A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (15 page)

"Oh! You changed your hair! I love it. A very daring look. Is it for a reason?" The pretty blonde winced on the last word, as if she'd made a mistake asking the last part.

Tiera nodded though, because there was a story with it, wasn't there?

"Yes. I was very awful to some boys, because I didn't know The Rules well enough, so I had it all cut off in penance for what I'd done. A portion of it at least." She stopped there, and Collette, clearly being a
nice
woman, didn't ask for more or comment.

"The schedule is in the main house. Would you give me a lift? I generally take care of the party arrangements for Alyssa, so unless I'm being set aside, I might be useful there?"

Karen snorted in a good natured fashion and patted the woman on the back.

"
We
can't do it. Not from the school. It would be a relief, since we're having the King and Queen in, if they can make it. In the next few days too. Figure twenty others as well. The Lairdgren group, several higher nobles and possibly the Bakers from Two Bends."

That last was news to Tiera, but they'd like that. She could pick them up on the way in herself, it wouldn't be a problem she didn't think.

The woman was very attractive, blonde and sweet, making them all feel perfectly welcome, offering them cool drinks, or coffee if they preferred, though no harder drinks for some reason. It was generally considered polite and they were all adults after all. She had to fly of course, and pilots didn't drink. Timon had made certain she knew that. The others could though. Except Farlo. She was a builder and one of the very top ones. That sort didn't drink, did they? That left Karen and Regina, but they didn't ask for more than something cool. She had water herself, since they could have ice in it here without it being a great expense.

It took a few minutes for Collette to retrieve the needed schedule, but she got her own copy to take with her, it would have her flying around half the kingdom on her next two off days and worked in three evening trips as well. It wasn't too heavy, only twelve pick-ups in all with twenty-seven passengers. She nodded at the page and folded it twice, making a pocket form for her to carry it in, so she wouldn't forget about it.

"I can leave from here? I'll need to pick up the food baskets and wine for the passengers." She said the words absently, but the blonde woman assured her that would be ready for her early in the day.

Then she clapped once and walked them to a sitting room that wasn't overly large, but had a communications device in it. Without pause Baronetta Coltress hit the sigil for the palace and waited, the word "Capital" coming out of the white colored stone, floating above it a little.

"This might be a bit. Tiera, perhaps if you'd speak for us?" She said the words as if that might make sense, but really, she didn't know who to even ask for. Not really.

The man that spoke had a nice deep voice, it probably meant he was very tall.

"This is the palace. How may I help you?"

She leaned in, still not certain what to say.

"Hello! Um, this is Tiera Baker. I need to speak to... I guess whoever does the social calendar for the King and Queen? Alyssa Baker is having a party at her house and they're invited. In two days, if they can come? The rest of the family as well, if they're available. We're having the Lairdgren group in as well." She sounded stupid, she realized and shut up, but the man didn't snicker at her, being too well trained for that no doubt.

"I know who to get for this. One moment." It took longer than that, but about three minutes later a nice sounding woman took over.

"A party?
Wonderfu
l. You said the whole family is invited? Does that include Princess Abbie? The wedding is in only a few months, so it would be good to include her, if possible."

Tiera looked at Karen, who gave a single nod, not even needing to think about it. That was enough of a hint for her at least.

"Yes, if it can be arranged? She's my great niece. That makes me sound old doesn't it?" She wasn't joking but the lady on the device made a polite sound.

"A bit, would you and Karen Derring be available for a visit this afternoon dear? Nothing too advanced, but we have some things to discuss. Personal things."

That seemed a little bit too much for a secretary to be asking, but she understood that just meant it wasn't the case at all. This was the Queen. So that man had been the King? No one else would have fetched her like that would they? Well, that made sense. It was
his
communications device. He probably liked playing with it. They were kind of fun.

Tiera sighed and sounded a little pissy then.

"Another dressing down for my poor behavior? A bit much to get the Queen in on it, isn't it? I suppose Tim put you up to it? That sounds like him, doesn't it? Or was it Count Lairdgren? I hardly know the man, so I doubt that."

There was a deep silence from the unit in front of her, but the Queen came back with a slightly harder tone.

"So, you
admit
that you were misbehaving? Excellent. It will save time later. Please present yourself at seven this evening. You won't be fed." Then the line clicked off. Everyone stared at her and Regina teared up.

"It's all my fault! They're going to beat you again... or, or worse! I... we should run away!" She went on like that for a few minutes, until Collette shook her head, firmly.

"I don't think so. You'll stay here with me and explain how it's all your fault and how to best address that while your friend goes off to face what comes. That was Queen Constance and there's no getting out of it now. Best to just throw yourself on her mercy and
hope
that she settles for a mere beating I think. Poor Tiera." There was an actually sound of pity in her voice.

