A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (33 page)

She stopped by the airbase first and even though it was one in the morning, found everyone still awake and alert. It was a military base though, so she was stopped immediately as she stepped out of her Craft in front of the main gate.

"Halt! Identify yourself." The man that said the words had a stern, but professional air about him, so she tried not to take offense. At least he asked who she was before insulting her. It showed a certain professionalism.

"Tiera Baker. Conserina Lairdgren. I was invited to visit. Late at night...
You know
." She left it at that and so did the man that had done the speaking. The other one didn't so much as let his face twitch knowingly. They were both tall, and matched in height, six-six exactly, at a guess. They wore all black and had little pouches for weapons, but didn't have one out. They
did
have flying gear on however, which meant they'd be shielded. Not that Tiera was planning to fight with them, but she couldn't help but notice.

"Please wait here. We have to send a message to the Count." That meant flying over, even though it was night. She had the distinct feeling that the man was trying to show off, just a little. It was cute.

Also a lot faster than walking would have been. Not five minutes later he flew back and let her in, smiling this time. Now he seemed a little knowing, which was a bit presumptuous of him really. Not that much. She was the one that had brought the topic up after all.

"This way. They're waiting for you in the main parlor."

That meant going to the right hand side of the rather large, double walled compound, where there was a house set up that was nearly half the size of the King's palace itself. It wasn't magical, she didn't think, rather one made of focus stone. It was a nice black color in the night, and decorated with small lights all over the outside. The man with her stopped at the door, but the servant inside looked awake still and led her down the well carpeted hallway to a large room filled with padded focus stone furniture. That made sense, the manufacturing facility for that being only about fifty miles away or so. There were very few trees in the Wildlands yet, so bringing in wood would actually cost more. A new planting effort had been started though, so eventually it would be green. That would be something to see.

Trees were wonderful after all.

Veronica smiled at her and moved in for a hug, which was friendlier than she would have figured on it being, to tell the truth. It was nice though, that she felt comfortable doing things like that. Count Peterson actually picked her up, his version of being friendly having a good bit more energy.

"There you are! I thought you might have been putting us off. Well, let's have some fun then. I have some brandy around here somewhere. Feel free to take your clothing off... Just lie down anywhere." The thing was, it was very clear that the large and handsome man was joking with her for some reason. After a few seconds he laughed, which got a tolerant smile from his wife.

"Don't mind him,
he
thinks it's funny, because the story as to your visit is that you, well, came to
visit
. He doesn't really expect you to do anything. I
would
, do things with you personally, but, hmm, well. Things are not looking good in that direction. It's convoluted, but it seems that we may be a little more related than is strictly apparent. It isn't
you
at least, please trust me there."

Tiera nodded, not getting it all, but knowing enough that she could tell they weren't planning to actually do much that way to solidify the cover she'd come up with.

"No problem at all. Count Peterson and I can just go to the other room, so it won't be indiscreet. That
is
how that works right?" It wasn't of course, even she knew that, but there was a certain level of happiness involved to the whole thing that made it easier to play a bit. It was nearly friendly. "I probably don't honestly have time. Here..." She moved into the Count, since he was the one getting the letter and started to give him another hug, slipping the letter into the back of his trousers, which seemed to be real, not magical at all. That done she quickly gave the Princess another hug and made her leave, loudly suggesting that they visit her soon too. It was both polite and gave her a reason to have people around every now and then.

Then, half an hour later, she actually managed to be off to see Countess York. That one was harder, since the woman seemed to want to make getting in touch with her
very
difficult indeed. She might have been on their side, but that didn't mean she really wanted to be part of anything in particular. That made sense, because wars could be costly. Tiera knew that one first hand.

So instead of even trying to
act
as if she were there for a secret late night visit, she pretended to be drunk and slapped the door loudly.

"Come out you wretch! I know you're in there!" It got several people to come to the door, with the lady herself hanging back, in a rather plain and shapeless nightdress. It was a light cream color in the dim lamp light her three guards surrounding her with their bodies, looking intense and slightly scared. Of her. Like they knew she might be by? It was either about their fear that she was going to knock the place down, or they were really good actors.

