Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) Read online

  "We can send clothing directly. Medicine as well. Doctors might be bought for that purpose. Your people do not take to magic well, I hear? Or has that changed now? Healing amulets are a wonder, for illness and injury. I don't know what to do about safe housing off the top of my head. Perhaps those you know in Harmony might have some ideas for that? I could go and make inquiries now?" She'd just gotten into the tub, but it was clear that she understood how dire the real situation was.

  Sara shook her head though.

  "I'll go and do that. Terry asked me to make a report to King Richard, about what we've managed to get done so far. I also need to check in with some other people. I've been gone so long everyone will have forgotten about me by now, I bet." She rose, and stepped out carefully, using Roget's shoulder to steady herself as she reached for a towel to dry with. One of the soft fluffy ones that marked them as being made by magic. Very absorbent too. This one was a deep red color that added a nice accent to the dark wooden room they were in. No one spoke for a bit, and Roget looked like he was going to get out as well.

  There was really no better place for him to be for the moment however, was there? Not if she was hiding him for their stay.

  "Heather? I was about to have sex with Roget when you walked in. Would you take my place there? He's a bit shy, but needs to get used to our strange and wicked ways. It could end up being important to his future here."

  Her mother smiled, not even shocked that she'd asked that, even if it was a bit out of proper keeping. Normally things like that were asked in private, in case one of the parties had a problem with it. Roget clearly did, turning an even brighter shade of red, but Heather seemed all right with it.

  "Certainly dear. After the hardships you both had I'm certain that any form of relaxation would be welcome. Will you be staying the month?"

  That was the normal expected stay when you came to visit out of the blue. It was from when travel times were so much greater that coming for a few days wasn't really worth going anywhere.

  "Gone by morning, most likely. Back to Harmony, I think. After that I don't really know what's planned. Tiera mentioned having something for me to do, but that was months ago, and might have changed by now. I'll check." After all, she might have just wanted to chat about things. That, or get Sara to head up a new water cistern project. She'd done a lot that way up there already.

  A big chunk of the main water supply, Lake Two Bends, had been her personal work, altering moon-dust and stone into water. Everyone on Harmony worked though. For free. It was a civic duty. If you wanted to breathe their air, you did what you could. In return you had everything you needed provided to you for free. No one wanted for much there. What they didn't have was mainly down to no one seeing to making it there yet, not a lack of anything due to resource scarcity.

  They even had a little forest growing now, in a massive and artificially lit dome. What they needed next was an ocean. Sara would have to suggest that, the next time she spoke to anyone, which would be in about five minutes.

  Dressing in a nice black brocaded tunic with heavy trousers to match, and stark black boots with heels to make her seem a little taller than she actually was, she went to her room, which had been kept as she left it, or nearly enough so that she couldn't tell the difference. No one had triggered any of the traps as far as she could tell. Hopefully she'd remember where they all were. It would be embarrassing otherwise, having her desk fall apart with a mighty noise meant to attract attention from the whole house, for instance. That was just to guard her personal papers, and a few private things that she kept. Letters from friends, and a few secrets that she needed kept safe, but found in the case of her death.

  Things pointing to those most likely to have killed her, so revenge could be taken.

  That sort of thing.

  In the moment though, she put on her best face using a disguise amulet which was preset for it, and then worked over her hair with a comb until it looked presentable enough for the King. Then she had to dig out the right communications device, one of the second type that Tor had made.

  She hit the sigil, which was a glowing blue, and waited, since it could take a while to get in touch with anyone there. Even if they answered quickly, it might be ten or fifteen minutes before someone who was allowed to carry a message from her came to see what she wanted.

  She wasn't disappointed that way, either. The first person that answered was a younger sounding girl, who seemed confident enough, if not familiar.

  "Good day! You've reached the Palace of King Richard. This is Knight Esquire Gemma. How may I serve you today?"

  "Hello! This is Sara Debri. Um..." She didn't know exactly what to say, but she needed to speak to the King, and lying was part of the accepted rules they all played by when trying to report in. "I'm the current Ambassador for Tellerand. I was hoping to set up a meeting with King Richard as soon as possible. I fear that I have to leave soon, for Harmony, but if he could be made aware of my desire to have a meeting?" Sure, she could be killed for making a claim above her own station like that. By Tellerand. No one in Noram would dare, not even the King, since if she was being honest, that could cause an unneeded war.

  "I'll see to that message being passed directly, Madame Ambassador. Would it be all right if I contacted you back? Otherwise there might be a bit of a wait, I fear. It's near breakfast time. Not that the King won't rush to see you as soon as he is able, of course!"

  Sara smiled, because she understood what Gemma here was doing. Covering for every possible slight or insult that might occur, even before they did.

  "That works for me. Thanks. You can reach me on this device, under the name Sara Debri. I also have a new communications device, if that's preferred? I'll have both out. I'm in the Capital right now, if that's useful information?"

  "Very good, Madame Ambassador. I'll see to that directly. It's been wonderful to hear from you this fine day. Is there anything I can do for you other than that? Anything that you need that we here could provide for your comfort?" She was clearly ready to go on, but Sara let herself chuckle a bit.

