All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 165: God’s Buildin’ A Church

Arthur was poring over the previous night's reports when his aide let in Miss Bee and her… Master? God? He was pretty sure the black disk was some sort of god, and he certainly didn't question its power. But so far, it hadn't acted like what he had expected at all from a deity.

It wasn't until he had slept on his experiences that the oddity occurred to him. The fact that it didn't seem to be able to speak and that it even concerned itself with human matters was odd enough. That it cleaned the streets…

Well, he supposed that no one really knew what a god would be like, but he had just expected it to be more…godly.

"How can I help the two of you? Lord Void, Miss Bee." Arthur greeted them, standing and gesturing to the pair of chairs in front of his desk before sitting back down. Miss Bee bent over and picked up Void, setting him on one of the chairs before sitting on the other herself. He couldn't help being surprised by the action, especially after he had seen the being leap over the city walls with ease, but he did his best to shrug it off.

The seats of the chairs were low enough that his sight of Void was just blocked by the desk. It made the whole thing a little awkward. Miss Bee didn't seem to notice, and Void didn't make any noise of complaint, so Arthur decided not to say anything; instead, he just waited for their response.

"We have talked about your request for help and think there is something that might be done." Miss Bee said in a slightly nervous tone while glancing down to the chair at her side. Still a little unnerved that he couldn't see Void, Arthur nodded, waiting for the rest of the explanation.

"Well, I'm not really ready to be away from my people for so long. But Void would be willing to accompany you on your campaign after the rest of the undead." Miss Bee said, clearly not looking happy about it.

Arthur rubbed his chin, thinking. On the one hand, having the powerhouse of Void with him would make any combat much easier. If they could actually find the undead, then their problem would be solved. On the other hand, communication was going to be rough. Void seemed to be able to understand anything Arthur said, but he wasn't able to make out a single word from the little disk.

Miss Bee clearly could understand her god, which was the only reason they could have this meeting in the first place. But without her there to interpret, then potential misunderstandings could be devastating. Still, it was a risk that he had to be willing to take.

"It is a pleasure to have your company on my campaign, Lord Void." Arthur said with a slight bow; it didn't seem like the god was a stickler for protocol, but he would play it safe for now. Then Arthur turned to Miss Bee. "Actually, I think there is something else that could help both of us as well."

"If there is something I can do on my way home, I would be happy to help." Miss Bee said. Arthur didn't miss her implied insistence on returning home.

"Of course. It actually deals with your trip itself. I would be willing to provide an escort of soldiers and scouts for you. I would just ask that you help shelter them and a few others until the city here is repaired." Arthur said.

—-

Bee considered the general's offer. She didn't really need an escort back, and she thought that he knew that. The tempting part was the chance to bring more people into the fold. It would be harder to convert anyone without the living proof of divinity walking among them, but she was sure the wonders left at the castle would be enough to convince them. Especially if she was offering class changes and the like.

Her only real concern was food. Trent was confident that they wouldn't have a problem over winter, especially with all the snow wheat they were planting. That wasn't even counting if they had to butcher any of the sheep. But that was for their current numbers. The question was how many people she would be bringing. Maybe if she could get some supplies as well, they would be fine?

"Well I would certainly welcome some company on my journey. We would also have enough space for a certain amount, but I do worry about food." Bee said with a smile. This felt like she was wheeling and dealing a tiny bit, but it was for good reason. She couldn't simply throw her people under the bus here. Still, it was the first time she felt that negotiation was a little fun. At that moment, she understood her father just a little bit better.

Arthur thought for a moment. "I think we might be able to spare some grain. We don't have many wagons to spare though. It would be on you to ensure it arrives in one piece."

Bee frowned. "Wouldn't that be the job of the soldiers you send as an escort?"

"One of them, yes. Their primary focus will be on protecting the people though. I'd appreciate if you help with that as well. There's plenty that can go wrong when traveling, especially if the undead are still out there."

Bee narrowed her eyes. That sounded suspiciously like Arthur was planning to lowball her on the soldier escort. After a moment, though, she shrugged. "Fair enough."

Arthur did seem clever enough to pull some underhanded sort of maneuvering, but her judgment of his character didn't line up with that. So she figured that she was in the clear on that front. Still, she'd make sure to object if the numbers weren't agreeable. "So, how many people are we talking about?"

