by P. S. Power
“I apologize for not doing a better job on the case sir. I allowed myself to become sidetracked, it felt needed at the time, but that's no excuse. Please know that the full might of the kingdom is on it however, and that the failing was with me alone. I promise to do better in the future.”
The man bowed back.
“Thank you Lord Baker. It's good to know that it isn't forgotten. It's frustrating not knowing what's going on, but I can't exactly tell Smythe of Westend to just send over a report bi-weekly, can I? I don't suppose you know if anything has broken on the case or not, do you?” The man didn't seem hopeful.
Ah, well, no one had told him anything had they. Tor straightened.
“Excuse me for a few moments, please? Collette, is there a private room near?” She showed him to a door, hidden well in the fake wood work at the back of the room. It took a bit to get in touch with Smythe, and a while longer to run everything by him. Finally, some forty minutes later, really feeling drained, Tor walked out and bowed to the Baron again.
“Alright, both Smythe and the King have cleared me telling you what we know so far, which isn't much. I have to extract oaths from you first and kick Meredith from the room. Sorry. If I had more energy right now I'd clear you with a truth amulet. I just don't. It's incredibly rude of me, but-”
She waved a hand at him and smiled again, “don't let it worry you. You can tell me some other time.” She glanced around, “Um, Collette, where should I retire too?”
They, it turned out, had a second sitting room. Tor was impressed. The idea of rooms just to sit in wasn't totally new to him, but having not just one, but two of them was a real step up for someone like him.
After that he ran down the whole thing, ending with the attack on Lairdgren, which they knew about and that the Austran agent had been using Ginger's name and station to work her way into the school. Which of course, they didn’t know at all, being privileged information.
“Why, we don't know. That's why I brought this man. Here. Denno?” He gestured and the small dark man who looked a lot like a younger, smaller version of Count Ward, but even more perfect, moved forward.
“Yes, little brother?” He said softly, voice calm.
Tor didn't have a plan at all, so just shrugged.
“Well, you’re the Ancient of Austra, so, what can you tell us about all this? Who likely ordered it, what else should be expected and anything else you can come up with that might be right. We can't force you to help us, but, well, if your plan doesn't involve an army taking out Austra next week, I suggest you at least trying to help us out here. I get that you have some secret… whatever it is, going on. If that involves killing girls, well, it better not. But be honest about it, please. You're best chance is to engage me in a fight right now, if you have to. I'd love to avoid that, but I can't stop you. Not at the moment.” His voice was flat, tired and so worn even Denno winced, implied threat or not.
“Ah, I… OK. I have no plans that involve anyone from this kingdom at all, except you, Purple and Green. Possibly Laurali Gray as well. Laurali Baker? Also Mr. Dan Green. At any rate, my best guess given the nature of the attack and the kind of agent used is that this was the work of the protection agency. Kind of like… I'd guess the closest thing you have here is the Royal Guard. They guard the Premier and his family, which means Daria, who, most likely, is behind this in some fashion. It reeks of her cruelty and ham fisted ideas about how to run an operation.” Denno looked at each person in the room in turn.
“As too what will come next? That's too hard to accurately forecast. Given her unstable personality type, I'd expect more attacks. Probably towards young women, though not, of course, coming from her personally. The Serge line, no matter how unstable, is marvelous at keeping themselves safe. Truly gifted at it, in point of fact. That means agents brought in for the task. That or ones recruited on site. She was here in the city, I believe? For several years? It wouldn't be impossible at all for her to have co-opted a few people. Austra has a few methods that could allow for that to happen very quickly, if the correct type of person can be found. In this case, my guess would be a killer that has been co-opted, turned if you will, rather than a spy turned killer.”
He was smooth and just a little warm, considering the subject matter, which could have been due to thousands of years of practice, but felt more like an attempts to placate them all than anything else. Tor watched what he was doing carefully, no obviously coded messages to Burks, which didn't preclude very hidden ones at all. But, if Tor had to make a raw guess himself, it would be that the man in front of him was trying to buy his good will. That didn't really make a lot of sense though. Not based on what Tor knew.
