Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (36 page)

It was, very strangely, Alyssa that rounded on the older man, actually standing in front of Tor suddenly, with something held tightly in her right fist, just the end of it poking out. She was clearly terrified, but her voice sounded hard and mean when she spoke anyway.

"Then don't do it. Tor
just
asked you to discuss things with him, not try and boss him around, and you barely even waited three breaths to do it again. Need I remind you that this is our home? You may be Count Lairdgren, but I won't let you do that to him." There was no rush toward the fellow and Tor felt too shocked to even stand up, but Green did, and then bowed very low toward Ali.

"You are, as is often the case, completely correct Alyssa. I'm sorry. To you as well Tor. My only excuse is that I know what would have worked on me at your age and have found over the years that it's easier to start out manipulating most people than to explain the situation to them. It was very rude of me, given what's going on at the moment."

He didn't look all that worked up about it at all, but there was a thread, deep inside the man that Tor felt. It was embarrassment. Not just at getting caught, but about his having tried to push his grandson around, knowing that the boy couldn't really help but do it, if he phrased things the right way.

Until that moment Tor really hadn't known if the man
had
feelings anymore. He acted like it at times, but it always seemed like he was too jaded and world weary for anything to count.

He bowed back a bit, which got Ali to glare at him.

"You don't have to take this Tor. I won't let him abuse you. I'll..." What she was going to do in particular didn't come out, because she just made a face and scowled at the Count. Inside she was all fear, but outside she seemed to be tough and hard. It was a weird thing to notice in a person.

Shrugging Tor patted his little wife on the shoulder, standing up to do it.

"I know I don't, but we won't be served by beating him in our parlor. He apologized, and I think he means it, as much as someone that old can. So..." He gestured for her to sit again, but didn't suggest she put whatever it was in her hand away. He read the field on it and found... that it was actually one of the little soap making amulets. What she planned to do with that he didn't know, but it worked pretty well as a threat.
Anything
could be a weapon after all, and she was a builder, so the idea that she might have something new that a person just didn't recognize was more than possible.

Not that it was an issue in this case. Burks didn't really have any choice in the matter when confronted like this. He
had
to take responsibility, even if it wasn't his to bear. Tor knew that better than anyone, since he used to be like that too. That he might still have problems like that... made sense, he just hadn't known they were born into him.

"Great, so... I'm pretty much always going to be everyone's slave?"

The Ancient in front of him gave him a smile that felt like his own and bowed again.

"Probably, on some level. You can fight against it, but the truth is that most of the things that will work against you are also the same ones that you most won't want to change. Being honest and giving to others without consideration isn't a poor trait either. The built in love of tradition should have weakened, thanks to the multiple Rhetistics you're in possession of. I do wish I knew how Cordes had been introduced."

"That was probably put there by whoever made the changes that caused me to have combat rage. For that matter, I'm basically a clone, most likely, aren't I? So someone had to have
done
that. I know that it was supposed to be due to some kind of magically reinforced genetic work and just happenstance, but seriously, that isn't it. Someone
did
this. Was it you?" Tor expected the answer to be no, or at least get a lie out of his grandfather, but there was just a half minute of stillness involved.

"The project itself was supposed to be very straightforward and get around the prohibition on making new immortals. The main work was done by Gray and myself, clearly. I think that Doris was involved, but I have no proof of that. Reading her is nearly impossible you know. She lives in a very deep meditative state and has for centuries. She doesn't think of things unless she chooses to now. It isn't that far from cloning however. The differences are smaller than I think I can explain and still seem reasonable, unless you know the field well. What I can say is that you weren't supposed to have a Cordes trait, or his mind put into you. Not in any plans I made."

"Oh. Well, that explains very little. Still, it's more than I knew before. So..." There were a thousand questions to ask, but the truth was he had the answers that were needed. What he was looking for was enough discussion to feel good about the fact that he'd do almost anything a person with enough authority told him too. Because
that
would work out for him in the end, no doubt.

It was all he could do not to sass the man in front of him, but he managed, somehow.

They broke up then, with Collette giving him a worried hug and Ali standing right next to him, still feeling very afraid of the Count, after standing up to him. The fact that the man would have let her beat him with a bar of soap if it was needed, didn't seem real to her. Not yet. She was expecting him to lash out and order her raped, or even killed, for what she'd done.

Burks hadn't even thought of it after he'd bowed. She was family after all. That was probably another thing that was somehow built in then, Tor realized. Family being as important as it was. That was a big thing in most rural areas though, so it wasn't just him and Burks, it was most of the common people, more or less. Not nearly as much for the nobles or the merchants, however that worked. They used the same words, but in the main they weren't nearly as protective of their own people as he would have expected. Not most of the time.

The Count was staying and the Lairdgren Group was going back to the school that night, even though it was an off day. Tor let Ali fly the Fast Carriage back, since she seemed to need to steady her nerves and feel like she was in control of something. Tiera had been waiting the whole time and chatting with Gerent, who was sitting in the front room with the Ross's when it was time for the rest of them to leave.

"Tor! I wasn't sure if you were going to poke your head in or not." His new brother stood, his frame still just as thin and short as before. His clothing was a good bit nicer though. Magical, but not aping anyone else overly. That probably meant that Petra had done his fashions for him. She was one of the best so far, with the new amulets. He was in a green so deep it was nearly black, with matching shoes. The fabric looked like satin though and he had a funny looking floppy green hat that was a bit lighter, with a deep red feather in it. He was sitting next to Trice, who jumped up to pass hugs around and near a blonde woman that looked more than a little bit familiar. Sara Debri.

