by P. S. Power
Ger raised his head proudly.
“We don't have positions yet sir, but we can work, we don't need charity.” The young man’s voice held more dignity than Tor thought he could muster himself, so he nodded.
“Right. I knew that. I've seen you do it, so that isn’t in question at all. I guess what I'm saying is that I have some positions available at my house. There's a lot of training needed, so, you know, it's more like an apprenticeship than a job to start with, and you'd both need schooling to do the whole thing. Even if you become squires you'll want that education. You do get paid a little, as well as room, board and tuition. We need to talk to your sister too, maybe…” Tor looked at the Queen. “Connie, I know you're busy, but would you help me with that? I don't want anyone to think… that I'm taking advantage of these two.” Tor remembered how Count Morris had looked at Ger as if the kid was something other than his assistant. The girl was even the right gender for him, if too young. Cute too, so people could take his interest the wrong way really easily.
Connie nodded regally and Rich smiled hugely at Tor, clapping him on the shoulder suddenly.
“Just let me know when the Squireship papers need to be signed and I'll start working up the signatures. That can take some time you know. Counts get all prickly about it, as if it was real work to sign their names.”
From behind Tor laughter came as Rolph told them all how Ger had defended his new bosses honor by knocking Count Morris on his behind with a force lance. The boy ducked his head in shame but had to fight to keep a smile off his face at the same time.
“Humph.” Holly said, her eyes noticing that the kid was there finally. “Well if Tor tells me you'll do, when the time comes you've got my imprint. Morris is a stick in the mud at the best of times. Still, he does hold a key position strategically, so outfitting him isn't a horrible plan, and he's loyal, I'll say that for the man.” Her words were considering, but her tone stayed sad and dark the whole time. She still missed her husband, Tor could tell. It may have been an arranged marriage, but she took it seriously enough to make Tor both a little envious and scared. In the end, he suspected that Holly Printer would destroy the world to kill the Wards, if that's what it took. Tor couldn't belittle the feeling, but also couldn't forget that he lived in the world himself, along with everyone he cared for.
Tovey allowed as how he could possibly also add his signature if he got a good recommendation from Tor as well. Rolph clapped the boy on the back and smiled.
“There you go Ger. Now we just find one more and you can start on your path to Knighthood! Or, knowing Tor, probably any other career you want. It's a good situation to go into. At Wilderness Station you can probably get your own house even, though you might have to make it. Lots to do there now. Tor even has his own whorehouse, though you're a little young for that yet.”
Ger blanched and looked at Tor nervously. Varley got it first, and explained.
“Don't worry Ger! Tor won't put you or Gemma to work there. Alphie just meant that you could use their services, when you got a little older, that's all. Well, unless you want to work there, then that would be all right I guess…” She teased a bit, getting knowing nods from the other royals. Tor snorted.
“Not until they're at least fifteen though, for working there at least and then only on school breaks. If you want to spend your money that way, that's up to you, or I suppose you could trade work with some of the women if you wanted, in exchange… But as to working there, I have different plans. Those being almost anything else you want to do that doesn't make my little country bred mind spin in circles. We'll get with Connie and your sister later and work out what you two actually might like to try.”
And, Tor decided, see that any relatives they had might be informed and kept in the loop. For all he knew some aunt or uncle would want them to go into the family business. The kids seemed smart enough from what he'd seen after all. Which wasn't, admittedly, very much. The Queen announced that everyone should present themselves at dinner to see to it. Connie like to do that, set up dinner meetings. It gave her an excuse to have extra ceremony or something. That, entertaining and such, was really her job as Queen, it seemed unimportant at first, but once you realized how much everything in the kingdom hinged on people not having ruffled feathers and feeling like they were important… well, it was probably as crucial as anything the King did, if in a very different way.
