The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon)

by P. S. Power

  Alphonse smiled and rolled his eyes a little bit. "Hard to learn higher math just from a book. Or medicine. If you want to be a really top builder I know it takes a lot of meditation as well. Tor always said it was important at least. Plenty of things to learn even if you start out smart. If you're taking a year or two anyway however, I do have some things lined up..."

  A lot of them actually. Most of them were big trips that people wanted to take, going all around the globe, meeting exotic strangers from far off lands and seeing sights that few, if anyone had ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

  "There's also the Council of Counts meeting in three weeks. I sort of told everyone that you'd be available to transport them and that means about half the Counts are waiting to start traveling. If you aren't going to be around for it, let me know now, so I can tell them to hot foot it over."

  It took a few seconds for him to do the math, but it did sound like he might be able to pay for school the next year, if nothing else. He'd need to get with the people at the Printer school, so that they'd know he wasn't coming this time, but it could be a lot worse.

  That was what he was thinking when Captain Petra came back into the room, dressed like a maid, all in plain brown, a skirt instead of pants and a white apron on. The shoes were too nice and the clothing pristine, instead of looking like it was worked in already. He pointed it out, hoping it wasn't too rude. She changed both of those things instantly, then glanced at him again.

  "Better?"

  "Much. Not very believable still. You're too tall, even for the Capital, for anyone to easily take you for a servant... I know, why not pretend to be my tutor? That will do for now." He thought it sounded good, but the King grimaced.

  "Boys aren't given attractive young women as tutors. Too distracting. One moment." He called for something to be brought, just holding up a single finger and waiting for a box to be carried in by a Royal Guardsman. It had at least fifty amulets inside, of various types and styles. A lot of them Tor's but far from all, given the glance Timon had of it.

  He'd never played with a disguise amulet and didn't get to now, since the King had declared them a controlled magic. Petra however was one of the people allowed to use them it seemed, and had done it before. She managed to turn herself into a rather plain looking young lady with a scar on her face, her clothing turned into dust colored leathers.

  "Weapons Master Ushal. At your pleasure. As long as that can be served with a light beating and a lot of hard work." She even pitched her voice to sound differently. It was pretty effective, as far as Tim could tell.

  She looked at him and grinned, her face lined a good bit more than it had been moments before. Her ears were bigger too, almost goofy looking.

  "I can't hold the act well under pressure and might give things away, or I could just use this persona for a while instead of going into hiding. It's tempting, but I need to be gone. Too many people might just be looking out for someone strange to show up in the wrong place. It will get us through the day."

  That decided, Timon finally got to leave, his stomach aching from hunger. It seemed strange, but it was really like these people just didn't want to feed him or something. Fair enough, since they weren't family or anything, but it was like they just didn't eat. He went to his Fast Carriage and altered it to be his normal mirrored square, and took off fast enough that most people wouldn't have noticed it happening. Then he went to Tor's place, since that was where his things were.

  Really though, if he wasn't going to go to school he needed to have his own set up. Maybe he could ask Collette how they'd gotten such a great spot along the river for Tor's place. He could make a small house for himself after all. It would take a bit over a day, but it would be good to keep in practice making copies. He grabbed the baskets so he could return them to the kitchen and the blanket as well, not bothering to tie it back into place, finally feeling tired again, even though it was much too early to sleep.

  In fact, from the smell of cooked meat and fried bread, it was breakfast time. Timon let his nose lead, taking him to the kitchen door again, only to see the same woman from the day before, Glaren, who waved a wooden spoon at him and pointed to an empty stretch of counter space.

  "Would you be a dear and put those there please? We'll be serving in the second dining room in just a few moments." She was distracted, so he just put the baskets and blanket on the surface, which looked like hard marble, and left the room, trying to figure out where the second dining room would be.

  It took a few seconds to work out. After all, things could and did move around in the place. Sometimes daily. They always had a large dining room however, for guests. At least he thought so. That was on the main floor. While they could make the servers take large trays of food upstairs, that didn't seem very efficient over all, so the second one would be there too.

