Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15)

by P. S. Power

  The Count gestured for her to sit, waiting for her to select which chair she wanted. That would say a lot about why she'd come. If she chose one of the two chairs facing each other, it would announce herself as being there on business. More, that she wanted him, or perhaps Countess Thorgood's, individual attention. Not in a fun way either.

  If she picked the larger section of seating available, one of the chairs there, it would mean she came for a social call. Selecting a seat in the middle of the sofa would be announcing that she wanted someone to move in next to her. Being that they were alone, it would have been saying that she wanted to bed the man.

  It was kind of tempting, since she hadn't even touched herself in so long that she kind of forgot how it felt. It was probably why she'd been dwelling on the topic so much in the last day.

  Still, she didn't have time for that kind of thing, so settled in a single chair, but in the center of the room, meaning that chatting was the order of the day.

  Everybody loved a good talk, right?

  Todd didn't even look disappointed, his eyes lighting up a bit as he settled himself on the soft sofa across from her. Near the arm though, which was a sign that he didn't expect her to move over to him.

  "Now... Squire Gemma? Conserina Second Cannor? I have actually made her acquaintance. Great girl. I'm not just saying that in the noble fashion either. Count Ward told me that she once offered to kick his behind for him, because she thought he was being mean to Tor. Luckily it turned out not to be the case, I guess. There's no bad blood there, as I understand it. Between any of them? I didn't ask too much, because, well, Ward and his Countess have thrown in with the rebellion. How about you?" The words suddenly went pointed, and a bit hard, as if he really wasn't certain what side she'd be on?

  More, that it would matter to anyone in the world, one way or the other?

  "I'm in with King Richard, myself. Though for the rest of the day into tomorrow I'm actually the Ambassador to Noram from Tellerand. All official and everything. I got Terry to appoint me so I could get some work done. Nice of him, wasn't it?" She was being too familiar, but Count Thorgood winked at her, playfully.

  "That's not too bad then. I was worried for a bit, since you've been gone for a few months and no one here knew where you'd gotten to. I wanted to ask a favor of you, so I've been looking for a few weeks, in particular." Then he didn't ask, since that would be rude.

  Sara nodded though, feeling tired still, even after all the healing.

  "I was begging, often on hand and knee, for the people of Tellerand to accept the new food units from Saint Timon. You know, the ones that the All High, their One God, sent them?"

  There was a pause, but none of the Bakers were stupid people, she didn't think. He understood what she meant, even if his knowledge of Tellerand was probably more than a little sketchy.

  "That sounds hard. I... Noticed that you seem a bit thin. Would you like to stay here? We have plenty. Or... I have a device that Tiera made you can have, if you need it? It makes many different kinds of dishes, with very little effort."

  Sara blinked. Then she did it again, realizing what was going on. He thought that she might be starving, being on hard times, and was willing to give her a magical device worth hundreds of thousands of golds, to make sure that didn't happen. Because she knew some of the people in his family, no doubt. That made them friends, in his mind. Someone that you did whatever you could for, no matter what it cost you.

  "Thanks for the offer. It's most kind, but I'll be fine. I can just shake Tiera down for one later tonight. I'm supposed to have a meeting with her. The thing in Tellerand, well, we weren't allowed, by their religious rules, to make food for ourselves. It has something to do with showing how humble we all were being, begging them to take the blessings of their own god. So we, there were hundreds of us by the end, we didn't get to eat all that much most of the time. I'll be fine here, and in Harmony." She looked at him, as he relaxed, understanding the state she was in it seemed, now that it had been explained. "Now, what can I do for you?"

  It was just then that Ursula came in, pushing a silver cart with tea and muffins on it.

  "What can you do for me? Well, a hug would be a good start."

  Sara jumped up and did just that. They were friends after all. Close enough that they'd shared a bed on more than a few occasions. Not lovers though. The Countess had been recovering from being poisoned back then, and having just lost her parents, and the baby she'd been carrying.

