Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) Read online

  Sara knew she had to say something, but other than some pretty weak platitudes, nothing much came to mind. So she just sat there, looking at him, and wondering how he'd managed to do that much more in his life than she had.

  Finally, going silent and looking at her calmly, she knew that he was waiting for her judgment of him. To call him either a hero, or a monster.

  "The thing is, Tim, you aren't either of those things. You're you. That's all any of us ever really is. You did what made sense to you at the time, and yes, there was a great cost to it, but also good that came of it. Is that why the rebels speak so fondly of you? Because you proved yourself to them so... Clearly?"

  "Yes. Even the ones that know that I held back those amulets see it as merely a clever ploy to keep Richard off guard. Now, of course, I'm out of that game. That..."

  Shaking himself a bit he sat up straighter and gave her a look that seemed nearly shaken.

  "It seems rather unlikely that they'd send assassins at me. Austra is the same. If anyone there has a problem with something that I'm doing, they'd just get on a com unit, and complain about it. They do that there, openly, and in public. As long as they don't make threats of death, they're allowed to speak how they will. They wouldn't come at me like this. Neither group would. I suppose some splinter faction of the rebels might, but they'd know that it wasn't really going to work."

  Why that was, Sara couldn't work out for herself.

  "What about King Richard? I mean, it's clear that he loves you. Tor, too. I could see him turning against Tiera a bit, but for the time being he should actually be pretty happy with her. If they aren't fast friends now, they've at least decided to work together well enough. Starting a war with Harmony would end in death for far too many. He isn't the kind of man to allow that. I think he wouldn't even if it cost him his life." Then, Sara had been taught to think all of that in school, hadn't she?

  It really had been backed up by what she'd seen of the man close up, over the years. Burks had always spoken highly of him to her, which had probably cemented the idea pretty firmly. For a moment she wondered if it were real or just what she had to believe, to make it through her life?

  To her surprise, Tim nodded.

  "Yes. He's a good man. Not just a good King. Those are different things. I keep making Aunt Connie mad at me by suggesting that I'd get Richard off the throne if I could find anyone better suited for the job, and I know that she thinks I'm insulting him, but I'm really not. There is no one better for the position. The one I worry about is actually Tiera. Her temperament is all wrong for the one she holds. Hopefully, someday we can move someone with a gentler nature into the throne there. Tenet maybe?" There was finally a bit of liveliness in his gaze as he winked at her. "Willing to take action, but also forgive wrongs. Not that he was in the right by the rules we live by now. Going after Kurt would have been a mistake, even if he couldn't have won. He's a great artist, my youngest brother. It would probably be wrong to dump something like that on him. Thrones need to be sat on by the best of us, but it's almost a punishment for them. Only the evil, greedy and vain can do the job in comfort, I think."

  It was a lot to take in, and Sara got that it was also a bit off topic. She guided things back to where they needed to be then.

  "So, if it's not a plot from the rebels, or King Richard, and Austra isn't very likely, then who? It probably isn't Four either, since she'd just come and lay out why you need to change things, if she had a problem with how it was being done." The woman, who was also a man, was clever that way. Practical all the time.

  "Right." He picked up the silver cup again, and took a sip from it. The thing was plain on the outside, except for three bands of metal that matched the color of the base. It would have looked better ringed in gold, but what he'd picked spoke of both refinement, and a wish for her to see that in him, as well as subtlety. "It could be a plot of distraction out of Afrak. I did rather help their old leader to die. More than once. I could see Gray being clever enough to set up a trap for me that wouldn't spring for several years. That could explain the spider that was on you earlier, too. They do a lot with the engineering of living things in that land. Or that could just be down to Princess Abbey doing something that the rest of us don't understand yet. Introducing life systems to keep us all well and healthy, that kind of thing. It's her job, among us." There was a wave, between them.

  It took a solid blink and about ten seconds for her to understand that he meant the Ancients. It was the Princess's job among that crowd.

  "But she isn't..." Sara winced, but didn't take the words back, that lovely lady hadn't been changed yet either, as far as she knew.

  "Not needed for the job. She's elected to stay as she is until we can all return to Earth. All of the best working materials for her projects are there. Though... Hmmm." Then he stopped talking, clearly dropping into a trance. Sara knew enough not to bother a person doing that until they indicated they were ready to speak.

  When he did, it was so quiet and abstract it nearly made her laugh.

  "Do you mind if I do things to you in your sleep?" He was so blank, and had his eyes closed that she gave him a baffled smile. No one had ever asked if that was all right before. Not with her. Several men and a least two women had felt her up a bit that way, but she was a light enough sleeper that it had turned to sex each time. Not counting what Kurt had done to her, which might have been why Tim asked now.

  "We can do that. Or you can wake me up first. Planning to be a while, doing whatever you are now?"

  "Yes." Then the boy went silent and didn't even seem to be breathing after that.

  She meditated, and was good enough at it, but this was so deep it was hard to understand.

  That meant she ended up sitting there for an hour while he thought, or planned whatever was calling to him. Then, as it moved past that long, she went and checked their ship's heading. Seeing they were on course, and that he was still just sitting there, Sara smiled and decided that the discussion was done for the time being.

