Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients)

by P. S. Power

  The problem there was that he had no real clue what to do about the situation. His sister had messed up a bit, he'd heard, but that had been corrected as well as it could be already and so publically that everyone knew it too. She'd apologized and been beaten for it in public. What more did people want from her?

  Tor almost sputtered, but found Cordes taking over his mouth instead, sounding calm and collected. There was a strong sense that said he was sorry for doing it at the same time at least, but that didn't stop him at all.

  "Fine. Tiera, take this girl to a room and have sex with her. I'll stay up and help, sorry, what's your name dear?" He waited politely for the rather miserable looking girl to rally enough to speak.

  "Demis, sir." She looked to be about sixteen or so, and had no reason to call him sir, but Cordes didn't pause at all, just nodding.

  "That's a pretty name. I'll aid Demis in her project and you can prove that you've well and truly fixed that Doretta thing. Go. Sherri can help us here. Unless you plan to join them?" The words sounded a lot less like himself than normal and he thought everyone would get that, but the girls all just looked a bit uneasy suddenly and Tiera...

  She just nodded.

  "Right. Good plan. Come on then. I can't claim I'm any good, but I can do enough to show my intent is in the right place." She actually took the mean seeming girl by the hand and pulled her away. Tor noticed that she didn't protest at all though.

  Sherri stayed seated and didn't say anything until they cleared the door.

  "That..." After a bit she smiled and looked at Tor and then Demis. "It's a good plan, really. If she willingly takes a turn with anyone wanting to claim she's a Doretta it should shut people up soon enough. They can't even say no, or they'll look the Doretta themselves. Even better, anyone she sleeps with will be obligated to defend her against such charges afterward, knowing they aren't true, first hand. I thought you were more of a prude than that though. Ali always said you were." She blushed and slapped a hand to her mouth as Demis let her eyes pop open pretty wide.

  Tor just winked at her.

  "Pretty much, but that won't get the baking done. Do we have everything we need?" He got up to start searching for things, which had the topic changed after a few moments.

  Sherri hopped up, glad of the distraction it seemed, and showed him where everything was kept. It was her kitchen after all, he realized. Organized to her standards and expectations. A bit odd that she was keeping it in his and Ali's house perhaps, but it was still the fact of the matter.

  They needed more flour, sugar and oil, as well as some eggs. Tor darted up the stairs and got his coin purse, filling it mainly with silver, since what they needed wouldn't be that expensive really, and took the two girls along with him, which if nothing else allowed him to escape the fact that he'd practically ordered his sister to go off alone with another girl. Cordes had done it, but it would be impossible to tell anyone that and be believed.

  For a second he just hoped that his mother would never find out, but then he realized that if she were there the woman might well have suggested the same thing herself. It was just so different than the act that he was used to from her. Two Bends Laurie Baker was just so different from Conserina Lairdgren that he forgot she wasn't really the person that he'd grown up with at all.

  He made a point of buying a good stock of spices as well, since he was planning to set up a bit of a practice kitchen, he told Sherri, who nodded a lot, but didn't speak very much, until they were loading the floating trunk that he'd brought to carry everything. They'd just walked to the shops, since it wasn't far at all.

  "I didn't mean... What I said earlier, it's just that... You don't entertain a lot of people and I asked Ali about it. She said that you... It's because of where you come from?" The words weren't very coherent, but Tor thought he understood what she meant.

  "Pretty much. Right now though it's worse. I'm really embarrassed about it all, but it turns out that several women I was... with, are actually closely related to me. No one knew, because it isn't exactly a normal thing... Old techniques were used without anyone knowing about it, I think. So right now I'm pretty much afraid to be with any women at all. I'm not into men that way either. So not only am I a prude, like you said, but also afraid that any women I touch right now will turn out to be my daughter or cousin." He shuddered a bit as they walked out the door of the dry goods shop. He paid what the man behind the counter had asked for, instead of haggling about the price, since he wanted the shop keep to get in more of what he wanted. Especially the soft cake flour from Ross. That was expensive, but couldn't be beaten as far as texture went.

  Demis dimpled at him then. She was taller than he was by about six inches already, but was under six feet tall. She had slightly red hair and dusky skin that probably meant she was related to the Cordes family somehow.

  "That happens though. Don't let it worry you overly. You can get over your fear by having sex with me later, after you help me make something that isn't too horrible for Instructor Hendrix I mean. I haven't turned in even one thing so far this year that she was happy with."

  Tor nodded.

  "We can't though, not today at any rate. You'll be too tired after taking a turn with my sister. You too Sherri. I guess it's one way to keep her busy, even if mother will probably have me beaten for it later." Or more likely his father would, really. He'd just have to take it though.

  The tall smiling girl put her hand on his arm gently.

  "Alright. But soon? Unless you're putting me off. I can see that, what with your recent hardships. Still, if Sherri get's to sleep with you and still call you a prude, I should get to as well."

  That got the sandy blonde Baronetta to blush at least.

  "Um, I..." She looked away then, back toward the large brown and gold chest that floated after them, following along as if it were a puppy and they had meat.

  Tor shrugged.

