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Luke’s HAARP Time Warp: Part 15
Luke’s HAARP Time Warp: Part 15
Marion becomes Queen.
Based on a post by somethin fishy,
in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.
Chapter 70.
Luke spent a couple of days in Sheffield while the rest of the army arrived.
The first thing he did when he arrived though was that he sent Pollyanna’s
engineers ahead with a strong dragoon escort to prepare the way for his
artillery. Mostly this involved doing work at river crossings. At many of the
crossings they would have to build bridges that were strong enough to support
the weight of the cannons for the big ones weighed a couple of tons. Luke had
designed them so that when smokeless powder became available, he wouldn’t have
to redesign them. The plan for crossing the Thames was to build a large number
of boats and create a pontoon bridge with them. This way supplies could keep
up.
Within a week of Luke arriving in Sheffield, he was looking at the Norman’s
fort. The march south had been extremely rapid and uneventful for no noble was
willing to challenge Luke’s army. As uneventful a trip as the army had; Luke’s
personal trip was far more eventful. Alice’s medical unit was one of the last
ones to arrive in Sheffield for she had to finish some important things in York
before she could depart. That evening she went into Luke’s tent. Luke always
stayed in a tent while he was in the field. His theory was that his soldiers
slept in tents so he should too. His army stayed in tents because Luke had
forbidden the army from sharing civilian homes unless it was a dire emergency.
She found him lying on his cot and looking at an old picture. It was the
picture of Luke and his older sister just after he had graduated from Marine
basic training. He was in his dress blues while she was wearing one of her
formal gowns. He was so into just staring at the picture that he didn’t even
hear Alice enter. It wasn’t until she cleared her throat that Luke noticed that
she was there.
“Oh, sorry Alice. I didn’t hear you come in. What can I do for you this evening?”
As she always was, she was struck by that line. It was never “what do you
want?” or even “hello”. It was always “what can I do for you?” It was just
another reminder for Alice that Luke was the kindest person that she had ever
met. She decided right there that if Luke wanted her, she would be his lover.
After all Marion had Gabriel; why shouldn’t Luke have someone else too.
“The voices bothering you again?” Alice asked trying to sound as innocent as
possible for she knew of Luke’s sometimes hair trigger temper.
“Marion talked to you, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she did. Luke, she is concerned for you and so am I.”
“Why are you concerned for me?” It was evident from his tone that while he
wasn’t angry, he could become very angry very quickly. Alice decided then and
there to lay all her cards on the table and confess to Luke her true feelings
for him.
“Why? Because I love you, Luke. You saved me from being raped. You taught me
medicine. You enabled my late fiancé and I to actually have a chance with each
other. You have already saved the lives of countless people. Finally, you are
the kindest, most loyal person that I have ever met. So, tell me, why would I
not love you.”
“Well let’s see. I’m married and I’m broken. I have almost constant
nightmares when I sleep. In fact, most nights I don’t sleep but for maybe an
hour or two and I’ve been having nightmares for many years now. I hear voices
in my head telling me that I be dead by the end of this campaign and yet here I
am getting ready to wage this campaign anyway. If that’s not broken and
hopeless then I don’t know what is.”
“Luke you’re not broken. Only a very strong person could have survived what
all you have been through. You not only survived but you have thrived. As far
as being on this campaign see my previous comment on loyalty and as far as you
being married; well Marion has a lover so why shouldn’t you. After all she was
the one who fixed us up the other night. She was the one who begged me to do
what I could to watch over you during this campaign. So, please Luke can you
just give us a chance.”
“I don’t…” that was as far as he got before Alice’s lips locked onto his.
When she broke the kiss, she locked onto his eyes with hers. He had tried to
look away but Alice put her hands on his face and gently pulled his eyes back
to hers.
“Please Luke” With their eyes locked she could almost see the epic battle
going on inside Luke’s mind. On one hand he was loyal. He was absolutely loyal
to his wife. On the other hand, Alice was exceptionally beautiful and smart and
she reminded him of someone who had been extremely dear to him that he had lost
a few years before.
It seemed like hours before Alice saw a change in Luke’s eyes, but finally a
look of calm took over. He moved over in his cot and invited Alice to lay down
with him. Since he was so large the only way that Alice could realistically lay
with Luke was to lay on Luke.
“Before you say anything, I want to show you something. Something that even
Marion has never seen and I don’t want her to see it either for she already has
enough to worry about.”
Luke then pulled out another picture. This one was of him when he was in his
mid to late twenties and he was with a stunning redhead. When Alice saw the
picture, she gasped for the redhead in the picture could have been her twin
sister.
“Who is she, Luke?”
“Who was she, Alice? Her name was Rebecca, Becky, and she was my fiancé but
she was killed two days before we were to get married. She was driving home
late one night when a deer jumped out in front of her car. She tried to avoid
it and in doing so lost control of her car and hit a tree. The autopsy showed
that she died almost instantly so at least she didn’t suffer. It also revealed
that she was eight weeks pregnant with twin girls. That was when I moved to Alaska
for, I wanted to get as far away from where she died as I could. I never did
step foot back in Louisiana again. She was my entire life and after her my life
has just wasn’t been worth living until, I met Marion. Then I met you and
everything went upside-down. You two even have very similar interest for she
was a surgical resident at the local hospital and was within a month of
finishing.”
“Oh Luke, I didn’t know!!” She gripped him as tight as she could and by the
time, she finished crying Luke had fallen asleep. She continued to lay there
and now paying attention she noticed Luke’s body tense up several times. When
this happened, she would hold him tighter and he would relax. Eventually she
was able to fall asleep, but now she was having nightmares of her own. Only
hers were what might happen if that voice in Luke’s head turned out to be
right. Would Marion be able to hold things together. As Alice thought about it,
the more she was convinced that Marion wouldn’t be able to. Alice had a huge
amount more interaction with the general populace than anyone else in Marion’s
group except for Luke, so she knew that a major reason the people were willing
to follow her was because of Luke.
For it was Luke that had the people’s complete trust. The one’s that didn’t
trust him, feared him so much that they wouldn’t do anything that might risk
his wrath. Alice of course knew why; after all this was the 11th century and
everyone understood brute force. This was what most people saw in Luke. His
power was blindingly so obvious that most everyone overlooked his true power,
his intelligence, his willingness to listen to the people around him, and his
kindness. Alice knew that Marion didn’t understand this dynamic and she
probably never would, after all she had been born into a very privileged life
and she was blind to the general population as a whole. Put any single person
or small group in front of her and she treated them with upmost respect. But
she was at best partly blind to the lower classes. At least to her credit,
Marion tried.
The next morning Luke was up early as usual. He gently slid out from under
Alice and covered her back up for she was still sleeping soundly. He started
his morning the same way he always did. He checked the night sentries. Granted
he was in friendly territory but that was no excuse for letting one’s guard
down. With sunrise the army got ready to leave. A message had come in overnight
from Pollyanna telling him that things were clear all the way to the Thames.
When Alice caught up with Luke later that morning, he invited her to keep her
things with his and she gladly accepted.
The army moved like the wind on their way south. By the time they reached
the Thames, Pollyanna had the pontoon bridge done so Luke’s army didn’t even
have to pause. They moved so fast that they caught the Norman army completely
by surprise. The only thing that saved the Normans from being annihilated
during the first contact was a storm had blown up and limited the visibility
thus allowed them to escape back to their fort. Not that being in their fort
would do them any good. Luke ordered his artillery to ring the fort at a
distance of five hundred meters with his infantry to dig in in front of them at
a distance of three hundred meters from the walls.
At this range they could pick off anyone who came outside the walls and
depending on the wind, his motors could drop rounds on the fort. It took about
a day to get into position at the end of which, he sent his surrender demands
to William of Normandy. If they laid down their arms then they would be allowed
to return to Normandy. If they didn’t then they would all have English graves
for the rest of eternity. It didn’t surprise Luke any when his demands were
refused with what was his experience was typical French snootiness, not that he
cared.
The bombardment started at sunrise the next morning. Luke made sure that his
gunners fired slow enough so that they didn’t fire through all their shells in
one day. Their first target was the walls. If they could be destroyed then his
troops could pick off William’s troops at will. Within an hour, the walls had
been blown to bits, but now they had another problem. William had built his
fort on a hilltop and Luke’s soldiers couldn’t see into the fort so Luke
ordered a number of towers to be built around the hill. These towers were made
of crossed logs that had both ends notched to fit into notches of the logs
above and below them. From these towers, his best shots would be able to pick
off William’s men no matter where they were at.
It had taken the rest of the day to build the towers, but Luke had another
trick up his sleeve. That night he ordered illumination rounds fired
continuously over the Norman heads. This way, his sharpshooters could pick out
their targets and the Normans wouldn’t be able to get any sleep. Luke’s
sharpshooter teams only were allowed to work for four hours before they were
relieved so that they could get some rest.
The next morning, the Normans presented Luke an offer for them to surrender
but Luke flat out rejected it. The price was now their unconditional surrender
which of course the Duke of Normandy was not going to do. After the messenger
left with Luke’s response, Alice asked him:
“Luke, why did you condemn all those men over there to death? That seems
extremely cruel and that’s definitely not like you.”
“Because I don’t want Marion to have to look over her shoulder constantly
wondering if she will be invaded again from Normandy. This will buy her the
time that she will need to shore up her support.”
“You talk like you won’t be there to help her. You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I hope not for I am happier here than I ever was before, but reality
doesn’t care about people.” Luke said with a sad smile. Alice knew that he was
still being bothered by the voices and worse still was that he now not only
believed them but had accepted what they were telling him to be the truth and
was conducting himself accordingly. All through the day, Luke’s artillery and
sharpshooters killed many Normans. That evening, Luke summoned one of his crack
cavalry units and ordered them to advance on the fort and scout it for it was
too windy for him to have the balloon deployed.
As the cavalry advanced, Luke ordered a cease fire so that he wouldn’t have
to worry about friendly fire. He also had gone up to the top of one of the
towers so that he could get a better view. He watched as the cavalry went into
the fort and watched as they looked around. They signaled that everyone in the
fort was dead and that it was safe to enter.
Alice was one of the first ones not in the cavalry to enter the fort and she
stunned by what she found for almost none of the Normans were still alive. What
shocked her worse was Luke’s reaction to the carnage that he had caused. He
just ordered the bodies thrown into a nearby gully and buried. After he had
helped his troops dispose of the bodies he went and had dinner.
Chapter 71.
Earl John of Sheffield had been waiting for this moment since the summer. He
hated that his serfs had been liberated and it really pissed him off that some
of the minor nobles in the area were now making more money than he was. He just
couldn’t bring himself to pay the lower classes to do work that they should
have been doing anyway for they were not good for anything else. At least in his
opinion. It really pissed him off when Marion’s labor board had fined him for
shorting his employee’s paychecks.
He knew that he would have to wait for the perfect opportunity to revolt or
Marion’s army would crush him. As he waited, he wasn’t idle. He put our feelers
to the other nobles in the area to see if any of them would be interested in
joining him. He found four other fairly minor nobles that were interested in
joining him in his revolt. As his diplomatic efforts were under way, he had
sent men to infiltrate Marion’s army and learn about her style of warfare. As
his diplomatic efforts were coming to fruition, he was able to find a
black-market supplier for small arms for his army.
One of the minor nobles that joined him was named Hildyard and John didn’t
think that much of him. He was arrogant and constantly thought of himself more
than he was. As far as John was concerned though, Hildyard would make good
cannon fodder. Hildyard’s wife on the other was against rebelling for she had
been making really good money for herself under Marion’s rule and knew that
Marion’s troops would crush any rebellion. She actually was mad enough, with
Hildyard, that she kicked him out of her life for she wanted nothing to do with
this rebellion and wanted to protect her family at all cost. She had seen the
cost of rebelling against Marion and she wanted no part of it.
