by P. S. Power
The next several days went about the same way, except that more of the evening was spent with the girls. Tor made a point of practicing his violin each night too, behind his field of silence. It wasn't that he really believed he'd ever be going back to school, Tor just didn't want to lose what little he'd gained there. It was kind of frustrating, but what could be done except keep trying to learn?
The trip wasn't exactly exciting over all, but at least he had some friends to spend time with, even though the sights that they were promised didn't seem to come up for some reason. They saw trees, which were very nice, but not new. He’d grown up in a forest after all. By the fifth day it was getting hard for Tor to hold his temper with everyone, which wasn't fair, since not a single person had been anything other than nice to him. Ali would sit by him and talk about what kind of house she wanted, which he could provide in days, if he found a good location for it and procured the land. It was nice and even cute, but after a while he felt annoyed and had to fight to keep his mouth shut, and not ask her to shut up.
At least he managed to keep it off his face. Barely.
Varley mentioned historical facts, which were actually fascinating, but not a topic he could add to, so he just sat and tried to memorize what was talked about. Rolph kept looking at him funny, which had nothing to do with some hidden puppy crush and everything to do with realizing how close Tor was to losing his temper over stupid things. Of everyone, only his old friend got it. Karina was mainly quiet. When she finally spoke it was expected, and foolish at the same time. If understandable.
“I should go and get her myself.” The tall and red hair Princess said suddenly in a lull in conversation.
Tor didn't have to ask who she meant. Daria Serge.
What surprised everyone was that Tor agreed with her. After a fashion.
“You're a Princess. She's basically one. You can't go and kill her yourself without starting a war. A real, tens of thousands dying thing, not what we have now. What you need to do is have her killed. While you have a good alibi and look as innocent as possible. Possibly some kind of religious service or something, with one of the pacifist organizations? Feed the hungry or something… Which isn’t a bad idea. We should look into that anyway. But, really, we all should have good alibis. I mean, it wouldn't do to let any of us look guilty. Maybe rescuing babies at the time or something as a distraction?” There had to be something like that they could be doing, right?
Everyone stared at him as if he'd grown a second head and was slapping it or something. Like he’d slap Timmy? He nearly chuckled remembering that that’s what he decided to name his second head if he ever grew one. If his brother wasn’t still using the name.
Sure, he personally didn't go around killing people, but Daria Serge was evil and had killed Yardley Principle. In Noram. She was found guilty of it, and only got away because her dad threatened to destroy most of their major cities. Burks and him had used the threat as an excuse to free Denno, which obviously wasn't a great idea as it turned out. It definitely wasn't worth letting a murderer go. As it was she wasn't even a person that Denno could stand when it came down to it.
If someone that was a creepy would-be-tyrant or world conqueror or whatever Denno was, didn't like you, that was saying something, wasn't it? Tor thought so. Yes, in this case he could get behind killing her. But not at the expense of getting Karina killed, which was the likely outcome of her just running over to get the job done herself. They had guards and stuff after all.
The argument that came wasn't the one he expected.
“Wait,” Ali said softly. “You can hire people to kill others, I know that, everyone does. How would you find the right people? The guild is basically just a legend and even if you could find them someone how would you pay for it? Killing a Count must cost twenty thousand gold and that's here in Noram, I can't imagine what they'd want to get someone in Austra, especially Lilli, I mean Daria.” She tilted her head and was staring at Karina, who was her best friend after all.
Without thinking Tor corrected her, which was rude, you weren't supposed to correct anyone in public. Especially a woman. He’d read about that.
“Nine to ten thousand gold for a Count. I don't know what it would cost for her. Probably about ten times that. Maybe more. I don't even know if it could be done.” When Tor saw everyone’s face he realized his mistake. First, his rudeness, which he gently apologized for, giving Ali a small seated bow. Second, Tor, of all of them shouldn't know anything about hiring killers of that sort, should he? Not innocent Tor from Two Bends. Right. Especially not how much it would cost to kill a Count.
