by P. S. Power
Gwen nearly started to explain her schedule, but then shook her head.
“Let me know when we have that and I’ll come in for it. I’m going to be on the Peregrine working for the next few weeks, but I can come and go from there. I’ll make sure Adam has the contact information?”
The older man, dressed in blue, much like she was at the moment, glanced at her and twitched a little bit. It was a thing that she didn’t understand really. He didn’t love her, most days. This was about work however. He might not be perfect, but he wasn’t lazy, or unwilling to deal with someone he hated if that’s what it took to get the job done. They were trying to save lives. Adam wasn’t petty enough to have a problem with that. Even if it meant dealing with her.
Still, she started to leave then, annoyed, if not trying to show it. Before she got to the door, the old man spoke.
“Is that a good idea? The effort today was… Nearly legendary. Gwen is injured. Even my people need to rest a bit. I understand not wanting to leave anyone under the boot, but should we risk such resources? There are perhaps ten people in the world who could have done what took place today here. Burning them into insensibility won’t aid us. We might wish to husband our resources carefully.” The words sounded nearly bold, even if the man was turning gray as he spoke to the king that way.
The device made a noise. More to the point, Ferdinand did, away at the palace.
“I’ll take that under advisement, Adam. It’s good to know that we have your aid if needed, Gwen. Even in war we must sometimes stand back, as hard as doing so is. Please rest for now. There are things in the works that might need your attention, if you have time for them. I’ll bring those to you, if it becomes needed?”
It took her a moment to work out that the man was probably trying to put her off for a bit.
“Sure. Like I said, I have some projects of my own. Oh! Is this line secure?” That was a movie thing from her world, but surprisingly Adam nodded.
Ferdinand answered out loud however.
“It is. Do you have something?”
“Doctor Professor Grainger. Radiatives at Western University. I… Think we can have the things that you and I talked about, if we can bring him into the program. It’s a risk. He’s willing. Reluctant, thank goodness. No one should want to know that kind of thing. I hate to risk him, but it might be needed. He’s one of the best in the world in his field.” Maybe the best, from what she’d heard.
There was silence for a while.
“I have the name. I recall him, but we need to do an investigation first. I’ll have the information back to you inside a week? Is that suitable?”
She nodded, then let her voice raise a bit.
“That would be good. I should be in and out of Western over the next while. Even from the airship, I can do it. I’m trying to learn… Well, you probably understand. I’m not saying more at this point, secure line or not.” That had to sound insane to almost everyone.
Except the King.
“Understood and agreed to, Gwen. I’ll be in touch as soon as possible on that issue. Now, I need to speak with Count Morris. If he’s capable of such?” There was doubt in his voice.
Adam knew the answer to that one.
“We’ll have him brought in. He’s not had an easy time. Severe torture. Rape. All the men were, of course. That’s the Europan way. Please…” Adam wasn’t able to speak then.
Gwen winced. It was his programming again. A thing that the man had no hold over, at the point of his life he was at. Tortured, using vast amounts of pain, to be unable to do anything else. Even as he tried, forced to protect a noble, the guy was suffering for it.
The man couldn’t even bring himself to beg the King to be delicate with the Count. Not even to ask if it was allowable.
So Gwen moved forward and whispered just loud enough to be heard over the telestator.
“Gently, if possible? That… Well, what happened to him… it makes me glad that I killed those people, which isn’t a place my mind needs to be going right now.”
“That’s understood as well, Miss Farris. I’ll be as kind as can be managed. Thank you.”
Then, before she had to think too much about things, she got out of the room.
Chapter nine
Gwen was hit by several things as soon as she got back at Park Street. The first was that something was up. Something off and a bit bad, at least on the surface. It was hard to pin it down, but there was normally a lack of yelling in the huge mansion. Nice places in general didn’t have a lot of that kind of stuff going on. Most days, in fact. When that kind of raw din happened, it almost always had to do with an attack of some sort.
This time it sounded different than that. Like people were chanting outside. That got her to hobble over toward the front of the place, to find all the servants. The men armed with crins. The long copper tubes were pointed at the floor, as Gwen moved in. She didn’t even bother to fake smiling.
“What’s up?” Her voice was a bit flat, since her entire system was suddenly geared up to fight.
It wasn’t exactly hard to understand. Having been in actual battle earlier that day, everything in her mind told her to get ready for more of the same. Her right thigh even twinged in phantom pain, ready to be shot again. Prepared on some level, to die in an instant. It should have been panic inducing.
Instead a strange calmness came over her, as every fiber of her being focused on the new threat.
Winslow made a strange sound. It came through his nose, with a closed mouth. It should have been a snort, but there was a tense squeak involved in the thing at the same time.
“We seem to be under… Protest. The front gate was stormed however, which is a threat of extreme violence. No one has rushed the house proper as of yet.” Peeking out the front window, pushing a lace curtain to the side for a moment, the man went silent. Then he moved to the side directly, using the solid wall as protection. “No weapons in sight at this time. They have signs however. They seem to be about you, Miss Farris.”
