Yuletide 2021 at Castle Marsh

Princelings Revolution

Yuletide is always a special time of year, whatever world you live in. I hope you enjoy this story which follows on from Princelings Revolution (but takes place before the bonus story in the paperback). It’s the idea I had for a winter story last year, but needed to wait till the time was right. Enjoy just over 1800 words of your favourite characters.

Princelings Revolution 3d
Final ebook at iTunesB&NKobo and Amazon

Yuletide at Castle Marsh 2021

Fred raised a glass of sparkling Wozna Cola and clinked it with Jasmine’s. “To 2022!”

“Yes, to 2022, Daddy.” She sipped, and looked at the sky through the window to the west. “I hope they land safely.”

“Mmm. Willoughby was confident the weather would hold, even across the Great Western Sea. I hope it’s just another of those magical skills he has.”

Jasmine looked down to hide her smile. Willoughby’s ninja skills did not stretch to weather forecasting. With him on board, though, there was a good chance of avoiding danger before it hit them.

These were strange times. Last Yule she and Willoughby had travelled from Castle Vexstein, now under the rule of Locksley. He was steadily refusing any title such as Lord or King, even though he was of noble birth. A cousin of hers, in fact… or was it second cousin, if he was her father’s cousin, no, brother. Well, half-brother. She shook her head. Fred’s family was so confusing. 

“Troubled, sweet?” Fred asked.

“No, just confused by Locksley’s relationship to me. We were with him just before Yule last year, before we came down to stay with you at the Inn of the Seventh Happiness.”

“Ah, yes. I was there, homeless, and a pauper. I’d just discovered I was penniless a few weeks earlier. And George was fretting about getting the Daughter of Pelican built. And now…”

“Now we are home, the people have chosen you to lead them again, and George has fulfilled the promise you made to Mariusz, who turned out to be Willoughby’s uncle.” 

It was Fred’s turn to nod. “Well, let’s hope we have a nice settled life from now on.”

“You’ll get bored if you don’t have some exciting project to work on.”

“Not as bored as George will be. Improving the flying boats won’t be as much interest for him as designing them and testing them.”

“Daddy… did you realise that technically Willoughby is the same age as me?”

“What! He’s been in the realms since before you were born. Before I met your mother even.”

“Only just. About six months. He and I were born in the same year.”

Fred frowned. “In Hattan, you mean?”

“Yes, then he came down the time tunnel and went back eleven years. So on the one hand he’s a lot older than me, and on the other, we’re the same age.”

“You can’t be both at once.”

Jasmine kept her face expressionless. Willoughby had a way of being anything he wanted to be. It was hard to know who the real Willoughby was, but she probably knew him better than anyone. In fact…

“They’ve just come over the coast south of Caerleon.”

“How do you know these things? Ninja skills, I suppose. I should have stopped him teaching you.”

“I would have had them anyway, just not known how to use them, how to trust them.”

It was Fred’s turn to look out of the window. “I suppose we’d better go out with the launch to bring them in. This wind will push them into the reeds otherwise.”

“So it’s a great honour, and indeed a great pleasure, to have Lord Mariusz with us this year, after all the troubles we’ve been through, and all the patience you’ve had, putting up with George and me and our secret project. But now you all know the truth. And perhaps Mariusz wouldn’t mind saying a few things to you all at our final feast of 2021. Mariusz?”

Fred sat down. 

The huge black and white coat that housed Mariusz, lord of Hattan, rose as its owner got to his feet.

“Ur, well, hi everybody. I was never much of one for speechifying. It’s hard to understand all the changes that have happened in the Realms since I was last here in 2010. I’d been visiting so often in the previous ten years that I thought I knew you all, that it was a settled place, full of partying and socialising. At least, thanks to Wozna,” he raised his glass to them and sipped, “I could get around among you incognito as a simple cola salesman. I enjoyed my visits, and I enjoyed meeting you, or your countrymen, at any rate. I hope everything will settle down in this new way you have of picking your leaders, which sounds pretty good to me. 

“With everything that went on, I’m amazed that Fred and George managed to keep the agreement we made; stop the time tunnel that brought Wozna to you and you wait until the technology George invents catches up with me. Thank you for having me back, and I’m glad to say, sales of Wozna are nearly back to what they were six months ago.” He grinned at them, hoping they understood his joke. “Well, that’s in my time, of course. It’s often hard to keep promises. What you guys have gone through to keep that promise, well, I admire you even more for it. You’re the genuine article, you guys. I’m glad you made it safely through these years.

