'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 2: Here Comes The Witches

Its A Kind Of Magic

"We will give you some time to get yourself acquainted with the Gracehaven's Finest Bakery, Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon, Gracehaven's First Tailor and Loom and lastly our Gracehaven's General Store."

"We would be right here so take your time and have a look around." One of the Ministers spoke up and let the new group venture out on their own. At the mean time, Andy approached the blacksmith and peered inside and was greeted by old Jack that was with the rest of the entourage.

"Yes, my laddie. What could I be of service? You're the arrowsmith and Fletcher right? Do you have anything in mind?" Old Jack queried as he stepped inside the blacksmith store as he spreads his hands on the countertop.

"Yes sir, I didn't know that you are also a Blacksmith here despite holding the status of Minister."

"I hope you could allow me to use a small space within your shop for me to produce some of the arrowheads that would prove to be most beneficial for the militiamen here."

Andy spoke out in his timid, squeaky voice since it was just hours since he had entered the village and now he was asking for favours.

"Hohoho... Of course...! Any metalworkers who are in the same trade as me are very much welcome here in this humble shop! However, laddie... I guess this slipped out from His Majesty's speech earlier."

"You would not be selling these arrowheads on your own but would come under the trade agreement of Gracehaven. It means that you would be working as an employee of our Majesty as he pays you the remunerations."

"You would produce and provide these arrowheads at a steady rate per month and would be paid a reimbursement of 5 silvers per month. Do you consider this option or you would forego it totally?"

Old Jack highlighted to Andy and he quickly nodded his head in agreement. "Yes Sir, it would be most appropriate for me to be employed as such...!"

"I would be glad to be working with you in the same shop here. All I need is a small space, a small table vice where I could perform some filing and sharpening of the arrowheads."

Andy explained exuberantly as he was all smiles and with a hopeful look in his face as he clasped his hands together at his chest, in a sort of pleading manner. Besides, working as a gong farmer pays him a mere 2c per day and getting 5s per month was like a blessing of light that shines directly from the heavens on him...!

"How about the materials? Do you need to get it from here and use the furnace or something?" Old Jack queried as he reached out and scratched his silverish hair.

"Don't worry about the materials, Sir. I could get it from Michael and then I could get Farah to help me smelt into the designs that I want."

"From there I could file the arrowheads and made arrow shafts and flute them in. It bypasses the process for the need for a furnace or a smelter, Sir. Farah would be able to solve that matter."

When Andy spoke of these matters to him, a spark of idea rushed towards old Jack. Even if the blacksmith store was pretty dormant most of the times but with the expertise of those Witches... I mean Priest and Priestess, his new co-worker, Andy would be able to make use of the store's space to produce arrowheads.

Not only that, even Michael could conjure up precious metals and then Farah could fashion them into trinkets and jewellery.

Don't mention about earrings because every ladies in Gracehaven wears a headscarf that covered their entire head and ears, but trinkets such as bracelets, anklets, necklaces lockets et cetera would be made available for sale...!

Hohoho...at least as his soon to be co-worker Andy could help boost the economy too in this manner. "Laddie, do you think Farah would be able to fashion trinkets, bracelets, anklets and lockets or something like that?"

Old Jack quizzed Andy and the latter replied that he would ask Farah to come and meet old Jack if he had any further questions that need clarifications.

"Alright, laddie. Do come and meet me when you wanted to use the store. I would get ready a workbench for you to work on with a table vice as well. Go along now with your friends, I go get the things ready first." Old Jack reassured Andy and he was all smiles after that.

Andy left the blacksmith counter and went to the bakery where some of the group members were inquiring about bread, biscuits and such and they discovered that 10 bakers were working on 3 shifts to prepare the bread orders to other towns. Gracehaven had been a major supplier for all grain-based food product.

Crystal slithered among the group and sought out Penelope who was the Manipulator of Nature and Plants. "Hi there Penelope, I was just wondering what happens when you do blessings on farmlands and infertile land?"

"Oh, I would pick a piece of soil, say some incantations on it and buried them into the ground. From there I would be able to summon the plants needed to flourish in that particular lands."

"Then Walter would be able to summon water coming out from the ground to nourish the lands and Earl would be called in to churn the soil up and recover back its nutrients."

"We three would work together to make infertile lands to be more fertile than untreated ones," Penelope explained and Crystal was surprised at how simple the process would be.

"By the way, since our farmlands are considered as alright at the moment since you are able to manipulate plants, are you able to manipulate crops as well?"

"I mean, our super seeds grow to full harvest about 30-45 days but is there a way to actually 'talk' to them to grow even faster? Just sharing my 2c with you since I am into Agriculture and am responsible to ensure that the plants are doing great."

"Ah... You mean to speed up the process, enabling them to be able to be harvested much earlier?" Penelope looked yonder across the riverbank and noticed some of the crops were still green. This would indicate that the crops were not ready to be harvested yet.

"Sure... I talk to plants all the time. I could make them ready to be harvested tomorrow if you wish. These crops are still green and we would be entering autumn pretty soon."

