Medieval 5: Genevieve 5 External Attacks, part 2 of 5

January 30, 2024December 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It took most of the day for Otto’s troop to ride to Massilia. They arrived between three and four in the afternoon. The foot soldiers would still be stumbling in at dark, but between four and dark there was plenty of time for Margueritte to make her special brew. Genevieve had three pumps and hoses built two years earlier and kept in a warehouse by the docks. Margueritte got them out and properly mounted them on the bows of three ships. Otto wanted to object at first because they were his ships and he said three on twenty-three was not a good idea. Even after she explained, he wanted to object because his ships might catch on fire.

“It is real Greek Fire, the real thing,” she said.

“I thought that was a closely guarded secret kept by the Eastern Romans,” Otto responded. “I thought… How did you learn the secret?”

“Nicholas was there. He escorted Kallinikos to Constantine IV and learned directly from the inventor.”

“Nicholas?” he asked.

“Me,” she answered with a smile. “What is more, Nicholas designed and built the pumps and hoses that will be attached to your ships. He built them in his toy shop.”

“Of course,” he said. “You.” He thought about it. “This is a great thing for Charles and all the Franks.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry,” she answered. “I have been careful in putting the ingredients together. The formula needs to remain a secret. I will not do anything that will threaten the future. I have told you. My primary job is to make sure history comes out the way it has been written. The formula remains a secret. We are just borrowing it this one and hopefully only time.”

They waited. They got some sleep and waited some more.

The Aghlabid ships all came into the bay before dawn. They had lanterns, mostly torches, so they could see and not crash into each other. It made them easy targets for her catapult men, but she guessed they hoped to catch the city asleep. They would be surprised. She had big hollow glass balls made and filled them with her mixture. Each had a carefully tested fuse. She had nine catapults, four glass balls for each, trained men to work them, and a few men who were excellent at judging speed and distance. By the time the enemy ships got half-way to the docks, half of the ships were burning and the other half were in danger of sailing over the burning sea. When her three ships that had been anchored half-way again beyond the docks began with the pumps, effective flamethrowers, the opposing ships were already trying to reverse course. Sadly, in the days of sail, it was hard to stop the forward motion, turn around, and sail in the opposite direction, especially in a confined space such as a port. Margueritte guessed maybe six or seven ships escaped back out to sea, but the rest burned and sank along with most of the men.

Otto had his soldiers lined up along the shore to capture any swimmers, and they did take over two hundred Saracens which they later ransomed. Leibulf pointed out that he counted twenty-nine ships, not twenty-three. They found out later that the twenty-three from Telo Martius were joined by six more from Valencia in Al-Andalus. That made for interesting negotiations. The Emir of Cordoba at first refused to acknowledge his own people. In the end, some heads got chopped off, but most got returned for a proverbial pot of gold.

“Maybe we can make enough to pay for the one ship of mine that burned,” Otto grumped.

“The pumps worked just fine,” Margueritte defended herself. “But they are only as good as the men working them.”

Otto sighed. “I am not angry. We just defeated a fleet of Saracen ships and over a thousand soldiers with hardly any casualties. I will smile about it when we get to Telo Martius and see what devastation they have done there… What?” he asked because Margueritte was shaking her head much like Genevieve.

My source, the sea sprites, say six ships left Ragusa in Illyria, four from Bari and one ship from Taranto in Apulia, all Eastern Roman territory. Apparently, they had good spies. They waited in Sardinia until the Saracens attacked. Now they appear to be headed toward Arles and no doubt assume we will be heavily occupied fighting off the Saracens.

“Arles?”

“Yes, but I don’t know how they expect to come up the Camargue, unless they sail straight up the Grande Rhone. And I don’t know how they expect to enter the city unless by trickery or some traitor lets them in. They have eleven ships, which is about five hundred men, six hundred at most, and that is not nearly enough to take a city like Arles. We will have to see when we get there.”

“Maybe they only plan to ravage the countryside and the villages with the abbeys, and steal the salt,” Leibulf suggested.

Margueritte smiled and patted the boy on the cheek. “I know why Genevieve likes you. You use your thinker and pay attention. The Norsemen raided mostly villages and smaller towns.

They especially liked the monasteries, full of gold and silver and monks did not tend to fight back.”

“When was that?” Otto asked, thinking maybe he missed something in his history lessons.

“About a hundred years in the future,” she answered, and Leibulf laughed.

Otto had to leave half of his troops in Massilia to guard the prisoners. That left fifty men on horseback and roughly four hundred and fifty on foot. Otto only asked then where all his horsemen ended up, not having noticed or counted before.

“I sent Captain Hector with a hundred riders to spy on Telo Martius,” Margueritte confessed, “Or Genevieve sent them. My report said the Saracens left about a hundred men and three ships in the town. I suspect they wanted us to ride to Telo Martius with the army, and that would occupy our attention long enough for them to sail in and take Massilia. Even if they figured they would not be able to keep the city, they would have plenty of time to tear down our hard work and set the fortification project back ten years, not to mention the expense of starting from scratch.”

“While we retook Telo Martius and then force marched to Massilia, they would have had enough time to kill plenty of people and burn down the churches, if not the whole city,” Otto agreed.

Margueritte also agreed but changed the focus of their thinking. “Now we have pirates, and then I pray to God we may have peace for a time.”

Otto pushed the men, but it still took two and a half days to reach Arles. Once there, Otto added some two hundred men to his little army, so he at least outnumbered the expected five hundred pirates.. Most of the city, the city watch, and the archbishop’s guard, decided to stay and guard their homes. Otto did not blame them. Five hundred pirates would not be enough to breach the walls, if the walls were manned, but they might find another way into the city and then there would be a real battle. Most people found the idea of pirates scary. Only Margueritte thought of the future and once again said to herself, “They think pirates are bad? Wait until the Norsemen get here.”

Medieval 5: Genevieve 5 External Attacks, part 1 of 5

January 29, 2024December 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Genevieve gave birth to a girl she named Olivia. The baby was a perfect, normal, healthy baby, and yet Genevieve felt there was something wrong from the beginning, something she could not quite name. She did not let it bother her and loved Olivia as much as she could. Charles came through briefly in 775 on his way north to invade Saxony. He praised her for being such a good mother, and Otto praised her as well. Leibulf was just glad to have a baby so he could pretend to be all grown up.

Genevieve treated Leibulf like a baby brother, not really a son. He responded well to the treatment. He called her Mother in front of his father Otto, but Genevieve at other times. She did not mind, and she did tease him some when he got older and became interested in girls. First, though, when she turned twenty and he turned ten, they did learn to ride. Otto rode with them sometimes, but often enough the two of them rode together and talked of many things, or rather, Genevieve talked and Leibulf became a good listener. Genevieve figured that would be a good skill when Leibulf married.

Genevieve took charge of the fortification project. She got some of what she envisioned. She got the ports improved and did get something like walls or improvements to walls around the cities and most of the coastal towns. She did not get many ships built, but she got some, and more were built when she opened trade with Italy all the way down to Amalfi in the east, Corsica in the south, and Narbonne and Barcelona in the west. The Rhone and Dubis river systems still brought plenty of trade goods down from Burgundy to Arles and the coast.

Charles agreed to take Corsica. He saw the opportunity, but Sardinia and the Balearic Islands were not going to happen in 774.

The Saracens still controlled the Mediterranean, in particular the Aghlabid Dynasty out of the old Visigoth Kingdom and Carthage. The pirates in Corsica were subdued, but there were Greek-Byzantine or Eastern Roman pirates out of the Adriatic that seemed especially interested in Provence. The Moors from Al-Andalus were also quick to take advantage of any weakness in Provence seeing the sea as an outlet for gain where they were otherwise being continually pressed by the Franks and Basques pouring over the Pyrenees. Genoa and Pisa plus Rome in Italy had large fleets that helped to keep Corsica in the Frankish orbit and kept the pirates and Saracens at bay. So, again, they gravitated to Provence as the weakest link. Genevieve worked hard to make Provence more difficult for the Saracens and pirates and to clear the sea lanes for trade. She had some success and only cheated a little.

In 778, Genevieve heard about the battle in Roncevaux Pass, and cried all night for Roland. She heard from her immediate past life as Margueritte. Roland was a grand nephew, named after her husband. Margueritte honestly cried, but Genevieve felt the loss.

In the fall of 780, Genevieve finally became pregnant with Otto’s child. She felt happy about that but Olivia, at age seven, said she hoped the baby was a boy so Leibulf could feel threatened. Leibulf actually said he would not mind a younger brother. He could teach and care for a boy. He was not sure what to do with Olivia. They did not get along. Olivia did not get along with anyone.

In the spring of 781, even as Genevieve began to look like she swallowed a balloon, the Saracens, and maybe also the pirates, figured out what she was doing to strengthen the county against them. They did not want anyone taking away what they considered their breadbasket. They sailed into the port of Telo Martius (Toulon) with twenty-six ships of the Aghlabid fleet and overran the town.

