A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (20 page)

"Well, it isn't just about living a long time. Other traits were added in and being of the gray line, like my mother and Timon, he has it too, well it means that I might only like women. You know... in
that
way. It isn't how I feel though. A lot of men seem really interesting to me at least, so I don't think I'm locked in to any one thing. She didn't know though. She isn't like that, but apparently Count Lairdgren told her it might be possible."

That got a long silence and then Karen shrugged.

"I like men myself. I need to find a husband soon. Maybe steal Count Breen from you?" She looked out the window and after a few seconds smiled, as if just getting something. "I bet it's your new hairstyle. A lot of the female fighters are often thought as being exclusively interested in women. It isn't true of course, just an old thing that people decided was a fact in the past and haven't let go of yet."

That sort of made sense. Tiera decided not to let it bother her overly. After all, her entire family had just
accepted
it, hadn't they? That was standing in Two Bends too. Her parents weren't from there though, but her brother and sisters were and they hadn't batted an eyelash at the idea, even though she was nearly certain that Terry understood most of what was being said. He was smart after all. Not Timon level, but who was? Still, he wasn't unworldly at all, was he? He ran deliveries already and that meant seeing a lot more of the world than not.

That was nice to know, since it meant she didn't have to worry about them feeling like she was being evil. That was kind of a hard thing for her still. Doing anything with another person was kind of a risk, as far as all her early training went. The idea that there weren't just other rules, but that she, personally, was supposed to live by them, well, it was a bit scary.

They got to Timon's in time to meet up with him, and found Judith already there, loading several baskets out to her own craft, which she made a festive pink and sky blue. Timon had his out as well, which was a mirrored rectangle. Hers was kind of plain right now, a night sky black, since she hadn't bothered changing it from a few days prior. Without waiting she made it a nice bright green, which looked nice enough and was clearly special.

Then they dashed in to get their baskets, since they didn't have a lot of time left before they needed to leave. Timon met them on the way out and nodded to Karen, not speaking to her directly.

"We should all be back here by eight tonight. Two trips for each of us. Remember, if anything comes up, give free trips away, if you have room. We don't have to count every coin and these are some of our best potential customers coming in today. Make sure they feel pampered and loved." He didn't smile at the words, seeming more than a little down. "We'll be in my houses tonight. I know it isn't as fine as Tor's, but it will keep us all closer together."

That seemed important to him for some reason, so Tiera didn't say anything about it. It made sense for her, being his sister, but why would it matter if Karen and Judith stayed with him? Maybe that way they could handle emergencies the next day or something?

On the next leg of the trip Karen wondered at it herself.

"Maybe it's to discuss what happened at Ali's party the other day? I don't know what happened with that myself, not getting a report yet."

Tiera let her eyes go wide and flinched.

"We missed that? Ali will
kill
us! I forgot all about it. What do I tell her?" She felt half panicked, since she wasn't trying to slight her sister-in-law at all. They'd been a bit distant, but...

Karen waved a large hand. "She knows that you've been busy. It was mainly about the Lairdgren group anyway, not you or me. We did our part, so she won't be upset, I don't think. We should make an effort to spend time with her soon, but full time training, plus classes, that doesn't leave a lot of time. We might not have even that soon, if more messages are needed to be passed. Which almost has to happen."

That reminded her that they needed to get Countess York's to her. That one had left her feeling annoyed, when they weren't allowed in originally. If the woman was a pain about taking it now Tiera didn't know what she was supposed to do about it. Send it back to the King? Stuff it down her throat by force? That wouldn't go over well, but it would make sure she knew about it.

They took the rest of the trip in near silence, even though Karen didn't sleep for once. They got to Cannor in good time at least, since it was only shortly after nine when they settled in Canton, the older woman they were to meet coming out with a younger man and a girl that were both about Tiera's age. They had floating luggage, but it was only one trunk each.

Tiera hopped out and bowed low, not knowing who was who, but getting the idea that the older one was Countess Cannor and that meant someone not to anger. She wore a nice, if old fashioned dress, one that was heavily embroidered and looked like it might be scratchy. She smiled though and bowed back.

"Are you Timon then? I'd heard you were a pretty boy, but you seem a bit more delicate than I would have expected." She didn't seem to mean anything by it at least, so Tiera just put her hands on her hips and scowled for a moment, the two younger people looking mortified. Then she let herself smile.

"Tiera Baker, Timon is my younger brother. I'm a girl. Don't let the hair fool you."

The old woman looked at her but nodded after a second. "Thank goodness. No boy should have to suffer being that fine featured. You look just like Laurie. I helped raise her, you know."

Tiera
hadn't
, but the other two still looked like they expected a fight to break out. It was a bit of insult to get that wrong, but the lady had recovered well enough, Tiera thought. She wasn't wearing a dress or anything after all and Tim was said to be young. She looked younger than her years and was even smaller than her younger brother now.

"Tim looks decently manly for twelve. Tor is a bit fine that way, so if you've met him I could see that being a reasonable thought." It was a throwaway line, but the woman nodded.

"Truly lovely though. I always liked that about Burks. Oh, Countess Cannor, as you might have guessed. These two are my heirs, Gemma and Gerald. Squires already."

That got a tilted head from the boy, who looked fit and tall, being over six feet. His sister was shorter, but still about five-nine. They were both blond and attractive enough. Apparently something like her adoptive relatives too, if the Countess had helped to raise her mother.

Tiera didn't even have to rush them into loading up, the boy doing it for them all, faster than he really needed to. That meant they got to have a light breakfast before they started, and they still had Countess York not fifteen minutes later, so they took the trip down to Printer at a slow pace. It was longer than it had to be, but not so much that it was noticed overly.

