by Power, P. S.
Working at cleaning up the outside world, while probably needed, was out for the time being, since he didn't think he could manage it for long and it would make him dirty to pick up trash. That would lead to more showering and while that wasn't a sin, it seemed a shame to ruin being clean when he had something to do in a few hours.
Instead he sat in his chair, trying not to nod off. That was what he was doing when the handheld in his side pocked buzzed at him again. This time it managed to do it three times before he got the smooth focus stone thing into his hand. Activating it showed a person that he didn't know at first. Rather, the angle of the thing was off, showing a view that pretty much exposed the underside of a smooth tan chin. The light in that other room sparkled a bit at the top of it. The whole thing came into focus when he understood the idea. The handheld was on a table or counter, and the person was looking into a mirror.
Not that he could tell who it was. Who she was. There was something about the image that clued him in, though not a thing as easy to see as breasts or ruffled clothing. Really, it was workman brown as far as that went.
"Dare? I got a message from Queen Constance. You're heading over to the party later? She wanted me to make certain you weren't going to just leave us all feeling lonely." The voice wasn't that familiar to him, but he had heard it before, though not as strained sounding most of the time.
Petra Ward.
Yet another aunt of his. This one not by blood however. That made her fair game, for many things. Only one of them was actually important to him at the time being however.
"Hi. I should be there. If I can stay up long enough. Hey... I'm setting up lessons to learn some things from Timon. I need fighting, too. The situation there has changed." She was the one that had brought him Kolb, after all. She knew the score.
Her friend and old school instructor. She was one now however, so, even if she didn't want to risk bothering with him herself, which was totally fair, it was possible that she might know someone that would be willing to work with him. Even if he was a bit backwards that way, not having had tutors his whole life.
Oddly enough, poor kids weren't really given lessons in how to defend themselves against super beings, for some reason. An oversight, as it turned out, since they needed people that could do that now. Millions of them. If not more.
Really, if Bill and Straughan were any indication, then their side was simply going to lose anyway. The two of them, mere scouts, had taken out some of the best fighters in the world, armed with the best shields and weapons.
They'd been outnumbered three to one, and if it hadn't been for the fact that the three best wizards humanity had were right there at the time, then they would have won. As it stood they nearly had anyway.
There was no talking going on, but the woman had stopped doing whatever it was that she'd been busy at, probably brushing her very short hair, and smiled. There was a tinge of sadness to it, probably about the deaths, but then a head nod.
"You have a lot of options there. I'd say you should spread out on it a bit. Bug Tiera and Orange first, then glue yourself to anyone willing to work with you hard enough to be worth bothering with. Maybe Sara Debri? You know her, right? You have a ship, so that should be doable. Are you ready to start soon? You sound a bit under the weather still."
He just nodded, looking into her nice brown eyes. She had makeup on, which probably meant she was coming to the dinner later. It was that or a disguise amulet coming into play, and since the magic shop had plenty of those, for free, he was guessing that was the case. The woman lived on the Moon at least part of the time. Though from the way the light came through the window behind her she was on Earth. Given how she was dressed, probably in Printer, where she worked.
"I do know Sara. I should get with her soon. She's... A very good friend of both my father and Karina. That means girlfriend, right?"
His new aunt was probably many things. Tough came to mind, and brave.
She was also a teacher, and didn't shy away from what he would have thought of as rude questions. At least not if they were alone, more or less.
"That's the case here. It can mean a bit more, and less than that. In general it's a declaration of love however. I hadn't really considered you in that mix before, but yes, that's something for you to think about. The big problem there is that you either have to not have much to do with her, which will be hard living out on the Martian Circle, or..." She stopped, and looked at him, more curious than anything else. "I think everyone just assumes that you will, at least part of the time. With Karina? Is that what you want though? As the husband it's up to you to pick where the houses are. Then, it's also up to you to buy them, or the land for them. You probably have the resources, if you hustle a bit, to get a few nice places going. Um..."
He shrugged. It wasn't a thing that he'd ever considered before, but it sounded like something that he needed to take care of. The husband did things like that, while the wife took care of the domestic portion of things. For a princess that probably meant she was going to hire the servants for them.
Both sets of things would take funds. Maybe even more than the fifty gold a month he had coming in. That was a vast sum, but if he needed to buy her palaces, plural, and hire liveried folk to run them, it was likely going to take a lot more. How he was supposed to get that done, he had no hint, but it didn't have to take place in the next day, so he had time, as long as he didn't sit back and wait for the future to simply crush the life from him.
Not that it wouldn't, eventually. That was the fate of everyone though, so he smiled at the image of Petra and tried not to give away what he was thinking.
"Here, Mars, and the Martian Circle? I bet we can get land cheap on Mars, if we hurry." It wouldn't be livable for several hundred years, after all. Though they had all that magic laying around, so it should be possible to do something like what they had going on at Harmony. A large underground city or two, to hold the workers while they waited for things to happen on the surface.
