Slave Line (The Young Ancients) (3 page)

Weasel grinned as a strong looking tall woman in green stepped up behind him and started loading up a plate, leaning in to ask what he wanted very softly. Sandra got instant service too and so did Farlo. Everyone else had to wait though. The older man grimaced a little and shrugged at Tor, then walked over to where he stood near the wall, out of the way.

"Well, this skews things nicely, doesn't it? The nobles get served first, of course, but who goes after that? It's clear that the wizards are all important people and we were told to treat the Austrans as honored guests... There is no protocol for this though, or if there is, I don't know it. Any suggestions?" He sounded serious, so Tor thought about it for a moment. It was potentially important, wasn't it?

Well, there was only one thing to do really.

Ask Quavel.

Spy or not the man had been the Queen's personal butler for over a decade. If anyone knew how to handle something like this he would. Tor made his way over slowly and whispered the problem in the man's ear, which got him to smile for some reason.

"Ah... Simple enough, in a situation where the rank, or relative position of a person is either unknown or cannot be judged, the correct thing is to start at the highest ranking person on either side of the table and then work down to the left. In this case it will require doubling back, since the highest ranking people sat in the wrong places, but I doubt anyone will mind overly. They probably won't even notice. All my people are just glad you haven't decided on a spot of torture first and the Lairdgren group is young enough to not worry overly about position yet, I think." He'd whispered all of this, so that no one else could hear him, except Tor.

"Thanks." Tor went back to the Royal guard and explained it all, which got a simple nod from the fellow. He gave Quavel one too.

Then they probably knew each other, having worked in the same place for all those years. It wasn't something that made Tor happy at all when he thought about it. They'd been very close to the royal family after all. Undetected until the Ancient of Austra had ordered them to all turn themselves in as a goodwill gesture. The shocking thing there had been that they all had. Tor would have bet they would have scattered, fearing for their lives. Apparently, for all their faults, the Austrans believed in their Ancient totally.

Then, they were from there, and Brown really was a good enough person. Not the sort to tell his people to sacrifice their lives on a whim.

That just meant that the Noram citizens going there for love, or in Erin's case because her parents had to, needed to be cared for by their own people in return. Some things were very different there, like the fact that people didn't hold to family as closely. The government didn't protect the people as much either, not that Noram was perfect that way, at least if you weren't wealthy or of noble birth. Still, that didn't mean he was going to leave them hanging in the wind, did it?

"Weasel, how much do you think it will cost to take someone to and from Austra once you start your fast transport service? It's about five thousand miles each way from here." Possibly more, but Tor thought that was about right.

The boy tilted his head a little and after a bit counted on his fingers.

"Ten gold for every thousand miles. The whole trip would be a hundred gold even." He took a bite of egg toast, which he ate with nothing on it, then watched Tor closely, as if he expected to be chastised for having his prices too high.

Tor thought so, but Denno, and oddly Kenner, both nodded. It was Brown that spoke though.

"That's about right, given everything. It's less than a trip like that would be expected to cost otherwise going over land and sea and will take a fraction of the time. Really, given everything we might want to open a regular trip between each of the continents. Slightly better communication can't hurt." The Ancient looked wistful for a moment.

"We used to have a lot more travel, before things fell apart."

Tor shrugged.

"Alright. Well, for now, I'd like to open up free transportation for our citizens that are moving there. If that won't have them named spies or anything, on the Austran side I mean? I don't know, maybe some of you would want to hire on with Weasel as drivers? Then you can visit your friends and family here regularly." He swallowed and looked at the far wall before saying the next part. Someone had to at least offer though, didn't they? Erin was one of theirs and shouldn't be yanked away from her homeland totally. She wasn't even old enough to decide not to go on her own.

"I... Would it be alright if Erin came to spend summers here? Or, really with some of my relatives? If she wants to I mean." He asked Denno, who beamed at him again, but then looked at the girl's parents, since it was their decision, though he nodded that it would be OK. They both looked freaked out by the idea for some reason.

Not just a bit either. He really didn't get it at all, and Denno seemed just as baffled until Quavel spoke from his own seat down the table.

"I assure you all that Lord Baker is a most honorable man. You heard that he killed Baron Rochester the other day no doubt?" He addressed this to the parents, both of whom looked uncomfortable with the topic.

The father answered.

"Saw it. Most frightening thing I've seen the whole time I've been here. Straight up executed the man with his bare hands. Didn't have to either, from what I could tell. Not that I blame you, sir, after the man pulled a knife on you like that in an unarmed fight, but still..." He didn't finish with how that didn't mean he'd want to trust his own daughter with someone that could do that. He was thinking it though. Tor could feel it pouring off of him without even trying.

Quavel smiled. It was a look more genuine than what he normally managed.

"The Baron was..." He looked at the youngsters at the table and then at Tor, censoring what he said as he went.

"He was harming a young boy, most probably several as that sort is prone to do, and had promised to harm more when the fight was over. A child that Lord Baker had never even seen before. That was why he killed the man and made certain he'd stay dead. I'm not saying you should have your daughter coming and going like that, it's not my decision. Just don't think that Tor is a danger to her. Probably already thinks of her as a family member or something. That's the Noram way after all." He chuckled a bit and for some reason most of the others did as well. The spies did at least.

Brown ate through the whole thing, not looking at anyone while he did. Finally he glanced at Weasel and smiled.

"I get a discount on rides, don't I? Being family and all?"

Tor knew the answer, but his little brother spoke without hesitation.