That gave them several hours, which for Tor meant just enough time to wash up and put out two hundred more devices, shields and flying rigs this time, just to keep things slightly fresh. Doing only one kind of thing without stopping would eventually wear on his own field, which couldn't work, because he was a person, not a shield. Do that too often and it would just kill you. It was covered on the second day of school even. It wasn't really that dangerous, but it was something to keep in mind pushing like he was.
Ger wanted to stand guard at the door, but Tor sent him to look up his sister as soon as Holly and Ursala came in, since they could keep the wolves at bay he assured the boy, both being Countesses and all that. Ger looked at Holly and, obviously remembering her practice earlier, nodded. Not a lot would be coming through her, Tor agreed.
Ursala, tall and blond, leaner now than he'd ever seen her, though not skinny at all, let her eyes follow Ger as he bowed himself out of the room in best servant fashion.
“Cute kid. Are we assigned a page then finally?”
“No, that’s Tor's new ward and possibly future Squire. There's a girl too. Orphans, the last of their immediate family being killed by the Austran attack. The cook that led the servants against that Larval assassin? Anyway, we just need to get your signature and the kids can both be squires, we already have Thomson, which will make their lives a lot easier I dare say. No orphanage for them. Already offered surety towards any schooling they want by Master Tor here. Plus the kid knocked around Count Morris earlier. Tried to imply Tor and he were lovers. Turned out to be a mistake. If he's going to do things like that the boy is going to need to be at least a Squire. Really, we should get with the King on that tonight, in case Morris gets in a snit over what happened earlier. We don't need a potential fighter like him executed just to keep the likes of Morris happy. Not with a war on.”
For some reason all that earned him a warm hug from Ursala. And a kiss. Then a little more than that, until Holly started to chuckle darkly.
“Not to break up your fun, but we should be getting ready for dinner, we're all supposed to be present tonight to discuss this and see what the kids want to do. You could probably dodge it of course, but since they're like as not going to be your side-range step kids, after a fashion, I'd think you'd want to be there.”
With a soft smile Ursala moved to get ready, helping Holly as needed and vice versa. Normally they'd have dedicated palace servants, if they didn't have their own, but the place was so crowded that they'd opted to do without. It would leave someone to attend to older people that needed the help more than they did. Holly was used to field conditions she'd said, and Ursala was too, in a way, living in a little hut with Tor and the others. They didn't really have servants at all. Just a tiny prostitute that brought their meals in sometimes.
Tor was already more or less dressed, except for shoes, so he made one last batch of shields. Flying rigs may be neat, but fighting forces only needed so many flying warriors it seemed. All of the military wanted shields though. That and lights. He'd have to start on those too again soon, and weapons. Really he was waiting on that last part though, until he could talk with the King, and maybe Rolph, alone about it. The Prince was, of course, vital to the war effort. If anything should happen to the King, he was in charge and no one wanted a six month training period for him to get up to speed while Austra hammered the kingdom back to the cataclysm. They hadn't really attacked in force yet, but they had some boats off the coast harrying fishing vessels at times. Mainly name calling so far for some reason. They'd take advantage of a vulnerability though.
Who wouldn
't?
Besides, Rolph was smart, it would be stupid not to get his advice.
At dinner a lot more people showed up than he'd expected. For some reason half of them were people from his house, well, Wildlands Station, which was a lot more than a single dwelling now, but he hadn't known they'd be coming for dinner. For that matter, given the plain and practical dress that most of them wore, it didn't look like they'd known they were coming either.
It fell to Rolph to make the introductions, because, like Tor, he knew everyone at the table by name and was the highest ranked person that did, so the job was his by tradition.
“So, introductions! This is an exciting group of people all around, first let’s do the boring people, and by that I mean the ones that everyone probably knows, not that they’re any less than interesting. At the top of the table we have the King, Richard Cordes, next to him his lovely wife, my mother, Queen Constance Cordes, next to her is Tor, whom I think everyone here knows? No? Right, Gemma you haven't officially met yet. Then let me formally introduce Sir Torrence Baker, Countier four Lairdgren and probably one of the best people I've ever met. In case the title got missed by some, I'm Alphonse Cordes, in disguise right now, but they still let me be Prince for some reason, as well as a pin cushion in my spare time. Not a hobby I recommend taking up.
