The Porfian Princess: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 4

by L J Dalton Jr.

  We are going to have to leave Koronus soon. I don’t think that we are in danger, but your husband maybe. We have a house in Peseus and some funds there. Your younger sister and we will be able to live reasonably well there. Your husband has relatives to who he can flee, and we urge you to move.

  The King will not hesitate to take revenge for the loss of his children. Samos’ key advisors are in danger as well. We can only take care of our family.”

  A shocked Thisbe left to talk with her husband. At first, she couldn’t believe that her father would do that. But she soon realized that it made sense. Losing that many male children was not a coincidence. If the King was looking for revenge, she and her family were in danger. She would talk with them, and they’d leave as soon as possible.

  In Peseus, Bartrum let his father know about Samos’ death. Leonades was not happy. He directed his son to send a letter to King Menounos that he was unhappy that Porfian citizens were not safe in his capital. The Prince did not mention to his father that it was the opinion of his spymaster that the King himself was behind the murder. There was no telling what Leonades would do. His father was a dead man walking anyway. Something rash could cause Bartrum to lose his head as well.

  Porcelain

  Mike got to work on the blower prototype. It would be made of pine, and he thought it would be a quarter size of what he really wanted. He decided to make the housing square. It was easier than bending the pine and wouldn’t make any difference. The panes for the blower were cut out of a very thin sheet of pine. He wondered how they got it so thin but really didn’t ask.

  It took him a week, but he had the scale model of what he wanted in the end. He thought it would be more than adequate to get the firebox temperatures up to what he needed. Now he just needed to get it to Centralia and Lindale.

  Luckily there were regular caravans of traders moving between the major cities. Mike contracted with a merchant in one of the caravans to get the model to Lindale’s brass works. He packaged it up along with detailed instructions and sent it off.

  While Mike was doing that, Harlin had been at work. He’d sent some people into the Sud to get more of the clay. He had about two hundred pounds of it. He then carefully cleaned and processed the clay so that it was pure and very fine-grained. Then as Mike had told him, he added an equal amount of bone ash to the mixture. Then he started adding water until he got the consistency he wanted.

  That was made into some bowls, plates, and jugs. They were set out to dry for three days. The extra day was just to make sure they dried completely. Then they were glazed and set out to dry once again.

  To test things Harlin, set up a small kiln and put a bellows on it. The kiln would be wood-fired, and as the wood got hotter, he would have men work the bellows so that the flames were blue-white. That was the color that Mike had told him showed that the temperature was about right. They’d keep that up for a good long time and then let it cool naturally.

  It took Harlin weeks to get the whole thing right. When he finally got a result that Mike told him was good bone china, he was thrilled. It was just like Mike told him it would be. When he showed it to some of the wealthier families in Nordport, they all wanted it. Merchants who traded with Astica also told him that they could easily sell this porcelain in that land.

  Encouraged Harlin, then set to work building a much bigger kiln. He also had men go to the clay deposit and get a large quantity of it. Bones were easier to find, but he needed to process them himself. The bone ash was used to separate the precious metals in the places where they are smelting gold and silver. However, that wasn’t a big business in Nordport. It was further west.

  Mike pointed out that bone ash had a lot of good properties. It could be used to make paint and other things. Harlin thought about it and had one of his cousins start making bone ash. At first, Harlin would be his main customer, but there would be more customers if Mike were correct.

  Harlin also started to experiment with various colors. Mike told him that copper would produce a red color when heated and that cobalt would be blue. Harlin already used molds to make some things. It was easier to make plates with a mold than trying to use the potters wheel. Harlin decided that he could decorate his porcelain using templates after it dried and before it was glazed.

  That meant that less skilled artisans could be employed, and things would look uniform. By the time the turbine and blower arrived from Centralia, Harlin had a good product line all set to go.

  The first production run had about 60% rejects in it. But Harlin wasn’t discouraged. Soon he was able to have production runs that only had 20% rejects.

  The first shipments of the new Porcelain to Astica were a big success. The merchants in Astica were willing to pay good money for the product. This evened out the flow of gold and silver between the two continents and allowed Landian merchants to import more from Astica. It was a win-win situation. It meant more gold and silver coming into the realm as porcelain could be sold throughout Landia as well.

  The King himself met with Harlan and gave him a certificate of nobility; he was made a Marquis. The lowest level of nobility in the kingdom. It was more of an honorific. Nonetheless, Harlin was extremely pleased.

  Baron Bjorn

  Baron Bjorn was the nephew of Duke Marvon. He was the oldest child of Marvon’s younger sister, Runa. Runa had married a prominent merchant in the city, Knuth, and this was their first child. As the Duke got on in age and the marriage was barren, his sister was hopeful that her son would succeed him. There were others who had a claim as well, but Bjorn was the closest blood relative.

  Knuth loved his son but had no illusions about his ability to succeed his uncle. Bjorn was intelligent but headstrong and often showed poor judgment. That didn’t hurt him in business because his sister Lili, her co-wife Teaa, and husband Gustav were equal partners in the business with him. They were able to stop his more impetuous moves and take advantage of his intelligence when his ego didn’t cloud it. Together they made a good team.

