Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (8 page)

As soon as things were settled, the girl gave Tiera a hug and then, strangely enough, gave one to Karen as well.

"Hello!" She stood back and curtsied to Tor, which was a bit odd. "Count Lairdgren? It is good to see you. I wasn't aware that you'd be attending. Mother will be pleased." She smiled when she said it, which got a tired grin from Tiera.

"Silly, he almost always looks older than this. Plus he's taller. This is Tor. You remember him, don't you?"

There was a big and slightly shocked stare, then a high pitched squeal, that if nothing else sounded happy enough.

"S'Tor!" She didn't add anything else, so Tor gave her a light hug and stood away quickly, because she was tiny and he knew well what it was like to have people looming over you all the time.

"S'Taman! I was told that you did the copy work on the goblets? That's good work. Without a template too?" He already knew that, but the girl looked proud about it. If he hadn't known who'd done it before, he would have guessed then. It was cute, and just a bit self-satisfied.

"Yep. That lady said that she'd bring me some things to practice with, so I can be a builder. It took too long, so I just used what we had here. I wanted to try making a flying rig, but ma said I wasn't allowed. No shields either. Or weapons." There was a funny face then, as if trying to figure out how to let him know that it really didn't leave a lot. Not that they had just laying around Two Bends. Lights and a few other things.

"Oh, who?" He was looking at her, but Tiera answered.

"Sandra. She said that she'd send down some things." It was pretty clear that she felt a flash of anger then, but it was locked down faster than seemed possible, as if she were trying to hide it from him.

"Ah. Well, that probably won't work then. I'll bring some things by for you instead. You can do some of my copying for me. It will be fun." He meant it, and the girl seemed pleased, so why not? It wouldn't hurt for her to try, and that way he could keep an eye on her.

It was just possible that she could be stressing her personal field already, though she didn't seem to be having any problems. Letting his mind reach out to her, holding it still and fluid, he felt the tiny pattern in front of him. It was strong and healthy enough, so at least that wouldn't be a problem. She was also, very clearly, immortal. It was a bit of a shock to him, since he hadn't thought any of the other kids were at all. Then, of all of them, Taman was the one that he would have missed, wasn't she?

That led to some potential problems, didn't it? Should he tell her, being the first one that came to mind. After a few seconds he smiled.

"I'll be back late in the day tomorrow, so that I can show you some things to practice. I'll bring a few new devices down for you to work with. You won't get to keep them though, so make sure you memorize how to make them. That's what I do anymore myself, and Tiera was just telling me that she expects you to be a lot better than me in a few years. That's going to take some work, because I'm still learning myself. Still, I think she's right. Those glasses are really good."

There was a bit of clapping, but she settled fast enough and scampered off as if they couldn't possibly have really been talking to her in particular. After all,
they
were all grown-ups. That sort of person just tolerated you, they didn't care what you thought, right? Not when you were five.

Karen smiled and shook her head, but Tiera gave him a funny look that seemed a bit like she suspected something. She was good at things like that.

"What?"

Tor sucked his upper lip in, and bit it, which was different for him, a new thing that had only come up since he'd started considering the value of lies. It was probably a bit too much of a giveaway, if anyone was really paying attention. He literally was keeping himself from speaking. It was probably a sign that he shouldn't be doing that. Lying to your family was almost always bad, wasn't it?

"Well... Taman is like
us
. She has the Ancient pattern, I mean. Not that she's annoying and a bit too self-centered. Probably a genius too. I need to have a chat with Mother about that, which will no doubt be fun. I don't know if it would help or hurt her to know about that too young, to be totally honest. Would it have helped me to know that when I was five? Or ten? Does knowing that about yourself make anything easier for you or Tim? Luckily, that isn't my call at all. I'll just dump it on our parents and call it good." It was their decision anyway. Their child, their responsibility.

Tiera didn't seem to care at all.

