The Silence Within (The Young Ancients: Tiera)

by P. S. Power

  "Bonita? But..." She shook then, her whole body shivering, as if she were simply too cold to go on. It wasn't that bad out of course, since Morris was pretty far south. The sun was starting to set, but it was still warm enough their breath didn't show in the air. It wasn't that then, but something emotional.

  The conversation stopped, and Carol acted for all the world like Tiera wasn't there at all. It was a strange reaction, so she waited, planning to just the leave the woman shaped burden if she gave her any trouble. It was perhaps a bit much to make her whore on the streets for crumbs of bread, but it really wasn't her job to take care of this. Other than it was a family matter for her, in new and strange ways, since Bonita was set to marry her grandfather in a few weeks.

  When it got dark enough, she pulled the correct amulet out of her top and took it from around her neck, hitting the sigil on the front that looked like a glowing horse. It called the whole thing into being instantly, and without discernible sound. It was a nice purple and gold color at the moment, but she changed that almost instantly, making it just about the color of the night sky.

  "So, I'm off to the Capital. Would you like a ride? I swear this is all real, and not a trick. I'm Tiera, by the way. Baker. Tor is one of my brothers. Hence me getting one of these things to travel around in. I'd take more time, but my school break will be over in two days and..." Explaining felt like far too much work suddenly, so she let a smile she didn't mean cross her face. "If we're going to get you to all the places you need to in order to properly grovel, we'll have to hurry. Remember though, I'm the one that likes you. If you don't do what I say, at least well enough, I'll kill you and have done with it. No one else will give you that much of a chance."

  That wasn't a happy thing to mention, but was both honest, and got the woman to walk to the craft. She needed help getting in, but just sat in the back, looking down the whole time.

  Finally, as they passed through the air at thousands of miles per hour, at least nearly that fast, there was a soft voice from the back.

  "So, this is really all real and I'm not insane?"

  "Well... It's real. I can't tell you how your mind is doing, and you have been acting a little off. I'm not a wizard or anything. I just kill things." And then, if she were lucky, once the right people were gone, she'd join them in death.

  It was a dark thing to think and one that she tried to hide from everyone, but it was her long term plan. She was going to kill Sandra Morris for murdering her girlfriend, then do the same to her father, for causing the things that led to that. Then, if she didn't take a cutter to her own throat, she had to figure that the Morris heir would. If nothing else she'd hire it done.

  "You've killed people?"

  "Yes. In the attack on the Capital, along with Tor and some of my school friends. Count Morris and some traitors used Austran weapons, very powerful ones, to try and kill most of the other Counts and Countesses. We killed most of their forces. I killed... I don't really know. I think it was about a thousand though, more or less." It hadn't troubled her at all and didn't now, talking about it. She knew it should, but she wasn't concerned about those men and women. They'd been helping a monster and that was enough of a reason to take their lives. It did occur to her that the woman next to her might just think she was lying, to make herself look good. She wasn't, but it didn't matter.

  Carol's words were surprising though.

  "I have family that might have been there. My daughters and husband. I don't really love him, but... Duty and all that. It..." She took a huge, almost gasping breath. "When we married, my father... It's really too hard to explain, but he hates me, my husband. Even from the start he did. I was forced on him, and he always resented it. For my part I thought that my way with men and good looks would make up for that, but he loved someone else and had to leave her. Divorce. To stop my father and his friends from going to war with his. Then... I didn't want my children not to gain from it, but he already had daughters. I wanted Bonita and Collette to get out of the way, so that my two would have a chance."

  She sat for a bit then and finished by growling a bit.

  "Except that Ginger was murdered. My only living child, Maria, hates me. I doubt that she'd take me in, after this, either. What am I going to do? I have no one, do I? Even if, by some miracle, they would take me, I look like this. No one would know me at all, would they?" There was a bit of crying to her voice, and she shifted a bit. It was pretty clear that she intended to throw herself out the side of the craft, but the doors didn't open like that. There were no handles or knobs, you had to think the command to the craft for it to work. Luckily most people didn't know that, so she just grasped at the wall, helplessly.

  "Oh, that. It's just a disguise amulet, set to look only like that. I can turn it off for you." She didn't have to do a lot to make that work either, since there was no shield in the way. She just thought the command, focusing clearly enough, and the woman transformed instantly. It still wasn't a great sight, since she was dirty and ill kempt, but her face smoothed a lot and took on a new shape, that was prettier by far than the long horsey one that she'd had before. Her hair lightened and the gray vanished. Tiera didn't stare, since she had other work to do, but the eyes would be blue, she thought, if she could see them. After a second she made the wall next to the woman into a mirror, so that she could see for herself.

  "Ah! I'm... me! Again! Thank you!" There was no attempt to hug her or anything, but there was a bit of happy sounding crying.

  After it calmed down a bit, Tiera nodded, leaving the mirror in place.

  "Remember though, If you mess this up, I won't help you. I'll leave you alone to face whatever is coming. Do what I say and... Well, I can't promise that it will work. People know what you did, and a lot of them hate you for it. All I can do is set it up so that you might have a chance. Just... Don't be stupid? Beg everyone for forgiveness and make it work. I wasn't kidding about Gerent needing a house woman however. I don't think he has anyone yet, at least." That was a bit of a plan at least.

