Chapter 39

Tharin, Coven, Grimm and Crum eventually arrived for a meeting I'd requested.

As they picked at bread and cheese, I announced, "Today the weather should be clear and warmer, so we are going to test our black magic devices. I truly hope we never need to use them in Juniper Hills. They are dangerous and unstable, meaning they could harm us as well as our enemies. I do fear others will want to take what we have here and may try to take it or perhaps try and take you, my apprentices. The weapons I have created are designed to remove our foes. Follow me."

They walked with me in an awkward silence as we picked our way down a side path in the forest to the storage cabin.

I filled the awkward silence. "Our first task is to test the grenades, brass filled with black powder and a spring fuse." Tharin walked to the door and unlocked it and I went inside and picked up a heavy wooden case that had rope loops for handles attached at each end. My friends followed me further down the hill path that ended at a small ravine we used for a waste dump. I opened the crate and had my friends stand back away from me, a bit up the hill where they could see, yet far enough away from any undesirable explosion.

Some of them had seen the arrival of the empty brass canisters, but I had not risked their safety when assembling the devices. In principle, when I pulled the pin nothing should happen. It was when the grenade hit something without the pin inserted, it would explode into metal fragments. My brave face did not show the truth of my uneasy feelings and fear.

"To bring the magic alive you pull this metal pin and twist the wooden handle," I said, holding the little bomb out for them to see as I disengaged the safety spring.

Grimm looked at me with a worried face. I nodded at her with a half grin, throwing the grenade far back into the hole in the earth, dropping my body to the ground. No sooner had I hit mother earth than the device exploded. My friends dropped to the ground too, following my example by covering their head with their arms.

I stood up and brushed the dried grass debris off my black station clothes. Tharin was the first to follow my example, walking down the hill to me.

"You did it," Tharin said, a smile on his face.

"Your turn, Tharin." I had one dud with me. It didn't have any black powder in it. He handled it and I explained to all of them how it worked and how I made it. We talked about why I stored it away from the village and how they should not ever feel comfortable around them. I expected someone to eventually mishandle a grenade and make a mess of their body, so we discussed how some brave men and women would be trained to handle the devices and these warriors would be called grenadiers. A grenadier was to be held in the highest esteem and could only be a volunteer, preferably without a mate. They took turns learning to use the grenades, however Crum's grenade didn't go off. He didn't do anything wrong; it was defective and I told them we should anticipate some devices will fail.

The villagers were nervous. The memory of the death of the Soul Reapers was fresh in their minds. I kicked myself for not saying something to warn every one about our tests. A crowd was milling around the tower looking for answers from my ladies about the strange sounds.

Coven called to the people and announced, "Lord Solon was showing us his black magic down the hill. Nothing to worry about. All is well."

Laudus and her sisters were at the tower door attending to the villagers.

"Sorry, everyone. I should have warned you about the unexpected explosions," I shouted, so all the crowd could hear.

You could see the relief on the faces of the adults.

"There will be more strange sounds and sights on the beach later today," I added, learning from my earlier mistake.

Grimm spoke up, "Lord Solon was showing us how to better defend Juniper Hills with powerful magic if it ever be needed."

The children looked impressed at her words; the adults whispered to each other. People dispersed back to their safeholds and their work.

Looking at my closest friends, I said, "After lunch we will test the other devices on the beach. I think you are going to like mortars, too."

Tharin smiled and responded, "I like this black magic, even if it is dangerous."

Our group broke up and I went inside to see my babies.

Swarta thought it would be wise if I toured the village with my ladies to answer questions and be seen by our people. So I ended up leading a pack of concubines and some of my tower women around the residential portion of the village until lunch-time. We'd continued to add more safeholds over the winter for the new arrivals, as the winter breezes got cold at times but, so far we'd never had frost or snow. A work crew that dressed in warm furs and other clothes had no trouble with clearing trees and constructing new cabins. I knew the people in the core residential area but the new extended homes had couples in them I didn't recognize. Fortunately though, my ladies seemed to know all the new arrivals and they navigated me around the introductions.

After the tour, we headed back to my tower for a hosted lunch for my friends. Laudus took charge of directing serving women rather than serving us herself. The pregnancy was slowing her down, so she adapted by using a chair as her command center. Laudus's sisters acted as her aides and they ran down any problems. The servers had learned some refined etiquette from Laudus, often dipping in a shallow curtsy when leaving. We had a fine meal of boar, carrots, and fish soup. Tharin belched loudly to compliment the cooks, but I am not sure Laudus approved. Somewhere we had obtained white table napkins and had entered into the world of the gentry. Laudus and her sisters were heralding manor traditions ever so slowly into our tower behavior. Swarta, Hazel and Palus particularly found the etiquette important.

