A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) (8 page)

 Before they were to settle in for the meal, a soft, but very familiar voice spoke from behind her. At first she gasped, since Tor was supposed to be in hiding, but when she finished the turn it was just Count Lairdgren. Not that she wasn't pleased to see her grandfather, but he wasn't her brother, was he?

The voice was identical however, and the face was too, if a few years older looking. Tor was twenty but looked fourteen. This man looked about thirty and was about three thousand.

"Never a good thing when that kind of prank or retaliation starts to happen. Could I have a few minutes of your time after the meal Tiera? We have much to discuss, if possible."

She nearly scowled at the man, since she'd really had enough for the day, but he did own the school and was, after all, the Count. She couldn't just tell him to leave her alone and storm off. Not while she wanted to live in that part of the world at least.

Her words were still a little stiff and brittle sounding.

"Certainly. I'll make sure it happens."

Her tone got a covert elbow from Karen, who had to walk around three people to get to her. It wasn't subtle at all, but Count Lairdgren just gave her Tor's lopsided grin.

"Very good. It will only take a few moments, I assure you. After all, you have an early day tomorrow. I hear that you've moved to the fighters section? That's an interesting choice. I fully support you in it, of course. You're sticking with mathematics as well?" It was exactly what Karen had said earlier, so it was clear he'd been eavesdropping, but Sir Kolbrin bowed, a little ironically, and started to explain the whole thing.

"Sir Karen is seeing to the fighting portion of things. Along with Judith Kerry. I don't know if you've had the pleasure? A most promising young lady. She works part time with Timon as a pilot."

That started a conversation about overseas travel, which lasted several minutes. Then the same man with the gray gloves, the one that had been ready to fight them in the back yard to protect her sister, called out in a deep and very loud voice that the meal would be served momentarily.

They were seated, as would happen at the King's palace, or so she'd heard. She'd never been to a regular meal there, but her mother had told her all about it, just in case it came up. The one time she'd been there for a party it had been a very different thing, and they all ate at giant outdoor tables. There they'd all just filled in the seats as they wished however, except for the head table.

This time she and David were led into place by a younger man that was dressed in a deep black outfit with white gloves. He looked nice, but was clearly a servant, the clothing not as high quality as it might have been. Dapper but designed to look good, not be practical or see to his comfort.

"This way, sir? Miss?"

They were settled into some nice hardwood chairs with red cushions, with Tiera ending up between a very attractive bearded giant with slightly reddish brown hair and David. There was a girl that looked just a little older than she was on the other side of the man, who looked around him and smiled at her playfully. She looked...
familiar
.

 For a second she looked like
Tor
, to tell the truth, in a very pretty dress, and with slightly red hair that was cut decently short. It wasn't like hers at all, not being a fighters cut, but if a few inches were taken off she'd be good for the military as a women. It would have been a good way for her brother to hide from the assassins, but after a second she realized who it was.

"Princess Veronica, so nice to see you again." They'd met once, a few days before. That meant the good looking man next to her was Count Peterson, who she greeted by name once she realized who he was. He had a rugged look that she liked, but she didn't make eyes at him, since she had a date and that would be rude.

They didn't speak for long, since they had to eat in turn, showing that the food wasn't poisoned. Nothing showed when she checked her food, but she had to wonder how much spit the food could contain if a person wasn't ill? How much had she already eaten at school before that, just not realizing it for what it was, since it didn't show as a poison? For that matter, what
else
had they been putting in her food? She could think of a lot of things that wouldn't show up or harm her, but that she didn't want to put in her body.

It left her picking at her food, uncertain about what to do, even though it was no doubt wonderful. She examined each bite as if it held the grossest things imaginable. It didn't go unnoticed either, since Count Peterson leaned in toward her and simply asked about it.

"Do you suspect treachery?" His voice was very deep and nearly a growl, but still sounded charming, as if he was humoring her.

"No, not really. I... Had a close call earlier today. The poison detector caught it, I'm just leery now."

"Ah. That can happen. Well, better to be a little extra cautious and alive. So, I see by your hair style that you're a rather serious combatant. What area do you specialize in?"

She nearly explained the whole thing to him, but then realized she didn't want to. It was too embarrassing and the man didn't really want to know. He was being polite and making certain she didn't have a problem, that was all. Possibly he was interested in her? She was at least as nice looking as the Princess after all. Maybe slightly better looking even. So it might have been another kind of interest too, but he didn't seem to be hinting at that.

"Flying. Shield and modern combat weaponry." It was kind of true after all. She had the gear and knew how to use it.

"One of my people then! I run the flight combat center for the military. What weapons do you use?"

It turned out she was outfitted exactly like his people were, except with a better shield and a Fast Craft. He actually seemed impressed.

But not surprised overly.

"All of your people are good fighters aren't they? Why, not three days ago I witnessed an adult warrior take his own head off with an explosive weapon rather than close with your younger brother. That was to prevent capture, I'm certain, rather than mere fear of pain. I'm not suggesting the man was less than brave. The opposite, to tell the truth." He looked pained for a second, and then glanced at his right, where his wife sat smiling at him. It looked loving, but her left hand was under the table and angled toward him. It got him to stop talking, eyes going wide.

Then the Princess nodded to her.

"I fly too. We should get together sometime soon and take a day trip. We'll have to have some of my Royal Guard friends go as well. Perhaps some of your friends from school could come? I hear everyone at Lairdgren can fly practically. Do you know Sam Builder?" It was an innocent attempt at changing the subject, but not a great one for her. No one was close enough to bail her out either.

