by P. S. Power
But not, as a rule, a Doretta. Anything but, according to Petra. It seemed she tended to ere on the side of accepting anyone that showed interest in her. The only one she’d ever done anything like that to, of course, being him. Well, that made him feel special at least. Tor had to suppress a sigh, but did it so the Petra would keep talking.
The tale that unfolded was one of anger, an illogical kind of rage even, on Maria’s part, but one that made a certain kind of sense, if you were a fourteen year old girl that felt like she’d been unfairly spurned, and then insulted, by someone she’d made only honest overtures to. A person that, due to his station as Prince, Maria couldn’t touch at all. Ever. She couldn’t even call him names openly or say she didn’t like him. That would have been too dangerous.
“So, you know, she went after the person closest to him that she thought she could get away with hurting. You. So, she… said those things. That you and Alphonse were together first, which no one cared about. It was school after all. If the Prince wanted a boyfriend, no one would bat an eyelash, right? Plus, who could blame him for liking you? He was supposed to be trying things out and making good connections with others anyway. When that didn’t have any effect, she said that you liked children, trying to smear your name. No one credited that either you know… It was clear sour grapes. Even if you did, how would she have known anything about it? Besides, you’d asked her out, which kind of showed interest in other places, yeah?”
She didn’t get up and pace, but she got really quiet again for a while and finally nodded.
“Then, when she did it, well, most people knew about what had happened by then, but a few of the boys liked her enough to take what she said seriously and wanted to kill you for it. It was ridiculous, given everything, but she was pretty enough that her going around claiming that she acted like that because you’d tried to force her the night before, well it carried some weight, even if it was an obvious lie.”
Force her? To do what, Tor wanted to ask at first, but he already knew the answer.
Rape. She’d gone around and claimed he raped her? Or tried to at least? God, they’d only even talked the one time! Anger rose in him then, he felt it rise, spreading out through his mind as his heart beat faster and faster, Petra’s eyes went wide and she rocked back suddenly as if he’d hit her or something.
“Tor?”
She didn’t move out of the silence field, but rose so that her hands were on the bed and feet on the floor, ready to run if she had to. He didn’t move at all and closed his eyes instead.
It was the past. Let it go.
It took a minute, but he drove his mind into as deep a state as he could, into and then past what he used to make copies even, finally, without really shifting position at all, Tor opened his eyes and nodded. Alright. He’d already known from what Rolph had told him that the girl had said some vile and evil things. It pretty much had to be something like that, didn’t it? Claiming he liked men, animals or even children was clear name calling. Well, at least the animals and children had been.
There were men around that he could have been going after, even though at that time he hadn’t even really known such things were physically possible. Tor was still a little unclear how it would work, but Ursala had told him some of it. Guys had mouths and hands too and behinds, but he still didn’t get that last reference.
Right. So accept that it had happened and move on. It took him a while, but he finally nodded.
“I… didn’t know that.”
“Um, are you all right now? I… you were showing aura and then you pulled yourself out of it? I… didn’t know a person could do that. Not once it started deeply enough to start showing externally… Um, well, yeah. Anyway, people finally let it go as being a lie, but it took a bit.”
Well, even the rumor of such things would probably explain why no women ever even looked at him at school. Who could trust such a thing? Once the words were said, the damage from the lies would tend to spread. He certainly wouldn’t have told any girl to go hang around with the guy that had rumors like that floating about him. Still, even in a deep trance state he felt it, just lightly. The desire to go and destroy Maria and everyone associated with her that had helped her damage his name. He drove himself deeper and tried to let it go.
“So, it probably would have died there, as far as you were concerned, except that, you know, I…” The girl moved back to the bed and sat as close as possible to him, shields bumping slightly. “I told her, well, I told people that told her, that I liked you, and was planning on asking you out. That would have been fine, except, well, she hates me now, doesn’t she?”
