Chapter 8

It had been a month since the attack when Bethany came to me. “Mikael I need to ask if you are ever planning to leave town again?” I looked at her and wondered where that came from. “Well we have a garrison of genuine knights here now, but you have yet to make any of your usual trips to Kalador or the capital. While we all love having you home, your trade trips are desperately needed. We just finished the second crops and usually by now you have already made a large trading trip. You need to think about getting a new one together.”

She was right, and I had for the most part gotten over it all, I was just too busy thinking about my new abilities. I was in my smithy, or in the field looking for other minerals, this whole time learning about what I could do. I had created a titanium alloy that was incredible. I was able to blend metal and wood together for an interesting effect. I even made a Damascus blade that was beyond beautiful. I was turning half the iron we had in stock into mild steel billets as well for trade, but like I said, Bethany was right. Kalador was waiting for me with its spices, dried fruits, and so much more.

One good thing that happened with the invasion, I was left with four heavy wagons and their oxen. Combined with two of ours we could sell more, and carry more around with us. I also had a desire to see what my little clothing shop was doing with all the new ideas. The salt crew that defended the mine was happy to ride this trip and Doc came with me as well. He wanted to dive into the new medical products and research going on. Balor was leaving his wife behind this trip as it’s not good for a pregnant woman to ride a wagon for long. For sale we were bringing the new light stones as well as salt, steel, iron and glass.

One interesting fact of life, it seems that for some reason, while my wives were all busy having children, every couple in the village turned up pregnant soon after. Even people like Balor, who had been trying for years, were now celebrating their pregnancies. They said that often some women get pregnant while assisting another woman in labor, possibly why it’s a women only thing. All I know is that a lot of women helped deliver a lot of babies and all ended up expecting soon after.

Kalador was the same as always and for that I was glad. Again we rented a warehouse in the merchant’s district and hired some good people as guards. Yes we had our own men, but I had them stick to our sides to protect the ladies as they were released into the town on a shopping spree. My first order of business was to find a certain woman. I looked in the old shop but it was for rent and empty. I looked to the person in charge of renting it and eventually found a modest home in the residential area.

I knocked on a door and I could hear children laughing and a flustered young woman opened up and looked at me. “Excuse me, I was told the wife of Orzan was living here.” She nodded and called out “Grandma, a man has come to talk to you.” A familiar face came to the door and the old woman smiled at me. “Forgive me for intruding on you ma’am but I just wanted to tell you how we are doing. As we speak my lord, Baron William Ur Hillsdale, has my people crafting an Orznium chandelier for the royal palace.” The woman’s eyes shined with tears. “My Lord also commanded a workshop be built, and staffed, by trained stone mages to assemble light stones. Glass blowers and metal workers are working tirelessly to construct lamp posts so every main street in our capital is lit by the new “Orznium lamps”. She gave a very emotional sigh. “And as I promised you, the stone mages guild has officially credited your husband as the creator of the Orznium light. Your husband will be credited with lighting the world from now on.”

She pulled my sculpture out of her pocket and smiled at me. “You kept your word Sir, proving you are a man of honor.” I lifted a small box I had with me and offered it to her. She looked at it as small kids came running up to see. When I opened it up there were a series of brass rods that got everyone’s attention. I handed her one and she looked at it curiously. The side read “Orznium flashlight”. I showed her how to slide a button on top, which opened the end and a bright light filled the room in a cone. All the kids made sounds of awe and the mother came close to see. “There is a polished steel mirror behind a powered light stone. All the light it makes is reflected out the end so people can have a portable light at night.” I gave the box full of flashlights a push towards her. “These are for you and your family. May they protect your family, and light their way in your husband’s legacy.” After a few tearful hugs, and lots of children blinding each other with the lights, I left feeling that I had done what old Orzan had hoped to do all along, protect his legacy.

