by P. S. Power
It was meant for the people in earshot however, and not him. Sara was gently teasing in his direction, suggesting that he wasn't as great a prince as all that, which was true, but she was also reminding the others there that he was, in theory, more than the dirt boy that packed the Tam-units each day. Not that he wouldn't do that if it came up. Anyone thinking that Tam-unit wasn't really running the place was a fool. It was her labor that allowed most of it to have happened to start with, and a big portion of keeping everyone fed and in clothing was down to her efforts already.
He was, as far as the ports were concerned, not really all that important.
Still, there was a conversation about him to have, so he had to do his part.
"Dolphane. I believe that's the correct term? Prince is more of a polite..." His language skills, learned at the common school in Canton, failed him for the moment. Sara helped though, nodding along with him, her long hair held back and up in a way that showed her graceful neck.
"A social advancement in title, because no one here has heard the term in centuries. I know. Well, I'm sure that most of the prestige of it will fade away over the next day, when we suddenly have a handful of princes and princesses coming in. Including the Heir of Noram, and Princess Karina. Have you met them?"
At first Dare wondered if she were just making small talk, since she sipped her sweet nectar slowly as she did it. The whole thing was a tiny bit too casual however. That part was very, very strange.
"I have, of course. They both seemed very nice. Not that we got to spend weeks together or anything. Just a meal." That was all he had to say on the matter really. Well, technically they were related to him, but no one was going to care about that too much. Most nobles were related. In ways that meant they kept careful charts of the subject. For instance, as soon as he'd appeared, he was probably being placed on the things, to see if marriage was allowable for him with a lot of different ladies.
Which got him to nearly furrow his brow, understanding what Sara was really getting at. It helped that her next words confirmed the idea.
"You and Karina cross, a generation back. You're Queen Constance's half brother?"
Which to his mind was being offered as protection against being put forward to marry the Immortal Princess himself.
So he spoke with something near relief.
"That's right. So, she's my half-niece. Is that a thing?"
That was the wrong thing to say clearly, since about four people down a very large, fairly old looking giant of a woman shook her head.
"No... I believe that would be fine, as far as bloodlines go. You're already a Prince as well, or close enough that no one would suspect you of social climbing through marriage... Have you considered putting a word in there? I know that many have been worried for some time about that issue. The Heir has already fathered a child, Christophe, with Princess Abbey, but poor Karina has been alone all this time. Fighting the desolation of the red world." Then the woman, Countess Ross, looked over at Sara slyly. "Perhaps alone is a bit too harsh a term for it? She's a good friend of yours, is she not Miss Debri?"
It was a loaded thing to say, good friend suggesting they were lovers, at least in Canton, but his new friend simply nodded.
"That's right. Very good friends, in fact. We can't marry however, and there are rules here to see about. Well, we could do that, if one of us changed into being a man, but the truth is we're both too comfortable in our own skins for that to work long term."
The older man, who was much smaller, to the Countess's right, on Sara's side of the table, nodded.
"So you seek to make a good match for her? That's a kindness. We shouldn't needle the man at the meal about it however. It's too good of an idea to risk making it into sport. So, Prince Dareg, do you have any hobbies? I heard you were to be in charge of the world's spaceports, which is a good position for one so young, but it wouldn't serve to focus on one thing too greatly." He was clearly changing the topic, meaning it as a kindness, but Dare felt a brief surge of panic, his mind reeling for a bit.
His life had been about merely surviving for so long. True, it hadn't been the hardest thing ever faced by a human, but did he really do anything for recreation? Rather than stammer about it, he decided to try lying. More to the point, glossing over things that he could actually back up.
"I enjoy fishing. It's very relaxing. Also, I just hired a gardener. I know, getting someone else to do the work isn't the same as doing it all myself, but the project is pretty big, so I want the help."
