by P. S. Power
"Tough. I'm not telling the world, but someone has been messing with things here, since before I was born by a good bit. Possibly hundreds of years. Finding out that the Queen is basically my daughter and that the Green line of descent has been passing without any contact in the normal fashion can't be a good thing. I'm getting to the bottom of it if I can and I need back up for that. You might not be in on it, but you'll know things that could help. If nothing else I can use the back-up in case it comes to a fight, don't you think?" It made sense to him, so he set his face and pointed at the craft, knowing full well that he couldn't force the bigger man into it against his will. Not without a lot of magical preparation first.
Karen interrupted handily, hands going to hip and a nice scowl forming.
"What? I... are you related to Queen Constance? That's not in the genealogy charts at all. Or Kolb..."
"That's because someone has been doing something more than a bit sinister. Kolb is an Ancient. Hiding here for some reason. Or really, maybe not actually hiding, since he didn't try to deny it when I mentioned the fact, but he doesn't go around telling people. Who knows how many others are around. He denies being in on the plot to destroy my love life using family lines, and I know that's true enough, but he's family after a fashion, so he has to help now. It's a rule."
Tiera made a face and then shook her head a little bit, turning it into a smile not five seconds later. It seemed real enough, but her mind was pretty blank, clearly being held that way so that he wouldn't be able to read what she was thinking easily. He still could if he forced the matter, he thought, but it seemed more than a bit rude.
"Here I thought being immortal was rare and special. Well, I guess we should all go then. So much for me getting married to Sir Kolbrin then, eh, Karen? Or is it? I know that not all of the Ancients are real family, it's more of a courtesy, right? Like calling Mayor Tom the Mayor, even though we never vote on the position at all. That kind of thing?"
Without comment Kolb climbed into the vessel and everyone else followed, Gerent still not making eye contact with anyone at all. It wasn't what Tor expected, but instead of a run down as to who was an Ancient or not, Karen started speaking to the much smaller man, who she took pains to make certain was right beside her.
"Sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't want you to feel out of place, but we needed to distract from the way the conversation was going, if we weren't to tell everyone all about it. It isn't a secret or anything, but no one has put it around. Your treatment in Galasia. What happened." Her voice carried up to the front, and even though Tiera was next to him, she spun to carry on a conversation as he took off. The world was a bit dark already, but not the pure black of night, so it wouldn't be that hard to find the Capital. He'd made the trip before after all.
Gerent spoke before his little sister could, meaning whatever she had to add to things was lost, since she very wisely stopped talking the instant he did.
He was the one that needed to be listened to at the moment after all.
"It... I didn't protect Patty at all. I tried, in that tavern, when that man said she was a whore, but when the guard came, I... I just listened to her and did what I was told. I shouldn't have. I should have fought and gotten us out. Then those... scum creatures, hurt her. They made me watch. They said that it was because I wasn't a real man that they had a right to do it. That's probably why they did me too, to prove I wasn't worth anything to her. They said as much. Like I didn't know that already? But I failed her. What that woman back there said... I can't protect anyone at all, can I? Not really. This is a world for the big and the strong and I'm pretty much the smallest person in it."
Those words got a strange reaction from everyone, since Tiera looked angry about it and turned her head away. It wasn't her normal glare that said she was angry at anyone present however, so Tor figured it was at the guards. That or the world, for having wronged someone she knew, that much. Karen tensed sharply enough he could feel the change in her field and Kolb just sat for a few seconds, thinking it seemed.
When he spoke his voice was soft and not aggressive at all.
"Then change. You can't be made larger, not in Noram, but you can learn to fight. You can arm yourself at all times and hire people to see that your will is done, protecting others. That's what a nobleman should be anyway. A protector of the weak. It almost never happens, but that doesn't mean you can't take that up. We can find you a tutor for that kind of thing if you wish. You're a bit old to attend Lairdgren officially, but if you want to do more than whine about how unfair the world has been to you, you have that power now. Do you want to really do something about it or are you content merely being wealthy and of good position now? No one will blame you if that's the case. Hired guards are also a tradition amongst the upper classes and have been for longer than I've been around."
No one moved for a bit, until there was a shifting from the back and Karen cleared her throat. Nothing followed it, since unfair or not, they were waiting to see what Gerent really wanted to do. It was a lot to dump on the man, but at least he didn't blurt out denials and claim his new wealth and position were a fiction this time. It seemed that they were wearing him down on that point at least.
"I'm too small to really fight. I'm not magic or anything either. What can I do really? It's hopeless."
Kolb actually chuckled then.
"We just had to confiscate nearly fifty weapons from school students, because they're too dangerous. Even in the hands of the least adept. A good shield or two, some top of the line weapons and perhaps a flying rig planted under your skin would be a good start. Most people couldn't afford that kind of thing, if they could even find someone willing to do the work. You however can. True, I won't lie to you, you probably can't really go toe to toe for long with a well trained warrior, and might never be able to, unarmed. That being the case, don't let yourself be without weapons. Tor will see to that." The last was a command if he'd ever heard one, but it still made sense.
