Rolph, Sara and Ursala all sat in his hut and tried to help him craft the perfect letter. The only problem was that everyone had their own take on what that was. Rolph thought he should play the whole thing very seriously and use Varley as a goad. Sara, pacing on the red carpet holding a rock about the size of Tor’s fist that seemed to be made of focus stone, disagreed.
A lot.
“She might take it as a signal to leave off what she’s doing and come back now. She loves Tor, so if she thinks he’s giving her a real signal, she might just take it, after what happened before with them. This has to be a lot harder on her than it seems from here… You didn’t see her after everything went down after the restaurant, Tor, she cried for days.” Sara kept pacing, annoyingly enough she tapped the rounded piece in her hand on the table each time she walked past it. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that Tor was trying to write, and it made the table bounce just enough that his pen jumped a little each time. Tor was just about to ask her to stop when Ursala pointed at the odd rock like thing and asked what it was with her eyebrows raised.
“Oh, um, well, one of the guys from the work shop gave it to me, he, uh, wanted to know if I’d get Tor to put a light on it, if it’s possible. It’s cheaper than wood even and if it works he figured that a lot of items could be done that way and you know, get the price down, since it’s pretty, but cheaper than gems are. I told him I’d ask, but didn’t promise anything. It’s basically stone, and I know that’s harder to do really than metal. Sorry, I shouldn’t-” She stopped when Tor put his hand out.
“Right, I’ll try tonight. It’s a good idea. Here, give it to me though, so you don’t break the table with it.” He grinned and set it next to him. If it would take a field at all, it was more than just a good idea, it was a brilliant one. Everyplace had dirt after all. Dirt cheap was even a saying. At least in Two Bends.
Ursala thought that he should be more demanding and bossy in his letter, telling Trice that she had to apologize to him. Rolph shook his head, his long hair fanning out, because he’d left it loose, which he almost never did.
“No. I know Trice and while that would make her mad, it won’t have the same effect as if Tor writes something more positive that gives her hope. Plus, think about it, if he says “I love you come back to me, I’m a better person now” and she slams him in front of the Wards, that will have a lot more impact than if he’s a jerk to her.”
Ultimately it was up to him, so he split the difference.
Tor told her that he missed having her as his friend and that he’d tried to change some of the things she’d mentioned, even though he was still short, of course. He mentioned the engagement to Varley, but that it wasn’t set yet, so if she’d come back, even if she didn’t want him, just so they could be friends again…
It wasn’t anyone’s idea of perfect, but Tor hoped it would be enough, because that and some stuff he had laying around was what would be going. It wasn’t real junk, but it was odds and ends. Some things he simply wouldn’t give her to trash. She couldn’t have a river, or a shield, not past the one she already had. It might end up on one of the Wards after all. He did send some temperature control plates, one for an oven, a griddle, complete with metal top and focus stone stand and pretty much one of everything else he had around. At the end Ursala whistled and pointed at the pile of stuff that was packed into a shipping crate with a float on it.
“Sara, what would that market value of all that be? Roughly I mean?”
Short blond hair moved a little as she swung towards the open face of the box and looked in. Pointing and obviously counting something up she moved her head slightly, but rhythmically from side to side.
“Really hard to know, I mean half of this stuff isn’t even on the market yet, which makes it worth a lot more than you’d think, to tell the truth. At a guess, since we know Tor and could probably get a discount if we’re nice to him?” She grinned and looked at Tor with a smile. “Just kidding Tor. I know that you wouldn’t charge us… Um, about… five thousand gold. Maybe six thousand. If it were being sold on the market by Debri and we used my family discount. Way more right now since a lot of it just isn’t. About five times that?”
She said it casually, but even Rolph did a double take when he heard her say it.
“Welcome to Tor’s shop of the curious.” The Prince said with a grin while spreading his hands in a grand fashion, as if presenting the pile of junk in the box to an audience.
Tor chuckled.
“Oh! That reminds me, Sara… Godfrey mentioned that we need a store here, the soap and needles kind, and I don’t know any merchants other than you. I know that you can’t do it, of course, because you’re military now, but, do you know someone that could? Real things mainly, but if they want I’ll make up some stuff like this for them to sell too, if that would help? I don’t know if a lot of people here would buy it but…” He looked at her with a shrug, and she stared at the far wall, then nodded.
“I think I might, if… Well, let me ask first?” Shaking her cute blond head she stood up and started pacing.
Tor realized that he had an appointment soon, so dressed in his oldest pair of student browns and headed for the door again, taking him past the crate. To his surprise Rolph did the same and joined him as soon as he saw Tor starting to move. Sara and Ursala stared at them both. Like they’d gone mad. Or at least were acting strange.
“Um…” The Countess muttered gesturing at their odd clothing choices.