John watched as Marion’s army crushed the Viking invasion and he hoped that
Godwinson’s army would tangle with Marion’s, but that didn’t happen. Just after
the Viking invasion had been beaten off, his spies returned and began to train
the rest of the noble’s combined army in absolute secrecy. John watched as his
army was brought up to the standards that Marion’s army had been trained to,
and John was finding that he couldn’t wait to bring Marion’s army to battle and
crush it. He would then make her his personal whore. As his army was training,
John looked for the ideal land to do battle on.
He knew he would do much better to stay on the defensive so he looked for
land that was easy to defend and would allow him an escape route in the event
that his plans were upset. He found the perfect place in a spot that was
surrounded on three sides by impenetrable swamps. Carefully he began to fortify
the area and to protect his men against the expected artillery barrage; he had
bunkers built and earthen walls put up around the area.
Finally, he was ready and now he just had to find the perfect opportunity.
It came much sooner then he thought. Five days after King Godwinson got to
York, the Normans invaded and he took off, back South. By mid-October word came
that the King’s army had been defeated in battle. John had been waiting for
this for he was sure that Marion would send her army south and when she did, he
would revolt. He was sure that this would force Marion to further divide her
forces for he knew about the troops that she had in Scotland. Sure enough, she
did exactly what he had been expecting and he watched as Marion’s army moved
through the area.
A week after Marion’s army left Sheffield, no word had come and now John
knew that it was safe for him to revolt. He sent coded messages to the rest of
his co-conspirators and they mobilized their armies. In all they had almost ten
thousand men, all armed with firearms. The lack of artillery bothered John some
but he was banking on cutting Luke’s supply lines and hopefully he would shoot
through his supply of ammunition making his artillery useless. It would take a
few days for the nobles to gain control of the entire area, so they had spread
out some. Their first target was the rail depot and supply dump that was there.
Since Luke hadn’t been expecting a revolt in the area, he had left only a token
force behind to guard it. John’s forces quickly overwhelmed the guards but not
before the commander had set demolition charges in the power stores.
As the guards were being marched out, the powder went up with a massive
explosion. The explosion had been caused be a booby-trapped door and caused the
death of John’s oldest son and a number of his men. John was so upset with this
that he ordered the female guards brutally raped before they were drawn and
quartered. The male guards were to be castrated before they too were drawn and
quartered. Although the guards suffered, they all understood that John’s war
effort would be crippled for he had been relying on capturing those powder
supplies intact.
It took almost an entire day to slowly kill the guards and the last to die
was the commander. This way, he would have to watch his troops suffer because
of what he did. Once all the guards were dead, John ordered that every building
was to be torched and the army was to move to the appointed gathering point.
Once all the noble’s armies had gathered, they would march on York and forever
put an end to all this bull about men and women being equal and the lower
classes having equal rights with the nobles.
What John didn’t know was that Luke was already on his way north. He
wouldn’t find out until he got a message from one of the other nobles. It had
been sent in a hurry for the noble didn’t even have time to write it down. The
message simple;
“Marion’s army is back.”
John knew that he wouldn’t have enough time to gather the rest of the men,
so he headed toward his swamp fortress. At least two of the other nobles had
been able to meet up with him. All told they had just over seven thousand
troops and John was sure that Luke had suffered casualties in battling the
Normans. The way John and the rest of his commanders figured; the armies would
be about equal.
Almost as soon as John was settling into his new fortress, he got word that
Hildyard’s forces had also been eliminated. Here it seemed like Luke had
launched a night attack and that had caught Hildyard’s army by complete
surprise. John had tried to warm that idiot about underestimating Luke, for he
had managed to send some time talking with Luke during Luke’s summer campaign
in the area and had come away from that meeting with a huge amount of grudging
respect for Luke’s command talents. Now Hildyard paid the ultimate price for
his stupidity. John spent the time before Luke arrived, strengthening his
defenses and had a number of scouts posted to inform him when Luke’s forces
made it into the area. One of the other things that John had done was to make a
hidden path out of the back of the marsh, so that his forces could escape if
anything went wrong. He placed hidden fortifications where the path came into
the fortress in case Luke tried to come up that path and had even placed a
number of booby traps along it to slow Luke’s forces down. Now all that there
was to do was wait. They had plenty of food, water, and ammunition in the
bunkers and had enough bunkers for all the men to hide in.
Chapter 72.
The very next morning, Luke’s army was on the road again. This time they
were headed to Scotland to settle some unfinished business. Everyone in the
army was now stunned at just how cold Luke had become. Before he would always
be the one who would warm the mood of the room with their presence. Now the
mood turned subarctic everywhere he went. Of course, everyone still had the
upmost respect for him, they just wondered what had happened to him.
Once the army was back north of the Thames, Alice cornered him:
“Okay Luke you can stop with the little voices now! The campaign is over and
you survived just like everyone else in the army.”
“Really, the campaign is over now? Since when and who said anything about
the voices bothering me?!?! And while we are on the subject of the campaign,
when the fuck did you become a god-damn fucking general? Because I don’t ever
remember saying that the campaign was over yet.”
This was the first time that Luke had ever terrified Alice. Normally his
face was always an even color no matter how angry he got, but now he was redder
than her hair. For a second, she was petrified but then she fled with tears in
her eyes. The look in Luke’s eyes basically said that he didn’t feel anything
about making Alice cry. Luke then received a message that some of the nobles in
the Sheffield area was rebelling and that his supply depot had been destroyed
to keep it out of the rebel’s hands. The army had been gone for almost a week
and a half with no news about if they had won or not. In fact, Luke had sent a
single highly coded message to Marion telling her of their victory and that he
was taking the army up to Scotland. He had also asked her not to say anything
to anyone for he wanted to see if any of the nobles would rebel. He was
determined that should he die; that Marion would be able to rule and not have
rebellious nobles to worry about.
Up to this point the army was making about their usual distance of just
short of twenty-two kilometers a day. As soon as Luke got the message, he
ordered the pace be picked up for he wanted almost forty kilometers a day. With
this everyone knew that something bad was going on but Luke was close lipped
about it. The army raced north arriving back in the Sheffield area in a matter
of days. They found the whole area in an uproar for it seemed like a number of
the remaining nobles in the area had been waiting on the army to be away so
that they could rebel. They hated that their serfs had been freed and many of
them had taken massive hits to their incomes as a result. To make matters
worse, every one of them had firearms for their personal armies.
Luke had moved his army so fast that he had managed to catch one of the
rebellious nobles by complete surprise and annihilated that noble’s army within
only fifteen minutes. The noble had been captured alive and Luke ordered that
he and his entire family be impaled and left at the side of one of the major
roads in the area. To really drive his point home, the noble was forced to
watch as absolutely everyone in his family was stripped naked and impaled on
objects from his own castle. Once they had been impaled, he was impaled as
well. Luke was tired of nobles rebelling every time he had his back turned and
he was determined to put a permanent end to their rebelling. Luke didn’t even
take time to loot the noble’s possessions before he went after the next target.
This one had some warning but it wasn’t enough for him to get completely ready.
Luke now pulled yet another trick out of his hat and made a night attack.
This caught the noble off guard and most of his army routed without even
putting a hand on their guns. The rest of the army was killed where they stood.
The noble this time was killed in combat. When Luke investigated, he found that
the noble’s wife had kicked him out because he wanted to rebel while she loved
being under Marion’s rule. This saved her and her families lives and Luke made
sure that her property was not touched. He even invited her to dinner that
evening but she respectfully declined.
Now Luke’s army had knocked off two rebel nobles and had only suffered forty
casualties, while killing or capturing almost three thousand. All prisoners
were required to dig the mass graves for the dead and then they were sent to a
prison camp that Luke had set up where they could be dealt with later. He made
sure to leave enough guards to keep the prisoners under control and a cavalry
unit to scout for any enemy units trying to free the prisoners.
The third noble out of the five that rebelled was now fully alerted that
Luke was in the area. This one wasn’t an idiot and had set himself up in an
area that he could easily defend. Luke knew that he was going to have a problem
with this one for he had met this bastard before and remembered him. Not only
was this noble the smartest out of the five but he had the largest army and he
was in as easily defensible position. In addition, Luke learned that the other
two remaining nobles had joined him and swelled his ranks. Luke, with a small
cavalry escort, rode around the enemy position and he noticed that there was a
small, tight path into the rear of the enemy position.
The problem that Luke had with it was that it was almost too obvious. In the
end, Luke decided not to attack along the path, like some of his subordinates
wanted to. Luke was going to pull out another trick and make his own path. He
had his artillery start firing at dawn, the day after they had arrived in front
of the noble’s defenses. They were to fire as fast as they could for four hours
and then stop. While the artillery was firing, Luke would take one of his
brigades around and hack their way through the swamp that was guarding the
enemy’s flank.
The brigade that he would be using, left camp well before daylight so that
he could be in position to start hacking when the barrage started. This, Luke’s
troops easily accomplished. On the way through the marsh, Luke saw that one of
his soldiers was having an especially rough time. Her problem was that she
wasn’t tall enough and she couldn’t keep her ammunition box out of the water
without a huge amount of effort. Another problem she had was that the water was
cold and she was completely soaked. Luke came up behind her and picked her up
and placed her on his shoulders. She was one of the new recruits so she didn’t
know that Luke often helped his troops like this.
“Hello private. What’s your name lass?”
“M-Madeline, sir.”
“Please while you’re up there, Luke will do just fine. I do have one favor
to ask of you though. Can you help keep an eye out ahead of us for the enemy
please?”
“Yes sir... uh Luke” Luke smiled at her hesitation.
“So why did you join the army, Madeline?”
“To get out of an arranged marriage to an awful man. That and I wanted to
serve Marion for she had done so much good for my village.”
“How long have you been with us?”
“I joined right after you beat those Vikings.”
“So, this is going to be your first real battle?”
“Yes.”
“So, are you going to enroll in reading and writing classes or can you read
and write already?”
“I don’t know. I mean I’m just a girl Luke.”
“So what? Marion reads. Her head body guard, Gabriel, reads. The chief
engineer, Pollyanna, reads. The head doctor, Alice, reads; so why do you think
that you can’t?”
“Well, I… I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like a very lady like thing to do.”
“Neither is joining the army and yet you did that. Tell you what, after this
battle, stop by my tent and you can talk with Alice for a bit so you can learn
about all the benefits of reading. Can you at least do that, please?”
Madeline was stunned for nowhere in all the legends that she had heard about
Luke did they talk about his encouraging women to read and write. She found
that she really liked Luke the person. She found the general to be very fair
and likeable as well but he could be a bit heavy handed when it came to
disciple. In her opinion anyway. As they traveled on, Madeline tried to ask
Luke about his background.
“You don’t want to know, trust me. Plus, to give the story any justice at
all it would take much more time than we have available. It won’t be long
before the artillery stops.”
All through this Luke had been thinking and he realized what a monstrous ass
that he had made of himself over the last couple of weeks and all because of a
damn little voice in his head that had always been wrong before. Something else
that gave him comfort was when Madeline said that she joined because she wanted
to serve Marion. Maybe things would work out for the better after all.
When the artillery went quiet, Luke had his army right on the edge of the
enemy camp. He could see that they had been devastated by the artillery fire
and he could see that his theory of avoiding the path had been correct for he
could see the hidden fortifications blocking it. The remaining enemy soldiers
were starting to file out of their bunkers and were manning the field
fortifications. He turned to Madeline:
“Just stay near me private and trust your training and you will be fine.
