Chapter 25

Portsmouth, Great Britain. September 1068

A month after the battle, Luke was reading an intelligence report from Gretchen when a noise in the outer office attracted his attention. Before he could rise from his desk, a blonde whirlwind swept into his office and into his arms. Alice walked in behind Marion and closed the door. Marion had secretly taken the train down to see Luke; Alice was the only person who came with her. Gabriella hadn’t been told where Marion was going, only that she was leaving for a few days and wasn’t to be followed. Marion knew Gabriella would follow her and wasn’t worried.

When Marion kissed Luke, she tried to get her whole tongue in his mouth and used her powerful legs to rub her body up and down his. After a few minutes, Alice grew impatient and slapped Marion’s arse, getting a loud yip out of the queen. Marion let go of Luke and rubbed her arse. As soon as she was out of the way, Alice hopped onto Luke’s lap and repeated what Marion was doing with him. It was a bit harder for Alice because she hadn’t told Luke that she was pregnant again, and starting to show.

“Oh God, Luke! I missed you so much. When I heard about the battle and the number of casualties, my heart went into my throat because I was worried you were one of the causalities. We even got a false report that you were dead.”

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

“LUKE!!: squealed Marion and Alice. “We love you, and your death would crush us,” Alice said in a small voice.

“Alice is right, Luke. If you were to die, all three of us would be crushed. I know I could never remarry; nobody can take your place in my heart.”

Marion had tears running down her cheeks as she spoke, and looking into her eyes; Luke saw how hurt she was. Seeing two of his women cry because of something he said was like a knife to Luke’s heart, and he put his head down. Alice was still in his arms, so Luke used his free hand to turn her head to face him. He didn’t say anything when she faced him; he just moved forward and captured her soft lips, tasting her tears. Luke didn’t react to Alice’s pregnancy because he had finally accepted that a large percentage of pregnancies ended in failure. So far, he and his women had been lucky, but they knew that eventually, one would have a miscarriage or lose the child within the first year.

Alice moved her lips to Luke’s ear;

“Make love to me, my darling. Please, make me yours.”

Luke couldn’t think of a better idea as he stood up and leaned against his desk. There, he unbuttoned her shirt to reach her bare breast, which he started rubbing as soon as they came into view. Having Luke’s rough hands rub across her breasts took Alice’s breath away, and strange sounds came from her throat. When Luke ran his hand over her stomach, he could feel the mass that was his next child or children since Alice already had one set of twins. Alice felt her lover get harder when he felt the baby in her stomach.

Marion sat back and watched as her husband made his mistress a happy woman. Without putting Alice down, Luke went to a small closet and pulled some blankets out to put on the floor. Marion spread the blankets out, and Luke laid down with Alice. Alice’s body had taken control by this time, and she squirmed as Luke sucked on her sensitive nipples. As he sucked on her nipples, Luke unfastened Alice’s pants and pushed them down her hips. There was no need for more foreplay, Alice was soaked, and Luke was hard as iron.

Soon Luke was dressed similarly to Alice, and she pushed on his shoulders. Alice enjoyed being on top with Luke’s rough hands teasing her nipples. As soon as Luke’s spear penetrated Alice’s folds, she began rolling her hips. It had been too long since she had Luke inside her, and her body was eager to make up for lost time. Marion and Gabriella’s tongues might have been able to give her an orgasm, but the ones that Luke gave her put the others in the shade.

Alice rode Luke for as long as she could, but her body was rung out in the end. Luke made sure he was firmly planted inside her to roll them over, putting Luke on top as he began to drive deep into Alice. She was ragdoll by this time as she moved as if she had no bones. Every stroke Luke made caused Alice to cum and squirt several times. When her body realized Little Luke was expanding, it went into a frenzy, sucking every bit of cum from Luke’s body.

As the last of Luke’s cum left his body, Luke fell forward, exhausted. Alice dozed off with her legs spread wide. As soon as Luke rolled off, Marion had the perfect view of her husband’s cum dripping out of Alice’s still gaping tunnel. If she hadn’t passed out, Marion would have loved to lick all that cum out of her. Fortunately, Luke was awake, so Marion went to him and began sucking the juices still on his cock. While sucking on Luke’s cock, Marion managed to make it hard again, so she hopped on for a ride.

