Chapter 55 (Arc 2 Chapter 9)
Isla Carille Bricio. A Bricio? Was this some kind of joke? Why would Loriel send a member of Bricios? The Bricio family was everything that was wrong with Skyholme. Power-hungry, manipulative, and willing to use people to achieve their ends.
“I am sorry, Isla, but I think I was hoping for…” I started to say as I searched for the words to not sound like an ass. I also didn’t want to make an enemy either.
The young architect looked at the people around the table and pursed her lips. Bylura spoke first, “Isla is a good friend of Loriel. A good friend Storme. She has been helping Loriel fend off the marriage proposals of Abaddon Bricio. You can trust her.” The wolf girl sounded annoyed. I really didn’t trust Loriel either. I had just hoped she would send me someone competent…someone unaffiliated, but I should have known better.
Isla sat across from me and steeled herself, “Can we talk privately?” I nodded and asked everyone to give us the table. When we had the table to ourselves, she resumed. “My name is Isla and I am Bricio. I ask you don’t look at my name, though. My father may have been a Bricio, but I don’t associate with him or my extended family.” Her brown eyes looked pleading. “Since I don’t see eye to eye with my father or family, it has been difficult getting jobs in the field that I spent my years at the academy learning.”
I looked at the 20-something woman with her pulled-back dark blonde hair. Her face showed uncertainty. I asked, “So Loriel sent you to me as a charity case?” The phrase confused her for a moment as she puzzled out the meaning.
“Charity? I will have you know I am a damn fine architect!” Her voice was heated as she started to get angry.
“Calm down. If I hire you, will I draw the ire of the Bricio family? And what are your rates?” I had gotten defensive since she had gotten angry. I was looking for other reasons not to hire her. Reasons that she would offer herself.
She paused and then spoke, “My father hasn’t prevented me from getting jobs. The Miaden’s have. Architecture is their purview, and they have a number of family members in the field. So not only am I a woman, but I have the wrong last name.” She took a long exhale. “As for my rates…how are a ten gold retainer and 20 silver a day?” She added hopefully.
The rate seemed reasonable. I needed to make a decision. Should I trust Loriel, who was using me as a pawn on a chessboard to block the Bricios? Isla seemed genuine, and maybe she was innocent in the political game. Maybe hiring someone with the last name of Bricio would keep the Bricios from looking at me more closely.
“What are your ideas on my new building?” I asked skeptically, trying to stall. I was at least willing to listen.
The woman smiled and pulled out a pamphlet of papers, “Loriel got your entire building and the land behind it flexed. You can have virtually any type of building on it. Please remember you promised Loriel that you would hold one of the apartments for her use. Here are my sketches.”
I paged through her drawings. She had the entire first floor with a row of shops facing the plaza. She had 40 large apartments on the second and third floors. I looked through the drawings and she had done an excellent job in such a short time. It was not what I had envisioned but had elements of what I wanted.
“I can see you put a lot of effort into this. I was thinking that a third of the building would remain a very large warehouse, 100’ x 100’ in size, with a 40’ ceiling. The side facing the city wall would have massive doors to allow a small skyship to enter. The rest of the warehouse would have three floors.” I sketched my own rough drawing for her.
I continued, “I think at most 20 apartment units…each with two bedrooms. The first floor would have a restaurant and bakery facing the main road. And the most important thing is a very large kitchen and storage pantry.” Isla had taken notes while I spoke.
She looked at me seriously, “Give me a day. I will stay in the room above this tavern. I will show you what I can do.” She continued asking me questions and taking notes for the next hour. I slid her a shiny platinum coin when she finished to retain her services. We had never formally agreed to the retainer, but she had shown enough interest and capacity for me. A platinum coin would be enough to cover her services for an entire year, and I noted that term when I gave her the coin. She nodded and left with a smile on her face.
Bylura came up to me after Isla left, “So, did Loriel do good for you or what?”
“Isla seems competent. So are you headed back to your mistress now?” I asked the wolf girl.
“Nope,” she said excitedly. “I am to keep an eye on you.” My eyes narrowed, and she gave me a wolflike grin.