  The problem was that Bjorn’s wives, Ulreda and Mandy, were not strong-willed enough to stand up to him when he got an idea in his head. Since he concentrated on business and left the household and children to them, it wasn’t an issue. There was enough structure to hold his worse impulses in check and allow him to be successful.

  Knuth was sure that given all the power that a Duke held, Bjorn would let his worse nature rule his decisions too often. Everyone made mistakes, but Bjorn would be a problem for the city if given that much power without guidance. He knew that his brother-in-law, Marvon thought the same about his nephew.

  Actually, of the several possible successors, Bjorn was the most promising. That is why Duke Marvon looked to the royal family for a successor. When that happened, Bjorn and his mother gave up on the idea of him succeeding his uncle. The idea was that Princess Catrina would be the Duke’s understudy for many years, allowing her to ease into the role.

  The Duke spoke personally with a couple of the potential successors, explaining his reasoning. The first was to reduce any friction in the duchy between the potential successors. Then there was the training and intelligence of Princess Catrina. Finally, there was Michael. He was an asset to the kingdom with his knowledge. It would be advantageous to have him doing his development in Centralia rather than someplace else.

  These were all excellent arguments, and they were reluctantly accepted by most of the people involved. They weren’t happy, but there wasn’t much they could do.

  Now the city was ripe with rumors that Duke Marvon would depart for Tantulus to take over the Duchy of Gortyn within just a few years, throwing Princess Catrina and her husband into the deep end. For a couple of the potential successors that changed things. They had always thought that they should succeed Marvon, now they were more sure than ever.

  Baroness Runa started talking to her family and her close circle of friends. She told people that Catrina was a promising young woman, but she didn’t have the experience necess
ary to take over for the Duke at such a young age. This Baron Michael might be a brave warrior and a brilliant scientist, but he hadn’t been born on Cornu and simply didn’t have the background to help his wife.

  She encouraged her son to start carefully building a base of support so that when Catrina failed, he would be the logical successor. If things went badly enough in the city, Catrina would have to be relieved. There was some precedent for this, although it hadn’t occurred in many years. The Nordian nobility had carefully vetted their heirs, and unsuitable heirs had been shunted aside.

  Bjorn agreed with his mother. He took it a bit further than she did. He was going to do as much as he could to make Catrina’s reign a difficult one. Bjorn had no intention of challenging the Princess directly; she was too well connected. Also, he didn’t want to run afoul of her husband. Dueling was rare but still allowed. He didn’t want to have to face Michael in a duel.

  He would build his base of support among the merchants that he knew. For example, he knew that at least one of the other brass works was upset that Lindale had gotten the exclusive right to build these turbines and the threshing machines. He insinuated to the owner that it was because Baron Michael was a foreigner and didn’t really have the knowledge of the city, and therefore, he picked Lindale when his friend Olaf’s brass works were the equal of if not superior to Lindale’s.

  Bjorn knew that Michael relied on his uncle, who trusted Lindale to get the work done correctly. Olaf’s factory was good but not really open to innovation. Bjorn made sure that he didn’t mention that. He was sure that Olaf wouldn’t be the only one put out when Michael’s inventions went to others.

  Bjorn wasn’t the only potential successor who saw their opportunity. Others were also putting together their own plans to make Catrina’s rule difficult. This was a challenge that none of the royals had anticipated, and it was mostly hidden from view.

  There were a couple of other potential successors that undertook their campaign—building bases of support. However, none were nearly as involved in it as Bjorn.

  Cedric was someone else who saw possibilities with a young ruler. No matter how good a human society was, there were always people who took advantage of the law – criminals. Cedric was the head of the largest organized crime syndicate in Centralia. The syndicate had under two dozen members. It got its money running illegal gambling, organized theft, and prostitution. The companions made normal prostitution unprofitable. However, there were people who went into something a bit more deviant.

  Over most of Cornu, the idea was that if the people involved agreed and no one was hurt, it was pretty much an attitude that if it felt good, then do it. That left areas where people with different tastes could be indulged. Cedric’s group kept a small number of young girls and boys who were drugged and made to do what their masters told them to do. These were rented out to what Cedric called ‘discerning’ customers.

  They had tried protection and extortion. That brought the full weight of Duke Marvon down on their heads. It was quickly given up as a bad idea. With somebody new and young coming in, Cedric wondered what he could do and if he could find allies.

  News of this also reached the Porfian court. Leonades made sure that Bartrum never heard about it. He kept the information to himself and sent instructions for his agents to find people who would want to take advantage of the situation. He wondered what he could do, if anything, to subtly help cause problems in Nordia’s second-largest city.

  This was what Catrina and Mike would be stepping into. It was as the King said, the minor nobility was back to their old games – plotting and scheming to better themselves and bring others down.

  Baby Makes Three

  While Mike was working on getting porcelain production going, Catrina was getting ready for the baby. There wasn’t going to be a nursery; the baby would sleep in a bassinette in their room. As Catrina explained to Mike when the baby was hungry, one of them would get the baby, bring it into the bed, and then she would feed it, and they’d all go back to sleep.

