The Medieval Marine - Repercussions

CHAPTER I

London, England. December 1066

"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU QUEEN MARION THE FIRST, QUEEN OF ENGLAND. LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!!"

On Christmas Day 1066 AD, General Luke MacDougall stood in Westminster Abby wearing a new black dress uniform, watching his wife, Marion of York, crowned Queen of England. Standing next to him was Marion's lover, Colonel Gabriella Smiten, who was pregnant and the commander of Marion's bodyguard unit, now named the Household Guard. Dr. Alice Kensley stood at his other side. She was the head doctor in Marion's court and Luke's lover. All four shared the same bed every night, and the three ladies shared Luke even though Gabriella didn’t take as much advantage of him. Then, there was Colonel Pollyanna Hall. She was one of Luke's closest friends, an outstanding engineer, and commanded a regiment of army engineers while her husband, Matthew Hall, was at her side every step of the way. They met after he ran her over with his horse when he had been working for Marion's sister Cecilia, and now he ran basic army training. The last person in the group was the youngest, Luke and Marion's daughter, Mackenzie Lynn MacDougall. Marion had named her Mackenzie in honor of Luke's American sister. Even though Mackenzie would only be a year old in a couple of months, she was already showing signs that she would be brilliant, very stubborn, and exceptionally beautiful. Marion was pregnant with their second child, and Gabriella was getting close to having hers. Luke was her child's father and determined to be as much of a dad to it as he was to Mackenzie.

Marion had caused a stir when she showed up for her coronation wearing her formal evening gown, high-heeled sandals, and golden hair piled on her head. The members of the nobility in attendance were not used to a woman showing so much skin in public, and more than a few made lewd comments about the amount of skin, cleavage, and hair Marion was showing. Luke’s problem with Marion’s dress was keeping Little Luke from coming to attention, especially when he thought about the silk stockings she wore under the dress.

The high-society women were also jealous of Marion's jewelry. She was wearing her wedding ring and necklace, which Luke had made for her the year before. This year, Luke made her a pair of matching earrings. He also made earrings for Alice, Gabriella, and Pollyanna. Alice's earrings had emeralds for the stones, as was her matching necklace. Gabriella's earrings had rubies, just like her necklace, and Pollyanna's earrings and necklace had diamonds. Mackenzie wouldn't get any jewelry until she got older. Luke had made some for her but kept them in his safe.

Luke had made jewelry for Pollyanna because Matt had asked him to. Matt didn't want Pollyanna to feel left out and liked how Marion's jewelry made her shine. Luke understood Matt's reasoning, so he made earrings and a matching necklace for Matt to give to Pollyanna. She was thrilled to death with her present, and the day after she had gotten them, Matt was in no shape for anything that required much brain or muscle power but was smiling like an idiot, which brought him some good-natured ribbing from everyone around him.

Marion might have caused one hell of a disturbance, but she didn't care what the others in attendance thought. The rest of the group caused as much of a stir, with half of her bodyguards being women. Her lover, Gabriella, and husband, Luke, were right by her side. People wouldn't have been so shocked if her lover had been a man, but Marion's lover was another woman. The presence of Marion's bodyguards kept the talk to a minimum. Nobody in their right mind would piss one of them off; all the women in Marion's guards wore pants just like the men, carried weapons, and knew how to use them. They were all trained in martial arts, making them the most dangerous women in the world. The entire army had been instructed to MCMAP standards from Luke's Marine days. Marion's guards were trained in several other martial arts styles that Luke had picked up during his time in the 21^st century, so they knew how to defend themselves with a knife or bare hands.

None of the nobility had ever seen soldiers like these. When called to attention, they all moved as one and continued as one person until the "at ease" order was issued. The guards wore polished black shoes, black pants with red trim, and black jackets sporting shiny brass buttons and red trim. On their left shoulder was the flag of St. George with ENGLAND written under it in white, while their right shoulder had their unit insignia. In the case of this unit, it was the insignia for the Household Guard regiment, a Spartan shield. Their medals and ribbons were worn proudly on the left side of their chest, while their name tag was on the right. Like officer hats from Luke's old universe, their hats were bright white with polished black visors. All the officers in the guard unit had gold braid on their shoulders and swords clipped on their left hip. The higher the officer, the more gold braid they wore. All the enlisted had chevrons on their left sleeve, where they stood out because they were yellow. The enlisted were armed with a service rifle, bayonet, and knife. Officers carried a revolver under their jackets in addition to their swords. All the weapons were highly polished, meaning the bayonets and swords sent beams of colored light throughout the room.

Everyone managed to behave themselves during the ceremony even though everyone could see Archbishop Ealdred didn't want to perform the ceremony. He had been the one who had signed off on the witch-hunting expedition that Marion had so thoroughly humiliated earlier in the month. They had just returned to London a couple of days before Marion's army, and three of the four had infections where Luke had shot them. The lead man was the only one who didn't have an infection, but he had been thoroughly humiliated by Marion when she forced him to swallow Luke's cum after it had dripped out of her pussy. To rub it in further, Marion had forced him to watch as she was crowned queen. The priest fumed the whole time and swore to do everything possible to eliminate Marion and her inner circle. It was no longer about religion but revenge.

The church hadn't wanted to crown Marion as queen, but she didn't give them much choice in the matter. It was either crown her queen, or she would kick them out of Britain and crown herself. Another factor helping her was the English bishops' ability to thumb their noses at Pope Alexander II by crowning her queen. He had approved William's failed invasion of England partly because he wanted more control over the English Church. Luke had wiped William's entire army from the face of the Earth. Now, the pope wouldn't get any English money for his projects and was seen as a failure. Just what he didn't need with the Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily. When the young emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was added to the mix, the pope had a mess on his hands and was in a very tight spot.

Luke watched his wife accept the crown with a sense of relief and awe. Never having seen a coronation ceremony before, the pageantry on display was breathtaking, although, in Luke's slightly biased view, Marion was more spectacular. They were much safer now than when she was a local noble. Granted, she had been the most powerful noble in the north by the time she brought her army south, but by being queen, she could now spread her laws over all of England and most of Scotland. Additionally, Luke planned to bring the rest of Scotland under Marion's control, hopefully by the summer.

They all enjoyed the ceremony, and it was gratifying for the group to watch their best friend and leader become queen. They had been working toward it over the last year and a half. What none of them enjoyed was the primitive conditions in London. They had been spoiled by the improved conditions in York and wanted to return home as soon as possible. When Marion finally walked out from being coronated, her officers, led by Luke, Alice, and Gabriella, formed an arch with their swords for her to walk under as she walked out of Westminster Abby. The swords reflected gold and silver in the late afternoon sunlight and were truly an impressive sight to behold.

After the ceremony, there was a party that Luke paid for and held in a temporary wood building because no building in London was large enough. Without a doubt, Luke was the wealthiest person in Britain. However, almost nobody knew that, and he wanted to keep it that way, having made his money from the rapid industrialization in Marion's northern lands. After his businesses were up and running, he never took the spoils of war after battles but gave them to the deceased soldiers' families. This helped Marion's popularity because the spoils were always shared in her name, not Luke's.

For the party, Luke had ordered several barrels of high-strength alcohol be brought down, along with wagons of ale and several barrels of wine bought from French and Flemish merchants. One of the things that Luke did was run a simple chemical analysis of the wine barrels before he bought them, and he was glad he did when several barrels were found to have high levels of lead. The merchants selling those barrels were permanently banned from selling anything in Marion's territory. One thing Luke truly missed was a good whiskey; that was one of Luke’s side projects that would take time to bear fruit.

The party was a massive success, with bountiful alcohol and food to help lubricate the social skids. The music was spectacular, played by the band Marion had used for the party she threw for her soldiers. Marion was looking at hiring them to be part of a national orchestra. The first piece played had never been heard before; Luke had provided the band with the music and lyrics to "God Save the Queen." The cheering after the piece ended rattled the building and embarrassed Marion. At least she had learned how to control her blush for the most part, so her red cheeks were not very visible. Those close to her noticed her blush and the daggers in her eyes when she looked at Luke. Seeing her eyes, he just shrugged. She hated being embarrassed as much as he loved to embarrass her.

After everyone calmed down, the regular music started, and Marion danced around three-quarters of the songs with Luke and most of the rest with Gabriella. The few dances that she didn't dance with Gabriella or Luke, she danced with some of the more important nobles in attendance. Marion's dancing with Gabriella had caused the nobles in the hall to stop and look at her in shock and horror. When they saw that the guards were not reacting and Luke watching the couple dance with a warm smile, the nobles decided, without discussing it, to do nothing even though Marion caused a major scandal by dancing with Gabriella. Luke silently chuckled, knowing how scandalized the nobles would be if they saw what Gabriella and Marion did together in bed. Thinking of that caused Little Luke to start coming to attention, and Luke had to think of something fast or be in an awkward and possibly embarrassing position.

The party lasted until well into the morning, so when Luke, Marion, Gabriella, and Alice returned to the room they were staying in, they collapsed into each other's arms. Gabriella was exhausted since her kid drained all her extra energy. Marion, Alice, and Luke were tired but not too tired yet. Since Alice would be heading back to York soon, Luke started the nightly dancing with her.

When they started sleeping together, Alice didn’t allow Marion to watch her and Luke make love. However, over time, Alice loosened her sexual views and allowed Marion to watch. This was something that Marion loved to do, but was always respectful of Alice's views. It had always made her so horny watching Luke and Gabriella, but with Gabriella being pregnant, she wasn't in the mood for sex. She felt ugly and worthless because of her expanding belly. It didn't matter what Luke or Marion told her; Gabriella wasn't in the mood for sex with Luke. She still would make love to Marion, but she wasn't nearly as energetic as she used to be.

