by P. S. Power
The conversation went on for a long time, and a lot of war related things were talked about, which Tor mainly just nodded through. It was nearly all he could do not to fall asleep. His eyes were heavy and the topic, while supremely important, was about as interesting as watching yeast ferment. Starting he realized that his head had dropped suddenly as he'd fallen asleep. Sitting up straight he waited for his things to be delivered, or perhaps someone would come and take him there? That would work too. That was probably going to be easier he realized. Six medium-large trunks would be hard to move, right? Especially if they didn't know how to work the follow along floats.
Nothing came. Eventually they moved to one of the dining rooms, but Tor didn't drop his shield to eat. After all, that would open him to attack. Plus for all he knew the food was poisoned. Everyone else had a poison detector, but not him. All the ones he had were in with the amulets in with his stuff.
No one said anything, but he got worried glances from everyone for some reason. Finally, after almost two hours a liveried Royal Guard came in, looking panicked. Everyone stared as he whispered in the King’s ear. Whatever it was Rich didn't look happy about it, frowning and going very still as he said something and listened to a reply. Suddenly he took a deep breath and walked from the room, heals clicking softly on the stone floor.
“Thomson, Thorgood, attend me now, please. It's… potentially urgent.” He said, not looking at either of them as he walked quickly from the room. Rolph shrugged but kept eating.
“Well, Tor, is there anything we can do to convince you that it's safe here with us now?” The Queen asked, batting her eyelashes just enough to catch his attention, without making it seem phony. It was of course, he realized. She'd probably had lessons in it as a girl. Ah well, so what if she had? If so it had worked out well enough for her, since she was Queen. If she'd been taught homemaking, she'd have been out of her depth, wouldn't she? He didn't think there was but said nothing, not knowing how to answer her.
Tor kept drifting off, and was, he realized, asleep when everyone came back in. Because being caught napping would make him look good. Not weak at all.
They didn't run, actually, if such large people could be said to mince, that's what Tor would have gone with as a descriptor. They all looked horribly worried about something, but only Tovey actually looked at him.
“Tor… all your things have been stolen. Even the devices that were in the room you shared with Countess Thorgood and… Countess Printer. All of its gone from the palace.” The Count didn't seem pleased about it at least.
Well.
Either they were lying to try and keep him there, or something had gone horribly wrong. Tor just waited. They'd probably give him something more to go on eventually. It was the King that finally broke the silence.
“Ahem. Well… not to point fingers, but Countess Printer was seen leaving with ten cases earlier, flying at speed away from the Capital. We're tracking her now, but she seems to be making best time back towards her County. We need to prove this before taking action but it seems highly likely.”
Nodding Tor just sat.
“Wait…” Something didn't make sense to him. Well a lot of things didn't really, but right now one thing really stood out. “She took my clothes? My toothbrush? Why? She'll never fit in them, and even if she did, well, the colors and styles are all wrong for her. Really, I have all those green shirts, she'd look better in burgundy, don't you think? And I know for a fact she has her own toothbrush, I've seen it, it has a really nice carved ivory handle… Oooh, and what could she be doing with my under things?” Tor mugged a little, getting a laugh from the Princesses at least, well, Trice too, though that was more a dark chuckle, as if she had some ideas about the subject that Tor probably wouldn't even think of.
That dark chuckle triggered an equally dismal thought in Tor's somewhat sleep deprived mind.
“Oh, and, I don't suppose that the amulets I was wearing when Smythe attacked me went into those cases, did they?”
Trice told him that Ger had collected them and was holding them for him.
“Great! He's a good and trustworthy person to keep my stuff. Very good in fact. Um, could someone send for him? Quickly please? Before his next meal time?” A smile strained his lips, half panicked.
No one got it except the Prince.
“Shit Tor… Do not tell me a twelve year old boy is running around with that super weapon that looks like a poison detector?”
Well, Tor considered it for a moment. Gerald was thirteen, so there was that. Nearly an adult and a Squire to boot. He wasn't worried the kid would run off with his things, just that he might get confused and check his meal with a poison detector that simply wasn't. He tilted his head back and forth as Rolph ran from the room. Gasping slightly Tor followed. He didn't want the Prince to scare the kid after all. As long as Ger knew he had it, everything would be fine. Probably safer with him in fact, since no one really seemed to want to kill the boy. No need to freak after all. It could be hard not to, but it wouldn't help anything, losing control never did.
They pelted through the hallway, rounding several hallways before making it to the kitchen, one of the smaller ones that Tor hadn't been to before, to find both Ger and Gemma helping out with the dinner prep. Chopping potatoes into little cubes.
Tor smiled and waved when the kids looked up.
“Hey all!” He forced his voice into brightness. “Ger, do you still have my amulets by any chance?” He asked immediately, not getting an answer really, just a flying tackle from two sides.
“Master Tor!” Gemma cried, her arms slipping off his shield, her own doing the same. That earned a smile from Tor. With the double slices of stone in his right hand Tor aimed a blow for Ger's shoulder, he had a shield on too. Good. If he hadn't the second blow would have landed on his head, if not hard enough to do more than sting. He was a Squire now, so that meant he needed to stay ready, especially since they were at war.
