\herosection{The Mason and the Tower}{chapters/2026.03.24-TheMasonAndTheTower/image/the-mason-and-the-tower.jpg}

\DROPCAP{../../dropcap_c/dropT}he tower stood at the center of the city.\\
The steward met him at the base.

``The king is pleased with it,'' the steward said. \\
``He wishes it made higher, more grand.''

``And the foundation is sound?'' he asked.

``It has stood well all these years.''

\medskip

For several days the mason walked the tower.\\
He measured, \\
tapped, \\
watched how the light moved along the seams.\\
He climbed the inner stair and counted the turns.

It was a good structure.\\
Better than most.

He marked out a band of new stone \\
to enlarge the upper ring and set to work.

\medskip

On the sixth day he noticed \\
a slight settling along the north face: \\
a hairline shift where two stones met.

At the base, the stone was cool and damp.\\
He cleared away some mortar where it had been patched.

The material beneath was softer than it should have been.

He took a chisel and worked it in carefully.

The edge sank deeper than it ought to.

He stopped, then worked a little further.

Still hollow.

\medskip

He went to the steward.

``There's movement in the north base,'' he said. \\
``It's been patched over more than once.\\
The material beneath has degraded.''

The steward frowned. \\
``It has stood for years.''

``It will not stand if we add to it.''

``We did not ask you to work on the foundation.''

``I understand.\\
But anything we do above \\
will bear on what is below.''

The steward was quiet for a moment. \\
``You were called to heighten and decorate the tower.''

``Yes.''

``Then do as you were told.''

\medskip

He returned to the base alone that evening.

He opened the seam again and cleared more of it.

The flaw ran deeper than he had hoped.

Not ruin.\\
Not yet.

But wrong.

He sat back on his heels \\
and looked up along the height of the tower.\\
It rose clean and certain into the sky.

From above, no one could see what he saw now.

\medskip

The next day he continued the work as directed.

He raised the upper ring.\\
Set the new stone cleanly into the old.

The steward came twice and nodded.

``You see,'' the steward said, \\
``it needed only skillful hands.''

The mason bowed his head.

\medskip

At dusk he went again to the base.

He brought no men with him.

He removed the patched mortar \\
and took out two of the smaller stones.\\
Beneath them, \\
the substrate was fractured and uneven.\\
Someone had tried to correct it years ago.

He worked slowly, \\
exposing enough to understand its extent.

It would take weeks — \\
months — \\
to do it properly.\\
The tower would have to be supported, \\
sections dismantled, \\
the load redistributed.

Not what he had been told to do.

He replaced one of the stones, \\
but not as before.\\
He left a narrow line \\
where the joint did not quite close.

Then he set another, \\
slightly offset, \\
so that the pattern broke \\
if one looked closely.

Not damage.

But not concealed either.

\medskip

He finished the upper work.\\
The line of the tower rose a little higher, \\
just as the king had wished.

The king came to see it.

``It is well,'' the king said.

The king's eye moved down the height of the tower.

It stopped at the base.

``What is that?'' he said.

``A section I opened,'' the mason said.

The king looked at it for a long moment. \\
``You were told not to work on the foundation.''

``Yes.''

``And yet you have.''

``I have opened it enough to show the problem.''

``Which I did not ask you to do.''

``No.''

The king turned to the steward. \\
``Relieve him as Builder to the King.''

\medskip

Another mason was brought in to continue the work.

He walked the structure.\\
He climbed the stairs.\\
Measured the turns.

In time he came to the base.

Right away he saw the line \\
that did not quite close.

He knelt and removed the stone.

The problem was plain.

\medskip

The mason heard of it \\
from one of the laborers who had worked for him.

``They've opened the base,'' the man said. \\
``Properly, this time.''

``The king was pleased,'' he added. \\
``Said the new mason found a flaw and averted a collapse.\\
Rewarded him handsomely.''

The mason nodded. \\
``Good,'' he said.

\medskip

Weeks later, \\
there was a knock at his door.

``I was told you see what others miss,'' she said. \\
``And speak truly.''

He waited.

``There is a hall on my land,'' she said. \\
``It stands well enough.\\
But I do not trust it.''

He took up his tools.

``Show me,'' he said.
