Lord of the Sky (The Young Ancients: Timon)

by P. S. Power

  "Happy Noram Day!" That got the women with him to say the same and the girls to relax, saying it back quickly enough.

  Bowing a bit he looked at the bearded man in front of him.

  "Millert?"

  "Yes, sir. Your Lordship, I mean." He wiped his brow, which still seemed dry and then did the same with his hand, against the leg of his plain brown canvas trousers. "We were just..."

  What he wanted to say was lost in the sound of Mona coming out of the kitchen. She was a bit plain looking, but her teeth were all her own and had a decently white color to them, having been replaced with a healing item in several cases. She was in plain brown herself, but had a pretty red ribbon in her hair. In her hands were three focus stone trays of food, balanced on her arms.

  "What's the noise about... Oh." She nearly froze, but had to keep moving or lose the center tray. Momentum was important in situations like that, after all.

  Timon felt almost at a loss for words, since these people had clearly and knowingly invaded his space and were, by the looks of it, eating his food. On the other hand, he hadn't gotten Mona a holiday bonus or a gift. That was pretty rude really.

  "Ah! Wait a few seconds. Be right back..." He ran out the door, going to where he'd left his craft set up, knowing that he probably shouldn't have and jogged back to where his trunks were. He got a single amulet out, knowing that it would be too much for a serving woman really, and also pulled two silver coins and a gold. When he got back in everyone was making awkward conversation.

  "I work doing hauling mostly, working the ice manufactory, ma'am." This was said to Collette, who clearly had been asking where she knew him from.

  It made sense and was a good business to get into in the Capital. It was comfortable outside even in the middle of winter and roasted most of the rest of the year.

  Collette seemed happy with the explanation.

  "I knew you were familiar. I didn't know that Mona was your wife! Strange how small the world is sometimes, isn't it?"

  Timon didn't wait, just handing things out to people. The gold went to Millert first, the girls each getting a silver. Mona got the amulet and held it up, her face questioning, but her mouth firmly shut and smiling. After all, she knew it was some kind of magic.

  The girls were wide eyed and seemed happy, but the man looked ready to run out for some reason. They weren't good gifts, but he had a plan for that in mind already.

  "Advanced pay, if you want the work. We have an event at the King's Palace tomorrow. I know it's normally a day off for most people, but we'll need hauling. Probably a lot of it. Would you be in charge of that for us? There'll be another gold in it for you if you say yes." It was too much by about ten times, even if he had three assistants, but they'd need the coin for land rent.

  He winked at the girls, the older one blushing a bit. It was strange, since she looked to be about ten, but honestly she was closer to his own age than anyone else in the room. He felt so old most of the time anymore that it was a little jarring to him.

  "Those are just some funds for the day, to keep you out of your mother's hair. I recommend investing it. That or buying some produce and catching a ride to Austra. The new exchange rate is in, and one silver is worth about six times what it is here. Even more if it comes in as fruits and vegetables. I should be headed that way in a week or two, so if you get time off you should consider it." After all, nothing would tell that land that they came in peace like little girls selling food, would it?

  Mona held the amulet and looked at it closely.

  "Just a little cottage, like this one. Made it myself, so it's actually a gift. I hope you'll-" There was screaming then. It was a joyous thing, and Mona started crying, while the girls danced around and Millert looked like someone had stomped on his right foot. There was no false modesty in it or trying to give it back, which was good, because he wasn't parting with a craft and that or shields were all he had left.

  Then he was hugged, almost crushed, between the little girls and Mona. It was familial enough until the older woman grabbed his behind and squeezed. Her husband glared, but at least it was at her, not him. For his part he managed not to throw her hand off and stepped back.

  "Now, you get back to your meal and I'll see you later? We're all going to be here tonight." That was a warning to be gone when they got back, but he wasn't totally sure that they'd get the point.

  Outside Trice gave him a loopy grin that seemed far too happy for some reason, and looked back toward the door, shaking her head.

  "Is Mona our cook?"

  He nodded.

  "And cleaning lady. So far I haven't really needed more. I suppose I should work up someplace nicer than this? It will take some time, but I can probably borrow one of the templates for the larger houses that Tor made for the Lairdgren group. Where do you want to live anyway? I mean a central home, where people can send you mail and messages." If they were married it would make sense that they'd live in the same place. Traditionally that would have been in Two Bends or possibly her home town, wherever that was. If she thought that he was going to take this as simply a fiction she was mistaken. Until she died she'd be the only wife he got after all, so it made sense to really put everything into this. She wasn't old after all, just older than he was.

  "Oh... I hadn't thought about it. Here works for me. It's a nice place really. A little exposed if another attack comes, but other than that it's good." She patted his back, which was a bit too patronizing for his taste, so he gave her a slightly hard look. It got her to stop, but he didn't think she really understood what he meant. She might not be able to see it really, even if he said the words out loud. Some of the giants really couldn't get things like that.

  They all sat in the Fast Craft while they contacted people then, and even Sherri had things to do that way, getting in touch with Tiera, who had been strangely absent over the last few days. Not that Tim blamed her. Things had not been going all that well for her in the last three months. Her best friend had been killed and the murderer had escaped from her cell in the Palace. If that had happened to him he would have...

