SS - Chapter 22 - Village Hall Meeting

The sound of scraping chairs and shuffling feet filled the small village hall. It had been a couple months since we’d held a serious meeting in our tiny berg. Once we finally put down the foundations for the first couple buildings, and everyone started getting used to our new home, we didn’t feel the need to hold regular meetings. The village was small enough that I could visit everyone individually when I wanted updates, and people could easily discuss issues between themselves. 

The more casual system worked better for us, we didn’t really have any major issues we needed to sit down and discuss. Not until recently.

“I’m sorry to call you all in today, I know that between the refugees and my announcement things are probably a little hectic for you all, but I have something important to discuss with you,” I said, taking my place at the head of the table.

“More important than discovering a Sovereign Stone?” Dierdra snorted. “I doubt it.” 

I glanced at the petite young alchemist, her head full of silver grey hair barely poking over the table.

“Actually, it is,” I replied. “I originally thought I’d have the time to work through the different system functions provided by the system, slowly rolling out helpful changes to the village. However, due to a recent development, I don’t think I’ll have that luxury.”

Jacob leaned forward, his chair creaked as it strained to support the blacksmith’s mass of muscles. “What could have possibly happened in the last few days that’s more important than the discovery of the Stone?”

“I talked to my mother yesterday. She messaged me through the system, and had me contact her through the mirror,” I explained. “Apparently, due to my bonding with the Stone, both she and my brother have the option to change allegiances.”

The room erupted into a cacophony of people asking questions, or having muted conversations with each other, so I held up my hands and gestured for everyone to quiet down. It took a minute.

“I know many of you grew up in the duchy, and would be pleased to see my mother finally gain the independence she desperately wanted, but there’s a problem. As soon as the two of them leave Iskel, the royal family is going to know. She’s planning to come here, and she wants to try and free as many of her vassals from their bondage as she can before she leaves. That means she needs time to plan and prepare the supplies necessary for an exodus,” I said. “Normally she’d take months to plan something like this out, giving us time to prepare for their arrival, unfortunately the two of them have only been given a month to accept the change before the offer expires.”

“They’re planning to come here? In less than a month?” Alan muttered. The lanky tinkerer swept his hair back, off his face, and let out a long breath. “It took us months to put together the handful of buildings we have. We don’t have the time to assemble more.”

“Do we even have a clue how many people she’s planning on bringing with her, or how they’re planning to get here? I can’t imagine the kingdom is just going to let them go,” Ezra, the titanic stonemason muttered.

“I have no idea how many people she’s planning on bringing. Knowing her, she’ll probably be putting together a comprehensive list over the next week or so, of people she can trust. Considering the fact that she gathered people unhappy with the kingdom around her, I’d expect that she’ll bring at least a hundred people with her. Although, I suspect several hundred is more likely,” I announced. “And for how, she’s asked me to establish a gate.”

“That’s insane! We can’t possibly provide food and shelter for that many people,” Sonja squeaked. I glanced over at her in surprise, the mousey little tailor was normally so shy that she didn’t speak up during meetings. As soon as she noticed my gaze she looked away, fiddling with her glasses. “Do they have to come here?”

“They don’t have anywhere else to go,” I replied quietly, “and I think I know my mother well enough to know that now she has an out she’d rather die free than live under those tyrants any longer. I know we don’t have a lot, that’s why after I finished talking with her I sat down with Siegward to determine what we’d need to ensure their survival, not comfort, when they arrived. The list we came up with was an area for tents, and access to food, water and sanitation. That’s it. I’d like to provide more if I can, but those are our priorities.”

Reaching behind my chair I grabbed the map I’d prepared ahead of time and rolled it out on the table. 

“This morning Camille, Selena and I went and investigated the two best locations. Two meadows that were identified as possible original townsites. We determined that since both would be sufficient the closest would be the best option,” I said, pointing to the location. “If I establish the gate there, we just need to worry about the food and water.”

