The Silence Within (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (26 page)

"You clearly know this is a magical house. Do you know how to use it?" She was a bit surprised to find that he didn't, which had her demonstrating the whole thing, arranging furniture and changing the colors and textures of the walls and flooring. Then she put it all back, since they didn't need a hall sofa, she didn't think.

The man tried it himself and after a few rough starts, seemed to have the idea. They shifted the walls a bit and made an addition to the back, for the kitchen, to be used as food storage. She showed him how to make heating and cooling elements as well, which left him gasping slightly. Breathless from the strangeness of it.

"As Butler, you control the household. Unless I ask you to change something, naturally. You can teach the others to do this however, since it can be used to instantly make the beds and change the linens, that sort of thing. That leaves only the physical objects we bring in to care for each day, so the work should be lighter for people that way. You'll have to think of projects to keep them all busy." She was running out of things to say, but had a lot of time to say it in, and kind of liked the company, so she walked outside, through the front, to find her guards eating bowls of potage while standing.

She didn't mind, since it was so early, and the house was basically a shield anyway. They were there to impress people more than anything else. Clemance walked with her, as they went around the whole dwelling, with her making a few suggestions and the man changing things. The only time he balked was on the color scheme for the place. It was a deep green, with sky blue trim, which didn't look good at all. She thought they should go with something commanding, like brown and green, but he wanted pale cream with a lightly golden trim.

She looked at him for a bit as he stood stiffly, after mentioning it, then gestured for him to make the change his way.

"You're in charge of the place. Just make certain I can get in if I suddenly drop by."

Then after they killed time doing that, with her flat out telling the man that was what they were doing, she put her craft back up and got herself to Lawrence's dwelling outside the wall. This time she used her disguise amulet, so she'd have hair, and repeated a simple version of her velvet pilots outfit, only in her colors. It made her look like a guard, most likely, but it was a work day and the disguise was a bit too made up for that. She had to form a mirror in the craft and change it, making herself look less made up and a bit younger. She wasn't hiding her age after all. The hair had to shift too, she realized, but she still made it long, having it back in a complex braided pattern.

There were no guards on the door here, but there was a servant that answered the door, a younger looking man that seemed very nervous when he answered it. He bowed instantly and went low enough to show he meant it. This time she barely bowed at all, which was correct, given that she was the Countess, and it was her County.

She thought. Really, etiquette lessons were in order for that. She
still
didn't know how to curtsey, for instance.

"Good morning Miss, may I help you with anything?" He was about seventeen, and his voice was a bit unsteady, but he managed a smile at her anyway. The boy was tall, and had dark skin, which, given everything, probably meant he was a Morris relative, trying to make certain he wasn't executed. Hiding as a humble servant, or perhaps not even that, just working a job that would make him seem less than a threat?

"Hello! I know it's early, but I was hoping to meet with Lawrence Morris? If you could let him know that Countess Baker is here?" That would have been enough, normally, except that the boy went wide eyed and started to run. He actually got fifteen feet away, back into the palace, before he noticed that she was just standing there, waiting. With a smile even.

"Uncle Lawrence!
Uncle Lawrence
!" In all she had to feel the casual welcome Clemance had given her to be a bit more to her liking. She activated her shield and stood, looking around, in case an attack came. Nothing changed for several minutes and when it did, the scene was one of contrasts, to say the least. The young doorman was back, holding a force lance and looking ready to fight, if out of fear of
her
, and her High Councilor, who was in front of him seemed genuinely pleased that she'd shown up. Since he'd obviously hopped out of bed and was still in a robe, that had to be hard to pull off, what with all the screaming and no doubt being shaken awake.

Behind both of them an older woman trailed. She wasn't wearing a robe, and her clothing was a bit provocative, being mainly lace that hugged her body. She was attractive, but in a normal way, and from the fact that she moved in front of the others, Tiera had to guess she wasn't a prostitute, or even a kept woman.

She bowed low, and held it.

"Countess Baker. Thank you for gracing our home. I fear we aren't ready for the day as of yet, but we shall be shortly." She didn't introduce herself, but thankfully Lawrence saw to that.

He bowed too, though the boy didn't, looking scared and wide eyed.

"My wife, Edith, and my second nephew, Jeffery. He..." The man turned and looked at him, after standing and sighed. "You can place that away, I think. I'm sure that if the Countess had come to kill you, she would have brought forces with her, and not announced her presence."

Jeffery swallowed hard enough that he winced, a thing that looked pained, but did it, making the force lance vanish. It was an early Tor model, which is why she knew what it was, having seen one before. A good weapon. Lethal even, if you didn't have a shield on. Useless against her.

"Why would I do that?"

Lawrence bowed again. "Jeffery Morris would have inherited, in normal circumstances, when the others perished. He'd been attending the Printer school, but was called home a few weeks ago, so that no one would hold him hostage. I... was planning to send him back, unless that is forbidden?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"Not at all. I need to review the finances for the County, can we afford to cover his tuition? If not I'll have to go and earn some for that. I can get in touch with Countess Printer and make certain she realizes that we're on the same side. That should keep him safe there." For now.

The boy actually started to pant and looked down, his hand patting the force lance in his pocket. He didn't speak, and Edith covered smoothly, offering refreshments, or perhaps a meal. They clearly hadn't eaten, so Tiera waved to Jeff.

"We'll chat while you two get ready for the day? We should make certain that everything is right between us anyway."

That was a real point, since the boy clearly expected to be killed, not given an education, or be cared for at all. He bowed properly this time, remembering his manners.

"We have a sitting room, over here?"

The others looked a tiny bit nervous, but Edith more so than her husband. They both left anyway, vanishing back into the house.

