by P. S. Power
Prince of the kingdom maybe, but he was a Prince among men first. Anyone doubting that didn't know Tor's friend half as well as they assumed.
Tor worked through most of the night several times, pushing into a dangerously deep state to get things done in time, but by the time Guide opened his eyes, Tor had a few novel things ready himself and managed to send off packages to the store in Printer and to Debbie down in the Capital city. One went to Dorgal Sorvee and a smaller one got sent to Meredith Sorvee on a whim. She'd married into Debri house, so it wouldn't be hard to find her. It was mainly her wedding presents, but a few things to sell too, and some toys for her kids, Not-flyers that had impact shields build in.
The boy went to sleep in Tor’s bed immediately, so Tor worked through the night making copies of things, taking the now vacant working pad on the floor. Not Guide's fires, because they weren't Tor’s to mess with. He did test the field out carefully though and judged it to be nearly perfect. The blaze was a little off color, too red by several shades and the heat radiated in a perfect sphere except directly underneath, not matching the fire illusion perfectly, but in all it was better than his own first novel build. More interesting by far.
A wave of pride filled him for his young friend. Now they just needed to get the others going in a similar fashion and Tor could practically retire and do something else for a while. Slower more complex building, or maybe music? Out of all the new classes he was beginning to like that one the most. He had a lot to learn, but it was fun.
He hardly sounded like he was strangling his violin at all anymore.
As soon as Guide woke, cleaned up and ate, Tor had him make ten copies of his fire on copper plate, the word fire etched into the corner with a specialized cutter that Tor had already made just for the purpose. It was easier to work in metal than stone, and the design was what Guide had already drawn up, the word glimmered nicely in the corner of the metal.
Then he packed the boy off to Instructor Fines. He was the novel build Instructor for the school after all and this was that without a single doubt. Tor didn't speak when they found him in his office, the man bent over a paper, reading it closely. He looked up, surprised to see him. Tor winked and set the metal plate on the floor and hit the sigil, the fire coming to life about three feet away, so the plate would never get too hot.
The man looked at it and nodded.
“Not… bad. I like the heat. Good spread. Though you normally don't bring me your work anymore, am I supposed to be noticing something here?” He sounded pleased, but not too impressed.
“Only that it isn't my work. Builder Guide here did it. By himself. Totally novel build. It's solid too, and the template is clean and easy to copy. Just thought you might like to see it.” If Tor sounded smug, well, he was a little. His friend had done it, a novel build and at only fourteen!
Fines clapped and looked amazed for a second.
“Wonderful! How's your copy work?” The instructor asked, settling his old frame back into the old wooden chair with scratches and lines scored into the wood, behind a very similar looking desk.
Guide moved his head side to side a little, “kind of slow sir.”
Tor nodded. It was true, but he clarified for the Instructor, knowing that he'd want specifics.
“Yeah, he does solid work, clean, but can only do about ten copies every three hours so far, without a template. I'm thinking that he should work on some speed drills for that, he can do faster work, it's just a matter of practice. We should have some novel builds coming from some of the other first years too, soon. I have to leave for a while, in about a month, but I'll try to move them along, so they can do their own work before that. Right now I think we need to push meditation skills and copy work, which is basically what they'd be doing anyway, if I remember correctly.” He suppressed a wince.
If anyone on the campus already knew all that it was this man. If Tor ever learned half of what he knew, it would be a miracle. Instead of chastising him or even giving Tor a funny look the old instructor just nodded, as if the whole thing was some plan he'd had the whole time.
“Very good. I'll get with you on that later?” He said. That was probably when the talking-to he deserved would come. Well, what could he do put take it and agree? He was way too young to be pushy like that and the man was being very gentle with him, not embarrassing him in front of the younger student. He bowed low.
“Sir, if it's all right, could I borrow some of your time to show you a few of my own projects? I'm afraid we'll have to send Builder Guide away for this part… sorry about that Guide, but it kind of has to stay secret for a bit. Relates to kingdom business. Um…” Tor didn’t know what to say, so he just shrugged at the boy.
“That’s actually true even. I know it sounds weird, but…”
Guide just bowed, looking a bit awkward about it, first to Tor, then Instructor Fines.
“I’ll be going then.” He hesitated for a bit though, as if waiting permission.
Fines nodded and stood, suggesting they go elsewhere for it, if it was to be a secret.
They didn't talk about it, but at the edge of town Tor pulled out an amulet around his neck, one on stone, and looked around carefully for watchers. It was the one that had been grown using an organic field. The man blinked when he touched it, even though it wasn't turned on.
“My! That's strong.” His hand touched Tor’s arm, a slight sense of contact brushed gently. “And you didn't rip yourself to shreds building it? So I take it you've been applying some of the ideas from my class? Wonderful. What does it do?”
It was a carriage Tor told him, the man seemed almost disappointed, since Tor had already made those before. It could fly, but he'd done that too. Trying not to smile, Tor asked if the man had a watch, which he did and then if he wanted to go for a ride.
“Well, certainly. Any specific destination in mind?”
