The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon) Page 31

  He shook his head.

  "Not an issue for now. I need to introduce Mark to Denno and then Lyn. Do you need anything from home? We can get you almost anything. Possibly anyone, if you know where they are and they want to come. It would be harder to get someone if they didn't want to..." That part was true enough. She didn't have anyone specific in mind it seemed, since she just shrugged.

  "We could use some better food. I've been eating at the Royal Table most nights, because it's so hard to find anything decent here. Cooking it is a problem. I wish I could go home. Do you know if anything is moving that way?" She didn't mention why, which was wise, since Mark didn't know about all that yet.

  "No. Not that I've been told. That doesn't mean much. I can't imagine I'm on the top of the list of people that need to know about it. I'll pin some people down and ask when I can." After that there wouldn't be a lot he could do yet. That needed to change. Being here with the woman that Rodriguez had tortured so horribly, humiliated and beaten, it sharpened his plans suddenly, even though it didn't make sense.

  Really, why should he bother? It wasn't his fight. Was it?

  Except that, when you got down to it, it was. If he didn't try to stop bad people, then who would? Most of the world would protect themselves and those they loved, but that wasn't enough. Someone had to try and do the rest. That would mean making some gold and working out how to do even more than that in other lands. Build trade of some kind. As it was he'd gone down to a few coin on hand. That would need to change.

  For an instant it seemed like too much for him, a child after all wasn't exactly the person he'd have picked for... almost anything. That could be a strength. No one else would think he was much of a threat either.

  "Anyway. Let's see about things?"

  Denno didn't actually have a lot for him, other than another message for him to deliver to Gray. That got handed to Mark.

  "New delivery system for our overseas branch. He has to hand off things inside Noram to me or Morgan right now, but feel free to send him anywhere else. Just make sure you have maps for him to follow. I don't think I'm going to be welcome back in Afrak. Mark will be by about once per week or so, say a few times per month. I have to get to work back home a bit. Can you see to his clearances and such?" He smiled at Mark and explained that he'd need papers and things like that on file, so no one would arrest him for being a spy. Denno laughed as if that were a joke, but didn't say it wasn't true.

  They left within the hour for Afrak, which was tense and edgy enough that Mark finally offered to take the second craft in alone. Timon felt cowardly, but let him do it. He sat in the water off the coast, waiting for the man to be harangued and pushed to the limit of his good will, perhaps quitting after he came back, or at least refusing to ever go back to the strange land of dark women and his pale and evil grandmother.

  Instead, after he moved alongside the craft, which hovered over the water by a few feet, he handed a letter over with a smile.

  "The lady there seemed nice enough. Blue hair and strange eyes? She'd be a hit in Austra wouldn't she? I couldn't understand a word she said, but she gave me this, which is addressed to you."

  The folded single piece of paper did indeed say Timon on the outside of it. Inside it said something that was so different than what he expected he had to read it a half dozen times.

  "Look at Count Wend. I wonder what that means?" He said it out loud, and Mark just tilted his head finally holding out his hand to see the single short line for himself.

  "Probably that the Afrak spies have found out something about the man that relates to a project you have. Intrigue no doubt. If you can trust them, it's probably worth looking into."

  Then the fellow blushed and stopped talking.

  They flew to Vagus in separate crafts so that the other pilot could get the experience without worrying about killing anyone but himself. On the ground they managed to trade for the ten healing stones he wanted even though Dorgal and Lyn weren't around. At least he drew the picture of the sigil used and ten stones, which got them brought to him instantly, by an older man who was smiling the whole time, a nice set of clean white teeth in place, which given his great age had to be new. Things grown by the same kind of item. The trouble came when he tried to explain that he didn't have the goods to trade at that time. Drawing in the dirt with a stick couldn't exactly convey that easily. He was able to speak a few words and understand more, it just didn't cover trade agreements.

  It was definitely clear that they expected him to take them and even that he wasn't bringing them back. That part didn't seem to distress anyone. Turning to Mark he shrugged.

  "A ton of cured meat for each one of these. I'll see about getting that to your parents. We're going to have to stop in the Capital so that I can give you some amulets. You need a shield too. I don't have one right now..." Sighing he nodded, making a decision that he could only hope he had the ability to back up. "I'll have to make you one. It will take a day. Are you willing to stay with me for that long? I have two houses, so you can use the other one. Eventually it will be the office space, but for now it's free."

  "Well, it wasn't like I had a lot of other things planned, so why not?" The words were so dry that Timon was nearly taken aback by the smile that came at the end of them.

  That part, turning out shields, was decently hard for him, but Tor could make a hundred per hour he'd heard. That meant he could too, if he focused hard enough. A lot of the Lairdgren group was already closer to that than not too. He wasn't going to be that ambitious, but a group of ten was a place to try and start. He collected the materials and a large glass of water and made the copy from memory, without a template. That would have made it a lot easier, but he didn't have one at all. He struggled, but managed it. All ten in only six hours of work. That didn't sound great, compared to the others maybe... Tim got that, still it was a hundred percent better in number and had only taken about seventy percent of the time his previous best similar effort had.

