Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (11 page)

"That's true. She's a bit scary. Then, everyone around here is. I've been staying inside most of the time, since I don't want anyone to realize that I'm actually here. I keep expecting people to wake up and toss me out on my ear. You know how it is." The little guy blushed and looked up then, shaking his head. "Or probably not. Do you work here? Like a footman or something? That would be a good job. Tim told me that Collette, the woman that runs this place, is looking for some people. I couldn't get a job here though, not really. He offered to let me fly in one of his craft though. He's a good kid." The man didn't seem to be running down at all, which was fine, especially if he was hiding out most of the time alone for some reason. After a while you just wanted to talk to people, didn't you? Tor had felt that before himself.

Instead of interrupting the flow of words he smiled again and waved to get the man to follow along. The kitchen had moved locations, but they managed to find it in what was now Tor's traditional fashion. He waited for someone to walk by with an empty tray and led the other man along with him.

For some reason the fellow, as shy as he sounded, kept up a steady stream of talking the whole time. That was probably due to nerves really. Tor remembered the first time he was at the guest house at the King's Palace and how awkward he felt the whole time he was there, even though Connie went out of her way to make him feel welcome.

That got him to make a face, which coincided with the little fellow happening to look at him. He went silent so fast that it was clear he thought Tor was angry or offended.

"Sorry. I was just thinking... I... It turns out that a woman I've been sleeping with... Well it's really complex. The long and short of it is that we're
related
. No one knew until the other day though. She's basically... My aunt, I guess. It's a huge problem for me, as you might guess. That really isn't the kind of thing I would ever do. I feel so... dirty now." Why he was telling a complete stranger all that he didn't know, but the man, who was probably five or six years older than he was just swallowed and stopped walking.

"That's not good. Still, it wasn't like you could have known, so no one will blame you. Well, I mean, some will, but that's
their
problem. I doubt you're the first person in history that's ever happened to. If no one got hurt, well..." The man looked around, very carefully and leaned in a bit, not coming too close at all. "My uncle, I never knew if he was a blood relative or not, but he was the one that raised me, he used to use me. I didn't have a choice in it and no one would ever help me, because." He gestured down at his body then. "That lasted until he died. I've never told anyone else about it, so, if you don't mind keeping that just between us? At least you had a choice, and so did she, your aunt. I say you should count it as a good thing and just go on. No choice anyway, tomorrow will come."

It was a simple way of looking at it and ignored the pain he felt, Tor thought. It was also right. His situation hadn't been bad at all. That was part of the problem. It was a bad thing, but it had felt right at the time, or at least allowable under the rules, only it hadn't been. He needed to let that go and just be OK with it. Even if he really wasn't.

"Good point. Thanks. I'll try to do that. Anyway, let's see if we can get that flour Mona needs."

That wasn't too hard, since Collette's mother, Glaren, was in charge of the works that day and the instant they came through the door she ran over to him, giving him a big hug. After she set his feet firmly back on the ground the other man got one too, though it was quicker and a bit less warm.

"So good to see you. I heard you were here the other day, but we didn't cross paths. Poor form there, we all worried about you while you were away you know. Are you back here now? I'll have your room freshened and..." She hugged him again, which wasn't all that proper for the kitchen help, but she wasn't just an employee, so that made it alright, in a way.

"Nope. I'm still staying with Ali up at the school. I
will
be back this afternoon however. I'm also trying to set up a dinner party here in three days. Is that doable?" It was a good question to ask, since most of the work would be hers.

She tilted her head and after a second let her pretty, if slightly older, face frown a bit.

"Yes. We really need to have a bit more help. Master Timon didn't know if we were allowed to hire more people to see to our current guests, since you're back. What do you think?"

"Well, you know where we keep the gold. Get Collette to give you whatever you need and make it happen. It's a bit short notice, so if you want I can come down and bake for it. I have some free time this week. Ali's working. Speaking of that, this fellow here came to see about borrowing some flour for Mona? I don't recognize the name, but I hear a rumor that she's a bit intimidating, so, let's not set her off." He smiled and got one in return from both the other people at least. It wasn't a great joke, but it was clear he'd done it right.

