First lessons (Medieval Tale Book 1)

by Lina J. Potter

  “Slave traders?”

  “By all that’s unholy…”

  Lons groaned and leaned his forehead against the side of the hold. He felt the ship rock and heard the splash of the waves.

  “What will they do with us?”

  “They’ll sail along the coast to the Khanganat, where they’ll sell you. Unless you die first, that is.”

  This outlook did nothing to make the teacher feel better, but he had no choice in the matter. Heavy chains prevented him from trying to escape.

  Anna, my poor girl! What will they do to you?

  ***

  Lily looked from Leif to Ingrid with pleasure. They were a wonderful pair, and they loved each other. She could read it in their faces. He was tall and powerfully built, like an oak tree. Next, to him, Ingrid was like a slim beech tree. It was a pretty picture.

  “Good evening, Leif, Ingrid. Have a seat. And have something to eat and drink.”

  There was a pitcher of light wine and a platter of steamed vegetables on the table. Lily would have preferred juice, but the innkeeper only had wine.

  “Thank you, My Lady.”

  Lily took the bull by the horns. “We need to discuss many things. You will be working for me. Actually, you are already in my service. Here is your advance.”

  A heavy leather wallet landed softly on the table. Inside, were five gold coins. Lily had decided not to advance him too much at once. She would pay the rest later…with interest.

  Leif didn’t move. “You paid the advance when you freed my men. What was it you wanted to buy at the market, My Lady?”

  Lily looked at him. He wasn’t wasting time. She liked that.

  “I already found a jeweler. Now, I need a blacksmith. A good one. And a glass blower. That’s just the first round.”

  “They will not be difficult to find. I believe there is only one glass blower in this town. It is not a common profession.”

  Lily nodded. “Good. I also need to buy some cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. My villages have been losing people to hunger in the winter. That is going to stop.”

  Lily briefly recounted the situation in Earton. When she was done, she looked down at the pitcher of wine on the table. If she was wrong about these two, she would let them go immediately. Otherwise, her plans would not work.

  Ingrid, not Leif, was first to speak. She had been sitting as quietly as a mouse, but once she saw that Leif had no interest in Lilian other than as an employer, and that the Countess behaved with simplicity and kindness, she opened up. “My Lady, how will you feed them?”

  “Who?”

  “The cows.”

  Lily sighed. “I have no idea. I suppose we’ll buy feed.”

  “But My Lady, why not just get goats instead of the cows? Back home in Virma, we all keep goats. They provide meat, wool, milk, and they are much cheaper to feed and easier to care for. And I’m sure it would be easier to get them back to your estate.”

  The trip home…

  Lily sighed. That was the weak spot in her plan. One hundred cows—a whole herd. Insanity. Even fifty cows was a sizeable number. It would take a dozen headers to drive them back to Earton. And that was just to drive them. What about security? Earton was a long way away… Lily groaned. What do I do?

  Leif’s voice broke into her thoughts. “My Lady, do you think the peasants had no plans for surviving the winter without your help?”

  She heard the irony in the Virman’s voice. He was not making fun of her. He could tell that Lily didn’t know much about agriculture, and he wanted to push her in the right direction.

  Okay, so how did the peasants intend to survive? What if the old Lilian was still here?

  She was pretty sure they didn’t intend to lie down and die, and she wondered if they were simply using her because they could see she felt sorry for them. She made a decision. “I suppose I could just buy grain. It would be easier to transport.”

  Ingrid nodded with a smile. “Yes, it would. And you could distribute it to those who are especially needy over the winter.”

  Lilian thought about her childhood home. There were always sacks of potatoes, carrots, and beets in a corner of the kitchen. She remembered years when she and her parents ate nothing but army-issued tinned meat and whatever they could grow in their garden.

  “Yes, I will buy grain and have the merchants deliver it in their ships.” Lilian ticked off what she needed, “Rye, millet, buckwheat… Since you’re already going to Earton, you can follow the merchants to make sure they don’t sail off with my grain.”

