The kids from the school were mainly what they seemed. A few had been sent to spy on people, but it sounded almost like an afterthought for all but three of them. Those had specific missions, and one, a good looking girl that was older than most first years by a bit, was targeted directly at Rolph. Tor remembered having seen her trying to flirt with him a time or two.
Ah.
Tor got her to admit that she was working for Countess Thorgood and that she was just there to get close and collect information.
“Hmmm…” Tor said, looking at her, shaking his head. “I suggest you back off for the time being, and make sure you don't disclose anything about your target.”
She agreed readily enough, but Tor would still be following up on it. Teller didn't seem all that pleased with him, leaving a spy in place, but Tor just had to throw his hands up the second time the man mentioned it.
“What can we really do? Half of the upper class people are probably spying for someone or another. With an economic crunch on, they kind of have to be, don't they? For that matter most of these kids would probably feel obligated to answer to me, if I asked them to, or Countess Printer. Right now we need to just make sure no one is trying anything dangerous or planning an attack. Especially the Austrans. If we find any of those, don't let them get a hand in a pocket, eh? Try to take them alive though… easier to question that way.”
After that was finished Tor did something no one expected and started questioning everyone. The people that were cleared were sent back to their rooms, and each dorm got a set of questioners coming to every door. It was invasive and a prickish thing to do, but Tor had orders to be thorough, which meant everyone got questioned. Including him, Kolb and all the military men.
That part pissed of Teller to no end. For a second, when Tor held out the truth amulet to him, it seemed like the man might hit him, feeling offended. He did it though, and passed easily, which kind of meant all his own men had to take a turn too. Tellers’ elite forces had some spies… a lot of them really. Nearly half the men worked for someone else on the side, which was pretty bad.
Tor just took note of whom they worked for, or rather got Kolb to do it for him, since the man had much better hand writing and that meant there was a real reason for the Knight to be standing there next to him. None were working for Austra however. It took all night, and people were scared and grumpy by the end, but the whole town, down to the waitresses in the restaurants and even there little children, were cleared. Mainly by him. His eyes kept closing as he worked.
He was falling asleep on the job, and couldn't help it. Kolb played it off as him going into a trance. For some reason almost everyone bought it. Apparently his penchant for doing things like that was well known. How they justified the snoring Tor didn't know.
“OK, I think that's everyone. I need to report in to the King, then get some sleep. Teller, Um, not to tell you your job, but I know I'd sleep much better if there was some kind of guard still. We know that none of our people are going to be doing anything wrong, but… Well, outside attack is still possible.” Tor yawned and held up a hand.
“Admittedly, not very likely. I think I just caught the poor girl out and she panicked to tell the truth. If not, she would have deployed her weapon more carefully and survived it.”
Teller didn't comment on his theory, but didn't seem to think much of it as far as Tor could tell. He went back to his dorm room to sleep. He could have stayed at the house, but that would require extra guards to be set. It was a waste of resources. In his room, barely conscious, he contacted the King again. Or tried to. Instead he got a nervous sounding young voice.
“Um, this is the palace. How may I help you sir or ma'am?” The voice was still young and tentative, but not half as nervous as the last time he'd heard it.
“Kenner? This is Tor. I have a report for the King, but it isn't urgent. Can you take notes for me here?”
Kenner had helped him out in the past, but only for a bribe. Tor kind of expected to be shaken down by the kid, but it seemed that his job now, instead of washing the floors, was to answer the communications device like he had and alert the right people. He admitted that taking notes, at least good ones, was beyond him yet, though he was studying for it.
He could get a Royal Guard for that though.
“Hey Tor, This is Chet. I've got the gear ready, go on your report.” The voice sounded a little sleepy, but not too bad. It held good enough humor and the man explained that the rest of the people had, wisely, taken to their beds.
It didn't take long for the initial report, though the list of who was spying for who had to be sent to several people, which meant copying first. Tor decided to grab one for himself. Not that he loved intrigue, but just knowing who was bothering to try and collect information was interesting. Some of them were people he'd actually met for instance, like the Coltress'. That they hadn't found the girl using Ginger's identity was a little odd, but then, the girl had just started, about two months prior. Still, that was very nearly when the girl had been murdered. Close enough to be really suspicious.