"You! I know what you did! I have the proof, um..." Faking a cough she pulled out the right letter in one try, thankful that she managed it, because sorting things in the dark, without looking, would have totally ruined her momentum. "There! Read it.
Read it
! You can't deny what you did. I won't have it. I won't!" She stomped her foot, then staggered to the right a bit, one of the disapproving men trying to grab her hard enough her shield triggered, throwing him back with a yelp. It didn't really hurt that much, but if you weren't ready for it the effect could make you squeak a bit.

The letter got taken, after she unshielded and then handed to the Countess, who indeed read it by lamp light, her face looking first scared, and then baffled for a few seconds. Then, almost as if trying to work up the nerve, she lit it on fire.

"What I do with another consenting adult in either the bed chamber
or
the business parlor is none of your concern. I'll give you what you ask, but don't trouble me again." Her voice was brittle and cold, even as the missive flamed in her fingers. When she dropped it on the stone of the step, they let it burn, so that it was nothing but ash.

Tiera didn't get it for a second, but then she smiled, shaking her head.

"Oh no, there's no easy way out on this. When I come, you pay. If you don't, or if you think you can make me vanish... Then
everyone
will know. I've seen to that. Oh, yes, I have indeed. Oh, my, yes." She kept wobbling, even as the woman left her standing there, with the guard glaring the whole time, but not speaking.

When she came back the tall woman looked ready to slap her, but tossed her a canvas bag instead. One that rattled a little.

"There. That's all you'll get from me. No one will..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Tha's not righ' Countesh." It was probably a little over the top, but if she could set up the idea that she'd come at random intervals, it might work next time too. "I'll's be here when I want. Have shum coffee ready next time...Hahaha!"

Then she took off, flying away a little shakily, as if she were actually drunk. That, and into blackmail, apparently. It would work well enough, she thought. She'd need to do that part a bit differently. The Countess was an older woman, but really seemed very proper. What they were pretending she was being blackmailed with... For an instant Tiera wondered if it were real thing, some flaw or perversion so bad that even the nobles wouldn't allow it, but probably not.

After all, the little purse was flat and in canvas, which was a bit of an insult if you weren't a low laborer, so she was trying to imply that Tiera was being low and conniving it seemed. When she got outside the western gate, the one by the little red and white shack used by the Two Bends delivery service, she opened the bag, curious as to what was in it. It was mainly filled with silvers and coppers, with three gold coins on the top. About six gold worth in all. Not a bad payment if you were going to get it every few weeks. It would look like more too, which fit nicely with the fact that she'd flown in. Rich blackmailers expected heavy payments and no one that could fly was poor, were they?

Count Isle was easier by far. The man was ancient and already awake for the day when she got there, smiling and accepting that a visit from her was the same as a granddaughter coming to see him.

"So good of you to come dear. May I offer you something to drink? Some tea or coffee perhaps?"

"Coffee would be wonderful, thank you." She just handed over the letter, which he read carefully, then placed in the fireplace, using a small magical fire starter, which was a compact silver rectangle a bit larger than one of her fingers, to set it ablaze.

The man had a servant to pour for him, a woman that must have been near sixty. She smiled the whole time and patted Tiera as if she were much younger than fourteen. After she left the Count changed suddenly, his demeanor shifting going from one that seemed like a friendly grandfather to a cunning Lord without pausing.

"Very good. I can pass messages the other direction through you as well? How do we arrange for that? Do you have one of the new communications devices?"

She didn't of course. Timon did however, and that would probably work well enough. It would mean that he had to run around doing things for her at odd times, but she couldn't think of a better way to get things done.

"If you need me, contact the Fast Transport service and ask for Tiera to do a night time pick-up for you. It would help if you actually wanted to go somewhere. I have school during the day, but at night I'm free. If it's an emergency, well,
say
that. I'll come as soon as I can."

The man nodded and told her to drink her beverage while it was still warm. It was hot actually, but she finished it in one go, the bitterness pleasant and dark to her tongue. Before she finished the man shifted again, stooping a little as he sat, hunching in on himself, seeming older and more fragile.

"So nice of you to come dear. I have a present to go to the Lairdgren school, actually... could I hire you to take it for me?" He seemed genuine enough, so she nodded.

"Excellent. Let me see about having that brought in. It needs to go to Farlocenian Ross, do you know of her?" His eyes glinted, as if he'd already heard the story himself. That was possible, if he ever visited with the Ross family, wasn't it?