“And now, can I suggest a toast? To Fred and George!”

The Marshfolk were very happy to toast Fred and George, especially with the Wozna that most of them had never tried in the past, but had decided was a great party drink.

wozna bottles

“Thanks, Jasmine.” Mariusz helped himself to the espressimenta she offered him, as they settled cosily around the fire in Fred’s study. “Yeah, things are changing at Hattan, too. The five families met up last month, after the last grandfather had passed on, and decided to end the war between us. So we’re working on new commercial ties, agreements over trades, sharing apprenticeships, all sorts.”

“Is Saku okay?” George asked. 

“Yeah, he’s well, playing with new ideas. But he naps in the middle of talking about them sometimes. He’s not so young as he used to be.”

“He’s outlived Argon, though. He must be very old.”

Mariusz sighed. “Sad, that. I must get up and visit Victor while I’m here. Will that be okay? Do you have a stage up the tunnel now or anything? I reckon I could never run up and down it like I did in May. Almost the death of me, that was!”

“I can fly you up any time,” George said. “Unless Jasmine and Willoughby want to take you?”

“Willoughby, fly me? I don’t think so!”

“Jasmine’s the pilot, uncle. I’ll just come for the ride. Fred likes her to have supervision still.”

Jasmine smiled. Fred frowned, but checked Jasmine’s face and relaxed.

“You must be very fit, though,” Fred said to Mariusz. “I could never have done all that, even with the time tunnel.”

Mariusz paused. “To be truthful, young Fred, I don’t reckon it did me any good at all. Ever since then I’ve had a bit of an ache in my side, and I don’t think it’s a stitch from exercising.”

“What do your medics say?”

“Oh the usual. ‘Take it easy, don’t work so hard.’ It’s not as if I’m travelling any more.”

Willoughby regarded his uncle, then looked away, a haunted expression in his eyes, which only Jasmine caught. The pair exchanged glances that seemed to contain a whole conversation.

The next morning Fred took Mariusz for a tour of the Marsh, since it was a beautiful mid-winter day with no frost and almost summer-like winds. George took them in the old flying machine so they could go to places like Summernot beach and the old forest. He even flew within sight of Arbor to give Mariusz at least a view of his old holiday spot. 

“Elinor,” Mariusz sighed. “She was quite something.”

Fred had a long thought about time and its effects. Maybe he wouldn’t tell Mariusz about the Huguenots. “We’re good friends with the Arborites now. Things have changed a lot there. You probably never met Queen Rosebud.”

“I thought Jess would have been in charge by now.”

Should he tell Mariusz the whole story? He stared at the trees giving way to the marsh again and decided not. “If we go back now, you can have a light lunch before going up to see Victor. I’d love it if you came back tonight, but I understand if you want to stay over, with all this travelling.”

“I want to make the most of it, Fred. I didn’t want to say in company, but this pain in my side is pretty bad. I doubt I’ll be visiting again. I don’t know what will happen at Hattan when I go, but it needs a good, steady organiser. I know he’s wanted here, but you’ve taught him everything he needs to know about running a complex organisation. I spoke with Willoughby last night about maybe him taking over from me. He’s thinking about it. And he’s family, and that’s important at Hattan.”

Fred nodded. It wasn’t that his guest just wanted to stay home in Hattan. He was preparing to hand over. What would Willoughby say?

flying machine

Mariusz came back from Victor’s the next morning, looking happy but tired. He talked about Victor and his family for a couple of hours, obviously pleased that the young person he’d known since he was a baby had grown into a fine family man with plenty of business ventures running at once. 

“He told me all about your funding crisis for the Daughter of Pelican, too. I totally approve of your solution. Very ingenious.”

“Thank goodness for that.” Fred had completely forgotten that he had used Mariusz’s Wozna account to pay for the flying boat development, and apologised for not raising it himself. Mariusz waved a hand. 

“Not a problem, young Fred.” He looked around, taking in all his surroundings. “You’ve got a fine place here. I know you’ve been through a lot to get here, and I appreciate it. I never came to Castle Marsh before. I don’t think I missed much then, but I’m real glad I didn’t miss it now.”

“I’m sorry you can’t stay longer, but… well, you have a castle to run.”

“Yes, we never get a vacation, do we? Can I just wander around alone for a few minutes? Want to take it all in, you know.”

“Of course. George says to leave no later than three. You’ll be flying into the sunset all the way.”

“That sounds pretty. I’ll see you down at the boardwalk.”

