The pen was a simple silver tip mounted on a wooden stick, but it was an advance in technology for the time. Lily dipped it in her inkwell and wrote a few words on a piece of birch bark. The pen worked. Now, I just need some real paper. I wonder if papyrus grows anywhere around here?
Lily didn’t want to make paper out of tree pulp. She hated the idea of wasting trees so that idiots could have their speeches printed in the thousands of copies. And she wasn’t sure how the process worked, either. She thought she might be able to use reed grass, however, if she could build large enough vats and get her hands on the right chemicals—and a press…and enough reed grass.
“My Lady?” Helke timidly interrupted her train of thought.
In the next instant, the jeweler got the shock of his life when the Countess jumped up and shouted, “Hurrah!” before kissing him on the cheek. “Helke, you did it! You are so clever!”
He felt his eyes tear up. “My Lady.”
“You are a genius! You’re wonderful!” Lily praised the jeweler for a good five minutes. He blushed, but accepted her praise with gratitude; he had earned it, after all, and it felt good. Lily knew that aristocrats generally ignored Eveers unless they needed money, so she understood his reaction to her praise, and she meant everything she said.
Finally, Lily calmed down and handed the jeweler a piece of birch bark. “Now, look at this. It’s a hook-and-eye clasp.”
“Hook and eye?”
Lily drew a bra and indicated where the hook and eye would go. Then she drew several other types of clasps and hairpins.
“These first ones work well on clothing. You can dress them up with precious stones if you want. These others are for pinning up hair. Now, look at one more thing…” It took her a while to explain curlers.
Helke thought for a moment. “Noblewomen may find that interesting,” he said.
Rapidly she sketched out several more ideas, including a thimble and other handy sewing tools.
“My Lady, these are all fine ideas that will sell well.”
“Of course, especially the curlers. I know that women are currently using hot irons to curl their hair.” She was glad they weren’t wearing wigs—that would be truly awful in the heat.
While she was on a roll, Lily sketched out a set of manicure tools. Helke studied the drawing and pronounced that no one would use such things. He wanted to start making curlers that he could sell to the women who offered hairstyling for noblewomen.
Almost without thinking, Lily delighted the Eveer with several designs for hairbrushes. She told him that they would be easy to make if he used boar bristles.
If we specialize in making beauty tools for hair and nails—I’ll make the mirror glass, and Helke can make the frames—we will start to earn some serious money!
The jeweler’s eyes shone with inspiration. He promised that he would neither eat nor sleep until he had made everything the countess had shown him.
***
He left the dip pen with Lily, who took it to show Ali Akhmet.
The pen worked wonders on him, better than any herbal remedy. The merchant almost jumped out of bed when he saw it. Lily had to promise that she would bring Helke in to talk with him about orders, shipping charges, and payment. She was confident that the Eveer would strike a hard, fair bargain.
She left Ali Akhmet examining the dip pen and went back to her room to make some anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing mixtures for him. She was tired and would have enjoyed a glass of lemonade with mint, but decided against sharing her recipe with the innkeeper. Some good ideas she would keep to herself.
***
The road from the capital city to Earton was long and difficult. Miranda Catherine continued to whine and cry, and the trip stretched on longer than it should have because her entourage had to stop for several days in each village to buy the things she wanted and relieve her temper.
The men in her entourage were furious. The only thing that kept them going was the thought that they would eventually reach Earton and turn over their charge. But they were also uneasy. They had heard enough about the Countess to know that she was a match for Miranda. Will the castle stand up to two unpredictable, short-tempered crybabies?
Only one person in the entourage was completely at peace. He had a job to do, and he had been paid generously in advance to do it. So, he had no worries… The child could be as naughty as she liked. With every day on the road, he was getting closer to his goal.
***
When she went to bed that night, Lily couldn’t help smiling. She was happy. The barrel of liquid Ali Akhmet’s servants brought her was, indeed, crude oil. In time, she would figure out how to refine it. Thoughts of refineries reminded her that she wanted to talk to Helke about making a still. She was sure he would be enthusiastic. Her tired brain kept turning over plans for the future. Finally, after doing some exercises and checking on her patient one last time, Lily got into bed and closed her eyes.
I need a cat to help purr me to sleep. She had a startling thought: in all her travels she had yet to see a cat. Do they even have cats in this new world? And how can I find out? She imagined drawing a picture of a cat and asking people, “Have you ever seen one of these?”
At that, her brain finally shut off, and Lily fell into a deep sleep.
***
The next day was just as hard. In the morning, Lily went back to the market, taking her peasants with her. They bought a dozen goats that Ingrid picked out for their soft fleeces. She said that they wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving on Virma, but that Earton’s milder climate would suit them fine.
They bought a bull. Judging by his size, Lily suspected he was the infamous bull from the other day, but she wasn’t sure. And they bought six cows. Ingrid swore that the cows were in excellent shape, and she thought two of them might be pregnant. They decided against buying any horses and put off purchasing poultry until right before they left for home.
