by P. S. Power
Probably though ceremony and lying. That would work for some of them at least.
Tor did something that he hadn't really done much of at all, after setting up his Fast Carriage in the street and rising, carefully, about five hundred feet straight up, the lightly shining vehicle the only thing in the sky at the moment. He went a few hundred miles north, almost over a large city that was nearly the same size as the Capital and called his grandfather. He didn't expect an answer really, figuring that the communications device at Lairdgren would be tucked away in the man's basement or something.
After less than a minute, a voice came though.
"This is Count Lairdgren's residence, he's not in at the moment, may I take a message for you?" The voice was sort of familiar, after a fashion. His cousin Barbara. They'd met a few times now.
"Hi! This is Tor. I need to speak with the Count, is that possible? I can come there for it. Or go to wherever he is."
"Oh, hello Torrance. Sure, I can make some extra roast fowl for dinner, say in an hour? I had a feeling someone would be visiting. It's just a plain meal, but I think it will serve. Don't be late. Should I tell him to expect you, or is this an ambush?" There was a sly tone to her voice, but she was a fun, and unusual, woman. Too old to be alone though and playing servant like she was. If she waited much longer her looks would fade too much for her to get a good husband. Or girlfriend. Tor didn't know, but he thought she might be more interested in that later one. If that was the case, she might do better to move. He hadn't been in Grenwyn a lot, but if it was anything like Two Bends that kind of relationship wouldn't be allowed.
"Just a talk. Maybe with some implied scorn, but he'll live. See you then."
"Hey, can you pick up a golden wine? Or do you need the whole time to travel. I don't know where you are."
Tor blinked, but he did know where he was. The rather thriving city below him was made of black focus stone, but had lights all over the place, even in the twilight. The original inner wall and his little hut were still there. He hadn't been back to it since the military kicked him out, years ago. Supposedly it was still his. He owned the land at least.
"Over one of my houses. I don't know if I can get wine though. I don't really drink it, but maybe I can buy some." It sounded very strange and Barbara wasn't the kind to let that sort of thing go.
"At your own house?"
"Well, I haven't been here for a while, but it seems to have become a city. There might be a shop?"
The woman laughed, but let him go, so he floated over the place slowly and settled down in front of his old little hut. There was a deep red cloth with a black crest on it over the door, a thing that he didn't recognize at all. If it was a noble thing he'd missed it in school. He got out of the vehicle fast, and just turned his shield on, ready for the military men there to come and attack him. It had happened before after all. Instead he was met by a collection of about five youngsters, all about twelve or thirteen. A girl who wore the same gray outfit they all did stepped forward and curtsied very properly, which got the rest of them to either do the same, or bow.
Holding his face very serious, so as to not offend the small dark haired people, who seemed to have impeccable manners so far, he bowed back and waited for one of them to talk.
Her Noram standard was passable. Merchant accent, laid over some kind of country speech. It was hard to tell where she was from though. The north, he thought.
"Good evening milord. I am Mardy. This place be... is, Wildlands Station. Have you us come to visit?"
"Hello Mardy. Everyone. I'm Tor. This isn't really so much a visit, I'm going to my grandfather's house for dinner and I was asked to see if I could get some golden wine. Which of course I'll have to trade for, since I don't have any coin with me. That's embarrassing, isn't it?"
The girl smiled at him and nodded a bit but her words gave the lie to that one.
"We have a store, sir. What have for trade? Wine is spenive." She made a face. "Splenive?" The others all looked baffled too.
"Expensive." Tor took down the Carriage, getting a low gasp and then collected his floating chest, the amulet for it on a string, resting on the top of the case. "I have some devices. Magical clothing and more of these floating chests. That's about it. Well, might as well ask. I have a time schedule. This is a Fast Carriage, but that doesn't mean instant, and Grenwyn is a ways off." The kids stood for a bit, just looking at the chest, but the girl gestured, awkwardly but it was a courtly movement, meaning someone was teaching her. Likely the others as well.
