Chương 57: The Exchange House

By the time breakfast was ready, Kaelu had announced that Roy was crazy at least five times, which Roy considered excessive.

"Again," Kaelu said. Roy looked down at the parchment spread across the Waystation table.

"What part?"

"All of it."

"That isn't constructive."

"It is extremely constructive. It saves us from building it." Roy rubbed at one eye; he had not slept. He had technically laid down for perhaps twenty minutes. Then Therma had shifted in her sleep around Kindle, Roy had remembered the two buckets, and the idea had returned. Now several rough sheets covered half the table. Three different versions of the same underground structure existed because Roy had realized at some point before dawn that the first two were stupid. Uncle placed a bowl in front of Roy.

"Eat."

"In a moment."

"Now." Roy looked up, but Uncle only smiled. Roy picked up the spoon while Kaelu pointed at one diagram.

"Explain this again." Roy swallowed.

"The cold basin."

"I know what you've named it."

"It sits here," Roy tapped the parchment.

"Between the cold storage and Aurelia's eventual healing house, but closer to the storage side." Kaelu immediately shook his head.

"Not sharing a structural wall."

"I changed that."

"You changed it after I called you crazy the second time."

"Which proves the process is working." Kaelu stared at him. Roy continued.

"Adjacent. Close enough that the surrounding ground and cellar network benefit from the temperature."

"That part I understand."

"Shale excavates the basin, I stabilize it, we waterproof it, and Nimbus fills it." Kaelu sighed.

"And then Therma transfers the heat."

"The cold side doesn't need to be frozen," Roy continued.

"Just above freezing."

"Why?"

"Because freezing the whole thing wastes effort and creates problems." Kaelu's expression suggested Roy had finally said something sensible. Roy continued quickly before he could ruin the moment.

"If both reservoirs hold similar amounts of water, and they begin around normal temperature, pulling the cold side down close to freezing should push the warm side into roughly bathing temperatures." Kaelu frowned.

"Not boiling."

"No." Kaelu considered.

"Good."

"I already thought of that."

"I am choosing to believe you." Roy shifted to the next drawing.

"The warm basin sits here."

"Closer to the healing house."

"Yes, but not structurally dependent." Kaelu nodded.

"We learn." Roy ignored the insult.

"Between them is the Exchange House." Kaelu stared at the tiny square drawn between two massive circles.

"You named that too."

"It needs a name."

"It is a closet for a drake."

"It is an Exchange House," Roy pointed toward the middle.

"Therma sits here, and each side has an access port to its respective basin."

"Water comes up?"

"Barely; likely small troughs. Something she can put a paw or tail into without climbing into either reservoir." Kaelu leaned closer.

"And all this needs to be serviceable if something cracks."

"Yes." Kaelu looked at Roy.

"That is crazy number six."

"You asked questions. I answered them."

"That does not make the answers sane." Roy took another bite. Kaelu studied the plan despite himself.

"What happens when she isn't there?"

"Nothing. Both sides will return to normal very slowly if insulation is done right."

"For now," Kaelu frowned.

"But the cold side is supposed to leak some temperature."

"Into the nearby storage."

"Eventually nearby cellars." Roy nodded.

"If we build more underground food storage around it later, the cold basin becomes the center." Kaelu looked toward the future healing-house markers visible through the Waystation window.

"And the warm?"

"That one we keep contained."

"Mulchweave."

"Layers of it."

"How many?"

"Enough." Kaelu gave him a flat look. Roy continued.

"The point is Therma should not need to live inside that little house."

"How often?"

"No idea yet," Roy shrugged.

"But if we design it properly, the reservoirs should hold their hot and cold reasonably well. She transfers heat until both sides are where we want them, then goes back to doing whatever Therma does."

"Complain about the weather?" Roy smiled faintly.

"Yes, that." Kaelu traced one finger along the warm reservoir.

"And access?"

"Separate draw points. Warm water for washing, bathing, and cleaning. Cold water for fevers, food preparation, and perhaps smithing at some point. Kaelu stared again. Roy could see the moment the idea stopped being ridiculous in his mind, though that wasn't the same as sensible. It was possible, which Kaelu hated, because that was when things became work. Roy leaned forward.

"And eventually—""No."

"Floor heating." Kaelu closed his eyes.

"We are not heating houses."

"Eventually, if we run channels beneath—""No." Roy smiled. Kaelu opened his eyes.

"Why are you happy?"

"Because you didn't say it wouldn't work."

"I said no."

"That is different." Kaelu looked down at the plans with a long silence. Afterwards, he tapped the warm basin.

"Tidestone." Roy frowned.

"What?" Kaelu pulled another piece of parchment closer.

"If you're serious about retaining heat on the warm side, I would not trust ordinary stone alone."

"Mulchweave."

