Kindred (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 3) Read online

  “We need to go and see what’s going on with Debbie. I know where she is. In Warden. Living near the Count and Countess there. Where I put her. I never would have suspected, except… Well, now I feel like an idiot. It’s rather obvious.”

  Looking at the man, he nodded, walking out of the room, into the main hallway, with the giant man following along behind him. Not far behind, since he moved in slow motion the entire time.

  “I have a ship we can use, or… No, wait…” Running back into his space, he pulled a few different amulets, and put them in his pocket. Tor stood in the doorway. “I pulled a different craft. I don’t want to bother with the one I have here. It has air in it right now. We can use the transport pods to get to the Capital, and then set up another in Warden, if they want one there? I have a few of those with me. We should get some help too, in case there’s a fight. Samantha and Eva.”

  He waved, once they were walking toward the port, since they were the only people that could be seen. One of each jogged over to them, moving at a speed that was polite, but not blurring or anything, even though both could have done that. Dare wasn’t, so it made sense that nothing too important was going on. These weren’t the Eva and Samantha that had marked their cheeks, but that didn’t really matter. It was always still them.

  “We have a trip, to Earth? Do you want to come along? It might be a little dangerous. Not too much for us to handle, if we’re careful.”

  Samantha looked at Tor carefully, having to glance up at him a lot, and then smiled.

  “All right. How are we getting there? I can pilot?”

  Dareg snorted, hearing the eagerness in her words. Understanding it.

  “Transport pods to the planet. Then you can get us to Warden? Eva can do the trip after that one. You should both know how to do that already.” They wouldn’t be great at finding new locations, being they weren’t that creative, but that flaw wasn’t one really. Even if it was, then it would have been his failure, not theirs.

  Dare was their creator. Their parent. What they got that way. So it was up to him to make sure they had what they needed to learn to be complete people. A lot of their minds were from him and copies of what he knew and believed, but from the moment they took their bodies and started to live in the real world, they were both out of his control and still his responsibility.

  All he could do was try to be a good example and hope that things went well.

  It wasn’t lost on him that there were some parallels between what Tor had to be feeling in regards to him, and their situation. The man hadn’t even known that Dare existed for most of his life. Then, full grown and already in the world, there he was. A man, if a young one, who didn’t really need anything that Tor had to offer him. Everything he was had already been formed in great measure.

  Oh, that didn’t mean that Dareg was going to suddenly do everything, or even anything, to the measure that the fellow wanted. In fact, he probably couldn’t do anything right as far as that went. He didn’t even really know what the man would have wanted from him that way. Not past some of the most basic things imaginable. No stealing, raping or killing.

  Out of those he’d managed…

  None of them really. At least the rape had only been his command abilities influencing people, and not him holding them down and forcing them to do things. It was better, because even if they were troubled about it later, like Stara had been, it was also clear to him that she thought of it as a simple mistake, but one with no harm having been done. So maybe that wasn’t a thing that he had to call that. Before he’d known about it, that had just been a part of him. Like his looks, or intelligence.

  Still, now it would have been using force, if a soft version of it to get what he wanted, so he had to try and fight through things without using that kind of extra crutch in order to control others. Dareg had to figure that his father wouldn’t want him to do that. It was just a guess however, not anything the man had ever had a reason or chance to help him learn.

  He’d killed though, several times now. It wasn’t a good thing, but most of them had at least been part of the war that was going on. Only one of them was really him just being an awful, possibly evil, person. That was all from within him however. It was clear she, unless his mother had shown up just to lie to him, wasn’t actually evil. Just trapped and forced to do things to protect others.

  Anyone might do that, if their loved ones were on the line. He would.

  The walk to the transport pod wasn’t a long one from his place. They used the one by the port, which was closer, by about half a mile, than the one over by Samantha’s restaurant and the inn. No one spoke about it all as they walked, moving at about the speed Tor wanted to use. It was Eva who tapped the door star when they got to the red box. She waved the others in, seeming a bit bland for her, and then moved past Tor without touching him to close them all inside and set things up to take them to the Capital port. It took about a minute before the names vanished, which got Tor to look at him strangely.

  “It didn’t do that before… Take that long?”

  Dareg had never seen it happen, but knew what the issue was, since he’d built the thing to do what it just had.

  “You can’t transport to a location in if it’s in use. It’s a safety feature. That means you could end up having to wait a few minutes before you leave. I figured that was better than trying to build a new pod next to the one there to deliver people each time. It costs time, but saves space.” He’d considered doing it the other way, briefly, but the one that he’d picked was the easier one to make happen.

  Both girls looked around, seeming impressed with the place. It was new to them, so it made sense. Getting the jump ship out, he passed it over to Samantha, the slightly plainer of the two girls. She was still attractive enough that a man passing smiled at her, getting one in return. The fellow even ignored Eva totally, so it might be a simple matter of taste, as to who was prettier. In a way Sam looked more realistic than the other girl did, which a lot of men would probably prefer, when it came down to it. There was a limit of what seemed real, after all.

