R Collier
It was morning. Sun shone through the balcony that ran along the eastern wall of our growing mountain hall or palace. The world glowed to my senses in more ways than one. In the end, I had taken up living in my room in the new palace, we all had. Although Grandfather stuck to his old home despite being offered and then given his own suite of rooms in the growing edifice to our house’s power. It was gradually turning into a citadel as much as a palace as it continued to expand and shape the mountain upwards and outwards. Mother continued to carve the expanding palace from the mountain while I continued to shape the stone afterwards. Lady Acacia had finally realized that we were the only two building our grand abode and was both horrified and astounded. Horrified, as this was not what a Lord and his mother should be doing with their free time. Astounded in that she was very impressed with our skills and their effectiveness. She had even offered to oversee the development of the gardens that were being placed alongside the balconies. Giving our rising citadel a softer touch with the mana encouraged gardens she was growing. At this rate, it would one day soon truly be a palace, a fortress and a citadel. It seemed somewhat wasteful to have it only house the eight of us.
Life just kept getting busier. But many hands make light work and we had managed to recruit heavily after the Silversea games. Not everyone who had started to work for us did so all day. Often it was a morning or a day here and there, but the extra hands helped immensely. They allowed many new projects to start and let us continue apace with the ones already in hand, even expand them. One of the perks of employment by the Silversea family was a set of rooms on the island for themselves as well. This was particularly popular with the younger teenagers and adults on the island who were looking for a little more independence from their parents. It did not hurt though that the rooms all came with the equivalent of indoor lighting, underfloor heating, running water both hot and cold as well as a working indoor toilet. For many, these creature comforts of modern-day living were magical in and of themselves. We had carefully driven down a borehole until we were able to pump cold water down and have hot water shoot back up. We were still working on creating glass windows for everyone as well but they depended on the extended Silversea family and were not yet able to be reproduced by hand as quickly as corridors could be magically carved from stone despite the skills used. As for the rooms they were provided with it was no problem to leave the suites without windows until they had been made. It left the rooms a little dark but that was what the mana mote lanterns were for. It was no trouble for me to charge them up but we had tasked our cousins who had their magic stat unlocked with the job and they did so every evening before leaving the island. All of this meant that it was no longer the eight of us here. We employed around two dozen young adults, and they all had a room here.
In time all the branches of the family would probably relocate to our island or at least their younger members would but there was a certain amount of family politics in who would get their own domicile first and where. I had been enjoying drawing my plans for the island. So much so that I had surprisingly received the skills of sketchingand drafting after making so many. I had many fantastical drawings now that outlined the possible futures of the island but not all of them were possible. Certainly not all of them at the same time. Aleera tended to harp on about the cost of everything but when you were doing the work yourself there were no construction costs so I did not think that she had much to complain about. Most of the costs for the family came from making the bare stone liveable afterwards, wooden doors, glass windows, metal hinges, rugs, bedding, curtains and stone facing, it was all made within the family and at cost on the understanding that in time they too would have a part of it. A home or suite of rooms on the island. I was even calling it the Silver Citadel although it was still a long way from being completed.
Lady Acacia had also got her way in employing a maid and butler for mother and father. Both of them were rather perplexed with what to do with them. Cora spent most of her time preparing our meals after setting out mother’s clothes and washing them. She also attended some of our lessons in the cauldron garden. They were the first beyond our extended family, Des, Sinis and Wanda to do so. As part of the ‘application’ process, we took everybody who offered to work for us, I knew that Cora had been getting on all right as the daughter of a washerwoman but was grateful at the opportunity to do more than just washing in her future. Lady Acacia oversaw her training and had said that once she had the appropriate skills she would reselect her métier. But for now what she was doing was still levelling up the old one, Washerwoman. Not one I would have chosen but sometimes circumstances determine our choices. Either way, it was even levelling up quicker now that she was being paid more for the task despite less washing being done. Formerly all her work had been done with her mother who claimed the earnings before providing a small allowance. So ultimately, she was very happy with her new job, new pay and new apartment.
The Butler Baldrick seemed to be more of a drinking and sailing buddy for my father than a professional butler as far as I remembered them. However, Lady Acacia was also working on that and teaching Cora the proper etiquette to deal with visiting nobles. Alongside Cora, he sorted out my parent’s room and prepared their clothes the traditional jobs of a batman. Not that they had sufficient clothes or even the right type of clothing to starch or press. However, they did now have the equivalent of a master suite for the two of them in the mountain palace. All of this meant that mother had a lot more time to weave decorations for our home as well as carve it from the mountain now that she wasn’t cooking us all breakfast, lunch and dinner or washing our clothes. Though for the most part, we had been sorting ourselves out for lunch. Another difference was that we were now using the main hall for a weekly meal with all of our workers as well as a weekly meal with all of the extended branches of the Silversea family in attendance. Lady Acacia claimed this would be good to foster goodwill with our employees as well as good practice for larger events should we be visited. She still had a long list of items that the household required. Cabinets, dressers, wardrobes, chests, silverware, fine china, glasses, goblets, it felt like the list was endless and would keep our extended family busy for a long time providing it with all. That was if they were allowed to. She had high standards and anything that didn’t meet them would not be on display if anyone visited. What might be acceptable for us in the privacy of our family and the servants did not make it acceptable for visitors. As part of our training though she allowed us the use of her extensive collection of household items. They were the basis for the majority of the things our extended family were making us. Each one had been examined in detail by the patriarchs of each branch as well as their families to show them the quality required and what to aim for as well as discuss the different techniques required to make them. There had been a lot of trial and error in attempting to replicate them. But it had done wonders for their levels as they attempted to match the masterwork of the best carpenters, joiners, silversmiths and glassblowers of the capital.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
It was one more example of how important skills could be. Their initial efforts left a lot to be desired when comparing the quality however as the examples and research gave them something to aim for the system helped them to achieve it. Gradually gaining new skills that were needed as well as levelling up from the importance of providing quality goods for the local lords, us.
