carefree tone when he said it, but it was about the honest truth. A sharp fall wouldn't kill him now, but repeated blows just might. Even ten or twelve. He wouldn't survive a fight with Veren the Royal Guard for instance. Then, that had never really been the case, not if the man wanted him dead, so it wasn't that big of an issue really. Not for his ego at least.
And he was far too slow to get himself out of the way easily. Then, if he did hit, his tired and exhausted frame just couldn't deliver the needed power. Hitting the man over and over again with a pillow would be about as effective. More maybe, since at least that would be a weapon. To survive he needed to discover something, some kind of trick or something to make it all work.
There was silence in the room for a while, almost a coldness coming from the Queen, who looked a little worn down for some reason. Hopefully not him, Tor thought, since that shouldn't be something to bother with. After several minutes of silence she stood and walked to him, wrapping him gently in her arms.
“I won't let him hurt you. We'll declare you under the Queen’s protection and that will be that. Either he takes back his challenge or I'll have him executed.” Low and deadly she seemed about to go on, when a voice behind her interrupted.
“And cause every count and Duke in the kingdom to doubt our ability to defend ourselves. There's a very real reason why no Knight challenged as such backs down dear. We pick the best only, those willing to die for the people of this land, able to stand no matter what. If we protect Tor from a man he's easily handled before it will show a lack of faith in our own people and our own trust in him.” The King didn't boom, being normal speaking tone. It wasn't hidden though, spies in the walls or not.
Meaning he wanted people to hear him.
“That said dear, a hard challenge right now or not, I don't think it would do to undersell Tor. We've seen him take on things no one else could have survived and frankly, Baron Rochester isn't in his league at all as a fighter, which the man knows. That he tries to strike at a time of infirmity confirms that. The man fears Tor, it's clear. Even now I'd hazard. It has to have occurred to him that Tor both crippled him and created the device that healed him as well. Even a moron would have to understand the kind of power that represents.”
That was heartening, the speech the King gave for his wife and the listeners benefit. A bit of a shame though, Tor decided, the Queen’s protection would have been nice about then.
Stupid honor.
“Right, well, as I was just about to say, this isn't a real problem. I've been working to recover my strength, field pattern solidity, and have made great strides, I just have to get a bit more done and I'm sure it will be fine. I mean, I may lose the fight, I won't lie there, I really am pretty weak right now, but I shouldn't die.” It was a lie of course, at east possibly. Right now it would be a bit like a five year old trying to fight the man, maybe a nine year old. There was still real enough danger. He made his voice go smooth and confident, shrugging as he said it.
“Not fun, but I'd hazard it won't be the last beating I ever take. Who knows, maybe I'll figure something out in the next few days? I know that I'm not making funeral plans for this.”
He wasn't. That task, by tradition, was for the living, if anyone cared to do it at all. Otherwise they could just drop him in a hole. That would work well enough.
Laughing, as if much reassured himself, Rich slapped him on the back, gently, gave his wife a hug and left them alone, probably thinking they'd have sex. Tor hadn't noticed him doing things like that before, but it was kind of obvious right now to him for some reason. Well, he'd give her some cuddles, but doing much more was pretty much out.
They moved to a back room and shut the door. Tor moved with her gently, kissing her at first, as soon as she sat on the low leather sofa. They just held each other, nibbling and stroking for a while, then he playfully turned off her clothing amulet and looked at her. Creamy soft skin, dark hair at the juncture of her legs with just a bit of a red hint and dark nipples that puckered just slightly at his touch.
“I love you, you know.” Tor whispered it, as he sank in front of her, letting his mouth find the mound of her womanhood. He might not be up to a twenty mile run, but he managed with her all right, though it left his tongue sore and lips feeling a little chapped.
She sighed after tensing and spasming under him and pushed him away a bit, so that he could be pulled up to her lips.
“I love you too. Don't die.” The last was a command. Solid and forceful. “I don't care what you have to do. Flee, or cheat. Have the man killed or poisoned before hand to make the fight more even. Whatever it takes, live my love.”
Then she spent a while kissing him, moving finally to repay his efforts with her own, trying to get his clothing off. Tor stopped her with a wink.
“Sorry, none of that, I need to keep my strength for a bit. I know it's a silly superstition, not being with a woman before a battle, but just in case, I don't want to push it.” Plus, he hadn't responded at all, even while working on her. She was as lovely as a woman could be, but… nothing.
It was embarrassing.
At least she let him off the hook easily, either understanding the real problem or accepting that he had some reason for not doing it at that moment. She dressed, a simple flip of her hand near the chest, turning the amulet for her soft blue velvet gown back on with a thought. It was clean, of course, with no signs of what they'd done, no wrinkles or stains. Then it wasn't really the same garment was it?
It just looked like it.
Tor stood and smiled, nodding to her and giving her a hug before standing back. She was taller than he was, and always would be. Even for common men he wasn't over tall, right in line for average. That made a difference in a fight.
So, if he would do it, Burks would have to slouch.
After all, wasn't he essentially the same person? It would look right at least. Tor would need to coach him in fighting though, he realized as he flew back to his house. Otherwise Burks would win too easily. Provided the man didn't insist he fight anyway. He could be too busy or just not want to be bothered after all. In that case Tor would fight and do the best he could. It wasn't exactly a good plan, but what else could he do?
Cheat.
Tor smiled. Yeah, he could do that.
It was time, he figured, for another trip to Grenwyn. If nothing else, maybe Burks would have an idea or two for him? It would probably require him to give up his life and run away or something though. Or possibly just doing something he hadn't thought of. Publicly humble himself in front of the man, begging for forgiveness? He wasn't sorry though, so it would probably seem false. The man had relations with a little girl. The only reason Tor had left him alive had been the fact that he hadn't done it again after that one time.
There were ways. Getting Burks in was a handy idea, of course, if possible.
Or he could build a device that would make him faster and stronger? Wrap him in a shield that would work on mental feedback, and help his body move…
Which would totally work. It would be cheating, but he was so willing to do that. Had orders from the Queen to do it if he could even. The only downside being that it was an incredibly complex field and would take him a month to make, carefully, if he was well. He doubted that anyone else could make it. Yet. Lyn would be able to in a year or two, he didn't doubt, but until then, no. He made a point of writing the idea down and mapping it out though. I could still come in handy later.
He had a lot of ideas, but all of them ran to about that level of difficulty. He could do them, if he was healthy, or someone else could, if they had time and a reason too. He could even just have the man killed, except Baron Rochester dying two days out from any kind of dual would look suspicious. Enough to make people talk and doubt the King.
Shaking his head, Tor decided to go to visit his grandfather the next day just in case he could come up with anything.
It would mean a scolding no doubt. Tor got that he'd messed up of course. He acted when he shouldn't have, beating the man when the matter wasn't his business to deal with. If he'd held his hand, this wouldn't be happening. For that matter it wouldn't have if he'd killed the guy either. The only thing that could have caused this was what he did.
Yay.
Well, at least he knew it was all him this time and wouldn't have to look around for who to blame. That saved
