Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (26 page)

Then
she held her for a minute, though no tears came for either of them.

"Honestly,
if it weren't for Tor, I'd set this new plague loose right now and move
everyone else off the world that I want to protect. If even one more thing
happens, I'll see it done, even if it means that all of the Ancients die."

That
got the Queen to stiffen, but Tiera winked.

"Don't
worry, I'll protect my family. That means your people too. Even if I do want to
slam Uncle Richard through a wall still. He... Regina... I understand why, but,
I can't let go of it. Not yet. I'm really trying though, I promise."
Otherwise it would be treason to even say that.

That
got the other woman to move to tears. Thick ones that poured down her face for
a while, even as Tiera just stood there, holding her.

When
her eyes were dry and they left, turning off the magical lights along the walls
as they did so, the Queen invited her to dinner.

"We
can use your new device, and you can make us all eat dirt, if by proxy. What do
you say?"

Tiera
sort of wanted to sleep and yawned, then managed a look that was, if not happy,
at least not one that would have the Royal Guard on her the instant they got to
the top of the gray stone steps.

"Can
we do that in a few days, do you think? Kolb and Remy, um, Remy Two, so not the
one that tried to kill Tim, they beat me nearly to death in practice about a
week ago. I'm still recovering. I should make a point of getting there early in
the morning too, since I missed classes since then."

The
Queen paused and touched her arm, making her stop.

"It
was truly that harsh a beating? Had you mis-stepped?" She looked
scared
,
to be honest. She'd been sad that Tiera had lost Regina and was mad at her
husband, but hearing this made her actually fearful.

Tiera
rolled her eyes and made a funny face, which at least let the woman relax a
bit, if nothing else.

"I
think that Remy is just like that, so no doubt I'm in for more of the same
there, if I can figure out how to improve enough to be interesting. Kolb... I
don't know, I thought he was angry with me, over all the new Ancients around, but
that isn't my fault, is it? He's too smart not to get that. Now... I think it
was a real lesson, just like he said it was at the time. I'm not ready to fight
what's coming, and we don't have time to coddle people that way. Not that
losing days of practice is really going to help. Not me at least. It might have
been a lesson for the others though. Sam, and Sheri?"

The
woman still seemed a bit drawn, but walked on, her hand gently on Tiera's arm,
as if she feared the girl might get lost on the stairs. They were long, but it
wasn't like there was anyplace else to go. Not that she could see at least.
Even her mind, when she reached out, found nothing of note that way. No
passages in the solid stone or anything. Other than the one they were in.

No
one met them at the top, so they walked slowly back to the throne room, to find
it empty, except for several of the servants and a few Royal Guards, who were busily
making themselves some rather fine looking dishes. At least a few were from the
kitchen too, which made sense. Connie looked at them, scandalized, and was
clearly about to have a problem with what they were doing, since it wasn't, as
far as she knew, a toy for them to play with.

If
she'd been Countess Baker still, that would be a real issue too, she knew.
Luckily, in spirit at least, she was just a school kid. She could let it go.

One
of the Royal Guards was even her buddy, George, who basically led them. He'd
made what seemed to be a bowl of oat porridge. Because, when you had a thing
that would give you anything you wanted, that made perfect sense, didn't it? As
a joke she ran over and got him a glass of slightly cool water. He took it with
a small bow, standing as he ate, not speaking at all. He didn't even smile.

Not
until he was finished.

"This
works. Only one dish can be made at a time?"

That
earned him a shake of the head, even as the other servants and guards pulled
back a little, looking a bit out of sorts. That was probably down to Aunt
Connie glaring at them like she was. It was cute, but, Tiera realized, she
really did look a lot like a tall version of Count Lairdgren. So of course she
was lovely. The Count in a dress would have been too. Timon could still carry
that off as well. Terry, being the lucky one, wasn't half as good looking,
though still a lot better than average.

"If
we put a pot in the alcove there we could fill it with whatever we wanted. It's
meant for ship and Moon work though, not feeding the masses. It can, I think,
if there are enough of the devices. We could put out a hundred of them and let
people get whatever they wanted, in a pinch. On Earth at least. In space, that
will have to be managed. It's a heat problem, really." She looked at the
man closely, so he finished his water and looked for a place to set the dishes.

That
got her to call for a trash receptacle. Then she pulled out two more of the
things, and handed them to the obvious Kitchen people. The one that was up went
to George, since, after all, they were friends.

Sort
of.

Connie
looked embarrassed for some reason.

"It's
kind of you to share, but these people were stealing your food..."

Tiera
shook her head, starting out slowly, not wanting to get into a fight with the
Queen, since they were getting along so well at the moment. Still, if she had
to, then she would. It was part of her pattern. "Nope. Endless amounts of
it. Besides that, they need to all practice with it, for that dinner here in a
few days. I'm keeping one for myself though. A few actually. They seem like
they might be handy. You know, just in case?" For instance if she had to
live outside for the next months, hunting down clones.

Her
Aunt wasn't totally sold on the idea. That was so clear that Tiera feared that
at least a few of the people standing there were going to be beaten for their
part in things, but she played it off, smiling and actually meaning it.

"Don't
let it be a problem, Aunt Constance. I'm not. These are my friends. If they
need my food, then I have it to share." She was about to explain how that
was a thing in Two Bends, but for once, someone just bowed to her, about
halfway, and smiled.

"Then
I shall not let it become one. Thank you. If we could have the room?"
There was enough tension to the words that she sort of thought Connie was going
to yell at her, or try for a beating herself, but she just hugged her a bit and
suggested they get chairs to wait, since, as slow as they'd gone, the paperwork
was more so. They did get Sam and Karen back, and Karina came in with her
brother.

