A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (10 page)

"Tiera has agreed to be our messenger inside the kingdom. She still needs to be at classes during the day, but should be able to go without sleep for longer periods of time than a regular student might. Since we have her under guard, one of you should likely attend her when she goes on such missions for us. Is that something that can be made to happen?" He didn't order anything, but didn't seem to need to, the others just looking at each other for a few seconds, then agreeing.

Sir Kolbrin bowed a tiny bit, his scarred face set.

"Certainly. Or, if the need arises, we might be able to pass a few things along ourselves. Karen and I were given Fast Craft by Tor and David knows how to fly one. He can borrow mine if he needs?"

The Count smiled and nodded then, as if it was a brilliant idea, but didn't let her off the hook.

"Tiera will run lead on it. Don't let her slack off. I hear that she's been alienating some of our best potential assets already, which is fast work. Dean Hardgrove requested that she be removed from the school and the only reason she's still there is that her brother and one of the boys involved, Henry, requested that she not be." There was a blank look on his face, but he eyed her directly, as if this would be surprising to her for some reason. It
was
a little, since Henry would have had to ask for it before she'd apologized.

It spoke of character, didn't it?

Before she could explain anything, Karen did it for her.

"True, a bit of a mess. She's apologized all around and cut all her hair off in penance though. That and some beatings should set her on the right path. We'll just invite those boys over to see it done, let her grovel a few more times and that should fix it. Really, it's your fault, so you should head over and do some bowing of your own." The woman blushed horribly, but didn't back away from her words, even as the others stared at her as if she were a monster. "After all, it was your responsibility to make certain she knew The Rules and she was trying to protect the young men from
you
, thinking that they might be harmed for their attentions. If what I've heard is correct, then that was a reasonable thing to think, wasn't it? Her village is like that, more or less. You didn't even sit her down for a talk to reassure her first though, did you?"

Even as everyone else glared at Karen, including her own brother, Count Lairdgren bowed low, to Tiera.

"I apologize for my part in this. I see that it was an error. I shall be around as soon as I may, to explain this to the young men in question and fix what I can of it." Then he bowed to Karen, nearly as low. "Thank you for your assistance and for correcting my mistake. Know that I will see to this." He didn't wait for her to bow back however, just standing, looking as if he hadn't been humbled at all.

It was a little annoying, but Tiera got the idea, he wasn't humbled, since
he
just looked good for what he'd done. The Count wasn't going to be hated for what she'd screwed up, and seriously, as anyone would have really known, it wasn't his fault. He wasn't directly responsible for her, grandfather or not. She was the one that had to take the blame for her actions. It kind of meant that Karen had been doing something else, did it? She'd pushed the man on purpose, and he'd known it too. So he apologized and then acted like she was correct in doing it? Why?

No one spoke of it after that and while David looked miserable about the whole thing, Sir Kolbrin had a small smile on his face.

"So Baker, you should make a point of introducing yourself to everyone, if you're point on this mission. Take a place by the door so that no one can get past you too easily." There was a hint of command to the voice, but it was a good idea and she followed it, tugging her date along with her and bowing to the first person she met as they tried to leave.

"Good evening. Tiera Baker, pleased to meet you."

The man and his wife both looked puzzled, but bowed back at least.

"Baron Rene Gala. This is my wife, Celesta." His gaze was searching, and she looked right back at him, trying to memorize the face. He had a nice silver and black mustache, and deep blue eyes. His hair, the stuff on his head, was a dark brown and he was tall, which was only to be expected, pushing seven feet or so. Not as big as some, but clearly a nobleman by birth. His clothing was nice, a blue and red suit, but not magical, she didn't think. That or Timon did his design creation, since it looked real.

She smiled at them both and tried to remember the mix of silver and gold hair and the slight age lines around the eyes of his wife as well. Then she moved slightly so that they could get past her.

The next half an hour was the same, at least twenty times, since some of the people were alone or at least left separately. It would be hard to remember all the names, but the faces would stick. She could see them floating behind her eyes already, which meant she had them. It was a trick, but a useful one. She had a good memory for faces.

The last ones out were the Thomsons, since they lived there. Terlee gave her a slightly strange look, but it wasn't about her being so pushy, she didn't think, since David got included in it almost instantly.

"Is this your boyfriend?" The words were playful for Tamerlane, and Count Thomson had to turn away so that his smile wouldn't show. David bowed, smiling, his own eyes twinkling.

"Our first date. My sister Karen introduced us." It was just the truth, but he smiled slyly as if he was suggesting there was a deeper connection.

Tiera nearly scowled, but remembered what Karen had said and tried to play along, so that his feelings wouldn't be hurt.

 "I'm working on that. We really did just meet today, but he's been a true gentleman and a wonderful companion. It would be foolish of me to not pursue something like that, wouldn't it?"

Oddly her sister smiled a little and touched David's arm slightly.

"Yes. I hear good things about you, David. Both Tovey and my brother, Tor, have spoken very highly of you in the past." She took her hand back instantly, so it wasn't very flirty, but it was enough that David smiled at it and bowed again.

Then, thankfully they were allowed to leave too. She had her own craft, but Timon and Petra stood outside, waiting for them along with Sir Kolbrin and Karen. After they piled in and started back toward the north, David turned on Karen and growled, a low and deadly sounding thing.

"What the hell was that? Are you trying to make sure I'm next in line for the County or something?"

His sister didn't even make a face or ask what it was he meant, she just answered her voice steady.

