I pause outside the study thinking on what yet needs to be done this afternoon. Looking around the atrium I see that it has been cleaned, so go inspect the offices. They have both been dusted. I go to the kitchen where I find the maids, sitting around the table, tea cups in hand, chatting. I join them for a cup of tea. Shortly I suggest we go clean two of the rooms in the new section, to get it over with. When we finish our tea, we place the cups in the tub, then head to the new section. Christina and I take one room while Molly and Mabel take the adjacent one. As the rooms have been closed it only takes a short while to tidy them; a quick dusting starting high, a sweep of the floor then a damp mop and we are done.

"Shall we help Helen do some spinning, Christina?", I ask as we return our equipment to the storage room. Helen has offered us one copper coin credit per spindle full of yarn we spin for her. Molly and Christina want Helen to make them some of the fancy underwear so have been help any chance they get.

"I would like that."

As we are finishing put our tools away, Molly and Mabel arrive to do the same.

"Emi suggested that we help miss Helen with her spinning. Would you two like help?", Christina asks them as she assists them with the mops.

"Excellent idea, Emi. I would like that." says Molly.

Mabel on the other hand says, "No, thank you. I should go home a take care of my own house and family."

I reply to her, "That's fine, see you in the morning then."

The three of us go up to the second floor room that Helen is using as a workroom where we find her sitting at her loom.

"Afternoon Miss Helen. We have come to assist you by spinning some yarn for you," Christina says as she leads us into the room. "We have finished our work early so have an hour or two free."

"You have? Oh, thank you. You know where the kick wheels and distaffs are kept." She says with a smile.

We goto the bedchamber and retrieve a kick wheel and distaff each that we carry back to the workroom. We each take a stool from the stack then sit down in a circle facing each other, kick wheel in front of us, distaff under our left arms. Helen has a pile of spindles on the table ready for us to use. We each place a spindle on the shaft of the wheel after tieing off to it. The slipper on the foot used to kick the wheel is removed and we are ready to begin. Several strands of flax fiber are teased off the distaff to be twisted by the spinning wheel then feed onto the spindle. Molly soon has a spindle full of yarn done, followed closely by Christina. They are much more practiced than I so they are well into their second spindle before I complete my first. As we finish a spindle we trade the full one for an empty and continue on.

When there are only a few empty spindles left, I lay down my distaff. Walking over to the table I start emptying the spindles onto the skein winder. Having wound skeins for Helen before I know to place two spindle worth of yarn per skein. I stay ahead of Molly and Christina, emptying two spindle as they take the last of the empty ones. Twisting the skein after taking the yarn off the winder keeps me from catching up.

Helen stops weaving, standing to stretch. She begins to take skeins of yarn from the table and taking them to the bedchamber. I hear the door of the wardrobe open then Helen returns taking more skeins. She continues until all the skeins are stored. She then relieves me at the winder saying, "It should be time for Rufina to run, isn't it?"

Glancing outside I note the shadows, "Yes, it is."

"I'll credit you 7 coppers for todays work. Thank you for the help. I will see you at supper, have fun running." She gives me a hug.

"You're welcome," I whisper in her ear then kiss her cheek. We break the hug and I head out. First stop is the Rufina's rooms to prepare our clothes then down to the study to fetch her.

Walking up to the study door I peek in. She is busy sketching, the lines she makes thin a black, though I can tell the charcoal stick is held lightly. There are various tools lay about the desk; a short straightedge/ruler, a compass and a wooden triangle. She had the craftsmen make these for her in the last week. When she paused to put a point on the charcoal stick she was using I spoke, "Rufina, time for your run."

She lay the stick down in a shallow bowl to her right then stretched her arms up over her head. "Ahhhh, yep, past time for a break." She straightens her desk then comes around it, giving me a hug. "What have you been doing this afternoon?"

As I lead up the stairs I explain what I have been doing since dinner, "After finishing the cleaning Molly, Christina and I spun yarn for Helen. We managed to make nine skeins worth and Molly and Christina are still spinning."

By this time we are in her chambers where I help her out of her out clothes. She uses the pot and cleans up. I help her into the shorts, tunic and stockings I have laid out on the bed, then snuff the candles before leading her to the garden gate.

