by P. S. Power
"Nothing so adventurous. I merely misplaced my clothing." He made direct eye contact with the man, who sighed and gave a single nod.
"I understand how that might happen. Would you be so kind to wait on us outside the door? I need to speak to these others and it might verge on subjects that you don't already have knowledge of."
He looked at the door, as if Timon might not know where it was, but he didn't say anything else. Figuring that it was a dismissal of sorts, at least for a while, he went to stand in the hallway, choosing to hide himself as well as he could, behind a suit of armor made of steel, that was leaning on a sword. That alone was nearly as tall as he was, so it was pretty good cover. Or at least he thought it was, until about three hours later, when a group of very tall individuals rounded the corner.
There were three of them and they all had very nice outfits on. One of them was a tall man that after a few seconds he recognized, once he looked up high enough. Prince Alphonse Cordes. They'd met, though the man had been a bit shorter at the time. So had he, but it wasn't an equal thing at all. It was only a few months, but the person in front of him had grown at least a bit. Princess Karina was there too, wearing a sea foam green dress that fell easily from her narrow shoulders. She had wonderful freckles he noticed. They were just visible on her dusky skin. Her hair was a little lighter than her brother's, but it worked for her well. Between them was the queen, who was another person he'd never talked to overly himself.
She was lovely, of course, but in a fairly standard way, unlike her Princess, who was truly unique.
They all stopped at the same time, eyes going slightly wide, which a naked boy in the hallway could do to a person, Timon supposed. It was embarrassing, but he bowed, his back to the wall so no one would take offense, and tried to play the whole thing off. After all, they were naked too, under their clothing. He didn't mention that, but it did help him feel a bit better. Not much however.
It was the Prince that recognized him first, actually looking at his face, though the Queen rallied quickly enough that it wasn't obvious that she'd noticed how very unclothed he was overly. The Princess just stared, which was a little rude.
"Ah! Timon. Have you come to breakfast?" It was said so blandly that it almost sounded normal.
For a second he didn't know how to reply, when he spoke it was a little rushed and even though he meant it as a joke, it sounded like he was decently panicked over the whole situation.
"No... I came to talk to Princess Karina's da, to see if she wanted to set up a marriage, maybe trade some livestock for her... then I ended up out here in the hall, naked!" The funny thing was, after a fashion, it was almost true.
Alphonse grinned, getting it, but for some reason the others looked taken aback. He was about to explain the joke, which he hated doing, when the door to the sitting room opened and the King poked his head out.
"Oh! Good, everyone is here. Please come in. I was just coming to get Countier Baker. There's a bit of a situation." That got everyone to look at Tim, even though no one said anything else.
Inside the room had changed, with Kara and George being gone altogether, though Captain Petra was still there, sitting in a hard wooden chair.
"Petra!" They descended on her in a wave, not recoiling even as the stench she had about her hit them. They did pull back pretty quickly after the first round of patting and making sure she was whole and unharmed took place.
The Queen looked at her for a while, then at Timon.
"So does the situation have to do with why Countier Baker is without clothing this morning?" It was addressed to the King directly, so no one else said anything, even as the door was closed.
The giant man gestured for them all to sit, doing it twice for Timon, who still felt uncomfortable about the nudity on the furniture. He sat anyway, perching on the edge, so that they knew he didn't intend to get anything on the nice cushions. The leather stuck to him anyway, if only a bit.
"You all know that your Cousin Petra was taken prisoner by her fiancé, Count Rodriguez and held for some weeks. It was nearly as bad as we could have imagined. Her limbs were broken, most of her teeth knocked out from beatings and parts of her were horribly burned. The torture was meant to get her to talk about the Secret Army. She didn't."
The others all looked at her, tears coming to the Queen's eyes, though the Princess looked at Timon again, baffled.
The King rolled his shoulders at the glance.
"He'd worked it out for himself. Even that they're missing. Promised not to tell, in exchange for me mentioning to anyone that might need his services that he's around. They get a discount too, so hardly much of a payment on my part, since it will make me look good, but I'm satisfied with it."
No one made fun of him for not asking for more, even if the King clearly had expected some bigger deal to be made of things.
Then it was Petra's turn to speak it seemed.
"They threw me in a pit, spit on me and took turns pissing on me. A few did worse than that, but there was no rape. I did manage to work out that there's a plot to kill you all and take over the Kingdom. I couldn't make out who was behind it. No one shared that with me." She shuddered a little and then kept going, figuring that it would be better to do it fast than to try and hide things. "Then, last night Timon and... some friends of his came and rescued me. I was naked, in that pit, to humiliate me I think. Timon gave me his clothing amulet."
"Friends?" This came from the Queen, who stared at him hard, clearly trying to work out who those might be, with Tor and the Secret Army both being gone. Who did he know that could have done something like that after all?
For a second he nearly told her, but the King... thought at him. It was a very clear thing that took him by surprise. Not a word really, but he understood it anyway. No.