Tonight, Alice was horny as hell. Some was the alcohol she consumed during the evening, and some was the sense of accomplishment that went along with Marion being crowned queen. Once they were in bed, Alice pinned Luke to the bed and rode him hard as she moaned. Due to the smaller bed, Marion was lying next to Luke and Alice as they did the horizontal tango. As Alice rode Luke, she looked down at Marion playing with herself and felt something wash over her. She reached down and put her hand under Marion's to play with her clit. This surprised Marion, and as soon as she got over her shock, she reached up and started tweaking one of Alice's rubbery pink nipples. No sooner did Marion start playing with Alice's nipple than Alice let out a feral growl and started shaking as her orgasm hit. As she was cumming, her vaginal muscles tightened even more on Luke, causing him to lose his load deep inside her. He had hoped to last longer, but the visual of his wife and lover playing with each other and Alice's hot tunnel tightening was too much for him or any mortal man.

Alice collapsed on Luke's chest, panting, but Marion wasn't done with her yet. She moved around to where she was looking at Alice's swollen cream-filled pussy and pulled Luke’s cock out. As Luke's cream flowed out of Alice, Marion's pink tongue licked it up, causing Alice to squeal before she started moaning again. Marion kept lashing Alice with her tongue as Alice began to climb higher once again. To push Alice even higher, Marion took hold of Luke's cock and rubbed it on Alice's clit. This did what Marion wanted, but it worked better than expected. Alice exploded into another orgasm that knocked her out. Marion cleaned Luke's cock off with her tongue, but she couldn't get it inside her pussy because Alice was in the way, so she moved to where Luke's fingers could work on her. Within minutes, Marion had her first orgasm as queen and could relax. She pulled the covers over them and fell asleep with Gabriella’s head on her shoulder and her hand cupping Gabby’s expanding breast.

When Luke and Marion woke up the following day, they were the first awake, which wasn't unusual. Luke had to move Alice off him because she hadn't moved all night. She groaned but quickly curled up to Gabriella and fell back to sleep. Alice slept in when she could, and Gabriella had been sleeping in recently and taking naps during the day. She couldn't wait until after she gave birth to get back to being a bodyguard. Once they were out of the bedroom, Marion asked Luke:

"Well, how does it feel now that your wife is Queen of England?"

"Much better than if William was king. If that had happened, we would have been kicked out of England. Other than that, darling, I'm so happy for you. But to be serious, what's going to be the first move? All this royalty stuff is new to me."

"First thing I must do is enforce my will among the nobles, let them know I mean business, and none of their shit will be tolerated. I'm hoping our treatment of the nobles up north will convince the southern nobles to take me seriously and not argue, but I doubt they will fall in line. I figure my support from the lower classes is guaranteed, at least for now." Luke nodded, showing his agreement. "Next, I expect to be attacked from Wales. Gabby gave me some spy reports yesterday stating that some of the nobles in Wales are looking to cause trouble. They figure that since a big part of my army is in Scotland, they can steal English lands. We will have to prove them wrong. Also, with the minerals in Wales, we need that land anyway. I figure Scotland will remain a thorn in my side for a while, but as you said, it's far better to take care of them now than to let the problem fester. Especially since I have the land King Hardrada signed over as part of our peace treaty with him. Another thing that must happen is that this idiotic tax system must be reformed to be fair and hard to avoid. How about you? What are your plans, honey?"

"First thing is the army needs to be expanded. Remember sweetheart, Si vis pacem, para bellum; If you want peace, prepare for war. I want to finish filling in the 2^nd division and activate a 3^rd division. After that, we will have to halt army expansion. We already have the Scottish problem, and now, according to your spies, we will have a Welsh problem before too long. Also, I expect some challenges from the continent, particularly the French, but also the pope, which could bring forces from the Holy Roman Empire into play. We also can't forget about the nobles here at home. I'm willing to bet that at least some of them will rebel, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Brittany, France, and Flanders support and encourage them. In my history, France tended to be allied with Scotland, and all indications are that France will try to ally with Scotland in this universe. Well, that is unless we can get rid of Scotland.

Next, we need to give the navy serious thought. Since we are surrounded by water, we WILL need a strong navy to protect our shores and trade. That’s how Britain from my universe came to rule the world; they controlled the sea. The fleet will need many small to medium-sized ships for patrol work instead of a few large prestige vessels, which are resource sinks. Another class of ship we’ll need is supply ships. A navy can’t project power without supplies. I would love to make marine diesel engines for the navy, but we don't have access to many of the materials that would be needed, like rubber for the fuel lines.

All of my commercial farms will start growing rapeseed; not only will this help improve the soil during the crop rotation, but rapeseed is very high in oil content. The oil can be used as cooking oil, in diesel engines when they become available, or as a machine lubricant. Instead of diesel engines, I'm going to look into building coal-fired steam engines for the ships so they can still maneuver without relying on the wind. With vessels like these, we won't need as many to do the same job. We should build at least one shipyard near York, and building additional yards in Portsmouth, Plymouth, and London would be a good idea. By having more than one shipyard, we won't be putting all of our eggs in one basket.

On the economic front, we need many more miles of train tracks laid and the telegraph cables strung. That means we will require a considerable amount of steel and copper. We need more steel to build the necessary tools to get the raw materials for more steel. Farmers will need planters and reapers, although the reapers can wait. Mines will need steam engines to pump the water out to expand. They will also need advanced explosives like ANFO and drills to make the holes. At least the coal gas plant in York is making several tons of ammonium nitrate a week. It's not nearly enough, but it's a start. I plan on using biodiesel for the fuel oil part, and while it might not be as good, it'll work."

"So, it's a chicken and egg thing with the steel," injected Marion.

"Yep," agreed Luke before continuing. "Alice has talked about expanding her medical school, but that will take time to train more doctors. She will be increasing medicine and antibiotic production, and we will need both things with all these new people. Pollyanna wants to expand her printshop, and her company representatives are going to the monasteries and asking to borrow all their books to make copies. The originals will then be returned. Bard has settled very nicely into his CEO role, and I couldn't be happier with him in that role. I don't think he's happy with his performance, but I'll fix that later. With him running my companies, I can focus more on the military and being the best dad and husband possible."

Since Marion had been with Luke for almost two years, she knew all about ANFO, CEOs, and everything else Luke was talking about. One of the things she had been pushing for was more ammonium nitrate production so the farmers and mines could increase their production. Here again, the lack of steel was slowing things down. At least now, Marion didn't have much direct military pressure on her, so more steel could go to the economy instead of the military.

Later that day, Alice, Gabriella, Pollyanna, Matt, and Mackenzie left with an escort to return to York. Alice kept a close eye on Gabriella since she was seven months pregnant. Mackenzie also required extra care because she wasn't a year old, but her governess was with her. Pollyanna was still in a state of shock because Marion's first official act as queen was to promote her to brigadier general and place her in charge of all the army engineers. Pollyanna Hall was now one of the few female generals in the world and, without a doubt, the best one. Formerly, Luke had been in command of the military engineers. While Pollyanna was in shock, Matt and Alice teased her about her promotion. While everyone knew Pollyanna would do an excellent job, they also knew she didn't want the promotion. Marion had some advice for Pollyanna when she promoted her, and Pollyanna complained:

"Don’t you know no good deed goes unpunished?"

Watching her friends leave, Marion felt empty. This would be the first time in a long time she would be away from Gabriella and Mackenzie, two of her favorite people in the world. At least she still had her favorite person with her: Luke. He wouldn't leave London until she did, and they stood together to watch the group disappear into the distance. Only then did they return to the city. Standing on the banks of the Thames, Marion looked around in disgust at how filthy everything was while Luke had his arms around her.

"You know, Luke, I find it amazing that this shithole became one of the most powerful cities in the world in your old universe."

"Well, from what I remember, it was a long, hard road, and this wasn't the only great city in the world. Some of those great cities haven't even been founded yet."

"Do you think that we'll have those problems in York?"

"Not all of them. For one, we’re using brick and concrete construction to reduce fire risk. Two, we already have a well-maintained sewer system to reduce the risk of pandemics. And three, the people are becoming more educated by the day, so hopefully, when something happens, the people can analyze the situation scientifically and react appropriately."

"Oh, Luke. I know I don't say this enough, but thank you. Thank you so much for coming into my world and trusting me with your secrets. I love you."

"I love you too, my queen."

"No, darling, I'm not your queen; I'm your wife."

"And my equal," finished Luke.

Marion nodded at him and brought his head down to kiss him. The kiss produced sparks, quickly leading to more kissing and groping. Their groping continued until one of the guards interrupted, getting a death stare from Marion, but the guard was an old hand and was used to those. It was time for Marion to start meeting with her nobles, something she didn’t want to do.

“One more question for you, Luke.” He looked at her and waited for her to continue. “What was the saying us Brits had about you, Yanks? “You’re overpaid, oversexed, and over here.””

“I should have never told you about that,” Luke laughed. “Well, I’m over here and overpaid. As far as oversexed, maybe I should cut back a bit.”

Marion looked nervous, “Ah, never mind, you’re not oversexed; you probably should be having more sex. I know your wife wouldn’t mind in the slightest. Neither would your mistress, now that I think about it.”

Luke smiled, “I love you, sweetheart.”

Marion sighed as she and Luke started their walk back to where she would meet with her new nobles. The weather was bleak and grey, which matched her mood perfectly. If it weren't for Luke, she would have returned to York and let the petty nobles in southern England fight amongst themselves, but since Luke had defeated the Normans, Marion felt obligated to sort out the noble’s mess.