  Honestly he didn't know. He could see the value in killing Sandra Morris and her family, since doing otherwise would be stupid. They'd already shown that they wouldn't let things rest if his sister backed off, so leaving them alive wasn't really a good plan. Someone had gotten her to hold back for a bit. He highly suspected it was Tor, since Tiera kind of hated the King.

  His job in all of this was kind of simple, since most of his people actually knew what to do already. The only ones that he had to really invite were Ancients, since leaving them out might seem a little bit rude. Even at that, there were only a few that needed his attention. Blue Four, Orange, Denno and Julie White. She wouldn't be coming, of course, since she was vastly afraid of giants, but it was one of those things where you had to ask.

  Kolb too, of course, if he was around. There was that other woman that worked at Lairdgren too, Doris. Timon knew she was immortal, but nothing else about her except that she worked in the meditation department. He decided to leave her out of it, simply not thinking that she'd want to bother with him.

  These were the hardest people to get in touch with, once he sat down to actually do it. Trice was already on her communications device with her brother Mark, so he slid into the seat next to her and leaned over to speak himself.

  Mark sounded happy at least, which was a good sign.

  "Timon Baker? That's not too bad. A bit young, but he'll age up nicely over time, I think. Hard worker and very smart. Plus, you mentioned he was there and he is my boss, so, you get me, I'm angling for a raise." There was laughter from further away, which turned out to be a familiar voice.

  "Hello Kincaid. Say, do you have Denno's number in your compact? I need to get in touch with him and that's actually slightly difficult from here. I can give it to you if you don't." She was only a player after all and while she was cute enough for the Ancient to date, Timon didn't think they were.

  Th
at turned out to be correct, though it was pretty clear that she and Mark were being seen together. She was also trying to hide that from him. As if he'd care? They were friends, true, but only that. Mark was a good fellow and going to be family...

  It wasn't that Timon didn't understand her reasoning, it was just trying to apply Austran rules to Noram nobles. It got him to grin and actually mean it after the second time she let her voice trail off instead of explaining what she was doing.

  "I don't have that, of course. He's the Revered One after all. Why would I?"

  Timon didn't bother explaining that to her, but cleared his throat and got his Austran compact out, looking the code up. It was protected information, but this was important enough, he thought.

  "Just make sure you erase that when you're finished with the call. Unless you plan to ask him to go with you as your date? That might work, if you have the time. Mark can't come, so that's out."

  There was silence from the other end of the device, but after a bit she spoke in a low tone. It wasn't angry sounding, but almost conspiratorial.

  "Why can't he come? Aren't you friends? And Patricia is his sister..."

  That got Trice to look embarrassed, and everyone to stare at him for some reason. Leaving the complex explanation to the little kid.

  "His powers are such that he can accidentally throw others into a combat rage. It's a battle commander's ability, but he hasn't learned to control it totally yet, so putting him in a crowded room with noble giants isn't that brilliant of an idea. It isn't a personal slight, since he's a wonderful person. Just a practical consideration." That didn't get Trice to stare at him less, but Collette went wide eyed and started to nod.

  "Oh, that does make sense, doesn't it? It isn't a curse at all, it's a command ability? I never thought..."

  Things moved faster then, since, while she wasn't the kind to totally believe in magic, Kincaid was smart enough to realize that Noram did things differently, so Mark couldn't come, and they had at least a make believe reason why not that had nothing to do with social class or wealth.

  Fifteen minutes later the Austran Player was chatting with the highest ranked person in her land, gushing more than a little. Denno listened politely, speaking clearly, even if he had to go through Kincaid's handheld first.

  "I wondered which one of them would entangle you first! Patricia, lovely girl. Yes, I'll come, of course. Perhaps Mark and I can travel to Vagus and see if Red and her new husband would like to attend as well? I know that she's very fond of you. Perhaps Marko Sorvee could attend as well? I know that you're his patron, so I'm certain that he'll want to make an appearance."

  The man was smart, but also adding to the numbers of people that would be there. Timon let it go however and suggested that he might also ask Julie and Blue. Neither of them had any clue where Alice Orange was.

  It took the better part of an hour to get that finished, and he couldn't focus properly on what anyone else was saying, since there were too many voices for that. It was a rush job after all and that meant chaos at the best of times.

  When they lifted off to head to the King's Palace, Tim felt slightly apprehensive. For the first time it seemed like this was actually real. Not in a good way either. He didn't particularly like Trice after all. Oh, she was nice enough in the main, and a good casual friend, but clearly a bit moody and controlling, as well as attached to not one, but two, of his brothers. This aided her, and really did give him a chance to peek into the world of the kingdom's spy networks, but was that really worth it? They were both damaged and she was a Ducharina, so there was that. Her parents were wealthy enough that he wouldn't have to worry about them coming to him constantly for loans, which was a good thing, since that always strained relationships. The thing was, he didn't know if he even really liked the woman sitting next to him as a person. Not that it would be required for marriage. In that way it was no worse than anything that could be arranged by his parents. Trice's own situation showed that one pretty clearly, didn't it?