Genevieve got angry, not only because of the rampant killing and desecration of the Christian churches and shrines, but because Telo Martius was one town that did virtually nothing to improve the defense of the city and port. She hired the finest military architects and engineers to draw up plans for each town and city in Otto’s domain, but Telo Martius was the most stubborn against doing anything. The council there treated her like a silly little girl who did not know what she was talking about. Now, she supposed there was no point in saying “I told you so.” The ones she would want to say that to were probably all dead.

“This is why we are here,” Otto said as he hobbled in, finely dressed in his armor. “Charles will expect us to drive the Saracens back into the sea,” He reached up to play with his collar. She gently tapped his hand and straightened the collar for him before she called.

“Leibulf.”

“Mother?” Leibulf said as he came in, tugging and squirming a bit in his new armor. He needed to wear it some to break it in.

“You are sixteen,” Genevieve said and slapped his hands down before she adjusted his armor a bit. “You are old enough to go and watch and learn, but you are too young to participate. You are not to draw your sword and put your life at risk, is that clear?”

“Aw… Father.”

“You heard your mother,” Otto said and turned his head a little to not show the smile that crept into his face. He coughed to get serious. “I have left a solid guard here. You and Olivia will be safe while we kick the Saracens out of Telo Martius and make them think twice before they come back… What?” He asked because Genevieve shook her head.

“We are headed for Massilia. I heard from the sprites in the Mediterranean, specifically the Sinus Gallicus, that the Saracens have left a hundred soldiers and three ships in Telo Martius, and they are taking their twenty-three ships to attack Massilia. We will meet them there and have a surprise for them.”

“We?” Otto put his hand to her enlarged belly.

“Not for another month, almost two,” she said with a smile before she turned to the one guard still in the room. “Go and check to make sure my horse is saddled and ready,” she said, and even as the guard saluted and left the room, she traded places through time with Margueritte. Her Frankish was northern dialect and a bit old fashioned, but she was fluent. She would have to depend on Genevieve to understand the peculiar Provencal idioms. She did not speak Occitan at all but she was fluent in Latin and that made up for most of it.

Margueritte came dressed in the ancient armor of the Kairos and immediately said, “No sword.” The sword vanished from her back. She kept her long knife, defender, that rested across the small of her back, and the short knife, Cutter, that was sheathed at her side. She honestly did not know the sword well enough to risk it, but she was acceptable with the knives. Genevieve was excellent with knives. That came from her growing up butchering the beasts and doing all that cooking.

“Yes,” Margueritte mumbled out loud. “But I can hit a target with an arrow.” Genevieve protested in Margueritte’s head. I can hit the target if it not too far away, at least most of the time. Margueritte laughed.

Otto and Leibulf stared, and Otto spoke first.

“You are the same height.”

“Five and a half feet is tall enough for a woman.” Margueritte smiled for him.

“Your voice has changed, and your lovely golden blonde hair has become straight black. You look and sound like a very different person.”

“I am a completely different person, but still me,” Margueritte said, and turned to Leibulf who seemed to be studying her.

“It’s your eyes,” Leibulf said. “They are green, not brown.”

“Mud brown,” Margueritte used the words Genevieve often used to describe her own eyes.

Leibulf nodded. “But your eyes. I can still see Genevieve in there, somewhere.”

“Where?” Otto asked and tried for a closer look.

Margueritte nodded. “This is my Genevieve’s time and place. I am just standing in for her for a bit. Maybe a few days. She is always front and center in my mind, you see?”

“Not really,” Otto admitted.

“We should go,” Margueritte said and began to walk, but slowly so Otto could keep up. “One more advantage I have over Genevieve is I have been riding my whole life and even rode into battle.”

“Honestly?” Leibulf sounded impressed.

“Yes. That was back when Charles’ grandfather faced the Saracens at Tours, though I suppose actually the Princess did most of the riding because I was still healing from an arrow wound.”

“Wow,” Leibulf said, and the same word formed on Otto’s lips but he did not actually say it out loud.

Medieval 5: Genevieve 4 Troubles Averted, part 3 of 3

January 24, 2024December 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Margo and Nelly ran up to distract Otto while Genevieve went away and Amphitrite took her place. The old soldier saw anyway, not being so easily distracted. Amphitrite reached out to the shuttle pilot and showed him where she was. She helped guide the shuttle safely to the riverbank, where it set down and took a minute to shut down before opening the door. In that time, Amphitrite reached out to the Ape ship and reviewed the repairs. She let Martok, her mathematical engineer lifetime from the far future look through her eyes. He was not sure one relay on the navigation coupling would hold up under use. Amphitrite held out her hand, and with Martok directing her thoughts, she fabricated the part out of nothing. When the shuttle door opened, Genevieve was back, holding the delicate relay.

Captain Grawl exited the shuttle as Otto came to stand beside Genevieve. Margo, Nelly, and the two soldiers stood behind, the soldiers in particular not knowing what else to do.

“Captain Grawl,” Genevieve identified the Captain for Otto and had to wait a few seconds for the translator to work. “Your relay on the navigation coupling does not look very good. It might burn out under pressure. You might try this one. Hopefully it will work better.”

“Yes, thank you,” Captain Grawl said and carefully handed the relay to the soldier that stood behind him.

“I see you have finished the repairs to your ship. I wish you the best of luck in your struggle against the Flesh Eaters, but now you must leave this world and hopefully not come back. The chances of messing something up that I can’t fix are too great.”

“I understand.” Captain Grawl offered a bow. “Thank you for all you have done.” He turned and went back into his shuttle and closed the door. It rose slowly at first, without too much wind in the faces of those watching. When it got high enough, it shot off toward the horizon.

Otto had to sit down.

Genevieve’s worry caught up with her at that point, and she sat carefully, wondering what she could say. Otto spoke first.

“Leibulf told me you are friends with the elves and fairies. Of course, I did not believe him.”

“It is true,” Genevieve said softly, her voice full of uncertainty. She took a deep breath. “I am responsible for many of the little spirits of the earth, not just elves and fairies. I also watch over the little ones in the air, the water, and the fire.”

“Fire?”

“Mostly the fire beneath the earth where the rocks themselves melt and run in red rivers of lava and only occasionally pour out of the tops of mountains, like Mount Etna or Pompeii.”

“I have read about such things, er, volcanoes I believe.” Genevieve nodded to say that word was correct, but kept her mouth closed until Otto had another question. “In what way are you responsible for these spirits?”

Genevieve first took another deep breath, glad that Otto did not immediately declare her insane. “In the old days, when they messed up like the flowers came up wrong, the trees did not bloom right, the fruit turned sour, the fox got in the hen house, or something, I got yelled at and told to fix it. Let me tell you, escorting the spirits of the dead to the right holding place was a hard one. The cathartic gods as a class had no tolerance and no patience for screw-ups.” She looked at Otto and felt emotional wreckage coming on.

“How old are you?” he asked.

Genevieve raised her eyebrows at that question. She had to think about what he was asking. “I am an ordinary mortal human girl of eighteen years who did not know I had any other lifetimes until a few years ago, when I was fifteen.” She paused to count and hear from the Storyteller. “According to the Storyteller, I am the one hundred and second life since the beginning. My first life was roughly five thousand two hundred and seventy-three years ago. Nimrod was building a tower in an effort to reach the throne of God. But my life—my lives don’t add up that way. I am eighteen, not five thousand years old.”

“I see,” Otto said. “You realize I would not believe a word of it if I had not just seen that you are friends with strange beast creatures.”

“They are people,” Genevieve corrected him. “They are just Ape people, not human people.”

“And the Flesh Eaters?”

“They are people, too, but I try not to think of them. Their name says exactly what kind of people they are.”

“I see,” he repeated himself. “I must say, not exactly what I had in mind when the Lord said you must be born again,” he smiled, and that helped calm Genevieve a bit. “So, it seems you can bring a past person into the present at will. That was the case with the woman I saw that you briefly became, is it not so?”

Genevieve nodded and sniffed. “The Storyteller keeps track, but I don’t remember most of my lives, past or future. And the ones I do remember won’t trade places—I call it trading places—unless there is some immediate need for the person’s skills or training, or whatever that might be.”

“Future lives?”

Genevieve nodded again. “Apparently, my main job is to watch over history and make sure it comes out the way it has been written.”

“How do you know? Of course, future lives.” Otto understood immediately, and Genevieve kept nodding.

“Don’t misunderstand. The next fifty to a hundred years are just as much a mystery to me as they are to anyone else. That is because they are not written yet. But I know when something comes along that threatens to throw everything off track. And I can always look back on these days from further in the future and get a general idea of how things go. Like I know Charles—Charlemagne is destined for great things and making sure he is not assassinated in imperative. Him being killed at this relatively young age would ruin the future.”

“Charles the Great?”

“That is how the future knows him.” She smiled.

