Chapter 19

York, Great Britain January 1068

Piers and Amée landed at Hull a few days before Christmas 1067. Even though neither could read, Piers spoke enough English to get by and quickly found his way to the train station, where a railroad employee helped him buy two tickets for York. The price annoyed Piers, but it was frigid out, and neither looked forward to walking to York.

An hour later, Piers and Amée were climbing off the train in York, not believing how short the journey was. Now, they had to find the queen to warn her about the noble’s plot. Their problem was they couldn’t just go around asking the people because Piers feared they might think they were assassins. Eventually, they found themselves in front of the hospital, which was good because Amée wasn’t feeling well. She feared her worst nightmare was coming true, and one of those vial nobles planted a bastard in her.

The receptionist noticed the young couple didn’t speak English, so she called Cateline to be the interpreter. Cateline was none other than Cateline Martin, the wife of the same French noble who screwed Guiscard. After she learned to read and write English, she grew bored in their manor house and wanted to help people. After the children she lost, she naturally gravitated toward medicine and quickly landed a job as a nurse in the city hospital. Nurses here were respected and tasked with vital jobs caring for patients.

A cold chill settled on Cateline as she filled in the couple’s information. She had a feeling the young woman was pregnant and might not want to keep the baby. After taking Piers and Amée to an examination room, Cateline went to fetch Alice, the only doctor who would do abortions.

Since Alice didn’t speak French, she brought Cateline back with her; this wasn’t the time to have a miscommunication. It didn’t take long for Alice to determine the woman was, in fact, pregnant. When Amée heard, she broke into tears and hugged Piers like he was the last person on Earth.

“Piers, what happened to your wife?” Alice asked while Amée was sobbing.

“Our lord took Amée the night of our wedding and used her all night. The next morning, an English noble showed up, and they both used her before returning her to me.”

“Damn nobles. You said there was an English noble there?” Piers nodded, “Do you know who he was?”

“Wulfnoth Godwinson, Earl of Wessex. Why does it matter?”

When Alice heard who it was, she turned paler than usual. “This is very important; what was Wulfnoth doing in France?”

“He was looking to ally with Guiscard so they could rebel simultaneously. The...”

“Stop, Piers. I know some people you need to talk to. Stay here.”

Alice got off her stool and went out the door. Piers tried to ask Cateline what was happening, but she didn’t know either. Alice rushed to the hospital telegraph office. When she arrived, she rushed past the usual operator and went straight to the manager.

“I need to send an urgent message to Queen Marion and General MacDougall.” She then picked up a pencil:

URGENT

CC: MM

DR. KENSLEY

“Keep sending this until acknowledged,” Alice said as she thrust the message into the manager’s hands and headed out the door without explaining. The manager looked at the message and shrugged as he sat down to send it. The message meant Contingency Code: Meet Me. Before going back into the room, she stopped by the reception desk and told the lady working what room she was in but not who might be asking for her. With the messages sent, Alice fixed her hair and calmly walked back to the examination room. It was time to do what she should have done first, examine the poor woman.

When Alice walked back in, she was back in doctor mode and refused to talk about the English noble but instead focused on Amée. Alice informed Amée that if she didn’t want to keep the baby, she could do an abortion, and Amée wouldn’t need to worry about having a noble’s bastard. Just as Alice finished explaining the abortion process to Piers and Amée, there was a knock at the door. Alice stood up and checked to find Marion, Luke, and Gabriella waiting.

Knowing that Marion spoke fluent French, Alice turned to Cateline and signaled her to leave. Cateline didn’t need to hear what Piers was going to be discussing. Before following Cateline, Alice told Marion what was happening, and Marion nodded and walked in, closing the door behind her.

“Hello, allow me to introduce General MacDougall, chief of the army, Colonel Gabriella Smiten, head of intelligence, and me, Marion of York, Queen of Great Britain.” Piers and Amée fell to their knees in front of Marion. “Stand up, please. I hear you have something you want to tell me.”

