As promised, she treated us to dinner when our planning was finished. We returned to her favorite restaurant, where Bella seemed to have anticipated our arrival and set out six table settings with ale and fresh bread. We were served with a dinner of braised beef, cheese croquettes, and fresh greens, and we ate together well into the evening. When our meal was finished, we returned to Three Barrels and retrieved Marten’s wagon before heading back to Elise’s house. She promised to meet us there within the hour, but the hour came and went without her appearance, and we all retired to bed soon afterwards.
Although there were no strangers on our doorstep the following morning, Marten roused us while the room was still dim. In spite of Elise’s assurance that her contractors could complete the job without any work on our part, he insisted that we should be present for the construction, and no amount of protesting grumbles from me, Marin, or Lia could change his mind. After a quick breakfast, our group of five piled into the wagon once again and made the trip to the future site of the Corell homestead as the sun rose into a cloudy sky.
A long chain of empty carts on the roadside informed us that we were late to the gathering before our destination came into view. A crowd of over fifty workers swarmed around the trees where our property adjoined the main road, encircling the trunks in small teams. Whirring saws and staccato cracks filled the air with a lively rhythm, and the peppery scent of emberwood sawdust tickled my nose as we parked at the head of the column and disembarked from the wagon. A tall man with a long black beard came to greet us, clearly briefed by Elise on our identity. He greeted Marten warmly, and they immediately wandered off together as they discussed the future of the project.
“Well,” Hana remarked as we watched her husband disappear into the crowd of workers, “I imagine we won’t see him until nightfall.”
“So...now what?” Marin asked. “Should we just stay here and wait?”
“Oh, no,” Hana laughed, “we can head back into town if you’d like, dear.”
“If we have the day free, I was thinking that I’d like to spend some time with Elise,” Marin answered. Her eyes grew wide when she realized what she had said, and she rushed to clarify. “To watch her work! I—I thought that, seeing as she’s so successful, I might be able to, uhm, learn something from watching her do day-to-day business.”
“That sounds like a lovely idea. I’m sure Elise will be glad to see us,” Hana answered, patting her reassuringly on the shoulder. “Lux? Lia? Would you like to come as well?”
“Actually, I was planning on taking a walk. Exploring the forest, getting the lay of the land, that sort of thing,” I answered.
“I like the sound of that,” Lia grinned. “No offense, but I don’t think I want to watch how Elise does her...business.” Marin’s brow furrowed at the statement, but she bit her tongue and stared into the dirt with pursed lips. “We’ll see you later tonight, okay?”
Hana nodded. “Alright. Enjoy your day, you two.” She followed Marin to the wagon and joined her on the driver’s bench, and the two rode their way back down the road towards Mayaan.
“So,” Lia started, bumping me with her hip as we made our way into the trees, “what are we looking for on this nature walk, exactly?”
“If the maps we saw yesterday were scaled properly, there’s about thirty miles of uninhabited forest between Mayaan’s town line and the Doram border. That sounds to me like the perfect place for a couple of people looking to disappear and build a home together,” I answered with a smirk. “How about it? You up for a bit of shopping?”
“I’m in!” she exclaimed, bouncing along beside me excitedly. We wound our way around the laborers as they worked on clearing a path into the forest and walked until we reached the clearing where the Corells’ house would eventually be built. “Are we looking for anything in particular out here?” she asked as we picked our way through the dense trees.
“I’m not entirely sure. I figured that we’ll know it when we see it,” I shrugged. “It would be nice if we could find a flat, empty spot without a lot of rocks or trees. Hopefully next to some surface water like a stream or a spring.”
“Maybe we’ll just find a house already built for us!” Lia teased.
“It’s not like we can’t clear out trees and dig up rocks, but it would be convenient if we didn’t have to,” I shot back, nudging my shoulder against hers. “We’ll obviously have to do some amount of work. You know, seeing as we’re building the entire house ourselves.”
“Why is that, by the way?” she asked. “I know we need to be secretive about it, but we can trust Elise, right?”
“Of course. If she says her men are trustworthy, I believe her. They wouldn’t have any reason to think we’re anybody out of the ordinary, either.” I sighed as I thought through the potential chain of events for the thousandth time. “But
