Chapter 25: Prospecting

“Travel brings power and love back into your life.” ― Rumi Jalalud-Din

York, Great Britain. June 1073

Marion stood on the docks at Hull again. This time, she was saying goodbye to Luke before he sailed to Lapland to begin preparing for mining operations. Unlike in his time, Luke had to build everything from scratch while guarding against attack. From what Ingegerd told them, Luke didn’t think 25,000 people lived in the region. That meant two things to Luke: he would have to import his labor force, and there wouldn’t be many people to oppose him. Of the two, the labor shortage was the bigger problem.

Lapland wasn’t the only place Luke had to visit during the summer. When Marion returned to York, she received a letter from Ingegerd that caused her to fall off her chair laughing. Ingegerd wanted Marion to give her a special favor; she wanted Luke to father her child. The act would still be up to Luke, but Marion was happy with letting Luke knock Ingegerd up. Marion knew if Luke gave Ingegerd a child, they would have a massive favor they could call in later.

So, Marion stood on the dock and hugged Luke as best she could. Her very pregnant stomach was getting in the way, and Luke could feel the baby kicking. His smile melted Marion’s heart as he placed his hand over the baby.

“Take care of our newest munchkin, sweetheart.”

“You know I will, darling. Make sure to take care of yourself over there. You do not need to be the hero when your family here needs you. Speaking of family, make sure you give Ingegerd the best time of her life.”

Luke turned bright red, and Marion laughed.

“I still don’t know about that.”

“What’s there not to know? Ingegerd wants a child. You are good at making them, and with your size and intelligence, you will give the baby a good start with good genes. As for me, my reasoning is a bit more complex. You knocking her up gives us a massive marker we can call in when we need to, and your having a familial tie to the Queen of Norway can’t be a bad thing, especially when you want to mine there.”

“I know all that. Still, I feel like I’m cheating on you and Alice.”

“Alice is only pissed because she can’t be there to watch. Kinky slut,” Marion chuckled.

Luke smiled and laughed at Marion’s description of Alice. Marion could be just as kinky as Alice when the mood hit her. Luke gave Marion one last sizzling kiss before he turned to board the light cruiser HMS Panther, which would take him to Lapland. When Luke disappeared on the ship, Marion reached up and untied the red, white, and blue ribbon holding her hair back. In its place, she tied a yellow ribbon. Across Britain, it had become fashionable when your spouse was deployed to tie your hair back with a yellow ribbon, thus informing everyone of the sacrifice you were making for the nation.

The convoy was under the command of Captain Morwenna and consisted of the warships Panther, Pike, and Trout, six transport ships, and three civilian merchant ships from Luke’s shipping line. Going with them was an engineering company, the 2^nd brigade, 1^st division, and a cavalry company from the 1^st.

When Luke got to the bridge, Captain Morwenna was waiting, and he greeted her with a nod. She had become the go-to commander for exploring, but this was her first time commanding warships. Since neither Luke nor Marion knew what to expect, Marion requested Admiral Mills send an escort.

Since it was June, the task group had smooth sailing across the North Sea and into the Baltic. True to their deal, the task group wasn’t interfered with aside from the local Norse forces, ensuring the British were friendly. After that, the local commander insisted Luke stop for a drink. But mindful of their limited time before the weather set in, Luke promised to take the commander up on that when he came back through in a month. Luke had a date with Ingegerd at the end of June, and he had orders from Marion not to miss it unless it was life or death.

Luke was aiming for the land between the rivers Tornionjoki and Isohaara. That way, the new settlement would have access to the Lapland interior through two major rivers. The worst part of the new location would be the offshore islands, but accurate charts and strategically placed lighthouses would take care of that.

In mid-June, the task force sighted land, and Luke noticed they were landing where they wanted to be. He smiled as he climbed down a Jacob’s ladder into a waiting rowboat. The first wave was already on the beach and had secured it. There were no signs of natives in the area, much to Luke’s relief; after Iceland, he was tired of dealing with rowdy natives.

Once Luke was ashore, he ordered some troops to help the engineers build a pier so the rest of the ships could offload. While some troops were building the dock, others were building cabins for everyone to stay in so they would be out of the weather. Luke knew the weather this far north changed quickly, and he didn’t want any of his troops freezing in tents.

It took the engineers three days to build a pier far enough to offload the transports. Soon, thousands of British troops were ashore and pushing inland. While the troops were securing the area, the engineers were busy building the infrastructure to support mining operations.

Luke knew roughly where the mineral deposit he was looking for was. All he had to do was find the exact location. He was looking for chromite, a vital component of stainless steel. With access to stainless steel, there were few limits on what Luke could build, with an efficient sulfuric acid plant at the top of the list. Sulfuric acid is one of the workhorses of modern industry and is used in the manufacturing process of numerous products. The one of most interest to Luke was the manufacturing of smokeless powder. With smokeless powder, the British military would be unstoppable.

The other use of stainless steel Luke was looking forward to was manufacturing medicine. With stainless steel, the medicine wouldn’t be contaminated by the manufacturing process, and they would have much higher quality control.

Once the first stage was underway, Luke boarded the HMS Panther for his date with Queen Ingegerd in Niðaróss. The trip across the Baltic was calm, but Luke noticed the complete lack of shipping. They hadn’t seen one ship going to Lapland, and now they weren’t seeing any leaving the Baltic. None of the crew knew why they were taking Luke to Niðaróss, not that they were complaining. Leaving Lapland meant they wouldn’t be drafted for physical labor.

Once the Panther had anchored, Luke went ashore with his guards. When he went to Lapland, Gabriella assigned a squad of Household Guards for protection. With everything that happened, Luke didn’t mind the guards, although he wasn’t thrilled about having people around him who would report his every move to Marion.

