Chapter 11

This year we had to turn the grain fields into the camp grounds for the gathering. The population of the villages had grown, and with all the new homes built for our new people there just wasn’t enough room in town. Our central park was now the marketplace as the vault was the home of products aimed at women only. A guard made sure only women went below as this was where cloth and clothing was being sold. We also closed off the tunnels leading out of the central vault room so people weren’t wandering around underground.

Cait was right, almost everything I made for cooking was gone quickly, and other household items also seemed to disappear. I even spent a few hours a day restocking the ones that ran out till I didn’t see them being gobbled up anymore.

At the same time people from the villages were selling huge amounts of grain to us. This would see us, our new people, and act as animal feed all through the winter with a very safe margin. When it came to the other villages their extra grain was given to the knights as their taxes. That grain was portioned out for their winter foods and to be sent to the capital with the tax collectors. The grain from our territory was needed to feed the people of the capital and anything we grew balanced out the food imported.

After our gathering the winter work began. Much of the grain we collected and bought was turned into meal and flour. The rest was put into the feed barns that were already quite full of hay and other materials for animal feed. Meat harvested from both wild and domestic sources began to be processed into our now famous smoked meats. At the same time Gram came in from Kalador to visit with his sons and to also see our smoked meat production. He went about tasting mixes, giving opinions, and passing our spices to people as gifts. When he left he did so with three large barrels of salted smoked meat. He wanted to use it as we did, and also see if it would be possible to do something like it in Kalador.

Just as winter started to settle into our region William came for one last visit. There were no wagon trains this time only a second coach with his three ladies inside. This time they all went to visit with Genny first and I relaxed in my home happily. I closed my eyes and began to picture Genny in my mind as I firmed the image I saw she was smiling and even laughing. I don’t mean a polite laugh either but some real happy laughing and giggles. So this is what he meant by a sharing bond. I really could feel Genny in my mind and know how she was doing. That evening I still hadn’t seen anyone and when I went to bed with a new set of wives I felt great happiness and strange sense of deep love.

I was at home when William came over and the two of us headed to my office. “Well Mike you really did it now.” I blinked at him in question. “Not to brag but last night I was shown what life is like for you and I am filled with envy.” I made motions for him to fill me in. “Last night I made love with everyone and it was unbelievable. I made love to my lover while another made love to my wife and it was more than my heart could withstand. I was shown things about my wife I had no clue of, and the way she showed me love even though it wasn’t between the two of us opened my heart in new ways.”

He then grabbed my hand in his and smiled. “All of them told me that this was what it was like being with you, that you taught them to love like that.” Talk about feeling like I was on the spot. “William, my lovers may talk a mile a minute about private things, but I don’t. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I am glad all of you had fun.” Will sat back and shook his head. “If other men learned to please women like that there wouldn’t be a woman walking in the land without a smile on their faces. Now that I think of it most of your women do walk around with huge smiles don’t they?”

He grew a little serious. “I also want to thank you my brother for doing as I asked. I feel like I won’t ever have to worry about Genevieve’s life or happiness again as long as she had the both of us to guard her. She talked to me after the fun last night and told me that you had finally accepted her. I asked if it was what she hoped for and she said it was and more. It was like finally being a part of your family in her heart and in her mind. I told her that it was the same for me, that the women from Kelton adopted me into the family in the deepest possible way. Last night Genny and I shared something very meaningful with each other and it is because of you that it was possible.”

After that we talked about the life other than in bed. He was more than ready to take some taxes in the shape pf smoked meat and I told him he would be happy this winter as the flavors this year were even better than last year. I told him the efforts I was making and the plans I had for next year. When I told him that I was planning on poaching talent from the capital and that the women in the capital were already head hunting he laughed. “I’m glad to have you do it and encourage it. I have no doubt your towns will prosper if you have people like Jin who was frustrated in the ways of the capital.”

I told him I since I had three villages torn apart by slavers I was thinking of having the whole region turned into cattle land. He nodded, smiled, and seemed lost for a moment. “Three villages of cattle will pose some issues. There isn’t large enough pastures are there?” I nodded. “When the other two villages are raising feed for the cattle?” His eyes grew larger. “Oh, now I can see what you mean.” I nodded. “And the meat villages will trade meat to other villages for grain and vegetables for the winter.” He nodded along but then frowned, how will they store the meat?” I realized Will had never been to the ice caves.

We headed out and over to our community freezer. As we went into it he was shivering. “What kind of magic are you using here?” I just laughed. We entered the ice room, which was getting low, and he looked around. “We collect slabs of ice from the lake, pull it down the channel, and fill this room to the top.” I guided him to the bottom room and he gasped. “The cold from above sinks into this room and keeps the meat here solid for months. We will be able to have fresh meat all winter this way as well as using the smoked meat as we wish.”

