The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon) (8 page)

They were able to find the Capital city with only a bit of redirection on his part, the purple glowing river that circled the top of the wall in a half loop showing where it was from a long way off. That also let him locate the palace pretty easily, since it was near the center of the bend on the top portion of things. He made the craft glow a brilliant purple and gold too, the front half being the color of metal shining in the sun, so that no one seeing him trying to land would think he was some kind of enemy. No one mentioned it, until they climbed out to find a half dozen Royal Guard standing there waiting for them, along with the King, who was very properly dressed, considering the time of night. He noticed that Timon wasn't, but didn't comment on it, not even smirking a little.

The man was just as huge as Timon remembered, they'd only met at close range once before. Twice really, but the King's birthday procession couldn't really count. That time he was just walking past along with his family, stopping only long enough to say hello. His ma had done that part, since she'd gone to school with the man. He had red hair and towered above everyone else there by nearly two feet and some of the guards were nearly seven feet tall. Not all of them, most were much smaller than that, but it wasn't a tiny bunch of people.

Captain Petra bowed, going low, hands at her sides, which was a very polite way of doing it. Timon copied her, making sure he went even lower, which was pretty difficult, since the woman was really working to make that hard to match. It basically had him standing there with his
everything
hanging out, but the King gestured for them to both stand back up relatively quickly.

"Please, come inside, we have much to discuss after your ordeal, Petra. First, is there anything you need? Some medicine or wine perhaps?" That the man meant well was clear, but the woman, who was really attractive under the grime, shook her head.

"Only some water please. I was given juice and wine already. And clothing." She gestured at her own outfit, not looking at Timon at all. "I could have liked the speed of rescue to be a bit faster, but I can't fault the extraction team. Got me out in one piece and saw to my every need. I'll have to work pretty hard to match it if it's ever my turn to do the same thing."

That got a strange facial expression from the King, who looked at George and Kara closely, including him in the grouping as well. That was what it felt like at any rate. It was a very inclusive thing.

"Ah? Very good then. As to the time delay... Perhaps we should repair inside?"

They all went, which meant he did too, since George took his arm firmly and gave him a tug so he'd get the idea. It was too bad, since he'd been planning to grab the blanket and wrap up in it, before getting to his clothing chest, where he had a second amulet hidden away, as well as real clothing. Instead he ended up padding down the hallway naked, cold stone alternating with soft carpets under his bare feet, the air warm, but dry, given the time of year. He was comfortable enough that way, not really feeling the temperature at all. He had on his temperature control still after all and it kept him at a steady body temperature, more or less.

It took about five minutes to end up in a small wooden room, that had soft furniture, all in dark colors and soft fabrics where there wasn't a polished gleaming underneath the magical lights. Those hung from the ceiling, which was very high above them all, from a metal and crystal sculpture that made the otherwise flat looking glow sparkle as it touched the eye.

"This was a very unfortunate situation. We received word of your predicament only recently, and while I tried to contact your friends to see about removing you from Count Rodriguez's household, they do not seem available at this time. Do you know where they might be?" It was delicately said, but too much so it seemed, the woman giving the King a very hard look that bordered on insolent.

He didn't seem to blame her for it, which was good. Timon didn't want to have to fight the man and his guards after all, since it would mean dying, more likely than not.

"What? Is someone missing? I've been gone for over a month." She didn't seem in the mood for subtle hedging at all. Timon could understand that, so started speaking, forgetting where he was or even that he had no clothes. It was decently comfortable in the room after all.

"You know that Tor is off running from the Larval assassins?" He waited for her to nod before going on, all eyes coming back around to him. "It also seems that your special unit is missing. Probably scattered for some reason. Since we don't have craters all over the Kingdom, they probably went willingly. I don't think it would be the assassins anyway. From what I heard they should pretty much be focused on killing my brother for a while. That means it's not going to be directly related. Some kind of major plot or something is what I'm thinking. I don't have enough information to prove that, not at this time."

Everyone in the room was staring a lot harder than he felt comfortable with, which was relieved almost instantly when the King clapped twice.

"Clear the room please. Petra, George, Kara and Builder Baker please remain." There was a coldness to his words, but his face went blank. It wasn't a perfect thing, since his body language showed clear agitation. There was a tension in his shoulders that hadn't been there a moment before for instance.

The reason for that was made clear, about six seconds after the door closed behind the other Royal Guards.

"How in the world did you know about the Secret Army? I want your sources, now." He actually held his palm up and waved his fingers, as if trying to draw the information to him.

Timon sighed.

"That source would be the 'Secret Army'. It wasn't hard to figure out. I saw them first, training at Wildlands when I made deliveries there. They were clearly doing things that even the army wasn't. Using very advanced magical weapons and beating each other about like madmen. They all had flying rigs and good shields too. I saw them the day that the end of the war was announced, coming in to land in decorated Fast Carriages. I can tell the difference between those and the regular ones." It was subtle, but there and if he could tell, others could too. "There were rumors when I went to Austra about who had defeated their military so easily, and they were led by a large bald man with a scarred face. Sir Kolbrin delivered the papers from them for the peace treaty." He had a bit more but the King rolled his eyes.

"Too clever by half. Well, all we can do is try to limit the exposure of the information. I don't suppose I could bribe you to not mention this to anyone?" He sat, and gestured for everyone else to do the same, though Timon decided to stand. He didn't want to be naked on the Palace furniture. Sure, he probably wouldn't be the first person to do so, but it seemed out of place for
him
to do it.

He did smile however.

