The Builder tya-1 Read online

  They weren't to be seated until everyone had arrived, which was some kind of rule. Rolph made sure he understood how important it was, but very covertly, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed.

  When she got there Trice looked beautiful, in a dress of light violet that nearly glowed somehow. Her long hair had been put up, leaving a few ringlets of dark brown that neared being true black trailing down the sides artistically. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked over and saw him, but she didn't wave or acknowledge his presence. Instead she walked over, flowed towards them somehow, hardly looking like she walked at all, more like she floated gently, it was so graceful tears nearly came to his eyes. She bowed to the Queen and then to Rolph.

  Looking at Tor she held out her hand, which he took, but didn't know what to do with. After about ten seconds she took it back with a smile. Was he supposed to kiss it or something? He swallowed, feeling so very out of his depth. Looking at the others she finally spoke.

  “Cat's out of the bag then?” She gestured with her head towards the short man.

  Connie smiled.

  “Kind of hard to hide the whole palace dear. Let me catch you up on the situation before everyone gets here.”

  Trice listened closely and made appropriate noises, but didn't seem nearly as concerned as Tor felt she should be. Were things like this that common or did she just not like Ursala? The Counserina had seemed fine to him earlier, nice even. Trice's face didn't show any response to the information at all until Connie mentioned Tor's offer to marry the girl earlier. Then her eyes flew open.

  The Queen nodded.

  “Yes. Amazing really. Our Tor didn't even know who she was, he just sought to do what was proper and noble without thought for himself. Of course it can't be allowed, not yet at least, class differences and all that, but the offer had impact. No one hearing it will say that we did less than our best by her, I don't think. Worse comes to it, we may be able to swing a low title for him. I think we have a few empty ones lying around.” Her voice had gone low and teasing, which made Trice look around carefully and then, her back to the room, stick her tongue out.

  “Aunt Constance! It's not nice to tease people like that.”

  Rolph shook his head. “You think it's teasing… but by the end of the night it may be the only thing we have. Besides, I think Tor would make an excellent Baron or Duke, don't you?”

  With a wave the Queen set the issue aside, causing a wave of relief to flow over Tor. He would marry Ursala if that was the best answer. He'd already offered to make it right. But a title? It would be a little odd for him to be lord something or other the village baker, wouldn't it? Oh, maybe some money would come in eventually from his little devices, but until that happened he'd have to earn a real living and he only had the one skill. It would hardly be enough to support a royal wife, but he'd manage somehow, no matter what he had to do. Join the military maybe? They needed bakers and it should pay a little more to begin with.

  Ursala came in with two older people, who came to greet the Queen, bowing like Trice had, then they bowed to Rolph. Uncertain as to what to do they turned to Tor next and smiled, but didn't give him any indication as to what was expected. Was he supposed to bow? Before he had the chance, Ursala stepped forward and gave him a brief hug.

  “Father, mother, this is the man I told you about earlier, Torrence Baker…” She smiled and the older woman, not nearly as heavy as her daughter, stepped forward and hugged him too.

  “Oh! That's a good story. If nothing else in this comes out right, at least we'll have the tale of your nobility.” Her eyes moistened, but she smiled and stepped back. The man stepped in and shook his hand, clapping him on the shoulder, murmuring something that sounded like “good show.”

  Rolph put a hand on Tor's back. “Tor, this is Count Horace Thorgood and his wife, the Countess Marigold. You both know of Tor already it seems. He's agreed, along with Patricia here, to aid us if possible in coming to a sensible and honorable solution to this current situation.”

  Richard came in a bit later getting bows from everyone but the Queen. When Rolph bowed Tor did too. After all, this was in public, right? The King wouldn't think he was being mocked if everyone else was bowing and all that, would he? The huge man clapped the Prince on the back after giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. Then he followed by giving a head nod to everyone else, finally standing just behind Tor, who'd ended up between the Queen and Trice somehow.