William grabbed my arms and spun me around. “Why haven’t you shown this to me before!” he demanded. He looked around and shook his head as he walked among the already cut and processed meat laying in trays everywhere. “The food spoilage, the waste, the hungry. How this could have solved so many problems.” I waited till he turned back to me. “This is only the second year of using this. We learned what works and what doesn’t. Even this is still experimental but still I am glad to show it to you. Start now and when the lakes freeze you can fill it with ice so it will be ready for next year.” He nodded and tried to calm down.

We walked out and the fall day felt like summer. “William I have ideas in my head that I have little real knowledge of. I knew of artificial ice caves, but how to make them, and how to make them work was all guess work. That much ice is heavy and we had to design and redesign the lower cave over and over. We looked at how stresses on the stone build up and how to fix it. Imagine filling a cave with meat and having the damn thing collapse and bury it all.” He nodded and apologized for his tone.

“You have other ideas?” I nodded and felt bad about telling him. “My world was greatly advanced compared to this one. I could get in a machine that would transport me to places as distant as the capital in hours. We also had weapons that could remove a city the size of the capital from the map in an instant making the land around it unlivable for a thousand years as well. So I have to think of things that are possible here, but won’t lead to also creating nightmares for all. Imagine that kind of thing.” He shook his head. “That is a lot more responsibility than I imagined. You care for this world enough to help it while also keeping in mind the dangers of unbridled improvement.” I nodded.

“Oh, that’s right, I no doubt owe you some money don’t I.” He tried to wave that off but I still headed to the smithy. “Mike, don’t worry about such an amount. The barony can well afford a small sum like that.” I shook my head and asked him for the exact amount. He sighed and told me it was two white gold and some gold. I opened my safe and he nearly chocked. “Mike, how did you get all of this?” He asked and I tried not to be smug. “I made it of course. Here let me show you.” I picked up a sphere of platinum. Thought about the forms and my hand filled with coins. He seemed to almost blank out. “Ok, so you made it, where did you get it.” I shook my head. “That is my little secret. Sorry Will but that one will go to the grave with me. See I also know that to pour gold into the nation will destroy the economy. Gold will drop in value and that will devastate the people at the bottom fastest of all.”

He opened a small box and his jaw dropped. “Mike...” I looked over and sagged. “That was supposed to be a gift to you later. Look in the box next to it.” He did and gasped again. “The tiara is a more feminine version for Genny.” William looked at me. “Mikael, these are probably worth more than most of the barony’s coffers.” He looked around. “I think there is more in here than all of the barony’s coffers tenfold.” I shrugged. “William all of this means nothing. It is nothing but scrap metal to be played with. What it represents is a man’s labor. A man puts his heart and soul into something and then you trade what you made with your heart and soul. These coins are simply a measure of that labor.”

I closed up the safe and we walked back towards the hold. “Now if the barony is ever in need of a loan, feel free to call on me, just remember what gold really means.” He nodded as he began to understand the lesson. “I keep forgetting you were a teacher in your old world. No wonder I keep feeling like a student around you.” I shrugged. “I just hope what I tell you helps. Like with the cursed, some knowledge is far too dangerous to throw around casually.” He nodded and smiled at me. “Well so far you are an excellent example of being blessed.”

After William went home Genny seemed to float around as happy as could be. She floated up to me and kissed me on the cheek and said “I hope next time we visit together you can invite Jessa. She has always been so sweet and I wonder if she really is.” Well damn now that was going to be stuck in my head. The cold was starting to really bite and we began to go below. The herds were ready to hibernate, but the people of Kelton seemed to keep acting as if was spring. The only real change was the expansion of the sewing circles. All that fabric was quickly being turned into clothes. When I showed everyone about scrunchies two things happened. One is that the elastic was finally being used, and the second was the number of braids, pony tails and twin tails expanded until I rarely saw a woman with lose hair. One after noon I saw Jessa with twin tails and I showed her how to do a bun and after that buns were a new trend that was loved.

I was chatting with Doc and Alfreed one day and told them I wished there as such a thing as a magic battery and they looked at me like I was a newbie. “What do you mean? Magic stones are all over the place. That is if you mean a stone or mineral that you can pour your magic into and have it stored.” I nodded. “Why do you thing glow stones work for so long? The whole thing is a magic battery, but one that slowly drains itself to produce light.” We began to talk about making a general battery and I began to make small ones and experimented with them. Something I had been wondering about for a while was heating.