"Insulates, yes. But you're building a permanent water basin that will repeatedly sit warmer than the surrounding earth, then you should do it properly. Bellhaven uses it everywhere near water for a reason." Roy thought of the Lower Quay and it's trademark blue-gray stone. The pale masonry around drains and water-facing structures.

"Heat-resistant."

"And water-resistant when fitted correctly," Kaelu nodded.

"Use it to line the warm basin and non-exchange surfaces."

"What about the cold?"

"Less important, since you want the cold leaking outward. If some of that temperature spreads into the surrounding stone, that helps you." Roy looked at the drawing. Another material and another supplier meant another bill.

"I'll talk to Dorian."

"Dorian can sell you the stone. He cannot solve the other problem."

"What other problem?" Kaelu stared at him.

"I am a timberwright."

"You know stone. You helped build the cellar."

"I know enough stone to keep buildings upright," Kaelu pointed toward the drawings.

"This isn't a foundation. It is two underground reservoirs holding thousands of pounds of water beside structures people will use." Roy's expression changed.

"You want curved Tidestone lining, sealed joints, access channels, load support, and something between those basins that can be maintained without draining the entire system…. That all means that you need a stonemason." Roy thought.

"Dorian."

"No."

"He knows everyone - that includes stonemasons."

"And he will introduce you to the one who makes him the most, not do the best job." Roy frowned.

"That seems cynical."

"It is Dorian."

"Fair." Kaelu folded his arms.

"If you want Tidestone, use Dorian. For the craftsman? There is one man in Bellhaven whose recommendation I would trust." ─── 🐲🐲 ─── This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"So after all this time, it finally comes to this." Roy sat very still. Across the table, Torvin Bale looked almost disappointed. The tavern occupied one of Bellhaven's quieter upper streets, far enough from the Lower Quay that the air smelled more like woodsmoke than fish. They sat outside beneath a broad awning. Talia occupied the chair beside Roy; she had spent most of the flight over asking why she needed to come.

Roy had explained that she was the Envoy, and Talia had asked whether that meant she was now required to listen to him talk about underground water. Roy had said yes, and she had complained for the remainder of the flight. Now she smiled pleasantly at Torvin. Torvin leaned back.

"A favor."

"It isn't exactly a favor."

"You contacted me unexpectedly, and now you have enough parchment on the table to frighten Oren." Roy glanced down.

"That part is incidental." Torvin smiled.

"I always knew the day would come when my fellow council member needed something." Roy frowned.

"You make that sound sinister."

"Practical," he took a sip.

"I make time for fellow councilors because someday I may need them to make time for me." Talia nodded.

"That seems reasonable." Torvin gestured toward the plans.

"Explain." Roy did - mostly carefully. He spoke about Therma, the heat transfer, the new storage and reservoir ideas, and the exchange house. Talia nodded at intervals, which Roy knew were not necessarily intervals at which she understood anything. Torvin listened without interruption until Roy reached the end.

"And we need someone experienced with Tidestone." Silence finally followed. Torvin leaned back, looking from Roy to Talia and then back.

"I knew that when you reached out, it was either going to be a pain-in-the-ass request or a waste of time." Roy frowned. Torvin sighed.

"I did not envision it being both." Talia coughed into one hand. Roy ignored her.

"How is it a waste of time?"

"You have already stolen half the useful craftsmen in Bellhaven."

"Bellhaven approved the road."

"That does not make the masons, timber crews, carters, and laborers any less occupied." Roy leaned forward.

"I need one person."

"You need one specialist - in a town that uses Tidestone constantly. Do you realize how difficult that is?" Roy smiled; Torvin immediately frowned.

"What?"

"You said difficult, not impossible." Torvin closed his eyes while Talia smiled into her drink. Roy continued.

"I can work with difficult."

"So I've noticed," Torvin drummed his fingers against the table.

"Why didn't you ask Dorian?"

"Kaelu said not to ask him for the mason." Torvin paused.

"Kaelu said that?"

"Yes, because Dorian would find the most profitable possible interpretation of 'help.'" Torvin laughed. Roy took advantage of the positive reaction to continue.

"Kaelu said you'd give me an honest recommendation." Torvin raised an eyebrow.

"Dangerous thing to tell someone."

"I've seen how you act; you care about Bellhaven. You argue about things because you think ordinary people will have to live with whatever the council decides." Torvin said nothing, though his expression did sober.

"I don't think you'd send me to someone incompetent just because it benefited you."

"That is a lot of faith for someone you've known a few months."

"Then prove me wrong. Besides, it cannot possibly hurt for you to have Drakehaven owe you a favor." Torvin looked at him.

"There is the merchant."

"I am not a merchant."

"You spend too much time with Dorian." Roy frowned. Torvin ignored him and sat quietly - long enough that Roy began to suspect the answer would actually be no. Then Torvin sighed.