"Oh? I guess that makes sense. Well, good luck there. I'm kind of glad I get to stay out of it. School you know. Not that I've been going to all my classes. Just the morning ones and meditation in the evenings. I finished math for the year and I won't go to the singing class. The ones that pulled that prank, in the tavern... They were mainly from that class."

From behind them there was a bit of a bustle at the door, the sound of several bodies coming in. Most of them were servers and while they didn't shout for them to get out of their way, the idea was implied, since they had trays and needed to get them reloaded quickly.

"We should get out of the way." He said it softly, but one of the men, an older one that was a bit taller than the others, which spoke of a distinctly non-country heritage, nodded a bit, then looked away, clearly uncomfortable about having done so. Tor just took it as meaning he was right.

When they got into the outer room, after leaving the wide servant's hallway that led to the kitchen, Karen moved them to the side, her hand on his shoulder, guiding him gently. Her face went furtive and voice low, a single hand brushing over the fuzz on her head. It was a dark blonde now, not the lighter color of her sister, Ali.

"So, what did you need us for Tor? Is there something we need to watch for? Or, a message from the King?" It came out as if that was the only reason he might have asked them to come along with him. He thought it through and then shook his head.

"No. Nothing like that. Though Connie is a bit worried that Tiera is going to end them in their sleep. To hear her talk about it you'd think it was fully justified too." He looked at his little sister and made a face. "It
isn't
. If it makes any difference, it turns out that the Queen is actually your aunt. Which will take some explaining, but one of the other Ancients did it is the best way to say it. Old magic or technology, I guess. Princess Veronica is too, which is highly messed up. We don't know if there are others, like Connie's sister or... Trice. That has to be looked into. Really, I'm not certain I even want to know at this point." There was a pause and then he shrugged. "So the thing here is that you can't kill her or her husband, since, you know,
family
. The worst you can do is disown them. You might also want to stop sleeping with Alphonse. Or Karina, if you two have met. Then again, that isn't totally forbidden by noble rules. Varley is. Just... you know,
don't
."

Tiera just seemed to go still for a second and then sighed softly.

"Well, not a problem with that. It isn't a big deal after all. There might be a bit of a problem with something else though. A slight one. I'll tell you later? Are you going back to the school tonight? It's a bit embarrassing." The look she gave Karen was telling after a fashion. It looked guilty, not like they were co-conspirators or in on something together.

Tor just shrugged. It was probably that she'd slept with Varley already or something. That wasn't good, but wasn't half as bad for her as it had been for him to do it, since they weren't as close that way. So, yeah, embarrassing, but nothing to languish over.

There was a lot more small talk in the front room after that and while his family was polite and all the kids were there, they seemed a bit out of place really. Taman tried to talk to the adults, and about half of them were game. A large man, who turned out to be a sitting Count and looked about thirty or a little older, kept touching Tiera on the arm and shoulder as they spoke. It was enough that Tor nearly crossed the room to tell the man to back off when he felt a touch on his own arm.

For half a second he didn't realize that it was his mother at all. She looked too young and as if she'd actually bothered with make-up for once.

"Don't. Count Breen has asked for her hand in marriage already. She doesn't seem to be taking it seriously, but I gather that they're friendly. No need to get in the way of that. She needs what happiness she can hold on too, after a loss like the one you told me about. Losing someone like that... It must be horrid. I know they can't have been together long, a few weeks at most, but at her age, that can seem like a lifetime. It doesn't make the feelings any less real."

That was a real enough point.

"I... see. I keep forgetting she's old enough to actually get married and all that. Two Bends has that effect on me I guess. Are you just making the rounds and telling all of us to stand back or is it just me?"

"Oh no, it's most of you. Only Todd has managed so far on his own. I don't know if he simply hasn't noticed or if Ursula has managed to rein him in. She's a sweet woman, isn't she? I'm a bit surprised that Alphonse showed up, after letting her go like he did. He seems happy enough to let her be happy though, which shows better upbringing than I would have expected. Not that I've heard anything that would make the Royal children out to be anything except polite and honest. Of course, I
wouldn't
, would I?" It wasn't exactly a polite thing to say, but Tor got the idea.

