by P. S. Power
"I'll fix that part. I just don't want to dump them on Brown. Do you think they can visit openly? I mean, would anyone here try to hurt them?" That would be an act of war after all and they'd just ended one. As far as he was concerned they could all stay in hiding. What he really needed to do was contact Brown. He'd know if it would be a good idea or not.
The former spies actually seemed to think it would be fine, Kenner, Ken, Timon remembered to call him, explaining it all.
"There might be a few that feel a little bitter, but not many. Most people are pretty much in love with Princess Karina here right now. We need your friend Ali too, since you're both famous." He looked up at the red haired prince and shrugged, looking playful. "No one cares about you much. You'll have to let your sister take the lead. You can help wash dishes here or something, or clean the floors each night to earn your way." He was kidding, since that had been his former job at the palace. It was mildly funny.
Alphonse just nodded.
"Sounds fair. Wouldn't be the first time I was set to lowly tasks. Usually by Tor or my father." There was a good natured humor to it and even the guards didn't seem to have a problem with the idea, though Robert gave the young looking boy a hard look.
"They're dignitaries Ken, they'll probably be staying with the Prime Minister or in a fine hotel, rather than with us, if they're here openly. It's a bit of a shame, since I was going to offer them the floor of my tiny apartment, just for the amusement factor."
For half a minute Tim wondered how to get in touch with Denno, until it hit him that he had a compact, and more, had it with him. He moved to the side and pulled it out, getting a funny look from Karina and ignored by almost everyone else, except Ken, who looked a bit surprised.
The other boy walked over, his hair falling into his eyes a little, being wiped away without a thought. As the screen came up Timon tried to figure out how to use the thing, remembering what the guard that had showed him how to use it said. He started to hit the name on the screen, but stopped, a hand suddenly on his wrist.
"You have the wrong name there. You want Brown, right? That's Kincaid Rue. Not that it isn't incredible that you have her number too. I swear if I was five years older I'd ask her out, even if she is famous. Here, hit this little arrow until the name you want is highlighted. Then just hit the call button." He didn't touch anything but he pointed closely.
"Thank you." There was a strange sound that chimed several times before a familiar voice came on.
"Timon! Are you well?" He sounded slightly worried, which was odd.
"I'm fine, thanks. We had a Royal Guard try to kill Green last night. We stopped him, and no one was hurt overly. So... Can you put up a Prince and Princess here? Or, at least let the government know so that it won't seem like we're sending spies or anything? We're not trying to hide it, just get them out of Noram while we find out if the palace is really safe. I can pay..." That got strange looks from everyone and a chuckle from Brown, who seemed to be talking to someone suddenly.
"I'll notify the correct people. They can stay with me if they like, just the two of them or did they bring others?"
It didn't take long for it to be pretty clear that, while the Prince and Princess were, at least in theory, welcome at Denno's house, his own guard did not want to deal with theirs overly. That meant that they were relegated to a hotel, which Denno generously offered to have the government pay for, since it was a diplomatic visit.
They were to be set up at The Bairds, which was convenient since it was a place that Timon thought he could actually find again. It was the place he'd taken Kincaid after all. That was being set up for them, he was assured. Denno didn't ask to see them in particular, the Prince or Princess, even though they were friends after a fashion. Known to each other at least. He did ask for Timon to visit however. Once they had everyone else set up.
It took hours. The hotel was easy enough to find, but when they got in the front space of the place, which was decently nice, if a little worn around the edges, being an older place, they were hit with a huge crowd of people that tried to take their pictures. A man from the establishment tried to take them away, but the press of bodies made it difficult. It wasn't until a familiar young looking woman found them and gave Tim a hug that things started to clear out, the people in the crowd suddenly much more interested in that scene than in what they'd been doing.
"Sorry about all this. It's a photo op day for the movie. They seem to think your friends are in it. I can see why, they're all so tall." She hugged him again, which got a funny looking smile from Karina, who walked forward and stuck her hand out, country fashion, which showed that someone had informed her about what they did in Austra at some point.
"Hello. I'm Karina." Her smile was genuine enough as Kincaid laughed a little and shook with her.
"Kincaid. Do you work with Tim here? I'm trying to get him to take me to Noram for a visit. The studio is excited about it. My agent not so much, since she's certain that I'll be beaten and locked in prison if I go. That or seduced by the Prince and taken as his concubine. I told her I was sure he had enough of those already, but that didn't seem to set her mind at ease." She turned slightly, to smile into the crowd, people clearly making recordings of the whole thing.
Timon took her hand for a few seconds to get her attention, not letting go until she made eye contact with him.
"That isn't how Noram really is, you know that right? The Prince might try to seduce you, true, but he wouldn't lock you in a cell and wouldn't keep you against your will. In fact, if anyone tried, he'd probably fight very hard to free you." He was going to leave it at that, but Karina nodded, waving her brother over.
"True. Some Counts might anyway though, so we'll want to make sure they know that trying will cause a war. Still, you're safe if you're with Timon here. No one wants to anger him right now. They all want him to work for them too badly." She gestured to her brother, who bent down to shake Kincaid's hand, his own making hers seem like that of a small child by comparison.
