Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2) (12 page)

Count Ward, seeming to get that
standing and bowing wasn't an option, laughed a bit.

"That does seem likely. The
call to the palace came in late, or we wouldn't have had to bother my sister
and Prince Gerent like this. I hope it doesn't alter your plans for the
evening?" That was a strange way to say things, and it was kind of clear
that Petra was annoyed by the influx of bodies.

That seemed to include Countess
Printer too, who was, if Dare had it right, one of her best friends. Pet worked
at the Printer school, or so he'd heard. Not that he'd ever been there. To the
Moon, yes, several times. That particular school, or even county? Not at all.

After a moment of thinking
looking at all of them, including Gerent, who was ignoring the interplay with a
will at the moment. His aunt and uncle had planned to talk to him about
something, it was clear, and now these others were in the way of that. It was
possible that they had information about the Adversaries, but that felt wrong.
If it had been
that
kind of thing, then it would have been done over the
handheld, or just sitting there in front of these others. Unless they were
suspected of being in league with the darkness.

He looked at all of them, and
thought the whole thing through, based on what he knew about them all.

"Count Ward, you're the
natural child of known parents. The same follows for you too, right Aunt Petra?
Same parents and all that?"

Marvin looked baffled, and Maria
seemed insulted, but after a few seconds Petra just answered.

"Yes. Why?"

"Both Straughan and Bill had
come from nowhere. One was adopted, the other had no story at all. From my
notes, they both said something about not having been people really.
Lyone..." He looked at the others, closely. "You all know about her?
The mechanical people and the aliens from the void that are coming?" It
was possible that they weren't in the know on that score.

The giant count, looking smooth
faced, even at near fifty, nodded.

"It's a tale that's hard to
credit, but yes, King Richard told us of that. I still can't believe it, to be
honest."

That was the kind of thing that
he could see, himself. He wouldn't if he hadn't gone to see their fleet
himself.

"Sensible. It's real, but...
Well, let's deal with this part first. Her people say that people have been
replaced, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. So far. So people with
known parents and provable points of origin can be, possibly, trusted not to be
in with the enemy."

Maria furrowed her pretty brow,
and then nodded.

"I can vouch for myself, and
my family then. You've met Collette? My father, too."

Petra looked at Countess Printer
then.

"Which will work for you
too, Holly. So that leaves..."

Gerent turned around, "me. I
came from nowhere. Well, I guess I kind of have a family now, but I can't prove
that really. It was just the story that was told. So I guess I can't be in on
the secret plans?"

Dareg winced, not having really
thought about that, but then nodded.

"I'm in the same boat that
way. I know there were those tests, but we can't be certain that having the
same... DNA printings isn't something that this threat can't manage. My point
here is that we can probably speak freely toward that end. I mean, I'm not one
of those things, Gerent? How about you?"

That got a laugh, but he nodded
along.

"I'm not, but isn't that
exactly what they would tell us?"

Petra, normally kind of happy,
did smile, though it was more considering.

"Wouldn't the work that Tim
did on you mean you had to be a human at least?" She was looking at Gerent
directly.

Dareg tilted his head.

"Unknown, but you know,
probably? That's almost certainly as good as my nearly random guess that people
without a provable back story are suspect. So, just
me
, out of this
group? Good to know."

That got Petra to nod hugely
then, her smile going bigger.

"Those genetic tests?
They're proof that you're a human, too, then. It's the same kind of thing,
those changes that Tim made? That's what we were told."

Maria smiled then, letting out a
big gust of air.

"I hadn't even thought of
any of that. Good to know we aren't suspects for once. At least for the time
being. So, we were interrupting a secret planning session on that topic? I can
see why that would be difficult to manage then, Petra. For a moment I'd figured
that you were just planning to have sex with Dareg here, without me." She
looked over at him like he was something good to eat, and lowered her eyelids
enough to signal she meant at least part of what she was saying. "That
would be rude, don't you think? It made sense however, as to why you started
acting all edgy with us."

Holly, helpfully, nodded, her
face serious.

"I hadn't gone to sex, in my
thinking, but if it's a secret battle strategy session then I can see the
difficulties, myself. I'd thought it was simply the change in plans."
There was a shifting of weight, her rather nice dress, all in deep blue satin,
shifting around over her muscular shoulders. She was lean, but it was kind of
plain that the woman did a lot of physical things in her life.

Probably fighting, or practice
for it, given the calluses on her fingers and palms.

Her blue eyes, shining a bit,
stared directly at Petra, trying to read bits of information from the lady. It
seemed like that anyway.

After a few moments, still
sitting there in the landing area, his aunt sighed.

"It actually was neither of
those things. I... Gerent and I... We were..." She looked away, her face
closing down a bit suddenly, as if fighting embarrassment. "We were
planning to ask if Dareg wanted us to pay for his schooling." She nearly
whispered the last words.

Like it was a huge problem for
him.

Oddly, the others looked away, as
if letting him know that they didn't want to see his horrible discomfort with
the issue.

"Well, that's a nice offer.
How much does that kind of thing cost, anyway?"

Countess Printer, who owned a
school, turned to face him directly.

"Most run about seventy-five
gold per year. That covers room and board however, not simply lessons. It's
fairly standard, though there are programs that cost more, for special studies,
and a few scholarships that are available, if you can past the tests for
it."

Marvin bowed to him, still
sitting.