"They're all decent people. You should get to know them, if you can. Just don't do anything with them that would force me to disown you. Again. We still need to chat about that. I doubt that leaving things up in the air is a good idea. I have some other things to talk with you and da about. Tomorrow afternoon?" He wasn't trying to be cryptic, not really, but saying that it was about Taman was probably the same thing as announcing to the whole room that she was special. Everyone would guess what it meant and that might not be the way they wanted things to go really.

"Certainly." There was a coldness to the words, as if she expected to be scolded about something. Not that she didn't
deserve
it, but that wouldn't help, would it?

"Not anything big or that uncomfortable. We have enough of that kind of thing on our plates already. I just don't know if I can say anything about it
here
."

His mother didn't ask for more at least. She could be demanding at times, but for once she just acted as if she were... Normal. Like a real person, instead of her.

He grinned and decided to try and have all of their important conversations in public from then on. It wouldn't happen, but the idea was a good one.

The rest of the party went fine. It was, in fact, the very best noble one he'd ever been to. There wasn't any fighting at all, and when they left, everyone was smiling, even if they looked a little tired.

Tor knew that the trip back was likely to be a little awkward, given that he was driving his own craft, having collected it from Terry. His younger sister was sitting in the passenger's seat, but Rolph and Karen were in the back, chatting softly. As far as he knew Tiera didn't feel things like shame or embarrassment overly, so whatever it was that she felt she had to share was probably going to be worse for him than it actually was for her.

Really, those weren't bad traits. If she was just a little calmer and less bossy Tor would have felt envious of how she was. It beat his old way of thinking and acting, which was, now that he had a bit of perspective, so restrictive as to be smothering. He'd always felt bad about something or other before. True, he did now too, but finding out that most of the women you'd ever had sex with were relatives was enough to make anyone feel a bit off, wasn't it?

Steeling himself he waited for her to drop whatever it was on him. Hopefully it wouldn't be enough to make him crash.

She didn't wait long to start speaking, even with the others in the back listening as soon as she did.

"As I mentioned, a bit embarrassing, but I need to borrow some gold. I still can't bring myself to eat in the student dining hall and my coin is going to run out if I wait too much longer. I should be able to repay it in a week or so, after the big Soam trip." She seemed sad again. Dark and moody.

Who could blame her?

"Um... sure. How much do you need?" This would be the telltale, no doubt. If she asked for tens of thousands it was a sure sign that she was planning to hire some assassins, wasn't it? He nearly held his breath, trying to force himself to stay relaxed and wondering what he should say if the request really did come.

"A gold should cover it. I spent most of my coin on wine the other day. Did you know that I can't get drunk? I finished four bottles of the strong stuff and it didn't do anything for me." There was a glance out the window and a head shake. "Dumb of me. I just wasted a bunch of coin trying to forget and nothing happened at all."

That... Tor had never tried to get drunk himself. It just hadn't come up. In fact he always avoided strong drink, so that it wouldn't muddle his head. All the best builders did after all, and in Two Bends he'd been too young to have more than sips here and there before he'd left home.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? We're probably not able to really be too influenced by any drugs. I know that on the few occasions I tried anything they wore of a lot faster than anyone thought they would."

There was an interested grunt from the back and Alphonse shifted forward a bit, smiling.

"Lesson learned then? If it does nothing for you, no reason to send your coin to the Tavern keep, is there?"

That got Tiera to make a face and spin in place a bit. She looked angry, but it was just a flash and by the time she turned around all the way it was gone.

"
No
, Tor gets to pay for that. Put me through a wall while I was trying to apprehend a bunch of evil monsters. I'm trying to let that go. The
stopping
me part. I'm not paying for the wall though. Throw a rock through a window and you have to pay for it. A sister through a wall should be the same thing. Besides, I'm close to broke. I doubt the two silver I have left will cover it." There was a bit of a harrumph at the end of the statement, and some crossed arms, but Tor didn't bother to argue the point with her at all. He'd already sent funds to cover it.