Ingegerd was holding court when word of Luke’s arrival was delivered to her. The smile that lit her face up brightened the entire room. She looked to one of her guards.

“Please escort the general here immediately. Thank you.”

Luke walked into Ingegerd’s court twenty minutes later, and when she saw him, she sighed. He was so handsome in his service uniform, and in many ways, he was her ideal husband. Unfortunately, Marion had an ironclad claim on Luke, which he was unwilling to break. Ingegerd only hoped Marion was willing to share.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty.” Over the years, Luke had gotten better at dealing with royalty. It now took someone who knew him to spot his disgust with most royalty and the nobility.

“Welcome to Niðaróss, general. How are your mining operations going?”

“We have just started building the infrastructure. I believe it will be next year before we can begin mining operations, although I hope to find likely spots to mine this year.”

“Very good. Is there anything we can do to help?”

“No, although I would like your permission to give the crew of the Panther shore leave while I am here.”

“Granted, although if they misbehave, they will be confined to the ship.”

“Understood.” Luke turned to one of his guards. “Please send word to the ship.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is there anything I can do for you personally, general?” Everyone in the room caught Ingegerd’s veiled meaning, although Luke didn’t react.

“I would like to purchase some supplies for the troops in Lapland and set up weekly deliveries.”

“I will arrange it general,” Ingegerd sighed. Either he was playing dumb, or he wasn’t interested in her, and she knew he wasn’t dumb. “Anything else?”

“I do have a question. On our way across the Baltic, we didn’t encounter one ship. Do you know the reason for the complete lack of shipping?”

“Yes. Henry IV cut off all trade coming from Poland. Without that trade, many towns along the Baltic are suffering.”

“Oh,” was all Luke said, although he instantly saw a prime opportunity to expand British trade in the region.

“If there is nothing else general, may I interest you in dinner?”

“What is for dinner? Or who?” Luke asked, mouthing the last part to Ingegerd.

She turned bright red at Luke’s suggestion and felt a tingle between her legs at the thought of having Luke’s head there. As she learned during his last visit, there weren’t many better people between your legs than Luke.

“Dinner is whatever you would like, general.” He didn’t miss the double meaning, although it went above everyone else’s head. Luke assumed a predatory look on his face, and Ingegerd feared they might not make it to her chambers. “Would you be interested in freshening up some before dinner?”

“I would like that.”

“I just had a shower installed in my chamber if you would like to use that.” ‘Said the spider to the fly,’ Luke thought.

“I would be honored.”

Ingegerd smiled and signaled Luke to follow her as she led the way. As Luke followed her, Ingegerd made sure to put an extra sway in her hips. Seeing Ingegerd’s hips sway, Luke about shot a load in his pants; it had been a few weeks since he had gotten laid. Luke’s guards rolled their eyes, seeing Ingegerd’s antics; they didn’t know about Marion’s orders to Luke.

When they reached Ingegerd’s quarters, Loke ordered his guards to stay at the door. They looked at each other in horror at the thought of their general spending time alone with a woman they knew had designs on him. Seeing the guard’s unease, Luke smiled and leaned close to them.

“Don’t worry. Marion and Alice know everything.”

That didn’t help the guard’s unease, but Luke didn’t care. He had other things to worry about, like ensuring Ingegerd was happy with his performance. While he wasn’t pleased about cheating on his wives, he was ordered by one of those wives to knock Ingegerd up.

“Oh, Luke, I’ve been dreaming of this ever since I sent that letter to Marion. I can’t wait to feel you inside me again.”

“Well, maybe we should start by removing some of these clothes.”

Before Ingegerd could respond, Luke swooped in and kissed her neck. The kiss sent a shudder through Ingegerd, leaving her with goosebumps and the rest of her body aching for attention. As Luke continued kissing her neck, he worked to loosen her top so it could slide off. Once the top was loose, Luke worked his hands under the clothes to help them fall. Luke’s mouth followed the clothes down Ingegerd’s body, kissing every patch of skin he came to.

Ingegerd squealed when Luke sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and instinctively used her hands to keep him there. Luke used his hands to push the fabric down Ingegerd’s slim body. She had exercised almost daily for the past year, which showed in her muscular body.

Once her dress was on the ground, Luke shifted and gracefully picked Ingegerd up, cradling her in his arms. When Ingegerd looked into Luke’s eyes, hers were filled with love. He swallowed and carried her to the shower, gently washing her body. Ingegerd purred when he put shampoo in her hair.

When Ingegerd was clean, she returned the favor to Luke. She noticed that washing his body was much different from washing hers. Luke’s body was hard and sculpted; he could have been a model for someone carving a Greek god. As Ingegerd’s fingers traveled over his muscles, she felt the scars covering Luke’s body and cried. She couldn’t imagine the pain Luke went through when he received the wounds that created the scars.

After the pair dried each other, Luke picked Ingegerd up again and carried her to bed. Luke was going to show Ingegerd the difference between making love and sex. Slowly, the room heated up as the action between Luke and Ingegerd heated up. It wasn’t long before Ingegerd lost control of her body, and it did want it wanted, taking Ingegerd along for the ride.

Every moan that escaped her throat meant something, as did every sigh. When Luke entered her, Ingegerd’s legs wrapped around Luke and locked her heels under Luke’s arse to keep him in place. As Luke thrust into Ingegerd, she returned the thrust, driving Luke’s spear deeper into her core. Ingegerd began to understand the term “well fucked” as Luke thrust into her.

Soon Ingegerd arched her back as an orgasm swept through her causing her vaginal muscles to flutter, triggering an orgasm for Luke. Luke also arched his back driving his member deeper into Ingegerd, which trapped her clit between their pubic bones. The increased stimulation caused Ingegerd to black out.