Lord of the Sky (The Young Ancients: Timon) (14 page)

It made sense and was a good business to get into in the Capital. It was comfortable outside even in the middle of winter and roasted most of the rest of the year.

Collette seemed happy with the explanation.

"I knew you were familiar. I didn't know that Mona was your wife! Strange how small the world is sometimes, isn't it?"

Timon didn't wait, just handing things out to people. The gold went to Millert first, the girls each getting a silver. Mona got the amulet and held it up, her face questioning, but her mouth firmly shut and smiling. After all, she knew it was some kind of magic.

The girls were wide eyed and seemed happy, but the man looked ready to run out for some reason. They weren't good gifts, but he had a plan for that in mind already.

"Advanced pay, if you want the work. We have an event at the King's Palace tomorrow. I know it's normally a day off for most people, but we'll need hauling. Probably a lot of it. Would you be in charge of that for us? There'll be another gold in it for you if you say yes." It was too much by about ten times, even if he had three assistants, but they'd need the coin for land rent.

He winked at the girls, the older one blushing a bit. It was strange, since she looked to be about ten, but honestly she was closer to his own age than anyone else in the room. He felt so old most of the time anymore that it was a little jarring to him.

"Those are just some funds for the day, to keep you out of your mother's hair. I recommend investing it. That or buying some produce and catching a ride to Austra. The new exchange rate is in, and one silver is worth about six times what it is here. Even more if it comes in as fruits and vegetables. I should be headed that way in a week or two, so if you get time off you should consider it." After all, nothing would tell that land that they came in peace like little girls selling food, would it?

Mona held the amulet and looked at it closely.

"Just a little cottage, like this one. Made it myself, so it's actually a gift. I hope you'll-" There was screaming then. It was a joyous thing, and Mona started crying, while the girls danced around and Millert looked like someone had stomped on his right foot. There was no false modesty in it or trying to give it back, which was good, because he wasn't parting with a craft and that or shields were all he had left.

Then he was hugged, almost crushed, between the little girls and Mona. It was familial enough until the older woman grabbed his behind and squeezed. Her husband glared, but at least it was at her, not him. For his part he managed not to throw her hand off and stepped back.

"Now, you get back to your meal and I'll see you later? We're all going to be here tonight." That was a warning to be gone when they got back, but he wasn't totally sure that they'd get the point.

Outside Trice gave him a loopy grin that seemed far too happy for some reason, and looked back toward the door, shaking her head.

"Is Mona our cook?"

He nodded.

"And cleaning lady. So far I haven't really needed more. I suppose I should work up someplace nicer than this? It will take some time, but I can probably borrow one of the templates for the larger houses that Tor made for the Lairdgren group. Where do you want to live anyway? I mean a central home, where people can send you mail and messages." If they were married it would make sense that they'd live in the same place. Traditionally that would have been in Two Bends or possibly her home town, wherever that was. If she thought that he was going to take this as simply a fiction she was mistaken. Until she died she'd be the only wife he got after all, so it made sense to really put everything into this. She wasn't old after all, just older than he was.

"Oh... I hadn't thought about it. Here works for me. It's a nice place really. A little exposed if another attack comes, but other than that it's good." She patted his back, which was a bit too patronizing for his taste, so he gave her a slightly hard look. It got her to stop, but he didn't think she really understood what he meant. She might not be able to see it really, even if he said the words out loud. Some of the giants really couldn't get things like that.

They all sat in the Fast Craft while they contacted people then, and even Sherri had things to do that way, getting in touch with Tiera, who had been strangely absent over the last few days. Not that Tim blamed her. Things had not been going all that well for her in the last three months. Her best friend had been killed and the murderer had escaped from her cell in the Palace. If that had happened to him he would have...

Honestly he didn't know. He could see the value in killing Sandra Morris and her family, since doing otherwise would be stupid. They'd already shown that they wouldn't let things rest if his sister backed off, so leaving them alive wasn't really a good plan. Someone had gotten her to hold back for a bit. He highly suspected it was Tor, since Tiera kind of hated the King.

His job in all of this was kind of simple, since most of his people actually knew what to do already. The only ones that he had to really invite were Ancients, since leaving them out might seem a little bit rude. Even at that, there were only a few that needed his attention. Blue Four, Orange, Denno and Julie White. She wouldn't be coming, of course, since she was vastly afraid of giants, but it was one of those things where you had to ask.

Kolb too, of course, if he was around. There was that other woman that worked at Lairdgren too, Doris. Timon knew she was immortal, but nothing else about her except that she worked in the meditation department. He decided to leave her out of it, simply not thinking that she'd want to bother with him.

These were the hardest people to get in touch with, once he sat down to actually do it. Trice was already on her communications device with her brother Mark, so he slid into the seat next to her and leaned over to speak himself.

Mark sounded happy at least, which was a good sign.

"Timon Baker? That's not too bad. A bit young, but he'll age up nicely over time, I think. Hard worker and
very
smart. Plus, you mentioned he was there
and
he is my boss, so, you get me, I'm angling for a raise." There was laughter from further away, which turned out to be a familiar voice.

"Hello Kincaid. Say, do you have Denno's number in your compact? I need to get in touch with him and that's actually slightly difficult from here. I can give it to you if you don't." She was only a player after all and while she was cute enough for the Ancient to date, Timon didn't think they were.

That turned out to be correct, though it was pretty clear that she and Mark were being seen together. She was also trying to hide that from him. As if he'd care? They were friends, true, but only that. Mark was a good fellow and going to be family...