"Hello."
Timon remembered his manners and did the introductions, since he was the one that knew them all.
"Oh! Sorry everyone, this is Kincaid Rue. She's a player. An actress, I think I heard it called here? She's the one playing you in the play thing I told you about Karina." He gestured to the others in turn so Kincaid would know who was who, as if it would be in doubt. "The tall man here is Prince Alphonse Cordes and this is his sister, Princess Karina. I figured they could help you study for your role and all that before we visit Noram. They're staying here for a bit. This man..." He pulled his new pilot around, which got her attention pretty easily, since he was pretty good looking. "Is Mark Morgan. He'll be your contact from now on, when I'm not around. New Fast Craft pilot."
Karina nodded and touched his arm gently.
"Also our cousin. A great person."
The introductions had been heard by the people around them and after a few moments of sedate and professional work, they erupted into screaming. It was intense enough that the Royal Guard pulled out weapons and moved into place around the Prince and Princes, driving the crowd back. Kincaid kept smiling and put her arm around Timon for some reason, leaning over to slightly to speak in his ear.
"Well, this will be on the news. We should get them out of here for a bit, spread the press out. Um... I don't know if you've been watching the coverage over the last week..." She signaled to someone with a wave, which got a group of four large men to walk toward them, clearing a path with a little covert shoving, letting the others move toward a set of stairs off to the side. When they got through the door, two of the big men blocked it with their bodies. "Well, since you've been gone, we've kind of been linked. You know, romantically? We were seen talking at dinner and I don't think anyone cared to understand the way the dining there works. To their minds we were together. You're important and look young, but I do too, so everyone decided that meant we were a couple. I hope that isn't embarrassing to you?" She walked beside him
and spoke loudly enough that Timon suspected they were still being recorded somehow.
Karina grinned and turned to look at them, but didn't comment on the situation.
Timon looked at her and shook his head slightly, not knowing how to share how pervasive being watched was here.
"Well, that's great for me," he looked at Kincaid, who was actually very pretty, once you looked past the face piercings. "But you're being linked with a twelve year old, and haven't done anything wrong at all. I can tell people that, if it will help. Or if that isn't a problem here we can just ignore it. Like I said, it doesn't hurt my feelings at all."
The woman took his hand and held it as they walked for a bit, letting it go when they reached the fourth floor. The hotel man, who was wearing a fine brown jacket and pants, not a jumpsuit, led them toward some rooms and used a device to make it so they'd all be let in at a touch. The ones staying there at least, not him or Mark.
Finally Kincaid shrugged and smiled at him, making very direct eye contact.
"Saying anything will just fan the flames. It wouldn't help anyway, since people will say whatever gets them ratings. I'm sorry you're being dragged into this. I do have to say, I mentioned that I was doing a movie and you brought me the Princess of Noram herself to help me study up for the part? Is that being the best boyfriend ever or what?" There was a playful tone to her words.
Timon nodded, "that is pretty good. Of course now you're going to find out that Noram isn't half as dangerous as you seem to think and that we're really all just people. It has to happen sometime, but I was hoping to keep that exotic air for a while at least. Well, what can we do?" He made eye contact and smiled, earning a tiny laugh from Karina, who seemed to be paying a lot of attention to their interaction as they went into the main room of the suite.
It had cream colored furniture that looked new and soft, the floor a deep burgundy colored fuzzy carpet that went all over the whole floor. It was an interesting idea, one he hadn't seen used very often back home.
Kincaid shook her head.
"See, it's things like that. You're confusing everyone here, acting so old. No one in the press believes that you aren't at least in your twenties."
The others all seemed to think that was about right, even the ones that hadn't known him for years. It was mainly due to his intelligence, he figured, that and his ability to understand what people were saying, their body language and all that. It wasn't magic, but it wasn't real maturity either. In a way he was cheating, knowing what people wanted and intended to do, rather than having to guess based on experience. It made him seem like he'd been around for a while to some people.
It still didn't get him a lot of benefit at home, but apparently here they had procedures that kept some people looking young for a long time, so it was an idea they were comfortable with. Instead of just seeming a little creepy or like he was being pretentious, it came off as him just having more years to work from.
Not that he cared overly. The thing there, as far as he could tell, was that Kincaid didn't really think he was twelve either. From the way she kept touching him that was going to be a bit of a problem later. He didn't want to be rude to her, far from it, but he also didn't want her to think he was trying to really lead her on. The Noram rules that he'd been subconsciously following with her seemed to allow for a little more flirtation than the Austran ones did. Or rather you could flirt more and were expected too, for a lot longer back home without having to do anything thing about it. They clearly had the concept here and people did it well enough.
It was just that if she thought he was lying about his age, there could be problems later and he might end up offending her.
Denials wouldn't work either, so he just smiled at her and tried not to think about it. It was a delicate situation, but honestly, it wasn't his problem. Timon had told her his real age from the start. It wasn't his responsibility to convince her of it.
The Princess moved in and put a hand on his shoulder possessively.