Otto nodded that time, but then he got serious. “But say, in order to be reborn, don’t you have to die? I thought when we die we go to heaven. Is this not so?”

Genevieve frowned again. “Once to die and after this the judgment. It is so as far as I know. And I do die, or at least I feel all the pain and loss and separation from everything dear to me, but I am not allowed to go to heaven.” She sniffed again. “I keep getting shoved back into a new womb of a new mother and get born nine months later in a new world as a know-nothing baby. It is years and I become my own person before I have any inkling that I lived before, and even that only happens when something important rears its head.”

“I see,” he said again as Genevieve began to cry softy.

“I am sure Heaven must be wonderful.” She wept. “Sometimes, I get so tired.”

“There, there.” He held her and comforted her.

They truly slept together for the first time that night. Genevieve thought it was good. She was happy. She hoped he was happy, though she certainly gave him a lot to think about.

Three days later, they headed out for Lausanne and Geneva, where Bernard picked up his army, including the men of Provence. The most difficult thing for Genevieve was saying good-bye to Margo, Nelly, and Edelweiss. Edelweiss chose to stay with her flower and the fairies in the mountains around Basel. Margo and Nelly decided they needed to stay with their families and the elves in the Black Forest where they could keep one eye on her home and the county of Breisach. There were plenty of tears, but they were not unhappy. Margo and Nelly said that now, since Genevieve married and had a son and would soon have a baby of her own they knew she would be happy. Genevieve blessed them and could not thank them enough for being there when she so desperately needed someone. After that, Captain Hector loaded Otto, Genevieve, and Leibulf with their men on three barges near the edge of the lake of Geneva, and they floated all the way down the Rhone River, mostly through Burgundian territory, to Arles where they received a hero’s welcome.

“Like Constantine returned,” Genevieve said as she got into the carriage.

“Any reason to celebrate these days is taken full advantage of,” Otto explained as he waved to the crowd.

“I can see that,” she said. “Provence is not exactly rolling in riches.” She practiced her own Queen Elizabeth sort-of-a-wave.

“The ground is difficult soil,” he continued to explain. “And the maritime trade that once made the county rich is all but dried up. Between the Vandals at first, and now the Saracens and pirates, there is not much room for legitimate merchants.”

“Then that is what we need to work on,” she said. “We strengthen the ports, get city walls started where needed, and build up the fleet. Then get Charles to take Corsica, and maybe Sardinia, assuming he will be successful against the Lombards.”

“What you say sounds very expensive,” Otto fretted for a minute.

“Think positive,” she said. “People will contribute to defending and protecting their own homes. Local men build city walls and fortify ports, and they will even build ships if there is a real chance for trade. I am not suggesting building a series of fortifications along the coast, and manning them with soldiers, all of which we would have to pay for. We may have to raise the taxes a bit, but people don’t mind paying taxes when they can see the money being used for their own benefit.”

Otto looked skeptical, but by then they arrived at the Archbishop’s palace where they would sup and stay the night before heading out for Aix in the morning. Aquae or Aix as Genevieve called it was roughly three days to Avignon, four days to Nice, two days to Arles or Toulon in opposite directions, and one day due north of Marseille. As such, it was about as centrally located as could be found in Provence. Otto could send troops to wherever there might be trouble on the coast within a few days, that is, if his troops were not all presently in Lombardy.

Otto, who could sit a horse just fine, rode the two days to Aix. Genevieve and Leibulf had to ride in the wagon. The Roman roads were well kept, but even so, they both got banged up traveling the road over those two days and agreed to get horses and learn to ride as soon as possible.

************************

MONDAY

Provence faces external attacks. This is why Provence was made a Mach on the southern end of the Frankish Kingdom. Until Monday, Happy Reading.

Medieval 5: Genevieve 4 Troubles Averted, part 2 of 3

January 23, 2024December 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

In the last couple of days before the wedding, at the very end of April, the Bishop of Basel moved the priest from his rooms in the church so Genevieve could have them to prepare for her wedding. Things got hectic and Genevieve reached the point where she could not think straight. Good thing she had Margo, Nelly, and Edelweiss looking after her.

Mother Ingrid, Ursula, and Gisela got invited to the wedding. Genevieve fretted about that along with everything else, but they decided not to come. They gave plenty of excuses. Genevieve felt glad they would not be there, but then she felt guilty about feeling glad.

The day before the wedding, Genevieve felt sick. She feared her wedding dress would show the baby and her life would be ruined. It was early enough in her pregnancy so she did not show anything at all, but her imagination ran away with her. She did not sleep that night, wondering what she could say to the man for the next however long. He was a nice man, as Bernard told her, but in some ways she lived such an isolated life.

Genevieve knew how to cook and clean. She knew how to sew and weave, and even how to hammer the shingles back on when the wind took them. She knew nothing about high society, or how to be part of the nobility. She could not imagine tea and crumpets with the ladies. She did not even know what crumpets were, but maybe she was getting a few centuries ahead of herself. All she really knew was Mother Ingrid, Ursula, and Gisela were not good role models.

She feared she would be really bored with servants to do everything for her. She would probably have to get a nurse, or a nanny for the baby, so even that would be mostly out of her hands. She could learn to read and write and do her arithmetic. She probably ought to learn to ride a horse. She imagined Margo and Nelly could teach her to shoot an arrow. Hunting was acceptable, though she was not sure about women hunting.

She imagined herself weaving tapestries all day, every day. She imagined making small talk with the ladies, talking about the weather. That would drive her mad. and that brought her back to wondering what crumpets were, anyway.

She wondered if Otto would be happy with her. She wondered if she could make him happy. She feared he might get as bored with her as she got bored with the high life. She had no real, honest idea how to rule a household. As she thought, Mother Ingrid was not a good example, but she had no other example. She knew even less about ruling a whole province. She never even had any say in her own county, and never knew which properties around Breisach she actually owned.

She imagined the sophisticated ladies of Aquae, or Aix, as she thought of it would eat her alive. And that did not even cover her relationship with Leibulf, the eight-year-old son. Who knew what direction that might go?

Mostly, she worried about what Otto would say when he discovered she was the Kairos, the Traveler in time, the Watcher over history. He knew nothing about the other lives she had lived, much less about how she could call upon them in time of need. He would inevitably find out unless circumstances always turned in her favor. Like when did that ever happen? More immediately, she worried about what he might say when he discovered she had responsibility for all the liitle sprites of the air, fire, water, and the earth, such as elves and fairies, and including dwarfs and even dark elves that most people called goblins. She had responsibility for trolls, ogres, imps, and gnomes of every shape, size, and kind. The number of little ones had to be counted in the billions. She tried not to think of that lest she suddenly be overwhelmed with exactly how many.

Genevieve instinctively knew that her life as the Kairos would rise up and bite her. Something would happen to threaten history, like yet another attempt on Charles’ life—Charlemagne’s life, and she would have to act. She already had space aliens hiding in the Jura Mountains. She already had a plot by the Masters to kill Charles and her, and maybe several plots if Darky and Blondy were Masters inspired and not just working for Desiderius, King of the Lombards. Something would come up. He would find out, and what would he think? What would he say? What could she say?

She spent a lot of time in prayer. Being in the rooms normally occupied by the priest helped.

When it came time for the wedding, she had not slept for thirty hours. Naturally, the Bishop decided to speak for well over two hours. Genevieve mostly stayed awake. She was surprised an unmarried man could have so much to say about marriage. She vaguely understood after the fact, that much of it was about his own upbringing and the example of marriage his own parents set. She honestly could not concentrate while he was speaking for all that time. All together the wedding took over three hours and Genevieve figured the congregation had to be mostly asleep by the time they finished. Poor Otto had to kneel so long, with his bad leg and all, he had a hard time getting back up when it was time.

After that, everything became a blur. She remembered eating something and saying thank you a hundred times, at least, for all the well wishes and congratulations. She drank the wedding toast but could not remember drinking anything else. First chance she got, she fell into a very inviting bed and passed out. She slept the rest of that day and the full night. Otto said he mostly sat in a chair by her side and watched her and smiled. She felt bad for him. She told herself she would make it up to him.

