Chapter 37: Nuptials

“There it goes! Another Swabian battleship has just exploded! Did you see that?”

“Keep up your firing and pick another target! There’s plenty to go around!”

The radio in front of Jack’s desk crackled endlessly as his senior naval commanders reported on the progress of battle. Jack listened with rapt attention, especially as the reports of Swabian casualties kept coming in.

“The battleship is starting to list! We’ve got her!”

Jack grabbed the radio. “Great shooting out there, Russ. Keep it up and don’t let them get away!”

A reply came back almost instantly. “No way, Jack. The Swabians aren’t getting away from us. Not today.”

Jack grinned as he put the radio down and looked over to see the happy faces of the other people in the room with him. Greg and Art were on either side of him and had been ever since this battle began earlier that afternoon. It only started by pure coincidence, with the Galician fleet out patrolling the waters not far from the Swabian island of Selz. Reports came in of an enemy presence on the horizon, and it was quickly realized that the day everyone had been waiting on had arrived.

The Galician fleet would finally get their chance to tangle with their hated adversaries.

Since the beginning of the battle, Jack had been getting regular updates from his two admirals, Russell Taylor as well as Colin Godfrey (who had defected to Jack’s side before Kalmar fell). Abigail was also reporting in on her own, and so far the Destiny had only managed to sink a single Swabian destroyer in the engagement.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying. By all reports, the Swabian fleet was powerful in its own right, and had the Galician fleet not stumbled into them that morning, any potential engagement would have gone through more planning than what actually panned out. That wasn’t to say that Jack’s men were having a tough time of it though.

Quite the opposite judging by the radio chatter.

“We got another one!” said Colin over the radio. “That cruiser is dead in the water!”

Jack flashed a thumbs-up over to Greg and Art as another casualty was confirmed.

“At this rate, they’re going to destroy the entire Swabian fleet,” said Art with a wide grin. “They might even be able to end this war tonight.”

“We can only hope but I doubt we’ll get that lucky,” said Jack. “Let’s just hope their gunners don’t get any better before this whole thing is over.”

The battle continued to progress through the early evening hours and even after so much time was spent just listening to the radio, no one bothered to leave the room. It had been over two months since the city of Kalmar fell and Eric Rosdahl was killed, and for many of them, it was the most action they’d seen since then.

What a busy two months it had been too. Two weeks after the city fell, Jack was officially coronated as the Galician King, an event that hadn’t happened in over two hundred years. The effect on the people of Kalmar was momentous indeed, many of them never expecting the Kincardine family to return to Galicia. Jack’s arrival in the country coincided with the death of the hated Regent, and for the first time in generations, the Galician people were hopeful for a better future.

That also involved rebuilding their city. Kalmar had suffered terribly in the siege, and a good portion of it had burned down in the ensuing fire. When faced with such a calamity, no one would have blamed the people of Kalmar for giving up due to adversity but they did nothing of the sort. The day after the fire, the people of the city were hard at work rebuilding what was lost. A month after the blaze, most of Kalmar looked just like it did before the battle. Even the Galician Castle was nearing completion, and Jack had formally moved into the building just before the coronation.

Big things were happening in Galicia and there wasn’t a better time for them. With their ancient enemy temporarily humbled and wounded, Jack could afford to devote the time to rebuilding the country, however he was acutely aware that this time wouldn’t last forever.

Sooner or later, the Swabian beast would strike again. Today was just such a reminder that the war was far from over.

More than anything, Jack wished he was there with his fleet in the thick of the action. It was a position he was used to from his rise through the ranks, and commanding from this distance away seemed like a foreign concept to him.

That was something he was still getting used to. Being a king meant he couldn’t lead the military from the front lines. He had to learn to rely on his commanders and truly accept that others could carry out his will without his physical presence.

It was perhaps one of the biggest lessons about being king that Jack had to learn, and there was still much he needed to be taught. Bill had been teaching him what he could but it quickly became apparent to Jack that running a country was very different from running a ship.