“Is that why you have the wee ones digging up stumps?” Adrien muttered. The hunter had dragged his chair away from the table, and over to the corner away from everyone, like usual. His ever present cloak pulled down over his face.

“Yes, although they actually volunteered for that,” I replied. “I didn’t know they were capable of manual labour until yesterday, but I can’t say it’s an unwelcome discovery. Having a few hundred extra hands will definitely help. If we clean up the stumps it’ll make room for a little bit more farmland. Even if we can’t work it all before they arrive, at least we’ll have something ready. I can only assume they’ll bring some supplies, which means the only other thing we need to do is dig some wells.”

Pushing my chair back I stood up, and started pacing in front of the other community leaders. “Now, let’s get this out in the open first. Is there anyone that outright opposes sheltering those people? I’d like your honest opinion, and if you don’t think we can handle it, I can always discuss finding another location for them to live,” I announced.

I slowly ran my eyes across the room, and not a single person raised their hand, or nodded their head. Not a huge surprise, we were all in their exact position a year ago. It was a hard life, but worth it compared to the alternative.

“Good,” I said. “Follow up question. Does anyone have any suggestions on anything we can implement in the next month that’ll help them get settled?”

“Storage buildings,” Millie muttered, wringing her apron. “Most of our food comes right from the fields, but if they do set up that far away they’ll need a place to keep any food deliveries we send. They’ll probably want a secure place to store a couple other things too.”

“A couple small buildings should be doable,” Alan admitted. “If I get the entire crew on it we can probably get one done a week.”

“Roads would be useful too,” Sonja suggested.

“True, but we can probably do without them at the start,” Adrien grumbled. “We can move supplies back and forth by foot, or horseback as long as the paths are clear enough.”

“It doesn’t hurt to start working on it,” Ezra grumbled. “And we should have someone look over the wagons. We haven’t needed to use most of them, so they’ve been sitting outside the last couple months, better make sure they’re in working order before we need em.”

“All this would be easier with magic,” Jacob muttered, stroking his beard. 

The room went quiet, quite a few people turned my way. 

“I know,” I sighed. “I wanted to put off taking people to the citadel for a couple days because the stone seems to be leveling the area, and the shifting ground is treacherous. Now that the situation has changed, I’m willing to start taking people starting tomorrow. Please talk to your people, and find out who’s interested. From what I understand, those that don’t want direct vassalage will gain access to a system once the citadel is complete.”

“And you’re seriously going to allow everyone to declare fealty?” Sonja asked.

“Why not? I see no reason to enforce the elitism that we experienced in Iskel, and only allow only a few people access to magic,” I replied. “That being said, I do recommend everyone seriously consider the consequences before accepting. The stone does enforce a number of restrictions upon the vassals, preventing them from harming me or abandoning the kingdom. You’ve seen how crushing that situation was on my family. I do not wish to force that on anyone.”

“Although we appreciate the warning,” Millie said, rising to her feet. “There’s a big difference between your family, and the Iskel royal family. We left Iskel the moment we had the chance, and willingly followed you. Most of us have already made our choice.”

I could feel the corners of my mouth rise, just a little at the praise. 

“Thank you,” I replied. “All of you. None of this would have been possible without your support.”

I glanced around the table and I could see most people had already started having hushed conversations, or were shifting around excitedly, so I clapped my hands.

“Since I managed to cover everything I wanted to talk about, and you all seem eager to get back to work, let's call things here. Feel free to drop by in the next few days if you have any concerns, or ideas that we can implement. I know we’ll be busy the next few weeks, and I appreciate all your help. Dismissed.”

As everyone filed out I collapsed back into my chair and stared at the map. After six months of living a relatively slow life, the last few days felt completely hectic. It was taking everything I had to just keep the situation under control. Passing my hand over the new marks for the citadel and new camp site, I smiled. “Worth it.”