Out of the Woods (The Coalescence Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  They got to talk for several minutes, in which the Count seemed to be trying to reassure him that he hadn’t meant to be insulting, questioning his motives like he had. It meant standing outside the headmaster’s office for a while. Then he went in first, before getting back in touch with Neesa. He had news after all. First though he needed to get with other people. It was getting annoying, so he walked inside, expecting the Count to have a thousand letters for him to deliver.

  Instead, Heather, the woman who ran the front desk, just announced him.

  Without hesitation, he poked his head into the fairly tidy office space, which had a nice desk made of aged hardwood, and spoke without warning.

  “Delivery pickup! A bit early, but…”

  The man stood then, bowing a bit, meaning Will had to do that back.

  “Nothing today. Thanks for stopping in, however. I might honestly have a few things tomorrow, if you’re willing?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll be around for the next week or so. After that there’s a tour for some people and…” He shrugged. “Honestly, I probably won’t need English lessons much past that.”

  The man looked at him closely, then spoke to him in that language. It was far from perfect use of it. Understandable however.

  “You the learning of have done, to the point of master?”

  “No. Not yet. I need to learn more words, but it isn’t that different from Standard, really. Kind of a combination of Tellerand and Standard. Between the two languages and the practice that I’ve gotten, it’s working so far. I need to improve, so I can sound like a native, but parts of that will have to be done specifically for each location.”

  The older man smiled then, his eyes lighting up.

  “That’s impressive. I’ve been studying it for months now. You’ve had a single day to learn it to this point, correct? Good then, what do you plan to do next? A tour?”

  He nodded, then worked out that what he was doing for that was common enough knowledge.

  “With Count and Countess Ward, Alyssa Baker and Ambassador Neesa of the Ysidril. Some others as well, possibly. Then… There was mention of me learning to fight? I don’t really know how. Taman is setting that up.” She’d mentioned that it would be in a different reality. Which made sense to him, if it were the case.

  After all, that would give him a real chance to practice his skills, trying to fit in. Hopefully in a place that wasn’t so dangerous it would kill him if he failed.

  “Oh? It sounds like a good beginning. I should talk to her about it. I have some small understanding of education, after all.”

  The man ran a school, so it made sense. Then he sat there, looking as if he were at a loss for how to send Will away. The trick would be for him to suggest it, without seeming rude.

  “All right. I should be back tomorrow then. If not, or if you need something delivered faster than that, check with Taman Baker? She should know where to find me, I think.”

  “Excellent. I shouldn’t need anything rushed, but it’s good to know that’s an option at need. Would you be open to doing the same for others? King Richard has need of things like that from time to time.”

  Which said way more in that casual dropping of the name than all but an exacting declaration could have. The man in front of him was a Count, but also a school master. One who was interested in what he was getting up to. Who knew the King well enough that he understood the man might need a message boy who could go to faraway places on occasion.

  “Always. Though…” He had to think for a few seconds, then tried to seem nonchalant. “Maybe mentioning that a small bit of coin could be tossed my way for the work? I can’t think of any other reason that I’d be doing it.” Will waited, since that was probably too much to give to the man, but the fellow actually smiled about it.

  “A very fine idea. It’s important to have reasons for things that other people can easily understand. Especially if you wish to reduce scrutiny. So, you get paid for your labors. It’s so normal that most will miss the extremes of what is being asked of you. I’ll need to contact him this night on that. Can you travel to other worlds on short notice?”

  That was a lot to drop suddenly into the conversation, but he nodded.

  “Earth, Harmony, Mars and possibly the new fleets can be done the same day. Possibly within hours, though it might take longer with the fleets. From the sound of the things it’s huge on that end. Other realities? Well, Troy is supposed to come back in seven days. He might be enlisted for that kind of thing, if we can make it worth his while? I don’t know what he’d want for that. Gold might work, or information?” That was something he needed to find out about, really.

  The man didn’t seem upset with his answer at least.

  “That’s a fine start. You should seek to gain greater access, if possible. After all, if our only method of travel and communication is with Prince Dareg, then we might be disrupted if something happened to him.”

  The hint was a nice one, actually. Until that moment it had never occurred to him that Dareg was really a prince. Also, one who could go to other worlds. That was handy. Without commenting, he nodded.

  “Unfortunately, that might be a little rough still. After he tried to kill me the other day, I mean.”

  The Count waved that bit away.

  “That error was mine to start with. You haven’t ridden him too hard over it either. I doubt it will prevent you from being friends. Especially now that you look different. He was… Well, he and Squire Bill were friends. I don’t know how close, but it was a large betrayal to him when it turned out that Bill was his enemy. If they could be friends, it seems as likely that you two might be as well.”

  Will wanted to make a face, but shook his head.

  “Are you suggesting I attempt to seduce him?”

  The man steepled his fingers in front of his chin for a bit, then looked over them, it was a frank thing, with all pretense stripped away.