  “We need something kind of small for this trip. I’ll walk you through the takeoff. There are rules to using any of the ports. If you break them… Well, we have no way to punish anyone for it, but you might kill people, and the first real rule of having something like a ship is to avoid doing that. Remember, if you let go of the control it will just stop. When in doubt, do that. Let’s get in the air, and then I’ll get a map for you.”

  There was a system in place that had pictures of things from space, which made finding different a lot easier. Not that he didn’t know how to get them to Warden off the top of his head. It was one of the world’s major cities after all.

  Samantha barely needed instruction on how to do things. In fact, she did so well that he had her go up and jump over to the city they wanted. She did it perfectly, the first time, naturally. Then she settled into the grassy space in front of a large palace that Tor indicated was the best place for them to land. Ding it all like she’d been flying her entire life. It was close to that, but mainly it was due to the fact that a big portion of what he knew how to do was a part of her, if not the negatives of his personality.

  Not that the girls were perfect either. That had been a thing that had been hard for Dareg to put into them, but both had the ability to learn things. That meant, in the end, that they could just make mistakes, or choose things that Dare would have thought of as being something that he never would have. They could be wrong, and make bad choices. If there was another way to allow them to grow, he hadn’t been able to find it.

  There were strange looking trees around them, with corrugated trunks and bits of green up at the top. The bushes were green and even red in places, which seemed bizarre to him, but at least the world in Warden had some bits of living color around. The Capital did too, but that was spare in comparison. Mars, so far, had color provided only where magic could be brought into play, other than a soft yellowish stone
background. Iron that didn’t turn to rust.

  Tor got out, looking almost fierce, clutching a weapon in his right hand, his shield already on. Readying himself for a final battle. Without going in full armor, which Dareg noticed, he did have with him. So there was that much, at least.

  “Um… Pull it back there? We’re coming to visit, and see what’s going on here. That’s all. If you go in looking for a fight, you might force one, even if this Debbie isn’t one of the enemy. If I saw you coming for me right now, I’d start out by running away. You look ready for blood. That won’t help us here. We need smiles and hugs, if that will work first. You said that this woman is a pal of yours? Let’s start there? After all, you’re a decent person, so she might actually be your friend. Really, if she starts doing anything strange, we can just run away. Even if it comes to battle… You shouldn’t be the one having to do it.” So far the Adversaries had some real problems chasing people. They were devastating in a fight, using tricks that could be beaten now, but were incredibly dangerous. Those didn’t seem to work all that well when they had to cover a lot of space however. It seemed to damage them, in fact.

  As in they broke their own bones moving in the time distortions if they went too far, too quickly.

  The man that was supposed to be his father looked at him from the side of his eye, and sighed. At least Dare figured that was what was going on. Instead of growling in upset the wizard relaxed so much that he seemed to almost wilt, and the tiny bit of agitation that was there dropped away instantly. It was a good trick. Even better, the weapon went away, and a gentle smile appeared. It was false, naturally, but seemed happy enough. Then his clothing shifted. It had been all black, but became a mix of purple and deep green then. It was kind of horrible, looking busily patterned on top of workman’s simple clothing.

  It was happier seeming however.

  Samantha smiled, which looked real on her. Then she dressed herself in a soft blue, which looked darling. Eva picked black, but the outfit was softer and more flowing than what the others had. For his part Dare dressed in simple brown, with a copper pattern worked into the background almost in a way that no one would be able to notice. It was enough to show that he was rich, or at least lucky enough to have both magical clothing and focus. It probably wasn’t good enough to go visiting nobles, but that wasn’t the real plan.

  Except, of course, that a man walked around the corner of the building then, dressed in all black himself, but not looking out of place for their group. Except that he made Tor look short. Luckily Dareg understood who was there, as the man waved to them, his dark, very smooth face smiling like them being there was a good thing.

  “Tor! Prince Dareg!” He stopped then, and bowed, going low, to the two women with them, paying enough attention to both of them in turn that it was clear he was taking them seriously and figured that they were important people.

  Which they were. Bowing back, going lower than the Count, Dare smiled at the man. He was a good enough person, after all. One of the best as far as the nobles went. His wife was a bit tense, and a little flirtatious, but Marvin Ward was kind and seemed to care about his people deeply. Even better, he liked the Ysidril, which meant he was a great person as far as Dareg was concerned.

  “Allow me to introduce these young ladies? This is Samantha Canton, and next to her is Eva Canton. Before you ask, I didn’t get married. They’re magical creations, but also people, so… My daughters. I don’t think that gets them in as far as any titles go, but they are people.” He managed to not sound defensive about it, and for his portion the giant Noram nobleman bowed toward each of them in turn.

  “Welcome! Have you come to stay? We have room. I can have something set up in a few moments. It isn’t every day that I get to meet such wonderful people.”

  Samantha grinned up at the man, looking cute enough that it was clear she was flirting a bit.

