Bjorn couldn’t directly dispute that so, he deflected it. “You are correct about this, my friend. The question is, what will we be getting, the innovator or the soldier? Also, what are his long-term plans? With his military knowledge, he could become a conqueror. Something we don’t need.”
Bjorn continued in that vein whenever he saw the opportunity—attempting to sow doubt about Catrina and Michael in the minds of the key players in the city.
Bjorn was given the opportunity to beard the lion in his den. Two weeks after their arrival, Duke Marvon held a large dinner and reception to introduce Catrina and Michael to the populace. Of course, Bjorn and his family were there.
Michael went around meeting people, and Bjorn cornered him. “Good evening Count Michael; I am Baron Bjorn, Duke Marvon’s cousin. How very nice to meet you.”
Mike was immediately on his guard. He played nice. “Nice to meet you as well, Baron Bjorn.”
“Tell me, Count Michael, I understand you were a soldier on your home world. That is an occupation few of us here understand. Your soldiers aren’t quite like our Guards. I am wondering what caused you to choose that profession?”
This caused a number of people to come and listen to the exchange. “Well, Baron Bjorn, to tell the truth, it wasn’t what I set out to be. From an early age, I trained to be a scientist. That was my whole goal in life. While I was studying, my country was attacked by a group of religious fanatics.
They destroyed two large buildings in our largest city. And when I say large, far larger than any building here. They were almost a hundred stories tall.” That brought some oohs and ahhs from the crowd who’d gathered round to listen.
“Everyone all over the world could see the attack and its aftermath. My father worked in one of the buildings. I didn’t know for hours if he was alive or dead. You could see it, the buildings burning and finally collapsing in a pile of rubble. You could see people joining hands and leaping to their deaths. Preferring to die that way rather than being burned alive. It was horrific. I watched, horrified for hours, numb, worried to death about my father and realizing that people I knew were probably dead.
My father did survive. Over three thousand people didn’t. That included a close friend of my family. I attended his funeral. They buried an empty casket. They never recovered his body. We all prayed that he died quickly and wasn’t burned alive.” People were listening in horror as Michael recounted this.
“I didn’t know what to say to his children. People I’d known most of my life. I made a pledge that if the man responsible for this and his group weren’t captured and eliminated by the time I was through with my studies. I would join our military to help put that right. That’s what I did.
I spent four years in our military fighting those kinds of people. Then I got out. I took some time off and then started to look for where I could spend the rest of my working life doing the science that I loved. I trust that answers your question, Baron?”
Bjorn didn’t really know what to say. That hadn’t gone the way that he’d hoped at all. It made Mike look like a man who did what was needed for his country after a horrendous attack. He was a sympathetic figure: a brave man, not some bloodthirsty barbarian.
That led to people asking Michael about what he’d done with weaving and other things. Plus, what he planned to do. He spent a lot of time explaining the new corporation that would get a crown charter and how he was looking to work on iron and steel production as his next big project.
During this, Catrina came up and took Mike’s arm and offered silent support while he was talking about the attacks on his country. She thought that he’d put a serious crimp in Bjorn’s attempt to put him in a bad light.
Bjorn did pick up one thing in the conversations, Michael’s deep hatred of anyone who turned people into slaves. That came through loud and clear. Bjorn immediately thought of Cedric and his moving pleasure house. If Michael found out about it, he’d shut it down violently. Bjorn wondered what Cedric’s reaction would be.
Duke Marvon could see and hear what was happening. He looked at his two wives and gave them a small smile. Michael was doing well. He’d guessed he would. That Catrina would handle such things, he never doubted. This proved that he was right about Michael as well.
During the evening, he heard from many people how impressed they were with both Catrina and Michael. They expected that Catrina would continue the good governance that the city already had and that Michael would add to innovation and help build the city’s fortunes.
Fairness
Prince Arken convened the third meeting of the committee that had been formed to develop a way to transfer the businesses that had been given to the Porfians some decades earlier to local businessmen. The problem was that the original owners had been killed by the previous Duke, who had been put in place by the Porfians. That meant that people needed to be trained to run the businesses, or the economy would take a significant hit. Leaving the businesses in Porfian hands was a non-starter as well. The populace wouldn’t stand for it, and it was too much of a security risk to leave the economy dependent on the Porfians. So, the committee was working to make the transition.
Arken was pleased, Alla, who he’d be marrying in a few months, was providing critical information and insight into what was going on. Elizabeth was the one who found Alla and felt that the attraction was strong, and her intelligence and knowledge would be good for the marriage. Arken had to admit that his wife was correct.
Now he had to deal with the snakes that Alla was uncovering. The biggest snake was Darvin. He’d organized a group of Porfian merchants to advocate for the best deal that they could negotiate. There was nothing wrong with that, and it was something that was expected. What was worrying was the rumors that there was a secret component to the organization that was responsible for the sabotage happening in the city.
