The Builder tya-1

by P. S. Power

  It worked well enough as a proof of concept for half of it.

  Now all he had to do was build a salt water filter. He didn't know how he'd do that. Oh, the filter made sense to him, a simple field that put salt on one side, pure water on the other. But how was he supposed to find salt water to practice on? He asked Rolph, who blinked several times.

  “Say, Tor… Have you ever actually seen an ocean?”

  He hadn't, of course, this being as far from Two Bends as he'd ever been. That got Rolph to set up an outing to the coast for the next day with Trice and Sara. They'd fly, so the three hundred mile trip wouldn't be a problem. Instead of a day trip, they could take it in two legs, giving them an over night stay. Rolph really seemed excited about it, since it meant that he could spend time alone with Sara. He winked at Tor when he talked about it.

  The next morning, early-ish, but not too early, they set out, taking the mandatory carriage ride out of the city itself, so that they could take off and actually make decent time. Tor was really starting to dislike carriage rides. They were bumpy and slow and you couldn't feel the wind on your face.

  They had to get the girls on the way, which took them all over town, since Trice lived on the opposite side of the city from Sara. It took a while, due to all the people in the streets early in the morning. It was still cool, for this place in summer at least. That, of course, made it the time to get things done. Everyone swore that the very mild and wet winters made the summers worthwhile and that they didn't even have snow to contend with most years, but Tor wasn't convinced overly. It was a pretty place, if crowded, but no snow? That didn't seem right. Like they were cheating somehow.

  The dwelling that they picked up Trice at was large, but actually held some passing resemblance to what Tor thought of as a real house. It wasn't a miniature palace and didn't pretend to be. Debri house kind of did, but lacking the size looked a little funny. For that matter the palace actually looked a little funny to his uneducated eye. This place looked more like what he always dreamed of having when he was younger. A place to raise a family and keep them comfortable and safe. It was nice. Oh, it still probably cost more to build than he'd ever make, but compared to the official residence of the King, it seemed like a good place to be.

  Trice saw him looking at the house and flushed brightly.

  “It's… you know, our second house. No one else is really here, except the servants, most of the time, so…” She seemed nervous about something.

  The other two smiled and looked away, so no help there. Tor shrugged and hoped that he hadn't offended her. Sure, her house may not be as nice as the palace, but what was? Some other palace in a different part of the world maybe? It really didn't seem like she had to worry about that. Not with her friends at least. Tentatively he clapped her on the shoulder. She'd done that a couple of times with him, so it probably wouldn't seem improperly friendly, he hoped. She leaned into him and put her arm around his shoulders in a half hug like the Queen kept doing.

  Sara stared at her friend after about half a minute, eyebrows raised, which just got a lifted chin and a look away, off into the distance, from Trice. Whatever it meant, she apparently had decided that it was alright if Tor treated her like he would his own sisters. All to the good, they were friends, right?

  He wondered if she'd a betrothed already arranged or not herself too. Was it all royals that had that or just the firstborn, or maybe just Rolph? No, wait, Karina did too… He'd have to ask later. Their world was such a mystery to him. On the good side, it went the other way too, he thought. Oh sure, they had money, connections and knew who was who and all that, but he could make bread and winter cakes with the best of them, split firewood with an ax and darn his own socks. Totally equal in the grand scheme of things. Really.

  Tor sighed a little and had to resist shaking his head, because he couldn't match fine people like this in any way. For a few seconds he kind of wondered why they bothered keeping him around. Entertainment value, probably.

  Dance Tor monkey, dance?

  Well, they were more polite to him about it than that at least, if it was the real case. His dancing could probably be a source of amusement though, if he tried hard.

  Rolph helped him get Trice's heavy trunk on the top of the large brown carriage. Metal bars on the top made it so they could tie it down for the trip using a thick rope the carriage carried for the purpose. They all had a trunk with them, even though it seemed like overkill for a one night trip, still, it wasn't a hardship for them with the floats, so why not?

  They rode in silence for the most part, everyone still a bit sleepy or maybe saving up their stories for the camp fire later that night. Tor knew he didn't have any stories to tell that the others wouldn't know, not that they'd want to hear, but it gave him a kind of comfortable feeling. After all, your friends were the ones that knew you and what you'd done. Mainly at least.

  Unless they were living a hidden life for years that they weren't allowed to tell you about… No huge thing. Who was he to demand answers from people like them? Yes, they were his friends, but also royalty and important people. Great that he knew them, but Tor didn't delude himself into thinking their tolerance of him meant he was their true equal.

  It took less than two hours to get to the beach, where they were going to stay at the “little cabin”. For once that wasn't too much of a misstatement, at least not for Rolph and his family. It was a house, not a cabin, one with running water and flush toilets. No servants though, and only two bedrooms, so they'd have to share. That wasn't a real problem, since they shared at school anyway. They had only one bed in each room, but the beds were huge, even compared to the giant wonder he had back at the guest house. Everything was done in light, fresh colors and soft fabrics that could breathe, giving the whole thing a more open feeling than he'd expected from the outside. It was very nice, but not as opulent as the palace or the King's guest house. In all Tor had to wonder if it would be alright for him to stay here instead. The idea was relaxing at least. For one thing, way fewer people.