There was something there, but Tor couldn't think of it, too tired for anything but lying down. In the morning, as he forced himself to walk, slowly, down the hall to the bathroom, it hit him. They needed to check to see if anyone was using the other murdered girls identities. Also, they needed to check for men doing the same thing. Dying and then showing up somewhere else. It would be hard, since the Capital killer had a signature, taking the heads and… violating the women first. It meant that one was a man at least. How the guard had figured that floating headless corpses were drowning victims Tor didn’t’ really know, but he highly suspected it had to do with the fact that the first six girls just weren’t that important, so no one really cared.
Except the King. He’d mentioned it months before hadn’t he? That issue he wanted Tor to work on with Smythe?
But there could be murders for the purpose in other places. It was a bit of a waste in the main, unless, of course, someone was faking royal connections. That didn't seem likely though. The nobles were a small and tight community. What, three thousand people in all? Four? Out of the sixty or seventy million in Noram… It would be easier to just make up a name and go to a new place.
Still, it had to be looked into.
After he shaved, Tor worked his way to the student’s dining room and grabbed a bowl of wheat cereal and an apple. An exhausted looking group of builders sat at a table already, so he walked towards them, on his own feet, but still shuffling like an ancient or desperately ill person, which got Lyn to hop up and push another chair in for him.
There were more people around, worked in to the group, than he figured there would be and they didn't all look happy. After a few seconds Sandra reported, which told him why that was.
“Half of us can't do it. The best I managed in a group was twenty. I did get it in an hour and a half, but, um, Guide can't do more than ten in two hours and Farlo there can still only manage one at a time. Sam is on groups of fifty and so is Mark. Lyn… She managed two groups of a hundred. All solid work though. Except the wasted batches…”
Tor smiled at all of them.
“Don't worry, it's mainly a focus issue. Um, Farlo?” The girl looked scared, but was tall and clearly royal tall and had short hair, a slightly grown out military cut that had a nice copper sheen to it, that was clearly fake. “What year are you in?”
“Four, Master Tor Sir. I mean Lord Tor…” She seemed flustered.
“Just Tor, since your part of the group. OK, today your doing batches of ten. No problem. I can't monitor you, so… Guide, after you do a batch of twenty, I want you to watch Farlo and keep her on task. Don't do the work for her though, Just get her to feel what she needs to do and let her do it.”
They both looked shocked, but Tor shrugged.
“Look, everyone has always told you how hard building and copying is, but you have the skills already, the talent, so forget that. We need to outfit all the military here by the end of the day with class seven shields and you only have half that right now. No one else can do this and frankly, I can't spare you to playing around with it for too long. We have half a dozen other projects needed for the kingdom, and need more of everything. Plus, when that's done, I want to see at least a novel build a month from all of you. Or more. Sandra is with me today, but all of you need to stand ready. We may have to move to other locations at any time. Some of you may have to go alone too. So be ready for that. Keep a bag packed.” Tor finished eating, and felt guilty about pushing them like that, but other than the deep and gloomy silence, no one else seemed to mind.
Yay. Tor grinned at everyone before they left.
“Oh, also haircuts and a few nice outfit designs. Um, get with Petra Ward for help there if you need it. Combat giant, but the best person I've ever seen on clothing design. Also, you'll be getting some projects from Instructors Fines and Weapons Instructor Kolb. If you don't do them well, I'll get yelled at, so you know, your efforts are appreciated.” Tor winked and grinned at the group that just looked at him, not even groaning at the idea.
Tor started walking out after putting his bowl through the little window near the back of the room. A scared looking first year boy took it without saying anything. Tor got that at least, it was frightening, the whole situation.
“Thanks.” It wasn't much by way of reassurance, but the kid bowed back a bit and kept working. It never hurt to be polite after all, right?
Tor was outside, walking slowly and very carefully down the stone steps to the commons when he noticed that Sandra was following him. He looked over at her and smiled gently, knowing that it had to be a pain walking along like that, being so tall and healthy like she was. He had to build up though and that meant walking when he could.
At the bottom he pointed to where “General” Teller had set up and started over. That made the girl seem very uncomfortable, but she didn't hesitate, so it worked well enough for a start. When he got to the man Tor stopped and gestured to the girl, a woman really, who had probably already graduated and just sticking around because she was at loose ends.
