Page 27

Today was beam day.

Honestly, Noe was as excited as he was nervous. Beam day meant they’d gotten enough footings set, enough support structures complete, that they could start installing the header beams. It was a milestone of great progress despite the many, many setbacks.

The day couldn’t have been more perfect for it, either. Unseasonably balmy for early winter, the temperatures were such that a simple coat and hat were enough to ward off the chill, instead of being bundled up in three layers.

The temperature made it easier to do the necessary welding, as well. The Shiireins had a fascinating joint technique where they would create interesting shapes to lock joints together—especially wood, but they’d done it here as well as at the end of the beams. Noe maaaay have spent more than a few hours with the blacksmiths just sketching out what they were doing. It was good information to carry with him to future projects.

Now he got to see in real life how it all fit together.

The beams were massive structures that spanned the harbor’s entrance. They would be sistered with supporting beams as well once in place, leaving absolutely nothing to chance. This wasn’t just a building, but a defensive line to protect a city. Untold pressure, attacks, and the wear and tear of time already threatened a structure not yet built. Noe’s main job was to design this thing well enough to withstand all that.

Personally, he felt like he’d done a good job. The fortress should last for hundreds of years if maintained right. It’d be a silent testament to everyone who had worked on it.

Despite getting to the site right after breakfast, Noe was by far not the first one there. A lot of the prep work had been done the day prior, with the pulleys rigged, the cranes built and positioned. Being the cautious sort, Noe went over it all again—every pulley, every line—just in case something had shifted overnight. He started on the difficult side, the area right on the seashore, as it was the one most likely to be messed with. By birds, if nothing else. Damn birds seemed to love picking at the ropes and trying to take off with fibers.

All right, this area seemed fine. Time to switch to the other side.

The land sloped very sharply down toward the water, with the highest point several hundred feet above the docks. It made for a steep climb up and down, made more treacherous by little pockets of ice here and there on the steps cut into the hillside. People were scattered on both sides, at least a hundred altogether, all of them making the same preparations and checks Noe himself was doing. It made for a noisy crowd, but there was this air of anticipation, everyone eager to have this next stage completed.

The higher parts—namely the pulleys near the tops of the cranes—he could only trace by eye, but they were all in position. The ropes leading down to the beams were still snugly tied. He’d need to check the rest of the pulleys for the guide ropes. There would need to be some pulling, of course, to raise the beams into place, but they had teams of mules nearby who were being hitched up right now. A few of the lines were for anchoring, to keep the beams from twisting in a weird direction. Noe would be on one of the anchoring lines. It might be strange, for the structural engineer of the project to be so hands-on, but honestly speaking, they needed every bit of manpower. Plus, Noe was so excited for it all to happen, he wanted a hand in it himself.

“Ah, there’s Himself-to-be,” Ewan drawled.

“Ewan, why do you call Luca that?”

“Himself?”

“Yeah.”

“It be no disrespect,” Ewan assured him.

Noe gave him quite the look. “Ewan, is it because you have no brilliance to dazzle me with that you keep baffling me with bullshit?”

Ewan snickered. “Mostly?”

“I can’t even figure out why you just said that. If you ever truly disrespected my groom, you’d not be alive to talk about it.”

“Ha! That be truth. Himself ain’t one to tolerate much of anythin’.” Ewan seemed quite delighted Noe had figured that much out. “Well, truth be told, our familiarity be respect in its own right.”

“Huh?” Noe tried to make this make sense, but it wouldn’t quite click.

“Ye see, since beginnin’ of time, our lairds have been quite close with us. Not just managers and taskmasters, but parental in a sense. We both live side by side, and share the same struggles and triumphs on the same land, so of course we be more kin than anythin’.”

What an interesting perspective. If asked, Noe knew the lord’s family who ruled over his own homeland’s province, but he wouldn’t be able to identify the man if he saw his face. They weren’t close enough. But from all descriptions, Luca’s territory wasn’t huge. It was a fortress, much like the one Noe was currently building, meant as a line of defense against the Z’s. It only made sense for them to become very close to each other. Out of self-preservation, if nothing else.

“That’s really beautiful, Ewan.”

“Ye’ll be part of it soon enough.” Ewan winked and then looked the area over. “Why check the lines?”

“Precaution. These beams are monstrously heavy—near the weight of a schooner, especially that longest one—and I absolutely do not want to take chances of a line breaking or something coming off a pulley. I’ve seen men killed or lose limbs because a line snapped.”

“I knew it be a serious undertakin’…” Ewan let his eyes linger over the whole setup and then he grimaced, eyes squinting near shut. “Didn’t realize it be that serious. All right, I’ll keep lookout too while helping to haul it up. That said, Noe, no slippin’ into the harbor. It be a forty foot drop and I won’t come in after ye.”

“Why not?” Noe felt like teasing and promptly did so. “Can’t you swim, Ewan?”

“Like a log, I tell ye.”

“The phrase ‘drowned log’ doesn’t mean anything to you, I guess.”

“Shut yer trap. Wood floats.”

Noe grinned and pointed out, “And ships sink.”

“I used to like ye.” Ewan sniffed. “Oh, I can swim fine, but if ye think I’ll hop into that bloody frigid water? Ye guessed wrong. Ye can swim, or so ye say, so ye can get yerself out.”

Noe laughed. “I don’t blame you. I see ice chunks floating in the water. Just because it’s warm today doesn’t mean the water’s followed suit.”

“Precisely me point. So no slippin’.”

