Chapter 19, Alexis's in Wonderland
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Follow me down the rabbit hole and you'll find I don't own Castle. Rating: M, sometimes. I'll tell you when. Time: After my fic, Four of a Kind.
Chapter Nineteen: A Stately Pleasure Dome
Castle normally liked to watch the shock on the newbies faces when they saw they were really on the Moon. That didn't happen this time. The Proud Mary and the two mini-subs came back to an artificial lake inside a clear dome on the Moon, with the Earth hanging just over the horizon. But the new Kate Beckett didn't care. All she cared about was her Rick Castle, who had been starved and tortured by Slaughter for months. Kate herself was in little better shape, Slaughter being a sexual sadist. Alexis was so happy to have her family back and safe that she was crying too hard to notice much of anything. Lexi, the kidnapped Alexis, looked briefly at her surroundings and then went off with her friend.
"Hospital?" Castle asked Metford.
"Certainly, Mr. Castle. Their physical injuries are painful but they won't have long lasting consequences. Their mental wounds will take longer to heal, but with the help we can give them and the fact that they are now together and safe, they should heal completely."
"And you have a place for them to go? A good place?"
Metford sighed and nodded. "Of course. There's an Earth that's a few decades behind yours in technology. It has no Richard or Alexis Castle, or Kate Beckett. We have an office in the local San Francisco, so we'll locate them there. This Richard Castle was also a writer, Derrick Storm only, I'm afraid, and that Derrick Storm was an engineer. He helped solve global warming problems. But we're giving him a set of Derrick Storm, the spy, and Nikki Heat books from various Earths to give him some ideas. I'm sure we won't have to subsidize him forever. By the way, I've been reading your Nikki Heat books. Quite interesting. How did your Beckett ever manage to read those without instantly realizing you were in love with her?"
Castle shrugged. "I think she knew. She just didn't want to know."
"Ah, women." Metford replied.
"You married, Metford?"
"Of course. For forty one years now."
"So, when do we meet the little woman?"
"Never. We're trying to keep you from learning about our Earth, remember?"
"Worth a try."
They met the next day in Metford's office after getting the first of their intel virus shots.
"Swords?" Rodgers said angrily. "We have to use swords?"
"I know how to use a sword. I fence." Castle said.
"Fencing is a sport, Mr. Castle. Combat is different. Throwing an axe at your opponent while he only has a fencing foil would get you disqualified in fencing. In combat, it saves your life. You'll learn that when you get your second virus shots tomorrow. Muscle memory for combat and all that." Metford said with a superior smile.
As he always did, Rodgers began going over what they had learned from the first virus shot. "In most Earths, Genghis Khan died in 1227 Common Era and was succeeded by his son, Ogedei Khan who ruled until 1244. But not in the one we're headed for. On our Earth, Mongol armies had invaded Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Romania. They beat a German army at Breslau. A small Mongol army even made it to the Adriatic Sea, just across from Italy. In our Earths' histories, when Ogedei died in 1244 the Mongols about faced and returned to help choose the new Khan. They raided Eastern Europe after that, but were never as big a threat."
"But not where we're headed for." Becks added.
Rodgers nodded. "There, Ogedei lived another fifteen or so years. On that Earth they over ran Europe, the Islamic Middle East, the Seljuk Turks, the Byzantines, and got all the way to England and Ireland. The Italian Renaissance that ended Europe's Dark Ages was crushed before it ever got started. The Mongols didn't care if the Sun went around the Earth, or the Earth around the Sun. Knowledge was not highly valued in the Mongol Empire."
Castle took over. "They over ran what was left of China, South East Asia, India, Japan, hell, just about any place they could find."
"And Odegei organized the Mongol Empire as one unit. The Empire didn't get split up between the sons and grandsons of old Genghis Khan like happened on our Earth." Kate added.