“General Teller? This is Sandra Morris, head of the Lairdgren group. She's going to be delivering the shields for your men today. The first half are ready to go. They'll stop death dust and other nano particulates. You have to turn them on manually for that, so caution the users of that please. It will turn on automatically once they encounter the threat a single time, but not before that most likely, so…” The look on the man’s face and the twitch of his thick mustache told him that he needed to explain the subconscious and deep mind link that turned the shield on in case of emergency.
None of the military's gear did that yet. The guy was impressed and promised to make sure everyone understood. Sandra didn't say much, just running to get the first half of the order. That delivered, they both were at loose ends for a bit.
For about ten seconds.
“Right, now we need to get in touch with the King and then check on the builds for the day. After that, you should get a nap. Really, I can check on the kids, where are they working?”
“Building seven… But… I don't really need to talk with the King, do I?” She sounded nervous, but Tor just shrugged.
“Well, yeah. Him and the Queen both. I don't see why it should be a problem, aren't you all related or something?” It was a teasing stab in the dark, the girl was tall and named Morris, so it made sense but she shook her head.
“Not too closely. I was… Nearly engaged to Prince Alphonse when I was little. Ursala Thorgood got it instead. I'm… supposed to inherit. Um, you know, Counserina first and all that. Dad's not wild about me trying to learn building, he thinks I should just marry and set up house, maybe learn to do accounts. We, don't get along too well.” She didn't seem happy about the admission at all.
“Oh, well, I'm sure that your father’s reputation won't affect yours with the King. He thinks you have a lot of potential. So does Count Lairdgren, who ask for you specifically to be in charge of this.” The King was probably looking forward to her taking over for her stick in the mud da, Tor guessed but didn't mention out loud.
“He knows who I am? I mean the King. We talked once on your communications device… I didn't think… Well, that anyone would really remember me.”
Tor shrugged, “He suggested you, personally, by name, be given this job too. I wasn't kidding when I said you were in charge of the group here. It's all official and everything. You don't get paid for it though, not much, two gold a week.” Tor pulled the figure because it was what the secret army members got paid. Why not, he could spare it, right?
“So don't let it go to your head. Plus, you can only manage twenty copies at once?” Tor shook his head sadly. “You have great potential Sandra, but little kids can do better than that. You even know several of them. You'll have to fix that. Today in fact, if we get time. We need to get to the Capital first though.”
“Uh… OK. I'll do my best. Why do we need to go to the Capital? Can't we just talk to them from here?”
Tor sighed and shook his head.
“We just had an Austran attack Sandra. For the first time it was on regular people, not just nobles or clearly targeted towards a single individual. This is huge as far as the commoners go. We have to show that we have a plan in place to prevent it from happening again. More…” He gave her a steely look.
“I can't be that plan this time, and some people might point out that this could have been targeting me. I don't think it really was, but we need to show the kingdom that taking out one person won't cripple us. Today that means showing the royal family. Later it means showing everyone else. Plus, I may need you to help me beat up an Ancient later. He's too good a friend with everyone else at the palace to take them seriously, I think. I could probably do it normally, but right now…” He waved at his body, which got the tall, dark skinned girl to nod. She knew what a mess he really was after all.
“Alright.” She stopped, going still suddenly. “Wait, the Ancients are real?”
Tor nodded.
“Yeah, the one I'm talking about is Dennorian Brown, the Austran Ancient. I don't know where the others have gotten to, but they may or may not be around. Don't let them impress you too much. Not that they aren't impressive, we just don't want them to get swelled heads.” Tor grinned at her, which was a mistake, because she clearly thought he was kidding now.
Oh well.
The conversation with the King didn't happen, but Connie was there and invited them both to dinner, which was late for Tor, but manageable if he got a nap himself. He got Sandra to go and get some sleep by ten in the morning and looked in at everyone else, briefly, realizing that him looking at them working right now did very little indeed. He did find that Lyn had two more sets of shields ready already, and that they worked. Two hundred in less than three hours.
Tor smiled, a wash of pride coming over him as he looked at the small girl in front of him. She opened her eyes and stared blankly for a bit. She had brown eyes and brown hair now, though they used to be blond and murky blue. Tor realized that she'd changed them with one of his disguise devices. Or, well, given who she was, it may be a recreation or even novel work.
Good.
“Oh… Hey, Tor… just finishing the second batch, planned two more, is that all right? I can do more…” Her voice was dreamy and soft, still detached from the deep state.
“Actually, I'd like you to help me check on the others. We should have enough for everyone soon, but I can't do it myself right now. Other than by physically checking their work. It's just field reading, which I know you can do already.”