The forty something blonde woman winked at him.

"That's Timon's new house woman. A bit low class, but she's not a bad sort, once you get past the fact that she keeps throwing herself at a twelve year old. Keeps the cottages clean and does most of the cooking for Tim and Gerent. She
should
just go into the market herself, but I can see why that might be a problem for her. She has the coin, but walking the distance with an armload of goods is a chore. That's a hint by the way. You should see to getting her in for that, if you have the time." It came along with a pat on the back and another hug at least.

It wasn't that late in the day and he really wasn't all that busy himself, so he nodded, even though the smaller man next to him rolled his eyes.

"With what coin? Tim said he'd be back later in the day, but I don't think we can get to his strong box. Trying to get into the vault here by force would probably end us all."

Tor patted his left pocket, which had a pouch inside that held four gold and some silvers. It wasn't a lot, but it would get supplies for a few weeks, and more than that, really.

"I can cover that part. Still, we'd best get some flour here too. If she sent you right now, she might need it for something before we can get things and return." It would also let her come up with a list of what she wanted.

Glaren had a large bowl with a focus stone cover ready to go not five minutes later as well as some sweet rolls left over from breakfast. Tor took some, glad to have them, but the man next to him ducked his head nervously again.

"I couldn't impose. Thank you most kindly for the offer ma'am." He even bowed, which was very polite of him.

Tor did the carrying, since he was the larger person and they were leaving his house. It seemed like his job at least. The little cottages were well done, set next to the larger place, but they held more character and looked very nearly real. That wasn't an accident either, since the slight dings and lightly warped roof line were identical on both. The outside looked like unhewn stone and the top like slate, which was similar to the design he'd made himself, but the feeling was different. They were like his brother.

"These are nice, aren't they?" It was an offhand comment, but the other man grinned and pointed.

"Yeah. This first one is the place. I'm staying in the second one over, for now. Tim's letting me use it, until things get settled. There was some trouble with the King a few days ago, and, well, I'm still alive, so no one seems to think it will be a big deal. I can't talk about it. It isn't a personal thing, I just don't want to get anyone else in trouble. My friend, um, Patty? She told me that no one would bother me, but I heard that the Wizard Tor was back now and he's a nobleman. I... don't tell anyone, but" Again there was a very furtive glance and the man seemed almost like he didn't want to say the words, but had too. "I... sort of told people I was
him
. I know it seems unlikely, but I had all these amulets I found and there was this little girl that was stolen from her family. No one would help me, so... I lied. They still didn't do anything. I had to fight a gang of bandits, but I got her back. The King was going to kill me, but Tor's own family said I was one of them and that the Count adopted me when I was seventeen. Patty says that the King knows it isn't true but that he's pretending to believe it so I won't have to be put to death."

Then, after he stopped talking the man winced. It was an exaggerated thing that spoke of being at least a little fake.

"Don't know why I said that. Guess I just needed to unload on someone. Thanks for listening. I know that I don't have a right to bother you." Then he lapsed into shyness again.

"Patty? Patricia Morgan?" Tor looked at the man and waited until he nodded, then smiled. "So you're Gerent?"

He felt more than a little slow, but instead of seeming shy the other man just nodded.

"Yes. You heard about me already? That's not good. I should probably get out of here and hide before the Wizard finds me. I heard he fought five hundred men by himself once. Not just farmers or millers, but
soldiers
. Can you imagine that?"

Funnily enough, he could. It wasn't nearly as impressive as it sounded.

"Do we knock or do you think that we're expected?" He said the words softly, but the woman that opened the door was scowling at them a bit. Or at least she was until she saw Tor, then her face went a good bit sweeter. That was a common enough thing, but he didn't like what it meant for Gerent. The woman had better not have been bossing him around like it seemed, or there was going to be trouble.

It seemed that was her plan though.

