We arrive at the back parlor, to find a mess as I hadn't told them how to setup it up. "Sorry I was so long, John showed up then Daniel. Let's get this straightened out, Kalvin, Mark would you move the large table here," I pointed to near the wall on the north side. "The small table goes here," pointing to an area next to the courtyard to the side of and in front of the large table. One chair went behind the small table, the others are place facing the large table, about four paces in front of the table.

When that is done, I have them sit, "I was thinking we would demo how a auction works before the actual auction. To do that I need three of you to act as the merchants so Molly, Sophia and Helen, you are merchants here to buy grain. Move to the front chairs please." They shuffled around, I have Mark and Kalvin stand next to the wall on my left. Emi plays the part of Aden, recording the prices paid.

"This is going to be a open ascending auction, think of it as a multiple person haggle, I am the seller, you the buyers.

"I have 500 sacks of wheat for sale, I'm asking 700 coppers per hundred, anyone want it for that price?"

"I'd go 500." says Sophia.

"525" says Helen.

"535' Sophia.

"550" Molly, finally getting how it's done.

"560" Sophia.

"575" Molly.

"580" Helen.

"582" Sophia.

"585" Molly.

They go silent, "Last bid is 585, will anyone go 586? 586... once... twice... Sold 585 to Molly."

"That is how it is done Mark. Do you have questions?"

"So the price for all the grain is the last price?"

"No, that price is for that lot only. Each lot is bid on separately."

"Can we do it again but with me in it?"

"We can, how about all of you bid."

They sat down, getting settled. "Lot 29, 500 sacks of wheat, threshed and cleaned on the storeroom floor, asking 650 copper per hundred. Anyone?"

Mark asks a question, "What does on the storeroom floor mean?"

"Non sacked, loose on the store room floor. Thinking about it, I have paid 50 gold to buy sacks which we turn around and give away. If they want a sack they can supply their own or pay an extra half copper per sack."

"Alright, thank you. And I will give you 550."

"555" Molly.

"560" Mabel.

"575" Helen.

"580" Mark.

"585" Helen

"590" Molly.

"600" Kalvin.

"610" Mark.

Silence. "I have 610, 611 anyone, 611... 610 once... twice... Sold to Mark for 610 per hundred."

"That is a very interesting way of selling grain, I will have to tell the company about this. I would suggest that you post that grain sacks are extra, you will run into difficultly if you don't."

"Thank you for the suggestion. Sophia, as you have the clearest hand would you write out a notice about the grain sacks, please."

"Oh course, Rufina. You want them to sign it, correct?" I nod.

"YOUR MAJESTY, CAPTAIN JONES IS AT THE DOOR." One of the guards shouts over the roof.

"THANK YOU."

I take off at a fast walk, if the captain is here he probably wants to talk to Aden or I and as Aden is not here he gets me. Reaching the door, I pull it open as he begins to knock again. "Sorry Captain, we were all at the far end of the palace. How can I help you today?"

"I have a request from the merchant that you banned from the island. He requests to be allowed to attend the grain auction this afternoon."

"I will have to ask the young woman that he attacked, If she says he can attend I will allow it. Come with me please." We walk to the back parlor.

"Your majesty, why is it that you answer your own door, dressed as a freeman?"

"I like dressing this way, it allows me to be cool in the heat of the day. As for the door, I figure if you have come to the palace, you must want to speak with me or minster Aden. As Aden is not here, you will be talking to me. Why send someone else to open the door, escort you to where I am so you can talk to me when I can answer to door myself, being there to answer your question, saving both of us time."

We have arrived that the parlor, "Helen, the captain has been asked to deliver a request to me. The merchant that attacked you asks to be allowed to attend the grain auction. Will you allow this?"

She went pale, not falling because Sophia was right there, holding her up. Sophia whispered in her ear, so quiet I couldn't hear. Soon Helen stood straight, nodded to the captain, "Captain you may inform the merchant that he is allowed to attend the auction but once it is over he must return to the ship. I have a request of you, Captain. Will you personally escort him to and from your ship?"

"I will do that for you, mistress Helen." he bowed to her, a slight head bob, but still a bow.

"Thank you, Captain. If you will excuse me, I need to lie down." She then walked to the other end of the courtyard, climbed the stair and heads to her rooms, Sophia following behind.

