by P. S. Power
Varley threw her hands up in frustration, her voice a little sharp when she spoke.
“But that's what we’re talking about! This isn't your life! It's Burks Lairdgren's life! It's my father’s life! Tor Baker is just a talented, kind and good looking boy that should be busy having sex with as many women as possible and trying to figure out what he actually wants to be. You keep acting like you're more than that and someone’s going to end up killing you Tor.” She took a breath to continue.
“So, build your magics, help us out, please, but stop taking the weight of the world on your shoulders or it's going to crush you!”
It all sounded like great advise, past the yelling, it had the ring of conviction and truth too. Tor just didn't know if he could actually understand what the meant. Could he even go back to just being normal?
Was that even a thing?
Chapter Nine
Just because his life had been turned upside down, that was no reason for Tor to be gloomy. Especially since that could set Karina off. Still, the King and his advisors decided that the safest way to “hide” them all was to send half the palace Royal Guard and a train of wagons and carriages off to some undisclosed location thousands of miles away. He didn't want to be a pain, but it was about the worst thing that they could have done as far as Tor was concerned.
“Why? I really don't like carriages, I can put up with it, but we could be wherever this is in hours if we flew, instead were all going to be sitting in the back of a bouncing box for months instead. That's not much of a vacation, it's more like a punishment.” Tor tried, and largely failed, not to sound like a petulant, and spoiled, little Prince. To make it worse the real Prince was the one coddling him out of his dark mood.
“If we flew we'd be there fast, true, but we'd miss all the things in between. There are people to meet and new things to get to know! It's an adventure Tor. Besides, we have orders, so, you know, start enjoying it, because it's what we’re doing anyway. Complaining the whole time won't help anything.”
It was a point. A good one really. What would being a jerk gain him? A much less pleasant trip. That was the only thing and no matter how he twisted it, not a benefit at all. Fine, Tor sighed and made himself smile, then nodded and asked what they should do.
“Oh, well it's the first day, so normally people read or tell stories. I suppose you could work if you wanted, but try not to disappear on us into your head for days at a time? We're supposed to be having fun, and really, carrying for “corps Tor” isn't as thrilling as you might think.”
Tor smiled and stuck his tongue out playfully.
“OK. I think I'll go running, want to come?” It was a genuine offer, but Rolph just begged off and gave him a wave.
“No, but take a guard with you, or two. I'll join you later for some fight practice. I know I should run, but it's a pain. Literally, I'm getting too large for it to be comfortable at all anymore.”
Tor didn't wait, climbing out while the slow vehicle still moved along slowly. It was hard for him to approach the guards and ask a favor, but Rolph had set the conditions, so he made himself find Wensa. He knew her best after all. When he asked, she just nodded at him and gestured to two people on horseback. One was Veren the guy that had kicked his butt a few days before over wanting to take Karina off to school. The other was a familiar looking woman with medium dark skin, raven hair and a hawk like nose.
“Veren, Kara, job for you.” Wensa didn't wave or do anything else to signal them over, but seconds later they were both there, not looking eager, but not really seeming like anything.
“Master Tor here needs to get the first part of his daily exercise done, running. I want to use it as a forwards scouting mission too, so push him at best speed about fourteen out and meet us as quickly as possible on the return.”
Veren didn't make a move that showed any interest in what was being said at all, but his words were questioning.
“That's going to be close to twenty miles. Best pace?” The implied question to Tor was clear, could he do it? Tor wasn't sure. He couldn't outrun a horse, so could only hope Wensa meant his best pace, not the animals.
Wensa gave a single nod.
“Yes. When you return we'll move directly into practice for the day.”
“Alright. Ready then Tor?” The huge man said casually.
Tor blew out a breath.
“Probably not, but I know it's what I need to be practicing, so… yes?”
Veren didn't wait, just spun the horse and kicked Tor in the back with his right boot. Nothing happened, because his shield was on, making them all laugh out loud, except Tor.
Kara took off at a trot.
“Run!” She called back.
So he did. It was fast, faster than he'd ever tried to go for more than a mile or two before and he gasped in pain through the whole thing. He had to drop into a meditative state, focusing on the world around him so he wouldn't fall down, and how his body moved, in order to bear the discomfort. He could still feel his insides trying to turn to water and the cramps along the side of his stomach wall on the left side as he traveled. The road curved and had hills, but instead of slowing as they went up, the Royal Guards helpfully spurred their horses to go faster. On the downhill they slowed a bit, but it was never enough to actually catch his breath.
The trip back was faster, since the whole group had been moving along the whole time and basically caught up. When Tor saw the dust he nearly fell down in relief, but it was just an illusion, the actual wagon and carriage train was miles off yet. He wanted water badly, and they found the whole group sitting under some trees by a decent little stream, without waiting Tor ran to it, checked it for quality and started drinking straight from it.
“Not too much Tor, space it out. You can only absorb a few cups of water per hour anyway. About three, maybe less for you, being so small.” This came from Kara, who joined him, laying on the bank, sipping the water from cupped palms.
