Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2) (42 page)

The fellow blew out air, and nodded,
but took a bit before speaking.

"When are you coming? Things
are a bit of a mess here... We're doing six simultaneous building projects, and
the Austrans aren't used to the equipment.
Good
workers though. Even the
volunteers are doing well that way. I think that you coming would be all
right... Being the man in charge and all that." He smiled and shook his
head a little then grinned. "It depends how picky you are? If you want to
run white gloves over the walls, then you will be sadly disappointed. If you
just want to come and make sure we're doing something, then you might be
pleased enough?"

It all made sense, and was
friendlier than he would have expected. He barely knew the man after all.

"That sounds fine to me. I
really figured that nothing would happen while I was recovering. Thanks for
picking that up. Which, by the way, I can totally use the help with. I'm not
pushing you out or anything. As long as the work gets done, it's good."
That was the point after all. The ports being up.

In truth, they all
were
, in
that ships could land at them, and all that. They just weren't nice really.
Just landing places made of focus stone. Big, empty pads. They were ugly and
not all that useful. At the very least they needed water and a way for people
to get out of the elements while they waited for ships to come.

Johan looked away, and gestured,
which was just visible, since he used his other hand, and was clearly trying to
get someone to leave him alone for the moment.

"So, in three days?" He
sounded almost worried about it, which was strange, but he explained
instantly."We need to have a conversation here about who's in charge, or
else people will act like it's me, and then I'll have to beg you not to kill me
for stealing your power. I haven't, I promise. I just don't know how well
everyone here will get that." Then he chuckled, weakly.

It didn't fit his large, and
powerful frame. The man was a fighter, for all he wore the white robes. He was
also hard working and honest, as far as Dare knew.

"If you need that time, you
have it. Don't worry about me however. I was just asked by Tam-Unit to make
certain people kept her filled there. It hasn't been a problem here, but I
guess in other locations people won't just keep her filled if asked?"

Johan looked annoyed again, but
didn't say it wasn't true.

"I know. It's a cultural
thing, I think. Austrans will do a lot of hard work, but things like carting
dirt around are considered beneath them, for some reason. Being a farmer too,
which is
strange
. They have plants and flowers, even food in the fields,
but they look down on the people that grow it even more than the nobles back
there." He stopped. "Anyway, when you want to come, if you move
directly over the port and settle straight down. That way the Austrans won't
kill you. Actually, they set it up the way you suggested? So, come in on the
east by ten miles, and all that? There's a circle around the port now that's
safe. Don't move too fast? We don't have ship to ship communication all the
time yet."

Dareg felt the loss of his craft
again.

"No ship for the time being.
I can use the same thing with a jump shield?"

Johan tensed and looked worried.

"You don't have your ship?
Was it taken away for some reason? Or lent out?"

"No, I had to fly it at the
Sun. Luckily I had the newest shield. It's harder to use, but it saved my
life." It wasn't much of an explanation, but it was clear that Johan,
though troubled by the waste, wasn't planning to scold him over it. Not just
then.

Probably in person, later. That
would be fair, after all. Jump ships weren't things to waste like that. Even if
it had been needed at the time.

David leaned in then, his face
still battered a bit from practice. For that matter, Dare needed to see to
healing himself. Johan hadn't reacted to that at all. Probably, now, thinking
it was about his punishment for being so stupid and wasteful.

"The Adversaries. Dareg had
to fight one that was even more powerful than the ones that killed Kolb and
Karen. Alone. From the sound of it he nearly died doing it, but pulled out a
win." It didn't sound complimentary, or like he was tattling. It was kind
of dead, and bland. Even the depression that could have been there was gone.

Johan went slightly wide eyed and
looked around instead of at him or David, who was still crowding in alongside
of him. Placing an arm over his shoulder, the seven foot whatever he was man
put on a tight and angry expression.

"So far we're winning, but I
don't know if we can afford this. Not that we get a choice."

"Understood. Do you need me
there? I can get things around here well enough." His voice shifted,
firming and going hard. Like it probably should have been all along.

David shook his head.

"No. Hold fast there. Canton
will act as our go between if it's needed. We only have one man that has
successfully stopped the threat alone, so we need to get him in with us. Not
that I know how to do that. I mean, Prince of the Moon... Son of the richest
man in three worlds... How do we even bribe someone like that?" It was really
bizarre, because the tone didn't change, but Dareg could tell he was actually
teasing. Making fun of his status, right to his face.

Like only a friend would have
felt comfortable doing. A real one.

Johan looked over at Dare,
paused, and then shrugged, moving the whole screen.

"Sex? Or does my helping
with the ports count toward that end?"

Dareg thought for a second, and
had to agree with the idea. Both really. Not that he felt like sex at the
moment.

"It does. I don't know that
I can get in on this secret thing you all have going on, but I'll do what I
can, as long as it doesn't work against Queen Tiera, or King Richard." He
had split loyalties, but so far it hadn't been that big of an issue. If those
two ever went to war, he was probably going to lose half his world, but until
then worrying about it helped nothing.

Besides, the way things were
going he probably wouldn't live to see that day anyway.

Baron Havar moved in and slapped
him on the back, the action vigorous enough that his shield kicked on, throwing
David back, getting a soft sound from him as the air left his lungs, he
stumbled away. The large and powerful baron looked at him and snorted.

"You were holding your
shield off
and
fighting the rage that entire time? Impressive work.
Sorry there, Derring."

David grinned, standing six feet
away now.

"No harm. Anyway, you were
going to say something?"

