by P. S. Power
The room had several soft sofa's all done in red and brown, the Printer house colors, and had a half dozen matching chairs. It was a big space that had natural light coming through stained glass in the pattern of flowers and fields of grass. It was pretty and glowed brightly at this time of day, which must have been about five in the afternoon. About ten minutes later the man that had met them at the door came back with three women, one older and brunette, followed by a round faced red-head that looked about twenty-five and another brunette who must have been close to the same age, all sporting close cropped haircuts that looked military. It was the common style in the Capital, but Tor hadn't realized it had spread this far already. The Queen had cut her hair to show support for the troops and also to make her look more like everyone else around her, a kind of camouflage, but that part wasn't public knowledge. The war with Austra was the big deal, not this stupid stuff that was distracting them right now, everyone going after Ward instead of getting ready for… Ah.
Tor wasn't a master strategist, but that made sense to him. It would even explain why the Wards would have been framed for all those attacks. If, of course, it was a frame at all.
Tor was expecting them to bring drinks, or possibly snacks to help them pass the time. Instead the women all moved suddenly, nearly as one, pulling force lances and pointing them at the group in front of them. Letting his mind range forth, he felt for the fields they had on. Several things popped into focus for him nearly instantly.
First, the force lances weren't very good quality. Oh, military grade, with strong fields on them, but the old kind that would only work for a few moments at a time and drained the user of personal energy. The second thing was that none of these people had a shield on at all, but all of his friends did.
Already turned on too. Tor stepped forward, holding up the small basket with the two pies in it.
“We come bearing gifts?” He spoke quietly, but with a smile.
“Get down!” The women started yelling loudly, voices going sharp. They looked more military now, the weapons did it, not the uniforms, which looked a little silly, red and brown shirts and pants, far too warm for the weather. These three didn't have temperature equalizers so damp spots showed under their arms. Then again he didn't either right now, so he could hardly feel superior about it. He was probably ruining the silk.
They started activating the weapons, which did nothing to the visitors, but shoved furniture back into the walls suddenly, making loud noises.
Standing in the same place Tor held his expression calm and shook his head.
“Really! Pie. We have pie!” His voice was a little desperate. Tor didn't know what anyone else had brought to the party, but anything would work on these women. Possibly lethally. The man with them looked terrified and hugged the wall, a tactic that would have worked better if he hadn't ended up nearly right behind the people being attacked. When Tor looked around everyone else had something in their hands, David Derring stood in front of Varley, two weapons pointed, getting ready to make the women stop. Just force lances, but ones Tor had made, which meant powerful and unending. He could hit these women for hours if he wanted and never even breathe hard.
“Stop!” Tor said suddenly, moving to stand in front of the attackers, shielding them with his body, which was only a psychological barrier at best. They were all nearly six foot tall, and too spread out for it to really work.
“They don't have shields on. I don't know why their attacking, but they can't hurt us with the weapons they have, so… You know, let's not, if it's all the same? I'm sure we can deal with this like reasonable people.” Well, that didn't seem to be happening really, reason not being the plan it seemed, but Kolb nodded.
“Stand down.” He told them all quietly. “Ladies, if you would please place your weapons away, we'll gladly do the same.”
It seemed to dawn on the women that they both weren't being very effective, except for in trashing the room, and that no one had responded to them violently at all yet. They all set their weapons down on the floor slowly, which wasn't what they'd been asked to do, but worked well enough for the moment.
Holly ran into the room then, looking frantic, she had a good force lance in her hand and a full shield on. That made sense, having had access to thousands of the things. She started to spray the room, sending furniture flying, some stopped when it hit people, but other pieces went straight for the ladies that had attacked them. The vulnerable ones.
Jumping wildly Tor slapped at a low table that came towards the red-headed and round faced woman, stopping it in the air when the shielded pie basket hit it.
The pies!
“Stop! We’re going to ruin the pie!” He yelled again, pulling the basket towards him fearing they'd been crushed.
Countess Printer stared at him for a moment and went pale.
“Tor…” She said simply and dropped the weapon she held to the floor.
A second later she followed it.
Chapter five
What did you do when a tall, thin, Countess goes to her knees in a room full of people? Tor didn't know, three things ran through his mind almost at once, the first was to help her up. That made some sense, after all, she was a Countess. Ticking her off could not be a good plan. The second was that in this position Tor was actually taller than she was, by over a foot.
Heh. Shorty.
It was the third thing was the one he said, not really knowing where it came from, it just kind of popped out. “All right dog-girl, what the hell have you been doing with my underwear?” He crossed his arms and tapped his right foot, basket dangling from his right hand.
Her people all stiffened and so did she at first, for nearly half a minute. Finally she blinked and started to chuckle which turned into a full laugh, hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. After a minute she blinked and wiped at her eyes.
“God Tor, I thought you were blind and out of commission, I should have known that something as trivial as being permanently blind wouldn't stop you. I saw your eyes though, and they were cooked white, just solid. How…” She stared at him, but didn't stand yet.