  The woman was a bit taller now, by an inch or two, and had filled out some. Mainly through the chest, which Sara knew, because her face landed there when she was embraced back. Laughing she turned her head to the side, so that she could breathe.

  "How are you doing, Countess Thorgood?"

  There was a pause, then a kiss was delivered to Sara's left cheek, which took some bending over on the other woman's part. The lace from the blonde lady's red dress rasped a little against the satin that Sara was wearing as she pulled back. Hands moving to upper arms, as if fearing she'd get away.

  "I'm fine enough. The County is good, compared to most others. We haven't been hit with a major storm yet. We may not be, if word out of Austra can be trusted. King Richard has us working on the relief efforts from there for that reason. I have a meeting with him later to go over what's needed. Have you come to take Todd off to visit his family?"

  That would be the favor he wanted? It made sense, if Gerent wasn't around to do it.

  "That can be arranged. I'm headed that way later tonight, in fact. It seems that my younger brother has gotten himself in trouble again. Something about him trying to get out of a marriage he set up? With a woman from Afrak. That, or he did something worse, and I need to be on hand to execute him. The information is a bit thin so far. I'm worried, of course." She didn't sound it.

  That was down to her being too tired, really. She just couldn't care.

  Todd stood and bowed to her though.

  "That's a kind invitation, Ambassador Debri. I'd love to go with you, if that isn't a hardship? I don't have pressing business there or anything."

  "It's not a problem really. I'm going anyway and can leave from here as easily as anywhere else. More so really. Call it eleven tonight? I have that meeting with Squire Gemma at eight."

  That could mean anything, from her wanting to pass secret messages to the girl, or enlist her as a spy, to just trying to get her into bed. On the first meeting it would probably just be talk about who they knew in common. Showing that they had a good reason to be friends. That, and drinking some hopefully decent ale. She hadn't realized how much she missed the stuff. It nearly called to her now. Alluring, the phantom scent of it coming to her. Slightly sour, but full and rich.

  Not that she could afford to get drunk. That was a shame. It was nice to really let go, on occasion. That wasn't a thing that a spy did in public though. Not a good one, which she really was. Most of the time.

  She stayed with Todd and Ursula until nearly six-thirty, since they wanted to be polite to her for some strange, totally non-political, reason. Sara grinned at them both a few times over it, since treating her like she was more than, well, herself, was cute. It might have even made sense if they didn't realize that in less than two days she'd have all the power that any other woman her age would have had.

  At least if they had the Captaincy of a jump ship.

  Which was, come to think of it, a lot more than most people ever actually managed, even now that such things existed. There were people that had them, she knew. Gerent Lairdgren, a handful of people in Space Fleet, and Alice Orange all came to mind. Princess Karina, too.

  After a moment of actually thinking it through she had to shake her head. The implications there were a lot different than she would have ever considered before getting her little temporary job as an Ambassador. From a certain perspective she probably looked decently important, didn't she?

  Gerent was a Countier by adoption, but also a Prince of Harmony, and the Ambassador t
o Earth from there. The entire planet. All of the people in Space Fleet were handpicked by Alice Orange, who was one of the oldest people alive, as well as the head of that organization. You had to be pretty special to get that kind of a position with her, Sara had heard.

  Then there was her. The girl from Noram. No more than a merchant herself, really. There she was though, the first person on Earth to actually have her own ship, and her not even a Princess. She could see how someone might actually think she was important, given all of that, if they were paying attention. A good spy avoided that kind of thing however. Being noticed as special meant people were watching you.

  That was always the assumption, but it might get in the way of her work, eventually, if it kept happening. She wouldn't always be tasked with watching Tor and his family. Sooner or later they'd either catch on, which most of them had already, or grow bored with her being around. Then someone else would have to take up the position of being their watcher.

