by P. S. Power
"Such treatment! Held prisoner by the King! I never would have thought to see the day. Are we now to be refused our lawful right to be heard?"
"No, Countess, you are not. But this attack is part of something a bit more sinister and dark than just Count Morris seeking the release of his child. It's been known for some time, that some of you have been plotting against both myself and the kingdom. I'd simply ask that you keep that in mind for the time being, while we attempt to set things right, without giving insult. I know you can choose to feel that way, but I ask that you do not and bear with the needs of the moment."
There was muttering then, from at least four of the people, two of them seeming to be female, and two men of different sizes. Who they were he couldn't tell.
Big, angry people. Funny, but there was no shortage of those these days. He waited for someone to tell him what to do, but found himself being insulted instead.
Personally, as if that made any sense at all. It came from the first woman, who pushed herself to the front, glaring at him as she looked down at him.
"So this is the plan? Intimidate us with your pet wizard? Set the dogs loose on us if we don't fall into line? I don't care if your little monster is going to harm me, I won't be abused like this! I demand that you tell us what's going on at this very moment!"
She glared over Tor's head at the King, but he didn't get a chance to speak.
"Monster? That's a bit harsh isn't it? I'm really nice... words hurt you know." He couldn't believe that he'd said anything at all, since it was such a strange thing to be worried over at the moment and sounded more than a little whiny.
To his surprise the woman... bowed. Decently low even, considering the situation.
"Forgive me, I misspoke in my upset. You certainly are not either a monster or a dog. I stand by the pet wizard statement though. Now, are we to have the information we need or is it back to our captivity?" Long, rather thin arms got crossed and her green dress, a shapeless thing, moved as her weight shifted. She had a funny hat on too, that hugged the top of her head, which was also green in a matching shade. It was elegant, Tor supposed, since it was on a Countess, but he couldn't see the style of it himself.
He didn't bother to speak, but did give a small bow back to the woman, who had if nothing else at least corrected her error. It didn't make him feel any better, but that might, he realized, just be him being a bit grumpy, thanks to all the warfare earlier. Killing all those people didn't help his mood at all, but snapping at a Countess who was already worried wouldn't help much either. Standing in place without moving, still ready to fight if he had too, Tor decided to take a look at the various fields rather than wait for someone to start flailing around with a weapon.
What he found was relatively bland, once the fear and slight angst was taken into account. These people were not the ones going to war with them at least. That didn't mean they all wanted to be friends of course, but most probably would. Especially after the King finished explaining what had happened earlier to them.
"We could all use a seat, please, let's get comfortable while I explain things. Shall I call for refreshments? Wine perhaps?" He sounded very calm and relaxed, almost as if he were just getting ready to entertain mildly annoying friends, rather than tense and scared people that had armies at their beck and call.
Tor walked backwards, not taking his eyes off the people in front of him, even though a good half dozen of them were his personal friends. The rest were unknown to him and a lot of them still weren't really wild to have him around. As if he were the scary one? Why, he hadn't tried to destroy any cities that day at all, had he? The idea nearly got him to grin, but he just paused, so that the King could walk back to the other side of the room. There was a rustling, and the man sat, his field letting Tor know that clearly enough it was nearly like seeing it.
"Thank you, High Master Builder Tor." That was his cue to get out of the way no doubt, which he did as smoothly as he could manage. Short of levitating out of the way using his Not-flyer at least. The rest of the assembled Knights came with him, but Karen was the one that moved in along side of him, then started walking slowly to stand closer to the King and Queen, if out of the way. Not even Smythe sat, old and highly placed as he was. The idea was that they could move instantly if needed. It probably wouldn't be, but it looked better that way than not, so he did it too.
It wasn't lost on the Counts and Countesses either. Not the ones that were left.
The explanation took the better part of an hour and a few key things were mentioned that Tor hadn't been aware of himself. Like how a dozen of these people's peers had simply left earlier in the day, before the attack. That wasn't forbidden, as long as all the Council meetings were attended on time, but it was telling. So much so that no one needed it explained to them. Not even Countess Cannor. She was normally a little drifty and dreamy, and got away with being eccentric and even rude at times, but right now she was so attentive it looked like her eyes might pop out of her head.
The other thing that he hadn't been aware of was a lot worse than that though.
The King made a face, his shoulders and head upright and a bit stiff.
"Sandra Morris has escaped. She had help. A servant's family was taken and held hostage in the early hours and the man was informed of this only after he was inside the Palace complex. Apparently the people involved took off his daughter's hand and showed it to him by tossing it over the wall with a note that made their demands. I can't say that I would have done otherwise, were the places switched. He set orders in motion that caused Conserina Morris to be left unattended, which she made good use of. It's more complex than that, but we can go over that later at need. I believe that the attack today was the price of that aid on Count Morris."