  "Not that I can think of. I should get off the connection so you can set that in motion? Thank you again, Squire Gemma. I hope that we can talk later?"

  That got the girl to go silent for a second. It was actually very polite, but also meant that Sara was thinking of her as an actual person. One that might have value at some point.

  "I'd love to. I'm free this evening, if that serves? About eight?"

  They made plans to meet at a pub not too far away from the palace. A bit of a walk for the girl, but nothing too adventurous. It never hurt to make friends however, even ones as random seeming as this. Gemma worked in the palace, which meant she had good connections. Being a Knight Esquire, and a woman was impressive too. There were what, ten of those, in the entire Kingdom? You didn't get to be a Knight Esquire without being pretty impressive either. Most of the time, if they bothered at all, they simply made you a Knight outright, if you were worth calling that.

  It probably meant that the girl was worthy of that status, but something was in the way of it happening. Like one of her marks of valor being so secret that it couldn't be mentioned out loud. Given everything that would probably mean the girl on the device had been involved in ferreting out traitors. If she were given a full rank as a Knight because of it, then everyone would know, making it much harder to do again.

  It could be something else, of course. Politics came to mind on that one. Everything for people of a certain rank had to be filtered through that, when it came down to it.

  Sara simply waited, ready to spend the rest of the day there, if need be, so that she wouldn't be on with someone else when the King sent word to her. She expected his business secretary, because she was still just Sara the merchant's daughter.

  What she got shocked her a bit. Not two minutes later, on the newer handheld magical device, the image of the King himself flashed into being when it buzzed at her and she tapped it into activity.
/>   "Ambassador Debri! How wonderful to hear from you! I was told that you'd like a meeting with me as soon as possible? Is everything well?" His tone was polite, jovial, and perfect for the situation. The last words though were code. Not a subtle one either.

  He wanted to know if there was a massive emergency that was causing her to lie about being the Tellerand Ambassador.

  "It is, thank you. I was just asked to give you an update on how things are going in Tellerand, by Terrance Baker. I'm also supposed to try and see if I can get any aid from you for us? We need bodies to help set things right. People who aren't too humble to pray to the All High so that the people there will accept our help. It's a bit rough that way. I can tell you all about it, if you like?" She meant right then, but the man smiled and nodded at her. Searching her image in his huge giant's hand for information about what was really going on. He always did that kind of thing however.

  The hard part was keeping herself from bowing and scraping just seeing his image. She was playing at being important though, and that meant doing a good enough job that anyone spying on them would buy it.

  "How would a meeting at luncheon do toward that end? Or perhaps the evening meal?" It was a test, of course. To see if she needed to rush information to him quickly or not. Ideally, she'd take up the later time, meaning that things weren't secretly dire.

  "Would the earlier meeting serve? I made a date with your Squire Gemma for eight. I also need to check in with The Tellerand Ancient, and let him know what his new Ambassador is getting up to. Mid-afternoon would be perfect, to be honest." It was harder than it sounded like, staying relaxed and conversational in the face of power like this. Not that the King was ever mean to her. Anything but, really.

  "Good then. I'll have a place set for you. Will you be bringing guests?"

  "Not this time. I do have the Ancient's Attaché Roget Smithson here with me, but I'm attempting to hide him from the nobility for the time being. I promised that I wouldn't let him get into a position to have to pleasure too many large men on this trip. He's a bit shy that way."

  Rather than scorn, that got a soft very deep chuckle.

  "Very well. Still, we can arrange to have the word passed that no one should approach him for that reason. I await our meeting with great anticipation Ambassador. Also, it pleases me greatly to find a young lady that I've known for so long doing so very well in the world. Have you been to see Alphonse lately? I know that you two are friends."

  "Not in the last several months. I was rather out of contact with most of the world. I'll tell that whole story to you if you wish, at the meal? Being given the idea, it seems that I should get in touch with him. I have many people that might have noticed that I've been gone." She hoped so at least.

  The King did something new then, and started making a very long speech about how wonderful it was to have heard from her and how very much he wanted to meet with her later. It wasn't what he normally did, which was give a few short pleasantries and hang up.

  That was her fault however, since she'd named herself an important person like she had. Hopefully Terry would back her up on that one, until she could report in. Then it didn't really matter. Really, Roget was the one that should have the job. Especially if he could learn to navigate Noram without too much trouble. He was actually from Tellerand after all.

  "Good day, King Richard. I look forward to seeing you as well."

  Only after she said that did the line break, leaving her feeling odd and a bit like she was overstepping her place by giant leaps and bounds.

  Her next call should have been to Tor, she knew. They were lovers, and she really missed him. Duty had to come first, so she called Terry next, hoping that he wasn't going to be in school again.

  This time the line picked up almost instantly.

  "Terry here." He seemed different. It was still a youthful sounding voice, but there was tension in it. Wariness that hadn't been there before.

