by P. S. Power
She didn't, since the man signed, looking at the paper closely, reading it, but clearly not understanding it all.
The King bowed. "Count Baker."
The whole table repeated it then. It was the tradition, after all. Tiera did it too.
"Count Baker." Then when everyone else finished she stood, and moved back, bowing low. "You have the duty."
That got a smile from Smythe at least. Then she moved down the table, as George suggested with a wave that the new Count shift up a single seat, putting him next to Aunt Connie. Tiera went to the end of the table, into the left hand poison seat. She wasn't worried overly, to tell the truth. She had a detector on her, and would resist a lot of things without even noticing it. She couldn't even get drunk.
Across from her was Count Lairdgren. Tiera nodded, somberly.
The meal was very nice, and, just to be different, the main course was done differently, with a choice of several things that all went with the other courses. The dessert was all flaming berries, but the blend was perfectly ripe and succulent, and out of season. Not that she hadn't gotten that her magic was being used to help make it all happen. There was no announcement of it, and no one balked at eating things made from dirt and rocks. Or whatever else they used. She was willing to bet they weren't using human waste though, which wasn't going to be the case on the trip to come. She decided not to think about it.
Yet. It would happen later, she didn't doubt.
Ah, well.
After the meal they were released, or at least she was. Timon too, but the rest of the family was staying there that night. Tim had a house not a half mile away though, so he wasn't going too, and Lawrence was released, since he no doubt wanted to either go home and tell his wife about their improvement in the world and the rules of it, or hide. One of those.
He'd hired a ride, with Tim's fast travel service, but it was Morgan, one of his civilian pilots, that came for it and took the man away. The newest Count wasn't smiling, but that was shock, she thought. Tim patted her on the back.
"Come back with Trice and I? Just for a bit?" Trice got her craft up, and gestured at them, not looking all that pleased, but it had that 'proper' look to it. Like she meant it, but was still mainly showing her feelings to seem supportive.
It was horribly phony, but nice anyway. They hadn't always been friends, but Tiera had to get over that, didn't she? Hundreds of years of her carrying a grudge wasn't going to work very well. That was something that almost every Ancient she'd ever met had mentioned to her at some point. Or at least hinted at. The biggest problem that they had with each other was due to the little, and sometimes big, squabbles and arguments they got into over time. So, they were friends, Trice and herself. Even if things went wrong. It was going to be annoying.
She climbed in however, and didn't get her own Fast Craft out or anything. Right now Remy was spending the night with Ali and Maris, so that she could have her vehicle back, just in case fleeing into the night was needed. That had left her feeling a little uneasy, but the same thing was true there, wasn't it? Remy was going to be around for a while. They all had to be friends, or things were going to be bad. Very much so. The only thing that really set her mind at ease was that he'd more or less gotten along with the Ancients for a long time. That might not translate to her, or the new people, but she was hopeful. In part because she didn't want her friends to be hurt.
If she had to die, well, that was what it would be. Some day it would happen to everyone, including her. Soon, if she took enough risks. But Sheri? Ali? Even Maris, who was sweet and gentle all the time, she wouldn't have them be harmed, not if it was in her power to stop it.
The seats in the little black vehicle were made to seem like leather and felt a little sticky for some reason. Tacky and like they'd squeak if she moved wrong. Luckily Trice didn't take long getting them to her home, just moving straight up and over faster than seemed sane.
She explained that, her eyes looking pleased.
"We aren't allowed to fly over the city, but the back wall here is so close that we can get away with it, as long as we move faster than the guard can get out to scold us about it. They won't follow us to complain, since we're outside their normal patrol zone." She set down pretty fast too, but with enough control it didn't damage the little landing area that they'd made inside their own palace wall. It had a glowing silver river on the top and looked... Well, it was nice. She had to give them that. It just seemed incredibly pretentious too. As if they were saying their place was more important than anywhere else in the world.
Unlike, her place. Which was now, she realized, her dorm room at school. Maybe she could get a little puddle and put it out front? Like a moat. With a tiny bridge over it? Just for defensive reasons, naturally.
Timon led them out, and Trice packed the thing up easily enough, smiling pleasantly the whole time, her eyes a bit dark still. It wasn't until they got inside that she rounded on Tiera and hugged her closely.
"I'm so sorry! That was so incredibly noble of you, giving over your power like that, to protect your people. I know that no one will understand it yet, except us, so I wanted to make certain you knew that, well, I knew." She was trying, so Tiera hugged her back for a bit.
Then she smiled.
"Really, I wasn't joking about it always being my plan. Lawrence is a good man. So..." She looked around and then shrugged. "I sort of expected you to have the Rebellion meeting here. Are you going to take me off to Warden for it then? Not that I'm all that great a catch now, being just me again." She was trying to be funny, but her brother looked away and shook his head.
"Nothing like that. Though the word is that the King forced you to give up your claim so that he could put a more loyal body in the chair. We, Trice and I, didn't even have to make that one up. This whole thing has been leaking for days, and everyone that's heard it has jumped to the same basic conclusion. I wanted you to come over for a different reason."