It would take Marion almost two weeks before she could leave London, and she couldn't wait. While in London, there was an outbreak of smallpox, which, thanks to Luke, she was protected against. He had provided Alice with the historical method for preventing smallpox, and Marion's group and most of the army had been inoculated. Still, it was too close for Marion's comfort. There were many diseases for which they didn't have vaccines or antibiotics, and the filth hole that was the city of London was packed with these diseases.

Marion had to wait two weeks because she had to meet with the nobles from southern and central England and let them know who the boss was. Her laws also had to be explained since many nobles couldn't read. Once they heard Marion's new laws, many became angry, and shouting matches occurred multiple times every day between Marion and her nobles about one thing or another. Marion's guards could see they would be headed for a showdown in the south of England, just like they had in the north. They were excited because the southern nobles were wealthier than their northern counterparts, which meant booty on a larger scale for the army. On average, they seemed dumber and easier to offend, too.

The worst of the lot was the father of John of Sussex, Godric of Sussex. Since Marion's father had signed the wedding contract between John and Cecilia, his father thought he had a claim to all of Marion's lands. That would also mean he had a claim to the English crown in his twisted mind. He walked into his first meeting with Queen Marion like he was king.

"Hello again, Marion."

"That’s Queen Marion or Your Majesty to you.”

Godric snorted, “You actually believe you are queen?”

“I am the rightful Queen of England. If you wanted to be king, you should have defeated the Normans. My army saved England, giving me every right to be queen.”

“A woman ruler…ha. Don’t make me laugh, wench. Nobody will follow you, so you should go home and leave ruling this kingdom to someone fit to rule.”

“That person already wears the crown.”

“You might wear the crown, but nobody will recognize you as ruler.”

“There, you are wrong. Everyone will recognize me as Queen of England, even you.” Marion turned to a colonel near the wall. “Colonel Fischer.” He snapped to attention and walked to where he was standing at attention in front of Marion. “I find this man’s unfairly acquired wealth has warped his judgment. You are hereby ordered to take your cavalry regiment to all his estates and confiscate his possessions. His serfs will be released and given first rights to buy the land.”

“The standard deal, ma’am?”

“That is correct, colonel. You are to leave immediately and deal with ANY resistance with extreme prejudice.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

The colonel left the room to get his regiment on the road. He was of the old guard and didn’t like female soldiers or commanders, but he had to admit that Marion seemed to know what she was doing. Discipline in her army was second to none, making his job much more manageable, and the pay was always on time. One of the things he didn’t like was any commoner could become an officer; he felt that only the nobility could command. Another thing Fischer disliked was the accountability built into the army’s structure; he had to do his job well or be relieved, and he couldn’t pay someone off to shuffle the rules. The worst thing was that his executive officer was a very sharp young woman well-liked by the unit.

Earl Godric of Sussex was furious and sputtering like bacon in a hot skillet. He couldn’t believe this wench would dare do something so illegal as to seize his God-given lands and rights. What’s more, she just looked at him with a smirk on her face, and so did her guards, at least until she spoke again:

“As you can see, Godric, you and everyone else in England will follow me or else. Now that I have your attention and have hopefully taught you something, I will allow you to retain one dwelling of my choice for you and your family. Don’t worry; I think I’ll let you keep a simple single-room home like the ones you insisted your former serfs live in. Let’s see how well you can support yourself when doing things yourself. Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse me, I have many other issues to attend to.” Marion looked to a guard. “GUARD! See this man out, please. The horses they rode in now belong to the crown, so ensure he and his entire entourage walk out of here.”

The guard in question snapped to attention; the sound of her bootheels clicking together rang throughout the hall.

“Aye, Ma’am!” She sounded off and walked quickly to the noble. “This way, if you please.”

The former noble was resistant, but the guard, Isolda, wasn’t one to be tangled with. She grabbed his elbow and dug her fingers in, causing the overweight noble instant pain before frog-marching him to the city gate, where she sent him on his way while other guards escorted the rest of his entourage. Isolda watched long enough to ensure Godric was on his way before returning to her post. Walking back, she reflected on her life.

Her family had been serfs under Earl John of Mercia, and it wasn’t unusual for her mother to be summoned to John’s residence in the evening with orders to wear no clothing. After crying, her mother would submit to the inevitable and strip before walking to John’s residence. The walk would take her through the middle of their village, and everyone would see her going to John’s. The following day, her mother would scrub herself in a nearby stream until her skin was fire red, no matter how warm or cold the weather was. This would happen about once a month and put her father under severe strain. His being a cuckold made him the laughingstock of the village. As Isolda grew up, John started to notice her and ordered her to accompany her mother. She was allowed to keep her clothes on but would have to suck John until he was erect. When John finished, she would clean her mother’s cunt and John’s cock with her mouth before drying his cock with her hair. Then Marion’s army freed the serfs, and her life changed completely. Her family was free of their rapist, but her father couldn’t handle the change and killed his wife before turning the blade on himself. Isolda had been working in the field and didn’t find out until she came home that evening.

Thankfully, Isolda already had plans; having met some of the soldiers from Marion’s army when they swept through the area that summer, they had a massive effect on her. Thanks to them, she learned how to read and write, intending to join the army after the harvest. Finding her parents dead, she packed up her precious few belongings and enlisted early in the army. The other villagers would gather and keep the crops. Finishing her basic training in time to join in the battle against the Normans, she was stunned by how cold the commander was. He was a man who had so many legends swirling around him that he seemed to be of another world.

Their trip back north after the battle started easy enough, but soon everything went to hell, and they ended up doing a forced march back to Sheffield, where they found Earl John rebelling. Isolda had hoped this would happen and he would be killed. When she saw how furious Luke was, she knew John’s time on this Earth was ending, or so she thought until she found out where he was. She had been near that swamp before and knew it was impenetrable, which meant a frontal assault and high casualties. So, it surprised her when her unit was given orders to go with their commander. They left camp early in the morning with only their combat gear. Then she learned what was happening and couldn’t believe it; they would attack John through the swamp. While struggling through the swamp, she watched the commander pick up another soldier and put her on his shoulders. She had been struggling much worse than Isolda because she was much shorter. Isolda had never seen anything like that before, but she had a job to do, so she couldn’t stop to think. The final assault was sharp, and Isolda was able to kill several of John’s soldiers, but unfortunately, she never came face to face with him since he was holed up in a bunker and was killed with grenades.

Isolda was the first in the bunker and was saddened to find John dead, but she still drove her bayonet into his groin. She was breathing hard when a giant hand landed on her shoulder. Turning around, she found General MacDougall looking at her with a blank look on his face, and she froze. He must have seen something in her eyes because he looked at John’s corpse, then her, and nodded before walking off. Isolda had to climb out of the bunker because of all the emotions sweeping through her, causing her to barely think straight, but then watched as the general climbed the enemy parapet with Marion’s flag. He planted it in the ground and waited until the rest of the army joined them. Watching this, a chill coursed through Isolda’s body, and she knew what her next course of action would be. Knowing Marion was looking for more soldiers for her guard unit, Isolda requested a transfer that evening. Her commander thought very highly of her and endorsed her request.

Two weeks later, Isolda was in guards training. It was far more brutal than basic training, and she found out firsthand how tough the general was when she had to face him in a round of hand-to-hand combat. She had to pass to join the guards and fight with her new skills. Against other recruits, she had done very well, but when she faced Luke, she had her arse handed to her without much effort from Luke. Sitting on the ground, she thought her dream was dead until she saw a large hand in front of her. Looking up, she saw Luke with a warm smile on his face. He helped her up and turned to her sergeant, telling him Isolda had passed. She had performed flawlessly, but Luke had beaten her due to his skill and strength.

Walking back into the room with the queen, Isolda smiled at her progress and returned to her duties. She still had more training but looked forward to the challenge. There were so many chances to advance in the guard unit that Isolda could afford to pick and choose how she wanted to advance her career, but for now, Isolda wished to stay in the Household Guard.

That evening, Marion was giving an exhausted Luke an update on her day's activities:

“You sent Fischer to deal with Sussex’s estates?”

“Yes. Is that a problem, darling?”

“Could be. The guy is a prick of the highest order and a minor nobleman. I wonder how he will handle confiscating another noble’s property. I know his troops hate him, and I plan to relieve him of command when we return to York.”

“Well, the transfer will be easy if he doesn’t prove himself. Doesn’t he have an excellent executive officer?”

“Yes, assuming he doesn’t get her killed.”

“Oh, well, I guess nothing can be done now.”

“Nope. How about we stop the shop talk and use our mouths for something more enjoyable?”

After dealing with pissed-off nobles every day, Marion would meet Luke in their room every night and fuck him hard. Even if Luke was exhausted, which he usually was because he had an agenda of his own to attend to, Marion would suck his cock until it was at full mast before impaling herself and riding until she couldn’t go any longer. All the guards were used to the sounds of their lovemaking, so they didn’t check on the strange sounds coming out of Marion’s chambers. Marion never left him with blue balls; she always ensured that Luke had an orgasm, even if she had to use her mouth. From Marion’s point of view, the best thing about having to spend a couple of weeks in London was that she got Luke all to herself. The flip side was that she missed Gabby terribly.

When Marion finally left London, she took the royal treasury with her. From now on, the capital of England and, hopefully, later, Great Britain would be York, not London. She left behind all the bureaucrats from the old government because she didn’t want the old ideas to contaminate her new government. One reason for York being the new capital was that York was Marion’s home. Two, York was a far more advanced city; three, it was more centrally located than London; and four, it wasn’t London. Marion would be able to make a fresh start. The best part about this trip was that they only had to travel by horse to Sheffield, where they could board a train for the rest of the journey. Marion had been so spoiled by all of Luke’s improvements that she had forgotten how miserable it was to travel during winter. Luke wasn’t any happier than Marion was.

