by P. S. Power
Kolb didn't blink, reorienting on the merchant woman as if he’d been talking to her originally, his posture shifting ever so slightly. Like he was suddenly applying for a job. It made perfect sense to Tor. The man’s deep voice was slightly deferential when he spoke next.
“We're among the best ma'am, so we don't come cheaply. A gold per day for complete coverage, that's two shifts of two people each and we'll have someone watch the place all night for an extra half gold per day. Or stay inside, if you'd rather? We can provide more guards if you wish, at extra expense, but frankly, small times thieves probably won't even pop their heads in the door with people like mine here.” The smile he gave her was confident and professional.
Reassuring.
It was probably true too. If Tor was a thief he definitely wouldn't want to challenge the big Baron just for a bauble, or even gold. It would be safer to move on to easier pickings.
Tor had an idea though.
“What about a patrol for the whole street, in addition I mean? Say for the duration of the festival?” It would put more bodies on the ground when Karina was there and they could be primed to keep an eye on Lilli and her crew.
Kolb gave him a small partial bow of acknowledgment.
“Three golds extra per day for that. Setting a patrol during goings on like this with less than six people out won't work. For that we'll both walk the streets and check with each tradesman in the area hourly, so they know who to go to with trouble. We'll coordinate with the city guard as well, since we're in good standing with them. Four golds per day in all. Night coverage too though.”
They made a deal and Debbie paid, half up front, for the entire festival. As a bonus Tor “hired” Kolb to be his personal body guard while in transit, a gold for the whole week. If nothing else it would probably stop Karina from selling him into prostitution again. Plus that way he could explain what was going on to the man without anyone really overhearing. There was so much to tell and some of it was convoluted. The large and dangerous man just nodded as they moved along on foot back towards Tor's place.
“I see. We need to isolate this girl Lilli, and make sure she isn't going anywhere. Kari, could you provide location information for us? I'll set people to it immediately. Tor what are your plans for the day?” The man used the Princesses shop name easily, as if she was exactly what she seemed, a girl, possibly a merchant of some kind, helping them with the treats for the festival. That was good. Karina didn't even blink at it either.
Did he have plans though? After the bakery… just party stuff. Kolb shook his head and grinned. His plan involved Tor running around the city twice and then being beaten in public as a spectacle for the amusement of children. Sighing a little Tor agreed, which got a smile and a head shake from the man.
“You could say no you realize? I can't really order you to do it…”
“Yeah, but I need to, it will suck, but I've kind of been relying on magic to bail me out for a while now. Time to actually put the kind of effort I have into building in some other directions too. Running and fighting are a good starting place, right? Baking too.”
If Kolb had a giddy and girlish look, what he did next was it, a grin and a wink that looked far too happy.
Tor didn't trust it at all.
When the Warden people took the baked goods and started setting up an early food table, a line forming before the second light colored wooden tray of golden pastry was even laid on the purple and gold linen cloth, Tor altered his shoes for running comfort and started trudging slowly. Either the wall was bigger than he thought, or he was slower, but nearly two hours later Tor came back to find a square for fighting practice had been set up, five instructors setting people, mainly young men under twelve, but a few girls and some older people as well, through the basics of sword fighting.
Kolb picked a giant, a huge woman, who wore full practice armor, blue gray leather over thick padding that covered her arms and legs, but left gaps at the joints for movement and protected her head well, neck partially and left her sides nearly uncovered. She held a heavy wooden practice blade, the kind that really hurt when it hit you. He'd been knocked out more than once by them himself, so he knew they worked.
“Tor, if you'd bout with Bressa? No magic please, of any kind. Other than that, no rules, other than practical safety.”
That just meant she could hit him for real, but not kill with her wooden bludgeon. Tor couldn't even use his shield, so he had to take it off, since it would turn on the first time Bressa swatted him. Well, if anyone tried to kill him here, Kolb and his people would protect him. Or he'd die. One way or the other.
Bressa didn't wait for a signal, so Tor started out by running away, to the laughter and delight of everyone watching, including the children. It meant Bressa didn't hit him with that club, so Tor did it. A few of the watchers didn't chuckle or hoot, instead stood and regarded the show seriously almost as if they expected him to manage something clever or skillful. He mentally found the weapons rack and worked his way towards it, managing to grab a small sword, also of dull blond wood that would have been a mere knife in one of the giants hands, but suited him well enough.
People forgot that blades were heavier when you swung them. Go with too heavy a blade and your whole body became committed to the movement. Too large a weapon and a body could swing in a half circle with each blow, you couldn't help it if the weight was enough. If he did that here, the combat giant would probably beat him bloody, by accident.
He had to keep moving.
Because really, on any given day he wanted to avoid crippling beatings if he could.
The fight went on and on, Tor trying to pay attention and learn while he did it, instead of just scrambling and flailing like he normally did. Bressa finally killed him, a single blow that took him on the shoulder and drove him to his knees, but he managed a stab that slid under her armor and would have done more than that if the blade had been sharp.
“Mutual kill.” She said, happy enough about it, as if she'd expected him to actually win somehow. Because, yeah, that happened. He didn’t even have armor on.