"Well, and I mean this with love sis, what the hell was I supposed to do? You crushed a girl's legs with a
stick
... I know that it was a pretty bad thing they did and I won't call it a prank again, since I know that makes you mad, but did they really all deserve to die over it? At least half of them didn't have anything to do with the event at all. Kids can be jerks and bullies, especially in groups, but that isn't going to be fixed by you being put to death for slaughtering a room full of people." How did he make her understand it? Yes, he'd protected the other kids, but it didn't mean they were in the right. Not at all.

They just hadn't done anything that should have had them all killed.

This time his little sister surprised him. A lot actually. The words nearly didn't register at first, they were so soft, but after a few seconds he worked out what she was saying.

"I know. I was wrong there. Not that some of them don't deserve a beating for what they did. I'm trying to let the petty stuff go. Piss on my head and mocking laughter. It probably won't be the last time things like that happen and I know, at least on some level, that no one should die just for that. I
feel
like they should, but that isn't enough to make it so." She didn't say more for a while, but neither did anyone else, so after a bit she kept going, probably thinking they were telling her to finish her statement. "I... I'm still going to kill Sandra and her father. Maybe the rest of her family too, though I don't really hold a grudge against them. I just don't want eighty years of war over this. If I do it right it will be done now. I might also have to take out your da, Alphonse."

She stopped then, which made sense to Tor, since it was treason to say something like that, but his giant friend in the back seat just chuckled a bit, as if the girl was joking or something. At least Tor took it that way, until the man spoke.

"I think he knows that. I have to ask you not to though. He isn't against you at
all
, Tiera, and killing him over this is... Well, that kind of thinking is what's behind the whole rebellion, isn't it? The politics of a situation, of anything really, is almost always half hidden. The King has to pick the best of two options, but half the time that means someone feels slighted. To you it must seem like he was choosing to support Morris over you, even though the man had
clearly
wronged you." There was a sound that Tor knew would be the man rubbing his head. They'd been friends so long that he didn't even need to look to identify it.

Karen grunted softly, "Sandra too. That thing with the duel... I guess I can see it. He has to go with the person that has the political clout and his own army. Otherwise the rest of the nobles will feel like he won't back them when things get rough, which King Richard can't afford right now. Still, I've heard some grumbling about that. More than one of his supporters are wondering if that means he's too lacking in honor to back now."

"
Right
." No one spoke for a long time, though the situation didn't seem all that resolved yet. Alphonse waved a hand after a bit and sank back in the well cushioned chair. "It's
always
like that. He'd rather cut off his right hand than make you angry at him Tiera. If you'd just go and yell at him or something and let him make it up to you it would be good. No one wants to make an immortal mad at them, do they? Plus... you aren't
wrong
to be upset. Not really. If Count Morris wasn't such a complete fool this whole thing would have blown over in minutes."

That was slightly different than what Tor had been thinking. After all, from everything he'd heard it sounded a lot like his sister had been being a hot head and called the man out. Yes, she'd been called names and insulted a bit, but she was just a country girl and the man was a Count. He had a right to be a jerk, if he wanted.

Except for the fact that Tiera wasn't
just
anything, was she? As a Conserina she wasn't as well placed as Morris was, or even Sandra, since the dark skinned girl was set up to inherit, but she wasn't exactly only Tiera from Two Bends either, was she?

The girl made a face and looked at him, which he could make out without looking at her, even though it wouldn't make a lot of difference to his flying. Not at night.

"Tor doesn't think that though, does he? He hates me now. I can't blame him. I was so mad at you for stopping me. Even if you were partly right. You were
wrong
too. Sandra isn't as good as all that. She killed Reggie. You kept telling me to let her and her father off easy. I did it, and she came for me at her first chance." A hand got held up suddenly, to keep him from answering, even though he didn't really know what to say. After all, she was right. He'd called that one wrong. Tor just didn't know the girl all that well and hadn't thought of her as having a temper, but she was a noble and even the nice ones would only put up with so much.

