by P. S. Power
“Hey everyone! Looks like you made it in good time. We don’t have time today to build proper structures to house you all, or well, maybe we do, it doesn’t take that long, but if not, we’ll have to squeeze you all in someplace or have you camp out for the night. Sorry about that. Oh, um, everyone,” He waved at the combat giants, most of whom he knew from school and included Kolb in the gesture, since Tor knew him better, or at least longer, than some of the others.
“This is the military base commander who lives at my house. Major Godfrey. Really nice guy. Clever too. Try to get him to take you up in one of the transports if you get a chance, it’s even faster than flying yourself. Godfrey and um, everyone else?” Tor waved at the fifty men behind him, calling out a little loudly so that they might all hear. He still wasn’t up to producing really good volume, his lungs not having fully recovered from the poison yet.
“Well, you can all introduce yourselves, since we’re all friends here, don’t be shy about it or anything. This man out in front is Baron third, Martin Kolbrin. He’s also a Knight and one of the toughest fighters in the kingdom. More to the point, he’s one of the very best trainers in the kingdom as far as that goes, possibly the world. We, ah, didn’t know these people would be by this soon, but the King wants them to set up a special training division here, so we need to build that on to the back. I’ll be going out in the next few days to, uh, make sure we have the water we need and make sure the King is all up to date on this.”
It was of course, all lies. Mainly at least. The King had mentioned something about training though, right? Also wanting Kolb and his group to not be flying around on their own?
What Tor did know for certain was that Kolb was a bit miffed at the Wards, and a slightly annoyed Kolb was too dangerous to ignore. The King didn’t want him to personally kill them or lead an attack on them. Yet. Otherwise Rich hadn’t seemed angry at any of these people, so it was worth a shot. Besides, Tor had a sneaking suspicion that if he acted like this was the order of the day everyone else would at least pretend to go along with him.
“Um, not to seem high handed, but Kolb, Godfrey, would you both walk with me and… Countess Thorgood here?” It was the first time he’d called her that out loud. She winced a little, but didn’t correct him. It was her duty now, like it or not. He just hated to be the one to rub salt in the wounds like that.
Everyone else held their position in the bright sunlight. Ah, right, order and all that. These people wouldn’t just wonder off on their own.
“Right, for now, Godfrey, do you think your men could see to building a hasty structure or two outside the back wall? I want to expand that way if possible. We need at least two structures if they can manage it. Big enough for all the new people. Kolb, how many women do you have?”
The large man tilted his head and scowled a little at him.
“Thirteen, but,”
Nodding eagerly, Tor cut him off. If he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t question or simply refuse right? Tor had learned that from the big man himself after all. Kolb kind of deserved to have the technique used on him in return.
“Right, so housing for the men and thirteen women… wait, actually, they need to learn to use the equipment themselves. If we could detail men to teach them to use the equipment and build what they need on their own? Better to make them sleep outside for a night than coddle them, given everything. As little help from those that are showing them the ropes as possible, I think? These are people that can be expected to catch on.”
He’d really have to get to water he knew, and fast. New bath houses too. It was always something. His head started to ache just a little.
“Um, yeah. So lots to do. OK, Kolb, this isn’t a military base, it’s my house, but we have a lot of military people here and some, um, special guests of mine…” How did he explain that there were women of industry living here and not seem rude?
Ursala solved that problem for him, her tone serious and straight forward.
“He has his own whorehouse. But I think what he’s getting at is that he wants them treated with respect at all times and like anyone else when they aren’t… on duty? He’s shy about saying things like that, I doubt you or any of your people would be less than courteous, of course, still…”
The bald man, it turned out, wasn’t bald at all, as stubble had come in all over his head. Tor noticed this fact when he nodded.
“Of course. I’ll make certain everyone is cognizant of the situation and behaves…” He still sounded a little baffled but didn’t question Tor for now at least.
“Thanks Ursala, I know I need to learn to be blunter about things like this. They’re good girls, women, and my guests. Godfrey, please pass the word the other way around as well? Not that any of the men here would misbehave like that, since I hear that everyone is very honorable, but not only would trying to, um, get fresh, with any of Kolb’s instructors in an unwanted fashion probably be the last thing they did, if anyone tries to do anything that’s untoward, I will personally be… disappointed in them. Here’s the hard part, if any of the military men actually wants to get to know one of the females in Kolb’s group, that’s allowable, but… Well, they should probably get with him for an introduction first. Is… that alright do you think? I don’t want to keep anyone from getting together or having fun, I just want to avoid problems. Plus, you know, any guy willing to approach Kolb like that is probably at least brave enough for one of those girls to give the once over, right?”
For some reason he didn’t get, everyone in their little group laughed. Was that funny somehow? It made sense to him at least. He wouldn’t have wanted to face Kolb for an introduction to one of his female friends. Especially just for something casual. Then again, Kolb was royal too, so he’d probably have no problem with the idea, as long as the man was up front and polite about the whole thing.
