by P. S. Power
When the Carriage got put away both he and Sandra shifted their outfits. Tor into a military style black outfit and Sandra into a very nice like blue dress. Probably more impressive for a dinner party, but this was his “uniform” he decided. As Magics Counselor. Sure, he could have gone with robes, but that would look a little funny. He did switch the fabric to silk and velvet, which made it look a little nicer.
Then they waited. About five minutes later Karina came out, wearing a nice green dress that Tor thought he recognized, from near the first time they met, only it couldn't be, since the girl was nearly a foot taller now. Her hair looked long and red though, which he knew to be fake. She gave him a hug, taking pains to be gentle with him.
“Are you all right?”
“Tired, no matter how much I sleep, but yeah, not too bad. You?” It wasn't a throw away question, they'd all had to flee in a hurry, which could be frightening.
“Of course. We all are.” She looked at the darker girl in front of her and just nodded.
“Sandra. Didn't know you were coming. Good to see you.” The words were a little flat and somber. Like she really didn't like the girl or something.
“Princess.” She bowed formally. Her face was in a fixed and slightly nervous position.
Tor didn't get it, he would have thought the two would be fast friends or at least amiable strangers. It really felt like they didn't like each other at all for some reason. Tor felt a slight headache starting to form, right between his eyes. Luckily they got to go in then. Honestly, Tor decided, they'd just better not have a problem. He couldn't handle another one right then, whatever it was, they just needed to let it go and work together. Or he'd…
Whine at them. Possibly cry.
His repertoire wasn't that wide in range right now. Tor smiled at both girls, getting shocked looks back for some reason.
“Right, well, I don't know what the old baggage is here, but stop it. Now.”
Karina shrugged and glared at the other girl.
“We used to… um, have fun, together. Then she decided to run off to school and not visit me anymore.”
Tor raised an eyebrow.
“By fun you mean sex?” He said, more coolly than he meant to. These nobles and there rampant escapades…
“Oh, no. Um, we were friends as kids. But she went away…”
Tor sighed.
“Karina, I get the whole thing, but seriously, get over it, will you? Of course she went off to school. Plus she's what, four years older than you? You can't have expected her to stay here forever with you…”
Only, from the look on her face, she had. Of course she'd been ten then, so who could blame her? Tor could, if she didn't get her act together now. He mentioned that.
“Now, I won't order you two to be friends again. No, what I'll do is promise to invite you both to every event of note I ever hold for the rest of your lives and cry at you if you don't show up. Yep, that's what I'll do.”
Karina took his hand and then, with only a little grudging to it, did the same with Sandra. After a second they both smiled and it seemed real enough, kind of relieved actually.
Yay.
Even if they were faking, as long as it got him through the night. Yay.
They went directly to a huge dining room. Not the one for the super massive parties, but one big enough for at least a hundred people. Tor had actually been in it before, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why. Until he saw the cracks in the floor. That reminded him. It was where they'd met when Ursala Thorgood had gotten pregnant by Count Ward, before she'd been poisoned and lost the child.
There were a lot more people in the room this time. Nearly a hundred at a guess. All of them looked important too. Counts and Countesses, their spouses and in a few cases kids. All the ministers of… anything that Tor had met were there, all two of them, and a few generals were added in to the mix as well. People were dressed nicely too, but not in ball room finery. Thank goodness for that. He'd have stuck out like the only red apple in a basket of green if that were the case. As it was he just about blended.
“This way. Mom and Dad want to see you first. Then you can mingle.” The Princess led them both, not letting go of either hand, which was a little awkward in the room, but she walked at his pace. He should have floated around, but that would raise even more questions than his looking a little ill. Not that the questions should really be a big deal. Tor nearly laughed at himself for being worried about it at all and kept walking.
The stone floor needed to be fixed, which he had gear for, possibly somewhere around the palace itself. If not then at his capital house. It would be a good place to stay the night if nothing else. Plus he could find Collette, he hadn't seen her in months. Ursala too for that matter. That one would be changing soon though, he realized, because she stood in front of the King and Queen talking as they walked up, with a group of sitting Counts and Countesses.
Tor wanted to hang back, but the King saw him and smiled, waving them all forward.
“Here we go. Councilor Baker was on the scene, as has been mentioned… perhaps any questions should be directed towards him?”
It made sense. Tor had been there after all and really did know the situation better than almost anyone else in the room. Of course, most of the questions had nothing to do with the Lairdgren incident directly.
Count Ford, a normally reasonable fellow and one even more vast than most, nodded to Tor and started in without pause.
“I have a niece there, so far her parents haven't been allowed contact with her. It would be good if she could get in touch, or even if I could just reassure them all is well. My brother’s daughter.”
Tor focused and tried to call up the names.
“Habitha Ford?” He said quietly, the trance having taken him as he worked to remember the face that went with the name.
“Yes…” The Count sounded tentative then.
“She's well. Not at the event at all, having been in classes at the time. Home making I believe… I interviewed her last night. Fifth year student.”