It took a while for Tor to put it together, but when he did things finally started to click into place. Everything that had been happening, almost literally, had links back to Maria. Maybe it was the trance state, so close to his work mode that did it. That was more than possible. Or, just as likely, his shutting down his emotions for the time being let everything show more clearly, but it lined up.
Ursala getting pregnant which would have destroyed her marriage to Rolph, David Derring, brother of Karen, a girl that had attacked her, being challenged by a sitting Count, one that was probably her lover Tor bet, even the people closest to Rolph showing a lot more combat rage… The people being poisoned just after Austra declared war and the generals later… That wasn’t normal. In war, poison was almost never used as a weapon, because you have to get too close to make it work…
The links were there. It was a shadowy and amorphous thing in his mind, but there was something to it. He could feel it. Feel the shape of the field that had been built in society from the actions taken. It… he didn’t have any proof of course.
“Maria, she’s working with the Austrians, isn’t she? Probably to punish Rolph and the people around her that she views as having hurt her in the past. Even killing me, or trying too, is probably just meant to hurt Rolph. It really has very little to do with you, if I have it right… wait!”
Tor looked at her, realizing something she’d just said, causing him to blink.
“You were going to ask me out? You told Maria that? When?”
“Oh, um, yeah. Well, I’ve been watching you for a while now, so, I guess I started thinking about it nearly two years ago? You were so shy back then though, and I didn’t know if you, you know, would even talk to me really, I didn’t really tell her myself, I told my mom who mentioned it to her, just after the clothing dryer test? I’d been wanting too for a lot longer than that… I was nervous though, so I kind of went too slowly.”
Duh.
Tor had just assumed that, since he seemed to be the target himself, that it was actually about him. But it wasn’t at all. It was about Maria’s hurt feelings, her sister in-law and Rolph, who she thought had insulted her. He started laughing then. It made sense. Petra started to look worried, then her face clouded briefly. Oh! He realized she must be thinking that he was laughing at her for thinking to ask him out. That, he assured her quickly, wasn’t it. In fact that part was really nice, and sweet, and not only would he do it now, but really wished she’d tried earlier.
“Not that I would have gotten it, so, maybe this is as close to when you could have mentioned it as possible anyway? No… It’s just that I understand now. A little. I think…” Tor closed his eyes then.
“Maria Ward isn’t after me at all and never was really. She’s going after Rolph and his family. Everyone that knows him, to make him pay for spurning her. In her mind, she’s Count Wylde and Rolph is the evil Doretta. And…” The next bit made sense, but he didn’t want to credit it. It was way too dark, even for something as serious as this. It fit though. Too well to be happenstance.
“And she’s working with the Austrans to try and destroy us all, to punish him for being so cruel.”
Chapter nineteen
The next day was Connie’s birthday celebration, known as Queen’s day. It wasn’t as big a deal as King’s week, since she wasn’t the ruling monarch, but people did go ou
t of their way to put up some banners and took to the streets singing this year. Always popular, Connie had won everyone over when she’d cut her hair in support of the military effort. That, apparently, was considered a huge deal in the city.
When Tor saw her, he understood why it was considered such a powerful gesture.
Short hair didn’t suit her at all. She looked, well, not horrible, but not good either. Oh well, it was the thought and safety issues that counted, not looks. Besides, looking at it like some village boy would have, Tor had to think that the Queen being willing to do this meant a lot more if it didn’t make her look good. A lot of people would be willing to sacrifice their hair, but their looks? That was far more impressive, and it showed everyone that she thought that the war and supporting the troops was more important than she was. If the Queen was willing to sacrifice for the people on the front lines, who was he to do less? She sat in a chair under an outdoor cloth pavilion, a tent top in gold and purple, at least Tor thought that’s what it would be called. He’d gotten there early to give her his present, since it needed to be set up ahead of time for best effect. When he walked up to her she stood from the throne and actually ran over to him.
“Are you well?” She asked, as if he’d actually been in danger at any time.
