by P. S. Power
Then without pause, she tightened her lips, stood straight and handed the brown paper over to him.
The words got him to smile.
“Oh? She just wants me to clean out your stables for you? That won’t be a problem… I think I…” He changed his hair color, using the stuff on his arms to get the color right, now that he’d noticed that was possible. Then he got his eyes to go brown. The clothing was made to look like what the people on the street had been wearing, but that was all white, if with a green cloth belt around his middle. There were wooden sandals with it as well.
“This… What do the people that clean the…” He stopped, trying to recall what the people along the way had sounded like. That required some focus. When he spoke, he had it close, he thought. Really, he needed more practice. “What do the folk that tidy the stable wear? Not this…”
Oddly, Maria lit up then, catching on first.
“Oooh. All right then. Brown. The sandals are correct. Keep away from the horses and get the grooms to move them for you. Is this all right, your station… I see the reasoning, I think. Also, you need to be darker. Can your disguise amulet do that?”
Willum shook his head.
“I don’t have one of those. I can just do the hair and eyes. It isn’t magic, really.”
The giant man nodded then, and dug at his own throat, taking off a simple stone amulet, which was on a chain of gold metal. He bowed as he handed it over.
“Here, please use mine. As a loan however, since I can’t replace it.”
Then the Countess touched his arm, making first his skin change, then something happen to his face. After that he was in a short sleeved brown thing. It was different than what students wore. She moved to a side table, and pulled a small hand mirror from a drawer so he could see it all. He looked different. His face was thicker. Older seeming as well. His hair had a few white threads in it.
“Thank you. I’ll return this before I leave. Where are the stables?”
That was out back, well away from the household, so the scent wouldn’t carry. He was able to sneak out that way, nearly, one of the women that worked there waving him out for the last bit.
“Hands don’t come in the nice house! Get yourself away before we all get in trouble. Why… I should tell on you myself. Now go on!” She wasn’t really mean about it, but he was out the door faster than he would have found it on his own.
In the stable it was actually very easy to get to work. He walked in, saw that there was a wheeled barrow with droppings in it, and empty stalls to be cleaned. Will simply started working on it. There was a pile out back, a good walk away, in the field. It wasn’t until hours later that anyone even stopped to talk to him. That was the man in charge of things.
“You new here? No one mentioned getting a new horse boy in. You do good work though, so I can’t complain. I’m Humphries. Stable master here.” He was about thirty, looked strong and was tall enough that he probably had claim to noble lineage.
“Tom, sir. Traveling with my master today. I just thought to be useful while I was here, is all.” He was trying for the same accent as the street. Humphries spoke a finer tongue than that. It was close to what Countess Ward had going on.
The man also asked questions. Carefully.
“I didn't know there were guests at the Estate. There are no extra horses, or a craft in the front…”
Tom nodded his head, being careful not to touch it with his filthy hands.
“Yeah. We came in from the box down the street? Countier Lairdgren, he lives away. I’m just hired on with him myself. Hope I didn’t put anyone here out? I have to admit, I’m trying to impress the man, if you see him? I don’t want to brag on my own work, but if someone else mentions it…”
That got a laugh and a slap on the arm.
“Sturdy there! If it comes up, I’ll pass that along. No harm done. None at all. Thanks in fact. I’m sure the stable boys won’t complain about a light day. Nice meeting you, Tom.”
The new man kept working then, until it was nearing two in the afternoon. If he had it right, that would be about noon, at the spaceport in Soam. It was hard to know, so he actually left a bit early. There was a tub for the workmen to use, he noticed, so he scrubbed up in that, borrowing some of the harsh lye soap they had next to it. Then, as soon as he was mainly dry and clean, he got out of sight, and changed back into himself. With red hair and green eyes. The outfit was the same as earlier however, though he had to remake it from scratch. That wasn’t too hard, but took real attention to detail.