  Making herself useful, she cleared the table and put all the dishes of food into the hopper of the food unit they were using. It wasn't, she saw when she found it, one of Timon's large ones resized for the ship, but a smaller unit that was all in yellow and pink. It glowed a bit, and was very lively seeming, but shaped differently than anything she'd ever seen before. There were no sigils on the side for one thing. The place to put things on the back was where she expected it however.

  "Hello? Can I help you with anything?" The little box, no bigger than a thing to keep several loaves of bread in, spoke to her in a clear, if youthful sounding girls voice.

  So Sara yelped and jumped back.

  "Agh!" Then, seeing she wasn't under attack, she cleared her throat, wondering if her exhaustion had caused her to hallucinate its words. "Um, did you just speak to me, little box on the table?"

  "I did! I can make food for you, as well as dishes, silver to eat with, most drinks, and even make some basic supplies, if you need them? That man that was here earlier left the materials box about half filled, and I noticed that you were returning most of the plates that I made earlier? That's always a good plan. Do you need more food? Or, was anything not done the way you like it? I can change how things are prepared if I get feedback."

  "Ah... No, it was all very good, thank you. I..." She felt ridiculous, but the thing was talking to her and clearly magical in nature. It also sounded a bit like Taman Baker. "Are you alive?"

  "Oh, no. Not at all. I just have a lot of words that I can say in response to things. I don't even really think. I just have some speeches that I can make, so that people don't get scared, trying to get food. It's been a problem in a few places, so really, you shouldn't feel badly about it."

  "Oh? I can see that, I guess. But, no, right now I'm just returning the dishes. I should probably go and get a bath. I don't suppose you can make soap?"

  "I can! What scent would you like? Do you need towels too? Or how about some bath oils, a
nd some clippers? Smoothing boards too. "

  It didn't take very long for the little box to set her up with real, and nicely jasmine scented soap, four large fluffy towels, and to her surprise, some birth control compound. It had offered it to her when she'd muttered out loud that she might not be bathing alone. Hence the need for extra towels.

  It was a good point too, since Sara's had probably long worn off now. What they used in Noram had to be taken every day, but the Austran stuff, which she'd gotten a hold of about a year before, lasted longer than that. Almost six months. This was, the little Taman-box assured her, even better than that. It was the kind they used in Afrak, so biological in nature, but would leave her free of children for at least a year.

  It was in a small brown vial that looked to be made of glass, and all she needed to do was drink it.

  She did it with a grin.

  "Hopefully you aren't a trick to poison me."

  The box snorted then, playfully. "Of course not! My job is to protect people and make sure they have what they need to survive."

  That there was a hint of pride in the voice was interesting, but Sara decided to get to cleaning up, not knowing what else would be coming that day.

  She bathed alone, and wondered what Tim was up to, in his trance, sitting in the dining room. Finally, assured that they were on course, she went to her room, which was right next to the bridge, in case of emergency. Not that anything would happen. Being as tired as she was, Sara drifted off almost instantly, her bald head having grown just enough hair for the pillow to keep making soft bristly sounds when she moved. It was annoying, but nothing she couldn't ignore with a bit of effort.

  It was hours later, if not longer than that, when she woke up. Timon was right next to her, with his eyes closed, and still dressed as he had been. Even the boots were the same, which couldn't have been comfortable. Sara smiled, since there was no harm in it. She wasn't waking up having sex or anything, which she'd agreed to, she remembered, but when she moved to sit up, a large hand caught her wrist.

  Then the boy murmured, never opening his eyes.

  "I'm not done yet. About two hours."

  She was pulled on a bit, so laid back down, wondering what was going on. If it was some kind of magical sex thing, she was missing the good part of it. Smiling though, she let herself drift off again, and tried not to worry too much about it. She was getting hungry again though.

  Actually, it was kind of burning inside her middle, by the time Timon finally sat up himself, nearly three hours later. He stretched, then pulled several amulets, triggering one after the other. If they did anything she couldn't see what it was.

  Then, reaching over her whole body, his arm over her breasts, he rolled so that he was nearly on top of her, but supported his weight, so it was only a warm presence. Then he gently kissed her cheek. It was sweet, compared to what she figured he was going to do.

  "You can get up now. I had an idea last night, and you were asleep when I got in, so I just did the work. You'd already agreed to it, after all. Oh, here-" An amulet came at her then, one with a glowing green silhouette of Tor on it. So a Healing device. "Tap that and get to changing. I'll go and get some food, I bet you're going to be hungry after this. It's a pretty big change. If it worked. I can check that here, of course, but it will take a few hours. I should sleep first."

  Then, clearly avoiding any hint of useful conversation, the boy hurried from the room. She really did need food though, and fast. Hitting the amulet's sigil, she realized that the surface was a bit too rough under her fingers. The instant she did it, her body began to buzz, almost audibly. She heard it, even as the tingling invaded the deepest part of her being.

  The room started to glow slightly, she noticed. At first she didn't understand what was happening, but began to get it as she noticed that the heat vent was sending a cascade of warm air into the room, from where it was held, two decks down. The ship was a bit more primitive than her jump ship, but the system used to move heat around was clever enough. It used magic to pass energy and movement from one spot to another. Pretty too, now that she could see it.