All my little birds came flocking to me as arranged for lunch, and then I asked them to come with me to my now favorite shop. When I walked in the door the lady behind the counter just waved and ran to the back. Lady Sui came walking out with her grand smile shining. “Sir Kelton I am so glad to see you came back.” She looked and smiled at seeing so many women looking around her shop. “These are some of my wives I keep telling you about. I thought it was time you met some of them.” I turned around and looked at all the huge eyes. “My loves, I need your help. Buy anything and everything you like, or you think others will like. Do not hold back or think of anyone’s approval but your own.” Well after that I just stepped back and let them all go crazy. Once the store was all but wiped out I had her take the blushing women from store to store buying up most of the stock in town. I simply walked behind then handing out gold.

When we got back to her store she asked me to talk about any new ideas. It seemed a woman just wasn’t properly dressed now without a decent bra and panties. I had sat on something, but decided to go for it. I took one of her laced cup bras and told her to remove the inner lining. She looked at me for a moment and then blushed. “Imagine how a husband will react when he sees a bra with his wife’s caps pointing out.” She bit her lip at the very thought. I took a pair of panties showed her the idea of a pair, split down the center, and then laced together. That caused her even greater blushing. “Sir, what kind of mind do you have?” I pointed to my wives sitting in the store chatting. “The kind that is always trying to figure out how to make them feel attractive, or are you telling me all the gossamer panty sets are for practicality.” She squinted at me. “You know women far more than most men.” I nodded and looked at my happy brides. “Yet they are all such mysteries to me, as it should be.”

Before I left I gave her the idea for thigh high stockings, garter belts, and a few other ideas I remember from drooling at VC catalogs all through my youth. We let her know which warehouse to send all the stock we bought to, and left her already figuring how to make all the new clothing ideas we shared. My newest wives already had their personal purchases in the small packs they all carried.

Some of the people in the spice market cheered when they saw me and told me of all their new products. They cheered even more when they got to see the quality of the salt I had brought. A bidding war broke out, and almost a few fist fights, as people competed to buy all they could get. Now while I always bought dried goods, I ventured into the fresh goods to look around. While walking around Sasha came running up and began pulling at me. “Husband, you have to see this shop.” She cried and bounced along.

Rather than a stall like most, this was an actual shop in a small warehouse. The smells that hit me made me drool all of a sudden. Bottles everywhere filled with many different liquids called to me from home. Behind the counter a man stood with a slight smile. “Husband, I came in and this man let me try this sauce.” I smiled at him and he explained that the shop had a long tradition of blending spices, making sauces, and marinades. I smelled and tasted liquids that tasted like Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, tamari, curry, and even tabasco. There were flavors that matched all the memories I had of Korean, Chinese, and even Japanese food. I wondered if I had enough gold to just ship the whole warehouse back to my town. The idea of making a spicy barbeque jerky would probably cause the Baron to slaughter most of the animals in the barony to make it. I informed him of who I was, what I was doing, and his eyes lit up as he called his father the owner.

We talked business and my wife just sniffed and tasted small samples from pots and jars. She came walking over with tear filled eyes. “It smelled of garleeks but it burned my tongue.” I saw it was a fermented chili and garlic paste. The owner gave her a sugar candy to slowly suck on to kill the heat. We talked over his supplies, the history of some of the sauces, and the long term storage of what I was hoping to get. He asked if I was planning to open trade between here and the capital and I told him of a sort.

He looked at his son and smiled. “So your town is in between here and the capital of your Barony?” I nodded. He leaned and seemed to have an idea. “Are the women there as pretty as your wife?” I nodded. “Do you have people who would work hard?” I saw where he was headed. “We are a town of stone mages. Imagine if your sauces were aged slowly in cool, dry, stone vaults.” He nodded understanding I knew where he was headed. “If you had someone who could teach my farmers how to raise some of your ingredients it would greatly reduce the need to ship them.” His smile grew nice and wide as we came to an agreement.

