beer all the time without even drinking.
The day went faster since he knew what he was doing and they couldn’t really stop working if they wanted to keep up with demand. Solid work always helped to pass the time, he knew. Debbie ran from the front to the back as he scurried around trying to keep up with everything. For him it was the fastest he’d ever moved while baking by far. At least he had his equalizing amulet. Tor felt a little bad for Debbie, who was obviously uncomfortable most of the time. Not bad enough to give up his own amulet… yet, but he felt himself getting there.
He had a few more ready to go, sitting in his luggage. Somewhere in the palace if they hadn’t just put it all out on the street. Rolph better not have let that happen. Even if he wasn’t important enough to be a guest there, just dumping his stuff would be rude. Most of what he owned was in those two cases. Things weren’t important, not really, but they could be handy. For instance it would be nice to have his own toothbrush and soap.
At noon Debbie let him have a break, a few minutes to eat a couple of the hand pies, that and bread being what they had extra of at the moment, and wash it down with a few cups of water. He just sat on the floor in the back while he ate, looking through the door at the people coming in. That’s why he noticed when the sun went away.
It hadn’t really gone, of course, it was just that a really large person stood in front of the windows looking in. A few seconds later the blond man entered the shop, looking around curiously.
Tovey.
Tor brushed off some crumbs and wiped his mouth with his hand before standing all the way up. He’d finished anyway. Count Thomson looked around for a few seconds as Tor walked out from the back. Debbie’s eyes goggled a bit.
“May I help you my lord?” She actually stood up from the wooden stool she used and curtsied, not that Tovey could see her behind the counter.
“Tovey! Enjoying the festival?” Tor felt happy to see the familiar face. True, he could, in a pinch, just walk to the nearest gate and leave the city on his own, even fly back to school by flying north and following land marks, but inside the city… He actually had no idea where he was.
“There you are! Everyone’s been off looking for you. Alphonse has been half convinced that you’d gotten yourself kidnapped by a whore master and set to servicing tourists, and Connie wanted to send out the troops to search every part of the kingdom for you. I would have shown up with everyone in tow, but I wanted to make sure you were really here first myself. Collette told me you were. She also told me to mention that the hand pies were very good by the way. She’ll probably be back in tomorrow for more. The Baron, her father, particularly enjoyed the apple raisin ones with icing. I was asked to make a point of telling you that.”
Tor made a mental note of it. He could have some of those ready, he let Tovey know.
“Ohhh, hey, if everyone isn’t hating on Tor right now, do you think someone would send my luggage over? I’d kill for a clean shirt and my razor, you know?”
The giant man nodded and looked over at Debbie.
“Those pies do smell delicious. What kinds do you have?”
That started them on a discussion of what was available, which allowed Tor to get the unbaked pies from the rack into the oven. Thankfully they were a pastry, and didn’t need to rise. After he was done he popped his head back out to check on his friend who was just passing over some coins in exchange for a large bag.
“I’m here for the week.” Tor said simply. “So if you could help out with the clothes and stuff…” He felt more than a little awkward sending a Count off to get his laundry, but really he didn’t know where the palace was from here right now, and if he went, he doubted that the guards would help him retrieve his things for some reason. First, it really wasn’t their job. Second, he’d probably pissed off more than a few of them with the whole Wensa thing, if they’d heard about it. They might not kill him over it, but being a little difficult with him was probably fair. Who could blame them? If someone had locked up his friends for what turned out to be no reason he’d be a little cold towards them too, probably.
“Sure, I’ll get your luggage, but you are coming to the party tomorrow, aren’t you? Everyone will think you’re mad at them if you don’t. Not that I’d blame you myself, but you don’t seem too upset about things…”
Tor shrugged. Why would he be upset overly? This wasn’t what he’d had in mind and he still had to find out if Winchester was holding a grudge, but it would serve. Plus, Debbie had said that she was making about forty percent more money this year so far, because they could keep up with demand. It was a huge jump in earnings for her, even after his half silver for the week.
