Pain Stones (Coalescence Book 2) Read online

  He nodded, trying to paste a smile on his face that would seem realistic. The man wasn’t going to be fooled, but that wasn’t the real point. No, his goal was to show that he had enough will power left to fake things like that. Timon wasn’t going to miss the idea.

  “I’ll be there, unless something happens. I kind of hope it does, but I doubt I’ll get that lucky. So, until then?”

  They actually chatted for a bit past that, the other man clearly trying to prop him up. Being kind and gentle in a way that became annoying before they got to the point that getting off of the handheld was allowable under the rules.

  Then he just sat for a few moments, feeling like running away was a good plan. The thing there was that it probably was.

  Everyone with any kind of deep magical background, or a scientific one, had come to the conclusion that the enemy wasn’t actually going to be able to destroy all reality. If they could, then it was kind of clear that they wouldn’t exist to do it in the first place. They were, in short, all pretty safe from that kind of thing. The problem wasn’t the fear of that. It was the cost in lives and suffering that could be, and was being, brought about first, as the enemy tried, and failed, to end it all.

  So, if he, the good people’s special spy, just sort of vanished one day, moving to a different reality, nothing that bad would really happen because of it. Except all the innocent lives that were destroyed by the evil people. A real part of his job was going to be about protecting that sort.

  Which was worth doing, even if he felt a bit down at the moment. Battle always did that to him, he knew. Even when his side won, he kind of felt that way. Like nothing was worth the things that he’d just had to do. The people that he’d murdered that night and on other occasions were… Well, people. Just like everyone else. Some of them probably weren’t even all that bad. The traitors the night before had killed the officers, but only a few of them had probably done the actual deed. It was bad, so was any killing like that.

  “Okay, Willum. Get it the heck together. Who’s next?”

  That was probably going to have to be King Richard. If the man bothered to take his call that day. Really, there was no need for the man to do anything of the sort. He had a message boy for a reason after all. It was also pretty early in the day. Normal people slept as a rule. He vaguely recalled that kind of thing himself.

  Still, he tapped the correct sigil, the blue name saying The Capital, instead of King Richard. Willum settled in and waited after that. It actually took a while before anyone picked the device up at all. It wasn’t the tow-headed communications boy however. In fact, it wasn’t anyone that he recognized at all. A woman, who was very pretty.

  Actually, she looked very much like Aunt Taman, except that she was just a bit darker in skin tone, as well as having slightly red hair. Her eyes were a lovely corn flower blue, as well, instead of brown. Taman had plain brown that way, but there were some similar traits otherwise.

  “Hello? This is the palace; how may I help you today?” She sounded friendly enough. Cautious, but polite.

  That was probably the best way to be, if you had to deal with nobles on a regular basis. People that could take offense at anything, including issues that weren’t real at all, like their mistaking indigestion for disdain, could be dangerous.

  “Hello! This is Willum Baker. It was suggested to me that the King might want me around for the restarting of the river that runs the wall? I built that for the people there. It should already be in place, really, if he has other plans, or doesn’t need me. I can go over how to start that, if he wishes? It isn’t difficult to use or anything.”

  The woman, who looked to be about ten years older than he was, grinned at him. It was slightly shrewd seeming, though that could just be him being mean about things that weren’t real himself. His mood was far from perfect after all.

  “Ah-ha! Yes, I do believe he mentioned you at dinner last night. We’re rather holding a festival here for the event of reactivation. Everyone misses having the river up. We can set up a room for you here? Or… Perhaps you’d be more comfortable staying at Tor’s palace?”

  The woman still hadn’t mentioned who she was. The look was similar to the Queen, especially now that she’d been made immortal, by Tim Baker. Clearly the woman was in the same state, having had work done that way. Except that it was clear to him that Timon hadn’t done the work. Not unless he’d worked himself around to not making her unrealistically good looking. She was fine, of course. Easily one of the top twenty women he’d ever seen as far as looks went. In any world and he’d been to a few hundred of them. She just wasn’t like an Alede or Queen Tiera.

  Then, neither was Trice Baker, Timon’s wife. So it was very possible that Timon could do that kind of work, if anyone asked him to try it.

  Nodding, he smiled.

  “Well, Princess Veronica, I can’t say that it would be comfortable staying with Tor in particular. There was a small disruption early in our relationship. I could camp out? Maybe borrow a pod house? I don’t really need much that way. Honestly, I don’t even need a room. Just access to a restroom and a shower occasionally. I don’t sleep, so…”

  Instead of insisting he be uncomfortable, the woman clapped a few times, happily.

  “That could work! There’s some nice land plots on the river side of the groves… You could stay out there and not even have to pay a few silvers a year in land rent. It’s cheaper if you get far enough away. That would give you a permanent location here, if you did it right. Regardless, you should be here for dinner tonight. Get here at about… Oh, eight? The meal will be at nine. If you have something set up, as for living arrangements, you can be out of here by one or two in the morning, I bet.”

  “Good idea. Thanks. I’ll see what I can get going that way. How do I get in there tonight? Also… Do I need to bring a date with me? I don’t… Really know who to bring for that, if so.”

