by P. S. Power
"Indeed Tor. I know that to you it seems that you've only tried to do good things, but the fact of the matter is that most can't see it that way. You see it as saving a County from a flood, or fire, a thing that many others helped with. They see it as a never ending debt that can't be repaid. You pass them gold so that they can proceed on a project as a kindness, because you can't spend things even a portion of as fast as is needed, and they see you as flashing coin around in what seems to be an attempt to buy them. Not everyone, but enough people view it that way that it influences your reputation. You don't even see it for the most part." The words were almost grudging, which Tor suddenly perceived the reason for. It wasn't that he was being judged either, this was totally Green's doing. It always had been.
"Because you, and King Richard, have worked very hard to hide all of it from me, haven't you? I've only met about a third of all the Counts and Countesses for instance, even though we've been at the same parties and events. Out of all the Dukes and Duchesses I've met... what, two? There are six or seven right? I know that I've been around more than that, but we always miss each other for some reason." There were hundreds of Barons and Baronesses, so he'd met more of those, but even at that, the percentage was low. He stared at his grandfather who didn't even bother to look embarrassed by being called out like he was.
Instead he nodded slowly, looking stately and regal suddenly as he did it.
"Correct. Richard and I... We've been managing your world more than you think. From well before the time you left Two Bends as a matter of fact. I handpicked the Mayor for instance, as being a man of good heart and great intelligence. We felt that you might do better if you weren't exposed to some of the rougher elements of life too early. There are some things that you haven't been told about directly. Perhaps this isn't the time or place for that discussion however?" Looking around it was pretty clear that several other people were lingering in the giant front room in order to listen to the conversation. Reading them it was clear that, while no one was a spy in a direct manner, several of them had contacts that would regularly purchase information. Several were tallying how much they might make at that very moment, just knowing that Tor had been sheltered like he had been.
He glared a bit, not knowing if he really should be or not. Was it that wrong to keep him from seeing the worst parts of the world at too young an age? It was his parents job, not the King's but ... should he let himself get all worked up over it?
Probably. Otherwise they'd think they could keep doing it.
"Alright, let's go into the sitting room then. Ali can come along. Collette too." He gestured at the very well dressed and pretty blonde woman from across the room where she was listening just as hard as the others. She wasn't planning to sell the information at least. Not herself. Just pass it to her father , so he could trade it. It wasn't better really, but at least Tor knew it was going to happen. He'd need to be on his best behavior then, or word about him being a silly bumpkin would cross the land by morning.
He marched over to the room where the Ancients had all met a few days before, standing in the golden colored door, noticing that the space inside had been redecorated again, so that it looked like the inside of a tent, hung with rich silks and satins, done in a half dozen colors, mainly bronze and copper looking things. It had a very soft metallic theme. Rather than chairs, there were vast pillows for sitting on. They didn't have backs to them at all. In the center of the room was a communications device, on a low table that was covered with more material. Satin it looked like.
As soon as everyone was in, all three of the others, Tor shut the door. Firmly, but without slamming it. There was even fabric on the back of it, hanging loosely, completing the illusion.
"So, what's been kept from me? I can work out the how later, but going through the world without the proper information is about as horrible as anything that could have been done to me. At least as far as my education went. I'm not claiming that it's the same as torture or anything like that." He knew about that after all, so what else could there be that was worse?
No one spoke for a bit, and Ali settled on a pillow to wait, not feeling all that anxious, since Tor wasn't angry at all. Not really. Interested and a bit pissy, sure, but that wasn't the same thing. Collette however let out a big breath of air that Tor hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"I'd... suspected that something like this was coming. I didn't know about it, I swear." She was staring at Burks though, and the feeling coming from her was telling. That man hadn't included her in whatever was going on, but she thought he should have for some reason.
Count Lairdgren bought some time by sitting down, his dark green suit jacket looking a bit uncomfortable as he made the move. Gesturing politely he waited for Collette to do the same thing before speaking.
"What was hidden from you? Well, in the main, it isn't what was kept from your knowledge as much as how much of it exists. Alyssa here knows firsthand how dark some with power can be, and you do too, by association. What we kept from you there was that it isn't just one or two isolated cases. Many of the higher nobles do such things in their own areas of power. Given your looks and lack of understanding of how the world works, introducing you to the wrong ones would have been about the same as throwing raw meat to hungry lions or dogs. Worse, even though you don't see it in yourself, you have a biological predisposition to do what those in power tell you to. It's a hard fact that you're nearly the perfect slave, and can't do much about it at this stage of your life." The Ancient stopped as Collette gasped softly and Ali nodded, as if it only made sense.
He didn't get it at all. Tor went against what others said all the time, didn't he?
"Because of the Rhetistics?" That might be it. His had been broken, so maybe he was free of that now?
