by P. S. Power
"That makes sense. If the Queen isn't going to do you herself, she needs to at least throw one of her daughters your way. Honestly however, I'd suggest you see about Karina for that. She seems lonely lately. Later though." She got off the device, and it went blank, showing only the smooth pale glass like focus stone at first, with colorful names coming into place moments later.
Finally he managed to get to bed, and didn't wake up until morning, when someone poked him on the shoulder tentatively. He managed not to swing on the girl that was doing it. The same one from the kitchen the night before.
"M'laird? Su'mt guest is at'able. You'd din'afor ya'lev?"
Gerent had to translate the words, but he'd been in enough back villages to get the idea. Some of the guests were already eating and he should eat before he left, if he was going to.
He nodded at the girl, who was both small and scared looking, but who had, it seemed, managed to get the right idea and wake him for the day in time.
"Thank you! I almost overslept. Say, what's your name? I'm Gerent. Call me Ger, if it's easier."
The girl blushed and looked down, but answered anyway.
"I's be an Laney Samson, M'laird."
Gerent winked at her and got up, dressed in decent night clothes. It wasn't until he stood that he noticed that certain parts of him were already awake, it seemed. He glanced down and that got the girl to as well. She looked panicked by the whole thing, but he just made a loopy face.
"I need to shower. I'll be down in a bit? If you could tell everyone?" He wasn't certain that Laney could manage that, but she bobbed her head and left anyway, going faster than was strictly polite. Horribly embarrassed, most likely. If she was from the kind of situation he suspected, then seeing him in that state was probably about the same as if he'd been naked and... In that basic state. It was embarrassing, but there was nothing to do about it then, except pretend that it hadn't happened.
Hopefully she wouldn't be scared of him after that.
Cleaning up didn't take long and he dressed in bright red and green velvet for the day. It was festive and everyone that saw him smiled. Probably at his horrible taste, but no one commented on it. He grabbed a ripe peach before he went, and two slices of toasted bread. It was good, and he could have eaten a lot more, but he didn't really have time for it at the moment. Everyone else was eating already, and starting to finish, when Princess Veronica and four Royal Guards walked into the room. They all looked very deadly and proficient. Three of the guards had bags with them. Large ones that made their muscles ripple as they carried them.
They were all the same, but made of sturdy canvas, un-dyed and undecorated. This wasn't the luggage of the Princess then. Gerent stood up and walked over to them, the girl in the middle, dressed in an almost see through gown of pale blue. She stepped forward without pause and kissed him on the cheek, taking both of his hands in hers. Selling the role she was playing pretty well.
"Prince Gerent! It's so lovely of you to invite me on this outing. I know that it might be inconvenient, my bringing guards with us, but father insisted. Mother as well. I hope you aren't offended?"
He looked at the Princess first, and understood that she was taking the guards along for some other reason, not just for self-protection. There could be anything in those bags too. Weapons or some kind of illicit substance that Gerent didn't have the sophistication to know about. The only saving grace there was that he really doubted that these people would have anything too dangerous with them. Still, could he risk taking them along if they meant harm? They shouldn't, but how was he supposed to deal with this.
Looking at the very lovely girl in front of him, who reminded him, perhaps a bit perversely, of Tor for some reason, he managed a small bow.
"I'm not offended, but I can't allow them to go with us without having their luggage checked first. Also, you might tell me what the real situation is? I'm not trying to be rude, but..." He sounded that way. Cold and haughty, as if he were telling a Princess that she'd better dance to his tune, in her own Kingdom.
She seemed to take it that way too, and gave him a look that seemed to spell out the fact that she was not at all pleased with him acting that way. Even if he was taking her back and forth to see her daughter.
The guards however just placed their bags on the floor near his feet. The one that didn't have anything with him, who was an older man and seemed to be in charge, waved at the things with his whole hand. That one was George the Royal Guard. Their leader, Gerent thought.
"Please feel free to look through them. It's mainly clothing, a few weapons, but only those designed to defend our charges, and some personal items. Hobbies and things like that. The King simply suggested that we ask you if it would be possible to take these people with us, since they have duties at your destination." There was no sidelong look at Veronica, but the girl glared at the man as if he were speaking out of turn.
Then she crossed her eyes, in a very unflattering manner and rolled them to the ceiling briefly. It looked funny, rather than quite as upset as she'd seemed even moments before, but she didn't say anything, even after her face went back to its normal, very controlled, expression.
Looking around Gerent saw Dorgal, just getting up from the table, and waved him over. After all, he was the First Mate, so that made sense. A high enough rank that no one would be too insulted by him being the one to paw through their things.
Before he got there, he explained the idea, just so no one would be upset by it.
"Our First Mate. He'll do the actual bag searches, being familiar with magic. Dorgal, these people are moving to Harmony, for their jobs. Could you make certain they don't have anything they aren't supposed to with them? I'm sure it's fine, but we should have some kind of test in place before we just let people go with us, shouldn't we? Really, we need to be testing everyone, since the traffic coming and going is about to pick up a lot." He tugged out a Truth amulet, as a joke, since they did that to anyone visiting the King all the time, but Princess Veronica took it first, and tapped it on, letting herself be surrounded by a glowing nimbus of white, that had two even foot wide strips of yellow running up and down in the thing, connecting over her head in an arc. It made for a very lovely scene, until she spoke.
