Both of the people on the padded bench looked at him seriously and then started laughing. He didn't get the joke, if there was one. His face must have looked funny or something. That he could understand, after all he hadn't known anything about a fiancee and he'd lived with Rolph for nearly two and a half years now. If he didn't know that, what else didn't he know? Then again, was it his business? He'd thought that Rolph shared most everything with him, but…
The big man stood and clapped both hands on his shoulders, reaching down a lot to do so.
“It's an arranged thing, a deal our parents made when I was four and she was seven. But now…” He turned on Ursala and crossed his arms. “Since someone managed to get in a family way, things are going to be a lot more complicated.”
The gears in his head spun slowly being tired and caught off guard like he was, but Tor finally put it together. Ursala was pregnant? That… Tor nodded firmly. “I see… So, when is the wedding?”
It was one of those unfortunate things that happened sometimes. A man and a woman not being able to wait until they were married, a child coming a little too soon. At home they joked about how fast first pregnancies were, sometimes taking only six or seven months. Of course Rolph would have to quit school and probably go into the family business, whatever that was. Merchanting? Well, he'd do what he could to help them. Not that he had any money to speak of, but they wouldn't starve while they got themselves together as a family. Not even if he had to quit school and go to work at the bakery to keep them in bread. He told them that, hoping it would make them both feel better.
Ursala started crying instead.
“Oh, that's…” He didn't know what he thought she'd say, but she didn't come anywhere near it, figuring that she'd laugh at him or something. She was obviously wealthy, and probably didn't have to worry about starving.
“That's so sweet. If only it was Rolph's child. Or yours Torrence. You'd at least step up and make sure I wasn't disgraced. But the father… He's one of the peerage, but he's already married. I shouldn't say who it is…”
Rolph didn't say anything, he just looked down at the floor and then patted her hand. A rustling from behind Tor caused them to all look up. Connie came in, her dark hair looked more red in the bright light coming through the window. Behind her strode a very tall man that looked about forty or so, he was… really tall. Possibly the tallest person Tor had ever seen. Count Thomson stood about seven foot-two. This man must be nearly a foot taller than that. He looked thin, but with a powerful build that spoke of being used to hard work. Possibly the hard work of walking around at his size.
“Father!” Rolph jumped up and hugged the man, who picked him up into the embrass and swung him side to side a little.
“Boy! So, I hear that our match making decision wasn't as perfect as it could have been?” The man looked at Ursala down his long patrician nose. In a very deep, dry voice he continued.
“Did you at least dally with a redhead dear? This might be hard to hide if not. Oh well, nothing for it. Let's go find the lout and force him to marry you. Name now, give.” He waved at her with his palm up as if asking for the name in writing. She sighed.
“Count Ward. We've been… close for a while now. His wife wouldn't be thrilled with me showing up like this though I don't think.” The large girl blushed. So, not really fat, just pregnant?
Tor had to go and sit down. He couldn't believe his ears. The girl not only got pregnant by a man not her betrothed, but he was married already too? How? Didn't she know he was married? Did the man lie to her about it? If so, they… well, they couldn't do anything. Not if the guy was royalty like that. It felt like a weight rested on his chest.
“What can we do then? Rolph… you're going to have to marry her anyway. It isn't perfect, but you can't leave her disgraced and alone. If you won't…” Tor bit down on his lip and looked at the floor. “Then… I will. I know I couldn't offer much of a life for her and the child, but we simply can't leave her to suffer this alone. She messed up, but…” His voice died.
The huge man who redefined what a giant was in his head nodded and looked at Tor seriously. “Well said boy. You aren't peerage though, are you? Not some hidden noble I haven't met yet or something? Or… Ah. I… see.” The look he gave Tor was deep, like he searched for Tor's face in memory and… found something. Of course he couldn't really. They'd never met. The man looked a little familiar, but that was probably his likeness to Rolph. All the really tall men he'd met had shared similar features, possibly as a side effect of being too big like that.
“No sir, of course not.” Tor spoke evenly. How would that make a difference?
The man nodded again and then stopped when his wife chuckled.
“Dear, this is Torrence Baker. The man who saved Galasia? The Tor-shield and the flying devices? The one that made our living quarters not so ungodly hot… Speaking of which, maybe we should move to another room? It's a bit stuffy in here.” She pulled a fan and unfolded the silk and wood contraption. It was pink and had butterflies actually woven into the fabric.
Tor shook himself. Duh! He kept forgetting basic things. Maybe he should carry a rock around with him, so he could hit himself in the head when he forgot stuff? That would remind him. Digging in his pocket he handed each of them one of the equalizing fields and suggested they trigger them.
Rolph's dad sighed suddenly when he did it.
“Personal cooling fields?” He closed his eyes in pleasure.
“Not just that, they'll keep you at this temperature. Walk into a snow storm and they should keep you this warm. Go sit in the kitchen and you'll still be at this temperature. Go sit in a fire and… Well, I don't know. Probably want to avoid that though. I didn't build the devices to handle that, but then what kind of a moron goes and sits in a fire, right?” Tor turned to Connie and raised his eyebrows. He would have raised just one, but he'd never gotten the knack of it. His older brother and sister could both do it, so it wasn't likely that he just wasn't built for it. Just a trick he'd never learned.
