Slave Line (The Young Ancients)

by Power, P. S.

  Once that was taken care of and Lyn was invited to dinner with Denno and Burks, if anyone could find him, the King suggested that Tor come as well.

  "Connie would love to see you. All of you no doubt." He sounded very correct and even happy, but Kedrin guffawed at him.

  "I bet Connie would like to see all of him. Alone, in a locked room, with no clothes on." He said it quietly, but to no one in particular.

  Lyn glared at him anyway.

  "I see. So you wish to make an enemy of Torrance Purple? You'd be better served by declaring personal war on any of the other lands of this world. At least then the rest of us could try to protect you and possibly survive it." She didn't sound happy suddenly, a lot older and more formal sounding in accent than she ever had before. A bit mean to tell the truth.

  It got a nod from Denno though.

  "Not a bad point. I personally was going to take the royal brother aside and mention that later though Red. Let him save some kind of face, but it's a real enough point. Of all the people to anger in the world today, Tor is about the last one you want to risk. Especially just to goad your brother, as fun as that no doubt is. For that matter I'm rather fond of the Queen too and so is Green. Keep it up and you might just find not one, but three, of the worlds Ancients deciding that your life is currently too simple and relaxed." It wasn't a threat exactly, and came from a man that was, after a fashion, the leader of an enemy state, but Richard just bowed to both the Ancients and then threw a casual wink at Tor.

  "Exactly. Though in his defense, I really do believe that was intended solely as a barb toward me, as if I'd take it amiss. Then Ked always had troubles with jealousy that I never bothered with. A personal failing on his part no doubt." He looked away, fighting a smile.

  Lyn pointed at him a bit rudely.

  "Stop teasing your brother. It's not fitting for the ruler of a Kingdom." She sounded like his mom just then, Tor realized. More... she sounded like everyone in histories mother.

  The King let it go though and didn't even seem to take offense. She probably sounded like his mom too. Plus she was correct. Rich was good about not discounting good advice, even if he didn't really want to hear it at the moment.

  "Of course. Why don't we go and see to those drinks I'd suggested? I could use a nice fruit juice after that. Tor?"

  "That sounds really good actually." He didn't drink alcohol and the King did, but not during the day or at important meetings. Both for basically the same reason, to keep their heads clear for when situations arose.

  They were led by a man in purple and gold livery to a sitting room that had a dozen sofas and some twenty-six cozily cushioned chairs set up, with people sitting in them tensely, sipping at drinks, most of them trying desperately not to drop them or spill anything. That just made sense though, since the whole room was done in white and cream colors. The only people that looked easy about the whole thing were Karina and Rolph, along with Trice who'd spent a heck of a lot more time at the palace than anyone else he knew that didn't live there full time. Everyone else looked a bit stiff for one reason or another, including the King and his brother. It wasn't a party though, so that kind of worked.

  Tor gestured to Rich, getting him to lean over a bit. It was the only way to keep from having to shout to be heard given the size difference and the general low hum of the space.

  "I can't come tonight. I have an... Event at my house. A secret meeting to plot someone's well deserved destruction." He stopped and looked around, wondering if anyone else could hear him, they probably could, the room wasn't special in any way to prevent it and they had ears.

  "Social destruction, by the way. I think that's all at least. Not plotting anything too bad. Has to be done though. If I find him I'll need Burks for it as well, since its actually closer to his problem than mine. Red and Brown will be available for you though, along with the rest of the Lairdgren group that isn't actively working. Some of them might be, but you and Connie should meet them all personally, in case you ever need to call on them for anything. Oh..." Tor wondered if the man was just going to order him to show up, but he just gave a single short nod, which signaled that he could continue, Tor hoped.

  "Also, who's in charge of the delegation to Austra? I've set Sandra Morris to the task of being the Kingdom's magical representative and guard detail, since I have to run off directly with the Ancients and my family to that meeting we talked about."

  Rich did his own looking around and finally waved to someone, a woman that looked to be about forty or so, was tall, lean and had a rather long face. It was what he liked to think of as attractively homely. She wore a rather nice looking dress that had a jacket with it, made of heavy looking material. She was sweating more than a bit and using a dark blue kerchief folded into the palm of her left hand to dab away the excess on her brow and neck covertly.

  "Ambassador Callings? This is Tor. Tor, Ambassador Samantha Callings. Ducharina first. She's been the Austran Ambassador for some twelve years now I believe?" This got a nod from the woman who smiled and waved at her face as if trying to fan herself.

  Tor hadn't thought to bring any extra amulets for anything, just his own and frankly the three he had were too dangerous to just hand out without explanation first, but he could get the woman something for the trip if nothing else. She just seemed so hot. The clothing she was wearing didn't help, being heavy and thick looking, but Tor still felt bad for her. He was just about to give her his own anyway, even if it did have a few extra things on the same device, when Lyn walked over holding up an amulet on hemp string. It was in his style, on focus stone with a glowing sigil, not hers which was normally done on metal still.

  "I grabbed some extra from the box earlier on the way past. Actually I got some of almost everything. Here you go." She handed the string to Tor, who smiled and tried it to the Ambassador. Her face went fixed though, instead of happy, and she glanced at the King as if not sure what to do.