“Oh, excellent. Is it possible to make contact yet?” Ford loomed. He couldn't help it, most of the crowd around him did, being so big.
“I'm afraid not, though by tomorrow or the next day it should be. It's… well, the military is in charge of that and they want to make sure that nothing has slipped through the cracks. It's a good plan, if kind of inconvenient, so if we can back it for now, I think we should.”
That set up a list of names from several others. Thankfully none of their relatives or friends children were among the dead. Those names were known at least, so no one would have to be told bad news by him personally. Ursala stared at him for a bit, but smiled, if a bit sadly. She didn't say anything though. Not until all the questions were answered about what had been done. The town and school both being secured and the military being given updated shields.
Then the large blond spoke, her voice more than a little sad.
“Did you do all that yourself then? All those shields?” She sounded like she knew the answer already.
She was wrong of course, so Tor got to smile about it. Proudly.
“Not a single one. The Lairdgren group did it all.” Then he got to tell them all about it, gushing more than a little. He got Sandra to present the King with the fifty that she'd made earlier.
“For the military?” He said smoothly, his voice pleased.
“No Sire, these are for you and Queen Constance to give as you see fit. A gift from me personally.” She bowed and tried to take a step back, but Karina held on to her hand.
The Queen stepped forward with tears in her eyes.
“That's wonderful dear. How long did it take you to do all this? It must have been weeks.”
Tor winked at her.
“Less than two hours. Not to take away from Sandra at all, but she isn't even the fastest in the group. Not yet. We have several people that can make batches of a hundred in less time than that even.” Wanting to bac
k away from being the center of attention or not, the dark girl nodded and bowed again before speaking.
“It's true. We have two that are doing particularly well. Mark Wilson, a third year and Lyn Cooper, a first year. It wouldn't surprise me if Sam, another of our new students, isn't doing batches like that by tomorrow, next week at the latest. They're all builders too, not just copiers. They've done their first novel builds already.” She sounded just as proud as he did.
Then, she probably had more reason to be, they were all her personal friends. It was exciting though, and their energy conveyed that to the group, who, on the whole, seemed pretty pleased.
Especially the Queen.
“Oh, that's so wonderful! Then we can have you and Alissa back here for Posttern? I know that the city would love for you to throw another party, like the one you had for the last King’s week.” Then she went quiet and actually blushed.
Richard grimaced but didn't add anything. Probably because, even though they'd personally invited him to come, two years straight, somehow his invitation had gotten lost both times. Tor didn't get why, but it wasn't a coincidence at all. What was strange was that he got in to everything else. He half thought that Richard was doing it on purpose for some reason. Except for the fact that just didn't make sense.
He was the King and if he didn't want Tor at his party, he could just say so. For that matter, he could just have the word passed that he didn't want Tor to show up, send an invitation and smile glibly as Tor scrambled to make up a good reason why he couldn't show. That was kind of what “King” meant after all. Plus, the first time it had happened Tor hadn't even slept with his wife. Not that Richard cared. He'd probably sleep with Tor’s mom without even thinking about it.
That thought was creepy though. Oh, Tor knew that Laurali had sex, but only with his father right? Except, that wasn't likely at all. Not growing up royal like she had.
Eek. She'd even gone to school with Rich. And Connie. Who she'd said that she'd always liked. He'd assumed it was just a friendship thing but…
Tor decided to never think about that again. It wasn't his business after all. Plus, he really didn't want to know.
Ever.
Just as everyone else was starting to get the feeling of unease, Johanson the older, not so overly tall finance minister walked up and laid a gentle hand on Tor’s back.
“Ah, just the man and the perfect topic. I was thinking that we could have you pay for that celebration, as well as a few others… you don't mind do you? After all, your funds in the treasury just keep growing and the interest is frankly killing us.” The man smiled when he said it though.
So it was supposed to be a joke.
Tor did some quick math though. He wasn't really working, but he had funds coming in all the time, he actually owned a lot of things that had businesses attached, so rents and stuff. He didn't know where that gold was, but it would be enough for him to live on, comfortably even, right? He just needed to make certain Ali never had to scrape or lacked for anything… Which he could still do on about ten gold per year.
Maybe less once the Wildlands got turned into food producing lands.
“Um… yes. Let’s do that. I'd like to keep part of it for a my constant draw, but the rest should be fine to use. Let's leave that to the King’s discretion? I mean, use it, but the amount that, I need my financial man over here for this… Where is Prince Alphonse anyway?”
Count Ford twisted to look and started waving. It wasn't the most dignified thing ever, but it worked, which it just wouldn't have in this room if Tor had tried it. He'd need to yell which wouldn't play at all. After a few moments Rolph walked up, a lovely very dark skinned short woman on his arm, bright red hair, like the feathers of a bird and wonderfully blue eyes, that reminded him more of ice now than before. She'd changed them, only with her it was a real change, though how she did it was beyond him. He'd learned a tiny bit about genetics and biological science, from Abbie herself, but it didn't include doing that.
“Great Uncle Court Jester! So good to see you. I'd heard of the damage done. I wish to see you later, for treatment.” She hugged him, a light thing, but one complete with a happy smile.
