by P. S. Power
It was probably true Sara allowed, nodding gently. Then she asked who had the greatest skill level, again making him think it was a trick.
“Um, not to be mean to Rolph, or you Ursala, you’re both really good, but Sara probably. Those special school kids are all good…”
Sara waved at Tor sharply and turned back to the Countess.
“Like that. He has no clue. Tor thinks I’m good because the one time we practiced together I “won” more often than he did. This was right after Kolb had him run fifteen or sixteen miles. Even then he had to be alternated between Trice and I without a break and he still almost took out Trice in the first fifteen seconds. She was totally not ready for him. Hitting him is a bit like slapping a piece of oak. It most often hurts you more than the wood. You can damage it if you try hard enough, but unless you destroy it, it almost doesn’t matter. He just keeps coming at you.”
What, Tor wondered, were they talking about? He had to run, because he was too little and weak to do anything else. If anyone ever caught him, he’d probably be all out of breath and exhausted, so he had to practice that way most often. Kolb had told him that early on. It made sense, didn’t it?
Rolph nodded with a grin.
“Oh, yeah, it makes sense Tor. No one does it, except for some of those people back there and you, but it does make perfect and total sense. If you’re training someone to fight against massive unknown threats, it’s a great method. Given everything, you should probably practice harder though. Kolb’s right. Your conditioning sucks right now.”
Sara agreed and started walking again, leaving Ursala standing next to Tor, muttering, “but…”
Grinning Rolph just shrugged.
“Look Ursa, it’s just true. We’re at war, and if Tor isn’t a prime target of our enemies, then they’re too stupid to involve themselves in a battle at all. We can’t afford to have soft stick man Tor waiting for them to come kill on a whim with a perfumed pillow. We need warrior Tor to come out and play now, or their going to take him from us, and then what will we do for entertainment?”
The large woman sighed and started walking. It kind of made sense once it was said out loud. Tor really had a lot of work to do. Maybe more than he could do? The idea frightened him a little, because there was never enough time. He had to make the time somehow.
That and pay attention to the things that were important. What was important to him though” Tor wondered as he walked, muscles tightening already.
Gold?
That was certainly useful, but it was a tool, a device like anything he made, a way to get things done. Women? Tor knew that he certainly liked them and he could feel how alluring the whole system that the nobles had could be. Not that being a part of that would really get him any attention from the ladies. Maybe. But that was something he’d given up on already, a long time before. Anything he found himself falling into now was a gift in that department.
His family?
Yeah, he cared about them. The other people in Two Bends too. His friends. Those were the important things. The rest was nice maybe, but those things, his family and his friends, that’s what he was really about. Then maybe… helping people, even if he didn’t know them?
There were, he reflected as he hobbled towards home, worse things that he could be, than a person that worked to help other people. For a while there, after Trice, he’d lost that. That sense that it wasn’t just OK, and not stupid to care about other people, but good.
Was it all right for him to not hate Trice now then?
She’d hurt his feelings, but if she’d really done it to try and find the person or people that had tried to kill him and even now was in danger, trying to do the same thing to help her own parents and maybe even help him, did that matter? Did his feelings matter past trying his best to love people and be a good person? Nothing good had ever really come of his being a jerk. Death weapons, threats and… no, that was about it. Maybe some pain for other people. Disappointment.
It occurred to him then, as he walked, that the last person he’d fought with back there had been really familiar. After thinking for a few seconds he got it, the sense of presence clicking into place between one breath and the next.
Trice.
Face mask or no, he recognized the body, the fighting style. The way she’d scooted under him as if trying to be provocative, even though he always ignored that kind of thing. It kind of surprised him that it had taken him that long to realize it. Heh. Interesting. A bit slow of him.
“So, um, did anyone else notice that Trice was back there?” Tor asked, not really concerned. If Patricia Morgan wanted to be there, then she could be. If she wanted to be friends, he would, and if she wanted to kill him that badly for some reason… he’d let her.
He’d trusted Wensa enough that he let her have an open and free chance to kill him and she declined. Did he really trust Trice any less? An hour ago the answer would have been a simple yes, now… It felt more complicated for some reason, and less. She was his friend, even if he wasn’t hers. That was all. From now on he was going to remember that. It was, simply put, who he wanted to be, if he got to pick at all. A person that was there for other people, no matter what.
He chuckled a bit as everyone stopped to stare at him.
“Well, it would normally make sending that box to her easier, but I guess it has to go through channels still. It probably wouldn’t look good to the Wards or whoever if she came back with a box of goodies and love notes from her friend Tor’s house, would it? “Oh, my yes, I hate him so, but look at the prezzies!” I don’t think anyone would fall for that.”
Sara looked straight ahead and started walking again, but Rolph just shrugged.
“Yeah, um, she’s been here for a while, off and on. It’s where she’s been staying for the last few week, hiding as one of the prostitutes. The idea is that she works her away around and tries to kill you again I think, except that at the same time, instead of just being all industrious like your little friend Sorlee, my cousin has actually been using this as a base to take down the Wards, and the people behind them. So, the Wards don’t really know she’s here, I don’t think, but she kind of has a cover if they find out. ”
Tor walked too. Ah.
