“Young Ciela, where is Ziti?” The grandmother Elf had approached them to give them an update.
“Big brother Beckett said the king had told his father he was excited to see Ziti again at the festival. So, I let him borrow her again.” Ciela stood up showing a small bag of new seeds. “He came prepared when he asked for Ziti. The Viscount Flor is a very smart man. He gave me seeds of winter grapes. That is why I am planting these here with the dungeon flowers of frost.” Ciela then quickly went back to what she was doing.
“Can you help make some trellis and arbors for her? We will have to divert some money for it. Sorry.” Auna grimaced she knew she was spoiling the girl; she couldn't help it though. The little farmer wanted to make wine, there was no stopping her. Apparently in her past life she was a lover of wines.
“Of course. The dwarfs are looking forward to alcohol, some even have brewing and fermentation skills. It will help speed up the process. They have been talking about using some of the potatoes, now they should leave them alone. I will make sure to have them make juice as well. How are you going to put them into a dormant phase to allow the plant to rest?” The grandmother was walking beside Ciela as Auna followed behind.
“I am not completely sure yet. I think one of my skills might help, or I’ll just prune them down so they have to take a rest. If we are lucky some might turn into a magic crop that can produce more. I was told these grapes are hard to grow, the viscount was given the grapes by the king. The king was given them years ago by the Arctic country as a gift of friendship. The king gave them to the viscount because they were school friends, he thought he might have success. The Flor viscount did not have great success he doesn’t have many farmers in his territory.” Ciela continued to drone on even after Auna and the grandmother Elf had stopped following her.
“She really does only talk about farming.” The grandmother Elf gave a sigh turning to Auna. “Do not feel bad, if we can make good wine, we may be able to make decent money. It looks like she has enough seeds to fill about five acres worth. That should produce eighteen thousand.”
“Half should be consumed by the dungeon people; a little luxury should help morale. Also, we will need taste testers. We are too young to test it. Should we increase the sugar yield?” Auna asked.
“Yes, we should move from one acre to five acres of sugar cane. That should be enough to continue the candy, wine, and preservation. The fruit trees are almost ready for production. They could make good wines as well.” The grandmother Elf looked happy.
“I’d say some blue apple wine would be very yummy. We should start with the winter grapes though.” A dwarf came striding up. “I was told the little farmer may need some help with wine grapes.” A sheepish smile crossed his face.
“Larn, you are still taking care of the mining village, right?” Auna asked as they walked.
“Yes, little ma’am. We are still working on fixing the production building, and stock pilling ore. We have begun making more farming and fishing tools, we shouldn’t have to rely on buying them or using magic soon.” Larn stretched having run all the way over. “We are working on making the pedal carriages you gave us plans for.”
“Oh, good that should make travel around the farm a bit easier. Especially for the younger kids.” Auna looked over the fields. In the distance she could see the three acres of free-range laying birds being chased by the children. The workers at the salt ponds were using fire magic to speed it up, so they could do other tasks today. The rest of the farm was being tended by pockets of people here and there.
“You are a child.” The two adults said at the same time.
“Anyway. How are you guys keeping up on the farm? Nearly 100 acres are being used right now. Isn’t that too much on top of the sea and mine floors?” Auna questioned them as they began walking towards the school area.
“Yeah, it is a bit tough. We don’t have to worry about food, shelter, or safety though. We also take breaks when needed, and have little parties in the villages. Come now, babies are being born so you should know we have at least some free time.” Larn laughed loudly as Auna blushed brightly.
“We should be nearly self-sufficient soon. Are the people getting enough food, and food variety?” Auna caught sight of Jensen lying in the middle of a field with the triplets.
“They seem a bit tired?” The grandmother Elf asked.
“Oh, we leave in a few hours, they have been helping their dad this morning. Chloe, and Meredith are helping the Bloodwaves. Chloes’ parents are being brought this year, so they can watch. Ciela is here to plant grapes, I am checking in. Jensen probably thought this would be a good place to rest without being bothered.” Auna looked at them questioningly waiting for her previous question to be answered.
