Ancient Kings (The Young Ancients)

by P. S. Power

  "No. I told them to take over the place, if they could do it without harming anyone. I also told them that if they hurt even one person there, other than Gray, we were at war. It isn't much of a threat, I know, but I wanted to make certain they had the correct idea. I wasn't trying to harm anyone. Well, other than my grandmother. I didn't have high hopes, but I also didn't care if those two survived. They tortured a friend of mine." He glanced around the room, but ended up looking directly at Tor.

  Who it could have been he didn't know, but the subject changed too fast for him to get the question out. It worried at his mind, as he tried to figure out who his little brother could know that would be tortured? Then it occurred to him for the first time that his brother actually had a bigger life than he did. He knew people in almost every land of the entire world and had dealings with most noble families, or at least their relatives, in a very direct and face to face fashion. He probably even knew more real people.

  It was a bit odd, but for the first time in his life, Tor realized how very sheltered he really was. Protected from the dark things that everyone else had seen, often with clever management from those around him. How that had happened he didn't know. He'd never even thought about it really. But there had been signs, hadn't there? Little things that said the world was vastly different than what he saw on any given day. Even the people he knew weren't what he thought. Not totally. That fact had caused him to make a lot of mistakes over the years.

  Looking around he noticed a man on the other side of the room, who looked a bit like Lyn did. It was a different race than most people in Noram, and he had a strange looking beard, but it was a nice brown color, to match the hair on his head.

  The gaze was really direct and he laughed a little bit when Tor focused on him and shook his head, trying to clear it. Without bothering to address the room, he spoke in heavily accented Noram standard.

  "It is an effect I have on some people. They notice things about themselves with me around. I have no particular control over the ability."

  "Oh." Tor didn't bother to add more, just nodding that he understood. It was some kind of mental thing. Then he looked away, back at Brown who was starting to argue with Kolb about the best way to track Gray. Blue Two got involved about a minute later and after a bit people were yelling to be heard.

  He could have called out for silence, or tried to ask his own questions, but he didn't think it was really needed. Aaban finally did it for them anyway, sounding gruff and a lot less than totally convinced by the evidence given.

  "I've no love for Gray at all, but it's already been pointed out that half of us hate her enough to set this up, and the other half might well have done it out of boredom. Killing her isn't going to be allowed without proof, and catching her will be nearly impossible, until she's ready to rear her head. Instead of worrying about her at all, those of you with continents should be trying to figure out what to do about this. You took the responsibility, so do your jobs and stop trying to push this off on the rest of us." He stood and carefully walked through the middle of the room, that looked to have a golden carpet on the floor and stopped just before he reached the door, turning back to look at them, staring most intently at Brown. That made some sense to Tor, since it was pretty much his meeting.

  "You know my thoughts on the matter, which are the same as almost everyone else. If she did it and it can be proved, we can't leave her alive. If she didn't, then you don't need to bother me with things like this. Now, do I get a passage home or do I need to start walking?"

  Brown stood too and sighed.

  "Very well. If you don't mind waiting a bit, I'm sure many of the others will want to join you. I can see that I acted too quickly for some of you. Perhaps I grow overly cautious with the passing of years. I'll make note of your choice however, if the need arises." He didn't sound pleased at all, but he was correct in the fact that most of the others wanted to leave right then as well. On the good side Black just wanted to get back to his people with some healing amulets, even as half the people traipsed out of the room.

  "I hate to just run off on ye like this, since you keep a marvelous home here." He looked at Tor and was being very close to polite, even if the room had gotten a bit tense. Then, Tor hadn't charged the man with a weapon ready to go this time. It probably made a difference. "I cannot run your magics and many of my people will have the same trouble. Is it possible to make this work without that? I'd hate to be the reason my entire land falls to ruin. We're taught strictures against such things that make it hard for any to acknowledge it. That won't stop us from receiving the benefits however." His accent was thick and his smile far quicker this time, making it seem like he was almost charming or something. There was a bit of anger under that however, and a lot of anxiety. More than showed by far.

  It was Burks that answered him, sounding relaxed and not at all concerned that most of the people seemed intent in scurrying from the room at nearly a run. After a few moments the only Ancients left that were over three hundred were the ones with their own lands, though Tor was pretty certain that Kolb and Doris were just taking off to avoid having to talk to Tiera, who looked less than amused by their having been there for some reason. At least that's how he read the glaring. She knew about Kolb though, so it might have been something else.

  "We have some people lined up, volunteers from Austra and Noram, ready to go and aid you and your people. We haven't had a chance to talk to Red yet, but it might be that some of her people will go as well. We can only ask them. It should be a start. I do wish you hadn't been so insistent that magic be forbidden and locked away from thought for all those years. How are you going to reconcile the healing method we have now?" There was a good bit of direct eye contact then and it held a bit of very subdued amusement. Tor understood that, since the man had outlawed magic for no particular reason it seemed. Cordes was feeding him a bit of information, without using words, which, if correct, showed the Black had done it before Green had developed magical technique at all. So it was pretty much just a thing for people to hate that shouldn't have existed, as far as the man had known.

