Chapter 10

York, Great Britain, June 1067.

Benedict walked away from the square in a daze, and he wasn’t the only one; many of the others walking away were dazed as well. Eventually, Benedict felt someone keeping stride with him, and when he looked, he was looking into his wife’s concerned eyes.

“What was all that about?” she asked.

“That was a demonstration of how powerful Marion and her army are. From the looks of the other people around, the message got through. If the other rulers think Marion will go quietly, they will be sorry. She will crush them, and they will be lucky if she leaves them a chamber pot.”

“Why?”

“Marion’s army is loyal to her, highly trained, well equipped, and has competent leaders. For the next few years, at least, they will be unstoppable.”

“I guess it is good that we are here and not in France anymore.”

“Yes, it is. Eventually, one of France’s nobles will do something to cause Marion to attack France, and she will crush them. If I had to guess, it will be Hawise of Rennes that brings the British plague down on Philip’s head. By the time everything is over, Philip will be lucky to have his head.”

As Benedict and Cateline walked toward their new property, she was deep in thought. Her family owned a decent amount of land, and if Marion’s army invaded, her family might lose everything. After thinking about it, she decided to have Benedict write a letter to her father, warning him of the threat Great Britain posed if they were ever to invade France. From her husband, Cateline knew that Marion wouldn’t attack unless she were provoked.

The pair walked the rest of the way to their new home in silence, both deep in thought. Cateline was worried about her family while Benedict was working on a way to profit from the coming war between France and Great Britain. He knew King Philip would do his best to remove Marion from the throne, and Benedict was almost entirely sure that Marion’s army would stomp him into the mud. The sale of his lands had left him a decent sum of money, and his new British lands hadn’t depleted his reserves much. The best part of the deal for Benedict was that he now owned more land than he did before and had a much higher likelihood of making significant profits from that land. His new lands had multiple sources of revenue, from farming to several blacksmith shops. It cut into his profits, having to pay the workers for their labor, but that labor was worth more than what continental nobles got from their serfs.

When the couple returned, Benedict took Cateline on a tour of their new land. He understood these were new times and would require a new approach. Watching Marion as he had over the last couple of months, Benedict decided all the women in his life should learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic. That way, they could help run his businesses when he was away, and he wouldn’t have to hire someone else to help. It was almost unbelievable how Benedict’s views on women reading had changed in just a few short months. Before coming to Britain, Benedict had been fiercely against women being taught how to read, feeling that it was unnatural and unneeded for women to read. Now, he actively pushed the women around him to learn reading and writing.

To Benedict’s surprise, it only took Cateline a month and a half to learn to speak and write English. She was proving to be a natural with languages and, in her spare time, taught English to the workers they brought with them. As Cateline was learning English, she was reading as many books as she could get her hands on. Her favorite discovery was the new public library in York. For a small fee, Cateline could take a book home, read it, then return it for a new book. Within three months of landing in England, Cateline was visiting the library every other day, and she wasn’t alone. Many of the workers they brought over with them had developed a similar appetite for reading.

While Cateline was learning to read and write, Benedict was busy learning how to do business in a free market. Before, he could bribe an official and get a monopoly on certain goods; now, he couldn’t; monopolies were forbidden by law. His goods had to compete with other goods produced in the area, and if that wasn’t enough of a culture shock, Benedict found out the hard way that trying to cheat only got him in trouble. He had been talking with other producers about price fixing when he got a visit from some of Marion’s bureaucrats. They warned Benedict to cease trying to build a cartel if he wanted to stay out of jail. Part of the warning was taking him to see the conditions for prisoners.

Unlike most prisons in Luke’s world, the prisons in Marion’s Britain used the prisoners as a low-cost labor source. Nobody was tortured, and everyone was well-fed, but Marion and Luke felt it would be a waste to have all that labor available and not use it. Most sentences passed were for one to ten years of hard labor. The goal was to give the citizens of Britain a powerful incentive to obey the law. After visiting a labor camp, Benedict was determined never to run afoul of Marion’s laws. It helped that all the rules were written down in everyday English, and if you didn’t understand something, you could ask one of Marion’s officials. They were under strict orders to explain the law to anyone who asked, and if they got violent while explaining, they would be sentenced to five years of hard labor and would have to pay the person they were violent with one half of their net worth.

Upon returning home, Benedict would spend the next several weeks learning the law. Many of the laws he thought were stupid, especially the rules governing food production and pollution, but he was determined to follow them. When he explained what he had read to Cateline, she understood immediately and took it upon herself to help ensure Benedict followed the law while growing the family wealth.

The night of the parade, Marion held a banquet in honor of Sergeant Madeline Baker. While Madeline wasn’t happy about being honored in such a way, she was a soldier and was under orders from none other than Queen Marion to attend. Walking through the doors, Madeline didn’t know what to expect, never having been to a banquet before. All she knew was she was to be on her best behavior and wear her black dress uniform with her medal. As Madeline entered the door, she was asked for her name, which was noted before she was approved to proceed.

As Madeline entered the Great Hall, the Master of Ceremonies announced her, and everyone looked at her. She had never been so nervous and was about to bolt back out the door when a stunning blonde woman wearing a strange but beautiful dress and brilliant jewelry approached her. The woman looked familiar, but Madeline couldn’t place her; however, the large man at her side Madeline, had no problem identifying. He was the commanding general, and when they got close enough, he snapped to attention and saluted her. The Madeline’s surprise, the blonde did the same thing even though she wasn’t wearing a uniform. Madeline returned the salute but looked confused, which Luke picked up on;

“Sergeant Madeline Baker, meet Marion of York, Queen of Great Britain.”