“With eggs, hemp seeds, fish, mushrooms, soon to have fruits, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and the berry bushes in the crater we have most of the food needed to survive. We have some rice, wheat, sugar, salt, fresh water we collect in the rain barrels on the farm, candies, hemp oil, and various shellfish we have begun to thrive. Please do not worry.” The grandmother Elf touched Aunas’ hair.
“Is there anything you are missing? Something that would make the children healthier? The adults as well?” Auna pushed, she didn’t know what a balanced diet would consist of in a magic rich environment.
“As I told you before living in a high magic environment can substitute needed nutrients that the body is not getting. If they are getting everything it can help naturally boost stats, especially in children. Just spending as much time here as you kids do is already boosting yours. We seem to have enough of a variety though, we are already making medicine as a bonus. Though the children don’t get sick often. I do worry the closed environment may hinder their immune systems.” The grandmother Elf stopped to watch the children running around the fenced-in area that housed the laying birds, and the school grounds. The school was not finished, just a storage shed, stone foundational walls, and stone furniture. The shed had a roof to protect the books and other materials of learning from the weekly downpour on this level.
“I see. The forest in the crater is too dangerous though. The seaside would be difficult because people might see them. How would you fix this?” Give them access to the crater to start with, it is still the outside world. Mr. Voice was sassy as ever.
“Dairy would help, different cheese, milk, and yogurt. It is too expensive to buy.” The grandmother Elf sighed.
“Would raising goats help?” Auna asked.
“Why goats over cows?” Larn asked.
“They eat less, and are smaller.” Auna shrugged at their gazes.
“Cows would be better; they produce more and make milk more palatable for children.” Larn answered her. “We would need to start corn production though; I don’t think we have enough people to do that.”
“I also don’t think adding more production would help. The wine alone will take more of our man hours. Maybe we should get more people?” Larn joked.
“Where would we get more people?” Auna hummed thinking about it.
“When we sell our goods, we have heard rumors of people trying to flee Wardite. Apparently, they are experiencing high taxes, and famine. They are being forced to stay, in brutal ways. The King has been giving assistance to the territory, though the people don’t seem to be seeing it. Apparently, their land isn’t growing food anymore.” The grandmother Elf gave her answer.
“I don’t think we have the space to be fair.” Auna sighed. “They are the kings' responsibilities as well.” Auna looked up at her. “Keep an eye on the situation though, if it becomes possible to get them here let me know.”
“I will. Also, I think you children need to start clearing the dungeon again. I know you guys have put clearing it on hold to help us, we are nearly self-sufficient though. The dungeon is still relatively young so we think you might be able to clear it.” The grandmother Elf looked serious.
“We are planning to start in earnest as soon as we are not so closely monitored by our school. There have been no incidents this year so the strict monitoring has slowed down. We might be doing it while y’all sleep though. We will leave the running of everything to you now though.” Auna was confident they would be left alone more often.
“Good we think it is possible there may be more special or unique floors, they could provide more space for us. We were also thinking it might be possible to set up a safe zone or safe village just outside the crater. No one travels to the side facing the ocean, and definitely not as deep as the crater. If we could set up a safe village, we could build homes and travel to the crater through a tunnel.” Grandmother Elf was interrupted as a small boy with big floppy ears came up to give her a hand-drawn photo. “Thank you, sweetheart.
“The children like you.” Auna remarked as they watched the boy hop back to the others. “Making the stones, and runes for such a project is not easy work. It took me a few years to do the beach ones. Though the trees were a bit of a waste of time.”
“I see. Perhaps we should train someone else in runic magic?” Larn asked.
“It is very dangerous magic; I am not sure I can teach it safely. Not yet at least. The school teaches us, but only the basics really. Enough to craft some runic things, and read the main runes. However, we need to apprentice or go to higher level scholar schools to advance beyond that.” Auna gave a sad smile. “I remember the first time I copied the runes. It caused headaches and nosebleeds. I powered through though. That was just copying them, I can’t imagine if I had tried untrained to do more. I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”
“I understand lass. We won’t ask you to do it. We can just keep working as we are. We are working on building bigger buildings in the villages to house more people. The weather is stable in the dungeon so building houses is a bit easier. We know which corners we can cut.” Larn gave a deep laugh.
