by P. S. Power
That would be foolish though.
The man knowing him by name was a good thing. It meant fewer beatings most likely, and if he ever accidentally got left off a list or something he'd be more likely to at least check on it instead of making Tor wonder around the city, lost and alone.
Burks spoke softly from the back seat.
“Countess Ward… The man wasn't being insubordinate. He was simply treating Tor as he would one of his own were they to come through the gate. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it, to tell the truth. It wasn't meant to be an insult, but the highest compliment a Royal Guard has. He was treating Tor as part of his family. Probably because he unconsciously views what Tor has done as marking him as one of them. The protectors. It's part of the training, conditioning them to look at the royal family, and all of us, as children, to be protected from harm even at the cost of their own lives. Chet there was responding to Tor as he would a real adult, not someone to coddle. Don't take offense at the rest though, being thought of as a child, or if you must, blame me, since I came up with the program to train them originally.”
Whether that explanation sufficed or not with the blond Countess he couldn't tell, trying to focus on his driving of the low craft as he was. Varley was gliding right alongside, admiring it openly, and Tor really didn't want to bump her, even at low speeds. She had a shield on, but who knew what would happen to the baby if she was shaken around too much?
They were ushered directly in to see the King and Queen, who looked tense and drawn, Rolph who looked nearly as bad and Karina who looked glum again.
She was back to wearing black, this time a long plain dress that made her thin body look like a stick, instead of a cute Princess. Tor gave out hugs all around and shook the King’s hand, getting almost everyone else to follow suit. Which was funny in a way, since half of them didn't do it right at all, not being their custom. The Wards asked for the truth devices again and groveled for a few minutes until Varley pronounced herself satisfied again. For her part at least. There would, no doubt, be more groveling needed because of the stupid declaration of war.
Everyone else kind of had to let it go then, since she was the most wronged party in the room. It would take more than just a few apologies, no doubt, but it was a start.
There was a lot of discussion about safety and continued air attacks, but Burks shook his head with a small half smile on his lips.
“There are rules that Denno Brown adheres too. Three pods of Larvals at any given time, and it takes at least fifteen years for them to develop, and be trained enough to be a real threat. Before then good guards can beat them, if with effort. The drones… I think you're safe for now, honestly. When Tor took out the four he did that probably reduced the Austran air force by about ten percent. Even though he can't do it again, the Austrans don't know that. They won't risk it.” The voice had the confidence of long age behind it, but no one felt any better.
“He can't? I think you sell our Tor short sir.” The Queen said, not coldly, but not exactly sounding kind either.
Burks explained the whole thing with the pattern and how massive and repeated trauma's to it could lead to dissolution. No one at the table got it, except the Prince, who goggled at his friend.
“Crap! You nearly died protecting us? And if you do it again, for decades, you just die? Tor! You can't do that, we need you! I…” The Prince didn't finish the words, just letting them trail off.
Karina nodded.
“Yeah Tor. We can find some other way to protect ourselves. For your part, arm yourself better and make sure you don't need to do stupidly heroic things like that anymore. I'd rather have these new shields for all of us than you destroying yourself in one moment. I don't know how we stop them if they come again but-”
Well that was obvious at least.
“Squires Gerald and Gemma. I was a bit surprised they didn't take out the ones the other day really. Probably trapped inside the shield? That can be fixed though, if something like it is about to happen again.” Tor looked at the King who seemed baffled for a moment and then nodded.
“I'll see they're given what they need for the task. Very good. Well, I think that will protect us from the air at least. I'd forgotten how very able our Squires are these days. I for one feel much better now that I'm reminded, don't you dear?”
The Queen laughed eloquently.
“Of course! I'd been told, but I didn't think about them at the time! Yes, they'll do nicely. Thank you Tor.” Her smile was real, he thought. If she wasn't acting to make everyone else feel safer. Either way it was good to see and better than the drawn and pinched look of a few moments prior.
That left the planning for the celebration which was way more complex than he'd ever imagined. The Queen was in charge of it, and ran the whole thing like a battle campaign. Karina was her general, now that things had shifted about with the attack and they'd gone almost wild compared to what they normally planned.
As he'd been warned, the funds for it were coming from Tor's personal account in the royal treasury. The Special County Lairdgren Fund. It was more gold than he thought really existed, but he nodded anyway. It was only gold and if it got to the public, then all to the good. Everyone but Burks gave him a funny look when he said it though. The King acted like he'd just admitted lifting his purse, and the Queen blushed at him, but made solid eye contact and smiled prettily.
“I have some devices I made for it too. I don't know if it's going to really help, but it's something…” He listed everything off that he had planned. Which got appreciative murmurs from the room.
Rolph suggested that they give people rides in the magic carriages, and bring in some air transports, maybe even for free trips to other cities to spread the cheer. It would reassure everyone to see that they had aircraft too. That was a new thing, and Noram had kind of lived in terror of what Austra could do to them from above. Now the field was more even. Austra attacked and for the first time in history, Noram responded by simply destroying their craft. That had only happened before once. Back when Cordes ruled. He’d taken a single craft out much like Tor had.
