by P. S. Power
Regardless, the spaceport looked like a small and shining city off in the distance at the moment. Ringed in light, with bright points coming from inside it, marking the walkways and landing areas. It was bright enough that Dare could make out several things. On his right there was a bright and shining party going on that had huge new structures, music, and a scent of various foods that probably weren't wholesome or nutritious coming from it. There was a large collection of people there already, even as a giant shadow suddenly appeared, and lit up.
It was a castle. Not a magical palace, but an honest to goodness stone keep. It was warped though, with bent towers, a funny shaped drawbridge, and what looked to be a moat around it, filled with a dim light. Things moved inside of it too. Creatures.
On the other side there was a humble enough tent city. Though calling it that was a bit rich. Most of the bodies there were kind of just sitting, not having a real tent at all. Early or not, many people seemed to be laying out, sleeping already.
Sara looked at it and winced.
"They're going to need food, water and sanitation facilities. Probably commoners, which is better than if they weren't, since at least they'll try not to make a mess. This is a lot more bodies than I've ever heard of for King's Week. For anything, to be clear about it. Can I borrow some magical houses for this and the place for Heather's guests?"
He nodded, then yawned and covered it with a hand.
"That will work. I have a food unit, too. I'd like to get things back, if at all possible. Otherwise Tiera will think I stole them all. Used them to buy women, or whatever I'll be accused of." Thankfully he just sounded a little tired, and not bitter.
Sara didn't even chuckle about it.
"I understand what you mean. Not that she won't understand, but... They do things like this. You're walking along, minding your own business, and then suddenly they hand you enough gold to by a county, or magics that are worth twenty times that. Then there's a bit of hand waving, muttering that you know best, and they don't even bother to say that they trust you. That's just a given. Not that it won't be fifty times worse for you. I'm just a family friend. You're a relative. That's kind of an absolute thing for the Baker family. It cuts both ways though." She looked at the spaceport, her hand on the control bobble. That meant she waved with her left hand at it. "Things like this will pretty much end up being constant for you, if you aren't careful. Yes, there's power in it, but you're really too young to be in charge of something like this. That fact won't stop any of them from dumping things on you. Remember, you can say no. Just because they work themselves into the ground doesn't mean you can't take the occasional break, like a real person."
Taking a breath to buy time, Dare thought about that, and finally gave a nod.
"Except that I really do have to, don't I? I can't afford to make any of my new family, or any of the Ancients coming back, angry with me. No one could, but I have their attention. If I mess this up... Well, I'm not going to claim I had the hardest life ever. Even after my mother died... It wasn't good food, but I almost never went hungry for longer than a meal. It wasn't great shelter, but I had a roof and got through the winters. No one held me down and had their way with me, or beat me until I couldn't stand. I was sad and lonely, but I wasn't shunned by the people around me. The people there let me make my way, even if I was really too young to be on my own. The King even paid for me to go to school, so I can read and write, do sums and read a map. That's not as hard as most have it really. Not if they're alone." He shook his head a bit, and looked over at Sara, the side of her face smooth and lovely as different colors of light played over her face from the outside. It was mainly purple, but there were bits of green on the side he could see, and a flare of red as some magical event took place behind him.
They rode in silence for a bit, a little tension around her mouth, as she kept the craft high enough that no one below would be hit. The road was pretty much just a walkway at the moment, since nothing larger than a person or possibly a horse, was getting past.
When he spoke again, Dare let his voice be slightly soft.
"Messing things up now would be insane. No one gets a chance like this. No one. Even if they are the bastard of someone famous or rich. I... I really don't know what they expect of me. I can work, hard even, and let a giant bald man beat me each day, if that's what it takes, but... I mean, am I expected to be a super wizard? I don't know if I can do that at all, or if I even want that for myself. They seem nice, but what if that's a trick? Meant to..." He didn't know, and that was the real problem. He tossed his hands up to show that, knowing that Sara would understand his frustration if nothing else.
Rather than tell him about how wonderful and trustworthy his new people were, the immortal just nodded a bit. Almost imperceptibly.
"How could it not be? You came from almost nowhere, as far as they have to be concerned. There was, as far as Tor knew, no way for him to get anyone pregnant, and yet, there you are. Clearly his son. I wouldn't have believed it, before I learned how to build myself. Even at that... The whole thing is incredibly complex." There was a tiny adjustment, so that she'd end up at his pod house, which had a nice clearance around it, even though most of the places near the front, inside the floating river, really didn't. There was a line outside the Bawdy house for instance. Mainly because High Servant Johan, dressed in bright colors, and that lying girl from earlier whose name he couldn't be bothered to remember at the moment, were calling out to passersby, suggesting it was the finest of such places in the known world.
As they landed, Sara went on.
