Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

  The problem was he was not sure how to go about affecting that outcome though. Conspiracies were not his thing. Give him an ax and a target and he was happy. Give him a target to take, and he could figure it out. But who to trust with this project? That he was unsure of so he had to tread carefully.

  Carefully indeed.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara looked at her short list for her privy council, cabinet as Eugene called it, and shook her head. She needed people around her in the positions she could trust. Those were in short supply unfortunately. She was also unsure about how to go about finding them.

  What it boiled down to was that she needed natives. If she had natives around her acting as her counsel, it would go a long way to temper her impulses and cement her support with the people. She wanted Baron Farragut badly but the baron was rather busy with his own holdings and had to divide his time between the capital and his own domain. She was intent on getting him a radio so they could keep in contact though.

  Zara thought of the motives of those around her as she'd been taught. She had to question why they acted as they did, why they were nice. Eugene called it political science and calculus.

  She saw it as cynicism but also a survival trait. She noted some people were aloof; others tried to cozen up to her. She tried to remain polite to both.

  She also had to be careful of those that others suggested, again questioning them and why. And behind that she had to ask herself if they were fit for the job. Drott Lothbrok's name had come up as a member of the military, but judicious snooping had told her that he'd planned on a suicidal one-man stand against her arrival. Only the fact that he was a reported drunkard and that he had been passed out and later had a bad hangover had kept him alive.

  When Augustus had heard that story, he'd wanted to throw the man in the dungeon. But if they did that, the dungeons would be filled to bursting.

  She sighed softly. For want of an honest man she thought, and then caught herself. For want of an honest person she corrected herself. Charlie, Sue, and the other Terran women were right. Sometimes it took a lady to do the job.

  For the moment, she had Agnes as her deputy in the capital, though she too was run ragged by the work. Hopefully, things would slow down when the winter came.

  Not that she wanted it to come anytime soon.

  She played with her lip gently.

  She had several dreams she'd like to see built before her time was up. A zoo was at the top of the list, the first on their world. A museum as well.

  But first they had to get things back in order and upgraded. And along the way, she somehow needed to win the people over.

  She looked over to the guards nearby. They were trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. She appreciated it. She was under guard constantly, protected as much as possible. She still noted the resentful looks in the castle and outside it. Those that did not temper their ire in the castle soon found themselves looking for a new job. Despite the handouts over the winter, listening and trying to help them, they still saw her as outsider.

  And, of course, rightfully so. She was representing her sister, not taking over.

  She reminded herself once more that winning over the people would take time.

  ~~~^~~~

  When she became just about frazzled with politics, Zara decided to take an afternoon off. The afternoon was clear of storms so she decided to take a spin around the markets.

  The markets were still a bit light; many of the shops and vendors were still shuttered or abandoned. Most of the remaining ones were basic services. There were a few who catered to furs and textiles but not much food beyond the basic local fair.

  She couldn't help but be a bit concerned about that. She was also concerned over the dark looks but hid her expression behind a polite mask. Most vendors lit up when they realized she had coin to spend; they didn't care at the moment that she was an intruder.

  Word spread when she bought a few trinkets and a fur blanket. By the time she reached the end of the market row, people were trying to anticipate and entice her with their wares. That amused her a bit. She noted that a few small girls and lads were sent to spread the word of her passage. Some of the vendors tried to get ahead of her and buy up things she might be interested in so they could be the ones to sell it to her … at a marked-up price of course.

  She knew the game and kept cagey about her intent. She made certain the bundle of things she bought were sent up to the castle by paying a respected runner. That also helped establish her a bit more.

  She did engage a tile maker to make a series of clay pots and some tiles for the castle. She paid a small deposit and would pay the rest upon acceptance of delivery. The vendor offered his cousin to do the install and another cousin who could discount the mortar. She had said she would take their interest and consider it carefully but wanted references of their work.

  Halfway through her first spin of the market, Zara happened upon a vendor in the meat area selling hex rats and imps. The imps were in cages, partially covered from the sun. They creeled piteously.

  The vendor wanted to sell them for food. She heard the piteous creeling and her heart melted. But she'd spent too much on the fur and other things. She frowned, for there was another person interested in the beasts.

  Augustus saw her look and knew she would not imperiously order the vendor to give her the beasts or offer to pay him later. So he stepped outside his role and stepped up with the coin.

  Zara turned in surprise as he haggled with the vendor.

  "You don't have to do this," she said in their native language.

  "But I wish to do so," he said as he finished the stiff deal and shook hands with the vendor. The vendor had only sold him one cage though, so he loaded all of the imps into it.

  Augustus took the cage and then passed it to the princess. She looked delighted at it, her face glowing. She looked at him with a smile. He felt like he was looking into the sun. "I'll repay you," she murmured. He started to object but then nodded. He knew her pride would not allow anything less.

  Besides, he didn't want to argue. He could tell she was braced for it but intent on getting her new pets home. He nodded. "Shall we get them settled, Princeps?"

  "Yes, indeed," she murmured, moving forward with purpose to the main road that led to the castle gates.

