The winter was crazy. Amelia forced herself into my bed. I just went to sleep one night and she jumped on me naked and I let her have her way with me. From then on she slept in my bed. The winter had my efforts divided three ways. The dam, the stream excavation and the road east. I had no plans to extend the road further east this winter. I just wanted to add more gravel to the cleared road so far. One surprise was a family of five English colonists found us. The father and son were leather workers which was great. They accepted the offer to build a tannery a half mile south and I would buy their goods. We built a path south and built a small stone house for the family in four days. In town I added a butcher shop building even though we didn’t have a skilled butcher. A lot of men could now buy a musket in town and get game to the tanner. The meat would be sold in the butcher shop.

By the end of March the road had 40 miles of gravel, the dam had walls that were 100 feet thick of fused stone, the stream excavation was maybe a quarter mile done but we now had a mini lake by town on the positive. Babies were being born left and right. I was now a father of 6 but they were kept in the Indian village across the stream. My children would open their magic at puberty.

I decided I wanted comfort food. I made my first effort at pizza and it was not great. The sauce was off and the crust so-so and the soft cheese was sharp instead of mild mozzarella. Everyone else liked it though. My French fries effort came out much better. My burger was also good once I perfected the ketchup. Having olive oil was really a god send for cooking that I was used to. Cooking had become my hobby and I was now paying two chefs at the tavern to replicate meals I liked. I really needed some experts in cheese making. I decided I would go and see if my ships were available or still afloat. Amelia would not be coming this time and I was thinking I would try to get my cheese makers from France or Italy. In mid April I took one golem and headed to Jamestown again. If things were going well for my ships they should be returning the end of April or early May. I packed a backpack full of cut gems and seeds to grow for food.

I entered Jamestown in disguise. I got the news. The winter had been rough. A lot of people got sick and died. Hundreds of soldiers had died trying to uproot the Indians. The king was sending over shiploads of settlers with almost nothing to their name. Some became indentured others took their chances in the wilderness. There was news of a sorcerer who would consume your soul which I assumed was me. There were dangerous beasts in the wilds, again probably me. The ale in town was terrible. I spent a small amount of coin waiting for my ships which arrived on May 3rd. I went to the ship by rowboat and meet the captain who was glad to see me. He and the crew had become wealthy in the few trips they had made. They were making two trips to Virginia a year. Each ship was bringing conscripted goods from the king and twenty families with goods. I told him I would be heading back with him and wanted to get more colonists for my town. One ship was to travel to Naples, Italy and the other Marseille, France. The goal was to recruit impoverished skilled craftsmen. I was going to go to Italy. The captain wasn’t sure the danger was worth it. I told him we were a merchant ship and we were going to do some merchanting. I hired fourteen more soldiers for each ship from Jamestown which took two weeks as I interviewed 70 men for the 28 slots. We resupplied with food and a few tons of stone that I would convert into goods during the trip. Getting my golem on board was easy this time. We had no passengers which made the crew upset so I promised them a substantial wage from my purse. The voyage got underway May 24th. I spent 3 weeks on the Enterprise creating dozens of knives, sabers, daggers and spear heads. Then I went to the Endeavor and repeated. Getting through the straits was a little uneasy. We had a Spanish frigate board us and two rubies bribed the captain. The Enterprise veered off to Marseille to sell the cargo, resupply and find colonists. I wanted ten cows as well on their ship, I needed more milk for cheese. I gave the captain twenty eight gem stones of each sapphire, ruby and emeralds to exchange for coin if needed. I headed onward to Naples and we would return to America with the Enterprise. It was another week to Naples.

It was a magnificent city, more impressive than London by far. The port was full and I had to pay to get a dock space. I had my ship bursar sell the unique weapons while I went to sell my gem stock. The first day I hired a translator and soon I had a large amount of gold coins that I transferred to the ship and had my golem guard while I went through the city. The next day I bought resupply for the ship and an estimated 30 additional passengers. I spent a week going through town and found two cheesemakers that were young and hard up. They got me 8 excellent cows and one passive mating bull they assured me would make great cheese once they calved. We got the fodder for the animals added to the hold. I got a silversmith, carver, brewer, six young female weavers and 1 architect with families for a total of 26. The girls were trying to escape the city and were all young women who currently worked for next to nothing. We only remained in Naples 17 days and got a great price for the goods. My purser got saplings for two new types of olive trees, three tea trees and seven different spices. I had three visits from nobles while we were in port. I felt they were all sleazy so I just humored them. We pulled anchor and two days west a small warship was following us.

