Envoy to Earth (12 page)

"Nope. Count
Baker
.
Tiera set up the line of descent to include all her brothers and sisters,
starting with Terence. So that makes you Countier Sixth, Baker. I thought you
knew that? Not that you'll ever get either title yourself. Not with all those
immortals in the way. That's fine though. If we want land that badly we could
go to the Moon and set up there. Really, we should think about a second home
there too. If you get a jump ship, and can come and go at will, that gives us
years to set things up without competition." She seemed to be getting
excited by the idea, which had him shaking his head a little. "Or not, if
you don't want. I know you have your own concerns. The Wildlands, and your
Envoy job."

That got him to smirk a little
and do his own head shaking.

"Delivery boy, as far as I
know. Not
Envoy
. That has a nice sound to it though. I'll have to run
that past Tiera. Anyway, so, um, I guess we need to do that stuff. Tell
everyone and all that? Who first?"

That, it seemed was the very most
important thing in all of it. There were two people that had to know, before
anyone else, with a certain Baronetta in the third position, since Petra didn't
want a feud to start with Collette. Without changing or doing anything of the
sort, they had to head to the communication room and connect with Ward.

As soon as that happened, Petra
sobered a bit and looked at him, her eyes shining a little.

"Is mother there?" She
was speaking to the Count directly, and didn't even ask how he was doing first,
which got his attention.

He sounded suddenly wary and
sharp.

"She is. Do you need
assistance?" That came out gently, with a forced calm, for some reason.

Pet laughed, which was hearty and
happy at the same time. Then she reached out and took Gerent's hand.

"Not like that. This is the
other
kind of thing that I might need mother for. I asked Gerent Lairdgren, Countier
Sixth Baker, Countier Thirteenth Lairdgren, Lunar Envoy and adopted brother of
Queen Tiera of Harmony... To wed." It was an impressive listing, when she
did it.

Gerent had to think for a moment,
but decided that he liked it. Not so much that being Ger was too good for him
now, but in the right moment it had a certain ring to it. There was no sound
from the other side of the device however, and that stretched on, for a long
time. After a bit he had to wonder if he was unsuitable. It was true after all.
Who was he? Not a real Countier, just someone given a title, almost as a joke.
They all knew it too. He felt a surge of panic, but a soft female voice spoke,
clearly having moved in by the device itself.

"Petra... Any word as to how
he might respond?" Maria sounded scared, or at least nervous. As if she
didn't think the answer was going to be positive.

"He said yes! Just now. He's
right here. We're going to call his sister next, but I wanted mother to hear
first thing. He's
very
sweet. Well connected too." She said it as
if a sales pitch was going to be needed.

Maria
screamed
. A girlish
shriek that was happy and a bit insane at the same time. Then there was
clapping.

"Oh, that's perfect! Yes,
wonderful. You can hold the wedding here..."

Petra cleared her throat, a
gentle thing, but meant to stop the Countess from speaking. It worked, by some
strange magic that Ger didn't know about. Or, actually he did, but it was still
impressive.

"That's for the mothers to
decide, or, in this case his oldest sister, Laurali and mother. I imagine that
it will be held in space, so
his
family can be there? His sister is a
Queen, you know. That's... Well, this is a state wedding, given that. So it
probably won't be too fast. I'm pushing for speed myself, so that nothing can
get in the way."

They all chattered for a bit, but
no one required anything from him on that communication in particular. The
second call was harder for him, since it took a bit to get Laurali woken for
the day, and she grilled poor Petra like she were a brigand trying to steal
him, rather than a Conserina offering to stay with him forever.

