Aella quickly discovered that as long as she didn"t leave the chest, she could teleport around inside of it rather easily. All the bags were soon filled and moved to the entrance/exit circle, waiting for her to take them away when she suddenly remembered about the cursed blood. Thinking about it for a moment, she decided to get the food moved before she went back to the mimic. Teleporting the first bags to the throne room, she noted that Jogug was waiting patiently for her return, sitting at the table where the advisors normally sat."I"ll be right back, Jogug, and we can talk then," she said, setting the first two bags down and teleporting back to the treasury.
The blood had seeped almost all the way across the room. Time to inform the mimic to do something. She was not going to remember to fly each time she entered the room. The mimic"s face reformed when she appeared on the roof next to him.
"That chest filled with evil and cursed things is leaking blood all over my treasury. You better deal with it now," she growled, making sure he knew she wasn"t happy.
"Ooops, I forgot all about that," he said, jumping up as several squawks of surprise could be heard from the other side of the building, and changing back to the oversized chicken form as he ran towards the circle.
Aella teleported back to the bags of feed she had left there, and grabbed two more, teleporting back to the throne room. Xathtak was there with the Master Builders, talking quietly, as they held arms full of scrolls and drawings. She didn"t say a word to them, only teleported back to the treasury.
Arriving just as the mimic stepped out of the chicken chest, she watched him jump over to the cursed chest. As he pulled open the lid, blood started pouring out of it, overflowing with a vengeance. The smell was awful.
"Ugh, I hate when I forget about this. I"ll be a bit, if you want to keep on with whatever you were doing," he said, taking a breath and diving into the chest with a loud splash that threw blood everywhere.
As she wondered what was going on, Aella decided to ask him later. There was too much going on for her to wait around. Finishing her task quickly, she clapped the corn dust off of her hands and turned to the waiting people in her throne room. Ignoring everyone else, she focused on Jogug.
"Forgive my idiot Advisors for putting you to work. As a guest in my home, I would never allow such a thing."
"I understand you had your woman"s time. I asked for the work. I needed something to do. Sitting all day was boring."
With his skin the color it was, she could almost imagine he was half-demon like herself, instead of orc. Giving herself a mental shake to focus on the task at hand, Aella nodded.
"I understand how boring it can be. If you want something to do, there are plenty of other things, that aren"t as nasty. Would you like to train with my city guards on fighting techniques? It wouldn"t hurt for some of them to sharpen their fighting abilities."
"That sounds good. I will go now." He stood up and pounded his chest before leaving.
Xathtak curtsied after he had left. Aella returned to her throne before waving for her to proceed.
"Your Majesty, I have brought the Master Builders, as you requested. They have been working hard the entire time you were gone, making the plans you requested. When asked why they hadn"t reported after a week, as you ordered, they responded that they were told to report to you, and you weren"t there."
"I told you all to report regardless of whether I was here, because I had been gone during the days. I remember this clearly, why do you not?"
Xathtak cleared her throat and glanced back at the demons behind her, who were shuffling their feet and not making eye contact.
"My King, there was a lot that didn"t get done the week after you left…"
Aella raised an eyebrow, remembering that she had basically sent everyone into a s.e.xual frenzy when she flew overhead. So, maybe the fact they didn"t have everything ready after a week wasn"t their fault…
"Even so, why is it a month before they are appearing before me, and only after I sent for them?"
"Your Majesty," said one of the builders, stepping forward and kneeling. "We knew how important this was to you, and took the liberty to begin the first stages of building. Because you were not here to report to, we procured workers to start measuring the other side of the river, and have begun ama.s.sing materials. We have all of the plans drawn out, as well as all of the numbers figured for you to look over, concerning the project you have for us."
"Really? That"s odd. What if I changed my mind on the location? I hope you haven"t started actually building anything yet?"
He gave a start at her words and glanced back at the others. "No, we cannot get anything through the frozen ground, to be able to start construction."
"Show me what you have," she said, a new idea forming in her mind.