  The big one was toward the back, so he headed to the front of the place, just to see if that's where it would be. Near the kitchen for ease of use. It was, which surprised him a little, even though he wasn't walking right to it or anything. He could hear voices, so walked toward them smiling and waving his new weapons master along with him, feeling clever for figuring it out.

  Until he walked into the room and Maria started staring.

  "Petra?" She didn't wait, standing, letting her chair tip over backward and running at the woman that definitely didn't look at all like Captain Petra at all. "You're alright? Oh!"

  Then there was a lot of crying and hugging, though "Ushal" didn't drop her disguise at all. Collette joined in after a few seconds. Luckily they were the only ones in the room.

  Timon smiled but rubbed his head, wondering why it didn't hurt when he had to put up with things like this.

  "Not to be a killjoy, but will you two stop molesting my new tutor? It's been pretty well established that I can't pay for school on time, so I've hired her to make sure I keep learning while I work." It was the cover story, but no one in the room was going to buy it, he didn't think. That would be a bit much to ask now, after all the attention had been passed out.

  Except that Collette was a spy. She worked out what he was getting at and tried to cover. "Oh, how embarrassing! We mistook you for a family member of ours. I see that isn't the case now. Please, be seated." There was a gracious wave and a pretty blush to go along with it too. That kind of showed that the woman being a little flush couldn't be trusted, didn't it?

  Even Maria got it after that and stopped yelling "Oh, Petra" over and over again. They actually managed a tidy interview after that, to make certain Tim wasn't being taken advantage of. Petra got to use a whole back story for it, which was kind of a shame, since after it had been screamed about, there was a good chance she'd need to make a new one up for next time.

  "After I traveled for a few years I ended up in the Capital and thought I'd give this a try. Met the lad here earlier, and he offered a silver a week if I could turn him into a man. After I understood that I didn't have to break his..." She gasped and started breathing hard, not talking for a long time.

  The trays of food started coming then, there wasn't a vast amount, but as far as he could tell they didn't have anyone else joining them either. To cover the strange silence he started asking what each of the dishes were. It wasn't that they were odd to him, once uncovered, but it gave Glaren a chance to talk about how each thing was prepared. She went on for a few minutes about where to find the best fresh honey and how the eggs needed to be boiled for the perfect amount of time.

  Maria smiled at the woman and waved for her to sit with them, which was, as far as Timon knew, strange. Not unwelcome however.

  "Glaren. Your picnic basket went over wonderfully last night. I was wondering if I could hire you to do that again for some of the work I have coming up? It looks like I might be bringing part of the Council of Counts in and if they're going to be drinking, I'll want them to have food too." Even in Two Bends you knew not to let someone drink on an empty stomach. They'd end up bellowing in the streets if you
did.

  They worked out that it would cost about a silver per basket, which sounded high to him, until she pointed out that by offering wine he could get fine, but weak stuff to keep them from getting too drunk while they were with him. It would cost him gold, but probably be worth it. It wasn't like he wouldn't be earning enough to make it worthwhile.

  "Good food as well. We can't ask Master Tor to foot the bill for you, not if you're going to call it your own business."

  "A real point." Timon nodded and finished peeling his egg, eating all of it while he thought. "Done then. We can work out how to arrange it all later. First I need to get some paying work and find a place to live. How did you get the land here?" He looked at Collette, figuring it was her doing, because Tor wouldn't have known how. Just like he didn't. Unless it was the kind of thing you learned in school.

  "We rent the land. This is in the open market area, so really, all you have to do is set up and the city collectors will be out in a few hours. A silver a week for a standard lot. We're on about ten of those, so it adds up, but Tor likes being outside the city I think. If you got something smaller, it won't be nearly as much. Though, aren't you staying here?" She said it properly, since as family that would be the normal way of things, except he couldn't. Not really.