"There you are dwarf. About time you got back. Did you go all the way to Ross for the flour? I need that for the dinner rolls later and you just go taking your own time, don't you?" There was a slap to the tiny mans shoulder, which he just took with a wince, not even speaking back. He didn't have a shield on either, which was clearly an oversight, if mean women were going to be hitting him like that. "At least you have a pretty friend with you. I thought you said you didn't have any coin? A rent boy this fine has to cost a lot. Half gold at
least
. I don't suppose you'd give me a bit of fun too, would you? I could spot an extra copper or two."

Tor held his tongue for a bit and made himself smile, then handed over the bowl of flour. At least she hadn't called him a whore outright. After a few seconds he shook his head and smiled.

"Sorry, that's too far under the going rate. Now, Countier Lairdgren and I are going to get you some supplies. Do you have a list?"

She laughed, which didn't sound friendly at all.

"What, you two going to walk to the market and back? Seems like an excuse to play all day to me. Besides, this pile of trash isn't a real Countier, he told me himself. Is that the line he used to pick you up."

Tor nearly smiled again, but shook his head instead.

"You know, for a hired woman you're
most
unpleasant. I can't fire my brother's people for him, but I can insist that you treat Gerent with respect. If you don't I
will
have a long conversation with Timon about it." Hopefully it was something he hadn't realized himself yet.

"Oh? You're his brother? Which one then? Taler? Todd?"

"Missed one there. I'm the one between those two. Tor."

She laughed, as if it were a joke.

Tor smirked back at the rather dowdy woman in front of him in her old gray dress and well worn shoes and rolled his eyes. Not that he was going to judge her based on what she was wearing, but it was kind of clear that he... Looking down he realized that his clothing looked about right to be a low-level servant still. He decided not to change it though, since that would just be showing off. If a person's value wasn't in the clothing they wore or how much gold they had, then he needed to be able to show that himself, didn't he?

"Well, then I guess we won't go into the city and get you anything." He almost added a
so there
to it but the woman just took the bowl of flour and laughed again.

"That should be fine. Master Timon is bringing in fresh goods from Printer and Ward later today. I just need enough to get things ready for tonight. You two run off and play or something. I have work to do. Scat." She had full hands, so had to gesture with her chin. "Go on now, before I take a broom to you both for wasting my time. Wizard indeed." Then she turned and kicked the door shut with her heel on the way past. It didn't slam, since the material drank the vibrations pretty well, but Tor got the point anyway.

Smiling he looked over at the little man, his new uncle he guessed, and shrugged hugely.

"No need to do
that
then. You know, I've never actually been to the market place here? It's supposed to be grand, but every time I get a chance to go something comes up. I should be getting on to my day then, I guess." He started to put his hand out toward Gerent and then stopped. "Why don't you come with me? I'll be back here later this afternoon anyway. Unless you're busy? It's something to do, if nothing else."

The man looked at the ground again, which was just dirt where they were standing, not a grass lawn like he had going in front of his own place next door. Or, more to the point, that Collette or some of the servants were seeing too. It was a good idea, but he hadn't really thought about doing that himself. They should set up some trees too.

Gerent swallowed but nodded a bit.

"I'm... not doing anything. Like I said, I mainly just hide. It's a very nice place, too good for the likes of me, but there isn't a lot to do here. Some people come to visit, but that's kind of hard, since, you know, I'm just me, not anyone special."

Tor nodded to himself, but shook his head almost instantly.

"You know, when I used to do that Trice would yell at me. Your Patty? She was
right
too. It does seem phony." He smiled to soften the blow though and the man grinned back, so it didn't seem the words were hurting his feelings or anything. Not too much.

Gerent looked down again and then around them, even though there wasn't anyone close enough to bother them at all. There was a steady stream of people down toward Collette's ice manufactory, and a third little cottage like the ones in front of him, about a quarter of a mile in the other direction. Not that the places were really all that small. A family of four could live in one without any trouble and eight could do it if they didn't mind being cozy. Tor pointed off in that direction, since it was something he hadn't even heard about. Clearly it was Timon's work, but who would be staying that far away from everyone else he couldn't even guess at.

Before he could ask the shorter man waved at the place.