  "Well, that's a good point. I am really a bit worried that we'll turn out to be related. You're right though, I can't live in fear. Later though? I've been up for over a week. If it wasn't so important for you to have a good product in the morning I'd just go to bed directly."

  They chattered for a bit, with the girls actually looking a bit concerned, which, it turned out had to do with their petty concerns keeping him up, since they realized what he'd been doing. It wasn't a secret, but everyone knew it really couldn't be done. Only he had.

  It reminded him to do something though, and he stepped into the little flower shop on the way back, to get a basket of them for his wife. He'd have to go and look her up, but he was almost certain she was in classes still. It was a school day and so was the next, which would mean she'd be in her room on campus, if she wasn't entertaining someone in their own space. Or just as likely now, doing copy work or planning her next building project.

  The truth was none of those, since she was sitting at the kitchen table when they got back, her face looking a bit pensive, eating a roll from the uncovered tray.

  "Tor!" She fairly tackled him, ignoring the basket of flowers so she could kiss him instead. It went on for a long time, until she had to break off to breathe. "I'd thought that you'd gone off to the Capital to deliver the amulets you were making, or one of the other lands. Are you staying for a bit?" She looked at him, her face worried then.

  Until he handed her the flowers.

  "I am. Tiera and I are opening a free baking school here. Or another facility, if there are enough people coming in for it. I have some work to do in the mornings, but most of my time should be free for a while. At least in theory. Right now Demis needs to get some dough started. Remaking those rolls. Sherri and I will turn that into a sweet bread pudding, since they didn't turn out to expectations." It was one way to salvage them after all. It was why they'd gotten so many eggs.

  Ali didn't seem to care about that, smelling her flowers instead.

  "These are lovely! Thank you honey... I'll get some water for them." There was a small pot inside t
he basket for that after all. She only had to travel about six steps for that, to get to the faucet, so it didn't take long.

  While she was at it Tiera and the other girl came down into the room, both clearly a little flushed looking. Ali got what that meant and seemed a bit surprised, her eyes going wide.

  "Uh..."

  Tor just patted Sherri on the back then, smiling. It was Cordes's idea, but he really didn't want to seem like a prude either, did he?

  "Sherri next then. We need Demis down here for a bit." To his slight surprise the girl got up and took Tiera's hand, both of them leaving the room without saying anything.

  The girl that had called his sister a Doretta looked at them all and nodded a bit abstractly. She just went and washed her hands, then turned to look at them.

  "What should I do?"

  Ali settled the flowers next to the rolls on the table and gestured at them, adapting faster than Tor would have if he didn't know what was going on.

  "Bread pudding?" That wasn't a hard dish and while the girl needed a little instruction, she followed along well. Tor didn't have to do anything much at all to begin with, except making sure Demis kept paying attention. It was clear that was her main problem, not lack of other skills. She got sidetracked easily and that led to her forgetting to check on her timing. The dough had to be punched down at the right time and then rolled, with the filling on it. She worked hard, but wanted to chatter while she did it, which was fine, except that she didn't have any technique set up to get her back on task.

  "Make sure you have everything ready to go." He was basically just saying the same thing, over and again, but at least she didn't take offense at it.

  When they were letting the rolls rise for the second time, Tiera and Sherri came back. Demis just smiled, but didn't try to leave the room or anything. She had work to do after all.

  Ali smiled at Tiera and then waved at the others.

  "Making friends then? That's a good plan. I've been worried about you."

  "Tor's making me do it." She grinned at least and winked at the first girl. "Not that it wasn't fun. Surprising though. Is that Cordes then?"

  Tor tilted his head, but saw no reason to lie about it, not if she'd already guessed. After all, if the Ancient King tried to take over all the time, Tiera would probably have to be one of the people killing him to stop that.

  "Yes. It's not a horrible idea though, I don't think. Sherri thinks it will work at any rate. Now you only have what, two hundred more people to go?" That was an overstatement, since the school didn't have that many students, but it got her to nod a bit anyway.

  Ali stood up then, smiling herself.

  "Oh? We all get a turn? About time. I always thought you were cute, but Timon said I shouldn't sleep with any of Tor's family members. If it's mandatory though, what can we do?" She said it so cutely that Tor nearly just let her, but then the girl laughed and hugged him instead. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing you, Tor. I know better, honest." She kissed him though and it had all the effects that it should have had. He was tired, but he seriously considered dragging her off to the bedroom then. She was his wife after all. The only problem there was that he wasn't certain she wasn't a relative too. It wasn't likely though, he reminded himself, so he decided to risk it.

  After the rolls came out, which would be about an hour and ten minutes later. Which would mean her getting back to the room late. The school didn't have a strict curfew, but students were required to be in their rooms at night. Looking around he nodded.

  "That's right. For the moment, you should come with me though. We have to hurry a bit I'm afraid... Or, really, not so much if Tiera will stay here and make certain the rolls get finished?" Demis wasn't that bad after all, she just needed someone to make certain she didn't forget her task.

