The Aebeling (12 page)

Conn also made major improvements to his keep and longhouse; it was now drained and paved; the palisades had been repaired and reinforced; sentry boxes installed, and a raised walkway created that would allow bowmen to prevent any attack on the keep. All buildings inside were repaired and expanded, and in his own longhouse, he put in a paved floor, walls, doors, more hammocks, fireplaces at each end and even inserted a second level loft in the middle of the dwelling as his personal sleeping quarters, with shoji dividers.

A bathhouse with running water and a latrine was constructed inside the palisades, with an effluent treatment system based on reeds and lagoons constructed to deal with the waste. Windows, rugs and carpets, a paved floor, extensive candle lanterns and things were starting to come together.

It was midyear when Annisa waited to speak to him after the morning meetings with the Lairds and foremen. Conn was preparing to leave, but she called him back.

‘Thane...’ she refused to call him Conn, as the custom was always to call people by their position or occupation. ‘Before you go – I need to speak with you – we have a problem...’.

‘We do? What can I do to help?’

‘The problem is, well, with your behavior...’

‘My behavior – I don’t understand... what have I done?’

‘It is not what you have done – it’s what you haven’t done. Nobody understands why you have not taken liberty with any of the women yet... there are many here who are more than willing to provide you with … comfort.’

‘Hasn’t seemed appropriate...’

‘And there are some girls coming of age soon....’

Conn shook his head. ‘They are a bit too young for my liking ...’ While he was in Tabae, Thanes had tried to offer their daughters or sisters to Conn as bedda, and he had declined then as well.

‘Your theow – Shona – said that she offered herself but you refused. You have a right to her body as well as the others…’

‘’Not a Taransay custom to have theow – let alone make them concubines…’

Annisa was perplexed. ‘My bedda had theow, but they are all gone. But it is important that you take a bedda – some have suggested that you have more specific tastes – but the boys have also not been approached ... some are even willing. It is very disconcerting for everyone in the Burh...’

Annisa was still a very attractive woman, Conn was sure her neckline had gotten lower over the weeks, or maybe her breasts had gotten bigger because of her improved diet, and couldn’t fit into her old clothes. He wasn’t sure – it could have been his imagination as his trysts with the now very pregnant Elva were infrequent – and secret. He didn’t get to spend much time in Hama and visit Halani.

‘I have no desires of that kind.’ Conn paused to pretend to consider the matter. ‘But I can see your concerns. There might just be a solution to the problem…’

She brightened, inadvertently leaning forward to hear the answer. ‘There is?’

‘Yes – you.’

‘Me?’ Despite everything she seemed genuinely surprised. ‘But I am old...’

‘Not so much...and so am I. If nothing else then to allay the concerns of our villagers…would it be inappropriate for you to share my bed at times?’

She shook her head; a flush coming over her face. ‘No – not at all – my bedda is dead – no one has any claim on anything I do. And I suppose it would allay any concerns...’

‘So you are in agreement?’

She brought her arms together, hugging herself in contemplation, causing her breasts to almost escape their bindings. She was very flushed now. After a moment of consideration, she agreed.

‘Good – so what are you doing for the next half hour? I have a brand new bed in my loft.’ Conn’s workshops had completed their first production of futons and pillows.

She was startled by the suggestion. ‘Now? Breakfast has just finished – it is daylight...’

‘Daylight has never stopped me before.’ He stood up and offered her his hand, and receiving it, led her to the bedroom up the stairs. ‘Besides, we can do it all again tonight – in the dark.’

‘Again? Twice today? Oh my...’

CHAPTER 06

Silekian arrived almost daily at Haran; and they came from every cotlif in Lykia. With the promise of a warm welcome, accommodation and paid work, nearly every refugee made the trek; especially as their hosts were also more than happy to be rid of them. With extra personnel available, it was possible for Conn to start to move people between his three domains, and of all of them, it was Hama where the most work needed to be done as it had been deserted for nearly fifty years.