"I..." He hid the alarm he felt and then sighed, letting his body relax, looking the woman in the eyes. "I asked my Aunt Orange for help. She had a friend with her, but I can't give his name. It wasn't anyone I knew, I mean, so I honestly can't. She's one of the best fighters on the planet. Maybe the best. They did seem to make a mess however."
It would have to be a good enough lie, because it was that or the truth, unless he had more time to come up with something. Petra nodded a little then and the King bowed, just enough for it to be real, not standing up.
"Exactly. She's the one that helped Tor in Austra. The problem now, is that we need to hide Petra for a while, someplace she won't easily be found by the conspirators. We don't want them to know that we have as much information about them as we do. Any suggestions as to where to put her?"
They all had some ideas, but none seemed workable. The King pointed out the flaws in each one without hesitation.
Princess Karina suggested the winter hiding place, whatever that was, but it wasn't there anymore, which seemed to be a shock to her, but not Alphonse.
"Yeah, Dorgal took it down and moved it. His mother and father live in it now. One of the big magic houses. I can't blame him for it." He looked a little guilty, but didn't say why.
The Queen was sitting very upright and looking absently at the far wall, to the right, when she spoke, avoiding eye contact.
"We can't use her family." She tightened suddenly, wincing at the words, turning to the woman with a pained expression. "I'm sorry, it isn't that we don't trust them, we do in fact, they've sworn their fealty under truth verification more than once, but everyone knows they're the ones you'd go to. That or Tor. It probably means we can't put you with his people either. Not openly. Or at Wildlands Station."
Alphonse looked at Tim and shrugged, his huge shoulders moving just enough to be seen.
"The problem with a rebellion, especially one where we don't know the players, is that we can't really trust anyone. You can't just walk up to a Count or Countess holding a Truth amulet and start asking questions. Or well, you could, but they'd probably have you locked up. If we tried it, that would be grounds for war, even if they hadn't been part of the trouble t
o start with. On the other hand, all the people we know for certain we can trust, these other people will know to be watching."
Timon could see his point and it was a good one. After a few seconds though he had an idea. It was probably a bad one too, but he couldn't see any flaws with it, even if they'd all hate it.
"I know a place no one will look for her at." It wasn't something he actually wanted to voice, even though it would be safe enough. Most people couldn't get there from here. Not without a long trip, or hiring him for it, and if they tried, he wouldn't take them. "We can hide her in Austra."
Since they'd been at war with them in the last year, he kind of expected someone to yell at him over the idea, but instead the King held his chin and Princess Karina actually nodded. She also hissed, but it didn't sound evil, just tense.
"Yes. If it can be worked out, no one would ever look for you there Pet." Karina looked at the others and shrugged. "It won't have to be for long. A few months at most. After that it probably won't matter anymore. If it does... Well, it's better than being locked in a prison somewhere to keep you safe."
That got a shiver from the woman, and a nod from everyone except the Queen, who made a face.
"I hate the very thought of it. I know that the people of that land mean us no harm, but their rulers have rarely been our friends, especially in recent years. It's a good plan, almost perfect if we can make it work. Even if they knew to search there it would be impossible for one of our people to easily find her. Will she be safe from the Larval assassins?"
That was something Timon didn't know for certain, no one could. He could make a guess though. "I think she will be. They have no reason to take her. Tor wouldn't know about it if they did after all. It's probably the only thing keeping the rest of us safe too, even here. Not comforting, but I don't think even they would bother taking her there. It would be wasted effort and that isn't a quality I associate with them."
That got a single nod from the King. "We need to make those arrangements as soon as possible. We can hide you here Petra, though you might be seen. Could she go to Tor's palace do you think? That might be watched too, but it will be easier to leave from I think, if you're careful. Possibly not." Looking around he stood and started pacing, taking exactly ten steps before turning each time, staying on the stone part of the floor, not the long dark carpet running down the middle.
"Would your service be open to take a passenger to Austra?"
That... Timon sighed and shook his head slowly. "No, I need to arrange that first, with the government there. They have permits and things. Brown told me about it. He promised to help with it. I should go and see to that. I just remembered that I promised him I'd do that after my birthday. That's today. This year I'd like clothing, if anyone wants to give me presents." He didn't linger on the words, but Alphonse chuckled again and got up, walking out of the room without saying anything at all.
"I could take a friend I think, who was part of the new Noram/Austra peace exchange program. As long as you go in openly you won't look like a spy. Would that be alright?"
He wouldn't make anything off of it, not in time for school, but she was his brother's friend. Not his yet, but it was still his responsibility to watch out for her, if he could, until Tor got back.
They were all distracted by Alphonse coming back in, carrying a small wooden box, which he handed over to Timon with a bow, not standing upright until after he took it. The thing had carved falcons on it, which was significant, that being the Cordes family crest.
"Happy birthday!" He smiled and so did everyone else, as he opened the box.
It had a clothing amulet in it. That got him to smile hugely.
"Exactly what I wanted! Thank you." He slipped the chain over his head carefully, noticing it was real silver and tapped the device, which put him in a plain brown workman's outfit. That was the default for the item. After a few seconds he was wearing a black velvet suit with silver piping on the sleeves. It was nearly as nice as what the King was wearing, but not better. That would be stepping too far above himself.