"There is his answer, Captain. The auction begins at 1100. Please have him here on time."

"Thank you, your majesty. I will see you at 1100 then." With that he leaves.

"Alright every one, you all know how an auction is done, I will want three of you to demonstrate to the merchants how it is done. Decide among your selves who gets the honor of doing it."

I turn and slowly walk to the stairs, climbing them, turning toward my rooms. I light the candle then go in. Going to my bedchamber I use the pot, clean up, removing my tunic and shorts. I lay on the bed, 'Sophia is Helen alright?' 'She's fine, just a little upset, I'm with her.' 'Tell her I love her, please.' I lean over and blow out the candle.

As I lay in the dark of my room, I start thinking of what needs to be done in the near future. The palace needs to be emptied, so a storage building will be needed. A temporary dwelling found. Then a new palace designed and located. The workshops need to be designed and built. I need to visit the other villages/towns in my domain. The order to plant flax needs to be given, the three field order also. I need to talk to some of the farmers again, to find out when the flax and chickpea crops are planted. And the seed drill needs to be worked on. Was John still in the atrium? I didn't notice. And where is Aden? He should have checked in, unless the cleaner has problems, I hope not. There is a spinning wheel being built, should I design the loom or wait and talk to Daniel about it.

Humm, I wonder how big Lian's house is inside? We could use that as the temporary palace until a new one could be built. It would still need to be enlarged I'll bet. What's planned for tomorrow? I could go check it out then. How many would it need to house? Me, Tilly, Eliza and Kalvin, Emi and Mark, the maids and Abbey. Then the guards would be around somewhere. So, ten plus the guards. Whoops forgot Helen and Sophia, make that twelve. That's four double rooms and six singles. Support rooms, study, parlor, dining room, kitchen, store room, a bathing room and four toilet rooms, and a minimum of two workrooms, one for quiet work and one for loud. Though those could be a separate building. What to do with the offices? We could reopen the town hall, then what to do with the school? A separate building for that, four, no six rooms minimum. There goes all the gold, bah. It all depends on what Lian's house is like.

Then there are the public bathhouses, more salt ponds, housing for the workers there. Oh the salt ponds need to be checked for leakage, I could send Kalvin and one of the girls to check them. Eliza would be the logical choice but they would probably be in the woods before coming back, oh well. And the ponds will need water added in a day or two. That leads to wondering when Jason will have the trough done. It would be nice if it could be in a day or two.

The door slow cracks open, Emi slipping inside. "Rufina, are you awake?"

"Hello, love. Come lay down." She sat on the edge of the bed, taking my hand.

"It's almost dinner time. You should get dressed and come down. What are you doing?"

"Thinking about all the things that need to be done. Is Aden back?"

"Yes, he's down stairs. What are you going to wear this afternoon?"

"A skirt, blouse and vest I think, the nice ones. Can't be too scruffy, John said I dress like a freeman. What's wrong with dressing in comfortable clothes in your own home."

"Not a thing, love. Up with you, lazy princess, your subjects await." She pulls my up into a hug, "And this subject needs some attention from her queen." Planting a kiss on me, which I return. Sighing, caressing her, I want to throw her on the bed and kiss every bit of her but duty awaits, darn it.

As she dresses me I ask, "Did you have a nice wedding night?"

"Oh, it was alright, I should have had a blanket to lay on but spur of the moment sex is like that, unprepared. He was gentle and loving and oh, so passionate, almost has good as you. He did tell me that he knows about us, apparently I talk in my sleep."

"He told me that several day ago. He also asked me to take care of you while he was gone, I told him I would."

"Here I was worried that my lover and husband wouldn't like each other."

"He is a sexy hunk of man flesh and if I didn't have the succession to worry about I would join you two in the woods."

"Rufina, such talk." then she breaks into giggles. "I don't know if he could keep up with both of us." Which got a grin out of me.

"When he falls asleep on us, we always have each other." I pull her into another kiss.

After breaking the kiss, "Are you ready to face the world?" she asked.

"Yep, let's go, there is money to be made.

Coming down the stairs I decide to help serve today so goto the kitchen, Emi right behind me. Tilly raises an eyebrow as I take one of the trays and head out the door with it. I have the plates, tea cups and saucers. Placing the tray down on the side board, then taking the stack of plates I start placing them on the table. Having gone around the table I take the saucers next, then the cups. Emi comes out of the kitchen bearing a tray, with bowls of vegetables and plates of bread along with the utensils, which I start to set out. Emi soon returns with the meat platter which she places on the table in front of my place setting.