  "If I stay here my mother can call me home. If I have my own house, then no one can do that. Age doesn't matter for that. I can make my own small cottage. Just a copy of Tor's work, but mine, since I made it. Then if I rent a place I can use it as a base while I'm here."

  He could, if the funds were available, set up two even, one for people to wait in for their trips if need be. He'd have to get to work on that, but after he went and checked with some people.

  Maria looked at him oddly for a while, her face drawn and a little frightened. It didn't take a wizard to understand that she was just making sure not to stare at "Ushal" who was very carefully trying not to have a breakdown at the table.

  The Countess spoke to him, understanding that something was very wrong, just not what it was.

  "It sounds like you have a booming business already. Do you think you could take me home in a few days? I was planning on staying longer, but I think my business has finished here now." Her eyes darted toward Petra then.

  "Oh, sure. Just let me know when you want to go and we can leave inside the hour, as long as other business doesn't get scheduled first. I am planning to go overseas for a few days, starting tomorrow. Hit Austra, Vagus and Afrak. Soam on the way back I think. That should take two or three days? Is that alright? I can run you back today if you want, or on my way out tomorrow morning. I'm going that way and should probably stop in Ward." It was where Debbie was staying.

  That was a horrible story, but nothing that was her fault. She used to be a baker in the Capital, with her own business and a little shop that sold some things Tor made. Then it turned out her brother was a murderer that had killed a bunch of young women and girls. Raping them first.

  One of those had been Maria and Collette's sister, but the Countess was looking out for her anyway.

  There was a lot of information lacking as to why exactly, but that didn't really matter. Timon had known her brother a bit, having worked with him, baking on Postern. He hadn't seemed like a bad person, but that kind of made it worse. If you knew a person was evil it didn't hurt as much when they turned out to be.

  Collette smiled at him, which had a quality to it he recognized from his own sisters, whenever they wanted him to do something that they didn't think he'd enjoy very much.

  "Do you think I could go with you? Just to Ward. I'd need a ride back, but if you aren't coming back that way... I can pay you for it."

  That she could, except that he wouldn't take her gold. He could deal with that when she handed it to him though. He was going to take Maria's after all. Family was one thing, but a person that he'd met the day before for a few hours didn't count, not even as a real friend. He had to keep that in mind or he'd never earn anything.

  Chapter four

  Timon was thinking about a short nap after the meal, since Petra needed an excuse to get off to her own room, which Collette arranged to be the one right next to his, but someone came to the front door, asking after him. That didn't make much sense at first, because he certainly had no clue who the strange and oily looking man would be at all.

  Collette told him that he was there and led Timon to the front room, but the man didn't seem overly eager to step inside, meaning that he had to meet the man on the front stoop.

  He had a hat on his head, a black thing that stood up, a large brim on it to offer protection from the sun. It was a good design for the area, Timon decided, since the light was bright here during the day, with no tall trees to offer shade. There was no facial hair, but what could be seen from under the black topper was equally dark and slicked with grease. Hopefully that wasn't the new trend or fashion, because it made him look like he had some strange illness. As people older than Tim went the man wasn't old, perhaps in his early twenties and not a giant, marking him as a man of the merchant class. Most likely at least. A lot of people were taller or shorter than their station would indicate they should be.

  "Hello. May I help you? I'm Timon Baker, you were asking for me?" He tried for polite and smiled, which got the fellow to return the look.

  "I'm Dorgal Sorvee. I was told that I should inquire here as to passage to Vagus? My friend, Prince Alphonse mentioned that if I brought business to that land I might seek passage for free?" He looked unsure of that part at least, but it was true.

  Timon nodded and sighed a little, waving the man in. He didn't have bags with him or anything, but there was no reason to leave him out in the sun. He looked warm as well, so it seemed the polite thing to do.

