Chapter 47

It was early November 1066, and none of the English nobles had challenged William of Normandy, so Marion and Luke started finalizing their plans. They would draw down the northern army to be able to send extra troops south. This army Luke would command in person because the battle they would fight would have massive repercussions on the future. All told, he would be able to take almost 10,000 soldiers south, and since William hadn’t moved from his coastal fort, Luke figured that his army could be there in about two weeks or less, depending on the roads. Marion would stay in York because Luke was unwilling to let his wife take the risk of coming with the army. Gabriella had to stay behind anyway because she had difficulty moving around due to her pregnancy. She didn’t mind, though, since she looked forward to being a mother.

Alice, however, would be going. Since the surprise Scottish attack, she was short of medics and doctors. She knew this wouldn’t have been a problem in a couple of years, but for now, she didn’t have enough personnel to send with Luke. She figured that, with her going along, Luke would have at least one competent doctor. To help his army move faster, Luke took Pollyanna and her engineers with him. He knew many existing bridges wouldn’t support the weight of his artillery, so they would have to build new bridges across many of the rivers and streams they crossed.

The night before the army left, Luke asked Gabriella to sleep somewhere else, wanting to make love to his wife without interruptions. Gabby was about to refuse but saw the look in Luke’s eyes. It seemed like he was almost pleading with her and looked desperate. Part of the reason was that he knew he would be gone for a while, and the rest was a voice in his head telling him that he wouldn’t survive this campaign. This terrified Luke, and he hoped for one last good night so Marion would remember their last night together for years. Marion knew something was off the second she heard that Luke had asked Gabriella to sleep somewhere else, but she didn’t argue. Marion noticed something was off during their shower because Luke moved much slower and more deliberately than usual. He rubbed every millimeter of Marion’s body, causing her to melt into his arms. When she tried to mount him in the shower, he stopped her and whispered in her ear:

“Please, not here. Not this time ... please.”

After they got out of the shower, Marion’s curiosity finally got the better of her.

“Luke, honey. What’s wrong? You never refuse me mounting you in the shower.”

She saw Luke take a deep breath and squeeze his eyes shut. Finally, he spoke:

“I’m terrified, Marion. We are about to alter the future permanently, and what if it turns out to be the wrong call? I’ve told you about my fear of a paradox. What happens if a paradox is created and I return to my time? Worse yet, what happens if humanity uses this new power to slaughter each other for no gain? But by far, the worst thing is that I’ve got this damn voice in my head that keeps telling me I won’t make it through this campaign. I can’t lose you, Marion; you mean everything to me.”

When he finished, he started sobbing. Marion was at his side in a second and knew how to get him to calm down. She pulled his head down until one of her nipples was in his mouth. At first, he wouldn’t suckle, but basic instincts finally took over after a while. Slowly he began to suck at his wife’s nipple as she cradled his head and rocked him back and forth as he quietly cried. It truly frightened her to see her husband in such a state. Slowly, Luke’s hands began to roam Marion’s body, and his trademark featherlight touch started arousing Marion. She also noticed a change in how Luke was sucking her nipples, for he was now working them so that she would get increasing pleasure.

As Luke was caressing her body, Marion’s hands roamed Luke’s as best they could. She knew Luke would be okay when he started kissing the rest of her body. As he kissed her, she continued to rub his shoulders. Somehow, she knew tonight was not a night for animalistic fucking; tonight, it would be a night for slow and passionate lovemaking. She gently pushed Luke onto his back and began to kiss him. She felt one of his hands find its way into her hair, where it stayed. Marion kept kissing Luke’s body until he began to moan softly. This was what she was waiting for, and she swung a leg over Luke’s body so she could slowly sink his cock into her. They didn’t stay that long because Luke rolled them over to kiss Marion while he thrust into her. Luke’s pace was almost maddening slow for Marion because she felt like she was in a rut and not getting any closer to cumming. However, one look into Luke’s eyes killed any protest Marion would make. His eyes didn’t convey any of the lust or love they usually did while making love. Instead, Marion saw the sheer terror that Luke was experiencing.

Eventually, they ended up on their sides, with Marion facing away from Luke and his cock buried deep into her cunt. He lightly flicked her clit, which drove her quickly toward her climax. Also, in this position, she found that she could completely relax. Suddenly, her climax hit, and she wasn’t ready for it. Her body seized up as it took over, and she started to shake violently. She had to admit that she had never shaken harder. As she finished, she felt Luke swell up and felt his hot semen flood her vagina. When he finished, he didn’t even bother pulling out as he wrapped his arms tightly around Marion, and they both went to sleep.