Tilting
his head, Sam looked at the red-headed tall and thin Princess and went wide
eyed. He started to speak, but it wasn't a secure space, and if this place
wasn't being watched from the remaining portion of the old satellite system,
then the Others truly deserved to lose, didn't they?

To
distract him, she waved a bit, and then nodded, openly putting a finger to her
lips. He got that unsubtle hint though, and Alphonse laughed a little.

Then
he pointed to the device that Tiera had made and got a strained look on his
face.

"Oh,
on the ships, I've heard that human waste is a problem, but that won't care,
will it?" He tensed a bit, as if he'd given offense, but Tiera let her
head move side to side playfully.

"Well,
I'm not eating the straight product, myself, but we can turn that into sand,
and a few other things first, so that it won't be as... Um, bothersome?"
She was
trying
to be delicate, but Karen just coughed a bit.

"So,
you can store the waste, as say rock, or even diamonds, which are really dense,
and then..." She coughed again. "Oh! Well, I guess all that gold I
have saved up is worthless then, isn't it?"

Damn.
She was smart too, it seemed. Sam though just looked at her and then away and
back, openly flirting. It was cute, but really bold for him. That was probably
one of the new changes then. He wasn't seeing tall people as his masters
anymore. Good. That would be a pain in the rear, if he had to live that way
forever.

The
boy didn't comment and neither did anyone else, since it just made sense. It
was a bit panic inducing, to realize that all your wealth was worthless, or
could be soon, but the idea of everyone being able to have what they needed was
a good one. Then they could just trade work. Services and all that. Not that it
would happen in the next weeks or anything. She'd probably have to find a job
though, after a bit. Something useful.

What
that would be she had no clue.

Maybe
construction, building things on the Moon. Or... Gardening?

She
nearly clapped then. "Oh, we need to get things for the new Moon Gardens.
Plants and all that. We should make a forest, if we can. Gerent can be in
charge of it. We should all help though. They'll have to be inside. Really, if
I wasn't so busy, I'd go up with Terry in a few weeks."

Constance
was good at conversations and unlike her son, didn't seemed prone to accidently
turning them toward the topic of shit, even if it was a good one, at the
moment. She really had built in a way to do that, on purpose. She just didn't
want to think about it too much.

The
Queen covered her mouth for a moment, as if trying to stifle a chuckle, and
looked at her directly.

"Terry
Baker? Is he taking over the Moon project then? He's what, ten? Not that I think
him unable, but I hear the High Servants have been... Slightly troublesome,
there. Alice Orange has suggested a culling of their ranks. I can't say that I
blame her. Perhaps he can whip them into shape?"

That
got Karen to stiffen, but she didn't glare at the Queen, just looking down and
turning a brilliant red. In anger. Then she went white, and started to go into
a combat rage.

Tiera
snapped her fingers.

"Hey!
Karen! None of that. Control it. You can do it. Focus on what I'm saying. Take
deep slow breaths..." The girl glared, but then tried, her pretty face
working a bit. It wasn't a perfect thing, but ten minutes later, with everyone
still sitting there, not having run at all, she grabbed her head a bit, which
had Sam digging out a healing amulet for her, to hold the headache at bay.

She
started down to her knees, only to have Alphonse move in and hug her, if very
lightly.

"That
was incredible! You fought it and won! I wish I could do that."

She
was handled more carefully after that, but returned to her seat, without an
apology, which was correct, since she hadn't harmed anyone at all. She hadn't
even yelled. That wasn't down to the new changes either, Tiera didn't think.
The girl had learned, somewhere along the way, to hold her anger in check. If she
wanted to.

She
did explain why she'd gotten upset at least.

"We
had to cashier one of them already. He was the worst, but there are others.
They just can't get the idea that they're sworn to work, and that getting
things up there ready is needed. About ninety percent of the real work is being
done by ten people right now. When Instructor Wistra left them, their
productivity cut nearly in half. She's one of the Wildlands Orphans, Sam. One
of your people. If it was my project I'd go to the Wildlands and beg them to
come help there, but I'm just in charge of those... Well, like I said,
ten
of them are pulling their weight. I'm so ashamed of them all." She
actually teared up, and everything.

No
one said anything for a bit, but Tiera finally shrugged. "If I can get the
time, I'll go up to get Terry settled. I'll... You know, if I take the fighters
section with me, that would work, right? And the meditation students. I know it
seems strange, but those are my classes. Then I'll kill some of them until the
others work for you. Terry can't do it. Or, well, honestly, he probably could,
but he shouldn't since he's going in as the projects builder, to make sure they
have someone that can make copies all the time. I..."

She
worked out what she'd need, which was a ship, food, and her instructors, as
well as enough of their students to make it seem real.

It
probably wouldn't work, she knew. There were attacks to watch for and all that.
But... They didn't really need her for all that, did they? Not if Timon stayed.

Everyone
was looking at her, and when she realized it, she smiled, a little embarrassed.
After all, who was she to plan something like that. The funny thing was, that
she didn't think that just any Countess could have gotten it done, but little
Tiera from Two Bends
could
.

It
might even be a good idea, really. If she were going to move house, it wouldn't
hurt to get the lay of the land, right? Her mother would feel better, knowing
that she was going along too. Even though it was rude, she pulled out her
communications device and searched through the names, until she got to Alice
Orange. Then she tapped the sigil. No one spoke at all, which was getting eerie
just about the time that the commanding woman's voice spoke.