Learning To Speak To The Wind
Chapter Two
By
Warm Hearted
Edited By Commentator

Synopsis: The former sixty years old finds himself trapped on parallel 12th Century Earth where Magic works. He is in the body of a seventeen-year-old girl. Mike's future is totally controlled by wicked King Edmond. The King's plan for Mike is to make her Queen on her eighteenth birthday so he hands Mike over to Lady Ann to be trained to be a proper Queen. We see Mike's story unfold in this chapter

Covered in my own waste I was led to a bathing chamber which contained a wooden tub filled with warm water, flowers, aromatic herbs and natural sponges. I knew baths were not as uncommon during the 12th Century as most people thought. King John of Magna Carta fame often carried a tub with him when he traveled. The practice over later years became more uncommon. So by the 15th Century, Henry the Eighth boasted of having only one bath his whole life.

I took off my clothes secretly retrieving my small Swiss Army Knife. The women who were evidently there to assist me, used sticks to carry them off. I snuck the small knife in my mouth and looked down at my dirty naked body. I was the double of the girl that King Edmond killed. Same skin, large breasts, shapely body and long dark hair. The women rinsed me with buckets of warm water before I entered the wooden barrel tub and I did not speak.

I knew I had my reverse Autism, but this was more than even it could adjust to and I started crying. It was not out of outrage or sadness over losing my male self, but out of pure unbridled fear, feeling completely vulnerable and helpless. I felt the last memento of who I was in my mouth and that was the only thing that gave me any hope, but I was completely and utterly terrified.

I was a weak small 17-year-old girl in a parody of 12th Century England. The property of a murderous supreme monarch with great Magic power and I had no idea what my new Lord could do to me if I displeased him in any way. I struggled to retain my humanity and not just give up all control.

After I was bathed and dried by the women one opened a side door and said, "your Grace, Lady Ann is waiting for you in here. If Your Grace will join her?"

Naked and moving like a zombie in shock, I did as I was asked. I entered the room and saw a matronly woman who I assumed was Lady Ann. She introduced herself and said, " Your Grace, I'm Lady Ann and I will train you in how to act as a proper wife and Queen to His Majesty King Edmond." Still having the knife in my mouth I just nodded.

She said, "now that introductions are done dress yourself, Your Grace. Put on the linen chemise first, then the gown. I will help you with the sash and no head scarf is proper till you're wed. I did as she said and I was glad the sleeves of the blue woven wool gown were long and a little tight because I was able to hide my tiny pocket knife there. I did this more out of fear of being caught with it than stealth. Lady Ann then demonstrated how to tie the embroidered sash belt. Then she untied it and told me to retie it like she did.

I guess I still possessed my photographic memory because I did it and with my back to Lady Ann I slipped my knife under the wide sash. She then examined my work and said, "for an Earth-Born you learn like a serf. You did a perfect job. As long as you continue like this your Grace it will go well for you, but I need to give you a small example of what will happen if you displease me."

I saw her face go blank and her forehead glowed red and a beam of red light hit me in my abdomen and I doubled over in a terrible cramp. Lady Ann smiled like she enjoyed causing me pain and the beam stopped. She then said still smiling, "I needed to show you how I can punish you without marking your lovely skin. That was just a small demonstration so you best not displease me." The pain instantly stopped and she left saying, "your Grace wait here. It will a few hours so don't leave this room until I return. I'm going to oversee the preparation of your quarters." I sat on a wooden bench just thinking.

"The Mike that arrived in The World, was he just suffering from self-delusion created by how easily he could overcome his problems? He felt superior because of his special gifts and could effortlessly impress people so that they would place him on a pedestal. That Mike must have been just a character I was playing.

That Mike had never faced a real challenge and facing those are the true tests of who somebody really is. This must be my real personality just in a new body. I don't like myself at all. I'm an unsure coward and I vow that I will change and earn back my self-respect no matter what body I'm in."

I realized at the moment that vow was just empty words.

I chided myself, "well Major General Mike if you can stop being frozen in fear, of being resigned to a hopeless future and having grand time feeling sorry for yourself then start using those gifts you were so proud of or you will be completely broken down and rebuilt into a submissive baby factory for a heartless megalomaniac."

