25
After Reece had left, Jon returned to his desk and spent some time considering a petition that had been presented by the Merchant Guild and the Seaman’s Guild to extend the docks at Waterhaven. He knew that, at best, they would have to wait until next year as the kingdom could not afford two major projects at the same time. He hoped Crabtree would come up with a reasonable timeline for the reconstruction of the North Road.
This naturally led his thoughts back to his confrontation with the man. Jon had not missed the flash of what… jealousy? resentment? in Crabtree’s eyes when he had seen Reece sitting in a comfortable chair sharing a pot of tea with him. He realized that he had never taken the time to get to know Crabtree as he had other people in the palace, because the man was alway
