by P. S. Power
Timon had a strange feeling that would be his grandfather. There was probably a reason for it, but seriously, what was the point? Wouldn't letting them have a few luxuries serve to make them stronger in the end? Wouldn't feeling loved and respected draw them closer to the King than this?
Peterson didn't respond, but walked away quickly, as if afraid to be there for too long. They were being watched, no doubt, but Timon didn't really care about that. It was their job to protect the King, which meant knowing what people were saying and doing. He was only getting clean, himself. It probably wouldn't offend them.
By the time they were back to the Queen, several things had changed. She was busily walking around a large room that had many comfortable sofas and chairs in it, all done in a cream color that had to be impossible to keep clean for the servants, making a point of talking to everyone. She did it well, Tim had to admit. She was a professional at what she did and everyone had to feel like she was spending more time and attention with them than anyone else. It was part timing on her part, and the fact that she had a lot to say to each person that was perfectly correct. She even spoke to the Austran Ambassador as if they were old friends and made a point of touching Kincaid Rue on the arm gently. It wasn't exactly flirtatious, but it would make the woman who looked to be about fifteen, but was older thanks to some kind of medical procedure, feel welcome and wanted.
Even if Constance had no clue who the heck she was.
For her part, Kincaid lit up when she saw him.
"Tim, over here!" She waved and moved the last few steps between them to give him a quick hug. "So, are you still claiming that you're only twelve? The Revered One said you were, on the trip over, but I'm not certain he isn't having me on. After all, the age of consent is fourteen here, right?" The woman let her eyes narrow as if someone were playing tricks on her, then smiled brightly, and flipped her fake red hair out of her eyes.
The Queen, for her part removed her hand from the woman's arm and bowed slightly.
"It's rare, but with parental permission, a younger person might marry below that age at need. It isn't spoken about normally..." She leaned in, her voice going low. "In some cases of pregnancy, if a woman is without a husband, it can be done. We don't allow women to have children unwed, as a rule. That can be... difficult at times for those with enough station, you understand?"
Timon had to keep from rolling his eyes, since it really was about what they had to be telling people, given the matter at hand. It wasn't like Trice could openly claim that she was marrying him out of love or something. Or to avoid an unpleasant marriage to Rico Gala. That left very few reasons that would work. Claiming she was pregnant would do it. Then in a few months, when she wasn't showing, they could claim she "lost" the baby. That or her cycle had played a trick on her. Really, that would be the one they should go with, Timon thought. Someone like Trice was too smart to let herself accidentally get with child after all. It wouldn't ring true. Being late, that could happen to any woman and the cause wasn't always known.
Strictly speaking, Tim wasn't supposed to know things like that, but a life time of paying attention had let him figure some things like that out.
Kincaid nodded back and whispered herself.
"So I hear. It's very noble of him to step in like this then, isn't it? Or... is there some kind of intrigue involved here? I'm sorry, I'm not very well versed on things like that yet. I practiced a bit for my part, but that's mainly trying to learn the accent and mimic Noram body language."
She actually had those down decently too, Tim noticed. They weren't exactly like Karina, perhaps, but she was doing pretty well, seeming like a Noram noble.
Timon was the one that answered, since everyone else was acting suddenly awkward.
"In general you don't ask about intrigue in public. After all, it means that you don't know already, which puts you at a disadvantage. The answer this time is that I'm helping out a friend however. Now, did Denno stick around, or has he managed to run off and hide? Not that I'd blame him, but I was hoping to chat with him before things took place today. What time is that happening anyway?" It was, he thought, about five in the afternoon already. No one had given him a schedule, they just kept throwing him in rivers and beating him...
Which, he realized suddenly, was meant to be a kindness, keeping him distracted. The Royal Guards weren't sane, thanks to their training, so they had strange ways of doing things like that. He had to admit, it worked. He was far more worried about the next beating than he was about standing in front of some people and saying that he agreed to be married. Hopefully he wasn't supposed to have a whole wedding speech ready.
If so, someone needed to tell him now, and either hand him the words to parrot or let him write something out. Otherwise it wasn't going to be well done at all.
He didn't get to ask, since he was taken by the arm and led away then by a girl that was about five inches taller than he was, with shoulder length brown hair. There was a little red in it, and she was pretty enough, wearing a flowing mint colored gown with a funny conical hat on her head that had a veil on it, which was pulled back.
Princess Veronica.
"Hello, I need to help you get ready. That's my part in this for the day. Sorry mother, Miss Rue. Ambassador, would you attend us? It's traditional for the groom's friends to stand by him for the day, even if it means they just stand around waiting for most of it."
Timon hadn't known that he and Ambassador Hallis were all that close, but the man lit up and then bowed, very properly, even if that wasn't the Austran way. He was dressed in a deep blue suit with black plastic buttons. At least Tim thought they were made of that material. It was a common thing in the man's homeland, but looked rare and fine in Noram, where they didn't have anything like it. The point was a simple enough thing; the Princess was trying to be diplomatic and include the people from the land of their old enemy in the events of the day.
