by P. S. Power
"I'm certain they will. I need to find Marvin, Debbie and Petra anyway, before they forget me here. I bet she'll be willing to show me how to use my new craft. Oh, is that a loan too, or..." She didn't want to be greedy, but it was a real treasure.
"Keep it. Both of them are yours." Then she walked over to a wooden side table, which was dark and lustrous, and picked up her communications device. There was low speech for a bit, but when she returned from across the room, Tiera seemed happier.
"It looks like Tim gave that Truth amulet you need directly to Count Ward. The others are on their way to Petra and Gerent's place, because that's where the ship is. I hope to hear from you soon? I'll understand of course, if you're busy, or have other things to see to." She stopped talking then, being kissed.
"We should make a date? It will be a few weeks, I think. I have a rebellion to break first. After that however?" She kissed the Queen again, finding her lips to be very soft, and then sighed. "Oh, also, can Kedrin have exile here? He's not a bad man, if a bit of a fool. We have to put him somewhere though, or kill him." She shrugged, since it might not be her choice anyway, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"I suppose. He'll need to work and pull his own weight, but that isn't hard for most people here. I'd suggest he consider marrying me, but he didn't seem all that interested in me, the one time we met. Well, not after we finished."
Maria winced, since Tiera was being rude, and it was clear that Kedrin had been too. Still, she was willing to let him come, she'd said, and he might well be a bit more interested in her now. She was much larger, for one thing, and marrying her would improve his social standing, which was a thing that he might well like. It could take the sting out of failing to get what he wanted.
Not that he'd really tried that hard.
It was the others that had tried to push him into it the whole time. Not that there was a lot of love lost between the King and his younger brother, but the man had clearly been planning to let them kill Richard, and place Alphonse on the throne the whole time. How anyone could have missed that, she didn't know.
"I'll set that up then? If he can generate enough interest would you still be willing to consider a marriage proposal? He really can be sweet, and he's a lot of fun. You aren't the jealous type, are you?"
"A bit. I didn't think I was, but I certainly hate to lose Sherri, you understand? As for Kedrin, well, I would hear the offer, at least. He'd get a title as King, but it wouldn't mean that much here. A share of the work, but the power would still rest with the council. I could really use the help, however."
They nearly started to chat about that, but the Queen made her leave, waving at her, "go now. I'll be here in a few weeks. Thank you, for being concerned. It nearly seems genuine and everything."
It could have seems snotty, since Maria had clearly come to beg gifts from her, but she let herself smile. "It really is. I'll be back, soon. Possibly with a go between, unless Kedrin is a bigger fool than I think."
That got her out the door, and turned around twice before she asked a strange looking man in black, who was tiny and pale, marking him as being from Tellerand, where she might find Gerent and Petra's palace.
The man bowed to her, and smiled.
"I can take you that way? I find it easier than trying to explain, and the All High would wish it. You are from Noram, are you not?" He started walking, his pace brisk. "I have been that way on occasion of late. To the Capital city? I'm the Ambassador from Tellerand to all the other lands, but most of them don't have as... Colorful and different a set of traditions."
He did sound diplomatic, she had to allow.
"I am from that land! So pleased to meet you. I'm Countess Maria Ward. Have you been to Warden yet? If not you should come soon. I'm sure that my husband and I would be happy to entertain you, as our guest."
The small man blushed, his breath coming up a bit short.
"That would be... Lovely. I... I'm of a rather different tradition however, and may not be much fun, or as entertaining as... I..." He kept stammering, but she got the idea. He was trying to find a graceful way to duck out, and failing, badly.
"Ah, well, if you're too busy, then that's that. We all understand the need to see to duty first, don't we?"
He let out a long stream of air, and shook his head slowly.
"It isn't that. I'm... not comfortable having sex with men. Really, even the women are difficult for me. I was told that I need to be very careful, since in their County, a Count, or Countess..."
She blinked.
"Oh! Is that all? Well, I assure you, we can keep that from happening. Marvin won't let anyone be forced against their will. In Warden, you can say no, to anyone. No matter what their social position. So, we should have you over for a stay? In about a month? That will let you check out my words and to make certain that it's all honest. It is, but you will want to be reassured." She grinned at him, and took his hand, as they walked. It was companionable, but he still blushed.
He didn't push her off though, which was amazing, considering where he was from.
The small man traded communications information with her, but left her as soon as they got to the long, very straight, hallway that led to where she needed to go. After that she was able to float on, and find the door fairly quickly. Using Tor-shoes was always fun, if a bit juvenile. There was no one watching her at that moment however, so she cut loose and went faster than would have been safe in town. There was no one to hit, and while the whole trip took a lot less time at the speeds she traveled, it was long enough that she got to have some fun doing it.
The door stood open when she got there, and Petra stuck her head out, smiling.
"So, we managed to pry the amulet out of Tim's fingers. It wasn't all that hard. It's his old one. Apparently his new one allows him to take control of any Truth amulet placed on him. If that get's out, we might as well scrap the whole thing. What he has to lie about he wouldn't mention, but I'm betting it isn't something small. Death and mayhem, at a guess. Otherwise, why bother?"
