He walked to her slowly and gave her a hug.
“Hey sis.” Tor winked.
“Brother. I… would you stand for me in this tonight please? Mother couldn't make it. I'm a little out of my depth here…” She looked down at the nice marble floor, which showed she wore comfortable shoes on her feet, nice white and red ones that look unusual and highly crafted. Magical constructs of her own devising? Amazing. Tor wondered at it and decided to get with her and see if she'd show him how to do his own like that.
Later. Right now it was dinner time.
It was rude really, for him to have a separate meal set up like he did, but with hundreds of guests, it would be needed. The table in the new dining room that Collette had formed out of the back of the kitchen space for ease of service for the over taxed staff, was small. Not tiny, but just big enough for about ten people.
His mother sat in the seat of the hostess, playing the part because Ali, brave as she was, had the job for the main table in the other room. Tor just wore his work uniform, hoping it wasn't tacky. Laurali looked really nice, younger than normal Tor thought. Almost like his sister Terlee. Tiera was off to the left and Timon was to the right.
He'd wonder where his dad was, but he sat at the main table for him as place holder. All these rules were strange to him, but it did seem to be working out. No one could feel that his own father being sent in was less than proper, could they? If they did, Tor decided not to care.
No one else was really there yet, though Collette followed them in. Tor stopped until everyone looked up. Lyn smiled widely, Tor watched her closely, not wanting her to feel uneasy, so he noticed her freeze suddenly as she looked at the table. At first Tor though it was about Weasel, who did cut a fine figure in his suit, even though it wasn't exactly a normal fashion for the Capital or anything. But then the girl took a step forward.
“Lara?” She said loud enough that everyone looked at her. Her voice was young sounding, timid, but different. Not as shy, but slightly… scared.
His mother just gave a small partial bow, seated. After all, Lyn was just a girl and not noble at all.
“I'm Laurali, are you Lyn?”
The girl froze then looked around half panicked, only to find Tor staring at her hard.
“This is Lara Gray's daughter. My mother Laurali Green Baker. Burks Green is her father, my grandfather, as I think you know? You probably have, haven’t you? We look just alike, I here.” Tor lightly touched her pattern and wanted to shake his head. He was such a moron sometime.
“Mother, this is Lyn Cooper. For lack of a better way of putting it, our sister.”
An Ancient.
Like they were. Tor took a deep breath and let it out when his field slipped over Tim, his little brother. Him too? God, was it everyone?
Now it was Tor's turn to panic. The world couldn't take too many people that just wouldn't die. He reviewed in his mind and nodded. He couldn't tell with his littlest brothers and sisters, but the rest were normal. Thank the universe. He looked at Lyn and smiled.
“I don't know which color though. Red or Blue? I think I've met the rest, mainly.”
The voice that came from behind him was his own, just a bit deeper, Tor turned, which was hard to do at the moment and saw that not only were Burks and Denno there, but his uncle Dan.
Denno stepped forward and grinned slightly.
“Red. This is your sister Lyn Red. The Ancient of Vagus.”
Of course she was.
Chapter Twenty-one
“Well.” Tor didn't let it bug him. After all, he had absolutely no context for this at all did he? She'd lied…
Nope.
He'd never asked. Or checked. It wasn’t a normal question to ask when meeting someone, was it?
She'd even asked if she could call him brother, hadn't she? It made sense now at least.
“Let's all have a seat then. So, just to shorthand this, um, Lyn, looking to get married? Dorgal's a good sort, after a fashion. You've met, good enough looking an all that. So, what do you think?” Collette was wide eyed, standing in the door alone still. He waved her in and motioned she should shut the door.
So it was a mess with Lyn after all.
Good to know.
She looked around, like she wanted to run. It was a little skittish if it was just about Dorgal's proposal. Her eyes went still after a minute though and she blew a bit breath out at him and shook her head.
“No… I don't want to be rude, but I'm probably going to be fighting with my family for the next two hundred years over this as it is. Not fair to drag some innocent into this. I would have liked to at least finish learning to be a builder though. It's not covered in the treaty.” She spun and looked at the men behind her, Green Brown and Uncle Dan.
“It's not. I checked. For about a hundred years. I checked. I can do this. Vagus can.” Then she suddenly looked ready to fight her way out of the room.
Even clutching a force lance in her left hand. Tor hadn't noticed it before at all. It had to have come there when he was distracted by her being… Her.
“Calm Lyn. No one’s going to mention anything to anyone outside this room. Right Denno? Burks?” His voice had gone, cheery, Tor noticed. Happy.
That or insane. Either worked.
“For now, let's get a seat and see to dinner. As for the marriage proposal, um Collette, could you send word to the Sorvee's that Lyn has to decline, because…” Tor looked around the room. Nothing came to mind at all.
Gah.
It was Tiera who came up with something.
“Why not tell them she's the Ancient of Austra, and might have to have a fight with her family for a few hundred years? Given this crowd, everyone will believe it and it's not like it's a secret or anything. Most people just don't care here, do they? Though catching an Ancient like that would be a good deal for this man, Dougal?” She looked at Collette.
“Dorgal.” She corrected gently.
“Then he can accept or not, based on that, if you want. Um, Lyn. If you don't want to say no, then just dump the real reasons on him. They’re so crazy he'd have to accept it. Probably without hurt feelings.”
Collette chuckled and put her hands on her hips, something Tor had never seen her do before.
“We haven't gotten a real answer from Lyn Cooper yet. If you want to get married, I need to present things differently than if you don't. Even if you can't for the reasons you said, wanting too is a real point. If you aren't willing, I can just lie and save face for him somehow. Say you have someone else or something.” There was no toe tapping, the pretty blond was too cultured for that, but it was implied. Strongly.
Lyn looked down, then sat when Tor pulled a chair for her. It had a nice dark brown shiny wood look to it, with a soft red cushion. It hadn't a few seconds before, but he changed it when he touched the chair. It got her to laugh.
“Oh… Alright then. Please tell him that I'd love to marry, but as the leader of the largest land on the planet, we may need to relocate back there, at least part time. If he still wants to. I'll understand if he doesn't of course. I know it's a bit of a sudden change.”
Collette's eyes went wide.
“Wonderful! I'll go do that right now then, shall I?” She didn't wait to be excused, just turning and leaving without a pause, strained smile on her lips.
Oh, right, room full of Ancients. That would do it.
“Sit, please, everyone. I think we have enough room. I don't know how we're supposed to get food, but we'll figure something out.” He strode to the top of the table and sat next to his mother.
“Does everyone know everyone else?” He looked around and saw Dan shake his head no, still smiling.
It was his house, so his job.
