by P. S. Power
“Ah! Mr. Baker. Just the man. Please, come and join us.” The voice was warm and he gestured regally enough that the move wouldn't have been amiss in the palace itself.
As he got to the table he saw that it held plates of food, each dish was different, some obviously things he'd never encountered before. A few looked like raw meat, and one of them seemed to still be alive in a glass of water. An eel? He'd heard of them but had never seen one. Did people really eat those? Alive? Eek. It didn't look very good to him. It slithered in the clear glass, a grayish black that shone even in the water, making it look slick and slimy.
“The test is a simple one. Use your device on this food and find what's poisoned before we eat. Begin as you will. I don't know how the device might work. Do you need anything in particular, or a special condition for the food?”
Pulling one of the little copper rectangles from his belt he activated it with his thumb and just moved towards the food. He went slowly at first, not knowing if anything would happen at all. Most of the people in the room, students mainly, but a few older people, including servants, watched with a bored quality. Maybe they saw things like this all the time? As he approached a plate with mashed potatoes, gravy and beef slices the device in his hand lit up.
It didn't glow itself, instead, as he'd intended, the space around the hand holding the device glowed with a golden light so bright that it was kind of hard to look at. Tor wanted to make sure that the signal never got missed by mistake after all. If you sat in direct sunlight, it would be clearly visible. Good. He moved over the beef, holding the copper close to it, nearly touching, but the unit stopped responding, it was obviously the mashed potatoes then. Or the gravy. Either way, he wasn't going to eat it.
“I can't tell which part in particular is poisoned though, unless I separated them somehow, is that required for the test? I think it would make a bit of a mess and I don’t really want to touch poison, if I can help it.”
The older man smiled and shook his head, “No, I think knowing what not to consume is enough for now. Good to know it could be used to do that though. Knowing which part of a dish is tainted could help lead to who had access to the food for investigations. Please, continue.”
The next two plates were fine, but then he got to a fish dish that lit up. Again it had a sauce, this one some kind of fruit based thing. The eel, however unlikely that was, didn't make the device glow at all. Gross, but apparently it could be eaten and was even close enough to things he ate regularly to count as nutritious and wholesome. In all he found five plates of food that had been poisoned. The man nodded and clapped.
“Very good! One last test then…” The man clapped and a simple pot pie came out. The man indicated it with his head, telling Tor to test it.
Nothing happened.
Until he started to take the device away and it crossed the side of the ceramic baking dish. It obviously wasn't food, but the dish itself made the air light up. He didn't understand it, but Trice did.
“Poison on the dish? So that if you touch it and then put your hands to your mouth…” She pantomimed the action, getting a glowing look from the man. He actually clapped his hands.
“Indeed. Exactly right Patricia. I would say your device is a ringing success. I'd like to test it further, if I could borrow it? Or… do you have more than one again?” The man seemed excited for some reason.
“Oh, yeah, ten right now, five on me, so here, take this one.” He handed over the one tested, and the man got the girls to help him open a large wooden case that had glass jars inside, powders and liquids. Were they all poisons? The answer came pretty quickly, when one after the other, they all were all opened, corks popped and stoppers breached, only to make the new device cause the air to glow with what looked like very bright sunlight.
The old man suggested that Tor get something to eat. That sounded like a wonderful idea, since his stomach growled at him a little. Not so loud as to be embarrassing though, thankfully. After testing one of the plates of food in front of him again, just to be sure he hadn’t missed anything, a fish dish with a white cream sauce that came with braised asparagus, he did. That, even more than the testing itself, seemed to get attention. Was the fish not good here? It tasted fine. Better than that, really good in fact. They used slivered almonds in the sauce, Tor thought, which gave it a little texture. Trice looked at him wide eyed and then smiled. She held the device that the old man was testing and Sara put the poisons back in the case carefully, making sure she didn't touch anything else with her hands.
Tor got that; a simple sneeze could spread deadly poison around the room. I occurred to him that playing with poisons in the dining hall might be just a little dangerous, but no one blinked overly at it. Whatever else these people were, they weren't cowards at least.
So, probably insane? Good to know.
Just as they were finishing a man who looked to be a few years older than Tor walked over, obviously someone special, if based only on height. The guy was about six-four or five, so a short royal, for a guy, or one of the merchant class? Hard to tell without just asking. He eyed Tor with a smile, but didn't approach directly, heading to the older man instead.
“Dean Hardgrove?” The words made Tor stop eating. “These devices… Would they be available for purchase or lease soon do you think? My parents have gotten into a bit of a pickle with the Count and Countess Ward and it would be… good if I didn't have to become a Baron in the next few weeks, I think.”
Two things popped out at Tor, first, that the old guy he'd seen several times was the Dean. Thank all gods he'd always been polite to the man. Not that he wouldn't be normally, but some of the situations he'd met him in had been stressful. Tor hadn't always been at his best at those times, had he? For that matter, Tor reflected, the guy had always been exceptionally nice to him, the son of a humble baker from Two Bends. It made Tor rather like him, since as far as he could tell, the man treated him just as well as he did everyone else, and that standard was high.