Why would he need Tor for anything? He could barely walk at the moment and Denno didn't even believe in magic at all, so his building skills were kind of moot there too. Other than those things though, what use was he to the man?
He was helpful anyway. His words, even if Brown just didn't care about them, added reams of possible data to the mix, and it was probably a lot more correct than the nothing they had before. Even if he was hiding facts or even lying, it probably had mainly truth to it. Good lies did. Tor started probing about the time that Denno wound down a little.
“How likely is it really, that Daria Serge is behind this and not her father?” He kept his voice quiet, soft and tried to sound manly instead of like he was about to collapse. It wasn't nearly as easy as it should have been.
Instead of being intimidating or even coming across as strong, Tor was afraid that Denno was starting to respond to him because he just looked and sounded so pitiful. The man winced and started speaking more softly as they went on. The kind of voice you used with an invalid or dying person. Tor raised his eyebrows.
“Stop that. Acting like I'm about to fall down. Just answer the questions. I know that you've probably seen all this a hundred times before, but finding the… killer and making them pay, stopping these attacks, it actually means something to these people. It means something to me. Don't let age make you forget your humanity Brown.” Tor grimaced, hard and floated closer to the man. “I don't know what all you have going on inside that Ancient skull of yours, probably more than I'll ever understand, but I know this, no matter what this really is, Austra is your responsibility. If you don't stop this, help us stop this, some of these people are probably going to fly over there and end your entire continent.”
Lairdgren looked down, but didn't speak for a time. A long time. Finally he looked at his brother and nodded.
“And some of them can actually do it Den. I wasn't joking about that when we spoke on it. I don't want there to be threats between us and these people don't mean harm to innocents, but in their grief…”
The Ancient of Austra looked at his brothers and finally the room, “I… may be able to get in touch with some people back home and see if I can trace the roots of this for you. It will take some time and I may not come up with anything useful. I don't exactly have the needed gear to hand and while powerful, your technology isn't compatible with Austra's, so-”
Tor stared at Burks and shrugged. The elder man winced and looked away. He had the needed gear, but wasn't supposed to? Tor grinned.
“You can use mine. I keep it in Burks’ basement.” It was a lie, but Green shrugged and gave Tor a solid look, then Denno.
“We can leave in the morning.” If it was said in anger at Tor it was hidden well. It sounded bland. Almost amused.
Denno wasn't fooled at all though.
“You're secret hoard? Against the treaty, isn't it Green? But then, I guess, as you've mentioned more than once, Purple here isn't a signatory, is he. Good plan… I suppose it beats my people being destroyed over one stupid bitch that thinks the world should revolve around her crazy whims.”
Tor yawned.
“Sorry, I'm about to go to sleep. I really can't help it. Um, Burks, if you and Brown would please look into those things for us, I'd take it as a personal favor and um, everyone else, if
you'd remember to keep this quiet for now? Please? We don’t want to alert the wrong people, especially since we have no clue who they are.”
Everyone murmured agreement and no one seemed too upset. Baron Coltress didn't seem exactly happy, but he gave Tor a bow before he could float from the room.
“Thank you. You're efforts mean a lot to us all.” He murmured gently.
Tor Bowed back, but found himself waking with a start, head coming up in that over tired fashion that people got when they forgot to rest properly for days on end. He just chuckled about it though, and made his way up to what he assumed would still be his bedroom. It probably was, he figured, since his wife and girlfriend Trice were on the bed when he opened the door, naked, doing something complicated and fun looking. He froze for a second, then closed the door. It was a little awkward, wasn't it? He'd known that they were “friends” that way. Trice had flat out told him several times after all. A stab of jealousy ripped through him, but after a few seconds he just had to shrug.