Tor just struggled to keep the tears from his eyes and waved at her with a grin. As he did that Kolb came over and started to tear apart everything Tor had done, suggesting improvements. He almost always did something like it, but this time Tor stopped him more than once, and asked why, instead of just accepting what was said. Then asked for specific demonstrations of moves and when the large man left he spent about an hour trying to work though each of them in his mind while striking the air using the move as precisely as possible. It may not make him better, but it felt more engaged at least, which was something. Everyone broke for lunch, which included pulled pork sandwiches with a creamy sauce and banana's on the side, which someone had flown in from the south. It was good and filling enough, a special and exotic treat for him still, and most of the people from the Capital had never had such things at all. It was all Warden food.
They were giving it away to everyone for free, and had set up tables, about twenty of them, for people to sit at while eating, with weird. Round focus stone benches that went all the way around them and didn't move. They were a nice light tan color though, like glass, so the local focus stone product. With crowding and a bit of elbow bumping six to eight people could use one at a time. It was kind of fun, even though he ended up at a table with a group of boys and girls that were all between ten and fifteen. Dressed in clothing that looked a little poor maybe, but they seemed happy enough over all.
The free food was good, and there was stuff for them to actually do this year. Games and prizes and events. Usually King’s week had a few rallies and vendors in the streets selling greasy foods and wine, but there wasn't a whole lot for the kids. They were really excited about the music that was supposed to start at nine that night and run constantly until the end of the week. It was free for everyone, which included them too, right?
Free for everyone except Tor, that was. He was paying for it all. More g
old was going just to that than almost any single other things except refreshments and food. Connie had insisted though and musicians were notorious for spending their money almost immediately, so it would go into the general economy fast enough that way. Nearly as fast as if he'd just given it away, and to more places. Looking at the excitement of the kids around him he was glad he'd agreed.
They were all friendly too, accepting him easily, without hesitation, and one, a boy of about thirteen, asked if he wanted to go around with them and look at things being set up. There were, the boy informed him soberly, these magic things that no one had ever seen and even if they weren't allowed to try them out ever, just saying they saw it would be worth the time. Tor smiled and told them that it sounded like fun.
After all, Tor considered, he needed to oversee part of the set up anyway, just to make certain no one got hurt.
The group of them, he didn't get their names, or give his own, but that seemed fine with everyone so no one bothered, walked with him in the lead to the edge of a vast empty space, nearly the footprint of about half the King’s palace. Nodding to them all to stand back an older man, one of the Ward group, held up an amulet and activated it with his other hand, his white clothes and dark skin looking special enough to catch a little attention even before the mountain appeared before him. Then, as Tor had described, he carefully set the amulet into the “rock” in front of him, his right hand passing into the stone itself about four inches.
“Whoa!” The kids all said, or some version of that. One boy jumped and cringed away, then laughed about it, he was the youngest Tor thought, but not the smallest. Even the kids here were tall for their ages. All of them had normal looking dark hair, except one young girl with a sandy blond that set her apart slightly in this crowd, she was the shortest one, shorter than Tor even. He nearly blended with his own black hair and plain looking worn clothing.
The mountain had a cave that went underneath it and really, was only half a mountain. The other half was a giant pool with huge, vast really, stone slides that looked scooped out of the living rock itself. There was a staircase in the stone that you got to from the tunnel and climbed up to slide down. They all watched eagerly as a small flying river connected itself to the top of the mountain, which was almost two hundred feet high, turning the slides into waterfalls. The water collected at the bottom of each of the seven lines of falling water until the level rose to about four foot high making a swimming pool. Then another flying line cleaned the water and returned it from there to the King’s river.
It was impressive enough, and the slides went back and forth to slow the fall, it should work that way, he thought. He'd have to test it, since if there was any danger at all, he went first.
It was a rule.
The last time he'd let someone else go first he nearly died of a heart attack. Walking over to the tunnel mouth he was met by the Warden man who smiled and waved, first to him, then the kids behind him.
“These the testers then?” The man said with a huge smile, the go to expression for the people from his part of the kingdom it seemed. Better than frowns and curses, so he smiled back.
“Yes, but me first. No one goes down one of these until I do. If It's not safe only I should pay for my screw up, right?”
That got him a pat on the back and an easy sounding chuckle. The Warden people here were all easy going and nice, around him at least. Tor liked them. Then, they were the ones that did things like attend parties and things like that, even at home. So Larval attacks or not, generally happy people.
Behind him the kids milled uneasily, finally the oldest of them, a brown haired boy with deeply tanned skin, asked if that meant they were getting to try it too or not. At least the words were merely baffled, not demanding. The kids just clearly didn't expect to get anything for free, or have special treatment. Poor kids didn't.
Tor nodded and explained it all.
“Yes, that’s right, we’ll test each of the events. On this one we take our clothes off over here, by the benches, then walk through the tunnel, where water sprays over us, it should keep us cool while we're waiting to go up if there's a line and help keep the pool at the bottom clean, then we climb to the top and slide down. Wait for me though, to make sure I survive first, and don't go down till the last person has reached the bottom, we need to time everything so that the person managing it up top can make sure no one crashes, can everyone swim?”