"That's where Count Ward and his lady are staying. I don't know why. It's a new thing, I think. They came and borrowed the place from Master Timon a few days ago. Um... I don't really know if I'm allowed to leave. I mean, I'm not a prisoner or anything, but I was told I shouldn't go too far away. Patty said. She hasn't been around a lot since we came here. That probably means she's done with me, doesn't it?" Now he seemed a bit scared and wistful at the same time. "I'd hoped... Well, that isn't important. I probably have to ask if I can leave though. No one will be around until later. Maybe we could do something some other time?"

For a bit Tor wondered if he was trying to put him off, but the look on his face seemed really lonely and like he didn't
want
to be left alone. As if he wasn't an adult that could do as he pleased? Tor didn't know enough about his life to get why that would be, and didn't want to push him, after the recent trials that he'd had either. Instead he just got out his communications device. It was one of the six he designed for carrying around and while a bit bulky, being about the size of a small book, it let him do things like this.

"Who do you think we need to ask? Timon? I'm pretty sure that you're in charge of
him
, not the other way around, but if it makes you feel better we can do that. Or Count Lairdgren, though I think he's here in the Capital, so he might not have his device with him. I need to figure out how to make these smaller, don't I?" Before there was an answer the thing in his hand started glowing, a nice brilliant blue that was clearly visible, even in daylight. It was the air around it that was colored, extending out to about five feet away, so that it was hard to miss.

Gerent hopped back, but didn't make any noise about it, even though he was clearly shocked by the change of events.

Tor saw that it was from the Palace, so didn't wait to hit the sigil, speaking immediately.

"Tor here, how may I help you?" He tried to sound courtly, and it nearly worked, his accent shifting just enough to pull it off.

"Tor? Good, I seem to have missed you. I hear that our prisoner, Conserina Morris, was readying an escape already?" The deep voice didn't need to proclaim who he was, since the King was a distinctive man.

"I was surprised to find that she was still there, to tell the truth. I doubt she would have been, come tomorrow morning. That whole thing is a mess. We can't let her go, because she might come and try to kill Tiera. On the other hand, it really was a horrible mishap. Done out of stupidity, but are we going to claim no one else has ever had a bad moment and lashed out?
I've
done it."

There was a soft sigh and a bit of a chuckle, though it sounded dark and serious somehow.

"As have I. I don't suppose that Tiera could be placated in some fashion, to allow her to feel as if Miss Morris were punished enough, short of death? I hate to lose such a useful resource and there was a time when she played in these very halls you know, with Karina."

Tor looked at Gerent and shook his head, but spoke to the King.

"I... don't think so. If I have to guess, at this moment, I think that you might be able to explain things to her well enough she won't blame you for helping Sandra. If you tried to save her in any way... That could fall through. Alphonse spoke to her yesterday and I think it helped, but I wouldn't want to risk it. She's not doing well at the moment. You really might explain to the Count that he needs to have things in order soon. She really blames him for everything too." It didn't make a lot of sense to him, but Richard just made a slightly disgruntled sound and changed the subject.

"So, Connie was wondering if you'd come to dinner this evening? It's just a small thing, mainly the family and a few others. Things were left... Uncomfortable between you. I know that no one wants this to turn into anything too major, however. It's never fun to find out about missteps like that, but it isn't anyone's fault. Really, it's probably best to simply admit it exists and go on as family. Otherwise hard feelings can develop, and they're all really very fond of you. Don't let that happen."

Tor wanted to accidentally cut the line and run off instead of dealing with things, but that would be rude and, as had been pointed out, would probably be the exact wrong thing to do. At the same time he didn't want to be confronted with Connie at that moment either.
Or
her daughters.

That meant he needed a good excuse, didn't it?

"Um, I already have plans. I'm going to be spending the evening here, but I have to make up some more Fast Carriages and I promised to show Timon how to do that. Right now I need to get to Two Bends and have a chat with my parents. Say, could you pass a message for us? Gerent is planning to come with me, but he wants to make certain Count Lairdgren knows about it. I might have him for a while, so if anyone is looking for him and he isn't here, have them get in touch with me before calling in the guard." It was a lot to ask of a King really, but they were friends, after a fashion, so Tor figured it was worth a shot.

