Envoy to Earth (9 page)

Still, she wanted to do
something, so it made sense to go along with it. Or at least he thought so
until she started making him run around for half an hour and then beat him as
he tried to run more, to get away from her. Worse, she laughed as it happened,
like he was playing.

"Ah, right! I keep
forgetting you weren't raised with fighting tutors. Here, let me show you what
to do. Unarmed first. Put your hands up, like this, and spread your feet. A bit
wider than your shoulders." She kicked him gently, until he did it right,
then moved his arms up, so they were mainly in front of him. "Good. This
is the base position. Being tall you need to develop a good low defense.
Tighten your gut and bend over." She showed him what she wanted, and then,
when he got it, started hitting him again, harder than before. He took most of
it on the arms.

"Excellent. You're a natural
at this, I think. Lift your left knee like this, and push it out a bit."
Then, after he did that, she kicked him so hard he nearly fell down. It hurt,
but that, apparently didn't count for much. He was expected to just take what
she gave him, without complaint. Or, well, she didn't say he
couldn't
whine, if he wanted, but that seldom did much for a person, so he didn't say
anything, just doing what he was told, using the first punches and kicks and a
tight guard, until she seemed pleased with him about it.

Finally, she looked up at the
sun, her clothing looking like black silk, to his dark brown canvas.

"We need to get cleaned up
and to the table, so we don't miss the food. That... Really, you know, I've
seldom seen anyone take to fighting that well. Are you sure you haven't had
training? I could take you with what you just did and stand you against half
the students at the Printer School. Most of them have had tutors for years,
too. I'd love to see... Well, we can do more, later? I have to keep in
practice, for my job, anyway."

Blushing a little, which didn't
show too much with his dark skin, he gave her a look that was probably
sheepish. "If you think it's worth the time."

There was a secret pleasure in
hearing the words. Gerent hadn't gotten a lot of praise in life, and being told
that he was good the first time he did something, or that he could be, which he
knew was what she really meant, thrilled him a bit.

They both met, dressed for the
day in visiting clothing, in the front of the house, since neither of them knew
where the dining room was that they were supposed to meet Collette in. Thankfully,
she knew that, since it was her bad habit of moving all the rooms around
constantly that left them confused like they were. She walked in, clothed in a
dark blue dress that touched the floor, looking like velvet, with a fine jacket
and black shoes poking out the bottom. There was no hat on her head, but her
hair had an intricate braided pattern, that looked sophisticated. She was, of
course, lovely. Enough so that Petra sighed and nudged Ger on the shoulder.

"I can't compete that way,
can I? She's a great beauty. I hear that even Queen Constance is jealous of
her.
From
the Queen, so it isn't idle gossip. It's why she never invites
you to the big parties you know, Collette. She doesn't want you to overshadow
her that much."

Rolling her eyes, Collette
grinned at the darker woman.

"You're pretty too. It's
just in a different way. Besides,
you're
a Conserina, That's hard to
beat. Is that true though? About Constance? I thought I just didn't rate, only
being a Baronetta. It makes sense, given that most of the rest of my lot can't
get in either."

There was laughter, from both
women, making it seem like something funny. Gerent was used to humor, but
didn't see it. That spoke of it being a thing out of his station. He lacked the
ability to understand it as funny, because there was something in it that was
hidden from a low person. That, or a man. He wasn't certain which one it would
be, but knew enough not to ask.

"Not that one at all, Col.
First she didn't want you around, because you were her rival for Tor. Then...
Well, it became habit. She isn't getting younger, and in a few years the lines
will start to show. Or they would have, if she didn't have a good disguise
amulet. As it stands she won't probably 'age' at all for years. But I've been
around, more than once when she struck you off the list, flat out telling the
room that it was because you were too pretty. The only answer to that, of
course is to-" She stopped dead, staring, as Collette giggled.

"Hold a fete grand enough
that she
has
to come, and overshadow her in front of everyone?"