Only while in a combat rage.
“But showing people that we have flight capability too, that should help people rest at night.” Burks assured them all, with that maddening little smirk he had.
They'd have to borrow some transports from the military, but it should be doable. That or get the new public ones in for a few days.
Humorously enough Burks suggested a “ducking booth”, a contraption that no one else had ever even heard of. The idea was to put someone, say a high ranking noble or two, up on a high platform, then let people throw heavy balls at a triggering device that dumped them into water below if they hit hard enough. For extra fun they could put small chunks of ice in the water so that it would be really cold and give the sitters funny costumes to wear the whole time. They could put nobles on it and people would flock to the event, the Ancient assured them.
Tor thought it sound like a fun idea himself, and agreed with Burks plan of charging a penny for three throws, and then donating the money to families left in need by the war. Who wouldn't want to dump a giant in freezing water? People would be pooling their funds together for the chance. It was probably as close as anyone would ever get to taking some of their own back from the royals that looked down on them, wasn't it? Tor put in that he might just slip some of the partiers some extra coin, just so more could have a turn. No one else loved the idea, since they were the giants in question, but grudgingly Count Ward agreed to sit the bench as a form of penance for his foolish declaration of war.
“I can’t apologize to every person wronged, but perhaps those that hear of my being humbled will accept it as a sign of true intent?” He didn’t look pleased about it, but Tor nodded to him anyway.
To real people, back in the villages at least, that probably would work pretty well It would have for him, if he’d heard of it as a child.
The man kept surprising Tor with his
contrition and humility. He was supposed to be a jerk that was easy to hate and got all your girls pregnant, not a nice guy that… got all your girls pregnant. That was still there.
To his surprise Karina volunteered to do it herself.
The Queen started to speak about it not being dignified, but then grinned.
“Then again, it does no real harm for the citizens of Noram to see us as people too. Very well. That's two. I won't be doing it myself, but I may deign to lobe a few of these balls if the right person is up there. Who else is doing it? Burks?” She made her face so innocent that it had to be practiced in front of a mirror.
“Of course. I'll volunteer Tor too. Who doesn't want a chance to humble the mighty wizard? It will show them that they don’t need to fear him. We should leave the King and heir off, too close to treason, even if in sport. Hmmm.” He pointed rudely at Countess Ward. It was a single finger stabbing at her directly, an aggressive move that seemed nearly angry for the normally calm man.
The voice was relaxed though. Smooth.
“Wear something shear and white and men will line up to see you get wet. I… don't mean that precisely as it sounds… That too though, if you can manage it.” He chuckled at her as she turned red.
The tone wasn't biting, but somehow it hit home in a way Tor didn't understand at all. He got all the meanings of “get wet” now, but hadn't thought that the idea of doing either would have bothered the girl. It seemed like something she'd have enjoyed really. Except maybe the ice water. No one could like that. The idea made Tor shiver a bit already.
Then it was becoming clear that his idea of Maria as an evil bitch that destroyed innocent young men for no reason might not be the whole story. She was far from perfect, a bit vain, shallow, too free with her favors maybe. Maybe not, given royal society, he didn't know. She was said to be indiscreet, but so far Tor hadn't really seen it, except with Trice. And she was her girlfriend right?
Stopping, Tor blushed, it must have been a deep scarlet. He'd referred to Trice as his girlfriend earlier. After he kissed her. That kind of put the focus of the words on her at the time, hadn't it? Ooops. Well, if it bothered her, he'd hear about it, probably in a restaurant while she told the world how ugly and stupid he was, and how he kissed like a dog. How short and childlike as well. Since those were even true mainly, he couldn't argue the points. Only, he wasn’t ugly.
Burks had said he needed to remember that, but it was just so hard to believe.
No one noticed thank goodness and he got his face under control when Karina suggested some games. Just little things, like a ring toss and sheet pulling races. Tor had to ask what that was, being new to him, but the idea was simple enough. A team of four people pulled a fifth while they sat on a bed sheet, pulling them along the ground, racing against all other teams. Each team that won got a prize. Normally chilled fruit. It was a picnic game. It sounded like a good prize though. Who didn't like chilled fruit?
They went on like that for a while, with Nita taking notes the whole time, and making diagrams, for placement of events and a calendar of when things would take place. They only had a single day left to prepare, and vendors, entertainers and set-up still had to be gotten going.
When they got ready to leave Tor boldly asked if he could steal Karina for the night, so that planning could be done without contacting the Queen every ten minutes. It made sense even, and the Princess looked so happy about it that permission was given without discussion.
So… work to do or not, Karina had been moping? Well, it made sense. Tor had been downcast a lot longer than a few days himself after Trice, and what had happened to Karina was at least as bad. Worse. Tor had kind of suspected that the “engagement” had been a ploy the whole time. Karina had really thought that Lilli loved her. If anyone could get what she was experiencing it would be him, but that didn't mean the depth of pain would be the same.
The first thing they did was organize all the devices Tor had for the celebration and tried to find people to run the events. Most the Ward people jumped at the chance, even though they wouldn't get as much free time to wonder around or play themselves.
