by D. R. Grady
“I believe we can leave this room for now, but as we go through each room, will it be possible to mark certain items?”
“Of course. I shall call the maids.”
“That would be lovely. Perhaps you could also supply a few strong footmen who can move each item we wish to sell into the largest chamber in the palace?”
“Of course.” He bowed his way out of the room.
“Are you truly going to sell many of the items King Ostard purchased?” Eloise sounded as though she couldn’t fathom this.
“Stefana’s plan to raise immediate funds is an excellent one. We shall go through every single room and clear out anything we can sell. This money should have gone toward improving the people’s lot.” Lajos’ support seemed to infuse the remaining court members.
They swept through each room, with a smattering of maids and footmen who marked and then carried the smaller items into the vast room where she had nearly been forced to wed the previous king.
The speed in which they filled the space appalled her. “I want to dig him up and kill him again.” Lajos’ tone was as close to venomous as she’d ever heard.
“I should gladly help you.” She sent a withering glare to a teetering collection of vases, the price of one would have fed the hungry people outside for months.
She snapped pictures of many of the pieces with her handheld crystal and sent the pictures to the dealer they had used in Montequirst. The company was honest and would be delighted with these treasures.
“What are you doing?” Juliet slid beside her and stared at the device in Stefana’s hand. She explained her plan.
The six court members crowded around her to take in this crystal technology they had never seen. “Surely Queen Lalika had one of these?”
“She might have brought one with her, but we never saw it.” Juliet stared at the pretty crystal as though it were an enormous diamond.
Of which was their next find. Her fists clenched so that her fingernails left deep divots in her palms. Only Lajos’ steadying hand kept her from embarrassing herself with the tirade she had to swallow several times.
This jewel was larger than any she had ever seen before and Ostard had procured it to be made into a new crown for himself.
She took several pictures of the ostentatiously large diamond, working to not think about all this one diamond could have done for the land. The vases and this gem could have clothed, housed, and fed the needy people outside for at least a year. Probably far longer than that with a wise ruler.
They broke from their work only for lunch, which was held in a splendid room, with an ornate table in a rare wood with matching chairs. Even the elaborate trim work in the room matched the tables and chairs. Three massive buffets graced the walls, overlooked by plentiful gold chandeliers dripping with crystal that shone with magnificence, despite the coating of dust.
Her vision narrowed and turned a little red, while her fingernails deepened the dents in her palms. Again, Lajos’ hand prevented the ensuing tirade.
No doubts as to the magnificence of this room.
On the other hand, the meal served on the paper-thin dishes Lalika brought to the castle, proved less than stellar. The few cuts of meat offered were tough and lacked an accompanying sauce and seasoning. The pale vegetables and past-their-prime potatoes were not anywhere near suited to grace this dining room.
If this is what those in the palace subsisted on . . . Tears prickled as she thought of the sorry state of the people who shivered outside.
When had they last eaten a meal?
What had they eaten?
With the funds not spared in this palace, she cringed again. A headache shot into her temple and she had to focus on unclenching her jaw.
Lajos kept meeting her eyes, well aware of the emotions storming through her, and probably also sharing them. At least his silvery-blue eyes grew colder and colder. He felt the same way, only he retained much better control over himself.
She forced herself to breathe deeply and gather her own control.
They finished the meal in near silence, because their companions were clearly uncomfortable. It would take time to build up these people, from the decaying court to those who hadn’t eaten a real meal probably in longer than they could recall. Due to lack of nutrition, were their brains even working properly?
She longed to kick the expensive table, but that wouldn’t be fair. The luxurious table hadn’t created this disaster. Still, the previous owner deserved a slow, painful death rather than the quick one he hadn’t enjoyed.
Their tour and labor had been underway for part of the afternoon when a familiar beeping indicated the transports had arrived. “My parents,” she told the assembly and made for the nearest door at a high rate of speed.
Lajos took a moment to explain, most likely, but with his long legs it didn’t take him long to catch up. He was there with her when the transports, a long train of them, snaking behind the main one in an impressive line, finally stopped in front of the palace.
People crept forward to peer at the strange containers on wheels. Most likely they had never seen anything like them. Several of the children appeared scared. A few of their parents and grandparents did as well.
The front car’s door flung open and Stella popped out, followed by Henry. Both of them engulfed her in the arms of love and then greeted Lajos.
“This is . . .” Her mother didn’t need to expound on her thought.
“Yes, wait until you see the inside. Ostard deserved a long, tortuous death.” She didn’t say more, but her parents gasped at her vehemence. They darted glances at Lajos, whose thin-lips and abrupt nod verified her conclusion.
Best to prepare them for what they would witness.
But these transports offered up the first thing they could do for these people. Striding to the car right behind the smaller one her parents had ridden in, she flung open the door and tore into the first pallet there. Snatching a box off it, she ripped open the box and started handing out the bars to the stunned people.
