Kalvin is waiting at the bottom of the stairs, holding a wooden sword. There is now a wooden pole covered in thick layers of rope in the center of one end of the courtyard. He walks around me, checking the fit of my armor, he nods, "Tell Emi she did a good job. Draw your sword."

Reaching down I, push the blade out of the sheath with my thumb of my left hand then grasp the pommel in the right, drawing it out. I'm holding it at an angle in front of me, point high. His arm strikes out, grasping the blade, yanking it out of my hand. "Your grip is weak, your stance is poor, you know nothing about the sword." He then puts my feet where he wants them, telling me my balance is shit. With a light push I start to fall. Something clicks, instead of falling on my ass, I roll back to my feet. Standing I go into vertical centering, time seems to slow. When he attempts to push me over again, as he is about to touches me I move, ever so sightly, enough to not be there to push. He gets more aggressive but he is unable to touch me. Raising the wooden sword, he moves to strike me, I avoid it, dropping him to the ground using a leg sweep instead, my bladed hand stops a cm from his throat. His eye are big, "How did you do that?"

I helped him up, "When I was a young girl, my father thought I should be able to defend myself so he sent me to a school to learn an unarmed combat style. I kept practicing it until I started college, then I was so busy with my studies I had to stop. I am a bit out of practice but the moves are still here," I point to my head. "Now, are you going to teach the sword or are you going to try beating me up again?"

Handing me the wooden sword, he moves my hand so it is gripping the pommel up high. "Hold it firmly, not too tight nor to loose. When I took your sword you were holding it too lightly. Now swing the sword at the post." I do. "Now do that one hundred times." So I whacked the poor defenseless post one hundred and one times. By the time I am finished I am soaking wet, my arm feels like it could fall off, I am thirsty and my hand hurts. The edge of the wooden sword is blunter than it had been. Kalvin pries the sword from my fingers before handing me a cup of water. As I drained it, I notice Emi standing a short distance away.

"Is it time for dinner?"

"Yes, Rufina. We will barely have time for you to cleaned up." Kalvin hands her my sword.

"You did well for the first day, your majesty. Would you teach me some of the unarmed moves?" We are walking toward the atrium, Kalvin and I side by side, Emi following.

"If you wish. Are we going to train more this evening?"

"A quick run around the outer wall before supper. You don't need to wear the armor this evening. See you at dinner." He starts climbing the stairs.

I remove my helmet, giving my head a shake. I will need have my bangs cut, they are down in my eyes. Emi and I climb the stairs to my rooms, before either of us says anything. "I saw him push you over, I wanted to help but you got back up so didn't. When he swung the sword at you I was scared for you, but then you had him down so quickly, I was proud." She hugs me tight, I can feel it though the armor.

"Sorry for worrying you, love. Now, please help me out of this armor, I need to bathe before I can meet anyone, I am stinky." Holding my arm up I snuff the armor,"I wonder if this has ever been cleaned, I have smelled manure piles that have smelled better. Will you help me clean it later?"

She has started unbuckling the scale shirt, her nose is wrinkled, but she nods. "I think it is mostly the gambeson that is stinking, would boiling it help with the smell?"

"We'll need to ask Tilly that. I know why it stinks but not how to remove it." Laying the scales down, she helps with the gambeson, which she hangs on the rack then lays the scales over it. I remove the gauntlets then the vambrace while she kneels to remove the grieves. All six pieces and the helmet join the scale shirt on the rack. I sit on the chest to remove my boots and stockings. Emi goes to get a pitcher of water. After removing the rest of my clothing, which go in the basket, I use the chamber pot. I wonder how the toilet is coming along, Steven has had it for a few days now. I can check on it this afternoon. Emi returns with the water which we put to use, I am soon scrubbed from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Several protrusions get tweaked in the process which gets her a long kiss and a double handed butt grab. But we are on a tight schedule so that is all that happens. I get out clean clothes and dress as she tidies the room then removes the water. When I'm finished dressing, I meet her at the stairs, we descend to the kitchen.

