Lord of the Sky (The Young Ancients: Timon) (4 page)

"We'll have a small space readied for that, of course. Do you need clothing or supplies?" This was said to Heather, who blushed a bit. She'd come ready for prison, not a fine meal, but admitting that would shame her.

Timon simply smiled and shook his head.

"I'm sure we can manage, thank you. I might need to have some things delivered? I'll see if Tor can bring them, since he should be known here."

That, it turned out, was acceptable. He was still in Lairdgren County, at his bakeshop by the school, but everyone liked him well enough here, so they'd love to see him. Especially Constance. That was mainly because she was a pervert. After all, she was more or less Tor's daughter, biologically speaking. To
her
that barely mattered, and she still wanted to have sex with him. Luckily, for proprieties sake, Tor cared about that enough for both of them.

Timon didn't leave the Countess's side at all, even as they were led to a small and totally empty room the size of a large closet. Once there he used his new communications device to contact his older brother, wondering if he'd really come for something like this. He had a real job and even his own wife to look after. He might just not want to be bothered with this kind of thing.

"Tor's communication device. This is Patricia Morgan." The woman spoke as if it was completely normal for her to be answering the thing, which it probably was. She practically lived with Tor and Alyssa now after all. Their shared girlfriend.

"Hello Trice. I need some magical clothing and a disguise amulet delivered to the King's Palace. I was going to ask Tor to bring it down..." Since he was family. It only made sense.

"He can't. Way too busy for that tonight.
I
might be able to, if the price is right. Why do you need it?"

Timon looked around for a few seconds, wondering what in the world he could say. Finally, he came to a personal understanding that surprised him not at all. He really didn't care.

That meant the truth would work well enough, wouldn't it?

"County Montblanc has undeclared war, and is now under my protection. The Countess is invited to dine at the Palace tonight, but came dressed to beg forgiveness, not make an impression at a Noram Day dinner. The theme seems designed to humble her even more, but, you get the idea, under
my
protection, so..." Stopping he waited, not knowing what Ducharina Morgan might say or do. She was a spy after all, as well as the King's niece and sort of dating two of his brothers. That it was a complicated situation just went without saying.

Oddly enough, she just whistled. It was a low and impressed sounding thing, that went on for about five seconds.

"That's
impressive
. So... you turned her into your personal slave girl or something? You didn't hurt her, did you? She's my second cousin, so that wouldn't go over well at the family gatherings if you did."

The Countess glared at him and then the device in his hand, as if
he
was the one that had said the nasty things, not her own cousin. That was hardly fair.

"Yes. That's exactly right, I walked up to a giant Countess and slapped her around until she agreed to do my bidding. Because, you know,
that
would work. Can you get those things here before dinner? We'll need an hour to get her ready."

"On my way now. You owe me. We can discuss terms later." The line went dead, as if not allowing him to speak would somehow obligate him to do anything for the woman. Not that he wouldn't, but it would depend a lot on what it was, wouldn't it?

When Trice said she was on her way, that apparently meant that she'd been up in the air at the time, headed toward them. In fact, given the timing it had to mean that she had the devices on her and was most of the way there when he'd taken his communications device out, because she was led to the little space they were in not ten minutes later. Given the needed landing times at the Palace...

"You were already here?" Timon wasn't mad about it, but he hadn't been able to tell that was the case. The girl dimpled at him, her face legitimately friendly.

"Of course. Tor is too. Aunt Connie set this up nearly two weeks ago after all, just for him. That whole situation is just sad. So..." She looked over Tim's head at her own second cousin and held out the twin amulets. "Clothing and a disguise amulet to use for make-up. You really should get one of your own if you can. They're incredibly useful for things like this. If you don't mind, I'll do it for you?"

Heather looked at the darker haired and slightly shorter younger woman and actually managed a soft smile.

"Patricia, so good to see you. Yes, I'd appreciate your aid, if that's acceptable?" This, oddly, was directed at Timon, who didn't get it at first at all.

Trice did, and actually let out a low chuckle.

"Right, your new boss, completely different than the old. So Tim, are you doing the honors, or shall I?"

He waved toward the amulets then and looked from one to the other.

"Trice is going to be better at this than I am, I'm certain. If you would, please?"