“Yes, your majesty. Amée was at a meeting between Wulfnoth Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, and Viscount Guiscard of Orléans regarding an alliance. They agreed to rebel simultaneously, so if Philip asks for help, you won’t be able to send any. After the rebels win, English merchants would have trade concessions in France and tax-free trade.”

“Do you know when this is planned to happen?” asked Gabriella

“The day after Easter.”

“Did they say why I would help Philip?” asked Marion

“That question was asked, and Wulfnoth’s answer was trade concessions, land grants, the devil she knows.”

“The devil I know? Philip has been trying to undermine me since I came to the throne. So, what is your story? Why are you trying to help me?”

Amée started telling Marion how she was raped on her wedding day and how evil Guiscard was.

“What did you do in France?” Luke asked, and Marion translated.

“I was a blacksmith,” answered Piers.

When Luke heard the translation, he nodded. He needed metal workers badly, but they had to be able to speak English at a minimum and preferred if they could read and write. Luke always thought it was criminally stupid for one country to try to be multilingual in public dealings. Being an engineer who worked worldwide, he had seen firsthand what happens when workers on a site don’t speak the same language. Projects took longer and were more expensive because there would be costly and time-consuming mistakes due to miscommunications.

“Piers, after you learn English, look into working at British Steel. They always need metal workers and will be glad to have you.”

“Thank you, general, but how do you know?”

“I have to work with them all the time to get guns on time.” The last thing Luke was going to mention was he owned British Steel and had introduced their processes.

“Before we leave, do you have anything else to tell us?” asked Marion

“Be very careful when dealing with Guiscard; he is more fearsome than a wolf, has the morals of a snake, and loves young women and girls.”

“Thank you, Piers and Amée, for your information. I am sorry for what you had to go through, and I hope you’ll be able to find a new home here in Britain.”

With that, Marion, Luke, and Gabriella left. As they walked out, Alice and Cateline went back in. Alice still didn’t know how Amée would proceed, but if it were her, she would have the abortion. Piers and Amée got an abortion to be sure any child Amée had would be theirs. After the procedure, Alice gave instructions to Amée and Piers for post-abortion care and stressed the importance of following them.

With Piers and Amée taken care of, Alice excused herself and went to Marion’s office, where she found the rest of the inner circle, even Bard, which was odd because Luke had told him to take some vacation.

During the meeting, Gabriella laid out all the intelligence gathered so far. It looked like a major rebellion in the making and was timed to occur around Easter. There were nobles from almost every corner of England involved, many with personal bodyguard units that added to the numbers. Gabriella estimated there would be between fifteen and twenty thousand men participating in the initial rebellion. The numbers after that would depend on everyone’s performance. Unlike the French nobles, English nobles had the lessons of firearm warfare pounded into them, so it was highly likely everyone in the rebellion would be armed with firearms.

“Now that you have all the information, the floor is open for comment or question.”

Matt was up first, “How sure are you of your information Gabby?”

“Most of it has come from multiple sources, although today is the first we have heard about an alliance with the French nobles. It’s still early, so we might get some confirmation before long.”

“So, we are sure the nobles are going to rebel. How are we going to stop them?”

“Who said I want to stop them, Matt?” Matt looked at Marion like she had grown another head. “Don’t look at me like that, Matt. This is our chance to break the nobility permanently.”

“How?” Matt asked curiously.

“How will the people react when they see us fighting to maintain their freedom and prosperity from a bunch of leeches who would put them back in chains? The only people who are angry with the situation are the nobility; even the Welsh and Scots are behaving.”

“Colonel Smiten,” Luke asked, speaking for the first time, “do you know where the nobles will gather to rebel?”

“Not yet general, but most of the nobles we suspect of planning on rebelling are concentrated in the old kingdom of Wessex, with the rest in West Mercia.”

“They think they can find another King Alfred?” asked Alice.

“I guess,” answered Marion. “Not sure why because they have me, and if they shut up and follow the law, they would make a lot more money.”

“It’s not about money, sweetheart,” answered Luke quietly “it’s about power. When you took their power over the serfs, this rebellion was destined to happen; the trade embargo with Brittany was just the justification.”