  "Sara Debri. We've gotten food units into most of Tellerand, and I'm going to go and hit up King Richard for more help in a few hours. People mainly. Ones that we can sell as being true believers in the One God. There are some of those around, so we should at least ask if they'd be willing to go and help their fellows out. Oh, I also named myself the Tellerand Ambassador, for the time being. That was just to get into the palace, but if you agree with that, it would be good. Truth amulets, and all that."

  There was a pause, and then the boy answered, almost curtly.

  "Fine. That will last for forty-eight hours. Then you need to get here, if you can't do it faster. Things are... They aren't going well. Family things. Your brother? Kurt?"

  She winced, getting the idea without asking.

  "He... raped somebody? How? They all have shields."

  There was no answer for a long time.

  "It wasn't like that, exactly. He's alive, but what the others have planned for him isn't going over well with everyone. You should come. I won't let them do anything, if I can help it. I may not be able to. Get here as soon as you can."

  Then the line broke suddenly, moments after a sound in the other room, so far away.

  "Well," she said to nobody at all. "This seems like what was going to happen all along, doesn't it?"

  Then she started to get ready, since she still had work to do.

  Chapter three

  "So, Sara... Ambassador from Tellerand?" The giant man towered above her, standing still, in the small secret chamber they used for secret communications and meetings. It was in the basement, and was, as far as she knew, the only thing down there. Buried under tons of solid rock, the cold and slightly dark space was about as protected a place to chat as anywhere on the Earth.

  The King, Richard, looked worn out. There were lines by the side of his eyes that hadn't been there four months before, when they last met. With a weary thump he sat in a large chair that was similar to the other four in the room. Casually he gestured to the one across from him. The table was made of wood, but had a plain air to it. The kind of thing that anyone might have. Even a commoner. Except that theirs wouldn't have been as tall.

  It always left her feeling like a tiny child, the oversize furnishings of the place too large for a merchant like her. The entire noble world was like that, when she stopped to think about it. Uncomfortably not designed with her in mind.

  She started to shrug, her own tiredness causing her to forget her manners for a moment, but caught the move and simply sat up straighter to report.

  "That's me. Ambassador Sara Debri. Or at least it is for the next forty hours or thereabouts, Sire. It was a lie made real by Terry so that I could get in the door here without too much work. As soon as I can I'm supposed to go and see what my little brother has gotten into on the Moon. Something about him raping someone, I think." Terry had said it wasn't exactly like that, but she knew Kurt too well to believe it.

  Her face was blank, and the King, rather than question her on what had been going on in Tellerand, which was why she was there, winced.

  "I'd rather heard about that. From Queen Tiera. It seems more of an inappropriate seduction than true rape. One of the women from Afrak? I hear that he pretty much made it seem like she didn't have a choice but to pleasure him. That wasn't really the difficulty however. As an adult, even one from a culture that is very passive, as hers is, Tiera believes that the lady is responsible for her own care and upkeep. She had the ability and power to say no, if she wished, even if the young man was being persistent. No, the actual problem is rather more political than that. In Afrak, when a man and woman have relations, it's considered that they are married. Kurt was told of this first and agreed, it seems, but then tried to claim he didn't understand the process."

  Sara blinked at that one, and slowly let her head start to nod. It was nearly as if the thing was moving on its own. So her little brother the pervert hadn't raped anyone really? Just gotten himself married? That didn't seem like much of an issue really.

  True, the women of Afrak were
less sexual than those from other places, but this woman probably wouldn't insist that Kurt actually refrain from all other activity. Unless that was the problem? She didn't ask, not really wanting to know.

  Terry had spoken of it being a problem. For the moment she didn't see how it really would be. Even with different customs they could work out some kind of wedding ceremony.

  "So, Your Highness. Tellerand is still there. Crippled and barely hanging on. I wasn't jesting about their needing help, or coming to beg you for it. We could use people to go and give whatever aid they can. The big thing, now that they have food for the most part, is sturdy shelter. Their houses are all made of wood, and some of the storms are so large anymore..." That was a problem everywhere. The biggest thing was that they wouldn't live in magical dwellings, she didn't think.

  They were barely able to even look at the food devices, and those were literally keeping them alive for the moment. Only the saints could work them, and trying to suggest they all share a magical palace or two for each village just didn't seem in the cards.

  It took a while to get the King to see that though. In Noram everyone wanted one of those for themselves. At least those that knew about them. From Dukes to peasant farmers, no one would have turned that kind of aid down.

  "In Tellerand it's different. If the All High hasn't ordered something personally, it's looked at with great suspicion. I had to get on my knees and beg people to eat, claiming that it was His will the whole time, for months. It wasn't just me either. Eventually there were thousands of us, just walking from one place to the next, wearing sack cloth and ashes on our heads, crying and pleading." It had taken her a while to understand that part of things though. "That, the begging, really offends them, too. At first I thought they were looking away because they didn't want to see my shame and embarrassment. It wasn't that though. They actually felt I was saying that I, and by extension, we here and those in Harmony, are more humble and closer to their god than they are. Basically Roget and I just laid a giant guilt trip on an entire land, and told them they had to do what we wanted, or else they weren't as good as we were."