Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) (35 page)

That probably meant she was actually nervous, didn't it?

Wondering what way Sara might jump?

No one had commented on the floating chest that sat near the door either. It wasn't a vast thing, but no one had tried to search it or even look inside. Then, she'd been cleared at the door, using a Truth amulet, so her word was considered enough. That was one nice thing about those devices. Other than solving crimes though, they tended to be a giant pain in the rear. Too much truth was hard on most people. After all, they were mainly liars, weren't they?

Sara knew that was true of her, at the very least, and had to imagine most people were more like her than not.

Queen Constance looked at Squire Gemma, her face showing a very fond expression.

"So, Gemma! I hear that you're moving up in the world? A space Captain. That's rare
and
unexpected. I must send a note to my niece, Queen Tiera. We truthfully hadn't expected such to be allowed our people. How ever did you manage it?" There was a bit of direct eye contact with the younger lady, who didn't seem all that shy about looking back. Then, she'd lived in the Palace for years, and clearly knew everyone in more than passing.

There was a soft smile though, and a glance at Sara.

"It was Captain Debri. She
asked
for me. Queen Tiera didn't even bat an eyelash either, even when Timon Baker called her up and suggested that she do a lot more than just that. I'd joked about the idea, but they made it real." The girl teared up a bit, but was smiling too. The King looked at her fondly, and then at Sara.

"Ah. I see, I think. Very good. Thank you then, Sara, for your part in seeing to our people here. Have you had a chance to visit with our Ancient? Sam Builder?"

She shook her head, since that hadn't really come up, to tell the truth.

"Not in person. I've been in touch over the communications devices, of course. I was thinking, since I plan to ride with Gemma this evening to Harmony and some other places, perhaps you'd like to come with us? There have been attacks, but honestly, they're mainly annoyances right now. Or... Maybe you'd like to come along, Queen Constance?" She and Tor were family, so they could visit, if nothing else.

The woman smiled but shook her head, a little sadly.

"I fear that an extended trip of that sort might be taken amiss, given the current climate. Would that I could. I haven't been anywhere of note for
years
. Not even to the market for some shopping. It hasn't been deemed safe enough. The small disruptions we've been having here, you understand." The woman smirked a bit, but the set of her lips
wasn't
pleased.

In fact, she seemed just a touch angry with her lot in life.

Sara shrugged, and then winked at her, wondering what changes had been made to cause her to be even half that cheeky with the royal family? It wasn't anything too direct, she could tell that. It was all in her attitude. She just didn't feel fear anymore, most likely. Meaning she could suggest whatever she wanted, without worry. Even things that were kind of stupid on their face, if actually safe in the long run.

"Nonsense, Queen Constance. We can have you both there for a visit and back before anyone knows you're gone. If the air is fully returned we can set up a visit inside an hour from now, even. Better, you can cancel that dinner tonight and take Roget along with you, and make a trip of it. Let me know how many are going, and we can leave directly from here."

Not that she had a right to make that kind of arrangement for Harmony, she knew.

Still, the Queen looked a lot happier suddenly, and seemed willing to risk being in danger from attack. Not that she wasn't already. Even in her own home it was a constant risk. It would be no more dangerous in space. Maybe less so. There was a hopeful glance at her husband, who sighed, and seemed to be about to say no, when he stopped, and went into a thinking trance.

After a minute of silence, a slow nod started.

"Actually, we can use this. Would it be possible to dine on your ship? If we could do that in orbit, with our evening's guests, on a ship piloted by one of our own people, Sir Gemma... Yes, that could go over very well, indeed. It will show that we have capabilities that the rebellion won't easily match for a long time." He stroked his bare chin, and looked directly at Sara, as if it were all up to her. It was
Gemma's
jump ship he was asking after however.

Turning to the girl, Sara nodded a bit, but didn't add anything. After all, the girl was sworn to the King directly, as a Knight Esquire. If she'd been paying attention, it was pretty clear that state was about to change too. It wasn't incorrect to call a Knight Esquire
Sir
, but it was generally only done one time. On the day, in the moment, they were given the rank. King Richard wouldn't make a mistake like that, or tease about it.