“Fixed it. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and found my clothes and toothbrush gone. I had to borrow these and given how new they are, and that they actually fit, I kind of think they might have looked better on Varley. Anyway, we can deal with that in a few minutes, now, stop being silly and come give us all hugs. I brought some of your friends here to see you.”
Rising slowly, she walked over and gave him a hug, then one to everyone else, though she paused at David. He had to reintroduce himself to her, since she didn't recognize the giant in front of her as the little boy she'd met once or twice before. He got a hug though. While she was doing this, Trice started messing with the box, her back turned to the room. When she turned she held a small brown bunny in her arms.
She grinned.
“One armed girl with a bunny and pie, if that doesn't say we come in peace, then you've probably lost it, yeah?” Cutely the little rabbit popped it's head up then, pink nose twitching and looked directly at Holly. After a few seconds it ducked back deeper into the crook of Trice’s right arm.
Looking in the basket Tor shrugged.
“One and a half pies, if we can count something that smooshed as a pie. Maybe a fruit pudding? Well, it should taste about the same. Peach strawberry? We heard you liked it.” Tor smiled and tried to look like everything was all right and that four women, all bigger than he was and generally well armed, hadn't just tried to beat him up. When had people attacking him become so common place? Tor wasn't even shaking. The bunny was, so he even had something to compare to.
Steady as a rock. Weird.
They moved to another room, that somehow hadn't been trashed already, meaning that these people didn't always greet their friends like this. Either that or they didn't get a lot of guests. Other people probably got served drinks and told they looked nice. Not that he did, but it would have been good to hear anyway. Well, the one guy had
seemed all right at least, though he still acted like he didn't know what to expect. Really, who could blame him? They ate the pie from bowls, Holly apologizing for not having any frozen cream, because it was just too hard to get ice in this time of year.
That earned her a snort from Tor.
“You have about a hundred temperature plates capable of making ice. You just need an insulated box to put it in. If you let me see my trunks I can set one up for you, maybe a few, if you want…” Tor really wanted to climb into his own clothing and steal away one of the personal equalizing amulets. They could set up some temperature control plates for the house too, while they were at it he let her know, by way of a bribe to let him have his things. Everyone else in the room stared at him. Well, that wasn't exactly true. His friends didn't, not even Petra.
Holly did, but he was talking to her, so that could be explained away as normal enough if a little intense. Her eyes were a stormy gray that he always associated with crazy people for some reason, though it wasn't true overly. Not really. All the Printer people stared too however, which made him feel uneasy, like they wanted to attack again or something.
It didn't help that all the women in their identical uniforms stood behind Holly stiffly, as if ready to fight for her again, even as they ate pie. But what kind of nut job brings you pie and then attacks? Well, not the kind Tor was, that was for sure…
Damaged or not the peach and strawberry worked well together. The crust was a little more dense on the bottom than Tor would have made it, but that could just be the humidity here, right? Holly ate silently for a while, finally pushing her bowl away and sighing hugely.
“So, how are we doing this? Am I supposed to turn myself in now, or… God I don't know what else. Treason charges? It's theft at least. I knew it when I took the stuff. Just thinking you might not be making any more, well that didn't give me a right to run off with it, did it? I just, I didn't want the Wards to get away with killing Danny like that. We loved each other, arranged marriage or not. If I could have traded places with him, make it me that died, instead of him, I would have. I'd do it now. It just seems like the Wards have something cooked up to get them out of trouble, place the blame elsewhere, probably using Master Tor as a shield to protect them. I mean, they were just waiting for you to show up so that they could make peace? How likely is that?” She crossed her arms meaningfully.
That earned a funny look from Trice who started to cross her own arms, then realized that didn't work too well at the moment. She looked angry for a second, then explained.
“Well, I'd been sent with a message for Tor, and a strong suggestion from Maria that I'd been wrong about him and was being cruel to a good person. Actually she called me a Doretta to my face and told me to fix it while I still had the chance. That came even before that box of stuff you sent with the letter you know. They wouldn't let me destroy the things either and when I started explaining that you were just trying to buy my affection and said I wouldn't have it, Maria nearly tossed me out on my ear. Marvin lectured me for half a day on how I should appreciate having a friend like you and thank whatever my people held sacred that I hadn't killed you. Come to think of it, they'd both been a little awkward about the whole “let's hate on Tor” thing for a long time. I think from before I got there. They both claimed they didn't try to have you killed, though I think Maria did have Laval kick you down those stairs. She said it wasn't supposed to kill you, just make Alphonse feel bad. After the poisoning though, they both seemed to think that it had gone way to far… Though really, I just thought they were faking that part. I would have, if I tried to have someone killed. Why advertise, even with your friends?”
That tracked with what they'd told him at least. That didn't mean they were innocent of anything, but putting them on trial was a lot better than going to war. If they were guilty, they could just kill them. If they were innocent, well, then they could help everyone find who was really guilty, maybe. It was better that way, wasn't it?