***

Looking back over the winding train of people that stretched over the hill behind, Bee wasn't too upset. They would have room for everyone, if just barely. She was lucky that Void had remembered exactly how many beds they had available, or they wouldn't have gotten the number right at all. As it was, they would probably want to consider building an outbuilding on the castle grounds to house some additional people.

If it wasn't for the sheer amount of food that they were being sent off with, it would have been untenable. Surprisingly the people had managed to get their harvest in before the undead came. This had left them with a bit of a surplus. When she asked why there was still a surplus after such a long siege, she only got grim looks in return. Then she remembered the zombies didn't eat grain.

Still, that had worked out rather well for her and the castle. They would have more than enough food for everyone even if something went wrong with the snow wheat. All she had to do was get it and all the people back to the castle in one piece.

To that end, the leader of the troops rode up next to where she walked. They had offered her a horse, but she had only laughed. She could now run faster than one and wasn't too proud to walk with the rest of the people. Looking up to Captain Major, she returned the salute he offered. It felt weird as she never had any military training, but all the soldiers treated her as if she did.

Whether they were humoring her as some stuck-up lord or if they actually respected her, she couldn't tell. Either way, she wasn't about to question it. "How is our pace, captain?"

"So far no one has trouble keeping up. We are rotating the groups riding in the wagons but we are still going to need at least an hour stop at midday and probably won't manage more than six hours of progress total today." Captain Major responded.

Bee frowned. It made sense, though. She wasn't too surprised with the composition of their group, but it was going to slow them down.

It was only natural for Arthur to send the people least useful for fixing the city. The ones that would have trouble surviving the winter if the defenses and shelters were not prepared. So behind her were some hundred soldiers but well over five times that in elderly, wounded, and women with small children. Honestly, they would fit right in at the castle, but it would be hard to make sure they were all productive.

As Bee walked, she started to plan. There were so many things she would be able to take care of, but still, so many things to accomplish. She could only hope that her master's trust wasn't misplaced.

—

I followed Arthur around for most of the day after Bee left. The first thing that we did was go check on the repair of the gates and city walls. When we got there, many people were already scrambling around with tools that I wasn't familiar with.

One of the people ran up to talk with Arthur. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "I don't know how to explain it sir. It was just like this when we got here this mornin'. We didn't miss anythin' last night, I swear. If I hadn't wrote the damage reports meself I wouldn'ta believed 'em. Woulda told ya that dey were lyin' I woulda. Honest. I ain't lyin' though. I swear."

As the man spoke, he got more and more worked up until I could barely understand him. I didn't understand why humans couldn't just speak normally. Imparting inflection was something I understood. That was how I communicated, after all, but at least that was useful.

"Fredrick." Arthur said in a calm voice, catching and holding the man's eye. "Fredrick, what changed since last night?"

Arthur's patience was really impressing me. I had seen people get much more worked up over much simpler miscommunications. Granted, those were much smaller humans. Maybe age had something to do with it?

"Well, sir. Its… It's the gates." The man removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow before continuing. "Its- well, they're barely bent at all."

Arthur rocked back on his heels in such a slight movement that I didn't think anyone else would notice. "These were the ones your report said would need to be scrapped and remade?"

"The same. And that's not all either. The stones." The man gestured to the field of blocks being sorted into piles. "Well, just look at 'em."

"What about them? They look like a bunch of stone blocks." Arthur asked, bewildered. I wasn't sure what to make of the man's incredulity myself. It just looked like a bunch of stone cubes arranged in admirably neat rows.

"What about them?! Sir, they are blocks! Do you know how many were blocks last night?" The man spluttered. Before giving anyone a chance to speak, he answered his own question. "None! Most of em' were useless rubble! Maybe one in ten survived the gate fallin' with minor damage. Barely any were good as new Now lookit 'em." The man gestured forcefully over. "Not one even chip on any of em'. And they're in bleedin rows! Who did that?! We certainly didn't!"

Frederick clearly wanted to keep ranting but forcefully cut himself off when he realized he had been shouting at the general. For his part, Arthur was remarkably calm. "That does seem odd."

The three of us just sat there staring at the group of perfect rectangles that lay before us. There was something so satisfying about the straight lines. Nature was so cool sometimes.