For a bit she wondered if it would be a real punishment, or just yelling, but she put it aside, since that wouldn't help her later. The hard part would be not shouting back. Her temper was a bit hard to control at times after all. She couldn't really stop it.

On the nice side they got to do some shopping, or at least looking since no one bought anything much. Regina got some pretty ribbons for her hair, and Farlo picked up a nice set of steel rings that she figured Sam Builder would like. That got Karen to smile at her, but the girl didn't even blink about it.

"We're friends. Good friends. He can use them for building materials if nothing else. He's making iron his signature metal. These would be for something special, but I think he'll like them." She didn't say more, but Regina gave Tiera a knowing look.

Good
friends meant they were sleeping together, didn't it? The amazing thing there was that Farlo just acted as if it were normal. As if everyone did things like that. Because in her world they did. Tiera was more innocent than that. Still, she wasn't
supposed
to be, was she?

There was time for an early meal before she went off for her dressing down or beating, so Collette got the woman in the kitchen to serve them a nice roast fowl dish, wrapped in a rich pastry crust, with finely chopped mushrooms. It was very good. She still checked it for poison, doing Regina's for her as well, since she didn't have a detector. Here everyone did it though, including Collette, at what was essentially her own table.

They mainly kicked around ideas for the party, which sounded very elaborate and grand for something they only had two days to get ready. On the good side, if the King and Queen really planned to come, everyone else invited would. You didn't dodge out on a chance to visit with the King, did you? That could lead to some pretty dire things, she was certain. That line of thought didn't help her at all, so she tried to set it aside, but her nerves didn't really let her.

 Karen moved to go half an hour early, even though they were flying in.

"You need to land very slowly. The last four hundred feet has to be done in about ten minutes, outside of an emergency. I can do it for you, if you want?"

She grimaced at the woman and then shook her head. "No. It's my beating. I just hope I can fly out. Well, let's go do it. Dawdling will just make them madder."

It took a few minutes to get the carriage set up, and about ten seconds to be over the palace. Then she drifted down so slowly they hardly seemed to move. Halfway down Karen laughed at her.

"You do realize that they aren't really going to beat you, right? You're moving like you think this is real."

She didn't admit to having had any other thought on the matter, but took a deep breath.

"Isn't it? I can't prove its not. Queen Constance sounded very upset with me. It probably isn't over my sudden change in school schedule, is it?"

Karen rolled her eyes, but didn't try to make her go faster. As she settled to the bare dirt, floating about a foot above it, she climbed out, feeling like a little kid with cookie crumbs still on her face, getting ready to say it wasn't her that took them.

They were met by a wall of tall, aggressive looking men and women in purple and black that handed them both Truth amulets instantly.

There was giant man that was about the same weight as Havar, if not as tall by several inches, who barked at them a bit.

"Name, rank and loyalty please." He didn't sound happy to see them at all for some reason.

None of them did.

She was led by the arm, a little roughly, into a stone chamber down a long set of gray stone stairs. At the bottom a much worn metal door waited. The dungeon no doubt. The man that did it was one of the Royal Guards, the bullies in purple and black, but there was only one of him. She didn't know what was going on for certain, but she'd passed the Truth testing again, so it seemed more than a little mean to her. Like he was doing it on purpose. He even sneered at her with sidelong glances, right until they hit the bottom of the steps.

Then he let go of her arm and bowed.

"Through the door please miss. This is as far as I go." He did open it for her, the gray metal tinged in places with rust. It made a load screeching sound when it opened and Tiera turned her shield on, right hand going to her little side pocket, taking out her Force Lance. She didn't know who, or what, was waiting, but bringing the whole building down on top of her was insane, if she could help it at least.

 Karen had been taken away already, but not brought here, since, obviously,
she
wasn't in trouble. Flashes of things came to mind, the main one being Princess Veronica spilling some milk and being taken here as a little girl to be beaten into correct behavior. If that was the case then she'd been very wrong about the King and Queen and needed to rethink her loyalty, didn't she?

The man behind her didn't tell her to take off her shield, or disarm, but he did whisper to her before she entered the room.

"You won't need that. Don't start fighting until you understand the situation." It was friendly sounding advice, and didn't match the rather rough treatment she'd gotten so far.

Inside the room it was well lit. There was a little table, made of wood, with three people sitting at it. She recognized them all and they regarded her evenly enough. The King was on the far side, in a large chair, Prince Alphonse next to him. They both had bright red hair and skin that was lighter than average, but that was still darker than her own by a bit. They wore black, but in military canvas, not like her velvet outfit. Count Lairdgren was there in a rather sharp looking but very odd green suit with buttons on the front. An old style most likely, that needed to be updated. From the look of it they all had on magical clothing though, since it looked pretty fresh.