“Now, what's Galasia and how did I save it? Also, Tor-shields? Argh… That's bad. Horrible name really. It makes it sound like someone's tying me to their arm and hiding behind me.” Tor pantomimed the move, ducking his head behind the imaginary Tor-shield on his arm.
Rolph laughed.
“The city you built that filter for? Galasia. And everything that you've made is the Tor-whatever. Tor-heating and cooling, Tor-flying rigs, now the Tor-whatever these things are. Really good by the way. When did you come up with them? I thought I was up on everything you've built?”
“Last night. I just skipped sleeping. I wanted to come up with something special for your mom, since she went out of her way to be so nice about having me. Plus, really, it's a little warm here. I don't know if any of you've noticed?” Everyone laughed and Connie clutched the heat equalizer and smiled warmly.
Rolph's dad looked at her and laughed. “Oops, Tor, now you've done it. I know that look, it's love… oh, sigh. And here we were doing so well for these last twenty years.” The large head shook, but the man grinned the whole time.
Tor smiled back, getting the teasing for what it was this time, just a friendly game.
“Oh, that reminds me, I don't really know your name. “Rolph's dad” doesn't seem like it's going to cut it here for some reason. For one thing, everyone here calls him Alphonse or Alphie, so no one else would even know who I meant…”
The man gave him a funny look and then smiled.
“Seriously Alphonse? I know that I ordered it when you went to school, but it's been over a year, hasn't it?”
“Over two years…” Connie put in, looking at Rolph proudly.
The man looked at his son and smiled even larger.
“I'm impressed. That can't have been easy, especially with someone as close as your best friend. Well, I guess time has come to let the truth out. First though, Torrence, I need you to know that Alphonse, Rolph here, didn't have a choice. I ordered him to lie about who he is, for his own protection and safety. I think you'll get the reason for it. So if you feel hurt by it, or betrayed, know to blame me, alright? You understand?”
Tor crossed his arms, not defiantly, but trying to steel himself. How had Rolph been lying to him? Was he really not his friend or something. It seemed a little elaborate for a game. Something else? Was he not studying accounting at all maybe? That made some sense. Giants like this had to be good at combat. Rolph even had Kolb as a personal instructor, which was a big deal. Too good to waste on numbers unless they were royals. High ones too. There were a few full Dukes and Barons at the school that didn't rate Kolb.
Everything clicked into place. Kind of.
Tor looked up and narrowed his eyes at the giant man, then looked at Rolph, then his mother.
“I… see. I guess it was there all along, but I was just too stupid to see it. You're all royals aren't you?”
Ursala's eyes went wide and she stared at him hard. No one spoke for a second as she rose and walked over to Tor, a smile on her fleshy face and tears in her eyes. Suddenly she wrapped him up in a hug.
“You were willing to marry me just because I need help? Not because of my family? Not just to get a title?” She sobbed out the word family, a choked sound. “That is so… Noble. No, more than that. I know too many nobles to call it that. Even honorable doesn't cover it.”
Rolph clapped him on the back, even though Ursala didn't let go for a while.
“Yep, that's Tor. He's always like that too. It's why he's my best friend. In part. But he's still not a nobleman, and as a Counserina first you're required to marry someone within three steps from you in station. It would be a hard sell with Tor… right now at least.” He turned to Tor and held out his right hand. “Don't get me wrong, any of you. Any woman should be proud to have him, and if they were smart they'd snap him up right now and ride his coat tails up the ranks, but a few more years of reputation building wouldn't hurt first if we want to marry him off to top levels… Maybe less though. He did save Galasia, that has to count, right?”
The giant man looked at his son and nodded firmly.
“Indeed. That was a fine piece of work.”
Tor struggled with the concepts. A Counserina was like a Ducherina, but for a Count's daughter? A second or third daughter that probably wouldn't inherit anything of note. Except this one was a first, so she'd maybe inherit? It wasn't anything he'd needed to know growing up. The King and Queen, Richard and Constance. Their son Alphonse and two daughters…
Oh.
Well. That made sense then.
Tor shrugged and his stomach fell. Right. He really was just too dense to live. That was all. Well if they wanted to insist on bowing and scraping now they were a little late. That ship had kind of sailed, hadn't it? Except for with their youngest maybe. Varley was it? Princess Valarie? Heh.
“Well. I guess if the Queen is Connie then that makes you what… Rick?” He said. He meant it to sound flip, knowing it was a stupid thing to say. The King winced.
“God no. Rich or Richard. I used to be called Ricky as a child and it always bothered me. Rhymes a little too well with “icky”. Privilege of being King, I get to pick my own nicknames. At least the ones people call me to my face. The other ones are more fluid I hear.” The man gave him a slightly pained grin.
Nodding, feeling like the world had fallen out from under him he walked to the bench and sat down. It was pretty soft and felt nice. Solid. Clean. He took a deep breath.