After all, his marriage to Ali was real enough, but hadn't been for love at all. He did love Trice, but hadn't exactly been around for her lately, and she was fresh from her own traumas and darkness. If she was doing this, wasn't it a good sign? He floated into the room, nearly falling asleep. Awkward situation or not.
“Hey loves.” He said gently, earning a squeak from both women on the bed. They started to scramble to correct their “indiscretion” but he waved them back. “Nah, finish up. If I was in better health I'd join you, but I'm going to pass out in about a minute anyway. Just, you know, I love you both. Talk in the morning?”
It wasn't an inspired speech, but he managed to get to the side of the room, on the far side of the bed, near the wall, before his eye closed. They said things to him, but he wasn't really sure what it was. It had the tone of “I love you” rather than, “get the hell out” which was good, because he fell asleep then.
When he woke up they were both still there, light coming from the window lighting them up, casting golden sheets over them both, as they lay entwined. It was lovely, he decided. Both were naked and wearing several amulets, so heat wasn't an issue for them, after the covers were kicked off. Tor would have been, should have been, aroused, he knew. His pattern just couldn't handle that right now. Smiling he got into the bathroom and managed a full shower and shave, all on his own feet, checked the bed sores on the back of his legs which had healed a lot, once the constant pressure was gone and walked out slowly.
Trice opened her eyes and stared at him as he approached.
“You look better. Um, about all this…” Her tone was a whisper and her gaze moved over Ali gently. Slowly she ran her left hand over the still sleeping girls shoulder.
“I know that it must have been a shock to you.” Her tone was wry and playful.
“A bit, but nothing too bad. I mean, you are our girlfriend, right? I'll adjust. It's just, well, I need to get better and that's going to take time, so I do feel a little down about that part of things. You're both so cute. Anyway, I need to find breakfast soon, if I can. Want to try and get sleepy head there up and around while I get that going? Oh, by the way, we have guests, so you know, whatever that means… Guest rules?”
Surprisingly, even though it was later than he'd thought, nearly ten in the morning, no one else had come down to the table yet. They only had one dining room now, the table made smaller by Collette, not needing more at the moment. Tor could have resized it, but it looked big enough for the number of people they had. Well, the ones that he knew about. It was possible that they had other guests.
The kitchen was in about the same place, So Tor figured that he'd start trying to work something up, only to find the room filled with the scents and activity of cooking already. He sort of recognized several of the people even, from Kings week, when they'd hired a bunch to cook for the hundreds of nobles that had shown up. Apparently they'd never left. Well, that was good. It meant that they’d all had jobs the whole time. Had to like that.
Collette sat on the far side of the room, going over a list, a cup of tea in front of her.
“Looks like we should be starting soon then everyone. Tor, do you have any particular request for the meal?”
“Um, food would be good. Other than that, you know, we have guests, so whatever they like is fine. Maybe something done in Warden fashion, so that they'll feel comfortable? If that isn't too much work? I know it's a bit short notice.” He sounded tentative and weak again, so covered with a grin. If they wanted a commanding high lord, they needed to go somewhere else, didn't they?
“I think we can do that sir, something like the style of breakfasts from before? Very good.” The woman that spoke wasn't that old, mid-thirties at most, about six foot tall, which could have marked her as either merchant or noble, though the way she swung into action argued for the later pretty strongly. Even merchants weren't normally that bossy. Tor just hoped she was actually in charge of the kitchen…
Collette noticed him looking at her and nodded towards the bustling woman.
“Oh, Tor… I know you two didn't get a chance to meet last time, though she was actually here a lot. This is my mother, Glaran. Um, I kind of hired her. She and father aren't together. It's complicated, they were married, but a different situation had to be arranged for father, in order to protect the barony, so they divorced. I hope that's all right, her being here?”
Tor blinked and nodded.
“I don't understand the situation at all, but family is always welcome. Are you Bonita's mother too?”