I took a few barrels of his goods, enough to fill two wagons, and he said he would personally come to see our town in a month’s time to see if what we had planned was possible. As we left I knew it would be. His market in Kalador was maxed out, but he had sons that wouldn’t be able to inherit anything. By expanding his business to our town he could ship his sons somewhere to found a branch family, and find wives that would bind them to the community. For us I saw a new way to make a future for the town. The new spice crops, and since a major ingredient to these sauces was salt, production and sales could change the whole region. Grains may even turn into just a side crop, grown for food not income.

I sat at the largest table the inn boasted and thought about everything that happened today when I realized that Bethany was the perfect wife. She somehow felt the winds and knew a change could happen if I was sent out to catch it our sails. Doc caught my attention and seemed curious. “So what is with that look?” I just shrugged. “Just thinking that the most valuable thing in the world is the love of Bethany.” I said in a quiet voice. “I do love all my wives in different ways, but that woman is my everything.” Doc looked a little concerned. “Well then treasure her and protect her. She has been a close friend, and if I ever had thought of a woman that could have come close to touching my heart like my wife, it was her.” I looked at him and he read my face. “No you didn’t steal her from me. I had years to have taken that chance but my heart wasn’t full enough to do anything about it. If anything I am glad you came along to give her the life I knew she really wanted. You have made all her dreams come true, you have put her in a position that feels natural to her, and that is what is best for her rather than for me.”

When we were done with the city we headed home. It was a nice boring trip, but as we drew closer I felt my heart clutch tight in worry that it would look like it did the last time I left it. A soft warm hand clasped mine and I saw a sweet smile. “They are safe my lord.” I looked at her smile and sighed. “Am I that easy to read?” I said and she shrugged. “The fear and worry was rolling off you like rain storm. I know you don’t get to see or be with all your wives, but we work around you all the time. We watch you, love you and want you to be as happy as you make us.” I took her hand and kissed it gently. “Then feel proud because every single one of you does make me happy. Your every breath is precious to me and knowing you are happy and healthy, is the beat of my heart.”

As we rode on she leaned against me and rested her head on my shoulder. I felt peace creep into my heart so when we came around the bend and our town lay peacefully below I had nothing but joy in me. We finally pulled up and everyone came to see what goodies we had brought this time, and the ones with the most excitement were the ladies. When someone shouted there were new clothes the women knew what that meant and ran to prepare the vault. My only worry was that Bethany was not among the crowd as always.

I pulled up and hopped down with worry. “Where is Bethany?” I asked someone and they smiled at me and pointed towards the hold. “She is waiting for you inside. She asked me to tell you she is waiting in your room.” I ran inside filled with worry. When I entered the bedroom my love looked at me with a strange face. As I knelt before her she looked into my eyes and I saw tears. She held up her old charm necklace and shrugged. “It looks like I needed it after all.” Then she held up a little pebble and I knew in an instant what it meant. “Why do you look so worried my love?” She sighed as she looked around the room. “Women at my age don’t have children they have grandchildren. I asked Kam if such a thing is healthy and good and he said it was possible to still safely bear a child, but I just don’t know.”

I cupped her cheek and smiled at her. “Isn’t this what you always hoped for? A child of your own?” She nodded as if ashamed. “Then are you worried about me?” She bit her lip and nodded slightly. “So do you have any idea of how I feel about you? How in the world could you doubt that this wouldn’t make me the happiest man in the world? The woman I love more than life is at this moment creating our child.” I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. “I am so happy for the both of us I can’t even tell you. I ... I...” Then I buried my face in her lap. “This is the happiest moment of my life right now. I can’t even think about anything or anyone else right now. All I can think of is our child. What will he look like, what will he be like, what wonders will he see, what kind of woman will he fall in love with and create his own children with.”