“Right, well, my petty concerns aside, and Rolph, you and I will be discussing this later. Possibly you and I too Rich…” He pointed at his eyes with two fingers and then the King, several times, it was a joking thing, though very country, which got a chuckle, but left him wondering why they hadn't had his head chopped off yet. “Right now Ursala's problem has to come first. Well, that and, if I'm not needed here, my meeting at Debri house. Rolph was supposed to get me there, but given this…”
Connie waved her hand at them.
“Oh, don't miss a meeting over this. She's not having the baby today. Planning session this evening though Alphonse. Bring Torrence, it will be comforting to know that Ursala has a defender in the room I think… Patricia too. Maybe they can figure something out that us old people will miss. Say seven? We can turn it into a dinner party.” Connie, the Queen, seemed excited about the idea for some reason.
Smiling, Tor offered his hand to the King like he would to Tom, the mayor of Two Bends if they'd just met, and he'd been ten years older. To his surprise the man reached down and took the hand solemnly, shaking it gently. “Nice to meet you Rich. Connie.” He turned and bowed slightly to the Queen then to Ursala, like he would any “proper” woman in Two Bends.
“Don't worry too much. With all of us working on this, we'll come up with something.” He told her, looking straight into her eyes.
Rolph smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, then walked him out to a small building where a glossy brown carriage pulled by four horses waited for them. As they walked his large friend noticed out loud how well the new amulet worked. He nodded, trying to hold himself together until they were alone. Tor wasn't mad. Not really. After all Rolph had been ordered to not say anything by the King, what else could he do but comply? That the man was also his father made the whole thing worse for his friend, not better. If his da said to lie about who he was, then that's what he'd had to do.
No, he was freaked.
In the carriage once they started to move, he hyperventilated.
“Rolph! I know you couldn't say anything before, but… I was just sassing the King to his face! “Hey Rich, let's get together and talk about what a jerk you are later”. What the hell? I'm surprised he didn't have me put to death or at least kicked out after that! They're royals! They eat little people like me for breakfast to warm up for their real work destroying more important people. Hell Rolph, if I tried to talk to my own father like that I'd be beaten! How could you let me do that? Couldn't you have, I don't know, knocked me out and carried me off or something?”
A large hand found his shoulder and he chuckled gently.
“Easy now. He gave you permission to be mad at him, remember? I'm sure Dad was just pleased that you didn't start cursing and hitting him. He won't go back on his word, not on something like this. He probably didn't even notice, honestly, after all, mom already said you were practically family and it was kind of funny, so he has to kind of put up with your idiosyncrasies right? And on top of that, you gave him a present first. Kind of softens the blow. No, the hard part's going to be acting like you meant it later. Can't go all servile on him now, or he'll think you're mocking him.” Rolph laughed and grinned, but then told him he was serious.
Perfect.
Because growing up in Two Bends totally prepared him for this. He didn't even know enough to guess his best friend was the freaking Prince. The idea made him uneasy. Not that Rolph was someone else too, that would be silly, of course he was. Even Tor was. No, it was that he'd missed it, even though there had been signs all around him the whole time.
Shaking in place he had to drop into a trance to collect himself as they pulled up to the front gate of Debri house. He closed his eyes and relaxed, letting his mind pull deep into his head, then opened his eyes and, unlike what he did while working, poured his focus into everything going on around him and like he'd been taught in meditation class, simply accepted it all. No judgment, no bias. It is and the self observes, that's all.
Rolph was still his friend, the same man he'd known for years and lived with closely. The King didn't hate him, or at least hadn't acted like it. If anything he seemed slightly amused by him. Connie even seemed to like him. Ursala had hugged him and thought his being willing to marry her was cute or something. Probably like a five year old telling her that he wanted to marry her when he grew up, but she didn't take it as an insult as far as he could tell. Things were fine. Really.
He smiled at Rolph as they got out, knowing he'd seem a little strange, but also knowing that his friend would also get it. Rolph knew what he looked like in all his various trance states by now. Calmly he stepped from the carriage and waited to see what would happen.
Sara ran out of the house calling to them, a smile on her face, but one that looked a little strained. Maybe she didn't always get along with her mother? If that was the case, Tor could sympathize. His own mother was a good person, but was a little hard on the boys in the family. On men in general. Bossy and holding them to a much higher standard, even though she denied it.
“Rolph! Tor! In here. We have everything set up…”
The outside of the house looked nice, not as big as the palace, but larger than the guest house he'd been staying in. The inside was at least as nice, if done with more wood tones and less stone. It was very tasteful, he thought. Two days before he would have thought it the nicest place in the whole world. Of course, he'd only seen the hallway so far. Following Sara, who wore a much skimpier dress than anyone at the guest house had so far, which hugged her backside a good bit more than was strictly proper, but was interesting to look at. They found themselves entering a room with a giant table, ringed with people. About half were men, the rest women. None of whom were anyone he recognized at all.
Gah. A people ambush!
Tor hated those. Worse, they were all looking at him and Rolph. Tor wondered if running away would be considered impolite? Probably.
Sigh.
Sara walked them to the front of the table, where a trim and good looking woman sat wearing dark clothes that looked too warm, a bit of perspiration on her forehead. Everyone in the room looked a little uncomfortable except for Rolph. Tor knew he did, but that was because he'd thought he was just meeting Sara's mom for lunch or something so they could meet and chat. This seemed a lot more serious than that. He had to fight the urge to trigger his shield amulet.
