“We were thinking maybe we could build a direct road from the eastern ports to Valen,” Thia said.
Adira smirked. “You mean, you want us to build the road.”
Wicus returned the expression. “You do have the money, manpower, and it’s through your territory.”
“That benefits us in no way,” Ashni replied. It would cost them money and manpower that she could use to continue working on Nakian. Why waste it on them?
“What about your canal idea?” Nakia asked.
Ashni looked at her spouse. There was an idea. She had plans to build a canal system. Water was the fastest way to move things and her territory was quite vast now. If she wanted to keep it together and remain connected to the rest of the Empire, she needed to make sure she could move people and goods around quickly. A canal that connected to the rivers running through Kairon would be a good thing and had been a plan long before she took the West.
“A canal would be good if it’s going to come to Valen,” Thia said.
“In an ideal world, it would touch all major cities,” Ashni replied.
“But, when would construction begin?” Wicus asked.
Ashni looked to Adira, who shrugged. “I’ve had my hands tied with our military. Ask your spouse.” Adira pointed to Nakia.
“I’ve spoken to some engineers, but most of their attention is on the city and the palace,” Nakia said.
“So, no canal?” Thia asked.
Ashni took a breath. “We’ll start the canal.” She needed something to make her start it, or it could end up being something she kept putting off.
“We need more than a start,” Wicus said.
Ashni rubbed Nakia’s shoulder for her attention. “Find or pull some engineers.”
“And people to work on it.” Nakia was technically in charge of the canal system anyway, as she handled most of their non-military infrastructure. It was a job she gave herself. Ashni did not argue it.
Ashni gave Wicus a look. “She’s on it. It’ll get done. Problem solved.”
“Now, onto our business,” Layla said, pressing her palms together.
“The northern barbarians,’’ Wicus said.
“Yes. They’ve been coming across the river and terrorizing towns. We’re going to march on them. I merely need to know you’ll support us, as allies do,” Ashni replied.
“That is our agreement. I feel you want more than that,” Wicus said.
“For the moment, your support is fine. We’ll work out the numbers and such now, if you like,” Adira said.
“Proceed.” Wicus motioned to Adira.
It was really all that was needed. Wicus would honor their agreement, but now Ashni would let Adira entice him with why he should fully commit to their cause. They would need his full army thanks to the tribes and northern borderland. Beyond that, they had to run strategies by him to find out if he felt he was capable. Fighting the tribes across the river would not be the open warfare he was accustomed to. Her new troops would have problems possibly. They had not done anything beyond open field combat. She frowned. What if she had expanded too far? She could not believe that to be true and she would not be stopped.
Available in 2020
About S. L Kassidy
What is there to know about me? Not much. I was born, bred, and raised in New York and I have no desire to live anywhere else. One day, I would like to travel to a few places, but for now I am content where I am.
I started out writing poetry in junior high and continued to do so for ten years. I wrote short stories, usually fantasy and romance stories, for my own entertainment throughout high school and college. Back then, I wrote strictly for me and those stories remain locked in the back of my closet in little notebooks, written in my almost unreadable, tiny handwriting. In between writing those stories and poetry, I managed to get a college degree in history.
After graduating college, I had a semester off before graduate school and I didn't really have anything to do with my time. So, I took a chance and wrote a fanfic and dared to upload it to the Internet. I was surprised that other people enjoyed my work and I've been posting ever since. I had quite a bit of fun with fan fiction and eventually decided to try my hand in original fiction. I suppose it was sort of like coming back around to what I had been doing in high school and college, except this time the stories were for whoever wanted to read them. I uploaded my first original story a few years ago and haven’t looked back. I plan to continue writing as long as I continue getting ideas for stories and it continues to be fun.
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Bright Blessings
Taming the Wind Page 30