"There may be one."

"Good."

"No." Roy frowned.

"You just said—""He will complicate your life."

"That is fine."

"You say that because you do not know him."

"I live with Aegis." Talia nodded.

"Strong argument." Torvin stared at both of them for a long moment. Then, he reached for several coins and dropped them onto the table.

"Come on." Roy blinked.

"Now?"

"You asked on short notice. Follow me before I reconsider." Talia stood as Roy quickly gathered the parchments. Torvin looked toward them.

"Leave those rolled."

"Why?"

"Because if you open them while walking, I may abandon you." ─── 🐲🐲 ─── Bellhaven changed as they climbed. Roy knew the market district and the Lower Quay. He also knew streets damaged by fire better than he wanted to. This part of town was different, however. The roads narrowed as they rose farther from the lake and buildings became less commercial. Workshops sat directly beneath homes and open sheds faced the street. The architecture changed subtly too.

More blue-gray Tidestone appeared in foundations and retaining walls. Several buildings had entire first floors built from it. The dark timber and pale plaster remained above, along with Bellhaven's curved rooflines. But up here, craftsmanship was visible everywhere. Talia looked around.

"I've never been up here."

"Neither have I," Roy said. Torvin glanced back.

"You spend too much time where people sell things."

"That is where most of my work is."

"Exactly." They turned onto a quieter street. Torvin stopped before a broad workshop built into the lower level of a three-story home. Stone samples lined the exterior wall, mixed between rough and polished. Several were unmistakably Tidestone. Roy smiled.

"This looks promising." Torvin gave him a strange look.

"That remains to be seen." He knocked once, then entered without waiting. A broad-shouldered man behind the front counter looked up. Dark hair touched with gray, and heavy forearms were powdered with stone dust despite the early hour.

"Torvin."

"Davin." The man glanced toward Roy, then Talia. Recognition came quickly.

"You're one of the drake siblings." Roy was becoming accustomed to that.

"Yes," Roy offered one hand.

"Roy." Davin shook it.

"Davin Dorn." Roy glanced around the workshop.

"You're the stonemason Torvin brought us to meet?" Davin looked toward Torvin, but Torvin shook his head.

"No." Roy frowned. Davin frowned more.

"Then why are you here?"

"Elias." Davin's expression changed, which Torvin immediately noticed.

"Is he around?" Davin gave him a dry look.

"Where else would he be?" The words were bitter for only an instant, then gone. Davin turned toward a side doorway.

"Elias!" A voice answered from somewhere beyond it.

"What?"

"Visitors."

"For me?"

"Apparently." A pause. Then:"I'm decent." Davin closed his eyes, though Torvin looked entirely unsurprised. Talia did her best to cover a smile. Davin gestured toward the doorway.

"Go on." The side room was small, but not cramped. It had clearly been rearranged around one person's needs. A bed occupied one wall, low shelves stood within easy reach beside it, and a large stone slab rested on a sturdy stand near the bedside. Several sheets of parchment were spread across its surface. A young man around Roy's age reclined against several pillows with a book open in his hands. He had strong shoulders, calloused hands, and brown hair tied loosely behind his head. He looked up as they entered.

His eyebrows rose.

"Well," he closed the book.

"Either I've become much more important or something has gone terribly wrong." Torvin stepped aside.

"Elias Dorn." Elias nodded.

"Unfortunately." Torvin gestured.

"Roy."

"I know," Elias smiled.

"White hair. Council scandal. Dragons." Roy frowned.

"Council scandal?"

"People enjoy talking." Talia smiled.

"I like him." Roy ignored that.

"And Talia."

"Envoy," Elias said. Talia blinked.

"You know me?"

"People also enjoy talking about the girl flying over Bellhaven on a giant drake." Roy stepped forward and offered his hand. Elias looked at it, then at Roy. Roy waited, but Elias only smiled.

"You may need to come a bit closer." Roy frowned, then noticed the blanket and the position of Elias's legs beneath it. Suddenly, the way everything in the room had been arranged made more sense. Torvin spoke quietly.

"Elias was injured several months ago on a job site." Davin had appeared in the doorway behind them, his expression was unreadable. Torvin continued.

"Promising mason." Elias raised one finger.

"Still promising." Talia's expression had changed. She looked toward Elias's legs, then immediately away as though worried she had stared. Elias noticed.

"It's all right." Talia looked back.

"What?"

"You can look." She flushed slightly.

"I wasn't—""You were," he smiled.

"Most people do." Roy remained quiet. Elias settled back.

"Fell during a wall collapse." Torvin added, "He cannot walk without substantial assistance." Elias sighed.

"You make it sound very dramatic."

"It was dramatic."

"From my perspective, mostly loud." Davin's jaw tightened in the doorway. Elias noticed and allowed his humor to soften. Then he looked back toward Roy.