The woman, who he knew from Sara was named Heather Debri, her mother, stood and bowed to Rolph, which made Sara's eyes go wide. Before she could say anything the woman, still looking down murmured softly.
“Prince Alphonse. Thank you for coming. Please, be seated, if you will.” The woman spoke softly, but smoothly, a professional voice of a kind that Tor had rarely heard.
Sara's eyes went wild suddenly, but she calmed down after a minute and turned to smile at Tor a little and shrugged. When Rolph sat the woman turned to Tor herself and gave a bow nearly as deep as the one she'd given the Prince.
“Mr. Baker? I can't tell you how happy and proud we are to have you here. It's an honor and a privilege to put a face to the name. Would you like a beverage, gentleman, before we begin? We have cold drinks ready. I'm afraid we haven't been able to put any of the cooling devices in here yet. Believe it or not, we don't have any extra available even now that we're nearing capacity on manufacturing. Sorry to make you both suffer this heat…”
Tor reached into his pocket and pulled out the remaining four equilibrium units and looked down.
“I… didn't know that there would be this many people. Here though, at least a couple people can be comfortable for now. Um, sorry everyone else.”
Rolph explained the devices for him his tone serious and businesslike. Sara grabbed one and looked ready to fight anyone that tried to take it from her. It was cute and looked feisty. The good looking woman in front of him took one and sighed, closing her eyes for a second, then activated the other two and asked them to be passed around the table. It took a while since no one wanted to give them up once they had them.
The older blond looked at him and smiled, then shook her head. She waited for everyone to get a chance to hold the new devices for a while before speaking.
“This is, of course, amazing. We'd love to carry this and do the manufacturing as well, if you're interested? It's… Well, this is more than a little embarrassing, and hard to explain, but we don't actually have all the money we owe you so far from the sales made.” Her hand shot up as if to hold him back, or to stave off anger. “It's just that we've had to rush into some massive military contracts and we don't get paid for those until we deliver product. If we could have another six months, it shouldn't be a problem.” Her voice died off as Rolph stared at her.
His look surprised Tor. It wasn't angry as much as ironic. He asked if Debri house made a habit of trying to withhold payments to people for sales already made. He hadn't heard of any complaints, he told the room, looking around coolly, but it would make him sad to learn that this was the case. The woman sputtered and looked panicked.
“No! We hold to the highest standards, we really just don't have the funds. We were given vast orders by your father and really have no time to get the work done without huge expense. It's one of the largest projects we've ever handled and frankly, I don't think that anyone else in the kingdom could manage it right now at all. Who are you going to get, Sorvee? Lintel? They wouldn't pay out anything if they could help it and simply couldn't handle half of what we're doing on their best day, even if they threw in with Nox and all worked together. We just need a little more time.”
Tor fought a yawn. Not that this was boring, but he really needed to get some sleep as soon as possible. He looked around the table and saw that most of the people were still sweating a lot. Sara didn't, but the cute blond looked down at the table, her small dress hardly covering her at all. He didn't disapprove, different ways and all that, plus it was her body and not over dressing made a lot of sense for this climate.
She seemed ashamed though, which he didn't get. Really, he'd thought she and Trice had just been giving all the devices away to their friends anyway. As long as he had enough money to keep him in materials, he didn't need a lot more. Not while he was at school at least. He'd even managed to send some money home each month for the last few, nearly thirty gold in all. If it turned out that they didn't have the money from sales because they had to make a bunch of stuff for the army, then that would just have to be what happened. Who was he to tell the military they couldn't have the shields they needed? Really, it was kind of an honor that they found what he made good enough to be of use at all. Tor shrugged and fought a yawn, nearly succeeding.
“Alright.” He said quietly.
Everyone kept talking for a few moments, except Sara who looked at him questioningly. She tilted her head. “What's alright?” Her voice was soft, almost shy, which got Rolph's attention quickly enough. But then he kind of liked Sara and had the whole time Tor had known the girl. It made everything she said more important no doubt. Women could do that to you if you weren't careful.
“Alright, if you need time… then take it. If you could help make sure I have the materials I need to work and, I don't know if it's possible, but if a little bit could be sent to my family in Two Bends, that would be good? The rest can wait.” Rolph gave him a hard look for a second, then smiled. It was a slightly sinister smile as if he expected some kind of deeper plan to be involved. If so he'd be disappointed. Tor had nothing past that.
The affect was more powerful than Tor would have thought, that single odd smile from Rolph. It made everyone at the table except Sara scramble for papers which they read over several times. A few of the men looked like they were accused of a crime or something. His blond friend just looked at her mother and shook her head gently.
“It isn't a ploy Heather. Not a trick or even, I don't think, a negotiation.” She said, her voice slightly amused and slightly something else, something deeper. Like awe. “You asked for more time and Tor is just giving it to you as simple as that. Tor, what amount of gold do you think would be good to send to your family?”
The question caught him off guard. He'd figured that the amount would be based on what could be scraped up and probably marked in silver, not gold at all. They wouldn't need too much, business having been good at home and really, he'd been sending money back to help out, more than enough for everyone to live on, even without the bakery's revenue. He shrugged and looked at Sara, slightly shaking his head.