  “Do you have a mill in Earton?” Ingrid asked.

  Lily had no idea. She would have to think about that. If Earton didn’t have a mill, she would have to have one built. Water-or wind-powered? Why, oh, why don’t I know anything about how mills are built? I could have read up on so many useful things if I’d known I’d end up here! All I know is that there’s a big wheel and a small wheel. I don’t know the ratio between the two wheels or the speeds they turn at. I remember the fairytale about the devil who was a miller, but that’s not exactly helpful, is it?

  Lily sighed doubtfully. “There should be a mill. Do you want me to call for one of the village elders?”

  Leif nodded. “Which one?”

  Lily looked around. Art Virdas and Sherl Ferney had wandered off somewhere. Jean Corey was nearby, pushing his luck with an attractive waitress. I bet they’re discussing Eastern philosophy. It will just have to wait.

  Leif’s eyes followed Lilian’s. He nodded. The handle of his ax hit the floor like a bolt of lightning. The sound was deafening. Even the braided onions hanging on the walls jumped. Jean turned to see what the commotion was about. Leif gestured for him to come over. Lily blinked.

  Jean turned out to be a good source of information. There was a mill in Earton, and it belonged to the Earl big surprise there! Anyone who wanted to use it had to pay. The Comptroller had always handled those things.

  Lily thought to herself that, with the Comptroller gone, people were probably using the mill for free. That was fine with her…for now. And it would give her leverage if she needed it in the future.

  Jean also said that there were a few cows in the villages, but they were poor milkers. When he started to complain about the cows, Ingrid interrupted him. “Fifteen liters a day is very little for a decent cow. But why in the world would you go out and buy new ones? Do you have anywhere to keep them? What will you feed them? How do you know that the pasture grazing is any good?”

  Ingrid then asked him about goats, sheep, and chickens. She wanted details on how much milk they got from their sheep and goats, and what kind of yarn they spun from their coats. How many acres did they plant, and how many bushels of grain did they harvest per acre?

  About halfway through this conversation, Lily completely lost track of what they were talking about. She was listening and trying to follow the thread, but Ingrid was head and shoulders above her in her knowledge of farming and animal husbandry.

  Who cares how much milk a goat gives if they don’t have enough goats to begin with?

  Leif noticed that Lily was falling behind and whispered to her, so Jean wouldn’t hear. “Ingrid was raised to manage a farm.”

  Lily nodded. So that’s how the girl knew so much. She would make a good Comptroller. There was also Emma. If three intelligent women could work together, the estate would thrive. Lily sat quietly sipping her ale and smiled sweetly at Jean whenever he seemed unwilling to give Ingrid a straight answer to a question.

  ***

  Ingrid finally finished her inquisition and nodded. She was deep in thought.

  “My Lady, grain is a must. But do not distribute it right away. Only hand it out as needed.”

  “What about livestock?”

  “Your pastures are no good—almost as bad as ours, but you have swampy ground while we have rock. Good livestock needs good feed. Animals can die in the wrong conditions. I would just buy two good bulls for sires and maybe ten cows.”

  L
ily reflected on that. It would be cheaper, and she could afford to buy really good animals that way. The Virman woman knew what she was talking about. A handful of cows would be easier to transport. They could live in the stockyard at the castle. There was an old barn that could be insulated, and Lily would have her own dairy, with fresh milk, sour cream, and cheese.

  We can use the new bulls to inseminate the villagers’ cows. That’s a good idea! But still, how do I get the animals home? Trying to get anything done without trains or decent roads is just ridiculous!

  She was cautious. “I like the idea about bulls.”

  “And you could buy goats, too. Virman goats. They give good wool, and they are easy to care for.”

  “Can we buy them here?”

  “We’ll have to look around at the market.”

  Lily nodded. “If I buy them, Ingrid, then you and the other women on your ship will be the only ones who know what to do with their wool. Will you do the work for me?”

  Ingrid’s eyes widened. “Well, I’m not going to sit around doing nothing all winter!”

