by P. S. Power
Kolb just waved at the others to go.
"I'm certain they would appreciate the warning, since we'll have to search their rooms. It will allow them to pick up, and steel their minds so that tor can't find their secret stashes of pipe tobacco or the food they have hidden in their rooms. Tell them we won't be long, will you?"
The others just took off at a sedate walk, since Gerent was with them and he went at a reasonable pace all the time.
Kolb waited for them to round a building and then walked Tor between two establishments, into an alleyway that was mainly covered by the red tile roof of one of them. It was the second tavern, the one that had the serving women that could be convinced to do more than bring a drink for a bit of extra coin. It seemed reasonable to him, since some moron had taken a large portion of the economy and tucked it into vaults around the kingdom instead of spending it. He tried to fix that when he could, but things built up so fast. Maybe Gerent could do a better job than he did?
The bald man spoke first.
"Tiera is planning to overthrow the King. My sources are fairly good, coming from within the rebellion itself. She hasn't done anything yet that would require her to be hung, but she's close. She offered them a list of names, people working with the King against them. It isn't exactly difficult to guess who's on it, but we need to stop her before it happens. The little hot head is actually a good fighter and hard worker. I'd hate to lose her. More to the point, a lot of people would probably die trying to take her out. You saw how she was the other day? That wasn't a rare thing for her. That's basically how she practices daily. If you'd cut her hand off she'd have kept fighting. Plus she has those implanted fields now. Hard to take away."
Those weren't a new thing really, but Kolb had the specifics on them. Ceramic slivers that mimicked bone in the body, so that the immune system wouldn't reject them or force them out.
"She got them from Green. It's a brilliant idea. I want some myself if I can get them. Unfortunately school Instructors don't make enough to afford such things."
Tor got the basic idea. More, he could make them even smaller, so that it wouldn't hurt to put them in. It explained a good bit however. Like how Tiera had healed and not lost her shield after he'd turned them all off the other day. They were in her, so, while he could interfere with them for a bit, she couldn't lose them. Not easily.
"I can probably arrange that. It won't take that long even. I was serious about the new weapons though. If I hadn't created the new explosive weapons, Sandra wouldn't have been waving it at my little sister and poor Regina would still be around. Also, what would happen if someone did what you said? Knocked down a forest, or changed the course of a river? I should have never made them. Of course, if I hadn't, I'd probably be dead, but there is such a thing as taking a good idea too far. I get that now. Honest." Not that anyone had really lectured him on that. Except the Prince. Even then it had been mainly about other people having things, not Tor, except for the massive super-weapon he'd made.
That was for another day though. At the moment Tor had other things to worry about, didn't he?
"I'll confront her with that information later today. Hopefully we can stop that in its tracks. I don't think it will help Sandra at all. For that matter I don't know if we should even try. I guess it really was an accident, but..."
"You don't want to have your sister angry with you for the next five hundred years? Sound thinking. I'd imagine that would be a hardship, don't you?"
Looking down the alley, he could see that the space was clear. There were refuse bins on either side and they didn't smell nice, but it wasn't that horrible, since they all had lids. Only the narrowest band of sky could be seen from above, and it was a nice blue color, with just a few fluffy white clouds. The day wasn't hot, not that Tor felt it, but there was just a hint of fog coming from their breath.
"You imagine that would be uncomfortable? What, it's never happened to you? You've been around for a few thousand years at least, it almost has to have happened once. Probably with Gray. She was riding you pretty hard in Afrak, wasn't she? I'd thought that when she was talking to you alone there she was just begging for her continent not to be destroyed, or possibly trying to be a bit diplomatic, but she wasn't, was she? Did she try to recruit you into some kind of plot?" It was a vast leap, and after a few seconds the man nodded.
"Yes. She wanted the right to use a copy of my DNA for her research. I didn't agree, but also didn't say no. She's been stepping all over the treaty for a long time now. I didn't want to fight about it, but I also wouldn't want to force any innocent person to be raised by her either. Though she really is kinder toward women, and only has daughters. One continent is enough though. The world doesn't need more of her than that." The look on his face was bland too, as if he wasn't impressed at all that Tor had gotten that bit of information. "So, Did Green tell you about me? Or Brown I suppose? Lyn didn't recognize me, but we were never at the same place for long. She has a horrible memory for faces. I didn't get who she was until the ship though, so I can't say much. It's easy to forget people over the course of decades, unless you stay in touch. I make a point of not doing that overmuch, so it can happen."
There was no hint of getting ready for violence, but Tor let his mind range outward, holding it calm while he spoke, feeling the man in front of him as deeply as possible.
"Do you happen to know anything about people trying to genetically manipulate others? Particularly in my family?" The instant answer was a flash that sent a chill down Tor's back, temperature amulet or not. He truly did. He had a lot of information about it too...
Except that it was thousands of years old.
He raised a hand slowly, about half way, not wanting to start a fight if Kolb was feeling put upon or something.
"I mean with me, or my mother, Tiera or Timon?" He didn't mention Taman at all, since it wasn't his bit of news to share yet. Not with someone that might have dark interests at heart.
