Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (57 page)

Since it would probably just make him uneasy to hear anyway, Tor decided to skip asking about it.

 "Also... Tor, I know this might seem a strange request, but would you stay out of direct battle? I'd rather not have you die before you have a chance to take over from me. You're the only one that can do it. I had hopes for Dan, but the Cordes line doesn't respond to him at all. They do to you. They might to Timon as well, which is frightening. Keep an eye on him will you? Tiera too? They're not half as bad as they might be, having been raised in a good situation for humility and all that, but they have their flaws too. At some point, both of them might well decide that they, personally, are the most fit to rule this land, not you or I."

Tor stood, hearing that the conversation was clearly about to come to an end.

"So... They're my family. I don't want you to kill them. Given that though, why haven't you already? If they might try to take over someday."

The Ancient being in front of him rose so smoothly it hardly seemed like he did it at all, and flowed around the table, to stand less than three feet from his grandson.

"Because Tor, someday we might need them to. If we can't fix Noram, someone else will have to. It's getting worse. Natural selection has caused the strongest to breed, and the most docile to allow themselves to be steered into relationships to produce children. If we can't start something to fix this soon, we may not have a choice but to let one of the others take over and do with brutality what you and I simply cannot imagine."

Cordes could though. It involved killing more than half the population and starting over, probably with a singular genetic line. For what it was worth, the Ancient King let leak into his head that he thought the strongest chance of it working was for Timon and Tiera to work together.

Which would be the bloodiest reign the world had seen in thousands of years.

Tor decided to see if they could avoid that one.

He had more questions, but like always, they didn't come. Not until they got to the top of the stairs, the last one of which creaked as the weight of his foot hit it, Burks three steps down.

"Do you know who put a copy of Cordes in my head then? It had to be done when I was born... The midwife, or maybe..." He stopped and rolled his eyes then frowned hard, not liking the idea at all.

"Or my
mother
." Using his brain, since he'd been told to and it made sense, even if he was probably being more than a bit slavey doing it, Tor worked it all out, speaking as he did. "The only way that would work would be if Gray put in a Rhetistic set of herself into ma, like the one I have of Cordes. That doesn't explain
why
, not really, since I doubt the woman would have fallen for the command line crap like we have to. That or Blue, doing something similar. Crud." He was thinking stronger words, but then quieted his mind enough to feel Burks, who seemed to be holding the same basic opinion. It was Gray.

It had always been.

The man just shook his head then though.

"Don't speak of it outside this space. Everything can be heard and if that's correct, then you, in particular, as well as myself, have been being watched. Probably for years." Without warning, he reached past Tor and turned the door knob, ending the conversation.

As if Tor couldn't just push him back in? That would be rude though and he really didn't have a clue what to say. Also as tempting as it would be to go slightly insane about then, it wouldn't aid him in any way. If he was right, his mother was also Gray, in mind as well as body.

That was...

Hard to buy. His mother wasn't a warm and comfy person, but she wasn't an evil witch either... Gray always was. At least around him. Tor pushed the Count back for real, his hand coming out on its own. Or, more likely, thanks to Cordes, who came forward then.

He spoke out loud, but at least bothered to ask permission this time, which was a pleasant change-up.

"Tor, may I have a few words with Green? My memories are somewhat different than your own on the topic you were postulating. It might clear things up."

"Um... Sure. Do it."

He stood a bit straighter suddenly and closed the door firmly.

"Green, this is Cordes. Is it possibly that your daughter was given a full Rhetistic set as Tor suspects? If it was the Gray personality that should have shown through, even if she tried to hide it. The woman was never that fond of men for instance. I seem to remember hearing that she wouldn't allow a boy child to come to term either." It was clear, given that factor, his mother couldn't be Gray, even mentally. It was a reassuring idea that made him feel more than a little bit better about the whole thing. He had a lot of brothers after all, and Gray just couldn't have stood for that. He was about to walk out again, except Burks had to ruin the happy moment by speaking.

"A modified set could do the trick. Changing a handful of external mannerisms would be enough. A true copy of a mind is a huge set of information to put in anyway, but what if that wasn't the intent at all? You're a limited view into the Cordes consciousness that I knew, for instance. A few hundred years in a life that was nearly eight hundred in the end. What if Gray took out certain attributes... Allowing herself to have boys for instance. To deal with men more easily? That might explain it. I always wrote Laurie's behavior off as a simple dislike of me, for sending her away to protect her, but what if it was deeper than that?"

They kept speaking for a long time, just standing on the top step going back and forth. Tor tried to keep up, but got lost in places. The main point, he realized, was that his mother could have been co-opted at an early age by Gray and no one would have thought twice about it. Just like Tor, even though he was basically Green, had a different basic personality. His life was different, so it only made sense.

Then Cordes walked out, with Green following him and almost immediately gave control back to Tor. Meaning that he couldn't ask a lot of questions at all.

He didn't even try.

"I need to get back to the school then and see to things there. Then work all night and see about making some amulet deliveries before noon, so I can get back to see about my apprentices. It's likely to be a long day. Do you think I should get Richard in on it?" For all the world it sounded like that was what they'd been talking about. Tor was a little proud of that, since subterfuge wasn't a skill of his really.

"Let him know, of course, but I think you'd need Smythe in on this one. If the man has the time. There's a war on, so a letter or something may be the best he can do. Perhaps suggesting that they support you in this? If you can't do that, then make certain you can fight your way out. Just in case."