"Right. You'll still need to practice, so you know what to do though." After a few seconds he shrugged. "Kolb must like you. When I was learning to fight it was all about running away. He made me run all the time too. You get to use the cool things right off. The fun stuff." Sighing dramatically to show how put upon he'd been Tor smiled, but didn't turn around.
Kolb grunted though and sounded halfway happy about the situation.
"That's because Tor is a bit lazy when it comes to physical things. Always had to push him into action and beat skill into him. Normal people won't need that."
Tor had to fight against turning to stick his tongue out, but laughed instead.
"There is a bit of truth to that. It took me a while to figure out I was supposed to do more than just try to survive the training. Study and think about it and all that."
No one said anything very important after that for a long time, just riding in silence, but when they landed, directly in front of Tor's house in the Capital, Gerent seemed reluctant to get out of the craft. He did it, with only a bit of pulling on his arm by Tiera, which half propelled the man out the side, forcing Kolb to catch him to prevent injury. He still didn't have a shield on, Tor realized.
The place was lit up on the outside, a nice shade of purple, with gold trim glowing in places. Technically that would make it in the royal colors, but it matched the floating river that ran around the Capital walls very nicely, so he doubted anyone would mind. His house colors were green, but purple was his favorite, if given a choice.
When they got in there was a bit of bustling about, with people not seeming all that busy, mainly talking to one another, with about half of them doing something with boxes that had glass lenses on the front. He'd seen that kind of thing before, a few times. They made pictures that could be shown later. No one paid much attention to him, but looking down he realized that he wasn't dressed for company which was kind of rude. He shifted his clothing into a nice black silk outfit that looked to have laces up the back, even though they weren
't real. His doing that got the others to change clothing too, the girls in wonderful dresses and Kolb in a nice outfit of very deep blue.
Only Gerent just stood there, his eyes wide.
"I... what am I supposed to do? I can make the clothes thing change, but what should I..."
Tor fixed that, touching his arm and making a rather stately suit in deep green velvet and silk appear. The boots were black, and the buttons were a shining silver, but it looked good enough for this kind of non-official visit.
When he looked up it was clear that they were the subject of whatever the Austrans were doing suddenly, three boxes pointing at them and a machine making a good bit of noise in the background. That part was new. When he'd gone to that land nothing like that had been around at all.
Kolb smiled.
"We're on camera. Look pleasant and try not to make any death threats, since half of their land will likely see this."
Then he simply moved away, trying to seem happy about it all, as if it had been his plan all along to be caught changing for the event. The rest followed and after a few minutes they were able to find the main group in a new sitting room at the left front of the house, about where the old small dining room used to be. Poking his head in he noticed that there was clearly a clutch of people that were probably the guests of honor, since Timon was sitting with them and so was Petra Ward and Trice. There were three others as well. An interestingly cute girl that looked about fifteen or so, and had piercings through her face on the left side. Two of them, looking silver and shiny. There was also a woman that looked a bit older, perhaps in her thirties, though it was hard to tell, since she was all purple. Hair, skin and nails. Only her teeth were the normal color, a nice and shining white that contrasted with the rest of her.
She was next to a vaguely familiar older man too, but Tor recognized the purple one. After all, they'd met, and she was in his favorite color. It made her memorable.
People saw them and a slightly strange thing happened, since the ones that ran at them were a slightly mixed bunch.
"It's The Tor!" This was called out by the purple woman, who didn't touch him at all, but seemed slightly bright eyed suddenly. She just stood in front of him as if waiting for him to do something interesting.
He bowed.
"Fornia Stergis! I didn't know that you'd be here. Did you get the present I sent along with the things for Denno? We talked about something like that... I don't know if it's what you wanted, but I had a few days while I was in hiding, so threw it together."
"I did see it! We set it up in the capital and it's currently the most popular entertainment in Austra. A three dimensional reenactment of the battle you engaged in with the Larval... Not much of a plot, but we can work on that. I have some people here that you should meet." She took his arm and half drug him to the older man.
"Our Ambassador. You've met before? It was a bit of a hectic day..."
Tor nodded.
"Ambassador Hallis, so good to see you. Have you been in to see King Richard yet?" The older man had a sincere and friendly face, and while he was a little heavy, he wasn't fat, just looking like someone that was used to eating well. Of course that was an illusion, since no one forced to eat a steady diet of Austran food could be doing that. His hair was gray, perhaps a bit more than the one time they'd met before, but he was wearing a very sharp brown suit, instead of the normal jumpsuits that about half the people in the other room had on.
"I haven't had that honor yet. I believe that this is supposed to be a rather low key visit? It would be a privilege to meet him, I'm certain. I should also meet with my counterpart here, if at all possible, to see about several programs that are developing. Trade and so forth. We truly live in most amazing times, there hasn't been open trade between our lands in nearly a thousand years, I checked. Now each day brings us closer to that state." He sounded smooth and like he said things like that for a living, which was true, in part, but the man couldn't be that busy, if being the Noram Ambassador was his full time position. As far as Tor knew this was his first visit.