He was somebody who needed to be watched. Darvin might be really dangerous. However, Arken couldn’t imagine that the man might try anything that would be serious. He certainly couldn’t believe that he could reverse the course of what was happening, did he? Of course, as Michael pointed out, you can never underestimate the stupidity of supposedly intelligent people.
One of the first things that the committee had done was to determine who the previous owners were. The was some resistance among the current owners until Dedessus made it clear that he was angry about it. His oldest daughter had married the son of the owner of one of the businesses. She was pregnant when they were shipped off to Porfia and ultimately murdered two days down the western road. That stunned the Porfian merchants. Up until then, they’d intellectually understood what had happened to the prior owners. That brought it home in all its gory reality.
Dedessus made clear that he didn’t want the business; he had other things that he needed to do. But his family and any of the other families that had close living relatives needed to be given something. It was ‘blood money.’ The Porfian’s couldn’t disagree. A couple did grumble, but the majority put them in their place.
The sticking points were clear. First, who would take over the business? If a local was in the business, then that person may be the one that should. However, they’d need to have good business sense. What to do if there were several local employees? Who would be able to take over the business? Should they form some sort of company or partnership to do it? So many questions that needed answers. Many of these would need to be settled on an individual basis.
The second major issue was how much to pay the current owners? They’d paid the former Duke some money to take over the businesses. They’d made profits for all those years. What would be appropriate compensation for them? Just taking the businesses would cause increased resistance in the other cities. It needed to be reasonable, but certainly not the full value of the business. It had to be some percentage of the value. Then the question was how to determine the value of the business?
For each business, the committee was busy drawing up potential new
owners. That list was kept secret so as not to cause issues. Arken fully expected Darvin to leak any information that could cause problems. He made sure that Darvin had very little accurate information. That made the committee’s work even harder.
While Elizabeth and Alla were not members of the committee, they did listen and sat in on the deliberations. That was not lost on the participants. Then afterward, they discussed it with Arken, Dedessus, and Arturo, along with Amora, Harlold’s mother, and Noria, Harlold’s betrothed. Alla and Amora found it invigorating to be included in these discussions. It was so far from normal in places like Tantulus, where women were sexual partners, housewives, and in charge of raising the children. They were never involved in decision-making or man’s work.
Elizabeth found it to be constricting, although she understood the restrictions that her husband was working under. Noria and Elizabeth carefully explained how it worked in the northern kingdoms and kingdoms like Sudlund. Alla intellectually understood what they were talking about, but emotionally it was foreign. Elizabeth and Noria fully intended to bring Alla around. She was smart, and once she was involved in the decisions, she wouldn’t want to be excluded.
Harlold already knew that Noria would be a full partner in running the city, and he made that clear from the beginning. People started to realize how intelligent and knowledgeable she was. Also, how she was seeing to some of the more mundane but essential administrative matters while Harlold dealt with the messy politics. While the men in the city understood this, that didn’t mean that they were altogether happy. They became less happy as their wives and daughters started to emulate Noria and Elizabeth.
Arken told Elizabeth and Alla. “I’m going to write to Michael about the issues with forming companies when there are a couple of local people who know the business and are working for it. He may have some idea from the home world that we could borrow or use as a basis for our own solution.
I’m not sure that he’d mentioned anything, but with Michael, you have to ask. You’d be surprised what he knows but doesn’t think is important enough to share or even think about. At least that’s what my sister says about her son-in-law.”
Arken did send a letter and was hopeful that he’d get something back shortly. Luckily government worked slowly in these matters. That had its advantages and its drawbacks. In this case, the slowness may be an advantage.
That also gave Darvin time to work. He’d heard rumors that the King would attend the wedding. That would be bad. It would mean that the King felt strong enough to openly defy Porfia. There was still hope; neither the King nor Harlold had heirs. If they were to die, then the entire realm would be thrown into chaos. Chaos in which strong and determined men could accomplish much and rise in station. He viewed himself as such a man.
Nordport
Ever since the attempted kidnapping, Prince Brandt had endeavored to make himself more mentally and physically prepared. He started an exercise regime like Michael had shown him. His friends joined in as well. Three days a week, they gathered together for exercise and training with swords and pistols. On off days they did light exercise on their own. All of them realized that they could well be with the Prince when danger struck; they had every intention of surviving and helping to make sure that Brandt did as well.
On their exercise days, they all gathered at the gymnasium at the palace. They did fifty pushups, fifty sit-ups, five sets of ten pullups with their hands in different positions. Then a four-mile run. When they first started this routine, they couldn’t get everything done and were too exhausted to even think about sword practice.
Those days were long gone. They were able to do the exercises and complete the run. They even talked while they were running except for the last quarter mile, which was a sprint. The Palace Guard thought that they were a bit daft. They revised their opinion after they saw the physical shape the young men were in. Many of the Guards started to emulate them.
After they ran, they toweled off and changed into protective gear for sword practice. That was padded Jerkins and tunics along with a faceguard. The practice swords were blunt with a button tip, and the blades weren’t sharp. That went for the dirks they used as well. The boys paired off and practiced under the sharp eye of the Royal Sword Master.