It was the hardest thing I ever had to do but I pushed back my panic and finally started thinking instead of just reacting.

"OK. Prof. Patel taught me how to meditate to clear my mind and work my Chakra's."

I never had much use for what he taught me except to relax, but with the flood of emotions I was feeling now, I needed that training badly. I remembered perfectly what he taught me and mentally went over the lessons.

Before I started meditating I defined what I needed. For the feelings of being overwhelmed and loss of willpower, you meditate on your Third Chakra located in your solar plexus. Its color is in the 565-590 wavelength nm which is yellow. Prof. Patel always gave me the empirical facts about what he taught me about Meta-Physics so I would not question them too much.

For the first time since I came to The World, I went into my meditation relaxation preparation. I was amazed how great effect it had on me. I was totally relaxed faster than I ever was before. Which considering I was an emotional train wreck when I started was a miracle. The World must be in an Alternate Universe where Metaphysical energies are much more powerful.

With my eyes closed, I saw my aura. I thought I had seen it a few times before briefly but convinced myself it must have been an illusion. There were no doubts this time, it glowed like an orange caution light. I knew what that color meant, so I went to work on aligning my seven Chakra's, spending more time on my Third Chakra increasing my feelings of personal worth and the will to correct the hopelessness I felt.

I moved to the green fourth heart Chakra and strengthen my ability to integrate into the new position and culture I was in. Then on to the fifth, the blue throat Chakra, and built up my lost ability to express myself with respectability, not like a cowering bitch. Moving to the sixth, my purple underdeveloped third eye opened immediately. I then saw The World in a whole new way. It was amazing. I could see everyone in the castle like looking through night vision glasses. I realized then I was seeing their auras that first night.

I saw everyone in the castle. I saw some working, some using Magic. I didn't know how but I knew what they were doing with that Magic. I then went to my crown purple Chakra and it changed to white and it was like an explosion in my brain. I was there, but I wasn't at the same time. It was like I was very nearsighted paralyzed but now I could move see clearly.

I saw plants and thought they're made up of cells. It was like super zoom vision, I was seeing cells of the plants like I did though a microscope. I wanted to see the plants DNA and zoom, I saw the DNA like I have through an electron microscope. They were still alive and splitting and reproducing themselves. I tried it with animals and it worked the same way and I even saw the tiny flaws in the DNA that reproduced and caused aging.

Then the thought struck me and I tried to see an atom, but I knew I could not because I have never seen one before. To my surprise, I could and they are mainly space. I thought I have seen the colors of the elements in mass spectrometers. I looked at a rock and I saw its composition.

If all this was not enough I knew that I could affect these things with my focused energy by generating the right frequency. At this point, I knew I could not generate the energy that it would take to alter them. In addition, I would have to widen my scope of sight to see more than the amount I was seeing.

I thought back to what I King Edmond said about learning his Magic. He hinted that someone had to teach him how to see and that you have to know something is before you can see it or use magic on it. He was a journeyman blacksmith from the 12th Century. At that time a person of his rank knew very little of the reality of things. Those of that period believed that plagues came from bad smells or curses. Which brings the question up, how could he completely change me by Magic and how did Lady Ann hurt me?

Coming out of my meditation thinking, "those questions will have to go unanswered until later because I had more pressing issues to deal with now."

My meditative healing relieved me of the all-consuming fear and hopelessness.
although I was still in the same position with the same problems I was in when I started meditating, but I could think more clearly now. In my mental search for options a seed of a plan took root.

I reduced my present condition to something like a mathematic equation. With Magic being an unknown to be left out of the equation at this time. This form of assessing bore fruit and I drew from what I knew from past experiences that I could apply now. The source of those experiences was a little surprising to me, it was my second wife Margaret.

In breaking down my situation, I deduced that the solution was going to be a very long equation. Time (t) was key to the equation. I had to reverse the value of my social standing and bring into harmonic phase the strongest localizes wave to strengthen my output. That is the only way to produce the time alone I need to discover the value of the unknowns.