  The first thing they did was go to the beach. Well, honestly the first thing everyone did was use the facilities and clean up, but then they went to the beach. Tor couldn't believe what was in front of him even as he stood looking. He'd seen it from the air, sure but that had been so far away, just an expanse of blue-green on the horizon, here he could walk right up and touch the water. It wasn't just salty but so salty that he could taste it in the air itself. Subtle but actually there.

  It was a wonder for sure. A thing he'd heard of, learned of in school even, but hadn't really believed in until he saw it himself, not really. The whole thing just sounded so unlikely, a giant lake that was bigger than the entire continent they lived on? Vast waves, the scent of wet sand and water in the air, along with an almost phantom taste of it on the back of his tongue. The waves were more green than the water behind it and light passed through showing little particles and debris inside, with white tops that turned to foam on the beach in places.

  Everyone else played in the water, but he hadn't come to play. Tor was there to work. It took hours of focus, made harder when Trice came and dumped a bucket of water on his head, which he ignored, even while everyone else laughed. It ended up helping him, even as it stung his eyes, since he used the liquid that dripped from him to get a feel for what dissolved salt in the water felt like.

  That was the key. With that sense of things in mind, he could capture what clean, pure water was like in contrast. Pure water he knew, he drank it several times a day after all. Tor had even captured the feeling before, to build the filter for Galasia. What he needed then, was the difference. He sat with his eyes closed for two more hours, but when he was done he had a small version of the water purification system coupled with an above ground river. In extreme miniature. The field wouldn't last forever, he knew, maybe a few weeks, but it was good enough for a test. The stream of water floated in the air about five feet from the ground and was about as big around as he could reach wit
h both hands. It twisted back and forth down about half a mile of beach, but looped back so that he was within about fifty feet of both ends.

  The device itself was just a simple copper plate, not even a template, just a pure one up. It was just to test the filter after all, with a moving water stream. Tor actually had to remind himself of that, feeling a little bad about not making it “right” so that it could be copied and last. Walking to the flow of water, which was a lot clearer in the air than in the vastness of the ocean, where it looked a greenish blue, he put his hand in, only to find it carried along with the stream perfectly and a little painfully at the shoulder as it whip his hand along faster than he'd figured it would. Then he tried again, bracing himself, so the force of the water, the only thing the stream would carry, in order to prevent any junk from being taken along, wouldn't knock him off his feet. His hand caused a spray of water, which he managed to put his head in front of long enough to catch some in his mouth.

  It was pure. Not just clean, but perfect. No hint of anything. Like really good well water. Rolph came over and tried a sip too, the whole thing easier for him, being a lot stronger than Tor, then drank it in deep gulps. Laughing he separated a bit of spray for the others too, who agreed it was clear of all salt. Not even the taste of salt from the air had gotten in.

  Then Rolph started spraying them all with water, since the flow was pretty fast it flew a long way off of the main stream, this went on for a while, with Sara getting the worst of it for some reason. Tor got that it was that playful kind of flirting that people did sometimes that could seem mean, but wasn't meant that way at all. Plus the outfit for bathing Sara had on hugged her chest nicely when wet. Trice's did too, but she was Rolph's cousin, and ogling her would be at least a little wrong.

  For Rolph.

  Tor was willing, but didn't try spraying her himself, not wanting to be beaten for acting improperly. Deciding to end the game of getting her with water the pretty blond ran over and tapped the copper plate with a cute smile and a flip of her now damp hair, turning the field off altogether in a single instant.

  Water splashed to the ground, the momentum moving the loose and dry sand easily, a wave about a foot high flowed back into the sea after a few seconds. Everyone giggled and Sara snagged the plate, so that it wouldn't get washed out in the flood.

  Everyone laughed except him.

  Tor went white.

  “Crap.” He said, feeling dead inside, his stomach around his knees. Then he sat down on the ground suddenly, just falling with a muffled thump. “Fucking hell. Oh my freaking… stupid…”

  Sara held the plate up, her eyes going wide.

  “I didn't break it, did I?”

  Her voice was worried, so he shook his head and waved his right hand, not able to articulate the real problem yet. Then, slowly, Tor pointed at the beach, a large chunk of it flattened and soaking. He couldn't speak even to mutter yet in his shock, but no one else seemed to see what had just happened.

  “Look!” Tor hissed still pointing at the beach, sputtering a bit.

  After a minute, breath still coming out hard, he managed to explain.

  “I meant, still mean, to take what amounts to a giant river and put it in the air for irrigation, hundreds of miles away from the ocean, over land, near farms, cities and villages… If I built the field this way and it ever got turned off…”

  That got their attention. No one spoke for a bit, then Rolph started chuckling nervously.

  “Well, Sara, it looks like you just saved a part of the kingdom all on your own! Well, no problem. Tor's on it, so it will be fixed now. Good thing we were goofing around then, instead of “working” isn't it? Probably some of the most constructive play this year.” Moving carefully the large young man came over and patted Tor on the back warmly.