“That sounds good. How is schooling going?” Auna changed the subject, she needed to finish up grab Jensen and head out. Again, she needed to travel with everyone, which would make her sick.
“The schooling is going very well. Many of the children have managed to get a host of basic skills, the adults as well. Magic skills are being learnt as well due to the books you have, makes it easier to teach the magic. Some weird magic skills have been learnt too.” Larn paused waiting to see if he caught her interest.
“What do you mean by weird?” Auna asked with a big smile, knowing full well she fell for the bait.
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“Some water born children managed to teach some humans how to breathe underwater. The skill is called water breath. You should try to learn it, apparently it is a higher level from swimming and breath control. Other skills less interesting to you like metal consumption, alchemy have also been learnt.” Larn paused again.
“Metal consumption? Yes, we will all work towards learning water breath. Do we have more alchemists now?” Auna questioned her grin still there.
“Yes, some dumb teen was playing in the mining village. Humans are all dumb.” Sighing he continued. “They dared the teen to try to bend metal with his teeth, not the first time they had been doing it all year. He must have been eating slivers of metal all year. He got a skill that allows him to eat metals. When he eats them, the lad can pull pure metal bars out of his hands.”
“That is cool. Say how many dwarfs are now eating metal?” A sly grin passed her face as Larn groaned.
“Too many lass, too many. We do have a few more people who unlocked the alchemy job.” Larn rubbed the back of his neck. “I am also eating metal trying to get the skill.”
“What could the skill possibly give you other than being able to essentially store metal bars inside of you?” Auna questioned.
“That is the neat thing. His skill growing is allowing him to take on properties of metal, even coat his skin in targeted areas. The ability to purify metal is also helpful. We metal workers could benefit from hardening our skin. Besides how cool is it to be able to eat metal! I hope it can grow to other ores.” Larn still looked a bit embarrassed.
“I’m glad the learning is going well.” Auna stated as the kids were being ushered down the hill path to the next floor. The day was over. The workers in the fields were coming as well.
“AUNA!” Jensen gave a shout and a wave. “We should go!”
“Ah I have taken too long I fear.” Auna smiled giving Larn a big hug, he was like a father to her. He even treated her like his child, she did not mind.
“Don’t you worry about the education; the people here are more educated than most villages. I say they are being educated at the level of most cities at least. These children, and now even the adults are getting knowledge equal to wealthy people. Hell, if we keep going most of these children will be educated at the level of nobles! The adults we are just giving the basics to, only the ones showing promise we are teaching higher knowledge to.” Larn ducked as the grandmother Elf took action to hit him for his swearing.
“That sounds great. We will have the smartest people. I’ll check in after the festival, hopefully with an advance magic book.” Auna gave a wave as she left.
“Jensen, shall we go?” Auna asked as she got closer to him.
“But of course, my moon.” Jensen held out his hand for her to take.
“I hate my life.” Auna groaned as she rocked on the floor of the Bloodwave carriage. The dukes had insisted she travel with them this year. They had come to the capital for something else and stayed to travel with them. Jensen was with his father, the Bloodwaves and him had some issues.
“Please stop, can you sit on the seat please?” Samantha the grandmother Duchess spoke. They were travelling with them. Auna had been placed with them while the rest of the children were riding in another carriage.
“So sorry my pain is making you uncomfortable.” Auna groaned as they hit a bump dry heaving.
“It is disgraceful for a noble child to behave so widely. I understand my daughter has let you get away with it but not anymore. Last years' showing was barbaric! Howling like a wolf?” Samantha shook her head. The other adults content to allow her to say what she wants.
“I am not a noble.” Auna groaned flopping over on the floor.
“Brian was born of commoners' blood, that did not excuse him from the rules of noble society. You were born as a noble behave as such.” Samantha grabbed her arm yanking her up. “Sit here properly.”
“I am not a noble, nor do I want to be one. I was thrown away, removed from my noble line. Why can’t you leave me alone?” Auna glared. She and Samantha had more trouble than Marybeth and she did.
“You represent the Bloodwave name now. Act like it.” Samantha glared deeply at her.
“I do not. And will not.” Auna growled out grinding her teeth.