  There weren't a lot of sounds, but she became aware of a deep and rhythmic thumping that was suddenly very loud. It wasn't her heart, though she heard that too, as the intensity of the change happening to her increased. No, she was hearing the low, very deep, sound of Timon hurrying back with food. The smell of it was incredible, though hunger might have been part of that too.

  The boy, who wasn't one at all anymore, settled beside her and cutely enough tried to feed her bits of food at a time, tearing pieces off for her.

  Sara smiled up at him and then sat.

  "That, isn't going to be half fast enough. I need to cram food into my face I think, for a while. I'm beyond starved. Please tell me that isn't going to be permanent?"

  Handing her a large slab of bread with three kinds of melted cheese on the top, as well as garlic butter under that, he shook his head.

  "Not at all. This change is just different than what the others had. I... Used a new method to make you immortal, so that the nano devices I used won't recognize you as one of us. You get all the same perks, and possibly more, but can also travel to Earth. I should have thought of it before. It was right there, waiting for me to notice it. How are things so far?"

  "Tingly? Like I hit the back of my elbow, nearly. I think that's starting to let up a bit. So... Am I going to look like a fish when this is done or what? The world seems a lot clearer, sharper, and I can see and hear more. Feel it too, I think. Other than that I feel like... Me. Is that right?"

  There was more food passed to her, and a warm hand on her arm, trying to reassure her. Because clearly, he wasn't totally certain that what he'd done was going to work. It seemed to be so far, but any massive change like that had to be risky, didn't it? Especially new ones. Get one thing wrong and the person being changed would die. Their heart would stop beating, or their lungs shut down for any of a thousand different reasons. For a moment her mind started to go over all of them, one by one.

  Then she made herself stop it. If she were going to die, it would have probably already happened.

  Tim shook his head a little, still touching her.

  "No, you won't look like a fish. Really, I tried to be a bit more refined on that one than I have been with some of the others. You'll pretty much look like you. Smoother skin, and with hair, since that's growing in nicely, but no real changes that way, from the outside. Immortal, naturally, since it's the real point. Smarter than most people, and a lot faster and stronger than any of us. Except maybe Alice Orange or Kolb. About the same range as them. Better endurance, too. Eventually you might be able to learn how to shape shift, since I reworked your pattern based on something I picked up from a Remy once. Honestly, you can probably do it as soon as the healing is done. Eat now though. You're doing a lot of work here."

  The man next to her seemed awfully pleased with himself, over what he'd done. It sounded all right, on the surface, and even the shape shifting part might be neat, if she could master it. For the time being though, he was right. She needed to eat. A lot.

  That didn't end for a while, with Tim making several trips to get her more food, but an hour and a half later she was able to get up, and stretch. It felt... Good. Almost sensuous, like rubbing her entire body against silk. Not like how stretching was supposed to feel though.

  Leaning over she tried to touch her toes, only to find that she was able to fold in half easily, her body against her legs, all the way down. Her spine didn't even creak when she did it. Then, making a face that was only a bit baffled, she sat on the floor and ran through all the exercises she knew that way. Including a few that she'd never managed herself, even after years of practice. Like placing both legs behind her head.

  With effort she'd managed one before, but this wasn't even making it hard to breathe.

  "Well, that's different. Can you do this?" She looked down, seeing her distorted body under the loose silk clothing she'
d worn to bed. It was a light cream colored outfit, made of magic and too regular for it to be anything else.

  "Nope. Not even half that." He looked at her, his gaze fond, and then glanced between her legs. She smiled at him, getting the idea.

  "Why don't we see what else I can do?"

  It probably wasn't the best use of time ever, but she had to agree when it was done, that it had been fun. Interesting too.

  Chapter eight

  The changes to her body weren't obvious on the outside really, she decided, standing in front of a full length mirror that she'd caused to appear on the wall. She looked about the same as always. Except that even though she had hair on her head, including eyelashes and brows again, as well as a complete complement of mostly straight golden locks on top, she was bare everywhere else.

  It looked a bit funny, but would make shaving her legs a lot easier, so she didn't mention it. Under her arms too.

  Her skin was blemish free, which helped a bit, but just its normal tan coloration. Her eyes were the same ones that had always looked back out of the mirror at her. So, she looked good, but not like she wasn't herself with a good bit of makeup on. Not eye liner or lip coloring, but a good foundation, for the rest to go onto.

  Timon was sitting on the bed behind her, clothed already, observing her watching herself. She could nearly feel his regard, which scanned her body a lot more completely than most men would have done from where he was. They'd done enough that she decided not to feel awkward about it, simply spinning in place perfectly on the ball of one foot. Going around three times before stopping and never losing her balance.

  Then, just because she wondered how strong she really was, she bunched her legs, and thrust into the floor at hard as she could.

  "No!" Was all Tim got out before she smacked into the overhead, twelve feet up. It didn't really hurt, thankfully, and somehow, with a bit of scrambling in the air, she managed to land on her feet well enough.