“What are your thoughts on how we should proceed, general?”

Luke thought carefully before answering. Like Marion, he wanted the nobles to rebel so they could be crushed. The question was whether they move one of the divisions into the area and possibly tip the rebelling nobles off that Marion knew what they were doing or wait until they rebelled and most likely killed many people before Luke could get forces into the area.

“I think we should consider moving the 1^st division and basing them,” Luke paused to find a shire map of England. Looking at the map, he put his finger down, “Here, on the border between Berkshire and Buckshire just east of Oxford. From there, the division can quickly respond anywhere in Wessex but still be close to a rail line for resupply. The 2^nd division is still in Wales and can deal with any problems in Mercia; their cavalry brigade should be ready to return in a week. Colonel Smiten, is there any indication of nobles in East Mercia rebelling?”

“After the thrashing you gave them last year? All the nobles who might rebel sold out and left. While I’m thinking about it, what are your plans for the 3^rd division?”

“They will be moved to a new base on the border between England and Scotland. Hopefully, that will keep the Scots in line. The grenadiers will remain at the base outside of York.”

Everyone around the table nodded. Even though Marion was queen, and technically Luke’s boss, she gave him free rein over tactical military matters. That was fine with Luke; he didn’t want the headaches of strategic issues or politicians sticking their noses in places where they don’t belong. Marion gave him a budget and left him alone, although she did have audits to make sure the money was being spent how it should.

“Does anyone else have something to bring up?” Marion asked of everyone at the table.

Everyone shook their heads, and Marion dismissed everyone but Luke. Gabriella stayed behind as part of her job. Once the door closed, Marion turned to Luke;

“What do you think? Can we win, or should we develop some escape plan?”

“Can we win? Of course, we can win, but we can lose just as easily. If the nobles were smart, they would launch a guerilla war and wear us down as we did with Cecilia. If they were really smart, they would do it in a way to keep their hands clean, but I don’t anticipate them doing that because it’s usually seen as dishonorable. We must still be careful to avoid atrocities against the non-combatants because they make excellent propaganda for the rebels.”

“So, do you think we should be making plans? I don’t really want to be tied to a stake with Gabby again.”

“I don’t think so. Rebellions rarely succeed and usually fall apart quickly. Given that you have broad support from the lower and middle classes and the military, we should be good.”

“Ya, I don’t see the military going against Marion,” giggled Gabby. Luke smiled and picked Gabby up to kiss her while he fondled her butt. “Marion,” Gabby squealed, “your husband is manhandling me!”

“And you enjoy it!” laughed Marion

Luke smiled warmly at Gabriella as he put her down, and she ran to hide behind Marion. Since all three had work to do, they couldn’t get naked and greasy, so they cleaned the office and put away all sensitive materials before exiting. As Marion and Gabriella headed back to Marion’s office, Luke was headed in the other direction. Since he had insisted that Bard take some vacation, Luke was running his business empire.

Luke’s business continued to grow under Bard’s management; in fact, it grew faster under Bard than it did under Luke. While there were many arms of Luke’s empire, the strongest four: were steel, railroads, arms manufacturing, and mining. These four areas were responsible for almost seventy percent of Luke’s profits, which were reinvested in the business to help it grow.

Unlike the early capitalist from Luke’s history, he worked hard to be ethical. The minimum age to work for any of Luke’s companies was fourteen and sixteen for manual labor; children need not apply. The pay was the same for men and women if they did the same job. A pay gap showed up because, just like in Luke’s old universe, men and women are attracted to different jobs. Luke worked to keep it under control, but he knew it would never go away. Women tended to go into jobs requiring nurturing, while the men tended toward building and engineering.

Another area in which Luke differed from early capitalist was safety. Safety was something Luke took very seriously, and had mandated safety equipment as soon as it became available. Anyone caught without their safety gear while working in an area that required it would be instantly fired.