"Uh, yes. I was talking to him just this morning, Farlo Ross, Guide and Mark as well. They're all in the Lairdgren Group." It was true, if not exactly what it sounded like.

Veronica seemed pleased by that and nudged her husband.

"We should have them all to dinner soon. It can't hurt to have them over. Timon too."

It was apparently the kind of thing that noble women did for their husbands, arranging things for them to make new contacts like that, so the man smiled as if it were simply brilliant and they weren't all just a bunch of school kids.

Then thankfully there was a distraction, with the next course coming and the attention moved away from her and to the weather, which was expected to get colder up north soon. Then there was chatter about topics that no one really seemed to care about much. What was going to happen for the festivals that year, since Tor wasn't around. That led to speculation about his current location.

No one knew where he was though.

It wasn't until after the dessert was served, a frozen dish made from whipped cream and sugar that Tiera couldn't bring herself to eat much of at all, even if it was incredibly delicious, that the mood of the room suddenly changed.

It was Count Thomson that did it, holding a Truth amulet in his right hand, activated, standing while he did it.

"I am Count Toverland Thomson. I am loyal to the King, the royal family and the kingdom, as well as my people. I swear fealty to the same without reservation or doubt in my heart."

It got everyone to pay attention, because as far as she knew, you only swore fealty to the King himself, or at least a nobleman or woman who was directly in front of you. This was strange and almost didn't make sense. It made even less sense when he sat and handed the amulet to Tamerlane.

 "I am Tamerlane Green Baker Thomson. I am loyal to King, kingdom and the heir. I like the other royal family members too, but I don't know if that counts as loyalty for these purposes. I swear to protect them all with my life, without hesitation or reservation."

After that a second amulet came out and was passed down the other side of the table, so that everyone else could have a turn, one at a time, right in front of everyone in the room. Most just said they were loyal to the King and heir as well, until it got to Timon, who sat across the table from Veronica.

"I'm not a traitor to the King or kingdom. I think that the heir is fine and a good person and I support them both over anyone else that I know of at this time. I'm not
swearing
to them at this point, but for the moment I'll do whatever I can to help them hold on to power." It had a different tone than what most of the other people were saying, but no one spoke out against him, the woman next to him getting his amulet then, as Veronica spoke.

Her words were a bit more impassioned and sounded brave, though it was hard to figure out why. If this was some kind of noble party game they would have been better served with a rousing game of "Who Killed Helmholtz", at least as far as Tiera was concerned. It was nearly amusing enough that she smiled. There was a lot of running and rather rude accusations of murder in that game after all. They'd need some paper slips to make the lots for it, but she could take care of that, if she could find a pen.

Before she realized it she was handed a Truth amulet for the second time that day.

She stood, since David nudged her a little, the cream and gold glow all around her, making her shine. All eyes were on her then. She had to tell the truth, but she'd never thought about the matter before. She was a girl from the woods, and the whole idea that she was a noble at all hadn't really sunk in yet. It might never. So far her one attempt at doing that kind of thing had backfired horribly hadn't it?

Everyone was waiting however.

"I'm Tiera Green Baker. I don't know the King, but he's a friend of my brother's, so I guess that I'll support him, if he needs me to. I have met the heir and he seems to be an intelligent and kind person, so him too. I'm sure that I'm missing the point of this, but why
wouldn't
I back them? As far as I know they'd both back me if the need arose, so I guess that makes us friends?" She sounded so stupid she blushed, but no one so much as blinked at her as she sat and passed the amulet on. Karen and David both swore to the King openly, like Count Thomson had. Karen was a Knight though, so she had to. Kolb too when it got that far down the table. The people at the far end of the table seemed a lot more wary when it got to them, a few sounding nearly as bad as she did.

As it got to the last ten people, eight of them stood up and simply walked out. Count Thomson held his right hand up and spoke softly as it happened.

"Allow them to leave. Remember who they are however and don't trust them. Please, continue..."

The last two people were a man and a woman. The woman went first, looking very familiar now that Tiera saw her, but it made sense why she'd be all the way at the far end like that, after a fashion. She was probably an unknown after all.

"I am the Ancient known as Orange. Called Alice by some. I know almost nothing about your King or his heir, except that some of my family here backs them, which is enough for now, until I can interview them myself. I am not working against them in any way. That I know of." If it wasn't a full endorsement, it was at least very honest. There wasn't a flicker or correction of terms in the whole thing. It had kind of blinked for a second when Tiera had said that she and the King were friends, until she added the modifier. Almost everyone had a little blink or two. Most of those were obviously minor things though. Bad word choices that were easily corrected.

A few didn't like the King at all, but were still on his side and had to explain that.

The last man that went was Count Lairdgren, who bowed to them all and held the device high.

"I am Green. Known as The Green man, the Ancient of Magic, Burks Lairdgren and Count Lairdgren. I am a loyal subject of King Richard and support him and his heir without reservation and swear fealty to them both, as the structure of the law allows. Further I am not seeking to overthrow either of them or remove them from place or power." There was a tiny flicker on the last words, but the man just shrugged and kept talking. "Personal issues there. At any rate, it should be clear to you all that this is more than a simple dinner party. The idea was mine and if offense must be taken, please know to blame myself alone for it." He bowed low then and held it for nearly a minute, then stood again. "We are, as you might suspect already, dealing with a civil war. Treachery is afoot to unseat the rightful King of Noram. I pledge the full might of my armies and people to see that this does not happen. I so swear, in front of you all." His voice didn't boom, but everyone started muttering.