To that end he nodded.
"Yes, David, would you? Normally, given my age I'd have mainly family members around for the day, so that fits." It was probably over the top to proclaim the man as that close, but he was kind of their Austran, wasn't he? That had to count for something.
The older man, with his silver hair and slightly large stomach bowed again, which got the Princess to laugh and wave him into movement before he could start a speech.
There weren't a lot of spare rooms for sleeping, so instead of one of those being given over, they were supposed to use one of the smaller sitting rooms. Considering the whole exercise was really about making certain that he didn't run away, or so it seemed, as well as getting him dressed in a nice outfit that would match whatever Trice, Petra, and her mother were coming up with, they didn't need a lot more space than that.
No one related to him directly actually showed up. Not even to say hello. True, Veronica was there, but she was part of that very strange biological manipulation plot that had been discovered a few months prior. It wasn't like she was a real relative. They hadn't grown up with each other or anything. Timon didn't even call her by her family nickname. He needed to start, most likely, or they'd never be as close as they probably should be.
"Let's see... The colors are blue and golden orange for the ceremony, but Trice will be in white, as a sign of purity, since this is her first marriage." The Princess stood back and looked at him closely for a while, then placed a hand firmly on his shoulder, speaking while she tried out various alterations.
"We could use a white suit for this. Silk is too fine. We don't want you to seem soft, or overly young..." It took a while for it to all come together, but in the end he had an all white outfit with silver buttons on the front and after a few moments of focus, a copy of the little crest that he'd used at the party a few days before over his heart.
It was a bit of a dig at his Aunt, but not a huge one, since most wouldn't see it. Veronica got it and made a face. It wasn't a pretty thing to see either.
"Right. Well, it is something that people have s
een on you and I suppose that wearing it now will soften the blow against mother a bit. She was not at all pleased with the magical device you produced the other day. This will make it look a bit more like something planned at least, that you actually had ready ahead of time. The way it looked in the room was like you'd made it while walking into place. That was a bit of a slap, since it both showed you as powerful and mother as being a bit bitchy. No one likes to be called on things like that, even if it was true at the moment." She grinned and touched her hand to the device on his chest. "You did it then, didn't you? I saw you drop into the trance."
Timon bowed, but didn't comment, since it was hard to take words back and there really were spies all over the place here. Just bowing was something that could be reported and mean anything from him agreeing to his not wanting to admit to something that didn't happen at all.
Then, surprisingly, Veronica produced a disguise amulet.
"The trick here is going to be in making you look about the right age, if short. We can sell that you're about eighteen I think, if a bit common in blood. That way no one will think Cousin Trice is a cradle robbing monster, even if that is the situation here." There was a hard look into his eyes, but the Princess smiled after a bit. "If there was another way, we wouldn't be doing this at all. I... There's more, but I can't tell you yet."
The half dart toward the Ambassador gave it all away. She didn't want to talk in front of the unknown person. Not about anything important.
Instead she changed the topic.
"I hear that you and Raul are going to be working on the new space program together? That's exciting. I've never been to space, myself. I've heard of it, in the old stories, but it seems like a tale, doesn't it?"
The Ambassador cleared his throat, but chuckled a bit then, his face holding a friendly look that seemed slightly fatherly.
"I too, find it interesting. We used to have a full program to that end, but it was deemed too costly a few hundred years ago, so now all we do is put up satellites. I'd like to go myself, sometime, if possible. I used to dream of it as a child."
Count Peterson stared down at the man, his face looking puzzled for a moment, but his words seeming clear and very coherent. It probably meant he was smarter than he looked.
"If I understand this correctly, we should have the first units for testing in a few days. Sooner actually, but this day's events are holding things back a bit. Then we need to make certain it can be done without dying. I don't know who we're going to get for that however. It will need to be someone capable of flying such a thing of course, but also not so highly placed that they'll be missed if they die. Not that they will, since the Wizard Tor is making the things himself. It's a formality, I'm certain."
There really were things to test, like the air cleaning unit, and the fake gravity. Growing things under the lights inside for instance, because food would be needed for long trips. Also the speed, but that could be done in space itself, where they had room.
"I'll be doing that. By taking it under the water of the ocean for a while first. Then, once everything checks out there, we'll let Alice Orange decide who gets to go into space first, since she's going to be in charge of the whole thing. We're just in charge of the Noram part. You know, we need someone for Austra too. Just remind them that it basically means doing what Orange says, or she'll kick their behinds. Possibly for real. She's one of the best fighters in the world after all." It was the truth, but no one commented on it overly.
It took all of them about two hours to make him look believably old enough to be getting married that day. The mirror showed that he looked good. Manly enough, but with a slightly fine featured face that was free of blemishes and a faint scar on his left cheek, near his mouth, just for decoration. That was an addition that Ambassador Hallis suggested.