For some reason that was
considered humorous too, but it didn't make sense to him. He tried to work it
all out and ended up shaking his head.

"Wouldn't it be better to throw
that party, that's what fete means right?" He got a nod from both of them
and went on, as if he weren't stupid. "So hold your get together and make
yourself look less than her? On purpose? Then she'll feel better about you and
realize that you aren't trying to make her look bad." As long as it wasn't
taken as pity, but if she didn't oversell the whole thing, wearing a sack with
ashes on her face to hide her looks, that probably wouldn't happen.

There was more giggling, as
Collette got them to the table, where food came out quickly enough, being
mainly made up of eggs, bland sausage and pancakes with a sweet apple sauce
over it. With apples on the side. There really were a lot of those. Flour and
sugar too. After a bit he got that the sausage had been made of beef, not pork.
There would still be both kinds of animals around, but the beef steak was cheap
and people were probably gouging on fine foods already. Like herbs for flavor.

Not that he'd been in the market,
to see.

There was a sudden change of subject,
with no particular comment on his last statement, as far as that went. It made
sense not to anger a Queen though. Especially Queen Constance, who really was a
lovely and kind person. For a half second he wondered what it would be like to
kiss her. It would be nice he bet. Soft and warm, and she wouldn't smell of
dung or anything. Shaking his head, he ate, enjoying the good food. It was very
well made, and filling. He'd missed some meals the day before, and his stomach
was not happy with that fact. It was more pleased when he finished what was on
his plate. He didn't ask for more, even if he could have eaten it, since
Collette stood.

Her voice was tense suddenly, and
slightly breathless.

"So. And just so. I think we
should test Count Peterson first. If we all go, he might see us. Normally that
might be spotty, but I think we have enough rank.
If
he isn't too busy.
We should show up in person too. That will make it easier to get a first
hearing." She seemed nervous, but let her face seem strong.

Gerent understood that, but Petra
shrugged.

"We won't know if we don't
try. I guess that's closest. He should be at the Flyer's Base?" It made
sense given he was the military commander of that section. It wasn't that hard
to find, even though Gerent hadn't been there before himself. It was about two
hundred miles north and fifty to the East of the Capital. Wildlands station was
a good landmark for it, and both places were huge now, like full cities, since
they had a big floating river that let people survive in the wastes. Both
places had a lot of green around them now however. A lot of it had been stuff
that he got into place over the last year. It wasn't a perfect forest, but the
little trees still stood and struggled to live. Some of the shrubs, while low,
looked full and bushy.

Petra pointed at some of it, her
hand going over his right shoulder, her left on the other one. That put her
head just over his, so she could see. It was close, and nearly cuddly of her.
Flirty, without being overdone. Smiling, he got the idea. She was trying to get
him to
like
her. So that he'd take her proposal of marriage seriously.
Collette raised her eyebrows at them, but didn't look upset.

There was an amazed sound to
Pet's voice.

"This is the
wasteland
?
I can barely see it anymore. It's nearly lush."

To that he had to agree. Here,
along the source of water that they were following, it really wasn't too bad.
The goal was for the whole thing to look about like this, eventually. It would
take decades, but if he could keep working on it, and the world didn't try to
kill them all, it might just work.

"That's the Flyer's Base, up
ahead, I think. At least there are black dots in the air, so I better slow down
a bit, or I'll hit someone." He grinned, but was serious and cut his speed
to a bare crawl, starting well away from the place.

Each dot was a man, or in a few
cases woman, he didn't doubt, since the military let women serve if they wanted
to. Especially if they were the kind that could afford their own magical gear.
Blinking, Gerent realized that he probably would have been let into this elite
group too, just based on what he had on him. Not that he was trained like these
soldiers were. They were practicing various things, like taking others out of
the air, or fighting lines of fast moving people on the ground. It looked
pretty sharp to him.

