Thankfully, near that group was Count Thomson, who stood next to a beautiful blond woman that was at least a foot taller than Tor. He worked his way over and stood near them, hoping that he'd be noticed, the Count being used to seeing him around at least. The woman noticed him first, which kind of surprised him, since no one else had been looking down enough for the most part.
“Hello!” She said brightly holding out her right hand. “Baronetta Collette Coltress.”
Tor took the hand and bowed over it a little, like he'd seen everyone else doing with the ladies.
“Torrence Baker.” He said simply. It was the only name he had, even if it wasn't impressive sounding and didn't have a fancy title attached. The woman nodded and kept smiling as if his name was completely ordinary for the room.
“This is a lovely party isn't it? I was so pleased when Count Thomson invited me. I'm afraid that I normally wouldn't rate an invitation to something like this at all, not on my own merits.” She flushed prettily and ducked her head as if embarrassed at her “low” station. It worked with the soft pink color of her dress. Her green eyes looked a little humbled as she glanced around. Tor could sympathize. The woman leaned in a little and whispered conspiratorially to him. “The man with the red hair behind me? He's the heir! And we're standing right here not ten feet from him. The Count said he'd get me an introduction to him if we can make our way over through this crowd, isn't that something? I've met his little sister Veronica, but never Alphonse himself…”
“You know, I've never actually met Veronica myself. I… thought her name was Valarie to tell you the honest truth. I think we must have just kept missing each other so far. This place is so huge, you know? Anyway, nudge Tovey's arm for me will you? I want to use him as a shield so that I don't get stepped on.”
The girls eye's lit happily and she jiggled her date's arm enough to catch his attention and related what Tor had said. The man turned to look around and looked over his head twice, not even playing around. Everyone else in the room was just that big.
“Tor! There you are, yes, come stand by me and Collette here. You've met?”
“Oh, yes. Old friends you know.” Tor answered with a smile, being that the Count had pulled him close enough that he bumped into the pink ruffles the woman wore. She smelled nice, he noticed, the scent catching him from about three inches away as she turned, her bust line almost hitting him in the face. Not a bad view, but a little hard to stare at, being too close to focus on, he chuckled a little and took a half step back. At least it wasn't just him, everyone was packed this closely together in the room. Nearly at least. Tor accidentally stepped into someone and turned rapidly to apologize.
He froze, but only for a second. A sense of relief came over him as he finished the turn. Trice. “Hey! So good to see you…” His face faltered as he saw her eyes. They looked sad and hurt. She shook her head and turned away.
“I'm sorry.” She mumbled and walked away.
Chapter Ten
“Um, what?” Tor said to her back, catching her sleeve lightly, which got an annoyed glance from her as she looked over his head. Finally she looked down and her eyes focused.
“Tor? Sorry, didn't notice you.” She sounded distracted and glum.
“Are you alright?” He asked quickly, leaning close in hopes that not everyone in the room would hear.
She shook her head. “Not here. Later. I'll explain, but… It isn't for this place.”
“OK. Later. Don't forget though.”
Collette, the lady in pink that stood right behind him oriented herself so that her chest pressed against his back briefly, nearly the back of his head, so that she could see who he talked too. She introduced herself using her title again, Baronetta Coltress. Trice's eyes went wide as she noted the contact between them and then she sagged a little, looking almost like she was going to cry.
Tor pointed out that Collette was with Count Thomson, which helped his friend perk back up a good bit. She was probably glad to have her other, more appropriate, friends around. After all, he couldn't help her much here, especially if something had made her sad. Or help her anywhere else really, unless it was a simple problem that one of his little field projects or devices could aid with. Or a baking emergency. Then he could do something.
Seriously, he was all over that one.
Her dress was a deep blue, one that offset cornflower color of her eyes wonderfully, she wore a simple silver chain around her neck from which the shield he'd given her flashed. Trice wore it openly as if it were something to be proud of. Did she expect danger he wondered? Maybe he should stay ready then. Trice knew her way around these things better than Tor ever would, no doubt. Collette noticed where he looked and pointed at it excitedly.
“Oh! Is that a Tor device? I haven't managed to get one yet. Almost no one has them you know. How did you manage, I mean if it's alright to ask?” Her voice didn't sound catty or anything, just curious.
Trice smiled and pointed at Tor with a half wave. “He gave it to me, several months ago. A present just because, he said. It's a full Tor-shield, one of the newest ones, the fourth model, updated past what the military has even. And smaller too. The original plates were about the size of half your hand. This one's barely the size of a large coin as you can see.”
The woman behind him grasped his shoulder slightly and spun him half around. She didn't speak to him, but to Trice instead.
“Seriously? Are you two… friends?” Tor started to say yes, but Trice shook her head.
“Not that kind. He's just really nice.” Her smile looked a little sad to Tor, which didn't make sense. A lot of things just didn't in this world of royals and palaces.
A deep voice came from behind Collette. “That's true. He gave me the shield I'm wearing and my flying gear too.” Count Thomson smiled. “Tor is a good friend to have for a lot of reasons, and trust me, these things aren't even the biggest part by half. He saved my honor once.” Tovey put a hand on Tor's shoulder and smiled. “Something I haven't forgotten by the way.”
Trice nodded.
“Me either.”
It took him a second to get what they meant, the whole thing with him hitting Tovey on the back. Right. He was about to tell them that there was no debt between friends, which was just true, but didn't get a chance.
A stirring came from up front, near the raised platform the King and Queen were on. No more than a sudden silence and shifting of weight, but the whole room suddenly turned to look. It was kind of amazing really. A field of effect? That felt right, but whatever had gotten their attention was already finished now. Kind of a shame. It would have been interesting to examine how it worked.
Mind magics like that were considered delicate and complex things, rare and valuable, but not overly useful in day to day life. Though a field that projected a sense of peace would have worked at some of the King's meetings Tor bet, wondering if the man had one yet. If not he should find a master builder to make him one.
The loud man called out for Trice's parents, the Duke and Baroness. Tor wondered why the woman wasn't a Duchess, but figured there was some complicated and ultimately baffling reason he wouldn't understand. They both walked to the front, the crowd parting gently before them, slightly stiff looks on their faces.
The King explained loudly for the whole room with a gentle smile.
“A gift! Master Tor asked me personally to deliver these to you. Two sets of flying gear with full shields. May you use them with joy and prosperity.” Richard handed over the box his eyes alight.
Everyone clapped as if it was a big deal. Then again, it was delivered from the hand of the King, which did kind of make it special. Tor figured that if he'd just given them each a bag of fertilizer from the stables people would have clapped too. The idea made him want to laugh, but he didn't feel like explaining just then. Especially to their daughter, lest she think he was insulting them instead of just laughing at the idea itself.
Instead he shook his head and murmured just loud enough for Trice to hear.
“Master Tor? Kind of him, but I have a long way to go before I earn that title, you know?”
From behind them a few people someone, a woman, asked if the Baroness was sleeping with Tor or something, to get such a gift.
At first Tor was afraid that people thought his gift was too poor to be given like this, which he agreed with.
