Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (14 page)

"If you don't mind having the kids? We can bring a servant or two to watch them, if you like. Not that they'll misbehave. I think your father and I have managed to get this parenting thing down well enough finally, given all the practice."

"We'd love to have them in. They have an off day after that? From school I mean?" He tried to count the days up, but didn't really know the date at all. His mother nodded though, so he didn't ask. No one liked to look stupid all the time, and an important part of seeming intelligent was not spreading your errors all about. Especially not to people that would judge you for them. "Great. You can all spend the night then. It will save a night flight back."

Then Tor warned her that the new butler might try to resign, but allowed that he hadn't been insulted at all, which got Gerent to nod along. He might not know all the proper social rules, but he understood that agreeing with people that seemed friendly was a good idea. It had taken Tor nearly a year to work that one out for himself.

Then he had to give his mother a hug, which left him feeling unsettled and awkward, though Gerent seemed at least as nonplussed when it was his turn, pulling away more quickly than was perfectly polite. Laurie didn't act like she minded though and let him go easily.

"Now, I expect you to visit regularly. If you don't decide to stay with us I mean, Gerent. You can have a room here at any time. I can tell you don't believe it yet, but you truly have a family here. We don't abandon our own." She gave the man a look that seemed almost a bit worried then. "Make sure to abuse Tor's good will and spend all his coin for him, will you? He has a remarkable amount and does almost nothing but support new business endeavors. At least that's considered a fairly noble activity. It's what most of us
do
you know. Own things and collect land taxes."

That and make up stupidly petty intrigues, Tor knew. After the final set of goodbyes they managed to work their way down the new path to the newly resurfaced village main street and set up the Fast Carriage again, this time gesturing for Gerent to climb into the driver's seat. The man froze in place though, as if not wanting to try it.

"Are you certain? I... What if I crash?"

"Then it will leave a big mess on the ground. You won't though. It isn't hard, just new. Go very slowly and if you aren't certain what to do, let go of the control and the whole thing will stop where it is."

The man wasn't great at first, and Tor had him fly to a few different places, then spend about half an hour taking off and landing. Terry had done a bit better his first time, but he'd gotten a chance to practice before in a slower carriage, which was driven almost exactly the same way. He also had his own flying rig and was accomplished at that. It wasn't that similar, but it was all guiding yourself through the air, which was a big part of the task.

By the time they settled in the commons at the school Gerent had it all down well enough. It would take a bit of polish to really be good, say if he wanted to take passengers professionally, but it was enough that Tor decided to set him up with his own, as soon as the new ones were ready. In the meantime he had to have an older style model around. They weren't as fast, but you could still travel the width of the continent in a day. It was faster than walking by a good bit.

"Lairdgren School. It isn't just called that, the Count actually owns it. We should take the craft with us I think. We don't want someone to take it up without permission. They'd probably do some damage if they tried." Landings had to be done carefully, or else you'd end up going into the ground. Hitting a building here wouldn't go over very well either, since people might die from it.

School kids were, by definition, sometimes dumb.

Which, after Gerent took down the Craft and handed it to him, had Tor thinking about his younger sister. It was about two in the afternoon already, since sitting and talking ate up time faster than it seemed and that meant he was a bit hungry. There were a few restaurants in town, so if the others could eat, he'd head over to one of those and see to that. It was late for it at the school, but they could get a late luncheon no doubt. He should have enough coin on him for that, without even stopping at the house to pick up more.

"Tiera's room is this way..." They didn't get ten steps before a giant wall of familiar girl was in the way, flanked by several other giants. They were all in fighting leathers and looked mean, but one by one they stopped and smiled at him.

"Master Tor!" Judith was in front, and had managed to get even taller than the last time he'd seen her, half a year before or so. She was easily over seven feet tall now, and looked to be getting ready to add another one or two to that, if it was possible. She was a woman, so that might help prevent it, but her body was rail thin now, which gave her a far more graceful appearance than she'd had the last time their paths crossed.