“Oh, sure… I was thinking the Ocean?” Tor grinned suddenly. “The Eastern Ocean on the other side of the kingdom. I don’t think it will take too long.”
Set up to look sky blue and a bit flatter than a normal carriage, Tor took them straight up. Fines held his watch out, getting the idea and clicked a button on the top.
“Go!”
They went. The feeling was slow and quiet. No roaring like the Austra fast craft used, and they traveled with the vehicle as one piece, the powerful field moving the whole thing along, organizing their movement through space carefully. The ground actually blurred below them, which was new to Tor. He held the control half way down and slowly moved it forward, the black hand control that normally floated in the air resting in his right palm comfortably.
It wasn't instant, even at these speeds, but less than two hours later they saw water below. Fines looked excited and gave him the time.
“Well…” Tor had to shake his head a bit grimly. “That's not fast enough. It will have to do for now though. The Austran craft are said to be nearly three times faster and Burks, um, Count Lairdgren, said they have a few that are able to cover this distance in about fifteen minutes. Still, it's a start.”
They rode back in silence, the trip going faster, cutting nearly ten minutes off because the drive lever was thrown all the way forward the instant Fines said go the second time. Setting down directly over the place they left from, which was surrounded by pine trees. Tor couldn't bring himself to be happy about it, for all that the basic idea had worked all right. If they were going to flee Austra, they'd need some way of alluding their fastest craft. For some reason Tor doubted that just matching the sky's color would be enough to hide them.
The other thing he wanted Fines to look at was right out of the textbook. It was hinted at there anyway. Tor demonstrated it on a tree, tapping the sigil firmly, giving the old man in his blue robe like outfit a playful look, then walking through the three foot thick trunk. It was dark inside, but didn't hurt. It did feel slow, like he had to fight his way through and he couldn't breathe inside, but it only took about ten seconds. Othe
r than the slowness and lack of air, it didn’t really feel like much of anything in particular.
Fines sighed and nodded firmly.
“So you’re going to be gone for a while? I'd suggest you take your text books and whatever else you need with you then. Don't want to fall behind. What classes do you have right now?”
When he got to economics the man grunted loudly.
“Oh, definitely get with Wensa before going then. Unless you come back dead she'll want to see your class work. Indeed she will. Just as a heads up, never gamble with her at cards. Wicked player. I still owe her three silvers from our last game.”
Chapter Four
Trice sat on his bed, looking at him with the small smile that Tor used to think was her being smug or smirking at him, but now got as just her being content and maybe even slightly happy. Knowing that made it easier for Tor to relate to her, to feel more connected and a lot less judged. She was wearing a soft version of special school blacks and stretched out a bit, pushing her medium sized chest at him in a move that might, or might not, have been by accident.
“So, what are we doing? I could use my mouth on you if you want? We haven't done hardly anything at all since you've gotten married. I've gotten more off Ali to tell the truth. Definitely time for some Tor quality attention.” Her voice was playful, but she kissed him firmly enough to get a reaction. She had a reasonable point. She was his girlfriend after all.
“Well, you know, busy. Very. But, if you don't mind, could you use your hand? On me I mean.” He grinned as she held up the left one teasingly. Without the ability to feel she'd probably injure him if she tried it.
“Alright, but won't Ali mind the bruising down there?”
Tor laughed and held up the new hand amulet, this time on a simple dark brown hemp string so that when it was turned off she could slide it over her hair with one hand. The silver chain of the other one had to be a pain for her, even if she never complained.
She recognized the sigil and shrugged, replacing her left arm quickly. The new one started ugly and wrong looking, but quickly melted to match her perfectly as she looked at it, her own intent subconsciously organizing the field into an exact replica of her original hand. Finally stopping when it looked right, down to the fine dark brown hair on the back. Tor reached over and stroked the soft fuzz softly, causing her to jump.
“Hey, that tickles!” Then she touched the arm herself.
“Oh. Got that finally then. Hmmm. Not too bad.” Her face was serious and considering for a moment.
“Only one problem with it.”
“What?” Tor asked, hoping it wasn't too major.
“Well, obviously I have to steal you from Ali and keep you in bed for the next fifty years to pay you back.” She grinned. “Thank you! I love you so much. You’re the best overly short wizard ever!”
Then she wanted to use her hand for things indeed. A few even involved Tor.
That got him mainly caught up and for two weeks after that Tor just helped other students with their novel builds, ran flight practice and attended his classes. That and had a stream of girls at his door nightly. It wouldn't have been a big deal if they were just the ones he knew, or even if he'd been able to feel comfortable enough with his marriage to have just sex with them, whoever they were. As it was though a lot of them were total strangers to him and clearly came wanting attention for some reason. From him.
Tor felt ready to pull his hair out, but it was too short for that now. Rolph pointed out a solution, which he was totally thankful for.
“Post a schedule. Just hang it on the door. Then when you're busy, anyone coming to visit unannounced would be rude to knock. True, people will fill in your empty time slots for you, but that takes guts, don't you think? Anyone willing to do that without asking probably has a real reason. Just be sure to fill in when you plan on spending time with your wife.” His big friend sighed.
