Prince Ivar 'the Boneless' Erikson of Kiev falls in love with and marries Princess Helga (Olga) of Chernigov. While taxing her people to finance a war against Denmark, the Chernigov 20 ambush and capture the prince and his retinue and threaten to e...
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Airavata of Indra
(942 AD) Prince Ivar extended his hand as the consul's wife came across the gangplank. "This place is a swamp," she complained, covering her mouth with her other hand. "I hope it's not all like this," she said, stepping onto the quay.
"The estate's on a lakeshore further inland," Ivar explained. "This delta is all marshland. You will be living further inland to keep away from it. We'll be taking carriages there."
"Is that where the Hraes' station will be built?" she asked as carriages rolled up to the wharf.
"No. I've already purchased a warehouse and store in Phasis for that. In the future I'd like to dredge a canal from the sea to the lake so we can row our ships right up to the estate. It will be more secure that way."
They rode in the carriages around the lake to the estate located as far from the delta as possible. It was a huge brick house of two and a half stories, surrounded by many barns and outbuildings hidden amongst giant cedars. They entered and were helped by many slaves and servants. After a quick lunch they went up to their suite at the top of a broad marble staircase. "Settle the children in their rooms, then come back and we'll test the mattress," Ivar said, patting the bedding as his bearers placed his shield upon the bed.
"It's too early for rough stuff," she told him, "but I'm just going to hold back a little bit." The consul was a leatherneck legionnaire who took a lot of abuse from his sweet young Patrician wife, but she now had a man in her life who thoroughly enjoyed it. She preferred estates and horses because she loved leather and harnesses and her fine collection of riding crops. When she came back into the room, locked the double-doors, and began to unpack her leathers and oils, Ivar was already lying naked on the bed. "No biting," he said. "I'm going to Baghdad and I don't want to look like I couldn't handle a camel."
The merchant fleet was already at the Rioni-Kura portage, so the warships kept going upriver, leaving Ivar's small fleet to camp on the beach of Phasis. Halfway up the Rioni, Prince Erik met a Hraes' ship coming downriver. It was the training crew for the new Phasis startup. They had just finished a year in Tiflis and were hoping to go back to Denmark but would now be spending the summer in Phasis. The Hraes' stores, as they came to be called due to their attached storage warehouses, were taking on a look of their own, standing out from the trading posts of their competitors as being places that families began to frequent. Ivar was the first Hraes' prince to focus on having women managing their stores. While his older brother, Oddi had been the first to set up women in charge of trading stations or posts, it was Ivar who turned them into stores. Weapons and furs were relegated to the warehouse areas and clothing, silks, spices, and delicacies such as Khazar Vayar and sparkling wines were sold in the stores. Cathayan kites and sky lanterns, Indian jewelry and books, Persian carpets and African incense were all sold up front in the female domineered stores. Once Erik was assured that they had all the staff and inventory they required, he sent them on their way and he continued on upriver.