For nearly a minute the kids enthused about his not being blind or dead, which made Tor happy enough. Ger, being a good Squire, even if not his, had all the amulets and weapons on him. He was using that shield, Gemma had the one Tor gave him. Very smart of them really, good use of available resources.
“Right, um, see the poison detector there? Could you hand it to me please?” The field was definitely not that of a poison detector. Being hyper careful Tor stepped out of the room and activated the cutter still in his hand, facing away from anyone and, hands full, tried to make another mark in it. Nothing happened.
Right, the shield he had on protected it too. Tor tried not to indicate he'd made that mistake and didn't react. Looking around and taking a deep breath, he willed the shield to drop and made the second and then third mark on the tiny copper piece quickly, then made sure he was protected again.
“Whew! Here you go then Ger.” Tor handed it back to him, earning a panicked look from Rolph. “OK. Ger, that, as you may have guessed, isn't a poison detector at all. It's the most powerful explosive weapon I've ever made. Maybe the most powerful thing that exists in the kingdom. If you use it while on the ground or on anything too near you, and I mean within at least a mile, maybe more, you'll die, shield or not. So will everyone else around you. Keep the other weapons, and guard it with your life. Give it to no one except me, Kolb, Prince Alphonse or the King, and really, if any of us seem upset or angry when demanding it, don't give it to us. Got that? Even if you have to fight us to keep it. Gemma? When Ger needs to bathe or anything that means his shield will be off, you have it. For god’s sake don't get confused and check your food with it! Are you both armed?”
Ger was, with the weapons that Tor had been holding when he'd gone down in the fight with Smythe. Interestingly the young brown haired Squire held the blinding weapon too. Tor borrowed it from him, promising to return it later. He wanted to check the field out on it and see what he could discover. If nothing else he wanted to be shielded against it, didn't he?
“Ah, Tor… a word?”
Rolph said quietly, gesturing to one side of the hallway.
“Are you sure that two kids should have all that gear? I mean… well, they don't have any training yet, do they?”
It was a good point.
Tilting his head to one side Tor showed Gemma how to use the Not-flyer and cautioned her that it was military grade, so faster than the ones they had in town. She already knew how to use them, it turned out, at least the slower kind that the palace servants had access to. So did Ger. Laughing Rolph doffed his own and handed it to the boy.
Nodding the Prince looked at both of the children. Tor was the one that spoke though.
“There, now if anyone comes for you, or tries to take that weapon, run. If you can't escape, then you have my permission to kill them. There we go, that should do for now. We need to get them trained fast obviously, if they’re going to guard the most dangerous weapons for the kingdom. One last time, if a Count orders you, on pain of death to give them your weapons, what do you do?”
“Run away?” Gemma said, sounding uncertain. Tor nodded and smiled at her.
“And if they corner you in a small room, surrounding you with guardsmen?” Tor asked, looking at Ger.
“Kill them all?” He sounded more certain.
“Yep. Then run away again, in case they brought friends. Well, glad that's taken care of. Shall we go see what else we need to do now Prince Alphonse?” Tor said, getting a shocked look from his friend.
“I don't think you ever called me that before.”
“I don't think I ever handed massive death weapons to kids that can't even reach the top shelf in the kitchen either, but it's a day for firsts. Shall we?” Gesturing with his right hand he managed a fluid motion that indicated they were going back where they came from, it was smooth enough Rolph didn't even laugh at the attempt. If Tor wasn't fighting a yawn at the same time it would have been nearly perfect.
He let the Prince do the honors of the story to the rest of his family. It really sounded much more interesting when he told it, Rolph being a better storyteller by far. The King actually squeaked when he found out that the weapon had been left in the hands of two children, but Trice smiled and winked at her uncle.
“Don't worry, two of the best squires in the kingdom. Of course I have to say that, because one of them is mine, but it's a good plan. No one would think to search them for it, and they won't use it. I'd put a Royal Guard detail on them just to be safe, but seriously, who else would you choose to hold it? Smythe of Westend?”
The King hurried into the hall, but came back a minute later looking much more assured.
“Now, where were we? Oh, yes, so… Tor was opining that Countess Printer would look better in purple than green and might be doing strange things with his undergarments?”
“Burgundy dear.” Connie corrected.
“Indeed, silly of me to make that mistake. Now, Tor, I believe their also a small matter of some devices you made? I don't suppose you have an accounting of those do you?”
Tor did, but only roughly. It was about five thousand shields, all the latest design, three thousand flying rigs, three thousand military level Not-flyers and a few thousand lights. Nearly a hundred explosive weapons, but while dangerous, they were the smaller ones he assured the King who still grimaced… and a whole host of things that he didn't really have a good accounting of at all. Also all his gold, for some reason. It probably made sense, if she was stealing stuff anyway, but she could have left his clothes and soap.
“Holy fucking shit.” Princess Karina said staring at Tor with her mouth open. “That's… even if we don't count the Tor-shoes, I mean the Not-flyers, that's millions of golds worth of stuff! Wars have been fought over less. A lot less. I mean, we had a war not twenty years ago over a single goat, so this… What do we do? Send the army?”