The captain was sure they were pirates even though they were not flying a flag, probably from one of the nobles that tried to get to know me. They knew I had a few pounds of gold coins. At night they were getting close so I got into a row boat with the golem and six oars in case we lost some. The golem rowed us next to the warship and we tied off. I let the golem climb on board and start the havoc. The golem ended up losing an arm to a small cannon. It didn’t matter. 17 men overboard and 57 dead and two prisoners. I needed a translator. I went to the rowboat with my prisoners and the golem got us back to my ship although it took an hour. I had my captain turn to seize the ghost ship. The prisoners were questioned. They were under the command of a powerful family and they threatened me. I just nodded and tossed them overboard. A day later and we had a problem with the young weavers, the other men and crew were harassing them. I got the crew to stop which was easy enough and moved them all to my cabin and took the captain’s cabin as punishment for his crew’s poor manners.

In Marielle we connected with the Enterprise. We stripped the captured ship and sold it to a noble for a low price. I found two crew from the Enterprise were killed in the city in a messy tavern fight. The good news was they had loaded their ship with 25 skilled craftsmen with families, 700 bottles of wine, 1200 vine cuttings, and 600 plain wool blankets. They only got 5 cows but that was probably because the crew didn’t like the smell.

The straits went better as we passed at night. The open seas finally. I had meals with the young Italian women and worked on their English dialogue skills. A storm appeared to the south and we sailed both ships directly north for 5 days to avoid it. It finally passed and we continued west. Two days later we caught up to a French merchant galleon. We were hailed and had a peaceful exchange with signal flags and their captain invited me over for a meal. One of the weavers, Carina, spoke French and English so I decided she would come to translate if needed. We dressed up and crossed over in a row boat. We were both underdressed compared to the French who had gaudy costumes, wigs and makeup. They definitely looked down on me and Carina. Carina was uncomfortable but I just powered through. There was a noble family heading to the Americas to take over their lands there. They had 2 sons and 5 daughters. When they asked what I did I said I was a merchant, mayor and magician. The eldest daughter seemed elated I was a magician and asked me to perform. I said I wasn’t that type of magician…more like an enchanter. Her father and lord seemed to revel in the fact I was trying to escape my boost of being a magician. I gave in and said I could make a rock glow and it would continue to glow even if submerged in water. The captain had the waiter go to the crew to go find a rock. A few minutes later I had a fist sized stone in my hand. In my hand the rock was 13 ounces. I made a big show saying it was too heavy and then cast soften stone, peeled off stone until it was 8 ounces, then formed it into a sphere, and cancelled the spell. Seeing me mold the stone like clay caused the girls at the table to clap. The men were skeptical and the sphere was passed around the table to confirm it was indeed a rock. When the rock finally returned to my hand I made a few faces in mock concentration lasting long enough I started getting jeers. I paused and breathed and said I was tired and needed a kiss from a beautiful woman to rejuvenate me. I asked the noble to offer up one of his daughters who were 20, 16, 13, 8 and 6. He declined and I gave Carina a long passionate kiss that went so long it made the women flush even with the makeup they had on. I said that worked and held the stone sphere in front of my face and focused for a few seconds before casting light stone on it. Everyone gasped. I held the stone for a bit then said it would remain enchanted for at least a month, generating light. The stunned diners passed it around the table. The ship’s captain reminded me that I said it could remain lit even under water. A bowl of water was brought and confirmed my boast. Everyone was gabbing and gawking, fortunately no calls to burn me at a stake. Eventually things calmed down and I handed the light stone to the eldest daughter who had asked for the demonstration. A gift for the lady I said. They asked me for more magic but I said I had expended my magic for the day. I said they could dine on my ship tomorrow if they wanted to see more. Our ships were much faster than the French ship so it was unlikely to happen. We left and returned to our ship. Carina practically mobbed me as we got close to the cabins. We ripped off our clothes and it was the first time I actually felt the need to have sex since coming to this time. Carina was tall, just over 5’10”, with a lean well-muscled body. She was a mix of Italian and Persian with golden brown eyes. As I kissed her full lips standing pressed together my erection sat against her stomach. Our bodies pressed and heated each other until we began to sweat. The moment dragged on and I brought our slick bodies to the small bed. Gently lowering her beneath me I consummated our mutual lust. A few minutes into the slow hip thrusts I felt her inner muscles grip me as she orgasmed. I looked into her eyes and they glowed briefly during her heightened pleasure. My mind started racing, torn between pleasure and thought. This was the first women who I had truly felt attracted to, was it because she held her own magic? I released into her and it felt…instinctual? Were people with magic ability drawn to each other? Why did I bring her to the dinner, I really hadn’t needed a translator? My breathing steadied as our sweaty bodies glided a little with the sweat lubricant. My urges returned in just a few minutes and I resumed… Three hours later I was tired but invigorated. I spoke with Carina as she lay next to me. She was from a moderately wealthy family of 9. She was educated until 15 then her family experienced the plague. Only herself and two of her brothers survived and she went to city to earn a living at 15. For the last four years she had worked in the textile weaving mill. It was ok the first year but the owner’s son started to visit and he would pressure the girls into having sex with him or get fired. She had been forced six times and the many other girls at least as many. Four of the girls were forced into miscarriages. I made sure to ask her if I had forced her as well. No, it was mutual but she knew a rich and powerful man like me would never marry a girl like her. I told her about Amelia but I said my religion didn’t prevent me from having multiple partners and I would be happy to support her. The conversation turned to magic and I told her she had the spark. I didn’t know if she would be able to cast spells but I would try to teach her if she wanted. She slid on top of me, straddling me just above the waist and asked if that was a promise. When I said yes, she slide backwards and engulfed me. She rode me slowly to start, building faster and faster until we orgasmed in unison.