It was a thing to mention to Karina at any rate. If she didn't like it, well, then it wouldn't be happening. She was the Ancient of that place, after all. There could be reasons for that. Like, he suspected, very few people actually wanting to risk moving that far from home. To him it felt like an adventure, but others might have very different thoughts on the matter.
There was a low, nearly throaty chuckle from the device he held. His hand was dry, but a bit cool feeling, even though the temperature in the pod house stayed pleasant all the time. That portion of things was just him. Hopefully it would pass.
"That's true. Actually I should get some space there, too. In a few hundred years it might be worth something."
That told him a lot. For instance, Petra Lairdgren was, most likely, immortal now. It was hard to see her face as being other than made up, or disguised, but he got that she might not be. Now that a clue was dropped. That would probably mean that Gerent was that way as well. That hadn't been the case a month before, he didn't think. They were both around before the Ancients knew they could come back. So had Sara Debri, but she was different than the others, somehow.
Nodding, he just went with the idea that he was right, for the time being.
"I should probably do that. If it's allowed. I still don't know if anyone wants me around really. Not..." The words got a sharp, concerned look from his aunt. "Not that I'm saying they hate me, but I'm still the new person, so I can see everyone waiting to pass judgment that way. You don't just give everything to an unknown. Most wouldn't."
Rather than reasure him, the woman suddenly smiled, nodding.
"Gerent had that issue for a long time. You have a family now, and they will stick by you. That's a thing you do need to earn, to be worthy of, but the Bakers will start with you in the hundred percent position. So, you have what you need, you just have to keep it. So far I don't see you doing anything to lose their good will. Or mine. If you care about that?" She looked into the the handheld, her face looking a bit younger than
it had. Less boxy.
She was still her however, just a bit different around the edges.
"Hey, did you get your strength and speed increased? I know that Sara is faster than most people. By a lot."
She nodded at him, her eyes going wider by a fraction of an inch.
"I did, actually. So did Gerent. We both tried to push that part, in case it's needed. Stronger, faster, and harder to hurt. More intelligent as well. Why, are you thinking of doing the same thing?"
"Honestly, I hadn't been, not really knowing it was possible, but we all probably should, if it works. That, and skill... I can't see what else we can do that way. Magic doesn't work against the... Those bad things. Alice has some physical armor that might help, but we all need to get some and wear it all the time, which will be fun I bet."
He started to think about that. What was really needed. His brain spun for a bit, since the biggest real threat was not knowing who might be coming for them. They could look like anyone. Really, he fit the right mold for that kind of thing, from what they knew.
Kevin Straughan had been adopted decades before, coming from nowhere. Bill Humboldt, who hadn't even come with a last name, that being provided by Dare, never mentioned a family at all. Just a location he was from. Those were the only examples they had on the topic, and here he was, walking into the circles of power, without even an old adopted family to point at.
Sure, he knew that he wasn't some kind of creature of darkness, but Bill hadn't seemed like that either.
So far no one else seemed to have considered that in particular, but finding the people, the real threats, before they attacked, was important. How that could be done, he didn't know. Magic came to mind. It might not work, but he could ask. Also, Bill had let some things drop over time. He was too aggressive for a commoner, for instance. If that was indicative of all of them, it was possible that being around one of them would be recognizable from things like that.
Also his physical skills were too advanced for his position in life. The short man had tried to hide it, but it came through in practice. Again, Dare fit that as well. It was part of why he hadn't really noticed it at the time. Rather, he had, but the assumption had been that the farmer was just that good, brave and strong.
The big problem there is that almost everything that had been noticed wasn't going to help him a lot in judging the merchant class, or nobles. Still, there might be more that could be uncovered. Traits that those two had shown that were the same, that, even if they weren't definitive, could possibly give them some kind of sign.
Petra looked up and away, then back at him.
"We need to get going. We should be at your location in half an hour. Are you good with going in with Gerent and me? We can pick you up. We should talk anyway. Someplace where we won't be easily heard." There was a small, but real locking of eyes then.
"Um. Sure. Unless this is a sex thing? I doubt I'm up for that. Or fighting. Talking I should be able to manage. I'm still at my little pod house, you know where that is? I can meet you there?"
She giggled, like a girl, covering her mouth.
"All right. We'll take it easy on you, this time. See you in about... Call it half an hour? Forty minutes? I need to make an outfit for this. You should, too. Something novel. Dressy, and a bit ostentatious for this one. They threw together a ball, so go big and bright."
The device went dead, leaving him sitting there in a drab gray outfit.
There was an odd statement in that. The way everyone kept just tapping off without saying anything like they did. Like their lives were just so busy that they couldn't take a few moments to say goodbye. That, or Dare had to suppose, they didn't want to risk losing whoever they were talking too, so just tried to keep the conversation perpetually open. As if that would prevent others from dying and going away, if only they did it well enough. Young or not, he knew first hand that what you wished for had very little to do with how the world worked, day to day.