Hazel said to me, "You are an important Lord now. We expect you will begin to receive visitors from Convey or Conquest Point."

I didn't begrudge their efforts to provide civilized hospitality.

"Your highly effective household has once again provided a wonderful meal," Crum announced, with a nod to Laudus and the ladies.

"Thank you, ladies, for a fine meal and attentive service," Coven echoed.

Laudus had a small staff of concubines serving the ladies and gentlemen. Like her sisters, Laudus's posture and expressions exhibited her breeding, which the other handmaidens worked to copy.

"You honor us, ladies. Let's have a clap of appreciation to all our servers." I shouted, standing up.

The room gave an enthusiastic round of applause to the women. Most of them curtsied and left with dirty dishes, taking them to be cleaned in the women's center. The sun was at its highest point and light rays generously filled the tower.

"A number of mortar shells have been delivered on a cart to the beach for our demonstration," I announced, "If all goes well, we will release another new revelation of how black powder can be used."

Looking around the room I met my family's eyes, lifting a wine goblet, saying, "Confusion to our foes."

Tharin took up a goblet and repeated, "Confusion to our foes."

All my family and friends joined in with the chant. I hoped my assembled weapons worked as my dreams expressed.

I guided Swarta and Palus down the path to the beach with great care.

"We are not broken, Von. We just had babies," Swarta complained, with a grin that said she liked the attention.

Palus broke in saying, "He is just trying to get on your good side after that long labor."

I laughed. "Ladies, I am just showing my affection and love for you."

Swarta's mouth curved up, enjoying the banter. "You will be showing me your appreciation very soon, my Lord. I am healing surprisingly fast," she joked, with a serious tone of expectation.

A chorus of loud whistles came from the trailing audience, expressing polite approval of her comment. Not long ago such a comment would have truly embarrassed me; now loving banter about my affections was second nature and natural.

The main path now had smooth flagstones along the entire length of the trail. This gave me a sense of pride at how far our homestead had progressed in a short period of time. Key lifted up a flute and her music filled the air as we broke cover from the forest to the open hills and dunes.

"Von," the rich low voice of Palus came from behind me. I had set up a metal tube angled down the empty beach, following the sun west. "I wish to know more about these mortars."

The brass heads were attached to long narrow wooden bodies with wood fins at the bottom. I only had three mortar shells delivered because they are expensive, and for a test I didn't want a large number of explosives near my family. The mortars had contact charges, which would lift the explosive heads into the air. Once the mortar shells crashed to the earth they would detonate. It was a simple delivery weapon but they were fire and forget. You fired them and forgot about them as you had limited control over where they would land. The size of the delivery charge and the angle of the metal tube would determine the flight time. I had no idea how far each would go so I had made three standard charge sizes. We would measure the distance of each rocket and have an approximation of their range. The mortar tubes were crude and at a fixed angle. My biggest fear was dropping a shell accidentally or the tube failing to take the small detonation charge and showering me with metal fragments.

"Sweetheart. I will walk you back to the group on the hill and explain as we go," I responded to my lover. "It is too dangerous for you to stay with me. This is my first test and black magic can go wrong."

Palus snorted amusement in her eyes. "You will not fail," my lover said. Emotions of pride flickered across her golden face.

"I do not have your confidence, " I thought. We walked some distance back to the rest of the group and I explained how the black powder ignited.

"Grimm, no one follows me." I swept my eyes to my other women.

"Yes, Von," Grimm answered, her voice faded out.

Tharin and Coven just shrugged, as if they have no sway over my ladies.

A small crowd lined the edge of the forest watching me. They had heard the news that I was going to use some dangerous dark magic on the beach. Of course, that created excitement and interest among the villagers. A light breeze blew in from the sea and I tasted salt on the tip of my tongue. A number of sailing ships dotted the distant horizon, fishing for our daily food needs. A few gulls glided on the wind around me, watching for any sign of food that could be snatched. A sly grin cascaded over my face at the thought of the effect on the birds when I dropped the first shell into the tube.

The shell in my hand was the length of my arm, not really heavy but it felt awkward to handle. The heavier shell nose held the explosives encased by the metal canister. I pulled the safety pin which armed the weapon, and I prayed I wasn't about to kill myself when I dropped the shell into the mortar tube. If things did go wrong it would devastate my ladies but they would be far enough away to avoid the shrapnel. My family idly watched me from the distant dune as I dropped the rocket into the cylinder.