  ~~~^~~~

  Hakon thought he'd had her in the market. There were plenty of opportunities to brush up against her in passing and slip a poisoned dart into her, but he'd failed miserably. Every time he expected her to go in one direction, she went in another. Twice he'd laid in wait only to hear she was in another part of the market. The third time he'd been waiting near the food stall she had frequented before when he'd heard of her purchase and return to the castle. That had made him want to kick the cobblestones in frustration. He hadn't; it would have drawn attention to himself. Instead, he'd sighed and exercised a bit more patience and returned to his inn to wait for another opportunity.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara cradled her new acquisitions, sheltering them with her robes as she hustled her entourage back to the castle. She wanted the beasts in a less stressful environment. She also wanted to feed and water them since she had no idea when the vendor had done so.

  She took them to her room and set up a bowl of water and another of food. She had servants fetch another privy pot and then began to train the beasts.

  She realized she would eventually need a special room for them, like in a tower. She tried to picture a map of the castle. Some of the rooms in the castle had been abandoned due to the palace being lightly manned. She wasn't sure though. Well, there would be time enough to explore that problem later.

  It took nearly an hour to get them out of the cage. The first time she saw the tiny heads her heart melted. She enticed them to come to her lap by offering tidbits of food. Two of the creatures lapped at the bowl of water. Eventually, they came into her lap and she cuddled with them. One got into her lap and yawned, all intent on taking a nap. Sh
e smiled a tight-lipped smile down at him, stroking the body and head gently with a fingertip. "So tiny," she murmured. His eyelids went partially closed. He was still bristling a bit but was calming down.

  Several of the other beasts that had hid in the corners or under furniture hesitantly came out to see what was going on.

  The little beast finally settled down under ministrations when it realized she wasn't going to eat him. After a few minutes, he even began to close his eyes and emit a soft purr of contentment.

  She felt warmth after a while and wetness. She realized she was getting peed on. "That's perfectly okay," she said in a strained voice as she got up and got cleaned up. "Accidents happen," she said as she washed the stain.

  "Potty training though is in the future," she said in a firm tone of voice.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara encountered Augustus the following day. She repayed him with coins from one of the hidden chests she had brought with her. When he tried to refuse, she gently put the coins in his hand and folded his fingers over them. "I insist. You were kind to indulge me, and I thank you for that."

  He nodded.

  "So, you are working on things here?" he asked.

  She nodded. "I probably threw my schedule into ruin last night," she said, but she couldn't help smiling in fond memory over the imps. She had made arrangements to get supplies for them. The Terran style litterbox had caused a bit of confusion, but she hoped they'd get it sorted soon. Trying to train them to go in the privy pot was not working out well.

  "And what of the technology? The Terran things?" he asked.

  She smiled. "Missing some of it?"

  He snorted. But then grimaced as he put the coins away and adjusted his belt. "A bit."

  "Yeah, I had forgotten that going to the Jakes was a pain. Of course you menfolk have it easier with one part of it," she said wickedly.

  He snorted again.

  "Trust me; plumbing is at the top of the list. Not the very top, ways to get a better harvest in is first, along with medicine, but it's up there."

  "Yes, ma’am."

  "And heating and insulation. Ye gods, it is a lengthy list," she said with a weary shake of her head.

  He nodded.

  ~~~^~~~

  Siegfried grumbled as he finished his weapons practice. He had gotten his holdings in order in a whirlwind of two hafta s. His mother and aunt had been on hand and knew the drill. He had them go over the Terran innovations with him though, and they'd made a bit of progress. But they'd run low on materials so he'd returned to the capital.

  Of course, that was the excuse he used. He really just wanted to be with Zara. Not that he could find the time to get near her, she was busy all the time. He had tried to get in with Zara but she was always in a meeting or doing something that she was not to be disturbed. He couldn't help but feel a bit put out over her preoccupation with the beasts as well. He didn't like imps; they were pets for some but just rats with wings to him.

  He paced, considering the future. He would need to return to his holdings again soon; his time in the capital was limited. He planned to stretch it past the Thing though and return when it ended so as to not have to travel twice.

  His idle mind played with the fantasy of courting her during the Thing in front of all of the other young dominus. He had the inside track; he could very well win her hand. He just needed to find a way to get within reach of it!