"This is annoying." She said it as an offhand comment, but the thing didn't turn black, not even a little, meaning that she really meant it. "I plan no harm to anyone in either your crew or on the Moon, to the best of my conscious knowledge."
She had the amulet in her hand and shrugged, "do you need more than that? I don't think I can swear loyalty to a foreign power. Not even to get what I want."
He thought for a bit and looked down and away, then back before it seemed too shy or strange.
"Not needed. We just can't be seen to be bringing in criminals. There are laws on Harmony. If you cause the loss of air, or do any damage, you have to repair that yourself. Even Queen Tiera has to follow that one. Also, no hurting people, but that's pretty much the same everywhere. Are you willing to do that?"
She made a face, and then shook her head a little, but her words were more positive than that.
"As long as it isn't a trick somehow that I can't see right now, then, yes."
They passed the thing around, and everyone took a turn saying the same basic things. When that was done Dorgal did the same, which started everyone doing it. He went last, but no one failed, since it wasn't a hard test really. You just had to agree to follow the basic rules. It wasn't like they were too complicated, or anyone felt they were really unfair.
After that, Dorgal did the honors, over in the corner of the room, away from prying eyes as far as the bags went. It didn't take long and when he returned, he just nodded a few times and looked at Gerent.
"All clear. Some weapons, but only things needed for their jobs like they told you. Nothing that will foul the air or harm anyone, I don't think. They'll need new shields however. They have Tor-class sevens, but everyone going into space needs at least a Tim-class one." It s
ounded very certain and official when he said the words. It was also a real point, so Erid, who was eavesdropping without shame, just standing behind Gerent, ran off and got some. He had his bag, a floating chest, with him, and inside had most of the amulets they had left, not having given them out yet. Not all of them, but enough to make him a very wealthy man, if he decided to take off.
He was, however, a High Servant. They might not all have the very best of reputations, but as far as Gerent had heard none of them were thieves. Liars either. A bit lazy for their order, perhaps, but this man wasn't even that. He was a good person to trust with things like that.
"Thank you, High Servant Erid. Can you check all the others and make sure they have the correct shields for the work needed? I don't think Crewman Misha will, or my... mother, Bonita. I'm not certain where they are."
That it turned out, was outside, setting up for loading, like he'd asked Bonita to do.
She might not have been the prettiest woman in the world, but she was efficient enough to make up for it. Kind too. Her dour and sad looks were at least hidden away that day, as she handed out pats and hugs, gently moving everyone to the correct places. Gerent jogged out, past the end of the lawn and set the ship up, making sure it was big enough to have crew quarters, and three levels, but not so huge that anyone would be frightened by it in the city.
It was done in the same way that Alice had them do the Space Fleet vessels, meaning it had eight sides. Six edges, a top and a bottom. There were windows for each room around the outer edges, and with a tiny bit of focus as he touched the side, the whole thing turned a deep green. After a second he added a sky blue stripe and one of Moon silver to it. He didn't actually know if they had national colors, but it wasn't really his personal ship. He tried to make it seem official for that reason. No one seemed to mind at least.
He also changed his clothing to match, making his garish festival outfit into a subdued green suit, with a single blue armband around the left bicep. On his chest he formed a little silver badge, that was just the Moon. Nothing more fancy than that. It looked right though, he thought. If a bit too primitive for the situation.
Then he addressed everyone else as he made a hatch near where he stood. The side of the green vessel flowed out of the way like water. Very well trained and highly colored liquid that jumped to his mental command.
"We have a few moments of loading, and then we'll be under way. Guests for the day, if you'll follow me? Harmony people, if you'll set up in the back? This won't take long." He barely knew what he meant, but Dorgal got everyone moving, along with Bonita. Misha stayed with Erid, so that meant they both ran into the rather big vessel first.
Ambassador Eto walked over to him, her face a bit confused.
"Excuses. May I be explained to? I fear that I am not understanding this." She smiled a bit, and waited.
"You're in the right place for now. Just stay with me? Really, we need the Princess and her... friends, as well." He tried to wave to Veronica, but she didn't notice him for a while. It was embarrassing, but finally one of the Guards, a tall woman that had raven black hair and high cheekbones, jogged over.
"Prince Gerent. Did you need me?" Her voice was smooth and her skin a nice tan that reminded him of Petra, just a little. He smiled, and then spoke out loud, without thinking about it.
"We're going to load all of you onto the bridge soon. The cases that we need to load..." He pointed as they all disappeared into the back, which was about an eighth of a mile from where they stood. "Are in place, so it's time to go. I need to get with some people and let them know the plan. Should I contact my fiancé, do you think? That's a new thing, and I've never done that before, or even had a real girlfriend." It was a real question, and he didn't know the honest answer. Was he supposed to be that close to Petra or not? He didn't want to pester her, but on the other hand, they should keep in touch, shouldn't they? If they could.