The cold and damp camp conditions were an engraved invitation for disease as far as Luke was concerned, and he didn’t like his wife taking a risk like this, but they all wanted to get home. At least they had canned fruits and vegetables to keep up with their vitamin C intake so they wouldn’t get scurvy. Luke made the first canned fruits and vegetables by using glass jars. He still had problems making steel cans that wouldn’t contaminate the food. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to do it; he lacked the materials to treat the inside of the cans. This wouldn’t be a problem once Marion controlled the Welsh and Cornish tin mines.

The winter weather and the treasury slowed them down so much that it took a week and a half to get from London to Sheffield. The plus side was that Marion and Luke didn’t have to worry about highway robbery with a regiment plus the Household Guards as escorts. This allowed Luke to focus on disease and accidents, always two of winter’s biggest killers. Thankfully, disease was pretty scarce among the soldiers. First, the troops had proper winter gear so they didn’t get cold. Second, they all took the notion of sanitation seriously, and troops who slacked off were punished brutally by their comrades. Usually, the officers didn’t even know there was a problem until after the beating. The troops had all seen how good their lives were with the sanitation solutions that Luke introduced, and they didn’t want to return to the old ways.

However, accidents couldn’t be prevented: Horses slipped and fell, soldiers slipped and fell, wagons got stuck and broke axles, and heavy rains washed out bridges. The list of dangers faced by Marion’s troops was almost endless, yet they marched. Luke and Marion had created a highly disciplined professional army that could overcome practically any obstacle in their path; many of those obstacles would have stopped any other army in the world.

Finally, they got to the train station in Sheffield. Everyone was exhausted, and many of the horses were lamed or dead. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if they had been traveling through Marion’s lands, but the roads south of Sheffield were mostly unimproved and very dangerous at any time of year, especially during the winter. Once on the train, the entire group could return to York within a day, much to everyone’s relief.

When Luke boarded the train, he noticed the locomotive pulling this particular train was one of the new 2-6-2 locomotives. Just like in Luke’s old world, steam locomotives were named by their wheel arrangement. In the case of the 2-6-2, there were two guide wheels; these kept the train on the track. The six drive wheels transferred the steam power to the rails, and two trailing wheels supported the firebox.

With the geography of Britain, Luke knew he wouldn’t need the monsters that American railroads demanded. Monsters like the Union Pacific’s Challenger or Big Boy locomotives were too big for the island and would be a waste when smaller locomotives could do the job just as well. After careful study, Luke figured the largest locomotive he would need would be a 2-8-2, with anything larger being overkill.

The trip back did have some good consequences. Luke had been able to do some surveying work and had a rough route for a train line to London. With most of the nobles north of London now gone, it was the perfect time to buy the needed land cheap and lay track. The best thing for Luke was that most of the land was common land, so he didn’t have to pay anyone to build a railroad across most of the land. His railroad engineers traveled over southern and central England to map new routes. The routes were laid out to make commercial, not military sense. Once the new routes were approved, different representatives would go along the route and buy any required land. Luke’s railroad used a track gauge of two meters. He didn’t like the standard gauge in his universe, so he would use what he wanted in this universe. Yes, it was more expensive to build, but the payoff was trains were more stable, could go faster, and could carry more cargo. When the tracks were laid out, Luke ordered them to be as straight as possible, with grades of no more than 1%, and any bends were as gradual as possible. The goal was to prepare the rail lines for when high-speed trains were introduced.

Luke was also looking to buy up all kinds of mines and quarries. Salt mines were of particular interest because salt was so expensive it was worth its weight in gold. If Luke could get a salt mine up and running, Marion’s treasury would get a substantial boost, and she would gain more influence in Europe. Marion didn’t need the foreign coins as much as raw gold and silver.

The royal mint Marion was building in York would require large amounts of gold, silver, and copper to make the coinage needed to run the economy. Luke had already made the machinery to make the coins so nobody could clip them (trim some of the material from the coin’s edges). First, the coin blank would be punched from a metal strip and put through an annealing process to soften the metal for later processing. Then, the blank is sent through the upsetting process, where they’re given a raised edge to stop clipping. The blanks then go through an acid wash to remove dirt and debris before going to a stamping machine that uses dies to strike the coin, creating the two sides simultaneously. The coins would then be cleaned, inspected, counted, bagged, and distributed to various banks. With Luke’s knowledge of metallurgy, the purity of the metal in the coins was far higher and more consistent than before.

This made them more valuable, and the central bank would publicly measure the purity of the metal in the coins once a year. The purpose was to keep the confidence in Marion’s coinage high, inflation low, and the economy stable. Luke knew that if trust in the coinage dropped, prices would rise, and people would riot. The last thing Luke wanted was to give Marion’s opponents more ammunition to use against her.

It was 1 February 1067 before Marion and Luke were able to return to York. Along the way, the troops had suffered nobody killed, but several had broken bones from falls, and a few had busted feet from horses stepping on them. This convinced Luke to introduce steel-toe boots for the army. He knew that development would take some time, but he had to start somewhere.

CHAPTER II

Rome, Papal States. January 1067

Pope Alexander II was furious. It was late January, and he had received word that not only William’s invasion of England failed, but the entire Norman Army had been wiped out by Marion’s forces. Then, he received news of how she treated his representatives when they went to York to investigate Marion for witchcraft. They had been shot in their knees, and then Marion proceeded to have sex with her female lover in front of them. Her Goliath of a husband joined her, and when he was done, she dumped his juices into one of the priest’s mouths and forced him to swallow. On Christmas, she had the nerve to force the Church in England to declare her the Queen of England. After reading the news of her coronation twice, Alexander crumbled the message and threw it in his fireplace, knowing he would have to make some serious decisions. He spent the rest of the week praying and seeking guidance to deal with this unfortunate turn of events in England. Coming out from prayers, he spoke to his servant:

“Nothing good is going to come out of this. That English queen is too well embedded and has the support of most commoners and many minor nobles. If her ideas are allowed to spread, it would be the end of everything.”

“But, your eminence, what can commoners do against a trained army?”

“Have you read any of the reports from England?”

“No, your eminence.”

“Well, I have. According to the reports, Marion’s army has some new weapon that can kill from over three hundred paces away, and her army usually crushes the opposition in less time than it takes to eat dinner. Then we have been getting reports and drawings of some iron horse that can move faster than a horse can run and keep that speed up while moving more people and goods.”

“If the reports are accurate, what can be done?”

“She must be crushed, and all these devilish things must be destroyed.”

“Can she be crushed, and what happens if we fail?”

Alexander looked at his servant with horror. What would happen if Marion won? Would the church survive? Marion’s dislike of the church was well-known, and if the church was responsible for trying to crush her, Alexander couldn’t imagine what Marion might do.

With William’s invasion defeated, Alexander lost some political clout but thought he still had enough to eliminate Marion. The first step was to issue a papal bull declaring Queen Marion of England a heretic and excommunicating her and her inner circle from the church. Next, he sent messages to the King of France, Philip I, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, and several other minor rulers, asking for aid in the fight against Queen Marion I. This was difficult because everyone wanted something, and there were too many ways such an action could backfire on him.

He was declaring a total war on Marion, and people with nowhere to retreat tended to fight even harder. From reports, Alexander knew that most ordinary people in England were loyal to or at least liked Marion. She had sided with them against the church and overbearing nobles. They would be angry if they felt she was being unfairly punished, but then again, who cared about commoners? Most of the English nobility hated her, which was enough for Alexander.

A possible recourse for Marion might be to kick the church out of England. Alexander only examined this briefly before discounting it, figuring she wouldn’t dare force God’s representatives out of the country. Marion wasn’t planning on kicking the church out of England, but her reasoning was different. As long as the English preachers didn’t encourage rebellion, she intended to leave them alone, already having enough problems to deal with without adding religion to the mix. After Alexander had sent out his messages, he sent another to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Alexander wanted him to travel to Rome to hear about Marion firsthand.

Since Britain was an island, Alexander knew he would need the help of Venice and probably Genoa. The Iberian kingdoms had their own problems to deal with, but Brittany was right next to Britain, and he was hoping that the Duchess of Brittany could be persuaded to commit her fleet to help ferry troops across. This force would take at least a year to muster even if they encountered no problems and everyone agreed. Their biggest problem would be the stormy English Channel. He didn’t even consider the small English navy a threat, but he would have changed his tune if he knew what Luke was planning.

Paris, France. January 1067

Meanwhile, the mood was mixed in Paris, France. When Duke William was killed, King Philip lost a powerful noble who only somewhat listened to him. On the other hand, if Philip could move fast, he could seize all the former duke’s lands. This would give Philip the perfect base to mount an invasion of England or Brittany later if he wanted to. Another advantage of seizing William’s former lands would be that more land would be under the French crown's direct control. The problem was that England was very close, and Philip had little control over French lands. He also had Brittany, Burgundy, and Flanders to contend with; none were very friendly. If these weren’t enough problems, Philip was only fifteen and hadn’t won any nobles' respect.

When Marion seized power, Philip figured his best bet for resisting Marion was to support the Scots and hope they could tie up Marion’s army until he could gather the support of his nobles. As time passed, that bet became a losing one because Marion had already crushed most of the Scottish resistance. Her army continued to fight through the winter when every other army was in their winter quarters, and it was steadily pushing into the highlands to take the fight to the stubborn ‘Scots.

By mid-January, Philip knew he had to rethink his Scottish strategy. Most of Scotland was in Marion’s hands, and only a few stubborn bands of highlanders were left. One of his advisers asked about the Welsh. Maybe they could be bribed to attack. Philip agreed to send representatives to Wales to inquire what it would take to attack England.