They pulled the table over to the middle of the floor and began unrolling their drawings and scrolls for her to see. She spent several hours, asking questions about all of it, and having them explain the method of constructing a new city. They had everything planned out, except a replica of her palace, down to the sewers and water piping.
"Alright, I think that will work," she said, nodding at the figures of what they would need to build the city, and what they had on hand. "And you already have workers checking out the area where you are to build?"
"Yes, they were sent out three days ago, but only one has returned so far. The river is dangerous right now, as the temperatures are freezing the surface and keeping boats from working, yet the ice is not thick enough to really walk on just yet."
"I will need to think about the next move I want to make. All of you will need to come tomorrow, along with five of your best workers. I will be taking you to the build site for you to see personally. Make sure you have eaten and have a snack, as we may be there for the entire day."
They all nodded, relieved that she was not going to punish them. As they left, she couldn"t help smirking. They didn"t know she intended to leave them on the other continent until they were done figuring out the layout of her city there. That should be sufficient punishment for them not reporting in sooner. They would get to keep their lives at least.
"Your Majesty," said Edgar, standing just inside the door as the builders filed out. "Your lunch is ready."
Nodding in satisfaction at the timing, she ignored Xathtak and headed for the dining room.
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The orphans and those in charge of caring for them, would be arriving that afternoon. She wondered what condition the kids would be in, when they arrived. Would the caretakers clothe them in a bid to present a better view of their care? Or would they not bother? Would they even come? She could see them trying to make a run for it. If they did, Firion and his a.s.sa.s.sins would find them.
The smell of the stew, when she stepped into the dining room, reminded her of the stew her father used to make when she was little. Sitting in her seat, she waited with a childish excitement for her bowl to be set before her. The chunks of vegetables and meat were larger than her father"s stew, but she had been little. Maybe he cut them smaller to fit her smaller mouth?
Taking a sip, she allowed the various flavors to run over her tongue. With a vague feeling of sadness, she realized it had different seasonings than the ones he had used. It was still delicious, but she wanted her father"s stew now. Once the bowl was finished, she thanked Edgar, and teleported to the northern mountains. There was time for her to swing in and find out what ingredients he had used.
Looking to the east, she could see the fort taking shape, and teleported closer, looking for her father among the workers. He was right in the middle, helping some of them hold a large beam in place while a few others worked to get it positioned and stabilized. She floated there, high above them, watching in fascination. Her father was a general, and could stand back watching and giving orders, but instead he chose to be in the middle of it all, actually helping them do the work necessary.
As he backed away, leaving the beam in its new spot, she watched as he cheered and celebrated with the rest of them, huge smiles lighting up all of their faces at their victory. He spotted her in the sky, and waved. She flew down to meet him as he jogged over to her.
"Your Majesty! What brings you out here?" he asked, his good mood still evident on his face.
"You used to make a stew, many years ago, and I was wondering what the ingredients were," she said, glancing over at the demons waiting for him to return so they could lift the next heavy beam into place. "You are busy though, so I will not bother you. Perhaps I can return later, when you have more time?"
"Well, we"ll probably be working half way through the night. The ground gets good and hard, and makes it easier to move the heavy things into place," he explained, with a youthful grin of apology. "But I just used whatever was available from the market, cheap. The main ingredients were the onions and garlic. They were a staple to make the broth really good and rich. A little salt never hurt either."
"Thank you, General Brimsey. Good luck with your construction, and tell your people they are doing a fine job. I may have work of them someday, if they are willing."
"Whatever you ask for, I am sure we can figure out a way to supply it, My King. We"re a pretty tight-nit group after the blizzard and the avalanche."
"Be on the lookout for humans coming north along the wall. I"ve ordered that if they want to return to the human side, they have to come through your area."
"Alright. We haven"t seen any yet, but that doesn"t mean they won"t come. With the weather being so bad, I don"t expect any soon, to be honest."
Nodding at him, she teleported back to the throne room, wondering what an avalanche and a blizzard were.