by P. S. Power
“Playing with you? Are you crazy, or just stupid? I nearly died at your hands! I didn't kill the military guys because they're not my enemies. You aren't my enemy… though it's incredibly hard to tell most of the time. Anyway, stop sulking and get back to work you lazy prick. Ward undeclared war and asked for an honest investigation of his claims of innocence in the poisonings and the Queen’s day attack, but no one thinks anyone can do it fairly but you. No one. So if you're willing to not be a spaz anymore, and are willing to start acting like everyone says you normally do around anyone but me, I'll fix your eyes for you. I can't regrow your hand. I tried with Trice… Patricia Morgan, but I'm working on a magical one for her and if it works, I should be able to make the same for you too. If not, well, freaking deal with it. You tried to kill me, which I assure you wasn't needed. I'm really nice! Just ask anyone that knows me. But I swear, if you try acting like I wronged you, I'm seriously going to punch you in the mouth, one hand or not.” Tor moved over to him and took off the healing amulet. The King gasped slightly when he saw it. Right, he hadn't seen any of the new work yet, it was kind of neat, if he did say so himself.
“Now, do you want to see again or not?”
To his credit, Smythe actually hesitated, wondering at the cost. Would it take money? His eternal allegiance? His betraying the kingdom?
“Nope. All I ask is that you judge me based on what I do, all of it, and not a few isolated events, or out of fear.” Tor had a thought and shrugged, even though the man couldn't see it.
“Tell me, how many men have you killed?” Tor asked abruptly.
“I don't know.” The answer was honest at least, if a bit confused. “Hundreds at least, maybe more. My actions and orders have lead to the deaths of thousands, certainly.” He said it blankly, without any hint of pride or remorse in the words.
“Right, and how many people have I killed?”
“I don't know that either. As many as you wanted to, I'd hazard.” The voice went slightly wry.
“Fine, if you want to look at it that way, I guess that's true. The answer is none. Zero. Even when attacked, injured, betrayed and in a combat rage. I'm simply just not a warrior, Smythe. I'm a builder and the son of a small village baker. You're trying to judge me like you would someone like… you. A warrior, maybe even a legendary one. I'm simply not that. I… don't think I could be. Oh, I could kill someone, once, I think, to protect someone innocent or maybe by accident and as odd as it sounds I can make weapons that kill people all day long and not even think about it overly, but you think I'm some big threat to the kingdom when I'm just not. My big go too move in a fight is running away for goodness sake!”
The amulet was turned on with a flicker of intent and dropped on the other mans chest. He gasped and writhed a little, but not in real pain. That looked different. The cloudy white eyes cleared and the old man sat straighter. Like with Trice the hand didn't come back, but the wound would be healed under the bandages. If he'd had joint problems that would be fixed now too. Everything pretty much. He held the stone for a long time, like all the old people had done, the occasional pop or crackle coming from his body, until finally he looked at the King and smiled.
“I… That's amazing. I can see. Nothing hurts anymore either.”
Richard didn't coddle the man now, laughing instead.
“Good, then get up, get a bath and start working. I expect a full investigation, as fair and impartial as always.” The King turned to look at the much younger builder.
“Tor, I'd like you to act as Smythe's assistant for this, as needed. Arrange for safe travel and do whatever else is required.” It was made as a request, but Tor saw the purpose, it was both to let the old military leader get used to him and to show that when given an order Tor obeyed, without question. Well, why not?
“Of course.” He said without hesitation. If nothing else it would let him keep tabs on the man for a while, though Tor decided to keep his shield on as much as possible, and carry an extra poison detector at all times.
Then they left the older man to get ready and pulled the guard off the door. If he was going to attack Tor again, well, he would. They needed him, so it was a risk one Torrance Baker just had to take. The King walked with him back towards the room they'd started in, his pace slowed so that the smaller man wouldn't have to run the whole way.
“Are you staying with us here?” He asked conversationally.