The Queen quickly introduced Sandra and Johanson, making it clear that Abbie was supposed to already know everyone else. Johanson kissed her hand, which got a chuckle from everyone, because no one did that hardly at all, but Abbie just batted her eyes at him, which was cute. Tor thought so at least.
Ursala glared.
But only until she caught Tor watching her do it. Then she sighed and looked away. They really needed to find her a replacement fiancee soon. Then, she'd lost her chance to grab him up, which had worked out, but still, he'd made the offer when she needed it. That aside, he did have a bunch of brothers just as eligible as he'd been. He'd have to mention the situation to some of them.
Johanson stood gracefully and winked at the Prince.
“Counselor Baker was just saying that we could raid his treasury funds for Postern and some other festivities, but that we needed to arrange it through you and King Richard? Would that be right?”
Rolph blinked for a second then nodded, “yes. We could look into that after the meal perhaps? I'll need a word with Tor first, but I think that will work just fine.”
Taking Tor by the arm he grinned at the crowd, “back in a few minutes. I just have to find out what this is all about, you understand?”
For some reason the whole crowd chuckled, so Tor sighed mightily and tried to do it too.
That caused more laughter, which was what he was going for. With a thought, without moving his arms, he raised four inches from the floor so that he could float away with his tall friend. Rolf was tall enough that walking with Tor meant either crawling or a run for the smaller man. He couldn't do that right now. Rolph got it, but several of the people stared as if they'd never seen a Not-flyer before. That or it was considered tacky to use it at a function like this. Oh well, he had a reason for it, and they'd live.
Rolph, it turned out, didn't need to know much about the funds, “I was looking at your accounts the other day. I know you want to keep the funds moving, but almost half the treasury is just your coin, sitting there, not working at all. So, yeah, festivals, projects, all that. I get the idea. Should we just give Johanson the keys to it? I can protect enough to keep your draw safe for years.”
Tor didn't get that money at all. It was what he used to pay for Kolb's special army of insane combat giants. Tor just smiled and nodded for a bit.
“Yeah, lets. Also, hold the same portion aside for the Lairdgren group? I told Sandra she was getting paid and the kids should to, for Kingdom work at least, students or not. I can't think of a better person to dump all that gold on than the finance minister though. Practically his job description even.”
That out of the way, the Prince wanted his own update about the school. Ah. Right. He had people there too, even ones that Tor didn't know about. He was actually popular, even as “Rolph Merchant” and everyone liked him.
Swallowing Tor started with the list of the dead.
“Oh… Yeah, I knew all of them. Tracy's gone? She was only sixteen. I… sorry. I'll be all right. Sad about Campbell too. He wasn't my favorite person all the time, but I never wished him ill.”
Tor just stood, silent for about half a minute, remembering how they all died.
How he should have saved them. He'd done it before, frozen death dust in the air. Of course if he'd tried that this time, it wouldn't have worked and he'd have died too. It wasn't like there was nothing to be done though. If their shields would have worked, or if he had a wider field of effect on his own shield…
Perhaps a very large field? One the size of the palace or larger? Then the units could be put in strategic locations, at the different schools, the palace and so on. He…
Couldn't do it.
Tears came to his eyes, but he didn't say anything and Rolph just smoothly moved between him and the room, so that no one would see his
weakness. He fought the emotion for a minute and gained control of himself with a lot more work that he thought it would take. Finally it occurred to him that he wasn't the only builder in the world.
Not even the best. Not by half.
“Rolf, I mean Prince Alphonse. Would it be possible to meet with some builders, I mean… I don't know many, Instructor Fines and the ones at the school, but some of the big names, Maris and Nox? Larter and Gamble? We need things built. The Lairdgren group, they're good, and going to be better, but right now we need a way to stop nanos. So far it's been about the most effective thing Austra has used. I may not even need to meet with them, just a note or something, but they have no reason to even look at anything coming from me…” He sighed.
The Prince shook his head, making his still short red-hair move just a tiny bit.
“Tor, you're too nice, you know that? You're the Magics Counselor for the whole kingdom. They're the wizards. They don't work for you, so it's not like the army, but if you send a note, they'll read it. Wouldn't you? Think about it and forget that you're the one in charge for a second. A messenger comes, hands you a letter with the kingdoms official seal on it…”
It was a point.
“Ah, right, I just, well, that obviously isn't real, is it? Your parents put it together when they figured I was going to die, a kind of promotion that didn't mean anything, which was really nice of them, but, you know, I don't expect it to last. It isn't a traditional position or anything.”
His friend stared at him a little and finally hugged him warmly, arms barely touching him. People looked but the words where still just whispered into his ear gently, so just for him.
“Tor, it’s as real as you make it. Just like anything else. Do the job well enough and no one will doubt your worth. This way they just don't have to hold a party or parade every time you do something good for the kingdom.” He moved back, a strange look on his face, one that spoke of more pain than should be there. “Of course it also means you really are responsible for the kingdom now. Kind of takes that whole argument away, doesn't it?”