the guards called. Tor took back the Truth device and sent the boy to collect his reward. He wondered if he'd actually get anything for it?
Box came out of the back room holding a tray of delicious smelling hand pies and set them on the display rack, smiling hugely when he saw Tor and Karina.
“Hey! Well, as I figured, my little friend dried up and blew away about the time she figured out I wouldn't steal from my sister for a bit of tail. Well, plenty of fish, and it's King's week. If you can't get laid then, when can you…” He looked at Karina and winked.
“Begging your pardon for the language miss… unless you’re interested? In that case I'm-”
That earned him a slap on the arm from his sister who’d walked up behind him, “You! Keep that up and you'll drive off half the female customers. Word gets around you know, the Capital isn't that big. Tor, I wish I had you back as my assistant this week. This one’s a dog, and only half decent as a baker. Say… care for a job?” She laughed at her own words, but Tor nodded.
“Yes. Kari here too. She has no real experience, but she'll work hard and won't complain. Oh, and we both work for free, so that's a plus. We'll even take the morning shift? We both have duties later in the day and we may not be able to make it each morning, but…”
Debbie clapped and Box looked pleased rather than put out. Maybe he thought he could score with “Kari” if she was going to be around? The man wasn't bad looking, so maybe he could? It was worth it for him to try, as Tor could now attest. If nothing else it gave him something to look at other than his sisters customers.
Debbie sold them the hand pies for Bonita's father, trying to give them to him, but he wouldn't hear about it. After all, it was a business and besides he wanted to buy all the things he could from her possible for the King’s week celebration, which meant increasing production greatly. Box both liked and didn't like that when he realized what it meant.
“Ahg, never getting laid again, am I? That schedule won't even leave time for a professional girl… Well, I'll live. Done without before a time or two. Or six. Hundred? Six hundred? That sounds about right. See you both tomorrow?” Worried about getting some or not, the decent looking man eyed “Kari” pretty intensely then.
Speculatively.
It was just on the verge of creepy to Tor, but that might just be jealousy. Karina seemed pleased enough at the lingering glance, didn't she?
As they walked out, strolling so they could talk without calling attention, a dozen hand pies in a nice covered basket they'd bought across the street from Debbie's, Karina turned on him.
“So, working in a bakery is our cover, so we won't be noticed?”
“No… that's just for fun. I'm on vacation, remember? This way we can spend time co-opting all your old friends against Lilli and then turn her over to the King personally for leading a theft ring and coercing people into it. I mean without it being work, directly. That's obvious, right? I mean, you wouldn't be doing it, except for fun, or as a lark at least, right? So your dad will have to agree that I'm not doing anything too work adjacent?” It was kind of a real point, if a bit of a trick. Not that the King wouldn't know, but he might let it slide.
Tor kept talking, working through it all on the fly.
“He'll… probably go easier on her than we would, not wanting to punish her just for hurting your feelings, but it's a real crime and she does kind of have to pay for it. I could look the other way if it was just me, but if she's stealing from Debbie, who else is she doing it to? Besides, this is all new information and you're not part of her group now in any way, so we don't have to mention anything you did back when. Really we should try to get the others out too if we can. It sounds like they weren't any more guilty than you were.”
That got a nod and a guilty look at the ground. She'd done her share of things she wasn't too proud of she murmured. Then she told him that she hadn't been able to get in touch with the others at all, but then, while she knew where they lived, for the most part everything had always gone through Lilli, so short of visiting, she didn't know what to do. The answer seemed easy to him.
Visit.
It might be hard on Karina, he warned, if they were truly on Lilli’s team still and had decided to hate her now, but it would give them a chance to get out from under the ax before it fell if they were clever enough to take the chance.
The walk only had one turn, and Tor had been there before, once, so ten minutes later they were at the Baron Coltress' door, gifts in hand and smiling, the older man had light blond hair shot with silver and still managed to look stately and somehow younger than he should with a twenty-seven year old daughter. He was a good looking man, which probably explained all his attractive daughters.
“Hi!” Tor offered brightly. “Bonita sent us, with gifts? We're, um seeing her? She couldn't get away today, working with the Queen on the enhanced celebration thing, but she thought you might like to meet us?” His voice was a question the whole time and made the man frown and shake his head for some reason.
“Why won't you people leave my daughter alone? She's a good girl! She deserves to be treated with respect, and not made fun of by noble snobs and brats that have too much coin and not half enough sense for their own good. Tell me what they paid you to set up this… whatever this game is your playing, and I'll give you double to go away and leave my baby be. Triple if you'll tell me who paid you first!”
The man was close to being enraged, almost growling, except that he was sad too. It made Tor wonder what people had been doing to his Bonita? If her own father had this kind of reaction to them…well, it couldn't be friendly could it. Karina stepped forward just slightly and bowed a tiny bit.
“I don't know if you'll remember me? I had a different haircut then, and my hair was more red, the dye is wearing off so you can see the color? Anyway, I'm Princess Karina Cordes and this man is Torrance Baker, you know, the Wizard Tor? I suppose he could do magic tricks and I could stand around looking regal if you don't believe us, but Nita really is seeing us both, so we kind of need to prove the point to you I think.” Her voice held good humor even though the greeting had been more than a little harsh and off putting.
Tor took it as a father doing his job and protecting his child, as was correct, even if he didn't know why exactly, but didn't expect Karina to act that way. It seemed that once again she was more than a little full of surprises.
Six amulets later the man relented, and decided that they were who they said, since actors wouldn't have access to that many magical devices all at once and making a magical carriage and house appear one after the other in the front yard was a bit telling, especially since you couldn't even buy the carriages anywhere yet. He'd seen Tor before apparently, but the hair hadn't been so long. Tor brushed it back so it wasn't in his face. Laughing Karina tied it back with a truth amulet on a hemp string, wrapping it into a pony tail. The man bowed then and smiled.
“Ooh, hand pies? The right ones too! You must be a wizard then, well come in. So both of you are seeing Bonita? That's a bit of a shock.” The man didn't sound pleased to be saying it, but didn't hesitate either.
Tor tilted his head slightly and watched the man for a bit as he looked into the covered basket again. Giants did like to eat, as a rule.
“We are, and she's been staying with me at my house. Um. She has her own room there though. I don't want you to think that…” Tor blushed and shook his head, wanting to wince and shy away from things.
“That's not totally true. She has a room, but she's been sharing a bed with me.” Getting ready he moved slightly in front of Karina, in case that news triggered a combat rage in the Baron.
Instead the man just smiled.
“Oh? Well good for her! About time something went right for her in that way. Things haven't always been easy for her. It isn't fair at all. Come, let's chat in the drawing room.” He pointed the way with his left hand, the right holding the handle of the basket firmly.
The talk didn't last too long, but the Baron did get an invitation to dinner, Karina couldn't be there, palace duties, but Tor would be and she promised to send over Alphonse if she could. After all, they wanted to keep at least one watcher on Tor at all time to make sure he didn't do anything too close to real work. Apparently the King and Queen were in on that one too.
A real royal conspiracy.
When they walked out Tor hit his Not-flyer and looked at her sideways. After about fifteen seconds he grinned and looked where he was going.
“But if Rolph wakes me up the same way you did this morning, I'm leaving the Capital and never coming back.”