Today was special for Luke; his new steel mill on the River Derwent was coming online. Luke had time to reflect that steel mills in his time were never built that fast. What Luke found annoying was he had no access to critical metals like vanadium or nickel, but at least he had access to iron and copper ore as well as Galena for his lead and sulfur needs. He knew Silver was also found with Galena, which would help Marion. Luke was happy that he had an industrial plant being built to produce sulfuric acid using the lead chamber process. While not the way he would prefer, it worked.

When the train that Luke was on pulled up to the station that served the River Derwent Steel Mill, he could see the immense amount of activity going on around the plant to ready for it to come online. This mill would be the world’s first integrated steel mill, and Luke estimated it would produce around twenty thousand tons of steel a year. While not enough to cover the current demand completely, it would almost cover it.

Luke stood back and watched as workers prepared to light the coking ovens. It would be a few days before the blast furnaces were blown in and a few more days until steel started coming out the other end. After watching the coking ovens being lit, Luke decided to walk through the plant. What he found most interesting was how quiet everything was inside the main production building, a silence that wouldn’t last much longer. Within days, the fires of industry would take light where he was walking, and the silence would be drowned out by the sound of progress. It would take time to reach full capacity because there wasn’t enough iron ore currently being mined to feed it, and Luke was determined to fix that as soon as the steel became available.

One place Luke made sure to visit was the quality control lab. Techs here would be responsible for ensuring the steel leaving the plant met specifications. Luke found everything in the lab was in its place. Finally, Luke was satisfied and went home.

It was dark before Luke got home, but he found the ladies still awake. Gabby was still horny from Luke picking her up earlier and wanted a different ride before bed. Since he felt grimy, Luke slipped into the shower, where he was interrupted by Gabriella.

Even though the water was chilly, she was hot as hell as she hopped into Luke’s arms and wrapped her legs around him. Looking into his blue eyes, Gabby used one of her hands to grip Little Luke and guide him into the oven between her legs. Feeling the tip of his cock slide between Gabby’s folds, Luke thrust up and embedded himself deep inside Gabby. Now she held on for dear life as Luke tried to give her the ride of a lifetime.

In the bedroom, Marion and Alice heard slapping flesh and smiled at each other. Gabriella had been aroused for the last few days and now was getting her release. A deafening scream indicated she had gotten her release. Soon, a naked Luke emerged from the bathroom carrying an equally nude Gabby, although she was glassy-eyed. Marion and Alice smiled as they grabbed some towels to dry their lovers. As Alice was drying Luke, she used her mouth to clean the juices off his cock and to keep it erect.

After Luke was dry, Alice pushed him onto the bed and mounted him. As Luke lay next to Marion, Alice was riding Luke hard. When Alice noticed Luke wasn’t getting close to his orgasm, she tightened her vaginal muscles and began milking his cock; she was putting off her orgasm until Luke got there. As Luke’s cock swelled, Alice let herself go, and together, they achieved release rapidly, followed by Alice falling asleep on top of Luke. Luke looked at Marion, smiled, kissed her, and followed Alice into dreamland.

Marion groaned when she woke up the following day. The sun wasn’t up yet, but she had to get up because several meetings were scheduled today. As she rolled out of bed, she cursed Luke for waking her and being so energetic in the morning. Marion’s arse barely cleared the bed before Luke kissed her and was out the door. Working out with the army in the morning was doing wonders for him and deepening his troop’s respect for him. They couldn’t complain about PT when their commander, who was at least ten years older, worked out with them and outperformed them. The troops’ usual joke was: of course, the general was in better shape; he had to satisfy three women, with one being the queen.

Forty minutes after rolling out of bed, Marion dragged her arse into her office. First, Luke annoyed her by waking her up and being full of energy. Now, Gabriella was doing the same thing.

“That’s it,” Marion grumbled. “You’re not getting laid anymore!”

“Oh, stop being such an old wench. You love me, and you know it.”

“Yes, I do love you, Gabby. What I don’t love is everyone being so energetic early in the morning.”

“Alice isn’t. She was still sleeping when we left.”

“That’s because the sun isn’t up yet, and she doesn’t rise until the sun comes up.”

