Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients)

by P. S. Power

  The man in the back kept laughing and making jokes, most of which seemed to be about him personally, but someone walked over to the man and told him to shut his trap, using those exact words and a glare that would have made even a brave man wary.

  It no doubt came as a shock to the fellow, since it was General Thorgas himself.

  "Gentlemen, back to stations. If you have down time right now, make yourselves useful. Clean your gear, or help with other's work. We don't need for our entire unit to be injured right now." He didn't have to tell them twice, since men were already leaving and the inappropriately laughing man was being pulled away by the arm, his friend looking worried. If he was the fellow's buddy at all.

  Tor wouldn't have been about then, but maybe there was a deeper story to why the jerk had been acting that way? No one went out of their way to be evil really, did they? They just were. At least in the eyes of others. The situation, in a very odd way, reminded him of something that had happened once, with Maria Ward. He'd asked her to go to a dance with him and she'd flipped out and screamed at him, calling him a lot of names... Which he'd believed about himself for a long time. Not all of them, since a lot of it was clearly false, but he'd thought others saw him that way, hadn't he? Was it that part of him that Burks and Richard had been trying to protect him from kicking in?

  There was no way to know for certain, but the point was that years later he'd found out that Rolph had told the pretty girl that he loved her, and she was filled with dreams of someday being Queen. Then Tor, the Prince's own roommate had come up to her to see if she'd like to go to a party. To her mind it meant she was being put off by the Prince. Which, as it turned out, even though Tor hadn't known it, she was really.

  For years he'd hated her for that, and still wasn't her biggest supporter, but it made sense now. She wasn't truly evil, it had simply seemed that way.

  Maybe it was the same for the Elite soldier that was being beaten over by the edge of where the circle had been? It wasn't much of a thrashing, since the man still had his shield on, so no one told the men doing it to stop, even though Kolb had walked over to watch the whole thing.

  "Fools." He didn't bother to lower his voice, and several of the men watching what was going on turned to glare at the bald man. "Wizards are in ascendancy now. The measure of a man soon won't be in how well they fight, or how pure their blood. It will be counted in what kind of magic they can get a hold on, and these men just insulted several of the best in the world. It's almost as if several of them missed that Master Tor just fought five men, armored in very high quality shields, and defeated them without being touched. Tor, turn that man's off for us, will you?" It sounded very casual, but before the slightly rough hand extended the single finger to point, Tor did it.

  He was used to taking the man's orders after all. Plus, he realized, there was no way he wouldn't think of the man as being in charge of him, no matter what was said. It was just the way things worked.

  The large black haired joker that thought beating up little peasants was funny found himself being thrashed for real, by several of his fellows. It was done in the open, and General Thorgas didn't stop it, even if the man was needed on duty later. Rolling his eyes Tor walked over.

  "Enough." They didn't seem to hear him, so he bellowed at them and threw a few of them off. They were big, and heavy, but he managed it alright. "Enough I said. You, laughing boy, go beg some tiny Wizard for the use of a healing amulet, and get back to work. You aren't some stupid city guard that doesn't know better, I expect better of you. You, all of you... All the military flyers, are my people. It's my magic that lets you fly and shields you. The weapons you use too, as often as not. If you want to insult me personally, then make an appointment, but if you go after any of my people there will be problems."

  It was a bit rambling, but there was enough venom in it that the man made a face and wiped at his bleeding mouth.

  "Fucking trumped up runt. Without your magic what are you?"

  Tor stared at the man, and then shook his head.

  "A person, the same as you. What did you think I was?" A poor question, but the answer came anyway. It was almost as if the fellow couldn't help himself.

  "A stupid little peasant that's only good for licking the Queens cunt, and sucking the cock of anyone that has a copper?" He laughed again.

  It was after all, brilliant.

  Tor didn't even feel angry at the man though. He was a severe example, but the truth was half the men around him clearly felt close to the same, they were just smart enough not to run their mouths about it. He couldn't blame them for their thoughts, though, could he? After a second he found himself dropping into a trance state again and starting to move forward, only to find Kolb holding him back. There was no rage within him, but it was enough of an insult that he pretty much had to do something about it, didn't he?

  Except he didn't , because Tiera moved in like a flash and started to beat the hell out of the man. He tried to fight back, but, even though he was bigger and a better fighter than his little sister, she was so fast and strong that it very nearly didn't matter. Not after the light beating he'd already taken. About a minute later the man was on the ground, his right arm making a loud snapping noise.

  "That's my brother you're insulting, you jerk!" She was on her back on the ground, holding his arm to her chest, the giant arm over her crossed right leg. That didn't last, since she rolled on top of him, and hit him in the face several times before standing up. The man didn't, but he was still breathing, that and groaning a bit. "He's worth a thousand of you! You can't even beat a little girl in a fight. Moron." She kicked him, but stepped back after that and started to glare at the men around her, expecting them to attack. They didn't move and Captain Peterson stepped in.

  "Get Higgs cleaned up. Then take him to the Warden for a cell assignment. Three days. If this happens again Higgs, I'll have you cashiered. You know that the Wizard is a nobleman, and that..." The man stopped talking. "Just go. I won't lecture you now. If you give Countier Lairdgren any problems, I'll tie you to a post and lash you in front of the whole company. Now go."