Kind of an “oops” moment for sure.
The conversation, thankfully, stopped then, as it was time to go to that night's run down inn. Not that Tor was picky, but they could have done as well with regular tents and minimal used of magic and probably called no more attention to themselves over all. This was vacation, so he played along.
It wasn't until later that things started to change. At dinner Alissa didn't say much, looking at him over her food instead of eating, when he wasn't obviously looking. Karina was no better, but was more obvious about it. It was the first night that he could share a room with Ali, since they actually had enough rooms for everyone here, this place being larger and slightly better kept, paint on the walls, white to give it a clean and fresh feel, and fresh sheets on the bed.
Rolph stopped him to chat for a bit when the girls went up, just making conversation about the weather, which meant that Ali and Karina were already in the room, pouncing on him the second he got through the door.
Well, Tor reflected as he was gently guided to the bed, one larger by nearly half over the one person things that most inns seem to favor. Karina, black hair hanging around her ears had a hold of his right arm, firmly, but not painfully. Ali activated an amulet around her neck, Tor could feel the field wash over them, a silence device.
That would be a good idea if they were planning anything that might get loud and disturb any of the other patrons, since other people actively having sex if you weren't, was annoying. Neither girl had removed her clothing, and in fact had changed into plain black outfits that didn't flatter or serve to be alluring at all. When Karina slipped the glowing truth device over his head, the hemp string brushing his ear on the right and causing him to glow fairly brightly in the small dark room with its white walls, Tor got it. This wasn't going to be about sex at all. It was an interrogation. Well… darn.
“Alright Tor, how do you know what it costs to have a Count killed by the guild?” Karina's voice was forceful, not bothering to be quiet, since no one outside of a ten foot circle would be able to hear then anyway.
Sighing Tor knew that he just couldn't speak at all. If he tried to dodge the question, it would show up as a lie and the truth could get other people in trouble. Instead he just looked at the Princess and shook his head slightly. She was savvy enough to get the idea, wasn't she?
Apparently not.
The questions kept coming, hammering him from all side, accusations of things he'd never even heard of, had Tor killed Helmholtz? That nearly got a response, because he didn't even know who that was, but he realized the trap and kept his mouth shut. She was just trying to get him to talk. Once he spoke, she'd catch him in a lie and then he'd have to speak the truth to clear himself.
“Are you plotting to kill Raul Peterson?” Karina asked, her voice low and menacing now, after twenty minutes of questioning or more.
“Are you plotting to kill my father?” She asked, knowing that Tor would have to say something to that. Only he didn't. Her eyes went narrow.
Alissa looked scared in the white and yellow glow coming off of him, but she touched his arm gently and looked into his eyes directly.
“Did you have my father killed?”
Tor flinched. Damn. Karina saw it and her eyes went wide.
“Seriously? Fuck Tor that's…” She backed up a little. “That's why you aren't talking. I see. OK. Well… Then we did
n't ask. Right Ali?”
His wife smiled gently at him and gave him a soft kiss, tears in her eyes.
“Thank you! I'd wondered but… Everyone said that it wasn't possible, that it was just an accident. But how do we kill Lilli? We have to!”
Tor turned off the amulet around his neck, plunging the room into darkness. Couldn't anything ever just be easy? Now two more people knew what he'd done and one of them was required by law to report it to the King. It wasn't that Tor wouldn't have offered his life to take out Count Derring, the man was a true monster, as bad as any in a fairy tale or play, worse. Far worse. As a sitting Count even the King couldn't stop him from abusing his own people, his own family, in ways that nearly forced Tor to challenge the man to a duel directly. That would have led to war though.
So Tor cheated and hired it done.
After that he didn't speak, not wanting to give them more to work on. Even if he had to go to the gallows for it, Trice wouldn't. She'd actually set it up, but Tor had paid for it, making it his kill. That couldn't be dodged out of. He wouldn't talk.