Tor thought so, and so did Petra, since it was her brother and she was halfway fond of him at least, if not Maria. Holly obviously wanted to take all the stuff she'd gotten from Tor and use it to raze Warden if she could manage it. Kolb cleared his throat at her, but David shook his head.
“Nah, Kolb, I get it. I kind of want to do that too. But Countess Printer, our anger isn't rational. It isn't good. If we don't let them defend their name when they ask, then it's just murder. I say we have the trial, find them guilty and then kill them. That way we'll know that what we deliver is justice or at least looks a bit like it.” His eyes were half hooded, playful it almost seemed, except he didn't laugh afterwards, instead he just exchanged nods with Holly.
What happened really depended on the King’s response to her theft, didn't it? She asked Princess Veronica if she had any thoughts as to what would happen, which got her to produce the letter from Richard. She did it very formally, standing and walking to her and presenting it with a full bow, holding it out from a respectful distance with both hands. Holly went white, but made herself read it. Near the end she gasped, her eyes going wide and a little afraid for some reason.
She didn't read it out loud, but passed it back to Varley for her to read. Then it got passed around the table for everyone else, Tor going last. He was fine with that really, it gave him a chance to finish his pie. It had a slight tang that he hadn't noticed at first, but realized had to be lemon juice. It was a complex and subtle flavor set.
When the letter got to him he read it casually. It didn't say a lot really, that Tor didn't already know.
It started by saying that she was incredibly lucky that Tor viewed this as a friend merely having borrowed some of his things without asking, and just being willing to leave it at that. The theft of three point two million golds worth of devices would normally garner the death penalty otherwise, even for someone of her station, which was casually mentioned by the King.
It made Tor glad it wasn't theft then and kind of vowed to just assume that nothing ever really was. Things weren't worth a life. Not ever.
Sighing, he realized that meant the military hadn't stolen his home either then. Though some of them had still been jerks.
Near the end the King suggested that County Printer should pay for the devices, which was probably what had gotten the gasp, or, Tor found, the bit under that, which ordered her to not attack County Ward until the King OK'd it. Well, that made sense, but could the King afford to stop her from doing it if she ignored her? Not through force of arms. Not with a war going on with Austra. Tor wondered if that meant that he'd be responsible for any messes Holly got into then? It was… well, not fair, of course, but… Tor had been the one making that many devices and leaving them lying around after all. She'd just “borrowed” them.
Tor just sighed and shook his head a little, hoping it didn’t seem sad or put upon. He felt that way a little, but the situation wouldn’t change just because he didn’t like it.
“Right. So Holly, obviously we don't want this to become some big problem or anything… Reading between the lines it's clear that the real issue here is all about not killing people without a good reason. So… um, not to be all ordering anyone around or anything, but is that OK for now do you think? We try to set up a trial first and if that doesn't work… Really, we need an investigation first though, don't we? If we just take the Wards in now, we pretty much just have to kill them, guilty or not. The circumstantial evidence is all there. I mean, they look guilty enough that I just kind of presumed they were. Only…” He blushed and looked down.
“Only I already thought that both Captain Wensa of the Royal Guard and Trice had tried to kill me, and turned out to be wrong both times. The evidence was there for that too, only it wasn't. Not really.”
That got silence from around the table, Trice staring at him for a full half minute without saying anything.
“Me?” She looked hurt.
“No one told you? Lots of clues. Let's see, you knew that I wouldn't wear a shield
right after a meal back then, and what rout I'd take to get back to my room. The person that kicked me down the stairs was about the same size you are and had seen Wensa enough to fake being her. Which you could easily do. With the poison… come on Trice, it was placed in my room, on my bed, and the juice came directly from your parents estate. Plus, you know, you're an expert on poisons and stuff, or at least expert enough to take a crack at me. Yeah, it would have been stupid to do it that way, but you kind of looked like a reasonable person to blame, especially after telling everyone that you wished I'd died and attacking me in public like you did.” He hadn't started out sounding that way, but bitterness filled his voice by the end. Sure, it wasn't her fault, the King had made her say all that stuff, but that didn't mean that Tor felt fine about it just for knowing that. Taking a second, he closed his eyes and sighed.
“See, Holly? It's easy to get side tracked and blame the wrong people. Now, I'm not saying this means that Martin and Maria are innocent, but…”
Petra interrupted him.
“Marvin.”
“What?”
“My brother, his names Marvin, not Martin. Kolb's name is Martin.” She grinned at him, even while he felt like burying his head in his hands.
Crap! He'd called the man Martin to his face at least six times when he'd been there. Well, if that didn't make him feel stupid… So obviously he wasn't the one to run an investigation into this, was he? Not if he couldn't even get the names right. Instead he nodded and committed the name to memory. Marvin Ward.
Who ran investigations like this for the kingdom anyway? When he asked everyone looked down at the table for a while without speaking, it was Countess Printer that finally answered him with a bit of a shrug. The answer was, that for the last ten years or so, when such things became needed for upper level nobles, William Smythe had run the investigations.
