Heir's Legacy

by Vlad ben Avorham

  His father took him on a small tour; it wasn't a big town, but the 'dry goods' store was as well stocked as any he had seen. The banker had a long conversation with his father, mostly just to introduce him for any future need. Jayen pealed off from the party as they passed the smithy and Echal lost track of him. They visited the flour mill. Water wheel mills were nothing new to Echal the bigger cities usually had several small ones, the one in this town was big enough to supply half of a city and they were weighing whole wagons filled with grain at a time. It was the largest set of balances Echal had ever seen. The sheer ingenuity that went into it would have stolen hours of his day had his father not moved him along. They stopped in at the local inn for rooms and Evan bought him a drink in a tiny little glass. The drink burned like fire and two of them had him feeling the beginnings of a buzz. "We have this back home as well, but only the Tzadi make it so only the Tzadi use it. They don't drink it like this they soak their herbs in it to concentrate them for medicines. These people make this by the barrel! I have sketches of the special pots they use. Figured it we ever made it home, it would be a luxury to make the Dutchy famous."

  Echal didn't know about all of that but steeping herbs in it sounded like Sha needed to know about it. He looked for Sha but it seemed that she, Catrin, Sara, and Feylynn had all had a shopping agenda of their own. When he asked Evan about it, Evan just shrugged. "Part of being happily married son is not needing to know the answer to some of those questions. They took Jumping FIsh for a guard; it will be safe enough."

  Echal decided it wasn't worth worrying about if his father seemed to be comfortable with it. The last place on his father's tour was a neat little shop with signs in the windows. These signs were painted with amazing neatness, Echal had never seen the like. Each letter was almost an exact copy of any other letter of its type. They went in with him still wanting to spend more time examining the examples in the window but his father seemed in a hurry for some reason. His father spoke to the man at the counter for a few moments expressing pleasantries Echal assumed. Echal heard his name and realized he was being introduced. The man held his hand out. Echal looked at it for a moment uncomprehending until his father explained. So he shook the man's ink-stained hands.

  "I'm having to actually pay him to let us examine his machine close up. I've explained that you're considering investing in such a business as one of your holdings but want to truly understand its workings before you put up the money. I'll translate, but ask any questions you need to know, as I knew little enough about it to even ask the right questions the first time I saw it. With your years in the smithy, you should be more familiar with it than I. Oh and try not to look surprised even though this may be the most amazing thing you see in this town." With that, they all went into the back room.

  The man went up to an odd-looking wine or oil press and he put a piece of paper down. He pulled the leaver pressing it down then released and pulled the paper out. It was the page of a book and not just any book. The whole page was done with the same perfectly neat letters as the signs outside were made with. He watched the man hang up the page on a line to dry and then move the bottom of the press out rub pads with what was obviously ink on them and then put in a new sheet of paper, and just like magic though again he had been assured no Tzadi in this world, and out came another perfectly written page. A scribe would have taken half a day to write that much, and no scribe had that clear of a hand. Even a Tzadi with the copy spell would have only been able to do a dozen pages before needing a rest. This man and his machine could make a dozen copies with almost no effort.

  Echal was amazed. He examined the press very carefully committing to memory tiny details of its construction. Though his father's efforts as interpreter he learned about 'movable type' and 'type setting' and amazing things called 'wood cuts'. His father was right with this the Dutchy could rival Archive for the availability of books in just a few years' time. He thought of the Red Spire, and of the books hidden there by the White Spire that were even now resting in saddle bags back in a cave with Savon and Harder. This was beyond magic, this.. he tried to think of what to compare it to, this could change the world.

  Leaving Town

  They spent that evening in the sweltering heat of the inn. Echal barely slept. He spent the evening sketching out the press design and as much of the process as he could. He even sketched as much of the layout of the workroom, who knew what practical wisdom was found in that. So it was that he was still fully dressed when he heard a quiet knock at the door.

  Jayen was standing in the doorway. "I need your help. I saw the most amazing thing at the smithy but don't know how to replicate it and if I talk it over with you..."

  Echal just grinned at him, "Old times, eh?"

  Jayen grinned back, "Too hot to sleep, anyway"

  They went down the stairs to the common room. It was frustratingly dark using only candle light. A light stone would draw too much attention though. So sitting over cold slices of roast mutton and pints of beer, Jayen proceeded to describe the new concept of a 'nut and bolt' to Echal. He described to them what the "Tap and die" set looked like but the blacksmith wasn't willing to sell his and a new one ordered in could take months to arrive.

  Echal said that he would have to see them in the morning but that with a little effort they could probably make them. Jayen looked skeptical.

  So it was that with only a couple of hours of sleep they found themselves preparing for the last tour around town before heading home. Echal saw the tap and die set and despaired. He didn't know how they would make a tool that was needed to make the thing that made the tools. Still he told Jayen, buy one of every size bolt and nut. Buy three or four of each, we may damage some while experimenting but when we get home, I'll help you figure out something.