Trust me.”
“Yes sir.”
Luke looked up and down his line to make sure that everyone was in position.
The enemy was finishing up getting into position to repel the expected frontal
attack. Luke stood up and waved his arm, signaling his troops to begin the
attack. They went in with no yelling at all. They just moved silently and
quickly. The enemy didn’t even spot them until Luke’s troops were almost on
them. Most of the enemy troops appeared to still be in a bit of shock either
from the bombardment or from Luke’s troops showing up behind them and all this
was just fine with Luke. Just meant that he would have fewer causalities. By
this time, he had stopped carrying his sword unless it was ceremonial.
For battle he carried his Sig which he was able to make ammunition for and a
standard army rifle as well. Luke’s troops swept over the enemy with ease for
they had completely surprised the enemy forces. After they had swept the area,
Luke went to stand on the enemy parapet where he waited for the main part of
his army. With him he had Marion’s flag and he thrust the butt of the pole into
the ground next to him.
“General, sir. Can I ask you a question?” Luke looked over and saw that it
was Madeline. He then smiled warmly.
“Go ahead, Madeline.”
“That flag, where did Marion get the idea from? I’m just curious.”
“This was known as the flag of St. George where I came from and Marion liked
it.” Luke made sure to skip over that part about this being the English flag in
his universe.
“Oh, just curious. Sorry for asking.”
“Never be sorry for asking questions for that is how you learn Madeline. Now
you should probably get back to your duty.”
“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”
When the commander of the rest of the army got up to Luke; Luke just had to
ask:
“What took ya so long? I was beginning to wonder if you all had fallen
asleep or something and I about to go and try to find me a pint.”
Around him, the troops were relieved for their commanding general was back.
It took the rest of the day to bury all the enemy dead, not that Luke was
bothered for he was no longer in a hurry. All the steel was collected, so that
it could be sold to Luke’s steel mill; the money would be divided between the
troops.
Chapter 73.
When Alice found Luke, she wasn’t sure who it was for she had grown use to
Luke being angry and now he was back to his old self.
“Luke!” she exclaimed “What happened to you?”
“I just had to be reminded what I was fighting for, that’s all. Well, that
and a reminder that many other people live lives that are far worse than mine.
Oh, before I forget to tell you, you might have a visitor this evening at our
tent. Met me a young soldier who doesn’t believe that she can read because of
her being a well, her.”
“If she stops by, I’ll fix that!” Alice said with a smile. “What’s the
lass’s name?”
“Madeline” With that Luke put his arm around Alice’s shoulder and held her
close. Alice was so relieved for Luke really had returned and he wasn’t acting
one bit.
That evening, Madeline did stop by. She had been fighting with herself all
afternoon as to whether she should or not and she still wasn’t all that sure.
She wasn’t even sure of how she had got there for one minute it she was in her
tent and it seemed like the next, she was asking for permission to enter the
commanding general’s tent. She found Luke working on paperwork while Alice was
doing some weird stretching. Luke had taught Alice yoga and she found that she loved
it. Luke loved it for the spectacular view. Neither of them still had uniforms
on for they were both in comfortable clothes. Luke looked up when she came in:
“Well, hi Madeline. Welcome. Can I get you anything?”
“Ah no. Thank you” Madeline was extremely nervous.
“Relax Madeline. I’m not nearly as rigid as I seem when in uniform. Time for
introductions” Luke said jumping up from his seat “Madeline this is Alice.
Alice this is Madeline. She’s the one I telling you about”
“So, you’re the one who doesn’t believe that women can read. Come in and
take a seat for we have a lot to talk about.”
For the next couple of hours, the ladies talked while Luke worked on
paperwork. Once in a while Luke would chime in with his two-sense worth without
even looking up from his paperwork. Finally, Luke was able to finish all of his
paperwork. It was nice to be finally caught up on everything for once. He could
hear that the ladies were still talking, but he had to interrupt.
“Excuse me ladies but I’m going to bed. Madeline, you might want to think
about going to bed to for we will be leaving in the morning.”
“Seriously Luke?” whined Alice.
“Seriously Luke?” Luke said in a mocking voice “Yes, seriously. I want to
get the army back home before the weather gets worse and you need to get back
to your hospital. Well Madeline what do you think now?”
“I can’t wait to learn how to read!!” Luke and Alice smiled at her response.
“Madeline, make sure that you stop by the hospital once in a while and I’ll
help you with anything that you need.”
“Oh, thank you Alice.”
With that Madeline started to pack up so that she could get back to her
tent. Once she had left Luke turned to Alice:
“Well, what do you think?”
“Time will tell. Time will tell. Now how bout we get to bed.”
“Ah my thoughts exactly.” Luke said with a mischievous grin.
Without warning, Luke swept Alice off her feet, threw her over his shoulder,
and carried the giggling lass back to their cot. They hadn’t been tangled up
since that time while in York but Alice could tell that with the old Luke back
and that she was going to get laid tonight and she was thrilled. He swung her
around so that his hands were holding her up by grabbing her tight ass. Alice
spread her legs and wrapped them around Luke’s waist while she wrapped her arms
around his neck. Looking into his eyes, Alice could see just how happy Luke was
for his eyes were once again sky blue and they had regained their twinkle. She
hadn’t seen them this blue in quite some time for lately they had been stormy
gray.
Their lips met and Alice could have sworn that she had been hit with
lightening, the feeling was so strong. Looking at Luke, she could see that he
felt the same way. Suddenly the previously cool tent felt like it had been
thrown in a fire and neither Luke or Alice could get their clothes off fast
enough. Luke actually tripped on his pant leg and fell over, but he didn’t care
and he started laughing. Since he was on his back, Alice pounced for neither of
them needed any foreplay tonight. Alice’s previously fast movements almost
stopped as she slowly impaled herself. It wasn’t that she needed time to
stretch her pussy out, she just loved the feeling of Luke slowly sliding up
inside of her.
After a minute or so, their pubic hairs finally messed together. The color
contrast between Luke’s dark brown hair and Alice’s flaming red bush was
striking. They had both kept each other trimmed up neat for it was pain in the
ass to shave down there in the field and Luke never shaved down there anyway.
As Alice finished settling, Luke gently pulled her head down so that they could
kiss. As she did, she had ride up on Luke’s cock and she could feel the veins
on his cock and his heartbeat. After they shared a kiss, she moved back down
until their hair mashed together again. Over and over, they repeated this and
since they shared the workload, neither of them got tired very quick.
Remembering something that Marion liked, Luke told Alice to spin around. Now
she was in a reverse cowgirl position and Alice immediately found that she
liked this position for she could feel Luke’s cock rubbing on the front of her
cunt and when Luke’s meaty fingers found her clit, she exploded. Her body
seized up and after thirty seconds, she started to shake so violently that she
lost all control. Below her Luke felt like he was taking a shower for Alice was
spraying like crazy. He just smiled to himself and thought, ‘Yep, I’m back
baby’. He held her up so that she wouldn’t fall and injure herself.
In the dim light Luke could see the film of sweat that now covered Alice’s
body and looking into her face, Luke could also see that she was ready to go to
sleep. He gently laid her down next to him without even pulling out of her. As
soon as she found a comfortable spot, on Luke’s arm, she was out like a light
and lightly snoring. Luke grabbed a pillow and blanket off his cot. Then he
wrapped his arms around her and drifted off into a very restful sleep.
When Luke woke up the next morning, he was amazed at how good he felt for he
hadn’t slept that well in a very long time. Looking at Alice, he had to stifle
a laugh for her hair was a mess and she hadn’t moved since passing out the
night before. Gently Luke untangled himself from her and got up. Alice didn’t
wake up until Luke started cooking breakfast and she was sore so Luke helped
her stand up and then had to catch her when she tried to fall down.
“Get dressed Alice for breakfast is almost ready, and it’s a really nice day
out.” Chirped Luke. This earned him a cringe from Alice.
“Why do you have to be so cheerful this early in the morning?” she groaned.
Just to get her going he gave her a good swat to her ass leaving a red mark and
getting her to yip.
After everyone had ate, the army started getting underway. They would have
to march back to York for the rebellious nobles had wrecked the train station
and it would be at least a week before it could be repaired. Luke did leave a
strong detachment in Sheffield to help with reconstruction and to keep everyone
in line. The trip back to York only took a couple of days because all the roads
had now been greatly improved.
Getting back to York, the city was in an uproar over the army’s return and
their victories over the Norman invaders and the rebellion. It seemed like
every person in and around York was there to greet the army. This time Luke
would march at the head of the army and with the crispness of a marine, they
entered York.
At the city limits though he got one hell of a surprise when he found Marion
waiting on him. This time he rushed up to her and swept her off her feet
earning them a standing ovation from the troops and the civilians watching. He
spun around with her a couple of times and they were both laughing and then
their eyes met.
Marion could see that something major had happened to Luke for it seemed
like the light was back on in his eyes. She had not seen that much light since
before they had first taken York and it warmed her heart so much to see that it
had returned. She could feel Luke relax as he buried his nose in her hair and
took a deep breath. He then ran his hand along her jawline and their lips
interlocked, getting them even more cheers.
“I love you, Marion” he whispered in her ear as he held her tight.
“I love you too Luke”
Luke then changed his grip and put Marion up on his shoulders. Together they
led the army into York. This wasn’t what she had in mind but it worked.
“Hey Marion, where’s Gabriel at?”
“She’s not feeling too good right now.”
“What?!?! Why?!?!”
“Her and her kid aren’t getting along right now.”
“Ah”
As they led the army through the city, the crowds were going wild; Marion of
course waved to the crowds in a way that reminded Luke of the way homecoming
queens waved to crowds in his old universe. He had to admit that Marion had
seemed to make serious in roads with the population and that took a load off
his mind. They walked back to the castle with Marion waving to the crowd the
entire way. By the time they got back, Luke was smiling widely and he was in a
very good mood. The army was getting as many cheers as Marion was and this
pointed to a good future.
Chapter 74.
The rest of November was quiet for Marion and the gang. Gabriel managed to
quickly recover from her kid beating the crap out of her, although she did
admit that she couldn’t wait to give birth so that she wouldn’t have to go pee
even couple of hours and only get dribbles each time. Over her objections,
Marion put her on restricted duty so that she wouldn’t be under as heavy of
strain. Gabriel might have been able to fight Marion, but Luke, Alice, and Pollyanna
weighed in on Marion’s side and Gabriel knew when she was beat. She would be on
desk duty until after she had given birth. At least she was a capable
administrator in her own rite so she would still be a valuable team member.
Speaking of Alice, after sleeping with Luke every night for the last couple
of weeks, she found that she just couldn’t sleep alone any more. On the second
night after they got back, she showed up at Marion’s door after everyone had
gone to bed. She had been so nervous that she almost didn’t come, but she had
slept so bad the night before that she felt like she didn’t have any choice. As
she always did at this time of night, Marion answered the door nude. She
figured that if someone woke her up, then the least she could do was to make
them a bit uncomfortable.
“Hi Alice, What’s up?”
“Is that invitation to move in with you and Luke still open?”
“Of course, it is, dearie. Found that you just couldn’t sleep alone after
sleeping with Luke?”
“Ya” Alice was still really nervous and she hoped that Marion would let her
stay.
“Well come on in. There’s no need to stand out there all night.”
“Marion, I really can’t thank you enough for allowing me to stay with you.”
Marion gave her a very warm smile.