"I don't. Is that suspected? I have to admit the rate of production there seems a bit out of the ordinary. Also, you have Cordes' combat rage and so does your younger brother. That shouldn't have happened unless someone simply altered your germ line. That would mean you can pass those traits on. I was also informed that you have a Rhetistic copy of Cordes inside your mind? How's that working out for you? Any problems keeping him contained? Has he taken advantage of the situation?"
They chatted about that topic for a few seconds, but Kolb didn't share anything new on it. His only worry was that the mentality would accidentally assume command of the whole at the wrong time. There was no suggestion of more than that however. Not with the five hundred odd year old version in his head.
"Well, we should get together and share more later. Right now I think that we should see to your Lairdgren Group. Good kids. Solid. A little soft however. I think you should instate a more aggressive combat training program. It might stop incidents like the one from the other day. Morris shouldn't have lost control of her weapon like that."
Then, without waiting for confirmation that the situation was ended, the man simply walked away, toward the mouth of the alley. Anyone seeing them leave would probably just assume that he was servicing the larger man or something, since people in general had small minds. If not they wouldn't assume that Kolb being larger than him had the higher social position, would they?
The visits to the rooms of the Lairdgren Group didn't take long at all. None of them had roommates that were builders, since that could lead to problems if they weren't aware of what the other was doing. People might even starve that way. Well, at least for this crowd. That meant they were able to get into all the rooms easily enough. They did Farlo Ross first, since she was the highest ranked person and the most likely not to have a lot of death weapons in her sock chest. Surprisingly she actually had several, none of which she'd made.
"What's this? I can't have weapons now? I'm not really comfortable with that. What if there's an attack on the school? It's happened befor
e." She smoothed her hair nervously, but didn't force them to take the things from her physically, just handing them over.
It was Tiera that spoke, which at first seemed a bad plan, but after a few seconds had Farlo nodding along in agreement.
"This is just for when you're here. If you go anywhere else you can pick them up from Sir Kolbrin. They aren't being taken, so much as stored safely. It's actually in the school rules. I didn't know, but mine are being turned in too. We can have air lances and things at about that level, so it's something. That and a shield will be enough. If real forces come in, hightail it to Kolb and get your gear, obviously. It isn't perfect, but... What happened to Reggie... I don't want that to happen again. Sandra... They said she was tested and that she hadn't even been trying to kill me. Just knock me down by shifting the ground under me. It went wrong though, and now..." There were tears in her eyes, and since Tiera wasn't a weepy sort, it got the other Conserina to move quickly. They weren't even fake, though Tor really wasn't buying the part where Tiera was willing to let it just be an accident. He wasn't the best at telling how people really felt all the time, but he kind of thought there would be more death to come, one way or the other.
Kolb filled out a receipt for her, marking which weapons were hers and what they did. That led to a much larger problem, since none of them were made by her at all. Two were copies of his work, but of the five things she had, three were given to her by the others. That was fine, until they got to Guide's room. The boy was in, and looked the same as Tor remembered him. Decently thin, but not horribly so, wearing brown clothing and having a commoners brown hair. He was about the right size, not being any taller than Tor was, and he looked more than a little guilty.
"So... It's against the rules for students to have weapons at school? Even force lances?" He held one up to show them what he meant. It was on a brass bar, but was nearly as long as his hand and probably weighed half a pound. "Because if so, it might be a problem."
Tor took the weapon and scanned it quickly, catching a sense of it before he even held the thing in his hand. The weight was nice enough, but there was an elegance to the smaller versions he'd made. That it was a copy of a field he created wasn't a huge issue. He'd told the entire Lairdgren Group they could do that if they wanted. Or even make his things to sell, if it came up. He had enough gold after all, so why not?
"You can't have this one at school, it's way too powerful. A battlefield weapon. Why would it be a problem though?" Tor watched his face and understood the reason why without having to directly touch his field at all. He winced when he got it and turned to Kolb. "He's been selling them. Please tell me you haven't been selling them to other students..."
Guide forced a big grin onto his face.
"Hehe. Well... Yes?" There was a cute charm to the words instead of being glum or acting like he thought the world was going to come to an end. "A few of them? Only to nobles though, ones that would be allowed to carry this kind of thing. I really didn't know it was against the rules. I suppose I'll have to give everyone's coins back now, won't I? Hey, anyone have a few thousand gold I can borrow? I'll pay it back. I sent almost all came in home to my family."
It was really strange but Gerent spoke, his voice a lot more calm than it had been for most of the day.
"Why would you pay them back? We aren't taking the weapons really, they just have to be kept in the special storage. That way no kids will get hurt on campus. They can have them anytime they leave, just not around the people here." It wasn't perfectly stated, but it was close enough that Kolb nodded firmly and crossed his arms in a slightly intimidating fashion.
"That's right. You aren't responsible for that, I am. I will have to ask you to create something less dangerous for sale however. This level of weapon can kill. Much more easily than you might think. You walk around with a class eight shield on all the time, but not everyone around here does. The people in the taverns don't, for instance, and they don't deserve death every time a drunken noble brat has his feelings hurt."