  “Don’t worry about that!” Lily grinned. “There’s always plenty to do. But we’ll profit by it in the end.”

  “We can at least try.”

  “Do you know how to make lace?”

  After a minute, it became clear that the young Virman had never seen a crochet hook. In her own world, Aliya had crocheted and knitted and even made tatted lace.

  “Lace? It’s very expensive. Merchants bring strips of lace from Elvana. You wouldn’t believe how much they cost.”

  Judging by the look on Leif’s face, Lily felt certain he would head to the market in the morning in search of lace. If such finery existed, his wife should have it. Lily smiled.

  “What about lace shawls and dresses?”

  In high school, Aliya had crocheted her graduation dress out of rainbow-colored yarn and sewed a satin lining for it. There was no one else with anything like it.

  Ingrid’s eyes grew wider. “Do you know how to make such things, My Lady?”

  Lily’s smile grew even wider. “We can talk about that later—at home in Earton.”

  The Virman woman nodded. “Good. But there is one more thing I wanted to say. Fish will soon be heading up the river to spawn. We should put in cages and nets so that we’ll have fish to salt and smoke. One fish can keep a family fed for several days. So, that’s fish and grain. We could also buy some chickens. Better yet, three-month-old chicks. Or ducks and geese…”

  As she listened to Ingrid, Lily reflected on how lucky she was. Ingrid was smart and capable of a lot. If all was well at his home, Leif could have left her in charge of a large farm and headed out to sea for months. His wife could manage anything that came her way.

  Emma had the same personality, and Lily planned to do her best to keep up with them. They would survive the winter. And in the spring, they would begin to farm for real. We’ll need a ton of fertilizer. Since we’re buying all these birds, we might as well put in a compost pile. That will improve soil fertility quickly. And then we’ll plant cover crops and turn them in. We could also…What else was there? I can’t remember! What would my biology professor say if she could see me now? I thought I was paying attention, but now that I need the information it’s all gone!

  Calm down. If I learned it once, I can learn it again. If I just give my brain some time, all the things I memorized in medical school will come back to me.

  Lily took a deep breath. She relaxed her shoulders and smiled. “Has Leif told you that you’ll be living at the castle until we can get something else put up for you?”

  “He has. My Lady, won’t your husband object?”

  Lily shrugged. “He is never there, so I won’t worry about what he thinks.”

  ***

  Jess Earton was preparing for a rendezvous. Adele was waiting for him.

  Sweet, gentle, fragile Adele, so beautiful and so helpless. Am I doing the right thing taking her with me on this trip?

  On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he could leave her. Jess knew quite well that he and Adele could never marry—at least while Lilian was alive. He had no heir as of yet, and the church wouldn’t allow more than four marriages in a row. But is that any reason to deny myself the pleasure of a lovely woman?

  They hadn’t done anything yet. Maybe in another month or so… Jess enjoyed the hunt. He just had a niggling doubt: could the hunt turn into something more?

  Jess had seen how his Uncle Edward and Aunt Jessamine had looked at each other. No matter where they were, sparks flew. They didn’t just have passion; they were tender and understanding and warm with each other. It was love in every sense of the word.

  Jess didn’t feel that way about Adele. Or do I just not feel that way yet? He couldn’t answer that question. Let’s see, flowers and jewelry. A modest gold and sapphire brooch, Adele will like it. It’s simple and in good taste. He realized that he still hadn’t seen a report from his estate Comptroller. Etor had never been late before. The Earl of Earton was not terribly concerned with the family estate since he earned his money elsewhere. He had inherited a fleet of merchant ships from his father, and with the help of his father-in-law and his shipyards, he intended to expand the business. He would send merchants as far away as the Khanganat. And if he managed to improve the design of his ships…but that was a project for the future.

  Some landowners looked down their noses at a nobleman engaged in commerce, but Jess’ father Jyce had always ignored them. “Let them envy me,” he had said. “They have to squeeze every last penny out of their land, while I am able to free my peasants from taxes. I don’t trade in livestock, after all, but pureblood horses, spices, gems and other rarities. Why shouldn’t I turn a profit?”