“Alice, honey, I see the looks that Luke gives you and I know what they mean
for he gives me the same looks. The look of love and desire. Looks that are
shared by spouses that are completely in love with each other. By the way he
doesn’t give Gabriel those looks. Plus, since I have Gabriel as a lover, it’s
only fair that Luke has himself a lover as well.”
“Thank you for understanding Marion. I really can’t thank you enough.”
“That’s alright, just don’t break Luke and please let him save some energy
for me.”
“I would never dream of breaking him. As for him saving energy well I think
the general will just have to get into better shape.”
“You know Alice, I figured from the first day I saw you with Luke; the Luke
was especially fond of you and I’m guessing that it was because you reminded him
of someone.”
Alice once again was nervous for Marion had hit it right on the head.
“I think that should be a conversation that you should have with Luke for
you completely correct but I swore that I wouldn’t reveal what the connection
is.”
“No, I don’t think I will for Luke is entitled to his secrets. If and when
he wants to tell me, he will. Just please don’t try to steal him from me.”
This actually triggered Alice’s usually mellow temper.
“Marion, listen to me,” growled Alice “I would never dream of stealing Luke
from you and you know that. After all you are one of my best friends and you
are kind enough to share him with me.”
The ladies nodded to each other showing that they now understood each other
and with that, Alice moved in with Luke, Marion, Gabriel, and Mackenzie. Luke
was having one of his insomnia attacks so he was down in his workshop. Marion
explained to Alice what that meant and that they might as well go to bed. Alice
was a bit uncomfortable about getting into bed with two other naked women but
figured that since they were both her friends that she could trust them. To her
surprise, she found that sleeping with other women wasn’t as bad as she thought
although she doubted that she would ever be comfortable with the idea of her
making love with another woman.
December started off with a bang and kept going from there. Marion had two
announces one public, one private. The private announcement was that she was
pregnant again. The public one was that she was interested in being ruler of England
and since no other noble on the island was strong enough or foolish enough to
stand in her way, none of them argued. The church though was a different story
for they refused to seat someone who had willingly taken church property, had a
homosexual lover, and was a woman.
As usual, Marion didn’t give a damn what the church thought. She gave them
two options, confirm her as rightful Queen of England on Christmas day 1066 or
she would take England by force and kick the church out. Speaking of taking by
force, Marion’s army was making rapid gains in Scotland. When Luke had got back
from the South, he sent a brigade North with orders to crush all resistance
with extreme prejudice. This is what they did too. The brigade that Luke sent
and the one that was still there swept through Scotland like the wind. Just as
in England if a noble resisted then they were removed and their possessions
seized and their land was sold off to the commoners.
Everyone knew though that tackling the highlanders would take much more
time, but they had made a really good start. Marion was also able to open a
land corridor to her lands in the far north and this enabled Luke to start
laying train tracks to link these lands with the area around York.
The church officials in Canterbury decided to make themselves a third option
to Marion’s ultimatum. They sent their best witch hunters up to York with
orders to investigate Marion and the rest of her inner circle of signs of
witchcraft, heresy, or homosexuality or any other sins. Of course, in their
minds, she and her inner circle were already guilty so the investigation was
only a formality before they had her executed. They arrived in mid-December and
found that York was now a highly advanced city. The team wondered through the
city for two days, just looking at the sights and what they saw, scared them
shitless. There were female police officers on the streets.
Paved streets. Every house had running water. Every street it seemed had a
book seller on it. Jews and pagans were practicing their faith openly. The
people were worse, for they didn’t seem to give a fart about these high church
officials and what they were doing. It wasn’t until the officials tried to
close down a public bath house that people got pissed, and they got pissed with
the church officials. The public bath houses were mixed genders and mixed ages
and had hot, cool, and cold-water pools. In addition to bathing, swimming
lessons were offered for anyone wanting to learn how to swim and most citizens
did take at least some lessons.
The locals had quickly become addicted to stopping by the bath house after a
long day working and getting the grim off before they went home. While there,
they could catch up on the local gossip or check out the opposite sex. The
rules for this were very simple: look but don’t touch without an invitation
from the person being touched. Sometimes the people would even get a massage as
well. When the church tried to close it down for public debauchery, they were
literally thrown out and were actually rescued by a passing female officer. She
was the one that took the officials to see Marion.
When they finally got into her office, they found a very attractive brunette
sitting at Marion’s desk.
“Marion of York we presume.”
“Nope, Colonel Gabriel at your service.” She said without looking up “Just
have a seat and I’ll be right with you.” She finished up the paperwork that she
had been doing. “Now what can I do for you gentlemen.”
“We are here to investigate claims of Marion of York being a witch and a
homosexual. We are also looking for signs of heresy.”
Gabriel leaned back in her chair and burst out laughing. She was laughing so
hard that she nearly peed herself.
“I can assure you that Marion of York isn’t a witch for she is actually far
more dangerous than that. As to her being a lesbian, I will tell you that she
loves her husband more than anything. I’m the lesbian for I am Marion’s lover.
Actually, I’m more bisexual; it’s just that I prefer women over men but I do
appreciate a good cock once in a while. As far as me being pregnant well I
always wanted a kid and Luke, Marion’s husband, was kind enough to help with me
with that dream.”
“Then you are under arrest on orders from the Pope.” Again, Gabriel burst
out laughing. “Do you find something funny about you being under arrest?”
“Yes, I do. I think it’s funny that you actually think that you could get
away with it” Gabriel managed to get out between laughs. At this point, Marion
walked through a side door.
“What’s so funny Gabriel?” Marion came over and put a hand on Gabriel’s
shoulder.
“These church goons are here put me under arrest for being a lesbian and
investigate you for being a witch.”
“Oh ya. Well in that case you had better get up then.” Gabriel got up and
Marion pulled her to her lips. As they were kissing, their hands started
working at undoing each other’s shirts as they moaning into each other’s
mouths.
“Oh God Marion. You taste so good!” Gabriel managed to get out. This was too
much for one of the churchmen and he got up to try and grab Gabriel and Marion.
As soon as he put a hand on Marion, she turned, gabbed his hand and using her
other hand, smashed his nose in. The blood started flowing out of his nose as
he howled in pain. The remaining churchmen drew their swords and pointed them
at the ladies, but the ladies were back to making out instead. As they
approached Marion and Gabriel, the churchmen heard very heavy footsteps
approaching.
“Uh-oh, now you done it.” Marion managed to get out before going back to
tongue wrestling with Gabriel. Luke stepped out from the same doorway that
Marion had come out of.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
“We are here in the name of his holiness the Pope to arrest these two women
for witchcraft and homosexuality, and to investigate the rest of her inner
circle for other sins.”
“These two angels? Marion, why didn’t you tell me you had hired a comedy
crew? I would have made snacks and sold tickets.”
“Sorry Luke. Must…have…oh, ya…. slipped my…. mind.”
“They are under arrest and if you try to interfere then you will be too.”
“Now listen you fuck heads. You have two options and only two. First you can
put your weapons on the ground, get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness
from the goddess of intelligent beauty and her lover or you can all die. Your
choice.”
“Or the third option.” The leading churchman said. With that the group
started for Marion and Gabriel. In a flash, Luke struck; he pulled out his Sig
and shot all the churchmen in the knees. With that, Luke walked over to a
cooler, pulled out a beer, and pulled up a seat to watch. Before he sat down,
he dropped his pants so that he could beat off while watching the ladies making
out. During this whole thing, they had kept making out and had even managed to
get their shirts off.
Gabriel had her hand in Marion’s pants while Marion was sucking on one of
Gabriel’s sensitive nipples. Before long both of them had their pants off and
Marion gently laid Gabriel out on the desk. Luke was sitting there, drinking a
beer and jacking off to his wife and her lover making love. The extra icing on
the cake was the suffering of the churchmen and how they had taken to reciting
verses to keep distracted and hopefully call down divine intervention. Before
Marion buried her face in Gabriel’s sweet pussy, she looked at Luke.
“I hope that you’re not thinking of wasting all that juice when there is a
pussy right here” she grabbed her pussy “that needs that stuff in it.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it sweetheart.” In reality he was planning on cumming
all over the churchmen but he figured that shooting it into his wife was a far
better idea. He got up and lined up with Marion’s hot love hole. In one thrust
he was buried deep inside of her and then he started pounding her relentlessly.
Luke could tell from Gabriel’s breathing and moaning that she was very close
and Marion wasn’t far behind her. He started driving extra deep into Marion so
that he could get there as the ladies did. This pushed Marion over the edge and
she took Gabriel along with her.
The orgasm that Marion had was explosive and she sprayed all over Luke. This
triggered him and he dumped an extra-large load deep inside his wife. Although
Marion was weak-kneed, she had an idea that she just had to do. She put her
hand over her pussy to keep Luke’s spunk from dropping on the floor as she
waddled to where she feet were straddling the lead churchman’s head, forcing
him to look up. When she was sure that she was in the right position, she moved
her hand and cum fell from her cunt and landed in the churchman’s open mouth.
Marion then managed to squeeze a bit more and this landed in one of his eyes.
She then bent over and forced the churchman to close his mouth and swallow.
“Guards!” she called out and two guards came rushing in. “Take these
bastards out of here, tie them to their horses, and send them on their way. If
they resist beat them but don’t kill them for, I want them to suffer. If you
fuckers hurry, you might make it back to London before infection sets in, but I
doubt it.” She then turned to Luke “Time to mobilize the army General for we
march on London in two days.”
“Yes ma’am” Luke said was he snapped to attention with his cock still
standing proud.
“This time I will be going with you. Gabriel you will remain here with one
brigade. With you in that condition, there is no way I am risking you on a trip
to London, especially at this time of year.” Looking at Luke “Well am I going
to have to mobilize the army myself?”
With that, Luke pulled his pants up, saluted, grabbed the rest of his beer,
and sped out to start the mobilization. After all to Luke it was a moral sin to
waste good beer. The guards were coming in to take the wounded churchmen out.
“Don’t bother dropping them off with the doc either.”
“Yes ma’am” the guards said in unison.
Within two days the army was in Sheffield. Seems like everyone in the army
expected this to happen so their commanders had held them close to the barracks
until things calmed down. Luke was actually able to get the first units on the
train on that first evening. From Sheffield, the army marched swiftly to
London. Once there the city opened its gates to Marion and her army and within
a day, they had secured London and the surrounding area. While her army secured
the area, Marion was forcing the church and the nobles that were in London to
recognize her as the rightful queen of England.
Just before Christmas, Gabriel arrived in London, along with Alice,
Pollyanna, Matt, and Mackenzie. They had come down at Luke’s invitation for he
thought it would be nice to see the ultimate reward for their struggles. Luke
wanted them to watch Marion be crowned Queen Marion I, Queen of England and
hopefully soon, queen of Great Britain. Marion wasn’t happy with Gabriel being
in London but she didn’t protest too much.
On Christmas morning 1066, Marion was in her formal gown while Alice and
Pollyanna were in their dress uniforms. Escorting them were Luke and Matt also
in full dress uniforms. Gabriel was the only one in regular clothes because her
dress uniform wouldn’t fit at the moment. Also, there was an honor guard
detachment and Marion’s personal body guards. The whole group marched into
Westminster abbey. The honor guards secured the building while Marion’s guards
stayed glued her and her inner circle. They all stood by while Marion went
through the service and at the end of it was the words that Luke had been
waiting to hear spoken by the archbishop of Canterbury:
“I Now Pronounce You Queen Marion The First, Queen Of England. Long Live The
Queen!”
Based on a post by somethin fishy,
for Sex Stories.