Tor stuck out his tongue, but took the man's meaning. They might not be all that interested in listening to him, not on his own. His best bet then would be to take in someone high ranking, and large. A title wouldn't hurt either. Luckily he knew some people like that, didn't he?

Being careful of the greenery again, the low bushes around the house and ground plants taking up most of the space, Tor took off quickly. It was just after nine, so if he hurried he could be back before everyone was in bed. Then he'd just do a bit of copy work and put out a few dozen different types of things for sale. Easy.

Ali's house was all lit up when he got there and the front room seemed to have at least fifteen people in it. Not all of them fellow school students either. In fact other than the Lairdgren Group and two fighters, Tor wasn't certain any of them were, not until Sherri walked into the room with a platter filled with cookies. Everyone already had drinks.

Tor smiled, trying not to seem out of place in his own home.

"Everyone! Good to see you all. Sorry I'm late, I had to stop by Grenwyn and speak with Count Lairdgren. I take it that this is the decision making committee working on our new quasi military school group?" Sherri smiled and offered him a cookie, which he took. It was crisp and made with peanuts. Not bad really. A bit dark, but not so much it ruined it. Taking a bite he waited to be corrected but Kolb just pointed.

"The very same. Instructor Fines is taking the building students, but we're planning mixed combat groups. Hendrix is in charge of supplies, and all the non-combat sections. Tiera is teaching combat related flying. We need more rigs for that, as well as magical clothing. Farlo said she could do it. We'll need to put all the kids into combat studies though, at least a few hours per day. Mornings and evenings, to place them around regular classes. Are you planning to take over the magical section?" He said it in an offhand fashion, ignoring the fact that Instructor Fines was both right there and better able to do the job than Tor was.

"No. I'm going to need Alyssa tomorrow too, can we get her out of classes?" This got addressed to Headmaster Hardgrove who simply cleared his throat, disapprovingly.

"I'd hate to have students missing out on work for this, any more than we can help. This is a stopgap at best, to keep them all from running off to enlist in the military again. It won't hold long, if Count Lairdgren is difficult about it. I have to admit I've been hesitant to contact him on the idea." The man glanced at Tor as he searched through his floating chest, finding the communications device there easily. Then he contacted Barbara again.

"Did you forget something? I swear if this is to make fun of me over Hobart I'll have your testicles for a necklace." She didn't really sound that mean though, for her. Just a bit sharp, enough that Ali took a few steps forward, to defend him from whoever was speaking that way.

"Hello Barbara. Nothing like that. Just need a word with Burks please? Tell him I have a room full of people here, so talking about my manhood might leave me feeling a bit shy." The words came out very dry, but the woman on the other end of the thing snorted.

"One moment." There was no sound for a while and then a faint bit of clattering, followed by the sound of someone settling into a chair.

"Tor? Something?"

"Yes. I've set up a pseudo-military group here at school. So they can respond to emergencies. Everyone else had the idea, but I told them it was a good one, so we won't lose as many students to the military as we did in the last war. We'll try to keep them alive and hold to support functions. No direct combat, since you mentioned that earlier. Please tell everyone that you're backing this so they don't spend weeks hiding it from you and living in fear."

Everyone in the room looked at him as if he were insane for a moment, except Kolb.

The voice from the device seemed perfectly reasonable at least and didn't question him at all.

"Do it then. As you implied, it's up to us to make certain they all live through this. Make that so. Anything else?"

He really didn't have anything, but Ali leaned in and spoke hesitantly.

"I... Sir. We're having a dinner party here soon, in three days. I know that you must be terribly busy, but if you'd like to come? You could bring people, if you want?"

Tor didn't let her get the whole thing out, just clapping, which had to seem strange.

"Yes, ask Barbara to see if Hobart would like to come. He'll be a lot more comfortable here than at your place. He can actually stand up in here, for one thing. I might need a different Carriage configuration... Yes, I can do it. Please ask them as well?" They were the only people from Grenwyn he knew by name after all, and two of them were family. Of course they should be invited.

Barbara growled audibly and made her way back into the room. Tor could hear the stomping over the device.

"I
told
you not to..."

"We'd love to Tor." The Count practically shouted over her. "Is Farlo going to be there? Hobart's her uncle after all."

The girl herself, looking very baffled, stood and walked toward Tor too.

"Um, yes, Count Lairdgren. I was planning on coming. You know where Uncle Hobart is? He's well? We haven't heard from him in years. I'd love to see him. He was always my favorite when I was little."

That shut Barbara right up.

Good. The woman was a pain at times. Also funny, Tor allowed, but a bit intense.

The conversation kept on then, doubling back with Burks involved, but the man mainly just agreed with everything they suggested. It was a subtle thing, but clear, now that he knew to look for it. Everything Kolb suggested, the man did. They were just ideas, but those were the ones he liked the best. The idea kind of scared Tor a little, because he had to be doing that too, didn't he? Who else was he doing that with then? All the Instructors, no doubt. The barber in town? His mother?

Ali?

He didn't think that was the case, but it was almost impossible to see it in himself. Green thought that he had that part of himself beaten, but it was there, even after thousands of years of fighting it. Tor suddenly realized something then.

No matter what he did, he couldn't really be free.

The concept that he was a slave was a part of him, and no matter how much power he collected, or what kind of wealth he had, there would always be that last second betrayal, and he'd just go along with whoever had the most pull on him, doing what they wanted.

It was annoying. All he could do was fight against it though, and as he was seeing, that probably wouldn't work.