by P. S. Power
“OK, starting tomorrow I'll start teaching that part, after my own work out.” It was more to do, but he'd been flying as long as anyone. Longer than anyone, literally, if only by a few days. The beauty of having made the device for it, Tor was the first moron to go up. It was safe enough, but he hadn't really known it at the time.
The others fell into line as if he knew what he was doing, and set the younger students to working at pells and learning basic techniques. No one was as good at teaching as Kolb or even his top instructors, but then they hadn't had the time to learn yet. The younger kids were getting something at least, and if they weren't good, at least everyone was getting exercise out of it. It took even more work to set up the early section, and he had to get Rolph to teach flying for them, that being when he was supposed to train anyway.
Advanced build theory was his favorite class by far, a lot of little things he'd never thought of were introduced that made him want to kick himself for not figuring them out sooner, like letting fields grow to greater strength by mimicking biological processes. No one in the class could do it, not yet, but the theory was actually an old one. Worse, he'd had the idea before on his own, but hadn't pursued it, not even on paper. That class was taught by Instructor Fines, his old novel build teacher. If that class had been about coming up with new ideas on your own, this one was very different, it required a lot of reading and thinking, discussion and conjecture instead.
Still, it gave him an idea to use, so Tor decided to try a build based on the magical carriage device. The idea would have normally taken a week to make strong enough to do what was needed, even if he stressed and pushed himself horribly. This time the work would be slower, but if he did it right the power level of the field should end up being incredible. If he messed up, well, that could happen doing new things. He didn't have a lot of time for mistakes though. Not with his upcoming trip to Austra.
During the third week everything changed suddenly. It came during the time when he was teaching a group of ten students how to fly. They were all brand new to it, this being the first day for the third group. He'd tried a larger bunch the first time, but that hadn't worked too well, because it was too hard to pay attention to what they were all doing. Ten was about his personal limit. Well, twelve worked too, but ten just felt right. Rather interestingly, they’d all dressed in what looked like plain school browns for it. Even a couple of kids he knew to be fairly high nobles.
They all matched.
“Flying this way is easy, safe and fun!” He started with that each time, since making it a little exciting seemed to help some of the more reticent students.
“Remember to wear your shield though! Really, you should wear them all the time for now, and make certain that your friends have one and are wearing it too. Having a shield and not using it, especially while flying, is moronic, and all of you are way too smart for that.”
Inside fifteen minutes they we're all up and flying, it wasn't that hard to do after all. They flew standing upright, which was comfortable and made landing a breeze. For a while they just went up and hovered, about a hundred feet from the ground, then made a safe landing. It wasn't the most interesting part of things, but once you had the landing down the rest was almost just play. That's what he told them at least.
They made the traditional first flight, heading to the nearby town of Lenders, hovering over it for a while practicing turns and then flying back to the weapons square. It was when they came in for a landing that Tor first noticed the change. There were suddenly a lot more people than there should be, and of the new ones, most were clad in leathers. Combat leathers. Tan and black, dusty and worn looking.
And they were watching the students practice like hawks ready to swoop on mice.
He came in carefully, smiling when he realized who it had to be. Kolb and his people. The man himself walked over, scar on the right side of his face from corner of the eye to just about even with the edge of his mouth, fairly large and filled with lean power, bald head shining in the sun.
“Tor! So are you responsible for this mess?” He said, his voice slightly dark.
“I'm afraid so. I know it's not much, but-”
“Ha! Don't worry, you all did fine. Better than fine. We half expected to come in and find the students resting in the shade and eating sweets. The other half was that we'd come in and not find any students at all and have to beat them for skipping. They actually look decent for week three. The older students need more work, but that's not their fault.”
The look he gave Tor was serious then. He dropped his chin a bit, like a person getting ready to fight.
“No, the fault there is yours. You may not be the mightiest warrior in the kingdom, but you can see to it that their doing better than that. You have the skills, and are a Knight of the realm. I expect you to do that for the next week. Use the other instructors, but you're in charge of it. Also, I want to increase the flight training numbers. Dean Hardgrove tells me you've outfitted the whole school with shields and flight gear?” The question had an edge to it, like the weapons instructor wasn’t certain it was a good idea.
Tor nodded anyway, since it was simply the truth. That got a rough sound from Kolb that was a little more pleasant than he’d expected. Somewhat impressed. Possibly.
“Then we need to make sure everyone has proper training fast. Kids will use those things you know, trained or not. They probably already have been.”
Hanging his head slightly Tor realized he should have been doing that all along, taking the better kids he taught and getting them to teach the others. How stupid could he be? It really would speed things up, he simply hadn’t even thought of it. Probably why Kolb was an expert instructor and Tor was just a student. This got him a pat on the back when he mumbled it.
“There you go, learning already. See to it. They're your students, so you should have a decent judge of capabilities already.”
