Ambassador tya-4

by P. S. Power

  “What is this crap.” The big Baron, Havor, muttered looking at the bar in his hand, not even taking a bite.

  Tor didn't bother glaring. Really, he expected less complaints from a member of the secret army. He’d have to get with Kolb on that. Maybe some kind of special training? It wasn't the Baron's fault, but if he complained, others would be more likely to as well.

  “Survival rations. Eat it or starve, but we have work to do and a time limit. It's food and won't make you sick, so get some in you, and eat when you get hungry, we don't have time to whine about the food here. This is one of the biggest missions your unit has ever been on. Maybe one of the biggest anyone has ever done. So eat it, and don't think about it.” Tor's voice surprised him and made Trice sit up and look at him funny. He'd sounded enough like Kolb that several people looked around for the weapons master.

  The Baron looked at the bar, grimaced and took a bite, chewing as if it were poisoned and then trying it again. It wasn't of course, Tor had checked without even thinking of it. He always did now. Across from him Trice smirked, which was her go to look with him, he wondered if it was really a smirk or just her small smile? She seemed happy enough. She actually felt happy when Tor bumped into her field for a second.

  He'd been reading that look wrong the whole time he'd known her? Oops. What else had he been just getting wrong, he wondered, staring at her a little as he tried to figure her out. Her smile went mischievous and playful, which made him instantly check her field, feeling relived when that guess actually turned out to be correct.

  “Oooh, Commander Tor… ready for duty sir!” Going low her voice went happy and teasing too, “have any commands for me… sir?”

  A year before Tor would have blushed, flustered and gone over how he'd misunderstood her or how she was obviously just playing with him. This time, a year older and wiser, he got it.

  Finally.

  “I do, in fact. Right now we have work to do, but later I want to see you in my quarters. Naked and on your knees. Understood?” That he blushed as he said it didn't come through in his voice at all, he thought, almost proud of the fact.

  “Oohhh, fierce! Well then, yes sir, understood Commander Tor sir.”

  They both laughed.

  Chapter twelve

  The rivers didn't go in without a hitch, they had two floods in places where the water just wouldn't follow the pits dug, choosing to make its own way. The water in one flattened and spread into what would probably be a swamp if they didn't fix it, but Mutta asked if they could leave that alone.

  “Wetlands are excellent for water purification and holding the air temperature steady. There seems to be several streams developing on the other side so it should drain, we should wait and see what happens.” Her look was oddly excited by the prospect, which Tor didn't get. If she'd wanted a swamp, she could have just asked. That wouldn't have been too hard to come up with at all.

  The evenings were spent resting and planning out the next day, they didn't have wood for communal fires and didn't need them, since no one was feeling the heat or the night time chill at all. So they sat around a glow plate instead.

  Mutta, trying to get to know her perspective husband, had taken to sitting right next to him and chatting about Noram life, leaving Bonita sitting alone for once, next to Ali. Tor got them to scoot a tiny bit apart so that he could sit between them and put an arm around each, hoping it wasn't too foreword. He hadn't been with Nita much lately and this was about as much contact as he'd ever had with Alissa. They both leaned into him, which he took as a good sign. Leaning away could have meant anything from “don't touch me” to “wish you'd showered first”, of course he had showered already, the dust and dirt here kind of required it. It got into everything, even under his clothes and into bodily crevices that would have rubbed him raw if he hadn't cleaned up immediately after work each day.

  “There you are Nita! I know I suggested that Alphonse meet you and you two get to know each other, but I also told him not to steal you away forever. He agreed, but I think under the brilliance that is you, he forgot. Not that I blame him, it's obviously all your fault, how could he help himself? I'll let it go this time, but try not to let it happen again. At least spread yourself around a bit so I don't have to worry about fighting the heir to an entire kingdom for you.” He leaned back into her gently and kissed her.

  “Hey! We’re going to get married right? A little discretion then please.” Ali said, sounding almost like she meant it.

  “Sorry. You're right of course. Rude of me.” Tor kissed her too, trying for a chaste peck on the lips. She grabbed his ears and didn't let go until she'd made him do what she wanted for nearly a minute. It didn't hurt, so his shield didn't turn on to protect him.

  Tor felt bad about that. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he didn't want to break the law either. Not that kissing was covered in the law, but still, it was kind of sex adjacent in his mind. Really though, Tor realized, he didn't even know the laws about that here, he may have been breaking them already with Trice. Tor called out the question to the Ambassador across the glow plate sitting on the ground.

  “What? Oh… there isn't any actual law about that… You get married when you have the funds and wherewithal to keep a man. I've heard of girls as young as twelve doing it and as old as fifty going for their first one.” The small women looked around as everyone stared.

  Ursala blinked rapidly, doing calculations in her head.

  “But you have to be married to have sex? And only ten percent of the population is male… then, do you have a lot of girlfriends? How does that work?”

  Mutta smiled and giggled behind her hand, a Noram court gesture.

  “We do without a lot. Gray changed the people of Afrak several thousand years ago to not be as sexually… driven. We mainly do that just to have children. Still, if I wrangle a Noram Prince, I'd have to change my mind set on that wouldn't I? Having sex with people. It will take getting used to.”

