The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon) (3 page)

For all that his brother spoke out against waste and conspicuous displays of wealth, he certainly didn't shy away from them, owning three different homes like he did. The one at the Capital was still there, and looked radiant, as always. It was a vast thing that actually rivaled the Kings palace in size and made it look a little poor and shabby by comparison. It had changed since he'd seen it last, a few months before, but magical houses could do that. The good ones at least.

He landed in the front, which had started to become an actual lawn, made of green grasses, trimmed to a very uniform three inches. It wasn't evenly thick yet, but it did look pretty nice. The space was big, but there was a stone walkway to the front door. He landed there, hovering a foot above it, at the edge of the lawn, and walked to the house itself after he got the craft put away again. At least he had cases that didn't fall to the ground, which was helpful. Otherwise they'd need to be unloaded each time he landed for any length of time.

It took a minute to make it to the door, and he had to knock and then wait for the thing to open. For a long time nothing happened, but finally it cracked a bit, then got thrown open wide, the woman standing there smiling. Until she saw him. It was Collette Coltress, who was... Timon wasn't certain as to the relationship actually. His brother's girlfriend? Lover? They lived together part of the time,
with
Ali, so it was clearly complicated. He nearly just asked if he should hug her or not when she stepped toward him, doing it without asking. Apparently they had that kind of relationship then. Family. Or close enough at least.

"Do you have news?" Her voice was strained and she didn't let him go at all, holding him closer in fact, almost like she didn't want him to give her bad news. That was fine, since he didn't have any. Not like that at least.

"Hello Collette. No news yet. You?" It probably would have been the first thing she said, if she had anything, but it sounded like the polite thing to ask. Besides, the woman was connected. If anyone here knew anything, she'd be in the thick of it.

"Nothing. Have you come to visit us then? Or..." She smiled again, it wasn't perfectly happy, but he really doubted that she didn't want him to stay with them or anything. They had the space.

That meant it was something else.

A thing that she knew and she was trying to feel him out about, to see if he did as well. Given his age and who he was, that meant it was about his family most likely. There were a lot of them, but only two in the city, Ali and Terlee. If they were in the Capital at least. It was the right time of year for his sister, being married to a Count and all. Timon wasn't, as far as he knew, fighting with either one of them and they wouldn't be arguing right now. No... there was something else going on. He just didn't know what.

"A bit of both? I have an '
or
' right now, but after that gets taken care of I could use a place to stay while I try to drum up business. You'll help me with that right? For the fast transport service?" He didn't know if anyone had mentioned it to her, but she actually clapped when he said the words.

"Oh, is that starting already? It's been the buzz of the Capital for weeks. Alphonse and Karina have been talking it up in
circles
, I doubt you'll have to beat the drum very loudly to get things going. Pressing concern for funds? A new business? Another one I mean, if you need to arrange funds for it? If it's alright to ask, of course." She took his arm gently to guide him in, her dress brushing up against him as she moved closer than was strictly proper. It wasn't exactly way too close, but if he were a few years older it would have clearly been an indication that he should consider asking if she wanted to have sex.

For her to be doing that at his age meant... Honestly it probably meant she was lonely. She smoothed the white lace of her clothing and swished a little as she walked, making her steps smaller than normal, since she was over six feet tall. About six-four he thought, compared to his five-two or so.

"I'm in need of some golds. It seems that Tor mentioned to someone that I didn't
need
a scholarship, even though I won one at the new Printer school. It's seventy-five gold per year, plus expenses, so I'm scrambling a bit. Good to hear people are excited about the idea. Maybe I can raise the funds before the year will start? Then, if I can talk the headmaster into it, I can work on off days and evenings... I don't know. I'll figure it out... How are you doing?" That was what he should have said first, but Collette didn't seem unhappy to be asked, even if it was a bit late.

"Scared. Worried about Tor. A bit about Ali too. Trice is off... working, she couldn't tell us what's going on, so business for the Kingdom no doubt. You didn't hear it from me. How about you? Other than the fact that I
know
Tor intended to pay for your schooling himself. He wasn't trying to undermine you, just to free up a scholarship for a person that didn't have rich relatives to pay their way. Speaking of which, you do have some of those lying around..." She looked concerned again, but this time her eyes focused on him, probing carefully.

Tim just shrugged.

"My parents offered to pay, but my mother and I aren't doing too well right now. Tense, more than actually fighting. I can see it as a trap, so I'm avoiding it. Count Thomson offered too... but I can't take his money like some kind of beggar. Not when I can just get my backside out there and earn what I need. At least that's what I was thinking at the time. Now I'm having second thoughts. Not really your problem. What I really need, at the moment, is to borrow a Truth amulet." They walked as they talked, the floor under their feet a very fine looking single piece of marble, polished to gleaming. Their feet made the correct noises on it, but for some reason Collette made less noise than he did. Her shoes were soft slippers instead of boots like he wore. They were flat, but not hard enough to make a lot of noise. It was a good thing to remember, since he could do that too, if it was ever needed. Tim didn't even have to use slippers. Shoes or boots could be given a soft sole as well, which would make being quiet easier. Say if he had to leave the room while his roommate was sleeping? There had been a package of information suggesting that each person would have one, even though space wasn't at a premium, it being the first year for the place and all that. They wouldn't have a lot of kids, he didn't think.

She nodded at him then, her eyes slightly wider than was really needed, feigning interest in what had been said. It was out of place again, but slightly flirtatious. Not over the top, but it wasn't anything he'd expect from her. It could just be that she saw him as a stand in for Tor, but Timon doubted that too. No, this felt like... intrigue. She was, in a very light fashion, trying to get him to like her, so that she could use him to some end.