  That meant he even got to sleep away part of the morning. Not a lot of it, since he handed off both a house and a new shield to Mark and sent him on his way.

  "Go set up your house. If you don't hear from me I want you to go and get with Denno Brown in a week and hit the other places as well. Don't be shy about trying to seek out the other lands too. You'll need a map. If I'm not around, get a list from Carlos at the Royal Table and come here for coin." Not that he had any just sitting around yet.

  Timon needed a map too. Badly it seemed. Especially if they were going to be headed to Tellerand and the Antarctic. Really he needed to go with the man, but it just seemed like he wouldn't have time for it.

  Not with everything else he had to do. There just wasn't a choice.

  When Mark left for his parents estate and work center, Timon stopped in to see if anyone was at Tor's. It was early, which meant that the only people in the place that were awake turned out to be Collette and Glaren, both of who sat at the small dining room table, sipping coffee from focus stone cups, but poured it from an expensive silver pot. They had cream and sugar too, from the look of it. The younger blonde woman was dressed in her pink workman's clothing and Glaren was in a fine cream colored robe. When they turned around, hearing him on the stone floor it seemed, Collette waved and smiled.

  Glaren closed her robe front nervously, even though what she wore underneath didn't seem inappropriate particularly. Fully clothed and not in something that should be a problem, even in front of a young boy. It wasn't the lack of clothing then, but the lack of proper clothing. Like he cared? She didn't work for him after all, he was just invading their home. Without knocking. Kind of rude, really.

  "Hello. Just checking in. Anything new here?"

  He was tempted to pour himself a cup of coffee, but Collette got him one without asking and handed it over, black. He took several large sips, his eyes closing. It was strange but it made him feel more awake already, even if that wasn't physically possible. A mental thing then?

&nb
sp; "Thank you. I look that tired?" He grinned at the woman, who tilted her head fractionally and wiggled her right hand in the air.

  "I've seen worse. Things are decently quiet here. We sent most of the staff on a holiday for a few days. Paid. Nothing that major, just a tour of the Wildlands, since the planting efforts there have been doing well. I'm going to go and see for myself soon. What are you up to?"

  He drank more of the brew and then sighed.

  "Off to Breen, if that situation is still going on. I got some healing devices from Vagus for them. After that... I have no clue."

  Collette nodded at the name and then poured him more coffee, again without asking.

  "Oh, some things came for you. The delivery people couldn't find you, so we've been keeping the chests for you here. Is that alright? It made sense, being family, and we have a locked room. Here, come with me..." It was on the first floor at the back, but a few minutes later, working together, they were able to pull out three chests. Each was different and they were all different sizes as well. The closest to him had a letter on top, written in scratched letters with some kind of wax on paper.

  "From Dan Breen, Count Breen, in county Breen. Twenty thousand gold. It's two of the chests." Collette gestured at them absently, like she dealt with that kind of money regularly. "The other is the smaller one, from Duchess Keene."

  That one had a letter inside the box and was far more eloquent. He read it out loud, so that it wouldn't be rude, keeping it all to himself.

  "It says, Here is the payment for your assistance. I did what you said and figured it at half the normal rate. I added an extra two hundred gold for the use of your man Morgan. He's proven invaluable to our efforts here. If you have time, please visit us soon, yours truly, Duchess Keene." He stopped and stared at the paper, wondering if it was some kind of coded message. It didn't seem like it, but why would she need, or even want, to see him for, since she had Morgan already?

  Still, he should make a point of checking on his pilot if only to make certain he wasn't being abused.

  "I should have sent some of this back with Mark. I owe two hundred to his parents. Well, I'll just take that over directly. I don't suppose I can keep some of this here for a bit? I don't have a good place for it yet." It was a lot to ask, but it was a lot less likely to be taken from here, with people around, than it would be from his own place. He was gone most of the time and that didn't seem to be changing anything soon.

  "Oh, sure. That isn't a problem. I'll even sell you some payment bags." She smiled as if it was a joke, but he really did need some and it was easier to get them from her. She chuckled when he got her the five pennies she demanded for a large black velvet bag and re-counted for him as he put two hundred and five gold in the sack.

  Collette coached him to do it.

  "The rule for anything over ten gold is to slightly overpay. That way no one can claim mistake or fraud. Not without just lying at least. That doesn't happen very often, but knowing for a fact that you gave extra also tends to assure everyone that dealing with you is a safe bet. It shows you aren't worried about every penny. Even if you are."

  Perception was important after all. He got the idea.

  Then he made himself get up, feeling sluggish still, and get to work. He headed to the Morgans first, since he owed the debt there and found the Duke standing outside, beaming as he looked at a new little cottage that looked exactly like his own. Timon strained a bit with the gold, since it weighed about thirteen pounds.

  "Duke Morgan? Here you go. Two hundred gold, for the work done aiding Count Breen with his food wagons. I don't know if there will be more effort needed there, but if there is, can we make a similar deal?"

  The man looked seriously puzzled and then slapped him on the back, as if he'd totally missed the fact that a decently large craft was sitting not five feet behind him.