"Intellectual life stagnated. Monasteries that had jump started the Renaissance never developed as intellectual centers. Oh, the Pope was allowed to run the Catholic Church, but the Mongols never let it amass the wealth and political power it would have had." Rodgers spoke again. "The Mongols were quite generous if you surrendered to them. If you were, say, the Duke of Kent, and you surrendered, you got to stay the Duke, keep a few soldiers to keep you own people in line, but nowhere near enough to be a threat to your Mongol overlords and as long as you did what you were told, everything was okay."
"But if you were the Duke of Earl and fought the Mongols, you not only didn't get to your song played, but you got beaten by a Mongol army. Then you were killed, your whole family massacred, and your cities sacked and its people enslaved. And some Mongol took over what was left."
"So, if there was a Christopher Columbus in 1492, he never learned enough about navigation to get across a river, let alone an ocean." Becks took over. "After four hundred years or so, the Mongol Empire collapsed, but culture was still Mongol. The only thing that mattered was military strength."
"The Basques discovered America some hundred and fifty years ago, while hunting whales, of all things. Europeans didn't have that much of a technical advantage over the Native Americans but some moved to America. The biggest colony is in what we'd call North Carolina and was founded by a disgraced younger brother of the Duke of Normandy and his people. His grandson runs the place now. They established themselves on the Outer Banks, islands off the coast, where their superior ships could keep the locals from driving them off. Gradually, they established themselves on the mainland. They just have enclaves now, but the Normans are a power in North Carolina."
"And an Alexis is there." Castle finished.
Two days later, well mounted, wearing chain mail hauberks and iron helmets and armed with sword, axe, lance, and composite bow, the five friends rode north into New Normandy. In addition to their riding horses, they had two pack horses with them. As Mongol women had once fought alongside their men, the three armed women were unusual, but hardly unknown.
They had been set down on the very edge of the territories of Duke Robert of New Normandy as he styled himself. In less than half an hour they met a Norman patrol of a dozen men.
"Good day to you." Called the patrol leader.
Both parties stopped their horse when about twenty feet apart. "Good day to you as well." Rodgers replied in Old Norman French, courtesy of his virus.
"Where have you been?"
Rodgers pointed his chin back behind them. "To the south, where a fool told us gold was."
"And was there."
Rodgers spat. "None. But the locals are friendly. The other tribes raid them and they're happy for a few armored riders to help."
"They'll cut your throat as soon as you're no longer needed." The patrol leader opined.
"Maybe. But they didn't."
"Indeed they didn't. Your accents are different. Where are you from?"
This was the hard part. "We're Walloons, from the north. The land of the Belges." Rodgers said carefully.
"Never been there." The patrol leader turned to his men. "Anyone of you ever meet a Walloon?"
The man all shook their heads. One fellow spoke. "Old Martin was a Walloon, always going on about how he missed his home there. But he's dead. Don't think there was another of his kind around."
The leader nodded. "We're at the end of our patrol. You can go back with us to Rouen-by-the-Sea if you care. We'll stop over night at St. Mere Eglise and then on to the capitol."
They introduced themselves. The patrol leader said he was Gustave and said no more.
St. Mere Eglise was a tidy little town of a few hundred souls near where Morehead City was on their own Earths. Rouen-by-the-Sea was on the southern shore of Albemarle Sound, not far from where New Bern would have been.
Rodgers noticed that while the fields were cleared for a couple of miles around the town there were no houses there. Everything was in the town, clustered by a small stone castle.
"Any raids by the locals while we were gone?" He asked.
Gustave shrugged. "How long were you gone?"
"Almost six months."
"Last raid was almost seven months ago. The Crusader fleet from Europe five months back gave us enough men to mount a raid back at the devils. Better yet, nearly a hundred fighting men stayed when the fleet went back. They brought more than a hundred peasant families to work the land for them." Gustave gestured to the land around them. "All of this land. A peasant can become a landowner and pay his taxes to a lord who used to be just a damned mercenary crossbowman. It takes a bit of getting used to, this New Normandie."
"Will you become a lord?"
Gustave spat. "Sit on my ass and screw peasant girls until some savage comes along and kills me? I'm a soldier. I'll stay one until I'm too old to fight. Then I'll get some land, have some damned peasant work it and move to the capitol."
