The Builder tya-1 Page 27

  “This is a lovely party isn't it? I was so pleased when Count Thomson invited me. I'm afraid that I normally wouldn't rate an invitation to something like this at all, not on my own merits.” She flushed prettily and ducked her head as if embarrassed at her “low” station. It worked with the soft pink color of her dress. Her green eyes looked a little humbled as she glanced around. Tor could sympathize. The woman leaned in a little and whispered conspiratorially to him. “The man with the red hair behind me? He's the heir! And we're standing right here not ten feet from him. The Count said he'd get me an introduction to him if we can make our way over through this crowd, isn't that something? I've met his little sister Veronica, but never Alphonse himself…”

  “You know, I've never actually met Veronica myself. I… thought her name was Valarie to tell you the honest truth. I think we must have just kept missing each other so far. This place is so huge, you know? Anyway, nudge Tovey's arm for me will you? I want to use him as a shield so that I don't get stepped on.”

  The girls eye's lit happily and she jiggled her date's arm enough to catch his attention and related what Tor had said. The man turned to look around and looked over his head twice, not even playing around. Everyone else in the room was just that big.

  “Tor! There you are, yes, come stand by me and Collette here. You've met?”

  “Oh, yes. Old friends you know.” Tor answered with a smile, being that the Count had pulled him close enough that he bumped into the pink ruffles the woman wore. She smelled nice, he noticed, the scent catching him from about three inches away as she turned, her bust line almost hitting him in the face. Not a bad view, but a little hard to stare at, being too close to focus on, he chuckled a little and took a half step back. At least it wasn't just him, everyone was packed this closely together in the room. Nearly at least. Tor accidentally stepped into someone and turned rapidly to apologize.

  He froze, but only for a second. A sense of relief came over him as he finished the turn. Trice. “Hey! So good to see you…” His face faltered as he saw her eyes. They looked sad and hurt. She shook her head and turned away.

  “I'm sorry.” She mumbled and walked away.

  Chapter Ten

  “Um, what?” Tor said to her back, catching her sleeve lightly, which got an annoyed glance from her as she looked over his head. Finally she looked down and her eyes focused.

  “Tor? Sorry, didn't notice you.” She sounded distracted and glum.

  “Are you alright?” He asked quickly, leaning close in hopes that not everyone in the room would hear.

  She shook her head. “Not here. Later. I'll explain, but… It isn't for this place.”

  “OK. Later. Don't forget though.”

  Collette, the lady in pink that stood right behind him oriented herself so that her chest pressed against his back briefly, nearly the back of his head, so that she could see who he talked too. She introduced herself using her title again, Baronetta Coltress. Trice's eyes went wide as she noted the contact between them and then she sagged a little, looking almost like she was going to cry.

  Tor pointed out that Collette was with Count Thomson, which helped his friend perk back up a good bit. She was probably glad to have her other, more appropriate, friends around. After all, he couldn't help her much here, especially if something had made her sad. Or help her anywhere else really, unless it was a simple problem that one of his little field projects or devices could aid with. Or a baking emergency. Then he could do something.

  Seriously, he was all over that one.

  Her dress was a deep blue, one that offset cornflower color of her eyes wonderfully, she wore a simple silver chain around her neck from which the shield he'd given her flashed. Trice wore it openly as if it were something to be proud of. Did she expect danger he wondered? Maybe he should stay ready then. Trice knew her way around these things better than Tor ever would, no doubt. Collette noticed where he looked and pointed at it excitedly.

  “Oh! Is that a Tor device? I haven't managed to get one yet. Almost no one has them you know. How did you manage, I mean if it's alright to ask?” Her voice didn't sound catty or anything, just curious.

  Trice smiled and pointed at Tor with a half wave. “He gave it to me, several months ago. A present just because, he said. It's a full Tor-shield, one of the newest ones, the fourth model, updated past what the military has even. And smaller too. The original plates were about the size of half your hand. This one's barely the size of a large coin as you can see.”

  The woman behind him grasped his shoulder slightly and spun him half around. She didn't speak to him, but to Trice instead.

  “Seriously? Are you two… friends?” Tor started to say yes, but Trice shook her head.

  “Not that kind. He's just really nice.” Her smile looked a little sad to Tor, which didn't make sense. A lot of things just didn't in this world of royals and palaces.

  A deep voice came from behind Collette. “That's true. He gave me the shield I'm wearing and my flying gear too.” Count Thomson smiled. “Tor is a good friend to have for a lot of reasons, and trust me, these things aren't even the biggest part by half. He saved my honor once.” Tovey put a hand on Tor's shoulder and smiled. “Something I haven't forgotten by the way.”

  Trice nodded.

  “Me either.”

  It took him a second to get what they meant, the whole thing with him hitting Tovey on the back. Right. He was about to tell them that there was no debt between friends, which was just true, but didn't get a chance.

  A stirring came from up front, near the raised platform the King and Queen were on. No more than a sudden silence and shifting of weight, but the whole room suddenly turned to look. It was kind of amazing really. A field of effect? That felt right, but whatever had gotten their attention was already finished now. Kind of a shame. It would have been interesting to examine how it worked.

