“Noram? For a marriage? Normally either your parents arrange it for you, or, if you love someone, a man goes and begs the girl’s parents to let them marry. Sometimes there are gifts that go to the parents, and a dowry isn't that different from buying outright, except it doesn't go to the girl’s mother, but stays with the girl herself, so that she and her husband can use the wealth to start their life together. Where I come from specifically, you can sometimes buy a wife or husband from their mother for livestock. So for me your ways aren't that different, though I already have a betrothed. She's on the ship out there.”
The boat didn't have a name he realized. Then, it was the only giant black and light blue ship on the ocean that he knew of, so it should be all right for now, a description would suffice. The woman nodded and as they moved back to the carriage approached Mutta again. They talked for several minutes before coming back.
“Hah, Court Jester! She offered to send your mother forty silk goats if you have a brother with your look and tongue skills!”
He kept his face blank while the others laughed. Then he nodded.
“If you see her again, please let her know I have several younger, single brothers. All of them very clever, will you? I think my little brother Timon may actually be better at languages even, he's ten though, so a little young. My mom might just take her up on her offer. Forty regular goats would be an unheard of price for a boy. I don't know what silk goats are, but I imagine they're rather more precious?”
Wensa was the one flying them back, and she was clearly fighting a laugh of her own all the way. When he climbed out and his head moved closer to hers she smirked.
“She could tell you had good tongue skills just from talking to you? She must be an expert in the field.” She chuckled then, so he stuck his tongue out at her. Lethal killer or not, Tor wasn't taking jibes from her without a response. He didn't have a witty come back right now, but when he thought of one he'd… regret not thinking of it earlier and not say anything.
Obviously.
Coming back six months later with it wouldn't even make sense. Instead he stared at her for a second.
“Want to try for yourself?” He said instead batting his eyes at her. Really as isolated as he'd felt on the trip, even with everyone else around, it suddenly seemed intriguing, even if she probably would kill him for suggesting it.
Instead she laughed.
“Alright. Can't turn down an offer like that can I? Not at my age. Now? How about when we're safely back home? I don't want to distract you from your work, now do I?” Her voice had gone… sweet. Polite and intrigued. Right, the rules at play. She couldn't say no outright without being rude, could she?
Tor chuckled. He should have known better than to try and fluster someone like her. If he pushed her on the topic she'd just… do it, most likely. Wouldn't even blink. Instead he bowed. At least that baffled her, it being well outside protocol for the situation. Score one for him. Half a one at least. It wasn't much of a victory actually… Sigh, he thought making sure he didn't laugh, oh sigh.
Tor was kind of tempted to just stay in his room and sleep. It was a rare opportunity, seeing Afrak, but he didn't really want to walk around translating for people all night. They could have at least tried to learn some Afrak on their own, but no one else had care to. So now for all his effort he got to tell women, exotic with their dark skin, though the ones he'd seen had all had short curly black hair that looked interesting too, but wasn't like a birds bright feathers at all, that they couldn't really buy the pale giants.
If they'd listen.
The dock woman hadn't been bad, older than him by about twenty years, he guessed, maybe more if they lived longer than in Noram. She didn't seem to treat him any particular way really, just normal, if a little more flirtatious than a common woman from Noram would have been. Like he was a regular person and everything. It wasn't until they were going around to see how the city was laid out that he really understood the difference. The women on the dock actually dealt with foreign men regularly and knew not to act too superior. They were special that way. The rest of them didn't do that. Not at all.
For all that she half ignored the King sometimes, it seemed that their Afrak Ambassador was special like that too. Practically open minded and accepting compared to the average woman in the street here. They barely saw the men at all it seemed.
Mutta explained who they were and why they were there, and that they had the heir and second in line for the throne of Noram there and the Ambassador. Everyone seemed to think that Wensa was the Ambassador, being the oldest female and that Ursala and Karina were the heirs. They questioned them incessantly about how the rivers worked and how soon things would be coming together. Tor had to laugh after a while and elbowed Rolph in the ribs.
“Watch this.” Tor made his clothing look like one of Mutta's more colorful robes, a silk dress looking thing with pink, green and teal blue stripes running at an angle across it. Then he arranged the top to bunch a little giving him just the slightest hint of breast in the right place. Barely noticeable, about what Mutta had going on. Most of the guys in their crew didn't even notice, the Noram women didn't either. Suddenly he was the Ambassador though, young or not. It made the night easier, the only price being his dignity. Not that he had any of that left. But when in a strange land it was on him to try and meet their customs and ways, not force his on them.
With a bit of patience he turned the topic to how they produced food, and got one older woman with brilliant blue hair and orange eyes with catlike slits to explain how the whole thing worked.
Now she was exotic looking. Tor half wondered if he could drag her back to Noram to visit the King and Queen. That would go over well in court he knew. Tor wondered if she could see in the dark like a cat too. That would be useful for the military, if he could figure out how to make a change like that. No more making individual lights for them at least. They could just pass around one “eye change device” once.
If he had the land, he told Rolph, he could bring in water and do this in the wastelands north of the Capital. It would take work, but the idea was sound. They had the water there already now even, if they started in the area by Wildlands Station and the flight school. Mutta excitedly translated what he'd said and Tor found himself drug off into one of the dwellings. The other seventy odd people were left outside alone and without a translator. Hopefully Karina wouldn't sell them all before he got back. Maybe a few as a good will gesture? No, he decided. Not until after the work was done. The Prince nodded to him.
“Well, you know, the land is yours if you want it. As it is you should be doing something with your house. I'd love to see it be something there other than dirt and rocks myself.” The large red-haired man looked considering for a second.
“Yeah, you should do it. Just let me know what you need and when you’re ready.”
The women asked him questions about the wastelands, how dry it was, if he could get water there, then they explained how to start with grass to hold the soil, shrubs to break the wind and trees to pump water from the damp earth below, up near the surface so that other plants could use it. Focusing he relaxed and started memorizing what they said, the words becoming clearer to him as he listened, making more and more sense. It was what they planned for their own desert. It would be a garden soon.
Tor nodded his eyes half closed.
He needed seeds and workers. That and the land. It would work though. He could do it. Would do it. The idea just seemed right. Something inside him cried to him to try and fix the damage. After a moment he noticed everyone staring at him, so he shrugged.