Private Tales A River Through the Land

[Azula]

"Stew," Azula plopped the plate down in front of him. Most of the workforce called it 'don't ask stew' but Christian didn't need to know that. "Chicken," she added before he would no doubt ask. She had no idea if it was chicken but it tasted closest to that. Which could, of course, mean it was cat. In a moment of panic she glanced around for Mr Fiddlesticks and her eyes misted over as she drew on her bond with Keiki. Sure enough, the eagle was perched opposite where the cat currently lay curled up.

She let out a quiet, relieved breath.

"Perhaps you should stay here tomorrow and oversee this work. I expect news tomorrow about the other site."

 

[Christian Albrecht]

"An excellent idea Miss Tamiko!' He declared, pulling a napkin from his inside coat pocket and tucking it into the collar of his shirt. Adjusting his ascot for a moment before he slowly began to dig into his meal.

Using the proper spoon of course. Etiquette was second to nothing.

"If we progress at this rate." Christian said, taking long pauses between two fragments of a sentence as he ate, chewed, and then swallowed. "We might even finish ahead of schedule!"

He said with a wide smile. "It might only take three years instead of five!"

Something, he was sure, Azula would be delighted to hear. Though not for the reason she actually would be.

 

[Azula]

Five years?

Azula's face grew impassive as she digested that information. The Lady Commander had not mentioned it being years. Of course, she hadn't actually specified a time frame at all but she had assumed a few months at the most.... would they really drag out her punishment for years? Five of them?

She wanted to sick up.

"How wonderful," she made herself say though it sounded to her ears as though somebody else were speaking with her voice. And then she said something she would regret for the rest of her life. "It seems you will have time for the team building activities."

 

[Christian Albrecht]

"AH!" Christian said quite gleefully. "Right you are."

Fingers almost immediately went to tapping on his chin.

Would the time saved be effected by the addition of team building exercise? Things were already progressing far faster than anticipated. Did that mean that no team building was necessary? Or did it simply mean that they could get even better with the exercises.

Had anyone written a study on the theory?

Surely not, otherwise he would have read it before the outset of this trip. Perhaps he could write the study himself, perhaps as a side venture he might get published in yet another Jo-

No. That was not why they were here.

"No..." He said, shaking his head. "I know how disappointed you are Miss Tamiko, but I think it might be best if we use this enthusiasm while we have it."

Best not to let simple minded men get sidetracked.

 

[Azula]

Azula froze when she realised what she had said then subtly let out a breath of relief when he didn't take her up on the suggestion. What was wrong with her? If she wasn't careful she could make the whole... three... years... even worse. Her stomach twisted and the time frame repeated once more in her mind. Three years. Three years. Her whole unit could be dead by the time she returned and the new recruits wouldn't know her at all; their loyalty would be to whoever had replaced her.

Was there any returning after that amount of time?

"Please, excuse me," she said numbly and rose, staggering off to somewhere quiet where she could gather herself and mourn what she now realised she had lost.

 

[Christian Albrecht]

"Of course!" Christian said, apparently entirely unaware of the mood that Azula had been thrust in.

To him, everything was going utterly swimmingly.

Compared to the disaster of the morning, the news that had streamed in throughout the rest of the day were positively delightful. The fact that this project would only take three years instead of five was utterly fantastic. Particularly because it meant he could work on something new that much sooner.

The Canal would be a raging success, obviously, and Christian Albrecht would be propelled to the very forefront of the world.

Vel Anir, The Empire, even Tyr would want him.

There would be no arguing with, well, anything he did. Besides, the look on the faces of his colleagues back in Adro! Ha! How could anyone be displeased in this moment?

What possibly could upset anyone at all on a glorious day like today?

 

[Azula]

Inside her tent Azula threw down her katana and stood with her hands in two fists. Anger, hurt, boiled inside her. This punishment did not fit her crime, not by a mile. There was no way the Dynast had agreed to this when she had saved so many lives! She kicked the chest containing all the things she had brought with her for what she had thought to be a six month mission. Then in a fit of rage she flung the chair over too.

Sensing her mistresses distress Keiki reluctantly left the cat and winged its way to her tent.

"I must petition the Dynast," Azula declared and flung open the lid to the chest, rummaging for her brushes and inks. Finding both - and parchment too - she set about penning her case to the leader of their nation.

It was early morning when she emerged and thrust the quite hefty paper into a messengers hand and commanded it be sent with great haste.

 

[Christian Albrecht]

As the messenger rushed towards his mount, he would find Christian standing nude upon the precises of a cliff.

He stood in the pose of a crane.

A deep breath passing into his lungs.

Slowly his body shifted, leg extending outward as his arm slowly followed. He then bent low, cartwheeling across the earth before he came to a standing stop. Both of his arms came up and above his head, the breath flowing from his lungs.

"Wonderful." Christian said to himself, smiling and greeting the dawn.

 

[Azula]

"Your man is several apples short of a pie," rumbled one of the centaur guardswomen who had been put on watch the night before. She shifted her long bow so she could lean on it. The thing was taller than a human and a good few inches taller than Azula too. She'd seen those bows in action and had no intentions of being on the wrong side of them.

"Tell me something I don't know," she sighed and ran a hand down her face. Having not slept she had very little patience for the special manner in which Christian needed to be handled with. Azula rolled her shoulders, grabbed a coat lying nearby and marched over.

"Master Albrecht, you're scaring the younger boys. Please put some clothes on," she quipped and tried to bundle the man up into his coat.

 

[Christian Albrecht]

Christian moved away fluidly from Azula, dodging the net of his coat before he waggled a finger towards Azula.

Other things waggled too as he moved, but that wasn't on purpose. "No!"

The Architect said simply.