A few of the accepted them, and then, after a moment of stunned silence, demolished the bar by the time she finished clearing the first box. Lajos, Ari, and her parents soon joined her in feeding the hungry people.
“What are these?” Lajos asked when he joined her in the transport for the next box.
“These are nutritional bars we use in Montequirst for emergencies. They offer up much needed nutrients for those in need.”
“We must distribute them to all parts of the land.” Lajos inspected several unopened pallets.
“Yes. I’ve an order for fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat in to Eduard. He plans to send them as soon as he arrives home. Raene is sending fresh grain and coffee and the like in a few days.”
He nodded. “You’ve been busy.”
“I saw the state of these people. The first thing we will do is remove their hunger.”
“What is the next thing we’ll do?”
She opened the transport behind the one holding the bars. “We supply them with fresh water. But first we need to hand at least one box of these to each of the people to hold them until the fresh groceries arrive.”
“How long before the fresh provisions run out?”
“Eduard and Raene intend to keep up several shipments. But they also plan to send plenty so we can preserve a lot of it until such a time as we can grow our own.”
“That’s going to be expensive.”
“We can afford it, and besides, both of them gave us a nice discount.” She glared at the palace. “Once we sell most of that lot, we’ll be swimming in money.”
“It’s disgraceful how quickly he burned through his queen’s wealth.”
“Yes. At least he didn’t gamble it away. We have something to sell to regain it, but—”
“We’ll take care of these people, Stefana.”
His quiet assurance was all she needed to tuck a box or more into the arms of the head of each family. She and Lajos also question
ed the people to learn of those who were not present. Many of them lived far out.
“We must send a transport out with food and water for them. At least until we can relocate them closer.”
“How are we going to do that?” Two men stepped forward and they arranged for them to take the transport and supply those who didn’t live close.
Once finished offering the nutritional bars, and the people had consumed them, Stefana dispersed the fresh, clean water.
One woman burst into tears at the sight. Several others started to clean their children with it and Stefana resisted the urge to burst into tears herself.
How many times a day did she take an abundance of fresh water for granted?
She set her parents, Ari, and the six court members to handing out additional nutritional bars and water to the people before dragging Lajos to the transport behind the one containing the water.
“What else did you bring?”
“Raene and I designed these a few years ago.” Opening the door to the transport she tugged out the first long piece inside. Each panel was lightweight, but extremely sturdy. “Can you grab a few more?”
He did so, carrying a stack of the cumbersome, but not terribly heavy pieces. Stefana snapped them together and soon formed a wall, then a second, a third, and finally the fourth. The roof piece came in a few sections, and she had to dig around the transport before locating the floor components.
Assorted wall sections had windows that could be opened, and one, a large panel, contained a door. While not huge structures, they were solid, watertight, high-wind worthy structures, with much needed heating components. She perused the contents of the transport before locating the heating. It took a minute and a half to hook it up and set it to a comfortable temperature.
“You and Raene dreamed these up?”
“Yes. We had some friends who lost their home in a fire. Their home was still smoking, as well as what remained of their belongings.” She stood back to survey the structure. “We realized there are emergency situations where people need shelter. In case of fire, flooding, storms, that sort of thing. Chances are good, after such disaster, they’ve lost everything, so they need the basic necessities.”
She frowned at the transport. “There should be several bathroom and kitchen structures as well. They’ll have to share those for now, but eventually we should be able to provide every family with their own facility. We can build a village right here, close to the palace.” It would place these vulnerable people within the protection of the two Aasguard warriors and the dragons.
Her mother probably already had a plan in place for where each structure should go. They’d be both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
The crowd had grown silent as they faced her and Lajos.
“This is... these are for the people?” Fairfax’s eyes were wide. Much like everyone else’s.
“Of course. They will provide shelter for those who need them. They might get a little crowded because I’m not certain how many we have, but there are built in bunks and seating.”
Her mother joined her. “There are sleeping rolls as well and blankets in one of the transports.” She frowned at the long train while tapping her lip.
Then set off with purpose to stop in front of one further down the line. “This one should contain linens of all sorts, clothing, and shoes.”
Lajos turned to Stefana, looking as stunned as the people, several of whom gaped. More were in tears.
“You, my wife, are amazing.”
Chapter 13
Lajos had no idea about the extent of Stefana’s plans to aid their people. When she stated she had packing to do, he certainly hadn’t expected she was organizing life-saving essentials like these.
Boarding the transport where Stefana had retrieved the various components for the structures, he began hauling out more of them. “If any of you are willing, you may help assemble these.”