“No, I have a house outside the wall on the south side, where the temporary market set's up? It's right next to the new ice manufactory. Can't miss it. Also, Collette Coltress is staying there for now, since she's running the new business and Petra Ward is staying so that… Honestly, I think she just likes me. Or, well, she may be making sure I help her brother as I can too. Really, Smythe is our trump card there. I…” Tor stopped and looked at the giant royal, standing back to see his face.
“How do you all live like this? Everyone working for someone else like this I mean? Petra works for you and Kolb, but also her family, as would be expected of course and still seems to like me, for real I mean… I checked a few times. Collette is one of your spies, along with Trice, Sara Debri, and probably her mother at a guess. If you have them, you probably have her older brother too, Kris? Merchants at that level can go anywhere in the kingdom, so it makes sense…” The King went blank mentally again, but little bits of anxiety were leaking out, punctuated with words and ideas as Tor spoke. Something occurred to him and he laughed suddenly, making the King start a little.
“Oh… It was fast and brilliant work, I didn't even realize I was being played like that! Holly Printer foisted a spy on me I bet! Or tried to, Swarley Jones? Probably not a highly trained one, but yeah, I'd bet he's being paid to report on me. Stupid. Well, I apprenticed him to Kolb, so we need to get word out to him not to let anything slip. She could just ask if she wanted to know something… so it won't do her a lot of good. ”
“Yes, we caught on to that one. The one we nearly missed was Sorlee Farmer, that was a brilliant placement, don't you think? Crafted specifically to you even. A little farm girl forced to whore herself, from so near your own home village that only you could hope to understand her? She even fits the type of girl you like in looks. Then that thing with her family losing the farm? There's training there at least. She's good. I was considering trying to pick her up myself once her work with you is done. Or… You could work her into a civilian air transport service? That would put her all over the kingdom. Yes, we should make use of her if we can.”
The idea rankled. He'd helped her as best he could out of real kindness and even offered to keep her out of being a prostitute. Was everyone a freaking spy then? Who's was she, he wondered and then put it together. Who would want to keep an eye on him that knew him well enough to set up something like the deal with Sorlee? It was complex and targeted to him so perfectly…
“My mother?” He asked, his voice slightly awed and a bit annoyed.
“Ah, no Tor. She works for your sister, Tamerlane. She does seem to have a knack for it though. Count Thomson is marrying a real gem there. If I would have known more about her I would have arranged for her to meet Alphonse. Well, if Ursala Thorgood falls through for him you have some other sisters, don't you?”
Terlee? But… She was so shy that she could hardly talk to strangers! How did she, when did she… It didn't make sense. For a moment he wondered if the King was having him on, but the truth of it leaked out of the giant. His sister set a spy on him? That wasn't a new thing either, she'd been working on things like that for a while, hadn't she? Before he'd even known their family had noble connections at all.
“So, is anyone I know not a spy for someone? I mean a real spy. I always figured that Rolph would tell his parents and sisters about me, if you wanted to know, even before I knew who he was really, but that's just conversation, unless… does he have peepholes all over the place?” Tor mugged a little and glanced around The King started to pat him on the back but hit shield and pulled back nodding.
“No, the kids serve their own interests only. We talk, but they aren't used like that. I do worry about Karina and her friends, they have too much influence over her for any of us to feel good about I think. Also, Ursala Thorgood doesn't seem to have any interest than her own as far as my people can tell. Or spies on you. Gerald and Gemma are free agents too, so far, except what you know about them, Squires now and that, so they'll answer to their Knights. Let's see… your family? Most of Two Bends I'm sure, though we worked out a deal with a few people about twenty years back, to keep tabs on Laurie. The mayor there, Smith I think his name is? And the woman that runs the store, I can't recall her name off the top of my head. That's how I knew to send a scholarship your way. Best three hundred and seventy-five golds I've ever spent, getting you into school. As an investment it's paid off… I can't even calculate how many fold. Possibly the worth of the whole kingdom already. You didn't just save my family from death dust, but probably kept the whole realm together, the civil war that would have come after our deaths would have destroyed us for a long time.”