Then he walked in the back door, smiling when he walked past the same dark skinned older woman who had shown him the door earlier. She grinned at him in return, which was a good deal more gentle than she had been earlier. It was tempting to ask after his man Tom, but doing that would just call even more attention to himself, so he let go the idea. Being too clever might just cost him eventually. In his hand he had the Count’s magical talisman. It really had been useful. That meant he needed to find one for himself, if he could.
The Count and Countess were in the same room, when he traced his path back to them. Moving in, he took the Count’s large hand in both of his, bowing over it as he placed the amulet back inside of it. The move was a bit clumsy, but the other man did his part, taking the thing without making a production of it at all. In fact, he just waited a moment, looked at his wife, then covertly put the thing away in a pocket.
“Dear? You were mentioning that a trip to some other locations would be lovely? Say in a week? Is that fitting to your own schedule, Countier Lairdgren?”
He nodded, not knowing that at all.
“I believe it is! Let me see if I can make arrangements for us to stay the night there? A magical house perhaps? Aunt Taman lives in a darling little pod, but something larger would probably work better for this. Let me see if I can find something?” He meant it, but didn't know how to explain the tiny thing that Tam lived in.
Maria just smiled at him.
“Are you living with her? That… You must be very close. Not that I blame her. If you were my nephew I’d probably be doing the same. Just be careful not to get her with child? That would be more scandal than she needs just yet.” The words weren’t rough or course. Not even stated in a way that seemed like she was condemning anything that they might be doing.
Instead of acting upset, since he kind of thought this might be a test, he just smiled.
“Ah. See, I should get you to talk to her on the topic. Or not. She is my aunt as pretty as she is. Too close to do much with that way. I…” He shook his head then, letting his accent become a good bit less dandy seeming suddenly. The words as well. “Really, I’m not certain how to respond to this. What’s the polite thing to do here?”
The Count smiled gently his face kind. It had been the whole time, but now he winked along with it. Like an old man from the village when he was about to explain a simple truth.
“You didn’t do poorly. The trick is, do you wish to be linked to your aunt that way or not. On the one side of the coin, she’s lovely and powerful. On the other, as you mentioned, close family. A denial is never the right way, so pointing out that you’re working for her, or running errands would give a sense that you were, perhaps, more of a tool for her, than a lover?”
Will actually just stood there for a bit, then put his act back on all the way.
“Indeed. I’m taking lessons from her. Meditation and languages right now. She also sets me simple tasks. I’m sure that a report on that would be welcome, when you come to visit, Countess? Are you coming along as well, Count Ward? That would be fun.” He didn’t mean it the way that these people would probably take it. Then, if it was that kind of thing in their world, he might be able to manage well enough. Maria acted like she’d been invited to bed at any rate.
“Hmm. Perfect. Thank you, Countier Lairdgren. May we call you Willum? If we’re to be close friends, I mean?”
He kind of got that one. Close friends would mean he was actuall
y agreeing to bedroom things with them. It had been mentioned in two places, in the very book that she knew that he’d memorized.
“Call me Will? All my friends do.” Which was true, actually.
The Count smiled at him, then gave him a hug. A real one. It required a lot of bending down to do.
“I’m Marvin, then.”
The Countess joined in with the holding, managing to kiss him on the cheek.
“Maria. This is wonderful. I didn’t think we’d be making friends so quickly. Do you have time to stay for luncheon? Perhaps, something more, after that?”
He sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t today. I have lessons at noon. Soam time. Then later tonight I have more lessons, learning English, then a date with the teacher.” He knew instantly that he shouldn’t have mentioned the strange, dead language to them.
Worse, Maria went wide eyed. Meaning she understood more than he would have figured about it. It was the kind of mistake that he couldn’t afford to make again. He probably would, but it had to be limited. The wrong words in the wrong place might just have him dead, later. Hunted at least.