Then again, if the acting job he’d been trying to pull off had worked at all, he might seem a little injured still at that. Tor was actually nearly healed and in a lot of ways stronger than he had been in months, since his poisoning at least. The Queen took his hand, then hugged him, wrapping her arms around his shield, but not asking him to drop it. He noticed she wasn’t wearing one and after a second stared at her, stepped back from her while crossing his arms then tapped his foot at her like a farm wife trying to make her hurry to a conclusion.
She smiled quizzically.
“Um, well, Connie, I personally gave you a shield and even if you lost it or it doesn’t go with your outfit or something, you should have it on when outside. The palace shield won’t stop someone from attacking you out here and a lot of people are going to be here today.”
She chuckled and tried to wave him off but he shook his head and kept staring at her until she admitted that she’d left hers in her jewelry box. Slipping his own off, Tor gently put the hemp string around her neck, leaving the shield activated the whole time.
“Just, you know, tuck that in, because a piece of string really looks out of place with your clothes today. You look great by the way.” He added, realizing that, bad haircut or not, she really did. Her skin almost glowed. After a second he realized that her skin wasn’t glowing, it was the air around her. A pale green to match her dress. Ah. He wondered how she’d gotten one of those at all.
It turned out that Debbie, in an effort to make up for lost revenue probably, had taken to selling items during the last half of the King’s week festival and this one had trickled down, or floated up more like it, to her through a third party.
“I’m pretty sure it belonged to a prostitute originally, but it’s mine now. I won it playing cards with Mercy. Oh… you’re not still too angry over all that are you? I…” She clutched at her bodice, as if Tor was going to flip out over her talking to her sister.
“Nah. I’m pretty sure they didn’t do anything really. I’ve even mainly forgiven Trice. Life, no matter how long, is too short to carry grudges around. Heavy things, grudges. They wear at you. So, ready for your present?”
For some reason the Queen looked around and then wet her lips seductively.
“Hmm, do we need to be somewhere private for it?” She said meaningfully, her voice slightly purring in a way that he actually got now.
Tor swallowed.
“Um, Connie,” He whispered to her gently. “I’m… not really good with all this stuff, you know, the whole royal sleeping around thing and “the rules” and all that? But,” he said, before her face could fall too much. “But I really, honestly, like you. I even have feelings for you and stuff. You know, real ones? I’m not trying to play games with you or put you off or anything, but, well, I still don’t feel like I’m good enough for you. So, no, my present isn’t anything that we need to be alone for. Um, not this time? But, I wanted you to know that. Even if it’s incredibly improper of me to even say something like this. So, um, come with me over there? To that empty spot in the grass?”
Connie looked happy with what he’d said, for some reason.
“You do like me? I… well, I wondered for a time if you were just playing with me. You were nice and proper about it, but sometimes a little cool, given how close I thought we were getting. So, really just cultural differences? Good to know. Yes, I can’t wait to see what you’ve brought.”
She took his arm and led him gently over to the area he’d indicated. After a few seconds he started to assemble everything. He used some water from one of the ponds, which required going all the way around the palace and putting the copper bits in the water, then set the hand sized silver plate on the ground. He tapped the first sigil and waited for a second. Connie didn’t feel anything either he noticed, but her breath started steaming in the air. Smiling he hit the second sigil after everything had enough time to cool down enough.
White fluff started to appear over their heads and fell to the earth gently, a soft cascade of white.
“Tor… it’s snowing? My… This is, incredible!”
After a few moments Varley came over with Karina and tentatively walked into the hundred yards square of snow. Since pelting the Queen with snow balls wouldn’t be proper, especially on her birthday, the girls hit him with a half dozen. They stung too, since he wasn’t wearing a shield. Varley noticed, but Karina just ran over, carefully, and gave him a hug. The shoulder length hair in brown worked well on her.
