by P. S. Power
It had been far too hot for him for most of the day, but as he'd learned over the last week, it got cool at night in the Capital. This time he had two shirts though. The one that the machine had given him, which was a sturdy brown canvas, but was high enough quality it didn't scratch, and the well worn and patched thing that his mother had made him, years before. It was the last thing that he had from her. It was too small for him and nearly falling apart, but he liked the idea of her standing there, watching him as he used it to keep the worst of the cold off of him.
Still looking out for him, even after she was gone.
There was a very bright green glow several hours later. It came from the sky. Dareg woke with a start, and found his feet fast, ready to run if he had too. It was a ship, or flying craft coming in. A rather large one, if his bleary eyes could be counted on to judge that kind of thing. The pain of looking at it was too much for him however, so he looked down at the ground, which reflected the green of the thing, as he walked toward it.
Not that he was in charge of meeting craft that came in like that. Except there was literally no one else, and if he didn't go over what to do with the waste and trash, then he couldn't expect anyone to not just toss it on the ground, could he? That meant, about fifteen minutes later, with a bit of jogging on his part, he was standing to the side of the craft. It was vast, when he got close enough. Easily the largest single structure that he'd ever seen except for the walls of the city behind them. It was easily twice as large as the walled palace on the East side of the city. The one with the silver river running around the top.
A single man came out, after a while, a door opening on the side of the ship, near the bottom, about half an hour later. Dareg had just been about to take off and finish his sleep, when it appeared. There was no glow or anything, part of the craft simply went away. Making a hole.
Then a giant nobleman walked out.
It was, even in the pale green glow of the craft, the only light around, easy to tell that was what he would be. He was, after all, a huge man. Easily eight feet tall. Worse, he was dressed in a fine green and black outfit. His boots were all black leather and polished so well they could probably be used as mirrors in a pinch. No one dressed like that if they weren't special. Not that Dare knew about.
True, he hadn't exactly been spending his time hanging out with nobles, but he'd heard the descriptions, and this pretty much had to be one of them. A real one too, not just a merchant trying to pretend he was more important than he really had a right to. Coming in that ship would mean that, even if he'd been smaller than Dare was.
So he bowed, going low. Doing it the way his mother had thought him, rather than like a peasant. His right arm folded over his middle. Then he held it, waiting for the man to come over and do whatever he'd come for. Probably telling him to stand up and fetch something for him from the city. It would be a long walk, but it wasn't like he got a choice in the matter, if that happened.
Instead the man waved as he walked then bowed and stood right back up. He'd gone to the same angle that Dareg was at too, meaning that he thought that Dare might just be someone important. That was how it worked. You went lower than important people, and matched those you would call your peer. If you went to less of an angle, that meant you thought you were above them, but his mother had told him to just never do that. Even if it meant lying on the ground to avoid it happening. There were some things you couldn't afford to risk, and offending a noble was one of them.
"Hello! I'm Gerent Lairdgren. Are you Dareg Canton by any chance?"
For the second time that day, or possibly the third, he felt a thrill of shock run through him.
"Yes, sir. That's me. How may I serve you?" Hopefully it wouldn't involve him taking it up the behind. A lot of the nobles like it that way from the rumors, and again, if you were told to do it, you didn't really get a choice in the matter.
This man just smiled. He had a good face. Normal seeming, if too big.
"Princess Taman sent me, with some magics for you? A river, one that we can set up using the floating one around the city. I know how to do that part. You'll just need to let me know where you want it to run on the ground here. We should probably work it back and forth, between the landing areas. Not all of them though, so that the larger ships can land. Though going around the edge might be better that way." He looked around, as if he could see it all, even in the dark. "I have some other things, too. Water needs to come first however. We probably want to do that in the daylight though. Were you sleeping?"
"Yes, sir." He fought a yawn then and lost, but smiled about it. Being charming worked with his looks. At least most people seemed to think so.
The large man smiled back.
"I should let you get back to that then. Can we meet up at first light? Or later, if that fits your schedule. I don't want you to lose sleep over this."
The man probably wanted something from him, being that kind about the whole thing. Whatever it was didn't come as an order, so if it was going to require him to humiliate himself, or do hard labor, getting that bit of sleep wouldn't hurt anything. Dare was hugely sore at the moment. That was mainly from the work of the day, being that he wasn't used to it yet.
"I can meet you shortly after that? Here?"
The big fellow nodded at him, with more energy than anyone had a right to that late at night. It was kind of annoying, but faking that kind of thing was probably a good trick to learn for himself.
"At sunrise then. Thank you, Dareg."
"Sir." He bowed again and received an identical one in return again, before the man vanished back into his ship.
Limping a little he went back to his Tam-unit, near the only building. The novelty of a ship coming in kept him from sleeping too well, so he got up a bit before the sun did, the sky light, but not showing the burning and blinding orb yet.
"Morning Tam-unit. We had a ship come in late. Gerent Lairdgren? I think he brought a river with him." That was a big thing. The woman on the device the day before had said she'd send one, and there it was already. Unless Dare was confused about what had been said the night before. The ship was really there still, off in the distance, so probably not.
