Chapter 37

The week after our sad event and the joyous occasion, a number of important items arrived from Convey, including the formed metal weapon canisters. So, the arrival of the brass mortar heads and the grenade canisters from Convey had me tinkering with assembling the weapons. I had a wall and door built in a small cave on the back side of the cliff to store the finished products away from the village and prying eyes. The cave was very shallow and would never hold a large amount of munitions but it faced away from the village and any errant explosion would not harm my homestead. The oak door was locked with my last iron padlock and the two extra keys given to Grimm and Tharin.

Both the mortar shell and grenade were fitted with needle percussion caps which would ignite once armed and contact was made. A metal needle would penetrate a paper cartridge filled with black powder and primer to create the required heat to ignite the explosive. The arming of the device required the activation of a tension spring, so the explosive should not go off prematurely. The grenade had a secondary trigger where the long stick attached to the brass casing. A warrior would need to twist the stick handle to arm the device.

After assembling the devices I was covered in sweat, feeling nervous and anxious. Until I was sure of the stability and safety of these devices no one else would be assembling the weapons. The weather remained cold and overcast, so I wasn't inclined to try my new inventions right away. To be honest I felt too apprehensive to try them immediately.

Since the twins' arrival Grimm had become more protective of Swarta. The Marsh Finger event had made people more aware we live in a wilderness. When I left the tower, Grimm was less likely to leave unless Tharin or a member of the village watch was available to stand guard. Therefore, at Grimm's insistence I had to make an arrangement for two members of the watch to stand duty at the tower during the day. This began the Tower Watch, a position of favor and honor in the village for our warriors. One guard stood watch in the turret, with an alarm bell, overlooking the door and the other guard stood at the door's entrance. Grimm selected the first set of guards and called them the lord and lady guard. The first turret guard was a sea wife who had joined the watch, and the door guard was one of the many eunuchs who had joined up. Laudus came up with distinctive yellow cloaks for the tower guards by the end the week.

Swarta was happy to keep our children in the tower due to the cold weather, but Palus felt trapped in the tower, so we took frequent short walks during the week to the forest's edge to watch the crashing waves on the coast. Palus loved to lean against me as her support. I'd put my back to a tree and let the stiff breeze constantly pelt us with its salty taste. Every day the coast was filled with dozens of sailboats fishing, so the view out to sea was a kaleidoscope of reflecting light. The sails were a reflection of our new wealth too. A barge arrived every day to collect excess fish and barrels full of mineral water for trade. The Galit bought a few of our new sailboats to help them feed their main village and we received leather goods and a promise of more cord-grass for our animals in the exchange.

The influx of people from the marsh villages shrank since the change in leadership, but our numbers continued to climb as more apprentice tradesmen moved to Juniper Hills from Conquest Point. The port's common people had started to develop an awareness of us due to our trade in fresh fish. Derwen's merchant ship gave free passage for skilled tradesmen to the warehouse dock in the Galit's village, while the barge transported people to us. Derwen's agents had discreetly put out the word of a new thriving village in the marsh which provided a small cabin and a chance to freely build up a trade. Our exact location remained a mystery but it wouldn't take long for people to learn Juniper was really in a set of remote foothills surrounded by the marsh.

Since the birth of my children Tharin came by our tower much more often after working on the western wall extension. The wall was slowly moving to the end of the forest which overlooked the sea. His teams of workmen had finished building new barracks that arriving people would use for temporary housing until a cabin could be constructed for them. Tharin's current project was to build a gate and gatehouse for use by hunters, gatherers and the former marines living in Red-Tail Meadows. My friend would not stay long, but we shared our day with each other, bantering friendly insults as men do. Tharin still spent most of his evening in the Tavern with his current lover, however since the loss of his huntress, Tharin seemed unable to commit to a deeper relationship. Since he held the role of "Protector," Grimm and Tharin would occasionally speak with each other now, but they remained emotionally distant.

Palus had rotated me through every tower woman's bed, except Celine's, before I was invited back to my rightful place in the master-bedroom at night. I had made it clear to Swarta and Palus that my place was with them and the babies. The pair laughed at me, then reminded me every tower woman expected to have lots of my children and to keep their sisterhood intact required my routine rotation among the tower bedrooms. I had to be honest that my late night activities during the two weeks after the births had been wonderful. Each of my lovers was energized with what Hazel called baby fever, an excitement about carrying a new life within them and the expectation of finishing with my child in their arms. It wasn't that the women were needy; rather they reveled in feeling alive, that the fullness of our love-making charged them to the height of their femininity.

Palus was always the one to remind me of the common likelihood of women dying in labor. My lover didn't take pleasure in pushing the fact that death was part of life, it was more her way of saying death was at the back of an expectant mother's mind. Palus was guiding me to understand their need to feel alive in my arms and in my bed. Now that I was back in my regular bed I made sure Palus felt fully alive and satisfied.