No one asked him to leave, which caused things to get a bit intimidating for him after about half a minute, when the Countess was asked to remove her clothing. Whatever she'd been expecting, it hadn't required undergarments to her mind, so for a moment she was standing there, completely nude. Timon was torn then, because she had a nice figure and part of him wanted to look at her, to take the chance to examine the first naked woman that he'd ever seen this closely. Another part of him wanted to recoil from her slightly, since the feelings her nudity stirred within him reminded him of pain and terror. It wasn't a wonderful combination. In the end he did a bit of both, which was, he figured, about right anyway.

He looked, which showed that she wasn't ugly or unwanted, but also didn't stare at her overly, meaning he wasn't a pervert. He saw her dark nipples and pubic hair, but thankfully Trice had her dressed in the clothing amulets plain brown set point clothing moments later, before he had a chance to make a fool of himself or give offense. For her part Trice just smiled at him, picking up slightly on his discomfort. From the way her face fell a few moments later she also worked through why that would be. She wasn't the only one in the room that had ever been raped after all.

The clothing turned from a mid-tone brown canvas looking thing to a lovely dress made all of black. It was a bit dire looking at first, but after a few moments it incorporated both lavender and hints of burnt umber colors that were made to glow slightly. Then as an afterthought, a slim piping of silver was run along the edging.

The Countess looked at it for a moment as a thin line of green paralleled the first line.

"Vassal too... Who has silver and green?"

Trice shrugged her shoulders rising almost comically.

"Green for Lairdgren, silver for House Timon. Naturally." She started to put her hand back on the woman, probably to undo the little bit of joking she was doing, only to stop when the larger woman nodded.

"I... see. Yes. Well, it could be worse. I've never heard of 'House Timon' before."

There was a pause, and then Trice continued, changed the woman's features with a delicate bit of disguise. Her skin smoothed and her cheeks gained a slight hint of blush to them. Then her eyes were rimmed with black, making them more dramatic, her lashes growing a bit. There were changes made, but it didn't take long at all.

Then, without asking, his brother's girlfriend touched his arm, making his clothing change to match the Countess's slightly. It had more silver in it, with just a hint of green, a jacket that shimmered like the finest silk and a badge on the front, which was a livery of sorts. It was hard to make out what the picture was, since he was looking at it upside down, but mentally flipping it over he got it. There, on a field of green, all in silver, was a large bird of prey, in front of the sun.

Trice let out a half laugh, then, surprisingly, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

 "Timon, Lord of the Sky. Now we just slip a lesser version onto heather and no one will give you any problems at dinner tonight. Mainly because they won't know what the heck it means, but hey, that's half of getting by as a noble these days. Confusion to those that would do us harm."

For some reason Heather actually suffered to be marked with a badge that mimicked his, but was about the size of a large coin, just in time for them to go out for dinner. Trice had her clothing and make-up ready to go, so it only took a few moments for her to do that, not the much longer time she'd spent on the others. That meant they had time to mingle, before the meal.

It was one of those strange situations at first, with no one approaching them, because treason was actually sort of a big deal in most places for some reason, even though the woman was on their side
now
. At least Tim presumed that was the case. After a few minutes two people did walk over to them, Count Lairdgren and his fiancé, Bonita.

No one spoke for a few seconds, but that wouldn't stand with Nita, who moved in and gave him a warm hug.

"Timon! I didn't expect to see you here. We heard that you would be however, Countess Montblanc. It's very good to have you back with us." It was about as polite a statement as could be made really, given everything. Then Bonita Coltress was nearly as sweet as a person could be, so that made sense.

"Thank you... I'm ashamed to say that I don't recognize you..." There would have been an awkward moment, but Trice pulled Tor over about then, along with Ali, who moved in and started passing out hugs of her own. It gave them a second or two.

"Introductions then..." This part would be hard, Timon realized, since he didn't really know what to say about it all. That was the problem with making things up, especially ridiculous ones.

"Countess Montblanc, you already know Count Lairdgren, no doubt. The man here who looks like his double, is my brother, Tor. The wizard. Next to him is his wife, Alyssa Baker. She's a full builder as well. Next to the Count is my future grandmother, if you can believe that, the lovely and wonderful Bonita Coltress." That was the easy part really. They all had their defined place in his world, so it wasn't a big deal, introducing them.

The Countess was going to be harder.

Tim gestured to her with a bow.

"This lady is Heather Montblanc, Countess Montblanc. She's my..." He froze then, really not having a single word for what she was. Prisoner was totally wrong. So was slave, even if Trice would have gotten a chuckle from it. Other than that, they didn't really have any relationship at all. They weren't friends or anything...