The second thing was the man announcing that the Count and Countess of Ward were being a problem for his people.
Them again. Not his favorite people personally at the moment.
He reached into his pocket and pulled two of the poison detectors and held them out to the man.
“Here you go. Let me know if you need more of them. No wait…” He pulled another from his pocket and handed it over too. The last he had with him other than his own. “Just in case they come after you too.”
Trice walked over and gave him a hug, which he took to mean it was a good move. She didn't kiss him, but then being around all these poisons, who could blame her? Also, it was the public dining hall of her school, in front of her friends and peers, so that could be the reason too. That she even hugged him here made him feel special. She didn't have to after all. At school she didn't really have to keep the fiction that their marriage plans were real after all. For that matter, since it was a noble arranged marriage thing she didn't even have to with her parents. They'd be all right with the idea of her marrying him as a business deal type thing, right? So was the hug real?
Tor decided to pretend it was, regardless. He got little enough attention from women; this tiny bit was a luxury. Might as well enjoy it while it lasted.
The man in front of him stood straighter. He had a smile on his face, but also looked baffled at the same time.
“Oh! Yes, these would be lovely for my parents, but how much? I can have funds sent if it’s more than I have on hand… This is definitely worth whatever is asked.”
Sara started asking questions of Tor her voice serious and low, Dean Hardgrove listened as well, his head nodding along with what she said. “Tor, how long did these take to make, the original template I mean?”
It was a leading question of course, because she obviously knew the answer. She'd been on Tor watch duty more than once he'd been told and had done some things to care for him that made him blush when he thought of it, so it wasn't anything casual. She k
new and just nodded when he said eleven days out loud.
“And you nearly died making them, why did it take so long?” Her voice was curious and everyone had moved in to listen, actually gathering around the table. He tried to keep his explanation short and simple, explaining that it was just a complex subject, so the field took a lot of time to build in order to be comprehensive. That was all really.
After about five minutes of this Sara shrugged and turned to the man.
“About two thousand gold. Each. That price is the one for friends here. I wouldn’t expect it to last once they go into manufacturing.”
The man didn't even blink. No one else did either, not even the Dean. Two thousand gold? That seemed high. High enough that Tor felt uneasy holding on to the one in his pocket for a second, before realizing that the price didn't really apply to him. Or the man in front of him come to that. Not if his family was going up against Ward. That guy… annoyed Tor. The whole getting Ursala pregnant thing still rankled a little when he thought about it, and then his trying to sleep with Varley hot on the heels of that… Sure, the Count wasn't exactly bright, but Maria should have coached him not to go after the Princess just then, shouldn't she? Not that he felt any great love for Maria either, but… Well, he wasn't going to hold what she'd done at fourteen against her forever. Maybe she'd fixed herself already even? People could change, if they tried.
The man started to speak about arranging the funds, catching Sara's attention and a few of the other students, for some reason. Tor shook his head, and took the last bite of the fish dish, making an effort not to scrape the delicious sauce up with the side of the silver fork. Real silver too. Everything here was nicer than what they had at the other school. Probably because that one housed the rabble, fighters, scholarship kids and… The Prince. At least one full Count too.
That made sense though. A lot of royals had their kids over there too. Was that too keep them from getting too full of themselves? Heh. The idea that some of the nobles where that smart impressed him suddenly.
“Oh, those are gifts… For your parents and you. Really, let me know if you need anything else. I won't let my friends be harmed. Not if it’s within my ability to stop.” He couldn't explain why, not in public, because that would have compromised Ursala, and Tor wouldn't do that, which could have made things difficult to explain if a small gasp hadn't gone up around the room. That distracted everyone nicely.
Leaning in to him Trice grinned and spoke so close to his ear that it had to look like she was kissing it. “Oooohh. Now you've done it. Almost everyone wants one of those, and here you are just giving them away!” Her chuckle sounded warm enough, not like she was angry or anything. Was being poisoned really that big of a fear with the rich types?
Well, he'd seen firsthand how everyone at various court functions had reacted when he ate out of turn. At the time he'd kind of thought that was just about his breaking protocol, but if it was really that big of a problem… Well, if it was, he'd take living as a village baker. No one had ever tried to poison anyone in Two Bends.
In his lifetime, two people had been knifed, and one of them died. Both those were the same fight, but that was all as far as serious violence even. For the most part people just discussed things if they had a problem, or got Tom the Mayor to settle it. Looking at the empty plate in front of him he noticed how nice it was. Fine china, not earthenware like he was used to at home or even the other dining hall. Oh well, if he broke one of those plates he could at least afford to pay for it, this thing in front of him would be costly if dropped.
Looking around at the eager faces he made up his mind.
“Alright,” his voice was soft, but everyone suddenly quieted down to listen as if it was important or something. “I need to rest for a bit and get caught up on my actual school work, so I don't get kicked out. So far they've been really nice about everything, but Kolb's going to have my behind if I don't get back to regular practice and so will Karen. Also I can't keep pushing the Dean like this, not going to classes for weeks at a time… everyone gets that, right?”