Given a blank slate, Conn had decided not to divvy Hama up into farms, but keep it as a single domain for himself; for his personal projects. One was to replicate the work of Bakewell and Coke in selectively breeding livestock to increase outputs of fleece, milk, and meat. His horse breeding program was already underway; and almost three hundred foals from his four stallions would start to arrive soon – in three years he would have the first crop of the best warhorses in Meshech. A quarter of these would be mules, and in ten years they would be the mainstay of his farming activities, as they ploughed twice as much land, twice as fast, as oxen. Mules were even better than horses because of their more docile temperament, longer lives, and lack of fertility. Other horses were being bred to pull carts and carriages.

His project required as many paddocks as possible, and while it would take many seasons to be finished, Hama would be the first fully enclosed domain in Lykiak – with over fifteen thousand acres behind hedge or drywall. As well as animals, different were trial plots for ‘new world’ crops such as – rice, corn, sunflower, soya beans and potatoes – amongst many others – and it would take some years before sufficient seed was available to propagate these crops in his other domains.

Hama was also to be home to his sericulture and viticulture projects, with extensive plantations of grapes and trees being planted. Luckily there was an abundant supply of mulberry in the hills above Hama that allowed the project to develop until the plantations matured. The vineyards commenced with an acre of plantings with over a thousand grape cuttings collected from around Lykia. Like the other fields, these were irrigated by an advanced system powered by canals, bamboo pipes and water-mills.

For his other ‘industrial’ projects he needed a dozen large barns, and he was finding the skill level of his craeftiga limiting progress. Conn decided to request help from Halani, as their woodworkers were as highly skilled as he had seen. So with Hengist, Wilgar and the two girls, Allowena and Octa’s daughter Naomh, in tow, he went to the edge of the great forest and fired his arrow into the tallest tree. He then waited.

Naomh had taken to her new freedom in a big way, and enjoyed travelling with Conn and Allowena. She had at first imagined that Conn was planning to take her as bedda, but when she learnt that he was not going to, she developed a affection for Wilgar – thought they ignored each other when they were together – especially when her brother was around. Annisa told him that Octa would never approve of the match because of Wilgar’s current status – neither land nor money to pay a dowry.

They had arrived along the west of Hama in the morning and had spent the day inspecting some of the newly operating mines along the border with Halani. Amongst the refugees were a number of experienced miners, and they had been tasked with scouring the mountainside for old mines and new deposits. When he could, Conn joined them – he had some expertise in the area. It wasn’t long before they had a several reopened mines, and there were now over a hundred people working the hills for lead, silver, cooper, and iron – quantity was only limited by manpower. They also had a good quality coal mine operational.

Instead of staying in one of the camps, Conn had them camped out in the open. It was summer, and it was a clear, albeit dark night, without rain. Instead a cool mist settled around them as they sat snugly around a large fire. Allowena was eventually unable to contain her curiosity. She was a little cold.

‘This is all very nice – but we would have been much more comfortable back at the camp.’ She was very forthright with her ‘father’.

‘True – but it would have been harder for our visitors to meet with us.’

Both girls responded; surprised. ‘Visitors – what visitors.’

‘The ones standing behind you.’

‘Aww – you spoilt my fun!’ said a voice from the darkness.

The girls sprang to their feet and raced for cover – the closest that Naomh could find was Wilgar and she hid behind him – clinging to his tunic. He burst into laughter. After a few moments she let go – but not as quickly as she could have.

Derryth and several other Twacuman walked into the camp. Conn stood and greeted them all with hugs. Allowena stood alone now – her cover had moved. She didn’t know what to do and she stood still. Conn rescued her after a few moments.

Derryth looked at the girls and their shocked faces, visible even in the firelight. ‘I don’t think they have seen Twacuman before?’

‘I gather not.’ Conn introduced his travelling companions to Derryth and his squad. Wilgar and Hengist had been warned, but even they were reserved. It had been a long time since the Twacuman had ridden amongst the Priecuman. ‘I was not expecting you. What are you doing here?’

‘Keeping an eye on things – there has been much activity on the mountain side.’

‘I’ve been busy.’

It was only later after everyone had gone to sleep, that Derryth and Conn had a chance to speak privately. Conn outlined his request and Derryth agreed to help. He would be back in a couple of week with a few workmen to assist.