“Oh, this, well, you know the Kolb is starting a school for elite warriors out back right? So, we two are the first students.” Rolph gestured between the two of them. “As unlikely as it seems. I think he’s trying for some high profile people to start with to drum up business. Want to come? I mean I know you’re still recovering right now, but he really is good, and even Count Thomson learned a lot from him…”
A few minutes later they were all, much to Tor’s surprise, walking towards the back wall with the heavy wooden crate floating behind them about a foot off the ground. Sara was wearing a pair of her oldest blacks, like she either expected really hard work or didn’t want to show up Tor too much. Either way she looked pretty hard and lean, the loose clothing draping just right on her frame.
Ursala had put on a light brown leather outfit that actually had pads at elbows and knees. The Countess also carried a blunt practice sword and a long well worn blond wood stick that she pulled from the back of her luggage. She walked smoothly, her hips still a little wide, but Tor noticed, most of the fat that had originally been on her when they met was gone. So had that all been baby weight back then? How pregnant had she been? He didn’t want to ask, he decided. Worse… he probably didn’t want to know. It would be sad if any baby died, but to have one killed like that if she was close to delivery, that would be… He didn’t have words for it. Her will power must be immense to keep her from declaring war on County Ward with every breath during the day.
Tor wondered if she’d been sent to his house in order to delay her or… Did the King and Queen understand that if she did go to war that her forces would be going in with the best he could outfit them with? He didn’t want innocent people hurt, but a fast battle with overwhelming force used by one side was about the best resolution that such things ever got, outside of good diplomacy.
That being the case, was he supposed to be making sure he had things ready for her? He’d have to sneak some more work in, then. The military would have to wait a bit, or at least be willing to take things at a slightly slower rate. Of course copy work wasn’t that hard, not with good templates, so maybe, if he was careful he could get it all done?
Kolb and a giant young man walked over, one that stood a head taller than the weapons master did. It took a moment before Tor recognized him at all; the boy just looked so different. David Derring. The puppy fat was gone and he was stripped lean, nearly skinny. Under the flesh hard muscle stood out in corded bands. Tor wasn’t sure, but thought he might have been able to make out a hint of abs hiding under the leather the kid was wearing, if someone that could destroy you without trying could be referred to as a kid any more.
Kolb smiled and waved at all the people and the box, but didn’t say anything.
Tor got it.
“Um, the box is what we talked about the other day? If you could see to it as discussed? The people are new students. There may be more if you’ll take them, perhaps some of the ladies of industry or military personnel? I figured that if the criteria allowed for a couple people like me here, then these others would easily make the grade.” He meant it to be a joke but Kolb just nodded instead.
Sigh.
The man didn’t even grin as he looked at everyone else, just regarding them coolly.
“Alright. Testing then, for everyone but Alphonse and Tor. Tor, run the outer wall five times at best speed. Everyone else with me.”
Running. God, he hated running.
Especially now that anything over a fast walk was leaving him breathless and tired. Dropping into a trance he made himself move and then started working on what he needed for the shield on the palace. He could make combined fields… that’s really what the rivers were in a way. The shield itself wasn’t hard, just big, he knew field type pretty well now. So all he really needed was to figure out blast forces in the air.
Normally air was a good thing, but a sudden burst of it could do a lot of damage he’d been told. How could that be stopped? It was hard to figure out, but if a “shock wave” as Kolb called it, was really like he said, a vast and organized sound of incredible force, then could he form a shield that would stop sound, but not air flow? If he could do that, then a stronger version should keep out a sudden blast of it, stealing its force away. At least he knew what to do there, just tuck that force deep into the ground and direct it away from the shielded space.
The problem was distracting, but he thought he might have it figured out as he kept pounding away. On the sixth lap he realized that he was done running… and that the river floating in the air behind the structure barely cast a shadow at all. It was well placed, hidden a few hundred yards back from the wall, just peaking above a low rise. He had to jog over to actually see it. He’d found it by sensing the water itself, along with the organizing structure of the magic. Without trying, due to the light trance he was in, probably.
Very well done indeed. Now he just had to get some pumps in place so that they could use the water easily. The other base would need some too. The long distance ones he’d made up in Ross during the fire would work, until he got something better.
When he got back Kolb looked at him with concern at his long absence, so he shrugged.
“Sorry, worked on a problem while I ran and ended up doing extra. The river looks good, through here at least. I have some pumps that will reach… Can your people hook up the flight school too? Maybe without them knowing about it? That will be harder…” He almost said that Karen could make them work, but stopped himself just in time.
Without warning his eyes got damp and a sob caught in his throat. She was dead and he’d never see her again. He wiped at a tear and shook his head when Kolb gave him a questioning look.
“A moment. I… put off grieving for some of my lost friends, and this is the first time I’ve really come to a fight practice since…”
As hard and scarred as the bald man was, Kolb understood. Tor didn’t want to say too much, because almost everyone else in the yard had lost her too. Her own brother stood not fifty paces away even. It wouldn’t help for him to stir up all the old memories for them.