With fireplaces and stoves burning we consumed a lot of wood and a lot of that heat went up with the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide that came from the fires. Now what would be able to do with a magic powered heater? Electric stoves were a metal coil inside of a ceramic disk, same with most electric stoves and heaters. If this worked people could become the energy source for heat like they were for light, how much safer would people be?

I sat with Alfreed and learned about crafting magic batteries and everything he knew about them. I tried to piece together what he said with the theory of electricity and they didn’t quite mix. Different amounts of certain minerals measured the amount of magic released. This made me think that a magic tool with different slots for different levels of heat would be best. Now if I could only figure out how to make a circuit that would work. I showed Alfreed my idea and he seemed stunned by it all. “So if you pass enough energy through the coils to cause it to heat up, that heats up the pottery, and that makes it cook.” I nodded. “But what kind of metal could do that and not burn up?” I showed him one that was an alloy of copper and nickel and explained how to make it. “As the core to the ceramic coil it won’t burn up because there is no air to cause it to burn. The copper and nickel are really resistant anyway.”

We started with very low powered batteries and were amazed at the results. It wasn’t something that would heat up a cup of tea, but the concept was already proving good. When we were able to produce a coil that actually glowed a dull red we stopped and let it run and after an hour the chamber we were in began to warm up as well. Even though the stones were of medium power they seemed to be doing great even with only a quick charge. After three hours the coils slowly lost color and I knew this would be perfect for a stove or a heater, I say because we were actually getting kind of hot in a six by six room.

Then I had Alfreed leave the room, took out the source stone and got ready for the worst. I put up a blast shield passed the stone through it and waited for the worst. After a few minutes I looked at the coil and it was the same red color as before. I had given it twice the charge as I gave a light stone to keep it at a high light level, and most of those still hadn’t run out after almost two years. If this regulated to this level of heat this damn thing could run a very long time. I pulled the stone out and the coil cooled down. Well shit, my biggest worry had just been solved and now I felt it was safe to start turning it into something useful.

First I made a stone box that would both hold and insulate the coils. I then had a sheet of heavy glass made for the top. I presented it to Bethany and she looked at it and then at me. “What is it?” I set it on the kitchen counter, filled a frying pan with water, and then set that on the stovetop. I inserted the stone and after a few minutes the water was boiling. Bethany’s eyes were wide open. “A stove that doesn’t use fire?” I nodded. She took the pan out and looked at the glow behind the dark glass. I took a piece of meat from the ever present pot of simmering meat and tossed it in the pan and soon a frying sound could be heard.

Bethany looked at the sizzling pan and then asked how long it would burn. I reached over and took the battery stone out and it cooled down quickly. “So you put that in, the thing inside gets hot and when you pull it out the fire goes down.” I nodded. “The box will get hot too, I am still working on how to deal with that, but with this we can cook in the vaults without smoke building up.” She nodded and thought about it. “Can it also be used for heating a room?” I nodded and she sighed. “We would have to build some kind of radiator, and keep them high up so kids can’t burn themselves, but I could see these being all through the tunnels when people are down there.”

With Mary, Catlin and I working in the smithy overtime we began creating heating coils. At the same time the stone mages were producing magic batteries at a similar rate. A simple stone rod with a handle to grip them by was all that was needed. Soon we had bedrooms all over the town equipped with a new device. A stone box with copper disks on top. I made the radiator from the design used on my old VW bug which was air cooled. The heat went into a copper tube and that passed the heat into copper disks to radiate out and away. The only complaint was that it actually made some bedrooms too hot to sleep in.

I then asked which of my stone mages wanted to be credited with inventing this. They all understood I already had as much attention as I could handle and, after Mary and Catlin refused, the title of savior from the cold went to Alfreed and his wife Bella (yes he married a woman half his age and she was glad to be.). He did help develop the battery so he can take the good with the bad.

After that only the central chamber was burning wood. Women were having so much fun with the new cooking tool that even though they had a fire going in their kitchens they were experimenting with new cook tops. As I thought about the new invention I realized that the way this world was, forests would make a huge comeback in only a few years. Another good side effect was we could also heat the barns which made the animals much happier.

Then I was lead into heaven, and by that I mean that the master of cheeses said the cheese had aged well enough and that we could start using it. Well when I bit into the first slice my heart skipped a beat. This was a well aged cheddar, or something damn close to it. Most people were happy about cheese but couldn’t understand my joy. I asked how they ate it and they simply popped it into their mouths.

Savages.