"In part. You're designed to do it however. The feeling is more of simple agreement with those in command though, from the inside, so you don't notice yourself doing it all the time. Here... you were planning to take a break for a few months and see to some other projects, weren't you?" The older man waited for him to agree with that, which he did, since it really was what he was going to do. "Unfortunately I need you to work on some things for me instead. It will be both boring and hard at the same time. You'll need to drop all your other plans and do that instead however. Can you come do that in the morning, in Grenwyn?"
Everyone looked at him then, expectantly.
"I suppose. What is it that you need done?" It just made sense that the Ancient would have a lot of things to take care of. The girls both let their eyes go wide, but Tor didn't get why. The Count was his Grandfather after all, plus, a Count. Tor had to do it...
He froze and let his mouth fall open.
The Count gestured at him with a flick of his fingers.
"Exactly like that. You don't question what is asked of you highly at all, so the King and I have sought to prevent letting you be around too many that would abuse you, or use your efforts to their own ends. It was even worse before, when you had the full Rhetistic set. Remember when young Patricia Morgan asked you to marry her? I'll bet you worked yourself into convolutions to make that happen. She inadvertently turned it into an order from someone that you viewed as being in command at that moment. It was one of the reasons that I had Ricky order her to break things off with you. I admit, the method she chose for that was a bit more robust than I would have asked for, but that was the reason behind it. I wanted you to have a choice in the matter."
Tor took a deep breath and then made a face. He felt like hitting the man, but didn't bother trying, since they both had shields on, and it would do nothing at all to make him feel better. It would be different if the guy attacked him, since he had on the special shield that would attack if an Ancient came for him, but Burks didn't. Of course there was no way the man would do that, was there? Instead Tor dipped into a deep mental state and read all the fields around him as intently as possible.
It was something to do after all.
Gree
n had gone very silent, mentally, waiting for something to happen. For Tor to blow up or to accuse him of being a bad person for trying to protect him from reality. Collette was nearly as ready for something to happen, but her mind was awkward and buzzing, even compared to Ali, who felt afraid. Of him. The Count too. She had a lot of fear inside of her still.
Tor made himself calm through raw force of will and locked onto Burks intently.
"That... was not well done. I trust that in the future you'll simply share information with me and we can make a plan to face whatever will come? I know that may not seem the easiest way to do things, but I'm responsible for me, so do try to let me be." He sounded so stiff and formal that he wondered if people were going to laugh at him for it. To tell the truth he sounded like Connie always did when she was doing her very best 'I am the Queen and not best pleased!' voice. Hard and brittle, with just a hint of disdain.
No one so much as cracked a smile. Burks did manage a small bow toward him however. The kind of thing that spoke of them being equals, even though that wasn't true by any measure. Except possibly in how much wealth they each had. Tor was close enough on that score at any rate. Everything else was most likely geared toward the older man though, unsurprisingly. He was even better builder in some ways, no doubt. That craft of his was better, or at least more complete, than what Tor had come up with so far. True it was easier to work from a good starting point, but that didn't mean there wasn't real skill involved.
"Alright Tor. I did it for your own good, but the effort had already started to fail anyway. Soon enough you'll be on your own. Just don't be shocked that others might try to use you, and remember, as far as this kingdom goes, you're technically the fourth or fifth highest nobleman right now. At least so far as politics is concerned. It will help you better protect yourself from unreasonable demands. Not much however. Do remember that Richard and Constance wouldn't like you doing anything to harm the land or its people however." There was a tight look then and a sigh as Collette made a face at the man. "And yes, I am using Tor's biological propensities to influence him in this. It's a far more delicate situation than it might seem at first."
It was, very strangely, Alyssa that rounded on the older man, actually standing in front of Tor suddenly, with something held tightly in her right fist, just the end of it poking out. She was clearly terrified, but her voice sounded hard and mean when she spoke anyway.
"Then don't do it. Tor just asked you to discuss things with him, not try and boss him around, and you barely even waited three breaths to do it again. Need I remind you that this is our home? You may be Count Lairdgren, but I won't let you do that to him." There was no rush toward the fellow and Tor felt too shocked to even stand up, but Green did, and then bowed very low toward Ali.
"You are, as is often the case, completely correct Alyssa. I'm sorry. To you as well Tor. My only excuse is that I know what would have worked on me at your age and have found over the years that it's easier to start out manipulating most people than to explain the situation to them. It was very rude of me, given what's going on at the moment."
He didn't look all that worked up about it at all, but there was a thread, deep inside the man that Tor felt. It was embarrassment. Not just at getting caught, but about his having tried to push his grandson around, knowing that the boy couldn't really help but do it, if he phrased things the right way.
Until that moment Tor really hadn't known if the man had feelings anymore. He acted like it at times, but it always seemed like he was too jaded and world weary for anything to count.
He bowed back a bit, which got Ali to glare at him.
"You don't have to take this Tor. I won't let him abuse you. I'll..." What she was going to do in particular didn't come out, because she just made a face and scowled at the Count. Inside she was all fear, but outside she seemed to be tough and hard. It was a weird thing to notice in a person.
Shrugging Tor patted his little wife on the shoulder, standing up to do it.
