The Porfian Princess: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 4

by L J Dalton Jr.

  Your Grace

  Great news. We have achieved a great victory in the north. The rebels have been defeated. Many of them have been killed, and the others scattered. I have learned that the pretender is to the south of the city. I am taking my men there to either kill or capture him.

  I have directed Lieutenant Sorbor to command the Guard in the city and institute aggressive patrols within the city. This will prevent the rebels from sneaking into the city and causing damage.

  Your Servant

  Colonel Petronas

  The Duke was thrilled with the news. He turned to Sorbor. “Yes, make sure that those scum cause no problems in my city. When Colonel Petronas returns, we will have a great celebration.” With that, the Duke turned and left.

  The lieutenant left and called together all his key supporters, Lieutenant Alec, Sergeants Tabor, Alika, and Gaetano. He told them what had actually transpired, and they were overjoyed. Sorbor let them celebrate for a bit and then brought them back to reality.

  “We need to get ready for the transfer of power. In three weeks, Duke Harlold, Prince Arken, and Colonel Petronas will enter the city. At that point, we will arrest Duke Skelous and his closest advisors. We need to have a strong presence all over the city. We don’t want any violence or bloodshed. Colonel Petronas’ men will help, and Duke Harlold has a large contingent of well-trained men ready to assist us.

  There will be a difficult transition. The businesses that had been taken from our people must be returned. It has to be done so that we don’t destroy the city's economy. It will serve as a model for when the other cities in the realm are freed. If it is done right, it will lessen the resistance of the Porfians to them losing power. They won’t be happy, but they will at least have their lives and some gold and silver.”

  The men agreed. It seemed reasonable. As much as they’d like revenge, it would be better to hold the amount of violence to the absolute minimum. They set about getting ready.

  Three weeks later, a rider arrived announcing that Colonel Petronas was almost to the city. Duke Skelous and his key advisors assembled outside the Palace to greet him. There was a large contingent of Guards there to provide security. The Duke was excited. He was looking forward to killing Harlold slowly.

  When Colonel Petronas rode up, he looked at Lieutenant Sorbor and said in a loud voice. “Lieutenant, arrest these men and hold them. The legitimate Duke will be here shortly.”

  Skelous was in shock and didn’t offer any resistance as he and his key advisors were arrested and brought down to the dungeon. A half-hour later, Duke Harlold rode into the city under his father’s banner escorted by a company of his men. He was followed by Prince Arken under his banner, also with an escort of Harlold’s men.

  At first, the crowd was stunned, and then the ordinary people started to celebrate. Duke Harlold went to the Palace and thanked everyone. He gave a short speech. First, he thanked his men for their bravery. He thanked the northern kingdoms for their support. He assured everyone in the city that he wanted a peaceful transfer of power. He would not tolerate any looting or any hostile actions against the remaining Porfians in the city. He assured the Porfians that they would be safe and that they would be treated justly while they may not be happy, which was fair to all.

  The speech was well-received by the locals. They saw his disciplined troops and the support of Prince Arken. The Porfians were relieved that there would be no reprisals. They were worried about what would happen to them in the long term. Everyone knew that Skelous would be executed. The way he died would send a message to everyone on how the new Duke would rule the city.

  Some Turbines

  As soon as they were settled in, Mike started to get ready to get some things done. He had plans for ceramics and lumber. A couple of nights after they’d gotten home, they were lying in bed, and Catrina turned to him. “You know, Michael, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind.

  In four months, little Jack is going to be born.” Mike gave her a side-eye over the sex of the child, but she ignored him. A few months after that will be Mathias and Annette’s wedding in Great Falls. Jack will be too young to travel. Everyone else in the court will be going. That means it will fall to you and me to deal with all the myriad details that might come up while everyone else is away.

  After Mathias and Annette are married, Petor and Sharon will get married. We will be able to make it to their wedding. That will be at the research station, and it’s close enough that Jack won’t have any trouble making it. Finally, when Jack is eight months or so, we’ll have to head for Centralia to take up residence. Marvon is sure to want us there.

