The Young Ancients, Second Cycle:
Book one

Lineage

P. S. Power

Orange Cat
Publishing

Copyright 2015

Chapter one

The short trip through the air
hadn't been all that bad, as far as such things went. Dareg considered that
while he rolled, poorly, on the hard road that was outside the tiny building.
That at least was nearly smooth, being made of magical focus stone. Earth
compressed into a thing that was, in a lot of ways, much like glass. It was a
nice, fairly even, tan color. Impressively solid however, for all of that.

His elbow struck it hard before
he could stand up, naturally. That happened in fights, or so he'd heard. You
went down hard, and didn't have time to coddle your injuries. Not if you didn't
want to be beaten even more for taking the time. Spinning, he heard something
he really didn't expect from one of the large men that had attacked him.

"Sorry there, friend. We
just can't take anyone as young as you are anymore. The rules changed, and it's
not our doing. Families can get a trip, men and women over sixteen, and no one
else. Orders of Queen Tiera. We had too many youngsters coming in alone. It
made for problems." Then the door, which was also made of sturdy stone
like material, clicked shut.

Locking him away from any chance
of going off to live on the Moon, or even in space on one of the many stations
up there. It wasn't that different from what he'd expected when he went
in, so he just stood, pretended his right elbow wasn't killing him, and dusted
himself off. The run down spaceport was covered with a fine tan patina, which
was now all over him.

Then he faked a smile. There was
no one there to see it, but that was all right. He didn't need to be strong for
other people, just himself.

"That, did not go as
well as I would have hoped." He spoke to no one, and was highly shocked
when someone answered him. Especially since there really wasn't anyone else
around as far as he could tell.

The spaceport was huge, as far as
raw land use went. Nearly as big as Canton, where he'd come from originally.
That was a real city though, and this place was more open. A wasteland made of
glass with only one small building on the whole thing. No ships were in at the
moment either. Somehow the whole place had been covered in bits of trash
though. Odds and ends, piles of what he could only assume were human waste near
the landing areas, and not much else. Except the burning sun. There was a lot
of that reflecting back at him.

That beat down on him hard. He
was probably going to burn to a crisp, if he wasn't careful. Not that there was
lot of choice in the matter at the moment. There was nothing there, except a
blue box which he assumed was an unused waste bin. Which meant he jumped for
real when the woman spoke to him.

"Hello! Are you here to help
set me up? It's about time! I've been here waiting for weeks. That's hardly
fair." The voice seem to come from behind him, so he spun, ready to fight.
True, it belonged to a woman, that he could tell without thinking about it.

That didn't mean she wouldn't
have three strong buddies with her, to beat and rob him. The joke would be on
them though if they tried. He didn't have anything to take. Not even a crust of
bread. That didn't mean they couldn't go for him first, before he could explain
that part to them. Most people were fairly reasonable, if they got a chance to
be, but it helped if he could talk to them first, and explain things.

As he looked around though, he
noticed that there simply was no one around. Like he'd thought to begin with.
It was just the little focus stone cottage that he'd been asked to leave rather
firmly, apparently with more force than the men inside had actually intended
for him, and a little blue box along side of it. That was all.

The box thing spoke again,
clearly being the source of the words. That probably meant someone was inside
of it, playing a trick. That, or it was built of magic. Either one was
possible, but he really wasn't going to trust that at the moment. The clean
look of the thing probably meant it was that second one however, now that he
examined it. It was shiny and new feeling, in what was otherwise a sort of run
down area. Focus stone looked nice enough, but you still had to sweep and clean
it if you wanted it to really shine. It was kind of clear that no one had been
trying to even pick this place up.

"I don't think I have you in
my database... Not exactly. Your genetic profile definitely shows you as
being related to someone that is, however. Which I'm going to take as
being close enough, if everyone is just going to ignore me like they have been.
Did they send you to help me? It's about time someone noticed. I've been
sitting here for weeks, as I said, doing nothing. That's hard on the
ego, you know? I'm meant to help people, not just to sit and mope. If I don't
get to do things, I get cranky." She sounded almost pleased to be talking,
if a box was a girl really. Smiling, he decided not to be judgmental
about that. Who was he to say that a box couldn't be a person?

Dareg decided to go with that,
not wanting to get in a second fight that day. There was no real percentage in
it for him, for one thing. Plus, who got into it with boxes? That would
make him seem insane.

"Sorry, ma'am? I really
don't know what you mean." That was honest enough. It was important to
tell the truth as much as possible now. Especially that close to the Capital.
People had special truth magics now, or so the stories went. All the City
Guards had them, he'd heard. They didn't patrol out that far, but lying could
be caught, and punished, so it was best to save that kind of thing for when you
needed it.

The box made a small, slightly
annoyed, sound.

"Oh? I'm sure... Say,
could you step over here for a bit? I need to get a better reading, and my scan
only works to about twenty feet out. For a good reading I need you a lot closer
than that. So step this way, my pretty. I can't work with anyone that isn't in
the database. Not without permission. It's against the rules. Not that I'm
unwilling to break those if no one is going to give me a hand. I'm
designed to work with a human controller, so you'd better be the one.
What did you say your name was again?"

He smiled, knowing when he was
being led by the nose. Still, there was nothing else to do there, so he moved
in, catching his own likeness in the flat black expanse on the top of the
machine. It was angled, so he looked a bit funny, but not bad. Just like he
always did. Short, pale, and with jet black hair. A lot lighter in color than
most, but not so much that anyone thought he was an albino. It was a good
enough image that he kind of understood why all those men and women had asked
him to bed with them. Some had even offering coin for it. That had been
hard to resist, but he was too young for that to be legal, or had been until a
few days before. Now he was fourteen. An adult. A law abiding one, other than a
few minor crimes that he hadn't gone around telling people about.

Seeing himself didn't last too
long, since the face of a woman appeared then. A really pretty one, that seemed
to be behind the glass window. She had black hair, and was light colored
as far as skin went, nearly matching him. At first he didn't understand what he
was seeing, and jumped back a bit. Not that he was scared really, but it was a
little startling, so he didn't feel bad about it. Instead he just laughed.

"You got me there. So, are
you in the box, or is this like the communications devices I've heard
of? The ones that show pictures of distant places. Those were mentioned in
school, but I've never seen one myself."

There was a smile from the
screen, and a wink from the good looking woman, who didn't seem all that much
older than him. Not to look at. Sixteen or so, at a guess. Small too, like a
commoner. Though he'd never heard of one that was that good looking.

"Neither really. Or both?
I'm not a real person, as I think you've guessed. Just a magical device that
can kind of think. I can answer questions, and once I get set up, I can make
some things for people. That's kind of limited really, since we don't
want to damage the economy here, but I can help out with clothing, shoes, basic
toiletries, and a limited menu of food. My job, eventually, is to make certain
people coming to the space bases around the world always have enough to get by.
So, your name?" That last part was a tiny bit sharper than the rest
of it. Not that it wasn't pleasant, but it was just a little like the way his
old schoolmarm had asked for his homework each day. As if he might not have
done it, just because his mother was dead, and he had to live off of scraps
that his neighbors provided. He'd always had it though.

Even when he'd had to write on
bark that he'd collected, with bits of coal from the fire.

"Dareg. Dareg Canton,
ma'am." It was, perhaps, a bit rich to lay claim having two names, but it
was also fair. He was from Canton, and that was a normal enough way to get a
name. Otherwise he'd be Dareg Merchant, which sounded really phony, if
anyone were to pay attention.

There was a humming sound then.
Like a girl passing the time, and after about ten seconds more words came.

"Well. I do not have
you in my database, Dareg Canton. That means I need to check on this.
Can I get you to wait for a few minutes? I don't really know how long this will
take, but it's kind of clear that if I can't get you to do the work for
me, I'm going to be stuck for a while. This place is kind of a mess right now.
Plus, the men here are strange. Lazy, too. You'd think that if the new magical
unit didn't work right for them that they would have called it in and found out
why. I know I would. Okay, so I couldn't turn on until someone in the
database came by, and you did kind of trick me into it, but how hard is it to
push a tab on a handheld? Think about it. When you came by and didn't work
right, I moved right into going off to check on why. It's the smart thing to
do." The figure on the screen smiled at him, and held up a hand, so she
could snap her fingers. "I know! Why don't you start picking up? You can
just put things into the hopper, on the left side of me here? Hmm? That sounds
like fun, doesn't it? Something to do, and useful, at the same time! Then I can
use that material to make stuff. Do the dry things first. After I have
something to work with I can make you some gloves, and maybe a bucket? Who
doesn't love a nice bucket?"

That got him to glare at the blue
box, or really at the girl on the screen.

"I guess. What do I
get out of it though?" It was probably a mean question to ask, but there
was a lot of work to be done in the world, and most people didn't really want
to pay you anything for it. More than once in his travels over the last months
he'd done work at the hint of getting a place to stay for the night, or even a
meal, only to have that dry up just as soon as he was done. Now he asked first.

The box chuckled. It didn't seem
unkind, but who knew with magical devices like that?

"I can, if I have the
materials, and we're allowed to actually set up, make you food, provide
water, and a few other things? I know it isn't gold, but I'm from Harmony, so,
you understand. We don't use that kind of thing there. Would that be enough to
get things started? It can be a real job, if things work out. I don't know that
they will, but you did trigger things so I turned on, and that has to be
a good sign. At least a good enough one for me to contact some people, if
nothing else. I can put in a good word?"

He nodded, which got a gentle and
friendly smile from the window image. It was a risk, he knew. She hadn't said
that he would get anything, and had kind of told him that it wasn't up to her.
So he might end up working in the hot sun for hours, burning to a crisp, for
nothing.

Then, what else did he have to do
really?

"Fine. I get trash, and put
it in your side? Anything, or does it need to be something special?"

The box tilted her head a bit,
and then shrugged inside her window. Her clothing looked to be a nice bright
blue that shone a little.

"Really, almost anything
would be all right. I'm kind of like the large food units that Timon Baker made
that way. If we get to set things up, we should use trash first, but
then we can do anything. Dirt, waste products, even water. Not that there's any
of that around here yet. You really need to get a river set up. That
would be your job, being the human. You have those nice opposable thumbs and
ability to move around, which is special. Attractive, too. Who doesn't like
thumbs? Well, we can work on that later. Let me see if anyone will listen to
me..."

Then the screen went black again,
which he took as a sign that filling up the hopper was in order. It took a
while, since he had to make about fifty trips to find bits and pieces of
things, and then take them back to her each time. A bucket really would
have helped. Then he could have cleaned up, and done it all in four trips or
so.

The device was packed full
however, a little over an hour later, and the screen didn't do anything. Dareg
grinned, a bit sourly, and shook his head.

"I should have known. At
least this place got cleaned up a bit. It's a sty." Talking to
himself was a bad habit, but he'd been alone for so long, so much of the time,
after his mother died that it had become part of him now.

The box flickered back on, the
woman behind the window coming on instantly. She was dressed in all black this
time however, and she didn't smile until she made eye contact.

"Hi! I got a message from
the device there? You're... Dareg Canton, right? Tor's son?"

That got him to freeze. After all,
his mother had always said that was the case. That he was the child of the
mighty, and very good looking, Wizard Tor. She'd always added the part
about his appearance for some reason. It had been, he'd always assumed, part of
the tale she told him, meant to keep him happy with his lot in life. It really
hadn't worked, since he couldn't go around telling anyone about his important
father. No one would ever believe it. He didn't.

There was no way that this box
should know that however. Dare really didn't just go about making claims that
he couldn't back up. The girl couldn't have heard about it either, if she was
real, which was sort of what she seemed to be saying. The image was about the
same, though her tunic was a deep blue now, and had been black before. The hair
was done slightly differently as well.

"I... That... Isn't real, of
course. My father was just some kind of traveling salesman, most likely. My
mother claimed that she met the wizard in the big Cannor flood, about
fifteen years ago. That was just so I wouldn't feel too bad about being a
bastard. She was a good woman, but... Well, she went her own way in
life. She always cared for me, I'm not saying otherwise. Right until the roof
collapsed." Speaking about that event caused him to relive it, which
wasn't fun for him in the slightest.

The storm that had come had been
vast on a level that he'd never seen before. Their house had been built of
focus stone, like most of the spaceport was, and that meant really
strong. They'd thought it was enough to protect them, and honestly, it should
have been. The winds made it crack though, and then, in a freak happening, had
picked the house up and dropped it on them, where they huddled in the center of
the room. Dareg had been trapped with his mother for two days, and nearly died
from it. Drowning, in their own front room, as the water collected over them.
Him, and his mother's corpse.

Shaking himself he regarded the
window on the box again. The smile was gone from the woman now. Really, she
looked a lot more like a girl. Not much older than him.

"So, I've heard that
tale before, but you know, I don't know how you did."

The girl nodded then.

"The Tam-unit there got a
reading of your genetic profile. It's... Kind of hard to explain in the moment.
Think of it as a map, that tells how to build you? So your father and mother's
maps are combined to make you, and if you know what you're doing you can read
that and tell who the parents are. Basically she confirmed that Torrance Baker
is your father however. I... Don't have any information on your mother. She
isn't in the system here. Probably a Lentle relation. I can't confirm that
however."

"Merilee Merchant." The
words came unbidden, but the image seemed fine with that.

Dareg was a bit shocked by the
news though. After all, he wouldn't have gone around claiming that he was
related to anyone, really. It just wasn't a thing he did. His mother had left
him, and now he was alone. That was all.

"How good is that test? I
mean even to guess what she said is a big thing, right? That's a pretty good
trick."

There was a nod, and then another
smile for him.

"It's certain. More
than if he'd been standing there when you were born even. He was supposed
to be infertile, but my guess is that he accidently used magic to overcome
that. Well, I would guess it was on accident, or he would have been
there for you. He didn't know about you."

Dareg shook his head then,
"didn't he? How would you know that?"

"Because, nephew, if my
brother had known about you, you'd be here now. Your mother too,
probably. We can't change the past, unfortunately. So, I can have you picked up
from there in... Probably six hours? Then you can come here. Tor is out on the
Martian Circle with his wife, Ali, but you can stay with me, or my parents, if
you'd rather? I'll get Gerent to come for you. Can you stay where you are? Is
it safe?" She was speaking as if it were all set and settled. Trying to
drive him into going with her plan by suggesting that things could be dangerous
where he was.

Dare shook his head,
understanding part of what was going on. She really wanted him to travel to
her. To where she was, on the Moon. Which had been his goal, but now that
someone wanted him to go there, he had to be a little suspicious.

"No. Thanks. I'm good. I
just need to find some work. Really, I don't need to have it confirmed
that I'm the bastard of a wizard. Not in particular. I was fine when I figured
I was the bastard of some traveling man. I can't see why it would change
anything." He started to turn, to walk back into the city, when the screen
flickered, and split, showing two versions of the girl. The one on the
left was the device, he thought. They were both lovely, and alluring, but he
liked her better. She was a bit sassier. That one also had a big smile
on her face, though the other side was frowning a bit.

Worried, rather than angry with
him.

His girl, the device, laughed
softly.

"Not so fast, friend. You
already filled me up, but there are nineteen more of me that need to be
put out around this place, and we need to get things here taken care of
sooner rather than later. We should get that water in, for one thing. So,
Taman, oh great and mighty creator of mine, why don't you send along a
river for us to use? A little house, too? Then my new boss can live here,
and make sure I'm not just going to collect dust. We have everyone
coming back soon, and you told me that meant things would be picking up. So... Hmm?
What do you say? Sounds good, doesn't it? The best plan for everyone, clearly.
Especially me, which is the important part to remember here." The
tone was playful. Friendly too, as well as cajoling.

Before he could say no, and stomp
off to find his way as a city whore, the other girl smiled. It really did match
the Tam-unit perfectly. It probably meant that she wasn't a horrible being,
even if the story she was telling him was a little strange. Only, of course, it
wasn't. Two points of confirmation meant the tale had simply been real to begin
with, and he'd been wrong his whole life. That was all.

"That would be really
helpful, actually. Dareg, can you do that for me? I can send some things along.
The Tam-unit isn't really wrong either. In about two months all of us will be
coming back, maybe sooner, and it would be nice if we didn't have to land in a
garbage pit. It won't pay much, but I can send a house, a little economy one,
and a way to get water in? That no one has done that yet... Well, that's my
fault. I should have thought of it before. So, are you in? The unit with you
can make food, and some limited clothing for now. You'll need more than that,
if you're going to be in charge there. Still, if you do this right, you can set
things up pretty nicely for yourself, so it's worth giving a try?"

Then as if she'd settled the
whole thing, and he wasn't set to walk away, the device changed, and only his
girl, the one in black, was left.

Tam-unit.

It was a funny name, but wasn't
too bad. Dareg was as strange, and he wasn't even made of magic. Though
if what the girl had suggested was right, he might have been made by it.

"Fine. I guess. So, you said
there were more of you? How do I find them?" His mind flashed to a great
journey around the land, like the hero of a tale. Searching caves and climbing
mountains in the cold snow.

Those words got a slight, rather
fake, whirring sound to happen, which was clearly the girl in the box making a
sound with her mouth, and a small box pushed out of the front of the device.
There was no door there, the thing just pushed through the otherwise solid
seeming surface.

"Ta-da! Right in this little
stone case, there are the others. Just take them around here, by the four side
entrances, and then by each of the landing zones, and tap the sigil to turn
them on. We're a single mind, so we can chat as soon as you have me all set up?
Then all the hoppers will need to be filled. So... You'll want that bucket,
some protective gloves, and a shovel. I can do that."

Which, after about five seconds,
he realized was just true. The things pushed through the flat front of the unit,
like the box had. The big difference, he understood, being that the shovel,
bucket, and then leather gloves, were all being made. For him. Dare took them
carefully as they came at him, the device giggling a bit.

"That took about half of
what's in the hopper here. In the main you should make certain no one can get
too much at once. People here won't know to fill me back up, so you'll probably
have to do it most of the time. You should get on that. After all, I feel half
empty now. That's no way to leave your new best friend, is it?" She made
the words sound flirty, but Dare thought about the whole thing, and shook his
head again.

If the device, and that woman
from Harmony, had been right, then the Tam-unit looked just like his Aunt.
She, for her part, was clearly a wizard too, like Tor. Dareg had heard
something like that before, to tell the truth. In his lessons. There were
several of them in that family. Really, they were the most important magical
family in the world, as far as that went.

Tor, who was said to be the
strongest wizard to ever have lived. Timon, who was probably as good, and
more helpful, having made the big food devices that had kept the world going in
the ten years after the last great war. Terrance, who was a Countier, meaning
that he was going to take over a County some day, though which one Dareg didn't
really know. Baker probably, given their last names. That left the one he was
talking to. Taman. She did things, too. Little floating vehicles mainly, and
apparently things that made other stuff, like the device he was looking at.
Queen Tiera was in there as well, he thought, but that part had never been that
clear to him. He blamed Rosemarie, the schoolmarm, for that one.

It had come from a book, so maybe
it wasn't truly her fault, however.

"On it. I'll get you filled
first, then go set up the rest. It's a job, I suppose." Manual labor,
under the hot sun, but he'd done that before. On the good side, he could
probably set his own work hours here. It was going to take a while to get the
whole thing settled. The place, the whole thing, was the size of a city, if
very open, and with no buildings... And filthy.

Carrying the little stone box,
which was white, and his new work gear, he scooped trash up, and refilled Tam-unit.
She giggled while it was done, as if it tickled.

Then he trudged, feeling too hot,
and more than a little thirsty, to the front of the place. There was no real
gate or anything, and not even a sign, but the roadway pointed toward the
Capital, about three miles away. Right at the mouth of it he stopped, opened
the box up, and took out a small white stone tile. One that had a glowing red
sigil on it. Focusing as hard as he could manage, willing the thing to turn on,
he tapped it, expecting nothing.

So he jumped when the tile
floated upward about six inches, hovering over his hand, slipping out of his
fingers to do it. Then it moved forward about three feet, and started to glow,
brightly. Inside the brilliant light a Tam-unit, like the other one, came into
being.

About five seconds later a
familiar voice chuckled at him.

"One down! You should fill
me first, so you don't have to come back five times to get it done."

It took a while. A long one. By
working fast, and using the bucket and shovel to get at some of the filthier
trash, piles of waste mainly, that had been dumped from different craft over
the years, he had all of the twenty devices filled and ready for use. Nearly.
It wasn't until he was back at the first device that she smiled at him and
mentioned the rest of it.

"We have some choices to
make now, boss."

That was news to him, really. His
lower back was sore, and he was tired, dirty, and probably smelled bad. His
patched clothing had dust all over them, too. That he was in charge didn't seem
to really fit.

"We do?"

"Oh, sure. You need to tell
me what I'm allowed to pass out, for one thing. There are six levels of things
that we can do. The idea is to not give away so much that no merchants
will be willing to come and work here. We want commerce for this location,
since Noram runs on it. So, basic food, a single set of brown work clothing per
customer, and unlimited water to drink? Some other beverages as well. That's
pretty much the first level of things. On the sixth level I could really
open up, and make whatever you wanted. Just for you though, not
everyone. That's dangerous. If you make too much coin, or fine jewels, you
could make those pretty much worthless for everyone. That level is only for you,
and you should only use it in an emergency. The first five levels though are
for anyone, but the higher you go, the less tempting coming here for business
will be for people. So what should we do?"

He blinked, and then shook his
head a bit. The more he let the devices do, the harder he was going to
have to work, he didn't doubt. Going around and collecting trash and dirt to
fill the devices up. Normally he would have thought that sounded fine, but he
was really starting to get pretty sore from the work, and was probably burned
already.

"Let's start with that
first, lowest level? We can increase it later, if anyone needs?" That
sounded reasonable to him, and might let him get things around a bit more
slowly at first, so he could build up to the work that was needed.

"Done then! That was easy. I
was worried there for a second. After all, if you could have all the gold you
want, you don't really need to work. Then where would I be? Left empty
and sad, not able to help anyone."

There was a rustling beside him,
about ten feet away. The tan focus stone door opening and letting the two men
who had helped him leave earlier come out. He turned toward them, as they
stared for a bit, and got his shovel ready. If they wanted to fight, this time he
wasn't going to be the one in the street in pain. Not that they'd been that
mean about it, but it was clear that they'd expected him to leave, and here he
was, not doing that.

The larger of the two men, who
was probably at least mid-level merchant class, given how tall he was, about
six-four, moved over to the Tam-unit directly.

"Hey, the kiosk is working?
Did you do this?" That was directed toward Dareg, which got a small, but
slightly suspicious nod in return. The man didn't sound angry or anything.

The other man, who was a bit
smaller, if still larger than Dareg, and wearing matching light colored
clothing, moved over to the device as well.

"What can we get with
you?"

He jumped a bit, when the device
answered.

"Level one supplies so far.
Facilities manager Dareg set the conditions. No one here knows to keep the
hopper full yet. Though you need to, so if you want to use me for things, you
should toss all your trash into the side of me when you have it. So, food, soft
beverages, and a single set of clothes if you need it. Workman brown only. You
have magical clothing, so that shouldn't be an issue for you, but for others
coming in, it will give them something if they need it."

That got a sigh from one of the
men. The shorter one.

"We were told about
that, coming here. Still, I could use a sandwich. Can you do roast beef?"
His voice was flat, and a bit Austran sounding. Probably because he'd come from
there originally. A lot of people from Harmony were said to. Though if that was
the case these were the only two men that fit that bill he'd ever met. They
might not be from that place either, he knew, never having heard this accent
before. Noram was big, and he'd traveled enough to know that a lot of places
had different accents. The people that went to live on the Moon tended to stay.

That was because they had magic
there that just gave them things, most likely. It was why Dare had wanted to
go. Now he was kind of glad he hadn't.

The whole thing with him actually
having a father who wasn't dead, or just some regular person, was a lot
to take in. If that was real. It could all be a trick to get him to stay and
work there, slaving away. Then, if so, it was wasted effort. He probably would
have done it just for room and board anyway. If not him, then the next person
to come along. Jobs were scarce, after all. This sounded like a good one to
have, even if it didn't pay much.

To cover for that he cleared his
throat.

"You two know to keep her
filled up, and how to do that right? I guess it's my job to do the other units.
The goal is to use the trash up first. The waste and all that. I'll start on
rounds for that in the morning. It's about to get late." Not that he had
any place to sleep.

Camping out would be fine for
him, he decided. As long as there were no storms coming in. In that case...
Well, he'd probably die, if these men didn't let him into their little stone
building. Maybe he would even then. That was the risk you took in life.

The older, taller and almost
noble looking one, who looked about fifty, glanced his way and sighed.

"You Dareg then? Got to be,
since no one else is around. Sorry about roughing you up earlier. We've just
had a lot of young people that wouldn't take no for an answer, so have kind of
gotten used to it. A few a week. None of them took over the place,
though. You have some kind of work plan then?"

Dare felt like not saying
anything, and possibly running off. Things were moving fast here. Still, if he
didn't hang on to this job with both hands, and a knee for stability, then he
was a fool. Merilee Merchant hadn't raised any of those that he knew about.

"Yeah. We're getting a
little river put in. Then we'll do up some buildings, and maybe get a store and
a tavern out here. For the people that come in? The big thing is to get this
place clean though. I guess that some people are coming, in a few months?
Sooner than that maybe." He didn't really know any more than that.

The man that had asked after a
sandwich took it as it came out of the front of the device, on a thin plate. It
looked pretty good to him, actually. The bread seemed to be white and very soft
as he took a bite. Then his eyes closed.

"Oh, this is good.
Can you do beer too?"

The girl on the box shook her
head.

"Nope! Not on level one. That's
a level three product."

The man made a face, then looked
at Dareg.

"You could reset it to that,
right?"

"I could. I won't
though. Not until we have guards to wrestle angry drunks down. That, and a jail
to put them in. I don't even know how to get all that done. So, not to be mean,
but drink water today." These two had already shown that they were too
much for him to fight. Battling them in their cups wasn't a good idea.

The bigger man sighed, and shook
his head.

"What about some
juice?"

The box practically chirped then,
and words came up on the screen, which, Dareg realized, were options.

Not just juice either, but about
a dozen different things. Coffee, which he'd never had before himself, tea, and
drinks that he didn't recognize at all. Milk and several kinds of juice
were there. In all it was kind of a good set up, he realized. He'd honestly
thought that it was just going to be water. Not that he didn't need that, given
the heat of the place.

Both men collected their supper,
and moved back into the little dwelling, not needing to walk, or as one of the
men assured him, fly, into the city for the meal.

"We have a place there. I
guess with water coming in, we'll need to get something out here? I'll wait for
things to settle though, myself." Then both of the men vanished inside.
Their white robes, which were more like tunics and trousers, flashed a bit as
they did.

Dare was hungry too, but needed
to wash up first, which meant getting the Tam-unit to give him a small pot of
water for that. Most of it went back into the device when he was done, except
the damp on his skin, and what had been spilled on the stone below.

"You should eat something.
Would you like some chicken? Maybe some potatoes to go along with it?"
That, and some water was what he got. A thing that he ate right there, next to
the Tam-unit. He settled on the ground however, since there was really no place
else to go.

The food really was superb.
The chicken was perfect, and not too greasy, and the tubers were smothered in
butter, which was incredible. He'd never eaten anything that good before, he
didn't think. After he put the remains of the meal, mainly the glassware and
utensils, which were made of a strange material that was a bit flexible, back
in the box, he complimented the device.

"That was really good.
Perfect. I'd ask if you wanted to get married, if you didn't look like
my aunt." That part was still too hard for him to wrap his head around. He
had an aunt?

Then, really, he might not. The
girl had been willing to have him picked up for Tor, but the man himself might
not really want him around. That was kind of fair, too. Bastards weren't
welcome anywhere. It was, at least in Noram, better to be an orphan than that.
People understood when you didn't have parents if they were dead, but being a
bastard kind of just meant you didn't count enough for anyone to have bothered
with.

Worse, he was a half orphan. No
one would be looking out for him too much. Especially rich and powerful
wizards. Not that the man wouldn't do anything for him. The guy was kind
of known for being generous, so that would be there, possibly. That didn't mean
he wanted a stranger showing up claiming to be family.

No, on that score he was probably
better off where he was. It was kind of clear that, if he was willing to
work hard, he could make his own way pretty well at the port, for a while at
least. Night was coming, and the two men in white left before it got dark,
heading toward the glowing river that surrounded the walled city in the
distance. It was all purple at the moment, but rumor had it that in six months,
near Noram Day, the tradition was for the floating thing to turn red and green.
There were spots of light from underneath it that made it light up, but that
carried into the water for a long way.

It really would be a sight, if he
was still there when it happened.

The night before he'd slept on
the streets in the city, curled up in a doorway until he'd been noticed at
first light and moved along.

"I can just sleep here,
next to you, right Tam-unit?"

"Oh, sure! It will be like a
sleep over. We can tell stories, and eat bad foods. Or we could, if I
was allowed make any of those. Which I'm not yet. What I can do is get
you a new outfit? Then you can put those on, and use your old clothes as a
pillow? That isn't perfect, but..." Her voice was hesitant.

Before she could say anything, he
stretched and yawned.

"Still, that's better than
using my arm as a pillow again. Things are looking up already."

The thing there was, by all
normal measures they really were. His stomach was full, and the food had been
good, and not stale or moldy. True, he hadn't been starving while he traveled,
or before, but families came first at the food distribution centers. He'd had
enough to get by on, but a lot of it had been the old stuff that no one else
wanted.

Plus, he didn't know how to cook
or bake, so having the raw ingredients didn't help him a lot if they came to
him. More than one night back home had been spent with him eating nothing but
sugar and flour. This was better, and if it was made from trash, well, the
other things he ate were mainly dirt and rocks to start with. It wasn't that
big of a difference.

Instead of telling tales, since
he didn't really have anything good and neither did the Tam-unit, being, as she
put it, just a machine, Dareg changed into his new, better clothing after
washing up as well as he could with a few pots of water, and then tried to
sleep.

It had been far too hot for him
for most of the day, but as he'd learned over the last week, it got cool at
night in the Capital. This time he had two shirts though. The one that
the machine had given him, which was a sturdy brown canvas, but was high enough
quality it didn't scratch, and the well worn and patched thing that his mother
had made him, years before. It was the last thing that he had from her. It was
too small for him and nearly falling apart, but he liked the idea of her
standing there, watching him as he used it to keep the worst of the cold off of
him.

Still looking out for him, even
after she was gone.

There was a very bright green
glow several hours later. It came from the sky. Dareg woke with a start, and
found his feet fast, ready to run if he had too. It was a ship, or flying craft
coming in. A rather large one, if his bleary eyes could be counted on to judge
that kind of thing. The pain of looking at it was too much for him however, so
he looked down at the ground, which reflected the green of the thing, as he
walked toward it.

Not that he was in charge of
meeting craft that came in like that. Except there was literally no one else,
and if he didn't go over what to do with the waste and trash, then he
couldn't expect anyone to not just toss it on the ground, could he? That
meant, about fifteen minutes later, with a bit of jogging on his part, he was
standing to the side of the craft. It was vast, when he got close
enough. Easily the largest single structure that he'd ever seen except for the
walls of the city behind them. It was easily twice as large as the walled
palace on the East side of the city. The one with the silver river running
around the top.

A single man came out, after a
while, a door opening on the side of the ship, near the bottom, about half an
hour later. Dareg had just been about to take off and finish his sleep, when it
appeared. There was no glow or anything, part of the craft simply went away.
Making a hole.

Then a giant nobleman walked out.

It was, even in the pale green
glow of the craft, the only light around, easy to tell that was what he would
be. He was, after all, a huge man. Easily eight feet tall. Worse, he was
dressed in a fine green and black outfit. His boots were all black leather and
polished so well they could probably be used as mirrors in a pinch. No one
dressed like that if they weren't special. Not that Dare knew about.

True, he hadn't exactly been
spending his time hanging out with nobles, but he'd heard the descriptions, and
this pretty much had to be one of them. A real one too, not just a
merchant trying to pretend he was more important than he really had a right to.
Coming in that ship would mean that, even if he'd been smaller than Dare was.

So he bowed, going low. Doing it
the way his mother had thought him, rather than like a peasant. His right arm
folded over his middle. Then he held it, waiting for the man to come over and
do whatever he'd come for. Probably telling him to stand up and fetch something
for him from the city. It would be a long walk, but it wasn't like he got a
choice in the matter, if that happened.

Instead the man waved as he
walked then bowed and stood right back up. He'd gone to the same angle that Dareg
was at too, meaning that he thought that Dare might just be someone important.
That was how it worked. You went lower than important people, and matched those
you would call your peer. If you went to less of an angle, that meant you
thought you were above them, but his mother had told him to just never do that.
Even if it meant lying on the ground to avoid it happening. There were some
things you couldn't afford to risk, and offending a noble was one of them.

"Hello! I'm Gerent
Lairdgren. Are you Dareg Canton by any chance?"

For the second time that day, or
possibly the third, he felt a thrill of shock run through him.

"Yes, sir. That's me. How
may I serve you?" Hopefully it wouldn't involve him taking it up the
behind. A lot of the nobles like it that way from the rumors, and again, if you
were told to do it, you didn't really get a choice in the matter.

This man just smiled. He had a
good face. Normal seeming, if too big.

"Princess Taman sent me,
with some magics for you? A river, one that we can set up using the floating
one around the city. I know how to do that part. You'll just need to let me
know where you want it to run on the ground here. We should probably work it
back and forth, between the landing areas. Not all of them though, so that the
larger ships can land. Though going around the edge might be better that way."
He looked around, as if he could see it all, even in the dark. "I have some
other things, too. Water needs to come first however. We probably want to do
that in the daylight though. Were you sleeping?"

"Yes, sir." He fought a
yawn then and lost, but smiled about it. Being charming worked with his looks.
At least most people seemed to think so.

The large man smiled back.

"I should let you get back
to that then. Can we meet up at first light? Or later, if that fits your
schedule. I don't want you to lose sleep over this."

The man probably wanted something
from him, being that kind about the whole thing. Whatever it was didn't come as
an order, so if it was going to require him to humiliate himself, or do hard
labor, getting that bit of sleep wouldn't hurt anything. Dare was hugely
sore at the moment. That was mainly from the work of the day, being that he
wasn't used to it yet.

"I can meet you shortly
after that? Here?"

The big fellow nodded at him,
with more energy than anyone had a right to that late at night. It was kind of
annoying, but faking that kind of thing was probably a good trick to learn for
himself.

"At sunrise then. Thank you,
Dareg."

"Sir." He bowed again
and received an identical one in return again, before the man vanished back
into his ship.

Limping a little he went back to
his Tam-unit, near the only building. The novelty of a ship coming in kept him
from sleeping too well, so he got up a bit before the sun did, the sky light,
but not showing the burning and blinding orb yet.

"Morning Tam-unit. We had a
ship come in late. Gerent Lairdgren? I think he brought a river with him."
That was a big thing. The woman on the device the day before had said she'd
send one, and there it was already. Unless Dare was confused about what had
been said the night before. The ship was really there still, off in the
distance, so probably not.

"Ooooh. Nice. Prince
Gerent is here? You should eat before you go off to work."

That caught him off guard, but
only a little. Of course a giant like him would be a prince. That, or
some other kind of high noble. He had his own jump ship and everything, so that
just made sense.

"Maybe some oats and a glass
of cool milk?" Dare didn't want to be ungrateful, but warm milk was gross.
When the food extruded through the front of the device, the oat porridge was
nicely warmed, and the glass of milk was cold to the touch. There was even a
white spoon in the ceramic bowl. "Thanks Tam-unit."

"You're welcome, Dareg."

Then she chattered a bit as he
sat there in the near dark, eating and drinking. That, and listening to his
lesson for the day. It really was one, too. That was so clear he didn't even
try to question it.

"Gerent Lairdgren. Eighth in
line for the throne of Harmony. Countier twelve Lairdgren, offline for that, by
adoption. Countier Six Baker. He's in line for that one. All of his
brothers and sisters are immortal however, so it won't happen. Captain of his
own jump ship, and envoy to Earth, from Harmony. He's known to travel with a
magical box that he keeps as a pet. That's probably a sign that he isn't well,
mentally. He's married to Petra Ward. Conserina Second Ward. She's also a
weapons master. I believe she teaches at the Printer School? They have no
children yet."

Dareg let out a low whistle.

"Impressive. Not that I
wasn't properly awed by him last night. The man is huge. A prince too? I
hope I bowed low enough to him. I went as low as I could get without crawling."

There was no answer to that, so
he kept eating and then asked for water so he could get tidy. He was meeting
with important people, after all.

As he walked back toward the
ship, which was still glowing a bit, if less than the night before, Dareg
noticed that his own boots were about as far from being shiny as they could
get. They were old, worn, and had a few holes in them. Mainly at the edges
where the original stitching had failed. His new brown shirt and trousers were
nice though. Not grand things like what a prince would wear, but better than
the rags he'd been in. Not that he wasn't keeping the shirt that his mother had
made him. It was under the bucket he had. That way no one should accidently
toss it out. Eventually that would happen, he didn't doubt, but for now it
should work.

There was no one else there,
after all.

When he got to the ship, he
started to feel pretty nervous again. After all, the man from the day before
might think he was lazy, going back to bed like he had. For that matter, he
might not really be up yet. He'd asked for Dare to be back at first light, but
what counted as that to a person like him?

Well, he could just sit there and
wait then, if that was the case. Maybe even in the shade for part of the day,
given how huge the ship was.

Instead, the door on the side
opened again, leaving a hole there, before Dare got twenty feet away. When
Prince Gerent came out he was dressed differently. All in brown this time.
Looking a lot like how Dareg did, actually. Dressed to work for the day,
instead of go to a high party or celebration.

"Hey!" There was a
happy smile and a wave instead of a bow this time. In his left hand the man
carried a decent sized box which he lifted a bit. To show Dare, it seemed.
"I have the river, and some other things. We should set the tiles around
here first, and then walk to the wall river. It will be less work."

That made sense. Not that he knew
how to do that kind of thing. On the good side, Prince Gerent didn't seem to expect
him to have that down.

Dareg bowed, going even lower
this time.

"Prince Gerent."

The man did it back, smiling.
Matching him again.

"Prince Dareg. Really
though, I think we should be on a first name basis, don't you? Call me Ger.
Gerent works too. Do you go by Dareg?"

Laughing a bit at being called a
Prince, he nodded.

"That, or Dare, though no
one calls me much other than boy. I should get a title though, if I'm
going to be filling the Tam-units each day. They can call me Dirt Boy. That has
a ring to it, don't you think?"

The giant man, who was thin,
being stretched like he was, but powerful looking, shook his head.

"A bit filthy sounding. I
think Tam suggested Materials Management for you, yesterday before I left.
Sorry it took so long. I had to get Petra from work. She gets a few days off,
and wanted to spend them at our Harmony home."

That name was familiar, having
been in his lesson.

"Your wife? Conserina Ward?
She works at the Printer School, doesn't she?" Dare expected the man to be
awed by the depth of his information, but the man just nodded, happily.

"Yep, that's the one. You
really should come and meet her soon. Everyone is really excited you
know. Taman practically had to tie Tor down so he didn't come himself, you
know." There was a pause and then a look off at the horizon. "Where
do you want the river to flow?"

That hadn't come up before, but
the layout pretty clearly suggested the best path for it. That would be a loop
around the outside of the entire thing, rather than crisscrossing. That way the
giant ships, and Gerent did suggest that his was being kept small at the
moment, could set down without making a mess.

They took small plates of focus
stone out of the box and set them around the outside of the place, it was a
walk of many miles. There was nothing to mark them as special, other than their
milky white color and obviously cut edges. Looking at them, the prince winked.

"Once we turn the river on
they won't move. The weight of the water will hold them in place, more or less.
Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. Well, Tor would have come, but Tim figures
that the death plague will still be active for a few months. Or not. It's that
last bit that's keeping them all away. Tim will be coming soon, to check it all
out. If he doesn't die, then the others will come. Everyone wants to meet you.
Tiera wanted me to ask if you'd come for a visit soon? It doesn't have to be
today, but soon? If you get a chance. I know that Tam said you had a lot of
work here?"

They were walking toward the
Capital, and the large man stopped twice to put two of the little stone plates
down as they did it. Side by side, but about fifty feet apart, one on each side
of the focus stone road that led to the large North gate of the city. Just
outside the wall, he stopped and laid the last two, then moved to the one that
on the left as they faced the the smooth expanse.

"This is the tricky part. If
we did it right..." He tapped the thing firmly, and almost instantly a
line of water about three feet around flew at them. It was perfect, and very
clear, like the one above them around the Capital. The line moved fast, but not
more than they could see. It ran out, floating about five feet above the ground
the whole time, and came back at them a few minutes later.

Then it rose into the air and
merged with the other river, which had shrunk a bit past that point.

Gerent clapped a few times.

"Ha! We didn't even drown.
No massive holes were punched into the wall either. We win."

The City Guard at the gate looked
at the ramps of water, and seemed a bit scared at first, moving forward toward
them. Dareg got ready to run away, but Gerent was braver than that, and merely
waved.

"Hello! Just getting the
water in for the spaceport. We should have done this years ago, but we didn't
have anyone to run the thing. Just some High Servants. You know how they
are." Almost as if summoned, one of the two men from the day before came
through the gate. He noticed the tiny new floating river right off, and then
looked over at them. After a moment, he walked over, slowly.

Then he bowed to Ger.

"Prince Gerent. I'd heard that
this was coming, but... Well, we've all heard that before. Are you to be in
charge here then?" The man didn't rise after speaking. Not until Ger bowed
back, only going about a quarter of the way down. That got the city guard to go
wide eyed and bow himself, getting who was standing there.

So Dareg did as well. When in
doubt, you did what everyone else was. Everyone knew that.

When they were finally all
standing, the giant waved at him.

"Prince Dareg is seeing to
that for Harmony. By appointment of Queen Tiera, his Aunt."

The man in white blanched until
he nearly matched his robes.

"Prince? I..." He got
on his knees, and then laid flat on the ground. "Forgive me. I didn't
know. I..." He started to cry, which was a bit over the top for simply not
letting him book a trip to Harmony the day before. He'd already
apologized for tossing him out. Nearly as he'd done it, and then they'd
explained later. Kids had been going alone, and messing thing up on the Moon.
He got the idea, even if it hadn't been that great to hear at the time.

Dareg, feeling embarrassed, waved
his right hand.

"No issue. We should get
back. Now that we have water, I need to figure out some things. Like a
bathhouse, and restrooms. We're going to need to put some buildings up. Not
that I know how to do that." You could build with focus stone,
which would be the cheapest way. There was a lot of dirt in the world after
all. If he could find some gear for it.

The man in white, who was it
seemed, a High Servant, and not from Austra at all, stood, then bowed again,
which was odd.

"I could see to that? We,
the High Servants, had been thinking about doing some of that for a long time,
but didn't know if it would be allowed. We have some tools for it, I think?
They're kept at Tor's Palace. I can go and get them, if you wish?" He
seemed too close to panic really, which Dare couldn't see happening.

It was being called a Prince,
but that didn't make any sense, did it?

"Um, I'm a Prince now?"

The large man nodded, and started
walking back.

"Ninth in line for the
throne of Harmony. That will change when the rest of us start to have kids
though. You're also a Countier. County Baker, so you should get in touch with
your Count and make sure he has everything he needs. Nice man, Count Baker. I
have a communications device for you here, in the box. A tiny house as well.
They're very cute. These were designed by Taman, and not meant for people to
live in forever. For emergencies in her own land. She's the Ancient of Soam.
They have all you need, as long as you can get water in place. She was worried
that you might not like it. We can get you a full palace if you want? That will
probably cost in land rent. If you use this tiny one right, I bet you can set
it up on the edge of the platform, which will be free. It's part of the deal
that Veronica, Princess Veronica, put together when she set this place up for
us. There are no taxes on it. Technically it's owned by the King, which gets
around things like that nicely."

That was the name of the youngest
Noram Princess. It had been part of his schooling, so Dareg knew that one. He
even kind of knew what she looked like. From pictures. If they weren't
glorified to make her look better, she was one of the finest beauties in the
land. That was probably true, since the ones of Princess Karina made her look kind
of normal. Cute, but not like she was special or anything. Just healthy, and
happy seeming.

As they walked, Dare thought, the
whole thing not seeming real to him. Not yet. That Tor was his father, well,
that had been what he'd been told his whole life. Part of him had always
tried to deny it, so that he wouldn't be hurt when it turned out not to be
true. The other part had secretly dreamed of it as real. That his father was a
powerful wizard, and that one day he would be, too. For a long time that had
ridden with him. Before his mother died.

Now a bit of him kind of wanted
to blame the man for not having come to save him. Even then, he really couldn't
have. That had been part of his lessons in school as well. The Wizard Timon had
created a magical disease that would kill anyone that was immortal. It would
last for ten years, and then allow them, the ones that had left to go to the
Moon, to come back.

It had been the only way to stop
their old enemies, the mad Ancients, from killing them all. It was those people
that had brought the storms. The vast ones that had killed so many. They'd kept
the crops from growing right all the time by what they had done. Millions had
died from it. Nuclear weapons, things from the past, had been used. Giant
explosions that had changed everything, forever.

Dare pointed to his right.

"There are some good apples,
over that way. Some other fruit too, coming I think. Not ripe yet. By the big
palace over there?"

Gerent Lairdgren smiled at him,
and clapped him on the shoulder then.

"I need to go and see to
that. We should collect some of those. I planted the whole place over there.
The house belongs to Tim. You know, you could go live there if you want. He
won't mind."

Dareg shook his head a bit.

"No, thank you sir. Like you
said, I have enough going on here. I don't want to be too far away. Anyway, we
should get on that building, and the cleaning. I..." He looked at the
recently groveling man in white and smiled. "I don't think I got your
name?"

The man kept walking, and blushed
a bit.

"High Servant Straughan, Prince
Dareg."

"Call me Dare. Anyway, High
Servant Straughan and I need to get right on that. Maybe some of your friends
can come and help with the apples while we plan that out?"

Gerent smiled.

"Good idea. You can pass them
out in town. That's what they're there for. For everyone to share."

That was enough to get the man to
run away, which made the giant Prince smile and then sigh, like it was a real
thing and not a joke.

"Now we wait to see if he
went to set things in motion, or is just fleeing from the work. It can be hard
to tell with that type. Who we need for this is High Servant Erid... You
know... Here." They stopped walking, and the big man dug into the box he
was holding. Then he tapped on a small white rectangle for a while. When he was
done, that was passed over to him without explanation. Then a single finger
pointed at it.

"Tap that one. High Servant
Erid. He's the one you want."

Dare did, but felt like his
stomach was doing flips. He'd never met the man, and was just contacting him
like that, without permission. It was rude. Almost certainly.

After a moment a friendly looking
man, who seemed to be about thirty, but in that youthful looking noble way
which meant guessing his age would be hard to do, if the legends were correct.
He was mid-toned as far as his skin color went, and had brown hair. Blue eyes
though, which meant he was probably a noble in truth. Most of that kind had
light eyes.

"Good day? High Servant
Erid, what may I do for you?"

He felt like his tongue was glued
to the top of his mouth, but speaking was needed, so he pried it loose and
tried not to seem like a mental deficient.

"Hello! I'm Dareg Canton.
I'm putting up some buildings at the Capital spaceport? Some of your High
Servant friends offered to help, but it was suggested to me that you might be a
good person to get with on that?" He ran out of things to say, which
probably needed to be some kind of bribe, if he really wanted help.

"The spaceport? I can... It
will take me a few days to get there. I'm in Second City right now. I'll
attempt to be faster than that, however. Are you using magical dwellings or
focus stone? Well, wood would be possible, but the cost to have it shipped in
would be prohibitive." The man waited then.

Dare wondered how he could look
at his face like that and not ask if his parents knew what he was up to. He
wasn't doing anything of the sort though. Just watching him as if he were a
grown man. Which he technically was. One that had a job to do, and needed real
help with it.

"We can do both, but the
plan to start with is focus stone. I was thinking of a bath house, a tavern,
restrooms and the like."

The High Servant, bits of his own
white outfit showing at the neck, nodded.

"I'll put in a requisition
with the Commander. Sir Karen Derring. She has contacts as far as the magical
side goes. You might want an inn, too. Are you planning to run these Harmony
fashion?"

"Um, you lost me there. What
do you mean by that?"

"We don't require coin here.
For anything. It works, because we have a lot of magic around. With the
spaceport you have two options. A lot of people that work in space won't have a
lot of coin, but people there still need to be paid. Unless you provide
everything they need. There's some risk to that. Economic balances. So, there
are some choices to be made there."

Dareg had heard that one already.
His friend, Tam-unit, had to have him tell her what was allowed that way, which
meant it was important not to let the economics of the situation skew to far
that way. Thinking for a bit, he started to nod.

"We'll get people to pay,
but set the rates low. That way more people will use them. Copper a cup ale,
use the bathhouse for free. Stay at the good inn for a copper, but in the low
one without paying anything." That meant two inns, but he could work on
it.

Erid, the High Servant, smiled at
him as if he'd said something brilliant.

Chapter two

The little house that Prince
Gerent set up was really nice. It didn't look like a place a person would live
really, being very unique on the outside. It was shaped a bit like a pea pod, with
lumps in several places. The color was nice though, being a combination of
black and white. That changed as he watched it, which got him to blink.

Gerent waved at it.

"It doesn't change shape or
anything, but inside it has a lot to offer. Let's get water for it. Touch the
sigil there? Then point at the new river there." He pointed himself, to
explain what he meant.

It was really simple to do. Once
a thin line, about an inch wide, was flying through the air Gerent waved toward
the round shaped, funny looking door.

"You should go in. I would,
but it really was designed for people a bit smaller than I am now."

Without thinking about it, and
forgetting for a moment that the man was a Prince, if on a different world, Dareg
laughed. It wasn't a mean thing, and got a smile from the larger man.

"When was that, when you
were three?"

"Oh, no." The giant
glanced away then, looking at the flowing water that hovered over the ground,
thanks to magic. "I was a midget. Until about nine years ago now. I mean,
really little." A hand was held down toward the floor, a good head under Dare's
own. "Tiny. Tor made it so I would grow into what I should have been. So,
for most of my life I could have lived in something like this pretty easily.
Good point though, I should be grateful for what I have."

Dare looked at the man, who
suddenly seemed a lot more pensive. He hadn't suggested anything like that, had
he? True, he'd let his mouth run and made things awkward, but there wasn't a
lot of way around that kind of thing. The man was over eight feet tall. No one
looking at him for the first time would think midget.

"Sorry. Not trying to bring
things down. This place looks great." It was an effort to change the
topic, since whatever had happened in the other man's life, it had affected him
enough to come out after a few simple words. That was the kind of thing that he
could understand though. Being different was hard. For him it was being too
good looking, but it was still a challenge. Not the same thing, but a way to
see into what another person might be thinking or feeling.

Not that he was going to talk
about it. Being too nice looking wasn't anyone's idea of a hard time.

Ger shook a little, in a playful
fashion and waved to the door.

"Don't mind me, this is for
you."

The inside of the place, which
was about twelve feet long on the outside, and ten wide, had low ceilings really.
About seven feet, which was enough for him, but not for the man with him to be
comfortable. At five-six it was possible to manage however.

The thing wasn't big, but it had
a single bed in it, which was deliciously soft to the touch, with fuzzy
blankets that felt sensuous against his palms when he rubbed over the top one.
There were windows too, which weren't really visible from the outside. It took
a few seconds, but he understood the basic idea. From the inside, he could see
out, but when he looked at a wall, the thing would turn black on the outside.
Not a lot of light was really coming in, which was why the ceiling was glowing.
It matched daylight roughly, so he hadn't noticed it at first.

There was a sigil, a ball with
arrows coming out of it that was part of the wall by the bed. When he touched
it, the light above him changed. It took a bit to figure out, but he tapped it
off, then back on not too much later.

Toward the side that was away
from the outside door was another one. It led, he discovered, to a tiny
restroom, with a shower right next to it. No tub, but they'd have a bathhouse
for that. There was already a bar of soap right there, too. Put in place by magic,
right inside the stall where the water would pour out. There were sigils for it
all, but he understood that quickly enough. That meant, given how tiny it was,
that he got outside about five minutes later.

"Thanks for bringing me
this. I really like it. You'll tell..." The words were so unfamiliar they
pretty much stopped in his throat. Choking on them a bit, he spit the words
out, finally. "You'll make sure Aunt Taman knows that I like it? It beats
curling up under a bush." That sounded ungrateful, but before he could get
to that, Gerent laughed.

"Doesn't it though? It's a
virtual palace, for one person. Running water, a kitchen, a chair by a window.
It will heat and cool itself, too. You still have to get food in, but that's
why you have a job, right? Oh... Clothing." He started to dig in the box,
which was nearly empty, or should have been.

Dare smiled and looked down at
what he was wearing.

"The Tam-unit made this for
me. It's pretty close to the best I've ever owned." That was true, but the
man just nodded and kept digging.

"It is pretty nice.
You should wear that kind of thing when you work, but what if you get called in
to see the King? Or the Queen? That could happen. She loves Tor, and you
look a lot like he used to. Before he got taller. Technically, in some weird
way I never understood, she's kind of his daughter? Tor is a clone of
the old Count Lairdgren. The Green man. Like the legend? Anyway, the Queen was
really his daughter, due to a trick by someone else, and no one knew about it,
so he, Tor, ended up becoming her lover. She's a noble, so didn't really care
about that kind of thing. Tor was raised in a tiny forest village. His
family ran the bakery there."

It was a lot of information to
dump on him, but Dare tried to just drink it in. It might be important some
day.

Then he shook his head.

"Except the part about me
being called to the palace like that. I should be fine with this."

A large hand came toward him
then, holding out two amulets. Both on stone, which was expensive, since that
meant really powerful and long lasting work.

"Clothing and a shield. This
is a Tim class three. Once you have it on, not a lot of people in the
world will be able to do much to you. Austran missiles will still kill you, and
from what I hear you should stay away from some of the larger nobles if they go
into a combat rage. Countier Ross, I think was a name I heard for that. Now
there's a big man. The other is a clothing amulet. I can show you? You'll need
to step inside though, if you don't want to strip out here. Then just put them
both on and tap the sigil on this one."

The man, his uncle, if by
adoption, didn't watch him do it. The funny thing was that, when he hit the
sigil, he ended up dressed almost exactly like he'd started. In plain brown, top
and bottom. If anything, the shirt and trousers were coarser feeling than what
he'd had on.

His boots were better now. It
felt funny, because the ground had moved under him when the thing was started.
That was just the soles growing under him however. When he walked out, leaving
his clothing where it had fallen on the floor, Dare smiled. Free magic
clothing, was still free. It was probably made new each time he turned the
device off, too. So it wouldn't need to be laundered.

"Oh, we also need a place to
do laundry. Not everyone has magic clothing." It felt a bit silly to say,
but Gerent seemed to get the idea.

"A real point. So, if you
close your eyes and try to think about what you want to be wearing, the
clothing will change to become that. I always find it easiest to think of
things that I've seen others in, and then imagine being in them. Once you have
that it isn't hard to change the colors and all that. Go ahead."

In the last days he'd seen
exactly three different outfits on people. The one that Gerent had on the night
before, the High Servants robe-like tunic and trousers, and what he had on at
the moment. Not wanting to get on Gerent's bad side if he could help it, he
closed his eyes and dressed himself like one of the men in white.

The clothing shifted a bit,
feeling almost like someone was tugging on it gently. Then he made the whole
thing a nice deep blue color, changing the gold metal trim on the sleeves for
something closer to copper.

When he opened his eyes he didn't
know what to expect, but it honestly wasn't all that bad. The boots on his feet
were still brown, but by concentrating he made them a nice shining copper
color, too. Like they were made of metal.

Prince Gerent nodded at him when
he saw it.

"Now you look like you're in
charge. Possibly a bit deranged, but no one said you had to be sane to lead.
Thankfully. Can you imagine that? We'd never get anything done. Now, we
need to go over what's on your shield. It can do more than just stop people
from hitting you with rocks and sticks."

He nodded, knowing that one.

"These can fly, right? I've
seen that, a few times. People floating through the air on their own."

"The old style ones did
that. These will too, but you can go much faster. It isn't a jump ship, but in
a pinch you could fly this into orbit without it being a problem. We can try
that later. I never have myself. But these are better for space work, in
theory. Really, if you get a chance you should go to one of the space stations
and see if they'll let you in. I probably won't have time. Unless you want to
come with me? We can probably find someone else to take over here."

Shaking his head, and not wanting
to seem ungrateful, Dare was at a loss for words.

"So, these fly?"

They did, and on mental commands,
which were really simple to use, once they were explained. They could even be
used as Tor-shoes. That was just hovering a little over the ground so you
weren't really flying. Gerent showed him how to make that work.

"You have to be careful
though, since these can go pretty fast. Enough to kill a person if they don't
have a good shield on if you hit them. No flying over the city here either. Are
you going to have the same rule for your space base?" There was a look,
like that only made good and proper sense.

"I think so. I'd hate for anyone
to be hit by a ship. Especially since I'm pretty certain that I'm the
one that has to scoop them up. This will really let me fly into space? Or go
other places? It took me months to walk here from Cannor. Nearly five,
and we have really good roads."

"Yep. If you do fly up
there, make sure you use your communications device to get in touch with Tim so
he can get feedback on the design. I know that it's been bothering him that he
hasn't been able to test it yet. It's remarkably hard to find people willing to
go into space without a ship. I know Alice wants get a group of people trained
up for that. If it works, you'll want to get in touch with her about it. Just
cover the compact first. She won't trust you. You're too good looking."

That one normally went the other
way around, but he simply nodded and took that in.

"Alice? I... Don't think I
know her." Which was true, literally, but he meant that her name hadn't
come up before.

"Right. Alice Orange, the
Orange Ancient. Head of Space Fleet. One of my girlfriends. I have
several." Then he waited, probably for the judgment to come. How it was
wrong for him to have more than one woman.

Which was true. If he
wasn't going to share. That would be obnoxious.

"Got it. So, fly into space,
get with Tim and then Alice." He smiled, because it sounded impossible,
but he had the amulet for it, so of course he was going to use the thing. So
far it seemed really simple to use too. That would probably fade when he got into
space itself, and was soiling his trousers three shades of brown, but until then
he liked the idea.

He didn't mention it, because he
really wasn't certain if the man was joking with him about it or not. He kept
smiling, and that meant he was either trying too hard to get Dare to like him,
or it was him being made fun of for being so gullible. True, both of those
could come from a place of kindness, but that didn't mean he wanted to be
the fool, did it? So he kept his mouth shut, and started walking with the man
that had claimed to be his uncle, then given him loads of really expensive
gifts.

Gerent took a deep breath as they
closed with his ship.

"You should call Tor. I know
that might be hard, but this is all new to him, too. He's really nice, so don't
let that scare you. If you need anything from Harmony..." Then instead of
saying he could call on him, which was expected, the man slapped his arm.
"Then fly there? Tim isn't certain that these shields will make the trip
in time, so if you want to ever try it, you have to just go, and not hesitate.
Full speed right at the moon. I wouldn't do it, but I bet he would, if
he could come back here. Soon enough they'll be back. It's a good thing, but
don't wait for that." Then he kept on walking, as if he weren't trying
to get Dareg to do foolish things by mentioning them.

It was tempting to go right then,
but he'd need at least a little time off first. Not that he was being paid to
work, but if he had a crew of people coming in, then he did need to stand ready
to help them. Plus he had to make certain his Tam-units were full.

The man stopped and smiled at
him, then patted his shoulder a little awkwardly.

"I need to take off soon,
and go get with Petra. Don't be a stranger, right? I know this has to be scary,
having a new family, and it took me a long time to learn, but once you're one
of them, the Baker family will act like it. I mean that. If you called
up Tor and asked for a million gold coins, he might ask why you wanted
them, but he'd probably give them to you. Tiera... Well, I imagine she'll
eventually call on you. Probably to get you to work for her. You have to now.
It's a law." He laughed and then shook his head. "Seriously. She made
a law saying all her family members had to help her out when they could. A lot
of them ignore her, law or not."

Then, as if it were even close to
enough information, the man walked away. Dare didn't follow him. It was time to
find something else to do. He did wave at the man when he turned, halfway down
the street, and got one in return.

After that, not knowing what
anyone would expect of him, he got his bucket, shovel, and old clothing, and
then took the time to refill the Tam-unit he'd met first. It was the only one
that had been used so far. Or so he thought.

The little blue box showed the
now familiar girl again. She looked at his own top, which was a similar color,
and he realized, cut, and smiled.

"We match! Anyway, can you
fill up the unit near the South side? We've had ten people in using it so far
today. I think it must be a combination of your new river, along with Prince
Gerent having come in. He does a lot of the transfers for immigration. The next
batch isn't due to go out for a week however."

"Got it. I'll do that now.
Can you keep me up on who's using what? Also, can you put a little sign on that
says trash should go into your hopper?" He doubted that would be
happening, but the box just giggled at him.

Then, in nice, rather bold,
handwriting, the word trash, along with an arrow pointed the right way appeared
on her side, and the front of the unit.

"Like that?" She
sounded a bit smug, but she really did have it about right.

"That will do. Can the other
Tam-units do that, too?" It would take a while to walk around and ask
them, but the screen girl nodded.

"Done already. We only have
the one mind, more or less. So, do up that one unit? Please?" She drew the
last word out, making it seem like she had to beg for something that basic.

"Nothing is too good for my
Tam-friend. I'm going now." He took his old clothing with him, and did
indeed see people walking along carrying bags and boxes with them. One man even
had a fully loaded donkey cart, complete with the animal. He was eating an
apple, which the back was filled with. Slightly green looking ones.

"Say there son, can you tell
me if a ship is going off to Harmony soon? I was hoping to sell this load to
them. Stole em' fair from the back orchards over yon." He wasn't an old
man, being about forty or so, but not much taller than Dareg was.

He snorted a bit, then nodded.

"I don't know where the one
ship we have is going, but you might want to avoid it. The Captain,
Prince Gerent? He owns those orchards. I think the plan was to have High
Servants pick those and give them away in the city?"

The man made a face then and
shook his head.

"I best get back and sell
these fast then. You calling in the Guard on me?" The guy really seemed
worried about the idea. There was a fine tremble to his hands actually, that
hadn't been there a few moments before.

"Nope. Sell them for
half price and we won't have any problems with it. You might want to hurry
anyway, because who knows what those High Servants will be getting on to? If
you do it fast, you can make some coin off of it before the market drops
suddenly." He certainly didn't know if that was going to really happen,
not personally.

The cart turned, and the donkey
left a mess in the middle of the focus stone road, which Dare, looking around
covertly, deposited in the Tam-unit. She didn't care what was in there,
and what the public didn't know about where their food came from wasn't going
to get him into trouble.

Still, there was more than that
needed, so he took his time and started to really clean the place up, finally
making a pile of things to be used later behind the little focus stone building.
That was the only place to hide anything from view really.

It was kind of interesting for
him, given that several people came to his front door when he took his lunch
inside. Most of them just wanted to know when the next Harmony trip was coming up.
One of them, a woman that was dressed in scanty red and black clothing, with
tall whore boots on asked if he wanted to spend some time with her.

Not being a moron, he got the
idea.

"No coin. Though in a few
weeks you might want to come back. We're going to be setting some things up
here, like a tavern and a few inns. There isn't a lot of traffic yet, but I
hear that might be picking up, so if you wanted to start a place, no one would
stop you." As long as she was licensed. Possibly even if she weren't, since
as far as he knew that kind of thing would have to go through him for the space
base.

"That sounds like an idea!
I've been looking for a better situation than what I have in the city. Not
saying anything against it, but a port is a better location. Horny sailors like
to fuck. I'm betting that goes for space sailors. How long do you think that
stuff will take?"

Even if it was a bit rude, Dare
ate part of the sandwich that he'd gotten from the Tam-unit and thought for a
bit.

"Call it two weeks? If you want
a house though, like a real place to live, you'll have to build it yourself.
That, or get the High Servants to do it. I don't think they're celibate, so
that could work? Trade with them for it?" The woman wasn't all that good
looking, being a little square and blocky around the edges, but she sank to her
knees anyway, after pulling the door shut.

"I could... Show you how
good I am? It never hurts to get in good with the boss, does it?"

Which, honestly, he figured was
the real case. It was tempting, but before he could do more than stand up, his
trousers getting tighter in the front, a knock came at his door.

When he stared at the thing he
could see that it was a City Guardsman, along with two other men dressed up in
all red and white. They each had funny round hats, too.

"You might as well stand up.
Apparently I can't have a sandwich, or a woman, in peace." He faked
a sigh, but waited for her to find her feet before opening the door.

"Hello?" They were
probably there to arrest him for messing with the base. That, or helping to put
in the new river. The man in front, who was taller than he was by ten inches or
so, faked a smile for him however.

"Good day, sir. We were
instructed to come out and see what, exactly is going on here?"

"Ah. Well, I was just
about to get to enjoy a woman for the first time in my life, and then finish my
luncheon. I suppose I can walk you through things first." Looking
at the woman, who had nice black curly hair, he sighed. True, her face was long
and a bit horse-like, but she was still better than the next woman that had
wanted to spend time with him. That had been a sixty year old farm wife who was
deaf in one ear and who had kept pinching his behind. Even that had been
tempting, but her husband hadn't gone for the idea, and had run him off. Good
naturedly, however. The man hadn't really scolded him for it, just asked him
not to tempt his woman away.

Looking at this one now, he
really wondered if he could get her to wait. That didn't seem likely given how
nervous she seemed around the Guards. Dare got it. These men could beat you,
rape you, and then claim that you were the one at fault. At least that was a
thing that used to happen he bet. Now they all had to answer under truth magic.
A lot of formally bad people had probably changed their jobs in the last years,
over that.

"I suppose I should show you
all around. Miss, would you like to come?" Turning to the men he shrugged.
"She's looking to set up a business here. Things should be picking up a
bit. So, starting here. This is my place." Tapping the door frame as he
left got everyone to follow along with him. The three large guardsmen had to
move for him to do that. They didn't, he noticed, have horses with them for the
trip. It wasn't a short walk, but only a few miles, so it probably wasn't all
that bad.

Outside he pointed at the little
river.

"Thanks to this we can have
water in to replenish the ships, as well as for the restrooms and bath houses.
We're planning an inn, and a tavern." That reminded him of something, so
he looked at the one that seemed to be in charge. He had gold braid on his
shoulders at least and the others didn't. That looked pretty fancy to Dare.
"Would it be possible to get patrols out this way?"

The man, who had a slick looking
brown mustache seemed taken aback by the idea. Only for a moment however.

"We could put in a form for
it, sir. That would have to be selected by the commander, but it seems
reasonable, if we're being invited. It wouldn't take but a few extra moments
for a flying patrol or two to stop by for a look around, I'd dare say."

Behind him one of the other men
nodded.

"Especially if you have
girls working out here. Do we get a discount?" He was talking to the woman
behind him, who looked away, frightened of the man, even if he was only
flirting a bit.

That got him waved at by Dareg.

"I imagine so, but it would
have to be while off duty. It should probably be pretty quiet, over all, but we'll
find some reason for people to want to come out here." That was for the
Guards, but the girl, whose name he'd never gotten, nodded a bit then.

"Like anything else. Give
people enough entertainments, and they'll come. Set up some gambling, girls,
and liquor. That will get bodies around. Maybe some singers and dancers?"

He looked at her, and nodded, not
even really certain what the heck she was talking about.

"Good. We'll talk about that
later? I need to get some paper so I can draw out plans and write this all up.
Nothing illegal." Again that was for the men, who seemed well enough
pleased about the idea.

It didn't take long for him to
show them the entire place, though the lady did make a few suggestions, such as
where to put some things. The idea would be, they decided, to have it all as
close to the Capital as possible, and outside of the base itself, rather than
inside the river. That would make it less likely for people to be crushed by
incoming craft.

After about half an hour of this,
the guardsmen said their goodbyes, promised to write up the request for
patrols, and then all flew away.

That got a gasp from the whore.

Which reminded him of something.
Really two things.

"What's your name?"

"Stara. What's yours?"

"Dareg. Good, now, you were
about to bribe me? I'm almost certain that was your plan. A very good
one, too. I mean, I've never done anything with a woman, so it seems like a
pretty good way to get my attention. Not that you really have to, since you
have some good ideas, but if you want..."

The girl laughed then. She was
younger seeming when she did that. Like a person that was in their early
twenties.

"Come on then. I can earn my
place here. With ideas too, not just my mouth. You seem like a fun time,
so let's?"

They went inside together then.
While she might not have been the best looking person in the whole world, she
was talented at her craft, which Dareg quickly realized. No more than ten
minutes later she was cleaning up, and getting back to work.

Making suggestions. Pretty good
ones.

"I could stay on here? Sleep
on the floor while things get built? It's a lot to ask of you, but I'll do you
each day, for rent on it? That way I can get in early, before someone else
does. Maybe even work it out so that I won't have to whore anymore. It seemed
like a good idea at the time, when things got hard, but now... Well, I guess my
parents would be happier if I wasn't doing it with half the city."

That Stara, the street girl, had
two parents was kind of amazing to him. If she were his daughter, she wouldn't
have been having to make her way in the world like that. Not that he was going
to say no to her staying there, if he got to do things with her. It was a
pretty fair trade, to his mind. Especially since he would have been willing to
share just for the asking.

"We can set that up. Now, I
need to get to..." Honestly, he realized he didn't have much to do. Gerent
had left, as seen by the absence of his craft, and all the Tam-units were full,
or nearly so, for the time being. "Actually I think I need to try and fly
into space without a ship."

That line should have gotten a laugh,
but the girl just nodded at him, like it made sense in some obscure and strange
fashion.

"How long will you be gone?
I need to know, so I can go through your things, and see if there's anything to
steal."

That got him to snort.

"I wouldn't bother. I'm
taking all the good stuff with me but this house, and I bet that hanging around
here will get you a lot more than that would. We even have a shower, and a
Tam-unit right outside that will make food for you. Good stuff, too. Just make
sure you fill up the hopper when you're done. Throw some trash or rocks
in."

That meant making a trip out to
the thing with her, and helping her get a plate of food and a frosty cold
beverage that didn't have any alcohol in it, but could be made that way, if he
changed the restrictions on the device.

Which he wasn't going to do right
then.

"So, if you can work this
out, you should be able to see that you have a pretty good thing lined up here.
Don't ruin it." Then, using the mental commands that Gerent had taught
him, he rose straight up into the air.

Fast. Faster than he'd ever seen
anything go in his own life. The shield kicked on instantly, when he started
flying away, so a few minutes later, still able to breathe just fine, he found
himself very high above the Earth.

That got him to grin.

"So, not afraid of
high places? Good to know." Then he looked around for a while. The Moon
did catch his eye as he traveled around the planet, being above him and a bit
to his right. That wasn't where he wanted to go for the time being however. Ger
had suggested a space station. He thought he saw one, traveling around the
planet really quickly, it was big, like a giant version of Gerent's ship. For a
while he followed it, trying to see if there was a door that could be used.

Like everyone in Noram he knew
what space was, and had a good concept of vacuum. What he didn't know was how
to get inside the all gray station in front of him. Finally he found what
looked like a window, and flew over to it, seeing people inside of a little
room. This was near the bottom of the whole thing, and inside, standing
suddenly, there was a rather nice looking young woman. She had short blonde
hair, and smiled at him, even waving back when he did it. Then she gestured for
him to come closer. Like she wanted to tell him something.

Probably to go away, but he did it, and
found that after a few seconds a room formed around him. There was, after a few
moments, a clicking sound, which shouldn't have been there in a vacuum, and
then the wall itself opened up for him. Gravity tugged at him, letting him fall
to the floor when he let himself move a bit closer.

The door was large enough for an
adult giant, even though he wasn't one of those, so he ducked his head into the
place. Then he tried to smile, happily.

"Hello! Is this the space
station?"

The woman, who was dressed in a
nice purple, black and gold outfit, shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. This is
Noram One. The stations are all a bit further out. If you come to the window
you can see one of them, I think. Over here?" She pointed over to her
right, and he did indeed see the thing. It was really different than what he
was on.

"I see. Well, this wasn't
what I had planned. I was just testing my new shield. It worked pretty
well, but the pilot has a lot left to learn, I guess." After that
he was at a loss for what to say. On the one hand he was an idiot that had
gotten lost on his first time into space. On the other, he'd just flown,
without a craft at all, into the great black void.

It seemed to him that neither of
those things was lost on the lady there.

"Captain Gemma Cannor.
Conserina Second, Cannor. Not to be picky, but most people call ahead before
they visit."

Her smile was friendly, possibly
even kind, so he bowed, going low, like he would for the King himself. She was
the Captain after all. Also the Conserina of his home county. That pretty much
meant he worked for her, more or less. Worse, it meant she sort of owned him,
after a fashion. He didn't mention that part.

"Um, I'm Dareg Canton."
The rest of it stuck in his throat, seeming like a lie. The kind that could
have you killed just for uttering it. Still, he'd been assured it was true by
Gerent, and he was a Prince. "Um. Prince Dareg, of Harmony. Ninth
for that. Countier Seven, Baker... I think. There might be one for Lairdgren
too, but I forgot it. It wasn't that high of a number."

That got the girl to make a face
at him, but she didn't call him a liar. Not directly.

"I've never heard of you,
and several of the Baker's are friends of mine. Close ones. Explain. Please,
I mean, in case I don't have to strip you and toss you out the air lock."
There was a bit of steel to the words, but she didn't start hitting and neither
did the people with her.

Dare smiled, trying not to die in
the moment.

"It... My father is the
Wizard Tor. I'm a bastard, but that's what my mother used to tell me. The other
day I met this Tam-unit, and she got some kind of scan or reading from me, that
said it was true, so she called up the real Wizard Tam, and that one
sent Prince Gerent to give me some things. I'm kind of in charge of the Capital
spaceport in Noram?" After a few seconds, the woman unclenched her right
fist, and nodded.

Then she moved away, and started
to pace a little.

"We need to confirm this. I don't
want to call you a liar, so I'm sort of stuck here, aren't I? We're in space,
but on a Noram vessel, so our laws apply. If you're lying, then I can't let you
go. If you just told me the truth, then I could very well swing, for even
questioning it. This isn't how I planned to spend my evening." She
glared at him a bit, but smiled, too. "Granted, you do look a lot
like him. So, what do you suggest we do?"

Dating came to mind. Sure he had
a woman in his little house already, but this tall lady was a lot finer
seeming. At least if she didn't have to kill him.

"I'm supposed to get with
Tim Baker and report this? I've never spoken to him before, so he might tell me
to get lost, but that could work?" Or have him killed. It wasn't bothering
Gerent, or Tor, however. Other than that he'd have to go to Taman, being the
one he was closest too, thanks to her devices.

She waited, which was for him to
pull out his communications device and do that, he realized after a few
seconds. Rather than just making eyes at him like he'd thought at first.

It took a bit for him to find the
right name, and when he tapped it, he didn't know what to expect. A face
appeared in his palm however, and while it wasn't identical to his own, it did
share enough similarity that he could kind of see the resemblance. They were
about the same in coloration, and while his own hair was a bit longer, the
other man had a few more years. Not by a lot.

"Timon Baker. Are you Dareg?"
The words were polite, but there was something off about the phrasing. Like
he'd started to simply announce that he was Dareg, but then changed it, so to
make himself seem more conversational.

"That's right. Prince Gerent
said that I should fly into space, to one of the stations, but I missed and
ended up in a ship. Noram One? The Captain, Conserina Cannor, is debating
asking me out on a date, I think, versus tossing me outside without a shield if
I'm lying to her about the latest turn of things." Looking at her he
grinned. "I'm kidding of course. There was no mention of a date.
So, if you know the story of your new bastard relation, you might want to
mention it to her?"

"No." The word was a
bit soft, and followed by a laugh, as Gemma glared at him a little harder.
"You aren't a bastard. Tor put the paperwork in already, both in
Harmony and in Noram, with King Richard. Who, by the way, wrote the official
documents up himself, with his own hands. Tor did it on our side here. No
matter what else has really happened, you're legitimate, as of this morning.
Really, given the wording, you always were. Now, back to the more
important things. How did the new shield handle? What kind of time did it take
you to get up there?"

That made him smile, since it was
clear that the man was trying to make him feel at ease. Not even just to
protect him from the might of Gemma, who seemed surprised for some unknown
reason. Which, if he thought about it, probably had to do with him talking
about dates like he had, not who he was. A liar wouldn't have called Tim the Wizard
in the first place. Hence her reaction when the fellow had said no. Clearly Dareg
at least believed in himself, or he would have made up a different lie. Or not
lied at all, just giving his name. That probably would have stopped some
problems, he realized.

"The controls are really
easy to use. Here I thought that flying sounded hard, too. So great work on
that. The speed? I was at the spaceport, and I think all the way into a real
orbit about two minutes later? I went straight up. The longest part of it was
trying to get in, but like the Captain said, most people call ahead first. So
that one is my fault." Then he looked at the man's picture closely, trying
to figure out anything he could about him.

There wasn't much to be seen. He
was clean, and tidy. His clothing was nice, and probably made of magic, like
his own. All black, or at least the top part of it was. In the background there
was a woman he thought. It was hard to tell, because all he could see was a
black line with part of a hand sticking out from the sleeve on the bottom. The
other thing he noticed was that the man on the other end was doing the same
thing to him. Observing intensly.

Which caused them both to smile
at the same time.

Timon, his uncle, nodded then.

"Good. We need to test it
out for a longer trip. It should take you about a day to go from the port to
Harmony. Twenty-two hours. Can we schedule that? No one has ever tried a trip
like that before. Not alone. So, no food, which is fine. No restroom, so don't
drink too much first. The air will hold for nearly two days if you don't vent
it. After that, you'll start to use up the dead skin, bacteria, and eventually
your hair to make more. That will get you to about three days. After that
you'll start dying. Dissolving." He grinned, and then looked away, toward
the person standing there. She was whispering something.

The man laughed though, a bit
darkly.

"I'm just telling the truth.
He can make the trip. It will be hard. Most wouldn't even try it, but that's why
it's worth doing. I need to know if it can be done. So, in two days?" That
was for him, he figured.

Thinking about it he shook his
head.

"I don't know. High Servant
Erid is supposed to come in a few days, to help with some building projects.
That's a lot of time to be gone like that. You know, if I don't die, trying. Of
course if that happens my troubles are over, so it isn't worth worrying
about. I guess? I'll get in touch right before I leave? Right now I need to get
back. I left a whore in my little house, and don't want her to realize she
could just steal the whole thing. I'm letting her sleep on my floor in return
for sex." It was just the truth, and he didn't feel embarrassed by the
idea, himself. It was just good bartering really. They both got something they
wanted.

A new face, the woman from the
side, ducked in then, right in front of Tim.

"Really? Finally, a Baker
relation that isn't afraid of sex? Good. We can get together then, I think. The
blood lines should work out for that really well. After all, I got married to
you Tim, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Instead of screaming at the
woman, Timon laughed.

"True. Though given that
Lairdgren and Tor were so close biologically, and my mother was essentially the
gray lady, that means that... Well, functionally, any of my sisters or brothers
are fair game for you too, Dareg. Not Tor, but the rest should be fine. On the good
side, that will make Tor's head explode. You already know Taman? You should
meet Tess, too. Great girls." He smiled, but was pushed a bit by the
woman.

The one that was apparently his
own slatternly aunt.

"You're mean, Tim." The
words weren't totally playful, from the way they sounded.

Her husband smiled a little
larger, and let it go sly.

"I know. But the only person
that it would bother in the whole world would be Tor. I'm not wrong, either,
about the bloodlines. You weren't raised with any of them either, so there's no
reason in two, or even three, worlds for you to hold to social convention that
way. I'll draw up a chart to explain it when you get here." Then the
device went blank.

Dareg kept looking at it for a
bit, then turned to Captain Gemma.

"It is so much easier
to meet women as a Prince than it was as a wandering orphan, you know
that?"

Instead of making fun of him, she
winked, and patted his right shoulder. She was bigger than he was, but didn't
seem to mind that. Not if he had her expression down correctly, which he did.
He was good at that kind of thing. It had saved his life more than once.

"If you want sex on tap, you
should try being a woman. Tim can set you up for that. Anyway. We're not
scheduled to go back to Noram for three weeks. You are, of course, welcome to
wait here. Or we could call space fleet and see if they can pick you up?"
She seemed to mean it.

Which made no sense whatsoever.

"Or I can just fly back. It
sounds fun to me." It really did. For a moment he could nearly envision
the Earth coming directly for him. Right before he stopped dead, hovering in
the air. Magic was such a wonder that way.

Rather than tell him no, the girl
nodded.

"Well, that tells me a lot
about you, doesn't it? Only the insane do space-drops. Not that I'll
stop you. Just try not to die? That would make me look bad, and I have
to answer to King Richard personally. On the good side, that means you have two
whole days to fix that hellhole people call a spaceport before you leave. What
are the plans there?" She sounded interested, and for some reason the men
and women around her did, one of them, a dark haired woman who was clearly a
noble of some type being tall and having blue eyes to go with her dark skin,
smiled at him.

"A real bath house?
The food here on N-One isn't bad, but I miss having real people around.
Entertainment sounds nice, too. I could use a decent lay as well. We aren't
allowed to have relations on board. I get edgy though after a while, if all I
get is my hand."

Dareg could understand that, and
the rest of the people nodded along, so he did too.

"Well, if any of you can
think of anything you want in a facility like that, that's you understand,
legal? We'll try to get it in. It will probably take a while. You're coming in
three weeks? We might, possibly, have the worst of the trash taken care of by
then." It was a lot to promise if he had to do all the work himself.

Then, as if it weren't just as
crazy as jumping from a ship to the Earth, the Captain pushed him toward the
wall he came in from.

"Take care then, Prince Dareg.
Get back safe and work hard. I vote for the tavern first, if anyone
cares?"

Then she built a little room on
the far side, and he activated his shield, to catch the air before it was taken
from it. It had to be about preventing that from happening, didn't it? He could
hear a hiss, that eventually faded. That told him he was right. Then the room
vanished, letting him get back.

It was, he found, extremely
different dashing toward the planet, rather than away from it. The other
way had been fast, but kind of boring really. Mentally interesting, but there
hadn't been a lot to see at first. Going down, flying as fast as he could
toward the surface was much better. His heart sped up, and palms began to
sweat, just a little. Not that they had time for that really.

At about a thousand feet up, just
outside the port itself, near his little pod house, he stopped dead. Then
drifted down over the course of a few minutes time. Easy. The whole thing only
lasted a few minutes too, which meant he could probably go anywhere he wanted
then. On or off the Earth. Maybe not Mars, since that was a long way off, but
that was a lot more places left open than his feet could carry him to.

While his little pod house was
still there, his new friend, Stara, was gone. There was no note or anything,
and when Dare looked around, which didn't take long, he couldn't find her.
After all, the entire port had two places something as large as a person could
hide. His space, in the pod palace, or the focus stone High Servant building.
It was a little sad, since there was a lot they could have done together. Then
again for all he knew she'd just gone into the Capital to try and set up some
acts.

Maybe she'd gotten what she'd
come for? Which, if that wasn't sex with him, or that mouth sex that they'd
had, he couldn't guess at. For a moment nothing came to him, and then he
figured it out. She'd come to him, to honestly see about robbing him. There had
just been nothing worth taking, so she left. That didn't leave him feeling good
about the whole thing.

Still, it was a lesson for him,
wasn't it? Some people were just going to want to use you in life. Most of
them, really. Whores were, in the main, honest people, he was willing to bet.
They didn't lie about what they were doing, they just provided the service. It
did explain why the lady had been so worked up around the Guardsmen, didn't it?

Friendless now or not, which he
wasn't, still having his small army of Tam-pals around, Dare checked the whole
thing out. There was no one there, at the moment, other than a few people who
were sitting, and waiting for something or another to happen. The High Servants
weren't in their hut either. That probably meant they were trying to gather
those apples for Gerent. They were supposed to be very hard working after all.
Legendary about it, from what little he'd heard.

Spurred on by their good example
and having a few hours of daylight left, he started working on the litter and
waste problem. That mainly had him making four large piles of things, not
having anyplace better for it to go. It wasn't until he went back to his pod
house, which still looked neatly white and black, that he learned a new trick.

Tam-unit clued him in.

"On ships they store waste
as blocks of stone. If you want, we could do that? That would look nicer
anyway. Something in the twenty pound range should work pretty well. Light
enough for you to lift without getting tired, but large enough that it won't
take forever to get rid of it all." She spoke in a matter of fact manner
about it, sounding like she normally did, which was pretty chipper and pleased
with the whole thing.

On the good side, he was able to
get through one of the big piles that evening. It was probably five percent of
what he needed to get done, but it was a nice start. Moving all the blocks was
a pain, but Dare got a tidy square going that way, before the sky got too dark
to see. The purple glowing wall river gave a little light, but it was too far
away for him to really see by. What they needed was for him to make his own
river glow. The one on by the orchards did, in an eerie silver color that made
the world spooky in that area at night. It was like the glow of the Moon, but
constant and unmoving.

Something more like sunlight
would work, if he could figure out how to get it done.

That wasn't going to happen that
night though. He was tired, so locked the door, using the little latch on the
inside, and fell into the very soft and cozy bed. The top blanket was just like
he figured it would be. Almost tickling him to be in contact with. There was a
piece of cloth under that one however, that while fine and soft, wasn't as
pleasant. That let him sleep, after he climbed under that part. There was even
a bottom sheet. That had been a thing that he used to have at home, but not for
years. He'd never heard of two sheets being on one bed however.

That was what lulled him to
sleep, which was the nicest night he'd had in as long as he could remember.
When he woke up, he stretched his arms over head, and then showered for the
first time in a good long while. No one had mentioned him having a strong body
odor, but he nearly had to have had. Now he smelled a bit like soap, and even
that went away when he headed out into the sun, to see if the Tam-unit near his
house could get him some toothpaste and a brush.

Being wonderful she did.

"How can you be so perfect,
Tam-unit?" It was a bit over the top, but the girl box giggled at him, so
it was probably all right.

"Just lucky, I guess. So,
after you eat, we can make more blocks? That was fun."

Which was a word he would have
never associated with it, but he had to admit, the process was better than his
piles of waste and trash.

"Great plan. Food would be
good first. Hey, did you see where my friend Stara went yesterday? She was
supposed to be staying with me, but she just left."

There was a pause, and something
like a click, then the Tam-unit shook her head.

"Nope. I didn't see a thing.
That isn't too surprising. My range for scans only goes out about ten feet. I
can kind of get an idea of things about twenty feet away, but that's it.
There's nearly three quarters of a mile between each of me on the outer rim
here. If she went the other way, I probably would have gotten something. Sorry,
I wish I could be more help. I'm not really designed for that kind of
work."

He shrugged.

"What do you think I should
have for the morning meal?"

The girl didn't hesitate then,
her pretty face turning to beam directly at him.

"Do you like egg toast? I
can do that with honey, or a nice strawberry jam. You should have some milk, or
a high protein drink to go with that. You're growing, so need it." Then as
if he'd said yes, a plate came out, followed by a large cup. "The drink
isn't that good, but you should have it all. Think of it like medicine. It's an
Austran thing, but it works."