  “Thank you for the offer. I… Think we have someone to meet right now? Debbie Smalls? Dareg’s mother turned out to be alive, and one of the Adversaries, and it seems that Debbie might be her sister, from another world. Or maybe this one? That would mean she wasn’t one of that other type at all. So we need to handle this properly. Would it be allowed for us to meet with her and check? We need to go carefully, since no matter what is going on here, she might be innocent. Or attack if frightened. It seems that the Adversaries aren’t all against us as deeply as all that, and some are forced to do things, their families held hostage.”

  It was a lot to drop on the man, and he looked stricken suddenly his eyes tearing up at the news. It was bad enough that Dareg shook his head a little bit and winked.

  “It could also be that she simply has a similar name? I mean, I’ve met ten women named Debbie and two families called Small in my life, and I’m not old. So we probably shouldn’t start out with pushing at her. I might be able to tell if she isn’t from this world without bothering her, if we can meet? Then we can play it from there. Ideally we need to make friends. Really, regardless of anything else we need to try doing that. She’s either innocent, or one of the enemy that has been around here for years, living peacefully. If it’s the later, then her friends might be able to turn her to our side.” Possibly something else, like one of the commanders, but that was getting out there into some rather deep things. So far only one of that sort had been sent in. The ones that had been there for a long time had been scouts, more or less.

  Watchers.

  There was no reason to assume that this woman, working as a baker and shop owner, would be more than that.

  The Count stood straight, his face grim now, which was less than wonderful to see. From the sense coming off of him, he figured that Debbie was going to prove an enemy spy, and then he’d be implicated in the Adversary actions. Then a war would start, where he and his people had to fight to survive, as the whole world came for them again, presuming their guilt.

  Outwardly, the man seemed prepared to do the right thing, no matter what it cost him.

  “I think she should be at her shop, this time of day? It’s nearing noon, and the morning baked goods have been delivered. We can go and visit?”

  Eva smiled then, bobbing a bit, into a bow, rather than a curtsey.

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you, Count Ward.”

  The man, it seemed, was planning to take them himself, which meant five minutes of slow walking. That was normal enough, but the man seemed to actually be dragging his feet a bit, not wanting to get to the meeting. The outside of the shop looked clean and tidy when they got there. Freshly painted in bright colors, with red, yellow and blue being the main trim shades. The door was a solid red, and there were windows made of real glass which showed rows of magical amulets inside. The door however led to a bakery, which smelled really good.

  The giant Count walked them in, and moved to the right, which allowed the rest of them to get into place for a fight, just as a woman came from the back. It was kind of hilarious, and he suddenly understood why Tor would feel stupid over the whole thing, now that people from the other realities were a known quantity.

  After all, she was so clearly Tamerlane Thomson, Tor’s own older sister, that no one in the world could miss it. Taller, certainly. This woman was probably five-seven, or taller, compared to the Countess who was about five feet even. Both were wonderfully pale, though darker than Tor, and just that should have been enough to get her a lot of scrutiny.

  Debbie Smalls was lovely enough to attract a lot of attention in life, especially when she smiled at them, her eyes going a little wide. There was a flash of worry coming from her as well, but that was honestly just about the Wizard Tor being there, not the others. She even seemed fond of Count Ward. That sense lashed out as she thought of each of them, not recognizing himself or the girls.

  Count Ward started to bow, going too deep, and Tor stiffened. It was a bit obvious, at least to Dare. That was, most likely, due to the woman having a small thing in the back of her neck that matched what Merry had going o
n in the same rough location. There was no sense of time being distorted however, which meant that, while this woman was a bit worried, it wasn’t about her expecting a fight. Just her feeling like important and awkward people had come to visit her for some reason. Which, from the undertone in the room, would probably be about business or baked goods.

  Tor didn’t need her for magic, after all. People with him wouldn’t need that either, since the man gave the world away, half of the time. It was one of the best things about him, since she’d benefited from that herself, several times in her life.

  Dareg bowed and smiled moving forward, since he wasn’t a threat to anyone really.

  “Hello! Are you Merchant Smalls?” He knew the answer, but the woman, not seeming that worked up really, other than some odd feelings about Tor, nodded, a bright smile on her face.

  “I am! Have you come to look at some new magics? Or… I have some nice muffins that are still warm? Cherry.”

  He could smell that, and his stomach growled a bit.

  “Those sound, and smell, wonderful. I didn’t bring any coin of course. I was expecting something different. I can trade some magic for a basket of those? I know! We can put the Warden transport pod right outside your shop here? That has to be good for business. Here… Let me show you?”

  He led outside, and Tor rolled his eyes, but smiled at his antics. Even Count Ward relaxed a lot, and seemed impressed when the new magical hut appeared and was described.

  “So, you can use it to go anywhere in the network, instantly, or pretty close to that. As more people use it, they’ll come out right here, and smell baked goods? Plus, you can take your holidays in a lot of different places. Even go to the new city on Mars? That’s where I live. Is that enough to earn some of those muffins? It won’t really belong to you, being a public property, but… Once things get set up all over the place, you could have hundreds or even thousands of people through here each day.”

  She was smart enough to get that increased passersby might well mean more sales, so nodded at him, thinking that he was cute enough, if a trifle young looking. Which didn’t mean young, given that he might be a wizard, from the things he was saying.