Out of the Woods (The Coalescence Book 1) Read online

  That was more than Willum would have figured on when the number of fingers was raised. Clemance called that in after liberating Diana from their too-pretty uncle’s grasp. It was hard not to glare at the man, even if it was the way of the place they were in.

  Then, it was also the supposed way of Harmony not to attack people at random. At least as far as Will had ever heard. True, that had only been from Clem, mere minutes before, but no one had suggested he was incorrect on the idea.

  Dumas sounded fine with the increased party numbers when Clemance called that bit in. Relaxed in fact, as if the idea was the one that he’d been working with the whole time. He even said as much, just as Will considered the concept.

  “I figured that we’d end up with some forty or fifty people, even at this short notice. Things have been picking up with the new transport system for the last four months now. Inviting the Heir assured that almost everyone invited would attend, after all.”

  Clem made a face, shook his head slowly and then sighed.

  “So, I’ve been playing into your hands the whole time? Naturally. Grr.” The growl was fake, playful and nearly pleasant for that kind of thing.

  The boy on the handheld nodded a bit abstractly. It was hard to see that much detail as they were busily walking at the time. The red hut was right outside the door, which meant that Clemance stopped for a moment, talking instead of getting inside the thing to leave.

  The littler cousin smiled suddenly.

  “Well, on the good side, I’m doing this for our family, including Will and Diana. Are you going to stay with them to help with the outfits for the night? I can spare some time. The servants here don’t actually need me to set things up for them. Mother has a real knack for hiring the best.”

  The cousin with them nodded then.

  “I’ll stick with the people here. There was… A bit of an incident. Dareg and Tor sort of… Attacked them? Though I think they were really only going after cousin Willum. I don’t know why, though Timon had mentioned it involving Count Lairdgren and asked if Willum went by Bill or Will, first thing.”

  Those words got a hard face to appear.

  “I’ll need more than that. Was any apology offered?”

  Diana surprised them then, crossing her arms.

  “There was, but it wasn’t very good. Not considering they were armored when they went for him. They had magical weapons in their hands as well. I don’t know, I mean, everyone here is required to wear a shield, so… They might have killed him. Then they said there was a reason, but didn’t say what it was, yet. Are we in danger?” She was speaking directly to the ten-year-old. If Dumas was even that age yet.

  He was also more up to date than his backwoods relatives. So was Clemance, but it was the kid in the picture who shook his head.

  “Both are dangerous people, but if they were going to press an attack, they would have done it right then. It probably has something to do with the hidden war that’s going on. The attacks? Dareg told me that one of them had been a copy of Timon. There has probably been one that was Willum, given that? That’s only a guess, so I’m probably wrong. Not about the danger though. At least, not from the family. It should be safe to attend the meal.”

  That was the hope at least. Willum had gone his entire life only having been in one fight. That had been with Ken Linter, when they were both ten. Ken had decided on trying to bully him at lunch one day. Only once though, since the larger boy hadn’t fought very well. Not that Will had been brilliant at it either. Just stronger than had been expected.

  Other than that, he’d had no more than a few hard words with anyone. Ever. Until that day. Not only had two men come at him like he were about to die, but he’d lashed out at them in return. For a moment he felt very low, having done that portion of things. It was clear, now, that no one had really tried to hurt him. They’d run in and that had been shocking and scary. No one had harmed him or anyone else in the room. The men had stopped before that had taken place.

  Then Willum had responded in anger. Striking at them. In hindsight it didn’t make sense at all. He could feel the shields around them at the time. Even before that he’d seen the air distort, which meant he worked out what had to be going on. That hadn’t even slowed him down, however. Instead of calm discussion, he’d used the fool’s way.

  “They do seem to have some kind of issue with me, however. Perhaps I should excuse myself from the meal? I don’t want negative things to happen due to my being there.”

  Clemance shook his head rather firmly then.

  “No. You have to show up tonight. Even if you fear them now. Otherwise you might be labeled a coward. It’s one of the hardships of being a noble. Image, what others think of you, is highly important. Especially after going into a rage like that. Handling that like you both did makes you look good right now, but you need to demonstrate that you’re able to meet with others as soon as possible, without such a thing happening. It’s kind of a rule in cases like this.”

  That got him to shake his head at the boy, Dumas understanding more than was being spoken of.

  “I’ll come to Pine Creek in… Fifteen minutes? We need to plan, I think. This is a bit different than I expected. We can use it however, if we’re careful.” The device went dark suddenly, getting Clemance to hide it away in his pocket.

  “Just as well, I suppose. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have a younger brother that’s twice as intelligent as you are?”

  Willum shook his head.

  “Not really. I think you’d have to ask Carlisle about that one. Diana is only about ten percent smarter than I am, so it probably isn’t the same.”

  For once the girl didn’t even deny that part of things. It was about the truth, after all. She wisely didn't nod about it either, just moved to tap the star on the outside of the red box, making the front wall vanish so they could step inside. Will touched the far side to close it once they were safely in. Then, without asking he found Pine Creek, which was listed specifically as Pine Creek Bakery. Moments later they were stepping out onto the focus stone path next to the shop.