“I'd do the same, but Rolph Merchant doesn't get half the attention that Prince Alphonse Cordes would get here. Maybe I should anyway and see if anyone notices?”
Laughing they both tried it, if nothing else the knocking that first night tapered off greatly, letting him finish his violin practice in peace.
Lyn was the third of the younger kids to get his help on a novel build, the idea she had was dangerous and fascinating at the same time. Probably the most potentially deadly first build Tor had ever heard of, and it wasn't even a weapon. Before they started Tor made her practice the steps needed on little builds, over and over again, until she got each one exactly right. Truly, those were novel builds too, but when she mentioned that he told her they didn't count.
“You see, I know you can do so much more, so only the big ones get counted right off the bat. Still, not bad…” He ruffled her hair a little and got a punch that landed right under his arm, an awkward thing that didn't touch, thanks to his shield. They laughed about it.
Tor also made a note mentally to get her in some kind of self-defense training. The blow wouldn't have done anything much even if it had landed and that wasn't half good enough.
Her build took two days, which was decent considering the work being done, again sitting on the little pad in his room, and being fed by Rolph and Tor when needed. Leading her to the restroom was awkward, but they both figured that if no one was complaining about them keeping a first year girl in their room, people probably weren't going to be worried about them taking advantage of her that way either. Or as Rolph pointed out, they probably were assuming that they were both taking turns with her anyway, so screw them.
“She's legal and here of her own volition, what we do or aren't doing isn't any of their business.” His big friend finished with a grin.
When she had it ready her eyes opened a bit blankly, and as instructed she immediately made ten copies. Hers were in stone, so took longer, the plates bigger and the sigil carved into the surface. The whole thing was solid looking and had a feeling of strength to it. They had to find untanned cow hides to test it, but it worked perfectly, the skins tanning in minutes when exposed, perfectly so in fact. This wasn't just a novelty, this device had retail value, which meant that Sara was at the door with Trice inside an hour of the testing.
“You mean I could make some gold on this?” The girl said innocently as Sara nodded and tried to make a deal on the spot for Debris house, offering ten percent of the final sale to the girl for the use of the template. Tor shook his head though.
“Resale only, not manufacturing. Your people suck at that and the kids here can use the money from the work. Fifty-fifty and Debri handles shipping. Same for any of my new devices that you want to carry for now. We'll make them here. Everyone needs the practice anyway.”
Sara stuck her tongue out at him but agreed. She didn't make money off of it anyway, unless she sold them herself. It did mean though that they needed to hire an accountant to keep the books, Sara pointed out, her hair brushed back from her eyes as she spoke.
“Tor can't do it, and if you try to wing it or not keep records someone’s going to get shorted, which means hard feelings.”
Lyn looked up at Sara, being about the same size as Tor, he noticed. Then she wrinkled her brow a bit and screwed up her mouth. It was very nearly cute.
“What about your friend Rolph Merchant?” She asked seriously. “He’s good with coin and handling my personal investments already. Do you think he’d do it for us?”
Sara smiled, and Tor got it, the idea of hiring the heir to the realm to do your books… Then again, why not? He was an accounting student and had openly said that his parents had cut his budget for the year in half.
“We can ask, worse he can do is say no after all.”
Oddly enough Rolph loved the idea. Tor, he allowed, may be busy as all get out, but as a fourth year accounting student he was just about bored to tears. It just wasn't that hard of a subject really. Plus real world experience never hurt, did it? Even Wensa liked the idea, which given she was in charge of the Prince as far as educ
ation went, was saying something.
Then, the Royal Guard weren't afraid of hard work, were they? That meant they weren't overly worried about it for their charges either.
That set up, Tor just started following his schedule, the one posted on the door. The paper was a cream color and sturdy, so the weather hadn't degraded it too much yet. It really did keep people from bugging him overly too. Most people didn't want to set an “official” time for anything. For a while. When he came back from fighting practice two days later he noticed that people had started writing some things in. That evening he had an extra combat practice he noticed, just after violin, and the next day he was supposed to have lunch with someone named Judith Kerry. The name didn't ring a bell at all, but he had to eat anyway, so why not? Maybe she had building questions or something?
The dining room was packed when he got there the next day, and he looked around feeling awkward and shy. Ali had already settled next to a group of girls, so he ambled over and asked if any of them knew where he might find this Judith person. Giggling one of the girls pointed over to the farthest corner of the room, where a plain and lonely looking girl in brown sat alone, no one on either side of her. Wincing Tor got the idea. For some reason she'd been picked to be this year’s social pariah and someone had put her name on his schedule to try and humiliate her.
Jerks.
Why would they do that though? Punishing her by making using him as an insult? What had she done he wondered? Well, one way to find out. He leaned over and kissed Ali on the cheek.
“I have a date with her for lunch, meet me later?” He asked gently.
Ali smiled and leaned into him, “Always have time for you love.”
The girls giggled again. Damn that annoying giggling. He’d have to get with the King and see if they could outlaw it. Prohibit it in public at least.