Charles and the Frankish army left right away. They planned to gather just before the pass that would take them into Italy. Desiderius was gathering the army of Lombardy on the other side of the pass once he knew where Charles would be coming through the mountains. Desiderius imagined setting a trap for the Franks, but Lord Evergreen watched and figured out how to turn the trap on the Lombards. He also kept track of Bernard via the fairy grapevine. Charles would not move until Bernard reached the pass of Great Saint Bernard.

~~~*~~~

Genevieve and Otto stayed a week in Basel while the armies of Aquitaine, Burgundy, and Provence gathered in Geneva and Lausanne. It was a very different sort of honeymoon week than the week she spent with Charles. Charles and Genevieve spent much of that week in bed. Otto and Genevieve spent much of that week getting to know each other and eating. It was on the fourth day that Genevieve had to confess herself.

They picnicked on the Rhine in a secluded garden with plenty of trees and spring flowers. Captain Hector always made sure two soldiers kept an eye on the Margrave and his Lady, but they stayed out of the way. Margo and Nelly were also there, somewhere near in case they should be needed, but they did not intrude. At first, everything was quiet. Genevieve feared she might actually be running out of things to talk about. She felt the shy coming on, but that got interrupted by the sound overhead. A small Ape shuttle slowly floated over the water. It made no effort to hide. The occupants were clearly looking for Genevieve, and Genevieve had to excuse herself. She did not give herself a chance to worry about it.

Medieval 5: Genevieve 4 Troubles Averted, part 1 of 3

January 22, 2024December 17, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It took two more weeks for Charles and Bernard to so-called figure it out. Obviously, Genevieve had to marry, and the sooner the better, but the pregnant Countess of Breisach could not be married to just anyone. Bernard came up with the solution. Otto, the Margrave of Provence was in his late forties. He had an eight-year-old son, Leibulf, whose mother died in childbirth, and Otto had been a widower since that time. It was not ideal but Bernard said Otto was a very nice man and would never treat her badly.

Bernard fought alongside Otto in the old days under King Pepin the Short. He called Otto a brave and noble gentleman, like Genevieve’s father. Back when Charles’ grandfather drove the Muslims out of Provence, he made the province a March to watch the Muslims in Septimania, and piracy on the coast, and to watch the Lombards in the east. Otto’s father was the first Marquise, or Margrave in the German tongue.

Otto served faithfully for years and was in on the fight when they finally drove the Muslims out of Narbonne. Now, he apparently raised a little army all on his own and was anxious to go after the Lombards. “The problem is he was wounded on the battlefield and needs a cane to walk,” Bernard concluded.

“He will be no good to us in Lombardy,” Charles said. “Nor would I take a cripple into battle. I’ll take his army, but he needs to stay home.”

“It will help everyone if you keep him home during the fighting,” Bernard said. “I will come to gather the men who are presently in Aquae. They can move up to Geneva and meet us in Lausanne where the Burgundians will gather, and we will see what Aquitaine sends. Then we will move into Italy through the Great Saint Bernard pass.”

“We will see what Burgundy raises,” Charles said as an aside.

“Charles will take the main Frankish army through the pass of Monte Ceneri and we will see what Desiderius comes up with.”

“You’re leaving me in Lausanne?”

“Geneva.”

“You’re leaving me in Geneva?” Genevieve whined.

“Not abandoning you. You and Otto will have full escorts all of the way down river to Arles and then across the coast to Aquae. You will be fine.”

Genevieve squinted at Charles. “The pass of Great Saint Bernard?”

Charles grinned. “Fitting, don’t you think?”

“Ha, ha,” Genevieve said without laughing.

“Charles insisted,” Bernard said with a look of resignation in his eyes. He changed the subject. “Otto will be good to you. He knows about the baby and has pledged to raise your child as his own. He is agreeable on all points, and besides, he says his boy, Leibulf, needs a mother’s influence,” Bernard finished and they waited for her response. It was not what they expected.

“I always wanted to have a baby brother. Mine died when he was two.”

“So, is that a yes?” Charles needed to know.

Genevieve paused but did not let the tension play out too long. “If Otto is all that you say he is, then yes. But if he mistreats me or my baby, you will get a knock on the door.” Genevieve understood that she really had no other choices.

“Of course,” Bernard mumbled. “Of course.”

First thing after that they got everyone moving to Basel. Genevieve got introduced to the people in Basel as the Countess of Breisach. The people, basically strangers, deferred to her and she got some slight bows and curtseys. Genevieve was used to the people back home where she grew up and all the people knew her. Back home they liked her well enough, but this was different. This was a heady experience, but she understood it was mostly Charles or Bernard that got the special attention. No telling what they said behind her back, Charles being married and all. No doubt some of the words were not so nice.

Charles and Genevieve tried to be as discrete as they could. It was easy when Charles got busy building his army. New men came into town every day in April, and as the month progressed, Charles got more and more busy. Genevieve had to content herself with Margo and Nelly for companions, and Edelweiss when she was around. Edelweiss got excited because she found her flower.

“I thought they did not bloom until May, or later, like July,” Genevieve said.

“Apparently, they bloom when Edelweiss tells them to bloom,” Margo responded, and Nelly shrugged.

When Otto and a small contingent of men arrived, his eight-year-old son Leibulf in tow, Genevieve thought she was prepared. She was not. She felt awkward and withdrawn. She hardly knew what to say to the man and tended to look down at her boots. At least she got her own boots.

Otto said, “Bernard, you did not do justice in your description. She is lovely, beautiful, very fetching, I must say. What do you think, Captain?” Otto asked his Captain, Hector.

“Very nice, but rather shy and quiet.” Charles and Bernard laughed until Charles got tears in his eyes and Genevieve bumped him with her elbow.

Genevieve and Otto got to know each other, though they avoided talk about the baby. Genevieve did open up after a short while and found the man was as nice as reported. She decided that being married to the man would not be a terrible thing, and she got along well with Leibulf, the son, almost from the beginning. Of course, he was eight going on sixteen so he was not about to do what Genevieve told him, but she expected nothing else. She indeed saw him as the younger brother she was not allowed to have and only hoped she would not tease him too badly when he started showing interest in girls.

“Lady, lady,” Edelweiss came flying into Genevieve’s room when she was packing to move into the church rooms before the wedding. “Lady.” The fairy was excited and Genevieve knew enough not to interrupt before Edelweiss told her news lest she distract the little one and make Edelweiss forget why she came. “I saw Blondy. I saw Blondy.”

“Where?” Margo asked, pulling her head out from the wardrobe.

“When?’ Nelly asked from the floor in the midst of pairing up Genevieve’s socks.

“What was he wearing?” Genevieve asked last.

Edelweiss let out a little shriek, like her little brain could not answer all those questions at once. She chose to answer Genevieve. “He was dressed like a soldier.”

“When did you see him?”

“Just now. I came straight here.”

“Where did you see him?”

“In town. In front of town hall and the church,” Edelweiss said and took a deep breath, pleased that she remembered and got it out before it flitted from her thoughts.

Margo added a question. “What was he doing?”

“Just sitting there.” Edelweiss flew up to Margo’s face. “He was not doing anything.”

“Genevieve?” Nelly called, but Genevieve was already leaving the room. Her face looked determined. Her steps were deliberate. The others followed.

Edelweiss sat on Genevieve’s shoulder as she marched into town. Like elves who could wear a glamour to appear human, fairies also had ways of being around humans without getting big and looking inhumanly beautiful, which might attract the wrong kind of attention. Most often, people see fairies as birds of some sort so people mostly ignore them. They often appear in the corners of the eye, like some movement in the peripheral vision that vanishes when looked at directly. When people do look directly at them, they naturally projected a kind of perception filter which makes them appear like a spot of light or shadow, or something not quite clear. Even when people concentrate on them, they can be difficult to bring into focus. They often present multiple unclear images where the eyes have to dart around the small area in front of the eyes to see anything at all, and even when they see, it is a faded, unclear picture, like someone moving around behind a translucent veil, unless the fairy wants or is willing to be seen. Of course, the people who get to know the fairy can see the fairy perfectly well. Magic can also pierce the veil, and that was what happened with Blondy.

Genevieve arrived at the town hall at the same time Charles rode up with a small troop of soldiers, mostly captains of some sort come for a meeting. Blondy stood, which got Genevieve’s attention. He had two throwing knives in his hands. Edelweiss chose that moment to squirt from Genevieve’s hair and shout.

“There he is.”

One knife headed toward Charles, but the other headed toward Genevieve, though the fairy got in the way. Genevieve reacted like it was an attack on her fairy. Something like lightning poured from her hands. The throwing knife got knocked to the ground. People got shoved back and out of the way. The electrical charge went straight at Blondy. He may have tried to put up a magical shield, but that would have been like a single grain of sand trying to hold back the ocean. Genevieve was not presently an ordinary young woman, but goddess of the little ones and filled with the power of creation itself.

Charles ducked. The knife cut him in the upper arm, but it was no more than a scrape as it essentially missed. Edelweiss threw her hands up to her face so she would not have to watch. Genevieve let out a shout of surprise. The lightning stopped instantly and she threw her hands up to cover her mouth. Blondy was reduced to a smoking cider of what used to be a man.

“Let me,” Genevieve heard the words in her head. Amphitrite, or Salacia as the Romans called her, asked to take a look. It only took a moment. Amphitrite appeared in Genevieve’s place for one quick moment to look. Genevieve came back to her own time and place well before Charles approached her.

“Interesting, whatever you did,” Charles said with a sly smile, pointing at the smoking flesh that used to be Blondy.

“That wasn’t me,” Genevieve said quickly. “I mean it was me, but it was that part of me that watches over the little ones.”

“Your Kairos.”

“Yes,” she said and raised her voice a bit. “He attacked my fairy.”

Charles looked around, but Edelweiss had rushed to Nelly’s shoulder and presently hid in Nelly’s long dark hair. “Good thing that little one and I are friends.”

“Oh, you have nothing to worry about.” she put one hand on his chest to draw on his strength. She killed a man and needed the strength to hold back her tears. She did the deed whether she admitted it or not. She wanted to cry about it, but instead, picked up the throwing knife from the ground. “You are hurt?” They both looked at Charles’ shoulder. Charles had to twist his arm and head a bit to see.

“Only a scratch,” he said. “But say, how would you like to do that on the battlefield?”

“No, that would not work on the battlefield. Little ones in battle face the same chance as any other soldiers. Sometimes they die and I am not allowed to change that. Meanwhile, I checked if you are interested.”

“You mean that other woman in your place? I blinked and almost missed her.”

Genevieve nodded. “Amphitrite,” she called her, thinking Salacia was a name that might be recognized in that post-Roman province. “Mister Lupen, Antonio, and Baldy are still in Lombardy and have no immediate plans to come this way.”

“Good to know,” he said as he pecked at her lips and went to check on his men. Genevieve turned and walked slowly back to her rooms where she finally let herself cry and finished packing.

Medieval 5: Genevieve 3 Troubles Ever After, part 3 of 3

January 17, 2024December 17, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Only a week before they planned the move to Basel, something serious came up. It was the first time in Genevieve’s life that the Kairos needed to be called upon to prevent a historical disaster. It was her vision not two weeks ago. A battle in space, not far from earth. One ship was destroyed. One ship was seriously injured. One ship was injured but might be repaired. That alien spaceship landed in the Black Forest not far from where she was located. She had to go.

