Tor took a deep breath, a sudden and shuddering thing that rattled in his chest. It made him feel young, and stupid, and he couldn’t help it. His work had taken business from other people? He’d never even thought of that. To Tor, the idea that he might even make money from anything he’d done seemed like an abstract thing, so of course he hadn’t considered what might be happening anywhere else. Why should he?
Tor stopped and shook his head. Could he fix it at all? They had people to feed and workers that needed their jobs too. Looking down at the floor he wondered out loud if Stentli house would be willing to except a couple of his other devices, ones that Debri house couldn’t make right now due to the new military contracts anyway, to replace the coins that he’d taken from them and their workers?
Sara chuckled at him. “Tor… I’m… sure they would… Do you have anything in mind?”
No one was making the heat equalizers or the poison detectors yet he pointed out. He couldn’t keep making them all himself and a few more people might want some. Sara smiled, moved across the room and sitting next to him draped her arm over his shoulders and planted a warm kiss on his lips that made him sit up straighter, worried what Rolph and Trice would think, though they both just smiled at him.
“Debri will let go of the heat equalizers to keep the peace, and the water pumps, but the poison detectors… Tor, if you want me to sleep with you, or for that matter every woman in Debri house to be lined up at your door, just go ahead and suggest that one to my mother. I’m pretty sure that you don’t really want that though. Well, me maybe, if I’m lucky, but not all of the women in my house are exactly good looking…” Then she leaned in and kissed his cheek and started stroking his back with her hand gently. Seductively.
Blushing Tor shrugged her off and held up his hands, grinning but feeling awkward. “Alright, stop that before Rolph and Trice both start kicking my butt. Fine, can we get them the equalizers and… water pumps to start with? I didn’t know that I was hurting anyone…”
Sara pointed out that it really wasn’t likely that they’d be trying to kill him over that, which he already knew. Obviously. Getting them something to replace what he’d taken wasn’t about protecting himself, but protecting them from the damaged he’d done.
It was only fair.
For some reason saying that made Sara chuckle, but not the others. So for once she was just being weird? Good. He’d been starting to feel like everyone in the world got everything and only he was missing it all. The gold haired girl shook her head a bit, smiling.
“It’s a good thing you’re a builder and not a merchant Tor… I’ll see to it though.”
They all kept brainstorming. The ideas came, but most of them were nonsense really. Would his instructors be mad enough at him to do it, because he hadn’t gone to class enough? Rolph roared with laughter at that and rubbed his knuckles on the top of Tor’s head. It kind of hurt.
“They could just tell you that you had to go to lessons first, don’t you think? Or, if they were really all that put out they could just tell you to turn your shield off and beat you in the commons. No one’s even suggested that you’re not getting good marks yet Tor. Well, Kolb isn’t that happy with your progress I hear, but the rest of the instructors all say you’re getting top grades. I checked the last time I went around telling them all you wouldn’t be making it to class so you could work.”
Tor smiled and shrugged. He’d have to work harder in the afternoons somehow. Karen was always there to help him out he knew. She’d said that at least, that he should spend time with her and Petra. Maybe some extra practice wouldn’t hurt? He kept trying to put together who’d dislike him that much though.
“No one from Two Bends hates me that much, I don’t think, plus, how would they even get here? It’s kind of a long way to walk over some old grudge from grammar school, isn’t it? Plus no one there’s that tall. So what does that leave? Wait, that Duke? Um, Winchester? I guess that he could have done it; I mean we got in a fight, sort of… Not him personally, of course, he’s way bigger, but he could hire it done, or get a friend to do it maybe?”
That didn’t seem very likely according to Rolph. Sitting on his own bed cross legged he looked lost in thought for a while, then he shook his head.
“I’ll have it checked out, but I really doubt it. If anything the Duke probably thinks of you as his personal hero and friend, you saved him from harming an innocent woman in public and then didn’t even shame him about it afterwards, you even named him a personal friend, which takes a lot of the sting out. Everyone kind of accepted it as his buddy Tor stepping in to keep him from making a social error, so really the only looked a little bad in the whole thing, and like his friends cared enough to step in when things got hot. Nearly perfectly played by the way. No one can even belittle him for “losing” to you now. He wouldn’t have wanted to really harm his friend, would he? Even during the event, after getting his attention all you really did was stand there and let him beat on you. It’s kind of hard to take offense at that and it really is what a very good, and powerful, friend would have done. Still… Just in case I’ll get a message off to… No, let’s go down in person. We’ll beat a message down if we fly anyway… and we can go down for dad’s birthday celebration week. Mom will like it and we get a break from school anyway.” The large redhead nodded and started to speak more excitedly. “Of course we wouldn’t be expected to show up for it normally since it’s only a weeklong event, but the fact that we can fly down in hours means that I should go at least. That gives us a week to plan for it even.” Rolph seemed pleased by the idea at any rate.
The King’s birthday? Tor had totally forgotten about that. Yeah, they got the week off, which he’d planned to use as free work time, but now that he knew the man, was even on a first name basis with him, he’d probably be expected to get him something. He still didn’t really have any money and didn’t expect any from his work for months yet. Looking at the others his eyes went wide and he stood suddenly.
“Do you… I mean, would it be too tacky, if I made him something? I don’t know what he’d like, but… Well, how about water heaters for the palace and guest house? For baths. Or would that be too bland? What do people normally get a King anyway?”
The Prince gave him a wry look.
“Honestly? Generally useless crap that he never touches after the party. A water heater for his bath would probably go over well, at least with the servants that have to use a fire to warm the tub for him in the winter if no one else. For that matter if you decide to do that, get me one too. I’ll pay you.” Everyone else chimed in that they would too, but then Trice kissed him, pushing Sara out of the way with a gentle nudge, slipping in between them and wrapping Tor in a tight embrace from the side, her right breast pushing into his side firmly.
“Wait, I get one free, right? Being that were going to be married and all?” She laughed, but Tor shrugged. Fiction or not she really would get one anyway, they all would. He dared to kiss her back, because it seemed to be the way the game was played. He’d miss it, he realized, when the whole thing was over.
It was nice even if it was make believe. As far as he knew Trice hadn’t even been sleeping with anyone else. Then, being discrete was, generally, supposed to be a big part of things in her world. He’d probably only learn that they were breaking off the engagement when a go-between came or something like that. How was that done anyway? Tor had a strong suspicion that he’d find out within the year. He suppressed a sigh and hugged the tall girl beside him for a while, hoping it wouldn’t seem desperate. After she was gone he probably wouldn’t get a lot of contact with anyone, so it seemed like a good idea to save it up now if at all possible.