Having finished setting the table, I stand behind my chair,"Hello friends, sorry to be late, I was in thought, listing all the things that I need to do or have done. It is a long and lengthy list. Depending on the condition of the walls, we may have to move out of the palace. Which means finding some where to place all the things it contains. Then finding us some where to live and work while a new palace is built. Then there are the offices, where to put them. If they return to the town hall, where will the school I wanted to open be placed. Then there are the work shops I promised the craftsmen."

"There are the salt ponds, workers need to be assigned to them so they can continue the work on them. There is a new way to divide the land so the fertility is maintained or improved. There are different crops than normal to be grown, I want flax and chickpeas to be grown. Mark, is there a market for chickpeas? I hope so. Flax, you know what is done with that. We can't start a textile industry without the rare material. That means more machines to design and build, many more machines."

"But this afternoon the task is to sell some grain so some gold will fill the coffers, to pay for all of that. Which of you are going to be the demonstration bidders?" Molly, Emi and Sophia raise their hands. "Alright. Kalvin and Eliza, would you go to the salt ponds this afternoon, checking them for leaks. There should be no more than one knuckles depth of water missing from each pond. You need not refill them, just check the water level."

"Aden, is the cleaner ready? If it is, does it work? If it doesn't, what is the problem?"

"The cleaner is finished, it's in the back parlor, it works just not very well at the moment."

"Is there a supply of grain that needs cleaning?"

"Yes, I brought a sack of wheat and one of rye. They're in the back also."

I came around my chair, sitting down,"Go ahead and eat everyone, we can talk as we eat, just try to answer with an empty mouth, please. Aden, on a different subject, how large is Lian's house, how many floors, how many rooms and how much land is it on?"

"Two floors plus a cellar, four rooms on the ground floor, four rooms above. The cellar is one large room with the stairs dividing it. It sits on a lot 50 measures square."

"Any out buildings? Stables, storage, tool shed?"

"A two horse stable with a storage room. Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping it could be used as the temporary palace. But it sounds like it would need a remodel to be usable. But could we go see it tomorrow?"

"Of course we can."

"Hans, son of Karl, is he going to take over his fathers farm or is he a second son?"

"I believe he is a second son. What are you thinking?"

"Someone is needed at the salt ponds, he is familiar with them, I was thinking I could assign/hire him to head a crew there."

"I will ask him tomorrow while we are out and about. He is young though. Wouldn't an older man be better?"

"He showed a good head on his shoulders when they were moving the stones. I'm sure he will do fine."

"You mentioned crops and dividing the land, what is this?"

"Currently the land is divide in to two fields, one for a crop, the other fallow. I want the fields divide in to thirds, one grain crop, one fallow and one chickpea, lentils, peas, lucerne or clover."

"You are aware that doing so will decrease the wheat crop."

"Yes, by a third. Using the large grain berries as seed should outset the reduced acreage. Plus the next wheat crop will be on the land the chickpeas or other crops were on."

"If the freemen farmers don't want to plant these crops, what should I do?"

"Tell them their tax will be half grain and half one of the other crops."

"Tobias, when is flax planted?"

"Usually two or three weeks before the first day of spring, about the time the first of the apples bloom."

"Too cold before that?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"And too dry to plant now?"

"Yes again."

"How about chickpea?"

"Too dry now, It's normally planted in the early spring, about the same time flax is."

"So only grains are planted in the fall?"

"A few vegetables are also planted, cabbages, radish, broccoli, ones that do well in the cool."

"Are bee's kept? If so, how many hives are there?"

"There are a few hives."

"Are they kept in heavy woven straw cones?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"All right, thank you Tobias."

"Emi, didn't you and Mark visit Nora asking her about hemp? I don't remember if I saw the notes for that visit."

"I placed them on the study desk, your majesty."

"Ah, all right. They are probably under something else then."

Noticing that most of the others are finished eating, I concentrate on eating as I am behind. Emi and Helen are starting to clean up, collecting plates,utensils and the leftovers. I am the last to finish. I gather the few dishes remaining and take them to the kitchen, placing them beside Helen, who is on dish washing duty.