“Oh, yes dear. She mentions you often. Thank you both for seeing to my care like this. I should have mentioned it sooner, but I had the impression that we were rather hiding me away in the kitchen in shame.” Her eyes twinkled when she said the words though, as if she hadn't thought that at all.
Tor was just confused. Why would they hide her? Especially from him?
“No ma'am. Never. Um, speaking of which, would you be free later in the day? We're going to have to add to the house staff, for several dwellings during Postern, if you'd aid us in that, it would be wonderful.” He turned to Collette.
“We're paying for the Capitals amusements this year. Out of the golds the kingdom is holding for us. So… Rolph invited every member of every Count and Countesses extended family to stay with us. I figure that we should grab as much land along the river as possible and set up houses for them. I'd like the people from Warden to be put up, if possible, since there personal friends. Also, um, we should invite the Ross' and the Brettermeres. Plus anyone else you can think of. Kind of stack this place with our pal's. The Lairdgren group too, plus the… Um… well, everyone from school.”
Tor held his hands out and laughed a bit.
“Yeah, that will keep the curmudgeons away, turn this into the kid’s house.”
Collette walked over and hugged him, as if he might be deranged, but Glaran, who was also blond and still very cute waved them out of her kitchen. She had a wooden spoon in her hand when she did it, making it look like an implied threat, but her face showed a real enough looking smile.
“Breakfast will be out in a few minutes. Now, you two out, let us work. To answer your request Lord Baker, I'd be most please to aid in your plans. Just let me know where and when.”
Tor bowed to her. It wasn't a deep bow, which everyone accepted as being correct, but his words weren't, he knew.
“Just Tor. Which goes for everyone here. Um, I hope to get to know you all. If you need anything, please let me know? After breakfast I mean.” He chuckled a little, but the staff stopped and looked at him silently, until Glaran waved them back into action.
Well, Tor figured that he'd obviously just opened a can of worms there, hadn't he? Oh well.
The dining room had enough room, but got reconfigured into the needed shape, the long table remaining, so dark brown it looked black, with a light blue table cloth on it, but a new, narrow side table got set up to match it, for the food to be placed when it came out
. Then Collette winked at him and suggested they go get everyone else.
The meal was good. Nearly as good as what the palace served even. After the meal he gave almost everyone hugs and grabbed Sandra. Bonita had already gone off with Burks and Denno, to see about finding out that secret information of his, and Ursala looked at him meaningfully, a bit sad.
“Right, so, we need to get back to the school for a bit and get the kids there set up. Um, Ursala, a word?” He hated the way he sounded, like he was about to take her to task for something, which wasn't the case at all.
She kind of glared at him too, but she walked over, if a bit stiffly.
“Sending me away?” The words were an accusation, and not happy at all.
“Um, why would I do that? I kind of need you. Right now for work, true, but seriously, stop moping, will you? Anyway… I was wondering if I could get you to do some things for me? I know, who am I to send you on errands, right? But I can't get it all done and no one else would really work for some of it.”
Like checking on the girls at Wildlands Station. Tor had ignored that situation for nearly a year, but they were still his responsibility. Her eyebrows shot up, but she nodded.
“OK. Anything else?” She sounded bored, but not as angry at least.
“Yep. We need to expand the civilian transport fleet, and I'd like you to come with me to Two Bends, because I'd like to get some of the people from there involved.”
“Oh? Well, that sounds more interesting that sitting around feeling alone and bitter at least.” She sighed. “Why not?”
Trice flew them in, being a better hand on the controls of even the fast carriage than he was, and they managed to get on the ground and have the carriage put away before anyone came out at all. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground which took Tor by surprise. It snowed in Two Bends, sure, but normally not near Postern. It was just a thing, particular to the area. It should have been cold, but not snowy. After the second time he slipped he just rose into the air and floated over to the bakery. There was activity down the way and a whole host of new buildings, which made everything seem strange. The old shop he'd grown up with was different too. The front was closer to the street, having been built up, more, it was painted and had a sign with actual words on it. Two Bends Bakery.