The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon) Read online

  That part of things got his attention enough to keep his eyes opened after that, even if it was a fight to do it. He looked into the dark, as if it would help him find anything, and realizing that hearing would be his best bet given the blackness outside, he cracked open the door of the craft, in the passenger section, to listen. He did that one since, if the Royal Guards made it in time, that's what they'd be using to get in anyway. It was only just hitting three when he did it and less than twenty-minutes before he heard people coming.

  People on horses. Shouting to each other.

  Definitely not the ones he wanted. He nearly panicked and just took off, but it hadn't been five hours yet. Nearly, having only about ten minutes to go, give or take. He wasn't going to let the people catch him there, since he'd been told not to risk it, but they weren't that close either. Instead he crouched tensely in the open door, hoping that he wasn't about to be caught doing something illegal. That would be a horrible way to spend a special day, wouldn't it?

  Locked up in prison... no cake...

  That thought earned a smile, which is what his expression was when the three people came out of the brush. It was too hard to tell who they were at first, but they were on foot, or at least two of them were. One floated, which meant they had a Not-flyer in use. They were all big, but that didn't mean much. Timon didn't say anything though as they got to the side of the craft.

  A harsh voice came from the darkness.

  "It's George and Kara. We have our prize with us." It wasn't loud and it sounded horrible, raw and burnt, like a person that had been doing a lot of coughing. It was Kara though, he thought.

  "Get in. The door is about twelve feet in front of you... a little to your right." He was decently well hidden he realized, more so than he'd expected. It was still dark out and would be for hours and they probably wouldn't be seen if they left soon, even with the horsemen closing on them.

  There were three points of wheezing as they closed with him, but no one groaned, even as the person using the Not-flyer had to be helped on board. Tim moved in and tried to pull them up grabbing under their arms. There was a soft cry then, but no one said he should stop. Whoever it was didn't have any clothing on and was huge. It took help to get them all in, but a minute later he closed the door as they settled into the dark.

  "One second. I want to get out of here, then we can have some light." He dove toward the front, scrambling a little and missing the seat the first time he tried to sit, nearly falling to the floor, but he had them up and away with only a bit of crashing from outside about ten seconds later. Then he hit the shelf in front of him with his left hand and made the ceiling glow enough for them all to see. It wasn't bright still, since he needed to know where he was going, but it was enough to work by. He had to crane his neck to see what was happening behind him and kind of wished he hadn't when he did. There was a woman who was covered with dried blood and filth, her face half smashed in. All of her limbs were going in the wrong directions too. She barely fit in the seat it was so bad.

  She also smelled horribly, which probably said something about how truly awful whatever had happened was. She didn't make a sound, just looking back at him with the one eye that wasn't swollen shut. It was enough to get him to set the controls to just hover in place, leaving them in the air for a bit, while he scrambled to find the healing amulet. The others looked pretty bad too, but they weren't anywhere near as damaged.

  "Here, I don't want to scare you... This will help you heal, but it will hurt. Maybe a lot." He'd used one before, when he'd gotten a cut chopping some vegetables. The thing was a miracle, but it did sting as it healed him. This wasn't some little slice on a finger. This woman was... He wasn't certain what to call it.

  It surprised him, but her right hand came out toward him, slowly reaching for the device, even though it had to be agony for her to even try it. He held it out then, not knowing why, clasped his hand over it for a second and pushed it firmly to her arm. It tried to heal him too, which made him feel awake and chipper suddenly, but nothing else. It was far worse for her.

  She screamed. He didn't let go though, knowing she needed it, no matter what.

  George started talking, his voice low, but encouraging, "hang in there. I know it hurts, but that will fade. It is fading, focus on that. Just a little longer..."

  He stopped, interrupted by several loud cracking sounds, that Timon finally understood to be her arms and legs re-breaking, so they could be fixed. It was a fast process, but it still took about five minutes before he recognized her. Captain Petra. They'd never really spoken much, but she'd been in charge of the ship that had taken him and the rest to Austra. A friend of his brother's, he thought.

  It went on for a long time, and he moved back to the controls, just as soon as the screaming stopped, heading back toward the Capital. No one had said to go that way, but it made sense.

  There were three more cracks that he noticed and a dozen pops, but other than heavy panting there was no more crying out. No one said much other than to be encouraging, until she managed to speak, sounding almost normal, about fifteen minutes later.

  "Is there any water?"

  There wasn't of course. It was something he should have thought to have on hand already, but just hadn't.

  "No, in the little basket behind my seat there's a bottle of juice. Drink that first. There's food and wine too and if we have to we can land and find a clean river." There was sound from behind him, a rustling, then some murmurs.

  "It's good. Thank you." This came out low and subdued.

  Captain Petra had an arm over her chest, and had handed the amulet over to George, who was doing his own panting, having been hurt more than it had looked like it seemed. Kara started struggling to get the blanket that was tied to the bottom of the other basket, then handed it off to the naked woman.

