Chapter 14

North Sea off the coast of Norfolk. September 1067

A stiff breeze came from the southwest as Charles of Domnonée stood at the bow of his cog and looked over the waters of the North Sea. They had been at sea for four days, and he figured they had a few days before getting to the British base at Hull. Over the last few days, the weather had been ideal, and they made good time. A yell from a lookout disturbed his thoughts.

“SHIP OFF THE PORT BOW! CLOSING RAPIDLY!”

Charles looked and didn’t see anything at first. As he watched, a white cloud came up over the horizon. Over the next half an hour, the cloud came closer, and Charles could see the cloud was actually sails and was like no ship he had ever seen with its tall sails. The closer it came, the more details became apparent, and Charles realized this was a British ship. No sailors on the cog had ever seen a ship sail so close to the wind and to a man they were envious.

One of their escorting ships realized this too and moved to intercept. Charles cringed and knew the British would know they were hostile once their ship fired. Sure enough, the Breton ship fired its bow-mounted cannon and missed the British ship by a wide margin.

While the Breton gunners had practice shooting at other slow ships like their own, they had no experience trying to shoot at a ship moving as fast as the one approaching them. Most ships of this time were Viking longboats, galleys, or cogs. A cog is a small ship with one square sail which doesn’t do the crew any good if they have a headwind.

The British ship seemed to accelerate as it came closer. Finally, Charles could see the British ship clearly and was even more envious. Suddenly an enormous billow of smoke erupted from the ship’s bow, and Charles heard a thunderous blast before hearing a whistle. Charles looked and saw a splash next to the vessel that had fired at the British ship. Then to his astonishment, the splash got much larger. Looking around at the other sailors and soldiers on the ship, Charles could see their jaws hangings as they tried to wrap their minds around what they saw.

Before they could wrap their minds around what they saw, the enemy fired again. This time the shell didn’t miss. The round hit the Breton cog midships and exploded in the ship’s bilge. This blew the bottom of the boat out and broke its back. Everyone on Charles’s ship watched in awe as the ship’s ends went skyward and disappeared beneath the waves within two minutes of being hit.

The enemy ship sailed close, and Charles saw the British sailors manning their stations. He was curious about the six painted on the bow of the enemy boat. As the British boat passed, one of the other Breton ships closest to the enemy tried to break and run. This took them close to the British, and Charles heard an extraordinary sound, like cloth tearing. There was another billow of smoke along the side of the British ship, and the next sound Charles heard was the faint screams coming from the ship that was trying to run. Charles watched as the ship started to list. As the ship listed, the speed it listed increased until it rolled over. Within minutes, the ship slipped beneath the waves

The British ship swung around the rear of the convoy and headed up the far side. Chares was thankful it didn’t fire anymore as it sailed off in the distance. The Breton fleet was in a tough spot. They didn’t have enough food or water on board to make it back to Brittany, and the wind was against them. The British had discovered them and had already sunk two ships. Now Charles had a tough decision: go ahead with the raid as planned, turn around and return to Brittany, or turn and raid along the east coast of Britain where there wasn’t anything of value. Each choice was terrible. If they followed the planned raid, the British would be waiting for them and could sink them all. If they turned back, the men would be starving by the time they got back, and a part would probably die. The best of the bad options would be to raid along the Thames and hope for the best, but that would take just as long to get to as it would reach the Humber. Charles’s choice was made for him when he looked behind them and saw storm clouds building behind them. They would have to go on to the Humber, so Charles gave the orders.

Lieutenant Ewing kept the Breton fleet in sight even though the hull of her ship was below the horizon; her lookout in the crow’s nest could still see them with his binoculars. These were yet another device made possible by Luke, and even though they were only 10X and heavy, they were far better than the naked eye. Ewing figured the Breton fleet would turn South or West once she sighted them and sank two of their ships. She wouldn’t have sunk any if they hadn’t fired on her or tried to charge her. Her orders were to observe but not engage. The lieutenant had been in the service of Queen Marion long enough to know that as long as she had a good reason, most orders were flexible, and Ewing had a good reason. For over an hour, they watched the Breton fleet, and once they were sure the Bretons were staying on course, Ewing ordered full sail and headed to Hull so she could report the incoming fleet.