"Tor made you. Not just in the normal way, either. Your entire being was formed and shaped in magic. He didn't just overcome his own infertility, he subconsciously designed you. Probably to be everything that he wanted to be, when you get down to it. What he dreamed of as the perfect child. Smart, attractive, strong enough that no one would take advantage of you. Probably tall, too. He really wasn't wild about being short. You're just now fourteen. It wouldn't shock me to find that you grow at least a foot in the next year. We'll have to make sure you don't end up fifteen feet tall, or something uncomfortable like that. Anyway, you were tested, when you were on Harmony, and before that. Dozens of times. Not that people don't believe you have the right blood, it's just that Tor really was supposed to be infertile back then. He hasn't had any other children yet, that we know about, so everyone was kind of afraid you might be a clone or something like that. It's happened before. Even that you might have been created by someone else, which has also happened. The Queen is like that, so, it's not an unreal or impossible thing. From what everyone said it was probably Tor, doing it all. The only thing you don't have going for you is immortality. Which saved your life. If you did have that, you'd be dead right now, as funny as that sounds."
Dareg winced a bit, trying not to consider everything she was saying. She was proclaiming that he was some kind of wonder being, even if he didn't know it.
"The Death Plague?"
Settling the tiny craft down, she nodded.
"That's the one. In every other way you're pretty special. So, you know what that means in real life?"
He nodded, kind of getting where she was going. It wasn't hard to see, leading the way as she was.
"That I'm no better than anyone else, except that I need to put in ten times the work, to do my fair portion?"
That got a laugh. A real one, complete with a soft snorting noise, even as she popped the doors open on both side of the tiny glowing glasslike ball.
"Exactly! You get perks, but they all have costs. You're strong, and fast. Not as much as I am that way, but you can probably make a good stab at outrunning a fast horse. You have top end endurance, too. It doesn't mean that you won't hurt when you use it, just that you don't have to stop like everyone else would. You won't get sick, it will be really hard to poison you to death. You probably can't get drunk, no matter how hard you try... And nothing will ever be fair. You either will have it all handed to you, or b
e faced with things that are nearly impossible to manage. Just like everyone else. For instance, in the morning you're going to get the worst beating of your life. Probably more than one of them. Oh... That healing amulet. I have six of them on me. That thing with the guards earlier pointed out that I should, all the time, even if I don't need one most days, myself. You need to get up to Harmony and visit the magic shop there. They give everything away. There are some rules, but they aren't hard to follow."
The little moonstone tile was handed off to him, the tiny man on it glowing all in green. It had a bit of string on it. The plain kind that even the poorest of people could get and use. Hemp. It was sturdy, so he tucked it around his neck, and climbed out as Sara started to leave. That got him to pound on the side of the craft, which made no noise, but got her to open the doors again and look at him.
He waved at her.
"I can get those houses for restrooms and the food unit? The house for the guests that are coming..."
She stopped moving, and then smiled hugely.
"Thanks. I'd actually managed to get side tracked, mentally. That's rare anymore. I blame you, for being so distracting."
He jogged to the tiny pod house which was currently all white, and needed a full minute to get a door to show up. Then he dashed in and got the needed things from his chest. Passing them off didn't take long, so four minutes later he was inside, getting ready for a nice long sleep. It wasn't that late even, just turning dark fully, as he drifted off.
Which was interrupted some time later. It was still pretty dark out when he looked at the wall and it turned into a transparent window that let him see who was standing there. That was a very small man, who was clearly a commoner, and didn't look to be old at all. He had dark skin, dark hair, and dark brown clothing that had several patches on it.
Dare wouldn't have heard him even, through the side of the house, if the man hadn't cleverly popped the door open a few inches before calling out.
"Ser? Ser? There's a little sick girl. I... I don't know what to do. Her parents is with her, but she's in an awful state..." There was no real conviction to the words, but the man repeated them, his voice trembling a bit.
As Dare sat up, he thought about that. It could be anything really. A person that had come to get him to leave his things untended, so his pals could steal them, for instance. Kolb might also have put him up to it in order to get him out early, for an ambush. He had his shield on, and changed his clothing, making sure that he also had his new healing amulet.
After all, what if there really was a sick little girl? Having that would at least make her night easier.
First he looked all the way around, to make sure there wasn't a team of people standing by to get him as soon as he came out. There wasn't, which didn't mean much. For all he knew the tiny man at his door could be an expert fighter himself, sent in to fool him. Not that being small meant weak or useless. Not when a few magical bits of stone could be handed off to anyone, turning them into an almost unbeatable force.
When he got to the door he moved out, waving the fellow back a step, and, as quickly as he could, focused and made the door vanish. There was a soft gasp, of amazement, from the man.
"Magic..." The guy stared at him, then, almost as an afterthought brought on by his own awe, bowed. "Sorry, M'lord. There's just... This little girl. This way? I don't know what's wrong with her, but she was cryin and carrying on. Her people seemed worried and vexed, so I came here? I was told it was the place that the commander lived and that he was a mighty wizard, wot could do anything?" That part sounded pretty confident. A thing that everyone knew, no doubt.
"I'm in charge, but not a wizard. I do have a healing amulet however, so we should go and see about this girl?" They ran then. Not very fast, but it was about a half mile away. Neither he or the little fellow with him were out of breath when they got there. As soon as they got to the right collection of bodies, who were all huddled around the young lady, there was a bit of pitiful sounding moaning. From the girl.
