Just because his life had been turned upside down, that was no reason for Tor to be gloomy. Especially since that could set Karina off. Still, the King and his advisors decided that the safest way to “hide” them all was to send half the palace Royal Guard and a train of wagons and carriages off to some undisclosed location thousands of miles away. He didn't want to be a pain, but it was about the worst thing that they could have done as far as Tor was concerned.
“Why? I really don't like carriages, I can put up with it, but we could be wherever this is in hours if we flew, instead were all going to be sitting in the back of a bouncing box for months instead. That's not much of a vacation, it's more like a punishment.” Tor tried, and largely failed, not to sound like a petulant, and spoiled, little Prince. To make it worse the real Prince was the one coddling him out of his dark mood.
“If we flew we'd be there fast, true, but we'd miss all the things in between. There are people to meet and new things to get to know! It's an adventure Tor. Besides, we have orders, so, you know, start enjoying it, because it's what we’re doing anyway. Complaining the whole time won't help anything.”
It was a point. A good one really. What would being a jerk gain him? A much less pleasant trip. That was the only thing and no matter how he twisted it, not a benefit at all. Fine, Tor sighed and made himself smile, then nodded and asked what they should do.
“Oh, well it's the first day, so normally people read or tell stories. I suppose you could work if you wanted, but try not to disappear on us into your head for days at a time? We're supposed to be having fun, and really, carrying for “corps Tor” isn't as thrilling as you might think.”
Tor smiled and stuck his tongue out playfully.
“OK. I think I'll go running, want to come?” It was a genuine offer, but Rolph just begged off and gave him a wave.
“No, but take a guard with you, or two. I'll join you later for some fight practice. I know I should run, but it's a pain. Literally, I'm getting too large for it to be comfortable at all anymore.”
Tor didn't wait, climbing out while the slow vehicle still moved along slowly. It was hard for him to approach the guards and ask a favor, but Rolph had set the conditions, so he made himself find Wensa. He knew her best after all. When he asked, she just nodded at him and gestured to two people on horseback. One was Veren the guy that had kicked his butt a few days before over wanting to take Karina off to school. The other was a familiar looking woman with medium dark skin, raven hair and a hawk like nose.
“Veren, Kara, job for you.” Wensa didn't wave or do anything else to signal them over, but seconds later they were both there, not looking eager, but not really seeming like anything.
“Master Tor here needs to get the first part of his daily exercise done, running. I want to use it as a forwards scouting mission too, so push him at best speed about fourteen out and meet us as quickly as possible on the return.”
Veren didn't make a move that showed any interest in what was being said at all, but his words were questioning.
“That's going to be close to twenty miles. Best pace?” The implied question to Tor was clear, could he do it? Tor wasn't sure. He couldn't outrun a horse, so could only hope Wensa meant his best pace, not the animals.
Wensa gave a single nod.
“Yes. When you return we'll move directly into practice for the day.”
“Alright. Ready then Tor?” The huge man said casually.
Tor blew out a breath.
“Probably not, but I know it's what I need to be practicing, so… yes?”
Veren didn't wait, just spun the horse and kicked Tor in the back with his right boot. Nothing happened, because his shield was on, making them all laugh out loud, except Tor.
Kara took off at a trot.
“Run!” She called back.
So he did. It was fast, faster than he'd ever tried to go for more than a mile or two before and he gasped in pain through the whole thing. He had to drop into a meditative state, focusing on the world around him so he wouldn't fall down, and how his body moved, in order to bear the discomfort. He could still feel his insides trying to turn to water and the cramps along the side of his stomach wall on the left side as he traveled. The road curved and had hills, but instead of slowing as they went up, the Royal Guards helpfully spurred their horses to go faster. On the downhill they slowed a bit, but it was never enough to actually catch his breath.
The trip back was faster, since the whole group had been moving along the whole time and basically caught up. When Tor saw the dust he nearly fell down in relief, but it was just an illusion, the actual wagon and carriage train was miles off yet. He wanted water badly, and they found the whole group sitting under some trees by a decent little stream, without waiting Tor ran to it, checked it for quality and started drinking straight from it.
“Not too much Tor, space it out. You can only absorb a few cups of water per hour anyway. About three, maybe less for you, being so small.” This came from Kara, who joined him, laying on the bank, sipping the water from cupped palms.
Tearing himself away was hard, but getting sick wasn't going to help him, and she sounded like her information was real enough. It wasn't something he'd ever thought of before, but it wasn't like he had an actual water tank inside that needed to be refilled, was it? He went slow, as hard as it was and felt embarrassed that he was still gasping a little three minutes later.