Charles went with her and brought thirty soldiers along for the ride. That was just as well. No telling who might have stopped her or what mischief they might have done if she did not have a troop of soldiers to protect her. She had no real experience on horseback but it would have been too far to travel on foot, so Charles found her a gentle horse. She was just glad she did not fall out of the saddle.

By the time they arrived, Alice of Avalon, the Storyteller in the future, and Martok the Bospori in the far, far future filled her mind with all the relevant information. The ship was full of peaceful Apes. Alice called them Apes. They were shot down by the ones she called Flesh Eaters and needed a place where they could hide and make their repairs. Earth was properly marked on their charts as a do-not-go planet, but it was also noted as a sanctuary planet. They came to Earth hoping the Flesh Eaters would respect the do-not-go designation, not that they expected the Flesh Eaters to respect anything. But the Apes counted on the sanctuary designation and thought they might peacefully make their repairs.

Genevieve got down and walked the last couple of hundred yards to where the Ape ship set down in a clearing. Charles, Margo, Nelly, and three soldiers walked with her. She would not let any more than that come, but Charles insisted on that much. Three Apes left their craft and met them halfway.

Charles raised his eyebrows at the sight. He knew about little monkeys, though he had no idea there were larger such creatures even on earth. These Apes most closely resembled something like a cross between chimpanzees and gorillas, being roughly gorilla in size, a couple of species Charles and the Franks with him did not know. The Apes were vegetarians as well, so they had that in common with the gorillas. Charles did not know that either, but Genevieve knew. These aliens had no interest in eating the Franks. The Flesh Eaters, on the other hand, would delight in the chance to eat some human flesh. Some believe it was the vegetarian Apes that gave the name Flesh Eaters to their mortal enemies, but it stuck because it was true.

As soon as they met in the middle, Genevieve unloaded the Kairos’ standard line. “Hey. You can’t park here. This whole planet is a no parking, no stopping or standing zone.” It took some time for the Ape translation devices to begin working. Genevieve encouraged the Franks to talk freely with each other. She knew the device needed input from the locals to work properly. Genevieve or one of her lifetimes judged it to be a primitive version of the original Agdaline translator. Perhaps it was a home-grown version. Genevieve would not know.

Once they could communicate, and Genevieve’s first message got through, Genevieve unloaded. “These humans consume from the bounty of plant and animal life on this planet, as most species do. They do not eat people, but all the same, it would be best to avoid direct contact with the humans. They also fight among themselves, which some species find strange and disconcerting. Charles here is raising an army to fight a different army of humans on the other side of these mountains. You need to know that war is not unknown to these people, and they are good at it, so stay away from them.”

“We understand,” one Ape said, and added, “I am Captain Grawl, and you are?”

“Genevieve, the Kairos in this present age.” She took a breath before she went straight on. “This is a Genesis planet, one of only a half-dozen in the galaxy where intelligent life begins. This is why you are not allowed to interfere with the current human species, or any other species that might come along. As long as you understand, you may be granted limited sanctuary while you make your repairs. I know you were surprised and attacked by a Flesh Eater ship and your companion ship was destroyed. You came here to hide while you made repairs, but if you honestly want to hide, you need to turn off your engines.”

One of the Apes tried to politely interrupt. “We have kept them running in case we need to make a quick getaway.”

Genevieve shook her head, though she was not sure if the gesture would be understood. “Without giving away any great secret, the Flesh Eaters can track you by the energy signal your engines put out.”

“Some have theorized that,” Captain Grawl said.

“But this is not a good place to hide. I see why it attracted you, being a forest of green, but you are too close here to farms and a town. You will need to move to a more remote location. Come to think of it, I wonder why you were not attracted to one of the jungle environments on this planet.”

“Too hot and humid for some of the delicate equipment that needs repair,” the third Ape spoke.

Genevieve nodded, though she imagined that might not translate any better than the head shake. She turned and pointed. “You need to move south. You will find a ridge of mountains close there, the Jura Mountains. Find a secluded spot away from the people and you can set down, turn off your engines so the Flesh Eaters cannot easily trace you, and fix what needs fixing. If you need a special piece of equipment and do not have the means to fabricate it, you need to come and see me. I will be somewhere along this river, probably in the town on the northeast end of those very mountains. You can scan me if you want to put my imprint in your system in order to find me later.”

The Ape who mentioned the delicate equipment spoke again. “Our system is not capable of picking one out of the many.”

Genevieve frowned, and that time she was glad not every nonverbal expression was universal. “Well, something to work on. I have given you two problems now to solve. Don’t ask for more. It is better for a people to discover things for themselves. Just send a drone slowly up the river, and hopefully, I will see it or hear of it and find you. Now, move. And remember these two things. First, stay away from people.” She paused, but decided she underlined that enough.

“And the second?” Captain Grawl asked.

“Once your ship is repaired, your time of sanctuary will be over. You must leave this world. Good luck against the Flesh Eaters, but please do not come back here again.”

“But what if the Flesh Eaters come here?” the Ape who spoke about needing to make a quick getaway spoke.

“I will deal with them,” Genevieve assured them. “They will be told and given a fair chance to leave peacefully. They may have to be destroyed.” Genevieve shrugged, just to get in a last nonverbal bit of confusion for the Apes.

Captain Grawl bowed, but he explained. “A show of respect and agreement with the words you have spoken.”

Genevieve nodded and returned a slight bow before she turned around to walk back to the horses. The Apes went back to their ship, and Charles spoke.

“At least they know how to bow.”

“Not what you think,” Genevieve told him. “Bowing is their version of a handshake.”

“Oh,” Charles said, and they stopped at the edge of the trees until the Ape ship lifted off into the sky. “And how long will it take them to reach the Jura Mountains?” he asked.

“A half hour at most if they go really slow and take half that time trying to figure out where it is safe to land,” she answered. Charles whistled before Genevieve spent the rest of the return trip yelling that Charles and his soldiers did not see what they saw and they were not allowed to speak about it to anyone, ever. She finished her thoughts with the notion that she hoped the Flesh Eaters did not come to Earth.

************************

MONDAY

Genevieve gets married, and an Ape visit forces her to confess herself to her new husband. Good luck with that. Until Monday, Happy Reading

Medieval 5: Genevieve 3 Troubles Ever After, part 2 of 3

January 16, 2024December 17, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The rest of the week was wonderful, the nightmare all but forgotten, but after that week, Charles got busy. It would be some time before things got hectic, but he had more than enough duties to keep him occupied. Genevieve moved out of the room and Charles temporarily panicked.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m just moving down the hall. I can’t exactly go home. Margo and Nelly collected my few pitiful things from the house. They told Mother Ingrid they were contracted as maids for the countess. I bet that made Mother Ingrid steaming mad. Meanwhile, Matthild and Otl have agreed to continue to take care of Mother Ingrid and the girls, at least for the time being. Matthild basically just cooks and Otl hammers a lot on the barn, the stables, and the house, and takes care of the grounds, but all outside. Otherwise, it looks like Gisela and Ursula are going to have to do a little work, like cleaning and laundry. It won’t hurt them. They might lose a few pounds. I am sure Mother Ingrid would not want to pay what it would actually cost for some real help around the house. But for me, seriously, I don’t know where I can go. I can’t go home…”

Charles coughed, and Genevieve learned when he coughed in that way he meant for her to take a breath. She looked up at him. “You are moving down the hall?”

She nodded. “The other side of Uncle Bernard’s room,” she said and started up again. “You are going to need your rest, and let’s be honest, neither of us has gotten much rest in this past week. But don’t worry. I will be there for you for as long as you want me or need me to be. I mean, I can’t exactly marry you. You have a wife. You love your wife?” She asked that before and he nodded like before.

“She wiggles.”

“I don’t need the details. You know, love is more than just sex. As long as you love your wife, I am sure you will be happy. I hope you have lots of lovely children together.” Her voice trailed off when someone came to the open door. It was Uncle Bernard.

“Ready?” Bernard said in a cheerful voice that made Genevieve privately frown.

Edelweiss came shooting in the doorway, right by Bernard, and came to hover over the bed. “Did you tell him?” She was excited about something.

“No. Not yet.” Genevieve paused and gave the fairy a sour look. Of course, by then Bernard and the generals knew all about the fairy. It was a kindness to Edelweiss to let her get little and not have to remain in her big size for long periods of time, something that is hard for a little fairy to do. They also got to meet Edelweiss’ father, Lord Evergreen, who promised to scout ahead when Charles got the army gathered and moved toward Italy. Margo and Nelly were still seen as young women, more like Genevieve’s maids than just friends. but elves had less trouble appearing human. They could affect a simple glamour and walk through the marketplace without notice, or without undue attention. The young men might notice. Elf maids were notoriously pretty. However, they were not fairy beautiful, which was a kind of unearthly beauty that was hard for some humans to take in, much less describe.

“Ready,” Genevieve said in a sour voice to match the look on her face.

“What?” Bernard asked.

“What is it?” Charles echoed.

Genevieve picked up her little bag, hardly an oversized purse and put it on her shoulder. She grumped, “I’m pregnant.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“How do you know?” Charles asked.

“I thought it took a month or two months to determine that,” Bernard said.

“Lady is going to have a baby,” Edelweiss said and fluttered down to put her little hands just beyond Genevieve’s middle. “Can’t tell boy or girl yet. It is too early for that, but I can feel the growing.” Edelweiss flew up to face Charles. “You are going to have a baby.”

Charles shouted for joy and jumped up and down. He started to sing but stopped quickly when both Genevieve and Bernard gave him a sour look. Edelweiss wrinkled her whole face, but then she smiled, being caught up in the emotion of it all.

Genevieve stomped to the door, handed her purse to Bernard, told Edelweiss to visit with Uncle Bernard for a minute and said to Charles, “Get in here, you moron.” Charles stopped jumping and came sheepishly into the room while Genevieve slammed the door and yelled. “What is wrong with you?”

“What?” Charles stood up tall and straight. “I thought you wanted a baby,” he yelled back.

“I did. I do. But you are married and I am not. I expected to get married.”

“What? You did not want to have my baby?”

“That is not it. I am glad the baby is yours, but a bastard son or daughter is not a good thing. What are you going to tell your wife? You were busy having a baby so I went off to find a little tart to get pregnant?”

“I don’t think of you that way. You should not think of yourself that way.”

“I should ask Father Flaubert to give me a whipping.”

“The nice old priest would not do it.”

“But Charles.” Genevieve began to cry softly. “What am I going to do? I can’t go home. I have no husband. Your poor baby and I will be living on the street, begging.” She ran at Charles, grabbed him around the middle, and as she hugged him, she wept into his chest.

“Hush,” he said. “It will be all right,” he said. “We will figure it out. you’ll see. Hush.”