  Looking up she realized that Todd and Ursula had stood up, and were looking at her a bit uneasily.

  Sara smiled, and almost on a whim gave each of them a hug.

  "Sorry. I'm really pretty much wiped out right now. Sleeping on the ground for months and all that walking. You get the way of it. I need to see to some things before we go. Eleven?" She watched Todd first, since he was the one going. "It won't take too long to get there. We'll be in early however, so we might end up sleeping on the ship."

  When the words were out of her mouth she realized that he might just take that as an invitation to do a bit more than sleep. Which would normally be fine, but Sara was already starting to run on fumes. Nothing was worse than falling asleep on someone when they were trying to get your attention.

  Luckily she was dealing with one of the Baker family.

  "Do you need to rest first? You really can stay here. Maybe we could send a message to your meeting and ask her to postpone? I'm sure it won't be any trouble." The words were nearly noble in accent and timing. Clearly he'd spent some effort learning how to sound that way. Sara hadn't. Her training had focused on doing the opposite. Seeming like a merchant. Her mother had raised her in the Capital, and spoke like she was a noble herself. It was better for business when dealing with the upper classes. Sara's real accent was nearly as polished as one of the Princesses, but she affected a more common one, all the time now.

  She shook her head, even if the idea of spending the night in a magical palace was a pleasant one.

  "That would set a bad precedence. The next thing you know I'd be sleeping until nine each day, and holding parties all night. One thing that the military taught me was the virtue of being an early riser."

  Ursula gave her a final hug, then moved them all to the front of the house, out of the horribly ugly room they'd been eating lemon cakes in. Calling them muffins was a bit too lowly for what Todd had given her. If she'd gotten that for her birthday feast she wouldn't have considered it too dowdy. Slap a bit of sugar frosting on the top and it would be excellent for that, actually.

  Smiling as she walked she winked at Todd, "I was just thinking that you could bring some of those muffins along with us? They're very good. If I could bake at all, I'd ask for the recipe."

  Rather than be insulted, which nearly every other Count in the whole land would have been, he actually clapped his hands twice. Loudly and slowly enough that his deep blue shirt sleeves waved in response.

  "I can do that. Some other things as well. I need to pack, but I can be ready in time. Good idea. I should take something as a visiting present anyway. Which means I should leave you both here and run do that, or my offerings won't be impressive enough." His eyes narrowed a bit, and his happy face actually moved into being stern. "That won't do at all. I just wish that Terlee could come too. Neither of us has seen anyone in years. Not since they left."

  Sara nodded, but didn't say anything. If Countess Thomson wanted to go with them, she was welcome, but the woman hadn't asked about it, and...

  She managed to get out the door, and was in her small tan ship before she realized what she was actually thinking of doing. Trying not to let her throat close on her, she moved a bit outside the city and set down on the north side. That was where the new space base was being put in. All made of lovely tan and brown focus stone. Concentrated dirt. It was incredible stuff really, but not all of it was lovely to look at. This wasn't bad, but the kind made up north a few hundred miles was actually attractive. Black with streaks of red in it. Like the old style vehicle that Countess Thorgood used.

  Really, she needed to suggest to Todd that he have Flynn build them one, with fine carvings all over the exterior of it. That would be stunning.

  Patting her pocket, Sara tried to remember which one had the correct communications device in it. She had three of them now. One that only let her speak to Timon, Trice and a few other people. Most of them Baker family members or other Ancients. Immortals, really, since they weren't all that old. Most of them were younger than she was really. She'd never had to use that one, but the other two were handy enough.

  She pulled the one that Terry had given her, and tried to put in Countess Thomson using her title, which didn't do anything, meaning the name wasn't there. After a few more tries, she simply tapped the surface of the glasslike device, hitting glowing blue and green letters until she worked it out.

  "If her little brother put her name in, it wouldn't be as Countess anyone, would it? Not even Tamerlane. No, it would be what her people call her."