Printer had a different look to it, with a lot of stone and focus stone construction. There was a nice compound to the west of the place, but Karen pointed toward the coast.

"There, that castle is the right spot. I don't know what that other place is. It's been about a year since I've been here, which isn't good. I should have been around to visit."

The reason for that being a problem became clear when they landed and Countess Printer came out. She wasn't a grand beauty, but had a nice lean form and a slightly long face with big lips that looked warm when she smiled. When Karen climbed out though the woman threw decorum to the wind and ran to her, taking her into her arms and dancing around a bit.

"
Karen
! I've meant to look you up for ages. Are you going to the Council as well?" The words were slightly strange sounding, but she didn't mention why that would be.

"Hello Holly. No, I'm playing guard for the Fast Transport line this week. Working up at Lairdgren with Kolb, mainly trying to keep this one out of trouble." With a head jerk she indicated Tiera. "Don't be fooled by her looks. She nearly managed to take Kolb,
while
he was wearing a shield and she wasn't, the other day."

Tiera snorted and shook her head, but didn't say anything, until Countess Printer looked at her, as if curious.

Then she gestured to the craft, loading the woman's two trunks in the back. If the other people had a lot more then they were going to have to make the whole thing grow. She didn't have anyone else with her at least, so that was easier.

"Don't believe her. It wasn't close at all." She didn't explain anything more than that, since Karen grinned about it and Holly just nodded, clearly understanding it all without being told.

 Introductions didn't take long, since everyone inside knew each other already and Countess Printer moved with quick movements as if they were on a tight time schedule. So far they'd made very good time in fact and they had an hour to get to Morris and pick him and his people up.

Then the whole lot would be delivered to various places in the Capital, and the next load would be picked up. So far it was all going fairly well. Until they got to Morris, in what was supposed to be the right place, but had no one waiting for them at all. Holly sighed, loudly, but she didn't say anything. It wouldn't due to say disparaging things about the man in his own County after all. Tiera finally went to the door and knocked, not certain that the small but well maintained palace was the correct place at all. It wasn't tiny by any means, and had a nice high wall, but it wasn't even half as big as what the King had. Or her own brother.

The well dressed man at the door looked at her as if she'd come to sell them something and actually started to tell her to go away, before she could even speak. She made a face, raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips by old habit.

"Fast Transport Service, here to pick up Count Morris and his people. If this is the wrong place, let me know, otherwise... we have a time schedule. We're supposed to leave at noon. It would be rude to keep our other passengers waiting, but since you were
already
rude to me, I can't help but expect that's your way here." It came out a little more snotty than she intended it to, but the man bristled in a way that seemed just a bit outside of what was really needed.

"
Well
! I don't believe that the Count does business with ill mannered gutter snipes! Go away now, or I'll call the guards and have you arrested." He waved his hands then in a way that seemed fussy and a bit like he was suggesting she might smell.

She grinned instead.

"Alright. Please tell him that you sent his transport away. We're busy and won't be sending another one, so he'll need to find alternative means of getting to the Capital." She felt like backing up her words with a few kicks to the groin, but the man wisely slammed the door in her face instead. It offered him a nice solid wall of protection.

Without waiting, feeling ready to fight, she forced herself to take a few deep breaths and climbed back into her craft, Karen looking almost as upset as she was, and Holly laughing into her hand in the back. Countess York, who had a very white face that was as smooth as china didn't look happy about it at all. Squire Gerald however caught her eye and made a face.

"I... Sorry, miss. Please allow me to see to fixing this? I can see how that reception might be very off-putting to you, but the Count truly does need to be at the Capital on time, or it's considered treason. I'm certain his man was just..." He shook his head and muttered something which got his sister to agree with him.

Countess Cannor looked away, but Holly had heard it and nodded.

"Perhaps drunkenness
is
the reason? Or, who knows, people have off days. We shouldn't get the man fired over this, if we can help it. Here, I'll go with you Gerald..." That got them going back to the door, Tiera going with them, since it was her job for the day. Besides, she didn't know how anyone else was armed, but she knew what she had. Karen moved up behind them, but the other three stayed in the vehicle. This time after they knocked a very nice looking and fairly young seeming dark skinned woman answered the door. She had a look that said she smiled a lot, and her eyes warmed when she saw everyone.

"Ah! You've come already, we were told that you may be a little late, since you had several people coming first." She bowed to Holly and smiled at the rest of them. It wasn't strictly proper, but it was close enough that Tiera wasn't worried about it.

Countess Printer let her eyes crinkle a bit.

"Countess Morris, so good to see you. Not to be a pain, but your door man seems to have insulted our pilot and sent her away. Squire Gerald here begged leave to come and smooth things over, so that you won't be held responsible for treason when you can't make it to the Capital on time. Perhaps you'd like to see about repairing that?" Her voice was kind and mild, nearly sweet when talking to the lady in front of them. The woman seemed to nearly panicked then and ran into the house, calling out loudly enough that several armed men surrounded them, coming from the sides.

 Tiera activated her shield with a tap on the front of her tunic and dug out her explosive weapon. When she glanced around the rest of them had all done similar things as well. Including the Squire. Everyone faced outward then, almost as if it were planned, ready to fight, even as the men started screaming at them. That didn't last long, since an older man ran out, waving his hands a bit wildly.

"Stand down! Demons... Don't start a war men, these are friends, just a little misunderstanding. Stand down." He bowed, his nice blue suit looking real, but very fine and as if it was designed for heavy travel. "Countess Printer... and...
you
."