Dragon Queen (Avery Rome Book 3) Read online

  There was a nod from the cousin then.

  “Got it. We can do that.” Then, as Will ran off, moving very quickly, the other young man started to wave at different people.

  “This is Tor Baker. He’s my father and something of a Wizard. Also the Ancient of Vagus, which means that he’s the caretaker for that land. He owns a bakery and runs a mage school as well. Next to him is his lovely wife, the Wizard Alyssa Baker. My step-mother.” Walking slowly, he pointed at the first man to have spoken. “This is Timon Baker. A much more important wizard than Tor, though we don’t normally tell him things like that. We don’t want him to get a big head or anything. His wife, who’s actually more important, is next to him. Patricia Baker. Sometimes called Trice, by her friends? She runs the main Harmony magic shop and is the Ancients’ spy master. So if you need work like that done here, she’s a good person to go to for that. That’s a secret, so try not to mention it around too much?”

  That woman affected an innocent expression then.

  “Who, me? Spy Master? That’s so funny, Dare.”

  Given that she was also Kaitlyn and Commander Turner of the IPB, that part kind of fit.

  Avery bowed in her direction.

  “I actually might have something along those lines, if you have time to discuss it? Not for here, but in my own world? You might be interested in the idea. I don’t want to say too much. Perhaps if you can come to the camp location with us in a bit? There’s someone there you should meet.”

  “Oh? Is he cute?”

  Avery nodded.

  “She, right now, but yes. Very much so.” It was an Alede thing, after all. “She can also become a man, though I’ve never seen that, myself.”

  Instead of being put off by the idea, the woman just smiled. It wasn’t totally real, most likely, but wasn’t exactly fake, either.

  “That sounds fun. I’d love to meet your friend.”

  Mr. Canton moved to the last person, who was Eve Benson, only much taller. Slightly better looking as well.

  “This last lady is Queen Tiera Baker, of Harmony. The whole of the Moon actually. My aunt, and a powerful fighter and warrior. Also a well-known Wizard, though her abilities there are considered medium high in level, instead of top end. Mainly due to her being so busy, rather than lacking in real skill. She invented the jump ships and the food production units. Even if Timon made most of the ones that fed the world in the last war. Again, we have to keep her more or less humble, you understand?”

  Instead of beating the boy, the queen, who looked to be about the same age as Avery, simply nodded.

  “That’s about right. We can all speak English however, which is needed for those in the camp? You seem to have a fine mastery of Standard however? That’s impressive. I’ve been working with my protégé, Sara, and her cohort Lydia on that as well.”

  Avery nodded at the words.

  “I’ve met both of them, I think? Sara is here, with us. Lydia isn’t. I think so she can communicate with you, if you have that need? I’m not that good at Standard yet though I managed to learn a trick that helped me pick it up, and know a few languages that are similar, so that helps. I’m just now learning however. Dumas and Clemance Thomson aided me in that, so far.”

  The Queen of the Moon moved forward a bit then.

  “Really? That’s impressive of them! I hadn’t heard that they were making those kinds of contacts on their own, yet. Very good. If it’s safe, and possibly even if it’s not, we need to have them in then, to work with your people and those of Ambassador Mableton’s world. That’s part of their duties, along with my sister, Terlee. Have you met her?”

  They seemed to have moved to making simple conversation, and were, it seemed, done there. The people that had been injured had all left, and the Count was looking off toward the transport station, even if there was a building in the way. That made sense, really. If the attack had been meant to push at Tor Baker, in particular, then him standing there was possible fuel, asking for further attacks. Taking him away at near random might be the better plan in that case.

  Avery started to walk, everyone else moving along with her then.

  “I have met Countess Thomson. She and her sons helped in rescuing some people in a bridge collapse the other day. Ambassador Mableton as well. It was impressive work on their parts.” She didn’t mention having been in on that, since it really wasn’t that important. She also didn’t mention that they’d talked on that very day. The Queen might just have forgotten her.

  It seemed that she had two new friends in particular then, being Tiera and Dareg. At least they both moved in alongside of her. The others trailed along behind them, making good time, since Avery wasn’t trying to dawdle.

  Count Lairdgren, getting the destination, moved to the front, rather quickly, given his apparent age. Not that it was reflected in his movements at all. They were all making good time however, without struggling much to keep up. At the red box, she stopped and waved at the thing. The people there were probably just too many to actually fit inside the thing comfortably.

  “We should go in two groups? To Pine Creek. I can’t read Standard yet, so if someone can work the device for me?” It felt like she was supposed to do that, given what Will had told them, before leaving.

  To her mind anyway. No one else seemed to think that was the case at all. It was their world, after all. She looked down for a bit, feeling suddenly shy. They were all much larger than she was, at the moment, and politically powerful people in the world they were in. She was, in the end, just herself.

  For some reason, Dareg moved forward and patted her on the back.

  “I can do that for the first group? Tor, if you’d take care of the second? I don’t know where we’ll be coming out, actually. Clemance set this one up. Most of the Earth, Moon and Mars side of things, actually. I should get out and travel more often.”