The next days were tense, Karina kept trying to get him to disclose who'd set up the act for him, and Ali kept hinting that they could simply have Daria Serge killed and it would be good enough. Tor didn't answer her. His wife wasn't a murderer. He might be, but Tor would protect her from that with his last breath if need be. He'd do the same for any of his friends. Eventually they both got mad and stopped talking to him about it, then about anything. That got noticed, of course, Rolph and Varley tried to bring him out about why the other two had stopped talking to him, but he couldn't say, could he?
Rolph sighed.
“Look Tor, you don't have to tell me, I think I know what this is about.” They were riding in one of the carriages, Karina and Ali having opted for the other one alone.
Varley just nodded, looking slightly odd, speaking while looking compassionately into his eyes. Lovingly.
“Mom and dad told us before we left. It's… not a big deal. Lots of people do things like that, and it had to be done. It wasn't like you really did it even…” A bump in the dirt road make her jump and settle a little uncomfortably. The seats were padded, but they weren't what they could be if Tor had made them out of shield material for extra comfort. Then it would absorb the force evenly and feel soft all the time.
Tor nearly hit himself in the head. Duh! She sat there uncomfortable and suffering in silence, pregnant and riding in one of the gods awful carriages, and he hadn't even thought about what he could do to help her be a little more comfortable. Would it be overstepping his place to see to that? He decided not. If he was just a builder, a humble craftsman, then currying favor with a Princess, or even just a wealthy girl, just made good sense. And if he was just her friend, then of course he'd do what he could to make her trip better.
It hit Tor what they were saying then. They knew? The King and Queen had told them and more, they knew? For some reason that didn't seem right. If the King knew…
Tor didn't think the ruler would tell anyone at all. If the word got out it would require Tor be killed. Even if the words had been said, it wasn't proof, taking a deep breath that puffed out the front of his cream colored velvet travel outfit, Tor looked at them levelly, face going hard, trying to convey that he meant his next words totally.
“Don't speak of it again. Ever.” It sounded harsh enough that both the royals looked taken aback. It was rude, you didn't tell royalty no, and you didn't confront them directly, but it was for their own protection. If they knew that a Count was murdered, no matter how good the reason was, and did nothing, then it would be the same as the crown sanctioning it. Every other Count would have to go to war then, just to insure that they weren't next.
“Ever. Not to anyone. Promise me.” If his eyes were a little wild, well, that would be the panic he felt wouldn't it? This could all go so bad, so quickly. If he had to die Tor sure as heck wouldn't be taking his friends with him, not even if it made them hate him now.
“We promise Tor! I… didn't know you'd feel that strongly on the matter though. It's you know, nothing I haven't done.” Rolph spoke grimly, sadly.
“Gods! Rolph, I don't want to know about that either! Don't you get the implications of all this?”
The Prince looked ready to cry, which didn't fit his normal demeanor, real tears of agony filled his eyes and he was swallowing them back hard. That he'd been the cause of them made Tor feel awful, a true heel, lower than he'd remembered ever being. It was no way to treat a friend, but he had to, didn't he?
Varley stared at him, her face blank, then, after a minute her eyes went wide.
“All holy, fucking pig shit…” She said, which got the attention of both men. It wasn't her normal manner of speaking at all. Karina in a tense moment? Sure. The proper and brilliant Princess Veronica? Hardly.
“Alphonse, this isn't about Tor having sex with Denno Brown to help him escape, either real or magical seaming. It's… Count Derring.” Her voice was low and conspiratorial.
Rolph hit an amulet instantly, not even waiting a full three seconds. A silence field.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Tor… Doesn't want us to speak about Derring's death. His suspicious death while flying, his shield failing during a crash… Shields, that otherwise, have never failed at all.”
Tor blinked. This was about sex? Him and Denno? Tor started laughing and couldn't stop. He might be a hick, but he wasn't that worked up about people in Austra thinking he was a lover of men. It wasn’t real, but a lot of them had seen it happen themselves as far as they knew, so it was just a fact there, wasn’t it? Why would anyone care about that though? Even there it had just been about humiliating him because he was reticent, not because anyone would really care. Well, other than him, and his family back in Two Bends, all their friends and neighbors… He tried to make it seem like he was really worried, about that. They weren't buying it.
