by P. S. Power
One of the girls, the last one, was the daughter of a Baron though, and that meant that the King was able to unleash them on it. More than able, he kind of had too.
“I just got my marching orders last night, this was only the fourth interview I had on the matter. Not much real information so far. I'm planning on looking at the people in the girl’s lives starting tomorrow. It's a shame about them all, but this last one really hits home, the girl was popular in the Capital, very comely I hear? Ginger Coltress.”
“What?” Tor said too loudly by far.
Smythe nodded.
“Yes, there's no mistake, the body was found by her own sister, among others. Did you know her?” The voice was suddenly concerned, worried.
“No, I know two, well three of her sisters and have met her father. I… need to go and see to them. We're close.”
Tor didn't say more and started frantically running down the hallway, not even having a clue where he was headed. To Collette’s by the ice manufactory? Her father’s house? Wanting to hit himself in the head a few dozen times he realized the first person to ask would be the King. Now all he had to do was find the man. That wouldn't be easy, since this kind of thing probably meant closed meetings and scrambling to try and prevent war.
Of course, if this turned out to be some stupid political thing, Tor might be tempted to throw his own meager weight in behind the Baron. Finally he had to stop running and just stand, because he didn't know what else to do. He was in the front room, the foyer of the palace, by the front entrance when a hustle of people came in, crying and looking alternately scared and bloodthirsty. Tor understood that, because it was the Coltress family, and the Wards. Come for justice no doubt. He didn't wait walking up to them all directly.
“Smythe of Westend and I are on this personally. Whoever did it will be brought down.” Before the words were all the way out Tor was jumped and hugged by four different people.
Collette, got to him first, and held him tight enough that he was afraid his shield was about to activate. Nita and Petra tucked around the sides all crying, as, to his bafflement, did Maria Ward.
“Oh, Tor!” The Countess Ward wailed loudly.
“He killed her! That… that monster!”
Well, Tor got that anyone killing women like that had to be a monster, a real one even, no matter their reason or rationalizations, but this sounded a little more specific. He killed her. He who? Before the question could be asked Baron Coltress growled the answer.
“Fucking Baron Brian Rochester. I should have killed him when he did it, challenged him or gone to war, but no, I let Richard Fucking Cordes talk me down and now my daughters dead at his hands! I'll have his blood this time! I won't let this stand!”
The name Ginger didn't mean much to Tor, just some things the others had mentioned casually over time. Mainly Nita. They'd left that out during the interview. She was just victim seven. Not a name, so Tor hadn't know for certain that it was her. That seemed sad suddenly, but in the moment Tor didn't know what to do. He stepped back a bit from the group, hoping they'd listen for a second. That didn't happen though.
The Baron roared instead.
“You! This is all your fault! Just one of those things, you said, not something to war over you said. Let's not have blood… Well we have blood now don't we your Majesty!” The Baron closed on the King fast enough that there were suddenly a half dozen Royal Guards in the way. Weapons drawn too. That got a reaction from the Coltress family, half of whom had better than decent shields and weapons. Tor knew that because he'd given them to them.
“Wait!” A strong voice called out, female, and familiar. Patricia Morgan. Trice.
“Baron diddles isn't the killer, he's already been cleared. Smythe of Westend just told me about it. Tor did the questioning himself.” She looked at him as if to remind him that talking was a good thing.
“That's true. He didn't kill any of the girls.” Tor decided to leave out that he had tried to kill Westend, since that probably wouldn't help anything at the moment.
The Baron spun on Tor then, moving to scream in his face now, which at least made the Royal Guard relax a bit. Actually the man couldn't reach Tor's face, being too tall. Instead the good looking golden blond man glared downward as hard as he could.
“Fine! So he just gets to waltz out of the palace and everything is just fine because that rapist didn't kill anyone? Am I really supposed to feel better because some little boy is on the task?” The man kept going but Tor tuned him out. Of course the guy shouldn't feel better just because he was looking into this, that would be silly. While it wasn't fun to stand and take abuse over it, what else could he do really? The man had just lost his daughter in about the worst way imaginable. If it made him feel better to yell, then Tor could take it.
