by P. S. Power
Not to him. The others were all very excited about it however.
Tor smiled, and looked at Karina directly.
"And here I thought Gerent was teasing Alphonse about him starting a station here. That little green one looks good for it, don't you think?"
Alice sighed, and nodded, still behind the controls.
Then, without turning to go back, she jumped again, taking them back to where they'd started. Exactly. Everyone else wanted to try then, so they ended up going to several different planets. Not ones he'd ever heard of either, though they were supposed to be close, compared to the star they'd been too.
Bill tried it, but they ended up just floating in space, instead of back at the Moon. It was very far away, too. So much so that nothing looked right anymore. The man grinned then, and cleared his throat.
"I missed. Let me see..." Then they were suddenly in front of first the Moon, above Harmony, then back at Earth, a ways away, so that he could fly into orbit.
The whole thing took hours, so Dareg passed around the little device that Alyssa had given him.
"This thing is great, by the way. I need to get her a present, too. What do you think she'd want?"
Tor was standing back, looking out the window, but he turned, seeming cheerful now.
"Lessons to do this? No one really got it before. Not even Tiera and she designed the original jump system. We've been doing tiny hops over long time periods. For now however, we should get back. You have lessons in the morning don't you? It's got to be close to dawn back there."
Tor, who'd clearly talked about things with Richard, patted Bill on the shoulder then.
"Your Knight is Karen Derring, right? You need to find her as soon as you can, and deliver your orders. That will probably mean you're going to be helping her settle the issue with her High Servants. I..." He gasped then and looked scared, then scrambled at his own neck, where he had several shield amulets on strings. One was taken off instantly, and given to the new Squire.
"I can't believe I let you go into space without one! I'm..." Then, oddly, he got on all fours. Begging for forgiveness. "Please, forgive the oversight. If anything had happened..." There was a real seeming tremor in his voice. Genuine fear lived there too, even as Bill pulled him upward.
"That... No issue." He seemed embarrassed, which made sense to Dareg, though he didn't let it show.
Kolb pointed toward the spaceport.
"Set down over there, then go get cleaned up for the day. We'll meet at dawn. Running first. You too, Bill, unless Karen tells you otherwise. We need to get an early start. There are things going on suddenly, and that could mean almost anything at this point. Not knowing how to fight won't help anyone however. Even if this ends up being nothing but some political wrangling in the end. It won't hurt us to be ready. You too, Tor. Get anyone else who's interested. In front of your place, Dare."
They took Bill away, which meant that Dare was showered, just for the sake of propriety, and running, after he had a protein drink that Tam-unit gave him.
There was no one out and about except for him. Not on the main road. When he got back, going as fast as he could, Tor, Tiera, Bill and Commander Derring, who was wearing a disguise amulet for the day, like he was still, all joined him. Meaning he needed to go again. He did get to slow down a lot though. Bill, who was a farmer, or had been, kept up pretty well, considering the rest of them were all kind of special when it came to running. They didn't stop though with one more trip, and on the last leg Queen Tiera, dressed in brown canvas like the rest of them were, slapped his arm and started sprinting away.
"Race you! If you beat me I'll give you a present!"
She'd cheated a bit, and then took off about as fast as he could go. That meant, tired or not that he had to slam into the ground and lean forward hard to catch up to her. Passing was harder, since she hit at him when he tried. Slipping past her long and slender arms he dashed to his pod house, covered in sweat and gasping hard.
She was still doing the same thing about five minutes later, but managed to stand upright, so he had to do the same. Otherwise he'd look weak. Then she looked around.
"Fine. Later though."
"Good... It's sex right? That makes a great present."
She laughed at him and shook her head, but didn't deny it. That probably meant she'd been planning something else, and probably still was. It wasn't like she hadn't flirted with him before though, so it seemed fair to put out there. Even if she were a Queen.
It was about ten more minutes before the others got there, having left Bill behind. He didn't stop though, clearly pushing harder than was probably healthy for a regular person. When he got there Tiera slapped a healing amulet on his bare arm.
"You had to have hurt yourself doing that. Torn lung tissue and damaged your bones. That's a great sign, I think. Not that what I say matters."
Karen just nodded, and pulled Bill aside, then pointed at Dareg.
"Tiera is going to beat Dareg now. Tiera, no faster than quarter speed. Dare, full speed. That should make you about four times faster than she is. Use anything you can. This isn't a fair fight, so cheat." She looked around, her eyes lighting on several different objects. A stick that had been left sitting next to Tam-unit for instance. He didn't know how to use it, but it was clear that Karen really didn't think highly of his ability to fight yet.
Since she'd seen it, and was making Tiera work really slowly, that was probably serious on her part, and a thing that he needed to simply respect.
The woman, who was in brown like they were, held her large, well callused, hand out.
"Shields and magical weapons, if you have them." The instant she had them, the Commander jumped back several steps. "Go!"