“I can?” She sounded slightly confused.
Tor chuckled as he explained that it just had to do with sensing fields and that she did it all the time, it was how she knew that the people were disguised the day before after all.
“Oh, that. OK. I can do that. I didn't know it had a name.”
The others were doing well, except for Farlo, who was really struggling to get a batch of ten done. Even without sensing the field Tor understood the problem, speaking softly to Lyn he got her to show the needed correction easily enough though. It meant he had to leave the younger girl sitting there, so she could help. Guide was still working on his own batch of twenty, but Lyn said he seemed to have it, no problem.
Tor floated back to his room and slept for a few hours. It was decadent, sleeping during the day, but his body would need the rest, probably for a long time. At four he went and grabbed Sandra from her room and helped her collect up the rest of the shields that had been made. Farlo had managed an honest, all on her own, batch of ten. Twice. Everyone seemed pleased by that too, at least as happy for her as they were for their own accomplishments. They were a real team. Tor felt a little envious, but let that go. He had a team too, didn't he? His was just made up of a bunch of royals.
As soon as that was done Tor sat Sandra down and handed her a pile of fifty copper plates with shield sigils.
“Here you go. An hour and twenty minutes. Go.” He made no move to give her a shield to copy from either. She'd done it before after all.
He smiled at her confidently.
It took her closer to two hours, but the fields worked. They packed the extra up and took off from the commons, using his personal fast carriage, because Sandra hadn't done a copy of the field for herself yet. It was silly, but she hadn't wanted to do it without paying for it. Tor shook his head.
“Fine… I'll trade you, copy for copy. One novel field from my stuff for each one of yours you give me. Deal?” He didn't put a hand out to shake, but smiled at her.
“Sure. My stuff kind of sucks though… My only novel build so far is just a toy that lights up for kids.” She sounded embarrassed.
It sounded fun though, it required the child to balance a stick on one finger, and when they got it right, the whole thing lit up, glowing blue. The longer they did it, the brighter the whole thing got. It wasn't anything earth shattering maybe, but it had a basic feedback device in it and those were tricky, so it wasn't a lack of skill on her part. Tor nodded when she explained it.
“Right, get with Kolb for your new assignments.”
“The scary bald one?”
“Yep, that's the one. I wish I could tell you he wasn't that scary once you got to know him, but… nope, he's really just that freaky. Just do what he says though. If you can't do it personally, get the others to work on it.”
He was being more than a little pushy with her, possibly abusively so, he felt, but she just acted like it was normal. As if Tor had a right to tell her what to do or something. Still, for now it worked and as long as everyone was reaching the goals he set them, it was fine. He hoped. Thirty odd minutes later they landed, very slowly, on the palace lawn. It was dark out, but the city was ringed with a glowing purple river. It was just regular water that ran around the top wall, with light fields sitting underneath, but with that and the outside lights at the palace, it made it pretty easy to find, even at night.
Of course that would mean that anyone could find it. Including the Austrans. Still, Tor doubted that they'd have problems doing that anyway. The craft they'd sent before didn't even have human drivers, and for all he knew the devices that did the flying didn't have eyes. He'd have to see if he could get the information from Denno, if he was still around.
If it was him, Tor would have run off already, because an attack that killed a bunch of school kids and an official was not going to make him popular at the moment. They couldn't even use a truth device on him. Not for certain.
Thumb screws would have to do then.
Not that Tor really wanted to torture the guy and it was clear that it probably wouldn't work on him anyway. He'd have to think of something else. Nothing came to mind at all though.
When the Carriage got put away both he and Sandra shifted their outfits. Tor into a military style black outfit and Sandra into a very nice like blue dress. Probably more impressive for a dinner party, but this was his “uniform” he decided. As Magics Counselor. Sure, he could have gone with robes, but that would look a little funny. He did switch the fabric to silk and velvet, which made it look a little nicer.
Then they waited. About five minutes later Karina came out, wearing a nice green dress that Tor thought he recognized, from near the first time they met, only it couldn't be, since the girl was nearly a foot taller now. Her hair looked long and red though, which he knew to be fake. She gave him a hug, taking pains to be gentle with him.
“Are you all right?”
“Tired, no matter how much I sleep, but yeah, not too bad. You?” It wasn't a throw away question, they'd all had to flee in a hurry, which could be frightening.