Marion had shed her clothes while watching Alice and Luke so she would be ready as soon as Luke and Alice were done. Knowing what Marion liked, Luke pinched her clit and nipple simultaneously; this ended Marion’s plans to outlast him as he sent her into the abyss, causing her to pass out as Luke emptied the remaining seminal fluid into her.

With Alice and Marion sleeping, Luke shifted and pulled Alice and Marion to him. Luke laid on his back and pulled both women to him, causing them to take a shoulder each and slip into a deeper sleep. Minutes later, Luke followed them into a deep slumber. While the three slept, Gabriella slipped in and stationed herself near the door to keep an eye out for trouble.

Marion was the first to wake up and saw Gabriella looking down on her.

“I seem to recall ordering you not to follow us.”

“And I hope my sovereign wouldn’t be so stupid as to think I would follow such an order.”

“I knew you wouldn’t when I gave you the order. That’s why I wasn’t worried about traveling; I figured you never let us out of your sight.”

Gabriella gave Marion a funny look;

“You saw me following you?”

Marion nodded.

“Alice actually noticed you first. You have a distinctive walk that gave you away.”

“Marion’s right, Gabby,” Luke broke in. “I noticed your walk the first time I watched you walk away; it was a religious experience.”

“Shut up, Luke!!” Gabby snapped. The smile on her face ruined the effect she was going for.

“Gabby, would you like some time with Luke?” Marion asked.

“No, I’m good for now. Maybe later. Right now, I would like to find something to eat.”

It took Luke, Marion, and Alice almost ten minutes to put their clothes on and clean up. Luke then escorted the ladies to the mess hall for a meal. The mess had been built right after the barracks and operated from sunrise to sunset. After eating, Luke wanted to introduce the women in his life to their adopted daughter.

Edhida was sitting at a desk practicing spelling when Luke entered his quarters. “Daddy!!” Edhida squealed as she jumped up to hug Luke. When she looked behind Luke, though, she froze. Edhida didn’t know who the women behind Luke were, but they looked important.

“Edhida, I want to introduce some people who are very important to me. First up,” grabbing Marion’s hand, “my wife and your new mother, Marion of York, Queen of Great Britain.” Edhida’s eyes almost jumped out of her skull; she had never imagined meeting royalty, never mind being adopted into the royal family. “Next up is Doctor Alice Kensley, my mistress, and last but not least is Colonel Gabriella Smiten, head of the Household Guard and Marion’s lover. Ladies,” Luke looked over his shoulder. “I would like to introduce Edhida. Her family was murdered in a pirate raid the day before the brigade arrived.”

Marion, Alice, and Gabriella all hugged a stunned Edhida. She had come from a simple fishing family, but now she was part of the most important family in Britain. Marion quickly explained to Edhida that she should call Marion “mom” and Gabriella and Alice “aunt.” The rest of the evening was spent with Marion, Alice, and Gabby getting to know Edhida and warning her of everything she would now face. They also started teaching Edhida how to act when going out in public with Marion. While the women were getting to know Edhida, Luke sat at a desk working on prints for a large warehouse.

When Luke’s soldiers cleared the land for the shipyard, they piled all the good trees up so they could be turned into lumber later. That lumber was then used to build warehouses, workshops, and barracks. Eventually, all the lumber would be replaced with brick construction, but there were no local brickmakers. However, the two drydocks were lined with concrete and had concrete for the gantry crane tracks foundations. The gantry cranes were powered by steam and built with steel.

The cranes were not the most impressive features of the site; that distinction belonged to the twin lighthouses at the mouth of the harbor. Each one stood sixty meters tall and had a powerful electric arc light with rotating mirrors at the top; this allowed them to be seen many kilometers out to sea and for navy ships to operate near shore safely. Their second reason was much more cynical. Luke knew the lights would also attract pirates, making them easier to spot and destroy. Lastly, the twin lighthouses were a national prestige project that trumpeted the superiority of Marion’s regime over all others.

For the next week, Marion toured the new port and surrounding area. One of her highlights was climbing to the top of the lighthouses and gasping at the marvelous view. The soldiers on guard duty smiled as they watched their monarch’s reaction. Luke also smiled; he was secretly designing a dirigible that would enable the British to control hundreds of square kilometers of ocean at a time. He could only imagine Marion’s reaction to the view from the air.

