Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 73 - Hero...

The following days had passed without any issues and the intended houses for the engineers and guardsmen were ready for occupancy.

The funeral procession had been planned for the next day at first light.

Four houses were set in line with the Ashworth and Burns who took up the first residence there in the front row. Five engineers shared one house and 2 houses were allocated to them. 2 of the guardsmen shared one house while the the lady stayed on her own.

When I asked if the house occupancy of this kind is befitting for them, Eagle replied that the arrangement can never be more perfect. I had specifically informed that two houses meant for the engineers would be set to the maximum of 8' by 10' since there wasnt any need for them to have a garden whatsoever and 5 men would be sufficient in one house.

"Do not worry about the size and the occupancy because the men would be rotating their shifts in manning the watchtower, and at the meantime, from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn."

"There will be slight modifications to be made for the watchtowers where there would a slanting roof overhead as well as shields built around them and holes where the men would be able to see through and shoot the enemies from them."

"These would protect the men in the watchtower from raining arrows as well as an advantage over the enemies on lower ground. Would that be alright to you sir?" Eagle proposed and was greatly welcomed by the rest of the Ministers who were present.

"As you deem fit, Eagle. The modification would not only be beneficial to the men but also to the security of the village." I replied after assessing the implementations.

"At any given time, 4 men each would initially be up at the towers as the citizens volunteer to take up arms. They would be taught on archery, how to wield pikes and spears and also how to fight on close quarters." Eagle explained and I finally understood on the accommodation needs, the deployment and the need to defend the village. I subconsciously scratched my cheek at the thought of it.

The houses on the next row had been completed and awaiting for it to be occupied by families that would prefer to pave their future themselves and be self-sustainable within GraceHaven.

Once the houses were ready, it was time to upgrade the houses of the Ministers. Since the new houses were built on bamboo skids, they had made their choice to move in the residential lots instead, even after much persuasion.

The ministers intends to pull these houses in bamboo skids to the perimeter so they would soon surround the citizens and be able to control the situation well.

"You will need to have an upgraded house instead too, young master. A two level house complete with 2 bedrooms, a main hall, a proper study and a conference area would be built on bamboo and the other structures would be made from woven walls and reed."

Jack cleared his throat since he find that the young master before him that would be called His Majesty would find the house to be less befitting for a ruler.

"Since the works would be done on the house, you would move temporarily in the residential lots. You may then move back to your new home and be flanked by The Shadows. It would be best to have them close to you, and as for us we still be doing our ministerial work as normal."

'From the residential lots, we would be see and implement further improvements on the residential areas. It would be best that way since young master would be safer with The Shadows there." Gwen suggested as the lives of their next ruler would be more important than theirs.

"One more thing, you may want to build a small infirmary to treat cases like the Chadwells boy. A single level with some beds inside it would be best. A proper place to treat and recuperate. What do you think, young master?" Kayla suggested and thought it was a fairly good idea.

"Alright, thank you for the concerns. Do the Shadows have any objections to moving your house next to mine once the construction is completed?"

"No sir, we don't. Its a splendid idea and you will be constantly protected all the time. Furthermore, we have yet to receive updates whether it is peacetime or England is still at war with France."

"In that case, please proceed. The stable would remain and the infirmary would be on the left hand side here next to the intended house you planned to build for me and then flanked by the Shadows."

"Thank you sir, we be moving out for our tasks. We will inform you once the deployment of manpower takes place."

When everyone returned to their tasks, we were aroused from the excited shouts coming from the residential house. Since the day when Kayla decides for the boy to move back to the Chadwells, the boys seemed to show slight improvements in ability to swallow the food that had been fed through a reef stalk like a straw.

"YOUNG MASTER... Kayla, Jack...! Everyone...!! My son is finally awake...!!!" hollered Chadwells as he hurriedly hobbled on his crutch as he crossed the bridge beyond the riverbanks and shouted to everyone who were manning their tasks at the moment.

"Come... Let's welcome the grest news. It had been 5 days since the boy had been unconscious and he is sure hungry. Let me bring some food along." Kayla mentioned as she hurriedly scooped some vegetables soup and a loaf of bread and went along towards the Chadwells house which was at the end of the residential lot.