View all episodes
By Steamy StoriesLuke’s HAARP Time Warp: Part 15
Marion becomes Queen.
Based on a post by somethin fishy,
in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.
Chapter 70.
Luke spent a couple of days in Sheffield while the rest of the army arrived.
The first thing he did when he arrived though was that he sent Pollyanna’s
engineers ahead with a strong dragoon escort to prepare the way for his
artillery. Mostly this involved doing work at river crossings. At many of the
crossings they would have to build bridges that were strong enough to support
the weight of the cannons for the big ones weighed a couple of tons. Luke had
designed them so that when smokeless powder became available, he wouldn’t have
to redesign them. The plan for crossing the Thames was to build a large number
of boats and create a pontoon bridge with them. This way supplies could keep
up.
Within a week of Luke arriving in Sheffield, he was looking at the Norman’s
fort. The march south had been extremely rapid and uneventful for no noble was
willing to challenge Luke’s army. As uneventful a trip as the army had; Luke’s
personal trip was far more eventful. Alice’s medical unit was one of the last
ones to arrive in Sheffield for she had to finish some important things in York
before she could depart. That evening she went into Luke’s tent. Luke always
stayed in a tent while he was in the field. His theory was that his soldiers
slept in tents so he should too. His army stayed in tents because Luke had
forbidden the army from sharing civilian homes unless it was a dire emergency.
She found him lying on his cot and looking at an old picture. It was the
picture of Luke and his older sister just after he had graduated from Marine
basic training. He was in his dress blues while she was wearing one of her
formal gowns. He was so into just staring at the picture that he didn’t even
hear Alice enter. It wasn’t until she cleared her throat that Luke noticed that
she was there.
“Oh, sorry Alice. I didn’t hear you come in. What can I do for you this evening?”
As she always was, she was struck by that line. It was never “what do you
want?” or even “hello”. It was always “what can I do for you?” It was just
another reminder for Alice that Luke was the kindest person that she had ever
met. She decided right there that if Luke wanted her, she would be his lover.
After all Marion had Gabriel; why shouldn’t Luke have someone else too.
“The voices bothering you again?” Alice asked trying to sound as innocent as
possible for she knew of Luke’s sometimes hair trigger temper.
“Marion talked to you, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she did. Luke, she is concerned for you and so am I.”
“Why are you concerned for me?” It was evident from his tone that while he
wasn’t angry, he could become very angry very quickly. Alice decided then and
there to lay all her cards on the table and confess to Luke her true feelings
for him.
“Why? Because I love you, Luke. You saved me from being raped. You taught me
medicine. You enabled my late fiancé and I to actually have a chance with each
other. You have already saved the lives of countless people. Finally, you are
the kindest, most loyal person that I have ever met. So, tell me, why would I
not love you.”
“Well let’s see. I’m married and I’m broken. I have almost constant
nightmares when I sleep. In fact, most nights I don’t sleep but for maybe an
hour or two and I’ve been having nightmares for many years now. I hear voices
in my head telling me that I be dead by the end of this campaign and yet here I
am getting ready to wage this campaign anyway. If that’s not broken and
hopeless then I don’t know what is.”
“Luke you’re not broken. Only a very strong person could have survived what
all you have been through. You not only survived but you have thrived. As far
as being on this campaign see my previous comment on loyalty and as far as you
being married; well Marion has a lover so why shouldn’t you. After all she was
the one who fixed us up the other night. She was the one who begged me to do
what I could to watch over you during this campaign. So, please Luke can you
just give us a chance.”
“I don’t…” that was as far as he got before Alice’s lips locked onto his.
When she broke the kiss, she locked onto his eyes with hers. He had tried to
look away but Alice put her hands on his face and gently pulled his eyes back
to hers.
“Please Luke” With their eyes locked she could almost see the epic battle
going on inside Luke’s mind. On one hand he was loyal. He was absolutely loyal
to his wife. On the other hand, Alice was exceptionally beautiful and smart and
she reminded him of someone who had been extremely dear to him that he had lost
a few years before.
It seemed like hours before Alice saw a change in Luke’s eyes, but finally a
look of calm took over. He moved over in his cot and invited Alice to lay down
with him. Since he was so large the only way that Alice could realistically lay
with Luke was to lay on Luke.
“Before you say anything, I want to show you something. Something that even
Marion has never seen and I don’t want her to see it either for she already has
enough to worry about.”
Luke then pulled out another picture. This one was of him when he was in his
mid to late twenties and he was with a stunning redhead. When Alice saw the
picture, she gasped for the redhead in the picture could have been her twin
sister.
“Who is she, Luke?”
“Who was she, Alice? Her name was Rebecca, Becky, and she was my fiancé but
she was killed two days before we were to get married. She was driving home
late one night when a deer jumped out in front of her car. She tried to avoid
it and in doing so lost control of her car and hit a tree. The autopsy showed
that she died almost instantly so at least she didn’t suffer. It also revealed
that she was eight weeks pregnant with twin girls. That was when I moved to Alaska
for, I wanted to get as far away from where she died as I could. I never did
step foot back in Louisiana again. She was my entire life and after her my life
has just wasn’t been worth living until, I met Marion. Then I met you and
everything went upside-down. You two even have very similar interest for she
was a surgical resident at the local hospital and was within a month of
finishing.”
“Oh Luke, I didn’t know!!” She gripped him as tight as she could and by the
time, she finished crying Luke had fallen asleep. She continued to lay there
and now paying attention she noticed Luke’s body tense up several times. When
this happened, she would hold him tighter and he would relax. Eventually she
was able to fall asleep, but now she was having nightmares of her own. Only
hers were what might happen if that voice in Luke’s head turned out to be
right. Would Marion be able to hold things together. As Alice thought about it,
the more she was convinced that Marion wouldn’t be able to. Alice had a huge
amount more interaction with the general populace than anyone else in Marion’s
group except for Luke, so she knew that a major reason the people were willing
to follow her was because of Luke.
For it was Luke that had the people’s complete trust. The one’s that didn’t
trust him, feared him so much that they wouldn’t do anything that might risk
his wrath. Alice of course knew why; after all this was the 11th century and
everyone understood brute force. This was what most people saw in Luke. His
power was blindingly so obvious that most everyone overlooked his true power,
his intelligence, his willingness to listen to the people around him, and his
kindness. Alice knew that Marion didn’t understand this dynamic and she
probably never would, after all she had been born into a very privileged life
and she was blind to the general population as a whole. Put any single person
or small group in front of her and she treated them with upmost respect. But
she was at best partly blind to the lower classes. At least to her credit,
Marion tried.
The next morning Luke was up early as usual. He gently slid out from under
Alice and covered her back up for she was still sleeping soundly. He started
his morning the same way he always did. He checked the night sentries. Granted
he was in friendly territory but that was no excuse for letting one’s guard
down. With sunrise the army got ready to leave. A message had come in overnight
from Pollyanna telling him that things were clear all the way to the Thames.
When Alice caught up with Luke later that morning, he invited her to keep her
things with his and she gladly accepted.
The army moved like the wind on their way south. By the time they reached
the Thames, Pollyanna had the pontoon bridge done so Luke’s army didn’t even
have to pause. They moved so fast that they caught the Norman army completely
by surprise. The only thing that saved the Normans from being annihilated
during the first contact was a storm had blown up and limited the visibility
thus allowed them to escape back to their fort. Not that being in their fort
would do them any good. Luke ordered his artillery to ring the fort at a
distance of five hundred meters with his infantry to dig in in front of them at
a distance of three hundred meters from the walls.
At this range they could pick off anyone who came outside the walls and
depending on the wind, his motors could drop rounds on the fort. It took about
a day to get into position at the end of which, he sent his surrender demands
to William of Normandy. If they laid down their arms then they would be allowed
to return to Normandy. If they didn’t then they would all have English graves
for the rest of eternity. It didn’t surprise Luke any when his demands were
refused with what was his experience was typical French snootiness, not that he
cared.
The bombardment started at sunrise the next morning. Luke made sure that his
gunners fired slow enough so that they didn’t fire through all their shells in
one day. Their first target was the walls. If they could be destroyed then his
troops could pick off William’s troops at will. Within an hour, the walls had
been blown to bits, but now they had another problem. William had built his
fort on a hilltop and Luke’s soldiers couldn’t see into the fort so Luke
ordered a number of towers to be built around the hill. These towers were made
of crossed logs that had both ends notched to fit into notches of the logs
above and below them. From these towers, his best shots would be able to pick
off William’s men no matter where they were at.
It had taken the rest of the day to build the towers, but Luke had another
trick up his sleeve. That night he ordered illumination rounds fired
continuously over the Norman heads. This way, his sharpshooters could pick out
their targets and the Normans wouldn’t be able to get any sleep. Luke’s
sharpshooter teams only were allowed to work for four hours before they were
relieved so that they could get some rest.
The next morning, the Normans presented Luke an offer for them to surrender
but Luke flat out rejected it. The price was now their unconditional surrender
which of course the Duke of Normandy was not going to do. After the messenger
left with Luke’s response, Alice asked him:
“Luke, why did you condemn all those men over there to death? That seems
extremely cruel and that’s definitely not like you.”
“Because I don’t want Marion to have to look over her shoulder constantly
wondering if she will be invaded again from Normandy. This will buy her the
time that she will need to shore up her support.”
“You talk like you won’t be there to help her. You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I hope not for I am happier here than I ever was before, but reality
doesn’t care about people.” Luke said with a sad smile. Alice knew that he was
still being bothered by the voices and worse still was that he now not only
believed them but had accepted what they were telling him to be the truth and
was conducting himself accordingly. All through the day, Luke’s artillery and
sharpshooters killed many Normans. That evening, Luke summoned one of his crack
cavalry units and ordered them to advance on the fort and scout it for it was
too windy for him to have the balloon deployed.
As the cavalry advanced, Luke ordered a cease fire so that he wouldn’t have
to worry about friendly fire. He also had gone up to the top of one of the
towers so that he could get a better view. He watched as the cavalry went into
the fort and watched as they looked around. They signaled that everyone in the
fort was dead and that it was safe to enter.
Alice was one of the first ones not in the cavalry to enter the fort and she
stunned by what she found for almost none of the Normans were still alive. What
shocked her worse was Luke’s reaction to the carnage that he had caused. He
just ordered the bodies thrown into a nearby gully and buried. After he had
helped his troops dispose of the bodies he went and had dinner.
Chapter 71.
Earl John of Sheffield had been waiting for this moment since the summer. He
hated that his serfs had been liberated and it really pissed him off that some
of the minor nobles in the area were now making more money than he was. He just
couldn’t bring himself to pay the lower classes to do work that they should
have been doing anyway for they were not good for anything else. At least in his
opinion. It really pissed him off when Marion’s labor board had fined him for
shorting his employee’s paychecks.
He knew that he would have to wait for the perfect opportunity to revolt or
Marion’s army would crush him. As he waited, he wasn’t idle. He put our feelers
to the other nobles in the area to see if any of them would be interested in
joining him. He found four other fairly minor nobles that were interested in
joining him in his revolt. As his diplomatic efforts were under way, he had
sent men to infiltrate Marion’s army and learn about her style of warfare. As
his diplomatic efforts were coming to fruition, he was able to find a
black-market supplier for small arms for his army.
One of the minor nobles that joined him was named Hildyard and John didn’t
think that much of him. He was arrogant and constantly thought of himself more
than he was. As far as John was concerned though, Hildyard would make good
cannon fodder. Hildyard’s wife on the other was against rebelling for she had
been making really good money for herself under Marion’s rule and knew that
Marion’s troops would crush any rebellion. She actually was mad enough, with
Hildyard, that she kicked him out of her life for she wanted nothing to do with
this rebellion and wanted to protect her family at all cost. She had seen the
cost of rebelling against Marion and she wanted no part of it.
