by P. S. Power
"Suck hard, and make sure to swallow it all. You need to make a good impression." The reply actually got the woman next to him to blink and then smile a bit.
"If only that was all that was needed. It would be less humiliating."
She stepped from the craft, and held up the Truth amulet carefully, activating it slowly enough that the guards would know it wasn't a weapon. Then, carefully, she put it around her neck and laid on her stomach the side of her face on the bare dirt, the King and Queen moving forward carefully from behind a human shield wall of purple and black clad bodies as soon as she did it.
Then, just as Timon had suggested, she begged. Hard. Tears flowing nearly the whole time. She swore fealty not once, but three times, adding in her support of the Prince and the Princesses and her admiration of the Kingdom's Counselors as well for good measure. The others standing around were mainly other fairly well placed and loyal nobles, but no one mocked her, or laughed as she mumbled her surrender.
That was when Timon stepped in however.
"Actually, this isn't a surrender at all. It's a declaration of peace between you. Just to clarify the arrangement." Looking at the Military Counselor, Smythe of Westend, he smiled. Of all the people there he was the one that Tim liked best. It was a close tie, since Prince Alphonse was there too. Karina wasn't, for some reason, which was a shame. She was a nice girl, and cute. True, that was a problem for him now, since any hint of sexual interest reminded him of horrid pain, but that just had to be faced, if it wasn't going to cripple him in the long run. The idea of dealing with that scared him, so he didn't think about it at the moment, or at least tried not to.
The King actually smiled and gave him a small half bow. The kind that one would give to an equal, even that was a bit out of keeping given the situation.
"I do believe that you're correct, Countier Baker. Come, Heather, rise and let's be friends again. I think that all are satisfied here?" The words were exactly correct. Perfect in fact, and said with a gentleness that was probably part of the woman's original problem with the man. He was, really, too kind for a lot of people. She didn't complain at the moment however, Timon noticed.
That would be insane after all.
The man had to stoop, but moved to help Heather up carefully, which was a sign that he, at least, was ready to call the situation ended. There would be real treaties to sign of course, and documents to read, but this was the first of the important tests. Countess Montblanc had passed too, with flying colors.
The Queen smiled at her gently.
"We were just about to ready for dinner, would you join us Heather? As a friend?" It was a kind and polite gesture, considering that all of the nobles present had to be feeling more than a little put off by the idea. The Countess looked confused too. Normally she would have been invited to the meal, it was true, since Noram Day was the largest celebration of the year and everyone wanted to be invited to the King's Palace for it. The meal was also part of the ten day celebration that they did in the Capital, which meant that it was an actual event, not just a regular dinner. The woman didn't have the right clothing for it, which would be a humiliation, but on the other hand, only real friends were invited to these things.
It was a contradiction.
"I'd love too." She tried not to rub at her simple white gown or heavy jacket, both now very dirty on the front.
Timon got the plan, which was both meant to endear the woman to them and punish her slightly, for her mistakes, but shook his head. That wouldn't help after all. Heather had already sworn to the King and given up. Besides, she was there under his protection. If he let her be humiliated beyond what was needed, that would be him failing. Timon hated to fail. It made people think less of him.
"We'd love to, of course. Might we have a place to ready ourselves? I know that space is at a premium here right now, with all the visitors..." Most of the listeners didn't get what he was really saying at all, but the Queen did. Timon could tell by the way she glared at him for stealing the moment away from her and her King. He would have told her to suck on it, but she was his Aunt and that would be both morally wrong, and terrifying for him. Instead he just nodded to her, which, for some reason, got her face to soften.
"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?" T
imon 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.
Chapter two
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.
