Arturo agreed. “Yes, you are right about the need for rest areas and farriers. We’ll have to establish them and if the traffic supports it, establish inns like they have in the northern kingdoms. There are a few around here, but not enough. We’ll have the same problem when we need to link to the capital.
I’ve got some people studying what needs to be done. Princess Elizabeth has sent for a couple of people who know road construction, and they and their families have recently arrived. There’ll be more than enough work for them.
As to the villages and farming, that’s Princess Elizabeth’s area of expertise, and I’ll let her address that.”
“Thank you, Baron. The villages are substandard in almost every sense. Farming, housing, and sanitation all need to be improved. Right now, they farm only as much land as they can with the equipment that they have. I’ve sent to Nordia and Sorbia for farm equipment - Amish plows, seed drills, and McCormick reapers. They are also sending two dozen Jorgenson horses. Enough for us to start breeding them here.
What I want to do is take the two villages nearest the city and work on their farming. The first thing we want to do is increase the amount of farmland that they are using. I want to at least double it. Then we’ll leave a third of it each year to be planted in clover and used as pasture for the horses and cattle. This will add natural fertilizer to the fields. They’ll also start composting waste and using that to fertilize their fields. With proper rotation and the increased size of fields, we should see the amount of food produced increase dramatically.
I understand that Petor, who works with Michael, has developed a way to build suitable village housing efficiently. He’s marrying my cousin Sharon and is coming south with his friend Prince Mathias. We should be able to find out how he did that and duplicate it here. Once villagers see the benefits, we should have no trouble convincing them to emulate what we did in the first two villages.
I wish we had more people we could establish villages between here and Sudlund. If the villages can provide ‘guest’ housing, then they would take the place of inns until the traffic justifies establishing them. With villages about a day’s travel between them, we’d eventually cover the road from here to the capital.”
Arturo spoke up. “There is one other thing that I want to mention. The transfer of businesses from the Porfians will produce a lot of discontent. There are a couple of hotheads; they’re obvious. What I worry about are the ones who are angry and are hiding it. They work in the shadows. They’re the dangerous ones. They are out there; I just know it.”
Everyone turned to look at Dedessus. “My good friend is right. Those are the dangerous ones. Colonel Petronas, Lieutenant Sorbor, and I have regular meetings. Things are calm so far. The Colonel is very cooperative; he realizes that this could be much worse. He’s trying to get informants into whatever Porfian resistance there is. Lieutenant Sorbor has eyes and ears throughout our community. We won’t be surprised by anything there. We’ll have to keep vigilant. There are old grudges against the Porfians. That would be a problem if people decided to try and settle them.
The Porfians are not happy with us. But like the Colonel, the vast majority realize that the future may not be all they would want it to be. But they have a future and will not be made paupers.”
As they were meeting, there was one very unhappy Porfian merchant, Darvin. Darvin ran a successful dry goods store in the city. It was so successful that he’d opened one in the capital, Akari. He’d paid about 20% of what the original business was worth to Duke Skelous, who’d appropriated the business from its original owners. Those owners were now dead.
Darvin was smart; he saw the writing on the wall and knew that Skelous was going to fall. He set about establishing an underground of like-minded Porfians in the city and a number in the Guard. While Colonel Petronas was cooperating with the new regime along with most of his Guard, there existed a minority who felt like Darvin did. Darvin had managed to get himself appointed to the commission headed by Prince Arken. He was playing at being reasonable but still advocating for a better deal for the current business owners than what Duke Harlold would be willing to agree to.
Darvin felt that the only way they could have any chance was to kill Duke Harlold and his whole family. Prince Arken would have to go as well. He put his own plans in motion. Not all the people in his underground group would be willing to go that far. He recognized that and advocated for acts of disobedience and minor sabotage. He argued that this would get them all more gold and silver for their businesses. That seemed reasonable to his associates.
What he actually planned was kept to a very small circle of people. Darvin saw himself as the person who should succeed Duke Skelous once the usurper was eliminated.
He was arrogant enough to think that he could do that. If he couldn’t, he’d at least take many key people with him when he fell.
Alla
Alla was sitting talking with her mother and the two other women from the harem who had fled to Sandford. Her two younger sisters weren’t there. The youngest was in bed, and Pinar was someplace with Tina, Harlold’s younger sister. They were talking about the situation in Koronus and Tantulus in general.
Her mother said. “Alla, this marriage with Prince Arken and Princess Elizabeth is a good one for all involved. It is clear that he will succeed your father and bring more of the northern ways into the kingdom. That is all for the good.
I expect that your father will attend the wedding. The Porfians are weak enough that he can start to defy them. Samos, the chief Porfian advisor and the one behind the deaths of your brothers, is dead, as is his son. Without a doubt, this was done at the express instructions of your father. We in the harem had gotten most of the men who carried out the killings once we knew what had happened. But Samos was beyond us, but now not your father.