  The funny thing was that Tor could tell the man meant it, but also still kind of agreed with Higgs. He thought of Tor as being so inferior that it was hard for him to keep anything else in mind. To him the idea of the Wizard Tor was a giant, like him, with a gray beard and robes. Who wore robes though? The image was very clear anyway. The man was also embarrassed and angry. Part of that was at himself, for not getting his man under control in time at least. Mainly it was at Tor, and to a lesser extent Tiera and Kolb.

  Without thinking, his voice hard, he turned to face Kolb and noticed that some of the others had come around to watch what was going on. There was a clear division in thoughts however, even with the people from Lairdgren. Almost all of them over six feet tall kind of agreed with the now absent Higgs, at least in spirit. Tor was just some tiny and worthless person, even if he was rich and powerful and more noble than most of them. The shorter people all looked down or away, getting the basic idea. Even the builders thought that way, except Mark and Farlo. That was almost a bit of a surprise, but those two only felt protective of their fellows and Mark turned to everyone else, his voice commanding.

  "Get packed, we leave as soon as transport is available. If you have a Fast Craft, front and center, please. Fighters and Builders are out last, in case we have to fight. Homemakers and singers, you math people, you go first." It was bossy, and no one really listened to him, until Kolb bellowed at them.

  "You heard him. Move it! Fighters section on me." People ran then, but the plan was what Mark had laid out. It was temping to take all the magics and gold he was providing back too, to really drive the point home, but it wouldn't make a difference really.

  Even though the nobles had a kind of bigotry toward the lower classes, it was a thing that they had to fight. It was a part of them, built in... Which reminded him of what Doris had said, about the two class system. Cordes had done it. Tor
didn't know how he knew that, but it was so clear it fairly buzzed along his skin.

  That was part of the horror the man had created that had gotten him killed, wasn't it? That and killing or maiming a quarter of the people in Noram. No one would tell him why and the Cordes in his head was from an earlier time, so didn't hold the answer to that, but there was a soft tendril of thought then, coming from deep inside himself.

  The Ancient King really thought that might be it.

  It was time for Tor to have a talk with someone that wouldn't just run off when the questions got hard. That or be overly evasive. It was a harder thing to find than it sounded like. Burks was like a weasel when it came to things like that. Denno and he weren't all that close really. Friendly, but not so much that he could just stomp into Austra and demand answers. Besides that was where the Larval were all headed. At least in theory. He needed to talk to the man anyway. Soon. If Brown couldn't handle his creations, Tor would. He didn't want to brutally slaughter them all, but they were infected with the mind of a madman. The same version of Cordes that he had, driven insane by their shared mind and vast numbers.

  That, he knew, couldn't be a coincidence. Someone had put that there and he doubted it was Doris, though he should have asked. Her frankness had just been so shocking to him. Who would talk to him though, that knew what had happened over two thousand years before?

  Lyn? That made sense, didn't it?

  "Tor?" There was a soft touch on his arm and Ali, looking and feeling concerned for him, tried to get his attention. He'd seemed lost in thought and had been, but he reacted instantly, since his current trance state was only a little lower than what was normal for him now. "Are we going back too?"

  "Not directly. I need to talk to Rich about this and have a conversation with Connie. Some other things too, of course. Like what Doris told us. They need to know as well. You two don't have to go for that part though, it might be a little brutal. I plan on some yelling and crying. If that doesn't sway them, there may be begging. You know how it goes." His words were dry, but clearly comedic and Sara chuckled, sobering after a few seconds.

  "This is unbelievable. I know that some people are a bit biased, some ridiculously so, but how bad is it, that people would mock a Wizard to his face?" She blushed a bit, but didn't explain why.

  It was because she knew the answer. Half of the people around them couldn't force themselves to see him as anything except a slave. It wasn't just him either, it was everyone short with dark hair. Worse, without even thinking about it, most of that type believed the same thing. If they were the peasant, they simply weren't as good, and had to defer to the bigger people.

  In Two Bends they called anyone over about six foot a "Royal" and if you were taller than that and had nice clothing, you'd be called Lord, even if you were just a merchant. The whole region was like that. Possibly the whole kingdom.

  That wasn't anything he could fix at all, was it? Doris seemed to be trying though. He was still ticked at her, but at least she was doing something about the problem. It was a thing most of the people affected couldn't even see. Sara could... But her genetics were different than either of those groups, weren't they? Tor focused on her for a while and could feel it. She was... Real. More so than the rest of them. Not perfectly free of genetic tampering, but a lot closer to say, the people of Austra or Vagus than the average noble or peasant of Noram.

  Shaking himself he collected his communications device and set up the needed visit with the King. He was a busy man, so Tor expected a bit of a wait, but the plan was, it seemed, to see them as soon as possible. Probably to un-ruffle feathers and soothe egos. Tor was fine though. Relaxed again and controlled, thanks to meditation.

  "Tiera!" He waved her over, and she came, looking like a puppy that expected a swat for misbehaving.

  Instead he hugged her.