Tiera didn't speak, shutting the door and locking it, so that she'd only have to fight three of them if it came to it.

Then she pointed the Force Lance at Count Lairdgren, just gesturing with it.

"Modern styles of clothing. That was popular when? Two thousand years ago?" She growled the words, feeling a bit tense, which always came out as angry with her. It was just something that happened.

The other two blinked at her and Count Lairdgren tilted his head.

Then let his clothing shift until it looked like something that might actually fit the situation, for a Count at least.

"Better?" He smiled at her, and looked so much like her brother she nearly cried.

"Yes. Much. Now, what is this? If you three are going to beat me you should have picked a bigger room. This won't give you room to escape at all." Two of them were giants after all and while she didn't doubt they could still manage it, she was pretty well armed for the situation. She might still have to take it, since it was the King, but then again, she might not. There were limits after all.

For some reason Prince Alphonse covered a laugh with a giant hand and shook his head.

"Nothing like that, I assure you. Though if anyone asks what we did in here you got quite a talking to, complete with shouting and name calling. I'm your brother's best friend, so you get the idea, stop being a
Doretta
." He stopped himself then and held out his right hand toward her. "Though I
have
heard good things about the last few days, so, keep that up. This is about something different."

As if taking it as a cue to speak the giant at the end of the table, who was so big he looked almost like he was standing, being a full head or more taller than she was even in a chair, pulled out several sealed envelopes. They weren't marked on the outside except by single wax marks in different colors. The bottom of the stack each had two colors melted across the lip, keeping them shut.

"Deliveries. Burks assures us that we may call on you at any time for this task? Is that correct?"

It was an actual question, but she threw up her hands a little bit, still holding the weapon, which she didn't put away yet.

"Not really all the time. I have classes during the day. I suppose I can miss some, but too much and it will be a bit obvious. That means working at night, which is harder. I can do it, but... I guess it comes down to how secret it's supposed to be. If I have to sneak in places to do it, that will take longer. Plus I need to learn how to do that first. Sneaking I mean." She looked back at the man directly. He wasn't pretty, but lacked that rugged look that some of the fighters had, even if he was huge. His son was in the same mold, but smaller, both lacking facial hair at all and looking decently young.

The King didn't seem to take her words as offensive, even though she realized she was still sounding a little catty. The weapon in her hand probably didn't help either, so she put it away carefully, making sure it went into the front little pocket she had, so that she'd always know which weapon she was going for. They all watched her do it, and the Prince gestured to her head, his eyes examining her closely.

"I notice you have a new hairstyle. Fighter's cut?" His own hair wasn't that much longer than hers which probably meant about the same thing, she realized.

"Yes. Sir Kolbrin decided that I was in his section now and told me that he'd pull my hair like a little girl daily if I didn't make it impossible. He has this shield trick. It hurts, so I took him at his word."

There was nodding all the way around and Count Lairdgren gestured to her with a lazy movement.

"I'll be over to the school in a few days. We need to have these delivered as soon as possible, without it being noticed. There are twelve of them in all. The color code is random, so you'll need to memorize who gets which. This time it isn't that important, since they all have the same basic information, but in the future that will change. You have a good memory." It wasn't a question, but rather a simple statement as if he knew it for a fact.

He held out a single folded sheet to her, which had a chart, the colored wax lines next to a single name each. Most of them Counts and Countesses, but there were others as well. A few were people she'd met at her sister's meeting even. After a minute she handed the list back, and the Prince frowned, then reached out a hand to take it and smirked.

"Pink then light green..."

She rolled her eyes.

"Baron Coltress."

"A single red?"

"Count Breen."

This continued at random for nearly ten minutes, with him doubling back several times, trying to trick her, and with him stating the name instead of the color several times. She got them all, since there weren't that many of them. Only about thirty. Then he got a map with all the locations on it for her, the others just watching them, which couldn't have been that great of a use of time.

It really did help, having a map. It was of the whole kingdom, but she was given instructions that would work to get her into place, if she was careful. It was going to be a chore, but she thought she could get the twelve letters out that night, if she didn't sleep. She'd be late getting to morning practice if she did it though.

The King smiled when she laid out the plan, but didn't tell her no. Instead he stood and asked her to hide the letters on her person carefully. Then he made suggestions so that the cloth wouldn't bulge.

"There. Sorry about the ruse. Have George pull you up the stairs though. In the future... We need some way for you to visit here without it seeming too odd." The man frowned then, but Count Lairdgren waved at the Prince.