Then they all walked away, so he followed them, hoping it would work. If not he was going to have to go empty handed. That would be impolite, but not as bad as not showing up at all.
It was a bit of a trip to get to the little shop and the place wasn't physically large, but the crest on the door was the same as the one on the little hut.
"Say, what's this?"
Mardy looked at it and asked the group with her, a boy that had slightly lighter hair tapped it with a single finger and explained.
"T'be'en der cres o' twizar." He wasn't talking directly to Tor, but the words were clear enough, even if the accent was a bit thick still.
"Oh... I see, this loop is to represent a flying river, and this is the sigil on the flying rigs. This..." It was clear, and even made some sense, to him, but he hadn't thought it would to anyone else. "Is a loaf of bread in front of an oven. Very nice!" Especially since he hadn't been aware he had a crest at all.
The boy stared at him, but nodded.
"Ya'ken?"
"Sure. You said that this was the crest of the Wizard. What's not to understand? Do we knock or just go in?"
Mardy answered that for him by turning the focus stone handle and opening it, then looking at his arm as if it might be diseased, pulled him inside. She was just afraid that he'd be mad at someone like her touching him though, which was silly.
The woman behind the counter was older, had silver hair and a sour look on her face.
"This isn't the time to be coming in for sweets, you little scamps..." She wasn't big, shorter than Tor was even, but spoke like a person from County Ford. They kept to decently strict Noram standard there.
"Hello! I'm not looking for sweets, I need a single bottle of golden wine. I can trade a magical device for it. A floating case like this one? It can change size, shape and color and if you have the amulet it will follow you anywhere. That or some magical clothing? Have you heard of that?" It was possible she hadn't but the woman crossed her arms and shook her head at him.
"Oh? You want to trade mere magic for a bottle of my best wine? I'll have you know that a good bottle goes for nearly a gold. It doesn't pay to stock anything finer than that here. How much do these magics go for... A few measly hundred gold each? A thousand?" She smiled at him though and winked as if it were all a joke.
"About that. Here..." He pulled one out and handed it to her, had her turn it on, which got her covered with brown material that tried to cover her skirt, making the trousers look funny. Then he had her imagine different colors and fabric materials. By turning it into a dress she made it fit and then started imagining some fairly decent, if rather simple, patterns inside the material.
"So, a bottle of wine for it? I'd haggle more, but I'm short of time."
After a few moments, the woman went to the back and came out, wiping a rather dusty bottle with a yellow colored label on it. The glass was brown and there was a cork in it that looked well weathered. She handed the bottle to him and then tried to give the amulet back too.
"No, that's yours. A bargain is a bargain after all." He wasn't displeased, since he hadn't actually expected to find anything at all.
The lady in front of him sighed.
"I can't take your magic boy. It's worth more than I could ever trade for. Best to just lose the gold than have the wrath of a person with that kind of wealth angry at me for cheating them." She didn't seem happy about it, but resigned to the idea. The kids all nodded too, agreeing, at
least in theory.
Mardy looked at him, up and down then shrugged.
"I'll suck your cock for it." It was a bold statement and no one looked shocked by it either.
Except, clearly, him.
"Sorry, what?"
The older woman at least looked disapproving after a bit and hunched her shoulders up.
"It's... Sometimes when the soldiers can't afford to pay the ladies in the back some of the boys and girls can trade things like that for goods. She doesn't mean to offend you, she doesn't realize the value of it. That's all."
Oh...
"I... see. Aren't you underage Mardy? How old are you?" He made his voice sweet, but his stomach had dropped out already and he felt like he was about to lose control of his bladder, even though he didn't have to go. Thankfully.
"Eleven, but I've done it lots. I'm really good, ask anyone. I s'pose you could take another hole. That's... expensive?"
Tor nodded.
