Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (15 page)

Her
family, as long as they got to them all. People she already knew. Not all of
them, which was going to be a little sad, but some. Given everything, most of
them would probably outlive her even. That made her smile, if a bit sadly.

She
worked until she had full racks of baked goods ready, including some nice sweet
rolls with bits of apple in the filling. Everyone had a lot of apples now, and
Two Bends was no exception. They were good, but the food devices really had to
be expanded soon, she knew. People wouldn't starve, but they'd want more,
sooner or later.

She
started planning out how to do that when Karen finally came in her face bright
and cheery for this early in the day.

"What's
up? I can't find anyone. Are they all still asleep?"

Tiera
very nearly didn't tell her, but after a bit she took a deep breath and spoke
anyway.

"I...
Tim can make people immortal, like I am? He's done all the Lairdgren kids and
Ali, we're running out of spots for that though. We can only do so many people
or, well the other Ancients will throw a fit and probably go to war over it.
The ones on our side." She felt bad for the tall and slightly plain
looking woman, but she smiled anyway.

"Really?
That's incredible. I should at least go and ask, right? Make him tell me to
buzz off all on his own. Any hints that might get me in?" She was clearly
playing, but Tiera made up a tray of rolls.

"Try
bribes. They've worked pretty well for me in life."

Then
the woman, who didn't seem to think she'd been telling the truth at all for
some reason, walked away, heading toward the new house.

She
snacked on baked goods for a while, and handled customers when they came in,
though she had to call out to half of them, to keep them from running off when
they saw her. A few did anyway. That was a shame, since she was so sweet and
all, if too big for the village.

At
ten a woman came in that she didn't recognize. She froze for a bit, and then
bowed, going low, even though she was merchant tall herself.

"Hello!
I'm Tiera, did you come to get something?" That seemed likely, but the
woman shook her head and smiled after a second.

"I'm
Bethany. I work here? It looks like all the baking for the day has already
happened? That's useful. Tiera... It's a name that starts with a 'T', though
you're rather tall for one of the Bakers..."

Instead
of making a big deal of it she just smiled back.

"A
new magic that my brothers have worked up. A lot of us will end up taller than
we might have now. It hurts, growing too fast. I'm pretty much the middle one,
in case that ever comes up. Something came up for da, so I'm in here for the
day. Or, well,
you
can do it if you want, being your job. I still have
some things in the oven, but after that I can get out of your hair." She had
nice brown hair too, that was long, probably. It was put up on top of her head
and covered at the moment. That was efficient, for a bakery.

"That
sounds fun. It can get a little boring in here at times. I think I scare some
of the villagers, to tell the truth. I met Tor once, and he said he thought it
was that I was cute enough that people were awed by my beauty. I've seen the
women in your family though, and you all make me look like a troll. This would
be a good time to reassure me that I'm perfectly lovely, and it's only my grand
charms keeping the men around here at arm's length." There
was
a
simple charm to the words, but a smoothness too. She was definitely from a
city, somewhere.

"Well,
you
are
very pretty, so you can stop fishing for compliments that way.
Really, it's just your height. When commoners see very tall people,
they..." She nearly didn't explain it all, but it wasn't a secret. Not for
her. She wasn't shamed by it at least. "The Ancient King, Cordes, he made
it so that people would either be very tall and look down on regular people, or
small, and subservient. A few were left, like you I bet, who are real people,
not ones tampered with. It's a problem." She waited, but Bethany just got
an apron from the hooks in the back and started cleaning. People wouldn't buy
from a dirty bakery, so that showed she was smart enough.

They
chatted for a while, but it wasn't until the woman let drop that she was from
Thompsonville that Tiera actually read her field and understood what was going
on.

"Oh!
You're a spy? For Terlee? Do you know how she is? Or where. My brother Timon
and I should go and visit with her today. If we can, I mean." They had
things to do, after all.

Instead
of answering, the woman tossed the rag she was holding down onto the counter.

"Okay,
fine
. I quit. I'm the worst spy ever, aren't I? I can't blend in here at
all, and every time I meet one of you people, you already know what I'm doing
here. To answer your question, the Countess is at her main home right now. In
Thompsonville. I clearly need to find another line of work now. I don't suppose
you've heard of any good openings anyplace?"

Tiera
looked at the woman. The spy. Who worked for her older sister. Then she nodded.

"
I
have one. You'd have to go to the new colony, at least part of the time,
and watch my little brother, Terry? Can you tutor him in basic subjects?"
It probably seemed like it came out of left field but the lady didn't hesitate.

"I
can do math, Noram history and spycraft. Really, in any other setting I'm not
this bad, I swear. I just stick out here too much. I was a bad fit the whole
time. I tried to explain that to the Countess, but she seemed to think that
being a bit taller would be an asset here. She was wrong, though you didn't
hear that from me. So, do I interview with your mother for the position? She
does already know me, at least."

Tiera
let her head waggle back and forth, then ran to get the apple pie she had in
the oven out. Bethany came with her and took out the second one. Very
professionally too.

"You
can bake as well?"

That
got a happy nod. "Needed for the job, so I learned. Actually Countess
Thomson taught me what was needed herself, so that I'd be good enough to work
here."

"Ah.
Let me get this settled here then."

It
took about half a minute and her father came back in, smiling happily. He
smiled a little bigger when he looked at Bethany, but didn't say anything in
particular. That probably meant he liked her. How
much
was a thing that
Tiera did not want to know, actually. The girl seemed perfectly relaxed around
him though.