  Mind magics like that were considered delicate and complex things, rare and valuable, but not overly useful in day to day life. Though a field that projected a sense of peace would have worked at some of the King's meetings Tor bet, wondering if the man had one yet. If not he should find a master builder to make him one.

  The loud man called out for Trice's parents, the Duke and Baroness. Tor wondered why the woman wasn't a Duchess, but figured there was some complicated and ultimately baffling reason he wouldn't understand. They both walked to the front, the crowd parting gently before them, slightly stiff looks on their faces.

  The King explained loudly for the whole room with a gentle smile.

  “A gift! Master Tor asked me personally to deliver these to you. Two sets of flying gear with full shields. May you use them with joy and prosperity.” Richard handed over the box his eyes alight.

  Everyone clapped as if it was a big deal. Then again, it was delivered from the hand of the King, which did kind of make it special. Tor figured that if he'd just given them each a bag of fertilizer from the stables people would have clapped too. The idea made him want to laugh, but he didn't feel like explaining just then. Especially to their daughter, lest she think he was insulting them instead of just laughing at the idea itself.

  Instead he shook his head and murmured just loud enough for Trice to hear.

  “Master Tor? Kind of him, but I have a long way to go before I earn that title, you know?”

  From behind them a few people someone, a woman, asked if the Baroness was sleeping with Tor or something, to get such a gift.

  At first Tor was afraid that people thought his gift was too poor to be given like this, which he agreed with. After all he'd just wanted it to be passed along, not publicly presented. Maybe slipped covertly somehow. But that thought changed suddenly when the same woman boldly proclaimed that, if it was, she'd gladly sleep with him for a chance at the same thing.

  A huge man standing next to her cleared his throat gently, “dearest, if that would work, I'd beg you to myself. In fact, I'd suggest it even if he isn't giving things away to everyone. Such an
alliance would be advantageous, don't you think?”

  The woman chuckled a little, still watching the Morgans, who seemed pleased enough at least.

  “I do think. We must make a point of having the man over for our next party.”

  Trice eyed him and smiled.

  “Good! Now all we have to do is tell them that you gave it to them because you love me and then convince the King to give you a title, and you can marry me instead of…” Her voice died, realizing that people could hear her, and worse, were listening.

  Tor didn't ask what it was about, but knew that it had to be big for her voice to have been that serious about something so obviously absurd. Not that he wouldn't love to marry her, or someone like her, all he had to do was rise about sixty social levels and he'd possibly be within those three steps of her that everyone kept telling him about. Maybe. Probably not. He thought about it and tried to work it out for real. Sixteen social levels not sixty, if he was generous and started as a scholarship kid from the Lairdgren school instead of his birth status of village bakers' kid. Could it be done? A few times in history a great warrior or very wise man had climbed the ranks, becoming a councilor to the King or general in the military… he thought.

  Well, he wasn't a great warrior, that was for certain. Was he wise? Heh. Maybe in seventy years, if he worked at it hard enough, about the time he earned being called “Master Tor”. That wouldn't do him any good with Trice though, would it? Best to get his mind back in the real game and focus he decided. He tried to take the evening meditatively, as he'd learned in class at school, from Instructor Doris, accepting, noticing and not responding overly.

  “Well…” He said, his voice soft and a little dreamy sounding he knew, from the meditative state. “I'll see what I can do in that regard.”

  He meant it as a joke, of course, but she smiled at him a little sadly, and sighed. At least she didn't seem upset with what he'd just said. It wouldn't do to compound any sadness she had if he could help it.

  At dinner itself he was seated away from the Queen and King a good ways, but closer to them than most people, which surprised him. He figured they'd put him off in the kitchen or at least at the other end of the table, if they were going by rank. After all, some of the servers probably outranked him socially here. They were palace servants after all and he was just a student. Actually, that would mean everyone in the room outranked him. It was sobering, but made him both grin to himself and feel a bit like an impostor. No one around him was familiar, but he was seated directly beside a young girl with deep reddish brown hair and a smooth cream like complexion who looked familiar. The same one from the room the other day? She was a little too young for him, maybe, but not so young that he couldn't think she was pretty. Fourteen or so. Back in the village he could have dated, even married her, in a year or two, his own seventeen not being considered too old for her yet. Not all gross or anything at least. Fourteen was legal after all, if she was really that old.

  Here… well, he didn't know the rules regarding ages here, but suspected it wasn't all that strict. Not if Maria had gone off to marry a thirty odd year old Count when she couldn't have been any older than the young woman next to him. The girl smiled, her eyes looking very familiar, but then a lot of the royals did. They were all related in some fashion or another after all.

  “I don't think we've met formally yet. I'm Veronica.” She didn't offer her hand, but kept smiling and leaned towards him slightly, so that he knew she was speaking directly to him.

  “Nice to meet you. I'm Torrence. Um, everyone calls me Tor though. My friends at least.”

  She giggled and nodded.