  It might just backfire on him now.

  "Why, it's clearly a holy miracle. That it comes from the land of Noram just shows the long reach and power of God, doesn't it? It even comes from our brother, Tor the Pious. The priests speak of him regularly, and how he, among all of the others like ourselves, is most humble and willing to admit to the will and power of the almighty." There was no hint of irony or teasing in the words at all.

  It probably had something to do with the fact that Tor had prayed with some of them once, before a meal. It had been a trick, meant to get them to harass his mother. It had worked too.

  Instead of commenting on any of it he just nodded.

  "I have about forty thousand healing devices in the back of my Fast Carriage. We need to get those distributed as fast as possible. I'll try for another batch in a few days, a much larger one, but I want them all back when this is over." The words got a strained glare from his mother, and even Tiera wrinkled her nose at him as the last of the ancients that he didn't know very well escaped. If they were smart they'd be trying to cage some food, if not a dinner invitation from Collette. Tor didn't know if there was enough food, or he would have asked them all to stay. They were family, after a fashion.

  That meant they were at least entitled to some crumbs from the kitchen.

  Before Tor could say anything as to why he wanted the things back, Laurie stood, hands going to her hips and her body leaning toward him, her face looking pale and angry at the same time.

  "Torrance! It's not like you to worry over coin like this. I can't believe you'd be so crass as to-" She came to a dead stop as the youngest Blue, called Four, held up a single hand awkwardly.

  "There is a greater wisdom here. If the world has too many such devices, the balance of life and death itself will be shifted, causing a sudden and eventually catastrophic growth in the number of people on the planet. Torrance Purple i
s correct in his request. That way the devices might be destroyed properly, to prevent later negative consequences." She looked over at him and smiled, which was a bit forced looking on her pale face. It was a bit square, but nice enough looking. Just a bit androgynous.

  Then, all the Blues looked exactly the same, except for height.

  He nodded.

  "That's about what I was thinking. Though we might end up needing more people if we don't get a handle on this. Anyway, I'll get to that in a few days. I'm not trying to be lazy, but I'll need to sleep soon. Not until after the dinner party. Speaking of which, unless you need to run off right this moment to save your lands, you're all invited. I think it's about to start. This meeting didn't take even a fraction of the time I thought it would."

  Timon stood and waved at him.

  "Not for me. Mark and Morgan are standing by at my house, Tiera, would you help? It means missing the party and probably some sleep, but you won't get paid for it, so at least there's that."

  His sister didn't look at all pleased, but got a funny look on her face, which seemed linked to her clothing shifting around her, into a black velvet outfit with trousers and a tunic instead of her pretty dress.

  "That's alright, Tor can pay for it. They're his family after all."

  Tim grinned and shook his head. It didn't look real, but he clearly was making the effort.

  "Yours too. Trust me I already thought of that one. We'll live. I'll let you ride with Julie though. Try not to get too close to her. That makes it harder to resist her overtures." He wasn't kidding, Tor knew, but Laurie smiled a bit, as if he was.

  The others didn't though, except Dan Green. He was busy paying attention to everything though. It was clear in the way his eyes were moving, but the rest of him wasn't.

  It cut the numbers down a lot, since White walked past Laurie and patted her shoulder as she passed, which meant that Tor's mother let her gaze linger on the woman's behind until after she was out of the door. On the good side, most of her pearl like skin was actually covered today, if in a thin and partially see through dress.

  "Oh, my... She's rather pretty, isn't she?" This was accompanied by Lauralie standing and shaking her head several times.

  The others just started agreeing with her. It was true, for what it was worth, but there was a lot more to the woman than just her looks. The appeal hit on multiple levels and even when Julie tried to suppress it, it was hard not to focus on her alone. It was probably one of the reasons that the others had all left as fast as they did. If you were around her for too long, you simply started to become her slave. Willingly. Now that Tor thought about it, he wondered how close that had been to happening before. Julie White taking over the world using sex appeal that no one else could really resist. His bet was very, if he had to make a guess with no proof.

  Ducking out the door himself, after making a polite excuse, he started to try and find Collette, hoping that she'd know who was supposed to be in charge of the meal. He'd invited the remainder, but food still had to be served to them and it would look bad if they didn't have enough. Odds were Glaren had simply over-prepared by a good bit, since that was the rule for things like this, just in case others showed up, but he didn't know if the places were set or not.

  She was in the large room where the people waiting stood, talking to one another, drinks in hand already. There were four servants going around with trays that held fluted glassware, filled with an amber wine. He didn't take one himself, but two of the men, both wearing fine black suits with light green shirts underneath, offered him their trays. Collette was near the front of the room, standing with the Royal family and several of their guards, as well as three that were out of uniform, wearing simple, but nice clothing. All clothing amulets, so George, Wensa and Kara were clearly trying to not put on airs.

