Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (12 page)

"Not in this case. Anyway, I might invite Gerent to stay with me for a bit, up in Lairdgren. At least until we get him outfitted properly and find out what he wants to do." Tor looked at him directly and felt a bit bad about talking about him like he wasn't there, but that seemed not to be too important.

Trice sounded pleased though.

"Great! I'll be by later then, unless you don't want me?" That was blunt, but Tor thought he got it. After all, there was that whole thing where they might be related after all. Sex would be out of the question. Then, it probably would be anyway.

"Please come. Tiera will probably be there too, so, you know, if anyone has a problem with her, best not to drag them in on it. Otherwise, the more the merrier I'm sure." It was a bit too blasé, but he really didn't know what to say.

"I'll be there. Say five in the afternoon?"

"That sounds about right. See you then. Love you."

"I love you too."

Gerent looked pained as he hung up. Desperately so. As if he hated to hear what they were saying.

Tor didn't know what to make of the whole thing at first, but managed to understand after a few seconds of strained silence. The man was in love with her too.

Only, midget that he was, slightly misshapen and clearly being from a poor background... The man might actually have a real shot. He just couldn't see that yet.

"She... We were engaged to marry once. That didn't end well. I love her, but... She could end up being my granddaughter. So how messed up is that? I already have a wife though, if you two have something going on. If you don't... Well, you should give it a shot. She's worth the effort." That brought him to the end of his ability to fake being a nobleman on the topic. Thankfully Gerent just blushed.

"We never... I mean, she said we could, but I think that was just... Really I don't know. I've done things before with women. Men too. Normally without having a choice in the matter. Life isn't easy when you're too different." He didn't seem broken by it, just a bit quiet.

"Ask her about it. I mean actually do it. She might say no, but notice how her second words to me about how she wants you to have a good place? Trust me, that wouldn't have been the order of things if she didn't at least like you as a friend." He shook his head and stepped away a bit, to set up the Fast Carriage. Gerent had clearly seen the trick before, since he didn't jump away or anything this time. It made sense with Timon doing it a dozen times a day, no doubt.

Then Tor gestured for him to get in, waiting a bit, since it was a bit of a climb for the other man. Nothing he couldn't handle, since it was sized to Tor, but it still took a bit extra. Then, once inside of it, he just stood, looking around, as if not sure where to sit.

"Up here, next to me. I'll show you the controls. It really isn't that hard to drive. The real trick is not getting lost."

That and coming up with a way of explaining everything to his parents when he got there. He would have written first, but that could still take weeks, even if he sent it using the quick messenger service. Gerent didn't say a lot, until they were about half way there, which was only about ten minutes into the flight or so. Tor had explained how to take off and fly, as well as how not to lose his way too easily.

Gerent had seemed to pay attention, but the words he said were really strange. Enough so that Tor nearly veered to the right as he shifted to look at the man.

"You're Tor? I mean for real, not just someone playing at it as a joke?" There was a nervous tremor to the voice, and he seemed to be overly warm. Reaching out with his mind, Tor realized he didn't have a temperature amulet yet. Nothing except some clothing. That was an oversight. Kind of a big one. After all, who knew what kind of people might go after him now?

"Yeah, that's me. I know, I should be taller. Older too. Possibly glowing. I can do
that
of course, but in the main I haven't found a real use for it yet. Glowing. I haven't learned to be taller. I guess I'll get the older part in time. I sort of have too, eventually."

"How could anyone confuse me for you? You're...
incredible
. Even Mona wanted you and she didn't even think you were anyone at all. No one wants me. You'd think they'd have just guessed. Though really a lot of them did. Patty always just laughed when they said anything about it and sometimes we'd show them a bunch of magic." He made a tight face and looked away, out the front window, which was really just an invisible shield, made slightly reflective for the sake of appearance. Tor could just make out a slightly distorted version of Gerent in the side window when he looked.

"I get that all the time too. Mona didn't think I was me, did you notice that? I try not to worry about it. Being me isn't all that it's cracked up to be, if you really want to know the truth. Not this week. On the good side the Larval won't be trying to kill either of us in our sleep. I know that it isn't nice of me, but I hate those guys. Always trying to kill me like they are."

They didn't talk until they hit the forest, and Gerent made another face. This time it looked a bit more displeased than not.

"Do you... think that they'll hate me? Or beat me for claiming to be you? Timon said they wouldn't, but he's just a kid. Who knows what could really happen." It wasn't scared sounding though, so Tor just nodded a bit and then smiled. It was probably a little mean, so he explained pretty quickly.

"I doubt it. We might be yelled at, but even then it will probably be aimed at me, not you. Let's see though? We're here after all. You can see the buildings there, between the trees? It isn't a real city, just a village." Tor slowed down, since it was daytime and there were at least a dozen people in the air over the place, most with large chests following them. That reminded him that Gerent would need a flying rig too. He wasn't really sure what all he had to hand. It was time for him to make a new batch of almost everything then. On the good side he'd figured out some tricks for copying while he was gone. He could make about as many at once now as he wanted. It took longer, but in a day's time he could have enough for everyone.

Not that he'd actually do it. He wasn't brilliant in regards to math. Or rather, he might be, but hadn't learned more than the basics yet, even though it was easy enough to pick it up. It still made sense to him that giving limitless magic to everyone wasn't going to work. It would destroy the whole world faster than almost anything else he could do would. Short of just making the whole thing blow up.