Then he got five minutes to try and focus himself and rest before the weapons practice and unarmed fighting drills took place. It was way different than in school. The guards pushed him, but everyone worked at the same time, Rolph and Karina joined, and, rather cutely, so did Ali, though she didn't have a clue what she was doing.
The big difference was that it was a group effort. If you made a mistake, it would be capitalized on in the moment, but your opponent would instantly tell you what you'd done wrong. It didn't matter who you were, from the Major in charge, who turned out to be George, to the girl taking her first lesson. Everyone was treated the same way. It was a little scary at first, as every move was looked at through a lens, and a lot of what he was doing was found wanting. He knew he needed to get better, but was he that bad? Apparently so.
It was about half an hour in when Tor decided to try and work in the new ideas he had, based on what Burks had mentioned and a few other things besides. Shorter movements, combined striking and getting rid of the gaps, merged with trying to read his opponents field. It sort of worked, enough that George, who he was going up against grinned at him.
“Better! A little man needs to be precise, you’re missing half the blows and it seems like you keep getting stuck every seven seconds or so, your flow of attack hitches. Is that on purpose?”
Tor shook his head and tried to focus more, since George was going to attack as he answered, he could feel it.
“No, I just suck that much. Working on it though.” Rather than try to block the attack Tor moved in and attacked as fast as he could, managing to keep his flow going for nearly twelve seconds this time.
Then George skipped in lightly and took him to the ground easily.
When finished, an hour later, they all bathed in the stream and got back in the carriages and wagons, since Tor didn't think he could manage doing much else at the moment. Everyone else had books with them, even Ali, which seemed a great idea, only Tor hadn't thought to bring any. Well, he had the ones instructor Fines had lent him still. He took out one that was simply entitled “Theory”.
The book was fascinating once started. A lot of it he already knew or had worked out for himself, but some of the things he'd never even heard of. For instance, on the tiniest level space and time didn't seem to run the same way. Even before the book pointed it out, Tor understood some of what that might mean. Actions could be done at a much greater distance than he'd ever thought. Maybe even further away from himself than he could imagine? The idea was hard to put into a device, of course, since most of them didn't have direct mental feedback mechanisms and when the book was written, a long time ago it seemed, no one had managed it.
But Tor had. Trice’s arm.
More, it should be possible to make a field device that let people move through space. Just going from one place to another instantly. Quantum particles, the little pieces of reality, apparently did it all the time. A group just had to be organized properly to make it happen. All of them moving at once…
Ah!
It was riveting and he read until dinner, when they stopped at an actual inn, a place that had a slightly doubtful appearance on the outside and didn't get a lot better once in. It wasn't that bad, a lot like the unpainted house that he'd grown up in, some gaps in the walls that let the breeze in from the outside in the front room, and tiny rooms that actually were just… tiny. About enough room for a small bed and a chamber pot. It had an outhouse, something Tor had grown up with but that made the Prince and Princesses a little unhappy. Tor offered to set up a small house for them off in the woods, but George put his foot down.
“No. We don't need to advertise that the great Wizard Tor is traveling with this lot. Put up magic houses all over the place and people will talk. Just tough it out and we'll leave early in the morning.” His voice wasn't stern, but the feeling behind it was clear even without reading his field. Stop being whining little brats.
Tor chuckled and agreed with a head nod. It made sense after all. They were supposed to be hiding not on a real pleasure trip. That it probably didn't need doing wouldn't change the Royal Guard’s orders, would it?
He and Rolph shared a bed, which worried him a little, not wanting to wake up with Rolph trying to mount him in his sleep, but that part went fine. He got an arm thrown over him, since the bed was tiny and ended up waking with Rolph hugging him closely, but he just chuckled and jabbed his friend in the ribs with an elbow that didn't connect. Waking up Rolph stiffened, his body going rigid.
“Oh, god Tor… Sorry. I wasn't…” The yawn that interrupted him was huge.
“No huge thing.” Tor stretched and got up trying to act casual.
At least Rolph wore pajamas to bed. Otherwise Tor’s virtue may have been violated, at least in spirit. It was awkward, since his friend was clearly hiding the fact that he'd been aroused, even if in his sleep. That happened though. Half the time Tor woke that way himself. Not today, thank god, that would have been embarrassing. As it was his giant friend was holding the covers up, pretending to just want more sleep.
Not a problem.
Getting up, he grabbed his toiletries and went to clean up, finding that the basic washing at the inn took place outdoors if you wanted it, with a cold bucket and whatever soap you'd brought from home. Goody. Tor just grabbed one of the leaky wooden containers, it's handle nearly coming off on the right hand side, the small wooden peg having broken nearly off. He had to pick the whole thing up from the bottom to carry it to the gravel wash station. Heating the water would have taken moments, if he wanted to admit he was in possession of massive amounts of magical devices. Things that would cost enough to get attention.