“Well, I guess that makes sense. I take it she isn’t really planning on killing me? I mean if she’s been here for weeks, well, if that was the plan, I probably wouldn’t have woken up from making those rivers for Afrak, right? You were there to take care of me, sure, but people have to go to the restroom, take walks that kind of thing. It’s the middle of the compound, or close enough, we have a good wall at least, but someone already inside wouldn’t just be able to walk into the hut.”
They all agreed that she wasn’t there to kill him, not really at least.
Kill him… It spurred an idea of sorts, that kind that niggled and wiggled in the brain, but wouldn’t come out yet. Forcing it wouldn’t work, he knew, but that was all right. It would come, ideas always did.
They were good that way.
Ursala laughed. It wasn’t, he saw, directed at him at all, but at Sara, who still walked stiffly. And slightly ahead of them. She had a cute butt, Tor noticed. No wonder Rolph always let her lead when they walked places instead of forcing his way to the front like his position warranted. Then again, it might be less prurient. Maybe he just wasn’t a jerk? He wasn’t perfect all the time, but Tor couldn’t cast stones there, Rolph was, Tor’s family included, the best person that Tor had ever met. Ursala had kind of a cute behind too, he noticed as she closed with the other girl, who obviously thought that something bad was about to happen, from the hunched shouldered position she’d taken.
“So, Sara… Tor couldn’t handle his ex-being here? He’d freak out, maybe go all violent? Blow up the whole world? He seems to be all right so far, like a certain Countess mentioned three weeks ago…”
He couldn’t help but laugh then.
It was…well, not funny, but strange. Like a heavy weight had lifted from
him when he just decided that Trice was his friend, no matter what. Even if she hated him. He tried to explain, but he didn’t think anyone else got it, the concept was a strange one, Tor knew. Finally Rolph walked over and matched his pace, which was normally way too slow for the huge man.
“You’re saying that you just decided that she’s your friend again, even if she doesn’t feel the same way? Even if it’s naive and stupid? That’s just the way it is now?”
“Yes. Pretty much.”
“Alright then.” The Prince said, looking at him sideways. The tone sounded like he simply accepted it at least.
“So, you really don’t get why you might give a guy a complex?”
“Nope. After all, look how long it took me to realize all this. Months. I’m surprised you didn’t all kick me out a long time ago. I haven’t exactly been nice to be around, I know. I’ll… work on that, all right? More smiling, less pouting and a little less going on about how no woman will ever have me or me being an evil troll. A retu. I’m still a tiny bit hurt by the whole Galasia thing though. I mean. All I’ve ever done is help them and well… you know.” Tor held his fingers apart about a sixteenth of an inch to demonstrate what he meant by a retu, but apparently it was a common measurement everywhere, because no one seemed surprised by the term.
They all agreed that it sounded like a good plan, him not being a mopey jerk, but Sara still looked nervous for some reason. Again like she was mad at him, or scared. Well, he couldn’t fix it if he didn’t know, so finally, walking along side of her, he asked. She flushed, but didn’t say anything for a long time.
“You don’t have to say anything Sara, but I’m your friend too. Even if you secretly hate me and have agreed to kill me. Or if you like me just as a brother, or something like that. No strings attached or anything. Not even if your family can’t ever pay the golds they agreed to, or doesn’t want to do business with me anymore.” That, he felt, should have covered most of what she could be worried about.
OK, that wasn’t true.
She could have worried over a million things that he’d never have thought of. Like, what if he had body odor? Or bad breath. Well, if she told him that, he’d do his best to fix it, that was all. He tried to on top of that stuff, daily bathing and twice daily tooth and mouth care. Or maybe she didn’t like beards? It made him look older, but if she didn’t like it, it would be gone.
She started chewing her upper lip nervously and her breathing became short and choppy, he watched her with a small look of concern, but she just shook her head.
“Hey no need to be stressed over it. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s all right too. I don’t want to leave you hanging, but if you’re not ready then you aren’t. It’s all right. No matter what.” It really was. It wasn’t magic, just a decision, a choice to love instead of let himself hate, and to pick good things instead of bad. It didn’t mean he’d instantly be perfect at it, but who was perfect at anything? Maybe it was good enough to try and just keep trying? It was a start anyway.
When they all got in the hut the others grabbed clean clothes and headed towards the showers and tubs. Tor grinned and took an extra water heater for the shower tank. He hadn’t tried it yet, but didn’t want a cold shower either. Those were horrible.
Thinking about it Tor wondered how they were all going to manage this, maybe he and Rolph would stand outside and guard the door while the girls showered? Instead they all walked in at once and Rolph just locked the door behind them. Tor hadn’t even known the door had a lock. It was right there, built in; he’d just never thought to look.
