Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

  At least she was over her morning sickness he thought as his opponent finished discussing some point with a group of students and gathered up his gear.

  "Ready?" he asked with a polite nod.

  Part of the reason he was sticking to the training regime was to show others he was not someone to fool with. He was pretty sure word of his duels and time in combat had gotten around. That still might not stop some assassin from trying to get to him though, but it would hopefully deter the hot heads that were in court.

  "Let us do this," the trainer said, selecting a pair of padded pikes.

  "Oh, boy," Eugene murmured as he caught the one tossed to him. Things were about to get interesting.

  ~~~^~~~

  Once every two weeks the nearest lords, called dominus for the men and dominas for the ladies, gathered for a meeting. Some attended monthly and returned to their home states for periods before returning to the capital. Some of the more traditional dominus were still getting used to having the women participate openly. Doc and the others begged off from those affairs, though they sometimes had to be dragged in or radioed to get some point from their field ironed out.

  The lords just couldn't stay away, Eugene thought, and on some level, he didn't want them to do so. They were trying to participate in the government and easing the Imperium into a constitutional monarchy was tricky. Everyone wanted to know what was happening and wanted a say in the doings of the government.

  But that didn't mean he had to like politics and diplomacy or the long meetings that they frequently called for. The one-on-one meetings were bad enough; the group sessions were like a free-for-all. Sometimes it felt like they were throwing a piece of meat into a room filled with wild starving animals and then hoping to survive the experience.

  As of late they had begun to enter debates about making contact with Grand Duke Medicini in the north, Grand Duchess Caliope in the southeast, and Nuevo Roman Imperium in the southwest. There was also the western Great Island and large chain of islands in the east.

  A lot of that urge to contact was trade, at least for some. But he was well aware that there were some Hawks in the group who wanted to test their new weapons of war on someone else. The fact that the independent duchies and kingdoms around them had yet to attack meant that they were either still gathering their forces or frightened.

  The Imperium spies were unsure; none could get close enough to the leadership to get a solid read on them. And they had yet to get a radio into the duchies to shorten the communication loop from months to minutes.

  He managed to steer them into a hypothetical discussion about who to approach first, and how to go about it without causing an incident or war. Those lords on the border were not keen to open another war on their lands. They were frequently the victim of such things, either in poorly executed attacks or defenses from raids from the other side. To them it was imperative that they had proper defenses in place first before they opened up negotiations.

  Which meant there was a bit of foot dragging there.

  "Given that they will be alarmed if we do upgrade the weapons openly on the borders, we need to tread cautiously lest we spark an attack to break them before the weapons or soldiers are set and ready," a young dominus said cautiously.

  Eugene nodded. "A spoiler attack. Startling them into attacking us out of what they could see as self-defense."

  "Why? Even if they attack, we would beat them," Dominus Gengi said.

  Dominus Gengi was of Hindu decent. He was tall and thin but for some reason a Hawk. He had missed out on the battle with Duluth.

  "Yes, but in the process a lot of people would die. Lands would be burned, structures destroyed. And we would spend a lot of money on another war just as we're recovering from the last one," Winston, the dominus of the treasury said patiently. "Let's not rush into things."

  "Nor should we open up a war on two fronts. I hope that they are not talking to each other and considering that option," Domina Lorry stated worriedly. She had been sent to the capital by her husband to represent their holdings. She loved Deidra's changes and seemed like an avid supporter.

  That idea earned a bit of muttering in the group.

  It was too early to call them a full parliament or even just a House of Lords. For the moment, they were a council of lords and ladies. They understood the Terran desire for a parliament in principle, they'd heard about the Roman Senate in ancient times on Earth. But that didn't mean they were willing to share power with the still as yet to be seated lower house.

  Eugene quietly believed it would be a generation before they got that sorted out. He could occasionally feel some resistance from his wife on that subject too. Never openly, but she did like to put it off.

  "We can open some minor trade negotiations. It would allow our spies to get in easier," Leofrick, the deputy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, stated. "But they and we must move cautiously. Spies could be seen as an assault as well."

  Eugene nodded slightly at the wisdom in that statement.

  "I am pretty sure some traders have told them about the changes in the Imperium and that Duluth had fallen by now. They would most likely be wary of any entry to talk," Dominus Emory replied as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

  "We don't know until we try. We were not the aggressor with Duluth. We need to drive that point home, that we would prefer to trade with them rather than go to war," Winston insisted.

  "Wait; let us consider all of the options. We could always just go in and conquer them. Take them out before they attack us. Then we can put in our own people and rule," Dominus Emory stated.

  "That is not funny. Not when you consider what is involved. We're still recovering from the last war and we had a deal," Eugene replied, looking at the dominus. "Terran technology will not be used to conquer your neighbors."

  "You had no problem with Duluth," Dominus Emory stated, looking at his sovereign.

  Deidra looked straight ahead as her uncle asked that question.

  "Duluth was a case of self-defense. Besides, many of you still have yet to send your second sons and daughters to help out there. And now you want to play conquistador? I think you should learn that you can't bite off more than you can chew."

  They had been around and around on that subject. He hated it. Sometimes he wondered if they brought it up to poison any agenda for that meeting. He wouldn't put it past any of the people in the room.