"Emi, would you be willing to cut my hair, this is too long to wear under a helmet? We could get you some practice in dream space if you feel you need it." We enter the kitchen, where Sophia is helping load trays with plates, utensils and cups. Tilly is filling another with platters and bowls.

"What do you need to practice in dream space?" Sophia wants to know. I pick up the tray, carrying it to the table.

"I want a hair cut, it was getting in my eyes when I am beating the daylights out of the practice post. Practicing hair cutting in dream space before doing it for real would help her gain confidence, I know I like to practice things before doing them."

"Do you want to do it in bed tonight?"

"That is what I was thinking. Helen could join us too, she wanted a hair cut last week if I remember." Helen comes out of the stair well, heading to her seat. "Helen, do you still want a hair cut?"

"Yes, I do. Are we doing it tonight?"

"I thinking we could let Emi practice on us in dream space tonight, then do it for real tomorrow. Is that alright with you Emi? I shouldn't be make decisions for you."

"It's fine, Rufina." as she is setting the table.

"Did your training go well?" Helen asks.

"Once Kalvin took me seriously it did. I had to knock him on his ass first."

"How do you knock a warrior like Kalvin on his ass?" Helen wants to know.

"You kick his legs out from under him, then punch him in the throat. Though I stopped before I did that. Can't have my guard and sword teacher not breathing, can I? Anyway, once I did that he started showing me some things."

"Helen, could you make me a few more pairs of shorts, I think I will need them to wear under my armor. If you need to buy some cloth, I'll get you some coin."

"The same as the first pair?"

"Yes, the same." Tilly has arrived with the tray of food, the others have arrived also. The food is passed around, a slice of one of two meat pies, bread and fruit slices. We tell each other what we have been doing this morning. Eliza has the cards finished, Aden has been checking the tax records, Emi and Sophia had been spinning for Helen who had been weaving. Tobias had done chores then worked with his friends on the bath house. The maids had cleaned all the bed chambers with the rest of the old section to be cleaned this afternoon. Tilly and Abbey had been cooking and would be cooking.

"Helen, happy tidings, you don't owe any back taxes. Your husband paid them ahead four years so you have another year before you will owe any. I can show you the records later if you wish."

"Thank you, Aden. That takes a worry off of me."

"Your majesty, the captain wishes to know when you want the militia set up." Kalvin says.

"You and he can start a selection process, as we have no weapons for them yet. Once you find enough men willing to serve, start teaching them spear work. They wouldn't need actual spears to do that, would they?"

"No, they can learn with staves to start."

Staves? Staves! "Quarter staves! You could teach them to fight with quarter staves. Don't they have the same moves?"

"What are quarter staves, your majesty?"

"Really? A quarter stave is the a quarter of a tree trunk, about as long as you are tall, shaped about this round." I hold up my middle finger touching my thumb. "They are used to fight with, like a spear without a spearhead. I can show you and the captain a video in dream space later, if you wish."

"You know, it wouldn't be a bad idea to teach everyone on the island to use a quart stave. The only ones exempt would be the very old or very young. If everyone could use one, that would be more fighters, it would take a large army to take the island. Imagine, four thousand pointy sticks in your face, who would have that many ships."

"Really, your majesty? Pointy sticks? Are you joking?"

"The pointy sticks, yes, the total population, no. One hundred spearmen, would be a deterrent for a force of forty, but not for eighty or one hundred twenty. So more would be needed, there could be reserve companies, to be called if more than one ship of raiders land at a time."

"How are wars fought here? Large massed forces or smaller units fighting together? Do the raiders attack one farmstead at a time or many? If these raiders are like the raiders of Earth, they seek wealth and will only grow stronger the longer they are allowed to raid."

"Also send word to the other towns to form militias of their own, each town will have to provide for their own defense, as we are too far away to help quickly."