I saw how my second wife did it when she invaded the local social hierarchy. She joining me in my city being from old South Carolina money. She had her social secretary make inquiries as to whom the social queen was and all about her. The locals didn't know Margaret came from old money.The locals considered her just a gold digger but she intended to change that quickly. She discovered what the queen bee's favorite charity was and to her great pleasure that they were members of the same sorority but Margaret was a fifth generation legacy and the Queen bee was a first generation pledged member.

So after having me make a major donation to the queen bee's favorite charity, I watched amazed as I saw her go from being looked down on to having Queen bee orbiting her, basking in Margaret's Light. I remember Margaret first making her feel small by talking about her family's prominence then building her up as the only one in their group that was cultured enough to be her adviser.

I thought, "why to invent the wheel when I can mimic Margaret. I did it enough for my employees after our divorce. They would roll with laughter, but this time I needed to be like Margaret for real

I heard women talking and I assumed it was Lady Ann and the group of women that washed me returning. I pulled on strength I didn't have before my meditation and stood. I mimicked the body language and facial expression that Margaret had when servants kept her waiting too long. The gamble I was betting all or nothing and I knew it.

Lady Ann entered the room and looked at me a little surprised seeing me standing proudly as a Duchess should. Lady Ann spoke in her "I'm in control" tone saying, "your Grace your quarters are ready."

Using Margaret's culturally restrained angry and condescending voice I said, "Lady Ann is their reason I'm unaware of that your speaking to me, a Full Earth Born Duchess, without first paying me homage and I giving you permission to speak?"

Lady Ann just stared at me first and I thought, "get ready. She isn't buying it and I am going to be painfully punished."

Then I could see a look of the first revelation then fear on her face. It dawned on her that what I was asking was truly proper and the law. She then curtsied low and the other women followed her example. Lady Ann was smart and she knew that if not today but someday I would be in a position to help or hurt her very much.

I waited a little longer than was normal to let it sink in then said, " Lady Ann and ladies rise. I will shortly examine my quarters to see if they meet my approval but first Lady Ann I want you to know something. I accept your teaching willingly.

I know there are things I need to learn considering my new sex and other gifts good King Edmond has given me. Yes, I was a Duke on Earth but I had no hope of advancing my rank. I was 22nd in the line of succession and at my age knew the throne would never be mine. Now, thanks to my future husband I will sit on a throne, a Queen's throne.

I understand that some of lower birth would see this change I underwent through as a curse. Losing one's self and gender, but those people have no idea what a high-born as myself sees. I see the opportunities that such a rank holds. In addition to all that the King made me young again. I know that I need to learn much concerning my new gender so to fully meet and fill the role the father of my children will require of me.

Lady Ann my future husband trusted you with this great responsibility, so he must trust your skills not to fail me. I will trust in them also. Therefore I'm granting you the privilege of teaching me. I'm sure you will not show disrespect to your King by failing.

That brings me to a situation I'm sure at some point may trouble you greatly, our first meeting. I want you to know I understand why you thought you needed to demonstrate how you could punish me. Therefore your future Queen pardons you for the act of attack on her person.

It was an act of ignorance. I bear you no ill will and I'm sure you will serve your King and myself your future Queen well. Lady Ann very gratefully said, "thank you your Grace I will not fail my King or my future Queen."

I said, "Lady Ann you seem much more cultured than the other Ladies In waiting. May I ask how much Earth Born you are?"

She looked at me and proudly beamed and said, " My Grace I am 3/8 Earth Born"

I responded, "I thought so, bloodlines always show."

I thought, " thank you, Margaret, for teaching me to first overpower your strongest rival then draw them into orbiting you as a satellite. I was so worried that my ruse would fail with me being painfully punished, but it is working well."

As I was examining my Quarters I saw it had its own privy of the period, a room with a stone bench with a wooden seat with a toilet hole in it. I knew it emptied somewhere outside the castle and was a high-class luxury of the 12th Century. I saw Lady Ann straightening one of the tapestries on the wall, looking it with pride. I assumed she was the one that selected it so I took a chance and followed my assumption.

Looking at the tapestry I commented, " my quarters seems to be acceptable so far, but that tapestry is the highlight of the room. Who selected it?"

Lady Ann smiled and bowed her head and said, "I did your Grace."

I answered, "which again proves my point, good bloodlines always show."

