There were some more administrative things to do, like creating an account with the money for the project. I handed the account to the duke. I trusted him to use the funds as needed. At this point it was becoming clear that he would accept Lilith’s proposal, even though he had not officially agreed to it.

The Dominion and the Dwarven Kingdom were rather enthusiastic about the project. Beravis was a bit furious. Their ambitions for Iron Rock would not survive our involvement.

It took two more days to get everything sorted. I left some more notes and explained my drawings to Nicholas as best as I could. Then it was time to get moving again.

We entered the undermountain and made our way to the Dominion. After a bit of walking Lilith approached me.

“Amaya, I have watched you the past few days in Iron Rock and I do have some questions. I take it you are fine with talking in front of your servants?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

“When I pitched my idea for Iron Rocks future you were rather quick to add your so called train. It is an impressive invention and really moved the plan along. Then, in just a few days, you got the project started, funded, and had early designs for your new transportation method. Was this something you had been working on for a while? Did you have plans for Iron Rock all along?” Lilith asked.

Then, before I could answer, she added: “Normally I would not be so blunt. I would expect you to have your own machinations. With any other archfey I would have assumed you had plans all along and were trying to trick me, somehow. But you are unusually direct, so I decided to simply ask, for a change.”

“I had no plans for Iron Rock.” I answered honestly. “I never gave it much thought. But you made some excellent points. So I tried to add what I could to improve the idea. Trains are a known concept for me, but I had never really thought about implementing them here.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Lilith stared at me, studying my face. “So… you had this concept, that could revolutionise travel for normal people and change the economy, but you never considered using it? You never made plans to capitalise on it?”

“Uh, yes. I might have considered it once I have time to work on my county, I suppose. I certainly want to improve my own lands and make sure the people there are taken care of.” I said.

“Your own lands, that you have never visited, but got in a deal with the Dominion, right?” Lilith asked.

“Yes. Loriel gave us a title and some land to recruit us to the Dominion. She did not actually know that I was an archfey back then, she thought she was buying the allegiance of a powerful sorceress and…” I scratched my head. “I don’t know what she thought Lucy was.”

Lilith’s eyes narrowed. “Your kitsune girlfriend, who was not a kitsune.”

I simply shrugged. “They knew we were powerful and the deal worked out for them, I would say. If we take good care of the land it’s going to work out even better.”

“And you have further plans, for your own lands? Any more concepts that will revolutionise things?” Lilith asked.

“Hm. Maybe. I am not sure.” I pondered the question. “So we have created the maid knights. I want them to be an elite order. Our county borders the black forest, a dangerous area. Hopefully we can use it to train. It also has some nice resources, like spidersilk. That should boost our economy. Maybe we can get ingredients for alchemy as well. Josef might agree to settle there. He seemed fascinated with magical creatures.”

Thinking about the alchemist gave me another idea. “Thessia is currently travelling there as well. As a dryad and priestess of Sylphania she could help with growing crops. Or maybe growing some magical plants. We will have to see what is possible. I will also try to recruit some fey for my own lands, not just Iron Rock.”

Lilith stared at me some more. “So… you were coincidentally offered some land for your help. This land just happens to be at a hostile place which is rich in resources, assuming one is powerful enough. You have since then started an elite unit, recruited crafters and are now creating a train to Iron Rock. You have a lot of magical resources, the means to collect them, the crafters to use them and a direct connection to the city we are trying to make into a magical centre…”

I nodded.

“And all of this was a coincidence that you haven’t given much thought? It was just a side project while dealing with the Inquisition and Beira?”

I actually blushed, slightly. “Uh, I mean… I have given it some thought. Like when you eat in a great restaurant and think, hey we need one of those back home. Actually, we need to work on creating good food and drink. Does hell have anything really tasty?” I inquired, looking at Lilith.

She just looked at me. Lucy approached her from the back and patted her on the back. “You get used to it.”