Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) (6 page)

They made plans for all that, but she reminded them of the storm that Roget had gotten word of, and took off with the man, going alone into orbit, not half an hour later. No one else needed to go to the moon. Not that it would be her first stop. She really needed a bath, and some sleep first.

"I'm thinking that we should head to my mother's house. It's in the Noram Capital city. We can sleep there tonight, and visit with King Richard in the morning. Or I can. You might want to get extra rest, or see if my mother has any work for you to do?" She didn't suggest the man pray with her at least. That would be funny, and Heather would actually do it, but it wasn't her way. Still, Roget was a man from a foreign land that
also
lived in the newest and hardest to reach place, Harmony. Just being who he was could be turned to making profit. At least for someone clever and willing to think outside of the normal cage that minds were kept in.

"You... want me to meet your mother?" Roget said the words as if they should have special meaning or perhaps held some for him.

Sara shrugged.

"She may not be there. Don't worry, you can have your own room. It isn't King's week or anything. If it was... Well, you could always stay at Tor's. I'm sure that Collette and Gerent would put you up there. Still, compared to the side of the road, a bed in my mother's house will seem like a luxury." Which was just true. She stretched, forcing her hands up, above her head and trying to arch her back. It was a mistake, even after all the healing. She was so stiff that it actually hurt to try and do.

Then, her life hadn't had a lot of proper exercise for a while, had it? Plenty of walking, and she hadn't gotten fat. If anything she'd lost a good chunk of weight over the last months. They'd had food, thanks to the devices with them, but it was the tradition that you only ate what others could give you on a march like that. People
did
give what they could, even before understanding that their lot had changed that way, but rations had often been pretty light, since they kept moving away from all the new devices.

Not everyone had taken them, either. That part had really shocked her. Even when most had agreed to it, some claimed to know the will of their god better than the others, and refused all help or aid from them. Waiting for divine intervention to come. Even the other Tellerand people had seen through that one though. What
more
help could be expected than for food to literally appear to them, coming from the sky itself? That part had been sad, since there were children in each of those places too. There wouldn't be for a lot longer, she feared.

Most had taken the help, hunger pushing them to it, no matter who they were or what they believed.

Roget, for his part, settled in the same seat that he'd been in before, and didn't speak. To be exact, he muttered something that seemed like more prayers, but Sara finally got to ignore the man for a bit, and didn't do the same, focusing on her own task.

Her hand rested gently on the pitted brass stone that was the main control for the entire ship. Rather than try to fly the other way, she rounded the edge of the world below her, the blue and white showing that there was a large storm over Soam. Not one of the land destroying ones, but big enough that it was a swirl of fast moving clouds. Hopefully everyone there would be all right. They were good people, but for some reason they'd been particularly hammered by the wicked and insane Ancients that had tried to kill them all.

The whole thing was pretty from space though.

Making the readjustments she needed, and slowing the tan craft above the capital, Sara drifted downward. It seemed slow and peaceful, but was actually taking place at thousands of miles per hour. She could have pushed it to do more, but didn't bother. It was early in the day, and if she got in too quickly King Richard might want her to report immediately. She at
least
wanted a bath first. Going to the palace dressed as she was might have been a great joke, for someone
else
, but no one would go in reeking like she was, if they could help it.

By the rules she had to get in touch as soon as she safely could, but no one had ever mentioned that doing so by communications device was off limits. Technically she also needed to have a
good
reason to visit, being a spy and all that sort of thing. She used to have a handy Prince she could visit for that sort of thing there. Alphonse. He was living on Harmony now though, so that was out. She tried to think of a good reason to go and visit, but nothing came to mind really.

Finally, landing on the north side of the city, since it was closer to the main Debri house, Sara decided to just call in and report, pretending that Terry had asked her to. That would make her a kind of emissary, she supposed, but... wasn't she? She'd been doing all that work at his request, so he could at least back her up on this one, couldn't he? Grinning tiredly, she decided that would work well enough.

If it didn't she could always offer to have sex with the King. He'd never done that with her, and it was reaching way above her station to just show up for that kind of thing, but she really didn't have anything else to go on for the moment. She'd been out of the loop for a quarter of a year. Who knew what was going on at the moment?

It took a bit of focus on her part to get the craft to shrink down without crushing Roget. The man was fine, really, but part of her
kind
of wanted to. He was just too cold and indifferent to her all the time. As if he were better than she was. He didn't even look at her in more than passing, almost as if he were
trying
to be rude. No one in Noram would have acted like that with her. Not while they were working together for months at least. Some of the commoners were shy like that, but it wouldn't have lasted once they knew she was trustworthy and trying to help their people.

All of the Tellerand men had been like that though. Not just with her, but all of the women, even their own. They acted in a patronizing fashion, and the women just took it. Meekly. Yes, she knew that one herself, since she had to do that as well from time to time, but not with
everyone
.

Trying not to be the bitch she felt like inside, she cleared her throat gently. Then spoke in Noram Standard, since that was where they were.

"We have to drive through the city, which will take about twenty minutes from the gate up ahead. It's meant to help prevent attacks from the air." Which was tactically sound. It also meant that someone had weapons available to take craft out if they didn't comply. That was the idea that she'd been given at least. It wouldn't shock her to find out that the King had some Austran weapons hidden in the city, after the big attack a few years before.

She didn't mention that part of things. The world had been having major problems, but there was also a rebellion still going on in Noram. Not a very active one, unless things had changed while she was gone, and no one had bothered to inform her of it. That was possible, but she didn't expect it to happen. No, the next round of attacks would be something covert. Assassination most likely.

