That led to a rather long and drawn out discussion about how Tor was probably too naive and should learn that people other people won't be as trusting or trustworthy as he was. Karina in particular was nearly livid with anger at him. If she didn't hit him, it was only because her fist kept being repelled by his shield. Rolph kept shaking his head, but he smiled at least and finally asked his sister to save the destruction of Tor, at least until Denno didn't show up for dinner. It was clear no one thought he would and by nine, when dinner was normally served, Tor was kind of convinced of that himself.
The only person waiting for him was Tor, everyone else having decided that it wasn't worth the headache. At ten past Tor turned to go back in, only to hear a now familiar voice call out.
“Ah! Sorry about that, I thought the other side of the building was the side entrance, things are a little turned around for me here.” The man looked… well, good of course, but his clothing was still the same as what he'd worn to work in.
Giving him an appraising look, Tor reached over towards him slowly and focused for about ten seconds. The appearance of the clothing shifted and warped, leaving the man in a fine sit of loose silk and soft sued boots. Brown of course. A light and shimmering brown, lighter than the Ancients skin, just a few shades for the sake of contrast. Once that was done a single gesture got Denno to walk in ahead of him. It was a bit of a slow and cautious walk, but no one waited inside.
The Ancient looked back at him and smiled, “Well, that's refreshing. I kind of half expected a trap. I know you can't be well pleased with me right now…”
That was… not actually true. The fact was that Tor didn't care too much about most of the things that had been done and really only wanted things to be fixed. It was a lot to ask for, but he hoped it would be possible in time. Maybe even before a vast war ripped the world apart? As they walked down the black stone floor, polished to gleaming, Tor could only hope. The alternative was useless killing. No one liked that. No one sane.
When they walked in to dinner, a bit late, everyone else was still standing. Karina looked close to tears, but froze completely when Rolph smiled and gestured lightly towards the door. Shortly after that everyone turned to stare at Brown for a bit, after a few seconds the man just gave a small, mostly ironic, bow.
“I've found over the years that it's best not to anger my fellows. I might be able to outrun the kingdom of Noram for a few generations, but I don't think I'd like to try my odds against Tor.” Smiling he winked at Karina.
“Besides, I really can't stand Daria Serge. I should have taken care of her long ago, but I really don't have the stomach for it. But helping you do it, that I can manage. Shall we eat first or…”
The Queen gave the man a cold look, but gestured towards the far end of the table. The very last position. If Denno got that this was the poison seat he didn't respond to it at all. He simply sat quietly, and waited. Diner came, it was good, but not much would have pulled attention from the Austran Ancient, all eyes rested on that last chair, staring and examining in a way that would have made any Noram noble simply refuse to eat, even if it would give offense. As it was the man simply smiled and ate slowly. Tor didn't get it at first, yet in the end it made sense in a strange way.
If he was poisoned and ate slowly, he'd be able to realize it and stop before getting too much into his system. Tor couldn't confirm it, and really couldn't ask, ordinarily you didn't talk about such things at the table after all. Did Denno's pattern, genetics or whatever it was that made him immortal, help him fight off the effects of such things?
It kind of made sense.
When Tor had been poisoned it had sucked and he was worn down for a long time, but he'd also had a lot of cyanide. A whole lot. Enough to kill several people at least. Was it the same for this other man?
A moot point anyway, because no one here planned to kill him. Really it was the other way around, as long as he wanted to help out. Karina was watching the man closely, but her damp eyes had dried and a look that spoke of craftiness had taken the place of defeat. Ali sat next to him, her leg pressed to his for comfort, so Tor made a point of touching the white puffy sleeve of the gown she'd changed into, a soft fabric that reminded one of clouds. It was the look to clothes that she seemed to prefer. Light colored and fluffy.
For their parts, without letting it show too much, both Richard and Connie seemed shocked to learn that the Brown man had been working in their guest house. More, the report from Quavel, the Queen’s personal butler Tor thought, if such a position actually existed, was that the new man, Greg, was actually doing a superb job of it too. Diligent and hard working, as well as learning the ropes faster than normal.
Tor just shrugged.
“Well, for now, I guess he should just stick with that then.” Tor addressed the royals directly, but then turned to Denno and smiled.
“Though after you get together with the girls here, I think you and I should start on those years of needed discussion? Maybe you can short hand it so that I can get mainly up to speed a little faster than that?”
There was a small look of shock from the older man, which baffled Tor, but he stood and bowed, which wasn't the custom in Austra, so was done for some other reason. When he sat he ate again, still slowly and frustratingly didn't explain. Probably a trick then, to make Tor wonder what it was all about. Of course he just didn't care really.
It made him harder than usual to fluster.
Honestly, while Tor didn't want his friends hurt or killed, it didn't matter much to him who ruled the world. That was the kind of thing that almost had to change eventually. The current system was old and stable. That didn't make it perfect. Of course if the Austran Ancient tried to hurt his kingdom, Tor would try and stop it, just a given really. If the man had a thousand year plan to take over, then that wasn't really a problem was it? Not anything to fight over. They could get together and just chat about it, draw maps and make plans so that no one got hurt and in the end things ran more smoothly.
Really he just assumed that that was what the treaty the Ancients went on about was.
The big issue for Tor was the Larval assassins. If he had that situation right, there was an army of insane super beings ready to be turned loose soon. On them. Given everything so far, possibly on him, personally. They really seemed to dislike Tor for some reason.
The thought stuck in his head for a moment. Was that really the case? Austra had declared war, a full out, hard core battle of wills and armies, but all they'd done is send in about fifteen assassins and a few fast flying craft. They had some boats off the coast, but really, they honestly just pulled up along fishermen and called them names. They had a full military, Tor had seen some of them, so it wasn’t like that was honestly the best they could do. It had been nearly two years now even…
Who declared war and didn't fight?
Someone that was using it as a distraction for their real goal, that's who.
Ah. So, at the very least, someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. That was probably an Ancient then. Denno? Lara? Tor reflected on it for a moment, and then had to let it go. He didn’t have enough information to guess, did he?
Tor took a deep breath and let it out so slowly he couldn't help but fall into a trance state. No one noticed except Rolph, who was a lot more attuned to such things than anyone else for some reason. It really wouldn't shock him at all to learn that the Prince had more than a little bit of natural building talent. Something to think on later. For now Tor gave a slow nod and a smile.
“Rolph, would it be all right if you and I talked after the meal? Some things, land and a few other bits.” The words had that slow cadence and almost drugged slurring to them that meant he'd gone deep. It was the kind of thing he did to prevent panic. In the whole kingdom only one person really knew that, everyone else just thought he was a little air-headed sometimes, or at least drifty and not connected. Rolph, his friend, the heir to the kingdom, got it instantly.
“Alright, I've been meaning to set some things up with you anyway. Besides, I think the ladies are going to want to keep their own meeting from us…” The smile he gave his sister and then turned on Ali could have made them squirm, but Karina just chuckled. It was a little scary, because it didn't sound like her. Really, it didn't even seem exactly sane. It sounded like Lillith Degray, to tell the truth.
“Oh, don't worry. We won't do anything illegal or even immoral. Remember, Daria Serge has already been sentenced to death legally and escaped custody using coercion on a grand scale. All we're going to do is fix that.” She had a wicked smile on her face as she looked at her father.
“Can't fault that, can you? I mean, you could, but this is real justice here, I'm not even talking simple revenge or using the principle of placement. This is all legal and everything. Granted, we have to be careful, but I promise