Lily sent the peasants back to the inn with the animals and went off with Ingrid, Leif, and five more Virmans to find a tanner. They could smell the tanner’s workshop from half a mile away. The stench made their eyes water. Lily stopped and wet a large handkerchief and tied it around her face. Ingrid followed her example. The smell was a complicated blend of chemicals, leather, and manure, with sharp, burning overtones. Lily couldn’t tell exactly what she was smelling, but she suspected that a gas chamber would smell nicer.
She kept going, despite the fact that her stomach was threatening revolt. She kept her mouth shut as they rode into the tanner’s yard and Leif announced her. And she kept it shut while the master tanner bowed and introduced the other tanners. Lily deduced that several tanners used the workshop, which was surrounded by a number of small houses.
The visit went well. She had been hoping to find lime water, soda, potash, and sulfuric acid. The tanners were amenable and immediately promised to sell her a large supply of the substances she needed if she would bring her own containers. She gave them some earnest money and turned her horse to go back to the inn. Her plan was to go back to the glass blower’s shop after lunch and buy the containers she needed, but upon returning to the inn, she discovered that three of the dressmaker’s girls had been waiting for her for over an hour. They had brought her order. Lily looked them over. These were the girls the dressmaker had called “stupid and lazy.” As a matter of fact, they looked hungry. She pulled the innkeeper aside. “Did they order anything to eat?”
“No, My Lady.”
“Then set out a good lunch for them—without wine. I will pay.”
The innkeeper did as she wished. He was prepared to do anything for a customer like Lilian Earton, who paid regularly for everything she and her people ate or used. Better yet, there had been no fights in the inn since the Countess took up residence. And the city guards had taken to drinking there in the evenings. With his dining room full and his customers drinking in peace, the innkeeper saw his profits slowly rise, copper coin after copper coin. He even like
d having all the Virmans around—just the look of them discouraged drunks from causing trouble, and they had tossed a couple of troublesome alcoholics into the pig trough the previous week. So, the innkeeper wished nothing but continued health and wealth for the Countess of Earton.
When Lilian came back downstairs, the girls were in a much merrier mood after getting enough to eat for the first time in a long while. When a person has been near starvation for years, finally eating a full meal can make her act almost drunk.
Lily shook her head. “Follow me, girls.” They obeyed. Lily took them to her room, shut the door and posed a question, “Do you know that you have to follow my orders?”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“I am a Countess, and my wishes take precedence over those of your employer. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“Then listen to this, I order you to lie down and get some rest. We can try the clothes on when I come back. I will tell my people not to bother you. Now, rest.”
“But My Lady, what will Marion say?”
“You’ll just tell her that I was very demanding, and it took a long time to finish the fitting. If I have to, I’ll pay for the extra time. Now lie down, all three of you. I’ll tell the innkeeper’s wife to send up milk and buns.”
Judging by the girls’ faces, they thought they were in heaven. Lily went out and closed the door. After ordering the milk and buns, she called for her Virman guards. It was time to return to the glass blower.
It took her an hour to get there and an hour to get back, but only about twenty minutes to tell the master exactly what she needed. He was extremely unpleasant to her the entire time, but she ignored his contempt. She simply didn’t have time to think about it, aside from wondering if he hated all aristocrats or all people in general.
He can go hang himself, as long as he makes my containers first.
When she got back to the inn, Lily ate a bowl of soup and went upstairs to look in on Ali Akhmet. She noticed that the two wives had been replaced by two younger wives who didn’t understand a thing she said. Ali Akhmet sent them out of the room while he talked to the Countess.
Lily examined his leg and his abdominal wound. The honey had done its work, and in another few days, she would be able to take out the stitches. Ali Akhmet looked good, but the best doctors Lily had ever known were superstitious individuals who had taught her not to drop her guard until the patient was completely out of the woods.
Chapter 9
Plots and Priests
The dressmaker’s girls bowed low when Lily walked into her room. She sat down in the only chair and waved for them to relax. “Calm down. Let me sit here for a few minutes, and then we can do the fitting.”
She closed her eyes for a minute. Exhaustion weighed down every limb.
“My Lady.”
Her eyes opened. The skinniest of the girls—the one called Marcia—handed her a cup.
“Drink this, My Lady. You are tired.”
Lily took the cup and drank. It was milk, cold and delicious.
“Thank you.”
“My Lady, we did everything as you asked. The colors and designs are as you wished.”
“Can the clothes be taken in later?” That was Lily’s main concern. She didn’t want to keep buying new clothes as the shape of her body changed.
“Yes, My Lady. May I show you?”
Lily stood like a post for the next ten minutes while the girls took off everything but her undershirt and dressed her in a white long-sleeve shirt that went down to mid-thigh. Then they took out her new skirt. At first, it looked like a plain strip of fabric. On closer inspection, Lily realized how cleverly they had done their work. The skirt tied around her waist and had a line of buttons from waist to hem. Opposite each button was a neatly hidden loop that could be used to hold in the skirt. As she lost weight, she could simply move the buttons to narrow the whole skirt. The vest was just as well-made: green velvet tastefully embroidered with black silk thread. The girls knew their work.
“Which of you did the embroidery?