“I… well, I've been getting about ten gold per month back to them, if there's no money that should hold them for a bit, I mean, they have their own lives and all, so no one will starve. Business has been going well even. Past that? Well, it would be good to help them stock up for the winter, maybe some materials could be sent there, if Debri house has anything that could help out? Even just some things to help the village would work. I mean if gold itself isn't available. We can trade too. I just wasn't thinking that way before, but it's the way most business gets done back home. That would be fine and probably work better anyway, depending on what you have to hand. You can't eat gold after all.”
Sara smirked and gave her mother a funny look.
“I don't think he's being unreasonable here mother. I didn't think I had to dress up and try to vamp him in the first place. Not that I mind. This is cooler.” She waved at the tight dress she wore with a casual gesture. “Of course with the new amulet Tor just gave me I could as well be dressed in my winter finest. Or go naked in the winter, I bet.” She laughed and reached over to touch him on the arm. For some reason this made everyone but Rolph chuckle a little.
He stared at Heather Debri instead, his face serious.
“Really, turning your own daughter on him? That's… Noble of you. I'd understand that at court, but really Heather, I expected better than that in the business parlor.”
The older woman looked down and got a look on her face as if her stomach was suddenly upset or she needed to run off to the restroom. But then she recovered her composure and smiled at Rolph.
“It would be a good match. Sara isn't in line to inherit Debri, her older brother Kris is. Hooking her wagon here would assure a good future, and she and Master Tor are already friends, most marriages don't usually start even with that, do they?” The gesture she made drew Tor's attention to a tall blond man, one that looked to be in his mid twenties about four places down. He looked over at the mention of his name, trying to pretend he hadn't been listening the whole time for some reason. “Maybe I should send an emissary to his parents?”
Rolph stiffened and glared at the woman. Tor could see that, he'd feel a little put out himself if the mother of the girl he liked suggested in public that the girl run off and marry Rolph, even as a joke. And really, Rolph was the best catch in the kingdom, so Tor couldn't even complain. If Tor loved a girl, then seeing her married to the future King would be the very best someone like him could do for her. Even before it would have been hard to raise too big a fuss, when his friend had just been tall, good looking and rich, with a great personality compared to his own.
Tor shook his head. “Marry the poor girl to a troll like me? That wouldn't be a good match at all…”
Everyone looked at him for a few moments as if amazed at the truth of what he'd just said. Finally a chuckle came from down the table where Sara's brother sat. The man didn't sound like he was making fun of him, it was gentler than that, almost a polite sound.
“A troll? If we had a real troll that could do what you have, it would still be a good match. But you sir, are definitely no troll. A little short, granted, but that can be overlooked…” His eyes popped opened and both hands went up. “No offense meant by that! I just meant that you have clear skin, good eyes and all your own teeth. Not that I'm any great judge of such things, but I'd wager most women would even find you handsome. That along with what you've done already and the promise of what might be done… I have to agree with mother here. It would be a good alliance.”
Sara looked down and blushed from across the table, but didn't protest. Tor shook his head again, not because he wouldn't like such a thing, just because it wouldn't be fair to her. Tor had a suspicion that they were having fun at his expense. Which was fine, but it was also at hers, which wasn't. They may be her people, but she was his friend too.
He smiled, trying to show that he got it and laid his hands flat on the table to show that the joke had ended and been found out. Tor was too tired for this kind of interplay today. the Capital seemed to treat teasing and joking about things like this as a game. He'd pick it up eventually, or learn to avoid people here. One way or the other. Right now he felt like just doing the latter, but he knew he was just a bit tired.
Rolph told Heather that she would not send an emissary to Two Bends, and that if she were serious she'd deal with the Queen herself in proxy for Tor's own mother. That statement got Sara's attention and she swung around on Rolph looking panicked for an instant.
“Does he…” She started.
“Oh, yes, father told him the whole thing earlier. Had to. The situation kind of required it. I can't go into it now, but some… things have come up at home. Later.” Rolph made an odd sweeping gesture with his hand, one that Tor had seen him use with the others and some of the faculty at the school before in his presence, that seemed to say “be silent” now that he knew that his friend was a Prince and not just some merchant's son. Before it had just seemed a quirky mannerism.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up with suggestions for new devices, some of the ideas catching Tor's interest, so he asked for some paper on which to write them down as well as a pencil. It was provided so fast that he didn't even have the words all the way out before one of the men near the end of the table jumped up and set it in front of him. He started making notes, and didn't let himself get sidetracked into how the fields needed to be built, even though his mind wanted him to go there so badly it almost hurt. Focus on the moment, he told himself, over and again. Like in meditation class.
When they left he almost cried in relief. Tears actually started welling up in his eyes as he looked away from Rolph, so the other boy wouldn't see that he was a weak little girl. Tor hadn't wanted to show it inside, but the whole day had been incredibly stressful for him. Too many new people. Nearly as many as the first day of school and worse, these people actually paid attention to him as if he had something to say that might be important. On top of that, there was the whole fiasco with poor Ursala. What were they going to do there?