It didn’t get him out of practice, but it did get him a minute to collect himself. Luckily, due to his pitiful state of conditioning he got to start slow, lifting and swinging stones, which had been made of focus stone, and ranged from about ten pounds up to weights that he honestly didn’t think anyone could lift alone, rounded things bigger than he could have wrapped both arms around. Hundreds of pounds or more at least. Davie worked with him on it, starting him on exercises with the heaviest weight Tor could manage and then working each one until he couldn’t move any more. Then he got a brief break, long enough to suck down some water but not really rest, and was put directly to sparing with people.
He’d watched them all practice while he worked harder than he had in months, trying to catch a sense of how good they were. Everyone was better than he was Tor decided. Even Ursala used her practice sword and stick like a pro. Not as good as the others, but Tor didn’t doubt she could kick his sorry little butt. When he was up for practice Kolb called over one of the other combat giants, his new instructors, a guy that Tor had worked with before, but not for half a year or more. No doubt the man had gotten even better, pushing harder because a war was on.
The man didn’t cut Tor any slack, apparently as punishment for him having missed too many work outs in a row. He got it, really he did. When that man had “killed” him five times, another new opponent was called in. Several of them had gathered around to take their own turn apparently, since there favorite target was back in the game. He stuck with it as best he could. When the second round of him being beaten with a practice sword was over, he was “rewarded” by being allowed to fight the remaining giants with his bare hands.
Because that made sense. If any of these people ever came at him to fight, he’d just take off and run away. Like he was supposed to.
Apparently in this new troop or whatever the name ended up being, practice rules were harder than at school, it now being fair to hit or kick to the arms, legs, middle and back full force as well as use full force throws and joint locks. At least when people were working with him. He did the best he could, fighting, kicking and even pretending to bite and gauge eyes.
Tor would have run away, but he was already too tired. Anyone would catch him instantly now, most likely. That was part of the plan, no doubt.
The last person he faced wasn’t as big as the others, thankfully, but hit nearly as hard. They wore a full helm, so that he could practice blows to the face as well. The person was lean, but obviously a woman, Tor felt her breasts through her leather training outfit. They ended up locked on the ground, both struggling to try and lock a joint, to distract the other, or throw a punch that would have ended things. The woman writhed under him, her hips rhythmically thrusting, trying to both throw him off and entice him at the same time. Like that would distract him in a fight? After a while he actually managed to get a few good shots in to the face plate when Kolb called an end to the exercise.
“Kind of pitiful Tor. Your conditioning is all but gone, and you’re far too little to give that away against an attacker. Everyone is. Tomorrow same time, unless you have a major build planned?”
Tor, gasping for breath, shook his head.
“No, sir, just some light copy work. I’ll be here.” Tor was just glad that no one had hit him in the groin this time.
“Good enough. I may have a project idea or two soon, but not until you’re in better shape retucally.”
Dismissed, they all walked back towards the hut, so that they could grab showers and clean clothes for the rest of the day. Tor was already sore, which was probably his just due, for failing to make himself stay in better shape. It was a process he knew, that had a frequent toll, in work. Stop paying and it goes away. He hobbled as best he could, trying to keep up with the others. Ursala stared at him, then looked at the others, even turning around to see if Kolb was still watching as they walked through the door that had been cut in the smooth black stone. Once through she stopped them all by raising her right hand in front of the group.
“Wait… did they just…” she looked at Rolph first, but then started at Sara. “I mean, what was that? That’s not normal at all, even for hardened warriors. Do they train like that?” She asked, sounding exasperated suddenly.
Rolph seemed baffled, but Sara got it and nodded, “Yeah. It’s the way Tor’s been trained for years too. Here watch this; Tor, out of the four of us, who do you thinks the best fighter?”
What? That was an odd question to ask. He had to get her to clarify what the parameters were, just who would win a fight? Armed or unarmed? Shields, armor, or street clothes? There were a thousand variables to consider.
She told him to consider just a straight up fight, no shields, no weapons, no mental tricks, just body against body.
“Rolph.” Tor said instantly, not even having to stop and think about it. “Skill counts, but he’s a giant compared to the rest of us, and he has a lot of training. That’s provided he’s willing to hurt us of course, which normally wouldn’t happen, but presuming an actual, anything goes fight, it would be him almost every time.”
It was probably true Sara allowed, nodding gently. Then she asked who had the greatest skill level, again making him think it was a trick.
“Um, not to be mean to Rolph, or you Ursala, you’re both really good, but Sara probably. Those special school kids are all good…”
Sara waved at Tor sharply and turned back to the Countess.
“Like that. He has no clue. Tor thinks I’m good because the one time we practiced together I “won” more often than he did. This was right after Kolb had him run fifteen or sixteen miles. Even then he had to be alternated between Trice and I without a break and he still almost took out Trice in the first fifteen seconds. She was totally not ready for him. Hitting him is a bit like slapping a piece of oak. It most often hurts you more than the wood. You can damage it if you try hard enough, but unless you destroy it, it almost doesn’t matter. He just keeps coming at you.”