Not that there was proof of that at all. Not yet. The woman being gone from her room was telling however. Very much so and it got Tor to feel a bit tense himself. Tiera was not going to be happy with this news at all.
Count Lairdgren seemed to be having a similar thought, but with less fear of the results. At least that's how Tor took the slightly reclined body posture and bland expression. Under that he was thinking furiously however, and part of it had to do with Tor's family. Some of it was about things that didn't even make sense to him at all. Holes in the moon and bits of metal that floated around the world? He sort of got the idea, but what that really had to do with Tiera Baker from Two Bends he didn't know. The Ancient wasn't telling either.
There was conversation then that was a bit more interested in war than he thought it would be. Count Isle summed it up with a very shrewd and sharp look to his eye and a more stern voice than he'd used the one time Tor had seen him before.
"This was, without question, an attempt to assassinate us all. That would leave our forces back home in our various Counties without direction or leadership for crucial days and weeks, while our enemies had a chance to move on us. I do believe we can expect more attacks in the coming hours. I move to declare war at this time and then move back to our areas." He stood and looked around the room at the twenty or so people there, including Tor and Karen in his gaze, as well as the line of Royal Guards behind the thrones. "I also suggest we sign a pact of mutual aid for the duration of this disruption. I for one would be glad to know that the forces of Lairdgren were planning to run to my aid at need." He gave a slightly choppy bow to Green then, who nodded back, as if only acknowledging his due.
Tor missed why that was at first, but Holly Printer spoke, and explained it to him, after a fashion.
"I feel the same, though I don't know if a bunch of school kids really counts as a force." She sighed and shook her head, but forced a pleasant look on her face after a moment. "Then again I wouldn't want to fight them myself. From the sound of it they saved the day. That and High Master Builder Tor's Palace shield. I don't suppose I could get one for my place in Printer, could I?" The words got a murmur from the others, but Count Lairdgren cleared his throat to bring the attention back to him.
Holly actually snorted, right there in front of everyone.
"They're also not Tor. For one thing I can almost assure that the High Master Builder would give me a discount, if I asked nicely." She winked at him, which got Tor to return a smile headshake with a bashful grin.
"What's with the 'High Master Builder' stuff? That's not even a thing, is it? Even Master Builder is just a way of saying someone is old, and has their own line of products." It was a silly thing to say, but a man he didn't know, and only vaguely recognized from his brothers engagement party raised his head. The Count, who looked to be about forty or so, cleared his throat. Loudly enough all eyes turned to him.
"You see, if we give you a grand enough title we can ignore the fact that those Healing Amulets you gave us would cost more than all of us together have. We can't pay you for the effort. No one could. So... there you go, a new title. It comes with a little plot of land too. Conveniently placed directly next to my own home in County Breen..." He chuckled darkly, but the rest of the people made faces, some of which weren't that pleased at the jest at all.
Tor thought it was kind of funny, but Ursula Thorgood actually stood up and glared at the man.
"Count Breen, I highly suggest you don't mock Tor." She didn't add why, but there was some grumbling then and the tall man with the mustache and nice black and white fur outfit looked shocked. Not the fake kind either.
"Mock him? You can't be serious Countess Thorgood. I simply told the truth. More, I'm actually willing to provide that prize of land I mentioned. Who wouldn't want the Wizard nearby for emergencies. No doubt free magic at the holidays too. Honestly, I'm rather pleased that I thought of it first. Normally someone beats me to clever ideas like that."
The King cleared his throat and waited for everyone to turn their attention to him.
"That can't be the most important topic for the moment, can it? The point was however, Countess Printer, that High Master Builder Tor has other work that is essential, not only to the kingdom, but the survival of the world. The rest of us will have to muddle through for the time being." Then he turned the topic toward what their next steps would be. That, it turned out, was convoluted as far as the words went, but basically what Count Isle had proposed.
They were running back home as fast as possible, and would help each other if attacked. The Lairdgren students and instructors were being pressed into duty too, if needed. It was high handed, but made sense. They could get aid to any County inside a few hours if needed. Inside a month they'd be able to do it faster than that, with a much larger fleet at their command too. He didn't mention that, since it seemed like the King and Burks wanted to keep it secret.
That really didn't make a lot of sense to him at all. The things were coming in from space, or they weren't. The idea was to get some craft ready for it. That it might not be simple or easy was clear, but that wasn't a good reason to hide things, was it? Maybe people would be less likely to fight amongst themselves like they were, if they knew they needed to be getting ready? Eighteen years was a long time to have people wait though, so maybe that was the reason? Plus, they couldn't really prove it yet.
Even Tor didn't know for certain if anything was coming at all. It was clear to him that Denno Brown thought so and a few of the others, but even with the Ancients it seemed like a non-issue for about half of them. Why that was, he didn't know.
So, for the moment, he'd go along with hiding things and see about getting people back to their own homes quickly. Or, more to the point, the "Lairdgren Kids" would.
