A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (24 page)

When she walked to the front door she made herself a dress of light blue that glowed ever so slightly, and a pair of the tall boots in dark brown leather that the street prostitutes wore to work.
She
was a whore? Count Morris would regret those words until he died, if she had her way.

Then she very properly knocked on the front door. There was a bell, but the chain for it was well out of reach, meant for giants, not people her size.

When the man came, he saw her instantly, glowing as she was.

"Oh! Good evening Miss. I fear that no one is home to receive visitors at this time. Might I take a message? Or, do you need assistance perhaps? Refreshment or directions? I'm sure we stand at your service." He wasn't old, possibly in his mid-twenties or so. Decent looking and not as tall as all that, only a little over six feet. He had nice solid brown hair and a cream colored uniform on that had little buttons on the front.

"Hello!" She tried to sound happy and cheerful, since this door man wasn't being rude to her at all. Then she explained what she needed, quickly. "There was a duel earlier, Count Morris and I. He's still alive, because he cheated and used his military men and his wizard daughter to save him. Very low of him, don't you think? Cowardly and craven. I'm going to destroy this place, but I thought that I'd give the servants a few minutes to get out. How many are in there? We'll want a head count. I really can't take long with this however..." She got out her explosive and took out part of the far portion of the large structure, but just a corner, so no one innocent would be harmed.

That got the man to run, screaming for an evacuation. It was quite helpful of him and everyone left without their things. She waved at them and suggested they get at least their personal belongings, since she wasn't after them, not as individuals.

It took about twenty minutes and the fifteen people stood, several crying and pleading, as she very carefully knocked the place down. That got the attention of the city guard, but she just ignored them, since they couldn't touch her at all anyway, shields were good for that. Then, waving sweetly, she blew a single kiss, and set up her Fast Craft, taking off without warning. She thought some of the men tried to fire at her, but nothing hit that she noticed.

Then she headed for County Morris.

That took longer, but by the next morning they no longer had a house at all, anywhere in the kingdom. Then she went through the town of Morrisberg, taking out any businesses that were identified as being owned by the Count himself. Luckily he liked to put his crest on things he owned personally. It made them easier to find. It was a sparrow in gold on a black circle. It was actually pretty enough, she reflected, as his personal tannery was turned into nothing larger than hand sized chunks. She had to run, when his forces came, since she doubted she could fight hundreds of men, but they couldn't catch her at all.

Noon found her back at school, since she was making decent time. She wasn't even tired yet. She had to ask where to find Sandra's room, which was, humbly enough, above a shop on the far side of town. She was an graduate after all, not just a fellow student. Instead of taking the place down, since it was a rental, Tiera used a Force Lance on the door and collected up all of the things inside. Then she made a pile of them in the street, and purchased some lamp oil as people came to watch what she was doing.

She had to use a match, which meant going back to the same shop and buying an envelope of them, but soon she had a nice fire going. There were a lot of amulets too, but those weren't going to go up like the old dresses and bedding, being on metal for the most part. She stuffed them into a chest and then flew off to the coast, dumping them all into the ocean, standing in the back of her vehicle, with a nice ocean scented breezed rolling over her

She'd have to keep doing that for a while, to make sure it really hurt them, but she had the time now, didn't she? It wasn't like she could go home or anything. That thought made her feel sad and want to rush off right then, but she needed to get a nap and then get back to work. The Morris family wouldn't destroy themselves, would they?

She made a base of sorts, hiding in a deep forest to the far north. No one would look for her there, she was nearly certain. Making the windows go away, she waited, changing one of the seats in the back into a large flat bed. She needed some water, but that was easy enough to take care of, a clean stream trickling not too far from her for that.

After she drank and washed up, the water cold at first, but her heat equalizer, a gift from her brother, keeping her toasty after the first flash of coolness. Then, exhausted, she laid down and slept for hours. When she got up she was a bit hungry, but that didn't matter. She flew back to County Morris and stopped in the first large town she saw. It was bigger than Two Bends, but not so huge they'd heard about an insane Conserina bringing war to them yet. She bought some bread and cheese, and ate it sitting under a covered awning near the store. A man walked out, wearing a blue uniform that marked him as the town guard. They probably only had the one. He looked to be about forty or so and sat near her, but not at the same table.

"You're not from here, are you?" It didn't take a lot to guess at that, since she was still in her slightly glowing outfit and long leather boots.