Like he'd fall for that?

For nearly two years Tim had been out in the world, going from place to place. Some of those spots had nobles in them, and as his mother had always told him, in that world you had to be ready for nearly
everyone
to be plotting something. If you couldn't figure out what it was, that just meant it probably had something to do with you.

In this case it could just be that he didn't know enough of course.

"A Truth amulet? We have some of course..." That got her to go silent again, since they were closing in on a sitting room, one that held three other women. All were pretty enough, in their own way, though only one of them really got his instant attention.

Sara. For half a second he almost stared at her, but remembered himself in time to not seem like a total freak, or a love struck puppy. His heart hardly pounded at all even. Looking around he noticed that there was a preponderance of blonde women in the room. It was his favorite hair color, but he doubted that they'd come just for him. Ali stood and ran to him, giving him a big hug, her ample chest pressing into his. She was a lot taller than she had been when they were in the land of Vagus a few months back. Nearly five-ten now, he figured. That meant she had to stoop a bit not to hit him in the face with her chest. She did it though, which showed that she was trying to be good in his brother's absence. At least with him.

"Timon! Do you have news?" It was, it seemed, going to be the question of the day. He shook his head, not drawing it out.

"Not about Tor. There's a problem with equipment theft at Wildlands Station. I came to get a Truth amulet if I can borrow one? They don't have access to that kind of thing. A lot of kids are either being framed, or have been stealing from the military. The Commander there, Major Godfrey, is about ready to be packed off to prison. Drunk right now, but there's a new theft, so we might be able to track it down. I think he could use some help. More than I can give him. I said I'd ask at the palace, but I doubt I'm on the visitors list there." It was hard to lock eyes with her, having not bothered to pay attention to her like he should for a while, but she might need him to be there for her now. She didn't seem too distraught at least. Instead Ali seemed... motivated.

"My orphans are being accused of crimes? Of course you can have a Truth amulet. I... here. I always carry two now." She pulled one off from around her neck, which was on a silver chain. It was pretty nice, but chain was expensive, so he resolved to give it back to her, even though she'd said he could have it. She did let her fingers tickle his palm when she dropped it in.

"I don't know what to do about the rest of it. I can't just... I shouldn't have left them alone for so long. Sam and I are working on the project, but I've been busy. It isn't a very good excuse. This shouldn't be the first I'm hearing about this." There was definitely a lot more firmness in her now than before. A hardness and fire, it seemed.

It looked good on her. Much better than the crying and weakness he'd expected.

There was a soft clearing of a throat behind him, which got him to turn, remembering his manners. He didn't know who one of the women sitting there even was. That Sara was in the chair next to her
did
show that the new woman was technically prettier than she was. Part of that was the clothing and hair style however.

Sara nodded to him, her eyes softening a bit when she looked at him, but it wasn't anything but a polite gaze, he didn't think. She was probably a bit uncomfortable, since the last time he'd met with her he had asked her if she was planning to marry soon. It was a bit pushy of him considering he couldn't do it himself at the moment. It was probably making her uneasy, worried that she'd have to explain it all again to him. He got it though and wouldn't press the issue.

Sara spoke in a nearly military fashion then. Clipped and a little hard.

"Which is why I came, Alyssa. There have been problems there for a while, but the new influx of children isn't helping anything at all. We have some suspects, but right now someone needs to be standing up for your kids. That's going to take more than I can do at my current rank." The eye contact had switched back to Alyssa almost instantly. Even Collette had paid more attention to him than that. The other woman still was, he noticed.

She
studied him closely.

The lady wasn't old, perhaps twenty or so? It was hard to tell, because she looked younger than that, but was decently tall, which meant royal. They always aged slower than everyone else. Well, not slower than
he
would, but most girls in Two Bends that looked like her would be about sixteen, or maybe just a bit older. It made it hard to tell.

She broke eye contact with him and looked back a few seconds later, then batted her eyelashes, just a little, in case he didn't get the idea she was flirting with him.

"Well,
hello
!" Her words were pleasant, almost sparkling her white dress tightening across the front as she pushed her chest out slightly in his direction. It wasn't a large movement, but it was pretty clear that she didn't find him too hideous to talk to.

He smiled and gave a decently low bow. It was kind of a fallback move. When in doubt bend low enough that no one would be insulted.

"Hello. Sorry I haven't introduced myself. Timon Baker." He left off the titles because it always sounded pretentious when he tried to use them. Worse, you either found yourself facing a person of lower rank, who would think you were rubbing it in half the time, or of higher rank, who thought you wanted to climb above your position. That's what it always felt like to him anyway.

"Maria Ward. Nice to meet you Timon. Would you like a seat? There's room over here, by me." She patted the cushion next to her gently. There was barely room on that side of her, which meant it was an invitation to touch her, if she didn't intend to scoot to the other side, which was well and truly open.

He spread his hands.

"I'd love to, of course. Unfortunately, I promised to get back as soon as possible. Perhaps we could meet up and talk later? If you aren't busy of course. I intend to see if I can stay here for a few nights while setting up some business." He didn't explain what or why, but the woman smiled at him, which moved from a pretty grin to a large wolfish thing in just a few seconds.

"Oh, I'd love to! I'm staying here as well, Collette is my sister. Alyssa is a very good friend of mine too. I'm sure we could find something to entertain ourselves, if we give it some thought."

That got an odd reaction from at least one person in the room. Sara cleared her throat and looked at Maria, clearly scandalized.

"Excuse me, Countess Ward, but he's
twelve
. Or... not even that yet." She glanced at him finally as if looking for confirmation.