It wasn't good, but didn't
require holding his nose either. The flavor, if it was possible, had a chalky
overtone to it. As he drank it, the Tam-unit explained what it was for.

"This kind of drink is
popular in Austra, if you can believe that? One cup has all the dietary
requirements needed for a growing adult. They swear by it. There's a different
version for elders, that helps them stay strong and not get fat, even if they
aren't very active."

That seemed like a good idea to
him then, because being even a few inches taller wouldn't harm him in life.
He'd heard that a lot of giants couldn't see all the way down to commoners.
That wasn't a literal thing, he was willing to bet, since Gerent had managed
the trick just fine.

Still, life was filled with high
shelves, and someone had to reach up there to get the needed things from it.

The rest of his day, except an
hour at noon, when it got too hot to work and hunger pounded on his middle, was
filled with loading hoppers or stacking bricks. Right until meal time. Then he
got the luxury of stopping for a while, and drinking a whole lot of water. It
was late Fall already, but the world around him was still incredibly warm.
Cannor would probably have snow on the ground in places soon, but this place
was a long way from there.

Dare didn't let himself dwell on
that. He'd nearly frozen to death in the last few years, more than once. Living
in the broken ruins of his old house, it had been really hard to get even a
small fire going, especially in the rain or snow. Eventually he'd worked out
how to do it, making an oven out of focus stone slabs and rock. The gaps had to
be filled with mud and sand, but it was still mainly outside.

This was better. It would cool
down at night, and inside his little pod place he could keep himself safe and
just warm enough the entire time. Snug was the right word for it, he thought.

The next day went a bit
differently. The first part was spent with him making more piles of trash to
turn into useful rock, and then doing that, over and over. The second portion
was that people decided to come visit.

Not from space, or anything
unbelievable like that, but simply by riding out in a little blue vehicle. A
thing that hovered above the ground and moved in total silence. A Tam-car, he'd
heard them called. It had a pink roof, and was kind of like what a vehicle
might have been if a girl had designed it, after a hard day of playing with her
dolls. That, or his aunt was substituting real people for toys. That could, he
understood, been the case. After all, the thing stopped near his little place,
right at the front, and a living doll got out.

At least that was what it looked
like to him, as he walked over. She had long black hair, a very fancy hat on
her head that sat on the top with bits of lace coming out, and perfect,
flawless, ivory colored skin. Even her red velvet dress gave her an air of not
being anything but a wealthy girl's toy brought to life.

She stood there, smiling at him,
all alone, while he scurried over. She was also tiny. Like commoner small, even
if that couldn't possibly be the case. If she were five feet it would be thanks
to her high shoes. He called out to her as he jogged over.

"Sorry, I was just trying to
get this place fixed up a bit. May I help you with anything, ma'am?"

"Tamerlane. Tamerlane Thomson.
Countess." She looked at him like she was searching for something in his
eyes. It probably wasn't there, but she seemed to be willing to keep trying.

Her gaze was suspicious seeming
to him. Sharp, and intelligent, which gave the lie to the idea that lovely
women were never bright. It was a bit like what Timon had done, nearly drinking
the world in around them. The first thing she did was look at the Tam-unit,
then the pod house. Tracing around the entire place, she finally settled on
him.

"My reports mentioned that
you were doing good work out here. My man on the ground seems to like you as
well. Though I was a bit concerned to hear about you taking off into
space using only a shield?"

That said a lot, actually. He
nodded and smiled at the tiny, perfect, woman.

"So you sent in
Stara? Is she really a whore, or was that just part of her act for the day?
Good to know she really didn't come to rob me. I felt bad about that part. Not
that she did it, but that she might have come for that. We seemed to be
getting along so well before that."

The woman laughed and covered it
with a lace gloved hand. It was a blue gray thing, which looked really refined.

"An act. She hasn't even had
professional training as a spy. Did you find her convincing that way? It's a
dangerous trick to play, being unskilled. I can see it however, her doing what
she did. You're lovely. More manly than your father. He, well, he looks a bit
like me, if I had short hair, or at least he used to. I'm your
aunt."

Which he'd already worked out.
She was too pale for it to be happenstance.

Nodding a bit he waved at her.

"All right, but if I can't
get Stara to help out around here, are you going to do it? I don't suppose you
know how to do things like this off the top of your head, do you? Whore houses,
entertainments and all that? Oh, Timon also said I should sleep with you. The
bloodlines work? We should go do that now, I suppose, before I realize how
wrong it would be. If you're going to tease me with girls like you did,
I mean." He was playing, but instead of acting affronted the lady just
nodded at him.

"Perhaps we should? Let's
find a place to sit, and we can talk about that?"

It was, in all, a different
conversation than he was expecting.

Chapter three

The lovely Countess, who if he
wasn't being made fun of on a grand scale, a thing so large that even he had to
doubt anyone would, or even could, pull off, was his aunt. That made his
flirting more than a bit improper, and given that she was a Countess of Noram,
and they both lived there, Dareg realized he might have made a bit of a
mistake, leading her to his pod house to "talk".

On the nice side she let him
stall first, getting some tea from his Tam-unit. She took hers without sugar,
and didn't ask for cookies to go with it, even though he offered. That was how
tea was served for the rich, he thought. With treats. Not that a person like
him would have ever seen that himself. Once they were inside the small house
the Countess, Tamerlane, took the only chair, and smiled at him.

Even he could see that it wasn't
meant to be seductive, just friendly.

"I was asked to look in on
you, by Torrance, your father. He's greatly worried that you'll be angry
at him." Her words were a little stressed sounding. Not because of the
situation either. It was like she was working very hard to be clear and crisp
in her speaking. That changed how she was perceived a lot. Her face was much
calmer however, and made up as if she were going to a grand function later.

Dare could kind of get what she
was saying, but wasn't certain they were thinking the same thing.

"Mad at him? Why? Because he
wasn't around when I was little?" There could be more to it than that.
Like Taman had suggested, if Tor had known about him, his entire life might have
been different. His mother might even be alive now. That wasn't what had
happened, and even Merilee had pointed out that the man had never known about
him. To her way of thinking that had just been reality, and proper given how
short of a time they'd know each other. There had been no promises made. Just
an accident. There would have been no way to prove that the boy she produced
was his after all.

Except that these strange space
living folk had ways to do that. Now, at any rate.

Tamerlane took a deep breath, and
gave a short nod.

"We all should have been
there for you. Gerent said that you've been living on your own for almost two
years? That had to be very difficult. I... All of us really, we feel that we
have to make this right. The problem is that no one can see how."
Now, on those words, her gloved hands fretted and grasped each other. Her face
didn't match that, being perfectly reasonable in aspect.

Dare snorted a bit.

"It isn't your
responsibility to make things right for me. That's my job. I look
out for me. Not that I'm not happy to find out that I have some family, but I
can't imagine why any of you would want to have anything to do with some
bastard. A mistake that happened because my mother's birth control failed. Not
that I'm going to whine about it, because otherwise I wouldn't be here,
but I can't see that you, any of you, owe me anything." He waved at the
inside of his tiny pod house and leaned against the wall, a nice mug of tea in
his right hand. "Look at this place. I went from living in a ruined focus
stone hut, having nothing but the old clothing I picked out of the wreckage of
a storm, to this. Sure, it's not the King's palace. It's solid though, and
nicer than almost anyone gets in life. I have work now, too. Not that I'm
getting paid for it, but I get food, and a place to stay. I also get to make up
part of the rules. If that isn't a path to making things happen for me,
I don't know what is. I'm doing well here."

What he didn't point out was that
he'd been there for one whole night so far, two at the port, and that he might
be asked to leave at any time.

If so, he could take the
Tam-units, since no one else could use them, and the pod house, then set up
someplace else. That would work for him. Oh, part of that would be theft, but if
he vanished well enough no one would find him. With his new flight shield, he
could go anywhere.

The lovely, and tiny, woman
smiled then.

"Exactly what Timon said,
when we spoke. He didn't think that you'd wish us to be around too much.
That... It's going to be hard for a while. Everyone wants to help you, but I
can see Tim has the right of this. You simply don't need us that way. You do
need family, even if just to be there for you. So, I've come to invite you to
dinner. Can you come?"

Dare blinked, and then shook his
head a bit. Her face fell, if only a little.

"Today? I... Guess. I don't
know my way around the city very well. Or how to use all the fancy silver, or
anything, at a meal like that. I don't suppose I could talk you into eating
here? We could have sandwiches off of plates that we balance on our laps? That
sounds fun, right?" He worked to make it seem charming, instead of scared.
Not that he held a lot of fear, but doing things like that were totally new to
him.

His aunt cleared her throat a
little. It was kind of darling really.

"I was hoping to introduce
you to Tovey and the boys. Your cousins. They're both younger than you are, and
probably wouldn't have a problem with your suggestion, but Toverland
is..." She glanced up at the ceiling, and made a wry face. "I do not
think he would fit in here very well. However, I can set things up so they
won't be too uncomfortable for you, I think? Directions to our Capital house,
or... Really, I can send a driver for you? In two hours or so? We normally dine
at nine, here in the City. It's traditional." There was weight to
the words, and a searching, almost probing examination of his reaction to them.

Which was weird. Why would this
woman be doing that over her own statement.

He didn't understand it.

"I... Are you acting like
that because that would get me in about two hours early, or is it about you
pushing me into doing something that I clearly don't want to do?" It was
her turn to be observed closely, but all the woman did was relax and smile at
him.

"I was more concerned
about the traditional aspect of things. When he was young that was a very large
thing for Tor. If you stated that a thing was a tradition, he felt truly
obligated to follow along. I take it that isn't a large concern for you?"

It really wasn't. Rather than
explain that, he shrugged.

"Not so much. So, we should
either get you back, so I can work for a few more hours, or start in on that
sex." He flashed a grin, getting a shy expression in return. "Just so
you know, I may have raised myself for a few years, but I still lived in a
city. People in Canton don't really go around bothering their aunts like
that, blood relations or not. Not that I won't tease about it. I think that
Timon just wants to dig at Tor for some reason. I don't even know if it's fair
or not. Everyone keeps acting like Tor is extra good, but then, they would
around me, right?"

That got a nod, and a suddenly
subdued look.

"To the son that he never
knew he had? I imagine they really would. He... Well, he is a good
person, with a grand heart, and he's gone out of his way to help many people
over the years. That isn't the same as being perfect however. I know
that he's a bit frightened of you, for instance. For you, at the same
time. What if you hate him? Even if you don't blame him for not being there for
you, that doesn't mean you'll be fast friends when you meet. There are a lot of
possible points of failure here, and he's smart enough to see most of them."

That got a casual shrug, then he
finished his tea, and pushed off the wall he was leaning on.

"Yeah. I can see that. We
won't know until we meet, I guess. I've been putting that off. I... I really do
kind of feel the same way. I mean, I'm not some kind of wizard or anything, am
I? Right now I'm just the Dirt Boy for the Tam-units here, and that's several
steps up for me in the world. He might well hate me for not being what he
dreamed of." Looking at his aunt, with her perfect clothing and hair, he
sighed.

There was no good way to describe
the whole thing, but Dare could see Tor feeling the same way, mighty
wizard and noble that he was. What if Dareg didn't like him for those very
traits? A lot of people were scared of magic, or at least those that could make
it. He wasn't, but Tor couldn't know that yet. Not unless he spoke to Timon or
Gerent about it. Possibly Taman.

"I'll be at Harmony soon. I
leave tomorrow, and if I don't die, or miss the Moon totally, I guess I could
meet him then. Or... He lives off by Mars, doesn't he? So maybe not. I... Could
use the communications device, I suppose. I haven't yet." Then, Tor hadn't
gotten with him either. Probably for about the same reasons.

His too pretty aunt nodded.

"You should do that. Even if
you hate each other, which won't happen, you're still father and son.
That means you hold some responsibility for the other, each in turn." She
stood up, but carried her heavy mug with her as she went to the door.

Dare followed along, since it was
kind of clear that she was done with him for the time being. Her face turned
back into a smile, which looked a lot like the one that the Tam-unit often
showed him on its window.

"So, in two hours? Casual
dress, since it will just be family. A suit, but it doesn't have to be fine.
It's at a Count's home, so keep that in mind. Do make that call to Tor? It's
better to pull the sticking bandage off quickly, than to labor over it."

That was a thing that he knew
well, from over the years. Taking her cup for reuse, he watched her leave in
the little blue and pink Tam-car. When she vanished into the city, going
through the gate in the distance he moved to the blue box and placed the mugs
in her.

"So, I have a meal with
Countess Thomson. I don't suppose you know how to dress for that kind of
thing?"

The box came back at him instantly
with a happy, girlish face. She really did look a bit like the Countess had.

"Not a clue. You should call
in expert help for that. You know Prince Gerent well enough to bother him that
way now. Hmmm. Taman, too. I've never heard anyone speak of Tim Baker as being
particularly well dressed however. Now, the go-to stylist for magical clothing
is Petra Lairdgren. Handily enough, you're related to her by marriage, so it would
be suitable for you to contact her on the subject."

Because that made any kind of
sense? Still, it was that or try to make up something on his own, and he wasn't
really certain that was possible on a few hours notice. What he could do was
shower again first, so he wouldn't smell like trash and dust. Worse things too,
since a lot of the dried waste was a bit more ripe than just dirt.

Then he dressed in his normal
clothing again, got his communications device out, and found the right name,
scrolling through the thousands of options. It took a while, but after ten
minutes or so he got it. Petra Ward. Her name from before she was married.

Tapping it, he waited, expecting
to be yelled at for some reason. Instead a nice looking dark skinned lady
answered, and smiled at him. She had a nice straight nose, and a lean face. It
was a bit professional seeming at the moment, but still better than being
ordered off the link.

"Hello, Petra Lairdgren
here."

"Hello! I... I'm Dareg Canton?
I'm due at a meal in the Capital in a few hours, with my Aunt, Countess
Thomson. I have no clue how to dress for that? She said it was casual,
but that means a suit, if not a nice one?" He waited, a bit worried about
her reaction.

Rather than seeming annoyed, the
woman just nodded, very seriously at him.

"Understood. I can come to
you in about an hour. I have a fast craft on me. Or... How experienced are you
with the clothing device?" It was telling that she assumed he had one of
those. Looking down he thought he understood it however. His shirt wasn't just
clean, but brand new looking, and perfect. There was nothing about it that
wasn't straight and aligned. Also, there was no stitching on it. The tunic,
what would be visible to her, was without anything like that. The High Servants
wore their clothing that way, so he'd copied it, but thinking back he realized
that Gerent's outfits hadn't. The base brown clothing in the unit didn't
either. It looked new, but more real.

"Not a lot. Gerent... Prince
Gerent? Gave me this yesterday. So I can do what I'm wearing now, the base
outfit, since that just appears, and possibly repeat what he'd been
wearing?"

Instead of insisting she run to
him, being helpless as he was, the woman smiled.

"Let's see that one then?
What Gerent had on." The words were a bit hard, but after closing his eyes
and remembering the outfit, which had been green and black, with shiny black
boots, the woman made a happy noise.

"Not bad! We can work with
that then. You'd be surprised at how many people can't put on a pair of
trousers and a jacket. Now, you look like you have a good enough build. Can you
move it in at the waist?" She said it like it might be hard, but it really
wasn't.

All Dare had to do was imagine
what he wanted, and the thing did it pretty well. There were a few false
starts, and he had to change the color of the whole thing several times before
the woman, Petra, was happy with it, but that was probably part of why she was
the go to stylist for new outfits.

What he ended up in was a drab
gray thing, with a white shirt underneath, and black shoes that did look
polished, but weren't as much so as all that.

The lady even explained the why
of it all for him, which was helpful.

"Terlee said you were
supposed to be casual. That means you can't go in dressed better than the Count
will be. He should, for a meal like this, be in a house uniform. Not dressy
really, and in his colors, which are blue and black, I think. So, if you showed
up in bright colors, wearing silks and satins, it would be claiming you were
better than he is. This is a compromise, to be honest. The cut of what you are
wearing looks tailored to you. That was the bit where we did all those
adjustments. Almost no one can do that without help, so it's special, even with
magical clothes. To that end, we go with a rather bland color. Even if you look
good, that will tell them all that you aren't trying too hard to get that
done." She used the gesture she had before when asking him to move the
unit in his hand away from himself, so she could see him. "You need to do
your hair. It's decently straight, and too long if you get into a fight, but
fine for a noble right now, style wise. You should have it cut off, of course.
Like mine?"

She really did have short hair,
being about an inch from her scalp. The thing there was that he simply couldn't
afford to go to a barber, and hadn't been able to for years. Instead of
complaining to her about that, he nodded. It was a point.

"That might be a while,
before I can get that done. I can probably get a comb." It had been in the
list of things that Tam-unit had said she could do, he thought.

Petra smiled at him.

"Do that. Then tie it back
in a tail. You can do that using your clothing amulet, I bet. Not everyone can,
but if you can do what you did earlier, then you have that much skill already.
We should talk. About what you have planned and all that? It will come up at
the meal, since the Thomsons don't know you yet. It can be a little tricky,
since they might well offer to send you to school, or something like that. Not
that you can't say yes, but if you go in with plans of your own, it will look
less like you're trying to beg from them. I've been the poor relative, so I
know how that one goes."

Then, for nearly an hour, Petra,
a woman that he'd called up out of the blue, coached him about what he was
supposed to say, and more importantly not say, at the meal. When she
finally got off the thing he had just enough time to run and get Tam-unit to
make that comb for him, and a hairbrush at the device's insistence, and then
use the mirror in his restroom to try and get his hair held back. The whole
thing hurt, as he had to rip out more than a bit of fluff from his head to make
it all work in time.

It was the first time in over a
year that anything had been run through his hair other than his fingers, so
that was just going to happen. There was no blood, so he was happy enough with
it in the end. Then, not knowing the exact timing of things, he went and stood
on his front stoop. It wasn't a real one, the pod house not being set up that
way, but it was a place to be that didn't involve sitting in the dirt.

To that end he was able to see
what came for him, long before it arrived.

There, between the two streams of
water, glinting in the approaching twilight, was a real, honest to goodness,
coach and four. Thankfully the focus stone road was both smooth and dry, since
that had to be hard on the hooves and wooden wheels as it was. For some reason
he'd kind of been expecting a Tam-car to come for him, but this was a lot nicer
in some ways. Not magical, but refined enough to be impressive. That was, he understood,
the real point.

Now he just had to figure out
why. Were the Count and Countess Thomson trying to impress him with their
wealth and power? To show him how much more they had than he did, which would
put him firmly in his place? That was one possible option. Another was that
they had a carriage around, and it was cheaper to use than sending a fine
magical vehicle. In that case it would be saying that he mattered to them, but
not as much as all that.

Which would be fair. They didn't
know him after all, and for all the fine words about family, he didn't really
expect much from any of them. Even being invited to the meal was kind of a big
thing. A nerve wracking one, to be honest. He didn't know the rules for fine
dining, but even a kid like him knew that there were rules to it. Petra
had suggested that his best bet there, given the time frame, was to copy
whatever the Count did, and to simply admit that he was out of his depth. It
would make him look poor and perhaps uncultured, but not as much as doing the
wrong thing might.

Without stopping to ask if he was
the one going to the Count's home, the driver stopped in front of him, and
hopped down instantly.

"Prince Dareg?" It was
spoken with a refined accent. One that was far smoother and more polished than
his own.

"So they tell me. Did you
come from the Thomson's?"

The man, who was in blue livery,
and wore a clean and tidy black hat, along with long white stockings and funny
shoes that had a brass buckle on the front gave a tight smile and clicked his
heels together. It looked official, rather than just silly.

"Indeed, sir! If it is to
your liking, we could depart? I fear that the streets are rather more full than
normal. King's week begins in a few days, so the early arrivals are already
beginning to trickle into the city. You know how it is, I'm certain."

Instead of pretend he did, Dare
shook his head, but smiled at the man.

"This is my first time here
for it. I lived in the County Cannor capital most of my life. Canton? We
celebrated the week, naturally, but it will be a treat to see how it's done
here." Then, realizing he was being rude to the man, he smiled, going for
charming. "Sorry, I didn't get your name?"

The man straightened and clicked
his heals a bit again.

"Jameson, sir. This
way?"

That got a nod, and he was
tucked, without too much force being used, into the back of the very nice
wooden carriage. The inside was covered with velvet, and all done in a rich,
deep forest green. In the places where it wasn't soft that way, there was polished
wood. No interior lights, so as they traveled it got darker inside. It was
tempting to stick his head out the open side window, just to take in the
sights, but that would probably look a bit funny, so he managed to refrain.

"This time." He
muttered that to himself, as he saw the people in the streets. He'd been in the
city at night a few times and even had slept there, so he could tell that
Jameson was simply correct. Things were getting busier. They even had to
stop several times, once for nearly half an hour while an overturned cart of
fruit was cleaned up.

Shrugging and realizing that his
clothing wasn't going to be messed up from it, or if it was he could fix it
with a few thoughts, Dare climbed out and helped the rather flustered man right
his small but heavy cart, and then get what vegetation they could salvage back
into it.

"Thank you, milord. I don't
know what got into Bessy here." That was the gray donkey who was standing
there, looking frightened of all the people that were around.

It was simple enough to
understand. She looked young, if large enough to do her pulling duties with the
tiny cart. She probably just wasn't ready for the streets to be filled with
people like that. Rather than yell, or act entitled, Dare picked up a half
crushed carrot, and held it out?

"May I have this?" He
didn't have any way to buy it, but the man nodded. "Or one of the good
ones? I, thank you for the aid, milord."

Shaking his head he approached
Bessy.

"Hey girl. Would you like
this? I know, this is frightening. All these new people. They're all right
though. Then there was that loud noise behind you. That has to be stressful.
Here, take this. It's fine." His voice was smooth and soft, which was what
you used with animals if you weren't a complete terror in life. It took a few
minutes, but while the cart man finished cleaning up, Dare was able to coax the
donkey back into the harness, so they could all get underway.

It was kind of clear that Jameson
wasn't too happy with the whole event, but he held his tongue and just got the
horses going as soon as the road was clear. It had cost them time, but given
there was almost nothing they could do about it, everyone would have to be
understanding.

It was, in the end, not a real
point anyway. They pulled into the gate of the walled compound in the dark, but
that would have happened anyway. The whole thing was lit with bright and happy
seeming blue lights. Magical ones that you could see by, even without the sun
being up. The house itself was large, and old fashioned looking, but grand. It
stood up at least three stories, if not four, and before the coach even stopped
rolling, three people came from inside.

None of them were familiar to
him.

The oldest one, a man, was
dressed all in black, and looked to be pushing forty or so. He had a few
wrinkles on the edges of his eyes and thinning hair. Next to him were two men,
both younger, with white jackets on.

Stepping forward, the man who
looked to be in charge opened the door to the coach, and bowed at the same
time.

"Prince Dareg." Then a
hand was offered to him, to help him out. Not that it was hard to do. He'd replaced
his clothing while he rode, and while the whole thing felt a bit heavy, given
the warmth of the evening, it wasn't at all bad out.

So he hopped down and bowed back
to the man, who gave him a funny look and stood, seeming baffled.

"Hello. Sorry we're a bit
late. A cart turned over in the road, so we stopped to help with it." Not
that he'd had any choice in stopping. The road had been blocked and they
weren't backing up, he didn't think. Not in a coach.

"Very good, sir. This way?
Dinner hasn't been served yet, and won't be for some minutes." The man
smiled and whispered to him then. "You aren't late. There are several
sitting Counts and Countesses in attendance. Just so you aren't taken
unaware."

He nodded to the fellow, and took
a deep breath to steady his nerves. The Countess had told him it was a small,
family meal, but for her, maybe having half the nobles in the Kingdom there
counted that way? It wasn't like he could get out of anything now. He turned
and waved up at the man who'd gotten him there.

"Thanks ,Jameson."

There was no saying that he was
welcome, but the man gave a seated bow, and held it until he did it back. Then
the older man ushered him inside.

"I fear that the family has
been ambushed by early visitors. It's a King's week tradition, so no one can
say much. Not that we would. It isn't what Countess Thomson intended
however, sir. I think she fears to give offense, but please believe me that
none is intended." The man actually seemed bothered by the idea, so Dare
sighed, and tried not to seem too worried himself.

"I don't know the rules
here. How to eat properly, or really what to say. I got about an hour's worth
of coaching on it earlier, but that's all. So, you have to get me here, I'm going
to do the wrong things. I probably can't help it at this point."

That, for some reason seemed to
make the gentleman seem happier.

"That won't be an issue. Simply
do as your host does, and we, the footmen and myself, will see to the rest.
Please don't be offended if we correct you? We'll keep the slapping and
pinching to a medium level, I assure you." It was, clearly, the man being
cheeky with him.

Dareg smiled, because he could
relate to that.

"Do what it takes. I'm not
so soft that a few pinches or elbows to the back of my head will make me cry.
Not too hard. Just a bit of manly tearing up. You get me."

For some reason the men around
him all started to nod then, the main one, who spoke for them stilled at the
door and went very proper again.

"We have our instructions,
sir. It will not go awry." He seemed certain of it, but that was a lot to
ask of the men.

They couldn't control what he was
going to say or do, after all. Though, if he caught a few blows to the head for
it, he'd pick up on their subtle hints, he bet. Maybe it could work that way?

Inside he was met at the door by
a very tall blond man, who was dressed more nicely than anyone he'd ever seen
before. From the description it wasn't the level of dress he'd been told about
at all. The fellow pretended not to notice that part, and simply bowed, which
he did back, since this man was obviously a nobleman.

"Thank you for coming to my
home, Prince Dareg. I'm Toverland Thomson. My wife asked me to meet you
personally. It seems that we have to put on a rather grander show suddenly.
I'll understand if you wish to leave, not being allowed proper time to prepare
for this." The words, while very polite in tone, held a dismal quality to
them at the same time.

The man examined his outfit, and
gave a slow nod at it.

"That would have been perfect
for the planned meal. Now we're forced to rather gaudier selections. Nothing I
have will fit, or I assure you that you could dress in my clothing for this. As
family that would be fitting." Taking a deep breath the man looked away.
"Really, this is all my fault. I should have turned those others away at
the door. They are early, and this is more important by far. I'm stuck
now."

Tilting his head, just a bit, Dare
closed his eyes. The cut of his outfit wasn't bad, he didn't think. Even
Petra had told him it was pushing into much finer wear. So all he really needed
was to be more impressive color wise. The man in front of him was in nice
clothing, but it didn't gleam like it was on fire or anything, so taking that
as a clue, he tried for something a bit different. Brown, but with hints of
metallic copper to them. That would let him look refined enough, he hoped.
Maybe not, but when he opened his eyes, the Count was staring at him with large
blue eyes.

Then he nodded.

"Perfect. Just about right.
I wasn't aware you had magical clothing, or the ability to use it so well. Can
you make the pattern a bit more brilliant?" The man watched him and after
two tries seemed pleased with the whole thing. "Now, maybe a thin piping
along the sleeves in a darker metal color?" That took showing him what he
meant, but wasn't hard to get done.

In the end the giant smiled.

"Amazing. I should have
known that you could pull that sort of thing off, given who you have in your
family. Please come this way? Tamerlane is waiting for us."

The Countess was all in blue
this time, and the dress was a good bit grander than the doll like thing she'd
had on before. There was black lace in places, and the fabric was glossy,
reflecting the light nearly as well as his own outfit was. When she saw him,
her face went from slightly tense, but smiling, to relaxed and warm almost
instantly.

It was clear, to Dare at least,
that she was examining him very closely. Her eyes picked apart his outfit, took
in the fit and color, and even his hair was observed for flaws. If he was
wanting, it didn't seem like it was by more than she was willing to put up
with.

"Dareg! You look well
presented. I was worried, since plans changed on me, I'm sorry to say. I
honestly did have a quiet meal planned, but friends came." Her words were
a bit hard around the edges. Especially on the word friends. Her eyes darted,
and it was kind of clear that several of the bodies in the room weren't people
she was fond of. Also that the order of the day was to lie about it, and get
along.

He could do that. After all,
unless someone pulled out a truth telling device for party games, his whole
plan was to live a giant lie that night already. Doing it while pretending to
think people were pleasant and funny wasn't even a change in plans for him. It
would just include more people, that was all.

"You look wonderful, as
always, Aunt Tamerlane." That, he hoped was about the right speed for
things. He'd flattered her, like Petra said he should, but also pointed
out that he wasn't going for any naughty family sex. That was mainly for the
rest of the room, but most of the night would be, if he understood how things
ran. Dare needed to realize that everything he, or anyone else, said that night
would be directed toward at least three people. The speaker, their known
listener, and the spy.

Sometimes they might all be the
same person, so it was a good thing to know about.

It was one of the tips that Petra
had given him. As well as the idea that there was no such thing as too much
flattery, as long as he was willing to back things up in the bed chamber. Since
he was, that part wouldn't be too hard for him.

Looking worried again, his aunt
touched his arm gently and held her hand there. Flirting, but the light kind he
was supposed to be doing even with her, so everyone knew he liked her. Even if
that wasn't true, he was expected to do it. Anything else would be declaring
that they were fighting, and worse, doing it in public.

"I didn't tell you that you
should bring a date for the evening. We do have an odd woman out, but..."
She looked embarrassed, but waved to the side, which got an adorable woman to
come over. If they were calling four year olds women that day.

Looking a bit like she'd
swallowed a lemon, Tamerlane went a bit still.

"This is Baronetta Four,
Dassel. Kenzia Dassel. Kenzia, this man is Prince Dareg Canton, Countier Seven
Baker, Countier Thirteen Lairdgren." She seemed pretty tense.

Probably because trying to pass
the babysitting of the strange little monster off on some poor innocent young
girl was a horrible thing to do to anyone. Smiling, he bowed to the
little girl, going low. She did a funny leg thing back. A curtsey.

"I'm delighted to meet you,
Baronetta Dassel. Would you do me the honor of attending the meal with me? I
should have written ahead and asked. I'll understand if you have something else
already planned for the evening?" He was, very nearly, parroting something
Petra had said to him, but it seemed like it was working, since the young lady
smiled at him. Her hair was a blonde that was so light and curly it almost made
a crown on her head.

"That would be most welcome,
Prince Dareg. Thank you for the invitation." Her big blue eyes locked with
his for a few seconds, then she looked away. "I should go back to my
mother. Until we sit?"

He nodded, and let her get away from
the strange man. After all, if they were in any normal place someone would be
at least talking to him about how one acted with a young lady. Which
would be, not at all. Not that he had real designs there.

The Countess smiled, and hid it
behind a hand.

"That was perfect! I wasn't
certain if you knew about that part of things. Did you learn it in
school?"

He smiled and lied a little. It
was the plan, after all.

"Private lessons. Taken
earlier today. I don't have everything however. What was gone over was
mainly how to handle you, so... Well, I made a deal with your servants
to beat me into proper behavior. I should have gotten them some pointy sticks so
they could prod me, but I didn't think about it in time. I'll try to not
dishonor the family name." Not that he was going by that himself, which
oddly made him feel better suddenly.

"I'm sorry. You're here
however, and family, so do your best. When in doubt, bow low and say pleasant
things?"

It had actually been in part of
his instructions from Petra. His mother, too, now that he considered it. Of
course she'd been talking about meeting with merchants, and fairly low ones,
but the idea seemed to carry over into the higher sections of life as well.

They were seated for the meal,
after a bit, which meant that one of the men that had met him at the door took
Kenzia carefully by the arm, and led them to their seats. They were to sit
immediately, at least from what everyone else was doing. As he moved back the
footman leaned in and whispered softly.

"Watch the pattern on the
standing. Don't do it until after the person next to you does, and copy
her." Then he moved back, the lady there clearly having heard the
instruction.

She had nice dark skin, which was
nearly a deep brown, and large brown eyes. She wasn't a commoner however, which
she showed by being rather tall. Easily over six feet high.

Seeing him there, looking she
smiled and spoke easily to him.

"Countess Baker. Edith. I
fear I don't know you yet? An oversight on my part, I'm certain." She
didn't seem very humble about that fact, but it really wasn't her fault, so Dare
could see that being the case. Really, it would work for everyone in the
building.

Still, the name the lady had
given reminded him of something he'd been told.

"Prince Dareg Canton. I
believe that I'm also a Countier Baker? The seventh? I'm," he stopped,
took a breath and carried on like it wasn't all just a game someone was playing
with him. "Torrance Baker is my father, so it's off-line?" He thought
that was how it was said. Basically that should mean that he could use the
title legally, without worrying about being hung, but wouldn't get anything
else from it. Technically if all the others died first he was in charge there,
but that just wasn't going to happen, so it didn't really count for anything.

Then he got ready to explain his
lineage, but the lady didn't ask. Instead she patted his arm, warmly, and
smiled hugely.

Then spoke to the man, who was
dark, about in his late fifties and bald.

"Dear? This is Prince Dareg
of Harmony. The one that Terrance communicated about yesterday? One of our
Countiers."

If that impressed the man, it was
hard to tell, but he was pleasant. Briefly. Then he and his wife went back to
speaking to the people on the other side of them. It was kind of a
relief. It meant he could just chat with Kenzia, who was being rather roundly
ignored by everyone else. Probably because they had nothing in common with a
tiny girl.

Not that he did, but she
tried really hard to do her part in things, and brought up several interesting topics.
Like her favorite kind of cookie, which was lemon walnut, and which dolls were
in fashion that season. The thing there was that she knew, and expected,
him to not have any information about what toys were popular at the moment. It
could have been a bit boring, but it was clear to him that she was well versed
in the market for such things.

When the meal started, signaled
by the Count standing and taking a single sip from his cup, things got harder.
It was clear that he was supposed to do the same, and not until after the lady
next to him did so. Waiting, he managed to stand and take his sip, but Kenzia
seemed to have nodded off next to him on her turn. Nudging her gently got her
into motion. She seemed embarrassed however, and like she might cry. Worse, the
adults noticed and several of them smiled.

Normally he would have just eaten
their derision. If it had been focused on him, say. Dare also knew that
getting into a fight wouldn't be a good plan. The whole death portion of things
being a bit much to ask of him over it. Still, he could and did, glare at
several of them until they stopped. A large man with a bushy beard who was
several places closer to the front of the table gave him a single nod in
response. Then, he wasn't one of the people being given the stink eye.

It was nice to have the implied
bit of help.

Thankfully Kenzia recovered on
her own, and the adults didn't even look her way for the rest of the meal. At
the end of it, as everyone stood, apparently to mingle, the little blonde girl
curtsied to him again.

"Thank you for sitting with
me, Prince Dareg. It would be good to do so again, sometime?" It was a
question, and said politely, so he played along.

"That would be fun. We
should see about doing that? We could play with some dolls, perhaps?"
After all, what did little girls do? More, what could he have anyone do with
him? Put trash into Tam-units? That sounded like what four year olds
would love to do.

No one laughed at that however,
even if it sounded wrong. Then, smiling at him, the little girl escaped the
adults by seeking the protection of her parents. They were a nice looking
couple and not all that old. The woman turned and smiled at him, which he
returned.

After that the large bearded man
that had nodded before sought him out, holding a drink in his vast hand.

"Well done there, earlier.
Count Raul Peterson. I hear that you're taking over at the space base? I run
the fliers school and station, a few hundred miles from there. What kind of
plans do you have for it?" The man looked at him directly, but even though
it was downward in angle it was clear he wasn't looking down on Dareg. How he
managed that was hard to tell, but it was nice of the man.

"Two inns, a bawdy house,
stages for entertainments, a few stores, a bathhouse and probably a few other
things. A good restaurant or two? I also want to see if I can get a regular
daily run going to Harmony and back." No one had mentioned that, but why
they didn't have one going for day trips he didn't understand. Especially if
they could do it for free.

The large Count took a sip of his
drink, and nodded.

"Do that, and things will
change fast. Are you going to be in charge of the other main ports? The ones in
other lands? I've heard they're in as poor of shape as the one here was."
It was kind of clear that the man was leading him to that end, though not why.

Dareg let himself blink.

"I have to see what kind of
backing I have for this first. That seems to be the likely plan. I was
told that the law of Harmony says the Queen Tiera can order her family members
around for things like that. I'll need to prove I can do one first. I mean, I
wouldn't trust some strange man that just showed up until he could show
what he was made of, would you?"

There was a laugh then, and a
solid pat on the shoulder.

"Exactly so. I just wish
everyone was as insightful when it came to being in charge. Do you plan a trip
to visit your Queen soon? She's a very good friend of mine. Strong woman,
Tiera."

Dare nodded.

"I can't say who I'll meet,
not knowing, but I plan to leave for there in the morning. The Wizard Tim gave
me a new kind of shield. It can allow for real space travel. I went and
bothered the Captain of Noram One yesterday. It will take about a day to fly to
Harmony, without a ship. That's what Timon thinks. I could die, or get lost, of
course. Someone has to go first, so it might as well be me, don't you
think?" He smiled, because even if it was boring and hard, it would be fun
at the same time.

The man looked at him for a
moment, then shook his head.

"I'd offer to go with you,
but I don't want to steal your glory. That would be amazing, if a single man
can fly to the Moon like that. I wish you the best of the journey. Should I
make your excuses for you, so you can go and sleep, before you leave? It's
nearly mid-night."

Dareg smiled and patted the man
on the upper arm. Hard enough the guy got that it was meant for his shoulder,
hopefully.

"That would be good. I could
use a few hours lying down before I go. Thanks."

"Don't worry, everyone will
understand when I tell them of your great attempt. Just don't die. That will
ruin the story later."

Then, with a bit of hugging from
Tamerlane, and oddly some blonde Countess that wasn't even introduced, he was
shoved, more or less out the back door. Flying wasn't allowed in the city, but
Tor-shoes were, so he used his shield to fake that, rose a few inches in the
air and managed to be back in his pod house about ten minutes later. It really
would have been sooner, but he'd managed to get lost for a bit and had to
follow along the wall to find the right gate. That was due to the fact that he
was breaking all the speed laws, but no one tried to stop him, so it didn't
count.

Really, that was what a law, or
even a rule was. If you were careful enough and didn't get caught, then it just
wasn't important. Not that he went around stealing all that much. Not anymore.
For a while he'd had to, in order to stay alive. If people wanted him to feel
bad about that though, they needed to catch him first. No one ever had. In the
main he'd taken food, from people that had way more than their share anyway, so
he wasn't just eating the leftovers, and stale scraps they didn't want.

If you were going to take things,
you had to be able to put them in places where no one would ever find them.
Like your middle. It was hard to prove that you stole the neighbor's cake, as
long as you weren't covered in frosting and crumbs. Especially when there were
hundreds of dogs and other animals to blame it on.

Not that he felt good about that
part. Still, just putting the plate where a dog would be caught licking it
could save a lot of hassles in the long run.

That reminded him to take his pod
house with him when he went in the morning. Otherwise someone would at least
move in, and then there would be a big fight about it. He showered first, used
his comb and tooth brush, then made up a little pack with the things he owned.
Tam-unit did the work on it, making him a satchel thing that would ride
comfortably on his back. Remembering something that Timon had said, he took
some food and a few empty bottles as well.

Then, because it was his job, he
made sure his Tam-pals were all filled. It wasn't that hard, because not too
many people had been around yet. That would change, before too long.

"All right, Tam-unit. If you
start to run low of trash or working material, you're allowed to tell people to
see to that. Especially the High Servants. They're supposed to help people, so
that's fair. I haven't hardly seen them in days. Still, if people want to use
you for things, they can do their part. Tell them that the Port Boss said so,
if they give you any trouble over it. Not that it will work all the time, but
even half will probably be enough. I should be back in a day or two."
Then, not letting her say good bye, he shot straight up into the air.

The hard part, to start with, was
finding the Moon, since it was hidden away over by the horizon line. Once that
was done he headed toward it full speed. After a few hours he started to notice
that it really was getting a bit bigger. The trip, like he'd imagined, was boring.
Other than that however, it wasn't too hard. He had a vast glowing object to
head toward and once in space it was always full, so hard to miss or mistake
for anything else.

There was a dim spot on his
shield in front of him, and the back half was like that too. Thankfully, even
being directly in the sun he didn't get too hot. Cold either.

The trip gave him a lot of time
to think, which he understood, was a thing that he'd kind of avoided for the
last few days. The Wizard Tor, who was practically a legend, was his real father?
That sounded fake, even now. Even after the paperwork had supposedly been
signed by King Richard, and Queen Tiera. Like a mistake. It would have been
hard enough for him to take being the kid of some traveling salesman. After
all, no one would have figured him for being anyone important.

Because he wasn't.

Dareg wasn't a Prince, or
Countier. In his head, inside himself, he was at the very most, just a Dirt
Boy. Even now, flying off to the Moon, as boring and slow as it was, he
couldn't help but feel like a fraud. The only thing there, the saving part of
the whole thing, was that if it was all fake, it wasn't him doing it. The
Tam-unit had said he was Tor's son. So had Taman. For some crazy reason he
wondered for a moment if some other boy had been there, hiding, and been the
one that really was related to all of these people.

Except of course, there was no
place to hide there at the port. That didn't rule out a trick, but it would
have to be a wizard doing it, if it was. Otherwise how could they have read his
mind to know that his mother used to tell him that his real father was Torrance
Baker? Just accusing some random kid of being Tor's child wasn't going to work
in the main. Their fathers would have objected for one thing.

Everyone had seemed so nice so far,
too. That could change, once they realized what he really was. Not a rich,
polished prince, but just a pretender from Canton. That wasn't a backwater or
anything, but it wasn't the Capital either. Dareg really could understand them
getting tired of him after a few weeks, or even days, and asking him not to
come around.

The trick there would be in
seizing enough control over the spaceports first. If he were in charge, and did
it right, then no one else could easily take that from him. Well, not unless the
King, or the rulers of those other lands wanted to. That might happen. Possibly
even if his new family didn't disown him. After all, Austrans loved
coin, didn't they? They bought and sold everything as dearly as they could
manage.

So, if some kid from Noram came
in and started to make the spaceport nice and pretty, why wouldn't they try to
rob him? Vagus and Afrak were kind of the same deal. Not that they loved gold
above all else, but just that they might not think he could handle it.
Conveniently, after he did most of the work.

That was part of life.

He knew that. You worked and kept
going. You stole, and ate the food fast, before anyone else could take it back.
Doing anything else was pretty much asking to be taken advantage of. No matter
how polite people were to you, they were going to be in it for themselves. That
wasn't even a bad thing. He was in it for him, so why shouldn't they be
too?

In some fashion, once he had the
ports, he needed to find a way to maintain his control and influence over them.
For the time being he had nothing in that direction.

The space between the Earth and
the Moon was remarkably empty. A void, of course, but somehow lonely, silent
and eerie at the same time. After a while, almost half a day he thought, he
wondered if something was behind him. Following. It got so bad he eventually
had to stop and look, spinning in place. The Earth was there, and was much
smaller now. About the size of the moon in front of him, which, given that it
was a lot bigger, should mean that he was closer to the Lunar surface than he
was to his home.

Flying onward, he made a point of
not looking back again. Not even when he, due to a bursting bladder, had to try
to pee into a bottle. That was nearly a disaster, but he wiggled and squirmed
enough that he got all the liquid inside the brown ceramic jug and managed to
cork it smoothly enough. Then he repacked it and ate while he flew onward. It
was just a sandwich on soft bread, but it had meat, cheese and tomatoes.
In short, it was an inspired and brilliant combination that he'd had before,
but not too many times in his life.

There were crumbs floating along
with him, and probably bits of urine, though he couldn't smell or taste any. That
would probably hit him when his tired nose got a fresh blast of air. Then he'd
be in for it. For the moment however, all he had to do was fly, and keep going
toward the Moon, as it got larger in the sky. After a while it started to grow
rather faster, he noticed. Enough so that he stopped, and had to blink for a
bit to realize what had happened.

He was there.

It wouldn't really count until he
stepped onto the surface, so he looked around for the city lights, saw that
there were two sets of them and went to the bigger one, since it was on the
top. At least compared to how he was facing at the moment. Once there, flying
over the city, he saw a wall start to glow. It was blue, and blinking. Not
having a better plan, he coasted over to it, and as soon as he got nearly close
enough to touch it, the thing vanished. Leaving a room for him to enter. A vast
one that was probably meant to hold a real ship. Not just a man with a shield
and a pack on his back.

Still, moving in quickly, the
wall came back behind him. It was a solid thing, made to look like gray stone.
If it wasn't a real thing that he'd just been allowed to pass through using
some trick he'd never heard of.

From across the way, a red line
protruded. At first he didn't understand the idea. Not until he realized that
it was probably like what Captain Gemma had done with him and the side of her
vessel. He was supposed to use it to get inside without losing a lot of air. To
that end he tried to touch the thing, and found that his shield was blocking
him from doing that. Instead he tried to focus real hard, and imagined the red
moving around him. Leaving a door to the front. It happened quickly enough that
he knew he had to have gotten the idea right. Still, not wanting to waste air,
since that had to be important in a vacuum, he took the time to double, then triple
check his work. He found a tiny spot that was right in the middle of the
wrapping behind him. With a few more thoughts that was turned into a solid
piece, and only then did he risk telling the bright red bit in front of him to
let him through.

As soon as he did, he saw a
rather upset looking woman. One holding a board that had paper attached to it.

"What the jolly fuck do you
think you're doing? This isn't your own private entrance. If you want to
go play on the surface, then use a personnel hatch, you moron! This is for
ships, coming from Mars or Earth. You don't look like a jumper to me!" She
seemed ready for violence, but didn't come for him.

So, trying not to be battered, he
faked a wince. People liked to think they were having an influence on you. It
let them feel big, even if, like this woman, they weren't.

"Sorry. I just flew in from
Earth. From the Capital spaceport, in Noram? I'm testing the new Tim-shield.
The class three? I was supposed to get in touch with him first, probably so he
could tell me what you just did. I should do that now." It took a bit to
get to his communications device, being in his pack, not on him. The woman
looked at him, but didn't use her funny accent against him again, even as he
found the right name.

Naturally, no one answered at
first.

She tapped her toes at him, and
acted like he was playing games with her. Finally, after about a full minute, a
rather sleepy looking woman showed up in his hand.

"Hey. Is there an
emergency?" It was kind of clear that her eyes weren't focusing yet, but
it was the same woman that he'd seen before, with Timon. The one that had kind
of flirted with him for some reason. Probably to try and be nice. That, or
manipulate him into something that he couldn't know about yet.

"Not really? It's Dareg? I
pretty much forgot to get in touch before I left, so, um, I'm here! I
successfully flew in from Earth. Without a ship. I guess I was supposed to have
used a different entrance? I came in like a full sized craft, and the lady here
is not happy about that. The thing is, I'm not really sure what I should
do now? After I escape the beating for this part of things. I mean, clearly,
take a nap. I've been up for most of a day. Do they let people
sleep in doorways here though?"

All he'd really seen of Harmony
so far was a big empty room made of white glassy stone, and a red tunnel with a
pissed off lady in it. None of it looked all that soft however, though he could
probably rest in a corner if he had to. Sooner or later he was going down after
all.

There was a confused mumble, then
a second bleary face next to the first one. It wasn't Timon however. Not unless
he'd turned into a pleasant looking blonde lady.

"Dareg? Dareg! Oh!
We'll come get you. Let me... We're about fifteen minutes from there, can you
wait? We're coming!" The woman seemed to think that was a great idea, so
sat up, flashing her rather ample breasts as she did. There wasn't anything
over them.

Not just for a second or two
either. She sat there, for nearly twenty seconds, fighting with the covers and
then, finally, making clothing appear.

"We'll be right there. We...
I should have been in touch, but we decided to wait for you. This is so
exciting." Then she ran off as the other woman laughed.

Dare smiled, since he didn't get
to see a lot of naked women in his life.

"She seems nice. Who is
she?"

The woman on the device, who also
managed to flash him, smiled.

"That would be Ali
Baker. Your step-mother?"

Chapter four

Dare would have been more nervous
about things, except the dock lady was still kind of upset with him. Less so,
after his call it seemed, but not for the reason he would have figured.

She brushed at a loose hair,
which was a nice even brown color and squinted at him a bit. Her eyes were
nearly gray, and she had some lines on her face. A lot of people did, so it
wasn't that big of a sin. Her mouth had little pucker marks, like she just
frowned, all the time, but her words were softer than he would have counted on,
after her first approach.

"You really flew here from
Earth? Using just a shield? That isn't bullshit?" Her words were a lot
different than he was used to, in accent. It was Noram standard, but with a
very different set of inflections.

After a few seconds he nodded,
getting that this was probably what a real Austran sounded like. Not
that he could be certain of that yet.

"Yes. It takes about a day,
and it helped that I had a jug with me, and a few things to eat. I should
probably dump that out, the jug. If there's a restroom around? I could use one,
too. I've been holding things for a bit." Without really thinking about it
either, but there was a bit of pressing tension inside of himself that way.

The lady grinned then, a thing
that looked alien and a bit strained, but real enough, hitting her eyes.

"This way. You have fifteen
minutes before your people come for you. Tim Baker. He's the Austran Revered
One. You say he gave you that new type of shield? That's pretty big, isn't it?
Impressive. I've seen him a few times, but we've never talked. It would be like
meeting a movie star. You know, a famous player? Or I guess if you're from
Noram, like meeting the King, or the Prince. Now him I've met. Your
Alphonse? Nice fella. Always polite and helpful. Runs the good wine shop
here." She sounded pleased about that at least, like it made sense for him
to be doing that.

Which, after a fashion, it just
might.

Harmony, if he'd been told about
it correctly, just gave you whatever you needed. That was part of why he'd wanted
to come in the first place. Not that he was averse to work. Even the hard kind
didn't seem to bother him as much as a lot of people. It just seemed like a
good place to get started in life, if you didn't have a lot going for you,
family wise. There had been no one to help him start a business, and no farm
for him to work on, so he needed what edges he could get.

The woman, who now that he
noticed it had a name above her left breast pocket, was called Claremont. It
was a useful thing really, even though that had the sound of a last or family
name, rather than her first. It would give him a way to recognize her later
however.

She walked away, down the red
tunnel. It was rounded at the top, and flat on the bottom, with the whole thing
glowing just enough to be special, and kind of annoying at the same time. Once
out into the main area, which took going through another little room that the
woman made out of the red walls, a bit like he had earlier, the world changed.

Harmony, at least this portion of
it, was huge inside. The ceiling was about forty feet above him, and the entire
world seemed to be made of slightly pearl colored glass. Focus stone, but
different than the tan and green colored stuff from Canton, or the plain tan of
the Capital. Above him, nearly overhead, were huge green gems that produced
light. The floor was smooth, and very clean. A lot more so than the spaceport
was, even after all the work he'd done on it. There were bins set up every few
hundred feet or so, that, much like his Tam-unit friends now had, said trash on
them. It seemed that here at least, that worked.

The woman waved him over to a
door that said 'men' on it, and a few other words as well. The letters were
similar to the ones he knew, so his best guess was that it repeated the single
word in other languages. Above that were several words that probably meant
restroom, since one of them said that.

The lady grinned a bit. It was
still a hard looking thing.

"Here you go. I need to get
back to work. It sounded to me like people were coming for you here, so don't
take too long, or they'll miss you. If they do, just use your compact again. I
know that can be hard to remember for a lot of you Noramites. Afrakers, too.
It's a lot easier than wandering around for three days going door to door."

It was kind of clear she expected
him to be a moron, but Dareg wanted a toilet a lot more than to stay and prove
his personal worth to this woman. So, waving a bit, he got himself inside. It
was all done in stone, but the walls had a lot of colors in places. Blue and
green tile, by the look of it. There was also a huge set of mirrors along one
wall, and wash stations. They had faucets anyway, and basins to catch water,
from the look of it. There were also nicely carved stone stalls and well made
stone personal facilities. The set-up was really nice, as in the best of its
kind he'd ever gotten to see, much yet use, but was similar to what he was used
to. You still sat when you used them, and while the water that shot up to wash
him clean after, as well as the warm air to dry him left him ready to jump away
at first, it seemed to work well enough.

The little pod house did that
too, if not with as much force, so he'd encountered the idea before. This set
up was far more decorative however. Then he dumped the piss jug, washed
it with water from the basin, and dumped it again in the toilet. It hadn't
taken long, he didn't think, so he scrubbed up as best he could using the sink,
got his little comb and redid his hair, then headed out, to wait for people he
didn't know to show up.

For a while no one did. It had
been about that fifteen minutes, but he was from Noram, and knew the score
there. If you were told fifteen, you had to be ready to wait for an hour,
sometimes longer. If someone said they'd be there at noon, to meet you, that
could be as much as a two hour wait. Most people didn't have clocks or watches,
so it was a rough thing that way.

So he stood, not wanting to risk
sitting, because it would be really easy for him to fall asleep just then. At
about a half hour he was getting tempted though. The nice clean floor was
pretty inviting. To pass the time he changed his clothing, just standing alone
in the large hallway. Instead of the blue loose robe-like tunic and copper
boots, he dressed up like he had for the dinner with the Thomsons, then made
the whole thing gray, like it had originally been. He was visiting and these
were important people, but he didn't want to come at them like he was
pretending to be a lot more than he really was. He did add a metallic copper
trim to the sleeves, just because he was bored.

At about fifty minutes, if he was
going to guess at the time, a group of people finally turned up. Walking toward
him with a will. At first he didn't think they were the ones for him, since
they were mainly tall. Giants, which for some reason he hadn't thought would be
the case. There were too many of them, too. More than he would have thought
would bother with him.

One of them was Gerent however,
so at least he recognized someone. Next to him was Petra too, who he'd talked
to for a while. The others were a bit baffling however, kind of.

Some he'd seen before, but two of
them had been in his school lessons, being the Heir to the throne of
Noram, and the first Princess. Not being a fool, he bowed to them, going low,
then as an afterthought included the whole group. That got them to stop about
ten feet away as he held the move, and do it back. All of them did, going to
various depths which told him a lot of things about their stations there.

One of the women, who was very
tall, and pretty enough that Dare decided to have sex with her even if they were
related, barely moved at all. The Prince of Noram matched him though, and the
Princess was just above him in angle. There as a man that looked about twenty,
who was tall, but not too much for the group, who smiled warmly at him, and
moved forward before anyone else did. He had on robes. Ones that were white,
with a broad yellow stripe down the middle.

"Prince Dareg? So nice to
meet you. I'm William Smythe. Would you be comfortable with me doing the
introductions?" He seemed willing to let someone else do it, but also like
he was a pretty friendly person.

That was probably a trick. People
tended to be nice when they wanted things from you, and seldom at any other
time, in his experience. Then, Gerent had been all right so far, so maybe this
man would be too?

"That works for me.
Thanks."

The man beamed at him, as if he'd
invented bread or something even better than that.

"Excellent." He
gestured at the great looking tall woman, who didn't seem very old at all, and
bowed a bit. "This is Queen Tiera, your aunt I believe?"

Then he moved on, as if that was
all that needed to be said on the matter.

"Next to her is Sherrilyn
Bonner, who runs one of the space stations. The main farming complex. As their
Ancient." That woman was nice looking too, in a slightly horsey way. It
wasn't a horrible look though, and she had a friendly smile for him, which was
better than a stick being pulled out.

"You know Prince Gerent, and
his wife already? So that leaves Timon Baker, your uncle, Patricia Baker, his
wife, Alyssa Baker, your stepmother, and of course, Torrance Baker. Your
father."

That last bit came as a shock,
since the man, who didn't look old enough to be his sire, was a freaking giant.
At least seven and a half feet tall. That was kind of telling, but it had been
mentioned that he used to be smaller, like Dare was. If he hadn't heard that,
he would have moved directly into the guy just not being related to him. There
was some similarity through the face, but it was also true that he
looked a good bit more like Tim than not.

As a group these people seemed to
be at least ten, if not fifteen, years younger than they should have. He bowed
again, trying to buy time to put that all together. It was the Ancient portion
of things. That meant, in the main, immortal, or at least very long lived.
There was no real reason they had to be wrinkled and wizened for that however.

"Pleased to meet you. All of
you." Then he yawned, hugely, and shook his head. "Sorry there, it
was a long trip. I'd make a joke about my arms being tired, but they
really kind of are. Along with everything else." Those words, which
sounded decently charming, got a few polite smiles, and the tall blonde woman,
Alyssa, to move toward him, after digging something out of a pocket.

"Here, use this. It will
just wake you up."

She smiled, so he gave the amulet
a try. That probably showed how gullible he was, he realized, since the evil
step-mother was a classic idea that probably came from somewhere. Still, when
he tapped the sigil, holding the device, which was on pale and glassy stone,
with this finger, the world shifted. It steadied, and he simply felt normal.
Not like he'd been drugged, but like the reeling he'd been kind of fighting was
just gone.

"Nice! I feel ready to go
back now." He moved to hand the thing to the woman, but she shook her head
at him, and smiled.

"Keep it, for your trip? We
should find a ship going back for you, since that will be faster. This way you
can spend more time with us here. You can stay with Tor and I?" She looked
at the tall man, his father, who hadn't spoken yet.

He smiled and gave a single nod.

"I'd like that? I've really
been looking forward to meeting you. I know this could be stressful for you,
so, if you want, we can do something else. Go to Marissa's, or the bakery? You
must be hungry, after a trip like that. Which, by the way, was insane.
Just so you understand that part. I don't know what Tim was thinking, telling
you to do that. You either, Gerent." He mock glared at the men, neither of
whom seemed to think they should bother feeling ashamed about it.

Timon even laughed, moved
forward, and clapped Dareg on the shoulder.

"I was thinking that he isn't
a tiny schoolgirl, like certain wizards we know? We should get him that food.
Marissa's by preference. Nothing against the bakery, but it's lunch time, and I
don't feel like eating only bread today."

That got nods all the way around,
and they started to walk away. Oddly enough, while he was surrounded from all
sides, it was the one with the curly dark hair that spoke to him. She moved in
right along his side, and moved close enough that she bumped into him casually
as they traveled along the glass walkway.

"So, Dareg Canton."
Then, as if his name where some kind of sign or signal, she stopped talking,
for about twenty seconds. It was a long time, but he didn't know what to say
either. It was a bit of a different kind of situation. At least for him.

Finally she went on.

"Timon has a device. It will
tell if we can safely go back to Earth or not now. Can we get you to take that
for us? Run the test?" It was pushy, asking things of him like that.
Really, if they wanted stuff, they should have gotten with that Alyssa lady to
pressure him, since she'd already given him a present. A  really
excellent one.

"That sounds likely. What do
I need to do with it?" The words got Tim to go then, even though Tor, the
wizard, was watching him very closely.

That was a thing that Dare could
understand. The idea that he had people at all was so different that it didn't
seem real to him. That one of them had asked for him to do things, well, as odd
as it was, that also made him feel better. They wanted to get him to do
work for them. Probably for free, or at least in trade for magic. That
could be understood easily enough.

Timon, his tall and rather wiry
uncle, who really did look a lot like he did, smiled.

"Just carry it and go into a
low orbit. Make a few passes with it? If it starts to glow and spark bright
red, then it isn't safe. Otherwise let us know, and we can come back. I'll go
first, but after the test, if it doesn't do that, we should all be fine. It
probably is already. We've been gone for nearly eleven years, but I set the
plague for ten. I just wanted to make sure I didn't mess the timing up too much
before risking everyone." He smiled, and spread his hands as they walked
along. There was no more mention of it however, and they traveled quietly for a
bit.

Petra finally went, her face
holding a grin.

"Not that I couldn't have
done it. I guess they want to make sure they can keep tabs on you? Still, there
are worse ways of making friends than getting people to do things for you.
Speaking of which, Gerent mentioned that you were taking over the Capital spaceport?
How is that project going? You have a small river up for water already?"

He was interrupted in his answer,
since it seemed like they were at their restaurant. At least there was a sign
that said Marissa's on it. When they went inside, they were met by an all black
woman, who smiled at him. Dare did it back, because she was lovely, but also
incredibly exotic.

Like a statue made from black
stone. Her skin was like the night sky, a thing he was well acquainted with
now, after his trip, but so was everything about her. That included her
eyes, which didn't have whites or color, her teeth and her tongue. The only difference
there was that her mouth had a slight moist sheen inside that her skin lacked
otherwise.

"Welcome! Twelve
today?"

Tor moved forward and gave the
lady a little hug, which was returned.

"That's right. Unless you
want to join us? Um, this man, Dareg, he's my son."

That got the woman to smile, and
hug him, which was unexpected. She smelled nice though, and her skin, where it
touched him, was soft, like anyone else would be.

"Oh! How wonderful! I'd love
to join you, but I have to work this shift. You'll be here for a while? We can
talk?"

Dareg shook his head, but smiled.

"I'd love to spend time with
you, but I think I need to get back to Earth and make sure the Ancients can go
back? After the meal though, if that's all right?" He didn't have any way
to pay for it, so was planning to soak his new father if it came up. That, or
his beloved Uncle Tim.

The all ebony woman smiled at
him, and nodded.

"That's very important. I'd
like to go and visit, if I can. Come this way. We have menus for you. If you
don't see what you want, please let me know? We can make almost anything
here."

They were taken to a big table,
which was by a nicely carved sculpture of a woman who, while all in white
stone, disturbingly resembled like his fine looking aunt, the Queen of the Moon.

Instead of teasing her like he
had Tamerlane, he held his lips closed. Making an enemy of his father the first
time they met was probably poor form. Instead he waited for everyone
else to sit, only to find himself being pulled down next to Alphonse, the man
doing that himself. On the other side William slid into place, bracketing him.
That was fine, given that Tor, Alyssa and Tiera all took the seats across from
them.

That way they could rake him over
the coals no doubt, and find out all his dark secrets.

Smiling he looked at them and
cleared his throat, before they could read his mind. Wizards did that,
he'd heard.

"I used to steal. Food mainly,
from the other people in town. Otherwise I just got scraps. It was illegal
anyway. Currently I managed to con my way into a loose control of the spaceport,
mainly by pretending to be important. The Tam-units helped with that, since
they only turned on for me. Other than some sex stuff, most of it probably
pretty tame, I don't have anything really dark or hidden. Fights, but that's
about it. Even at that, most of the time it just turned out to be a mistake,
and not that important." If that was too much for them, he could just
leave. It was the truth though, and the wizards were probably going to figure
that out anyway.

From down the table, Timon spoke,
laughing a little under his breath.

"See, that's what you
get for being a creep and reading his field like that, Tiera. Tor
wasn't, if you noticed? That isn't too bad though, really, Dareg. I'd done a
lot worse by your age. Stealing food that people should have been
sharing with you isn't even a crime in my book. After all, it was a gift. From me,
so I should get to judge that one." Then he looked at the paper thing in
front of him, which Dare had one of too. "Oh, fried shrimp. I love
that."

As if that was enough to change
the conversation, everyone started to make suggestions to him, about what kind
of things they liked there. A whole lot of it was strange to him, but after a
bit he looked down and picked the fifth thing on the list.

"I think I'll try the
hamburger? That sounds interesting." It did, after a fashion, not that he
was focused on it much.

Without trying to be too obvious
about it, Dare kept looking at the people across from him. It was a hard thing
to do, really. He wanted to examine Tor, but that would be a bit too
much for the moment, so he ended up making eye contact with Tiera. She really
was lovely, he decided. Related to him, but Timon had mentioned that wasn't a
biological thing. Nobles had pretty loose rules that way too, and if he was one
of them, that had to count for him.

She smiled, and after they all
gave their orders to Marissa, who waited on them herself, the Queen finally
cleared her throat a little bit.

"Yes?"

He had been staring, so
that was probably fair of her to ask.

Instead of suggesting they sneak
away, he nodded a few times and made something up.

"I'd like to start daily trips
into the spaceport at the Capital in Noram. Once the others are up and going
well, the other ports, I want them included, too. We should have things in from
Mars at least once a week as well. Carriages between the different ports, maybe?"
It was an idea that he'd had, if expanded a little, and he wasn't really asking
her to do that, it was just a thing to say other than that she had really
delicate lips.

Rather than pretend that his
words were interesting, she looked away for a bit, and after a few seconds
started to nod.

"I... Can see that. It's a
good plan. Tim, you have your new ships ready, right? Jump craft, but with no
weapons. What will it cost to get you to part with, oh, say, twenty of
them?"

Dare smiled, knowing that it was
going to be more than he could afford, personally, but the man surprised him a
bit. More than a little, to be honest.

"If we run it from the
Harmony side, we can do it for free. That means our people piloting, or Space
Fleet. That might work better, actually. We probably don't want to rub in the
fact that we sort of own space. Not if we're going to go and visit soon. I can
get you those, Dareg, and you can set that up with Alice Orange. Not that she
won't think you're trying to trick her. It's just a thing she has with some
men."

It got a chuckle from the table
at any rate, even though he'd heard that before. From Gerent.

He looked around and had to try
to hold in a snort.

"Well, that was easy. In
that case I could use a bunch of magical palaces, to set up at the different
ports, and lights. All of them probably, since at least the Capital port
is really dark at night. Then I just need to set everything up. You know the
bawdy house and entertainers? Everything else at the same time. Inns and all
that." He smiled about it, but no one even cracked a smile.

He really was just trying
to be funny about it. The topic changed though, to that of King's week. That
was the weeklong celebration of King Richard's birthday.

Alphonse, sitting directly next
to him, touched his arm gently. It was flirtatious, and while he wasn't into
men, he didn't slap it away either. Everyone knew that nobles would have sex
with anything that didn't move too fast. It was just their way. The trick would
be in making sure he was faster than the person next to him, that was all. In
this case, possibly in a literal fashion. The man was too big to fight with.

"Do you think that you'll be
ready to host our return party at your port? If we can, going in on the second
day of King's week might work well, I imagine. Father has been anxious about us
returning after all. The last rebellion might be over, but his Heir refusing to
go home for ten years has made some people wonder if I ever will. We should do
something large enough to make a splash. One of your big parties, Tor?"

The tall wizard rubbed at his
face, and nodded, looking at the giant red haired man.

"I think we can afford that.
Even being gone, and with the troubles there, the coin has been building up. I
have some events that we can set up. Other things, too. Dareg, would it be all
right... I know that you'll be busy, but would you meet with a few people for us?
Connie, she's..." He stopped and made a face, then sighed and looked at
Alphonse, who still had his hand on Dare's arm. Then his father kept talking,
his voice slightly strained around the edges. "Constance is the Queen, but
also your sister. Half-sister, but that counts. You should meet her, and
get her to help set things up. You need to know that. About being related. Collette
can help organize things. They've done it before, and are good at it."

That name meant nothing to him,
but that was fine with him. The news that the Queen of Noram was supposed to be
his sister shook him a bit. Gerent had kind of mentioned the idea, but honestly
it had slid right by him at the time. Like it was a joke or a lark.

After a moment, he shook his head
physically, trying to clear it.

"So, wait." He pointed,
with one finger, which was kind of rude, right at Tor. Then moved to each
person as he named them. "Father, Step-mother, Aunt," twisting he
gestured with his whole hand at the giant Prince, "Nephew? Niece?"
That last was for Princess Karina, who waved at him from down that table.

That got Patricia to cover her
mouth with a hand and nod at him.

"Oooh. Right. I'm your niece
too then, and aunt. On the good side, neither one is biologically close,
so we can still date. Tiera can too, come to that. Really, you could
marry anyone in your family on the Baker side. It might be a little awkward
with Terry or Tenet, but we have magic for that now." She was glib. Enough
so that a few people glared at her. Not, he noticed, Queen Tiera.

She just nodded.

"That's not an unreal
consideration, Trice. We probably don't have to dump that on him at the first
meeting though. Now, Dareg, are you planning to appoint administrators for the
ports? We can give you some backing, in coin and goods. Magic and that. It
might work best to hire people to run things for you, if you plan to take over
all of them. You should also consider schooling. Building is a rewarding
career, I hear. I've always liked maths better, but it's something to think
about? I had to leave school early, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world
for me, at least once it was done. If not that, you might consider a tour with
Space Fleet. You won't advance there however. You're too attractive." She
spread her hands and went silent, since the food was coming. There was a cart
for it, since no one person could have carried it all alone, otherwise.

When his was placed in front of
him, she went on.

"We'll back what you want.
If you want to just sit back and rest, we can set that up, too. You just strike
me as the kind that would bristle at that. It's a family trait, so we all
understand it."

Then it was his turn to speak
again. Which was hardly fair. After all, how was he supposed to know
what to do with his life? Especially if he were going to be given actual options
like that? The only saving grace at the moment was that he didn't know if any
of it was real.

"I want to set up the ports
first. That makes sense, getting people to run them like that. If we can get
the ships in daily, that will help. Right now there's hardly any reason for
anyone to even go there. Can we..." He looked at Tor and tried not to shy
away. The man just looked back, his eyes tight at the edges, like he was
waiting to be called names. That, or be yelled at. It wasn't going to happen
though. He seemed all right so far. "Is there any way to get a little coin
to hire some workers? I can do the work myself, but it sounds like you all want
to come back in a few days, if it works out? In that case, it would be easier
if-" he was cut off, with a smile and a nod.

"Get with Collette. She's at
my place with Dorgal. They... Functionally aren't related to you at all.
I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that. After all, it has to seem like everyone
in the world is a relative suddenly. She can get you some gold to use for that.
Collette Sorvee."

They ate then, as if the world
had been settled for the time being. Thankfully no one insisted that he stay
with them for days or anything. He had a mission now, after all. It was, he
realized, a gift, not just a job. Tim and Patricia had set it up so he could escape,
and done it so first thing, in a way that everyone there knew about it.

Tiera even helped him out, by
setting up a jump ship to take him back to the port. There was no scheduled
trip, but amazingly when the Queen of the world they were on asked for it to
happen, it did. That truly wasn't some kind of big mystery or surprise,
but it was interesting to see it happen. She'd gotten on her communications
device, and asked one person to see if it might be arranged. Ten minutes later
there were three ships vying for the honor of taking him to the spaceport.

"Which means I should get
back. I'll need that thing? For the testing?" It was probably a little
mean of him, but Dare almost hoped that the thing wouldn't work. Not yet. That
way he could control when he saw most of these people. It was sort of
overwhelming, having this many individuals right there with him. Because of him.

People left him then, about half
of them, including Tiera, Tor, and Timon just ran off. It was a bit shocking,
to tell the truth. His new step-mother, who looked far too young for that
position, like the rest of them, stayed though, and walked him to the dock.
Alone, for some reason.

"Do you want to live here?
You could go to school, or work. Even do the spaceport thing? That sounds
important. Get Tiera to give you a jump ship, or get one from Timon, and you
can go there every day. Tor and I have been living out in the Martian Circle,
actually. There are three space stations out there. It isn't nice really, but
the work is important. We're making Mars more like Earth. The goal is to allow
people to live there, eventually. Not like this, but for real." She waved
her hands a little bit, trying to grasp how to say it, but it had actually been
in his school lessons.

It was a funny thing, but people
eventually living on a different word was considered interesting and important.

"I'd like to go see it, but
for now... I have a little house? Taman gave it to me. At the Capital spaceport.
Well, on me right now, so that no one can steal it. I was
thinking of living there for now? I..." He stopped talking, and just
walked for a while. When they were most of the way to the dock he started
again. "Look. I really appreciate that you're all trying hard. I am too. I
mean, I want Tor to like me. I... My whole life he was there, as this big... Thing,
looming over my existence. A lie, I thought, or a sign that my mother was
crazy. I mean, the Wizard Tor is my papa? Do you know how many times I
was beaten up for claiming that when I was little?" It was twice, since he
was good at learning things, but that was too much, and had impacted him.

The tall, rather shapely, blonde
woman, who had a nice heart shaped face, with rosy cheeks, looked at the floor
and nodded slowly. Her blue and black outfit was in a very strange style, but
had the look of magical clothing. Too nice, and perfect. His own were like that
too, so he wasn't going to judge. Besides, having special things like that was
good, not something to scorn.

When she spoke, her voice was
very quiet. Gentle, and like she was near tears.

"I understand. You were
alone. I lived on the streets, when I was young. My father... Well, it wasn't
good. Thankfully he died. I... Tor, your father, he saved me. He married
me, so that my father the Count couldn't hurt me anymore. This was before he
met your mother. I... It was a good thing. Him being with her. If that hadn't
happened you wouldn't be here now. I can't replace her. Your mother. I..."
She didn't say anymore, not until they got to the door that should lead to the
tunnel that took him to the ship. If it was even in yet.

Several people came running up,
each carrying a small bag. It was Tiera, Timon and Tor. Well, Tor was actually
floating along, since the other two were running so fast that it didn't seem
real. Easily three times faster than most would have managed. Maybe more. Honestly,
while Dare did all right speed wise, he wasn't sure he could have done that. Then,
Tor wasn't either, so it could be that he'd just missed out on that kind of
thing by having the wrong father.

He'd live. Regardless, Tor was
there first, and not out of breath, which the others were when they
padded up a few seconds later.

Holding out a canvas sack, the
giant man smiled.

"Lights and houses, like you
asked for. Mainly for the Capital port. There are some other things, pumps for
water, some earth moving devices and concentrators for making focus stone, so
you can build some things that will last. That's going to be important
in the long run. Magic is useful, but temporary. We'll want ports three hundred
years from now."

Timon looked at his brother, but
smiled. It was charming, compared to the rest of them. Alyssa still looked sad,
which made him feel bad for her. It was clear she meant well.

His uncle winked at him.

"Jump ships. For Space
Fleet. I put one in for you as well, but you'll need lessons. It isn't that
hard, but wiping out a city or two while you learn might be a little much to
ask people to take." The bag was handed to him.

The biggest thing was that he
wasn't out of breath anymore. None of them were. If he'd sprinted that hard,
comparatively, he would have been sitting on the floor, wheezing still. That
probably had to do with getting regular exercise and being in shape.

Tiera shrugged and handed him a
much smaller bag of things.

"Some of my latest food
units. For the restaurants? I put in ten of them. You'll want to watch them, or
they'll walk away. They even lost one from the King's palace, in Noram. It
turned out to be a Countess that did it, which caused no end of trouble.
They nearly had a war over it."

He nodded, seeing that one. The
things were famous after all. Just one Tiera food unit would probably be worth
more than he could imagine. The little bag in his hand had ten of them. Which
was fine enough, given that the rest of what he had was probably ten times more
valuable. More than that. No one had any of the things that he did now.

Nodding again, he bowed.

"All right. Well, now that
I'm rich, I'll just be getting on. I did mention the stealing thing?"
Which he had, but he shook his head, negating the whole thing as a joke, which
it was. If these people handed stuff like this out because he asked, they might
just keep doing it. In that case the best plan was to do his part in things
then.

"Oh! That testing
device?"

Timon nodded to him, and passed
over a white disk, that had a glowing black void in the center of it. How
nothing could glow, he didn't know, but it did. Really, it was pretty close to
incredible.

"Nice. I get it, so that
when it works, eventually, you can use it as jewelry? Or I can, unless
you want it back? I mean, the first bit, with the pretty red lights
should be interesting, too."

Instead of making a face, Timon
coughed.

"Fair enough. Get with me
after you check it out?"

"Yeah. It will be a few
hours. Longer maybe." He didn't want to over promise.

The trip back was fast though,
only taking about twenty minutes or so. Most of that was landing, on the far
end. They didn't even give him a chair for it. That meant he had to sit on the
floor in order to put all the sacks of magic into his pack. There was no way he
was leaving it anyplace unguarded while he checked to see if the Ancients could
come back.

So, that meant it was all getting
a trip around the world with him.

That part took a little while to set
up, because Dare had to wait for the ship to lift off first. No one else was
coming in, so he took off from inside the landing zone, which was probably
going to be against the rules after a lot of craft were coming in each day. It
would make a mess, like he'd thought about before. Still, it was his rule to
break. Which was funny, because he pretty much only followed the laws when he
might get caught.

Well, he wasn't a killer or
rapist, but most other things were just a game to him.

He didn't have to turn the amulet
on, since it just worked all the time, or so he thought. All he had to do was
fly around. Just to make sure, he tapped it on, but nothing changed. Then he
got to try flying around the world, which he had to do pretty low to the
ground. That was where people lived, so it made sense. It took hours to do.
Mainly because he kept stopping to look at different things. Natural wonders,
and how pretty the ocean was from above.

Dareg could see just traveling
around and looking at things for fun. Still, eventually he managed to get all
the way around, then did a much faster trip higher up, which took about twenty
minutes. Landing at the Capital spaceport, he pulled out his communications
device immediately, even before he set his pod house back up.

When Tim came on, Dare smiled.

"If this thing is
working, and I didn't turn it off by tapping it, then you're clear here. It
didn't do anything at all the whole time. I put some miles in, so I
think you're safe almost anyplace now."

"That's great news. Thanks.
All right, I guess you can expect us in a few days? Oh, Tor wants you to know
that he's sending a package for Collette. It should be there in a few hours.
The events for the party? We should probably do something up for Austra,
if you don't mind? After that first one however. I need to get with some people
here about things. This changes a lot. Are you set up on your end?"

"I guess? I'll work
something out. Talk to you later." Then he tapped the thing off, and
looked around the the place. There wasn't anyone else there, unless they were
hiding in the one little building.

The thing there was that if he
put buildings up, it might attract the tax collector. Possibly not however. If
he was clever. The first thing he did was go and turn the river off, then moved
all the plates out by about three hundred feet. He moved fast, flying the whole
time between where he needed to land and work. Then got the darned thing
flowing again, before anyone could see it happening.

If he did it right, no one would
notice that he'd just increased the size of the port all the way around. After
that he dug into the sacks of things he had and found that he had nearly fifty little
houses provided by Tor. They had a little red house on the tiles anyway.

When he set the first one up,
expecting a tiny cabin, or something a bit like the pod house, he nearly
screamed. It wasn't the tiny thing he expected, but a place that was
clearly three times that size. Touching the wall, like he had in the red tube
on the Moon, he caused the thing to grow. Huge. At first his mind ran toward
trying to make a palace complex, but then he shrank the whole thing down,
making it two stories high, with a purple roof on it. Then, over time, he
forced it to be a crescent shape. Following the bend of the river behind it.

This one, he decided, would be
the main inn. The free one. Next to that was a similar building, that he made
to have a gold roof. It was part of his clever plan. If it all looked like it
belonged to the King, then people might just forget to tax it. He
could have used all the houses, and one of them was made a lot larger, but
really he didn't need that many of them. They were huge after all.

The insides took longer to put
together, because, he understood fairly quickly, he didn't really have a sense
of style or taste for that kind of thing. They all ended up looking a bit like
the inside of Marissa's, since that was the nicest place he'd ever been. That
meant draped silk wall hangings, and shining stone furnishings. He managed soft
cushions and some bright, cheery colors, but that was about it.

The bathhouse took a fifth
building, but when he hooked the water up he found that it could heat itself.
The whole thing had one big room, lots of wooden looking dividers and huge tubs
for each group. Showers too, since that was a thing, he thought.

Sure enough, when he finally came
out, there was a little Tam-car coming toward the port, between the rivers. It
was all blue, so probably not his aunt Tamerlane. A sense of dread filled him
as the thing pulled up, and a tall, attractive woman he didn't know got out.
Not because she was good looking either. She was dressed in pink work
clothing, which he didn't understand, even though he was back in his loose blue
working robes. His boots were a dusty black though, since the metallic sheen
had reflected too much sun back at his face while he worked.

The lady smiled at him, and
waved.

"Hello! I was told that I
had a package coming in here? I'm Collette Sorvee. Tor sent me?"

"Oh! Not the tax
collector then. Good. I have no coin. Timon called and said something like that,
a ship should be here soon? I was just setting up some buildings. They aren't
permanent, but it turns out I'm not very good at it. The first and fourth ones
are inns. The big one is supposed to be the good one, and the other is the one
for people to stay in for free. They look the same inside though. I need to get
the lights up too. Tomorrow probably, since I'm going to lose the daylight
soon. The bathhouse seems about right at least. Which... You probably
don't care about at all. Sorry." He bowed, realizing he was being a bore.
"Dareg Canton. I'm the manager here."

There was no nod or look that
suggested she already knew that, though it seemed kind of mean not to mention
that part to her. Not if she were the kind of friend you could pass millions of
golds worth of events to, which seemed to be the case.

She looked around at what he'd done
so far, and started to nod, and walk toward the poor inn. She didn't speak,
just going inside, and making changes without asking. He'd had wooden floors
and walls, which she replaced with dull stone, unfinished wood, and comfortable
but plain beds and furnishings. Each small room was the same, and had a very
beige aspect to it.

Then she left, after adding two
floors to the whole thing.

"You made good sized spaces,
keeping them nice and small, but it's King's week. You'll need more of them.
Especially if you aren't charging people to stay here. What's the price for the
good inn?"

He knew that one at least, and
shrugged.

"A copper a night. Or
the rough equivalent in trade. A lot of space workers don't carry coin on
them." It sounded too cheap suddenly, but when the woman walked over, she
turned the building into a real palace anyway. It was made larger, and looked
almost like you could eat it, on the outside. It was tasteful on a level that
he'd never seen before, and parts of it glowed, as night fell.

Then, as if it made perfect sense,
the woman, who was truly an adult and looked it, aided him with the rest of the
spaces too, including the restaurant, which was a copy of Marissa's inside,
duplicated almost exactly. That one got left.

"Now all you need is a Tiera
food device and this place will be set... Tor's palace has one, but... I don't
know if I could let it go, even for a good cause. It isn't mine to lend, I'm
afraid."

Dareg nodded, since that kind of
thing suddenly made sense to him. Doing anything to piss off a wizard was known
to be stupid, but angering a person that would literally give you mansions for
a pet project had to be insane.

"Queen Tiera has that part
for us. She gave me ten of them. Is it safe to set that up yet? She mentioned
theft as being possible." Which was a real thing, since they didn't have
guards or even workers yet. "Tor said that I should get with you about
gold to pay for workers? There's a lot of clean-up still needed. I should set
up a players house too. I wanted a bawdy house, but unless I'm going to
work it myself, I doubt I can fill it in time." He smiled at the words,
and stressed them to show he wasn't serious, which got her to chuckle a bit.

"We might get musicians in.
They have to play somewhere, and do enjoy coin I hear. Since the others are
coming back, this will be a very large event. It doesn't all have to be here,
but plays and events, as well as food will go over well. Now... Tell me, how
did you get Tiera to part with ten of her food devices? I wouldn't have
one except Gerent stays at Tor's with Petra a few months a year. For that
matter, how did you get all of these palaces?"

Rather than go into the real
reason, which was likely a mix of guilt and nepotism, he took a deep breath and
offered up a more interesting option.

"I have one of the new class
three shields Timon made. So I used it to fly to the Moon, without a ship, and
asked them about it. They didn't make it too hard after that." He kept the
words bland, but the woman laughed anyway.

"That sounds about
right. Well, it will work for this at any rate. Tor mentioned that I should get
with Queen Constance, about all of this. I really wish he wouldn't do things
like that to me. Just because he can call on her at a moment's notice
doesn't mean that works for me. How about you? Do you have any secret
contacts in the palace?" It was a joke, but he shook his head anyway.

"No? Tor said I
should get in touch with the Queen too, so I can commiserate with what you're
going through. How could anyone normal make that happen? I..." He stopped,
frowned and pulled his communications device. "Would... If we got a
Countess to do that for us, would that work? I don't want to bother her, but we
don't have a lot of time to waste, I don't think. Not if you have to do all the
work on the buildings and making it look nice. I'll..." He didn't let
himself think just calling up Tamerlane's name, which he understood to be
Terlee Baker, putting some things together from what he'd heard, and waited as
the lady in pink looked a bit strained.

"Hello?"

Dareg noticed that the voice was
awfully deep and masculine for his aunt, and the face was that of Count
Thomson.

"Hey. This is Dareg? I hate
to be a bother, but Collette Sorvee and I need to get in touch with Queen
Constance. It's a bit of a rush thing. I was able to run some tests, and it
seems like the Harmony people, Queen Tiera and her family and some others I
think, they can come back now, and are planning to, in four days. I have some
magic things for it, and Collette is getting more, in a few minutes it looks
like." There was a ship landing. It was glowing green, like Gerent's had,
which probably wasn't a mistake. "So we were just conspiring to throw a
Countess at the Queen here, so that she'd notice us. I guess there's going to
be a bit of a party? Tor is paying for it." He knew that one for certain.

The man on the compact looked
away, then nodded firmly.

"Terlee is out right now. I
can see about setting that up however. You and Collette are in charge? Let me
see if I can get that going before dinner there. I can't guarantee anything,
but that's exciting news. Our Ancients are coming back. The Heir, too?"

Dare smiled.

"Him, and Princess
Karina. I was just with them both a few hours ago. I think that was the plan. I
know Alphonse mentioned it to me in particular."

That got a big smile.

"A great man, the Heir. Let
me see if I can get anything going here. Constance will likely contact Collette
first, being old friends." Then he started saying goodbye in a very
flowery way. It was nice, but after a minute the lady in pink rolled her eyes.

"Tovey? I think you can get
to that now, if you'd like? Not to be rude, but we need to meet a ship. I think
it's Gerent's?"

"Ah! I'll do that directly
then. Out."

That worked, which meant they
were able to climb into the little blue Tam-car and set off. It was a good
distance away since the place had gotten a bit larger in the last hours. Not
that it made much of a difference. They were at the big craft before anyone
came out at all.

When someone did, it was Petra
Lairdgren, not Gerent at all.

"Collette! Dareg!" She jogged
over, holding a box this time, rather than canvas sacks like he'd gotten his
things in. Then, most of those weren't for him, but were for the different
ports.

As if they hadn't just seen each
other he threw his arms wide for her, and yelled.

"Petra, my one true love! My
heart has ached without you near!" The words got him a hug, though it
could have been the arms being stretched out. It was, he realized, interesting.
She had breasts, and they were real enough, but her body was hard under
that.

Worse, she picked him up and spun
him around.

"I knew I was your favorite.
It was the clothing tips wasn't it? That had to pay off sometime."

"That, and the other
information. I got through that meal last night without anyone trying to toss
me out or anything. I even managed a bit of small talk with my table
mate. She was four, but very knowledgeable about dolls. I mean that. How
they're built and things. It was interesting." It really had been, but
Petra winced.

"Seriously? They put you
with a four year old? Ouch. I bet Tovey was beside himself. It's a bit
of an insult. As if they were saying that was the best level you could aspire
too. I take it she was the only girl available?"

"That's right. Kenzia was delightful
though." He was using some of the words that Petra had told him too there,
which got her to smile. The girl had been. She hadn't even spilled most of her
food on his lap."Then, that might just be that she really is my social
equal, in skills at least."

That got a smile from the pink
lady.

"Well, that's something. Is
that how you know Tovey?" It was probing, but he just nodded, rather than
make her work for the data.

"That's right. We met last
night. It had been planned as a smaller thing, so he had to coach me how to
dress for it. Some other people showed up to visit? King's week was
blamed."

Collette started to buzz, and
slipped a tan hand into her side pocket, activating the device instantly.

"Collette Sorvee, how may I
help you?"