“I have been given a Proctor de Factum badge for your academy. I am the official auditor of Hen’s Hollow Academy!” The wolf girl was practically jumping in place. She explained, “I am to observe your academy class for 90 days and write a report for the Skyholme Acadadium Primus. It governs the monetary funding for all first-year academies.” The girl said excitedly.
My head started to hurt. I didn’t want to be under a microscope. “Can you even write? Are you not too young? And you are a wolfkin?” Each question was like a body blow to the girl, and I felt guilty afterward for taking my anger out on her. She was just another tool of Loriel. She sat hard on her seat.
“I can write,” she said morosely. “The badge belongs to Loriel. She called in some favors to be named auditor. She is the one who worked to get the position. It doesn’t require a person to actually be present to do the assessment themselves, so she gave the task to me.” She bowed her head. “It was just a way for me to keep an eye on you. I am to return to Loriel if anyone else makes a move to solicit your services.”
“Why me! Gareth won the tournament, not me!” I said with exasperation and helplessness.
Bylura spoke slowly and carefully, “I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone else is interested in you, but Loriel is very interested. She is not a bad…” My gaze of annoyance stopped her from trying to convince me of Loriel’s good intentions.
I sighed, “You can go tell Callem and show him your badge. He is in charge of the academy training. I am sure he will love to have a pup underfoot.” I wasn’t sure why I was angry at Bylura. I think it was just because I was angry that Loriel had her eyes on me, and Bylura was going to be a constant reminder. The sooner I built a skyship and had the freedom to leave Skyholme in a time and choosing of my own, the better.
Bylura slunk away, and it allowed Freya to return. I was going to lose the rest of my time working with Selina today as the archmage had left already. Freya and I decided to head to the swimming hole with Monty. Swimming was a release, but it suddenly made me feel old with all the young town kids here. Had I really grown this much in a few months? I think I was feeling the pressure, and the hazy past-life memories were making me feel more adult-like. I was certainly being treated like an adult by Callem. The question was if I should embrace it or not.
“Storme?” Freya got my attention. “What do you want for your 13th birthday?” I looked confused and then remembered I was going to be 13 in two days.
“Just sneak me a large package of treats from Sweets and Treats,” I said, giving her a relatively easy mission. She made regular trips to Solaris with her business. The kid gangs had been essentially wiped out with them starting the academy, so it was safe. She also had Monty and her little crew of friends going with her.
“I know just what to get you! The twins love chocolate honey clusters,” Freya said excitedly. I ignored Freya’s needling as she listed off Gareth, Callem, and Aelyn’s favorite sweets and never mentioned getting me what I liked once. I didn’t have a strong sweet tooth, well maybe ice cream, so I didn’t care what she got for me. Gareth was probably going to eat most of what Freya got me anyway.
As the evening closed, I returned to the barracks to study a little and get some much-needed rest. The building was still mostly empty, with the students not yet returning from their day off. Most were probably eating dinner with their families. Or, in Gareth’s case, he was probably sneaking off with Brianne somewhere.
I took out the actual lightning reflexes spell book. My hubris in trying to learn a tier 4 spell was in front of me. I wanted to fling it across the room in frustration. I had other spells I could learn. Aether shield, for one…and that one was only tier 2. The arcane lock spell was the only tier 1 spell I had that I hadn’t learned, and I was certain I could learn it in less than a week.
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I paged through the spell forms for the lightning reflexes spell. They were just so complex. Even Selina being an archmage, said she only had three tier spells imprinted and one tier 5. She encouraged me, but I knew she thought I was too early in my development for a tier 4 spell. I locked all my other spell books into a trunk in my dimensional closet. It was more symbolic. I was not going to touch another spell book until I learned this spell.
I cocooned myself in an opaque privacy egg and tuned out the world after setting my alarms and emptying my aether pool by making platinum. Gareth returned to the room two hours later, but I didn’t leave my study bubble.
The next two days of training went surprisingly well. My saber session with Callem showed a marked improvement. My session with the staff had me teaching the twins, and they had made huge gains as they focused on my teaching. Their aether manipulation also gained considerable ground. It was as if they were demonstrating how dedicated they were to garner praise from me. And, of course, I did praise them repeatedly.