Of course they were traveling in carriages, which were just plain wooden ones, but only the wealthiest people did that. Less rare than flying, sure, but would they be wealthy enough in their wooden carriages to have water heaters just sitting in their luggage? Sighing Tor admitted that didn't seem likely. At least it wasn't freezing yet. Just nearly.
He kept his temperature equalizer on, but each splash of fresh cold water came as a giant shock to his system. It had to be done, the carriages were too close inside, too small, for him to skip it. No one could afford to reek on a trip like this. No one else came out to join him at first, but as he finished the Royal Guard came out and followed his lead. Rolph stood in the door and shivered, a mock thing that pretended at being cold, coming out to join them making yelps the first few times water hit his temperature equalized body.
Voice low the Prince looked at George with a stern face, one that Tor wasn't used to seeing at all from his friend. “Fine, we'll freeze out here for the sake of appearance, but the girls are going to the baths before we leave. Varley is pregnant and I-”
“Seconded.” Tor said, splashing the cold water over his head to finish rinsing off as he stood naked in back of the inn.
Kara the guard looked over at him and grinned.
“You couldn't have told us that earlier? I would have waited for the warm water if I knew you were paying for all the girls to go to the baths in town…” It was a joke but Tor shrugged. He had the money for it and really, he wanted them to have guards the whole time, didn't he? Before he could say anything Rolph shrugged too.
“And have you get all soft on us? Besides, you and Wensa are the only cute girls I can sleep with on this trip…” It got a laugh and Wensa cocked a hip, which was actually sexier than Tor had thought it would be, her hair wasn't gray any more, outside of school. That and her age suddenly went away. Out of class it seemed she was in her mid forties Tor thought, not late fifties at all. Some kind of makeup to make her look older? That was both an interesting idea and a good one. Who pretended to have gray hair when they didn’t?
The Royal Guard Captain grinned, and actual happy looking thing. Playful.
“Hmmm. Well, OK, but do you think you can take both of us at once? I think we might just be a little too much for someone so… young.”
Another laugh from the group made Rolph looked pained. Shaking his huge red head he sighed.
“Tor, see how they treat me? Doubting my abilities already and they haven't even tried me out. Of course they’re right. Guys think they can serve two women at once, but truth is that more than one is just extra effort. Not that it's not fun to try every now and then, but it just doesn't work in practice very well.”
Kara walked over, brown nipples perky and tight from the cold water, bending slightly and crossing her arms under them to push them forward, winked.
“Right, but two men and one women can work… You two are both of age, right?” Her gaze took in Tor too. Well, he was, regardless of looks.
Rolph chuckled, but didn't say no. Tor on the other hand just tilted his head. Kara seemed nice enough and was firm and fit, tall, but not taller than Petra, so about six-five or so. She had dark hair, real, since her pubic hair was as dark as her head. Tor didn't stare. It would be rude.
Finally she chuckled and moved off, going back towards the other guards. They whispered amongst themselves, which Rolph ignored, but it bugged Tor, since it seemed like it would be about them. Well, he should have said something, except what would he say? She was more than cute enough to sleep with and there was nothing wrong with Rolph, the idea was just scary to him. What if his friend used it as an excuse to touch him?
So Tor smiled at her later as everyone finished up, getting a grin back. It wasn't exactly being polite inside “the rules” but it was better than ignoring her, wasn't it? She didn't seem put off at least. Breakfast had to wait for the girls to get their bath, and was eaten in the carriage, everyone having decided that they didn't want to risk staying in the place two nights in a row. Half the guards had fleas, even after washing, since they'd infested their clothing when they slept. The royals had gotten the “good” rooms.
That got Tor thinking about what it would take to ward off insects like that. He had sort of promise Julie White something like that for her people, hadn’t he? It would be hard, except that now that he considered it, it really only had to cover animals under a certain size. Bigger than that and a person would handle it on their own. About the size of a mouse, should cover it, right? It didn't really have to be that large, but Tor wasn't wild about mice in general, so he could add that in without harm.
Tor figured he could manage it before the exercise portion of the day if he hurried and went deep to work, which would let him avoid a little boredom to, which given how little else there was to do, made it a fine idea.
After breakfast, sitting uncomfortably in the carriage, he did just that. Before going on his run three hours later he handed one out to everyone. Modified shields that would throw tiny bugs off if they were on you, or block as they approached, so that the fields would free a person of bugs too. The guards didn't comment, except after the exercise for the day, where a few told him it worked. It was a Royal Guard thing, Tor thought. If you presented something to them, they judged it and if it wasn't good enough, you'd hear all about it. Get it right and they just went on with their day, incorporating the new thing seamlessly.