It was a trick to come up with something new to wear, and he had a time limit. For a few moments he nearly just gave up, feeling too tired to be bothered. Everyone would get that, if he showed up wearing any old thing, he was certain. Then again, being slightly creative wasn't exactly hard physical labor. With that in mind he sat in his chair, which was firm under his behind, and then closed his eyes.
The basic pattern for men was pretty set. He could go in a robe, but that would be way out of what most people would ever expect. Really, it wasn't a horrible idea, but Dareg decided to hold that one back for some grand ball or something like that. It meant he was going to have a suit of some sort then. He'd seen a variety of cuts and styles, but again, for men there was a very narrow range of things allowed.
"All right. So, start from there. Basic jacket, and shirt, nice trousers and shining black shoes... Then get clever."
His starting point was a tailored seeming gray thing, that was nice enough for noble circles, or had at least worked in the past. Trying to be creative he made his lapels a bit more narrow, then caused them to glow in a deep copper color. Inside that, just on the trim, he formed small faces that would move forward occasionally. They weren't real people, but had a nice aspect to them. It ran on a repeated pattern, the expressions moving and changing over time. About a minute, and then it would start over again.
Only on the edges however. You'd need to be very close to him to see it as more than a random pattern of motion.
The rest of the outfit was made a rust red, the color deepened a bit when he opened his eyes. Eventually he ended with a color that was most of the way to black. The shoes were left at the starting black color however, and he recalled the people, all men, who he'd seen that looked more or less real as far as what they had on. All of them had little scrapes and scratches on their polished boots and footwear. He added some along the sides. Then there was the rest of it, which needed some small wrinkles, and a bit of fluff in places. Real clothing, even if well cared for, had that. Along with seams, where things were stitched together.
The shirt was the last portion of things, and after a moment, he decided to go with a deep copper color, that was darker than the trim of the rest of it. That was it. Well, his hair band was made to look like metal, in a matching color. After that, there was little enough to do. Unless he wanted to add wings or a mask. That would be interesting but even he knew that would be a bit too much for a dinner at the palace where family members were going to be.
It wasn't Masking Day, after all.
Not even close, he didn't think. Dare had to count that one up, but the minor festival wasn't going to come for at least a month, and he really doubted that anyone would invite him for a party for it. No one ever had before, at least. When he was a kid he'd been too young for that sort of thing, since it was mainly about drinking. Now that he was an adult, it was possible, but he kind of thought it was a lower class kind of event.
He'd managed to take long enough that when he stumbled outside, Petra and Gerent were slowly landing in the zone nearest to his pod house. It was dark, and the jump ship had been made very small, but it was in a bright and shining green color, that meant it was them. His ship was almost always black. It was strange, but people tended to pick a color and stick with it, even though the ships could change whenever the pilot wanted.
Dareg didn't have to walk far, just about five hundred feet, to stand at the edge of the focus stone pad. There were lights around it still, but this little area was just in plain white. The most boring of the magical colors. Still, even in the light, they shone a bit like gems. Like a festive decoration, instead of the plain tan that the whole place had been back before he'd gotten there.
The craft looked to be big enough for about ten people, if they sat close. Inside, he could see that there were more than two bodies. Two of them were in the back, with Gerent having piloted. At least he was in the front position, so he had the best view out the shield glass window. When the giant of a man, easily over eight feet tall, touched the console in fr
ont of him, a door popped open on the left hand side of the thing.
That was enough sign for Dare, but the fellow, who was in a nice green outfit that looked like shiny metal, waved for him to come in.
That took a bit of jogging, which didn't leave him breathless, surprisingly. He would have figured that covering a hundred feet at faster than a slow walk would have left him gasping, but he was all right that way. It was a step up, the glowing green having three of them to allow him to climb into the craft. As soon as he did, before he could look around, the door sealed up behind him.
"Hello, Prince Dareg. We brought some others with us. It was a bit last minute." Gerent looked into the back, where Petra was sitting at a table, next to Countess Printer, Count Ward and his wife, Maria.
That meant bowing, so he went low, but stood up instantly, before anyone else could do it back. They were all kind of trapped in place, and he really doubted that Marvin Ward was going to be able to actually stand if he tried.
"We should probably do away with the niceties right now?" Dare winked at them all, trying to be charming though he didn't really feel that way. "Otherwise I'd collect all those hugs that everyone wants to give me, of course." He tried to seem bland about it, but it seemed too playful.
Count Ward, seeming to get that standing and bowing wasn't an option, laughed a bit.
"That does seem likely. The call to the palace came in late, or we wouldn't have had to bother my sister and Prince Gerent like this. I hope it doesn't alter your plans for the evening?" That was a strange way to say things, and it was kind of clear that Petra was annoyed by the influx of bodies.
That seemed to include Countess Printer too, who was, if Dare had it right, one of her best friends. Pet worked at the Printer school, or so he'd heard. Not that he'd ever been there. To the Moon, yes, several times. That particular school, or even county? Not at all.