Oddly enough, it was Trice that saved him then.

"This is his ward. She's under his protection. In fact her whole County is. Hence the badges. Like them? I did the design work myself." There was a bit of playfulness to her then, but it fell away when the Count bowed toward first Timon and then the Countess.

"Wonderful! What do you have planned for her first Timon? She's already been schooled, if I remember correctly. You're not married, are you Heather?"

She made a slightly embarrassed face, but nodded.

"It's been a bit hard to find someone within the three steps not related to me."

That was, Tim knew, a constant problem for noble women. They were supposed to marry within a few social steps of their own station, but a Countess functionally had two, unless the Prince was available to her that way, which for Heather, wasn't an option at all. It wasn't unheard of for someone to take an extra step down, or even two, for a love match or to find fresh blood, but the rule was pretty strictly followed by most and would have her made fun of if she strayed too much.

It was one of the reasons that Timon liked having grown up in the middle of a forest as a poor boy.
He
didn't really know any better, so when the time came he could marry anyone he wanted. Right now the only real offer he had was Princess Karina, but if he met a nice farm girl he could change up if he wanted. It was actually kind of nice, being socially oblivious that way. Oh, he knew better, now that it had all been explained, but he really doubted it would ever
matter
to him.

It was Tor that needled him then, actually smirking a bit meanly, which was unusual for him, or used to be. He was changing. Getting taller for one thing. He was nearly as tall as the Count now, and he hadn't been a month before. That was all down to magic, but it was something that Tim wanted in on too. Given the option, it would be better to be big.

"I know Tim, you can marry her. You're a Countier, so that's within the three steps. I bet Richard would even be willing to let you marry early. I'll go ask him..." He turned as if to walk off, only to have his hand snagged by his wife, who giggled a little bit at the interplay.

"Be nice Tor!" She seemed happy about it all and looked at the Countess, blushing slightly. "After all, to Timon she's practically his adopted daughter. Which makes her a relative... You know, Gerent might be a good match. After he grows a little more."

There was a momentary pause, but no one explained the words. Finally Timon made himself smile.

It wasn't a horrible idea, after all. Not if he had to be stuck with a new adopted child that was nearly twenty years older than he was.

On the good side of things, Timon knew that no one, as funny as they thought the situation was, as much as they were laughing at Countess Montblanc behind her back when they thought no one was able to hear them, thought that he was actually responsible for her in any way. It was, according to the older gentleman he was speaking to, Count Isle, a polite fiction that everyone understood was him rather nobly standing up for a decimated population. The way it was said even made him sound noble and brave, even if it wasn't a big risk for him, personally.

Luckily not everyone understood just how much of that death toll was actually due to what he'd done personally. If they did he'd be the villain of the piece for sure.

At the meal he was seated directly above the Countess at the table, which meant being very near the far end, where the people sitting mainly feared that they were going to be killed. The poison seat, as it was often called.

Timon took a deep breath as soon as he was served and let his left foot float out under the table gently, nudging his... new friend?

"Take a sip when I do. Make sure to stand. On three..." He spoke the words so softly that he wasn't certain she'd hear him, but the moment the wine was poured they stood, as if the move was planned and took a sip. The two people across from them didn't hesitate either, following along bravely. He didn't know who they were, but instead of examining their drinks, they let their cups rise and drank the things dry. They were both middle aged people, a gray haired man and slightly younger looking woman that didn't seem to know what to do next. Timon had a clue there, turning and saluting with his glass slightly, toward Richard at the far end of the table.

He returned the gesture, sipping from his own beverage shortly after that, then bowed as everyone else stood one at a time, to take their own sip.

Nothing was said of it, but the four of them kept it up for the whole meal, eating as if the food was completely safe. It was, of course, since killing people at the Palace would be about as stupid a thing as anyone could do. Especially going after Heather, since she was, more or less, suddenly on their side now. If anything they should give her presents and cuddles, so that anyone else from the other side that saw what she was doing might just think it was a good idea for them as well.

After the dessert they were lead toward the far end of the table, where a receiving line had been set up. It was a little different, from what he'd noticed before, since there was a large table of gifts along side of the seated monarch and his wife. They weren't handing them out either, but being presented with them one, and sometimes two, at a time, for examination and discussion.
Everyone
had brought something too, of course. That was, it seemed, the tradition.