No one spoke on it, however. Maria took him into her arms and kissed him on the mouth though. It was the sensuous kind. From page two of the book. He had no practice in that at all, so tried to pay attention and do what had been in the two paragraphs on the topic. Then he got to do a less sexual version of the same thing with the Count. Apparently they were all that kind of friends now, after all.
“Sorry I have to dash away. May I contact you? I have a handheld…” He didn’t know if they would however. Marvin pulled one from his pocket, seeming pleased.
“I’m in this as Count Marvin Ward. So it comes up under the letter C. Maria is just a few places below that. In the Countess section, of course. You’re under Countier Lairdgren?”
He wasn’t, actually.
“I’m not in it at all. It makes it harder to find me.” Really, he hadn’t worked out how to do that yet. He’d been passed a unit, but not been given all the data about how to work the thing.
Maria just took a very deep breath then.
“I understand. That… I’ve never heard of that, but, yes. So, you’re rather…” She stopped then, shook her head and smiled. “Never mind. Please get in touch soon?”
“I will be. Both of you, try to get away next week? For a few days, if possible. We should go to several different places. You’ve heard of the new fleets coming here?”
The Count smiled then.
“We have. It’s a bit of a secret, but we’ve both been to visit, for a few hours. It would be wonderful to return, if possible. They’re fascinating people. Especially the Ysidril. I keep meaning to get in touch with some of them to invite them here for a visit. Have you met any of them?”
“Ambassador Neesa? Do you think she’d like to go on our trip with us? She really was nice.”
The others actually seemed enthused by that idea, so Will decided to try and set that up.
First though, he had to survive whatever it was that Taman had in store for him that afternoon. He had a sneaking feeling that he kind of knew what it was going to be already.
Chapter six
Will had to admit, his idea of what he was going to be tested on next was simply wrong. His brain had, for some reason, decided that being from the back woods would mean to Taman that he was sexually limited. So he’d be pushed that way for a while. That meant he sort of expected the little pod house to have two or three men in it when he got there. That, or a naked Taman, insisting that he have relations with her, to strip his mind bare that way.
Instead it was just a plate of food. Not even a full one.
It was sitting inside a stone box, since the fine white thing was literally crawling with insects. Most of them were large and unfamiliar to him as well. Looking inside the thing, he shook his head.
“I don’t think the book covered what to do with these… I take it I’m supposed to eat them?” It was that or grind them up to make different colored dyes. If so, they were probably going for brown or black, since most of them were in that range. His aunt, who was a bit mean in some ways, shook her head, her face serious seeming.
“No. You were presented a plate of food, suddenly. Everyone else is sitting down to eat, so what do you do? They aren’t poisonous. Functionally nothing really is to you as you are now.”
He wanted to get sick, but the idea was a real enough one. There was no way for him to know what might come up that way. Settling in the chair, he tried to shut his mind off, then, one by one, popped the insects into his mouth. It was horrible, but he schooled his face as he chewed.
“Delicious. Did you collect them yourself?”
It was the kind of thing you said to a person that had just fed you. Well, it was generally about cooking or baking the dishes, but it was a meal, so hopefully that kind of thing might play in other places. It did in this one, it seemed, since she smiled then, looking a bit green around the edges as he did what the current lesson required of him. That meant not throwing up at any point. Not if he could help it.
“I did. With a bit of help. Oh, Itzel was asking for you earlier? I’d mentioned that you were in training, but I think she’d be fine practicing with you, if you’d enjoy that? You may want to consider it, if you get the chance. You pretty much can’t let yourself have a real relationship, but who knows what you’ll be doing later? Have fun while you can.” She went sad at the end of the words. It showed on her face, but that vanished after a few moments.
He didn’t get out of cleaning his plate, which left him full enough that he really didn’t need to eat more at the moment. Taman pulled out a watch then, and shook her head.
“Well! I’d honestly figured that you were going to balk at doing this at all, then we’d have a fight about what was needed for your training… This took much less time. You should probably fill that with meditation. I’m working up a new training device for you, since you’re doing so well so far. How did things go in Warden?”
