Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (48 page)

Alphonse stepped forward and broke the mood easily, striking a heroic pose with his fist going to hips and looking off into the distance.

"I have successfully hid from the danger!" The voice was both regal
and
overdone, making it kind of funny. The finance minister smiled at it at least, but Smythe didn't. He just looked at the much younger man who stood in front of the table very seriously.

"As you were
supposed
to do. Trust me, no one thinks you a coward for it. If they do... Well, unfortunately I fear that that sort might very soon be in battle against us.
If
they aren't intelligent enough to realize what happened here today."

That got a grunt from the Prince at least, who didn't seem convinced, but let it go, waving his right hand back at the people with them.

"I think most of you know everyone?" Johansson shook his head however, which got Alphonse to bow toward him. "Of course. I'll short hand this one, if no one minds?"

No one insisted on the full introduction at least, which would save time.

"Queen Constance is the lovely lady in green, to her right is our kingdom's Finance Counselor, Johansson. The man in black to mother's left is the Military Counselor, Smythe of Westend. Great people all." Then he shifted, a balanced and smooth thing that Tor found himself envying really. He couldn't have pulled it off, he didn't think. "You all know Tor... Which means he really should be doing this, not me, but too late for that now. Let's see, these others are all Countiers and Conserinas, so I can skip that part, Tiera Baker and her younger brothers, Timon and Terry. Given who they are I suggest we just give the land over to them and run for the hills. I could take up farming and horse taming perhaps?" It was a joke, but the King walked into the room in time to hear it and started to nod more seriously than was called for really.

"What say you Timon, want the job?" It was a bit odd that he skipped Tiera, and that got her to make a face, which the man did chuckle at, if with a bit of flirtation in the mix. That surprised Tor more than a little, since they were all relatives now, but by noble rules it was allowable wasn't it?

"I'd offer it to you Tiera, but you seem a bit too much of a hothead. No good ruler would throw his land into constant war."

It was childish and not like her, but she stuck her tongue out at the man, who winked back at her. It felt wrong though. They were making nice, but it had a strained quality underneath it that their fields spoke of far more clearly than their body language.

Timon cleared his throat softly.

"If I thought I could do a better job, then I'd take the position. You may not be perfect, but as far as I can tell so far, few would do as well as you have been, overall. That isn't flattery either. I fully expect you to step down if I ever come to you with someone that
can
actually do better. Or at least step up and improve. I fear that's not going to happen soon however, unfortunately."

Smythe fairly glared at the kid, who didn't smile at all about his words, or seem to be doing anything other than speaking the truth.

"Unfortunately? You tell the man to his face that you'd seek to replace him with another and then call the lack of that
unfortunate
?"

The boy didn't move much, but bowed deeply toward the King and then Connie, "
exactly
William. King Richard is a very good ruler. As fair as possible, kind to even those that have betrayed him and willing to end his reign if someone better came along. No one like that should be forced to put up with the kind of...
garbage
that we've seen today. If I could arrange for someone else to take up the load, I would. I can't though, not yet. I may not be able to. Sorry about that."

Smythe just blinked.

"That is a very strange estimate. Most people actually seek power in my experience. Have you no ambitions to that yourself?"

"Most people are morons. I have some ambitions, but also good role models. Some of whom are in this room." It was strange but he bowed, first to Tor, and then the
Prince
. He didn't explain that though.

The Queen smiled, not seeming very troubled about the whole thing, but something was pretty clear to Tor. She didn't really like Timon at all. In fact, she kind of hated him. Not a big thing, but that small dislike that you felt toward someone that was always just a little improper. His brother didn't belch loudly in public or anything, so Tor couldn't tell why that was. It wasn't about what he'd just said, which she took almost as a matter of course. That part seemed almost as if... She wished he
could
find someone better. Some way to free her family from the burden of being in power.

"Well, thank you Timon. Would you all sit? Please? Tor, I'd ask you to sit by my left hand, but..." She stopped, which would have been enough he thought, but Timon spoke suddenly, searching the whole room as he moved, drinking in thousands of bits of information.

He did it blandly, and justified talking about the whole thing, by turning to Terry, as if the boy would naturally need it explained, which was
true
, but he could have waited for later. No wonder Connie didn't like him that much.

"Tor and the Queen used to be lovers, but someone, probably one of the Ancients, caused her to be Count Lairdgren's daughter. That means that she's really our Aunt. That's part of why Tiera can't strike at the King right now, even though she still thinks he was working against her, which isn't the whole story. It's worse than that however, since Tor has the same genetic pattern as our grandfather. You know how they look identical except for height? Anyway, to Tor that means the Queen is his
daughter
, which would make for a grand tale, if they weren't real people, right here in front of us. Sitting to her left hand like that means that the person there is either her highest advisor, or current lover." Then he looked ready to go over any bits of that Terry didn't get, but the boy, went wide eyed and spun on Tor instantly.

"S'Tor! Ye'ss na ki'self? I..." He seemed stiff and more than a little scared, his already pale skin lightening by several shades.

 Tiera moved next to Ali and reached over to pat Tor on the back several times, with enough force that his shield activated on the third one.

"No Terry, Tor isn't going to kill himself over it. No one would have known about this, except for whoever did it in the first place. That was probably our grandmother. Gray, not Baker. It could be Count Lairdgren I suppose. Or, well, someone at that meeting we attended did mention that Doris was a master of such tampering too and she's been right there at Lairdgren for years, teaching meditation."

That bit of information got Terry to stand taller, and switch back to Noram standard.