  With his shipping business flourishing, Jess’ thoughts only rarely turned to Earton. The family estate was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by swamps and forests. It was a fine place to go hunting, but he thought he’d lose his mind if he had to live there. The castle hadn’t been touched in many years. His grandfather had sold off some of the land in order to ensure that his children made advantageous marriages. He had looked askance at the idea of engaging in trade. He also disapproved of his daughter living as the King’s mistress.

  While the old Earl was alive, Jyce and Jess avoided Earton. When he passed away, he was survived by his wife, a sweet little old lady who shared most of her late husband’s opinions. Jess remembered his grandmother well. She had detested him, and the feeling was mutual. For some reason, she had a strange aversion to all of her grandchildren except those Jessie gave birth to when lawfully wed. Whenever any of her other grandchildren entered her field of vision, she couldn’t stop herself from harping and criticizing.

  Jyce Earton had found it necessary to make a home for himself and his wife away from Earton, so he bought a small estate near the capital. All the other Eartons, including Amalia and Jess, preferred to live in the city.

  A quiet knock at the door interrupted Jess’ memories. “My Lord, the Duchess of Ivernea is here to see you.”

  “Show her in,” said Jess, and turned back to tying the bow on his shoulder.

  The door opened, and a laughing voice asked, “How are you, little brother?”

  “Wonderful. And you?”

  Amalia shrugged. Her shawl fell open, revealing her round belly. “Soon you will have another nephew. Or niece.”

  “Another one?” Jess rolled his eyes theatrically. “You and Pete are heroes.” Amalia raised her eyebrows and smiled. Jyce had wanted only the best for his children. The marriage he arranged for Jess did not end up a happy one, but Amalia was more fortunate. Her father had engaged her to the heir of the Duke of Ivernea when the two were still in their cradles.

  Peter turned out to be a good match. He wasn’t ugly, and he wasn’t stupid, and he managed to win one out of every five arm wrestling matches with Jess, which wasn’t bad at all. Better yet, he adored his wife. Amalia felt the same about him. Their love was so st
rong that Jess already had a nephew and two nieces to spoil.

  “Are you going back to Ivernea?”

  “Of course. I came to see you before we both leave.”

  “You came just in time. I was about to…”

  “You were about to run off to your little hen.”

  “Don’t call her that.”

  “Then what do I call her? Jess, you aren’t in love with her, are you?”

  Jess shrugged. “I don’t know. Would that be such a bad thing?”

  Amalia’s voice was serious. “With this particular woman, it would be a very bad thing. Jess, I am not often at court, but…well, your Adele is not as simple as she may seem.”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is. Do you know about her cousin?”

  “I know her husband had a nephew. Is that what you mean?”

  “Did you know that the two of them are, how do I put this, closer than necessary? And did you know that her husband was literally shocked to death when he found them in a compromising situation? The blow killed him.”

  Jess raised an eyebrow. “Where did you pick up this awful gossip?”

  “One of my friends knew Adelaide’s husband quite well.”

  “That old fool…”

  “He was a decent man. And he was just fifty-two years older than his wife.”

  “Sure. Half a century is nothing.”

  “Jess, you know exactly what I mean.” Amalia stomped her foot. Jess couldn’t help but admire her. She was so tall and beautiful. She looked a great deal like their Aunt Jessamine.

  “You look like a queen today.”

  Amalia melted and gave her brother a smile. “Yes, you and I were fortunate. We look like our father.”

  Jess recalled his mother and shuddered. No one in his right mind would want to look like that stuck-up dried fish.

  “You were also lucky with your marriage.”

  Amalia went to her brother and wrapped her arms around his shoulders—at least as far as she could reach. Jess was almost six and a half feet tall. “Don’t let it get to you, little brother. You were not as lucky in marriage, but I’m sure everything will turn out for the best.”