~~~*~~~

One week later, Charles made some time and took Genevieve for a quiet walk along the riverbank. She pointed out all the birds and flowers and said how nice the river had been that year.

“Nary a flood to speak of.”

Charles nodded for most of it, but when he spoke it was on a different subject. “I’m still thinking about your future,” he said. “Not just anyone will do, and I say that for you, not just for the baby.”

“Sir Heffen of Strasbourg asked for my hand,” she said, trying to be helpful. “He is still single as far as I know.”

“No,” he said as they came to a spot and sat where they could watch the lazy water flow by. “You need to marry someone with a higher station than a mere knight.”

“My father was a knight before your father gave him the county to defend.”

“Besides, Heffen may have been one of those in on the negotiations between the Lombards and my brother in Burgundy.”

“Well,” she said. “How about the Baron of Stuttgart? He once spoke to Mother Ingrid concerning his son. The boy is my age, or maybe sixteen, but Mother Ingrid said the eldest should marry first, but he had no interest in Ursula.”

“No, no.” Charles said. “A young man would know soon enough the baby is not his and he might put you away, or worse. No, the right one is out there. We just need to find him.”

“Hopefully before our baby is old enough to be knighted himself,” she said, and he laughed.

They kissed but got interrupted by a war cry. A man charged up the riverbank, a battleax held firmly in his hands. He did not reach the couple. The assassin fell only a few yards away. His battleax slipped from his hands but went wide, struck the ground, and slid a short way toward the river. The man had three arrows in him. Margo and Nelly came running up, bows in their hands. The third arrow came from Lord Evergreen who kindly took on the human appearance of a hunter dressed in hunter green. Charles and Genevieve were on their feet.

“My lord,” Evergreen offered a small bow to Charles and turned to Genevieve. “My lady. We have been watching. You might not know. To the contrary of his normal routine, Mister Lupen left after three days and is now half-way down the Swiss plateau, well out of reach, but only two workmen went with him and his son. This third one stayed presumably to watch their goods and with the idea that Mister Lupen would return in a month with additional goods for sale.”

“You did not trust that explanation,” Charles concluded and Lord Evergreen nodded.

Genevieve went to look. It was not a pretty sight, but she identified the man as the dark one. She added a thought, “Baldy and Blondy are still out there.”

“Maybe Mister Lupen will not dare to come back here,” Nelly suggested, and Margo looked hopeful, but Genevieve shot down that idea.

“He can always say Darky volunteered to stay. He can claim his family does not involve themselves in politics and he had no idea Darky was such a partisan. He can say if he had known, he never would have left Darky here to watch his things, and it was terrible what the man tried to do. For shame.”

“Not that we would believe him,” Charles said.

“But you would have no proof otherwise,” she finished, and took Charles’ arm for the walk back to town.

Medieval 5: Genevieve 3 Troubles Ever After, part 1 of 3

January 15, 2024December 9, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Genevieve and Charles spent the next week mostly in a bubble. In some ways, they were like a honeymoon couple. They did not have much room for others. The guilty feelings did not honestly catch up to her until about the fourth day. Charles was married. She was a fornicator and adulterer. She did not want to think that way, but she could not help it. She felt condemned.

She turned on her side that night and put her back to Charles. It was an exceptionally gloomy night. The clouds completely blotted out the moon and stars so only the darkness remained. The shadows put up by the dying embers of the fire appeared to dance wickedly in the dark. Genevieve closed her eyes and soon fell asleep, but with sleep, the nightmares came.

Genevieve remembered Lydia’s life in her dreams, a lifetime she never knew she had. She remembered Lydia being kidnapped and taken to a brothel where she was beaten and drugged until she could not even remember her own name. The darkness came then—the demons. They entered Lydia and filled her, and her mouth began to prophecy. Time itself filled her and came out of her. Men paid gold. She could not stop her mouth. The demons would not let her.

Genevieve felt something touch her middle. Something got twisted in her belly and she woke up with a scream on her lips. Charles stoked the fire in the fireplace, and the darkness receded with the light. She cried and held on to Charles that night, though she did not get much more sleep. In the morning, she could not explain her nightmare. She forgot all about Lydia as that memory sank into her subconscious. All she could say was it felt wicked—the ultimate evil. Genevieve prayed in the daylight, asking God for forgiveness and grace. She took Charles to see Father Flaubert who was anxious to show him the will and about Genevieve’s inheritance. Genevieve simply knelt by the altar the whole time and prayed some more.

That afternoon, Edelweiss caught Genevieve alone for a moment. The fairy took one look at her lady and spouted. “Lady! You are going to have a baby!”

“What? No,” Genevieve responded. “I can’t do that to Charles. He is married. He has a new wife who just had a baby, their first. According to the Storyteller, they are supposed to have lots of children. Me getting pregnant right now might ruin everything. I mean, I want a baby—wanted a baby—one that can inherit the county after I am gone. Oh! Passive-aggressive can backfire. It makes everything so complicated, and it can ruin everything. Don’t tell.” she paused to give Edelweiss her most serious expression. “Don’t tell anyone, not even Margo or Nelly. And don’t tell any human mortals. Especially don’t tell Charles. Oh! That was stupid and selfish. I may have ruined everything. I need to think. I have to think about this…”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Edelweiss promised, but Genevieve knew the fairy would tell Margo and Nelly at the first opportunity. She could only hope the three of them would keep it among themselves for a few days.

