Pain Stones (Coalescence Book 2) Read online

  Cindy actually led him around, so that they could talk to several different people there. Ones who, coincidentally, had all wanted to speak to Ambassador Mableton for one reason or another. Most of them tried to set up meetings for later, hoping to get at secret information that no one else was going to have access to. One of them, a rather tall man, just stood there faking a smile as Cindy patted him on the arm. The sense of things coming off of her was incredibly patronizing.

  “Baron Cleese… So nice to meet you. Before you try to kill, that is. You might want to abort that? For one thing, your plan won’t work at all. There are things you haven’t considered.”

  The man, who was one of the few in the room wearing real clothing, pulled a knife and tried to stab the Ambassador with it. As if that wasn’t going to cause an inter-reality rift if he succeeded. Possibly even when it didn’t work. It was kind of insulting, doing things like that and made them all look bad. Not that a regular blade was going to work against her. Like Will, she was far too tough to drive a metal blade into.

  Moving rapidly, he stepped in, removing the knife, which was about a foot long, with a twist of the wrist. There was a snapping sound from under his hand while he did it. Then, thinking about it, he shrugged, since the man was trying for another weapon, which seemed to be lodged in his waistband. He had to do that one handed, but it showed just how committed and tough he really was.

  Rather than letting him get it, Will punched him in the throat. Not that hard, since it wasn’t his place to execute people in the situation they were in. It might be important to hang him publicly later, for instance.

  The Royal Guard that came promptly tried to tackle him, naturally.

  His shield turned on for them, which it hadn’t for the fight with Baron Cleese. After all, that man had never been a real threat to him. The black and purple clad individuals were trying much harder to hurt him. It was hard to just stand there and not fight back.

  That ended after about a minute, when an older man, dressed up like the ones who were going for him in the moment, called them off.

  “Stand down. Countier Lairdgren was simply subduing an assassin. Clearly. As you all just saw…” It took a moment and at least one covert kick from the older fellow against a large man who looked more than old enough to know better, but the six people on top of him finally moved back.

  Sighing, Will didn’t let himself feel annoyed. Instead he turned to see that Ambassador Mableton had subdued the gasping Baron on her own. The Royal Guard taking over when the older man moved in to do it himself.

  “Situation report?” The words weren’t yelled, and came from behind as well as above. From Prince Alphonse, who had worked his way over, with a small, very dark skinned woman behind him. Princess Abbie.

  Willum glanced at her, and smiled. The tiny woman was well known for being very polite and friendly to everyone.

  “Ah… Well, it seems that Baron Cleese here was called on his assassination plot by Ambassador Mableton. I believe the target was her all along? He tried to stab her instead of simply explain that she was incorrect, so I took the blade away, then struck him once, in the throat, as he went for a second weapon. I have no clue what that was.”

  Cindy had that one, holding up a small knife. It seemed to have something clear and slick on it.

  She grinned.

  “Poisoned. It wouldn’t have worked, but the intent was clearly there. My understanding is that he wasn’t actually in on the plot alone, however. Others put him up to it. Using some rather decent blackmail. He was supposed to get me as we left, later. The idea was that he’d stab me in secret then run away, before being caught. I have those names, if anyone cares? We probably need to do that part in private, though.” Then she looked embarrassed as her stomach growled. “After we dine? The food smells great, by the way.”

  That was just true. The whole place smelled lovely. Then, Willum spent about half his time feeling hungry anymore. He had since the changes had been done.

  When the Royal Guards left, dragging away the would-be killer, The Prince sighed.

  “I noticed that the guards rather missed the target?” He didn’t grin about it, or suggest that it was less than a potential problem. Technically it was Noram having attacked him, personally. That kind of thing could, normally, create issues with nobles.

  “Yes. They really did. You know, I get the reason behind it, but it would be nice if they’d try at least a bit to put the past behind them? I mean, the first time they did this, it was all my fault. I admit that. I pushed in where I shouldn’t have, lacking the common sense to think my way through things. I apologized at the time however, if you recall? It was even accepted, more or less. This one was all them. Well, not that one fellow, but the rest of them.”

  Not that they’d tried to kill him or anything. It had mainly turned into a wrestling match each time. The combination of him wearing a shield along with superior strength had caused the guards to be less than effective. They hated that, clearly. Even using new tricks they hadn’t done much this second time, either. It was a bit annoying that they’d tried it in the holding room where a hundred or more people were waiting for dinner to be served in the next room. It made him look bad. Like he was a trouble maker, when it wasn’t true.

  A large man and a smaller, but very attractive blonde woman moved up next to him, standing by his side. Staring at the Prince.

  They were familiar, being Count and Countess Ward. The large man, easily as tall as the Prince, and a bit broader across the shoulder, cleared his throat, gently.

  “It’s a bit improper to set your guards on the hero of the hour, don’t you think, Prince Alphonse? He had just stopped an assassin, after all.” There was no real heat to the words. It was just a statement.

  Countess Ward however sounded a bit sharper about the whole thing.