"Not everyone is Father. I challenged the Count so that he'd know that I was going to protect Tiera, no matter what. Notice that he did the most graceful thing possible, without hesitation? He got what I meant. More, he said that he agreed. He's sending his granddaughter into potential danger, but he loves her well enough. I had to know where we stood that way. It would be too easy to think that he was Tor, and we can't assume that. They're not the same person." She stopped talking suddenly and Kolb cleared his throat.

"I've rather noticed that. Still, it was well done all the way around. Do remember, Tiera, that he doesn't actually hold responsibility for this in the minds of your fellows. You're in for a time of it, no doubt. I know it will be hard, but I suggest you do a lot of bowing and asking for forgiveness for the next year or so."

She took a deep breath and tried not to speak, but the words came anyway and sounded sassy. She just couldn't help it, but at least the near dark they rode in was enough to help hide her face a bit. She felt her face twist up in a scowl.

"Why do you all keep going over the same things? I
get
it. I was wrong and will have to pay, and pay, even though it wasn't anything I could have avoided without being evil. This is all..." She wanted to blame someone else, but it wasn't about
fault
. Even she could see that. She'd had the needed data, but she also had conflicting information and that set her up to look bad. So she growled a little instead.

No one spoke for a while, until Sir Kolbrin did, changing the subject.

"In the morning you need to report to the training area. Your morning classes will change to the afternoon section. I'll see to that. You won't have as much free time, so get ready for that. Not keeping a double major area of study. Try to get what rest you can tonight. I know that it's exciting, but you'll just have to contain yourself."

She looked where the voice was coming from but didn't answer, since it was just what she had to do, if she wasn't going to leave school. She might still, she knew. It wasn't fair, but she'd really botched things and she doubted that she was going to stay cool with everyone for the long term, if they all kept after her. She'd nearly destroyed the dining facility earlier, hadn't she? Even if it wouldn't have done much to the well armed group of builders at the time. At least until she'd had their clothing off.

She sighed and realized that she was going to have to deal with them too. That part had seemed like a good plan at the time, so they couldn't hide any weapons, but that one boy, Guide, he'd been so embarrassed that he'd probably be looking to get her back. That would probably have something to do with her being left naked in the commons too. All he'd have to do was come up behind her and turn her amulets off. Timon could do it, and
had
, so she didn't doubt that any of the others could too.

Well, it was probably fair enough, wasn't it? Not what she wanted to happen, but what could she do about it? On the good side no one else would really care that much. People didn't walk around naked at school, but a lot of them came from places where public nudity wasn't a huge issue. Communal baths and all that, or at least Regina had said so.

That was another thing she really needed to see about. Her old roommate. Either she'd been trying to cause Tiera to make mistakes and telling her lies to that end, or it was all just a misunderstanding and she needed to know not to do the same thing herself. For the time being she had to assume they were still friends, since doing anything else would hurt too much.

The craft set down in the woods, rather than the central commons, and they all had to try and move silently back to their own places, which meant going in different directions for David and Sir Kolbrin. Karen was with her, and changed her nice gown into something dark and close to her skin. Tiera did the same, making her normal student browns go black, not knowing what else she could come up with that would really work. Instead of boots she used soft soled slippers however. If they'd been real they would have been destroyed after a few steps, but while they collected dirt and grime, they were magical, so it wouldn't matter in the long run. She could fix it instantly.

The sneaking they did wasn't exactly smooth, but they kept to the shadows near the buildings and since things weren't brightly lit at nearly two in the morning, no one saw them. When they got in the room Karen turned on a magical light that had been nailed to the wall. It was something her brother had made, which meant that Karen was either rich, or a good friend of his.

Then, instead of going instantly to sleep, the large woman gestured for Tiera to sit and changed her own clothing, eyes closed for a few seconds, into a nice sleeping gown.

"Alright. You made some mistakes tonight. First, you should have been more attentive to Davie. Even if you don't want to sleep with him, he was your date. Small bits of contact, spaced out over the entire meal would have worked. You didn't say goodnight to him properly either. True, that was a pretty strange way for the whole thing to end, sneaking in from the woods like that, but in a normal situation you'd want to give him at least a chaste kiss." She smiled a little and then laid back on her bed, closing her eyes for a minute. When she spoke again her voice was a little drowsy. "You did well with Peterson. Just the right level of flirting. Now you can visit him and no one will think it's anything more than a visit for a discreet meeting. That's a good idea. People will think you're a bit free, but if you make it seem like you're
everyone's
lover no one will question constant visits."

There was another pause and Tiera didn't speak, feeling a bit like a total failure already. She'd thought she'd been decently close to having it right and the idea of even having to fake being that way made her feel horrible.

"Tovey... You really should have hugged him. Any normal girl your age would have done at
least
that. People will have noticed and they'll think there's a rift between you if you don't. The same with Count Lairdgren. The rest went well enough however, as far as social graces went. A little heavy handed at the end there, introducing yourself to everyone, but that will make you memorable. You didn't stand on your title either, which made it seem special. Like you wanted to know them all as people. That should work pretty well."

Tiera started to speak, just to say that she'd try to fix it all, but Karen didn't let her.

"Now, from a combat perspective, you were a wreck. You need to keep weapons ready all the time. You did have a shield on, didn't you? If not, I swear I'm going to beat you for an hour in the morning." She yawned, but didn't actually sound angry about it.

Tiera looked at her and squinted a bit.

"I did, and still do, have my shield on, thank you. I have weapons too. Side pocket on my dress. I just hid it in the pattern so that it wouldn't stand out." She felt a little attacked, but Karen grinned in response.