  Ursala nodded, her face still. Tor got the idea, she'd been thinking of Rolph as hers almost her entire life and in a very real way she was right, but if she wanted to make it stick, she needed to get going soon. Bonita squeezed him and whispered in his ear.

  “Too bad I couldn't get married. No one wants me though. Still, this has been nice. Everyone on this trip has been so kind to me. No jokes or games at my expense. Thank you for that. It means so much, even if I have to go back to the country estate after. I'll always remember this.” She looked sad so Tor risked Ali's wrath and kissed her cheek.

  “Not unless you want to. Ali's already made plans for you to come live with us and, well, I did some checking around for you, since I can't marry you myself now, given the current plan, which I was kind of thinking of doing for a while… asking for your hand myself? Count Lairdgren likes you and he should have a wife soon. I talked to him about it and he seems to like the idea all right. You… seem to think he's funny at least, if you want I can try and get that going. Plenty of decent guys out there for you if you don't want him though. I don't get the whole thing with you thinking you aren't good enough… We could probably find a half dozen guys right here that would marry you right now if we told them you wanted to.” Who would be dumb enough to miss how great she was? Not him. Not Burks either.

  They all just sat and talked that night, for hours. Tor slept alone but got up early and started working as soon as everyone got things together. Wensa and her crew had all the rivers up by day nine, and the rest of the crew had the last of the main side streams moving out into the desert for irrigation and back into the main lines to prevent flooding three days later. It took a bit longer than he'd thought, but even out of the sand and bare earth seeds had started growing along the water already, the moisture spreading in large dark fans from the glistening muddy brown rivers and rivulets. They hadn't even put any out. They were just there, waiting in the earth for enough water to sustain them.

  Tor took down his little emergency house the next day and bru
shed his teeth after eating the tasteless fat bar he had in the bag on his hip. He wasn't the only one doing that, in fact he'd gotten the idea from Trice who suggested it to him on the third day. The cinnamon lingered in the mouth, but was better than just fat.

  Finding Mutta he sighed.

  “There you go. Ten full rivers even, instead of just four, and enough water to drown this vast desert if you don't monitor the situation closely. Believe that I'm not really the Court Jester yet?” He did his best to smirk at her, failed since it wasn't a look he could easily pull off and smiled winningly instead.

  Spreading her hands the dark woman gave him a serious look.

  “You can't be both? And to that end, are you really sure you aren't the Court Jester? You certainly spend a lot of time seeing to the amusement and comfort of others… Speaking of which great-uncle…” She fingered the amulets at her neck self consciously.

  “Can I keep the magic clothing and heat equalizer?”

  Since Tor hadn't thought about taking them back at all he nodded and asked if she wanted anything else. She smiled and looked down a bit shyly.

  “Well, there is one thing…”

  Tor just nodded when he heard it. It was a daring move on her part, but would make her proposal to Rolph a lot more real wouldn't it? Plus she'd invoked their family connection, which meant, by his rules, he was required to aid her. Not that he wouldn't have anyway.

  They all moved back to the ship, finding it exactly as they left it, later that afternoon. Tor started right in on baking, the crackers and bread he'd made for the trip barely passing the first day before running out. No one showed up to help, being tired and wanting naps, hot soaks and entertainments. For that most of them that seemed to play cards. Tor found that so boring he wouldn't even bother and preferred working or talking to people instead. Mutta had come with them, the big “present” she'd asked for from him, so she could press her case with the Queen herself. It was actually a good move Tor knew, since a woman in a foreign land would be a lot easier to ignore than one in the next room. Ursala wasn't any too pleased about it and hinted that she could have an “accident” on the way over… But only out of ear shot of his great niece.

  Mutta, it turned out, had a first name too and it wasn't even Ambassador. Close though, Tor thought. It was Abbie. Actually that was a nick name for Abumanintali, but no one other than Tor could manage it without adding or dropping syllables. She asked him to call her that instead of her last name, since they were family, a point she'd made several times when asking if she could come.

  Well, he could afford her upkeep easily, if it came to that, and she had all that medical skill, the Afrak were years beyond Noram in that regard, which made her valuable… Maybe centuries ahead. Even if the marriage to Rolph fell through, and Tor did tell her it was a bit of a long shot, she could practice her craft or even teach at one of the schools. The idea made her happy it seemed, she smiled at least, and suggested she could do that even when the marriage arrangements came through.

  The trip back found Tor with more helpers in the kitchen, since everyone was just that bored now, and working really did beat sitting around. For him personally it meant some actual free time to practice fighting in the afternoons. It was fun in a way, though Kolb and Petra were both constantly trying to get him killed it seemed, demanding he do better each day, and not just a little. They kept putting him up against four and even five people at once, which he couldn't beat of course, as hard as he tried. He was sore and bruised all the time, but didn't complain about it. What else did he have to do for fun? Mope?