  Deidra laid a hand on her husband's to restrain him further. "What my vita sodalis has said is accurate; we need time to make sure Duluth is fully on our side."

  A few heads nodded.

  "But, if one of the duchies attacks us?" Dominus Tobin asked insistently.

  Eugene cocked his head ever so slightly. The people in that room played high-stakes politics and had been born and raised into it. He was a tyro and knew it. So no matter how polite and relaxed they seemed he had to watch himself. He also had to ask himself what was behind each question and if there was a trap.

  But this one had an obvious response, one he didn't have a choice in giving. Deidra, however, beat him to the punch.

  "Then we'll defend ourselves. And if they press the fight beyond a border skirmish, then we'll deal with that situation," Deidra replied evenly. Her tone broke no argument with the group. Heads nodded again. "But that is for the future, if it should happen. For the moment, we will see to the recovery and to the spreading of the new things," she said with a small smile to her husband.

  "What do you have for us now?" a dominus asked with a sigh.

  "We're not making you invest in much other than medicine. If you do not wish to improve other things, that is of course up to you. You can choose what you and your people are willing to address and improve upon," Eugene replied.

  "I say bring it on, just at an even pace," Dominus Haiat said. His duchy was producing glass since they had a rich deposit of good sand as well as ore that the Terrans called high-grade silicone. His people were still improving their glassworks, but they were al
ready turning out incredible things.

  His vita sodalis loved all of it. She loved some of the trinkets that the Terrans had shown them how to make, the little crystals that played with the light. And she loved to commission painted glass. He had several of the family. She loved the extra money it brought in and the finery she was buying from the capital. He had to admit, some of her new outfits were quite fetching.

  Glass sales were filling his coffers by selling it to the others in the kingdom. He was already well on his way to paying back the startup costs. The new glass products he was investing in, particularly the looking glasses and the seeing glasses, were going to take that a step further. He had a pair of corrective lenses; the Terrans called them reading glasses.

  And he was being wise with his investing too, exploring plastics and other things too. It was truly a wondrous time to be alive. That made him an avid supporter of the king and queen.

  "We have a list," Deidra said helpfully. "But, back to my previous point," she turned to the lords who wanted to go to war. "Do you wish to improve things while also trying to fight too?" she asked.

  A couple of them made hand motions as if to surrender the field. A couple of them worked their jaws; they wanted more chance at glory. They wanted a place to unload their extra sons so as to keep them from fighting internally.

  Eugene hid a smile. "One step at a time people. I believe when others hear of how advance we are getting it will either make them nervous or excited to trade with us. We'll eventually have surpluses in many things."

  "We already have some. And you are shipping it north to Duluth or storing it," Winston stated. He had not been sure about buying the surplus to keep the prices up but he understood the theory behind it. And he understood the need to have a reserve.

  He had initially not been keen about the new king's endeavors in helping the poor. But he had come around when he'd finally understood the references about it being an investment. Many of the poor who they had helped were becoming solvent citizens and were some of the most loyal supporters of the king and queen.

  And they were also quite willing to learn the new Terran technology.

  "And we're buying it from the food plants to do so. And we're not so much storing it as processing it into other materials and then selling or using those," Eugene replied. The canning and jar factories were in full swing. They were preserving a good 10 percent of the food just in case of an emergency. Winters could run overlong on the planet. He had convinced Deidra to have a reserve. It had been easier to do than he'd expected. Only when he'd taken a tour of the castle's storerooms did he realize that her people had been doing that anyway.

  His way was a bit better though; more food could be preserved and they could store more of it. They still had to watch for botulism though.

  "What if the duchies attack? We need to improve the border defenses," Dominus Tobin stated flatly. He hadn't liked the idea of traveling away from his lands, but he had heard so many stories about what was going on in the capital that he'd forced himself to come.

  Now he was glad he had, though he wished they'd send more of the wonder weapons and soldiers his way. Not that he would use them against the Imperium of course.

  Eugene sighed internally. They weren't going to get off that point anytime soon.

  "We can certainly do that; in fact, we have to some degree. Radios at the border watch post can alert you of problems there. And the advances we have here can make the posting more comfortable. Small things add up to keep morale up."

  A few heads nodded.

  "We have some weapons stored there now. And some explosives to deter a sudden charge." He hadn't agreed to a minefield. The charges were artillery or grenades to turn Calvary from rushing the defense. But that meant it was an active system rather than a passive one.

  He didn't care. He'd prefer a section of the wall fall rather than have a minefield out there somewhere that a child could wander into and get blown to pieces.

  "And making things a bit more efficient with say, insulation and a bit of investment will make those forts need less in the way of supplies," Deidra added. "Glass for windows and the far-seeing devices," she said.

  "When will we see more of those?"

  "We have a small shipment that will be going out soon actually," Eugene replied. There was a rustle of surprise from the group. "They are considered an investment from the government, along with medical supplies and additional minor gear for the border units." He and Deidra made a good team, they tag teamed the others to get things done.

  It would be tricky to make sure that the gear went to its intended recipients. But that was what inspections and inventory were for. He felt for some of those guards. Some had been banished there; many were poorly paid. No doubt some took it out on the peasants in the area. Finding ways to redirect their energies might help.

  Eventually replacing them with properly trained and paid troops would be even better. But that was a problem for another day. "Now …"