John watched as Marion’s army crushed the Viking invasion and he hoped that
Godwinson’s army would tangle with Marion’s, but that didn’t happen. Just after
the Viking invasion had been beaten off, his spies returned and began to train
the rest of the noble’s combined army in absolute secrecy. John watched as his
army was brought up to the standards that Marion’s army had been trained to,
and John was finding that he couldn’t wait to bring Marion’s army to battle and
crush it. He would then make her his personal whore. As his army was training,
John looked for the ideal land to do battle on.
He knew he would do much better to stay on the defensive so he looked for
land that was easy to defend and would allow him an escape route in the event
that his plans were upset. He found the perfect place in a spot that was
surrounded on three sides by impenetrable swamps. Carefully he began to fortify
the area and to protect his men against the expected artillery barrage; he had
bunkers built and earthen walls put up around the area.
Finally, he was ready and now he just had to find the perfect opportunity.
It came much sooner then he thought. Five days after King Godwinson got to
York, the Normans invaded and he took off, back South. By mid-October word came
that the King’s army had been defeated in battle. John had been waiting for
this for he was sure that Marion would send her army south and when she did, he
would revolt. He was sure that this would force Marion to further divide her
forces for he knew about the troops that she had in Scotland. Sure enough, she
did exactly what he had been expecting and he watched as Marion’s army moved
through the area.
A week after Marion’s army left Sheffield, no word had come and now John
knew that it was safe for him to revolt. He sent coded messages to the rest of
his co-conspirators and they mobilized their armies. In all they had almost ten
thousand men, all armed with firearms. The lack of artillery bothered John some
but he was banking on cutting Luke’s supply lines and hopefully he would shoot
through his supply of ammunition making his artillery useless. It would take a
few days for the nobles to gain control of the entire area, so they had spread
out some. Their first target was the rail depot and supply dump that was there.
Since Luke hadn’t been expecting a revolt in the area, he had left only a token
force behind to guard it. John’s forces quickly overwhelmed the guards but not
before the commander had set demolition charges in the power stores.
As the guards were being marched out, the powder went up with a massive
explosion. The explosion had been caused be a booby-trapped door and caused the
death of John’s oldest son and a number of his men. John was so upset with this
that he ordered the female guards brutally raped before they were drawn and
quartered. The male guards were to be castrated before they too were drawn and
quartered. Although the guards suffered, they all understood that John’s war
effort would be crippled for he had been relying on capturing those powder
supplies intact.
It took almost an entire day to slowly kill the guards and the last to die
was the commander. This way, he would have to watch his troops suffer because
of what he did. Once all the guards were dead, John ordered that every building
was to be torched and the army was to move to the appointed gathering point.
Once all the noble’s armies had gathered, they would march on York and forever
put an end to all this bull about men and women being equal and the lower
classes having equal rights with the nobles.
What John didn’t know was that Luke was already on his way north. He
wouldn’t find out until he got a message from one of the other nobles. It had
been sent in a hurry for the noble didn’t even have time to write it down. The
message simple;
“Marion’s army is back.”
John knew that he wouldn’t have enough time to gather the rest of the men,
so he headed toward his swamp fortress. At least two of the other nobles had
been able to meet up with him. All told they had just over seven thousand
troops and John was sure that Luke had suffered casualties in battling the
Normans. The way John and the rest of his commanders figured; the armies would
be about equal.
Almost as soon as John was settling into his new fortress, he got word that
Hildyard’s forces had also been eliminated. Here it seemed like Luke had
launched a night attack and that had caught Hildyard’s army by complete
surprise. John had tried to warm that idiot about underestimating Luke, for he
had managed to send some time talking with Luke during Luke’s summer campaign
in the area and had come away from that meeting with a huge amount of grudging
respect for Luke’s command talents. Now Hildyard paid the ultimate price for
his stupidity. John spent the time before Luke arrived, strengthening his
defenses and had a number of scouts posted to inform him when Luke’s forces
made it into the area. One of the other things that John had done was to make a
hidden path out of the back of the marsh, so that his forces could escape if
anything went wrong. He placed hidden fortifications where the path came into
the fortress in case Luke tried to come up that path and had even placed a
number of booby traps along it to slow Luke’s forces down. Now all that there
was to do was wait. They had plenty of food, water, and ammunition in the
bunkers and had enough bunkers for all the men to hide in.
Chapter 72.
The very next morning, Luke’s army was on the road again. This time they
were headed to Scotland to settle some unfinished business. Everyone in the
army was now stunned at just how cold Luke had become. Before he would always
be the one who would warm the mood of the room with their presence. Now the
mood turned subarctic everywhere he went. Of course, everyone still had the
upmost respect for him, they just wondered what had happened to him.
Once the army was back north of the Thames, Alice cornered him:
“Okay Luke you can stop with the little voices now! The campaign is over and
you survived just like everyone else in the army.”
“Really, the campaign is over now? Since when and who said anything about
the voices bothering me?!?! And while we are on the subject of the campaign,
when the fuck did you become a god-damn fucking general? Because I don’t ever
remember saying that the campaign was over yet.”
This was the first time that Luke had ever terrified Alice. Normally his
face was always an even color no matter how angry he got, but now he was redder
than her hair. For a second, she was petrified but then she fled with tears in
her eyes. The look in Luke’s eyes basically said that he didn’t feel anything
about making Alice cry. Luke then received a message that some of the nobles in
the Sheffield area was rebelling and that his supply depot had been destroyed
to keep it out of the rebel’s hands. The army had been gone for almost a week
and a half with no news about if they had won or not. In fact, Luke had sent a
single highly coded message to Marion telling her of their victory and that he
was taking the army up to Scotland. He had also asked her not to say anything
to anyone for he wanted to see if any of the nobles would rebel. He was
determined that should he die; that Marion would be able to rule and not have
rebellious nobles to worry about.
Up to this point the army was making about their usual distance of just
short of twenty-two kilometers a day. As soon as Luke got the message, he
ordered the pace be picked up for he wanted almost forty kilometers a day. With
this everyone knew that something bad was going on but Luke was close lipped
about it. The army raced north arriving back in the Sheffield area in a matter
of days. They found the whole area in an uproar for it seemed like a number of
the remaining nobles in the area had been waiting on the army to be away so
that they could rebel. They hated that their serfs had been freed and many of
them had taken massive hits to their incomes as a result. To make matters
worse, every one of them had firearms for their personal armies.
Luke had moved his army so fast that he had managed to catch one of the
rebellious nobles by complete surprise and annihilated that noble’s army within
only fifteen minutes. The noble had been captured alive and Luke ordered that
he and his entire family be impaled and left at the side of one of the major
roads in the area. To really drive his point home, the noble was forced to
watch as absolutely everyone in his family was stripped naked and impaled on
objects from his own castle. Once they had been impaled, he was impaled as
well. Luke was tired of nobles rebelling every time he had his back turned and
he was determined to put a permanent end to their rebelling. Luke didn’t even
take time to loot the noble’s possessions before he went after the next target.
This one had some warning but it wasn’t enough for him to get completely ready.
Luke now pulled yet another trick out of his hat and made a night attack.
This caught the noble off guard and most of his army routed without even
putting a hand on their guns. The rest of the army was killed where they stood.
The noble this time was killed in combat. When Luke investigated, he found that
the noble’s wife had kicked him out because he wanted to rebel while she loved
being under Marion’s rule. This saved her and her families lives and Luke made
sure that her property was not touched. He even invited her to dinner that
evening but she respectfully declined.
Now Luke’s army had knocked off two rebel nobles and had only suffered forty
casualties, while killing or capturing almost three thousand. All prisoners
were required to dig the mass graves for the dead and then they were sent to a
prison camp that Luke had set up where they could be dealt with later. He made
sure to leave enough guards to keep the prisoners under control and a cavalry
unit to scout for any enemy units trying to free the prisoners.
The third noble out of the five that rebelled was now fully alerted that
Luke was in the area. This one wasn’t an idiot and had set himself up in an
area that he could easily defend. Luke knew that he was going to have a problem
with this one for he had met this bastard before and remembered him. Not only
was this noble the smartest out of the five but he had the largest army and he
was in as easily defensible position. In addition, Luke learned that the other
two remaining nobles had joined him and swelled his ranks. Luke, with a small
cavalry escort, rode around the enemy position and he noticed that there was a
small, tight path into the rear of the enemy position.
The problem that Luke had with it was that it was almost too obvious. In the
end, Luke decided not to attack along the path, like some of his subordinates
wanted to. Luke was going to pull out another trick and make his own path. He
had his artillery start firing at dawn, the day after they had arrived in front
of the noble’s defenses. They were to fire as fast as they could for four hours
and then stop. While the artillery was firing, Luke would take one of his
brigades around and hack their way through the swamp that was guarding the
enemy’s flank.
The brigade that he would be using, left camp well before daylight so that
he could be in position to start hacking when the barrage started. This, Luke’s
troops easily accomplished. On the way through the marsh, Luke saw that one of
his soldiers was having an especially rough time. Her problem was that she
wasn’t tall enough and she couldn’t keep her ammunition box out of the water
without a huge amount of effort. Another problem she had was that the water was
cold and she was completely soaked. Luke came up behind her and picked her up
and placed her on his shoulders. She was one of the new recruits so she didn’t
know that Luke often helped his troops like this.
“Hello private. What’s your name lass?”
“M-Madeline, sir.”
“Please while you’re up there, Luke will do just fine. I do have one favor
to ask of you though. Can you help keep an eye out ahead of us for the enemy
please?”
“Yes sir... uh Luke” Luke smiled at her hesitation.
“So why did you join the army, Madeline?”
“To get out of an arranged marriage to an awful man. That and I wanted to
serve Marion for she had done so much good for my village.”
“How long have you been with us?”
“I joined right after you beat those Vikings.”
“So, this is going to be your first real battle?”
“Yes.”
“So, are you going to enroll in reading and writing classes or can you read
and write already?”
“I don’t know. I mean I’m just a girl Luke.”
“So what? Marion reads. Her head body guard, Gabriel, reads. The chief
engineer, Pollyanna, reads. The head doctor, Alice, reads; so why do you think
that you can’t?”
“Well, I… I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like a very lady like thing to do.”
“Neither is joining the army and yet you did that. Tell you what, after this
battle, stop by my tent and you can talk with Alice for a bit so you can learn
about all the benefits of reading. Can you at least do that, please?”
Madeline was stunned for nowhere in all the legends that she had heard about
Luke did they talk about his encouraging women to read and write. She found
that she really liked Luke the person. She found the general to be very fair
and likeable as well but he could be a bit heavy handed when it came to
disciple. In her opinion anyway. As they traveled on, Madeline tried to ask
Luke about his background.
“You don’t want to know, trust me. Plus, to give the story any justice at
all it would take much more time than we have available. It won’t be long
before the artillery stops.”
All through this Luke had been thinking and he realized what a monstrous ass
that he had made of himself over the last couple of weeks and all because of a
damn little voice in his head that had always been wrong before. Something else
that gave him comfort was when Madeline said that she joined because she wanted
to serve Marion. Maybe things would work out for the better after all.
When the artillery went quiet, Luke had his army right on the edge of the
enemy camp. He could see that they had been devastated by the artillery fire
and he could see that his theory of avoiding the path had been correct for he
could see the hidden fortifications blocking it. The remaining enemy soldiers
were starting to file out of their bunkers and were manning the field
fortifications. He turned to Madeline:
“Just stay near me private and trust your training and you will be fine.