No matter how much he learned, there always seemed to be one subject that would get him in trouble, but Jack digested as much information about being king as he could mentally take at one time.

Thankfully, war was something that he understood much easier, and listening to the battle unfold on the radio was much preferable to running the country at that moment.

“Don’t let them slip away! They’re turning back to Swabia!”

“Jack, permission to continue pursuit? They are turning tail back to where they came from,” said Russ over the radio.

“Pursue as long as you can but when the sun goes down, you can pull back,” ordered Jack.

For the next hour or so, the sun continued to set while the naval engagement eventually ran its course. By nightfall, the Swabians were in full retreat and a rough count of the casualty figures had been put together.

Altogether, the Galician side had lost two cruisers and two destroyers in the fight, with the majority of their crews having been lost at sea. In addition, several of the larger ships suffered minor damage although it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed back at Kalmar.

The Swabians took a heavy beating in the battle. Jack’s forces accounted for the destruction of two battleships, three cruisers, and seven destroyers in the fight—a crippling blow to an enemy who had gotten used to having control of the seas.

The Swabians had been looking for a fight and they surely found one. Jack was very thankful that his forces had survived without any heavier casualties, and if this victory meant the Swabians would need to take time to lick their wounds, it also opened up many possibilities for his forces.

Without a Swabian fleet to threaten the West, Jack’s next move would be much less risky. Perhaps the end of the war could finally be in sight?

As the radio chatter truly died down, Jack looked over at his leading generals. “It seems that we’ve been given a real blessing today. With the Swabians off the seas temporarily, think of what we could do in the interim?”

Art gave Jack a puzzled look. “Do you really think they will pull back entirely to Swabia now? The fleet I mean? It doesn’t seem like they had many vessels lost.”

“It’s enough that they’ll want to regroup,” said Jack. “A loss of that magnitude will require them to rethink their strategy. How long that will take, I can’t say but I would guess we’ve definitely earned a window to work with here that we didn’t have before.”

“Not having to worry about the enemy while we ferry troops between the islands would be nice,” said Greg. “Especially given that half of our army is still in Apulia.”

That was a fair point. While most of the Galician Army was camped right outside of Kalmar, the other foreign contingents that made up the Allied Army were still in Apulia, awaiting instruction. The Picard and Carinthian forces were still the same size as they’d been, but Santino had been busy in the last two months recruiting more men for the budding Apulian Army. In all, Santino now boasted an additional five thousand men in his ranks. When combined with Jack’s forces, it gave him an army that was fifty-five thousand men strong.

A force that formidable could very well be taken to the Swabian islands. Jack envisioned that force landing outside of Dagobern and putting an end to the conflict by snuffing out the forces of Emperor Avila.

Before such a thing could happen though, they would have to decide formally where to go. And there were many in Jack’s alliance that wanted to go elsewhere.

Of course Picardy weighed on his mind. Every message from Aedan reminded him that his homeland was still subjugated by the Swabians. The Picard monarch wouldn’t be truly satisfied until every last Swabian had been booted from the country, and that option was just as strong as the Swabian one.

“At least the army has moved to the south island,” said Jack, replying to Greg’s last statement. “Santino has moved all his forces to the city of Monticello, which is just across the sea from Swabia. It’s also a more centralized location than Marmora and will allow us to either strike east or strike south depending on what we choose.”

“We might as well strike south while we can,” argued Art. “Think about what could happen if we take on the Swabian home islands directly. We could strike another decisive blow that they’ll never recover from. We could take the island of Selz or even perhaps Lindau! You know that Lindau was Galician at one point, right? Imagine if we could reclaim it!”

Jack put his hands up to slow down the excited general. “We have a lot of options in front of us right now but we’ll sit down together, all of us, and pick the right one. As tempting as it is to invade Swabia right now, we’ve only wounded their fleet. We haven’t destroyed it yet. And I’ve seen what can happen when warships get ahold of transports. It’s not pretty.” Jack then gave Art a tiny smirk. “Although it would be very fitting to take this chance to invade Cormfeld just to piss of Avila.”