I have a thought, if we had to flee, would we have a chance? Where would we get supplies, clothes, the necessities? Back on Earth, the survivalists had what were called B.o.B., bug out bags, a bag containing clothes, non perishable food, lights and other useful things, they could grab and go. We need that. Raising my voice so everyone at the table can hear me, "I want each of you to put a change of clothes, a candle or two, a fire starter if you have one, some dried food, maybe a blanket, in small bag or basket. This bag is to be put in a place that you can get hold of it quickly."

"What is the propose of this bag, your majesty?" asks Helen.

"If we need to leave the palace quickly, you grab this bag and go, no searching for a pair of underwear, stockings or whatever, it's all in the bag. Imagine, the palace is on fire. What do you do, you can't stay in a burning building, you have no time to search for clothes, food, you must leave NOW. Grab your bag and go. With your bag you have the basics you need. Let me know if you need something, I'll see you get it."

"I need to get to town to meet Bob. But first, dinner needs cleaned up." Saying that I start collecting plates, utensils and bowls. Placing them on a tray, I carry them in to the kitchen where I start washing them. Molly brings another tray in, then starts drying dishes.

"Your majesty, do I need a bag?" she asks me.

"If there was a situation where you were here and we had to flee, and you couldn't return home, wouldn't you want some things? So, yes, you need one."

"Thank you, your majesty. Would a bag like that be a good idea for our homes, too."

"Oh, yes, what would you rather do if there is an attack, in the night, you have to flee to the palace grounds? Spend ten minutes searching for clothes, a bag to carry them in, a bit of food, all while raiders are coming down the lane. Or grab a your B.o.B. and run." She gets a look on her face, like this is such a good idea.

"I should tell my family and neighbors of this."

"I should have it told to everyone. Thank you for the question, Molly." I need to mention this to Aden so he can have the criers tell the town folk and farmers. The other towns need to know also. Once Molly and I finish the dishes I go to the study where I write it down, B.o.B.s for everyone on the island. As I write another idea surfaces, designated safe areas so the populous has somewhere to flee to in time of crises. I write that idea on a separate piece of paper. I continue the B.o.B. specification sheet, listing what could go in one, indicating that parents would have to include things for their young children.

When I meet up with Aden before we leave I hand him the papers. He reads them, nodding, "Very good idea, your majesty. I'll see that these are pass on." He place them in his office for the time being, we have another project at the moment.

After I made sure the plans I had drawn were in the basket, then leading Aden, Emi and Kalvin to the house. We met Bob at the front door of the house, after a quick walk down the hill.

"Good afternoon, Bob." I greet him. I had asked Aden if he had told Bob why I wanted to meet him on the way down the hill. "I understand that you built this house for Lian."

"Yes, your majesty. This is my work."

"Due to rot damage to the palace, we are looking for a new residence. As I already own this house, I will be moving into it. The reason you are here is to give me an estimate of cost, time and feasibility of a remodel to this house. I have a some sketches, " Emi hands me the plans, "of what I wished done. As most of the changes are to the back of the house, let's go to the back."

Aden had gone in the front door, then unbars the back door, opening it. "The biggest change is that there is an addition to the back of the house of about four measure deep, the full width, there will be a cellar beneath the addition. The cellar will be converted to living space, storage and a work space. It's here in the plans."

The next two hours are spent going over the plans, inspecting the building and haggling the price, materials and the schedule. I will be disappointing the maids, because of the water table the floor in the cellar will have to be stone or tile. The windows are a go though, after I explain a way to support the floor above while a beam is put in place. I was right to move the bathing chamber, he will not guarantee a leak proof floor and plus the structure wouldn't hold the tub. The rest of the addition is good as planned. The house addition is going to cost twenty seven gold, most of which is labor, as the kingdom is supplying the materials. We make arrangements to meet at the palace in two days to make up a list of materials needed. We bid Bob good afternoon and lock the house back up.