Tremble in the Dark: A Gwen Farris Novel (8 page)

"I
was rather cruel in my low thoughts about the boy before, I see. He's
clearly
a genius. I'll make certain to send the invitation promptly." Then she
stood up, as if going to set that all up immediately. That wasn't the case
however, and she simply stood there, waiting next to Gwen.

For
her part she nodded, as if she had some clue what was going on.

"Well,
no dinner for
me
. I bet I won't want it. I don't know how many are
coming, but we might want to have some refreshments ready, if people are going
to be up all night?"

Then
she left the room, since saying that was probably more than enough for it to
really happen. It meant that she had some time, it seemed, which she spent
charging crystal packs. The ones in the teletransport spheres weren't big
really, so only took about ten minutes for each one. Since no one came to find
her yet, she just sat and did them all, then went to change clothing. She
didn't want to risk ruining Katherine's dress or anything.

"Like
you're really worried about my dress? They're going to torture us again, aren't
they?" The words came out of her own mouth, and Gwen frowned, seizing
control immediately. There wasn't a huge fight or anything, but that was the
first time that Katherine had managed something like that without outside help
or goading.

Then,
maybe the threat of that much pain counted that way?

"Don't
do
that."

She
said it just in time for Beth to come walking into the room, with Manly
Westmorland behind her, and for some reason, Peter, though he was hanging back.
He looked at the spheres, and she understood his part at least. He was there to
get everything returned to its place. The things were hard to make and a single
trip using one would have cost about several hundred mets, if she hadn't
charged them herself. It was why they had trains and airships too. Most people
went their whole lives without ever even seeing one of the devices. They
weren't things you just left laying around, in other words. She pointed to
them, where they were on the low table near the chair she was on.

"Already
charged." Then she sighed and looked at first Beth, and then Peter. Not
Manly in particular, which was a little mean of her, but that was because the
last time they'd met the man had caused her horrible pain. Chances were he was
there to do it again too.

"Katherine
just took over my mouth, to complain about you coming to torture her. That's
the first time she's ever done anything like that." She stared at the boy
and then shrugged. He was a little super-soldier, still in training, but he
wasn't a regular kid. He could handle it, if he had to take action, she bet,
based only on her own hallucinations.

Because
that was a firm place to stand, wasn't it?

"The
woman that stole me from my own reality is still inside my head. She'd killed
me, over there, in the process, so I'm stuck here. That's the best guess
anyway. If she tries to take over, we'll probably have to do something like
this to keep her down. If that doesn't work..." She flipped a single palm,
still making direct eye contact with Peter. "If that happens, then I'll try
to kill myself. If I fail, it might fall to you to do it, so pass that word to
Adam, so he can make certain you're armed all the time, if you're working with
me."

Instead
of gasping in shock, or even looking away, the boy just nodded.

"On
it. I already got word that I should report to you for that training. Manly is
going to help you set it up. I have to keep up with the rest of my studies too,
but it sounds more interesting than what they had me doing, which was, for the
next few months, nothing much at all. I'm on a healing rotation, after my last
training session. Telepathy. I don't have a full state for it yet
however." He didn't seem shy or embarrassed about it at all, and scooped
up the spheres from the rather nice table. He cradled them all in the crook of
his left arm for a moment, using his right hand to pull out a cloth sack from a
pocket on the leg of his blue Westmorland day uniform. It was black, and made
of a dull cloth, but held the baseball sized objects easily, with room to
spare. They were metal after all, and just pushing the button wasn't enough to
make them work. A person had to do it.

He
waited for a bit, so Gwen smiled at him. "Good to hear. This shouldn't
impact magical functions too much, so you can finish healing at the same time.
I'll run that all by Manly. Do you want to bet money that he thinks my plans
are far too soft and lazy for you?"

The
boy crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out a little, making himself look
stupid.

"No.
I don't have any of that, I don't think. You mean lucre, right? Mets? Anyway,
trainees at my level don't have things like that, and if I did, I'd keep it and
not just toss it away on a stupid gamble like that. Manly is a trainer. He
has
to think he's being too soft on the rest of us. He doesn't have a choice."

The
man himself started to unpack a medium sized case that he had with him, but she
waved her left hand at him.

"Not
here. I think we should try for a room in the East wing, away from everyone
else, so the screams won't bother anyone this time."

Without
even looking up, he fastened the case closed and started toward the door, as if
letting her know that time was more of a factor than Beth had mentioned. It
might not be that, of course. It could
also
just be that giving her more
time to think about what might be coming wasn't going to help anything at all.

She
stood up, and resisted the urge to pat Peter on the back. That would be
improper enough here that most people, even Westmorlands, might look at her
funny. Possibly not, but just in case, she didn't let herself do it. Instead
she looked at the kid and managed another really good wink. It was twice in one
day and everything. She'd
thought
she had it down before though, so
didn't count it as perfect yet. For half a year she'd been going around
scrunching up half her face in a way that was highly lascivious to most of
these people. Beth had finally let her in on that one. She hadn't told her,
because she thought it was funny, watching people try to not react to it.

Which
Gwen had to give her.

It
was hilarious. Now that she knew at least.

"Okay,
Pete. Set that all up. Oh, I told Duke Aubry that you'd arrange for
teletransport travel for him to a party that Ethyl is having in three weeks.
You'll need to get a dress uniform for that." She meant for the party,
since having a miniature Westmorland would just be cute, at least to her way of
thinking.