Fred watched him stroll off, taking the stairs to the battlements, and then wander along, stopping to lean out every now and then. 

An arm crept through his as Jasmine leant against him.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself.”

“I’m not sure I should tell you, but Willoughby says he won’t be coming back.”

Fred stiffened. “Willoughby said… him or Mariusz?”

“Mariusz, of course! Why wouldn’t Willoughby come back?”

The certainty in Jasmine’s voice made Fred wonder…

No, Willoughby would come back. At least to say a proper goodbye.

© J M Pett 2021

Princelings of the East Books 4-6: Box set 2 out Wednesday

Princelings box set 2 draft

The second ebook Box Set: Princelings of the East Books 4-6, is out on Wednesday 20th February.

Princelings box set 2 draft

A time tunnel from the future, a castle with paranormal powers, an assignment in foreign parts. Three separate adventures take us further into the world of Princelings Fred and George. We meet Lord Mariusz finding both opportunity and trouble when he steps back in time; Humphrey, the refugee from the Lost City, seeking somewhere he can call home, and Victor, the ambitious young barkeeper, setting out on his business career, with two, or is it three, assignments to unravel industrial espionage.

The Traveler in Black and White: this prequel to the series enables Lord Mariusz to set the record straight in his own laid-back style. Was he really a profiteering, hard-hearted, opportunistic charlatan? Or just a charming victim of circumstance. He’s certainly charming.

The Talent Seekers provide Humphrey with the opportunity to use his unnatural powers of hearing and memory. He emerges from the obscurity of gangs of refugees and outcasts, victimised by the evil Lord Colman, to become the hero of the hour. But surely, isn’t friendship what it’s all about?

Bravo Victor takes us further away from the Realms than we’ve ever been, showing that inventions and shady deals know no boundaries. Why has Princeling George not returned from the flying festival, and who is trying to smuggle a banned drink into the Realms? Sundance is tasked to find out, but it’s Victor’s expertise that he needs to solve his problems.

These three books in the series take us from the discovery of the time tunnel through to the complications of travellers crossing their time lines, all the while making progress towards an end product to deliver the promise the Princelings made in the very first book.

The ebook box set is available for Kindle at Smashwords only; also at iTunes for iPad, B&N for Nook, and Kobobooks for Kobo, and various other online retailers. Price is $8.99, which saves nearly $3 on the price of the three ebooks separately.

Buy here:

Smashwords ~~~ iTunes ~~~ B&N ~~~ Kobo

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Yuletide Story: No Room at the Inn of the Seventh Happiness

Just a single 2000 word story for you this year during our Yuletide celebrations, plus a Yuletide Giveaway at the end.

However you celebrate the winter holidays, may you walk in peace and friendship.

Fireplace at Seven HNo Room at the Inn of the Seventh Happiness

Willoughby blew in with the snow, crashing the door of the Inn of the Seventh Happiness against a table squashed too close, and the wind creating chaos of the napkins and place-settings, carefully laid out for Solstice festivities.

“Making an entrance as usual, Willoughby!” called one of the people leaning against the bar, and other calls and greetings met him as he struggled to shut the door again.  The weather noises receded, and the hubbub of a warm and friendly refuge took over.

Willoughby stood behind a line of customers at the reception end of the bar.  He considered leaving the quest for a bed for later, and starting with a warming drink.  His nose, ears and feet were frozen, but his insides were warm enough, since he’d jogged the last two hours of his journey from the hills this side of Longmoor, when the storm had caught him.  If he hadn’t had the engagement to narrate at the inn he’d have turned back.

“Well, I can put you in this room if you don’t mind sharing two beds between you,” Victor was saying to the couple in front him, whose children were huddling into their sides.  One boy turned and looked at Willoughby with large, dull eyes.  Lost eyes, ones with no hope or expectation in them.

“If ye can do that, we’ll manage, thank’ee kindly.  I’ve not much money, y’see.”

“What castle?” Victor asked, since the system applied credits against castles when their citizens went travelling.

The father shook his head.  “No castle, not any more.  Hoping to make it to Fortune.”

Victor looked at them and sighed to himself.  Just another group of refugees.  He was trying to keep a tally of which castles they came from, but getting the information from them was hard without making them even more scared.  “Okay, take this chitty, keep it safe, and give it to Fortune when you get there.”

“Really?”

“Yes, if they take you in they’ll usually pay a little of your bill here with me.  The least we can do for you, really. I’m afraid it means you won’t get a huge feast, though.”