Except for Heather and himself, because naturally, they were invited at the last minute.

Normally that wouldn't have been a big issue for Timon personally. He really didn't care a lot about what other people thought of him, and most of the people present had some kind of idea what had been going on that day. Connie however kept looking at them, her face alternating between pristinely calm and rather lovely, to slightly mischievous and a bit catty.

In other words she knew exactly what she was doing and meant to shame them personally. It was kind of bitchy of her really, and poor strategy. The worst part of it all was that for a gift to count it had to be made by the giver, which took time and effort. The more you put into it, the more it would mean when given. To not give a gift was a bit of an insult really, if you knew a person well. To give something made by another person was about the same as slapping someone, if they were supposed to be a friend. It was better to give a cruddy little nothing of a gift than to do that.

So, no matter what they did, the Queen would have an excuse to act hurt and pretend they were offending her personally. It was
brilliant
really, since there was almost no way out of it. Especially for him, now that he knew she was his Aunt. Because this was a special event, one that most planned for, months in advance, they couldn't even claim that they'd prepared for something else, at a later date.

Really, Tim wanted to growl, instead of waiting as doom slowly approached, one tiny step at a time. The situation wasn't lost on Heather either, who seemed nearly ready to proclaim war again. It was a bit over the top, given how much she really needed his brother's healing amulets, so she didn't say anything at all, just looking angry and a bit red faced.

Timon searched for something that would work, but nothing was at hand really. Nothing he had on him would be a good, personal, gift. He couldn't even make something magically in time. Not something new that would be truly created for the King or his wife. Maybe if he were Tor it would be possible, but only if he had something to put it on. As it stood he didn't even have a clue what to make.

Something decorative? An idea came to mind, one that might even be simple enough to work, but he needed something to attach the field to, if he was going to risk bothering to try at all. In his pocket he found a single silver coin. It would have to do, because even at the slow pace they were all walking they'd be to the front in less than half an hour.

"Take my arm and guide me." The whispered words couldn't have made sense to his new pal, but she did it anyway, making her one of his new favorite people. She even looked slightly concerned. He blocked that out, just taking a single step each time she tugged lightly.

Thankfully it took longer than it had seemed it would, nearly an hour and a half. Everyone standing back to watch the festivities after their turn. That meant, if he failed, that everyone would know and mock him for it. Then he'd have to kill them all, and that wouldn't go over at all with their heirs. Well,
some
of them wouldn't mind overly, but in the main people's children actually seemed to love their parents.

When it was their turn to step up Queen Constance looked positively triumphant. George the head of the Royal Guard leaned in to whisper to her, which let her feign shock and a slightly hurt expression.

"Oh? I... see... Very well..." She sounded sad, but that was just designed to call attention to how
wronged
she was being, denied her traditional gift.

Richard, for his part, sat up straight, his eyes locked on the far wall, avoiding even the chance of locking eyes with him. It was a good plan, considering he had to be pretty embarrassed. Timon was. Which took him a little by surprise. After all, Connie was a family member now, so her acting like that reflected poorly on him too.

 He cleared his throat gently to get her attention, Richard finally glanced at him too, his face looking slightly pained.

"Don't worry Aunt Constance, we didn't forget you, this just didn't get picked up earlier. All my fault, I'm sure. We were a bit busy and I forgot." He held it up between two fingers and felt the field on it. There was enough strength at least, but it was actually a novel build, if an incredibly simple one. It might not work at all. "Magical coin. Perhaps George would activate it for you?"

You didn't just hand new magics to the King or Queen after all. Especially ones that you'd made yourself. The older man, who could probably kill Timon without even moving fast, took the silver deftly and tapped it, even if it lacked a proper sigil.

The instant he did, it began to glow a nice silver color, which expanded slowly until it was about the size of a pie plate, floating in the air and spinning about twice per minute, then it turned to green, and showed the same emblem he had on his chest.

"Something to remember me by, when I'm not here." He spoke the words gently. It wasn't a perfect likeness, distorted on the left just a little, but it really wasn't bad, as far as art went. The bird looked like a bird, and while it didn't move, or play a tune, it still sent a message.

Don't mess with Timon.