The following day, Luke was up earlier than usual, and by the time Marion woke up, Luke was dressed. He still had a couple of hours of work before the army could depart. Before he left, he gave Marion a love-filled kiss. On his way out, he saw Gabriella sleeping on the couch; he went over, kissed her forehead, and whispered:

“Take care of her while I’m gone and when I don’t return; please watch over her and never let her forget me.”

With that, he shed a tear, turned on his heel, and was out the door. He wanted the army on the train by 0800, so he had just a few hours to prepare. Fortunately, his troops were all well-trained and had been alerted a few days before. They were all in their barracks and sober, so getting them ready didn’t take long.

At 0730, they started loading, and Luke wasn’t surprised to see Marion and Gabriella there and in uniform. What he was surprised by was that Marion had Mackenzie in her arms. At least they could get one last kiss in, and Luke held Marion tight in his arms while he buried his nose in her hair, knowing he wouldn’t be returning. Taking Mackenzie, he kissed her before bouncing her in his arms while she tried to play with his shoulder straps. Finally, it was time to go, and he returned Mackenzie to Marion. After one last kiss, he boarded the train.

When Marion and Gabriella returned to the castle, they went to find Alice. She was scheduled to leave on a later train, so she was still relaxing in her chambers, and Marion had to talk to her urgently. When Marion entered the room, it took Alice two seconds to figure out something was seriously wrong.

“What’s wrong, Marion?”

“Can I ask you for a personal favor?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Can you keep an extra eye on my Luke, please?”

Marion explained what Luke was concerned with, and when she finished, Alice was stunned. She would have never in a million years thought that Luke would be terrified of a voice inside his head. It made sense, though; you can’t ignore a voice in your head like you could with people’s other voices. She gave Marion a warm smile.

“And what can I do to help keep the voices out of his head?”

“Anything you need to do, just don’t hurt him. Please.”

“Now Marion, you know damn well that I could never hurt Luke; plus, it goes against the Hippocratic oath.”

“Thank you, Alice. Thank you so much. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this means to me.” Marion hugged Alice and left with Gabriella and Mackenzie.

Luke spent a few days in Sheffield while the rest of the army arrived. When he arrived, though, the first thing he did was send Pollyanna’s engineers ahead with a strong dragoon escort to prepare the way for his artillery. Mostly, this involved doing work at river crossings. They would have to build strong bridges to support the cannons’ weight at many crossings since the big guns weighed a couple of tons each. Luke had designed them so he wouldn’t redesign them when smokeless powder became available for general use. The plan for crossing the Thames was to build a number of boats and create a pontoon bridge with them. This way, supplies could keep up. Along with building bridges, Pollyanna was tasked with stringing telegraph wire as she went. This was vital if Luke was going to keep the supplies coming on time.

Within a week of Luke leaving Sheffield, he was looking at the Norman fort. The march south had been extremely rapid and uneventful because no noble was willing to challenge Luke’s army. As uneventful a trip as the army had, Luke’s journey was far more eventful. Alice’s medical unit was one of the last to arrive in Sheffield. She had to finish some critical things in York before departing. That evening, she went into Luke’s tent.

Luke always stayed in a tent while he was in the field. His theory was that since his soldiers slept in tents, he should too. His army stayed in tents because Luke had forbidden the army from sharing civilian homes unless it was a dire emergency. This always earned him brownie points with the locals because nobody liked to share their small, cramped homes with soldiers.

She found him lying on his cot, looking at an old picture. It was the picture of Luke and his older sister just after he had graduated from Marine training. He was in his dress blues while she was wearing one of her formal evening gowns. He was so into staring at the picture that he didn’t even hear Alice enter. It wasn’t until she cleared her throat that Luke noticed she was even there.

“Oh, sorry, Alice. I didn’t hear you come in. What can I do for you this evening?”

As always, she was struck by that line. It was never “What do you want?” or “Hello.” It was always, “What can I do for you?” It was just another reminder for Alice that Luke was the kindest person she had ever met. She decided right there if Luke wanted her, she would be his lover. She reasoned that Marion had Gabriella; why shouldn’t Luke have someone else, too?