by Power, P. S.
They came out seeming like leather, which was nice enough, but not that comfortable. He changed the four huge things to being covered with soft cloth for comfort. It wasn't real at all, obviously, it just looked and felt like it, but there was no reason not to make it as nice as possible. It wasn't like it would wear out, so using soft cloth that was slightly fuzzy wasn't a problem.
Then, knowing it might be a while, he slowly settled onto one of them, his back to the wall, looking at the door. He settled in to wait, deciding to meditate for a while, figuring that no one would come in until just before the meeting time. People had food to finish after all. That proved to be wrong when Ali, his wife, and their girlfriend Trice came in.
"Husband! I slept in, I hope that's not..." Whatever it wasn't he didn't find out, because she started kissing him about then, leaning in to do it, then sliding in alongside of him. Trice stood back, smirking at them for a minute. Except it wasn't really a smirk, he remembered, that was just her happy face. He'd read it in her field before, so didn't need to bother trying to do it now, just trusting it was the same. Her hair was still two colors, white blond at the edges with deep brown showing about four inches at the bottom. It would probably work pretty well in Austra, where things like that were considered normal.
Ali who was younger, and a natural blond, dimpled at him and gestured for Trice to move in on the other side.
She didn't hesitate, but waiting wasn't her long suit most days. She proved that by patting him on the arm with her left hand.
"So... Are we going with you to Austra or not?" Blunt, but that was her all over.
The thing there was that Tor just didn't know. He really didn't think they should go particularly, but having another person along that could fly a Fast Carriage wouldn't be a bad idea and Trice had her own that she carried with her everywhere. Ali... was his wife. It didn't feel right leaving her on alone for who knows how long. If it was just the trip to Austra, he'd have probably said no, just delivering the spies and coming back inside a week or so. It wasn't that simple though.
There was a meeting of Ancients, a summit, that he was supposed to go to though, along with the other immortal members of his family. Where they even allowed to bring guests? Then again, if the girls wanted to go to Austra with him, they could always fly back from there if it wasn't OK to go on to Vagus with the rest of them. He'd have to check with Burks on that one. Or Denno. Whichever he saw first.
"Sure? For the first bit at least. After that I don't know what the plan is really. I do get the idea that these summit things can take a while. Sometimes months or even years. If that's the case I'm just coming back after a few weeks. There are limits to my enthusiasm." He winked at each of them though, as if it were a thing, rather than him just not knowing what to expect.
"Goodie." Ali spoke quickly, her voice mellow and slightly relaxed.
"Maybe Petra will let me steer the ship? I've never done that before." She seemed excited by the idea.
Tor nudged her just a little, noticing that she was slightly taller today than she had been even a few weeks before. Pretty soon she'd be taller than he was by a lot no doubt. She was a royal giant and he wasn't. It would look a bit funny, but then all the women he knew were taller than he was anymore. Except Lyn and she was his sister in a weird and messed up fashion. In the same way that Denno was his brother. Even though he was over three thousand years old and Tor just wasn't. Denno, Burks and Tor each had common genetics even. Closer than his natural brothers, if Tor understood it all correctly. Denno looked nothing like him though. Burks did, almost exactly in fact, close enough he could pretend to be him at will. Taller though, by nearly five inches. Tor would be too, in a few millennia.
He shook himself a little and went back to the topic at hand.
"Ask her about it. She'll probably be willing to teach you and have you take the night shift so that she can actually sleep. We need to get this done as quickly as possible once we hit the water." He should probably take a turn himself, or maybe get Sandra to do it. She was responsible enough. That was up to Captain Petra though.
Ali clapped a little.
"I'll ask about it. It sounds more fun than just sitting in my room the whole time. I need a hobby I can take with me. Like Sara Debris and her bead work. Or Trice and her perfume making."
She chattered for a few minutes until everyone else finally worked their way in, led by Sam. He wasn't the oldest in the group by any means, one of the youngest in fact, only fourteen, but he was a builder, meaning he could make his own magics at need. He was also getting decent at making copies too.
Tor pointed at him before anyone could sit down.
"You're not going to Austra with us." Tor noticed everyone else stiffen, but Sam just nodded, as if that kind of thing where expected. Like it was because he was from a poor family or something, instead of the real reason.
"Instead I want you to stay here. Or possibly in the palace. If any emergencies come up that require a Builder, you'll have to handle it. Including recalling us all if needed. The others should be back in a week or two, so nothing should come up, but just in case... I don't want to leave the Kingdom unguarded. I'll see if you can work with Smythe of Westend directly. He's the military counselor and will make a good contact for you to build. You'll have my proxy while I'm away for making decisions and control of my accounts with the treasury. That's for Kingdom use though, not buying you a new... Whatever. I'll also leave you a copy of all my work, just in case you need it for anything." Tor looked around, wondering what everyone else thought of the idea. He couldn't tell from the facial expressions at all.
Sandra finally just smiled.
"That will work. Kind of stints him on the adventure the rest of us get, but it's an important task. Is one person enough?"
