Lord of the Sky (The Young Ancients: Timon) Read online

  No one came to the door at all.

  He tried again about two minutes later, wondering if they were ignoring him, but it still didn't get anyone to come let him in, or even tell him off for using the wrong entrance. A lot of the big houses were like that, using the official door only for special guests, the family and staff using a side entrance most of the time. That was mainly down to poor design really, the front rooms kept away from where the people actually lived day to day, but that wasn't his problem.

  He tried again, and was just about to go around to the far side when a very giant woman, about six-ten, opened the thing. She almost didn't notice him at first, but finally looked down far enough and managed a sad looking smile for him.

  She wasn't homely at all, having a good face that reminded him a little of Sara Debri. Her hair was darker, a rather plain brown, that was pulled back into a single tail. Her dress was old, and made of real material, but the woman was clearly a noble. In fact, even she was only about thirty or so, and looked younger, she was the Countess herself.

  "Hello?" There was a truly baffled look in her eyes and she scanned him with decent care, taking in the obviously magical trunks that floated behind him and his nice clothing. It marked him as being someone special, but not all of the nobility could see that most of the time. Tim was short, only being five-five or so, and had the wrong coloration, for all that he was a Countier himself.

  "Hello!" He made his voice bright and chipper, then rushed in, not giving the woman time to respond in a normal fashion at all. It made him sound like a salesman, but they used that kind of a patter for a reason. It worked. "I'm Countier Seventh Lairdgren, Timon Baker. I'm supposed to come and help you with your Noram Day arrangements? Possibly after that for a bit? I heard that things hit you here pretty hard. My condolences as to that." It sounded almost right, like he was actually sorry or something, about all the unneeded death. He really wasn't, since it had been his plan in the first place to withhold the healing amulets that would have saved everyone's lives, but Tim didn't mention that part of things. No need to point out that he was evil after all. She'd eventually guess that one on her own.

  The woman froze, her face looking nearly hopeful for a second, but baffled at the same time.

  "I... wasn't expecting anyone. Countier Lairdgren... Are you certain that you're supposed to be here? I don't want to make too big of an issue of this, and please know this isn't a threat, but aren't your people supporting the King in the current conflict?" She wiped her hands on the side of her skirt, which was a soft and slightly off-white thing with small blue flowers on it that had faded with time. Her version of work clothes no doubt. What she had to be nervous about Tim didn't have a clue. She was the one standing there being all tall and intimidatingly female after all.

  "More or less true. In a backhanded fashion it was the King that sent me. Only in a way, he doesn't know that I'm here, of course. Oh, by the way, if you could let drop the coming battle plans for your current side in this, that would be great. I'll check it out, so no need to lie about it or anything. This is mainly about getting me out of the way. I suppose I should try to subvert you and get you to come over to our side, if I can? There's cake in it for you if you do." He deadpanned the whole line and the woman looked nearly frightened for some reason. Not of him, in particular. She moved closer to him, which sent a thrill of fear down his spine, and his shield to kick on. The Countess didn't touch him, just looking past him carefully, as if for an attack.

  There wasn't anything to see, naturally. Montblanc had been hit so hard by the disease that his grandmother had created that the Countess really didn't have much of a military to bother with anymore, so the King's forces wouldn't be coming, unless she did something that made her into a real threat.

  Like take him hostage. If she tried that, she'd need a good plan, and some help, because he wouldn't be going down easy this time.

  She moved back instead and shook her head.

  "Alright, you win, I'm completely baffled by what you're doing here. Have you come to kill me like you did Nora Alan? Or kidnap me and make me confess, like you did to Will Rodriguez?" Her words were slightly cold, but she wasn't looking around anymore and didn't hesitate to say the words at all.

  Timon pulled out a Truth amulet from under his clothing, around his neck. He carried two of them all the time after all. One that was real, and his special one, there in case he had to lie to people and be believed. This one was real, since he had no reason not to be honest. Turning it on he smiled again. The cream colored light that appeared around him, with its thick goldenrod stripe made the woman step back at first, her eyes going wide as she got what the whole thing meant. Everyone of a certain station recognized the field now, after all.

  "You heard about that? Interesting, I thought that information was kind of secret. Well, anyway, I'm not here to kill you, harm you, or make you overly annoyed. Just do that light bit of spying, if possible, and play servant for a bit. I'll do that anyway, if you want, so feel free to just let me know when the next attack is coming and then we can start in on those holiday preparations? I'm a fairly decent baker..." It sounded insane, even to his own ears, even the field didn't flicker at all.

  Then, the honest truth was, he wasn't very sane, was he?

  The Countess didn't move or say anything for a long time. Finally she frowned a bit and put her right hand out, as if asking for the amulet herself. That was a bit of a strange thing, to tell the truth, but Timon played along. Even if she just took the thing and walked away, it was worth it, to see what she'd do. The field transferred to her perfectly, and she sighed. Then she held it the amulet up to her mouth, as if speaking into it, even if it clearly didn't work that way. It was kind of cute really. In a tall and female way.