She nodded back, not wanting to put an opinion in.
"I have the weapon I need. Also one of those new ships you mentioned? Tiera said I'd need lessons, and suggested Gerent, but I don't think I have that kind of time. You can teach me what to do?"
That got her sister in-law to produce a low, impressed whistle.
"That's a rare thing then. I don't think anyone else even has one of those yet. What did you have to do in order to get her to part with one?"
Maria winked, her face happy.
"Me? Nothing. You on the other hand will need to stop by a few times a week to service her. I mentioned how able you were in certain ways, and she was intrigued. That should only take a few years to pay off, but getting the craft was your idea, so it seemed fair."
She got a funny look, but not called a liar.
"I didn't know I was yours to trade that way."
Maria nodded.
"That still doesn't mean you shouldn't be stopping by and doing your part, does it? Besides, have you seen her? She delicious. You'd be a fool not to take this up. I have heard a lot about you, but that's a word that no one has ever linked to your name."
Petra sighed, and then shrugged her powerful shoulders.
"I suppose I should, really. I can show you how to jump. We can do that on the way back? Have you used a fast craft before?"
"No? I've ridden in them, but they're rather hard to get, aren't they? Tor made most of them, and I'd thought he was mad at me. It turns out he really wasn't." She rubbed her behind then, which got everyone in the room to look at her.
Debbie made a face, but didn't say anything. Marvin did.
"If you weren't punished, then why are you sore?"
She looked away.
"Because some things are earned, even if not insisted upon by anyone else? He and I are friends now, which is all that matters. Real ones, I think. It wasn't what I would have expected, but I guess it's fact now?" More, they apparently had been for some
time, she just hadn't been wise enough to notice it.
Chapter nine
Maria learned two important lessons in the next several hours. The first one was that, as sweet as she could be, Petra took the idea of being a warrior and teacher very seriously.
She put Maria through her paces setting up the new glorious jump craft that Queen Tiera had given her, but didn't stop at showing her how to decorate the thing, or even flying around the Moon in orbit. She had to learn to do everything, and was made to jump between Earth and back dozens of times, while Marvin and Debbie looked on nervously.
Not that it was hard, after the first ten or so failed attempts. It was designed to just not let you go anywhere if you messed up the complicated mental commands, luckily.
Then, after she set the craft down in front of the villa in Warden, Pet waved for the others to go in.
"Maria and I have to go and take care of a few things."
What that was Maria didn't know. Hopefully it was just a reprise of the day before. She didn't really feel like servicing Petra for an hour at the moment, but there were worse ways to spend their time. Besides, she could get some of her toys out, which would be fun enough. Fucking the larger woman from behind for instance, would leave Maria with a sense of power. That would be nice, after the hours of feeling a bit diminished, being ordered around like she had been.
That wasn't to be the case.
No, Pet in her wisdom had decided that Maria needed to practice with the new weapon that she'd been given. To that end she flew off toward the coast, just lifting off, using the flight capability of her shield. It took a bit for Maria to do the same. It wasn't exactly dignified to go flying around. It was fun though, so she transformed her red and black dress into soft brown trousers that hugged her behind and a loose matching shift for the top. No one flew in a dress.
At the beach, Petra stopped, and pulled out a very familiar white stone stylus. The construction wasn't identical, but it had a small loop in the end, just like the one that Maria had been given.
"Shield stripper is a bit of a misnaming. They actually focus thought to allow shields to be turned off, at a distance. At the same time, you can hit your target with either an explosive weapon, or a force lance. The things are incredibly versatile, but it takes practice to really use them. If you want to learn to fight at all, this is both a good thing to start with and the hardest way to go about it." The language was a bit strange, but Maria got it. She ran too many spies herself to suppose they weren't being watched, even well away from anyone else.
It was nerve wracking, since she had to practice on Petra, taking her shield down, and controlling the force lance portion, trying not to kill her by mistake. Then, no one had ever said Pet wasn't brave, had they?
After that, they abused the stones and even the sand of the beach itself.
Melting it.
"Immolation. You'll seldom need it, unless you need to start a camp fire, but it can be handy. In general we all try to hold back with that one. Don't tell people that it has that capability? The less people know about what we can do the better off we'll be in a pinch."
Then, because the girl was insane, they had to duel with the weapons. Just taking down each other’s shields and trying to trip each other by pushing on the others legs with light blasts of force. It still hurt, but Maria thought she was doing well enough to impress the rebels. They wouldn't expect anything of her, not really. She was just Countess Ward.
The idea that she might get into place by sucking the King off, or offering him her behind, would be believed by all. That she was going to outfight the royal guard... Well, that just wasn't ever going to work. No, if she did this thing for real, she would die. The trick there would be in killing the King first. So she worked, trying to get good enough in one lesson for that.
At dinner time, Petra shrugged.
