Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (30 page)

"I
endorse this plan fully, and without reservation. I can think of no finer
substitutions, or I would recommend them, firmly." That, from the look on
the King's face and the way Alphonse had to slap a hand over his mouth, mirth
filling his eyes, probably wasn't what he was supposed to say.

It
worked for her though. If he really had a better idea, now was a good time to
say it. The day before would have been even better. It was good to know he
wasn't upset though. She was kind of skipping over him, after all.

Richard,
looming over them, which he couldn't help, being a giant, looked at first Terry
and then Lawrence.

"Countess
Tiera Green Baker, feeling her duty in regard to County Baker being well
enough, if not perfectly, dispatched, is resigning her title and powers. She is
however, as a last act, doing two things. First, she is naming Terrence Green
Baker as her Heir at remove, and second, as long as this is agreed to, is
assigning Lawrence Lewis Morris as the Count, for a time of not less than ten
years, and at his will, for as long as he should desire, with the understanding
that Terrence Baker, and no other, is his sole heir in this regard. No other,
however. This only applies to the County and any wealth you gain directly from
that. Do you so agree, sir?"

The
paper and pen were moved in front of the man, and a servant, George, Tiera
noticed, fighting a smile. He was professional however, though he loomed. On
purpose, she bet.

The
man looked at her, scared for some reason. She didn't get that at all.

"Countess?"

Tiera
pointed at the line with her name on it.

"Not
if you sign that. I won't force you, but the job was always going to be yours.
Even before I took over officially. I'd hoped to give you more time to get things
in hand, but you're doing the work already. I have full confidence in
you."

Then,
scared or not, the man glared at the looming King, swallowed and spoke anyway.
He sounded nervous, and spoke regardless of that. It was a good sign, Tiera
figured.

"Not
even the King and crown can force a sitting Countess from her land, Sire. If
that's the case here, I have to refuse. That would mean war."

Tiera
felt herself tear up a little, but made herself smile at the man, and nudge his
arm a bit as her mother looked on. It was a bit close, but not flirtatious.

"It
isn't like that at all, Lawrence. King Richard is... Well, he and I aren't
friends, but he
is
family and wouldn't do that. Not without having the
courtesy to bring the Military in, first, which isn't the case. As I said, you
were always the choice.
Almost always
at least, in case I need to prove
this later under Truth testing."

She
didn't, since the man signed, looking at the paper closely, reading it, but
clearly not understanding it all.

The
King bowed. "Count Baker."

The
whole table repeated it then. It was the tradition, after all. Tiera did it
too.

"Count
Baker." Then when everyone else finished she stood, and moved back, bowing
low. "You have the duty."

That
got a smile from Smythe at least. Then she moved down the table, as George
suggested with a wave that the new Count shift up a single seat, putting him
next to Aunt Connie. Tiera went to the end of the table, into the left hand
poison seat. She wasn't worried overly, to tell the truth. She had a detector
on her, and would resist a lot of things without even noticing it. She couldn't
even get drunk.

Across
from her was Count Lairdgren. Tiera nodded, somberly.

The
meal was very nice, and, just to be different, the main course was done
differently, with a choice of several things that all went with the other
courses. The dessert was all flaming berries, but the blend was perfectly ripe
and succulent,
and
out of season. Not that she hadn't gotten that her
magic was being used to help make it all happen. There was no announcement of
it, and no one balked at eating things made from dirt and rocks. Or whatever
else they used. She was willing to bet they weren't using human waste though,
which wasn't going to be the case on the trip to come. She decided not to think
about it.

Yet.
It would happen later, she didn't doubt.

Ah,
well.

After
the meal they were released, or at least she was. Timon too, but the rest of
the family was staying there that night. Tim had a house not a half mile away
though, so he wasn't going too, and Lawrence was released, since he no doubt wanted
to either go home and tell his wife about their improvement in the world and
the rules of it, or hide. One of those.

He'd
hired a ride, with Tim's fast travel service, but it was Morgan, one of his
civilian pilots, that came for it and took the man away. The newest Count
wasn't smiling, but that was shock, she thought. Tim patted her on the back.

"Come
back with Trice and I? Just for a bit?" Trice got her craft up, and
gestured at them, not looking all that pleased, but it had that 'proper' look
to it. Like she meant it, but was still mainly showing her feelings to seem
supportive
.

It
was horribly phony, but nice anyway. They hadn't always been friends, but Tiera
had to get over that, didn't she? Hundreds of years of her carrying a grudge
wasn't going to work very well. That was something that almost every Ancient
she'd ever met had mentioned to her at some point. Or at least hinted at. The
biggest problem that they had with each other was due to the little, and
sometimes big, squabbles and arguments they got into over time. So, they were
friends, Trice and herself. Even if things went wrong. It was going to be
annoying.

She
climbed in however, and didn't get her own Fast Craft out or anything. Right
now Remy was spending the night with Ali and Maris, so that she could have her
vehicle back, just in case fleeing into the night was needed. That had left her
feeling a little uneasy, but the same thing was true
there
, wasn't it?
Remy was going to be around for a while. They all had to be friends, or things
were going to be bad. Very much so. The
only
thing that really set her
mind at ease was that he'd more or less gotten along with the Ancients for a
long time. That might not translate to her, or the new people, but she was
hopeful. In part because she didn't want her friends to be hurt.

If
she had to die, well, that was what it would be. Some day it would happen to
everyone, including her. Soon, if she took enough risks. But Sheri? Ali? Even
Maris, who was sweet and gentle all the time, she wouldn't have them be harmed,
not if it was in her power to stop it.

