Lord of the Sky (The Young Ancients: Timon) (21 page)

Well, that would have to come later, wouldn't it?

There was a lovely beach on the eastern coast that had lots of fruit bearing trees not too far away. He collected some things up, bananas, coconuts and mangos, only knowing what they were from his travels, and prepared them in the kitchen they'd made the night before, then realized he didn't have a plate at all, or even a tray. Using a cutter he had the delicate flesh turned into skinless bite sized portions fast enough, but no place to put it all, other than the counter.

That problem was solved by putting the fruit into coconut halves. It looked almost decorative he decided. He chilled it in the cooling box, since it was a nice day outside here, warm and sunny compared to the winter chill of back home. They could eat on the beach and have drinks of coconut milk to go with it. It would have been better if they'd had some citrus fruit to add for that, like they often did in Warden, but he hadn't seen anything close to the craft when he'd gone to look. What they really needed was a nice shopping trip. That meant going back to Noram, if they were going to use coin for it. Since there wasn't anything of note to trade, it made sense.

Trice took a while and he nearly went to look for her, wondering if she were angry with him for not joining her. She looked relaxed and smiled at the food.

"Not bad. Do you think we can catch some fish for dinner? I've never done that before, fishing. We need nets or something, don't we?"

"Normally. We can cheat, and do it with an explosive weapon, since that's just the way we are. It's not fair to the fish, but then, neither is
eating
them." Nibbling on a piece of decently firm mango, he handed his new wife her share and waved at the door to the right hand side. "Shall we?"

"Certainly, good sir." She managed it with a straight face even, for a while.

The sound of the waves was fairly relaxing and the beach was the white sand kind, at least in the area he'd landed. Water pumped in and out of their vessel leaving two long streamers of pure liquid in the air, making pretty lines that traveled hundreds of feet. He hadn't worked up a way to carry water with them for use, but that should be doable. It was something to work on after they ate.

There was one thing that was certain in all of this that he'd never considered before. The average marriage vacation had to be incredibly boring. At least it was if the goal wasn't to have sex as many times as possible with your new mate. They needed to have a real trip if they were going to stay even halfway entertained.

Trice ate a piece of mango herself after sitting on the soft sand, the vehicle making just enough shade for them to use for the moment.

"Hey." She stopped then and sipped the coconut milk from her other half shell. She had to trade the two things around and leave one at a time nestled in the sand so it wouldn't tip. "I don't want to ruin the vacation or anything, but I kind of need to pass some messages for Uncle Richard back in Noram. It won't take long, but I should really do it today. Tomorrow at the latest. Is that... I..."

Timon smiled and turned to look at her. She was pretty enough, with light tan skin and dark curly hair. A bit thin really, but given the she was twenty-one or so and a noble woman, that meant she'd still be growing for a while. Her mother tended towards that kind of build, so it might just be the way she was. That was fine with him. Nora had been bustier and had more curves. That thought made him shudder a little, the image of the giantess hovering over him suddenly taking up the main portion of his mind. His breath caught, and along with it a bite of coconut meat tried to stick halfway down as he swallowed.

The problem there was that Trice picked up on the reaction and went wide eyed, getting that it meant something and that it wasn't good, probably not exactly why it had happened.

"We don't have to... I could go alone if you want, I have a craft with me and..."

Shaking his head he just had to hang on and breath through it, forcing his mind as clear as possible as the image lingered and phantom pain wracked his entire body. He'd done this before, but this was stronger than it had been in a while. Tim had really been hoping the worst had passed.

Nearly ten minutes later a fine sheen of sweat having popped from his skin, he managed to calm down and take a few deep breaths that actually seemed like breathing and not panicked gulps.

"Sorry. I started to think about some things." He really didn't want to talk about it, but knew that hiding what was going on wouldn't help their future relationship at all. You had to let the people closest to you in, or they wouldn't know you at all. If Patricia had been Petra, he would have told her, wouldn't he? That was just the truth, so he nodded and took far too long to start talking, the silence becoming almost oppressive while they waited.

Trice just sat, trying not to seem scared or too worried.

"I told you about the torture and what Countess Alan did to me. How they used that Austran poison to create incredible amounts of pain and did... other things to me at the same time? I... really can't go into all of it right now, but it was linked to sex and probably meant to warp me into something crippled and too damaged to be normal anymore. I just kind of... went back there in my mind, by accident. It wasn't a good thing."

"Flashback. It happens to people that have been in prolonged combat and stressful conditions. Not everyone, but the worse things were, the more likely it is to happen. I have the same thing." She started to try and say more, but Timon didn't need her to. It was clear that his new wife had been in more than her share of bad situations over the years. Way more than her loving Uncle should have sent her into.

He rallied and forced a smile, then ate for a bit to hide the fact that he was about to do it again and start shaking. Really he should do some building work, he decided, make a useful copy, since this was pretty close to as bad as things were going to get without being hurt, but that would be unfair to Trice, who'd just disclosed something important to make him feel better.

"Where do you want to go? We should get a good shopping trip in anyway. We probably should have done it yesterday, but hey, I'm new to all this marriage stuff, so forgive me if I flounder for a bit." As if trying to seem romantic he held out a piece of pale yellow fruit playfully. Trice leaned in and took it between her lips, which tickled his fingers gently. It nearly caused another of those events to happen, so he pulled away, but slowly, breaking eye contact without jerking away from her. It was far from perfect, but it didn't seem like a rejection of
her
, just him being a little coy. At least that was the plan.