  The Princess looked away for a bit, then smiled.

  “Can you bring in Ambassador Mableton? You know her, don’t you? That was in the reports.” She froze then, as if mentioning that kind of thing was a poor idea.

  Even he could get that there would be something like that, however. She was one of the most important people in the Kingdom of Noram. Just by the placement of her birth, Princess Veronica was going to be fed certain data and information.

  “I can try? Do I just get in contact with you if I manage that? I have to go to her world and ask, so that might not happen. I don’t know what’s going on there at the moment. I haven’t been there for two months, my time frame. Um… That’s about a week there. They live very busy lives though, so there really can be issues that way.”

  “Understood. Yes. Get with me directly on that? If it can’t happen, then… Well, I can find you someone here. It isn’t like there’s a shortage of young ladies that need a husband…”

  That was blatant teasing on her part.

  So he laughed. It was better to be fun and have a sense of humor than dour and angry seeming all the time. At least with people that you needed to have as a friend later in life.

  “So I hear! I should get on that right now, if that’s all right? Not that I don’t love the fifteen minutes of saying goodbye in flowery words. We could just say, until later? I’ll be back in touch as soon as possible. Do you have another code to contact you on? Or I should use this line?”

  “I’m in the Terry-System under the name Varley Peterson. Use that?”

  “Got it, Princess. It will be hours, even if things go well. One hour there is eight here, so be ready for that. I’ll get to that directly. Um… Nice meeting you?”

  “You as well, Mr. Baker. I look forward to our next contact.” Then, blessedly, the line went dead.

  It wasn’t impossible to call the IPB head office. Little Sara had a magical device that would allow that to happen. The time delays on it were monstrous and annoying though, so he decided to just go. That meant heading out at a quick walk.

  Heading to
the node box, which was about two hundred feet away from the palace, off to the left. It meant going outside, but the magical box was clean looking and seemed new. It wasn’t really. Magic failed, eventually, but it always stayed pristine and perfect looking, until it did. Inside the red box, he simply closed the door, and instead of putting the destination in by tapping a sigil, like a normal person, he closed his eyes and moved into the void between worlds with a small twist of space.

  It was a skill that all line walkers had. Avery Rome had learned to do it without a node point even, which she figured he might learn to do as well. Soon, Will needed to go to her world and stay for a time, if she’d have him. So that he could get her to teach him her secrets. Asking her to do that much work felt unfair to him, even as he knew that she’d do it without asking anything of him. Which was good, since she was rich already. He didn’t have even one thing that she needed.

  Even magic was out, since it didn’t easily work for her. Her nature was magical itself, but her abilities made it hard for such forces to act on her for some reason. She liked food, but it wasn’t hard for her to get that kind of thing in her own world. The woman didn’t even have a sex drive, so he couldn’t try to bribe her that way. Worse, if she were looking for a husband, her current boyfriend, Phillip, was easily as good looking and powerful as Willum was. Wealthy as well. Plus, he was from her own world, meaning they had things in common. Will liked her personally, but couldn’t actually compete with all of that.

  Muttering, he grumbled a bit, but smiled at the same time.

  “I’ll think of something.”

  As he stepped out of the red box in the IPB world, he realized that wearing a small blue skirt might not go over all that well. At the very least it would mark him as being strange. Interestingly, they wouldn’t attack him over it, if he made that kind of mistake. Men wearing dresses was odd there, but not forbidden at all. So would his normal looking hair and eyes. He had a specific presentation he used there, after all.

  Turning his hair and eyes purple, then focusing on his outfit, he completed the right look. Tan military fatigues which said Baker over the left breast pocket, black boots and… A grass woven bag on his right hip. He really didn’t care about that though, even if it was strange. After all, he was just visiting. No one was going to care about things like that.

  It was dark outside, which meant that he had no clue what time it was. He wasn’t even certain what time of year it was, really. The end of summer still, he thought. That felt right at least. Heading to the left, around the tan brick building, he found the place open, but with no one being inside for some reason. It was slightly odd, since they normally had at least a body there, to answer the phones.

  There were people out and about, so it probably wasn’t all that late. Things could get pretty quiet at three in the morning. That likely meant it was near meal time. Probably dinner, given the situation around him.

  The location of the dining hall wasn’t exactly confusing to him, having worked there every night for two months. He jogged over, since he actually had a time schedule in his own world. It was about a quarter mile from the main office, so he got there about fifteen seconds later, even moving at about a quarter of his full speed. That part of the changes that had been made to him were kind of useful, he had to admit.

  Inside the large space, he found pretty much everyone. The tables had been pushed back along the walls, making a place of honor for a large screen television in the middle of the room. Right in front of it there were three comfortable looking overstuffed sofas and dozens of chairs set up. They were all in a rather tame brown color, with half a dozen women and one or two men sitting on them, watching something. That sounded familiar, since it was mainly Avery talking. She was there, off to the left, next to a woman who looked like Director Turner, at first. The feeling from the lady was very different however.

  Her clothing was nicer as well, since the Director was in identical clothing to what he had on, and was sitting on a different piece of furniture. Looking around, he didn’t call attention to himself, trying to find Ambassador Cin. There were several women there that could probably attend a meal with him, even at the palace if she couldn’t do it.