I went to the bed, moving the pillows and pulling back the covers then felt the mattress which was very soft, but I used it to my benefit. In a controlled, disapproving voice, I said, "by Earth standards, this would be unacceptable, but I have no idea what is acceptable by the World standards. Lady Ann will you please feel it."

Lady Ann came and stood close to me and felt the mattress and turned and looked at one of the ladies saying, " Lady Marie how dare you to put such a mattress on our Grace's bed. That rag is not much better than the thatch bed a serf would sleep on. You will replace it immediately. I'm sorry your Grace I should have had another lady pick the mattress. Lady Marie is only 1/20 Earth Born."

My complaint had the desired result. Then I built on the effect saying, "Lady Ann I can understand your difficulties. I have been in positions where I had to use lower born nobles and it can be very trying. So I hold no blame for you personally. I know you understand the proper requirements for someone of my rank."

Lady Ann then said, "Thank you your Grace for recognizing the difficulties that I have with such a low-born group of handmaidens. I promise you your Grace I will recruit more suitable handmaidens as they become available."

I smiled saying, "I am sure you will Lady Ann because I see already you are very good at getting things done properly and in good order."

Then looking in my closet at the gowns I said, "I know there will be the Great Breakfast Feast but will there be a feast tonight and what should I wear."

Lady Ann answered, "the nobles are still arriving so there will be no feast tonight. Most are preparing for the games tomorrow and will dine in their quarters."

Then I asked, "will his Majesty dine alone tonight also?"

She said "yes."

I inquired, "would it be too forward of me to request to dine with him?"

Lady Ann thought for a second and said, "considering how well your Grace has assumed her new station in life I think it would please his Majesty to personally see how well his future wife is adjusting. I will go and ask his Chamberlain to communicate your request. I should have his Majesty's answer quickly."

I said, "very good and please notify me with his Majesty's reply in time for your to help me dress for the occasion but until then I would like to be alone and rest from the events of the day."

She curtsied as did the rest of the ladies and said, "it will be done as your Grace wishes," and they all left the room.

Alone I breathed a deep sigh of relief in pulling all that off. I had a hard time not letting my nervousness show. I lay on the bed thinking, "I want to talk to King Edmond as much as possible and encourage him to brag how he learned his Magic. I also want to know if there are any major differences between the Earth and the World that I don't already know.

I have to be careful not to let on that I can already see nature of things. I need to guard what I know about the true nature of the things also. King Edmond is very prideful and ignorant but he is not stupid. On Earth, he may have been just a journeyman blacksmith but he knew how to read and write. Those skills would be very unusual for someone of his status in the age he came from. I must never underestimate how smart he is."

I started to feel my confidence fade again so I went into another meditation. I limited it to just working on me and not exploring the new world I discovered. When I came out I was amazed how well it worked. The fear was gone and I was even more confident that I would soon have a plan to escape my fate as King Edmond's wife in a year.

I reflecting on how well it worked I thought, "There must be some sort of amplifying energy field like the Magnetic Field on Earth. This field must be naturally occurring but why can only people that are part Earthling access it? Those are questions I'll consider later. Right now I needed to focus on trying to plan some way to escape the fate King Edmond has for me.

Now that I'm winning over Lady Ann I need to win the trust of King Edmond. At this point, I have no idea of how to do it. I need to watch for ways to feed his ego and try to convince him that I really like his plan for me. I'm sure people suck up to him all the time. not underestimating his intelligence I knew he would spot that I was doing the same thing.

In my company I had people sucking up to me all the time. That never worked for me and it will not work on him. I only trusted those whose actions proved they had my best interests at heart. Therefore I needed to watch for opportunities to do the same thing for King Edmond. Watching will require I spend a lot of time with him.

I need to take any opportunity that presents itself but this must be the last time I request to meet with him. Future times need to be either at his invitation or something that would be normal for me to attend. I also need some way to demonstrate that I'm just not a submissive, weak-willed person without self-respect. I need to present myself as an intelligent person that truly sees the benefits being Queen will grant me; a person who understands that in my new position what benefits him ultimately will benefit me."

My mental accessing was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Lady Ann here to tell me the King had accepted my request to dine with him. After the handmaidens dressed me and did my hair in a long tightly braided ponytail, Lady Ann escorted me to the King's private quarters which were very close to mine.