After the Baron wound down a little, still fuming, Richard shook his head.
“Baron Brian Rochester did not waltz out of the palace Stephen. He didn't even walk under his own power. Tor took him out back and beat him nearly to death. Without extreme intervention he'll likely be crippled for life. Both legs and both arms were nearly destroyed.” The voice was matter of fact, but not cold.
Trice walked forward, seeming a little scared but not timid, however that worked, “It's true, I watched the whole thing myself. Baron Diddles couldn't even roll out of the puddle of his own blood when Tor left. I had to kick him over so he wouldn't drown. Didn't know about the rest of this or I would have left him.”
Baron Coltress looked down again at Tor.
“Oh. I…” He faltered and stopped speaking.
Tor just nodded.
“We'll find who did this. Even if I have to question every person in the kingdom. Smythe has a search plan and…” OK, Tor had nothing else after that. Instead of continuing to let him run off at the mouth, the King invited everyone into a sitting room so that they could talk, plan and vent. Smythe was requested and food brought in. Everyone kind of sat uncomfortably, except Trice who mainly comforted Maria.
Blessedly a cup of that brown and bitter sludge used for the after effects of combat rage came then too. Whoever thought to order it was a saint. Short of healing himself with the amulet around his neck, nothing else would get rid of the headache, fatigue and headache that was starting to rip through his skull. The rage left you slow witted and made it hard to think of anything clever too. Oh. The healing device. Right. Tor hit the sigil and felt a brief pain run through his head and body as things corrected faster than the body really liked. Half a minute later he was fine. Having the ability to think again made a huge difference when it hit suddenly like that.
The situation wasn't good and of course, Smythe didn't know anything more than he'd told Tor, basically he wanted to start interviewing everyone that knew the girls in order to find out if there was anyone that might have known all of them, or if they all frequented the same places or had similar patterns. It made sense. A solid plan. Not comforting to the family at all.
Tor just hugged people and held their hands if they wanted. Maria Ward kept clinging to him every time Trice moved away for half a second, which wasn't comfortable to him at all. He tried to use Nita and Petra as a shield, but short of stiff arming the woman, he couldn't really keep her away. Tor didn't want her to touch him.
They weren't friends and hadn't agreed to try to be, like he had with Dorgal. He could forgive her for being mean to him years before and even trying to have him attacked, which honestly, he realized, she'd succeeded in. That didn't mean he wanted her on his lap crying. Then, it would be rude to just dump her on the floor too.
Just because he didn't like or trust her, that didn't mean her pain wasn't real.
Everyone was staying at the palace that night, because the King wanted them close and to make sure that the attack on Ginger hadn't been politically motivated. The words weren't said, but it was really about protecting them all, just in case. A lot of people still had some hard feelings about Marvin and Maria, since they'd inadvertently helped the
Austran Larval assassins and then declared war in a panic. Sure it was a bonehead move, but no one denied that. Not even Count Ward and it had been his idea.
Tor had dinner in his room and tried to prepare for the next day, kind of wishing that Ali wasn't so busy herself. Even if she was too tired for sex, and who could blame her working non-stop like she and Karina were, it would have been comforting just to have her close for the night. Well, it wouldn't be either the first or last night he'd spend alone, so Tor got in bed early and willed himself to sleep. It wasn't like he couldn't use the rest.
It was a few hours later when he felt it, a now familiar and intimate stirring at his groin. Ali had come back?
“Hey.”
The voice came from next to him ear, soft and husky, familiar. Trice. That was all right then, he liked her and she was even kind of his girlfriend, right? She and Ali did things together, probably even did other people together like this, so this was natural for them. Tor carefully rolled a little so that he could give her a hug and then kissed her as the work below his waist increased in pace. Tor started to reach that point were his body would simply act no matter what he did when the action stopped and a strange voice came from below the sheets.
