Chapter 71: Act 2: Chapter 17

Thirtieth day, Fifth Moon, 253 AC (+23 days)

She let out a grunt as she stood up and rubbed her head furiously.

"Damn, that hurts," she said.

I rubbed her back soothingly. "Is it any better than last time?" I asked.

"I think, but if it is, it's not much."

We stood in silence for a few moments, with her leaned against me, while we waited for the worst of her headache to fade.

Eventually, she straightened herself and said, "It's somewhat passed now. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any deposits."

"None?"

Evelyn shook her head. "No, none. I'm still unsure of exactly what I'm doing, and since we don't know the result of what happened back at the Twin Lakes, I don't even know if I am doing anything right."

I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "That's alright. Why don't you go back to the camp and lay down for a bit?"

"I could do with a nice little nap," she said, grudgingly.

"Don't worry; we'll figure this out, eventually."

With a smile, she made her way back to camp, and I could hear her collecting one of the guards who remained a ways away, out of sight.

I smiled softly at my brave daughter. Before we had left Redbridge, Violet had asked Evelyn to continue working with her warging abilities regarding her sensing. She had come across a sort of breakthrough on her travels, where she was able to get a sense for metallic content in the ground. It was short ranged still, and she wasn't entirely certain what she was sensing, but it was fascinating. Unfortunately, it had the side effect of giving her a massive headache.

She continued to work at it though, and with her skill, she was able to find a salt deposit at the Twin Lakes, as well as what we think might be iron and another unknown metal. We had also found existing tin and copper mines already present, though they were long abandoned. Her senses tended to have a buzzing effect that I thought might be some sort of echolocation-type thing? We weren't entirely sure how it worked, and I have no idea how she detected the salt since it wasn't a metal, but we were working on it.

The unknown metal had gotten me excited, as I was extremely curious as to what it was. My imagination ran wild with thoughts of gold or precious gems that would fuel growth for my lands. It was hard to reign in these thoughts, but I was pretty giddy. With the iron deposit, we had stopped by a small, abandoned and exhausted iron mine to compare the buzzing, and Evelyn had said that the buzzes seemed to be fairly similar, but this unknown metal was very different.

The Twin Lakes had been absolutely beautiful, and reminded me of pictures of Switzerland, but much larger! If the lakes were combined, they were probably about 150 miles or so – just smaller than Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes. The land surrounding it was ideal for farming and trade, as for the most part the mountains were not pushed up against the lakes, except in the middle where the lakes are bisected into a river. The area was hilly, but not unmanageable, and was already populated, if sparsely. The river that connected the two lakes was deep and wide and would make for easy transportation between the two lakes, which was good as the hills that separated the two lakes made for poor overland transportation.

The Tallhart side had plenty of villages oriented around farming, lumber, and mining, while my side had a few farming families as well as trapping. The Twin Lakes was already marked for future expansion, especially once we figure out what the mystery metal is. We had marked the different locations of the major mines to be explored later, and then we continued on our journey.

Initially, we were going to continue along the northern portion of the Twin Lakes River heading towards the Wolfswood, then follow the Wolfswood back to the coast and then along the coast back to Redbridge. However, we had gotten curious at one of the tributaries to the river and followed it upstream to find the valley we were currently in. It was dominated by a large lake that ran east to west, and good land on the south and north shores. The north shore was sloped, but fairly level, and would make for good growing. The south shore was similar but was heavily shadowed.

As Evelyn had said, she was unable to feel any deposits, so this would not be a mining valley, but with its north shore, this could easily be a wine valley. The heat retained from the water would provide warmth in the valley, and the light reflecting off of the water would also make the valley warmer, meaning this would make a perfect wine valley. It was picturesque as well, though that was just a bonus. There was only one pass into the valley, which was from the east, where a river flowed into the Twin Lakes River and contained enough space between the mountains to easily transverse them, which was good as the river was turbulent and would not carry goods for large portions of the river. The entire valley was elevated, so to the west, there was a slight river that went over a cliff. It was a small river, especially late in the summer as it was now, but there was evidence to show that in the early spring there was a lot of water that went over the waterfall.

All things considered, it was actually pretty close to Redbridge, so creating a community here shouldn't be too difficult, though I would need to find people who know winemaking. I had no experience with it, either in growing grapes or making wine itself. Winemaking would be another good business to get into, especially if I convert a portion of it into brandy to add further value.

I made my way back to camp, collecting my guard on the way, and spotted Koryn relaxing by the lake. We were currently on the southern portion of the valley, having already explored the northern side last week, as we looked for any type of deposits.

