Chapter 11

I was pretty sure my new wives weren't shamming sleep this morning to let me rise first. They seemed to actually be asleep and I managed to get out of bed, dressed, and gone without changing it. Outside my door there was a different young man acting as messenger. He told me his name was Charlton and asked me if it was true calling me My Lord was no longer in favor.

"You are correct Charlton. I am not yours and I am not a Lord. I'm Jake, and where is Greggory?"

"Katon sent me today since he gave Greggory two days off for a honeymoon," he said.

"Well I'm glad there weren't any problems there," I said.

"I don't see how there could have been. Big'un went with Greggory to Margareet's home to Make the happy announcement as Big'un said. Her parents were not happy about it at first, but Big'un told them they'd probably be much happier as Greggory's in-laws than as Dearly Departed, " he said.

"Big'un does have a way of cutting to the heart of the matter," I said, and laughed.

I'd intended to send Charlton to see if Katon would be very much longer when we got to the table, but Katon was standing there waiting for me.

"Do you have any special needs this morning Jake," he asked.

"Only a couple. The rest of my wives and family will be arriving today and I'm going to need a larger bed, much larger in fact," I said.

"It shouldn't be much trouble. The craftsman who made the current bed is nearby and I'm sure he will drop anything else he's working on for you," he said.

"Good. If the frame and headboard are going to cause a delay tell him we can do without them for a while. I am very anxious for a mattress which can hold us all though. Cost is no object for a job done well and rapidly," I said.

"I will see to it right away. Are there other arrangements I need to make?" he asked.

"None I can think of. I am glad the dining table here is easily large enough for everyone," I said.

"It's the largest one I've ever seen and the strangest thing about it is King Frata always ate here alone," Katon said, and then left.

King Jake didn't intend to eat alone, much, but I'll still admit I usually preferred to have breakfast by myself, like I was this morning.

Big'un stopped by as I was done and let me know the radio was now working from here to Katahalana, and of course Quancho. He even told me my wives were about to leave, heading this way.

"They do have a suitable escort, don't they?" I asked, even though I knew there was probably no need.

"Five hundred of the cavalry are with them."

"I guess it will be plenty."

"Of course it will. Highwaymen were scarce here anyway and with all these armies moving back and forth and being slaughtered lately, they have made sure to stay clear of us," he said.

"Well shit, I guess it means we're stuck being bored to death until we get in shape to take over Pentah. I doubt we can expect anyone to try a siege here," I said.

"We can always hope, but you're probably right. By the way, we finally found the back entrance tunnel out of the castle and it is a doozy. The damned thing is over a mile long. Katon knew there was one, but even he didn't know where it started or ended. The hell of it is there was a treasure room near it too, and Katon didn't know a thing about it. It has more gold and jewels stuffed in it that all the others we've found so far combined, and that isn't even counting what's in the normal treasure room Katon did know about," he said.

"I guess we're rich again then."

"Hell, we haven't been poor since we took over Quancho. We can't be rich again, we can only be richer," he said, grinning.

"Ain't it a bitch? With all the money we've gathered up we can't even buy one decent shitter or bathtub," I said, and I knew I was complaining.

"I'll be damned if we can't. These people know about ceramics and Carlisle worked in a shitter factory one summer when he was in high school. He's already been talking about getting some made, but I put him off because of all the other crap we had going on.

"As far as a tub goes we can just have a bunch of ceramic bricks made and have a few tubs laid by masons, we've got plenty of them too. Hell, as far as I know Carlisle could make a whole tub out of ceramics," Big'un said.

"Well shit, I should have asked you about it sooner. I feel a lot better now, even if we don't have anything for water pipes yet," I said.

"Surely we can figure out how to make pipes out of something," he said.

"Well I'm pretty sure I can't. Ask the other guys and see if they have any ideas. All I can think of is copper or steel and I'm pretty sure either of them would be a stone cold bitch. I know PVC is made of fairly common petroleum products, but I haven't seen the first oil well around here yet and I'm sure refineries are few and far between."

"I'll ask, but I'm like you. I don't think we have much of a chance for it either," he said.

"Oh well, we can make do if Carlisle can figure out how to make a shitter. If he doesn't think a bathtub is possible we'll just have to get some wooden tubs made. Hell, they don't seem to have a damned bit of trouble making barrels, they can just make some really big versions," I said, and Katon walked back in just as I finished.

"The craftsmen should be starting on your new bed and mattress within minutes, Jake. His only delay will be gathering a few others to help him so he can finish today," Katon told me.

"That's good, but how long do my wives - the new bunch - usually sleep? I'd expected them down for breakfast by now."

"Previously they've had their meals in a small dining room near their quarters. I believe they are eating now," he said.

"Well cancel that after this meal. They'll be eating here, with me if they get up early enough and without me if they don't, but they'll be eating here. We can all start at lunch, and I demand they are all awake and present for lunch and supper everyday, even if I'm away from the castle. Allowances will be made for illness or emergency, but as a general rule we will have lunch and supper together everyday.

"Better yet, tell them Jareeta, who will be arriving today, is head of my household and bickering among women is not something I enjoy. Jareeta will explain my rules to them," I said.

"Nothing would please me more than delivering the news in person," Katon said.

"I like a man who enjoys his work. See to it you get a raise. Big'un and I have another problem and we're short on solutions. I intend to have this castle, and all my other residences plumbed for running water with all it involves, especially the sewer. In fact I want a decent sewer and running water for the whole city. At present we don't know what is available for water pipe. I've noticed even in the castle water is carried in buckets," I said.

"What other way can it be carried Jake?" he asked.

"That lets me know the concept of a water pipe is foreign here. Please have someone who is familiar with the best and most clever craftsmen in the city to gather twenty or thirty of them for a meeting here this afternoon. I need to speak to them," I said.

"I think Charlton knows many of them and I'll send him as soon as I find another messenger for you," he said.

"Send him now, I can do without a messenger for a few hours. If I can't I'll send one of the kitchen helpers."

With that settled I wondered how hard it was going to be explaining sewers, water pipes, and bathtubs to the craftsmen. I'd muddle through somehow. Even if the solution turned out to be labor intensive we now had the labor. If the captured soldiers didn't like digging ditches I was pretty sure we could cure them of the character flaw.

Quasterson made an appearance just as Charlton left to spread the happy news. He wanted to make sure he wasn't needed for anything else today before he took a couple or three thousand men to get back to work on the new road from here to Quancho.

"It will take a lot more earth moving to get it pretty level but at least we don't need to build another big bridge," he said.

"You can go ahead and get started then," I said, but remembered the question of the moment and added, "Unless you know how to make water pipes."

"I've already told you we can make sewer pipe from concrete after I teach these locals how to make real cement and how to make molds to cast the pipe in," he said.

"I'm talking about pipes for fresh water, as in hot and cold, as in showers, baths, and flushes," I said.

"Why hell, they already know where to find plenty of copper," he said, as if that explained everything.

"I know they have copper, but apparently they don't know about turning it into pipe. For that matter I don't know how to do it either," I said.

"It will take a little sorting out, but it shouldn't be too hard. We'll need to send back to our original drop off first though," he said.

"I thought Kaltaken brought everything from there last time we sent him," I said.

"He brought what we thought we needed for the siege of Quancho. There are quite a few things there we could still use. Right now we're going to need the six, hundred-ton, hydraulic jacks that seemed way to heavy to fuck with at the time," he said, and I wanted to asks what else had been left there but didn't want to get sidetracked.