She rushed him and bent down to give him a warm but quick hug.

"I heard you were about. We were just headed into town for a meal, you want to come? You can bring your friend?" She looked at Gerent and bowed, which he returned, right until Tiera managed to work her way to the front of the group and grab him into a hug of her own.

"Gerent! So good to see you!" She spun to the group her face suddenly hard, as if waiting for someone to challenge her on what she said. "Everyone, this is Gerent. My brother."

No mention was made of him being adopted even, which was totally correct. Karen moved to the front and hugged the little man as well, then turned a much warmer one on him. She didn't say anything however since a few others clearly wanted to either take a turn trying to crack his ribs or slap him on the shoulder hard enough to set his shield off. It was hard to tell at first, since it was kind of a huge wall of flesh, but there were only five of them in all. Baron Havar and David Derring were there too, pulling up the rear of the group.

Gerent stepped away from them, which was both sensible and a bit funny. After all, they were so clearly nobles that a small person like him had to feel intimidated. Tor would have, except that he knew them all.

"Well, that works for me then. I was planning on grabbing Tiera and Karen up for a late luncheon in town. My treat. For everyone." That was a bit over the top in general, since it could be seen as him playing the big man, but in a way he
was
, trying to show Gerent that he wasn't hurting for coin at all. Otherwise he'd probably try to give it all back or something and that would be awkward.

Tiera just smiled and moved to walk next to Gerent, which got a funny look from Baron Havar. It was the kind of thing that Tor's old mental conditioning would have missed totally and that he might still not get, if a helpful voice from the back of his head hadn't pointed it out.

'That one likes her
.'

It was a strange thing to consider really. Tiera was pretty enough, of course. Honestly that wasn't fair, thinking of it that way. She'd nearly shaved her head, leaving just a black fuzz all over it and she was dressed in a brown student's uniform, unlike the others, but she was easily the prettiest thing in the commons and probably was most of the time. Maybe all the time. The Ancient pattern in their family lent to very good looks after all. Really the new haircut
helped
if anything. It made her look about fifty percent more approachable. Not that he wanted to do that.

It made sense that Havar would though. The strange thing there was that, from the body language, she was clearly very comfortable around the man in return. They didn't touch, but she smiled when he moved to walk beside her, with Gerent on the other side. It looked strange, since the man was big and terrifying to look at, but after a few seconds Tiera let her shoulder bump against his hand, like a person might if they were seeking comfort. Or flirting?

'No doubt about it
.
Not enough contact for people that are intimate though, so you probably don't have to kick his ass
.
Not yet at any rate
.' Tor felt a shock of surprise that Cordes was talking to him that much. The Ancient King in his head normally didn't do that kind of thing, or hadn't before. Tor had to wonder why he was now.

'Oh, a bit bored, mostly. Sorry, I'll shut up. Not trying to be a pain.'

Tor focused and thought back, trying to convey that it wasn't a problem, as long as he was left his own mind. The idea of being taken over was a bit terrifying, but as long as they had to share it was only fair that the Ancient King got to do some things he wanted too. If he wanted to chat that was fine. It was a bit like Gerent no doubt. He'd been silent for so long the words were just kind of popping out.

'Hey, I can do running commentary on things then. That won't be annoying or
anything
.'

Tor smiled as they walked, letting the others lead. The meal itself was normal enough, being good, but nothing so special that he had to take notes or ask how it was done. The others did most of the talking, keeping it mainly to music and other social things, which, even though Gerent hadn't heard all of the same musicians, he managed to hold his own in as far as song knowledge. It made Tor happy to hear, even though they lost him almost instantly, since he didn't know popular songs or singers at all.

They were halfway through the desert course when Cordes piped up again, the deep voice sounding pleased and almost giddy.