“You will eventually. The boys have all taken a liking to you. In the future it would be wise to wed you to one. I know the pearl boy and you enjoy each others' company; he isn’t our Mathew or Michael though.” The old woman kept going without noticing Auna opening the window. In a flash she jumped.
“Auna? Are you okay?” Nick Pearl was picking the child up carefully. She was drenched and crying. “Why did you jump out of the moving carriage?”
“A, Jade. Get back in here.” Samantha came crashing out of the carriage, luckily since they had left a bit later than most from the school there was no one else on the road.
“She prefers to be called Auna. I think I’m going to take her in my carriage for the rest of the trip. Theodore!” Nick called for the wolf in the carriage to come out. He wrapped Auna up tightly in his arms as Jensen called for his dad to bring her to him. Jensen was being very self-controlling by staying in the carriage. It was slightly because he did not want to go out in the rain, he trusted his father to care for Auna.
“Duke Pearl you are not her guardian. We are her sponsor, and will continue to be so. She will be coming back with me.” Samantha reached out for the child.
“Oh, did your daughter not tell you?” Nick smiled walking towards his carriage.
“Tell me what?” Samantha looked to her daughter now standing outside.
“Auna is going to be sponsored by Duke Pearl starting next semester. Duke Pearl has given us back the money we spent on both girls for the last three years, plus extra.” Marybeth bowed to her mother; she had taken the Bloodwave title though she still was scared of the last head.
“What is the meaning of this? Why would you do this?” Samantha asked carefully.
“Auna requested it. She claimed she did not want to be forced to marry into the Bloodwave line. We had reassured her when we first sponsored her that would not happen. We promised she would be free to live as she wanted. Since she was ten you have been putting pressure on us to officially engage her to one of our sons. She knows that, she doesn’t want it. She spoke to Nick, who with the kings’ approval went through the process of taking over sponsorship.” Marybeth finished.
“You allowed that? A sponsorship can’t be taken without the king overruling it, or the original sponsor agreeing. The king is more aligned with us, not Pearl.” Samantha was seething, it could be seen and heard in her words.
“The king overruled us. Auna had said she was going to leave the school, and go to one cheaper. She also said she could apprentice early somewhere instead to start making money for the deal with the king. That is why the king overruled. He did not want the child to leave the school.” Marybeth was still bowed.
“Honey please come back in the carriage.” Brian the old Bloodwave Duke spoke to his wife.
“This is not right.” Samantha relented to getting back into the carriage without anything else.
“I’m glad they are done.” Jensen groaned as the carriages began to move again. He had been able to hear them talking. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t want to marry any of them.” Auna sniffled.
“Don’t worry. I know so many nobles engage their children to be web at the age of ten. We are not like that. You don’t have to marry anyone. Well. If you try to marry someone other than me, I might fight them.” Jensen slid down to the floor to rub her back. “Rest my moon, the journey is long.”
“Yes rest.” The triplets said in unison. They were on one bench while Nick was on the other. She lay on the floor with Theo, Ayda, and Kaida. Jensen crawling back to the bench to put his head in his dads’ lap.
“We are here.” Nick softly woke Auna. “Should I carry you?”
“No, I can walk it.” Auna gave a soft smile. Her eyes still a bit wet.
“Me too!” Jensen laughed as he locked his arm with hers pulling them down to the ground.
“AAHHH” Auna and Jensen crumpled to the ground as soon as their feet hit the ground. The pain was hot and cold, their hands and knees also began to hurt wildly.
“What is wrong? Boys stay there!” Nick shouted as he tried to get the children to talk.
“What is going on? Get that child to stop crying, it is disgraceful!” Samantha gave a call as others got closer.
“We are so sorry! We were planning on informing you before anyone disembarked. There have been reports of sharp glass scattered around the ground, along with shattered magic stones. Many tamed pets are being treated for injuries.” An attendant of another noble bowed deeply. “Please bring them this way.”
Auna was crying loudly with abandon. Her tears would not stop, Jensen was crying softly. Auna could hear nobles around making snide remarks. They were mostly whispering about how allowing a savage disgraced noble to compete was wrong, how this should be enough to prevent a repeat of last year. They were even trying to convince the king to not allow her to join.
