Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (6 page)

BOOK: Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients)
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The words got Tor to move back a full extra step. That was so wrong that it shook him to think about. She was his
sister
after all. That thought made his breath catch, the rest of the day flooding back into place.

Trying to cover he looked around.

"So, is Ali off at entertaining?" It was a polite way of asking where she was, he thought. Alphonse shook his head and made a face, telling him it really wasn't.

Sherri shook her head.

"No, doing building work. She might not be around for a few days. Farlo is staying with her, since it's her first time." It was said with a nonchalant air, but the girl blushed after the words came out, since it was clearly supposed to be a secret. "Ah... I wasn't supposed to mention that. She didn't want to tell you, in case it doesn't work. It's a bit early, but she learned to make copies without a template and can do five at once. The Lairdgren Group all told her that was enough for a good build, if she felt ready."

Tor smiled. It was a lot better to hear than that she was busily having sex with a half dozen people in the dining room or something. That was just him being selfish he knew, since it was part of her job to do things like that and she'd had a really messed up childhood that caused her to really want to make that kind of connection with people. The fact was, she was in the right, and he wasn't. That didn't make it any easier on him, but it was still reality.

"That is...
Incredible
! I do wish she would have told me, but Farlo's steady. I'm sure she'll be fine. Too bad she's going to miss the party. Still, the work comes first. So, just us going? And Karen, if we can find her?" He looked around and noticed that Sherri seemed a bit crestfallen for some reason. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a school night. She probably wasn't going to be allowed to go.

He shrugged.

"I'll go and talk to the Headmaster for you Sherri. You won't get to miss classes tomorrow, or anything, but maybe he'll let you come with us? I know that the others will love having you. For that matter we might want to drag him along with us. That way he'll be more likely to let you come."

It made sense to him, but the girl acted surprised.

"I didn't know I was invited. I don't know either of them, the Countess or your brother. I'm not high ranking or anything, so..." She looked at the floor, which got Timon to pat her arm, a bit more gently than seemed totally proper, to tell the truth. Then, Tor was probably being a little oversensitive to everything at the moment, wasn't he?

"
I'll
go talk to Kyle. As to being invited, well, we're adding people to the line-up already. You may end up sitting at the table with the kids, but there will be space and if I know mother and father, plenty to eat. Have you ever been down to Two Bends?"

With that he changed the topic totally. It was smoothly done and left the girl feeling included without very much effort at all. Tor felt a bit jealous, to tell the truth. He would have gotten to the same conclusion with Sherri, he thought, but not half as quickly or without making her blush a few more times. It was a good thing though. The girl was staying with his sister when Ali couldn't, just to make sure she wasn't left alone in her grief. That was the sign of a very good person. Possibly a good friend.

Tor and Timon went outside while the others went to find Karen so that she could be asked to attend.

"So, you call Headmaster Hardgrove by his first name? I didn't know you were friends." The stones underfoot were a little uneven, but very familiar to him. It felt strange, walking across the courtyard, even though he lived just down the street at the moment. The whole thing with school felt so unfinished to him. He'd tried twice and had to stop going both times. In a way it made him feel incomplete. Most people got through school, didn't they? He was old enough to graduate now, and if he went back would have still been in his fourth year. If they didn't make him redo the third for skipping out like he had.

There was a lag in the answer to the question, Timon walking at his normal pace, which was quick compared to Tor's. It took a bit of work to match him, and their footfalls landed in time. Tor noticed that his little brother
wasn't
anymore. Tim was the same size he was now. A bit thinner, but even that was close. Five-five already, and only twelve years old. At that growth pace he was going to be huge when he was finished growing. Probably six feet tall, at least.

"I don't go to school here, so why not?"

"Hey... weren't you supposed to start at the new Printer school this year? Did something happen with that?" It was a bit of a lapse, not having asked before. Tor had noticed of course, but they hadn't exactly had a lot of time to hang around chatting about things, had they?

The boy didn't respond for a bit, and when he did there was a slight current of anger in the words.

"I
had
a full scholarship, but
someone
told Countess Printer that I could pay for it myself. It rather cut that short, since I only got the letter saying that a few weeks before the term started. Before you ask, people did offer to loan me the funds for it. Ma and da did, but after the thing with you and her in Vagus we had a bit of a falling out, so I couldn't take it. Then Tovey offered to cover it for me, but it would have been an insult to Ma if I accepted. You get the idea." The footfalls actually sped up, causing Tor to have to run a bit, even as his brother simply walked. "Some jerk went and ruined what I'd worked for, and then took off so that no one could even needle him on the fact."

That got Tor to wince. It hadn't been his intent at all. Blowing out a large breath he frowned.

"Sorry. I meant to pay for that myself. Still, you seem to be managing alright. Are you going next year?" It came out sounding a bit colder than he meant it too, since he was actually a bit embarrassed by the lapse on his part, but Timon laughed a bit.

"I'm fine. It was a change of plans, but I doubt that Countess Printer would have actually barred me from coming if I explained it all to her. Or, you know, I could have just lifted the gold from your vault. Collette would have helped me with it, I'm sure. She
offered
, but you know, short of actually stealing it, the whole thing about insulting our parents was in force by then. I still have to ask if I can attend next year instead. I don't know, I want to go, but..." There was a silence from the boy and he waited until a couple of kids in brown walked past them and got around the corner before going on. They were wearing silk, but it wasn't real. The magical amulets they wore for it were his design. He could feel that. The younger kids didn't all have them, so these two, a boy and a girl, must have been at least second or third year students. They were tall and looked slightly familiar.

Tim stopped and glared at the backs of the two boys.