That he was talking about Tiera wasn't lost on her, even if he had changed the gender. She crossed her own arms then, but other than a softly derisive snort she didn't bother saying anything.
Guide had a list of clients at least, but it took hours to collect most of the weapons. Two had been sent home for the kid's parents, which was verified by Truth amulet, and a third had been lost somewhere, the girl feared forever. She wasn't pleased to be talking about it, or to hear she wouldn't be allowed to get another one.
She was tall, and slightly familiar looking to Tor, but a fifth year girl, not someone he knew personally he didn't think. She would have been around however, and short back when he saw her, so that could account for it.
"I'd rather not go unarmed if I have a say in it. I know the rules, but things are unsettled right now and it was suggested by my mother that I take what precautions I can. Do any of you walk around unarmed?"
Everyone just looked at her, except Gerent who smiled.
"All the time. I'm protected by my good looks though, so you understand, it isn't needed very often."
The girl was, Tor decided, a darling, since she played with her hair and dimpled at the man.
"Maybe I should keep you around then? You can protect me..." It was clearly meant to be flirtatious and the woman didn't take it back or anything.
Gerent however seemed to take it the wrong way, closing down and looking at the far wall after that. The poor girl seemed horrified by the reaction.
"If I gave offense..." Her eyes went wide, but Tiera stepped forward and sighed.
"That wasn't you. A situation. Don't take it personally." It wasn't a real explanation, but the blonde girl, who was named Olivia, Tor thought, accepted it as if it were. She just bowed to the smaller man and apologized for causing him pain.
It was well done, but he feared that Gerent didn't know what the rules were in a situation like that one. Tor was about to try and nudge him into action when Karen did it, very openly making the suggestion.
"Bow back to her. You'll want to match the angle of it, since she wasn't in the wrong here, but neither were you. A simple misunderstanding, but you wish to part as friends, don't you?" There was a softness to the voice, but it had a scholarly air.
For his part Gerent did what she said instantly, his hands on the front of his legs, in a very formal bow. It wasn't wrong really, but it was what peasants did when they saw very tall people and marked him as that kind of person. Then, so did being so short, and having dark hair. The six-foot plus woman didn't mock him for it, not even with a raised eyebrow.
Karen spoke again, her voice slightly lilting.
"Oh! I should have done this earlier. Olivia Brenna, Baronetta second, Claris. This gentleman is Gerent Lairdgren, the fully adopted son of Count Lairdgren. By technical application that would make him Countier thirteenth. He's not in line to inherit the County of course, but he's very wealthy. Holds an open key to Tor's vaults. Not that coin matters to you, but just in case you're interested."
That got everyone but Kolb to blink or at least stare at her, except Olivia, who bowed again.
"I knew all my flirting would pay off someday. We should get together for a meal sometime and talk." It was a lot friendlier than the flirting had been, if promising less fun in other ways. She sounded pretty serious though, which was a good thing. No one was going to get away with being mean to his new brother while he was around. Not that he had any clue as to how to stop her if she were. It wasn't like they could have a fistfight about it.
Tiera smiled too.
"That still won't find your force lance. We'll set my brothers to it, so they can ferret it out. I'm sure that between them Tor and Timon can do it. If not we can see if Gerent will help." If she was teasing at all it didn't show, even though Karen elbowed her for some reason.
Tor felt clueless there.
Cordes however understood the interplay completely and dropped that piece of information directly into Tor's awareness.<
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'Your sister is promoting Gerent a bit too much. Especially after the very forceful way that Conserina Derring did it moments ago. They're on the verge of being rude to both of these people here. Clearly in an attempt to cover for the strange reaction Gerent just had. That's a funny name, Gerent. I like it though. Gerent... Rolls off the tongue, don't you think?'
After a few seconds Tor looked at the girl and remembered her flipping her hair at him once, years ago. He hadn't been able to get what it meant then, but now he could. She'd been doing some of the flirting she'd just mentioned. Even way back then when he'd thought himself a plain and rather dull person.
"Alright. Olivia, would you try to find your force lance? I'll try to make certain that you're well enough armed and shielded for protections sake, but it will take a few days. At the moment we need to be going though. This took longer than I thought it would and it's nearly seven already. Trice will have my hide. I said to be there around five. I feel awful about it." He did, but the words had that city feeling of dryness to them they all used, as if his emotions were just something to remark upon, not actually experience.
That did get everyone to hurry however and Olivia kept smiling at Gerent as they left, which was a good sign. They left directly from outside the dormitory rooms, Kolb making ready to walk away on foot. As if that was going to happen? He might not want to admit who he was, but that wasn't getting him out of giving all the information he had, if Tor could pry it from him at all.
Before he could step away from them, the craft was put up and made a bit larger, especially in the rear seats, so that Karen and the Weapons master would be more comfortable.
"Everyone in. You too Sir Kolbrin. We're all family after all, aren't we? It's only natural that we drag you along with us." He didn't explain what he meant but the scarred man grimaced and shook his head.
"So, you're really just going to out me in front of everyone? That's hardly fair. I've had this identity for nearly two decades you know. Not everyone has always been as accepting of people being different as all that."