  Timon shrugged, tapped his own shirt front while concentrating and took his clothing device off. It left him naked, but he hadn't been through whatever she had and no one cared if little kids ran around without clothing. Not nobles at least and he really doubted the Royal Guards would be all that concerned.

  "Here. Use this." Then he kept flying, trying not to turn around. It was embarrassing, being naked in public and left him feeling exposed. Vulnerable in a way he hadn't even a few moments before. He certainly didn't want to see the look on anyone else's face.

  Except that he couldn't help it and glanced back anyway. The Captain had clothing on and was making herself a nice pair of combat leathers already. George nodded to him and passed the healing device to Kara, who only needed to hold it for a minute or so.

  Finally she spoke, her voice much improved and nearly smooth compared to earlier.

  "Where are we headed?"

  Timon looked at the time, knowing that they'd want to know where they were as well as the destination.

  "The Capital, it's hard to know how exact I was picking the direction, but we should be about a third of the way there, barring any major errors on my part."

  "Good. We need to go to the palace directly." There was something hidden in the words, but it wasn't a message for him, Tim realized. It was for the others.

  He nodded, not looking back again.

  "There's food in the baskets too."

  That got more noise from behind him again, as the large woman snagged the big basket and started to eat something. Kara cautioned her to slow down, or she'd be ill from it but there was a snort in response.

  "No. The healing amulet prevents that kind of response, even if you're starving, which I am. You know, Tor used me for the female template for it. He said that should mean it will work better for me than any other woman. I've got to say I'm enjoying that part right now. Good thinking, bringing snacks on the rescue mission." There were some more eating sounds then, followed by the wine bottle being opened.

  Kara made a sound that seemed a little disapproving at first, but turned into a dark laugh after a moment.

  "That was Timon. We asked for a
lift from his new transport service. Apparently it comes with the deal. Imagine what we'd have gotten if we were paying him?"

  That got another laugh, but it was enough of a point that he stopped them, forgetting his own embarrassment for a few minutes.

  "What would you want? I mean, if you were paying for it?"

  Captain Petra spoke first, almost relaxed sounding as she did it, "well, right now I could use a restroom. Other than that? Oh, some music to pass the time? Or reading materials? I can't complain about the food though, it's really good." She showed just how much so by taking a bite part way through the last sentence.

  He could see about arranging that then, couldn't he? How he'd manage a restroom he didn't know, but the rest was doable. A musician? That would take up an extra seat and the flights were pretty short for the most part. Maybe just for special trips?

  George cleared his throat then and looked around.

  "Have you considered some art? Nobles do love such things and I believe that you can redecorate the inside of the vehicle as well, if you use your imagination? It won't add to your service expenditures either, if you can do it yourself."

  All good ideas, he filed them away for later. After he had some clothing and maybe some food himself. He didn't want to complain about the food vanishing, since he couldn't eat and fly at the same time anyway, and it was clearly an emergency, but he'd forgotten to have anything, being too nervous before. Now it was kind of poking at his insides a bit. He'd live, but it wasn't comfortable.

  They were able to find the Capital city with only a bit of redirection on his part, the purple glowing river that circled the top of the wall in a half loop showing where it was from a long way off. That also let him locate the palace pretty easily, since it was near the center of the bend on the top portion of things. He made the craft glow a brilliant purple and gold too, the front half being the color of metal shining in the sun, so that no one seeing him trying to land would think he was some kind of enemy. No one mentioned it, until they climbed out to find a half dozen Royal Guard standing there waiting for them, along with the King, who was very properly dressed, considering the time of night. He noticed that Timon wasn't, but didn't comment on it, not even smirking a little.

  The man was just as huge as Timon remembered, they'd only met at close range once before. Twice really, but the King's birthday procession couldn't really count. That time he was just walking past along with his family, stopping only long enough to say hello. His ma had done that part, since she'd gone to school with the man. He had red hair and towered above everyone else there by nearly two feet and some of the guards were nearly seven feet tall. Not all of them, most were much smaller than that, but it wasn't a tiny bunch of people.

  Captain Petra bowed, going low, hands at her sides, which was a very polite way of doing it. Timon copied her, making sure he went even lower, which was pretty difficult, since the woman was really working to make that hard to match. It basically had him standing there with his everything hanging out, but the King gestured for them to both stand back up relatively quickly.

  "Please, come inside, we have much to discuss after your ordeal, Petra. First, is there anything you need? Some medicine or wine perhaps?" That the man meant well was clear, but the woman, who was really attractive under the grime, shook her head.

  "Only some water please. I was given juice and wine already. And clothing." She gestured at her own outfit, not looking at Timon at all. "I could have liked the speed of rescue to be a bit faster, but I can't fault the extraction team. Got me out in one piece and saw to my every need. I'll have to work pretty hard to match it if it's ever my turn to do the same thing."

  That got a strange facial expression from the King, who looked at George and Kara closely, including him in the grouping as well. That was what it felt like at any rate. It was a very inclusive thing.