That just made sense to her.
After all, the common people had no real reason to think of her as anything except the traitor that had endangered them all. Not much of one at any rate. Her name had been linked to the new shielding magic skill set, but that was probably just words to most of the people there. That it had taken that long for them to come for her was probably a measure of how fair everyone was being at toward her.
“I see. Well…” She shrugged. Normally she would have just stood back. Maybe even evacuating the house, in case they were stormed. At least now that she had that ability. This time she just couldn’t. She was too tired. Of everything. Of the constant fight that her life had been for decades.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Ethyl come into the room. She was dressed nicely and made up well, as was her custom. There was fear in her eyes, however. A thing that the woman shouldn’t have to have there. Her face was pale, under the paint she had on it. That part could have been imagination.
Gwen, feeling a combination of annoyed and tense just walked to the front door.
“Well, if they came for me, I guess I should go see what they want.” There was very little hesitation, as she pasted a smile on her face, ready to be torn to bits by the pitchfork wielding mob outside.
There were about a hundred people inside the wall that ran around Park Street. They were indeed holding signs. Some of them were men, but the vast majority had skirts and dresses on. That was interesting to see. Especially since the most common sign being held simply said; Free Gwen.
Seeing her there got the chanting to slow down, peter out and then stop. It was kind of strange, given that no one actually seemed ready to fight. As soon as everyone went silent, or nearly so, Gwen waved at them.
“Um… Hello? I see the signs there. Free Gwen. I didn’t know that I was a prisoner…”
That got a shouted response, which was actually very helpful.
“They sent you to war! Like a soldier!” That
came from one of the dress wearing women, who seemed upset by the idea. The lady, who was older and in drab colors and had mousy hair, looked fierce for a few moments. Like she was going to kick someone’s butt over the idea. There was a finger pointed at her right leg, which was bare, except for the white bandage wrapped around her thigh. For the Western Kingdom that was probably a bit risqué of her, going out like that.
“Oh… No. They didn’t. I don’t know where you got that from.” Or how anyone had even heard about it at all.
A man, who was a bit further back shouted, his voice fairly polite over all.
“The telesar said that you went off to recover prisoners of war. You were injured in a fight.” He pointed too, but stopped after a second, to look away from her. That got a low mutter from the crowd.
“Right. No one sent me, however. I was using teletransport from a distance, along with some Westmorlands, to get our people back…” That was getting into issues that were a bit secret from the public, which was probably the reason they were confused. It was incredibly rare to be able to do any kind of personal teletransport. No one really had both the personal and object versions of it. She was special that way. Which no one was going to understand, since it was considered nearly impossible.
So she just shrugged and jumped in with both feet.
“We had some prisoners in danger that we didn’t have pictures for. That was how we were finding them at a distance. So I had to go and get them. That was my decision. Mine alone. No one forced me to. Or even asked. Really, at the time I recall people standing there saying no rather firmly in my direction… I just chose not to listen to them.” She grinned, not meaning it. Her face felt strange doing it suddenly. Due to the fact that she felt like she was about to be attacked. Possibly with signs. To free her.
Which wasn’t a plan anyone there seemed to have.
“But… You’re a woman!” That seemed to be the real issue of the moment. Women didn’t go to war there. Not often enough for it to be considered normal.
The woman that screamed that, which was a bit shrill, was hidden toward the back of the crowd. Hidden, literally, behind several signs.
Gwen shrugged, then flipped her hands. Both of them, to show that she didn’t care, but that she was engaged in the conversation.
“So? No one should have to fight. Male or female. It isn’t worse if it’s a woman doing it than a man. Not here, where fights are being done with weapons and magic. I mean, I killed five or six people today, to get our men back. Soldiers, with weapons. It was a fair fight, more or less. Except that I wasn’t there to fight. Just get people.” Plus, ambushing the ones in the way.
That made it far easier to win.
The reaction was puzzled, instead of simply bowing to her superior logic. One of the men in the front row scowled a bit.
“You shouldn’t be forced to do that kind of thing. Not just… Not because of your gender alone. You aren’t even from here. You were wronged by people from here, which suggests that we need to protect you. Not put you in danger!”
That got a cheer. As if they were going to rush the house, grab her and lock her in a pretty little cage. Probably force feeding her sweets at the same time. Instead of getting mad at them, she smiled. Meaning it this time. For the most part.
“Well… Thanks? That isn’t how I live and won’t be, but I get that you all mean well. That’s really nice of you. I’m not a prisoner here, though. Even the King himself lets me do what I want. I… There’s a lot that I have to atone for… I mean… I let Katherine run off and… I couldn’t stop her. You must all hate me for that.” Some of them did, she knew. That had been what Gwen had been told.
The mouthy guy in the front, who was balding and a bit pale, stepped forward.
“No one thinks that! Of course you couldn’t stop that evil woman from taking over. She’s a body thief! Her powers would have overwhelmed you. Probably any of us. As it’s been pointed out in the media, you’re in her body. That gives her power over you. Everyone gets that. Why wouldn’t we? It only makes sense.”
