Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) (22 page)

Timon smiled and looked at her directly too, his gaze lingering longer than she'd notice him doing in their last few meetings. In fact his brown eyes locked on hers, holding her in place with a force that meant he was focusing a lot more intently on her than was normal.

"You dealt with the first attack very well. How did you know that moving the shield would work?"

"I didn't. It could have just killed me, I guess. It made sense though, since the thing was flaring like that, burning the tiny particles up."

He nodded.

"Yes. It worked. That attack was designed to wear down the protection of the shield. Someone obviously did some testing in order to work that one out." He kept looking at her, but his eyes softened, making it seem less like he was trying to imply that
she'd
been behind the attack. Which wouldn't make any kind of sense, would it? Timon was the only person that might make her immortal, which was a prize worth doing a whole lot for.

Well, Tor could probably do it too, but so far as she knew he
hadn't
done it. Tiera either. That meant she needed to keep Tim alive, didn't it? Not that she'd stepped in front of him when that woman had attacked because of that. No, he was just someone special to her. One of the very few men that had ever said he'd wanted to spend a lifetime with her. That made him someone to protect, to her mind. A person that was better than she was.

Also, clearly, he'd been reading her mind. Because that kind of attention almost had to mean that. Worse, he was Timon Baker, which meant that everything about her had been collected, processed and sorted already. Before she'd even understood that it had happened.

The boy, who was a man now, in charge of an entire continent, didn't react to what she'd been thinking as far as she could determine.

"I don't want to send you to Austra, Sara." This was spoken so quietly that she nearly missed the words. There was a stark honesty to them that resonated through the room.

Rather than blush or seem embarrassed about having said it, several people around them just nodded.

Alyssa went first, but she wasn't the only one. Tor just gripped her hand more tightly, which she expected meant he was going to be the voice of dissent, arguing that she was the one with the duty. That she had to go, because someone had tried to kill his brother, and he couldn't.

"I agree, Tim. She should stay here. We can get a few of our guards to do the job. We shouldn't risk her in this. She nearly died already. More than once. First in the attack meant for you, then as she was saving other people. It was close. We can all see that. She's done enough." The grip on her hand didn't slack off, and her now giant friend looked at her, a little imploringly.

Like she was going to argue the point? Except that it wasn't one really, was it? Not if the first attacker had been being honest with them about her goals. There was no real reason that she shouldn't have been either. It made a sick sort of pattern, visible from the outside. Their Ancient, Brown, died, and then some kid came along to take his place? A twelve year old back then, nearly. Now he was older, but only by a few years. Fifteen? She didn't even know the answer to that, and wasn't going to ask now.

Some of them would blame him for the world going sour like it had. They'd build up huge plots in their minds, just so they didn't have to face the reality of how dark everything was getting. That most of them wouldn't have been eating if not for Tim would just make it
worse
for some. After all, that put them so deeply into his debt that they'd probably never be able to dig themselves out. Except that Timon Baker didn't think of things that way. Austrans paid for everything, and could afford to give very little for free. Tim didn't even seem to think that what he'd done for them was anything except his duty.

She looked at him, and smiled, trying not to seem brave about the whole thing.

"No problem really. I just won't take Tim with me when I go. I
do
want some help. I can get them there though. I mean, I'm about as set up to do an investigation in Austra as I am to run one of their vid programs. Meaning not really at all. Plus, we should probably get Smythe to look into it from here. He has the most investigative history. The people on the ground need to be Austran though. Someone that will be accepted by everyone."

She didn't have a clue if anyone fit that bill, but Tor leaned into her, his arm running the length of hers, pressing against her distractingly. It was nice. Warm and showing a lot of concern for her. On the other side of him, Ali was doing much the same thing, turning them into a little clutch of bodies. Trice was further away from Tim, which was understandable, but not kind of her.