It wasn't that Timon didn't understand her reasoning, it was just trying to apply Austran rules to Noram nobles. It got him to grin and actually mean it after the second time she let her voice trail off instead of explaining what she was doing.

"I
don't
have that, of course. He's the Revered One after all. Why would I?"

Timon didn't bother explaining that to her, but cleared his throat and got his Austran compact out, looking the code up. It was protected information, but this was important enough, he thought.

"Just make sure you erase that when you're finished with the call. Unless you plan to ask him to go with you as your date? That might work, if you have the time. Mark can't come, so that's out."

There was silence from the other end of the device, but after a bit she spoke in a low tone. It wasn't angry sounding, but almost conspiratorial.

"Why
can't
he come? Aren't you friends? And Patricia is his sister..."

That got Trice to look embarrassed, and everyone to stare at
him
for some reason. Leaving the complex explanation to the little kid.

"His powers are such that he can accidentally throw others into a combat rage. It's a battle commander's ability, but he hasn't learned to control it totally yet, so putting him in a crowded room with noble giants isn't that brilliant of an idea. It isn't a personal slight, since he's a wonderful person. Just a practical consideration." That didn't get Trice to stare at him less, but Collette went wide eyed and started to nod.

"
Oh
, that does make sense, doesn't it? It isn't a curse at all, it's a command ability? I never thought..."

Things moved faster then, since, while she wasn't the kind to totally believe in magic, Kincaid was smart enough to realize that Noram did things differently, so Mark couldn't come, and they had at least a make believe reason why not that had nothing to do with social class or wealth.

Fifteen minutes later the Austran Player was chatting with the highest ranked person in her land, gushing more than a little. Denno listened politely, speaking clearly, even if he had to go through Kincaid's handheld first.

"I wondered which one of them would entangle you first! Patricia, lovely girl. Yes, I'll come, of course. Perhaps Mark and I can travel to Vagus and see if Red and her new husband would like to attend as well? I know that she's very fond of you. Perhaps Marko Sorvee could attend as well? I know that you're his patron, so I'm certain that he'll want to make an appearance."

The man was smart, but also adding to the numbers of people that would be there. Timon let it go however and suggested that he might also ask Julie and Blue. Neither of them had any clue where Alice Orange was.

It took the better part of an hour to get that finished, and he couldn't focus properly on what anyone else was saying, since there were too many voices for that. It was a rush job after all and that meant chaos at the best of times.

When they lifted off to head to the King's Palace, Tim felt slightly apprehensive. For the first time it seemed like this was actually
real
. Not in a good way either. He didn't
particularly
like Trice after all. Oh, she was nice enough in the main, and a good casual friend, but clearly a bit moody and controlling, as well as attached to not one, but two, of his brothers. This aided her, and really did give him a chance to peek into the world of the kingdom's spy networks, but was that really worth it? They were both damaged and she was a Ducharina, so there was that. Her parents were wealthy enough that he wouldn't have to worry about them coming to him constantly for loans, which was a good thing, since that always strained relationships. The thing was, he didn't know if he even really liked the woman sitting next to him as a person. Not that it would be required for marriage. In that way it was no worse than anything that could be arranged by his parents. Trice's own situation showed that one pretty clearly, didn't it?

It would have been nice if he could have married someone he loved, but that might not be a real thing for him anyway. He barely felt
attraction
for anyone now, after what had happened to him. Love seemed like a lot to ask.

He hovered over the Palace, finally making the craft smaller, still doing the work to make the outside glow in two alternating colors, moving slowly along the surface of the thing. After all, there was such a thing as style and while he was being a bit loud about it, that was part of the holiday spirit and tradition. People actually came out to look too, which included the King, Queen, Alphonse and both Princesses. As well as a dozen Royal Guards, all dressed in formal guard black and purple.

This was one of the few places that he could leave the craft up, so he did, letting the color fade to mirror silver as he stepped out, following the others for once. That bit of apprehension hadn't gone away at all, and was hitting his stomach now. It felt like an insane elf was tickling him from the inside. One that he'd clearly eaten, so there might be reason for this bit of revenge, but he couldn't remember having done it in the last day.

Trice stood next to him, her left arm pressed against his right shoulder. It was, he could tell, made of magic. He'd known about that, since the story was famous. She'd lost the arm when an Austran assassination weapon had started to eat her hand. Princess Karina had used a cutter to take it off, saving her life. Tor later made her the replacement. It was really good work. Between that and the little dragon that moved on the left side of her chest, over her heart, she probably had two of the most complex pieces of magic in existence on her.

This wasn't exactly a regular group of people, so those kinds of things seemed nearly normal.

Before he could do more than start to bow in greeting, everyone turned and hurried into the Palace, Karina stepping forward to take his arm, pulling him along forcefully.

"Bit of a problem Tim. There's a battle starting along the border of Rochester. The Baron is with us, but he's eight, so kind of an obvious target, it's sort of messing with the wedding plans. We all understand the need to hurry, but it may not be as grand as we would have liked." She actually sounded worried, which was sweet of her. Her red hair looked efficient, being pulled back and tied in place in a single ponytail that would have looked perfectly correct almost anywhere. She wore only very light make-up and was dressed in a black outfit that looked almost military.

"Right. Well, Sherri and Collette can handle that part of things, while we get things in place for Connor. I can move troops with the new craft. The Flyers base is closest, do they have anyone ready to go? Or..." He wasn't the one making the battle plans and shouldn't be. It wasn't something he knew about overly, except for the fact that suddenly dumping a few hundred, or even thousand highly trained military men into the situation might well change the course of a pitched battle, if they were available.