The man lit up then, as if it were something brilliant. At first Dare just wondered if he was glad that there was something to talk about down that line. It still might have been part of the whole thing, but the man was able to talk about his own gardening projects then.
Which sounded fascinating, Dareg had to agree.
Nodding, he waited for the man to wind down, a few minutes later, focusing on him a lot.
"That's amazing. Can we get some of those cuttings and seeds you mentioned, Count Ross?" That was how he'd been introduced, so it was probably safe enough to call him that. It was one of the things that had trickled into his subconscious mind over the last days. No one seemed to mind being called by their title like that.
"Naturally! What scope do you have in mind for you own project?"
The man that knew that, or the men, were both a bit further down the table. Bill Humboldt was there, he noticed, dressed in very nice, clearly magical, clothing. Nearly all the way down the long table, staring directly at his plate, not making conversation with any of the merchants and nobles around him. Gerent however was inside ear shot, sitting on the near side of Petra, who was dazzling in her glinting silver gown. It showed her shoulders, and was held up by her bust line and whim, apparently.
The man smiled however, his ears sticking out in a way that gave him a lot of character.
"It's vast, Count Ross. The plan is for a green belt all the way around the port here, running several hundred feet deep, eventually. The entire city is getting one. Here first however, since the port will have a dedicated staff just for that. Bill Humboldt is heading that project. A sturdy man, Bill." If he was kidding, or making a joke about the commoner, it didn't show in the slightest. In fact, he darted a glance Dare's way, that seemed to tell him that if he countered that with a laugh a certain nephew was going to be in for a spanking.
Not that he would have. Dareg glanced down that way, toward Bill, and then nodded.
"Which is why he has the job. When I met him he was risking his life to save a young girl. He thought he was anyway, pounding on my door in the middle of the night to get me to come help him with her. Since he'd been told that I was some kind of terrible and fearsome wizard, that was no small thing. We got to her in time. Yes, it was just her having eaten too much, but no one knew that at the time. It could have been a new plague, and given how dense the people are here, that would be a disaster. Then, bravery isn't about what is there all the time. He thought he was going to die for doing it, and did it anyway. That counts." It did in all the stories he'd ever heard anyway.
Oddly enough the old Count rose and bowed toward the far end of the table, roughly at Bill. The top half of the table did it, and Sara nudged him as she stood. Then they all settled again, leaving the bottom section of the table to feel awkward, not knowing what was going on.
Count Ross's eyes glistened with tears however, so it seemed that real enough respect was being paid.
"That is brave. I'm not certain that I would have been as bold, myself. You should consider marking him for a Squire's position. Dear, you'd sign off on that, wouldn't you?"
The giant next to him, who was easily pushing seven and a half feet tall, smiled at him as if he were being silly, and then nodded.
"Of course dear. He does have a mark of valor already. We'd need another Count or Countess to sign off on it, and for the King to agree of course." She looked down the table a few places at a well dressed, and dark skinned bald man, who was nodding
along, having heard it all.
"If one of my Countiers suggests the man for the position, then County Baker will back it. Always. So that's two of us. Now we just have to cosset the King on the issue. That, I fear, might take a bit. I don't have any direct audiences planned with him for a while. Dinner in three nights, but that won't be a good time for it. Still, get that around and I'll put my mark on the paper... Dareg." He looked over at him, his face still and very controlled.
That one took a bit to work out, but he thought he got it. It was the hesitation before the use of the name. Lawrence Baker was claiming him as one of his people. Openly. In front of everyone there. That probably meant that he was allowed to deny it, or even throw a fit over the idea. Even Sara stiffened a bit at the use of the first name like that, getting that it might be a problem for some.
Like the man was saying he was less than others, or that his titles weren't valid. Except, of course, he'd also just proclaimed him one of his countiers. So that wasn't what he was going for. Not that Dare didn't know what the man was really doing. It was a test. One done in front of the whole world, to either let him show that he was a man of goodwill and easy temper, or to show him as an unstable monster that all should avoid.