  “This is an outrage! This boy did nothing but stop a murder and you had your men go for him as if he were a common criminal! There could be a war over this and I’m not certain there shouldn’t be. Our people went for a foreign Ambassador, then attacked her chaperone! Openly, as well. This is… I don’t even know if I can describe the horror of it.”

  Before anyone could say anything, Willum sighed, and bowed toward the woman. It was better to fix things sooner than later and really, he didn’t need Alphonse or the King to bow and scrape, humbling themselves to sooth his bruised ego. Mainly because he didn’t feel injured by the events. Just slightly annoyed.

  “It’s a personal matter I fear, between the guards here and myself. I’d thought that it was fixed, but it shouldn’t be an issue going forward. Not in public at any rate. An annoyance, but I’m sure they felt my being here to be the same. Now, we do have that assassination plot to look into? I have to agree, we shouldn’t bother the meal plans just for that. Not if this was the best they can do. I can assure everyone that going after Ambassador Mableton with force simply won’t work at all. Clearly, the trick will be to win her over in other ways.”

  It sounded like he was being blasé and brushing the attack aside as if it didn’t matter, to make a point. He was, but it was all about getting to the food, not trying to make it seem like Cindy was left bored and unbothered by what had happened. Even if it really seemed to be the case.

  The woman was cold at times. Not evil, really, but to the outside world she often seemed collected and prepared for anything that might take place at such a high level as to nearly not be reacting at all. Except, when the assassin came for her, she’d not only called the man out in public, she ended up subduing him. Herself, and without even raising a sweat.

  Will had to think that meant she was a bit more engaged than most might understand. Plus, the sense of things coming off of her. She was, if quietly, freaked out at the moment. Not fearful, as much as she was ready for the next round of fighting.

  It was something to recall for himself, given how often he ended up being attacked in the palace.

  Alphonse winced, then bowed, first at Countess
Ward, then her Count. Almost as an afterthought he tossed in Cindy. There was no royal bow for Willum Baker, of course. That probably wasn’t an insult or a mistake. It was just some reading of the rules for such things that hadn’t been covered by his instructor at the one room school house in Pine Creek. That or it had been well and truly part of the lessons, but he was just not getting it at the moment. Sometimes things like that happened. After all, he was only human, like everyone else.

  Making mistakes was part of his day. Each and every one of them, in fact. Being extra intelligent had, in the main, only served to point out just how many of things he botched, really.

  The heir to the Throne of Noram patted him on the back, which was a bit close, given that the fight had only just ended. Not that it was much of one. The feeling coming off of the giant man was simply that Will had won. Not so much the battle itself, against the six guards, though he’d done well there. Clearly there had been no real struggling going on. No, the victory had come when Willum had stood up and then played the whole thing off perfectly, as if it weren’t one of the worst errors that had been made in a generation.

  That they were getting much the same from the foreign Ambassador was interesting as well. Thinking fast, since the large red-headed fellow wasn’t dull in any way, he gestured toward the door that would lead to the dining room.

  “This way, I believe? It’s about time for us to sit. Perhaps some wine?”

  Cin winked at the man, which was a thing that everyone in the room noticed. It wasn’t sexual in nature, but was familiar enough that a few were trying to take offense at the move. The rest just figured that the woman was playing around on purpose, since the situation was simply that dire in the moment. No one would have really blamed her for storming out, or even calling for a war.

  “Food sounds wonderful. Now, you were about to tell us about the new forest garden dome on Harmony? I hear that you’ve taken that up as a personal project?” She started to walk, which got almost everyone to follow along with her.

  Will certainly did. It was a good enough topic to act as a distraction. Plus, from the menu of words that came up behind his eyes, it was also clear that Cindy was trying to find out what to give the people of the Moon for all their help. Seeds, trees and other plants had come up as an idea before, but no one had delivered on that yet.

  They were situated close enough to the Prince and his lovely, if exotic, wife for conversation. It really did hold to seeds and plants for the main portion of the meal. As well as animals, which was a particular hobby of Princess Abbey. In that she redesigned the very beings of animals. She didn’t even use magic to make it happen, which was fascinating. Also, interestingly enough, the person at the table that best understood that form of change seemed to be Ambassador Cin.

  Willum tried not to let himself be too silent. The woman next to him, on the other side of Cindy, touched his arm gently.

  “Are you well?” The Queen’s voice was a little tense, but not unfriendly. “That attack on your person…”

  Willum laughed. It was slightly dark, but not sinister, he didn’t think.

  “I suppose that I’ll have to have a shouting match with the guards here over that. Later though? I’m certain they didn't mean me any real harm.” That was a lie, of course. They’d been actively attempting to accidently kill him as they struggled.

  In fact, at least half of the ones involved had been trying for that. Using cheap shots and weapons that weren’t seen at the time. His shield had held, and the fact that he was nearly impossible to actually harm had also aided him, but he didn't doubt that a normal man with only a shield on would have been at least crippled by some of what they’d been doing that evening.

  The youthful looking woman reached under the table and gently patted his right leg.