What, Tor wondered, were they talking about? He had to run, because he was too little and weak to do anything else. If anyone ever caught him, he’d probably be all out of breath and exhausted, so he had to practice that way most often. Kolb had told him that early on. It made sense, didn’t it?
Rolph nodded with a grin.
“Oh, yeah, it makes sense Tor. No one does it, except for some of those people back there and you, but it does make perfect and total sense. If you’re training someone to fight against massive unknown threats, it’s a great method. Given everything, you should probably practice harder though. Kolb’s right. Your conditioning sucks right now.”
Sara agreed and started walking again, leaving Ursala standing next to Tor, muttering, “but…”
Grinning Rolph just shrugged.
“Look Ursa, it’s just true. We’re at war, and if Tor isn’t a prime target of our enemies, then they’re too stupid to involve themselves in a battle at all. We can’t afford to have soft stick man Tor waiting for them to come kill on a whim with a perfumed pillow. We need warrior Tor to come out and play now, or their going to take him from us, and then what will we do for entertainment?”
The large woman sighed and started walking. It kind of made sense once it was said out loud. Tor really had a lot of work to do. Maybe more than he could do? The idea frightened him a little, because there was never enough time. He had to make the time somehow.
That and pay attention to the things that were important. What was important to him though” Tor wondered as he walked, muscles tightening already.
Gold?
That was certainly useful, but it was a tool, a device like anything he made, a way to get things done. Women? Tor knew that he certainly liked them and he could feel how alluring the whole system that the nobles had could be. Not that being a part of that would really get him any attention from the ladies. Maybe. But that was something he’d given up on already, a long time before. Anything he found himself falling into now was a gift in that department.
His family?
Yeah, he cared about them. The other people in Two Bends too. His friends. Those were the important things. The rest was nice maybe, but those things, his family and his friends, that’s what he was really about. Then maybe… helping people, even if he didn’t know them?
There were, he reflected as he hobbled towards home, worse things that he could be, than a person that worked to help other people. For a while there, after Trice, he’d lost that. That sense that it wasn’t just OK, and not stupid to care about other people, but good.
Was it all right for him to not hate Trice now then?
She’d hurt his feelings, but if she’d really done it to try and find the person or people that had tried to kill him and even now was in danger, trying to do the same thing to help her own parents and maybe even help him, did that matter? Did his feelings matter past trying his best to love people and be a good person? Nothing good had ever really come of his being a jerk. Death weapons, threats and… no, that was about it. Maybe some pain for other people. Disappointment.
It occurred to him then, as he walked, that the last person he’d fought with back there had been really familiar. After thinking for a few seconds he got it, the sense of presence clicking into place between one breath and the next.
Trice.
Face mask or no, he recognized the body, the fighting style. The way she’d scooted under him as if trying to be provocative, even though he always ignored that kind of thing. It kind of surprised him that it had taken him that long to realize it. Heh. Interesting. A bit slow of him.
“So, um, did anyone else notice that Trice was back there?” Tor asked, not really concerned. If Patricia Morgan wanted to be there, then she could be. If she wanted to be friends, he would, and if she wanted to kill him that badly for some reason… he’d let her.
He’d trusted Wensa enough that he let her have an open and free chance to kill him and she declined. Did he really trust Trice any less? An hour ago the answer would have been a simple yes, now… It felt more complicated for some reason, and less. She was his friend, even if he wasn’t hers. That was all. From now on he was going to remember that. It was, simply put, who he wanted to be, if he got to pick at all. A person that was there for other people, no matter what.
He chuckled a bit as everyone stopped to stare at him.
“Well, it would normally make sending that box to her easier, but I guess it has to go through channels still. It probably wouldn’t look good to the Wards or whoever if she came back with a box of goodies and love notes from her friend Tor’s house, would it? “Oh, my yes, I hate him so, but look at the prezzies!” I don’t think anyone would fall for that.”
Sara looked straight ahead and started walking again, but Rolph just shrugged.
“Yeah, um, she’s been here for a while, off and on. It’s where she’s been staying for the last few week, hiding as one of the prostitutes. The idea is that she works her away around and tries to kill you again I think, except that at the same time, instead of just being all industrious like your little friend Sorlee, my cousin has actually been using this as a base to take down the Wards, and the people behind them. So, the Wards don’t really know she’s here, I don’t think, but she kind of has a cover if they find out. ”
Tor walked too. Ah.
“Well, I guess that makes sense. I take it she isn’t really planning on killing me? I mean if she’s been here for weeks, well, if that was the plan, I probably wouldn’t have woken up from making those rivers for Afrak, right? You were there to take care of me, sure, but people have to go to the restroom, take walks that kind of thing. It’s the middle of the compound, or close enough, we have a good wall at least, but someone already inside wouldn’t just be able to walk into the hut.”
They all agreed that she wasn’t there to kill him, not really at least.