To Tor's mild surprise they all could. It made sense, with a river being right there, but people didn't often do the sensible thing with their children. The kids all said they didn't know anyone that couldn't swim.
Huh.
Learned something new every day.
The next oldest, the blondish haired girl that wouldn't ever make it to cute, much less pretty, stared at him openly when he turned off his clothing device, but when he glanced at where her eyes looked he understood. She wasn't staring at him, but all the devices around his neck. Around hers was a similar piece of hemp string with a coil of wire wrapped tightly around it in the front. It was iron, he thought, she glanced down and blushed.
She thought he was staring at her breasts, which were a little small, but real enough. He hadn't been though. If she was thirteen Tor would have been baffled, but she looked back up and smiled at him and walked over before they went to the tunnel.
“Um, those are the new Tor's right? Mine is too, kind of. I went to the shop at the bakery, by the south gate? The lady let me look at some and hold them. I tried to make a copy of one later, it's just a light, want to see?” The girl tapped the metal and a small but well defined nimbus of light came from it. It was just visible as they went into the slightly dark cave but Tor felt a thrill of excitement.
She'd made a copy of one of his lights?
Without training and without a template? From memory… after just getting to hold one for a few minutes? That showed real skill! He clapped getting everyone else's attention.
“Gah, Lyn's showing off her little light again,” one of the younger boys said a bit derisively.
“Gonna be the next Tor you know. Like to see her make something like this! Come on, I want to try it!” The young boy was naked, they all were, and Lyn got a slightly embarrassed look on her face. It wasn't the nudity though, but what the other kid had said.
“I know I can't be that good ever, like Tor, but I can be good, if I learn how, I think. I heard that Tor went to school. Maybe I can go too? I don't know… we don't have a lot of money, gold, I mean, but I don't know… Maybe I could work and go to classes, just sit in the back and learn that way? I know, it's probably stupid, but there aren't a lot of people that even bother trying to become builders or even copiers. I know I can learn that, right?” She looked at him as if expecting derision.
Instead he shrugged and nodded at the light she'd made.
“That should be enough to get you a scholarship. You can read and write?” It wasn't a given, even for a city kid. Not all of them went to school if they were slated to go into a specific trade, but Lyn nodded.
“Some. Mame taught me. Said I'd need it even if I went into milling or tanning. Even whores count coins, so I learned sums too. What's a schooler sip? A kind of drink?” The question was innocent and cute, but Tor gestured at her to follow as he walked.
“It means that someone else pays for you to go to school, so you don't have to scrub floors all the time instead of learning. There's a bunch opening up for next term at Lairdgren school up north. That's where I went. I dropped out though, because of a girl, which was stupid of me, don't you think? I should go back if I get a chance… Actually, I think I will this next year if they'll take me. I have a whole lot to learn yet and they have some of the best teachers anywhere. Even the Prince went there before the war. Don't tell though, because he may want to go back too, and it's kind of a secret, for safety and all.”
The stairs were slightly rough underfoot, but it wasn't painful to walk on, just enough to stop people from slipping even if the st
one got wet. So far so good. When he turned to look at her Lyn fairly gaped at him.
“Do you really think someone would pay for me to go? Who? How do I ask them too? Does it mean I work for them after or… I don't get it, what do I do?” She seemed eager, excited by the prospect even.
It took a while to get to the top, so Tor explained that there were a couple of scholarships she could get and that people would pay for her to go, just to have another good builder later. The King did most of them, that's how he'd gotten in, he confided in her. Countess Printer was doing a bunch too now and she could also check with the people in Tor’s house down the way. Just go and ask for Collette, Rolph or Tor, he told her. Her eyes went so wide he was afraid they might fall out.
“What? Go up and just say “hey, you in there, send out the Wizard Tor so he can give me some gold for school”? I'm sure that would work!” She laughed at him like he was joking and pushed him, her damp hand slapping his bare back. His shield didn't kick in. Ah. He'd left it off. Oops, well, if it was gone he had more. Hopefully whoever picked it up would get good use from it if he didn't get it back.
“Seriously… try it. If you want to go to school and learn, you're going to have to work for it and do a lot of hard things. Facing down a fellow builder isn't even a challenge. What do you think he's going to do? Yell at you? I happen to know he almost never yells, and even if he did, so what? Just show everyone the field you copied and they'll let you in. If they don't, come find me and I'll take you myself. But try it on your own first. It will impress people. Wear clothes though. I think dinner is at nine. Might as well get a free meal too.”
The ride down the waterfall was fast and breathtaking, but fun and safe. There was a shield all the way around so you couldn't go flying off at all. It was just a matter of not going so fast that people drowned when they hit the water. It drove water up his nose, but that was fine, it was safe enough, he decided. That one waterfall slide at least. Tor made the trip six more times and then waited for everyone else to finish as he air dried and put his magic clothing back on. It occurred to him then that he could have worn swimming clothes and he blushed, but no one else had thought anything of a bunch of naked kids, not past the sight of them riding waterfalls at least.