“Princess Veronica the fair is across from Gerald Cannor next to him his twin sister Gemma who's across from my lovely sister Princess Karina the-”
Trice snorted.
“Princess Karina quick cut.” She waived the stub of her left arm, gone at just below the elbow around the tan bandages standing out from her rather stark black clothes. Her voice was playful at least, which earned her a stuck out tongue from Karina.
Good.
Trice wasn't someone that could be coddled. She was tough as nails most of the time and willing to do anything to get a job done, but if you let her cry or feel sorry for herself she could go on for hours. Loudly. Better to not let her start. Once again Karina impressed Tor without knowing she did it. Varley was clearly a genius, but Karina had her moments of insight too.
Rolph glared at Trice a little.
“Really Trice, if you’re not going to be grateful to her, you should at least be afraid. Think about it.” He didn't smile about the words, but Tor did. It was a good point. Tor wouldn't have been able to cut her arm off like that. He would have frozen up… and let his friend die because of it.
“Anyway, next to Princess quick cut is Sir Martin Kolbrin, Knight of the realm,
Baron and a wickedly good weapons master, across from him Mercy Morgan, my aunt and Baroness Thorgood, then her husband Duke Eric Morgan. Across from him is Countess Ursala Thorgood, my good friend and next to her is Major Godfrey head of the military's focus stone manufacturing unit as well as co-inventor of the people moving transports along with Tor.
“Then we have the lovely Ducherina Patricia Morgan, who, before you take her out Sorlee, didn't actually stab Tor if I have that right…”
From the end of the table a girl in a black military style uniform looked down the table, her eyes going huge. “Lissa? I thought… they all said you hurt Master Tor then run off… I don't…”
Tor shrugged.
“I'll fill you in later, alright Sorlee? It was different than it seemed, a trick of sorts, but from now on just call her Trice or Patricia instead of Lissa. If anyone asks you, they're not the same person.”
The girl nodded, looking more than a little troubled.
“That leads us to Countess Holly Printer, accomplished military strategist and planner and next to her, last, but by no means least, we have Miss Sorlee Farmer who among other notable things is the first civilian transport pilot and instructor.”
The conversation didn't start until after dinner of course, that being the tradition. From what Tor could tell it had to do with the fact that, more often than not, by the end of those discussions people were screaming at one another and possibly fighting. If the nobles wanted to eat they needed to make sure they did it early. Being giants, they liked to eat, so it wasn't a trivial point.
For once the discussion actually went pretty smoothly. Almost too smoothly. Tor didn't trust it. These things always went wrong one way or another.
When asked what they wanted to do, both kids simply said that going with Master Tor sounded like their best option. No begging to stay in the palace, which Tor would have understood them going for, if that's what they wanted, since it had been their home for years. They didn't even ask what they'd be doing really, though Gemma sounded favorable about learning to be a transport pilot and Ger perked up when it was mentioned that they'd both be offered training in how to fight. The only obstacle really seemed to be their aunt, who was the Countess of Cannor. Tor had even met her once.
The memory came flooding back. He'd been a little worked up himself at about that time, but the woman hadn't seemed… robust. A bit frail truth be told, older, and loony as you could get without actually talking to yourself in public. At the time he remembered being afraid the woman would demand that the kingdom help her defend her borders against imaginary threats. Dragons… or pixies maybe.
The King nodded when Tor looked at him, Rolph did the same thing with a sigh.
“Right, so, since these children are her heirs, we can't really keep them from her if she demands them, but by that same token, we can't just pack them off to her either. She's a dear friend and loyal subject, but not exactly mother material bless her.” The King spoke gently, voice low and not un-warm, but a little troubled.