  Tor blinked.

  "It's just for the heat. Nothing major or anything. We all have them, most of us do at least. It isn't dangerous or anything."

  The woman still looked flustered and tense, almost as if she didn't know what to say. Tor didn't get it, but a familiar voice came from behind him, getting him to spin in place to look at the man. Burks Green. His grandfather.

  He looked his normal age of about thirty or so, which was about as old as he could manage. It was handy in a way, since it made him look slightly different than Tor did. Otherwise they could pass for twins, except Burks was a little taller than he was and wore all green. It was his favorite color after all.

  "I believe the difficulty here is that the Ambassador is worried you might be trying to bribe her. That amulet is worth several hundred golds. More now that Miss Smalls had to close her local shop. To get around that you should hand it off to Ricky and let him give it where he sees fit." The man looked pleasant, but wasn't smiling at all.

  The King winced, but didn't mention why. Tor knew that one though, from very nearly the first time he met the man. He hated being called "Ricky" since that rhymed a bit too well with "icky" and had been used to tease him as a child. Since he would have been a prince at the time, Tor kind of figured that the one using that most often had been his younger brother who didn't seem to be overly disposed to be kind to the man. It was a little odd. Tor got along with all his brothers and sisters after all.

  "Rich or Richard please. He doesn't like to be called Ricky or Rick." Tor made his voice firm and stared at the Ancient, wondering if he already knew that and had been needling the King anyway. If so he didn't respond to being called on it at all, except to look surprised and turn his attention to the man himself.

  "Sorry, didn't realize that. Well then, Rich it is from now on."

  Everyone else was staring at them about that time, which got Tor to hand over the amulet, wondering what would happen if the monarch just tucked it in a pocket. That would be awkward. Kind of funny though. Tor smiled about it and nodded at the device in
the giants hand.

  "Gift for you then, to do with as you please." He waved at it, but didn't look at the poor woman trying to melt next to them.

  Rich didn't make her wait though, or pretend the situation was anything but what it was, handing it over directly with a small bow. The woman was decently tall, about six-ten or so, but the Monarch towered over her anyway.

  "Ah, these really are wonderful Samantha, please, take this one as a gift. Also, for the duration of this mission, please assume that any magics given to you by Master Tor or the Lairdgren group are part of your upkeep. Otherwise things won't run as smoothly." He turned to Tor and winked.

  "That means if you really want to bribe her it will have to be using gold or sex." Everyone laughed at that as if it were funny.

  It really just reminded him that he was too worn and hurt for sex at the moment. Gold then, if it came to it. He'd have to remember to pack some extra along with him just in case. Not that he wouldn't anyway. Of course if they were going to buy things in Austra they'd need currency from there, which was all either on paper or kept as a credit record, whatever that was. The same with Vagus, except that was animal pelts and horses. They really should take some gifts for people to, shouldn't they? It was what you did when you went to visit people.

  Maybe everyone would like some nice, decorative gold coins, with a raised picture of the king on them?

  The Ambassador, Callings, Tor made himself remember to try and fix the memory, put the amulet on with a smile and hit the sigil on the front, then sighed.

  "Oh... Yes, that is nice. Thank you Your Majesty. Master Tor." She bowed to everyone then, including Burks and Lyn, even though she probably had no clue who Red was. Then that was part of being a diplomat, wasn't it? Making sure you didn't accidently slight anyone.

  "I look forward to this trip, to help cement the ties between our land and the great continent of Austra. I fear things may be a little unsettled there. Do you think it would be possible to have an audience with Denorian Brown before we leave? It might prove invaluable. I do like to be as well prepared as possible. We've never met, but I hear he's a splendid fellow."

  Tor waved to him from across the room, getting him to say something to the man he was talking to, an older giant man that Tor hadn't met yet, and walk over. He was dressed all in brown still, but the clothing was nicer this time. For all that the man couldn't make himself believe in magic at all, he could use it easily enough. Expertly even.

  He smiled warmly at the group and held his arms out as if he hadn't seen them all in years, rather than seconds.

  "We have met, dear lady. Twice in fact. Once in Austra at a reception and once a few weeks back when I was working in the Palace guest house. I did have a disguise on that time however. Greg the room servant? I saw to your fresh linens." He'd really done it, but the woman looked disbelieving.

  Ah well. It didn't really matter.

  Tor waved at him.

  "He's traveling with us, so you should have full days to pick his brain. These other two ancients as well, if you want."

  That started a long conversation, but Tor managed to get away from the group with Trice and Burks in tow after about half an hour. He didn't know how to tell anyone about the meeting exactly, but it was important. Still, it had to be done in code, or at least not so obviously everyone in the land would know about it by dinner.

  Nothing came to mind that Trice would understand. So, he'd just have to leave out the good bits.

  "Um, skip the dinner here and come to my place for a meeting. It won't be fun, but I think both of you will want in on this. If not, well, I'll feed you anyway, so it won't be too much of a loss. If you both decided I'm full of it you can come back here easily enough." They could just land in the hole his Fast Carriage had left.