The next day, being the fifth morning of the week, Genevieve went down to breakfast and had a terrible surprise. Mister Lupen, Antonio, and their three ugly workmen were sitting around a table, having breakfast. Uncle Bernard sat at the far end of the room at another table looking over some papers.

“Bernard,” Charles got the man’s attention. “We have strangers in our sanctuary.”

“Yes,” Bernard said. “They are merchants of some sort. They came down the Rhine last night, or early this morning. They came straight here saying they always break their fast in this place before moving up to the house for the month. They are friends of your mother’s?” He asked Genevieve.

“I suppose they are,” she said, sneaking a look. She sat where her back would be toward the other table in case they did not notice. She hoped they would not recognize her now that Bernard and Charles took her shopping and bought her all sorts of new clothes.

Bernard nodded. “Since most everyone is on the road to or from Basel, or off on other errands, or still sleeping…” He underlined that last for the couple. “I felt it would not hurt to let the men have their breakfast. Beltram confirmed their story.”

“You know they are Lombards,” Genevieve said quietly. Both men looked at the other table. Genevieve put her hands softly but firmly on the table to regain their attention. “I am not saying they are spies or any such thing, but you know merchants have sometimes been paid for information they may have gathered while visiting enemy territory.”

“I am sure Desiderius would love to know our proposed route into Lombardy,” Charles said, looking down at the map on the table with lines drawn and certain mountain passes marked in red. Bernard covered the map with both arms before he had a second thought and turned it completely over. He grinned for the couple, both of whom grinned back at him. His action, however, proved well timed as Signore—Mister Lupen and his group got up to leave. Mister Lupen stopped at the table and looked straight at Genevieve, so her meagre attempt to hide amounted to nothing. Antonio hovered over his father’s shoulder as the man spoke.

“We came in early enough yesterday so while the men worked, I made a quick trip to the manor house. Your mother said if I saw you, you need to come home right now. You have work to do and are falling behind. The work is not going to do itself.” Antonio snickered.

Genevieve put on her calm-the-distraught-child voice, a voice she learned very well from Mother Ingrid. “Tell Mother Ingrid that the Frankish hierarchy has me involved in a very important mission and I can’t possibly come home before it is accomplished.” She smiled her lovely I-am-just-an-innocent-girl smile.

Antonio turned serious but his father almost laughed. “I will convey your message,” he said, and they left.

Charles immediately turned to Genevieve. “An important mission?”

“You are important,” she said, and her smile immediately returned to a genuine smile of happiness. “Besides, I know you are going to attack the Lombards, but I know none of the important details. I figure if Mister Lupen and his crew want to try and gather some information they can sell to the Lombards, I would rather act as a decoy. They won’t get any information out of me, unless you want to give me some false information that I can feed to them.”

She let that thought hang in the air for a moment while the two men looked at each other, but in the end they both shook their heads, and Charles said, “Too dangerous.”

“But you know those men by a glance, so if you see them hanging around, you should tell us.”

Medieval 5: Genevieve 2 Prince Charming, part 4 of 4

January 10, 2024December 9, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Beltram swallowed. “Wait a moment. What are we talking about here? I have a lodger, Missus Berthold. She came from Stuttgart to visit her family but they claim they do not have room for her in their house.” He swallowed and glanced back at his wife. “You mean, the whole inn? Who are we talking about?” He glanced up at Charles and his two men. “I hope we are not talking soldiers.”

“Some,” Charles interjected.

“Well,” Genevieve began. “There will be soldiers, but they will mostly come in and out. Let’s see. The king will need a room, and a room for his sweet Uncle Bernard. I don’t know about other family, but I imagine a duke, a margrave, a count or two may show up. I suppose the rest will be for his generals and certain Captains and such, so, yes, some will be soldiers.”

“The king is coming here?” Liesel put her hand over her heart.

Charles leaned right over Genevieve’s head. “Yes he is.”

“I suppose we can move Missus Berthold to Ada’s place. I suppose she will have to move,” Genevieve mused before she opened her hand. “Here. This will get things started. I want roasted chicken and some of those good potatoes… and carrots if you got any. By the way, how many horses can you take in? I guess that can be worked out later. First, you need to bring your best beer for Charles’ men and Margo.” She looked up at Charles. “Nelly doesn’t drink and Edelweiss is not allowed. She crashes into walls and things.” She looked again at Beltram who stood there with his hand open. She placed the two silver coins there. “Are the rooms open? We need to check them out, especially the king’s room. Are the fireplaces clean and the flues and chimneys all scrubbed out?”

“Wait,” Charles said and placed a gentle hand over Genevieve’s mouth. Her eyes got big but she held her tongue. “Fulko, you stay here and be good company for the lady’s friends and enjoy the chicken. Personally, I prefer beef and game animals well roasted. We will check on the rooms. Hladwig the Younger. You get the hard duty of trudging back up to the house and telling Bernard and the others that we have procured accommodations for the morning, but we will be staying here as long as it is raining, and especially if it turns to sleet, ice, or snow. Be sure to mention that I ordered Genevieve to stay here as well, until morning if necessary.

“Yes S…”

“Sir.” Charles interrupted. “Yes Sir or Yes Captain.” He turned to Genevieve and removed his hand. “He is learning. Now, where were we?”

“Sir,” Hladwig said.

“Wait.” This time Beltram stopped the soldier. He pulled a long coat and a hat to go with it off a hook on the wall behind the counter. “It is water resistant and will help you get up the hill in one piece. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Hladwig put it on and went out into the rain.

“We were going up to check out the king’s room and make sure everything is working, and maybe get the fire going to check it out.”

“Right,” he said.

She took Charles’ hand again and led him to the stairs. She noticed Liesel sent her younger son, Gundhard, to call in the troops, so to speak, while Ruppert was out getting all the shutters closed. Liesel would need help, at least two women and two men, if the inn was going to be full, and if the king was coming. She could not imagine it. The king was coming to her inn.

By then, they reached the top of the stairs and Genevieve began to get cold feet. Not literal cold feet, like she was still out tromping around in the snow and ice, but colder feet in some sense. She steeled herself. Her feet were not going to rule her. Normally, she simply grew melancholy and accepted things as they were. She was not normally passive aggressive, but there was a time and a place for everything, as Solomon said.

“This is called the king’s room because it is where King Pepin stayed when he came to visit my father when my mother died. He did not want to stay at the house for fear the atmosphere would be too sad and full of grief for him to get any work done.” She opened the door and went straight to the fireplace to start the fire. That was something she could do very well. She was well practiced.

Charles looked around the room, saw the shutters on the side where there was a window. They were already shut. He checked them, rattling them a bit. Then he bounced on the bed to check its firmness. “A bit soft,” he said. “I mostly sleep on a camp cot. Very firm.”

“I am sure,” Genevieve said. Once the fire got started, she took a stick and lit the candle beside the wash basin, and the candle on the bed table. “Not exactly palace quality. More like camping out for someone who is used to fancy rooms and beds.”

“No,” Charles said, and looked up at the chandelier Genevieve did not bother to light and which stood just high enough so he did not bump his head as he came into the room. “This will do fine. It is very cozy.”

Genevieve nodded and went to close the door, which was not really proper for a young woman alone in a room with a strange man. She said nothing as she brought Charles to stand in a certain spot before she said, “Stand here for a moment.” She went to the wash basin and pulled out the stool from beneath such as a short woman might use to see her whole face in the brass mirror. She set in in front of Charles, stood on it so she could see Charles almost eye to eye, slipped her arms around Charles’ neck and said, “Okay. I’m ready.”

Charles held her around her waist and pulled her close enough, but he said, “Ready for what?”

“For what you are thinking.”

“You don’t know what I am thinking.”

“I want to have a baby,” she said. “A son would be nice. And you will go off with the army and get yourself killed.” she sniffed back a few tears, took one hand to wipe her eyes, and repeated herself. “Okay. I’m ready.”

She kissed him, or he kissed her, but a couple of tears got in the way and he pulled back. “You have never done this before, have you?” She shook her head and looked down at her cold feet. He frowned, pecked at her lips, and took her off the stool. He sat her down beside him on the bed and said, “Tell me. And this time I want the whole story, the real story, not the fantasy tale.”

Genevieve nodded and they talked all afternoon and into the night. He did sleep with her, and more than once. He could not help himself, and to be honest, she did not resist him. Only one thing interrupted their time together. Alice sent a clear picture to Genevieve’s mind, and it caused her to sit straight up in bed and gasp.

“What?” Charles woke right away. “What is it?”

“A picture.” Genevieve shook her head. “A vision you might say. A battle out among the stars not too far from earth. Like a battle at sea. One ship was destroyed. One ship was seriously injured. The third ship was injured, but if they can find a safe port, they might be repaired.”

“Out among the stars?” Charles asked. He honestly tried to imagine it.

Genevieve nodded, and added, “Let’s hope they don’t come here,” and she laid back down.