  ~~~^~~~

  Domina Berg was intrigued by the convoys that came north. What intrigued her the most was that more came north than what went south. At least, she assumed as much for she couldn't imagine anyone putting so little value on the new things that the Imperium was seemingly giving away.

  They had one more meeting; the princeps had insisted on it. It was a Thing , an assembly of all dominus and domina when the last tributerium was taken in.

  She was wary of it, but attendance was mandatory so she made reluctant preparations to go.

  ~~~^~~~

  Dominus Rasmussen felt relief when her spies confirmed that there was no suspicion on her. It had been independently confirmed. She still could be outed in another way, but for the moment, she finally felt safe.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara checked her budget and the money chests from each of the wagon convoys she had received. She had run through two of the small chests of coins she had brought with her already. She had initially disdained most of the tributerium for the castle from the spring and early summer harvests in order to help get her people back on their feet faster. Some had been prideful though and had insisted on paying her their due. She had found ways to either sell it in the capital or store it for later use.

  The capital's reserves had been severely depleted. And, despite all efforts, Tacitus had not been able to find a way to make canning available, nor jars. They had been forced to find other ways to preserve food for the long winter.

  Fortunately, her sister had been generous enough to send four more small chests in hidden compartments on the wagons. They should make the difference for her budget for the winter. It was the reverse of what should be happening, but she saw Eugene's hand in it. Her brother-in-law had counseled them many times about long-term investing. Therefore, she kept careful accounts of all of her expenditures with the intent of paying her sister and the Imperium back someday.

  She was about finished tallying up her spreadsheets, both the public documents and the ones she kept on her computer, when she heard the report of the arrival of a convoy.

  She was surprised and rushed to the window to look out. Indeed the convoy was coming in at the distant gates. She smiled impishly and gathered her skirts to rush out. Her guards followed hastily.

  By the time she was at the battlements, the streets had been cleared and people were gawking at the convoy train. She noted there were extra carts and wagons on the load, including another of food. She appreciated it. She also noted that the guards handed out minor things including food to the children. That too was good, and she fully intended to thank them for their efforts on her behalf.

  Deidra had told her that the bulk of the food was processed into cans and jars; it should hopefully last through the hiems . There was even a crate filled with paper.

  Eugene had teased her about even sending over a can opener. He'd made some reference to “Sylvester” and “Tweety” but she hadn't understood it.

  She waved to the wagon master and then waved to one of the paiges and ordered her to summon Tacitus, Eudoxia, and a party to help unload.

  ~~~^~~~

  Tacitus was near the heart of the convoy load, the center of attention for a lot of the contents. Among other things, he received parts for a radio walkie talkie system as well as the HAM radio. It took a bit of digging for him to find out that the walkie talkie parts were for the sets that Augustus had received for the guard.

  The smith knew that the radio meant eventually more radios in the area, moving from an audio network to hopefully Wi-Fi in a few annus . Not that electronics were his specialty. There was a reason he'd taken the job north; he preferred to do things with big machines. He could assemble things from a drawing, but he was not sure about how the electronics worked. Electronics were too much like magic for him.

  One thing that he wasn't the only one intensely grateful for was the arrival of harvest gear including a combine harvester. They only had the one that would be pulled by draft animals, but it would go a long ways to improve things. Of course the workers wouldn't get paid as much, but there were few workers to do the harvesting to begin with.

  He found out later that it had been one of the first built by Max. Apparently, it was a cast-off, though Max had insisted it be serviced and updated before sending it to Duluth. There was a service manual with it. He fully intended to find a way to make some of the parts and hopefully even make a copy during the long winter if his stock of metals held out.

  ~~~^~~~

  Hakon tried to slip into the castle with the convoy but the guards were watchful. He also did
n't look the part, much to his annoyance. Some of the Imperials had odd outfits on, the threads sparkled with a sheen. He banked his ire; there was nothing he could do about the missed opportunity.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara put the combine to work as quickly as possible. There was wheat to harvest, hay, barley, and flax among other things. They had brought good flax seeds from the Imperium; they had a good yield so far. The seeds were kept for spring; the flax stalks were cleaned and turned into linen strands.

  There were two additional spinning wheel kits for the textile industry. Tacitus had a pair of artisans making the devices in the capital; they had completed their first not too long ago. She made a note to let her sister know that so she need not send another.