But Tor had. Trice’s arm.
More, it should be possible to make a field device that let people move through space. Just going from one place to another instantly. Quantum particles, the little pieces of reality, apparently did it all the time. A group just had to be organized properly to make it happen. All of them moving at once…
Ah!
It was riveting and he read until dinner, when they stopped at an actual inn, a place that had a slightly doubtful appearance on the outside and didn't get a lot better once in. It wasn't that bad, a lot like the unpainted house that he'd grown up in, some gaps in the walls that let the breeze in from the outside in the front room, and tiny rooms that actually were just… tiny. About enough room for a small bed and a chamber pot. It had an outhouse, something Tor had grown up with but that made the Prince and Princesses a little unhappy. Tor offered to set up a small house for them off in the woods, but George put his foot down.
“No. We don't need to advertise that the great Wizard Tor is traveling with this lot. Put up magic houses all over the place and people will talk. Just tough it out and we'll leave early in the morning.” His voice wasn't stern, but the feeling behind it was clear even without reading his field. Stop being whining little brats.
Tor chuckled and agreed with a head nod. It made sense after all. They were supposed to be hiding not on a real pleasure trip. That it probably didn't need doing wouldn't change the Royal Guard’s orders, would it?
He and Rolph shared a bed, which worried him a little, not wanting to wake up with Rolph trying to mount him in his sleep, but that part went fine. He got an arm thrown over him, since the bed was tiny and ended up waking with Rolph hugging him closely, but he just chuckled and jabbed his friend in the ribs with an elbow that didn't connect. Waking up Rolph stiffened, his body going rigid.
“Oh, god Tor… Sorry. I wasn't…” The yawn that interrupted him was huge.
“No huge thing.” Tor stretched and got up trying to act casual.
At least Rolph wore pajamas to bed. Otherwise Tor’s virtue may have been violated, at least in spirit. It was awkward, since his friend was clearly hiding the fact that he'd been aroused, even if in his sleep. That happened though. Half the time Tor woke that way himself. Not today, thank god, that would have been embarrassing. As it was his giant friend was holding the covers up, pretending to just want more sleep.
Not a problem.
Getting up, he grabbed his toiletries and went to clean up, finding that the basic washing at the inn took place outdoors if you wanted it, with a cold bucket and whatever soap you'd brought from home. Goody. Tor just grabbed one of the leaky wooden containers, it's handle nearly coming off on the right hand side, the small wooden peg having broken nearly off. He had to pick the whole thing up from the bottom to carry it to the gravel wash station. Heating the water would have taken moments, if he wanted to admit he was in possession of massive amounts of magical devices. Things that would cost enough to get attention.
Of course they were traveling in carriages, which were just plain wooden ones, but only the wealthiest people did that. Less rare than flying, sure, but would they be wealthy enough in their wooden carriages to have water heaters just sitting in their luggage? Sighing Tor admitted that didn't seem likely. At least it wasn't freezing yet. Just nearly.
He kept his temperature equalizer on, but each splash of fresh cold water came as a giant shock to his system. It had to be done, the carriages were too close inside, too small, for him to skip it. No one could afford to reek on a trip like this. No one else came out to join him at first, but as he finished the Royal Guard came out and followed his lead. Rolph stood in the door and shivered, a mock thing that pretended at being cold, coming out to join them making yelps the first few times water hit his temperature equalized body.
Voice low the Prince looked at George with a stern face, one that Tor wasn't used to seeing at all from his friend. “Fine, we'll freeze out here for the sake of appearance, but the girls are going to the baths before we leave. Varley is pregnant and I-”
“Seconded.” Tor said, splashing the cold water over his head to finish rinsing off as he stood naked in back of the inn.
Kara the guard looked over at him and grinned.
“You couldn't have told us that earlier? I would have waited for the warm water if I knew you were paying for all the girls to go to the baths in town…” It was a joke but Tor shrugged. He had the money for it and really, he wanted them to have guards the whole time, didn't he? Before he could say anything Rolph shrugged too.
“And have you get all soft on us? Besides, you and Wensa are the only cute girls I can sleep with on this trip…” It got a laugh and Wensa cocked a hip, which was actually sexier than Tor had thought it would be, her hair wasn't gray any more, outside of school. That and her age suddenly went away. Out of class it seemed she was in her mid forties Tor thought, not late fifties at all. Some kind of makeup to make her look older? That was both an interesting idea and a good one. Who pretended to have gray hair when they didn’t?
The Royal Guard Captain grinned, and actual happy looking thing. Playful.
“Hmmm. Well, OK, but do you think you can take both of us at once? I think we might just be a little too much for someone so… young.”
Another laugh from the group made Rolph looked pained. Shaking his huge red head he sighed.
“Tor, see how they treat me? Doubting my abilities already and they haven't even tried me out. Of course they’re right. Guys think they can serve two women at once, but truth is that more than one is just extra effort. Not that it's not fun to try every now and then, but it just doesn't work in practice very well.”
Kara walked over, brown nipples perky and tight from the cold water, bending slightly and crossing her arms under them to push them forward, winked.
“Right, but two men and one women can work… You two are both of age, right?” Her gaze took in Tor too. Well, he was, regardless of looks.
Rolph chuckled, but didn't say no. Tor on the other hand just tilted his head. Kara seemed nice enough and was firm and fit, tall, but not taller than Petra, so about six-five or so. She had dark hair, real, since her pubic hair was as dark as her head. Tor didn't stare. It would be rude.
Finally she chuckled and moved off, going back towards the other guards. They whispered amongst themselves, which Rolph ignored, but it bugged Tor, since it seemed like it would be about them. Well, he should have said something, except what would he say? She was more than cute enough to sleep with and there was nothing wrong with Rolph, the idea was just scary to him. What if his friend used it as an excuse to touch him?
So Tor smiled at her later as everyone finished up, getting a grin back. It wasn't exactly being polite inside “the rules” but it was better than ignoring her, wasn't it? She didn't seem put off at least. Breakfast had to wait for the girls to get their bath, and was eaten in the carriage, everyone having decided that they didn't want to risk staying in the place two nights in a row. Half the guards had fleas, even after washing, since they'd infested their clothing when they slept. The royals had gotten the “good” rooms.
That got Tor thinking about what it would take to ward off insects like that. He had sort of promise Julie White something like that for her people, hadn’t he? It would be hard, except that now that he considered it, it really only had to cover animals under a certain size. Bigger than that and a person would handle it on their own. About the size of a mouse, should cover it, right? It didn't really have to be that large, but Tor wasn't wild about mice in general, so he could add that in without harm.