Sure, it technically wasn't his problem, his best solution, an offer to make it right by marriage to himself, had been rejected by all involved already. That… was a relief, but didn't solve the issue at all. What could he do? Rolph was his friend, which meant Ursala was his problem just as much as if one of his sisters were in the same trouble. Well, except for then Tor would marry her, or go and find someone better for the job, no matter what it took.
Could he do less for Ursala then?
Looking down at the papers he noticed that one of the ideas jumped out at him suddenly. The need to ship large amounts of goods rapidly, that wasn't even a real problem. It would just take a field big and strong enough to lift what they wanted, wagons of goods he guessed, fields like the ones he'd already built for the luggage. The area of effect had to be bigger, and that would suck to make, but the general idea was the same. He could knock that out in a few days.
He grunted as an idea hit him.
Some people didn't want to fly, but he could make a wagon or carriage that would go over the roads far more quickly than what a horse could. If it floated above the ground a little it wouldn't even be a bumpy ride and really, if you were a foot from the ground, that wasn't flying, was it? He wrote that down too, the marks rough and hard to read as the carriage bounced. Rolph looked over at his sudden movement and shook his head.
“This thing with Ursala is a mess. I mean, it's not like we were supposed to be in love or anything, she's not exactly my type, but I wouldn't want anything to happen to her either, you know? She's a good sort, most of the time, if a little prone to sleeping around with the wrong people I guess, I wouldn't even mind being married to her. I just… can't see any reasonable way out of this. I can't marry her now. If it were up to me alone, I would, just to save her troubles, but the firstborn will be in line to inherit the kingdom. That child kind of has to be mine. It's actual law. If Count Ward wasn't already married, we could just show up with some of the Royal Guard and ask him to do the right thing politely, or you and I could go and talk to him about it. Really, I don't know what either of them were thinking! Ward should know better than to bang a daughter of peerage like that now that he's married! If Ursala was just some serving girl she could be given some money and told to go and marry some boy from down the street and no one would care one way or the other. As for her, well, there are ways to keep from having a child. That she'd gotten so careless verges on criminal.”
Tor put the papers away and listened for a while. It was a bigger mess than he'd thought. Almost anything they did brought them back to the fact that the girl had to marry and that it had to be a royal. A decently high ranking one too, at least a Baron or better. The problem was that all the royals that were close enough in location to do it were either too powerful to force into anything or were already married themselves. She was pregnant, so they couldn't marry her off to some twelve year old. The age of consent was fourteen after all.
A message was sent off to Trice, so that she'd show up at the palace for the early dinner meeting that Connie was planning. That would be good. She may not be able to come up with anything either, but at least Tor knew her and considered her a good friend. He'd feel a little less out of place that way. He asked if they should send for Count Thomson as well. Rolph considered it and then shook his head.
“No, I don't think so. The fewer people that know about this, the easier it will be to keep under wraps. No matter what we do, the child has to be protected from any backlash from this later. It was stupidity that allowed this to happen, but it would be worse to dump the problem on the kid in the future.”
That got a nod from Tor. He hadn't been thinking that way, but it was important. Maybe the single most important thing in all of this.
Since he understood now that the big building in front of where he and Rolph had been staying was the palace and no one had to try and hide that from him, the meeting was to be held there. Apparently cozy wasn't the impression that the King and Queen really wanted to give right now to the people that would be attending.
Burks came with more clothing and helped him dress, an outfit that made him feel ridiculous, with heavy gold colored brocade on the shoulders and the King's personal livery on the front, covering his whole chest. It stood out on a background of purple, but the main color was black, more velvet and silk than he'd ever seen on a man before. At least one his size. The servant had to tie him into it then hide the strings with a heavy jacket of more black material.
He blushed looking down at himself, but Burks assured him he looked splendid.
“Right. But you'd say that if I looked like a fish, wouldn't you? Kind of part and parcel to your work?”
To his surprise the man shook his head with a serious look on his face. “Oh, definitely not sir! If you looked like a fish, or anything other than the best I could manage, I'd tell you instantly so that we could work to fix it before being seen in public. You cut a fine figure however. No one will think you dressed as anything other than proper I don't think. Especially since you're dressed in a fashion that declares you in the King's service directly, acting as his hand or voice. I don't think anyone will question your right to be at this meeting tonight. Do be careful not to start a war though, since the King would have to back you in it, even if he doesn't agree with you on the reasoning.” He continued and explained that it was the livery on the front. This outfit had, after all, once belonged to the Prince. On someone like him it basically meant that whatever Tor did, the King backed him fully.
It was nice to know in case he used the wrong spoon or something, which was probably the actual point. Someone figured that he'd mess up and this would make it… Well, not OK, but less embarrassing. Maybe.
Before Rolph came to collect him he pulled a few more of the room cooling systems and heat exchange amulets, then slipped his shield on as well, the latest version, the fourth one that he'd created. It still wasn't perfect, but it took care of a lot of problems the older ones had. As silly as it sounded, he still kept expecting Wensa to jump out at him and try to kill him at any given moment. She hadn't back at school, but that might not stop her now. The woman had kept watching him, if more covertly and from a greater distance after her attempt to end him at the shield test.
As a Royal Guard she might just show up in the palace, right?