"I'll see what I can arrange for that? Oddly enough I'll probably have to go through Richard to get that done, but we should be able to set up something useful." He held out his hand, since they did that in Austra and the man responded so easily it was almost like being at home.
Trice moved in and hugged Gerent, then took Tor's free arm, since Fornia hadn't let go of the other. She hugged it to her body, tightly enough that her breast pushed against his shoulder, which got him to move away slightly, making his friend go tense. Her face fell and she looked ready to cry, which was definitely not what he wanted in a room full of guests.
"Um, Trice? You might be a relative." He murmured the words and while she didn't seem happy to have that pointed out, she forced a smile and got control of her face. She also didn't let go of his arm. It felt nice, but suddenly wrong, as if he was going to have sex with his sister or something.
Thankfully Tim noticed this and gestured for the younger woman to come over, a large smile on her rather pretty face. There was a trim cuteness to her, and she had red hair, but it seemed off, as if it wasn't her real color. The eyes were blue, which kind of worked. After a few seconds he got it, she reminded him a little of a very short Karina.
"This is my friend, Kincaid Rue. She's a player. It's a bigger thing there. My guess would be that she's closer to being a noble for their land than not. About Baronetta level? I'm just floating that now, in case we ever get married. You know, stop the scandal early." He smiled and cast a smirk at the girl who looked at him in about the same fashion. It was amusing.
"Good idea. No need to let things get out of hand after all." He held out a hand to the young lady too, receiving a very professional grip from her. The field behind it was older than her appearance, which was a thing he'd noticed before, in an Austran spy. A treatment to keep a body looking young for a while. At a guess the woman was pushing thirty, but that didn't really matter, if Tim liked her. It was a bit odd, but at least she'd keep looking right for a while, since she'd clearly already finished growing. It was kind of clever, to tell the truth. Kenner had been stopped when he was only ten, so that he could get a job as a wash boy in the King's palace. It meant that as he grew, a thing that would be stunted and slightly misshapen, he'd be funny looking. Not horrible, but probably a bit like Gerent was.
Kolb had mentioned that there was no way to make him grow, in Noram. The words seemed a little odd though, as if he might actually have an idea about something like that somewhere else. If it existed... Well, for all Tor knew the man was happy with his size. It didn't seem like it, but that didn't mean he'd want to change at this point in his life. It wouldn't be good to force him into anything.
Trice leaned into him again, pressing up against him, on purpose he realized. She was feeling... that he wouldn't want her now, after those men had used her as they had. Like that made any sense at all? He was angry at them, that was true, and sort of wanted to go find them and make certain they didn't live through the night, but why would he think less of Trice over it? She was the same person that he'd loved after all. If being a little clingy at the moment.
Their needs came to cross purposes then, since he was both attracted to her and felt dirty letting her hold on to him, and she desperately needed him to show her that he didn't think she was unclean now. It took dropping into a much deeper state of mind, but after a few seconds he cuddled into her a bit, getting a sense of relief back from her.
It was... possibly shameful, but honestly, he'd already slept with her, and if she turned out to be someone that he couldn't do that with ever again, that didn't change his feelings about her at all. He'd just have to work out what he was supposed to feel later.
On the good side he didn't throw up on her. That was an improvement over his reaction to the news that he'd gotten first. Poor Connie. He'd retched, and then ran out like he hated her or something. He should at least visit and make sure she was handling it alright. That
would probably just be the case, since she was born a noble and they had rules for this kind of thing, but it wouldn't serve to just let it hang in the air.
Maybe he could take Ali along with him? That would... be so cowardly he nearly laughed out loud. No, it was a thing he needed to deal with alone.
Farlo had assured him that his wife would be returned the next day, though when exactly she couldn't tell. It was a nice solid build from the feel of it, he'd been told, so the chances of success were high. He hadn't asked what she was attempting, since she wanted it to be a surprise, but the fact that it might well work was wonderful. He'd have to have some kind of party for her or something.
Tor had gotten lost in a bit of a trance reverie, thinking about all there was to do, only to be pulled out of it by something Tim said. He missed it the first time, so had to ask what he meant, which got it roughly repeated.
"In the last two days I've had seven different fares in Noram, all of them just wanting me to come visit with my healing amulet. I don't charge anyone to borrow it, but I have been for coming out, since it's literally been all over the place. They all have the same thing, at first I thought it was pneumonia, but now I'm not sure. It just seems odd. I've seen it before too, in the last month or so."
There was a perfectly timed voice from the door. One that got Tor to tilt his head when he heard it. Familiar and unexpected at the same time.
"Austra too. It's new, a virus that passes from simple breathing, and that stays dormant for almost three months before it turns into a very dangerous pneumonia, as Timon mentioned. I'd thought I'd come and see who else it was affecting." The man was as smooth and brown as always. His clothing was a simple jumpsuit in brown, his eyes were a slightly darker shade of it and his hair black and decently short.
Denno Brown. The Ancient of Austra.
"This seems to be everywhere, and if my scientists are correct, this is going to be the worst epidemic the world has ever seen."