Not at all.
He might as well, run through the streets screaming the whole thing out at this rate. At least his friends went silent then, both with wide, frightened looking eyes. Tor couldn't even reassure them or anything, or explain what he'd been thinking at the time. Anything he said would make him look guilty. Mainly because he was. Amazing how that worked.
That led to his friends hardly speaking to him at all for the next week, preferring to ride in silence. None of the girls found his bed at all, and he just stopped asking. They didn't want a murderer, and who could blame them? Tor didn't regret what he'd done, not for a half instant even when he lay alone at night wondering if anyone could have ever really loved a thing like him? Probably not. They'd all just been being polite and that was before they knew what he really was.
Slowly Tor withdrew as well, not wanting to bother anyone, he started just building device after device, reading and practicing violin. He pushed too hard on building he knew. Burks had cautioned him to keep to one or two novel builds per month. Tor was doing that each day. His field held well though. Weeks passed that way, and by the time they reached the mountain villa he'd pretty much stopped talking at all. There was no reason to any more. Karina and Ali just glared at him and Varley gave him baffled and silent looks that seemed to probe his very soul, her blue eyes searching his brown for… something. Maybe to see if he was really a person at all?
Rolph tried to talk to him, and would spend time with him, just sitting and reading himself, not bothering to say anything after a while, but not leaving Tor alone either.
He kept to his exercises and tried to actually come up with ways to improve, reading his opponents fields while he fought, learning what subtle sense of things meant what, how to use the early warning to get out of the way or even block, how to counter with attacks instantly. It was harder with a weapon than hands and feet, until he learned to accept the practice wand, what looked like a big wooden kitchen knife, as a part of his own information. Then it went better. He still wasn't good, far from it, but he started to not be
beaten as badly each day by the Royal Guards, and while they made suggestions they came slightly less often.
The place they were to stay looked like a huge stone keep, three stories high and a little worn on the outside, the roof sloped sharply and the stone looking like moss had grown on it during the relatively warmer summer. It was a nice enough looking thing, not rich, except for its size, but that could be forgiven. Especially since it was all fake.
It was one of the newer type of magical houses he'd made himself. The field screamed at him as they rode up, calling to him and saying “remember me?” which of course, he did. It was a part of him after all. All his devices were really, especially the complex ones like this. No one else seemed impressed with it, but that was probably the idea, a place that looked nice enough for these carriages to be out front, but not so nice that all the royal children would be stored there for safe keeping. It was a good plan.
Tor climbed out, with Ali next to him. She held his hand, but that was probably just a perfunctory thing, to make it look like she still loved him, even though she was mad that he wouldn't help make her a murderer too. Karina and Rolph just shrugged when they saw the place, as if it was what they expected, more or less and Varley grinned.
“There will be snow here, won't there? I've never really seen snow except in the ice garden you made mother Tor. Do you think it will get deep?” She seemed pleased with the idea.
He nodded.
“Yeah. This is up a bit in the mountains, I don't know the seasons here, but it's cold, even if we don't feel it. Look at our breath in the air, it looks like it's freezing already. Little crystals in the air, falling gently to the frozen ground below…” His voice sounded sad to his ears, not meaning to, he forced a smile, hoping it would look genuine.
“We can build snow people and forts if you want, once it falls.”
Ali clapped her hands and the others all smiled warmly at her action, even some of the guards. They seemed to like her and had kind of adopted her as a mascot. For that matter they even seemed to like Tor well enough, even Veren, now that he didn't have to kick Tor's butt for whatever reason he'd had. Apparently it was enough to simply beat him, and the man could let the disagreement about where Karina was going slip away. Then, this wasn't the Lairdgren School and there didn't seem to be a lot of people around either.