"He even seems older than Tor, who really is just turning twenty. It can be confusing, but that's because he's an Ancient. Like Denorian Brown."
For some reason that didn't seem to help, probably because the idea of being both very young and ancient at the same time didn't go together well at all. Kincaid did seem to understand that Karina was establishing territory though, from the slightly predatory look in her eye.
Mark looked at Alphonse, and both shook their heads, the Prince smiling a little.
"You know, his brother has this kind of thing happen all the time too. The only difference is that I don't think he understands it at all. Timon does." That got directed at him, the giants eyes locking with his own.
"On that note, Mark and I have to leave. Brown needs to see me and Mark is doing the run to Vagus with me for some supplies. He'll be back in a few days and check in with you." It was his plan and sounded bossy, but then, Timon realized, he was the boss. The man was lucky he was paying him at all.
In fact he could have probably given him the job and had his parents pay Timon for the privilege. Too late for that now. For a brief second he almost wished he'd thought of it sooner.
They made their way down the stairs and set up one of the craft, which called a lot of attention to themselves as they left. They got lost going to find Denno's house, so it took longer than it should have, but a short hour and a half later they were in the man's front room, his head servant collecting people for them.
Petra ran into the room first, giving him a firm hug, the kind that a family member would have gotten, rather than something warmer, which was refreshing given everything.
"Timon. What word from home?" She spoke as if he'd been gone for months, instead of days. Then she had to be feeling cut off and isolated.
There was some though, wasn't there? He went over the whole thing with the Royal Guard and how Alphonse and Karina were in town and why. She looked properly horrified by the idea and then glanced at Mark bowing after a few moments.
"I... Sorry, I know that I should know you, but..." Her voice was a little worried, since forgetting a nobleman could cause hard feelings and even fights, but he smiled sweetly and shook his head a bit.
"Not really. We met once I think, about ten years ago? Mark Morgan. You're Petra Ward, right?"
That got them talking about people they knew in common. Oddly enough, one of those turned out to be Count Rodriguez, at least in passing and at a distance, since Mark had to stay away from him, to prevent combat rage. He eyed Petra carefully when he mentioned that, but she just shrugged.
"Like with Trice? Well, I can rage, but it should be fine as long as you feel calm around me. I'm really nice, so no reason not to. Trice never had a problem that way." It was a throwaway line, or so it seemed, though Timon could tell she was trying to set the man at ease.
To her mind he had to seem wrong, almost diseased. He could in moments strip all dignity from a person and turn them into a mindless beast. That part of the rage was something he could feel for himself, that loss of control, a desire to destroy whatever's in front of you, like anger, only so much stronger. Mark was that personified for the nobles of Noram, wasn't he? A threat so great that the King and his own family had locked him away from everyone but a few people deemed safe.
So for Petra to be willing to honestly look at the whole thing and not be worried or scared, that showed real power in a way. She was so brave that even having her own will stripped away wasn't enough to stop her. It might just be too brave for her own good. Timon hoped not. She was a decent person and so much had already happened to her.
There was a moment, just the briefest hint of a second when Timon let his anger come out. It didn't show on his face, but Mark got wide eyed and started to turn away to run. Petra stared, and then held up her hand.
"Timon? You're casting an aura. It isn't that strong through my shield, but I don't think it was Mark's doing. I mean, I didn't go as well at least." There was no running on her part. No, she held her
ground, watching him closely, but not seeming scared or even worried. He should have been upset about that, since it was almost certainly her saying that she didn't think he could be a threat to her, but that was probably just correct. Her next words shocked him, even through the haze of his mind. It was something that no one had ever really told him before.
"The rage can be controlled. Draw it back. Use your will to hold it at bay. You are the master of your own mind. Don't let it rule you..." She sounded very certain of that for some reason. Confident.
Timon did it, knowing she was right. It took about five minutes but he mastered the feeling and sighed, trying to force himself to relax. When he opened his eyes Mark stood there too.
"I'm sorry..." The man started to go to his knees to beg forgiveness, but Timon put a hand out to stop him, shaking his head firmly.
"No. Petra had that right, it wasn't you. It was Count Rodriguez. He doesn't know it yet, but we have business to address, he and I." That would happen, but Timon wasn't ready. The man would die for what he did, but if he went after a sitting Count he'd have to fight his army too. His heir as well most likely. No, that had to be done far more carefully and he needed to learn a lot first.
How to fight for one thing. How to kill. More than that, he needed a plan that wouldn't be easily defeated. As he thought all this the tall slightly dark woman stared at him, her brown eyes slightly wide, as if amazed by his anger over the whole thing. Did she not understand? She was his brother's friend. Tor wasn't there to help her or give her aid. He was. It wasn't enough yet, but he could change that.
It wasn't going to be fun either. For one thing he just needed to know more than he did about the whole thing. Thankfully she didn't start questioning him on the topic. She probably thought that he loved her for some reason, that or pitied her and saw her as weak. None of that was true. She was a warrior and one of the strongest people he'd ever heard of. If he were the one tortured he'd still be curled in a little ball, hiding somewhere. She was fine, at least externally.