"Oh, yes. I'm trying to build a friendship there. Mainly so her friends won't turn me into a frog or whatever they have planned. So far it hasn't been working too well, but maybe this will help?"

The man acted as if it actually would and summoned both a shiny gold coin and the small box to be delivered. It was probably too much for the trip, except for the fact that Farlo would have it that morning, if it was important.

The man acted as if it was, so she nodded.

"I'll get to that right now then." They parted with very polite bows and she carried the gift away with her, flying as fast as she could manage, since it was nearing four in the morning already. The day was about to begin again. For her and Farlo both.

She had to find someone that would tell her where the girl would be, but that was simple enough. She knocked gently on Sheri's door, only to find Ali answering it, her head popping out from behind the closed door warily.

"Hello? Oh, Tiera... Is everything alright? If you've come to have sex, I'll have to offer my roommate to you. Timon said that I shouldn't try to sleep with anyone in your family other than Tor. Is that actually right?"

"Yes, that's right. Maybe I can take you up on the loan of Sheri some other time?" She grinned, knowing both that if Ali offered it, the other girl would actually do it, so as to not make her friend look bad, and would hate it the whole time. It was funny, but not something Tiera would ever let happen. "I need Farlo Ross. Important delivery."

That got a smile and directions to the girl's room, which, as expected, the popular Alyssa knew without having to even think about. Then she gave Tiera a hug and winked.

"I'll make sure that Sheri knows to come visit you soon. Oh, I was talking to Mitchell Ambrose earlier? He mentioned that Sandra Morris said some nasty things about you the other day? She's a friend of mine, are things...
alright
between you?"

Tiera wished she knew the answer to that. Instead she patted the other girl's soft arm and looked up into her blue eyes.

"I don't know at all. I'll check, I guess. Something about that story doesn't exactly seem right. Not that I'd expect her to be happy with me, but if she wanted to call me names, wouldn't it be more effective to come find me first?" It made sense to her, but Ali just smiled and shook her head a little.

"As long as you aren't angry about it, I'm not worried. She's a nice person."

Tiera made a face and crossed her arms in front of her, holding the heavy little box in one hand.

"And
I'm
not?"

Ali just laughed at her, and shut the door.

The delivery wasn't very welcome at first, but Farlo finally got that Tiera wasn't there just to be annoying. It was tempting to tell the girl that she came just to look at her wonderful eyes, since that would mean the other girl would
have
to put up with her. As time went on she was starting to see how useful The Rules could be, if you used them correctly. She hadn't been doing it yet, but there was something there for certain. It might even be the key to making her way in the world.

"I was asked to get this to you today, by Count Isle. Sorry about the early hour, but it might have been important." She managed to stop short of questioning whether anything the girl ever did was all that valuable, since it almost certainly was now. Being petty wasn't going to help, and making an effort to be friends might, later. "So here you go. Normally I wouldn't have bothered this early, but, since we're so close now..."

There, that was pretty well done. They were close, standing not three feet away from each other, but the girl would have to take it as a request for friendship if not more. Tiera thought that was the case, but didn't really know if it was a strong enough statement.

The tall, rather thin, Conserina just nodded.

"Thank you. If we're close that means I don't have to give you a gratuity, right?"

That did seem to be the case, but the girl laughed and actually gave her a little hug the instant she smiled and nodded. They parted company after that, since Tiera had some things to do. Her eyes were heavy, the lack of sleep finally catching up with her solidly. She ran anyway, the world still dark. It was hard to see where she was going, but she knew the path pretty well and even though she stumbled a few times she managed a nice jog over all, which left her slightly glistening, even if she didn't feel overly hot.

Temperature control amulets were great for that part of things. Since her breath was showing in the air it was probably helping in more than one way too. She got through pells and stones before Mitchell got in. It was light, but close enough to true dawn that when the kid got there she didn't scold him for being late at all.

"Hello!" She forced the words to be bright, even as the young noble stared at her. For a second she thought he was angry with her, but then realized it was the blood on her face. She hadn't used the healing amulet or cleaned up yet. "Go ahead and get warmed up."

It was bossy of her, but Sir Kolbrin had told her to handle the punishment portion of things and it was pretty clear to her that just trusting Mitch to see to things wasn't going to work at all. She didn't know what to do, but smiled when Havar came, about half a minute later, almost as if he'd been following the boy in.

He grinned and shook his giant head, a smile on his face.

