Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (41 page)

"Surrender or die!" It sounded bold at least and the girl that said it actually managed to hit his shield twice before realizing it was just him. "Oh! Sorry. Didn't recognize you at first, in the light. What are you doing?" She went from scared into rage, to calm and questioning in a single line. That was impressive. Harper still looked frightened, at least she felt that way. Tor realized that her outer demeanor was just a little tense.

"This is becoming the new prison. For now you two are the wardens, it's  also a shield wall to protect the city and needs to be held, so that's part of the job too. Let me work for a bit though." It went faster after that, knowing that the girls weren't inside. He could just make the changes, instead of slowly shifting the spaces around, so that they wouldn't die.

About ten minutes later they had the basic structure outlined. There were doors, clear ones, at every hallway point and nice large cells instead of tiny cramped spaces. Each one had a restroom too, and a joining bath with a shower and tub. He finished them with nice and comfortable beds and some hangings on the walls that looked like blue silk. They were plain though, since he wasn't up to grand art, which was a shame. In all, he thought, they were about as nice as could be, for a prison cell. Once inside the doors would vanish though and there wasn't much to do. He didn't want everyone to be scared though.

Even if they should be.

The punishment for treason was still death after all. Anyone not realizing that might be taken by surprise, when they were taken to the hangman the next morning. In the meantime, they might as well be comfortable though, right? This way they could control their own room lights, and everything.

He needed to check with the others, Collette and his people there in the Capital and get word to Lairdgren, since they were doing the emergency food supplies. People would be without housing for a time, in places, so they'd need to see to that. There was so much to do.

The good part of that was the fact it wasn't his job to see to it all. Not yet at any rate.

The fighting in the city took most of the day, and the number of prisoners was a lot smaller than he figured on. It seemed they should have hundreds, but only twenty-seven people were brought in, most of those seeming to be barely more than children themselves. After the last batch was delivered he thought he understood. The rest were fighting to the end, knowing they were dead anyway. It was what had to happen. Only the young, and a few that lacked the resources to avoid capture were letting themselves be taken.

Smart of them.

After about five in the afternoon, there were bells that started ringing from inside the City. Tor knew what that was about, since Smythe made a point of telling him personally.

"We have the city again. How are things out there?"

"Good." Tor still croaked, but he did sound better. Almost recovered even. "I can't see any new forces coming from any direction. We have a guard posted on all sides. What else do we need to do?"

The older man sighed and then managed not to sound like he was going to call Tor names. it was a good trick, really.

"First we need to get the Palace to let us in to talk. Then we need to discuss things. There are a thousand issues here, not the least of which is who attacked us, why, and whom do we punish for it. Could you meet me at the front gates of the residence in, say, fifteen minutes? Perhaps bring General Thorgas and your Sir Kolbrin?"

Tor nearly corrected the man as to who Kolb belonged to, but didn't bother. They had real work to do after all.

"I'll see if I can get them around. Fifteen minutes, at the front gate."

It took some running, or rather, use of his Not-Flyer and he ended up with Karen coming with them as well, since she was a Knight too. So, it turned out, was General Thorgas, which was interesting, since the kingdom only had about a thousand of them, over all. That meant that everyone standing in front of the gate was sworn to the King personally. He got it, but the old General didn't, not at first.

"I... appreciate that this boy was in the thick of things today, but should we take anyone... uncertain, into the Palace with us, Counselor Smythe?"

Tor just stared at the man and finally smiled a bit.

"Wait, so you recognize Karen off the top of your head as being a Knight, but you don't know who I am at all? I introduced myself and everything. Tor Baker? Magics Counselor. Countier Lairdgren? The Wizard Tor?
Also
a Sworn Knight? Stop me if any of this starts to sound familiar..." He was being a bit sassy, he knew, but the man was rewarding enough about it, going wide eyed then, and actually seeming shocked by the words.

"Oh! Yes, I heard you before, but, you know, I figured that you were just telling us that to gain our cooperation. Illegal to claim such things, but in battle people will do many things to make it all work, including those which are a bit suspect at times. It's generally considered polite not to mention it later."

That, it seemed, was enough, since both Smythe and Kolb nodded to the General, confirming that it was all true.

Karen looked through the Palace shield, which seemed to show as a faint shimmer in the air. At first he thought it might be that it was damaged, but Cordes explained that it was just a heat imbalance. The field itself felt fine at least. He could see the green of the lawn and a few people walking around inside, but it still took several minutes for anyone to come up.

They stood there, but didn't let them in.

One of the people in the back was Kevin though, so he waved the man toward him and pulled out his amulets. They were pretty unique, but the fellow had seen them before, right? Unfortunately they couldn't talk. The building shield was designed to stop blast forces in the air, and it did it by not allowing certain kinds of movements in through the air. Sound was one of those things.

Instead he hit his Truth amulet and called out as loud as he could, knowing it wouldn't do anything, even as the cream and goldenrod glow surrounded him.

"The city is safe! We have things taken care of, for now!" After a while one of the guards said something to the others and the shield was dropped, if only for about ten seconds. Kevin stepped out and moved away from it, so it could safely be put back in place.

"There we go. So what was that Tor?" He seemed pretty happy to be out and about, but watched behind them, as if they might have to fight at any moment. So, really, normal behavior for one of his lot.

"I said, we have the city. Outside of it too. For now at least. No more forces outside that we know of, but we need to get with the King and see what he wants done. If nothing else he could at least take the communications device back." Smythe had it. It wasn't small like the version Tor had with him, being meant to rest on a special stand in the communications room. Where they kept the thrones. Some of them at least. They had different spaces for various needs.