  They’ll need him in Tantulus soon enough, so we’ll need to get ready to take over. That isn’t going to leave that much time for a lot of projects. I think you should concentrate on this porcelain. A valuable trade good is more beneficial than better lumber production.”

  Mike considered what Catrina said. He had to agree with her. “Once again, you’ve proved to be a great partner. I think you’re right, and I should concentrate on the porcelain. Hopefully, your father or Morton can introduce me to somebody I can work with. I keep zoning out on this baby; I know intellectually it’s going to change things. I just don’t have any idea how.”

  The following day, Mike spoke to Randall about it. Randall knew just the man, Harlin. He owned one of the better ceramic factories in the kingdom and would love to have something to export. Randall felt that he could make the investment and that he would do it for the usual exclusive rights agreement.

  Mike thought that was good. He sent a letter to Lindale at the brass works in Centralia to send one water turbine to Nordport. He also let him know that he would be sending him plans for another device.

  In order to get the temperatures needed to make porcelain, he’d need to have a blower. He’d also need to find deposits of kaolin clay and china stone. Before he went much further, he needed to find out if the needed raw materials were available. The best place to find that out was the research station.

  He let Catrina know that he’d be gone for a couple of days and headed out. When he reached there, he was sent to see one of the young researchers, Jefferson, who had been looking at the local geology. He’d done a lot of research in the Sud.

  Jefferson was interested in what Mike was doing. “Michael, what types of minerals are you looking for?”

  “I’m looking for two. One is called kaolin clay, and the other is what we call china stone. Kaolin clay is soft white clay. It’s got a lot of uses, but what I want it for is making porcelain, a very thin, durable ceramic. It would be a luxury item here.”

  “I think there are deposits of that on the other side of the Ro a bit west of Nordport. It should be easy to get. We can ride out there and check. Now, what about this china stone?”

  “It’s partially decomposed granite. At home, it’s used to make glazes and other things.”

  “Michael, you may be out of luck there. Everything around here is young, geologically speaking. You can see that the Sud are still very tall. Maybe in the north, where there are older mountains that have worn down. But we’d have to look, and it would take a lot of time. Is there anything else you can use?”

  “We can use bone ash. Then we’ll have bone china, which is very durable, and at home, it is a desirable item. It should be here as well.”

  “That’s good; we have lots of bones that you can use. Tomorrow do you want to head out and look at the deposits of what I think you’re looking for.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  The next day the two men rode out and headed towards Nordport. They stayed the night. Jefferson stayed with Morton rather than in the Palace. Mike let everyone know what they were up to.

  The following day, they took the ferry across the Ro and followed the River Road west to where a small trail headed up into the Sud. They turned off there and rode for another two hours. Jefferson called a halt, and they got off their horses and started to walk up towards an expos
ed area.

  During their journey, Jefferson quizzed Mike on everything he knew about geology. Plate tectonics, black smokers in the ocean teeming with life, earthquakes, volcanoes, fault lines – if Mike knew something about it, Jefferson wanted to hear about it. Geology wasn’t Mike’s area of expertise, but he’d a good general knowledge and had liked to watch science shows while in the Marines. So, he was able to provide the young man with a lot of information. Jefferson soaked it all up like a sponge.

  “Michael, this is it.” Said Jefferson bending down and digging out some white clay. Mike took it and examined it closely. He smiled.

  “This is exactly what I’m looking for. How big is this deposit, do you know?”

  “It’s fairly extensive. It runs for several hundred yards in each direction. There may be more around here. I found this while I was searching for fossils when I was younger and made a note of it.”

  “Jefferson, this is great. We need to take some back with us so that I can experiment.”

  They filled four bags with clay, about twenty pounds in each bag, then mounted their horses and headed back to Nordport. They caught the last ferry taking them across the Ro back to the city.