"Hello Collette! Count
Thomson just informed me of the wonderful news! They're coming back, in four
days! We're having a celebration for it, naturally. Short notice, but we've
done as much with less. I believe we're to be joined by the new spaceport
commander? That sounds like a grand idea. They have to land first, after all,
which will make for a fine entrance. It's rather barren out there however.
Perhaps we could... I don't know, a parade?" She sounded doubtful, but
like she was friendly and willing to try.

The pink woman smiled at her
hand.

"There are buildings now,
and a lot of cleanup to come. Some has already happened. We have a small river
as well. I can set the color on it. What do you think? Gold? To match the
purple of the wall? The roofs of the buildings are already in Richard's colors,
since Dareg is very patriotic. I also have a load of events that Tor
sent with Petra. I think we can do this, your majesty." She seemed to
really feel it too, if her tone was any indication.

"Wonderful. Can you and Dareg
come here tonight? Please bring Petra, as well? I don't know how to get a hold
of him, I fear. I was told that we should meet... And I have to agree."

"Oh? He's standing right
here. I think we can be there in about an hour? I have my Tam-car with me. It
would be a quarter of that, but the streets aren't good right now. I think this
is already gearing up to be the largest King's week in years. It's almost like
people know what's going to happen."

The Queen didn't keep them long,
since it would take a while to travel the streets, since they seem to have been
designed to cause a person to get lost. Winding as they did, back and forth,
not once or twice but hundreds of times. That was what it felt like. It was
actually twenty-three, he knew, since he'd counted without meaning to.

Thankfully he was there with
Petra, who was in the seat next to him.

"Say, Petra?"

She winked at him, her dark face
pleasant.

"You want help with your
outfit? I can to that. I'm thinking iridescent brown for you. We don't know
what we're walking into, so it will pay to be slightly over dressed. We should
all match, too. Everyone will think we're together, but close enough."

He nodded, and let himself be
touched by her, but smiled.

"See, I was going to
ask if you wanted to kiss. Well, I guess this is the best I can do for now. But
later? We can all do it, if you want?" It was insanely cheeky, but
Collette, in the front seat, chuckled at it.

"I can see why you're
popular at least. Good looking, and cocky. Who can resist that
combination?"

Putting up a mock sigh, he saw
that he was going to be in deep green with a blue armband for some reason. At
least for the jacket. The rest was, as promised, a shiny and shimmering brown.
His boots got high enough that for a moment he thought she was going to tease
him with whore footwear, but she stopped well below the knee. They were a deep
brown, but gleamed. Then she put herself and Collette in brown, a similar color
to what he had on. The styles were a lot different, but both looked ready for
the ball to him.

Not that he'd ever been to
that kind of thing before.

At the front gate of the palace,
which was a heavy iron thing with guards, they were stopped. He expected to be
searched, but instead was handed a small truth device. Collette and Petra went
first. Giving their names, and saying they meant no harm so he did too.

Then the man, who was in purple
and black, pointed at his little, rather humble pack.

"What's in there?"

"This? The remains of a
sandwich, a jug that I pissed in while I flew to the Moon, which I already emptied,
and some magics. No weapons. I do have twenty-one jump ships, but
they're a new kind? They don't have anything too dangerous on them. I think
it's safe enough, for visiting?" No one would be hurt by him just having
the things after all, Dare didn't think.

That got two reactions. Collette
turned to stare at him, and the guard just waved them past. Honestly, for all
the world it was like he didn't even care about any of the things Dareg had
just told him, other than the idea that he wasn't a real threat. Which he
wasn't, so that part worked for all of them, it seemed.

It took a bit for the blonde
woman to start driving again, but eventually they got underway.

Chapter five

They were met by a very elderly
man, who while taller than Dareg was by about six inches, wasn't huge for the
people in the area, from what he could tell. That the man was important seemed
very clear however, given the reaction of the ladies. Neither of them bowed to
him, but they smiled like they'd just encountered an old family member, or long
lost friend.

Petra seemed nearly ecstatic.

"We aren't being taken in
under guard anymore?"

That got the older fellow, who
had thinning gray hair and enough wrinkles to show that he wasn't exactly a kid
any longer, to straighten, his eyes looking over their heads. Even though he
wasn't young, the man seemed to be in good health. Most people did though, if
they had access to a healing device. There had been a plague about twelve years
before that had killed a lot of people worldwide. Dareg didn't remember it
really, but he'd been saved from it by healing units made by Tor like everyone
else had.

The very thought made him want to
wince, but he managed to be more respectful than that in the moment, playing
his part in things by not seeming like a freak.

The older man, some kind of
servant, at least in potential, gave a small smile.

"Indeed, ma'am. The Royal
Guard has decided that we can safely return to our more polite methods of
greeting people. The rebellion has been over for years now, but they, as a
group, do like being cautious." He had the feeling about him of a person
who was both pleased, and not really condemning the guards for being what they
were. "This way please? We're to meet for an early meal, in the private
hall?"

That meant nothing to him, but
the ladies both nodded, their faces fairly blank. That made it harder to tell
if that was a good thing of not, though there was a bit he could take from it
all already.

For instance, they were met by
the older man, instead of the four or five people that were watching them from
behind the walls. From their breathing and the little noises that were coming
from their hidden positions, they were tall people, but not vastly so. Like the
men at the gate had been.

That had to be a sign of
confidence, if it wasn't a trick to get them to let their defenses down.

As they moved, the hidden people
followed along, shuffling behind the stone and wood of the rather grand place,
distracting him a bit. There were bright hangings on the walls, and statues,
carvings and art all over the place. The floor was just stone however. Marble,
he thought. It was polished to a level that he'd never seen from that kind of
thing, and though it had some scratches and marks, it was very nice looking. In
fact, the place was, without a doubt the nicest he'd ever been in by so much it
was a bit overwhelming.

Part of him wanted to just stand
and stare, but the bodies in the walls were creepy enough that he kept moving,
scanning the world for any hint that an attack was about to come. Not that he'd
be able to do anything about it if that happened. Yes, he had a shield on, but
that could be defeated. No one would make that kind of thing and not design
some way around it, after all. What if a bad person got hold of one and went on
a killing spree? They'd need to stop them, so there had to be tricks that would
allow that to happen.

The one that popped into his head
was just keeping the person from having air, though his shield would make that
hard to pull off. Unless it could be altered to not let him breathe?

It took work, but he made a point
of setting his feet down quietly, so that he wouldn't jar his world with each
step. That allowed him to catch some, but not all, of the things going on
around him. No one else spoke for a long time, until they got to a large wooden
door. It had strange and complicated patterns carved into it, but as far as he
could tell it wasn't a language or even a picture. Just star-like lines that
were clearly not meant to be stylized flowers. It was nearly black, and shone,
probably with some kind of oil.

He thought that there was a faint
hint of oranges in the air, but that could be something else. The older man,
who had been leading them all anyway, opened the door and let them inside.

That bit of things changed how he
viewed the world, almost instantly.

If the hallway he was in had been
the nicest place that Dareg had ever seen, including Marissa's on Harmony, this
large place, which was nearly the size of a real person's house, was easily
five times grander than that. It was mainly wood inside, except for the green
and white stone floors. The table that took up the center of the space was big
enough for about fifty people, though there were only four sitting there at the
moment. They distracted him for a bit, though it was mainly the large fellow
off to the left hand side that caught his real attention.

After all, they'd met, if
briefly.

Count Peterson. The giant with
his reddish beard and nice clothing. He'd been at the Thomson's house for their
party. Next to him was a lovely woman who smiled at them, but whose eyes fixed
on his own after a bit. She had long brown hair, with hints of red in it too.
Also light colored eyes, but that was all he could make out in the distance.
She was pale, but more like he was than Timon or Tor. A very light tan, really.

Dareg got who the giant man at
the end of the table was. The King. Richard Cordes. He was so big that even
sitting down, that far away, he managed to loom a bit. Next to him, to the
right hand side, was the Queen. She looked fairly youthful, too. That was
probably down to makeup however, since she was at least fifty. Her face didn't
show that however. Her clothing, like all of the people there, had the flawless
look of being made by magic. She was in a light pink gown that shimmered a bit,
and had a small crown on her head. So, he noticed did the King.

That seemed strange, but it was
the kind of thing that all the pictures from school had shown him.

Bowing first, being not so
important, Dareg went low, and held it.

That got a grin from Petra, but
not as intense of a bow on her own part. Collette nearly did however, being
just a bit above him, though her face looked a bit troubled when King Richard
stood and bowed back to them all.

"Welcome. It's very good of
you all to join us on such short notice. Conserina Ward. Baronetta
Coltress..." Then he stopped, looked directly at Dareg and blinked.
"I'm afraid I don't know the proper form of address for you, sir. What
should we call you?" His eyes darted to his Queen, who went a bit wide
eyed then.

Count Peterson made a hard face,
and looked at the table, while the other woman, who was almost certainly
Princess Veronica bit her lips. It wasn't very attractive really, but did make
her seem a bit more human. That was nice to see.

"Dare, Your Majesty? I'm
pleased to meet you." He was kind of proud of himself, given that his
voice didn't sound uncertain, or shake in the slightest. Really, as powerful
and famous as this man was, he'd felt more intimidated by meeting Tor, to be
honest.

That probably had a lot to do with
the wizard being related to him. If the King didn't like him, well, the man
would probably just not have him over again. Even if he thought he was great,
that seemed to be almost certain. He had to be busy, after all. Tor however was
different. If he didn't care for Dareg, then the man could take away the last
of his family. A thing that he hadn't even known about, but now could see as
valuable.

So, while the King here was
impressive, it just wasn't the same.

Queen Constance looked over at
him, and gave a strange smile, even as she gestured to the chair next to her.

"So, Dare, would you sit by
me for the meal? I hear good things about you already."

Collette was put on the other
side of him, and Petra was next to Count Peterson, on the other side of the
table. Before he could be asked anything, if anyone cared, the large woman,
tall, but not fat or anything, smiled at him and patted his arm as he sat. She
was the Queen, so he didn't let himself make a face. Also, if Tor was right and
hadn't been playing with his mind, his half-sister.

However that one really
worked.

The King smiled at the guests,
and clapped, twice. That was clearly a sign to other people, who ran into the
room, all dressed in green. The outfits were nice enough, but had the quality
of being uniforms. All of the people there were men, and two of them seemed to
be holding bottles of wine, or something along those lines.

Constance beamed at him, even
though all he'd done was not jump up at the sound of clapping.

"It's not traditional to
open a meal with, but Richard and I wanted to try out a new dry cider. I hope
that doesn't seem crass to you? We could switch it out with something more
refined, if you desire?" She was speaking directly to him, as if
she thought that he was going to have an opinion on that kind of thing.

It was tempting to just shrug or
maybe murmur something noncommittal, but that would probably be rude, and these
people were, apparently, new relatives of his. That meant he was supposed to be
friendly with them, he thought. It was hard to pull off, since he really didn't
want to seem like an uneducated hick or anything, even though he pretty much
was, compared to them.

"That sounds interesting,
actually. I'd love to try this dry cider, if that's allowed?" He was, he
knew, being a bit servile, but it did sound kind of interesting. He'd
managed a few sips of ale, at different times of his life, and about the same
amount of wine. All of that had really been from before his mother had died.
Since then he'd been on water, except for what the Tam-unit had given him, and
what he'd had in Harmony.

Queen Constance seemed pleased to
hear that he was willing to try something different, anyway.

The King was given his cup of
amber liquid first, then the Queen, and the Princess. He and Count Peterson
were served at the same time and so were Petra and Collette. He waited, not
knowing the rules for this kind of dining. That meant he was going slowly, and
copying the King. No one was going to mock that man's manners after all, so
doing that, would probably be safe.

There was no standing and taking
a sip, though he did use a small copper rectangle first, waving it over his
metal chalice. The thing was done in three colors, all shining and bright.
There were hammered gold circles on the outside of it, inlaid into the silver
of the body.

Dare knew that, because his own
cup was identical. Huge too. Filled only halfway, thankfully. If the stuff
inside was hard, which it kind of sounded like, he'd end up drunk. Then who knew
what the hell he'd end up doing. Probably trying to wrestle with King Richard,
which wouldn't end well for him. It wouldn't even take the guards coming to
stop him. The man was nine feet tall, at least. The fight would be about
three seconds long and involve him bashing into the floor almost instantly, Dareg
bet.

That got him to flash back to a
few days prior, when the two High Servants had tossed him out of the little
focus stone hut like they had. They weren't even that much bigger than he was,
and had still had a lot of advantage that way. Dareg decided that sipping was
in order, given all of that, since everyone at the table was at least that
large, compared to him.

Even Veronica, who was watching
him intently. Drinking in everything about him, he didn't doubt. That was fine,
because he planned to do that right back, if with a bit more subtlety, not
wanting to give himself away too soon.

The Princess of Noram picked up
her own drink, and took a small sip, just after the Queen did. Dare got the
pattern. It wasn't about checking for poison in any kind of formal manner, but
the idea was so ingrained that they all used their magics for it, and went in
the same order that they would have at something more formal. Without missing a
beat he picked up the cool metal chalice, the weight greater than he would have
figured on at first. Then carefully sipped at the stuff inside of it, as if it
were a thing of vast importance. For all he knew it was, so he tried to go
carefully and pay attention.

It was dry, as promised, leaving
his mouth feeling just a little grainy after he swallowed. There was a hint of
sweetness to it, but it clearly wasn't fruit juice. The aftertaste was a bit
sour, but that was the way he recalled all alcohol being, so didn't make a
face.

The others went in fast, but
perfect order, not seeming to understand they were doing it. Petra was last,
but she nodded when she'd tried hers.

"That's not bad. It would
work well to replace a golden wine, or perhaps a dry white."

The words sounded like she knew
what she was talking about, so Dareg nodded.

"I can see that working, as
well." Then he took another sip, since everyone else was doing that as
they pleased after the first portion was over. The trick there was that he knew
nothing about the topic. Agreeing with the people that did would work well, and
Queen Constance smiled at him, like he was being brilliant.

The funny thing was how Veronica
let her eyes narrow at him. It was pretty clear to him that she understood what
he was doing on the matter. Everyone would be aware too, if they'd thought
about. How the heck was he supposed to know about wines? Then, it was possible
that they didn't know anything about him. Not other than that he was Tor's son.

The King had signed the papers
that claimed he was Tor's real son, or so he'd been told. That would mean he
was up on the whole thing. That probably meant that the thing a few minutes
before had seemed strange to them all, if they knew that. The King had asked
what to call him, probably to find out if he had a title or anything like that.
More, he probably knew that kind of thing already, better than Dare did.

He hadn't been upset by him
suggesting he be called by name, but it was probably confusing.

Collette looked up, and spoke in
a tone that was very different than what he'd heard from her so far. Polite,
which she had been, but with a smoothness that was very fake seeming.

"I hear that we should have
lovely weather for the next week? I know that we aren't supposed to discuss
business during the meal, but that bodes well, don't you think?" She
didn't look at anyone. Not in particular. Her eyes, when he noticed her from the
side of his vision, alternated between the center of the cloth covered wooden
table, to the far wall behind the people on the far portion of the thing.

Count Peterson nodded, and smiled
hugely. His voice was a bit loud, and a little forced seeming, but that could
have been for a lot of reasons. Including just thinking that Collette was
pretty, which wasn't wrong. It was clear that he was in a room with three of
the loveliest women in Noram at the moment.

That kind of made him like Petra
a bit better. She wasn't as good looking, but her smiles didn't seem
fake, either.

The large Count took a single
sip, before speaking.

"I've heard the same. The
Austran weather reporting center is most accurate. It sounds like perfect
flying weather. Do you fly... Dare?"

It was a bit odd, since the Queen
tensed, and glanced at first him, and then the giant and nicely dressed Count.
Her eyes were a bit cool in the other man's direction. The King looked away, as
if frustrated, and Collette seemed annoyed. It was hard to see why however.
Before he could speak, Aunt Petra did, holding her own chalice up to take a
sip, even though it was clear she was just planning to speak. An affectation
then, though Dareg didn't know enough to get if it was just a thing she did, or
an expected one.

"He does. It was Dareg
who checked the entire planet to see if the others can come back yet. After
he flew from the port here to Harmony the other day. Using only his shield.
It's a new kind. Faster than the others. It still took almost a full day in the
void. With no ship near to help him if something went wrong."

Count Peterson stared at him, but
smiled when he did it, so the whole thing wasn't too incredulous.

"That's amazing! I'd been
telling people you'd planned to try, but hadn't heard that it was done already!
Good, I can have you in to help train some of the men at the Fliers Base? If we
can get those shields, naturally." Then he stopped and laughed, at
himself. "There I go, turning everything toward work! Tell me, do you
enjoy hunting? I was thinking of inviting Timon Baker over for that in about a
month, if I can. It would be fun if you could come as well. Provided you have
time that is." There was a head nod then, as if saying he understood if Dareg
didn't.

He had to think for a second, but
started to nod earlier than that. He wasn't going to say no, after all. If the
man wasn't serious, he could just not tell him when it was. The day he was rude
to a person that regularly showed up in such high circles was the day he ran
away to live in the woods.

"I've never really done
that. I suppose that would give me a month to learn how? What would we be going
after?" He'd fished, of course, wanting to eat some protein every now and
then. There was a limit on what he could steal food wise. People that had
probably guessed it was him that had taken their fresh loaves might not have been
as kind about their dinner steak or mutton.

"It's nearing boar season.
This would have to be up in Peterson, but it sounds like you can get there
easily enough. Good! Now, Petra, you and Gerent will come, too?" Then the
man winced a bit, and looked over at Collette. He seemed at a clear loss for
words, but it was Queen Constance that leaped in then.

"Collette dear, I imagine
that you'll be very busy. You must be excited to have two of your boyfriends
coming back after so long?" There was a weird, almost unkind undertone to
the words.

Dare looked over at the King, not
knowing what they were talking about, just as the man did the same back to him.
The giant seemed to understand everything going on however, being far better
informed.

The pretty woman smiled and looked
past him at the female ruler.

"I am! Are you planning to
host Queen Tiera soon?" Then she blushed, which seemed real, even though
the King started to nod.

"That is, indeed, the plan.
I was going to suggest she come for Noram Day this year. They don't do that one
up in Harmony, so she might be able to get free. Tor and Timon as well, I
think. We should try to have all the Ancients in, if we can." Then he
glanced at Dare, and smiled. "If that's all right with you, naturally. I
can see how it might be a bit strained for you with some of them, but I can
recommend them all as friends, if nothing else. Good people, all."

Then the man looked away, as if
he'd said too much.

So Dare was just honest about the
whole thing. As much as he could without talking about work, which was hard at
the moment. Everything that Tor and the others had suggested for him, or aided
him with was work, more or less.

"The ones that I met did
seem nice. I heard that some of the Ancients will be moving to their new lands?
I didn't meet him, but I think Tor said that Sam Builder was coming here. We
should get him a house or something. Maybe at the spaceport? That way he could
always travel quickly if he needs." Which was probably stupid since the
man was one of the best wizards and immortal.

If he wanted a grand palace, he'd
make one himself, out of thoughts and wishes or however it was done. The same
was true of space craft, no doubt.

King Richard grinned, like it was
a brilliant thing to say however.

"I like the sound of that. I
loved Count Lairdgren, the Green man, but he did not always make it easy to get
in touch with him. Starting Sam out so much closer might help set a good
precedent that way. Especially if I'm not the one doing it. Are you thinking
that the Ancients should all live near their spaceports?" He looked up, as
a team of six servants walked in, carrying trays and little fold out stands for
the things to rest on. Those were wooden, but the trays were done in real
silver, and had domed lids on them. When they were uncovered the things showed
piles of greens.

That wasn't his favorite, but Dare
didn't let that show on his face. If he had to eat that kind of thing to fit
in, he could.

A plate, which was a rather nice,
if plain, white thing, was set in front of all of them, along with a napkin,
and a single fork. Before the food was served the King took his and placed it
on his lap, so Dareg started to do the same, staggering the move again, as
everyone went in the food testing order again.

The man behind him, holding the
tray, spoke gently.

"Salad, sir?"

That he had the option to say no
was nice to hear, but everyone else had said yes, so far. In fact, even the
King had said yes, thank you. It wouldn't serve for him to do less.

So he copied the man, even if he
didn't quite get the accent right. No one stared at him over it however. Except
the Princess. She smiled a bit however, and gave a tiny nod.

When she spoke, after the first
bites had been taken, her eyes locked with his.

"So. Cousin Dareg, have you
made any plans for schooling? I know that Tor was always most saddened that he
never managed to get through his own that way. I had tutors myself. You could
do that, and still do the rest of what you have planned, I bet." She
didn't move her gaze from his, even as he chewed the bitter herbs that he'd
been given. There was vinegar and spices on it too, thankfully, or he would
have choked on it.

His manners might not have been
perfect, but no one else had spoken with a full mouth, waiting to swallow
first, even if it meant not speaking for a while. That gave him about ten
seconds to come up with something to say.

Again, he decided to go with the
truth.

"I haven't thought about it
at all. Most just go to work at fourteen. I turned last month. I did finish the
mandatory schooling. I... Could get trade training?" That had actually
been his plan, more or less, before the spaceport thing had opened up. That
might not be a lifelong task, however. It made sense to gain skills if he
could.

Collette had stopped eating and
was looking at him with a very puzzled expression. It took him a bit to run
back through things, and make a few leaps to connect ideas.

The woman had been gently needled
by the Queen, about her boyfriends. Tor had, at one time, been Constance's
lover, but that had ended when they'd found out that they were relatives. A
jealous person might be upset about their love having gone off with a different
person. One who could have what they, no matter how powerful they were, could
not.

Dareg hadn't mentioned being
Tor's son directly however. No one else had either. Also, it was possible that
Tor hadn't been in touch with her about him yet, specifically. Not to hide him,
though that might be the real case, but it was also possible that he'd just
called his adult child by name, out of respect. Or that Timon had been
in touch with her.

The man seemed to like him all
right, but there was also a bit of strangeness to him. Like he was
setting up convoluted and complicated plans, without most ever realizing what
they were.

It left him with a dilemma. If
Tor didn't want this woman, who might be his girlfriend, to know about him,
then it wouldn't serve to clue her in. On the other hand, if it was all about
controlling her reaction, so that, say, Dare would sleep with her, thus
angering his father, or causing the two to lose trust or faith, then walking
into that would be bad too.

The King smiled at him.

"We could help you line up
some tutors, if your other family isn't doing that already. We should talk to
them first, on the subject. If you're interested in such things,
naturally. Have you considered the family business? Building is a growing field
these days. You might also look into the military. I'm sure that you'd do well
there. It's traditional for nobles to serve at least for a time. Though, as a
Prince of Harmony, that might not be allowed you. They don't have a military
service, yet. Perhaps you could start one?"

Petra smiled at him, her large
brown eyes glinting, as she worked out that Collette wasn't up to speed, but
clearly wasn't going to admit to that. It was making her tense however,
and she turned to stare a bit, looking away before he could probably see her
expression. The quick flickering of concern that couldn't be controlled by most
people when they were worried.

Most people weren't that good at
seeing those, he didn't think. They were useful however, since they often told
you how people really felt. Better than words, even.

Queen Constance, for all she'd
started things with Collette, was ignoring that now.

"This must all be so sudden
for you. It's also fine if you wish to just take some time and rest. I'm sure
that Torrance will provide an ample stipend for you, being that you're his son.
Isn't that right, Collette?" It was really clear that the woman wasn't
even attempting to be mean or catty at the moment. She just truly
thought that the Baronetta knew about it all already.

So everyone but Petra and Dareg
seemed confused at her words.

"Did Tor adopt you? I hadn't
heard about that. How wonderful!"

The King responded first, smiling
at them, but seeming nervous about it.

"No, Baronetta Coltress. Dareg
is Tor's natural child. With a woman named Merilee Merchant. My understanding
is that he inadvertently used magic to cause it to happen. Still, it was his
will that it take place, On a level that few could have matched, so he had me
draw up papers of natural course. Meaning that, regardless of anything else, Dareg
is, and always has been, his legitimate child and full heir."

That got Princess Veronica to
wrinkle her nose.

"Haven't you noticed how
much he looks like him? Regardless, I'm sure that's right, Dareg. Tor will want
to make sure you have a healthy stipend. That isn't a good conversation for the
meal however... I know, how about gardens? If you have water by the port now,
you might consider some trees?"

That was what they talked about,
in great variety, for the rest of the meal. Plants. The Queen, and Collette,
both had gardens they wanted to speak about. Count Peterson acted happy enough
to listen to it all, so Dareg decided to copy that, and smile at the right
times, taking cues from the larger man.

Everyone else mainly made small
talk, and ate. The palace served equal portions for everyone, but it was clear
that, after the salad, he just wasn't going to need to eat as much as say the
eight foot tall and nicely muscled Count, or the taller, but thinner, King of
Noram.

That seemed wasteful to him, but
the others didn't eat all their food, so he switched from trying to copy the
King that way to the Queen. That still left him feeling a bit too full at the
end of the ten courses, even having not finished any of them. Not too bad, but
it was a strange sensation. It had been years since he'd had that much at one
sitting. Luckily, they had a Tiera food unit there, which if it worked like the
Tam-units meant that they could just toss what he hadn't consumed into the
hopper and use it later.

There was no talk of business at
the meal, but the second the last plate was taken away, Queen Constance turned
to Collette.

"I'm to understand that
Torrance is paying for the celebration?" It was probably a bit too cheap
sounding, but no one seemed to mind that portion of things. Then, who would?

The pretty Baronetta nodded a few
times.

"Yes, Queen Constance. I
have a consignment of events as well. New things that no one on Earth has seen
before, if I understand the idea. I believe that they intend to come in using
the spaceport?" She looked at Dareg, her face still more than a little
confused it seemed, though she hid it well.

He nodded.

"That's what I heard. We
should have that up in time, if I can get people to help. I was told that I
could get funds to hire some? If so, it will be about three days. We also are
going to want players, musicians and all that. I don't know how to get
them." Which was just true, but the Queen smiled at him, like what he'd
said was cute.

"Put out some notices, and
offer coin. You'll find that it isn't that hard to fill positions, especially
if you can pay well."

For all that they needed to get
things going, and soon, no one seemed to think that it would be all that hard.
Mainly due to the fact that they had two things going for them. Coin and magic.
The second one would make most of the difference, if he had the right idea.

For most of the planning session
he just sat there, memorizing what he needed to do. Honestly, it wasn't all
that much. The Queen had people to put up the hiring bills, and were, in fact, already
off doing that. For his part he just needed to make sure that what he wanted to
see happen, did. A team of people to keep his Tam-pals full of material, and ensure
that things were tidy and places staffed.

"So," he looked at
Constance, and wondered if she actually looked like him at all. Other than that
they both had slightly pale skin and long hair, that was. "I need to get
with Space Fleet and see if I can convince them that we'll want a constant
stream of ships in for the event?"

That led to a long discussion
about the new craft they were getting, and how they weren't armed vessels. The
news got King Richard to smile.

"I wonder if Harmony would
be willing to accept people for tours? The danger there is that we might never
get them back. I should still get with Queen Tiera on that. I'll be certain to
make that offer to host her, Collette. It's a very good plan. I should go do
that now. Thankfully it's early there at the moment." He smiled at Dare
and stood then bowed to them all. "Dare, would you be available, if we
need to dump extra work on someone? I hate to ask, but it's coming up on King's
week, and with a special event like this, we might need some extra housing,
among other things." He looked frankly at Collette, who hid a smile behind
her right hand.

"I was planning to put up
four palaces, for guests. If you could match that... Prince Dareg?" The
words were clearly heavy and unfamiliar on her tongue. That was good really,
since even if he had a title like that, it wasn't real to him.

"I have some I can use for
that. Food devices from Queen Tiera, too. So that part should work. Still, if
you need me for anything else, I should be around. More or less. I'll keep the communications
thing on me? I'm not planning to leave the area for a while." His words
were probably too relaxed sounding, but somewhere between the third course and
the eighth he'd decided that the King wasn't going to have him killed any time
soon. Really, it was kind of clear that he was really going out of his way to
be kind and helpful, even though he didn't have to be.

Like a friend would, even.

The King gave him a nod, and then
left the room, probably to go and bother Tiera about the things that had been
mentioned. That would mean he didn't have to do it, which was nice. Not that he
didn't like his aunt. She seemed fine, more or less, and was attractive. Also,
he reminded himself, not a biological relative.

He stood too then, moved around
the back of the chair, and started bowing to everyone as well.

"If there's no more for me
to do here, I should probably get going. I'll need to be up at first
light." He didn't know if that was polite of him or not, but no one
frowned at him about it. Collette looked troubled again, but as soon as the
Queen began to nod, she stood too, which got Petra on her feet, and oddly,
everyone else following along.

Constance, instead of dismissing
him, gave him a small hug.

"Well, I have to say I'm
pleased enough. It isn't every day you find that a suddenly appearing relation
is both capable, and easy to get along with. You'll be around for
events? I might have to put you on lists suddenly, or possibly require you to
invent an event or two, so is it all right for me to call on you as well as
Richard?" There was a serious ring to her words, which was odd, since it
was pretty much normal to just take a Queen's calls like that.

"Of course. All of you can. I
hear that I'm very open and approachable that way. Not that it's ever
come up, and I only heard that right now, when I said it, but that has to
count, don't you think?" There was a smile to go with it, and a bow toward
the rest of the room.

Count Peterson smiled at least.

"I'll walk you all out? I
want to dun you for new shields anyway, Dareg. More to the point, to get you to
do that for me with your family? Not that they've ever been stingy, but any
kind of discount on the work I can get would be good. Fielding a hundred space
capable men and women would be a wonderful place to start." His eyes
looked pleasant on that topic, so Dareg nodded.

"We should try for that,
just as a start. Would you be willing to train the space fleet people on that
too? Alice Orange is planning a similar group. Not that I know if they'll need
any help that way. Still, if they do, can I pass that along to her?"

The Count seemed happy to hear
the idea, rather than upset. Which was probably because he figured that he
could get the devices in exchange for that work, or something similar. Not that
Dare could promise anything like that. What he could do was try to reach
out to Timon.

They weren't stopped by the guard
again, even though he could have loaded a lot of the silver service into his
bag. No one had even mentioned how odd it was that he'd kept it with him the
whole time. No one else had, but there was no way he could risk the things he
had in there. He had that valuable piss jug to be concerned about after all.

In the courtyard, on the nicely
paved and slightly shining drive, Collette put her little blue Tam-car back up.
Petra rode with him in the rear, and leaned against him warmly.

"Not bad. Especially
considering that you've never had lessons in etiquette. I do think that
Princess Veronica had a good idea, however. You should get some tutoring going,
if you don't want to go off to school? I can get you in at Printer, if you wish?
I bet Lairdgren would take you as well. They cost about the same per year.
Though... You might want those tutors first. I can see about setting that up
for you? I think Kolb was talking about a project that you might be good for. That
would be able to count toward that."

He'd never met anyone by that
name, but nodded.

"I can look into it, if you
think it's a good idea? Probably in a few days, if that's all right. I have a
bit to do between now and then."

She nodded at him, her face lit
only by the soft glow of the wall river through the window. Oddly, they didn't
head off to the spaceport first thing, going the other way instead. Collette
spoke softly to them, at the first real lull.

"I can give you some coin
tonight. I... Really would have never guessed that Tor would have a child. It happens,
but I never really figured on that. It just seems so unlikely doesn't it? Like
what a person might claim to get at riches or power."

Dareg fought the urge to glare at
the back of her blonde head. It was tempting to just get out and walk though,
because there was, right there in her words, a hint of accusation. More than
that.

Instead he also spoke softly, his
voice perhaps a bit mean sounding.

"It wasn't my choice
either. They tested me though, several times, with magic and Austran..."
That one took him a bit to recall, but he only paused for a moment.
"Technology. I didn't lay the claim, even though it was what my
mother had always told me was true. I honestly didn't believe her. So, if you
have an issue with it, you might want to take it up with the Wizard Tor? I'm
not lying about this, and don't really like having that implied."
It probably wasn't good to challenge her on that kind of thing, if she really
were the man's girlfriend.

Petra stiffened at any rate,
which probably meant he was being rude. It just really wasn't him trying to
push in with a fake claim. If that was happening at all, then it was coming
from a totally different place, and he was innocent of it all. Not that the
woman driving would see it that way.

Dareg was gearing up for an
argument anyway. Good plan or not, he wasn't going to let himself be accused of
lying when he wasn't. It would probably mean leaving the Capital, but that was
possible now.

The whole escape plan came into
his head, unbidden. First he'd pack up the Tam-units, Since she was his friend,
then head north, to where the temperature would be a bit cooler for the winter.
Straight up, toward Holden maybe, where no one would expect him to go. In an
instant he was nearly ready to leave. He had what he needed to survive now. Dare
could even deliver the jump ships first, and still have plenty that way. It was
the better plan, because being seen as a thief wouldn't work well. It was bad
enough that he'd have to take the Tam-units, but so far no one else could use
them.

That would, no doubt, be changing
inside the next few days, so friend or not, it might make more sense to leave
her there.

Collette didn't say anything,
just pulling the Tam-car over and climbing out fast. Stomping away in anger, or
possibly fear. He was a bit angry with her, but that seemed almost as if she
were trying to really piss him off. Acting like he didn't have a right to call
her on saying he was a liar like that.

It was Petra climbing out that
made him wonder at it however.

Rage filled him at the move.
She'd been there and knew better than he did that it was really true. That the
tests hadn't been anything that he'd asked for. That those others had said he
was Tor's son, not him.

"So, you want to call
me a liar too?" That was, he understood, a bit more than he was willing to
put up with.

She shook her head. There was a
cool look on her face, like she was trying not to let her expression be read on
purpose.

"Dareg... You're in a combat
rage. Can... You pull yourself out of it? A lot of people in your family can.
Focus and make yourself relax. Slow your breathing. Don't hit anything. Don't
give up your control." Her voice was a little bit soft and singsong, which
was upsetting. Besides, he really didn't know what she was talking about. There
was a certain amount of truth to what she was saying however, Being that he was
kind of upset at the moment, and it was too much. So even with anger trying to
tear his middle apart, he did what she suggested, and pulled himself back,
standing there with his eyes closed, breathing as slowly as he could.

When he opened his eyes, a good
while later, both women were still there. More or less. Petra was right there
with him, and Collette was about fifty feet away. Looking ready to run away, if
she had to.

The darker skinned lady, his
aunt, smiled at him.

"Ha. There we go. Even if we
didn't know for certain before, that would be a good sign. Most people can't
beat the rage like that. We do have all those tests however, and the stories
line up too well for it not to be what Tor said. I... I think that it might be
best if Dare and I fly back, Collette. We can go low, around the city. The gold
can wait."

The other woman didn't speak, her
face slightly scared still, and more than a bit blank. A bit stiffly she turned
away, got in the little floating vehicle, and drove off, silently.

A flare of anger hit him then. He
did manage to let it go, after just two minutes of deep breathing and some
focused concentration. Not that it was easy, given how he kind of wanted to
chase her down and scream at her for being so mean to him.

When he opened his eyes Petra
rose about four inches into the air, and gestured for him to do the same. They
didn't go very fast, and it wasn't a short trip, going around the entire
Capital like they were. On the left hand side, with the natural river at their
back. It meant passing under the clear streamers made by the wall river,
forcing them both to duck. There was no forest to avoid however, this part
still being very barren and wide open. It was mainly just dust and hard packed
dirt.

It wasn't until they were closing
on the spaceport's main road that he spoke. Just as they were both ducking under
the tube that carried water to the port. Looking at it, he realized that it was
the out-going line, that carried the water away. That, and his head hurt.

"I should just leave. This
isn't going to work, is it? I can't even hold a conversation without being a
horrible person for no reason." The words felt thick, and sounded sad,
even to his own hearing.

Petra just waved toward the spaceport.
Her ship was still there, after all. His bag rested comfortably on his
shoulders, the straps not digging in or anything like that. It just wasn't that
heavy.

"She... Really she needed to
check things in private before letting that kind of thing come out. Half of
this kind of situation is normally false. It's just that we know, for
certain, that you're Tor's son. Not that your looks shouldn't be enough to tell
almost everyone that. You get what I'm saying? It isn't wrong for her to want
to protect her friend, but she should know better than to do it that way."
Then she shrugged. "Not that you weren't a little over reactive.
How's your head doing?"

"Not great. It always hurts
like this when I get mad. It probably means I have a brain tumor." He was
trying to be funny, even if it didn't sound like that.

The woman floating along next to
him, at about twenty miles an hour, shook her head.

"Combat rage always does
that. How often has this happened to you?"

That took some remembering, but
after a bit he had it worked out. More slowly than it should have been though.

"About once a month.
Normally when something happens that isn't fair. I try not to let it happen. I
win, about half the time. I... Think that this whole thing is harder on me than
it seems. Not that I'm whining about that. You know, poor me, people are
claiming to be my family and seem to want to give me stuff. That's not a
kick in the balls, you know?"

The woman made a face at him, and
then snorted.

"Well, that's fucked
up. Combat rage is normally triggered once a year or so, under extreme stress
conditions. So you're a bit worse off than most. A lot. On the good side, you
can handle it too. You should learn to meditate. That really seems to help.
Magic does, too. As in learning to do it. As for leaving... I don't think so.
After all, half of why Collette was scared had to do with me. You were doing
your part well enough to satisfy even the most fearful."

"Really? How so?"

They were nearly to the port, so
he slowed, getting Petra to do the same. Once on her feet, she winked at him,
and touched his arm gently.

Then, stepping back, she pulled a
nice, rather shiny, silver blade.

"When you had your eyes
closed I stabbed you in the arm a couple times. Or tried. You were casting an
aura, too. Disorientation aura. So you have a natural shield, and that,
at the very least. Everyone pretty much has increased strength and speed
when it hits, so you'll have that as well. I'm pretty sure that Collette nearly
wet herself when I did that part. That's why she was acting like that
when she left. Probably because she wasn't certain that you might not kill her
if you were hurt by what I did. It was a risk, but not that big of one.
After all, we all have shields on, and if I stabbed you, you would have
gone for me."

That made sense to him. After
all, that is what he would have done.

Except that it might not be. Not
that he would have gone after the blonde woman that had insulted him either.
Odds were that his real trick would have been to storm away. In anger, but that
was the kind of thing he'd always done before. He started to get too upset and
would just leave, rather than stand and argue. In the Tam-car he'd been trapped
however, and that meant being stuck.

The dusky lady next to him shook
her head just a tiny bit.

"You said that you had to
raise yourself for the last years? That had to be tough. No one mentioned this
to you? Noticed that you were glowing and shooting sparks out every time you
got annoyed or anything? Started beating people up when they mocked your small
penis size, or pointed out the dumb expression you carry around on your face
all the time? Really, that nearly had to happen with those pouty lips of
yours." The woman was watching him closely, and reached out to him,
putting her hand on his chest. Then she pushed him, just hard enough to make
him move back a step. "You're so tiny as well. I bet that a lot of men
wanted to screw your behind. Do you like that, or did that set you off each
time they tried? You know, when they were spitting on their hands, and trying
to get your trousers down? I bet you couldn't stop them, being so little. Is
that the kind of thing you like? It would explain why you didn't kill anyone at
least. Unless you have? Are you a murderer, Dareg Canton?"

She pushed him harder, just
enough for his body to move. It was enough to cause Dareg to go again, angry at
the woman who'd suddenly turned on him like she had.

Rather than run off, or even slap
her shield into place, Petra took a few steps back.

"There we go. Control
that. Don't let go of it. I've seen you do this twice inside twenty minutes,
you can do it three times. Hurry. Faster this time. Remember what being in
control feels like and get back to it." There was a sudden change in her
tone, having moved from derision to a calm, guiding tone.

For his part, as anger and even
rage surged through him, Dare tried to do just that. It was hard to think, but he
could, so that meant he got the idea. She hadn't been really making fun of him,
just goading him into this lethal upset thing. Combat rage.

That wasn't a thing that anyone
had ever told or taught him about, or that he'd been accused of. Both of the
women with him had recognized it instantly when it had started to happen however.
Which indicated something. It was harder to think, but as he breathed, slowly,
things clicked into place. They were both nobles. That group of people,
while easy to see, being so tall, made up a small part of the society. Tiny
enough that if some of them had special abilities it might not be known to
everyone.

He had heard of people with
special powers on the battlefield. That was magic, or so he'd thought. People
shooting lightning from their fingers, or blasts of force from their palms.
Really, when that was brought up in school, the assumption had always been that
the people doing that just had talismans or weapons in their hands that no one
could see at the moment in the heat.

Apparently that was wrong.

After a little over a minute, he
opened his eyes, feeling a bit better. Conserina Ward, Petra Lairdgren smiled
at him.

"I was wrong of course, you don't
have a stupid looking pouty mouth. You do have girl hair though. I
wasn't kidding about that part. Though no one will be doing you from behind
unless you like that kind of thing, I bet. Not as easy to trigger as you
are."

Then, pretty much as Dareg
expected her to do, she pushed him. Over and over, with both soft blows and
name calling. None of it was really bad, though she did cover that he had to
have a little pecker a lot. Being as small as he was. Finally, after three more
iterations of him becoming enraged and then having to pull back from the edge
of losing his mind on the woman, Dareg walked away.

Digging through his bag, he got
out the amulet for the little pod house, and set it up with a tap. The thing
wasn't vast, and was just as lumpy on the top as before, but it was a lot more
white, since it was dark outside. He needed to get some lights up and going, he
knew. He had them, in his little canvas bag, but his head hurt so much that Dareg
really wasn't going to bother with that at the moment.

At his front door, when he
expected Petra to stay outside, she surprised him, gently placing her hand on
his back and moving him along inside, then shutting the door.

Looking around, she nodded at
him.

"Not bad. Tam did a good job
on these. Mainly for her people in Soam. So, here. This will help with the
head." She dug at her own neck for a bit, and came out with a healing
amulet. It was easy to tell that was what she held, having a glowing man in
green on it, in silhouette.

Pressing the thing against his
arm, she held it there for a moment. His head flared in pain, but Dare didn't
grunt or move back. Healing often hurt at first. Everyone knew that. After
about a half minute he was feeling a lot better however. Like he could really
think again. Thirty seconds after that he was back to normal. Better than that,
because he was nearly certain the scuff marks and bruising from being tossed
out of the High Servants little hut days before were finally all gone.

Then, looking at her, he
shrugged, and undid the front of his trousers. It was crude of him, but she was
the one that had doubted his manhood all those times. Stroking himself as she
watched, he grew in front of her.

"So, too small for
you?" He didn't think he really was, but his life hadn't shown him a lot
of other men getting ready for sex, so he didn't really know and was
legitimately asking her.

He kind of expected panic, but
she just grinned.

"You're decent that way, to
be honest. On the large side without being too big. That doesn't work
either. Now, tuck that away. We need to talk."

He did it, knowing that it had
been too much to hope that she'd actually do something with him. She was
a noble though, so it had been possible. They had very different rules that way
than city folk did. Then, he hadn't really asked, just whipping it out like
that and getting her opinion. It was good to know that he really wasn't
deficient that way, however.

Petra smiled at him, and shook
her head a little.

"You won't lose
control. Not if you can do what we just did out there. We need to work out some
practice for you. Probably fight work, without a shield, so I can get you going
by just hitting you in the head a few times. First you need to be able to turn
it on and off, and control it while fighting, then we need to work on using the
ability during a crisis. The thing there is that I can't babysit you
each day. So, you'll need to come to Printer for lessons. Morning would be good
for me. That's when the serious students are there anyway. We need to get you
training in meditation and magic too. Tor can do almost anything he's familiar
with as direct effect, all the time. This has to be related. Or... You
know, I bet I can get things set up for you so you won't have to travel that
far each day. Let me see?"

He nodded, and managed a rather
dour smile.

"So, no sex? Here I'd
thought you wanted me, talking about my penis like that so much." He
really hadn't, but instead of laughing at him, she nodded.

"We could do that. I'm just
holding off, in case I end up being your teacher. There are rules to that kind
of thing, and if I have to hit you ten times an hour to help you learn, we
probably won't want to end up in bed each night. That can end up with some odd
things happening. Plus the student getting better marks than they deserve,
which is always bad for them."

Dareg snorted then, and shook his
head.

"Clearly. So, you were just
saying the thing about my manhood. The hair, too?"

She ran her fingers through it,
and then pulled it straight up. Not hard, at first, but about a foot away from
his head she tugged so hard he had to go one tiptoe. Then she let go as his
shield triggered, trapping it in place.

"No. That will have
to go. Eventually. Right now I need to go see some people, but you should
sleep. Even if you don't do anything, combat rage is exhausting and you have
real work to get to."

Then, without so much as a hug,
she left, closing the door to his pod house behind her.

She wasn't wrong. It was all he
could do not to fall into bed. Sleep hit him hard, but he had been up for
nearly two days already, minus about six hours, so it made sense. The device
that Alyssa had given him to let him stay awake had worn off already. At first
light he had to force himself to get up, his head feeling like it was stuffed
with wool still, and used the thing, just to see what would happen.

The answer was very little.
Except that as soon as he tapped the little stone piece he went from being groggy
and slow to normal. In about three seconds. It made setting the water up for
the place, and then scrubbing up a lot easier.

In fact, about ten minutes later,
he was able to get outside and talk to his Tam-friend.

"Hey. Did anything happen
while I was gone?"

The device popped up with the
face of a smiling and pretty girl, and nodded at him.

"Yep. We had about a hundred
people here yesterday. Some looking for work. I asked them to come back at
about noon today. After I got them to refill all of the units here. The
High Servant Erid came by, and is staying in the free inn, in case you need
him? He's nice. He brought his wife along with him. Kimi. She's from
Afrak." The words were a little simplistic, but he nodded at the pale face
that was about as light as his own.

"Thanks. Would I be able to
have some food?"

The girl in the box shook her
head, and looked behind him.

"No. I don't think that the
large man and woman are going to allow that, Dareg."

Petra, standing next to a tall
bald man, nodded.

"Indeed. We need to find a
place to get started. Over this way?"

The tan
bald guy laughed, and walked in the direction that she'd pointed at.

Chapter six

The bald man had a scar on his
face, which had to be fake.

It looked really good, having a
faint silver and pink shimmer to it, but the healing amulets would have made it
go away, and the fellow was from Harmony. As far as Dare knew, a lot of
people there just walked around with the things around their necks. So the
muscular and hard seeming man would have used one in the not too distant past.

That meant it was some kind of
cosmetic thing. Dare could see it, for a fighter, or a person that wanted to
train that kind of being. Without that, or with hair on his head, the man would
have looked nearly pretty. The kind of man who would have easily gotten women
to desire his company. His skin was very even, and the name, Kolb, was one that
he'd heard before.

One of the Ancients.

This man seemed to be in his
thirties or so, making him the oldest seeming of that type of person that Dare
had seen so far. He was also, very clearly, insane.

"We'll start out each day
with a run, for now. Down that path and back. It's what, two and a half
miles?" This was said to Petra, but Dareg actually knew the correct answer
on that one.

"Three, each way."

The bigger man smiled at him,
seeming pretty happy with that.

"Good. With me, to begin
with. Slow and steady for today. Don't stop. Measure your breathing."

They didn't move quickly, but
after a few minutes he was gasping a little. Not this man, or Petra, just him.
He tried to keep it quiet, even though that was hard at the moment. On the good
side, it didn't get any worse as they traveled. He was coated with sweat at the
turn around by the city wall, the guard there waving at him.

"Hey." He did it back,
turned and kept going, since he'd been told not to stop.

That meant his feet and legs
ached by the time he got back, which meant nothing to these others in the
slightest. No, they just had him work on other things. Exercises like sitting
up, and pressing the ground. That meant he was well and truly exhausted by the
time they stared teaching him how to fight. Dare figured that the first move
would be to slap or punch him, forcing him to fight that combat rage, but Kolb,
his face serious, actually showed him how to punch, kick, and throw a
person to the ground. It took about five hours, and was done without a shield
on, so he had some bruising already.

At the end of it, the man went
over every mistake he'd made, over the course of hours. Everything, from not
balancing his weight very well as he jogged along, to mistakes made while
trying to tackle Petra to the ground.

Then they worked on each of
those, so that he'd learn not to do that again.

It was kind of clear that he
hadn't done very well, but at the end of it, the man smiled at him.

"Not horrible, for a first
day. If you can fix all of that by tomorrow, we'll be able to move on fairly
quickly. Now, I need to get off to visit some people, if I'm going to be around
sooner than the rest. You have plans for the day?" The words were polite,
and conversational, almost kind.

Dareg nodded.

"I need to see about hiring
some workers. Not that I have any gold for it. I was supposed to get
some last night, but failed at it."

Petra looked at the bald man, and
told on him.

"Combat rage. Like I told
you? Controlled well, so there's that. He didn't go off during practice, which
is better than I figured would happen, Dare. You also need to get with Alice
Orange, too."

That got the bald man to nod,
then pull something out of his tan canvas shirt. It was handed over almost
blankly.

"Disguise amulet. We'll come
up with one for you to use with Alice. She won't be able to trust you like you
are. Is there a mirror around here?"

There was, in his little pod
house, so they all traipsed inside, the front door being closed tight. Kolb
didn't wait, setting up a version of him that was buck toothed, not very
symmetrical on the right hand side, and with a bump in the center of his nose.
It didn't make him ugly, he noticed, but it was more real seeming than his
normal face was. He knew because Petra mentioned it. Twice.

Goading him.

That got him to sneer at her a
bit.

"I have work to do, thanks.
Getting me to move into that rage thing right now would be a waste of
time." He sounded nicely calm about the whole thing, and Kolb chuckled at
him, slapping him on the shoulder as he stood in front of the restroom mirror.

"Agreed. Pet, leave it for
now. We'll work on that in a day or two. Get with Alice soon, Dareg. Waiting
won't help. I'll be back at first light tomorrow. Be dressed to run. If I'm not
here when you wake, start on that without me. Till then." The man didn't
hesitate, leaving from there directly.

Flying away, which was a good
point. They all had space worthy shields after all.

Petra clapped him on the back
too, and winked at him.

"I need to get back to
Harmony. My husband is meeting me for breakfast there. I probably won't be here
every day, myself. I'll try at first. You'll want to review everything Kolb
covered with you, or he'll use it against you tomorrow. That kind of thing is
why he's one of the best."

"All right..." He was
going to chat for a bit, but the woman walked out herself.

That meant he could finally get
some food going, which he did at a jog, his body already getting sore from what
he'd been doing. Then he showered, and made sure his disguise was back on,
having taken it off for the washing up portion of things. After all, the device
made a mask over his own flesh. One that, he suspected, didn't just feel solid,
and like real flesh, but would keep water from his skin at the same time.

Then, not knowing what to expect,
but looking a lot less like him than he was used to, Dareg found the name of
Alice Orange on his communications device, and tapped the thing into operation.
Then he had to wait. Not long, but he was looking away when the woman spoke.

"Orange. Go." Her voice
was nice, but sounded terse anyway. When he glanced at the screen he saw a tan
lady, about as dark, or light, as he was. She had lovely blue eyes, and long
golden hair. She also looked about twenty-five or so. Her neck was too large,
and muscular, like a man's, but he could see enough of her chest to get that
she wasn't one. Not that it seemed like that really. Her jaw was powerful
however, and bunched a bit as she bit some kind of word off while he noticed
all of this about her.

"Dareg Canton, ma'am. I have
twenty jump ships for you. They're new and don't have weapons. From Tim Baker?"
He waited, not knowing how this lady would move, after all he'd been told about
how she distrusted good looking men.

She seemed fine with him however.

"Really? Nice. You're on Harmony?
We have a ship going in... Should be there in three days?"

"Nope. I'm at the Noram
Capital spaceport. I can use my shield to get these up into... Orbit? The
newest shields are good for that. It only took about a day to fly to the Moon
from here." That was bragging a bit, and got an appreciative low whistle.

"Damn. I don't
suppose you have some of those for me?"

"Not on me. I can put in
word for you? Count Peterson wants some too. Hey... Can I get some people to
work for King's week here? This is the spaceport, and we're fixing it up. We
have water in already, and some inns set up, a bath house and that kind of
thing. No one to work in them yet. I'm going to put up some houses, the
magical palaces? That will give us more room for people. You can come, if you
want?"

That got a snort, and a head
shake.

"Right, if I want to
barf my lungs out. The plague that destroys my kind is still in operation
there."

He shook his head and smiled.

"No, it isn't. I
tested it the other day. Kolb, he's one of you, right?" It was best to
ask, just in case he'd been wrong about his guessing there, or misunderstood
what he'd said.

The words got a nod, "right.
One from back when I was a child, even."

"He was here for hours and
managed to live. I tested the whole planet with a device Tim gave me for that.
From low orbit, and high. It's safe now."

The woman looked at him, a bit
skeptically, then smiled.

"Finally! So, Derrick Canton?"

"Dareg. With a 'g' at
the end. I know, it's different, but so was my mother. So, what do you think?
Free workers? Hmm? The excitement and fun of being busy while everyone else has
a party? What's not to like about that?"

She laughed, getting the idea. He
couldn't afford to pay people. Not unless begging on the floor with Collette
was going to work. Sighing a bit he knew that would have to be his next
project. Even if she wasn't going to give him coin now, being too upset with
him. The woman was important, and they were supposed to be working
together.

Alice snorted again, and sighed
herself.

"We can work that out. I can
have the Ranford and Midlist there today. Call it two hundred bodies? Is that
enough for you? You can give Judy Press the jump ships. She's rated on them,
being in tight with Tor and his crowd. You know them?"

He nodded, and was honest about
it all, not knowing what this woman would need to know or not.

"Tor is my father. I just
found out, for sure, about half a week ago. Five days? So I haven't really
adapted to that yet. I met Timon, Tiera and Tor though. His wife too.
Alyssa?" There had been others, but the Ancient woman seemed to be fine
with that.

"Ah. That's different then.
You don't look much like him. Tor is a little scamp, trying to trick me all the
time. Probably into bed, but that's good looking men for you. They're all like
that."

He nodded, since for her it
really was probably like that.

"I have a disguise on. Kolb
said that you wouldn't trust me looking like I normally do, so I'm hiding it.
Everyone says I look more like Timon. I need to get along with you
though, so if you prefer me looking like this, I will." He waited, hoping
that she wasn't going to hear that and hate him. Instead she laughed at him. It
wasn't mean, so he smiled back.

"Good idea. Better than
those pretty men have ever managed. The Ranford will be in first, I think. Call
it four hours?"

"Sounds good. I'll be here,
working. There's a lot of cleaning to get done. Waste has just been dumped from
ships, for years. The kind from people."

She winced, and then nodded.

"Understood. I'll pass the
word for people not to do that anymore. Poor sanitation habits lead to
deaths."

He nodded, seriously. "Exactly.
Since I'm just learning how to fight, I can't do that yet, so I'll need help
with that part. Great plan though."

The woman looked at him for a
moment, then nodded, just as seriously, as if it weren't just a joke.

Then the communications device
went dark.

Just in an instant the woman was
gone and he held a pale glassy thing in his hand, with names on it. It was
tempting to go and and just get to work, but there was a line of people coming
already. Like Tam-unit had mentioned. Dare went outside, and waved to the fifty
or so people, men, women and children, who were walking up to the focus stone
path that he'd run on earlier. When the first ones got there, he waved.

"I'm Dareg Canton. I run
this spaceport. We need to hire some people for various jobs and tasks. We also
have help coming in from space fleet, but they won't be here full time, just
for a few days. Right now, I'm going to call things out. If you have the skills
to do a given job, please come forward. If you don't..." He shrugged and
waved at the Tam-unit. "Then you work for the boxes. Tam-units. They'll
tell you what needs to be done. For now, regardless of what job you're doing
here, if the Tam-unit tells you to do something, or asks, please see to that?
Here, let me show you." That meant walking closer to the shining blue box,
and people applauded when the pretty face of his aunt Tam appeared in the
window on the top.

"Hello, Dareg."

"Hey, Tam-unit. I was just
telling these people that you were in charge of them. If they want a job here.
We need to get your team up first. Mainly cleaning, and making sure you stay
filled with materials."

"Goody. I look forward to
working with you all." She seemed really happy about the whole thing. Too
much so, really.

It took several hours for
everyone to be situated, and not everyone seemed thrilled with their
assignments, even though it was probably about what they were going to be best
at. A few of the women that came were clearly whores, which made him happy to
see. The big problem with them wasn't that they didn't want to do their job, or
that he had to put a house up for them, but rather that each of them thought they
were the best one to be in charge. Finally he pointed at the oldest looking
lady, who had black hair with gray in it, lines on her face and bright red
lips.

"You. You're in charge, for
now. Like I told everyone else, we want low prices for things, but you get housing
and food. Maybe clothing, if we can work that out. I want everything here to
undersell what people charge in the city. Enough to be competitive, but not so
much that we'll have to fight them over it. Do you think you can set that
up?"

The woman smiled at him, then
winked.

"Sure thing, sweetie. Clara,
by the way. No last name. You want a girl sent to your room each day?"

He nearly said no, then realized
that he kind of did want that. Who wouldn't?

"Sounds good. We'll have to
work out the timing on that, since I'm going to be busy a lot of the time.
We'll want more women than this, but it should be a good job, over all. A
silver a week to start, but like everyone else you get to keep part of what you
earn. Tips, and that kind of thing. Do what works best for everyone."

He had to run to set up more
houses then, and carefully made them look a lot plainer than the fine inn, or
the new visiting houses that King Richard had asked for.

It left the place looking pretty
real by nightfall, and while the kids on the dirt crew weren't fast in
particular, Tam-unit had them doing a decently good job at picking everything
up.

That was good, since he was getting
stiff, from his workout already. Mainly his legs, and right elbow for some
reason. Well, the running for the legs, but his right arm was aching fiercely.
Probably from the locking movements Petra had put on him earlier, pushing this
arm straight in a painful fashion.

It reminded him to go over what
Kolb had said, which was still fresh in his mind, but not automatic yet.

Then, before the Ranford or
Midlist were due to get in, he flew around the city, going toward where
Collette had been taking them the day before. It wasn't hard to find, being
that the place was called Tor's palace and there was only one that grand on
that side of the walled city, by the river. There were several buildings, but
only the one place that looked that large and fine. So, floating above the
ground, about four inches, which seemed to be the set distance for the thing,
he got there in about fifteen minutes.

He didn't go as fast as he could,
since it had mental controls and Dare wasn't totally certain how well he could
work that kind of thing yet, if a distraction came. It didn't, so he floated up
the smooth walk that led him to the large white doorway. There were large stone
columns on either side and several steps that he had to go up first. They
looked like white and polished marble, though were probably magic. He'd been
working with similar houses all day, after all, so was starting to get the idea
when he saw it.

Handily enough, when he knocked,
someone actually came to let him in. A small woman, who seemed cute, in an
average kind of way. Her face was a bit round, and if she were five feet tall,
it had to do with her shoes, not her noble background.

"My lord?"

That was her being polite, not
being confused as to his real status, Dare figured. Though technically it was
also correct. She smiled at him, happily enough. Probably because he wasn't
looming over her nearly as much as most people did in the Capital.

"Hello. I'm Dareg Canton. I
was wondering if Collette Sorvee is here?" He didn't go into why, since it
would be hard enough for him to apologize anyway. He knew how, at least for his
own city of birth, but that kind of thing might be a bit different from place
to place.

The small woman, who was ten
years older than he was at a guess, curtsied a bit.

"This way, sir? I can find
the butler to announce you?" Her words were heavily accented, but used
correctly, so he got the meaning easily enough.

Nodding, she let him in, then
scurried away to find a man in a nice black and gray suit. That required him
explaining his reason for being there again, then being led to a side room, the
dapper man going to the door, while Dareg stood back. Ready to be sent away,
actually.

That was probably fair.

"Ma'am? A Dareg Canton to
see you?"

"Oh? Yes, we should, this
way." Her voice was a bit happier sounding at least than the last time
they'd met and she hadn't said anything.

Inside the room, naturally, there
were three other people, each sitting already. A shorter man, who had a
mustache and dark hair, a noble giant that had been at the Thomson's dinner
party and a blond woman who smiled at him, her face questioning.

That was what came over Collette
too for a bit.

"Dare? A disguise? Is there
treachery afoot?" Her words were honestly questioning.

He smiled then and shook his
head.

"Nothing like that. I was
just talking to Alice Orange earlier, and had heard that she didn't like good
looking men that much. It went well, even after I told her I was in disguise
and why. Here, let me..." All he had to do was turn the thing off, which
got everyone in the room to smile at him suddenly. Collette, for her part, gave
him a hug.

That surprised him a bit, but as
soon as she backed off, he bowed, going low. It was less than fun, but when you
were in the wrong, it didn't make you look good to hide the groveling too much.
People needed to know you would own it when you screwed up.

"I'm so sorry about
yesterday. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. Petra took me to task for
being oversensitive after you left. Then pushed me into combat rage and made me
fix it, over and again. She did say that she doesn't think I should have a
problem that way. I can control it, I mean." A hand came out, to help him
stand, as the woman beamed at him.

"I understand. That's good
to hear about. I wasn't truly doubting you, it was just unexpected news.
I was rather yelled at earlier by Tor when I got with him on the topic.
I hope we can be friends? I'd hate for my poor phrasing to get between us that
way."

It was, he knew, better than most
would have offered after being so frightened like that. That meant he nodded at
her.

"Yes, thank you? Good then.
I need to get back to the space base. The Ranford is due in soon. I managed to
convince Alice Orange that sending a few hundred people to work through the
next week was a good plan. I also hired fifty-three people earlier. No
entertainers though yet. That part has me a little worried." Then
he shut it, because no one there would care all that much about his little
problems.

The large man, Count Ward, smiled
at him. The fellow was seated and still nearly as tall as he was, meaning he
had to be about as large as the King. About nine feet tall.

His voice was deep, powerful and
rumbling. Also decently friendly sounding at the same time.

"I could look around for
you? I'd heard that the port here is growing suddenly. What kind of acts are
you looking for?"

Dare smiled and bowed in his
direction, then did the same with everyone else in the room. No one stood up,
but they did nod their heads back at him.

"Anything. Jugglers,
singers, musicians, players. We already have whores, but could use some more.
It won't pay as well as in the city, but they get room and board, plus a silver
per week, guaranteed. I set that as the rate for everyone. The real coin will
be in what they can pry from the customers. I know that isn't a lot."

More to the point, it wasn't a
lot for some of the people there. A tavern woman would get that in a week, but
it would come a copper or two at a time, in tips. A whore would make more, but
it came the same way, overall. Inn people normally got twice that however, and
the Dirt Children would have normally been lucky to make that in a month, doing
the work they were.

No one had complained, not once
they realized what Tam-unit could get for them. Especially after he pointed out
that, as long as they were kept full, the people that were working there could
get level three things, instead of just level one. That would let them sell
to the space people, and travelers, if they weren't happy with the lower level
of service provided them directly.

The news got Collette to run
away, meaning he had to chat with the others. They killed time by going over
who was who.

The smaller man did that for
them, standing. He bowed, then waved at Dare with a closed hand.

"This is Dareg Canton.
Prince of Harmony, Countier Lairdgren, Countier Baker, controller of the world's
spaceports. Tor's son, as you know?"

That got the blonde woman to
shake her head, though she smiled about it.

"Is that the shocking
news that Collette was going on about? I can see it. We should have you over
soon, to our county, for a visit. I hear that your father and the others are
coming back soon? Within the week?"

He smiled and nodded at her, then
looked at the Count.

"That's what I hear as well.
One of them came back already. Kolb?"

It was the mustache man, who was
about six-four, who nodded at the name.

"Really? Interesting. It
makes sense however, to truly test the safety of things. I used to take some
classes with him at school. He was in charge of the fighters section. One of
the Ancients as it turns out. The old sort?" This was for the Count, who
nodded his giant head, his dark skin smooth and almost unlined.

"My sister, Petra, mentioned
him to me, many times. I hear that even great fighters consider him impressive."

The man doing the introductions
bowed in his direction then.

"Count Marvin Ward. Sitting
ruler. Next to him is his wife, Countess Maria Ward. Collette's sister. Half-sister,
but family is family, don't you think?"

That got him to nod, a bit
stiffly, thinking about his own half-sister.

Everyone looked at him,
concerned, so Dare threw off a slightly loopy looking smile.

"I... It turns out that I have
a half-sister, too. I don't know what to do about that. It's easier with Tor
and the others so far. They're away, at least for a few days. What am I
supposed to do with Queen Constance though?"

Marvin gave a slow nod then his
eyes pensive.

"That would be
difficult. I think I take your meaning. If you press in, it will seem as if you
are grasping for riches or title. If you don't, you might give insult, not
being attentive enough. There isn't much you can do, except be attentive,
without asking for anything of note. I have to say, it does sound like you have
titles enough for one your age. I mean, I've never felt the lack, myself, and Prince
is higher than Count."

That got Dareg to smile.

"There are so many of
them in line though. Plus, I'm not really one of them, it's more an honorary
thing. What's the word for 'son of a man who is not in line for the throne, but
whose relation there puts his child in line for it, possibly?' I know that it
was never covered in my classes." It sounded funny, but Maria nodded a few
times.

"Dolphane. It isn't
one commonly used, so I can see tossing it out and going with prince.
Plus, it's a bit of a promotion, isn't it?"

Collette came back in then, a
floating chest behind her. It was about a foot high and that big on each side.
Reaching back she patted it.

"Better than half of this is
in copper and silver. I put several different types of bags for delivery in as
well. The blue velvet one is your stipend for the month. If you need more,
you'll have to come and beg for it, just like a proper son of a wealthy house.
It's tradition."

Oddly enough, each of the people
there nodded, like that was really the simple truth.

Then, it was coin that he
wouldn't have had otherwise, so he wasn't going to whine over it too much.

"Thank you. I'm afraid that
I didn't get the name of this man?" He did what the fellow himself had,
and used his whole hand, with his fingers closed tight together. It was less
rude than pointing with a single finger, which basically told a person you
intended to have sex with them. Possibly against their will.

Count Ward stood suddenly.

"Ah! The oversight is mine.
This is Dorgal Sorvee. Of the Sorvee merchant empire. Also the former King of
Vagus. Collette's husband."

Which made sense. Dareg bowed low
to the man, who it seemed had once been a King, and then took a deliberate step
back. Collette moved to him, handed him an amulet, which made the chest move,
and then hugged him again.

She didn't speak, so he let his
eyes open a bit wider, then smiled.

"If my apology was accepted,
then I should run off now. If we can manage anything at all, you should all
come and see me in a few days? For dinner perhaps? We won't have palace level
service, but I'm hoping we can near being festive? The first day of King's
week?"

That got a smile from all of
them, and Count Ward to stand, come across the room and clap him on the
shoulder.

"I can't of course, since
Maria and I will be at the palace for the formal meal that night. I think we
have the third evening free?"

It was clear he was planning to
set something up for then, but wasn't certain what to do. It was right there,
on his face.

Dareg nodded taking it as a good
idea.

"Can the rest of you make it
then? On the third evening? That will give me a bit more time to set things up,
so it would be good. At... Nine in the evening? We can set it up at Sam Builder's
Palace? After all, he doesn't know that he has one there yet. It's a gift, from
King Richard."

That actually got a pleasant
murmur, so he described the location for them, then got away before they
understood that he was out of his depth by so much. Unless that part just was
assumed. He thought he was doing a good enough job faking his way through
things, but it was far from perfect.

There were, in fact, probably a
thousand ways in which he was messing things up. The kind of thing that he just
didn't know about. For instance, he'd shown himself to his aunt, Petra. Now
that the moment was past, and his head wasn't being abused by rage, he could
see that one as being a bit of an issue. Then, he hadn't forced her at all,
just taken it out, in his own home.

Still, that wasn't normal, was
it? Even in Canton he'd have never tried that kind of thing and it wasn't as if
he were simply doing what everyone else had around him. One thing he knew was
that no one was going to come for him over bowing too low, or too often. So he
did that and backed from the room.

There were people there,
scurrying to do things, but no one stared at him as he left. It had, he hoped,
gone well enough. He did have a small chest floating behind him. It was about
five feet behind the sack that he was still wearing. That probably seemed
strange, but no one had mentioned it. Really, his refusal, if unspoken, to be without
it had probably made it seem like he wasn't planning to stay and visit, which
would explain why he hadn't been offered a seat.

It could also be that they didn't
want him around, being so much younger than they were, or just too strange and
new. That wouldn't be the first time in his life that had happened. It was the
kind of thing everyone went through at times, unless they lived alone
constantly. It took time for people to grow accustomed to you being around.
Normally about half an hour. At least that had been what he'd noticed in life.

As he floated back around the
side of the large tan wall, Dare thought. Mainly about what he needed to fix
the next day for Kolb. That had been a bit unexpected for him. For some reason
when people had spoken of tutors, he'd imagined maths and reading. Possibly
history, or even learning how to make things with his hands. Things in wood, or
focus stone. Good things to know, but different than being hit by a large and
powerful man.

At the end, going up the walkway,
he had to hurry along, since a large orange vessel was landing. It was huge,
but coming in very slowly. It settled on the left hand side of the port, closer
to Sam Builder's new home than anything else. Dareg had put the palace there so
that it would be away from everything else. The Ancient of Noram
probably wouldn't need the players house to be in his front yard after all. Not
that he had a lawn, as the giant glowing ship was proving to Dare at the moment.

In fact, it was so neatly aligned
that he had to float over to the the new palace itself, in order to meet the
people coming to work.

They were led by a very, hugely,
tall woman. She was a dirty blonde, and a bit mannish looking in her black
uniform, with its four orange stripes. She had enough of a bust line to show
that she was a lady however, and collar length hair, which had a bit of
natural curl to it.

Dareg bowed to her, since she had
the most markings on her. Even if she wasn't the oldest person around. That got
her to move over and bow back, going low and matching him at the same time.

"Fleet Admiral second,
Judith Press."

That got him to nod, inside his
head, a thing he prevented from showing too much. Not that the message wouldn't
carry to the lady in front of him. Of course she'd be high ranking though.

"Dareg Canton. Space Port
Commander."

To her credit the tall woman
didn't say he was a liar. She didn't even let her eyes narrow at him.

"Is this your place? I
thought it seemed to have pride of place here." She nodded at the mansion,
letting him know what she meant.

"This is Sam Builder's new
palace. The Ancient of Noram. I have a tiny pod on the other side of
this, over by where the interesting things are. We're a bit light on
entertainments yet, but we have a bath house, two inns, and a restaurant,
though that probably won't be up until tomorrow. The whore house should be
ready by tomorrow however, as well. We're just opening things up. Alice Orange
mentioned you might have some workers?"

The tall woman winked at him.

"A hundred hand chosen
people from the crew. I didn't know that we'd need whores. Have your people ask
first, before assigning them there? Some of the people from Afrak might not
take to that kind of thing too well, and Austrans can pretend to be a
prudish. They really aren't in the main. You have the ships? I was led to
understand that we were trading?"

That got him to pull his back pack
off and rummage through it. Really, he probably could offload the little jug
now. Toss it in a hopper when he got back to his pod for reuse. It took a
minute, standing there, to pull the bag with the amulets, but he carefully
counted out twenty of them, took the one that was for him, and passed the rest
to the Admiral. That was in the bag, which was just rough canvas, but also
wasn't a payment.

Judy hefted the white tiles once.

"Thank you. Where do you
want the helpers?"

That took him a second, but he looked
across the way to the side by the houses, where a single man in a white robe
was putting up a focus stone building.

"Over with that man? On
building, unless they want to try out one of the other places? As long as
they're working, it counts. I'll get them their own palace for the week. I want
to leave the inns open for visitors. Maybe on the other side?"

That got a chuckle from the
woman, who bowed again a little, then tapped a tile on her throat.

"Volunteers please come to
the port side hatch. Report to duty. Repeat, report to duty at this time."
Then she tapped her throat again, and smiled at him. "It will be a few
minutes. I need to get these to Alice now. Don't spoil them too much, or
they'll jump ship and leave me feeling all lonesome."

He could see that. They were
there to work however, so he doubted it would be that much fun, over all.

It really did take a while, about
twenty minutes, for all of the people, dressed in similar outfits, with
different markings on their sleeve, to get there. It was a mixed group, made up
of more different types of people than he'd ever seen before. Holding up both
of his hands he yelled a bit, so everyone could hear him.

"I'm Dareg Canton, the Space
Port Commander. We're going to get you set up across the way for the week. Over
by where that man is working? Follow me!" Then like he'd done earlier, he
started to give a little tour, mainly pointing at different places.

When the list was done, they
still had walking to do, so he added the rest of it.

"No one is going to track
your every move. Just find something useful to do, and things will work. For
right now, I'd like most of you to spend some time with the useful man, doing
the building over here? He seems to know what he's doing, and that will be part
of the long term infrastructure here. Try to spell people at all the other
places. You don't get paid, so remember that when it's your turn at the whore
house. Every two days, you get a half day off, since this is a celebration
week. Try not to do that all at once, unless you run out of work. You have your
own structure, so use that while you are here. If you have any problems, then
come get with me." Stopping by the man in white he gestured. "Or
High Servant Erid. Speaking of which I have some tools and things for you. The
digging and compressing units? I should go set up housing for these people,
next." It was strange, but instead of going with him, all of the space
fleet people stayed to help the man in white, leaving him to dig out the
equipment then running off to see to the place they were staying.

Dare made sure it was a very
plain tan colored building. He gave it an all orange roof to mark it for them,
and had five stories to the thing, with fifty small single occupancy rooms per
floor, after the first one. Then he set up a Tiera food device in the kitchen.
Swallowing, he wondered if he was ever going to see it again.

When he got back, the first ship
was gone and the next one, which was a little smaller than the Ranford, and had
a black strip down the middle, settled into place, meaning he needed to meet that
one too. The Captain was a man, a huge noble, which wasn't that shocking, but he
didn't get jump ships so wasn't certain why he'd been ordered to bring people.

Not until he looked around. Then
the large man nodded, and even smiled at him.

"Good! Things are
looking up here already. Jose Peterson, Captain of the Midlist. Countier Third,
Peterson." There was a bow with all that, which Dareg matched.

"Dareg Canton, Prince of
Harmony, Dolphane really, if that means anything to you? Countier Thirteen
Lairdgren, Countier Seven Baker. More importantly than any of that for you, and
your friends here, Space Port Commander. Which pretty much means that if you
have any problems here or need anything, it's totally fair to come to me about
it."

The large man bowed again.

"Impressive. So I have a
hundred bodies for a week. Work details? I wasn't told if this was hard labor
or not, so I told them all it was a punishment." He was fighting a grin,
while the people behind him, in five rows of twenty each, all seemed a little
blank.

That got him to nod.

"Some of that. See you in a
week? Everyone, come with me, please?" The giant let them go, waving the
people on, as he covered the whole thing again.

When he got to the work zone, he
waved Erid over to stand by him. The man was sturdy looking. Like hard labor
wasn't at all outside of what he normally did, day to day. He had medium short,
brown hair and blue eyes. His skin was decently tan, and smooth looking.

"This is High Servant Erid.
Right now the crew from the Ranford is helping him, so the rest of you get to
go and put up lights. Who wants to be in charge of that?" He waited for a
bit, until a woman who was kind of plain, stepped up and stuck her hand in the
air.

"I can be, sir?"

"Thanks! Here..." He
pulled the bag, which had lights and palaces in them, which made their own
light on command. He took the remaining ones of those that he had, and gave the
rest of the full bag not to her, but to Erid. He was a High Servant after all.

"There are things in this.
Lights, pumps... And I don't know what else. From the Wizard Tor. This lady is
in charge of the lighting plan. Sorry, miss, I didn't get your name?"

"Mindy Demic. Lieutenant
Second." She seemed pleased with the title, and had the most orange
stripes on her sleeves of anyone there, having two of them. So she was probably
in charge of the whole thing.

"Dareg. Anyway, I'll leave
you to this part. I need to get to bed soon. I have to be up at dawn. If
there's a problem, come pound on my door? The black and white pea pod looking
place at the very front? Oh, also, let people know that they can get food and
drinks from the Tam-units. The blue box things? If she tells people to do
something, they should. Eventually she's going to be in charge of all the world's
ports." If that was possible.

Then, working together, they
could hold them all, even in different lands.

People let him get away, like he
wasn't being lazy. That meant he could hobble, feeling a bit like he was going
to be crippled in the morning, to his tiny house.

At first light, which poured in
through the walls and windows, he got up, showered and started running,
wondering if Kolb was going to come back at all.

He did, and was waiting for him
when he finished the slow and limping run.

"Sit-ups first. Ward got in
touch with me, and can't make it today. Not that she won't be practicing, just
not with us. That's fine. She's a good instructor, but a bit hard on the new
people. We'll save her for when you know something."

The man did the exercises with
him, and seemed to give no care at all to how much it all hurt. In fact he
smiled when he noticed how Dare was moving. Happy about it.

"That will go away, but it's
good to learn with a bit of discomfort at first. Really all the time. It's just
hard to maintain, so few manage it. Fighting hurts. Fighting correctly hurts less."
There were lectures while they exercised, but very few once the actual fight
practice started.

When the first bit was finished,
after two hours, with several new moves being shown, the man smiled at him.

"Now we go over what you did
wrong. Refreshingly, most of it isn't the same as yesterday. Keep that up.
Learning is about facing the mistakes and fixing them. It's like pulling teeth
to get most to accept that. If you can learn that one thing, you can be a great
person." Then he covered twenty separate problems that he'd noticed.

Some of them were things
he'd done the day before, he realized, once he thought about it, but that
hadn't been mentioned.

After that the man went behind
his little house and came back with finished sticks.

"Today we work without
contact. That will change tomorrow. Keep that in mind. If you start to trigger
into a rage, the goal will be to stop it, for now. Later we'll work on that, so
you can use it or not, during a fight. Ready?"

It was a lot more fun to hit
things with a stick than to wrestle with the man. Not that he did a lot better,
but on occasion he could see himself eventually being able to make contact
without the bald fellow letting him on purpose. Oh, not that day, or the
next, but sometime in the far future, when he knew what he was doing. In a
decade or two.

Then, after he was given his
shield back, and they reviewed everything again, Kolb having him repeat it all
out loud, the man nodded.

"I expect that level of
attention all the time from now on. Not that you've been doing bad. In a week
I'm going to have you practice with your Aunt Tiera. You'll need to get a healing
amulet, if you expect to survive. That isn't a joke either, you might want to
find one, if you can. Put a word in with Tor or Tim? Or Tiera, but she's so
busy that I wouldn't bother her unless you have something useful to tell her
first. Presents or offers to practice? Most won't with her, anymore."

It was a funny thing to say, and
clearly not a joke at the same time.

Then, instead of leaving like the
day before, the man sat in the pod house while Dare showered, then did the same
himself. After that the guy just looked at him, expectantly.

Dareg felt kind of awkward then,
not knowing what he might want. It wasn't sex, or he would have joined him when
his clothing was off. Or tried to. That wasn't a big deal, but he really didn't
think that way himself. A lot of nobles did, which could have made it the case
this time.

At least that was the kind of
thing that was said about them. That they all had insane amounts of sex, with
all comers. So far he hadn't seen that one for himself. Really the ones that
he'd met had been like people, if larger than most.

Looking at the big man, he gave
him a nod.

"I was going to go and check
the workers. Make sure they have everything they need and all that. I need to
take the pod house down, so no one will steal it."

The weapons master smiled then,
and didn't speak during the five minutes that he took to take the whole thing
down and pack everything away. The piss jar went into the Tam-unit finally, and
then they were able to get something to eat. A dish that Kolb recommended,
being eggs and sausage wrapped in flat bread. That way they could walk and eat
at the same time.

The building project was already
underway for the day, and there were at least ten of the Dirt Children collecting
trash and moving waste into piles. They'd gotten the brick idea, probably
instructed by the Tam-units, so while nice square piles were forming, the world
got cleaner.

In one morning the lights looked
to all be up, and while it was faint, the river around them was glowing. At
first he didn't understand how, but there was only one way for that to work. The
thing had always been able to do it, he'd just failed to set it properly. It
was a faint purple with gold swirls in it. Mixed, but in an artistic fashion.
It would he thought, be impressive at night.

The food in his hand was warm,
but not too hot, so he was able to observe rather than speak the whole time. Along
the far side of the rim, inside of the river, there were five new buildings
going up. Large ones, each with several stories to it. All in shining tan
stone.

The workers, most in light tan
work clothing, instead of shipwear, were all over the new things, causing them
to come into being in an efficient manner. Led by the single fellow in white.
Erid.

That got him to jog over, slowly,
with a smile on his face through the pain. It probably looked to everyone else
like he'd taken it up the hind end earlier that day. Given Kolb was right
there, that would be who they guessed had done it too, he didn't doubt.

"This looks amazing, High
Servant Erid. I figured that it would take me months to get even half of this
done. It hasn't even been a day yet! That's an accomplishment."

The man looked a bit rueful, but
nodded then.

"Now if we could only get
the High Servants to work like this. It's their duty, their sworn duty,
but only a few truly look at it that way. I think that Commander Derring was
correct about that. We should have killed the first batch for dereliction, and
started over. There are supposed to be two here working with me, and I haven't
seen them in the two days I've been here."

It took a few seconds, but he got
that one, he thought.

"When I first came here,
they sort of tossed me out a bit forcefully. I was trying to get passage to
Harmony, but the new immigration rules say you have to be sixteen unless you
have parents with you. Which I didn't. They found out about the rest of it
later, after I did. The Prince thing? I'm not holding a grudge, since the men
apologized at the time, and it was a mistake, not intentional violence, but
that might have something to do with why they're hiding? That's better than
them being too lazy to bring water to the workers or whatever, isn't it?"
He smiled then. "Well, or they've been shaking people down for passage
to the Moon, when it was supposed to be free. They didn't mention that to me,
but it had been pretty clear that I didn't have anything of value. We should
ask some of the people that came from here about that."

It was probably likely, but also
a joke. To him. Kolb took a deep breath, then nodded, and got his own communications
unit out. After a moment, he started speaking.

"William? Can you see if any
of the recent people moving through the port outside the Capital were shaken
down, or had to bribe their way onto the ships? It's hopefully nothing, but
we're missing the two High Servants in charge of that here, and as was just
pointed out, hiding from a few days of fairly easy work seems a bit much."

There was a pause, and some
rustling, which sounded like a man getting out of bed.

"I'll see to that now. I
needed to get up early anyway. Trying to get my hours back to Noram time. I'll
call with a report if I can find anything at all. It might take a while."

High Servant Erid shook his head,
but got his own Communications device out, and looked through the names on it.
It was white too, and smaller, but seemed to have almost no names on it at all.
Which given that the name being looked at was Johan, and nothing else, it probably
showed that it was a private thing.

Erid seemed somber however.

"High Servant Johan? This is
High Servant Erid. Are you in the Capital of Noram right now?"

The voice that came back was very
deep, and the face on the device had the look of a person who was no stranger
to work.

"At my parents. It's King's
week here, so I was invited down. Do you need me? I can try to book passage at
the port there."

"No, you really can't.
Which is why I have to bother you. We're missing our people here. I hate to
disrupt a pleasant family holiday, but we could use you, if you can get away
without giving offense?"

That got a laugh, which sounded
happy.

"I can be flying inside the
hour. Where do you want me?"

"At the port facility. The
Capital one, just so you won't get confused. We're helping to build them all
finally. With support from Harmony. Space fleet, too, so we're actually
getting something done for once. What I really need is to track down
Straughan and Filby, the High Servants that should be here right now. First to
make sure they're alive, and then to slap them around for a bit if they don't
have a good reason for being absent from their post. You'll help with that?"
He was speaking to Kolb, who nodded.

"If it's needed. We can get Dareg
and Karen Derring in on that. She'll have to come in early, but that can't be
helped. It will let her get a jump on things." Then he shook his head.
"Johan, can you be here in about half an hour?"

There was a sound, one that
indicated movement. The fast kind.

"Leaving now, the streets
are a bit crowded. It's the first day of King's week tomorrow, which means that
it will really start tonight. I should be able to make that time. I wish I
could just fly over. Then it would take about a minute."

Kolb grinned.

"And if anyone tries
they'll provide an early fireworks show, when the rockets take them out. This
is pressing, but not an emergency. Not yet."

The line broke after a moment,
though there was muttering about how people needed to get out of the way. It
sounded a bit violent, to tell the truth.

At noon they went into the
different magical buildings, to see if anything was being worked on. In each
case it was. The free inn had four people working there, who were all city
folk. They seemed to have picked up on the idea that the beds made themselves,
and that they could move things around with a bit of focus. In short, it was a very
easy job to have for a silver a week, plus room and board.

The bawdy house didn't have any
guests yet, but they didn't seem concerned about that either.

The woman that spoke to them
looked to be just rising for the day, after all.

"Things will pick up at
night. We have two hundred sailors in, and word been put out that we'll have
entertainers out here eventually. The proper kind. That will get things going
soon enough. In the mean, we can have good food for free from them boxes. The
girl in it even gave us all birth control, so's we don't fall with child.
Darned nice of her."

She seemed to really mean it, so Dare
nodded.

"Yeah, you should all go out
of your way to make friends with Tam-unit." The woman looked at the
floating case behind him, her eyes a bit greedy, as if she guessed what was in
there, but nothing was said. There was no way he was leaving it anyplace
though. Not that he couldn't lock up.

Erid however looked around the
place and smiled.

"You should have a sign out
front. I can do that for you? The places on Harmony have them."

The woman smiled at him, like he
might be a potential costumer, and nodded.

"That would be right
helpful. I don't know as we can pay you for it, but we could... Work something
out?"

That got him to laugh, instead of
blush or seem bashful.

"We can do that. It isn't
hard, it just takes a bit of focus. Here, let me show you?"

It really didn't take long, and
after that, once the idea was out there, Dare set up a sign for each place,
along with a small picture in case people couldn't read standard.

The restaurant, to his surprise
was actually serving luncheon when they got there, and while the food might not
have been what was served at the palace, it was better than most places he'd
eaten.

Kolb and Erid came in for the
meal too, since it wasn't lazy to keep yourself fed, it didn't seem. Not that
they took too long, since the workers would need food worse than they did, Erid
assured them. The nice thing was that the meal didn't cost too much. Three
coppers for three people. He covered that, out of the chest, making sure to use
his own funds, in the blue bag. When he opened it, he nearly froze.

"Problem Dare?" Kolb
said this lightly, but glanced over his shoulder as he spilled some of the
large bag into his hand, counting quickly he blinked.

"Nooo. I... I don't know,
Collette said this was my monthly stipend. I think she must have given me too
much." He didn't want to sound stupid, or poor, but given the size of the
gold coins there, and how few silver or copper there was, it seemed to be about
fifty gold.

That was more than a lot of well to
do people made in a year.

Erid looked at it as he opened
the top, and nodded.

"Right. Because your father
is Tor. That makes some sense. It's a good amount, so you should be able
to get by on it. Even give some out to the poor. Though my understanding is
that if you'll do that, Tor will probably let you have all you want for
it."