"I can take that to him. We need to question all of you first though. Not trying to be rude, but... You all understand, you've been out here all day."

They did know what he meant, so, instead of arguing about it, they all just announced who they were, that they were loyal and weren't intending harm to anyone in the Palace that they knew of. Tor went first, but the wording seemed to make Kevin happy enough. At his signal the shield was dropped again, they all got about fifteen feet inside of it and then it was put back up.

After that there was another round of questioning. Since, it was just possible that Kevin could have been faking the whole thing the first time, if he were a traitor.

It made sense, but had to be wearing on the Royal Guard, since they were as close to perfectly devoted to their charges as anyone could be. It was their life, and everything they did revolved around their job. Then, that was part of why they were being so careful at that moment, so Tor didn't try to argue the point with them. It wouldn't have helped anyway. Alphonse had always told him that. You didn't argue with the Royal Guard. Not even he bothered.

Then, very slowly, they were taken inside, the pace crawling, as they hit checkpoint after checkpoint and had to allow themselves to be questioned four more times before they got into the room with Richard. He wasn't alone, since Connie was there, but the kids weren't. It wasn't a regular meeting room, being the one with the large rough table that the Counts all used for war meetings. None of them were there either, just the King and Queen.

Rich nodded to Smythe.

"You look well. Any problems? It seems to have taken some time."

"A few. Damage from explosions in certain parts of the city. The guard barracks was attacked, the main Debri house storage facility was destroyed. The coopers street was set on fire, but luckily that's close to the wall, so the citizens freed water from the floating river to stop it. In all there are about four hundred people dead, though that number will rise as the night goes on, if healing cannot be provided. Nearly all of the enemy attackers are gone. They were dressed as travelers and simply walked through the gates over the last weeks. This wasn't a hasty plan."

The regal looking man with his red hair neat under the heavy crown of office, the real one, Tor noted, not part of his magical clothing, looked upset at the numbers, but he didn't cast blame. Not right then at least.

They went over everything that had happened, from everyone's perspective, which took most of an hour, and then turned to a discussion of the Council of Counts, which was, he assured them, about to be over. Count Morris was branded a traitor, since his forces were part of the attack, but no one thought for even a moment that was the whole of it. If it were the case he wouldn't have had Austran weapons, would he? No, those had come from someplace else. Probably the Larval Assassins.

As they got to the last section of things, there was a commotion at the door of the room, where a half dozen large bodies were keeping about twenty even bigger ones from getting in. Richard stood and walked toward the opening boldly, which got Tor to go with him, making a point of standing right in front of the man. It had to look ridiculous, but he was joined a moment later by Kolb and General Thorgas, with Karen and Smythe covering a side each. An honor guard of Knights, as it turned out. All of them well armored and armed too.

Connie thankfully stayed in the back. She was a good fighter, but they didn't need her at that moment, not if one of these people, or more than that, were about to attack. It was their job to handle it, if that was the case, and if nothing else she could back them up better from where she was.

"A word, before the pleas of innocence begin, if you do not mind?" The deep and rumbling base from the man behind him got attention, if nothing else. He waited for silence, or close enough. One of the ladies in the back kept talking, her shrill voice carrying over the room.

"Such treatment! Held prisoner by the King! I never would have thought to see the day. Are we now to be refused our lawful right to be heard?"

"No, Countess, you are not. But this attack is part of something a bit more sinister and dark than just Count Morris seeking the release of his child. It's been known for some time, that some of you have been plotting against both myself and the kingdom. I'd simply ask that you keep that in mind for the time being, while we attempt to set things right, without giving insult. I know you
can
choose to feel that way, but I ask that you do not and bear with the needs of the moment."

There was muttering then, from at least four of the people, two of them seeming to be female, and two men of different sizes. Who they were he couldn't tell.

Big, angry people. Funny, but there was no shortage of those these days. He waited for someone to tell him what to do, but found himself being insulted instead.

Personally, as if
that
made any sense at all. It came from the first woman, who pushed herself to the front, glaring at him as she looked down at him.

"So this is the plan? Intimidate us with your pet wizard? Set the dogs loose on us if we don't fall into line? I don't care if your little monster is going to harm me, I
won't
be abused like this! I demand that you tell us what's going on at this very moment!"

She glared over Tor's head at the King, but he didn't get a chance to speak.

"Monster? That's a bit harsh isn't it? I'm
really
nice... words hurt you know." He couldn't believe that he'd said anything at all, since it was such a strange thing to be worried over at the moment and sounded more than a little whiny.

To his surprise the woman... bowed. Decently low even, considering the situation.

"Forgive me, I misspoke in my upset. You certainly are not either a monster
or
a dog. I stand by the pet wizard statement though. Now, are we to have the information we need or is it back to our captivity?" Long, rather thin arms got crossed and her green dress, a shapeless thing, moved as her weight shifted. She had a funny hat on too, that hugged the top of her head, which was also green in a matching shade. It was elegant, Tor supposed, since it was on a Countess, but he couldn't see the style of it himself.

He didn't bother to speak, but did give a small bow back to the woman, who had if nothing else at least corrected her error. It didn't make him feel any better, but that might, he realized, just be him being a bit grumpy, thanks to all the warfare earlier. Killing all those people didn't help his mood at all, but snapping at a Countess who was already worried wouldn't help much either. Standing in place without moving, still ready to fight if he had too, Tor decided to take a look at the various fields rather than wait for someone to start flailing around with a weapon.