It might have been better if I hadn't held my breath. The base of the shell struck the bottom of the tube and the small charge exploded, lifting my rocket into the sky. A small cloud of gray smoke surrounded me and I choked on the smell of black powder. My ears rang in a strange harmony of sound that blocked all other sounds of the beach. A gust of wind blew the cloud of smoke away from me and the tube. I looked down the beach, my eyes stinging and ears ringing. An explosion and cloud of gray smoke filled the air on the crest of the next dune.

I permitted myself a smile and looked at my family. My ladies had a hand over their mouths. I waved to show everything was fine. My gaze fell on the next shell and I picked it up and pulled the safety pin. "Courage, " I thought.

With a final glance at my lovers I strode to the mortar and dropped the second mortar shell into its mouth. This time I opened my mouth and covered both of my ears with the palm of my hands. A great thump sound filled my ears and another flash of light put the shell into flight. Once again I was surrounded by smoke which was pushed away quickly by a gust of wind from the sea. No ringing of the ears this time. There was something reassuring about seeing clearly and hearing the normal course of nature around you. My hand covered my eyes from the sun's glare and I set my gaze to the crest of the next dune. I heard an explosion but no smoke. After a few moments gray smoke rose above the other dune and dissipated in the steady breeze. The second shell had a large charge and a longer flight time, it had crested the other dune but not reached the next crest.

A wary silence marked the crowd of villagers at the forest edge. The crowd had doubled in size and rows of children clung to their mothers. "The new women and their family that live in Tharin's tower, " I thought.

The acrid smoke still lingered in my nose as I looked over the steel tube for cracks. It would just be my luck to succeed with the mortars and have the tube fail and explode in my face. The tube was the finest metal but I was new to making such things and needed to be cautious about the tubes and explosives. Not seeing any problems I picked up the last mortar shell with the largest launching charge I dare use. At the last moment I remembered to remove the safety pin, which made me feel foolish. On the other hand, it was a reminder that I'd have to train a few gunners and make sure the safety removal was drilled into them. In a panic or rush, anyone can forget such a simple step.

I scrutinized the shell one last time and dropped it into the tube, covering my ears as I turned and bent away from the mortar. The explosive thump and black smoke made me blink and step towards the sea. I moved out of the gray smoke and looked to the distant dune. An explosion blew sand and dirt off the crest of the second dune. I jumped with joy and looked at my family, laughter erupted from the women at my antics. The inner turmoil and fear of failing with the experiment turned to pride and happiness within my soul. My eyes made a quick survey of the tube; finding no cracks, I strode to my family.

A softer emotion covered me as I wrapped my arms around Swarta and Palus, the warm pleasure of my lovers filled me.

"I love you both so much," I said.

Smiling reassuringly, Swarta responded first, "We are proud of you, Von. That was exciting black magic."

"You are a powerful protector. I can see this black magic is important. Yet, I do not see word of this traveling through the Great Marsh as fast as the Night of the Six Suns," Palus hastened to add.

A little sadness always hit me when someone talked about that night. By popular consensus, that night was not talked about by the villagers within my hearing.

Tharin nibbled on a piece of cold game, a smile on his face. With a deep fondness I clasped his forearm.

"Great entertainment, Von," Tharin said, a cheeky smile rose from his words.

I laughed and asked Crum, "Please count of the number of steps from the metal tube to each of the blasts."

He didn't hesitate to run down to the mortar to begin the task.

"Tharin can you lock up the mortar in the weapon's cabin?" Tharin kept chewing his piece of meat and walked down to the tube.

I coaxed the women up the hill back to the forest path. The crowd at the forest edge parted to let us pass.

One of the new women said, "You do practice magic. I thought it was nonsense like the talk about six suns."

Her candor touched me.

"Yes, there are lots of surprises left in me," I answered.

The ebony woman gazed at me, curious, timid perhaps, with admiration in her eyes. A young ebony girl clung to the woman's brown dress, a child I didn't recognize. Swarta stopped to talk with the woman so I walked on, further down the path towards my tower.

Coven spoke up as we followed the twisted path, "Your weapon will cause quite a few to tremble. Do you have more metal tubes?"

He cocked his eyebrows, waiting for me. I simply lifted two fingers as my answer.

"We will need to train three sets of gunners to use the weapons, can you find me nine men? I want three for each mortar. I'd prefer eunuchs." I said.