“Of course. We all are.” She looked at the darker girl in front of her and just nodded.
“Sandra. Didn't know you were coming. Good to see you.” The words were a little flat and somber. Like she really didn't like the girl or something.
“Princess.” She bowed formally. Her face was in a fixed and slightly nervous position.
Tor didn't get it, he would have thought the two would be fast friends or at least amiable strangers. It really felt like they didn't like each other at all for some reason. Tor felt a slight headache starting to form, right between his eyes. Luckily they got to go in then. Honestly, Tor decided, they'd just better not have a problem. He couldn't handle another one right then, whatever it was, they just needed to let it go and work together. Or he'd…
Whine at them. Possibly cry.
His repertoire wasn't that wide in range right now. Tor smiled at both girls, getting shocked looks back for some reason.
“Right, well, I don't know what the old baggage is here, but stop it. Now.”
Karina shrugged and glared at the other girl.
“We used to… um, have fun, together. Then she decided to run off to school and not visit me anymore.”
Tor raised an eyebrow.
“By fun you mean sex?” He said, more coolly than he meant to. These nobles and there rampant escapades…
“Oh, no. Um, we were friends as kids. But she went away…”
Tor sighed.
“Karina, I get the whole thing, but seriously, get over it, will you? Of course she went off to school. Plus she's what, four years older than you? You can't have expected her to stay here forever with you…”
Only, from the look on her face, she had. Of course she'd been ten then, so who could blame her? Tor could, if she didn't get her act together now. He mentioned that.
“Now, I won't order you two to be friends again. No, what I'll do is promise to invite you both to every event of note I ever hold for the rest of your lives and cry at you if you don't show up. Yep, that's what I'll do.”
Karina took his hand and then, with only a little grudging to it, did the same with Sandra. After a second they both smiled and it seemed real enough, kind of relieved actually.
Yay.
Even if they were faking, as long as it got him through the night. Yay.
They went directly to a huge dining room. Not the one for the super massive parties, but one big enough for at least a hundred people. Tor had actually been in it before, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why. Until he saw the cracks in the floor. That reminded him. It was where they'd met when Ursala Thorgood had gotten pregnant by Count Ward, before she'd been poisoned and lost the child.
There were a lot more people in the room this time. Nearly a hundred at a guess. All of them looked important too. Counts and Countesses, their spouses and in a few cases kids. All the ministers of… anything that Tor had met were there, all two of them, and a few generals were added in to the mix as well. People were dressed nicely too, but not in ball room finery. Thank goodness for that. He'd have stuck out like the only red apple in a basket of green if that were the case. As it was he just about blended.
“This way. Mom and Dad want to see you first. Then you can mingle.” The Princess led them both, not letting go of either hand, which was a little awkward in the room, but she walked at his pace. He should have floated around, but that would raise even more questions than his looking a little ill. Not that the questions should really be a big deal. Tor nearly laughed at himself for being worried about it at all and kept walking.
The stone floor needed to be fixed, which he had gear for, possibly somewhere around the palace itself. If not then at his capital house. It would be a good place to stay the night if nothing else. Plus he could find Collette, he hadn't seen her in months. Ursala too for that matter. That one would be changing soon though, he realized, because she stood in front of the King and Queen talking as they walked up, with a group of sitting Counts and Countesses.
Tor wanted to hang back, but the King saw him and smiled, waving them all forward.
“Here we go. Councilor Baker was on the scene, as has been mentioned… perhaps any questions should be directed towards him?”
It made sense. Tor had been there after all and really did know the situation better than almost anyone else in the room. Of course, most of the questions had nothing to do with the Lairdgren incident directly.
Count Ford, a normally reasonable fellow and one even more vast than most, nodded to Tor and started in without pause.
“I have a niece there, so far her parents haven't been allowed contact with her. It would be good if she could get in touch, or even if I could just reassure them all is well. My brother’s daughter.”
Tor focused and tried to call up the names.
“Habitha Ford?” He said quietly, the trance having taken him as he worked to remember the face that went with the name.
“Yes…” The Count sounded tentative then.
“She's well. Not at the event at all, having been in classes at the time. Home making I believe… I interviewed her last night. Fifth year student.”
“Oh, excellent. Is it possible to make contact yet?” Ford loomed. He couldn't help it, most of the crowd around him did, being so big.