  “Everything has flaws, it's just a matter of finding them and fixing them if you can. That's what building is all about, yes? I seem to remember some guy telling me that once…” The look that came along with the words was significant, as if trying to keep Tor from sinking into a depression.

  It was a good point. Fix the error and move on. That one was too close though. Tor knew that it could have very easily been missed and then… disaster.

  Caused by him. God and gods.

  No one said anything else about it, but it bothered Tor, niggling at the back of his mind as they moved inside for luncheon, a late one, since it neared five in the evening. They'd brought lunch, but, as he kind of suspected before, none of the others had thought to bring anything except the basket of food that had been handed to Rolph before they left by the same cook that had given Tor bread and cheese the day before.

  It was funny to watch them all realize that they didn't have anything to eat, even though the pantry was filled with stable foodstuffs that could have fed a small family for months. After about ten minutes of growing desperation Tor burst out laughing. No one else thought it was funny for some reason. He stuck his tongue out at them all and patted everyone on the back. Mainly so they wouldn't hit him as he covertly mocked their inability to perform basic house chores.

  It took about two hours to get everything ready, which turned late luncheon to early supper, because he had to collect wood and fire up the stove first, which none of them knew how to do either. Then, really, if he ever needed to know the most popular song at the moment, he was stuck himself, so it was probably even as far as what knowledge was better to have.

  Or would be, after they ate.

  Tor made biscuits instead of bread, because there wasn't any yeast starter and while corn bread was good, no one else had ever had it before. He decided to leave that for the morning. The kitchen probably got hot, but everyone had the equalizing amulets on, so no one complained, or even noticed. That was good, because the glass jars of meat and vegetables had to be fried. They did if Tor was going to cook them in a timely fashion at least. Now, he could make a stew of course, or roast things, but that wouldn't be nearly as tasty coming out of jars, or as fast. At least someone thought to keep some oil on hand. Also, as a special treat there were spices here, so he got to use plenty of those, which always made things taste better, unless you went absolutely insane with them. He only went half insane, using a lot of rosemary, but not so much that it would be the only flavor the food had.

  The food, in the end, was plain enough, homey kind of, for all they were away from their comfort zones, but definitely wasn't what they had in the Capital or at a palace dinner. Then again, it was pretty much at the level they normally had at school, and beat starving, so no one complained about it. In fact Trice kept smiling at him and telling him it was good, which was nice of her, considering she was a royal and used to eating really fine food most of the time. Tor figured she'd realized that the other options all involved flying hundreds of miles to find something better. That or she really liked rosemary too. Then again, who didn't?

  After dinner they headed back to the beach and set up a large fire, made of dusty gray wood they found on the beach, in a shallow pit dug into the dry sand. Now they suddenly all knew how to make a fire. Perfectly in fact. Only in the kitchen they couldn't help with it? Hmmm. Didn't they realize it was basically the same thing? Tor wondered if he should point that out.

  It was just dark when Sara started the blaze using a clever little device that created fire within seconds, just by pointing one end of it at the wood and activating it using the tiny sigil. It looked about the size of a finger, one of Tor's, smaller than everyone else's and looked to be made of silver instead of the cheaper metals he most commonly used.

  There was no sudden rush of fire, it just started and grew steadily as if they'd used matches. Tor had seen similar things before, but had never gotten to investigate one close up. He hesitated to ask Sara if he could, in case it was personal or she didn't want him touching her things. He could understand that, what if he broke it, or lost it in the sand? Most people couldn't break a field, but he was a builder and it was just possible that he could, if he
examined it in the wrong way. It would take hours of work though and wasn't what he had in mind, but how would she know that? Not that the girl had ever been anything but nice to him about things… Which was weird. Tor didn't want to push her, so he kept his mouth shut about it. He could probably figure out how to make one himself anyway. Just concentrate the ambient heat energy? It should work. Of course this was an existing field, so if he could get a hold of one he could make himself a copy in an hour or two. Even if he didn't have a template. Not everyone could really do that, he knew, but it was how he'd learned to make field devices in the first place. Copying the fields from tools around Two Bends.

  Rolph, not being subtle at all, sat down right next to the cute blond and put his right arm around her as she sat on a blanket about six feet away from the center of the ring of light. She responded by leaning against his chest as they sat, the gloom settling like a cloak being slowly drawn over the sky. The sunset was pretty, a wide open thing that Tor had never really seen before, no forest in the way to obscure the view. Or walls. It was probably the same outside the Capital, but he'd been inside each night for that so far. In half an hour, it was black enough that Tor couldn't see anything outside of the circle of light made by the burning wood.

  It was about then that they started trading stories.

  Most of them seemed real, instead of the tall tales he and his childhood friends used to tell each other when they went camping in the woods away from Two Bends. Tor kept quiet for a while listening as Sara shared a funny story about her mother, who they all knew now that he'd gotten to meet her too, and the head of Sorvee house, an ancient man named Willem.