So, nearly everyone he knew was a spy? Ah. Tor walked away in a daze only to find the King standing in front of him suddenly. Those long legs let him move when he wanted to.
“Now don't be silly about this Tor. Almost everyone you know genuinely likes you. Especially the spies. They've witnessed your kindness, felt it themselves, and seen you reach out to help people, regardless of station, even when it's nearly killed you. Besides, it's a part of our life. If you're a noble, you have spies around you. The general rule is, well a little uncouth, but it's the way it's said,” The King didn't seem very embarrassed though he tried to act it. “Fuck the women all you can, and send the men to war. Though I hear the ladies version is different, with role reversal on the sex part and sending people on errands. Rather nicer actually, don't you think?”
Great, so what did he do now? Start asking everyone who they were watching him for? Did it really matter? God, he wasn't trained for this at all. Maybe he should really go live alone off in the woods? Either that or stop caring for people all together. That was stupid though. Spies or not, they were people, and as such deserved respect and care, even if it was hard to trust them now.
The first words out of his mouth when he got back to Rolph and Connie was a bit blurted and loud.
“Did you know that everyone we know practically is a spy?” He asked the room in general.
No one laughed, but Rolph did put down his pen and looked at him.
“Of course. Why do you think Sara was so eager to stay with us in the same building when we could have built her a place of her own in about an hour and a half? One a good bit nicer too? Running water and her own bath if she wanted? Keeping tabs. Ursa stayed with us because she was scared and figured that no one else could protect her half as well as you would. She's right of course. Shields she couldn't have gotten even on the black market yet, teaching her to fly and giving her a place to hole up that was pretty well impregnable. Plus, with everyone seeming to come after you it left the rest of us safer in a way. Why go after a mere Prince or Countess when there was that tempting Tor to try for?” He tilted his big giants head and nodded.
“More seriously though? Yeah, just about everyone. Really, I always figured you for a spy too, though mom and dad swear you aren't. Didn't stop us from being best friends, especially since I said and did things that I would have heard about if they were reported, that only you knew… When nothing came of it, I figured you were either a really smart spy, or one for someone else. Possible of course, though getting past Hardgrove would have been nearly impossible I think. But… you lost your accent so very fast. That part didn't seem very realistic.”
What? Tor thought that the other boy, a man now in truth, was kidding for a moment, but he wasn't, not at all. Him a spy? That was ridiculous. He wouldn't know where to begin, he came from a little backwater in the middle of the forest after all. One that… had spies. Even people that had watched him all his life. His face fell, did his friend still think that?
The Prince shrugged.
“I let the idea go after the thing with Maria. No one could fake being that hurt half so well and a spy wouldn't have cared that much. The job is always more important for them. Then how you avoided everyone for so long. Yeah, I got it eventually. But for the most part you can't bother to worry about it at our level. I just grew up knowing that everyone was watching me for someone. I guess that's harder for you to grasp? Don't worry, you really do get used to it. Just pick your real friends carefully and be polite to everyone else. Since you already do that, I just never really noticed I guess.”
Well.
Shrugging it off, if poorly, he invited them all out to see the ice castle and enjoy whatever festivities might have sprung up. That got the Queen’s attention and she looked wistful. It wasn't safe enough was it? She wanted someone to say it was, so Tor did, explaining how they should do it.
“Come in one of the transports, they're shielded, and wear your own shields. That will protect you from about anything but an Austran bombing run. Really, unless you advertise you're going a day in advance I doubt they'd get here in time. I don't want to oversell it though, it's probably just going to be a big pile of ice blocks. It's a warm day out, so people might be around to see it.”