They weren’t the only ones levelling up their though. With my sister and I focused on different metiers. We had clarified our relationship with a contract and were splitting everything 50:50. It was a short-term loss for me but would hopefully be a long-term gain. I would be the idea man and not-so-silent backer behind her business. But she would bring my ideas to reality and spend more of her time on making them a success. The most recent of which was attempting to farm decent quantities of Sea silk which we were currently slowly and carefully cultivating. The best bit was that I was leaving it all to her having provided the idea and the original creatures now she was growing my ideas and making them a reality. Unfortunately, our arrangement also meant that I had invested the majority of the treasure that I had found on the sunken wreck into the household. It was paying for the sudden expansion in employment we were offering. This meant that my ideas would continue to grow with or without me and gave me more time to develop my skills and stats in different directions. It also meant that in the future I would be able to travel a little more without ever worrying about running out of money if we continued to be as successful as we currently were.
Salt, pearls and purple were now being collected on a small business level rather than what a single-family even with magic could manage. We were not yet factory levels of production but Des and Sinis had become our managers. However, those were no longer our only or even primary products. The cauldron garden that would become the heart of Silversea Citadel with its Elendil tree was now established and producing more than our family or even extended family could eat. We had reached the point where we could sell our excess to the town who were very happy to receive a more regular change and variety to their diet. We did not yet have a lot to sell so we kept our prices high following the rule of supply and demand it was still eagerly bought. Aleera could not wait for Mercurio to return so that we could spread further afield or rather sell off the island. Magic had allowed us to raise and establish our crops far faster than the decade that would usually be required to grow fruiting trees or raise well-developed vines. We were now attempting to develop a decent vintage of wine, Lady Acacia was not convinced by our first batch but no one else had complained about our first attempts. All of it had eagerly been bought by the Compass Edge Tavern happy to have some alternative drinks in advance of any merchant visiting and resupplying them.
The contract with my sister meant that I received 50 per cent of all current and future profit including any new ideas of mine she developed or any ideas of hers that she used my funds to recreate. As the main shareholder in our family’s development, I was not tied as tightly by the contract and could continue to set up my side deals one of which was working with the Silverstone branch to collect gemstones. I had hoped for a fifty-fifty split there. But they had not gone for it claiming that they would find the stones with or without me anyway. However, they were, with a bit of haggling willing to go as high as 30 per cent of the profits. I just had to turn up once a week and paint on the mining face where the gems were and write down how deep into the wall they were. Lady Acacia did not exactly approve of my venture into mining but couldn’t argue against the purse of gems I came home with. It also had not stopped her from approaching me about creating excess tiles for her to sell. I had kept my method for producing them a trade secret and she had not pried respecting my right to a secret or two. She was fascinated with the patterns and believed they would sell well.
Lessons in languages, weapons, spellsong and spellcraft continued apace. But I would spend my spare time drawing up future expansions to our home or business ideas such as oils, perfumes, herbs and spices. I had a million and one ideas and kept them written down in journals I kept hidden in the walls. My set of secret tunnels continued to grow alongside the palace corridors and suites. Although I had to enlarge them to deal with my increasing size. They were no longer impassable for an adult but they would not be able to run along them as I could.
But all of this was not my main focus. Just as Aleera had been concentrating on her new metier with me helping provide ideas and funds to create the Silversea Merchant empire. I too had my own metier one for which I had a lot to practice and a lot to perform. I was a singer now and every evening you would find me singing for my supper in the Compass Edge Tavern but at least I was not called little Tommy Tucker. My grandfather or grandpa would more often than not be in the audience watching over me and making sure I returned home safe and sound.
The town itself was not quite sure what to make of me. I had been introduced as a lord but here I was entertaining them every evening for a meal that was worth pennies in comparison to the pounds of gold I had either dredged up from the ocean floor, sold salt, pearls or purple for and that wasn’t taking into account all the other little business ideas of mine Aleera was setting up for me. The town saw me as something of a mascot. Their very own lord and lady raised from the commoners that they were. We had made no changes added no charges they found no reason to be disgrunteled and with the raising of many of our cousins to Adhals they were cautiously optimistic and hopeful about our prescence. Lady Acacia said that could change with the wind and was keen for us to start employing a guard or two to patrol our island. But she also recognized the uniqueness of our situation and our island looking on my reception as favourable but also something that could continue to improve with time and effort.
Putting such thoughts aside I rapped on the bar and took my place atop it, a perfect stage for a child of my stature. I focused on my voice and began to sing.
“I’ll tell you tale,
Now list to me,
With a hey ho, the wind and the rain
But the rain it raineth every day . . .
Each night was a new song to be sung, a new tale to be told, the best bit of entering a new world where entertainment was so limited meant that there was no such thing as copyright or plagiarism. I passed off all my tales as something read in books brought by Lady Acacia and the people loved them. Half sung, half acted the tavern had never seen such brisk business and I was in need of a larger stage.
Another business proposition for my sister.