Slave Line (The Young Ancients) (19 page)

"No. We have more than that. Six. At least that are professionals. We'll have to take turns or else the kids will be arguing about who gets to work." Her words softened at the end, turning playful.

"I'd guess we should count my father too... he taught me how to bake you know. Denno, how about you?"

He shook his head.

"Oh, no, I learned to cook in school, just like Green did. Same class in fact. We used to compete to see who could impress Julie White the most with our wonderful creations." He got lost in a dream of the past for a few seconds, at least Tor figured that would be the case from the look on his face.

"Right.
White
." Tor didn't try to sound menacing, but his mother caught the tone.

"Is she... a problem?"

"Yes. Not so much her personally as her ability to enslave the minds of men using sex. Possibly women too. I recommend keeping your shield turned on around her at all times. She's also very pretty, but it doesn't stop there. It's hard to see, but I think most of it was blocked by my shield the one time we met. Mainly at least. Sweet enough for all that, but I could see them competing to get her attention, even if she was their sister."

Denno stirred for a bit, then started speaking to the wall behind the stove, not letting his attention waiver at all.

"Not a biological sister though Tor. None of us really are. Burks and I were raised together and Lara was developed from a stolen sample by a researcher. She and her sisters were raised by a group of women that wanted to do away with men altogether. We didn't meet her for hundreds of years. Julie was of a different line totally and Black was created in Europe. So was Orange. Be a good idea to keep your shields on around those two at first too however. Both were designed to be warriors, so if they feel threatened they'll attack instantly. I don't think they can beat your force fields, but..." He stopped at Tor cleared his throat.

"Black didn't seem to be able to when we met the first time. It took him a while to calm down after that too. Just something to keep in mind if it's both of them."

Shifting suddenly to remove the focus stone pot from heat and transfer the warm sauce to a cool dish so it would stop cooking, Denno went silent. he didn't speak until what he was doing was done, the bowl of fresh sauce covered with a plate.

"That leaves Blue and her kids. I like her well enough, but she can be a problem. Highly intellectual, but not so great with people skills. It's why she took the Antarctic. Stuck Red with Vagus and the horse people, even though she wanted the science job originally. Had to give it over because Blue really can't handle anything else. Really I'm surprised it took this long for Red to scamper out of her lands and try to find some other way for her people to live. That or wait for one of these meetings and kill Blue."

He worked on various things while Tor started a fine pastry dough for the dinner meal. They had some bread, but it was quick rise, not yeast. Not exactly what he wanted to serve at each meal himself, but they didn't have much time initially to get something better ready, not for lunch. Finally Denno started talking again.

"Those are the people I expect of course. The others could show up too. I don't know. We don't count on them for much. I'm also not certain which way they'd vote if it comes to it. I think there are ten of the others left alive, maybe more than that, but the ones I mentioned are the ones that always make the meetings. I'm a bit upset with Green for leaving his son Dan in Noram. I understand why, since he still thinks this might be a trap and he doesn't want to leave the continent undefended if it is and you all die, but it shows a bit of a lack of faith. Plus our side could really use the extra vote. It can be hard to know who will jump which way. Things that make sense to me can be nonsense to some of the others at times."

The herb rubbed chickens were done about then, and the potatoes were mashed nicely and served with vegetables and drinks. It was a bit plain as meals went, but everyone got to eat and the next meal would be far more elaborate. The fare wasn't up to the standards of the palace yet, or even Tor's house, but it was better than most of the people on board ate from day to day. Even Ambassador Callings seemed to think so, though she was clearly going with the whole mortified that anyone ever worked idea. She kept apologizing to everyone.

That was her job though, and she got to do it her way. It wasn't what Tor would have done, which was chip in himself to make sure everyone knew that cooking wasn't considered a punishment, but the woman admitted she couldn't cook or bake to save her life. The way she kept sweating and turning colors Tor was afraid to put her in the back washing dishes too. It wouldn't serve to kill the poor woman, would it?

Almost as if to goad her Denno really did get Burks to head up the team of people serving everyone, and they did a superior job of it. Tor knew that for a fact because Quavel made a point of telling them all. It got a small nod from Burks, but what he said about it both made sense and was strange enough to catch everyone's attention.

"Thank you Quavel. It's rather easier for me to follow all the rules for serving, since I made most of them up in the first place. They're based on what is convenient for the person being served. Not exactly hard." It wasn't just that he was being humble when he said it, which was very clear to Tor suddenly for some reason. It was that he seemed to legitimately believe that his having invented the whole thing made it less important, rather than more.

Tor thought about it for a second, wondering at it a little. Did he do that too? Undersell his own work and ideas because of his innate programming? It was something to try and understand, he decided again. How he was really going to do that he couldn't see yet, but most of the information that those scientist foisted upon their creations all those thousands of years ago just didn't work for him now. Oh, he didn't want to be vain, but it would be nice to know if he was OK looking or not for real. It also would be great to feel that he wasn't constantly struggling to keep up with everyone around him mentally either. People acted like he was pretty smart and some had even mentioned he was really brilliant, but it always came across as flattery to him, not a simple comment on reality.

Burks was in the same boat though, and had been for thousands of years. Trapped by the rules of an age long dead and mostly forgotten. A time when people played at being gods, reshaping the very stuff of life to fit not only the needs they saw, which might be forgiven, but their own whims and desires.

Tor nudged Ali a little with his leg, since she was sitting next to him like she was. On the other side of him Trice had been settled, which was nice. Technically she should have been sitting with the Ambassadors people, being that she was there to represent the King, but wasn't that high ranking, then Tor wasn't...