Tor shrugged and pulled Ali a little closer, even if it hurt to do it.
"Yes. I think so at least. Sam's up to it. If anything too big comes up, call us back home though. I really can't think of anything, but you know, you have backing if you need it. I'll take you over to the palace with me to introduce you and explain it all. After we finish here." He looked around and decided to be heavy handed and overbearing. It wasn't fun, but someone had to do it or everyone would get lazy and then where would they be?
"OK. Sandra, we need you to get your disguise back on and finish your shift in the kitchen. Try not to get caught. If you manage it for the rest of your shift I'll give you four golds. If you don't you'll have to try it again when we get back." He had it to spare after all. Tor turned to take in the others.
"Um, not a lot to do for most of you. I'd like copies of the clothing amulets and temperature equalizers for everyone here, the servants and a few extra for gifts, but that won't take all of you. Farlo, you have that right? Batches of fifty for each... Have it done in five hours or so?" She wasn't that fast, and couldn't do that many at once yet, her best being a batch of twenty every three hours or so. She'd done that once at least. It meant she could do it though, if she tried.
"The rest of you should set up copies of everything else. Get carriages and what not. A house like this one maybe?" Those were complex fields, even when it came to making copies, but they could do them, if they were careful.
Farlo looked at him like he'd lost his mind though. He knew it was pushing her a bit asking for that many copies, but it seemed like it might be something else. Finally he stared back and just asked about it.
"What?"
"You'd let us just make copies of your work for ourselves? I mean... to keep?" She actually looked troubled by the idea, as if it were wrong or something.
Tor didn't get it, not at all. Why wouldn't he let his friends have some copies of his stuff? Especially since he wanted them to make more of it for him. It was Sam that explained it to him, Guide, the other first year boy and Mark the third year guy agreeing with him with some half vigorous nodding.
"I know Farlo, it seems strange, but I think it has to do with the fact that the Counselor is try
ing to form an army of Builders for the Kingdom. We can't do that on the same ground that we've normally worked as a group. Builders tend to be a little coin hungry, but it doesn't have to be that way. He's setting a good example for us. We should probably do the same with all our own work too, at least with each other." He shrugged, which looked forced, not being something he normally did. It was a thing Tor associated with Burks Green really, though he also did it himself.
"So if anyone wants a table mill, just let me know and I'll get one for you to make a copy of."
Farlo shook her head, but the words she used next were happy enough.
"I... That's... Millions of golds worth of stuff. Potentially at least. What if I just took it and started selling it?" She seemed pleased enough by the idea.
Tor held Trice's hand absently, stroking it just a little not realizing he was. It was comforting. After a few seconds Lyn spoke up, her voice sounding a lot older than it normally did. Decades at least. So... still youthful and full of life but slightly commanding. She looked as young as almost anyone in the room, except Weasel, who at twelve really was the youngest. Eleven. He shouldn't turn twelve for a few weeks Tor thought.
"But Farlo, that doesn't matter... don't you see? If you, personally, took all of our work and started making copies of it for sale, all that would do would result in would be a lowering of the overall price, meaning more people could have it. Even if you gave it all away for free and all of us worked on it all the time, doing nothing else, we couldn't provide enough for everyone even in this one land, not to mention Vagus, which of course we should all be doing too. Everything there is measured in horses and animal hides though, not gold, so not nearly as portable." A serious look covered her face as if to let them know she was dead set on the idea. As far as she was concerned they should be sending part of their things to her people. Probably for free.
It sounded reasonable to Tor.
"Besides, how much do we really need? If you all start today you can have all your housing, transportation and clothing needs taken care of by tomorrow. Possibly for the rest of your lives. Then all you need is some land and a way to grow or buy food. Since most of you already have enough gold for that, well, anything you really want past that you can pretty much learn to build. It might take time, but in a way this group is probably pretty close to the richest collection of people in the Kingdom right now. Maybe the world." OK, so it was in an odd way, but once they had what they needed, gold was just a token, wasn't it? It lost all meaning.
Weasel snorted at him though, shaking his head as he did.
"Seriously Tor... Not everyone thinks like you do. I get where Farlo is coming from. A part of me wants to have all the gold, to be rich and famous and loved by the masses. I understand what you're saying, that those things aren't really needed and you're probably right, but I still feel greedy and like I should grab hold of everything I can for myself."
The words shocked Tor to no end, his mouth actually fell open a little as he stared at the boy, his own flesh and blood, who was apparently some kind of demonic creature in disguise. He didn't even have words to chastise the kid with. A slow anger started to build in his gut as he stared, but Sam shook his head, interrupting that process.
"Yeah. I get you Weasel. Tor is right though. Gold is a means to an end that, as a group, we can all just pretty much sidestep. Fame? I guess everyone wants to be admired, so there's that, but doing good things for the Kingdom will do that, as well as making interesting builds. I mean, what would you do with mountains of gold anyway? That you can't do in some other way I mean."
The room went silent as everyone sat thinking for a few minutes, finally Ali answered the boy.