"So, how's my favorite Conserina this morning?"

"Tired. I haven't slept in a few days. After you warm up we should all take turns with some club work. You and I first, then Mitchell can take on the winner?" She looked up into the man's face and saw him go from slightly happy to very pleased, as if she were giving him a present.

"
That's
why I love you. Generally getting people to work in realistic conditions is a chore. Even the best fear the pain. You don't though, do you? Fear it, I mean. Is that because of being different like you are? An Ancient?" His words were thoughtful, but nearly sweet at the same time.

They left a warm tickle in the pit of Tiera's stomach.

"I don't really know. I don't feel fear really. I know that it will hurt, but I can see that working that way also helps more than not. The closer things are to a real fight, the more likely I'll be ready if something comes. Besides we have the healing amulet, so it isn't like we have consequences to worry over."

That got a huge laugh from the man and he patted her on the back gently, then went to warm up, working with Mitchell, spurring him on, even though the boy was clearly struggling to keep up. He wasn't drunk though, so he'd learned at least that much.

 Havar lectured them before they worked, about various aspects of fighting, it was interesting, having to do with why they worked in realistic conditions as often as possible, and then set the boy to watching them, encouraging him to make corrections when he saw flaws in what they did. Havar won again, but was
clearly
taking it easy on her. He let her get back up several times, even after the beating she was taking had slowed her down enough that he probably didn't have to.

After a bit she thought she understood. He was prolonging the whole thing, because he was having
fun
. Even though it hurt, and that was a certainty, since she was wailing on his lower legs enough that blood showed in a few places from the tip of her weapon cutting the skin, the fellow was taking pleasure in what he was doing.

So was she, so it wasn't like she was going to judge him. After about twenty minutes he waved a hand at her to stop and stepped back.

"Alright Mitchell, who won?" He waited calmly, and the boy winced, his face looking annoyed.

"You did, but that means I have to fight you now? I should say she did, since at least I have some chance there. Damned honor anyway, forcing me to tell the truth." He moved forward then, and after a few seconds grunted as the first of the blows came in. He tried at least, and did a better job over all than Tiera had. His movements were smoother, especially in the first minute or two. Havar went after him hard, but didn't take all the openings he had either, and merely pretended to hit him in the head a few times. They didn't use full force blows there. Not on purpose. It would end the fights too soon if people got knocked out.

They fought for about six minutes. Mitchell called halt then, gasping in pain.

"Gods... I'm sorry, I swear I'll never miss class again. Not just to go have fun."

Standing back Havar smiled and waved at the table with the healing amulet. "Good. See that you
don't
. From here on out your training is just going to get harder. It isn't a punishment either. Everyone is going to have to step up their effort now. Kolb was talking about that last night. Tiera, shall we go again? Long staves this time?"

They worked like that for the rest of the morning, without healing for her or Havar, even though they ended up being able to barely move. Finally Sir Kolbrin came and worked in, taking on all three of them and wining after about two minutes. He chuckled over it though and it didn't seem to have anything to do with his ego.

"I've been in enough battles to know what it's like at the end of the day. Go heal up. Mitchell, I expect to see you first thing in the morning, every day until your punishment is up. If you ever come to my class drunk again... Then I'll
ensure
you don't. Is that understood?"

The boy mumbled his understanding, even though Tiera didn't get it at all. It sounded threatening though.

"Tiera, a moment? After you heal." The man stood by and then led her away, the other two watching the whole time. "I have word from Count Lairdgren. He'd like to see you for dinner this evening. You might want a nap first, you look exhausted. He said to tell you that he's at Tor's place in the Capital. You also probably won't be back here for a few days. I'll see that your other Instructors are informed. Take Karen with you." He waited, his face blank, like he was trying not to give something away.

Probably how he'd been in direct contact with the Count. It seemed a little odd that he would be, didn't it? It wasn't that strange that the two would know one another, she guessed, since Sir Kolbrin was a nobleman and worked at the school owned by the Count and had for years. That he could be set to delivering messages was interesting however.

"On it. I'll see if I can ask about that idea we had, while I'm at it. Implanting magical devices."

She got a slap on the back and then a small push toward the gate of the square. It was a sign that she was supposed to leave, one that was hard to argue with, since the man was smiling. She did wave to Havar though and as an afterthought she added in Mitchell too. He hadn't done that badly. It was clear that he didn't really want to be there, but once they'd started, he'd tried pretty hard.