  "I have absolutely no knowledge what's going on with the rebellion. Communications shut down a few weeks ago and no one has contacted me at all in that time. The blight has taken so many of my staff and forces that we're not of much use at all right now." She made a face that seemed slightly disgusted, rather than mean. Then she sighed hugely. "So, is that enough to earn me a little helper around the house?"

  She didn't seem to think it would, but handed the amulet back to him. He got the idea, she was joking with him, expecting him to leave, or attack her, even given all that he'd said.

  "Sure. I really can bake pretty well and help with cleaning and all that. Light cooking too, but that isn't my strongest point. Run errands, within reason. I mean, obviously, I don't want to go hang out with your friends, just in case they think taking me prisoner would be a good idea. It wouldn't, by the way." He stopped and nodded at her. "Do you have a spare room? I can set up a house out here if you'd rather?"

  The woman laughed and waved at the front lawn.

  "You carry magical houses with you too? I'd love to see one. Please, set up a grand Palace. It will be a spectacle if nothing else."

  Like he had one of those? They were hard to make and a little bit too expensive so far to just have laying around. Making a bit of a face he walked to a nice large clear spot and got the right amulet out. The woman pulled a sweater from behind the door and followed, watching him carefully. She didn't jump back when he triggered it, clearly having seen something similar before, but she did shake her head at him. Then she examined the little stone cottage that had appeared closely.

  "Hardly Tor's Palace is it? I've heard of these, this is the kind that doesn't grow, or change at a whim?"

  "Right. I made this one, not Tor." Timon waved for the woman to follow him, which, surprisingly, she actually did, if a bit tentatively. "I haven't made anything as complex as one of his palaces yet. I do have a batch of Fast Craft coming, if they work, that will be nearly as neat. No one but my brother has managed to make those yet, the really fast vehicles, so it will be a big deal if they work. Do you have a well or pond I could hook the water up too? That way I'll have a bath and shower in here, as well as a working kitchen."

  It was a strange scene then,
because for about half an hour the woman just walked around with him, watching him closely, as if for the trick to be revealed. Like he had anything that complex planned? That he wasn't in chains already was huge, as far as he was concerned. Vast.

  When he pulled out his communications device from his secondary trunk the woman tensed. She had one after all, but probably not one of the new kind like this. He tapped on it for a while, showing her what he was doing, but then held the thing toward himself, starting it with a tap.

  "I don't know if he has anything on him right now, so..."

  The line picked up less than ten seconds later.

  "Alphonse here. What may I do for you today?"

  "Hey, this is Timon. Just calling in with a report. I've gone to Montblanc and gotten at the secret battle plans of the rebellion, as far as the Countess knows them. That is to say; she's currently out of the loop. Truth tested, so that's at least accurate information. She was very nice about it all and volunteered without me asking, before you scold me for being rude. She's very polite." There was a silence for a moment, but the Prince didn't ask any revealing questions, like what the heck he was doing there, or if he'd lost his mind. Instead there was just a low hissing sound from a bit further back than the man would be.

  "I see. Is she still alive? Close questioning of a Countess is a risky business..."

  Timon looked up at the woman and made himself roll his eyes, as if trying to be playful. With his looks that would work, more or less.

  "I didn't torture her, I'm trading valuable baking and cleaning services for it. She took the amulet herself to prove her good will, like I just said. Oh..." He paused and looked up at the woman, his eyes dead and probably glassy looking. Then he shrugged, deciding to be a pain in the rear for no particular reason. "I also offered her healing amulets for her people if she promised to step out of the rebellion, since things are pretty bad here. She doesn't have much of a force left for combat anyway. Can you run that by the King for us? I'll want her left alive, naturally, and whole, with her position intact, if that's acceptable. I can add her to my collection of intimidating tall women." The words flowed out, and he didn't mean them, but there was only a single, rather hard word in reply.

  "Wait." Then the Prince obviously moved with some quickness, the rustling of his clothing sounding real, as did the fall of his foot on the stone floor he was on, which probably meant he was already in the throne room.

  The Countess was glaring at him, but didn't say anything at all. She was grinding her teeth however, and seemed ready to hit him. Tim couldn't like that at all.

  "Countier Baker? Can you repeat the offer you made?" This came from Richard, a voice that he recognized now, without needing to be informed who it was. Apparently the Countess could as well, from the pained look on her face.

  Timon, for his part, just lied.

  "Healing amulets for her people, a promise of no retaliation against her or them, and some aid, by way of food and funds, in return for her stepping out of the rebellion and reaffirming her fealty to you. She's good for it. Mistakes were made, and she'll have to humble herself to you and knock her head against the floor a thousand times, but that should be enough. She seems a good enough sort really and her people need to be out of this, I doubt they can take a lot more." As if he could tell that from the situation? There was a long pause and then low murmuring form the device in his hand, the woman's lips going white, she was pursing them so hard.

  Finally the King came back on his voice marginally happy sounding.

  "Well, that would be a wonderful Noram Day present. Can she be trusted to keep her part of it? It could be a trap."