The King suggested it, and Count Lairdgren nodded regally, and then rather sweetly turned to Tor.
"Sir Torrance, since the school is a family business, would you see to that? Organizing your friends there that you've given Fast Craft to, so that everyone can be returned to their places as quickly as possible?"
For half a second he didn't know what that meant. His friends there? The Secret Army that was hiding there? It seemed that was the case when he did the math, since they were the only ones that had the right kinds of vehicles. It was annoying though, since he had things to do at the Capital. Making sure they had a back wall for instance, and seeing that the prisoners weren't abused. Before they were executed that was.
Stuff like that.
So he shrugged and had to stop himself from snapping that at the man. After all, it was a Secret Army, wasn't it? Giving it all away would be a poor idea, and claiming that they had that special gear, because they were all his close personal friends...
Well at least it made it seem like a few people liked him, didn't it?
"I'll see to that. We have some things to do here at the same time, but I'm sure a couple of people will volunteer to help out. If I beg hard enough. We'll need to coordinate this pretty closely I think... Say in two groups of ten?" Tor turned to look at Smythe, rather than the King.
"That way we only have to send part of the Fast Carriages away at once, in case something happens here. Or someplace else and we need to send in a crew. Also, we need to keep the Palace shield up for now, as much as possible. Is that alright, sir?" The older man didn't even blink at the idea, he just slowly nodded.
"I can send a military escort with each outgoing group that way. Men from the Flyers Corps. Good thinking Baker. Please see to that now." It was said almost warmly. That was a bit strange, since the man had tried to kill him once. Tor still wasn't positive that hadn't been twice, to tell the truth, but Smythe still held fast to the claim that the first time he was only trying to arrest him. With a military squad of commandos. Since that was how it was done for all the school kids.
They'd gotten along pretty well over the last while though, after the King had assigned him to help the man find out about some murders. They'd done it. It had been horrible business, but they'd stopped the killer, who turned out to be the brother of a friend of his. Box had been his name. Well, his nickname. Debbie's brother.
It reminded him that he needed to look the woman up and make certain she was doing alright. She was off in Warden, with the Count and Countess looking after her. They, of course, weren't in the room, meaning they'd gone in with the traitors. The idea kind of hurt a bit, but made sense, after the thing at his party. Except of course they'd obviously had a plan, hadn't they? So maybe it wasn't that they were evil at all.
Right now he needed to get things going as far as transportation was needed and then see to a thousand other things as fast as possible.
"Your Majesty? I have to leave for a while. I'll try to get the first group of people around to take care of things? I... Should take these other good Knights with me. For now I think our place is out there, seeing to the people." Tor bowed deeply, turning so that he faced the man and his Queen directly. "Unless I'm wrong, of course."
"That seems a good plan to me. How long do you expect this to take, assembling transportation for all of these worthies?"
Tor nearly shrugged, since he didn't have a clue, but that wasn't a real answer, was it? This was one of those cases that people expected miracles to be pulled off.
"Two hours, Sire. Then two for delivery to each place and we'll be ready for the next batch. Not to tell people who's more important or not, but if I may suggest, those from furthest away would be best served going in the first group, since having light to fly is very helpful on long journeys. Having people lose their way in the dark would be less than helpful." Not that anyone should be doing that, but if it took longer than he thought it might be a problem.
The giant ruler stood then, which got everyone else to as well, even the old people that sat around the sides of the room
.
"Very well. George, please see that the shield is dropped as Sir Torrance requests and work out how to make this run as smoothly as possible. Everyone else..." He bowed, since that was the job it seemed, which got everyone to do it back, except Connie, who simply stood next to him, looking far too pretty for comfort. "I dislike giving orders to my Counts and Countesses, but this is an emergency. If you would all ready yourselves and wait, either in the front receiving room, or your personally assigned rooms, we'll try to speed this along. I understand that you'll all wish to return to your Counties to make ready at once, but to prevent the normal infighting for pride of place, may I suggest that the ten furthest distances that need to be traveled go first. If there is a dispute as to that, please flip a coin. Once only." there was a soft chuckle at the words, tense situation or not.
Then Tor walked out of the room briskly, which got the other Knights to all follow him. Even General Thorgas and Smythe, who weren't strictly needed for this part of things. Their jobs would need to see them outside the safety of the Palace though. It kind of made sense to go all at once.
At the door Tor stopped, Cordes taking control. For a bit, a moment, he thought the Ancient King was going to say something that would get him in trouble, or even make some good point, but the man just made him bow, going low, as the others passed him. It was toward the entire room and no one bowed back, but several people nodded at him. Then he rose and followed the rest of them out.
He was the most junior Knight there, after all. It was his place to do that kind of thing on leaving. Cordes helpfully provided that bit of information, but, as he pointed out, it was something that Tor already knew. Burks had told him about that part of things years ago, on his very first trip to the Capital.