He
looked at Tiera and gave a single nod.

"Those
rolls you sent in were a hit. Timon wanted to let you know that Karen will be
seen to as well. Sheri too? I don't know if I got that name right?"

That
was a surprise. She hadn't considered that at all, but she was a friend of
hers. Not someone that Tiera had been thinking about too much so far. It was...
Still a good thing. She was a sweet girl after all and a friend of three of
them. Maybe four, including Tor.

"Da?
Bethany here is leaving in a few weeks. I'm hiring her to watch Terry when he
goes to work on the Moon. Basic tutoring, and all that. We'll get her a
communications device so she can report to you and ma a few times a week. What
does that kind of thing pay anyway?"

Douglas
Baker, country shop owner and long time resident of Two Bends, which was
located exactly in the middle of the back beyond, stroked his smooth chin and
winked at his daughter.

"Well,
now, that depends. A tutor for a single boy of ten wouldn't normally be an
attractive woman like this, so hiring her would imply that
you
expected
something else from the lady. If you aren't going with them, then
that's
out, so I'd guess something like a gold per month. Of course it is on the Moon,
which is a long way to travel for a job, and that means paying more for it.
Your sister, Tamerlane, now she pays the lady two gold a month to be here and
report back to her, but I can't properly say that it's real spying, all
considered. We give her a silver a week, which is high pay for this area, but
also some other perks. Travel arrangements and free shipping of goods and
letters with our family service, if she wants. Within reason. My take would be
that three gold a month, plus some additional perks would be about right. What
those would be, I can't say."

Tiera
didn't let her face move in particular, except, after a moment into interest.
Bethany did say that everyone kept finding her out, didn't they? Her father had
originally been one of the Assassins Guild, so that he'd figure it out wasn't
exactly stretching things, was it?

She
looked at the woman who just sighed and shook her head.

"See,
that's why I just quit my old job. I'm a terrible, horrible spy."

The
man winked at her then.

"Not
as bad as all that, really. Looks aside, you managed to fit in rightly enough
here. People are even starting to warm up to you. Another year or two and you'd
probably be a fixture here, as much as anyone."

That
got Tiera to consider the idea, which was probably correct. It took time to
merge in smaller places, it was true. Big cities were more anonymous. Easier
for most to blend in to.

"So,
call it three gold a month, plus some perks... I'm sure that you can get some
free magical items out of it. A good shield will be needed. Maybe a few each. I...
Might have something else for you too, since you can bake. You could start a
shop there maybe? There aren't a lot of people yet, but that will grow. If you
want. It isn't needed for your work with Terry."

They
shook on the deal, which fit the surroundings at least, but she still had to
get past the interview with her little brother, who, Tiera assured her, might
not
want the woman along to keep him out of trouble. He probably thought of himself
as an adult already. If so, he was wrong, but what could she say about it?

It
wasn't like she was all that old either.

That
part took a bit to arrange, since they had time for it, and when everyone came
back, after a largely sleepless night, Terry was introduced to the idea of a
keeper for him. Oddly enough he just shrugged.

"Bethy
from the Bakery here? Sure? She's nice to me. What would she do there? I mean,
if I'm working a lot?"

That
got Tiera to go over her idea for a shop, which Trice laughed at, since there
were so few people there yet, but Timon stopped her, by blinking rapidly.

"That...
is not a bad idea. A restaurant and bakery, right by the landing zone? A large
inn too, for guests... We should set that up. It can't all be waste reclamation
and water purifying systems, or even gardens." He glanced at the others,
the Lairdgren Group and then looked at Sheri Bonner. Tiera waved at her, having
not really taken time to date for a while at all, being far too busy. Hopefully
she hadn't forgotten her? Especially if the girl were going to be around for
the rest of time.

They
didn't set a lot of firm plans, and Terry had to stay at home, part of a
military group or not. The other kids were actually invited to stay there,
since it was as good a place to practice as anywhere else, and the rooms were
actually nicer. That meant, when they headed back to the school, several hours
later, they didn't have Havar, the kids or half the stress they did on the way
out. They just got in Trice's Fast Craft and were back in familiar surroundings
before it was time for supper. It all looked normal to her. Plain almost. Only,
comfortable at the same time. It wasn't a fancy place, made of real stone and
wood like it was, but she could trust it to be what she thought it was. That
might not always be sweet or friendly, but it was reliable and that counted
now, more than it had before.

Tiera
realized that she had work to do, so after sending Trice and Tim off to see
their older sister, she went to her room, and plunked down on the bed. Karen
came with her, smiling the whole time as if something special and big had
happened. Which it had, for her.

Tiera
decided to take all the fun out of it right then and there. It was a secret
talent that she was working on, using the truth to be a pain in the rear.

"You
understand that this means you're responsible for the whole world now, don't you?
It's part of the cost of all this." She could skip out on that, but she
doubted Karen would. After all, she was the leader of the High Servants. That
kind of thing had to rub off, didn't it?

"Understood.
I still can't believe it. I don't feel any different yet at any rate. Do you
think I'll wake up in the morning being way cuter and looking fourteen? I
specifically asked for
cuter
. That and a lighter shade of blonde."
She rubbed at the fuzz on top of her head and pretended to act like she cared
about the color for real.

Tiera
just didn't know.

Again.

"Maybe?
Or it might take years. Or... Well, honestly, the first time you use a healing
amulet you'll probably end up changing into whatever you're going to. I don't
know if that's a perfect idea, but I bet that's how Trice got her arm
back."