We are stretching when Kalvin arrives from around the front. "Evening your majesty, Emi." He begins to stretch along with us. We continue stretching for several minutes until Kalvin says, "Ready?" When we nod he takes off at a slow trot. He leads us down the hill then turns left at the base heading west on the lane leading to the Twin. The twin is a small river on the far side of the farms that occupy the plain the palace overlooks. "We will run to the ridge in the middle of the plain then return." This is a little more than the distance running twice around the palace would be.

As we run down the lane, farmers are plowing the fields around us. When and if they see us, they wave and greet us. Rufina and I return the waves. The fields are appear different than they have in the past; instead of bare brown soil they are tan from the grain stubble still in the ground.

"Rufina, would you explain why you don't want the stubble removed from the fields?" I ask as we trot by the fields.

"Do you remember what I told you about the wee beasties that live in the soil? Imagine that you are one of those beasties, living your life on the roots of the grain plants. Once day you feel intense heat, the farmer is burning the stubble in the field. If you survive that, a few days later the soil is turn upside down bringing a lot of air into the soil. The extra air encourages you to start eating the plant matter around you. You start reproducing, making more of your kind. They grow and reproduce themselves, eating more of the plant matter. The sun warms the soil, encouraging you continue. The warm soil starts to dry out, killing your kind when it becomes to dry. Soon the plant matter is all consumed."

"So now the soil is dry, the plant matter is gone and the most of the wee beasties are dead. The elements that the beasties released from the plant matter are in the soil, waiting to new plants to feed. But then come the rains. The soil, being dry, can't absorb the water which runs off, taking some of the soil, the planted seed and the elements with it. If the farmer has plowed his fields the proper way, the water stays in the field, soaking in. If he didn't the water flows away, taking the soil, some of the seed and the elements with it, to end up in the sea."

We have come to the ridge so turn around to run back. Kalvin and I are on either side of Rufina, listening to her as we run.

"Now, if the farmer doesn't burn the field, but just plows enough to plant the seed, air doesn't enter the soil in large amounts. No air means the wee beasties don't grow quickly. Also there is more plant matter because the unburned stubble is still there. The stubble helps protect the seed from birds, allowing more to sprout. The soil slowly allows air to enter, letting the beasties grow slowly, converting the plant matter into elements which the growing seed take up, growing strong. When the rains come, the stubble provides passages for the water to enter the ground, instead of puddling up then running off."

"Now there are not a large quantity of elements released from the plant matter so it doesn't get washed away or wash deep into the ground as the wee beast haven't eaten all the plant matter. The stubble protects the small grain spouts from the wind and shielding the soil from the wind keeping it from drying out. As the winter progresses the beasties eat the roots of the stubble which then lays on the surface where insects and the beasties eat it, turning it into food for the growing grain."

"There is one more reason; it reduces the amount of traffic on the fields, reducing soil compaction. Compacted soil doesn't have space for air, water or plant roots. Have you noticed, when there is a path which many people or animals travel, plants don't grow on it and water puddles up? Both are caused by the soil being compacted."

We are now climbing the hill to the palace. Rufina stops speaking, using her breath to run instead of talking. Once we have reached the garden gate and have cooled down she finishes her explanation, "Those are the reasons I don't wish the fields burned or plowed."

"Your majesty, I believe the farmers need to hear you speak of these wee beasties," exclaims Kalvin as we enter the garden. "They sound like they need to be husbanded just like the cows, sheep, pigs and chickens."

"Very insightful, Kalvin. They do need to be husbanded. They need everything the larger beasts need; food, water and air. We can discuss this at supper."

We have removed our boots and have climbed to the second story. Kalvin continues upward to cleanup and change for supper. Rufina and I proceed to her rooms. After lighting a few candles I take the pitcher down to fill leaving Rufina to attend to her toilet. Returning I prepare the water then wash Rufina. She wraps her arms around me as I am washing her breasts, kissing me deeply, her nipples stiffening against my palms. She pulls my tunic over my head, throwing it on the floor, soon followed by my bra and panties. She proceeds to cover me in soap, tweaking my nipples, stroking my ears and tail, gently rubbing me all over, finally fingering my nubbin. I return the affection. Bathing is forgotten for a while.

Recovering she helps me to my feet then rinses me. After I do the same for her, we towel each other dry. Clean clothes are donned, the room straightened up and the candles snuffed. We are embracing when there is a knock on the chamber door, it is Helen, come to tell us supper is nearly ready.