Dareg did, running away first, which got Tor and Karen to laugh at him. It might have been with him, however, since there was no calling out about cowardice. Then he moved around in a half circle to the Tam-unit, and picked up the stick there. It wasn't big, being something like a tool handle. For a shovel probably. The end was broken off, but it wouldn't easily fit in the hopper, so he understood the idea. Someone strong would need to break it first.
Spinning he found Tiera right on top of him, even though she wasn't moving very fast. When he pulled back to hit her, she stepped in, encountered the weapon with her forearms, and turned her body away while stepping across with her right foot.
The tool handle tried to force him to move with it, given her size and the power behind the move. Instead of allowing himself go flying, he let go and tackled her around the knees. That took them down, a lot like Kolb had said it would, and shown him.
It was a huge mistake, as it turned out, past that. After about ten seconds she was strangling him, from behind. He fought for real then. Hammering the giant lady as hard as he could with his elbows, until the crook of her arm made the world go black.
When he came-to he was being hit with water, which was being liberated by David from the little floating river, which was about ten feet away. He just used his hand to do it, making a nice steady spray toward him which soaked his clothing.
"I'm awake." That got the water to stop, and he was about to go for Tiera again, since she was just standing there, but Karen waved at him.
"You're in a rage. Can you..." She didn't get past that, before he pulled it back, and managed to stop.
Instead of praising him, Tiera laughed.
"You broke at least six of my ribs there." She didn't seem upset about it, for some reason. Not harmed either, which meant she had a healing amulet on her.
Baron Havar smiled at the woman, and shrugged.
"Good. We can take turns doing that then? I've been years trying to find a decent training partner, Tiera. Now I have two possibly? We need sticks. Can this magical device do that do you think?" He pointed at Tam-unit, as people started to come and watch the goings on.
Tam-unit could do that, being clever like she was, once Dare said it was all right. So they had weapons shortly. Then Tiera and the
large man started to beat each other bloody, without giving any warning or calling out to go first. It was so violent that Dareg suddenly didn't feel too bad about how softly and gently he'd been treated by the lady. Before that he'd been feeling a bit down about being so easily beaten up by a girl, but if Havar, who was a much better fighter than he was, had to struggle just to keep up with her, then it wasn't that big of an embarrassment.
They stopped when Kolb got there, and worked with other people, so that he and Bill could actually learn some things. He did better than the commoner, but Bill wasn't doing badly really, considering he'd only even seen one or two fights in his entire life.
At about ten, they were done. With that part, at least. He got to heal, and got his shield back, then was was handed something by Tiera.
"Your present? Tor suggested it to me. I think he just wanted to test me to see if I could do it while I walked over. I had to work while I was fighting. I'm just not as fast as he is that way. It will keep you from influencing people. If you have it on, it will work. You don't have to remember to do anything else." She shrugged, like doing magic, while being beaten by Havar and moving the whole time, wasn't a big deal.
He took the small tan disk, slipping the twine it was one over his neck. If it did anything at all, he couldn't tell. Tiera looked at him in a funny way that was similar to what Tim and Tor had done in their last meetings. His best guess was that it had to do with magic. Like when Tor had drawn him along with what he was doing, to investigate the feel of the ships.
Clearing his thoughts he tried it again, and felt a tiny bit of pressure coming from Tiera, but that was all. If it wasn't just his imagination.
"Thanks." He didn't mention that sex could have worked too, and probably been less effort for her, but it was just possible that she didn't want to do that with him. Several women had indicated they didn't really want to already. Then, a few had hinted they could possibly be willing, so it might not be that one.
The Queen of Harmony nodded at him, her face blank.
"Nothing is getting through. I have one for Karen too, if I can catch her. Are you going to be around later? Connie mentioned that there was a party at Sam's?"
"Right. Nine tonight. Everyone is invited. Sara Debri is helping me with it. Speaking of which I should get with her today, if I can. I also need to get people back to Austra and set things up there. You haven't seen my vid crew have you? Your crew, I mean? You should adopt them." There were a lot more people, but they'd scattered, not being invited to the palace themselves.
Tiera looked around, like they might be there, behind her, but then waved back toward Sam's.
"We should spread the word about getting them all home then. They might want to stay a few days. Sneak into Tim's room while he sleeps and fondle his under things perhaps?" The words were a tiny bit mean, and totally sensible. The Austrans clearly loved him.
In a very creepy fashion.
"Good. Well, see you tonight, if not before. Don't make any plans for later. I have a treat for you." He knew what it would sound like, but he honestly did, even if it was a bit pushy too.
Tiera snickered at him.
"Here I figured that Karina would be keeping you too busy for anything like that. It is a bit sick. I'm your aunt, even if we aren't biologically related." Her face didn't seem nearly all that troubled by that fact.
"Riiight. I show up out of nowhere, and now I have a whole family. I'm sure that counts." He sounded a little dark, but rallied, and shook it all away quickly. "I was thinking that we could go over what happened last night, if Tor or Kolb haven't already?" Alice could have too, but that didn't feel right for some reason. Feeling his nose he realized that he still had his disguise amulet on.
"Oh? On your special ship? Up in space... All alone?" The words were playful, and a little untrusting.