She waited then, and her brother, who was still shorter than she was, but was now taller than his wife, fixed her gaze with his own. It was a hard thing, which was darker than she would have thought he'd allow himself to seem. Not that he didn't feel that way, but he was clearly in a trance state and had been for the entire night. She was too. It was part of why she just didn't care about things at the moment.
Trice moved away and made a face.
"I was hoping that, if you wouldn't mind, could you take Sara Debri with you? She asked me, as a friend, to try and help set that up. You being family, I thought you might have a way of getting her onto the Harmony voyage." There was a softness to the words, a slyness that was almost hidden, but Tiera understood it.
She even got that Timon wasn't too pleased by his wife asking for that favor, in particular.
She bowed a bit and tried to look like she wasn't a raging bitch.
"Right, she's been assigned to watch me for the King? I'd kind of thought that would go away, as soon as the whole Countess thing did?" Thinking about it, having a store up there might be a good idea. Slow business at first, but even with magic being plentiful, there would always be things that were needed. Needles for cross stitch, paints and canvases for hobbyist, that kind of thing, as well as soap and body scent. Walking around with a ten thousand gold magic to make those things for you wasn't going to work for a lot of people.
After a while she realized that she'd just been standing there, with Trice looking extremely uneasy.
"Oh, sure, sorry. I was just thinking that Kurt Debri would be a good person to run the store there. Just general goods, if the new device I'm making works. It won't make him rich, but if I park him on the Moon at least his mother won't be raped in her sleep again. Or me." She shuddered a bit, making a drama out of it, as Timon actually popped all the way out of his trance, looking angry.
"What?"
She took a breath, "well, by noble standards it might not count for me, and he was asleep at the time, I think. With his mother, well, I don't know what happened. It
's bad enough... that I kind of think Sara lied about it. About what he's done to her too. I was thinking that we could put him in as both a shopkeeper and body servant to the High Servants, so they won't get too sexually frustrated? That might cool his passions a bit. Or at least keep him busy enough no one innocent gets molested." She pulled her lips to the side, looking playful, but not feeling it. "We probably should abandon him there though, don't you think?"
There was a pause and Trice stared at Timon, who looked suddenly ready to kill someone.
"That's a good idea. I'll set that up. Are you certain that you find that punishment enough? He's a friend of mine and I wouldn't want him killed, but he's also troubled that way. Sleepwalking... and some other things." She waited then, as if Tiera would be calling for blood. Though if that were the case, she would have ended the man when it had happened, instead of serving him treats.
"I do. If he doesn't fix himself, we might have to make it permanent. I won't let him run around abusing people, even if it is on the Moon. Especially if-" Tiera shrugged and didn't go on. She knew what she was going to say, but announcing, even there, in her brother's house, that she was planning on moving to space herself, wasn't a good plan. The idea that a spy or listening device might be trained on them was remote, perhaps, being how young they all were, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen at all.
Trice, still seeming scared, walked away suddenly, clearly making a communications link with her friend.
That left her standing in the middle of the very large, very attractive, front room of Tim's palace, with him standing there, ready to fight someone for her. For her honor. It was both sweet and expected of a good sibling.
She patted his shoulder a bit.
"Bring it back a little, Timon. I know you understand this. Women have to put up with a certain amount of things like this, at times. It isn't right, or fun, but to do otherwise would have half the men of the world locked up, or killed. I think dumping him up there to help build things is a good start, and like I said, if he doesn't fix himself, we can deal with him later." By pushing him out of a moving ship without a shield on, for instance.
Timon nodded, his good looking face relaxing a little.
"Lock him up for the trip there? I don't want him getting at any of the others."
It was a plan, but probably not one she could manage really. Not now. She didn't say that part. If nothing else she could get him a room of his own, to prevent accidental wrongs from happening? Was it a mistake, thinking that they could handle something like that even? Kurt Debri wasn't a nobleman after all. Just a high merchant. Should he be punished for things he didn't control though, if that was the real case?
The whole thing boggled the mind and after a moment Tiera was glad to be out of a position of power again. Who was she to make that kind of decision, when it came right down to it? She was, smart or not, tall or not, still really just a kid. Fourteen wasn't old enough for this kind of thing. Fifty probably wasn't.
Maybe a thousand wasn't, but someone had to do the work.
Patricia came walking back into the room, holding a Focus Stone handheld communications device. It was a dark tan color, and a little smaller than the ones that Tor had made. Timon looked at it and shrugged, not even turning to her, since she was, no doubt supposed to figure out that he'd made it himself, from context.
She cleared her throat.
"But can it take pictures like the ones from Austra can?"
Timon shook his head.
"No. Not yet. I could have done that, but the goal here was coming up with something that Tor wouldn't crack immediately. I have one for you too, in case we need to pass information in secret. We have to limit the number of people with them however."
There was no running to get that for her, since Trice was busily smiling, her voice sounding like wonderful things were taking place.