Who was very tiny.
"My tummy hurts."
Her mother, who was also a very small person looked up at him, her face drawn, and as soon as she made out who was there in the dim purple and gold light from the river, she looked scared. Rather than let her go on feeling that way, Dareg got the healing amulet out. He was awake now, thanks to his little jog.
"We can fix that. You've all seen this kind of thing before?" He held it up, and everyone but the tiny girl nodded. So he explained how it would work, and more importantly feel, to her. "This will make you get better faster. Depending on what's wrong with you, it might hurt a bit while it happens. That will go away really fast though. Do you want to try it?" If she said no, well, there wasn't a lot he could do for her.
Cutely enough she nodded, clutched her middle and moaned.
"Thank you, ser." She wasn't old, being about seven or eight at a guess, but her little hand came out for the device so he handed it off. She didn't scream, or complain at all, and after less than a minute she gave the thing back to him, smiling. "That's better! Thank you. I... I'm sorry. I ate too much. The food was so good. From that girl in the box? All I had to do to get more was go and collect trash and put it in her." She seemed sorry about it all, and her mother, and the small man behind her, both seemed really scared still. Like he was going to beat them for the wrong doing.
"Right. Well, keep putting trash in the Tam-units, but don't eat until you hurt. She'll be around for a while, so you can have things when you get hungry, don't worry. Now, I need to get back... Agh. It's nearly dawn anyway. I should go running, I guess." He had an appointment soon after all.
Looking at the small guy that had gotten him he bowed, which he should have done earlier, since the fellow had politely done that with him.
"I'm Dareg Canton. I didn't get your name, sir?" After all, he was the one that had heroically save the tiny girl from a sour stomach. It could have seemed a minor thing, but going to a place he thought had a wizard in it, and asking for help, for someone else, was a vast bravery for a commoner.
"Bill, ser. I don't have a proper last name. The place I come from was so small it weren't rightly needed. Everyone knew you there. Humboldt, up to the north and east. Ser." He looked down, as if that lack suddenly shamed him greatly.
"Bill Humboldt, then? That's how I got my last name. It's just where I'm from. I picked it myself." It was true enough, though he'd been Merchant before that, since his mother had called herself that. There was no way it was her real last name, but no one really called anyone else on a thing like that. If you claimed your name was Smith, then it was.
The other man looked down, shyly, and then nodded.
"Thank you for the name, ser. Sorry to have bothered you. I didn't know why the girl was ill."
Dareg thought for a second, and then nodded. After all, that was probably just about the right response. The kid was sick, and the idea that she'd eaten too much probably wouldn't occur to anyone that wasn't very wealthy. He hadn't thought of it until the whole thing had been explained. Really, he hadn't known that a person could eat enough food to make them hurt. Not on a personal level. He'd always had enough, but that was it. Like most people.
"Better safe than not. Did you come for the festival?" He was walking back, since it wasn't really time to start running for the day yet. Then, if he could get an early start on his beatings, he might just be able to heal up in time to get something else done that day. It was the first real day of the celebration, so even more people would be showing up, he didn't doubt.
"No, ser, not exactly. I come mainly to see if I can get some work. No one is hiring much, less you got special skills. I can farm, some, but that doesn't really seem to be too needed round the city. I thought maybe I could get on at the big forest orchard, but that all belongs to one man. Two maybe? I was told I had to get with the Wizard Baker on that. Only no one said which one of them. There are something like a hundred of them." The accent was a bit thick, but go
od enough that Dare could understand him clearly, with only a bit of translation.
He glanced that way, which was past the grand events that were still bright and shining in the early morning light. Not that you could see by it yet, but the sky was getting lighter. Not that he could see any of the greenery over that way.
"We have a place here, at the port? For a farming type job. I'd like a ring to be planted with trees and bushes. All sorts, not just food plants. All the way around the port? It isn't really farming. Can you do that kind of thing? It will have to wait until after the festival week, or nothing will get done." It was a thing that had been mentioned, once, though he couldn't remember who had said it.
Still, he had his communications device on him, and if he remembered correctly, it wasn't going to be dawn in Harmony, so he pulled it, then got in touch with Prince Gerent.
Which got a sleepy and mumbled sound as soon as the thing picked up.
"'Mergency?" Which no doubt meant that he'd gotten the man up from a peaceful, and probably restful sleep.
"Damn. Sorry... Uncle Gerent. I was just talking to a man about a job here. I want to put in something kind of like what you have on the east side of the Capital, in a ring around the port? He's a farmer, Bill Humboldt. Helped me save a girl a few minutes ago." Which was true, if a bit more heroic sounding when put that way.
Rather than yell at him to call later, or even never talk to him again, there was the sound of a person sitting up.
"Really? That's wonderful! I've been meaning to move things out that way. Do you think he'd be willing to meet with me? I have some designs drawn up. Is it just the one man, or is he going to be in charge of a whole team?" The voice never wavered, not even a tiny bit.