  "Ah? Very good then. As to the time delay... Perhaps we should repair inside?"

  They all went, which meant he did too, since George took his arm firmly and gave him a tug so he'd get the idea. It was too bad, since he'd been planning to grab the blanket and wrap up in it, before getting to his clothing chest, where he had a second amulet hidden away, as well as real clothing. Instead he ended up padding down the hallway naked, cold stone alternating with soft carpets under his bare feet, the air warm, but dry, given the time of year. He was comfortable enough that way, not really feeling the temperature at all. He had on his temperature control still after all and it kept him at a steady body temperature, more or less.

  It took about five minutes to end up in a small wooden room, that had soft furniture, all in dark colors and soft fabrics where there wasn't a polished gleaming underneath the magical lights. Those hung from the ceiling, which was very high above them all, from a metal and crystal sculpture that made the otherwise flat looking glow sparkle as it touched the eye.

  "This was a very unfortunate situation. We received word of your predicament only recently, and while I tried to contact your friends to see about removing you from Count Rodriguez's household, they do not seem available at this time. Do you know where they might be?" It was delicately said, but too much so it seemed, the woman giving the King a very hard look that bordered on insolent.

  He didn't seem to blame her for it, which was good. Timon didn't want to have to fight the man and his guards after all, since it would mean dying, more likely than not.

  "What? Is someone missing? I've been gone for over a month." She didn't seem in the mood for subtle hedging at all. Timon could understand that, so started speaking, forgetting where he was or even that he had no clothes. It was decently comfortable in the room after all.

  "You know that Tor is off running from the Larval assassins?" He waited for her to nod before going on, all eyes coming back around to him. "It also seems that your special unit is missing. Probably scattered for some reason. Since we don't have craters all over the Kingdom, they probably went willingly. I don't think it would be the assassins anyway. From what I heard they should pretty much be focused on killing my brother for a while. That means it's not going to be directly related. Some kind of major plot or something is what I'm thinking. I don't have enough information to prove that, not at this time."

  Everyone in the room was staring a lot harder than he felt comfortable with, which was relieved almost instantly when the King clapped twice.

  "Clear the room please. Petra, George, Kara and Builder Baker please remain." There was a coldness to his words, but his face went blank. It wasn't a perfect thing, since his body language showed clear agitation. There was a tension in his shoulders that hadn't been there a moment before for instance.

  The reason for that was made clear, about six seconds after the door closed behind the other Royal Guards.

  "How in the world did you know about the Secret Army? I want your sources, now." He actually held his palm up and waved his fingers, as if trying to draw the information to him.

  Timon sighed.

  "That source would be the 'Secret Army'. It wasn't hard to figure out. I saw them first, training at Wildlands when I made deliveries there. They were clearly doing things that even the army wasn't. Using very advanced magical weapons and beating each other about like madmen. They all had flying rigs and good shields too. I saw them the day that the end of the war was announced, coming in to land in decorated Fast Carriages. I can tell the difference between those and the regular ones." It was subtle, but there and if he could tell, others could too. "There were rumors when I went to Austra about who had defeated their military so easily, and they were led by a large bald man with a scarred face. Sir Kolbrin delivered the papers from them for the peace treaty." He had a bit more but the King rolled his eyes.

  "Too clever by half. Well, all we can do is try to limit the exposure of the information. I don't suppose I could bribe you to not mention this to anyone?" He sat, and gestured for everyone else to do the same, though Timon decided to stand. He didn't want to be naked on the Palace furni
ture. Sure, he probably wouldn't be the first person to do so, but it seemed out of place for him to do it.

  He did smile however.

  "Well, if you hear of anyone that needs quick transportation over decently long distances, could you let them know about me? I don't want to turn you into a crier for my business, but if they're in need, it couldn't hurt. Tell them that if they mention your name as telling them, I'll give them half off their first flight. That way you'd be doing them a favor even." It sounded fair to him, but for some reason the man in front of him looked slightly shocked. It took a bit for Timon to work out why however.

  "You mean you aren't going to require that I give my daughter's hand to you in marriage for it? Here I was getting ready to deal and everything." He really seemed serious at first, but then chuckled a little which got the others to at least smile, even Captain Petra.

  Timon did too. After all, it was a good joke and lightened the mood.

  "Oh, no Sire. I was told earlier that if I tried to extort a daughter from you a certain Princess would probably strip me naked and make me run through the halls..." He looked down and shook his head. "This would make it far too easy for her."

  "Ah, I was going to ask about that. Were you gotten out of bed suddenly?"

  The man seemed to be merely making conversation so Timon played it off. He was already stripped bare after all, so it wouldn't hurt him to look a little bad, would it? It was the polite thing to do. His mother had mentioned that a few times. If a woman, a child or an old person was in distress or trouble, or facing embarrassment, a man had to step in and protect their dignity, even at the cost of his own.