Behind him the Dean chuckled, but didn't comment. Hopefully that meant he hadn't decided to kick him out already. It sounded like a friendly laugh at least. Tor tried to smile at the man over his shoulder a bit, encouraging him to stay friendly. Patricia chuckled a little as well and squeezed his shoulder again.
“But after that I'll start making batches up for everyone here.”
The crowd smiled a little, everyone seeming, if not excited then at least pleased. Good, he didn't want anyone to feel left out or anything, even if he didn't know them personally.
“Sara, would you start a list? I think… First come first serve? Um, not to seem greedy or anything, but this is only for the students and… the faculty here.” He looked around and noticed the servants as well, one or two looked disappointed. “Well… anyone that works here at the school. But it would be too much work to make one for every extended family member, you know? So, one apiece, at least for the free ones? I'll send the template off to Debri after that, or, I don't know, maybe make some up for regular sale, since, you know, the shields and flying gear are taking up most of the manufacturing set up there right now. Is that OK? If anyone has a pressing need back home, please talk to Sara about it and I'll make sure things are taken care of faster those people.”
Trice went white, probably realizing that they could have sold a huge amount of those even at the school or to peoples parents at least. That or she worried that he'd work himself too hard, which was kind of her if that was the worry. He squeezed her hand a little, since it hadn't left his shoulder. He looked at her with small smile then the Dean as an afterthought.
“Don't worry. These will come slow and are only copies; I won't push myself too hard or anything. Or miss classes for it.” It got the girl to nod at him at least, even if she didn't look exactly convinced yet.
The Dean told him that this section had about thirty students in all, but that the total for the whole school was about three hundred, if the offer wasn't just for the special school students. Then nearly a hundred instructors and staff. So four hundred of the devices in all? Tor could do that. Really, it should only take him about a month, even going slow, since the template passed fields so easily, but he didn't mention that out loud. After all, when Karen got done with him, he may not be able to do anything for the rest of the month.
At the thought he sighed and stood.
“Right. Now though, I have to go and take a beating from a combat giant. It's deserved, for missing all the lessons I have, but that won't make it hurt any less.” He looked downcast on purpose and shook his head mournfully.
Everyone in the room laughed and more than a few patted him on the back on the way out. Yeah, he could see some of them commiserating with him on that score. They were mainly smaller people too, compared to the shield bashers that they had to practice with sometimes. Sara stayed to make up that list and managed to get the Dean to sit beside her, which should keep everyone polite enough.
When he walked out Trice looked back wistfully.
“God, I should have grabbed that list first! Oh well, I can wait a few weeks or months even. Right now no one’s probably trying to poison me personally.”
He made a face at her and snorted.
“Right, like you, Rolph and Sara aren't getting yours before dinner? Tovey too. I kept the ones for you in my room. For that matter I need to send some off to everyone’s families as well. Um… well, you aren't mad at me though are you? I know that this is a lot of gold to just give away, but…”
She grabbed his shoulders and kissed him just as they reached the commons. It was a good kiss, one that lasted long enough that someone passing by, another student even, coughed loudly, which made them both laugh.
“You're kidding, right? From childhood on every noble is taught to worry about being poisoned, to follow protocol and actually examine our food for anything that might hurt us. Extra grittiness, a strange flavor or color,
anything.” She made eye contact; the blue of her eyes looked clear today, almost crystalline somehow. Like some of the gems on the walls of the palace.
“When you ate the fish with white sauce off the testing table… that really won them over. It showed how confident you were in what you'd made. I thought a couple of people were going to pass out from fright honestly.”
She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him gently into walking.
“But to answer your question, no. I wouldn't be mad over something like this. School is ninety percent about gaining new contacts when you're a noble like we are. You just won over almost everyone here. Yesterday you were the guy that made stuff they had to fight to get, and probably couldn't, even if they had the golds. Today you're their friend that cares about them enough to see to their personal protection, even at great personal cost. Doing it this way is brilliant too. No one will think you’re trying to curry favor with them in particular, so it just makes you seem… You know, I don’t even have a word for it, but it’s good. Every time they eat for years they'll think about their buddy Tor standing between them and death. I wouldn't have suggested it…because I just wouldn't have thought of it really. Of course your offer will include some people you aren't overly fond of… unless you want to snub them? Dorgal for instance?”
That idea made Tor happy, for about half a second, then he just sighed and shook his head.
“I don't like Dorgal. He's a bully and not overly bright, at least not that I've ever seen. But I don't want him to be poisoned, or anything, either. I don't know if he'd want anything made by me, but the offers there for him too.” That had to be done, didn't it? Dorgal wasn't his friend, but someday they'd all be adults and he wouldn't want an enemy if he could help it. Especially if he ended up with the guy as an in-law or something. For that matter he needed to make sure and send some of the devices off to Meredith Sorvee and her family too.