Slave Line (The Young Ancients)

by Power, P. S.

  There was a strange thing happening too. Tor could still feel the rage simmering within him. It should have gone away when the last of the voices did, when the scent of death faded, but it didn't, it just stayed, eating at him like acid in his stomach. He didn't mention it, but felt it flash and ebb as the others spoke of normal enough things. He just floated along, keeping his mouth shut. It was something to figure out, wasn't it? He was at a low physical point though, so maybe it was just that? Beaten up and pained enough to cause him to have unwanted emotions?

  What to do about it though? Meditation came to mind, so Tor focused, letting his mind sink to a deeper place instantly. It was one of the few things he could still do it seemed, concentrate like that. It helped. He went from feeling snippy and angry to mildly annoyed by the world as a whole. It wasn't where he wanted to be, but it was a start. Especially since he'd need a clear head about him later.

  "Oh..." That reminded him and he nearly frowned at the other two with him.

  "Dinner meeting at my house. Kind of an emergency. Nothing life threatening, but a matter that I think both of you might be needed for. Though there's a thing here Alphie, a state dinner." Tor smiled, having never called him that before. It sounded strange coming from his lips, but the Prince was used to it, that being his regular nick-name that everyone in his family called him anyway. It kind of lacked a certain dignity though, didn't it?

  "I'll beg off. Unless there's something I'm needed for here? As heir it's kind of my duty to meet all the right people and so on. Did anyone mention what it was about?" He seemed vaguely curious as they walked, but not worried. Most meetings at the palace just weren't that interesting. Mainly large people arguing about things that a few minutes of calm discussion should have handled.

  "Oh... just introducing the Ancient of Vagus to everyone, and saying goodbye to the others since their going off with me tomorrow. I was supposed to be there too, since they're kind of family, but I got your dad to let me out of it, since there's this other thing. Intrigue and all that."

  The giant red headed man just shook his head.

  "Too bad I'm going to miss it then. The Ancient of Vagus... That's... Red? If I met her I'd have almost the whole set. Just needing to meet white and blue, right?"

  "No, there are a few more I think. Orange at least, and possibly some others. But you know Red."

  "I do?" He sounded baffled and amused, like it was a joke or something.

  Tor wanted to draw it out and make it more interesting, but couldn't summon the energy for games at the moment. Kind of a shame since this was a good one. Why should he be the only one to be clueless, right?

  "Lyn Cooper. Turns out she came to learn building about a decade ago or so. Totally fooled me and everything. She claims that wasn't just to make me look bad, but I'm not certain I trust that yet. So, you know, you don't just know her, you've taken care of her while she was working and everything." That even meant leading her to the bathroom and so on, which was delicate and not talked about, but also meant the woman had no secret charms that his giant friend was unaware of. Tor was in the same boat. At least he'd never been attracted to her, that would have been really awkward, since she was kind of his sister or something. Great Aunt too.

  The Prince just nodded.

  "I see. Well, that makes sense then. Are the rest of the Lairdgren group Immortal too or is that it?"

  He sounded a little... cold, but Tor forced a smile in return and blew out a gust of air.

  "Nope. Just her... And Timon. Though I think he's going to be the first of the Printer group. That's up to you and your dad though. He's young after all, builder or not. Maybe if we shift Mark over? Or Farlo if she keeps improving at the rate she is. She's some kind of noble too. I'm not really sure what the station is though, I never asked." That was bad, he realized, since she could take offense at him not knowing. Tor didn't even know her last name.

  The Prince did.

  "Farlo Ross? Scottland Ross' daughter. Do you remember him? Big fellow that saved Collette when that drunk attacked her last King's week? Or, as he pointed out at the time, he probably saved the drunk from her when it came down to it, but him. Farlo's dad. So a Conserina... Um, four... I think. High enough ranking to take over a working group, if she can do it I mean. She's kind of been the slowest to pick things up. Then she's only been in the building program for a year and a half. She told me that she transferred over after you saved her family and the Ross Capital from burning to the ground. Before that she was in the homemaking section. Bit of a side-step there."

  That was news to Tor. It really showed how much more attention he needed to be paying to people, if someone like that could just be hanging out under his nose. Well, he'd have them on the ship with him for a week. If he couldn't be bothered to learn about them then, he needed to quit his job and do something else. Maybe go off and be a hermit? Well, him and Ali. Though she probably wouldn't like that much. She had a lot of friends and was constantly making more. Of course in her world that was done by having sex with them, even though she was married to him. It wasn't something that made him happy, but that was the rule. She didn't even care if he had sex with other people, which made him feel even worse about it all for a few seconds. He had to adapt, and really, had thought he was doing a good job of it, over all, but at the moment it was hitting him pretty hard.

  He didn't want to be a hick, making his narrow little decisions based on his own backwoods rules, but it was so hard suddenly. They were married, weren't they? Shouldn't Ali have to follow his rules? Even if they were in the Capital or the noble world. It only made sense.

  To his deep woods mind.