"Ooooh. Nice. Prince Gerent is here? You should eat before you go off to work."
That caught him off guard, but only a little. Of course a giant like him would be a prince. That, or some other kind of high noble. He had his own jump ship and everything, so that just made sense.
"Maybe some oats and a glass of cool milk?" Dare didn't want to be ungrateful, but warm milk was gross. When the food extruded through the front of the device, the oat porridge was nicely warmed, and the glass of milk was cold to the touch. There was even a white spoon in the ceramic bowl. "Thanks Tam-unit."
"You're welcome, Dareg."
Then she chattered a bit as he sat there in the near dark, eating and drinking. That, and listening to his lesson for the day. It really was one, too. That was so clear he didn't even try to question it.
"Gerent Lairdgren. Eighth in line for the throne of Harmony. Countier twelve Lairdgren, offline for that, by adoption. Countier Six Baker. He's in line for that one. All of his brothers and sisters are immortal however, so it won't happen. Captain of his own jump ship, and envoy to Earth, from Harmony. He's known to travel with a magical box that he keeps as a pet. That's probably a sign that he isn't well, mentally. He's married to Petra Ward. Conserina Second Ward. She's also a weapons master. I believe she teaches at the Printer School? They have no children yet."
Dareg let out a low whistle.
"Impressive. Not that I wasn't properly awed by him last night. The man is huge. A prince too? I hope I bowed low enough to him. I went as low as I could get without crawling."
There was no answer to that, so he kept eating and then asked for water so he could get tidy. He was meeting with important people, after all.
As he walked back toward the ship, which was still glowing a bit, if less than the night before, Dareg noticed that his own boots were ab
out as far from being shiny as they could get. They were old, worn, and had a few holes in them. Mainly at the edges where the original stitching had failed. His new brown shirt and trousers were nice though. Not grand things like what a prince would wear, but better than the rags he'd been in. Not that he wasn't keeping the shirt that his mother had made him. It was under the bucket he had. That way no one should accidently toss it out. Eventually that would happen, he didn't doubt, but for now it should work.
There was no one else there, after all.
When he got to the ship, he started to feel pretty nervous again. After all, the man from the day before might think he was lazy, going back to bed like he had. For that matter, he might not really be up yet. He'd asked for Dare to be back at first light, but what counted as that to a person like him?
Well, he could just sit there and wait then, if that was the case. Maybe even in the shade for part of the day, given how huge the ship was.
Instead, the door on the side opened again, leaving a hole there, before Dare got twenty feet away. When Prince Gerent came out he was dressed differently. All in brown this time. Looking a lot like how Dareg did, actually. Dressed to work for the day, instead of go to a high party or celebration.
"Hey!" There was a happy smile and a wave instead of a bow this time. In his left hand the man carried a decent sized box which he lifted a bit. To show Dare, it seemed. "I have the river, and some other things. We should set the tiles around here first, and then walk to the wall river. It will be less work."
That made sense. Not that he knew how to do that kind of thing. On the good side, Prince Gerent didn't seem to expect him to have that down.
Dareg bowed, going even lower this time.
"Prince Gerent."
The man did it back, smiling. Matching him again.
"Prince Dareg. Really though, I think we should be on a first name basis, don't you? Call me Ger. Gerent works too. Do you go by Dareg?"
Laughing a bit at being called a Prince, he nodded.
"That, or Dare, though no one calls me much other than boy. I should get a title though, if I'm going to be filling the Tam-units each day. They can call me Dirt Boy. That has a ring to it, don't you think?"
The giant man, who was thin, being stretched like he was, but powerful looking, shook his head.
"A bit filthy sounding. I think Tam suggested Materials Management for you, yesterday before I left. Sorry it took so long. I had to get Petra from work. She gets a few days off, and wanted to spend them at our Harmony home."
That name was familiar, having been in his lesson.
"Your wife? Conserina Ward? She works at the Printer School, doesn't she?" Dare expected the man to be awed by the depth of his information, but the man just nodded, happily.
"Yep, that's the one. You really should come and meet her soon. Everyone is really excited you know. Taman practically had to tie Tor down so he didn't come himself, you know." There was a pause and then a look off at the horizon. "Where do you want the river to flow?"
That hadn't come up before, but the layout pretty clearly suggested the best path for it. That would be a loop around the outside of the entire thing, rather than crisscrossing. That way the giant ships, and Gerent did suggest that his was being kept small at the moment, could set down without making a mess.
They took small plates of focus stone out of the box and set them around the outside of the place, it was a walk of many miles. There was nothing to mark them as special, other than their milky white color and obviously cut edges. Looking at them, the prince winked.
"Once we turn the river on they won't move. The weight of the water will hold them in place, more or less. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. Well, Tor would have come, but Tim figures that the death plague will still be active for a few months. Or not. It's that last bit that's keeping them all away. Tim will be coming soon, to check it all out. If he doesn't die, then the others will come. Everyone wants to meet you. Tiera wanted me to ask if you'd come for a visit soon? It doesn't have to be today, but soon? If you get a chance. I know that Tam said you had a lot of work here?"