Then the pope’s letter arrived, and Philip paused. If he could get concessions from the pope, it would make it worth his while to go to war with England. But then again, maybe not. Philip knew all about Hardrada’s failed invasion, and from what Philip’s spies sent back, Hardrada was determined to stay on Marion’s good side. Staying on her good side was easy: don’t mess with her, and she wouldn’t mess with you.

Philip spent February thinking and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of waging war against the anti-Christian queen of England. From the pope’s message, he knew that Marion had been excommunicated, but from her record, Philip didn’t think that would bother her. Why should it when she had a female lover and had stolen church lands? Then, there was her massive husband to worry about. They said he was an evil sorcerer who ate children for breakfast. Very few people who met him didn’t feel afraid of him. Ultimately, Philip decided to wait and see what happened with his inquiries with the Welsh before continuing. Hopefully, someone else would deal with Marion, and then he could sweep in and take over. He did move to take over William’s former lands for his own, which didn’t take much effort since the Normans had no army left. This move helped secure his northern flank and added to the French crown’s tax revenue since they didn’t have to share it with another noble.

Holy Roman Empire. January 1067

Emperor Henry IV had no intention of doing anything about England. The Holy Roman Empire wasn’t a naval power and had enough problems at home to deal with. The only thing that made him even consider anything was that the new ruler was a woman who had been excommunicated. Henry had other ideas; he would pay the Scots to continue their fight, or maybe he could pay off some of the angry English nobles. While his agents were paying off Marion’s enemies to keep her off balance, Henry would try to get the new devil weapons Marion was using. He heard that Hardrada had some of those new weapons, so maybe Henry could trade or buy some of these devil weapons, hoping to beat back some of his more dangerous enemies with these new weapons. Henry's biggest problem was the decentralized nature of the Holy Roman Empire. There was no capital city, and with many of the cities, especially the Italian ones, their loyalty was suspect. To make matters worse, the nobles were independent and always wanted something in return for anything they did for him.

He was on his way from Colone to Aachen, talking with one of his concubines after an evening of fun. A better term for this concubine would be a courtesan because she was gorgeous, knowledgeable, and possessed a sharp wit.

“What do you think will happen with that English queen, Your Majesty?”

“I don’t know, Gretchen. All the reports we have gotten say she is ruthless, intelligent, beautiful, and has the support of the lower classes, including her soldiers. Then there are the reports of her husband. I guess he would make Goliath look small and weak while being smarter than Archimedes. I do know if the queen’s attitudes toward the classes spread, everything will be ruined.”

“Would it really be that bad?”

“Could you imagine the chaos of having a lower class without nobility or clergy leading them? Just look at the disasters in the Roman Republic or Athens to see what happens when the lower classes try to rule themselves.”

“The best guess I have would be like Spartacus’s revolt.” Gretchen thought for a minute. “Yes, I see where you wouldn’t want the lower classes without nobles to lead them or clergy to protect their souls. A revolt like that could destroy the empire.”

“That, my dear, is what I’m afraid of spreading from England. Like a disease, her ideas will spread, and just like a disease, it will either kill or make its host so sick that it won’t withstand external shocks like the Magyars or the Poles. Then, we have to worry about our nobles rebelling to keep things from changing. One of the things I have done to tip the balance of power toward me was sending a messenger to King Hardrada of Norway. Marion gave him a bashing last year using her new weapons, and I have heard that Hardrada has some for sale. My instructions to the messenger were simple: do what you need to get some of these weapons and bring them back. Once here, I’ll have my artisans work on making enough for my army.”

“How many guns do you think it will take to rearm your army?”

“Maybe as many as ten thousand. From the many spy reports, using a firearm is much easier than using a sword, making training easier and cheaper. I think the more significant change will be the various economic reforms Marion has implemented. Under normal circumstances, she shouldn’t be able to afford an army that size, but England's economy is growing rapidly.”

“How many of her reforms do you plan to introduce here?”

“As many as I can. I might have to wait until I have a powerful enough army to force the nobles and independent cities, but her reforms must be made if we are to survive.”

Gretchen snuggled against Henry IV but didn’t fall asleep. Instead, she wondered what, if anything, could be done to help Henry. Gretchen might be just a whore, but she loved and supported Henry in everything he did. Before Henry noticed her, she had been a simple farm girl who could only look forward to a life of dull drudgery. Marry a farmer from a neighboring village and start pumping out children while trying to avoid starving to death or dying in childbirth. Henry had noticed Gretchen the year before while traveling through her village. Now, Gretchen was the emperor’s favorite, giving her immense political influence.

Rennes, Brittany. January 1067

While Philip was scheming and Henry was pondering how he could interfere without risking too much, the Duchess of Brittany, Hawise of Rennes, the new ruler of Brittany, was planning her invasion of England. This invasion would keep her nobles occupied instead of plotting against her. Brittany had a large fleet at Hawise’s disposal, and her neighbor France was distracted, divided, and weak. If she moved fast enough, she could take advantage of Marion having to fight on multiple fronts and take the English throne for herself. This would also keep more Christians from straying as Marion had. Hawise started preparing at full speed when she got the Papal Bull and sent ambassadors to France and Castile to keep them quiet or even get some support. Castile didn’t care because they had far worse problems with the Muslims to their south. Philip was making friendly noises but hadn’t committed to anything yet. She also sent emissaries across the channel to stir up the English nobles. That would keep Marion’s army busy and off-balance while Hawise finished building her forces. The most crucial ambassador was the one she sent to Rome to get the pope’s backing for her invasion. Hawise’s invasion would be much more difficult without his backing and financial support.

One of the other rulers she sent ambassadors to was Hardrada of Norway. Hawise wanted Marion's weapons, but she couldn’t find a source in Britain, and Norway was the only other place to get them. She planned to buy a number of guns and then reproduce them. Hawise knew a different powder was needed to fire them, but nobody in her court knew how to make it. She had several alchemists that she could task with making the stuff. Some of her spies had been through Marion’s training program and had begun instructing her troops to fight in Marion’s style. The biggest problem was that these changes would take time, time which Hawise knew she didn’t have. The solution she was aiming for was to have a mixed army. Her riflemen would exchange rounds with Marion’s while her traditional troops would be there to clean up.

Hawise didn’t know how difficult manufacturing firearms would be. Like everyone else, she had no experience with the complexities of manufacturing complex pieces of machinery like firearms. The closest anyone in Brittany had come to building a firearm was a few blacksmiths who produced billows for their forges. They had a long way to go.

Niðaróss (Trondheim), Norway. February 1067

Meanwhile, in Norway, King Hardrada had no illusions that Marion would go easy. Having already been defeated thoroughly by her once, he was in no hurry to try again. On the other hand, he knew all about her style of warfare. Norway was the only additional European power with gunpowder weapons, placing him in a unique position where he could make massive amounts of money selling his knowledge. He didn’t have to wait long to start cashing in, either. Almost simultaneously, he got inquiries from Brittany, France, and the Holy Roman Empire seeking to buy some of these new weapons. Hardrada immediately noticed they didn’t ask for the powder and bullet technology that made the guns work. Without the ammunition, the guns were worthless, and Hardrada knew it. So, he negotiated with the representatives to sell them several firearms at a massive price and made a deal with them to produce many more guns. After the representatives left, Hardrada’s oldest son came up to him:

“That was very well played, father. Without the powder, the guns are worthless; as far as anyone knows, the English and us are the only two powers that know how to make it.”

“Not to worry, they will figure that part out fast enough. All I did was buy us some time because I have an assignment for you, son. I need you to send agents throughout Europe to make offers to every alchemist they can find. Part of the deal will allow them to practice in the open without fear, and I will support them financially. What I want from them is to improve our powder and figure out how Marion’s guns can fire so much faster than ours. In the meantime, I will rearm our army and navy with gunpowder weapons. Swords, axes, and pikes are worthless, and bows are not much better. Once we have a rearmed army and navy, we will attack Denmark. I want that land back.”

“So, we are going to use the money from selling guns to improve our guns?”

“Yes. Now you had better get going.”

Hardrada’s son left to make preparations, leaving the king some time to think. He wanted revenge on Marion but knew that fighting her was extremely dangerous. By selling arms to other powers, he could encourage them to fight, and once Marion was weakened, he could return with his more powerful army to exact his revenge on her. As he was thinking about vengeance, Hardrada ran his hand over the scar on his thigh; that reminded him of Marion’s power and how careful he would have to be.

What none of these nobles knew was that a number of their servants were spies for Marion. Gabriella had set up a sophisticated spy network throughout Western Europe. This way, Marion could be kept apprised of any new threats, and after Hardrada’s firearm surprise the year before, nobody wanted any more surprises. Luke had taken to teasing Gabriella about becoming a spook when he heard about her spy network. The first time he called her that, she was confused, then he explained that spook was a slang term for a spy.

Gabby had found she was a natural at the spy game. She could always find those people she could trust to send her information and not betray her. Usually, she found various merchants to do her spying, but not always. Sailors off merchant ships were typically easy to recruit. Throw money, women, or alcohol their way, and they will do anything you want. One of the best tools in Gabby’s spook box was the young women she used as spies and to recruit other spies. The usual path for these women was to spend some time as a spy, learning what it took to be a spy before recruiting their understudy and becoming a handler. The easiest way to get information was to have sex with the men who had the information and trick them into pillow talk, blackmail them, or while the guy slept, the woman would look through any papers she could find to gather information. The collected information would be encoded and relayed back to England.

CHAPTER III

York, England. February 1067

Marion and Luke were exhausted when they got back to York. They hadn’t been home in over a month and were looking forward to hot showers followed by beds that didn’t have more than their weight in bugs living in them. All of their bedding was regularly cleaned with a steam cleaner that sanitized the bedding of all bugs. Returning late in the evening, very few people saw them.