  The rules of the nobles had been created for a reason though. Jealousy was real enough, but was mainly a product of training. Something that society set up for its members from an early age. He was having problems that people like Ali and even Rolph... Alphonse, just couldn't really understand in the same way. Trice was the same. To her mind it was natural to have a bunch of partners for sex and if he suggested that she not, he'd have been the one that looked foolish. It was the truth too. There was no reason to be jealous and petty.

  Ali was his wife, and even seemed to like him well enough. She couldn't have kids, having been sterilized by her father, and Tor couldn't either, not for the first five hundred years of his life or so. That meant that there was no downside to what she was doing, except that he was a stupid country peasant raised to think that there was only one right way to be.

  Worse, the nobles' rules had been created by Burks, which meant, in a very real way, that Tor was the one that set it up, if an older version of himself. It didn't feel like something he'd ever do, but that was down to training, right?

  Tor shook himself, realizing that Terlee had said something. She sounded concerned, but he'd missed it totally.

  "Sorry, got lost in thought. So..." Neither of the others mentioned what had been said at all. Kind of frustrating, because he wanted to know, but asking seemed just as rude as not paying attention in the first place. They all walked for a while longer, waiting for the other person to be the first to say something.

  "Um, what is the meeting about then?" Terlee put in finally, obviously asking for the second time, and not feeling at all certain she should.

  She was right on that part of things. Tor didn't want to say much where anyone could hear, since this would almost certainly involve spies at some point, if they weren't around already. The Coltress family had a vast network of them, given their relatively low social standing. More than most by far. It wouldn't shock Tor to find out that they were involved in the Kingdom's network somehow too.

  "I don't know what I can say here. I don't think it's that dire, but it's important to me and might be to you. For that matter Terlee, could you wrangle ma and Tiera for it too? They may just want in on this."

  That apparently didn't help explain anything, not from the look on the face above her rather nice green velvet dress. Tor noticed that he was floating along. It made
sense, being easier on the body than walking, but he hadn't realized he'd gone into the air. Not noticing something like that was... not a good sign as far as his mental state, was it?

  His sister raised an eyebrow, managing to look almost stately about it, but didn't say anything else.

  They left him at the side door, his friend and sister moving off together before he even got outside, saying they'd see him at his house at nine, that being the traditional time for dinner in the Capital. What they had planned together he didn't know, but they were giving each other strange looks. Ones that spoke of something other than sneaking off together to ruin some marriage vows.

  Probably talking about him then.

  Well, he was acting like an insane person, so why not? He'd have been trying to figure it out if he wasn't inside the whole mess already. Who could blame them?

  He felt better though, thanks to imaginary Box helping him to get some things sorted. Just having a world that didn't reek was worthwhile. As to the rest of it, not hearing voices... That helped a lot too. He was nearly back to normal, except for the bad mood. Normally that kind of thing was lighter when it happened to him. Most of the time he just felt a little like everyone else was better than he was, not like he wanted to strike them. Thinking of that got him to concentrate harder until the sense of anger faded almost totally. It wasn't really gone, just hidden, but that sense of distance and perspective made everything easier to deal with.

  No one bothered him on the way out, which put him back in his own room not ten minutes later, even if he did walk up the stairs slowly. He needed the exercise though, so didn't let himself use magic for it. As it was he'd been losing weight and he didn't have any left to spare. If it wasn't for the magical clothing device remaking everything to fit him each day it would have probably caused a stir in the people around him already.

  It was only about five by the time he settled on the bed, cross legged and centered, trying to meditate as deeply as he could on a sense of self, which would allow him to rebuild his field strength a little faster that just sitting would. The moment passed in nearly a blink, going from him being alone to gently shaken, causing Tor to open his eyes without thinking about it.

  "Husband? The guests are arriving for your meeting. I... should I see to that... or is it secret?" Ali stood by the bed side, dressed very nicely in a fluffy creation of pale material that made it look like a cloud had been wrapped around her. Unlike most women she didn't bother enhancing her bust line, since she was so well endowed anyway, but she did have some jewelry on. It was silver, a necklace and earrings that matched. Tor knew they were real, not part of the magical field she wore for clothing. The clothing amulet could do that, but this had a different feeling about it.

  He hadn't gotten them for her either. Anger flashed through him, because it had probably come from someone that she was sleeping with, but he kept it off his face. She noticed where his eyes went and smiled demurely, touching the right earring gently.

  "Trice got them for me. Aren't they lovely? She said to mention that they're from you too, since she took the funds for it out of our vault." Ali smiled and laughed a little, covering her mouth with her left hand.

  "I love her, but she has a very free idea of who the gold and magic belongs to around here, doesn't she? I still feel awkward asking for funds for anything." The next words should have been her asking for something, but she went quiet instead, waiting.

  "They're lovely. I feel totally jealous that I didn't think to get you something first. I'm not being a very good husband to you still, and I said I would. Being busy is no excuse." He leaned over, still sitting, to kiss her. His body didn't respond at all, but he sold the action well enough that she moved to the bed, breasts pressed against him.

  She started to move down his body, trying to free his clothing when she suddenly stopped.