He risked a glance at her and nodded once, but didn't get to speak yet.

"I know you mean well, Tor. That you were trying to protect everyone and keep the peace. I even know that you don't really hate me. I... It
hurts
. You're supposed to side with
me
, even when I'm wrong. That's what family is. You picked all those other people first, and attacked me instead. You threatened to
kill
me."

Tor locked his eyes forward, "I did. I would have done it too, if you hadn't stopped trying to kill everyone else. I probably couldn't have lived with myself later, but I would have done it then. You're my sister, so I'm responsible for you. It wasn't a good thing of me to do, but I still can't see what else I
should
have done. Well, that's not totally true. There are a few things." He didn't mention it, but making sure that people with high powered weapons didn't get them back while they were worked up and angry was going to be part of his plans from then on. That mistake cost Regina her life. If Sandra hadn't gotten weapons handed to her like that, the worst she might have done would be rushing Tiera and wailing on her shield. It might have meant another fight, but it wouldn't have ended like it had.

That wasn't his problem or fault though. Count Lairdgren was the one on the scene with experience. He'd been taken by surprise too though. Probably because no one was really used to people just running around with incredibly powerful weapons all the time. Even the military elite didn't get to carry things like that with them when they weren't actively going into battle. Most
Counts
didn't carry more than a force lance with them either.

You couldn't take things like that away from builders though. They could just make more. Sandra was good too. Tor hadn't wanted to point it out, but that was a consideration as well. She was, like it or not, one of the top fifty or so in the kingdom already. Holding her captive wouldn't last very long, he didn't think.

Luckily that wasn't really his problem either... Except that it was, wasn't it? She was one of his people, since Tor was the Magics Counselor for the entire land. That meant he needed to make certain the girl didn't use her abilities to escape justice.

Hopefully doing that in the morning would be good enough. He was getting a bit sleepy already and rousting people around in the middle of the night was always weird. Lost in thought he blinked a bit when he realized that they'd forgotten someone.

"
Oh
! Please tell me we didn't forget Hardgrove at my parent's house..."

That got a sudden laugh form Karen at least.

"No, Tim took him out before we left. He's probably been in his bed for half an hour already. I have to envy him that, morning is going to come early. You should come and work with us Tor. Tiera's in the morning section. I'm sure that Kolb would like to see you. You too Alphonse. You're both getting slow and fat I bet. True, I can't
see
it yet, but it will show on the field. It always does when you stop regular practice, thinking that your knowledge is enough to get you through."

Tor almost told her that he'd been running daily, which was close to true, but she had a point. His life had been filled with stress and watchfulness, so he wasn't mentally lazy that way, but he hadn't had a lot of sparring practice lately at all. There was a snort from Alphonse at least.

"Little do you know. Holly Printer has been running Tovey and I ragged for the last week. I
might
not even soil myself when you come for me. So there." It sounded strange though, as if he was holding something back. What that was Tor didn't know, not for certain, but it probably had to do with the fact that there had been a lot more practice than just that going on.

After all, if people wanted to overthrow his father, they'd want to kill him too. That would be enough to get anyone to put in a few extra hours.

"I have some things to do, but I'll try to get back early enough to work with you." It was going to be busy actually, since he needed to check on Sandra and then visit with his parents about Taman. That and take her a few things to practice copying. That part was wild. Tiera had been joking when she'd mentioned the girl being better than he was one day, but he wasn't so certain it wouldn't happen. He
knew
that Tim could do it, if he decided too. Taman might be even better than that, eventually.

That was for the future though.

 "I can set down in front of your door. It will just be a minute." It was a bit odd that Karen and Tiera shared a room, but Tor didn't ask about it. After all, they were family after a fashion and his sister needed someone to be with her right now. All the time probably. "You have the afternoons off then? You mentioned dropping a class and finishing another?"

His sister nodded, her face set, as if she expected him to come up with new chores for her to do. It was an idea, keeping her busy like that, but nothing popped to mind exactly.