When Tor had been poisoned it had sucked and he was worn down for a long time, but he'd also had a lot of cyanide. A whole lot. Enough to kill several people at least. Was it the same for this other man?
A moot point anyway, because no one here planned to kill him. Really it was the other way around, as long as he wanted to help out. Karina was watching the man closely, but her damp eyes had dried and a look that spoke of craftiness had taken the place of defeat. Ali sat next to him, her leg pressed to his for comfort, so Tor made a point of touching the white puffy sleeve of the gown she'd changed into, a soft fabric that reminded one of clouds. It was the look to clothes that she seemed to prefer. Light colored and fluffy.
For their parts, without letting it show too much, both Richard and Connie seemed shocked to learn that the Brown man had been working in their guest house. More, the report from Quavel, the Queen’s personal butler Tor thought, if such a position actually existed, was that the new man, Greg, was actually doing a superb job of it too. Diligent and hard working, as well as learning the ropes faster than normal.
Tor just shrugged.
“Well, for now, I guess he should just stick with that then.” Tor addressed the royals directly, but then turned to Denno and smiled.
“Though after you get together with the girls here, I think you and I should start on those years of needed discussion? Maybe you can short hand it so that I can get mainly up to speed a little faster than that?”
There was a small look of shock from the older man, which baffled Tor, but he stood and bowed, which wasn't the custom in Austra, so was done for some other reason. When he sat he ate again, still slowly and frustratingly didn't explain. Probably a trick then, to make Tor wonder what it was all about. Of course he just didn't care really.
It made him harder than usual to fluster.
Honestly, while Tor didn't want his friends hurt or killed, it didn't matter much to him who ruled the world. That was the kind of thing that almost had to change eventually. The current system was old and stable. That didn't make it perfect. Of course if the Austran Ancient tried to hurt his kingdom, Tor would try and stop it, just a given really. If the man had a thousand year plan to take over, then that wasn't really a problem was it? Not anything to fight over. They could get together and just chat about it, draw maps and make plans so that no one got hurt and in the end things ran more smoothly.
Really he just assumed that that was what the treaty the Ancients went on about was.
The big issue for Tor was the Larval assassins. If he had that situation right, there was an army of insane super beings ready to be turned loose soon. On them. Given everything so far, possibly on him, personally. They really seemed to dislike Tor for some reason.
The thought stuck in his head for a moment. Was that really the case? Austra had declared war, a full out, hard core battle of wills and armies, but all they'd done is send in about fifteen assassins and a few fast flying craft. They had some boats off the coast, but really, they honestly just pulled up along fishermen and called them names. They had a full military, Tor had seen some of them, so it wasn’t like that was honestly the best they could do. It had been nearly two years now even…
Who declared war and didn't fight?
Someone that was using it as a distraction for their real goal, that's who.
Ah. So, at the very least, someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. That was probably an Ancient then. Denno? Lara? Tor reflected on it for a moment, and then had to let it go. He didn’t have enough information to guess, did he?
Tor took a deep breath and let it out so slowly he couldn't help but fall into a trance state. No one noticed except Rolph, who was a lot more attuned to such things than anyone else for some reason. It really wouldn't shock him at all to learn that the Prince had more than a little bit of natural building talent. Something to think on later. For now Tor gave a slow nod and a smile.
“Rolph, would it be all right if you and I talked after the meal? Some things, land and a few other bits.” The words had that slow cadence and almost drugged slurring to them that meant he'd gone deep. It was the kind of thing he did to prevent panic. In the whole kingdom only one person really knew that, everyone else just thought he was a little air-headed sometimes, or at least drifty and not connected. Rolph, his friend, the heir to the kingdom, got it instantly.
“Alright, I've been meaning to set some things up with you anyway. Besides, I think the ladies are going to want to keep their own meeting from us…” The smile he gave his sister and then turned on Ali could have made them squirm, but Karina just chuckled. It was a little scary, because it didn't sound like her. Really, it didn't even seem exactly sane. It sounded like Lillith Degray, to tell the truth.
“Oh, don't worry. We won't do anything illegal or even immoral. Remember, Daria Serge has already been sentenced to death legally and escaped custody using coercion on a grand scale. All we're going to do is fix that.” She had a wicked smile on her face as she looked at her father.
“Can't fault that, can you? I mean, you could, but this is real justice here, I'm not even talking simple revenge or using the principle of placement. This is all legal and everything. Granted, we have to be careful, but I promise we will be.”
Rich looked down at the table for a long time before clearing his throat.
“I won't forbid it, but run the plan past me and your brother before you take action? Whatever you do, it can't come back on us later.”
That was reasonable and while Karina clearly saw it as a trap to stop her and Ali from doing what they had to, Tor didn't. At least ten ways to execute the girl flashed through his head instantly. Of course most of them would endanger a lot of innocent Austrans, so should be taken off the table. Killing was to be avoided when possible. Even if the people being saved would never thank you for it.
There was no lengthy talk after the desserts came, people just left for their own work or scheduled activities. Rolph said that he had something to take care of but would be back in about half an hour, leaving Tor just sitting as everyone else left.
Except the Queen who was already sitting right next to him. For the first time in a while she made a point of touching him, her hand going to his arm and just resting on it gently. After a few seconds she stood and pulled him along behind her. Bemused and maybe a little baffled Tor walked along. Today she wore a deep green velvet dress, but as with most of what she wore lately, it wasn't real, but the amulet around her neck. Perversely Tor wondered what would happen if he turned it off. Probably a beating from the Queen, he decided, wondering if it would be worth it anyway.
They “retired” to a small room that held only a low sofa and a couple of wooden chairs. Nice ones but this was almost a closet for the palace, maybe six by ten, if Tor had to guess. There were no lights on inside and Connie didn't bother arranging for one. A secret meeting? Well, the nobles did love their intrigue, didn't they. Settling on the soft cushions the attractive woman patted the seat next to her.
“I was thinking, since we have time, maybe we should-” She stopped when Tor moved in and kissed her hard.
Where that came from he didn't know, but it was all he could do to keep from ripping her clothes off suddenly, he was hard already though he hadn't been a moment before. At least she kissed him back, it would have been embarrassing if she didn't.
It was wrong, but Tor suddenly didn't care anymore. Using a bit of intent, he turned off her clothing and then his own and kissed her again, moving to her breasts faster than he normally liked to, but then, they had a time limit, didn't they? She gasped slightly as his lips touched the soft nipples, licking and stroking gently.
“Tor…” It was a murmur, a gentle thing that sounded a lot more like “do more” than “please stop”