"My boy had finally awakened when I tried to feed his food and he kinda choked and raised his hands to wipe his mouth." Chadwell explained through halting breath as he tried to catch his breath in between his excited words.

"Haha. That's good to hear that now, man. You should be well enough in the next few days and then once the main priorities had been done, you could get back to the mines once more." I patted the Chadwells shoulder as we went to the house and peered in.

He was already sitting up and was looking around curiously at our faces and then his perfectly pronounced words came out from his lips. "Papa... Mama..." all those around was surprised listening to his words that came out from his lips.

The wife had ran from the loom hearing the news that her son had awaken and his sister too had ran back from her weaving production area.

The moment the boy saw his parents and sister, he surprised everyone by calling out "Sista... Mama... Me hungry." Sir blackie who was underneath my table had joined us and was barking excitedly outside the house.

"Woof woof?" he asked and Kayla went up to him to check on his previously bandaged would and removed it slowly. His parents were simply astounded that their son were able to hear the barking outside the house...!

"Huu... Huu... Its a miracle. My son is able to hear and talk normally. Thank you heavens, I am forever indebted to you...!"

"Heavens..." the boy muttered as he was able to lip read before and now was trying to practise his vocals and the tongue. He was in total surprise as well since he had been living in a silent world for more than 3 years and this is the time he heard noises that was totally unfamiliar to him that made him a bit scared."

The boy was hugged by his tearing parents and sister as they had discovered a miracle that had occurred within their family... No, a miracle happened in the midst of GraceHaven. Lots of kisses landed in the boy as the mother said that he had been sleeping for 5 days and had just woken up.

His sister mentioned to him, "Now you can listen not only to Mama and Papa, you can also listen to your sister nagging at you too...hehehehe."

"Hahaha..." the boy laughed in his usual manner amidst his snorts. Looking around, he was delighted to see all the familiar faces and some new faces that he had never seen.

Whne his eyes locked on me, he raised his hand and pointed with his fingers and everyone looked at where he was pointing and the word he mentioned choked on me as my feelings suddenly went into overdrive.

"Hero..." he muttered softly and making sure he heard the words correctly he mentioned it again, this time in a clearer voice, "Mama, Papa, Sista... Hero...Hero..."

I reached out and patted the boy's head and he suddenly reached out and wiped a tear from my cheek and said, "No cry..." his actions, coupled with my outstretched hands on his head was fiercely burned deep inside the minds of those witnesses. It was touching. It was emotional. It was epic...!

The witnesses around cannot help but she'd tears as well as I mentioned, "These are tears of joy, my little man. Grow up to be strong and you could be a hero for your family too."

He shook his head and stubbornly places his little palm on the side of my face and sternly said, "No...you Hero." Heather hugged me from behind and she buried her head behind my back. Soon after I stood up and tell everyone to resume their positions as Chadwell would be taking care of his boy till end of the day.

Before I left the house I turned around and said, "Get well soon, see you tomorrow morning." He looked up upon hearing my voice and nodded and replied with a single sharp answer, "Ya..."

We went back to the courtyard, and the ministers after checking out the progress for the work done, went ahead to do their own duties. The bakery had already been up and was awaiting for the firing of it to ensure it does not not have any internal cracks or major leakage of hot air during baking.

Jack had taken a few worn out weapons and had separated a dozen swords, axes, spear heads and pike heads aside for the reservation of the citizens while the rest were being smelted down to make way for the 4 oven doors.

At first he wanted to design a 3 door oven but in preparation for the said bread that I had mentioned a while back, he decided that the citizens should have varieties bread to choose from.

I sat down and updated my journal of today's miraculous event and added the heading of the journal as "HERO". I chuckled at the thought and I wondered why he said I was a hero. Maybe to him or to the citizens, or is it he had a vision and he does no have a way to record late them since he was about 4 years old?

"Well, tonight I would hold a short conference and then I would prepare for the funeral procession tomorrow at dawn before breakfast." I thought to myself as I closed today's entry in the journal and I looked back at the clothes the were lined properly on the floor and heaved a long sigh of longingness