  “Hopefully we'll be able to come to a solution to this tonight. There's a situation in the Ford district that needs seeing to as well and as lives may be at stake, we really shouldn't leave it too long. Drought. It looks like we might lose the mid-summer crops, and if this lingers the late summer harvest too.” Looking at Tor he added some information, probably getting that geography wasn't something the younger man had a lot of knowledge of.

  “Generally dry and warm there, directly west of here, near the Pacifico so the moisture is there, but they can't irrigate with salt water. Bad for the plants. Plus we'd have to bring in a river's worth of water to do it, since the good crop lands are hundreds of miles away from the ocean anyway.” He shook his head sadly.

  “Prime growing area in good years, but it looks like we may need to start shipping food to them again. It happens every ten years or so.”

  Tor started to sink into himself, thinking about how to first filter the salt out of water, which should be doable, kind of like separating sewage really, right? He'd already gotten a filter for that so if he could modify it… Then he'd have to figure out how to get the water to move in the right direction long enough. That would be harder. After all, he'd learned in the Two Bends school about how water tended to flow towards the ocean, making it go the other way could take a bit of doing.

  Just before he lost himself in thought totally, Trice started shaking his arm covertly. He looked at her, having jumped slightly.

  She grinned a little and gestured with her head subtly.

  “Looks like it's show time. It's Count Ward and it looks like he brought his wife. Ballsy of him. You'd think he'd be trying to hide this from her if he could. Then again, he never was known for being exactly… bright. Good looking, but…”

  The man was good looking Tor noticed and easy to see as well, even across the huge room. If he wasn't as tall as the King it was only because the ruler had better posture. In many ways the man was probably about the best looking guy Tor had ever seen anywhere. Perfect skin, dark enough to make his white teeth stand out at a distance. Black hair, about the same color as Tor's but longer, tied back in a ponytail. He couldn't see the eyes yet, but they were probably great too.

  Jerk, being all good looking like that.

  Well, that explained why Ursala had slept with him at least.

  On his arm he had a tall girl obviously of royal blood as well. It wasn't until they moved closer, walking arm in arm, heads held high, that Tor realized who she was. She'd grown considerably since the last time they'd met. At least ten inches. He swallowed and stopped breathing, which Trice noticed. She nudged him a little.

  “Something?” She said quietly.

  He nodded.

  “Maria.”

  Chapter seven

  Rolph turned to look, a frown suddenly crossed his face. “I didn't realize… Tor, honestly, I didn't know…” His friend sounded slightly panicked, which got the attention of several other people instantly.

  Without missing a single beat the Queen stepped just past him and turned, using her own body to block Tor from sight for the moment, a questioning look on her face. Tor couldn't manage to speak, so just shook his head. It was stupid and not consequential at all. Just because Maria had been the one that was there at the most embarrassing moment of his life, that didn't mean anything in the here and now. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “I'm fine. It's not important.” He knew his face had turned red with shame. Worse, he hadn't even known back then that the girl he'd asked out had royal blood at all. No wonder she'
d reacted so forcefully to his asking her to that party.

  Connie looked concerned and tilted her head at Rolph, who shook his head slightly.

  “Um, like with Count Wylde and Doretta? Only in this case… possibly for real? And worse. Doretta was way nicer about things I think, and had greater reason.” The Prince muttered softly, causing a reaction from the whole group standing around him.

  No one spoke for a moment as the Count and his young wife approached, but the Queen turned and smiled at them, her arm going protectively around Tor's shoulders. The whole bowing process was done again, except that when all the bowing was done Maria refused to look at Ursala at all, obviously snubbing her. That made sense to Tor, but meant that she ended up looking at the Queen and Rolph. It wouldn't do to stare at the King after all, and that didn't leave a lot of people to look at.

  It meant that after a few seconds she looked at Tor. For some reason she smiled and then looked down, then back up her smile growing larger. The Queen didn't let go of his shoulders, but Trice moved in on the other side, closing ranks, with a cold look in her eyes.