He still felt a bit like things were going to crawl back up his throat, even though he’d made certain to chew well enough that he knew for a fact that wouldn’t be happening. Willum took a deep breath, forcing his stomach to settle and not spew back onto the table. That would be a failure, and so far he’d made things happen, more or less.
“I cheated a bit. The Ward’s helped me work into the stable for the day, for that cleaning. I borrowed a disguise amulet? I need to get one of those. Do they have them anyplace?”
Instead of calling him a cheater, she smiled.
“So, you managed it? That’s not horrible. I was half afraid that you’d balk at that kind of labor. I keep forgetting that you weren’t raised as a noble. You’ve probably done that kind of thing before, haven’t you? Mucking stalls and all that?”
He had. More than just that.
“For the last few years one of my jobs has been to go around and help keep the streets clean of that kind of stuff in Pine Creek. It’s not that different. Less fresh, but I do know how to use a shovel.”
“Good. Not to put too fine of a point on things, but we need to step up your training. There’s been some news… People being around that aren’t supposed to be. We have spies on them, but that doesn’t trace anything back to other worlds. You aren’t ready for that yet.”
He wasn’t. The problem there was that he might never be. No matter what he did, or allowed to be done to him, it could be that he’d always be far too alien to fit in where they needed him to go. To kill a bit of time, he covered the things with the Ward’s, which got his aunt to smile at him.
“All right. Set that up. We can put a palace up here for them in a few days. Collect up some people to play servant for them. Neesa… I like that. Use the trip as an excuse to pick her brain about how to mingle with the new fleet. Then develop a personality that will allow you to blend in there. That will be harder, so pick wisely. As for disguise amulets… You can get them from the magic shop
in Harmony. They call them makeup amulets, but it’s the same thing. Get several of them, in case you have to disguise someone else as well. Carry what you need at all times.”
Not that it would help him. After all, using magic was a great trick, but even if he could make the stuff himself, it was possible that he’d end up in places where that kind of thing didn’t work, or was forbidden or would be too obvious. That meant, while he was going to get those amulets, Taman would, most likely, insist on taking his away all the time for lessons.
After all, that just made common sense. If anything in the situation could be said to hold that ideal now.
“I can go and do that? The devices first, then getting with Neesa and setting things up, if possible. I have English class in… Three hours? That isn’t meditation, but…”
His aunt shrugged.
“Then hurry. An hour of practice is better than none.”
They’d been speaking English the whole time, so at least he was getting a bit of practice in that way. Taman had a different accent than Doris had, so he reviewed that part of things, as he stood up. Then he smiled.
“I won’t be back until late. I have a date with Doris tonight if all goes well. I’ll work on things between class and then?”
“Fine. I’ll see you in the morning. For now, the trip with the Ward’s is going to be your new mission. Once you finish with Doris. The ultimate goal is to infiltrate the incoming fleets. You can’t do that as Will Baker, either. So figure out how to get that done.”
He nodded, then left, trying not to think about what he’d had for lunch that day. Even he knew that some people ate very different things in other places. They wouldn’t always be wonderful to his palate. Learning to pretend to enjoy it was probably a good plan.
“Thank you for the meal. It was lovely.” He didn’t bow to her, since they were in Soam. They didn’t do a lot of that there as far as he could tell. It was more about waving at people and being friendly. So he did that, smiling as he waved goodbye.
Looking down he realized that he was still in his visiting outfit, so as soon as he walked down to the transport system hut, that was altered. Just to a plain brown set of clothing. Then, with a bit of focus, he made that a light blue. Like the sky. He switched his hair to blond, but made a point of making his eyes just a bit darker than the color he wore. His boots were made a solid black this time, however. It was more normal. Going to Harmony meant that everyone had magical clothing. Nearly so. So color would be allowed and probably expected. He didn’t go fancy however, since being too bland was almost always going to be easier to explain that coming in dressed too grandly for the world he was in.