The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon) (5 page)

That started him thinking about where Tor could be, someplace dark, hiding in fear? Pretending to be someone else perhaps? It wouldn't help to keep dwelling on it. Not at all.

The Major was surrounded by the cream and golden colored glow and managed to exonerate himself from most of the wrong doing pretty fast. He was negligent on several counts, not having reported the thefts initially, but that wasn't criminal as much as being afraid that it would make him look bad. It did, so no one said much about it. He was in charge, which meant that anything done under his command, by his men, was his responsibility. Even if he couldn't have known about it.

"Of course if you'd reported this properly to begin with, we could have settled this by now and young Remy here wouldn't have been attacked earlier. There is a real reason that we have a system in place Major. If you still have your position at the end of this, I hope that you'll keep that in mind?" It should have sounded harsh and mean, but it was a lot more understanding in tone than anyone would have expected it seemed. Especially Godfrey.

"Sir." It wasn't a yes or no, but it conveyed that he understood.

It turned out that they had nearly four thousand bodies in the new city, only a thousand of them orphans there for the learning opportunities. The guidance of them had largely been shunted off to a combination of military men and prostitutes. Most of the work was actually being done by the older children, who saw that everyone was cleaned and fed each day. There was no school, except for the one to learn how to use the compressor units and make useful things.

No one was teaching reading or writing, no figuring or history either. The strange thing there was that no one in the whole place seemed to think that was odd at all. True a lot of people didn't have those skills in the Kingdom, but that normally had to do with a lack of funds or availability of teachers. Here they didn't have those problems, or at least shouldn't. It wasn't his place to speak about it, but if he didn't it was pretty clear no one else would bother.

"Alyssa... Why don't these kids have basic schooling too? Not everyone will get to make furniture and plates, and only some will make it into the military. A basic education has to be useful in finding work though."

Ali shrugged and looked around the Major's office, clearly thinking.

"It just hadn't come up yet. Sam and I put this together and were just happy that it worked as well as it has. I don't know how to set up a school."

Timon thought for a few seconds, forcing a smile to his face. It couldn't be that hard to do.

"Get in touch with the teaching schools and offer to hire any of their graduates willing to relocate here. I know it's an extra expense, but Tor can afford it and wouldn't begrudge anyone the means to learn." It wasn't his gold of course, but he felt pretty safe offering it up anyway.

Collette called him on it, if in a slightly strange way.

"You... won't take funds for your own schooling from your parents or Count Thomson, but you'll volunteer your brother's coin to see to these children's?" It wasn't scathing, even though it did kind of point out that he was being hard headed about the whole thing.

Tim shrugged and grinned at her, noticing how blue her eyes were. It wasn't any great shock what his brother saw in the woman. She was both smart and good looking.

"Right. Different things altogether. I've
had
a free education already, which means I have what I need to go it alone if I have to. These people didn't get that kind of privilege. We should do it. If Tor wants to charge me for it when he gets back he can. I don't think it will be a problem."

No one else really thought so either, which was a little strange, but Ali still didn't want to use the gold on it, since it wasn't hers to spend, even if that wasn't true at all. It was clear she thought that spending the gold on it was theft, even if Tor was her husband and had more coin that anyone could ever get rid of.

He shook his head and sighed. The amulets and items he'd copied were his back up, in case he didn't make enough to pay for his own schooling, but it was clear that these orphans needed it worse than he did. It was a hard thing to consider, since he didn't really care about them, but it was clearly the
correct
thing to do. Going to the largest of his three floating cases he let it settle down to the floor and started pulling out the acid etched pieces inside. They looked pretty nice, even if they didn't glow and weren't on stone. He said what each one was as he put them onto little cloth coin bags so that they'd stay separate.

"That's fifty of them, all I have right now. Except for shields, which I can't part with. I can only make five at a time. Take them and sell them. It should be enough to get some kind of school started. I'll try to get more for it as soon as possible." It wasn't fair, since Ali had a lot more gold than he did and it was her program, but life hadn't been easy for these kids. He got how she felt about it anyway. She hadn't earned the coin herself and to her mind Tor had only married her to protect her from her da. An evil beast that made the world a better place by dying like he had.

Sara went wide eyed and stared at the bags as he handed them over to Ali.

"That's... almost twenty thousand gold Timon. Conservative resale for the work." She was a merchant by birth, so she knew about things like that. "If you need gold for school, even one of those would be enough."

"
If
I had the contacts to make the sales. Which I don't yet. Hopefully I can get the Fast Transport going soon enough that I can attend this year. If not I'll work for a year first. This is more important than my personal comfort." It was true, he knew, even if the idea did leave him feeling a little sad. That was just him being responsive to his plans changing. It wasn't that big of a problem. He could get books that would teach most of what he needed to know, and find a tutor for the rest anyway. A lot of nobles got their educations that way. His mother had suggested it for most of the kids, so they wouldn't have to leave Two Bends.

It was strange, but everyone in the room bowed toward him then. A sign of respect that the nobility used when they realized they'd been "out nobled" by one of their own. It was easier than trying to outdo them later. Ali clapped a little, happily, and gave him a hug after that.

"This is perfect. We can do it... Collette, will you help me with it? I still don't really know who to contact." They pulled off to the side to discuss the matter in low tones.

Timon felt a little breathless rather than good about what he'd just done, but it was the right thing to do, even if it did hurt a little.