Thanks to my now portable stove I set up everything I needed and made the first grilled cheese sandwich. Of course mine had a bit of chili paste on it and when Bethany bit into it her eyes seemed to lose focus. “Oh my, that is really something.” I made a few more, cut them up and women came over and had a bite each. All had the same reaction of absolute bliss. Then I sliced the cheese thin, and as meat was frying up in the pan I topped it with slices of cheese and once melted them handed out taste tests to great acclaim. Soon I talked about cheese melted into fried potatoes, and such dishes till women were clamoring for a few blocks of cheese for them to try out new dishes with old ingredients.

After the first wave our cheese maker came to me and laughed. “Sir, I thought you were crazy for asking me to make so much cheese like this but I was wrong. I guess I am used to how people eat cheese in slices and cubes rather than melted in or on other foods. That melted cheese on toasted bread seems especially seductive to me.” I leaned to him and whispered to eat it with a bowl of stew or soup, maybe even dip it in the soup and see what happens.

So far this winter we invented the cooking ring, room heaters, and now the grilled cheese sandwich. That is not bad for a few month’s work I would say. We even scraped out the old ice in the icehouse, cleaned everything up, and restocked the ice easily. In that time I also spent a lot of quality time with all my wives, concubines, and special friends. It was kind of odd to think that I almost wished the world would stay cold for a while longer since our little rabbit hole was doing so well. However the groundhog must not have seen his shadow as spring sprang early.

Buildings were thrown open to let in fresh air, and children ran around in the sun for the first time in months. As is usual for our town people didn’t have the same cabin fever that was normal for others. Our guards said all was well with the surrounding villages and in fact most had barely left their holes as it was nicer below than above.

I kissed my family goodbye as I was taking a few of the guards and heading out to check the outlying villages. I know most nobles left that up to the guards in the area, but I wanted to see how they all did over the winter after the new improvements. It took over a month to make the circuit but along the way I was able to describe what I was planning for the region, and for the territory. I knew where iron and other metal deposits were, where to put up smelters, and where to put blacksmiths.

I told them the that the towns populations would be high in women there was some resistance but I also told them the lives of the town and the villages around them would depend on them keeping very good relations with the townswomen. That was enough to get then to understand it was the wish of the baronet and to oppose that threatened the life of all villages.

When I visited the last two villages in the raided region it was a sad sight. They had heard there had been some survivors, but when I told them all women survived and lived in Kelton it was seen as great news. I explained that with the new year there would be a change in crops and they all seemed a little off about that. When I described the what and why of it all the elders understood what this meant for all of them. They spoke of tanneries, meat processing, and all the other facets of being part of an operation like this. Suddenly dedicating half their crop land to grains and other feed sounded great. I also toured the area and showed them how the terraces the stone mages built could be used for their usual crops so the loss would be negligible.

I surveyed the area and found a large stream. After following the flow, I found it wasn’t going anywhere that would damage the land without it’s flow and began work on a side project, two new artificial lakes. I spent a day forming a large basin like in Kelton, but since I didn’t have to worry about making a dam it went quick and easy. I checked where the over flow would go and enhanced that into a stream that would flow into one of the abandoned villages. There I created another small lake and decided that would do until I could come with a full crew to start planning for the long run.

When I got home I found the baron’s carriage there and three empty wagons. I headed inside the hold and headed straight to my bath. I hadn’t done more than wash off with cold water for over a month and I felt like it. As I was scrubbing off the layers of filth Bethany came in looking curiously for me. “My husband, didn’t you see William was here?” I nodded. “I also knew I smell like a week dead horse. After getting clean I shall present myself to his grace with all due respect.” I said as I poured a bucket of hot water over me and watched the brown slug wash away. “Oh, I see. Then I will inform his grace that my lord shall be heading for an audience with all due haste.” We both laughed and she kissed me before leaving.

I looked at the full tub and sighed. I guess my relaxation would have to wait for later tonight. After pulling the plug I went to get dressed in my fancy clothes to maintain the image. Instead of running through the spring mud, I ran over through the tunnels and into the royal’s house through the kitchen. When I walked in I did a deep bow before William and thanked his grace for his patients. He rolled his eyes at me and threw a small pillow.

“Give it a rest Mikael, I am heading back tomorrow and I want one more day of just being William.” I nodded and pulled off my coat and vest. “So I hear you went around your territory in person to talk to everyone?” I nodded. “I wanted to find out how the winter measures went over with the people and to let the cattle region know what was going on. I also evaluated the region and decided on making a series of artificial lakes to act as watering tanks and to increase natural food growth.

William just sat and shook his head before looking over at Bethany and Jessa. “Is he always like this?” Bethany laughed for a moment. “Oh no, he used to be worse. I think being caged all winter causes him to have a sudden burst of energy that will level out in another month or so.” This caused everyone to laugh.