"I'm not, actually. Are you the Guardsman here?" She tried to seem polite and mainly managed, the man nodding, as if interested in what she might have to say.

"Ah! Wonderful. I'm looking for any businesses owned directly by Count Morris and any military bases as well."

The man made a slightly sour face and looked away.

"In order to set up business? Well, I can see that going to a military base is a fine plan, but if you need coin, couldn't you sell that gown? It must be worth a small fortune."

That got her to follow his eyes to her boots, which she changed then, feeling a little embarrassed, the man actually jumped back for a second.

Tiera giggled.

"Sorry, magical clothing. I'm Tiera Baker. Conserina Lairdgren? One of them at least. The Wizard Tor is my brother, so I get these things for free. Anyway, could you aid me? It would be a tremendous help. Thank you." She waited and instead of seeming like he was stalling he fingered his chin and
thought
before speaking. It was good to know that people from County Morris could do that and weren't all massive morons.

She realized that she might be just a tiny bit upset still. Tiera smiled at the thought, and the man told her about all the places he could think of in the northern section of the County.

It took six days, since they were starting to pick up on who she was, and the military was chasing her the whole time, but she'd taken out just about everything that the man owned personally. Including his tree farms. She reduced them to bark-dust before anyone could report it and was gone, spending each night in a different location, thousands of miles away.

That being the case, she was a bit shocked, when on the seventh morning, when she went outside to see to concerns of nature, she saw another Fast Craft sitting next to her own, facing it, about fifty feet off. At first she didn't see the man, who was plain dressed in brown, like a student or workman, and had about a month's beard growth.

She blinked and for a moment thought it was Count Lairdgren, come to punish her. It wasn't of course, since he couldn't possibly have that much beard yet.

It was Tor.

"You're alive!" She ran to him and found her shield bumping into his, making them both smile.

After a few seconds he shrugged and looked off into the forest.

"Nice place. I heard a rumor that someone was wrecking the economy of County Morris and I knew it either had to be Sandra or one of my siblings. No one has died, so it's kind of telling. I followed you last night. You probably need to check behind you more often."

There was a blandness to the way he spoke, but it held something she wasn't used to under it. A cold and harsh sound that wasn't exactly the brother she remembered. He'd always seemed a little soft and almost too sweet for the world. Whatever had happened to him, that was gone now.

She explained the whole mess with Morris and what Sandra had done. After a bit he nodded.

"Makes sense then. You should offer to allow them to surrender soon. That or kill them. I know, you can do that when you take a package to the Capital for me. Take care of two things with one trip. It's a great plan. I have some presents for people."

More than a few, the back of his vehicle was full of things. Some of it for people in other lands.

"That's... I'm not the one doing that kind of thing. Timon has the Fast Transport business. I was going to Lairdgren, but I imagine I've been kicked out now, don't you think?" Her smiled was a bit wry, but not bitter, it had been her choice after all.

Amazingly he shook his head.

"Probably not. It's only been a week and you had off days in there. So what, five real days missed from classes? People will understand. Besides, it isn't like when I went there. You're a Conserina. I was just a scholarship boy. Go to Hardgrove and knock your head on the floor and explain and he'll probably let what you've been doing count as life experience. It isn't like you've been off drinking or something."

She nodded.

"Sir Kolbrin should let it count, but Instructor Crane won't. He's my singing Instructor. We probably have a new song already and I don't even know the words yet."

Her brother smiled and stretched, standing up.

"So, has everyone been safe? I've been a little out of touch. It had to be done, but I miss everyone. You'll tell them that, won't you? The family, Trice. Rolph and the rest of the Royal family?"

"You mean Prince Alphonse? I guess. I'm not letting them arrest me or anything. The King, I said we aren't friends, because he and Count Lairdgren are backing Count Morris against me. It's petty, especially with this rebellion going on, but I
was
pretty angry at the time. I've cooled a bit, but I don't know if I can really just go back after that. Ma always said that Kings and high nobles played by their own rules."

"
What
?" Tor shook his head and kept talking, waving at her to not interrupt. "Rebellion. Richard
isn't
that petty, and you are, like it or not, just a schoolgirl. He isn't going to make a big fuss over what you said once, in anger. Especially after he sees what you have for him. I wrote out instructions, the papers are in each box. Anyway,
who's
rebelling and what's being done to stop them?"