'There we go! My little brother finally rears his shiny bald head. He looks so different with hair you know. That and the scarring threw me off at first, but he kept the same name, which was lazy of him. I didn't get a chance to talk to him on the ship. You should call him over. I don't think the others recognized him either, but it's him. Kolb.'

Tor turned and looked at the doorway, where a fairly happy looking, for him, weapons master stood, waiting to be seated. He was alone.

It took Tor a few seconds to get what was being said inside his head. Kolb was someone that a man who had died over two thousand years ago called brother.

Of
course
he was.

Cordes chuckled, merrily.

The very first thing Tor did was ask Cordes if he were totally certain. The voice responded that he was, even though it had been a few thousand years since he'd hung out with his "little brother" who was from a much later series than Burks and he were. Born nearly two hundred years later, about when Gray had been.

'Not that I'm that certain as far as time goes. It's Kolb though. Do that sensing thing and check. I don't want to be wrong. It's a bit strange that Burks didn't have him at the meeting in Vagus. Good military leader, he should definitely be on board. Unless he's hiding or something.'

The actually magical portion of the events was a lot less than spectacular from an outward perspective. The Weapons Master was clearly not of the Green, Gray or Brown lines, and Tor had no way to check and see if he was anything like Cordes on a biological level, but there was both a feeling of great age and a familiar pattern that spoke of being immortal, one that was a bit more like Black or Orange than the others. Command line most likely.

"Kolb! Come join us!" The helpful voice belong to Karen and really it was useful. Tor was taken a bit aback, but after a few seconds he decided to just confront the man. If he wanted them all dead he would have done that a long time before, wouldn't he?

Tiera made a slightly disgruntled face, which the large man noticed as he walked over, but didn't comment on. She looked away, as if being snooty about something. Tor had no real clue what that would be, until Karen, again being helpful, elbowed the girl, a good bit less than covertly.

"Let it go already. Yes, he helped stop you from killing some people. Do you really think he shouldn't have?"

Tiera sighed and shook her head, if a bit begrudgingly.

"No. Sorry Sir Kolbrin. I've been being rude. You were all right, and I was wrong. At least in some ways. Please forgive me." It didn't sound all that genuine, but she did smile at him in a way that seemed more real.

He gave her a look that was, Tor understood suddenly, playful. He'd seen it himself before, but had always thought it was a cold expression that promised horrible things. Now it just seemed... normal. Still a bit scary, being that Kolb was a dangerous person when he chose to be, and had his own little Army of warriors on tap to back up whatever he wanted to do at need.

The big man, who was about six-six or so, which meant large but not incredibly so, looked at the table and shook his head a bit.

"I see that everyone is nearly finished. I wouldn't want to keep you all. I could use a word with you before you leave though Tor?" There was a significant enough look to go with it that it was clear he didn't want to chat about the weather. It was probably going to be a lecture about fitness or his need to keep in practice as far as fighting went, since he was a Knight and all that.

If so, it was fair enough. He really should be doing more that way. He could now, since he didn't need nearly the amount of work hours that he used to.

"That sounds good. Why don't Tiera, Gerent and I stay with you here and the others can get back to their day? Or... Well, Karen, I'm planning to kidnap you off to the Capital later, for the night. Are you available for that?" He hadn't meant it to sound like an invitation to have sex with him, but it totally did. That wasn't going to happen though. Not until he had everyone checked out to make sure they weren't related to him.

The large girl, who was a little plain looking, gave him a saucy look anyway. It didn't fit her face or frame, but still wasn't a joke.

"Alright. Is Tiera going too?" That sounded really odd to him, even though no one else took it the wrong way. He actually checked their fields to see if it was the case, but it wasn't. They weren't thinking much about it at all, really.

"That's the plan. We'll be back first thing in the morning though, so no classes will be missed. Gerent is coming too." That was as close as he was willing to get to an explanation for the time being. He wasn't about to announce to the whole room that he'd been sleeping with his female family members for years already.