As I neared him, I called out, "Lazing about today, Koryn?"

Without opening his eyes, he replied, "Of course; it's a beautiful day in a beautiful place."

I didn't disagree, so I sat down beside him. "True. It's a bit weird to realize how close this is to the farms. We could have come here before and been enjoying this place for years."

"I don't think it'll be that easy to bring carts back to Redbridge though."

I shrugged. "It will be once we get a proper road going."

"I suppose. It is really close though." He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes, and quickly placed his hand above them to shield them from the sun. "Did Evelyn find anything?"

"No, no buzzing at all."

"Pity. How's her head?"

"She thinks it's getting easier each time, but she is still taking a nap," I replied, worriedly.

"She's stubborn, just like her mother."

I laughed. "I still worry."

"Haven't you said before: no pain, no gain? She is just taking after her parents; bending the world into new shapes and forging a new path." He shook his head in wonder. "Life is different now, and I think this change is only going to continue. She will be no different than you. Her and Violet are determined to see what they can do with their abilities, and there will be growing pains, but I think they will persevere. They are much too like their parents to do otherwise." He let out a sly smile. "Who knows, maybe we will see the rise of magic again."

I couldn't contain my snort. "The rise of magic, eh? I doubt it, but I find it hard to believe my girls won't succeed regardless."

Koryn sat up and cast his gaze over the lake. "Still, life is different now."

We sat in silence for a while, enjoying the day. It was bright and sunny, and the heat of the day was pleasing, even if we were on the south side of the valley. Eventually, I broke the silence and said, "I think I will make this into a wine valley."

"A wine valley? That'll be something."

I pointed to the north shore, on the opposite side of the lake. "Over there will be a perfect spot for rows upon rows of grapes." I pointed towards the eastern portion. "There we can have a little village for the farmers and winemakers and the rest of the community."

"Sounds like we need to find some winemakers then. Do you know how to make wine, Michael?"

I shook my head. "No idea. I don't even know how much wine a field can make, or how much wine a person can make."

"More to add to the list then. What about the western portion of the shore?"

"I was thinking something to bring us together."

"What do you mean?"

"As you said before, things are changing. Once you get your castle, and you and your family move, we won't see each other as much. No more walking over to each other's houses, no weekly get-togethers, and the children will start to grow apart. It's not like we will never see each other again, but we will see less of each other. So, I think we need something to help us as a family. I was thinking about building a large house – no, a mansion– that would be right along the shore. Enough to house all of our families, and our children, and their children, so that we can get together in the summers and just relax and have fun as a family. For a week or a month, whatever it is, I don't want us to lose our sense of family."

Koryn was a bit misty-eyed. "That sounds lovely."

I grinned at him. "Another thing for the list."

He laughed. "True."

"When we get back to Redbridge, I am going to sit down and get my priorities laid out and organized. I've learned a lot over this trip, and my original plan is going to have to change."

"It has been quite the trip, hasn't it?"

"It has," I agreed.

Koryn grinned and pulled a bottle out of a sack that he had next to him. "Do you want a shot?"

I looked up exaggeratedly and replied, "You do see where the sun is, right? A bit early in the day don't you think?"

He just laughed. "Maybe, but all this talk got me thinking about the old days. I still remember taking a shot before your wedding, do you remember?"

My mind flashed back to us sitting on the porch; me nervously anticipating the upcoming ceremony, Koryn's laughter and reassurance, playing checkers, Jess cooking the food, the old house – the memories were overwhelming. "Aye, I remember," I replied. "I didn't even have a proper bed back then. Just some furs and blankets shoved beneath me."

"Aye, you've come a long way since you arrived."

"While I miss the simplicity, I can't say I miss my old bed."

Koryn snorted. "I don't think my body could take that abuse anymore."

"You say that like we're really old now."

"I don't know about you, but my body has been sore this whole trip. Sleeping in the wagons is the only thing keeping me going."

"True enough, I suppose. I still don't really consider myself old yet; I'm 43."

Koryn took a swig of vodka and passed the bottle to me. "Weren't you just complaining about your age just the other day?" He asked, dubiously.

I waved him off while I took a drink. "Nah, that's just an excuse to get me out of work. It's a handy excuse."

He laughed. "Can't say I haven't used it either." He took another drink and raised the bottle. "To the next chapter of our life!"

I took another drink and murmured, "To the next chapter."

A/N: I'm happy I could get this chapter out before Christmas, as a nice treat for everyone! I hope everyone has a happy holiday!