Chapter 4

The work on the aqueduct had progressed well. The fort and the navy had worked well and fought off all of the raids before they caused too much damage. Only 798 merchant ships sunk by Burdien raiders and pirates and these mainly of the smaller variety. The taxes handed in were approaching 90% of the amount that should be. All in all the province of opides auster aureus caldor was doing very well. The best year for many a year and many to come. It only got worse.

Aqueus was doing great; the slave in charge of five teams of builders checking all the work himself and making everything perfect. He worked hard. He had nothing else to do and besides he liked the work. The mountain source was all his work. He had seen how it should be done and explained it. He had been put in charge of building it as well. It was almost finished. The wooden scaffolding just needed to be removed. That was almost all. He had not told Domignus. He did not need to. He had not been asked. The source was beautiful; the water clear and the curve of the wall a perfect curve, the pressure of the water being taken right into the solid rock of the mountain. He gazed out across it the blue flecks in his eyes glowing.

Aqueus was worried, Domignus his master was coming. He was not sure why. He was not behind schedule. Far from it, he had taken half the time that he had been given.

Domignus arrived that day. That night the scaffolding burned down. Nothing else happened even though there were only ashes left. True the top had not been finished but they could work around that. They did not really need the scaffolding. They had not used it for weeks. The fire had been strange; it had started at the same time at five places at least. 10 people had been killed trying to put out the blaze.