The guard knocked on the door and it was opened. I entered alone and curtsied low saying, "Your Majesty." He told me to rise and I did and said: "thank you, Your Majesty, and thank you for honoring my request to dine with you."

King Edmond laughed and said, " Lady Ann told me how you have accepted your new life as if you were born to it but it does please me to see it for myself."

I answered him in an even tone saying, "Your Majesty as I explained to Lady Ann my rank on earth is like one of your Dukes and I was 22nd in the line of succession. On Earth, I had no hope of rising in rank. Now I will be on a Queen's throne.

The trading of my male life and responsibilities for that of a female was well worth being made young again. As I told Lady Ann a low-born ignorant man may have looked at this as a curse but I see it as a blessing. Thank you, Your Majesty, in all sincerity."

He laughed again and said, "I was quite fortunate that someone like you was the next Earth Born to come to the world. Once we are wed you will have an even easier time adjusting because of the Old Magic. Our children will be full Earth Born, What a force they will be. Now come and dine with me."

As we chatted I found out a lot about The World. First of all, there were no diseases not even colds and people here live well into their seventies. I asked, "then why is the world not overpopulated?"

He explained, "women can only have 3 children. They will only bleed once a year and then only until they have three children. Normally they have two sons and one daughter. This works out well considering a lot more men die from work accidents, arguments, and executions. So the population stays about the same. Although that limit will not be the same for you, my future wife. I will change your bodies regularly like I do mine so you will have a new body about every five years and be able to bear three more every time."

The thought of me being pregnant at all revolted me but almost constantly pregnant for centuries just about made me lose control but I fought it back. Then there was knock on the door and the King said, "enter." The guard came in and whispered in the Kings ear and I saw a young, well-dressed woman waiting at the door. When the guard straightened back up the King said, "not now, tell her I will send for her later."

Seeing an opportunity my mind snapped back to my plan. After the guard shut the door and we were alone again I asked, "your Majesty may I have permission to speak openly?"

He looked like he was thinking, "OK. Here it comes but I might as well deal with this now." Then the King nodded and said, "yes, within limits."

Then I said something in a very clinical voice hoping to knock the King off balance. I said, "your Majesty I have learned since I have been in The World that once we are wed we will not want any other. Living as a man for sixty years on Earth I know a man has needs. So it is of no consequence, no, I actually encourage you, my King, and future husband not to deny those needs. Sex is a wonderful way to relieve stress that great authority brings."

With his jaw slacked he looked at me for a second. Then I saw his face go from surprise to inspection. I thought " He is trying to see if what I just said was me trying to brown-nose or did I truly mean it. So now the hook."

Then I said, "Your Majesty I know I have no right to ask you this but I think it is wise counsel for how your court will view me in the future. So with no right to do so, I ask if Your Majesty keeps his consorting private and never in my presence. I would not have spoken to you so boldly except I know the Court's respect for me is linked directly to their perception of Your Majesty's respect of me.

If they think Your Majesty respects me enough to shield me from his sexual escapades it will grant me the respect I need to have to be the kind of Queen I wish to be."

He first looked annoyed that I spoke so directly but then he smiled as he saw I was just staking rights to my place in his Court. Then he said,

"You may have been 22nd in the line of succession but I would wager a 1/3 of my Kingdom that you were a good advisor but a fearful enemy. I thank you for remembering men have needs and yes I will give the appearance that I am shielding you from the knowledge of them. It is really the wisest direction to take. I doubt if I really could have done it because I don't think that much escapes your sight. Now I have a question for you, My Lady.

What did you do to Lady Ann? She has been my trainer for women for many years and she loves breaking them very much. I couldn't believe how she praised you and spoke of you with such respect. My Lady you took my old hound of war and made her your lap dog."

I answered in the same humorous tone he asked in and said, "My King once she understood that I actually desired her teachings. I reminded her even though I was her student that I'm a Full Earth Born Duchess and her future Queen. I assured her I held no ill will for her ignorance in how she treated me in our first meeting - as long she assumed her proper place considering her lower rank."

The King laugh till he cried and finally said, "yes on Earth you most certainly were a valuable advisor and a fearful enemy."