The
boy stood a little taller though, suddenly seeming very proud for some reason.

"I'm
going to be working with a Duke?"

The
others hid grins, being a little too obvious about it, but Gwen didn't see why.
He was, after all.

"Probably
more than one. Several other people too, if it comes up. Doctor Grainger at the
University, who's one of the top people in Radiatives in the world, the
Vernors, and possibly the King. You'll be at parties and events, so learn the
social rules for that.
Someone
will have to teach me. It might as well
be you."

Beth
looked at the short version of a super-soldier and nodded, very primly for some
reason.

"Gwen
was asked to marry Duke Aubry earlier this evening. She said yes."

That
got the kid to go wide eyed.

"That's
a good match. Is it a secret, or am I allowed to tell the others? They'll want
to know that Farris is doing that well." He cleared his throat, and then
looked away. "I mean, if it's allowed, ma'am?"

Gwen
tilted her head, but finally nodded. A lot of those people were her friends
after all.

"Why
not? It could end or be undone, but this time it's even a real thing, I think.
You should definitely tell Heather and Darren." She should have already
done it, she realized. Just calling them up on the Telestator.

Darren
was actually her brother, as in from her own world, physically related to the
her there, sibling. Her real brother. Heather was kind of her sister, after a
fashion, too. Being that
she
was this world's version of Gwen. The real
Gwen, not Katherine Vernor. The strawberry blonde was fit and healthy, not at
all warped and uneven like she had been though. What Gwen should have been.

That
could happen when you're crazy mother also happened to be an evil genius and
decided that genetically turning her daughter into a super-soldier was a
wonderful idea. After her failure, the woman had given up on the idea, and used
something remarkably similar to the Westmorland protocols to torture Billy into
being a very dangerous fighter. It was where she'd come up with the idea for
the combat training that she had in mind.

Only
a little less intense. Unarmed combat was useful on occasion, but there were
limits to what was needed. She didn't want to turn them all into assassins or
anything, just give them a non-magical option, in case it ever was needed.

"If
you could tell them about this? I have a death curse on me, so I have to take
care of that right now. No big." She tried to downplay it all, and the boy
smiled.

"I'll
pass the word on that too. Who did it, and why?"

That
information came from Beth, as if it was a thing that anyone really wanted to
know. Then, without waiting for orders to leave or anything as silly as that,
Peter scampered out of the room, walking at just under a jog. That was one of
the nice things about the Westmorlands. They all actually hurried everywhere.
Most of the time things moved at a glacial pace here, without a few of them
around.

Manly
followed the boy, which had her and Bethany walking out into the hallway even
faster, to show him where to go. It took a bit to get there, even stomping
along like they were at a quick march. The Westmorland Trainer didn't waste the
transit time however, starting to speak before they even got to the central
staircase on the first floor.

"Most
curses tend to be fairly weak things. That doesn't mean they can't make you
ill, or kill you, if left unchecked, simply that with a bit of practice, you
can break them quickly and without too much effort or stress. The best way to
think of a curse, or any kind of traditional spell meant to influence a person,
is like a very gentle bit of grit or something slightly sticky, that hangs on
your energy system. It's like a very poorly constructed radiative, most of the
time." He wasn't out of breath at all, and Beth was in the lead, with
Manly behind her, as if she might just try to run away. That was probably
protocol as well, because the idea really
did
occur to her.

After
a moment, he continued.

"What
will be needed is for you to align all the energy of your body, and to hold
that state until the information and energy that makes up the curse is wiped
clean. We'll start with the one that's on you. I'll hold the proper state and
you'll feel my energy, until you understand it. Then you'll try."

They
finally got to the last bedroom suite on the fourth floor, and moved into the
hindmost room. Then Bethany got a chair for her to sit in while Manly unpacked
the little bag. He laid things out, on a clean, but clearly rather old and well
worn blond wood table, and then moved in, taking her hand. He didn't hesitate
first like everyone else would have.

It
actually took her by surprise. She was used to people not wanting to touch her,
but Manly wasn't forcing himself, he was just doing it. Except that those
feelings were old, weren't they? From her life before. People didn't really
hesitate to touch her here. Not because of her being warped, at least.

"Now,
focus and follow along."

It
did take a lot of concentration for Gwen to feel what was happening, but after
about a minute she had it. Then she tried it herself, still holding the man's
hand. It was warm. Strong too.

He
barked at her.

"No.
That's too rough and haphazard. Do it again. Match what I'm doing."

It
took about ten tries and he finally let go, seeming happy enough with her.

"Hold
that state then. Four minutes should do."

Beth
stood back, her hands clasped in front of her skirt, the heavy material making
her look a bit like someone from an old cold war movie for a moment. The sexy
spy, about to be sent away from mother Russia...

She
focused harder and held the correct energy for the needed amount of time,
finally feeling the faintest hint of relief. It was a slight drop in pressure,
which was hanging around her head and shoulders mainly. Suddenly, it faded into
nothingness.

"And
done." Manly smiled. "Good. Now, we'll work on a variety of things
here, to help condition you to the correct mode, in case this happens again,
and you're going up against someone actually
good
and not just an angry
woman with emotional problems. We'll work on the clarity of your energy first.
I'll lay a small curse on you, one about four times more powerful than the one
you just broke, and you'll have four minutes to break it. If you fail, then
you'll be punished." He set that part up with a few deft moves, a box with
a brass case that was about the size of a pack of playing cards with a single
cotton wrapped wire coming out of it.