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The morning was the cheery with fruit, bread and light wine delivered to us by the ships steward. My magic was full so I brought Carina close and had her watch as I created five light stones. She didn’t sense anything. I gave her the light stones in a heavy bag to block the light. I told her she could start by focusing on a stone and feeling out the magic in it and pulling it out. Mid-morning on deck I was surprised to see the French ship close by, 200 yards off the port side. The captain said the French had signaled they wanted to take us up on a dinner invitation I said yesterday. The captain said the ship had made a huge effort to keep up with us. Huh the lord really wanted to talk again. I had them relay that dinner would be fine and that dress was informal, no wigs, formal clothing or wigs. My dining room could seat 10 comfortably so it would be tight if he brought all 9 family members. An hour later I was told he would bring himself his eldest son and two eldest daughters. So me, Amelia, the captain, would leave 3 open seats. I told Amelia to get with the other weavers and select 3 to join us for dinner. I went to my private storage and grew fresh vegetables for the cook to use in the meal.

They came aboard a few hours before sun set. They got a quick tour of the ship before we sat for dinner. I was happy to see they were normal looking without the makeup and wigs. The eldest daughter was even very pretty. My captain carried the conversation and the salads were quite good with lettuce, oranges, walnuts and a light dressing. The lord, Phillipe, children were well behaved and didn’t talk much. The lord eventually asked about magic. My captain thought he was joking, none of the three new weavers knew English. I started the conversation as the others looked on. The lord asked what he would have to do to learn magic himself. I said I could only teach people who had magic and it was extremely rare. I said I could pass on magic to my descendants as well. He nodded and asked if I could demonstrate more magic. I nodded because I was in a mood to show off.

I first heated a stone to boil water. Next I grew a short lemon tree and then a peppermint shrub. Even though I had plenty of magic reserves I said I was out of magic. My captain was taking it well and he asked if it was magic that I used to take the two warships. I just nodded. The lord asked to talk to me privately. I obliged. He wanted magic and if he couldn’t have it he wanted his family to have it. He wanted to give me his two daughters to impregnate. I said that was improper and the children would need to be instructed in how to use their magic. He thought for a long while. Was I married? Would I be interested in marrying to his family? I declined. The conversation was tapering out as he thought. Finally he asked if I would take his two elder daughters and send the first son at age 20, trained in magic to him? I asked about his daughters and any other children. He said his daughters would be too old by then and probably wouldn’t want to return to the family. I kind of guessed that would be the case more because they would have given birth out of wed lock. I stopped the conversation and brought the two girls in. I asked them their opinion of this proposal. The eldest who was 20 seemed a little excited. The 16 year old seemed to be in shock but didn’t object. I told them if this was their decision and I would respect it. I figured they would be better off with me anyway as I wouldn’t force them into anything.