"Normal crops would be taking a harder time to grow in cold weather. Would you like me to do that? I could talk to one plot of land and the rest of the crops would follow my directions. Hehehe."

"The farmers here would be frantically harvesting them afterwards," Penelope warned of the consequences but its more to a positive note rather than a negative one.

"Hmm, ma'am. You grow corns here right? Do you happen to harvest baby corn too? I missed those baby corns. My father... He... Used to make some for me... When I was around with him... He... I... Miss him... Do you have those baby corns?" a young priestess named Farah spoke up and she was patted in the head by Penelope.

"Farah met a slight misfortune before, in order to save his father, she had to take a man's life. Her father was the one that told her to run away far from the town and seek refuge somewhere else." Penelope held the girl close to her as she narrated the short version of what happened to Farah that time.

Eagle heard of the incident and asked Farah about her father. "What is your family's name, child and which mining town did you hail from?" His eyes were twinkling as a storm of ideas came to him.

"Oh, Sir. My family's name is Firestone and I come from Durham. A city in northeast England, south of Newcastle upon Tyne. Why do you need to have my family name?"

"Oh, don't worry. It's for my record purposes. Think nothing of it, yeah?" Eagle reassured her and immediately dispatched for a Shadow member and whispered some set of instructions and then he heads back running to the windmill.

Crystal continued the conversation with Penelope, Walter and Earl as she was interested in getting to know more about tilled lands that could be regenerative through these methods.

Nutrients deep inside the ground could be churned out like it was being ploughed but was many feet deep. This would also help the ground to produce better crops naturally.

Frank who heard about this also inched closer. "Hmm... I would like to bring you to a place later and let you think about what we should do about it. Its a quicksand area but had been excavated by us."

"Its a fairly large area and we hope to turn it into a duck pond by springtime." Frank eyes sparkled when he learnt about the abilities of the trio and was sure that the would be able to contribute greatly to the community.

"Yes, Sir. Anything that is beyond our means would be executed in accordance with the needs of the community." Penelope, Earl and Walter were excited to hear about the quicksand area that the Public Works Minister had mentioned.

So, Gracehaven was also into restructuring the landscape and environment around them too. This was so unlike other towns that emphasise on their own pockets and fat bellies.

After the group had went window shopping at the Gracehaven's First Tailor and Loom and  Gracehaven's General Store, they congregated at Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon to have a break before they were shown to their houses. There were 4 Priestess, 4 Priests and a lad so 4 houses would be allocated to them.

The entourage advised the group to sit at the Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon and ordered 9 sets of plain Crispy, Fluffy and Light Pan-Fried flatbread with dippings of some light curry with vegetables in them.

The entourage of Ministers headed back to the domain to seek me out and have some discussion with me about their findings. Heather was excited since she discovered that the Priest and Priestess were able to contribute to the community and Gracehaven at a much higher level than expected.

"Old Jack, Frank and Crystal...good job on getting this fact-finding for our knowledge. Now it would be the turn for the fruit trees behind the domain to sprout out and bear fruits too, don't you think?"

I concluded and they all looked hopeful at the sound of it. Orchard would normally bear fruits after 3 years and when it comes to winter, they would be making a protective ring around the plant to protect it.

These plants would shed their leaves and would hibernate and when spring comes, fresh leaves would sprout from those sleeping plants. It would go in for at least 3 years before they start to bear flowers and fruits.

When they start fruiting, it would be harvest time and the brewery would be able to make fruity ale, fresh from our own fruits in our very own backyard...!

The entourage then went to join the group over at the Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon where they were enjoying the Crispy, Fluffy and Light Pan-Fried flatbread that was served piping hot with saucers of light vegetable curry. Then came the ale that they had ordered and everything was paid for by Penelope.

Crystal approached the group and then whispered to them, "Imelda, what could you do besides calling for snow and ice to make the place colder? It won't be of any use when it's winter, am I right?"

"Yes, ma'am. No one wants to get any colder in the winter time. However, I could do this." Imelda held her mug of ale in two hands and she shook it. Suddenly 3 pieces of ice cubes emerged inside the mug of ale...!

"I could do this... Or make a chestful of ice to make ice-cold drinks during summer," Imelda spoke nonchalantly and Crystal suddenly widened her eyes as she had an idea. "Strongbow, serve a mug for His Majesty, now please." she requested and soon a mug was produced before her.

"Imelda, follow me to the domain." she gestured and Imelda placed her own mug in the table and followed Crystal back to the domain to meet me. "Your Majesty, we may have a solution on how to prevent spoilage. Here's a small example. Imelda, do what you had done just now."

Imelda took the mug of ale from Crystal and once again with a shake, 3 small pieces of ice cubes appeared inside the mug, promptly chilling the ale to a considerable temperature. "Here, Your Majesty. Try this..." insisted Crystal as she pushed the mug towards me and I took it from her.

The mug was not cold but when I held the brim to my lips, I could sense its already winter time already. A small sip of the ale brought sparklers to my eyes as if it was Guy Fawkes day...!

"My God...! This is so refreshing... Its a kind of magic...!"