  She knew that one, however, having been there before.

  “The box is right next to Tal Baker’s shop. He’s a very nice gentleman.” She was willing to say more, but got that the name of a lot of these people were actually the same. It probably wasn’t needed to talk the man up that much, given that.

  One of the men, Timon, moved toward them, which got his wife as well.

  “We’ll hurry. I think that Count Lairdgren wants us out of here. Not that I can blame him at the moment. We’ll stand by to come back at need, however, Kyle. I have my handheld with me.”

  The older looking fellow patted his own pocket then, to show he was similarly outfitted.

  “Thank you. All of you. This isn’t the kind of thing that I’d ever like to have happen, but the world often has different views of such things than we hold. Hopefully it will be cleared up soon?”

  Avery agreed with the words, even if she didn't know how that was going to happen.

  Inside the box, Tim closed the door and Dare found the right name to set up. The letters were funny shapes, but she could, possibly, find them again. It would take a lot of work on her part, but was doable, with enough effort. She thought. That probably meant she’d end up if fifty different places if she tried it, instead of going to the right place. They moved out onto the street first thing, since Dare had a reason for it.

  “We need to free the box up, so that the others can come through.”

  They didn't have to wait long, the other three in their little club walking out only a minute or three after they had. That was interesting to watch, since the front of the box closed up on its own, right before it opened again. As soon as that happened, without bothering to wait in the slightest, Tor and Tim both walked directly to the door of the bakery. It was a rather nice seeming place, being well cared for rather than wealthy seeming.

  The scents from inside were good though. Like yeast and spices. There was just a hint of sugar in the air as well. Along with plenty of pine. Avery didn’t know what to do, but apparently, they were all going to be squeezing into the front of the shop there. Hopefully to get food. Dareg took h
er arm, and gently pulled her along with them for it, so she wasn’t left out in the street, waiting alone.

  It was inclusive, if nothing else.

  Inside, there was a nice-looking man behind the counter. He wasn’t Tal Baker, being younger. He also looked nothing like Will, though given everything, he was probably his older brother. Avery didn’t have a name for him.

  On the good side, other than her, everyone seemed to know him.

  “S’Carl!” That came from three of the people, with Patricia and Alyssa being silent, like she was. Dare too, she noticed. He waved at the man behind the wooden counter, showing that they might recognize one another. Shrugging, she did the same thing, not wanting to be left out. The man, seeming shy, looked at the ground.

  “Ah, hello. Well met, my lords and Ladies. May I help you today?”

  That was spoken in Standard. It sounded a little formal, but was clear and understandable. Timon seemed pleased enough by the words.

  “We’re going to be visiting the camp out a few miles from here, and thought we’d stop in and make sure you’re doing well here? Really, we should hire some baked goods for that. You have what, thirty people there?” The man turned to look at her, being the only one there who would know about that kind of thing.

  “Over forty, right now. We could barter for some baked goods? I could also get some silver or gold for that. How much would it cost, do you think?” She didn’t have a box of treasure with her, but did have a few coins in her things, in case shopping came up. Zack, her Zack, had suggested the idea.

  Carl looked at her directly then and waved at the loaves on the cooling rack behind him.

  “A copper for three small or two large loaves. We haven’t made much, but the day is just beginning, so I could do that now? Call it twenty loaves for forty people?”

  She shook her head, doing the math on that. It took a second, not being her strongest subject.

  “We’ll need more than that. We have a food unit, but also people who eat a lot. There’s also a… People collecting pictures that move, for cooking?”

  That had everyone staring at her, even if it was real enough.

  Timon gave her a funny look, then nodded.

  “Interesting. So, forty loaves? That would be two silver per day.”

  Carl smiled, but Avery crossed her arms, because it was time to bargain.

  That took about two minutes, but in the end the price was going to be a silver and five coppers per day, with bread coming every other day. The first one would be the next day though, giving the people there a chance to catch up. It meant that she had to go and get some of her funds from her bags. Really though, she could pay up the next day, on delivery. She might need to come and get the things herself, of course. Really, she just planned on that, getting a relieved look from the man behind the counter.

  “That will be ready at, call it ten in the morning?”

  “That works. If we’re leaving, I’ll bring the coin by anyway.” It was worth more to her to give the Baker family extra than it was to risk making Will upset with her for not paying off. They were both line walkers after all. Chances were, they would be meeting again. Probably inside the next day, depending on how long it took to get Ambassador Sin from her own reality.

  Except that, by the time they all got outside, after visiting for a while with Carl, Will and Cindy were already there. Waiting for them outside the shop. The small blonde lady waved at them as they came out.

  “We should hurry? Will told me about the attack. Are we working here?” She looked around, but didn’t seem concerned if it were going to be the case. It was a nice place, after all. Surrounded by lots of trees, with a gentle breeze. The air wasn’t hot, as far as Avery could tell meaning it was probably pleasant out.

  Timon shook his head at the idea.

  “Back at the camp? If an attack comes we need to protect the dignitaries there. Even at the cost of our own lives.”