They all returned to their ship and the next day the girls and the father returned. He had a contract written up that stipulated the first son born of his daughters to me would be returned to his family or his eldest living son. The daughters brought five chests of clothes and goods. The father gave me 1000 French silver francs, a dowry of 500 for each daughter even though they would not be marrying me. Both girls looked like they had been crying, the reality sinking in of leaving their parents. The lord said he asked that they be treated well and try to get letters to their mother. I nodded and affirmed they would be treated well. He left and I handed him a sack with 12 light stones in it. It felt icky, like it was payment for his daughters but I had already passed him the sack.

That evening dinner included just me, Carina, Renee and Ella. I told the two sisters I would never command them to my bed. It would always be by their choice. Second is they were well educated persons and they would be teachers in Avalon. Renee, the older sister, asked about a piano. Yeah we didn’t have one. Ella asked about a harp, nope. They were sad. I told them I would buy them one when I could as they both were interested in music. I told them they could be in charge of the colleges’ conservatory program. We then spent four hours talking about the plans for college.

I spent all my nights with Carina. I think I was smitten with her body and the electricity between us from the magic. It wasn’t long before I was certain she was pregnant. Renee and Ella were getting accustomed to life in my circle. Renee was very attractive the more I saw of her but I was certain she had no magic affinity. When we finally got to the coast we had not much food left. Instead of making anchor in Jamestown we sailed further south. Using my link to the golems we anchored closer to the area of the Avalon. We even found a bay I liked for a future port city that could line up with my eastern road. We transferred everyone to the shore and everyone was puzzled. We only had about 6 days of food for everyone. My ships were headed north to resupply and take on passengers leaving us on the beach. The crews got a nice bonus to keep quiet for this voyage. I pulled four golems mentally from Avalon to come to me a few days ago and they were in the woods waiting. I told my group we had a 350 mile walk to the city. I planned to use the 5 golems to make a rough trail. Even so I only expected my heavy laden train to only make about 12 miles a day. We rested on the beach the first day and I went and grew 12 apple trees and 12 orange trees. The golems started clearing woods while my new people rested. A lot of them were not happy as this was not what they had expected. Leading them to the fruit trees filled with produce relaxed them a bit. A small orchard meant civilization somewhere. It took a few harsh words to get proper sanitation continuing from what I imposed on the ship. Everyone in my city bathed 4 times a week minimum and learned of germs and disease.

The first days walk we got only 7 miles… The terrain was rough and we had to carry a lot of the items. I brought out fifty light stones and passed them out. It would make things easier and made the new people amazed. The next day we made 9 miles. Not good enough. I had the golems bring a slain bear to feed the group. I didn’t want to reveal the golems until we were to Avalon this time. The next day was a 12 mile day, mostly because the terrain was easier. One observant person noted the path was recently cleared as the cut woods and small rooted trees were fresh. The path was only 10’ wide so it was easy to notice. I pulled two more golems from Avalon and had them carry a medium cart with wide wheels. It would take them 4 days to get it to us and then they could help clear. The wagon would reduce the weight people were carrying which would speed us up. We made 6 miles the next day due to wet swampy terrain we had to go around. I had one golem hunting and bringing in a deer or bear every other day for food. Golems could easily exhaust the beasts by chasing them. We made 15 miles the next day but it exhausted the group. I grew food and we rested the next day eating healthy vegetables.