  “I don’t know. If it is required to gain his skills, then do it. I’d start with simple friendship however. If he needs your body, it will be clear. It may well be that simply asking him would be enough. He hasn’t been stingy with his magics or skills so far. That, being a friend, would be the safer first approach. You can always service him if it’s needed, after all. It’s harder to take that suggestion back than to wait to give it.”

  Which was a good idea, all over. Willum just nodded.

  “I’ll do that then. I even have a reason to be in touch with him, set by Ambassador Neesa. I can… Do that now before class. I’ll return at roughly this time tomorrow, unless summoned sooner.” He was speaking in Standard, which meant he was using his best accent at the moment. Unfortunately, that left him sounding a bit snooty.

  The Count didn’t seem to care, which was nice of him.

  “I’ll have something for you then, as like as not. Countier Lairdgren.” There was a seated partial bow.

  Willum went lower.

  “Count Lairdgren. Until then.”

  He left, smiling at the woman behind the desk, who did it back. Being kind cost him nothing after all. Pulling his handheld, he figured that Dareg would be a bit upset to see him. That, or sleeping. Instead, standing outside, in the dark, it took very little time for his cousin to pick up. He looked wide awake if nothing else.

  “Hello? Dareg here.” He looked at Will closely, but didn’t seem to pick up who he was.

  “Willum Baker. New face. Um…” He pointed at his chest emblem which was still there from earlier. “Pine tree emblem?”

  That got a laugh, which seemed real enough.

  “So, you’ve been dealing with the Ysidril?”

  “The Mighty Erath, who’s currently being tested to see if ye can learn to be a wizard. Off in Vagus at this very moment. I’m going to go pick Erath up after that. Also, Neesa is setting up some visits for some botanists? Count Ward has offered to take some of them around and host them, starting tomorrow. I’m supposed to dump at least part of that on you, so that I don�
�t have to rip my hair out? Also, later in the week there’s a tour happening. Count and Countess Ward, Alyssa Baker, Ambassador Neesa… Can you set up the Mars side of that? I heard that you were their secret king?”

  That got a chuckle, along with a head shake.

  “Hardly. Unless that means that I have to hop-to the commands of High Leader Hess constantly. I can set that up though. Some rooms for everyone? That won’t be any trouble, actually. We have the space. Do you need anything else for that?”

  That took him a few seconds, but finally he nodded.

  “Yes. Can I get free trips to other realities on short notice?”

  There was a bit of blinking then, but also a considering look.

  “Um… Probably. Why?”

  “Eh… New messenger service. You know, a copper a letter, two for any package less than three pounds?”

  “Oh… Well, charge more than that. Almost no one else has the connections to get that kind of thing done, so you should place a premium on it. But, sure. Just let me know when it’s needed. I’ll make sure it’s set up, if nothing else.”

  “Thanks! Talk to you soon.”

  That got a nod before the screen went blank in Will’s hand.

  Chapter seven

  English class was extremely easy that day for him. Diana was doing a lot better as well. Dumas and Clemance were about the same however. Even after months of work on it. The interesting part there was that Doris wasn’t at all shocked. She simply explained the concept.

  In Home Tongue. The accent was wildly different than what he’d grown up with, but the basic template was there.

  “These two grew up using what’s essentially a language training method. With Standard as its base, rather than English, but the idea still holds. The utility of such things is why both of you, Countiers Thomson, have been given instruction at an early age in the same thing. There’s simply a difference in how the brain reshapes itself over time. Between learning from birth and learning while young. Regardless, it doesn’t matter for any of you. If it takes five days to learn a language or five years, you’ve still learned to speak to others in the end. That’s the goal.” She smiled then, her face nearly playful for the first time that Will had ever noticed. “Don’t take that long however. We have guests coming in the next few months.”

  Raising his hand, Willum waited to be called on. No one else had done that yet, but not even Dumas had tried to speak unless spoken to so far. They might do it differently than in a country school however. The idea of noble children just shouting out their demands came to mind for some reason. Probably an incorrect one, given that all of that type he’d ever met had been perfectly polite so far.

  Doris just nodded at him. There were no words, but he took it as license to speak.

  “Last night I spoke to a man from a different world. In English. It was helpful after only one lesson. He’s coming back in the next week. Every eight days from yesterday, if possible. Troy Lopez. Others might be in and out as well, so we should be ready for that.”

  Doris bowed toward him, as if he was saying something more than just that the learning had been helpful. That was really all he was going for, since Clem and Dumas might not understand just how pressing things might be for them suddenly.

  “Very good. We will set a schedule. Diana, you and I will have to take the bulk of that. It will cut into your leisure time. Perhaps your sleep as well. Is that acceptable?”

  There was nearly no way it should be, but his little sister just nodded.

  “I’ll do my part. How do we do that?”

  Will tilted his head, then shrugged.

  “Um… Put up a sign, at the transport hut, in English, so that they know how to find your room at night? That would mean staying there more often when it was dark. Then, during the day they can come here? It isn’t that hard to find, really. That only works if they speak English, but should keep random people from here off of you.” Willum had switched back to English, because Doris had when she answered.

  The woman bowed at him then.

