Tor stood suddenly, bowed without comment and grabbed Sara's hand as they left the room.
Fuck. Just fuck.
And not the good kind.
Chapter seven
It would take far too long for him to use the magic carriage in the crowded streets, and no matter how fast they went, Yardley wouldn't be coming back, so they used Not-flyers, his box following them still. Damn, he'd meant to give Heather and everyone some gifts. Equalizers and cooling plates just for their house. He pointed back distractedly and told Sara that was what was in the case. She nodded but didn't speak.
Right. Poor Yardley. Who were her people? Would anyone mourn her? He felt a knot in his stomach and kind of feared that he’d be doing that himself, even if they'd only seen each other once. What would Karina do? She'd been so down lately already…
“Right. Sara, Karina isn't to be alone now. Not even to go to the restroom. I don't care what we have to do, or if we have to face down Rich and Connie to do it. From now on we stay with her. I know I don't have any right to order anyone to do anything, but it feels right… I,” can't use magic to fix it.
No device would. Dead was dead. Even if he could bring people back he wouldn't. How could you decide who was worthy or not? The world would end up with people elbow to elbow and frankly, as unlikely as the idea sounded, it sent a chill down his spine to think of it. Not just a creepy feeling, but real fear, like he was about to be killed.
Just from an absurd thought? He wouldn't be doing that though, even if he figured it out. That, he knew, was probably going to hurt later. Didn't he want his friends with him forever? He did, but it wasn't natural. He wasn't natural, but that wasn't the issue at the moment, now it was Karina.
Sara nodded to him, her short blond hair not moving much, while his long black locks waved in the wind annoying the heck out of him. He should have tied it up again. It looked ridiculous. Everything about him probably did. Not-flyers looked stupid. Who flew four inches above the ground instead of using their legs? Just him.
Well, and a few thousand other people now, but it looked odd.
When they got to the south gate they just turned off the Not-flyers and flew over the crowed, avoiding the sparkling jumpers, their patriotic streamers beneath them as they danced in the air. It was prettier now that the sky had slightly darkened, but there was no time for it. Sara goggled a bit at the spectacles and events near his house, but he just flew, fast and hard.
It took a minute to negotiate the door and the people in the foyer, mingling and waiting for dinner.
There in the midst of the crowd, looking lost and more than a little terrified, stood Lyn, her little light field in her right hand, cord wrapped so it wouldn't fall. Crud, he didn't have time for her now, but didn't want to lose her either. It was important that she get her chance. Important to him, and the kingdom too, most likely. He couldn't let this hurt that.
Spotting Collette he waved and got her to come over, walking quickly, seeing his obvious intensity. At the same time he drew Sara over to Lyn, taking a moment to make sure things happened correctly. Even if it was heavy handed.
“Collette! This is Lyn, she's a builder, but needs to go to school, can you get that worked out? Lairdgren. I'm paying for it, we won't bother with a scholarship… I'm sponsoring her directly. Get with the Count and her parents please? There's an emergency or I'd do it myself. Lyn? This is Collette. She's your… best friend, for the night at least. Sorry to be all rushed like this, Where's Karina?”
No one knew.
Right. The place was huge and the girl had legs. Inconvenient of her really. Tor tried his room first, wondering if Ali might have come already and been taken there. It made sense, being that Karina was kind of staying with him, sharing his room, when she slept at his house. He was dragging Sara along for moral support, not sure if that support was for Karina or him.
Screw it, Tor knew it was for him, which was low and made him feel weak. Still that was the truth, no denying it. If he could have avoided the whole thing he really might have. But he couldn't. His friend needed him.
They broke in to his bedroom without knocking, to find a scene that, at first, Tor's mind refused to understand. He stared for a bit, trying to make sense of it all, but nothing came for a long time, about ten seconds. He just froze. Sara did too at least, so it wasn't just him being a freak.
Trice was there, naked, and so was Ursala, which worked for him so far, though he hadn't seen Trice naked before. Rolph was having sex with someone on the bed, but the man was tied face down and grunting as if in pain. He had a gag in his mouth to keep things quiet. The girls stared at him first, wide eyed. Then Rolph turned and froze, still inside the man.
On the bed, tied to restraints that had sprung from the headboard, was Ridley.
Ah. Well.
Tor shrugged.
He didn't have time to play the hick right now. Rolph was screwing some guys behind? So be it. It wasn't his, and Ridley just looked curious now, not in distress, so tied up or not, he wasn't being forced. That was fine in their sick little world. So be it.
“I need to find Karina. Anyone? It's… urgent. From the King’s lips.”
It got everyone to stop what they were doing and put on clothes at least. Urgent seemed to mean something in their world. The Prince tried asking, but Tor didn't answer, just shaking his head no. If he told Rolph, and he really wanted too, then he might slip and tell his sister out of concern or sympathy.
Godlings, this was all so screwed up.
They finally found her in a room on the top floor, alone with Ali, the short busty girl that seemed a little dumb, but pleasant enough. Karina was holding her and telling her it would all be fine. When she looked up her eyes were concerned and a little moist but not unhappy.
“Ali was afraid that Jerral was going to force her into being a prostitute. Lilli made her sign papers for it, so if I hadn't been actually buying her, or well Tor really, since he paid for everything, then that's probably what would have happened. Well, not with Jerral there, of course, but anyone else.” Karina looked at the girl with a bit of affection, kind of like how you look at a slightly slow child that's trying really hard.
Ali sobbed a lot, her voice hiccupping out.
“But… Lilli said that the men were going to… do things to me, and that I wanted it, so I had to do it now. I wrote my name, and now I have to…” She cried loudly.
Crap. Alright, Tor decided, one thing at a time, they could all melt down later, right? He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seeking control. It took more work than he’d have thought. A sudden rage burned at Lilli that Tor simply hadn’t counted on at all. Taking a few seconds he forced relaxation and then spoke, trying to sound confident, rather than like he wanted to kill someone.
“Ali, Lilli was being bad, and did bad things, so some people that work for…” Tor almost said the King, which was true, or even Karina, also the case, but altered it. If the girl was going to flip out over all this, her old friend being arrested, better she just hate him, right? They weren't close, and hating Tor would never lead to treasonous speech. It couldn't.
“People that work for me, had to arrest her. She's in jail now. As to some contract, a forced signature isn't binding, not for anyone, ever. Meaning you don't have to do anything you don't want to. I won't let anyone make you.” His voice suddenly sounded fierce and tough, which had to look ridiculous coming from him, but no one even cracked a smile. The crying girl sniffled and looked at him with very blue, dewy eyes.