"I must commune with nature!" He told the General, his voice a little less obstinate as he launched into yet another explanation. "In order for the day to properly start I must meditate and work through the poses to excise my Chi, Miss Tamiko."

He looked at her as if she should already know this. "I know you're eager to begin the day, but it's early yet!"

Christian said, turning away from Azula as his left leg extended outward in a shockingly straight line.

 

[Azula]

Azula turned her eyes skyward to avoid the view said leg offered.

"One does not have to be naked to commune with nature, Mr Albrecht!"

Humans had this weird obsession with using any excuse to take their clothes off. Azula had never had any problem with communing with nature no matter what she was wearing. The Earth simply was. Maybe that was just her kinds ability to see through the eyes of so many of Nature's creatures, or maybe humans were just odd. She didn't think explaining the stupidity of Christian's words to him would work; she'd probably end up with a long humansplaining explanation about how she was wrong instead.

So she tried a different track.

"As a leader, you should be conscientious of others beliefs and traditions. Many here find nudity shocking and... disrespectful."

 

[Christian Albrecht]

"Nonsense! The crisp air is best felt without clothes Miss Tamiko!" Christian said, still not realizing in the least that his behavior might at all be objectionable.

Despite the obvious objection by the woman trying to keep him alive.

Her latest words however made him freeze suddenly. His features turned, a frown pulling at his lips as his foot came slowly down onto the ground. His hands clapped together, and he took in a deep breath as his eyes flickered to and fro.

"You're right!" He said with a gasp, whirling around to face Azula. Flopping belligerently. "How could I be so insensitive?!"

Christian demanded of himself, quickly moving towards the table where he had left his neatly folded clothes. "I must ask for forgiveness, I often get so stuck in my ways!"

The Architect said as he began to dress himself, apparently having found a moment of clarity.

"I mustn't do anything that might hamper the progress of our project." And there it was. Clarity could only be found if anything were to interrupt their great works, which, seemingly, included even himself.

 

[Azula]

Azula wanted to throttle him. Her fingers dug into the fabric of the coat and her nails left very tiny holes in the with the sheer effort of not. At least he was putting on clothes. She kept her face composed and her eyes averted as he hastily donned his clothes and caught the thankful nod from one of the ogres walking past with a giant slab of rock across his shoulders. Nobody wanted to see that in the morning. Especially when that person was a grower and not a shower.

At least, for his wife's sake, she hoped he was a grower.

When he was finally dressed a timid satyr with a clipboard approached, clearing her throat.

"Sir, the next stage is ready. W-we were told you would like to watch the clearing today?"

 

[Christian Albrecht]

"Ah! Yes!" Christian declared with a wide smile, slipping the cloth of his ascot into place.

The heart of the Steppe was not quite on them just yet, and even if it was a little thing like temperature was hardly going to stand in the way of fashion. Adjusting his prime accessory the Architect stepped over towards the Satyr.

"Seeing is as good as doing." He said with a shake of his finger. "Or so my professor used to say."

Of course, he was more concerned with ensuring that everything was being done correctly.

They had made good progress on the first day, more than Christian had thought they would, but there was always room for improvement. Always.

 

[Azula]

The Satyr seemed to realise as soon as Christian spoke why exactly her manager had sent her over here in her stead. It was like a horrified dawning that widened her eyes and lowered her ears. She shot a glance to Azula who gave her a sympathetic smile that seemed to say; welcome to the madhouse.

"F-follow me," the timid creature said then scuttled off down the rocky path. Her deft hooves made short work of scaling down but for Christian Azula was on hand to help him make it to the bottom without falling on his backside. The man would insist on wearing such ridiculous shoes! At the bottom were a group of mages carefully beginning to weave the sea into the mouth of their newly formed channel. The idea was if they could bring the canal along with them as they advanced then it would make it easier to transport goods for the excavation. Each segment, when ready, would have the last wall caved in to allow for it to flow onwards to the next stop.

 

[Christian Albrecht]

Expert trekker and rock climber that he was, Christian made it to the bottom of the canyon without much of a problem.

At least to his own mind.

Once they were in place, Christian stood waiting with a rather wide smile. The idea of continually bringing the canal alongside them was, of course, his own idea. Simplicity of design was paramount above all else, this project would take thousands of hours, anything that could be easier, should be easier.

"Careful!" He called to the Mages as they made their way over.

Each section was of course protected with strong earthworks, but if one of those went it could potentially endanger hundreds of lives. "We don't want the sea running over!"

He said with a chuckle, approaching the mages as though their current task didn't require a tremendous amount of focus.

 

[Azula]

"Master Albrecht, I'm sure they know their job," Azula soothed and held the back of his jacket to stop him from getting any closer. Mages needed space to work and definitely did not need someone explaining their own craft to them as they worked. Azula's people had a deep respect and almost reverence for those who wielded great magics and it became obvious with the way to inclined her head to them when they glanced in their direction.

Sure enough the sea began to fill the first section of the canal. It started as a trickle and then came on faster and faster until a good, healthy river started to flow. Sweat beaded the foreheads of the mages as their bodies swayed with the bending movements and a cheer went up around the bank.

 

[Christian Albrecht]

"Of course! But do they know the math?!" Christian said it with a chuckle, though from his tone it was clear that the words were less of a joke and more of an actual concern.

Magic was respected in Adro, but it was really just one small sliver of a much larger circle of...well, lots of other things. Magic was all well and good, but even the most powerful sorcerer could not stand against the forces of nature.

Despite his comment though, Christian did, remarkably remain silent as the Canal began to fill.

When the cheers called out, and the water fully flowed into the canal, Christian only smiled. "Excellent."

He said under his breath.

"Now for the other two hundred and thirty five." The Architect said, clapping his hands together in celebration.