He didn't like the answer, since she didn't really know it all. She had a partial list of people on
their
side, but not the bad ones.

"I
know
that the Larval are in on it. One of them and Countess Alan, they took Timon a few weeks back, so that they could use his communications device to get you to come out of hiding. They tortured him the whole time, Tor. Some Austran medicine that's said to be the worst thing a person can feel. For days. The Countess... raped him too. He won't really say what she did, but it was worse than it sounds like I think. They're dead. He killed her, and Count Lairdgren took out the Larval." She just went silent then, not knowing what to expect from Tor. Anger. Rage maybe, or tears. All of those would have been right and fitting.

Instead he nodded and sighed.

"I was afraid that would happen. I'm sorry of course, but it's good it was Tim. He's stronger than the rest of us, in a lot of ways. I can't imagine what it would have done to Taler or Terlee. Or you."

Tiera nodded herself, trying not to be upset that her brother had become some kind of monster. It wasn't like
she
was much better, was it?

"I'm tougher than you think, you know." Her hands went to her hips, but she smiled about it. "At school they even put me in the fighters section properly, not just part time like you were. Mainly to watch me, but I have been trying to learn. I think I'm doing pretty well."

"Sounds like it. I bet Count Morris would agree at least. Anyway, don't be afraid to go back. Just remember not to let them push you around. I always thought I was seconds from being kicked out and I can see now that was never the case." He paused and then bowed to her, just a little. "That doesn't mean you should be a bitch though. You didn't just hurt the Count, but all the people that worked for him too. The Count won't starve this next winter, they will. Their
kids
will. It's why you need to let him have terms of surrender. That or just kill him, so someone else can take over. Otherwise you're just being cruel to the people that really do know how to answer doors politely."

After that he hugged her shield again and helped her shift all the boxes into her craft, which took a while, mainly chatting about what had happened in the last months. Tiera didn't know for certain, but it seemed like her brother was lonely. He didn't linger even given that, the instant the things had been traded over, Tor got in his own craft and headed to the south, without saying goodbye or mentioning when they might meet again.

She waited, so she wouldn't see where he was really going. After all, what she didn't know, couldn't be forced from her later.

There was a rocky moment when Tiera landed in the regular spot outside the King's palace. That was probably because
she
got out and her craft had been made to look different, more like Timon's mirrored rectangle. That was mainly because there was a slight chance that someone might object to her coming in to land like that, if they knew who it was.

At least the Royal Guard didn't rush her or anything, just standing around her in a half circle, holding various kinds of weapons on her. Knowing only the one man by name, she waved to him.

"Hi George. I have a letter and some packages for the King. Well,
and
Count Morris. Terms for their surrender, if they want them. Would you be so kind as to take this in for me?

She'd written it up herself and while the paper lacked real class, it was legible. Sealed in wax too, since she didn't really care about it that much. You sealed the important stuff with a bloody fingerprint, as least all the old tales her mother had told her had that in it. This didn't even have a seal, just a blob of wax to hold it closed. It wasn't like she had a signet ring or something. It seemed reasonable to her at least, but no one moved for a few seconds, as if not believing her or something.

"Or... has the King declared war on me personally then? I suppose this is the right place to be, if that's the case, don't you think? Nice and cozy, inside the building's shields and everything." If she could get back in the craft she might be able to take them all out. The things were hard to beat and didn't break as far as she could tell.

Just before she started to move the older man gave her a cool smile and clicked his heels together. "I'll see to that at once. I don't believe we've orders to even detain you, we just rather like the building as it is, if you can resist demolishing it?"

She nearly gave a flip answer, but decided not to make the situation even worse.

"Not my plan at all. Just visiting, all that."

It took a while for things to be arranged and she did wait in her vehicle, with it firmly sealed in case it was a trick. It still could have been, but she followed the guards in, still pointing things at her, bringing the chests along to float behind her, which meant the guards were forced to walk behind the barrier those made for her. They were clearly suspicious but didn't ask what was in the cases that floated behind her. She loved the magical trunks. They were brilliant, and almost no one had them. She decided to try and claim that those belonged to her on the way out, if she had a chance and wasn't fleeing for her life.

