Princess Rescue Inc (99 page)

She
rolled over and smiled at him. Her eyes and teeth glittered in the moonlight.
“Been studying?” he asked smiling back.

She
gave a chuckling purr, free hand caressing his arm and side. “Yes. I pick up
languages quickly.”

He
chuckled softly, eyebrow raised. “This is new,” he smiled, wondering just how
long she'd known English and what he'd let slip around her. Also why she was
revealing something she'd obviously kept hidden until now. “Why didn't you tell
me earlier?”

She
shrugged. “We never had the time,” she said. His freehand began to mirror hers,
caressing her gently.

“Think
things in Duluth will work out?” he asked. “Is that what you’re worried about?”
She pursed her lips then as he opened his mouth again put her finger against
his lips.

“Hush,
my turn talk,” she said in broken English, smiling again. “You avoiding what
going to do when the time to choose. I want... I want you to know, either way I
will marry you.”

He
blinked at that statement, parsing it out. “But...” She rolled her eyes and
placed her hand firmly over his mouth then rolled on top of him. He rolled with
her so he was on his back. Her thighs clamped down on his arms, pinning them to
his sides.

“Will
you hush?” she said. His eyes sparkled as he chuckled under her hand. “I am the
princess, my turn to talk.” She shook her head, her mane of hair danced in the
summer night. “Royalty demands precedence.” she said primly, making him smile
again.

Her
left hand began to toy with his chest. “Now, where was I?” she asked, with just
a slight hint of mischief in her voice. She felt his grin under her hand and smacked
his chest. “Not that!” she said in exasperation. His chuckle was muffled but
she felt the vibration through her hand. Men, honestly, she thought in
exasperated affection. They had only one thing on their minds all the time.
Even when something important needed to be discussed.

“Now,
stay or go we marry. Here or there,” she said. She ran her free hand over his
chest and then tweaked a nipple. He squirmed, eyes dancing and pointedly saying
he'd get her back for that. “Even if I have to go to… Earth, I marry you. Got
it?” she asked suddenly dead serious.

“Why?”
he asked muffled.

“Many
reasons. The main one?” She smiled tenderly down at him as her hand played
naughty games with the inside of his thighs behind her. She could feel his
member swelling, preparing to rise. “I love you,” she said huskily.

“You're
good man. Kind with me. Gentle but firm,” she said, not sure about the words.
Her eyes danced as her free hand played wicked games. In retaliation he tried
to get free but she had his arms pinned by her strong thighs. He tried to reach
up to touch her nether regions but she moved them higher, just out of reach.

“You’re
good for me. Good for my people. Honest. Hard working.” She stroked him once
more. “Better be hard working in a moment,” she mock growled. He chuckled at
that.

He
blinked at her and then smiled again. Her hand cupped him. He gasped as she
lifted herself up and onto him. She leaned forward, completing the docking. She
then bent all the way forward, giving him a nice view of her bust as powerful
muscles clamped onto him. He knew he'd lost this battle before it had begun.

“Now,
hang on, you’re in for ride,” She murmured in his ear wickedly. She licked and
then nipped the lobe then sat back. He laughed at that until her muscles
clamped down harder and then all meaningful thought became irrelevant.

<==={}------------>

He
caught up with the Duke the next morning. “Are you certain about sending these
people back?” Duke Emroy asked. He'd gotten to know some, he knew on the
surface some may be honest, but they would say and do anything to get out of
this situation he knew.

“Good
morning to you too Duke Emroy,” Ryans smiled. Deidra kissed his cheek and then
went off to the hall for breakfast. He watched her go and then turned to the
Duke. “Honestly, I'm not sure, but we need to get things back on track. By
sending these people back with some of the means to improve their people's
harvest, there's a chance to end their misery and stop this from happening
again.” He shrugged.

“I
see. So that's why you had their surviving smiths rounded up. That's what you
were doing in the forges the past three days?” the Duke asked turning to him.

