Chapter 29

York, Great Britain. May 1069

It was a beautiful day that found Luke lying on the castle roof with an ale in one hand, a book in the other, and a half-finished ham and cheese sandwich on the nearby table. He had been preparing for the French invasion for weeks, and today, it was time to relax. Things had been going smoothly, which should have clued Luke in that his relaxation would be interrupted. That interruption came mid-afternoon when one of Luke’s aids found him dozing.

“Sir,” Luke opened an eye and looked at the aid, who swallowed hard. “We just received a message that the French have invaded.”

“Where?”

“North shore of the Thames Estuary in Essex.”

“Essex?”

“Yes, sir.”

The news made Luke look up in surprise. All the intelligence they had gotten pointed to an invasion In Kent or Sussex that would sweep west to capture Portsmouth. By landing in Essex, the invaders would have to cross the river to reach Portsmouth, which made Luke think Portsmouth wasn’t the real French goal.

“Send my staff a message that we will meet in an hour in the fort’s map room. Has the queen been notified yet?”

“No, sir. She was last seen going into her chambers with Colonel Smiten.”

Luke had to hide his smile. Marion had gotten horny and was taking it out on Gabriella, not that Gabby wasn’t enjoying it because Luke knew she was.

“Understood. I’ll inform the queen. You had better round up the staff, Captain.”

“Yes, sir.” The captain’s bootheels clicked together as he came to attention and saluted.

Luke returned the salute and swung his feet off the chaise lounge he had been lying on. It only took Luke a minute to put his pants and shirt on before he headed to his chambers, where he found his wife with her face buried between Gabriella’s legs like she was looking for treasure. Luke cursed the French because he would love to join in the fun; instead, he cleared his throat.

Marion looked back at him;

“You can join in, darling.” She cooed as she wiggled her arse at Luke. Her sultry voice was enough to give Luke a painful hard-on, and the sight of her naked arse wiggling was almost more than any mortal man could endure. Luke would have loved to sink his cock into Marion, but he had more important things on his mind.

“I come with important news, your majesty. The French have landed in Essex.”

“Essex? What the hell are they doing there?” asked Gabriella.

“I don’t know,” responded Luke. “I just got news of the invasion, and I have a meeting scheduled in the fort’s map room in an hour.”

“Fuck!” exclaimed Marion. “Well, come on, Gabby. It’s time we earn our pay.”

Gabriella swung her feet off the bed, grumbling. She had been looking forward to having Marion’s golden head between her legs all morning, and the damn French had to interrupt. Still, she had a duty to perform, and Marion and Luke were putting on their uniforms.

Within ten minutes, the three were dressed and on their way to the fort’s map room. The map room had a large-scale map of Britain on a table with topographical and geographical information. It was next door to the fort’s telegraph office, so there wouldn’t be much delay in getting new information.

The ride to the fort was swift, and everyone moved out of the way. The people of York knew something important was happening because Marion rarely left her palace under such heavy guard; an entire platoon of Household Guards was around her, and they were riding fast.

Luke walked into the room, went straight to the table, and looked where the French troops had landed. Where they landed made no sense, and Luke wondered if the landing wasn’t a diversion. There was nothing significant near where the French landed, which meant resupply would be difficult, plus the Thames Estuary would act like a giant trap for the French Navy.

Within five minutes of Luke, Marion, and Gabby walking into the room, the rest of his staff was present. The briefing was rocky. Many staff members didn’t share Luke’s thoughts about the division, and the numbers that came in while the group was in the meeting supported the staff. Scouts reported thousands of French troops landing. Moreover, there was a mix of troops with infantry, cavalry, archers, and Breton musketeers hitting the beach.

This mix of troops convinced Luke this was the real landing; there was no reason for the French to land that many troops unless it was the real deal. The first orders were sent to the navy. It would take them a couple of days to reach the area, and once they did, their orders were simple: sink all non-British ships they could find. Once all the ships slipped their moorings, there would be twelve patrol boats and seven destroyers headed into the area. The French ships in the Thames Estuary would make it easy to hunt.

The next set of orders was for the army. It would take all three British divisions to defeat the massive French Army. The 1st division was still near York after their refit, the 3rd was near London, while the 2nd was in Wales. With the rail system, it would only take the British Army two days to assemble northeast of London. As Luke sent the last orders, he turned to a short woman standing near the back of the room;

“Major Baker, I want your grenadiers to join the 1st division. I have a feeling by the end of the battle, you will have seen more action than you’ve seen so far in your career.”

“Yes, sir.” She turned her heel to head out to get her unit ready. Before she got five feet, Luke called her;

“Madeline, take care and come back safe.”

“Yes, sir,” she said without turning around.

Marion watched Madeline walk out before she walked up next to Luke.

“You ok, darling?”

“Ya, I’m ok. I really don’t want to think about the number of people who will die in the coming battle and not just our troops.”

“Luke, one more question, but who will lead the troops? None of your commanders have any experience with commanding an army.”

“Shit, I don’t know.”

“Do you remember what you told me right after we escaped Cecilia’s trap? You told me the three words a commander never says is “I don’t know.” Now, I’m telling you the same thing, Luke.”

As Marion left the briefing, she was intercepted by one of Pollyanna’s newspaper correspondents. She had tipped them off that something big was happening and where to be so they could get the story.

“Queen Marion?!?! Queen Marion!! Your majesty. Is there any truth to the rumor that the French have invaded?”