“Patricia, do you want a turn?”
Tor's sleep addled brain didn't get it at first. Not until Trice spoke.
“Sure Maria, we can take turns.” Her voice was casual and soft still. Pleasant.
That contrasted nicely with the scream Tor let out then, he realized.
“Ahhh!” Panicked and not really able to think yet, Tor woke up half way across the room, his back to the wall, night clothes half off and shield on.
“What?” Tor screamed at Trice, not able to see her in the dark.
“Why the freaking hell would you let her in?” Tor fixed his clothing and left the room fast. That was… insane. Trice knew better too. They'd talked about how he felt about Maria. He hadn't been complimentary, if he remembered correctly. The nicest he'd been was to say he was trying to not blame her forever for what she'd done as a fourteen year old.
Worse she'd been touching him. There. Uninvited. OK, he'd put up with things like that from his friends, but that woman was the nearest thing he had in the world to an enemy and she'd been… Using her mouth on him.
Tor wanted to just leave the building, the Capital, maybe the kingdom. Instead he stopped outside the door and spinning place. No, he wasn't running this time. Heading back in Tor hit the light panel. At least both girls had dressed.
“Get out. This is my room for the night and I didn't invite you. I don't know what you two have cooked up, some form of humiliation for me no doubt? Abuse me in my sleep then go and tell everyone how horrible I am in bed? Well, let me save you the trouble. Get out now and…” Tor was about to tell Trice never to talk to him again, which seemed fair at the moment. In a while he'd probably forgive her though, so he just pointed at the door instead.
“Both of you. Out. Don't come back without permission. From me. No sneaking in on the butlers say so or anything.”
Neither girl moved. Woman really, they weren't girls any more. Fine, that just mean they should have known better. Stupid royal rules. It didn't matter if he was being rude now even.
“Out.” His voice sounded firm. If that didn't do the trick what was he going to do, use violence?
That didn't happen, apparently the combat aura was enough. The girls scrambled then. Finally.
Great, now he had to fix that too. Stupid combat rage.
It took over an hour of meditation and left him waking up grumpy, even after fixing the after effects with the healing amulet. Too much of that and he'd damage his own field again. After climbing out of the bed with its shining gold colored silky looking sheets and spread on the top, bathing in the tan ceramic tub and shaving carefully, he headed out to look for people and maybe food. Healing twice like that had left him starving. Normally not feeling need for food directly on waking, today it felt like he could eat, and might not stop.
Ever.
Normally breakfast would be served in the small dining room off the second hallway, but today it was in the slightly larger one on the other side. It took a while to find, and some hints from the guards in the walls, but he finally made it. Today was egg toast and bacon, with preserves. Eggs too. He ate a full plate of food and still wanted more, but made himself stop, knowing that it was just a feeling now, not something truly required. Eating more than needed was a waste. Right now Tor didn't have the energy to bother with it.
Rolph was across the table, looking at Tor covertly, Trice sat next to him, looking guilty and barely eating. Karina sat down the table a ways with Ali, heads buried and papers in front of them, the whole thing looking rather official really, both wore black military uniforms even. Ali looked out of place but cute as hell in hers. On Karina it just looked right. Real. Tor snagged a fifth half of buttered toast and chewed on it, still feeling half starved for some reason. Some combination of two combat rage episodes in a single day followed by the rapid healing field he used? Probably. Nothing he could do about it but be more careful in the future.
When Connie came in she looked exhausted. Puffy eyed and a little bedraggled, which was nearly unheard of for her. She slumped into her chair at the head of the table and yawned, which got Tor going. After a bit they both laughed about it. She waved her right and at him to stop and spoke seriously enough that everyone paid attention, even the girls at the far end of the table.
“Richard and I managed to convince the Wards that Tor wasn't likely to declare war on them or hunt them both down. It took most of the night.” The look she gave Tor was dry and not nearly as humorous as the bit with the yawning.