He was secretly proud of how well the boys were doing. Although in truth, they were getting closer to young men in age. He did not doubt that any of them could easily handle a brigand or a robber. Even a trained Guardsman would be hard-pressed to stand up to them. Another year and that wouldn’t be the case; they would be expert swordsmen.
One day Prince Mathias and Petor were standing watching them train. Mathias asked. “Petor, how long has this been going on. Those boys are better trained than most nobles with the sword. I know I’d have to be at my best to compete with them. Impressive, most impressive.”
“Ever since the attempt to kidnap the Royal Family. Brandt started doing it, and his friends joined in. His father and grandfather are pleased that they’re doing it. The boys spend a lot of time together, and if anyone tried for Brandt again, they’d have to deal not only with him but however many of his friends were around. Not an easy task.”
“Who are his friends?” Asked Mathias.
Petor started to point them out. “I assume you know James. His father is Morton, and his grandfather is Dr. Jorgenson. He’s interested in the sciences and is a generalist like his father. Although he’s devoured a lot of the books that Michael brought with him.”
“Science advisor.” Mumbled Mathias
Petor pointed out another young man. “That is Gabor. His father has a manufacturing shop. He’s the one who is building all of the new looms and other weaving improvements that Michael has introduced.
That one over there is Starl. His father owns a large dry goods store here in Nordport and another in Randport. The man knows how to operate a store and is looking to expand even further. Starl, like the others, has older sisters.
The one fighting Starl is Kelvin. Kelvin’s father is a successful trader and trades throughout Nordia, Tandor, and a bit in Sorbia. He’s training Kelvin and his brother-in-law in the business.
Finally, you know Rolf, Steedman’s son. He’s interested in the military and security. Bright lad as well. Knows hunting and has studied security with both his father and Duke Marvon.”
While Petor was telling Mathias all this, Roddrick came up. “Hello, Petor, you letting Prince Mathias know about my brother-in-law’s posse?”
“Posse? What’s that?” asked Mathias.
“It’s a word from the home world that Michael uses to refer to Brandt’s friends. It apparently means a group that forms around a significant person like a young prince.”
“It’s more like a Duke or King’s council in training, is what I think it is. He’s got his science advisor, his trade advisor, his manufacturing advisor, his business advisor, and his military advisor. A full council that has been trained and raised by some of the best.” Said Mathias.
“I agree, and so does my father-in-law. There’s no doubt that Brandt is going to wind up in an important Duchy someplace. Everyone expects his friends to go with him, with their families’ blessing. He will not wind up in Nordia, but somewhere. All of the boys are well-read. They’ve spent a lot of time at the research station and working on their skills. Each of their fathers is tutoring them in their respective professions, and they are intelligent and quick learners. There are rumors that the Turkmenia King wants his youngest daughter, Sylvia, to marry Prince Brandt.
They met at your wedding. It was pretty icy at first until both agreed that they wanted nothing to do with it. After that, they got along fine.
Now according to my much more cynical brother-in-law, Michael, that means that as soon as they are of the right age, they’ll be trying to tear each other’s clothes off. I myself disagree with Michael; they’ll be much more restrained.”
That caused the three young men to laugh. Roddrick said. “Don’t say that to Brandt.
He’s fairly sensitive about that. Even his friends don’t tease him about that. Although they all tease each other about a lot of things.”
“You mean,” said Mathias, “that I should ask him about the weather in Turkmenia and whether he’s going to like it better than the weather in Nordia. Or that he’ll miss the coast and the ocean.”
“Well, that would be cruel, Mathias,” said Roddrick. “But an occasional mention of Turkmenia would not be out of place. I don’t, of course, since his sister, my wife, is somewhat protective of her former baby brother. Now Lauden is the baby. She has almost forgotten the teasing she endured from a much younger Brandt.”
Mathias asked. “Is Michael being funny, or does he really think that Brandt and Sylvia will wind up together.”
Roddrick chuckled. “I’m sure Petor has heard some of this. Michael has a theory about what is going on here on Cornu. He told Catrina, and Baron Morton and Catrina told my wife, and she told me. I may have some of it wrong, but I think I’ve got the major parts correct. By the way, Baron Morton thinks something similar.
Michael thinks that some higher intelligence set Cornu up to preserve humanity. We know that the gates aren’t magic; they have some very advanced technologies. Michael also believes that they have been experimenting with us. The differences between people here and on the home world are due to those experiments.
For example, the longer life span, the number of girls far outnumbering boys, and lower fertility all reduce the population. He thinks that The Choosing is to further get rid of undesirable traits like deformities and other defects. In this, he includes a predilection to violence. Michael notes that on the home world, there are some very violent people. He sees very few here.
Michael also thinks that the changes in people include men and women being attracted to people who will make good mates. This means very few families where either the man or the woman leaves. Also, fewer men mean that wars are unattractive.
The Porfian Princess: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 4 Page 20