"And sit on your ass and screw peasant girls?" Becks teased.
Gustave laughed. "I like your wife. I can see why you married her. If I could find one that can fight, I might get married. She have any unmarried sisters?"
They chatted with Gustave until they were inside the town. Gustave told them there was only one inn where they could stay. He did also mention that merchant ships sailed fairly regularly to Rouen-by-the-Sea and that passage probably would be less than what they could sell their horses for.
After a night at the local inn, they sold their horses for a tidy sum of gold pieces. They had other gold on them, but felt it was best to appear to live within their means.
After selling their horses, they walked down to their docks. A copper coin got a young boy to tell them all about the ships headed for Rouen-by-the-Sea. They selected the Queen Maude as the best. They walked along the pier to the Queen Maude. The ship was built for speed and not comfort or carrying a lot of cargo.
"Looks like an old Viking ship." Castle muttered.
"The Norman's started out as Vikings a long time ago." Rodgers replied.
They spotted a dumpy, poorly dressed sailor dumping a bucket of slops overboard on the other side of the ship.
"Hey, is this ship headed for Rouen-by-the-Sea?" Rodgers called.
A decidedly female voice replied. "Of course it is, you damned idiot. Everyone knows the Queen Maude is based there."
"And who are you?"
The woman laughed. "Who am I? I'm Maude, you fool."
"Queen Maude?" Castle asked disbelievingly.
"Queen of this ship. What's it to you?"
"We want to go to Rouen-by-the-Sea."
"You have two gold pieces each?"
"Yes."
"Then you can pay it to me and come aboard."
Thy looked at each other. Then Rodgers pulled out the money and hopped on board. "Seems a bit steep for such a short trip."
"Any trip us dangerous. The Ocean can kill you fast, if you're not careful. And good. Not every trip is fast, but this one is. You'll be fed and sleep under cover, and if anyone tries to take the ship, you won't even have to draw your swords. My oarsmen are the biggest and the strongest in the New World, and my long-bowmen the best shots. And I'm the most beautiful captain on the sea." At the last comment, she laughed loudly.
She looked up at the sky. "We'll have good weather and fair winds. Tide turns in three hours. You have until then to get your gear and stow it."
"We have everything right here."
"Then go for'ard and grab a spot. I may have more passengers."
The only other passengers were two monks who got seasick while the Queen Maude was still tied up at the dock and stayed that way all the way to Rouen-by-the-Sea where they staggered off and promptly kissed the ground.
Rouen-by-the-Sea had the look of a small French city. Cobbled streets turning to muddy streets as you left the center of the city. The streets also narrowed and houses and shops seemed to lean over the streets, blocking the sunlight. The streets were full, however. Not only people walking about, but men and women carrying parcels, a man leading a large pig to market, a child with a small black and white kitten and several young "ladies" looking for customers. Not everyone walked, of course. A few rode horses, by their dress, they were the wealthier citizens. Most rode in carts filled with farm products or walked along side carts that were too full to allow a person to ride. In the distance a fortress loomed.
Castle and his friends were dressed in simple cotton outfits, pants, shirts and jackets. Women rode astride locally, so wearing pants as opposed to skirts was not unusual. They had left their heavy armor off, but wore their swords. A man pulling a cart followed them with their gear.
They were suddenly stopped by two armed and armored men. "Greetings, on behalf of Baron Michael, friends. He's always looking for some good men." His eyes strayed to the three women. He licked his lips. "And were always on the lookout for a pretty face and a saucy bottom, aren't we, Jean?"
Jean nodded while ogling the women.
"These are our wives and sister in law. I suggest you apologize to them now." Rodgers said coldly.
The man laughed. "Me, apologize to some trollop? Never happen. Now take your three whores out of here and don't let us catch you again."
Rodgers smiled, "I don't want any trouble…" He began, then kicked the man in the balls. He grabbed the man's helmet and smashed it into Jean's face before he could draw his weapon. Then he hit the first man with his own helmet. Both had collapsed in a heap.
"You don't want any trouble?' A man behind them said, chuckling.