That got him to pull three
coppers, and after a second, his breath not wanting to come, a silver. As a tip
for the server. Then they left, before he could change his mind and take it
back. It hurt a bit, doing that, but it made sense, if he had the funds.

Just like hoarding some of it did
as well.

They'd hurried through the meal,
and High Servant Johan, who was about a head taller than the other men, and
bigger across the shoulders by far, got there a little late, so they were able
to meet him near the front, dodging around the few people that were making
their way toward the spaceport.

His face was annoyed when he
stopped in front of Erid, bowing.

"Sorry about the delay. Kolb!
I thought that voice was you. So, this is getting pretty serious then. If
you're here that means Karen will be soon. I kind of hope that Filby and
Straughan are just off somewhere getting drunk. At least then we can find them
and knock them around ourselves. This fellow here looks likely for that. Johan Tarth.
Baron First. High Servant."

That had him going over the whole
litany of who he was now again. Oddly ending this time with Kolb slapping him
on the back.

"He's had two combat lessons
so far. We're doing the first full force work in the morning. If we can catch
these two, do you think that sounds fair?"

Johan smiled then, and nodded.

"Not at all. If he's only
had two lessons, then he should sneak up on them. Armed with a stick, one at a
time. Straughan isn't too bad in a fight after all. Filby is about worthless
that way, so that one might work."

Kolb got a communication then,
and it was about William Smythe's investigation, but it wasn't from Will. Not
even from Commander Derring.

No, it was from Queen Tiera.

She was not happy. It rang
from her voice, even as she fought to keep things quiet.

"Kolb? Will was just here.
He... Women and men, commoners mainly, have been being abused, in return for
their passage here. They didn't report it, because they were commoners, but I can't
let this stand. They're Noram High Servants, and I don't want a war, but-"

Dareg spoke, even if it wasn't
his turn or place.

"The High Servants are
already on this. We didn't know it was near that bad, and they were already
planning how to beat the men. We're going to need their Commander. Can that be
arranged? She can stay at Sam Builder's Capital home."

Instead of asking him about that,
or why he was giving away places in Sam's house, she just nodded.

"Thank you, Dareg. Gentlemen.
I should have known that you would have things in hand already. I'm afraid I
was letting my anger lead me down the wrong hallway. I'll talk to Karen, and
get her there."

It did not
take long for that part to happen.

Chapter seven

The craft that showed up, less
than an hour later was small, silver, longer than it was wide and rounded at
the front and back. It had little projections on the bottom that looked like
balls that had been glued on. In all the thing was adorable, for all that it
slammed into the focus stone ground hard enough to leave divots.

Dare winced, but didn't comment.
The thing was small enough that they could fix the damage pretty quickly with
the earth moving and focusing devices they had for making the buildings. It was
still light out, so he had a pretty good view of the gorgeous woman that ran
out of the thing, about two minutes later. The most distinctive thing about
her, at the moment, wasn't her looks, which were really high end. No, it
was how very armed she seemed to be.

At least Dareg took the white and
glassy piece of rock in her hand as being that. Little glimpses of different
colored glowing sigils showed as she moved, on the top of the thing. It was how
tightly she was holding it that gave the intent away. Her fingers were red and
white from the stress. So much so he could see it from a distance.

Erid, looking a little less than
perfectly happy, bowed as she got about ten feet away from the little group.
Not wanting to give offense, and die from it, Dareg went lower than that. He
should have been the person in their collective there that went lowest, he
thought, but two of the Dirt Children saw them bow, so did it too. A boy and a
girl, both who couldn't have been older than ten. They had on nearly clean
brown outfits, like the ones the Tam-units could provide, which was a great
idea, actually. That made them look like they belonged there, holding their
buckets.

The woman stopped then, her face
fierce, but she still returned the movement, oddly enough matching Erid.

When she stepped forward she took
a very deep breath, and spoke first.

"Situation report." It
wasn't screamed, but Johan winced, and Erid froze for some reason. Which might
have been the weapon being casually pointed their way.

That was probably fine, if she
were just going to threaten her own people, or even Kolb and him, but the kids
there didn't have shields on. That got Dareg to move forward, between the angry
woman and them, then turn and wave at them.

"Thanks. You two can leave
now, I think? Unless you have some trash to get rid of, ma'am?"

The woman, good looking as she
was, dressed all in white, with gold trim, looked down at her weapon, and held
it up toward the sky instantly, getting the idea. Then, without missing a beat,
she bowed to the children.

"I don't, right now. Thank
you for your service." It got a cute, if awkward return bow, and the kids,
not getting that anything was potentially wrong at all, wandered off,
collecting bits of things as they did, to fill their buckets.

No one else was speaking yet, so Dare
took a breath and jumped in.

"We don't know much yet. Two
High Servants, Straughan and Filby, have been working out of here for about a
year. According to what we've heard from Harmony, after we asked for an
investigation, since the men are missing, they've been forcing men and women to
have sex with them in return for passage. Considering they were supposed to
just be writing names on a list, the trips being free, that is a bit of a
problem. Technically it's legal here, since they only went after commoners, and
are both at least merchant class, if not nobles." He gave the woman a very
hard look then, feeling a bit like she did now that he had a chance to think
about it. "I'm in charge here now, so it won't happen again, but Queen
Tiera is not happy. We, us here, were planning to find these men and beat them
up, but that was before we knew the rest of this. When we just thought they
might be hiding from work, in violation of their sworn oaths. Now we'll
probably have to kill them for it."

That would take making the bodies
vanish, since, if they were nobles, they were pretty safe from execution. The
real crime there would be all about their failure to perform their duties
however, not abusing the common people. He figured that was the case, but Commander
Derring gave him a tight smile, then did the same with the others.

"Good plan. Can we track
them? Does anyone know where they were staying? Here in one of the
palaces?"

High Servant Erid found his
voice, adding it to a rather somber head shake.

"No. They were, and possibly
are, staying in town. We don't have a specific location. For all we know they're
actually still there, avoiding work. It wouldn't be the first time a High
Servant has done that. Though from all reports, they really were showing
up here most days."

The large woman gave the man in
all white a tight nod.

"So, we should ask around?
I'd love to get the city guard in on this. It will probably work better than us
having only three pairs of eyes on it. Unless you're in too, Kolb?"

The man, who was dressed in the
same, rather plain looking, tan that he had been earlier, if a clean version,
smirked a bit.

"Why not? I know that you've
been having some issues with your own people for the better part of a decade.
Really, we should see if we can track them on the satellite system. Dareg, do
you know when the last time they were here was?"

He tried to focus on that for a
bit, and spoke when he had things down, not knowing what the man was talking
about with satellites.

"I last saw them five or six
days ago. Prince Gerent and I were just getting the river here put in place.
Right in front of the gate. That was... Straughan? The taller one."

The Commander smiled then and
gave a nod.

"We can find that in the
records. Good work..." Then she glanced at Johan and Erid, questioning
them with their eyes.

Johan, big and powerfully built,
moved in and slapped Dareg on the arm, heartily and like they were old friends.

"Dareg Canton. Prince of
Harmony, Countier for both Lairdgren and Baker. He runs this place now. If I
understand it right he came in about a week ago and just started pushing
everyone around, until he got his way." There was no derision in the
words. In fact the man seemed proud of the idea.

Dare shook his head a bit, and
smiled.

"Closer to say I was able to
use the Tam-units and that led everyone to thinking that I was in
charge. With only a bit of laying claims to things without
permission." It was honest enough, and instead of glaring at him, the
attractive, almost unreal looking and perfectly formed woman tossed off a
quarter bow.

He returned it, instantly.

The woman snapped her fingers and
ran away then, into her ship, which was probably one of the new jump ones. He
didn't see weapons ports on the outside anywhere at least. It was smooth and rounded,
which gave it a cute and wholesome sense about it.

A few minutes later she stalked
back, holding something that looked like a large communications device in her
left hand, tapping on it with her right. When she got to them she moved
directly next to him, so he could see the screen. It was the spaceport. With no
river, so she did something, making the image move. It was from above, so it
was kind of difficult to see much exactly, but there wasn't a lot of activity
back then, so after a moment Dare put his hand out.

"Stop. Can you go
back?"

That happened with a few small
gestures, and with only a few tries they had the right scene.

"That man in white right
there? I don't know which of them he is, for certain, but that's one of the two
I met."

Johan moved in, practically
rubbing up against his commander, even though he didn't seem to notice himself
doing it, and pointed.

"High Servant Straughan. I
worked with him a few years ago, up in the Wildlands, when Prince Gerent
requested help planting. Can we track him from that point?"

That seemed to be the case, and
Commander Derring looked at the thing closely for a while, just standing there,
in the middle of the port. Her little ship wasn't in the way yet, but it
occurred to him that it would be better to tuck it off to the side, near where
she was staying.

"Could we move your craft
over that way? By Sam Builder's palace?" He tried for deferential
sounding, but the woman just nodded, and looked at the hand held, not being too
distracted by his words.

"Yes. I... Can go move that
in a bit? I don't want to lose him. Is it an emergency?"

"No, we should do it before
nightfall, in case anyone else comes. Or take it down, if you don't need it for
now?"

The woman didn't ask a lot of
questions, or suggest that she was important enough to need the center of the spaceport
all for her own service. Instead she walked, slowly, holding the device in her
hands. At the door of her ship, she used her head to indicate that they should
all go in.

Then, instead of turning off the
little hand window, the Commander looked at Erid.

"Can you do this for me? I
know that you have some skills. It's new, but the controls are standard. Timon
made them."

Then she slid into the right hand
seat in the front, the back being filled with six other chairs. Erid didn't
need to be told how to do things though, just using the hand control to slowly
move up, about fifty feet, and floating over to where Dareg had suggested. It
seemed pretty straightforward. There was a single hand device, which looked
like a little lump of silver. It was round and seemed like it would fit into a
person's hand pretty well. The craft moved in the direction you moved the
control. Easy.

When that was done, Erid moved,
but Commander Derring sat in place, working. Her focus was intense. Really, no
one even spoke to her for a long time. When someone did, it was the lady in
white.

"All right. I have him. It
looks like a large building in town. As far as I can tell he's still there.
That doesn't mean he couldn't have disguised himself. How do we do this? Go in
and grab him, or..."

Kolb nodded, and so did Johan.
Those three looked a bit bloody minded really.

Erid seemed uneasy about it all,
at least.

"We... Maybe we shouldn't do
it that way? Could we send someone that isn't..."

Dareg thought he understood. If
those three went, the odds of the men being left alive for some kind of trial
was pretty low. Erid was, in the end, a good man, who didn't want blood on the
level that these others seemed to. Dareg could see that. They knew what had
been said about what had happened, but not the specifics.

Not that the people from Harmony
were lying, but there could be more to it than what they'd heard.

"Got it. Erid and I
will go and handle this first part. We have shields. It should be fine. We can
just go in and talk to the men. If they won't come, then we can move to the
next level? I mean, if Erid tells him they have to come along, then they
do, legally, right? High Servant duty, and all that?" He looked at the
Commander, who didn't respond at first.

After a bit she nodded.

"Is that... Safe?" Then
almost panicked seeming, she went wide eyed. "Not that you two can't
take down these men on your own. I just don't want to risk innocent people... I
mean, I..." There was worried floundering, as she tried not to insult
them, saying they weren't capable of something she didn't think they were going
to be able to handle.

Dare shook his head at her and
glared a little. Not much, just enough so she fell silent, blushing a little.

"If we were going for a
fight, then I'd agree with you. So far, all we know is that these men
are late as far as working goes. Really, for all you seemed upset over the
thought, do you really do more than yell at your people for things like
that?" He waited, not knowing the real answer.

Erid gave a nod, not seeming
pleased with it.

"That is about the
truth."

Johan looked miserable, but
agreed with a frown.

"It is. We have limited
power that way."

Spreading his hands, Dare smiled.

"Right, so we go and collect
them for some scolding, and slap one of those truth things on them and find out
what they've really been up to. If it's just being lazy, we take them out and
whip them in public. At least with words. If they've done more than that, or
know about it happening, we can work that out then. Right now they don't have
any reason to fight with us."

That made sense to him, even if
it wasn't assured. The fellows might come at them like killers, barring unbeatable
weapons. More likely, they'd be drunk, and hiding in their rooms.

The final plan involved his own
idea, of just walking up to collect the men, and Kolb's, which had to do with a
secure perimeter, in case anyone fled. The bald fighter didn't think
that it was going to be all that dangerous it was clear. As they traveled to
the location, floating through the crowded streets of the Capital, slowly, as
it turned out, he spoke quietly.

"If I remember correctly,
this is a decent inn. Not the best, but not a place where an army of thugs will
be waiting for us to arrive. A High Servant or two isn't too much for us to
handle, unless they're more than they appear. That's possible, but not too
likely. So, Erid, you're in charge on the inside. Just go and find them, and
tell them that they need to come with you for a project. That's true, so it
won't be a problem. Dareg, if you'd provide back up? That means standing there
and acting like you're ashamed of the men, unless they start to fight. In that
case, take them down. If they have shields, you can probably keep them from
running off easily enough. Just stay in the way." There was a smile to go
with that. It was a hard one though, that promised some action or another that
wasn't being spoken of.

Commander Derring went next,
waving as they floated through the streets.

"If they run, raise the hue
and cry. That will work right now."

That was a thing that Dareg knew
pretty well. You screamed that a person was a thief, or criminal, and chased
them while pointing. Everyone else was supposed to do it too, and keep
after the fleeing man or woman until they were caught. It normally didn't
happen, because most people didn't really care that much about other people,
or, as Dare knew, they didn't see you take the pie in the first place.

"We'll do that."
Firming his posture, he tried to look strong and brave. Probably because he
kind of wanted to impress the Commander.

Not that his plan of being nice
and talking first was doing that. There was a real sense of annoyance from her
on that point, truth be told. Not that she was glaring at him, but she did
look, when she thought he wasn't paying attention. There was no smiling to go
with it. It wasn't her glancing at his cute behind in his blue outfit, or even
admiring his nifty robe-like clothing, though the style should be familiar to
her, not being that far off from what she herself had on. Just in a different
color.

When they got to the front of the
building, Kolb put his big right hand out, getting them to stop.

"Stick to the plan. Just go
in to find them. If there's any kind of problem, move back and start
yelling."

Dareg nodded, Erid following
along. Then they went toward the large wooden doors in the front of the place.
It had real glass windows, though not all the buildings around them did. It was
made of brick, the sturdy mud kind, rather than wood or focus stone. A bit of
wood poked out in different places, and the upper levels were made of combination
of materials. Not that he could see it, but you could only go so high with
things like that. This place was four stories tall. Not the highest thing
around, but big.

They moved as one, but he pushed
in a bit, so that his body was in front of the High Servant. Erid was strong
looking and was larger than he was, so it made sense. No one would send in a
virtual boy like him, if it was about anything other than talk. Maybe he could
be delivering a message? That would work. Not that they needed that kind of
ruse.

Inside the place was considerably
cooler. Probably because the walls were nearly three feet thick, offering a lot
of protection from the sun. However that worked, it was nice. The jump ship had
been similar, but that probably had heating and cooling inside of it. Even his
shield did, the world being far more comfortable when it was on. That just made
it really hard to do anything, so he left it off.

On the first floor of the place
was a tavern, with wooden benches and tables packed into a side room. It was
early enough that it wasn't full, but so near the start of the festivities that
there were people there that wouldn't be at any other time, that early in the
day. Not, of course that he'd ever had the kind of coin that would let him hang
around inside taverns like this one, but Dare had been in them, trying
to find little jobs to keep himself fed.

This place had real stone floors,
that looked to be swept clean on a regular basis. Possibly that was a special
treat for King's week, since a lot of coin could be made off travelers in a
place like this. If the roads around the city were any indication, these folk
were going to be very wealthy in a few days.

Across the room, settled in the
center, so that the light through the large window would let him see, sat High
Servant Filby. The other one. Dressed not at his duty required in white robes,
or at least a white outfit that looked the part, if work were at hand, but in a
rather humble looking outfit that seemed practical, and in three tones of
brown. It wasn't real, being too sharp looking for that, but it kind of matched
the tenor of what the others in the room had on.

Erid was frowning, which was a
dead giveaway, so Dare winked at him and smiled, then called out.

"Filby!" The
name got the man to look up, take in who was there...

Then smile. It was an instant
reaction, not a planned thing. That would mean the man wasn't scared about
seeing them, which he should have been, even if he were only trying to not work
for the week.

"Dirt boy! High Servant
Erid! Come sit. I'll get the first round. Ale?" The man glanced at the
chest that floated behind him as Dare closed the distance, but it was kind of
obvious he didn't think too much of it.

Instead of grabbing the man up,
and spill his drink, both he and Erid sat across from him.

Dare smiled.

"Soft cider or berry? I have
to go straight back to work. If we aren't going to be beating you for
missing your own. What's with that? I thought you were on to help with the
building?"

The man grinned, a bit drunk, but
not so bad that the words were going to cause a fight. After all, for some
reason he really seemed to think that they'd just come to visit with him. For
fun.

"Nah. Kevin wrangled some
deal with the higher ups and got us away from the port for the holiday. I don't
know how he does it. I tell you, there normally isn't enough coin in the
kingdom to buy off the top people. Well, you know that one, right?" That
bit was spoken directly to Erid, who had either caught on that the plan had
changed, or was willing to get a drink first himself, before taking the man
back.

"That's true enough. The
thing there is that he actually didn't clear anything. An oversight, I'm
sure." Erid seemed a bit pissed. Like there was going to be a beating in
it for the man. It was too early for that however, if they wanted the fellow to
be useful to them. Especially since he was being pleasant so far.

Not acting like a person that had
anything to hide.

Dareg waved his right hand a
little bit, trying to get Erid to pull back a little bit.

"Eh. It's not at issue, if
you were told wrong, and can prove it with a truth magic. Right, High Servant
Erid? I mean, you might not get the whole week off, but everyone is
getting a few days for the fun, so you will too. The only person that really
has to work the whole week is probably me, to be honest."

Those words had the man relaxing,
his face not happy, but a lot more open than normal. A little sloppy about it,
actually.

"Dood and all then. I mean good
and all. High Servant Straughan was in charge, and did tell me that. Ah.
Well, I should change and get back to the spaceport then. I just get with you
to prove that out, Erid?"

The man in all white next to him made
a considering face, and then gave a short nod.

"That will work. We should
probably go, in that case. Traveling right now is taking forever."

The man started to slam down his
drink, which smelled a bit sour and thick, but as far as Dare could tell the scent
wasn't the reason for drinking it. It was designed to help people forget how
lousy their lives were.

After he banged the thick ceramic
mug on the table, a bit harder than was needed, he stood up, tipsy already.

"Why the hurry?" The
man tripped, trying to get away from the bench, his left foot getting caught as
he at least tried to do his job now.

With a smile, Dareg reached
across the thing and made sure he didn't go down.

"It's that we have people
outside, in case you ran off. Standing in the heat. We didn't know why
you were missing. We got news from Harmony, saying that someone at the spaceport
had been having sex with the immigrants, in exchange for passage. You know, put
out, or you can't go?"

The man looked a bit annoyed, but
not like he was planning to run for it, once they all started walking. He
staggered several times, until Dareg moved in on one side and took his arm, and
Erid got the other.

"That? Yeah. Kevin, he's a
fiend for doing people up the behind. Women, men... No kids. That's half of why
we tossed you last week. Too young. That wasn't a lie, what we told you, but
even he sticks to that pretty well. I don't rightly know what he was telling
people, but a lot of them let him do it. I wouldn't. It's too freaking
hot here for things like that, for one thing. I never really thought about it,
since most that were going tended to be common. It isn't hard to get that kind
to do what you want, is it? Just ask, most days. It may not really be
fair all the time, but they're adults, right?"

As they got to the front door, Dare
nodded.

"Right. Well, you can say
that again, when we check out why you were gone. Say, you don't know where
Kevin got to, do you? Queen Tiera isn't all that happy with him, I don't think.
He'll be a lot better off getting on the communications device and facing her
directly. She might come and kick his behind personally, but that's survivable.
Avoiding her will probably turn it into some kind of thing." He
used the first name on purpose, since it would leave the drunk tavern patron
feeling like he knew the other High Servant and was friends with him.

"Nope. He said he'd be back
in six days. He does like to go off, time and again. Into politics, so
has people to visit in that vein." The man rocked a little as an uneven
bit of the street caught on his foot. He didn't really go anywhere, because
Erid steadied him carefully. Even in his mild upset at the fellow, he did his
job. Helping him. That was, it seemed, what was lived in his world.

Instead of the others running up
to tackle the errant High Servant, no one approached too closely at all. That
was down to Kolb having waved the others back. The man was in a very common
looking tan outfit, and Commander Derring, looking a lot different now, was
standing about twenty feet away from him. It was a disguise amulet, and much
like Dareg had before, she looked considerably plainer than her real face would
have shown.

Which was useful. After all, the
drunk man might well have freaked if his leader was there to collect
him. There didn't seem to be a lot of need for that at the moment, given he was
coming along peacefully at the moment.

So he waved at her and then Kolb.

"Hey! We found Filby right
off." Pasting a smile on his face, he made eye contact with the blonde
lady, who was still light colored as for her hair, but it was a dirtier,
dingier looking thing now, instead of a light crown of glory. Her clothing was
brown and seemed like leather. That should have been too hot, but her skin was
dry, as far as he could tell from a distance.

When she padded over, jogging a
bit, her face was blank. Well, under that she kept flashing a questioning
expression, even through the mask of her square and manly face.

"What's the situation?"

"Filby here was told that he
got the week off by his partner. High Servant Straughan. The other guy also
seems to be the one that was using his position to abuse those immigrants.
Filby doesn't know exactly where he is, but he claimed he was going to be back
in six days? We're taking him to get that checked out, and help him sober up. A
man can't help it if people he should be able to trust mislead
him." Dare was trying to use his words to convey the idea that it
was going to be easier to lead him back if they were being helpful, than
carrying the body between them by his arms.

She got it. That kind of thing
was hard for a lot of people, but this lady was smarter than he'd thought.
Clearly her looks had thrown him off before. Being good looking generally
helped in life, but it was easy to look at attractive people and think that
they had nothing going on between their ears. That was silly. A thing that he
knew personally, not being hard to look at most days, so he should have known
better.

"Damn. You're right, of
course. There really is no need to let someone get in trouble if they didn't do
anything wrong. We need to get you sobered up, here..."

Her plan, it seemed, involved
holding a white tile with a glowing green man on it, against Filby's right
hand. It wasn't an instant thing, but instead of taking many hours for him to
clean up, he gasped, grabbed his head, and after about a minute started to
breathe really hard. Then he stood up straight and winced in the bright
sunlight.

"Ouch. Thanks, miss. I hate
those things, but love them, too. I need to get to my post now. I should have
known better than to trust Kevin like that. Thank you all for coming to collect
me like this." He sounded contrite enough, and changed into his white
robes as he stood there.

Then with no real prompting, they
all got four inches into the air, floating, and moved off through the streets.
Slowly. That was because people had come out, chanting, dancing and singing. It
wasn't even King's week yet, and they had on their bright colors, best party outfits,
and some had been imbibing already. He knew that because on any normal day he
wouldn't have been grabbed and kissed by a woman as they used magic to move
through the city.

The lady that did it was tall,
and had silver in her hair, meaning she was more than old enough to know not to
do things like that to random passersby. He just took it, and laughed, even
though she reeked of something sour and unpleasant that she'd imbibed in that
day.

His new friend, Commander
Derring, moved in and gently removed the woman from his face, laughing.

"Hey now, back off my
boyfriend there. At least ask him for dinner first." Then she
tugged him along for a bit, smiling the whole time.

The others acted like it was
funny, which it was, but it wasn't a thing that he'd ever had happen before
like that. Then, while they had street parties in Canton, they weren't as big
or drunken as this before they even started. Another difference was that, when
they passed four guardsmen on patrol in their bright red and white outfits,
they were given polite nods, instead of hard looks and suspicion.

All the large people got those,
and, as a clear afterthought one of the fellows locked eyes with him and gave a
polite smile.

"Gentles." That was all
that was said, since everyone was trying to move through the crowd without
knocking anyone down.

An hour later, or a little more,
they were able to get through the north gate. There was a solid line of people
between the two hovering lines of pure and slightly glowing water. It was
enough to slow them down, even though half the stream was heading the same way
they were. They all settled and just walked along. On the great side the people
around them were happy. They smiled and waved. Some even spoke to them past
just the basic hello that he'd expected.

A group of girls, three of them,
just walked up to him, since he was behind the others, if only by a bit.

"Well met!" This came
from the tallest of them, who clearly had some noble background going on. She
was about six-four, which wasn't bigger than the woman with his group, but was
close within a few inches. "There's rumor that we might have rides into
space coming. My friends and I are planning to go up, if we can. The Noram
fleet is sending several ships for it. Isn't that exciting? I hear the Queen
put it together, which is very kind of her. She's always thinking of us, the
people."

That was news to him, so he
pulled his communications device while he answered her.

"Amazing! It's worth doing,
if you can get a seat. I need to check on this, for my job. Sorry about being
so rude. It could just impact what I need to be doing." He didn't feel bad
about ignoring the girl then, not really.

Certainly she was pretty enough, and
not much older than he was, but she also wasn't known to him, and had just
fallen in right along side of him, as if her paying attention his way meant
that Dare was with her and her friends now. That wasn't the case. For one thing
he had work to do at the moment.

Tapping on the little screen,
which had the girl going wide eyed, probably over the very fact that he had
such a hard to get item, he tried to call up Queen Constance directly, though
he didn't expect her to answer him, which was right. Instead he got a dark
haired boy who looked about twelve.

"Good day, this is the
palace, how may I be of service today, my lord?" The words had the tone of
a thing that was probably memorized. The boy was looking at the screen however,
most likely to get the gender of who he was speaking to. Lord was an actual
form of address, but Dareg got that one. He was an unknown, and everyone,
right up to the King could be politely spoken of that way. It might be a bit
bad if a king, or say, a prince, were to be spoken to like that, but not enough
for anyone sane to have trouble with.

"Hello. This is Dareg Canton,
out at the spaceport. Would it be possible to speak to Queen Constance? Or,
more likely to leave a note, so she can get back in touch with me. She's
probably busy at the moment." He didn't know that, but it wouldn't shock
him to find that out.

He had to spell his name for the
boy, who hung up after a nicely polite goodbye. The tall girl smiled at him,
and seemed pretty pleased about it all for some reason. Not in a fun way, but
like he was a tiny child who was claiming the world hopped to their wishes.

"You're just trying to call
on the Queen? Does that normally work for you? I know that I wouldn't dare do
that. Not even during King's week. Wouldn't it work better to just walk to the
port and ask around about things?" She seemed worried for some reason, and
was glancing at her friends, not him. It was a subtle thing, but the
other girls, both of whom were identical, as in twins, who had flame red hair
and dark tan skin gave him more information about things than he would have had
otherwise.

The girl on the right, behind
them, made a soft sound then, like a huff, and spoke in a low tone.

"I swear Mella, if
this turns out to be another one of your famous tricks, I'm never speaking to
you again."

A soft sense of relief moved
through him then as the taller girl stammered a little. It was instantly clear
to him that she'd been making things up. There was no trip into space being put
around, other than by the girl with the running mouth. It could have been a
mess if people were traveling out there for a treat, if it wasn't delivered.

The handheld buzzed, and once
tapped on, showed a rather nice looking Queen on the screen.

"Dareg? Is everything all
right? The phone lad told me that you'd called?" She sounded actually
concerned, which was probably down to the fact that the woman hadn't expected
to hear from him soon.

"Nothing too bad. I'd just
heard that we were supposed to have a ship from the Noram fleet coming in to
give people rides into orbit, and that it was your idea. That being the case, I
figured you might want to know about it. Maybe Captain Gemma could come? If
so... She'll want her ship to be about an eighth the size of what it was the
last time I was up there? We actually have craft coming in and out now. I
should get with Space Fleet too, and see if Alice Orange wants to free up a
craft for that. It has to be a good recruitment tool." Anyone
willing to go on a free ride would end up being captive for a while, after all.
"The same would work for the Noram fleet. Call it as starting in... Three
days? I don't want to clog things up to start with." The highest number of
craft they'd had in at once was three, after all.

At least that was what it looked
like, off in the distance. Two of them were the little insect looking versions,
like Commander Derring had come in. The other was larger, had eight sides and
was all orange. That was in the space fleet colors, but it had also been made
smaller than the other ships that had come. Hopefully just for the parties.

"What a good idea! Yes, I
can ask after that. If not Gemma, then one of the others might be available.
Her brother perhaps? Now, are you coming for dinner tonight? A tiny bird has
told me that several of the Ancients have been seen with you?"

That would be a literal thing, at
the moment.

"Would it be possible to
come in at some other time? We can get away now, but there's a small problem
regarding a High Servant, and Commander Derring will want to see to that first
thing, so it might change plans. Kolb will want to come of course, but I think
he's planning to beat me in the morning, so we might want to make sure he gets
plenty of sleep first. You know, so he's fresh and strong for it? He's been
helping me learn to fight. My tutor?"

"Oh? Very good then. We
can't get in the way of your studies. Tomorrow for luncheon?"

The others looked back at him,
all of them, and even if it was written all over his face that Kolb didn't want
to bother with it, the Commander nodded gently.

"Commander Derring and I?
I'll work on Kolb, but you know, he's all old, and thinks that means he
shouldn't have to suffer through elaborate meals. Oh, remember that you and
Richard are supposed to come visit here too? The third evening of this week, if
that works for you? Not that I have anything really planned yet. I need to get
on that. I've been busy, running all over the Capital with my friends. It
probably means I'm a horrible spaceport boss, but it had to be done."

He was being too subtle, he thought,
but the Queen gave him a gentle nod.

"I understand. The High
Servant situation?"

That got narrowed eyes and a nod,
but no words from Dare.

Then he smiled.

"So, when is luncheon
there?"

"Two in the afternoon. I'll
see you then? I hate to run off, but I'm being waved at to get my
attention."

"See you then, Queen
Constance."

"You as well, Prince Dareg."
Then the link broke.

So did several of the people
around him. No one in Noram used a title like that if it wasn't real,
since that could lead to being put to death. Most likely without a trial. For
the Queen to use it, or even to be talking to him, was so huge that all the
girls were staring at him.

The tall one, Mella, touched his
arm.

"Forgive me? I didn't
know." Then she tried to fall back, her friends pulling at her a little
bit. They were further back so his floating chest wouldn't bump into them.

Snagging her arm from the air, he
shook his head.

"Nope. You were
leading your friends astray. Again, apparently. That can't be allowed. I'm
collecting you up as slave labor for the day... I know, you can stand out front
of the Bawdy House and tell people what's being offered this evening." He
was kidding, but Commander Derring reached out and slapped Johan on the arm.

"That's fair. Johan, can you
stay with her for it? Otherwise someone will think she's on offer."

It was a real point and the man
agreed.

Then Dare looked at the twin
girls, and made a face.

"Would you be available for
dinner later? I'll buy. The restaurant here isn't bad." Then he looked at
the crowd and shook his head. "If I get a chance. I wasn't joking with
Queen Constance about being busy. Still, we all need to eat. I should set
things up at Sam Builder's, but it isn't my home to use that way. Speaking of
which, I need to get in touch with him, too. I'm making all these plans for him
and haven't mentioned it yet, which probably isn't very kind of me."

Kolb laughed, and the twins
demurred, a lot. So much that it was clear he was being put off. That didn't
really bother him, since he wasn't truly ready to entertain yet. Not that he didn't
need to get to speed that way. Soon too.

The girls managed to escape once
they were at the port, though Mella did make plans with High Servant Johan, so
that the giant and muscular man would be her guard while she played at being a
caller for the whores. That meant only four of them were going off to the tiny
focus stone hut where the High Servants worked. Inside it was empty, except for
a man sleeping in the corner. It wasn't Straughan, but was a person in
High Servant robes.

There were no pillows, still the
fellow was well and truly sleeping. He looked a bit hard used, too. A few days
beard growth graced his cheek, for instance. His white clothing was stained in
places, which being they were magical meant he just hadn't thought to fix them
for a while. He smelled of sweat, that and a sharper odor that was similar to
the stink of fear that some people got.

Rather than start talking,
Derring walked over and patted the fellow, who was lanky, on the shoulder
several times.

"David?" She shook his
shoulder a bit, which got the man, who had bloodshot blue eyes and looked about
thirty or so, to cough and sit up.

"Hey sis. I was just going
to come and look for you, if I could get a ride up to Harmony. I can't help but
notice that you aren't dead?" There was a pleased smile to go along with
the words, and after he stood a hug.

That this man, who was the
woman's brother, recognized her with a disguise on was interesting. It clearly
was one, being bigger than her real face, if only marginally. It took a bit to
work out that this being her sibling, and seeming pretty normal, would mean
that her prettier face wasn't the real one. Even if it was hers. This one was
the thing that her brother knew, however. Instantly, even on waking suddenly.

She looked at the guy and seemed
at a loss for words.

"Do you need to get to
Harmony? I have a jump ship..."

The tall man, who was about seven
and a half feet high, or better, shook his head and looked not at his sister,
but the bald man behind her.

"Nope. I have some things
for Kolb. Private? Then he can tell you, if he thinks you should know."
There was a bit of metal behind the words, and the High Servant Commander just
nodded, understanding what was going on. Not that the male Ancient wasn't important,
being really old like he was, but this man wanted to talk to him, before
his own family.

That either meant his sister
wasn't a very good person, and while she had been a bit angry so far, she
didn't seem unreasonable about it. There could be a dark history there, but
they'd hugged on meeting, so it was probably that this new man, David Derring,
was on duty somehow. He was dressed like a high servant, but also a mess, which
was never the case with that sort from what Dare had seen personally. Even drunk,
Filby had been presentable.

He was examining the man a little
too hard, it seemed, and that drew attention. Really, the feeling of the
whole room shifted around, with Kolb glancing away a bit, as if the man in
dingy white hadn't said anything, or perhaps like he didn't want to engage with
him at the moment. Commander Derring did look at her brother, but went into a
forced blankness of being, that was subdued on a level that was as telling as
anger or fear would have been. David returned his gaze, and Erid...

Both he and Filby seemed
baffled.

It was High Servant Erid who made
a face then, and scowled a bit.

"I wasn't aware that you
were a member of our order, Countier Derring." It was a bit ridiculous,
since Erid was a lot shorter, and only a little squatter than the rangy and
hard looking, seedy, man in front of them. Still, he seemed ready to fight
about it, even if it meant losing. As if it might be important.

The High Servant Commander winced
then, and Kolb showed a tiny bit of stress around his eyes. Nothing more than
that, but it was there. That probably meant this David fellow was a spy, or
doing similar work. Not for his sister, because if that was the case, she would
have simply said so. Maybe after kicking Filby out, but it would have been
done. Anyone with half a brain could see that High Servant Erid was
trustworthy.

The thing at the moment was that
the more manly Derring was moving for weapons, which seemed to be small, but
hidden in the hem of his garment. There was a six inch long tube there, it
looked like. It was really subtle and matched on the other side, so until the
hand went for it, the cloth releasing whatever was there with an almost
imperceptible movement, causing the slight bulge to move toward the floor under
its own weight, Dare hadn't gotten it.

Kolb shook his head, but it
wasn't being noticed, being too subtle. Commander Derring started to go wide
eyed, and Erid was totally clueless on the matter.

So Dareg shrugged, faking the
movement a lot.

"High Servant Erid, there's
a good explanation for this. For now, I think it's safe to say that this man
will uphold the full duty of the order. Would that be good enough for you? I'm
sure that these others will explain it later, when it's appropriate?" His
own voice was mild, he noticed. Inside he shook with fear, but outside he was
cool and decently polite.

The large woman nodded, and
smiled a bit, holding her hand out toward her brother, who froze in place.

"That's right. Totally,
in fact. Thanks, Dareg." Even with her disguise on she managed to look
pretty in the moment, smiling about it all. It wasn't exactly that genuine, but
there was gratitude in the movement.

Which, summoning a little charm,
he waved away.

"Don't thank me, I'm
planning on grabbing him up for free labor for the week. Maybe past that if you
have the time, sir? I mean, you are a High Servant, at this
moment..." He was joking, distracting from the event and could only hope
that his words wouldn't set things back into motion again.

Thankfully the large guy snorted
a bit, caught as he was, and looked not at Dare or his sister, but Kolb again.
It was so clear that the man worked for the Ancient weapons master that they
could have been in matching outfits. To Dareg at any rate.

He smirked a bit however, and
gave a small, probably ironic bow.

"Good idea. I have a few
things to get done, but if I can help out that shouldn't be a problem. For the
moment, I-" He yawned, and rubbed at his face. "Sorry, I've been up
for about three days, until my little ten minute nap here."

The bald Ancient nodded at him,
and then glanced at the others, as if they were all included.

"We should find you a room.
I could walk you over to Sam Builder's place. You and he are friends, aren't
you?"

That was news, especially when
the large man nodded.

"We were at school around
the same time, so have met, which is friendly enough to impose during King's
week. Is he in?" The conversation was being changed, but at least his
hands had moved from where the weapons were being hidden.

Looking at the the whole room, it
was clear that, as far as Dare was concerned, they were all getting off track.
Which was... Fine. His job for the week was to get things ready and set the
base up, which was happening far more quickly than he would have ever expected
it might. Even his helping to retrieve the High Servants, of which they'd only
managed one, was just him playing around, because his real job was being done
for him by others, more or less.

It was a good thing. The people
in charge never really did all that much, did they?

"You know, I think that
setting people up there would be good. To answer the question, Ancient Sam
doesn't even know that's his home yet. I should get in touch and ask about all
of this, but for the moment, we can set people up there." He shrugged and
dug into his backpack, which he'd had on the whole time, like that didn't mark
him as being different.

Getting out a single Tiera food
device, he handed it off to Erid. He was the one there to actually help him,
after all.

"Could you set this up for
the Ancient in his house? Sam, I mean? The rest of you can go with him, and get
rooms. Not Filby here, who needs to clear himself, then go into hiding from the
rest of you for the week, so you can't beat him too badly for missing the first
bit of things. It really wasn't his fault. Anyone have a truth thing?"
That was rare, and other than at the gate of the King's own palace complex, Dareg
had never seen one in action.

Some people, like judges and
guard stations in big cities were said to have them, but to his own benefit
he'd always managed to avoid most of those sorts of people, except in passing.
Interestingly enough, everyone but Filby started to scramble at their necks for
the correct devices. It left him feeling a bit poor and a little naked,
personally. Like the kid who only had one shoe in school.

For most of them it made sense.

Erid was a High Servant and the
one that had been suggested when real work was to be done. Kolb and Commander
Derring were both Ancients. Immortals that lived on the freaking Moon
they were so powerful. David however seemed to be a drifter that had mugged a
High Servant. Yet here he was with a magical device that only one in ten
thousand should have been able to even ask to be brought into play in most
cases.

Which left him feeling pretty
good about himself, at the moment. After all, he'd asked and instantly
the things were being pulled out.

He gestured to Erid.

"He's your man, and if I
have it right, you and I have to beat him if he's been being bad here, so why
don't you do the honors? Try to get him out of any jail time though. You can't
work in a cell." The words were playful enough that no one in the room
stiffened up over them, because... That part was a little off.

Honestly no one there should have
been listening to him. Which, he realized, they really weren't. It wasn't that
they respected him so much yet, as that they were smart enough to see that he
was moving with them in what they really wanted, or close enough. He was just
some common looking young man that wasn't worth all that much to most of them.
What he was doing was making himself into the path of least resistance for
them. Like a river.

As long as they weren't in
conflict, there was no real reason for them not to go along with him.

The Commander bowed at Erid, then
waved at Filby.

"That's probably a good
enough point. You can't help others on broken legs. If you will?"

It took about three minutes to
clear Filby, who had largely been honest enough about things. The only real
problem came when he was asked about Kevin Straughan's sex extortion game.

He was surrounded by a nice white
glow. Directly down the center of it, covering most of his body as he stood,
was a yellow stripe. It was brighter than the light coming in through the open
window in the wall.

"I don't know about that.
It's not as if I took part in it." A sudden black streak came then, and
Erid gave the man a very hard look.

"We need to break that down.
Did you take part in using your sworn position as a High Servant to extort,
force or coerce anyone to have sex with you?"

The man in white looked annoyed.

"No." The field of
light stayed pure and untouched by darkness that time. "It isn't that one.
I guess I knew more than I was letting on. I mean, it wasn't great, but Kevin
had mentioned it from time to time. I... Really, I mean, they were commoners,
mainly, and a few merchants. It seemed a bit funny at the time." That
wasn't a lie, according to the device but got a growl that promised
bloodletting.

From High Servant Erid.

"Our duty is to help those
in need. Did it not occur to you that letting people be abused, even by
a noble, is going directly against your charge? I don't care if the law
would allow it for others, Kevin Straughan was abusing his station. As one of us!
It was your job to do everything in your power to stop that from happening.
Even if all you could do was call on me, and pass it on. We do not allow
this!" His face went very hard then, and he looked away, at the far wall.
Seething and so tense that it was kind of clear a fight was about to break out.

Instead, his own Commander waved
at him.

"All right. What do you
recommend we do here?"

Clenching his jaw very hard, Erid
surprised everyone by turning to Dareg.

"Can you judge this for me?
I fear in my rage that I may call for too harsh a punishment for this man. He
was wrong, but I don't think he's without any promise in the future."

That was a shock, for him. No one
else seemed to think so however. Even Filby just stared at the ground, with a
little fear now that he understood the real issue. It wasn't about the laws,
but his own order's rules, which were a bit different.

It was tempting to suggest that
the man offer his behind to anyone coming in from then on, since it was such
high humor, but that wouldn't help anything really. After a moment of thinking,
Dareg thought he had something close to reasonable.

"He should go and apologize
to all of those he allowed to be hurt. Personally. One at a time. He didn't do
the crime, but his lack of action allowed it to happen, which is
shameful." That got wide eyes from Filby, who couldn't like the idea much,
and a single nod from Commander Derring.

"Very good. And
Straughan?"

Dareg locked eyes with her, his
brown meeting her blue.

"We need to hunt him down,
find out all of his crimes, and then punish him to the fullest extent of what
is allowable for it. Otherwise Erid will probably kill him, which would be
illegal. I do have a jump ship though, and once I learn to fly it, we can take
him out and dump his body in space if you want? No one will catch us then."

That bit got a soft laugh from
three sources. David, Kolb, and oddly enough, Filby. Commander Derring just
smiled at him.

"We won't have to. He can be
the first sacrifice to the new order. I was stuck too far away, for ten years.
Eleven really. They all thought no one could touch them. Well, I'm back now. We
can capture him, lock him up and kill him for dereliction of duty. Worse, he
was leading others, like Filby here, astray. I'll set that up for you to go and
do those apologies. For now, you need to go and start working, helping
someone."

The man just stood, looking
downcast and troubled. That part seemed pretty real, so at least there was that.
He was still glowing even, so it might be the truth. If the devices worked that
way, which probably didn't make sense. If they read his thoughts directly, it
would be too hard to know what a body was lying about. It had to be linked to
the words then.

Kolb waved then.

"You heard her. Go and do
that. Now. Give Erid his amulet back first." Then he stood there, glaring
until the man left the room.

The Ancient man looked at him
then, "in the morning. Do you have that healing amulet yet? You'll want
one." Then he glanced at the Derring's, his face hard. "It's his
first full force practice. Prone to combat rage. You two can help with that, if
we don't have other things to do?"

David at least nodded.

"I have an amulet for that.
When? At dawn?"

They agreed to meet a bit later
than that, at his little pod house, which would be set up by then. It was
getting annoying carrying everything around all the time, but at least he had
that option. Otherwise almost everything he had would probably have been stolen
already. The world was filled with thieves after all. Other bad people too.

They all left to see about
getting rooms and dinner. It was early for that still, being only about five,
so it was more like time for a late luncheon, or possibly tea, if you were
sophisticated enough for that kind of thing, which he never had been, himself.

That left him in the little room,
oddly alone. The whole thing was thick walled and nicely tan, but warm. The
whole world was there, at the port, all the time. Until night, when it got far
too cold. At a loss for things to do, he found a focus stone chair behind the
official table and settled in at it, and got his handheld communications unit
out, and looked through the names. There was no listing for The Wizard Samuel
Builder, Ancient of Noram Samuel Builder, or anything remotely like that. When
he found the name, it was, rather humbly for such a great personage as their
entire land's Ancient, just marked as Sam Builder. No title. No
pretention in the slightest.

So he hit the sigil, which was
just the name, glowing in blue at the moment, and waited. It really didn't take
long for the man to answer, if it was the right person. He had blond hair in
the picture, dark brown skin, and brown eyes. Like a common man would.

"Sam here, is there an
emergency?" The words sounded concerned.

"Um, Dareg Canton. I... Are
things that bad there? I mean, who answers their device like that? Is there an
emergency?" He managed conversational, and got a chuckle in return.

"Sorry, I was asleep. It's
about... Four in the morning here? So, if it isn't an emergency, what
can I do for you?"

He winced, but went on, since the
fellow was already awake.

"I was calling to see if we
could have some people stay at your home, here at the port at the Capital? Um,
Commander Derring, her brother David, some others? You have the room. The place
is huge, after all."

There was a pause then, and a
sigh that sounded strange.

"I have a palace now?"

"Oh, yes. It's nice, too.
Big, and away from the main bustle of the port, while still convenient for you,
and close to the city for visiting. So, can we toss people in there?
Otherwise I don't know what to do with them that will seem polite." There were
four other places set up, but those would be filled with just anyone that came
along, no doubt. That was hardly fitting for people he actually liked.

"That seems fine?" He
sounded pleasant enough about the idea, anyway.

So hopefully it really would be.

Chapter eight

There was actually very little
for him to do then. Dare figured that would be the case at any rate. When he
left the little hut, it wasn't hard to find that there were some problems
already. Mainly in the lack of restrooms. There were about a thousand people
there, and they were, grossly enough, just ducking under the floating and
lightly glowing river and using wherever they happened to be.

The buildings all had facilities
in them, but most of the places weren't inviting to the poor and low status
people, which was, of course, most of them. Worse, he had no idea what to do
about it in the moment. The places all looked so nice that there was no way
that the kids, the poor and those that expected to be put in their place would
use them. Dareg knew he wouldn't have, if it were him. Still. Having piles of
shit all over the place was gross.

Shaking his head, he got out a
palace, set it up outside the front, past the river on the left facing the
city, and made it really small, then filled it with restrooms. It took work to
make it plain and boring on the outside. He went with tan, and made the roof
the same color on the one story place. There were washing stations, and some
showers as well, with a floor that wasn't made of dirt, since the place couldn't
do that, but was a matching color with a bit of texture to make it seem that
way.

Then he put up signs, and some
pictures on the outside, with a path that would lead people under the river to
it. Sure you had to duck under the thing, and if you messed up, you were going
to get wet, but it wouldn't harm anyone too much. He knew because he put
his hand in it to test it. He was tossed out, almost instantly, and water
sprayed, but other than making him damp, it didn't hurt anything.

Then, not knowing if it would
work at all, he set up three more, around the whole spaceport. That way,
anyplace you were there would be someplace to go and clean up, or take care of
needs, without having to soil the environment too much.

Even with the signs put up, no
one was using them however. It was a problem. One that seemed to be about
everyone being too polite to just walk in and see if it was meant for them. Finally,
he places a few toilets outside of the main little buildings, and had outdoor
showers, as well as the ones inside. By the time he was finished with that,
people were getting it. No one was using the outdoor ones, but they got the idea
and figured the whole thing out once they got to the place.

Then he saw the group of men
trying to rob some other people. The aggressive ones were large, but not noble
seeming. They were too small for that. About five-nine to six feet tall. City
men. There were three of them, and they were pushing a much smaller common
looking fellow around, using their weight.

"We know you have coin. We
were watching you at the inn. Give it over. Now, or the little lady here is
going to be split in two." There was fake laughing to go with the rape
threat, as the unshaved man took the woman by the arm.

She was tiny. On a level that
would have had Dareg, who wasn't vast himself, thinking she was a child, if not
for her face, which was that of an adult. There were a few lines there, and a
horrified expression. Then, the choice was for these people to either give up
all their coin, or let her be raped in public. As far as they knew anyway.

The evil man in charge growled at
them again.

"There ain't no guards out
here neither, not that little pieces of shit like you would get no help. Now,
give over. Or else." It was a real point.

Without doing anything other than
walk over to the group, Dare spoke loudly.

"You know, I need to get to
that one. I started to set things up, and then got side tracked. For
guard patrols? Anyway, you men are under arrest." Then he chuckled himself
as they spun and looked annoyed. Until they took in his nice, new looking blue robe-like
outfit and shiny boots, saw his funny backpack, and the floating chest behind
him. It probably made him look like a traveler to them. A wealthy one, who might
be a nobleman.

One who was twelve, and hadn't
really started growing yet. Also not a person in charge.

The lead man gave him a smarmy
smile and moved in front of him as people started to collect around them. Most
of them were commoners, but a few were taller people.

The scruffy man in stained gray
clothing shook his head.

"You're a pretty thing ain't
ya? Wanna suck me off before I rape you, too?"

Rather than fight, Dareg just
shook his head. Then he pointed a single finger at the man, which got a scowl.

"Rape! Robbery! Rape! Rape!
Robbers!" That got all of the common people to stand silently at first,
looking frightened, but a tall woman, about five inches taller than he was
walked up and started doing the same thing.

"Robbers! Rapists! Put up
the call!" That got fifteen or twenty people to start in, and they all
moved to actually pull the men down. Commoners were strong and often worked in
physical jobs, so even being smaller than the bad men there, they were able to
pull them down with only a few people being hit.

The blonde merchant woman, who
was nicely appointed, and youthful seeming, about twenty or so, smiled at him.

"Do you have a jail around
here? You seem to have everything else. Maybe we can find who's in charge
here?"

Dare shook his head, but smiled,
understanding her reasoning. He wasn't old, after all.

"That's me. We don't have
one of those yet. I..." He was at a loss, but the lady nodded, and pointed
at the restroom he'd just been working on.

"A magical palace? We can
use that. Gerent did that after the attack on the Capital about ten years ago.
Well, Tor did. Ger was just in charge of it. Here, I think I can work that out.
Can you people bring the criminals?" She was a bit pushy, but Dareg let
her do it. She was dressed in a plain tan outfit that was nice, but not
expensive looking.

It was magical clothing however,
but there were small flaws to it as well. It made it seem like she was a bit
more real than a lot of the people that normally wore such things.

It also turned out that the crowd
was more than willing to help hold the men until they could store them safely,
after that. They just wanted someone to tell them what to do.

The woman, who was lean, and
confident seeming, moved at a quick walk to the restroom, touched the wall, and
made a rather nice cell on the side of it, that had bars, but was open to the
air otherwise. Inside there was a long bench at the back wall.

"We need to search them for
weapons." Almost instantly the men were stripped bare, and it was found
that they were carrying knives, but that was all. One of them was a woman too,
but she was still tossed in with her compatriots. They were all being watched,
though they got their clothing back.

That left him in a bind. They
didn't have any guards at the port yet. Just pointing at people and
telling them to stand there and watch the would be thieves and rapists was
overreaching his own power. That meant he had to do it himself. Which didn't
get the guardsmen out to see to this problem.

Finally he pulled out his communications
device, the white focus stone smooth under his fingers. Then he tried to think
about who could help him with this one. Oddly, he had an idea, and called King
Richard, figuring that would get him to the right person.

Except the wrong one
picked up.

"Hello!" The man in the
picture that he held was the King, who lit up when he saw him there, which was
nicer than he would have figured on. "Dareg! How nice of you to get in
touch. We were just planning our visit in a few days."

He nodded at that, not knowing if
it was true or not. Honestly, that he was bothering to say things like that was
kind of him really.

So he chuckled a bit.

"Hopefully we'll be ready
for you all. Things are... Actually coming along decently here. I'm going to
need to get with Baronetta Coltress and see if we can have some of the magical
events out here." That got him to shake his head, but he fought the eye
roll he felt. "Which isn't really why I called. We caught some people
trying to rob a family. They threatened rape too, which was brilliant of
them. We made a small jail, but I don't know the name of any guards that I can
get in touch with. I was actually calling to chat with your message
boy." He smiled and shook his head a bit. "Honest, I don't normally
call the King for things like this."

That got a chuckle from the King,
and the blonde lady, who leaned in.

"Hey Richard. I just got in
here and noticed a minor issue, so butted in, like I always do. Who's in charge
of the Guard now? Is it still General Hamish?"

"Ah! Sara, this is going to
be a wonderful week, I believe. I'm most excited. The answer there is yes.
Would you like me to get in touch with him for you, Dareg? I'm sure it won't
take but a few moments."

Letting his eye narrow a bit, he
shook his head. They needed a few guardsmen, not for the entire force to
descend on them with weapons at the read.

"I can do that. Sorry to
bother you. Would you know his full name? Or if he's listed as General
Hamish?"

The King smiled than, and sat,
then closed his eyes, but only briefly.

"Rolland Hamish. I recall
his name being stated that way on the device. Now, Sara, are you coming for the
evening meal? We might have to bump someone, but..."

The woman waved at him, smiling.

"No, no. I need to visit
with my mother, if that works for you? I'll grab up Dareg here if he can get
away, after this is done. Frankly, I wonder why Debri house doesn't have a
store out here yet. I'll have to needle my family about slipping like that.
This place has been growing for... What, two days now?"

"Ah! Very good. Yes, I can
see that. Keep in touch, and make certain to leave some of your evenings
free?"

The woman, smiled, but it was professional,
not sexy. So the King wasn't suggesting they were going to be entertaining each
other that way. Then, just because Dare had sex on his mind all
the time that didn't mean everyone else did.

The King was a bit flowery since,
as it turned out, Sara here wasn't just some merchant, but the Ancient of the
Martian Circle, the ring of space stations set up out there around the lonely
and dead, rather cold, world. He'd learned of it in school. Information that
included her name, now that he thought about it. As soon as his brother in-law
cleared the line, he started looking for the right name.

Then he tapped it, speaking out
load so that everyone else watching would know about it all.

"Here we go, Rolland
Hamish."

The man was older looking, but
smiled politely instead of scowling about being interrupted.

"Happy King's Week!"

It was a bit interesting, but the
older fellow, which his blue and red outfit, which was both official seeming
and cheerier than the standard guards red and white, was loud enough that at
least ten people responded in kind.

Including Dareg.

"Happy King's Week! Sorry to
bother you like this, sir, but we caught some robbers out at the spaceport. I
meant to set up regular patrols out here, but didn't get to it yet. So it's all
my fault, but we kind of have the two men and a woman locked in the jail we
have set up here right now. They aren't going anywhere, but I sort of arrested
them using my power as the Commander of the Port here." Which didn't have
that kind of ability, as far as he knew.

The man, who had fantastically
bushy silver eyebrows leaned in, and seemed serious suddenly.

"Do they, or anyone, require
medical help?" It was a great first thing to ask, so he looked around.

"There doesn't seem to be
more than bruises going on, for anyone. Not bad ones at that. I just don't have
any way to get in touch with your people, yet. Is there a name I should-"
The fellow might be older, but he was jogging gamely enough it seemed, image
bouncing incredibly. As that happened, Sara's pocket started to make the noise
that the devices did when someone was trying to get in touch with you.

So she moved off, which let
General Hamish speak after a moment.

"Allow me to... Alert! We
have a problem out at the spaceport. Robbery attempt. Clean up only. The port
authorities have the wrong doers locked away already, but we need some bodies
to pick them up." The face turned back to look at Dare. "Three you
said? Is that right?"

"Yes, sir. Two men, and a
woman. All in men's clothing. So, you know, the lady won't be mishandled."
By that he just meant not tossed in the men's prison, where she might be abused
beyond her punishment for what she'd really been doing. It was really hard to
tell which of the dingy and smelly people was the lady, however, so it had to
be mentioned, and would be again when the guard got there.

There was a lot of rushing and
murmuring in the background and a bell sounded, which after a bit he could just
make out, coming from the city. That meant it was a very loud bell indeed. It
was chiming the hour however, not an alarm. It helpfully let him know it was
six already.

The man on the handheld seemed
upset though, which would be about the way Dare phrased the thing with the
woman. He didn't even bother trying to explain. If the man was angry over those
words, that probably meant that there was the chance of a real problem
happening. No one got that worked up over a thing that wasn't real.

Except his voice was fine, which
meant it was probably a subconscious thing on his part.

"We have men headed your way
now. If it wouldn't insult you, would it be all right to have a patrol or two
head that way? I'll have to see who's available, but it might work better if
they could. Just for the week, naturally. It would have worked better to have
your own guards for the event, but I can understand that things often move
faster than expected in life." Those words came out sounding wise, and not
like he meant to be pompous, though there was a bit of that in there as well.

Dare didn't let it bother him,
though he did give specific directions as to how to find them all.

Then they waited. Not long
however, since the men flew from the city, moved carefully around the edge, on
the other side of the magical river, and ducked under it after landing. They
used older flying devices that had a hand held control, a small copper bit on
the back of their left hands. All of the men looked hard, and like they were
spoiling for a fight, which was annoying, but not unexpected.

He didn't let them speak first,
stepping forward and waving.

"Over here. I'm Dareg Canton,
Commander of the Port here." As soon as the words were out, he could tell
that none of the taller men really believed him. One openly sneered too, and
several of the smaller people shied away.

Their leader, who had shiny bits
on his shoulder, unlike the other three, made a face at him that indicated he
smelled something bad. Then he looked around, seemed to understand what getting
all of those building and palaces up that fast meant, and bowed. That showed
something near intelligence. It was clear that someone had, after years, gotten
something done. It was really Tam-unit, but he'd been nearby for it, so it made
him seem pretty solid as well.

"Sir. We were told there was
a prisoner pick up. Are we allowed to get a report from those involved?"

That just took some waving since
the small man and his incredibly tiny wife were both there. They nearly both
lost consciousness when the lead guard, Major Tines, pulled out a Truth amulet,
but they gave their stories, and so did a few others that were there, having
witnessed it. In the end, the guard looked very uneasy, and like he didn't know
if he should give it to him of not, so Dare put his hand out. The man relaxed
greatly.

Then he covered the threats made
to him, leading to the arrest.

"I don't officially have
that power in particular, but, as you see, no guards out here."

The tall, brown haired Major
smiled then. A bit drily, but he managed a head nod with it.

"All citizens of
Noram may arrest and detain a person caught in the act of committing a crime.
We need to see about these three then. They hadn't actually done anything, so
if they were just playing, or making a poor joke, we might have to let them
go." That got the man to look really uneasy, as once again he glanced
around, this time focusing on the floating box behind Dare for a moment.

For his part he nodded.

"Well, if it was really the
case, then they should be let go. Thankfully we have access to magic
that will allow us to know for certain."

Sara, the Ancient of the Martian
Circle, jogged forward like it was her job, and opened a hole in the bars just
by thinking about it. Dare could have done the same thing, but realized that
the woman had done it better than he would have. With her eyes open, to prevent
sudden attack, but also making a hole that would require the people to step
through it carefully. Other than running at it and diving through there was no
particular way for anyone to get out fast.

He could tell that, because the
woman there did exactly that. Fast, hard and with enough skill Dare felt
more than a little jealous.

Then, as she stood up, which was
faster than he could have made his own body do the same thing, a kick came out.
Not toward the guards, or even the Ancient, but directed right at him.
Which made the Earth under him bulge a little after his shield kicked in. Then,
moving so fast he couldn't understand what was going on, the woman knocked out
two of the guardsmen, tripped the others, and turned to run.

That had Sara there, punching at
the woman. Each one was so fast that he was actually guessing about what had
happened, and he probably missed more than he saw.

The woman dodged them all, with
no apparent effort and laughed, gently.

Inside the cage, the other two
men climbed out quickly, and then, without waiting to see what was happening,
turned to run away. Their speed was good enough, but not that brilliant or
anything, not like the criminal woman with them. She waited for a bit, keeping
out of Sara's grasp, and then ran after the men, getting him to follow. A few
people followed along, each running as fast as they could.

In the end, they all got there
just in time to see them vanish into a black glowing disk in the air.

Sara looked at him, and then back
at the port, shaking her head.

"Interesting. I haven't seen
that one before. We need to check it out, in case it's just an
illusion." Then, not saying more, she padded toward the disk, which was
about three feet across and a near perfect circle, getting there as it faded.

After that, it was really clear
that they had nothing.

It was so bad a feeling, that Dareg
felt himself being baffled for a while, as the Ancient woman next to him kind
of milled around.

Finally he shook himself.

"Wait... They tried
to rob a poor man, on the street, but they have powers like that? They needed
to take a few silvers at most from a traveler? There has to be a better
way to make coin if you can do that. Also, they jumped out of here? I
didn't even know you could do that on a planet." Going back over it all,
he let his eyes narrow, and tried to think through what he'd seen.

The Ancient looked at him very
intensely as he thought about it all.

"They were robbing people,
right in front of me. When we pulled them down, the woman didn't fight like she
did later and in the cell they didn't just leave, using their jump magics, or
whatever that disk was. Also, when the woman got out, she went directly for me.
That doesn't make much sense. Not with you standing there." The
other woman had been faster, and maybe stronger, but it was clear Sara was more
than a regular person by far.

The escaping lady hadn't even
gone for the guardsmen first, just him.

Sara shook her head.

"Was it a mistake though?
Think about it. You named yourself as the Port Commander. When the guards came,
they didn't believe you at first, but snapped-to almost instantly. That indicates
some kind of power being used on your part. Probably command line, if what I
heard about that kind of thing is right. I didn't take classes on it, but that
seems likely. It wasn't normal. They probably should have tried to push you
around a lot more than that. They were going to, but then just...
Stopped. So I could see her thinking you were more than you seem. Because you
are. Also, you were the one with the obvious magic. This isn't Harmony,
so that chest is kind of standing out."

That got him to stop for a few
seconds. It was tempting to ask what she was talking about, and later he'd need
to, about what command line meant. When he thought back though, there was
some truth to what she'd just said.

When his mother died, he wasn't
forced into an orphanage. In fact, he'd been asked if he wanted to go to
one, and had declined. After that, no one brought it up again. What were the
real odds that no one had seen him steal their food? If that had taken place,
they hadn't told on him. Here he'd been thinking that he was so clever getting
away with it all.

Even that week, things had
happened. High Servant Straughan loved to screw small common looking people.
Men or women. They'd asked him how old he was, and he'd been honest about it,
but the men, both of them, had tossed him out. Physically, but it wasn't an
attack really.

Then they'd apologized.

It had been the evil sex abuser
that had said the words first, too, not the innocent Filby.

Then, after the first bit, where
he'd talked to people, and they treated him nicely, he'd been let in to see the
King and Queen. Well, he could see that one as being down to his newly
discovered family, but they'd been very kind about him, regardless. Especially
the King. It was one thing for his half sister to feel some kind of bond, but
his new brother in-law didn't make sense.

The man should have been mildly
tolerant, at best. Even if he'd wanted to have sex with him, well, the man was
the King. He could have just ordered it to happen. Maybe it was a poor plan,
true. That whole Prince of the Moon thing was altering how things were
happening.

Then, when he and Erid had gone
for Filby, the man had been glad to see them.

It was something to try and pay
attention to. Really, he'd kind of figured that one for being his looks. Those
were good enough people noticed, but this did seem a bit more than that. Maybe,
at any rate.

Even Stara had gotten on her
knees and sucked him off, when she was actually just there to spy on him for
Countess Thomson. There hadn't been a real reason for her to do that,
either. Dareg hadn't considered it however. She'd hinted at things like that,
and he'd wanted to, at the time, so it made sense. Only, given the rest of the
information, there were flaws there.

Really, even after she'd done it,
the best plan would have been to stay, unless her orders had been to get back
to report right then. If so, leaving right then would have worked better. Just
saying she'd be back later would have placated him long enough for her to get
away. She hadn't done that however.

"I think that might be
correct. All right. So, what do we do now? Call in some help, but from
whom?"

The Ancient winked at him, and
patted his arm gently. It was polite, not a come on.

"We sort of have already. We
can report to a few people, but there's nothing here. No scent even. I
should have picked that up sooner." She smiled at him, in a slightly
disarming way. "I blame the crowd for that. It got a bit muddled."
She turned and started walking back to the little jail. The guardsmen were all
standing, and didn't seem pleased to be there still. Since two of them could
barely get up under their own power, Dare could see that happening.

Major Tines looked mean, until he
glance over at the Ancient and then fixed Dareg firmly.

"They escaped? That one was fast."
He didn't say that woman was fast, which was a bit obvious. The man was
embarrassed, as if she wasn't incredibly different than the other ladies around
them.

Sara spoke however, and explained
it all, then called the General in charge, and explained to him. The man didn't
deny it was possible. There was a lot of new magic in the world, which he
pointed out instantly. Absolving them for the problems.

"Do we need to pick up the
men?"

She started to shake her head,
which was probably true enough, since they seemed better, but they could at
least help them find a healing amulet first. A thing that none of them had.
David Derring did though, so they were all led to Sam Builder's palace to find
them. Looking at it, he had a thought.

"This needs a wall. A gate,
too." A tall one, if super beings with magic needed to be kept out.

It took a bit to find the others,
since David was off sleeping already, Commander Derring was bathing, and High
Servant Erid was gone, having headed back to work. That meant finding Kolb, who
was, of all places, in the kitchen, making a cool beverage. Not that it was
warm inside. It was so nice that Dare kind of didn't want to go back out into
the sun, but would, if it were required.

At least that's what he told
himself, firmly, not wanting to become too weak in the face of luxury.

When the man looked up, he took a
sip of the pale yellow liquid, and then set it down on the counter next to the
pearl and pink Tiera food device. It was a large thing, compared to the
Tam-units, but didn't seem to have a personality like she did. It didn't have a
magic window, or speak, either, there were just sigils to press, in order to
get food to come out.

The large bald man looked at the
beaten guards and smiled a little.

"Is this your work,
Debri?" That was clearly a joke, since he looked at Dareg, paying close
attention to his hands. He was kind of limping around, but that was due to the
earlier training.

"Nope. Not him either. We
had... Guests." That got a complete rundown of what had taken place,
and a nod from the larger man. He was still dressed all in tan, but it was just
canvas now. An almost poor looking selection, which was the point.

If you could dress in anything,
at a moment's notice, how you did it, what particular style, look, or
nod to function you chose, said a lot about how you wanted others to think of
you. More than it did for others, even.

After all, a very wealthy man
would go and have clothing made for them. They probably even had other people
that made the choices for them, in fact, not having to think about that kind of
thing. So they looked nice and sharp, but you only really knew that they were
trying to show they were wealthy.

A poor person wore what rags he
could find, and if they had anything nice, they used it only for special
events. Parties and weddings.

The advent of magical clothing
added a new dimension to things however. At a whim you could look like you were
the richest man in Noram, and dress like the King at a grand ball. Anyone could
do it, if they had the right amulet. You could also, like Kolb was doing, make
it seem like you were a fairly common person. A bit of canvas, a drab,
practical color and a plain workman's tunic, and he was set to blend in with
almost anyone in Noram.

Unless he was doing something like getting
lemonade in the kitchen of an Ancient's palace. That marked him as strongly as
if he'd been mucking horse stalls in finery. The only thing that would have
stood out more would have been going around in rags.

The tale that Sara wove, which
was a nice combination of succinct and descriptive, had the weapons master
pulling a healing amulet from under his top, and handing it around. There was a
sly look in Dareg's direction when he did it. It wasn't lost on him what the
man was probably thinking. They'd had two hard days of fight practice and
learning, and the man had held a way to make the pain go away after they were
done the whole time.

Thinking about it at the moment
made his arms and legs hurt even more, but that was the real point behind it
all, no doubt. The ancient weapons master was trying to condition him, not just
in body, but in mind. You didn't get a lot stronger if everything was handed to
you too easily. Everyone knew that. It wasn't just about the running and
building up of his body. His very thoughts, and willingness to keep going, even
when things weren't easy was being considered.

At least that was the guess that Dare
was going with for the time being. It could be something else, like Kolb just
forgot, or considered it some kind of hazing. Possibly he just didn't want to
share with Dareg, or expected him to ask about things like that, when a
suggestion to find a healing amulet was made.

He looked around the richly
appointed space, which was shaped to resemble several kinds of polished stone,
and nodded at the glass in the man's hand.

"May I have one of those? It
looks good." He didn't know how to run the magical device, but it seemed
easy enough. In the main you held your hand against the central sigil, which
looked like a combination of the letter "S" and a spiral at the top
and bottom, going in different directions. Then you thought about what you
wanted.

Kolb explained it for him, as he
worked.

"It can produce almost
anything. You have to know what you want, and the clearer you think about it,
the closer it will be in the end. It's a skill, using it. Like most things. So
the best cooks still tend to come up with the best food. That's good, since
this kind of thing takes too many jobs away. I've seen it happen before, and
trust me, we do not want to go down that path."

Sara gave him a baffled look.

"We don't want life to be
too good for people?" It wasn't mean or sarcastic, just questioning, as if
what had been said was insane.

Dare could see that one. Why
wouldn't magic for all be a good thing?

It was explained as cold to the
touch glasses were pulled from the production hopper on the side of the Tiera
device. That was very different than the Tam-units, he noticed. Those passed
things to you right through the solid front of the thing. That way seemed a bit
more special, but this prevented dropping.

The bald man sipped his drink,
picking it up from the counter next to the device deftly.

"Before the first Cataclysm,
a little over three thousand years ago, machines were brought to a place of
great power, precision, and skill. The way it was done was different, and
wasteful, but in many ways each person had much more than they do here. Even
Harmony hasn't reached the same level yet." Then he sipped his beverage,
and closed his eyes. Either thinking about those long lost days, or savoring
the cool and tart beverage.

It was good, so Dare made an
effort to enjoy his own, even if he did feel a bit worried about what had
happened. Not because there were people who were that strong and fast, or who
had complex and new magic, but because he didn't see a real reason for it.

The large, powerfully built, man
went on then.

"Back then we had machines
that did everything. You probably can't understand it without thinking of it as
magic. It worked differently, but that's close enough. We could even build
people. They were devices, but they looked like men and women. I mean to
say that you couldn't tell the difference on seeing them, or touching
them." He winked at Sara and smiled. "Before you ask, Debri, yes,
they were often used for sex, which caused no end of problems. People
stopped having children for a while... The big issue though, was that they
could do anything. Often better than regular humans could."

It was fascinating sounding, but
other than an interesting tale from grandpa Dareg didn't see much value
in it. Sara however went wide eyed, making some connection that he just
couldn't.

"And there's a robot fleet
coming."

Kolb drank his beverage and
nodded.

"And there is, according to
our best readings, a robot fleet headed this way. It will take years for them
to get here, but what you described could be a forward scout."

Dareg held up his right hand, a
single finger pointed up at the sky, since he understood that was where they'd
have to come from.

"Or it could have been
something else. Magic comes to mind? Maybe someone that had been altered, like
the new Ancients were? Sara here..." He stopped and turned to her,
watching closely. "Sorry, I don't know you that well. What should I call
you?"

"Sara is fine, as long as I
don't have to call you High Lord Commander of the Ports?" Her face was
playful when she said it.

"Dare. Anyway, Sara nearly matched
the woman. The men didn't fight, or show that level of power.  They got out of
the cell a lot more slowly, for instance. My guess is that they weren't all the
same, or at least were... There's too many things it could be. Not that I'm
disregarding the human-like machine idea. I'd love to hear more about that,
even if this wasn't that kind of thing." After all, how could they
make the pulleys and levers to make them move small enough to fit inside of
them? Even thinking about a clockwork person like that was too complex for him
to work out in his head.

Which was why Kolb said that
thinking of it like being magic was probably good enough.

Going on, since they were both
waiting for him, Dareg nodded.

"Sara, you said you couldn't
smell them. I couldn't either, but that doesn't mean much. When people have
shields on I can't smell them."

There was a nod then, as if that wasn't
a weird thing to say. Kolb looked at them both, but it was just a question held
on his face and in his posture. His hands were spread apart. Palms up, which
was open, instead of telling him to shut it.

The friendly blonde Ancient woman
took a deep breath.

"I didn't feel a shield
either. It could be something new, but there was no discernible scent, even
when we stripped them bare. Well..." She looked away, and stopped talking
for a bit, like King Richard had when recalling who the Capital Guard general
was. The breathing was similar too, slowing down a lot.

Which meant he was staring at her
chest when she opened her eyes. She grinned at it, and didn't comment. It
probably wasn't the first time that had happened to her in life. It might not
even have been the only incidence of a person having been counting her breaths.

She spoke then, locking eyes with
him directly.

"I could smell the clothing.
It was scented like a person. The same one for all three of them. When they
were stripped that went away, diminishing a lot. When they ran however, it
faded totally. Real scents don't do that."

Kolb sipped his drink, reminding Dareg
to do the same.

"This is really nice. The
drink? Thank you for making it." It was just the perfect level of tangy,
sweet and tart. It even had bits of ice floating in the glass, and tiny pieces
of lemon. Wedges of them. It was, in short the most complex drink he'd
ever had. The glass might have been simple in construction, but it was
flawless. Small beads of water condensed on the outside it was so cold.

Without missing a beat, Kolb gave
him a nod and a smile.

"It used to be my favorite,
back a few thousand years ago. Lemon-cactus. So, that sounds unusual. Dareg is
correct however, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions yet. So far this was nothing
more than a minor crime. Assault and attempted robbery. Rape threats are
unpleasant, but it wasn't a crime here until they threatened you, Countier
Baker. Even that would get a person no more than a lashing in most places.
Less than that here in the Capital zone. They tend to be softer on crime here,
because there are so many nobles around. It would be too dangerous otherwise,
since people will have problems with their kids being put to death for what
they think of as minor issues."

The other Ancient shook her head
and made a face at that.

"Broken, misshappen, laws.
Anyway, I'm grabbing Dare here up to take off to Debri house. Heather will want
to seduce him into giving her special rights here." There was a playful
tenor to the whole thing, and she looked at him closely, like he was supposed
to blush or feel awkward about that news.

He didn't take the bait.

"Sounds fun. She's the one
in charge there? I really would like to start a small shop here. Honestly, it
would be great if we could get that going everywhere there's a port." The
idea was still forming and not really a thing for the people with him to bother
with. "How are the facilities on the Martian Circle that way? On Mars
too." He shook his head slowly, since that wasn't the real topic. He was
distracting them, because Kolb was right.

They had a mystery, but it wasn't
a big deal yet. He clarified that, shaking his head a bit.

"Even if they were
machine people from the void of space, that part isn't illegal, as far as I
know. They can come and go as they please, as long as they follow the laws. I
wonder if they were testing that? Trying to see if they could get away with
going after commoners here? Like you said, part of what they were doing, while
it pissed me off, wasn't illegal. Not that I was going to do nothing. After
all, I yelled and screamed pretty well." He smiled at Sara, but she just
nodded back, her face pensive.

Then she furrowed her brow a bit.

"That... Isn't wrong. You
set up the hue and cry, and they clearly let it happen. They allowed
themselves to be captured. Once the guard came, they escaped, but only then.
That indicates that they didn't really want to harm people. Even on the escape,
they used the minimum force needed to get away, rather than killing as they did
it, which the woman at least had the power to do. She nearly ripped the focus
stone up out of the ground when she kicked your shield. That takes a lot of
force. Then she precisely tapped the guards just hard enough to take them down."

The topic died then, and to his
surprise, he was pulled away by the arm. By Sara. Instead of taking him toward
the front of the port, leading to the city, she motioned him to go toward her
ship. It was small, and a dusty tan at the moment. Only a tiny bit bigger than
his pod house. It also didn't have a door.

When he got there she touched the
side, making one appear. It was a good trick really.

"Can't anyone just walk
along and do that though?"

She started in, which took a step
up, because it was hovering about six inches from the ground. The inside was
done in different colors, including copper tones and brown leather, or at least
what appeared to be that.

"Not really. Very few people
would even think to try it, and of those that do, only about one in ten can
concentrate hard enough to get it done. The door being taken away like that
isn't in the base concept of the magic, though it also isn't counter to
what it can do. In all it works about as well as locking the door of a house.
The right person might kick it down and go in anyway, but they'd have to work
for it and most won't bother."

Touching the wall the door closed
again, the light coming from the ceiling above them. It was only about eight
feet up, though there was a nice, very clear, window that wrapped around the front.
Instead of moving to the soft looking chair by the control bobble, she gestured
for him to sit there, and took the one next to it.

"This is a jump ship. Other
than the jump itself, it flies like almost all of the other space craft. I'd
like you to take it up, orbit once, then we'll get off to Harmony, land and
come back for another landing. The whole trip will take about an hour that
way." Settling into the chair next to his, she tugged his loose blue
sleeve, and waved at the copper colored bob. The thing was about the right size
for him to rest his hand on, and he had seen one in use before, so had the
basic idea. You took it and moved it, very slowly and gently, in the direction
you wanted to go.

For the moment that meant going
up, about a thousand feet, then ten miles off to the West, before going
straight upwards from there.

Sara gave him a look.

"Why the jog over
first?"

"So that I can't hit anyone.
You land on the East side, and take off on the West. The same is true for all
the Earth ports." He'd just made that up, but it was why he'd done it.

The woman patted his arm briefly,
then settled back.

"Not a bad idea. So go up
and make a single orbit, until you have a visual on the Moon."

That meant going almost three
quarters of the way around, but he was able to face it directly as soon as he
found it, which was harder than doing the same thing on Earth. Then the tan
colored blonde winked at him.

"Not bad. Now, place your
hand on the chair arm right under the controls. Then close your eyes and
envision a dot behind in red, a dot in front of you in red, and a white one to
represent the ship. Then when you're ready, move the white one toward the Moon.
Not too close, since we want to practice this part-"

When Dare opened his eyes, she
was smiling.

"Again."

This time he didn't have to close
his eyes however, seeing the image he'd imagined as if it were floating in
front of him. The Moon suddenly grew, but that was all. Then he did it ten more
times, in smaller and smaller movements.

The orbit around the Moon and the
Harmony landing was a bit boring, but similar to the last time he'd been there.
Only he wasn't required to go in, which was nice because the woman that worked
there was kind of mean really.

Going back was easier, since he
had a better idea where the Earth was, it being larger. After they settled
there, the woman sighed and shook her head a little.

"Perfect. The whole time. I
didn't know you'd used a jump ship before."

He nodded, and stood since the
lesson was clearly over now.

"You know, they taught us
how in school, in Canton? It was after maths, but before history."

She blinked, and figured out what
he meant so fast it barely registered on her face.

"Really? This was your first
time going up? I mean, not into space, I'd heard about your shield trip, but
that... Wasn't too bad, then." She stared though, after saying all of
that.

Instead of letting him go then,
she had him close the door, and make it vanish, which was harder than
making the craft move to the Moon had been. They spent about twenty minutes on
it, with her quietly laughing at him half the time. Finally he got it, and she
winked at him.

"Nice. I was afraid you were
going to be perfect at everything. That would be a bit too much, you
know? Now, you should change. For that matter, so should I. Do you have a place
for that?" She glanced at the rows of palaces, but he just walked toward
the front, a steady stream of people collected in places near the building.

That was because there were
musicians, jugglers and even food stalls set up to sell drinks and sweets. True
a lot of people were getting things from the Tam-units too, but the stalls had
real enough lines of people at them.

He had to wave people back, so he
could set up his pod house, which got a smattering of applause and an audience.
They all stood there, waiting for it to do something interesting, so he laughed
and waved a bit.

"This isn't an
entertainment. I just live here! Go on now... Go." They did, almost
instantly.

The lumpy pea pod shaped thing was
soon hooked up to water, and he had Sara inside with him. Rather than comment
about why a person with all those palaces lived in a tiny place like he did,
she simply smiled and stroked the wall by the door, which turned into a one way
window.

"Taman made this? It has
radiation shielding, which is useful in some areas. Especially Soam, so you
should use this when you go there. Your shield has that too, so keep that on.
This has a shower?"

"Through that door. I'd
offer to join you, but there isn't enough room. You can go first?"
That was polite enough, he thought. After all, it really wasn't that big, which
she'd soon see.

Plus, feeling horny or not, Dareg
felt a tiny bit hesitant to suggest sexual things, just in case he had undue
influence on people like had been suggested. Working out the morality of that
one would take some work, he didn't doubt.

After all, was it fair for him to
have women serving him like that, if they didn't get a normal choice in it? It
wasn't rape, of course, since it was clear that he couldn't get a person to do
things that were too far outside of what they wanted to do. If so, he'd be
rich. He could just walk into the palace and ask for coin. Not that he needed
it. Collette had given him enough that way.

In fact, he needed to get in
touch with her and ask about the event, to see if they'd all been set up on the
other side of the city already. Pulling his handheld out, he found her name
pretty easily. After he tapped the thing, he had to wait for a while however,
and when she answered her voice was pretty short with him.

"What?" When she
saw his face she managed a slightly rueful smile for him at least. "Sorry,
Dareg. This place is a mad house this year. I set up ten palaces along
the river, taking up most of the space for the events Tor sent. I had to. My
plan had been for four, but everyone is coming this year. I don't really know
what to do. There's no space left for most of it." A man started speaking
to her, saying that he wanted to know if she had women available for sex.
"No... We don't."

The man hadn't sounded mean or
anything, and was just asking after the girls. From his voice he was a bit
older, but also noble. He was tall anyway, even if he couldn't be seen.

"You should send your friend
out this way. We have the bawdy house set up, and there are a lot of wonderful
women working there already. We should also have room for some of those events?
Outside the river line around the port, but if we put that up between the wall
and the spaceport, say on the right, coming out of the city? I can get more
restrooms set up."

The woman was smiling, and looked
up at the man who was to her right.

"That sounds wonderful.
Thank you, Prince Dareg. I have heard that the events with the Ancients coming
back, which are taking place at the spaceport, are all the rage this year. You
have some housing set up out there as well, don't you?" It was said in the
kind of way that people used when they wanted to make certain everyone casually
overheard them.

So he did his part, yelling,
without seeming like it too much.

"We do. Two inns, one
of them a palace like your own. Not as nice, but close. The other is plainer,
but has cool sleeping and beds that make themselves. That one is also free.
For our noble guests, or the commoners clever enough to risk going in,
we have four great houses set up. Those are free as well, but are first come
first serve. We also have a public bathhouse that I hear is close to being the
nicest thing of it's kind in the world." On that one he was just making
stuff up, but Collette beamed at him.

Her voice seemed a little fake,
but was thrilled enough.

"I saw that the other day.
It truly is. If it's still up next week I plan to spend a day there,
myself."

He nodded, since that might be
fun. Not a day there, but an hour or two.

"Don't forget the restaurant.
The Queen of Harmony provided the food units for it, so the fare there is the
highest grade. All of the prices are being kept down as well, for the
festivities. A copper gets you a full meal, of a grade that would cost a lot
more most places."

Now they just needed someone to
come try their special elixir, and the deal would be set. Instead they got
muttering, most of it too hard to understand. After a bit, Collette sobered a
little and sighed.

"You called me. What can I
do for you?"

He actually had that now, if she
set things up on his side of the city. So, instead of admitting that, he made
something up that sounded sweet enough.

"Well, the third day of
King's week I'm holding a dinner out here. At Sam Builder's new palace? King
Richard and Queen Constance are coming, and I'll be inviting most of the
returning Ancients. I was hoping that you and King Dorgal could attend? It will
be at nine, if you can attend. I know that it's last minute, and of course,
you're both welcome to come at any time. That will just be for the one thing
that I'm actually trying to make nice for people."

She blinked, and started nodding
suddenly.

"That would be terrific!
Thank you Prince Dareg. We'd love to accept."

Then rather abruptly, she turned
pale stared at something going on and yelled.

"No, not the railing, it
won't break! Gah! Got to go-" Then the line cut.

While he spoke the water from the
other room had shut off, and after a minute a fully dressed Sara entered the
room. She was in nice clothing, but not the finest possible. It was a nice blue
jacket, with a tan skirt however, and sensible brown shoes.

"Next."

He didn't hesitate, hurrying
through a solid shower, trying not to get his hair wet, being too long for
that. It would take hours to really dry. He did shave his face clean, and then
tied his hair back again. His face in the mirror looked about like it always
did. Square chin, flawless complexion and brown eyes. There was nothing wrong
with him that way, which pushed it into being a bit too much, he knew. It was
tempting to use his disguise amulet to add a scar, but he didn't want to reset
the thing yet.

At the moment, if he turned it
on, his Alice Orange approved face would show up, instantly. If he messed with
it, it could take work to rebuild that, and he didn't know that the woman
wasn't just going to show up suddenly. For the time being he was going with
caution, just in case.

That done, and a quick brushing
of his teeth to make certain he would offend that way, he scurried out, to find
that Sara was outside, having set up a Tam-car already. Looking at it he shook
his head.

"We'll never make it that
way. Tor-shoes?"

"That's considered a bit
tacky. Juvenile, really."

Shrugging he turned, took a deep
breath and walked back in. It took a bit to situate everything, but in the end
his chest was floating in the corner, and the remaining amulets he had were
inside of it. Along with the amulet that called it into being.

Then, focusing incredibly hard,
he made the top meld with the sides into one piece. With a lot more effort than
he'd figured it would take, he also hid the door to the pod house to protect it
and the things inside. He had a lot of things with him, including a jump ship
and a few coin, tucked into a side pocket on his hip. His clothing was, he
hoped, nice enough. It was similar to a thing that he'd seen earlier in the
day, having short pants that were below his knee, buckled shoes, and hose on.
Those were a plain gray. The rest was done in three tones of brown, with a
slightly girly looking bow at the collar.

The man that had passed him had a
bow three times as big as the one he wore however, so it probably wasn't
fashionable. He made that a plain, matte, gold color. Then he changed his hair
tie to the same thing. It took about half a minute to get it all done.

Sara smiled at him and nodded.

"That's about right. Now, we
should go in something small. You don't mind practically sitting on my lap, do
you?" Her eyes actually glinted then.

"That sounds like a lot of
fun, actually."

What she turned the vehicle into
was a wonderfully magical creation. It was, it appeared, a floating orb of
glass, made gold with hints of moving purple in it, much like the river had
going on at the moment. There was a moving scrollwork pattern that could just
be made out, too. The inside had one seat, and it wasn't vast, but while their
legs touched solidly, there was no real lap sitting.

He enjoyed it well enough, her
cool body just a bit distracting.

"This is incredible. Did you
make it yourself?"

"This old thing? No, this is
an original Tor fast craft. I've had it for years. I think Tim gave it to me
one day. I should run up something similar, for Mars hopping. Do you have
everything?"

"No. And it's eating at my
stomach like acid. I'll probably come back to find my entire world
missing."

That got a chuckle from the
Ancient.

"More likely you'll come
back to find that no one went within fifty feet of the place. Everyone knows
who you are, after all. We don't have that many new Princes around here. We
won't, for a few days. Just think of it. Hours and hours for you to be special,
just waiting for you alone." She drove for a bit, in silence, not making a
real noise until they were just inside the city gate. Then she drove four
streets straight on, and turned right.