"Of course. Free even. Erin and our other people moving there too. Still, it would be good if any of you wanted to try it as a job, at least part time. I know that Austra has their own speedy craft, but..." He just stopped talking as Denno shook his head.

"Not exactly. The military has some fast airplanes, but they don't take passengers. It's forbidden to have commercial craft that use non-renewable resources. Your "Sky carriages" don't have an energy load though, do they? I don't understand it, but the sensors say it's true."

Then the Ancient got stuck explaining the idea of the treaty. It was an accord of the Ancients that outlined what each land could do or not, in order to protect the planet. Magic wasn't listed in it anywhere, and since what Tor had built didn't stress natural resources at all, it probably wouldn't be an issue later. That was good to know, even if Tor wasn't strictly bound by it anyway. At least that's what Green kept saying.

Denno gestured toward Timon.

"So, really, it's a good idea. Maybe a very good one. True, only the very wealthy could afford it at first, but that just means that their wealth has a chance of going back into the population. Especially if some of your employees live in each part of the world."

They chatted like that while everyone ate, which took about half an hour. Most of the people there didn't have a lot to do until they left, so they had no reason to hurry. Tor didn't either, but most of the Lairdgren group did, his meeting. He paced a bit, trying to keep from stiffening up totally as he waited, finally heading out to the sitting room where the get-together was to be held when it got close enough in time to not look lazy for sitting down. It was empty inside when he got there, but the room was bigger now than it had been last time he'd been in it, two days before. Touching the wall he focused on having the house produce some nice brown sofas. They popped into place, just appearing as if he'd blinked and they'd always been there.

They came out seeming like leather, which was nice enough, but not that comfortable. He changed the four huge things to being covered with soft cloth for comfort. It wasn't real at all, obviously, it just looked and felt like it, but there was no reason not to make it as nice as possible. It wasn't like it would wear out, so using soft cloth that was slightly fuzzy wasn't a problem.

Then, knowing it might be a while, he slowly settled onto one of them, his back to the wall, looking at the door. He settled in to wait, deciding to meditate for a while, figuring that no one would come in until just before the meeting time. People had food to finish after all. That proved to be wrong when Ali, his wife, and their girlfriend Trice came in.

"Husband! I slept in, I hope that's not..." Whatever it wasn't he didn't find out, because she started kissing him about then, leaning in to do it, then sliding in alongside of him. Trice stood back, smirking at them for a minute. Except it wasn't really a smirk, he remembered, that was just her happy face. He'd read it in her field before, so didn't need to bother trying to do it now, just trusting it was the same. Her hair was still two colors, white blond at the edges with deep brown showing about four inches at the bottom. It would probably work pretty well in Austra, where things like that were considered normal.

Ali who was younger, and a natural blond, dimpled at him and gestured for Trice to move in on the other side.

She didn't hesitate, but waiting wasn't her long suit most days. She proved that by patting him on the arm with her left hand.

"So... Are we going with you to Austra or not?" Blunt, but that was her all over.

The thing there was that Tor just didn't know. He really didn't think they should go particularly, but having another person along that could fly a Fast Carriage wouldn't be a bad idea and Trice had her own that she carried with her everywhere. Ali... was his wife. It didn't feel right leaving her on alone for who knows how long. If it was just the trip to Austra, he'd have probably said no, just delivering the spies and coming back inside a week or so. It wasn't that simple though.

There was a meeting of Ancients, a summit, that he was supposed to go to though, along with the other immortal members of his family. Where they even allowed to bring guests? Then again, if the girls wanted to go to Austra with him, they could always fly back from there if it wasn't OK to go on to Vagus with the rest of them. He'd have to check with Burks on that one. Or Denno. Whichever he saw first.

"Sure? For the first bit at least. After that I don't know what the plan is really. I do get the idea that these summit things can take a while. Sometimes months or even years. If that's the case I'm just coming back after a few weeks. There are limits to my enthusiasm." He winked at each of them though, as if it were a thing, rather than him just not knowing what to expect.

"Goodie." Ali spoke quickly, her voice mellow and slightly relaxed.

"Maybe Petra will let me steer the ship? I've never done that before." She seemed excited by the idea.

Tor nudged her just a little, noticing that she was slightly taller today than she had been even a few weeks before. Pretty soon she'd be taller than he was by a lot no doubt. She was a royal giant and he wasn't. It would look a bit funny, but then all the women he knew were taller than he was anymore. Except Lyn and she was his sister in a weird and messed up fashion. In the same way that Denno was his brother. Even though he was over three thousand years old and Tor just wasn't. Denno, Burks and Tor each had common genetics even. Closer than his natural brothers, if Tor understood it all correctly. Denno looked nothing like him though. Burks did, almost exactly in fact, close enough he could pretend to be him at will. Taller though, by nearly five inches. Tor would be too, in a few millennia.

He shook himself a little and went back to the topic at hand.

"Ask her about it. She'll probably be willing to teach you and have you take the night shift so that she can actually sleep. We need to get this done as quickly as possible once we hit the water." He should probably take a turn himself, or maybe get Sandra to do it. She was responsible enough. That was up to Captain Petra though.

Ali clapped a little.

"I'll ask about it. It sounds more fun than just sitting in my room the whole time. I need a hobby I can take with me. Like Sara Debris and her bead work. Or Trice and her perfume making."

She chattered for a few minutes until everyone else finally worked their way in, led by Sam. He wasn't the oldest in the group by any means, one of the youngest in fact, only fourteen, but he was a builder, meaning he could make his own magics at need. He was also getting decent at making copies too.

Tor pointed at him before anyone could sit down.