They said they'd try to make it, if it could be arranged safely. Tor took that to mean “no” but didn't worry about it. Whatever happened they'd be sure to hear about it. All those spies after all…
The crowd wasn't small or even just healthy, but rather huge, outside the gate he could barely see his destination, so many tall people were in his way There was music of a dozen kinds, drink and food vendors had come so fast the event almost seemed planned. He floated through the crowd amazed at what had sprung up. There was a group of jugglers that were so good he tipped them a full gold coin, tossing it into the box they'd put out. He stared for their entire act, amazed and half wanted to stay and watch it again, but moved on, so someone else could have a turn watching as close as he'd gotten.
It took half an hour after that to work his way to the castle.
Not the ice castle, which was next to it, but the magic castle, easily as big as the palace itself, with a large stage out front that seemed to grow out of it somehow. The whole thing was a real castle of stone too, like the one in Printer, only way nicer. It was uniform in color, gray with bits of sparkling gold in it that made the whole thing shimmer, just a little. Petra was on the stage as a band played next to her, using the clothing device, changing her clothing nearly constantly, listening to suggestions called out from the audience, some were for simple, practical clothing items, boots and trousers in different colors, some, from a collection of noble women that had obviously been drinking a little, for more and more outrageous evening dresses.
“Silk and velvet in purple, poofy sleeves with a voluminous black shot skirt!” One of the women, who looked old enough to be embarrassed about yelling in public half screamed. Petra didn't even close her eyes to make it happen.
Then the woman next to her yelled for sparkles.
The whole crowed went silent at what she did next. It wasn't the light glint of crystal reflections that the noble lady had meant, but tiny purple, white and rose colored bits of light that came and went in a rapid pattern of small spirals and that clearly were outside of the material itself, by at least several inches. After ten seconds of this people started cheering loudly. Then, they also cheered for her in a simple black military uniform, fighter’s gear, which she hammed up with some really good mock fighting poses that anyone that was watching should have realized meant real skill. Workman's clothes, basically what Tor was wearing himself at the moment, done in a rainbow of shifting colors also got applause.
Finally, as almost had to happen, one drunk young man yelled out for her to take it all off. To Tor’s surprise, she covered her lower parts with a hand and threw an arm across her chest and affected a shocked look when she made the c
lothing disappear all together.
That was the most popular by far.
Then laughing she ran off the stage, still naked as a man came on, dressed in military gear, who demonstrated how to use a compressor rig to make focus stone items, he made a frame of dirt on the stage, Collette running over to make a box appear as if by magic on a table that was waist high on the guy, to a standing ovation, and then two more military men filled the box with dirt using earth moving rigs.
The audience called things out that the man made quickly and efficiently, including things like closing lid boxes with latches, bottles and simple statues of animals that were pretty good. Finally a woman that looked vaguely familiar for some reason asked loudly if he could make her a good man. Not waiting he threw himself into the audience and to everyone’s amusement started to walk off with her, holding hands. When he saw them together it clicked. She was one of the girls from the house at Wildlands Station. So the bit had been a set up? Very clever, the crowd had roared with laughter at the bit. Next a few fishing boats were put in the river and raced back and forth while people watched. That would be the last demonstration he guessed, but it wasn't.
Not at all.
Petra went back on the stage and made her top disappear again, not bothering to cover her breasts this time, which got loud hoots of appreciation from the audience. At first. Taking a knife she ran it across her stomach to the gasps and wincing of the watchers, then took up a healing amulet, one of the pretty glowing kind like he had on him, put it on and hit the sigil. The audience gasped. So did he. What kind of person made an eighteen inch long cut to amuse the public. Insane.
A line of people wanted to try it, so Petra, not bothering to put her top back on, walked around and let people hold it. It didn't regrow limbs, but one man that had a broken back as a child cried out as things shifted and popped and then stood up, if weakly. He was apparently well known, because people started screaming in glee. That part went on for a while, with a few people calling out that they were sending into the city for crippled or ill loved one.