  When they got there, they found that they’d missed dinner. Mike found Relfph in the kitchen, and he made them some pizza. They had pizza and beer. Afterward, Mike headed up to bed. Catrina was already asleep. As the pregnancy progressed, she needed more sleep. She also had to pee more, so she was on the side of the bed nearer the bathroom. She was delighted with the pregnancy and never complained.

  The next day at breakfast, Mike told Randall what they’d accomplished. He was pleased and promised to arrange a meeting with Harlin. Late the next day, Harlin showed up at Mike’s office. Mike ushered him in. Harlin was a tall thin man with brown hair and eyes. He’d heard Mike’s disdain for titles, so he avoided using the Baron honorific.

  Mike started off. “Harlin, thank you for coming. I have a proposal for you. Back on the home world, we’ve got a very light ceramic, very strong, and it can be almost translucent. It’s called porcelain. It’s made from a particular type of clay, which I have here, and is mixed with another substance. In this case, we’ll use bone ash.

  It’s a laborious and exacting process. You mix the clay and the bone meal together until you get the right consistency. Once that’s done, you form it into bowls, plates, pitchers, whatever. When that’s done, it has to be dried for two days. Once it’s fully dried, you can either decorate it or leave it plain. Once that’s done, you glaze it. The glaze is lightly sprayed on a lot of the bigger pieces. It’s a simple device, and I can show you how it’s made.

  The big thing is the firing of the ceramic. For that, it is put in a big kiln and heated slowly to a very high temperature. It stays there for at least eight hours and then is allowed to cool very slowly over at least half a day. Then the pieces can be removed. These are luxury items that could be sold to courts and wealthy merchants or exported.”

  Harlin listened carefully. “I like the idea of high-priced goods. It may be a bit more labor-intensive than what we do now. Higher prices will make up for that. The thing I wonder about is how I can get the higher temperatures for so long.”

  “That’s the key point. Where this ceramic was originally developed, the people used wood to fire the kiln. We’ve got plenty of wood. We can get the temperature up if we force air into the fire chamber after we start it going. We need the flames to be blue-white. I’ve got a device that will produce more power than a water wheel. It can drive a machine that will pump air into the fire chamber. We can start it after the fire gets going and stop it when we want it to cool down. We’ll easily have enough power to do that, and it can also provide enough power to spin the potter wheels if you want it to.”

  “That would work to get the fire hot enough. About the potter wheels, we’ll wait and see. Let’s do one thing at a time.”

  Mike agreed, and the two men started talking about how they would implement the porcelain production. Harlin would take the clay they’d collected and add bone ash. Then he’d see what consistency they needed. They’d start off with a medium-sized walk-in kiln. Mike told him how they’d used clay pots to hold the unfired porcelain in the kiln in China. Harlin thought that was a good idea and would look at it.

  The next day Mike headed to the wood wright shop where he found Sandoval. Sandoval was happy to see Mike and congratulated him on the upcoming birth. The two men caught up on what had been going on. Then Sandoval asked. “Well, Michael, what new project do you have in mind?”

  “I’m working with Master Harlin in developing porcelain manufacturing. It’s a very high-quality ceramic that we think will sell for high prices. One thing we’ve got to do is to get the kiln temperature up much higher than it is now. It needs to stay so high that simple bellows won’t work. I’m going to be developing a machine to blow air into the kiln. For that, I’ll need to make a prototype out of wood and then send it to a brass works in Centralia that I’ve used before to make a model out of brass.”

  “Well, I set aside an area for you to work and put simple tools out. Will pine be acceptable? It’s easy to work with.”

  “Yes, pine would be great. I’ll come back in two days and get started.”

  Koronus

  Harlold and Arken were just getting settled in when one of the guards came up to Harlold. “Your Grace, Kyra, head of the harem, wishes to speak with you.”

