Lord of the Sky (The Young Ancients: Timon)

by P. S. Power

  Trice looked like he'd hit her for a moment.

  "Is it bad?"

  "What? No, it's good. I just realized that I didn't talk to Holly about getting that fish in for County Montblanc. This being an adult thing is harder than all the tall people let on, you know that?"

  "True. That's not a real problem however. No one expects you to do that. All you need to do right now is win me over, as I cry about leaving my home and being forced to bed the ogre-ish brute that I've married. At least that's the traditional way this goes. In this case it seems that I might be the ogre in the story. I guess I need to start winning you over with my wit and charm? I'd tell a joke, but at this moment I can't think of even one that fits the situation."

  Timon looked at her and let one eye close in a very slow wink.

  "What did the Wizard Tor say to the King the last time they met?"

  She seemed slightly taken aback, and appeared to actually be searching her memory for a real answer.

  "I'm not really sure... I don't always get reports on that kind of thing."

  Timon smiled, "he said, hey, I'm down here! Watch where you're sitting will you?"

  For a moment she just blinked at him, and then covered her mouth as a stream of real laughter came out. It was too much for a fairly poor joke, but it went on for a long time, until finally she managed to stuff enough food in her mouth to get herself to stop.

  "I shouldn't laugh. He's taller now, you know. In a few months he'll be my size, if it keeps up. I need to keep that in mind. One day soon we'll have to look up and strain our necks to see him."

  That was probably true, but in the moment it was kind of funny, for a certain kind of person.

  "We should get whatever it is you have planned done then and get back to our vacation. I haven't been on a lot of them, but I'm pretty certain we're doing ours wrong."

  "Yes, that's true, but don't worry, we'll get it eventually, if we keep practicing enough."

  After he finished eating he got them back on course, landing next to the Duke's main residence slowly, just to make certain that no one would be crushed by mistake.

  It made great sense to him at any rate. There was a flurry of activity, as about twenty men and women dressed in blue ran out, holding weapons. Most of them had actual pikes and swords, instead of good weapons. Duke Morgan himself had a force lance Timon thought, as he climbed out, until he realized that it was actually an air lance. One that he'd made himself. They weren't very good weapons, but just about perfect if they were planning on driving them off and back to their trip.

  Eric Morgan put his weapon up instantly, and the men and women pointed all they had at Timon, recognizing Trice by sight it seemed.

  "Are you two alright?"

  Trice nodded.

  "We are. Is there a situation?"

  "A most urgent one. Baron Gala and his wife have been murdered and the city is being attacked. We were warned that forces might be headed here as well."

  That got a blink from Timon and he couldn't work out who would tell them that at all. They certainly hadn't seen anything from the air on the way in. Not from the east. "Who warned you? If it's safe to ask, I mean."

  The Duke frowned, clearly not happy about the source.

  "Rico Gala. The new Baron."

  Chapter eleven

  Everyone seemed tense and Trice started asking a thousand questions at once, her mouth moving so fast her voice, normally a mellow and even pleasant thing to listen to, became high pitched and anxious.

  "What did he say? Who killed the Baron? Was it Rico? Who's coming to attack us? Have you called Uncle Richard yet? Have there been sightings of-" she went silent when Mercy, her mother, came out and smiled at her, shaking her head slightly.

  "Timon! This is rare, a son-in-law coming to see his new parents this soon. I take it that you've heard about this slight happening that we've had? A shame about the Baron Gala and his wife. Would you two like to come in for some refreshment?" Her eyes were the same blue that Trice had and the hair was only a touch lighter. Even at about forty she was still rather attractive and while tall, she made an effort not to rush him, which was the normal familial greeting here.

  Her daughter however did get that treatment, which got her to stop talking long enough for her father to clear his throat.

  "We had a messenger come. Some relative of the Baron that has flying equipment of his own. Conrad? He left a while ago, but wanted us to know that they've had word of possible attack from some men that were captured. According to the man, Rico Gala didn't have anything to do with the deaths himself. He spoke... Carefully, however. The new Baron had people around him the whole evening and was out of the city, on the outer estate, where he lives most of the time. So it wasn't by his own hand. That's a quote by the way. We haven't seen any signs of attack here yet, but we've set sentries and forward scouts."

  Tim thought about it and then nodded. They had one of the largest fleets of flyers in the kingdom, with only the King's army and Two Bends Fast delivery being much larger. It wasn't a battle force directly, since the Duke's people weren't outfitted for direct combat, but they all had shields, since his brother would have insisted on that. If they were working as information gathering troops, the Duchy would be pretty well protected from direct attack. That just left secret forces sneaking in, which was a trick the enemy had already used at least once. It was a good one, and the single most effective thing the rebels had managed so far, so there was a good chance they'd try more of it.

  "Right. Let's put up a few of the new craft as watch centers. They can stay up as long as needed and should make anyone coming in think twice. We need to have your local guardsmen looking for infiltrators. Do they have truth amulets? I can make some, but it will take a few days." He didn't wait for the man to make a polite denial or anything, jogging back into the craft and pulling out six of the vehicles, which he held up as soon as he walked out, held in his right fist, since the silver pieces weren't big. They didn't need to be and making things physically large would just increase the hardship of carrying them around when they weren't needed.