It was the same room as before, but instead of hiding in the walls, she was surrounded bodily by large people in purple and black. The Prince and Princess weren't in either, so it was just the King, Queen and a man that looked to be dressed up like a Truth amulet's field in white and gold. She nodded at them all, but turned to that new man first, after bowing, since she wasn't trying to be rude.

"Tiera Baker. Conserina Lairdgren, if I haven't been disowned yet. Nothing impressive, fifth in line. I'm sorry, but I don't know you yet, I don't think?" It was possible that he'd been in the crowd a week before, but she didn't think so, not unless he'd been in disguise at the time.

The man didn't smile at her, but did introduce himself. "William Smythe, of Westend. Military Counselor. Pleased to meet you. I was asked to sit in on this, in case the worst happens."

That made sense, but at the same time it really didn't. After reflecting on it for a few seconds she shook her head.

"That I'd go to the other side in this rebellion and sell them the list of names that I was to deliver messages to? I didn't even think of it. Well, I'm young, so I can't be expected to know to do things like that. As I said before, this is between Count Morris, Sandra and I. I was just going to give them a chance to surrender before I finished the job. Hence this letter I wrote. You can read it first if you want. Maybe give me some tips about what to demand. I
was
considering having myself named Countess and changing the name to County Tierany, but that seemed like too much work to bother with. Plus people might take it the wrong way."

She passed the letter to George since he was closest to her and he opened it himself, reading the whole thing first and then, chuckling a little handed it off to Counselor Smythe. He seemed less amused, but handed it over to the Queen and then the King, which got both of them to go slightly wide eyed.

It was Richard that spoke first.

"So... You're insisting that Sandra Morris wed Count Overland and that Count Morris give all his day to day duties to his wife? That's...
unusual
to say the least. I can pass this along, I suppose. No demands for land, title or gold though? Those things almost always get included."

She could use some gold, since she hadn't gotten paid for what she'd done the other day. She could have taken some from the Count, or Sandra, but she'd left that on the street, since the townspeople could use it, she was certain. When she mentioned how she'd dumped the amulets Smythe frowned staring directly into her eyes.

"That had to be nearly a million golds worth of work. I understand the point, to deprive her of it, but you made a miscalculation there. She can rebuild her stock, but you can't take it again. Or, perhaps you could, but once a treaty is signed it will merely be theft again, not warfare."

That was true, but she really figured this would hurt the builder worse than just stealing it would have. It was the same as saying she had no value at all. That was what Tiera wanted to get across at least.

They added in a bid for a half million golds, not expecting that to actually come, since she'd weakened their fund base for a while. Maybe decades. Next she'd have to go over the productive food farms and take out livestock, but that seemed cruel to the other people, if it wasn't needed.

After a while, the letter was carried off for delivery by several of the larger guards. Count Morris and his people were all there at the palace, since they had nowhere else to go, except Tor's, and while that would be safe enough, they didn't trust that Tiera couldn't reach them there. She could at the King's place too, but she decided not to point that out. It should have been obvious after all.

The Queen smiled and gestured to the floating boxes behind her. There were ten of them after all, in kind of a cluster, floating at the level of her neck.

"Are you moving house?"

Grinning Tiera looked back at the trunks and then turned back.

"Gifts. From Tor. He found me off in the forest after my last raid on County Morris, tracking me the whole time. He's well and sends his love. We didn't go into what's in the boxes, but not all of them are for you. There's one for each of the other land's Ancients and three for here, which need to go to various people. I was asked to see to getting them around. Color coded I think."

There was a gasp and Queen Constance jumped up, running toward her, instead of the baggage. "You saw him? Truly? And he's well? Whole and alive?"

"Out of touch too. I don't know what he's been doing, but it's changed him, I think. He seemed darker now. Less friendly. I told him about the thing with Count Morris and he barely seemed to care at all. He wasn't wild to hear about..." She looked at the King and smiled a little. "Other things."

The cases for the King and Queen were the purple and gold ones. There were two of them and apparently they held gifts for hundreds of people, most of them being little things that he'd made. One of them was supposed to be an amusement, but other than that they needed to be outside for it, and it would work best at night, there were no instructions.

There was one unmarked case, which just looked like plain brown wood. When they opened it the note inside said it was for Alyssa. That made sense.

"I can take it when I go back to school. Even if I can't stay, I can hand it off. Tor said he thought Hardgrove wouldn't remove me for what I've been doing, but I can't count on that. The Instructors might kick me out and I already have seven black marks for the year, so..." It didn't sound great, when she said it all out loud.

