In other news, I'm bouncing around projects (and dad who, since he's retired is constantly under foot) ...and slowly getting ready for the holidays. Oh, and working on my droid. :)
The betas are hip deep into The Calm Before the Storm. We'll see how it goes. :)
On to the snippet!
Still in chapter 1:
~~~^~~~
Hakon Earling grimaced as he ran the angles. He had
been sent to the capital by a wealthy client but could not fulfill the job. It
was oh so simple in theory but very much complex when he tried to execute it.
Too complex for his tastes at the moment.
Simply put he couldn't get a shot at the princess, she
had too many guards or kept too far away from areas he had set up to target
her. He couldn't get into the castle, so he was stuck outside playing the
patient hunter.
Eventually he knew the imperials would lower their
guard in some way. But not yet. Not for a while at least.
That was fine; he was being paid a stipend until the
job was complete. The prices of food and lodging were spiking but he could camp
out in an abandoned building and he had no problem robbing others to supplement
his income.
His time would come.
~~~^~~~
Among her many duties, Agnes, the lead Lady in Waiting
of the princess oversaw some of the women and children spinning wool to make
thread in the castle. They stayed together near enough the fire to enjoy its
warmth. She had been surprised by the supply of wool.
The northerners had wool animals that they sheered for
their hair and milked for dairy. Some of it was incredibly soft and highly
desired in the Imperium. Some of the beasts were occasionally slaughtered for
meat. There were a variety of cheeses in Duluth, she knew that much. They were
big on cheese and beer. The cheese as also highly prized in the Imperium.
She had once seen an animal shorn. The rusticus
workers used giant scissori which they had to sharpen periodically. Some
used a single flat blade to do the job, but it was messy and not a good shave.
She made a note to look into that technology later.
She knew that the Terran master smith Max had talked about electric clippers
and such. Well, Duluth needed them more since they were more reliant on wool
than in the Imperium.
She needed more hands though, especially with
Euphrosyne immured in their rooms with one ailment or another. She knew the
woman was malingering and wished she'd gone with back to the Imperium with the
convoy. She hadn't though, so she was stuck here for the winter.
She let out a suffering sigh. Heads turned to her.
"Not you," she said, rising and adjusting her skirts. "Carry
on," she murmured as she made her exit.
~~~^~~~
Princeps Augustus Devitus had used Duluth
recruits from the convoy and recruits from the castle and surrounding area to
restore order to the capital. The capital sheriff was still in the precinct, he
had refused to leave though he had sent his family away.
After much consulting with the Princess Augustus
agreed to establish a larger police force in the capital and to loan some of
the troops to do patrols. They were outfitted with badges and truncheons for
the moment. A few had blades. He turned a blind eye to those.
He wasn't impressed with the design of the castle. He
wanted to make changes but those would have to wait. It was half the size of
the castle in the Imperium capital but with a thicker outer wall and more
buildings in the courtyard. His men had a barracks made of stone and a thatched
high pitched roof in the courtyard.
One corner of the castle had been designated for the
princess and her retainers, as well as some of the higher ranked guests. The
staff was concentrating half of their work there and in the kitchens.
Of the group of prisoners, several had died, many from
their wounds despite Eudoxia's ministrations. They were the last to receive the
Medicus care for a reason and he felt no pity for them. But when four died
under mysterious circumstances that bothered him. He wanted to press them for
answers on who had hired them but it seemed most were ignorant backwoods fools.
They had only known of the aging knight, the late Petersen. No other leaders
had emerged in the ambush plot.
Well, they could rot in the dungeon until they
loosened their tongues some more then.
~~~^~~~
With Agnes running part of her duties with the
stewards in the castle, and Euphrosyne immured in their quarters complaining of
one ailment or another, it left Zara a bit short. The red haired girl she had
hired, Freydis spent a bit too much time with her lover to the point where she
turned up pregnant. The locals hand fasted the couple on the third hafta of
their time in the castle. It was a brief happy point in their time before they
threw themselves back into the work.
Agnes chose and hired another lady in waiting as an
attendant. This one, Emma was a teenager only slightly younger than the
princess whose family had died before the war and her intended had died in the
war. Her intended's family had fled the capital, only she had remained. She had
proven she was a woman of some sophistication and education though, able to
read, write, and do simple math. She also had spirit and fire to go with her
deportment so the princess took an instant liking to her. She also sympathized
with her but the young woman was a bit stiff over that.
When she had time, Zara worked with her ladies. They
strategized from time to time. Most of the time she scandalized the natives by
helping out with the drudge work and insisting on teaching classes of Yoga,
self-defense, along with science, reading, technology, medicine, and other
things. Want them to be well rounded, with the hopes that they pass on what
they learned to others eventually.
The ladies found that the exercise did have a small
benefit, it burned calories and it warmed their muscles up. Sitting for long
periods made them feel terribly cold.
Despite her spirit the girl Emma kept mostly to
herself though she was quite good at listening. Sometimes she would go
unnoticed as others conversed. She rarely smiled. She did help out the kitchen
staff however, and she knew enough of the capital to feel safe enough to go out
on errands without a guard.
~~~^~~~
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