  That seemed reasonable to Mike, and he talked to Randall about it. He told Mike that was how it worked with all his children. There weren’t a lot of sleepless nights unless they had a sick child. Mike thought that sounded good to him. He knew that his brother-in-law Bill had more than a few nights where a cranky baby kept him up.

  As was the tradition, everyone ate the evening meal together. Little Lauden was starting to eat some food. He either sat between his mother's or his grandmother's and managed to eat whatever mashed-up concoction he was being fed. The little guy was trying to walk and was holding on to everything around. Somebody was always behind him, picking him up when he went down. It didn’t seem to bother him at all; he just got back up and went at it again. Mike marveled at how hard the little guy was working. He never realized how much effort kids put into things when they were young.

  Brandt let Mike know that William, Morton’s youngest son, was trying to give his pony to Lauden. That way, he would get a regular horse. His parents were reluctant as William was apparently something of a daredevil. He and his pony raced across the plains as fast as they could go. Both of them found it to be a lot of fun. Morton wasn’t so sure he wanted William to have a bigger horse that could go even faster. He was looking more for a horse like Mike’s, a gentle mare. Willian wanted a horse more like Brandt’s Sable.

  That caused Catrina to ask if Mike did things like that when he was young. When she found out that he didn’t, she was relieved. Her father pointed out that Morton hadn’t been like that as a child, so that couldn’t be the cause. Morton was glad that William didn’t have any other bad habits besides going fast on his horse.

  Catrina was getting rounder and rounder as her due date approached. Mike was getting nervous, while his wife was totally serene about the whole thing. Her mothers and grandmothers were getting excited. They weren’t particularly worried; they had everything in hand. An experienced midwife was standing by, and there was a doctor nearby in case of a real emergency. Then one morning, coming back from the bathroom, Catrina calmly announced. “My water broke.”

  That threw Mike into a bit of a panic; luckily, her mothers and sister were close by. They took charge of her while Roddrick and Randall took care of the nervous father. After a bit, the midwife arrived. She examined Catrina and came out to tell Mike that it would be a while and not to worry.

  Mike thought that was easier said than done. He waited nervously, alternating between sitting with his hands clasped in front of him and pacing. Roddrick and Randall soon gave up trying to talk to him and just sat with him. Brandt showed up later in the day with a book and sat down to wait with his father and brothers-in-law. Mike was too nervous to see the similarity between Brandt’s nonchalance and his when his sister Julie had her first child.

  It took almost ten hours for Catrina to go through labor. A doctor came in to check and then left, letting them know that the baby was in the proper position and it should be an easy birth. Finally, Mike heard a cry and jumped up. He was ushered in to see a disheveled yet beaning Catrina holding a wrinkled baby. It was the most beautiful sight in the world.

  She smiled and held out the baby. “Here, hold your son, Jack, Michael.”

  Mike gingerly picked up the little bundle. He looked at him. The baby’s eyes were closed, and his skin was wrinkly. Mike thought he looked great; he did note that the boy had black hair like he had.

  Brandt came in and looked at the baby. “Hey, little guy, I’m your big uncle Brandt. Welcome to the family. Cat, congratulations, the baby looks good.”

  Catrina smiled at him and then accepted her baby back. Both mother and child were exhausted. They’d try and get the baby to nurse soon. If Catrina had trouble, a wet nurse was standing by. Catrina wasn’t worried; her mothers and grandmothers had given her extensive education and pointers. Mike didn’t even think about it. It was natural. He didn’t realize that some new mothers did have problems nursing.

  Mike was shooed out
of the room and told to get some rest. Her grandmothers would stay with her. Her mothers had to take care of Lauden, who had started teething and needed attention.

  Mike took their suggestion and went into the spare room. He took off his boots and laid down on top of the bed. He wanted to be able to get right up if needed. He was sure he was too nervous to sleep, but with the emotional exhaustion, he was soon sound asleep.

  The next morning, he got up and went into the room. Catrina and Jack were both up, and the baby was happily nursing from Catrina. She smiled up at him, and he was simply thrilled. He sat down and took her hand. They just sat there like that while Jake nursed. When Jack was done, he rolled over and quickly fell asleep.

  They then started to talk softly. Her grandmothers left to give them some privacy. She admitted that she was a bit sore down there but that the midwife had some ointments that dulled the pain a lot and told her that it would pass in a few days. They didn’t talk about anything consequential, just talking and being near each other. Mike felt that this may be the best part of marriage right now.

  King Fredricke was thrilled with a great-grandchild. He ordered that birds be sent to all the major cities announcing the birth and then decreed that there would be a celebration in two weeks.

  When the news spread in the city, more than one toast was raised to the new baby in numerous taverns across the city. The Royal Family was well-loved and respected, and a new child was something to be celebrated.

  After a week, Mike moved back into the room with Catrina, and things took on a routine. They put Jack to be in his bassinette, and when he woke up hungry in the middle of the night, Mike would get up and pick the baby up and bring him back to bed, putting him right next to Catrina. She would give the baby her breast, and he would nurse until he fell asleep. Then he’d roll on his back and put his feet against his father, apparently to warm them up. Mike thought it was cute.