“I did,” said the second girl. She was a little taller than Marcia and had blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Good job, girls. This is wonderful work!” Lily beamed at them. The clothes fit perfectly and could be taken in as needed. What else did a woman need?
“How much do I owe you?”
The third girl suddenly burst out, “My Lady, please take us to work for you.”
Lily fell back in her chair. “What about Marion?”
“You just pay her for this order, and we will leave.”
“Don’t you owe her anything?” Their faces betrayed them; they were in debt to their employer. “How much?”
“Six silver and fourteen copper coins,” Marcia whispered.
Lily sighed. She could tell they had never seen that much money in their whole lives. She took out her purse. “I will give you the money. In return, you will work for me for one year, starting today. I will pay you one silver coin each month. If you do your work well, I will pay more.”
The girls stared at her, eyes blinking. “My Lady, are you serious?”
“Yes, I am very serious.”
“My Lady!”
All three girls fell on their knees.
Lily sighed. “Let’s think this through. One of you can go back to the shop, pay Marion and collect your things. I’ll send one of my guards with you as a witness. Have her give you a receipt for the money. Is that clear?”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“Which of you will go?”
The girls glanced at each other. “My Lady,” Marcia took a step forward. “I will go.”
Lily nodded. “Fine. Here is the money.” Then she paused. “Wait. I have another question. What exactly is your relationship with your employer?”
“We’re her apprentices.”
Lily bit her lip. She wasn’t sure where apprentices fell in the grand scheme of things, and she didn’t know for a fact that they even had the right to leave their master. “Who sets the terms of your apprenticeship?” They might think her question was odd, but she didn’t care. Lily needed to buy a ton of different things, and she suspected the guilds would refuse to sell to her if she helped Marion’s apprentices escape the service they were bound to.
The girls fell over each other explaining that they were apprentices and that in order to become master dressmakers, they needed to pay off their debt and pass an examination held by the head of the dressmakers’ guild in that town.
“Who heads the guild?”
“Marion.”
“I suppose she won’t want to let you go.”
Judging by their faces, she was right. If they paid their debt and left without taking the examination, they would lose the right to join another guild for three years, even at the level of apprentices. But if Lily hired them, that wouldn’t matter.
“What if you pass the examination? What steps would you need to take to join the guild if it was headed by someone else?”
They told her they would need to pay their debts, announce their intentions, and present their handiwork for the guild to judge.
“Handiwork?”
“Yes, My Lady. A dress or a man’s suit. Whatever the guild asks for.”
Lily nodded. That made sense. “Fine. Let’s say you do that. Then what?” If their work passed scrutiny, each girl would have to pay a fee of five silver coins and hold a feast for the entire guild. “Let’s think, girls. Can you make whatever they ask you to make?” The girls all nodded. Lily gave them a hard look. “I will give you the money for Marion, and for the guild, and even for the feast.”
“But My Lady, we will never be able to pay you back!”
“You will. You know how to sew.”
“Anyone can sew.”
“But not just anyone can make the things I need made.”
“Like what?”
Lily pulled out yet another piece of birch bark and started to draw. Her sketches
were clumsy, but she explained to them in words what she couldn’t draw. Two hours later, the girls had decided to return to Marion for a few more days, where they could sew whatever she needed very quickly.
“Tell her that I want you to alter some other dresses for me.”
Marcia shook her head. “My Lady, you should come tell her yourself.”
“Fine. I’ll stop by tomorrow morning.”
“But My Lady, won’t you be going to the service tomorrow?”
Lily blinked. What service are they talking about?
“Tomorrow is the fifth day. The Temple of Aldonai will be holding a service.”
Lily almost cursed out loud. A religious service. Do I go or skip it? It was a stupid question. Of course, she had to go. I already stick out here. I’d better toe the line on religion, or at least look like I do. “Yes, I’ll be at the service tomorrow and talk to Marion afterward.”
Marcia, Lidia, and Irene nodded like three bobbleheads. Marcia reached out to hand her money back to her, but Lily shook her head. “No, girls. You hold on to it. I trust you.”
“We will be in trouble if Marion finds it, My Lady.”
“And we have to come back and do more fittings with you, anyway.”
“But don’t you need to buy fabric?” Lily asked
Marcia kept one silver coin and several coppers, which she tied into a knot in her petticoat.
“This will be enough, My Lady.”
“You’ll need to make your handiwork for the examination. If they ask you to make dresses, make them to fit me. And yourselves, as well. I won’t have my servants wearing rags. Make three dresses for me and two each for yourselves.”
The bobbleheads nodded again. “Will you have them be pink, My Lady?”
Lily almost choked. “The colors of Earton are green and white. Use those colors for my dresses and any other colors you like for your own.”
When they finally left, Lily shut the door behind them and lay down on her bed. She was absolutely exhausted.
***
Lady Adelaide Wells stood on the ship’s deck, where the breeze tossed her dark curls. She heard footsteps but did not turn around; she knew how well she looked in profile. Someone kissed her on the neck. She almost purred with pleasure but stopped herself in time.
First lessons (Medieval Tale Book 1) Page 23