From down at the end of the table Sorlee spoke up, her voice soft and accent still a little thick, but easily understandable to everyone now, which wasn't the case even two months before.
“Sir, if it pleases you… I don't understand… shouldn't the children be with their Aunt? She's a Countess, so shouldn't that be a good home for them? Master Tor's a good man and would make a wonderful father to them, even if he's young, but this Countess is their family…”
A slight clatter came from the back of the room.
“Ah, don't let it concern you overly girl, they're just all convinced I'm insane, that's all.” Everyone swung towards the voice, a woman stood in the doorway, older looking than anyone in the room, but dressed as she was in a light brown military style outfit, her hair cropped short, like the Queen, Trice and Princess Varley, she looked hard and in shape, and while a little wild eyed, she didn't seem half as mad as the last time.
“I haven't given anyone a reason to think otherwise for a long time, so it's only natural, don't you think?” The woman looked at Sorlee as if expecting an answer, so the girl nodded honestly.
“Yes my lady… If you act the loon, people will assume you are. The question is then, are you?” This got a shocked silence from the room. The country girl was honest and gentle of spirit, and it was a fair question, meant with no ill will. In Forest Far it would have just been polite, giving the woman a chance to show that her mind was in balance and that she understood what the situation was. Here it was like accusing the woman of eating babies.
Instead of outrage, the Countess just chuckled.
“How would I know? Crazy people almost always think their sane, don't they? But is thinking you’re not insane a sign that you've lost it? I can only hope not. Sorry I'm late. I came as soon as I heard about Laura, rest her soul. We traveled non-stop or as close to it as we could manage without killing any horses. Now, from what I walked in on, it seems the plan is to secret the kids off somewhere without mentioning it to me? Good plan I suppose, but since I'm here anyway why don't we go over it just to keep the record straight?”
The woman, Mary, Tor was informed after a few minutes of speech by the King and Queen, listened carefully, tilting her head to the side several times in a fashion that seemed birdlike, as if she was listening to something no one else heard. Her words focused on the topic though, a lot more clearly than the last time they'd met, when she spoke of flowers and the fish off her coast
line and how they were faring. Really, if Tor remembered it all correctly, she spoke of the fish as if they were personal friends. Same with the flowers come to think of it.
Finally she nodded.
“Well, I'm here now, so no need to pack the children off with strangers. We'll make arrangements for them to come with me then. Family comes first, after all.” It was said with a definitive air, as if nothing else needed to be said on the matter. That was something Tor understood. After all, family did come first. Always.
That kind of seemed to be that, until Holly spoke softly at the end of the table, her voice slightly amused.
“Countess Cannor… are you suggesting that you’re going to steal away Master Tor's new squires away from him? I assure you he's a man of good character and from what I've heard the highest moral standards. You've the word of myself and I believe the entire royal family as well as several of your own peers.” She stood and gestured at Count Thomson and Ursala, a small and tired smile on her face. “Plus, for all that he's short, he's a Countier himself. Countier four, Lairdgren, I believe. So it's not like the children are going off to live as woodsmen in the deep forest.”
Mary Cannor gasped after a second and stared directly at Tor. Had she not realized who he was? They'd met, kind of, once. He didn't have a beard then though, which he knew made him look a lot different. Without it he looked a medium old fourteen, tops. Younger to some of the over tall giants, since their own kids were always so tall. Being short meant young to them. Closer to Ger's age than his own eighteen. For some reason the older Countess started shaking and pointed a bony finger at him.
“Lies.” She said softly. “There is no heir to Lairdgren. Burks only child in line for it died years ago. I should know. After all, Laurali was my daughter too.”
Tor blinked and stared at the crazy old woman for a second. After a bit the woman corrected herself.
“Well, step-daughter, her own mother died during childbirth, but still, she was as close to being my own flesh as possible. When that Austran killed her… Well, that's part of why I turned out the whole of County Cannor's forces for the war. Laurali will not go unavenged!”