I have no more than sat down when there is a knock at the front door. As I am closest and least busy I answer it. It is the captain of the ship to see me as I had asked.

"Good afternoon, Captain. Thank you for coming." I lead him to the parlor.

"How may I be of service, your majesty?" We seat ourselves.

"Captain, I would like you to sit as judge at a trial. The accused is charged with embezzlement, theft of property of the crown and attempted murder. I can not sit as judge as I am the direct victim in one of the charges and the indirect victim in the others. I figure that a ships captain has enough authority to be familiar with being a judge. I would also like to use some of your crew as the jury, as I feel the accused is too well know to the populous of the island to get a fair hearing."

"Is this concerning your minster Lian? I have noticed that the town hall is empty and the minster is unavailable."

"Yes, he is the accused."

"You need not give him a trial, it is in your rights to behead him for treason if the evidence is strong enough."

"I have an aversion to the death penalty, he will either be exiled or made to work in the iron mine, though those choices are also not to my taste. Exiled he could cause me trouble at a later date. And forced labor is too close to slavery, which I find distasteful and counter productive. He must be tried to at least show that I am not a pushover."

"Do you want me to sentence him if he is found guilty?"

"No, I want you to guild the jury and watch for illegal procedures is all. The only judgements I have handled are petty thief. I will be acting as the voice of the crown, the accused can be his own voice as I doubt anyone would speak for him. I have tried to maintain a trail for the evidence so none can be disallowed."

"You seem to be prepared, when do you want to do it?"

"I am thinking the day after tomorrow, minister Aden believes the harvest will be nearly complete by then. I would like as many of my citizen to witness the trial as possible."

"May I speak with the accused?"

"You may. Would you inform him of the charges and that he is to be his own voice unless he has someone willing do it for him. This way please." I lead him to the stairs and we ascend to the guard room, where I raise my voice slightly,"Guard Captain are you here?", which produces several heads poking out of doors, "He is on the ground floor of the tower, your majesty." one of the heads inform me.

"Thank you, sorry to disturb you." I lead him through the double doors on the left, and down the stairs. When the guard captain sees me as I exit the stairs he rushes over, bowing his head,"Your majesty, how may I help you."

"This is Captain Jones of the Mary Weather, He will be the judge at the up coming trial. He has requested to speak with the accused, please take him there. If you have any questions after speaking with Lian, Captain Jones, please come see me, I will be in my study. Captains." I go back up the stairs to guardroom then down to my study.

I sketch a plan for a daub and wattle hut the same dimensions, 16 feet by 20 feet, as the previous Japanese style bathhouse I had drawn originally, substituting the beams with poles and the board and batten walls with the daub and wattle. The floor is tile, I feel I can make a brick kiln soon, so that would be possible. The stone footing for the walls is the same, cobble stone is ubiquitous. I designate the walls to be nine foot high with the 12 inches below the top header as windows. They are so high because I don't want tall people looking over the wall at the bathers. The tub is still on a bed of gravel. The drain location is going to have to be flexible as I'm not sure where the water will be going. I will need to talk to Tobias about some things before I go any farther.

Next I make a list of materials for the bath hut. Alton will need to know how many poles to cut, of what length and diameter. The tiles will need to be made. What color should they be? I have no idea which colors are available. I take out the sheet of paper, starting a note to the Harry the potter asking what color glazes he has. What to use as roofing; thatch, shingles or tiles. What type of roof; gable or hip or shed? Thatch is picturesque but not fire proof, same with wood shingles but tiles are heavy meaning that the structure would need reinforcing. Being fireproof is a big concern when the only source of light is flame.

I have just finished the note to Harry when Emi come in and sits down. "Are you about ready to change for supper?" she inquires. Is it that late already? It must be or she wouldn't be asking.

"What have you been doing this afternoon?"

"I have checked Helen's, Sophia's and your wardrobes. Helen does not have a gown, Sophia's are brand new, probably never worn except to try on when purchased and you know yours are years out of date and probably too small. So what do we do? Stuff Helen in one of yours or hang one of Sophia's on her."

"Why not wear dressy casual. A nice skirt and blouse or tunic. It is much too warm to wear gowns. And what would you wear if we wore gowns, you don't have one either. I want you to be at the table, not hovering in your maid uniform. It is my table and I will invite who I want there, if they don't like it they can leave."

"Let's go upstairs and see how Helen is doing with Sophia's garments. We can ask them what they would like to wear. But first I need to kiss my girl." Saying that I gather Emi in my arms and kiss her. She is stiff but soon relaxes, returning the kiss even getting in a grope or two. I whisper in her ear,"Tonight, love, tonight." We reluctantly break apart then head up stairs to my rooms.