He blinked as it hit him. Really just drove into his mind for once, almost as if he were wearing a Truth amulet and been caught in a lie, a powerful line of thought rippling across his mind. He wasn't the lowest ranked person in the room. Not on this trip.

He was...

Probably the third most important person on the boat. Part of that was simply because he owned it, of course, but it was also a collection of other things. He was the Counselor of Magics, which meant something, even if it was a made up position. In fact all the Counselors' jobs had been created at one point, hadn't they? The same was true of royalty in general... On top of that he was an Ancient, if an incredibly young one, but that part didn't seem to be overly important to anyone yet. It probably would be at the summit he knew. If he were thousands of years old, he probably wouldn't take a person under twenty all that seriously. Not unless their ideas were really good.

Then he was a Countier, a Knight and a Master Builder.

That's what really shook him...

He was a Master. Looking around at the ship he could see it, as if the fabric of the world had been torn open, uncovering what was really there. His work had some flaws in it, things that he could correct over time, that was true, but he'd created two new types of magic all by himself. The use of shield material to mimic real objects and the use of fundamental energy to power things. Or if those had already existed in the past no one else had been using them at least. That wasn't what would be expected of a simple school boy, was it?

The revelation didn't fill him with pride or anything like that, it was just a truth. Tor knew he had a lot more to do, more to learn about almost everything in the world, but the fact was, unless he'd been lied to by the other Ancients... something was
very
wrong with him. Those were things he shouldn't have been able to see about himself. Ever.

Leaning over to Ali he whispered to her, not aware of what he was going to say. The words surprised him, but in a good way.

"Could you make sure that the entertainments are set up for later? Check with Petra on it? Oh... Also ask her to show you how to drive the boat and see if she wants help with it. I know how, but learning to navigate is needed too. I love you." The last words just popped out, an automatic thing, but one that sounded warm and caring. Which he felt.

He really loved her.

Totally.

Thinking about it he realized that he loved Trice too. That was something that had been there for years though, so it wasn't a big shock. No, the shock was that he found he loved everyone. All of them on the ship. Everyone he could think of back home. Alphonse, Connie and Karina. Varley, and even Richard. Really loved them too.

It was...

Not right. Oh, he was fond of them all, but not to that level, this was something different, something forced it felt like. As he thought about it the feeling faded a little, but it was definitely not a normal thing.

He finished eating and signaled Burks and Denno to come with him. Lyn was off in her room working still. Before he left he kissed his wife on the cheek gently.

"I have to see to some things now, but I'll join you and Trice for the entertainment later?" He smiled at her, truly feeling warmth for her. It was a nice change, totally different than how he'd felt even the day before. A powerful thing that almost overwhelmed him for a moment.

"That sounds fun. I'll go check on all that now. I should take Trice with me, since I don't think she has anything else to do right now. It's going to get boring pretty fast if we don't keep busy."

That was just the truth, wasn't it? Tor kissed her again, then sent her off with a soft chuckle.

Denno saw it all and softened a bit as he walked over with Burks not two steps behind.

"Well, you seem in a fine spirit. Is there something you'd like us to do? Maybe help with a special dessert for this evening? I saw some wonderful looking fresh strawberries in back as well as some heavy cream. It's been ages since I've had a real Strawberry shortcake. Austra has many charms, but the food leaves something to be desired. Most of it is prepackaged for convenience and berries just don't keep well in packets. It's hard to get ingredients for anything anymore. Especially on a ship like this. In fact... if you increased the number of performers this would work wonderfully for pleasure cruises. Maybe put a swimming pool on the deck? I could sketch out a design for you if you want." He seemed wistful but seemed to have forgotten that the ship was made of magic.

"I do have something I'd like for you to both do, if it's not too much trouble?" He smiled, feeling a bit less loving suddenly. Just blank though, not angry or mean.

"Could you explain Rhetistic neuropeptide sets and how Green managed to transmit mine to me in a cross generational set up, when my mother doesn't have one at all? Why is mine identical to his for instance? That doesn't make sense, does it? Also, and I don't mean to be alarming, but why has my Rhetistic set just broken down? Or been shut off, I suppose. I know that the complex is self-contained and constantly corrects errors and damage to prevent deviation from the base instruction set, so it should never fade like this." Tor grinned, a slightly manic thing that had to look a little wild.

"Also, how do I know all of that? I've never been given most of this information, which would indicate that something else is going on here, not just a simple break down of an information set. So... Any thoughts? Is this some clever idea that one of you has had? If so, explain why please." It sounded calm and quick when he said it, not scared at all. He didn't feel worried even. Just confident. It was surprising, since he wasn't certain that he'd felt that way before. Not anywhere near this strongly.

Burks put his hand on Tor's forehead, checking for a fever and then Denno did the same thing. Looking at each other Burks shrugged and looked concerned, his too handsome face slightly blank. Denno went wide eyed and hurried Tor over to a chair, as if he feared that falling down would be the next course of action.

"No fever that I can tell... Tor, can you tell me when the symptoms of this first started? Think back, when was the first thing you noticed happening that was out of place?"

He tried to focus his mind on the idea, a simple enough thing, and rewound the memories through the last days. The answer was murky, but he thought he had about the right timing.

"It was yesterday, either just before, or just after I met Ambassador Callings. I was angry at the time, and if that's a symptom then it started before that. It was when I worked out that I had to accept that I'd killed those people and let it go to be free of the symptoms. You know the scent of rot and the voices?" Tor looked at them, but both men just nodded as one.