  Interestingly, Clemance led them inside, bowing to Teral who was behind the counter, cleaning things up.

  “I have news, if you would hear it, Countier Lairdgren?”

  There was a funny look, which seemed a bit annoyed, then a nod.

  “Why not? Have they wisely agreed to let me out of this mess already? If so, I have to say they’re being a bit less than perfectly efficient about it. Not telling me at all would have made for an easier day.”

  Countier Thomson stood up, his hands turning toward the ceiling.

  “Nothing that pleasant? There’s a meal at Thomson Residence in the Capital tonight. Your family is coming, along with Prince Alphonse and his wife. The Leader of Afrak as well, so you kind of have to show up. Willum has magical clothing for you all. Some other things too, from Patricia Baker.”

  Interestingly that got a strained expression from the man behind the counter.

  “I know that Tor was engaged to a Patricia at one time. He married Alyssa though… Is she… Still alive?” He seemed confused about it all.

  Clemance understood more it seemed.

  “Same woman, different husband. She married Timon. Rather famously, to be truthful about it. About twelve years back? Alyssa Baker is a wizard now. Also sort of famous for it. Hopefully she’ll be in at the dinner this evening. At nine, Capital time. So eight here. You’ll want to leave a bit early, being the person everyone is coming to make contact with.”

  That got a nod, as well as a slightly bemused face.

  “Magical clothing. I have some, of course. I haven’t used it in years though. You have some however, Willum? That’s rather expensive, as far as presents go. Needed perhaps, but we have to be careful not to get into debt with anyone, until we learn the lay of the land, politically. Gah… I really tried to stay out of all of this.” He waved at the shop, in explanation.

  Will understood him anyway.


  Clem might have, or not. It was sort of hard to tell.

  “Yes. There was also an attack of sorts. Tor and Dareg Canton rather rushed Willum for some reason. In armor, with battle ready weapons. They stopped, but there is a bit of confusion there. They both apologized, but as Diana mentioned a moment ago, it wasn’t a very good one, considering everything. I’m not certain there. It could be that the rules in Harmony are different that way. There have been attacks. I was at one of them, so it’s a real enough thing, but…”

  The words just got a slightly worried look, instead of outrage over the actions.

  “That makes almost no sense. I don’t know Dareg Canton of course, but Tor was always a mild and sweet person as a boy. Then, life has changed us all. I’ll ask them about it? Unless you think I shouldn’t for some reason?” That was spoken to the boy, who was probably the youngest person in the room.

  “I’ll be asking my own questions, I fear. It wasn’t lethal, but wars have been fought over smaller issues. I was responsible for taking them there. Aunt Patricia invited us, then others took action in her store. That… I imagine there is a fairly decent reason, or else we might see blood shed over it. The only thing there is that I don’t love our chances if that comes into being.”

  That got a head tilt from the slightly older fellow.

  “Oh? Why is that?”

  Swiping at his very light brown hair, the blue eyed Countier took a deep breath.

  “Honestly? Rumors. There have been attacks of late. About the last six months or a little more than that. Things that no one will tell me about. I saw one of them it was…” He stopped, then shook his head. “I’ve had fighting tutors since I could walk. Real ones, not people that lose to me on purpose to leave me feeling bold and powerful like many have. Father wouldn’t allow that. Thankfully. The thing is, I saw a battle between one of these foe, Tor and Dareg. It was… I think they nearly both died in it. I hid under a table the whole time, but could see it all. Even watching the moving pictures I captured of it, I can’t understand most of what was done there. I think that, if we must fight Dareg and Tor… Right now we’ll simply die in the attempt. Past that… most of the enemies that have been defeated have been by Dare directly. He’s normally a nice person, so…” That got a frustrated bit of shaking then from the kid.

  Taking a deep breath, Will tried to work it all out again.

  “I think that it was a simple mistake. We should talk it out, like adults. I… Rather shamed myself, lashing out at them, once the first danger had passed. To no avail, due to their shields, thankfully.”

  Before Teral could scold his child, Clemance nodded.

  “Combat rage. They handled it well. No one was harmed. That part won’t be an issue.”

  Instead of asking for more information about his misbehaving child, the man glanced at Diana. Then he made a face.

  “They?”

  There was a nod from their cousin, then nothing more was said about it. Even after Willum had admitted to losing his composure so shamefully.

  “Maggie is going to be… Excited, I hope?”

  Willum understood what his da was saying there. She was a commoner by nature. Shy and retiring, even for the tiny village they lived in. He’d never noticed it before, but that day had shown him to be far less like that than most around him. Diana was much like he was in that regard. Even if they looked like they were from Pine Creek otherwise.

  “That might be hard for her. We have shields? I… Are we allowed them here?” He nearly took his own off then, since it was possibly illegal, but Clemance just nodded at that bit.

  “Yes. Anywhere in Noram. Most places actually. You’re real nobles. Even if finding that out like you did today must be stressful for you all. We probably shouldn’t have scheduled the meeting for tonight, given that. I think we get to blame Dumas for that one however. He’s a great brother and means well, but… Sometimes he lets his plans lead him into places that might best be avoided. I know, you can scold him for that when he gets here? He mentioned coming in a few minutes. To plan with us?”