Kill him… It spurred an idea of sorts, that kind that niggled and wiggled in the brain, but wouldn’t come out yet. Forcing it wouldn’t work, he knew, but that was all right. It would come, ideas always did.
They were good that way.
Ursala laughed. It wasn’t, he saw, directed at him at all, but at Sara, who still walked stiffly. And slightly ahead of them. She had a cute butt, Tor noticed. No wonder Rolph always let her lead when they walked places instead of forcing his way to the front like his position warranted. Then again, it might be less prurient. Maybe he just wasn’t a jerk? He wasn’t perfect all the time, but Tor couldn’t cast stones there, Rolph was, Tor’s family included, the best person that Tor had ever met. Ursala had kind of a cute behind too, he noticed as she closed with the other girl, who obviously thought that something bad was about to happen, from the hunched shouldered position she’d taken.
“So, Sara… Tor couldn’t handle his ex-being here? He’d freak out, maybe go all violent? Blow up the whole world? He seems to be all right so far, like a certain Countess mentioned three weeks ago…”
He couldn’t help but laugh then.
It was…well, not funny, but strange. Like a heavy weight had lifted from him when he just decided that Trice was his friend, no matter what. Even if she hated him. He tried to explain, but he didn’t think anyone else got it, the concept was a strange one, Tor knew. Finally Rolph walked over and matched his pace, which was normally way too slow for the huge man.
“You’re saying that you just decided that she’s your friend again, even if she doesn’t feel the same way? Even if it’s naive and stupid? That’s just the way it is now?”
“Yes. Pretty much.”
“Alright then.” The Prince said, looking at him sideways. The tone sounded like he simply accepted it at least.
“So, you really don’t get why you might give a guy a complex?”
“Nope. After all, look how long it took me to realize all this. Months. I’m surprised you didn’t all kick me out a long time ago. I haven’t exactly been nice to be around, I know. I’ll… work on that, all right? More smiling, less pouting and a little less going on about how no woman will ever have me or me being an evil troll. A retu. I’m still a tiny bit hurt by the whole Galasia thing though. I mean. All I’ve ever done is help them and well… you know.” Tor held his fingers apart about a sixteenth of an inch to demonstrate what he meant by a retu, but apparently it was a common measurement everywhere, because no one seemed surprised by the term.
They all agreed that it sounded like a good plan, him not being a mopey jerk, but Sara still looked nervous for some reason. Again like she was mad at him, or scared. Well, he couldn’t fix it if he didn’t know, so finally, walking along side of her, he asked. She flushed, but didn’t say anything for a long time.
“You don’t have to say anything Sara, but I’m your friend too. Even if you secretly hate me and have agreed to kill me. Or if you like me just as a brother, or something like that. No strings attached or anything. Not even if your family can’t ever pay the golds they agreed to, or doesn’t want to do business with me anymore.” That, he felt, should have covered most of what she could be worried about.
OK, that wasn’t true.
She could have worried over a million things that he’d never have thought of. Like, what if he had body odor? Or bad breath. Well, if she told him that, he’d do his best to fix it, that was all. He tried to on top of that stuff, daily bathing and twice daily tooth and mouth care. Or maybe she didn’t like beards? It made him look older, but if she didn’t like it, it would be gone.
She started chewing her upper lip nervously and her breathing became short and choppy, he watched her with a small look of concern, but she just shook her head.
“Hey no need to be stressed over it. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s all right too. I don’t want to leave you hanging, but if you’re not ready then you aren’t. It’s all right. No matter what.” It really was. It wasn’t magic, just a decision, a choice to love instead of let himself hate, and to pick good things instead of bad. It didn’t mean he’d instantly be perfect at it, but who was perfect at anything? Maybe it was good enough to try and just keep trying? It was a start anyway.
When they all got in the hut the others grabbed clean clothes and headed towards the showers and tubs. Tor grinned and took an extra water heater for the shower tank. He hadn’t tried it yet, but didn’t want a cold shower either. Those were horrible.
Thinking about it Tor wondered how they were all going to manage this, maybe he and Rolph would stand outside and guard the door while the girls showered? Instead they all walked in at once and Rolph just locked the door behind them. Tor hadn’t even known the door had a lock. It was right there, built in; he’d just never thought to look.
He had to be let outside to put the heater on the tank that sat up on the roof, but it only took a few minutes. No ladder, but he could fly, so it that part wasn’t hard. No the hard part was getting it to stick to the outside of the water tank, The whole thing was incredibly smooth and hard, like glass, but he found that he could wedge the heater in just under the six inch thick pipe that led down into the bathing and shower area. Then he hit the second warmest sigil on the plate and flew back down. The door was locked again, so he knocked, expecting the others to keep him out for a while. After all, Rolph had probably had sex with both of them recently, Sara for sure and probably Ursala, why wouldn’t they, given their world? So it wouldn’t be embarrassing to them or anything, most likely, seeing each other naked and all that.
Instead Sara let him in instantly, almost like she’d been standing by, waiting on him.