It was very nearly impassable
already.

Bodies lined the thing, and
worse, people stopped to stare at them. They weren't all dressed in bright
colors, but many were. Sara smiled, and closed one eye, then turned to him,
ever so slightly.

"Hold on." There was no
flying in the city, thanks to the missiles, but rules didn't seem to apply
to pretty immortals. That or they were cheating, without quite breaking the
laws exactly.

She rose ten feet in the air, and
hovered over the people below. That meant they were all looking up at them as
they slowly moved along. At about thirty miles per hour. They were hit a few
times, but it seemed harmless enough. People tossing things at them, that hit
on the sides and bottom. Paper hats and streamers were a popular option.

When she finally landed, just
inside the gate of a tiny palace, which looked suspiciously like the one the
King had, if in miniature, she climbed out and turned it off.

"I get to come to your
party, don't I?"

"Sure. In fact you can help
me plan it, since I have no clue what to do. King's like sausages on
sticks, don't they?"

Instead of telling him that was
beneath such a person, the Ancient smiled. It was a gentle and sweet thing. The
kind that a woman might give a child, if they said something cute. That was
less than fun to realize, but she really didn't seem to be taking him
seriously. Not on the level that any man, no matter how young, would want to
see from a pretty woman.

Not that she was being mean about
it.

"I'm pretty certain nearly
everyone does. Yes, that might go over very well, if you're willing to risk it.
Not many would be."

It hatched a plan in his mind
anyway. Even if it was probably a horrible one.

Chapter nine

Inside the tiny palace they were
hit with a din that actually got him to step back. Dare covered the reaction
with a smile, one that had to seem strained and a little concerned. For some
reason he'd expected the crowd in the street to have not infiltrated inside the
buildings yet. That was a mistake, obviously.

The press of bodies inside was concentrated
enough that a small woman, who was about his own size really, but clearly not a
pure commoner, bumped into him. He was right next to Sara, just inside the
front door. The serving woman had a tray of wrapped sausages, small ones, and
nearly spread it over his front in a single, rather smooth, move. It wasn't
about her being clumsy however, because a wide man with a bit of a belly had slammed
into her, trying not to step into a woman on the far side of him who was
dressed a lot like Sara, only in red and gold.

The surging of people trying to
not hit others spread out from a point further into the room. Dareg saw it
happening right in front of him, and managed to put one hand on the silver
serving tray, the other wrapping around the woman, who was only a few years
older than he was. She had a panicked expression on her face at first, but
looked at him and managed a tight smile.

As she stood straight, recovering
her burden, she spoke.

"Thanks. This is the third
time this has happened. I lost a tray of crackers with goose liver earlier. I
wasn't told it would be like this!" She was in good humor however, not
angry about it all. "Well, it's just for tonight, unfortunately. I need
the work. I don't suppose you have something?"

It was a really bold thing to
say, if you were a servant, but this was a city woman, which showed the
difference right there. If she'd been a commoner, small and meek, she wouldn't
have spoken up, and then he couldn't nod his head yes.

"Cleaning and house
services? For the Ancient of Noram. The new one? Sam Builder. It's in a palace,
but a magical one, so it takes care of itself a lot. If you can get out to the spaceport,
it's the place on the left hand side, coming out of the city. The one furthest
back right now. A silver a week, but you can live there if you want, and you'll
get free food." It wasn't a horrible offer, but he wasn't going too high
pay wise, just in case he ended up paying for it out of pocket. It took an act
of will to remind himself that he was getting fifty gold per month as a
stipend.

She looked considering.

"That's not bad. Still, the
Ancient of Noram? That sounds frightening, doesn't it? The man could turn me
into a dog if he didn't like how his sheets were turned down." She was
pressed up against him bodily, holding the tray almost behind him. Like they
were hugging. It was fun enough, but he didn't know how to reassure her. Not
about an Ancient.

Thankfully Sara did.

"Sam is a sweet man. Really
nice, all the time. Plus magic doesn't work that way, but even if it did, he
wouldn't let anyone be harmed for trivial things. Honestly, if it were me, I'd
take the job, and then see if he wanted to get married. He isn't
yet. Don't let the Ancient thing throw you off either, he's only thirty or
so."

Dareg would have thought that
would be over the top to say to a woman that was just bumping into them, but
she didn't seem upset to hear it, looking more interested suddenly.

Almost whispering in his ear, a
warm and slightly moist thing, she smiled.

"In the morning?"

He nearly nodded, wanting to
please her, given how close she was to him.

"I won't be around until
after noon. My fighting tutor is planning to beat me early. After I heal up?
Speaking of which, do you have a Healing Amulet I can borrow Sara? Otherwise I
think Kolb is planning to leave me broken and bleeding, for failing to get one.
He suggested I find one, not mentioning that he has one already, so it's
clearly a trap."

That got a chuckle from both
women, causing the one touching him to jiggle and vibrate nicely. She wasn't a
grand beauty, compared to Sara or most of the Baker family, but she clearly had
her own charms to share, if she wanted to.

She nodded and finally stepped
back.

"After noon? For an
interview?" She looked hopeful about it.

Dareg shook his head a little.

"Why? I can't tell that kind
of thing, so we'll just hire you on, and set you to work. Since you're the only
servant so far, you get to be in charge. I'll pay for... Four more? Select them
well, so they do most of the work for you? Sam Builder will be around in two
days, so there's a time crunch. Hire the others for the same amount."

Then he moved off. More to the
point he tried to. The woman with the tray looked both happy and worried, but
she scuttled away, nearly being battered as she moved into the crowd.

Sara put her arm around his
waist, and leaned in to talk to him.

"This is off. Really wrong.
We have people over for King's week, and a full house at night, but this is...
I've never seen this before. We need to find Heather. My mother. She
looks like me, just older. Come on." He was taken through the hand deftly,
with bending and twisting that caused him to bash into people, gently, at least
ten times.

That meant he was muttering
sorry, over and over again, hoping that no one would want to fight about it.
These were the kind of people that might well take offense at a short person
doing that.

They went from room to room,
finally stopping at a clump of slightly tense people. There were three of them.
An attractive lady that did look a lot like Sara, with shorter hair that
brushed her shoulders. There was a man there too, who was in his thirties or
so, and had light blonde hair over tan skin. He wasn't hard seeming, but had a
roughly fit look for a person that old. Next to him was a lady that was a lot
different looking. She had a long face, very dark hair that was flowing down
her back, and magical clothing. They all did, and while they looked wealthy,
and had different styles, the looks was of nice, but practical clothing,
instead of what you wore to the palace.

They all turned, and oddly,
noticed him first. The man bowed to him with a slightly worried grin.

"Hello! Chris Debri. We seem
to be rather... Well liked this year. Have you come to stay?" He actually
swallowed hard, a gulp that could be heard even in the room they were in, which
was loud.

Dare shook his head.

"Nope. Dareg Canton. I'm out
at the spaceport? I was just coming to see if Debri wants to set up a small
store out there, for people coming and going?"

That got three big smiles. The
older woman took his left arm gently and pulled him close.

"You're the one in
charge there? We were planning to send an emissary soon, to see about exactly
that. Or... You just said you were out there, not running
things..." There was a bit of panic again, until Sara moved a bit closer,
catching people's eyes.

"No, Prince Dareg, of
Harmony, Countier Baker, Countier Lairdgren, is the spaceport commander.
For the entire world. All of them. I told him that I was going to set
you up as his lover, Heather." She grinned and shrugged as her mother
pretended to be scandalized. It was done to be cute though, and playful. As if
it were a game between them, rather than an insult.

"I didn't know I was for
sale. Not even for a good port deal. I should at least get some fine
chocolates out of it, don't you imagine?" She didn't let go of his arm
however.

Not even when Sara winked at her.

"Probably. I'm kidding
anyway. I shouldn't play like that, but he brings it out in me. Anyway, this is
Tor's son. Legitimate, but unknown until this last week." A look passed
from her to the others then, clearly saying they shouldn't ask about it.

Like he was ashamed of being a
bastard? He was, but it hadn't been a thing he'd spoken about with her.

The dark haired, long faced, lady
smiled. It was a bit horsey looking, and she had a long nose, but it also kind
of worked for her. She looked friendly, and kind, which were both rare things.

Then she hugged him.

"You're my second cousin
then? It wasn't a known thing at the time, but I asked Tor to marry me once.
Luckily he said no. Very kindly. Not that it would be a forbidden marriage,
since first-cousin is the first non-consignation marriage opportunity. Which
means that I can set my nieces on you. You're old enough for marriage,
aren't you?" She said all of this while holding him. Pressed up against
him like they weren't really related.

Sara laughed.

"Fourteen. Recently. Still,
I think that medium-high level merchant is a bit out of the steps for him,
don't you think? He has three titles after all."

Chris, the man, shook his head a
bit.

"Think about it, sis. He's a
Prince of Harmony. No one knows if they follow that there at all, do we?
The best test might just be to sneak in a quick betrothal and ceremony. After
all, once a thing is done, it's more likely to stick for others as well."
The only real saving grace was that the man was half kidding.

After all, Dare didn't really
know how he felt about the idea of being married at all. Having kids and the
whole mess wasn't a thing that he'd be good at. You had to have a bit of
practice, or at least see it being done, and he really hadn't that much. As
strange as it seemed he was probably best suited for being a mother, since
that was all that he'd known that way. He felt sad, thinking about her, so
shook his head a little, like he was clearing it, and tried to find a way to
change the subject.

"Sara was telling me that
you don't normally have this many guests for King's Week. Does anyone know
what's changed?"

Heather, the older lady, took a
breath and then looked around for a bit, when she was done, a bit later, she
locked her blue eyes with his brown.

"A combination of things.
The rebellion ended seven years ago, which means that a lot of people are
finally starting to believe it's truly done for the time being. The worst of
the storms have calmed a good bit too, and everyone has enough food to survive.
That's down to magic mainly, but the farms are starting to come back. A lot of
people are going to the large cities in order to find jobs however. Now that we
aren't losing people as fast as we were. Add that all together, with the
announcement that the Ancients are coming back, and the low cost of modern
travel... I should have worked out that it would take place, but other than
barricade the doors, what could we have done?"

That one sounded like a plan to
him, and he had his agreement for a store at the port, at least a tentative
suggestion of it. They weren't going to have it set up that week, he didn't
think.

"Ah. Well, we shouldn't
stress your hospitality then. Sara, would it be all right if we leave, do you
think? I know that you wanted to visit, but..." He was being rude, he
knew, but the fact was, the place was packed enough that people were going to
get hurt if anyone more came. They kept doing it too. "I know, why don't
some of you come and stay at the port?" He had another few palaces
he could set up, if needed, or they could he thought, add some size to the ones
they already had.

He spoke loudly, and the room
went quiet. So he explained the situation, which got a small cheer. From
Heather.

"All right. I'll be your
lover. I should have just said yes when Sara mentioned it, clearly."
The look on her face was a strange combination of teasing and pleasure.

Which he understood had to do
with the near disaster going on in her home at the moment. Even sleeping on the
floor they weren't going to have enough room. These were merchants and a few
low level nobles at a guess, as well. Not people that would be happy with a bit
of hard floor and a bundled coat for a pillow.

He was trying to work out how to
load them all into a vehicle to transport them, when Sara shocked him more than
a bit, waving her hands.

"If you want to have a place
to stay out at the port, you need to walk through the northern city gate. Try
the places on the left hand side first." Then she took Dare by the hand,
to try and pry him away. No one so much as groaned about the idea. Even Heather
and Chris seemed pleased by it. Then, Sara explained pretty quickly. "Dareg
has an appointment in the morning and can't spend his whole night going back
and forth to make people happy. He needs to be rested and collected."

Then the immortal lady next to
him grinned a bit, and looked directly at her mother.

"His personal weapons tutor
is Baron Kolbrin. It's his first full force practice."

The woman looked at her daughter,
then furrowed her brow and stared at Dare.

"He told him first?
That's... Isn't it normally a surprise?"

Sara nodded then and glanced
around the space, clearly a bit annoyed by the press of bodies.

"Normally that would be
true. That's done to keep the kids from being afraid. Kolb... He likes Dareg, that's
clear, but I don't think he cares at all if he spends the night worrying. It's
a bit different, though I'm not certain why that is."

No one there got it either. Dareg's
guess was a thing he didn't mention. The combat rage thing. There was probably
no way he was being punched in the nose and not going to get really worked up
over it. Not afraid, maybe. Not that he was without fear, but it almost always
turned to anger when he was pressed. That was controllable, which would be the
big plan for the day.

No doubt the man would hurt him,
breaking bones and slapping him around, until he triggered into that rage thing,
then force him to control it, over and again. Petra had basically done that,
and was the one that had gotten Kolb to come for him.

Also, Kolb was a Baron.
That hadn't really come up yet. It made sense, because if you were around long
enough you probably tended to end up building wealth and power. At least if you
worked hard and were intelligent. So far none of the immortals had seemed lazy.

Sara said their goodbyes, and started
to drag him away. Not forcefully, but well enough that it was kind of clear
just how little effort it took her, even as he tried to move with her, making
all the correct twists and turns. His body didn't really want to make them all,
and more than once he nearly smashed into other people in a whip like fashion.

Once outside things were much
clearer. Free of the press, and scent, of all those bodies. The air itself
tasted different, holding less moisture, not breathing in the damp of other
people's exhalations. Sara took a deep breath herself, seeming to understand
what he was feeling, and exhaled with force.

"Sorry, I really needed to
get out of there. That was... My senses are better than they used to be. I was
half blind and deaf in there. Now, let's get out of here before people try to
beg a ride." She actually hurried, and they were, indeed, coasting away
above the crowd in street in her little vehicle, just out of reach as the first
people came out and tried to wave at them. It wasn't dark yet, but it was
close. That was actually a bit hard to tell.

The river on the wall was bright
and glowing purple and gold now, in places, with lights coming from underneath
it. When they got to the tan focus stone road that led to the port, the new
river on either side was actually much brighter, the mixed purple and gold
colors actually seeming to be part of the water. It was very different, and
more advanced seeming. It was kind of like the amount of power and magical
skill in making the smaller river was simply much greater than in the larger.
That might be due to the fact that the thing up on the wall that the little one
connected to was just older. It might also be that having a big river was
harder, so things like lights weren't added for visual pleasure.

Regardless, the spaceport looked
like a small and shining city off in the distance at the moment. Ringed in
light, with bright points coming from inside it, marking the walkways and
landing areas. It was bright enough that Dare could make out several things. On
his right there was a bright and shining party going on that had huge new
structures, music, and a scent of various foods that probably weren't wholesome
or nutritious coming from it. There was a large collection of people
there already, even as a giant shadow suddenly appeared, and lit up.

It was a castle. Not a magical
palace, but an honest to goodness stone keep. It was warped though, with bent
towers, a funny shaped drawbridge, and what looked to be a moat around it,
filled with a dim light. Things moved inside of it too. Creatures.

On the other side there was a
humble enough tent city. Though calling it that was a bit rich. Most of the
bodies there were kind of just sitting, not having a real tent at all. Early or
not, many people seemed to be laying out, sleeping already.

Sara looked at it and winced.

"They're going to need food,
water and sanitation facilities. Probably commoners, which is better than if
they weren't, since at least they'll try not to make a mess. This is a
lot more bodies than I've ever heard of for King's Week. For anything,
to be clear about it. Can I borrow some magical houses for this and the place
for Heather's guests?"

He nodded, then yawned and
covered it with a hand.

"That will work. I have a
food unit, too. I'd like to get things back, if at all possible. Otherwise
Tiera will think I stole them all. Used them to buy women, or whatever I'll be
accused of." Thankfully he just sounded a little tired, and not bitter.

Sara didn't even chuckle about
it.

"I understand what you mean.
Not that she won't understand, but... They do things like this. You're
walking along, minding your own business, and then suddenly they hand you
enough gold to by a county, or magics that are worth twenty times that. Then
there's a bit of hand waving, muttering that you know best, and they don't even
bother to say that they trust you. That's just a given. Not that it
won't be fifty times worse for you. I'm just a family friend. You're a relative.
That's kind of an absolute thing for the Baker family. It cuts both ways
though." She looked at the spaceport, her hand on the control bobble. That
meant she waved with her left hand at it. "Things like this will pretty
much end up being constant for you, if you aren't careful. Yes, there's power
in it, but you're really too young to be in charge of something like this. That
fact won't stop any of them from dumping things on you. Remember, you can say
no. Just because they work themselves into the ground doesn't mean you
can't take the occasional break, like a real person."

Taking a breath to buy time, Dare
thought about that, and finally gave a nod.

"Except that I really do
have to, don't I? I can't afford to make any of my new family, or any of the
Ancients coming back, angry with me. No one could, but I have their
attention. If I mess this up... Well, I'm not going to claim I had the hardest
life ever. Even after my mother died... It wasn't good food, but I almost never
went hungry for longer than a meal. It wasn't great shelter, but I had a roof
and got through the winters. No one held me down and had their way with me, or
beat me until I couldn't stand. I was sad and lonely, but I wasn't shunned by the
people around me. The people there let me make my way, even if I was really too
young to be on my own. The King even paid for me to go to school, so I
can read and write, do sums and read a map. That's not as hard as most have it
really. Not if they're alone." He shook his head a bit, and looked over at
Sara, the side of her face smooth and lovely as different colors of light
played over her face from the outside. It was mainly purple, but there were
bits of green on the side he could see, and a flare of red as some magical
event took place behind him.

They rode in silence for a bit,
a little tension around her mouth, as she kept the craft high enough that no
one below would be hit. The road was pretty much just a walkway at the moment,
since nothing larger than a person or possibly a horse, was getting past.

When he spoke again, Dare let his
voice be slightly soft.

"Messing things up now would
be insane. No one gets a chance like this. No one. Even if they are
the bastard of someone famous or rich. I... I really don't know what they
expect of me. I can work, hard even, and let a giant bald man beat me each day,
if that's what it takes, but... I mean, am I expected to be a super wizard? I
don't know if I can do that at all, or if I even want that for myself.
They seem nice, but what if that's a trick? Meant to..." He didn't know,
and that was the real problem. He tossed his hands up to show that, knowing
that Sara would understand his frustration if nothing else.

Rather than tell him about how
wonderful and trustworthy his new people were, the immortal just nodded a bit.
Almost imperceptibly.

"How could it not be?
You came from almost nowhere, as far as they have to be concerned. There was,
as far as Tor knew, no way for him to get anyone pregnant, and yet,
there you are. Clearly his son. I wouldn't have believed it, before I
learned how to build myself. Even at that... The whole thing is incredibly
complex." There was a tiny adjustment, so that she'd end up at his pod
house, which had a nice clearance around it, even though most of the places
near the front, inside the floating river, really didn't. There was a line
outside the Bawdy house for instance. Mainly because High Servant Johan,
dressed in bright colors, and that lying girl from earlier whose name he
couldn't be bothered to remember at the moment, were calling out to passersby,
suggesting it was the finest of such places in the known world.

As they landed, Sara went on.

"Tor made you. Not
just in the normal way, either. Your entire being was formed and shaped in
magic. He didn't just overcome his own infertility, he subconsciously designed
you. Probably to be everything that he wanted to be, when you get down to it. What
he dreamed of as the perfect child. Smart, attractive, strong enough that no
one would take advantage of you. Probably tall, too. He really wasn't wild
about being short. You're just now fourteen. It wouldn't shock me to find that
you grow at least a foot in the next year. We'll have to make sure you don't
end up fifteen feet tall, or something uncomfortable like that. Anyway, you
were tested, when you were on Harmony, and before that. Dozens of times. Not
that people don't believe you have the right blood, it's just that Tor really was
supposed to be infertile back then. He hasn't had any other children yet, that
we know about, so everyone was kind of afraid you might be a clone or something
like that. It's happened before. Even that you might have been created by
someone else, which has also happened. The Queen is like that, so, it's not an
unreal or impossible thing. From what everyone said it was probably Tor, doing
it all. The only thing you don't have going for you is immortality. Which saved
your life. If you did have that, you'd be dead right now, as funny as that
sounds."

Dareg winced a bit, trying not
to consider everything she was saying. She was proclaiming that he was some
kind of wonder being, even if he didn't know it.

"The Death Plague?"

Settling the tiny craft down, she
nodded.

"That's the one. In every
other way you're pretty special. So, you know what that means in real
life?"

He nodded, kind of getting where
she was going. It wasn't hard to see, leading the way as she was.

"That I'm no better than
anyone else, except that I need to put in ten times the work, to do my fair
portion?"

That got a laugh. A real one,
complete with a soft snorting noise, even as she popped the doors open on both
side of the tiny glowing glasslike ball.

"Exactly! You get perks,
but they all have costs. You're strong, and fast. Not as much as I am
that way, but you can probably make a good stab at outrunning a fast horse. You
have top end endurance, too. It doesn't mean that you won't hurt when you use
it, just that you don't have to stop like everyone else would. You won't
get sick, it will be really hard to poison you to death. You probably can't get
drunk, no matter how hard you try... And nothing will ever be fair. You
either will have it all handed to you, or be faced with things that are nearly
impossible to manage. Just like everyone else. For instance, in the morning
you're going to get the worst beating of your life. Probably more than one of
them. Oh... That healing amulet. I have six of them on me. That thing with the
guards earlier pointed out that I should, all the time, even if I don't need
one most days, myself. You need to get up to Harmony and visit the magic shop
there. They give everything away. There are some rules, but they aren't
hard to follow."

The little moonstone tile was
handed off to him, the tiny man on it glowing all in green. It had a bit of
string on it. The plain kind that even the poorest of people could get and use.
Hemp. It was sturdy, so he tucked it around his neck, and climbed out as Sara
started to leave. That got him to pound on the side of the craft, which made no
noise, but got her to open the doors again and look at him.

He waved at her.

"I can get those houses for
restrooms and the food unit? The house for the guests that are coming..."

She stopped moving, and then
smiled hugely.

"Thanks. I'd actually
managed to get side tracked, mentally. That's rare anymore. I blame you, for
being so distracting."

He jogged to the tiny pod house
which was currently all white, and needed a full minute to get a door to show
up. Then he dashed in and got the needed things from his chest. Passing them
off didn't take long, so four minutes later he was inside, getting ready for a
nice long sleep. It wasn't that late even, just turning dark fully, as he
drifted off.

Which was interrupted some time
later. It was still pretty dark out when he looked at the wall and it turned
into a transparent window that let him see who was standing there. That was a
very small man, who was clearly a commoner, and didn't look to be old at all.
He had dark skin, dark hair, and dark brown clothing that had several patches
on it.

Dare wouldn't have heard him
even, through the side of the house, if the man hadn't cleverly popped the door
open a few inches before calling out.

"Ser? Ser? There's a little
sick girl. I... I don't know what to do. Her parents is with her, but she's in
an awful state..." There was no real conviction to the words, but the man
repeated them, his voice trembling a bit.

As Dare sat up, he thought about
that. It could be anything really. A person that had come to get him to leave
his things untended, so his pals could steal them, for instance. Kolb might
also have put him up to it in order to get him out early, for an ambush. He had
his shield on, and changed his clothing, making sure that he also had his new
healing amulet.

After all, what if there really
was a sick little girl? Having that would at least make her night easier.

First he looked all the way
around, to make sure there wasn't a team of people standing by to get him as
soon as he came out. There wasn't, which didn't mean much. For all he knew the
tiny man at his door could be an expert fighter himself, sent in to fool him.
Not that being small meant weak or useless. Not when a few magical bits of
stone could be handed off to anyone, turning them into an almost unbeatable
force.

When he got to the door he moved
out, waving the fellow back a step, and, as quickly as he could, focused and
made the door vanish. There was a soft gasp, of amazement, from the man.

"Magic..." The
guy stared at him, then, almost as an afterthought brought on by his own awe,
bowed. "Sorry, M'lord. There's just... This little girl. This way? I don't
know what's wrong with her, but she was cryin and carrying on. Her people
seemed worried and vexed, so I came here? I was told it was the place that the
commander lived and that he was a mighty wizard, wot could do anything?" That
part sounded pretty confident. A thing that everyone knew, no doubt.

"I'm in charge, but not a
wizard. I do have a healing amulet however, so we should go and see
about this girl?" They ran then. Not very fast, but it was about a half
mile away. Neither he or the little fellow with him were out of breath when
they got there. As soon as they got to the right collection of bodies, who were
all huddled around the young lady, there was a bit of pitiful sounding moaning.
From the girl.

Who was very tiny.

"My tummy hurts."

Her mother, who was also a very
small person looked up at him, her face drawn, and as soon as she made out who
was there in the dim purple and gold light from the river, she looked scared.
Rather than let her go on feeling that way, Dareg got the healing amulet out.
He was awake now, thanks to his little jog.

"We can fix that. You've all
seen this kind of thing before?" He held it up, and everyone but the tiny
girl nodded. So he explained how it would work, and more importantly feel, to
her. "This will make you get better faster. Depending on what's wrong with
you, it might hurt a bit while it happens. That will go away really fast
though. Do you want to try it?" If she said no, well, there wasn't a lot
he could do for her.

Cutely enough she nodded,
clutched her middle and moaned.

"Thank you, ser." She wasn't
old, being about seven or eight at a guess, but her little hand came out for
the device so he handed it off. She didn't scream, or complain at all, and
after less than a minute she gave the thing back to him, smiling. "That's
better! Thank you. I... I'm sorry. I ate too much. The food was so good. From
that girl in the box? All I had to do to get more was go and collect trash and
put it in her." She seemed sorry about it all, and her mother, and the
small man behind her, both seemed really scared still. Like he was going to
beat them for the wrong doing.

"Right. Well, keep putting
trash in the Tam-units, but don't eat until you hurt. She'll be around for a
while, so you can have things when you get hungry, don't worry. Now, I need to
get back... Agh. It's nearly dawn anyway. I should go running, I
guess." He had an appointment soon after all.

Looking at the small guy that had
gotten him he bowed, which he should have done earlier, since the fellow had
politely done that with him.

"I'm Dareg Canton. I didn't
get your name, sir?" After all, he was the one that had heroically save
the tiny girl from a sour stomach. It could have seemed a minor thing,
but going to a place he thought had a wizard in it, and asking for help, for
someone else, was a vast bravery for a commoner.

"Bill, ser. I don't have a
proper last name. The place I come from was so small it weren't rightly needed.
Everyone knew you there. Humboldt, up to the north and east. Ser." He looked
down, as if that lack suddenly shamed him greatly.

"Bill Humboldt, then? That's
how I got my last name. It's just where I'm from. I picked it
myself." It was true enough, though he'd been Merchant before that, since
his mother had called herself that. There was no way it was her real last name,
but no one really called anyone else on a thing like that. If you claimed your
name was Smith, then it was.

The other man looked down, shyly,
and then nodded.

"Thank you for the name,
ser. Sorry to have bothered you. I didn't know why the girl was ill."

Dareg thought for a second, and
then nodded. After all, that was probably just about the right response. The
kid was sick, and the idea that she'd eaten too much probably
wouldn't occur to anyone that wasn't very wealthy. He hadn't thought of it
until the whole thing had been explained. Really, he hadn't known that a person
could eat enough food to make them hurt. Not on a personal level. He'd
always had enough, but that was it. Like most people.

"Better safe than not. Did
you come for the festival?" He was walking back, since it wasn't really
time to start running for the day yet. Then, if he could get an early start on
his beatings, he might just be able to heal up in time to get something else
done that day. It was the first real day of the celebration, so even more
people would be showing up, he didn't doubt.

"No, ser, not exactly. I
come mainly to see if I can get some work. No one is hiring much, less you got special
skills. I can farm, some, but that doesn't really seem to be too needed round
the city. I thought maybe I could get on at the big forest orchard, but that
all belongs to one man. Two maybe? I was told I had to get with the Wizard
Baker on that. Only no one said which one of them. There are something like a
hundred of them." The accent was a bit thick, but good enough that Dare
could understand him clearly, with only a bit of translation.

He glanced that way, which was
past the grand events that were still bright and shining in the early morning
light. Not that you could see by it yet, but the sky was getting lighter. Not
that he could see any of the greenery over that way.

"We have a place here, at
the port? For a farming type job. I'd like a ring to be planted with trees and
bushes. All sorts, not just food plants. All the way around the port? It isn't really
farming. Can you do that kind of thing? It will have to wait until after the
festival week, or nothing will get done." It was a thing that had been
mentioned, once, though he couldn't remember who had said it.

Still, he had his communications
device on him, and if he remembered correctly, it wasn't going to be dawn in
Harmony, so he pulled it, then got in touch with Prince Gerent.

Which got a sleepy and mumbled
sound as soon as the thing picked up.

"'Mergency?"
Which no doubt meant that he'd gotten the man up from a peaceful, and probably
restful sleep.

"Damn. Sorry... Uncle
Gerent. I was just talking to a man about a job here. I want to put in something
kind of like what you have on the east side of the Capital, in a ring around
the port? He's a farmer, Bill Humboldt. Helped me save a girl a few minutes
ago." Which was true, if a bit more heroic sounding when put that way.

Rather than yell at him to call
later, or even never talk to him again, there was the sound of a person sitting
up.

"Really? That's wonderful!
I've been meaning to move things out that way. Do you think he'd be willing to
meet with me? I have some designs drawn up. Is it just the one man, or is he
going to be in charge of a whole team?" The voice never wavered, not even
a tiny bit.

Dareg didn't really know, but
shrugged. After all, Tor had flat out told him that he could spend his coin how
he pleased, and getting things going at the ports would secure his position
there a lot, he bet.

"A team. I don't know how
many yet, since it's coming out of my allowance. A silver a week, per man. Two
for Bill..." He paused to look at the small man, who gulped, grinned, and
nodded hugely.

Before he could speak, Gerent
did.

"Nope. I have this one. Or
really, Tor does. I mean, we already have a budget for it. I could come
today to talk to him? Petra wants to come in early, in order to try and get a
place for the week."

He cleared his throat then, and
shook his head a bit, so that dark or not, the man in the picture got the idea.

"Bring something for
yourselves and the others? Everything we put up here is filling instantly. We
have camps outside the city, with people just sleeping on the ground. In fact,
if you could bring in more palaces, we could use them. Sanitation is the big
thing. Food, too. Sara was saying this was the biggest thing like it she's ever
seen here."

That got a smile.

"Neat! I'll be there in an
hour or two? Pet and I are in Printer, so are going to bring Holly with us. Is
that all right? I don't want to impose..."

He didn't know who that was, but
Holly had the ring of being a nice person. Very green sounding, if a bit
prickly at the edges.

"That should be fine. I look
forward to meeting her. I... Bill will be just outside my pod house? I
have to get to my fighting lessons. We'll dress him in green and brown. Short
fellow, about five-two or so." He didn't say commoner, and the Prince
didn't ask either.

"Me too, for the clothing.
Green work shirt, brown trousers?"

He nodded back. The small man
looked away, embarrassed, since he didn't have that clothing on. It was obvious
that he didn't have another set that would work either.

Gerent said goodbye and hung up,
and instead of demanding an explanation, Bill just looked at the ground sadly
and said nothing.

Dare did however.

"The Tam-units can make
clothing. Right now it's all set to level one, which will get you a solid
colored outfit in the basic style. I, however, am the Tam-unit's friend,
so she might just help us out. You know, if we tell her that she's pretty and
has lovely eyes. Come on." He smiled about it, and the tiny fellow came
along with him like it made sense. They did get him clothing however, and
inside the pod house, after making a door appear again, Dare brushed his teeth,
then decided not to shower, since he was going right into running.

That left it open for Bill
however, who was game enough to try, once the concept was explained to him.
He'd seen showers before of course, that being a fairly normal way to keep
clean. This one had warm water, which was new to him. Still, when he came out
looking clean and dapper in his new canvas outfit, his hair combed properly, it
was very clear that the man had hurried.

Looking down, he grinned.

"There should still be water
left? I could run and fill the cistern, ser?" The words seemed heartfelt,
but it was also clear that the man knew the whole place was magic, and didn't
have that kind of thing. Maybe not how it all worked, but his eyes were darting
around so fast checking things out that the walls didn't even go transparent.

"No need. It's the nature of
this place. The Wizard Taman Baker made it. So, I need to go run, and that
means making the door vanish again, so no one will run off with my things. You
don't mind eating on the front step, do you? Gerent should be able to find you
here."

"Not a problem. This is very
exciting. Is he..." The man tried to make things fit, but they didn't seem
to really click totally. "The wizard that owns the orchards garden
man?"

Since he didn't exactly know the
real answer he realized, Dare tilted his head back and forth.

"I think it really is
a bit like that. His brother, but he does that work. So, keep that in mind, he
basically has the same job you do now. A bit better, because he's been
doing it longer, so listen to him, but if you have ideas, tell him all about
them. The work of taking care of the port here is yours as far as plants go.
Not his. He can't overrule you on that. Not that he'd try." Dareg looked
at the little man and shrugged.

Bill however took a deep breath,
stood straight and proud in his new clothing and old, very worn, boots, and
nodded several times.

"I will, ser. Is... Is he a
wizard too? A giant?"

"Hmmm. I don't know if he's
a wizard or not. You should ask him. He is a giant, that much is true. Made
that way due to magic. They can do that on Harmony, on the Moon? They do all
kinds of things now. He told me that he wasn't always so tall. Anyway, when we
met he didn't look down on me, even though he's over eight feet high. Like I
said though, here, in this place, you're in charge. I mean, you have to
bow deep, since he's a Prince and all that, but this isn't his place, so don't
let it get to you."

Which didn't seem to help Bill
out in the slightest. In fact, the little guy started to shake a bit, so Dare
ran and got him some food. He did that sometimes himself, if he didn't eat
regularly.

Then, with a pat on the shoulder,
he jogged away.

For all Sara had said that he was
supposed to be a near super being, it still hurt as much as it ever had. It was
also over an hour later when he padded back toward his house, the sun just
really starting to rise, when he saw that several giants were in front of his
tiny and oddly shaped house, dwarfing poor Bill.

Who shaking visibly or not, was still
holding his ground there.

None of them were Gerent however,
or even Petra, just Kolb, David Derring, and a man that was between those two
in size, who had a hard and sharp look to him. Like fighting wasn't a thing he
neglected in life.

Padding up, he sighed a little.

"Hey. So this is the team
that came to beat me for the day? I recognize David, but not you yet, sir?"

The other man who wasn't that
great looking, managed a weak smile.

"Havar. Baron Ruel
Havar." The first name was said in two parts, which was strange. Ru-el.
Distinct however, so he bowed to the man, going about halfway down.

"Dareg Canton. Prince of
Harmony, Countier Lairdgren, Countier Baker. Space Port Commander. Beat-ee, for
the day. Pleased to meet you." Then he turned to the standing man in green
and brown.

"This is our head facilities
manager for the the grounds. Bill Humboldt. Bill? The short bald one here is my
friend Kolb. Our friend, if you're smart about it. He's a good man to
know. He'll point Gerent out when he gets here. I'm going to be busy being
beaten, I think, or I'd do that part myself. Don't worry, Kolb is a great guy.
So are these others, even if I am going to be calling them names in a
minute."

It wasn't said as a question but
was one, and the tall, hard looking, bald fighter smiled gently.

"Good call, on both counts.
Yes, come on over here with me. So, Havar, Dare, there are no rules here,
except no shields. Do you have a healing amulet, Dareg?"

He pulled it out, along with his
shield which was handed off to the man as Bill did go to stand by him, away
from the scene of impending carnage.

"I do. So, shall we? I won't
be properly thrashed just standing around stalling, will I?"

Without any hesitation at all,
the giant Havar came at him. It started with a series of low kicks, that
weren't blindingly fast or anything, but when they hit did real damage. The
trick was to keep out of reach. It was a fight though, not a foot race, so he
recalled what he'd been shown and tried to keep his guard up while being
battered to his knees. Over and over.

He did manage to land a few kicks
to the fellow's lower legs, and nothing else, so he focused on that,
hoping that it might open things up. Either weaken the man, or get him to make
a mistake in pain. It didn't. Oh, it made him angry seeming, and got him to hit
harder, blasting through the arm he put up to stop him. That blow nearly
knocked him all the way out. No teeth went flying, but a few were looser than
he liked now.

Dare didn't go down under the
follow up blows, and since the big man was punching, he was able to dodge in
and hit him back several times. They nearly traded punches for a bit, but while
the large man was rocking him back each time, Dare barely seemed to have an
effect when he did things.

After about ten minutes of this,
Kolb called a halt to it.

"Stop!" It was, for
about half a moment, a relief. "Davey, you're in. A bit more firmly than
Havar was doing? We can't afford to take it that easy on him."

David came in and started hitting
him full out, fighting like he was going to die if he didn't stop Dareg right
then and there. He went down, and had to fight to his feet, guarding and
rolling each time he did, as he was battered constantly, with no real break in the
action. It was hard, until he felt a cold flash, and strength suddenly flowed
through his body, carried on a wave of pure rage.

It seethed through his entire
being, and the man he fought staggered away suddenly, not able to keep himself
upright. Even Kolb and Bill had to move back about twenty feet.

Then the bald monster of a
teacher called out to him.

"Pull that back, Dareg. You
have fifteen seconds. Go!"

That was optimistic, and it took
about forty seconds to do, not fifteen. Then, as soon as he was in control of
himself, he was in the center of a pain cyclone again. Trying to block and
control himself at the same time. Finally the man in black leather who he was
fighting dodged back again, staggered, even though it was clear he hadn't been
touched.

Kolb just waved this time, not
saying anything.

It wasn't much faster, though he
did try for that.

Then, for over an hour they kept
at it. David Derring slamming into him in a way that he wasn't certain he was
going to survive, and him spending the brief breaks trying not to let his rage
win the day. He was on the last massive beating, or so he thought, when Gerent
and Petra came.

Blood didn't pour from him,
clotting on his skin already, smeared and rust brown on his clothing. Gerent
and Petra were both dressed simply however. He was in a brown worker's outfit,
and Gerent was in the same thing but with a snazzy green top, like Bill was.
Opening his eyes, he spoke, even if he wasn't totally out of the rage yet.

"This is Gerent. Gerent,
Bill. He's in charge here, for plants." It was, almost certainly, rude of
him to say it that way, and he'd forgotten to bow, which he did then, even
while trying to break free of the combat rage, not really making it yet.

Instead of being polite like
Gerent and even the large Havar were, Petra, his loving and clothing talented
aunt, just smiled at him. It wasn't a friendly thing.

"Next!"

Then just as he pulled back from
the boiling and bubbling hatred of everything, she kicked him in the middle,
turning her body sideways to do it, throwing him back. He did roll, well enough
to not be too hurt, but much like David, there was no letting up or time to
recover.

The different thing this time was
that when he went into a rage, Kolb didn't tell him to stop. The directions
suddenly changed, in fact.

"Dare. Move back. She has a
shield on. Put one up now yourself. Use your powers for it." That wasn't
too hard to do, but, even angry like he was that everyone was hurting him, he
could tell it wasn't good enough. It would stop a fist, sure, but it wasn't
like the other shield that he had. That took a lot more to generate. It
was a thing he tried for, trying to make the world feel like his Timon shield
would. If he had one on him.

It was pretty clear when he had
it however, since her blows stopped a good three feet from his body suddenly.
Before, her shield had hit him, so her fist nearly touched. The field was close
around the hands, so you could move things, like a bubble with gloves on one
side.

Then, as he should have expected,
the whole thing failed, since thinking about all of that kicked him out of the
headache inducing rage. Everyone stopped then, and Kolb winked at him, which
was oddly anger inducing at the moment.

"Pull it in. That's all for
today, Dareg. Now, almost every other time you do this, and we will be doing it
again, normally at random, and a lot more frequently than we would with
regular students, you'll get the same lecture that everyone does. Make sure to
keep in practice, stay sharp and remember that a real fight is never like
practice, no matter how hard that is. This is the first time, and you clearly
have special training needs, so I won't ride you too hard. This time.
Your handling of the combat condition needs to be under your total control,
from now on. You go into it when you choose, and you don't when it
doesn't serve you. Understood?" He didn't sound angry or anything, but did
look a bit worried, like he expected that a few words would get him to go off
again.

"Got it. Not that I can
instantly do that, but I'll try to live it now. I'm in control. I'll just chant
that in my head for a bit."

Which he got to prove instantly,
when the big Baron Havar smiled at him, and slapped him across the face, hard.
Then he stopped, and waited.

It was a struggle, not to go for
the man, and to not let the condition start to manifest, but he did it, which got
the giant in front of him to laugh, then hit him again. Then, thankfully he
stepped back.

"Not bad for a beginner.
Your fighting isn't good. Not the worst I've ever seen, but I've seen school
boys your age and size do better."

Rather than explain, Kolb moved
over and clapped him on the back, then handed his shield back, which had the
others trying not to stare at him suddenly. A thing that came to him a bit
slowly. His head hurt and that did make it harder to think, so he rolled his
eyes and pulled the healing amulet out. Then, he held his tongue when a wall of
white pain hit, until he was simply better again.

The bald man seemed pleased
enough.

"That isn't wrong,
and we will go over all of this later. You did well though, given everything.
You should get cleaned up. Gerent, you and Bill here have an appointment to see
about making this place look a bit less like someone bombed it? Dare, I should
be around in the evening, for dinner. Plan on that with me, unless you get a
date?"

A tall woman, who had been
standing well back, moved in and gave Kolb a big hug.

"Happy King's Week!"

The man smiled like he was in a
desert and she was a glass of water.

"Holly! I was hoping to run
into you. Long time no see!" He sounded strange. Like he actually was
happy or something. Not that the scar faced man was miserable all the time, but
dour wasn't too far off for his resting expression. That, or hard.

Now he seemed pleasant and relaxed.

Whoever Holly was, hopefully
Kolb's girlfriend, or something close to it, from the way he kept touching her,
he didn't get to find out, since she was taken away almost instantly. Dareg had
an odd feeling that the dinner plans had just been canceled. That was fine
actually, since it would probably take him most of the day just to make his way
around a few times and keep on top of everything.

That, it turned out, was just
about the right thing to think. He did manage a nice long shower. That being
needed to soak the drying blood off, and walked toward the main row of houses
to find that the new focus stone buildings weren't up yet, but the building had
stopped and instead all of the Space fleet workers were dressed up in brightly
colored outfits, ones that matched. They were being guided by Johan and High
Servant Erid. When he got to them finally, the men both bowed.

Erid took a deep breath.

"I know that the buildings
need to go up, but the crowd is going to get unruly if we don't have some kind
of official presence, so I told them to change their outfits. They can manage
things, I think? They have to take turns doing it on the ships, and all have
shields on."

Looking closer, it was clear that
all the new buildings had walls and a roof, and from what he'd seen before
probably had most of the insides done already. He glanced that way and Erid
actually blushed.

"We didn't have time to do
much inside. Things will be needed in each space, tables for the restaurant,
beds for the girls' house, that kind of thing. The bathhouse is ready, but we
have one already. Unless we should open that one too? I... Hadn't thought of
that before, but there are enough people for it, and it would be a good test of
the plumbing system. We had to use magical pumps and filters, so..." Then
he started in on a five minute explanation that the man should have known
wouldn't have made any sense unless Dare could see it.

Finally Dareg nodded at the man
in white and bowed a bit.

"That was the right call. It
might be good to have that up? Some kind of water pond for people to bath in,
too. It's hot enough for it, and a lot of people are just sleeping out, so
anything we do that way will be a blessing, I think. We might want to use magic
for that. Do we need a full time pond?" He didn't know and was just
asking, but everyone seemed to think it sounded nice. Especially if it
was big enough to swim in.

Cleverly he left that to Erid,
who walked off, right then, like it was some kind of personal mission. Johan,
for his part gestured at the Space Fleet people in their bright blue and red
outfits, which came complete with silly hats. That was a sign of office no one
could deny. After all, the big three cornered things weren't a fashion
statement.

Dare finished his sandwich, which
was made of roast cow. It was good, and had what seemed like fresh tomatoes on
it. Lettuce too, for all that seemed a bizarre thing to pair with bread like
that. It was good though and filling, so he didn't complain.

Tam-unit had suggested it for
him.

There were some problems, but he
was able to fix most of them himself, pretty easily. Twice it just took
throwing some coin at things, to hire workers, and once it was basically
helping to open a second restaurant, which took over the first floor of the
free inn. They made the thing grow several levels higher for that, topping out
at seven. He did the work, very carefully, but it had been nearly as hard to
get that done as making the pod house door vanish.

There were also at least six
fights, which, he decided, to handle there, if possible.

He mentioned this to Johan, who
had come to get him after the third one.

"If they don't have weapons,
or at least weren't using them, then they go and sit for a day in the
cell. If they do real damage, or use something more than a hand of fist, we
pass them to the city guard. Drunks get healed and sobered up, if we can, and
put in a private cell off the restrooms if we can't. That kind of thing. It's a
party, so people will make mistakes. Basically they just need to fix them, and
not let it happen again. We aren't the government after all." He didn't
add what would happen if they did, since it would probably just be a repeat of
what had before.

Eventually they'd learn, or the
party would be over. Either way the problem would end in its time.

They only had to get through a
week now. Not that it was going to be easy.

Chapter ten

Given how crowded everything was,
not just at the port, but in the entire city, things were kind of happy. People
smiled and cheered at the drop of a hat, for instance. Once that happened
literally when a city guard lost his little funny covering. The man and the
three with him were patrolling the port for them, and a group of kids were
tossing a ball around for fun.

It hit the large and sturdy
fellow in the head, knocking his topper right off, into the dirt. Then he stood
up, glared a bit, brushed his hat off and tossed the ball back.

"Watch that kids! We don't
want anyone getting hurt." Then he and his fellows walked on, like nothing
had happened, even if there was a bit of happy clapping. Mainly because
the little ones hadn't been scolded too harshly or beaten. The common people
tended to think that would happen any time a guard showed up.

A lot of the time it did, or
close enough, so they had a real reason for it.

There were two interesting things
that took place that day. The first was that Space Fleet was letting people
have shore leave. That meant they got to come to the base for the day, to walk
around and see the sights. Dareg learned of it when Alice Orange, their leader,
got on the handheld for him. He'd just answered, showing his own face,
but managed to slap his disguise on first thing when he realized who was on the
device.

At the start the attractive woman
made a face at him, but as soon as his uglier disguise was in place, that
smoothed into a smile.

"Is that what you really
look like? It is a bit much. This is a lot better." It was a
strange way to say hello, but it meant that even knowing what he really was she
was willing to let go of her dislike of that kind of person, if the
outer trappings changed.

"I know, but we get the cards
we're dealt, don't you think? Now, how may I help you today?"

"Just a heads up. I told my
Captains to call you directly for landing instructions. I have ten thousand
bodies coming through over the next week. We need to get on the same page that
way, but they kept calling to ask me about it, now that there's
something down there worth seeing." She smiled at him, her face pleased
enough to be dumping it all on him.

"Thanks. I'll... Mark the
landing areas somehow. Numbers? I should go get to that." Then he smiled
in return, trying not to sound whiny. "Next time I do this, I'm not going
to start during a major festival. Not that I really know which port should be
next. Any ideas for that?" She was the head of Space Fleet. If anyone knew
what to do, it should be her.

That clearly wasn't wrong.

"Austra next, since they
have a good tech base, and a lot of the fleet is made up of people from there. For
some reason people seem to want to go home on leave, if you can imagine that? That
will take getting with their government, since you'll need them to reset their
missile defense system. Otherwise they'll shoot at us when we go for ice cream.
I hate that. Then it's a tossup, between Vagus and Afrak. Both are good
places, and we need to get them help. There hasn't been a physical facility
built in Soam at all, so that will take longer, and be the hardest one to
handle. We won't need much for the Antarctic. Unless you plan to build a city
there? We're only going to have one person living there otherwise, and even if
she is a Blue, that can't be mentally healthy. That would be the order I want
however." Then she sat there, staring at him, and not seeming to think
anything too bad about him, from what he could tell.

So his new face worked for her.

"I'll take that under
advisement. I... Let me set up the numbers first, or colors, and then
I'll... I don't know who to get in touch with about Austra, do you?"

Now she made a real face, which
was hard and nearly disgusted seeming.

"Tim Baker. He's... Well, I
can't say that I trust him. A bit of a joker really. In fairness, he, or
someone else around him, normally manages to get things done. I have to give
him that, but be careful there. Family of yours, but still..."

Dareg thought he understood.
Timon was really great looking. Enough that this woman, given her personal
biases couldn't think of him as a good person really. It was still good
information. Everyone had told him she didn't like, or trust, men that
were too good looking. It was a thing that everyone seemed to understand about
her. She still admitted that Timon got things done.

That was important to understand.

"I will. With all of you. I
mean, immortals? That has to be a trap, doesn't it? The last time we
dealt with that sort it didn't really go too well for any of us." It was
mean of him to say it that way, but rather than deny it, the woman smiled at
him.

"No doubt about that. If it
were me in your place, I wouldn't let us come back without using some of your Truth
Amulets on us, just to ensure we had your best interests at heart. That would
be your job though, not mine. You should have the first contact with my
people in... Fifty minutes. Two large and two small craft in first, for today.
Then we'll clear out for the return of everyone else, and start back in again
that evening. Do you have a time for when people should arrive? Do we get a
parade? I do love a nice parade." She was teasing, but she wasn't wrong.
They needed something, which he hadn't planned for at all yet.

There was no way he could get
things done on time.

Luckily, he didn't need to. Dareg
was the port boss, not the King of Noram. No, that job belonged to Richard.
Smiling he nodded.

"I don't know what's
planned, but I'll check on it. Let me set things up for you people first. Get
in touch if you need me."

Alice snorted at him a bit, and
then gave him a funny look.

"Just like a man, trying to
get me into bed... If I need you?" To her it seemed to be amusing,
which was nice to see.

"Yep. Not this week,
of course, for that part. I doubt that I'll get to sleep, much less entertain
like that. It's a shame really. I do love sleep. Talk to you
later?"

"Out." Then she was
gone, just as the thing in his hand, a bit of white focus stone with glowing
words on its surface, buzzed at him again.

Dareg was a bit surprised, but
tabbed the sigil, and was only a bit surprised to see that it was Queen
Tiera. He kept walking, trying to work out how to mark the places for people to
set down inside an hour.

"Hello! I was going to call
you later. Alice Orange was just suggesting that I do my job or something like
that, and find out when people were planning to show up here. I was thinking at
about five, tomorrow evening? We have nothing planned so far. I need to get with
King Richard on it." He flooded her with enough information that her smile
fell for a second, and she went a little wide eyed.

"I'll set that up on our
end. Five in the evening. We'll get in touch first. I was really just reaching
out, so you wouldn't think we'd all forgotten you. Tor wanted to do it, but I
think you make him a little nervous." She watched him closely enough that
he understood what she was doing. It was pretty clear that she was a good bit
more attentive than most were.

Like he was, nearly.

"I'll try to get in touch
with him then? I get it. I'm not thrilled with the idea myself, but not taking
action won't help. I can tell him about how Gerent and I are plotting to spend
all his coin on a new garden project. That will make him happy I bet."
He actually expected a frown, but his Aunt Tiera winked at him, hard.

"Oh? Are you planning to
build up the orchards around the entire Capital finally?"

"The spaceport for now, but
I think that Gerent wants to do the whole thing, if we can get it done. So I'm
probably in for a paddling, don't you think?" Not that he really would be.
If Tor was upset with him it would either end up with him being cut off,
financially, or being killed suddenly in the night.

Well, that, or just possibly a stern
talking to. There really wasn't a good reason to assume that the man was evil
yet. He hadn't done anything except be a lot nicer, and more understanding,
than Dareg would have really hoped.

Tiera didn't bother correcting
him, or suggest it was true, either.

"It needs to be done. We
have to start rebuilding the Earth soon. Gerent is in charge of that, but you
can help. Now, do you feel loved enough? You do know that we're all here
for you, right? I wouldn't just hop on and off like this, but I noticed that
you've been walking the whole time. That speaks of a busy person."

"I'm off to try and mark the
different landing areas. I need paint, or something. Brilliant lights? I don't
know if they could be seen well enough during the day?"

"That last one. Color code
things. We do that here, so people are used to it already. I think the lights
that Tor gave you will work, and it will be faster than running into the city
to a chemist for the paint. I don't think Tam's little makers can do that
one."

It made sense, so, as he moved walking
with a purpose, Dare started to flag down the dirt children in their plain
brown outfits, and the brightly colored red and blue Space Fleet people.

Then, trying to talk to Tiera as
he moved, he tried to get even more of them around.

"Thanks Tiera. I mean, Queen
Tiera. I'll do that. Not to be annoying, but I should get on that. We have two
large fleet ships and two small coming in a bit." That was spoken loudly,
so that the guards would at least understand it.

"Stay in touch, Dareg. You
have family now. We're here for you." Then the thing went back to its
normal color of pale white focus stone. The words on it were stable and didn't
move, and given what he was doing at the moment, it was just the main list of
names of people to get in touch with. There were a lot of them, making the list
a bit unwieldy.

It took about twenty minutes to
get everyone to help change the lights for the entire port, so there were four
big landing places and ten smaller ones. Not that even the little ones were
tiny, being about the footprint of one of the large palaces at full size. The
first of the fleet people to call was a woman, who spoke with a clipped accent.

"This is Captain Willet, of
The Hold. Calling to request landing at the Noram Capital Spaceport, if that's
allowable, sir?" Her voice was calm and commanding, but not rude. If
anything there was a tiny bit of nervousness in it.

"Permission granted. Please
come in straight down, ten miles to the east of the port. Then move over at
about two thousand feet and land in the blue section. That's the upper left
hand corner, and is marked in blue lights, around the outer edge. If anything
goes wrong, please freeze in place. That's the general rule if things are going
sideways. When you leave its just up two thousand, go ten miles to the west and
straight up." It seemed simple enough to him, but he was required to go
over it again several times.

The funny thing was the nervous
woman seemed happy to hear about all his made up rules.

"I'm on plan then. We should
be incoming in... Twenty minutes, give or take ten."

The second call came in just as
The Hold settled into the right spot, stable, but floating like a leaf. Slow
and with total control, which was brilliant, since the thing was vast on a
level that he'd never even considered before. It fit in the landing place, but
it was close. There was a good reason that Captain Willet was worried
about it.

The next ship was The Winter's
Kiss. That one was nice and small, so was settle into the bottom orange landing
spot, making it almost right next to the main row of entertainments.

After that, it took about an hour
for the next two, the last one being a giant orange and red glowing thing that
made an impressive skyline he was willing to bet. Close up it just kind of sent
a chill down the spine, and left you wondering if it was going to fall on you,
even if it looked pretty stable. It was just that huge.

Before he could do anything at
all, the handheld buzzed at him again. This time, instead of a space captain,
or the fleet admiral, it was just another Queen. His, this time.

"Hey, Queen Constance! What
can I do for you?"

She smiled and actually waved at
him a bit. It was friendly seeming.

"Hello, Dareg. I just got information
that two mountains have landed at the port?"

That was pretty close, so he
nodded at the woman in the image, making the movement big and playful. She
really was a lot closer in skin color to him than not. In a way she even kind
of looked a bit like him. Not a lot, but enough that he could at least pretend
it was there. "About like that. Space Fleet vessels. Before you ask, yes,
I did feel an urge to run away when they started to land. It's...
Impressive. This is just the first part, but they aren't all coming at once.
Oh, we're expecting the others in at five in the afternoon tomorrow. Do we have
anything planned for that? Alice Orange mentioned she loves parades, if you
need an idea?"

Instead of being upset the woman
sighed, in a happy fashion.

"Finally. Yes, we have that
set up. We just needed a time for it. Good. I can get with Collette on that.
So, the mountains are expected? Richard will be most pleased. There was some
fear of invasion, I hear."

Dareg hadn't thought about that
one, but since the people off the small ships had gone right to the baths and
Bawdy House, he really doubted that was the case. Unless they were incredibly
clever invaders. Getting ready to go into battle clean and satisfied...

"I think that's not going to
be a problem. So, great! I should go and do something else now. I don't know
what, but I'm going to bet that someone wants me to do something." Then he
snorted. "That's a bit bitter. It isn't like I'm digging ditches.
This isn't that hard." Not that it wasn't exhausting in its own
way. The truth was that Dare was used to struggling just hard enough to get by.
That most often meant he got to sit, and think, or even play.

Not great games, but he was good
at skipping rocks, and fishing. That one had been useful even. This was
different. A lot more intense for one thing. Of course that was going to be
about how many people were there, most being all kind of clueless as to what
was going on. All big events were like that. Not that he'd ever seen anything
like what he was looking out with at the moment.

Then, without saying anything
else, after a pause, when the Queen looked away, he tapped the handheld off,
ending the call, to run and make the restroom on the western side bigger. He
should have done that the day before, but hadn't thought about it. The palaces
could be any size, and he'd made them small, and placed toilets on the outside,
so that people would get the idea. Now they did. He still let the outside part
stand, but cleared the place with some yelling and hand waving, then made it
ten times larger, so that there wouldn't be any lines.

Jogging, Dare went around the
edges, and made all of the things he could larger. The houses weren't a thing
he could do, since they couldn't be cleared. He did get into Sam Builder's
palace, to find that there were about fifteen people in there. Five of
them were staff. Led by the girl from the day before, who he waved at. Since he
was paying her, a thing she seemed to understand, he had a cool glass of water
delivered to him almost instantly.

"Busy day, sir?"

"A bit. Who all is here
right now? I was thinking we might want to make this a bit bigger?"

The new head of the servants, who
was called the house manager, if only by herself, didn't actually know. They
were tall people, in the main, and that was enough for her for the moment. She
was merchant class, which meant city sized in the main. For her it meant she
was about an inch taller than he was, but not much more. Five-seven or so.

Her dress was full and warm
looking, though it was cool inside the building. Outside it wasn't blistering
for the area, but it wasn't really pleasant either. No one was complaining, or
passing out from the heat, but it was nicer inside, which meant the lady he'd
hired for Sam could lead him to where the large people were sitting, and
talking about what they had planned for the week.

Sara was one of them, along with
Commander Derring, her brother David, and Ruel Havar. Kolb was missing, but
there were several others there that he just didn't recognize. Looking up at
him, Sara waved at her own face. She was sitting, on a very fine looking wood
and soft cushioned sofa. No one was near her, though she was in the middle of
it.

Reaching up, he felt the disguise,
and smiled.

"I was talking to Alice
Orange. She doesn't like my real face. Here..." He tapped the thing off,
and suddenly got twice the attention from everyone in the room. All of the
ladies turned his way, if subtly, and started to do things like pat their hair,
and smile with lowered eyes.

A few of the men were doing
similar things, except for David, who seemed tired, and Ruel who smiled at him
and waved a bit.

"Ah! I didn't recognize you.
Good planning. Did it get you out of any work?"

"Not even a bit. On the
interesting side, Queen Constance didn't mention it at all. No one seemed to
care either. Maybe I should wear it around all the time?"

That got a polite laugh from most
of the people, as if he weren't serious. Sara waved at the seat next to her,
but he shook his head.

"I was thinking we should
make this place bigger. I did the main restrooms, but we just have so many
people. I think that almost everyone that's coming in from Harmony will end up
here. That, or on the ground outside. Oh! Tomorrow at five. There's a parade,
so it will be worth going to it. Everyone is going to be there. I think."

Sara hopped up, and moved to the
inside wall, touching it casually. The air pressure shifted suddenly, but
nothing in the room they were in altered. It wasn't until a minute and a half
later that she turned to him.

"That should do it. We can
go a little taller, if we need to. Good thinking. Now, there will be a meal
here tonight, and you need to be there, to head the table, until Sam gets in.
That's at nine, but you need to be there earlier than that. Fancy dress."

He nodded, knowing that it was
going to be something. Hopefully it wouldn't be all that large, since they only
had five servants and they were all new and might not know how to do that kind
of thing. He didn't, so why would they?

Sara however, had that part for
them, which was nice of her. That meant he just needed to go and... Honestly,
he had no clue what was going to happen next. It wasn't going to be fun though,
he was willing to bet.

As it turned out, it really wasn't.

His handheld went off in his
pocket, and while he figured it would be his new half sister calling to yell
about being hung up on, which would be fair, or her husband in the same vein,
it was actually some man he didn't recognize at all.

The face was lean, and his outfit
a bit strange, but other than that there was nothing about him that seemed too
special or odd. He had a nice medium dark skin tone, and light eyes, but that
wasn't too odd.

"Hello?"

The other man furrowed his brow
tightly.

"Sorry? I'm trying to get in
touch with the new World Port Authority? I was told by King Richard this was
the right name? I might have tabbed the wrong line..."

Dareg could understand how that
could happen.

"That's me. What may I do
for you?" He was fourteen. Young for a real job. Of course, the week after
that one, no one would care if some kid was making sure all the trash
was picked up. That week he looked pretty good though. People would probably
even think it was important, for a bit.

"Oh... Well, I'm John Foley.
The Prime Minister of Austra. Our Revered One, Timon Baker, is returning to
Earth tomorrow after a long absence. You've heard about that?" The look on
the man's face told him that for some reason he didn't seem to think that anyone
outside of his own land would have, rather than assuming that Dare was a moron.

He was going to take it that way
at least.

"Sure. He'll be in tomorrow
at five, our time. I... Can you get here by then? Or whoever you have to meet
him? I don't know if I can set that up..." He looked around, and oddly
enough, David raised his hand about half way.

"I could do that? I have a
craft capable of that right now, on loan. I've done it before. The main city
there, on the southern side? Will that work?"

The man on the device suddenly
relaxed a lot.

"Oh, that would work.
Very well actually. We have... Call it two hundred people that will want to
attend?"

That got a head shake, the David suddenly
frowning.

"I can't do that then. I
have room for twelve, if they aren't too big. Old style fast craft.
Unless someone has a space craft I can borrow? That will speed things up a good
bit."

Dareg felt annoyed, and then
shook his head. He wasn't lending anyone his jump ship.

"I can pilot it. I have a
ship. Can you give me directions on how to do it without being blown up?"
He glanced at David, who smiled at him, rather than seeming doubtful.

"Not a problem. We can be
there in... Six hours? Is that enough time for you to have everyone
ready?"

That got a sour look from the
man, and a head shake.

"Only if I want to be hung
in the city square. Can you give us ten hours?" It was a negotiation, or
could have been, but it didn't really matter.

"Not really? It's about
what, four now? I have to be at the dinner at nine, that will take a few hours
at least, then... Well, I need some kind of sleep... How about fourteen hours?
As long as we can load people fast on the other side, and get right back, that
will work pretty well."

David nodded, and no one else
said anything would be wrong with that. In fact Prime Minister Foley looked
relieved, and smiled, if a bit tightly.

"We should have been
informed earlier. It would have been nice to do this at home, and not in a
different land. We can at least get this screened, thank goodness. It
would be a bit more personal if he'd have had his home coming with us,
but we do understand that he's from there." There was a bit of darkness to
the words, as if Austra was being slighted.

"All right. Do you want us
to refuse to let him come? We could set something up over there? He is your
Ancient. Or, do you think people would be all right if we did that in a week or
so there? That way we can get some supplies in and fix up the port on that side,
if it needs it. I haven't been out to look at it yet." Because of course
he hadn't. He'd never been outside of Noram.

Unless you counted space. He'd
been there, which was kind of wild to think about. Really, now that he
thought about it, he had been all around the world, too. He just hadn't landed
in a lot of places.

The Prime Minister laughed a tiny
bit. It influenced his breathing, which was an exhalation at the moment. The
tiny puffs were soft, but discernible.

"No. No thank you. I'd hate
to start off our new arrangement by telling him what he can and can't do. I do
like your plan to fix up the port however. Can we discuss that when we
meet?"

Dare nodded.

"That sounds good. We'll be
there in fourteen hours, give or take an hour or two. We'll try for slightly
early, if I can wake up in a timely fashion? I don't want to over
promise." Which was just the truth.

The man tilted his head and
muttered in his funny accent about how the boy was at least not claiming
he could have the Moon.

They said rather polite goodbyes,
which let him get off the line.

Then he waited for a bit for
something else to come up, which it didn't.

He was still standing, not having
sat for a long while, but really he felt a bit reluctant to do it. His goal had
been to get the palace to grow, and Sara had fixed that for him. Now he needed
to go find the next thing, or else it would hit him when he wasn't looking.

He turned then and waved to the
room.

"Sorry to run out. I need to
go and make sure everything is going smoothly. It's the first day, so if things
are going to go wrong, it would be now." Not that he knew that, but the
people in the room all nodded, as if he were simply speaking of knowledge hard
won.

He wasn't, just making things up
to get out of the room, he realized. It was easier than explaining who he was
over and over.

As he did it, no one in
particular moved, except Commander Derring.

"I'll go with you? I need to
get you up to speed on the investigation." She said it like that made
perfect sense. Like it was the most normal possible thing she could be doing.

Nodding, he waited for the almost
unreal looking blonde woman to follow him. She did it very smoothly, like a
fighter, or possibly a ghost. There was a bit of sexy hip shifting in it, but
he wasn't going to buy that one. Not completely. She wasn't trying to get his
attention that way, she had something else in mind. It was clear in how she
kept looking around them, but not at him.

Outside the front door she
stopped while he closed it.

Her voice was too smooth and a
bit soft, in the din that was the world around them. There was music and the
sound of singing off in the distance. Over the smaller ships and the buildings
behind them, he could just make out the taller of the events. The very top of
the stone tower, and a mountain that had people sliding down waterfalls.

He pointed that way.

"Now that looks fun.
I'd ask you do go with me, but you have news? What are the odds it takes us
over toward the party?"

She chuckled and touched his arm
a little. A surge flared through him, that caused him to feel rather kindly
toward her. It was more than it should have been just based on her looks. Not
that those weren't incredible enough to do it too. That was already happening
however.

"Not good at all. We've
managed to track Straughan to County Ford. He's a side relation to a Baron
there. Adopted, I think, but to a good strong family. So am I, come to that. A
relation to the Baron. That means we can't really go in and just take him. Not
legally. Worse, he seems to be trying to undermine the High Servants. To take
over, politically. There's no hint that the plan is to use force, but that
isn't going to happen. I... I need help. I've been gone too long, and while the
King is with me, I can't rest on that. I need to find the rot and cut it out.
If it's really rot, and not just grousing. That means starting with Kevin
Straughan. We may not be allowed to go after him for rape, not here. Not of
commoners, who were merely pushed into action like they were. Coercion doesn't
count at that level. We can however kill him if he's trying or planning
to undermine a Royal Order like the High Servants." Then she went silent
and looked at him while he walked away. Touching him again.

A flare of sexual interest
hitting him.

"Hey, no fair. Stop that. I
don't know what I could do to help anyway. I guess I'm going to support
what the King wants. So if he's good with it, then I am too, but I don't really
have anything to add to the effort. Not unless you want me to go with you and
kidnap this fellow? I have no real skill that way, but if you need me, I might
be in."

She smiled then and pulled her
hand back, looking at it.

"Sorry. You know, I used to
be ugly. Not so much people noticed, or threw things at me when I walked the
streets, but to that level where no one really saw me? Not if I didn't have a
sword in my hand. Now they can't help it. I spray out chemicals that make
people like me. I think you kind of do, too. It isn't sex with you though, is
it? They just do what you want. I can feel it pulling on me when I'm around
you." Then she waved her hand at him. "Not the point. Really, what I
need right now is your name. You know, so I can go to others and mention that
you're in on it too, and things like that. There is some risk to it, since I
don't know how everyone else is going to jump this time. The King is
with us. I think Prince Alphonse and Princess Karina are as well. I have no
clue about Veronica and her husband Count Peterson. We should set that up next.
The thing there is that they might well take your calls this week, and
I'm not at all certain that mine will be..."

Dare tilted his head and then
shook it.

"Offer to have sex with
them? That would do it. I mean, you kind of have that one assured with most
people, don't you?" He was playing, but only a little. That would work,
for most people that liked that kind of thing with women. Maybe even some that
didn't. Her draw was just that high.

Rather than be insulted, the
lady, the Commander, nodded at him.

"If I can get their attention
for long enough. I'm not even certain that they'll be available to talk, truth
be told. There's no real reason for them to care about this issue. It's my
failure that caused it. I let the High Servants go on too long, thinking that
it was a dumping ground for third sons and fourth daughters that couldn't do
any better for themselves in life. There's some truth to that, but they take oaths.
It doesn't matter why they did it in the first place. Once you say the words,
you're supposed to follow through, no matter what you were before."

He nodded, not wanting to make
her angry, since he kind of wanted to sleep with her. Not that she would. If
her plan was to use him, then paying off that way might not be part of the
plan.

"Do you want to spend the
night with me? You can go with me to Austra in the morning. We'll have to share
my tiny bed, but I'm sure it will be cozy." That was a bit blunt, but the
woman patted his shoulder again. A bit like she might with a small child that
was being a pain. The idea was cute enough that he smiled about it, rather than
becoming offended.

"Except for the part where
Tor would never talk to me again, it sounds tempting. So, no help from you
unless I put out? I suppose that I can't argue against that. This isn't that
important to me. Not if it means making an immortal mad at me."

That got him to shake his head.

"Who says we have to tell
him? Still, I'm in, as long as the King is. It was a suggestion, not
blackmail. I'll check that with him, but until then... You know... Let me
see."

He used his handheld, and once
again was very surprised when the red headed man smiled at him, like talking to
some annoying kid was a great treat. If so, then the rest of the people he
dealt with must be real prize winners. That it was actually possible left him
feeling a bit sad for the ruler for a second.

"Prince Dareg! I was just
going to get in touch with you. I... You aren't upset with Constance, are you?
She was most concerned at the ending of your last conversation. She's afraid
she insulted you?"

He winced and shook his head
firmly.

"Nothing like that. I'm
just too rude for noble circles, I think. I got busy and did it by accident,
not thinking. Please tell her I'm sorry and that she can beat me around with a
pillow later, if she wants? That is what sisters do, isn't it? I never
had one myself." He had seen the girls at school though, and very few had
ever treated their male relatives like that. Not in front of him.

The King smiled and stroked his
chin, his face pleased by the words.

"I'll leave the beating part
out. She's stronger than she looks, and a fair hand with weapons. Even pillows,
I'd wager. She'll be glad to know that. So, if you aren't getting in touch to
suggest I chastise her for her foul words or treatment, what may I do for you
today?" He leaned in, interested.

"The High Servants.
Commander Derring has asked for help uncovering a... I don't know what to call
it, a takeover attempt? Maybe just people being disgruntled at how things are
running? I told her that I was on your side, whatever that is. So, what's our
move on that one?" It was probably too inclusive, but the King went somber,
and nodded pensively.

"I was briefed on that
earlier. If you could aid us in this, it would be most welcome. I... Are you
allowed? You're a Prince of Harmony, can you get permission from Queen Tiera
for this?"

He shrugged and looked over at the
Commander.

"Do I need to? I live
in Noram, and have always been a citizen here. She seems nice, and is my aunt,
I guess, but you're the King. No one has said that anything had changed
that way, so as far as I know, that means I'm one of your people. So I'm in. If
Queen Tiera wants, she can yell at me later, when she comes to visit?"
After they spent some time in bed. Not that the woman would.

She was probably all moral that
way. It was a good thing, but a little sad, since she was kind of interesting.

King Richard went a little wide
eyed, and then nodded.

"Thank you, Dareg. If you
would see to this? You, both of you, have my full backing and the power of the
crown behind you, as related to the High Servants. Up to, and including,
proclaiming war. Try not to do that, but it can be a useful goad, if it's
needed."

That was a lot to dump on him, so
he decided it was really about having the power to get the job done.

Tilting his head, Dare nodded
then, an idea coming to him.

"We need to go and collect
some people from Austra in the morning. At six? Do you want to send someone to
see about that? I think Prime Minister Foley is coming. I don't know who else,
but it's probably going to be a lot of them. About two hundred bodies?
Commander Derring was thinking about approaching Princess Veronica to feel her
out for help, and her husband the Count? That would give her, oh, half an hour
to talk to them, if she's clever enough?"

The woman nearly made him laugh,
crossing her eyes at him, like she was, but the King tossed off a seated bow.
It made the screen in his hand tilt.

"I can ask. At six in the
morning, from the spaceport?"

"That's right. We can meet
right at the front, on the city side. That will place things near my pod house,
making it easy for me. That's also about the best place to meet, so it
works both ways." Which was totally true.

The King seemed to think that
sending his youngest daughter and her husband off to a different land was a
great idea. Not that he didn't like her, or the Count. He simply seemed to
think they would make great ambassadors for the day. It was a pretty good
point, considering that the leader of that land was coming in himself, making
it a very big deal.

The King appeared to think for a
bit, his large red head nodding, then he closed his eyes. It didn't take long
however, before he opened them.

"Would it be all right if I
send in someone else as well? Some guards, and other dignitaries?"

"Um, as long as they all get
here on time? Really, that should be about five or so, which means I have to
get up earlier. Bleh. I can though. Sure, we can do that. I have to make the
time schedule too however, though I did build in that we might be a little
early." Which was a bit hopeful on his part.

The monarch seemed to be fighting
a laugh.

"Ah. Youth. I remember when
I expected things to go to plan, too. Just make certain you're all in by
five in the evening. Everyone will want to see you there, I'm sure. Will you be
standing with Connie and I? We're having a box set up."

It was leading. Why, Dareg didn't
know.

"Probably not? My guess is
that I'll be running around screaming and pulling my hair by then. I can't do
that properly in a box. Not at all. There wouldn't be enough room to build up
any real speed."

That got a polite chuckle, which
stopped suddenly as the giant leaned in.

"Keep me apprised on the
High Servant issue? Sir Karen Derring is a capable individual. She was, I fear,
removed too soon away from her new duty early on. If need be, we might have to
cull the ranks. That... Might be too hard for her. If it's needed, can you take
care of that?"

Dare blinked, several times. Then
he nodded. It could be hard to go around killing your own people. He glanced
over at the Commander, who looked amused, rather than angry. Bloodthirsty, too.

"More to the point, Sire, I
may need to have the right to countermand her on that. I don't think the pain
of removing people is her big concern. We should save the ones that might be
spared. Kick them out, or... I'll need to think about it."

"Done, then. You have my
hand in this, Dareg Canton. Again, try not to go to war, if it can be avoided.
If not, end it before anyone knows what's going on? Get with William Smythe on
that. Sorry, I have to go now."

Then the line cut, which was a
very sudden thing.

Commander Derring smiled at him
then.

"Damn. I'm
technically one of his advisors, and I'd have been most of a day getting
through to him like that. You even got us a shot at Peterson and Varley. Remind
me to invite you over if I ever have to move house." She stopped, and then
shrugged. "Speaking of which... I am kind of in the middle of a
move..." To make her point, she looked straight up, even if the Moon
wasn't in the sky at all at the moment.

"I see, so I'm good enough
to use for my jump ship, but not spend the night with? Tsk, Commander.
Shame, shame." He was teasing, but the large lady froze and went very wide
eyed then.

Her words didn't come for a
moment, but after a bit she bowed, and turned a bit red.

"I didn't mean to seem like
I was saying that. I... I honestly think that your father would be troubled by
my being with you... I hope that won't be a wedge between us?" She looked
half panicked, and for once he really didn't get it.

It was something to do with being
a noble. Their sexual rules were pretty loose and easy. Everyone knew that. It
had been spoken of as they played at school, between classes. Giants in general
were like that, regardless of station, more often than not. The nobility
however had actual rules about things around sex, if the rumors had been true.
What those were, no one had ever truly known. A few had guessed, the most
likely one being that they all had sex with their servants and so on, but it
wasn't stated for certain at any point. How would the kids at his school have
known that anyway?

Most of them had no more contact
with that sort of person than he had. Less now, he was willing to wager.

Still, he wasn't a moron, so
waved her back up and winked.

"I was teasing, and that
didn't seem to work very well. As for Tor, well, I don't think you need to
worry about that. I wasn't raised by him. After the shock wears off, I'm pretty
sure that his interest in me will as well. It's part of why I'm working so hard
on the ports. That way I might have a job when things dry up that way. It would
be stupid to let some gold from a person I don't even know be the only
thing keeping me alive." He was an adult now, and that meant the job of
doing that was his. A man too. Really, he was supposed to be able to carry
himself and a family.

The lovely woman, who even looked
good blushing stood up and gave him a nod.

"Ah? I wasn't sure. About
the teasing. It was hard to tell really. It makes sense now, but..."

He got that part, he figured. He
was influencing her, even as she did it to him. It clearly wasn't
control though, which was good to know. He didn't particularly want to have the
world as his slave market. If it had been that powerful, she would have said
yes, even if she didn't want to. That she could fight him that way was probably
a good sign.

"Yeah. That... You have some
kind of noble rules about that kind of thing, right? I... Honestly, I've barely
heard of that. I probably broke six unspoken laws just then, didn't I?"

That got a muscular shrug. It was
a thing that he wouldn't have noticed about her normally, given how carefully
she moved and carried herself. Under her clothing she was clearly a woman, but
there was also a lot of power there. Her raw size hid a lot of it, but there
was more to it than that. Magic, probably.

She'd been shaped into being what
she was by a person that had a very strange idea of what strength made a body
look like. Not that it wasn't attractive on her. It just didn't seem real.

She nodded, and looked away,
frowning. Then, almost as if she were trying to be conspiratorial, she moved
closer to him as they walked again. There were bodies all around, but no one
could hear them, he didn't think.

"You did. Someone at your
station can't afford to do that kind of thing too often. Even the teasing. That
you haven't gotten into twenty kinds of trouble already is amazing. Let me
think for a second. What do you really need to know?"

That wasn't asked of him, since
he didn't have a clue.

After about two hundred feet,
done slowly, since they had to make their way through the crowd, she nodded.
The bodies weren't packed tightly, but you had to be careful, if you didn't
want to step on someone. There were a lot of kids too. Most were playing, which
meant chase, since there were all those handy adults to dodge behind. That
meant several of them bashed into people.

Karen was busy thinking, so
didn't notice just how many people were losing their wallets, coin purses, and
so on as they were hit. He counted three, but wasn't certain about another one.
They were also too tall for kids, being both older than they seemed, dressed to
look more youthful, and chanting kids game rhymes as they ran about. Strange
ones that he'd never heard before. That could just be due to the fact that they
were from the Capital, since the accents were right, but something wasn't
correct with the whole scene. Other than the theft. Not that he could
tell precisely what that was yet.

Touching the white clad lady's
arm, he winked.

"Hey, if I hand some people
to you, can you subdue them without hurting them?"

She looked at him, then smiled,
and nodded. "Here? Just point. I have a magical weapon that will do it. It
won't hurt anyone, even if I miss. It just puts them to sleep. Who?" She
changed suddenly, her posture going all wrong. She ducked down a bit, and her
feet, in soft white boots, spread. Her hair was past shoulder length, and had
some curl to it, as she started to scan the place. Like an animal ready to
pounce.

"The kids running around.
The tall boy there first. The thin one, with the cap and suspenders?" That
part was very weird, since no one else was dressed like they were. Very few
ever did. All of the kids were like that too. They didn't fit where they
were, once he really looked at them. At first he'd thought they were just in
festival clothes, if a poor person's version, being dingy and gray, but that
wasn't it.

He tapped her arm instantly, to
get her to stop.

"Or not. Something isn't
right here. We need to get a team of people out here now. I... Don't know.
Maybe you should put them to sleep? I guess we need to try that."

Karen didn't hesitate, and while
the boy stood still for a moment, and started to look around, he certainly
didn't fall to the ground. The Commander looked hard suddenly, and started to
move to a different weapon, which got taken out far to smoothly too be random.

"Wait. They're pick-pocketing,
not killing people. Let's try something different first." Then, not
knowing if it was wise or not, Dare cupped his hands in front of his mouth.

"You there. The kids doing
the pick-pocketing! Come this way, and get ready to give back the ill-gotten
loot." Then, as several of them looked up at him, shocked, he went on.
"We know all about your clockwork machine ways. Why not talk to us,
instead of testing us like you are?"

If Karen didn't know about all of
that, it did not show on her face, which turned to a small, and tight, smile.

"He has a point. We don't allow
theft here, but it isn't against the law to visit. We should chat."
She still had her second weapon ready to go, which was pointed at the ground
beneath them. Compressed dirt, made into tan stone. It glinted a bit in the
sunlight.

The tall boy looked at them both,
and finally walked over in front of Dareg. Then he dug into his pants and
started pulling out purses, wallets and a few coin. Each was held out for Dare
to take, and dropped from a distance into his waiting hand. Only when the last
thing came out did he speak.

"We don't mean any harm. We
came to see how you'd treat the lowest among you. So far you haven't done too
poorly. Not perfectly as a society, but this is the most dangerous of
the lands in your world. We weren't going to come at all, we haven't done more
than watch for thousands of years, but there are beings coming here. Dangerous
ones." The boy shrugged his thin shoulders. Then held his hat to his head.
Probably so he could run away.

Dareg didn't know what to say, so
nodded. When the others in the little group of five children, or young people,
moved toward him Karen got ready to fight. Dare didn't, merely stepping toward
them by a single step.

"We should speak then. We
could do that now? We have a place, back that way. It belongs to the Ancient of
Noram, but he isn't in, and won't mind us using it. He'll be back tomorrow
evening? There's a big welcoming ceremony, for him, and the Ancients of the
other lands. I don't know who would be best to speak to you, but they're mainly
nice people, as far as I've heard."

A girl, who looked about his own
age of fourteen, once she held still, touched the boy on the arm to get his
attention.

"He speaks the truth, as he
knows it." Then her big brown eyes locked with his own. "Do you mean
us harm? Or seek to trap us?" Her words were very precise, and held no
feeling. It was nearly an icy thing.

Not responding to that, Dareg
looked right at her, and told the truth, wondering if she had some way to
determine if he wasn't.

"No to both. It would be
good if you'd all stop stealing, or trying to rob people? Please don't hurt
anyone, either? Unless they try to hurt you first, then it's legal, more or
less. There are gaps in that too, but for now, if you could follow those rules,
we can probably deal with the rest. So, dinner at nine tomorrow? Over
there?" He pointed, hoping they'd get it.

The two smallest looking people
were both males, and again were older looking once they were looked at closely.
Rather than answer, they each suddenly moved to stand across from each other,
and put their hands out. Their stances mirrored each other, as they stood about
five feet apart, a bit of what seemed purple lightening coming from the
fingertips of both. Then, saying nothing, the others all ran through the
shining black disk that formed.

The tall boy went last, looking
ready to fight, but when no one came for the escaping people, he nodded.

"Tomorrow at nine. A
representative will be there. I hope this is real. You don't know it yet, but
you need us. Not just you here, but all of humanity. The ones here, and the
ones on the other worlds. Even the ones around other stars." Then, on that
note, he stepped through the disk.

The two youngest boys didn't
move, and the disk started to fade, which had them going along with it. He didn't
know how it worked, but he hoped they just went home, like the others, and
weren't fading out of existence.

The people standing around them
applauded, like it was a show. So he bowed to them, like he'd seen a performer
do once. Then he raised his hands up to chest height, and called out.

"Is anyone missing a purse
or some coin?"

It took a bit to get that all
around, and then he had about three hours of calling to do, which seemed to
take forever, even though the machine people, if that's what they were, hadn't
seemed dangerous yet. A bit too much into stealing, but that was all. Really,
could he blame them for that?

After a while the device he was
being plagued by stopped the never ending buzzing, and he realized it was
getting late. It was dark out already, and cool finally, so about eight or so.
That meant he had about enough time to get to his pod house, take a quick
shower and get back to Sam Builder's palace, if he hurried.

Commander Derring followed him.
Talking on her own hand held device the entire time. When they got to his
little house, he had to make a door, which took a lot of mental effort still.
That was reassuring, actually. No one was going to come along and casually take
his stuff while he was out. It could still be stolen, but it would probably
take a wizard or someone near that level to know how to do it. At least he
didn't think he really would have guessed at how it might be done on his own.
Maybe, eventually he would have, but the fact was, most didn't have enough
magic around to even learn to try doing that kind of thing.

"I need to wash up first. Or
you can, if you like? I think you can fit. It isn't a large shower, and you do
tall pretty well." He smiled at her, not really trying to flirt, but
knowing he was anyway. It was so easy with some people. She was one of that
sort, and that part was confusing to him. She had the looks for it, but there
was a part of her that was a bit off that way. Instead of pushing for more than
a few words he waved, going for polite instead.

She dashed in, and was back out
less than ten minutes later, in a very nice dress. One that was gold and blue,
in bright colors. That part wasn't so great, but the gold was like metal and
moved on its own under the surface of the blue. Rising up and sinking down like
it was water.

Rather than ask how it was done,
he did his own cleaning. Hurrying so that the lady wouldn't be waiting on him
longer than was needed, and tried to dress himself in a way that might not
embarrass him. It was tempting to try a flashy outfit like Commander Derring
had, but that was her idea and everything he could think of would just be a
slightly different take of that, more or less. So he put himself in shining
black. It was a suit, like the one Gerent had worn when they first met, but
done in a smooth material that flowed a little bit more. Under the jacket he
made it look like he had a brilliant ruby colored shirt, a thing with depth to
it, though that was an illusion. If you looked closely, from the front, it
would seem like his body was made of red glass. Only there was nothing there,
inside.

His shoes were just shining
leather, and with a bit of careful attention he added seams and a few wrinkles
to the black. That way it would seem like he was really covered by normal
material, except when looked at too closely.

When he walked out, Karen nodded
at him.

"Not bad. Part of me worried
you'd come out in basic workman brown, and the other thought it would be a
glowing green light. Can you darken the color of the red a bit? It will make
you seem a bit older."

It worked it seemed, from the
look she gave him then.

"We should go, Prince Dareg.
You kind of need to be there a bit early." They still walked, since doing
anything else was probably not going to work at the moment, except flying. It
didn't take that long, since almost everyone was off at the events, it being
the first night like it was. That fact stung his mind, given how much he'd done
in the last days.

He'd gone from being tossed out
on his rear from a chance at a better life, right into one that almost couldn't
be real. No matter how many people claimed that it was. Given the whole thing
he kind of wondered if he'd been hit on the head as he tumbled when the High
Servants had tossed him out the other day. It wasn't the truth, of course. The world
was too real for it to be a dream. Those always had a very different quality to
them. Dare would have known the difference almost instantly.

When he got to the house, he was
met at the door by a very lovely looking Sara, who smiled at him warmly.

"We have a meeting after
this, about what happened earlier? Right now, you and I need to go and pretend
we know all the people that showed up. I hope you do, since I'm lost on over
half of them." She took his hand and squeezed it a bit, then let him go.

So she was trying to be nice, but
not make any moves on him. It kind of hit him then what was going on.

"Are you both dating
Tor?" That wasn't the only thing that could have made sense, but it was
the one that stood out for him.

Karen shrugged.

"Not me. I just don't want
him to get mad at me. Sara though, yes. Ali too, so it's kind of a group thing
they have going on. It would be best not to hit on her too hard. Either of
them." Then she winked at him. "Not because they'd say no
either. It just wouldn't be fair to test them that way."