  The King swept an arm towards the table.

  “Let's eat before we begin the discussion, shall we?”

  Tor felt faint. Of course not sleeping for a day and a half on top of all the stress might explain it. Then again, maybe it was just his subconscious mind looking for a way to get him out of the room. The idea almost made him smile. That would make him look good, wouldn't it? Pass out over the chilled fruit juice in front of him. Instead he took a small sip, trying to focus on it and ignore everyone else for a moment.

  They all made small talk, saying very little for the most part. He felt tempted to go work on the problem of ending the drought the King had mentioned, but he let that idea go quickly. Jumping up and running off probably wouldn't go over very well. At least Maria, Countess Ward he corrected himself, hadn't regaled the room with how he'd foolishly asked her to a party once and had to be publicly chastised for it. Not yet anyway. The night was young. Whee.

  For some reason he'd been given the seat next to the Queen, on her left. She and Richard held the top of the table, putting Rolph directly across from him. Tricia sat next to the Prince and Ursala was next to him. Some kind of subtle statement no doubt, about the damage done to alliances or whatnot. Tor didn't get it all and doubted he would even if it were all explained to him. Still, the girl hadn't been put at the far end of the table either, which meant that no one at the palace thought she should fear being poisoned, right? That was a good, if confusing, sign.

  Really, it was all he could do to not spill his juice. He didn't jump when the man standing behind him placed a napkin in his lap, but only because the King's man had gone first, then the Queen's woman. They were all matched by gender. Interesting. Behind each of the ten people present stood a servant, ready to do whatever it was they did.

  Everyone stared at him, except Rolph and the Queen, who both smiled, amused. The King suddenly stood and bowed to him. “Again you honor us, sir.” His voice was warm and filled with respect. Tor looked down at the cup in his hand, wait, did taking a sip of juice count as the first bite of food? Argh! He hadn't even thought about that. He looked down and closed his eyes slightly. Maybe if he excused himself to go to the bathroom he could reach his flying gear and head out of the Capital before they noticed he was gone?

  Next to him, before anyone else could take a sip Ursala held up her own cup, as if saluting with it and took a large swallow. The King bowed to her as well, smiling and then picked up his own vessel, still standing. He took a single sip and sat gently. The Queen stood and went next, and after her Rolph. Then Trice tilted her head at him and took a single sip from her own cup. Other than the King and Queen, no one else was standing up.

  Was he supposed to take a sip now again or not? He missed being at home, or even school, where he could just eat and no one noticed him doing it as long as he didn't pick his teeth at the table or spit. Ursala smiled, but didn't look at him, her eyes straight ahead for some reason. Softly a foot caught him in the shin. He took a sip from the golden glass cup, just hoping that's what she meant. It went down the table that way, with Count Ward going last. He actually looked into the vessel as if it were an enemy out to get him, as if it might honestly contain poison.

  That of course was stupid. This was way too small a group for anyone to try it. The King would be blamed, or possibly the family of Ursala. They couldn't spread the blame around enough that way. If there were hundreds of people it could be anyone, right? Here that wouldn't work. Unless they blamed Tor of course. That could work. After all, he might have considered slipping the man poison if he knew how to do such things. For him to have been so irresponsible with Ursala made Tor more than a little angry. If he wasn't a Count Tor would have punched the man, even if the guy would kill him in a fight.

  Dark thoughts spread themselves across his mind, like they had during his first year at school, when he'd almost left, because of how bad he felt after the thing with Maria. If Rolph hadn't been there to prop him up and help him move past it, he'd probably be getting the shop ready for the next day before turning in early. Bakers got up before the dawn each day by several hours, especially in the heat of summer. He turned away from thinking like that and tried to listen to what everyone else around him said.