  "Oh, guests for the meeting. How are we handling that?" The real question was clear, was she wanted for it or not?

  She was of course. Bonita was her friend too. If they weren't lovers then they were closer than sisters. Either way his wife would want to be a part of this.

  "Please come. I assumed you would be there. This is family business after all."

  She didn't clap, but her hands moved as if she almost were going to. Instead she nodded trying to look adult and serious.

  "Later for this then? I know that you've been feeling poorly, but we haven't even kissed for days. I don't want to force you, but if you're ready..." She had a look that was so gentle and innocent it practically left a sweet taste in the air.

  "Um..." Tor didn't feel very manly about it all, but it was the truth, and she needed to know it, before she started to think it was about her or something like that. It wasn't. She was great.

  "My body isn't working that way right now. I could do some things for you though. That sounds fun actually, just don't expect me to really function for a few more weeks." Or months.

  It took her a second to get what he meant, but instead of seeming embarrassed for him or anything like that she pulled him off the bed slowly, hugging him for a minute before standing back.

  "To be expected. I'll take you up on your offer though. Trice will too, if you can handle it. I want you alone tonight though, if that's alright? I mean, if it's not... Is it OK for me to have you to myself sometimes? We haven't really established our rules together yet."

  They were supposed to have rules of their own? It made sense, but he'd kind of figured it would be based on whatever they'd been doing. Him going around being silly and her living up to her cultural mandate too well for his comfort. In other word... he didn't get what she meant.

  "Of course you can have me alone. That should be the normal thing, really. I mean, well, where I'm from things are different that way, you've been to Two Bends, so you know. I'm not saying we should be like that, just that if you want attention from me you get it." It just made sense to him, but she shook her head a little sadly.

  "I know that, but I don't want you to feel like you have to. I mean, we're married, but I know I wasn't your choice. You just did it to save me, because you're so good. If you don't want me around, I understand. I could go live at the Lairdgren house, or even in Two Bends if you want me out of the way, or get a house in the Wildlands or something. You really are a good husband you know. Better than most even. I just don't want you to wake up some day and realize that having me around ruined your life."

  "What the hell?" Tor sounded mad, and he was a bit, but not at his wife. He grinned instantly, which kept her from showing more than a half second of blankness. She didn't scowl or get angry when someone else got going in a negative way, she just locked down and showed nothing at all.

  "You're my wife and partner Ali. That's real and it means that I want you around all the time. Well, not when I'm using the restroom, but you know what I mean. I'm not parking you off in the country and if I get jealous sometimes because you have so many friends, well, that's my problem, not yours. I'm trying to learn how to be an adult in the noble world. It may take a few lifetimes, but I'll get there eventually."

  She raised her hands up and spread them, palms toward the ceiling. It was an odd gesture, but she looked both happy and a bit perplexed at the same time. He was doing well in regards to keeping his loved ones off balance lately it seemed. Not that he wanted to.

  "I'm doing things that make you jealous? I... We need to go to the meeting now, but we really need to cover these things. I didn't know that I was doing anything like that at all. I'll try to fix it if I can. Just as soon as you explain what it is I might be doing that's causing it." She said it like she really didn't know. Like him walking in on her having sex with other people, or coming to the door of her room at school and knocking to find her with some other guy, or girl, adjusting their clothing and reeking of sex was hard to figure out.

  Then for her world maybe it was? Maybe to her it was all just so normal that she honestly couldn't see him being jealous over things like that?

&
nbsp; He shrugged, trying not to let his annoyance creep in again.

  "Later then. Not a huge thing. Like I said, I'll grow up and adapt eventually. Shall we go see to the guests before everyone leaves?"

  He started walking toward the door, snagging her hand as he did, so that they could go together and seem like a real couple. That was part of the problem, he understood. Ali was his wife, but she'd been thinking of herself as just another burden on him instead of as a partner. She wasn't though. In the last months she'd gone from a rather simple seeming girl that looked to be about sixteen, and wasn't, to his wife. She was younger than that, maybe too young to get married at all, but that had been done in an emergency...

  It hit him then that maybe he was being selfish. She kept trying to let him out of the marriage, or get herself out of the way, but what if that was just her way of trying to get away from him? Tor didn't think he was all that bad of a person, but in the last days he'd gotten two people killed, executed one and flat out murdered another in public with thousands of people watching. Then earlier he'd attacked the King's brother in a way that should have gotten him thrown in a dungeon somewhere and a short time later punched his best friend. His shield anyway, but the intent had been real enough.

  That didn't sound like a nice, healthy person to be around.

  Maybe she was just scared of him and wanted to run away? Here he was trying to reassure her it was all fine and that she was loved, and she may well be doing everything she could to save herself. From him. It wasn't reasonable, but it fit the pattern of her life, didn't it? To her he was just some powerful man with connections. Like her father. He'd been a monster before he'd died, a true one that had almost given up on any claim to humanity, but that didn't mean she wouldn't see Tor in a similar light, given everything. The easiest thing to do would have been to ask her questions and read her field for information, but that wasn't something you did with your wife. It would be rude for one thing.