  Tor started to feel bad about it, but chose not to bother. It could be fixed, and it had been an emergency. Plus the landing had been incredibly smooth from inside the vehicle. That in itself made the whole thing worth it. It meant that a crash was a lot more potentially survivable in one of those things than he'd thought. So valuable just for that. Nearly so at least. More, he really just didn't care. That part was strange, a dark feeling that he hadn't had in a long time. Like maybe, just possibly, life wasn't really worth it. Not the one he had.

  It was because he was a killer now. It tainted everything he did, making it so that even standing in this fine room, with the King himself delivering presents for him and people treating him almost as an equal lacked substance. It didn't feel important at all. Nothing did. Maybe nothing ever had? What was the point of being him after all?

  Tor smiled, trying not to let his thoughts show on his face for once, because important to him or not, it was his life now and people counted on him to at least get his job done. Right now that was...

  He blinked and shook his head a little. What was he supposed to be doing anymore? He couldn't build right now and might not be able to for months more. The claim was that he'd worked himself nearly to death making a device to stop Trice from setting off combat rages in everyone all the time, but it wasn't really true. The rage she'd sent him into first, one that lasted for days on end before he could stop it, had really done the damage. It took almost everything he'd had. The building itself had been pretty much incidental after that, even though it took months. It was a good work, a true master work even, but it had saved his life, not the other way around.

  When it had happened, or rather nearly two months later when he woke up, Trice had been in such a state that he decided to not let her know about that part of things and just played it all off as him being too ambitious. It didn't matter whose fault it was anyway, right? She couldn't help the way she was born after all, so blaming her for it was wasted time.

  The short answer there was that he wasn't going to be doing anything useful that way for a long time. Especially if he didn't get a chance to rest up for a while. The fight two days before, on top of all the killing, didn't help either. He hurt. It was a deep thing that rested in his bones constantly now. So what was he going to do? Spend gold and pretend to be someone important? That would work well enough, for a while, but only because Rich and Connie would back him on the idea, being good friends. That didn't mean it was true though. He was nearly useless now.

  Burks was talking to him he realized, which made him shake his head a little, not having understood a word of it.

  "We need to be the first ones to the summit of course. The others will trickle in over the next weeks, depending on how they have to travel. Orange will probably be coming in by foot for instance, which means she's nearly always the last to get in. She bothers to come though, which is better than about half of us. Has to be done though. Have you been in touch with Miss Ward? Captain Ward I mean?" He sounded bland and relaxed about it all, as if it almost didn't matter.

  "Weeks?" Tor kept the anger out of his voice, but just barely, "what the hell Burks... I agreed to go to a meeting and chat with some people about a problem. I didn't realize it was just about me going and sitting around for weeks, waiting like a moron while everyone else showed up as they please. They've had six months to get there for goodness sake. Not to be petty here, but why waste everyone's time? This is up to Brown and you. I get the idea that Lyn needs to get there, since it's her land, but I don't need to be wasting my time sitting around doing nothing and neither do the rest of us. It would have been nice if you would have mentioned all this earlier. We could just send you three off in a Fast Carriage with a communications device and show up on the first day of the actual thing." No, Tor realized as he ended the statement, he hadn't really kept all the ire out of his voice at all. Not good. The man was his grandfather after all. Still, he hardly knew him for all that.

  Burks rolled his eyes.

  "Well, it's the way it's been done for over two thousand years. Sorry we didn't think of you back when we originally made the rules." He didn't sound sharp or anything, but managed to come off as a little bored.

  Tor we
nt still, rage suddenly spiking through him. It was almost like a combat rage it was so strong and sudden. It took all his will not to punch the man in the face. He almost did it anyway, his fist curling and starting to move on its own, even though doing that would probably have his butt kicked almost instantly. Burks was way better at fighting than he was after all.

  Tor clenched his jaw then and let out his breath slowly, trying to stay calm. Return to that state at least.

  "I see. Well, if the rules say that's what has to be done, then I don't see any need for me to go at all, do you? I'm sure the rules also preclude anything I say or do from being taken seriously at all anyway. This is your problem Green, and Brown's mess. Why don't you take care of it without me?" It was rude, but Tor just spun and walked away. He knew if he didn't he was going to kill Burks. Sure, he couldn't take him in a fist fight, but he had enough weapons on him that he could kill them all were they stood and even his own shields wouldn't protect them.

  He didn't stomp off. The truth was that would hurt too much. Instead he rose into the air about a foot and floated out quickly.

  "Tor..." This came from behind him, but he honestly couldn't tell who said the word and didn't really care at all. He wasn't really needed for anything then, was he? The only reason for him going to Austra at all was just to get him to the summit, but if the rules the Ancients had made dictated everything the way they seemed, it wouldn't make a difference.

  Inside his head Glost Serge roared with laughter, followed several seconds later by Daria, his daughter. They didn't say anything, but it was clear they found the whole thing amusing without end. It wasn't until he got to the door of the palace that he realized that Lyn and Sam had followed him out, jogging behind without saying a word. Burks hadn't, but then the man didn't really care about other people at all, did he? That was horrible, Tor knew. Worse than anything else in all this, because eventually he'd turn into the same man, more or less.