Helen has Sophia standing in the middle of the room, naked, except for a pair of pale green silk panties, while she is stitching a matching bra. "Wow, I like those," I said as we entered. There is a matching slip and chemise on the table, already finished. I held up the chemise, rubbing it on my cheek, so smooth. I hand it to Emi, who does the same. She give a sigh. I ask Sophia what she paid for the silk. The price nearly made me faint, it's triple the price of the same amount of the highest quality linen, which is twice as much as the common. Sophia says this ensemble is her fancy ball underwear. Helen has made some in extra fine linen and some in common linen, also.

"We came to ask what you would like to wear to supper tonight. The problem being that Helen and Emi have no gowns and my gowns are four years or so out of date and too small. I suggested dressy casual, skirt and blouse or tunic, to Emi. That way we could all more or less match."

"Sophia has already chosen a skirt and blouse to wear, they are out being laundered now. I have a near matching out fit in my wardrobe, I think. Shall I check your wardrobe for a matching one?"

"No, you finish what you are doing. What length was the skirt and the color of the blouse?"

"Knee length, and pale yellow."

Emi and I go to my bedchamber and open the wardrobe, I remove the two knee length skirts, handing them to Emi, then remove the three yellow blouses I have. When we return to the outer room, "Which of these is the closest match?"

"The right skirt and the middle blouse." Helen states, Sophia nods in agreement.

There is a knock at the chamber door, it's Christina, one of the maids, carrying a bundle. "Oh, how pretty," she says about Sophia's underwear. "Here are the clothes you sent out, mistress." Holding out the bundle. Helen walks over, taking the bundle. "How much do clothes like that cost, mistress?"

Helen replies, "This set is quite expensive being silk but common linen are affordable. Come see me at my shop, I'll give you a price there, if you wish."

"Thank you, madam. If you'll excuse me I need to return to my duties."

"She and her friends will be to your shop soon, Helen. Do you have a display of the different styles set up?"

"Not yet but I will, if ever get the time." She hands Sophia her new bra, "Here Sophia, try this on, please."

She struggles a little get in to it. I come up behind her, asking her to bend at the waist then reach in the cups from the sides adjusting her breasts. "Oh, that is much better," she says. When she stands back up, her breasts look a little bigger, not hanging down so far, being supported now. She stretches her arms up and around, moving in every direction. I have her put on the slip, then the clean skirt and blouse. She looks good, the bra helps. When she was wearing the chemise, the blouse was loose on her, now it is tighter across the chest and the bust line is higher.

"Emi, why don't you go get your clothes, you too, Helen. Sophia you come with me, please." I lead them out, Helen going to her room around the corner, the other two following me down stairs. Emi heads to her room as Sophia and I goto the kitchen, to get a couple of pitchers of hot water. "Hi Tilly, how is supper coming along."

"It's on schedule, your majesty."

"Good, Good, we are here for some hot water then we'll get out of your way."

"You know where it's at."

I get a pitcher and hand it to Sophia then take another then goto the hearth with the large pot of water. There I dip water into the pitchers until they are near full. We return to my rooms were we mix water in two basins. By this time Helen and Emi have returned also. "Alright, bath time. Sophia, you can take off the skirt and blouse and give Helen a good scrubbing. Emi and I will do each other." I hand Sophia a cloth and a piece of soap.

I wet a cloth and soap it, then start on Emi, no sexy times today, just a good scrub. I am soon finished and hand the cloth to Emi. She rinses it and soaps it up again then begins scrubbing, though she does sneak in a sexy rub or two. She looks at my hair and gives her head a shake and starts to scrub my head. Oh, it feel so good, the way she does it, rubbing the scalp as she wash the hair. I glance at Helen and Sophia, Sophia is slower than Emi and I, as we have more practice. I suggest to Emi that Helen needs her hair washed also. Emi looks at Helen and nods, agreeing. Emi finishes my head then goes over and starts on Helen. Sophia is still scrubbing Helen's legs so is not in Emi's way. While they are busy I dry off and don my underwear, then the skirt and blouse. Sitting on the chest I start drying my hair. Soon Emi has Helen bent over the basin, rinsing her hair. Then Sophia and Emi start drying Helen off, soon finishing. Emi hands Sophia a hair brush and points to Helen. She takes up another and starts brushing mine.

Soon we are all scrubbed,brushed and dressed. All in the same style of skirts and blouses, though the colors are slightly different. I ask Emi to fetch her extra pair of anklets for Helen and I offer an extra pair of mine to Sophia, now our footwear matches, too.

When we go down to the dining room Kalvin is standing there in his armor, all shiny and clean, though it never has been very soiled before. I tell him at he had been invited to supper, also. He replied that tonight he is on duty, but thank you, your majesty, for the invitation.