That got him to nod, since it really was about right. Then he shrugged, bored with the game they were playing already. They could go around flirting, and really, it was clear that he might just get some sex off of her, if he really tried for it. Someday she might even like him enough to want it. At the moment she was using flirtation and hinting as a way to get something from him.
It hit him hard, but it was all over everything she was doing. Other than the information he'd offered however, he couldn't even start to guess what it might be.
"I'm missing something. You want me to do something for you. It isn't small, or you just wanting me to be your friend, either. I just don't know enough to guess right now."
She gave him a very innocent look then, and held her right hand to her chest. Too near her breasts for it to be an accident. It was an attempt to distract him, which he didn't allow. Once she got that, his eyes locked to hers for a bit, she nodded, almost imperceptibly. Then she looked around them, as if searching for someone.
Leaning in she pretended to kiss his cheek, but whispered instead.
"I need you to stay away from Taman. There's a hidden danger there." There was a hardness to the words, but they clearly weren't an order or anything.
It was a plea.
He looked at her, but whispered, in case it was a real secret. Not that anyone would be listening to him, but she was a Queen from another land. That pretty much had to be happening.
"Why? I'm kind of fond of her. She made the Tam-units, and those are my favorite thing in the world. That means I kind of think she'd pretty great. Though, she did try to influence me to like her a few times. With magic? That was probably fair, since I was doing the same to her. Some kind of loop thing?" He tapped his shirt, to indicate the new talisman underneath it, but Tiera shook her head.
Her voice was a bit louder however. Not enough to seem like she meant to be overheard or anything, but enough for a dedicated listener to maybe get the job done.
"It isn't that. If it were just sex, then I'd give you birth control, and tell you to both go at it like bunnies. I can't really say what it is now. That isn't my business, and could cause problems if I spoke about it out of turn. Honestly, even saying this might set her on me, if she finds out about it. Just, do it, please? For the time being anyway. In a year, well, things will be sorted by then, or not."
That sounded different, and like it wasn't about him, in particular. Which, he decided, was probably fine. He wasn't going up against either a Queen or his new aunt in this kind of thing, if he could help it. Not that it would be easy, resisting Taman. She really was just about perfect. There was always the Bawdy House, and he had both coin, and enough years for it to be legal now.
Also, he was supposed to get free service from there. If he ever got the time for that kind of relaxation.
"All right. I need to be off in Austra soon anyway. Can I get some magical backing for them, do you think? Tim said something like that, but I don't know if he meant it."
She didn't even hesitate, "he did. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't get him a list of what's needed. You can go over that when you collect your Austran crew? In fact, I'll go and see about that for you? In case Taman is about, walking around already. Hunting for the delightful new relative." She grinned, but a bit sadly.
Shaking his head, he bowed a little. She was a visiting noble, and that meant being respectful.
"That's probably a bit much, but sure. I'll go from building to building seeing if I can locate any Austrans that don't want to move here permanently."
They left in different directions, his face a bit hard. He was being played with, which was a thing that he didn't really enjoy. It was kind of new to him, but that didn't make him feel all shiny and nifty for some reason. Walking from building to building, he called out.
"If you need to get home to Austra, I'm leaving in three hours! The big tall black ship. Spread the word!" That got helpful people going around repeating it all.
Then he got out his handheld from his right hand pocket, and set it up to call Queen Constance, wondering if she'd still be talking to him, considering the little mind control thing that had been happening the
entire time they'd known each other. That the woman might be upset about that, and not want to see, or communicate, with him just felt right. She did anyway, clearly being kinder than he was, and looked mostly asleep when she blinked at him.
"Oh, Dareg? Is there something? Should I send people, or..." She turned a light on with a tap, her face looking a lot older and more bland now, without a disguise amulet on. Then, he didn't look like him either, and she didn't seem to be bothered by it.
"I need a set of Austrans? To get them home? Normally I'd suggest they stay the month, or longer, but I need to help them get ready for their Revered One to come in a week. That means going there in about three hours?" Then he let his face light up. "Oh! I also have a new magic thing, so I won't be influencing people as much. Now you'll be able to see what a pain in the rear I really am. I guess I need to actually learn some manners finally. I'm betting that there will be paddling involved." He chuckled a bit, like it wasn't a bit scary to consider.
His entire life he'd been made easier for him by nature, and Dare hadn't realized it. People had been treating him better than he'd ever even known, and now that had been turned off. True, he could get it back on when he wanted just by taking the talisman he was wearing off, but right when he needed every bit of luck and help he could get to win people over, he was tying a hand behind his back.
Still, Connie seemed to think he was being nice enough about things.
"That's a relief. I have to say, I was wondering if I was falling in love with you, which would be... Tense, for your father. His upbringing wasn't the most open minded that way. There really isn't any harm in it, being that we weren't raised together, and there was trickery involved, but I don't think he's ready for that kind of thing as of yet. Did Tor manage that for you?" She yawned then, reminding him that even if he felt fine, he hadn't slept in over a day.
"Queen Tiera. Just before she put me off, and suggested that I stay away from her sister."