With a much faster ship and better navigational aids, Lieutenant Ewing’s boat returned to Hull in only ten hours. She was immediately taken to wake up Brigadier General Hall to make her report. Pollyanna almost flipped out of bed when her guards burst in, but when it became apparent they had important news, she swung her feet to the floor and sat up. Ewing saw Pollyanna was naked and tried her best not to stare at the scars on the general’s chest.

“You had better have a good reason for waking me up, sergeant,” she snapped at her guard.

“Yes, ma’am. I do. This is Lieutenant Ewing,” gesturing to the lieutenant,” in charge of patrol boat six, and she has a critical report to make.”

Pollyanna’s gaze fixated on the lieutenant, and Ewing suddenly wished some disaster would happen so she didn’t have to talk to the general. But knowing with her luck, that wouldn’t happen. Ewing looked at Pollyanna and saw the general was becoming more pissed as time went on, so Ewing took a deep breath and started her report:

“I was patrolling off the coat of Norfolk when I came across a large fleet flying the colors of Brittany on heading 340. As I approached the fleet, a ship in front of the fleet fired upon us, forcing me to take defensive action with the main battery. My gunners missed with their first shot at 800 meters by 10 meters, but their second shot hit the enemy ship amidships, and the vessel quickly sank. As I swept down the western side of the formation to ensure we had an accurate ship count, another vessel broke and charged us. I engaged with the portside Vulcan, sinking the target. Then I finished circling the enemy fleet without further incidents and counted 63 enemy ships. After withdrawing beyond the horizon, we kept the fleet under observation from the crow’s nest for an hour. The opposing fleet is still headed in this direction, and I estimate they will be here late this evening or tomorrow morning.”

Pollyanna was tired when the lieutenant started her report, but by the time she was done, Pollyanna was wide awake.

“Lieutenant, get your report written out and signed. After that, return to your boat and make sure you are ready for action. We’ll be sending the entire fleet out at sunrise. GUARD,” Pollyanna snapped. “I want all the ship’s captains and XOs in the command center by 03.00. Send word that all ship’s crew without a task needed for their departure are immediately restricted to their ship. As soon as I’m dressed, I’ll send this report to the queen and inform her of our actions. Is there anything else?”

The guard and lieutenant both answered negative and were dismissed to carry out their assignments. Pollyanna went to her window and stared out into the darkness. The stress of running the shipyard, her commercial empire, preparing for enemy action, and being pregnant wore on her. Finally, she took a deep breath and turned to get dressed. Marion needed this news as soon as possible. Pollyanna walked to the telegraph and had the message sent with a receiver verification. That way, Pollyanna knew Marion got the message.

After Marion’s reply came back, Pollyanna headed to the briefing; it was in ten minutes. The talking dropped off instantly as soon as Polly walked through the door.

“I assume Lt. Ewing has already told everyone why you are here?” Around the group, heads nodded. “Very well. I want all the ships out of port by sunrise. Is there anyone who won’t make the deadline?”

“No, ma’am,” the rest of the group sang out.

“Good. None of the Breton fleet is to escape. I don’t know if any of you know, but the Welsh are gathering on their border to attack, and our spies thought the Breton forces might go to reinforce them. Thankfully, they decided to hit us instead, but if we let any of them escape, they would probably end up in Wales.”

“What are your orders, general?”

“I want the entire fleet captured or sunk. Captured would be better because that will give the queen more leverage over Hawise.”

The group spent the next hour going over plans before Pollyanna released them to attend to their duty. Once they left, she called the brigade commander in and briefed him on what was happening. He suggested that Pollyanna send the alarm to every telegraph station near the coast to warn them if the Bretons landed elsewhere. Pollyanna nodded her agreement and hurried to the telegraph office to send the warnings and collect incoming messages.