In the morning, Charles lay on his side, admiring her. She lay on her back, her eyes closed, smiling. He went to remove a hair from her cheek and her eyes sprang open, and she shouted.

“It’s morning. We have to get out of the king’s bed. We need to make it right away. Oh, it is really messed up. What if the king gets here? What are we going to do?’

“Shh, hush, hush.” He got a word in. “The king is already here. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. She felt very uncharacteristically stupid that morning, or actually since she met Charles. She should have guessed from the beginning. When Charles confessed himself, she got mad, though mostly at herself. He quickly slipped on his tunic, stepped outside, and closed the door while she threw things at the door. After a minute or so she decided she was acting much too much like Amphitrite. Charles was not Poseidon. She slipped into her dress, got her dry slippers from the fireplace, and grabbed her winter shawl. She went out the door all smiles, kissed Charles on the cheek with a sigh and said, “You better put on your pants and boots if you want to have breakfast. I’m starving.”

While Charles hopped back into the room, Genevieve smiled for Uncle Bernard, who happened to be standing there, his mouth slightly agape. She smiled for him and added, “We missed lunch and dinner,” she said. “He could probably eat a whole cow by himself. I prefer chicken.” She shrugged.

When Charles came out, she took his arm and looked up at him. He asked, “Feeling better?”

She nodded vigorously. “Wonderful,” she said. “We should do that some more.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” He smiled down at her as they got to the stairs. Bernard sighed, reached out and gently closed the door to the room.

************************

MONDAY

Things get complicated. Genevieve gets pregnant. She needs to marry right away. Mister Lupen shows up. Someone wants to assassinate Charles. And a spaceship lands in the woods. Much to do. Too much to do… Happy Reading.

Medieval 5: Genevieve 2 Prince Charming, part 3 of 4

January 9, 2024December 9, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Charles paused briefly before he stepped up beside her. “I see no reason why a couple of soldiers might not escort a fine young woman to town and back. I mean, now that the horses are cared for.”

Genevieve glanced back once at the two men following, one old and one young, before she looked up at Charles who kept grinning at her. “You are their captain?” she asked and Charles nodded. “A bit young for a captain,” she concluded and started walking before her feet froze in that spot.

“I’ll be twenty-eight in a week—maybe a month or so,” he said defensively. “How old do you think a captain should be?”

Genevieve shrugged. “I will be eighteen in a month or so. Ursula is already eighteen. Gisela won’t be sixteen until the fall. We are not married, though. Mother Ingrid keeps talking about making an advantageous marriage.” Genevieve shrugged again.

“Your sisters? Mother Ingrid?”

“Stepsisters. Mother Ingrid is my stepmother.”

“You are not a servant in the house?”

Genevieve shook her head this time. “Father Flaubert explained it all to me just three Sundays ago after Mass. Mother Ingrid and my sisters went into the market while Father Flaubert pulled me aside. He has a copy of the papers in the church, and he showed me. Father left everything to me, the land, the house, and all. That technically make me the countess, though Mother Ingrid uses the title, even if it is not hers to use. You see, my mother died when I was four, and father remarried before he went off to fight for King Pepin and got himself killed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Long time ago.” Genevieve returned Charles’ smile.

“So, why are you fetching the eggs?” Charles asked, honestly enough.

“I like to eat?” she tried, but Charles shook his head in a definite no.

“It is a long story,” Genevieve said. He indicated that he would listen, a good sign in Genevieve’s book since she liked to talk. She began with the phrase, “Stop me if you heard this one…” and proceeded to tell the whole Cinderella story, including the part about the fairy godmother, the ball, and the slipper. She ended with, “Of course, I don’t expect Prince Charming to show up any time soon, so I get to be servant for a while longer, anyway.”

“That is not right,” Charles drew his own conclusion. “I would not blame you if you threw the woman and her daughters out and took back your home.” Genevieve shook her head, so Charles asked, “What?”

Genevieve looked down. They had reached the town and stopped walking so it was easy to watch her slippers shuffle in the dirt. She had to shuffle them to keep her toes from freezing. “First of all, I’m not grown up yet. I’m old enough to marry and have children, but not exactly what you would call full grown. Father’s will says I get the house and property when I am eighteen, and the outlying farms and serfs and the rest of the county when I am twenty-one. I am sure he imagined I would be married by then, and Mother Ingrid’s daughters would also be married. Secondly, Mother Ingrid has sold everything she can and spent all the money on frivolous things for Ursula and Gisela, so there is not much to inherit. And third,” she looked up at Charles. “I could not do that to them. That would be cruel. They have nowhere else to go.”

Charles smiled. “I can see your heart is as beautiful as your face and form.”

Genevieve’s face turned a little red, easy to see beneath her blonde locks. “I can see your tongue is as glib as you are tall,” she responded.

Charles coughed and put on a more serious face. “So, there is one part of your story I do not understand. The fairy godmother part. The way you tell the story makes it sound like one of those fantasy stories they tell little children. I was never a big fan of those stories, even when I was a little child. I believe there are enough miraculous things on God’s green earth, things we hardly understand. We don’t have to go making up more things like fairies and elves and such.”

“A realist,” Genevieve called him. She gave him a knowing look, so once again he asked.

“What?”

“Would you like to meet my fairy godmother, well, my fairy friend?” Her smile turned to a big grin. “Are you brave enough to let your whole view of the world be shaken?” He looked at her, not sure what to say, and she called, “Edelweiss.”

A young woman stepped out from behind a building. She was fairy beautiful but she did not appear at all fairy-like.

“Fairy?” Charles said in his skeptical best.

Genevieve ignored the young man. “Edelweiss. Would you visit my shoulder please.”

“Lady. Is that wise?” Edelweiss asked. She looked around the area near enough to the market where plenty of people were coming and going.

“It is safe,” Genevieve responded. “This is Charles. He’s a friend.” She looked up. “You are a friend.” She made the question into a statement.

“I hope to be a very good friend,” he said.

Genevieve secretly smiled, but tapped her shoulder and said, “Come, come.” Edelweiss needed no more encouragement. She took her fairy form, and wings fluttering flew to Genevieve’s shoulder and took a seat where she could at least hide in Genevieve’s hair.

Charles shrieked, as Genevieve spoke.

“As a future friend of mine once said, there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Genevieve took Charles’ hand and his smile returned. “And just to be clear,” she said. “Margo and Nelly. They must be around here somewhere. I met them about eighteen months—almost two years ago when I was at a very low point and feeling very sorry for myself. I’m not like that, normally. I am usually very upbeat and positive. Only sometimes, I find my life circumstances rather depressing. Margo. Nelly.” She called.

“I don’t blame you, given your circumstances,” Charles said, as he looked down at her hand in his.

“Here we are,” two more young women shouted and came running.

“Lady. You have company,” Nelly said.

“We weren’t sure if it was safe to show ourselves,” Margo added.

“They are elves,” she said frankly to Charles. She lifted her free hand so he could see them without their glamours of humanity. She lowered it again while Edelweiss hung on by pulling gently on her hair. “Just to be clear,” she added with a grin, glad that he did not shriek that time.

“I see you have some interesting friends,” Charles said and looked up. It had begun to drizzle. “I’ll have to ask you more about that, later. Right now, we need to get under shelter. I also need to find an inn where we can house Bernard and the others. I assume your home might not be the best accommodations.”

“I know just the place,” Genevieve said, and did not hesitate to drag him half-way across town. They got inside just before the rain started in earnest. Genevieve had to let go of Charles to shake out her shawl. Edelweiss had to get down and get big. She did so behind Margo and Nelly so as to be hidden. Genevieve raised her voice. “Beltram.”

“You are good at calling for others I see.”

“My captain. You know asking quietly gets you nowhere. Beltram! Oh, there you are.” The man came sleepily from the back room.

“Ah, lovely Genevieve. Always a pleasure. How can I help you?” the man said, as his wife came up behind him to peek around his shoulder.

“I have a captain here who wants to rent your entire inn. All ten rooms.” she turned to Charles. “You do want the whole thing, yes?” Charles paused and looked up like he was counting before he nodded. “The whole inn,” she repeated. “And I want a good price. I don’t want you to gouge my friends.”

“For how long?” Beltram began to wake up.

Genevieve paused to look up at Charles. “For how long?”

“Month,” Charles said. “First of April we need to move to Basel and first of May, or at least sometime in May we move into Italy.”

“March,” Genevieve said with a bit of a smile. “I am sure you can accommodate them for the whole month.” She pulled out two silver coins that Bernard gave her and told Charles. “Bernard slipped me some extra for the eggs and other things Mother Ingrid wanted.” She grasped them and returned to face Beltram. “So, can you get everything ready by morning. They are presently at the manor house, but I doubt they will come down here in the rain before morning.” Genevieve and some of the others looked out the window in the main room.

“Ruppert,” Beltram’s wife, Liesel called. It started to come down hard and Beltram’s young son had to go out to close the shutters.