  “I know who you are, of course. I saw you in your room the other day? You're the one that's making this summer bearable, thanks to the cooling devices you gave me. Karina told me she nearly kept them all, but found that she didn't need to, they work so well. She likes you, you know. My sister I mean.” The girl looked around to check and see where the other Princess was, up the table a few places. “Don't buy it though, she just wants stuff from you. More toys. She'll play with you that way if you let her. You're better off just giving her the things she wants and finding some nice girl to hang around with. At least find one that will actually sleep with you. Karina's a giant tease. Plus, even if you got her into bed, she'd probably only do it to get you to do what she wanted. Definitely not worth the hassle.”

  The girl smiled and looked around at the people around them, keeping a polite and gentle look on her face the whole time.

  Then they spoke of much more normal things, where she went to school, the palace of all places, since they had fine tutors brought in for it. Then what kind of things she liked to do. It turned out that she was interested in learning to fly, but so far hadn't gotten a flying rig. It wasn't forbidden her like it was the King, but the military was taking them all up so fast that they were almost impossible to get.

  “That's why everyone's so envious of the gift you gave the Morgans tonight. Say, you don't have any more of those lying around your room that you might be willing to part with do you?” Her voice got excited.

  “Um, not right now… I can probably work up a new batch. Actually I need to soon, but I won't be able to on vacation, I don't think, I have so many other things to do first. Want me to earmark one for you? The controls will be for the left hand, which I think will help the military. That way most of them can use their dominant hand for aiming weapons. Plus I need to fix the turning on them, so that it's easier to control, which will make them simpler to use I think.” He held out his left hand and mimicked aiming a weapon with the right to demonstrate, getting some oddly interested glances from the people around him, instead of the baffled glares he expected. Well, they could all hear him anyway, so it probably made sense.

  The youngest Princess smiled at him and nodded, telling him that she'd pay well for it if he'd get her one. He shook his head.

  “I just meant as a present. There's no debt between friends after all. Besides, you have to wait, at least a bit. I do have some shields though. I'll send one for you and another for your sister, they're handy to have, even if you can't fly yet.” The girl smiled broadly and brushed his right arm gently with her left. A friendly gesture he thought. Nothing that would make Rolph have to pound him at least. He hoped.

  Over the course of the next hour her chair kept moving closer to his as she whispered things to him, mainly court gossip.

  “Baroness Michelson and Count Ward have been having a thing for a while, since he got… well, you know about that. People aren't supposed to notice who's with who overly, but he doesn't know the meaning of discrete. The lout even had the nerve to ask me to bed. After the thing with Ursala. I mean, before sure, why not, but after? He must be nearing forty don't you think? You'd think he'd know better. Talk about improper. Not the age thing, that could be forgiven in interest of having a good time, he is dreamy, but all of it put together. I got mom to talk to him and let him down easy. But… well. Not something I like to dwell on.” The girl grinned at him and hid it behind her hand.

  Tor realized that the girl was a little confused about some things, like her sister trying to use him. She wouldn't use, she'd just demand. For that matter the junior Princess could just do the same. That she asked instead meant a lot to him personally. Hopefully she'd continue in that vein over time. No one liked to feel like they didn't have a choice at all, even when they didn't.

  The dinner itself was excellent, if having too many courses for comfort. After the first one Tor had to copy the petite girl next to him, and eat only a little of each serving, since cleaning his plate would lead to discomfort, if not his getting sick at table. That would be worse even than his seeming wasteful. With each course, he noticed that Varley made point to engage a different person in discussion. He started trying to copy her, figuring that the girl knew a lot more about how to do this kind of thing than he did.

  What he found out was fascinating.

  About half the people seemed to a
ctually want to talk to him, normally about problems in their district, county or once, from a fairly attractive, but much older, woman about six people to the right, but across the table, her own household. Her problem turned out to be easy enough to solve, once he thought about it for a few seconds. She had mildew inside her home, because of moisture. All she needed was a device to drive out moisture during the damp months. That could be done. It was just a matter of moving water around after all.

  He'd done that a few times now.

  Tor repeated what he'd told Varley, that he couldn't do the work just then, but would gladly send something to her if she'd write him a note reminding him about it and where the device had to get to. She looked surprised.

  “Oh! I… I mean that's wonderful of course, but surely you're too busy for my petty concerns. I'll muddle by like always…”

  He waved that away and asked her to send the note again. It was a largish field, but it wouldn't take that long to develop. Tor just needed the time. He always needed more time. Better than being bored at least, right?

  It was the rest of the conversations that made him feel uncomfortable.

  Two of the women openly flirted with him, right at the table, so blatantly he figured it was them just making fun of him for some reason. Especially since one of them could have been his grandmother, which given how young all the royals looked compared to real people meant she must be nearing a hundred years old. The other looked to be about thirty and really, if she hadn't been sitting right next to her husband, he might have been interested, at least in theory.

  Tor didn't really want to sleep with a married woman, at least not if she wasn't married to him. It was just his Two Bends upbringing, but it still bugged him. No doubt he should work on that part of things? He just couldn't bring himself to flirt back and so found himself at a loss as to what to do. He'd been warned not to be rude, even if they were just playing with him, he kind of even got that he should play back, but it was too hard. Tor floundered for a few seconds, feeling more awkward than he could remember being in the last year.