Not to be sidetracked Smythe set out to find the culprits, starting with the supply Sergeant for the base, who was, surprisingly, innocent. Of that at least. He had been letting some of the kids "borrow" extra blankets and had let one boy with very large feet have an old pair of boots that he didn't think anyone would miss. It was peculation, but oddly enough Smythe pretended not to hear the man admit to it. Neither did Major Godfrey. The kids needed blankets and things after all.

They also needed more food. The military wasn't letting them starve, and that was something that was being paid for by Tor directly, but they didn't have a fraction of the cooks and bakers needed. Godfrey mentioned it firmly to Smythe, clearly expecting that the Military Counselor could do something about it. It wasn't exactly a hard problem to fix. Timon saw the simple answer almost instantly.

"Start a school for it. If the military is having problems getting cooks and bakers, teach some of the kids here to do it, so they have a better shot at a military job in a few years. Claim it's official training so that any of them that pass can go in directly if they want. That gives them a better shot and you the help you need." He looked at Ali and let his eyebrows raise a little. "You're related to a dozen bakers Alyssa. Use your family ties to bring some in to teach. I bet there are others, cooks and what not, that will be willing to do it. They can practice by fixing meals for everyone each day."

Everyone stared at him for a bit, like it was a bad idea, except Smythe who started nodding and moved to stand next to him, clapping Timon on the shoulder. It was with his right hand, which he could feel was made of magic as soon as it connected. That was slightly surprising, but he managed not to jump. It was very good work, which got him to stare at it for a second as it rested on his shoulder. The man removed it quickly then, but Timon shook his head, not wanting the Counselor to feel insulted.

"Just admiring the craftsmanship." He didn't add anything else, so that Smythe wouldn't be embarrassed.

He flexed the hand and nodded, looking oddly content.

"As good as the real thing... at any rate, I find that an admirable solution as well. Lady Baker, would you be so kind as to attend a meeting with the King on the matter? We've struggled for years to address that situation, and this might be the solution we need." The older man looked at them all, one by one, his eyes finally resting on the boy that had been robbed earlier. "You see, the young men and women that have skills to cook and bake aren't normally the kind that wish to join the military. On the other side, when we've insisted that some learn the skills, instead of fighting, they tend to do a poor job of it and leave after a single tour of duty, feeling that the military didn't live up to expectations. Everyone wants to be an elite soldier, or part of the new Flying Corps. Without cooks though, they all starve. Do you think that any of your fellows here would take such positions?" His gaze was searching, almost fatherly in a way however, as if he was honestly going to base his recommendations on what the kid said.

"Sir.
Anyone
here would take that over an early death in the mines and most would find it pref'ble to whoring. Sir." It wasn't in perfect military style, but it was decently close as far as Timon could tell.

It seemed it was good enough to start with at least.

"Very good Remy. For now I'd like you to stay with Major Godfrey. We probably won't be able to find out who did this today, so please watch him and make certain that no one harms him. If they try, you aren't to fight them, but rather run away as fast as possible and call for help. Can you do that for me?"

That got the kid to look wide eyed and a little scared, but he stood straighter and looked proud at the same time. Trusted. Which he was, Timon realized, since the boy had already passed a Truth test and to do that he'd had to prove he was basically an honest person, not working against the Kingdom. It was as good a way to test a person as any, as far as that kind of thing went.

Then, even though it didn't make that much sense to Timon, they headed back to the palace. They had daylight for more investigation, but Smythe was planning on bringing in a team of people to help do the work of checking everyone. An elite squad that had forty people that could question people at one time.

"It will be more efficient than just going from soldier to soldier asking if they know anything ourselves. We'll get to the bottom of this shortly, I'm certain."

The trip back didn't take long, except for the landing, which wasn't his fault. All he had to do was let the Counselor and the others off, then go back to Tor's house, but for some reason only Smythe and Sam left the craft. The Royal Guards sat as if they were expected back at his brother's place. It wasn't any big deal to him, except that once that was done and he was about to step out, the older guard put a hand out to stop him.

"We could use a favor." He didn't say anything else, since the door was open and the ladies that had come with him were staring at the scene.

It was a strange thing, but Timon nodded.

"Alright. Let's unload first, unless you also need a case of gold to buy some orphans out of the gallows?" It came out rather dry, but he managed to smile as he walked past the man. It took a few minutes to clear everything off, then longer to get the others to go inside first, since Sara was obviously lingering, to try and figure out what was going on. Kara had stayed in the back of the craft, looking like she planned to stay no matter what.

He gestured her off firmly and did the same with George, then touched his left hand to the nose of his craft.

"What do we want it to look like?" It could be that they wanted a word with him about his manners or something, but if that was the case they would have just pulled him aside at the palace, saving them a walk back. He had to think this was something else.

"As close to unseen as possible. The color of the twilight sky, then shifting into night black. Can you do that while flying?" George looked at him blankly, not giving anything away.

"I can. It's a bit early for that yet. Am I allowed to know the destination? If not, then I'll need one of you to know exactly where we're going. It's harder to do at night."

The woman nodded, smiling a bit, her frame relaxed more than it had been.

"Perfect. I think I can get us there. The King asked us to try it. Prisoner extraction, technically Ill-"

Timon held up his right hand and glared.

"If it's something I don't need to know about, then don't tell me. As far as I know, you and your boyfriend here want a romantic midnight getaway. My job isn't to ask questions about things like that. I'm not following you into the woods to see what you get up to, you understand?" He tried to look bland about it, but it was something that the guards both understood and seemed to approve of.