“My birthdays in two months you know. June. Just saying.” The Princess giggled then as her sister kissed Tor warmly after turning her own shield off.
“No shields? The palace shields good enough then?” She asked succinctly.
“Heck no, I just lent mine to your mom, since she’s in a lot more danger than I am. Today you should all be covered the whole time. I know the Royal Guard is on duty, but… there’s stuff going on and I really don’t think that taking chances is a good idea right now.” There. He didn’t want to say too much, because tales of Austran spies and assassins was probably both ridiculous and wrong. While he slept it occurred to him that he probably had jumped about five points of logic to come to that conclusion about who Maria Ward was working with.
Even if she was pissed at Rolph, taking down a whole kingdom or even just the royal family seemed a bit excessive, didn’t it? Wouldn’t it be enough to just start some rumors about the heir? Like he has a small manhood or something? It wasn’t true, but it would probably annoy Rolph anyway.
The King walked over with a smile on his face, followed by two guards in black and purple. One of them was Rolph, but the other was one of the gate guards that had threatened to hurt Tor if he didn’t leave the gate area that one time. Well, Tor could let it go. He wouldn’t have wanted some stranger hanging around the front gate like that either, right?
Before the King could speak Connie gushed at him.
“Look Richard! Snow! Here in the Capital and its spring not even deep winter. I think I’ll call it the snow garden and keep it going all summer. Will that work?” She looked at Tor who smiled and shrugged.
“Yes. Kind of hard on the grass though. You can also turn it on whenever you want and here, on the plate? Size controls. This is as big as it gets, but it can go down to a twenty by twenty foot square too. Or a fifty by fifty, that way you can move it around as you wish.”
Richard laughed and slapped him on the back.
“This is most impressive Tor! I’m always amazed by what you bring to the party.”
The voice sounded genuine to Tor, even as he felt a flash of guilt having confessed even part of his feelings to the Queen. He managed to keep any strange looks from his face at least. Well, he hope
d he did. Facial control wasn’t something he excelled at yet, Tor knew.
This party was far different from the others he’d been to at the palace. Held in the early part of the day, starting before luncheon even, and all outdoors. It was warm, but not that oppressive heat of the full summer yet, so people wore light clothing and carried fans, but otherwise looked comfortable enough. Most of the fans didn’t even get used, except to hide someone’s face every now and then, when they felt themselves unable to control an unwanted expression or laugh. Tor could relate. He could also relate with Rolph having called most of his mothers “high class” friends catty and a bit bitchy. They were.
Annoyingly so.
He’d made it snow on a warm spring day and held the snow on the ground without melting all over their shoes and they walked through every ten minutes complaining that it was too cold, that they weren’t dressed right for it and that Tor hadn’t presented it in a grand enough fashion for all to see. After he heard this for the third time he turned to Varley and smiled, knowing he was probably being a little sensitive and tried not to sound too pissy. Failed at it a bit too, he feared.
“Really, are people so vain that they think the Queen’s present need their approval to be of worth?” He whispered this, not wanting to give offense, but an older man, who looked incredibly bored and oddly out of place, snorted about five feet from them.
“Of course they do boy. If they didn’t try to tear your gift down they’d be forced to stand around in awe, gibbering in disbelief. That doesn’t make anyone look attractive, so they cover it up by pretending disdain. That or contempt. Plus, who can match it? I mean the set of gold napkin rings me and the missus brought kind of pale in comparison, don’t you think?”
The man looked familiar. Right, they’d met before, worked to put out the fires in County Ross together. Tor bowed.
“Varley, I… I’m ashamed to say I don’t know who this man is by name, but he’s one of the hero’s that helped save County Ross. Without him I don’t think Rossalynd would have been saved at all, he personally kept everything together.” Tor bowed again low and humbly. With a little hindsight and a slightly better mood than he had at the time Tor could see just how much the man had actually done. Even staying calm when Tor personally was acting like a complete moron and threatening people in a way that had to be terrifying.