Art grinned. “Your words, Jack, not mine. It sounds like you could just as easily get onboard with that idea.”

“That I could,” replied Jack. “Or even Picardy too. But we’ll decide together one way or another.”

That was enough for both of them and Jack bid them goodnight shortly after. Art soon left to walk back to his lodging at military headquarters while Jack and Greg walked back to the upper floors of the Castle where they were both living. Jack said goodnight to Greg after they passed his and Vera’s room and he soon entered his own formal living quarters.

As far as quarters went, it was exceptionally magnificent. The stately rooms of the Galician King were massive, nearly taking up one entire wing of the Castle. Jack’s new bedroom overlooked the city of Kalmar, giving him a complete view of not only the city but much of the sea as well. Kat explained that the king that built the Castle had wanted the view so that he could always keep an eye on his most prized possession—the Galician fleet.

“What a day,” said Jack as he prepared to get undressed, finding Kat already in bed while John slept in his bassinet just a couple feet away.

“Any more news of the battle?” she asked, looking over with eager curiosity. Jack had been sending her regular messages the entire day courtesy of the Castle servants about the course of the battle but he hadn’t sent anything since nightfall.

“Nothing for now but Russ assured me they would scour the seas tomorrow in case the Swabians are still hanging around,” he replied. “My guess is that they will look to put as much distance between them and us during the night hours. They have to know they’re beat.”

Kat smiled. “That’s wonderful news. The city will be thrilled to hear about the victory. Have you sent out formal word of it yet?”

Jack flinched. “Was I supposed to?”

Kat giggled. “Of course you are, silly. It’s part of being king. You need to let the people know when you’ve secured a victory for them. They’ll want to celebrate as well, especially considering it was over the Swabians.”

“I’ll have to put something out in the morning,” said Jack as he climbed into bed. “I’m too tired to consider doing it right now.”

“No need, I can send word to the news runner before we go to bed,” said Kat. In the next moment, she called for a servant who promptly appeared at their bedside. Jack gave the details of the battle and the servant left, making for the quarters of the official news runner. In the morning, the runner would be responsible for getting word out to the entire city which usually consisted of alerting the major newspapers.

The whole thing was taken care of in a matter of minutes.

“See that wasn’t so bad,” said Kat as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m still getting used to this thing where it seems like everyone is just waiting to serve my every whim,” said Jack as his head hit the pillow.

“It goes with the territory of ruling, babe. The people will be celebrating in the morning, and they’ll have your leadership to thank for it.”

“They should celebrate Russ and Colin and Abigail,” replied Jack sullenly. “They are the true heroes that won the battle today.”

Kat shook her head. “You’re still thinking like an officer. They are all extensions of you now. You put them in their posts and they’re your officers now. Their victories are your victories too.”

Jack let out a small sigh. “My life was so much easier before I had a crown.”

Kat giggled again. “You’ll get used to it, I promise. It just takes some time to understand everything that goes with the leadership of the country.”

Jack didn’t reply to that and closed his eyes. The last thing he wanted was another reminder that he still had a lot to learn, but thankfully, Kat changed the subject by placing a deep kiss against his lips.

Jack cracked an eyelid. “What was that for?”

She shrugged playfully. “I thought you might want to personally celebrate your victory.”

Jack started to chuckle. “Oh yeah? Have a couple ideas of your own, do you?”

“As long as you don’t wake our son, you can do just about anything you want,” she said, playfully wiggling her eyebrows with a most adorable expression.

“It almost sounds like you have a certain idea in mind,” he teased.

She shrugged again. “When I know exactly how I want to celebrate this win, I’ll let you know.”

Jack grinned. “And in the meantime?”

Kat kissed him again as her hand drifted lower on his body. “In the meantime, I can give you a little preview!”

The next morning found Jack in a pleasant mood as he watched the sunrise over the city of Kalmar. He was out of bed early that morning thanks to John but he couldn’t have cared less about the disturbance to his sleep. As the baby got older, he was becoming more lifelike, and he was now rewarding his parents with smiles during playtime.