  That meant he had his wife in bed not five minutes later, naked and giggling. It was a good thing that he'd made other arrangements, because they didn't head down the stairs for nearly an hour and a half, having done a lot of things he'd feel guilty about later if it turned out the genetics of the situation were wrong. It had been fun at the time though. He'd been away from her for too long though, what with one thing and another.

  Tiera was gone when he got back, but Demis was still there, helping Sherri make a light meal, since they'd missed going off to the dining hall. For all her lack of attention earlier, the girl knew not to add the icing until the product had cooled.

  "Did the other girl escape?" Tor didn't know her name but Sherri nodded as she worked, her focus on the sauce she was making. It had an egg base, and smelled like beef gravy, but wasn't something he actually recognized. It was meant to compliment a roast though, since Sherri clearly had a strange idea of what a light meal was.

  "Brettle? She has some math homework to do. Tiera just left to get some sleep, I think. I invited her to stay, but she begged off."

  Demis seemed a little reluctant to eat with them too, when the time came, and acted as if she were intruding suddenly, as if spending the afternoon with them wasn't enough? Ali put her foot down though and insisted, which was good, since Tor didn't know the polite way of doing that. Apparently it involved subtle threats. In this case to steal all the rolls she'd made. Not that they'd actually do that, since it wouldn't be needed.

  After that was done Tor managed to help clean up enough to not feel bad about it and fell into bed at about ten-thirty. Ali had to head back to her own room, as did the others, leaving the whole place to him. The bed was warm and comfortable though and he slept hard until well after dawn. When he cleaned up and ate a sensible breakfast of some oatmeal, he realized that he might as well get to work. It wasn't late, but all he had to do was set up a growing field for the new Fast Carriage line, which he tried to make a bit faster than the old ones. That required reworking the unification of space he used for propulsion, but he'd already figured out what he wanted to do, so it wasn't hard to do.

  They would also be able to become larger and hold a lot more people.

  Easy.

  That took about two hours to get started, and he'd need to work on them every day to begin with, but it wasn't exactly a big deal. That left him without much to do, except exercise. That and maybe see if he could find someone to practice with him as far as weapons work went. He ran first, using the road that would take him one town over, which was a little place called Lenders. The road was familiar, but empty for the most part. The air was cool enough that there was a bit of fog in the air, giving the whole world a slightly unreal feeling to it. He was wearing what he always did for exercise, which was an old looking pair of brown canvas trousers, soft boots that formed to his feet and a matching shirt. It made him look exactly like a school kid, since it was modeled on the uniform they all wore.

  It normally wasn't a problem, but as he headed back he was waylaid by an older looking man that seemed a bit dour at the moment, though the face under the look was fairly kind.

  "You there, are you busy right this moment? I need some help moving my desk around and can't find anyone I know to help with it. It's a bit of a beast. I shouldn't accost a first year student for this, but I think we can manage, if you're willing?" He was wearing a black robe and had very thin hair on top, along with some glasses. The man also smiled nicely enough at him after a few seconds. "Instructor Roberts. I'm new this year myself, building. The program's been expanded. Are you in the fighters section?" The fellow looked at the sweaty clothing, and had clearly made an assumption based on that.

  Tor smiled.

  "Not officially. I'm not actually a student here at all, but I'm planning to see if I can jump in over there this morning and get some weapons practice in. Which way to your desk though?"

  Instructor Roberts looked a little puzzled, but gestured off to the left, where there was an old stone building that, Tor was almost certain, used to be a space for storage. Inside it looked like it still was, but the desk the man had was huge. He explained the situation though, since it wasn't a classroom at all. Not in a t
raditional sense.

  "This is my work space, once it's cleaned. I'm going to put some cushions in for the kids. This way we can watch them all the time while they work, instead of leaving that to other students. It isn't a brilliant place for it, but it should serve. I was thinking that my work station should be in the front, over there?" He pointed. It meant moving the vast piece of well beaten wood across the whole space, but it wasn't that far to go. It was only about fifteen feet across and twenty long, so Tor just nodded and moved to take an end of the thing.

  Five minutes later they had it in place and the man thanked him with a little bow.

  "Now... If you aren't a student here, do you live in town? More to the point, are you looking for work? We don't have a huge budget, but I hear that the dining hall in the regular students section is looking for a few people. There was a small incident a few weeks ago, so the younger students aren't currently being allowed to do the task. Mainly scullery work, but it's honest and it's clear that you aren't adverse to doing your share." He waved at the desk and seemed to be considering another move, but didn't say anything about it. "More than that. I didn't catch your name, I can put in a good word for you with the head cook there, if you like? By way of thanks for the help here."

  "Oh, I'm Tor. Nice to meet you. I might just look into that job opening. I have some time right now and if they need the help for a bit, it can't hurt." After all, how many students would really want his help learning to bake? Tiera could probably handle it all. Most of them would just need a place to practice, it was clear. That and some materials to use. He could provide all that, no problem.

  "Excellent! I'll make a point of telling Millis to be on the lookout for you. The poor man has been working himself ragged lately, but he can't trust any of the kids here not to misbehave. A paid employee is however, obligated to do what they're hired for, don't you think?"

  Tor did, so nodded. After a few seconds a thought occurred to him.