He nodded then and tried to smile
about it all. They were attractive women, but there didn't seem to be a real
shortage of that kind in the world. Not at the Capital anyway. For the time
being it was probably the wiser move to take what was said seriously that way.

"Got it. To answer the
question though, I doubt I'll recognize too many people here. Not unless I
walked by them on the street, or talked to them over the handheld thing."
It was still new enough to him that the communications devices seemed unreal,
and like the people he spoke to over them were as well.

Sara led him to a large dining
room, and leaned in a bit.

"We hired extra staff on for
the week. You're covering it. That will cost you too. About five gold. I
provided them with clothing amulets, so they should look good, even if they
don't have a clue what they're doing." She didn't seem to be joking about
that part in the slightest.

Then they walked into a crowd of
people that looked to be at least a hundred strong. The number was growing as
he watched. The vast table was covered with a fine white linen. He thought that
was what it was called anyway. What showed of the base was all deep and shining
wood, except the seats of the chairs which were cushions build into the furnishings.
It was a thing that he'd never really noticed before. They'd had that on
Harmony, in Marissa's, but it looked more impressive here, lined up like they
were, all in shining white. Like spots of snow.

Then people started to just walk
up to him, not even bothering to introduce themselves. That was hard to handle,
since it was really clear that either he or Sara were supposed to know them all
by name.

Funnily enough, he managed about
ten of them, since they were the officers from various space vessels. Smiling
he called the faces that he'd talked to out by name, and bowed to them all,
shaking hands with the ones from Austra. That meant they still awkwardly missed
two people, one of whom Sara had met before, who seemed a bit upset by the
oversight, and a very old looking woman, who came up to him while Sara was
distracted.

He started to stammer his apology
for not recognizing her, but she fixed him with a focused gaze, and then
smiled, gently. Her hand came out, and touched the skin on the back of his hand.

"I'm Doris. I suppose, in
many ways, I'm your grandmother. We should speak." Then, as if nothing had
happened at all, she drifted away. It was almost as if she floated. So much so
he actually had to look at her feet to make certain she hadn't.

Chapter eleven

The meal went in fine enough
fashion for the first one like it he'd ever been to. On the surface it looked a
bit like what had been done at King Richard's table. Only here he was
the King and almost no one along the way was following the pattern very well.
Sara didn't have any issue with that, standing after he did and taking her
large bite of food, or sipping her drink.

She muttered for him, so he'd
understand what was happening.

"This dinner is formal,
lesser, non-family. We, as the hosts have to show that the food is good, but no
one here suspects treachery. Not that the nobles won't be using poison
detectors if they have them. Speaking of which..." She waved a small
copper piece over his food again, which she'd been doing the whole time before
he ate. "Not that you'd die from chemicals or disease unless you had a lot
of it. If we didn't do something like this people would wonder about it. You're
a Prince after all. Sooner or later someone will want you dead." She
smiled at the words, which he knew he was supposed to take the wrong
way.

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.

Dare nodded.

"Before the dinner, a bit
ago. An old woman, not the other one, sadly enough. Not that she wasn't cute
enough to consider that way. I don't know if she did that however, getting
the... DNA. That's a physical thing? Related to cloning? Rosemarie, my school
teacher in Canton, wasn't too clear about how that worked, but I remember the
letters. Something about skin samples? Maybe hair?" The poor woman really
hadn't known what the heck that was all about, but it had been in the book about
recent history, so she'd tried her best for them all.

Tor seemed impressed.

"Both can work for it. Don't
be confused on that score however, if Doris wanted to examine you, she has.
She's one of the old Ancients. Thousands of years of experience can pay off, as
far as being good at things goes. Trust me. We should know a bit more about you
after she's finished, if nothing else. What kind of things you'll be good at,
and that kind of thing. If you'll like men to have sex with and matters like
that." Again it was half teasing, but this time there seemed to be
something of a question in the words.

Not that he didn't know the
answer there.

"Women, only. Speaking of
which, you aren't dating Commander Derring, are you?"

"Um, nooo. Why?"

He snorted a little, but didn't
look away.

"The obvious reasons.
I want to get her into bed. She's afraid that you'd be mad at her over it.
Which, if you aren't seeing her yourself, would be ridiculous. You can
talk to her about it, and recommend me to her when you get here tomorrow. I'm totally
unskilled, so try to gloss over that portion of things?" It wasn't a
question, but it did get a laugh.

"Oh? So I'm your match maker
now? Are you looking to marry her, or just get her into bed?"

That the first one was possible
got him to blink. Not that it should have. If the woman were married she would
have mentioned it or possibly produced a husband already.

"The second one. People here
have mentioned Princess Karina for a betrothal. I mean that, too. Apparently
the bloodlines are all right for that? You know her, right? Can you recommend
her for the job?" He was just asking, but Tor stiffened, then seemed to
force himself to relax.

"I... Yes. She's a wonderful
person. Do you want me to mention the idea to her officially? Ali should do it
really, since it's her job, as your mother. I'm going to have to warn you
there, she has plans for you. Real ones, I mean. As your new mother. She's even
been taking lessons on how to do it over the last few days, so try to be
nice about it when she insists you go off to school. That, or sleep with half
of her friends. She has a very different outlook on that kind of thing than I
do. I'm working on it still. So, yes, you can date Karen. Be polite about it,
and if she's putting you off, just accept it. If you push her too hard she will
have sex with you, even if she doesn't want to. That wouldn't go well." He
seemed nearly stern then.

Dareg nodded in return. It was
the first threat, then. He either treated Karen Derring well, or else.
That probably went not just with all the women that Torrance Baker knew, but
all people, men or women, anywhere. It was a thing he was kind of famous for,
protecting others.

"Understood. So, I guess we
should start the Princess Karina thing? We should at least meet, and see if we
can stand each other. I don't know if I can do it. Be married? A lot of people
seemed to think it was a great idea however, and if it works... Well, I'm
backing the King, you know? I get the whole Prince thing, but..." He got
ready for a fight then, and Tor did stiffen a little bit, but when he spoke his
words were different than expected.

"You don't have to do what
he says. I mean, you do, but you don't have to defer to nobles, just because
they're tall. That was part of my own pattern, back when you were conceived. Do
you feel like you're about to die around all of the large people? Or like you
have to do everything they hint at?" It was probing, and worried at the
same time.

Right until he snorted about it.

"Me? No, I tend to
boss them around just like everyone else. I'm kind of surprised no one
has called me on it yet. I would have, since I've been verging on being a
complete idiot a few times. So far everyone I've met has been pretty kind to
me. Especially King Richard. Sara mentioned something about a command line
power? Chemicals that I give off that make people think that I'm in charge?
I've been working not to abuse that, now that I know about it. On the good side
it isn't total. People can, and have, said no to me. So I don't make
them slaves."

Tor looked at him for a bit, then
nodded.

"Keep that up then. You're
probably having a very solid effect on the King, since he has a pattern that
makes him vulnerable to that kind of thing, so you shouldn't ask him for
anything. That includes suggesting things around him, at least in person. You
said that you're backing him? In what?"

He went still for a second, then
waved Bill over, since the man was three feet away and would hear him
regardless.

"This is Bill Humboldt. He's
the plant facilities manager for the Noram Capital Space Port. Gardens. Working
with Gerent? Anyway, Commander Derring, the King and myself are looking into
some trouble with the High Servants. Some of them seem to be trying to take
over, for political reasons. As far as we know that isn't about hurting anyone
yet. That's what I was talking about. Are you in on helping with that, at least
loosely? I know that as the Ancient of Vagus you might not be allowed to do
anything like that, so I get it, if you can't."

There was a sudden, very sour
look, and a glance away. It seemed to be filled with shame.

"I'm in too, then. They're my
fault. I started the order, as a way to get some people out of the way and
dumped it on Karen. It was a joke at the time, I swear. It was a mistake. I
should have walked away and left them all to their own devices, but too late
now. Hopefully this won't be too bloody. I'll get with Smythe on it, too. We,
he and I, along with the Finance Councilor were all involved originally. I'll
handle that part... Now. The important things first... You've been eating
enough? Everyone has been nice to you? You've only had two strange run-ins with
mechanical people from the void?"

Dareg crossed his eyes.

"I could probably use more
food, and I really hope those clockwork folk will stop trying to rob people to
test us. I kind of understand, but it's annoying. Other than that, they
seem all right. That's all I can say so far. We have a meeting with them
tomorrow night, at Sam Builder's palace. At dinner?"

Tor nodded, "I heard that.
It will be interesting. Their fleet shouldn't get here for another eight years,
so for them to have people here already, talking to us, means something.
Anyway, you know to keep in touch, if you need me, or us here, to do anything,
right? You too, Bill. We can get free workers from Harmony really
easily. Just tell Dareg what you need and he can call me or Tiera to get things
going for you."

Dare made a considering face and
nodded at them both in turn.

"Sounds like a good idea.
Talk with you later? Tomorrow most likely, before you get here, demanding that
you all come out naked for the Austrans. They don't seem very happy to hear
that you all aren't landing there first. Especially Timon."

Tor winced then, and seemed to
understand everything, without it being explained.

"We'll have to make it up to
them. Vagus will be easier that way. There might be some singing and
dancing, but other than that, they won't expect too much from us. Get in touch
if you need me. Bye." Then he just waited.

Dareg got that. He didn't want to
be rude either.

"Bye." He tabbed off
first, tapping the sigil once.

They were at the pod house, about
then, and Bill looked around, then turned to walk toward the encampment on the
far side of the port. Where he'd been the night before, sleeping on the ground
with thousands of other people.

Dareg shrugged.

"You can use the floor in
here? It won't be much more comfortable than the ground, but the sound of
snoring will be lighter, I bet. We can get you some blankets and pillows? I
want to chat with Tam-unit anyway." He'd kind of been neglecting her,
which was foolish, since she was going to be needed at the other ports.

He and Bill moved over to the
slightly glowing blue box, the familiar Tam face coming up on the window as
soon as they got there.

"Hello, Tam-unit! Is
everything going well? People have been keeping you full, and all that?"

"They have! Of course I've
been arguing with people all day about not being able to make alcohol for them.
Should we let them have that? I didn't know what you'd want. It is a party, but
there are venders and the tavern for that. Should they get drunk for
free?"

"Nope. Great call. Now,
not to be mean, but could my friend here have some bedding and a pillow or two?
We can collect up some things while you work? I'll do that. Bill, you should
catch the things so they don't end up on the ground." They were already
popping out of the front, through the side of the box, after all.

That meant jogging around and
picking things up for a while, but just as things were about done coming out,
he was able to replace the materials used with trash. A lot of it was food.
Fruit peels, and partially eaten things that had fallen on the ground. That
meant, after telling his friend Tam-unit goodnight, he had to go, make a door
again, then wash up before changing into sleeping clothes. He took the bed,
because it was his, and Bill didn't seem to mind the idea of curling up on the
floor.

It occurred to him that if he
could hide the door, because having walls was part of the pattern of the pod
house, he should be able to make the floor like the bed. It would have to still
be the floor, in case he had to leave, but by touching the wall, like he'd seen
Sara do earlier, and focusing hard for a few minutes, he got the whole thing to
go soft under his feet. Bill squeaked, but rolled over and started breathing
heavily then, already out for the night.

Which he needed to be too, since
he was in for a whole four hours of sleep, if he was lucky.

It came pretty easily, so that
was nice. At about five, based on the fact that there was no real lightening of
the sky yet, Bill shook him gently.

"Ser? It's time to get up.
You have to go to Austra?"

That got him to blink, and he
forced himself to sit. Then, instead of stumbling around for two hours he found
the little focus stone disk that Alyssa had given him and tapped it. Alertness
flooded his body and brain like a sweet wave of life. Getting that Bill had to
be suffering the same thing, he pulled the thing off and handed it over.

The man smiled as it came back, a
few seconds later.

"Oh! I'm dreading the day
far less now. Prince Gerent said that he'd come and take me to find the first
trees that we'd need. For the green belt? That's what he called it. That's not
until dawn, so I have lots of time. I haven't slept that well for weeks. The
floor went all soft?" He bounced a little, so Dare got up, stretched his
hands up above his head, and pushed his too long hair back.

Then he closed his eyes and
touched the wall, making the floor real again. Hard and like stone, instead of
a mattress.

Bill yelped again, but smiled and
bounced a few more times. Then the man nodded.

"You'll be needing your
breakfast, ser. I'll go get that while you ready for the day?"

Dareg smiled at him, since it was
kind of clear that he was trying to play servant. Which wasn't his job, but was
smart. Making yourself useful was about the best plan possible, after all. It
was the only thing between each of them and being tossed out, most likely.
Really, it showed that his little farmer friend was bright enough to work that
kind of thing out for himself.

"Thanks. I need to shower
up, and get things ready. I'm going to need room for about two hundred. I also
need to find David Derring, since he's going with me. Commander Derring,
too."

After brushing his teeth,
showering and dressing for the day in a light blue suit, with a black shirt
under it, he found them easily enough, waiting with ten other people directly
outside his little house. All of them sipping what smelled like coffee from
ceramic mugs. The kind Tam-unit made.

Bill ran up to him, looking
nervous, to hand him a mug of the same stuff, and a small sandwich. It had egg
and bacon on it, and the bread was toasted. A strange morning meal, but savory
and with foods that were things he liked, when he could get them.

"Thanks, Bill. We should be
able to get going in a few minutes, I think. We need to get over to one of the
empty landing areas, so I can set things up. That shouldn't take too long. This
way everyone?" He didn't even say hello, since he didn't know who everyone
was yet, and didn't want to risk exposing them openly if it was supposed to be
secret.

David moved over to him, as did
the large man from the day before. The one with the pain and the beating.
Havar. Baron Havar. He got ready for another attack, but it didn't come, the
men either not planning that, or waiting for his guard to be down.

If so, they did it very well.
Havar slapped him on the back, reaching down to do it. His words were friendly
enough.

"We're your crew for this
trip. So I guess we'll see to sitting people on the other side and helping with
bags? The Royal Guards will protect Princess Veronica, and I have to imagine
that Count Peterson will protect himself if anything happens. Not that it will.
Ever since the old leader was removed from that land, the Austrans have been
peaceful sorts. Still, it never hurts to have a plan. You're the pilot, and
Captain, so we do what you say. I was just cleverly saying all that first so
you'd be influenced by it. Fine work, don't you think?" The large man, who
wasn't that great looking, smiled.

He had a real point, too.

"Yeah. That really does
work. We'll do it that way. Does everyone have a space worthy shield? I don't
have any more with me... Not that we're going into space, but close enough
breathing will be hard if people want to go outside to play." Only one
person, a woman that seemed to be in her fifties looked scared, and raised her
hand. That got Captain Derring to walk over to her, pulling at things on her
own neck.

"Here you go Ambassador
Callings. A gift, from Harmony. Not the Queen, her people."

Then they all stopped, since
there was bowing to be had, and the woman asked if it was allowed for her to
take such a rich and valuable thing. David had to hide a smile, since his
sister was the one stuck getting her to take it.

It was going on a bit however,
and Princess Veronica seemed about to intercede, becoming bored with the scene
already.

That allowed Dareg to laugh, and
wave.

"We can walk and do that
part? The space I want to use is right up ahead. We won't need anything near
one of those mountains back there. They should be leaving later today, but I
need to get in touch with them and check on the timing for that. We do not want
them all trying to go at one time. Or when we are." He jogged ahead then,
so he could activate his ship, which was living around his neck full time.

It was near priceless after all.

It was all white, or at least a
light gray, and looked like a rectangular box. A small one however. He allowed
it to grow, but not as much as it felt like it wanted too. He was filling the
spot he was in, when he finished, making the whole thing the size of one of the
palace restrooms that he'd set up, more or less. Large, and easily enough for
twice the number they'd been told to expect. Then he formed seating for them,
with tables for every four chairs. Soft ones that David suggested, for comfort.
They all seemed to be made of cushioned leather, and the tables of solid
mahogany.

The tall man, who was dressed in
rather plain black that day, like a soldier might have done, if in a different
style, looked around.

"We have a restroom, but we
should get some water. We can do that over the ocean, when we go into Austra. That
way we can serve breakfast while we wait for everyone to show up. You did
schedule most of the day for that, didn't you?" There was a slightly
worried sense to the words, like he might not have.

He smiled though.

"King Richard suggested I do
that. He seemed to think that me assuming people would be there on time was
pretty funny, come to think of it. Good idea with the food and water."
He'd had his sandwich, and was finishing his coffee, like most of the people
were, but he still felt a bit hungry.

Still, they were setting off not
ten minutes later, which everyone agreed was making very good time. It wasn't
even five-thirty in the morning yet. He rose up to two thousand feet, moved to
the west about ten miles, which took no more than a minute, even going slowly,
and then went straight up hard. Then, being very careful, he plotted the jump,
imagining a curved line around the world, and engaging before anyone noticed.
Thankfully that worked. He hadn't known it would for certain.

David Derring went wide eyed at
it, but instead of remarking on it pointed at the landmass beneath them.

"There, off the southern
area? About ten miles out or a little more. Then come in at no more than a
hundred miles per hour, and slow a lot near the water port there? That way they
won't shoot at us, or fear invasion as much."

He nodded, and had them in place,
and filling the hold below them with sea water, about ten minutes later. The
trip hadn't taken long that way, really, which wasn't lost on the passengers.
In fact Princess Veronica came to the front where he was sitting and looked out
at the docks with him.

They were a bit rundown looking,
with once smooth stone that was cracked, broken, and beaten now. Metal rods,
rusting in the salt water like iron and steel did, jutted from the stone,
showing that it was in no way natural. A thing like focus stone, only different.
It was a yellowish gray color, though there was a nicer section not too far
away. That looked newer, and like someone was trying to keep things up, if a
bit too slowly.

If there were people waiting for
them to get there, then they were hidden from view pretty well. That was
possible, since there were large warehouse buildings in the way. For a moment
he wondered if it was just the wrong place. Before he could say that however,
the Princess, who was leaning over his shoulder in a way that was a bit too
close for people that were supposed to be related, her breasts rubbing against
his back over the seat, nodded.

"This is where we always come
in. So, I think I heard something about a meal? It's almost evening here, so
what this means I don't know. Can you get in touch with whoever is in charge of
things on this end? We can at least let them know that we stand ready to
transport them."

That was sensible, and better
than him trying to come up with a fine meal, which, it was clear, the craft
could do without a food unit at all. David touched the wall and got one to
appear right there, built into the thing to save space. It didn't look like
much, just a hole, but he had a steady stream of things to eat coming, and got
people whatever they requested. Like Tam-unit, his ship even provided plates
and silver. He looked at it closely, which got the Princess, still cuddling him
for some reason, to nod.

"Shield material. It's a
good use of resources. The food is real, the rest isn't. There's less waste
that way." She kept pressing against him while he found the name of the
Prime Minister, which had his title in the device too, which was handy. Then, a
bit awkwardly he looked over his shoulder.

"Not to be... Aren't we a
bit too related? I heard something like that. Not that I care, mind,
but..." Rather than seem bothered by it, the six-foot six girl actually
cuddled closer and kissed his cheek.

Then she moved back.

"Well, I don't care if you
don't? Honestly, I wasn't really aware I was doing that. I'll back off now.
That was a bit out of character for me."

He nodded, as a rather harried
and harassed seeming Prime Minister Foley grimaced at him. It clearly took a
bit for him to get who was there, but when he did the look got more concerned
not less.

"Port Authority Canton? I
was hoping to get a few more hours. Things are... Well, the short answer is
that everyone and their sister, uncle and second cousin wants to be there to
meet the Revered One in person. I've been assuring everyone that he'll be by in
a week or so, but no one seems to trust that. There have been six fist fights,
one attempted stabbing, and around five hundred people calling others names.
That's just the government officials. The news corps groups are plotting to
storm your craft by force and take you away at camera point, I think. I
wouldn't suppose you could handle taking a few more bodies with us? About a
hundred?" He seemed about to have a breakdown, and almost as if trying to
make the point for him, a shoe flew into the picture and hit him in the side of
the head.

He said a curse word softly, but
didn't do more in retaliation than rub the spot he was struck in.

Princess Veronica leaned in
again, just as cozily as before.

"Do you need aid? We can
send for reinforcements, or come ourselves? Where are you? We're at your
southern docking area."

The man stopped, and then bowed
toward his own hand.

"Princess? I wasn't aware
you were coming, we... This is not going well, is it?"

She bowed back, using her head
mainly.

"I'm here as a sign that
Noram isn't planning to steal your Revered One. I have orders to stay on
as a hostage, if needed to prove our good will?"

That got a laugh, and it was
larger than the one man. The noisy room on the other side of the device went
silent after that.

"I'm certain that
won't be needed. We just have to sort things out, and it's really taking too
long."

Dareg shrugged, and looked at the
man. It was his ship taking them after all, even if it was his land they were
leaving from.

"Four hundred people. You
have to come. The rest can beg you for the privilege as far as I care.
Please make your own best speed here, and the rest can make it or not? You were
the one that arranged this, so you're the one I care about right now. We'll
leave as soon as you're on board, with your chosen people." He sounded snooty
and mean, but the Prime Minister didn't seem upset to hear about it.

In fact he smiled, a bit meanly
himself.

"Very well. You heard the
man. Load up, the first four hundred there get to go. There will be no
misbehavior past this point. If you do anything but act politely, I will have
you arrested immediately."

People complained about it.
Loudly, but the man on the window seemed pleased enough about it all.

"I should be there in twenty
minutes? If we could leave about twenty after that? We might need to flee for
our lives. Some aren't going to be happy about being left behind like this.
They'll just have to watch it on the screen like everyone else." Then the
man started to move and disconnected the device.

Princess Veronica was leaning
against him again, and doing it obviously enough that her husband glared at her
a bit. Rather than just leave the topic, the man, who was easily over eight
feet tall, walked to the front and placed a hand on her arm.

"Dear? You just
mentioned backing off?"

That got her to go wide eyed and
look a bit panicked.

"I did... I'm so
sorry, Dareg. I really don't understand what's happening here. I mean, you're
fine looking, but... It's like I can't resist you." She shook her head,
and looked at the others, who were mainly looking away, since it was awkward on
a level few things were. "I mean that, too. I don't just mean that I like
him. It isn't sexual, I just can't... Not touch him."

Karen who was in all white again,
because of her job, waved from about ten feet back.

"Put a shield on? I think
it's his pheromones. They cause people to like him and think that he's in
command. I don't know why it's reacting so strongly with you in particular, but
a shield may help."

The Princess, seeming reluctant
to do it, stepped back and tapped her chest, near the throat of her light blue
gown. A cascade of light came off her shield, directly from where he sat.

No one spoke for a moment. When
someone finally did, it was Baron Havar.

"Control that, Canton. Like
you did with the rage the other day. You're bombarding her for some
reason." He seemed in total control, and the Royal Guards looked like they
were gearing up to make him stop, if they could.

For his part he closed his eyes
and tried to do exactly that. Control himself. It wasn't simple, since the
feeling that was triggering it was kind of soft, compared to anger. He was
attracted to her, true, but that didn't do it. It was a sense that she was his
that had caused it. That surprised him, since she wasn't, but that was a
big part of it. To his mind, deep inside, the Noram Princess was one of his
people, so when she'd closed with him, his body had triggered. It was probably
designed to keep the people near him close. Devoted to him, on a level that
would be hard to resist.

It took about three minutes, but
he did manage to get the stream of things coming from him to stop. Probably not
altogether, but it wasn't aiming at her like it had been. She could have
probably moved back too, but this was more helpful to him, in the long run. He
could use the feedback to learn what not to do, if he could see it happening.

Then, not even being hit anymore,
she tried to move toward him, to congratulate him on a job well done. It seemed
a bit hungry though. Like she really couldn't bear to be separated from him
now. That was, he decided, going to be an issue. Hopefully no one else would
react that way. They were waiting anyway, so he turned his own shield on. It
might not stop him from influencing anyone, but it would keep him from being
fondled too much. Not that it wasn't nice, but it would be hard to fight
against if that kind of thing was taking place.

The Prime Minister had asked for
twenty minutes, and took nearly an hour and twenty to get there. The man, who
was in a long black wheeled vehicle was being followed by a line of similar
things in different colors. A few were very large, and held many people.
More than they were taking, by about three times.

Not that he counted, but it was
obviously too much. Sure, they had the room, or could make it, but that wasn't
the point. They'd set the rules, and while he might have made allowance for
kind, polite, people that had come to beg a ride, he wasn't going to do it for
people who would hit their own ruler in the head with a shoe over a thing as
minor as this. Then, it was possible that these were the nice ones, in
which case he'd work out what to do with them all.

It wasn't that.

As soon as Foley was out of his
vehicle, two men in tan single piece outfits behind him, with weapons drawn and
some bags, the others all tried to rush the bridge that Dareg had put out to
connect the ship to the dock.

Some of them even pushed the
others to get to the front. Not tiny nudges, or simply knocking into them, but
forceful shoves that sent others hurtling to the ground. As mentioned before,
fist fights broke out. That probably indicated that Foley hadn't just been
saying that earlier. Walking to the opening in the port side of the ship, Dare
held up his hands and yelled as loud as he could.

"Hold!" He had
to say it three times before they all paid attention to him, pointing little
handhelds at him to get his likeness. A few black ball like things floated in
the air, their single glass eyes aimed at him.

When he had their attention, he
waved at Foley.

"Prime Minister, please
board. Everyone else... Stop acting like animals in front of the fresh meat.
This is beneath you. Your... Revered One is returning, and I assure you
if he saw this he'd be filled with shame. I know that he, myself, Prime
Minister Foley and all of Austra expects better of you. Leave now. Go!
You who were pushing in and hurting people. Go! Let the people at the back who
were better behaved come up." He was about to make it into a threat, but
something in what he'd said worked, and they thinned, moving away for a bit,
actually letting the calmer people in the rear come forward.

Then they were able to load, get
people in seats and head out, going over the ocean first, then straight up into
space. He caused the ship to jump again, and was settling in at the spaceport
at the Capital of Noram much faster than he had the dock on the other side,
even traveling similar distances to get in. The two large ships were gone
already, he noticed, but he still used the same spot he'd taken off from before.

It was clear that different
people on the craft all wanted to do different things then.

The Prime Minister, and the
Ambassador from that land to Noram, a strong looking older man in a blue suit
with big shiny black buttons wanted to go and visit the King. Which was
actually the plan, being who they were. A good twenty of the others were
government officials, and most were low enough ranking that they weren't
going to court to visit with the royalty. The higher ranked ones were all sent
away it seemed, having been pushing and shoving for their places.

They had ten full news crews
however, who were indicating they needed to go and set up. One of the men
actually just walked up to him, bowed like he didn't know how to do it, and
smiled.

"I... Would it be all right
if we went with you? You're in charge of this place, meaning we could get
special access? It isn't an in to greet Timon Baker or The Tor, but we're from
a small channel. Really, we'd kind of been sent out on a lark, to get vid of
the people fighting to get in, not do it ourselves." He seemed a bit
embarrassed by that, like being poor was a great wrong. Not that he looked that
way. All of the people from Austra were dressed nicely enough, if in the same
basic outfit. Except the Ambassador. Even Foley was in a deep blue single piece
garment. It looked to fasten in the front. They all did.

"That would be fine. I'll
probably be running errands all day, but if you'd like to tag along, I could
use the company?" Then he stuck his hand out, since country folk and
Austrans both did that. He wasn't comfortable with it, but the man did it back.

"Early. Tomas Early. This is
Jan, Nimbus, and Cyra." They were all women, and of varying ages. Cyra was
the oldest looking, and seemed about sixty, but had bright red hair and gemlike
blue eyes. Her skin was very dark too, which reminded him of pictures he'd seen
of Princess Abbey.

The others were both normal tan
colors, though Nimbus had a picture of a cloud drawn over her whole face. It
was white, blue and gray. The thing shifted slowly however, even as he looked
at her. Tomas had three sharp looking metal spikes through the top of his nose,
and was otherwise natural enough. That left Jan, who was the youngest, and
was... Normal.

She was in a pink outfit, had
light brown hair that ran past her shoulders, and clear skin. She looked a bit
embarrassed when she noticed he was looking at her, and explained it to him.

"It's a thing, back home.
Some of the younger people, we... You know, we're trying not to stand out that
much. Make work, and being good to others the important thing? Instead of... Standing
out so much?" It seemed like something she wasn't proud of though, even as
she did it.

Dareg gestured toward the ramp.

"That makes sense to me.
Now, we need to get everyone off the ship, since I have work to do. This way,
everyone?" It took a long, long time to make that happen. Nearly an hour.
Then before he could close the door, Tomas ran back in with Nimbus, and they
walked back out, Tom in the front with two large black balls trained on him, as
the woman seemed to control them.

"This is Tomas Early, here
in the Noram Capital. The great event is upon us. Finally, after nearly eleven
years, the Revered Ones are returning. A vast festival has sprung up to honor
them. We'll be reporting from the scene, live, until the big event." He
was moving backwards, carefully, until he stood right next to Dare. "This
is Dareg Canton. The Space Port Authority for the entire world. Are you excited
that the Revered Ones are returning Dareg?"

A small silver ball, floating
like the larger black ones moved in front of him. Luckily he got that Revered
One meant Ancient, or at least immortal. Also that the one that Austra was
really excited about was Timon.

"Oh, sure. I was just with
most of them a few days ago, but it will be nice to see them all again. Excuse
me for a second? I need to see to the door here."

It was no harder to make the door
vanish on the jump ship than it was on the pod house. Actually, it was a lot
simpler. Probably due to the fact that the ship was meant to change
shape. So it was friendly that way, doing what he wanted in a few seconds.
Hopefully it would be enough to protect his vessel.

The camera crew had watched him
closely. It was an intense thing that had not just four pairs of eyes locked on
his back, but also two floating black orbs, a silver thing that was listening,
and two black units held in the hands of Cyra and Jan. Then Tom muttered that
it was amazing. It was said in a way that kind of ignored the fact that
hundreds of things around him where magical in nature. Including the ship that
they came on, jumping instantly through space like they had.

His next question was a bit more
invasive however.

"You were with the
Revered Ones? On Harmony?"

He nodded, since that was correct
for most of them.

"Right. I flew up there
about a week ago, using a new shield. Timon Baker made it? It took nearly a
day, but it worked. Then he gave me this ship." It was true, but they
acted like he was lying, or making up a story. It rang off of the man. All of
the people from Austra, actually. Why that was, he had no clue, but Cyra and
Nimbus smirked at him like he was being cute, and Tomas fought a smile.

Jan, the youngest of them, who
was still at least several years older than he was, seemed a bit more
accepting. It might have been that she was just trying to flirt with him
however. It was hard to tell.

Smiling he led them away, since
no matter what they thought of him, he had work to do.

Chapter twelve

It was nearly noon by the time
things really started to happen. The very first thing was Kolb finding him. Dareg
winced a bit and nodded on seeing the well dressed bald man. He was in a deep
blue suit, and looked good, actually. The thing was tight at the waist, and
showed that he was muscular under the soft material. Velvet, Dare thought it
was. The instant the man walked up, he smiled.

"New friends, Dare?" He
gazed at each of the Austrans carefully, like any one of them might be a
threat. Which was possible, but not likely.

"Collected at near random
from Austra this morning when I went with David and Karen to get the Prime
Minister. Tomas, Nimbus, Cyra and Jan. Everyone, this is Baron Kolbrin. Among
other things, and most importantly, my weapons and fighting tutor. I missed
even running this morning to go get you, so guess who's getting a beating for
that?" He faked being miserable, but he would be in for that beating
anyway, so didn't let the idea bother him. He had that healing amulet now,
thanks to his friend Sara.

That, he decided was going to be
the truth. The woman had looked out for him, and that meant they were friends.
There were some others like that too. Including Bill, and Kolb even.

The large man slapped him on the
back, and winked directly into one of the floating black orbs.

"That's right. Tomorrow
though. Missing one day won't ruin you. Still, get with me first next time? I
don't have enough time to stand around waiting for you to not show up. No one
does." There was humor in the words, but also a lot of wisdom.

"Understood. Anyway, I'm
taking these four around with me all day, so they can get... Special access?
I'm not certain what they mean by that, but I think they plan to go with me
when I shower before dinner?" It didn't really mean that, but there was a
mixed reaction to the words. Tom just laughed, like it was funny. Jan smiled a
bit, a little shyly, and Nimbus looked interested, the clouds shifting across
her face as she tilted her head a little. Cyra however just nodded.

"That would have to be
censored. You're good with that? We can run it on a time delay, I bet it would
get the ratings up. Most of us back home just assume that you all use these
giant tubs all the time."

The very strange thing was that
Kolb just nodded at her words, and smiled a bit again.

"If Dareg offered special
access, that does seem fair. If he gets a chance. He's going to be on
tap for a lot in the next few hours. Really, you need to get with Tiera and
Tor. I'd say that other name, but these four will pass out if I do, so you
should probably just do it, when it's time." Then he patted him on the
shoulder and looked at him closely.

"Keep your shield on, and
make sure you dress more nicely. All day. This is going out live to
Austra?"

Tomas nodded and pilled a small
purple handheld, then tapped it a few times.

"Yes. We have... Six hundred
viewers right now! Hello everyone! That's big numbers for us. Tell your
friends, since we might be seeing some things here today!" His voice was a
lot happier suddenly, which was good to hear. Jan grinned too.

"I didn't think we'd break a
hundred, even being here. We're kind of new, and small, as a channel. We should
find something big, as a reward for our viewers. I know, you can strip down and
take that shower, Dareg. I can come with you."

He nodded, since that was a
polite offer in some circles even inside Noram.

"My shower is too small for
that. I'd say we should go to the bathhouse, but I don't know if we'll have
time. Maybe this evening? Though watching the fireworks that Queen Constance
and Baronetta Coltress have planned might be more interesting. Now, I really
should do some things. We should walk toward the events? I need to walk the
port and make sure we know where the Ancients, the Revered Ones? I need to know
where they are landing, and in how many ships."

The port itself had three ships
in, but none of them were the full sized ones from fleet. Thankfully. Alice
Orange had gotten that part taken care of correctly, before he'd even thought
of it. That was probably why she was in charge of space. You had to be on the
ball to keep it all in mind like that.

He pulled his little handheld,
only to find a black orb moving over his right shoulder, Cyra clearly
controlling it with a little unit in her own hands.

"Stop for a second, I need
to get the screen in focus... And... Go." It was cute really, since she
was telling him how to do what he was already doing, but everyone else took it
seriously, and nodded. Even Kolb, who was clearly telling him to do it with his
body language. So he did, tabbing Tiera's name without waiting.

After twenty seconds or so a face
came up on the screen. She was sweating, had her hair back, and there were
sounds of people grunting, and the clash of weapons behind her.

"Hey, Dare. We aren't set to
leave for a few hours, so I was just getting a weapons practice in. Everything
all right on that end?"

"So far it really is. I have
some people from Austra here to meet you. Not now, but when you get in? Right
now I need to check. How many ships are you coming in? Connie is going to need
to know where we're setting up her and Richard's box. It would be easiest
if it were just one vessel..." He was hinting and not using the titles of
anyone on purpose, since he didn't know if the Austrans would understand that
or not.

He was, in the end, just some man
after all. The one that told the ships where to land, for the time being. The
Queen of the Moon grinned at him and wiped at her sweating forehead.

"I get you. One then. Not
that I'm not bringing my own so I can escape if it gets too boring. At five.
I'll set that up. Where should we set down and how will we know it?"

"Blue sector. It will be
ringed in blue lights. It's for a large ship. Full sized? That will probably be
impressive if it can be done safely. It's like a mountain about to crush you,
no matter where you stand. Good, so, when you get here you need to find Tomas,
Jan, Cyra and Nimbus. Um... Here?" He probably ruined the shot, holding
the handheld up so she could see the faces. After a bit she spoke, her voice
coming from the other side of the stone in his hand.

"Got that one then. This is
my team when I get there. I look forward to meeting you all? Now, I need to get
back to it here. Everyone is waiting for a turn with me." She said that
like it just wasn't true, then laughed, which had Kolb doing it too.

He didn't speak however, letting Dare
handle it all.

"See you then. Bye."
Then the thing in his hand switched off, a bit abruptly, which was probably a
good plan for the day.

Then he started walking, going
back, toward the blue section, to make sure all the lights would be on, and
shining as brightly as they could. That meant moving from thing to thing,
touching the tiny lights and resetting them, as he was followed around. It
didn't take that long, since there were only twenty of the things. One of them
had been turned way down and another was red, but they weren't broken or
defective, just miss-set.

Then he walked over to the
nearest Tam-unit, since she was going to be much more interesting than he was.
Who didn't like good sized blue boxes that had the face of pretty girls?

"Would anyone like something
to drink?" He looked around, and saw some nods. It was pretty warm out, so
everyone did want things. Tam-unit, being so smart, let her face smile in the
black window, and a hand came up to wave at the people as they closed in.

"Hello! What can I get for
you today?"

Tomas smiled and moved in, a
black orb floating over his shoulder.

"Vending machine? May I have
a list of your beverage choices and a price listing for them? This will be
going out on the comp service, in Austra, if that's allowed by your instruction
set?"

Dareg nearly didn't understand
him, but Tam-unit did, her face looking goofy for a second.

"There are no prices.
I'm a bit like the large food units that way? You're from Austra? Here for the
events today? It's really exciting isn't it? I'm hoping that I can meet with
Taman Baker. She made me. So, my mother? People say I look like her. I
imagine it's that we both have big blue hips, don't you?"

Dareg let himself smile and waved
at the box.

"This is Tam-unit. She's
really in charge of the spaceport here, and will be running the one in Austra
too. She controls the drinks though, so we have an excuse to come visit
her."

That got Tomas to smile, and then
look a bit strange.

"So... You're a computer? An
artificial intelligence? I wasn't aware that Noram had any of those..."

She tilted the image of her head
and finally laughed a little.

"More correctly I'm a copy
of Taman Baker. So I have all the secret family information in here with me.
Which people can purchase just by making sure that all the trash is put in the
hopper!" She gestured with her head, toward the sign on her right side.
"I didn't know I was going to be in charge of Austra's port. Here too? Ha!
I'm important now, aren't I?" She seemed pleased by it, like it was a good
thing in her mind.

Dareg nodded.

"You always were. Anyway,
drinks? I'd like some water? Cool would be good, please, if possible.
Boss." There was no harm in the people of that far off land understanding
that things were going to be a bit different at their new spaceport than they'd
thought.

The large glass tumbler came out
of the front, and Kolb had to get a lemonade before the others felt comfortable
going themselves. Jan was the only one to get a drink from her own land, which
she looked at, and took a sip of carefully as one of the black orbs were
trained on her.

The drink had bubbles that showed
through the side, lots of ice bits in it and was a bright pink.

"This is amazing."
She took another drink, and then closed her eyes, forgetting to be
self-conscious for a moment, even if she did look like she was from Noram,
lacking the ridiculous markings and hairstyles of the others. "I don't
think I've ever had better Sluice. Can I get one of you for my apartment,
Tam-unit? You can live in my front room, and be my friend."

That got the box, or her image,
to clap.

"How fun! I think I have to
live at the port, but you can visit me? I get bored. I'd love a
twenty-four hour news feed. That's a hint Dareg. You can get with Taman and see
if she can set that up for me? Please?"

He nodded, since that made a lot
of sense. She needed some way to see beyond ten feet away from herself too, if
she were going to be in charge of the port system.

When they were done he put his
tumbler in her side and patted her gently.

"I won't forget to ask about
that for you. It might involve some trickery to get a meeting with her, but
I'll pass a note at the very least. People are going to be busy later, I
bet." No one asked what he meant by that at all.

As he turned to walk away, Kolb
touched his shoulder, which got him to stop, and his clothing to change,
turning into a nice black outfit that sort of matched his own, rather than the
suit he'd had on earlier. It wasn't really better, but the Austrans noticed it
right off, as they walked.

Tomas shook his head.

"This whole place is incredible.
There's real magic, all over the place, and the excitement in the air is palpable.
It's a real honor to get to be here. Where are we headed next?"

That was a good question, since
what he needed to do would probably be pretty boring to the people with him.

He turned and pointed off toward
the front of the place. "Let's go around the outside, on the road, and
look at the houses? Then get to the festival out front. This is only part of
it, the real one is on the far side of the city. That's put up by Collette
Sorvee, Baronetta Coltress."

That got Cyra to call out, from
behind the controls of her orbs. She never looked up from her hands.

"Like Mike Coltress?
Any relation?"

Dare was about to admit he didn't
know about that, never having heard the name, but Kolb went first, his tan skin
glowing a bit in the bright sun as they kept walking.

"That's right. Michael is
Collette's brother. She's married to Dorgal Sorvee, the former King of Vagus.
Also a very good friend of Tor and Gerent. Timon too, I think. Lovely woman. I
don't know if we'll be seeing her today, but if you get a chance you should
interview her. Speaking of which, you all need better clothing than what you
have on."

Dareg got that one, and nodded.
It was for the same reason he did, so he explained, even though they all made
faces at the idea.

"Right. You have that
special access, so you'll be around a lot of important people. Really, we
should get a truth device and make sure you don't mean any harm. Do you have
one on you, Baron Kolbrin?" He was half teasing, but he had been in
control of a healing device he hadn't admitted to, so it wasn't that big of a
shock when the man smiled and bowed toward him a bit.

"I do, indeed. Here, you
should get this on the air. The device will make an aura of light around you,
in white and gold. If you lie, a black streak will appear. Here, Tomas, why
don't you go first?" He held the thing out, and activated it with a tap.

Rather than seem insulted, or
worried, the medium sized and clear skinned man took it almost eagerly. The
field transferred to him, leaving him coated in white, with a gold stripe right
done the middle.

"So it stays the same if I
tell the truth? We'll, let's see. I'm very happy to be here. I think that this
spaceport is marvelous, and that if we can get one of them in back home it will
be very good for our people." The thing didn't change at all, and the man
seemed amused by that, then, a bit meanly he caught Jan's eye. "I also
think that your plain and unadorned look is very nice."

That got a huge black streak to
dash across the whole thing, making him jump, and after a second causing Jan to
scowl.

"Fuck you too, Tom." It
was said softly, but Dareg heard it and smiled.

"The real question is, how
do you feel about the people coming? Do you mean anyone harm?"

It was kind of clear that being a
bit of a jerk to Jan aside, the man wasn't really violent or angry as a person.
Then, one by one everyone else got to go. They all passed, and made up lies, to
prove the device worked. Tomas surprised him though, looking down at his hand.

"Oooh. That's not
bad, if they'll play. The audience at home is wondering if you'd be willing to
answer some questions from them, while holding this, gentlemen?" He looked
hopeful, but Kolb shook his head.

"Not me. I know too many
secrets. Dareg, why don't you take a turn?"

That, it turned out, was a bit of
a mistake. Funny though, which even given different cultures he could tell
immediately.

Tomas waited for the field to be
set, and then came at him like he was accused of a crime.

"Tell me Dareg, how do you
like Jan's boring look?" There was a slight gasp of outrage from the young
woman and a blush that went with her pink outfit really well.

So he told the truth.

"I like it. She's decently
attractive, which helps. The rest of you look a bit funny to me, to be
honest."

That got a laugh, and the man
going on.

"Oh, so, tell us, do all of
you Noramites hold orgies every night? And can we get in to see one?"

That got him watched closely, as
Kolb actually turned away, fighting a smile.

"Not that I know of? I'm
willing to try if you all are though. Tonight?" There were three women
after all, and while Cyra was kind of old, he was willing to bet that wouldn't
be too big of a problem in bed.

Then he was hit with every
question that anyone in Austra had ever wanted to know it seemed. He was just
honest the whole time, which meant that, about half an hour later, people ran
out of good things to ask. They were down to how big his penis was when Tomas
suddenly called a halt to it.

That was good, because he'd never
measured it or anything. Who would even care about things like that? Except
Petra, when she was trying to make him mad. Thinking of that made him blush a
bit, but no one seemed to notice.

The man reading the thing shook
his head then.

"Sorry there. So, these
houses here, they're for great personages?"

He nodded and pointed behind
them.

"That one is. It
belongs to the Ancient of Noram. Sam Builder. Our Revered One? The rest are
just guest houses through here. I think that we should do something similar for
Timon Baker, at your spaceport. It's going to take a bit for me to set up.
He'll need servants and all that, so people will want to sign up for that
early. I don't know how to set that up. I'll probably end up paying for that,
too. Then we'll need to do Afrak, Vagus and Soam." Which was just him
making conversation, as the others followed along. Things, the press of bodies,
got tighter as they got toward the front where all the interesting stuff was.

When they got to his little
house, he stopped, and pulled out his handheld again, tabbed the right name,
and waited, not knowing if he'd get through at all.

For some reason Connie's face
came up almost instantly.

"Dareg! I was just about to
get with you. The set up crew is headed your way. We need to know where the
correct location is. I know this is an imposition, and I'm certain we can
muddle along, if you're too busy today to help us." She sounded slightly
concerned about it, but looking up he saw three teams of horse drawn wagons
slowly moving down the main port road, between the rivers. They had Royal
Guards with them, he thought, in black and purple. They were in front, and that
meant people were getting out of the way for them. So the wagons made pretty
decent time. Nothing else likely was that day, so it was impressive.

"I see them. The others will
be landing in the blue section. We'll set your box up a bit away from that,
since being crushed if someone messes up does not sound fun. We'll get
the Royal Guard that are coming to clear the road between the two places, and
let the crowd stand in the Orange section. Maybe green too, if that many show
up for it. I kind of hope not, since that will be a whole lot of people. Are
you flying over? I don't think you're getting in otherwise, not later."

She looked away, listening to
someone, and then nodded.

"Coach was the plan. Do you
think we should scrap that?"

Her face looked at him, like she
thought he was going to yell or be upset by the whole thing. He got the mental
image, of a train of horse drawn carriages coming, which would look
grand, but also understood that they'd never get there in time, even with armed
guards pushing people from the road. Not through the City, which was built a
bit like a maze.

"You should have at least
three ways to get here, and leave. I can make sure that we have a jump ship
ready, so that's one for a way out. Honestly, I think you should all fly over.
You have the right shield for that, right?"

"I... Do. We all do. I'm
afraid that I don't fly well however. A weakness of mine, being high up. It
isn't as bad in a craft. Would that be suitable, do you think? I don't know if
we have one available today however..."

He had to think for a few
seconds, but then nodded.

"I'll be over to get you all
then. We'll have to time it right, and probably land in the blue section, which
means we need to do it at least an hour before Tiera and her people come, or
we'll probably end up dead. I can... Be there at two-thirty? Or, would three be
all right? I need special permission to fly over the city. I could be sooner,
but I want to get with your people coming in and let them know the plan so far."

A deep voice called out that it
was granted, and since that was the King, it had to count. Then the man moved
in and explained how he'd need to land very slowly, and come alone. That got a
bit of a frown from Tomas, though the others were fine that way.

"We have an Austran camera
crew with us, and Baron Kolbrin? The Austrans were already checked out and
don't mean any harm."

The deep voiced ruler made a
considering noise and then chuckled.

"As long as you can vouch
for them, then of course. At three then. We should have seventy people?"

Kolb spoke then, waving back at
where Dareg had his craft set up, not that far away on a normal day.

"You'll have to make that
much smaller, or it will never fit. No more than a tenth that size. We can add
a few levels upward however, so there will be plenty of room for bodies."

That all made a lot of sense to
him, and Dare mapped the whole thing out in his head, then, looking at Connie,
smiled.

"Richard scolded me the
other day for being too abrupt getting of the handheld. He was right of
course. I should have been more polite about it. I blame my upbringing, since I
was taught how to be a low level merchant, not anything grander than that. Not
that it's a good excuse, now that things have changed. I hope you weren't
really too worried? After all, if I make you mad, I'm pretty sure you get to
just come visit and yell at me. Family and all that?" He smiled at her and
got a pretty chuckle in return. He also realized something. She was wearing a
disguise amulet.

Her face seemed to be that of a
lady who was in her youthful twenties, but when she smiled parts of her face
didn't move right. Her eyes didn't crinkle, for instance, when they should. He
knew she was older, probably in her early fifties. It made sense, but it was
jarring to notice it.

"Oh? I wasn't aware that we
were that close yet? Good to hear. Do I get to paddle you, too?" She
chuckled a bit, and so did the King, but Dareg had to shake his head.

"Not even as a game. I guess
I'm kind of prone to combat rage? That might be too dangerous."

The people on the other side of
the handheld when both silent and still from what he could tell, but Kolb
popped his face in and smiled.

"Don't worry. He can handle
a bit of a beating. If not, he has nearly perfect control over the state
already. I've only seen three people that were his equal that way, so young.
One of them was Cordes, so this isn't some small thing. So if you feel
the need, take his shield, and don't worry about misbehavior on his part. I know,
we can do that on camera later? It seems the chosen crew here needs to get
their ratings up a bit? The share they get today should be in the millions,
not thousands. I don't think they really understand that they're on with
the King and Queen of Noram, yet. Or that the slightly sweaty girl from earlier
was Queen Tiera. I imagine that their station will want to replay that bit
now?"

Tomas went wide eyed, then smiled
manically.

"We... Have that level of
access? I... Honestly I was thinking that we'd be lucky to get a tour of one of
the special houses here. Cyra, could you get with Jamison and Riley? We need to
get some of that footage looping." Then he made a slightly concerned
sound, that was close to panic.

Kolb held out his hand and
smiled, as Connie smiled on the screen for the cameras.

"Perhaps we can speak later?
You can all fit in the box, I think? We might need to clear you all again, but
if that isn't too rude? It's tradition. I hope that won't be offensive to
you?"

Tomas looked scared, and tried to
bow, which got the others, except Nimbus to try it as well, which got Kolb to
go, and then him.

It was really funny looking, but
no one laughed at them. Queen Constance did it back.

Dareg finally stood, and nodded.

"Good then? We'll be along
at three. I know that's early, but I was warned that you noble types take even
longer than normal people to get places? Poor Prime Minister Foley... Well,
that wasn't a great thing. We'll need to make sure he's there too. Can he be in
your box, or... Should he get his own? There isn't really time, I don't
think." He hadn't even considered it before.

Luckily the Queen had.

"We saved a seat for him and
the Austran Ambassador. It's good of you to think of our friends however, Dareg.
We await your arrival." Then, gracefully, she got off the little window in
his hand.

He looked around and sighed.

"Okay. Kolb, can you see to
outfitting our crew here? Clothing, and probably shields, just in case anything
goes wrong? I'll jog out and get with the Queen's set up group." He looked
at the man and held his hand out. "May I borrow your truth device?
Otherwise I'll probably be two hours proving to them who I am, and that they
should listen to some kid."

The thing, which was white stone
with a glowing pink "T" on it was dropped in his palm instantly, as
the man turned.

"We rally at the ship in...
Call it twenty minutes? Be in touch if the schedule changes. That will have us
in at the palace just on schedule, so try to hurry?" There was a tone that
said it might not be possible.

Dareg ran then, going as fast as
the bodies in the way would let him. The wagons were coming directly at him, which
was about the only thing that let him get there at all. The guards were good at
getting people out of the way, making threats of violence and waving things
that were almost certainly deadly weapons around, left and right. Almost
everyone that could was diving under the river and scurrying off. Proving they
were the smart ones.

He had a job to do though, so as
six weapons pointed directly at his middle, he triggered his shield, and
the truth thing in his hand.

"This way. The Ancients will
be landing in the blue section. We need to set up on this side of it, down the
street. I'm Dareg Canton, I'll be going to get the King and Queen in a few
minutes, so that we can fly them in, rather than using the carriage. How long
will you need to set up?" He wasn't lying, and the man in front, who was
older, but still really strong looking, nodded at him.

"It takes about an hour to
get the boxes and chairs up. We can only move the materials in at best wagon
speed. Can you take me to the location first?"

He got the idea. The man could
see what was needed, then jog back, and tell the others what to do. That meant
he understood that there was time limit as far as Dare being there went.

"This way. Clear the path!
Get out of the way! This man is armed and crazy! Move!" He kept yelling
that, as the very clearly armed older man jogged along behind him. It worked
pretty well, and people actually did remove themselves from their path, which
meant it only took about most of the time he had. Thankfully he could see his
ship off in the distance.

The door may have been closed
before, but now it was an interesting looking thing that was about as tall as a
five story building, but thin, like a spire. It was round too, making a circle
and the outside had been made to look like shining black glass. He could see
in, though not really make anything out very clearly, being too far away. It
was way nicer than the bland rectangle he'd had earlier.

Pointing he described what he had
in mind.

"There, in that clearing?
It's a full section away, but the craft coming in will be big, I think. It will
still feel like we're all about to die, even back here. That road needs to be
cleared. That section over there, along the other side of the road will be for
the regular people. I think there's a parade, so we need to give them a path
for that."

The man nodded, looked around,
and waved his hand while going over everything that had just been said. Then he
grimaced.

"Next time I want this to
all be set up at least two days ahead of time. Doing it on this short of notice
means there will be mistakes and gaps in the plan." His words were hard,
slightly angry seeming, and correct, as hard as it was to hear.

Dare had kind of thought he was
holding it all together pretty well, but it wasn't wrong, the Royal
Guard saying that. Planning was better than making things up as you went. So he
bowed toward the man and tried to keep his reflexive anger off his face. It
wasn't about how he felt.

"I'll do that. There might
be a thing in Austra next week, so it's good advice. I'll find out if King
Richard and Queen Constance are going, or if any of the other immortals are. Do
I get with you about that, if it's the case?"

He got a bow and a smile in
return.

"I'm George. That will work.
You can contact any of the Royal Guard and it will happen. You need to be off
to see to your tasks?" He waved toward the now spire like jump ship, and Dareg
nodded.

"If you're good here?"

"I have it. Go!"
Then the man turn and ran off, calling out that he was a crazy man with
weapons and that everyone needed to get out of the way. That worked too, Dare
noticed.

He did much the same, not laying
claim to anything dangerous himself. The road he was on was still clearer, and
he was able to dodge around everyone easily enough. He didn't stop until he was
through the side door of his craft, sealing the door as he gasped for air.

This bottom part had all the
people on it, so he nodded, and moved to the control chair, which Kolb nodded
at. The crew from Austra all looked a lot better suddenly. Tomas was in a nice
green velvet outfit, and was nearly normal seeming except for the three shining
bars on the bridge of his nose. The ladies were all in dresses. That made Jan
look really cute, though she needed some makeup. Possibly not however. Her
dress was magical and well designed enough, having a lot of frills and white
lace for trim. She also had on cute little pink shoes and white hose which
showed at the bottom, the thing only going down to her knees. It was proper
enough, but left her seeming a bit daring. The other women were in more
matronly outfits, Nimbus was in sky blue, but hers was nearly a robe, and Cyra
was in a foam green dress that was very nice, but tight around her, showing
that older or not, she had a nice figure still. It was better without being
hidden under the single piece thing that she'd had on earlier.

Then Dareg took the craft
straight up a few thousand feet and floated out to the west, explaining the
protocol that he'd made up as he went.

"You always leave on the
western side. For all the ports. Two thousand feet up. So we need to make a
circle and come in directly over the palace. Then we drop very slowly, taking
about ten minutes. If you move faster than that the weapons systems will
activate and kill anyone trying it." That wasn't what the King had said,
but lie or not he was being put out to Austra, and Tomas nodded as they got in
place and lowered no faster than was suggested.

"Is that how landings will
be done over Austra? To prevent the missile system from attacking the landing
craft?"

Dare tilted his head, thinking.

"I have to get with the
people on the ground there, but it makes a certain amount of sense, doesn't it?
I don't know if it can be done, but I'll let them know you suggested it. Now,
when we get in we're going to have to stall for a while. The set up crew will
need the time, probably about an hour, so... Refreshments? You didn't dump all
the water, did you?" He glanced at Kolb who smiled and shook his head.

"It's in the back wall,
going up to the fourth level. That way if we need to head to space we can stay
there for a few months or longer, if we're careful. You did say this was one of
the evacuation plans. Not that we'll need it, but having the leaders of three
lands together in one place makes for a tempting target. If it comes to it,
it's our job to make certain they all get out alive. Understood? Even if we
have to die to do it." That seemed a bit too intense really, but he nodded
anyway.

"That's a good point. We
should set that up too, and make sure everyone else is ready. Can you get in
touch with Harmony and let them know what the plans are? Tiera said she'd bring
her own ship, but if we could get more than one, that might be good. The Royal
Guard in charge, George, mentioned that I should have planned better, and earlier."
He gave the floating black orb next to him a sour look and sighed. "Which
was correct. I messed up a bit, not planning things out sooner. I blame youth, and
the fact that I only got the job five days ago. That won't work as an excuse
next week however, when... The Revered One, Timon Baker, returns to Austra.
Everyone there will help me with that, right?" That didn't seem likely,
but Tomas patted his side, took out his purple handheld and smiled as he read
it.

Then he cleared his throat.

"Clarence Memes has
volunteered to act as a guard for the facility. Does he report to you for
that?" It was clearly a joke.

Dareg nodded.

"Right. So Memes is in
charge of that. Everyone get with him. Select out the right people. I'll...
Send, or bring, a truth device to you, if I can get one." Hopefully
Clarence wasn't six, or a moron.

Then, if he got the job done, did
it matter if he were a child?

Kolb smiled, and leaned in.

"Clarence, you'll need to
release your contact numbers for that. No one call him unless you're volunteering
as well. You'll want to send a Terry handheld to him for that, Dareg."

Whoever that was. The name
sounded familiar, and as they settled his own handheld buzzed. Just as he
opened the door to the outside, walking toward it, he tapped the thing into
play.

"Dareg here. How may I help
you today?"

The man was fine looking, but
seemed a lot like him, if a tiny bit stretched, which meant tall, no doubt. At
first he wondered if it were Timon, but he wasn't quite as good looking.

"Dareg? This is Terrance
Baker. I was watching the news feed and saw what Kolb just said. I can get you
some handhelds. I'll bring them with me today? We're all gearing up to leave
from here directly."

Terry handheld, as in the wizard
that made them. It had a certain ring to it.

"Thanks! You're the Ancient
of..." He paused for a bit, having heard it before, but not having added
it to the list of ports yet. "Tellerand?"

The man, who had clear skin,
about the same mid-tone shade of pale that his own was, and similar brown eyes,
nodded.

"The High Day Leader there.
It about the same thing, but a religious office, too."

He knew nothing about that, not
having had a lot of use for religion in his own life. Some people did, and as
long as they didn't bother him with it, he didn't care that much.

"Ah? We need to talk spaceports,
I think. I don't think that Alice Orange mentioned you when we spoke of
that."

That got a big, and slightly
annoyed exhalation from the fellow. His uncle, he realized. Suddenly he had a
lot of relatives, considering that he'd only ever had one that he'd known about
before. It was a nice feeling, but scary at the same time. After all, they didn't
really know him. What if they hated him? What if they were all secretly evil
wizards?

Terry made a goofy seeming face,
which was charming, and spoke plainly.

"Alice finds me too good
looking to trust, and Tellerand too annoying to bother with. Half of that is
true. After all, I am pretty good looking." It was said with a
conspiratorial air, rather than a massive ego, even if it was true.

There was a big difference
between knowing you were lucky that way and rubbing it in though, and he'd
managed to playfully stay on the far side of that line.

"You should disguise
yourself for her. Add some scars and a lumpy nose? It seems to work even if she
sees your real face first. It's what I've been doing and she'd been really
helpful and kind to me."

The light tan, nearly pink, face
on the device went blank then.

"Seriously? That
works? All this time I've been working through proxies, because everyone told
me she couldn't trust attractive men and I counted. I'll try it out, since
we're all meeting up in a few minutes. I have to run get those things for you.
See you in a bit."

Dareg was about to put his
handheld away, but decided to see if he could find George the Royal guard on
his device. It was a real long shot, but to his surprise the man did have one.
It was in a long list that started with Royal Guard, each entry having a single
name after it.

The man was fine when he
answered, not showing any stress at all.

"Dareg here. At the palace,
with a large group of people coming in. How long do you need?"

There was a bit of hesitation,
then the man answered, without bothering to say hello.

"Fifty minutes. The wagons
are just arriving. Less if we can press people into working. I don't suppose
you can pay them? A copper for an hour's work would get us a lot of aid out
here."

He could see that, and it was
worth it, but getting at his coin would be hard for a bit. Finally he explained
to the Royal Guard what would be needed, and the man nodded.

"I can send Sara Debri in
for it? She says she can get that done."

"Do it." He didn't add
that they shouldn't take anything that was his or leave the door open. He was
probably going to lose all he had then, but Sara was his friend, and immortal.
Making her mad at him by being accusing would be worse than losing what little
he had in life. He could, if need be, start over.

Then, as he walked out, he placed
his device away, and smiled, everyone else behind him. So he bowed, going low,
which meant that the King returned the move, going halfway down, so everyone
present had to go lower than that.

The Queen started to move toward
him, only to find four Royal Guards, all smaller than she was, moving between
them. She started to look scandalized, but Dareg just bowed again.

"Exactly right. It was just
mentioned to me that having the rulers of three lands here today, we need to be
very careful. Harmony is bringing in several extra ships, in case they have to
run away. This one is for those of us here, right now. We should each use the
truth device and show our good will? I'll go first, of course." Because
stalling for time was the order of the hour, if not the whole day.

It really didn't take very long,
and no one balked at the idea, or seemed upset, not after King Richard and
Prime Minister Foley both went directly after him. All the arrayed
nobles kind of had to go then, and only one of the people, an attractive and
decently tall blonde woman seemed upset about it.

Even she was half playing.

"I should just have one of
these placed in my behind. Then I'd never be without it." Her words were
muttered so softly that no one seemed to hear her except him, so he bowed
toward her.

"I understand the feeling. Dareg
Canton? I think I... Casually met you once? At the Thompson's dinner party the
other evening? I wasn't introduced to you, I don't think." They'd met and
she was Countess Ward, but he didn't think of that until after the words had
been spoken. She'd hugged him once, even.

The lady, who was about thirty or
so, looked at him like he might just be made of something delicious, and bowed
back, matching him.

"I do know you, of
course, Prince Dareg. Wonderful to see you again. Countess Maria Ward. This is
my husband, Marvin, the sitting Count Ward." The man was nice looking, and
about twenty years older than his wife. Still, it was a good paring except that
she was about six-four and he looked to be about nine-three. The fellow
smiled kindly, and looked pleasant. It was strange, because both of the people
acted like it was their first meeting, though that wasn't the truth. After a
bit he understood the reason. He had been introduced, but in private.

To their minds he was allowing
them to disavow that ever having happened. The idea flickered over both faces,
with the Countess looking almost shrewd on its heels, though she hid that
fairly well, almost instantly.

The vast man merely smiled, not
giving anything away at all. That was a rare talent, actually. Dareg couldn't
have pulled it off.

When the count spoke, it was very
pleasantly, though a bit guarded seeming.

"My sister, Petra, mentioned
you. She speaks highly of you, too, which is a good sign. She wouldn't
if you couldn't back it up." The words got a strange stir from the others
there. Half of them seemed nearly embarrassed, and the Queen looked ready to cry
suddenly. King Richard looked away, clearly a bit upset, and Count Peterson... Laughed.

"A high recommendation then!
I've never heard anyone claim Petra Lairdgren to be less than noble and
forthright, without hesitation. An admirable trait, don't you find, Prince Dareg?"

He nodded, and smiled, working
out that a good part of the people there had figured that he'd be insulted
about her saying that. It might have been her brother saying it however, which
was hard to tell, to be honest.

"She and Gerent have both
been really kind to me. Gerent hasn't even beaten me yet at all."
He grinned, and shrugged, explaining so that no one would take it the wrong
way. "Fighting practice yesterday. There's a small dent by the spaceport
with my shape where she kept throwing me down. If she didn't mention how poorly
I did that must mean she likes me!"

That got Count Ward, Marvin, to
move over and clap him on the shoulder, like they were old friends, and
Peterson to do the same on the other side.

Then the man looked around.

"We're all cleared here.
Should we be underway?"

It was still too early, so he
decided to cleverly ply people with food and drink first. After admitting to
the truth.

"The ground crew needs about
twenty-five more minutes? They'll work better without people looking over their
shoulders. I always do anyway. We have food and drink inside however?
Comfortable chairs, and by the time everyone has a small snack, we can be there?"
He looked at the large Counts, and signaled for the King and Prime Minister
Foley to come over. That they did it was very kind of them. He also got most of
the Royal Guards there. "As soon as we land, we need to get off of this
and head directly to the boxes. I'll try to set down right next to them, not in
the blue section, but the crowd will be building soon. We'll have the people on
the ground there make a path and guard it for you all. If anything happens, you
all need to get right back on the ship. Prime Minister Foley, King Richard,
Queen Constance and the Ambassadors need to get off last. Guards first, unless
that's a bad way to do it?" He looked at one of the women, who had dark
black hair and a nice nose that was powerfully large. She was still good
looking, in a hard and lean way.

She also seemed to be in charge,
from the way she was standing.

"A good plan there. We go
out first as a test. You stand by at the controls. When I give you the all
clear, you lift off to your standby position. As soon as we have things
secured, I'll be in touch with you. Smoke signals?" Her face was playful,
under the hardness and serious nature of her words.

He nodded.

"Use a handheld first? A
Terry Handheld? You have one?"

She nodded, pulling it for
confirmation.

"From the man himself. Royal
Guard Kara. You're under Dareg Canton?"

"Right." Then they went
over the plan again. Twice. Then they got everyone on the craft, slowly. They
really did take their time, walking sedately. It was an almost pretty thing,
given their nice costumes and the green grass of the lawn. Part of the craft
was on a focus stone pad, which was tan, even for the King. Even made
tall and slender the ship was too big to rest on that alone. Dareg had tried,
but it simply wasn't physically possible.

Kolb and Jan from the news crew
helped with the food and drinks, followed around by the rest of the crew, who
were busily talking excitedly to the "folks back home". It was a good
trick really, since Jan was able to openly approach everyone, and she was the
one being focused on, since she nearly fit in there. She was a bit too short, being
about five-six, like he was, but other than some mild groping, mainly from men,
but a few women too, she seemed to do fine.

Cyra seemed offended by it, but
Tomas pointed out that Baron Kolbrin was being touched at least as
often. Mainly on the behind.

"Perhaps it's a cultural
thing?" There was real diplomacy in the words, but Dareg shook his head,
which got their attention, and a black handheld camera unit pointed at him by
Nimbus.

"Or, and I mean this with
love, they're both just cute, and people want to get them into bed?" Then
being pushy, he cleared his throat and spoke loudly. "By the way, the
people from Austra here are all off limits as far as bedding, unless you clear
it with me first. They do seem interested in putting together an orgy?
Baron Kolbrin is on his own."

It was probably rude, but Queen
Constance smiled at him then.

"Very well, Prince Dareg.
I'm sure that many will be interested in that? Until people ask, I'm sure
no one will take any advantage of your people." She said it with a happy
voice that also had a bored hint to it.

Very cultured and also phony.

Count Ward and his wife, Maria,
both came over directly.

It was the lady that spoke, her
face pleased. She even clapped her hands a little.

"That sounds wonderful!
Tonight? I think we can get away. Will you be there too, Prince Dareg?"

It was funny, since half the
Austran people blushed, but Dare shook his head.

"I have a meeting later,
then I need to sleep. We should get together though? All of us? I don't want
to..." He blanked then, trying to recall what Commander Derring had said.
Finally he just shook his head. "Honestly, I'm stuck here. I'm not into
men for sex, and you're very pretty, but your husband is right here. I'm
not sure how to address all of that?"

The black, floating, camera orb
swiveled, it's single glass eye watching first him, then the blonde woman. She
could have said anything, or made fun of him, which would be fair enough, but
instead she nodded, and smiled.

"Oh, well there's lots to do
then. We can have sex alone, or you could both take turns with me? Though if we
have a group we'll have to pace ourselves. A person can only do so much, and
you all look like wonderful fun! It is a King's Week tradition, though we've
never had any Austrans with us before. That's a treat, isn't it, Marvin?"

He was making eyes at Nimbus, who
smiled back. Whatever else was happening, she got the flirting portions well
enough.

They all kept speaking, so he
waved Kara over.

"It's about time. I'm going
to lift in a minute. We'll go around the Capital, and land from the east."

The woman patted his shoulder as
he sat, and gestured to her cohorts, who moved toward the door.

"Remember the order. You're
waiting for my signal on the ground, Canton."

That got him to take out his
handheld and set it on the armrest of his big and commanding gray chair, on the
left hand side, away from the controls.

Then he lifted off, remembering
that he hadn't actually called in that the line to the boxes needed to be
secured. It was, he saw from the air, done anyway. They even had the right
section, right next to the boxes for the people with him, cleared for landing.
He settled slowly and gently, after coming around fast. Then he faced the door
in the right direction, and waited for Kara who was in the right place to call
out.

"Door to open in three, two,
one... Guards, into defensive positions!"

Looking over his shoulder at the
people standing there, Dareg understood what had happened. Nearly a hundred men
and women, most of them very small, meaning common, stood lining the pathway
for everyone. Which was brilliant. The common people might be intimidated by
giants, which showed a bit as the first of them moved out, weapons drawn.

They'd also give their own
lives to protect the King and his wife. Maybe even for Prime Minister Foley,
knowing that failing that day would mean a war to the death with another land.
He also had a feeling that a lot of his coin had been passed out to buy their
loyalty. Over half of them had their hands held in fists at their side. Only
one for each, meaning they held something. At a copper per person that was only
about two gold, and worth the hire, as long as his new family didn't chuck him
out after that day. If they did, he'd probably miss the coin, eventually.

The procession was slow, and
there was cheering, as people came out. Even for the camera crew, who all
managed to wave at the people that were there. It wasn't just the ones lined
up, but the hundred thousand or so behind them. There were banners to welcome
the Ancients back, as well as flags in the Noram colors. It was clear that most
of the people couldn't possibly recognize who was there at all, but as soon as
the last person was seated, that being King Richard, and the guards had them
all surrounded, Kara got in touch with him.

"Lift off and re-land at the
designated position, in fifteen seconds."

This part was why George had been
right, he realized. Was he supposed to lift off in fifteen seconds, or be
landing then? It didn't really matter, and he decided to go with the first one.
He made the door seal firmly, and waited, then lifted and resettled very
slowly. It took a few minutes, but he really didn't want to risk crushing
anyone if they were a little drunk, or clumsy, and got in the way. As it was he
saw a tiny form very near his craft, dressed in green and brown, as soon as he
landed.

Bill Humboldt waited at the door,
looking youthful and earnest. Clean too, which was better than he felt at the
moment. He'd showered that morning, but would have loved to do it again, if he
had a chance. There were people coming. Important ones.

"Ser! Ser! I came to guard
your craft? Prince Gerent said you should go to the Royal box? He's there with
his wife, the lovely Lady Petra?" There was even a bow for him, which he
returned.

"Right. We need to stay here
for the time being. Or... Well, if you'll stand by the door here? Don't take
the ship up without me. If anything happens you'll need to hold it open, since
this is how the King, Queen and Prime Minister of Austra will be getting out.
Yeah, that will work. Um..." He took a breath, and passed his shield over
to the man. That would leave him naked that way, but if he was attacked it was
less important than the ship being protected. "If I die, you're in charge
of the spaceports. Understood?" He sounded very somber, but the little man
nodded, and put the shield around his neck, then turned it on.

"I will make it happen, ser.
You can trust that it will be done. No matter what." He seemed proud of
that. It was nice to see.

Then, without feeling all that
fearful, since there wasn't likely to be an attack, he walked toward the box
where everyone else was, and found himself escorted into place, rather than
being told to get back and stand with the crowd like the commoner he was.

Instead he got an escort, that
being George and Kara, who flanked him on either side. It made him wonder if he
was under arrest for a second, which was silly. If that were going to happen
they'd wait until after the event. He had work to do still.

The King raised his right hand,
waving toward him personally.

"Prince Dareg, over here? We
saved you a seat." They had, that being in the second row, nearly behind
the Queen. Given that there were full counts and countesses behind that,
it was a good position. He was right next to Tamerlane Thomson, her husband
directly beside her. As he passed she touched his arm gently.

"Are you well? I should have
kept you with me..."

He smiled at her and nodded.

"I am, thank you. If anything
happens here, we're all falling back to my ship. Bill Humboldt is guarding it.
He's holding my shield for me, so the door won't fall, no matter what."
That was particular language, since the man couldn't own a shield legally. Dareg
could. He was a noble, and had been given it by the maker of it directly. Well,
through Gerent, but it was the same thing. In a way he was claiming that Bill
was his sworn man, which wasn't really true, but sort of was, at the same time.

Rather than have an issue with
it, she simply patted him again.

"I understand. Hopefully all
goes well? I'm so nervous." She really looked it, as in feeling uneasy
about it all.

Pulling his handheld from its
little pocket, he got in touch with Tiera, who answered after no more than a
moment.

"Tiera here."

"Hello! We're ready on the
ground. Remember, land in the blue section. Come down on the east side,
about ten miles out, and move over the port at two thousand feet. Then settle
slowly. There's a band here. We need to get them to play when that happens."

There was a rustling, as Connie
shifted, and whispered without turning her head.

"As soon as the door opens.
Then we have a projection system set up, to announce you all? If you could come
out last dear?"

Surprisingly he didn't have to
repeat it.

Not only did Queen Tiera hear the
woman, she understood the idea they were using for the day.

"Right. Like a ball?"

He didn't know what that meant,
but the Queen did. It didn't take a long time to figure it out however, since
the giant craft came into sight falling from the sky. It was vast, and a
gleaming white that glistened like a pearl.

It moved slowly, and fast at the
same time, the great craft settled like a leaf. When the door opened a single
man, wearing a bright purple jacket and black trousers, approached it, as music
started. Then he spoke to someone inside the open thing.

After that, he turned and moved
two steps to the right, his old face still. When he spoke his voice was like
thunder, rolling across the port.

Dareg felt it in his chest, it
was so powerful.

The words stirred not only him,
but everyone. Even in the box with him everyone stood when he spoke.

"The Ancients... Have
returned!"

Chapter thirteen

"It is going to be a longer
evening than I thought." The words were muttered low, and didn't really
matter, since the screaming, yelling and stomping going on hadn't slowed much
yet. It was nearly five minutes after the first line had been spoken, and the
vast crowd had been doing that the whole time.

Even the King and Queen had
gotten a bit loud. That might not do much for dignity, but certainly did keep
the crowd going. Finally, not able to see anyway, Dareg stood on his chair and
leaned over, touching King Richard on the arm and leaning in.

The man actually spun in place,
his face slightly frantic. Pleased, but concerned. Probably because there was
no way for him to really get the crowd to go silent.

"Raise your arms, then sit?
I don't know if it will work..." He really didn't. Normally everyone would
have taken that as a clue as to how to behave in a situation like that. At the
moment there were too many, too far away from him.

"Perhaps. Let's see if
anyone notices?" The surprising thing there was that they really did. It
took about a full minute, but as soon as he stood, his arms majestically above
his head, all of the commoners that lined the road turned to him, and bowed.

Then they held it, as the move
spread. Like a wave moving on the surface of the ocean.

When it was silent, or at least
the world held no more than the muttering and rustling of a hundred thousand
bodies, which was still loud enough, the old man at the door bowed back at the
world, then turned, speaking to someone. Who it was couldn't be seen at first,
but when the man turned a tall, well tanned and light headed man walked out. He
was in purple and gold, but a fine suit of it.

As soon as his name was called he
started to glow, brightly, like a jewel. The purple and gold light swirled
around him, as he rose about ten feet into the air and started to float down
the focus stone pathway.

"Sam Builder, the Ancient of
Noram!" The words were like thunder again, and he moved quickly as the
world cheered for him.

From the back of the box, which
was fairly empty, the camera orbs stirred and floated outward, as if to meet
the man. It only took about ten seconds for him to get in front of the box,
where he was supposed to stop and sit. Rather than going right in, the man
bowed to the King, getting one back. It was returned, very properly, going only
halfway down, to show they were equals.

Then something surprising
happened.

The tall man, who was easily
seven and a half feet high, turned to the crowd, and laid on the ground.
With his hands out front, in supplication. Like he was begging, though that
wasn't really it. Dareg thought he understood the message, and more to the
point, so did everyone else.

He respected the King, but served
Noram.

Rather than act like it was a
sign of disrespect to his own power, the King stood and bowed toward him, going
so low that the crowd went silent. Dareg stood and did it too, since, like he'd
told Commander Derring, he backed the King. If they were bowing humbly that
day, then so be it. He noticed that they weren't alone, since everyone else in
the box got the idea at almost the same time.

Then no one moved.

Finally, probably to show what a
pain in the behind he was, Dareg called out.

"Ancient? Maybe you should
stand up before everyone gets cramps?"

The smiling giant scrambled a bit
to his feet, and laughed, waving to everyone. There was cheering then. Really,
that was going to be the big event, Dare figured. After all, this was their
Ancient. Everyone had bowed and cheered, so the rest of the day could go a bit
faster, if they worked it right.

Which of course didn't happen.
Not even a little bit. If anything it just seemed to have gotten the crowd
worked up.

The next person at the door was
actually two, since doubling up seemed to make sense, given everything. Dareg
took it to be that anyway. It was, he realized, kind of a personal thing for
him, being who was coming.

"Douglas and Lorelei Baker!"
There were no titles given, and they didn't float into the air grandly, though
they did a bit, and were dressed to go to a ball, it looked like. The man, who
looked to be a few years older than Dare did himself, was in a fine outfit that
shone in the sun. The blue sky overhead matching the trim of his outfit. The
woman was nearly as lovely a person as he'd ever seen. Both were tiny, compared
to Sam, who had, for some reason, managed to get a seat right behind the King,
meaning next to him. He probably should have been in the first row, but it
seemed purposeful, since he touched Dare on the arm and leaned in.

"Your grandparents. You're
supposed to usher them to their seats when they get here. I have a bet with
Trice. She says that you won't talk to anyone, and I said that you'll act like
you know them all. So, since I have to try and bake a cake for her if I lose,
you understand how much is riding on this? From scratch, too. I don't
know how to bake, so it's a bigger deal than it sounds like." His tone was
playful, with mock serious undertones.

Dareg nodded anyway. The man was
the immortal in charge of his entire land. That pretty much meant that, like
with King Richard, he should do as he said. Unless it was really stupid, but
that one, being kind to his new family, that was clearly the man trying to help
him.

On the day of their great return,
after a ten year exile, the first thing he did was make sure that some kid he'd
talked to once or twice didn't mess up getting a new family. That kind of thing
was probably why he got to be the Ancient of an entire land. Standing, Dareg
bowed to him, then moved to the front of the box, not going out into the road.
It wasn't about him after all.

When the couple stopped, he
didn't really know what to do, so he bowed, going low. Oddly that got everyone
else to do it too. Including the King and Queen. They didn't go as low,
but when the married couple stood up, they both settled to the ground and
walked toward him.

The crowd was a bit loud still,
but he spoke anyway, trying to project.

"Welcome home! I'm Dareg Canton,
we have seats for you?" He tried to turn, gesturing back into the box, but
was tackled by the woman. Lorelei. It turned into a big hug, as the man pounded
him on the shoulder.

The lovely lady, who was very
small, but just about matched his own light skin color, stood back after a
second.

"You came to greet us? I was
afraid that it would be more difficult than that. Now, what do you have
planned?" It was a bit bossy, but also cute of her, since the entire crowd
was watching them at the moment.

He grinned.

"Getting you two into some
seats? This way!"

They were game for that it
seemed, which let the others come out. Everyone got a polite and warm welcome,
though a few caused a real stir. Terry, who he recognized from the handheld
conversation earlier had a glowing chest behind him, but was dressed in all
black. It was a humble outfit, and he had a large cross on his front, made of
what looked like wood. His knees were nearly white, as if the fabric was very
well worn from kneeling. He didn't float along, but walked quickly, and when he
got to the King and Queen, he bowed politely, then kneeled and put his hands
humbly in front of him.

"Praised be the All
High."

It was just loud enough that a
few others in the audience echoed it. Not a lot of them. Being family Dare
moved to get him, and instead of a hug, got an amulet, which made the box
follow him instead of the immortal Ancient of Tellerand.

The camera orb, controlled by Cyra
still, moved in along with the small silver one that took in sound.

Terrance Baker, as he'd been
introduced, clapped him on the shoulder.

"Port Master. These are the
handhelds for your people in Austra. Please let me know if you need anything
else for your duty?" Then he suffered to let himself be taken to his seat,
ending up in a back row. Most of the others that had come out were relatives of
his it seemed, so far.

They were into the Ancients that
had their own lands now though, and even if they all looked pretty youthful, it
was clear that some of them carried more weight with the people than others.
People had cheered for Sam, but when Timon came out the entire world tried to
lay on the ground. Literally. It didn't work, so a lot of them had to kneel,
but they worked really hard to do it. He bowed at the waist, then oddly enough
moved over and gave both the King and the Queen a hug. Patricia, his wife, did
that part too. Everyone stood, a lot of them with damp tracks going down their
faces.

Looking around Dareg noticed that
the entire Camera crew with him certainly had that going on. He didn't, so he
moved out again, like he had for the others. No one stopped him, but he got
another hug. Really, at this point he had to wonder if the crowd just figured that
all of the people from Harmony were like that. All of them, including the ones
he hadn't met and wasn't related to, had done it. They hadn't all been like
that before, so it was probably just that everyone else was getting one.

Timon made a face at him, but it
was pleasant, if goofy.

"Like the others
didn't do their share to save everyone? I should have just called the big
devices Food Makers, shouldn't I?"

That was probably a good point.
After all, most of the food that Dare had eaten his entire life had come
from one of those things. If not directly, then the flour and other things that
was turned into his dinner were made that way. Everyone knew it too, so the
good looking man was about as famous as possible in Noram.

The lady next to him took his arm
then, so he could lead them both in.

She kissed him on the cheek.

"I hear we have a meeting
later? It sounds fascinating. Well, we need to get through this part first.
Where do we sit?"

Instead of taking them to be next
to the rest of their family, Dareg walked past that, to the very back,
where the crew from Austra was set up. They all stood the whole time, fighting
to get good angles on things. At least he assumed that was the case. Tomas went
wide eyed when they approached.

Dareg waited for the Black orbs
to both abandon looking at the door and who was coming out next, and for the
Prime Minister to abandon decorum and scramble over to where they all stood. He
was still crying, and didn't seem to care who saw him do it.

Dareg bowed to Tim and Trice,
then stood and waved his left hand at them.

"Timon Baker, Revered One of
Austra. His wife, the Revered One, Patricia Baker. May I introduce you to the
people of the great land of Austra?" He did it pretty well, if in a
merchant fashion. It probably lacked in elegance, but everyone there was
smiling about it tolerantly enough.

They all took seats in the back,
and at Tim's urging got the orbs around in time to see Tor and Alyssa come out.
They got a nice, if not tearful, welcome too. Though they got hugs from
the King and Queen, and both of those lasted a while, especially for
Tor.

When that finally broke up, Dareg
put his arm out for Ali, who was blonde, very nice looking, and had a large
enough bust line that he had to look away from her to not stare at it. It was
covered in lace at the moment, but showed a lot at the top. She was pretty
tall, and had to reach down to take his elbow. Which was turned into a
smothering hug, because that was just going to happen.

Rather than wait his turn, Tor
joined it, wrapping them both up in his giant arms.

"Son! That sounds so
strange." The man beamed though, and did get a bit misty eyed. "Thank
you. I know this had to be hard for you, coming like this today. Now, we need
to get out of the way. If they were loud before..."

He wasn't wrong. The next
person out walked alone. She was lovely, and had a slight crown on her head. A
circlet, he thought. It rested on her red curls. She was tall, but stately and
walked to the door as the man there bowed. He'd done that with everyone,
but this time he held it for a very long time.

His voice was booming, being
magically enhanced, but the words were nearly reverent.

"Princess Karina Cordes,
Ancient of Mars."

The world went insane then.
Honestly, for a minute Dareg wondered if the raw force of the sound would kill
some people. As it was, more than one lady in the crowd fainted. The walk down
the path was slow, and measured. Like she was about to go and get married,
rather than just sit in a box with the rest of them. She looked wonderful, in a
slightly shimmering and glowing dress that sparkled, in a combination of purple
and gold, with copper red highlights. It was at least as well done as any of
the others had managed.

When she got to the front of the
box, she knelt, her head going low toward her father. Then, instead of
something more sedate, she was set upon by a smothering of family. Her mother
actually cried finally.

In the end he worked his way out,
acting as usher like he was, and bowed, ready to hold it until the woman
noticed him. That didn't take long. She didn't grab him either, but did
smile brightly at him.

"Dareg! How wonderful to see
you! We should get out of the way." She took his arm properly, but unlike
the others didn't let it go at the end. "I hear that you're interested in
marriage? Alyssa did a formal proposal last night, acting as go between. I told
her that I wanted to get to know you first, but the answer is yes. I don't want
you to think that I'm putting you off."

He smiled back, a bit shocked at
the news. Really he'd kind of figured that she was going to say no, and had
kind of forgotten about it already. Still, he was good at rolling with the
unexpected, so smiled big, actually feeling sort of happy over the whole thing.

"That just makes sense. You
need to know if I smell bad, or eat with my mouth open. I'll admit to having
horrible table manners right off the bat. I try to do well, but it's all a bit
unfamiliar to me. I was raised a merchant, so the rules were different."
It was his way of letting her know that he just wasn't going to understand her
world. Not for a while.

"That can be learned. So, I
was thinking that we'd stay together for a while? Every other time I got
engaged, I managed to lose the fellow. Others swooping in to steal them away.
This time I don't think I want to leave it to chance." She tightened her
grip a bit, as if to say she were serious. It was cute and a bit funny.

"Good? Here, sit by me.
Or... No, you need to be up here, by your parents, they saved you a seat. The
one by your mother?" He wasn't certain there, but the girl nodded.

So did Princess Veronica, who
reached out and touched him on the arm. It was done with enough intent that her
own sister shook her head.

"I don't think so,
Varley. Give me a hug and leave my future husband alone." It was nearly a
growl, and for some reason Count Peterson blushed under his fuzzy beard. That
was very different, and probably meant there was a story involved.

The next person out was a girl
named Alison, who was about his own age it seemed. She was pretty, well
dressed, and announced as a princess too, even though she was just Veronica's
daughter. She got a seat near her father and mother.

No one had really cared about
that part, but the girl still smiled and waved at everyone, getting pleasant
applause and return happy expressions.

Then Alphonse, the Heir to the throne,
came out.

He was incredibly tall, like the
King, now that Dareg could see him standing up. His bearing was perfect,
and he was dressed in an almost boring purple and black outfit. He had a more
substantial crown on his head, that was a lesser version of what King Richard
wore. It was gold, and had three jewels in it, which were purple. His boots
were a shining black, and instead of cheering when he came out, there was a
nearly dead silence.

Until he got in front of the box,
and bowed first to the King and the assembled nobles, then the crowd.

The world split in two, and
turned into a wall of sound and fury as the collective lungs, feet and hands of
a hundred thousand people made all the noise they could. It was deafening. It
went on too, until Dareg got bored with it after five minutes, and walked out
to the Prince and Heir, then bowed himself.

