Arrival
2104 Words
Wednesday, 21st September 1442
We were travelling ahead when we finally saw the cluster of trees that had grown in a single line that acts as a hindrance to siege weapons. When we saw the trees that had lined perfectly and was clustered in such a way that allowed a single wagon to barely pass through, it only indicated one thing — we had reached the outskirts of our home...!
I got a few of the Shadow unit members to nook a few blind arrowheads that had a small round whistle attachment in its shaft and to unleash it high into the air.
*WWHHEEEE*
*WWHHEEEE*
*WWHHEEEE*
Three whistling arrows pierced through the sky before the wagons had reached the layers of trees ahead and this alerted the guards to indicate that friendlies were approaching and to standby in welcoming the guests that we soon bring in.
"Look, mummy... Is that the promised town that the King had mentioned to us?" Gregory's son was excited as he was being carried by his father as he looked at the looming town's perimeter walls from afar.
The boy whose name was Godfrey could not help but contain his excitement as he watched the town limits getting closer as the wagons neared the clump of trees.
As a matter of fact, only those inhabitants knew how to traverse the wagons through the nearly right and impossible spaces within the trees without catching the wheels on the rut.
As Gwen traversed the wagon through the dense forestation, the rest of the wagons took their turns to follow the lead. Three whistling arrows responded from the Eastern gates and soon some of the guards came out to greet us and helped guide the wagons safely through the dense forestation.
"Godfrey... I think what the King had mentioned to us was a little bit of an understatement. From the stretch of the walls, we could not see the other end of it...! We wonder how big is this town and look at how tall and magnificent the walls are...!"
Gregory was patting his son's back as they were awestruck by the walls that had stretched before them and it was like there was no end to it.
"Wow... Such a huge city...! This is not a town anymore, isn't it? Look at how the walls stretched out. It must be some miles from the centre of the gates to the other. We wonder how big this city really is and no wonder the King needs more manpower to fill the population...!"
Gregory's wife was commenting on the magnifique of the walls even before entering while holding on to the bloodied gauntlet that I had given to her to beat the crap out of Austin Powers.
"Hahaha. Well... What do you know...! It's a city after all and the King just said its just a young town. This huge walls would take years to be built...! See those archers Tower? There's one every 20 to 30 paces and we wonder how many military forces are being deployed...!"
Gregory was pleased to find the fortifications was much better than what they had previously at their own village. This is what a city looks like from the outside and more surprises would definitely greet them once they had passed through the gates.
"Good morrow, Your Majesty. Welcome back to Gracehaven. There have been good tidings since you had left and would you need us to alert the pioneers and senior members to prepare for the pre-registration?" one of the guards came to me on his Dandy horse, saluted and greeted me.
"Yes please, my good man. Please inform the pioneers to get the usual arrangements ready. We would be bringing the wagons for a full round entering from the east side and passing through the east side before stopping at the town square."
"These town folks had never been through a large town such as this so at least they got some idea on what we are doing right now and for their own benefits."
I replied to the guard and he saluted back and went back to the domain to notice Heather and the rest to prepare the registration tables and also the town folks to prepare the benches for the new residents.
It would take a while before we would complete the registration and soon after we would be having a small meal break. By then Ben and Old Jack, along with the others would be ae to usher the new residents to their new homes.
"Welcome to Gracehaven, folks...! This would be your new home where the currency exchange rate is much higher compared from the outsides...! You would get 100 coppers or pennies per silver over here...!"
I waited at the sides to let Gwen pass through first and then they would be moving to the left hand side, all the way around the perimeter and then through the westernmost side where the new residents would be able to see the new semi-detached brick homes, crop fields, marketplaces and then the thatched homes before entering the town square.
The residents laughed lightly when they saw me bow down to them, which was the total opposite as the wagons traversed and followed Gwen as she made half circle around town.
"By Golly...! Is this what the King had said to us before? A semi-detached duplex home? This is worth more like a noble to be living in one of those."
"I wonder how much these would cost...! And look... For every few houses, there's a whole row of crop fields and followed by houses again."
"No wonder the King had mentioned about 200 crop fields for every side...! Guess this young King here is totally unlike Austin Powers at all."
The wagons had passed through the Eastern gates before it was slammed shut and secured. As the wagons moved clockwise around the perimeter, they could see rows of crop fields that would be tended soon once the cluster had been inhabited.
They watched how wide, uniform and flat the roads were and there were even smaller paths within the residential and crop fields. The old worn-out wagons were ridden smoothly across the paved 20-foot carriageways and not a single rickety or wobbly sensation was felt.