Not high on praise maybe, but it worked for him, because compliments always made him feel uneasy anyway. Embarrassed, like he couldn’t possibly have earned them. Really, given what Burks had told him before, he wondered if that was in his personal pattern too? He was starting to get that something else was involved in that part of things, and it wasn’t all just simple “genetics” but what exactly it was, he didn’t know yet. Magic probably, but if so, he hadn’t been able to isolate the field for it yet.
The next several days went about the same way, except that more of the evening was spent with the girls. Tor made a point of practicing his violin each night too, behind his field of silence. It wasn't that he really believed he'd ever be going back to school, Tor just didn't want to lose what little he'd gained there. It was kind of frustrating, but what could be done except keep trying to learn?
The trip wasn't exactly exciting over all, but at least he had some friends to spend time with, even though the sights that they were promised didn't seem to come up for some reason. They saw trees, which were very nice, but not new. He’d grown up in a forest after all. By the fifth day it was getting hard for Tor to hold his temper with everyone, which wasn't fair, since not a single person had been anything other than nice to him. Ali would sit by him and talk about what kind of house she wanted, which he could provide in days, if he found a good location for it and procured the land. It was nice and even cute, but after a while he felt annoyed and had to fight to keep his mouth shut, and not ask her to shut up.
At least he managed to keep it off his face. Barely.
Varley mentioned historical facts, which were actually fascinating, but not a topic he could add to, so he just sat and tried to memorize what was talked about. Rolph kept looking at him funny, which had nothing to do with some hidden puppy crush and everything to do with realizing how close Tor was to losing his temper over stupid things. Of everyone, only his old friend got it. Karina was mainly quiet. When she finally spoke it was expected, and foolish at the same time. If understandable.
“I should go and get her myself.” The tall and red hair Princess said suddenly in a lull in conversation.
Tor didn't have to ask who she meant. Daria Serge.
What surprised everyone was that Tor agreed with her. After a fashion.
“You're a Princess. She's basically one. You can't go and kill her yourself without starting a war. A real, tens of thousands dying thing, not what we have now. What you need to do is have her killed. While you have a good alibi and look as innocent as possible. Possibly some kind of religious service or something, with one of the pacifist organizations? Feed the hungry or something… Which isn’t a bad idea. We should look into that anyway. But, really, we all should have good alibis. I mean, it wouldn't do to let any of us look guilty. Maybe rescuing babies at the time or something as a distraction?” There had to be something like that they could be doing, right?
Everyone stared at him as if he'd grown a second head and was slapping it or something. Like he’d slap Timmy? He nearly chuckled remembering that that’s what he decided to name his second head if he ever grew one. If his brother wasn’t still using the name.
Sure, he personally didn't go around killing people, but Daria Serge was evil and had killed Yardley Principle. In Noram. She was found guilty of it, and only got away because her dad threatened to destroy most of their major cities. Burks and him had used the threat as an excuse to free Denno, which obviously wasn't a great idea as it turned out. It definitely wasn't worth letting a murderer go. As it was she wasn't even a person that Denno could stand when it came down to it.
If someone that was a creepy would-be-tyrant or world conqueror or whatever Denno was, didn't like you, that was saying something, wasn't it? Tor thought so. Yes, in this case he could get behind killing her. But not at the expense of getting Karina killed, which was the likely outcome of her just running over to get the job done herself. They had guards and stuff after all.
The argument that came wasn't the one he expected.
“Wait,” Ali said softly. “You can hire people to kill others, I know that, everyone does. How would you find the right people? The guild is basically just a legend and even if you could find them someone how would you pay for it? Killing a Count must cost twenty thousand gold and that's here in Noram, I can't imagine what they'd want to get someone in Austra, especially Lilli, I mean Daria.” She tilted her head and was staring at Karina, who was her best friend after all.
Without thinking Tor corrected her, which was rude, you weren't supposed to correct anyone in public. Especially a woman. He’d read about that.
“Nine to ten thousand gold for a Count. I don't know what it would cost for her. Probably about ten times that. Maybe more. I don't even know if it could be done.” When Tor saw everyone’s face he realized his mistake. First, his rudeness, which he gently apologized for, giving Ali a small seated bow. Second, Tor, of all of them shouldn't know anything about hiring killers of that sort, should he? Not innocent Tor from Two Bends. Right. Especially not how much it would cost to kill a Count.
Kind of an “oops” moment for sure.
The conversation, thankfully, stopped then, as it was time to go to that night's run down inn. Not that Tor was picky, but they could have done as well with regular tents and minimal used of magic and probably called no more attention to themselves over all. This was vacation, so he played along.