The guard nodded at him, her face serious.
"That would be a good idea. People respond to knowing what's going on better than not. You should get with the King too, if possible."
"And I promised Queen Tiera that I'd do that for her before we left. Good idea. Um, can you all come this way? We'll just go to the bridge." He waved and got more people than he'd been thinking he would.
Three more, to be exact. One of them was a rather regular looking common woman, except that she had a cross made out of wood around her neck, on string. She looked to be about twenty-five or so, and wore only plain clothing, without any adornment or makeup. Next to her was a rather mean looking short man that had a Vagusian cast to his face, who moved in to stand directly behind Eto. He kept watching the Royal Guard closely, as if expecting the much larger people to try and attack. There was also a rather unusually dark woman that seemed to be from Afrak. She looked familiar at least, from the other day. Kimi. The one that was planning to woo Erid.
"Are you all coming with us, as part of the crew? Or..." Gerent looked at the man from Vagus, standing behind the Ambassador. "Or are you her guard? If so we need to get you some weapons..." Gerent had some, but not to pass out. The honest truth was that on the ship, or where they were going, the things were nearly useless anyway. The only thing that was truly dangerous was the little wand he had from Tiera, since it could turn off shields.
The man just stared at him and spoke in a dead sounding voice.
"Crew." It was clear what he meant, but he also didn't move out from behind the small young lady from his land, either. She didn't look back at him, or speak at all.
"That works. Welcome aboard then, everyone. We'll have to introduce ourselves later. For now, if you'll come with me?"
There were nearly fifteen people on the bridge when he got there, and as promised Gerent reached out to his boss and little sister first. She answered instantly, picking up as if she'd been waiting for him.
"We're coming in a few minutes. I'm going to make a few more-"
She smiled.
"Excellent idea. I'll be here when you land. See you soon."
She might have let him explain a little more, he felt, but didn't let it get to him. After all, he was used to Tim doing things like that all the time. Tiera was close to as intelligent, as far as Gerent could tell. Not that he knew that for certain. Smarter than he was, but most of the world fit that description, didn't they? The idea left him thinking that some kind of lessons would be in order soon, if he could manage it.
The call to Petra was longer, but not too much since she was actively teaching a class at the time. The clash and grunt of bodies at war came from the yard behind her as she smiled at him.
"I wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon!"
"Well..." He nearly froze, but a long arm reached out and pushed him gently on the shoulder. It belonged to the nice guard that had mentioned he should stay in touch. It was enough to spur him into motion, which was the point, he didn't doubt. "I'm headed to Harmony right now. I'll be back here, in the Capital this evening. If you aren't busy, we can get together soon?" He nearly started into a long, and he hoped, very polite speech about how she didn't have to and he'd understand, but she just nodded.
"Um... Well, would it be too soon if we got together tomorrow evening? I have class during the day, but an off day after that." She sounded a bit unsure for some reason.
"That sounds good." They chatted for a few minutes and then he had to call King Richard, who really seemed to want to talk at length. Luckily it wasn't about his daughter, or anything they needed to be discussing in front of a bunch of people on his bridge.
With a smile and a friendly wink that would probably have most people watching thinking he was setting up a date with the King, Gerent stopped him from going on.
"Can we meet up tomorrow morning?" He was readying a lie when the man stopped talking and then waved to someone to his right. After a moment there was a murmur, and the red headed King spoke gently.
"Would Luncheon work? I have some early meetings, I'm sure we could r
earrange things if needed?"
"About two then? I need to be in Printer to pick up Petra by six, but that should be plenty of time."
The man looked at him as if there were a secret message in what he'd said, which he hoped wasn't the case, since he didn't know about it himself.
That however was agreed upon and the man let him go when Veronica moved in alongside of Gerent and put her arm around him.
"Daddy? Not to be a pain, but your ruining my date..." She made it sound a little petulant, but that just got the King to chuckle.
"Sorry, kids. Off you go now. Have fun. We can talk later, Prince Gerent."
After that he got a little squeeze from Veronica, and everyone took a seat, so that they could make the trip. Things lined up pretty nicely, so they only needed a quarter orbit to have a good line of sight and managed to get things into place in about twenty minutes. Some of the people on the Bridge seemed more impressed than the others, but no one seemed less than happy with it all. Ten slow moving minutes after that they were in the correct airlock, or he assumed it to be the right one, since the door had flashed alternating green, silver and sky blue at him, matching the ship pretty closely.
The people on the ground even made two sets of doors so that none of the Harmony volunteers had to put up with whatever the guests did. Gerent did dash over and stop them all, his arms held out to the whole group, as if saying he wanted to hug them.
"I... The entire Earth and everyone here, owes all of you a great debt. Your hard work and sacrifice may well end up being why millions of people live in the coming weeks, months and years. If you ever need anything from me, please let me know and if I can deliver it, I will." It wasn't a promise, but as speeches went, it was about right. Not too long, and not stopping the people from leaving after that. If he'd been passing a hat, then it would have been a longer speech, with a bit of guilt thrown in, but these people had already paid to hear the song. Or rather paid for the bread that others were going to eat that night and for a long time after.