When Marion and Luke entered their bedroom, they found Gabriella and Alice lying on the bed. Both were nude, and Alice was molded to Gabriella’s body. Luke and Marion looked at each other and smiled. It was comforting to see that two of their favorite people so comfortable with each other. Both went to the bathroom to get a shower. By that time of evening, and being winter, the water was cold, so their shower was quick. All that was left to do was scoot Gabriella and Alice over so Marion and Luke could lie down. Marion fell asleep on top of Luke, Little Luke tucked deep inside her, which led to exciting dreams for both of them.

Luke and Marion were woken up in the morning with a loud squeal. Gabriella noticed they were home and started hugging them. Marion got a deep kiss, just like Luke was getting from Alice. Marion was the first to get any words out.

“So, was something going on in here last night?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alice and Gabriella looked at each other, and Alice sighed as they stood up:

“Yes, Gabriella and I made love for the first time last night. We were both so horny, and we didn’t know when you two would be back. It started with just talking, but as we poured our feelings out, one thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were kissing fiercely. By the time we caught ourselves, we were too far gone, so we just said fuck it, and went all the way.”

By the time she finished, Alice was worried. Neither Luke nor Marion’s expression had changed. She noticed that Gabriella had the same anxious look on her face. As Alice was about to start crying, Luke and Marion looked at each other. Marion had no problems with Alice and Gabriella making love to each other. In fact, she had been hoping they would so Alice could finish her transformation into their little family. They looked back at Gabriella and Alice with warm smiles on their faces. Marion ran to her lover while Luke ran to his. They both wrapped their lover up with a hug. All four of them were so happy to see each other. As Luke was getting ready to release Alice, he saw Mackenzie toddling in from her room. Luke ran over, swept her up, and spun around, causing her to giggle. Luke then carried her over to the ladies, and they engaged in a five-way hug.

All too soon, the hug had to be broken. All the adults had plenty of work to catch up on, with Marion having even more now because she was the Queen of England. Alice had to get to the hospital, and Luke had to get out to the military base outside York. Since Marion needed more room, Luke moved all military offices to the nearby base. It was a twenty-minute horseback ride from the palace, so it wasn’t too bad. This also gave Luke a little time away from Marion daily. With his officers gaining more experience, he doubted he would have to spend too much time in the field unless things were desperate.

Marion and Luke found themselves buried under mountains of paperwork and were still trying to catch up when the sun rose the following day. Luke crashed on his office floor while Marion managed to get back to bed with Gabriella’s help. Luke only napped for a couple of hours before returning to work again.

As he read the reports, a clear picture of what was happening in Scotland emerged. The army surprised the clans when they didn’t go into winter quarters. Most of the larger settlements in the highlands were now under Marion’s control, and most supply convoys got through without being attacked. It helped tremendously that wherever the army went, there were massive investments in the area's infrastructure, which provided jobs for the locals and kept them out of trouble. The other defusing decision was to rule with a light touch. As long as everyone behaved and followed the rules, Marion’s troops left them alone. When someone broke the rules, the troops came down hard on them. Luke wondered if he could withdraw his front-line forces from Scotland and replace them with local police.

After debating with himself for a few hours, he decided to leave the front-line troops in Scotland for at least another month. Then, he would revisit the issue. As for the rest of England, everything was quiet for the time being. The 2^nd division was almost 60% strength, and the 3^rd was just forming. Things looked good, but Luke knew something would happen before too long. One of the reports he came across gave him pause but for a different reason.

Colonel Fischer was reported killed in a surprise raid, and his second-in-command had taken over. What was suspicious was this was the only “enemy action” the regiment had seen. The Earl’s troops had surrendered as soon as the cavalry regiment showed up, and many had enlisted in Marion’s army afterward. It wasn’t surprising that the garrison surrendered because, along with the surrender demands, there was news that the Earl was being stripped of all his lands and titles. After debating the issue, Luke decided to leave well enough alone. He didn’t want to dive into what happened during the raid but suspected Fischer was killed by his own troops. Fischer was an ambitious but stupid officer hired based on several recommendations. Marion had been so short of officers at the time, so she didn’t have much choice in hiring him.

Thinking about Colonel Fischer, Luke was reminded of the Von Manstein Matrix, which postulates four types of officers: lazy and stupid, which are harmless and good for things like Army Historian or other non-vital roles. Hard-working but stupid officers are toxic and must be fired. Hard-working and intelligent officers make excellent staff officers since attention to detail is necessary. The last type was the intelligent and lazy officer. These officers were the best for the line and general staff since they could be counted to be creative to avoid doing any more than necessary.

Before Luke left that evening, he sent a message to Pollyanna telling her that he wanted to see her in the morning to talk about naval bases. He knew that Marion needed a navy, and she would need it quickly. Some of his paperwork was Gabriella’s most recent threat assessment. In it, she detailed how the Duchess of Brittany was looking to invade England, and several other rulers were looking at paying Marion’s enemies to keep fighting, invade, or revolt. A navy would help keep the continental threat at bay until Marion gained complete control over the British Islands. Luke knew they would need ships like cutters, patrol boats, destroyers, and cruisers for the navy. Ships like battleships would be a massive waste at the time, but he could see building a few to help fight off larger continental powers in a few years.

Luke was utterly rung out when he rode back into York that evening. His mind was fried from digesting all the paperwork, and his muscles were stiff. ‘It sucks getting old,’ he thought as he rode into the city. Passing the bathhouse, he figured, ‘What the hell, I could use a soak.’ and stopped in. He knew he could soak in the heat, which would loosen his muscles and stiff joints.

Walking into the bathing area, everyone noticed him. First, he was much taller than anyone else in the pool; second, he was heavily scarred, and third, he had very well-defined muscles. Luke was proud of his muscles because he had been gaining weight before being hurtled back in time, but now he was back to the same weight as when he was in the Marines.

Luke swam a couple of laps before finding a comfortable spot to relax. Several young ladies approached him and introduced themselves as he sat there. Luke enjoyed the attention and was going to inform the ladies that he was happily married but thought better of it. Realizing this was the perfect opportunity to discover what the people thought about Marion, he kept his mouth shut. By keeping his ties with her a secret, he could find out exactly what the average person thought about his wife.

Through the ladies, Luke learned that while everyone was happy about the economy, a number of people were still furious that Marion had a female lover. The only things that kept them from saying anything were the threat that Luke and the army posed and the fact that the economy was doing well. It also seemed that most people didn’t care or thought that Luke must be impotent, which would explain why Marion had to have a lover. Luke found it amusing to hear the ladies tell him this and wondered if they had any idea of who they were talking to. None of the ladies present could figure out why a woman would need a lover when she had the ultimate husband in the form of Luke. Listening to the women, Luke had to work hard to keep from smiling because they gushed about how handsome and brave the general was. This did wonders for Luke’s ego, leading to the second battle for Luke trying to keep his ego in check, which turned into one of the most challenging battles he had ever fought.

Finally, Luke figured that it was time to leave. His fingers looked like prunes, he felt clean, and the kinks were gone. Climbing out, Luke turned back to the women. Their eyes were glued to his cock because Luke had better equipment than any man they had seen. From Luke’s point of view, it was better to have the ladies eyeing his cock rather than asking questions about the scars on his back.

“Well, ladies, I need to get going, but it has been a pleasure talking with you.”

“Believe us, the pleasure was ours,” they cooed.

Luke blushed as he turned away, shaking his head. He didn’t want to tell them who he was in case he might need to get candid information again. That and all this had been fun for him. It had been a while since he had spied a natural bush and found it arousing. Lumbering back to where his clothes were, he got dressed. Since Luke wasn’t in uniform, nobody recognized him; even a couple of the soldiers who had just entered didn’t recognize him. Luke was pleased to see that everyone respected the soldiers. The last thing he wanted to do was to create an army where the population and military didn’t trust each other. Worse if they hated each other.

Getting back, he found Marion dead to the world with her head on a stack of papers and drool coming out of her mouth. He tried to wake her but only got some mumbling, so he gently picked her up and carried her back to their chambers. Just as he brought her to bed, Alice and Gabriella came in. They saw what Luke was doing and smiled at him. Luke noticed that Gabriella was getting bigger and helped her into a seat.

“How's it going, Gabby?"

"Pretty good. This little bugger is still beating me up, but Alice says everything looks good."

"Any idea on how much longer?"

Now Alice answered.

"Not much longer. I've ordered her not to leave the city and stay off horses."

"How about you, Alice? I haven't had an opportunity to talk with you yet."

"I'm doing pretty good, Luke. There's one thing I want to tell you, though; I think I'm pregnant, too." Luke smiled warmly at her, and Alice felt her knees get weak. "I missed my last period; I think this one was a Christmas present from you."

"Merry Christmas, Alice," chirped Luke.

"Shut up, Luke," Alice snapped back, but her smile and pink-tipped ears gave her away.

Luke decided to go down to the workshop for a while. His mind was still working at full speed, and he needed to relax. The conversation with the ladies in the pool was still going through his head. He knew most people wouldn't like or even understand that Marion was bisexual. Many people from his time didn't care for bisexuals, and he was in a much more sexually repressive era. If the hatred for Marion's sexuality spread, Luke could have a problem on his hands.

While thinking, Luke worked on designing and testing steel-toe boots for the army. Figuring that he only had a few weeks of work left, he could make a large batch for the soldiers to test. That testing would last a couple of months, and if everything went well, he could start production. If not, it was back to the drawing board.