One shower, a long hot soak to work all the remaining blood off and four hours of sleep latter, she was able to wrangle Karen around, the girl having heard about the plans from Sir Kolbrin it seemed. There wasn't a lot of talk, until they were in the air, Tiera at the controls. They'd loaded the boxes from Tor into the back, since that had to be done too, taking the things to the other lands. Afrak and the Antarctic. It seemed like an exciting adventure to her at least, though Karen seemed more apprehensive than anything else. It wasn't until she spoke that Tiera got it though.

"I... how are you doing?" There was a low tremor to the words that got Tiera to look over at her passenger for a few seconds. Long enough she accidentally started to fly slightly to the right.

"I'm alright. I got some sleep and have been eating enough. Why?"

For a long time there was no noise at all, barely even the sound of breathing. Had she done something wrong again? She tried to think of what, but nothing came out. Oh, she'd been strange when she'd delivered those messages, but that was part of her plan. Was it too much? Had she really insulted someone? Was she supposed to give Countess York the coins back? She hadn't spent them, if that was the case. It would look better if she didn't, but she could, if it came to it.

"Tiera... you and Trice, and Gerent, you crippled those men. I understand it, but... It's a
horror
. If there's a worse punishment that could be delivered to a human being by another, I don't know what it is. You didn't even seem concerned about it. Then you ordered them to a whorehouse for the rest of their lives to be used... That has to be affecting you. How can you sleep at all? Or eat, knowing that you did that?" She sounded so concerned that Tiera had to force herself to keep flying.

She... hadn't really thought of it at all. It was just a thing to her. Those men weren't her people, so they didn't count, did they? They'd needed to be punished and in a way that actually made certain they wouldn't reoffend later. She'd taken care of that.

It wasn't that she didn't feel for other people, it was simply that she was more concerned with the ones she was there for than those animals that had walked on two legs. It wouldn't sound good to say that though, would it? That part she got. Her anger might be understood, but simply not caring about those men probably wouldn't.

So she lied instead.

"It's... hard. I'm not really ready to talk about it all. I don't know if I'll ever be." Tiera let her voice come out nice and flat, which seemed to do the trick, since Karen just looked sad, not like she was riding next to an insane monster.

Tiera pondered that idea though.
Was
she a monster? She'd heard how some Larval Assassins had been controlled once when captured, using a cutter on their arms and legs, then a healing amulet. They were so dangerous that it was about the only thing that would have worked. Those jailers weren't super beings however. They could have been locked up in their own cells and it would have functioned pretty well. Except for then they might have had hope left and she hadn't really wanted to leave that to them.

That was kind of what a monster would have done, wasn't it? The worst part of it was that she was still so angry at them all for having raped Gerent, and even Trice, that she was tempted to go and make certain they didn't get off too easy. It was pretty bad. Even she could see that.

Her silence was taken as sadness though, for the awful things she'd done, which was better than it might have been. Finally Karen reached over and patted her back gently.

"Well, it's done and I have to admit, I was going to kill them all myself anyway. This isn't better, but at least Trice and her friend will be able to sleep at night, knowing these men won't be coming back for them."

They rode the rest of the way in silence, the trip not taking that long, since they were landing at Tor's, not the King's palace. She set down much faster, slowing only enough to keep herself from accidentally making a hole in the ground, since it was the front lawn and looked pretty nice. They had lights glowing outside the place, so it was easy to see the ground, but she took a minute to do it anyway, just in case.

Then they had to bring the floating cases with them, since she was taking her Craft with her. Timon had been pretty clear about that part of things and she really didn't want to try and get another one from him. If she lost this one, that would most likely be it, as far as that went. Then her job of carrying messages all over the kingdom would be much harder. At the door they stopped, knocked and waited for several minutes while someone came to let them in. It was, oddly enough, Countess Ross, who'd just happened to be near the door when they got there. Tor had servants, but not a lot of them, so it kind of made sense.

"Oh! Karen dear, so good to see you." She got a bow, one that named them equals, which was pretty kind of the woman, being a sitting Countess like she was. Tiera got one too, which made her smile, though she went lower than Karen did in return.

After all, she wasn't as highly placed in society and didn't know the woman well. It made sense not to push her kindness.