Tiera started, trying to think about what she'd have wanted to know if it were her family that had been murdered. She felt her breath catch, but before sitting, she bowed, which almost had the boy pulling his force lance again.

"I apologize to you for the death of the Countess, and her younger daughter. They weren't my targets and their deaths weigh upon my soul. I hold you no personal malice and would take you as a brother, as far as your care goes." She stood then, since the boy had frozen in place, too shocked to sit, it seemed. She did, which got him to perch gingerly on the front of the sofa cushion across from her.

"Now, how were you finding school? I don't know if you missed too much for the season or not, so that might be a problem, but I'll ask about it with the Countess." As if she knew her at all. Still, they were peers and part of the job meant meeting the others.

They chattered about things. He'd never actually expected to inherit, thank the gods, which meant that he had other plans. That was mainly to go into his Uncle's chosen profession as an archivist, which was a thing he loved anyway. Of course that was a little out of balance now too, since that position had been pretty much guaranteed before, the man in charge of it being a relative, as it were.

Tiera didn't promise it to him either, but half an hour later, when Lawrence came in, with a large leather bound book that was at least six inches thick, she had a feel for the man. Jeffery was terrified that he was going to be killed, but for good reason, since it was what happened to any heirs left behind, most of the time. He didn't have the funds to run away, or good enough contacts to protect him from the new Countess, who, he assured her with a bit of a manic grin, he'd heard was wonderful, and not vindictive at all.

Smiling, his Uncle suggested that his duties as entertainment might be done, and waved him toward the front door again.

"He's really a good boy. Not as dedicated to his studies as he should be, but the young often need time to understand that." Then he generated a table for them to sit at, a square thing that put them close together, and cracked the book open. "I don't know if you're up on accounting practices?"

That one was a bit odd, since she actually was, it turned out. She'd finished several years of mathematics already, in the first month. It was what she'd originally gone to study after all.

"Yes, at least the basics. Let me look here..." The books seemed to be real, and also indicated that they were doing... remarkably well, even with the harm that she'd done to the economy and the drain of a sudden military buildup by Count Morris.

"We have five million gold in the accounts right now, Countess Baker. Plus a million that came in suddenly, from the Wizard Tor? That was unexpected, to say the least. I wasn't aware that we had backing from there. Is it a loan? If so, I suggest you turn the funds back to him now, before the first interest accrues. We don't actually need it, if we're careful." Which, clearly, left a problem he wasn't talking about, since he took a deep breath. After a moment he cleared his throat too. It was rough, and a bit scared sounding, so she got ready for bad news.

Then, frustratingly enough, he didn't speak at all.

"All right, out with it. Better we work on it now than let whatever it is hang over us."

The man looked at the book, which was in front of Tiera and shook his head a bit.

"The problem is with the conscripts. Most of them didn't have a choice except to leave home under penalty of prison, but some truly need the work. They're untrained, but we don't need that many military men and women at this time. It isn't actually our problem, being that Count Morris's debts and promises clearly aren't your responsibility, but this is leaving around ten thousand able bodied men and women at loose ends. They don't have a lot of skills either, or they wouldn't have opted for the military at this time. After all, no one sane and intelligent would want to go into battle barely trained and holding a pike against modern explosive weapons. Especially after the massacre in the Capital. Do you know of that?"

Tiera nodded.

"I was there. One in seven that died did so at my hand. Personally. I agree with your assessment on that score. So, what do you recommend?" She didn't have any thoughts as to what they should do, but Lawrence bit his lips, and seemed to steel himself again.

"I suggest we give each a three gold mustering out payment. This will largely be spent by most, but some will use it to start new businesses, if they're the kind to do so. That would end up being about fifty thousand gold. Perhaps less, but I can't assure that. We have the funds, but, again, it also isn't our responsibility."

Tiera thought about it for a long time, not speaking and finally came up with a counter offer.

"How about this. They're mustered out already, and can go home, but if they agree to try and use the funds to start a business of some kind, we'll open an office and bankroll their efforts, within reason. That might cost more, but I feel no great need to pay for Count Morris's mistakes. If people have ideas we can help them. If not, and they just want an assured meal... Well, we might be able to find work for them, but it will pay what it does. Farm labor and the like?"

That actually got a nod and the man modified it a little, so that the aid would be no more than ten gold maximum, and a break on taxes for the first year of business, which would be worth more to a lot of people.

Then there was a minor border skirmish going on between two of her baronies. That turned out to be over the rather good looking husband of one getting the daughter of another Baroness pregnant. It was blowing up, since no one could see a way out of it. Count Morris had been ignoring it, since he'd been busy, trying not to die.

It was early still, so she didn't just call up and try to manage it. Lawrence suggested they start the old fashioned way, with letters, suggesting gently that they not go to war over a thing that was already done. She agreed, mainly because she didn't know how to handle the thing any better than that, short of going in swinging, though she managed not to say that out loud.

 There were industry reports to look at too, and something called a "condition document" which was basically an assessment of the needs of the County. Lawrence had put it together for her, so that he wouldn't forget anything.

"Ah..." Tiera grinned at the man. "A
very
important thing here... what the High Councilor get's paid." She thought for a few seconds and then shrugged. "I don't even have an idea what that would be. How about this, you set your own rate, and if, at the end of the year, I feel you aren't worth it, I'll take part of it back? I know that sounds mean, but it's just to keep you honest. Give yourself a fair wage and try not to take food from the hungry for it. You live in a palace after all, and your servants are paid out of the County funds, as well as their food and upkeep. If you need magic, let me know and I'll try to get it for you. Otherwise... well, Edith's new jewels have to come out of your wages, so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that we have Truth amulets, so that means you'll be totally trustworthy, even if greed tries to take hold."