  Evan was waiting outside while they were at this little errand, but you could tell he was impatient. He had one last thing just outside of town in the opposite direction to show his son and he was in a hurry to do so. Echal wondered what could be so impressive after the printing press.

  This time there wasn't a need for payment, his father seemed to be on very good terms with the man who ran the mill. It was a water mill, just like the flour mill, only they used the power to power a saw blade. Machine that held four saw blades, bobbed up and down working their way slowly but methodically through a log, turning one log into six boards. No wonder the houses were so fine, that would have taken two men in a saw pit most of the day to accomplish back home. While it wasn't as big as the printing press, it was well worth the short ride out here.

  Echal spent a good part of the ride back lost in thought about the wondrous new devices available here on this world, and if his father was right and this was just their frontier, imagine what wonders lay at the heart of their civilization.

  Going Home

  Family Meeting

  Evan was holding a meeting with the whole clan. "Soon we will be going back to our world. There are no guarantees there but I like our chances, or I wouldn't be taking my family. My son Echal, has grown into a fine man. He has devised a way that we may resume our lives without massive bloodshed." He took a moment to smile proudly at Echal. In truth he wasn't sure he would have been able to raise him any better, had he had those important formative years with him. "I've also devised a plan should his not work out as well as we all hope. If it comes to that there will be bloody fighting." He paused to give each member a moment to think about it. "Any who wish to come with us will be welcome. Any who choose to remain behind will have our love and be welcome in this home. I have spoken to the banker in town. He assures me that any legal problems can be handled by the incorporation papers that I've signed. My friends, you can live out your days here in peace, or you can join us for a more uncertain future."

  Jumping Fish stood and made his remarks, everyone who didn't understand English got the translation from Feylynn. He would return to his people but his heart would be with us where ever we go, he hoped to see each of us again, in
this life or the next. Mo, speaking for his family, said that this was their home. While they owed more to Evan and his family than they could ever repay, finding a home was a rare enough thing to not be lightly abandoned.

  Jayen looked over to Jan for a moment only before he spoke as well. "I've been tempted many times in this wondrous place to ask to stay, at least for a time." he shook his head slowly and gathered his thoughts, "Mo spoke truth though. I've been away from home for too long. I want to go home."

  Echal let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He knew that he would never again live under Jayen's roof as a son, but to lose him, his wise council, his understanding manner, would have been a greater blow than he was ready for. As for the rest of them, no one else would be staying behind.

  As the meeting broke up, Echal approached Mo. He had spoken to Feylynn earlier, and she was more than happy to power the spell; it wasn't enough for a long conversation but it should be enough for what he needed. So in English he began, "Mo, may I speak to you for a moment?"

  The older man's eyes went wide? "You learn languages fast!"

  Echal smiled, "Not really, this is a gift from Feylynn's abilities and won't last long so I'd like to state my case to you, if you don't mind."

  Mo shook his head. "Miracles. For what your family has done for mine, you can speak to me any way you want."

  Echal put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "It's about Sarah. I understand that in this world the color of your skin limits you. I don't claim to understand this or why it is so, but in my home, Sarah would be viewed as an exotic beauty and treated much as a queen by many. She would have her choice of husbands. Wealthy and powerful and not so much." He hesitated for a moment. "My younger brother for one, idolizes her. Despite his Elven blood, do not discount him as a child. He will soon enough be a man and my father's heir to the Dutchy. I do not know if this would be her chosen fate but where we go, she will meet many such opportunities and will travel in the right layer of society for this to be not only acceptable but expected. I have no children, nor can I imagine the loss of one moving so far away." He paused again as Mo's eyes began to water. "I do know that I would want for them the brightest future I could give them. Is this world that for her?"

  Mo started to speak and emotion strangled his voice. After a moment he could again, "I will think on it, and will talk to her and her mother. You are right in one thing, the future you describe has no chance for her to be sold south."

  With that Echal just nodded and left to get his own equipment packed up for the trip back home.

  Testing the Gates

  The last was packed and everyone decided to see them off from the keep. Evan was mixed in his emotions. He was returning to his ancestral home, to lands and titles that had been in the Mirron family for generations. Still, this little keep on the frontier was of his own hands. His own sweat and blood, and quite a bit of Feylynn's magic he admitted to himself, built it from nothing. Leaving it all behind wasn't easy. Still Mo would care for it and the Banker would over see the legalities; if he needed it, it would still be here.

  Everyone was saying goodbye and there was no shortage of tears. Echal didn't see Sara. It wasn't until they were almost ready to leave that she came walking out carrying a bundle on her back. He presumed it represented her treasures from her current life. He smiled as he realized it almost assuredly meant she would be joining them in a new life. Catrin just had a smug smile, while Galan looked as if he had been reprieved from a death sentence. Echal really hoped his brother would get past it. Sarah would almost certainly not remain available long enough for him to grow into the kind of man she would find ready-made where they were going.