They turned to face him. He was older, with grey hair and a salt and pepper mustache. He had probably once been as tall as Rodgers, but he was now quite bowlegged. His pants had a leather insert running from the knee, up to the crotch and down to the other knee. Rodgers figured him for a man who had spent most of his life in the saddle. His broad shoulders and thick arms were covered with a thick leather jacket. He was armed with a well-worn sword and a large dagger, but raised his hands from his weapons, smiling.
"That wasn't any trouble for me." Rodgers said.
The man laughed again. "I take your point. But, I'm afraid you've made an enemy. Beating up Baron Michael's men in public could get you a knife in the back." The man looked around. "There's a little tavern a bit away from here. I'll buy you all a cup of wine. You're newcomers and I've always been a very curious man and would hear your story. I'm Robert Denard, by the by."
He turned and headed down the street without looking to see if they followed him. The five exchanged glances and followed him.
The tavern was small, but comfortable with a floor of flagstones that were regularly swept, a massive fireplace, currently unlit and large wine casks lining one wall. They sat with Denard at a table. Denard seemed to be known, as the tavern wench smiled at him and suggested a cup of wine recently arrived from Europe.
They sat and drank while Rodgers told their prepared story. They were twin brothers, Richard and Rodger, sons of a soldier in the service of the Bishop of Liege. When they became of age, they too had joined the bishop's guards, but had become bored. They had wandered through Europe, serving as soldiers, sailors, woodsmen or anything else that came to hand until they met two twin sisters and married them. They had decided to come to New Normandie, having heard there were chances for a man to become rich.
"We talked to some drunk in a tavern who told us there was gold in the south. We looked where he told us, but found nothing. More fools we." Rodgers concluded the story.
Denard laughed. "At least the natives didn't separate your scalps from your heads. And you learned not to trust men you meet in taverns. Such as me." Denard laughed at his joke on himself.
"We've told you our story. Now it's your turn." Kate said.
Denard nodded and ordered more cups of wine. "Talking is thirsty work." When he had slaked his thirst, he asked them "What do you know of the situation here? Of the ruler?"
Castle shrugged. "Duke Robert runs the Dukedom. He's the grandson of the first Duke of New Normandie. What more do we need to know?"
"A good deal. Duke Robert is our Duke, may the Good God bless him. But he's old, almost seventy and not well. There is a question of the succession. Do you know of this?"
The five shook their heads.
Denard went on. "The Dukedom falls to the oldest son, by law and by custom going back to Europe. Well, not always. If the oldest is simple or something. Anyway, the Duke had three sons. Paul and Peter would have made great dukes. Wise, courageous, smart, they could even read and write as well as any monk. But Paul got an arrow in his eye through to his brain from a native and Peter died of the shaking fever. That left the youngest, also Robert. A lad of eight years. He's the son of Duchess Claudia, Duke Robert's second wife. She has a daughter by him of fifteen years. Both women are smart and determined that Robert should follow his father as the Duke of New Normandie."
"But not everyone agrees." Becks said.
Denard smiled. "Pretty and smart. But how did you lose the eye, pretty one?"
"A man flirted with me in front of my husband and I had to teach him not to." Becks shot back.
Denard roared with laughter. "Well, the lady is right. Baron Michael is Duke Robert's younger brother. He has some of the more powerful lords in his camp. They're afraid that rule by a young Duke Robert would mean rule by his mother and sisters. They fear that Duchess Claudia lacks the brains and the backbone to run the dukedom. In truth, she has more of both than most men."
"Anyone else?" Castle asked.
"Of course. "Lord Richard. A courtesy title. Better than his real title, Richard the Bastard. He was born on the wrong side of the blanket, as it were. He's young and a damned hothead. Him and his hotheaded supporters would start an endless crusade against the indigenous ones. As if Norman heavy infantry and heavy cavalry is what you need to fight an army of woodsrunners."
"That it?" Castle asked. Getting no reply, Castle saw that Denard was staring hard over Castle's shoulder. Castle turned and looked. Three armed men stood there, smiling at Denard. Castle noticed they all had blue sashes around their waists.