  “That is a good plan. Diana, we’ll need to move your room around. Along with your roommate. Please have her come in for lessons as well from now on. Even a few words in a language will work better than none. Indeed… We need to open the class to a wider portion of students. Diana, I won’t tax you that way, but the rest of you need to be prepared to teach lessons inside the next two weeks. Will, can you set up those signs for us? I’d like them to be easily read, which means finding an English speaker who can read and write in that language. I can do that part. Also magical. Can you have that by morning?”

  He was just honest, since as far as he knew the answer should be no. A novel magical build… Well, it was probably a thing, if the woman could think of it. The issue there was that he was pretty much out of wizards to bother about things like that. It meant asking Taman how to get things done most likely, which, if she was kind about it, she’d probably tell him he needed to do without her. Just for the lesson of it.

  “Unknown. Probably not, really. I’ll at least have something painted up at first? I’ll try for what you asked for however.”

  That got a small, very calm, bow, with nothing else being spoken of on the topic. Instead the rest of the lesson, taught without using anything except for English, was about how to train regular people to speak a different language. It involved a lot of tricks that hadn’t been used on them, Will noticed. They were pretty much shown objects and told what the name of the things were, then had to follow along as things were done with it. The incense stick was placed above the box. Then it was put under the box.

  From there the elderly lady had moved out in linguistic circles, pushing them to pick up what they needed without a break. Apparently she only expected the special students to get things that way. The others would need more repetition and mirroring in Standard for the words.

  “If you find one who does not need such, then bring them to me instantly. Now, are there any other issues that need to be taken care of? My evening class is waiting at the door, eager to clear their minds.”

  Will raised his hand again.

  “We have a meeting after that? At nine?” It was two hours away, but the pale colored woman at the front of the room smiled at him in a way that was nearly predatory.

  “I wouldn’t miss it. Are you staying for the lesson then?”

  It was meditation, and he had his special stone with him for it, so he nodded. He could sit there and try to catch up just as well as outside. Going away right then made no sense either. Even communicating with people didn’t. There would be at least three to four hours before he needed to escort Erath back home. Hopefully the child was doing well.

  That got him waved to the back of the room, so any antics or wiggling he did wouldn’t upset or distract the real students. They all filed in easily, just waiting for the others to leave first. A few of the new students, who were dressed in brown looked at Diana and Dumas closely. With the girl it was just that she was pretty enough for them to find interesting, at a guess. Dumas was just so young that he seemed out of place there.

  A few of them looked at him as they walked in, at first, but after he pulled out his black glass stone, the action of his initial focus triggering it, the next two hours moved by, rather quickly. He had a choice, of focusing without allowing distraction, or suffering real pain. It had grown far more intense, so the small, near accidents that tried to happen were much more enlightening now. There were gaps in his focus. Things that became bright to his mind, when they happened.

  By the end of it, he came to the surface to find Doris in front of him. The first thing he did was drop the rock to the mat he was on.

  “You can handle it for about twenty seconds without it triggering. After that, if you aren’t thinking about it totally, it punishes you for the failure. Now, should we go to your room or just lock the door here?” It was a bit pushy, but they had plans. She could just say no, after all, if she didn’t want to be bothered with h
im.

  Her response was to move to the door, her flesh smoothing and shining more as she did that. By the time the thing was locked, she looked no older than twenty or so. She also looked at him like he might just be good to eat.

  “Let’s do it here? That’s just naughty enough to be interesting, don’t you think?” They were saying it all in English. That part didn’t end either.

  Neither did the teaching. He had to thank everything, including the Wards and Aunt Taman then. What had been in the first section of the leather manual was just enough for him to even comprehend what the woman both wanted and did with him. Over the next two hours he learned a lot more than he figured most would ever need in the bed chamber. Then, as she held him, the rather lovely moon colored lady whispered into his ear.

  “We need to do that again. Call it three days? That will be near your last class with me for English. Unless… Yes, you need to learn to read and write it. That can be done from a book however. I’ll see about finding one of those for you.”

  Before the door was opened, she aged and became a dimmer version of herself. Less lustrous, along with much calmer. Then, without a word, the door was held open for him. She didn’t leave just shutting it after he left. That meant given the hour, that it simply made sense for him to go back to Vagus, even if a communication from Erath hadn’t come in yet. This time no one bothered him as he sat on the ground in front of the Mage school. Staring at his rock. It was before noon there, which threw him off more than a little. Thankfully he didn’t need sleep, or it probably would have harmed him.

  This time, instead of standing and waiting, someone grabbed the stone from him, to free him of the focus. It was Mage Jin, from earlier. Smiling he took it back before it stung her, and placed it in the magical blue sack on his side.

  “It hurts after a bit if you don’t concentrate on it hard enough.”

  Tor and Erath were standing back, with the child bopping around excitedly and Tor practically beaming. When the man spoke it was in Vagusian.

  “Erath passed. I was hoping to set up regular lessons? We’ll start slow and work up, since there’s no rush for ye. Do I speak to you about that kind of thing?”