  “Ah? Good then. They normally do a very good job of things, but of late I think they’ve been feeling a tad overmatched by some of the people that have been coming through here. The world is changing so fast…”

  Like the King and Queen becoming immortal and younger than they had been, no doubt. They both looked good and still more or less like themselves, even if Tim Baker had done the work on them. That showed the wizard had the ability to do that kind of thing, when he wanted. He often pushed people into being incredibly fine looking however, for some reason.

  Will got that bit though, he figured. The man wanted those around him, the ones chosen for his aid, to do well. Being good looking helped with that in life. A lot. It was also a detriment at times. Such as with Willum’s own looks. He was noticed everywhere he went and half the time or more, people started to fantasize about having him in bed after no more than a minute or two. When he went to other worlds that part could become hard to deal with, since in certain places there were rules that meant he was required to do, or not do, different things if approached by a stranger.

  So far that had been the hardest part of his new job. Not messing up and insulting people who simply wanted his attention. The issue there was that in one world he might be required to be kind and pleasant, but in another expected to be cold and aloof. Even if the person coming at him had acted the same in both cases.

  People were forgiving of the smaller things, for the most part. Especially if they knew he was from a different reality. The large ones, like being accepted or rejected were harder. That seemed to be the truth almost everywhere that he’d been so far. There was no simple way around it, either. In Noram, depending where he was, Willum wouldn’t be asked, or he’d be basically required to service people. Given his upbringing that had been hard to understand at first.

  Now he could manage that, but the rules of fifty to a hundred different places also played through his mind when he went to different locations. It was confusing, especially given that he wasn’t totally certain he understood any of them clearly enough.

  For instance, he was nearly certain that Ambassador Cin wanted and even expected him to have relations with her that night. He was willing, since he wasn’t dead from the waist down or anything. The trick there was that he didn’t know what that meant to her, personally. That could have them dating, or even being engaged.

  It was also very possible that the woman would get what she wanted from him and then expect him to pretend he didn’t know her the next day. There were similar other situations going on in his life at the moment as well.

  Avery Rome, his good friend, as in a person that he’d been in combat with, three times now, was often referred to as his girlfriend in her own world. Even while her boyfriend, Phillip, stood right there with them. Now, she never did that kind of thing, but the elders there often did, including her father, Ambassador Freeman.

  The difference there was that Avery never tried to get him to do anything with her of a sexual nature. It wasn’t even hinted at, and didn't seem expected by her at all. The rest of the women in her world were different than that, making the whole thing a lot more confusing.

  From the far side, Ambassador Cin touched his leg, rubbing it just a bit. Near the knee, thankfully. Otherwise he might have popped from the attention, coming at him from both sides as it were.

  The woman spoke in a low, but polite tone. That meant it was pitched so that he knew it was meant for him, but loud enough that everyone else could hear.

  “We should talk about that, later? I actually have a little information on that…”

  He nodded. After all, asking a superior telepath of any sort not to read your mind wasn’t going to work. Really, he wasn’t certain she could avoid doing it. Not for long at least. Plus, he actually needed to understand everything he could, at the moment.

  “That sounds fun. After the meal, of course.” If they were going to be allowed to get out without half an hour of ceremony first.

  That turned out to be wrong. It more like two hours of scraping and bowing, all of it directed at Cindy. Finally, in the hidden back room that they’d been shown to, the whole royal family bowing at them nearly constantly, she waved her hand.
It was the fourth time that she’d tried doing something like that, but this time everyone sat up straight at the same time.

  The royals were all up on a small stone stage, sitting in tall and commanding red cushioned wooden chairs. The ones that he and Cindy had been given were shorter and done in a blue gray color. It looked drab and small in comparison. No one else was in the room with them at the time, which was fine enough.

  At least for an IPB Operative. Cindy was used to being a second-class citizen. So was Will, from his own life. It had to make things easier, for all that the people in front of him were acting ready to panic.

  Cindy Mableton laughed a bit, making it gentle.

  “I don’t hold you responsible for what others have done. Like I’ve said. I get the need for protocol to be observed, but I’m not really the Ambassador, you do know that, don’t you?”

  The Heir, Alphonse, bowed again, his face a bit red from all the bending over while he sat.

  “Aren’t you, though? You are the one that they send to us, to discuss aid and mutual benefit. Which you’ve provided personally, in a hundred ways already. Not just to our common interests, but in private matters that no one would have considered at first… Which is why you’re a target now, no doubt. The riff and raff of the noble world are beginning to realize that as long as you’re working on our side, they can’t plot or plan against us much at all.”

  That was probably true, Willum had to agree. He kept his mouth shut, since the King and Queen both seemed pretty tense about what had just been said. Not that it was insulting or fake sounding, either. No, the sense coming off of them was that they knew it to be true. Also, that the best plan to protect Cin was sending her back home. Where she couldn’t be used for her special and fantastic powers of the mind.

  The Heir had simply delivered that news to the woman, placing honor above his own gain of the moment.

  Willum, for the first time, spoke. It was no doubt out of turn, but no one glared at him when he did it. In fact, the King felt relieved for some reason.