Finally, it was time for Marion to return to York. Luke still had a month of work to finish before he could return. Marion’s return party included one extra person; Edhida. She would go to York with Marion, enabling her to have a full-time tutor because Luke didn’t have the time to tutor her full-time and work on the naval base.

Luke stood on the train platform until he could no longer see Marion’s train. Her short time around made Luke realize how badly he missed her. He also had the answer to which of the women he loved the most. Even though Alice reminded him of his first real love, it was Marion that Luke had missed the most, and her departure ripped his heart out. Eventually, Luke sighed and left. It was time to return to work because the faster the base was in operation, the quicker he would have Marion in his arms again.

Every day that passed, the naval base looked more and more like a naval base and not some old harbor town. Everything was laid out according to a plan for efficient use. The streets were paved in concrete, with water and sewer lines running under the streets. On either side of both entrances to the bay were concrete and earth forts armed with heavy artillery.

While Marion was boarding the train, Gretchen finally received Henry’s letter. When she read it, it confirmed everything British agents had been sending. The Empire’s economy was slowing, and Henry was responsible. After reading the letter, she sat it down on her desk and looked at it. When starting her current job, the depth of the British intelligence network had surprised her, but now nothing surprised her. Even this letter wasn’t surprising; the only surprising bit to Gretchen was she hadn’t received it earlier. After looking at the letter for five minutes, Gretchen picked it up, laid it in the room’s fireplace, lit it on fire, and watched as the flames consumed it. Henry had made his bed; now, he had to sleep in it. Gretchen loved her new job and her new boss. Marion was easy to get along with, and Gabriella was an excellent teacher. When her child was born, Marion had a superb childcare program so single mothers could still have a career while having children. The childcare program was written into national law, enabling private-sector workers access to childcare services.

Two weeks after Marion left, Luke had his next crisis; just after sunset, a careless worker in the sawmill caused the steam engine to explode. He was new and had overridden a safety valve because he wanted the saw to work faster. It was near the end of the day, and the man wanted to stop by the tavern to spend money before turning in for the night.

The explosion sent a shockwave through everything within five hundred meters, and the flying debris started several additional fires nearby. As for the young worker, he realized what he had done when it was too late and didn’t make it out of the building before the explosion. His body was torn to pieces by the blast, and the pieces were cooked by the steam. Making the explosion worse was the large amounts of sawdust that was sent airborne. When many types of dust are airborne, they can become explosive; sawdust is one of those types. The secondary explosion rocked the entire base, and the resulting fireball could be seen for many kilometers. Many of the soldiers and sailors near the blast were killed or badly wounded. Fortunately, the base fire department was far enough away to escape any damage.

Luke was at his desk when the explosions rocked the office, knocking the dust off rafters and breaking windows. The blast was loud enough that Luke found his ears ringing. It took a minute for his ears to stop ringing, and after they stopped, Luke headed out of the office to figure out what had happened. Stepping out the door, Luke saw he had other, more immediate problems, like the spreading fires. As soon as he saw what was happening, he raced to the communications room to message Marion and ordered the operator to keep sending until acknowledged.

The recent weather had been warm and dry with constant winds. These conditions had made the whole base tinder dry, and all it needed was a spark. Luke had known about the dry conditions and had issued burn bans for the base. All fires were required to be enclosed with ember traps to prevent embers from lighting fires. The only good thing from Luke’s point of view was only the oldest part of the base was made of wood; everything else was made of brick and concrete, including the ammunition bunkers.

Still, Luke had a mess on his hands and sent orders for every soldier and sailor to report for duty in fighting the fire. The second order was to ensure all the horses were moved out of harm’s way. Horses were not only expensive but were in short supply and needed to move anything heavy on the road. After issuing the first two orders, Luke headed toward the fire to try and get a better handle on things.

Fortunately for the base, the fire department was well-trained and well-equipped. They arrived at the sawmill minutes after the blast and hooked their water hoses up to the nearby hydrants. The water was then moved to the firefighter’s steam-powered horse-drawn pump with 12cm canvas hoses. This pump boosted the water pressure to levels adequate for firefighting before sending it through smaller hoses for the firefighters to use. There was enough pressure that it took two burly firefighters or three average-sized firefighters to control the hose.