Too many people would know about it the next day if he did.

It was enough for Judith and Havar to escape however and it didn't take long for Kolb to be served, since he just ate the special of the day, which was an already prepared mutton stew, with bread and a side of green beans. He ate efficiently too and didn't start speaking until after the meal was finished.

"Are you planning to return to school here Tor? Or are you moving back to the Capital?" There was the leaned in body posture of a person that was actually interested in knowing something, rather than the relaxed air of a casual question. It didn't seem all that important however. Why would it matter where he lived? Or if he went to school at all?

"Neither. I'm staying here, but I don't think I'll really have time for school myself, which is a bit of a shame. I
could
use some more weapons work, before you ask. I've been running, but not a lot else lately. Some exercises to keep me limber and all that." It was the kind of thing that the man normally cared about, or at least it always had been in Tor's experience. "Maybe I could sit in with some of your people? Gerent too. That's a noble kind of thing to do, isn't it? Have a tutor for weapons work?" It was a bit sad, but Tor didn't really know. He'd heard that most of them did, when they were younger, but no one did at school. They had classes for that. Really
good
instructors too.

That derailed whatever was going to be asked for a minute while attention turned to the new man, with Kolb staring so hard it seemed almost like he was ready to attack.

"What kind of training have you had? Can you use a blade? Ever use magical weapons?" It was a bit sharp sounding, but Gerent just shook his head no and finally tried to answer, clearly thinking he was going to be made fun of for his lack of skill.

"No. I can tumble a bit. I... mostly when I saw weapons it meant I should try and hide. I used a breath stopper against some bandits once though, and have a shield that Timon gave me." That got Tor to blink.

"You do? Why aren't you
wearing
it then?"

Everyone looked at him until the man spoke, his voice a little sour sounding finally.

"Well, I'm not a nobleman, am I? I can't wear a shield, it's against the law."

Tor forced himself to hold his face still but Tiera didn't, just shaking her head.

"Not exactly. First of all, you're legally a noble now, so you
can
have that kind of thing. But if it's given to you from a builder directly, you could have it anyway. It's how Tor can just pass out things like he does. The weapons and all that."

Tor tilted his head then.

"Except that's going to stop. I messed up I think, and made some things way too powerful. They've come in handy, I won't deny it, but I don't think the world can take a lot more of what I'm doing. It makes people too powerful, without having had to actually earn it in any way. That can't be a good idea." It was hard to explain, but Kolb agreed with him pretty easily anyway.

"Good. I was wondering if you'd catch on to that part of things. We have half a dozen school kids here walking around with enough weapons and armor to take out a full military unit, if they were careful. Maybe more than that, since the Lairdgren Building Group might have handed some things out that I don't know about. I keep expecting to hear about someone being hauled in for removing a forest with an explosive weapon or 'accidentally' using one of your force lances to harass innocent people in public. If I had my way I'd collect up everything like that from the kids here and hold them. We can't control what they do outside of school, but here we should have some small ability to enforce the already established rules." There was a dead look to his eyes as he looked straight into Tor's then. "I don't suppose you'd like to inform the builders of that? Maybe help get them to turn things in?"

Tor almost claimed it wasn't his job, but then realized it actually
was
. He'd kind of started the group after all, and was also the Magics Counselor for the kingdom. Who else would they get to do something like that?

"On it. I'll go and set that in motion today. You can come with us, if you have the time? I don't want people to think I'm threatening them using Tiera and Gerent. We can hold them back in case anyone has a
real
problem with it."

Or more to the point, Kolb could collect the weapons up directly that way. They'd need some paper and probably a box or two.

"We should leave them shields though, and any of Timon's air lances or the equivalent. They aren't that powerful, and really, if we let them have something like that, they're less likely to build something stronger if they feel like they might have to fight." That was a thing that made sense to him at least.