The Porfians are weakened. There is even talk of civil war in Porfia. Everyone expects that Leonades will be deposed and killed. That is not a foregone conclusion. The man is cunning and may yet turn the tables on his enemies. That, of course, means that the northern kingdoms will keep up their embargo. That is good for Tantulus as we will be able to trade goods that they won’t be able to.
Instead of sending our goods to Porfia and most of the gold and silver going in the coffers of the Porfians, we’ll be able to sell them to the North and Sudlund. That will be more profitable for us.”
“Yes, mother, your right about that.” Answered Alla. “Elizabeth has been talking with me and told me her plans to raise the standard of living in the realm. It’s ambitious, and I think it will work. It will take all of our lifetimes to accomplish. If we even get half of it done, it will be a significant improvement.
I find working with Arken and Elizabeth very stimulating. They are intelligent and have great plans. They treat me as an equal and ask my opinion. I want to be able to bring something else to the table.”
Her mother answered. “I’m glad to hear that, daughter. Of course, you provide legitimacy to Prince Arken, being the daughter of the King. The other thing is that you can be their eyes and ears in the kingdom. While the Porfians ruled from behind the scenes, your father did keep his own sources of information.
Most of those flowed through the harem. That’s because no Porfian or man of Tantulus, for that matter, would consider women capable of anything besides giving pleasure in bed, bearing children, and running a house.
The northerners don’t have any such prejudices as you have found out. They even have queens. There is an intelligence network that exists, and you will start to receive the information from that now that you are going to be married to the man who will be, in effect, the Crown Prince.
That intelligence network is active in all the cities. It’s mostly our own people. There are a few Porfians who have been bribed or blackmailed into cooperating with us. Some intermarried with locals and are sympathetic to us. In this city, they want to stay and are more than willing to co-operate with us. We also have people in the major
cities in Porfia. Those are people who have been carefully recruited over the years.
You must make sure that the sources of the information that you have are not compromised. That would cause us to lose people. Either they will be captured and executed or go to ground and not give us any more information.
Right now, there is a Porfian underground forming in the city. We are trying our best to get someone on the inside. They are trying to get better prices for the businesses that they stole from our people. They have to be watched as they may also pose a danger to both the Duke and your future husband.”
“Mother, I think that they will be surprised. Princess Elizabeth carries this little gun secreted on her person. It’s called a derringer. You have to be close to use it, but she will show me how to use one and how to conceal it. Prince Brandt and Princess Catrina both used one to kill assassins when they were attacked at Midport. Prince Roddrick killed an assassin with one at his wedding. Up close, they are deadly.
As to Elizabeth, I do not doubt that if anyone came after her or her husband, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill them if she had the chance. I’m going to learn to use this derringer, and hopefully, there will be two women helping to protect our family.
I think that is even more true with the birth of her daughter, Grace. The baby is so cute, and I’m helping with taking care of her. This means that she’ll be familiar with me right from the start. I can’t wait to have my own child. Elizabeth says we’ll have to get Arken working on that.”
That brought peals of laughter from the women, along with some rabid suggestions. Women were much more honest about sex than men. Then they got serious. Her mother said. “Alla, please see if you can get derringers and instructions for us. Also, your father will probably come; make sure he has one as well. We probably want to send some back with him for the rest of the harem. There’s going to be trouble, and they can fight if need be.”
While the women were talking in the Palace, Branton was considering the situation. He’d come here as a man in his forties, sent by his father to buy a business in Koronus. He’d bought a drayage business and paid the Duke about 20% of what it should have cost. He knew that the old owners were being robbed blind and was disturbed by it. He looked them up and gave them more money before they were sent off to Porfia. It soothed his conscience to some extent.
That all disappeared when he discovered that the owners were murdered two days travel out of the city. This upset him, and he tried his best to be an honest merchant. He had two daughters, and both wound up marrying local lads.
That turned out well for him. One of them, Morris, was excellent at finding new business and developing contacts. The other, Tephen, had a talent for logistics and organizing things. They helped grow his business, and they were good husbands to his daughters. Neither one had produced a child yet, but they were both young, and he and his wife were hopeful that soon they would have grandchildren to fuss over.
When Duke Skelous fell and was executed, Branton thought it was well justified. The murders of the people whose businesses were confiscated more than justified his execution. The atrocities inflicted on the villages would have justified it all on its own. Add the two together, and in Branton’s opinion, he got a merciful death that he probably didn’t deserve. He was careful not to say that to anyone other than his wives who agreed with him.
One day after work, Branton and his sons-in-law were having an ale. This was a usual occurrence. It gave them time to talk about lots of things, not just work, and it was a good break from the day. They weren’t excessive in their consumption, just a friendly ale or two.
Morris told his father-in-law. “I’ve been hearing some talk about a group of merchants getting together to pressure the Duke into giving the Porfian controlled businesses a better deal. Darvin is organizing it. I know we do a good deal of business with him and he’s a good customer. The problem is that he’s not just displeased with the fall of Duke Skelous; he thinks it’s an abomination. A threat to the natural order of things where Porfians are better than the rest of us.
