smaller ones that Tor hadn't been to before, to find both Ger and Gemma helping out with the dinner prep. Chopping potatoes into little cubes.
Tor smiled and waved when the kids looked up.
“Hey all!” He forced his voice into brightness. “Ger, do you still have my amulets by any chance?” He asked immediately, not getting an answer really, just a flying tackle from two sides.
“Master Tor!” Gemma cried, her arms slipping off his shield, her own doing the same. That earned a smile from Tor. With the double slices of stone in his right hand Tor aimed a blow for Ger's shoulder, he had a shield on too. Good. If he hadn't the second blow would have landed on his head, if not hard enough to do more than sting. He was a Squire now, so that meant he needed to stay ready, especially since they were at war.
For nearly a minute the kids enthused about his not being blind or dead, which made Tor happy enough. Ger, being a good Squire, even if not his, had all the amulets and weapons on him. He was using that shield, Gemma had the one Tor gave him. Very smart of them really, good use of available resources.
“Right, um, see the poison detector there? Could you hand it to me please?” The field was definitely not that of a poison detector. Being hyper careful Tor stepped out of the room and activated the cutter still in his hand, facing away from anyone and, hands full, tried to make another mark in it. Nothing happened.
Right, the shield he had on protected it too. Tor tried not to indicate he'd made that mistake and didn't react. Looking around and taking a deep breath, he willed the shield to drop and made the second and then third mark on the tiny copper piece quickly, then made sure he was protected again.
“Whew! Here you go then Ger.” Tor handed it back to him, earning a panicked look from Rolph. “OK. Ger, that, as you may have guessed, isn't a poison detector at all. It's the most powerful explosive weapon I've ever made. Maybe the most powerful thing that exists in the kingdom. If you use it while on the ground or on anything too near you, and I mean within at least a mile, maybe more, you'll die, shield or not. So will everyone else around you. Keep the other weapons, and guard it with your life. Give it to no one except me, Kolb, Prince Alphonse or the King, and really, if any of us seem upset or angry when demanding it, don't give it to us. Got that? Even if you have to fight us to keep it. Gemma? When Ger needs to bathe or anything that means his shield will be off, you have it. For god’s sake don't get confused and check your food with it! Are you both armed?”
Ger was, with the weapons that Tor had been holding when he'd gone down in the fight with Smythe. Interestingly the young brown haired Squire held the blinding weapon too. Tor borrowed it from him, promising to return it later. He wanted to check the field out on it and see what he could discover. If nothing else he wanted to be shielded against it, didn't he?
“Ah, Tor… a word?” Rolph said quietly, gesturing to one side of the hallway.
“Are you sure that two kids should have all that gear? I mean… well, they don't have any training yet, do they?”
It was a good point.
Tilting his head to one side Tor showed Gemma how to use the Not-flyer and cautioned her that it was military grade, so faster than the ones they had in town. She already knew how to use them, it turned out, at least the slower kind that the palace servants had access to. So did Ger. Laughing Rolph doffed his own and handed it to the boy.
Nodding the Prince looked at both of the children. Tor was the one that spoke though.
“There, now if anyone comes for you, or tries to take that weapon, run. If you can't escape, then you have my permission to kill them. There we go, that should do for now. We need to get them trained fast obviously, if they’re going to guard the most dangerous weapons for the kingdom. One last time, if a Count orders you, on pain of death to give them your weapons, what do you do?”
“Run away?” Gemma said, sounding uncertain. Tor nodded and smiled at her.
“And if they corner you in a small room, surrounding you with guardsmen?” Tor asked, looking at Ger.
“Kill them all?” He sounded more certain.
“Yep. Then run away again, in case they brought friends. Well, glad that's taken care of. Shall we go see what else we need to do now Prince Alphonse?” Tor said, getting a shocked look from his friend.
“I don't think you ever called me that before.”