Trust me.”
“Yes sir.”
Luke looked up and down his line to make sure that everyone was in position.
The enemy was finishing up getting into position to repel the expected frontal
attack. Luke stood up and waved his arm, signaling his troops to begin the
attack. They went in with no yelling at all. They just moved silently and
quickly. The enemy didn’t even spot them until Luke’s troops were almost on
them. Most of the enemy troops appeared to still be in a bit of shock either
from the bombardment or from Luke’s troops showing up behind them and all this
was just fine with Luke. Just meant that he would have fewer causalities. By
this time, he had stopped carrying his sword unless it was ceremonial.
For battle he carried his Sig which he was able to make ammunition for and a
standard army rifle as well. Luke’s troops swept over the enemy with ease for
they had completely surprised the enemy forces. After they had swept the area,
Luke went to stand on the enemy parapet where he waited for the main part of
his army. With him he had Marion’s flag and he thrust the butt of the pole into
the ground next to him.
“General, sir. Can I ask you a question?” Luke looked over and saw that it
was Madeline. He then smiled warmly.
“Go ahead, Madeline.”
“That flag, where did Marion get the idea from? I’m just curious.”
“This was known as the flag of St. George where I came from and Marion liked
it.” Luke made sure to skip over that part about this being the English flag in
his universe.
“Oh, just curious. Sorry for asking.”
“Never be sorry for asking questions for that is how you learn Madeline. Now
you should probably get back to your duty.”
“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”
When the commander of the rest of the army got up to Luke; Luke just had to
ask:
“What took ya so long? I was beginning to wonder if you all had fallen
asleep or something and I about to go and try to find me a pint.”
Around him, the troops were relieved for their commanding general was back.
It took the rest of the day to bury all the enemy dead, not that Luke was
bothered for he was no longer in a hurry. All the steel was collected, so that
it could be sold to Luke’s steel mill; the money would be divided between the
troops.
Chapter 73.
When Alice found Luke, she wasn’t sure who it was for she had grown use to
Luke being angry and now he was back to his old self.
“Luke!” she exclaimed “What happened to you?”
“I just had to be reminded what I was fighting for, that’s all. Well, that
and a reminder that many other people live lives that are far worse than mine.
Oh, before I forget to tell you, you might have a visitor this evening at our
tent. Met me a young soldier who doesn’t believe that she can read because of
her being a well, her.”
“If she stops by, I’ll fix that!” Alice said with a smile. “What’s the
lass’s name?”
“Madeline” With that Luke put his arm around Alice’s shoulder and held her
close. Alice was so relieved for Luke really had returned and he wasn’t acting
one bit.
That evening, Madeline did stop by. She had been fighting with herself all
afternoon as to whether she should or not and she still wasn’t all that sure.
She wasn’t even sure of how she had got there for one minute it she was in her
tent and it seemed like the next, she was asking for permission to enter the
commanding general’s tent. She found Luke working on paperwork while Alice was
doing some weird stretching. Luke had taught Alice yoga and she found that she loved
it. Luke loved it for the spectacular view. Neither of them still had uniforms
on for they were both in comfortable clothes. Luke looked up when she came in:
“Well, hi Madeline. Welcome. Can I get you anything?”
“Ah no. Thank you” Madeline was extremely nervous.
“Relax Madeline. I’m not nearly as rigid as I seem when in uniform. Time for
introductions” Luke said jumping up from his seat “Madeline this is Alice.
Alice this is Madeline. She’s the one I telling you about”
“So, you’re the one who doesn’t believe that women can read. Come in and
take a seat for we have a lot to talk about.”
For the next couple of hours, the ladies talked while Luke worked on
paperwork. Once in a while Luke would chime in with his two-sense worth without
even looking up from his paperwork. Finally, Luke was able to finish all of his
paperwork. It was nice to be finally caught up on everything for once. He could
hear that the ladies were still talking, but he had to interrupt.
“Excuse me ladies but I’m going to bed. Madeline, you might want to think
about going to bed to for we will be leaving in the morning.”
“Seriously Luke?” whined Alice.
“Seriously Luke?” Luke said in a mocking voice “Yes, seriously. I want to
get the army back home before the weather gets worse and you need to get back
to your hospital. Well Madeline what do you think now?”
“I can’t wait to learn how to read!!” Luke and Alice smiled at her response.
“Madeline, make sure that you stop by the hospital once in a while and I’ll
help you with anything that you need.”
“Oh, thank you Alice.”
With that Madeline started to pack up so that she could get back to her
tent. Once she had left Luke turned to Alice:
“Well, what do you think?”
“Time will tell. Time will tell. Now how bout we get to bed.”
“Ah my thoughts exactly.” Luke said with a mischievous grin.
Without warning, Luke swept Alice off her feet, threw her over his shoulder,
and carried the giggling lass back to their cot. They hadn’t been tangled up
since that time while in York but Alice could tell that with the old Luke back
and that she was going to get laid tonight and she was thrilled. He swung her
around so that his hands were holding her up by grabbing her tight ass. Alice
spread her legs and wrapped them around Luke’s waist while she wrapped her arms
around his neck. Looking into his eyes, Alice could see just how happy Luke was
for his eyes were once again sky blue and they had regained their twinkle. She
hadn’t seen them this blue in quite some time for lately they had been stormy
gray.
Their lips met and Alice could have sworn that she had been hit with
lightening, the feeling was so strong. Looking at Luke, she could see that he
felt the same way. Suddenly the previously cool tent felt like it had been
thrown in a fire and neither Luke or Alice could get their clothes off fast
enough. Luke actually tripped on his pant leg and fell over, but he didn’t care
and he started laughing. Since he was on his back, Alice pounced for neither of
them needed any foreplay tonight. Alice’s previously fast movements almost
stopped as she slowly impaled herself. It wasn’t that she needed time to
stretch her pussy out, she just loved the feeling of Luke slowly sliding up
inside of her.
After a minute or so, their pubic hairs finally messed together. The color
contrast between Luke’s dark brown hair and Alice’s flaming red bush was
striking. They had both kept each other trimmed up neat for it was pain in the
ass to shave down there in the field and Luke never shaved down there anyway.
As Alice finished settling, Luke gently pulled her head down so that they could
kiss. As she did, she had ride up on Luke’s cock and she could feel the veins
on his cock and his heartbeat. After they shared a kiss, she moved back down
until their hair mashed together again. Over and over, they repeated this and
since they shared the workload, neither of them got tired very quick.
Remembering something that Marion liked, Luke told Alice to spin around. Now
she was in a reverse cowgirl position and Alice immediately found that she
liked this position for she could feel Luke’s cock rubbing on the front of her
cunt and when Luke’s meaty fingers found her clit, she exploded. Her body
seized up and after thirty seconds, she started to shake so violently that she
lost all control. Below her Luke felt like he was taking a shower for Alice was
spraying like crazy. He just smiled to himself and thought, ‘Yep, I’m back
baby’. He held her up so that she wouldn’t fall and injure herself.
In the dim light Luke could see the film of sweat that now covered Alice’s
body and looking into her face, Luke could also see that she was ready to go to
sleep. He gently laid her down next to him without even pulling out of her. As
soon as she found a comfortable spot, on Luke’s arm, she was out like a light
and lightly snoring. Luke grabbed a pillow and blanket off his cot. Then he
wrapped his arms around her and drifted off into a very restful sleep.
When Luke woke up the next morning, he was amazed at how good he felt for he
hadn’t slept that well in a very long time. Looking at Alice, he had to stifle
a laugh for her hair was a mess and she hadn’t moved since passing out the
night before. Gently Luke untangled himself from her and got up. Alice didn’t
wake up until Luke started cooking breakfast and she was sore so Luke helped
her stand up and then had to catch her when she tried to fall down.
“Get dressed Alice for breakfast is almost ready, and it’s a really nice day
out.” Chirped Luke. This earned him a cringe from Alice.
“Why do you have to be so cheerful this early in the morning?” she groaned.
Just to get her going he gave her a good swat to her ass leaving a red mark and
getting her to yip.
After everyone had ate, the army started getting underway. They would have
to march back to York for the rebellious nobles had wrecked the train station
and it would be at least a week before it could be repaired. Luke did leave a
strong detachment in Sheffield to help with reconstruction and to keep everyone
in line. The trip back to York only took a couple of days because all the roads
had now been greatly improved.
Getting back to York, the city was in an uproar over the army’s return and
their victories over the Norman invaders and the rebellion. It seemed like
every person in and around York was there to greet the army. This time Luke
would march at the head of the army and with the crispness of a marine, they
entered York.
At the city limits though he got one hell of a surprise when he found Marion
waiting on him. This time he rushed up to her and swept her off her feet
earning them a standing ovation from the troops and the civilians watching. He
spun around with her a couple of times and they were both laughing and then
their eyes met.
Marion could see that something major had happened to Luke for it seemed
like the light was back on in his eyes. She had not seen that much light since
before they had first taken York and it warmed her heart so much to see that it
had returned. She could feel Luke relax as he buried his nose in her hair and
took a deep breath. He then ran his hand along her jawline and their lips
interlocked, getting them even more cheers.
“I love you, Marion” he whispered in her ear as he held her tight.
“I love you too Luke”
Luke then changed his grip and put Marion up on his shoulders. Together they
led the army into York. This wasn’t what she had in mind but it worked.
“Hey Marion, where’s Gabriel at?”
“She’s not feeling too good right now.”
“What?!?! Why?!?!”
“Her and her kid aren’t getting along right now.”
“Ah”
As they led the army through the city, the crowds were going wild; Marion of
course waved to the crowds in a way that reminded Luke of the way homecoming
queens waved to crowds in his old universe. He had to admit that Marion had
seemed to make serious in roads with the population and that took a load off
his mind. They walked back to the castle with Marion waving to the crowd the
entire way. By the time they got back, Luke was smiling widely and he was in a
very good mood. The army was getting as many cheers as Marion was and this
pointed to a good future.
Chapter 74.
The rest of November was quiet for Marion and the gang. Gabriel managed to
quickly recover from her kid beating the crap out of her, although she did
admit that she couldn’t wait to give birth so that she wouldn’t have to go pee
even couple of hours and only get dribbles each time. Over her objections,
Marion put her on restricted duty so that she wouldn’t be under as heavy of
strain. Gabriel might have been able to fight Marion, but Luke, Alice, and Pollyanna
weighed in on Marion’s side and Gabriel knew when she was beat. She would be on
desk duty until after she had given birth. At least she was a capable
administrator in her own rite so she would still be a valuable team member.
Speaking of Alice, after sleeping with Luke every night for the last couple
of weeks, she found that she just couldn’t sleep alone any more. On the second
night after they got back, she showed up at Marion’s door after everyone had
gone to bed. She had been so nervous that she almost didn’t come, but she had
slept so bad the night before that she felt like she didn’t have any choice. As
she always did at this time of night, Marion answered the door nude. She
figured that if someone woke her up, then the least she could do was to make
them a bit uncomfortable.
“Hi Alice, What’s up?”
“Is that invitation to move in with you and Luke still open?”
“Of course, it is, dearie. Found that you just couldn’t sleep alone after
sleeping with Luke?”
“Ya” Alice was still really nervous and she hoped that Marion would let her
stay.
“Well come on in. There’s no need to stand out there all night.”
“Marion, I really can’t thank you enough for allowing me to stay with you.”
Marion gave her a very warm smile.
