On the flight back they didn't push as fast, so Tor remembered a few things. Like the fact he hadn't bothered to eat or drink any fluids for nearly a day. Almost two days. That would start to show soon. Even if food was scarce, he needed something to drink. And a shower. But water, check on Ali and then food and bathing. He had to keep his priorities straight, didn't he? So far he kind of feared that he was sucking horribly as a husband. Tor had barley even told her he loved her in the last week. That should happen at least daily, shouldn't it? It was hard, because, well, it was a lie.
They'd married for a reason, and it was a good one, but that didn't make him love her. She was good and sweet, and doing her best to hold up her end of things, so it was up to him to do his part too. That was all. He did like her at any rate, which was a good enough start. A lot of married people just kind of tolerated each other.
The drinking water was easily enough arranged, and he got a shower at the same time. It was clean filtered water, cold and rushing out of a four inch pump line hard enough to nearly knock him down when he stepped under it, and outside where people could see, but no one seemed to mind when he started drinking from it and there was a pump to carry the waste water away from the drain below. Someone had been pretty cleaver about the arrangement really. Using soap from his gear he showered under it, his amulets all off, then shaved hunkered down next to the water. It was inconvenient, and cold, but it worked and he didn't have to borrow anyone’s house. When he fixed his clothing he felt clean and ready for the rest of the day, even if he did look like a first year school student.
Ali, thank goodness was fine, and smiled brightly when she saw him enter.
“Honey! This man,” she gestured to an older fellow sitting on the end of a bed in a nearly empty room, he wore gray clothing in three shades, a button up jacket with vest under it in a darker color and nice looking black shoes. It wasn't high born clothing, but it looked like the man made enough to live on.
“Is Doctor Kincaid. Charles Kincaid I think it was? Anyway, he'd like to buy a healing device from us. I didn't know the price, but he decided it was worth waiting for.” She smiled up at him cutely, since she still sat on the next bed and hadn't gotten up.
Walking to the box that held the gear Tor sorted through and found that they had about forty or fifty of the things left. The man was a doctor, so it might actually be useful to him, right?
“Well…” Tor knew better than to give the thing away for free. Everyone from the King down to servants had warned him against doing that unless he was personal friends with someone. They like it at first, but over time it would wear on their spirits and invite people to take advantage of him.
“Alright, the cost. Half of what you make in the first year you have it.” That was about the same deal he offered everyone and so far most people found it worked well enough.
Smiling, but looking a bit troubled the doctor shook his head after a few seconds.
“I doubt that I make as much in a year as you might think. This is probably worth ten times that. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than willing to send you the gold, this is worth it, if only for my patient’s well being, I just don't want to mislead you.”
The man felt honest enough, mostly. It was a bit of a low thing to do, reading his field instead of trusting the man on his own merit, but Tor couldn't just trust everyone anymore, could he? Still, he seemed an all right guy in the end. Tor shrugged.
“I'm not asking you to send me gold. Instead treat half your patients for free. I don't even care if they're the poor ones that would ordinarily pay in chickens and goats. I'm also not going to loom over your shoulder checking your work. You're honest enough. Is it a deal?” Tor had to fight not to stick out his hand to shake and was mildly surprised when the doctor did.
“Deal. I give my word that I’ll treat half my patients for free for the next year.” He cleared his throat. “Of course I already treat half my patients for free…”
Laughing Tor told him that still counted, obviously, and pulled his wife away greedily. Kissing her gently once out of sight he held her for a while.
“Really I just came to tell you I love you. Now I can get out of your hair.”
“I love you too! You're so good to me. When we got married I figured that you'd park me out in the country or with your parents and go live your own life, but instead you've actually taken time to be with me. I can see now why everyone loves you so much. Really at first I thought it was just your looks and the magic, but it isn't. It's your heart and soul.”
Tor blushed and kissed her again to cover it. Get close enough to a person and they can't see what you’re doing and really, if there was closer than kissing, at least that he could do in public like this, he couldn't think of it at the moment. After about twenty minutes of cuddling someone, a young boy that seemed to be alone, came in with a broken arm. No tears, but he was pale and in shock. Ali used a device to fix it, and the kid howled while it happened, but as soon as the bone clicked back together the yelling stopped.
“Thank you.” He said and touched Alissa face gently, an odd move for someone so young, then he hopped of the table and ran out, his oversized leather half boots slapping against the floor. He'd been wearing dirty cloths, heavy canvas tan pants and a dun colored shirt that had seen better days as well. A lot of people were just making do, so Tor hadn't thought much of it really.
“He's one of the orphans I think. I…” Whatever she was going to say didn't come, Tor waited patiently, since a lot of things took time to work to the surface. Rushing them didn't help. It was better to wait and see what people had to say. Even if it did make him a little impatient.
Finally she blurted the words out all together, a long stream of them.
“I can't have children. Dad, he had us all sterilized. The girls. None of us can have kids. It was so… he wouldn't get us pregnant and have to explain it away.” She didn't start crying, she just looked down and waited.
“Oh, that's horrible! Well, that's not a problem for us, we can adopt. But we should wait until we're out of school at least.” Taking a breath Tor finished the whole thing, so that Ali wouldn't go around thinking it was all her fault they couldn't have kids.
“Besides, I probably won't be able to have children for a couple hundred years, if what Count Lairdgren said is true. Really I have no reason to doubt him yet. Well, other than that the whole story is clearly insane.”
Mouth going into and “o” shape she turned and smiled sadly.
“I'm going to get all old and die and you'll still be like this, won't you?”
Taking her into a hug he murmured the answer back to her softly.
“Well, in a couple of years I should be able to make myself look a little older, so at least it won't look like you robbed the cradled the whole time. Until then, yes. Just like this baring major hair disasters and disguises…” Which he could do, couldn't he? Make himself look older using magic? It was a complex field, at least as complex as the clothing one, but it would be doable.
Another thing he needed to figure out fast, before trying to break Denno Brown out of the Austran palace. A good disguise could be helpful. There was suddenly so much to do again. Relaxing Tor held his wife for about five minutes and didn't let go until someone else came for healing. As she moved off to help the older woman and her daughter Tor ran through what was really needed. Water, food, shelter and then the things for Austra, while keeping up with his marriage duties and schoolwork.
Chuckling softly under his breath he sighed and left to see to his own food, then figure out what to do for the rest of it.