A crew of men stepped forward and began snapping the walls together, some assembled the floors, while others took over the roofs. Still more helped Stefana as she pointed out the bathroom facilities and then also the kitchen structures. It didn’t take several of the men long to work out how to set up these buildings and secure them to the ground. The bathrooms boasted four showers, four toilets and six sinks. There were countertops, and a small changing room in front of every shower.
“I’m assuming you don’t have much in the way of energized matter here? No way to power things?”
One of the men stepped forward. “Our power plants have all been shut down long ago. But some of us have learned to harness the energy of nature.”
“Wonderful. What is your name?” Stefana smiled at the man.
“I’m Haverness, my queen.”
“Once everyone is settled, perhaps we can further discuss this. It would be helpful if everyone could have access to power. Right now, we’ll need to rely on the transports to supply the energy we require for these structures.”
“We’ll be happy to speak to you.”
“Thank you.” She demonstrated how to snap the sinks together and therefore how they offered the central support for the entire bathroom facility.
“What of water wells?”
“Many of them have gone dry.”
Her mouth pinched, and Lajos understood. “Tomorrow then we will locate water and dig wells so these facilities are supplied.” Lajos caught sight of the palace. “What of the palace?”
“The previous king made certain his lodgings were supplied first.” The man who answered didn’t elaborate, and there was no need. They had already learned enough about Ostard’s take on the subject.
“This king intends to see that you all are supplied. Immediately,” Stefana growled.
Although downtrodden, the people renewed their efforts to set up the structures. By supper time, which consisted of nutritional bars and water for everyone, they had them all set up. The transports had lights, so Stefana, her mother, Ari, and Juliet all worked diligently to provide the people with sleeping rolls, blankets, and pillows. In addition to warm clothing and shoes, which was every bit as dire.
“I’d best show you the various beds and chairs in the structures. Oh, and how the heat works.” Stefana left the other women to take several people at a time into the structures where she demonstrated how the bunks worked and various pull out chairs and stools.
The heating system wasn’t complicated, and they would need it. While early spring, the days didn’t warm up much, but now that the sun had set, it would become downright chilly.
Lajos still couldn’t believe that two young women had dreamed up a system like these. The structures couldn’t be more welcome by a people who would go to bed with full stomachs, while clean, warm, and dry. All of which had been alien to them.
“How did you survive the winter months?”
A few of the men shuffled their feet. One finally answered. “If you notice, there are no really old or really young here. They succumbed first.”
His wife tugged at her ragged dress. “This winter was mild or all of us would have perished.”
He couldn’t begin to guess how they had survived.
“Things are different now.” Of that they could be certain.
“We’re pleased with our new king.” The man and his wife were respectful and both appeared to be in shock.
The last king and he were so different as to not be within the same realm.
Swiftland bore his name. It would be an entirely different place from now on.
Stefana was heartened by her parent’s reaction to the palace. Their horror at the differences between where the king and court resided and that of the people told her they had raised her right.
“I know a man who will come immediately to assess and then sell this extreme extravagance.” Her father gestured toward the pile of expensive items the footmen had already moved.
“I’ve been sending him pictures all day. He assured me he’d come either tomorrow or the day af
ter.”
“What of those obscene stones outside in the forecourt?” Her mother had never wrung her hands in her life. Stefana could think of no instances, yet Stella’s hands twisted to and fro at the wastefulness within the palace.
“He told me if they’re what he believes, and I’m certain they are, he has several buyers who would be interested in them.”
“Those need to go.” Now her mother dusted off her hands, straightened her shoulders and surveyed the piles of excess all around them. “Once these have been sold, you’ll have plenty of money to help those poor people.”
“Yes. Between us, Lajos and I have enough to do so now. But we’d prefer not to smack these people in the face like this.” She gestured to the opulence.
“A wonderful notion, love.”
She showed her parents to a welcoming guest suite. They slept in an equivalent at Montequirst castle. This space showed Lalika’s tastes. Done well, without being ostentatious or gaudy, like Ostard’s now empty suite. She hadn’t retched upon entering his space, but her stomach had certainly turned at the sight of the over-the-top decor and furnishings.
Lajos had made a pithy comment that led her to believe he agreed with her.
She and Lajos had chosen Lalika’s former quarters for themselves. It would some day be as nice as their suite at Montequirst. These rooms were plenty comfortable for now. As were the guest suites where her parents and Ari would sleep.
The room Ari chose was more feminine and graceful than the one Stefana’s parents would use while in residence. Ari had smiled when she saw it, and there was nothing about it Stefana felt the need to change, therefore Ari wouldn’t be disturbed.
Now, as her guests settled for the night, Stefana padded down the hall to the large double doors that marked the queen’s chambers. She and Lajos would rest here. He had turned his nose up at the sight of the separate bedrooms for the king and queen.
She hadn’t even been aware of holding her breath but let it all out in a whoosh when he weighed in on the subject. Thrilled that he fully intended to reside in whichever bedchamber she did.