"What do you bring to the
table here, Conserina Ward? A family in rebellion? A wealthy one, true, but
Gerent has no need of coin. A pretty face? Well, there are lovelier around. A
good heart?" Then, fantastically, as Petra looked more and more downcast
the tone of the words changed. "Well, as to that I
have
heard some
very good things. From more than one person, too. Also of your courage and
personal loyalty. So Gerent, what do you think? Is this a match you want?
You're young still, for our family. Low enough in rank that no one will expect
you to marry if you don't wish to. Unless... you two aren't expecting, are
you?" She sounded oddly pleased by that idea. Then, she had a lot of
children, herself.

"Not that one. It seems like
a good move and she's very kind. Pretty too, and despite what you said, that,
plus
a good heart is
very
rare. I mean, sure, some of your daughters can
swing that claim, but can you?" He was teasing, but Petra looked shocked,
as if he'd called his adopted sister names. Everyone knew she was a bit prickly
at times.

Which was probably the point his
new fiancé was making with her upset face and gasping mouth.

Laurie just sighed, "a
real
point. Fine then, we need to meet. Can you bring her mother to me? If she
agrees of course. We'll need to discuss matters, and make certain this is the
right thing to do. Then there's the matter of the wedding. I'd go to her,
but..."

Petra moved in and almost
whispered.

"We can be there in a few
hours. I'll send for her. Thank you, Lady Baker."

There was no reply for a bit, and
then a deeper voice broke in, sounding a little familiar to Gerent, but not
that much. Younger than it should have. Still, strong and hearty.

"Ah, another wedding! Well,
we can contract Tor to make the cakes for it. We should invite Richard and
Connie too. I haven't seen them in a good while now."

That had to be Douglas, Gerent's
brother in law. Laurie's husband. They spoke for a while longer, but then Petra
sent him away, to change for the meal to come. It didn't take long, but they
were running out of time, and needed to be at the palace a little before nine,
so that they wouldn't arrive late. He showered again, then repacked the letters
from the rebellion with him. Petra probably wouldn't need him to deliver hers,
if she were going with them.

In the hallway just standing at
the bottom of the stairs, he met Collette, and just blurted out what had
happened, figuring that she probably wouldn't mind that much.

"Petra and I are getting
married." He tried to make it sound happy, but her face actually fell a
little. Then, for some unknown reason tears came to her eyes, even as she
forced a smile.

"I... Figured that might
happen. She's a very good catch. I'm happy for you, both of you." Then she
ran off, up the stairs.

Gerent wanted to pretend to not
understand, but he did. She'd actually wanted to marry him? Things were tight,
as far as men in the right circles, but that didn't mean she couldn't take her
pick. Except that beauty faded over time, and she was at least twenty-seven.
Much longer and she'd be one of those noble women that people snickered at when
they came to parties with their brothers or cousins. He felt horrible about it
all for a moment, but it would have been even worse for Petra. Like she'd said,
while she manipulated him into place, she didn't have as big of a pool for
things like that as Collette did.

Petra, for all that she'd been on
the communications device the whole time, was fantastically dressed in a
lightly glowing gown that shifted as he looked at her, going green to match the
suit he was in, then, almost as an afterthought, turned into what seemed to be
nearly regular material. Satin, but not exactly. More buff colored, but not
silk either. There was a subtle pattern worked into it, raised ever so slightly
from the background, but in the same color. It was incredible, he realized,
seeing more of it as he watched.

He was just in the regular green
jacket and trousers that he'd learned to mimic. Petra didn't ask if it was all
right, just touching his arm, making his outfit alter. It became a deep green,
but one that was nearly black. The cut changed, and the buttons were like
opals, instead of the silver that he normally used. The shoes were black
leather boots still, but with more opal colored buttons up the side, going
halfway to his knee.

Then, without pause, she tapped
the wall of the palace, causing a large mirror to form. It was shocking to him,
and he winced before even looking up. He avoided mirrors and always had. No one
wanted to look and see themselves looking squashed and lumpy. He wasn't though.
In fact, the man in front of him, other than looking too young to be him at
all, was
fine
. Oh, not like Tor or Timon, or even Douglas Baker, but he
looked normal. His nose, which had once been a bit like a potato, now seemed
like a nose. Larger than he'd thought it would be, but straight, and regal
looking.