"Captain Denard." The man in the middle of the trio nodded to Denard."
"Lord Richard." Denard replied.
"I had heard that someone had beaten up two of Baron Michael's men. Naturally, I had to see these wonders for myself before my uncle had them killed. But, I see you beat me to it. Just as well, I suppose." Lord Richard strode to the table so that he could get a better look at everyone. "Which one of you defeated the Baron's men?"
"That would be me." Rodgers said.
"Oh, too bad." Lord Richard said, looking not at all unhappy. "I was hoping that it would be one of the ladies." He sighed dramatically. "And your names?"
Rodgers introduced them.
Lord Richard bowed graciously as the women were introduced and nodded genially to the men. "You have made your choice it seems, and now you must live with it. Or die with it. But perhaps later, you might take service with me." He bowed slightly. "And now I fear I must leave. Good day to you all."
"What was that all about? What choice did we make and why didn't we notice we'd made a choice?"
"You're Captain Denard?" Kate asked. "Captain of what?"
"Duchess Claudia's guards." Denard admitted. "I'd have tried to recruit you after a bit, but now I'm afraid you'll have to join, or get killed by Baron Michael."
"Wait." Castle said quickly. "Sure, he'd be mad we beat up his men, but kill us? All of us?"
"Let me explain. Lord Richard sees Baron Michael as his only real rival. He can't imagine anyone will seriously back a child and two women. So, he takes every opportunity to attack Michael, and not just physically. He'll have all of his people spreading rumors of how one man defeated two armed and armored men of Michael's using only a guard's helmet. By nightfall, the rumors will be that one of the women defeated Michael himself in single combat, unarmed, while Michael was in full armor and mounted."
"But that never happened!" Castle protested.
"But by tomorrow, it will be a fact as far as everyone is concerned. You really should come with me, or see about leaving New Normandie all together. There is a Basque settlement some hundreds of leagues to the north you could flee to."
They exchanged glances. They really had no choice. "Where do we sign up for the Duchess' guards?" Rodgers asked unhappily.
Denard quickly took them back to the castle, had their names registered as members of the guards and was quite pleased that all five could read and write. He handed them each a small white cockade. "Wear this at all times. It signifies you're one of the Duchess' guards. The Duke's personal guards wear gold. Those of Michael wear blue and Richard's people wear red. Most of them sport their colors at all times, so you can easily tell who's who. No one will attack you openly, but be prepared for insults. Lots of them."
Denard took them to a balcony overlooking the throne room. The Duke, a tall, spare, elderly man with a white beard and hair, sat listlessly on a throne. Two well-dressed men were standing in front of him arguing about taxes of some sort.
"The woman in white is Duchess Claudia." Denard whispered.
The Duchess was in her early forties, with long black hair, a stunning face, and a friendly smile. She appeared to be paying close attention to the two men arguing before the Duke.
"You've seen Lord Richard, there to the right. To the left is Baron Michael and his party. Michael is the tall one with the black beard and hair. He's older than he looks." Denard muttered. "His hair went coal black over-night. When that happens, you know he's old."
There was some movement from the front of the crowd around the throne. "Ah!" Denard said. "Here comes the young son, Robert. "
Their eyes settled not on Robert, a slender young fellow dressed all in white, but on the redheaded woman walking with him.
"Who's the redhead?" Castle asked, as disinterestedly as he could manage.
"Lady Alexis, the boy's new tutor. She came to us from the Holy Land where she learned from Christian, Jew, Moslem, Parsees and many others. She has a wide and deep fund of knowledge."
"I'll just bet she does." Castle said.
They sat and watched as Alexis and Robert sat and listened to the two men arguing about taxes droned on and on. It looked like Duke Robert had fallen asleep, but Duchess Claudia was awake and asking questions. None of the five newcomers had any idea what the questions were about, but from the looks on the faces of the two men, they were succinct and were things neither man had considered. All the time, Lady Alexis sat with young Robert and whispered in his ear. Castle assumed that Alexis was giving the boy a brilliant political and economic analysis of the tax issue, but had to confess to himself that for all he knew, Alexis could have been whispering dirty jokes into the boy's ear.