"That's the right way to say it. Listen, you, all of you... You can't trade for things that way. From now on when you need something, come here and..." He looked at the woman who stared back. After a few seconds she got what he meant.
"Oh... Serta, Serta Fallows."
"Then Serta will sell it to you. All the children here, not just you five. Pass that along." Tor handed the woman enough amulets then that her eyes bulged out of her head more than a bit.
"Take these. I'll bring coin as soon as I can for it, I know that real traders won't part with goods all the time for anything but that. Give them whatever they need. I'll handle the soldiers that have been abusing them." He took the bottle of wine and put it in the floating case and then stomped out. Mardy and Serta both followed him though, along with the others. They seemed slightly afraid suddenly. That made sense, given the twenty-five or so military men standing in formation in front of them.
"Halt, by order of the base... Master Tor?"
Someone here had actually recognized him? That was better than what he was used to by far. Maybe getting into a fight with a few hundred people at once actually made an impression. That or it was the fact that the young man in front of him was familiar to him. Taller though, by a good half foot since last they met. Young too, but standing in the front, leading the group.
"Swarley Jones. Just the man. I need the base commander here. Is that still Major Godfrey?"
"Sir, yes sir! Men, at attention! At attention for the Wizard Tor!" He sounded nearly panicked, which hardly made sense. True the boy might still owe him some gold, but the important part was that he wasn't acting as a thief any more. Probably still a spy, for Holly Printer, but that didn't bother him at the moment.
He summoned the base commander, which was no doubt very odd, but to everyone's surprise the rust haired and mustached man ran to meet him.
"Situation Report!" It was bellowed in official fashion and everything.
"The situation? That young children are being sexually abused on your watch. I don't have time to get to the bottom of this today, but I'll be back in the morning. In the meantime, please spread the word that any man that has done this needs to be in front of my hut at noon. If they fail to show up, I will hunt them down, and things will not go nearly as smoothly for them." He gestured at Serta and then glared at the man again, who looked tired, even though it wasn't that late, not even dark out yet. "This woman is going to see that all the children have what they need as far as goods go. Is this understood?"
He didn't have a right to tell the man what to do as far as military personnel went, or even the law, Tor realized. If it was even tangentially related to magic, he could pull rank, maybe, but he had no leg to stand on at the moment. Other than the fact that he'd fight if he had to, to protect these kids.
That, it seemed, wouldn't be needed at all. The man stiffened, but actually seemed to feel relieved and called out in a loud voice.
"Pass the word, any military person that has had congress in any sexual manner with one of the orphans need to report to the central core at noon tomorrow. Failure to do so means death." The man glared at everyone around him, but they actually started passing the word it seemed, even if the threat was a bit over the top.
The man wiped his forehead.
"It's been a problem for a while now. Technically, since these children have no one to speak for them officially, it isn't illegal to do that sort of thing with them. I've been trying to find a loophole in the regulations, but so far nothing has presented itself."
Tor just nodded at that. It sounded about right. They weren't anyone, so no one cared to protect them, or at least felt they had a legal right. No one could adopt them all, and short of that, they were at the mercy of whoever had control of them. He couldn't change that.
"Tell everyone that anyone caught touching any of them like that from this point on will face me over it. If they've forgotten, please remind them that the last man I faced over the same issue was a Baron. I killed him by beating him to death with my bare hands." It wasn't a great threat. He was only one man after all. He'd do it though, if it came to it. That would last for a day or two, maybe a week if he actually killed someone that night to make the point. He just didn't have time though.
"I have to go now, but I'll be back in the morning. By noon at any rate. Plan for it then. This will be fixed by tomorrow. I trust I have your support and that of most of your men, Major Godfrey?" He sounded snooty and stuck up about it, but the man saluted, which meant everyone else did too, including the kids.
"Yes, sir! It will be seen to immediately."