"Then we should go and find out who did it and make them..." He had to ask in home tongue how to say exile. "That. Exile them. Disown them, if they're family. We should go do that right now."

He was so angry that Tor was a bit worried, but oddly enough Tiera settled it, gesturing to a seat.

"It's already done Terry. There will be words over it, but we need to find out why it happened in the first place, before we simply strike out. This isn't a good situation, but here, in noble circles, it isn't considered the fault of either party at all. From our traditions... Well, they
should
kill themselves, naturally, but it would be our part to try and stop them, so we should focus on making them feel alright about it all." They selected a seat, with Terry directly to her right. It went that way, with Timon ending up across the table from them, near Alphonse, not having enough women for traditional seating. Ali was next to his little brother, leaving Smythe next to him, with and empty place between the Queen and everyone else. Sara started to sit at the far end of the table, but was waved over to that vaunted and problematic place instead.

"If no one objects? We aren't lovers, before you imply anything Timon. I just hate to waste the chair and Sara is a valued friend of our family." It sounded a bit pissy for a Queen, but Tim smiled.

"Clearly. I wouldn't have said such, even if it were a fact, Aunt Constance. None of us would. Different rules I guess."

"
Ah
." She didn't call him on it though, which meant a rather red faced and slightly baffled Johansson was able to clear his throat, changing the subject to business, which would have ordinarily been almost as frowned on as tales of inadvertent incest and the likelihood of suicide being the result of it.

"So, Lord Baker... I know this is a bad time, but I was hoping to discuss the possibility of taking out a loan with you? The current budget is a bit close and the damage to the Capital will need to be addressed." He stopped as the King shook his head and glared a bit, but Prince Alphonse took a deep breath that was enough everyone looked at him.

"Tor and Lady Alyssa... Have already given over all their coin to that and the war effort. All but what they have in their pockets, which was offered as well, but they'll need some food and school supplies." He gave a seated bow toward the King and Queen, which worked to keep them quiet for a moment. "Ali's idea, I believe. No one asked or suggested it at all, before you question me on that. It has been suggested that I handle the disposition of those funds. Unless there are objections?"

No one said anything, but Richard got to his feet, which was always an impressive sight and bowed so low that the crown on his head nearly fell off. Then he held it and when he stood again, his eyes glistened a little. That could have been from the discomfort of holding that position of course.

"Thank you Tor, Ali. It's a very grand gesture and most welcome at this time. I... can't recall anyone ever having done such a thing in the history of this land. I can't promise there will be anything left in the end, but I swear this, every copper of it will be spent with wisdom and care." Then he sat, with a bit of a thump and turned to Timon, not breaking eye contact for a good while.

"Are you certain you can find no one better able to rule than I?" He glanced at Tor and then Ali, but Timon snorted.

"Tor? Perish the thought. For one thing, he'd be
horrible
at the job. He can't even order toast in the morning without feeling like he should run out and start the fire himself. As for Ali, she's a great person, but still a girl. No. I do have to say that a bit of gold should be set aside for them, until the new stuff starts flowing in. Tor owns enough they won't be poor by any means, even if it's all spent, but I'd rather not have to pay for all his food, and for his servants, for the next six months."

Alphonse looked blank, but nodded, clearly doing some kind of internal math, which he was good at and Johansson seemed to be in a similar state, but he smiled while he did it.

Tor just shrugged.

"Remember to pay everyone. The High Servants and the others too, not just the house staff."

Then, without anyone mentioning that he meant the Secret Army at all, even here, Terry of all people, changed the subject. It was really well done too, Tor noticed.

The boy waved a bit to Connie and then the King.

"My father's birthday is in three weeks. We're to have a big party for it. Would you be available to come? I know that, with the war and all, that might not be possible, but we can get you there and back in the same day. I know that you'd be not only welcome, but expected." Then he grinned and turned to Alphonse. "You too, and my other cousins. I haven't met them yet. Are they nice?"

That
seemed
a bit too much, but allowed the conversation to shift nicely. Everyone did agree that the Princesses were both nice and that, while going to Two Bends for a party probably couldn't be made to happen, they might well be able to invite them all to a party at the Palace soon. A little thing like a war wouldn't stop that from happening after all.

The meal itself settled into a normal pattern, with only pleasantries being spoken of, but it was a vastly simplified thing, with larger than normal portions for the giants, and the rest of them, including Johansson, having much smaller ones, thankfully. It was good, but there were only three courses. A large salad, a meat dish and a decent cake, topped with marmalade.

Terry looked at it closely and took a small bite of it, then tasted it carefully, looking at Timon as he did.

"This is good. I would have never thought of having a cake topped with jam. Strawberry would be too sweet, wouldn't it? This is just right to go with the rest of the meal." It was insightful, especially for a nine year old, but he was one of the few people rested enough to carry the conversation it seemed. Connie blushed a little, and ducked her head.

"We... had a small disruption in the kitchens. The stress of the day has thrown many of the servants off, and several have suggested that they leave, to serve in the Army. Or with the new High Servants, if they can earn the position. I've never had a cake like this either. It does work well though. I think I'll ask for it again sometime." She smiled prettily at the youngest boy, clearly grateful for the assistance.

It was hard to keep a conversation to small talk and fripperies when there was a war on and the battle had begun on your own doorstep. Tor would bet his last copper on it.

As soon as the dishes were taken away, the work started, which was mainly going over the day, talking about what would be needed for the city and the military. It was a bit funny, but Smythe tried to conscript some of the kids from Lairdgren. Specifically the ones that came to do the cooking. The Army had a shortage there after all.