Eventually the discussion of taxes was over and the five decided to contact Alexis. However, Denard intervened. They were, after all, Duchess Claudia's guards and were expected to do just that. They found themselves in full chain mail armor standing by a lowered drawbridge in the back of the palace. On the other side of the drawbridge were a contingent of the Duke's guards. They wore gold colored cockades and seemed friendly enough. They did notice that when partisans of Michael or Richard passed by, they glared at the two groups of guards. The Duke's guards returned the glares. So did Castle and his friends.
They discovered two things. One, they found that after three days of guard duty, they would get the fourth day off. They also discovered that when the weather was nice, Lady Alexis liked to take young Robert into a small park in the middle of the castle for his lessons. On the fourth day they went to the park. They did not find Alexis there.
"Ah, Jean. Look who has come to join us." It was the two men Rodgers had knocked out on their first day. They had a dozen friends with them, all in armor and armed. The five friends had their swords, but no armor.
Jean laughed and rubbed a sore spot on his head. "Once we've killed the men, we'll have our way with the women and when we're done, we can sell them to a slaver I know. They'll disappear inland and spend their lives spreading their legs for some local." The rest of the men laughed.
Kate drew her sword. "You may find I'll spread your legs for you and remove anything you have between them. Assuming I can find it."
The rest drew their swords and stood together, waiting the onslaught. Jean and his cronies spread out and began moving slowly towards them.
Castle heard an odd zip and watched as Jean fell over with an arrow through his eye. The Baron's guards stopped where they were and looked around. Castle heard a cackling laughter from behind him. He craned his neck around and saw a half a dozen bowmen standing on a balcony behind them. A short, swarthy, man dressed in rank furs was laughing. "I am Subedei. Go, take your friend's body and never bother these people again."
The remaining guards stood looking at each other and then at the bowmen above them. One man turned and left, quickly followed by all the rest.
The bowmen had left when Castle turned around, only to reappear through a doorway into the little park.
"Who are you?" Castle asked. "And thanks for saving us."
"They're Mongols and they're my guards. Don't thank them too soon because you still may die today. Now, who the hell are you?" Lady Alexis asked.
"Neither one of us is your father." Castle began.
"Of course you're not. Do you think I'm an idiot? You're both up and walking on two legs. Now who are you, before I have Subedei turn you into pincushions?"
The five explained who they were, what their mission was and why Alexis had been kidnapped. "We've been looking for you so we can bring you back to your father. We can be out of here in seconds." Castle said, happy their mission was now over.
"Not a chance." Alexis said.
"What do you mean, not a chance? Do you have any idea what could happen if Bracken gets the secret of travels between alternate Earths? The man has put together the biggest military since…."Castle tried to think just how big Bracken's forces were.
Luckily, Rodgers had that. "Bracken's America has a bigger military force than anything since World War Two. It's bigger than the army of the Viet Nam war, the Reagan build up, the wars after 9/11. And he's just itching to use it on someone."
"For which I have your word." Alexis shot back. "And of course you wouldn't lie to me."
"We have a letter from your father." Kate said. "Back in our quarters."
"I'll look at it, but I'm not going back. Not right now."
"Why not right now?" Becks asked, now curious.
"I pledged to take care of young Robert. Not just to teach him, but to protect him. And I will. His uncle, Baron Michael, will kill him if he can and Richard is no better."
"Why not leave protecting him up to his father?" Rodgers asked, reasonably.
"Because Duke Robert collapsed not a quarter of an hour ago. It's his heart. He may even now be dead. Duchess Claudia is telling everyone that the Duke is merely ill, but the charade cannot last long." She looked at the five of them. "You are not of this world, but you took an oath to protect Duchess Claudia and her son. Will you still follow that oath?"
Before any of them could answer, they heard yelling coming from inside the castle. In seconds, they could understand what was being yelled.
"Duke Robert is dead!"