The girl looked away, but then nodded.

"We can do that, if I can borrow some food units from Sara?" She glanced over, her face unreadable for a bit, almost as if she expected a negative answer.

Like she could tell King Richard no? If the man wanted her to crawl around naked singing songs, she'd have done it without even blushing too much. She probably couldn't tell him
no
about anything. Her training ran too deep for that by far. It nearly pushed her into love of him, she realized. It wasn't even a subtle thing. Burks and her mother both had put that forward for so long that she pretty much didn't have a choice. She never really had.

Kind of like the Tellerand with their silly religion and singular god. They were forced to act as they did, even if it was hard for someone like her to actually understand. They were different, but similar too, in a lot of ways. Even if they couldn't see that yet, for themselves.

For a moment she felt a bit bad about what she'd been thinking about Roget. Yes, he hadn't approached her in the manner she expected, but did that make him actually evil? She didn't think so. Standoffish, and perhaps a Doretta, but by his own ways, the man was in the right, almost all the time.

She grinned however, and reached out to touch the girl next to her. Just on the sleeve, but the heat from her body underneath flared slightly at the contact.

"Of course! A nice stationary orbit over Noram? Say... One of the Counties that is being a bit of an issue? That could make a nice statement. We'll need some servers and cooks, ones that can put together a proper meal. The ship will make serving ware. Nothing as fine as what you have here, of course, but I think that might be forgivable, given the venue. Then we could take them a few places? To Harmony, to show an actual jump ship in action? I'll pilot for that part of it, unless..." She glanced at Gemma and tilted her head back and forth. "Well, if you don't mind us skipping out right now and taking Count Peterson and Princess Veronica with us? We can let Gemma make the trip back and forth twenty times or so, while they visit and set things up on that end? It's short notice, and things might still be in disarray there..." She pulled her communications device, then stopped, knowing that using it would be rude, at the table. No one glared at her though.

Her stomach growled at her however. Loudly enough that everyone looked away suddenly, so they wouldn't have to acknowledge that part of things.

"May I connect with Tiera? I don't want to disrupt this lovely meal, but..."

The King smiled, but waved a gentle, and huge, hand at her.

"I think that might be for the best. Even if we cannot arrange for such a visit today, it would be good to check in with her. I fear I haven't been in touch for days, knowing that she's been more than a little busy."

It took a bit, about ten seconds, for the device to be set up to get in touch with her directly. It wasn't a private line or anything either, so Sara wondered how many random complaints the Queen of the Moon got each day?

Still, she picked up almost instantly.

"Tiera Baker. Go." It was nearly rude, but she smiled up at Sara when she saw who was actually there. The recognition came first, followed by an examination of her face, and then a nod.

"Sara? I see that you've been busy." It wasn't a question. She meant the new Ancient part of things, no doubt. It showed, in some way or another? To this woman, at least.

"I have. I can go to Earth though, too. Anyway, I'm planning a bit of a visit later. The King and his wife, Queen Constance, as well as some others, are planning to visit? After we have the evening meal, in orbit here, on the ship you provided Gemma. It's my idea, so if it's too stupid, just blame me and I'll take my lumps. It will let us all talk, which is good. Is that all right? I was thinking we'd drop Princess Veronica and Count Peterson off for you to chat with about it all first? In say... Ten or twenty minutes?"

It was probably rude to drop people on her like that, but the girl could just say no. Actually, the woman smiled, even if she didn't know that anyone else was in the room.

"We nearly have air back in the main city. The Southern section has been blocked off for now, but we can host a few people, say... A hundred?" That number got the King to furrow his brow, but he managed a counter offer, without bothering to introduce himself.

"Could we do one-fifty, Queen Tiera? It might make for a more impressive visit, if we could allow the kitchen staff and servers a chance to see things as well."

There was a pause, but then the Queen in her hand nodded, looking unsurprised by the sudden arrival of her Earthly counterpart to the situation.

"That... Should be fine, really. We'll need some kind of big welcome for them all. Music and a parade, or something similar. Fanfare... Veronica, can you help me set that up on this end? I have a few things that I need to attend to here. We had a bit of an issue. Kristine tried to work the whore house, and while it was her choice, things got a bit out of hand."