“Tor, I admit that it was… unfortunate that the events of last night took place, especially right now, and I can't say that I really understand what they were thinking, myself. Perhaps Patricia could enlighten us as to why she led Maria Ward to your bed for a mid-night ambush, even knowing the history there as she does? What were you thinking dear?” The Queen didn't sound angry, just tired. Well, Tor thought, understandable. All his fault too, for making a scene. If not for that she'd have come to the table well rested and happy. It made him feel pretty bad for a moment.
Then Trice started talking.
“Well…”
Then she stopped.
Tor wasn't looking at her and didn't really care what she said overly. It would all work out to “Maria wanted to and Tor doesn't really count as a person, so why not?” Something like that. He shrugged and said it out loud just to fill the silence, which got everyone to stare at him. Really you'd think he'd know better by now, but no, stupid troll Tor has to keep opening his mouth. At least Trice didn't say anything after that. Good enough, whatever game they had going on they can try playing with someone else now.
Karina spoke softly enough that it surprised him a bit.
“That's… probably not it, is it? I mean, Tor does count. To me at least. I… really Tor they were probably just trying to be friendly, I mean, most guys like being woken up like that for extra sex.” She looked away and then stopped speaking too.
Trice tried again.
“It's… kind of complicated. Yes, Maria wanted to, because she wants to be your friend Tor. In her world what she was doing for you is, well a good thing. Most people like it well enough at least. I get that it wasn't the best plan ever, now, but it seemed all right at the time. It wasn't a trick or meant to hurt you in any way. I…” She blushed, which Tor knew was fake, because the girl wasn't capable of it without pushing blood into her face on purpose.
Blushing took a sense of shame, and she didn't have that.
“I guess I just wanted the two people I love most to get along too.”
It was probably true, Tor realized, but really, Maria? They'd never been friends and while Tor had tried to be gentle and kind towards her, that didn't mean he wanted her in his bed. Or even wanted her around at all. Why on earth would she assume he would? Because h
e saved her life a time or two? He'd saved a lot of people’s lives and really, if most of them showed up in his bed doing what she'd been, Tor would have to kill himself, or at least run away screaming.
Though come to think of it, that was his first reaction to her too.
“Run away!” He said out loud suddenly, his old battle cry, a joke of sorts, to remind him not to get into a fight if he could help it. The weapons instructor had been right to teach him that.
Rolph chuckled.
“Well, no one would blame you. Still, why should you be the one running? Maria took a chance and it backfired on her. That isn't your problem, if she wants you, she needs to do it properly and not just climb in your bed and claim ownership. Maybe send flowers?” The face was dead panned, but the joke as ill timed as always.
Ali smiled, “I like flowers. They're pretty.”
That…
Tor realized that he'd never gotten his wife flowers. Not at all. Magic junk, but nothing as simple as a bunch of wild flowers from a field. Was he the worst husband ever or what? No wonder she slept with everyone else in the world, he sucked so hard at his duties that she probably had to, just to get a little romance. Argh.
Tor shook his head, there was just too much, wasn't there? Rolph and Connie and Trice and Karina and Ali and…
Gods and bunnies.
Well, nothing for it now, all he could do was fix what he could.
What could he really do though? He couldn't just accept Maria as a friend. He'd tried and failed already, more than once. She'd hurt him for no reason and the fallout from that was still in play, hitting him all the time. Why wouldn't she just go away and leave him alone? He'd never done anything to her, had he?
Trice looked down at the table and started crying, as if that was going to help anything. Worse it was that thing she did where she half sobbed and tried to talk at the same time.
“But… you…oo… forgave… ave her. If you didn't then…n how could you forgive me…ee?”
Ahg. But that was at least a little different. Trice didn't try to have him hurt or killed, even if that last had been by mistake that Maria hadn't really meant. Besides, the King had ordered Trice to say mean things about him, Maria had just done it because she thought it was true. To her he'd been every bad thing in the world and it seemed true enough that it still influenced him, the way he thought and how he looked at other people.