"If I had a mountain of gold... I'd set up works to help orphans and street children in all the major cities. Life is really hard for them and people rarely think to do anything for them at all." Her voice was soft and sad sounding. Of course, she'd lived on the streets for years, hadn't she? She knew what she was talking about.
Sam laughed a little.
"OK. I can see that. I bet we can do a lot of it without too much gold though. We should try it. I don't know how to really do all that, but if you figure it out, I'll build what you need for it." He sighed.
"I know that the orphanage I came from could use a bit of help. They get a stipend from the King for the kids upkeep, but it isn't a lot. The Sisters of Faith really had to work hard to keep us all fed and clothed and there wasn't a lot of opportunity for the kids. Most ended up being miners, or if they were good looking enough, prostitutes. If I hadn't learned how to copy things from Nox I'd probably be selling my... Well, you know."
Tor blinked. He hadn't known the Sam was an orphan, but it wasn't that, it was the other bombshell.
"You know Master Builder Nox?"
He nodded and sighed again.
"Yeah, he pretty much saved me. I asked him to teach me building and he showed me enough to pass Countess Printer's scholarship test and took me to the testing center himself, along with a recommendation that got me a spot. If not for her giving me that chance..." He just shook his head.
Guide smiled.
"Giving us that chance. I have parents, but the overall situation wasn't that different. My kin are mainly thieves and brigands. If I hadn't gotten my shot in town that day, if ma hadn't said I should try, I'd be waiting by a trail for someone to pass by about now with my brothers." He looked ashamed of his family and stared at the floor.
"Um, don't tell anyone that. They're still my family, I don't want them to be hurt or anything, even if they are all criminals."
Tor nodded slowly and so, oddly, did Trice.
"Got it. It won't leave this room. OK, so you all have the orphans and Vagus tied up, plus all the building the Kingdom needs in emergencies? That means I can steal Tor away for a while, right?" She hugged him with one arm, then leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. It was cute, but then she meant it to be, earning smiles from everyone in the room, except Sandra who seemed a little sad for some reason.
Tor was pretty sure it wasn't over him and Trice.
Everyone broke up then, leaving to do whatever it was they wanted. He'd assigned tasks, but it wasn't like they all had to do them instantly or anything. They were mainly kids after all, so they might just want to explore the city a little or do something fun. Tor wasn't much in to that for himself, but he'd heard that others liked that sort of thing well enough.
Sandra hung back, waiting for Trice to leave, which she didn't, apparently really wanting to take him away for something. Hopefully not sex, because while it was intellectually tempting ,Tor just didn't have it in him at the moment. Too sore by far. Finally the tall dark skinned girl moved forward to speak anyway, frowning still. She seemed almost angry.
Tor wondered if it was about him suggesting she finish her day in the kitchen, which was really below her station and not something that would ordinarily be asked of someone like her at all, but she surprised him.
"Why Sam and not me? I thought I was supposed to be in charge. Second in command at least." She held herself stiffly, upright and regal looking. Then she was going to be a Countess some day, so she'd been taught to do that since childhood no doubt.
He blinked at her. It made some sense, because he hadn't filled in the rest of it for her yet. Really though, she should have figured it out for herself, shouldn't she? It was really clear to Tor at least.
"Um, because you're the Kingdom's representative for our section? To Austra I mean. There's an Ambassador and you'll be backing him or her after I leave. The Ancients and I are taking off about the same time we land there, after the first day at most. I'm not in charge of that mission, which means you have to be. We can't send a military force, not this close to the war being over, so if anyone attacks it's up to you and the others to get out Ambassador out safely. If given my druthers Lyn would be the one staying here, but she's the Ancient of Vagus, so it came down to one of the others. If something happens to you over there, Mark is in charge,
so it couldn't be him. Farlo is... A fine girl, and going to be a great builder soon I have no fear, but she needs a few more weeks to get up to speed. So it was Sam or Guide. Sam has something like three hours of seniority as my attaché, so..." It made sense to him at least. Trice too, from the look on her face.
It did get the tall noble girl to soften a bit.
"Oh. Well I feel petty now. I thought you were saying I wasn't good enough, or maybe that the King and Queen don't want me around. Or, you know, Karina. I thought we were getting along better though."
Next to him Trice yawned, which made him feel like doing it too. The darned things were catching and Sandra did it a few seconds later, which got him to follow along, laughing softly.
"No one there is snubbing you Sandy." Trice spoke as if she knew that for a fact.
"Really you're kind of a hero right now. The noble that 's leading the "magical army". General Morris they're all calling you, and only about half of them are mocking even. Once they realize what you can all do, that will probably just become real. Though I think we should give you some other kind of title that isn't military. Not if you are going to mainly be doing public works projects and helping poor kids like it seems... You should all work on rehabilitating the Wildlands first. Get some of those orphans out to help maybe. Tor can pay them for it and it will be legitimate work even. Maybe get the military to take them on as apprentices for focus stone manufacturing. Gift each of the kids with their own compressor and earth mover to get them started." It was said casually, but shed clearly been thinking about it already.
Brilliantly too.