We chatted and his nature took over and he bragged how after being forced to be a slave that he learned just enough of Ah Min Tet's pagan tongue to communicate. From the King's weaving of his tale, it was obvious that he was the hero and I learned a lot about the World as I hoped.

It seems there are some strange quirks in the brains of The World's natural humans. They have very little if any imagination but they are perfect mimics. They have the photographic memory like mine and can perfectly mimic anything that is demonstrated to them or even drawn.

When they are shown something new that works better they just start doing it the new way. It is impossible for them to lie but they will break the law if someone shows them that it is better than observing the law. Like poaching, it started with a noble telling a serf to kill a deer to feed his family. So the serfs that became poachers were shown this by other serfs.

I thought, "maybe because of their lack of imagination they can't learn Magic but how you can change bodies and still retain your Magic is a question which I must shelve with so many others until I have time for them."

When King Edmond taught his fellow slaves if they did what he said their lives would be better they followed him. He took over more and more of the known world which was surrounded by a mysterious wall made with Old Magic and thus impenetrable.

His forces were stopped by the last of Ah Min Tet's forces holding up in a near impenetrable valley that was bordered on one side by The Wall and the other by the ocean. The mountains had only one entrance that was very narrow like the movie "300 Spartans" but Tet had a lot more than 300 troops to defend it.

The King told me of making an Old Magic Blood Oath with one of Tet's nephew's that he would let him have the valley to rule as the supreme ruler without his interference. He would also teach his slaves about iron and English which had a much better-written form than their old one if he would a crossbow that he would provide and kill Tet. Then pay him a yearly tribute that his agents would deliver to the King. The next day Tet was dead.

The King did say, " So you were 60 years old. That is a long time to live on Earth. Here in the World people live much longer. There are no plagues here or blights on plants. I have not even had a cold since I came here. So there are many here over 100 years old. They are weak and worn down just as their age would suggest although they never had a sick day in their long lives."

I said, "that is astounding my King, I guess they have no need of leeches here." My thoughts were much different than my words. I thought, "there must be some reason for this, I know there are different bacteria here because of the smell of the bodies at the crossroads I know things rot. So that adds another question to my growing list."

The knowledge of the land that King Edmond imparted freely gave me a lot to think about. The King then said, "My Lady Mike I have enjoyed our dinner together very much but the hour is late and the Game's Great Breakfast Feast early. So I must say good night to you but I wish for you to sit at my side at the feast and the Games."

I curtsied and said "I would enjoy that Your Majesty. Rest well." I thought "YES!"
The next morning at the Great Breakfast I sat on the Kings right side properly dressed in new fine clothes by Lady Ann and my handmaidens. I fed Lady Ann's ego by asking the King to allow Lady Ann to sit on my right side which he smiled at and allowed. The food was lavish and artistically presented.

There were a lot of different meats and bread. We used a sharp pointed knife like a fork and spoons but some used their hands. I cut my meat into small bite size pieces as I did with my bread and used the tip of my knife like a fork. Lady Ann leaned over and whispered in my ear, "your Grace you eat with such an elegant lady-like manner you must teach me this skill."

I answered, "Certainly Lady Ann."

Towards the end of the meal the King rose to his feet and said, "remain sitting. I just wish to introduce to you Earth Born Duchess Mike who in less than a year I will wed making her your Queen." He took my hand and I rose and he held my hand as the Lord and Ladies shouted: "Hail Earth Born Duchess Mike, our future Queen". then they applauded me as the King kissed my hand.

Then the King looked at me and said: "I ask a favor of you. All here are of Noble birth and we enjoy a good tale so please honor us with a new tale from Earth."

I was placed on the spot I had not thought that I would have to do something like this. I need a tale that that would not let on to the King that the Earth has changed much since he came to the world. Then It hit me. I told Chaucer's "Woman of Baths Tale". At the end of the tale when the old crone turns into the beautiful woman and she and Noble husband live happily ever after. Hoping the parallels with my present situation were seen I worried when all I saw was blank stares from my audience.

Then they started banging the tables loudly and cheering, even the King. Lady Ann, with tears in her eyes, just looked at me in adoration. At the end of the applause, the King rose and said, "now to the Games and let's see if we can entertain Duchess Mike as well as she has us with her stirring tale.".