  "I own these, and the people that hold them need to work for me, so they can't be sworn to you directly. We can carry your people, for a price. For now I think that just putting them up will be enough of a deterrent. They're a good bit larger than the old Fast Craft, or can be." It sounded high handed and demanding, since they were literally standing in the man's area of influence. A Duke in his duchy could order a man killed for any reason. There didn't even have to be an official record of it. Torture, rape, anything a person could imagine was actually legal for him at that moment, in that place.

  The man's eyes lit up however, instead of seeming insulted. It was a perk of marrying his daughter no doubt.

  "That's more than fair. What kind of rent would you command for something like this? Since you own them outright?"

  It was very clear that the fellow thought Timon was going to pull a Tor and just lend them for nothing at all, which was what he'd actually planned, since the Morgan's were family now, and he wouldn't charge them just for the use of the things. He did need something, he realized, didn't he?

  "A bit of land? Patricia and I would like to set up a second or third house here, so that she can come in occasionally and get away from me. I have a cottage for it, and I think that our main house will be in the Capital, but..."

  Trice made a face and then shook her head.

  "I own a bit of space around here already, so that isn't a good deal for us. How about some dried goods? You can send them to your girlfriend, Heather, and her people? That or some shipping? Say three major movements of goods for each month we have the new transports up and working?" She looked at her mother and smiled, and her father smiled back, his voice suddenly shrewd.

  "One major shipment per month, but I can throw in some dried apples and a few pears, as well as some juice? Say five thousand pounds for each month?" There was clearly a trick in his mind there, because he refused to look
at his new son-in-law at all. It was telling.

  Trice looked at him expectantly, clearly urging him to take the deal, but they'd already started haggling, and he really wanted to win, now that there was a game going on.

  "Three shipments, but half the profits of the goods when they sell. It won't be at full market value, but it will be enough to make it worth your while. Same with the dried goods. We won't give anything away, since that's a good way to go broke. In all you should make a small but real profit from the whole thing." He stared right into the man's eyes then, his face blank. "Then we can double it for the use of ten Truth amulets?"

  "Ah..." The Duke refocused on him and did talk him down, pointing out that it was only the rent on the things, but in the end they had the needed shipping for County Montblanc. The man frowned when he figured out who Heather was, but didn't take back his word. Especially after he saw the craft at full size and realized how much they could hold on their own.

  "You don't really need us at all, do you? Not to carry goods."

  "Yes, we do. We need your people, with your colors, going in to give aid and help to those that are now on our side. If I do it, well, who am I? Some kid that the King owns? Tor's little errand boy? If you do it, it looks like the King is stating that he won't hold grudges, if people come over to his side. If any single point is going to break this thing, that's the one I'm banking on."

  Trice looked around, finally pointing to a young man that was dressed in rather plain clothing, a light tan, which from the scent coming off of him was meant to hide the fact that he was filthy, from his work in the stables.

  "Web Hobbs! Do you want a new job? It pays more than mucking stalls, and might even get you some women, if you play your cards right. Hard work..."

  The man, who was in his late teens walked over with a downcast face, not looking at the high nobles directly. His hands were held in front of him, but even as he seemed shy and quiet, his words held a certain intelligence.

  "Ma'am? What would I be doing?"

  She let a slow smile come across her face. "If you can manage it, you'll be a fast craft pilot. I don't know what it pays..."

  Tim did, he had a rate for full time workers already.

  "Two gold a week. If you have paying fairs, which eventually you will, you get ten percent of it. If you take fares for free, you don't get paid and if you never make any coin at all, I'll yell at you, but it isn't hard to make funds doing this. We'll send them to you pretty regularly. You have to prove you can fly, but we'll teach you and it really isn't that hard. It means you work for me directly. Not the Duke here, or even Trice. Obviously, do what she says too. You can live on the ship full time. Do you have a family?"

  There was a bit of reluctance to the words, but the man, Web Hobbs, nodded.

  "My wife Clara, and her father. We live with him right now. The stable master here. So it would be just Clara and I, sir. He won't want to leave his position."

  "Timon. Or Tim if you want. Good. We need five more pilots. Do you think that Clara can manage it? Same pay. It would mean you two not being together each day, but it's a good way to get a start. At least until you have children, and maybe even then." He had ninety-odd of the things left after all and eventually they'd need space pilots too. Hopefully the controls wouldn't be that different.

  "I don't rightly know, sir. Clara, she's a good sort, but she isn't..." There was something that he didn't want to say out loud, but Trice shook her head a little.

  "She probably won't be a good fit for that job. Still, two gold a week is nothing to feel bad about. Plus, with that ten percent, you'll end up rich, I bet. You should go and talk to your family. We'll start training in a bit. Be back here in two hours?"

  The man nodded, smiling, and walked off.

  "Clara is slow. It was an arranged marriage, and Web was sort of trapped into it. We all know how that goes. She's nice, and should be able to handle working on the craft, once she learns how. That might take her a while. We should find the others we need."