After a couple of hours, he decided to go to bed. When he got there, he found Alice still up. She was reading in Marion's personal library, and Luke wasn't surprised to discover that she was reading one of Pollyanna's new "romance novels." Alice often proofread Polly's works before they were published. This was her third book, with the first two being huge successes, primarily due to Marion doing a bit of quiet promoting for Pollyanna. Marion helped promote Pollyanna's books to encourage people to read and let them know it was okay to dream, even if those dreams were naughty.

What did surprise him was that she was naked and, if he had to guess, had been rubbing her pussy because he could see hints of nectar on the insides of her thighs. When Alice saw Luke enter, she gave him a sultry smile and her clit a couple of good flicks that sent her over the edge. Luke smiled as he waited for Alice to recover. He discovered that without ready access to porn, many of the people he met seemed hornier than people from his time. If he had to guess, they had a more challenging time getting off, especially the women. One part of that was that without porn, there wasn't any extra stimulation, and two, the church preached against any form of sex other than missionary with no foreplay. While Luke had to admit that position had its place, doing it that way every time got boring fast. Doing the nasty in the dark just sucked as far as Luke was concerned. He loved to watch his partner as they made love, with one of his favorite activities being watching Marion’s breasts bounce as she rode him. At least in the era he was in, many of the sexual diseases that became prevalent later hadn’t infected people yet.

"So, you just couldn't wait for me?" asked Luke as Alice was recovering.

"Nope, I'm just getting warmed up, darling. I'm going to drain all your fluids and only stop when you are just a dried husk."

Luke chuckled at that. Usually, it took at least two of the ladies to wear him down, but the look in Alice's eye told him she would give it her best shot. She bounced up and started stripping Luke. He had never done it in a library but could easily imagine Alice as the naughty librarian. If the librarian in his school had been anything like Alice, he would have spent many more hours there.

It only took moments for Alice's limber, strong fingers to strip Luke to his birthday suit. That action was enough to send extra blood into his favorite appendage. Never mind that the person stripping him was already in her birthday suit and was as beautiful as any other woman besides his wife. As soon as Alice had Luke naked, she pushed him back until his legs hit a chair, and he sat down. This chair was armless, had been placed there by Alice, and was perfect for her plans. The first thing to do was to moisten Luke's cock a bit, with a quick blowjob being ideal for the task. The sight of Alice's redhead bobbing up and down on his cock was incredibly arousing for Luke, and he quickly got even harder. Before Alice had gone on for a minute, Luke had to recite the periodic table to keep himself from blowing his load too early.

Within minutes, Alice was happy, so she stood up and straddled Luke while he sat in the chair. As she sat down on him, she reached under her and, with a firm grip on Little Luke, guided him into her tunnel. Slowly, she slid down his pole, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of her tight little pussy being stretched. Alice gazed deep into Luke's eyes and saw nothing but love, causing her heart to melt, and she began to cry. Luke thought he was hurting her and tried to lift her off, but she clamped down and refused to move. It was her kiss that convinced Luke that she wasn't hurting. As they finished their kiss, Alice began to ride Luke, rolling her hips and flexing her muscles. This almost made Luke cum too early again, and he only held off his orgasm by the thinnest of margins. To even things up a bit, he reached down behind Alice and, using her juices to lube one of his fingers, slid that finger into her arse.

Early on, they discovered that Alice's anus was highly erogenous, giving her extreme pleasure when Luke played back there. They found his cock was too big for her, but his fingers weren't. As his finger slipped into her anal opening, Alice began to tremble. The trembling increased when Luke started sawing his finger in and out of her arse while doing the same thing with his cock in her hot cunt. Before long, Alice was shaking uncontrollably, and her scarlet flush went from her face to her stomach. Luke knew they were both close, so he reached between them and flicked her clit to push them over the edge. A couple of times was all it took for Alice to explode and take Luke along for the ride.

They just sat there and tried to clear the haze from their brains for the next few minutes. Their orgasms had short-circuited them, so it took a bit to regain their bearings. Once they were stable, Alice stood up and laughed as Luke's cum ran down her legs. Luke got up and gathered his clothes; he was too tired to get dressed again. While Luke was gathering his clothes, Alice got a wet washcloth and cleaned her pussy before cleaning Luke's cock with her mouth. Now clean, they headed to bed, where they found Marion molded to Gabriella. This time, Alice slept on top of Luke.

When Luke woke up, he found his cock had worked itself back into Alice's tunnel, and Marion was jacking him off. He looked at her and found her eyes full of love. This look was enough to set Luke off, and he fired into Alice's tunnel, waking her up.

“Wow, now that’s the way to wake up!” she exclaimed

Alice sat up and turned to face Marion with no expression on her face. Marion was concerned that she had gone too far, but Alice smiled with lust in her eyes and pulled Marion in for a steaming hot kiss. This kiss almost made Marion cream herself, and her hands locked onto Alice's head to keep the kiss going. The room temperature rose quickly as Marion and Alice’s hands started finding their way to more interesting parts of their anatomy.

About that time, Gabby struggled out of bed and waddled to the bathroom. As she entered the bathroom, a contraction knocked her off her feet; Alice was at her side in a second, playtime being instantly forgotten. As Alice entered her doctor mode, Marion held Gabby's hand, and Luke got everyone's clothes ready. Once Alice had finished her initial assessment, everyone dressed and headed toward the hospital. This was just in case Gabby needed a c-section. They wouldn't be in the hospital but in an adjoining building built like a small hotel where Gabriella would have a small room for privacy but still have medical support. The building even had central heat and air conditioning to make it as comfortable as possible.

Marion would have loved to stay with Gabriella, but she had too much work. Gabby understood and kissed Marion before she left. Luke, however, wasn't allowed to leave; Gabriella didn't feel too forgiving of him. After all, if you asked her, it was all HIS fault that she was in this condition. Luke used his pocket watch to keep track of her contractions. His watch was only accurate to about five minutes a day, but it would work perfectly for this task. The air conditioning was made possible by burying long, thin tubes underground. These tubes circulated water, which was then put through a heat exchanger to cool the air entering the hospital.

Luke stayed the day and helped Gabby as much as possible. That evening, disaster struck when her baby got stuck in the birth canal, and Gabriella panicked. She had lost friends and an older sister when this happened to them while she was growing up, and she didn't want to die. Luckily, Alice was there and rushed Gabby into surgery. Luke was beside her, holding her hand and feeding her ice chips. Gabby was cursing up a storm while she was crying, and Luke thought some of his old marine drill sergeants could have taken lessons in the art of swearing from Gabriella.

Finally, everything was over, and Gabriella was the proud mother of a healthy baby boy named Carl Lucas MacDougall. Gabby and Luke named their kid after Prussian general Carl Von Clausewitz, one of Luke’s favorite authors. Luke was still everything evil in the world for putting her through such an ordeal, and the looks that she was shooting him dared him to deny that fact. He wasn't too worried about the looks he was getting from Gabby because his father had warned him many years before that look was something almost every new father had to endure, but she would get over it shortly.

That evening, everyone in the group visited Gabriella and Carl. Luke had been let out of the doghouse as Gabriella regained her strength. Gabby did have to put up with some harassment from Alice when she learned that one of Gabby's older sisters had died the same way. If Alice had known, she would have insisted on skipping the attempted natural birth and gone straight to a c-section. Once everyone else had left, Marion stayed behind with her lover and curled up with her to sleep. Luke had left earlier to catch up on paperwork and didn't expect to be done until the next day.

Luke had to delay his meeting with Pollyanna because Gabby was giving birth. Now, it was time to get back to work. The day after Carl entered the world, Pollyanna reviewed plans for four naval bases in Luke's office. The main base would be at the head of the Humber Estuary, placing it close enough to York to benefit from the city's industry and far enough from the sea to protect it from storms.

Just as Luke had discussed with Marion in London, plans were made for additional naval yards in Portsmouth, Plymouth, and London. Due to equipment shortages, the yards in Portsmouth, Plymouth, and London would have to wait until the Humber yard was completed. This would also allow Luke to link the other three cities with railroads, which he estimated would take at least a year. His company already possessed the land, but there was a severe shortage of steel. Luke and Pollyanna would work all day on the plans and had an outline done by nightfall. Now, they had to travel to the Humber to find the perfect spot. Plans were made for them to travel there by the end of the week. They estimated the distance to be about fifty kilometers, and they would make half the journey by rail.

Gabby was pissed when she got the news that evening. The last thing she wanted was to be away from Luke, but Marion calmed her down by kissing her until she wasn’t pissed anymore. Once Gabby was calm, Luke explained why he and Pollyanna had to travel. Matthew wasn't happy either if there was any consolation with Gabriella because he would be left to care for the twins while Pollyanna was away. However, Marion did provide them with a governess, which made things easier for Matt.

Early the next morning, Luke, Pollyanna, and a small escort boarded a train to find a home for the Navy. They were as close as they could get by rail by midday, so they unassed the train and mounted their horses. Conditions were terrible because it was still winter, but this had to be done, and the sooner it was done, the better. Luke quickly found that he preferred a more brutal winter, but it had been raining, turning the roads into a sea of cold, gelatinous mud. If it had been colder, everything would have been frozen, allowing for easier movement. The rest of the journey took two days, but they finally made it to the estuary just in time for another storm that trapped them in a small hamlet for the next four days. Everyone had to share a sleeping spot, so Pollyanna and Luke doubled up in one house. The house they were staying in was home to a fisherman and his family, and having someone like Luke staying with them was overwhelming.

Everything was calm for the first couple of days; then, things started getting tense. Although Luke and Pollyanna were courteous, it was a very small house. Luke was a large man, and the fisherman had a large family. By the third day, the fisherman’s wife and Pollyanna were getting into it. Food, or lack of it, led to their first argument. Pollyanna and Luke were well supplied with rations, and the wife was jealous. It had been a lousy year fishing, so they had little extra food. The sight of Luke and Pollyanna eating heartily infuriated the wife because she couldn’t feed her family. Still, Luke and Pollyanna couldn’t share because they only had the food they had brought, and their mission plan was for one month. Every one of Marion’s policies, especially religious freedom, led to more arguments. Like many in rural areas the world over, the family was pretty conservative; if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Marion was changing everything.

