As quickly as the water had risen, it had started to retreat on this side of the shield, no doubt due to the sewage pumps and drains, not to mention the dozen mages working on scene. I was relieved, because it would give us access to our homes again, but this wouldn’t be the work of an hour. It might take them until tomorrow to fully drain the water out of the lower market area.
“Helena?” Prince James asked. “You look upset.”
“I amlivid. I will punch Victor dead in the mouth.”
I truly hoped she did. Someone needed to.
I stood there, shaking, my calves still on fire, puffing for breath because I wasn’t used to running uphill, and so heartsore I just wanted to curl up somewhere and cry. Prince Victor had cost me my home and my library, and I wanted to punch him myself.
I needed to verify my family’s safety first, but honestly, staying here and implementing the plan we had for disasters would work in my favor. I’d find my family immediately if I stayed here, assuming they were here. If not, I could verify they weren’t part of this disaster.
Plus, I couldn’t leave all of this on Prince James’s shoulders. That would be entirely unfair. I knew how much work we were looking at, and we’d be lucky to get sleep the rest of the week.
“James,” Princess Helena added firmly, “I’ll help with this.”
“I’ll accept all help. Fortunately, we have a disaster plan already in place.” Prince James turned to me and said, “Operation Brown Pants.”
I gave him a firm nod. “I’m on it. I’ll organize relief up here. Will you go down with the soldiers?”
“Yes. Hopefully everyone made it out, but I’m worried about the ones who didn’t, and it’s not safe enough to allow people to stay in the area.”
“I understand. I’ll touch base with you later.”
It was my turn to work now, wet as I was. I’d been displaced from my home like many of the people around me, but I could always retreat to the palace staff rooms and sleep there. They didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Well, they did, thanks to Prince James’s planning. It was my job to tell them so.
I lifted an arm above my head and called out, “I’m Edwin Grantham, Prince James’s secretary! He has a relief plan for disasters in place. If any of you need shelter until your homes are rebuilt, please head toward the inns I’m about to list off!”
Hopefully we had enough places to put people.
I was about to find out.
Twenty-six
James
I was Not Happy.
While I’d be the first to admit I didn’t remember dates in exact detail, no way in hell did I mix up the months and events this badly. This wasn’t on me. No, this was the heavens jerking me about, and I didn’t care for it.
How dare they do this? If the Wrath had hit when it was supposed to, we would have had some minor damage but nothing like this. Because I hadn’t been able to fix those seawalls first, we had worse damage than we should have had. I didn’t know the death toll, but the destruction to property had to be astronomical. Even my bank account would wince when the total for this hit.
Granted, it wasn’t as bad as the Wrath in my previous life, but it shouldn’t have beenthiscatastrophic!
I felt shaken to my core. I would have thought the natural disasters, at least, would stick to their timetable. Nothing man could do would trigger a Retazo’s Wrath, after all. Those types of events shouldn’t be able to be influenced, so if they couldhappen earlier, then what did that mean for every other event I’d planned for? Was I doomed to face the same obstacles again, no matter how much I struggled to prevent them?
Gods above, that was a very upsetting thought.
I had vivid memories of the Wrath from my first life. Mostly because I’d been on the ground after the water receded, trying to help put everything back in place. The sight had been truly devastating, whole buildings torn right off their foundations, anything made of wood destroyed past recognition. Businesses had been wiped out, whole families found dead in their homes. The warning hadn’t been heard in some quarters of the town, so they hadn’t even realized they were in danger until they were caught in the waters.
In my first life, we’d completely lost the market district and most of the lower city, and it had taken a full year to rebuild enough for the city to function again.
This time, the damage wasn’t as bad. I kept trying to assure myself of that even as I waded through thigh-high water, looking for survivors. The devastation was maybe a third of what it had been in my previous life. Having a plan, being able to call in the mages immediately, had stayed the worst of it.
But I hadn’t been working to mitigate the destruction—I’d wanted to stop it before it could even begin.
My goal had not been reached. Not at all.