“I'm afraid not, though by tomorrow or the next day it should be. It's… well, the military is in charge of that and they want to make sure that nothing has slipped through the cracks. It's a good plan, if kind of inconvenient, so if we can back it for now, I think we should.”
That set up a list of names from several others. Thankfully none of their relatives or friends children were among the dead. Those names were known at least, so no one would have to be told bad news by him personally. Ursala stared at him for a bit, but smiled, if a bit sadly. She didn't say anything though. Not until all the questions were answered about what had been done. The town and school both being secured and the military being given updated shields.
Then the large blond spoke, her voice more than a little sad.
“Did you do all that yourself then? All those shields?” She sounded like she knew the answer already.
She was wrong of course, so Tor got to smile about it. Proudly.
“Not a single one. The Lairdgren group did it all.” Then he got to tell them all about it, gushing more than a little. He got Sandra to present the King with the fifty that she'd made earlier.
“For the military?” He said smoothly, his voice pleased.
“No Sire, these are for you and Queen Constance to give as you see fit. A gift from me personally.” She bowed and tried to take a step back, but Karina held on to her hand.
The Queen stepped forward with tears in her eyes.
“That's wonderful dear. How long did it take you to do all this? It must have been weeks.”
Tor winked at her.
“Less than two hours. Not to take away from Sandra at all, but she isn't even the fastest in the group. Not yet. We have several people that can make batches of a hundred in less time than that even.” Wanting to back away from being the center of attention or not, the dark girl nodded and bowed again before speaking.
“It's true. We have two that are doing particularly well. Mark Wilson, a third year and Lyn Cooper, a first year. It wouldn't surprise me if Sam, another of our new students, isn't doing batches like that by tomorrow, next week at the latest. They're all builders too, not just copiers. They've done their first novel builds already.” She sounded just as proud as he did.
Then, she probably had more reason to be, they were all her personal friends. It was exciting though, and their energy conveyed that to the group, who, on the whole, seemed pretty pleased.
Especially the Queen.
“Oh, that's so wonderful! Then we can have you and Alissa back here for Posttern? I know that the city would love for you to throw another party, like the one you had for the last King’s week.” Then she went quiet and actually blushed.
Richard grimaced but didn't add anything. Probably because, even though they'd personally invited him to come, two years straight, somehow his invitation had gotten lost both times. Tor didn't get why, but it wasn't a coincidence at all. What was strange was that he got in to everything else. He half thought that Richard was doing it on purpose for some reason. Except for the fact that just didn't make sense.
He was the King and if he didn't want Tor at his party, he could just say so. For that matter, he could just have the word passed that he didn't want Tor to show up, send an invitation and smile glibly as Tor scrambled to make up a good reason why he couldn't show. That was kind of what “King” meant after all. Plus, the first time it had happened Tor hadn't even slept with his wife. Not that Richard cared. He'd probably sleep with Tor’s mom without even thinking about it.
That thought was creepy though. Oh, Tor knew that Laurali had sex, but only with his father right? Except, that wasn't likely at all. Not growing up royal like she had.
Eek. She'd even gone to school with Rich. And Connie. Who she'd said that she'd always liked. He'd assumed it was just a friendship thing but…
Tor decided to never think about that again. It wasn't his business after all. Plus, he really didn't want to know.
Ever.
Just as everyone else was starting to get the feeling of unease, Johanson the older, not so overly tall finance minister walked up and laid a gentle hand on Tor’s back.
“Ah, just the man and the perfect topic. I was thinking that we could have you pay for that celebration, as well as a few others… you don't mind do you? After all, your funds in the treasury just keep growing and the interest is frankly killing us.” The man smiled when he said it though.
So it was supposed to be a joke.
Tor did some quick math though. He wasn't really working, but he had funds coming in all the time, he actually owned a lot of things that had businesses attached, so rents and stuff. He didn't know where that gold was, but it would be enough for him to live on, comfortably even, right? He just needed to make certain Ali never had to scrape or lacked for anything… Which he could still do on about ten gold per year.
Maybe less once the Wildlands got turned into food producing lands.
“Um… yes. Let’s do that. I'd like to keep part of it for a my constant draw, but the rest should be fine to use. Let's leave that to the King’s discretion? I mean, use it, but the amount that, I need my financial man over here for this… Where is Prince Alphonse anyway?”