“I don't think I ever handed massive death weapons to kids that can't even reach the top shelf in the kitchen either, but it's a day for firsts. Shall we?” Gesturing with his right hand he managed a fluid motion that indicated they were going back where they came from, it was smooth enough Rolph didn't even laugh at the attempt. If Tor wasn't fighting a yawn at the same time it would have been nearly perfect.
He let the Prince do the honors of the story to the rest of his family. It really sounded much more interesting when he told it, Rolph being a better storyteller by far. The King actually squeaked when he found out that the weapon had been left in the hands of two children, but Trice smiled and winked at her uncle.
“Don't worry, two of the best squires in the kingdom. Of course I have to say that, because one of them is mine, but it's a good plan. No one would think to search them for it, and they won't use it. I'd put a Royal Guard detail on them just to be safe, but seriously, who else would you choose to hold it? Smythe of Westend?”
The King hurried into the hall, but came back a minute later looking much more assured.
“Now, where were we? Oh, yes, so… Tor was opining that Countess Printer would look better in purple than green and might be doing strange things with his undergarments?”
“Burgundy dear.” Connie corrected.
“Indeed, silly of me to make that mistake. Now, Tor, I believe their also a small matter of some devices you made? I don't suppose you have an accounting of those do you?”
Tor did, but only roughly. It was about five thousand shields, all the latest design, three thousand flying rigs, three thousand military level Not-flyers and a few thousand lights. Nearly a hundred explosive weapons, but while dangerous, they were the smaller ones he assured the King who still grimaced… and a whole host of things that he didn't really have a good accounting of at all. Also all his gold, for some reason. It probably made sense, if she was stealing stuff anyway, but she could have left his clothes and soap.
“Holy fucking shit.” Princess Karina said staring at Tor with her mouth open. “That's… even if we don't count the Tor-shoes, I mean the Not-flyers, that's millions of golds worth of stuff! Wars have been fought over less. A lot less. I mean, we had a war not twenty years ago over a single goat, so this… What do we do? Send the army?”
“Watch your language. You're a Princess, not a dock worker.” Tor said, his voice not unkind. “As to what were going to do… Well, I need to find someplace to sleep. Obviously I don't have coin for a room right now, so I guess I have to stay here after all. If that's all right I mean? Then in the morning, after I make some new shields, flight rigs and all that, I'll go off to wherever my friend Holly is, and get my clothes and gold back. Obviously, if she wants to borrow some of my stuff she can. For future reference though, please ask first. I can get the fact that I was out of it for a few days but seriously… This is more than a little inconvenient. I really want to brush my teeth.”
Everyone went quiet except for Trice. She laughed long and hard, it didn't even have a manic edge to it at all. Everyone finally stared at her which got her to sober finally, nearly forty seconds later. She still smiled.
“I am so going with. Ooh! Tor, shave off your beard, it makes you look a lot younger, plus Ursala hates it. We'll take Varley along and, well, Gemma and Ger are busy… Maybe we can take a bunny with us or something? Nothing says, don't kill us, were all cute and fuzzy, like a bunny.”
She was being sarcastic, but Tor just yawned and agreed with her.
“Yeah, send for Petra Ward too, and… David Derring. That should round things out.” Who he really needed was Karen Derring, but she was dead. Her brother would have to stand for her as Holly's friend then.
“What about Martin Kolbrin? I mean if we're to send those two?” Richard said, his eyes directly on Tor's.
Ah, right, not everyone here knew about the special section, did they?
That should do it, they all agree. It kind of made sense. Kolb had worked closely at with the Countess at school after all. Definitely a familiar face. Everyone thought it would work at least.
Except Rolph who thought he should go and Connie who definitely didn't want her daughter or injured niece going near someone so obviously unbalanced.
In the end they both relented.
That was good, because Tor fell asleep curled up on the sofa he'd been sitting on all day. When he woke up, it was the middle of the night. Someone had come in and dropped off pre-marked copper sections for amulets,