Kolb stood up from the table, so Tor called for the server, a nice lady that he'd seen before that day, several times, and handed her two gold.

"Sir? The meals come only to four silvers..."

He walked past her while Gerents eyes went huge suddenly.

"The rest is for you and the others here. Thank everyone for the meal, will you?" It was so far into too much the woman tried to hand one of the coins back, but Tor waved that away and kept moving. The others ignored it and came with him, even though Gerent seemed to think something was
horribly
wrong.

When they got outside he took Tor by the arm and stopped him on the wooden walkway in front of the place. The whole street had it, but the rest of the town was done in stone. This was raised a bit, so wouldn't ever flood in the rain.

"Tor... That's a lot of gold to just be giving out, isn't it?" He whispered this, but Tiera patted his back gently and urged him to walk again, leaning in to whisper. There wasn't that vast a difference in their sizes, so it looked almost right even.

"That was a lot, but not for Tor. Did you know that he's the richest man in Noram? I don't mean the
family
, I mean himself. In his own person? Entire Counties don't have a fraction of his riches. So what does he do with it? He shares it with servers in restaurants. Not his own little sister, no... even though she might well starve or have to eat other people's spit at the school dining hall in a few days. It's a sorry state, don't you think Gerent?"

Tor fished in his pocket and pulled the rest of what he had left on him. It was about two and a half gold, a little less than that. Handing it over with a bow he grinned.

"If you want more you need to get Gerent to arrange it for you. He has access to the vault in the Capital house. Try to leave at least a bit to cover the bills and food, will you?"

The other two were walking ahead of them, but Karen turned to look at him, her eyes a little wide.

"Wait, so your brand new brother has access to millions of golds? What do I get as your sister in-law?" She was being goofy, making lascivious faces at him, which was cute and a little tempting, but he waved at Gerent again.

"Get with Gerent or Collette, obviously. You too Kolb. I'll pass the word to them." Looking over and down he saw that his newest family member was smiling, finally. It wasn't totally happy, more like it was a little panicked, but that didn't stop Tor.

"So, anyway, you get the idea? Take what you need, or want. I'll back whatever you do, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. If you want to give it to start schools or help the poor, that's fine. Or to try and buy friends. That doesn't really work, I'll warn you now, but I had to go through a phase of trying to do that myself, giving away magical items like they were worthless. Still, if you want to give it a try, you've got the funds for it. Or to purchase land or anything else you want. If it's magical though, get with me first. I can probably set something up for you." Tor wondered if the man would even get his stipend out. The first few would probably have to be handed off to him if nothing else.

Tiera giggled.

"Brother Gerent? Can I have more gold? I'll trade you chores or something?" There was pure wheedle in the words, but she was clearly joking. The small man looked suddenly very serious though.

"I don't think so. If this is real, then it's a trust, isn't it? The Wizard Tor saying that I'm really someone? I can't... ruin that. If it isn't, I'd end up in the gallows faster than I could say 'gak,
urk
' provided I didn't just turn into a frog or a dog or the like." There was a rougher edge to the fellow, like he wasn't certain at all what was going on. As if it was truly some kind of game.

"Neither one of those at all. Go ahead and give her some if you think she needs it. She is at school and the tradition is that we don't give school kids too much coin, since they might use it to get in trouble, but she can handle a hundred and fifty or so. Maybe two hundred. Don't you think?" He looked at Kolb, figuring the man would back him in something like that, and Karen nodded, her face serious already, but Tiera just shrugged.

"Ah, I can get my own. I just won't have anything coming in for a bit, is all. Really what I have on me is more than enough for a while. You know what you should do? Take that two hundred out and invest it. I hear that Sara Debri is putting together a new operation. Overseas trading. I bet she could use the extra starting funds
and
she's really nice. Don't marry her though. Timon already put word in there, years ago and it doesn't seem to be going smoothly. He's still helping her out with the transport though, since they're friends. Tor can take you around to meet her."