“Alice, honey, I see the looks that Luke gives you and I know what they mean
for he gives me the same looks. The look of love and desire. Looks that are
shared by spouses that are completely in love with each other. By the way he
doesn’t give Gabriel those looks. Plus, since I have Gabriel as a lover, it’s
only fair that Luke has himself a lover as well.”
“Thank you for understanding Marion. I really can’t thank you enough.”
“That’s alright, just don’t break Luke and please let him save some energy
for me.”
“I would never dream of breaking him. As for him saving energy well I think
the general will just have to get into better shape.”
“You know Alice, I figured from the first day I saw you with Luke; the Luke
was especially fond of you and I’m guessing that it was because you reminded him
of someone.”
Alice once again was nervous for Marion had hit it right on the head.
“I think that should be a conversation that you should have with Luke for
you completely correct but I swore that I wouldn’t reveal what the connection
is.”
“No, I don’t think I will for Luke is entitled to his secrets. If and when
he wants to tell me, he will. Just please don’t try to steal him from me.”
This actually triggered Alice’s usually mellow temper.
“Marion, listen to me,” growled Alice “I would never dream of stealing Luke
from you and you know that. After all you are one of my best friends and you
are kind enough to share him with me.”
The ladies nodded to each other showing that they now understood each other
and with that, Alice moved in with Luke, Marion, Gabriel, and Mackenzie. Luke
was having one of his insomnia attacks so he was down in his workshop. Marion
explained to Alice what that meant and that they might as well go to bed. Alice
was a bit uncomfortable about getting into bed with two other naked women but
figured that since they were both her friends that she could trust them. To her
surprise, she found that sleeping with other women wasn’t as bad as she thought
although she doubted that she would ever be comfortable with the idea of her
making love with another woman.
December started off with a bang and kept going from there. Marion had two
announces one public, one private. The private announcement was that she was
pregnant again. The public one was that she was interested in being ruler of England
and since no other noble on the island was strong enough or foolish enough to
stand in her way, none of them argued. The church though was a different story
for they refused to seat someone who had willingly taken church property, had a
homosexual lover, and was a woman.
As usual, Marion didn’t give a damn what the church thought. She gave them
two options, confirm her as rightful Queen of England on Christmas day 1066 or
she would take England by force and kick the church out. Speaking of taking by
force, Marion’s army was making rapid gains in Scotland. When Luke had got back
from the South, he sent a brigade North with orders to crush all resistance
with extreme prejudice. This is what they did too. The brigade that Luke sent
and the one that was still there swept through Scotland like the wind. Just as
in England if a noble resisted then they were removed and their possessions
seized and their land was sold off to the commoners.
Everyone knew though that tackling the highlanders would take much more
time, but they had made a really good start. Marion was also able to open a
land corridor to her lands in the far north and this enabled Luke to start
laying train tracks to link these lands with the area around York.
The church officials in Canterbury decided to make themselves a third option
to Marion’s ultimatum. They sent their best witch hunters up to York with
orders to investigate Marion and the rest of her inner circle of signs of
witchcraft, heresy, or homosexuality or any other sins. Of course, in their
minds, she and her inner circle were already guilty so the investigation was
only a formality before they had her executed. They arrived in mid-December and
found that York was now a highly advanced city. The team wondered through the
city for two days, just looking at the sights and what they saw, scared them
shitless. There were female police officers on the streets.
Paved streets. Every house had running water. Every street it seemed had a
book seller on it. Jews and pagans were practicing their faith openly. The
people were worse, for they didn’t seem to give a fart about these high church
officials and what they were doing. It wasn’t until the officials tried to
close down a public bath house that people got pissed, and they got pissed with
the church officials. The public bath houses were mixed genders and mixed ages
and had hot, cool, and cold-water pools. In addition to bathing, swimming
lessons were offered for anyone wanting to learn how to swim and most citizens
did take at least some lessons.
The locals had quickly become addicted to stopping by the bath house after a
long day working and getting the grim off before they went home. While there,
they could catch up on the local gossip or check out the opposite sex. The
rules for this were very simple: look but don’t touch without an invitation
from the person being touched. Sometimes the people would even get a massage as
well. When the church tried to close it down for public debauchery, they were
literally thrown out and were actually rescued by a passing female officer. She
was the one that took the officials to see Marion.
When they finally got into her office, they found a very attractive brunette
sitting at Marion’s desk.
“Marion of York we presume.”
“Nope, Colonel Gabriel at your service.” She said without looking up “Just
have a seat and I’ll be right with you.” She finished up the paperwork that she
had been doing. “Now what can I do for you gentlemen.”
“We are here to investigate claims of Marion of York being a witch and a
homosexual. We are also looking for signs of heresy.”
Gabriel leaned back in her chair and burst out laughing. She was laughing so
hard that she nearly peed herself.
“I can assure you that Marion of York isn’t a witch for she is actually far
more dangerous than that. As to her being a lesbian, I will tell you that she
loves her husband more than anything. I’m the lesbian for I am Marion’s lover.
Actually, I’m more bisexual; it’s just that I prefer women over men but I do
appreciate a good cock once in a while. As far as me being pregnant well I
always wanted a kid and Luke, Marion’s husband, was kind enough to help with me
with that dream.”
“Then you are under arrest on orders from the Pope.” Again, Gabriel burst
out laughing. “Do you find something funny about you being under arrest?”
“Yes, I do. I think it’s funny that you actually think that you could get
away with it” Gabriel managed to get out between laughs. At this point, Marion
walked through a side door.
“What’s so funny Gabriel?” Marion came over and put a hand on Gabriel’s
shoulder.
“These church goons are here put me under arrest for being a lesbian and
investigate you for being a witch.”
“Oh ya. Well in that case you had better get up then.” Gabriel got up and
Marion pulled her to her lips. As they were kissing, their hands started
working at undoing each other’s shirts as they moaning into each other’s
mouths.
“Oh God Marion. You taste so good!” Gabriel managed to get out. This was too
much for one of the churchmen and he got up to try and grab Gabriel and Marion.
As soon as he put a hand on Marion, she turned, gabbed his hand and using her
other hand, smashed his nose in. The blood started flowing out of his nose as
he howled in pain. The remaining churchmen drew their swords and pointed them
at the ladies, but the ladies were back to making out instead. As they
approached Marion and Gabriel, the churchmen heard very heavy footsteps
approaching.
“Uh-oh, now you done it.” Marion managed to get out before going back to
tongue wrestling with Gabriel. Luke stepped out from the same doorway that
Marion had come out of.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
“We are here in the name of his holiness the Pope to arrest these two women
for witchcraft and homosexuality, and to investigate the rest of her inner
circle for other sins.”
“These two angels? Marion, why didn’t you tell me you had hired a comedy
crew? I would have made snacks and sold tickets.”
“Sorry Luke. Must…have…oh, ya…. slipped my…. mind.”
“They are under arrest and if you try to interfere then you will be too.”
“Now listen you fuck heads. You have two options and only two. First you can
put your weapons on the ground, get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness
from the goddess of intelligent beauty and her lover or you can all die. Your
choice.”
“Or the third option.” The leading churchman said. With that the group
started for Marion and Gabriel. In a flash, Luke struck; he pulled out his Sig
and shot all the churchmen in the knees. With that, Luke walked over to a
cooler, pulled out a beer, and pulled up a seat to watch. Before he sat down,
he dropped his pants so that he could beat off while watching the ladies making
out. During this whole thing, they had kept making out and had even managed to
get their shirts off.
Gabriel had her hand in Marion’s pants while Marion was sucking on one of
Gabriel’s sensitive nipples. Before long both of them had their pants off and
Marion gently laid Gabriel out on the desk. Luke was sitting there, drinking a
beer and jacking off to his wife and her lover making love. The extra icing on
the cake was the suffering of the churchmen and how they had taken to reciting
verses to keep distracted and hopefully call down divine intervention. Before
Marion buried her face in Gabriel’s sweet pussy, she looked at Luke.
“I hope that you’re not thinking of wasting all that juice when there is a
pussy right here” she grabbed her pussy “that needs that stuff in it.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it sweetheart.” In reality he was planning on cumming
all over the churchmen but he figured that shooting it into his wife was a far
better idea. He got up and lined up with Marion’s hot love hole. In one thrust
he was buried deep inside of her and then he started pounding her relentlessly.
Luke could tell from Gabriel’s breathing and moaning that she was very close
and Marion wasn’t far behind her. He started driving extra deep into Marion so
that he could get there as the ladies did. This pushed Marion over the edge and
she took Gabriel along with her.
The orgasm that Marion had was explosive and she sprayed all over Luke. This
triggered him and he dumped an extra-large load deep inside his wife. Although
Marion was weak-kneed, she had an idea that she just had to do. She put her
hand over her pussy to keep Luke’s spunk from dropping on the floor as she
waddled to where she feet were straddling the lead churchman’s head, forcing
him to look up. When she was sure that she was in the right position, she moved
her hand and cum fell from her cunt and landed in the churchman’s open mouth.
Marion then managed to squeeze a bit more and this landed in one of his eyes.
She then bent over and forced the churchman to close his mouth and swallow.
“Guards!” she called out and two guards came rushing in. “Take these
bastards out of here, tie them to their horses, and send them on their way. If
they resist beat them but don’t kill them for, I want them to suffer. If you
fuckers hurry, you might make it back to London before infection sets in, but I
doubt it.” She then turned to Luke “Time to mobilize the army General for we
march on London in two days.”
“Yes ma’am” Luke said was he snapped to attention with his cock still
standing proud.
“This time I will be going with you. Gabriel you will remain here with one
brigade. With you in that condition, there is no way I am risking you on a trip
to London, especially at this time of year.” Looking at Luke “Well am I going
to have to mobilize the army myself?”
With that, Luke pulled his pants up, saluted, grabbed the rest of his beer,
and sped out to start the mobilization. After all to Luke it was a moral sin to
waste good beer. The guards were coming in to take the wounded churchmen out.
“Don’t bother dropping them off with the doc either.”
“Yes ma’am” the guards said in unison.
Within two days the army was in Sheffield. Seems like everyone in the army
expected this to happen so their commanders had held them close to the barracks
until things calmed down. Luke was actually able to get the first units on the
train on that first evening. From Sheffield, the army marched swiftly to
London. Once there the city opened its gates to Marion and her army and within
a day, they had secured London and the surrounding area. While her army secured
the area, Marion was forcing the church and the nobles that were in London to
recognize her as the rightful queen of England.
Just before Christmas, Gabriel arrived in London, along with Alice,
Pollyanna, Matt, and Mackenzie. They had come down at Luke’s invitation for he
thought it would be nice to see the ultimate reward for their struggles. Luke
wanted them to watch Marion be crowned Queen Marion I, Queen of England and
hopefully soon, queen of Great Britain. Marion wasn’t happy with Gabriel being
in London but she didn’t protest too much.
On Christmas morning 1066, Marion was in her formal gown while Alice and
Pollyanna were in their dress uniforms. Escorting them were Luke and Matt also
in full dress uniforms. Gabriel was the only one in regular clothes because her
dress uniform wouldn’t fit at the moment. Also, there was an honor guard
detachment and Marion’s personal body guards. The whole group marched into
Westminster abbey. The honor guards secured the building while Marion’s guards
stayed glued her and her inner circle. They all stood by while Marion went
through the service and at the end of it was the words that Luke had been
waiting to hear spoken by the archbishop of Canterbury:
“I Now Pronounce You Queen Marion The First, Queen Of England. Long Live The
Queen!”
Based on a post by somethin fishy,
for Sex Stories.