The
seats in the little black vehicle were made to seem like leather and felt a
little sticky for some reason. Tacky and like they'd squeak if she moved wrong.
Luckily Trice didn't take long getting them to her home, just moving straight
up and over faster than seemed sane.

She
explained that, her eyes looking pleased.

"We
aren't allowed to fly over the city, but the back wall here is so close that we
can get away with it, as long as we move faster than the guard can get out to
scold us about it. They won't follow us to complain, since we're outside their
normal patrol zone." She set down pretty fast too, but with enough control
it didn't damage the little landing area that they'd made inside their own
palace wall. It had a glowing silver river on the top and looked... Well, it
was
nice. She had to give them that. It just seemed incredibly pretentious too. As
if they were saying their place was more important than anywhere else in the
world.

Unlike,
her place. Which was now, she realized, her dorm room at school. Maybe she
could get a little puddle and put it out front? Like a moat. With a tiny bridge
over it? Just for defensive reasons, naturally.

Timon
led them out, and Trice packed the thing up easily enough, smiling pleasantly
the whole time, her eyes a bit dark still. It wasn't until they got inside that
she rounded on Tiera and hugged her closely.

"I'm
so sorry! That was
so
incredibly noble of you, giving over your power
like that, to protect your people. I know that no one will understand it yet,
except us, so I wanted to make certain you knew that, well,
I
knew."
She was trying, so Tiera hugged her back for a bit.

Then
she smiled.

"Really,
I wasn't joking about it always being my plan. Lawrence is a good man.
So..." She looked around and then shrugged. "I sort of expected you
to have the Rebellion meeting here. Are you going to take me off to Warden for
it then? Not that I'm all that great a catch now, being just
me
again." She was trying to be funny, but her brother looked away and shook
his head.

"Nothing
like that. Though the word is that the King forced you to give up your claim so
that he could put a more loyal body in the chair. We, Trice and I, didn't even
have to make that one up. This whole thing has been leaking for days, and
everyone that's heard it has jumped to the same basic conclusion. I wanted you to
come over for a different reason."

She
waited then, and her brother, who was still shorter than she was, but was now
taller than his wife, fixed her gaze with his own. It was a hard thing, which
was darker than she would have thought he'd allow himself to seem. Not that he
didn't feel that way, but he was clearly in a trance state and had been for the
entire night. She was too. It was part of why she just didn't care about things
at the moment.

Trice
moved away and made a face.

"I
was hoping that, if you wouldn't mind, could you take Sara Debri with you? She
asked me, as a friend, to try and help set that up. You being family, I thought
you might have a way of getting her onto the Harmony voyage." There was a
softness to the words, a slyness that was almost hidden, but Tiera understood
it.

She
even got that Timon wasn't too pleased by his wife asking for that favor, in
particular.

She
bowed a bit and tried to look like she wasn't a raging bitch.

"Right,
she's been assigned to watch me for the King? I'd kind of thought that would go
away, as soon as the whole Countess thing did?" Thinking about it, having
a store up there might be a good idea. Slow business at first, but even with
magic being plentiful, there would always be things that were needed. Needles for
cross stitch, paints and canvases for hobbyist, that kind of thing, as well as
soap and body scent. Walking around with a ten thousand gold magic to make
those things for you wasn't going to work for a lot of people.

After
a while she realized that she'd just been standing there, with Trice looking
extremely uneasy.

"Oh,
sure, sorry. I was just thinking that Kurt Debri would be a good person to run
the store there. Just general goods, if the new device I'm making works. It
won't make him rich, but if I park him on the Moon at least his mother won't be
raped in her sleep again. Or me." She shuddered a bit, making a drama out
of it, as Timon actually popped all the way out of his trance, looking angry.

"
What
?"

She
took a breath, "well, by noble standards it might not count for me, and he
was asleep at the time, I think. With his mother, well, I don't know what
happened. It's bad enough... that I kind of think Sara lied about it. About
what he's done to her too. I was thinking that we could put him in as both a
shopkeeper
and
body servant to the High Servants, so they won't get too
sexually frustrated? That might cool his passions a bit. Or at least keep him
busy enough no one innocent gets molested." She pulled her lips to the
side, looking playful, but not feeling it. "We probably should abandon him
there though, don't you think?"

There
was a pause and Trice stared at Timon, who looked suddenly ready to kill
someone.

"That's
a good idea. I'll set that up. Are you certain that you find that punishment
enough? He's a friend of mine and I wouldn't want him killed, but he's also
troubled that way. Sleepwalking... and some other things." She waited
then, as if Tiera would be calling for blood. Though if that were the case, she
would have ended the man when it had happened, instead of serving him treats.

"I
do. If he doesn't fix himself, we might have to make it permanent. I won't let
him run around abusing people, even if it is on the Moon. Especially if-"
Tiera shrugged and didn't go on. She knew what she was going to say, but
announcing, even there, in her brother's house, that she was planning on moving
to space herself, wasn't a good plan. The idea that a spy or listening device
might be trained on them was remote, perhaps, being how young they all were,
but that didn't mean it couldn't happen at all.

Trice,
still seeming scared, walked away suddenly, clearly making a communications
link with her friend.

That
left her standing in the middle of the very large, very attractive, front room
of Tim's palace, with him standing there, ready to fight someone for her. For
her honor. It was both sweet and expected of a good sibling.

She
patted his shoulder a bit.