Jack rocked the tiny infant in his arms as he looked out on the awakening city of Kalmar, which was already showing signs of celebration. By midmorning, the city was in a frenzy, and the cheers from the marketplace could be heard very clearly even in the Castle.

“You’ve scored them their first naval victory in quite some time,” said Kat as she slipped into Jack’s arms after John was put down for a nap. “You’ve only been the king for a short while and already your reign is showing signs of promise.”

Jack had to admit—hearing those words just felt incredible. There was no one else who felt the weight of leadership so succinctly as he, and knowing that the Galician people were proud of their achievement took some anxiety away. It also put him in the mood to be out of the Castle, and since one friend was already out in the city today, Jack grabbed a car to locate him.

The car pulled up to the construction site that was Hemswell manor and came to an abrupt stop. Jack got out and looked up at wonder at the progress that was being made here. In the past two months, a good portion of the mansion had been rebuilt. While there was a lot of work that still needed to be done, the Calland family home was showing serious signs of development.

“What do you think, Jack? The old family home isn’t looking so bad anymore, eh?”

Jack grinned as he caught sight of Bill who was now making his way toward him. Not like any other lord, Bill was working alongside his men, and he had to pull his dirty gloves off before shaking Jack’s hand.

“It looks great, honestly, Bill,” said Jack as he looked back with wonder at the house. “You’ve come a long way in a short time!”

“We still have a long way to go but at least we have some basic living quarters now for the family while the rest is being rebuilt,” said Bill. “It’s not quite the same as it was before but I much prefer to sleep here at night than at the Castle. No offense of course.”

There was none taken by Jack. He knew that Bill wasn’t happy about moving into the Castle during the beginning phases of the rebuild. Despite being more than comfortable lodging, the Castle wasn’t their home, and with so much time spent abroad, there was nothing that Bill looked forward to more than sleeping in his ancestral home.

Jack cracked a grin. “We were just happy to get you out of the Castle finally. I think Kat and Abigail were getting irritated with the late night discussions.”

Bill started to chuckle. Their late night discussions had been a prominent factor ever since they landed in Apulia. It only made them easier to carry out when Bill was living just a few doors down in the Castle, which had started to cause some tension with the women when Jack didn’t come to bed until later than usual.

“Believe me, I think Lisa is secretly pleased as well,” said Bill finally. “You wouldn’t know it to look at her but she quite enjoys hogging all of my time to herself.”

Jack started to laugh. “I think our women are cut from the same cloth.”

“Aye, you might have a point about that, Jack.”

For the next ten minutes, Bill was content to show Jack around the new construction, pointing out many new features that were being incorporated into the build as well as areas that Bill wanted to keep just like it was. All the while, the Hemswell servants buzzed around, taking part in the construction as well as operating the household, until Jack saw a familiar face.

“I know this man,” said Jack as he tried to recall the name of the servant that just walked by. “Peter, isn’t it? You’re the one that came to see me when I was imprisoned in the Castle.”

The servant grinned and stopped what he was doing. “I was wondering if you might remember me, Your Majesty. That was some time ago.”

Jack chuckled and clapped the man on the back. “I owe a very real debt to you, Peter. Without your visit, I would’ve been a dead man.”

Bill grinned proudly. “Peter has been one of my best men for a long time. When I heard the rumors that our king was being held captive, I only had one choice of who to send. Peter was that man.”

“And we’re certainly glad you’re back now, Your Majesty,” said Peter. “We had some dark days for a few months there.”

Jack gave him a solemn look. “How did you survive after we left for Apulia, Peter? I’m sure it wasn’t easy once the wrath of Eric Rosdahl came down on Hemswell.”

Peter nodded. “It was terrible but we managed. Before Bill left, we were disbanded as servants to the house and many of us hid with other relatives in the city. When the Regent destroyed the manor, I’m glad to say that no one was injured or killed in the process. When the city fell, we all made our way back to Hemswell, and we’ve been putting it back together ever since.”