As they walked to the main residence, Rolph told him to make certain that he didn't eat first tonight. In fact, he should wait for Trice to eat first, but go before Count Ward if possible.
“It's… Well, what you did last night was considered a good faith gesture, and one that won over mother, I have to say. But in general, the host or hostess takes the first bite, to prove the food isn't poisoned. Then down the table in order of rank, until the guests with the highest risk, in this case Ursala and Ward, so that everyone else would be risking death first.”
Tor had to ask why Ursala. Count Ward, well, someone could be angry at him, sure, but the girl? She didn't do anything worth death had she? She'd loved in the wrong place but… Rolph winced and shook his head.
“No, but… Well, if I was just some guy or even another Count, then no one would care. Marriage is arranged, but people can have lovers as they will. Even Ursala and I. It's different than in Two Bends that way, from what you've said? It's just possible though, that mother or father could decide that the easiest way out of the whole mess would be for her to either die, or lose the baby. Um, that will probably be brought up, so be forewarned. I know that the idea of killing a baby is against how you were raised, but it happens sometimes in cases like this. Don't challenge the Count to a duel over it or anything, alright?”
Oh, yeah, Tor thought, I'll just run over and challenge a Count to a duel. Not only would the guy probably kill him if he tried, but even if Tor won he'd be put to death. That would show the man not to be irresponsible and get good women pregnant like that. He'd be better off just killing himself in protest. Maybe that would get the guy's attention at least. Instead he looked straight ahead and told Rolph he'd try to keep that in mind. His voice sounded a little surly when it came out, but then he was more than a little tired. The big man grunted and said that he'd do the same.
Funny, but his voice sounded kind of angry as well.
The inside of the palace nearly made Tor want to run back out. He'd thought the guest house was nice, but the palace… There were whole rooms lined with gems and at least one done all in gold. Not gold silk or paint or even gold colored wood. The room, as big as the dining room in the guest house, was lined with real gold. The effect was… kind of ugly. But impressive for all of that. Rolph made fun of it as they passed, but he also made fun of one of the crystal rooms, one done in white quartz that Tor thought looked kind of pretty, if a little rough around the edges. He bet no one hung out in there if they valued their skin. Not close to the walls at least. They looked sharp.
The dining room, one that Rolph assured him was one of the “cozy” ones inside the residence, was bigger than the entire guest house. It was done in polished wood of at least three kinds, light colors that made it appropriate for the heat of summer. The Queen was already in the room when they got there, and waved them over to here as she spoke to a warm looking older man with white hair who kept bowing every few seconds.
“That should do Quavelle. I think.” She turned to Rolph and gave him a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek that missed by about an inch, then without missing a beat she did the same thing to Tor. He blinked and ducked his head, which had to look bashful, he knew.
Connie spoke, as if asking a question. “If we take the cooling plates from the living chambers and put them in here, will that be enough to lower the temperature in a space this large do you think?” She didn't look at anyone in particular, so Tor looked around and nodded.
“Probably, but…” He lifted the bundle in his left hand. “I brought a half dozen for that. I also brought along ten of the heat exchangers for personal use.”
The Queen's eyes lit. “That will make an impression indeed, do we need both though? If the room is cool that should be enough…”
“Sure, in here, but the servers have to run back and forth to the kitchen and out into the warm night and stuff on odd errands, do I have that right? Their outfits are all heavy too, which has to be hot. This way they can stay cool the whole time. I don't know if I have enough for all of them…”
Quavelle provided that it would nearly do, there being fifteen servants standing by. Shrugging Tor turned off his own amulet and handed it to the man, along with the rest of the bundle. It was uncomfortably warm in the room without the device, but he'd live until the temperature plates could be turned on. The Queen's man seemed to be in charge, so he could deal with who got what as far as the staff went. Nodding to himself Tor decided that he needed to make up more of everything. Just this one building had so many people that could use a bit of relief from the heat. The poor people in the kitchen must be half dead by the end of each day.
With a chuckle Rolph doffed his own amulet and so did the Queen. That would only leave two people hanging. The older man bowed low to Tor and said that he'd manage it so no one had to suffer too much. How that would be made to happen Tor didn't know, but he hoped it would be alright. Leaving even a couple people out left him feeling bad already.
They weren't to be seated until everyone had arrived, which was some kind of rule. Rolph made sure he understood how important it was, but very covertly, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed.
When she got there Trice looked beautiful, in a dress of light violet that nearly glowed somehow. Her long hair had been put up, leaving a few ringlets of dark brown that neared being true black trailing down the sides artistically. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked over and saw him, but she didn't wave or acknowledge his presence. Instead she walked over, flowed towards them somehow, hardly looking like she walked at all, more like she floated gently, it was so graceful tears nearly came to his eyes. She bowed to the Queen and then to Rolph.
Looking at Tor she held out her hand, which he took, but didn't know what to do with. After about ten seconds she took it back with a smile. Was he supposed to kiss it or something? He swallowed, feeling so very out of his depth. Looking at the others she finally spoke.
“Cat's out of the bag then?” She gestured with her head towards the short man.
Connie smiled.