He doesn’t say that outright, but you can tell that’s how he thinks when you talk with him. If Tephen didn’t do such a good job keeping us organized and our deliveries mainly were on time, he probably wouldn’t do business with us because your daughters didn’t marry Porfians.”
Branton looked at his other son-in-law. Tephen backed up Morris. “I don’t have much to do with the man, I leave that to Morris, and he’s welcomed to it.” Tephen raised his stein to his brother-in-law. All of them knew that they’d found a good harmony of what they were good at and liked to do. It worked, so it was just an acknowledgment of a situation that pleased all of them.
Tephen went on. “What I can tell you is what I hear from the drivers. There’s a lot of business owners, Porfians, who have the attitude that they are better than any of us locals. There are some like you, Branton, who treat everybody equally. But of the other group, Darvin is right up there near the top. I don’t know, Morris. Do you think that he could try and do more than just advocate for a better deal?”
“I don’t know, brother, I don’t know. Right now, I don’t see how he could do much. Duke Harlold has his men. A lot of the Guard are local men and don’t want anything to do with killing their own, especially with Duke Harlold in charge. Colonel Petronas has the Porfians in the Guard under control, and they are badly outnumbered. Darvin would have to be a fool to think he could do otherwise.”
Branton listened. “Morris, Tephen, there’s going to be a lot of changes coming down the road. I expect that we’ll hear more complaining before this is all over. It’s going to take a few years to settle things out.”
Morris agreed with his father-in-law. “Lots of changes. Your daughter, my wife, has informed me that any daughter we have will get the same education as any son and have many of the same opportunities as sons.”
Tephen agreed. “Yes, I’m hearing that as well. Princess Elizabeth and Harlold’s betrothed Noria are both cut from that cloth. Noria is helping Harlold with running the duchy. She was trained to do that by her mother, who is a duchess.
It will take some getting used to. Not to say anything against you, Branton, but both your daughters are intelligent. My wife has been learning to read and to do sums. I don’t object at all.”
All the men agreed that they would see more and more of the northern ways coming into the kingdom. They also expected that the King would kick the Porfians out of the capital soon enough.
Branton went home and thought about it. Unlike his sons-in-law, he knew Darvin reasonably well. That man had an ego. He was the type who could see himself ascending to be a Duke. Such arrogance often clouds people’s judgment. He knew that the King maintained his covert intelligence operation in the kingdom. He knew a man who was in that organization. He determined to have lunch with this fellow and fill him in on what his sons-in-law told him.
Leaving Home
Mike and Catrina would be leaving for Petor and Sharon’s wedding, and from there, they would be heading to Centralia to take up residence. Mike had left home years ago when he went away to MIT. He’d been gradually breaking the ties while he attended Columbia. For Catrina, this would be her leaving home. For a while, Mike was oblivious to it all.
He concentrated on getting all his things ready and helping Catrina whenever asked. It started to gradually dawn on him that something was up. His friend Roddrick finally brought it home. They were sitting around just talking when Roddrick brought the subject up. “Michael, I think we’re going to have two very teary wives on our hands soon.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Mike.
Roddrick looked at him for a second and then realized that his friend didn’t have a clue. “Michael, this is Christiana and Catrina’s home. They’ve never lived anywhere else. They’ve never really been separated from each other. The longest time was when the two of you were in Sudlund dealing with the rebellion in Tantulus.
Christiana wasn’t all
that upset with that separation; she knew you’d be back. Lately, she’s been talking wistfully about all the things she and Catrina used to do while they were growing up. They fought like sisters do but were close. I think you can understand that better than most. Your families have children closer together. Here they’re often tens of years apart and don’t grow up so close. Look at Brandt and Lauden.
We have to tell Lauden that we’re aunts and uncles because he’s too young to grasp that Christiana and Catrina are his sisters. He understands that Brandt is his brother. He lives in the same house and has to listen to his parents, sort of like Lauden does. When he gets older, he’ll be able to grasp it more easily.
You should look for signs with Catrina. Of the two, she’s the one who will just try and soldier on. Christiana will let me know, and I can see the signs already. So be ready, my friend.”
“Thanks for the heads-up, buddy. I guess I was just oblivious to the whole thing. I left home at eighteen, and that was it. Of course, I could talk to my parents anytime I wanted. I told you about phones. And in a pinch, I could be home in under eight hours.
That’s not going to be the case with Catrina. No calling up her sister or her mothers or father just to chat. It’s a week’s travel away. And this is permanent. Oh, we’ll come to visit every year, but it won’t be the same. I’m not worried about her adjusting or anything. But it will be rough at times until she hits her stride. I don’t think that will take too long.”
Roddrick nodded. He’d had an idea that his friend wasn’t fully tuned into the situation. If he were, he’d have probably talked to him about it. Now forewarned, Michael would be able to deal with the situation better. He’d help ease Catrina’s transition.
The Porfian Princess: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 4 Page 17
