Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients) (33 page)

He mugged a bit then, for affect.

"Notice how well I played that down? I told her I would. Anyway, the party is going to be vast this time. You're paying for it, but Bonita and Collette have their fingerprints all over it, so I figured you wouldn't mind. Street fairs and games, free food and drink. There's even a flying pageant being held outside the city walls. Flying rigs and some other craft. I know that isn't for a long while, but it will make her feel better if you come. She's been pretty upset. Actually she thinks you might hate her now. I told her that was silly, but she still has some problems that way."

He nearly froze, but managed to shake his head a little and smile. It really was a long way off in time and it wasn't like she would require him to have sex with her or anything.

"Of course I'll be there. Wouldn't dream of missing it."

The dinner was a bit of a pain. Not a nightmare exactly, since everyone was tolerably polite to him, though it was clear that not everyone was excited or thrilled to see the Lairdgren Group was in the room, or that it had grown as fast as it had. That part wasn't missed at all, with several of the Counts clearly having rather good information about how many people were supposed to be in it, including names. Not all of them were friends of his either, though it was pretty clear that Holly Printer knew a lot more about them than almost anyone.

She was decently casual about dropping hints to that effect, and when he read her field he was able to pick up on the fact that she had several spies working for her. Including, after a fashion, Judith Kerry. She was her heir after all. That part was news to Tor, who'd thought the large combat giant was just a scholarship kid, but it came up in conversation before dinner was served.

Everyone managed to get through the meal without either starting a fight or using the wrong utensils, which wasn't that hard, since the servants brought them with each course. In all, it was mainly the glaring that was off-putting to him. A little over half the men and women in the space seemed to think he was...

That part was hard to pick up, since the reason for their dislike of him was so varied it smeared and muddled what each one was thinking. Some, he thought, worried that he was too powerful and that he would back the King against them personally, which might make it too hard to take over. There were others, in an almost equal number that thought
he
was secretly behind the takeover plan, and might be moving to take the throne for himself. That was baffling to him, since he couldn't imagine wanting it. It was way too big for him, for one thing.

A much smaller group, mainly made up of a few Counts and Countesses he didn't know were clearly upset that he hadn't backed up Tiera against the Morris family well enough yet. They were as upset with Burks over that at least. It was a bit strange to think of, but Tiera clearly had real friends here already. Which didn't make a lot of sense to Tor, since when he was in school, he didn't know anyone of note at all. Some of them were even ready to go to war, as in real combat, for her too. The only thing holding them back was the upcoming trial.

That left Connie, who wasn't angry with him, but thought that he was upset with her, even though it was clear she didn't understand how they'd ended up being related any more than he did.

In all, the only people that weren't at least a bit upset by him were those he counted as close friends in the main. They were all concerned about different things though.

Everyone at the table, a huge thing made of old wood and polished to a shine that almost made it seem like focus stone, if in a richer color and lighter weight, had some serious doubts about the others around them too at least. It was a vast and dark pool of negative energy that he didn't want to soak in any longer than he had too. Making it worse was the fact that every single person in the room was hiding what they were feeling. It was confusing and made him feel like the whole world around him was a lie.

Almost
everyone was doing that. The exception was Count Lairdgren, who sat calmly, his face bland and relaxed looking. Everyone else seemed ready to boil over though. The new people and most of the Lairdgren Group were just nervous though, so he could forgive that. No one wanted to look like they didn't fit in, since that could cause the wolves to scent blood and attack. The rest seemed to have an agenda of some kind.

As things broke up the King escaped to the back room, along with the older Count,
Isle
, and Countess Thorgood. No one else was invited, but unlike most meetings, the assembled guests didn't stick around, waiting to be called themselves or hoping to make contacts or contracts. Not this time. Instead they all stood, nearly as one, and headed for the doors, clearly trying
not
to be trapped into having a meeting with their fellows, if they could help it. Counts and Countesses fleeing like that would have been funny, if the sense of panic underneath it wasn't so sharp and telling.

They were all, friend and foe alike, worried that hostilities might well break out that very evening.

Because
he
was there.

That made him wonder what they were thinking, but it was really very clear, so he didn't really have to search for it in their fields, the feeling rolling off of over half of them, along with some very sharp glances that he hadn't expected from them at all. Normally some of the women would have at least bothered to flirt a bit, and the men would come and see if he had any devices for sale that they might get at a bargain price. Even that wasn't really fair of him to think, since at least some of them were willing to pay very well for new magic and the others weren't exactly cheap, they just appreciated good deals. That was the country way too, bargaining for every copper, so he could see the value in it.

This time they all but ran from him.

It wasn't a pleasant thing at all.

Green moved in alongside of him, watching the others go, his face unlined and his brown eyes slightly pleased seeming. As if Tor sending these others away in fear was a good thing?

The Ancient smiled at the thought and shook his head, ever so slightly.