She stroked my hair gently. “How do you know it will be a boy?” And I shrugged. “I don’t know how, I just know in my heart. Something tells me that you not only want a child, but a son to carry on the legacy of your family. The universe will give you this because it’s what you most deserve.” She made a small chuckle. “Well, I didn’t want to tell you since you never asked about any of your other children, but you are right. The gods have granted me my final prayer.” She held up another stone that glowed blue. “Kam usually says he doesn’t have these around, but he gave me the one he had. Our son will be here in the spring, which means I will get to relax most of the pregnancy away in the vaults as Kam begged me to do.” I nodded and told her that we both needed to do that together.

We got up, wiped each other’s eyes and went to join everyone, and oversee the shipment. When we stepped outside the whole damn town was standing there waiting. “Three cheers for the coming of our lord’s son!” was shouted out and three rounds of huzaah rang out from every throat. Bethany spun and hid her face in my chest like a new bride as people whistled and clapped in celebration. As my first wife, her having a son meant he would inherit the titles and legacy of our house. Thankfully Jessa had a daughter so there were no battles to be had in the future. I held my wife in my arms and waved at everyone in thanks.

Well as soon as that was done, women flowed underground to see what new and adventurous things they could buy. Two men came walking up with curious looks on their faces as they looked in the small crates they carried. “Lord, we were told to bring these to the holds kitchen. The smells are causing my nose to twitch and my mouth to drool.” This caught Bethany’s attention and I waved a man over. “Please be very careful of those barrels. Take those two wagons over to the old entrance and store them inside. Also do not touch your eyes after handling them until you wash your hands well. They have spices that will burn like embers if you get them in your eyes.” Then I ran into the kitchen to see Bethany’s reaction to them all.

The men who carried everything in stood there looking as she opened one bottle or jar after another. “Mikael what have you done.” She said in an exasperated tone. “Do you have any idea what these are doing to me? My belly is rumbling just thinking about all of these and the food we can make.” I grabbed some of the ever present simmering meat and laid a few pieces in a bowl. I gave them to her one bite at a time after dipping them in one sauce after another. She was moaning in pleasure after each bite and the men stood by with the sad look of hungry hounds. “What are you waiting for?” I asked and they just looked at me. “I’m not going to serve you, go get a bowl so you can try these as well.”

I was shocked as hell when I turned around to see Bethany dipping meat in the garlic chili sauce. “Bethany, be careful of that one.” I said and she frowned as she plopped a dripping hunk of meat slathered in the concoction into her mouth. “Why? Is this bad for a woman to eat?” she said as she chewed happily. I just blinked at her. “Oh, please don’t tell me it is because I have never tasted anything so wonderful and satisfying.” I’ll be damned if she wasn’t one of those women that craved spicy food when pregnant. “No I wouldn’t say it is bad for you, just a bit spicy is all.” One of the men saw her passionate face and tried a bit for himself. A few moments later he looked like hell had emerged in his mouth and he scooped a mug of tea out to drink. “That is hellfire in food form. How can that women eat that?” I explained the possibilities and he shook his head. “My lord thank you for the treats, and we will run over to tell them not to touch those jars if they want to live.”

I brought Bethany meat and bread so she could enjoy the broad range of sauces. As she went through them I admit I was starting to get a little aroused at some of the sounds she was making. Maybe being pregnant had caused her to enjoy food more than usual. As she ate I told her about the sauce merchant and the possibility of our town being the new center for producing such things and her eyes lit up. “Fields of peppers and herbs growing here, workshops of people making these wonderful sauces, this could change a lot of things.” I nodded. “Now imagine such sauces being sold to sit on nobles tables in glass bottles?” Bethany looked and me and smiled. “You just keep making this town more and more wonderful for our son, all our children, to grow and inherit don’t you?” I nodded. “For our children, and the children of every village around us. Eventually others will begin growing these crops to sell to the sauce workshop as well.” Bethany shook her head. “Baronet Howser will soon be thanking the gods that you came to this town. We will be the wealthiest area in all of his lands within a year or two mark my words.”