  That didn’t make total sense to Avery. It was better than people saying they didn’t care about the strangers, naturally, though taking care of their own was also fine. It was easier to have people go home than guard them like the plan seemed to be.

  They walked the distance, since it was only a few miles. That took about half an hour, given that several of the people hurried the whole time. Avery had no problem with that. It was easier than running the whole way, which she couldn’t have managed at full speed. She could do a little over a mile and a half at fifty miles per hour, then she had to stop. The gasping and sharp pains in her middle generally assured that would take up about five to ten minutes after that kind of attempt. Walking worked for her though, even if they pushed things a bit.

  At the camp, everyone else had found things to occupy themselves, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d left. Cindy didn’t wait though, snapping her fingers at Timon for some reason.

  “Come on, gimme some of that sweet, sweet focus, baby. It will make things a lot easier. You know you want to…” She snorted a little, settling on the ground her tan uniform lighter than the dirt below her.

  It was, apparently, both a joke and something more than that. At least people chuckled politely. Timon moved toward her however, his face going blank. It didn’t take too long, but the intensity of the focus warped space around both himself and the Ambassador. Then, sitting there over the course of half an hour, the woman researched the attackers, speaking every few seconds as she appeared to read up on things. Finally, she simply shrugged.

  “They aren’t here now. That means this reality, as far as I can tell. They could come back, I guess, but they didn’t just pull back for a few minutes or leave the state. The ones that died here didn’t know that much. They lived inside a locked down facility for their entire lives. Which wasn’t long, by the way. Months, not the twenty odd years it looked like they should be. How that works, they don’t understand at all. They were given a target and told to make them scared. That was all. The goal wasn’t about death even, just pure fear.”

  Avery, who’d watched the whole thing, felt a bit relieved. It was a strange seeming power for the woman to have, reading all about lives, but from what was being said it was pretty comprehensive. What it didn't do was cross worlds. Cindy had to actually travel to the correct reality to get data from people. Which was a thing that they could do, in a pinch. It probably just wasn’t worth it. Not given how hard the attackers had failed that day.

  “So, we should keep our eyes open, but not worry too much at the moment? That could be worse.” The person speaking was Nan, the woman who looked a bit like a mummy. Her voice was friendly though.

  Timon looked at her, but didn’t stare at all.

  Off in the distance, Mark and Denis were talking about something. When they came over, the men seemed pretty pleased about things.

  Mark explained at least.

  “We have more time to get footage then? Video, at least? That’s great! I think we’re doing lamb for dinner tonight? How do you want to do that, Avery?”

  She thought for a few seconds, then shook her head.

  “Buy a lamb? Or we can use the magical device again. That worked pretty well and I didn't have to murder a chicken last night. We could do it as a roast? You complained that it was too dry last time.” She sounded a bit put out, to her own ears. Mark just nodded.

  “Good plan, given the situation here. We should have a dessert as well. Maybe some rice?”

  She could do all of those, even over a fire pit, so agreed, which got Tor to come over, his face questioning.

  “I don’t think I understand? You have a food unit? It’s one of Tiera’s, so it’s very good. Is that objectionable in some way? That you use… rocks to make food?”

  His own brother laughed at him then, pointing over to where the camera gear sat, not too far away.

  “It’s for demonstration purposes, Tor. Some kind of entertainment? They do that in Austra as well. Really, we should get a copy of this, if it comes out the way you like?
Austrans aren’t known for their high cuisine.” They both spoke in English, so everyone there understood the idea. “We could also do something with the food device? I know that would play well over there. Possibly on Harmony as well. I don’t know about First City. I mean, it’s fascinating, isn’t it? How people from different worlds make food, and what kinds of strange things they might eat?”

  That started a discussion, which had Mark seeming very pleased by the end. The idea was to actually go to these other places to discuss various food ideas. It meant going to at least one new place per day, but that was really part of the plan anyway. Tourism and vacationing.

  Right until Tor got a call, on his handheld.

  Pulling that from his pocket, tapping a sigil made of magic, a man with a very deep voice spoke. In Standard.

  “Hey, Tor. I heard from Count Lairdgren that there was an attack on an Ambassador at his school? Do we need to do anything about that? I can come, or we could bring in the military? Anything she needs to feel safe.”

  “Hey, Alphonse. Actually, I don’t think that will be needed. Avery Rome is very strong. When attacked, she and Willum Baker fought the assassins off instantly. They rammed her with a space craft, and she shrugged it off as if it didn’t even happen. She didn’t even have a shield on at the time, so, no… I don’t think she’s afraid or in need of us comforting her. We even have Ambassador Mableton here, and she confirmed that the strange Larval have left this reality. They might come back, but the threat was to the school, not the new people.” He paused then. “You know, we should hold a banquet in their honor? I can set that up at my house there? They’re doing an Austran style food program. Only with good food. It sounds pretty interesting, actually. I know that I’m going to have them by the bakery in a few days, if they want to come.”

  After a few moments, the man on the device made a pleased sound.

  “You know, that sounds fun. We can, do that tomorrow? Though, if there were attacks, we should probably do it here, at the palace. Not that your place isn’t safe.”