  Timon just held out the Truth amulet again, in his left hand this time and waited. She'd take it or not. He really expected her to try and knock if from his hand, or call for a guard, but after swallowing hard several times, she held out her own hand. He laid the device in her palm carefully.

  "She's under Truth verification now. Ask what you want to know."

  "She's there? Heather?"

  "I'm here Richard and like the Countier said, I'm holding an activated Truth amulet. I suppose I can do what he said. I don't know if I like the idea of being collected, whatever that means, but my people can't take any more of your death scourge. You win. What do I have to do?"

  That, it turned out, involved her going to the Palace, which meant Timon taking her, since they didn't want the whole thing to take forever. The King gave his word that she wouldn't be harmed or taken prisoner. For her part the woman just seemed resigned and went to change, coming back alone, instead of with the five guards that she was allowed by tradition.

  She was wearing a simple white dress of flimsy material that was too cold for the day really, meaning that a long and heavy quilted jacket was needed to go over it. They flew from her home half an hour later, the woman silent for a long time.

  "So... The King sends small boys at his enemies now? That doesn't really sound like him, to be truthful. He's normally more honorable than that." There was an abstract and quiet tone to her words, as if she were fighting to figure out what to say, rather than really trying to insult anyone.

  Timon nearly snapped at her anyway, but held his tongue long enough to get control of himself. It was harder than it should have been, but the woman couldn't help it if she was too tall, could she?

  "It wouldn't be fair to say that he sent me really. Not at all. This is about the best deal that you can expect for now, so you might want to practice being contrite, or at least faking it. Mean what you say and don't blow this. The Gray Plague kills and kills, so if you wait too long all of your people will choke to death on their own fluids. If you have to get on your knees and beg to save them, isn't that your sacred duty? You'll need to mean what you say too. Or at least not lie. Better to seem a little less than perfect and be seen to mean it than flowery and lying." It was about all the advice he had for her.

  After all, it wasn't like he'd actually planned this all out or anything.

  Really, it had, he realized in hindsight, probably given the lie to his claim of not trying to kill himself. Walking to the front door of an enemy and announcing yourself a spy was pretty much suicide, in most situations. It wasn't a good thing to realize about himself, but it rang of truth. Timon was so far gone he really didn't care if he lived or died anymore.

  The woman shifted uneasily.

  "I... don't do groveling well. It's not my way. For one thing, I don't think that I was wrong. Richard, the whole system that we have, is bad for Noram. There are people that are better suited to rule."

  He nodded. That had to be what they were thinking, didn't it? That the other farmers would slaughter the pigs better, or have fatter cows, if only they were given a chance? There was no perfect rule. History had shown that a thousand times or more. In fact, the best people could manage was probably a polite indifference from their leaders that allowed them to function without interference too often.

  Most of the time that wasn't what happened, was it? No, people tried to make things perfect for themselves, and in doing so made the world a worse place for everyone else. It was the human way.

  "That isn't what you need to be thinking about right now. You need to go in, lay on your belly and beg for the King to forgive you. Beg for your people, and cry. Don't forget to do that. Don't hold to your dignity now. He promised not to harm you, but if you don't sell this, he can still refuse to aid your people. We don't want that. What we want is for him to realize that you're well and truly out of the game and that you're placing yourself under my protection."

  The woman glared at him a bit and then shook her head firmly.

  "The protection of a little boy?" She laid her right hand on the wall of the craft and glanced at it then refocused on him. "A magical boy, but still, it's my job to protect you isn't it? Or are you a man?"

  That she might be a little confused was fair enough. Technically he was a child, but he acted older, and had his own home, a business and responsibilities.
In two years, he'd be a man in truth, and while he looked younger than his years, it would be hard for a royal to tell that really, since their prejudices would prevent that from happening. She was trying to see past that, in case he was older than she believed. That made him feel a bit better about her, since, if nothing else, she was attempting not to insult him. That had to be a good sign.

  "That won't matter today. Just tell Richard and Constance that I'm standing for you and your people, and mean it and it will be enough, I think. It will take them off guard if nothing else." It almost had to. It was just so unexpected.

  There was silence then, as they moved through the air at thousands of miles per hour. It didn't feel like they moved at all, but it was just turning to twilight as they approached the Capital. The glowing purple river that surrounded the place lit the way from about twenty miles off, and the Palace had exterior lights, as well as a group of about fifty people waiting for them to land.

  "Right, so, as soon as we get out, you need to lay on the ground. It's a bit of a dirt patch here, but if you don't the Royal Guard will go all... guardly on us and make threats and push a Truth amulet on you. Do it yourself first, and you'll look better. Affirm that you mean no harm and start in on your apologies, if the King is there. I think I see him. He's hard to miss." That was just the truth, since he was the biggest person there practically. There was one that was larger, but Timon wasn't certain who it was, the light not being good enough for that from the angle they were coming in from, even as the people looked up.

  The Countess took a deep breath and straightened as they slowly floated to the ground. It was how people signaled they were friendly, coming in slow like that.

  "Right. Time to kneel and deliver then."

  Timon smiled, knowing that he probably wasn't supposed to get the reference at all. It was a tame way of saying it, for a noble woman.