Chapter 36: Coming of Age

Joseph looked up at the light knock on his office door. He saw Julia standing there, looking decidedly uncomfortable. He didn’t see her now-constant companion Octavia, nor her frequent cohorts, Catherine and Elizabeth.

“May I enter?” Julia asked.

“So long as your mother does not scream at me again,” Joseph answered with a smile.

“I will deal with my mother if the need arises,” Julia told him. She wasn’t smiling.

“Bored?” Joseph asked. It had rained for the previous three days. That had made Rucar’s job of policing the outlands easier but it had also kept everyone else cooped up in the castle.

“Not especially,” Julia answered. “I wondered if we might discuss something of importance.”

Joseph closed his ledger and put it in the drawer.

“Of course,” he said. “What troubles you?”

“I am not troubled by anything,” Julia answered. “I have been thinking of the future and I have some ideas I wanted you to hear.”

“The future?” Joseph asked warily.

“Tyrell is growing, King Joseph,” Julia explained, ignoring the look on his face. “As our trade partners expand, it will increase in population. In a few years, it might rival the largest cities in the known world. The things you have put into motion will lead Tyrell to be the center of commerce, the center of allegiances, the center of nearly everything for this portion of the globe. I can see this even if you have not realized it yet. That means the population is going to increase greatly in the next 10 years.”

Joseph processed the information Julia had provided. It didn’t take him long to see that she was correct. The problem was that Tyrell had no room to expand. The city was walled on two sides. It had a sea on a third side and rolling, rocky hills on the fourth. Moving the walls wasn’t possible without a great deal of time, effort and coin. The sea wasn’t going away and neither were the hills.

“I have two things to discuss with you,” Julia explained. “That is the first. It is time to plan for where we will be in a decade. I have been pondering my future. That led me to think about Tyrell’s future, too. I have spoken of this with others but they thought I should present it to you personally.”

“What you say makes sense,” Joseph agreed. “I simply don’t see how we can revise the city’s composition. We are locked in by geographical and man-made constructs.”

“I wanted you to see where things are headed,” Julia said softly. “If you were to cut ties with some of our trading partners or military allies, you could slow the growth somewhat. But, realistically, the change in our country has made this a place where many will wish to be. The freedoms and rights you’ve given the people are, from what I’ve been told, unheard of in most places. People will come here, King Joseph. You have made Azkoval a place where people will wish to visit. Once they visit, they will never wish to leave. We’ve already had 20 merchants arrive from foreign shores since the weather warmed. They are not going to leave. Instead, we will have 20 more arrive next year. As word spreads, the number might grow to 50 or 100 each year. As commerce thrives, it becomes worthwhile for others to come here. Soon, more inns, taverns and housing will spring up if there is room for it.

“Otherwise, I fear we will see more of what transpired outside of the walls – people finding it more convenient to take from others than to work for gain. I saw how angry that group outside the walls made you and I think it would be worse if you knew it to be constant.”

“Do you have suggestions?” Joseph asked. “Or did you simply wish to point out the facts to me?”

“Do you have anything within the walls that would prosper outside of them?” Julia asked.

Joseph considered the question but came to no conclusion.

“The barracks and the stables,” Julia pointed out. “They take up valuable land and both would be better served outside the walls. If you were to move both, you would open half the land inside the walls to new construction.”

“We spent a huge sum of money to build those things,” Joseph said through gritted teeth.

“I know,” Julia said with a nod. “That is why the time has come for the Crown to recoup the coin it spent to provide the facilities. Joseph, you don’t need to house soldiers in the barracks. Those rooms can be used for anyone. Yes, the stable is a problem but I’ve spoken to the carpenter that built it. Liala provided the design, as you recall.”

“So?” Joseph asked.

“Liala’s people are nomadic,” Julia answered, ignoring the king’s tone of voice this time.

“They’re movable?” Joseph asked as the import of Julia’s words hit him.