“How remarkable,” replied Jack as he looked on in amazement. “Bill is lucky to have someone like you on his staff, Peter.”

The young servant nearly turned red at the compliment. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” He was soon back to work, carrying more supplies inside for the refurbishment of the living quarters.

“He’s entirely modest,” said Bill with a twinkle in his eyes after Peter left. “I’ve overheard him talking about meeting you before. From the sounds of it, it was the highlight of his life.”

“I wondered if he might leave me hanging from our first meeting,” said Jack with a chuckle. “He didn’t exactly give me a lot of details of whether I was going to be rescued.”

“Nor could he for his protection or my own,” replied Bill. “But his report back was just what I needed to spring my hasty plan into motion.” Bill started to chuckle. “I’d say everything worked out quite well, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d say this is one area you know what you’re talking about,” joked Jack, causing the old man to laugh even harder.

“At least I know I can still have influence,” said Bill finally as two newcomers soon emerged from deeper inside the house.

Will and Lindsay stopped to offer a brief greeting to Jack before continuing on their way, heading out to the market for a midday stroll. They were being every bit as loving as they could be, with Lindsay’s hand firmly wrapped in Will’s as well as joining together in the same chorus of infectious laughter as they left the manor.

“Those two seem to be getting along well,” said Jack after they were already gone.

“They’ve been getting along well for years,” noted Bill. “She’s just what he really needs from what I can tell. She’ll push him when he needs to be pushed, and he’s stubborn enough to need that treatment frequently.”

Jack chuckled. “It was obvious to me even back in Picardy that they belonged together.”

“That they do. I’m hopeful that he decides to marry her someday,” said Bill. “Lisa is beyond hopeful. I’m fairly certain she mentions that at least once in her daily prayers. Her parents are good people as well. Remind me to introduce them to you at some point.”

“Will do,” replied Jack humorously.

“But it’s well past time they did something,” continued Bill. “I’d like to have grandchildren someday and at this rate, they might do that first before they even get married.”

Jack couldn’t resist the urge to jump on that. “You mean like me? I couldn’t help getting Kat knocked up and we’re not even married.”

Bill quickly tried to walk back that statement. “Well, no, you know what I meant—”

Jack put his hand on the elder man’s back. “Relax, Bill, I’m just having some fun with you. I know exactly what you meant.”

“It doesn’t bother me in the slightest but I think it would bother Lisa if Lindsay just showed up pregnant,” said Bill in a quiet voice. “Lisa has some of those old-fashioned sensibilities.”

Jack started to chuckle. “I’ll have to keep that in mind. Maybe I won’t flaunt my child born out of wedlock in front of her then.”

By this point, Bill seemed to understand that Jack was messing with him and just shook his head playfully. “Thanks so much,” he said with sarcasm.

Before Jack could respond, Bill kept going. “So you haven’t told me yet why you’re here, Jack. Does it have anything to do with yesterday’s battle? Getting one over on the Swabian fleet is always something to be excited about.”

“Like usual, you seem to always figure out where my mind is, usually before I can do the same,” replied Jack. “But yes, you’re right. With the defeat of the Swabians, it opens up a lot of possibilities for us. I’ve even heard mention of preparing an invasion of Swabia herself.”

Bill let out a low whistle. “Now that’s something that hasn’t even been thought of in five hundred years. How do you feel about that?”

Jack pursed his lips. “Uneasy but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s not lightly that anyone would come to that decision. And there are a lot of things at stake with it too.”

Bill nodded his head. “True. We’d have to remember as well that the Swabian Army hasn’t truly been beaten yet. Yes, we destroyed the army of Godric Katla but that was only a small quarter of the total Swabian muster. And you better believe that Avila is going to make good on his losses. I have no doubt that he’s busy enlarging his army for when that day inevitably arrives.”

“Which is why I think we have other options that might be more palatable for now,” said Jack.

“Such as?”

“Well, Picardy for one could be an option.”

Bill reached up to rub his chin. “Picardy could be a possibility. And with another contingent of their army there, we could be afforded the chance to destroy another unit piecemeal.”