By this time, the eastern sky was starting to lighten, so Polly made her way to the docks to watch the fleet sail. Watching the ships slip their moorings, Pollyanna felt immense pride as her babies went to war, and these ships were her babies. She had helped design and build them, selected the officers to command them, and ordered them to go to war. Once the ships disappeared from sight, Polly sent an update to Marion. Things were out of her hands now.

Pollyanna hadn’t been the only one watching the sun rise that morning. Back in York, Marion stood on her balcony with Luke’s arm around her naked shoulder as the first rays of morning kissed her nude body and got caught in her golden hair. Her husband wore the same clothes, but his hair didn’t catch the light like hers.

“I wish we didn’t have to fight. There will be a lot of men getting killed later today.” Luke said with obvious melancholy in his voice.

“I know, Luke. But in this world, we haven’t got past fighting over dynastic or religious reasons.”

“We fought for religious reasons too, sweetheart.”

“True, but from what you’ve said, it wasn’t as prevalent as it is now.”

“Except for the Muslim world, we didn’t, but most people were nowhere near as religious as people in this world. Anti-Semitic views were still strong, but you didn’t have the Catholic church beating the drums of war. Very few Christian churches did. The link between the Christian religion and war was broken for the most part during the Thirty Years’ War.”

“I love you, Luke, but I have to defend my people.”

“I know, Marion. You know I’ll never disobey an order, but that doesn’t mean I have to like killing others. God, I pray the Breton fleet surrenders before we kill most of them.”

“They won’t, and you know it. Every damn noble has a chip on his shoulder, as you say, and they have a hard time seeing reason.”

Luke looked down into Marion’s bright blue eyes and melted as she reached up and pulled his head down until their lips met. They might have been married a year and change, but they both felt the electricity flow through their bodies as their mouths and tongues met. Any thought of morning PT with the army was forgotten as another form of calisthenics came to mind.

Marion jumped into Luke’s arms, wrapped her legs around him, and smashed her lips into his as he carried her back to their bed. As they laid back down, Alice moaned at being disturbed and rolled over. Marion ended up on top as she and Luke started kissing faster, and their body heat increased with their kissing. As Marion slid up and down Luke’s body, her slit spread her special grease all over the underside of Luke’s cock. Once she had enough lube on his cock Luke pulled her up further, and as she slid back, Luke’s cock slid into her. Marion’s eyes dilated, and her nostrils flared as Luke’s cock stretched her, and she groaned when Luke bottomed out.

With Luke’s large, rough hands on her hips, Marion rotated her hips in a circular motion, and Luke thrust up into her. This combination drove Marion nuts, and within minutes her back arched as she came hard. Luke moved one of his hands off her hips and pinched Marion’s clit, making her squirt all over Luke’s crotch.

Marion collapsed on top of Luke and breathed hard as Luke rubbed her back, waiting for her to calm down. When she looked up, Luke swallowed at the look in Marion’s eyes which were glazed over and filled with fiery lust. Even though Marion was much smaller than Luke, she gripped him with her knees and rolled over, taking Luke with her. With Luke on top of her, Marion hissed:

“Fuck me, Luke! Fuck your queen hard! Drive me into the mattress. Fill me with your love!!”

Luke set out to do just that, and the first step was to lift Marion’s heels and put them on his shoulders. He took one hand and put it on her mound where one of his thumbs could strum her clit as he slid in and out. As Luke was thrusting, Marion reached up and grabbed his arms to hold on as Luke pounded her, as her hair flew all over, and her boobs bounced in time with Luke’s thrusting.

Fifteen minutes later, Luke thrust into Marion and held it deep in her as he flooded her tunnel. Slowly, Luke laid down on top of Marion, and they shared a long, sweet kiss. Eventually, Luke rolled off her, and Marion snuggled up to him.

“You two finally done?” Gabriella groaned.