"This is truly a dreamland for us. Look at how far and wide this wall is and this is only the second cluster? There's even a first cluster within these and I heard it would be the town square where all the essential buildings were located."
"Look... Its a marketplace complete with a military barrack and some other buildings. They are waving at us...! Wow... I never felt so welcomed before in my life...!" one of the residents were excited after discovering the whole structure of the town and they waved back excitedly as the wagons slowly travelled around the perimeter and soon entered the westernmost second cluster.
"Golly...! This is the so-called thatched homes? They are so... I meant that they are well made and are all of a similar size too. There's an outdoor cooking area and also an outhouse too... Hahaha. Look at those kids. Don't they feel cold taking a shower in the autumn season right now?"
The new residents saw the whole thatched homes that were aligned neatly in the westernmost area as the children who had finished working in the fields were running after the wagons with their towels waving in the air, oblivious to the stares of the new residents as though it was in summertime...!
They ran beside the wagons and some even climbed to meet their new friends as they shouted 'hellos' and 'how are yous' to the peers around their ages. Godfrey was slightly surprised when a boy climbed at the sides of the wagon and offered his hand for a handshake.
He timidly offered his hand out and was greeted warmly before the boy took off to his home to wear some proper clothes as dinner time would be around the corner.
Godfrey saw some girls carrying dainty wicker baskets in their hands and riding a weird contraption as they kicked the ground and steered the handles of the kickboard to head to the marketplace.
The girls were giggling to themselves and even waved at Godfrey and the rest of the kids riding in the wagon. For the first time, he felt so warm inside his heart and he knew that his family had made the right choice to move out from that godforsaken place to this town.
"Dad... Could I be well and be like the other kids as what the King had promised us? I wanted to run, skip and walk like the others and also wanted to go to school and learn how to read and write."
"I want to do a lot of things that I wished to do before but I was unable to do so at this moment. Do you think the King would do what he had promised us?"
Gregory had tears that were jerking at the corners of his eyes as he hugged his only son tightly and whispered, "This King is a good man. I don't think he would go back on his words to treat you, my son."
His wife leaned back to hug their son and at the same time patted and brushed the boy's head and hair. "Yes, my son... This King is like everyone's friend here. Every kid waved and laughed around him and he doesn't even need anyone to bow or throw themselves to the ground even. He acts so casually and he does seem to treat everyone the same."
That's that Gregory's wife noticed when the children clamoured around me and asked how was my trip as I rubbed almost all the heads of the children that can and greeted me, oblivious to the onlookers' stares and observation.
A man well-liked by the children and the community. He must have made great efforts to make this thing possible and to build a city like this magnitude was not something to be looked down upon.
That's what the residents on the wagons were thinking aloud to themselves as we finally entered the first cluster of the western area. They saw the river that separates the two clusters and they saw golden wheat fields on both the second and first cluster of the western residential areas.
They simply lost count of the crop fields before I noticed some of them were counting the fields with their fingers. "There's a total of 500 crop fields in both the western first and cluster districts."
"There are about 10 or more vegetable farms to support us as well. See this river? It's an extension of River Ure and was singlehandedly implemented by one of the Priest."
"You can fish on the rivers if you may. Later on, our pioneers, senior members of the board and some key personnel would guide you on how to live in a clean and green environment."
"Our river waters is safe to drink straight off and there's nothing floating in them except for bountiful fishes and water plants."
The residents saw some of our community catching fish for their pastime and after they had hooked and reeled on the fish, they threw it back in the waters.
The thrill of hooking and reeling fish brings back the excitement and they would prefer to play with the fishes that way since they prefer to eat some exotic looking seawater fishes that were brought in regularly from the East Coast shoreline.
After they heard the current crop fields that were being harvested to sustain the community, the new residents were equally delighted since they knew that there would be work to be done till the end of autumn since Gwen and explained to them regards to the bumper crops that would be harvested fr every 10 days...!
The new residents even learnt that a single crop field yields up to a 1,000 pounds of grains and every single part of the crop could either be turned to hay for the horses and other farm animals.
What greeted their eyes were large farmhouses and they saw large enclosures that housed nearly a hundred sheep and goats and there was at least nearly 50 dairy cows, calves and bulls within the same area as well.
This town is definitely self-sustained and they were piqued to find out more about the number drops that had been mentioned the night before. Harvest after cultivation of seeds within 10 to 12 days...!
Is that magic or what?
- Writer