The kid had married her, to save her life from Rico Gala, and he
deserved
to be loved. It was hard to think about, but she wasn't truly certain that Trice was capable of that kind of thing. Letting herself love a person just because she
should
do it. That wasn't fair to Timon though. He was worthy of being loved. They all were. All her friends there. Even Magda.

Sara came out of her own little bubble long enough to notice that Laurie Baker was staring at the girl a lot less than covertly. Taking in her pink outfit, and shy manner. The woman, who was very close to being the prettiest person alive, glanced over at her, and scowled for a moment.

"Terry is a bit young, don't you think?"

Sara didn't need prompting to get what she meant.

"So is Magda, but it's a
good
plan. If we can let the people in Tellerand see that he's really one of them-"

There was a clatter behind them, as a man ran in, dressed in a jumpsuit. It was all green, and had silver trim on it. The shoes were soft soled, and clattered only faintly as he rushed in. Without thinking about it, Sara tapped her chest, focusing on getting her shield on. That pushed Tor back suddenly, but before she could yell for Magda to get hers on too, the running fellow threw something at Timon.

Or started to. Four weapons hit the man, his own shield shedding them easily, but the one that Tor had in his hand stopped the mist that was in the air in place.

Then Tiera did something that made the man fall down with a thud. He was still breathing however. Sara jumped up and ran at the downed man, trying to find his shield amulet. He was already waking up when she searched his pockets. Almost everyone wore the damned things around their necks, but this man had chosen to be difficult about it.

It was a dangerous thing to do, because she had to have her own shield off in order to get at it properly, that meant she could be hurt, or killed, if Tor let that dust go into the room. As soon as she had the thing, she jumped back, letting her fear cause the protective barrier around her to come back on.

Tor moved in then, his face seeming angry even as he held the air choke on the cloud of slow moving smoke in the air.

"Lars? I... What the
hell
?" Strangely, everyone else seemed to be as upset as he was. She could get that, but had no clue who
Lars
was. Clearly a known person, and not one that they'd expected to play assassin.

Ali explained it to her and Magda, being polite that way.

"He was the first of the Austrans to be able to make a copy from a template. He's been taking lessons for months, trying to learn building. I can't imagine why he'd attack here though. We're friends. I mean, we've had him over to dinner, more than once. His daughter plays with Taman sometimes."

That caused a lot of confused thoughts to run through Sara's mind, the first being that she somehow doubted that Taman actually
played
. The girl was sweet in her own way, but also so brilliant she was hard to relate to. Yet, at any rate. No doubt she'd master that kind of thing eventually.

Sara moved toward the man then, and looked over her shoulder at the others.

"Right. Um, I'll handle this part then. We need a Truth amulet, and to make sure he doesn't have any devices on him that can hurt anyone. Tor, what do you need to handle that cloud?"

That, it turned out, was a device that he'd made, but wasn't carrying on him. Kolb and Ali went to her house to get it, moving faster than they normally would have even in an emergency.

Trice just stood there, pointing a fierce looking strip of white stone at the man on the ground. It didn't just have five or six sigils on it, but over a dozen, each glowing an emerald color and interlocking, making a delicate pattern on the surface of the thing that seemed to float beneath the surface.

"Let's wake him up. I have some questions."

No doubt. Also, Sara realized, her earlier thoughts aside, Trice was planning to torture and kill the man. He
had
just tried to kill her husband after all. It was so clear she actually felt the idea coming off of her.

Sara didn't think
that
was going to work very well. For one thing it was clear he was already awake, if groggy.

"Back off Trice. I said I have this. I need that Truth amulet though. Mine's back on the Pain Maiden."

It was pretty clear that if she didn't take control, and fast, that more than one person in the room would end Lars before they got any information from him. The only one that seemed calm and focused now was, oddly enough, Tim.

"Timon, get everyone else moved back, except Tor. We need to find out what's going on here. Lars... That's your name, isn't it?" She looked at the man, who didn't try to get up. There were several wicked seeming weapons pointed at him, and he didn't have a shield any longer.