“Yep, for now,” Marion replied as she leaned over to kiss her lover on the cheek.

Just as Gabby closed her eyes, Alice’s twins started screaming; Gabby groaned, rolled over, and put a pillow over her head as Alice climbed out of bed. She enjoyed being thin again but found it annoying that her tits leaked constantly.

Just like Luke’s first redhead, Alice had been pregnant with twins, but she was able to give birth to them. Due to her small size, she had a challenging time, but with her medical staff’s support, Alice and the children came through tired but healthy. The first out was a girl named Rebecca MacDougall, causing Luke to sob as he hugged Alice. Child number two was a boy named Tomas Lucas MacDougall. With Alice’s two, Luke now had five children, three boys, and two girls. After Alice left to feed the twins, Marion turned to Luke:

“Luke, with enemy action starting in the North Sea and Wales about to invade, I want you to take a couple of days off,” she paused, “and stay out of your workshop. You need to unwind because it’s going to get busy around here. I don’t care what you do as long as it’s not work-related.”

“Marion...”

“Don’t Marion me general. I gave you an order, and I expect you to carry it out. I might be your wife, but I’m also the queen. Now, give me your keys.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Defeated, Luke handed over his keys and went to their library to read until the rest of the kids woke up. In the library, he found an ancient Greek mathematics book that Marion had just picked up. Luke found it fascinating how advanced the ancient Greeks were and how much knowledge had been lost over the centuries.

Finally, Luke heard the kids moving around, so he snuck to the nursery. He surprised Mackenzie, who squealed when she saw daddy and ran as fast as she could to hug him. After the children were fed, Luke played with them for hours. As Luke played, he had memories of his other life. Memories of playing with his niece and nephew, his father teaching him to hunt and fish, and his mother helping with his homework when he had problems.

When the kids laid down for a nap, so did Luke. It had been a long time since he had an afternoon nap, and grabbing a couple of hours of sleep felt good. Mackenzie woke him up when she flew into the room and jumped on him. Luke grabbed and picked her up over his head, causing her to giggle. As Luke put her down, he blew raspberries on her belly, and she laughed hard. Her feet touched the floor, and Mackenzie ran off as Luke chased her. He would catch her, tickle her, and she would twist around and “escape.” Just before supper, Marion and Gabriella came back and heard Luke laughing before they opened the door. They looked at each other and smiled as the guard opened the door.

They found Luke walking around the room on his hands and knees as Mackenzie rode on his back while hanging on to his shirt. Marion’s smile became warmer as she swooped in and scooped up Mackenzie before spinning around with her. Mackenzie’s feet flew out from centrifugal force, and laughter came from the other end. Eventually, Marion put Mackenzie down and kneeled in front of Luke to capture his lips. Looking into Luke’s eyes, she could see he was in a good mood because his eyes were bright blue instead of grey. After dinner, Luke started yawning.

“What’s wrong, Luke?” Marion asked with a sly smile.

“What’s wrong is I must be getting old because the kids wore me out. I think I’m going to go to bed.”

“Can I come with you?” Gabriella asked.

Marion and Alice looked at her weirdly. Gabby had avoided Luke since before Carl was born, and now she was asking to go to bed with him. She looked at the two other women:

“What? I feel like having a nice hard cock inside me this evening. Is there something wrong with that?”

“No. We just assumed you didn’t like men and would stay with Marion,” answered Alice.

“You’re not entirely wrong, Alice. I do prefer women and given a choice, I would rather have a female lover than a male one. Luke is different, though. I know without a shred of a doubt that I can trust him. I haven’t been with him for the last few months because I don’t want many children, and I can’t get pregnant if I don’t have sex with a man.”

Gabby followed Luke into the bedroom, where they made love for the first time in nine months. The feelings that Luke gave Gabby sent her to the moon and back as Gabby’s pussy remembered what having a cock inside it felt like. After multiple orgasms, Gabby was able to work her pussy enough to get Luke to cum, and they collapsed on the bed.