So he smiled.
"Call me Dare, please. All of you. Thank you for the backing, Count Baker. Countess Ross. I'll see if I can talk to the King about it without ruining his birthday party." Not that he could do that either, if they couldn't get it done, but it was worth a try.
Mainly because the idea of a tiny commoner having a title, even the lowest one available, was kind of interesting. It would help the man too, even if he stayed a gardener. The price that a Squire might command would have to be greater than what a commoner could for the same work. His marriage potential would widen as well.
Like his own apparently had. That part was a bit of a shock. Marriage really hadn't been a big thought for him. His own mother had never bothered, and that was, she'd told him, her own personal choice. Merilee Merchant had been her own woman to the last. Which meant that she'd told him about Tor being his father, but had never suggested they bother him over the idea. That had meant that it wasn't real, to his young mind. A story spun to make him feel better about not being special, or even normal. Other kids had fathers. The one at school other than him who hadn't, Keldrin, well, his father had died in a fishing accident. Then his mother remarried, so he'd gotten a second one.
It had always left Dare a bit jealous, really. Kel had two fathers, and there was no one for him. The sting of being a bastard had been with him for most of his life, even if no one really mentioned it to him. It was a thing whispered about, when others didn't know he could hear.
So he'd always assumed that he too, like his mother before him, would live his whole life without that kind of thing. Now it was being suggested that he look into Princess Karina for the job of being his wife. That seemed a little off to him. Not that she hadn't seemed nice enough when they'd met. The idea that they were related didn't bug him that much either. It was pretty far away, and really, even though it had been explained, he couldn't see how Tor was even related to the Queen, much less her daughter.
Except that he did get the basics of it.
Tor was a clone of the old Count Lairdgren, who was the Green man. The one that had discovered magic in the first place. That, copying people, wasn't magic really, but more of an Austran style technology. Someone had stolen the old Count's seed in some fashion, and used it to get the Queen's mother with child. That offspring was Constance. But because Torrance Baker was a copy of the first one, the pattern of the blood was close there.
Which didn't really mean very much. Tor didn't have anything to do with the whole mess at all, other than being aware of it. So, if the lines worked out well enough on paper, Dareg could indeed pursue the Princess, as well as anyone could. Not that he'd be allowed that. He was only a poor kid from Canton.
Which, again, no one there cared about. They were all from someplace. Better, to their minds, he was as good as they were, for the most part, as far as titles went. Not as grand as some, but high enough that sticking a real Princess with him made sense to them. She needed a husband, and he, for his part, probably needed a wife to their minds.
He might have bristled against it, but there was no real need to. Not yet.
The next course came, and compared to the palace servers Sam Builder's were clumsy, slow, and lacking in polish. No one mentioned it in the slightest, since the word had gone out that this was, in the main, their first practice meal for when their new employer came. It left everyone feeling happy that half the food wasn't on their laps, sauces running over their heads. The thought was a funny one, so he smiled, which was taken to mean he was pleased about things, at a guess. He got return grins from several people, anyway.
The rest of the meal was mainly given over to talk of the week's events. When exactly the various people needed to be around to meet the others the next day, and how strange, and exciting, it was that Tor was his father. Everyone seemed to agree that it was both a great, and fearsome, thing. So far the man had seemed... Kind, actually. They hadn't spoken a lot, even though he'd told Tiera that he'd try to do that.
After things had wound down, at nearly midnight, as he walked back toward his pod house, a very well dressed Bill about five steps behind him, he pulled his handheld, and took a deep breath to steady himself. He didn't know what time it was on Harmony, exactly, but nighttime in Noram was daytime there, more or less. So after he scrolled down the list of names, which was long, and in alphabetical order, the blue words blurring as they moved past, he stopped on Torrance Baker, and triggered the communication with the tap of a finger on the small name. It was so tempting to try and hold his breath, but he didn't.