On either side of his head he had
ears that were too big, but only the tiniest bit. No one would comment on them,
he didn't think. It wasn't perfection, but it was. He was... Regular. Better
than that, he didn't look like everyone else, but like a normal
noble
.
If a skinny one. That was all the growth, he knew, which had stretched his tiny
mass over a new and larger frame.

The outfit made him look good
too. Professional and wealthy, if a bit strange. The opal buttons did that
part. He pointed at one and Pet winked, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Reaching up to do it. He was half a head taller than she was.

"Lunar Envoy. I figured that
it would remind them that you aren't only their servant. You have to watch
royalty that way. They can forget, at times, who works for other people. Or at
least pretend to. Now, I think we both match and look presentable enough. We
should find Collette. It won't do to tell her after a public
announcement."

"I already told her. She
said she was happy for us, then started crying and ran up the stairs. I don't
know what to do there. She's a lovely person."

He was hugged then, which he
understood to be Petra trying to get out of having to say anything herself. To
her mind, she'd won, and feeling bad for an opponent that didn't win wouldn't
help her, would it? Still, she affected a slightly sad face for a moment, and
then made the mirror on the wall vanish with a touch.

They left then, and went to the
palace properly enough, using her fast carriage, since his was sitting there
with plants in the back of it and boxes of dirt. As she floated carefully above
the city street, her craft made to look like a glowing pink glass carriage, if
without horses, big enough for four of them, she hummed a bit to herself.

Gerent liked that better than
talking. He didn't know what he was really supposed to do, after all. At the
gate one of the Royal Guards stopped them, and asked for windows to be formed.
Then they had to state their names and assure everyone that they weren't there
for negative reasons. Or at least not harmful ones. As always a Truth amulet
was put on them each first.

He glowed a pure white with two
yellow stripes the whole time, but Petra had a flash of dark near the end of
her little speech. Instead of seeming scared, which is what Gerent felt, she
grinned.

"I have news... It's good,
but secret for now. So, that's why it registered, I think." She didn't
explain more than that, and the guard nodded, the woman's face not changing.

"But you mean no harm to
anyone here?"

"I mean no harm."

It was enough to get them in, to
the second checkpoint at least, where it was all done again, with different
amulets. It wasn't until they were past that, being led inside to the dining
room they were supposed to be in, that Petra said anything.

"I remember a time, not that
long ago, when you just had to have your name on the list to get in. Now you
need to practically swear loyalty just to get past the door. I understand why,
but I can't like what it means for us all."

Gerent didn't understand what she
meant. Things were worse now, because there was a rebellion going on? Or was it
that now, with a way to know for certain that truth was truth and so on, there
was no way to be even a little bit less than perfect? To get in the door there
you had to really mean that you weren't going to work against the King. That
being said, a lot of people probably just didn't bother to go anymore. Most
people had their own hopes, dreams and agendas, didn't they? It was confusing
to him however, because he couldn't know if that's what she was thinking.
Asking would be a bad plan too, at the moment. He didn't know about who was a
spy or not, perhaps, but they were being led into place by a very fit looking
man dressed like a butler. Because all of that kind of person spent hours each
day at exercise, didn't they? So they'd look nice in their fancy outfits, no
doubt.

They weren't announced at the
door, which was interesting. They did that at parties, but tonight they were
led into a space with a long table that only had six settings at it. The King
and Queen at the top, Count Peterson and Princess Veronica on the Queen's side
of the table, and, he guessed, two places for him and Petra. There was no food out
yet, which was normal, when there was fine dining about to happen. People would
bring it out, as they ate. Slowly. In this case, they wouldn't be expected to
stand and take a tiny bite of food each time first, since there were so few of
them. If he died of poison here, it would just be blamed on King Richard, since
it was his table.