It wasn't until later that things started to change. At dinner Alissa didn't say much, looking at him over her food instead of eating, when he wasn't obviously looking. Karina was no better, but was more obvious about it. It was the first night that he could share a room with Ali, since they actually had enough rooms for everyone here, this place being larger and slightly better kept, paint on the walls, white to give it a clean and fresh feel, and fresh sheets on the bed.
Rolph stopped him to chat for a bit when the girls went up, just making conversation about the weather, which meant that Ali and Karina were already in the room, pouncing on him the second he got through the door.
Well, Tor reflected as he was gently guided to the bed, one larger by nearly half over the one person things that most inns seem to favor. Karina, black hair hanging around her ears had a hold of his right arm, firmly, but not painfully. Ali activated an amulet around her neck, Tor could feel the field wash over them, a silence device.
That would be a good idea if they were planning anything that might get loud and disturb any of the other patrons, since other people actively having sex if you weren't, was annoying. Neither girl had removed her clothing, and in fact had changed into plain black outfits that didn't flatter or serve to be alluring at all. When Karina slipped the glowing truth device over his head, the hemp string brushing his ear on the right and causing him to glow fairly brightly in the small dark room with its white walls, Tor got it. This wasn't going to be about sex at all. It was an interrogation. Well… darn.
“Alright Tor, how do you know what it costs to have a Count killed by the guild?” Karina's voice was forceful, not bothering to be quiet, since no one outside of a ten foot circle would be able to hear then anyway.
Sighing Tor knew that he just couldn't speak at all. If he tried to dodge the question, it would show up as a lie and the truth could get other people in trouble. Instead he just looked at the Princess and shook his head slightly. She was savvy enough to get the idea, wasn't she?
Apparently not.
The questions kept coming, hammering him from all side, accusations of things he'd never even heard of, had Tor killed Helmholtz? That nearly got a response, because he didn't even know who that was, but he realized the trap and kept his mouth shut. She was just trying to get him to talk. Once he spoke, she'd catch him in a lie and then he'd have to speak the truth to clear himself.
“Are you plotting to kill Raul Peterson?” Karina asked, her voice low and menacing now, after twenty minutes of questioning or more.
“Are you plotting to kill my father?” She asked, knowing that Tor would have to say something to that. Only he didn't. Her eyes went narrow.
Alissa looked scared in the white and yellow glow coming off of him, but she touched his arm gently and looked into his eyes directly.
“Did you have my father killed?”
Tor flinched. Damn. Karina saw it and her eyes went wide.
“Seriously? Fuck Tor that's…” She backed up a little. “That's why you aren't talking. I see. OK. Well… Then we didn't ask. Right Ali?”
His wife smiled gently at him and gave him a soft kiss, tears in her eyes.
“Thank you! I'd wondered but… Everyone said that it wasn't possible, that it was just an accident. But how do we kill Lilli? We have to!”
Tor turned off the amulet around his neck, plunging the room into darkness. Couldn't anything ever just be easy? Now two more people knew what he'd done and one of them was required by law to report it to the King. It wasn't that Tor wouldn't have offered his life to take out Count Derring, the man was a true monster, as bad as any in a fairy tale or play, worse. Far worse. As a sitting Count even the King couldn't stop him from abusing his own people, his own family, in ways that nearly forced Tor to challenge the man to a duel directly. That would have led to war though.
So Tor cheated and hired it done.
After that he didn't speak, not wanting to give them more to work on. Even if he had to go to the gallows for it, Trice wouldn't. She'd actually set it up, but Tor had paid for it, making it his kill. That couldn't be dodged out of. He wouldn't talk.
The next days were tense, Karina kept trying to get him to disclose who'd set up the act for him, and Ali kept hinting that they could simply have Daria Serge killed and it would be good enough. Tor didn't answer her. His wife wasn't a murderer. He might be, but Tor would protect her from that with his last breath if need be. He'd do the same for any of his friends. Eventually they both got mad and stopped talking to him about it, then about anything. That got noticed, of course, Rolph and Varley tried to bring him out about why the other two had stopped talking to him, but he couldn't say, could he?
Rolph sighed.
“Look Tor, you don't have to tell me, I think I know what this is about.” They were riding in one of the carriages, Karina and Ali having opted for the other one alone.
Varley just nodded, looking slightly odd, speaking while looking compassionately into his eyes. Lovingly.
“Mom and dad told us before we left. It's… not a big deal. Lots of people do things like that, and it had to be done. It wasn't like you really did it even…” A bump in the dirt road make her jump and settle a little uncomfortably. The seats were padded, but they weren't what they could be if Tor had made them out of shield material for extra comfort. Then it would absorb the force evenly and feel soft all the time.
