Pillson Concrete

"Lady Connaissance!" A short smiling man with a ruddy complexion and orangey-red hair cam running over.

"Mr. Pillson, how goes you experiment with steel and clay fortifications?" Emily smiled at him as she sipped her tea at her usual spot at the construction site.

"I've made a breakthrough! I was able to create a mixture of clay and other readily available ores to create a quick-drying brick that can be poured and shaped instead of fired formed into bricks. With it, I believe that the construction of buildings and roads can be done in days, rather than months." He beamed while puffing out his chest.

"It's safe from water? How about its strength?" She sat up and leaned forward, the excitement clearly written on her face.

He nodded and with a self-satisfied smile on his face replied, "It's harder than brick and by using my steel bars was able to stand up to even a shot from Mr. Wentworth's steam cannon. We were able to use a wood frame, pour it, and let it cure for two days into a wall that was twice as effective as a brick wall that was twice as thick. The only drawback to it that we have found is that brick and wood still look nicer. It can also be used as road material, again though the normal paving materials look a little nicer."

"I wonder if it could be colored with brick dust or another pigment?" Emily wondered out loud. "It would be nice if we could get it the color of bricks for accents at the very least." She smiled, "Mr. Pillson, your good news came at the perfect time. My bricklayers have just finished giving me their opinions on my plans and they warned that the bricks wouldn't hold on a building above ten stories. Would a building made with a steel frame and your new material be able to do the same?"

He laughed, "Ten Stories? With my concrete, you could build one over a hundred stories!"

She gave him a smile and said, "Prove it. I want you and your team to build my new City Hall. If you can finish it before the first Brick residential building is done, I'll have your team take charge of building the entire city. I want it to be just as ornate as the previous building so make sure you ask Mr. Duke for an architect as well as laborers."

As Mr. Pillson was headed back to discuss things with his team, the Prince walked over, "Emmy Lee, hello, I am going to be leaving a group of my men here, they will start construction on my embassy. I am afraid that I must return to my homeland to make arrangements with my father for our embassy and our trade agreement. Can you please send us a load of coal on my trip back? I understand that you have many wagons. They will be safe traveling with my army."

Emily nodded, "You can talk with Mr. Graves about the coal, and Mr. Dashworth about metals, however, I know that due to a large amount of construction currently underway, the supply of metals will be short." She set her teacup down and said, "I am hoping that you can talk to your people about sending us a load of silk and tea."

The Prince grinned, "Of course Emmy Lee, I will send you our best tea and our finest silks." He then knelt down on one knee and brought out a single bright red rose from behind his back, "Emmy Lee, this is my promise to you as a man. I will be back here soon, and I will work to show you that I am the only man who will ever be worthy to be your husband."

Emily blushed bright red and took the flower, as she looked into his eyes she could see the unwavering honesty of his commitment. She felt at a loss on how to respond saying only, "I thought you were going to make me your second wife?"

The Prince nodded and said in his deep manly voice, "When I was a child, my father made the marriage agreement with the King of Fursia, I am to be wedded to Princess Teslaimia. I have never met this woman nor have I ever heard from her in any way. If it were my choice, I would have dissolved the marriage agreement many years ago. My father has required me to follow through with this agreement as it was made as part of a major treaty between our two countries."

"What is she is more beautiful, intelligent, and elegant than I am? Can you say for certain that you wouldn't lose sight of me with such a woman by your side as well?" Emily held the flower in front of her face reluctant to truly face him.

The Prince looked straight into her eyes unblinking, "Since the first day I laid eyes on you, no other woman has been in my sight, my heart or my bed. I may look different from the men of the Windsor Kingdom. I may sound different. I may act differently, but my heart beats just the same as yours or any other man's. I love you, Emmy Lee. Even if you don't have this feeling for me, I will not give up until you choose another. That is my word as a man." He took her hand once again and gently kissed the top of it. "I will return." He stood up abruptly turned and walked away in a gallant fashion not turning back to look even once.

Emily started to fan herself as she suddenly felt rather hot. What seemed like a moment later, a gentle cough brought her back to reality. "You ok? I have been talking to you for a few minutes you know." Captain Alexander asked.

"I'm sorry Jon, was there something I could help you with?" She blushed slightly picking up her tea and taking a sip. She made a face when she realized it was ice cold.