  "Well, you showed him! I doubt it will change his mind at all, but maybe he can learn from the sheer percussion of the thing? Hammer some sense into him?" Which, as he had just been thinking wouldn't work. They could chat about that later though. In the moment he needed to let his little sister know that she was appreciated. Yes, she'd been violent when it probably wasn't needed, but Tor wasn't certain he hadn't been about to do it before Kolb stopped him. If the soldier had said the same about her, wouldn't he have been fighting the man himself?

  "Of course now everyone will think I need my sister to fight my battles for me. Ah, well... Maybe it will help my image? It almost certainly can't hurt." He grinned at her and winked, then let her go, she didn't release him for a bit though, actually tightening her grip to a level that was nearly uncomfortable.

  "You aren't mad at me? I let my temper get out of control..."

  "And then you stopped, leaving him alive. Was it perfect? Probably not. You've been doing really good holding your feelings in check, I know that's probably to hide them from me, but keep it up all the time. It's pretty much what's getting me through all of this too, so I recommend it. Thank you for defending me." Tor wanted to leave it at that, and other than some hugging that started to get stares in a few seconds, the matter was dropped.

  When she let go Kolb called out to her, telling her to get her Fast Craft ready. It was just weird, calling them that. They were Fast Carriages. He'd named them, so you'd think it would have stuck. At least they weren't calling them Tor Craft. That would have been horrible. A smile crept onto his face though. Part of why people hated him was over that kind of thing, he figured. All his early things being called the Tor-whatever. It made it seemed like he was so big headed that he'd named them all that. It was just the naming convention though. The only reason that people had stopped doing it was that they'd lost track of what it was that he'd made personally, Tor thought. All to the good though. Being famous certainly hadn't helped him much so far. It mainly just made more work for him.

  It wasn't fair, but he loaded the girls onto Tiera's carriage and then used his Not-flyer to enter the city normally. There was activity in the streets, but it was mainly local people going from place to place carrying rubble, or sweeping. The bombs had done damage, but it was kind of localized and everyone seemed to be out helping fix it all. It was what should have been happening though, so he hardly thought it strange. There were a few people in white robes with gold trim on them, bringing people water and food. It was mainly dried fruit and brown bread, but people took it with thanks and seemed happy enough with the tall people that moved among them.

  Of course the city people were taller on average, so it wasn't as glaring as it might have been. Floating along about five feet from the ground marked him as someone different, and most of the people didn't comment on him moving past at all, not even to each other. People flew now after all, and though he wasn't using hand controls, most ignored that, thinking it was a child taking a tour of the streets. A rich and attractive noble. That part was nice enough, but they really couldn't get that he wasn't a child. He was clearly rich and small, so that meant some well connected brat.

  The sad part was that people thinking that kind of found him annoying. It was clear in their fields. On occasion a few people realized who he was though, and about half of them moved out of the way, often taking others along with a bit of covert tugging or pushing. Tendrils of fear came from those people, mainly women. It made him feel bad really.

  For some ridiculous reason he'd really thought that people should like him. What with making magical rivers to prevent drought, and saving a couple of cities. Very few of these people were thinking about that at all. Not now. They did think about the celebrations that he'd paid for, but most thought of that as him just trying to buy his way into their hearts.

  Which wasn't fair. That was only about half the story after all.

  There was a lot of work to be done, but instead of stopping to help, he changed his clothing as he floated along, his black case coming right behind him, moving about twenty miles per hour, even though he could have gone a lot faster. The truth was, he hated confrontatio
n. If it came to it, Tor would do it, but that didn't mean he wanted to. Some things couldn't be ignored however.

  At the gate he got ready for the Royal Guards to try and turn him away, or just leave him floating there, but the man inside the shield waved at him and counted down using the fingers of one hand. folding them down, at one second intervals. When he got to one Tor rushed the shield, which wasn't down yet, but managed to get out of the way a half second after his own shield connected with it and even though he spun a bit, he made it through before it was back in place.

  There was no speaking, but he landed and fixed the shield, then held his right hand out for the Truth amulet.

  "Tor Baker, here to see the King and Queen. Not a traitor or anything. There might be some yelling involved, but if so I doubt it will be earned. King doesn't mean the poor guy has control over how everyone feels all the time after all." Then he waited for an actual question. A woman walked up, smirking at him a bit, her black hair pulled back and her hawk like nose the same as always. She was in a real uniform this time, the purple and black of a Royal Guard.

  "Kara, how are you today?" It wouldn't hurt to start out being polite after all. They were... friends probably wasn't the right term, but her field said something different. To her he was family. Her little brother of the spirit. It was a bit closer than he thought they were, but what she felt.

  "Fine. Considering all the mess. Come to scream about the injustice of the world? I heard a bit about what went on with the City Guards. I couldn't believe it at first. Everyone knows what the Lairdgren Group is. Those imbeciles didn't even stop to think that anyone using stolen magic to help clean up the mess might still be worth leaving alone? At least you gave them something to think about, eh?" She didn't try to hug him, but there was no bowing either, since, clearly, they were family. You didn't bow to your brother, unless it was something official, or a joke. At least he didn't with his family.