It meant that he had to work twice as hard to get everything done and the work he was supposed to be doing in the evenings slipped badly, going down to two hundred units a day most of the time. He struggled to make up for it on his off days, but if he wanted to spend time with his wife, which was, he realized, a more important duty than schoolwork, something had to give. Slowly over the course of weeks that became sleep. His personal field stayed strong and the more organic build was growing well enough, he thought. It kept getting stronger each day at least. Tor was just exhausted though. Something he was kind of used to, but really, some extra sleep would be nice.
Sure, he could just sleep anyway, but people were counting on him. Really, he decided, he needed to just toughen the heck up. Other people went a long time on short sleep, didn’t they? Why some of the rich kids at the school hardly slept for days on end, so they could drink and party. It was exactly the same thing.
Only without the hangover.
The days dragged on, but at least he had product for the shops that carried his goods, the one in Printer and the other in the Capital. He even made up a large box for Dorgal Sorvee, since they were supposed to be friends now, even though the boy had been a jerk to him while they'd attended school together. Tor still wasn't really sure it wasn't some elaborate trick, but if they were going to be friends, that meant Tor had to look out for him as he could, didn't it?
Being a half hearted friend didn’t make sense at all. That would just waste time and cheat everyone involved out of a chance at really building something worthwhile.
Finally, on the fourth set of off days after Kolb and his people arrived, Tor managed to get to the barber and get his hair cut off. He went short, an elite military cut almost, a fighter’s cut, barely long enough to be brushed or combed, but it left his head feeling light and free when he stood up. The haircut was “free” but the service was one that the school had actually covered in prior years. Henry had arranged for Tor to do it now, which kept the older man in business at least. Tor gave him a gold as a tip and thanked him for freeing him from the prison of hair. T
he man was happy enough to have helped and pocketed the gold without really realizing it wasn't a copper. It was too much, but Tor also knew that even the rich kids had been tipping less this year, so it would help keep the man and his family afloat.
It was walking out of the small shop that opened directly into the stone commons for the school that they found him. Three of them, large, powerful, and bent on his capture.
“There he is!” One of them called to the others, which made him look around to see who they were talking about before he realized who was there.
A hug came in from up high, exuberant, but not so hard it triggered his shield into action. That was Petra, who didn't let him go, but shifted so that Sara and Trice could take a turn too.
They all looked good, healthy and strong. Sara had restyled her hair a bit, the blond military cut slightly longer now and brushed back from her face. Trice looked interesting, her hair bleached blond on the outside with nearly two inches of dark brown showing at the bottom. It was just her hair growing out, but it was an attractive pattern anyway. They all wore student’s clothing, Sara and Trice in black, Pet in brown, all of their outfits were made to look like high end clothing, silk and leather, but Tor knew it was all just the clothing devices. His still looked like canvas. Felt like it too.
“We've come back to school too, isn't it great? The war suddenly died down for a bit, so the King suggested we all come and learn what we can in the mean time. Plus he said he wanted these two to keep an eye on you.” Petra sounded happy and excited about the prospect and the other two nodded. Of course, friends of his or not, they were sent by the King to keep tabs on him. The black meant they were training to be spies after all. Probably good practice, though really, if the King wanted to know something, it would be quicker to just ask. They both also claimed to have feelings for him, which was generally true, but confusing. He was married now and even though he was allowed to sleep with other people by social convention, he hadn't yet. Not even one of his personal friends.
So, Tor thought, wonderingly, about half his people had managed to come back to the school as well? More if he counted the ones he knew that were in Kolb's group. Petra was one of those, and really, the idea of her coming back to school as a student was more than a little odd. She was a hard core combat giant and hadn't slacked off in the year and a half or so she'd been out of school, in fact she'd spent part of that time teaching him, so he didn't get too rusty or out of shape. When he asked about it she smiled and hugged him again.
“It's obvious, isn't it? If I were an Instructor here I couldn't sleep with you. This way I can. My course load is light and Marvin is paying for it, even giving me a full allowance, which is nice of him. Mom was covering it all from her funds for years. It's practically a vacation for me.” She really seemed happy about it, so Tor kissed her, and then, laughing had to kiss the other two as well, so that they wouldn't feel slighted.
They all ate in the big dining room, the one that Tor had used his whole time at school, except once. It was one of the changes at the school to save gold. The other kitchen for the special school kids cost nearly as much to run, and only fed about thirty of them. The food was simpler than in the smaller rich kids dining facility across campus, served on wooded plates that looked like square trays, and sometimes earthenware, with silverware made of steel instead of silver at all. The cups were heavy ceramic things in a dull and boring brown, most of them chipped and cracked. The special school students still looked a little awkward crammed into the room with the regular kids. A few sat in mixed groups though, Tor noticed.
Making new contacts. It was a good idea really. Anyone here could end up being useful or important after all.
Henry and Gersh sat with Ridley and Ali for instance. Rolph was next to Sheri and another girl that looked a little older and cuter, who was obviously trying to get the Prince into bed. Tor didn't even have to hear the conversation to get it. She kept smiling and patting his arm openly, leaning towards him and smiling the whole time while trying to make eye contact. The tables were long and each had room at them, but only a few places were left. Trice looked around and raised her eyebrows.