  They took a few moments to get Maggie and Carlisle into the room, then Clemance sent everyone away to get cleaned up for the evening. He wasn’t blunt about it, but it was clear they were to bathe before meeting the fine people that night. The others just went, since there was the outdoor shower that could be used, as well as the inside one that the ladies were planning to grab up. As was proper, given the time frame.

  As soon as they all left, holding clothing amulets, Clemance made a face at him.

  “Dumas isn’t wrong, but I think this is going to be about us. You and I, against Tor and Dareg, if it comes to it. Possibly Timon and Patricia coming in on our side. The best plan is to settle things calmly. I know that might feel weak, but truly, we can’t beat them in a fight. It would be worse if they bring in military forces, so we should keep things small if possible. Dareg is basically the secret king of Mars. Don’t mention that, but it’s true.”

  That wasn’t anything that had come up in school. It kind of made sense. After all, if Princess Karina was the Ancient of that planet and Dareg was going to be marrying her soon he’d get something from that, no doubt.

  Clemance shook his head a bit, thinking to himself. Muttering about it as well.

  “He basically built their first several cities. It’s like Harmony, only nicer. All underground right now. They don’t really have a military, except for Eva and Samantha… Only…”

  Will waited, just looking at the Countier, not commenting. He wouldn’t have mentioned two ladies’ names in particular as a joke. Not with the expression his face wore at the moment. So that probably meant they were different than anything he could think to speak on.

  “That… You’ll probably meet them tonight. They’re both beings made of magic. I mean, they both look like women, but there are hundreds of each and they functionally can’t be killed, not being alive to start with. Dareg made them, so… Well, that’s the thing there? They might not back him, if he’s doing the wrong thing. We should consider making friends with them, just in case. It’s confusing, but there are really only two of them, even if there are hundreds…Does that make any sense?”

  Willum nodded. Not meaning it at all.

  “Not in the slightest. That… I’m not really suited for this, am I? I won’t even know which fork to use at the meal. That kind of thing…”

  It wasn’t that large of a deal for him, but Maggie would be very embarrassed if she did the wrong thing that way. It hadn’t even occurred to him until that moment. Thankfully Clemance went over the basics for him.

  He smiled when the boy finished speaking.

  “Oh? Most of that is what we do here already. Not the many courses, or being served parts. But not spitting at the table or talking with your mouth full? We’ll all have that at least.”

  His cousin nodded at him then, as the door to the bake shop opened. It was just Dumas arriving however.

  Clemance didn’t mention the topic, going silent. That would make his little brother suspect they were plotting however, he didn't doubt. He would have thought that in the same case and almost no one ever did that kind of thing in Pine Creek.

  So he waved a bit.

  “We were just covering manners at the meal? We should go over all of that, if we can, before we leave?”

  Dumas seemed to pick up what he was going for quickly enough.

  “I’ve arranged the meal to be family fashion. With servants. So the dishes will be brought for each course, along with the cutlery. There will be no standing and tasting or anything either. We have poison amulets for that now, so tradition be damned. I figure I can arrange this kind of thing twice before mother calls me on the carpet for it. What do you think, Clemance?”

  The other boy laughed a bit, even if the joke was a bit hard to see at the moment.

  “That sounds nearly perfect to make our family here feel at ease. I doubt anyone will even mention it. If they do, we just point out tha
t you’re only nine and let them twist over blaming father and mother for it?”

  Willum filed all of that away. Especially the age. The boy was big for that. Clemance was even larger that way. The younger boy surprised him then, looking toward the back of the house, listening. There was running water, but he was looking for people.

  “I don’t think we’ll be fighting tonight. I called Uncle Tor directly to berate him for his poor manners. He nearly cried over it. Then I checked with Timon Baker, to make certain I was judging things correctly. It sounds like I wasn’t the only one to have contacted the man on it. We’re promised a full explanation after the meal tonight. I told them both I expected to be there for it. I don’t know that Uncle Tim took me seriously, however.”

  The boy looked ready to fight over it, or at least take someone to task, if left out. Willum nodded, recalling that kind of thing from his own youth. Being left out made it harder to understand what was going on.

  “I agree. You have as much at stake here as anyone. It’s your party, after all. Now, I need to go and shower. I take it that the amulets will make the correct clothing for us all?” Because if they needed skill to use, he was going to be at a loss.

  Dumas smiled up at him then.

  “They’ll do the trick. The look is formal, since the prince will be there. House colors, of course. You’re Lairdgren, so that isn’t too bad, being forest green. That, or black is always acceptable at this level of things. I need to bathe myself before the event. I should get back for that.”

  Clemance simply shrugged.

  “I should as well, but we can do that later. I’ll see that you all have the correct outfits on to fit in. The hard part will be the ladies here. Would…” He made a face, then shook his head. “Do you think it would be all right if I have someone come in to help with that portion of things? I understand that making contact with a woman here might be… Difficult? We can have an expert in, I bet. At least if I beg hard enough.” He seemed to be at a loss as to who to get for that. Clemance sent Dumas off without saying anything, then patted Will on the shoulder.