Nissa wasn’t so sure that her brother’s intentions were as simple as Dag believed, but understanding his desire for the trade links between them, she didn’t argue against it as strongly as she otherwise would have. She still made a quiet vow to herself that she would keep a close eye on these priests of his. Knowing the darkness in his heart toward her husband made her suspicious of anything her brother proposed.

She was happy when it was time to leave the people of her birth. Instead of being the happy homecoming she had envisioned, her father’s death and her brother’s greed and envy, had turned it into a stress filled few weeks. She hadn’t realized exactly how much it had weighed on her until they were an hour down river. Any time being on a boat was less stressful than visiting her old clan was a prime indication of exactly how badly things had gone, at least in her opinion. Dag, on the other hand, seemed to be mostly oblivious. He viewed the moves as pure greed, not really understanding the power grab inherent in the actions.

Nissa marveled at this side to her husband. For all of his brilliance, he had real blinders on in some fairly important ways. He didn’t seem to understand what motivated clan chiefs, just because he ruled in a different style. She would protect him from his ignorance if he would let her.

◆◆◆

Gathering

On the float back down the river, they arrived at Fort Gathering, as Dag had taken to calling it, just ahead of the flood waters. The sun priest and his acolyte were a big hit with the other more nomadic clans. While the language barrier was a major issue, the priest knew what Dag called ‘parlor tricks’ which Nissa had always assumed were miracles. Even though she knew the trick of them as a priestess as well as a princess for her people, the fact that the tricks worked seemed miracle enough for her. Dag however, was far less impressed. She supposed she would be less impressed too, given the miracles he performed all the time.

Dag had tried to remove the mystery of his miracles for her, but she often couldn’t understand him, or failed to understand how knowing the trick of a thing made the trick any less miraculous? Still, for his sake, she kept her religious practices private. John and, to a lesser extent the twins seemed to take their father’s miracles as a normal way of life. She wondered if the babe growing in her own womb would view all the wonders in the same way?

Their time at the Gathering was remarkably quiet as far as the other clans went. Other than to trade with them, the other clans seemed content to marvel at the priests of the sun god and leave them alone. That wasn’t to say that their stay was uneventful. Shirley went into labor and gave Axel another fine son. This led Dag to agree to pull him back to the village as soon as the flood waters receded and the babe was old enough for travel.

Of course, getting back this time would take longer, anyway. The boats had all been upriver with Dag, so those making the trip this season had done so with the travois. Dag agreed to send Lavern and Nissa back with the children to help Shirley with the new baby, as he took off across country with those returning by travois. Of course, John threw an absolute fit, wanting to go with his father instead of his mother. Dag put an end to the argument quick, explaining that the very fact that he argued instead of doing as commanded by his parents was proof he wasn’t ready to go with the others overland. While still not happy, he seemed chastised enough by the logic of the statement to become at least sullenly obedient. Dag smirked when the boy was out of sight. He was getting of an age to start getting out from under his mother’s skirts more.

He decided to let the boy stew on his outburst this time, but the next opportunity to leave the city, maybe he would take him along. Perhaps up to check on the limestone quarry, it was a short enough trip, and along a relatively safe stretch of beach. Maybe, if they took the chariots, he could make an archery test the deciding factor... it would have the boy practicing more, and that was a skill he would certainly need in this world.

◆◆◆

Growing Pains

When Dag made it back to the castle, he didn’t recognize the place. The village had all of their spare tents erected, and more camps where people seemed to be bedding down out in the open. His first instinct was for outrage, but he got a grip on himself before he ran into anyone who might prove a tempting target for his ire. By the time he made it into the castle proper, Lavern and Nissa were rushing to greet him.

Taking a deep breath to calm his tone, he asked them, “So, what the hell is going on out there?”

Lavern sighed and stole her kiss before answering. “These are people from the far north who were unaware of the flooding. Jack offered them the opportunity to shelter here until it was dry enough to move on.”

Dag started to protest that it was dry enough for him to make it home, when Nissa moved in for her kiss, and to distract him from what she saw as his rising irritation. As she pulled away, she said, “They are asking to stay.” She held up a hand to forestall his next comment. “Jack told them that they would need to talk to you about it, and is only providing them space until you decide what to do with all of them.”

Dag let out a long sigh, “Do we know why they came this far south?”

Lavern shrugged, “You can talk to Jack about it. He’s been sent for, but from what I was able to gather, communication is still sketchy. They speak yet another language, and so the story isn’t clear. It seems that there is another group that moved in and drove them out.”

Dag hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck to aleviate the tension that was building there. “I see...” he cut off at that moment because Jack arrived with John hard on his heels.

Jack held up both hands, “Before you say it, I didn’t invite them, but when they showed up needing help, I couldn’t really turn them away. I figured, after what you did for my clan, how could I do any less?”

Dag blinked, “Oona gave you that idea, didn’t she?”