  Tiera didn't know for a fact that it would be a good one, since Carol Coltress was pretty vain and held herself above everyone else and her new brother was a midget. A real one, not just a short man. He was getting taller too, or should be, so that wouldn't be something that lasted forever, but the lady next to her could make an issue of it, if she weren't really going to try.

  "Oh? I... Can sew and cook a bit. Clean too, I suppose. I spent more time with household management, as you might imagine. Is that going to be enough? I don't know if anyone would take me in, so something like that might be the best I can do. Do you think it would help if I slept with him?"

  That was a good question. She didn't really know the answer at all, but nodded anyway.

  "Why not suggest it? Once you get cleaned up, I mean. He might be a little shy, he's very kind and gentle, but short. A midget. Is that a problem for you?" It was better to have the woman express that now, than with the man himself facing her.

  "I can't see why it would be. We might need some pillows or something to make the heights match..." It wasn't said with any ill feeling to it, there was just a bit of practicality to her tone. Almost as if she was claiming that would be the only problem that might exist at all.

  Maybe it was now? If she'd been taking the clients that the regular streetwalkers wouldn't, in a middling sized town, she might not be as picky as all that. Gerent was clean and a good man. She could do worse. If he wanted her around at all. That wasn't a given. After all, he was decently bright as well.

  "Good. I won't go into all of that, but he might be your best shot at impressing everyone, so I suggest you don't abuse him. The last people that tried that had their arms and legs taken and their genitals shaved off with a cutter." She smiled, which probably didn't show, even in the glow of the purple river... Which someone had made all red and green in alternating colors. There was a smaller river going from the water to what seemed to be a walled dwelling on the East side of the city, that hadn't been
there the last time she'd seen the place, less than a month before.

  It was at least as large as Tor's palace, and whoever lived there seemed to be pulling out all the stops, making it look at least as grand. Her guess would be that Timon had done it, since no one else she knew would make a river glow silver like that. On a whim she landed there, hoping that she was right, or at least that whoever was there would be nice about it. There was a spot for them to set down in the front, an area that looked to be made of focus stone, but that had blue lights set up all the way around it. It was pretty handy, she had to admit.

  Carol goggled at the place, but didn't ask if it was their destination at all. She climbed out when Tiera did however and smoothed her shift, which was probably what she'd been wearing when she'd escaped from the rest facility.

  "Is this your home?" The words held awe, and her face looked a little pale.

  "Nope. I have no clue who lives here. It's new. I figured that I'd just go and knock. Gerent lives by the river, the real one. The silver one here though..." She didn't wait, walking up the path and then knocking, even as the other women held back. Like a servant might, in a similar situation.

  After a few minutes someone finally came to the door, looking rather happy, all things considered. She had a very nice gown on, all in blue, and her hair was done up in a decorative fashion. The deep brown curls almost made Tiera feel envious, since her own hair was deadly straight and black, which was kind of boring.

  The woman went wide eyed when she saw who was there and then jumped forward, grabbing Tiera by the shoulders, then into a tight hug.

  "Tiera! Everyone has been wondering when you'd be around. Come in. You too, ma'am." She didn't look at the other woman very closely, just waving for her to enter, paying almost all of her attention to Tiera, holding her closely, as if they were friends or something.

  It might even be true enough, she figured, even if it wasn't anything that Tiera really felt, for the most part. The woman had once been engaged to her older brother Tor, and then said nasty things about him in public. True, she'd been ordered to do it and they'd mainly made up, but that didn't leave her feeling warm and comfortable with the situation, did it?

  Of course, when she and Gerent had been thrown in a Galasian jail and raped by the guards for sport, it was Tiera and Timon, along with a few other people, that had come to get them out. That might leave Trice feeling a good bit more inclined to like her than was totally needed. Still, a hug was better than someone trying to kill you, most of the time, so she took it and tried to look happy about the whole thing.

  "Hello. I saw this place and wondered if Timon had put it up. The silver river, you know. That seems like something that he'd do, doesn't it? Is it yours?" She smiled and waited, knowing that if she was wrong, that would probably be a real difficulty. After all, in the noble world you were supposed to know things like that, even though half the time people just couldn't. That didn't matter however. It was one of those things that made their lives harder than they should be and would allow the people that wanted to the ability to take offense. It was kind of a sport for some of them.

  Taking offense.

  "Um... You've been away for a bit, haven't you?" There was a pause, a sucked in breath and then a rushing ahead, like someone telling bad news that they figured you needed to know. "This is Timon's and my house... While you were gone, we got married. Sanctioned by the King, and real. This isn't a joke. There were reasons for it, but..."

  Tiera just stood for a moment, looking at everything and wondering what the trick was. It could be a gag after all, or something else. Perhaps a trap for some spies? Timon was twelve after all, which was too young to marry. It wasn't truly impossible, but if he were going to do that, Tiera would have suspected that he'd have married Captain Petra. They were going around together after all. Or at least she'd thought that was the case.