Apparently in royal circles, baths and bathing were regularly taken as a group. Even mixed sex groups. Enough so that none of them even really considered it as a hardship, or even odd. Tor kept his head down and took his clothes off awkwardly, walking to the showers nervously and half waiting for the jokes about how scrawny he was, or even how inadequate in the manliness department, but it didn’t come. As he got the water on and stood under it, a warm wet curtain hit him evenly in the face. Tor was a little too shy to just stand facing away from the wall yet, hanging out and all that. Rolph didn’t care as much about that kind of thing from the sound of his voice as he chattered, and his chuckle when Ursala yelped when the water fell.
“It’s warm! Heated shower water? That’s… I’ve never heard of such a thing. We certainly never had that at home in Thorgood. Does the King’s palace even have this? It’s incredible. What would it cost to get something like this Tor? I mean for away from here?” She made a noise that sounded distinctly sexual, which got a giggle from Sara and an appreciative whistle from Rolph. Tor washed facing the wall, using some good lye soap on his hair. It stripped the oils away totally and all the dirt with it too. No matter how tempted he felt to look, the blindness to follow wouldn’t be worth it, he was sure. Lye soap wasn’t something to play with after all. It worked, better than almost anything, but get it in your eyes and the best you could do was flush with water, and hope the damage wasn’t too bad. The sounds didn’t stop for a while, so he actually got fully rinsed off before anyone else was done.
Being careful not to even look in anyone else’s direction, he walked carefully to the little room between the showers and the tubs to dry off. Rolph, still giggling called out to him before he could leave.
“Tor, set up two tubs for us I think, unless you all want to share?” The noise indicated that sharing was preferable, so the order got changed to just one tub. When he turned it on full bore to fill, the water pressure in the showers started to fade a bit, so Tor turned the water down some, letting the tub fill more slowly, taking about five minutes. It was just full when everyone, still dripping came out of the shower.
He’d lived with Rolph for two and a half, really three, years now. He’d seen him naked. It was impressive and a little complex making in and of itself. Tor wasn’t tiny, in, well that way himself, but Rolph was proportional, which meant he was a giant down there as well. Tor had always wondered if that was a big part of how come his friend was so comfortable with himself. Not just the size of his… manliness, but his overall size and everything coming together so well for him?
Sara was pretty, in a thin way, with more curve to her hip than he’d have though and a patch of blond hair between her legs that he’d heard legends about back home, on women in general, not about her in particular, but had never actually witnessed for himself. Ursala caught him looking and winked. So Tor looked at her for a moment too, smiling shyly. She was built a little stouter maybe, but everything on her was a size up from Sara, taller by a half foot, wider hips and a much bigger bust line. The biggest difference that he could tell was that her nipples were large and brown to Sara’s smaller pink ones.
Realizing that he was about to embarrass himself with a physical reaction in front of everyone he decided to climb into the tub quickly. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to hide, as that he desperately and completely had no clue what would be considered proper in this context to these people. Should he just ask? Or maybe ask if it was all right to ask?
It quickly became a moot point, because Sara ended up being seated directly across from him and after two minutes of small talk, she blurted out something that was about the last thing the whole world he would have expected. Well, the last thing would be that she was actually a man, since he knew first hand now that she couldn’t be.
What she said was definitely right up there thought.
“My family started the rumors in Galasia that you were a troll or a bad man that had to be begged to save them.” She looked ready to cry, and then the tears came. At least she was quieter about it than Trice or her mother had been. Not that he was knocking his other friends, he half scolded himself, but it was true. If there had to be crying, Sara’s way won hands down. She continued without too many sobs at least.
“It was because… because you spurned our offer of marriage. I told them it didn’t matter, but they were all angry at you for a long time, so some of them made up those stories, it wasn’t Heather or Kris, I promise. I… I’m sorry.”
Tor looked at her for a minute. God, of course. It was right there in the rules of how to be polite at that level of society and he’d gotten it totally wrong. He was… a Doretta.
“Sara… I’m so sorry! I really and truly thought that you were all just teasing me about that back then. I mean, why would you marry me? I’d just had it pointed out not, was it two hours before that, Rolph? That I was too low class for Ursala, so when your people, your mother and brother started in on it, I figured, you know, it was just having fun with the bumpkin time… you know? That’s why I ended the joke like I did. You remember? When I put my hand out flat on the table? Gah. You people don’t do that… If I’d have realized at the time I would have jumped at the chance, even if it meant pulling you out from under Rolph to do it.” He would have too. Trice was his friend, but so was Sara and in a lot of ways the blond girl had always been gentler with him, which mattered in the greater scheme of things.
Ursala and Rolph busted up laughing joined after a second by Sara, still crying. It made for an awkward hiccupping sound.
Tor blushed. This had been a joke, and he’d fallen for it? He felt a little stupid and started to close down, so that he wouldn’t burst into tears in front of everyone like a baby. Ursala at least explained why they were laughing which made him feel a little better once he got it.