  The ride to the snake monument was not horrible as the heat of the day had not settled in fully yet. Men in their armor and leading a fresh string of pack horses picked up from here would make traveling a lot easier on the other side. Catrin found Sara a horse and was surprised to find that she was an uneasy rider at best. They gathered on the crest of the mound, and little Sha walked out just a small way from the others. She raised her hands and her brow furrowed and the gate winked into existence then flickered for a moment before she made a little noise and it snapped into position. Echal took that as his cue and began leading the pack train into the huge gate with Catrin and Jayen behind him.

  His greeting was not a friendly one at first. Harder and Savon didn't realize they were going to try opening it from their side and had scrambled to set up the best defense no matter what came through. He was glad it wasn't a fight but soon enough realized that the size of the pack train coming in wouldn't fit inside this small cave.

  Echal nodded toward the opening and started to walk the horses out that way. The new horses all shied away from Harder, the smell of rotting orc not being something they were familiar with. "Any problems on this side?"

  Harder shook his head. “There are some people much lower on the mountain looking around but no one has bothered us up here."

  Echal nodded then wrinkled his nose. "Getting a bit ripe there buddy. I think we may need to find you a fresh suit before we get into town."

  Harder shrugged. "Even if I pass for living, not too many places an orc would be welcome."

  Echal grinned at him. "We'll talk to my sister, she's got a neat trick that might help.”

  Coming Full Circle

  Everyone was enjoying the cooler mountain air, except Sara. She really wasn't dressed for it. Pavel came to the rescue with the loan of his cave bear cloak. Sara was almost lost in its folds, so much larger was Pavel than her tiny frame, but she was warm and Echal noticed, smiling. It's amazing how much being warm in a cloak while sitting in the crisp air can make anyone feel better.

  Echal and Savon were riding together discussing their options. “I say we drop in on the same Dwarves. Hire boats down the river just as we did before."

  Savon winced. "Not horribly subtle."

  Echal grinned, "Oh subtle isn't part of the plan this time. I say we get off the river at this little town I know north of Archive." His wicked chuckle was infectious. Savon held his hands up in surrender. "Ride through town with Jayen and Evan one on either side of me in broad daylight." His tone became serious. "How long before that message reaches my beloved cousin?"

  Savon scratched at his beard in thought, "Two weeks, no more and not much less."

  Echal nodded. "That's about what I guessed, too. Then I added two or three days for him to assemble troops he could trust to handle the task..." he looked at Savon for confirmation. Savon just made a face then nodded. "That's plenty of time for us to make it to my families hunting estate in the northern part of the Dutchy. Evan says it is partly up a mountain and defensible for months if need be."

  "What about Oliver's pet Tzadi? She could put a wrench in a lot of things for you."

  "I'm really hoping he sends her with the army he sends. I don't think he would risk an army against Feylynn, without a Tzadi to counter her." Echal shrugs, "I think this will work either way, but much better if she is getting surprised by Feylynn backed up by Sha and Pavel to help them work more efficiently together."

  "That still leaves Oliver safe in his castle." Savon reminded him.

  "That's where you come in." Echal looked at him sideways. "While I am drawing as much attention as I can to the Dutchy. You, Catrin, and Harder will long before have broken off. You'll slip into Voivode's Rest, drug Oliver so that Harder has no problem possessing him. Then you just hide out until the drug wears off, and Harder now in Oliver's skin, declares you long-lost friends. Then sends word to break the siege on us."

  Savon nodded. "And if Harder double crosses us?"

  Echal became grim. "I don't think he will. I also don't think the Oaths will let him. It's also why he wakes up with my two best assassins in easy reach of him."

  Savon rubbed his chin. "You remember he's a litch. He'll just re-inhabit that body."

  "Maybe but humans won't willingly follow a litch as king. Besides, I'll have his soul jar w
ith me. He might do damage, but he wouldn't survive the news reaching us."

  Savon nodded. "I'd rather Catrin not be on this one."

  Echal grunted, "You and me both, but I have to live with her after."

  Savon barked a laugh. "Fair enough."

  Putting the Plan in Play

  Their arrival at the dwarven town shook the sleepy mining town more than an earthquake. They were told stories of troops of soldiers arriving and questioning everyone. They finally waited for one group to leave town before they closed their gates and told them to go away. Still Savon brought trade, and the soldiers had made no friends so most people were fairly positive about the small party. News that the great General Duke Mirron was back as well, and now married to his Elven Tzadi? Stories would fly in all directions. Savon and Catrin were having the time of their lives competing as to who could add the most embellishment without running into incredulity. Catrin was up significantly because people always wanted to believe a pretty girl.