"Yeah. I mean, yes. Lars Linster. I..." He looked over at Timon, and blanched, his face closing down then. There was no anger in it. None that Sara could see. Just fear.

She thought she got the idea then.

Leaning in she whispered, her voice too low for most of the room to hear.

"Where's your daughter? Your wife? Or..." That might have been very rude. A lot of Austrans had lost people in the attacks of the Ancients. Millions had died, and a lot of people that had moved to Harmony were alone in the world. It was looked at as a chance to be safe, and start a new life.

"They took them. I don't know who. I was told that I had to kill the Revered One, Timon Baker, or they'd be... They'd do horrible things to them. Worse than dying."

Finally, catching on to things faster than the rest of them for some reason, Douglas Baker, who had a weapon of his own trained on Lars, pulled a Truth amulet. Because he was a Baker. That meant having access to almost all sorts of magic, didn't it? Except that everyone there could have one of those, if they wanted one. The store there carried the things, and they were free. It just didn't come up that often in real life that you needed one.

Most people lied all the time, but they were little things. Ones that you probably didn't want exposed, just for your own comfort. They told you they loved your dress, when the fact was they didn't care for it. They said they'd meant to write you, but had gotten busy, when they didn't really want to have contact with you ever again. That kind of thing. Little lies of omission that actually weren't important in the slightest, too.

Most people didn't try to kill someone right in front of you, and then claim it was because their wife and daughter were being held captive, to force their hand. It was exactly the kind of thing that people from Noram,
particularly
nobles, were trained to expect though. So much so that for a moment she really wondered if it were her own people behind it. Except, if that was the case, why frame Austra for it?

Blinking she took the Truth amulet and put it on Lars, then made sure he was telling the truth, at least as far as he knew it. No one else seemed to get what she was thinking until she asked her last question however. Then Timon made a funny sound in his throat that seemed to be choked laughter.

"The people that contacted you, you said they were two men. How tall were they?"

Lars looked at her, then held his own hand above his head. She didn't know how tall he was when standing, but the men in question looked to be a lot taller. Giants even.

"I suppose they were wearing Austran looking clothing? Magical, I bet."

It was Tim and Tor's mother that looked baffled then.

"I... Why is how tall they were important?"

She glanced at Tim, but he smiled and shook his head at her. It was clear she was going to have to be the one doing the speaking.

"Because the Noram Rebellion is made up of nobles. Making this seem like Austra is behind it could start a war between our lands. If not that, it might be about muddying the waters, and distracting us, so that we don't help King Richard and his allies too much. How did they get nano devices and explosives for that attack though? Hire it done?"

Tor, still holding the little copper piece in his hand steady, between two fingers, let out a soft breath of air.

"That would work. Austra has been hit hard, and a lot of their infrastructure is still down. If a person were to grab up a few food units and offer those in exchange for some nano work... I can see it. A person might even fool themselves into thinking that nothing would come of it. I mean, so far it really
hasn't
. What do we do about Lars' family though? We need to find them, but where will they be?"

From the doorway Kolb called out, having heard enough to get the general idea, it seemed. That was impressive, given the speed he and Ali were floating in at.

"They won't have gone far. There's no way anyone can get off world without us knowing about it. That means they're still around here, somewhere." The large and muscular bald man looked at Lars and gave a somber nod. "Good to know you weren't in on it on purpose. They have someone?"

Sara got it first and updated the man.

"Wife and daughter. We think that it might be a set up, from inside the Noram Rebellion. Very tall men approached him at least. Two of them, with fairly tan skin. Can you..." She glanced at Tor first, then the others there, just in case. "Can any of you find them? If we can get to them..." She wasn't going to say the rest, but glancing at the man who still half laid on the floor, she let her face tighten. "Before they're killed, we can work a lot of this out. If I'm right. Regardless, getting to them fast is better than not." Quietly too. Otherwise they'd both be killed, and dumped so that the two men could vanish.
If
it was only two. What were the odds of that really? There had been three explosions all at once, which probably took one or more people for each of them.