“Pull her out from under him? Oh, that’s funny…” She wiped at her eyes a little.
Sara tilted her head down a little and shook it slowly.
“No, not that, we all got that you weren’t taking it seriously then, or even that you might be putting us off, but just didn’t want to be rude. Calling yourself a troll like that… well, “you’re too good for me” is an excellent way to stop someone from pursuing you, very polite even in a way, taking the blame for why it wouldn’t work, but I told them that you just were a little down on yourself. I just didn’t know why back then.
“Then Rolph said we had to go through his mother, so we sent off the papers on it that night. It was accepted at the gate but then we never heard back from you at all, and you never mentioned it to me. Not even a note about it, or a go between, if you couldn’t bear to do it yourself. Then, you know, a week later, well two weeks, but it felt almost instant and you were getting together with Trice. She’s my best friend, so I made myself let it go, even if it hurt a little. But my family didn’t. I figured you just didn’t like me that way, so, you know, I tried to hide it. Or, well, I did kind of sleep with Rolph on the beach trip and I… I thought you might be mad about that. You’re rules, the ones from Two Bends are just so different than ours.”
Ah. That had been why they’d been afraid the sweet fried corn cakes were poisoned? But, he’d never heard of a marriage proposal at all until the one from Meredith Sorvee. What, he wondered out loud, had happened?
Rolph ducked his head under the water, and came up grinning; it was a guilty seeming look somehow. Not just a little either.
“Um, well, this is awkward isn’t it? You see, I kind of had the gate guards pull anything that came from Debri house, you know, just in case it was a love letter or something I wouldn’t want my mother to read in public. Aaaand long story short, I didn’t open my mail until the night before we left to go back to school, I figured, you know, if Tor already had something arranged, then it was a moot point…”
Tor started to get mad, but then busted out laughing instead, and covered his face with both hands. Of course that would happen. Well, he certainly would have married Sara, he would now, except that Varley got there first, but until the wedding took place he wasn’t going to count on that one either. The options for a Princess were too great, and face it, he told them all, Princess Veronica was very good looking. Plus she had that rumored chance with Varro the Gardener.
The odds of her sticking with the engagement had to be less than certain.
“I don’t know Tor. Karina is scrambling to find a husband now, because of this. She has to get married first by tradition, if possible, and she doesn’t really like the one my parents have arranged for her. Count Peterson? He’s the one in charge of the flying school and that department?”
“Oh… Yes, he seems nice… but, um, intense looking. As in scary. Well, I’m sure something will turn up. She’s cute too and has that whole Princess thing going for her. I’m… I don’t want to sound backwards, but I still have some problems with the “everyone has lovers” thing. I still feel like Rolph’s going to come hack me up one night over Ursala as it is, you know?”
“What?” Rolph burst out, smiling and calmly interested, not angry, as far as Tor could see.
“You two? That great Tor. I mean if there are two people I want to see happy you know?”
Ursala chuckled.
“Oh, well, don’t get too excited yet, we’re going slowly. Both recovering still. But there will definitely be more going on, I’ll just have to alternate nights with Sara. Well, I guess I can put up with a little future hubby action on those nights, if you can stand it.”
Everyone laughed, including Tor. This he got, was a joke.
Except it wasn’t.
Later that night he made a light on the focus stone, which took him about ten minutes longer than on copper, and a deeper working state, but captured a nice clean field. One that he knew would last for a long time. Things on stone did after all. Sara came over to his bed to look at it and then hit the lights. She turned the focus stone light on and off, then asked Tor to turn his shield off. When he did she turned the light in her hands off and let her lips gently meet his. He figured that she’d kiss him, maybe a couple of times, then call it a night. Instead she lay next to him and kept kissing for a long time, finally her hands started exploring his body.
She assured him when they were done that nothing they’d done had been sex. Which thanks to Ursala, he already knew. But all of it was fun, if a little confusing. She kissed him for a while longer and then went to find her own bed. It had been interesting to say the least. He kind of wondered if it was a onetime thing, like maybe she was proving a point or something. Then he decided to try not to worry about it and just enjoy what there was. That there was a trick or set-up in it was kind of implied, right? After all, he was involved. It was probably just a joke or a weird kind of high society teasing he didn’t understand. No big thing.
After all, the next day he had to work on making enough copies of shields, flyers and weapons to outfit a small army, just in case they had to take on County Ward head on. Plus the King’s army needed more of everything. It wasn’t going to be fun, but if he started early enough, maybe a good start could be made. Copying was so boring though. What if he increased the number of devices per batch? Ten was supposed to be near the top of what could be done, but then most people took a lot longer trying to get even those finished well. What if he just did more? Could he? He’d never tried.
At school they’d said ten was tops so Tor had just accepted that, and made it his standard. Well after he slept, he’d give it a go. What was the worst that happened? He failed and looked retuleous, wasting a bunch of metal? Really though, as long as he remade the same field on it, even a botched device copy wouldn’t hurt anything. All he could really lose was a little time then. The chance of success was worth the risk of a few hours of wasted time.