Jack hung his head and blushed, but with a soft smile on his face he asked, “Did I do wrong?”

Dag snorted, “That remains to be seen. There are a lot of people out there. I have no idea if we can even feed them all, much less what kind of security risk they pose.”

Jack stuttered a bit, “If... If they were pushed out of their normal hunting grounds, maybe their enemy will come this way, and more shield men would be a good thing.”

Dag sighed, “True, but maybe they just decide to turn on us instead? Ever think of that?”

Jack nodded, “They don’t have bows or chariots. I’ve moved the chariots inside the walls, and I am housing anyone who can draw a bow inside the castle. Have been until you returned. Maybe they could steal some things down in the village and run off, but they couldn’t take the castle. If they did steal anything, when you got back, we could take the chariots out on the plains and chase them down.”

Dag grunted, “You have been thinking this through then. Fair enough, I will talk to them, but they start out in the tar pits, or digging a new canal from the river. If we’re going to have this many people, we’re going to need additional fresh water.”

Jack’s face brightened and his eyes lit up, “Thank’s Dag. They have been very helpful since they got here, and they like being in the water. They think it is hot down here.”

Dag grunted, “So, I won’t have to meet with them smelling like a sewer. That is at least a good start.”

Jack nodded, “They also gifted us with some amazing furs for taking them in. The thing is the size of the whole floor up in the towers!”

Dag grinned at him, “I see. So, do you speak enough of their language to translate for me?”

Jack blushed again, “One of the chief’s daughters has been teaching me a little...”

Dag groaned, “Oh, so that’s what this is all about!”

Jack shook his head, “She is really nice, and her father is a good chief.”

Dag sighed, “I don’t know many good chiefs that allow their clans to be pushed off of their hunting grounds, but...”

Lavern piped up at this point, “A chief that doesn’t want to see his people die, when they can just move?”

Dag knew she was right, and that it wasn’t fair to judge the man in that way, but he wasn’t ready to concede just yet. “Maybe, but he nearly got them all killed in the flooding. Sounds like, if Jack here, hadn’t been on the generous side, they probably wouldn’t have made it.”

Jack looked at him as if nervous he was going to put them all out, asked, "We wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t saved us."

Dag snorted, “So you’ve said. I’m going to have words with Oona when this is all over.” but the soft smile on his face took any sting out of the words.

◆◆◆

Village to Town to City

Dag met with each of the clan elders, and as reluctant as he was to see it, they did just seem like desperate people who only wanted to find a place to live. The men agreed to work the tar pits, and digging the new canal, while their women and older children would be put in the gardens and fields to help with weed and pest control. Their willingness to work for what they got he found encouraging in a clan of hunter/gatherers.

To his even greater surprise, they took to the work without complaint. It was hot work from someone used to cooler weather in the north, but they seemed to be happy with their new life, at least for the most part. There were a couple of people who chose to be difficult, but one word to their chief, and the problem improved greatly.

As the language barrier became less of an issue, Dag learned that life had been fairly harsh for them in their previous location. So, while the work here was difficult and unfamiliar, and took them some time to become adept at, the level of work for them was nearly the same as what they were used to. Only with his clan, they didn’t have the starvation and deprivation that they had before. Dag came away relatively certain that they would merge into his little, or not so little anymore, society.

Jack did take the chief’s daughter as a mate, and Bren had finally made it clear that he wanted Jill, if she wanted him. She did, but all parties agreed it would be a promise for the future, rather than a reality for now, as Jill still had much maturing to do. The chiefs kicked in and assisted Dag in keeping things running smoothly, without being asked. Eventually, he was able to send one out to the tar pits, and one he kept in the village, or really it was a city now, having skipped the town stage completely. The new clan members ended up doubling their numbers. That was even after the people Hendden had brought in with him from his last overland exploration.

He noticed that the sun priest had been making inroads with the newcomers, but even so, it was still a minority who avidly followed the religion. Most were respectful, and even on occasion donated to the temple either of their time or goods, but most, more or less ignored them.

Jill had been driven to distraction, trying to teach that many new children. Ajax had suggested not teaching them, but even before Dag could correct his thinking, Bren and Hendden were taking him to task. Dag smirked, the older men didn’t have the education that Ajax took for granted, and they wanted it for the next generation. Dag let them argue it out among themselves, but he was very glad that he hadn’t needed to step in and defend the current policy.

A New Era

A Frustrating Year

Dag had the iron ore rich sand that was a byproduct of Nissa’s people panning for gold shipped directly to the castle. After mixing it with the tar, he filled a home built clay furnace with the resulting sludge and tried to smelt his first iron supply. However, he quickly learned that you can’t force air through solid tar. Then he tried mixing in straw, in the hopes that straw coated with the tar and iron ore mixture would solve the air flow problem, and it did... well, more or less, however because so little of the iron ore could be carried on the straw and tar mixture, he wasn’t able to get a bloom of any size from his small foundry.