  "Congratulations?" That sounded right at least. Tiera smiled and looked around the place, which was both huge and grand. The frames of the doors were all gold in color, like the metal, and had fine carvings along the sides and top. Through the door looked to be a sitting room, done in cream and blue. There was carpet that ran over the entire floor, and in a light color, which would have been a horrible idea if it couldn't be replaced instantly, thanks to magic.

  There was an appreciative murmur from behind her and Trice let go, not letting her face fall at all as she turned to look at the bedraggled and thin woman in the still open door.

  "This is incredible. Simply amazing. Warm too. The places that I've stayed recently have all been a bit drafty, so I've learned to appreciate that sort of thing." For the life of her, the woman seemed almost happy to be there, even if she were half covered with filth... and shame. Her bare legs and wooden sandals were so far out of place that it almost seemed as if she was doing it on purpose. Trying to make a statement about something or another.

  If the idea of the day was that this was supposed to be her brother and new sister in-law's place, Tiera decided to act like she'd simply been told the truth in the matter. After all, if this really was her new sister, then calling her a liar right off the bat would be nearly unforgivable. It would be better to play along, and let them have their game, if that was the plan. She just didn't care. Not anymore. It really didn't seem all that likely though, did it? She would have been more believing if Trice had claimed to have stolen Todd away from Countess Thorgood, or even managed to grab Tor somehow. Timon... Well, that just didn't make any sense at all.

  In that state, perhaps a bit less understanding and trusting than a good sister would have been, she nodded.

  "Would it be possible for Carol to wash up, and perhaps borrow a clothing amulet? Her things have been temporarily misplaced and we need to do some visiting later. So she can try and redeem herself." That got Trice to finally really look at the poor seeming woman and understand who it was she was viewing. It seemed to shock her a bit, or more than that, and her eyes went wide.

  "Ah. Yes, certainly. Here, let me show you to a room." That didn't take long, since most of those were simply up on the second, third and fourth floors, she confided. The inside of the space they were shown to was simply vast. Trice grinned as she pointed to where things were. "I know, it's a bit overdone, but we have the space and so far no one has come to visit overly. Just Gerent and Collette really. Well, Tor came once, but... I'll let Timon go into that with you later? He should be back for dinner. Those others will be coming. Is that all right, do you think?"

  Tiera nodded.

  "Probably. The groveling will have to start somewhere and Collette wasn't the wronged party, so that might be easier. Don't you think, Carol?" It wasn't good to talk about people like they weren't there after all. Only rude people did that.

  The sound that came out of the Baroness was gruff and seemed like a denial, at first, until she headed to the bathing chamber, which required a nice long walk. The single room they were in was bigger than her whole family's old house in Two Bends. She called back though, not turning.

  "Do you have healing amulets around here as well? If the plan is for me to be beaten, I mean?" The strange and almost wonderful thing there was that she actually got that it would come to that.

  Tiera had been afraid that she might have thought the whole thing was finished already.

  "I have an extra on me, so don't worry. No shield though, so it will probably hurt."

  Technically that wasn't true. She had a second shield on her person too, she was just proclaiming that the woman wasn't going to get one while being beaten. That would remove the whole point, and possibly make the woman feel safe enough to relapse into bad behavior.

  There was the sound of running water then, so Tiera sat on a soft chair that was next to the bed. It didn't make a lot of sense to have sitting room furniture there, but here she was, using it anyway. That sort of proved she was wrong, didn't it? Trice winked and held up a finger, but didn't run out of the room, just pulling things from under the top of her dre
ss.

  One of them, Tiera realized, was a silence amulet.

  The curly haired woman smiled.

  "So, you've captured a wild Baroness. Any plans for her?"

  Tiera looked at the room, which didn't seem any different at all, and decided that she liked the place. It was ostentatious to a degree that real people couldn't ever have, but it would impress anyone looking at it, which had to be the plan. She felt it, and she knew it was all just magic. Even Tor's place had been done in a more sensible and realistic manner however.

  "I was thinking I'd see if Gerent needs a house woman. She's already agreed, complete with the knowledge that I'll literally kill her if she makes him feel poorly. She'll also provide other services for him. If he wants. That's how I found her earlier today, offering herself to two men on the street for a copper. I don't know if she's fixed herself, but if not, I'm going to simply execute her. Don't tell anyone that. We just don't need her as a weight around our friends' necks any longer. So one way or the other this is going to be done in the next few days."

  Trice made a face at her. It was a bit sad, but not angry seeming at all.

  "Gerent... He's putting on a brave face, but he's been so lonely. I know he loves me, but, with the marriage and all, well... I don't know. This might not go over well. He's pretty shy about sex, and having another man's wife basically be his private whore could be a little bit too much for him." She kept watching the bathing room door, as if expecting Carol to try and sneak out.

  If she were smart, that would be the best course of action, but it would also mean leaving her old life of privilege behind for good. If nothing else she could earn a better class of man to service, being clean and looking like herself. It wouldn't be a perfect life, but it might be better than the beatings she was in for.