“Kind of hard to hide the whole palace dear. Let me catch you up on the situation before everyone gets here.”
Trice listened closely and made appropriate noises, but didn't seem nearly as concerned as Tor felt she should be. Were things like this that common or did she just not like Ursala? The Counserina had seemed fine to him earlier, nice even. Trice's face didn't show any response to the information at all until Connie mentioned Tor's offer to marry the girl earlier. Then her eyes flew open.
The Queen nodded.
“Yes. Amazing really. Our Tor didn't even know who she was, he just sought to do what was proper and noble without thought for himself. Of course it can't be allowed, not yet at least, class differences and all that, but the offer had impact. No one hearing it will say that we did less than our best by her, I don't think. Worse comes to it, we may be able to swing a low title for him. I think we have a few empty ones lying around.” Her voice had gone low and teasing, which made Trice look around carefully and then, her back to the room, stick her tongue out.
“Aunt Constance! It's not nice to tease people like that.”
Rolph shook his head. “You think it's teasing… but by the end of the night it may be the only thing we have. Besides, I think Tor would make an excellent Baron or Duke, don't you?”
With a wave the Queen set the issue aside, causing a wave of relief to flow over Tor. He would marry Ursala if that was the best answer. He'd already offered to make it right. But a title? It would be a little odd for him to be lord something or other the village baker, wouldn't it? Oh, maybe some money would come in eventually from his little devices, but until that happened he'd have to earn a real living and he only had the one skill. It would hardly be enough to support a royal wife, but he'd manage somehow, no matter what he had to do. Join the military maybe? They needed bakers and it should pay a little more to begin with.
Ursala came in with two older people, who came to greet the Queen, bowing like Trice had, then they bowed to Rolph. Uncertain as to what to do they turned to Tor next and smiled, but didn't give him any indication as to what was expected. Was he supposed to bow? Before he had the chance, Ursala stepped forward and gave him a brief hug.
“Father, mother, this is the man I told you about earlier, Torrence Baker…” She smiled and the older woman, not nearly as heavy as her daughter, stepped forward and hugged him too.
“Oh! That's a good story. If nothing else in this comes out right, at least we'll have the tale of your nobility.” Her eyes moistened, but she smiled and stepped back. The man stepped in and shook his hand, clapping him on the shoulder, murmuring something that sounded like “good show.”
Rolph put a hand on Tor's back. “Tor, this is Count Horace Thorgood and his wife, the Countess Marigold. You both know of Tor already it seems. He's agreed, along with Patricia here, to aid us if possible in coming to a sensible and honorable solution to this current situation.”
Richard came in a bit later getting bows from everyone but the Queen. When Rolph bowed Tor did too. After all, this was in public, right? The King wouldn't think he was being mocked if everyone else was bowing and all that, would he? The huge man clapped the Prince on the back after giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. Then he followed by giving a head nod to everyone else, finally standing just behind Tor, who'd ended up between the Queen and Trice somehow.
“Hopefully we'll be able to come to a solution to this tonight. There's a situation in the Ford district that needs seeing to as well and as lives may be at stake, we really shouldn't leave it too long. Drought. It looks like we might lose the mid-summer crops, and if this lingers the late summer harvest too.” Looking at Tor he added some information, probably getting that geography wasn't something the younger man had a lot of knowledge of.
“Generally dry and warm there, directly west of here, near the Pacifico so the moisture is there, but they can't irrigate with salt water. Bad for the plants. Plus we'd have to bring in a river's worth of water to do it, since the good crop lands are hundreds of miles away from the ocean anyway.” He shook his head sadly.
“Prime growing area in good years, but it looks like we may need to start shipping food to them again. It happens every ten years or so.”
Tor started to sink into himself, thinking about how to first filter the salt out of water, which should be doable, kind of like separating sewage really, right? He'd already gotten a filter for that so if he could modify it… Then he'd have to figure out how to get the water to move in the right direction long enough. That would be harder. After all, he'd learned in the Two Bends school about how water tended to flow towards the ocean, making it go the other way could take a bit of doing.
Just before he lost himself in thought totally, Trice started shaking his arm covertly. He looked at her, having jumped slightly.
She grinned a little and gestured with her head subtly.
“Looks like it's show time. It's Count Ward and it looks like he brought his wife. Ballsy of him. You'd think he'd be trying to hide this from her if he could. Then again, he never was known for being exactly… bright. Good looking, but…”
The man was good looking Tor noticed and easy to see as well, even across the huge room. If he wasn't as tall as the King it was only because the ruler had better posture. In many ways the man was probably about the best looking guy Tor had ever seen anywhere. Perfect skin, dark enough to make his white teeth stand out at a distance. Black hair, about the same color as Tor's but longer, tied back in a ponytail. He couldn't see the eyes yet, but they were probably great too.
Jerk, being all good looking like that.
Well, that explained why Ursala had slept with him at least.
On his arm he had a tall girl obviously of royal blood as well. It wasn't until they moved closer, walking arm in arm, heads held high, that Tor realized who she was. She'd grown considerably since the last time they'd met. At least ten inches. He swallowed and stopped breathing, which Trice noticed. She nudged him a little.
“Something?” She said quietly.
He nodded.
“Maria.”