Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 50
AN: Just to let you know, dictionary.com defines cubit as an ancient form of measurement from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow ranging about 17 to 22 inches. For my purposes, you can forget that. On Gaea a cubit is 2 meters. So 5 cubits = 10 meters and so on. Just wanted to make that clear.
Along the Vinsorii River
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Van rode up along the river, coming to a stop at the work camp, in front of the overseer's tent. As he dismounted Sir Baschan and the chief architect exited the tent.
"Sir Baschan, Master Forsim, what seems to be the problem?" The king asked.
"A thousand pardons my Lord. We would not have disturbed your dinner had it not been of the utmost importance." The minister of the interior said, holding out a small rock for the king to take.
Van took it and looked it over carefully. "Iron ore?"
"Yes my Lord." The minister confirmed.
"What of it?" The king inquired.
Walking around the tent to the backside so they had a clear view of the trench that was being dug, Van could see that work was stopped about seventy cubits from the river. Pointing at where work had stopped, Sir Baschan explained. "We hit a large ore deposit, five cubits down at that point. As you know we need to dig ten cubits deep for the aqueduct. I had the crew dig fifteen cubits down and still we could not reach the bottom of the deposit."
Thinking for a moment Van replied. "So just adjust the path around the deposit."
"That was what we intended to do but in order to save time and man power, I had survey teams dig holes ten cubits from each side of the current sight. They too hit iron ore five cubits down. So we continued to have them move an addition ten cubits further away. At last report, they encountered the ore in each dig up to eighty cubits away. We should be getting another report from them shortly."
"In addition," Added the chief architect. "We started sending teams into the forest to see if we can determine how wide this iron ore deposit is. So far we have determined that it is at least forty cubits wide."
The disappointment in the young kings face was obvious. He turned and looked at the river. The river that held his hopes and dreams for a prosperous future for his people raced on by, oblivious of the lofty plans the young king had for its precious waters. Holding the rock up and inspecting it closely he asked. "Is the ore mixed in with the soil? If so, we can still dig it out. It will just be more difficult."
"Unfortunately, no my Lord." The minister said. "That is simply a small sample that was broken off. The ore is one solid rock."
Van squeezed his eyes shut as he squeezed down on the rock.
"There may still be some hope my Lord." Master Forsim said.
The king turned around.
"Allow me to show you." The chief architect gestured toward the tent.
Inside, on a large table in the middle was a map of the surrounding countryside. "We can still build the aqueduct even if we have to begin as much as 200 cubits further upstream. Beyond that, there are too many obstacles to make the work feasible. But 200 cubits is doable. In addition we can bring it nearly 80 cubits further out then we had originally planned and still divert it back into the city while maintaining the necessary water flow. Of course this will all be mute if …"
"If what?" The young king asked.
"If the entire countryside is sitting on a giant ore deposit. If that is the case, then there is nothing we can do. Building the aqueduct would be impossible."
"How long before we will know the dimensions of the deposit?"
"It will most likely be well into the night before we will know for sure. Possibly not until early tomorrow morning." Sir Baschan said. "We will send word to you at the palace once we know my Lord."
"No. I will stay here. We will try and see if other alternatives can be reached in anticipation of the worst case scenario." He turned and walked out of the tent. Spotting an aid he gestured to the young man to come to him.
"Yes my Lord." The fair-haired boy bowed.
"Return to the palace. Inform Lady Hitomi that I will not be returning tonight. Extend my deepest regrets and tell her… tell her I hope to join her for our mid-day meal tomorrow." He instructed the aid.
"Yes my Lord." The lad bowed again then mounted his horse and rode off.
After the aid rode out of sight, Van walked over to the river's shore and stared pensively out at its racing waters. Several moments passed when he realized he still held the iron ore in his hand. Looking down at it, a deep frown etched itself upon his face and letting out an angry yell, hurling the stone far out into the river.
The minister of the interior and the chief architect watched their king from the entrance of the tent; their hearts heavy with sadness for their young ruler.
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AN: Sorry no Hitomi this time around but don't worry, she'll be back next chapter. As for Van, well things can't always go as we like them to. If they did, then anyone could be king. ^_^
Hope this update was fast enough for everyone. ^_^
Thank you for you comments, I'm glad I was able to make some of you laugh with my last chapter. Things are taking a more serious turn now. Hope you like it.
A. Amishi