Ryans
smiled, looking down to the convoy loading up. “Yes. We also taught your own
smiths as well. Simple things really, better plows and tools, planting
techniques, harvesting tools. These things should improve their yields.”

“That
won’t help me and mine,” the Duke waved to the castle. “We had no time to plant
and we've used our reserves weathering the siege.” He looked bleak. “When
winter comes what will happen to my people?”

“They
will weather it just like every year your grace. With a little help,” Ryans
smiled. “It's true, you've missed the late spring and mid summer harvest, but
we're working on getting some plants in to get a late summer and autumn harvest
now. The Queen has pledged food from her warehouses to make up the difference
as well. Some of the other lords have done the same.”

“How...”
the Duke turned to him. Ryans smiled. “How can they spare so much? Their people
will go hungry!”

Ryans
chuckled. “Nope, I told you we've made some changes.”  He pointed to a
plow being loaded. “See that? It's a simple plow, but very effective. It's was
made by an inventor named John Deere over a century ago. It tills the earth and
the two handles allow the man controlling the animals to steer the plow and
keep it in the ground. It's made it much easier to plow; one man and a draft
team can cover nearly five times the area that three teams did in a single day
by hand with hoes.”

The
Duke gaped at that. “That hardly seems possible. Such a simple thing?”

“Oh
yes. By making the plow easier and more efficient we've made the workload
lighter and improved the farm's yield. More acres plowed and seeded means more
plants,” Ryans explained. He pointed to another contraption being loaded in
another wagon. “That's a seed spreader, it's a simple thing, you tow it behind
a draft team and it opens a channel, plucks down a seed then covers it up with
the paddles on the back. Neat huh?”

“No
more spreading the seeds by hand?” the Duke asked rubbing his chin. “That's
always been a problem, much of the seed lays on the top soil and spoils... or
is caught by the wind and blown away.”

“Right,”
Ryans nodded. He pointed to another device. “That's a sample thresher. It's
pulled by a draft team and cuts the harvest and lays it out to be gathered
later. Max is working on a combine harvester, but I highly doubt he'll get one
out before winter. Maybe next year,” he said. He shrugged.

“Combine?”
the steward nearby asked looking at Ryans with a confused look.

“A
machine that can cut, thresh, and separate the wheat from the chaff, or other
plants from their chaff depending on how it is set up,” Ryans explained.
“Pulled by a draft team or a mechanical engine.”

The
long faced man blinked in startled confusion at the outlandish concept. Ryans
smiled.

“I
know, it's a lot to take in. I think that the first machines will be bought and
run by the lords. You can rent them out to the tenants, and take a tithe of the
harvest for their use. Tenants will be much more productive,” he said and then
smiled. The Duke grunted thoughtfully. “If we're lucky famine will be a thing
of the past by next year.”

“To
see that day,” the Duke said softly nodding.

“I'm
planning on it,” Ryans said. “We're also introducing better preservation
methods, canning for one. And yes your grace, we've sent some of these to your
people. They should be out tilling your fields even now,” he said and smiled
walking away. “Good morning gentlemen, speaking of food... breakfast time for
me!” He chuckled rubbing his rumbling belly as he walked off. He heard the
Duke's hoarse chuckle as he made his retreat.

<==={}------------>

Ryans
came up behind Deidra and smiled as she didn't look his way. His hands wrapped
around her bare waist as she talked with her sister. Her sister blushed and
looked away as Deidra smiled in delight and turned to kiss him. His hands
continued to wander.

“Nice
dress you've got here,” he murmured in her ear. It was white, with classic medieval
deep scooped cuffs but with a short black skirt and a deep V neck cut. Her
midriff was bare.

“Stop
that! Will you keep doing that when I'm fat?” she demanded. He chuckled softly
in her ear.

“Like
that's going to happen with your exercise regime,” he murmured. “Even when
you’re all wrinkled and old I bet this will be dish board flat. You’re too much
of a martial artist to let yourself go dear.”