"You can defend yourself, more or less. I suggest daily practice. Not just with this weapon either. Take your craft up every day for at least six months. Visit people and all that. I need to get back home. I actually have a date with my husband later, if he's not too busy for me. Personally I blame Tiera for that part. She can be pushy."
Maria hadn't noticed that at all, really. She seemed more lonely than anything else.
"Take care then, and give Gerent a kiss from me? Or better, tell him to come and collect one from me himself, sometime soon? Of course, now that I have this craft around my neck, I'll be up to visit with you far more often. We'll have such fun!" They would too. She nodded, as Petra waved to her, made her own craft appear, and vanished into the sky a few moments later.
That left her to fly back to the Villa alone, just in time for the evening meal.
The next part of things would be the difficult task, wouldn't it? The letter she'd gotten from Baron Klepter had told her to pick up the Truth amulet, if she could, but hadn't given her any hint as to how to contact anyone with the information that she had it. There were people in charge of things, of course, and the habit had been to pass Kedrin Cordes around to the top people in the rebellion. It was for safety, but did kind of give away who was in charge.
The thing there was that she didn't really know where that was at the moment, did she? Not that it would be all that hard to work out. Maria smiled through the evening meal, and watched the dancers for a bit, then went inside when no one was watching her too closely. The quiet room, a thing with thick walls, lined with silk to prevent being overheard, would work well enough, if she were careful. If you weren't inside the space yourself, it would be hard to hear what was said.
It also locked from the inside.
Using her communications device, standing in the middle of the small space, the light coming from a copper plate above her, she looked up Kedrin's name on it. That he had one of the things wasn't a mistake, after all. She'd gotten it for him herself. Most of the people in the rebellion had them now, since they rated them as being high enough in the ranks of nobility. Terry Baker had used the things to buy goodwill some years before.
It had worked too. Most of the nobles in the Kingdom already kind of loved the boy, and they'd never even met him.
It was handy at the moment, since it meant she could tap in Kedrin's name, and then wait for the man to answer. His giant face, complete with thick red mustache, came into being in her hand a few minutes later. That was a longer time than most took, and she'd nearly given up.
"Hello? I had to get someplace safe to speak. May I... Maria! There you are, my lovely friend. I was just thinking about you the other day. Your name came up in conversation here. Are you in a good location?" His deep voice rumbled, making her hand vibrate as the stone produced the sound he was making on the other end.
The face was relaxed, but slightly concerned, for him. He had lines around his eyes that hadn't been there the last time they'd gotten together. The whole rebellion thing was taking a toll on him, wasn't it?
"In the quiet room here. I have news. How are things on your end?"
"About the same. No one can hear me here. Is all well?"
She smiled, and let herself shrug.
"That depends on what you mean by well? I was sent a note, by someone claiming to be in the rebellion. Through a contact I wouldn't have expected. There seems to be a rather foolish plan in place, to kill your brother? I mean, one that can't work at all. Using a girl with poison on her lips, both upper and lower, to entice Richard to meet his doom in the bed chamber? That... isn't going to work."
There was a hard face then and a nod.
"As I mentioned. Several times. I think that this experiment is about finished. Well, it was worth the doing, I think. Even if I die in the next months. Richard was getting too full of himself. Thinking that he actually knew what was best, instead of fumbling around in the dark like the rest of us."
Maria tilted her head. She'd never realized that Prince Kedrin had that much sense of the reality of rule.
"I have a better plan though. One that can use the elements we've been giv
en, but will actually work. I made my way into contact with Richard..." She tried to act coy, but then shrugged. Kedrin was nothing if not free with his ideas about getting things done.
"That is I used my connections to Petra Ward to get in to see him the other day, and we took turns servicing him. I have another date for the same thing in six days. I got a weapon from Queen Tiera that can take his shield away, as well as end his days. We need to coordinate though, or else... Well, half of all such things fail, after the rebels think they have won, don't they? People get complacent, and others will fight very hard to keep what they have."
Kedrin blinked at her, then smiled slowly.
"I see. How do you intend to escape after doing that however? The Royal Guard will fight, even after their package is dead. If you have such a device as I think you do, know that they have them as well. Merely being behind a shield will not save you for long." He sounded deadly serious about the whole thing.
She nodded.
"I know. I won't be making it out of there. Not alive, and probably not in one piece. Someone has to get this done though. For the good of all our people. So, we need to set this up carefully. We don't have a lot of time. Can I do that? I can act alone, but that would be the same as throwing this all away. I'll lose my life for the good of my people, but I won't just cast it into the sea. If they won't do anything... Well, I can go and suck the King's cock for a few years and probably earn forgiveness for Marvin and myself. I... Kedrin." She stopped as the man gave her a dark look, but went on anyway. "Ked... I can get you a place in Harmony. Queen Tiera will allow you to go there, into exile if need be. Regardless, she's put for an offer of marriage for you. Win, lose or draw on this mess here. I think you should seriously consider it."
"Queen Tiera? I..." He paused, then smiled. "Is she an old hag then? I don't believe we've met and the connections I bring aren't worth that much, are they?"