No, it wasn't fair, but he needed to keep things limited. Otherwise people would abuse the things he made and turn them against each other. Like Sandra had with Regina. It hadn't been on purpose, but it was really too much power for anyone to hold safely. A lot of the things he made were like that too. People had been left crippled because of the flying rigs for instance. Wars would become more common if all the warriors had shields too and unless everyone could be safe in the same way, that only left the civilian population as targets.

He'd thought about things while he'd been hiding, in between work sessions. The world just couldn't handle that kind of thing and survive. People were too flawed and emotional for it to work. He had to include himself in that, but Tor did like having things around too. Not that he was a better person than anyone else. Even if he was, too much power would eventually ruin him. One way or the other.

Without giving the man next to him a warning, he set down in the street and suggested they both step out, then made the purple thing go away with a flick of his finger against the nose of the craft where the amulet was always hidden. In one deft move he caught the thing out of the air, the cool tile and hemp string being tucked around his neck instantly. Then he headed toward the bakery, since it was daytime. Gerent followed, without being told to, still seeming a bit edgy.

The place looked good in the light though, a bit more effort and care being put into it constantly, almost as if it were a sign of the whole village prospering. As he opened the front door he could hear the familiar ring of Mayor Tom working in his smithy down the street. That and the scent of pie coming from inside as it mixed with the pine of the whole world in this place. It wasn't a strong thing, but it reminded him of home. Which made sense.

Inside he expected a normal enough greeting, with him getting a hug and then asking after his parents from one of his younger brothers or sisters, but got a surprise today, as the girl that stood behind the new glass display counter with its finished wood top, wasn't anyone he knew at all.

"Hello!" She was wearing a brown working woman's dress with a light tan apron. Her hair was brown and she wasn't very tall at all, but everything about her seemed wrong. For Two Bends. For one thing, no one here said hello to strangers, they said welcome.

Or, more correctly, some variation of the word.
S'welcerm,
for instance, was a common one.

"May I help you with anything today gentlemen?" There was definitely a merchant class accent to her words and after neither of them spoke, with his face looking shocked, hers fell a bit. "And you don't understand a word I'm saying, do you? Well, time for me to point at stuff and nod agreeably again." She smiled while she said it at least and came around the counter before he could say anything. Then she spoke quite loudly, as if trying to move past the perceived language barrier by yelling aggressively enough.

"Would you like bread?" She pointed at it and then rubbed her stomach. It was darling, to tell the truth, but Tor decided not to engender too much bad will by letting her go on.

"No, thank you. Not right now at least. I was looking for my parents? The Bakers? They didn't sell the shop did they? I know the party last night was lavish, but they could always just tell me to give them the coin for it. They're family after all."

"Oh! You speak standard? What a
relief
. I can mainly understand people here, but a lot of them just look at me like I have something stuck to the end of my nose as soon as I open my mouth. You want the Bakers? I think they're staying in today. Out back, at the magical house? Not that I blame them, if I had one of those I'd never leave it. Then I'd starve and waste away, so I guess it's a good thing I don't." The smile was cute enough however and she introduced herself with a decent curtsey.

"Bethany Holmes. Originally from Thompsonville, Countess Thompson found me the position here." She dimple charmingly and then took in Gerent, her face not slipping at all.

 Tor just nodded.

"Oh? One of Terlee's new spies then? Pleased to meet you. I'm Tor and this is Gerent." He focused and read her field, so he caught both her surprise and slight fear as being caught out that quickly. Nothing showed on the surface though, which showed a good bit of training on her part. He would have winced, if nothing else. "You'll catch on to how people speak well enough. Just remember that most people here really will be able to understand you, if you don't speak too quickly. It's the same language. They're probably just reacting to how cute you are anyway. They won't say so, not openly, but don't be shocked if some mothers don't come around looking to get a son married soon." For that matter he had a few male relatives that needed a wife, didn't he? Like Gerent, if that's what he wanted.

They walked out the way they came and headed to the winding path, which was a pleasant walk in the daylight. Long for that kind of thing, since the clearing was behind the house a way, but it was good to stretch his legs. Gerent had a slight wobble to his walk, but kept up nicely enough, since Tor didn't run or anything. If nothing else he didn't really know what to say to everyone involved. It was a great reason to saunter a bit.

Next to him Gerent actually pointed at the house that appeared as they came around the last corner.

"Are they the Lords of Two Bends?" It took a second for Tor to get what he meant, since it did look pretty nice compared to the rest of the village. It was a soft blue now, compared to the more stately brown of the day before. A color definitely tinged with gray. The windows were shuttered on the top two floors and there was activity down below. People dressed in brown who were...

Cleaning.

Like
servants
.

That was so out of place Tor nearly laughed out loud. No one had house staff here. Or at least they never had before. They even scurried away, smiling, when they saw people coming up the walkway. The focus stone was brown here, with a red tinge to it. When he got to the door he had to knock, since there was no bell set up at all. Then it took about a minute for someone to get there. A strange fellow in a decently nice suit, with gray gloves. A butler.

His parents had a
butler
now? They could afford to hire a person like that? Not that it was any of his business what they did with their gold. It was just weird.

"Good day gentlemen. Have you come to inquire about the footman's position? We normally go through the side entrance. The servants, I mean. My name is Conrow, it's my job to run the household staff here. We'll brook no frivolity or rule breaking here, but it seems a good place to work so far. I must admit to being new myself. The Baker family has several children, but treat them as you would your own family and I'm sure there will be no difficulties. May I inquire as to your names?" The man wasn't old, perhaps thirty-five or so, and tall for the village. Too tall. Most of the people that saw his six-two frame would think he was a nobleman here.