The man just murmured something, which Tor took to be him sending the information off directly.

"Too bad you can't join us. I'll let Connie know. Please, don't let this set too long. It will only get harder if you wait to face it."

Good advice, and he knew it. Even the little voice in the back of his mind agreed with it. Then it went silent again, but there was a definite sense that Cordes was all for moving past this bit of news without making a big deal about it. It felt freaking
vast
though, didn't it? Like he should contemplate ending his life in shame.

"Point. Well, why don't you and... everyone, come to dinner at my place? Tim has all those Austran dignitaries or whatever visiting and I'm certain they'd be thrilled to visit with you. We're having a little thing here in three days. Oh... Don't schedule George, Wensa or Kara for it, since I invited them to attend. Not to
work
it either. Really we should see if Denno wants to come, so everyone will have someone they're familiar with around."

"Ah, well, if Denno Brown is coming, at least in potential, I'm certain I could do no less. I'll have to have the date checked, of course. I'll get back to you on that?"

There was a voice from the background then, a familiar one, though he hadn't heard it in a long while.

"Is that Tor?" Then it moved closer, sounding decently happy. "Tor! I keep missing you."

"Trice! How are you?" The second the words left his mouth he winced. How was she? Not that he
missed
her, which he had, or that it was nice to hear her voice, which it was. No, he questioned her state of well being, fresh off of being abused sexually and who knew what else.

"Not bad. Better now. Can we talk? I know that things are a little tense right now, but I wanted to see if you'd be willing to meet Gerent. He's the one that we talked about? Before you left for Vagus. Do you remember that?" It was clear that she was trying to communicate something to him without actually saying the words. If that was the case, she really needed to be a little more clear, because he wasn't getting it. "I... don't know what you've heard about that, but it isn't
his
fault. So, you know, don't be mad at him for it. I'm trying to find something for him to do, a job or something, but so far I've been so busy."

It was a little strange, but Tor just tilted his head.

"Gerent and I can talk about it. I don't know what he'll want to do yet either." He looked at the man who was staring, with his mouth open, showing slightly crooked teeth. They were nice and white though, showing that he'd either cared for them very well his entire life, or, more likely, someone had handed him a healing amulet in the recent past. "Any ideas what you want to do? We could set up a business for you, if you want. Collette is already doing ice here, but if you want I'm sure there are other cities that would like to have a manufactory... Oh! Wait, I know! You can set up and run the new focus stone manufactories. We have all those kids being trained for it already and you have contacts in shipping already, so that should work pretty well. I'll get you a Fast Carriage so you can get around. Some other things too." He blanked for a few seconds, trying to work it all out.

True, the man might have his own career to follow, so it wouldn't do to overwhelm him or make it seem like he didn't have a choice in the matter. "Sorry. You can do whatever you
want
of course. That's my real point. I'm not trying to choose for you."

"Tor... Is Gerent there
with
you?" Trice sounded slightly amused by the idea.

"Yes. We're headed up to Two Bends and then the school later. We'll be back in the evening to visit with people at my house. The one here." He waved at it, even though she couldn't hear him do it. Gerent saw it and swallowed nervously for some reason. Possibly because he didn't like crowds? Tor would have to ask about that.

There was a bit of laughter from the device in his hand then. It sounded a little forced, but then Trice had been through a lot in the last weeks and months, hadn't she?

"Brilliant. I should have known you'd do something like that. So not angry at me then?" It was a thing she did, when she liked someone and they were in trouble. She acted as if
she
were the guilty one, so the blame could be shifted away from them. It was a very polite noble thing, that he'd only seen a few people ever do when it was important.

"Angry? For what? I can't see anything that would cause that at all." He didn't either. That his words were also in a hyper polite noble form probably didn't hurt anything though. Softly, as if standing back a way, Richard chuckled gently.

"Very good then. I'm so glad to hear that it was all just a misunderstanding. Some people around here can be... Prickly about their name being used without permission. It normally ends in death in fact."

That got Gerent to take a deep and sudden breath, almost a gasp, but Tor just shrugged at him.