  "Hello, everyone! So sorry about being late, I had some unexpected business come up. I'm so glad you all came though. We need to introduce everyone to our Austran guests. Denno is here, so we'll let him and Count Lairdgren do that, shall we?" He moved in and bowed to all the Royals, which caused Connie to look horribly hurt, until he gave her a small hug. It wasn't romantic, but did get her to smile at least. Varley moved in and hugged him then too, which got some attention from her husband, though Count Peterson didn't say anything about it.

  He just seemed troubled and patted Tor on the back, like they were old friends.

  They all started moving a bit then, not sure where they were supposed to go, as Tor pulled Collette over and leaned in to whisper.

  "Do we have room at the table for a few Ancients?" She'd know what that meant he hoped.

  "Oh, certainly. When Tim told me they might be coming we set it all up. Isn't it marvelous? This many beings of legend under our own roof. I hope they aren't disappointed by what we have to offer..."

  Tor shrugged.

  "Most had to leave, for one reason or another. Some to try and save their lands from the plague that's coming. The rest will probably be here for the night, I hope. They might not. Things are pressing."

  That caused the woman to nod prettily but she smiled and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, just as Ali walked up. She'd been mingling, like a proper hostess, unlike him, who'd shirked his duties horribly.

  Collette looked over at the clock, which said it was just then turning nine. He wasn't even late or anything.

  "Would it be possible to get people settled do you think, Tor? I imagine that some of the guests will be a bit surprised by who sits where."

  He walked back to the side room and just popped his head through the door.

  "Dinner is about to be served. Please come this way." It took a few seconds, but the remaining people did follow him, after a moment.

  The four Blues, who all looked the same, but pretty. Red, who was the shortest person there right now, except Gerent, and who looked, according to the memories Cordes had shown him, Chinese. Dan Green, Burks, Denno, Laurie and Alice Orange. The rest had taken off. It would have to do, he guessed, though it would have been a bit more impressive if the rest of them had stuck around.

  The seating was done by six well dressed men in matching black and green outfits, with Tor and Ali going in first, being taken to the head of the table, as funny as that felt. It was, after all, his house, so he held that place, and Ali was his lawful wife. To his right hand sat the King and to Ali's left was his mother. After that it got confusing for the Noram nobles.

  Normally things went by a combination of rank and who was most important to the hosts at the moment. That could muddy things a little, but generally wasn't looked at too harshly, as long as all the high ranking people could understand why things were happening, more or less. It was considered kind of an insult in general to seat a Countess or Count more than halfway down the table. Adding a bunch of Ancients clearly changed that dynamic though, since about half of the high ranking nobles were too far down for comfort on a normal day.

  Worse, even though most of them wouldn't have cared at all if they were at the far end, not being all that invested in Noram traditions, they were the rulers of their lands. Lyn, Denno and Blue at least. Burks wasn't counted that way for this room, even if it was the truth behind the scenes. Still, there was no doubt he was the Green Man, even if most of the people didn't get that yet.

  It was nearly funny, since almost divided at the centerline of the table he could see the difference in people's faces. Above that imaginary point, there were polite expressions and a few smiles. Below it, many of the people were fine, like Trice and Gerent, but a few, like the Count and Countess Ross, Tovey and Countess Printer, all seemed a bit upset. Tor waited until the last people were seated, a couple that he didn't know at all, who looked positively terrified for some reason.

  He could see that, since the last places on either side of the table were called the poison seat for a reason. In general it was where the ones that you were the most displeased with were put. Of course, if you didn't know them that could mean a lot of different t
hings, couldn't it? If they'd once mentioned that Tor was a bit above himself, or too stingy perhaps, they might just be wondering if he was holding a grudge.

  He wasn't, but how were they to know that? The polite thing was just to ignore things like that and to let people work out for themselves what was happening. Besides, Collette had put them there. Maybe the grudge was hers?

  The Austrans were mixed in as well, putting a few of the nobles still further down than they might have been. For instance, it was clear that the Ambassador had to be placed fairly high up the table, since it would be insulting otherwise. He couldn't be higher than Brown though, and couldn't be right next to him, being unfortunately male. Kincaid Rue would have been next to Timon no doubt, but he'd been pulled away, so she was sitting next to an older man that seemed attentive, but not like he was flirting with her. Given his position in the line, he had to be a Count, Tor thought. He was actually above Alphonse and Abbie at the table, so apparently someone really liked him.

  "Thank you all for coming. I wish a very heartfelt welcome to our guests from Austra and hope that everyone will take this opportunity to be fast friends. We also have the privilege of having several world leaders here tonight. Lyn Red, of Vagus, Denno Brown of Austra and Cynthia Blue, of the Antarctic. Welcome all of you." He bowed to each of them in turn, getting a wave from Denno and a lowered head from Cynthia. Red just winked, since they were old friends and she really didn't care about the niceties of Noram social politics when it came right down to it.

  Besides, as strange as it looked, she was sitting directly next to Cordes Blue, who'd let one hand drift below the table.

  The rest of the meal went pretty normally, mainly having to do with small talk, since it was beyond rude to start jabbering about how they were all going to die from the Gray Plague at the table. Tor liked that one, calling it that. The Gray Plague. He'd have to start using that, if it got too bad. Maybe if it didn't.