Count Ford twisted to look and started waving. It wasn't the most dignified thing ever, but it worked, which it just wouldn't have in this room if Tor had tried it. He'd need to yell which wouldn't play at all. After a few moments Rolph walked up, a lovely very dark skinned short woman on his arm, bright red hair, like the feathers of a bird and wonderfully blue eyes, that reminded him more of ice now than before. She'd changed them, only with her it was a real change, though how she did it was beyond him. He'd learned a tiny bit about genetics and biological science, from Abbie herself, but it didn't include doing that.
“Great Uncle Court Jester! So good to see you. I'd heard of the damage done. I wish to see you later, for treatment.” She hugged him, a light thing, but one complete with a happy smile.
The Queen quickly introduced Sandra and Johanson, making it clear that Abbie was supposed to already know everyone else. Johanson kissed her hand, which got a chuckle from everyone, because no one did that hardly at all, but Abbie just batted her eyes at him, which was cute. Tor thought so at least.
Ursala glared.
But only until she caught Tor watching her do it. Then she sighed and looked away. They really needed to find her a replacement fiancee soon. Then, she'd lost her chance to grab him up, which had worked out, but still, he'd made the offer when she needed it. That aside, he did have a bunch of brothers just as eligible as he'd been. He'd have to mention the situation to some of them.
Johanson stood gracefully and winked at the Prince.
“Counselor Baker was just saying that we could raid his treasury funds for Postern and some other festivities, but that we needed to arrange it through you and King Richard? Would that be right?”
Rolph blinked for a second then nodded, “yes. We could look into that after the meal perhaps? I'll need a word with Tor first, but I think that will work just fine.”
Taking Tor by the arm he grinned at the crowd, “back in a few minutes. I just have to find out what this is all about, you understand?”
For some reason the whole crowd chuckled, so Tor sighed mightily and tried to do it too.
That caused more laughter, which was what he was going for. With a thought, without moving his arms, he raised four inches from the floor so that he could float away with his tall friend. Rolf was tall enough that walking with Tor meant either crawling or a run for the smaller man. He couldn't do that right now. Rolph got it, but several of the people stared as if they'd never seen a Not-flyer before. That or it was considered tacky to use it at a function like this. Oh well, he had a reason for it, and they'd live.
Rolph, it turned out, didn't need to know much about the funds, “I was looking at your accounts the other day. I know you want to keep the funds moving, but almost half the treasury is just your coin, sitting there, not working at all. So, yeah, festivals, projects, all that. I get the idea. Should we just give Johanson the keys to it? I can protect enough to keep your draw safe for years.”
Tor didn't get that money at all. It was what he used to pay for Kolb's special army of insane combat giants. Tor just smiled and nodded for a bit.
“Yeah, lets. Also, hold the same portion aside for the Lairdgren group? I told Sandra she was getting paid and the kids should to, for Kingdom work at least, students or not. I can't think of a better person to dump all that gold on than the finance minister though. Practically his job description even.”
That out of the way, the Prince wanted his own update about the school. Ah. Right. He had people there too, even ones that Tor didn't know about. He was actually popular, even as “Rolph Merchant” and everyone liked him.
Swallowing Tor started with the list of the dead.
“Oh… Yeah, I knew all of them. Tracy's gone? She was only sixteen. I… sorry. I'll be all right. Sad about Campbell too. He wasn't my favorite person all the time, but I never wished him ill.”
Tor just stood, silent for about half a minute, remembering how they all died.
How he should have saved them. He'd done it before, frozen death dust in the air. Of course if he'd tried that this time, it wouldn't have worked and he'd have died too. It wasn't like there was nothing to be done though. If their shields would have worked, or if he had a wider field of effect on his own shield…
Perhaps a very large field? One the size of the palace or larger? Then the units could be put in strategic locations, at the different schools, the palace and so on. He…
Couldn't do it.
Tears came to his eyes, but he didn't say anything and Rolph just smoothly moved between him and the room, so that no one would see his weakness. He fought the emotion for a minute and gained control of himself with a lot more work that he thought it would take. Finally it occurred to him that he wasn't the only builder in the world.
Not even the best. Not by half.
“Rolf, I mean Prince Alphonse. Would it be possible to meet with some builders, I mean… I don't know many, Instructor Fines and the ones at the school, but some of the big names, Maris and Nox? Larter and Gamble? We need things built. The Lairdgren group, they're good, and going to be better, but right now we need a way to stop nanos. So far it's been about the most effective thing Austra has used. I may not even need to meet with them, just a note or something, but they have no reason to even look at anything coming from me…” He sighed.
