"Queen, may I ask what it is?" Oryn asked, unsure what my whole solidifying foundation meant.
He was sure I was already getting at something great when I built the Nursery Palace, but there's more?
That's exactly what his expression read and I cackled.
"Hehe, we aren't just building with logs anymore. We're going to quarry blocks. Massive, square blocks of white stone."
I was talking fast now, the blueprints in my head finally bleeding into reality.
"I want to carve a path from the village gate all the way to that ridge. A road, Oryn. A wide, flat road made of crushed stone and packed earth so the heavy sleds don't sink. And along that road? We'll build houses. Permanent houses of stone and timber that will stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer."
Oryn's small, round ears twitched as he looked toward the northern ridge. He looked skeptical, but then he looked at my eyes. He saw the fire there—the same fire that had built the Nursery Palace in a single day.
