Chapter 7: Taste of Empire

“I believe in the acceptance of personal responsibility, freedom of choice, and the British Empire, which took freedom and the rule of law to countries which would never have known it otherwise.” – Margaret Thatcher.

York, Great Britain. October 1070

Luke sat in his and Marion’s chambers as he drank a beer with his feet propped up and read the after-action reports from Dyflin. Salem lay curled up in a ball on his lap, purring as Luke stroked his back and the sunlight coming through the window warmed his fur. As Luke read, he realized the potentially massive mistake he had made.

The initial force hadn’t been strong enough, and if the Irish had been able to get reinforcements, things could have turned out much differently. Thankfully, everything worked out, and the 3^rd brigade, 2^nd division, arrived on time to help complete the seizure of Dyflin. The rest of the 2^nd division was needed to keep the Welsh in line. One of the reports underlined the former king of Dyflin had been captured alive and was found to have 15 British sex slaves living in his manor house. Nearly all the nobles in Dyflin had been arrested for having slaves and would be doing serious prison time in the mines.

As Luke finished the reports, Marion walked in and moved Salem so she could sit in Luke’s lap. Salem meowed at her before stretching and hopping up on the window sill to go back to sleep. Marion leaned against Luke as he gently rubbed her back. She hadn’t said anything, so Luke guessed something was bothering her.

Instead of asking, Luke kept quiet, knowing Marion would tell him when she was ready. But before she was ready, Marion fell asleep as Luke continued to rub her back. Between feeling Luke’s firm hand on her back, the heat from his body, and the sun shining through the window, Marion relaxed enough to fall asleep.

Marion wasn’t upset with any one thing in particular; many little things piled up and got to her. Mackenzie entered the stage, where she argued with everyone while Carl refused to listen. If the children weren’t bad enough, Marion had the geopolitical fallout from her seizure of Dyflin to worry about and the civil war in Norway between King Hardrada and his son Olaf. All that was on top of her usual worries, ensuring the British citizens had jobs and food.

The straw that broke Marion’s back was a report detailing a minor revolt in Scotland. It had been triggered by a firebrand preacher who stirred up the locals against Marion. His tactic was to focus on her well-known relationship with Gabriella, denounce her, and get the revolt rolling. Alone, the preacher wouldn’t have been enough, but several storms had swept through the area and caused enough damage that many locals would have a tough time surviving the winter. While the 3^rd division had dealt with the revolt and suffered minimal casualties, it still got to Marion. The preacher in question was captured, his church stripped of all valuables before being destroyed, and he was sentenced to life working in the mines.

After reading the report, Marion had to get away for a bit, and since she knew Luke had stayed home, she went to be with him. Something about being with him could help her relax like nothing else.

Two hours after she sat on his lap, Marion woke up to Luke having dozed off, but he woke up when she shifted.

“Hi, Marion. How’d you sleep?”

“You know I slept well. I always do when sitting on your lap.” Luke smiled at her,

“I know. I still love to hear it from you.”

Luke then leaned down to kiss Marion’s neck, which got a low moan out of her. It didn’t take much of Luke kissing Marion’s neck to get her wet and horny. As Luke nibbled on her neck, Marion rotated around so she was straddling Luke and began rotating her hips against him. Slowly, one of Luke’s rough hands found its way into Marion’s shirt to massage her breast and tease her nipple. Just as Marion was undoing Luke’s shirt, there was a knock at the door.

“Fuck!!” exclaimed Marion softly. Looking into Luke’s eyes, she could see he was disappointed, but whoever was at the door knocked again.Marion sighed, “Come in.”

A messenger came in and saluted before handing Marion a sealed letter from King Hardrada and leaving. Luke looked up with interest as Marion broke the seal and read. He watched as Marion read the message, folded it back up, and resealed it by heating the wax with a hot iron from the fire. After putting it in her pocket, she returned to Luke’s lap and laid her head against his chest.

“Does it ever end? Why do people demand power?”

“Because humans are corrupt creatures who ultimately think of themselves. What was in the message, sweetheart?”

“King Hardrada is begging me to help him regain his throne after Olaf took over in one day. He threatened that if I don’t help him and he regains his throne, he will cut off all trade with us.”

Luke smiled widely, “Sweetheart, this is the perfect opportunity to gain some territory.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Iceland and Greenland.”

“Why would we want those dreadful places?”

“A few reasons. Iceland sits close to some of the richest fishing areas on Earth, the Grand Banks, and has almost unlimited energy in the form of geothermal. Greenland has large amounts of raw materials and good hunting grounds. Both lay between Britain and North America, home to unimaginable wealth. My history proves whoever controls North America will control the world, and I see no good coming from other European powers holding such power.”