Bylura did make daily appearances. Usually, she would stand next to Callem for an hour and ask him questions while watching us. She always had lunch at the instructor’s table as well. She ignored me to the fullest of her ability, though. As promised, Freya got me a massive bag of sweets and a long hug to go with it. Gareth, Mia, and the twins were already well into my bag by the time we got back to our room after dinner and our lesson on Skyholme law.
The rest of the week had me working hard on the spell imprinting, but it felt like I was trying to run up a greased incline. The faster I ran, the more effort I expended, but I made no progress. I was desperately looking forward to the off day when I could sit with Selina and get advice one on one. Unfortunately, Selina canceled on me! I was outraged but remembered she had planned to check on her descendants on the capital island.
She did leave me some notes to help me. I was in my room alone when Elora came knocking, “Storme, since Selina can not teach you today do you want some personalized staff practice?” Of course, Elora would ask. She taught me four classes a week, but my role had been switched, mostly helping her instruct instead of being her student. I did spar briefly with Elora, but it only served as a demonstration for the rest of the class.
“Sure, Elora. I have a few hours and need a break from this stupid spell!” Hitting things with sticks was always a great stress relief.
It was the best session I had had with the staff. Elora taught me a few interesting sequences and a few feints that I thought might even work on Gareth the first time I used them. We practiced for five hours! I could believe it until Elora said I should go and rest up, I had done enough for today.
In the evening, Gareth came into the room was a stupid grin and a massive hickey on his neck. “Stormy, how was your day? Any of the sweets left?” I produced the bag from my storage and handed it to him. Almost nothing was left, and after Gareth helped himself, there was just an empty bag.
“Stormy, can you cook us some dinner? I think the twins will be back soon. They went to see their parents this morning. How about some pizza?” Gareth suggested.
I looked at my friend, who was smiling and extremely happy. A knock at our door found Bylura and Isla standing there. Isla spoke, “I thought you would have come by the tavern today.” She looked unhappy.
“Oh, I thought you would have sent Bylura when you were ready to show me,” I said, and I looked at Gareth, whose eyes were locked on Isla, who was wearing a tight yellow top and tight black pants. A light blue coat hung on her feminine frame. It was a blatant attempt to seduce me, but I was not fooled. “Let’s go to one of the classrooms for privacy,” I said.
I was keeping the project a little bit of a surprise for Gareth. He knew that I planned to open a restaurant in Aegis City, but he didn’t know I also planned to build it as a base of operations for a personal dungeon team.
Once we were in the room, I anchored a few privacy screens so no one would overhear or see the plans Isla would show me. I also thought about telling Bylura to leave but figured she could always get the information from Isla later, so it was not important.
Isla produced the first-floor plan. It did have the north section of the building listed as a warehouse, and the hanger doors were large enough for me to build my own Wind Splitter. She had detailed out the mechanicals for the large door. “ No windows,” I said after studying the hanger section. “I don’t want any windows in this section at all that will serve as the hanger for a skyship.” She made some notes.
The first floor flowed south into a dedicated warehouse that was 50’ by 100’ on the first floor. “I want a large set of stairs here going all the way up to the third floor and onto the roof.” The ceiling for the first-floor section was 15’. The second floor of the warehouse was listed as warehouse floor two. “This second floor is going to be a brewery. Please draft in the appropriate equipment and storage. You can order the equipment as the restaurant with brew its own ale.” I flipped to the third floor and back a few times.
“The third floor is going to be a recreation and training room. This section here can be made into a common room. The rest can be for combat training so keep the area open and add plenty of aether lighting.” I flipped but didn’t see any plans for the roof.
“I want gardens on the roof to supply some fresh produce for the restaurant. Nothing too fancy. Just a nice simple place to relax and watch the skyships come and go,” I said. Isla made notes but looked skeptical. As I was studying the plans further, she asked a question.
“What you are asking is going to require a lot of reinforcement in the structure and quite a few stone mage hours to convert….” She was insinuating that she doubted my funds.
“No worries, Wynna and Callem have assured me they have the coin. Once I get the plans mostly approved, you will also have to get their feedback.” She nodded but still seemed a little skeptical.
“How much to reserve the services of a stone mage and construction crew?” I asked, sounding a little haughty.