"Your people don't do tattoos or piercings commonly, but since this will be shown on the com in my land, people will expect to see something. Everyone is most excited you know. Your popularity is nearly as great as your brother's and people find you far more accessible. Of course many will be saddened to see you not marrying Kincaid Rue. Those rumors have been going around for a while now, that you two were an item. That's the life of a celebrity." He had to explain most of this to the others, but Timon actually knew what he meant. He hadn't realized there was going to be a camera crew.
It turned out that Denno was busily seeing to that part of things himself. It was why he wasn't there, no doubt.
That killed some time, which was the real point, and finally, at about ten minutes before seven, he was led by a cohort of nicely dressed Royal Guards to the Palace chapel. The instructions were actually fairly simple, since they hadn't had any chance to practice or even go over it all before he was taken to the outer door.
George nudged him gently, and bowed to Count Peterson.
"This won't be difficult. You'll both walk in through the side door. There's a white marker on the floor for you to stand on Timon. The black one is for you Count Peterson. After three minutes, Patricia Morgan and her ladies maids will walk down the aisle. You'll turn to look at her, and then take her hand briefly. Let go, and then do what the cleric tells you to. When he asks you if you agree to be her husband, say yes, clearly and firmly. If anyone makes a claim that you shouldn't be married this day, then Count Peterson will meet them in battle. Try to keep it bloodless, if that comes, sir. We just cleaned the floors." The words were serious, but after a moment the older guard smiled.
"Then, after you're released, you'll take her hand and walk back down the way she came in. Any questions?"
Shaking his head, Timon felt like his stomach was trying to get out. It didn't show in his voice, thankfully. It was bad enough that he felt anything at all, but nervousness wasn't going to help him, was it? It would be one thing to sound young and shaky, a totally different one to throw up all over his bride.
"Let's do this, shall we?" He managed to sound calm and even happy, like it was a good thing and not some kind of trick they were playing on the whole world.
"Very well." They still had to wait a few minutes, since there was a time schedule for the whole thing. Forcing his mind to go very nearly blank, Timon walked through the nice wooden door, noting the fine inlaid jade pieces that covered the outside, contrasting with the plain wood on the other. The flooring in the chapel was polished wood, and very clean, with a lovely red carpet running down the many rows of people. There were hundreds of them. Easily as many as there had been for Lyn and Dorgal's Wedding.
Timon tried to ignore them, even as he saw some familiar faces. His family was there, for the most part, in the first rows on the right hand side. Tor and Ali were in the second row, sitting next to Veronica and for some reason, the Queen. King Richard sat next to Alphonse on the other side, next to Duke Morgan and his wife. There was a man next to them that had to be Patricia's other brother. He looked a lot like Mark at least.
There were more faces that he knew, on both sides, his business having caused him to meet a lot of them over the last months. Finding the small spot of white chalk on the floor wasn't hard, and he managed to stand on it without falling off, or anything. That was just his nerves talking. He hadn't really thought that he'd feel it that closely, since, after all, this wasn't about him at all. Except that it was. Something deep inside of him warned that it was a very bad idea, getting married, especially to Patricia Morgan, but it was too late to back out now. She needed the help and even if he didn't care about her, which was actually the case, looking bad would cost him more than being saddled with her for the rest of his life.
They both stood for a long time and then there was music. It was a full orchestra, not just Marco Sorvee, who was sitting on his side of the space, near the halfway mark, since they were friends, but he wasn't a nobleman exactly.
When Trice came in she looked very nice, which wasn't a shock. That Sara walked in behind her was. Timon had known she was involved, but hadn't really thought about it. After all, she was the only pe
rson that he'd ever even imagined himself to be in love with. That had been years before, but it was as real as anything, wasn't it? The blood rushed from his face, but he didn't let himself pass out. Instead he tightened his stomach and pushed blood into his head.
Then he locked his eyes, and mind, on Trice.
Her hair was pulled back, but left a waterfall of dark curls visible on the right. Her eyes were a light blue, but bright, and she smiled at him with only a hint of nervousness to be seen. If she were acting it was done so well that she should go into being a player in Austra, where that kind of skill was well rewarded. Her dress was perfect, clearly being made of magic, but didn't go into gaudy at all. It was white and reflected the light in the room, but that was all.
The Cleric walked up just as she got to the front, and Timon reached out for her hand, as he'd been told to. It was the right one that he took. The one that his brother had made for her. He didn't let himself think about the implications of that, just locking eyes with her. Then he smiled, making sure it seemed real. After all, this was the only first wedding either of them would ever have. He might as well do his part.
The actual ceremony wasn't that long and most of the heavy lifting was done by the Cleric, who was a man of about forty, dressed in green and bright gold, with a funny hat that made him look nearly nine feet tall. He had an even tenor and a friendly tone at least.
When it came, Timon nearly missed his line. It was only the slight tightening of Trice's eyes, a panicked wince that got him to realize what was needed, as distracted as he was.
"Yes." He managed to make it a little deeper than normal, the single word a proud and commanding statement, rather than a hesitant question.
The Cleric turned his body slightly, to look at Trice. For half a second Timon wondered if she were going to say no and run off, laughing at him for letting himself be tricked.