“They are for the most part,” Julia told him, smiling now. “The building where the horses are sheltered is movable. The walls are all in one piece and they were raised in four pieces. The only thing that would require a bit of effort is the removal of the loft. Liala’s design didn’t have such a thing and the builder added it to save space. He believes it could be taken down and put up in a new location in about two days. He said it had taken a month for each barrack building but he said he could probably cut the time now. He understands the idea better and he has more workers. He said, if we can provide the hardware, he could have six barracks buildings built in two months.”

“Six?” Joseph asked. “We have only three now.”

“Your army is going to grow,” Julia pointed out. “You’re already starting to see a trickle of potential soldiers arriving each month. As word of the threat from Marindar spreads, more will arrive to defend Azkoval. Again, that can be traced to the man sitting opposite me. You have made this a place worth defending again. You will need two of the new buildings by this time next year.”

Joseph nodded. Enlistments in the military had grown, he knew. Genrico had already had to make each room house three soldiers – with one of the group always on night duty because the rooms held only two sleeping areas.

“It is the sixth building I’d like to discuss now,” Julia said.

“The sixth building?” Joseph wondered. “What do you have in mind for it?”

Julia took a deep breath to increase her courage.

“I wish to raise an all-female battalion,” she said. “I’ve seen how Liala’s company fights and, at some point, I think we can do it that way. For now, though, I believe it necessary to segregate the women. I have already identified more than 50 females that would join the army if it were permitted.”

“It is permitted,” Joseph cut in. “Genrico knows not to turn away any worthy person – male or female.”

“Yes,” Julia said. “It is legal but it is not logical. Joseph, these women were raised in the same manner my mother raised us. The thought of living and training with men is so foreign to them that they would rather work as a maid than the profession they truly desire – a soldier. The same has applied to me. I have thought many times about joining the military. I believe I have the temperament; I believe I have the skills. But the thought of living in a barracks with men has led me to set the thought aside. In another decade, I don’t see it being a problem. But it is a problem now – and not just for me but for others. Celestine came here to join the military. Rucar spotted her skills immediately and he enlisted her in his enterprise – just as he saw my skills and brought me aboard.

“Joseph, I am happy to serve Azkoval in any way. You ... you gave me a life that I could never have considered before I met you. I have choices that I never thought I’d have. But I still cannot be what I most want to be.”

Joseph found himself nodding. His mercenary army did not have females – likely for the same reasons Julia had just listed.

“Do you believe you can raise 500 soldiers?” Joseph asked.

Julia immediately realized she had spent too much time around Octavia. Her first thought wasn’t about the composition of an army but raising portions of a soldier’s anatomy. She blushed but pushed forward with the discussion.

“Not at first,” she admitted. “I believe I can put together two to three platoons within a month. Within a year, however, I can foresee two to three companies. In two years, yes, I believe I can have a full battalion of female soldiers under Azkoval’s flag – under your flag.”

“I can see that you’ve given this a great deal of thought,” Joseph told her. “Have you discussed with the carpenter how much it would cost to move the barracks outside the walls?”

“Only in general terms,” Julia said. “He said it cost a gold and five silvers to build the three within the walls. The time constraints would force him to hire more workers but he said the fact he already has the designs would cut the cost considerably. He believes he could put up six buildings for two gold and seven silvers.”

“If we provide the materials,” Joseph said.

“Yes,” Julia admitted. “The price he gave me did not include wood or iron brads. Those would have to be purchased separately.”

“Do you have a price on those?” Joseph wondered.

“I have asked several merchants to put together bids,” Julia confessed with a fresh blush. “Once they understood they were in competition to provide materials to the Crown, their costs come down considerably. We can purchase all the material we need for 15 silvers from the lowest bidder. Even the highest bid was close – 21 silvers. I am familiar with trees. I’ve spent most of my life playing in them or hiding in them. The six silvers would be worthwhile because the wood is better. It compares favorably to what we used where I lived.”

Joseph found himself nodding.

“Very well,” he said. “You may undertake the stable move as soon as you desire. Have you selected a spot?”

Julia found herself amazed at how quickly this was coming to fruition.

“I only wanted to broach the idea with you today,” she said.