  Not surprisingly, once Web went and started telling people about the new job openings, there wasn't a lot of work involved in finding men and women that wanted to sign on. There were at least twenty that came to see about it when he came back, the slightly square and short Clara coming along with their new pilot trainee.

  Trice grinned, taking over.

  "Excellent. Not all of you will get a position here today, since we have five spots left open, but we'll test you and the best will make it. If you all do well, we might have some positions opening up in the future." She was lying to them, so that they'd have hope, but there really was a good chance of it, especially if they were willing to chance going to other lands.

  The training was harder than normal, since they all went on one craft, with people taking turns one at a time. Everyone got a fair chance, and five hours later they had all the craft assigned and up in the air over the duchy, hovering in place, each new pilot outfitted with a communications device and magical clothing for themselves and their families. Only one of them had children on it, a woman that had gotten the job being a widow, who had the standard two kids. They were in rags to start with, but seemed excited to find that things were improving.

  All of the craft were full sized and not moving at all, just hanging over the Duchy, like guards. They needed more training, it was true, but the pilots had gotten into place on their own and just sat there in the sky, like they owned it, all in the correct color of blue, slightly glowing, and carrying five of the Duke's people each, to watch for attack. They'd been set to have windows all around to that end, so you could see people walking around inside, if you watched carefully.

  That left everyone feeling better, he thought, since the presence was impressive. If he were setting up an attack in the area, it would have caused him to pull all the way out and not even try. After all, anyone that could put that kind of thing up in the air had to be powerful, didn't they?

  His wife was set to moving from craft to craft then, in order to make certain everything was going well, and he worked in their vehicle, sitting on his bed, making copies of the Truth amulets on stone. Focus stone, made from the earth in the area, so a dark and even brown color instead of the light color that it would have been if made from the sand in Warden. It was harder than it should have been, since he struggled to try and get the glowing sigil into place, while setting the whole, and very real, field at the same time. It meant holding two complete fields at once and the first time he tried, it failed.

  He nearly gave up, but even if it didn't work, he could feel that it was close. It was hard to hold two things at once, but Tim knew it could be done. Tor did it all the time, and looked at everyone else as if they were slightly slow and backwards because they couldn't do the same thing. It ended up taking until the next morning, and left him with a headache, but he was able to get it done. It left him feeling a bit excited really, since it meant he was actually managing to improve, even without anyone helping him overly.

  The craft was on the ground, and when he walked out of the bedroom that he'd been working in, the sky outside the window being dark and gloomy, except for the six faintly glowing square ships in the sky, he found himself alone. With water, which meant that Trice had set that up for him. He took time to get cleaned up, drinking as much as he could hold first, since he'd skipped that for nearly ten hours, then showering and moving from there into the tub to soak for a bit. He did it just sitting in the dark, the water warm and a smooth black seat holding his head out of the water, a neck rest behind him allowing him to lay back. It was nice. Luxurious even. Warm baths used to be something that took a lot of work, even help from other people to pull off, but now, at least for him and a few others, it was a few minutes of set up and taping a sigil or two to get the temperature where they wanted it.

  "Tim?" Trice sounded hesitant, as if she didn't think he was really there. Her voice was coming from the bedroom he'd been in, but moved closer the second time she said his name, meaning
she was walking down the hallway. "Timon?"

  "Here! In the bath." The door opened silently, her outline in the door black, thanks to the light behind her. It looked slightly scary, except that she had a pink glow in her hand, and a second later started to glow. A nice cream with a goldenrod stripe down the middle.

  "Hey! This is really nice. All one piece too, isn't it? That pretty much means you're one of the top twenty or so builders in the world, doesn't it?" It didn't shift or make a black line at all, meaning she knew it to be the truth. There was a chance that others who were better lived in secret of course, but there really weren't a lot of people that could have pulled it off that anyone knew about.

  She let her voice shift a bit, lying to test the thing.

  "I'm horribly deformed and ugly, but love cabbage sandwiches." The darkness cut across the glow like it was angry at her untruths.

  "So it works. Excellent." Without asking, she shut the door, stopped glowing and after about twenty seconds had her clothing off and moved into the tub with him. There was room, but it left him feeling uneasy.

  "This is good. You didn't leave the water too cold. Most people do, but what's the point of that?" She sighed and let her foot come out to touch his leg, not speaking for a long time.

  Goose bumps started over his arms and legs, which shouldn't have been able to happen, given the heat. It was hard to hold still, but she didn't hold the point of contact for too long, and not being able to see her actually made it easier for him.

  "We can deliver these and get back to what we were doing. There isn't anything coming, I don't think. Galasia is being hit hard, but Uncle Richard has forces going in to help them. Rico... Hasn't mentioned me at all. It's like he doesn't even remember anything about it. That's probably too much to ask for, but now that his parents are dead, the deal is too. It was between my father and his, and didn't happen, so... Really, it's done. We won. We can go to the Capital in the morning and get it dissolved." She settled into the water, and let her voice sound happy about the new turn of events. "It doesn't get Rico back, if he had me raped, but that can wait. I don't need to drag you down into the cesspool of that situation."