Tor nearly hit himself in the head. Duh! She sat there uncomfortable and suffering in silence, pregnant and riding in one of the gods awful carriages, and he hadn't even thought about what he could do to help her be a little more comfortable. Would it be overstepping his place to see to that? He decided not. If he was just a builder, a humble craftsman, then currying favor with a Princess, or even just a wealthy girl, just made good sense. And if he was just her friend, then of course he'd do what he could to make her trip better.
It hit Tor what they were saying then. They knew? The King and Queen had told them and more, they knew? For some reason that didn't seem right. If the King knew…
Tor didn't think the ruler would tell anyone at all. If the word got out it would require Tor be killed. Even if the words had been said, it wasn't proof, taking a deep breath that puffed out the front of his cream colored velvet travel outfit, Tor looked at them levelly, face going hard, trying to convey that he meant his next words totally.
“Don't speak of it again. Ever.” It sounded harsh enough that both the royals looked taken aback. It was rude, you didn't tell royalty no, and you didn't confront them directly, but it was for their own protection. If they knew that a Count was murdered, no matter how good the reason was, and did nothing, then it would be the same as the crown sanctioning it. Every other Count would have to go to war then, just to insure that they weren't next.
“Ever. Not to anyone. Promise me.” If his eyes were a little wild, well, that would be the panic he felt wouldn't it? This could all go so bad, so quickly. If he had to die Tor sure as heck wouldn't be taking his friends with him, not even if it made them hate him now.
“We promise Tor! I… didn't know you'd feel that strongly on the matter though. It's you know, nothing I haven't done.” Rolph spoke grimly, sadly.
“Gods! Rolph, I don't want to know about that either! Don't you get the implications of all this?”
The Prince looked ready to cry, which didn't fit his normal demeanor, real tears of agony filled his eyes and he was swallowing them back hard. That he'd been the cause of them made Tor feel awful, a true heel, lower than he'd remembered ever being. It was no way to treat a friend, but he had to, didn't he?
Varley stared at him, her face blank, then, after a minute her eyes went wide.
“All holy, fucking pig shit…” She said, which got the attention of both men. It wasn't her normal manner of speaking at all. Karina in a tense moment? Sure. The proper and brilliant Princess Veronica? Hardly.
“Alphonse, this isn't about Tor having sex with Denno Brown to help him escape, either real or magical seaming. It's… Count Derring.” Her voice was low and conspiratorial.
Rolph hit an amulet instantly, not even waiting a full three seconds. A silence field.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Tor… Doesn't want us to speak about Derring's death. His suspicious death while flying, his shield failing during a crash… Shields, that otherwise, have never failed at all.”
Tor blinked. This was about sex? Him and Denno? Tor started laughing and couldn't stop. He might be a hick, but he wasn't that worked up about people in Austra thinking he was a lover of men. It wasn’t real, but a lot of them had seen it happen themselves as far as they knew, so it was just a fact there, wasn’t it? Why would anyone care about that though? Even there it had just been about humiliating him because he was reticent, not because anyone would really care. Well, other than him, and his family back in Two Bends, all their friends and neighbors… He tried to make it seem like he was really worried, about that. They weren't buying it.
Not at all.
He might as well, run through the streets screaming the whole thing out at this rate. At least his friends went silent then, both with wide, frightened looking eyes. Tor couldn't even reassure them or anything, or explain what he'd been thinking at the time. Anything he said would make him look guilty. Mainly because he was. Amazing how that worked.
That led to his friends hardly speaking to him at all for the next week, preferring to ride in silence. None of the girls found his bed at all, and he just stopped asking. They didn't want a murderer, and who could blame them? Tor didn't regret what he'd done, not for a half instant even when he lay alone at night wondering if anyone could have ever really loved a thing like him? Probably not. They'd all just been being polite and that was before they knew what he really was.
Slowly Tor withdrew as well, not wanting to bother anyone, he started just building device after device, reading and practicing violin. He pushed too hard on building he knew. Burks had cautioned him to keep to one or two novel builds per month. Tor was doing that each day. His field held well though. Weeks passed that way, and by the time they reached the mountain villa he'd pretty much stopped talking at all. There was no reason to any more. Karina and Ali just glared at him and Varley gave him baffled and silent looks that seemed to probe his very soul, her blue eyes searching his brown for… something. Maybe to see if he was really a person at all?
Rolph tried to talk to him, and would spend time with him, just sitting and reading himself, not bothering to say anything after a while, but not leaving Tor alone either.
