SS - Chapter 37 - New Arrivals

When we finally climbed to the top of the slope, and I got a look at the mass of humanity in front of me, a cold pit opened up in my stomach. I knew that my mother had planned on bringing as many people as she could, but as I looked out across the meadow, I started having serious concerns that we’d be able to support everyone.

“How many people did you bring?” I asked quietly.

“At last count? Three hundred and fifty seven,” my mother replied. She must have seen my face, because she nudged me gently in the side. “Don’t worry, we brought quite a few experienced hunters and farmers with us. It won’t take long for everyone to get settled in, and start working on the supply situation.”

I nodded wordlessly. It certainly seemed like a lot of people, but my mother never would have brought them if we couldn’t support them. There probably wasn’t enough space to support both housing and farming in this area, which meant we’d probably have to expand to the second prairie area as soon as possible. I mentally added it to the to do list.

The maids were swarming around the storage area. Some were pulling the canvas tents out of the back of the wagons, and setting them up at the far side of the meadow. Based upon the number of bundles that they were carrying out of the area, it wouldn’t take them too long to get everything set up.

A second group of maids was busy unloading the food, and storing it in the nearby warehouses and, unfortunately, that process didn’t seem to be going as smoothly. It seemed like a small group of people had gathered around the wagons, and were shouting so loudly I could hear them a couple hundred feet away. 

I sighed, and started jogging over. They hadn’t even been here for ten minutes, and there was already a problem.

When I got closer I could see there was a small group of maids standing between the people and the wagons, pikes out, with Camille behind them. 

“Those are our belongings! You have no right to take them!” the big, heavily scarred man at the front of the mob screamed. Based upon how everyone else seemed to be hiding slightly behind him, repeating his screams, I was sure he was the agitator.

Camille didn’t reply, she just sat on the driver’s seat of one of the closest wagons, her massive longbow sitting in her lap.

“What’s going on here?” I growled as I stormed in and took position behind the maids, looking the large man in the face. Despite being twice my size, he stepped back in surprise.

“And you are?” he asked cautiously.

“In charge,” I snarled. “I’ll ask again, what’s going on? Why are you bothering my troops?” 

“Well, those little blokes have been tearing through all the wagons, pulling stuff off the back and shoving it into that building over there. When I asked what they were doing, none of them answered me. All our tools, and personal belongings are still up there, and we were concerned,” the man explained. He seemed a lot more reasonable, and timid, now that he was talking to someone.

“I ordered my troops to unload all the food, and store them in the warehouse so we could manage it properly. Even though it may look like a lot, it wouldn’t last long if we gave everyone unrestricted access. There’ll be a cookhouse set up in a couple hours to feed everyone,” I explained. “We won’t touch your personal belongings, and you’ll be able to collect them once we finish unloading the food and valuables.”

I glanced down at Alex, who was commanding the defensive line. “Right?”

She jumped to attention and saluted, “Hup!”

“There you have it,” I muttered.

“Well, if you say so, your ladyship. I’m sorry for making a ruckus, we were just worried because we weren’t getting any answers. The little ones would only answer with that little noise they make, and your companion wouldn’t give us a clear answer,” the said, apologetically.

I turned and looked at Camille, questioningly. “What? How was I know that you’d ordered the maids to unload the food? All I knew is the maids were working, and this lot was making a scene. If I had known I would have explained,” Camille declared.

“Albert, did you really think my daughter would order her constructs to steal with you?” my mother asked as she and the rest of the knights finally caught up.

The small crowd immediately stood up straight, some bowed, others shied away. The leader, however, didn’t back down. “No ma’am. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for things to get out of hand, but I was just trying to look out for everyone, and I got a little frustrated when I couldn’t get an answer.”

“And are you satisfied with my answer?” I asked.

“Yes ma’am, sorry for the inconvenience,” he replied meekly, before leading his group away.

“Albert Dunham, the former mayor of Maythrope,” my mother explained. “I know he looks a little rough, but he has a good heart, and he looks after his people. That’s why I put him in charge.”

“Great,” I muttered. “Did you bring any other trouble makers with you? Anyone else I should know about?” 

“A few,” she laughed. “When you have a strong team there are always a few strong personalities. I was planning on introducing them over the next few days, you just got a sneak peek.” 

“Wonderful,” I grumbled. 

As I turned to climb into the wagon Camille was guarding, assuming it was the one Emil was in, the girl jumped to her feet. 

“Momma!” she screamed, nearly blowing out my ear. Camille performed a running leap off the wagon’s seat, weaved her way through my mother’s entourage and clamped onto Lady Amber so fast I could barely follow her.

The lady knight looked surprised by the sudden assault, before finally reaching up and petting the girl's head awkwardly. “Hey Wild thing, did you miss me?” 

“Of course I did! I know we talked once a month, but I really wanted to see you again! I’m so glad you’re here!” Camille gushed.

“Well, we’ll have plenty of time to catch up. Let’s talk some more tonight, okay?” Amber replied softly. 

While those two got reacquainted, I slipped into the back of the wagon. I found Emil sitting on a tiny cushion, nose in a book, surrounded by a number of trunks. Based upon how fancy they were I guessed they contained both his, and my mother’s stuff.

“Emil,” I said, making the boy jump.

“Sister, did you find mom?” he asked hesitantly.

“I did,” I replied, reaching out a hand. “I’m sure she wants to see you. Come on, let’s head outside.”

The boy tilted his head to the side, as if considering, before breaking out into a wide smile. “Okay!”

He waddled over and threw his arms around my neck, allowing me to scoop him up and carry him back outside. When I emerged, I discovered the knights had formed a loose cordon around the area. 

“You know, you can all relax a little,” I announced as I climbed down from the wagon. “We don’t have enemies around here, or an official military now that I think about it.”

“Old habits die hard,” Angus declared, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ve spent our entire lives protecting your family. It might take us a while to get used to the slow life.”

“Well, don’t get used to it too fast. We just kicked a beehive, so I plan to hold regular training, to keep you all in top shape. At least until I can figure out what’s happening in Iskel, and whether they figure out a way to track us down. I don’t want to be caught off guard, if they have,” I said. “That being said, you can relax right now. You’ve been standing at high alert all morning, waiting for those gilded tin cans to show up, that can’t be good for your nerves, or stamina.”

Angus gave me a pained smile. “Aye, but we’ve trained all our lives to deal with it. We’ll be fine.” 

“Suit yourselves,” I replied as I stepped up to my mother. My brother squealed in delight, and reached out for her, so I passed him over.

“So, what’s next?” my mother asked.

I took a look at the meadow. The maids had managed to set up a good number of tents, and people were starting to get settled in. Behind me, the other group had almost finished removing the food from the wagons, so we could let people grab their belongings. 

There were still a massive number of people out there, but after just a little bit of work taking care of them seemed a whole lot more manageable. 

“The same thing I’ve been doing for the last few months,” I replied. “More planning.”