"It isn't that they're afraid of you personally, or at least most of them aren't. It's that you brought in a small army of builders on a few moments notice, from two thousand miles away. It took a bit of time, but they all started to realize that you and your people could reach them in their homes inside that same time frame, more or less. The buzz started after the meeting earlier, and the question was if Richard was telling them that he could remove them from the playing field instantly. It's considered very poor form to kill a sitting Count or Countess at the council, but it's been known to happen in extreme cases. At least a few of them also remember what you did to Baron Rochester. Beating a man to death with your bare hands while ill yourself makes an impression." The old man started walking, not waiting to see if Tor would too.

He did of course, since it would be rude to just stand there, wouldn't it? Ali stuck by his left hand side closely, her head about five inches higher than his own now. She looked thinner, in that way that most of the young nobles got as they sprouted. She'd probably end up at least a foot taller than she was too. Maybe taller than that, since her mother and sister Karen were both large. Right now though her face was a mask, even as her inner self was a bit worried about the reaction of the others.

Tor didn't let himself feel anxious however. That got locked down with an iron will in fact.

"Oh? Well, no doubt that's what Richard was calling for earlier. At least as a show. The thought probably isn't wrong. Not that I'd do anything here, but that the amount of force that could be brought to bear is a lot greater than most have actually thought out yet." The words were for the few that might still be in ear shot, not that anyone seemed to be listening that closely. They were also the truth, or close enough that it would make sense.

The Count next to him just nodded.

"I agree. We should talk, and then you and these others might be best served going back to the school and preparing for your off days. This business shouldn't take all the fun out of life. Not at this point at any rate. I do have some information however. Perhaps you could ride with me to your house? That's where Tiera is waiting, isn't it?" The tone was, Tor realized, the same one that the man almost always used. He didn't go overly into inflection at all or anything, and never did.

"Certainly. Ali, would you take my Fast Carriage and see to the others? Count Lairdgren and I will walk back." It wasn't like they had some arduous trek ahead of them, it was only a few miles after all.

His wife frowned though.

"Is that safe? Maybe you should come with us and talk at the house?"

Count Lairdgren nodded at her, as if it made perfect sense.

"Don't be concerned. I have my own craft with me. We'll be perfectly well protected. I imagine the conversation will take about half an hour. Does that meet your plans dear?" He asked Ali this directly, and cutely enough she tilted her head and thought about it.

"That should be fine. I'll see about keeping everyone ready to head back." It seemed like she wanted to know more about what they were going to be speaking of, but she didn't ask at all. That, Tor decided, was her super power. Not building, or being cute, even though those might actually be part of her, but her ability to keep a secret was better than almost anyone he'd ever met. That probably came from her childhood and life on the streets, but she didn't even think of it after a few seconds. Instead she just walked toward the side door they'd come in through and waved for everyone else to follow her after Tor handed the Fast Carriage amulet over with a small and playful flourish.

"This way, we'll have to use the one vehicle, but there will be room. Come along." She sounded very efficient suddenly. Enough so that even the older men did what she said, as if it were just the plan. Instructor Roberts wasn't subtle about looking at her behind as she led the way out the door, and it wasn't lost on Tor that Sam was looking at the same spot himself. They kept their distance though, for the moment.

Green put a hand out, to get him to wait until after the purple rectangle was loaded and lifted off, headed for his house outside the city walls, near the river. The floating line of water that ran around the top of it was glowing a nice shade of purple, which let him see the vehicle until it passed over. Then it vanished, covered by the glare. It wasn't a bright light, not enough to read by, but it was enough to be decorative.

Then the man next to him, the one that looked almost identical to him, moved to set up his own vehicle. It was a Fast Carriage too, but green.

Also not one that Tor had built at all. Not even a copy. It was an
original
build. Clearly made to seem like the craft that he'd created, designed along a similar plan, but it was different. He didn't comment on that part of things until they were up in the air, heading slightly North.

"So, this is nice. Can it go into space?" It was just an offhand comment, but the Count took his hands from the control unit and left them hanging in place in the air.

"Yes. I wasn't certain that the Larval might not kill you, so I started working on this. It has air recirculation and cleaning, as well as the ability to make living quarters, recycle water and produce artificial gravity. It took me a few weeks to work out how you'd done the work originally, but after I realized that you mimicked plant growth for it, the field was simple enough to construct. It's a technique that I've used to good effect myself in the past. I even added in full spectrum lighting and furniture, for comfort on longer voyages. Radiation shielding as well, which isn't hard, since the basic material is an organized shield space anyway. No food production yet, but if we make the internal space larger we can have gardens without any real changes to the system."

He didn't do anything as interesting as taking them up that high though, just leaving them hanging there for some reason.

"But that isn't why I've brought you here. I have some news, as I said. Denno has several hundred genetic profiles for you. You'll be happy to know that other than those you know about, no one else is related to us genetically speaking. Not in a way that would be a strain for you to deal with." He looked out the window then and sighed. "We've also located Gray. Possibly at least."

Tor felt a thin line of excitement then. If they could find her, they could stop her from destroying everything. Maybe.

"Oh? Where is she? Do we have a plan to pick her up?"

After a few seconds there was a brief nod.

"Yes. Orange and Dan are on it. It might already have happened in fact. The thing there Tor... She's near Two Bends. From what we can determine, she has been for weeks. We don't know if she's been there of course, since Laurie is identical to her in pattern. We all agree she did it to hide from us however."

That just got him to blink.