He kept to his exercises and tried to actually come up with ways to improve, reading his opponents fields while he fought, learning what subtle sense of things meant what, how to use the early warning to get out of the way or even block, how to counter with attacks instantly. It was harder with a weapon than hands and feet, until he learned to accept the practice wand, what looked like a big wooden kitchen knife, as a part of his own information. Then it went better. He still wasn't good, far from it, but he started to not be beaten as badly each day by the Royal Guards, and while they made suggestions they came slightly less often.
The place they were to stay looked like a huge stone keep, three stories high and a little worn on the outside, the roof sloped sharply and the stone looking like moss had grown on it during the relatively warmer summer. It was a nice enough looking thing, not rich, except for its size, but that could be forgiven. Especially since it was all fake.
It was one of the newer type of magical houses he'd made himself. The field screamed at him as they rode up, calling to him and saying “remember me?” which of course, he did. It was a part of him after all. All his devices were really, especially the complex ones like this. No one else seemed impressed with it, but that was probably the idea, a place that looked nice enough for these carriages to be out front, but not so nice that all the royal children would be stored there for safe keeping. It was a good plan.
Tor climbed out, with Ali next to him. She held his hand, but that was probably just a perfunctory thing, to make it look like she still loved him, even though she was mad that he wouldn't help make her a murderer too. Karina and Rolph just shrugged when they saw the place, as if it was what they expected, more or less and Varley grinned.
“There will be snow here, won't there? I've never really seen snow except in the ice garden you made mother Tor. Do you think it will get deep?” She seemed pleased with the idea.
He nodded.
“Yeah. This is up a bit in the mountains, I don't know the seasons here, but it's cold, even if we don't feel it. Look at our breath in the air, it looks like it's freezing already. Little crystals in the air, falling gently to the frozen ground below…” His voice sounded sad to his ears, not meaning to, he forced a smile, hoping it would look genuine.
“We can build snow people and forts if you want, once it falls.”
Ali clapped her hands and the others all smiled warmly at her action, even some of the guards. They seemed to like her and had kind of adopted her as a mascot. For that matter they even seemed to like Tor well enough, even Veren, now that he didn't have to kick Tor's butt for whatever reason he'd had. Apparently it was enough to simply beat him, and the man could let the disagreement about where Karina was going slip away. Then, this wasn't the Lairdgren School and there didn't seem to be a lot of people around either.
Only one it looked like.
A familiar black haired man, face cleaned of the stupid facial hair that Tor had always associated with him, hair short and for the first time ever, not covered with oil or grease. The clothing was nice, warm and plain looking, a thick padded brown jacket over brown trousers. The hands had thick gloves as well and on his feet were warm looking boots of unpolished tan leather.
Dorgal Sorvee.
Whee. Tor couldn't help the thought. They might be business partners now, and had even agreed to be friends, but in his current state all Tor could remember was how often the boy had hassled him in school. Bullied really. He was about six foot-two and lean, and annoyingly had a warm and friendly smile on his face when he saw them all.
“Welcome!” He cried out.
Happily too.
The bastard.
Tor seriously just considered leaving. The King and Queen had set him up to spend his “vacation” first in the back of a carriage, something he hated and everyone knew he despised, now he was being dumped on Dorgal freaking Sorvee? What had he done to the royals to deserve this anyway?
Tor nodded, trying to make himself smile. It was hard and seemed false, which Dorgal didn't miss, but didn't mention either. Rolph gave the boy, a man now, a warm hug and so did the others. Tor didn't move forward for one, and even though he seemed concerned Dorgal kept his distance.
“I, um, was asked by the King to provide a place for you to stay that would be pleasant but not too obvious, I hope this will serve? Let me show you all to your rooms, then I'll give you a tour of the place?” His voice was chipper, pleasant and even kind, which all served to piss Tor off a little.
It wasn't fair of him he knew. Dorgal hadn't made him into what he was. Life and his birth had. Lara Gray and Burks Green had. But not this guy. Taking his anger and sadness out on him would be cruel. Tor just nodded and waited for whatever else would come.
The inside was nice, much nicer than the outside, done to looked like a rustic cabin, but one that the King might use while pretending to be a rough and ready huntsman. There was a lot of exposed wood and soft furniture covered in leather, glowing lights on the ceilings and fires lit in their place. “Guide-fires, not real wood.” Dorgal said cheerfully.
“A good seller. The colors a little too red, but for a novice work it shows great promise, don't you think?” The question was directed at Tor directly, but seemed friendly enough so Tor nodded.
It really was true after all.
Rolph chuckled.
“Dorg, Guide is one of Tor's protegees. He has about six of them. Most of the good new work coming out of Lairdgren is from one of them right now, I'd wager. Brilliant lot of kids.”