Tearing himself away was hard, but getting sick wasn't going to help him, and she sounded like her information was real enough. It wasn't something he'd ever thought of before, but it wasn't like he had an actual water tank inside that needed to be refilled, was it? He went slow, as hard as it was and felt embarrassed that he was still gasping a little three minutes later.
Then he got five minutes to try and focus himself and rest before the weapons practice and unarmed fighting drills took place. It was way different than in school. The guards pushed him, but everyone worked at the same time, Rolph and Karina joined, and, rather cutely, so did Ali, though she didn't have a clue what she was doing.
The big difference was that it was a group effort. If you made a mistake, it would be capitalized on in the moment, but your opponent would instantly tell you what you'd done wrong. It didn't matter who you were, from the Major in charge, who turned out to be George, to the girl taking her first lesson. Everyone was treated the same way. It was a little scary at first, as every move was looked at through a lens, and a lot of what he was doing was found wanting. He knew he needed to get better, but was he that bad? Apparently so.
It was about half an hour in when Tor decided to try and work in the new ideas he had, based on what Burks had mentioned and a few other things besides. Shorter movements, combined striking and getting rid of the gaps, merged with trying to read his opponents field. It sort of worked, enough that George, who he was going up against grinned at him.
“Better! A little man needs to be precise, you’re missing half the blows and it seems like you keep getting stuck every seven seconds or so, your flow of attack hitches. Is that on purpose?”
Tor shook his head and tried to focus more, since George was going to attack as he answered, he could feel it.
“No, I just suck that much. Working on it though.” Rather than try to block the attack Tor moved in and attacked as fast as he could, managing to keep his flow going for nearly twelve seconds this time.
Then George skipped in lightly and took him to the
ground easily.
When finished, an hour later, they all bathed in the stream and got back in the carriages and wagons, since Tor didn't think he could manage doing much else at the moment. Everyone else had books with them, even Ali, which seemed a great idea, only Tor hadn't thought to bring any. Well, he had the ones instructor Fines had lent him still. He took out one that was simply entitled “Theory”.
The book was fascinating once started. A lot of it he already knew or had worked out for himself, but some of the things he'd never even heard of. For instance, on the tiniest level space and time didn't seem to run the same way. Even before the book pointed it out, Tor understood some of what that might mean. Actions could be done at a much greater distance than he'd ever thought. Maybe even further away from himself than he could imagine? The idea was hard to put into a device, of course, since most of them didn't have direct mental feedback mechanisms and when the book was written, a long time ago it seemed, no one had managed it.
But Tor had. Trice’s arm.
More, it should be possible to make a field device that let people move through space. Just going from one place to another instantly. Quantum particles, the little pieces of reality, apparently did it all the time. A group just had to be organized properly to make it happen. All of them moving at once…
Ah!
It was riveting and he read until dinner, when they stopped at an actual inn, a place that had a slightly doubtful appearance on the outside and didn't get a lot better once in. It wasn't that bad, a lot like the unpainted house that he'd grown up in, some gaps in the walls that let the breeze in from the outside in the front room, and tiny rooms that actually were just… tiny. About enough room for a small bed and a chamber pot. It had an outhouse, something Tor had grown up with but that made the Prince and Princesses a little unhappy. Tor offered to set up a small house for them off in the woods, but George put his foot down.
“No. We don't need to advertise that the great Wizard Tor is traveling with this lot. Put up magic houses all over the place and people will talk. Just tough it out and we'll leave early in the morning.” His voice wasn't stern, but the feeling behind it was clear even without reading his field. Stop being whining little brats.
Tor chuckled and agreed with a head nod. It made sense after all. They were supposed to be hiding not on a real pleasure trip. That it probably didn't need doing wouldn't change the Royal Guard’s orders, would it?
He and Rolph shared a bed, which worried him a little, not wanting to wake up with Rolph trying to mount him in his sleep, but that part went fine. He got an arm thrown over him, since the bed was tiny and ended up waking with Rolph hugging him closely, but he just chuckled and jabbed his friend in the ribs with an elbow that didn't connect. Waking up Rolph stiffened, his body going rigid.
“Oh, god Tor… Sorry. I wasn't…” The yawn that interrupted him was huge.
“No huge thing.” Tor stretched and got up trying to act casual.
At least Rolph wore pajamas to bed. Otherwise Tor’s virtue may have been violated, at least in spirit. It was awkward, since his friend was clearly hiding the fact that he'd been aroused, even if in his sleep. That happened though. Half the time Tor woke that way himself. Not today, thank god, that would have been embarrassing. As it was his giant friend was holding the covers up, pretending to just want more sleep.
Not a problem.
Getting up, he grabbed his toiletries and went to clean up, finding that the basic washing at the inn took place outdoors if you wanted it, with a cold bucket and whatever soap you'd brought from home. Goody. Tor just grabbed one of the leaky wooden containers, it's handle nearly coming off on the right hand side, the small wooden peg having broken nearly off. He had to pick the whole thing up from the bottom to carry it to the gravel wash station. Heating the water would have taken moments, if he wanted to admit he was in possession of massive amounts of magical devices. Things that would cost enough to get attention.