That got Sara to sigh, understanding the whole thing. Her brother. Managing to cause problems again. Hopefully it wasn't too big of a thing.

"Is she alive?"

"Oh, yes. She... Rather had a breakthrough I believe, and came to understand that some people might simply not enjoy certain things. It's not a bad happening, but I need to go and hold her hand for a while, since the decision was mine. It's my job to be there for this part too."

Sara as well, most likely. She nodded, knowing that would have to come later in the day. Well, she wasn't really needed for the introduction of the Noram elite to space, was she?

Except that she probably was going to be.

"Right. Well, tell her that we all love her and are pulling for her speedy recovery."

That didn't seem like enough, and worse, she knew that she didn't mean it. Inside she sort of hated Kurt. She had for a long time, even if she was supposed to love him. That he was being helped now didn't really make it better. Even if he learned to be a better person, and not abuse others... Even if he'd been sick all along and it hadn't been his fault, she just couldn't wrap her mind, her
heart
, around the idea of forgiveness. What else could she do though? Other than setting him up to die for his crimes?

That was tempting, but not helpful, so she let the idea go, finally. That she'd secretly been holding to that one kind of shocked her, she realized. Did she really want him dead? For being ill? The answer was simply yes. She'd hidden that from herself for a long time, but it was
so
clear now.

Blindingly so.

There wasn't time for a big emotional breakthrough of her own at the moment, so she shut that down, and focused on the woman in her palm. The idea of holding a tiny Queen suddenly tickled her, so she smiled.

"We'll be there soon. Send food, since we need to skip out on the meal here, unfortunately. Otherwise I can't be back in time to meet Ambassador Smithson and help him get ready. That's at six, so..." They had several hours still. More than enough time to run Gemma through her paces.

"Good. I'll meet you at the main lock."

Then the device cut off, almost rudely. Queen Constance cleared her throat at it too, noticing the same thing.

"I think perhaps we're being inopportune?"

Sara grinned and shook her head.

"You'd
think
, but that's how almost everyone there gets off the line anymore. I blame the Austrans for it, to be truthful. They've been a bad influence on the rest of them. It has to be them, since until about a year or two ago, everyone from here was more polite about that sort of thing. Well, don't worry, it's Tiera. If we weren't wanted, she would have told us to call on them some other day. On the good side I built a device that should let them fill that air reserve they need, without using manpower for it. It needs a good test anyway." On a whim, she pulled it out, showing the small etched focus stone piece. "I mean, it works and has been tested, but only on a space station. I want to see what it will do on a planet. We might be able to use something similar on Mars." That would take a lot more than what she had with her, but still, it
was
an idea, wasn't it?

That got her stared at by everyone in the room, including Gemma, who blurted out the obvious for the rest of them.

"You're a wizard now, too?"

She nodded, taking a bite of salad, it was really finely done, after all. About the best such thing she'd ever had in her life.

"Timon taught me how to do it, and I have my first build, so yes? It's a bit hard, but nothing that we all couldn't learn to do. Most people. Karina and I were talking about that. Perhaps a program to push that a bit more for the young? I think that Burks-" She sighed and shook her head then, since most of the people in the room wouldn't know that the two of them had been friends. King Richard knew, of course, having been introduced to her by the man himself, but she didn't think that even the Queen knew her as anyone other than a friend of her son.

He was dead now though, and she missed him. It was too much to keep in, suddenly.

"We were close. Not lovers, but he was kind of like a father to me. Anyway, I think he'd made a point of keeping people from magic too much, for a long time. It's hard work, but no harder than learning higher mathematics, or running a business well. A skill, but no more than painting or sculpting a statue. True, I'm still at the finger painting stage myself, but it might be a thing to look into here, if you can? I can ask the others for real advice on it. Sam Builder and Tor? They'll know if I'm right or just talking of breezes." She covered her mouth, as the Queen did the same, laughing at her for saying something that crude at the table. Rightfully so. She wasn't certain what had gotten into her lately. Except the she knew. It was the changes that Tim had made. "Excuse my language, please. That was rude."