Two months later a carriage came into our town and was guided to the hold. “Lord Kelton, we have visitors.” I came out and welcomed a very important guest, the merchant I had met in Kalador did in fact come to our little town. He had two of his sons with him and we welcomed him gladly. While Bethany and I took them to the visitor’s quarters, word went out and a few women headed to take the role of staff. This had been arranged to some degree so women who were young and single would be on hand for their possible futures. I was throwing everything I had into making this work.

They were impressed by the lake, further impressed by the salt mine, and blown away with the vault system. The possibility of working through the winter months without risk, and the perfect conditions for aging, I think was the thing that sold them the hardest. The father talked to me about the terraced farming, the way we could tailor the soil to the crops, and the ease of irrigation made the possible into a sure thing in his mind. Different crops have different needs, and the ability to tailor the soil meant just about anything he needed to grow could be grown here. “At this rate it may be possible to import crops from this area rather than some of the more distant farmlands we already buy from.” He said as we sipped tea while his sons were taken around the area by my “aides”.

I looked at him and nodded. “Also remember this is the main town. There are five farming villages in the area that could duplicate much of what we have here.” He nodded. “More farms means greater crops, and higher production.” I nodded. “You might also like the idea we have great security. Not just in guards but in our population. The methods of production would be very safe with my people. I consider everyone in this town as family, and they feel much the same. Any secret production processes would stay that way since you would be in effect joining our family.”

Then our worst kept secret came out. We were sitting at lunch when one of the young men asked. “Sir Kelton, just how many wives do you have?” I blinked for a moment and tried to think. “I am pretty sure it’s thirty two now.” This caused the father to choke on his tea. “Thirty two?” I nodded. It didn’t help that one of my “aides” helped out. “Yes and he also has one hundred and fifty five concubines.” She said proudly. They looked at me even harder. I hung my head and looked at my helper. “Feel like explaining that to our visitors?” She nodded and explained about how women chose to take that role to be connected to the household with such a happy tone it seemed a lot less of a big deal than it did. “The best way to be safe is to know that if a woman has a silver ring on her left hand they are married to his lord. If they have a silver ring on their right hand they are a concubine.”

After that revelation I noticed our guests looked at women’s hands all the time now. When we went to the glass works the merchant bought himself a very nice cut glass set that was already packed in a series of polished wood cases. “Your people seem very busy in there.” He commented on when he looked in the shop. Jin stood there and preened. “Yes my son in law here was requested to supply one of our cut glass chandeliers for the Royal palace itself.” The merchant smiled at him. “So Sir Kelton is married to your daughter?” Jin threw me under the buss of course. “No, he is married to my three youngest daughters, two of which recently gave me my first grandchildren thank the gods.” He said proudly.

The trip to the salt mines was both a success and a total disaster in my eyes. When he saw the level of production and then tried the purified salt his eyes shone. “With a salt like this our sauces flavor would not be tainted by minerals like Sulphur. The pure essence of the mixes would finally come through like my ancestors planned.” I nodded happily. Since I had not been to the mine in a few days the women there came running over for a hug as usual. This caught the merchant by surprise again. “So these women are also your wives?” One of my lovely ladies shook her head. “We are a combination of both. Some of us are still too chicken to have the talk with Bethany.” She said with fun mocking.

The last night there the merchant Alfonze and I talked in real earnest. “Other than knowledge and seeds I really can’t see how I will be contributing to this deal. You’re already offered buildings, aging vaults, crop lands, farmers, the purest salt, and great safety. It wouldn’t take much for you to do this on your own.” I shook my head. “Your knowledge is invaluable, as is your experience. I will be giving your family the foundations, but you will be the ones to build on that. If all you do is the export of sauces so be it. But like you said, there is far more to this than just that. Herbs and spices are a good income for the area as well you know.” He nodded and we both agreed to start as soon as possible on construction. “The crops can’t be planted till spring, so in the meantime we will start preparing the land. We will be having a gathering in a month, and then I can present the idea of expanded herb farming to the other villages.”