He probably make suggestions about who was best in bed, actually. That idea was strange to Tor, since he’d only ever thought of Kolb as being a fighter. He was a complete person though, like everyone else. The idea kind of set him back for a few seconds. Kolb was a person? How bizarre. Possibly a trick of the mind too. Tor decided to be careful there for the time being and not assume anything.
After five minutes they at least had enough people headed out to the back to have a shot at getting something up in time, before dark fell. If not, Kolb assured them, they could all just camp out till the next day.
“We have been. That’s why we landed here, to see if we could get water or supplies. This is a bit of a surprise. More than a bit.” Kolb looked at him suspiciously.
Tor shrugged. At least he hadn’t been riding him about having lost all that weight and getting out of shape. Yet. It would be coming, he knew. Grinning he told him that he’d just come from a meeting with the King the day before, where his disposition had been discussed. Literally true, which got a nod from Ursala.
“Indeed, I was there for the meeting. A very exclusive one actually. I can’t even tell you who all was there, slit your own throat kind of stuff, but I can say that if Tor tells you that you’re needed to put together an elite unit, that the King will back it fully and completely.”
That was more than Tor had expected from her and it carried a lot of weight coming from a sitting Countess. That she was technically hiding from people that had tried to kill her wasn’t mentioned at all. Really it didn’t matter for the current discussion. He did wonder what Kolb thought about her being there though.
That she’d come to visit Rolph maybe? Or no… Kolb wouldn’t know that the Prince hung out there, would he? Not yet. Maybe he’d think that Ursala was secretly in charge? That kind of made sense.
“Right, so, um Kolb, this might seem awkward to you, but this is, well, it’s kind of my house, like I said, and Godfrey is the military leader here, so we need to discuss the chain of command and all, so that there’s no confusion.” He swallowed but made himself look around and realized that everyone standing and looking at him was older tha
n he was. That wasn’t uncomfortable or anything. Not at all.
“So, Godfrey is in charge of the military section, buildings and if it comes to it, discipline. He has the largest section here at…” Damn, he didn’t have a name yet.
Ursala however, saint that she was, did.
“Wildlands Station. Sara Debri and I came up with it last night. We decided it sounded a little less “Austrans please come bomb us now” than “Tor base” did.”
He beamed at her, a bit of love touching his heart for the tall blonde woman at that moment. Both of them. It was so much better.
“Oooh, good point. So, Wildlands Station. Godfrey has those duties, as well as what he already has. But, obviously, Kolb needs to be in charge of his own section, since we’re going to be training what are pretty much the hyper-elite’s here. For that matter, if we ever come under attack, we want Kolb and his people to take command. Not all of Kolb’s people will be military; it will vary depending on the situation of the moment, so sometimes they might be… anything, even being military one day and something else the next. But while they’re here, they need to follow along with what Godfrey says, even if that means taking a beating, or mucking the stables. Not that we have stables and really, I’d like as little beating as possible… Um, understood Kolb?”
His head came up just slightly.
“That sounds fine. For now at least. I need a better description of what “my section” will be doing, I think. Still, I don’t mind dumping the discipline problems onto someone else. I’ll back your calls.” He said this last to Godfrey directly, getting a nod in return.
“Good. Now, um, we suddenly have a lot of women here, compared to a regular military situation. We haven’t had a lot of problems so far, but for the time being, I’d like for Ursala to be in charge of that? What this means is that, where the ladies, all of them, are concerned, she’s in charge, even if that means over ruling any of us. Functionally this shouldn’t mean much, I don’t think. If one of them gets out of line, Godfrey still deals with it, and all that, but if any special situations come up, girl things that I can’t even foresee, we dump it on her. I mean… Ursala is in charge?” Tor grinned at her hopefully.
The men didn’t seem unhappy with it and the Countess just raised her eyebrows at him and looked bemused. OK, he hadn’t asked first, but she was about the only one he could have do it. Sara was already military now after all and having two military leaders would have unbalanced things. Besides, if it became important, she was the only one he knew that could go head to head with both Godfrey and Kolb at the same time. She was a sitting Countess after all. They had to listen to her. Literally, it was an actual law.
“Good, now, what am I missing?”
A lot, according to the people around him. They needed more buildings, restrooms especially, but at least one more bathhouse, which Tor expanded instantly to two bathhouses, one for the ladies section too, which meant more water. They didn’t need more kitchen space yet, since what they had was incredibly overbuilt as far as that went, but they needed more cooks and bakers. He already knew that, but apparently if he wanted them fast, he was going to have to requisition them from the military, which may not work, because they were in short supply at the moment, A thing which he had no idea how to do at all. Godfrey would have to show him.
If they were doing that, then Godfrey wanted to put in a new shop so that they could keep up with the orders coming in for transports, which, if they did, meant more work for Tor personally. But then most things did. Ursala smiled and suggested that they look into getting some more girls as well, so Tor nodded and suggested that she do just that, getting with Madam Clarissa to find out what she’d need or want. It was her section after all. Of course she’d want it to grow.
Then, grinning, Ursala suggested that they get some boy whores too.