“Could be,” considered Jack. “But the war in Picardy has been tenacious from the very start. The Swabians have been hard to dislodge from that island.”

Bill started to grin. “But what if you had the entire Galician Army with you the next time you landed? What about then?”

Jack’s head tilted back and forth as he considered it. “Neither option is great to be honest but I wanted to see what your opinion would be. I’m going to put it up to the Royal Council but I’m curious to know your thoughts before I do.”

“Ah, yes, the Royal Council,” said Bill. “That’s entirely the right course.”

The Royal Council was something that Jack had recently instituted, a meeting that had roots in the history of the country. Every king had a small council at his beck and call—a form of cabinet that helped to decide the big decisions of the day. Of course Bill was part of the council, being the first official appointee, but Jack also had his two leading generals on it, Art and Greg, as well as Russell and Abigail from the navy. The last member of the council was Kat.

“If I’m being honest with you, Jack, I’m not sure either option will be without risks. However, I’d like to see another portion of their army destroyed before we attempt to attack the main islands.”

Jack started to smirk. “So you’re leaning toward Picardy then.”

Bill shrugged. “Perhaps. I can’t say for sure. I’m not a military man, Jack. I’ll leave that to your generals. I just know that the Swabians aren’t going to take the destruction of an entire army without doing something drastic about it.”

The two men continued to discuss it for another ten minutes until Lisa interrupted both of them to offer lunch. Jack politely declined, wanting to get moving back to the Castle, and he bid goodbye to both Callands before heading back. The city was still in the midst of jubilation as he rode toward the Castle, and he found himself in a good mood as he approached his living quarters inside and threw open the door.

The first thing he heard was the sound of giggling. Quickly realizing that he recognized the voices, Jack turned the corner to find Kat and Vera looking right at him, smiles prominent on their faces.

Jack couldn’t help but smile back. “Well, it looks like I’m definitely interrupting something here.”

Vera looked over at Kat before she replied. “Oh, you have no idea, Jack!”

He eyed both of them suspiciously. Curiously enough, Kat was holding one of the military radios in her hand, something that he noticed right away.

“What’s with the radio?” he asked.

Kat brought it to her lips and pressed the button. “He’s here. Want to say hi?”

Immediately, he heard Abigail’s’ sweet voice. “Hello, my love. It looks like you’ve intruded on our girl talk.”

Jack took a very tentative step closer. “Girl talk? You couldn’t wait until Abigail gets back to the city for that?”

Kat and Vera exploded into giggles again. “Not exactly,” said Kat. “Not for what we have in mind.”

Still feeling confused, Jack’s smile dropped. “Okay, spill it. What’s going on with all of you? Why are you laughing so much?”

Vera looked over at Kat again. “You should probably tell him now. Don’t torture him any longer.”

“Are you sure?” asked Kat. “I kind of like it when he gets like this. It’s awfully cute to see that confused look on his face.”

Vera playfully rolled her eyes. “Just tell him. Don’t keep teasing my brother!”

“Oh, all right,” said Kat as she turned to face him. “Jack, do you remember me saying last night about us finding a personal way for us to celebrate yesterday’s victory?”

Remembering that she’d already thanked him in a very intimate matter, Jack’s eyes darted to Vera as his face turned red. “Kat,” he said in a low voice. “I thought we did that last night.”

She grinned and shook her head. “Not exactly, babe. I was thinking of something else actually. And Abigail is on board with it just as much as I am.”

“If not more so,” came Abigail’s voice from the radio. “Kat and I are exactly on the same page with this request, Jack!”

“So what is it?” asked Jack.

Kat let out her prettiest smile. “Jack, we want to get married.”

Jack opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. His eyes darted back and forth between Kat and Vera, not knowing what to say. “You do?”

“I told you that you’d surprise him with this,” said Vera to Kat. “He’s positively speechless.”

“Surprised is a little more like it,” said Jack quickly. “What brought this on? I’m not saying no or anything but I want to figure out how this came up.”