“So you haven’t selected a spot for the stables?” Joseph asked with a smile.

“Uh, the best spot is already occupied,” she said. “The area right outside the walls where the tent city has popped up is perfect. The land is flat and the grasslands will be worn to dirt by the time they leave. It will allow us to make sure there are not jagged rocks that might harm the horses. The area on the outside of the congregation will provide forage and grazing. The area behind it will be perfect for planting of grains to feed the animals. Outside the gate, I truly believe the stables will become self-sufficient. Rather than purchasing the feed from nearby farms it would be grown on site. That would let the farmers export their excess to nearby countries and provide valuable fertilizer to increase their yield.”

“I assumed you would put the barracks there,” Joseph admitted. “Where did you envision those?”

“Opposite the stables,” Julia said. “I believe we would wish the barracks to have a line of sight to all approaches to the capital. The opposite side of the roadway would let the soldiers see anyone approaching from land or by sea. It would also allow your mounted soldiers to be close to their horses and the rest to be close to the gate in case of emergency. You have already annexed the land into Tyrell so you would need to remove anyone from their homestead to accommodate the move.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Joseph said, nodding as he pictured the idea in his head. “Would you like for me to remove the squatters today or do you wish to wait until after they depart on their own?”

“There is no need to deprive Rucar of his entertainment,” Julia said, laughing. “Once Court is through, we can start this undertaking and have it completed by the time the snows come.”

“Don’t you wish to start your battalion immediately?” Joseph asked.

Julia shook her head.

“Right now, most of the people I’ve spoken to have commitments they wish to keep,” she said. “They would leave them if I asked but that would leave their current employer in a difficult spot with Court rapidly approaching. I like you and Lydia too much to take a large portion of your household staff without warning.”

“I appreciate that,” Joseph said, shaking his head. He should have realized that a great deal of Julia’s interaction would have been within the castle. “I will pull Genrico aside today or tomorrow and let you know when he wishes to meet with you. Ultimately, it will be his decision but I will tell him I think your idea has merit.”

“I have broached the idea with Genrico,” Julia admitted. “He agrees with me. He said it is a good idea and he understands why it hasn’t happened yet. I did not want to bring this to you as only half an idea. You have too many people who do that. They have some grand scheme and never consider the logistics or the cost of their plan. I have tried to consider this from all sides before I approached you.”

“You have done a very good job of it,” Joseph said. “Thank you. You have put forth a great deal of work and I appreciate it.”

Julia found herself sitting up a bit straighter at the praise. She didn’t notice until the material on her tunic stretched tightly against her chest.

“I have something else I wish to propose,” she said. Joseph’s eyes rose from Julia’s breasts to her face and he blushed.

“Certainly,” he said. “What else is on your mind?”

Julia kept her shoulders back while she spoke. She was not the least bit unhappy that her physical attributes had caught the king’s eye.

“It is part of what we’re already discussing,” she told him. “As Tyrell grows it will continue to consume more and more of your time – policing it, parceling out land for merchants and housing, providing funds for its development.”

“Yes,” Joseph admitted. Administering to the capital was already taking up as much of his time as dealing with Azkoval as a whole.

“I believe it is time for you to appoint someone to oversee the capital – just as you’ve appointed men and women to oversee other sections of the country,” Julia told him.

“I cannot afford to have a lord in this region,” Joseph said. “I’ve considered it but I cannot share the proceeds with someone else.”

“As things are set up now, I agree,” Julia said. “As with the idea of females serving in the army, I’ve spoken about this with others. In this instance, I spoke with Lady Elena and Choran before I came to you. To be honest, I thought of this well before I came up with the idea of moving the stables or starting a female battalion. This came to my mind when I saw how much of your time is consumed by dealing with things that affect the capital and nowhere else. That was time you could have been at the pool with us.”

Once again, she pulled her shoulders back and pushed her chest outward. Once again, the king’s eyes drifted southward. It had been almost two weeks since he’d seen Octavia or Julia unclothed (and more than a month since Liala had been around).