The Prince shook his head, making his still short red-hair move just a tiny bit.
“Tor, you're too nice, you know that? You're the Magics Counselor for the whole kingdom. They're the wizards. They don't work for you, so it's not like the army, but if you send a note, they'll read it. Wouldn't you? Think about it and forget that you're the one in charge for a second. A messenger comes, hands you a letter with the kingdoms official seal on it…”
It was a point.
“Ah, right, I just, well, that obviously isn't real, is it? Your parents put it together when they figured I was going to die, a kind of promotion that didn't mean anything, which was really nice of them, but, you know, I don't expect it to last. It isn't a traditional position or anything.”
His friend stared at him a little and finally hugged him warmly, arms barely touching him. People looked but the words where still just whispered into his ear gently, so just for him.
“Tor, it’s as real as you make it. Just like anything else. Do the job well enough and no one will doubt your worth. This way they just don't have to hold a party or parade every time you do something good for the kingdom.” He moved back, a strange look on his face, one that spoke of more pain than should be there. “Of course it also means you really are responsible for the kingdom now. Kind of takes that whole argument away, doesn't it?”
That didn't seem to make him happy. Not at all.
Dinner was called then and as often happened, for no apparent reason, he got sat next to the Queen. Of course, now it almost made sense, having had sex with her, he was kind of her lover, right? If she wanted him to be. Not that he could do anything about it at the moment, which sucked. A lot. As soon as he settled she touched his right arm and looked past him.
“I hope this is all right? Trice suggested it… If it's a problem we can fix it, but it would take some doing to save face.”
He followed her gaze to the seat next to him, making him suspect the worst.
It was just Maria Ward though, with her Count on the other side. A little louder than he intended he spoke to the Queen.
“Oh, good. Maria, Marvin and I are good friends now.” The words came out quickly and half the table looked at him. He just meant that they were friends, forgetting that “good friends” meant more in the Capital than in Two Bends. There it told people that you'd back up someone totally. Here it had a different flavor. It kind of said they were lovers.
Eep!
Worse he couldn't explain or take it back, not without humbling them again. The Queen smiled at him and seemed happy about what he'd said though.
“Oh, wonderful! So good to set all that behind us then. Are you staying with Tor and Alissa then for Postern?”
It was the Count that answered, smiling openly, teeth shining a bright white against his dark skin.
“We were thinking of asking Tor down to our celebration actually. Alissa too of course. In fact, everyone is invited.” He glanced around the table, still smiling. Very few smiled back.
That could happen when you had recently declared war on a whole country, even if they had taken it back within a month. Inside two weeks actually. It was a mistake.
From across the table Rolph smiled and shook his head.
“Sorry Marvin, we can't ask anyone to miss the biggest Postern celebration in history. I suggest we get Tor to set up a few more houses and invite your people up here. With the availability of civilian transport now, we should probably set up more than a few places for all our friends that will want to visit. Lets actually register for this though, instead of the traditional procession of Kings week. Noram day was awful this last time.” He sounded so happy a pleasant buzz went up around the table.
Tor turned to Maria and smiled a bit, trying to look cheery instead of just exhausted. Her eyes looked worried for some reason. It was so frustrating not reading people on the field level. How was he supposed to know what the problem was. He couldn't ask, not here.
“Not to… be a pain Maria, but would you help us with this? The planning for it and all? I can't do it alone at all and really, it's important. Now more than ever. Please?” He wheedled a little, which got her to blush and duck her head.
“Honored. Who else is working on it?” Her voice was meek. Almost subservient.
Gods and monkeys it was hard to tell what she was thinking at all. He didn't let himself shrug, turning to look at Connie instead. She generally knew this stuff better than he did.
“Um, your majesty?” It was his turn to sound meek.
“Well, alright, since you're asking…” She winked, a playful thing that got a laugh from the whole table, the room having gone silent to listen.
“I'll be helping you Maria, and will volunteer my family, if they aren't otherwise occupied. Anyone else want to lend a hand? It's quite rewarding really…”
For a long moment the room went silent, finally a single voice from the far side of the table, the very end, spoke with a familiar tone.
“I think I might be available to lend a hand.” Burks Lairdgren said, sounding pleased enough about the whole thing.