The Queen stiffened, her eyes going a little wide after a moment. After all, magic took time to make and wasn't something that you made fresh and new like he just had. Tor could do it, but even the Lairdgren Group members would have been hard pressed to make it happen while standing in line. She had to know that the emblem was new too, which meant that Timon, half baked builder that he was, had done something that very few beings on the planet would be able to manage at all. Just to thwart
her
.

Now if it would just last through the evening, he'd look halfway decent.

The King stared at him frankly and gave a seated bow. It was what he did for all the other gifts as well after all, so not out of character or anything.

"Very nice! I see that you both wear the same symbol as well, and after you both honored us through the meal as you did, showing your total trust..." His eyes actually started to water a bit, even as he smiled at them broadly. "I think that everyone here is as touched by this as I am, Timon, Heather. Thank you both. This is lovely."

Timon didn't always think very highly of his Aunt, but she was very well trained for her job and didn't miss a beat, after the King spoke.

"It truly is! A thing worthy of your brother even. Thank you, Timon." It was a dig, of course, since she had to have some idea that he hated being compared to Tor like that. Still, magic was his brother's area, so if he wanted to dance there, it invited Tor's name into the conversation.

"Nothing that grand, I'm afraid, but I hope you find joy in it." He bowed, which got Countess Montblanc to do the same, matching him perfectly in angle. It was the kind of bow that married people used, to show they were united in a given situation. No one laughed however, even if it was kind of humorous.

They were led out of the way by Kara, who smirked at him a little as soon as Connie couldn't see. She led them without making contact, shifting them over to where Tor stood, Trice and Ali standing next to him, one on either side. Trice just nodded, her face looking very proper suddenly.

"That wasn't bad Tim. Managed to get out from under the net in time and everything. Now, don't think that you've totally gotten out of this. Constance will find a way to take her revenge on you. Probably by applying social combat rules, since she's a master of the subject, and you can't even throw a party of your own. I wonder how that will go? Well, keep me apprised, it will no doubt be interesting if nothing else." Moving in there was another kiss on the cheek, which was a bit too close for him. Tor at least looked baffled by the move, even Ali just smiled, as if it were only normal.

It meant something, but what that was seemed odd. They weren't close, Trice and himself...

Which was doubtless what she was trying to imply to everyone, for some reason. That they actually were, if not together really, at least friends. There were probably a thousand reasons why that might be the case, so he didn't pull away. A kiss on the cheek wasn't even outside of what was socially proper really, and as his brother's girlfriend something like that would be expected, most likely.

Alyssa moved in then and put her right hand on his upper arm. It was a little bit flirtatious, but not too bad. She actually tried pretty hard not to do that with him, and had ever since they'd chatted about how doing anything with any of Tor's family members would hurt him. After all, she was broken and battered internally from whatever it was that her evil father had done to her, but she was a good and kind person for all that. Cute too. Enough so that, if he weren't so broken himself, Timon probably would have enjoyed the attention from her a lot more than he did.

"Are you coming to our house for Noram Day, Tim? Heather is invited as well, naturally." She spoke the words as if they were all old friends, even, as far as he knew, Ali and Heather had only met a few hours before.

The woman bowed to his sister in-law anyway.

"Thank you, that's most kind. I should see to my people. The scourge that has fallen on them is most severe. I need to procure some healing devices. Given everything I don't know where the coin for that will come from, but it needs to be my top priority. I hope that my absence won't offend you? If it were any other time, I'd be there without pause." She seemed anxious suddenly, which got Ali to touch her arm, trying to comfort her.

"Oh! We understand. Tor, can't you see about some healing amulets? I know that there were a lot made..." It was a bit leading, but his brother nodded, then looked at him.

"Timon has some. I don't know where. I didn't ask." The shrug that came wasn't strictly his brother's, belonging instead to The Cordes. The Ancient King that had taken up residence inside his brother's mind. He wasn't supposed to just take over like that, in the main.

Timon didn't call him on it, since the whole thing with someone living in his head other than himself served to make Tor seem like a loon at the best of times.

Instead he smiled politely.

"We need to get with Petra on that, but we should have enough by morning, if I can find her. She's off visiting some friends for the holiday, but I'm sure she'll be willing to help, even given that."

After all, she was a good person, for all that she'd helped him run off with tens of thousands of healing amulets. Technically Timon knew where they were hidden, which was at her mother's place in County Ward, but he didn't want to mention that out loud, since everyone knew that the Wards had betrayed the Kingdom again. Except of course, they hadn't. They were playing spy.