  Harlold looked at Arken, who just smiled. Resigned Harlold told the guard to let her in. Kyra came in and prostrated herself before Harlold. “Your Grace, when will you inspect the harem. Will you choose who to send to your bed tonight, or shall I? Prince Arken, I have the same question for you.”

  Harlold looked very uncomfortable. “Kyra, please rise; there is no need to prostrate yourself before me. From here on, this Duchy will operate more like a northern one than a Porfian one. That means that there won’t be a harem.

  Kyra was both shocked and distraught. “Your Grace, what will happen to the harem. You won’t be sending them to the pleasure houses, will you?”

  “No, No, that will not be happening. This is just one of the things that we have to deal with. I can assure you that all of the members of the harem will be dealt with fairly and given a chance for a good life. As to the pleasure houses, that is something else I’m going to have to deal with. The majority of the people there are not there voluntarily. Any suggestions you have will be most appreciated.

  Prince Arken and I will be doing our best to treat everyone as fairly as possible while freeing the city from Porfia. Just deposing Duke Skelous will not be enough. Please let everyone in the harem know that they will be taken care of and treated fairly and with respect. If any of them wish to speak to me or with Prince Arken, let us know.

  You should be aware that I am betrothed to the daughter of Duchess Morvinia, Noria. She will be coming here with Prince Arken’s wife Elizabeth and three of King Menounos’ wives and daughters. Do you have any questions?”

  “No, your Grace, not at this time. It will take some time to digest the new situation. Thank you.” With that, Kyra left.

  Arken looked at Harlold and broke up laughing. Then Harlold started laughing as well. Arken said. “Better you than me. We should be happy that neither Noria nor Elizabeth is here. That would have been awkward, to say the least.”

  When he stopped laughing, Harlold said. “I never even considered the harem. Then on a more serious note, we have the pleasure houses, that’s another problem altogether. We need to shut those down. What can we do for the poor people who work there?”

  “I have no idea Harlold, but you’re right; they need to be shut down. We need to institute the companions as they have in the north.”

  Harlold looked puzzled. So Arken explained. “Any young woman who had not shown herself to be fertile, that is had her first fertile period, by a certain age is considered to be infertile. Understandably men won’t marry them, and they need something to do a
nd also meet their bodily needs. They provide sexual companionship for men traveling far from home.

  It’s an honorable profession in the north. They run inns in the major cities. It’s just like men who are not interested in sex are destined for the priesthood. The gods provide.”

  Harold understood and agreed that they needed to do something like that in Tantulus. But first, he needed to deal with the pleasure houses. Harlold then called for a pen and paper and quickly wrote a note to Colonel Petronas, ordering him to close down the pleasure houses. And to make sure that all the workers were given adequate food and care.”

  Harlold looked at Arken. “Well, that’s done. I’m sure I’ll hear from the owners shortly. I think the easiest thing to do is to threaten them and hope that they leave the city. What I would like to do is to hang them from the battlements. But that’s not something I can do in good conscience.

  Now we need to set up an advisory committee to deal with all of our problems. We also need to organize the trial of Skelous and his key advisors.”

  Arken agreed and went about drawing up a list of people who would be on the committee. They definitely wanted some women on the committee. It was best to start breaking down the men-only stereotypes held by so many.

  The trial would be a speedy one, and Prince Arken would be the judge. That way, it wouldn’t be Harlold condemning his predecessor. Both men realized that Skelous crimes demanded the death penalty. Arken was of the opinion that it should be a quick death, and while his crimes justified staking, that would not be good for the future of the city. Harlold reluctantly agreed. He remembered that the men, women, and children were killed at the order of Skelous. That was a heinous crime. Especially killing children.

  Colonels Petronas and Dedessus, along with Lieutenant Sorbor, quickly formed a professional and amicable relationship. Together the three men worked to make sure that there was peace in the city and the surrounding area. Minor incidents were quickly de-escalated. More serious incidents were met with appropriate force, and the perpetrators dealt with. This meant that Duke Harlold had relative peace in the city.