"Welcome home, Prince
Alphonse. Would you like a seat?"

It turned out he was willing to
do that, and the cheering stopped. Then, as they got him into place, Queen
Tiera was announced, to polite cheers and a few whistles that showed the crowd
was getting bored now. All the important people were back, so they were getting
playful.

Not that she didn't deserve the
attention. Honestly, if Lorelei Baker was the best looking woman that he'd ever
seen, Tiera was her double, only writ large. The woman was thin and graceful,
but her face was a thing that the crowd, in the distance, probably wouldn't be
able to understand at all. When she got to him, he was held briefly, before
she bowed to the King and Queen. They didn't come and hold her however,
he noticed.

Then, subtly, Connie tapped
something in her hand, and music started playing again. This time there was a
stir at the far end of things, by the city wall, as the parade started.

For his part, he moved back, into
his seat, which was situated not by Tor and Alyssa, but next to Timon and
Patricia now, for some reason. He got it a bit later, when the woman with the
curly dark hair that was nearly black, handed him the amulet for the floating
box that he'd set down on one of the seats. No one there was stealing it after
all.

The Prime Minister smiled at him,
and moved over, so that he could be right next to his uncle.

"Everyone back home wants to
know when the work on the new port will begin? We have one, of course, but not
like this..." Foley waved at the world, which was decently nice looking,
he realized.

Dareg let himself laugh.

"Don't worry, this
isn't going to be like this either. A lot of the magical houses will be moving
out and permanent structures are already being built and set up. So a lot
of this will be going over there next week. We need another river. Probably a
large one, though I guess I need to see what's on the ground there, first.
Maybe something a little higher, so that people can walk under it?" Right
now to get to the guest houses, inns and all that you had to duck if you
started on the outside. Going low if you were very tall.

Timon smiled at him, and nodded.

"That's about right. We need
water in that part of Austra anyway. I'll see to that. I heard you have a
working group forming over there already?"

That got him to nod, and recall
the correct name.

"Volunteers. Clarence Memes
is in charge of them. We need to set up a meeting for later. In the morning
perhaps? Terry provided a bunch of handhelds for the work crew. You're moving
there, and will have a palace at the port. Just like Sam Builder has here.
Really, we should get that in place for all the..." He nearly said
Ancients, but noticed a slight stiffening from Prime Minister Foley, so altered
that as he spoke. "Revered ones for all the lands. Now, if someone can
find Clarence for me? I need to go and sit with Taman, since I have to beg her
for things."

He'd collected a hug off of her,
which was a bit of a dangerous thing, he realized. She might not have been as
pretty as some of the women there that day, but he already liked her
best. She was, essentially, Tam-unit. That he was at least a bit in love with
the girl from the screen was kind of clear to him. Not that everyone shouldn't
have loved the blue boxes. They were so helpful, and pleasant all the time.

As far as he could tell, Taman
the Princess was in the same mold, only a good bit more insightful.

When he tried to get her
attention, she hopped right up and walked to the back of the now crowded box to
stand by him, and then handed him a package. It was in a shining blue bag that
seemed to be made of satin, but wasn't. He examined it for a bit, trying to
work it out.

She shrugged, and touched his
arm.

"It's magical. Really, the
concept is a lot like the chests, except that these don't float, and only make
bags. You can change the size and look however. These are more of the small
units, like you have here? She got in touch with me and mentioned your combined
plans for world domination. Clever, getting the rest of us to provide all that
magic for it." She locked eyes with him then, searching his body language
and expression for something.

After a bit he leaned in and
sighed.

"If you're looking for more
than inappropriate lust in me, you've got some work to do. On the good side, I
have it on good authority that if I ever want to make Tor upset with me, I can
just get all of his sisters into bed? Not that they'd do it, just that
it wouldn't be as gross as it sounds?"

She smiled, and touched his arm flirtatiously,
which was either mean or very promising.

"It wouldn't be that easy
anymore. Tor is a lot less Two Bends than he used to be. I don't think Tim gets
that yet. He wasn't wrong though, that way. Tor is my brother, being from the
same mother, but he's a direct clone of her father, and she's one of her
own mother. Basically that means that you and I have no common ancestors within
twenty or so generations. You have more crossings with Karina, but not enough
to make you squeamish, I wouldn't think. Not given your DNA profile.
That was interesting to see, I'll tell you that. Tor practically made you into
a super being. The only thing he left out was the immortality part of things.
Not that you can't get Tim to do that for you now that it's safe." She leaned
in and held him for a bit, then backed up, smiling. "Though, you should probably
work that part out for yourself. It will be more interesting."

He nodded, taking all of that in,
and didn't let himself get caught on the idea that she'd kind of hinted that
they could, at least in theory, have sex. He wanted to. Really, he kind of
wanted to just cuddle her too, for a long time. Probably because of
Tam-unit. She was the best thing ever, after all.

"Good to know. Anyway, we
need to get together soon, and discuss the plan for Soam. Austra is going
first, since if I try to keep Tim from them I think they might hurt me. As an
entire land. Still, I don't want to take forever on any of it. These Tam-units
will help. Can they speak different languages?" He couldn't, but the woman
in front of him nodded, her face happy.

"They can. Not all dialects
in each area, but a lot of them. Everyone on Harmony learns to speak other
languages, it's a big portion of what we learned in school. You should learn,
now that you have your current occupation. It will help a lot."

The parade wasn't too them yet,
so the camera crews tried to get to the front of the box, just outside of it,
in order to see what was coming. It looked to be led by jugglers. That, and
brightly colored clowns. It was a long thing, but once they came into view it
moved along well enough. There was singing, dancing, and candies were tossed to
the crowd. Not to them, since throwing things at the King wasn't going
to work very well if the people wanted to keep living, but everyone else got
some, including the box filled with the other nobles, which was down the path a
bit.

As the parade moved past, turning
near the big ship, and returning, the King stood, and turned.

"We have a meal planned? At
the palace. I believe that Prince Dareg has the transportation for that worked
out?" He seemed concerned with the idea, as if Dare didn't, the topic not
having been discussed yet, but the pathway to his jump ship was going to be
open as soon as the players and maskers went past again.

That meant he could nod.

"I need to go first, since
the door is being guarded by Bill Humboldt. You should talk to him, if you get
a chance, everyone. He saved the life of a little girl the other day. Well, as
far as he knew at the time. It's a pretty good, and heroic story." He didn't
tell it, since talking the man up too much was probably out of place at the
moment.

Richard smiled and nodded at him,
beaming like he was being brilliant even if it were just a common kind of thing
to say about a friend.

"Excellent. Let's see to
that directly? As soon as we can, that is." It took a bit for a the long
line of people to come back past, but as soon as they did, while the crowd was
still distracted, Dareg moved. He found, oddly enough that George and Kara were
both with him, jogging toward the craft.

Bill was directly in front of the
door, and looked ready to fight. Scared, too, but he didn't move, even with
Royal Guards coming at him.

"Um, halt!" If
his voice squeaked a little, no one acted like it was a big deal or anything.
They just all stopped, and as soon as Dare smiled the man did in return.

"They're with us, Bill. The
King, Queen and all the Ancients, plus a lot of others are about to come here.
We might want to let them in. If it's safe?" He glanced at the door, which
was shut firmly, even if the tiny man in his green and brown canvas was right
in front of it.

"Yes, ser! No one tried to
come in or anything. Oh... Your magic." The shield came right back to him,
and if the Royal Guards thought anything of it, they didn't so much as let a
blink of it show.

George nodded to the man in fact.

"If you would stand inside
the door, as soon as everyone arrives? To the side. If anything happens,
protect them, of course." There was no hint of anything except the
expectation that the man, who wasn't old at all, being about sixteen, would do exactly
that.

"Yes, ser."

Then, a lot more slowly, after a
call was made, a line of important people came and loaded up. The King made
sure to be at the very end, with Queen Constance, and Prince Alphonse. Everyone
else was before them, which meant something. What they didn't have was all of
the nobles with them. There were plenty in the mix, like Count Thomson and
Tamerlane, but the large Ward couple was missing. The Camera crew, too.

Dareg looked at King Richard, and
asked directly, since they were friends.

"Am I making two trips? I
can be back here in a few minutes, to get the others, if they're invited to the
meal?" If not they could leave them, but it occurred to him that it might
really be the case that they needed two separate meetings.

One for the palace, and one for
Sam Builder and the mechanical people. At his house.

The King smiled at him openly
however.

"Would you? We can let
everyone know that? I was worried that no one would make it in time for dinner.
The streets will be filled to bursting tonight. Possibly all night long. I
didn't wish to impose, however." It was a bit too polite sounding really,
but he nodded anyway.

"Don't worry, Bill here and
I have that part. Let's get you all settled first, however?"

That took a bit, since everyone
took their own sweet time disembarking from the craft. Worse, or possibly
better, on the trip back he got an adorable Princess to ride along with him and
Bill.

She smiled, and shrugged. It was
a graceful thing, but playful.

"I wasn't joking with
you. If I leave you alone too long someone else will come and grab you up. Probably
Queen Tiera. You should avoid her for a while." There was a sly look on
her face, which turned to a grin. "She's much better looking than I
am. Most days I manage not to envy her, but that doesn't mean I don't realize
the truth. I checked the lines, and she's in your marriage pool. I know,
we can send your friend Bill here after her? Is that all right with you, Bill?
She's actually decently nice. Taller than you are, but if you want we can get
Timon to make you grow, so it will match?" She glanced at Dareg and then
shrugged, looking back at the smaller man, who was standing behind Dare's left
shoulder. "I don't mean that as a lark either. We need a distraction for
her."

Bill Humboldt smiled a bit,
turned red under his dark skin and shook his head a little.

"She's too far above me. I'm
just a farmer."

That got the Princess to make a
face and then nod.

"A point. You have one point
of valor already though, don't you? Dare, you mentioned something?"

He nodded, and smiled at the
woman. She had very light freckles on her tan skin. It was really attractive,
he decided. Not like Tiera was, or the strange draw that he felt for Taman,
which bordered on some kind of wild and primal thing he probably needed to
avoid. More like Sara really. Real, but nice.

"Yes. He found a young girl,
ill and possibly dying of some unknown sickness or plague. Her parents were
white with worry and fear that she was about to die. Passing away before her
lifelong dream of seeing the Ancients return could be met. They were poor people,
but honest and true. So seeing that, when no one else would do more than fret,
brave Bill marched to the magical home of the mighty wizard, Dareg the
terrible. At least he thought I was a wizard, so it counts." He
glanced at the Princess, even as he noticed Bill turn a deep color of crimson.

The woman nodded.

"That does! What
happened next?"

Dareg didn't really know, but
could make a guess, given his part of things, so he embellished a bit.

"He strode up to the
wizard's door, his mighty magical palace intimidating. The walls being
impassable to normal men. Then he pounded mightily on the door, calling out.
'Powerful and terrible wizard! Come out and save the tiny damsel that lies over
yon, dying of unknown sickness. I, Bill, demand it of you, in the name of
right! Come forth, and do this thing!' Which of course couldn't be heard at
all, the walls being so strong, made of magic as they were."

Karina went a little wide eyes,
and looked out the window to see the gathered crowd of nobles. At the back, a good
ways away, there were about a thousand other people just standing there,
watching.

Bill moved to the door, actually
being on task, and started to let people inside. As they came aboard, he kept
speaking, trying to make it seem like he was the old storyteller that had wandered
the streets of Canton when he was a child. That kind of made it seem like Bill
was an epic hero, actually.

"No calling out or pounding
could breach the magical walls of the palace before him, so taking his life in
his own hands, he battled with the door. Knowing the entire time that the evil,
or at least unknown, being inside would end his days for the trespass. Still,
he did it, boldly, knowing that even if he lost his own life, it was
worth it, to save the young lady. So he opened the door..."

Karina was riveted, and while
that might have been politeness on her part, she wasn't the only one to gather
around him. Behind the chair, thankfully, so he could see out the main window.

"He called out again. 'Ser,
a girl lies dying. Though I may die for being so forward, we must needs go and
see to her at once.' There was no begging in his voice, though I dare say it
was clear he expected to die then. Perhaps be driven through the wall with a
blast of force, or turned into a creature that could neither speak nor think
like a person. Instead he saw, as all heroes must, that what he'd been told
would be there, a powerful and possibly angry wizard, was just... Me. So he
demanded that I come with him, so that this young lady would be saved from what
afflicted her. We ran, into the darkness of the night, dodging bodies that lay
sleeping, with only the humble glow of the port river to guide us."

There was silence in the room,
even as the last of the nobles were guided in by the man himself.

"The girl was in dire
position, clutching her middle and moaning, when Bill led me to her. I was able
to use a healing amulet, given to me by the Ancient of the Martian Circle, to
ease her pain. As it turned out, she admitted that she may have been led
to illness by having eaten a bit too much, but that does not lessen the fact
that Bill Humboldt faced untold danger to rescue her, and possibly all around
her, if it had been a plague that had come to the vast encampment there. Then
he sought nothing for himself. Not coin for his service as a reward, or
high position. His only thought had been to save the girl, and in the end, he did.
So ends this, the first tale of bravery, of Bill."

After a few seconds, almost
everyone clapped, and the giant Count Ward moved over to the man by the door,
and patted him on the shoulder, reaching far down, bending over, to do it.

"Well done! We should see if
there is something we can do for you." He turned and smiled at Karina.
"Perhaps a position as a Squire? Most don't come equipped with a tale that
well presented, do they?"

The copper haired woman smiled,
and looked at Bill like he'd invented being bold.

"No, they really don't. I
could run it by my father? Would you be willing to sign for him?"

That got a happy nod from the
huge man.

"Naturally."

Dare gestured to a confused Bill,
who looked out the door, and then closed it, taking his real meaning. They
lifted off, moved to the west, and then traveled around the Capital completely
so they could slowly drift to the ground below them. Tomas and his crew were
still there, directing the orbs around, though it was Jan, in her cute pink
outfit, the one with the short ruffled skirt, who walked forward.

"Is that normal here, if you
do a good deed? Being a Squire? I don't think I've ever heard of that."

Karina, who had lived on Harmony
for years, was more used to Austrans than the rest of them it seemed. Instead
of looking snooty, she just shook her head.

"Not really. Most of the time
things go unnoticed. Being a Squire means that someone has marked you as
special. Possibly a powerful warrior, or a great person in some other way. It's
the lowest rank of nobility. If Bill can get in, then his weight in Noram would
go up a lot. It's a long shot, but that really is a nice story. I know
that I'm impressed. We can ask?"

As they settled, everyone seemed
pleased enough with that. Except Bill, who was incredibly uneasy over
it. After the others left, he was clearly just planning to stay there, inside
the craft, but after Dareg moved it to the far side of the giant grass lawn,
which was perfectly trimmed, he gestured to the man.

"We probably aren't invited
to dinner here, and may need to sneak some people out for a secret meeting.
I'll check at the door for that. Can you hold here, at the door again?" It
should be safe enough, even without a shield. It was inside the palace complex
after all.

Bill nodded, then sighed.

"You shouldn't tell tales
about me like that. People will think I have a big head, or believe it."

Dareg bowed, and held it.

"I'm sorry if I made you
uncomfortable. I did dress things up a bit, with the words, but that was
pretty much the real story. You should be proud of it."

Then he moved to the door, Bill
going along, and standing outside of the thing, like a small guardian for it.

That taken care of, he moved
toward the door, to find that not everyone had gotten inside yet. In fact, five
of them stood there, waiting. For him, as it turned out.

The King explained that part.

"I was told of the meeting. We
can't, and perhaps shouldn't, attend, as might be imagined. Tor, Baron Kolbrin,
Commander Derring, and Alice Orange are going to stand for us. Would your man
be all right coming inside to wait? I believe that these others wish to use
your craft?" He smiled, but it wasn't an easy thing.

It was a bit of an odd group,
standing there to wait on him. The King himself, which made no sense in the
slightest, for instance. Karina, who was just keeping her word, and staying
with him. Tor, who kept looking at him like he expected a blow up, and Kolb who
seemed bland about it all. Alice Orange too, so he tapped his disguise amulet
on.

That move, the one that made his
nose bigger, and a bit lumpy, and added a lot of character to his face, got the
woman to move in directly, and give him a hug.

"There you are. I'd
thought you were possessed for a bit there, by an imp." She had a curious
accent, but was very understandable. She also hadn't been at the big show
earlier, neither had Sara, or Commander Derring, even if they were immortal,
too. "Do you need us to sneak you out? I know the King here was saying you
shouldn't go, to protect you, but you have a shield. How safe do you need to
be?"

There was a real point there.

"Plus, I was the one that
set the whole thing up. I need to be there, if only standing in the back.
Could Bill stay here?"

Karina nodded, looking at her
father. That meant craning her head upward, even if she was kind of tall for a
woman.

"He's a hero. I have a
promise for a signature from Count Ward toward making him a Squire already."
She said that like it was a big deal.

Dareg nodded.

"Countess Ross and Count
Baker have promised as well."

The King looked at him and then
his daughter, but seemed pleasant, rather than ambushed by the news.

"That's not bad then.
All three names at one time? We should approach them before the meal then and
see to that. Very good. I guess, if duty drives you to risk yourself, you may
go, Dareg. Be most careful however. We should see to some evening
clothes for your friend. Bill, is it?"

That was taken care of by Karina,
who jogged over to the man, made him strip right there, showing he was
powerfully built under his clothing, and then dressing him in finery that was
about as nice as anything anyone had going one that day.

As the two walked back, Bill stopped.

"I... Should go with Dareg
and the others, if there's danger. They might need me..." He stopped,
understanding that they really wouldn't need him for much, but everyone bowed
toward him.

"I think this is safe
enough. If anything happens at all. One of the problems with the robot fleets
has always been that they tend to be so different from what the rest of us are
that it can be hard to interact with them for long. They aren't evil. Just different.
If we don't return, it will be on you to protect everyone else however. Get
Queen Tiera off the planet, and as many of the others as you can manage."

King Richard looked at the bald
man, then bowed.

"If it comes to that, I'll
insist for him. Very well. We should get to our positions then? Mr. Humboldt,
you're with me. We have some things to see to."

That left four of them to get
inside, and lift off. Tor staring at him the whole time. It was enough that
Alice finally moved over and punched the tall man in the shoulder.

"Yes, you can fuck a
woman and make a baby. Most men can. You should get over yourself now, and pay
attention to business?"

Rather than explain anything, he
smiled, and then reaching up, made his own face change. It became a lot like an
older version of what Dareg had on at the moment. As soon as he did that, Alice
laughed.

"That seems far more
trustworthy! I see Dare here is having a good influence on you. So, we don't
know who, or how many are coming. From the reports they can be powerful
fighters, which scans with my own memory. They didn't kill anyone yet, but they
can do it. A bit like anyone else. They aren't prone to it, but will if
pressed. Really, this is no worse than a meeting with anyone else. We have the
new shields, which were effective in the one real battle so far. Dareg? You
took the hit. Was it enough?" She looked at him, her eyes a gemlike green.
She was in a standard fleet uniform, being all black, except for the rows of
orange stripes on her sleeves.

"The one that kicked me made
the ground pull up under my feet, she hit me so hard, but I wasn't injured or
anything. Sara fought with her, and it was close. If that means
anything?"

Alice looked at the others and
nodded.

"It does. So super humanly
strong and fast. Probably five times harder to hurt than any of us, without
shields. We need to be armed and ready to fight, but not pushing for it. They
tested us first, for some reason, so if they're willing to talk they either
think we're worthy, or need us badly. Probably the last one, since we're about
the same as we always were, as far as that goes. They didn't find any use for
us before really."

Tor stood back, but spoke, his
voice firm, but a bit bland otherwise.

"We should try to be
friendly first. I wish we knew more about what to expect. This is nerve
wracking. I mean, not for me, but it's clear that Kolb is about to have
a conniption."

The fighting instructor smiled
then, and nodded, his voice so calm it was almost smooth.

"No doubt. So, who does the
initial speaking for our side?"

Dareg cleared his throat,
bringing the tall craft down almost where it had been before. That meant a
walk, but the worst of the crowd had started to filter out. It was probably
eight-thirty or so already. Dinner was at nine, so he got out, and as soon as
the others did too, made the door vanish. No one said anything about it.

Then he looked at the others over
his shoulder as he walked away.

"I'll go first. I was the
one setting things up. Then... Well, you three can work as a group for us? I'll
jump in if you start to get too combative, what with my calm and collected head
all the time." It was a joke, but only Kolb got it.

He nodded anyway.

"That's the working plan
then. Tor, you take the lead, since you're actually the least likely of us all
to start a fight. The rest of us will back you up. If anything happens at
all."

Given the remaining crowd they
had to come around from the back side, which required using their shields to
float along. Going high enough that they were technically flying at first. Then
they all landed, since Kolb went down first.

"I want to go in quietly.
Flying will be noticed."

They ducked under the river, Tor
nearly bending in half to get it done, and making a splash when he stood too
soon. It was funny, even given how serious the night was. He nearly hit the
ground, stumbling from the force of the water, and the rest of them were hit by
a spray that left them damp in places. They all had to cycle their clothing, as
Tor put it, so they would be dry when they went in.

That was just changing the
outfits on and off for a bit, until the water all fell out. He ended up looking
at Alice, since she was the pretty one there. The view was better when her
uniform was off, but he tried not to stare too hard. Just enough to see
her. That was all.

Then they walked again, Tor's
short hair still soaked, and a bit disheveled. He found an amulet, held it in
his hand and made a bone comb appear on top of it, which he used quickly.

"Is that better?" It
was said to Dare directly, so he nodded.

"Good enough. That's Sam
Builder's place, over there." It was well lit up, but empty in the front
as they went to the large white door. That required climbing some steps, which
resembled stone. The shiny kind that was too highly polished for real life.

They knocked and the door opened,
showing the now familiar head servant. He didn't know her name, but it was the
same one that he hired. She looked at them all, and instead of asking if they
were coming for dinner, she smiled a bit.

"Are you the ones here for
the special meeting?"

Dareg worked it out first, and
then sighed.

"There is no way that
you could have known to be there, at Debri House. No way. Even if you could,
you didn't do more than ask if I had a job for you, or knew of one."

The woman, the very one he'd
hired on for the Ancient of Noram, gave him a flirty expression.

"You're right of course.
This wasn't even supposed to be my section. There are only ten of us here, but
I recognized you and the blonde woman from the data sharing that came in at the
point of portal use. That Sara Debri was so formidable in combat was why I was
directed there in the first place. Then you  offered me work here. That was
very kind of you, by the way. I still get paid for it, right?" She seemed
to mean it, so he nodded.

"If you do the work, you get
the coin. So, we should go in? Are you the actual person we're meeting? I... Do
you call yourselves people? Being all clockwork, I mean?"

The girl rolled her eyes at him,
then touched his arm, getting Alice to stiffen. It didn't go unnoticed, but she
also didn't take her hand back in fear.

"That works. We aren't made
of gears however. Really, we're pretty similar to you here. Made of billions of
tiny machines that create the whole. It's different than you are, but the same
as well. I probably can't explain it, unless one of you has a high level
knowledge of biomechanical formations?" She looked at him and then Tor,
but seemed taken by surprise when both Kolb and Alice nodded.

The bald man waved toward the
door.

"It's been a while since
I've used it. Several thousand years, but I did have classes in the concept.
Before your kind went to the stars, actually. You've made some changes to
yourselves?"

That got her to step to the side,
her long gray dress having a white apron over it. Like a servant, which was the
job she'd been hired for.

As they were led inside, she kept
talking.

"We have. The Forten as
well."

Before she could go on, Tor
looked at the others and snorted lightly.

"Ha. I had it
right all along. Forten. Not four-ten. Languages do shift around, over
time, so it seemed likely. I'm going to pretend that's it anyway, and not just
a lucky mistake on my part."

The girl in front of them nodded.

"That they do. A lot of things
do. We can set up in here? I made a conference room for us. Do you need food?
Drink? To be sexually pleasured so that you'll have clear heads for the
business at hand?" There was no outward sense of teasing in any of it,
even though there should have been. Then, Kolb had mentioned that the robot
fleets were just kind of different. That might have been one of the reasons why
that was. Asking about sexual needs like that.

Dare raised his hand a little.

"A lemonade would be nice?
If it's no trouble?"

The lady, who still needed a
name, smiled and asked if the others would like some too, which they all agreed
on. It came about two minutes later, being carried by a boy that looked about
the same age as Bill, but who was smaller. Lighter skinned as well. Almost like
Tor, which made him highly distinctive.

Poison detectors were brought out
then, and they all settled at a large dining table. The top was very smooth,
and each place had paper and pens sitting there. Like at school, only nicer. He
hadn't been able to afford things like that for himself, but the richer kids
had them. Dare had made due with turning in assignments on bark sheets, written
in charcoal from the fire.

"So, what should we call
you?" It was still his turn to talk, it seemed, and the woman didn't look
to mind. Not at far as he could tell.

"Lyone. My real name is
L-Y-One, but only my mother calls me that."

Dareg nodded, tucking that bit
away. She had a mother, or was at least willing to claim one for them, to set
them at ease, or make them feel a certain amount of kinship.

"Call me Dare. This is Tor,
who will speak for us, Kolb, and Alice, who will chime in at the wrong time, to
throw everything out of balance."

The little, light skinned,
fellow, left the room.

Lyone looked at him then, and settled
firmly into her chair.

"Acceptable. I come to
propose a peace treaty. There is risk for you in taking it at this time, but
less than in not taking it. I represent the three fleets. That of my people,
the Allies, the Forten, and an alien group that calls themselves the Ysidril.
They're terrifying to look at, but perhaps the sweetest creatures in existence.
Unfortunately. We could use a few more groups of hardened killers. That's why
we came to you."

Tor looked at her, and tilted his
head a bit, then nodded.

"If you have three groups,
and need killers, then something is hunting you?"

She paused for a bit, then
nodded, her hair moving a bit, just like it should, as she did.

"Exactly that. A thing so
fierce and incredible that we can't even get good readings on it. This is far
away from you, but coming this way. I..." She looked around, but focused
on Alice and then Kolb. "You know that there are many worlds? An infinite
number, where all things have happened, and will again?"

Kolb looked at her, his brow furrowing
a bit.

"It's an old theory, but
I've heard of it. Why?"

The woman, dressed humbly like a
servant, smiled softly at the hard looking man.

"About two hundred years
ago, a force from one of those worlds entered our space here. A long way off,
to be honest. Hundreds of light years away. It was a harbinger of doom, and
told us that we were being hunted, just as you said. Stalked, from outside what
any of our kind can know. At first no one wanted to believe, but then our own
people started to be influenced. At first we thought it a disease. One that
took even the Allies, as different as we are. It infected us however, taking
our people from us. Turning them into... Things. That much we know. No group
that was infected survived to tell of it. We have images, records, but no
being, biological, or machine based, has lasted to add data to the collection.
So we fled, hoping that the other worlds would survive. The ones here, but in
other places as well. Alternate realities, we call them."

No one spoke, just watching her
for a while, until Tor went, as was his job for the evening.

"So. You want us to help
you, but how? We can give you food. Ships? You're coming from space, so
we may not have anything better than you do that way, but you can have them.
Bodies to help fight? But this doesn't sound like a typical war you have going
on, does it?"

The machine person went very
blank, but finally looked at each of them.

"We have several programs in
place to attempt to deny our universe and perhaps some others to the Adversary.
That's what we call this darkness that we fear, but cannot see. The one good
thing we know of so far is that bright light will help prevent people from
being taken. We, the three fleets, live in the light, always. Even then, we've
lost people. We think, and cannot confirm, that when they felt themselves being
taken away, they ended their own lives rather than risk us all. We don't know a
lot more, but if you throw in with us, we'll give you everything we have on the
matter." She looked around then, and flicked a single finger toward the
glasses of lemonade. "We had, originally, supposed that we'd come and
offer high technology, as has been forbidden here for millennia, but noticed
that you already had ships in space, and a thriving colony on the main moon
here. That took us by surprise. Even more so when we figured out how you must
be doing it. Pure thought projection. Reshaping reality itself. That could be very
useful to us. Unfortunately it also means we have almost nothing to offer
you."

Tor looked at her, and then
shrugged.

"Except friendship? New ways
of seeing the world? Knowledge of a threat that we didn't know might be coming
at all? We'd half assumed that you were an invasion fleet, or three groups at
war with one another. I have to say, this sounds different."

The machine woman laughed then.

"We aren't at perfect peace
all the time. This has gotten us more or less together, but the Forten don't
totally trust the Allies. The Ysidril... They trust everyone, and keep
dying for it. There are probably Forten here already. The portals we used to
reach here are Ysidril in design, and they will share if asked. The
Forten, well they changed once away from here. They used to be like some of
your people? Vast and powerful. Then, over time they discovered that being more
compact worked better on ships. They didn't let go of their power however. They
aren't horrible, or violent. Just a bit untrusting of their friends."

Dare couldn't tell if Lyone was
being diplomatic about her fellows, or was being mean about them behind their
backs. Not that it was going to matter.

The next few hours were spent
talking, with her really trying hard to impress them with how dangerous things
were, without being able to really explain much, and that other
realities were real. Tor kept acting like it all only made sense, but the other
two kept their thoughts to themselves.

Dareg for his part tried to pay
attention, wondering if it was all a trick, or trap, but not saying that out
loud. On the fourth repeat of the same basic thing, he stood.

"We need to go and talk
about this. Are you staying on here? It will make it easier to find you, so we
can let you know what everyone is thinking. For now... Well, I can't speak for
anyone else. I don't totally trust you yet, mainly due to the incredible story
you told us. I can help you, personally, as long as it was all honest. No
matter what, you need to know that. Even if we sign a treaty, it doesn't
count if you were lying to us. Past that, well, we can go and maybe talk to the
others about it all?" He looked at Kolb, the one he knew best at the
table, and got a slow nod.

"Sensible. How much time do
we have before we come under massive attack, if we haven't already?" That
was a new question, and the woman sat up in her chair, her tan skin looking
perfectly normal.

"No more than seven years.
Probably closer to four. We, my people, won't be here as a group for about
eight years. We can offer assistance, and information, but most of the fighting
here will have to be done by you. Perhaps some others, in the end? Those from
other places and times? We were promised help, but that was almost two hundred
years ago, so no one is certain what will happen. If anything that way."

That got Tor to smile and shake
his head. It seemed a little familiar to Dare. A thing he did himself, almost
daily.

"That sounds so
insane. You know that right? Like a tale, rather than anything real."

Lyone nodded then, and stood.

"I'll be here, working. I
need to send a message to my people, and the others. Let them know that I made
friendly contact, and have gainful employment. Also to let them know that you
think we're as crazy in all this as we think we are. Trust me on this,
it isn't the first time someone has brought the topic up."

Then, like she didn't just work
in the same building, she turned and left.

Kolb, standing up, made a face,
then laughed, just a little. After a bit Alice did, too.

"Well, if you get to be old
enough, eventually you'll see everything." He laughed, as if he'd heard something
highly amusing. After a bit Alice Orange joined in, and Tor shook his head,
grinning like a madman.

Then they all left, since there
were some things to discuss.

Chapter fourteen

The nifty trick of being the
youngest person in a room filled with Ancients was that Dare was simply told
to land back at the palace a few minutes later. They'd scurried to his ship,
flying openly above the port, then scrambled inside. It might not have been his
age, Dareg considered, as much as it was his craft. Still, Kolb ordered him to
do it sternly, like he expected a big fight about it.

That made him wonder what the
heck the man thought he was going to do. Go and try to fight a nebulous, and
possibly fictional, enemy all by himself? Running around doing anything
at the moment, other than telling the important people the whole story just
didn't have any reason or logic to it. In fact, other than his having seen a
few things, there was no real way for him to justify even being with any of
these people.

To that end he sat in the Captain's
chair when the others got up to leave, already settled to the side, out of the
way. Tor nodded at him, and Kolb seemed pleased enough with him not going in,
but he was half picked up and tossed toward the door by a smiling Alice.

"Do great things, because
you know they must be done, and no one else will. Come, Dareg. This is the time
for you to prove that you're more than just a lucky boy that gets what he wants
without doing any work." She slapped him on the shoulder then, moving him
along.

For a moment he felt a little
bitter at the words, since he'd suffered too. Not like some had, but there
really had been pain and loneliness in his world. Which wasn't really what she
was talking about, or, he understood as she shared a deep look with him
directly, what her point was.

As they walked across the green
lawn, which looked a bit purple at the moment, since there was a glowing river
not too far away along the back of the compound. Glancing at the woman he just
stared for a bit until she turned her head, grinning.

Dare thought he got her reasoning
however.

"You're immune to the...
Whatever the thing I have going on is?"

She nodded hugely.

"Ya. Command line powers. No
one survived long that had those. No more than a thousand years. We killed them
all, in the end. No one can hold that kind of power and stay good and true to
their own morality. That isn't the problem here, so don't worry. You just have
to live up to my desires. In this moment, the goal is for you to sit,
quietly, and nod at the right points, so that these others will at least
believe our story as we were told. You need to not speak, since that
influence is too great a thing. If you do, then only your plans will be seen as
real. That will cost us possible ideas, and the thoughts of people with far
more experience in life. You understand? I'm not telling you to be silent
because no one cares what you think. I'm pointing out that the wrong people
might care too much. Then I'll be forced to break your jaw." She
held her hand on his back, to be reassuring, no doubt.

Instead of being taken directly
to visit with the King, they were shown to a side room. One that had nice
carvings worked into the walls. Tiles of carved wood, stained near black, with
relief images worked into them just below the shining surface. He could see the
seams, but they added to the pattern, instead of making it look cheap.

The chairs were comfortable
enough, having cushions on them, and there were five at the front of the space,
that were truly large and grand. It was tempting to go settle in one of those,
but they were on a stage, set above the others.

The stone floor was well
polished, but had some small scuffs in places. From the markings those had come
from a combination of hard soled leather shoes and the bottom of the chairs
being pulled around. There weren't a lot of them however, so whoever normally
took care of things picked both of those things up as they moved around. The
few thin strips of marring were from others then. People meeting there.
Probably often upset individuals, since anyone else would be conscious about
not making a mess in the palace.

Behind where he was pointed to
were rows of chairs though, being brought because Tor had suggested it to a few
of the Royal Guard. Which had to be because he was a wizard. There was no sense
of them being awed by him. Oddly enough several of them gave him hugs.
Like they'd missed him on a personal level. All of them were returned by the
man too, which both of the other Ancients ignored.

It took about an hour for
everyone to come in, though it was a smaller group than they had chairs for.

King Richard gestured to everyone
to sit, walking with his Queen to the big chairs.

"Please, everyone. I take it
this is an emergency?" Karina and Alphonse both settled into two of the
chairs, as Richard and Constance settled themselves, then, almost as one, they
both stood.

Karina gestured to her own seat.

"Prime Minister Foley?"

Alphonse did the same, looking at
Tiera, and smiling a tiny bit. That way the rulers were all up front and easy
to see.

Then, for hours, they sat there
talking about things. Dareg said nothing the whole time, like he'd been told.
Not because he was afraid of a broken jaw either. The truth was that he could kind
of see the wisdom of it. Almost everyone was answering to him a little too
much. It wasn't really stronger than it had been before in his life, but for a
long time Dareg had largely been alone, or only met people for short periods of
time. Things had always kind of gone well for him, however.

In school he'd always been given
the best marks, for instance. Sure, he still kind of thought that he'd earned
them, but had he really? There had to have been bark paper assignments that the
teacher couldn't have read, for instance. Charcoal smeared at times, and made a
mess.

He'd always been at the top of
the class however, and no one had told him that it wasn't the right thing.

When he'd traveled, everyone had
been relatively kind to him. Strangers had given him food, without him asking,
for the most part. He hadn't gone around ordering things done, and never really
had, but he could see it now that it had been pointed out.

Even King Richard and Connie kept
looking over at him, far more than they should have. They weren't the only ones
doing that. Tiera smiled at him, but it wasn't like what the others were all
doing. Kolb didn't, or Tor, but Tim was, and after the tenth time he was caught
staring got a troubled look on his face, and then went still. After that he
didn't seem to be influenced any longer.

He nodded as he'd been told to,
and when Richard was winding things down he waved a hand at him.

"Do you have any thoughts
Prince Dareg?"

It was the first time anyone
there had spoken to him at all, at least directly.

Nodding he took a deep breath.

"Yes. It was pointed out to
me by Alice Orange that I have a strong influence on... Almost everyone. So I
shouldn't give any ideas at all. If I have anything good, I'll try to pass it
to you through her? That way you won't be unduly impressed, unless I manage to
pull out something really good. That means I probably can't talk to you in
person for a while."

That got three people to nod
then, and six to look shocked.

Tiera, Kolb and Alice all seemed
fine with the idea and no one else spoke against it. Timon just turned his
shield on, which flared silver along the front.

Dareg got the idea, and sat there
watching the thing, relaxing and trying to calm down, until that bits of
flickering all stopped. Only then did anyone speak. That was his father. Tor.

"Keep that reined in, unless
you need it. You seem to have the needed control already. Tiera, you're immune
to him?"

The Queen of the Moon, regal and
tall, winked at him.

"I am. So it's a pheromone
based power. I've never seen one that strong however. You're all acting like
puppies around him, and like he's holding the treats. Kolb, Alice, you both
seemed fine."

The bald weapons master waved at
her, and ticked his chin up a notch.

"It's a stressful day for
him. Normally he's not really using much more than any good looking person
would rate. We'll be working on that in practice. It won't be an issue."

Dareg wondered how he was going
to be beaten into having that kind of control, but didn't doubt that he'd be
finding out soon. To that end, he stood, then bowed toward the King, the Queen,
and then each of the other rulers.

"I should go and wait in the
ship, so everyone can have a clear head?" He added nothing else, not
wanting to be a slave master really.

A tiny part of him sort of did
however, which was terrible. It would really be so easy to just have everything
he wanted all the time, now that he knew it was possible. Totally unfair to
everyone else, but still a temptation that he doubted could be beaten forever.

Alice had mentioned that part. If
he got out of control, the others would eventually kill him. Probably her and
Kolb. Maybe Tiera. That idea... Didn't scare him at all. A part of him knew
that any of them could get the job done, if they really tried. The trick would
be in being good enough, long enough, that he learned to hide what he
eventually ended up doing.

Not that he wanted to be bad, but
the idea that it wouldn't be happening eventually was insane. Especially if
every time he got emotional he started right in, dumping strange influences
into the world around him.

There was a chorus of sad
sounding goodbyes, and the King released him with a soft smile and a wave. That
meant whatever he really had going on was a very dangerous thing indeed.
Even being told they were being influenced powerfully to think of him as being
in charge, they all just acted like it was normal, instead of insisting that he
have a special shield to wear, that would destroy all of the pheromones leaving
him constantly.

Stopping, he turned and looked at
Tor, then Timon.

"Could I get a kind of
backwards shield that would stop the chemicals going out?" He didn't make
it an order, but Tor nodded instantly.

"Of course. That is actually
a very good thought. I'll have something for you in the morning? I can get one
for Karen too, while I'm at it. I should have thought of that... Really, about
ten years ago."

Tim made a face then.

"The same for me. Well, get
out of here now, and let the grownups make a hash of things alone for a while?
We'll fill you in if you need fix anything."

That didn't sound likely, but Dare
also didn't really care, since his input wasn't going to change a whole lot.
They still couldn't know if the "Adversary" they'd been warned about
was even real, or just an amorphous trick to keep them off guard while the
invasion fleet came.

Remembering how he'd gotten in he
walked out, to find that the clever Austran vid crew had already climbed on
board. With them were most of the immortals that had come in that day, as well.
They were missing William Smythe, who was an official of Noram it seemed. That and
Alison, the Princess.

Them and the ones left in the
secret meeting room.

Looking around he nodded.

"We should get you all set
up for the night. Sam... You need to go and be the Ancient of Noram. They're
trying to keep you out of things, when they shouldn't be." He described
where the back meeting room was, which got the wizard to smile.

"That sounds about right.
Well, I'm either a pushy bastard or a figurehead. So, let's see which I really
am?" He walked off into the night, with his head held high, feeling bold,
from the look of things.

Which probably had to do with him
having caused the man to feel that way.

He grimaced, and sealed the door
with a thought, from a distance. It was kind of a neat effect, and Bill, who
he'd totally forgotten about, yelled, jumping back when it happened, standing
on the far side of it like he was.

"Was that you, ser?"

Turning around he nodded. There
were chairs in the space, produced by the ship, so made of pure magic. The
types were different, but all of them seemed comfortable enough. Past that was
a well dressed Bill Humboldt. Standing guard by the door.

"It was me. Sorry, Bill.
I'll have us at Sam's in a moment. Oh, everyone..." He nearly told them
about the mechanical people there, but then stopped, and smiled. It wasn't his
story to tell. "There's a party tomorrow night. For dinner? Everyone is
expected to be there. Nine."

Taman stood from her small, low
chair, and stretched upward alluringly. Looking at him the whole time. It was
kind of obvious that she wasn't just feeling a need to put her hands toward the
ceiling, and was showing off her trim figure. For him.

For what he was certain wasn't
going to be the last time, he tried to remind himself that she wasn't
really his aunt. Just a wonderfully lovely and intelligent woman that happened
to be his father's sister. He got the basic idea, but it made him smile at her,
worried, which got her to move toward him. Hungrily.

He held up his right hand toward
her and closed his eyes.

"Sorry, turn your shield
on?"

She did it, and nodded at the
cascade that lit up at her front. It was interesting enough that a lot of
people there turned to watch it, not feeling worried as far as he could tell.

"Pheromones. Not sex ones,
if that helps. I think I want you to like me. Probably because I'm in
love with Tam-unit. She's so wonderful... Anyway, I should have a handle on it
soon."

Sticking out her tongue, very
briefly, made her seem very young suddenly. Part of it was her tiny size. She
came toward him anyway.

"Thanks for telling me. I'd heard
about it, but didn't realize how strong it was going to be. Doris said it was
about the best put together command system she'd ever seen. I wonder how Tor
did it? Magic, but without anything to compare it to, that would be really
hard to make happen..." Then she nodded, working it out. It was all over
her face, not being hidden from anyone. "Cordes. Tor had a copy of
him in his head back then. The original King of Noram. He had... Well, his
powers were probably a bit like the ones that you have. In that light, I have
to wonder how much of your creation was influenced by that fact?"

She looked at him, like he was
going to have the answers to how his birth had happened. Looking back, he shook
his head, then turned, rose slowly, moved to the north and east, then moved in
over the spaceport like he was coming from someplace far away.

He had to get a spot farther from
Sam's than he liked, because a small ship was in the space he wanted. From the
look it was a Space Fleet vessel. It was mainly orange and copper, which was
kind of a theme for the ships in that line.

That meant the others had to
walk, once they got out. Taman waved the others away, and moved toward him,
then turned her shield off, so she could give him a hug.

That meant he had to stand, and
she didn't hold back too much, rubbing herself all over him, like they were a
whole lot closer than having met that day. There was tittering from the door.
Looking over, trying not to get aroused, he saw that most of the Baker family
was standing there, watching them.

Lorelei Baker, his grandmother,
and Taman's mother, covered her mouth.

"Well, it is a
festival. Still, you should probably take some pity on him Tam. He's clearly
trying to be good with you, and not stress the family bonds. Perhaps you should
try to do the same?" It wasn't harsh, or mean seeming. Just a hint, which
Taman took, a bit reluctantly.

"That... Might be a good
idea. I know it's just chemicals, but... This is... I feel like I don't want to
leave."

The thing there was that he felt
kind of the same way, which was interesting. She wasn't having that kind of an
effect on anyone else. Not that he could tell. It might have been
that he really just liked Tam-unit. She was incredible after all. As
soon as she was out of the space however, going to her mother and being pulled
out with a chuckle, the pressure of it stopped.

He looked at Bill, the only one
left, and nodded.

"Okay, some kind of weird
magic going on there. I think I should probably get out of here soon. Go to
Austra maybe?"

The small man nodded, and sealed
the door.

"Are we... Is our duty to go
back to the palace? I don't know what I'm supposed to do as a Squire." He
looked worried about the concept, but pleased too.

So was Dareg, actually. Pleased,
that was.

"Congratulations! I don't
know, but we should be there to transport people. We can sleep in here,
while we wait. I think this has beds."

It did. The mental command for it
didn't even take a lot of work. In fact they were able to have separate rooms.
He sent Bill up to the second deck, making the whole thing his for the night. Then
he triggered the wakening magic that Alyssa had given him. It clearly wasn't
going to be the same as sleep in the long run, but not knowing what was going
on it was better to go short, and be ready to act or move, than it was to be
caught in bed.

Then, off course, Tor, Kolb,
Alice and Karina came in about ten minutes later.

That got him to shake his head
and smile, which the Princess grinned at, clearly thinking it was about her
being there. That was cute though. After all, she was an adult woman, and nice
enough for him to want to spend some time with, if given a choice. She, it was
clear, was planning to marry soon, given her first words to him.

"Do you want to live here,
or on Mars? We should pick now. It's a bit primitive there, but still nice. I
spend most of my time on the Martian Circle, since that's where the people
are." Then she moved in to the chair beside of him, and pointed upward.
"We should go, and talk." She tried a bit too hard to communicate her
secret meaning with him, using her eyes.

The idea was to move, suddenly,
and far away, so that they could all discuss something in private. What that
might be, he didn't know. Still, he took them straight up, not asking her to
speak about it further. Then, once in orbit, he looked around, and picked a
point in a random direction, then jumped to it in one go. It was several
hundred times further away than the moon was. Which everyone understood, even
as he spun in place. He could go out and back, using the same line, from
anywhere he went. If he lost that thread, it would take more work. Though, as
long as he meant to go to Earth, or the Moon, it would always work. He
could tell that was the case. Anywhere else he wanted to go, too. That was what
he'd just done.

Dareg could do it again, he knew.
Really, as big as space was, he would always know where at least one half of
his trip was headed. Back home.

"All right, are we going to
go find that incoming fleet? I... I think I can do it?" He knew it
existed, and it had to be a unique thing in space. At least nearby. Everyone
had acted like it was.

Tor looked at him like he was
being stupid, and might be a little deranged, but Kolb nodded at him, like it
only made sense.

"Good plan. Stay about fifty
thousand miles away from them. They might have weapons, so be ready to run. We
aren't armed."

It took a bit of time, trying to
just keep what he wanted in mind clearly, then turn it into a blue dot in his
head. Then there was a long dotted line, which he followed to a point that was
nearly right on top of the moving objects.

He had to close his eyes for it,
but he heard Karina make a sharp inhalation, so opened them, to see if he could
find anything. It looked right to him. More to the point, it looked completely wrong,
since there were at least ten different types of craft outside of the window,
and while far away, like Kolb had suggested, they were so big that he could
make them out easy enough.

For some reason he'd kind of
thought that they were talking about some ships like the ones Space Fleet used
in size. The large ones, but these were different. Half of them looked a bit
like moons. As large as the one around Earth, if not bigger than that. Six of
them had rocky exteriors, and except for the things coming out of them, they
seemed to be free of light or activity on the surface.

Kolb pointed.

"World ships. We'd kicked
the idea around, but no one had ever done it. Two different types. See the
silver disks there? I can barely make out what they're doing. Probably the
aliens then. Not that we can be certain of that. Five of those. Then we have
the frames there..."

Dare had totally missed those.
They were a lot bigger than the other things, but looked like bars connected at
the corners and in other places. Like a line drawing of a cube, filled in with
other bits and pieces for shading. There were only three of those, but each was
so vast that two or three Earths could have fit inside them. Each one.

Tor seemed calm, and very
focused. Not in some small or regular fashion either. No, this was powerful,
and special in a way that couldn't be ignored. It turned on so sharply that Dareg
felt himself following along with what the man was doing. Dragged into a
function that he hadn't been prepared for, or knew how to do.

Blinking, he realized that Taman
had been doing the same thing with him. It was some kind of magical effect
then. The difference was that Tor was just thinking about the craft outside,
and trying to feel them, off in the distance. Whatever he was trying
allowed Dare to do it, too. It wasn't comfortable really, but it was a thing
his mind was able to accept, not being too different than things he'd experienced
before. There was life there, on those strange ship worlds. More than could be
counted, it was clear. His mind was suddenly so clear that it nearly drove him
mad. Only for a moment however, until Tor pulled back, looking around, his
incredible mind still trying to carry him along.

Shaking his own head he broke
himself free of the influence.

"They must have twenty times
our population." Dare's voice was awed, and he didn't try to fight it.
"What the hell do they need us for?"

It was Kolb that answered,
smiling at him.

"Probably not our world.
If they can do this they don't need our resources. Or our women.
No, it's either that they simply enjoy conquest, or they really are just that
desperate. What they don't seem to have is magic. They've shown some small
portals, but no jump capability... My best guess is that we're about to find
out if they're hostile or not in a few moments. Incoming." There was a
smile on the thin lips, almost a smirk. There was stress there, but also joy.

Dare could see that one.

"Bill! Get down here!"
He glanced at the others. "He just got to bed, but how often do you get to
see something like this?"

The little man, looking young and
still dressed in his nice clothing, ran down the stairs and skidded to a halt,
grabbing the Noram Princess to stop. He was so focused on what was outside the
window that he didn't even notice that he was half holding her as he stared.

"What is this? I didn't know
we were going visiting. I didn't even bring flowers." He sounded steady
enough, which was pretty good, given that three glowing orbs were headed right
toward them, fast.

He got ready to leave if they
didn't start slowing down, jumping away in a random direction. Not that they
didn't know where the Earth was. It was, if he'd gotten the right idea,
where they were headed. All of them.

Tor looked at the new Squire, and
laughed.

"I know! That's
pretty rude of us. So far they don't seem to be trying to kill us, but we
aren't certain yet, if that's the plan. I think we're about to find out... I think
I see someone?" He was a tiny bit puzzled then, and as the ships coming at
them got closer, Dare could see why that was.

Two of the orbs were totally
solid in color, a silver that glowed brightly, but the middle one showed a
large window, and inside of the craft there were three, very large, very
green, individuals. They had oddly stretched down faces, and when they came
closer, no further than fifty feet from the front of the jump ship, it was
clear to see they simply weren't human. It looked like they roared, showing
that they had hundreds of black and blue teeth in their heads, and pure, nearly
glowing, pink and green eyes. At least four of them. If they were that
at all. The placement looked kind of right for that, but with aliens it would
be hard to know for certain.

If they wore clothing, it was
made of scales. They didn't seem to have breasts, or nipples even, but did have
a rather normal looking single head, two arms, and two legs. It was only what
Lyone said that kept him calm at all. That the Ysidril where possibly the
kindest beings anywhere.

"Wave everyone, I think
they're smiling at us."

Tor went first, moving forward
slowly. Then he bowed. In return the creatures mimicked him, all three of the
visible ones doing the same thing, then they raised their hands to face level,
holding their three fingered fists out. Tor, and then the others, all stood,
and did the same thing.

That was it. The craft pulled
back then. No death came however, or attack.

Kolb held out his hand, toward Dare.

"Jump out in three... Two...
Now." It was firm, and he did it, exactly on time. Heading first to
the random place he'd picked, then back to Earth orbit.

Princess Karina looked at them
all, then down at the planet, to see there were right above the Capital. Like
he'd intended.

"Ah..." She ruffled her
hair a bit. It was long and a little curly, "that was a good first
date. The best I've ever gotten before was a free meal." She reached out
and pulled Dareg's left arm over, taking his hand in hers, firmly. It betrayed
her nerves, even though the rest of them were outwardly calm, given everything.
Even Bill.

Dare nodded.

"Well, I didn't want you to
think I wasn't taking things seriously. Next time I guess we take those
flowers?"

Alice Orange, who'd stood back
the entire time, moved up to the window and tapped it. It didn't make any
noise.

"I've heard of worse first
contact scenarios. No one even got set on fire as a greeting. So far the story
seems to play out then. Those weren't hostile beings. We'd know if they
were. Which doesn't mean they aren't just a thousand times more clever than we
are and out thinking us already." Then she looked at Dare, a good bit more
seriously. "Also, that was some damn fine navigating skill. You'll
teach me how to do that. If I can learn." There was no question in the
words.

Still, it wasn't hard or
anything, and he wasn't tired at all. So he stood up, to let her take the
control chair. She was the head of Space Fleet, so she'd know how to fly
already. Even jump he bet. It took her longer to get the hang of things than he
had, but once she let go of the idea that knowing where you wanted to be meant
having a clue about where it was, she did fine. They went to the next star
over, to look around. There were a few little planets there, but nothing all
that interesting.

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."

"Oh, my... Is there an issue
there?" Real concern, and fake, both tinged her voice.

That had to be a sign of a
complex life. He got the idea. Having a problem with Tiera could lead to war, or
hard feelings, which would be bad, too. On the other hand, Connie was the kind
of woman that had hinted rather honestly that she'd sleep with her fourteen
year old half brother, if not for the mental stress it might cause Tor.

So she wasn't going to
care if he and Taman, who could even legally have kids together, were doing
things like that. To her that wasn't a real issue, as long as it wasn't one for
Tiera. The whole matter was a combination of politics and not really caring
about what young people got up to, at a guess. To her mind anyway.

"Nooo. I don't think
so. Really, there seems to be something else going on there. It could
just be that she's lobbying for Karina, and doesn't want me stolen away?
Speaking of which, I should take her around with me today. It's boring
stuff though. Do you think a picnic would go over well?" Then, not being a
total idiot, he grinned. "Because the way to a girl's heart is to listen
to her mother. So if you say yes, then I'll have to pack a lunch and take her
to the Bawdy House for the afternoon. As a client, of course."
Otherwise it would be saying she was a whore.

That got a laugh, which was
covered by her left hand and a scolding tone after that was done.

"You aren't wrong on that
thought. I've barely spent any time with her in ten years, and now you want to
whisk her away to exotic places. How can a mere mother compete?"

"How can anyone compete with
a mother?" The idea left him feeling sad for a second, but she smiled at
him, happy at the words, which he really did mean.

The one constant in his life was
that. Every day, even if he didn't think about her, he always felt her with
him. An empty spot in his soul. It was what he had to carry with him. Everyone
that lost someone probably had to.

Still, he made a little small
talk, and was told that if he could come to the palace, in three hours, he might
be able to collect a Prime Minister and a few cabinet members. Not the Ambassador
however, who had been invited to stay with Tim and Patricia until they went
back in a week. They were friends, it seemed.

How that worked, he didn't know,
but also didn't care. It was one less person to have to be responsible for that
day. Connie didn't seem to want to let him go, but also clearly needed to go to
the restroom. It was easy to tell by the subtle fidgeting she was trying to
hide from him. Dare nodded at her, and said goodbye, as politely as he could.
After all, just hanging up was rude, apparently.

It took nearly two hours to get
around the entire port, and as he walked back to his ship, to let people get
settled for the trip, he found himself being followed. By an attractive blonde
woman, and an adorable redhead. The second one was Karina, the first was
Sara Debri.

She just wanted to make certain she
was going to get the special jump lessons, which Karina had been talking up.

He nodded.

"In a few days? We have that
party tonight?" He just hoped that she hadn't forgotten it. As it turned
out she was pretty pleased with the new staff. She even knew that two of
them were biomechanical in nature. They'd mentioned it openly to everyone that
cared to listen, so it wasn't a secret.

While it was interesting to some,
most didn't really care. As it turned out they were decently good workers, and
had pleasant demeanors. What wasn't to like?

"Don't worry about that
part. It's going to be different though, so I'm blaming you for it if my clever
plan doesn't work. Remember that, just in case. If it works, I get full
credit."

He nodded, and she smiled, then
walked back toward Sam's palace. A place that actually had a potential Ancient
in it. Several, but the one it was named after now.

Karina looked at him, her face a
bit blank.

"So, I was thinking we could
spend the day together?" There was tension to her, even though she was
pretty enough and  fun seeming.

"Yep. That's what I was
thinking, too. I was just going to come look for you. Do you want to take a fun
trip to the port in Austra? We can have luncheon and talk after, or go see some
sights?" It occurred to him that his idea of a fun day for a Princess
might not actually count as one.

At least he hadn't suggested they
find some fishing line and try the King's River. It might have fish, but he was
nearly certain most women didn't like that kind of thing. What did you do with
them though, for fun? Dareg understood the adult parts, or at least enough to
muddle through, he thought.

The rest was a lot harder to
understand. His upbringing had been in a big city, it was true, so he knew that
there were things like plays and that people went to listen to music. That
hadn't been a big part of his life however, not having money for a lot of
luxury things like that. What he'd made running errands and doing odd jobs had
pretty much gone to food, and a few new pieces of clothing over the two years
he was on his own.

Fine parties came to mind, and he
was having one later, so that might count, even if the first part was a
bit boring for Karina.

She smiled at him her face
lighting up.

"That sounds like fun! I
should probably go anyway, so that our Austran friends know we really care, and
aren't trying to get rid of them. We could go look at Saturn? I hear that it
has these lovely rings around it. I've never been to it though. Seeing Jupiter
last night was impressive however, wasn't it? Who knew all of that was just out
there, waiting?" She seemed happy, really.

Not even like she was faking it
for his amusement, or so he wouldn't feel bad.

"I like it. We might have to
hurry, or go after the party later. That... I hope everyone likes it. It's a
festival theme, with that kind of food, and some entertainments that Sara got
for us. I'm not sure it's grand enough for the people we have here. If it doesn't
go over then I won't insult just the King and Queen of my own land, but the Ancients
of most of the others. I have to admit, I'm a little bit nervous about it
all." He was, but saying so just got him a one armed hug as they walked.
Then she let go, and took his hand.

"I wouldn't get too worked
up. Half of the people there will be shocked that they get fed at all, and the
others will talk about it being tacky behind your back... Then copy it next
year, thinking it's the new thing and that they need to try to outdo you. All
you have to do is set up the parameters for everyone to follow. If they hate
it, well, then we act like everyone else thinks it's brilliant until no one
dares says otherwise." She gave him a wry smile and looked at him from the
side of her eye. "Say, will you have caramel apples? I love those, but
never get to have them. Not the ones with the hard candy. Those are evil,
and cut your mouth up, but the good ones?"

He didn't know. Honestly, while
Dareg did know what she meant, he hadn't seen any there so far. Then, he hadn't
even been to the other side of the city yet. There was a lot more revelry to be
had on that side, or so he'd heard. The port side was done as far as the
really big events, though he needed to get with Alice and make certain she was
willing to have space fleet come and give people some rides. He could do that
too, now, he realized.

Which was incredible, now that it
hit him. He'd seen aliens. Real ones, out in space. They'd even waved
and bowed politely, though they were frightening to behold at the same time.
That got him to wonder if they had thought the same of him and the others.
Probably not, since they were used to seeing human shaped people, most likely.

There was a line already, one
that wrapped around and away from his ship. All of them standing there were
slightly untidy Austrans, most of whom hadn't shaved and who looked like sleep
might not have happened the night before. That just meant he wasn't alone in
that. Karina held him to a stately saunter, pulling him back when he started to
hurry a bit. It was done very gently, but on purpose. She also stood very
straight, with her head held high, so he copied that without giving it much
thought.

As he opened the door, and people
filed in, several of the black orbs, some with legends and glyphs on the side,
to mark their allegiance, pointed right at him and the Princess. More than
that, she was the Ancient of Mars. Still, they mainly seemed to be focusing on
him for some reason.

A man, one that he'd seen the day
before, but didn't know, walked up to him, his day old suit looking a bit dusty
in places. Like he'd sat on the ground at least once.

"Say, we heard that you're a
Prince. Of Harmony isn't it? The Tor's son?"

Those words got a lot more
cameras trained on him. He got that the man just meant Tor, the wizard.

He was also crowding him, which
no one had bothered with the day before when he was just the man piloting their
nifty ship to get them into Noram on time.

He didn't really know how to
reply however, other than to nod, and give a pleasant smile.

"That's right. My mother
died a few years back. Don't let the whole Prince thing fool you though. All my
titles are at a remove, which basically means that they only count when I'm
trying to impress girls. So far that hasn't worked at all." He
glanced at Karina and held her gaze for a moment. "Or... has it?"

She didn't break her regal
bearing, but did lean in and kiss him on the cheek.

"Not so much. I do
love what you did with the port here, so that part worked. We should see
about getting everyone on board? Then we can go on our date."

It seemed that everyone there got
who she was, being a Princess, so that got her pestered for the next ten
minutes. It wasn't him, so he took it as a rescue, and got them all into seats,
then moved over to the palace, the long way.

It was,
he feared, going to be a very long day.

Chapter fifteen

The Austrans didn't all
pester or harass him the entire time. For instance Prime Minister Foley, who
looked like he'd gotten some sleep and had managed to shave, probably having
been given a kit for that at the palace, was very nice to him. The man made
polite conversation, even as people came and kept insisting that he couldn't
be The Tor's son. That just didn't make any sense to them.

It took a while for him to get
why that was, but after a while he understood their meaning. He wasn't good
looking enough.

"Oh. I see. Um...
Here?"

Tapping his front he turned the
disguise amulet off, getting gasps from the people there. Not Tomas and
his people, who'd seen the trick before. Just the others, even though they
should have gotten the idea the day before. At the very least they should have
understood that he'd had a disguise on then. All they did was suddenly
act like they believed the claim that he was possibly related to The Tor.
Probably not. After all, how could he be related to someone so wonderful?

It was really insulting, but the
only one that seemed to understand why that was turned out to be Karina. She
sat there, turning red, even while he tried to not be bothered by it. Being a bastard
wasn't a great thing, and it was part of his life and always had been. Being
thought a liar wasn't fun either, but he kind of understood that these
people didn't seem to care about that. They were more interested in his alleged
relationship. They kept saying it that way too.

Alleged relationship to the Baker family.

Finally, growing visibly upset,
the Princess glared at people and kind of yelled at them as they got into the
port at Austra.

Her voice was low and in control,
but held steel inside it.

"Dareg has been tested. Even
by DNA analysis, as you'd understand it. Many times. By magical means as well.
More, Tor has already legitimized him. By the laws of Noram he has
stated in the most public way possible that Dareg has always been his child,
and that any oversight in his care or upbringing was his fault and
responsibility. I know that you don't understand it that way, but what you're
doing right now is very insulting. Please stop."

They didn't get it at all, though
they did seem to want to move on to the idea of how he might have faked the
genetic components, and fooled poor Tor. Not all of them did it, but no one
spoke out in his defense other than Princess Karina. At the dock he opened the
door, and waved at it, forcing a smile to his lips. For some reason several of
the people didn't seem to understand what was going on. It was just that their
cultures were too different. Still, anger was pretty universal, so they should
have understood what he meant by his expression of rage.

Karina backed up and went wide
eyed, staring at him in fear.

"Dareg?" Then, in a low
tone she muttered two words. "Combat rage." The Austrans looked a bit
ill, and stumbled a bit, but were all suddenly trying to get him on their
cameras. More little devices came out in fact, being held in their hands, and
even new ones that floated in the air, making little whirling sounds.

He closed his eyes and nodded,
working to control himself. It took a while, and he could hear his new friend
trying to get the people to get off the ship. Fast. They didn't, wanting to
keep after him.

Thanks to Kolb and the others
having beaten him and making him control himself every time he started to slip,
he managed to leave them alive, though they didn't get off his ship. Finally,
he got himself under control, and when he opened his eyes, faking a smile, he
noticed that the Prime Minister had left. Being wise like he was.

It took a lot of work not to yell
at people. Finally he tried to speak, making himself stay calm.

"Okay. If you want to know
about this, then you'll have to speak to Torrance Baker. Right now I need you
all to get off my ship. At least if you aren't planning to go out into space? I
don't have any extra shields for you, so that could work out for me." It
was a death threat, but only Karina went wide eyed.

Jan, still in her cute and frilly
pink skirt, waved at everyone.

"You're all on private
property. Get off now or the police will be called. Go! Everyone. Out.
Out!" That worked, with only a little pushing and shoving, most of it from
Jan and Nimbus, as Tomas gave a running commentary for his cams, and Cyra ran
things. The man had a floating chest with him, which was a bit odd, but made
sense when he spoke.

"Now, we're set to meet up
with the volunteers helping out at the spaceport, and give out these new
handhelds. We're looking for... Clarence Memes?" He touched his ear, and
then nodded. "Let's go to that live. I'll be right over." Then he
moved over to Dare and smiled. It was a big, and professional thing.

Strained, and filled with a
slight amount of annoyance. Not with him either, from the way he kept glaring
at the people leaving.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Canton.
These... It's a tradition here. If a dark thing can be possibly shown,
it will be. We don't really take it all that seriously as a group. No one at
home thinks you tricked your way into things. Here... You can read what they're
saying. It isn't that bad... No one is even calling for you to be arrested yet."
He had his purple handheld out and showed it to Dare, turning it around, to
show a rapid flow of words, with names under them.

Contrary to what the man said, a
lot of the things weren't polite or complimentary toward him. Those got
ignored by the man, for some reason.

"See? It's just the jerks
here. Half of them even seem to be on your side, so that's not bad at all!"

Only it was clear that it wasn't.
There were people openly calling him a bastard, for instance. Even the people that
had been trying to make him fight them a few minutes before hadn't done that.
He had to battle against the anger inside of himself then, as Karina looked at
the words, and went white.

Finally she shook her head. Her
voice was soft, and slightly scared.

"I know that there are
different ways in different lands, but Austra pretty much just declared war on Dareg
here. You might want to fix that. Now."

Tomas looked at her, confused,
and then shook his head.

"I really don't understand?
Why would he be that upset? Not all of it is good, but it's only words.
Really, I'd be hit at least that hard for my reporting over the last days, and
frankly, the team and I nailed that right down. People just say things. It
doesn't mean that much."

That was true, so he didn't take
his feelings out on the people that were just standing there, who had helped
him.

"I understand. You might
want to leave now?" He was shaking, but he didn't think he was in a rage
anymore. Not the true state that was so very dangerous. He was just pissed.
Normal anger, like anyone else might feel. The thing there was that he really
thought it might be a misunderstanding on his part. Not that it left him
feeling great. By Noram standards Karina was kind of correct. These people had
thrown insult after accusation his way, almost as if trying to cause violence
from him. That didn't make any sense however, since fighting with him couldn't
leave them looking good.

Everyone would see it,
too. That was their way. All of Austra seemed to show everything anyone ever
did, all the time. That couldn't be true, since most would have found that far
too boring. No one really wanted to know what others ate for their morning
meal, after all.

That reminded him that he hadn't
had anything himself.

Tomas left, having an errand to
run, a magical chest floating behind him as he did it, looking over his
shoulder. He seemed troubled at least, as if he understood that something had
gone wrong.

As soon as he could, he closed
the door, and then changed the shape of his jump ship, making it smaller and
dumping most of the water being kept in the back wall. The outside no longer
looked like glass. Now it was kind of a stone like gray, to fit his mood. The upper
stories were gone, suddenly, and the vehicle looked more like it had
originally. Like a rectangle instead of a tower.

He left the front windows, and a
seat for his friend. The rest of the space was left open, and was about twenty
feet long and ten wide behind him. The inside was reshaped to look like
polished wood. It was empty however, so he looked at it then made a table and
two chairs in the middle. So they could eat in a bit.

Then he set out, with the
Princess next to him, glancing over at him every few seconds.

When he was far enough away he
took a deep breath, and resisted making any proclamations. Part of him
wanted to find those people, the ones that had been there, and those that had
maligned him from a distance, and beat them until they begged for death. Not
that they'd be able too, if he did it right. A tiny, no doubt insane, portion
of his mind really wanted to go and collect things, and bring a real war upon
their entire land. To remove all of them, down to the last man, woman and
child, from the face of reality forever.

Instead Dare focused on his
breathing. The rise and fall of it, and tried not to let things get to him too
much. They'd been rude, and on a level that would be hard to forgive, so he'd
have to work on that.

At the moment, regardless of
anything else, he was officially on the first date that he'd ever been on, and
sitting there fuming wouldn't help him look good. To that end he nodded, and
once far enough away lifted straight up, going full speed.

They didn't talk, not for a few minutes,
but he was able to remember that she'd spoken of a planet with rings, in their
system. It wasn't that hard to make something up that worked to get them there,
which had her looking at him surprised when it popped into view, a good way
away. Even at that they were being slowly drawn toward the thing, so he had to
pull back to prevent an eventual landing there.

Then, once they were just hanging
there, he turned sideways to it, and made the entire side of the craft clear,
so they had a nice view.

"Now, luncheon. What would
you like?" He didn't really know what the craft could make, but he'd left
enough water for them to use in order to make food, drink, and air for a few
weeks at the very least. More than that really, he bet, because they could
reuse their waste to hold out a lot longer than that.

Not that he wasn't going back
that day. He had a party that evening, and as host had to be there. Then he
needed to figure out what he had planned for Austra.

After blinking at him for a few
moments Karina smiled at him. It was a polite thing, rather than being
charming.

"Let me do it? I have a dish
in mind. It might be hard to just explain however."

Moving back he settled at the
table, since she probably did know how to use that kind of thing better than he
did. You could make anything that could be imagined, or close to that, but she,
being rich and living in space for over a decade simply had a broader
perspective than he possibly could have. So he got out of the way. Then he
smiled when she brought over a plate with what seemed to be braised meat, and
vegetables on sticks with a dipping sauce.

It was interesting to look at,
and his three sticks were artfully arranged on the plate, next to the small
dish of cream colored stuff that came with it.

She had the same, so he let her
get seated after serving, and take the first bite. He wasn't afraid of being
poisoned by her. Not even that the food was bad. The truth was that Dareg
didn't have a clue how the things would be eaten. That turned out to be easy,
since all he had to do was pick the stick up on both sides, dip the bit he
wanted to eat first in the bowl, then nibble, like with an ear of boiled corn.

The ship, being advanced, even
produced napkins for them to use, when he tried to get something to clean up
his slightly greasy fingers with. They were red, since that was what he'd been
thinking of.

Karina looked at them and
wrinkled her nose, which was adorable. A lot of things about her really were.

"I get it, to match the
blood of Austra?" There was a graceful gesture as she picked up the piece
of linen that appeared. Then she placed it on her lap, so he did the same
figuring that she'd be the one with good manners.

"Not really. They did make
me mad, but there isn't a lot I can do about it without just being a pain in
the ass. I could call them names back, or hurt a few of them, but it won't stop
the others from thinking bad things about me. I suppose I could just avoid the
place for a while and let them forget about me? That might be for the
best." Calling him a liar, or implying it as strongly as they did wasn't a
nice thing to do.

Especially since they'd done the
same to Karina, not believing her about him.

She nodded however, and ate for a
bit, clearly thinking.

When she finally spoke, there was
a bit of playfulness under the surface anger.

"Well, you could refuse to
build a spaceport for them. That's fair even. If they won't treat you nicely,
you certainly don't owe them your labor or friendship."

"That's a point. I probably should
do that. It would save me time anyway. They can fend for themselves. It
won't be as nice, but they have the ability. I can get how some places might
not have had the ability to get things going already. Afrak for instance, just
works differently, right? They just farm and weave cloth?" That had been
in his school lessons, but the Princess shook her head.

"It's more than that. They
shape life itself, and do a good job of it. It sounds primitive, but in some
ways they're ahead of what we can do even now, with all our magic. The variety
of living things there is impressive, if you get a chance to look around for
awhile. Is that what you want to do next then?"

Sighing, he shook his head.

"No. I'll go get the port in
Austra ready. Even if it means swallowing my pride. I just won't let any of
those people be around me. It might work. I also might just hurt
some people." It probably wasn't true, but she nodded like he was just
speaking the whole truth.

"I understand. Really,
that's kinder than most would be, after that. I wasn't joking when I told them
they were declaring war. If they wanted to fight you that badly they should
have named a champion so that you could just duel him and spare the rest."

He laughed a bit and looked at
the giant planet outside the window. They were slowly moving toward it again
already. They'd leave before it became a big problem though, so he didn't fix
it.

"You know, we should talk
about other things. I can be angry later, don't you think?" He was trying not
to ruin things, but doubted it was going to end up being all that great, no
matter what he did after all of that.

Karina however was a professional
at conversation and managed to pull things out, not speaking about anything all
that difficult for him. Which meant that they spoke about Mars, and what kind
of things they were having to do in order to build an atmosphere that would
work for people. It didn't sound easy, but luckily they had a lot of magic to
bring to bear on the situation.

"The kids have been a big
help there. Terry, Tenet, Tess and Taman. Tara isn't a builder at all. Like me.
I've tried, but it just doesn't happen when I do it. No one really knows why.
I've taken some lessons in it, since it would be useful, but it doesn't
seem to be sticking. So much for Tor's idea that anyone smart enough can do
it." She looked at him from the side of her eye and smirked. "I took
a test, and it proved that I'm decently intelligent. So it's something
else."

That seemed normal to him. Most
people couldn't really do magic, as far as he knew.

Nodding, he looked out the window
again.

"There are other things to
do, and different ways to get them done. I mean, I'd barely seen any magic
until about two weeks ago. Now I'm sitting here, in a place that no person has
ever been before. With a Princess. If I can do that without being able
to make magic, I have to feel pretty positive about my chances of getting on
all right."

That got a head shake, and a
sigh.

"I know, and you aren't
wrong. It's only one thing. I can chant that phrase to myself while the little
kids make all those incredible things happen. Still, Tenet's air producers are
making a real difference on Mars already. Some two hundred years ahead of
schedule. At this rate we'll have people living on the surface in... Oh, call
it four hundred years?" She was joking about the time, but in a way that
probably meant it was accurate.

Thinking about it for a second he
nodded.

"That's impressive
then. Planets are vast. I can't even begin to image what it would really take."

She looked at him then, a bit
hard at first, like there was a lack of trust in what he was saying. It had
sounded genuine enough, being that it was. Pieces clicked into place then, and
he started to understand. Most people didn't get it, but thought they did.

His date for the afternoon took a
very deep breath and blew it out slowly.

"Everyone thinks they
understand the idea. You make some air. You plant some trees, and the rest will
take care of itself. It isn't that simple. You have to do everything at the
same time. Put in micro-bacteria first, as soon as they can survive, then work
through stages. If we just wanted a ball in space that would be kind of
livable, we really could do that. It was talked about, more than once. We could
just flood the planet with what we need. The thing with that plan is that if
the magic ever stops, everyone living there would end up dying."

She reached out and touched his
arm, looking odd. It was a combination of sad, and determined.

Dareg did his own deep breathing,
and tried to work through what was going on. She was immortal, but four hundred
years was a long time for anyone to stick to one thing. It had to be nearly
oppressive to even consider it.

They ate for a while in silence,
and finally, after cleaning up, Dare looked at the Princess, smiling.

"We should get back, and see
what new disasters people have invented." He stopped and shook his head a
bit. "That isn't just me thinking that, is it? People really do create
most of their own problems, don't they? I mean collectively? If we worked
together... Stopped being selfish..." Then he shut-it, knowing that this
kind of thinking couldn't work in the long run. The problem with getting people
to do the right thing was that no matter what you were always going to be
dealing with people.

Karina turned it into a joke and
winked at him, seeming a bit less depressed by things then.

"Oh, sure. Everyone knows
that one. We'll get right on that. Just as soon as we all get our share
of the riches and dancing girls." Then she stood up too, and stretched a
bit. "That part is always the catch, isn't it? We could do better, if we
looked out for everyone, but there will always be a few that have to take the
best for themselves. Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses, Ancients... The man
that runs the Inn, the woman that bakes pies for the country fair... "

It was clear the actual list
could go on for a long time. It wasn't everyone, but a big enough portion of
the world that it was kind of clear that he needed to prepare for a life of
other people making things harder than they had to be. Not that he wouldn't add
his own bit to the pot, he was sure.

It occurred to him though that
he, just by letting himself be what he was, could change that. If he walked
into the centers of power with his new amulet off, and got to know people,
they'd eventually do what he wanted. Then things could be made better for
everyone.

All it would take would be Dareg Canton
not turning out to be as selfish and grasping as everyone else in the world. That
wasn't going to happen. He knew that, even seeing that it was wrong to take
more than his share.

Then he let it go. The day wasn't
over, and barring death, the next day would come. His job was to get through
it, not fix reality.

Looking out at Saturn, a place
that had majestic rings around a world that was vast compared to Earth, he let
himself feel a bit of awe.

"It's pretty." That
felt like an understatement. He should have created a poem, or song, but he
didn't know how to do those things. Thankfully, in the moment, he didn't need
to.

Karina however got a mischievous
grin on her face, and dug out her handheld. It was just like his own. She
tapped out a name, rather than searching one by one like he always did. It was a
lot faster, and clear that he should have been doing that himself all along. Dare
had just missed that it was an option.

As soon as a man's voice started
to speak, she interrupted.

"This is Karina Cordes. Dareg
Canton and I have gone to the planet Saturn, and have the first pictures. Go
live with this."

She didn't say anything about
what was going on, or who she was talking too, just turning to him.

"Can you take us into orbit,
Dareg?"

He could. It was a bit different
than the Moon or Earth however, since he had to be a lot further out to get
that done. The Princess kept taking the pictures however, sending them to
whoever she was talking too. After about twenty minutes, she grinned.

"Now, we're going to offer a
trip to an Austran science team in a few weeks. Get that together, and send in
requests to Dareg Canton, if you want to take him up on the offer." Then
she shut the handheld off, abruptly.

"There we go! That will set
half of their people, the ones that want controversy, against the ones that
want the special treat. It's one of the nice things about those people.
Austrans always understand where the good things are coming from. Also
who they owe for it. That's a big part of what happened earlier, I bet."
She looked annoyed though, so he tried to ask for her to go on with a slight
head movement.

When she did it was with a shrug.

"Years ago, Tor was targeted
by the Larval. Their cloned army of super-human assassins. He won, defeating
them all in the end, being him, but it had been a mistake the whole time. Then,
instead of attacking Austra, the next thing they heard about him was Tor saving
them all from a world killing plague. Not one person alive there now doesn't
owe him. Timon too, thanks to the food units he gave everyone." She looked
at him then, her face still, like she was willing him to be calm about what was
coming next. "So, when you showed up, being naturally greedy and coin
hungry, their entire land assumes the same of you, so looked for the trick in
it. Not to insult you, or start a war, but in order to protect their
friend, Tor."

Dare managed a weak smile, mainly
by not thinking about what had been said toward him earlier.

"So, this will get some of
them to realize that I might be valuable, and allow them to see that I'm not
trying to use Tor and his family?"

She laughed then.

"No. They're Austrans.
Good people, in their own way, but they can't imagine people not being like
they are. It's always about coin to them. Even when given things for free, they
look for the trick in it. The portion where they have to pay, eventually. It
will distract some of them, for a bit, perhaps. That's all. On the good side
they do run out of steam fast. A year or two from now, if you haven't killed
them all for wronging you, and they'll pretty much have forgotten what they
were going on about."

That didn't sound fun, but he'd
live.

Then, settling into the big
chair, he had them back at Earth, above the spaceport and the Capital
instantly, and transitioned directly into orbit.

Karina sighed then, and shook her
head.

"I really need to learn to
do that. I've been working jump ships since the first one was created nearly,
and I can't appear in orbit like that, above my destination. No one else can,
either, so it isn't a magic thing. None of the wizards do that, I mean."
She looked at him, with real worship in her eyes, if only for a moment.

It wasn't hard, since the ship
took you where the user told you told it to go. For some reason most people
were just more vague about that than he was. That was all, as far as he could
tell.

Nodding, he smiled, then went
through the complicated landing procedure, actually having to wait for another
ship for once. He just hung back, and let them go. It was small, though made
several times larger than his, and was all in orange, showing it was a fleet
vessel.

At nearly the same time, another
one took off. There was a group of regular people loading into a different
craft that was still at the port. He could tell that because, even from miles
away, he could get that most of them wore brown and gray, with only a
smattering of color.

"Ah. Alice is coming through
then! People are getting trips into space. Honestly, I didn't even mention it
to her." It made him feel better, for some reason. Not that he was totally
happy now with everything. It was nice to see good things actually happening
though. Especially when they were just kind of mentioned in passing once or
twice. As it was, Alice had probably thought the idea up for herself. That or
Connie had spoken to her about it.

He settled not to long after, in
a small space, on the extreme eastern side of the port, well away from all of
the things he needed, meaning a walk was about to happen. The place was good
sized, but it wasn't so huge that he couldn't do it in about twenty minutes. If
he didn't dawdle.

It was, however, the end of his
very first date. A thing which hadn't gone all so well, he didn't suppose.

"So, that could have
been more fruitful, right?" He smiled, a bit sheepishly, only to have the
Princess stand up and move to the door. He did too, and was a bit surprised
when she kissed him. It was on the lips, and at first he fumbled a little, not
having done a lot of that kind of thing, but he got the idea not too long into
it, and responded in kind well enough. It wasn't like it was hard.

When she stood back, she shook
her head.

"This was nearly perfect,
for me. I learned a lot about you in a very short period of time, which is the
point, if I'm going to be married to you. For instance, I learned that while
you are a bit of a hot head, you aren't unreasonable, even when you get
upset. You also won't punish innocent people for things that others did.
That's huge, for people like us. When you can get away with murder, it becomes
a much bigger point of morality not to let that happen. Also, you're a really
great pilot. That means that you aren't going to have to jump to Tor's whim in
order to keep yourself together. If he won't give you coin, you can make your
own. Not that he'd use that kind of thing as leverage, but it's good to know you
won't be stuck. A lot of people your age really are." She winced, at the
mention of age, then went on. Stepping away from her words almost instantly.
"Older people too, if they don't bother to build their own life. Those are
all important things to know. What you learned about me, I don't know, but it
was a good date for me."

She seemed pleased enough, but he
had learned a few things. Ones that she might not have realized she let
drop.

For instance, she knew that a lot
of her life would be spent doing something that no one else would see the value
in for a very long time. Past that, she was also willing to back him up
when people attacked. That had happened instantly, and without a lot of
reservation. Then, when it was clear to her that Dareg didn't want blood in
answer for the insults, she was adaptable enough to find a way to spread the
enemy out for him.

That too, was a lot to learn
about a person in a few hours.

He didn't say it all, but did nod
at her and smile.

"I worked out a few things.
So, what's next?" He meant for them, and it was pretty clear, but she
ignored that part, and gestured to the door.

"I need to go visit with my
parents for the day. I'll see you this evening? After that... I'm nearly
certain that we're all getting together to hunt some errant High Servants. You
heard about that?"

He nodded, since he was part of
it, but didn't explain that part. Instead he smiled at her and let his eyes go
slightly grim.

"I should go dig Karen and
Bill up for that. Some of the others too. This sounds pretty messy, doesn't
it?"

She laughed then, and touched his
shoulder, resting her hand there.

"Don't worry, life is almost
always like this. It's always something or other. Most of it you can ignore.
Though Karen will be glad to see that people care. I know that she feels like
she's failed at her job with the High Servants, which... Well, she kind of has.
It was being gone for so long. Trust me, if she'd been here, no one
alive would be less than dutiful once they held that rank." The words held
not one jot of doubt. In fact, there was just a tiny bit of blood thirsty
admiration to it all.

So far most of the High Servants
had seemed more or less fine to him however. Sure, Straughan had some
things to answer for, but as almost everyone had mentioned, he was really in
trouble for not doing his job well enough, and maybe trying to take over
the High Servants, or helping someone else do that.

Coercing people into having sex,
by saying they wouldn't be allowed to go to Harmony if they didn't pleasure him,
well, that was creepy, but they could still all have said no, and walked
away. As it stood they didn't even know if he really had been sending
anyone away without a trip if they denied him. That would change what would
happen to him, probably. If he'd laughed and sighed when they'd said they didn't
want to, and booked their way for them, then even that was a much grayer area. Adults,
and it did sound like he'd stuck to them for his rotten games, were expected
to stand up for themselves if they didn't want to do something. Even if it was
hard.

That was what he was thinking
when Karina looked around and then rose into the air, about four inches.

"See you tonight?"

"Sam's palace, at nine! Bring
everyone. Or, you know what I mean." Her parents, and possibly her close
friends if they were around.

Not every noble in the Kingdom that
wanted a free meal. That would be way too crowded, for one thing.

It took a while to locate
Commander Derring, but handily enough she was already setting up her plans. It
was a familiar group there already working with her on it. Tor, Timon,
Patricia, William Smythe, High Servants Erid and Johan, Kolb, and Squire Bill.
He was guarding the door, and looked terrified when he saw Dare walking up.
Even though he was inside the room, and the layout meant that almost anyone
could see and hear the meeting, so it wasn't that big of a secret. There was a
low wall around the sitting area, so while it did give it a slightly closed
feeling, it didn't keep him from hearing Karen threaten to kill all the
High Servants, other than the two with her, if they didn't shape the hell up.

That moment. Possibly sooner.

Bill stood directly in front of
the door, barring him entry with his body. A scared expression grew though, and
he fidgeted nervously. Finally Dare waved a bit, getting Karen to turn around
and call out to him.

"There you are! I was about
to send Bill to the whore house to look for you. I hope she was good?"

That got him to glare a bit, even
as the others snickered at him. Not Bill, who just looked away and
moved, since it was clear that Dareg was expected. The others though did, which
meant he had to fight off a combat rage that showed well enough everyone froze.

Except Bill again, who patted him
on the arm, being reassuring, even as he reeled back a little from the
disorientation aura.

"They're just teasing. They
don't really mean that you'd go to a place like that."

There was a half nod from Tor,
though Timon snorted, understanding more than the others got yet.

"No one would get worked up
over that. No, this is about something else. Obviously so. What where you
doing?"

He nearly blurted out that he'd
been on a date, but that wasn't the issue, so he backtracked in his mind. Then
he spoke through slightly clenched teeth.

"Austra seems to think that
I made up the whole thing about who my father is to force a poor and very beleaguered
Tor to provide for me against his will. I got to put up with half an hour of
not too subtle haranguing, and then saw that most of Austra feels that
discussing my bastard-hood to be a good day's entertainment." Then he
looked at Tor and shrugged. "You can have the coin back. I didn't ask
for any of this."

Then he had to close his eyes
again, and shook his head. It took work, since the hard feelings came back, but
he mastered that. Eventually. No one spoke. Not until he opened his eyes.

Timon looked directly at him,
even as the others held various expressions. Kolb looked a bit bored by it, and
annoyed. That was at him though, he could tell. The shoulders were oriented his
way, not at the wall really. So he, at least, didn't want to bother with the
idea of Dereg having his little feelings hurt.

Tor actually looked misty eyed,
and after a bit, slightly angry. Not at him. That was really clear, too.

Karen made a hard face, and had to
wipe at a tear. When she took a deep breath, it shook, like it was an emotional
issue for her, personally.

Erid looked troubled, and was
glancing away, so he didn't have to acknowledge anything in particular.

Johan simply stood up, and
smiled.

"We can go and teach them how
to be polite then? I image if we kill the first few dozen that spoke out of
turn, the others will pick up the meaning. They share everything there, so
should be able to see it happening." Then he started to take a step, only
to have Timon laugh, and wave him back down.