She knew this because she had been hearing rumors about how savage she was. She shouldn’t be allowed to compete as an orphan. Ayda was rolling around the king discreetly recording for her log all the nasty things people were saying. They were connected allowing Mr. Voice to record and narrate as she sobbed, what was going on. The king had sent his eldest daughter to check on her. Ashley and Ashen, her twin brother, poked their heads in as Auna ignored them crying instead.
“Auna?” The king tried to get her attention. Auna continued to cry, even after the glass had been removed from her feet, knees, and hands. “Should I keep her from participating?” He asked Jensen.
“Of course, you should.” Samantha said looking at Auna with a look of pity.
“No, she gets like this when too much piles up. She is still a child. It is in her nature; her tears will stop when she is ready for them to. By morning she should be okay.” Jensen shrugged giving Auna a tight hug.
“What is stressing her?” The king asked gently pushing her hair back.
“Well, that woman wants to make her marry one of her grandchildren. The nobles around the capital, school, and here are all whispering about her. Saying cruel things, very cruel things. She is being treated like a noble when she is not a noble. She is being forced into this noble life, even though she was removed from her line. Forcing her to continue to bear the Jade name that she has no claim to. That on top of the motion sickness had her raw. It is obvious someone placed the glass to try and get her not to participate this year. Who else does not wear shoes but us fairy born, and a few beastkin?” Jensen sighed giving a soft kiss to her head. “Her tears can be unending, filling vast oceans when she gets like this.”
“Well, we should take her to her room. Previous Duke Bloodwave, Samantha, I am ordering you to leave the child alone. There will be no marriage talks, I will not allow any Bloodwave to marry AunaLuna.” The king gently picked up the still crying child.
“My king that is not fair.” Samantha called after the king, he ignored her.
Auna cried late into the night, so late many complained about it. The king quieted the complainers saying someone purposely putting the glass and sharp stones around, if they had not, she would not be crying. If they wanted to complain about someone, they should direct their anger to the unknown person who decided to harm a small child.
“Good morning.” Auna said as she met the king outside in the early morning. She had stepped out of the shadows, effectively sneaking up on the aging man.
“Your eyes are not as puffy as I thought they would be.” The king commented patting the seat next to him. “We cleaned up the glass.”
“I noticed. Thank you. My eyes don’t puff much when I cry. I am practically built for long crying sessions.” Auna gave a slight smile. “Thank you for decreeing I will not marry into the Bloodwaves. They are nice people, just too focused on noble tradition. Are your children engaged?”
“Yes actually, even my youngest it. They all have reasonable partners. If they wished to marry for love I would allow them to though.” The king gave a soft sigh. “Are you feeling ready to compete?”
“I am. I won’t let a sneaky trick like that keep me from being your orphan champion. I know my image as a strong-willed, savage, orphan from a noble line who threw me away is important to you.” Auna smirked.
“Ah, you saw through that? Do you know why it is important to me?” The king asked.
“I think you want my image to be similar to your own. You see great potential in me, you want me as a close adviser when I grow up.” Auna tilted her head. “I am not sure why you want me as an adviser.”
“The potential I see is the main reason. The other reason is your unique outlook on things. You look at even emotional things with cold logic. Though it is nice to see you can act like an emotional child. You have great magic skills, though I am still unsure what your job is, you are suited for information gathering. You also seem to attract strong, if a little crazy, people to you. A powerful team is more than worth trying to get on my side.” The king finished as a maid came out with breakfast.
“Thank you.” Auna nodded to the maid.
“Are you sure you are okay to do this today?” The king asked once they had finished breakfast, and people had begun to wander about.
“Yes sir.” Auna gave a goofy smile.
“My king, I still recommend not allowing an injured child to participate. She cried all night.” The Marquis of Wardite spoke coldly as he looked at the two.
“Are you saying I do not know how to care for the children in my charge?” The king asserted.
“Not at all, my king. I just think a child who does not have shoes on is at risk of further hurting themselves.” Bowing the man took a step back.
“Do not worry about her. This orphan champion is as tough, if not tougher than me when I was her age.” The king looked to Auna. “You are dismissed, go get ready for the day.”