  ~~~^~~~

  Eugene and Deidra discussed the meeting as they got ready for bed later that evening. It was very late, near midnight, and the only reason they weren't still burning the midnight oil was because of Deidra's gravid situation. He'd quietly insisted they call it a night despite her assurances that she was fine.

  He'd been supportive as they'd headed to eat and then to their suite. But he could tell she appreciated his efforts in her behalf even if she muttered about his making her look a little weak in the eyes of the others.

  He didn't care, his wife was in a delicate situation and the last thing he wanted was for her water to break prematurely under stress. He was pretty sure she knew that too and that was why she only put up a token protest.

  He noted her energies were rallying ever so slightly as they prepped for bed. Deidra sat in front of her dressing station and was amused as she brushed her hair out.

  The room was cool, not to hot and not too cold. Eugene had introduced a small heater and forced air system for their own room. It was electrically powered. He said he was testing it before allowing the device to be put into production.

  She rather liked it. It heated a coil of water into steam and then ran a fan over the radiator to blow heated air through ducts to warm the room up quickly. She knew her mate was not thrilled about how much power it used, but she barely understood that part. It worked; that was what mattered to her.

  They had yet to try the cooling method, replacing the radiator with a block of ice. If she just wanted the air to blow, he could turn the heater part off or they could turn the ceiling fan on.

  She didn't understand a lot of his insistence on doing things certain ways. She did appreciate that he and the other Terrans were determined to not make the same mistakes their ancestors had made on their homeworld. That she appreciated deeply. They were doing their best to learn from those mistakes and put more advanced technology into use as quickly as possible.

  She liked the idea of the bathroom he and the other Terrans had introduced. Indoor plumbing was a novelty, though she didn't care for shaking pipes in the middle of the night. She shivered. Some places still in the castle and capital still had regular Jakes. They were smelly affairs, really just a hole in the castle wall with a door and wooden seat and she now did her best to hold it until she could get back to the inner palace.

  Which wasn't easy given her gravid condition. Sometimes she wondered about her child. He or she loved to bounce on her bladder or kick it at the most inopportune times.

  "Cold?" he murmured, coming over to touch her neck and then lean down to kiss it.

  "Stop that," she said, though she kept the scold down to a mild one. She secretly enjoyed his attentions, but he had to be brought to heel from time to time.

  "What, this?" he asked, touching her hair and kissing her neck and collar again.

  She shivered but smiled. "Yes, that. You know you are terrible, right?" she asked as she nuzzled his hand and touched his face.

  "Terrible at this?" h
e asked, going in to kiss her but she turned and he missed. She smirked until he caught her face and kissed her on the tip of her nose.

  "Yes, you're aim is atrocious!" she teased, eyes twinkling as he pulled back.

  "Really. Well, I'm sure I can find someone to practice on." Her eyes flared with jealousy. "Think I can find someone in this room? A gorgeous and very kissable pregnant lady?"

  Her rising flare of temper ended abruptly and her smile returned. "Maybe," she replied coyly, "if you let her finish getting ready for bed."

  "Why? You'll just get mused up," he teased but he straightened up.

  "Yeah, but I like to do things right beforehand," she said, using the brush to whack him on the rear to drive him off. "So behave."