"Well, if you hear of anyone that needs quick transportation over decently long distances, could you let them know about me? I don't want to turn you into a crier for my business, but if they're in need, it couldn't hurt. Tell them that if they mention your name as telling them, I'll give them half off their first flight. That way you'd be doing them a favor even." It sounded fair to him, but for some reason the man in front of him looked slightly shocked. It took a bit for Timon to work out why however.

"You mean you aren't going to require that I give my daughter's hand to you in marriage for it? Here I was getting ready to deal and everything." He really seemed serious at first, but then chuckled a little which got the others to at least smile, even Captain Petra.

Timon did too. After all, it was a good joke and lightened the mood.

"Oh, no Sire. I was told earlier that if I tried to extort a daughter from you a certain Princess would probably strip me naked and make me run through the halls..." He looked down and shook his head. "This would make it far too easy for her."

"Ah, I was going to ask about that. Were you gotten out of bed suddenly?"

The man seemed to be merely making conversation so Timon played it off. He was already stripped bare after all, so it wouldn't hurt him to look a little bad, would it? It was the polite thing to do. His mother had mentioned that a few times. If a woman, a child or an old person was in distress or trouble, or facing embarrassment, a man had to step in and protect their dignity, even at the cost of his own.

"Nothing so adventurous. I merely misplaced my clothing." He made direct eye contact with the man, who sighed and gave a single nod.

"I understand how that might happen. Would you be so kind to wait on us outside the door? I need to speak to these others and it might verge on subjects that you don't already have knowledge of."

He looked at the door, as if Timon might not know where it was, but he didn't say anything else. Figuring that it was a dismissal of sorts, at least for a while, he went to stand in the hallway, choosing to hide himself as well as he could, behind a suit of armor made of steel, that was leaning on a sword. That alone was nearly as tall as he was, so it was pretty good cover. Or at least he thought it was, until about three hours later, when a group of very tall individuals rounded the corner.

There were three of them and they all had very nice outfits on. One of them was a tall man that after a few seconds he recognized, once he looked up high enough. Prince Alphonse Cordes. They'd met, though the man had been a bit shorter at the time. So had he, but it wasn't an equal thing at all. It was only a few months, but the person in front of him had grown at least a bit. Princess Karina was there too, wearing a sea foam green dress that fell easily from her narrow shoulders. She had wonderful freckles he noticed. They were just visible on her dusky skin. Her hair was a little lighter than her brother's, but it worked for her well. Between them was the queen, who was another person he'd never talked to overly himself.

She was lovely, of course, but in a fairly standard way, unlike her Princess, who was truly unique.

They all stopped at the same time, eyes going slightly wide, which a naked boy in the hallway could do to a person, Timon supposed. It was embarrassing, but he bowed, his back to the wall so no one would take offense, and tried to play the whole thing off. After all, they were naked too, under their clothing. He didn't mention that, but it did help him feel a bit better. Not much however.

It was the Prince that recognized him first, actually looking at his face, though the Queen rallied quickly enough that it wasn't obvious that she'd noticed how very unclothed he was overly. The Princess just stared, which was a little rude.

"Ah! Timon. Have you come to breakfast?" It was said so blandly that it almost sounded normal.

For a second he didn't know how to reply, when he spoke it was a little rushed and even though he meant it as a joke, it sounded like he was decently panicked over the whole situation.

"No... I came to talk to Princess Karina's da, to see if she wanted to set up a marriage, maybe trade some livestock for her... then I ended up out here in the hall, naked!" The funny thing was, after a fashion, it was almost true.

Alphonse grinned, getting it, but for some reason the others looked taken aback. He was about to explain the joke, which he hated doing, when the door to the sitting room opened and the King poked his head out.

"Oh! Good, everyone is here. Please come in. I was just coming to get Countier Baker. There's a bit of a situation." That got everyone to look at Tim, even though no one said anything else.

Inside the room had changed, with Kara and George being gone altogether, though Captain Petra was still there, sitting in a hard wooden chair.

"Petra!" They descended on her in a wave, not recoiling even as the stench she had about her hit them. They did pull back pretty quickly after the first round of patting and making sure she was whole and unharmed took place.

The Queen looked at her for a while, then at Timon.

"So does the situation have to do with why Countier Baker is without clothing this morning?" It was addressed to the King directly, so no one else said anything, even as the door was closed.

The giant man gestured for them all to sit, doing it twice for Timon, who still felt uncomfortable about the nudity on the furniture. He sat anyway, perching on the edge, so that they knew he didn't intend to get anything on the nice cushions. The leather stuck to him anyway, if only a bit.

"You all know that your Cousin Petra was taken prisoner by her fiancé, Count Rodriguez and held for some weeks. It was nearly as bad as we could have imagined. Her limbs were broken, most of her teeth knocked out from beatings and parts of her were horribly burned. The torture was meant to get her to talk about the Secret Army. She didn't."

The others all looked at her, tears coming to the Queen's eyes, though the Princess looked at Timon again, baffled.

The King rolled his shoulders at the glance.

"He'd worked it out for himself. Even that they're missing. Promised not to tell, in exchange for me mentioning to anyone that might need his services that he's around. They get a discount too, so hardly much of a payment on my part, since it will make me look good, but I'm satisfied with it."

No one made fun of him for not asking for more, even if the King clearly had expected some bigger deal to be made of things.

Then it was Petra's turn to speak it seemed.

"They threw me in a pit, spit on me and took turns pissing on me. A few did worse than that, but there was no rape. I did manage to work out that there's a plot to kill you all and take over the Kingdom. I couldn't make out who was behind it. No one shared that with me." She shuddered a little and then kept going, figuring that it would be better to do it fast than to try and hide things. "Then, last night Timon and... some friends of his came and rescued me. I was naked, in that pit, to humiliate me I think. Timon gave me his clothing amulet."