  Trice started hanging around with him constantly, and so did Sara. It was nice enough, but didn't make a lot of sense really, unless it was a spying thing? But what was there to spy on here, his secret baking recipes? Tor’s failures in fight practice? Still, if they wanted to hang out that was fine, they were friends, spies or not. On the fourth night they both moved into his room with him, their trunks sitting along his far wall and both lounging on his bed when he walked in after dinner. Looking at the whole thing Tor crossed his arms.

  He didn't mind, but they each had their own room, they didn't even have to share…

  “Relax Tor,” Trice said gently, giving him a hug.

  “Were just claiming you as ours, that's all. You'll thank us later. Karina was about to auction you off to the highest bidder and a few of the people stepping up were definitely not your type. I think a few just wanted to have anal sex with you as revenge for making us eat those awful fat bars.” Crossing her arms the fuzzy headed bleached blond shook her head woefully.

  “Who could blame them? Those things sucked. They'd have broken you though and then no one would be able to play with you.”

  Sara pushed her a little and winked in his direction.

  “Oh, it wasn't that bad, Trice is exaggerating. Karina was just joking about it all anyway. We just wanted some company and to solidify our claims on you. Married or not, you're our Tor. Saw you first and all that. We'll Petra saw you first, as she mentioned earlier, but you seem to like her, so we need to work harder if we don't want to be left behind.”

  What? They thought he didn't like them? Why? He asked, but neither answered him until he comically started tapping his foot, hands on hips like a farmer’s wife demanding the shops oven bake faster.

  “OK! I'll talk, but don't get mad?” Sara looked at him tentatively as if he really was going to get mad over something. He promised not to get too mad, and hoped he could keep his word.

  It seemed that everyone thought he was being all stand-offish again.

  Tor didn't visit with the crew really, or play cards, or bathe with them, except by chance and then he didn't hang out, just washed quickly and leaving. Tor also didn't make a point of spending time with any of the women overly, even his women. That made him stop Sara for a bit.

  “I have women? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things. How am I supposed to know? I mean seriously, I don't think I can know things like that! I mean it may be, like a real thing, me not being able to see it. Is this serious or just casual? What am I supposed to be doing that I'm not? I mean, I understand I should spend more time with Ali, but there are others too?” He tried to think of who, but not much came. Sure, he had some friends, but…

  Oh, right. They were supposed to be his girlfriends. Ah. It sounded stupid, even in his own head, but he'd forgotten that part of things. Somehow.

  Sara continued without much pause.

  “It's not that big a deal. It's just that you're alone a lot, so we came to make sure you aren't lonely. Is that all right? Don't worry about the rest, we're just teasing. Kind of. But… you do have some offers if you’re willing. You might want to try some of them out, build alliances and make friends. People still think of you as a bit stuck-up you know. That or so discrete no one really knows what you're up to. If that's the case you might just want to shake that up a bit. You're supposed to be discrete with your partner, not the whole world.”

  Trice had to tease him then, because that was who she was. He even liked it about her, when it wasn't directed at him.

  “Let us know if you need the room, or, if you want we can stay and help?” She giggled after that. As if it were just a joke?

  Tor sighed and then nodded.

  “Alright. But when I bring back a small hoard of women, you two have to move along quickly. Otherwise it would get all awkward, don't you think?”

  Sara gave him a look that was so serious Trice busted up laughing. That got a sharp look from the blond towards her friend.

  “Trice… do you really think he can't do it? Or won't?”

  That got the laughter to stop for some reason.

  That night was fun, wonderful really. It wasn't that they did anything much, but they talked and kissed and hugged a lot. Tor would have liked to do something with them both, but didn't know how to ask. The trick was probably just asking. They weren't exactly afraid of such things, so why should he be? Still, he put it off until he fell asleep,
missing the chance completely.

  As he drifted off Tor wondered what he was doing here.

  It wasn't really his world, but if this wasn't who he was, then what was he? A bakers son from Two Bends? A Builder? A guy too dumb to score with two women that probably would have jumped at the chance if he'd even mentioned sex, if only because it was less boring than chatting with him for hours?

  Sleep took him hard and his dreams were odd, strange and uncomfortable. Sex dreams, a few with the girls in the room with him even. Trice had climbed in next to him at some point and the stump of her left arm was over him when he woke suddenly. She didn't wake and just rolled over and cuddled in to him when he shifted, her body warm and smelling faintly of flowers, her perfume. There wasn't enough light to see, but he could feel it was her and that she was in a deep sleep, not dreaming. Holding her close for a while he thought about what the dream had meant, if anything.

  It was simple enough. He'd found the new combat giant girl Dara in the bath and asked if she wanted to have sex with him, she agreed, even though the whole thing was way bolder than he would have been with a woman he didn't know, and he'd expected her to hit him for mentioning it. Then, there in the tub, as they were doing things, kissing mainly, her face melted and she turned into his friend Karen from school.

  But she was dead.

  They talked about that for a while, but the answer didn't make sense to him. Her father killed her? Was it a message from the dead? That was rumored to happen even to regular people, and all the building he'd done probably made it a bit more likely to happen to him, but Tor didn't think it was the case here.