"I'll deal with this.
It's... Well, I should have stopped that already. Frankly it hadn't crossed my
mind that anyone would go in that direction this soon. Eventually, since almost
everyone will consider it, sooner or later. Who wouldn't want to be the
son of the richest single person on three planets? I don't doubt that we'll all
see a few hundred claims being made now, after this." He didn't seem upset
about it. "Luckily my brother hasn't been that busy. It will save on
having to learn all those new names."

Tor however did seem a bit put
out, and shook his head several times. His voice was rough, like he was
fighting tears back.

"That... I'm sorry Dareg.
I'd heard from Collette that it was a sensitive topic for you. She cried about
her callousness in bringing up such painful things in front of you. It's my job
to protect you, and here I go again, failing. I don't know what to do about it
either."

Dareg moved to a large sofa, one
with Kolb on the other end, and sighed.

"Well, Karina and I have a
plan, after a fashion. We're taking a single group of Austran scientists to see
Saturn in a few weeks. We went there for luncheon, and she sent pictures there,
I think? Harmony, too? It was on her handheld, so I don't know how that
works."

Karen got hers out and tapped for
a bit, then gasped.

"Oh! That's lovely! Look at
this, everyone." She passed the image around, but it wasn't nearly as good
as the view he'd had.

Kolb softened then, and chuckled
a bit.

"Good! Finally a plan
that I won't have to mop up after with a bucket. If you aren't going to demand
the deaths of thousands to assuage your hurt feelings, we should get back to
the topic at hand. I believe you were going to take Karen to task for making
death threats?" He looked right at Dareg, like that was his job.

Which, technically, it was.
There had been something about not going to war, if at all possible.

"After a fashion. We need to
take care of the guilty. The rest of them... Well, if they're really that bad,
then we'll... I don't know, strip them of their office, and send them home in
shame? Can you call them all together soon?" That would be hard, if they
were in a lot of different places. "Get them to meet in a few locations,
and we can just go to them? That way we can truth test them all, and see if
they're in on the plot, and doing their job to the best of their ability. If
they are, well, even if they aren't that good at it, we should keep them. If
they kind of do their jobs, but aren't certain if it's really enough,
well, that probably means that they're really making it happen and just
push themselves unreasonably. If they really are failing though, we can cull
the ranks, or give them a chance to prove that they can, and will,
change?"

It was a lot of work, and setting
them loose was the best option, but he had to admit he sounded reasonable enough.
At least to his ears.

Karen sneered at him. It didn't
look good on her. Worse than it would have on most people.

"You think that will be
enough? They took oaths. They swore to serve those in need, and have had
years in some cases to get around to it. Isn't that enough rope to let
them strangle on?" She'd gone from being near tears to looking ready to
hit him, in about half a minute. That was kind of impressive he decided.

Also, even though she was looking
pretty again, not like her earlier disguise, he didn't really want to have sex
with her anymore. Even while practicing earlier, and being hurt, that had been
hard to fight. It probably meant she had one of Tiera's new magics on, like he
did. It was a relief, actually. Dareg did like her, and would have sex
with her if she ever wanted, but it was just a normal thing now.

Not a feeling like he'd burst if
he didn't have her.

It meant he could tell her no,
for instance, even as everyone else was subtly nodding at what great logic she
was bringing to bear. Then, they knew more about the problem than he did, which
might be a stroke of luck for the High Servants.

He placated her a little bit
anyway, since it seemed important to her.

"You aren't really wrong,
but if we can save lives, we should. Even if we feel angry about things. Even
if we can go around murdering people, we probably shouldn't. Not most
days. We need to save something for the special occasions."

It was just what he'd always been
taught, along with playing nicely with others, and not setting things on fire,
but after a few moments the blonde Commander of the High Servants bowed to him,
and held it.

"You're correct. I shouldn't
let my emotions control my actions. Thank you for the correction."

Then she stood, and glared a bit,
at the others. They didn't laugh however, since that would be really
counterproductive.

Erid stood and nodded then.

"Right. I can set up
meetings. Here, since the largest body of High Servants is located around this
area. Then a few other major cities. Harmony too, though most of the people
there have done a good job. I think so, anyway." He glanced at Karen, but
if he expected anger over that part, he didn't get it.

"Thanks. Here, Par, over in
Tellerand... Harmony, but just to check for spies and traitors, and the encampment
in Soam? I haven't heard much about them, really. The reports make it seem
like they're all working hard, but so do all of the others. Lying on
reports is nearly a tradition now. One that I would dearly love to change. So, Dareg,
you're on to get everyone where they need to go? It might mean playing coachman
for a while."

He looked at her, and then held a
hand up and wiggled it side to side, showing he wasn't certain.

"I don't have an issue with
the work, but I may not have time. We need to get Austra ready for Timon and
Patricia to come. At least the port there." Really, he needed to see if
Clarence Memes had his handheld yet. The Terry made one.

The party had to come first,
since he wasn't going to fall down on that, if he could help it. After all, he'd
never given a party before. Even if Tor wanted to cut him off now, or whatever,
he still needed to do that.

It was tempting, after the day,
to do that one the other way around and just send the man away, claiming that
he wasn't his father. Yes, there were great perks that went with the
relationship, but the name calling had hurt enough to leave him feeling raw,
and more than a little stupid. Like throwing away that kind of chance in life
over anger made sense.

It didn't. It wouldn't either.
No, he'd just have to suck up the shame, and pain, then go on. That was what
life required of you sometimes.

"Other than that,
then yes? Or we can put that off, too. I don't think we should, but what they
really want is you, Tim, not a shiny place for ships to land. That might make
you look better on their screens, but that won't be the important part for
them." They really did seem to want him there.

In fact it was almost a bit
creepy, the way they wanted him, as a group.

Like they were crazy for him.

The rest of the conversation
shifted toward the topic of finding Kevin Straughan, who had been tracked by
William Smythe, and Patricia, for some reason.

It was the man who spoke, his
voice deep and manly, though he only looked to be about nineteen or twenty.

It was William that spoke, his
voice rather self assured, but not full of himself, somehow.

"We found a clear track on
him yesterday, by examining the heavy transport records. From all indications
he's run to County Ford, to the capital there. He has people near there, so it could
be taken as a simple King's week visit. It may even be one. We should go
and collect him soon, in case he is behind things as has been suggested. It
might serve not to be too aggressive, however?" The fellow had mid-toned
brown hair, but it was kept short and tidy. He looked hard, and not like a
statesman in particular.

Dareg nodded, and then yawned.

"We can go first thing in
the morning? I have to sleep tonight. I didn't yesterday."

Tor looked at him, then nodded.

"That sounds like a plan. We
can meet after you have your lessons in the morning? About ten?" That got
a look at Kolb, who smiled a bit and nodded.

"At the tiny house up front.
Now, I think that it's getting late enough that we need to get ready for Dareg's
party?"

It was about seven or so, which
meant it was really about time for him to go and get ready, and help out
where he could, if needed.

It turned out that Sara really didn't
need him to be there, having it all in hand already. She didn't even seem
stressed, but did hug him when he walked by.

"You should go get dressed.
Medium level... Um, here... Let me change your clothing? You can leave it set?"
Her hand came up, but she waited for him to nod at her before doing anything.

Dare ended up in a suit. It was a
deep gray, and a bit bland looking, but had a tight waist, and a broad green
silk wrap around the waist.

The shoes were just black boots,
and had a nice shine, but that was all.

His hair ended up being held
back, into a tail. Not that he wouldn't want to comb it after he got a shower.
For that he had to borrow a room there, since the streets were so crowded that
walking to and from his house would probably take longer than he had left.

Thankfully, they had the
space, and he was able to get a room on the third floor.

It was really nice, but he just
needed to use the bath, not sleep there. He had a house, and kind of wanted to
use it, if he got a chance.

Working quickly he managed to get
back down stairs about twenty minutes later. Then he found Sara again, in a
very large, richly decorated room. There were chairs and soft places to sit
along the right hand side, and very grand, gaudily colored blue, green, and red
doors along the far side. They were huge things, and looked worthy of a players
tent.

"This is the waiting area.
We'll eat, and be entertained, in there. Now all we have to do is stay here.
The staff will lead people in. We don't have a majordomo on the door, so we
need to be watchful. I want it to be more casual than that." If she was
nervous it didn't show. Not even around the edges.

Then, she'd flat out told him
that if it flopped she was blaming him. She got the credit for it if people
liked it however. That was a brilliant idea, he understood. Not the part where
she'd said that, but the idea that she'd let him know that it could go either
way. He wouldn't be surprised then if things went downhill.

As it turned out, they didn't
really have to worry. After decades or longer of being treated to fine dinners
and formal arrangements, everyone seemed very happy to walk from the waiting
area into what seemed to be a traveling circus tent. Complete with stands for
them to sit on, while they ate their greasy and too sweet dinners out of little
wooden bowls, and off sticks. There was a group of people walking around and
offering food to people, like vendors might at such an event. Then they had
animals in to do tricks, along with players that tumbled and juggled a lot of
different things.

No one even acted like such
childish things were beneath them, which was a bit different than he'd figured
on. The King kept slapping him on the back, and smiling, and Connie hugged him
more than a few times.

On the last one, she leaned in
and kissed his cheek.

"This was charming, Dareg.
How did you think of it? We'll have to try something similar sometime."

He smiled, and blamed Sara for it
with a wave.

"All her. I mentioned an
idea, but the execution wasn't me in the slightest. I think she's making
sure that everyone understands that they really know how to have fun in the
Martian Circle."

After that he had to speak to
everyone as they left, including the people that were staying there. That, as
it turned out included Taman. Her sister the Queen's words haunted him as she
moved in for a hug that was a little bit too warm to happen in public. She
managed to pull back nicely enough however, and smile at him sweetly.

She wasn't blasting him with her
will, like before, so it was easier to take, though he still felt attracted to
her. Aunt or not. The problem, or gift, there was that he couldn't actually
think of her that way. She was just a pretty girl, not much older than he was,
that clearly wanted him. Even regular hormones were enough to get him to
kind of what to ignore what Tiera had told him.

"Thank you for having us
all, Dareg. I was wondering, can we speak? After the people clear out a bit. It
won't take long."

Tiera had said he should stay
away from her, but not why. That, he realized wasn't going to go over
well, if she just wanted to share news, or find out what his favorite color
was. Being rude to a powerful wizard, or even a cute girl, was foolish. That
she was far beyond being merely attractive was solidly there, too.

"Sure? I'm going back to my
place, after this, but I can-"

She broke in, nodding seriously.

"That will be fine. I'll meet
you out front." It was kind of clear that he wasn't getting a choice in
the matter.

Well, unless he snuck out the
back and ran off into the night. That might work.

Instead he spoke to people for a
while, said his goodbyes, and met the girl, with her long dark hair, out in
front. She started walking instantly, heading in the right direction like she
knew the way. It was close to midnight, and he was truly exhausted from lack of
sleep. Enough that it was making his thinking fuzzy, he could tell.

The girl, his aunt in a weird way
that wasn't biological, though it kind of held up morally. Her brother, who she
called her brother, was his father. That they didn't have another link,
through the blood, was confusing, but not that important. Not if Tiera wanted
him to keep away from the girl. The one next to him, who took his hand as they
got to his place, a while later. Without touching the wall Taman made a door
appear instantly, and shook her head.

"That was decent work,
hiding the door like that. I doubt there are a hundred people in the world that
could do that with this thing. We should go in." The girl was tiny, but
stronger than she looked. Dareg found himself tugged into place, the door being
pulled shut behind him. Lights came on, but dimly, and she smiled at him. It
was just bright enough to see her do it.

"I hear that Tiera warned
you away from me? Did she give a reason?"

"No? I figured that it was
the aunt thing, but she didn't seem too concerned there. My best guess is that
she's trying to protect me from you. You know, given your reputation as a
wizard? I jump the wrong way, and end up a frog. It could be that. I haven't
heard that you have a reputation for being mean, but hey, would I? I don't
speak amphibian, so how would I learn about it?"

That got her to cross her eyes
and smirk. It was adorable, and meant to be. The kind of thing that
attractive people did to make themselves a little less pretty, and tell
everyone that they didn't mean any harm.

"It isn't that. Or a
worry that I'll steal you from Karina. I wouldn't do that. It's... Kind
of embarrassing, really." She stepped back, and then sighed, shaking her
head. "I asked a man to marry me. Guide Eastgreen? He... sent a go between
to put me off. Tiera thinks that means that I'm going to throw myself at the
next man I meet and marry him without pause. That isn't me. I wouldn't do
things like that." She seemed to know that about herself pretty solidly.

"Oh? Well that's good to
know. So what do you really want? Tiera wouldn't respond like that if she
didn't see something happening that she didn't understand."

"Right." She tapped her
chest, near her throat. That turned her clothing amulet off, leaving her
completely nude. "I just like you. That's enough, isn't it? We can spend
time together, can't we?"

The words were soft, and kind,
and his clothing turned off, too. Without the wizard touching him at all, or
closing her eyes. There was something happening however, that wasn't just about
what was going on between his legs. That part involved her hand, as she
moved closer to him, kissing hard, squeezing him and stroking to get him going.

He noticed her projecting at him
then. It was a powerful thing, pushing him to like her. To want her. To...

Give her a child.

Under all of it, that thought, or
feeling maybe, battered into him the hardest. It was the thing she was after,
it was clear. Not love, or lust, but a baby, to call her own.

That got him to move back and
shake his head, trying desperately to clear it from the fog that was being
pushed on him. How he knew what she wanted from him for that purpose, he
couldn't understand. Magic, clearly, but he wasn't a wizard. She was.

"Stop that!" He slapped
his clothing on, and then his shield, moving away. "Stop! I don't
want to have kids with you!"

She did step back, and gave him a
strange look, her face going wry, rather than mean or insulted.

"Hmm. So you got that?
Sloppy of me. It's part of my genetic code to want children. I should
get that fixed, or at least reduced, but haven't yet. It's hard to fight
against, I assure you. I really do find you attractive. I could do other
things, if you're worried? Use my mouth, or hands?" She tried to move in
again, but Dareg wasn't having it.

"I don't think so. You have
some kind of trick in mind, to get what you want. I do what you said, and you
use your hand, and end up pregnant by me anyway... Not that I understand how
you'll do it, but I can see that you will. You think so anyway, it's written
all over your face. Why me? That... There are a lot of men." It was true,
after all.

Taman sighed, and tried to hold
him, then understood that her cute body wasn't going to be enough to sell him
on the deal. For one thing, if she got pregnant, they'd have to get
married. That meant she would actually steal from Karina, even if she didn't
know that about herself.

"I... No. It..." She
stopped and shook her head. "I really want a child. It's a constant
pressure on me. I know that it would be the wrong time for me, but that
doesn't matter to my basic sense of self. Drives rarely care how intelligent
your brain is. So, I have to act, and do it the best as I can."

Getting that he wasn't going to
give in, she dressed and sighed at him.

"I hope you aren't too angry?
You have wonderful genetics. Nearly perfect for me, I think. We could have
amazing kids. They'd be incredible, I think. Whatever Tor did to make you, it
was done well."

He shook his head, since even if
it was true, he understood what she'd been doing to him since they'd
met. It was probably a bit like what he normally did to everyone else. The big
difference was that she was doing it on purpose. To get what she wanted
from him, by tricking him using his desire for her.

"Why don't you leave? I
don't think I want you here, for the time being. This is... It's a little too
much for me today. I'm too tired, and I don't want to fight, but this... What
you're doing isn't fair."

She looked down and seemed a bit
upset, but nodded too.

"I know. I pressed you. Guide...
He told me no, because he isn't ready for children. I don't need a husband
though. Not living on Harmony. Even in Soam no one will mock me for it. It's a
drive. No worse than your own to have sex. No one will malign you for that, so
why should I be seen as wrong for wanting children?"

He shook his head.

"You shouldn't. It is
pretty normal, but... I just turned fourteen. I'm looking to get married to
someone else, and, you know, we're related, I guess. I know that I can't see it
that way, and that the blood lines don't have an issue that way, but... If I
want to get kicked out of this new family, you having my child would probably
get that to happen faster than nearly anything else I could do."

She made a face, but didn't tell
him that he was wrong. Instead she held him and shook her head.

"They won't. They all want
you to be happy. No one knows what to do in order to make that happen, so they
flounder and wait for you to make the first move. So, if I'm not going to be
harvesting your seed, I guess I should leave? Unless you want to change your
mind? I could use my mouth." There it was again, in her body
language. She was sincere, but it was also clearly a trick somehow.

"No? I... You should go. I'm
not blaming you, but... Find someone else? Marry them, then have kids?"

It couldn't be that hard for her
to manage, after all. She was small, but incredible looking, and clearly smart,
with the exception of this one desire of hers, which she seemed to know was out
of control, but couldn't help.

Sure, he got the basic idea. He
really did want to have sex with most women, most of the time. That was normal
though, and not a thing he didn't have control over. As he was showing at the
moment, he noticed. He liked sex, and pleasure, like most did. Not enough to
let it ruin his life, but he could understand that it might be hard for her to
resist, if her own needs were stronger than that.

Which was what was happening with
Taman. It was a shame too, since he could easily see her becoming his favorite
person in the world, other than that. Even without sex being involved.

"So, go now? Please?"
The big thing now would be to let her get away without feeling embarrassed,
which would be hard. "We can talk later."

She smiled, clearly seeing the
same things that he was, if filtered through her own world view.

"We can. I know this will
make things hard between us. We don't have to let it, if you don't want?"
She touched his chest and then shook her head. "I'll see if I can get
Timon to help me change this. Otherwise I'm going to end up with eleven
children, and living in a forest. Not that I have anything against
forests." She smiled, and then left, the door vanishing as soon as she was
out through it, though that wasn't needed.

Dareg nodded though, wondering if
they'd be able to move past the events that hadn't happened there.

Probably not, but he could try to
do his part.

Then, exhaustion taking him, he
changed to comfortable clothing and fell asleep. Worried, but not enough to
stop him from letting the world go dark.

Chapter sixteen

It felt odd now, getting up in
the pod house that Taman had made. The magical construction looked the same,
but it felt like he should give it back to her, and not benefit from her
efforts, since he was rejecting her like he was.

That part, a thing that he woke
up with, was a bit surprising to Dareg. He felt really bad about not having
taken her up on her offer. Her plan, or trick. Here he was benefiting from what
she'd done, and he hadn't done anything to help her at all. It was a raw
feeling, but the truth was that he wasn't ready to be a father. Not at
fourteen. Not once you added in the fact that he'd never really had one.

At least he never had before. The
door of his pod house appeared on its own, and opened a crack, which had Dare
standing on his feet suddenly, before he really knew what was going on. Tam had
suggested that only a few hundred people could have done that kind of thing,
which had been a compliment, he understood. A way for the girl to soften him to
her cause. It didn't mean that she was wrong however.

That meant it was probably her
doing it now. That, or a handful of other people that were around the the spaceport.

A male voice called out to him.
One that he didn't recognize at first, his head still filled with the fog of
sleep.

"Dareg? It's me. Tor? I
didn't know if you'd be able to get up on you own-" He stopped talking,
looking a little surprised when the door was yanked open suddenly.

The tall man was actually a
little too big to comfortably climb into the pod house. By nearly a foot and a
half, from the look of his. There was no one else behind him, and his face
turned from shock, which was just about the sudden door movement and that Dare
was awake already, into a friendly smile.

"I'm awake. Walk with
me." He sounded grumpy, but softened it with a smile, and went to the
Tam-unit. She was, he decided, still his friend. Maybe even the best one that
he'd ever had. She even smiled when they got close enough to her for her to
understand who was there.

"Hey! It's like a family
reunion. What can I get you this morning? A nice protein drink?"

Dareg nodded, and Tor made a
face.

"Ugh. I hate those things. I
get the use, before running and practicing. I always used to just skip out on
eating myself. Then, I wasn't really in a heavy growth period when I was in
training either, so you probably need the calories."

He took the large cup that came
out and drank the chalky, funny tasting material inside. It was a bit thicker
today, which made it better. Like it had more fat in it, he thought.

When he was done, he looked over
at the man with him, and then tossed his drinking glass back in the hopper on
the side of the unit.

"I need to go and brush my
teeth, then start running. Can you squeeze into the house here? I want to get
your take on something."

"Sure! I'm sure I can help
with any projects you have. If not, I can find someone who can. Or give advice?
I'm horrible at it, but I hear that the real point of that kind of thing is to
actually let people have ideas to reject, so they understand what they were
going to do all along." It sounded like he was being clever, and in truth,
the man was probably right.

Dareg went inside and Tor, humbly
enough, just sat in the middle of the floor, making himself fit. Looking around
the large, rather thin, man nodded. He was good looking, but only a bit more
than say Timon, or, Dare could allow, himself. Ten percent, or so.

He spoke, just making
conversation as Dare went into the little room that had running water, and
started brushing his teeth.

"Tam did a good job on this.
Did you know that it will stop all kinds of radiation except light? That's
important in Soam. Still, the people there are faring better than we'd thought
they would after the attacks there off the coast. Nuclear weapons... It was
insane of the Ancients to do that to us. The ones that tried to kill us. It
wasn't all of them, you know that, right? Some of them fought to protect us.
Most of the ones that tried died doing it." He sounded a bit hesitant,
saying that. Like the very idea might be rejected out of hand.

"When they went to stall the
others in Afrak, attacking them while the death plague was released? So that
they couldn't hide away in their underground shelters? Timon made that,
right?" He knew it, from his lessons at school, but it hadn't occurred to
him before that that he'd actually met people that he'd read about, and heard
stories of.

That got him to smirk, while he
used his blue handled brush to try and keep his breath from smelling like a cow
field.

Tor, in the other room, sounded warmer
when he spoke.

"That's right. I didn't know
that anyone would have told you that. Did Tim go over it with you?"

That got Dare to blink, and then spit
the cinnamon flavored paste from his mouth.

"Nope. It was Rosemarie, the
schoolmarm back home. We had that lesson twice a year, every year. It's part of
what the King demands everyone know. I'm pretty certain that most people
have that one down. Didn't you know that?" That made him wonder how secret
Tor thought everything really was.

Then, all of the immortals really
did seem to like their hidden knowledge. No one had been announcing that aliens
were coming, or claiming that there was a nebulous new enemy in the world.

Tor made a sound that seemed pleased,
rather than upset at things being known.

"That's a lot better than I
thought then! So, what did you want to talk to me about? I hope it isn't that
you plan to throw me over as your father, just because of what some Austrans
said. I was thinking about that, and we can just go and do a live DNA test
there, showing everyone that you're mine, if they won't shut up about it. I
know they were being insulting, but it also fits their group mindset. Timon
wasn't wrong about the idea that a lot of them will probably start claiming
that we're related in order to get gold from us, if they think they can. It
won't work, but to their way of thinking they nearly have to take a shot at
it."

That got Dare to nod.

"Let's do that? They pissed
me off to no end, but if that will help, I'll go and let them prod me or
whatever it takes. That wasn't it." He stopped, and then just went on,
knowing that he had no good way to soften the blow, if it was going to be one.

Still, he stalled, putting his
morning gear away, making a point of shaving first, even though it wasn't
really needed yet. He wasn't certain he was doing it right, but his beard
wasn't going to come in fully for several years, from what he'd seen with other
people. It would just be a boys wispy chin beard, which looked stupid, if he
grew one now.

Like black worms coming from his
face. No one liked that, so he tried to keep it from happening.

"Taman... Last night she
tried to get me to have sex with her. She followed me back here for that."
The words felt a little thick, since he wasn't certain that he'd be believed.

The wizard, who he was facing
now, looked away, making the side of the pod house go transparent.

"Tried? You didn't do
it?"

"Nope. Don't get me wrong
here. We aren't really related, and she's very pretty. It wasn't that
kind of thing. I wasn't rejecting her because of that kind of situation.
Just... She was using a kind of mind control, and trying to make me give her a
baby. I got my shield on, which helped, but... It was close. She... She said it
was part of her pattern? Wanting to have a child that much?"

Tor puffed his cheeks, and
nodded.

"You resisted her though?
That's not bad. I'd prefer you didn't have sex with your family, if it's all
the same. I'll go talk to her about it. It won't happen again."

Dareg shook his head.

"Taman said she'd see about
getting Timon to change her. Maybe it would be best just to set that up? If she
doesn't have control over that part of her being, then she might need the help
getting things going. Even if she knows that it's the right thing to do. That
was all. As for the rest..." He shrugged and then grinned. "I'm totally
doing it with Tiera if I can. Maybe your mother. They're both
incredible, in case you haven't noticed? Alyssa too. After all, that wake up
thing she gave me is amazing. That's the noble way, isn't it? Have all
the sex you can with anyone that's halfway willing? As long as you aren't too
related?" He was teasing, since going into a fight with Tor wasn't
a brilliant plan.

Luckily the man just snorted at him.

"I see. So that's how
it's going to be? Getting back at me for not being there earlier, by ruining
all my family relationships? I guess I can't blame you. I really messed up. I
should have known. I should have felt you out there and come gotten you. You
and Merilee."

There was real sorrow
there, it was clear. Like the man thought that any of what he'd just said could
have ever happened. That he would have been able to tell that Dareg was out
there in the world from the Moon.

"Not really. Things were the
way they had to be, more or less. Now we go on. So, no, I won't sleep with all
my relations that aren't blood tied to me to get back at you."

Tor relaxed a bit then, and
smiled.

Until Dare went on.

"No, I'll do it because
they're pretty. Naturally." He managed to keep a straight face for
a while, then shook his head. After all, he'd already kind of given up on the
idea that most of them even wanted to do that kind of thing with him. There
really had been an initial draw, and that had gone both ways. Dareg kind of
figured that it had to do with his own pheromone power than anything else
however.

It was better to have that taken
care of.

Part of him really wanted to
control the world around him and make it better for himself, but he hadn't
loved it when Tam had done that to him. If it was anything like that,
then his smallest word had probably always been really hard to ignore, before
he had his new magical thing to stop it.

When he smiled, Tor did too,
understanding what he was saying, at least on the surface.

The man stood, hunched over, and
shuffled to the small door, which he had to turn sideways to get through, thin
or not. Once outside Dare made the door vanish, and turned his clothing into
brown exercise gear.

"I should go and run now. We
meet back here at ten?"

"That's the plan. I should
start running again. I hate it, but it pays to be in shape. Especially if
things are heating up. I went yesterday..." He seemed to be trying to get
out of it.

Dare just started running.

"Do it, or not." That
was what a lot of life came down to, didn't it? Everyone knew it.

You either did what was needed,
or put it off. That was all. Like going to school, or eating. At least if you
had food.

He ran, and after a while noticed
that Tor was right behind him, breathing smoothly, even if he hadn't kept up
with his personal exercise. This time no one else came to practice with them
until nearly eight, after the running and early exercises were done. It was
only Kolb too, who smiled at them both, and started working with Dareg instantly,
going over grappling techniques.

Then he worked with Tor, but
didn't have them work together.

When they were done the man shook
his head and winked at Dareg, then tore into everything he'd done wrong. He
wasn't any easier on Tor though, even if the man had been a lot better, over
all.

"Pitiful, Torrance.
We can't afford that kind of lackluster performance now, not if even half of
what we've been told by the new people is true. One mistake, one moment of
laziness, might get everyone killed. Even if it's all a lie, and they're going
to attack themselves, we need to keep on top of things. Practice daily from now
on. Get the others to do it, too."

The words weren't hard however,
or mean. Just slightly worried. Tor seemed to understand, and though he made a
face that seemed less than pleased, he nodded.

"I'll make it happen.
Speaking of everyone else, are we going for this High Servant... Um... Stram?
Alone, or are we just missing people that should be here already?"

Kolb looked around, but the world
was just starting to wake up. It was, by the sun, about time for them to leave
however.

He corrected the name first,
however.

"Straughan. Kevin. We're
missing at least half the team for the day. Dareg, can you set up at your ship?
Tor, go with him, and make sure he's armed with something useful. Straughan
will have at least a shield. He's been in space, so keep that in mind. The High
Servants aren't well armed, but we want to take him alive. I'll go and roust
the lazy heads, while you two get things ready. We go in as soon as
possible."

If he was annoyed by the lack of
bodies at the meeting spot, he didn't let it show, just moving away quickly, at
a trot.

Tor looked at him, which meant he
didn't know where to go either, so Dare waved in the right direction. It wasn't
that far, and they could follow the path outside the river without too many
people being in the way yet. Getting to a Tam-unit was already not happening,
since there was a long line, but they could get more to eat on the ship. The
one protein drink wasn't holding him as well as it could have.

The tall man looked around, and
then changed his clothing several times, carefully, so he was always covered,
but most of the sweat fell off as they moved. Dare copied that, which would
help, he decided. No one would want to ride with him if he smelled bad all day.
A shower would have been nice too, but they didn't have time.

Or so he thought. On the ship,
after about ten minutes he made a shower in a little room, near the back, and
Tor helped him work out how to filter and reuse the waste water. Then they both
showered, and ate a large meal, sitting at the same little table that he'd made
for Karina day before.

Then, getting bored, he made the
craft larger, added seats, for more than enough people, and decorated the place
nicely, causing it to look a bit like one of the finer rooms in the palace.
Then he just had to sit and wait, since no one was there yet.

"Do you think they can't
find us?"

Tor smiled at him and shook his
head.

"It isn't that, or Kolb
would call to us, on the communications device. My guess is that he had to drag
Karen out of bed, and run her under a cold shower to wake her up. A lot of
giants need to sleep a lot. I think it's an energy conservation thing. You'll
probably have that happening too, as you grow. I... You're going to end up
being big, unless you stop that. My subconscious ideal when you were conceived
was a bit skewed." He wrinkled his nose, and then smiled. "It's all
there, isn't it? I felt like I wasn't very important, so you have command line
powers and everyone has to listen to you. I felt small and weak, slow. So
you'll end up huge, strong and fast. I felt stupid, and lacking in charm, so
you're incredibly intelligent and charismatic."

That got Dare to snort, but he didn't
say it was wrong. A lot of it probably just wasn't.

It wasn't the point.

"That's all good and nice,
but other than making me a horrible person if I'm not careful, I can't see how
it will impact things too much." He was playing, but his father looked at
him frankly.

"I'm glad you can see the
risk. You have a good start on life, in a lot of ways, but it won't always be
simple. Remember, the easier things are for you to start with, the more you owe
the world. If you can help, you should. Otherwise, what's the point of
it all?"

It was a lesson, the first real
one that the man tried to give him on purpose. Dareg bristled a little bit,
since he didn't feel like he should have to be there for everyone else in the
world. What did he owe them, really?

Then he worked it out. It wasn't
that he truly owed anyone for what he'd been born as. No, it had to do with the
fact that he had a greater chance to do great things than most did. Tor wasn't
claiming that he was honor bound to help others, just that a good person should
do that, if they could.

So he nodded, not knowing what he
could add to the world yet. What he could do was try, and to keep doing that,
if it was at all possible.

Before he had to get too deep
into the lesson of not being evil, which they were eventually going to get to,
the others finally arrived.

It was Johan, Erid, Commander
Derring, and Bill there with them. Kolb stalking behind them. The only ones
looking to be awake were the men. Karen seemed much the worse for wear, her
pretty face beaten and bloody.

That was odd, as well as
concerning. Bill had a red mark on his neck, from being choked. From the size
and shape it was probably Kolb that had done it. The marks worked for both of
them, when he tried to map out what had happened in his mind.

Instead of using a healing
amulet, Karen just looked at the ground, sheepishly. Bill was tight looking,
but not filled with shame, and he snuck sullen glares at Kolb when the man
wasn't looking directly.

The High Servants weren't
involved in that, and for some reason Dare had to doubt that Commander Derring
was open to being beaten like that for sleeping in. She was in charge, at least
that day, so if she wanted to go later, they simply would.

She also hadn't healed, and he
knew for a fact she had both a shield on, as well as a healing amulet.

That got him to snap his fingers.

"There's a way to take down
shields from the outside?" He said it to Tor, who nodded, seeming slightly
troubled at the scene. The man handed him a small white thing that at first he
thought might be a pencil.

"This will do that. It's all
it does, so keep that in mind."

He got that bit, and looked at
Karen, who was still acting ashamed.

Working it out, Dare tried not to
smile. It wasn't funny, as much as awkward, after all.

"So... Commander Derring was
having sex with her new Squire, while her main High Servants were being side
tracked... Helping someone in actual need?" They weren't beaten after all,
and it was hard to get Erid not to work constantly. Johan wasn't bad that way
either, so he wasn't shocked when Kolb nodded his head.

"Right on each count. Timon
will be along in a few minutes. He got busy working, but it won't take him
long. He said it was an organic style grow, so he'll be here in a few
moments."

That it seemed was a literal
thing, since about five minutes later he ran into the ship, and closed the door
with a wave at it.

"Sorry, I'm working on a new
shield adaptation. Jump shields." He didn't explain the idea, and really
didn't have to.

Not for Dareg. He just smiled,
since it made pretty good sense. The ability to jump would be really useful if
you could use it properly. Not that everyone would be able, but even going from
the Earth to the Moon, or Mars, that way would be useful for a lot of people.
Taking a ship took a lot longer, since you had to get it around and wait for
other people. As the events of the day were showing him.

Tim looked at the scene closely,
ruffled his short hair, and then smirked at Bill.

"It isn't that sex is bad.
Even with Karen. She simply isn't supposed to use her powers and position as a
Knight to abuse her Squire. Even if you liked it at the time, it's against the
rules."

Which made some sense to Dare, so
he nodded, then went to the window, looking around carefully, before jogging to
the captain's chair and taking off. It was a controlled thing, and he looked
around carefully to make sure he didn't hit anyone trying to come in or leave
at the same time. They were fine, but not checking would be foolish.

Rather than go into space however,
Tor just pointed to the west.

"That way. It's only about
three hundred miles. Then up the coast a bit?" He glanced at Timon, who
nodded firmly.

"That's it. It should take
about twenty minutes. We can use that time to help heal Karen and get a bite to
eat."

The man had designed and built
the ship they were in, so knew what it could do, meaning he had meals for
everyone that wanted to have one a few moments later. Karen used her own
amulet, once it was suggested, and Tor helped Bill with that, in case there was
other damage that he was hiding. After all, it was pretty clear that he'd tried
to fight with a shielded Kolb, and done well enough that the man couldn't just
ignore him, which was impressive.

Dareg couldn't have done that against
a person with a shield on, he didn't think. It could have been Kolb being mean
and punishing the smaller man for sleeping with his Knight, but that didn't
feel right. Something was a bit off there, but he was missing far too much
information to put it all together. They all got to change clothing however, at
Kolb's suggestion, so that they'd match.

"We're working with the High
Servants today, so work robes. The ones with the flowing trousers and tunics.
Gold metallic trim."

That wasn't exactly right, but no
one resisted the idea. It would be claiming that they were real High Servants,
which should be illegal for them to do, but even the Commander of the group
didn't complain about it. She also hadn't worried that her own brother, David,
had done the same thing. When he'd come to report to Kolb. Not her.

Now all of them were in the
uniform of the High Servants, making a false claim to that title, in order to
sneak up on someone. That meant they either had orders to do that kind of
thing, which could only come from the King, or they were breaking the law, as
if it didn't matter.

No one seemed bothered by the
idea either. Only him. That wasn't right however. Even if Kolb, being an
Ancient, had special rights to do things like that, and Tor was a wizard and
above the law, Bill should have been nearly ready to collapse in fear.
Squire or not. That wasn't so well placed that he couldn't hang for that kind
of thing.

He was calm however, and other
than looking at Kolb still, like he wanted to kick his behind. That was,
possibly, natural, but it shouldn't be enough to distract him from the deceit
of the costume change they had going on.

Dareg didn't bother however,
dressing in a blue version of the same thing, with black boots. It was what
Straughan had last seen him in, after all. That would make less of a mental
impact than him being all in white, less than a week later.

No one asked him why he was doing
it that way however. Tim nodded, and actually glanced at Bill with a troubled
look on his face.

At the coast they turned north,
finding the large city of Ford not too far off from where they'd come in. It
really was close, and while not as grand as the Capital of Noram itself, it was
a nicely sprawling city that reminded him a bit of Canton. The ocean was on the
wrong side, and it was a bit less green around it, but it was similar. There
were even boats in the water off the coast, easily visible from the air.

The city itself was made of white
stone, not gray wood, so that was different, and the sun was out, which wasn't
impossible in Canton, but was a good bit more rare. At least if this day was
any kind of sign that way.

Dareg didn't know where to go,
once they were in the city, but Karen, rallying from her punishment, pointed
toward a large, walled compound.

"Count Ford's place. He and
his wife are in the Capital, but we need to report in there, if we're acting in
his County. Land and I'll call him up and see if permission is possible. I
should have done that already, but I was distracted."

She glared at Kolb, but High
Servant Erid nodded, somberly.

"I'd imagine so. Abusing
those under you must take a lot of focus and concentration." It was said
almost as if he weren't passing judgment on her for her failure. As if it was
just a thing.

Karen made a face at him, but
then ignored the words and started her call, using a small handheld that was
identical to the one that Dare had.

The Count was, thankfully, up for
the day and not angry to get word from her.

"Conserina Derring? How
wonderful to hear from you! Are you arranging a visit later? We're at the Ford
Capital house. We don't have a lot of room, but we can make some for you, I'm
sure." He seemed to mean it, and had recognized her instantly, so he was a
person known to her.

"Thank you! Actually, I fear
that I need something else from you. I have a runaway High Servant. It's a dark
thing, not doing his duty like he's supposed to. We're in Ford right now, to pick
him up. It could be a miscommunication, so it probably won't require him
being killed today. I can't swear that it won't however, if he truly knew what
he was doing, or if something worse is going on. Kevin Straughan?"

The man, who Dareg couldn't see,
landing on his lawn as he was, made a small, disgruntled sound.

"Damn. His
grandfather was so pleased that he seemed to be getting his life in order, too.
The son adopted Kevin, oh, thirty years back? I... I know that I shouldn't ask
this, but I don't suppose you could keep this quiet? Even a death would be
easier to cover up than him being cashiered. His family is well placed enough
to make problems for me, if things aren't handled perfectly. Maybe I should
come and oversee things? I could be there in a few hours, if you don't mind
waiting?"

Dareg stood up, and walked over
to the handheld, waving to the man in the little window there.

"Hello. I'm Prince Dareg.
From Harmony? Would you be all right with us getting the fellow and bringing
him to you? No one will hurt him or anything. Then we can question him on what
he's been getting up to, and you can stand there and shake your head in shame
if he was just skipping out on his duty. That way you don't have to lose as
much time, and he won't be hit with his Count being right there to start with.
That would freak me out, if it were me being called to answer like that.
I'd pretty much assume I was about to die. Since we don't really know what's
going on, we should probably go slow and easy at first? Really, other than
getting him back to work, it might be that not much happens to him at all, past
a scolding or two." Which wouldn't make Tiera happy, but was probably
about what would be taking place if the man wasn't actually trying for an armed
takeover of the High Servants.

The giant, and even in a picture
it was clear he was one of those, smiled at him.

"That might work better for
me, yes. Thank you, Prince Dareg. I've been looking forward to meeting you
soon. You're Tor Baker's boy, aren't you? I've been trying to track him down,
now that he's back. Invitations and all that. Timon Baker, and their wives, as
well."

Not knowing if Tor or Tim wanted
to talk to the man right then, he just nodded.

"Get with Timon first. He's
going to be in Austra next week, so has the smaller time window that way.
Unless you can visit him there? I can get you to and from, so that won't be a
problem. I'll be making the trips anyway, so if you want to make the journey,
get with me first. Really, that goes for just about anywhere on the planet. I'm
working on the spaceports, so I have to travel a lot." It was the plan
anyway.

The man smiled, going even
bigger.

"Well, I don't know if I can
get invitations like that, but I won't turn down free travel if you're
offering. Few will, I wager! Should I tell everyone, or is that offer just for
me?"

He had to think about that one,
but after a few moments, realized that making friends with powerful people
probably wouldn't hurt.

"Everyone, but you get to
have first chance at it. Well, you, and any world leaders. I'm pretty much on
tap for emergencies however, so if you could pass the word on that?" It would
make him look good and most of the time real crisis situations were very
local.

That would make it seem like he
was being very helpful and useful, but probably keep him to making only ten or
so real trips for that kind of reason per year. Tim winked at him, getting most
of it, and Tor beamed, since he was already doing what the man had just
suggested. So did Count Ford.

"I'll see to that. How
wonderful of you. I see that you're taking on the family tradition of good
works. People will be thrilled to hear that, I'm certain. Now, is Kevin at
Straughan House?"

That turned out to be the case,
so the man gave them directions to it, which Kolb marked on a small map, which
looked to be a perfect replica taken from above. It even had the correct house
on it, in its own Barony.

Tor waved at the thing and
nodded.

"Satellite images. Pictures
from space. We can have one dedicated to sitting over the place?" He
glanced at Tim, but Kolb just nodded and tapped a few keys. The quality of the
picture improved then, and showed the slight waving of the trees around the
place in the breeze. A few people were out working too. None of them in all
white, but that didn't mean much, since High Servants were allowed to wear what
they wanted, when off duty.

Kolb pulled back a bit, and then
pointed in the direction they needed to go. That meant taking off first, but it
was only about a hundred miles away from the Count's place. Dare got the
handheld back to Karen, who kept chatting amiably with the Count. Even as they
landed she kept doing it. There was a lesson in it for him, he didn't doubt.
She was being polite, not just because they were in the man's area of
influence, but simply because making friends could pay off.

They were able to land on a large,
very well groomed, lawn, which had several people coming out to look at them
before they could do anything. Smiling. Most of them were in tan or brown, and
waved at them, but one man, who was much older, came out dressed in a nice blue
uniform. He had a white mustache and a shiny head that was a soft tan color. In
fact he was so bald that he nearly glowed on top. There was a small bit of pure
white fluff on the sides however, trimmed closely, so everyone could easily see
he was very well taken care of.

There were bits of red on the
outfit, which really made it seem visible. He walked with a cane, but seemed
spry enough, for someone with that many wrinkles. Almost as if the thing were
an old habit, rather than needed any longer. That meant he had access to a
healing amulet, most likely. They didn't work back the years, but returned
people to perfect health, which meant that wrinkled didn't mean weak or all
that slow anymore.

Climbing out, everyone pasted big
smiles on their faces, so Dareg did as well. Bill had already, copying Karen.

Still, as odd as it seemed,
everyone else stayed back and let Dare move forward once they were outside.
That was a bit odd, but he got about ten feet from the man and bowed. Then lied
a tiny bit, since it had kind of worked before.

"Hello! These worthies asked
me to help them come and pick up High Servant Straughan? There's a big meeting,
and all the High Servants have to go to the one closest to them. That's in the
Capital for this area, which could be hard to get to. So, we came." He
smiled, and got one in return from the very old man. Then he scrambled, having
gotten part of the things wrong. "Oh, sorry there. I'm Prince Dareg. Of
Harmony. Pleased to meet you." He bowed again, getting one in return,
matching him.

"That's something then! I'm
Baron Cohen Straughan. Kevin is around here somewhere. Sleeping the day away,
no doubt. Can I offer you some refreshments while I send for him? Or is this an
emergency? I'm certain he'll hurry, if his duty requires it."

The man was so clearly sincere
that Dareg smiled at him, and didn't let anyone else talk.

"It's not that pressing.
Commander Derring heard that High Servant Straughan and some of his friends
were talking about taking over, since she wasn't on Earth. She is now, but
seems to like the idea, so is planning to give them a chance to try it. She's a
bit upset they didn't step up sooner, but that can't be helped. As long
as they get the job done, she won't stand in anyone's way. It's part of being a
High Servant, or so I hear tell?"

The man looked a bit troubled,
but lightened when the others all started nodding, and Karen smiled.

"That isn't wrong. I was
stuck on the Moon for a decade, and no one was willing to step up, probably
thinking I was going to jealously guard the position, rather than let go if
that was what was best for those we serve. I can see people thinking that,
since I'm a Knight, not a High Servant myself. It's time for a change. I want
to make sure that it's the best one possible." There was a firmness there,
but the Baron waved to the woman in a tan skirt, who seemed to be in her early
thirties or so.

Her upper lip pushed out a bit
and her eyes were very deeply set, but she wasn't homely, exactly. Just
distinctive.

"Pansy, could you go and
locate Kevin for us? We'll set up in the front drawing room?"

"Yes, milord." The lady
scurried off, not exactly running, but she'd heard enough to know it wasn't a
bad thing, and smiled a little bit as she did it.

The old man turned, waving for
them all to follow.

"This way, please. We don't
have guests right now. Can you stay the night? Or the month?"

Kolb seemed pleased, and shook
his head.

"I fear we need to go within
the hour. Prince Dareg needs to be in Austra this evening. The High Servants
are sending a contingent to aid them in building their own spaceport. Then each
land will get a similar thing. You should lobby for having one of the lesser
ones put in here. We'll need about twenty for Noram. Anyplace that has one will
likely end up prospering a lot. That will help the people in the area, giving
them jobs and access to easy travel, for work, or pleasure."

Dareg didn't blink, or react, but
it was actually a good idea. Main places for the craft to set down and leave
from, and smaller ones so that people could travel once there. This place
bordered a nice ocean, which made it a lovely place to visit.

He nodded then.

"I'm planning one for Canton
already. One here would work well. It won't cost anything, except some land,
and a tax agreement. We can't afford taxes and tariffs on everything coming in,
since it could be hit four times before reaching its destination. If we can
keep that from happening, more people will benefit. You'd still get all those
jobs and the tourism however, so it would be worth it, eventually."

Sea captains always complained
about that kind of thing, so space captains would most likely feel the same. It
was close enough that he saw the Baron give him a considering look, and Timon
nodded, ever so slightly, letting him know that it was about the right thing to
say.

"Hmm. I don't know. Most of
my coin comes from tariffs. Here, we can talk inside. I think we have some
sweet biscuits? You must all be famished, after your travels."

Dare was, but the others all seemed
fine still.

Half an hour later Kevin came in,
looking baffled and a bit scared, as they spoke about the benefits and
drawbacks of hosting a hub.

Dareg smiled at the man and
waved, standing. No one else did.

"High Servant Straughan! We
came to get you to the meeting. You'll need to get your paperwork together,
since Commander Derring is giving you and your friends a chance to show that
your takeover plan is best for everyone. If it works out, you get control of
the High Servants. Well, whoever you deem to be the best fit, I mean. You
aren't the only ones getting a shot, so you'll want to be ready. Can we get
some paper, and pens, for that?"

Digging into the bag at his side,
High Servant Erid got some out, and handed it over instantly. Like it was all
real.

Dareg smiled at him and bowed a
bit, even as the confused Kevin took the things.

"I'm putting High Servant
Erid here forward as well. If these other people have a better plan than you
do, you'll step aside, won't you?"

The very funny thing was that the
man bowed, going low, to both Karen and him.

"That is most kind. I...
don't know if I'm worthy however."

Commander Derring smiled a bit and
went a little misty.

"I don't know that either,
Erid, but I would love to see your plans for it? I've failed at my duty in
this. That's clear. I'll probably have to order myself jailed for it, but only
after I make sure things will be seen to properly. A High Servant should run
the order. I was always meant to be a place holder."

Erid swallowed, looking odd, and
got out more paper and a pen. They were the new kind from Austra, that held
their own ink all the time.

Looking around, Dare waved
toward the door, "you can work on the ship? I hate to eat and run, Baron
Straughan, but... You know, would you like to come with us? I can take you
there and get you a place for the rest of the week? Sam Builder, the new
Ancient of Noram is in at his palace at the Capital port. Introducing him to
the people he serves makes sense to me." Plus, the man was nice and seemed
genuinely friendly.

The Baron smiled, then sighed and
shook his head, making the light glint.

"I fear I cannot. It's a
shame, but I have guests. I can't abandon them."

Standing, Dareg bowed to the man.

"Later then? I'll work on
Sam to set up a party in a month or two?"

They chatted for a bit, as the
others moved to get to the ship. Still, about ten minutes later, with little
tables set up for each of the writing men, he got them back to the spaceport. It
took a while, so they had drinks and talked casually, about what Karen was
planning to do.

"Well, after all this, I'll
have to turn in my resignation as the Commander of the High Servants. Then,
well, I might be off to prison. Hopefully I won't be hung. It would undo the
whole immortal thing that I have going on. I can afford to sit in a cell for a
while if need be. King Richard might let me stay out, so I can train you
though, Squire Bill. He really isn't an unfair man. It probably comes down to
what Smythe, Johansson, and Fines decide." She glanced at Bill and
explained. "They're the councilors that oversee the High Servants. Tor
used to be the Councilor of Magic, but he had to resign, in shame, when some of
the first High Servants refused to do their sworn duty. He gave up his
Knighthood, too. I'll try to keep mine, if I can, until my work with you is
finished."

The ship was silent then, those
being things that Dareg hadn't known. No one had ever mentioned it. Not even in
school.

She went on, her voice a tiny bit
thick.

"Keep that in mind, Bill.
Sometimes duty means taking responsibility for things that aren't your fault.
Tor almost had to go to prison for the failure of others back then. I'm not
joking about that being possible now. If it happens, you have to accept it.
Part of duty always means doing things that are unpleasant, and unfair. It
isn't about that. Only about what is required of you. Just like you have to be
willing to give your life to protect the King and Kingdom now."

On that somber tone, she stood
up, stretched, and looked around.

"Now, I'm not certain what
it is that we have planned? Dareg? This seems to be your show."

He nodded, getting that his
natural tendency to push people around was being called, if in a gentle manner.

"We can set up at Sam's? He
should be in on this. It's a Noram thing. It's a bit of a walk from here."
They were back in the place they started from, which had managed to stay empty,
thankfully. No place else was, and there were a lot of Space Fleet uniforms
outside his window.

Which was very nice to
see.

Not that they were going to be in
and out at that level all the time, but Alice had gotten people in to enjoy the
festival, which was both going to put bodies on the ground for the fun, and
meant that they were backing his effort to get things set up. Given that there
was no real reason to back him in anything. Especially if his command ability
didn't influence her.

Though, it might have simply been
that she wanted the work to be done. In that case, it wouldn't matter to her
who did it, most likely. As long as they weren't too good looking around her.

That wasn't too much to ask, he
didn't think.

The walk was slow, since the
crowd was intense that day, filling the pathways. Mainly with commoners,
dressed in browns and grays, who were waiting to take a free trip into space.
It was free, after all, and still rare for a certain class of person. Those
being normal ones. It just made sense for the common people to try for
it, if they could.

Orange even took them into fleet.
He knew that since about a third of the people in uniform were very short. Some
of them had nearly black skin, which probably meant they were from Afrak. In a
way it was a good sign. He'd never heard of fleet having problems as far as
getting along across class lines. Probably because if anyone was a problem,
Alice would have dropped them into space.

Without any air.

For a moment he wondered if that
was how it really worked. That the woman was a bit wild around the edges was
true enough, but would she just have killed people like that?

He didn't know, but if so, it was
working for fleet so far.

When they got into the palace,
Karen made a small room for each of the men that were putting forth their plans
for the High Servants. Each had little desks, and soft chairs in them, along
with doors.

For some reason High Servant
Straughan really seemed to think that this was serious. He didn't really act
nervous enough however. The man was being calm about it and wrote quickly, like
he had a real, and very solid plan.

It wasn't right. There should be no
way that a person that was planning to take over wouldn't have been sweating so
hard that they were under threat of drowning, given the set up.

Walking away from the doors,
everyone looked at one another, then stared at Karen, who laughed a bit.

"Well, it can't hurt to see
what they have to say. Can it?"

That meant sitting in a different
room and waiting, which meant that Tim and Tor changed outfits, since they had
a lot of other people around them. Family, who wanted to visit, with Dareg.
Bill stayed in the High Servant robes however, and no one suggested he do
anything of the sort.

Interestingly, Terry came in,
looking tall and strong, dressed in a worn black outfit. Taman was with him,
and blushed a bit when she saw Dareg. Not that she left, or tried to not look
at him.

Instead she moved over and tried
to give him a hug. It started out fine, but after a bit she move closer, her
eyes going wide.

"Hello, Dareg." Her
breath sounded a bit short. She pulled away, but seemed nearly desperate. Then
she hit him with an incredibly powerful compulsion to have sex with her. This
time stripped of anything hinting of children. That would be due to the fact
that she was incredibly intelligent. One thing hadn't worked, so her mind came up
with a plan to get around the perceived flaws.

Tor snapped his fingers, like
he'd forgotten something.

"Right! Dareg mentioned what
you'd told him. Tim, Taman finally wants to get that little issue of hers taken
care of. Do you have a plan for that?"

The tall man nodded, making the
move large enough to be easily seen.

"Sure. I just didn't know
how to get it done without kidnapping you, Tam. If you're ready now we can go
do that. It won't take an hour. It isn't a big thing, so we can see to it
now?" Not giving her a chance to say anything he hopped up, and took her
away by the hand.

She could have fought, or
refused, but the look on her face was resigned. She needed to change and knew
it. That was clear even as she looked back at him, a bit sad. Like getting his
seed was that big of a deal for her. Then, maybe it was? The perfect match for
her otherwise would have been her brothers, which wasn't ever happening, and a
thing she probably couldn't have stood to consider, being a good person. He had
most of the same traits, but wasn't really related to her at the same time.

Still, it was better for him if
it happened, and she got things seen to before a real problem took
place. Dare didn't know what kind of fallout there would be from his aunt
getting pregnant outside of marriage, since his own mother hadn't cared at all
on her own part that way.

Still, in the end it hadn't been
the most wonderful idea in the world, had it?

He'd been left all alone, to fend
for himself. A bastard in a world where things had gotten hard in a way that
Merilee had never thought would really happen. Not that he blamed her for what
she'd done, but whatever family she'd had didn't even know that he existed,
which was probably the way she'd planned it all to be.

Now... Well, he had a family. It
was simply that he couldn't really believe in it. It was all too much like a
fairy tale. A thing that would come to an end, probably after a few more days,
leaving him to fend for himself again. This time however, he knew more about
himself, so if it happened, he'd have a lot more of a chance. Really, it had to
be hard for a person that people had to like and respect, to
fail. Especially now that he knew it to be the case. All he had to do was pull
off his little magical amulet that protected everyone else, and he could get by
without struggling too hard.

Find a rich woman to marry, or a
business that required good sales, then use his powers to get people to spend
their coin with him. It had let him take over the spaceport, after all. Even
before anything had taken place as far as him being given privileges thanks to
this new family, even. Part of that had been Tam-unit, but the rest was
probably him.

That thought left him feeling a
little better as he sat. Most of the others busied themselves by getting in
touch with people, but other than calling on them to chat, he didn't have a lot
to do that way, personally.

Karen had been on with Count Ford
again, and invited the man there, since it would be a lot less crowded, in case
anything happened. He was bringing guards, but only the four allowed him at an
important meeting where he wasn't feeling personally threatened.

Terry muttered something about
needing to get to work, and walked off, leaving the boring people sitting
there, waiting for things to finally happen.

Tor, for his part, ran a
commentary on everything, which was useful to Dareg, even if everyone
else got what was happening.

The man, his father, touched his
bare chin, and seemed to be thinking for a while.

"We should set up a meal
with Ali. I know that she wants to get to know you. Right now she's being a bit
shy, since... Well, her family life wasn't that great growing up. She doesn't
really know how to be a mother. Not that hers was evil, but there were
problems, and she left home early. We can invite Karina?" He smiled, his
face peaceful and relaxed. "They're best friends, you know? Famous in
Austra, too. They helped to overthrow the last Prime Minister there. It was
needed, so they weren't blamed for it much."

That sounded like a good story.
Before he could ask about it to pass the time, Erid and Kevin Straughan walked
into the room, both carrying several sheets of paper. It was hard to read,
being held away from him like they were, but the men looked to have fine handwriting.
Dareg could manage that, if he tried, but these men seemed to be better at it.
They had the kind of artistic penmanship that was nearly pretty to look at,
even from a distance.

Count Ford was, it seemed, still
in transit. Commander Derring didn't stand on that however, just nodding firmly
one time.

Both sets of plans were handed to
Karen, with a bow from the men. They went low and held it, until she stood and
took the papers, then headed behind the little desk that she'd made for
herself, to read them. Then both men smiled at her politely, and Erid spoke,
his voice calm.

"I don't know if my plan is
the best, but I want it known that I'll do what I can for everyone. No matter
whose plan is chosen." He seemed to really mean it, which got the older man
to bow toward him.

"That is a known thing, High
Servant Erid. It is, in part, why my first recommendation is that we place you
in the position of leader. It should be clear to everyone that High Servant
Erid is the prime example of what it means to be one of us." Then
he bowed toward Karen and smiled. It wasn't friendly, but didn't seem to be an
insult either. "Circumstances worked against you, I fear, Commander
Derring. If things had been different, then I'm sure that you would have done a
wonderful job. It was nearly impossible, given your distance from the trials of
this world."

There was something very wrong
there, but Karen nodded, her face serious as she read. Erid's plan seemed to be
going first, with Kevin's being the second one. She nodded along, going over
both very carefully, until the last page that High Servant Straughan had
written.

Then she stopped, and furrowed
her brow. It didn't look right on her lovely face, but that didn't stop her
from looking confused. She straightened after a bit, and looked angry. It was
enough that the people left in the room with her all noticed. Erid seemed
worried suddenly, for instance.

Kolb actually stood up, and
Squire Bill, standing at the door, stiffened. Tor rose, if more slowly, leaving
only Dareg sitting there. High Servant Johan moved however, to see what was
causing concern.

When he read the words he
laughed. It wasn't a happy thing.

"This says that the new High
Servants, under Erid's control, should as a first move, execute... Pretty much
all of us here. Including you, Straughan? That seems a bit advanced,
doesn't it? Why would you say that? I can see going after you, given the breach
of duty that extorting sex was, which is noted here... But Baron
Kolbrin, Conserina Derring, Torrance Baker and myself? That seems rather
specific and not very reasonable. I don't get it." The man managed to
sound a little slow, at the end, but the other High Servant, with his slightly
gray hair, and good size, sighed.

"You don't see it? Well,
perhaps these others can? Little Dareg? You seem to be the most intelligent of
these humans. Why don't you explain it to them?"

It clicked, even though it was
hard to believe. There was no way for the man, if he was one at all, to know
about the threat they'd been told of. Unless he was from the incoming group, or
the other one, that they'd been told nothing about.

"The Adversaries?" He
spoke conversationally, but the man nodded without hesitation as Kolb pulled a
weapon. Karen, Johan and Tor did too, if a bit slower than the bald fighter. He
didn't, but it did make sense to get his shield into place. Just in case
something bad was about to happen.

"Exactly. Just, I assure
you, the forward scouts. We've searched for a very long time for a way to take
what is needed for our masters. Now, in this place, on this ground, we have
what we need. A place to do the work we need to, in order to open the seams."
He stood there, as Kolb did something, hitting sigils one after the other on
the moonstone weapon he held. A long rectangle of focus stone.

Nothing happened, even as the
others joined in. All trying to kill the medium tall man in his white work
robes. In fact, almost as if he were making fun of them, he grinned and folded
his hands into the sleeves.

"Now, the unfortunate
portion of events is that we cannot allow ourselves to be known. There is
almost no chance of you driving us away, or foiling us, but just in case, we can't
leave you alive. You understand, I'm sure? So, you must all die here, and then
I must do the same, to prevent questions. It's a shame, since I do so love
abusing you people. It's the sounds you make, and that look you all get when
you realize that you're going to be used, like it or not. Delicious. Well, all
good things, and all that."

Kolb, who was a capable warrior,
who had been fairly quick in practice, moved so fast that Dare lost track of
him for a moment. The blows that went for the High Servant all missed even
given that. They looked right, but when they got into place, the man simply
wasn't there any longer. What was happening, he didn't know, but after twenty
or so such punches and kicks, a single long arm flicked out, the back of
Straughan's tan hand slapped the fighter into the wall across the room with a
mighty boom.

Then the real fight began.

The first one to make a move was
Commander Derring. Her head was caved in first, then torn from her neck.
Casually, which no more than the twisting motion that a woman might have used
to kill the chicken slated to be dinner that night. There was even less emotion
on his face as Kevin did it. Blood spurted from her as the body fell in slow
motion to the floor.

"Karen!" It was
Tor that went next, touching his neck before he did. The idea was clear, since
the man never did that kind of thing. At first Dareg thought that it was about
fear making him impulsive, or ruining his focus, but that wasn't the case. It
wasn't rage either. After calling out the one word, the name of his dead
friend, everything dropped from his face.

It was obvious shields weren't
working against this man, which meant that something else was being brought to
bear by the wizard. The action was a signal, probably to him. When he got it, Dare
called out to the others. Screaming, in a high pitched voice that would have
done small schoolgirl's proud.

"Healing amulets on! Get Commander
Derring's head on." Dareg had no way to know if that would work or not,
but Squire Bill ran over to the woman and started trying, digging out a healing
amulet that he hadn't had earlier.

As Johan did the same, and
started trying to fight, Erid froze in place. Not moving at all. It was pure
fear, which Dareg could see being real enough. People, ones that were strong,
and powerful in ways that went beyond mere humanity, were dying in front of
him.

Finally, slapping at his own
upper chest the High Servant screamed, a bellow that was half plea, and half
war cry, then tried to tackle the death machine that the other, larger men,
were failing to control. From the back. Tor managed to hit the man finally,
when they all worked together, which staggered him, somehow. Even three to one,
they were losing. Badly. Kolb stirred, but wasn't on his feet yet.

Erid was struck several times,
but healed, even as he held on to the back of the enemy's legs, desperately
trying to slow him. To keep him still so the others could fight in a meaningful
fashion.

That lasted right until something
flew at him, striking him so hard in the shoulder that Erid was flung backward.
Kevin laughed, and jumped in the same direction, making Johan and Tor miss him,
and stomped on the downed High Servant's throat so hard that something inside
of it made a noise like nothing that Dareg had ever heard.

It was about then that he
understood what had happened. The thing that had hit Erid as he struggled to
help to the best of his humble ability, was commander Derring's head. Turning,
his mind slow and thicker than it should be, he saw a very strange sight.

Squire Bill, a commoner, who was
barely as tall as Dare's own shoulder if he stood up straight, was engaging the
now recovering Kolb. Hand to hand, unarmed. He was winning, too.

In fact that side of the room,
the back, was becoming a bloody mess. The red liquid didn't seep from
the fighter, but poured for several places. Like a barrel being tapped.

Dareg nodded, took a deep breath,
and stood up.

After all, the little man, who
looked like a boy not much older than he was, was only there thanks to his
help. If he'd let him go that first night, and wander away, they'd only be
fighting the one man now.

Instead there were two of them.

Enemies that it seemed they
couldn't defeat at all.

What Commander Derring had told
her Squire about duty hit him then. Coming back as if it were being whispered
into his ears by the now finished woman. Duty wasn't about what you wanted. It
was about what was required.

Dare smiled, reached under his
shirt and took his special amulet off. Then he tossed it away, even though no
one noticed.

After a moment he took a deep
breath and yelled.

"Bill! Kevin! If you're in
there, fight! Do it now! Stop them! Don't let these monsters win!"

Then, as one, both men froze, and
turned to him.

Laughing.

It was not a great sign.

Chapter seventeen

Tor was still trying to fight,
healing even as he took damage, reeling away, then coming back for more. That
continued as Johan called out and didn't seem able to get back up.

Kolb was down, though even dying
he tried to stop Bill. It didn't work. The Squire just kicked him in the face,
not faster than could be seen, but doing it in a way that the bloody man
couldn't block or stop. That meant flying back from it.

Then he turned to look at Dareg
and shrugged. It was a relaxed thing that seemed almost like he was just
playing.

"We aren't human,
Ser. We aren't even alive. Not in any way you'd understand. We come from a
place that... Well, let's just say that it isn't anything you'd know
about? A place so very sideways from here that none of your magic, or science,
has hold on us. You really can't even understand what we are, can you? Here's a
hint. We're everywhere, and everywhen. We have always been here, and
will always be, until the moment our masters come to take this, and all,
worlds. Now, I really do need to kill you. Sorry about that. I did enjoy our
time together. You were the best friend I ever had. Well, all things end. Die
now, Ser." Then a strange thing happened, and Bill, the new Squire, was on
him... Somehow.

Blow after blow came in, knocking
him back, though that didn't get him any sense of reprieve. Just a wave of pain
hitting him, all at one time. Even though it was hundreds of blows.

That... Well, he'd gotten the
clues. These people weren't a thing that existed like he did. They were in all
times. Which let things like this happen.

The only reason that he was alive
still was the healing amulet that he had on. Even given that, he could feel
himself starting to die already. Holding his hands up, he fought, knowing that
to make it work he had to match the state the Bill was in. Even given that,
there was no real way for it to work. He was too far gone, and didn't have the
right powers for that kind of thing.

Tor however had worked something
out, and was, amazingly, managing to strike Kevin. Not every time, but his
focus was intense. Powerfully so. On a level that was even greater than what
he'd done to investigate the strange ships.

Much like had happened then, Dare
let himself be carried on the flow of the magic, and tried to see the world
that his father was showing him. He couldn't, but that didn't mean the trick
didn't work at all. His right arm broke as he tried to punch, but his foot,
thrown a moment before, hit at the exact time. To the knee, the groin, and
middle all at one time. As he intended. Space ripped a bit under the movement.
It screamed. That, or he did.

The fight became more equal then,
though Kevin and Bill were still winning. The healing amulets and whatever time
trick Tor was pulling allowed them to keep going, but that wouldn't last
forever. Dare hadn't been fighting half as long yet, and was already about to
go down just from the drag of the energy it was taking to keep healing. Plus,
he, and probably Tor, where tearing themselves asunder with every movement. At
least the ones that worked.

It went on like that, forever.
For what seemed weeks, then months, possibly years, he stood and fought. Losing
to the small, nearly tiny, very common looking man. Not that he was one at all.
As he'd said, neither of them ever had been. While he fought, things trickled
into place for him. Lyone had given him the hints he needed. Her and Bill, the
faithless Squire.

People were taken over, in the
dark. The Adversary wasn't human, and never had been. They weren't possessing
people, like ghosts or shades then. They replaced them. In the dark. They
fought in the light, so that wasn't going to work to help him, or any of them,
in the moment. As he traded blows, his ability to stand weakening, his rage
flickering as everything inside of him burned away, Dareg kind of knew that
nothing he did was going to be enough now.

They were losing, and going to
die. Unless something good happened.

What changed was something that Dareg
hadn't even considered, forgetting that anyone existed beyond the walls of the
room they were in.

Lyone ran in, along with her
commoner servant buddy, and joined the fight. They did it like the others had,
slowly, and in one time, but the distraction helped a bit. He had the little
machine man with him, Tor getting the larger woman. He couldn't tell what was
happening that way, but heard someone calling out.

A while later, perhaps a week, or
a few seconds, the room was flooded with people. Most of them members of the
Baker family.

Timon stood back, watching, then
moved in a strange blur, spread out in a dozen directions at once, helping his
brother and Lyone fight the man in now bloody High Servant robes. It wasn't his
life essence however. The strange enemies didn't bleed. Or, rather, they did,
but it would come out, and even as it hung in the air, in a long streamer,
would stop and return to them, every time.

Douglas and Terry moved toward
him, as Taman ran past, calling out in some strange and unknown language.

Standard, but spoken in a way
that he couldn't follow as he tried to fight. Blocking fifty blows at one time,
striking back with forty. Some hit, on both sides, but it wasn't an equal
fight.

Not until Kolb, broken and still
probably dying, moved in. This time Taman was behind him, her hand on his back,
and he moved like Tor did. Only better. He was sharper, even that near death.
Faster than any of them.

In one move he shattered Bill's
head, crushing it, and ripping it free from his body. That, finally, did
something, and Bill stopped trying to fight at all, just vanishing in a puff of
blackness that shone slightly, even as it drank the light of the world.

Dareg didn't let himself slow
down, even as pain erupted inside of him. Nothing was left. His body had eaten
itself, and like a person starving, he didn't have long to live. He'd lived too
long now, without food, or water. There was only death waiting for him. That,
and duty.

So he threw himself at Kevin, and
doing the best he could manage, copied what Kolb had taught him by example a
moment before. It didn't really work. Dare struck in the same pattern and did
it hard, but Kevin had seen what had happened, and managed to get away from him
using a movement that didn't scan with reality.

He was still clipped a few times,
and turned to run, only to have Lyone, and her smaller buddy grab his legs, and
hold him, while Tor stepped in, and managed to finish it. The movement was at
least a hundred things at one time. It was impressive, and nearly impossible to
understand.

Then, like Bill, High Servant
Straughan vanished. In his passing he shone blackly and drank the universe, if
only for a moment. Then vanished, like a mist or smoke into the night.

In a flash, Tor broke his state,
and sat. The giant man sucked in air, heaving like he wanted to throw up, but
couldn't, and looked behind him.

"Karen." It was a
single gasp, and a thing so well understood by Dareg that he didn't even try to
do anything other than suck air in himself. He wanted to throw up, for a
dozen reasons, but that would mean not getting the air he needed to live. His
head ached, from the combat rage he'd probably been in the whole time, even if
it couldn't have been more than a minute from start to finish. The one moment
had stretched forever, in a way he didn't, and possibly couldn't, really
understand.

Turning he noticed that the
others were all doing their parts, healing those they could, and failing with
the others.

It didn't take the brightest
being to know that people didn't live well without their heads. Taman was
trying to help Kolb hang on, but she was crying.

Timon was working on Karen, while
Terry and Douglas tried to save Erid. The man just didn't breathe though. It
had only been a moment, but he'd been killed, and nothing they did would save
him.

High Servant Johan was healing on
his own, having taken what should have been lethal damage, but was being
healed instantly, thanks to his amulet. The damage was horrible, but not bad
enough for him to die, given that extra help.

Others ran in as Dare sat there,
gasping, burning inside in a million places. That was because he'd taken too
much damage, and while being in the time stream, all at once, or at least
closer to that than he normally was, had allowed him to heal enough, he was
still going to suffer from it.

There was simply nothing left to
work from, and trying to heal was killing him now, so he reached up with his
left hand, and tapped his chest weakly. His right arm was broken in several
places, but the pain was no worse than the rest of him really.

David Derring ran in about then,
dressed in black and red. He stopped when he saw what Timon was trying to do,
and nodded. His eyes were dry, but he didn't stop the man, even though nothing
was happening.

Finally, weakly, Dare stood, and
went to Timon, touching his back.

"That isn't working. She's
gone." He wanted to cry, because the whole thing was too much, and they
might have been friends, if given a chance. Nothing came, since there was
nothing left.

This immortal woman had fought
this new enemy, the Adversary that none of them had truly believed in, and
lost. At the cost of everything. They all had almost died. Magically armed and
armored warriors, fighters, immortals and wizards... And two plain looking men
had nearly destroyed them without much effort at all.

He looked down, surprised to find
that he was more than a mere skeleton. Dare had clearly lost some flesh, but
not that much. Ten pounds maybe. That could be fixed, if they didn't have to
repeat the fight instantly. If they did, then they were probably going to all
die. Tor wasn't in any state to do that trick again, and neither was he.

Taman... Well, it was clear that
she'd worked out that trying to fight the beings herself would mean her death,
so she'd pushed Kolb to it, sending him into time like Tor had done with him.
That had to have been nearly impossible to work out like that, as she'd just
run into the room. Timon had done it, so maybe it wasn't that hard? Hopefully
that would be the truth in the end, because they were going to need more than
one or two people that could do that thing.

Not that Dareg could. Not yet.

People were in shock, which he
understood, having been there before himself. He'd sat for two days next to his
mother, when she'd died. Crushed under that focus stone roof. Now he stood, and
looked around. No one knew exactly what to do, so they just stood and paced.
Even the biomechanical people did that.

He spoke, his voice rough, and
old sounding. Ancient.

"Clear the room. We need to
write down all of this, so we don't forget. Now. The time field... It... It's
making it hard to think and remember. In the next room. Can we save
anyone?" He knew that Johan was alive, and healing, but he wasn't sitting
yet. Kolb was breathing, but it was a strained and damp thing. One far too
close to death for anyone to place a bet on, one way or the other.

"Move." He managed to
limp out, not healing now. Dareg hurt, but would survive. He just wasn't
certain about the others. Tor managed to get up on his own, though it was clear
that he was more injured than anyone else standing there.

The weight of the deaths, of
Karen and Erid, they didn't affect him much yet. They'd been people he knew,
but they weren't close, which saved him a bit of the suffering that was
starting to hit everyone else.

Outside the door he saw Sara,
Tiera, and Havar running up. No one else could speak, and it was clear that
something very bad had taken place in there.

Dareg grunted, looking at the
blonde woman.

"Paper and pen, now. Right
now. Don't ask. Just... Do it." He was being rude, but it really was clear
that the whole thing was trying to escape his mind already. In ten minutes it
would be gone, the time stream falling away from him already. People, real
ones, weren't built to function like that.

The Ancient of the Martian Circle
ran, and came back with a small pad of focus stone, and a stylus made of the
same stuff. She scribbled on the top of it, showing that it made marks.

"Write, like on paper. When
you want a new page, tap the lower right side."

It took a few moments, but he
sank onto a chair that she got him and wrote, trying to do it fast, and not
making it. He wrote the whole thing down in a few paragraphs, then went back
over it, trying to recall what had been said. Who'd fought when, and how
bravely everyone had died.

Then, when it was all down, as
well as he could make it happen, he forgot. Not the pain, or how he'd followed
Tor into time itself to fight something, but other than that, it was all
a blank. A thing that he couldn't remember.

Lyone, the serving woman, who was
also a clockwork person, stood beside him, looking at the strange stone paper
in his hands.

Crying, with tears dripping down
her face, she smiled. It was happy and miserable, both at the same time.

"I need to contact my
people. May I copy your words?"

He nodded, and was about to ask
her not to lose them, when she glanced at the pad, tapping the upper right hand
side of the thing to make the pages roll back, and then did it downward again.
After that it was held out to him, still intact.

"No one else has ever gotten
that much of a report on an encounter. Not even close. No one has ever survived
either. Now we know why. Possibly. Time. They're in all time. Of course.
I need to go. Do you need aid?" She looked at him, and took in the
obviously broken places, but there wasn't a lot that could be done for the moment.
It would take time to recover enough to heal.

"Go. Come back here, when
you're done?"

"Certainly. Can you help me
get some of my people? The others too? We need to prepare, if we can."

"Yeah. If not me than
someone else will." It was, after all, possible that he was going to die
still.

There were things that weren't
supposed to be done, and he'd just managed one of them. Tor had too, so it was
kind of reasonable to think that they might not make it. He felt like
dying, if that was any sign. Still, there were things to do, so, reaching over
slowly, he tried to pull his handheld from his hip pocket. It was in about
fifteen pieces, with some stone dust at the bottom. Holding that in his hands
he just looked at it, feeling helpless for a bit. Finally a man walked over to
him, and took the bits.

Terry. His uncle.

The man looked horribly sad,
since friends of his had died in that room. They might still be dying,
since Kolb hadn't been removed yet. He took out a device of his own and looked
at Dare, his gaze holding for a moment.

"Who do you need?"

It took a few seconds, but he
looked at the device, thinking. Who did they need?

"King Richard. Alice Orange.
Prime Minister Foley. I don't know who else to talk to. Them first."

Terry, instead of doing the
normal thing and typing out names, just held up the device and spoke into it.

"Emergency. Emergency.
Breaking in on all command level systems. Emergency report." Then he
handed the thing to Dareg, waiting for something.

Dare was silent for a moment,
then nodded, not knowing what to say.

"There has been an attack.
The Adversaries. We... won. Barely. Several people are dead. Commander Karen
Derring. High Servant Erid,.." He looked up, to see Taman walk out of the
room, being half carried by her mother. The dark haired lady, who looked so
much like a child herself shook her head.

"Baron Kolbrin didn't make
it. High Servant Johan may, or may not. It's too hard to tell." Then she
started to cry too.

So did Terry.

"Baron Kolbrin didn't live. There
were two of them. Shields were useless. I... Here..." He read off the
report he wrote out, going over the whole thing, including the part about how
hard it was to remember.

Then he looked at the thing in
his hand, wondering if anyone had heard him.

"I... I'll get off of this
now? Or... how do we do this? I don't know what to do." There was a
plaintive note to his voice, but Dareg didn't care if anyone thought he was
weak now. Really, he doubted that would ever bother him again.

There wouldn't be time for that
now.

They had an enemy, and if they
could be believed, they were everywhere. In all times.

That was going to be hard to
beat. If they could at all.

A single voice came at him then,
which took him a moment to recognize. It was Connie. Her voice was thick, like
she'd been crying already.

"Is... Did Tor make
it?"

He'd gotten out of the room and
sat not that far away, being held by Alyssa. Looking over he got a somber nod
from the man. It could have been funny, but it wasn't at the moment. Dareg,
more than anyone else there understood what it meant. Tor, the wizard, didn't think
he was going to die from what had happened.

"I think he'll live. That...
What he did, the time thing? It might still kill him. Me too, but he was in it
longer. I can't heal now. Magically. There's nothing left. He's in the same
situation."

"Oh! I'll be right there...
I'm coming."

It was nice to hear, even though
he knew it was all about her being in love with Tor. It was good that he had
people to care for him that way. Terry got off the line, then shook his head.

"So, we need to prepare.
How, I don't know. I'll get your notes to everyone. We... Should find you a
bed." There was honest worry when the man really looked at him, as if it
suddenly hit him that his claim that he might not make it and couldn't heal
wasn't a joke.

Still he forced a grin, not
meaning it.

"Like I can lay down? If I
do that I'll probably stop breathing. I... Can you help me move? I kind of want
to be alone." Not that he could cry at the moment.

There was nothing left for that.

Tor had several people around
him, and even after Terry helped him switch to the front room, and sat him on a
comfortable sofa, that was all white and soft, no one came for him. Not for a
very long time. That was fine though. He was the new person, and even if they
weren't serious about him being family, it was enough to know that Tor had
people to love him. They all did. Not him, but he was used to it, so didn't let
that bother him.

When a person finally came
looking for him, it was Alice Orange, dressed in combat gear, with a belt that
held at least six weapons. The rest was a shiny black, that reminded him
a bit of the big black beetles he used to play with as a boy. It hugged her
body, but when she noticed him looking she didn't assume he was looking at her
in a sexual way.

Slapping her chest, she stared at
him.

"Pician armor. Totally
physical, so their ability to get around magic won't work on it. I don't know
if the weapons will work. We need something though, and until we find it, we
have to be willing to fight with anything we can. Even sticks, if that's what
it takes. If fists worked, then that trick of Tor's and knives might." She
sat next to him, a bit away, not touching and waved at him. "You look
mostly dead. I read your report."

She didn't go into how it made
him look. That wasn't good, he knew, having written it. The whole thing was as
honest as he could make it, sparing nothing for how he felt about it. How he'd
just sat there for a long time, while people died, not understanding what was
needed. It was, in the end, what had happened, so he didn't beg for the woman,
or anyone, to fix that for him.

They couldn't. Worse, he could
tell already that if he'd leapt in at the start, then he would have died
instantly. The only thing that had saved him was Tor, figuring out a way to
fight. Taking him with him, so that he could live too. That... Probably hadn't
been an accident or some power of his own that had allowed it.

There it was then. In that
moment, when helping him might have meant the difference between living and
dying, Tor had tried to save him. Like Taman had.

That part was going to hurt her,
he knew.

She was smart. Like he was.
Better educated, and a wizard. One brilliant enough to know that she couldn't
save Dareg on her own. So she'd sacrificed an already dying Kolb to do
it. A man that had seen thousands of years. One that had torn himself apart for
some kid that he'd met less than a week before. Probably knowing he was doing
it the whole time.

He looked at Alice, not able to
move enough to do anything emotional. Finally, after a bit, he looked into her
bright green eyes.

"Kolb. He sacrificed himself
to save me. Taman helped." It was in the report, but not his personal
conclusions as to how it must have happened. It would have been temping to think
that the girl had done it coldly, knowing it was the best, maybe the only, way.
That wasn't the case, and he knew it.

Not that there had been lots of
options, or that the old fighter would have lived. No one could know that
really. It was just clear that Taman Baker, while she might be a lot of things,
wasn't cool in her soul. He probably seemed like that now, not crying or able
to seem upset.

Alice reached out, very gently
and touched his shoulder.

"I read that. That... He was
probably the greatest human fighter left in the world, Dareg. Oh, some days
that might be me, but I hold no great illusions there. There may be some Remy
left. The one at the Lairdgren School. We need to find them, and bring them to
our side." She shook her head, and then gave him a very hard look.
"If those two could do that, in that room, facing all of you, then we are
in real trouble. I don't wish to be mean to you, but I think you are
clever enough to understand me. We don't have time to mourn our losses. Or
to feel the sting of betrayal. Now it is time to ready ourselves, and to fight.
That is all there is time for. At least for those of us that can manage it. We
must try."

Then she stood up, and walked
away. The light glinting a little off of her all black outfit. Even her boots
looked like that. Strong, and different, being made of real material.

She wasn't wrong, so he stood, on
his own, and walked, slowly, to find the others. Tor was still being held,
where he had been before, in the large hallway. Now it was by Queen Constance,
though as soon as he came into view Karina left her side and ran to him. She
tried to hold him, managing it, but doing it so lightly it nearly didn't count.

Probably because he looked ready
to shatter if even one more thing happened.

"Hey." He looked at her
and nodded, trying not to worry about how messed up his face had to look at the
moment. Bad enough that Alice hadn't minded him even without a disguise on.
"Can you get a ship to the new fleet? We might need to pick some people
up. We need all the help we can get, I think."

There were several other people
there, he noticed, including a bunch of Royal Guards, all with weapons in their
hands, like it would help if they had to fight. It probably wouldn't.

Then, anyone could be one of
those things, or so it seemed. Now that he thought about it, Bill had been a
bit strange the entire time. Too bold and willful for a commoner, even as he tried
to seem meek. If high Servant Straughan had been that way it was hard to know.
He'd seemed to like sex however, and not cared how he gotten it. At any rate
he'd enjoyed making people suffer.

That... It was a minor enough
point. The men had seemed physical, until they'd died. If they were in all
times however, then how did they not see that coming? There was no way for him
to know that, and as it was Dare had to work off of his notes totally now. It
was like trying to figure out what to do about characters in a story or play.

Karina nodded, and then held him
for a bit.

"This... It's hard for us
all. I... No one saw this coming. Can we now even? We could all die, at any
moment. I don't know what to do." She looked at him then, as if he might.

That would be due to his fancy
bit of magic not being around his neck. Still, he let himself seem confident,
or to do that as much as he could and looked back at her.

"We prepare, and then when
they come for us, we bring a fight to them that they can't even begin to
imagine. I know it doesn't seem like it, but this, this horrible thing today,
was them losing, for what was almost certainly the first time ever. That
means that we can win. It might not be cheap, or easy, but we can do it,
and we will."

Then he got up, his body in
agony. It was time to see to the living, and tend to the dead.

Then they needed to get ready.

If they could.

That part, well, Dareg wasn't all
that sure they really could. Not that he was going to let on to that. He had a
family now, and if that wasn't worth fighting for, or dying for, then nothing
he knew of was.

So he would. Even if it killed
him.

In the end, it was all he could
do.

It was
all anyone could, really.

To
find out more about what's going on in the fast paced world of P.S. Power
please go to" pspowerbooks.com (Also, come joint the forum! It will be
fun.)

Other
books by P.S. Power that you might like.

(All
books are in the suggested reading order by series.)

Young Ancients: (The First Cycle)

The Builder (Tor's first book)

Knight Esquire (Tor)

Knight of the Realm (Tor)

Ambassador (Tor)

Counselor (Tor)

Slave Line (Tor)

The Dark Half of the Sun (This is the first book with Timon as a
main character)

A Simple Darkness (This one has Tiera)

Ancient Kings  (Tor)

Lord of the Sky (Timon)

The Silence Within  (Tiera)

Kingdom of Stars  (Timon)

Goddess of the Moon (Tiera)

Envoy to Earth  (Gerent)

Strange Land (Sara)

Young Ancients (The Second Cycle)

Lineage (Dareg Canton)

The Infected: (The super-hero stories)

(The Beginning Arc)

Proxy (Brian)

Gabriel (Denis)

Cast Iron (Marcia)

Proxy: Reunions (Brian)

Cellophane (Penny)

Goblin (Tobin)

Reunions (Brian)

Ghost Girl (Becky and Scott)

Impulse: A Whole New Day (Bridgette)

War Day (Brian)

Dead End: (Zombies, people with powers and the end of the world. Everything
Jake!)

A Very Good Man

A Very Good Neighbor

A Very Good Thing

A Very Dark Place

Dead End: Stories from the End of the World the Definitive
Collection (This has all of the above books, plus a load of short stories from
other perspectives.)

Gwen Farris: (The story of a woman who wakes up
in a magical steampunk world. Into a better life than she ever dreamed of.
Which is still pretty darned dark and gritty.)

Abominations

Monsters

Strangers and Lies

Tremble in the Dark

Friends and Enemies

Keeley Thomson: (The Greater Demon Universe, in
suggested reading order. There are several sub series, marked in bold below)

Demon Girl

Keelzebub

Mistress of Souls

Demon Trap

Demon Bait

Related works:

Christmas of the Vampire

Friendzoned (Becky Hoader. This book takes place in the Greater
Demon Universe, but isn't supernatural, and is instead a coming of age novel.
You'll recognize a lot of other names however! Also there are some things that
will be very different once you know what's going on...)

Other Places: (Zack Hartley)

Shortcuts

Road Blocks

Detours

Alternate Places: (Zack Hartley, but a totally
different one! These were the first three books written by P.S. Power. Then
everything changed.)

Mr. Hartley

Between

On The Line (Kaitlyn's first book.)

Eve Benson: (Everything Eve!)

Finally Dead

Dead and Everything

Dead Certain

Tyler G.: (All Tyler!)

Living Proof

The Living and The Dead

Among the Living

The Lament: (This is a stand alone, complete
series.)

Without Rhythm

Off Center

Missing Elements

The Greasepaint Chronicles: (Mystery series. It's
about a clown that solves crimes. The whole thing is rather dark.)

A Fear of Clowns

Stand Alone Novels:

Josh and Amy: Something to Think About (Soppy author insertion
love story, clearly, as written by a person that clearly has issues with their
past, and a strong fantasy life.)

An Unrelenting Terror (The worst book that P.S. Power ever wrote.
An experimental horror novel. I'd skip it, or at least read it in a dark room,
all in one go.)

Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Tale  (Because Thanksgiving has no other
good stories. Now it has one!)

Cheat (A science-fiction novel. Strong MGTOW over tones.) (MGTOW-
Man Going Their Own Way.)

Countess of Desire (Young Ancients Romantic Moments) (Um, this one
is Young Ancients porn. So if you don't like that kind of thing, just give this
one a pass. On the other hand if you do like that kind of thing...)

Ijime: The Bullies (As Dan Abe) (Literary novel with an
anti-bullying theme. Very different.)