"Or, if you'd rather not
press family, Maria and I could cover that for you? It wouldn't be a
burden."

Dareg smiled at the man, and
bowed.

"I don't think that will be
needed? I can probably pay for it myself, actually. Though I might need to
start working soon. I was thinking earlier that supporting two or three palaces
fitting for a princess might take a steady income beyond my monthly allowance.
School... I guess I could do that. Or lessons? You mentioned getting Orange and
Tiera to help with weapons work? Alice... She suggested I get with the
instructor at Lairdgren, Instructor Remy? Timon is going to help with some
building things, I think." It hadn't been stated that way, but it was
probably close enough.

Countess Printer smiled at him
then.

"Those all sound fine. You
need math, science, classes on ruling and spy-craft, and military strategy as
well, at the very least. History if you can find the time for it. The new term
starts after Noram day. You're fourteen?" She said it like she didn't know
for certain.

"Right. About a month and a
bit now."

"Good. So, we can set you up
at Printer School. You can pay... Really, however you want. Or
not
. It
isn't like Tor doesn't have a line of credit with the place." She looked
at the others and shook her head a bit. "He paid for it. All of it. To
start the whole thing? It pays for itself now, so I think we can rather allow
that to count?"

She kept looking around, like the
gold was any kind of problem for him.

Petra seemed pleased by the news
however, reaching over to pat her tall Countess friend on the arm.

"That sounds settled then,
doesn't it? Of course, you can still say no, but it
is
a good plan.
Especially if you get that tutoring first. Are you going to be working on the
ports at the same time? No one has known what the score is on that one, since
the attack."

He thought for a moment, and then
nodded.

"I can get that done first,
and set up to run themselves. Really, if I can get workers, it will only take a
month or two. I have, what, five months?" He looked at Holly, who shook
her head.

"Nearly six. Good, I'll set
that up, as far as paperwork is needed. Now, you're marrying a princess? Which
one? Taman, or... Tara?"

Petra covered her mouth, and
Maria rolled her eyes, but smiled politely.

"Princess
Karina
. It
isn't common knowledge yet, in all circles, but it's going to be a rather large
event. I have to agree though, Prince Dareg, setting up a business or two might
work well. You don't get revenue from the ports, that being done as a
philanthropic effort, correct? I bet we can find you a few things, given your
family resources." She clapped once, and then smiled at the back of
Gerent's head. "I know just the man to ask about that, as well. Torrance.
Everything he touches seems to turn to pure gold. Not that he wouldn't simply
give you coin. He's offered
me
gold, for projects. We haven't always had
the most firm friendship, either. I have to imagine that he'd be even
kinder
to those he enjoys."

That got Gerent to nod, the back
of his head moving as the craft started up in the air.

"True. It can't hurt for
Dareg to make his own, however. People respect you more when you don't have to
beg for every copper. Even if it's just owning a few properties. At least
that's what I was always told. You know, even if it doesn't make coin, you
should start an orchard around the port here, and probably in other places. I
bet you can get the land, at least for use. You can bother the King about that
later? There was a plan for it anyway, so that one will work I bet. Vagus,
Afrak... Afrak will be really easy about that one. They kind of just assume
that everyone will try to grow things anyplace they can. Soam... They have that
radiation problem still, but it's getting better in a lot of places. Austra...
That one will be interesting, but you should try it."

It wasn't a horrible idea. He
could ship the goods out from the ports that way. Then, a lot of people could
use that, as long as they could find space on a ship. Which was a thing that he
was just then setting up. That connected in his head suddenly, and he nodded.

"A shipping concern, too?
That works. I'll probably need more than that, but it's not a bad start for a
kid."

They were moving, off to the
west, then up, and around, so they could settle over the King's Palace. They
were really early, since it was just then turning seven and the meal wouldn't
be until nine, as far as he knew. That was the normal time for that kind of
thing.

On the good side, they were able
to unload the glowing green craft without hurrying to get the thing out of the
way. Since Holly didn't have a date with her, Dareg stood by the door to aid
her out, since she had a dress with at least five layers of heavy cloth to
manage on the steps.

"Thank you." She smiled
at him, her face a bit hard underneath her makeup. That looked to be real,
instead of a disguise amulet.

She'd been warmer before, but he
worked out her point now. If he was going to her school, later, and that
actually happened, they'd need to have distance between them. As a prince, that
could be hard for her to manage. Especially if he ended up a prince of
Noram
as well as Harmony. That was fine with him, since his only goal was to prevent
her from landing on her face, so he just bowed a little in response and let go
of her, instead of trying to guide the thirty-odd year old woman inside.

She wasn't so pretty that he
couldn't let her get away without being in his bed first. Not that he was going
to get that chance really anyway. She was fit, and not homely really, but her
attractiveness was in her personality, more than her face. It was fair really.
In some ways that was probably better for a Countess, when you got down to it.
Holly Printer was meant to
rule
, not decorate a room, or bed.

They weren't met by guards this
time, which was different than the last meeting, and while it took half a
minute for Gerent to pack the craft away, the older fellow that met them held a
bow the entire time. Dare did it back, since it would have looked awkward for
the man, having to do it alone like that. The others waited for Ger to finish, then
bowed in turn, with Count Ward and Countess Printer going last. She curtsied,
wearing a dress like she was.

The older man that met them was
of merchant blood, from his size and look. The
butler
, probably, since
everyone seemed to know who he was, except Dare.