Tor set up his craft and started to get in when Serta ran out of her shop, holding a second bottle of Golden wine. She handed it over with a funny two hand presentation that he recognized from the Palace. He took the bottle though, since he had traded for it fairly after all. He needed to make more funds then, if these kids would be shopping regularly now. It meant he had a lot more to do, didn't it?
The bottle was placed on the seat next to him and he arrived only a little late. Grenwyn was as much like a regular city as an anthill was, except that it was hidden better, all the homes being low domes made of earth, with grass and trees all around. He could see the glow of the fires inside used for cooking and heating, even though it was no more than brisk outside at this time of year. It was pretty, but he had to search to find the Count's house, which was no nicer than what anyone else had. He lived simply and didn't put on airs at home at all. When Barbara had said she was fixing a simple meal that meant the woman was doing her own cooking and the food would be plain stuff for real. That wasn't some kind of code for eight courses and a fine dessert or anything.
Like a real home.
He found the place, thanks to a handy pink light that was in the front. It was magic, so he could feel it, and just to make certain he searched the hole in the ground for Barbara and the Ancient Count. They were both in there, with another person. A man it felt like. No one he knew.
It took care to step out on the thin pathway which was paved with stone but barely a foot wide, so that he didn't crush any of the plants. Barbara had once threatened to spank him for doing that, with a stout wooden spoon. He'd been an adult at the time, but he didn't think she was really playing with him on the idea. She was a strange one after all.
The door was closed, so he brought the bottles, let his case follow along behind him and knocked loudly enough that it would carry to the back of the front space where people were sitting. He could tell that much about it. Even Barbara was in a chair. It was Lairdgren himself who walked to the door however. It opened without a sound, the thing having been fitted perfectly and been well cared for it seemed.
"Tor, good to see you. I hadn't thought that you'd be dropping by like this. Come to beat me up for allowing your life to be ruined?" He looked well dressed and was wearing a clothing amulet, but no disguise, even though the field was with him. Inside him. That was interesting. Tiera had some fields like that as well. Exactly like these in fact.
"Somethin
g like that. After the meal though, so we don't insult all of Barbara's hard work." It took effort, but he used the same two handed presentation that the woman at the store had, and gave the bottles to the Count, since it was his house after all. He took it easily and looked at the labels closely.
"Ah, Veremont Vineyards. In the north of our own County. A very nice choice." He backed into the room and turned so that Tor could see the seated people. Barbara was wearing a plain blue and white dress that hugged her middle slightly, showing that, in her thirties or not, she was keeping her figure. Her hair was brown and she had really high cheek bones, that looked nothing like his mother, but the overall look still sort of did. She was nearly six feet tall though. A giant for his family.
The man next to her had on a simple red shirt with long sleeves and a bit of lacing at the neck, made of what seemed like leather cord. He had a round face and a thick neck, as well a full brown beard. He was a giant, it was clear, since even sitting down his head was higher than Tor's was. By several feet. There was no way he'd gotten into the room without ducking a lot.
His cousin waved to him, and actually had a happy look on her face, which wasn't how he remembered her. Then she ordered him to sit, a bit sternly, which was exactly what he expected. He did that without comment, ending up directly across from the vast man. He was thinking about woodworking, but his attention snapped to Tor as he sat at the table.
"Oh! That is shocking. Barbie told me that you and the Count were identical, except for age, but I thought it would be more of a simple passing resemblance, or a family thing. Like how I look a bit like my father and all that." He didn't add more, but Tor tilted his head and focused on the man for a minute, there was a feeling to him...
Tor had to shake his head.
"I don't think I've ever met the man. You feel a bit like Scotty Ross, without the entitled stick he keeps up his rump, I mean. If he's a family member of yours, please know that I get along decently well with the current Countess and her Count. Countier Ross and I just tend to... bicker." Tor smiled, hoping that he hadn't just stuck his foot in his mouth. Scottland Ross was nearly old enough to be this man's father. He looked about thirty or so, and Countier Ross was in his fifties, so it was possible...