“Oh? Even Lyn Cooper? Her tanning device is huge. It would explain why she let me have ten to sell when she found out we're friends then. Great girl. I was thinking of sending a go-between actually. Little young yet, but even if she said no, it wouldn't hurt to build a bridge there, don't you think? She could end up the next Tor in time…” The grin he gave Tor was sly and a little needling.
That was his way though, so Tor just stuck his tongue out.
“Better, Sorvee. She'll end up better than me. They all will be. You'd be lucky to snag her this young, before everyone else learns what she's really worth.” Not that it would be hard to be better than him.
Everyone laughed, but Tor didn't see the joke. He wasn't kidding.
Rolph patted his back gently.
“Kind of a high bar, don't you think? Having to be better than Tor?”
“Not higher than they can jump. They're good. All they needed was a chance. Don't underestimate what a poor kid will do for a chance. They'll do it, because they have to. Their lives depend on it. Possibly in a literal sense. Their whole futures are riding on what they do now. It isn't a kindness, pushing them out of their childhoods like we have, like I've been doing, but they won't fail. Not easily at least.”
Of course if they did, it would destroy them, most likely. Tor didn't mention that, he was already a big enough monster in the eyes of his friends. Adding to it wouldn't make him seem any better.
Still, the kids had a chance. In the end it was all he could really give them. They had to do the rest or it wouldn’t count.
The place had no servants, so Dorgal was cooking a roast deer for dinner. One he’d caught himself. The place was fully stocked with food, but like anyone with money, Dorgal had limited culinary skills, and most of his involved cooking meat, which he'd learned on hunting trips as a child, he told them. Well, Tor could cook, and it would give him an excuse to not mope as much, or hide in his reading and work.
He already had about thirty new devices, most in need of testing still. Hundreds of copies just sitting in his trunk too. Luckily they weren’t very big and he didn’t need any clothing.
The rooms were elegant, if simple, and they could redecorate if they wanted. Ali surprised him by putting her things in the same room with him, then shutting the door behind them.
“I'm Sorry.” Her voice came from behind him, when he turned she was on the floor, bowing over her knees, forehead making solid contact.
“I shouldn't have pushed you in regards to Lilli. It's not your concern, it's mine and Karina's and we've been acting badly. Varley explained why you can't say anything, and I won't ask again. But please, forgive me? I-” She started crying.
“I- can't ask…”
Tor picked her up off the floor and kissed her, the tears having not touched her lips yet.
“You don't have to ask forgiveness from me. We're married and even if we weren't, there are no debts between friends. That means hurt feelings too, not just gold. I'm sorry I'm not a better person, a better husband. I kind of suck at life, don't I?”
He chuckled, and tried not to let it sound dark. It just managed, he hoped at least.
“I'll try to do better.”
The easy part about life with Ali was that she readily accepted sex as an apology and didn't require a lot of explanation from him. It was what they were doing when Karina walked in, shut the door and sighed, looking at them.
“Of course, trust Ali to let a little cock make it all better. Well, shove over then, I might as well get some too if the whole silent treatment and withholding sex thing isn't going to work. Didn't think it would on Tor, but had to try, didn't I?” She turned her clothes off and climbed on the bed, her soft lips kissing a trail down Tor’s back, when she got there she bit his buttocks gently.
“I'd do it harder, but it stings when a shield suddenly activates and your touching it, I really don't want to know what it would do to teeth.”
Tor was inside Ali already and hadn't stopped when she'd walked in, so she reached between his legs and fondled what she could reach of him gently. She tried to work her mouth into place, but the angles were all wrong for it. Tor didn't help her by shifting around until after Ali was well pleased, but then he rolled over to service the Princess too. No debts between friends, even if one of them had been kind of a jerk.
So, at that, as if something had been decided, everyone started acting like nothing had happened at all. The next day it snowed, which made everyone happy at first. The girls and Rolph ran out to look at it and play, even though Rolph had seen plenty at Lairdgren. The guards didn't, until the Prince declared a snow war, then suddenly large and complex battlement went up, the order of the day seemed to be the Royal Guards against royals. Tor cooked and made hot chocolate, which he could only do because of some canned milk and a recipe someone had kindly added to a package of brown cocoa powder from the south.
As expected the guards won that day’s event handily, outnumbering and frankly outmatching the royals, who came in soaked and steaming. They didn't get cold, but apparently the tradition was for chocolate. At home it had always been warm cider, but no one wanted that here. Their loss.
George came in a smile on his face.
“Well, the winner gets to pick the next victim, I mean “opponent” by tradition. So, I think that Tor and Dorgal here will serve well enough, don't you?” The other guards all agreed with happy and somewhat vicious sounding chuckles.
Wonderful, Tor thought, but what could they do? It was tradition. They'd start after breakfast the next day.
Yay.
Vacation.