Stunned, Madeline operated on instinct, dropped to a knee in front of Marion, and bowed her head. Madeline hadn’t recognized Marion because Marion hardly ever wore her dress or her hair up. When they met earlier in the day, Marion had been in uniform and hadn’t been introduced.

“Stand up, sergeant,” Marion commanded. Madeline stood but was still in awe. She had never dreamt that she could meet any royalty, never mind someone as powerful as Marion. When she met Luke, it felt like she was meeting an ordinary man, but with Marion, there was an aura of power surrounding her. “I wish to offer my congratulations for earning the Cross of Honor and Valor. You are only the second person to whom metal has been awarded and the only living recipient.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“You’re welcome. Now, do you have an escort for this evening?”

“No, your majesty. I do not, and I do not wish to have one.”

“Very well; just make sure you enjoy yourself, sergeant, and remember this party is for you.”

Madeline stood there with her mouth open; she couldn’t imagine anyone throwing a party for her, especially royalty. After recovering, Madeline circulated and started talking with people, quickly finding that although the people attending were generally snobs, there were all deeply impressed with her achievements on the northern front. By this time, everyone knew Marion and Luke were giving Madeline partial credit for ending the Scottish war so quickly.

Standing on the sidelines, Marion and her immediate group quietly observed Madeline. Pollyanna had come up from Hull for the ceremony and banquet and would spend a week with Matt before returning to Hull to continue working on the naval base and dockyard.

“So, what do you think?” asked Luke.

“I think she will make a fine officer, but it’s not my place to tell you that, Luke.”

“Be that as it is, I still value your opinion, sweetheart.”

“Thank you, Luke.” Marion turned her head and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll give her the news tomorrow, along with her transfer.”

Marion nodded and turned her attention back to the party. The party continued until the small morning hours and was a staggering success. Madeline had grown more comfortable with her award, and everyone she talked to was impressed. Between the parade and party, Marion was defeating her opponents and raising the morale and cohesiveness of her army.

The following day, everyone slept in, and for the first time in months, it was light out when Luke woke up. Before he left, he made sure to wake everyone else up first, much to their displeasure. Fredrick demanded mommy feed him, and Mackenzie tried to get into everything. While Marion fed Fredrick, Gabriella fed Carl. Often, Carl would suckle on Marion as well because Gabriella didn’t produce enough milk for him, while Marion often had a bit extra.

After ensuring everyone was ready for the day, Luke made his way to his office. He knew he was in line for a long day and was prepared for it. When he got to his office, he found Sergeant Baker waiting for him, which didn’t surprise him since she had orders to report to Luke when he got in.

“Give me five minutes before you send the sergeant in.” He commanded his secretary as he walked past her desk.

“Yes, sir.”

Five minutes later, the secretary allowed Madeline into Luke’s office.

“Sergeant Baker reporting as ordered.”

“At ease, sergeant. Please take a seat. Do you know why I requested you this morning?”

“No, sir.”

“I have a new job for you if you want it. We are activating a new type of unit. They will be called Grenadiers, and they will be the elite assault troops of the British Army. I would like you to lead them. To do this, you will be promoted to lieutenant and be given additional training.”

“But ... but ... but, sir! I’m not qualified; I lost almost my entire squad.”

“Madeline, speaking from experience, you are more than qualified for this command. You were facing overwhelming odds, and yet you came out on top while saving the last few soldiers from what would have been a long and painful death.”

“Permission to speak freely?”

“Granted”

“How would you know what it was like for me; to lose all your friends and your entire command in the same day?”

“Believe me, Madeline. I know exactly what you’re going through.”

“No disrespect, sir, but I don’t believe you.”

Luke got a faraway look in his eyes as he sat perfectly still. Madeline didn’t know what was happening, but she figured she would be thrown in prison for talking to the commanding general as she did. Luke was no longer looking at Sergeant Madeline Baker in his office; he was looking at the remains of his best friend, Patrick, after a mortar round hit him in Iraq. Luke could still smell the powder, the fires, and the death that hung over that little slice of hell. Suddenly Patrick’s head turned to look at him:

“It’s time to let go of me, Sarge. You’ve carried this burden for too long.”

Then Patrick was gone, Iraq was gone, everything was gone, and Luke found himself back in his office with Madeline looking at him curiously.

“Who is Patrick, sir?”

Luke sucked in a deep breath:

“He was my best friend. I think you need to come with me, sergeant.”

“But, sir?”

Luke gave her a stern look, and Madeline wisely shut up as Luke led the way out. He didn’t say anything but led the way to Marion’s office. Marion looked up from her paperwork when Luke walked in, but the look on his face told her to stay quiet. Marion watched as Luke went straight to his safe and opened it. Madeline was still in awe, standing in the presence of the queen. Marion saw what was happening, stood up, and locked the door, confusing Madeline. Luke pulled a wooden box out of the safe and set it on a spare desk.

“Before we go any further, Madeline, I have a question for you. What rumors have you heard about where I came from?”

“Ah...”

“Don’t worry about any repercussions, Madeline.”

“Well, sir, some people say you are Christ returned.” Luke snorted. “Some say you’re the devil while others say you are from a distant, undiscovered land.”

“Well, Luke is a devil dog.” Marion put in.

“Oorah!” chimed Luke, and Marion smiled.

“Oorah, sir?”

“Sorry, Madeline. Marion knows about my past, and if you agree to the terms, I will tell you, too.”

“What are the terms, sir?”

“You can’t talk about anything you see or hear with anyone outside Marion’s inner circle.”

“Why?”

“Because the damage you could cause would undo everything Marion is trying to accomplish. I’m willing to tell you because I think you are trustworthy, and if you are willing to stay in the army, you will go far, possibly to the top.”