“That sounds like what you were just saying about Hardrada.”

“It depends on how it’s done, but because of the changes I have caused, Europeans will reach North America much sooner than they did in my timeline. I want to stop the worst of their offenses.” Seeing Marion unconvinced, he continued, “Marion, we have the opportunity to build a society that isn’t poisoned by racism, sexism, or other isms. The thing is, we can’t be afraid to act, and this will be the first step. Tell Hardrada you will help him regain his throne, but it will cost him Iceland, Greenland, plus reparations.”

“Why the hell are you not the king?”

“I don’t want to be a king. I’m just giving you advice; what you do with it is up to you.”

Marion gave Luke a tired smile and laid back against him as he returned to stroking her hair. Eventually, she looked into his eyes and slid off his lap to walk to their shared desk. Since space was limited, the four adults living in Marion’s chambers shared a desk in case they wanted to work outside the office. Sitting down, Marion pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote a reply to King Hardrada. She demanded all Norwegian lands west of the Shetland Islands, which she already controlled, 200,000 tons of iron ore over ten years, and £250,000 worth of gold, silver, and gems over five years. The iron ore was to be sent to the crown; Marion would then sell the ore to British mills and iron works at the market rate.

After sealing the letter, Marion called the messenger back in and gave him the letter to be sent to Hardrada. She would see just how badly King Hardrada wanted his throne back. With the letter sent, Marion gathered her coat, and seeing her getting ready to go out, Luke got out of his chair.

“What’s up, sweetheart?”

“I want to see Magnus and get his take on Norway.”

“Want me to go with you?”

“Please, because I want to visit the bathhouse after our visit.”

On her way out, Marion collected a squad of guards since Gabriella was still working on her paperwork. Luke sent orders for General Jeevika and Colonel Baker to meet him in the queen’s office when he returned. Marion also sent word for Admiral Mills to come up from Hull.

Half an hour later, Marion stood before a lovely brick home and knocked on the door. The maidservant who opened the door didn’t recognize Marion.

“May I help you?”

“Yes, can you inform Magnus Haraldsson that Marion of York is here to see him?”

The poor girl’s eyes almost bulged out of her head as she dropped to a knee. She was a simple country girl who became a servant for Magnus and Anna to earn enough money so she and her betrothed could start a household. While she was a servant, he worked in the steel mill doing manual labor. It might be dirty work, but it paid well, and at the rate the pair was saving money, they could marry in a couple of years.

Marion smiled and laughed, “Careful dropping to your knee like that; you might damage it.”

“P ... P ... Pl ... please come in.” The poor girl could hardly speak, but Marion knew how to put the girl at ease. She walked up to the girl and put a hand on her cheek,

“Please try and relax, girl. I might be the Queen of Great Britain, but I am still a woman. Just pretend I am an ordinary woman. Can you do that for me?” The girl slowly nodded. “Good. Can you announce us to Magnus, please?”

The girl bowed before scurrying off to find the master of the house. She reappeared five minutes later with Magus close behind her. When he saw Marion and Luke, he smiled. It wasn’t hard to guess the purpose of this visit.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty. General.” Magnus said with a crisp British accent. “I guess you are here because of the events in Norway regarding my father.”

“Yes, we are,” replied Marion.

“So, how long have you known the coup was going to happen?” Marion’s face was stunned momentarily, but Luke’s didn’t betray anything. Seeing Marion’s face, Magnus chuckled, “Not to worry, I did not tell my father just how extensive your spy network is in Norway.”

Marion had to chance it, “I had known there was a coup planned since before your father sailed. We knew the date, who was involved, and where they would strike.”

“I figured. My father still refuses to believe his servants would spy on him and talks like they are not there. Of course, your spymasters pay those servants well for their information while doing their best to cover for the servants and verify their information.” Seeing Marion getting more nervous by the minute, Magnus decided to end things. “This may surprise you, Your Majesty, but Anna and I consider ourselves British, not Norwegian or Danish, and we will not reveal your secrets.”

“Thank you, Magnus. Where is Anna anyway?”

Magnus chuckled again. “Your husband’s other wife is working her hard in the hospital. When Anna gets home, she barely has the energy to crawl into bed, but she gets up in the morning, looking forward to learning more from Dr. Kensley.”

“For what it is worth,” started Luke, “Alice says Anna is one of the most talented people she has ever trained, which is why Alice is pushing her so hard. Anna has real potential, and I know Alice was worried you two would go back to Norway.”

“You can tell Alice that Anna and I are staying here.”

“Good, she will be happy to hear that,” stated Marion. “Now, back to why Luke and I came, how bad do you think your father wants his throne back?”