  It would have been nice if he could have married someone he loved, but that might not be a real thing for him anyway. He barely felt attraction for anyone now, after what had happened to him. Love seemed like a lot to ask.

  He hovered over the Palace, finally making the craft smaller, still doing the work to make the outside glow in two alternating colors, moving slowly along the surface of the thing. After all, there was such a thing as style and while he was being a bit loud about it, that was part of the holiday spirit and tradition. People actually came out to look too, which included the King, Queen, Alphonse and both Princesses. As well as a dozen Royal Guards, all dressed in formal guard black and purple.

  This was one of the few places that he could leave the craft up, so he did, letting the color fade to mirror silver as he stepped out, following the others for once. That bit of apprehension hadn't gone away at all, and was hitting his stomach now. It felt like an insane elf was tickling him from the inside. One that he'd clearly eaten, so there might be reason for this bit of revenge, but he couldn't remember having done it in the last day.

  Trice stood next to him, her left arm pressed against his right shoulder. It was, he could tell, made of magic. He'd known about that, since the story was famous. She'd lost the arm when an Austran assassination weapon had started to eat her hand. Princess Karina had used a cutter to take it off, saving her life. Tor later made her the replacement. It was really good work. Between that and the little dragon that moved on the left side of her chest, over her heart, she probably had two of the most complex pieces of magic in existence on her.

  This wasn't exactly a regular group of people, so those kinds of things seemed nearly normal.

  Before he could do more than start to bow in greeting, everyone turned and hurried into the Palace, Karina stepping forward to take his arm, pulling him along forcefully.

  "Bit of a problem Tim. There's a battle starting along the border of Rochester. The Baron is with us, but he's eight, so kind of an obvious target, it's sort of messing with the wedding plans. We all understand the need to hurry, but it may not be as grand as we would have liked." She actually sounded worried, which was sweet of her. Her red hair looked efficient, being pulled back and tied in place in a single ponytail that would have looked perfectly correct almost anywhere. She wore only very light make-up and was dressed in a black outfit that looked almost military.

  "Right. Well, Sherri and Collette can handle that part of things, while we get things in place for Connor. I can move troops with the new craft. The Flyers base is closest, do they have anyone ready to go? Or..." He wasn't the one making the battle plans and shouldn't be. It wasn't something he knew about overly, except for the fact that suddenly dumping a few hundred, or even thousand highly trained military men into the situation might well change the course of a pitched battle, if they were available.

  It was kind of a jerk move for someone to have attacked on Noram Day. Worse, Connor really was just a kid. It spoke of a certain amount of desperation on the other side, doing things like that, didn't it?

  King Richard shook his head, but didn't seem displeased.

  "We have ground troops for that, based in County Ford. If we could move two hundred of them within three days, that should work. Can you arrange for that? The expense of travel is..."

  "A thousand gold. If they can be lined up and ready to go I can fit that many in right now. Or..." He looked at the others and shrugged. "Well, it will strip part of the wedding planning crew, but if Sherri is willing, she can take in a second craft. Terry might do it too, if we aren't going to dump people on the battle line directly. Trice has one as well, so that would be about eight hundred men, if they don't mind packing in kind of tightly." It was the day before their wedding and Trice was, if nothing else, a girl. She nodded anyway, which showed that she wasn't that into the idea of getting married to him, in particular. That, or she was actually more concerned about the war than it seemed on the surface.

  "Collette has one
too..."

  "Which is true, but someone has to plan this thing for us, if we're running off like it seems we are." He made himself smile, but the Queen rolled her eyes. The move reminded him of what he did all the time really.

  "I think I know how to plan a simple wedding, Timon. Go. See to this and protect our friends. I'll handle this end for you."

  He stopped, almost making a snide comment about the Queen sabotaging him on purpose, out of spite, but realized that he had to at least pretend that his Aunt wouldn't do that to him, even if she actually did it.

  "That makes sense. Can we have those men standing by? We can be there in... Call it thirty minutes? That way we can all take off from here and move as a group. Sherri first, then Collette, Trice and myself. Terry will have to meet us there. One moment." He had his new style communications device, but his younger brother didn't own one. His mother did, so he made the connection and didn't sugar coat what he wanted.

  "It's dangerous, but should be safe enough. Strictly a pick up and drop off for all of us. Do you think he's up to it?" That was a dangerous question to ask her, but a slightly high pitched voice came from the unit then, which was his sister Tara, if he had it right.

  "I can come too. I have one of your craft, and said I would."

  It probably would have been an argument then, but Timon didn't have time for that.

  "Not this time, Sis. Terry knows how to fly a Fast Craft and you need lessons first. Next time, if it's as safe as this one, you can go." That made it sound like his little brother was actually qualified to fly off right then, but it wasn't really the truth.

  Tim was the only one that had controlled one of his new vehicles yet, after all. It wasn't hard, but the things were going to have to be big on the second leg of the journey, which would change things a lot, especially on the landing.

  His mother didn't argue the point, not exactly.

  "I suppose. Can you have him back by tonight?"