In the morning he tried a batch of fifty before breakfast. It definitely took longer, sitting in place on the covers of his bed, the frame solid and unmoving but the mattress filled with something halfway soft, instead of straw, which had a tendency to poke through while you slept no matter how thick the covering material was. You got used to it, but it was never all that comfortable.
He dropped low and deep, like when he’d tried to cut that dark paving stone with a hastily built field over and over again. That kind of focus. Then he drove into the glassy blackness inside his mind, until even that went away, leaving only the idea. The field. From memory he transferred it over and held it in place until it locked onto each bit of metal in front of him.
An hour and twenty minutes. Good enough, if the devices actually worked. It took longer to test them all, shield devices as they were, than to build them. Two full hours. They seemed strong enough and the field didn’t fade at all. Good sign.
Now he had to wait at least six hours all told, so another four at least. If it held then, it could be a new and much faster way of getting things done. If not, well, back to regular methods. Tor ate breakfast with everyone else, eggs, bacon and a sweet roll that had been half butchered. It tasted fine, but whoever cut it hadn’t had a clue what they were doing at all. Sorlee should have caught that, but maybe she didn’t want to say anything for some reason? The girl may be selling sex for a living, but she could still get oddly shy at times with strange things, like giving giant men orders.
Since he was just waiting anyway and everyone else had other things to do in the morning, Tor decided to go and see what was up in the kitchen. Sara, of course, worked, supporting the war effort with her deliveries. Ursala took correspondence from her County and then checked on the girls of the station, since that was her job now too and she took it very seriously. Rolph had to go and check in at the palace since he was only supposed to be gone to help Tor write the letter to Trice. He got to wait all alone today, so he might as well be useful.
When he got to the dining room he saw what the problem was pretty quickly. For some reason the kitchen staff that he was used to seeing was gone. The people in the room were a mix of confused looking military men that he’d seen in the bath house, and girls that he’d seen, well, most of them not at all, honestly. If they’d met he’d probably had his eyes closed at the time. They seemed to recognize him instantly as he started making small corrections and occasionally barking orders at the men, most of whom responded better to it than not. After a few minutes they all started to get the idea, do what the little bearded man said. Good.
Sorlee looked ready to pull her hair out.
“I have no clue what’s going on Master Tor sir! I showed up to bake, but no one else came at all, so I grabbed people I recognized and put them to work, was… that right?”
Smiling, Tor asked one of the women to fold the scrambled eggs, not stir them. That way they’d hold together a bit better. She worked with a focus stone baking pan with high edges that sat on the metal on the griddle, but it seemed to be working, so he didn’t correct that. Why bother her if she was doing well enough? She had dark hair shot with gray, long, in a single braid down her back. She didn’t look pretty, but her smile was kind and she didn’t take offense at the correction. That this was one of the “girls” kind of surprised him, but hey, she did the job, and if people frequented her, why shouldn’t she help out at Wilderness Station?
As he looked around he saw a girl trying to cut a tray of rolls with a spatula instead of a knife. They were obviously still warm, which meant that trying to use the dull paddle just squished the poor things instead of separating them.
“Alright… You with the spatula at the rolls, stop please… Oh Gods please stop killing them like that. I beg you. Pretty please?” The girl looked familiar from the back. The dark curly hair kind of gave her away, along with the fact that she was the tallest woman in the room by far. Six-four at a guess. Tor got a sharp knife from the rack and approached her efficiently, and pushed in along side of her, causing her to stiffen as he bumped into her side, his arm accidentally touching her breast. Then when she realized who it was she started to step back. Shocked. Possibly scared.
Tor could see that.
“No, you do it, but use a good sharp knife on them, all right? Then use the spatula to lift them onto the plates as they come by. Don’t worry you’re doing fine, it just takes a little practice and the right tools. Like most things in life.” He kept his voice soft and relaxed, worried that she might panic or try to run away, seeing him there suddenly like that.
Then he moved to the next station and tried not to even think about the girl at the rolls. They got through the meal, but no one came to explain why the kitchen had been emptied. He didn’t really have time to run a kitchen himself right now, but he would if that’s what was needed. No matter what else was going on everyone needed to be fed, right?
Tor found Godfrey and Kolb yelling at each other in back of one of the furniture shops. The bald man looked ready to hit the military leader and neither was backing down from whatever the situation was. Tor walked over quietly and spoke gently. Neither of them seemed to hear him, but there was no battle aura, just anger and loud words. Finally he spoke a little louder. When that didn’t work he screamed at them as loud as he could.
“Situation Report!” He’d seen it work before at least, though Rolph had been shouting it then. He just didn’t have a spare Prince hanging around today, so he’d have to do it himself. Tor felt incredibly awkward the instant the words left his mouth, but didn’t let it show on his face.
Kolb turned to him and spoke a single word, his voice coming out as a low half hiss.
“Thieves.”