“Really bad. Why? What are you demanding in return for helping him?” When Marion told Magnus, he smiled, “Father will be furious, but in the end, he will accept. Since I refuse to return, Father will probably have one of my cousins be next in line for the throne. Before you ask, I refuse to accept the throne because I have a better life here as a regular citizen than I would there as king.”

Marion smiled, and they talked for a few more minutes about what the army would find in Norway. One thing Magnus stressed was the frigid temperatures and high snowfall the troops would have to battle, but Luke already knew that since he had been to Norway several times in the future. He would order winter camouflage for all the troops sent to Norway if they had to fight.

Finally, it was time to leave, and Marion kissed Magnus on the cheek. “Tell Anna we said hello.”

“I will, Marion. I will.”

Magnus closed the door and shook his head as he returned to finish balancing his books. Since Anna would be home in a few hours, Magnus had their servant start making dinner while he finished his work. If it weren’t for Anna, Magnus would love to sample the servant girl’s charms, but Anna would kill him if he did and she found out.

As Marion and Luke walked toward the bathhouse, Marion asked, “Do you think we can trust him?” referring to Magnus.

“Probably, but I would rather you be cautious about what information you tell him.”

“I didn’t tell him much of anything.”

“Actually, you did when you asked him questions. Remember, questions are double-edged swords. Yes, you may get the information you desire, but when asking a question, you tell the other person that information is important to you somehow.”

“So, how are we to get the information we need?”

“I never said don’t ask questions. Just be careful which questions you ask.”

Luke put his arm around Marion and pulled her to him before kissing her on the forehead. She looked up at him and smiled as they walked to the bathhouse. This was one of the few times Marion’s shadow wasn’t with her; Gabriella was still buried in paperwork.

When Luke and Marion walked into the bathhouse, they were surprised to see Alice gracefully swimming on her back. Luke had a mischievous smile as he did a cannonball that landed next to Alice, causing her to jump and swallow a mouthful of water. Water that was spit at Luke as soon as Alice saw his face. Marion sat on the side of the pool and laughed at her husband and his wife.

Gracefully, Marion slipped into the pool and swam to where Luke and Alice played. To help Alice, Marion hopped on Luke’s back and pulled him back into the water. When he came back up, he spit water at Marion before picking her up and dunking her.

While the guards watched, Alice, Luke, and Marion played in the water for almost an hour before climbing out. As the trio played, the guards smiled at each other; they loved that Marion and Luke were back together. It hadn’t taken the long-time guards much time to figure out that Luke was the stabilizing force behind Marion’s rise to power. When Luke was with Marion, he kept her on an even keel and tempered her nobility. He helped her see reality and kept her grounded.

Only when the trio were like prunes did they climb out and dry off. As they returned home, Luke walked between Marion and Alice with an arm around each of them. It was nice to spend time with his wives without worrying about matters of state getting in the way. But it was time to return to the real world, and Luke had an appointment to see two of his best commanders once he returned.

Once the group returned, they went to Marion’s office, where they waited for the two commanders to arrive. Admiral Mills would arrive in a few hours to get the same news. When the two commanders walked in and saw Marion, Luke, and Alice already in the room, their first thought was, ‘Oh shit.’

“General, Colonel,” Luke returned their salutes. “I will not keep you long because you will need all the time you have to prepare for this mission.”

With that, Marion stepped up and handed the letter from King Hardrada to General Jeevika. “Read this.” She commanded. The commanders read the letter and then looked at their queen. “We are going to help King Hardrada reclaim his throne, but only if he is willing to pay the price. If he is unwilling, you and your troops will return to Britain without leaving your ships.”

“Colonel Baker, your troops will be leaving Hull in 24 hours. General Jeevika, the first of your troops, will accompany the grenadiers. We will be issuing orders to impress all the merchant ships in Hull to serve as troop transports. The 3^rd regiment, 1^st Marines, are loading into their transports as we speak in case there needs to be an amphibious landing.”

“Sir, how long will we be over there?” asked General Jeevika.

“As long as it takes, general,” answered Marion. “With it being winter and our troops having good winter clothing, I think you will be able to beat the rebels without too much problem. I want both of you to remember that you are British troops, not Norwegian. That means if Hardrada orders something, you can ignore him, but if he advises, I recommend you listen to him and consider what he is saying.”

Both officers snapped to attention and said in unison, “YES, MA’AM!” Then Alice spoke.

“I am sending the 2^nd field hospital with you with extra frostbite supplies. Make sure to observe your troops for signs of frostbite and that they keep their feet dry. If their feet stay dry, frostbite will be much easier to fight. One other thing, do not let hygiene standards lapse under any circumstances, or you will have a harder fight with diseases than with the rebels.”