  "That's right. I'm headed that way to see Lyn Red in a few days, if you don't mind a bit of a tour first? We're stopping in Ward to drop off the Countess and then going to Austra. Probably not for long. Will you need to be picked up from there soon? I wasn't planning on staying long. Maybe a night." Really he just wanted to make sure that Lyn was doing alright and find out if she knew anything about his missing brother.

  "Really? I can go all those places, and it's free? That's... wonderful! I'm going for business, like I said, but also to confirm marriage plans. With Lyn Red? We've met of course, but I didn't know she was the leader of a land when I asked for her hand. A bit of a surprise."

  Timon nodded, recalling the name now. Sorvee.

  "You're a merchant ? I don't suppose that your family would like to hire my services at all would they? Normally only ten gold for every thousand miles traveled, but as you'll see, it's a good bit faster than going over land. Worth it in emergency situations."

  "Or with things that are expensive but perishable. If you'd come down a bit on the price I could probably arrange a contract that will serve us both that way." There was an air of boredom to the words, but the man smiled hard on the end of them.

  "To be honest my Uncle Donald asked after that very thing. Don't tell him I said so, but you can get full price. This fast transport sounds amazing. Everyone will want to use it. Can you imagine how useful it would be to spend your waking in the Capital and lunch in Ward or Printer? Deals could be set up in hours that used to take months or longer. Parts and tools could be taken to manufacturing centers the same day and prevent lost labor hours... It's an amazing thing."

  Timon nodded then sighed.

  "And if you're marrying Lyn then you get a family discount. Tell your Uncle, contingent on that happening, I'll do the work for half price.... Would you like some juice or something? Wine? It's my brother's, but he isn't in right now, so I don't think he'll mind overly."

  That got a blush, even as the man nodded a bit.

  "That... We're supposed to be friends, Tor and I... He said so at least, and we've been cordial enough when we've met, but I... Wasn't very nice to him at school. Rather bullied him. Called him names, not knowing his station. It isn't a good excuse. I don't kno
w if he'd want me drinking his wine though."

  "He said you were friends?" It was a more important question than the man seemed to get as he nodded.

  "That's right. Last King's Week. Right on this very stoop. More or less, the shape was different then. I'd really like one of these someday, when I settle a bit. Can you imagine? A humble merchant living in a palace as fine as this? I had one, but I gave it to my mother and father. A bit of a conceit, thinking that I'd ever have another, but fortune favors the bold they say."

  Timon smiled and stepped back, drawing the fellow with him to the sitting room, waving to a woman he didn't recognize, just hoping she was an actual servant and not a guest. It was hard to tell with his brother involved, she was dressed in plain brown, which was right, but was also tall enough that she might be some minor noble hanging around the wizards house for the free lodging.

  "Excuse me... Would you know who I should inquire with for refreshments for our guest?" That should be polite enough. If she wasn't what she seemed, the woman could tell him, and it wouldn't be a problem.

  "Would you like wine sir?" She asked instantly, which told him that he wasn't too far off at least. If nothing else the woman was helpful, which was a good sign.

  "For our guest please. If I could have some juice? We'll be in the sitting room, over here?" They probably had more than one after all. It was the only one he knew of however. The woman, who looked to be about thirty-five and wasn't pretty at all, scurried off as if it had been an order, instead of him begging for a boon from her.

  It didn't take long for them to settle, or for a nice focus stone tray, in black that shone like glass, to come with metal cups on it, one gold, with the wine, one fine cut glass with a berry juice in it that looked like wine as well. It almost made him feel grown up.

  They spoke for a while of various trade routes and what kinds of goods might need transportation to different parts of the land.

  "If you find commodities in other lands that have high value, you might consider picking up cargoes as well. Even if you don't have a lot of space for them. It can offset the times you don't have passengers on return trips. I really don't know what Vagus has to offer. This is more an exploratory trip, but Alphonse, the Prince, he suggested that I go and... inquire as to the disposition of Tor." The words were a little low, almost a whisper, but not exactly. "Do you know where he is?"