"Yes, I was asking if we should separate the external military from the city guard. The Chief Constable and I would like to have the existing city guard remain as an unarmed force to handle law and order within the city while our external army deals with matters from the city gate outward. We would be responsible for maintaining the border and defending the city and caravans from external forces only. That way my men wouldn't be burdened with breaking up tavern fights, domestic disputes, and investigating criminal activity. Likewise, the chief constable wouldn't need to worry about losing his crime prevention force anytime an external army approached." Captain Alexander handed her a folder with the documents describing in detail what the separation would look like in practice.

Emily skimmed through it and asked, "The city guard is ten thousand men, will you have enough real soldiers if we make this division of strength?"

"I would like to raise enough men for a single brigade. Talking with the gentlemen at the Future of Art of War Company, using their weapons we shouldn't really even need that many so long as we don't start to expand our national borders."

Emily raised an eyebrow, "You're thinking of expansion already? We are just a single city, Jon."

"I have to consider the future. This city is already one of the largest on the continent, possibly the entire world. Once the city you want to build is completed, we could start to see a dramatic increase in population. Expansion might just be unavoidable." He shrugged.

Emily nodded and then rubbed her chin, "Jon, what will an army equipped with the future weapons be like?"

"I can't even begin to imagine. A few men with the power of ten thousand? A war between nations equipped with these weapons may very well change entire landscapes. Some of the things they have described would make a traditional army no more of a threat than an army of children equipped with sticks and stones." Captain Alexander smiled and then added, "But for now, our nation will be the only one with them, and because of that, we'll be able to go as far as our infrastructure can sustain us."

"Which means expansion to support the need for expansion." She scrunched up her face in thought, "Could the Church be oppressing the spread of science because of that?"

Captain Alexander frowned, then leaned close and said in a very soft voice, "The Church of the Risen Son wants to stop the spread of all reason and free thought not because they are trying to save the world, but because the old men that run the Church are protecting their power, income and the future of the Church. Science leads to knowledge, the certainty that things like men returning to the living after being dead for several days are not possible. The Church is built on a foundation of lies that require a man to reject what he knows to be true. To have faith in a lie and call reason heresy."

Emily sighed, "Is that why you refuse to call yourself a knight?"

"I refuse to call myself a knight because the man I was charged to serve, the man who placed his blade on my shoulder under the eyes of God and gave me the right to the title was murdered right in front of me, and I didn't bother to so much as lift my sword in his defense. Not because I agreed with his murder, but because I was told that it was God's will that he die that day. I spent years trying to tell myself that my faith could carry me through, but then I turned to reason and with reason, I was able to see the truth. I was scared. I was scared that I would be cast out from the Church. I was scared that my immortal soul would be sent to a flaming underworld. I was scared that my friends would turn on me, the way they turned on their King." He stepped back, "I was scared that you be next if I didn't go along with it. A knight swears an oath to promise on his faith that he will in the future be faithful to his lord, never to cause him harm and observe his homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit." He frowned and then choked up a bit, "The Oath is sworn to God. So what do you do when your Church tells you the man you have sworn that oath to must die because he is a heretic?"

Emily stared at him with tears in her eyes, "You never told me you were there."

He nodded and said, "We all were, all twelve of his Knight Commanders. None of us drew a sword to protect him, only one man stepped forward with a sword in his hand and he executed the King himself in order to protect you."

"What do you mean to protect me?"

"The Cardinal said that if the King and Queen did not die that day, the Kingdom would be excommunicated. That every man, woman, and child would be cast out from the Church and face the full might of the Inquisition. We all knew that unless we killed them we would be killing ourselves and our families, the ones we loved. In our hearts, we felt we were strong enough to protect them from the rest of the world. Yet, when it was time to act, we all froze up. All of us but one man."

"My uncle killed my mother and my father." She started to cry, burying her face in her hands.

"None of us had the strength to do what he did. He took all of the Church's sin on his own shoulders to save his people, to save you. He made the Cardinal swear to God that you would never be killed if he did it himself." Captain Alexander stood up before taking a knee in front of her again, "Your Highness, I am a failure as a knight, not fit to hold the title. I am directly responsible for the death of your mother and your father. That's why... That's why I can only stay by your side as your protection to atone for my shame, for my crime of cowardice."

Emily stood up in confusion and anger, she wanted to slap him or punch him or do something violent against him. Instead, she pulled his head against her body and hugged him, gently stroking her hand through his hair. Her voice was soft as she murmured, "Thank you for telling me, Jon. Holding that inside for so long, I can only imagine how painful it has been."