Marion understood what was going on even though it annoyed her.

“Yes, the French have invaded. They landed in Essex on the north coast of the Thames Estuary.”

“What are your plans? Are you going to abdicate your throne?”

“No. I will fight the invaders and not stop until they are destroyed. Since this is the second invasion that has come from France, after the invaders have been sent to Hell, I will send the army across to France and destroy them.”

“What will you do if your army loses?”

“I will never abandon my people.”

Marion’s eyes were cold as ice giving the reporter chills that ran up his spine. It was enough to get the reporter to stop asking questions. Luke had been in the background, trying to hide his smirk; he hated the reporters from his time, and it looked like they wouldn’t be any better now.

That evening, all the newspapers ran the invasion as the main story and ran Marion’s comments. To a person, all the reporters supported Marion in fighting the invasion and her plans for after the invasion. Luke hadn’t even heard her invasion plans yet and was surprised as everyone else. When they were lying in bed that evening, Luke asked Marion about her plans.

“Luke, I am tired of the French invading my country and the Bretons constantly fighting me at sea. It’s time to destroy both kingdoms.”

Luke didn’t know what to say and had problems sleeping that night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw what might happen if the British Army failed against the French invaders. Finally, the sun started lighting up the eastern sky, and Luke was up with the sun. Marion found him watching the sun rise while drinking a cup of broth.

“You ok, Luke?”

“Yep, just wondering why everyone wants to fight you.”

“It’s the era, darling. The men ruling the surrounding kingdoms feel threatened by a woman ruler and will do anything to destroy her.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Luke said with a sigh.

Marion gave Luke a kiss before she went back inside to get dressed for the day. Luke finished his broth before he dressed and headed to the fort. It was going to be a long day, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Luke was barely in the base when problems were called to his attention. General Jeevika was in the hospital with appendicitis; it had hit her late the night before, and now she would be laid up for a couple of weeks. The deputy division commander was competent but inexperienced. Luke would have liked someone with more experience but didn’t have time to put another commander in charge. After ironing out some wrinkles, Luke watched the 1st division plus the grenadiers pull away from the fort’s rail station. He was barely back to his office when an urgent message from the queen got to him. Luke was to report to her immediately.

It took Luke almost half an hour to report because the traffic in York was much heavier than usual, especially around the recruiting offices. Many young men and women were waiting in line to sign up for the fight against the French. On Luke’s trip, he passed two offices; usually, only a few people were in the office at any time. Now, he had to work his way through multiple lines on his way to meet with the queen.

As soon as Luke entered the castle, one of Marion’s guards met him;

“General MacDougall, follow me, please.”

Luke returned the sergeant’s salute and gestured for him to lead the way. To Luke’s surprise, he was taken to the Great Hall. It had been a long time since Marion had used the hall for business; usually, it was used for balls and banquets. When he entered, he saw Marion sitting on her throne at the far end; furthermore, the room was packed. Luke took off his hat and tucked it in a pocket before advancing. The crowd parted as he walked toward the queen.

Finally, standing in front of Queen Marion, General MacDougall halted, snapped to attention, and saluted. Every inch of the general screamed MARINE, although almost nobody in the hall knew that.

“At ease, general. I ordered you here to give you this news in person: I need someone to lead my army in the coming fight, and after looking at all the leading commanders, I have chosen you to lead the battle. You must prepare to leave immediately because I just received a message that lead elements of the 3rd division have already made contact with the French Army, and they got bloodied badly.”

“Yes, your majesty. I will be ready to depart within an hour.”

“Dismissed, general.” Luke saluted and spun around on his heel to leave. As he reached the door, Marion’s voice boomed through the hall. “ONE MORE THING, GENERAL. COME BACK WITH YOUR SHIELD OR ON IT!” Reciting the ancient Spartan parting quote of a mother to her son. Victory or death, there are no other options.

Luke spun back toward his queen just before he walked out of the hall and shouted, “OORAH!” before he walked out the door. He didn’t see Gabriella lay a hand on Marion’s shoulder or the looks of astonishment on the faces of everyone present. They never expected Marion to spend her husband to take personal command of the army, and they never expected him to be so eager to carry out the order. This mission could be a death sentence for him if the army broke.

It didn’t take Luke long to change and pack; he had a go bag made up for such instances. The one thing he made sure to do before he left was to make sure his “In case of death” letter was updated before signing it and putting it back in its envelope with his USMC dog tags. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to ensure everything was good and his sig was in the wall safe. If he died, his sig would go to Marion and his dog tags to Alice.

As Luke was leaving, he was joined by a platoon of Household Guards in BDUs. The lieutenant in command handed him a letter from Colonel Smiten, and when Luke read it, he understood the guards. Gabriella was sending the platoon with him without telling Marion.

“Lieutenant, do your troops have their gear ready?”

“Yes, sir. Our gear is already loaded on the horses to be taken to the train station. Colonel Smiten also wanted me to tell you she ordered a special train to take us and a medical unit under Dr. Kensley to London. There, we will be able to take our horses to meet up with the rest of the army.”

Luke nodded and headed out. It was only a five-minute ride to the train station, and the people in the street cheered the entire way. Marion’s speech to the general had spread through the population like wildfire and cemented her spot as queen. She would stay behind to care for the people while the man she loved above all others would be sent into harm’s way. When Luke got to the train station, one of the first things he heard was Alice’s voice chewing someone out. Usually, she was very calm, but her red-headed temper came into the foreground when stressed.