They were walking toward the Capital, and the large man stopped twice to put two of the little stone plates down as they did it. Side by side, but about fifty feet apart, one on each side of the focus stone road that led to the large North gate of the city. Just outside the wall, he stopped and laid the last two, then moved to the one that on the left as they faced the the smooth expanse.
"This is the tricky part. If we did it right..." He tapped the thing firmly, and almost instantly a line of water about three feet around flew at them. It was perfect, and very clear, like the one above them around the Capital. The line moved fast, but not more than they could see. It ran out, floating about five feet above the ground the whole time, and came back at them a few minutes later.
Then it rose into the air and merged with the other river, which had shrunk a bit past that point.
Gerent clapped a few times.
"Ha! We didn't even drown. No massive holes were punched into the wall either. We win."
The City Guard at the gate looked at the ramps of water, and seemed a bit scared at first, moving forward toward them. Dareg got ready to run away, but Gerent was braver than that, and merely waved.
"Hello! Just getting the water in for the spaceport. We should have done this years ago, but we didn't have anyone to run the thing. Just some High Servants. You know how they are." Almost as if summoned, one of the two men from the day before came through the gate. He noticed the tiny new floating river right off, and then looked over at them. After a moment, he walked over, slowly.
Then he bowed to Ger.
"Prince Gerent. I'd heard that this was coming, but... Well, we've all heard that before. Are you to be in charge here then?" The man didn't rise after speaking. Not until Ger bowed back, only going about a quarter of the way down. That got the city guard to go wide eyed and bow himself, getting who was standing there.
So Dareg did as well. When in doubt, you did what everyone else was. Everyone knew that.
When they were finally all standing, the giant waved at him.
"Prince Dareg is seeing to that for Harmony. By appointment of Queen Tiera, his Aunt."
The man in white blanched until he nearly matched his robes.
"Prince? I..." He got on his knees, and then laid flat on the ground. "Forgive me. I didn't know. I..." He started to cry, which was a bit over the top for simply not letting him book a trip to Harmony the day before. He'd already apologized for tossing him out. Nearly as he'd done it, and then they'd explained later. Kids had been going alone, and messing thing up on the Moon. He got the idea, even if it hadn't been that great to hear at the time.
Dareg, feeling embarrassed, waved his right hand.
"No issue. We should get back. Now that we have water, I need to figure out some things. Like a bathhouse, and restrooms. We're going to need to put some buildings up. Not that I know how to do that." You could build with focus stone, which would be the cheapest way. There was a lot of dirt in the world after all. If he could find some gear for it.
The man in white, who was it seemed, a High Servant, and not from Austra at all, stood, then bowed again, which was odd.
"I could see to that? We, the High Servants, had been thinking about doing some of that for a long time, but didn't know if it would be allowed. We have some tools for it, I think? They're kept at Tor's Palace. I can go and get them, if you wish?" He seemed too close to panic really, which Dare couldn't see happening.
It was being called a Prince, but that didn't make any sense, did it?
"Um, I'm a Prince now?"
The large man nodded, and started walking back.
"Ninth in line for the throne of Harmony. That will change when the rest of us start to have kids though. You're also a Countier. County Baker, so you should get in touch with your Count and make sure he has everything he needs. Nice man, Count Baker. I have a communications device for you here, i
n the box. A tiny house as well. They're very cute. These were designed by Taman, and not meant for people to live in forever. For emergencies in her own land. She's the Ancient of Soam. They have all you need, as long as you can get water in place. She was worried that you might not like it. We can get you a full palace if you want? That will probably cost in land rent. If you use this tiny one right, I bet you can set it up on the edge of the platform, which will be free. It's part of the deal that Veronica, Princess Veronica, put together when she set this place up for us. There are no taxes on it. Technically it's owned by the King, which gets around things like that nicely."
That was the name of the youngest Noram Princess. It had been part of his schooling, so Dareg knew that one. He even kind of knew what she looked like. From pictures. If they weren't glorified to make her look better, she was one of the finest beauties in the land. That was probably true, since the ones of Princess Karina made her look kind of normal. Cute, but not like she was special or anything. Just healthy, and happy seeming.
As they walked, Dare thought, the whole thing not seeming real to him. Not yet. That Tor was his father, well, that had been what he'd been told his whole life. Part of him had always tried to deny it, so that he wouldn't be hurt when it turned out not to be true. The other part had secretly dreamed of it as real. That his father was a powerful wizard, and that one day he would be, too. For a long time that had ridden with him. Before his mother died.
Now a bit of him kind of wanted to blame the man for not having come to save him. Even then, he really couldn't have. That had been part of his lessons in school as well. The Wizard Timon had created a magical disease that would kill anyone that was immortal. It would last for ten years, and then allow them, the ones that had left to go to the Moon, to come back.
It had been the only way to stop their old enemies, the mad Ancients, from killing them all. It was those people that had brought the storms. The vast ones that had killed so many. They'd kept the crops from growing right all the time by what they had done. Millions had died from it. Nuclear weapons, things from the past, had been used. Giant explosions that had changed everything, forever.