It would have to come soon, and hit all of the remaining royals. The heir was alive, but couldn't come back for nearly seven years still, or he'd die. The second heir, Karina, was in the same ship. Both of them had been given the gift of long life by Timon, and there was a death plague on Earth that would end their existence if they set foot on the planet.

Given that, she really needed to make sure they all had Healing amulets and top end shields, didn't she? The King, Queen Constance, Princess Veronica and her husband, even though he wasn't in line to take power. Luckily she had some of those with her still. That she hadn't given them over already was mainly down to the idea that they'd all have them even without her being involved. It might pay to check though, and not take that on faith.

Her mind buzzed with things to do suddenly, having been gone so long. The first though, the very first thing, was getting the grime off of her. She
itched
. Also she was pretty certain that she was growing a nice winter coats worth of fur on her arms and legs. It would, no doubt, keep her toasty warm. Plus she could braid it in decorative fashion soon, if it kept growing at the rate it was.

Roget made small talk as he rode, beside her now, not having a choice. He looked out the shield window to the side, taking in the sights of the strange city.

There was enough to see that she didn't blame him.

Unlike Tellerand, people in Noram actually wore bright colors, and some of them, dressed in either fine handmade clothing or that made of magic, were spectacular. Even out on the street, early in the day. It wasn't everyone, but some of the taller people looked ready to go to a ball, practically. One or two literally glowed in blue or green. The complicated tapestries of light and color were impressive. Looking down at her sack, she nodded her head.

"I feel suddenly under dressed. Here..." With a thought, still guiding her craft carefully, Sara shifted into a dark blue satin dress, complete with lace at the edges to decorate the thing. She had no idea what the rest of the package would look like. Not great, since she hadn't as much as combed her hair in so long it would probably all have to be shorn off her head to become manageable again.

There were still probably ashes on her face too.

Whoever cleaned the tub when she was done would love that, no question.

She didn't tell the man with her to change, feeling a bit annoyed with him, now that they weren't in his land anymore. Really, he needed to take that stick out of his ass, or someone would take offense. She wasn't planning to mention it, but suddenly took a deep breath and shocked herself by diving in.

"Roget... This is Noram, not Tellerand. You can have whatever religion you like, but it's considered rude to try and force it on others. So pray and praise Him as you desire, even openly and in public, but don't try to convert anyone. Unless they
ask
you about it, which some might. Then it's fair game. After all, the One God
is
a known thing here. Also... Um..." She looked over at the man, stopping in front of her old childhood home at the same time. It was comfortably familiar to her, but the man stopped, gazing at the place instead of her.

"Is this the palace of the King here?" He spoke accented Standard, but his meaning was clear.

The place, being only three stories tall, was modeled in the same vein. The ceilings were all vaulted too, which made it seem larger than it really was from the outside. The decorative trimming was a deep gray now, and the building had been repainted white, but it was well cared for and very pretty.

"No,
that
place is much bigger. Nicer too. This is Debri house. My mother owns it. Anyway, I was just going to suggest that, if anyone offers to have sex with you, or asks you out on a date, you should do it. It might help with that problem you have." She felt a little mean, saying it that way, but to her shock, the man nodded.

"I know. It's the same in Harmony. Those of Tellerand are rather more conservative than our fellows. We seem aloof, and as if we do not enjoy the company of others. That isn't the whole of it. Really it's more about protecting the virtue of the women in our midst. The poor men that traveled with us ached over your form, as often as not, I would guess. Driving themselves not to see you, in hope that they would not shame you." To him, it was clear that he believed all of that.

It was better than she'd thought, at least.

Sighing, she smiled at him.

"Good! You all had me worried there for a bit. Well, for the most part, you don't need to worry about that here. So, if anyone asks for attention from you, or just dresses nicely, look at them and smile. If they want you to do anything, then do it. Um... men might want to do things too. That's forbidden over there, isn't it? Men having sex with other men?"

That got a grimace and a nod.

"Aye. But not in Harmony. I have met such people, and survived the adventure. I do not think I would enjoy such, however."

"It probably won't come up. If it does... Well, just offer to use your hand on them, or your mouth. That's less uncomfortable than a lot of other things. We'll try to make sure you don't have to though. You're kind of short, like a commoner would be here, so if a noble tells you to do it, you'll just have to. On the good side we won't be here too long." She wanted to be joking with him, teasing him for being prudish, but there was truth in what she'd said.

It wasn't a hundred percent, but in the main if a noble man or woman told you to have sex with them, and you weren't near their own station, you really
didn't
get a choice. The best you could do in that case was volunteer to do something that wouldn't hurt too much and get to work fast enough that they didn't get bored with it.

The small pale man next to her looked mildly afraid at the idea. It wasn't
wrong
, so she didn't correct him on the matter. Fear might just help him in the long run, if he used it well.

"Still, don't be rude to people by not looking at them. Try to smile, and if you can't, then make sure you don't let anything show on your face. People can take offense, and this is the Capital. Some of those people have armies to back up their anger, if it comes about."

There,
that
would help not at all, she was certain. No one that wasn't from that part of the world would really understand what she was telling them. Not until it was too late. Their best bet was to lock Roget away in a few small rooms for the duration of their stay, and get him back to Harmony in the shortest time possible. That would be the next day, she thought. If all went well.

She got out, unloaded her bags from the back, and handed the small man with her his own single tan pack. It was the same kind of thing that everyone in Harmony seemed to carry. Available at the free store there. The one that her brother, Kurt, ran. If he hadn't been killed for being a pervert yet.