After she finished her mouthful of food there was a pause, accompanied by a face. It was the kind of thing that said she needed to tell him something, but she didn't know how. So, most likely, it was related to some kind of spying or at least a secret operation that wasn't common knowledge. Given who she was, if her plan had been to run off and visit a lover, she wouldn't have had a good lie ready for it.

"I need to go to Warden. It's in County Ward."

Timon cleared his throat, which sounded pretentious he realized. The waves and the ocean breeze both interacted to set the tone, along with the bright sunlight. Some birds were making unusual noises in the background, now that they got the idea that the strange new thing that had flow in wasn't looking to make them into breakfast.

"I have a base of operations there, actually. I suppose you want to get in touch with Marvin and Maria? That whole thing where they're pretending to betray the King in order to get in with the rebels?"

His wife glared at him suddenly, then looked out at the ocean.

"
Damn
. Do you know everything that goes on in Noram? Tor reads minds, and doesn't get half of this stuff yet." She stopped and gave him a tense look, because you normally didn't use a person's brother as your go to example like that. Of course you normally weren't married to the relative of someone you loved either, were you? At least not in Two Bends or most of the common places in Noram. Nobles were insane that way, but it worked for them, more or less.

On the good side she could, by her own rules, keep on with that and no one would care at all.

Even Tim didn't really.

She was going to be in for a surprise with his brother, since if anyone was going to have a problem with that sort of thing, it would be the mighty wizard of the backwoods, wouldn't it?

"I know a bit, from some things that people let drop in front of me. The thing with the Wards isn't much of a secret, is it? They've been cleared a dozen or more times and shown to be loyal to the King. For them to suddenly flip on that and become his hated enemy... That isn't very likely. Even if I hadn't seen the other signs, I probably would have gotten that one. It's a bit obvious for you to go in, isn't it? The King's niece..." It wasn't like anyone would even think she was less than loyal.

"Not such a problem. Maria and I have been lovers for years and I get along well enough with Marvin, so the idea of me sneaking in to try and talk them out of being all evil should work, a few times." She grinned and started to touch his arm, but stopped and pulled away with a smile. "Even the idea of bringing you along works. At least if people don't know you very well yet. We could set you to playing while the rest of us retire to 'talk', without you being any the wiser, since, you understand, you're just a child." She pursed her lips, and then forced a happy expression onto her face.

"Good enough point. Alright, well, after we finish, let's go see to all that? I have enough gold with us for the trip."

She just ate then, her eyes wandering back over to him more than once, since there wasn't a lot else to look at really. The waves were beautiful, and ever changing, but lacked novelty after a bit. So did he, but there was a certain amount of duty involved in her actions, he realized. Just like he needed to do the same, acting like they were really married, even if it was a bit of a joke on some levels.

To that end, after he tossed out the remaining food that they weren't going to finish he turned the water pump off and then picked a half dozen tropical flowers for her. She was already in the pilot's seat when he got to her, settling in to leave. It was interesting, since the world was filled with greenery and flowers outside, but her eyes actually lit up when she saw the clumsy clumps of color in his hand.

"Oh! For me? They're wonderful!" For a half second he wondered if she were over acting on purpose or if it was just habit, but she took the flowers, tied together at the bottom with the stem of a totally different plant and smelled them, seeming far too overjoyed. "Thank you!"

Then, without thinking about it, she moved forward and to the side, so that she could kiss him. It wasn't what he'd been going for at all, but at least her head wasn't above him. That would have been too much. This way she was below him, sitting as he stood, and she had enough control of herself that, while the kiss was on the lips, she didn't use her tongue or try to turn it into anything more than a simple thank you.

Of course they had nothing to put them in, so they ended up being laid on the shelf in front of her, so that she could look at them while she flew. He didn't argue that, as the man, he should be the one controlling the thing. She did a good enough job and needed the practice with the larger kind of craft. She owned one after all, so it only made sense.

Warden was to the east a good way and north of course, but not so far that it took all that long. They flew over the southern gulf for most of it, keeping the coastline in sight to their left. It was the longer way to make the trip, but they wouldn't end up overshooting and were still there less than two and a half hours later, so Timon didn't complain. He did reach out and change the color of the craft while they flew, without asking if he should. Or, more to the point, he didn't change the color, but made it glow brighter, so that it was a more vibrant green and red. It was still close enough to Noram Day for everyone to have their decorations up and while people might get that a giant mirrored craft was him coming to visit, they might also panic and run away in fear.

Trice lowered the thing slowly over the front lawn of the Ward estate. Even with the craft being as huge as it was, there was room for it. Ward was a rich County and the Count's ancestors had grabbed up land in the city early, so that they could have their huge Palace and what amounted to an un-walled park. The local people were even there, walking through it and staring at them as they landed. A few looked scared, but as Timon and Trice got out others waved and a few called out happily enough.

Timon waved back.

"Hello! Just come to visit and shop in the market. Happy New Year!" It was close enough to that time that everyone at least waved, and then went back to whatever they were doing. For most that was eating lunch. It was warm enough that they were dressed in loose white clothing for the most part, a few wore other colors.

Trice waited for him to finish that up, since it was important for business to be friendly with as many areas as possible. Doing otherwise could lead to higher prices, or a lack of interest in dealing with him. It didn't take long, which meant they got to the door before it opened. Landing a giant craft on someone's front lawn kind of got the attention of the people inside however, and Trice had barely pulled the bell once, the clang it made being deep and pleasant, when the thing opened.

It was a guard that opened it, his clothing in deep blue and yellow, but with the Royal livery on his chest. He was an older man, but fit. A Royal Guard, but not one directly assigned to the King or his family.