ones at the back that normally brought the plates and silver.
The girl had white blisters going up her right wrist and the boy had similar burns on both hands, his left having taken the brunt of it. Crap. Tor left the King and Queen standing without a word and ran to the kids, gasping from even the small effort. He didn’t know what to do. Minor burns just got some cool spring water and a loose wrapping at home, but these were way worse than anything he’d seen before.
A voice, dark and husky, male it sounded like, but in a kind of way that he couldn’t really be sure, spoke from behind him.
“Such wounds should be cooled. I have pain medicines in my bags that should help, but no advanced healing gels. They look like second degree burns only, so as long as infection isn’t allowed to set in, they should be fine. I’ll run and get those medicines, if someone here can see to some cool water or ice? Don’t let ice touch the wounds directly, put it in water!”
Tor turned to see a pink and blue dress or robe hurrying into the palace faster than he could have run being pulled by a horse. The skin was very dark, but he couldn’t see the face. What that person had said made sense though.
“Ice? And a bucket or large container of water? One for each of the burned people if we can manage it.” Tor spoke the words gently, but a purple and black clad Royal Guard ran off and started organizing the unharmed servants as if the King had ordered it himself. Probably just glad that someone had a useful suggestion.
Throwing water on a grease fire…
Ice they had, the cold boxes still working perfectly, they just had to use some little hammers and chisels to break ice off of one of the big blocks and float the chunks in water for each person. Four guards got the water for them and brought the buckets directly to each child, running with them quickly, but not spilling even a drop. It was like they’d practice this, just in case, or something. Tor knelt down trying to explain to the kids as they kept crying.
“Alright, this shouldn’t hurt at all, but it will feel cold, don’t be afraid, it will make you feel better.” He didn’t really know of it would or not, but the boy put his hands in first to his bucket and stopped making noise almost instantly.
“Thank you sir. Go ahead Gemma, it helps a lot.” With this recommendation, the young girl put her right hand in the cold water. She kept crying, but much more softly.
Before anyone’s attention could come back to him, a running figure burst from the palace door and moved towards them fast enough that all of the palace guards had their hands on their belt pouches. No one drew at least, which was good, because it was just the dark skinned person that had gone for medicine.
Looking at the individual in question closely, Tor still couldn’t decide if they were male or female. Pretty either way though. The colors of the robe were bright, pink and blue, with a few green strips around the edges. If the person wore shoes at all normally, they’d flown off in the run, because bare feet stuck out below the legs now. The skin was really dark, an even tone much closer to true black than anyone he’d ever met. The eyes were a glassy light blue, and the hair was a bright and fiery red that made Tor think of a bird as to the color. Male or female, they were certainly fascinating to look at. Beautiful even. So Tor used the excuse of watching them apply the medicine to the kids to observe.
They held a small vial, filled with something red, that when used to draw a line on the skin all the way around the arm above the wounds apparently got children with burns to stop crying instantly. It was a miracle really.
“Hey children, this is the good pain medicine, so you won’t feel much of anything for a while. Don’t worry, your hands are still there.” The smile was straight and bright, almost glowing from the face.
The Queen went over to the strange looking person, and bowed. It was a low and humble looking thing coming from the Queen, but the colorful person bowed lower and longer, making the move look graceful and planned. If Tor had tried the same thing he would have looked like a backwoods hick trying to put on airs. Of course just standing there he probably managed that anyway, didn’t he? Tor snorted softly to himself.
“Thank you Ambassador Mutta. Your concern and aid is most appreciated.” The King put in, which got him a tolerant smile and nod of the head without even a glance in his direction.
“It is only what one does in an emergency.” The ambassador turned to look at Tor, and suddenly smiled, a big toothy thing. “Ah! Finally someone correctly sized! I was beginning to think that everyone here was trying to outgrow the others for some kind of contest.” Mutta must have been a full inch taller than Tor so he smiled back and winked.
“Not at all, the goal is to be the shortest when you’re fully grown. So far I’m winning. Of course I haven’t told anyone else the rules yet…”
“Hah! Someone with a sense of humor. Are you the court jester then? The one that tells jokes and stories to amuse us? Do you sing and dance too? It was suggested in my briefing packet that there might be such. Can you caper merrily? I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” The ambassador actually seemed excited by the idea, clapping their hands a little bit.
The King and Queen both looked horrified, but Varley had to hide a smile behind her hand. Tor just crossed his arms playfully and sighed loudly at Mutta.
“No… I applied for the position, but wasn’t cute enough. Instead they hired some giant guy named “Alphonse”. Now, I personally don’t think he’s funny at all, but what can I do? He’s got family connections here.” Mugging slightly Tor pointed at the King and Queen then shrugged exaggeratedly. The Ambassador laughed hard.
“Alphonse! That is the heir right? I met him earlier. He is indeed quit funny. He kept trying to set up a marriage for his younger sister Karina with me. She seems like a very nice girl, but I didn’t get the impression that she was interested in women particularly. Still, it might be interesting, what with her light colored skin and all. That’s rare back home, so you all look very pretty to me. You especially. You have the lightest skin of anyone I’ve ever seen. Even my grandmother is darker, and she is… The Gray Lady.” The last bit was confided with a leaned in body posture and said softly, but easily loud enough for everyone else to hear, so meant for their ears too apparently. The Queen smiled, but Richard had to fight to keep his face calm for some reason. It didn’t look happy at all.
Did he not like Mutta or was it him? Or… really, maybe he was just worried about the burned kids or what they’d do for dinner. Tor decided not to care for now. The man would tell him or not. He focused on the strange woman and nodded.
“I can see how that might happen, you look incredible to us as well. Bright like a bird, and your skin looks so smooth and even. Stick around for a while and by this time next year woman at court will be dying their hair to match yours. Failing at it too, probably. But you know, mimicry is the highest form of flattery they say. Though… really, I’ve always been partial to bribes myself. They seem to work better.” He shrugged again and made a funny face.
“Not that anyone has ever bothered to try and bribe me, not since my little sister Tiera wanted me to do her chores for her for a week once, so gave me an old, almost broken cutter she’d found. That really worked out for me though, since it was what started me on my current path in life.”
Not that he knew what that really was any more. Tor wasn’t a student any more. He wasn’t a baker, though that was still possible. He wanted to keep making his devices, but could he? Well, he had money to hold him for a while at least. Ten, fifteen years if he didn’t waste it. That should be enough time to figure something out.
“Oh, what is your current path, if it’s not jesting that is…” Her tone was suspicious for some reason, but in a playful way that made him smile a little.
“Right now? Itinerant wonderer. A few hours ago I was helping to put out grass fires up in County Ross. We managed to save the Capital there and all the major cities. Unfortunately a few isolated farms got hit hard, before we could get to them. Some people died, but most of that was before we, the people from my old school and I, got there. That’s all done now, mainly, so I’m kind of floating around at loose ends. This is the last official thing that I have to do. I really just came to see if they’d let me in any more and resign my Squireship. They did let me in at least, so things are looking up.” He looked at Richard and Connie and then pointed at where the building still smoked a little. “I take it that the fires why you didn’t meet me like I was told you would, or,” He frowned a little, thinking. “Was I actually in the wrong spot? I thought the gate on the other side was the main one, but what do I know? This is a long way from Two Bends.”
Connie wrung her hands a little. “No, it was just the fire, we heard the alarm and came to see what had happened, it wasn’t that big to start with, but it kept growing even as we threw more water on it. Apparently the