“Not even remotely tempted, trust me. You don’t go in, either.”

“Ha! Fat chance, that. Never slipped in me life—” Ewan caught sight of something past Noe’s shoulder and immediately scowled. “Yer brother be moseyin’ over here. I do not think it wise to have him work with ye.”

“Trust me, I agree, but we really do need all hands for this one. I’ve got him on a different anchor line, not with me directly, so it should be fine.”

“Hope so.” Ewan’s expression was full of doubt.

Frankly, Noe shared his worry, as assigning Petar to a different area to work in hadn’t panned out well. He’d tried, but Petar had flat-out ignored the assignment. He found ways of coming back to Noe so he could keep arguing. Still, surely he would have the common sense to not do it today. Not when this operation could kill a person.

Noe was about done with him, though. He could only give his brother so many chances before he just couldn’t anymore. Petar was skating on some very thin ice right now. If he did anything today, Noe would fire him and send him home. He just didn’t have the heart for this any longer, especially since Petar’s attitude toward him was getting worse, not better.

Petar looked angry already this morning, which was something of a pattern for him. What had even begun to set him off?

“What crawled up his ass and died?” Ewan muttered, mouth curled up in disgust.

“Who knows. Sorry for his stupidity.”

“The problem be, I be insatiable when it comes to stupidity.” Ewan gave him a clap on the shoulder in solidarity.

Which Noe appreciated, truly, as dealing with Petar on his own was never fun. If it wouldn’t risk hypothermia, he’d be tempted to accidentally-on-purpose push Petar into the ocean and make him sit this one out today. Noe had a bad feeling having his brother on site like this.

Shaking his head, he pushed through the feeling and pointed to the line nearby. “Petar, you take that one. Remember, you’re an anchor only.”

“Yeah, I got it. Gods. It’s like you think I’m too stupid to stand around and hold a line.”

No, he thought his brother incapable of controlling his temper long enough to keep focused. Which amounted to the same thing in this instance. At least, the results would be the same.

Petar stood in his area but glared at Noe the entire time. Noe ignored him, going to each operator, each group, making sure everyone was still clear on what to do. Most were excited to have this done, as the work would seemingly go much faster after they got these beams in place. He saw all three generals in different places, stationed so they could respond if an emergency happened, Luca being on Noe’s side of the harbor, of course. He exchanged a warm smile with Luca before going to his line to anchor.

“The fuck?” Petar glared at him, the line lax in his hand. “You can’t even keep it professional when we’re doing something like this?”

Noe regarded his brother with a sort of fascinated disbelief. “A smile isn’t professional?”

“Not when the two of you are looking at each other like that! Like you only want to fuck each other!”

Well…he wasn’t entirely wrong? Noe would have to be dead to not be attracted to Luca, that was just fact, but did his eyes really say all that when he looked at the man? Noe had no idea. He decided, after a moment, he wasn’t bothered by it, either. Let the whole world know his heart was beating for Luca. Noe wasn’t ashamed of it.

“Are you fucking listening to me?”

Noe pointed at the rope. “Focus. We’re starting.”

His brother picked the rope up with both hands, his attention clearly not on the beam but on Noe.

Noe sought to ignore him, picking up his own rope and holding it steady. Ewan stood nearby, to assist if necessary, but Noe hoped it wouldn’t be needed. They had a full team of over a hundred men working on this, so surely it should be fine.

A drum at the top of the hill let out a boom —their starting signal. The crane operators got the largest beam in the air, as it had to be put in first, with everything else built around it. Noe felt the line in his hand go taut, then tauter still, the beam wanting to turn away from him and spin freely over the harbor. Gritting his teeth, he dug his heels in, forcing it to stay straight.

“HOLD!” the foreman called out. “STEADY AND HOLD!”

“Noe,” Petar hissed at him. “Noe!”

“Not now!” Noe snapped back. Dammit . Why couldn’t Petar leave him alone for just a few hours? Was that too much to ask?

Apparently it was, as Petar switched to screaming. “Don’t you fucking ignore me! We’re talking as soon as this is done. Don’t even try to wriggle out of it like you normally do, and you can leave this fucking bastard—”

Noe lost half of what he said as the line pulled even tighter, and it was all he could to to keep hold. A light wind had picked up, turning the beam, making him swear under his breath. This was precisely what he’d feared would happen, as wind was a constant here and there was nothing to stop it. If they could just hold the line, though, they’d be all right.

“NOE, YOU FUCKING ANSWER ME!”

Another voice tagged on, from a greater distance, and it sounded like Luca. “—LET GO!”

Huh? Had Petar let go?

Noe turned his head just enough to see, and sure enough, Petar had let go of his rope, his entire attention on screaming in Noe’s ear. Shit, shit, that meant the load was even more on Noe from this angle, and he was struggling as it was. Ewan scrambled for it, but the free line was already being yanked away, far from their grip.

He only had a split second to realize the danger before the rope in his hands abruptly yanked , jerking him right off his feet and flinging him through the air. Noe’s legs flailed helplessly, seeking ground that wasn’t there, and then the rope was torn free from his hands altogether. Something reached up and slapped him all along his side. His glasses flew off his face, and the impact fucking hurt. Razor-sharp pain lanced through his head and chest, a pain he’d never felt before. Icy water clutched him as he sank into the harbor, his breath leaving him in an explosion as the shock of the cold hit.

Noe’s body curled in on itself, spinning madly in the water, and his only thought was: Up, up, get up, get to the surface or you’ll die!