While I was gone William had been shown the heating coils, how they are made, and what we were able to do with them. He was amazed at this, and the idea of even further reduction of fires in the capital if heating and cooking could be done magically. Alfreed, the inventor of record, explained that the power supply could be made at the same place as the glow stones. The rings would take special training in making the alloys as well as forging the wire coils. It was also a product that called for a very clean manufacturing process so the job couldn’t be located in the average smithy.

For lunch a grilled meat and cheese sandwich was all we had. Jessa said that after William had his first one all he wanted to do was eat these and try different meats and sauces. When I told him my favorite thing to do is have one with stew and dip the sandwiches in the soup, well that was for later. Cassie was here with him and it felt like she was part of the inner circle now, or maybe it was her influence that made it feel like William and Genny were more a part of the family circle. While we were all enjoying each other’s company I noticed that Cassie was always seated to the opposite side of Genny, and the two were often holding hands.

When Will and Cassie were getting ready to head back to the capital I made sure to give Cassie a small chest filled with coins for the future items she collected as well as rental fees. She nodded and seemed like a happy puppy because I trusted her so much. We all waved as they left, but as soon as we were indoors Genny grabbed my hand and pulled me to her bedroom. She pulled at me, my clothes, and then more. At one point I just stopped moving and let her working things out as I felt this was more than sexual arousal.

Once she collapsed on me and I as stroking her back she gave a little sob. I rolled her to the side and she looked at me. “I don’t know why I had to do that, but I did.” She seemed a little ashamed of herself. I stroked her head and ran my fingers through her hair. She purred at the sensation and I felt her relaxing for the first time since I got back. “Why do you think that Cassie is replacing you my love?” She looked at me and blushed. “Is it that easy to see?” I kissed her head. “No, I am connected to you remember?” she hugged me tighter. “Am I wrong to think that?” I lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “No you are not wrong to feel that, but it’s not true.” Her eyes begged me for more. “Cassie is mine and to be truthful William has nothing that can compare to what Cassie and I have.”

She looked at me. “How can you be sure? She didn’t leave my side the whole visit.” I nodded. “She is one of my concubines and she still wears my ring.” She blinked at me and I sighed. “The Cassie you know is not the same woman I know. When she came here she was beyond broken by the world, and our town was her last hope before ending her life.”

Genny’s eyes grew wide. “I gave her a new hope, a new life, and a new meaning. Did you see how absolutely happy she was to be leaving?” Genny nodded and blushed. “I thought it was because they were leaving.” I shook my head. “Last time I saw her she wanted to know if I would take her back, and if she could be one of my wives. As I got her coin ready she looked at me, wiggled her left ring finger, and when I nodded she lit up. She wanted to know if I would still take her back, and when I said yes she lit up.”

Genny sagged against me and sighed heavily. “Why do you think she wouldn’t leave our side?” I shook my head. “I have no idea, but something tells me she is captivated by you. She is serving your husband but I saw a glint in her eyes around you.” She pulled back and blushed harder. “ME!?” I nodded. “I think she asked to come back with him to be near you. Now think back to her visit. What was she doing at night? I would guess she was very attentive to you, gave extra care in guiding William in touching you at every step of the way.”

As Genny thought about she realized I was right. “Then I would be less worried about her falling in love with the baron, and thinking more she is love with the baroness.” I saw an instant change in the way she felt and looked. She went from threatened wife to flattered woman in less than a second. She mumbled about all kinds of little details she missed and slowly went from pink to red. I figured she was going to be fine so I slipped out of bed, got dressed and headed home.

I talked to Bethany about my plans to reconstruct the village and the work involved. “Do you need to be there? Couldn’t the construction corps do all of that?” I shrugged. “Well they could, but I would be bothered the whole time as I still don’t have the full image in my head of what I want done.” She smiled gently. “Then what would like for me to do to help?” I kissed her loving hand. “I would like you to pick the people to take with me. Mary and Catlin can help you pick the stone mages and you can pick anyone else who might need to go with me, or who might need to go back there.”

Well two weeks later three wagons pulled out of Kelton with people, food, and other supplies. Mary, Catlin, and Gayle drove the wagons and I rode along with the two guards on horseback. As we trundled along five of the ladies going with us were former residents of the raided area. These women asked to go back in order to provide some support, as well as collect any items the survivors had requested. I had been prepared to have at least one wagon of them join us, but most wanted to forget their old lives completely now that they were accepted as a viable member of our town. Things were rather quiet on the way, but eventually everyone lightened up and we started talking about the future rather than thinking about the past.