“Um…” Tor said brilliantly.
That was even a thing? Were there enough women that wanted such services here? Really, couldn’t the women just get some of the guys to do that for free? He asked Ursala who shrugged.
“Like the women, most will work for whoever pays them, they’re professionals after all.”
Instead of stammering or judging the suggestion through his own tiny moral window on the world Tor took a deep breath and shrugged.
“Right, well, you and Clarissa work that out, right? Um, I’m suddenly out of my depth here. Totally. I guess… Unless any of them want to cross train with Kolb, Ursala should be in charge of them too? The same is true the other way though. If any of the ladies want to work into Kolb’s section and make the cut, I guess that flips the other way. Confusing.”
Everyone else just agreed with him though, Kolb looking… Oddly considering, to tell the truth.
They also, it seemed, needed a supply depot and store. That way the men, and now ladies, could make small purchases without going all the way into the Capital or waiting until their off days to get things that are convenient from day to day, like soap or thread and needles for clothing repair. Boring stuff, but needed none the less. The physical building they could do, and having the goods shipped, well, they could manage that too, he realized, what they needed was a shop keep. There he drew a blank. Did he even know anyone that could do that?
Well, technically he did. Several. Sara could do the job for instance and Rolph would probably excel at it. He had all those people skills, and could even balance his own books, with his accounting background. The problem there was that Sara already had a military position that was more important than running a tiny store and Rolph was the heir to the kingdom. It would be funny to make him run a little operation like that, and probably a good experience for him, but he was kind of busy, what with the war and all. The only other person he knew personally that could do the task was… Dorgal Sorvee.
Whee, import your own bullies. Brilliant plan.
Tor decided to simply ask in the Capital if there was anyone willing to take up the task. It at least had going for it that it supported the war effort after all. No one paying attention could doubt that.
He left the others discussing everything that was needed and started making copies to see what he could get done before bed time. He was making decent time really, and had made a full batch of water heaters and to his surprise not one but ten full copies of the rivers for Afrak, which he’d thought might be too hard to do at first, but was decently easy, taking only about an hour for all of them, when he found himself being hit in the head repeatedly.
It wasn’t hard or anything, but came from two sides, alternating the thumping. Flicking really. First from a blond girl standing in dust covered leather on his right, and then from another, taller blond on his left, who wore something far cuter than leather, a thin shift that looked to be made of something like silk in a violet color and hugged below her bosoms accentuating them greatly. Ursala had larger breasts than he’d noticed before. He had an excellent view of them from this position, so he could determine that for a fact.
“There he is!” Sara cried out as if she hadn’t just been hitting him in the head.
“Alright, alright, I’m done, for now. Is there an emergency?”
Ursala chuckled at him and moved in to give him a hug that hit him square in the face with her breasts, since he was sitting on the bed. It was closer than he’d ever been to a breast on purpose he though. That he knew of for certain anyway. The soft thing against his arm the day before in the tub might have been one, but he wasn’t sure. Trice had… a few times, but those didn’t count. Not now.
“Yes. Its dinner time and we had to make sure you weren’t planning on going into a coma for another twenty odd days or something. You’re not supposed to be pushing yourself right now, kind of implied in the whole “taking a break for a few days” thing, don’t you think?” She grinned and held his head to her lovingly for a while, making him turn a lot redder than could be strictly healthy.
Dinner that night was decent enough. The bread was fresher than normal for the time of day
and they had berry pie for dessert. He proudly pointed out that Sorlee had made it herself for them. That thought brought up the fact that the girl needed help baking if they were going to double the number of people again. He shook himself a little when he heard what Sara was saying.
“So, I told them that you’d have the letter ready to go out in a few days. Is that all right? I know it can’t be a fun thing for you to do, but the King and Queen both requested of mother, through channels, to ask me, to ask you. You see how this works?”
He nodded. Tor saw it clearly. They were ambushing him. Using a sneak attack. In his own home too. Poor form on their part.
Another thing for him to work on it seemed. Alright, what did he need most right now? Oddly enough, other than to finish dinner, and sleep, what came to mind were griddles for the kitchen. He thought he could do the heating devices for them before bedtime. It was a little more of a unique problem than he’d thought at first, but he’d done so many variations of putting heat in one place or another that it just didn’t take that long over all.
Almost as if she’d been waiting for him to turn his light off or something Ursala slipped into bed next to him just a few moments after he’d settled back to go to sleep.
The move surprised Tor more than a little and even more when she started kissing him, warmly, as she pressed against him.
She whispered to him that she really didn’t feel up to having sex yet, because of her poisoning, which he understood fully, he let her know. Plus, he confided to her, he didn’t actually know what to do, so he probably wouldn’t be very good anyway.
Chuckling she told him…
If not everything he’d need to know, a lot of it. He knew that more than once he muttered “what” in a shocked tone that probably sounded strange to poor Sara who was trying to sleep, or at least had turned her own light off so as to not bother them. Seriously, some of the things she claimed peopled did in bed regularly barely seemed physically possible.