Sitting again on the King's right side Lady Ann stood behind me in her proper place. Although it was still an honor as she was never on the King's platform for the Games before. The King rose and called for the Games to begin and I saw two men enter the arena from opposite sides. Then I noticed there were no serfs at the Games.

They were not armored and were on foot. They didn't even have weapons. They bowed to each other and a flag went down and the contest started. I saw both the men cover themselves in a bubble of white light. Then I saw two beams of very bright light come from the men's foreheads.

The King said, "I know you're not aware of what is going on because you can't see Magic yet so I will tell you. The knights have joined in battle and they are evenly matched. They are attempting to push back the other's Magic and then break through a Magic shield the other as placed around himself. Once that happens they the more powerful knight will just cause his opponent pain till he submits. In a real battle, the stronger would kill the weaker."

I continued to watch, acting like I could not see what I was seeing clearly. They were using their energies to jam their opponents. They had placed a white energy field around themselves to help block the other's energy. Then I saw one of the knights start pushing back the energy of his opponent until he broke through. The stronger knight then matched the color of the energy of the weaker leg muscles and the weaker knight fell to the ground yelling, "I SUBMIT!"

I asked the King a question, "Your Majesty could two less powerful knights join forces to defeat a stronger knight?"

The King shook he said, "No. one knight can not work together with another, their Magic will just cancel the other's out. For that, I am most grateful."

The King did say, "In a couple years you should be able to see the Magic then you will start enjoying the games more. Once you start seeing it I will have you trained in how to speak to it, but that takes much longer. Once you start using it the stronger you will become. Sorry to say no matter how strong you get you will never be able to speak to things you don't know the true nature of or can never see like the wind."

I thought, "You would be surprised King old boy if you knew that I can already see the Magic and I can see the wind because I have seen it because I know what elements make it up. The question I needed answered was, "how do I speak to the energy once I do that, how long will it take for me to be able to perform Magic?"

After the day's events, we had another grand feast and I retired to my room as the men were going to the gambling tables. After Lady Ann and my handmaidens prepared me for bed they left me alone and I went into a deep meditation. While in meditation I though how the colors of the Magic energy would change then it hit me, "speaking of things is just wave harmonics."

With this revelation, I came out of meditation wanting to try it. I filled a brass cup with water and I cleared my mind as if in preparation for meditation and focused on the water. I then opened my mental eye and looked at it and I could see its color and matched the color and by thinking what I wanted the water to do. To my surprise it did it. I made it rise, form shapes, to spray out of the cup and then return.

The I had another idea and I tuned my sight to the inferred red spectrum and I saw the heat in the water. I had watched Lady Ann light a fire magically, she did it with a small stone rotating very fast to cause the friction to start the fire. In the 12th Century, they had no idea that heat is really just the movement of molecules.

So I looked at the water and excited its molecules and in a second it was boiling. I tried slowing them and it instantly froze. I looked at the fire in the small fireplace. The World didn't have seasons. Its rotation didn't have a wobble like Earth but the nights in a stone, drafty, castle sometimes required a small fire for comfort.

Tonight a fire was required so I looked at the fire and moved the heat to the stones so quickly that the fire went out. I then gathered the heat back into the logs and they burst into flames. I thought, "that would make a good weapon if I needed it."

The strength I could produce was nowhere near what I saw today and theirs was not in the same league as the King's. It will take a long time using Magic to build mine to the level of even the weaker knights. Although to my advantage I am the "Major General" and knew far more of how things truly work. While they use sheer force I'm more like a gem cutter. I use just a little power to cause nature to work for me rather than overpowering it but I did need to practice using it and to build my strength.

Then I looked drown at my small body and tiny hands and a wave of fear hit me. I thought, " right, the 'Major General.' I am a small young woman waiting for her first period so she can become a baby factory for a cruel, all-powerful man."

I had done well to this point not thinking how things were so different for me. I have to look up to every man and many females. I can't open heavy doors without struggling and I have to be a dress-up doll for the King's pleasure.

I fought back the feelings of sheer hopelessness and compartmentalized them like Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind" by thinking, "I don't have time to think about this now. I will think about another day."