Petra smiled, her eyes looking a little sad. Then torture almost had to damage your spirit, even if you didn't break under it. He would have broken. Timon wouldn't have even waited for the pain, he didn't think, just talking freely from the beginning. It would probably have the same thing happen to him in the end, since no one would believe that someone would just talk like that. The woman had to be very brave and strong to have gone through that and lived, much less resisted them the whole time.
"I'd love to get a shower if that's possible." She didn't have to add anything else, the Queen jumping up to take her to one through a hidden door in the back. That gave one explanation as to how the Royal Guards had gotten past him at least.
After they left The Princess turned to him and smiled, her face a lot brighter than it had been while Petra was in the room.
"It's really your birthday? How old are you?"
"Twelve. So, you know, I can't really back that marriage proposal for a while. We can get engaged if you want. Two years is a little long to wait, but that will give me time to get the business going. You understand." He tried to make it sound very adult and succeeded a bit too well, since the Princess nodded along with him very seriously.
"That sounds reasonable. I thought you were looking to marry Sara Debri. A wonderful girl, but not really within the three steps. Is that why you're entertaining other options?" It was said with a very polite combination of interest and tact that his joking didn't warrant.
It was, he realized, "The Rules". Those had taken him by surprise when he'd first heard about them. It pretty much meant that you had to be pretty nice if someone approached you like he'd just done with her. Even if it meant pretending that he wasn't just being annoying. Or as the case was, joking. Just in case he really wasn't.
"Oh, well, I've come to realize over the last year or so that going around really asking for grown women to marry me isn't a workable option. Plus Sara was a bit cold when we met yesterday, so I figure she's probably found someone. It's fair. I mean yesterday I was a child of eleven and today..." He paused for affect, then hurried into the next line. "I'm a child who's a day older. I shouldn't have teased you with that marriage thing. It was impolite of me." It really was, even if there was also humor to it. Instead of acting hurt by his admission she smiled and looked around the room.
"Good, I was worried you didn't get reality for a second. I'm not writing the whole idea off however. I have to get married and there really aren't a lot of good options left for me. Everyone is either too closely related or taken. We really would have to wait at least a year anyway, so setting this up ahead of time would just be keeping the competition at bay. A bit at least. If you plan to be traveling around and meeting everyone in the Kingdom that isn't going to be easy I bet. Bet you a silver that you have at least two marriage invitations before you turn thirteen."
Timon nodded, but didn't take the bet, instead he held up his left and tried to look innocent as he counted off one finger.
"You're one... But who else do you think it will be?"
That got a chuckle from the King and a pained expression from Alphonse.
"If you keep being that charming at school it will be the first girl you meet. Seriously, bring it back a notch or you'll be overwhelmed and get a bad reputation. Not a good thing to flirt too much, when you can't back it up legally."
The King actually nodded at that bit of advice, "there is a real point there. Especially in the higher circles. A lot of women will feel obligated to answer your flirtations and that can lead to uncomfortable situations. You're not an ordinary boy, so you cannot expect standard responses. It wouldn't serve to entice women to break the law, even if you can."
The Prince nodded, "right and as Tor's friend that means I'll have to beat you if I hear about it, so you know, best to keep things low key."
That was nice to hear, since the men weren't saying he was too ugly, but the opposite of that. Timon nodded
anyway and put on a serious face, changing the subject a little.
"So... Maria Ward is putting together a trip to Soam in a month. I need to get by there as well and talk to Aunt Julie to see about that. I should also get over to Vagus soon. I wasn't going to, but I don't think I'm going to be able to go to school this year."
Saying that led to a discussion as to why that was, which got the Prince to offer to pay for it himself, which was kind on a level that was unexpected, but had to be declined too.
"After all, I turned down gold from my parents and Count Thomson already. If I took it from anyone else, it would look like I was insulting them, or saying that I thought that there were strings attached. I do, at least with my mother, but I don't want to shame her in front of the world. It's best if I write it off as wanting to stand on my own, based on pride or something." It was probably a stupid reason, but the King, it seemed, was on his side about it. That was a bit of a surprise, if a welcome one.
"To be perfectly honest, I can't see why you'd need school. It's a wonderful place to learn, but you already have better building skills than most ever master and can do copy work. You also have a new business that should be very important to the Kingdom. As Karina pointed out, if in a slightly different vein, it will also serve to help you make contacts. Normally I'd push for someone your age to get as much schooling as possible, but you don't seem to have a real need for it."
There was a lot of truth to what he was saying, but school was a chance to just sit back and actually just learn for a while. That and make friends. He'd had his family in Two Bends, but over the last few years it had been hard to get close to anyone. They either thought he was putting on airs, along with his wealthy family, or felt lied to, since no one had known they were as well placed socially as they were. That the kids hadn't known either, was lost on most of the younger people in town. They wanted to work at the delivery services, but that didn't translate into inviting him or the other kids on their summer camping trips, did it?
It was kind of hard to put into words.