The first thing for Marion to do was what she did the first thing every morning in the office. The night staff had compiled a small pile of reports in her inbox, mostly intelligence reports and the day’s schedule. Marion noticed that she was scheduled to meet the representative of the Holy Roman Empire first thing in the morning and had Gabby pull all intel they had regarding the empire. It took Marion only an hour to pour over all the intel they had and get a rough idea of what was happening in the heart of Europe. To Marion, it sounded like Henry IV was trying to follow in her footsteps and, so far, was doing a decent job. Finally, a knock on her door told Marion her appointment had arrived.

Gretchen had been nervous all morning; it hadn’t taken her very long to get an appointment to meet with the queen, and she worried about making a bad impression on her hero. When the door swung open, Gretchen had to steel herself to walk through, but when she did, her composer nearly came undone. The blonde woman standing in front of a large desk was none other than the gorgeous blonde Gretchen had seen at the bathhouse.

“Hello, I’m Marion of York, Queen of Great Britain,” said the blonde. Then pointing to an equally beautiful brunette behind her, “and that is Colonel Gabriella Smiten, head of the Household Guards.”

“H ... H ... Hello, I am Gretchen, Emperor Henry IV’s representative.”

Marion looked back at Gabby and could see the amused glint in her eyes. Then turning back to Gretchen

“Relax, Gretchen, and take a deep breath.”

“I’m sorry, your majesty, I’m just so nervous. This is the first time I’ve done this sort of thing, and you’re my hero.”

Marion laughed, “Marion is fine. Would you like to take a seat?” she gestured to a chair in front of her desk, and when Gretchen sat down, Marion walked back to her chair. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Wine, please.” Marion nodded and walked to the door to ask her secretary for a bottle of wine and two glasses before returning to her desk. “Thank you, Marion. I can’t believe how nervous I am.”

Marion smiled as she sat. It was good that Gretchen spoke English because Marion didn’t speak German and didn’t think Luke would be able to understand Gretchen either. Luke had told her that he spoke German with a Prussian accent, a German state that didn’t exist yet. If Luke had his way, Prussia would never come into existence because Germany would be united before Prussia could be founded.

“So, what is your relation with Henry IV? Why did he send you?”

“I’m his mistress,” Gretchen confessed, her cheeks turning red, “and I’m pregnant. Henry wanted me somewhere safer until after I give birth.”

“I’ll take you to Dr. Kensley once we finish this meeting since I have a few hours until my next meeting.”

“Thank you, but you don’t need to do that.”

“Don’t worry about it. She’s my husband’s mistress and shares our bed every night. Just like Gabriella, only she is my mistress.”

Gretchen’s mouth fell open, and she couldn’t get it to close. This was something she had never thought about before, and to her, it was sinful beyond measure.

“Are you not concerned about your soul?”

“No. I am not. This is MY body,” pointing to her body, “not some churchman’s body. I decide what brings me pleasure, not some book written a thousand years ago. These are the same churchmen who say women are weak; I would like to see them try to give birth.” Marion paused, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, but I’m tired of hearing that question. Can you forgive me?” asked Marion. Before Gretchen could answer, there was a knock at the door, and the secretary brought their wine in and poured the first glass. “Thank you. Hold all messages unless marked urgent until I finish this meeting.”

“Of course, Ma’am,” and the secretary backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Gretchen took a moment to have some wine, mainly to give herself time to think. Marion wasn’t like what she had imagined; while Marion was more beautiful than Gretchen imagined, she also had a temper and liked women. Gretchen then noticed the guard behind Marion had shifted slightly, exposing the handles of the two firearms under her coat. At that moment, Gretchen realized that without thinking about it, she had underestimated Marion.

“I am sorry, Marion, but in my opinion, how you live is sinful, but it’s not my place to judge.”

“Thank you, that’s all I’m asking for. You might disagree with me, but don’t judge me for living my life as it’s right for me.” Looking at a clock against the wall. “Would you like to meet the doctor now? If you will be here for the entirety of your pregnancy, there’s no need to hurry. It will also give us more time to get used to each other, and hopefully, we can reach agreements on any number of issues between our people.”