Of course they were traveling in carriages, which were just plain wooden ones, but only the wealthiest people did that. Less rare than flying, sure, but would they be wealthy enough in their wooden carriages to have water heaters just sitting in their luggage? Sighing Tor admitted that didn't seem likely. At least it wasn't freezing yet. Just nearly.
He kept his temperature equalizer on, but each splash of fresh cold water came as a giant shock to his system. It had to be done, the carriages were too close inside, too small, for him to skip it. No one could afford to reek on a trip like this. No one else came out to join him at first, but as he finished the Royal Guard came out and followed his lead. Rolph stood in the door and shivered, a mock thing that pretended at being cold, coming out to join them making yelps the first few times water hit his temperature equalized body.
Voice low the Prince looked at George with a stern face, one that Tor wasn't used to seeing at all from his friend. “Fine, we'll freeze out here for the sake of appearance, but the girls are going to the baths before we leave. Varley is pregnant and I-”
“Seconded.” Tor said, splashing the cold water over his head to finish rinsing off as he stood naked in back of the inn.
Kara the guard looked over at him and grinned.
“You couldn't have told us that earlier? I would have waited for the warm water if I knew you were paying for all the girls to go to the baths in town…” It was a joke but Tor shrugged. He had the money for it and really, he wanted them to have guards the whole time, didn't he? Before he could say anything Rolph shrugged too.
“And have you get all soft on us? Besides, you and Wensa are the only cute girls I can sleep with on this trip…” It got a laugh and Wensa cocked a hip, which was actually sexier than Tor had thought it would be, her hair wasn't gray any more, outside of school. That and her age suddenly went away. Out of class it seemed she was in her mid forties Tor thought, not late fifties at all. Some kind of makeup to make her look older? That was both an interesting idea and a good one. Who pretended to have gray hair when they didn’t?
The Royal Guard Captain grinned, and actual happy looking thing. Playful.
“Hmmm. Well, OK, but do you think you can take both of us at once? I think we might just be a little too much for someone so… young.”
Another laugh from the group made Rolph looked pained. Shaking his huge red head he sighed.
“Tor, see how they treat me? Doubting my abilities already and they haven't even tried me out. Of course they’re right. Guys think they can serve two women at once, but truth is that more than one is just extra effort. Not that it's not fun to try every now and then, but it just doesn't work in practice very well.”
Kara walked over, brown nipples perky and tight from the cold water, bending slightly and crossing her arms under them to push them forward, winked.
“Right, but two men and one women can work… You two are both of age, right?” Her gaze took in Tor too. Well, he was, regardless of looks.
Rolph chuckled, but didn't say no. Tor on the other hand just tilted his head. Kara seemed nice enough and was firm and fit, tall, but not taller than Petra, so about six-five or so. She had dark hair, real, since her pubic hair was as dark as her head. Tor didn't stare. It would be rude.
Finally she chuckled and moved off, going back towards the other guards. They whispered amongst themselves, which Rolph ignored, but it bugged Tor, since it seemed like it would be about them. Well, he should have said something, except what would he say? She was more than cute enough to sleep with and there was nothing wrong with Rolph, the idea was just scary to him. What if his friend used it as an excuse to touch him?
So Tor smiled at her later as everyone finished up, getting a grin back. It wasn't exactly being polite inside “the rules” but it was better than ignoring her, wasn't it? She didn't seem put off at least. Breakfast had to wait for the girls to get their bath, and was eaten in the carriage, everyone having decided that they didn't want to risk staying in the place two nights in a row. Half the guards had flea
s, even after washing, since they'd infested their clothing when they slept. The royals had gotten the “good” rooms.
That got Tor thinking about what it would take to ward off insects like that. He had sort of promise Julie White something like that for her people, hadn’t he? It would be hard, except that now that he considered it, it really only had to cover animals under a certain size. Bigger than that and a person would handle it on their own. About the size of a mouse, should cover it, right? It didn't really have to be that large, but Tor wasn't wild about mice in general, so he could add that in without harm.
Tor figured he could manage it before the exercise portion of the day if he hurried and went deep to work, which would let him avoid a little boredom to, which given how little else there was to do, made it a fine idea.
After breakfast, sitting uncomfortably in the carriage, he did just that. Before going on his run three hours later he handed one out to everyone. Modified shields that would throw tiny bugs off if they were on you, or block as they approached, so that the fields would free a person of bugs too. The guards didn't comment, except after the exercise for the day, where a few told him it worked. It was a Royal Guard thing, Tor thought. If you presented something to them, they judged it and if it wasn't good enough, you'd hear all about it. Get it right and they just went on with their day, incorporating the new thing seamlessly.
Not high on praise maybe, but it worked for him, because compliments always made him feel uneasy anyway. Embarrassed, like he couldn’t possibly have earned them. Really, given what Burks had told him before, he wondered if that was in his personal pattern too? He was starting to get that something else was involved in that part of things, and it wasn’t all just simple “genetics” but what exactly it was, he didn’t know yet. Magic probably, but if so, he hadn’t been able to isolate the field for it yet.