“Any food will be good, thank’ee.  And I can keep my coins for later?”

“Yes, keep them for the coach, if you can run to that.”

The father backed away, and Willoughby watched him approach the stagecoach drivers settled by the fire.  Maybe the stage would take them as far as Castle Fortune for the rest of his money, if they waited till the one had space.  Willoughby shook his head, thinking about the state of the world today.  It was not just the number of families on the road seeking a safe haven, it was the reduction in decent, honest people willing to help them.  Help that had come naturally once upon a time had become rationed, as if goodwill was a finite commodity.  He pondered his planned stories for the next few days and wondered how to get his message across without preaching.

The two people next in the line held a long discussion about whether they would share a bed together in a ten berth dormitory.  Victor looked at Willoughby over their shoulders.

“If I knew whether Prince Lupin’s rooms were free I’d have more flexibility.”

“Have you asked them?”

“The vacuum post to Buckmore is down.  Nothing’s going through.” How quickly we come to rely on these communications, thought Victor.  A few years ago he would have been confident they wouldn’t be needed, but now, with the possibility of the Prince and his family flying to Castle Marsh, or even taking their horseless carriage, he needed to keep the rooms for an emergency.

“Surely they’ll be doing Solstice at Buckmore?”

“Well, yes, but George was flying yesterday and dropped in to see me.  He said they might be grounded if the weather closes in.  I think grounded means they can’t fly, and the weather has definitely closed in.”

“I see what you mean.”

Willoughby watched as Victor directed the two travellers to the dormitory, since they’d decided it was as good an offer as they’d get.

“Any room for me, then?” he asked, leaning on the desk and looking at Victor’s complicated chart, full of crossings-out and arrows.

Victor blushed. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve given your room to two families, each of six, who arrived earlier.  They’re on their way to Fortune, too, and the stage came back since the tunnel is blocked.  There’s nothing going to Fortune, Dimerie, Cabot or beyond.  Fortunately nobody much uses the Deeping/White Horse line any more.”

Willoughby chewed his lip.  His resentment at the failure of the Realms to help White Horse made the hair on his neck rise.  He was of White Horse, but most people had forgotten that, just as they’d forgotten what went on there.  More fool them, since it was happening other places now.  He came back to the present as he realised Victor was waiting for him.

“Oh, no, I don’t mind at all.  Must have been a palace you’d reserved for me.”

“No, just the cubbyhole downstairs, but I thought you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course not, Victor.  Is it always like this at Solstice?”

“It used to be fairly quiet.  Everyone at home for the season.  Last year we had a full house though, which is why I suggested you came to entertain them this year, but it’s… well, we’re more than full. I hope you’re the last.”

The door banged open, sending a blast of frigid air through the room.

“Maybe not,” Victor sighed, eyeing a young couple, with the female clearly in need of assistance after a difficult journey.  One of the people near the door got up and offered her his seat, which she took gratefully.

“I can sleep on the long seat near the fire,” Willoughby offered.

“It’s already taken by two of the drivers.  The other two are on the floor beside it, and the two that came back from the Dimerie line have bagged the cushions on the side by the wall.  If you don’t mind, I’m putting you in Saku’s bed, and he’s going in with Argon.  They’ll be thrilled to be sharing their room with you.  Is that okay?”

Willoughby grinned.  Sharing with Victor’s kids would be just fine.  He wondered what the Saku he knew so well, and the Argon he’d seen around before he’d left his real home castle, would think.  “No problem, as long as they don’t snore.” He winked to show he didn’t mean it, and Victor’s tension dissipated.

“Now, where on earth am I going to put this pair?”

***

Nobody else arrived that night, and no stagecoaches left the next morning, partly because it was Solstice, and partly because the snow had mounded up around the top of the cliffs surrounding Seventh Happiness, and drifted in great piles into the southern edges of the little settlement.  A group of locals, assisted by visitors, dug out the entrance to two of the four southern tunnels, just in case someone was coming through from Dimerie or Cabot, but the drivers said they weren’t setting out in case they got stuck in a drift.

At noon everyone crammed into the inn for the Solstice celebrations.  In castles they were usually formal affairs, with speeches from kings and followed by sumptuous feasts.  So Victor said as he started his speech.  Willoughby heard mutterings and extended his listening to hear “not in Vexstein, they weren’t,” from several quarters, and a complaint about a couple of other castles, too.