I devised a plan to ask the King to let me ride my horse out alone. I would tell him I was sure I would be safe on his estate but I needed time alone to fully adjust to my new role. I will tell him that I was sure he understood how great the changes were between Earth and the World and as smart as he was he knew it will take some time alone to ponder on to adjust.

I spoke with the King in the morning at our private breakfast before the game. He agreed to me having four hours a day to ride unattended laughing then saying, "I understand that you have a lot to ponder and I know that you're earnest in recognizing the status you will have as my Queen so you will not run away to end up the wife of a pig farmer." At that, I started laughing and he joined in.

So each day after the games had ended I went on long rides and found a secluded place and practiced my Magic. I became stronger but not very fast. I could see DNA and watch it split. Very sadly that was all I could do I couldn't control its makeup. Furthermore, I could not see enough of it at one time to actually change a complex animal's DNA structure.

By the time the games ended King Edmond really enjoyed my company. I was able to advise him on a certain situation he faced with two of his nobles. One noble was completely loyal and worshiped The King but was a total screw-up resulting in a loss of revenue.

Another young and unmarried noble was only loyal to himself but was brilliant and a great administrator. Only the King felt that he was using his sharp intellect to outmaneuver the tax laws legally. Doing it legally may give other nobles the idea to try the same thing.

I adapting the old Prussian rule of command. I told the King, " Your Majesty why not take the failing noble and give him some grandly titled job on your staff. This new role will require him here in Kingston but the job actually does nothing important.

Just tell the ignorant noble of how important it is to you and praise him from time to time on how well he is doing it. As a reward to him, you will make title hereditary and it will go to his eldest son and both his sons will be needed here to assist him. Therefore they must leave their province which borders the smart noble's lands as I remember from studying the map tapestry in the main hall.

Then order the smart noble to marry the dull noble's unwed daughter thereby giving the smart noble rule of both provinces. This way demonstrating how linking his benefit to yours you will teach him loyalty to you is the best way to serve his own ends."

Then King Edmond blinked and looked at me like he had just won the lottery and I was the winning ticket. He just exclaimed. "DAMN! If you weren't going to be my wife before you get your Magic I would have you killed now. My Lady Mike you have the skills of an Earth-Born Noble.

I know I knew much above my station on Earth because I hungered to learn but I remember the nobles of Earth. They could construct plans layered like an onion to get what they wanted and as I thought, you were probably one of the best at that. I want you to attend all my council meetings. I grant you the permission to openly advise me. The nobles will see your great skill and fear what a powerful pair we are."

I started spending more time with the King with Lady Ann at my side, using her as my mistress of spies. The ladies, like little birds, gathered information and reported it to Lady Ann. The time ticked off with me practicing my Magic and in court politics. I was sad that my powers as a politician improved faster than my Magic. My Magic had gotten stronger but it grew like the hands moved on a clock.

I could not tell I had gotten stronger from day to day. It was just when I would look back over the weeks that I could see my Magic strengthening. I was less than three months from my first bleed and I was starting to worry. I was no closer to finding a way to safely leave. Like the King said, "you leave, you will just end up the wife of a pig farmer."

Then the King told me that in a week we would go on his bi-annual inspection of the provinces. He shared that he started with the farthest and rushing through the poorer outlying ones to spend more time in the inner wealthy ones. He told me " My Lady the first stop is right at the wall and Tet's valley kingdom.

The King said, "My Blood Oath says as long as they pay me my tribute in gold they will remain outside my kingdom but their agents let slip last year their mines are dwindling. If they fail to pay me my tribute I can take their kingdom. Their land is poor but they are rich in serfs although they have developed strange customs.

Their women carry their wedding band around their neck and choose who and when they marry. Even stranger is how their King works alongside his serfs and like on Earth they have Guilds and they help the King rule. When I was first taught Magic I shared about guilds with the nephew of Tet. He must have spread it in their kingdom but once I take it all that foolishness will stop and I will divide out the serfs to the inner lands."

That gave me an idea and I had a week to plan an escape. I went to work to make use of this important new information.

To Be Continued In Chapter 3 of "Learning To Speak To The Wind"