On day four, all hell broke loose when a falling tree damaged the family’s food storage area, destroying all the family’s remaining stored food. Seeing this, the fisherman and his eldest sons grabbed their gaffs and went after Luke and Pollyanna. They wanted Luke and Pollyanna’s food, money, and lives. The family feared the tree was God’s wrath for housing wicked people like Pollyanna and Luke.

Luke and Pollyanna were still sleeping when the angry fisherman and his sons came in with their weapons. They ripped the blankets off Pollyanna and Luke to find Luke wearing just a pair of army-issue shorts and Pollyanna naked because she had soaked her clothes the day before and couldn’t get warm. She had stripped to let her clothes dry while using Luke’s body heat to keep warm. They trusted each other implicitly, so they could do this without worrying about anything inappropriate. Seeing Pollyanna’s beauty, the fisherman and his sons stopped with their mouths open, their cocks straining in their pants.

Their attackers' pause gave Pollyanna and Luke the opportunity to go on the offensive. They didn’t have their weapons nearby, but they were weapons. The fishermen started swinging their gaffs with one of the hooks catching Pollyanna in her left breast. She screamed in pain when the hook went in, but the son couldn’t enjoy his catch because Luke was amongst them. With his first strike, he snapped the neck of the son who had caught Pollyanna. Seeing his oldest son go down, the father went at Luke furiously. The fury of the attack surprised Luke, but being a marine, he reacted quickly. The fisherman did get one hit in, hitting Luke in the ribs cracking a couple of them, but that was as far as he got because Luke got his hands on his attacker. Luke picked the attacker up and threw him, hitting the younger son, and they landed in a pile on the floor. The cracked ribs were causing Luke extreme pain and forced him to pause his attack, thus giving the fisherman and his son time to get off the floor.

Time stopped as a pair of explosions rang through the house; the fisherman and his son collapsed to the floor with blood flowing from their mouths. The escorting troops had been attracted by the yelling and burst in to see two civilians charging their general. For them, the solution was simple: hot lead. Their medic rushed to Pollyanna. She was bleeding badly with a hole clear through her breast and was already losing color in her face. Luke found it was getting hard to breathe, so he sat down. Coughing, he knew he was in trouble when he coughed up some blood. One of the escorts noticed and rushed to Luke’s side. The damage to Luke’s side was stunning; his right side was black and blue. Before anything else could be done, the fisherman’s angry wife had to be contained. One of the female escorts clubbed the wife with the butt of her rifle, knocking her out cold; the escorts were done taking chances and didn’t care about the fisherman’s family.

The expedition was shot, and the escorts had a serious problem, with Pollyanna and Luke needing immediate medical attention. Still, they were at least three days away from York, probably more due to the roads being worse now and Luke and Pollyanna’s injuries. The sergeant in charge decided to send his best rider back to York and requested that Alice meet them. Even if that saved a day, it could be the difference between life and death.

The messenger rode out immediately, but the rest stayed behind. Neither Pollyanna nor Luke was in any shape to travel, and giving them some time to rest made sense. The guards threw the rest of the family out and used the bed to provide Luke and Pollyanna somewhere to rest. The medic had bandaged her breast the best he could and sprinkled sulfa powder in the hole to stop the bleeding and help prevent infection after flushing the wound with alcohol. He then wrapped cloth around Luke’s chest to give him some support. Listening with a crude stethoscope, the medic couldn’t hear any fluid in Luke’s lungs and found the source of Luke’s bleeding to be a nasty cut inside his mouth. When Luke was struck, he bit the inside of his cheek. By this time, half the day was gone, so everyone settled in for another night; at least the storm had moved on, and hopefully, the extra day would allow things to dry a bit.

As the sun rose the following morning, the group set off with Luke and Pollyanna in litters carried between a pair of horses; everyone else walked. The group was forced to go slow because of the thick mud, and many streams were swollen with runoff. After four days, they reached the nearest train station, where Alice, Marion, and a mobile medical unit were waiting for them. Luke had improved enough to walk with everyone else, but Pollyanna was still weak. She was rushed into surgery after developing an infection where she had been gaffed. It would take Alice almost four hours to clean everything up and sew Pollyanna back up, but Alice was still apprehensive about infection. The gaff that hooked Pollyanna was filthy and had gone completely through, leaving dirt throughout the wound track. While Alice was working on Pollyanna, Luke was debriefed by Marion while another doctor checked his ribs and confirmed what the medic had diagnosed: Luke had some badly cracked ribs.

“Honey, you really need to stop hurting yourself. You’re not getting any younger.”

“Bite me, Marion. If I’m getting older, what’s that say about you?”

“I’m not getting older; I figure I’ll stay my youthful self forever.”

Gabriella walked in to hear this.

“I’m glad I’ve got my boots on; the shit is getting deep here.” She was glad to be able to move around again.

“GABBY!!! Is that any way to speak to your lover?!?!”

“Just trying to keep you from becoming morally corrupt, although you’re a politician, so I think that’s a lost cause.”

Marion made a very rude jester to Gabriella, who shook her head solemnly while Luke laughed as best he could.

“Luke, did politicians lie this much,” hooking her thumb at Marion, “in your time?”

“I’m not going to comment on that.”

Not being stupid, Luke took the coward’s way out, although his answer said it all. Like husbands across time, he knew better than to piss off the woman who could kick him out of her bed. Marion gave Gabriella a triumphant look and snuggled up against Luke’s good side as he put his arm around her.

Pollyanna was still unconscious when loaded on the train to return to York. Immediately after returning, she was taken to the hospital for round-the-clock care. Waiting at the hospital was Matt. He had been worried about her when he got the news, and Marion had given him a 48-hour pass to be with Pollyanna. Their twins were in the care of the governess, who cared for Mackenzie when Luke and Marion were busy. Luke returned to the palace, carefully showered, got a stiff drink, and went to bed. He was under doctor’s orders to relax for a few weeks and figured he would take a few days off before resuming his paperwork. These weren’t Luke's first cracked ribs, so he knew what to expect.

Luke woke up the next morning with a sharp pain caused by his daughter climbing on him. Mackenzie was only a year old but looked like a two-year-old and was starting to get into things while beginning to talk. That morning, she had managed to climb onto the bed so she could see Daddy. Hitting Luke’s side, he let out an ear-piercing scream that brought the guards running and caused Mackenzie to start crying. Luke waved off the guards but had one guard pick up Mackenzie and put her on his good side so they could cuddle, something he didn’t get enough of, and held her until it was time for her to eat. He handed her off to her governess before carefully heading to Marion’s office. He sat there for the rest of the day, watching her work and encouraging her with plenty of kisses. At the end of the day, Marion gave him one of her enthusiastic blowjobs that left his eyes spinning as a reward for behaving himself. The next day, Luke had to get back to work, and to avoid traveling, he brought his work to Marion’s office, where he sat up a small desk in one of the corners.

It would take Pollyanna two weeks to recover to the point where she could be released from the hospital and go home, but she ended up losing her breast due to gangrene. Fortunately, Alice caught it and performed a mastectomy, saving Pollyanna’s life. When Alice did a post-operative inspection on the breast, she found foreign matter buried deep in the wound track. It was too deep for Alice to see and too deeply embedded to be washed out. Many people who heard her story couldn’t believe that she survived. The secret was that Luke had managed to manufacture small quantities of sulfa powder, and combined with her knowledge of herbs, Alice was able to work a minor miracle. Pollyanna wasn’t too distraught over losing a breast; everything else worked, and she still had one that worked. To make her clothing look even and keep from being lopsided, she would wear a padded and weighted pouch where her breast used to be. This pouch would be approximately the same size and weight as the removed breast.

A week after the engineering expedition returned, the cavalry expedition Marion sent to Sussex returned with their booty. The government would get half the loot, and the soldiers would divide the rest. The national share would go into the treasury, and most of the rest would eventually go there as taxes after it had stimulated the economy. Marion’s government’s portion was enough to stamp coins for a week. The precious metals from the old coins were more valuable than the coin struck on them. Marion welcomed her troops back with a short speech before they returned to their barracks. Before they were melted down, Luke looked through them and selected some of the best examples for future generations.

While Luke was laid up, the group decided it was the perfect time to start negotiating the future shape of Marion’s government. Marion was on one side with Gabriella, while Alice and Luke were on the other. Luke had experience with a representative government, and Alice had experience with working with the population, so she knew what they wanted. Marion and Gabriella were on the other side because Marion was the queen, and Gabriella was her bodyguard and lover.

After weeks of the lovers negotiating, Marion laid out plans for setting up a hybrid government: part British, part American. It was an absolute monarchy at the moment, but plans were in place to slowly move toward a constitutional monarchy. Instead of the Ministry of [insert name], it was the Department of [insert name], the big ones being the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Foreign Affairs, and Justice. Eventually, the monarch would be the head of state, but the prime minister would be the head of government. Marion ensured the monarch retained some real power in this world. Only the monarch could ask the parliament for a declaration of war, and the monarch would approve the prime minister; the parliament could only recommend someone. Constitutional amendments would have to be endorsed by the monarch before taking effect after being passed by three-quarters of the Senate and House of Commons. If there was a regency, no amendments could be passed, and the regency council would approve the prime minister. Hopefully, this would keep parliament from going around the monarch when there was a regency.

That was a preview of The Medieval Marine - Repercussions. To read the rest purchase the book.

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