"So, what do dragons need with a crippled stonemason?" The word landed harder than Roy expected. Elias seemed to wield his condition before anyone else could. Roy chose his answer carefully.

"A hot-water basin." Elias blinked, then laughed.

"Good." Talia looked confused.

"Good?"

"I was worried he was about to make this emotional." Roy frowned.

"I wasn't."

"Excellent," Elias set his book aside.

"Hot-water basin."

"Two basins."

"Of course."

"One cold."

"Why?" Roy looked toward Torvin. Torvin smiled faintly.

"I warned you." Roy unrolled the plans, and Elias's entire demeanor changed. The humor did not vanish, but it moved aside. Roy placed the parchment on the stone work surface. Elias scanned it.

"Who drew this?"

"I did."

"That explains several things." Roy frowned.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing yet. Just being preparatory." Talia sat in a nearby chair as Roy began explaining everything. Elias interrupted twice in the first minute.

"What keeps warm water from bleeding into the earth?"

"That's why we need Tidestone."

"Only Tidestone?"

"Mulchweave insulation outside it." Elias nodded.

"How much?"

"Kaelu hasn't finalized that."

"Good."

"Why good?"

"Because you shouldn't." Roy continued. Elias listened intently and asked more questions about pressure, depth, and the amount of water. Elias leaned over the plans again.

"Tidestone could work." Roy brightened.

"But," Elias tapped one section.

"Your joints matter more than the stone. Your foundation matters more than the joints. And whoever builds this central exchange structure needs to remember that anything involving water eventually leaks." Roy frowned.

"Even Tidestone?"

"Especially when someone assumes Tidestone means it cannot. You need access behind the inner lining for repairs and drainage just incase." Roy nodded slowly.

"That makes sense." Elias looked toward Torvin.

"You brought me a strange one." Torvin smiled.

"He has dragons." Roy folded his arms.

"Torvin said you're good." Elias looked back.

"He undersold me." Torvin laughed. Roy smiled despite himself, then his eyes moved toward the blanket. Elias noticed immediately, and the humor disappeared under something firmer.

"If you're going to ask whether I can actually do the work, ask." Roy met his gaze.

"Can you?"

"Yes." The answer came immediately.

"How?"

"Improvisation."

"That is vague."

"So is your drawing." Roy almost smiled. Elias continued.

"I cannot walk a site, I cannot climb scaffolding, and I cannot spend ten hours crouched beside a wall."

"No."

"But my hands work," He held them up.

"And I know Tidestone better than most men twice my age. If you need someone just to carry blocks, hire someone else."

"I have Aegis." Elias blinked.

"The dragon?"

"Yes."

"That may be excessive."

"He enjoys it." Talia nodded.

"Sometimes."

"So you don't actually need a mason who can haul stone."

"Probably not." Elias became quiet. Roy could see the interest; he could also see him refusing to let it become hope yet. Then Roy made the mistake of hesitating. Elias noticed.

"There's the concern." Roy did not lie.

"Your condition changes things. I don't know the site well enough to promise we can adapt everything." Elias's expression cooled.

"I did not ask for a promise. I need help getting around, but I am not fragile. I would rather be remembered for what I built than for the thing that stopped me walking." The room went quiet, and something in Roy tightened. For a moment, he was younger and standing beside a cottage too small for three siblings. He watched people see poverty before they saw anything else, and he hated that. The assumption that circumstances were character and that you were incapable simply because you lacked one thing.

Roy looked back at Elias.

"All right." Elias raised an eyebrow.

"All right?"

"If you're willing, come see it." Torvin looked toward him. Talia smiled slightly. Roy continued.

"Drakehaven."

"The site."

"You can see the ground. You see what we're trying to build."

"And then?"

"You tell me if I'm crazy." Torvin coughed. Talia looked away. Elias smiled.

"Apparently opinions are already available on that."

"Kaelu gave seven."

"Only seven?"

"It was early." Elias laughed, then looked down at the plans again.

"How would I get there?"

"Talia." She pointed at herself.

"Me?"

"Zephyr." Talia considered.

"We'd need a proper way to secure him." Elias nodded.

"That would be good. I have fallen enough for one lifetime.

"Fair." Elias looked toward his father in the doorway. Davin had remained silent for most of the conversation and his expression was guarded. Elias looked back toward Roy.

"And this isn't a job offer."

"Not yet. I want you to see it."

"Good. I want to see whether your ridiculous water cellar can actually be built." Roy smiled.

"So you'll come?" Elias picked up the nearest parchment, studied it once more, then rolled it carefully.

"If you're serious enough to drag a councilor across town looking for a mason…" He handed it back.

"…show me the site." A faint grin appeared.

"Then I'll decide how crazy you actually are."