“I guess. I, um, don’t know how to get there though. I kind of wondered over a big chunk of the city after getting left at the gates like that. So…”
Tovey laughed and told him that he’d take care of everything, then left which after a few minutes caused even more people to come in than before. After all, anyplace that’s good enough for a Count must be good enough for the man on the street, right? Tor had to keep baking until nearly nine that night. People kept streaming in, even after they normally would have closed. At about ten Rolph, Trice, Sara and Varley all came in with his luggage. Debbie took the lull they caused by their presence to close the shop. Or more to the point, the half dozen large Royal Guardsmen standing out front, keeping everyone else out. They’d pretty much sold everything out anyway.
“Yay, luggage.”
Tor didn’t have but about three seconds before everyone rushed him. Even Rolph hugged him, picking him up off his feet and swinging him side to side for a second, before Trice grabbed him and kissed him soundly. Sara joined in that, but just kissed him on the cheek. From Varley he just got a hug, but it was a lingering one that she didn’t let go for nearly twenty seconds.
“Oh, hey, everyone, this is my boss Debbie who owns the shop and gave me a job for the week. Debbie, this is in order of who’s going to be yelled at least, Princess Veronica Cordes who is, as far as I can tell, blameless in the whole Tor abandonment project. Sara Debri, who’s not only pretty but has no particular reason to run out of the palace looking for me, except that we’re supposed to be in business together, and losing a whole Tor like that has got to be embarrassing. I mean, what would your mother say? My fiancee Patricia Morgan, who you’d think might have at least come and told me that I needed to find someplace for the night through the fence and finally a guy who claims to be my best friend, Rolph. Oh, um, he’s sometimes called Alphonse too.”
Debbie looked like she was about to pass out, but then so did everyone else so maybe that was fair?
It was the giant red headed Prince that spoke first, blushing brightly.
“Tor… Look, it wasn’t like we meant to leave you at the gate; it was just that we had to find dad to change the gate information and he was off in a meeting with some of his advisors. We finally had to get mom to go in and get him to change the order for the gate guards, which turned out not to need changing, because you were on the list, only not as Torrence Baker, but just Tor. It really was there too, I looked at it myself, right on the first page with the important people and everything, please don’t be insulted, no one was trying to snub you or anything…” Rolph looked worried, as if Tor would throw a fit or something.
It didn’t really matter. Sure he’d felt abandoned and lost for a couple of days, but it wasn’t important or anything. A sad look crossed his face, he felt it form and made it leave as soon as he could get it too. Standing off to the side Debbie looked at each person in turn, as if trying to figure out what was going on.
“So, if this is Princess Veronica, and the heir is here trying to claim that you weren’t really abandoned at the palace gate then… you’re… Tor?” The bake shop owner looked at him skeptically for some reason.
“Like I said I was, yes. Tor Baker. Student, grew up in a bakery, makes little magic stuff sometimes and gets abandoned at the palace gates. Anyway, everyone needs to go now, because Debbie needs to get some sleep and we go back to work inside six hours.” For affect Tor yawned himself, which got a real one from Debbie. They really had been working hard and on short sleep and would be for days.
Rolph bowed deeply and held it for nearly half a minute. When he stood he spoke softly, not looking up.
“Both father and mother have personally requested, if you’re not too angry with all of us, that you come to the party tomorrow night? I know that we’d all love it if you showed up. This was just a stupid set of errors, honestly Tor…”
The Princess dimpled at him and kissed him on the cheek. She had to stoop slightly to do it. That was no fair of course, since she’d been about the same height as him when they met just a few months before. He suppressed a sigh. They grow up so fast, Tor thought, looking at her.
“Show up a bit before nine, mom and dad will want to talk to you first. Groveling to be done and all that. Dinner party, obviously, so don’t fill up first. Oh! Mom said to tell you that she’s sorry about the mix up and to give