There was a lot of grumbling going on. Our supplies from the ship had been stretched but were almost gone and we were relying on me and the meat to bring up our stockpiles. The next two days we made 9 and 11 miles. The new wagon was in the middle of the path that stunned some people but we hooked up the harness to some cows and loaded it with gear. We made 14 miles the next day and everyone seemed healthy. The next day we made 11 miles but I was happy with the day. I had one of the wagons loaded with all the heavy gear we had, mostly tools and chests of metal and coins. That night I had 4 golems carry the wagon away to Avalon. It would take them 7 days to return with the empty wagon. Some of the more religious additions were becoming spooked. The best news was we made 14, then 13, then 15, then 12, then 17 miles in the next days. The people were finding their legs and food was plentiful. Then it rained, and rained a lot. We didn’t move for the two days and everyone was having trouble as we only had shelter for half the group. The empty cart was back. I had everyone load it again with heavy items they didn’t need for the hike and added Renee, Carina and Ella to be carried back as well. I gave them 3 days food and told them to remain in the cart for the trip and have Amelia settle them in when they got to Avalon. It was a weight off me to get them away.

The next day we came upon a wooden cabin next to the cleared trail. It looked recently abandoned, probably the golems scarred them away. I grew two apple trees next to the cabin. There were dozens of apple trees along the path I was creating now. The next day as we were travelling six men rode down the path on horses but they were from Avalon! They figured things out and followed the path to help. The horses could carry the slower people and we made 21 miles that day. The positivity of the six riders brought enthusiasm to the group and hope that they were close. The path was cleared all the way to the 50 mile road so I decided to summon the 3 golems that were close. I explained and introduced them. I thought it went well, no one ran away in panic anyway. The golems then started helping around camp and with traveling. It definitely caused some people to want to flee and I couldn’t understand the Italian and French language, I had stupidly sent away my 3 trusted translators. We started making big miles as the golems took over pulling the 3 remaining carts. We made 19 miles then 23. Then other cart was returned by four golems. I loaded it with the younger children and their mothers, 9 people total. The golems carried the cart increasing our mobility. We started making 25+ mile days and the cows were the ones starting to suffer the miles. We were about 130 miles from Avalon and it was not difficult terrain. We pushed 22 miles the next day then I got 9 volunteers to ride the golem cart to Avalon overnight, it was a 20 hour ride but they would be ok. It took another 6 days to get everyone to Avalon but finally we all made it safely! There were seventeen newly completed houses and the families moved in right away. The rest went to the dormitory while the rest of the houses were built. I was happy to head to my tower.

The four women were there and Amelia looked very pregnant and not happy. I had just brought home three women who were her competition. I kissed her in front of everyone first and said I was going to sleep, alone. On waking I emptied my magic creating light stones then got to touring the city. I checked the dam first, small progress there. The stream had about 1 mile expanding done which is where many of the crushed stone for the road had come from. The city was now buzzing with the new additions. We had enough people and variety to have sustained growth. Sanitation was my next priority. I needed to get an aqueduct and water filtration from the dam to get fresh water to all of Avalon. There were dozens of requests for hardened stone tools from the newbies. I spent two days fulling there orders because I wanted them working. I had a great cheese burger for lunch at the tavern with some fries and sour beer. We were still a year or two away from good beer. Amelia handed me a paper with a magic to do list.

* Increase currency…need 5000 one cent, 5 cent, 25 cent and 1 dollar coins

* Northern olive orchard needs rejuvenation

* Need 500 new corner stones

* New vineyard needs to be planted

Wow, just four items. I didn’t understand the need for the currency, I should have enough for a city of 2,000 and we had what, 200? Amelia told me the Indians were trading for the coins to use in the store. We were trading with some 9 tribes right now and they sometimes took coins they didn’t spend with them. Also we needed a lot of salt as meat was going bad. The olive trees were not doing well in the north orchard. The reason was the field was too low and flooded during heavy rains and turned swampy. The corner building stones were needed to build more houses, they ran out of the stock I left. She saw the cuttings for the grapes I brought back. My head hurt. I told Amelia she was now the Governess with a capital G. that meant she was responsible for running the city. Her teaching duties were to be handed to the French sisters. The first thing was a census. She would have to get everyone’s bio information, name, wife/husband, children, parents, grandparents, date of birth, skills, ect… Each person would have one page, both sides of information. This kept her busy for three weeks and she enlisted the help of Renee and Ella. We had 73 Indians, 7 Blacks, 5 Dutch, 109 English, 39 Italians, 37 French, 14 Spanish, 3 Persians, and 3 Germans. There was some resistance to making English the primary spoken language but I put my foot down. I few escaped slaves had joined us and a bunch of settlers as well as some Indians settled nearby and were included in the census.