His nerves were a bit on edge, and his stomach tightened a lot more than flying alone through space had caused it to. That had been relaxing and peaceful. This was as close to torment as anything had really seemed since his mother had died.
The face that flashed up was nearly too pretty to be a man, even if it was. Everything about it was so close to perfect that he was ugly in comparison, but glad of it for a moment. If it was hard at times walking around looking like he did... What must it be like for Tor?
The other man saw who it was, and smiled. There was assurance in the gaze. Power. That could have been his own imagination, but Dare didn't really think so. Queen Tiera might have said her brother was feeling nervous about him, but that didn't show externally in the slightest.
"Dareg! Is everything all right?" It was funny, but a lot of the people he spoke to kept saying something like that.
Like the only reason he might call out to them would be for help. Not that it was wrong that he would, since leaving resources on the table, unused, wouldn't aid him, but so far nothing all that serious had happened in his life. Not in the last week.
"Things are good here. I'm just coming back from dinner, at Sam Builder's palace. I..." Honestly, other than keeping in touch with the father that he'd never known, he didn't have a good reason for doing it. "I was just getting in touch to see if there was anything you needed done here? For your arrival? A place to stay, or special foods?" He felt stupid, coming up with something that weak and transparent, but his father beamed at him like it was pure brilliance.
"That should all be fine. I hear things are a bit tight there, as far as rooms are concerned? Collette got in touch with me earlier. Woke me up, actually. It will be nice to be in the same time zone with everyone again. For a while. Ali and I are going to be moving to Vagus..." There was a subtle, but deep, inhalation then. "Would... You like to come with us? It might not be as nice as living there, and it will be different, but we'd love to have you."
There was real worry in his face then. The trick there was that Dare had no idea if it was about him possibly saying yes, or no. Not that it really mattered too much. He had a home already. His pod house. It would travel with him, and let him go almost anywhere. In comfort
too.
"Not at first? I will be there, for a time, setting up the spaceport there. Austra gets to come first, then it will be either Afrak or Vagus. Gah. I'm headed that way, Austra, tomorrow, to get a load of people to hit The Wizard Timon Baker with as soon as he walks off the ship." He stopped and shook his head a little. It was clear that Tor understood that part. "Uncle Tim? Ancient Baker? I don't know how to address anyone anymore. A week ago I could have mumbled sir and walked away without anyone raising an eyebrow. Are you all right with me calling you Tor? Father is a little awkward..." For more than one reason.
Instead of wince and cringe about not having been in his life the whole time, the tall, pale skinned, man nodded.
"I can see that one. Yes. Tor will do nicely. I can call you Dare? It's probably a bit late for me to try and be the perfect da, isn't it? Not that we aren't family. Good then, you'll stay with Ali and I when you're in Vagus. No putting it off. We kind of have to spend time together now. Making up for the lost time that we really can't get back. It's a requirement. Everyone says so. It's what you do with long lost family if you aren't going to avoid them, and we won't be doing that." There was a gentle smile to go with the words at least, even if the voice was a bit hard on what he would or wouldn't be doing.
Dare waved his left hand a bit.
"Fine, fine, be that way. I still half don't believe this. I mean, the Wizard Tor is my father? Riiight. That sounds so... Dumb. If I were writing the story it would have just been some merchant. Plus, you did it with magic, from what I was told. That makes for a tale, there." He kept walking, forgetting a bit that Bill was behind him still.
The man had crept a bit closer, listening in. It was kind of rude, but he was trying to be subtle about it. Tor didn't notice him or anything.
He just nodded, his large, too pretty face taking up the center of the two by two inch viewing window in his hand.
"That's the most likely thing. Doris said she was going to go and get another DNA sample from you. Life instruction imprint? Did you meet with her yet? Older looking? That, or an exotic albino woman that wanted to get you into bed? Don't be fooled, they're both her." The smile he had on his face was teasing, but the words weren't.