Victor went on to say how the people of Seventh Happiness were “glad to live here, free to make our own lives, and to share what little we have with our visitors.  We remember the old year, and all the things we achieved, the kindnesses we received and gave, and the things we want to do better next year.  And as the days grow longer, we look forward to good growing seasons, good harvests, good health, and good cheer!”  At that everyone raised their glasses and made a toast to the community of the Seventh Happiness and to next year.  And some said “to safety” or “to a home of our own” or whatever they wanted most.

Then Willoughby told the first of his stories, which was of the hero who had been caught out in the woods at Midwinter, and was found by lots of lost villagers with nothing to eat because the harvest had failed.  After a few adventures they found their way back to the shelter of his cave and he magically fed them all from just the few grains of wheat he had in his saddlebag.  Everyone enjoyed the story, and then it was time for the feast.  Calli, Madge and Toby had done wonders to make a little food go a long way, too, and there was enough for everyone to have a really good meal, with lots of lovely vegetable soup to fill up the corners.

Then while all the adults had a rest, Willoughby told the kids the story of a young couple who had to travel a long way one Solstice, and they had come to a busy inn in their home castle because everyone had to be checked by the tax collectors.  “And there was no room at the inn, so the landlord offered them shelter in his stable.  And there, during the night, the lady found she was ready to give birth, and she did so, and laid him in a manger, soft with hay, watched over and warmed by the ox and ass that lived there.”  The kids were spellbound by the visitors that came to see the child, who was destined to be a great king, but lived in poverty until he was old enough to claim his inheritance.

“Will I be a king one day?” one child said to his parents after Willoughby finished, but Willoughby didn’t hear the reply.  Maybe all children could aspire to be kings, he thought.  Maybe you don’t have to be born a prince to become a great leader.

It was later in the evening, after he’d told the adults the story of the Diamond Souls, that he was relaxing, thinking he’d surely earned his keep this Solstice, when Victor came over to him with a large glass of mulled apple juice.

“Here.” Victor said.  “Thanks for the stories.  It would have been even more chaos without you, with all those kids to keep happy.”

“Are they all heading south?”

“Yeah, one way or another.  Although of course, if they’re here, they’re heading south.  I heard from Sowerby there are a lot heading north, too.”

Willoughby considered that.  People travelling north and south, away from the Troubles. The Realms were divided.  Only people with flying machines could travel swiftly and safely between the two.  That didn’t help for a strong society.  He shifted in his seat, as Victor shifted too.

“I didn’t think much of your second story,” he said.  “He was’t much of an inn-keeper if he couldn’t find room for a mother about to give birth.”

“I suppose he thought she needed peace and quiet.”

“Well, yes, but there’s always ways.”

He was interrupted by Calli as she came in.  “Two boys,” she said, smiling.  “Mother and children doing fine.  The father, too, come to that. They’re sleeping now.”

Victor nodded, looking slightly smug.

“Where did you put them?” Willoughby asked.

“Oh, they’re in Prince Lupin’s room.  Thought it best, really.  A birthplace fit for a king, really.”

Willoughby laughed. “You never know, Victor, you never know.  These are strange times.”

“Strange times maybe, but there’s never no room at the Inn of the Seventh Happiness.”


 

BookElves_Vol2_authors(c) J M Pett 2015, with thanks to Rebecca Douglass for pinching the gist of Halitor at Midwinter, which appears in the BookElves Anthology Volume 2.  Willoughby’s other stories appear in the forthcoming Princelings Book 7: Chronicles of Willoughby the Narrator and on Jemima’s blog here, and in the Bible (Luke, 2.7)

Now enter the Giveaway – entries close on the stroke of the end of the year.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pirates is three years old

It’s three years since I published The Princelings and the Pirates.  That was book 2 and I’m now working on book 7!  I know a few readers are rushing to keep up, and it’s all the more helpful since the first book went on free sale, as Pirates’ sales picked up beautifully in 2014.

The Princelings and the Pirates is where Fred meets Kira for the first time.  Kira is kidnapped from her home castle, Dimerie, and Fred rescues her from Castle Marsh.  How their love blossoms is part of the adventure in the Princelings and the Lost City.  It’s not really a romance, though – except I love the way Fred does that cool thing of pretending he doesn’t care when he has to sort out the mystery.  Yes, Fred, we read you – ok!

The rest of the series is really about the way life in the realms changes, partly due to the inventions George is involved with, but also other reasons, like commercial developments and power struggles.  Will they be able to meet the commitment Lupin, Fred, George and Victor were involved in making to Hugo, Lord Mariusz, at the end of Book 1?  Time will tell!