 "The blond fellow is the one that spit in Tiera's food. One of the Galas. After what happened there last week I'm surprised he hasn't been called home. He was also the one that lured Tiera and Reggie to the tavern for that prank."

It seemed like Tor was missing something.

"What happened in Gala? Or did you mean the thing here?"

"Crud. No one told you? I guess that makes sense, you were just back and all that. OK. Fine. Leave the task to the little kid." Timon looked around before speaking, his voice going low, almost nervously he rubbed his right hand on his black velvet trouser leg. It was pretty clear that whatever happened he didn't want to be the one to say anything himself.

He did it though.

"Patricia Morgan and Gerent... He was pretending to be you, to draw the Larval out, they were taken into custody in Galasia. It seems one of the Baron's brothers realized that he wasn't you and figured that meant Trice wasn't
her
either, so they were thrown into the low jail there. Karina found out about it from some sources of hers and asked me and Tiera to go and get them. They were mistreated while they were there. Raped. Both of them, many times. Beaten too, or at least Gerent was. I haven't heard all of it, but I saw the wounds."

"
What
?" It didn't make sense. First of all he didn't know who Gerent was, and second... They were
raped
? How? "Did the Baron..."

His face felt cold suddenly, and he was starting to shake, rage pouring through his body. Timon didn't step away, but he did slap his shield on.

"You're going into a combat rage. Stop it. We don't have time. Besides, it's already been dealt with. Tiera helped them take off the jailer's arms and legs. Then she ordered the men put in a whore house to live out the rest of their lives being used against their will. Well,
after
Gerent took off their manhoods. Baron Gala swore, under Truth verification, that he didn't have anything to do with it. It's a good thing, since I was almost certain Gerent was going to fight him right there on his own front lawn. He's a good man. Um, family now too. Count Lairdgren adopted him. If anyone asks, including the King, the story is that it happened ten years ago. So he wasn't really breaking the law, impersonating a nobleman. You get that?"

Tor focused and made himself relax, just standing with his eyes closed for a long time, until all that was left was a headache. A few moments with a healing amulet took care of that. Luckily he had one with him. You never knew when they'd come in handy.

"Alright. So... I don't know what to do. Should I go to them now? Can either of them bear the sight of me? I didn't know... I should..." That was the thing, what should he have done? What
could
he do? They were both wronged and nothing he said or did would fix it. Not at all.

Tim patted his back, his shield impacting with him just hard enough to get his attention.

"Yes. You need to go to them, and soon. Right now we have other things to do however and duty requires us to see to that. They're both staying in the capital. Gerent is next to my place, in the cottage next to mine. They're my own build, but I pretty much stole your plan for it. The color scheme is a little better, otherwise they're the same really. Bigger bathing areas, and two separate rooms for sleeping."

Tor closed his eyes again and nodded.

"I'll do that. I can't believe that happened to them. It's all my fault." He felt like it was, but even he couldn't work out how it would be true. Timon didn't correct him though.

They just walked in silence for a while instead. When they got to the headmaster's office a rather bland woman sat in the chair that used to be occupied by Proctor Campbell before he died. That had been a gruesome scene too. Tor had never cared for the man overly, but the nanos that killed him had been a horrible way to go. All death probably hurt, but some ways were clearly better than others.

It was a sad thought, but at least Regina had gone fast. A big part of her head was simple gone in an instant. It was horrible, but quick, if you had to die at all.

The woman looked up, her face skeptical already, even before they said anything. Tor smiled and nodded toward the closed office door.

"Is Headmaster Hardgrove in? We've come to invite him to a party." He didn't add what it was for or the part about Sherri, since it wasn't this woman's business yet. Besides, the way she kept staring at him was a bit off-putting. It was like she wanted to have sex with him right then and there, without any flowers or sweet words first at all. Given that she was about forty and worked for a school, that was creepy. He was twenty, but he only looked about fourteen still. He might be a student there, right?

"He's in. Whom may I tell him has come to call?" Her words were professional and she didn't seem half as sour about it as Campbell always had. No, she seemed... a bit over interested.

"Tor Baker. This is my brother Timon." He could have added all the titles and what not, but Hardgrove already knew them, and it wasn't an official visit, just some friends dropping by, as unlikely as that would seem to anyone watching.

"One moment." She threw her long braid over her right shoulder with a flick of the head and kept eye contact with him as she moved, her blue eyes going slightly hooded, as if trying to flirt. It was overdone given the scene. Worse, the way things were going for him, she'd probably turn out to be his cousin or sister. Something like that.

It didn't take long at least and Kyle came to the door himself to see them.

"Boys! Wonderful to see you. Is everything alright? Do you need to talk in private?" He sounded a little worried, as if it might be something other than what they'd said. As if the man didn't get invited to many parties at all.

"We came to see if we could grab you up for a dinner party. It's In Two Bends, my brother Todd is getting officially engaged to Countess Thorgood. We're grabbing a few other people as well. My sister, and Ali's roommate Sherri. My wife is busy, attempting her first build." There was a bit of pride in his voice. Even if it didn't work, it was her first year in the building studies program. Others had done it too, but only the very best even tried it. He hadn't, not until his third year and that had been considered almost impossible at the time.

"Truly?" The old man with his glorious gray beard smiled as if he'd been handed a bag of gold coins. "That's wondrous! I have to admit I was a little uncertain about allowing her into the building program at first, but I'm so happy to find out that I was wrong there. Her academics were a little weak, coming in, but given everything it looks like I'll have to eat my thoughts about her and how long it might take to catch up.
Very
good." The thing there was that he clearly meant it. It even came off of his field, so it wasn't just acting. "As to the other, I'd be delighted to attend, if it isn't a problem? I'll need to catch a ride with one of you, since I have work in the morning."

BOOK: Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients)
13.97Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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