There was a nod from the King, who stood in front of one of the boxes, checking things inside it carefully. He pulled out a single small piece of glowing focus stone and handed it to her.

"Carry this, always. The note says that it will protect you, if Larval attack." The Queen got one as well, but the King didn't have one. Tiera looked at the glowing green disk and handed it back.

"You keep it." She didn't say why, but it was really that she didn't want to take a personal gift from him. They weren't friends after all. She'd said so. That made them, if not enemies, then at least people that didn't give each other expensive presents. If Tor wanted her to have one, he'd have given it to her. Wouldn't he? "We aren't close, you and I. Tor sent that for you, didn't he?"

The man nodded at least, but gave her a hard look.

"You aren't going to make anything easy, are you? It's much easier working with your brothers. Tor bends backward to do what's needed and Timon understands so easily that I never have to explain myself. You..." He didn't finish the statement, but the voice from the door did.

Count Lairdgren. He smiled at least.

"She causes endless ripples. Don't mistake that for lack of intelligence, Rich. You've just met the first of the Immortals that won't easily let an insult go. She isn't the only one left like that. Most aren't beholden to lands, and only half are as kind. With luck we won't have to deal with the others soon. They do tend to keep to themselves." He clapped once and looked around. "So, Tor decided that two hundred years was too long for him to wait, did he? What do we have here then."

He opened the green box, not waiting to see if it was for him and read the note inside, nodded a bit as he did. "It's a very special device, to remove the Larval. It had tens of thousands of tiny parts. Each land is to get one. This one needs to be set up today if possible. Tiera, would you get with Timon and see to these other things?" He sounded pretty relaxed about it all, given everything.

She really expected him to either be more excited about Tor, or more angry about what she'd been doing. It was pretty wasteful after all. If he was like Tor that would probably be a problem. Except he hadn't even blinked about it, had he? Lairdgren didn't either.

"I don't know, am I still allowed at school?"

He tilted his head to the right and held that pose for a few seconds, it gave him an air of being just a tiny bit annoyed.

"Are you going to knock it all down if I say no?"

She nearly told him she would, but smiled instead, trying not to seem totally insane. Even if she was kind of mean. She was just tired of people trying to bully her, that was all.

"No. I wouldn't have done that to Morris if he'd simply fought the duel like we'd agreed. I'm not sure what to do about Sandra. She's powerful and that means I probably shouldn't risk letting her live, right? Count Morris is a joke compared to her. It isn't really sane or sensible to leave an enemy alive."

That got several different reactions from the room. The King and Smythe both nodded, as did George. The Queen looked angry for a few seconds, but was glaring at her husband, not Tiera, and Count Lairdgren shook his head.

"Normally that might be true, but she's a good woman. Hug and make up, and she'll honor it. You put her in a hard position, and she was forced to take action, that's all. After all, if you'd killed her father then she'd have to do his job, not the one she's chosen for herself. No one is ever wild about that, are they?"

The idea was nearly funny, it was so strange, but Tiera tried to take it seriously. This man was her grandfather after all. He was thousands of years old and had more experience than almost anyone else in the world. It was hard for her to trust him, but that wasn't his fault really. She didn't trust people all that easily. It was just part of who she was.

"I'll try. If not, I'll have to take action. I don't want to promise something that might be out of my hands. I suppose I should let her out of that part of the surrender agreement where I insist she marry Count Overland then. Unless she says yes. He seems like a nice man. She could do worse."

There was a sound from the doorway, which got everyone to look that way, except Lairdgren who already was, not being as distracted by the events as the rest of them were.

It was the entire Morris family, with Sandra looking rather relieved suddenly.

"Oh, good. Glad to hear that. Nothing against the Count, I do agree he's very sweet and the way he guarded us with his own body like that, it was very brave. He didn't have a shield or anything at all. Just his faith in you."

There was a growl from the Count as he started across the room, something in his right hand. It was just a knife though. No one even bothered to try and stop him, Tiera just laughed at him and waited, her shield not even engaging yet for some reason.

As the blade came down she ducked back. He nearly stabbed himself in the leg.

"Stop that." Tiera was proud of herself, keeping the last bit she wanted to say off of the sentence. Adding in how he was too stupid to live wouldn't help anything at all. He tried for her again, which she side stepped.