“Watch your language. You're a Princess, not a dock worker.” Tor said, his voice not unkind. “As to what were going to do… Well, I need to find someplace to sleep. Obviously I don't have coin for a room right now, so I guess I have to stay here after all. If that's all right I mean? Then in the morning, after I make some new shields, flight rigs and all that, I'll go off to wherever my friend Holly is, and get my clothes and gold back. Obviously, if she wants to borrow some of my stuff she can. For future reference though, please ask first. I can get the fact that I was out of it for a few days but seriously… This is more than a little inconvenient. I really want to brush my teeth.”
Everyone went quiet except for Trice. She laughed long and hard, it didn't even have a manic edge to it at all. Everyone finally stared at her which got her to sober finally, nearly forty seconds later. She still smiled.
“I am so going with. Ooh! Tor, shave off your beard, it makes you look a lot younger, plus Ursala hates it. We'll take Varley along and, well, Gemma and Ger are busy… Maybe we can take a bunny with us or something? Nothing says, don't kill us, were all cute and fuzzy, like a bunny.”
She was being sarcastic, but Tor just yawned and agreed with her.
“Yeah, send for Petra Ward too, and… David Derring. That should round things out.” Who he really needed was Karen Derring, but she was dead. Her brother would have to stand for her as Holly's friend then.
“What about Martin Kolbrin? I mean if we're to send those two?” Richard said, his eyes directly on Tor's.
Ah, right, not everyone here knew about the special section, did they?
That should do it, they all agree. It kind of made sense. Kolb had worked closely at with the Countess at school after all. Definitely a familiar face. Everyone thought it would work at least.
Except Rolph who thought he should go and Connie who definitely didn't want her daughter or injured niece going near someone so obviously unbalanced.
In the end they both relented.
That was good, because Tor fell asleep curled up on the sofa he'd been sitting on all day. When he woke up, it was the middle of the night. Someone had come in and dropped off pre-marked copper sections for amulets, enough for full batches at a time, which he took as a hint. Batches of a hundred each, not ten. A bit of extra work, but he had to start rebuilding since Holly had taken all that stuff… A bit frustrating, but that was life, sometimes you just had to pick back up and go, even if it was a pain in the rear.
Tor just worked until he'd nearly finished the fifth, and obviously last, batch when the people came in. It was just some lights on small copper disks that could be tied anywhere, they were only the size of a silver coin, but the light they produced came out in a nimbus around them nearly a foot in diameter. The light was red this time, because some of the military men felt that red light didn't hurt their night vision as much. It probably didn't, since you couldn't see half as well by it, but if that's what they wanted, he'd make it for them. They had the combat field experience, not him.
It took nearly three hours after that for them all to be ready to travel, since Tor was bathed, shaved and dressed by a team of servants he'd never seen before who were both efficient and good at their jobs. Then they had to wait for the King to write Holly a letter, which he assured them all wasn't inflammatory.
They could only hope, since it was sealed with wax and no one wanted to risk trying to melt it free in case they damaged it. That would be embarrassing after all. Tor had a vision of them handing over a letter from the King covered in half melted wax. The stuff running down his shirt in a red mess. It was a hilarious thought, but also a crime. You didn't mess with a royal seal. People had died for that in the past. Not even that long in the past either.
The flight took about seven hours, but mainly because everyone wanted to stop and eat three times. Tor understood, everyone else was a giant, even if a small one. They just ate more when they could. Tor ate once, at about lunch time and then mainly because Petra grabbed him and threatened to force feed him if he didn't have some fruit and cheese. The fruit was dried, quick dried, which left it airy and light, it practically melted on the tongue and wasn't shriveled like regular dri
ed food was. It was crispy instead of chewy and good in its own way. Like candy almost. Pears, peaches and apples were offered.
No one mentioned the new process, because they'd all seen it before, except Petra, and she got almost instantly that Tor had created the device that made it without being told. The woman just kind of expected that if new magic was involved, Tor was to blame.
Out of everyone, it was funny who expected what to happen. Tor didn't say much, because really, he didn't know at all. Kolb figured that they'd likely have a fight on their hands, possibly with Holly herself. After all, he trained her for years to do just that. Tor he'd taught to run away, Holly he drilled on leading forces to battle. Oops.
Trice had a small box with her that she assured everyone would fix everything, but she said it with that playful air she often used, which was good to hear, as much as the situation sucked. She wore black, except the light tan of her bandages on the stump of her left arm. The flight rigs that had been made that morning all used a right hand control, but other than that were as fast as the new military ones. It was what he was using too, since he didn't have time to make a regular batch, not yet. That was fine, he wasn't going to fight anyway, just talk. Every few minutes Trice gave him strange looks, flying alongside him and mugging openly.
She seemed to either be adjusting fast to her missing arm, or, and this was more likely Tor guessed, she was faking it for everyone else's benefit. She was good at faking things after all, Tor thought, only slightly peeved by the idea. Finally after ten strange looks from her or so, Tor stuck his tongue out briefly. It got a laugh from her, he couldn't hear it, but that's what it looked like from a distance.