked Zack. "Since Rupert is building it with stone, it would be much harder to change it later."

"I plan on having one noble house in each section of the city," said Aella, standing up and carving a large circle into the wood of the table with her black blade. "I want the people to be spread out through each section, and I want there to be a merchant district in each one."

"Well, there will always be the poor and the wealthy," said Firion, "Why not have two sections of housing. The poor can be nearest the outer walls, and the wealthy can be nearest the castle. That way each noble will have their own group of each to deal with."

Aella nodded. She didn't want just one noble getting stuck with all of the poor. That would also keep the wealthy close to her, and easier to keep an eye on.

"The wealthy won't like having to go through the poor in order to come and go within the city," said Ernun, with a frown, looking down at the carved map.

"They will just have to suck it up," said Aella, shaking her head. "The people are what makes our city what it is."

"Okay," said Vesh standing up, "Let's look at this then. There needs to be lots of housing, for all of the common and poor people. So, have houses for them be closest to the outer wall. Let there be an open market in a ring separating the houses from the rest of the city, so all those people have access to food and whatever. Then let there be the noble houses next, with another section of merchants, with actual buildings, rather than open stalls, separating the nobles from the wealthy. That way, there will be a visual difference between each section, and we don't have as much trouble with thieves."

Aella looked at the city map, trying to visualize what he was thinking of.

"That's actually really good," said Zack, looking impressed.

"We can put in a ring of toilets and bath houses all the way around the city, further separating things a bit," said Rupert.

"Put two rings, one between the common houses and the open markets, and then between the merchants and the wealthy. That way water is close to both living areas, and the markets," said Aella.

"Does the new city already have sewers and such?" asked Xathtak.

"Yes, but there will still be needs for street cleaners and trash service. Where ever you have people, you will have trash. Plus, those sewers will need to be kept clean," said Aella.

"Do you want to go ahead and move me over to the new city, to help keep an eye on the military activity?" asked Varnin.

"Have all of the military people been moved? I wasn't sure if there were still some on their way," said Aella.

"Even if there are, you intend to have them moved over immediately," said Varnin. "I figured I would be more useful helping the General's keep control of the military people during the chaos of the move."

"Alright," said Aella with a nod.

"Where do you want the orphanage to go?" asked Alfred.

She looked at the table for a while, then sighed. "I want the kids to get a chance to learn how to read, write, and do math. That would best happen where Bridgette is, with the books, but I'm not sure about sending the demon children over to the human town."

"What human town?" asked Torrod, still munching on the few leftovers from the cart.

"I've already moved all of the humans I'm going to, over to their own town, a couple miles from the new city. There's going to be a huge library and school there, for those who wish to learn. I haven't really had a chance to think more on it, just yet, as there's been too much to do."

"My family would be willing to have the orphanage on our section of the city," said Destov, trying to get the topic back on track. "It can even be within the noble estate area you have designated."

"That works. Any other questions?" asked Aella.

"What about the animals that people have brought to the city? We don't really have a place for them, much less food for them," said Ernun.

"Rupert, as soon as you get back, build fields for the animals outside the city, and I will focus on moving them tonight," said Aella.

Firion gave her a nod, letting her know he understood she was going to do that before she started back on moving people. Rupert nodded as well.

"I'll provide light, since it will probably be night time," said Alfred, "for Rupert to see what he's doing."

"That helps," laughed Rupert.

"If people want to head out immediately, looking for spots to build towns or farms, they are more than welcome to do so," said Aella, looking around at everyone. "I know that it's not the best time of the year to be planting crops, but I'm sure there's something that they can be doing right now."

"I can build roads around the kingdom, to connect towns and places, once we have things the way you want them, at the new city," said Rupert.

"That sounds great. I think we should have another meeting like this one," said Aella. "When should we have it?"

"How about in a week?" offered Ulrik. "That way we can get some sleep, after going half crazy this week, and reevaluate how things are going?"

Aella nodded, standing up. "I'll take you four at a time."

She took Rupert in the first group back, so he could go ahead and get started with the animal pens. Once everyone was back where they needed to be, she headed to the outskirts of the old city, looking for the herds that her people had brought.

There were thousands of cattle, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, goats, quail, pidgeon, dove, and others, waiting for her to move them. The farmers she encountered were worried about having feed for all of the animals, but Aella assured them that she would see to it that none of the animals starved. For the animals in cages, she moved them in huge groups, keeping them separated by who owned them. But for the huge herds of cattle and horses, she had a particularly hard time moving them. Mostly because she had to be touching them to teleport them.

As the sun started to rise in the old city, Aella was already exhausted. Not from teleporting back and forth, but from chasing the animals and holding on to them long enough to teleport them. The farmers had laughed more, at her, than she had heard in her entire life. She didn't mind, because seeing the smiles on their faces warmed her heart and gave her the energy to keep going.

It was mid-morning before she had a chance to start teleporting people. The first group that was brought to her by an assassin, was a family who was terrified and scared.

"Don't worry, you're going to the new city, where you'll get a new home," said Aella.

"Our old home was just fine," grumbled the father, holding a small child bundled against the cold.

"It can't be helped," said Aella, giving them all a smile. "Everyone is getting moved, whether they want to or not."