The ladies with him were more
interested in where they needed to land, which was outside the front gate, if
the ten men that moved in front of him, pointing were to be trusted. He
settled, since it was probably fair of them to do that. For all they knew he
really might hit someone, just zipping in, not thinking of anything but his own
time schedule.

He made a small window appear,
next to him, which was an empty hole that required him closing his eyes to make
happen. The craft shifted to what you wanted, but not all that easily. It meant
that every simple thought didn't influence it, which was good, he supposed.

"Hello! Gerent Lairdgren,
Petra Ward and Collette Coltress. Coming to visit Count Peterson? If he's in, I
mean." It sounded far too diffident, but the man on the gate just smiled.

"Just go straight in and
follow the road around to the big place off to the right. Can't miss it. I
don't know if you can get in, sir, ladies, but last I heard he and Princess
Veronica were in. Do you need anything, sir?" That last bit came out
strangely, but seemed polite enough.

"Nope, that was pretty
helpful. Have a good day." He smiled and tried to seem like a nice person,
no matter what he had planned for the day. Guards were dangerous people. For a
living. It would be foolish to forget that.

This one patted the side of the
floating green rectangle.

"You too, sir. Ladies."
Then they were waved past. It was a lot easier to get in than he'd thought it
would be. Probably because, when you got down to it, each person here was a
fighter. Well armed and armored, and anyone coming in the front gate probably
wasn't too big of a threat for them to handle.

It really wasn't hard to find the
right place, the layout of this base being sensible and on a grid, with most
people either walking or in two cases driving horse carts. That slowed travel
down, but not a lot. The horses were good and used to silent things floating
along the road it seemed. That meant the drivers were able to wave them around
without any panic on their part.

The paths were made of black
focus stone that had bits of red in it, in streaks, here. It gave the world a
slightly irregular look, but it was pretty, at the same time. Shining in the
sun, and grand. The whole thing looking sharp, like glass.

The big house was a palace, of
course. A princess lived there,
and
a Count. It wasn't as fine or large
as Tim's place, but it had carvings laid into the building on the outside,
which was fine work. Actual statues of people and animals, with a large lawn
that looked very well tended. A bit bland, since the garden that had been put
in was just starting to sprout. It would look nice when it was finished, he
decided. To his surprise it was pretty close to being exactly the one that he'd
suggested to Princess Veronica himself. He would have transplanted a few more
trees, but growing them in place was fine too, if you didn't mind waiting.

A thought occurred to him then,
and he nodded.

"Right,
that's
what
we should take Tiera."

He was looking at the garden
space, but Petra frowned a little.

"A focus stone house? Or...
a carver?" She pointed at the man who was in the yard, working with a
cutter to shape stone. It looked like someone shaping snow, it seemed so easy
for him. The only difference was that the man, whoever he was, had skill.

"Trees. Plants. They won't
have a lot of that there, I bet."

She grinned, as if it was a good
idea, even as he stopped near the front door of the big place. They were met by
more guards, but these were in black and blue. House colors, not military.
Gerent got out slowly, dressed all in green, Petra was in brown and silver,
which was probably for the same reason. He'd just thought it made her look
pretty, but those
could
be the Ward colors.

There was bowing, but the guards
seemed willing to at least let them
ask
about the Count seeing them.
Instead of being shown in however, a large man, all dressed in black, with a
wild beard, who was at least a head taller than Gerent, ran out the front door
about five minutes later, as they stood on the front porch. Near some rather
nice pillars. All in focus stone, but still very fine. Carved too, with small
flowers.

"Countier Lairdgren! So good
of you to come by. I wasn't expecting a visit." The man bowed, going
decently deep, so Gerent had to beat it. The others bowed too, which nearly
started a chain of the things. The man looked directly at him, however, when he
spoke again. "I'd heard that you might grow. Tim Baker told me, a while
back. Amazing. Won't you all come in? Please? My wife and I were just about to
sit down to breakfast."