“Well… cozy. I guess we mingle now and learn to get here earlier from now on?”
It was a plan at least. Tor moved to the nearest seat and tucked himself in, getting an odd look from the girl that sat next to him for some reason. Girls did that with him. For a long time he'd figured they just thought he wasn't good enough for them, but he'd been told that wasn't really the case, and most of them wanted to be friends. Actually, what was said was more pointed and suggested they wanted to be his girlfriends, but how likely was that? He wasn't anyone special or anything, right?
“Um, hello.” The girl’s voice was soft and shy. She wasn't pretty or anything, in fact, she was a little snubbed nosed and pinch faced. Her skin was about as dark as most people’s compared to his own very light tone, but she did smile at him, and friendliness always counted for more than looks.
It took him a second to place the face and then the name.
“Lyn? You made it! This is great! How are you liking your classes so far?”
The girl giggled and looked around the room.
“I love it here. The foods good and I get to work on learning to build every day. It's harder than I thought, but I think I'm doing alright. I'll tell you for certain when the marks come out.”
For a second he wondered why she'd do that, but then he remembered that he was personally sponsoring her at school. It wasn't even a generic scholarship. He paid for her directly. As her patron. She was a fellow builder after all. One capable of making copies without a template at thirteen. Without any prior lessons in it at all. Looking at her he realized that she had on a clothing device, but that it wasn't one he'd made, she'd copied that too. Without a template. He knew that for a fact, but he’d never bothered to build one for that device. Excellent. The field was strong and healthy too.
“Oh!” Tor remembered something then, since he was sponsoring her he needed to see to all her expenses and maybe some spending money. It was part of a sponsor’s duty after all.
“Can you stop by my room later?” He asked, not saying why. After all, it might embarrass her if other people knew that she wasn't from a rich family. Some of the kids could make a huge deal out of things like that, as stupid as it was.
She nodded and ate quietly for the rest of the meal, if happily enough.
She just followed him Rolph and Trice back to the room, walking behind them as if she weren't part of the group. Tor stuck his tongue out at her.
“Don't hang back there, people will think you're too good for us or something.” His smile and wide eyes got a laugh, if a slightly nervous one. Trice held out her right hand to the girl smiling and held hands with Lyn until they got to the door.
“Too right Lyn. If Tor’s adopting you, then that means you’re one of our people now. It’s probably a dubious benefit, but we clean up nice.” The words got a giggle from Lyn and a wink from Rolph. Tor just nodded seriously.
She was one of his people now, wasn’t she? It was a very real point and he’d kind of fallen down on his job with her. Tor didn’t apologize though. No, the only way to make this slight up now was work.
In the room he didn't make her wait though, he counted out the weeks they'd been at school, seven now, and handed her a gold for each, making her blink and the others go still. Was it too much? Princess Karina had told him that she got five golds a month allowance and he knew that some kids got more than that when at school. Finally though the Prince nodded to the girl.
“Try not to flash that around. If you want help managing it, let me know. I can arrange some investments for you, if you like.” The funny thing was how serious he sounded.
“Would you sir?” Lyn said sounding even younger than her years. She held all the golds out to him but one. “I’ve never had this kind of money before. It would be a relief.”
Tor wondered at the term, money, but he d
idn’t really recognize it. Except, really he did. He got that it meant coin from context at least. It was strange though. Normally when someone used a made up term like that, it was him. Tor smiled and nodded to her.
“Cool.”
That got a grin from the small girl and a pat on the back for her from Trice.
“Don’t worry, Rolph’s good with coin. Learning to be an accountant even.”
Then Tor gave her a copy of each of the things he'd made, there were nearly thirty fields in all, so he set up a floating chest for her to carry everything in. She’d need one of those to work with anyway.
“Right, so a gold per week for supplies, investments and occasional treats, that kind of thing. Get with me if you need funds for working supplies and we’ll handle that separately. The devices are on loan to you, start making your own copies from them, I suggest doing it on metal, there’s a shop in town that has some for sale, I'd get the cheapest since someone else is paying for it, but it's up to you. When you get a copy of each of these I'll help you work out your plan for a novel build.”
She left hurriedly, seeming excited by the idea rather than put off. That was something Tor could understand at least. When he was new at school they'd dragged everything out for years before they let him do his own work. Even there he’d kind of just done it, without asking for permission. It wasn't that hard. If you could do copying, you could make your own stuff. It just took planning and getting a feel for how reality worked.
Trice and Rolph both stared at him.
“Um, what?” He said hoping he hadn't just breached some major rules or social protocol. Was it really too much coin for her? It probably seemed like more, coming in all at once.
Rolph shook his head.
“There's what, fifty people in the kingdom that can make devices without a template, and you just sent a little girl off to make two dozen of them as if it were nothing. That's what.”