That got a whole lot of nodding going on.
Gwen frowned, or tried to. It probably didn’t work that well, since she hadn’t practiced that in front of the mirror.
“I… Can’t you see? I wasn’t strong enough. I failed… It led to the war we’re fighting now. This is all my fault.” It made perfect sense to her, but she was booed then.
People actually saying boo.
When it stopped, the older woman that had yelled first moved a few steps forward.
“No, Miss Farris. You didn’t fail. We, all of us, have failed you. That’s why we’re all here. To get you free from this prison.”
She blinked, then smiled, changing the subject. It was clear that these people meant well.
“You mean the palace that they let me live in that’s nicer than what the King has? The one that I can come and go from at will? That prison? No one is keeping me here. I just… Don’t have any place else to go. Though I am taking a trip in a few days. Working on an airship? Which by the way, is my own choice… No one makes me do that kind of thing… Can’t you… Isn’t that part of being free? The right to come and go as I please?” She tried to be wry about it.
Probably seeming like a bit of a smart ass. That was just her way.
There was muttering from the crowd, which seemed confused, instead of happy to find out that Gwen Farris wasn’t being used as a slave or kept as a prisoner.
“They make you work on ships? But not fly them?” That was a different woman, from the left hand side this time.
Gwen shrugged.
“Well, I haven’t learned how to fly airships yet. I can take lessons, but it hasn’t come up. That’s all. You know… Can I get your questions in writing? Then I’ll… I don’t know, go on the radio, the telesar, to answer all of them at once? That should be a good sign that I’m free, right? I mean, how many people do you know can just beg a spot to do something like that?”
That one got a low rumble from the people there. It was a bit odd, but she winked at them and waved, shewing them back.
“Now, send those to me here and I’ll get to that. In about a month? Maybe sooner? In the meantime… Focus on helping the troops? Thanks for caring about me. I mean that, but… Yeah. I’m good. I swear. Even if I do go off and do stupid things sometimes.” She patted her right thigh, which made her wince, even as she tried to smile. It didn’t hurt that much, but it really was like she was walking around half naked for the place she was in.
“Now, git. Go on… Get off my lawn, before I have to find a broom to chase you away with.” There was much waving, over several minutes, to get people to walk away. A few people stayed. They weren’t the loud ones either, just being random individuals.
One of them, a young woman, jogged over to her. Her face was a bit round and she had short hair. Black boots that were polished and shining, with cool looking crossed laces on the front. White ones with blue stripes.
“Miss Farris? I was… would you sign my book for me?”
It was one of the Gwen Farris Investigations comics, not an actual book. She glared at it a bit, then rolled her eyes.
“You know, I have nothing to do with these things. No one asked or anything first. I also… Not that there’s anything wrong with loving women, I’m more into men, personally.” She didn’t know if explaining that it was slander was going to go over well, but the girl had her own pen and handed the things over.
“Oh, sure… But… That’s not the point, is it? It’s that you can do what you want. That’s what you said just now…”
Gwen didn’t see the parallel. Still, signing the thing didn’t cost her anything. Except to show that her hand writing wasn’t pretty. It was cribbed and a bit cramped looking.
“A point! Here you go then. Now-”
Without warning the kid kissed her. It was a bit strange seeming. On the lips, but not too deep, thankfully. Then she darted off. It felt like a kiss, which was probably con
fusing, or would be if she wasn’t so distracted by the world at the moment.
The men from the house had all come out, and were standing behind her. Still with their crins, but hiding them, so their being there was protective, but not an overt threat to anyone. The people left then, using the gate this time instead of climbing over the stone wall like they had to get in the first time.
Probably because they didn’t have ladders inside the wall. There was almost no way people were going over that thing in a dress, after all. Even the men, who’d shown up in shiny suits, for the most part, weren’t going to be doing that very easily.
Wiping her lips, which had more to do with a stranger touching her than it did the fact that it had been a woman, Gwen turned back toward the house. The steps were clean, as she mounted the porch, nodding to no one. Charles took a deep breath.
“That was different. Shall I see to arranging a letter box?” He spoke as if that was a thing, not that she didn’t get the basic idea.
Gwen had figured that people would mail things, but these folks were all local enough that they’d come in person. In the world she was in, given the time frames involved, that meant they were from town. Most of them had probably walked there in the first place. It was a huge turnout, given that. These folks didn’t have the internet after all. There were no flash mobs either. Except that, somehow, there had been one.
Apparently to free her.
Which, even if it wasn’t actually needed, was better than the whole burning at a stake thing that she’d kind of suspected would be coming. Gwen didn’t get it, but it was clear that most people in the Western Kingdom really weren’t upset with her in particular. She blamed herself for failing them. By some strange miracle, these people just didn’t see it that way.
She’d been around long enough to know they weren’t naturally kinder than anyone else, so it wasn’t just their innate goodness shining through. Not that they were all that bad. They were, in the end, pretty much just people. Some good, most kind of average.