“About 500 gold for a week for the best crews. 200 gold for one of the lesser crews,” Isla offered. I kept flipping through the plans and dropped 20 platinum from my dimensional storage on the table.
“Are you willing to work as my foreman for the construction?” I asked, looking at the first floor again. I was studying the massive kitchen, food storage restaurant, bakery, and restrooms this time.
“I…I do have the required licenses to do so…” Isla started.
“Excellent, you are hired. Take your fee from the….” I waved a the pouch. “You can hire the best available crew, and when you need more, just let me know, and I will get it from Callem. Now the restrooms need to be expanded, and I want to be walled off this area here for a private dining and function room. The bakery is slightly too small, so let’s add a bit here. I also want the staff to have lockers, so put them on the back side of the restrooms.” She made some notes.
“How do you want to supply water to your building?” she asked. “There is no access to the city water, just the city sewers.” I looked at the building and pointed to the roof.
“Can we add a water tank here and have gravity-feed water to the building? We can fill the tank with water enchantments.” I said after looking over everything.
“If we move your water tank here, I think it is possible, as this wall can better support the weight,” she said. We talked about the plumbing for the structure. Magic had replaced much of technology inside the sphere, but they still knew the principles. Our meeting lasted another hour as we refined the building. She had 20 large apartment units; the only negative was that the second-floor units facing the adjacent warehouse would not have a view. The third-floor apartments on that side were a few feet above the roof of the building. I was still torn on whether to give the apartments small balconies. Other than that, I felt this revision of the building plans would meet my expectations.
Isla seemed to be energized by the changes. Bylura obviously hadn’t been able to read the plans, resorted to just listening, and hadn’t supplied any input. The two left together, and I returned to my room. I found the twins on my bed talking with Gareth. They made space for me to sit between them.
“How was the visit with your family?” I asked the girls.
“It was hard. So much is going on at the farm. Our brother’s wife is due with the baby soon. Demand for eggs is down, so our father is trying to expand into beef, but the permits to raise cows are so expensive,” Mera said.
I didn’t want to get their hopes up, but maybe I would supply my restaurant with ingredients from the farmers around Hen’s Hollow. Depending on how fast the builders worked, I was still months away from opening. And that would all depend on construction going smoothly.
“Mera, you have a tier 2 ability called fermentation. Would you be interested in employment? Gareth probably told you I am trying to open a restaurant in Aegis City. There is the possibility a small brewery may be included in the floor plans.” Mera’s eyes went wide. Any tier 2 ability was extremely powerful.
“You would hire me?” She sounded skeptical.
“How does one gold a week sound to start? Well, after the first-year academy, I would sponsor you to an academy in Aegis City so you could work the brewery.” Her jaw dropped. Fifty gold a year was a massive sum. “Of course, you need to work hard for it. Your ability can expedite the maturation of ales and spirits, so your skill has a lot of value,” I added. Fera, on my right, had grasped my arm and was telling her sister with her eyes to accept. I looked over to Fera.
“Fera, your ability was harvest? There will be a small garden for growing produce and herbs for the restaurant. I would be interested in hiring you well and paying for your academy as well in the city so you can attend with Mera. How does 15 silver a week sound?” It was much less than Mera’s pay, but her plant growth ability was tier 1 and not that rare. Some spells could do the same thing as the harvest ability as well.
“Stormy are you going to hire me as well,” Gareth pleaded. “I can be a taste tester or carry barrels.” Gareth was trying to be funny; his pleading tone was fake. He just wanted to be included in the conversation, in my opinion.
“I am going to need waiters to serve food, Gareth. I can pay you two silver a week,” I said seriously. A pillow flew at me so fast it knocked my head into the wall. The girls came to my defense and retaliated with pillows from my bed. It was almost a fair contest, us three against Gareth, but he could catch and return pillows with ridiculous speed. He targeted me much more frequently than the twins. I wished I had my lightning reflexes spell at this time.
The girls eventually went to their room, but I promised when the restaurant opened, we would make a formal contract of employment. I had been wanting to snag Mera’s fermentation ability for a while, and it almost seemed too easy.
(readers, the sketch of the inn floor plan can be found in Patreon subscriber’s book notes if you are interested. It is in an excel tab)