"That's right, Kurt and you can both go. Tiera is even willing to stake Kurt, on a store up there. Isn't that amazing?"
Sara's voice seemed happy enough about the news at any rate.
"She is? That's perfect. We've been looking for a spot for him for a while. He has a tendency to get kicked out of places. He really isn't that bad, but..." She didn't go on, and Trice grimaced, making eye contact with Tiera.
Then she took over the conversation.
"So, we need to be ready in four days. That will put us up on the Winters Kiss early, but it has to be done. We're riding for free, so we have to fit into their schedule. Can you meet me here in three days? We can do some last minute shopping."
They chatted for a bit, and when Trice got off the device, she looked miserable.
"There. I've set it up. Kurt won't even know that he's going to be used as a sex slave."
That got an eye roll in response. "Seriously? You didn't think I really meant that part, did you? Like Karen is going to leave enough of the High Servants alive for that. I really wouldn't worry about it. So, you're going too? Tim?" She hadn't thought that was the case, but things could change.
Shaking his head, Timon grunted a bit.
"I'm staying here. I have some things to see to. Secret stuff." He moved toward the door, as if he were done with her now, which was fair, since she didn't have a lot of news for him, but she touched his arm anyway.
"Oh, hey, can you get some things to Austra for me? I have a case, in my room, that they might want. Just some copies of things I made." Weapons and what not, in case that attack turned out to be real.
"Sure. I'll send someone in for that. Call it as being in a day or so?"
She nodded and then, trying to remember her manners, hugged Trice again.
"Get in touch if you need anything?" It was, if not the perfect thing to say, something that was kind enough and was more friendly than just leaving and tossing off a goodbye over her shoulder.
"Thanks. You too."
Without much effort, all the outside lights off, except for the river, which probably marked the place as a giant target, visible from space, Tiera put up her own Fast Craft and headed back to the school. She didn't really think of much, other than of flying, holding a very deep mental state the whole time.
The next three days should have been pretty smooth, she knew. Or imagined in her secret heart. Incorrectly as it turned out. To her mind, free of being a Countess, and without a lot of school classes, and no wars to be waged personally, it should have all been free time, more or less. Morning practice, and evening meditation, with building in between. That wasn't wrong either, being her basic schedule, but people kept using their communicators to get in touch with her.
Not just her family and friends either. People she'd never even met. Most of those where minor nobility, that for some reason thought she was running tours to the Moon. She had to be polite about that, but told everyone no, since it wasn't ready for guests, or new colonists. Not that she knew of. She promised to let a lot of people know when it was.
Kurt Debri was on at least once a day, having apparently mistaken her setting him up as a store keep as a proposal to have sex. She normally would have just done what Karen had told her to and said yes to that kind of thing, but she just couldn't make herself. That meant putting him off, if very gently. It took a lot of creativity to manage that, and not sound like a bitch.
Her roommate gave her a serious look on the last day, when she got off the device with him, just hoping she hadn't been too mean about it.
"I..." She stammered a bit, Karen turning to her and stopping the packing that she was doing. Tiera's was already pretty much done, just being a case, a floating one that appeared out of nowhere, being filed almost totally with amulets. It wasn't vast either, since Timon had sent a pilot she didn't know to get the case for Austra, which had already been delivered. "I don't know what to do. He's a bit, is rapey a word?"
Her friend shook her head prettily. She did everything that way lately.
"No, I don't think it is. I understand that he made you uncomfortable, but you have to be careful. Fres
h off of being a Countess, putting a man off might seem as if you're saying you're too good for him, and using that as a reason to not engage. It's a balancing act. If you don't want to have sex, you don't have to, but you have to be polite the whole time, or it can lead to hard feelings. I do have to say that most would have picked up on things by now. You did it about right, but... Really, you should send a go between? I'd do it for you, but he might take that the wrong way, or even think that I wanted you all to myself and was just trying to get him out of the way. You should send..."
After a moment she shrugged. When words finally came, she seemed a bit baffled.
"A professional, I guess. That makes a statement too, though. I don't really know what would be best here. If you put him off too hard, he'll have to feel abused. If you don't, you may well wake up with him taking you from behind 'in his sleep'. If you're lucky then he'll hit the right hole. Without lube... Well, that probably won't happen. There just isn't a good way to do this one however."
Standing, Tiera nodded. Then her communications device lit again. She sighed and hit the sigil.
"Tiera Baker, how may I be of service today?" She liked that better than the go, that Orange always used. It sounded more helpful and less like she was going to kidney punch someone for taking her time up with useless things. Like saying hello.
For a moment no one spoke at all, but then a rather meek sounding male voice came.
"Um, hello, this is, uh, Count Baker?"
She grinned, not having expected him to be in touch this soon. Or ever, to tell the truth. Why would he? She was just some girl after all. Well, a Conserina. Smiling, she wondered if he wanted to have sex. Lawrence, she decided, she wouldn't put off, if he asked. He was clearly wonderful. If he wasn't then she wouldn't have made him a Count, right? Tiera was already invested in that relationship, if looked at in the right light.