Tor let his eyes light.

"Sara! I haven't seen you in ages. I heard you were just out of the military? Starting a new shipping concern?"

"Hello."

Her face was mild and almost bland as if she didn't care to see him at all, but Tor could feel her stomach doing flips with both worry and love. It was a lot bigger a response than he'd thought was possible. She didn't try to hug him though, looking at Ali a bit enviously for a few moments.

"That's right. I haven't done much yet. Gerent is helping to finance things. He said that you told him to?"

She really wanted it to be true for some reason. One that even Tor thought he could guess at. She wanted him to think that she was important enough to have considered that way.

It was true though, wasn't it? In all the world she was in his top few favorite people after all.

"No, what I said was that he should consider investing with you. Or actually Tiera suggested it and I agreed. That's outside of what
I
plan to do, if you have a good sales pitch, of course." Then, just as the words ended he moved to where she stood and hugged her closely enough that there was a tiny flare of jealousy from Trice.

Which was nice to notice, given that the woman really wasn't a relative of his, as it turned out.

"Really? I have to let you know then, this idea isn't really mine. Timon came up with it. I... don't want to lead him on though. Is it alright for me to take his help, even if I'm not planning to marry him?"

It was a bit of an emotional concern for her, it seemed and that poured off of her in a flood of information that didn't even totally end as Tiera spoke, standing behind Tor by a few feet, near the doorway.

"Yes. He isn't doing it to get you into bed even Sara. He thinks of you as a friend too, and that means he has to help you, if he can. Be nice to him though, or I'll..." There was a glare but after a few seconds she made a slightly choked sound and looked away, smiling. "What I'll do is; nothing at all. You couldn't pay me in silver and gold to cross him. He's sensible and tries hard, but... Anyway, you can take his help. Give him a fair percentage for shipping or something, and it will be fine."

There was a moment of concern from Sara over the words, and Trice seemed to think she understood things on a deeper level somehow. As if she knew things about Tim that Tor and the others just didn't. She was also feeling pretty secure, having both him and Tiera there. Gerent just felt a bit uneasy and the Count and Countess Ross were standing back a bit, as if to try and avoid him. It was a bit noticeable. At least they didn't seem to really mean anything by it. In fact the Countess was very worried that Tor would take real offense at the political move.

"Well, Sara, why not come up to the school and we can talk about it all? If you have time that is. I know that putting together a new concern can take a lot." He nearly added that she could get out of it if she wanted, but she didn't give him a chance at all.

Ali moved in and hugged her suddenly.

"What a
great
idea. We have a house there. Not as grand as this one, but there's enough room for a few guests. Would you be available soon?" It was very proper sounding and Tor knew that it was genuine too. Just like he could tell that Sara wasn't sure it was, and didn't know if she was supposed to dodge out or not.

"I'd love to, of course. I... am free for the time being. That sounds too grasping doesn't it?" There was subtle deflection in the words, and some cringing in the pretty woman's soul.

Tor's wife just smiled and shook her head.

"Not at all. You're my friend too, and I know that Tor wants you to come. Would you be available in a few days? We could take you now, but I don't want it to seem like we kidnapped you. Perhaps if we picked you up tomorrow sometime?"

It went faster than seemed normal, but within two minutes it was worked out that she'd come for three days, starting just after luncheon the next day. Then Tiera giggled and took Tor by the hand, dragging him off, holding Ali's on the other side. It got a funny look from Countess Ross, but no one seemed to think it had anything to do with Tiera sleeping with him at least.

No, the older woman suspected it had to do with intrigue and the timing of events. Things that she suspected Tiera was in charge of, not Tor.

Whatever the heck that was about. He hadn't known that his little sister and the Countess had ever even met. It made some sense, possibly, given that the woman was staying at his Capital house. He knew for a fact that Tiera had been there at least once, in order to have that stupid duel of hers with Count Morris. It didn't matter that much though, not at the moment. He was feeling oddly tired suddenly. Probably because, once again, he was realizing that his life wasn't what he thought it was at all.

Almost no one liked him? That was... hard to take. Sure, he wasn't exactly the best being ever to walk the world, but he tried to be polite and friendly, didn't he? Everything he did was to help someone else practically. No one even seemed to care about that. They all just wanted to believe in whatever fantasy about him that they'd pick out. He was either some kind of monster, or, if they thought he did at least a few things right, he was some kind of rich jerk that came in and made himself look good all the time, rather than just helping out where it was needed. Was that true though? He was just...
Tor
. Not anyone special really.

Except, he was.

Not perfectly so, but he knew that he had a lot of things that most people didn't really. It was more essential than having a lot of gold and a big house too. He was nice looking. He could see that now. Smart too. Sure, not as high level as Tim, but he was doing well that way. No one really doubted that either. What he did with magic was, nearly at least, as good as anyone in the world.

Not better. But at least as good and he could make a
lot
of things too.

That alone would be enough to do it.

Plus the King had heaped honors on him over the years. He was a Knight, and then the Counselor of Magics, which hadn't even been a real thing before. A thing made up for him alone. Just because he was so special to the Royal family. Well, that and they'd figured he was dying at the time. But how many people knew that?

No, to most people that would have seemed like he was begging them for more power and improvement to his station. Some probably figured that he was only with Connie because of that. To get things from her. Like he'd ever cared about titles? Honestly, thinking about it all now, in that light, Tor had to wonder if it would be better for everyone if he didn't have those things at all. The idea actually left him feeling happy, which was a slightly rare thing for him, over all. He could go back to being himself again, not the fiction that everyone else wanted.