One of the women, the one that he'd talked to about shopping a few days before hugged him a little with one arm.
“Tor… you saved our lives. Twice. If you need something done, I don't think anyone here would blink about it. Plus, big celebrations are only fun if some people work part of the time, the more people taking turns the more everyone gets to relax. Don't worry about that, none of us will forget to take our turn too.” Her smile was dazzling in her dark face. If she wasn't great looking, she still had her charms, pleasant demeanor being the first one he noticed.
Taking his cue from her he smiled and thanked them all, and since most of them didn't shake hands at a rule, he started handing out hugs instead. It was awkward feeling, but everyone patted him on the back or said a little something friendly. He tried to do the same, even though he suspected he wasn't doing it right. No one said anything about how moronic he sounded and kept smiling, so he went with it.
That's what he was doing when Collette and Petra came in, both walking with a slightly older dark skinned man, the guy with the cold ice drinks from Warden, Tor couldn't remember his name if he'd ever known it.
Or could he?
If he just focused on remembering and dropped into a trance, it shouldn't hurt his field at all. Literally speaking he was strengthening it, concentrating on a part of himself. That made sense, and reminded him not to slack off on meditation. It really should help him rebuild his own field faster. The idea surprised him a bit, but he decided to try it. After a few moments the name came to him.
“Hi Morgan.” Tor hoped he'd gotten the name right. The man smiled big and said hello, but called him “Master Tor, sir”. Sticking out his tongue Tor said they should all just call him Tor, since it was his name and he definitely wasn't a master of anything yet. Everyone laughed, but Petra pushed Morgan forward a bit more. He was holding a tray of drinks, several different kinds in focus stone cups. They were mainly ice by the look.
“I'd thought to sell my wares at the King’s week festival here, and wanted to get permission. Counserina Ward and Baronetta Coltress both said it would be all right, but since I want to set up in your front yard to avoid ground rental fees…” He passed out the drinks, which Tor checked openly for poison first. The one Tor got didn't even have alcohol, but the others all did. They were even better than the ones from Ward, except there was none of the pineapple and coconut drinks. The red berry mix he had in front of him was good though. Bonita had something yellow and tart smelling, with waves of alcohol fumes wafting off and Trice had a drink that was a brilliant green. Karina had two, and suggested that they give them away for free. Morgan blanched, but Tor nodded, taking her meaning.
“Let’s do food too. Morgan, what will it cost? You won't lose money, probably make a lot more. I'll just cover it for everyone so a lot more people will probably have them. I’ll pay in advance, so you can get supplies. Can you work up something in purple and gold too?” Richard’s birthday, so his colors.
Nita made notes and Tor suggested a cold box for the ice to be kept in, using a freezing unit. He wanted to make a miniature snow box that would keep the cold in and make enough for all the drinks constantly, but even thinking about it was stupid, since it might just kill him at the moment if he tried. Instead Morgan and his helpers would use a metal blade rubbed back and forth to shave the ice. It worked and Tor knew it was better that way, letting other people do for themselves, plus the helpers got paid, so he kept his mouth shut and mentioned nothing.
He did give Bonita a box of gold to pay for everything she needed to, having Collette get it for them. It was just a few hundred gold, five hundred. He told her to just get more if it was needed.
That… earned him a funny look from the room, but she hugged him. Tor didn't get why people reacted to that. If she was his second in command for this, why shouldn't she handle the money? If he'd h
ad a wife, she'd have done that for him surely, right? And she was one of his girlfriends. They'd both said so. That meant it was real.
Maria smiled at him then, looked down and back up at him. Now, over a year after the first time he'd seen her do it he understood what it meant. She was flirting with him. Him? The Troll of Galasia? The one she accused of all sorts of perversions and vile things, not the least of which had been trying to force her to have sex against her will, when they'd only ever even talked once, and that being mainly her attacking him verbally? Why? Did she have some plan in mind? Some game or trick to make him look stupid or some new way to hurt him? Sure, she'd apologized, but she'd also admitted that she didn't mean it at the time. Not totally, just because his flower arrangement had been too good. Pretending not to see he looked away and started going into the food arrangements.
They had some kitchen staff, but no other servants, which was fine with him really, the house mainly took care of itself after all, so when a knock came on the front door Tor jumped up and walked quickly to get it himself. The door was just outside the main dining room, the smaller of the two, but they didn't have to feed hundreds of people yet so it made sense to use that one, right?
It took him about a minute to get to the door, and on opening it he saw two older people that looked only vaguely familiar at all. He searched his mind and figured it out. It took another trance really, the data being a little obscure.
The very first royal party he'd gone too, the people being announced just ahead of him. The Duke Brettermere and his Duchess. They'd never spoken or anything. Well, perhaps they'd come visiting? They had luggage with them, a good ways back on the porch. Ah. Looking for a place to stay, but not wanting to presume anything?
“Look everyone! It's the Brettermeres!”
A small cheer went up behind him as the older couple smiled nervously.
Chapter five