“I would like that, Marion.”

The ladies finished their wine and stood to leave. Luke had warned Marion about drinking while pregnant, but most water wasn’t safe to drink, even in York. The aqueducts to bring fresh water into the city were a few years away from completion. While the current drinking water was treated, it didn’t taste very good, and while people drank it, they tended to mix it with spirits to make it taste better.

Marion had picked this time because she knew Alice was between classes and had a few minutes. Unfortunately for Alice, she had to teach many of the courses for new doctors and nurses herself because she was the best. Old doctors routinely called Alice a fraud even though she always got much better results than they did. So, to avoid the old-fashioned doctors ruining everything, Alice taught the classes herself. She always got a kick when they were doing autopsies, and the old doctors vomited.

When they got to the hospital, they had problems finding Alice but finally found her in the middle of surgery. Marion sent a message to Alice that she wanted to see her, but it wasn’t urgent. Gabby dismissed the guards and sat beside Marion and Gretchen in Alice’s office. Marion and Gretchen chatted for almost an hour before Alice came in, and Marion was glad to see she had changed out of her bloody clothes.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Alice Kensley, and who might you be?” Alice asked, seeing a woman she didn’t know talking with Marion.

“I’m Gretchen, ambassador of Emperor Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire. The queen thought I should see you because I am pregnant.”

“Ah. How far along are you?”

“I only discovered I was pregnant last month, and Henry sent me here because York has the reputation as the cleanest city in the world, and most babies born here survive along with their mothers.”

“Thank you; we’ll do our best to live up to the reputation,” Alice stated. “Why don’t you remove your dress and get up on this table so I can look at you?”

Gretchen was nervous as she disrobed and got on Alice’s exam table while Marion and Gabby looked on. Alice started the exam by asking Gretchen some questions about her history and her family’s history. She knew nothing about her family’s history because she had been orphaned at a young age. Alice then put her stethoscope on Gretchen’s chest, and she jumped;

“That’s cold,” she squealed.

“Sorry about that,” Alice said with a smile while she warmed it in her hand before putting it back on Gretchen’s chest. When Gretchen asked what Alice was doing, Alice took the ends of her stethoscope and put them in Gretchen’s ears. Her face lit up when she heard her heart, and Alice chuckled. “When we get to about 20 weeks, we should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat. If I had to guess, you are about ten weeks now, and everything looks good.”

Alice finished her exam, and Gretchen put her clothes on so they could leave. Alice had a class to get ready for, and Marion had to get back for her next meeting. Gretchen left the hospital in a state of confusion. Marion was so kind to her, but according to church teachings, she was evil and sentenced to Hell. When she walked out the door, it started to snow, and that’s when Gretchen noticed how warm the hospital was compared to outside. Snow didn’t bother Gretchen; she was dressed for the weather but couldn’t help but wonder how the hospital was heated. Something else she noticed was there were no drafts in the hospital.

After Gretchen returned to the house she was renting, she started writing a list of questions she wanted to ask. It took her hours to write everything down, and she had eight pages of questions by the time she was done.

The rest of Marion’s day was just as long. Unlike Gretchen, she met with Bard regarding the progress reports on the new steel mill. The other meeting was worse; it was a budget meeting. At least this budget meeting had good news; the treasury was running an annual surplus of £20,000. This surplus was projected to continue, and Marion had to remind herself what Luke had warned her about; surpluses never last, and while in good times, invest the surplus in ways that when the economy slows, the saved money can be used to boost the economy.

When the government had a surplus, it was moved into a holding company with stakes in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and construction. The way in which the company was set up prevented government officials from messing with it. Marion also invested in infrastructure projects such as roads, canals, and sewers.

The following day, Gretchen was in the market looking for bread and meat when she saw Marion walk by. Although the market was crowded, Gabriella saw Gretchen and pointed her out to Marion.

“Hello, Gretchen. What are you looking for?” asked Marion

“Hello, Bread and meat for later.”

“Ah, I’m going to the steel mill for a tour since it’s in operation. Would you like to join me?”