"I know I don't, but we won't be served by beating him in our parlor. He apologized, and I think he means it, as much as someone that old can. So..." He gestured for her to sit again, but didn't suggest she put whatever it was in her hand away. He read the field on it and found... that it was actually one of the little soap making amulets. What she planned to do with that he didn't know, but it worked pretty well as a threat. Anything could be a weapon after all, and she was a builder, so the idea that she might have something new that a person just didn't recognize was more than possible.
Not that it was an issue in this case. Burks didn't really have any choice in the matter when confronted like this. He had to take responsibility, even if it wasn't his to bear. Tor knew that better than anyone, since he used to be like that too. That he might still have problems like that... made sense, he just hadn't known they were born into him.
"Great, so... I'm pretty much always going to be everyone's slave?"
The Ancient in front of him gave him a smile that felt like his own and bowed again.
"Probably, on some level. You can fight against it, but the truth is that most of the things that will work against you are also the same ones that you most won't want to change. Being honest and giving to others without consideration isn't a poor trait either. The built in love of tradition should have weakened, thanks to the multiple Rhetistics you're in possession of. I do wish I knew how Cordes had been introduced."
"That was probably put there by whoever made the changes that caused me to have combat rage. For that matter, I'm basically a clone, most likely, aren't I? So someone had to have done that. I know that it was supposed to be due to some kind of magically reinforced genetic work and just happenstance, but seriously, that isn't it. Someone did this. Was it you?" Tor expected the answer to be no, or at least get a lie out of his grandfather, but there was just a half minute of stillness involved.
"The project itself was supposed to be very straightforward and get around the prohibition on making new immortals. The main work was done by Gray and myself, clearly. I think that Doris was involved, but I have no proof of that. Reading her is nearly impossible you know. She lives in a very deep meditative state and has for centuries. She doesn't think of things unless she chooses to now. It isn't that far from cloning however. The differences are smaller than I think I can explain and still seem reasonable, unless you know the field well. What I can say is that you weren't supposed to have a Cordes trait, or his mind put into you. Not in any plans I made."
"Oh. Well, that explains very little. Still, it's more than I knew before. So..." There were a thousand questions to ask, but the truth was he had the answers that were needed. What he was looking for was enough discussion to feel good about the fact that he'd do almost anything a person with enough authority told him too. Because that would work out for him in the end, no doubt.
It was all he could do not to sass the man in front of him, but he managed, somehow.
They broke up then, with Collette giving him a worried hug and Ali standing right next to him, still feeling very afraid of the Count, after standing up to him. The fact that the man would have let her beat him with a bar of soap if it was needed, didn't seem real to her. Not yet. She was expecting him to lash out and order her raped, or even killed, for what she'd done.
Burks hadn't even thought of it after he'd bowed. She was family after all. That was probably another thing that was somehow built in then, Tor realized. Family being as important as it was. That was a big thing in most rural areas though, so it wasn't just him and Burks, it was most of the common people, more or less. Not nearly as much for the nobles or the merchants, however that worked. They used the same words, but in the main they weren't nearly as protective of their own people as he would have expected. Not most of the time.
The Count was staying and the Lairdgren Group was going back to the school that night, even though it was an off day. Tor let Ali fly the Fast Carriage back, since she seemed to need to steady her nerves and feel like
she was in control of something. Tiera had been waiting the whole time and chatting with Gerent, who was sitting in the front room with the Ross's when it was time for the rest of them to leave.
"Tor! I wasn't sure if you were going to poke your head in or not." His new brother stood, his frame still just as thin and short as before. His clothing was a good bit nicer though. Magical, but not aping anyone else overly. That probably meant that Petra had done his fashions for him. She was one of the best so far, with the new amulets. He was in a green so deep it was nearly black, with matching shoes. The fabric looked like satin though and he had a funny looking floppy green hat that was a bit lighter, with a deep red feather in it. He was sitting next to Trice, who jumped up to pass hugs around and near a blonde woman that looked more than a little bit familiar. Sara Debri.
Tor let his eyes light.
"Sara! I haven't seen you in ages. I heard you were just out of the military? Starting a new shipping concern?"
"Hello."
Her face was mild and almost bland as if she didn't care to see him at all, but Tor could feel her stomach doing flips with both worry and love. It was a lot bigger a response than he'd thought was possible. She didn't try to hug him though, looking at Ali a bit enviously for a few moments.
"That's right. I haven't done much yet. Gerent is helping to finance things. He said that you told him to?"
She really wanted it to be true for some reason. One that even Tor thought he could guess at. She wanted him to think that she was important enough to have considered that way.
It was true though, wasn't it? In all the world she was in his top few favorite people after all.
"No, what I said was that he should consider investing with you. Or actually Tiera suggested it and I agreed. That's outside of what I plan to do, if you have a good sales pitch, of course." Then, just as the words ended he moved to where she stood and hugged her closely enough that there was a tiny flare of jealousy from Trice.