  The Countess Thorgood, who sat several seats away from him, but on the same side of the table, mentioned how delightfully cool the room was, a miracle, given how hot the day had been. Everyone made polite speech about the weather for a while after that for a while, which came back around to the temperature of the room again. Maria spoke softly, her voice sounding pleasant enough, kind even.

  “Oh! Is it one of those new room coolers? We've an order for several in to Debri house, but there's a waiting list, even for Counts. It makes sense that the palace would have some, I suppose, but I have to admit to a bit of jealousy nonetheless.” It was a throwaway line from the way she said it, but the Queen answered her anyway, her voice soft and pleasant sounding as well. Almost like the way velvet felt against the skin.

  “Yes. I've heard from sources that the new Tor-shields and flying devices are being given priority since those are needed for the common defense. Luckily for us the devices to cool this room have been loaned to us by Tor himself. Along with virtually priceless devices to keep our servants cool when they leave to get our next course. A gesture of grand magnitude.” She turned slightly to address the man standing behind the King, about six feet back. “How are they working Quavel?”

  The man stood straighter and smiled.

  “Perfectly mum! Even standing next to the ovens they work to keep the wearer cool.”

  The Queen nodded subtly to Tor. No one else seemed to notice, except Trice who gestured to him slightly. She mouthed the words “I want one.” at him, which made him smile. He nodded slightly. He could make another few batches after he had some sleep. Then he'd need to figure out how to transfer rivers of water across the countryside.

  The courses passed one after the other, almost seamlessly. His server offered more fruit juice instead of wine, which he took gratefully. If anyone noticed they didn't remark on it. Then again, given the people sitting around him, those that didn't know him might just think he was a child. Tor knew he didn't look old for his age and when everyone else loomed over you like they all did, it could be easy to get confused. It was good juice though. Some kind of apple peach blend he thought. Tart apple too, the way he liked it.

  For sweets at the end they had chilled fruit with cream over it. The cream had been sweetened and was still liquid, but poured over the cut strawberries slowly. It was very good, but then everything had been. He noticed that the serving sizes for him had been smaller than for everyone else so that he could eat each course. Catching the Queen's eye he nodded his thanks. It was obviously her doing. She'd probably noticed that he couldn't eat his dessert the other day. Not his fault that he wasn't a giant, but her making sure he didn't feel uncomfort
able about it was nice. She was probably that considerate of everyone, but it made him feel a little special anyway.

  When everything was cleared from the table drinks were brought out, water for him, and he was fairly certain, for the King as well by the look of the glass in front of him. Everyone else got wine. It seemed like a less than brilliant idea really, letting people drink at such a potentially volatile meeting, but if it was the tradition then they kind of had to.

  Then the conversation started. Or rather the argument that rapidly devolved into a screaming match between Counts Ward and Thorgood. It seemed to center around who was responsible for the pregnancy, rather than seeking to find a workable solution. Ward, for someone that held enough interest in Ursala to have sex with her, apparently on numerous occasions, didn't seem to hold her in very high esteem anymore. He continued to heap more and more abuse towards her over the whole thing, as if he had no part in it. Tor may not know a lot about sex, he knew, but no one seemed to doubt that Ward was the father at all, so arguing over responsibility now seemed… insane.

  Ward did, as Rolph had mentioned might happen, suggest that the baby simply be “gotten rid of”. Tor had to swallow his anger, but managed it. Barely. After all, short of dying, what else could he do? Ursala sullenly shook her head no at the suggestion and Marigold took her hand and patted it, while glaring at the man who'd despoiled her little girl.

  Trice didn't say much and what she did say tended to be fairly helpful suggestions, such as the need to look for a solution, instead of placing blame. The King eventually told both men to shut up, he did it bluntly and with a bit of force behind it, which got their attention pretty well.

  “We have two problems here gentlemen, neither of which your bickering has addressed at all. First we need to see that Ursala here is not abused in this case. Second, we need to see her married to a suitable individual within the month. Start naming candidates. Now please.”