“Oh
it will. Like when I'm pregnant,” she answered, and then clicked her teeth
together in a mock nip. He chuckled backing away a little with a mock fear
look.

“You'll
be as beautiful a woman then as you are now. More so because you'll glow with
motherhood,” he said. He shrugged. “Cross that bridge when it comes I guess.”

She
smiled suddenly delighted at that admission. The smile glowed with love and
approval. Zara was staring at them wide eyed. Reluctantly he let his hands slip
as a page waved to him. “Drat, gotta go duty calls.”

“Are
you pregnant?” Zara asked as he left.

Deidra
watched him leave smiling softly and then turned back to her sister. “Huh?” She
shook her head. “Oh no, no,” she answered then smiled mischievously. “At
least... not yet that is. Doctor Carter said the implants wear off in a couple
of years. I can't wait... and we're having fun playing and practicing,” she
grinned mischievously as her sister goggled at her and then giggled helplessly.

<==={}------------>

They
sent several surviving Duluth officers and some of the able bodied back to
Duluth with seeds and sample plows. The intel officer was sure to send groups
back that would hit all four corners of the country making sure they took back
word of the changes coming to the country.

The
first summer harvest came in; the lords were amazed by the yields. Mary the
botanist snorted. “This is just the beginning. Get some greenhouses in and you
can have fresh food year round,” she explained. Some of the lords immediately
queried her on that subject. She explained over lunch about greenhouses. She
took a piece of slate and used a piece of chalk to draw out the concepts for
them. Later some approached a bemused Sydney who printed out the plans and
design documents for them.

The
morning postal carriers found more packages than usual leaving. The interested
lords had sent off the rudimentary plans to their homes. Others demanded that
the monarch subsidize it.

The
Queen became concerned about displacing their economy so quickly with changes.
“It’s all happening so fast!” she exclaimed after seeing the first home grown
lights, fans, and indoor plumbing installed in the castle.

Max
snorted as he cleaned his hands. “Not fast enough ma'am. I'd love to go twice
as fast. Once y'all get your feet under you it'll go even faster,” he said. He
smiled. She was wide eyed and concerned.

<==={}------------>

There
was an accident, an animal had gotten loose and injured a groom. Sue was
nearby, on her way to the barracks hospice. She used her training to triage.
The man had been bitten in the throat; one of the canines had severed his
artery and punctured his throat. She pressed a finger into the wound, and then
had a kid come over to do it while she got a hemostat from her bag. The kid
paled but held on desperately. Only later did she learn that the lad had been
the groom's son.

Fortunately
the man didn't bleed out and they managed to transport him to the hospital. She
performed emergency surgery on him. Several of the patients volunteered blood.
She rushed a sample off to Charlie to be emergency typed as she gave the man a
liter of plasma kept on hand.

She
related the story to the Queen who nodded. Zara was wide eyed about the story
and then teared up when Sue told her who the groom was. The Queen hugged her
gently.

“Someone
you know princess?” Sue asked, uncertain. Zara nodded; hand over her mouth as
she sobbed softly. She buried herself in her mother's arms.

“He
taught me to ride,” Zara said, voice muffled against her mother.

“Then
may I suggest you visit him in the morning?” Sue suggested. The princess looked
up and then nodded slowly. “Good, just keep the visit short. He'll be touched
that you checked in on him,” Sue said. Zara nodded again. “The other patients
will appreciate the good will effort if you extend it to them as well. They'll
be touched by the gesture and relate the story to their families and others. I
know I will,” Sue said, smiling politely. Zara nodded again. The Queen rubbed
her shoulder, looking thoughtfully at the doctor.

<==={}------------>

Duke
Rojer stood patiently as his steward adjusted the hem of his robe. He liked to
look his best at all times, especially in court. Tonight he needed to do so to
lend credence to what he had in mind. He needed to appear stately, stern and
strong.