"Just that I think we can
work within those rules. Now, Dareg... Why do you think we have some kind of
secret? Not that we don't have our own miniature conspiracy to fight against
the Adversaries here, but I hadn't thought we'd given it away that
clearly." He was acting jovial, which was strange for him, as far as Dare
knew. Really, he only seemed happy when he was practicing, so far. Then, Dareg
hadn't met him that many times, that he had hidden depths wasn't a huge leap to
make. Most people did.

"Ah. No, I didn't mean that.
The
other
one. The work for King Richard? I don't know what you call it,
but there have been a lot of signs of it. I don't think I can join that, but
like I said, I'll help you fight the Adversaries, regardless."

The men with him stiffened, but
Johan rolled his eyes like it wasn't a big deal.

"That should work. Try not
to mention this around? We have a reputation to keep up, and people just
guessing
about this is... Not great." He smirked then, like he was lying to impress
Dareg, but there had been too many signs in the last month.

Even before the attacks started.

"Agreed. Anyway, three days?
I
was
planning on coming in a few minutes. I can do that though. It
sounds like the big things are taking place. The landing being allowed has been
my major concern. Try to figure out how to get working material into
Tam-Unit?"

"On it. Thanks for getting
in touch. Oh... Not to put you off and
beg
in the same breath, but we
could use some lights? The Austrans have them, but they use up power and we'd
have to pay for that. For the landing areas? So the bright ones we can set the
colors on, if possible?"

"I'll see if I can get
something around toward that. Thanks Johan." His lips were swollen, making
his word a bit mushy. His jaw hurt too, but he didn't start healing yet, in
case there was supposed to be more fighting practice. Doing that many times
wasn't a great plan. It ate up too many of his internal resources.

They chatted, but not for too
long, since these men had real lives and things to get to. They didn't say
what, but both of them used healing amulets, and walked away, heading toward
the city of Printer, not the school. That was closer, but probably a bit boring
most of the time. He did see people walking around over the low, focus stone
wall, but none of them were the ones that he'd met before. They glanced at him,
but it seemed that a bald boy in student brown didn't catch that much attention
there. It was kind of refreshing, actually.

Healing first, he lifted swiftly,
going straight up into orbit for the jump. He didn't know what would happen if
you did it with air all around you, but it felt wrong to him. Like it would
possibly be bad. Dangerous, if not to the person moving far away. Like a
weapon, nearly. The world having to suddenly fill an empty space the size of
his shield. That was bigger than he was by a good bit, he thought. The shield
was close to the skin at the hands, but the air bubble was much larger than
that. Two, or even three feet away from his body, almost all the way around.
Not under his feet however, the thing lifting him just a bit when it turned on.

It probably wouldn't harm
anything, if he was away from people, but doing that, jumping, from a closed
room might well collapse the space in on itself. Regardless, he wasn't going to
be trying it if he didn't need too.

In space the leap between places
was simple, and silent.

Dareg just hung there, looking at
the world spinning slowly under him, matching the movement, so he was over the
Capital of Noram, more or less. Then waited for a minute. It was a nice view,
and no one was going to bother him while he was there. Even if they tried, he
couldn't answer his handheld. That took tapping a sigil, and it was
inside
his shield. Only that wasn't totally true. While he'd need to turn it off to
reach
into
his pocket, he had learned to turn things on and off with his
thoughts, not touching things at all. At least if it wasn't too far from him.
Five or six feet maybe.

About half an hour later, still
just floating there, he got to test that out, as the thing in his right hand
side pocket started buzzing at him. Focusing on it, he tried to hold the idea
of hitting the glowing blue activation tab. After a few moments a voice started
speaking.

"Um, hello? Dareg? My screen
went black, I don't know what that means." The voice was familiar, being
his half sister.

"Hello, Queen Constance! I'm
in space right now, above the Capital, so the handheld has to stay in my
pocket. The shield gets in the way. Is there an emergency? I can be there in
about... Two minutes, if there is. Well, a bit more if it's someplace
else." Not much longer however. It would just take a jump first, to orient
his dive at the Earth.

"In space? We'd heard that
your ship was lost in yesterdays battle. Did Tor give you a new one?"

"Nope. I'm using a jump
shield. It's like the regular space ones, but, you get the idea, it can jump?
It's harder to use that way. Helpful though. I think I like it. Hard to take
passengers however. If you need that... Well, I can
probably
call in
some help."

There was a pause, and then a
soft sound that was a word, but spoken so softly he really couldn't tell what
it was.

"Nothing of the sort. I was
just going to invite you to the evening meal? It's a small thing, only about
ten people will be there. Dinner dress. So, something nice, but subdued. House
uniforms, that kind of thing. I think that's sky blue, deep green and opal for
Harmony. I'm not certain what kind of uniforms they have however. Do you
know?"

It was conversational,
and
still totally outside of his depth.

"Not a single clue. I think
I get the basic idea. At nine?"

"Yes. Count Lairdgren is
coming, and wants to meet you. Probably to scold you for your school choice. He
runs the Lairdgren school himself you know, directly. We can't really blame him
if that's the case."

She was having fun, it seemed,
probably because she couldn't see his reaction, which was entirely blank at the
moment.

"Well, I haven't paid yet,
so I can always transfer if the need arises to keep the peace. I'll be there.
Thank you for thinking of me. Say, you wouldn't know the time would you?"

"I do! It's just this moment
turning to noon. You have plenty of time then. Do you have plans for the
day?"