  Still, he understood why the King might want Cindy to be there. She was beloved in Noram. On her own she’d uncovered not only several of the enemies from other realities, but also two different plots to kill the King himself. She was off to the side, sitting at a table, but clearly watching the show that was playing.

  The blonde woman waved at him as he came over, then nodded, reading his mind instantly.

  “Oooh. Invited to a fancy dinner you say? Then we get to go and cuddle in your tiny pod house for the rest of the night, you say? I’m in. Let me clear this with Marcia first?” She spoke the words loudly enough that half the room would have heard it, if they had normal ears. Many of these people could do better than that, so the news of their evening plans would spread.

  That was probably the point of doing things that way for the Ambassador.

  Not that Willum was actually thinking of things in that way. He hadn’t been at any rate. It still was going to be down to what Director Turner had to say about things. After all, she might not want one of her most important and prized people escaping to a different world with no notice.

  That didn’t take long, since the woman in question had already worked out who was there. For some reason, they stopped the show playing on the screen, making the people there freeze in place, and turned to look at him. As if he could possibly be more interesting than watching alien technology give them cooking tips in their own language. That just sounded insane to him, once he thought about it.

  A lot of them weren’t people he knew, personally. Several of them, anyway. Willum could tell that one for certain, since Avery waved him over to where she sat, standing up to show that she was trying to be efficient, rather than high handed with him.

  “Will! We’re watching Cooking: Alt Real. Do you want to join us? Given that you’re in it that makes sense. We have friends of mine in from several other worlds here. Ah… this is Gwen Harrison.” She was the one that looked a lot like the Director of the place, but who clearly wasn’t.

  The woman smiled at him anyway and waved a bit.

  “Hi. Nice to meet you, Will. I feel like I know you already. From the show?”

  Avery nodded, smiling as if it were a good thing that they’d met up that day.

  “Gwen can travel between worlds, teleport from place to place, and do other magic. I know she looks like Commander Turner, but she’s actually a female version of Tor, from your world.”

  That could have been hard to believe, but it wasn’t really. It was right there, inside of her pattern, after all.

  “Right. That’s interesting! I know that Cin is a female version of my Uncle Timon. Um… Tor’s brother? So that kind of thing can happen. Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Harrison.” That just felt right, addressing her that way. It came off of her powerfully enough that Willum didn't need to learn about her recent marriage. Not in words.

  The woman smiled up at him, since she’d remained sitting. It wasn’t about being rude though, she just didn’t think that Willum would require her to stand or bow to impress him. Next to her there were more attractive women, who apparently were individuals he needed to know as well, even if they weren’t line walkers like Gwen was.

  There was a smooth gesture from Avery, toward the woman closest to her.

  “This is Krista Hall. She’s in charge of the show that I’m doing back home. Red Rain? She’s also an actress. That… She has a different program for that. Next to her is Judy Swan…”

  That woman got up, then hugged him. It involved a bit of groping, but that was only about what women did with him now. She let him go after about ten seconds of friendly seeming closeness.

  Judy spoke for herself, looking directly into his eyes. She seemed slightly bemused for some reason.

  “Actress. Also an Alede, not a human bein
g… You know, you look an awful lot like my grandson.” That seemed off, given she looked to be about twenty-three or four. Her blonde hair was well styled, but she was merely lovely, instead of seeming to be too much that way.

  Which Alede did, in at least one of their two forms. If he had the idea right, they had a dressed down version, which wouldn’t catch as much attention, just in case it became needed at any time. That seemed to be what Judy had going on at the moment.

  Given she was an actress and with Krista Hall and Avery, he managed to work a few things out.

  “Kyle?”

  Interestingly, it was Krista who laughed a bit then.

  “Exactly. You know, he was the first guy I ever really did anything with? Imagine my surprise to find out that he was also a hot girl. It almost makes me want to experiment. Are you an Alede too, Will?”

  She stood up and moved in, not hugging him or anything, thankfully. Not that she wasn’t a fine enough seeming woman. She probably was. Willum just couldn’t get himself to care enough at the moment to be enthused about the idea.

  Faking a smile for her wasn’t too much to ask, though.

  “Nope. I’m just a human. I had some work done and ended up looking like this. I have met Kyle though. Kait as well. They were very kind to me.”

  Troubling as well, since he’d ended up having relations with both forms in the side room of a book store. On the good side it had really helped him get over that kind of thing a lot. Not totally, since he’d been raised in the backwoods, but enough that he could do his job, if things like that ever came up.

  It was Avery shaking her head that broke their eye contact.

  “Will is in the show here. You’ve seen it before, so you know that. We should get back to that. We can get you a seat?”

  Before she could move anyone around, he shook his head.

  “Sorry, I can’t tonight. I have to grab up Ambassador Mableton then take her off to a dinner at King Richard’s palace. We might spend the night there, since there’s a festival tomorrow. We’re re-hanging the floating river around the city wall of the Capital.” He looked at the women and shrugged a bit. “Would you all like to attend? I might need help getting you all there, but if Avery…”