‘Oh, and I have something for you.’ He handed over a bag that was surprisingly heavy. Conn opened it up and brought out lumps of rocks. Even in the fire light the flecks glittered – there was lot of silver ingrained in the rock.

‘Impressive – where did you find it?’

‘High in the mountains.’

‘In Halani or Lykia?’

‘In Lykia – but even so, if there were Priecuman here, we would be watching them.’

The next day the Twacuman joined them on their trip back to the nearest mining camp, and they then guided a squad of men up to the discovery. It was a very unusual location; half the mountain had collapsed down the slope and the Twacuman had dug into the mound the find the ore. Conn was amazed at the discovery.

‘What made you look here? It is just a land fall.’

Derryth smiled sheepishly. ‘It wasn’t me – it was Caewyn…’

‘Caewyn? Caewyn led you to this site?’

‘She did – not directly, but we were exploring around here and she made us dig into the mound – that was when we found the entrance to the mine. We also found this.’ He led Conn over to a pit cutting that had been exposed by the rain. In the exposed banks, bones were clearly visible. Conn could see at least a dozen set.

‘It’s a mass grave. Who would do such a thing?’

‘Caewyn says that these are Twacuman bodies – and the Ancuman killed them.’

Conn nodded in understanding. ‘To hide the location of the mine.’ He took a deep breath and shook his head. ‘The things people do. I will have the remains dug up and arrange for their return to Halani. Did you not know of these kinsmen?’

He shook his head. ‘No – these are not of Halani – they are from the home of the Twacuman – and theow to the Ancuman before their final defeat in Meshech.’

Conn looked curiously at Derryth. ‘Original home?’

‘Neritum. Neritum is where all Twacuman originate. But Neritum is no more; it fell beneath the sea hundreds of years ago.’

Leaving a crew of men behind to continue reopening the mine and to carefully recover the remains, Conn returned to Hama to collect resources to fully develop the mine. It must have been a rich resource for it to have been hidden like it was. On his return they built a small village around the mine and the accompanying processing plant that also included a barracks for a squad of wiga to protect the mine and the workers. They would also escort the ore – which further investigation showed to contain large amounts of copper as well as the silver. Refined and cast into ingots, the bar would be escorted down the mountain to Hama where it was processed directly into Ryals. Conn discovered that there is nothing better than having your own mine – and it solved any liquidity crisis – especially as it created the smaller denominations.

Several weeks later, Conn waited for Derryth in Hama, He was sitting with the new Burhgerefa of Hama – a Silekian – when a wiga rushed in.

‘Thane, your visitors have arrived.’ He sounded very excited.

‘What’s the matter?’

‘You said maybe a dozen men – well, there are more than a dozen.’

Conn stood and headed for the door. ‘How many more?’

‘Probably a thousand…’

Conn laughed, shaking his head. ‘And it was such a simple request…’

Derryth justified himself by saying that if it needed to be done, then do it quickly – and indeed it was. Twacuman might live a long time but they didn’t want to spend a long time doing something as tedious as building barns. They much preferred to spend their time leisurely fishing by the lake. So, with several hundred workers cutting and hauling trees from the forest with oxen, hundreds shaping and splitting logs for the purlins, beams, rafters, shingles and posts, and hundreds more assembling the building, the barns, barracks and houses very quickly appeared; and instead of ten barns, Conn had more than twenty completed by the end of the month – and enough housing for several thousand people. Most had wooden shingle rooves but others had clay tiles; wood would be dangerous given the industrial purposes of the buildings, and the kilns being constructed beneath the rooves.

With the building in place, and the Twacuman finally returned to the forest; escorting the more than forty bodies that they had recovered from the mass grave, Conn turned his attention to training his craeftiga in the manufacture of a vast array of goods for personal, industrial and military uses. Military was the priority, and by winter the Fyrd had been totally reequipped with new equipment – from uniforms and chainmail to swords and spears. The second priority was sellable goods, and products was manufactured that could be taken to Lykiak for sale. Hama was the beginning of an industrial and agricultural revolution in Meshech, and one that would fund Conn’s activities for many decades to come.