He had to be let outside to put the heater on the tank that sat up on the roof, but it only took a few minutes. No ladder, but he could fly, so it that part wasn’t hard. No the hard part was getting it to stick to the outside of the water tank, The whole thing was incredibly smooth and hard, like glass, but he found that he could wedge the heater in just under the six inch thick pipe that led down into the bathing and shower area. Then he hit the second warmest sigil on the plate and flew back down. The door was locked again, so he knocked, expecting the others to keep him out for a while. After all, Rolph had probably had sex with both of them recently, Sara for sure and probably Ursala, why wouldn’t they, given their world? So it wouldn’t be embarrassing to them or anything, most likely, seeing each other naked and all that.
Instead Sara let him in instantly, almost like she’d been standing by, waiting on him.
Apparently in royal circles, baths and bathing were regularly taken as a group. Even mixed sex groups. Enough so that none of them even really considered it as a hardship, or even odd. Tor kept his head down and took his clothes off awkwardly, walking to the showers nervously and half waiting for the jokes about how scrawny he was, or even how inadequate in the manliness department, but it didn’t come. As he got the water on and stood under it, a warm wet curtain hit him evenly in the face. Tor was a little too shy to just stand facing away from the wall yet, hanging out and all that. Rolph didn’t care as much about that kind of thing from the sound of his voice as he chattered, and his chuckle when Ursala yelped when the water fell.
“It’s warm! Heated shower water? That’s… I’ve never heard of such a thing. We certainly never had that at home in Thorgood. Does the King’s palace even have this? It’s incredible. What would it cost to get something like this Tor? I mean for away from here?” She made a noise that sounded distinctly sexual, which got a giggle from Sara and an appreciative whistle from Rolph. Tor washed facing the wall, using some good lye soap on his hair. It stripped the oils away totally and all the dirt with it too. No matter how tempted he felt to look, the blindness to follow wouldn’t be worth it, he was sure. Lye soap wasn’t something to play with after all. It worked, better than almost anything, but get it in your eyes and the best you could do was flush with water, and hope the damage wasn’t too bad. The sounds didn’t stop for a while, so he actually got fully rinsed off before anyone else was done.
Being careful not to even look in anyone else’s direction, he walked carefully to the little room between the showers and the tubs to dry off. Rolph, still giggling called out to him before he could leave.
“Tor, set up two tubs for us I think, unless you all want to share?” The noise indicated that sharing was preferable, so the order got changed to just one tub. When he turned it on full bore to fill, the water pressure in the showers started to fade a bit, so Tor turned the water down some, letting the tub fill more slowly, taking about five minutes. It was just full when everyone, still dripping came out of the shower.
He’d lived with Rolph for two and a half, really three, years now. He’d seen him naked. It was impressive and a little complex making in and of itself. Tor wasn’t tiny, in, well that way himself, but Rolph was proportional, which meant he was a giant down there as well. Tor had always wondered if that was a big part of how come his friend was so comfortable with himself. Not just the size of his… manliness, but his overall size and everything coming together so well for him?
Sara was pretty, in a thin way, with more curve to her hip than he’d have though and a patch of blond hair between her legs that he’d heard legends about back home, on women in general, not about her in particular, but had never actually witnessed for himself. Ursala caught him looking and winked. So Tor looked at her for a moment too, smiling shyly. She was built a little stouter maybe, but everything on her was a size up from Sara, taller by a half foot, wider hips and a much bigger bust line. The biggest difference that he could tell was that her nipples were large and brown to Sara’s smaller pink ones.
Realizing that he was about to embarrass himself with a physical reaction in front of everyone he decided to climb into the tub quickly. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to hide, as that he desperately and completely had no clue what would be considered proper in this context to these people. Should he just ask? Or maybe ask if it was all right to ask?
It quickly became a moot point, because Sara ended up being seated di
rectly across from him and after two minutes of small talk, she blurted out something that was about the last thing the whole world he would have expected. Well, the last thing would be that she was actually a man, since he knew first hand now that she couldn’t be.
What she said was definitely right up there thought.
“My family started the rumors in Galasia that you were a troll or a bad man that had to be begged to save them.” She looked ready to cry, and then the tears came. At least she was quieter about it than Trice or her mother had been. Not that he was knocking his other friends, he half scolded himself, but it was true. If there had to be crying, Sara’s way won hands down. She continued without too many sobs at least.
“It was because… because you spurned our offer of marriage. I told them it didn’t matter, but they were all angry at you for a long time, so some of them made up those stories, it wasn’t Heather or Kris, I promise. I… I’m sorry.”
Tor looked at her for a minute. God, of course. It was right there in the rules of how to be polite at that level of society and he’d gotten it totally wrong. He was… a Doretta.
“Sara… I’m so sorry! I really and truly thought that you were all just teasing me about that back then. I mean, why would you marry me? I’d just had it pointed out not, was it two hours before that, Rolph? That I was too low class for Ursala, so when your people, your mother and brother started in on it, I figured, you know, it was just having fun with the bumpkin time… you know? That’s why I ended the joke like I did. You remember? When I put my hand out flat on the table? Gah. You people don’t do that… If I’d have realized at the time I would have jumped at the chance, even if it meant pulling you out from under Rolph to do it.” He would have too. Trice was his friend, but so was Sara and in a lot of ways the blond girl had always been gentler with him, which mattered in the greater scheme of things.