  That got set up quickly. Terlee. Simple and so close to being common that most would have taken it as an insult. Not that Countess though. She was better than that. Above petty things like being worried what was said about her.

  The voice that came had a picture with it. That of a lovely young woman whose face should have made Sara jealous. She was just so sweet, gentle, and generous, that begrudging her anything seemed wrong.

  "Hello? Sara isn't it? Tor and Tim's friend? Tiera mentioned you, as well. What may I do for you today?" It should have sounded phony, or at least merely polite, but it didn't. She'd asked what she could do for Sara, and meant it. Because she was a friend with some of her family members.

  Maybe even just because she was that good of a person.

  Sara smiled at the little image in her hand. It was perfect and as clear as looking through a fine glass window. She knew that on the other end the same thing would be happening too, so she let her eyes wrinkle at the edges, even if she were tired already.

  "Hello, Terlee. I'm taking a trip up to Harmony in a few hours, and was wondering if you'd like to go too? Todd's going, though Ursula is staying here, since she has work to do. I can come get you if you like? We're planning to leave at eleven, but I can push that back if you need?"

  She waited then, realizing that her casual tone might just be enough to have her killed, if she weren't careful. Rather than explode Terlee simply sighed, happily.

  "That would be perfect, Sara! I think that I can set up the nanny to watch the children for a few days. Or... Do you think that I could bring them? That would be too much to ask, wouldn't it?" There was actual shyness in it, since most people really didn't want little ones underfoot.

  "Nah, they should go too. Tovey can come, if he isn't busy? We can set him to babysitting to make certain that nanny of yours can go and do some sightseeing up there."

  That was one person she thought she could get away with teasing a little. She actually knew Tovey after all. They'd been part of the same crowd, after a fashion, in school.

  Terlee grinned at that, as if it were actually funny too.

  "That does sound fair, doesn't it? We'd love to come, if it really isn't too much work. We're in Thompsonville right now, at our house there. We could put out some blue lights to mark the landing area? It isn't big enough for a jump ship though. Aren't those vast?"

  That was the other woman simply making conversation, Sara realized. Tor and Timon both had mentioned that Terlee was brilliant and that le
ss information missed her than it might seem. Timon had mentioned that she wasn't as intelligent as he was... but that she was very close to that level. Since he was one of the smartest beings on or off the planet, that was saying quite a bit, wasn't it?

  "It grows, and shrinks, on demand. I can be there at about twenty after eleven? Sooner than that if Todd loads up faster than most people do. We can't count on that though. He's a noble. You know how they are." She deadpanned the words, but it got a laugh anyway.

  "So I hear. He's also Todd. I'd wager that he'll be standing in place half an hour before you get there, if you wish to test him on it?"

  "Um... maybe not. I set him to baking things for the trip, so that may play in to things. I meant it as a joke, but he ran right off to the kitchen. He has these superb lemon-walnut muffins. We'll also have Roget Smithson with us. He's from Tellerand. Um... Something like the third in charge of that land right now, after Terry and I. At least for Noram. So, you know, Ambassador's assistant, and all that."

  There was no audible pause or break in speech at all. It was a sign that Countess Thomson was just as quick as everyone said.

  "Congratulations. I imagine that taking Tellerand on as a project has been... Difficult. Gerent and Petra were speaking of the issue just a month ago. Are you going to their wedding? It's going to be up in Harmony."

  Sara tilted her head, really not knowing the answer to that one. She knew Petra, a bit, from school, and Gerent was her boyfriend, even if they'd never been on an actual date before. The man had been teasing her lightly about a year before and asked if she wanted to be, so she'd said yes. He was a Prince. Even as a lark it was better than being some woman that a Prince didn't know, wasn't it?

  She cleverly didn't bring it up, since it was so far from real that doing so might have been insulting to someone. Petra most likely. She'd been guarding the man like he was made of gold the whole time they'd been engaged.