"You always have need for an extra young lady or two don't you Alphonse? You can give her instruction in how to behave properly. Maybe with some spanking to make it seem realistic?"

He was teasing she realized. The man actually even smiled about it, but the Prince nodded regally.

"That would be very nice, actually. You're very cute, if a little young for me. I adore Princess Abbie, but she's been modified by the Gray Ancient to not really enjoy sex, and while she's willing to perform at need, it's a chore for her. You could help in that regard and no one would think twice about it."

That got her to blink, but instead of snapping at him with crossed arms she took a deep breath. There were Rules after all.

"It's a good plan. Plus, well, I haven't... done anything like that. You could show me how?" She knew that it wasn't exactly the same as saying she wanted to do it with him, but he was decent looking and friendly enough. It actually made sense, didn't it?

He smiled then and nodded happily. "There we go, an actual plan to meet up regularly. Stop by anytime. I can visit you at school as well. Abbie won't mind and we can use Ali's house for it, I think. She's in with us. You have Karen Derring with you as a guard?"

There was a single nod to that, Tiera wondering if she was blushing yet. It wasn't something she really did, but if she were going to start, this would be a good time for it.

The Prince nodded.

"Good. She's a bit close for me to be having sex with, but she can stand guard so that we won't be interrupted."

That decided she was asked to leave, with Count Lairdgren stopping her at the door.

"Try to seem a little upset, as if this were very unpleasant. It's unfortunate, but we can't guarantee where information is going even here, so all of this needs to be lived, at all times. Try not to allow yourself to be seen while making deliveries as much as possible. If you are, have a plausible story ready." He didn't stress the point, but walked her to the door and opened it, yelling at her as he did.

"Now go! If I hear of you being less than perfect again anytime soon, you're not only out of the school, I'll disown you! I've never been so ashamed of one of my grandchildren! Luckily I have plenty of spares. Now get out of here and fix yourself or I swear I'll do it!" He managed to sound harsh and like he'd been screaming at her for the whole time. For a moment she actually believed him, his face stern and angry seeming.

Which was the point no doubt. The man outside the door glared at her too as the door shut behind them with a clang.

He leaned in, whispering in a menacing tone. His words didn't match his looming posture though.

"Cry or something, you look like you just came from tea with the Queen."

She tried to look miserable, but it wasn't enough she knew. She just seemed angry. It was how she was. Finally after a minute of trying she took her shield off and handed it to him.

"Hit me. Slaps to the face. It will make me-" a large open hand cracked her on the left cheek instantly, without any hesitation at all. The backhand hit her on the other side. It didn't feel great, but he was clearly holding back a lot. Karen had hit her harder in regular practice, so while it stung, she was sort of ready for it. That was why they practiced that way, so being struck wouldn't take her off guard too much. The big man did it half a dozen times, then handed her shield back.

"Still not crying. Squint your eyes and keep you head down. We'll try to leave directly. Think of sad things." He pulled her by the arm up the stairs, not being gently about it, but not triggering her shield at all. In the upper hallway Karen met them, standing with the Queen, who looked at her wide eyed. It was the closest she'd ever been to the woman, who winced when she saw the damage done to her face.

 She whispered, her tone mortified at least.

"Who did this to you?" She glanced hard at George then, clearly suspecting him as the culprit. She was right too, so trying to sound worked up, Tiera glared at him a little, then shied away as he held his hand up.

"
Him
. He was ordered to do it. Count Lairdgren said that he'd disown me if I didn't fix myself, but I'm already trying. I can't
do
anything else." It would have been so much more believable with tears, but the Queen moved in and gave her a close hug, rocking her a little.

"I
see
. Well, that will be all George." She raised one hand gently to about head level and called for a cold compress for her. "I'll speak to him. I'm certain he didn't mean it."

Tiera made a hard face, since that was clear to anyone that knew the real situation, wasn't it?

"Of course he didn't mean it. He'd have to have me killed, wouldn't he? I'm immortal and so is he. It's not like I get anything out of being related to
him
. It wasn't a threat to have me out of his County, he meant that I'd vanish into the winds. Go out some day and never come back."

Or at least that would have been what would really have been the threat if the man hadn't been acting. The Queen's mouth trembled a little but she hugged Tiera again.

"I'm sorry dear. Try to do better. I... This is my fault. I shouldn't have told him about what you'd said on the communications device. Can you forgive me? I don't deserve it." She bowed, but Tiera didn't let her, hugging her again. It seemed like they were keeping the lady out of things for some reason? Probably because she was being watched somehow. A spy that they knew about maybe?