  "Countier Baker! I didn't think to see you yet at all. Promptly paying your debts? In full too? That's a wonder. A pleasant one. Mark put the house you lent him up. He's in the library, looking at old maps of the world. I want to thank you for that. We've been very worried about him for some time. It isn't a good thing, what we've been doing, keeping him locked up here, like a prisoner." There was no justification of it at all, just the raw statement.

  Timon nodded, "it's a difficult thing all around. Oh, hey, while I have you, do you know anything about a Count Wend? His name came up the other day and I have to admit, I know nothing of him at all."

  Duke Morgan nodded at that, as if agreeing whole heartedly.

  "No one really does, do they? Secretive one Wend. Rumor has it he's mentally defective. Constant combat rage episodes I hear. No one knows for certain, he might just be shy or have some other flaw that keeps him out of the way. He never shows up for the Council of Counts, even though it's required. Sends a man to sit his position and vote for him. Richard never mentioned why he allows it. I also haven't asked. Probably just a kindness."

  The man started examining the cottage closely shaking his head.

  "The world is changing Timon. Why, when I was a boy if you wanted a new house you had to build one. Now you can just tap a piece of metal and call one into being. It makes me feel old."

  Timon looked at the man and then smiled a little actually understanding him after a fashion.

  "I remember that from when I was a boy too. Since it was only a few years ago, I don't think you have to feel too elderly yet. Anyway, I have an appointment in a war zone. Delivery. Saying it that way makes it sound like I'm planning to go fight or something. Thank you for your services. Say, do you and the Duchess need a ride over to the palace soon?"

  The man nodded slowly his face shrewd.

  "We could use one actually, tomorrow night? We were planning to fly ourselves, but the weather hasn't been that good lately. It's the time of year and nothing to be done about it. How much does that cost?" He asked it as if his son wasn't working for Timon now.

  "Free for you. Within reason. Of course that's just for family members and for the most part you have to be willing to wait until someone is actually headed the direction you want to go. Mark is handling the overseas traffic and deliveries, so I imagine you'll be able to vacation almost anywhere in the world you want. I'll do the in Kingdom things. Or Morgan, though he's busy right now. Working for Duchess Keene directly this week."

  After the initial shock the man asked if they could be picked up the next morning. As a special favor, since they were requested by the King directly. That way they could work an extra day that week.

  As he flew toward Breen he noticed how hungry he was. It was a sharp pain, but he kept going, since it wouldn't take long. Sure, he wouldn't eat up the food for the fighters, but even if it took a few hours to find something he'd live.

  When he landed behind the line of dug in people, a berm set up for protection, he made a point of taking his craft down and putting the necklace on, instead of tempting someone to steal it too easily. It would be hard to do anything like that through his shield. At least he figured it would trigger, since that would be considered a threat by his subconscious mind. Maybe not though, so it was tucked inside his shirt carefully. One scare was enough to teach him a good lesson that way.

  He had a sack with the ten carved stones in it and was noticed coming in. The Count didn't run out to see him personally, sending a young woman in a leather fighting outfit that looked decently new. She was about seventeen and a little plump for a warrior, though that would likely change if she was in the field long. Her hands looked soft too, but there were some blisters on the right one, showing that she was making up for lost time now.

  "This way sir. They're all in the command tent." She was trying very hard to seem official. It was a little too much really, so he smiled, but only a bit, not trying to mock her or anything. She was doing her job, and trying to do it well wasn't a thing to make fun of.

  "Thank you." He didn't really need to go in for anything at the moment, just hand the man his bag of things. Wh
en he got in the cream colored tent there was bowing, not only from the Count, but the others arrayed around the giant work table that had been set up. There were chairs too and about half the people sat.

  "Countier Timon Baker. Very useful man to have around." This was said to the room as a whole, even as Dan looked at him tiredly. "Do you have news?"

  He shook his head and pulled the small carved stone from the bag.

  "Better, healing devices from Vagus. They're based on Tor's work and pretty well done. Harder to copy than shields are even." He didn't go into the deal they had, because it would be rude, he thought, instead he handed the single stone to the man who frowned, then activated it. He twitched and yelped with a smile as he slapped at his leg with the hand that didn't have a rock in it. After a few minutes he hit the top of it again to turn it off and nodded.

  "A ton of cured and preserved meat per, wasn't it?"

  From across the table Tovey, who was standing next to Countess Alan, gave him a very quizzical look. Shrugging he explained to everyone what the situation was, since they were all potential clients. Well, possibly not the military men, but even they might be at some point.

  It never hurt to make a good impression.

  "Vagus doesn't use gold, so we agreed to trade goods for goods. The mages there are very practical and austere in how they live." Well, he didn't know that, but they certainly weren't greedy. They hadn't even asked for payment. "They know meat, hides and fur, as well as wood working. They can't, by treaty, have metal. Fish would probably work as well. Things that they can use. Maybe ceramics or things made of focus stone. I'll have to ask about that."

  For some reason, rather than laugh at him, two of the people started talking at once. The first was Duchess Keene, the other Count Richland. The Duchess asked if he could arrange for more shields for the same price that Breen had gotten, while the man asked if Vagus would be interested in focus stone wagon parts.

  They both chuckled, and he shrugged, answering both quickly.