He looked at both his sons. “Then let me ask one more favor. Allow my sons to live here for the winter. Let them feel out the town and the surrounding area. You have a lot to offer and no drawback as far as I am seeing. The only thing I have to ask is why us, why offer this to us?” I took a breath. “It will be good for my people. They will earn money from crops, they will have spices for their foods, and it will bring something new to our area. I had once thought to bring wheat farming to this place, but I remembered an old saying that man cannot live by bread alone. Your family coming here will mean something more than bread for us all.”

That very afternoon I guided Calvin and Petre to their new house, one that used to be shared by one lady and her two children, until they all moved in with another wonderful woman with no children to make a happy family. “I have no reason to assume anything about you two gentlemen but please remember that the women here can be rather different and we allow it. Some prefer the company of women.” I gave them the eye and they got the point. “Also some of our women are the same as others, but they have had the fear of men beaten into them so please give them respect and room.” They both nodded and seemed upset about that. “And others, well you know about the rings.” They also nodded. “I guess the best method is to be good men and the women here will come to you, alright?” they placed their hands over their hearts. “A gentleman at all times Sir Kelton. Anything less would disgrace our family name.”

Well now things began to move in a new direction. My ladies who went with us to Kalador worked with the boys, who were surprised to know they were stone mages, in designing the sauce works. They talked to the lumber people on which trees to look for so they could plan on making barrels, after all the wood would have to dry completely before making the barrels. When I talked about possibly ageing some sauces in fired barrels I had to explain how the charcoal would add a smokey flavor to certain recipes their eyes gleamed.

While all that was going on I was spoiling myself like never before. Unless I was needed somewhere for something I spent all my time with the mothers of my new children. After a few months each was already showing their individuality and beauty. The women of the town commented on what oddly serious children they were. I didn’t see it as they were fun to be with, loved tickles, and fell asleep regularly while resting on my chest. All my wives seemed to feel special that I paid them all so much attention and loved being with all my children. I told them that until now I had been so busy I never had the chance to love on the other children like this, but now I was going to be the father I never had.

Of course then I had to explain to them that I remembered that I never knew who my father was, that he simply made me and left my mother devastated. This garnered unwanted sympathy as that was literally another life for me, but maybe it helped them to understand why I cared for my wives and other women in my town so much. I lazed about, the world turning far too quickly for me to really enjoy this as much as I wished.

One day, as the fields were almost ripe with the second crop, a force of men entered the town. Behind them came a familiar carriage. I ran down and almost knelt when the door opened and the Baron stepped out. “Mikael, your good friend William has come for a visit.” I was proud to see my people scramble to get everything ready for this visit. “I hope you don’t mind this unannounced visit but you know how hard it is for me to get away unless it is an “emergency” trip.” We went to his place and the women were hustling about and doing running curtsies as they passed us. “Mikael just being here makes me feel human again.” We went to the sitting room and flopped on the couch. “You know how hard it is for me to just do this anymore? Just flop instead of sitting in some pompous chair rigidly?”

“So William, how are things back home? Any problems with that steam bath?” He glared at me. “If it wasn’t for all the problems I have heard you have been through I would be a bit mad actually. A good portion of my grounds have a massive stack of stone waiting to be turned into my baths.” I slapped my head. How could I have forgotten my promise to him. “Of course that light wonder, the workshops, working with the guild, and that disaster are more than enough to earn my hard friendship. I cannot express my anger enough at what happened, and it was investigated as your mine was considered a state secret not just by me but by the crown as well.” I gave him a look he understood. “Forgive me Mikael but having a man like you in the nation is of great import to the crown. I didn’t reveal it easily but you have to know a threat like a possible cursed in the nation is of great importance.” I nodded. “I do understand, so please don’t worry. How far has that news gone?” He sat up and looked at me. “That bit of knowledge is far beyond a state secret. As far as I know none but two people know about this outside of this town, and that is Howser and the king. He pledged to keep it to only him as that kind of thing could turn against him if it was known.