Tovey helped him boost the chest onto the back of the carriage, moving it easily. Tor couldn’t have picked it up that high on his own, not within two feet even. He marveled a little, knowing that no matter what else happened in his life, he’d just never be that tall. No wonder people let them lead. It was just darned impressive. Before they got in the back of the carriage Tor took out a handful of amulets and started handing them out.
“Presents. One to keep your temperature stable,” Tovey pulled his out from under his shirt, so Tor took the one he’d tried to give him back with a smile. Good to know that he’d kept it all this time. “The other is just, well, here….” He put the amulet on and looked down at the little array of sigils and tapped the first one.
A soft white light grew slowly out of the air around his body, resting about two inches off of his skin. It wasn’t glaring and showed better in the back of the dark carriage than it would under bright lights, but it wasn’t meant to be useful, just interesting.
Collette looked at hers.
“Why are their seven sigils though?” She didn’t hit any of the others, being smart enough to know better. No sane adult ever touched a sigil without knowing it was safe.
“Each ones a different color of light. It’s harmless. Let’s see…Here.” He reached over to her and hit the right sigil, fourth from the left, not noticing at first that he was tapping so near her chest until after the light blue sprang up in the air around her. He suddenly felt awkward, but no one else seemed to notice. Terlee matched her own with red light after a few tries and the Count decided that green suited him best.
“If nothing else,” Tovey said as he looked at the people with him, smiling in that relaxed fashion of his. “At least we’ll be easy to see.”
Chapter five
Tor nearly just left the city in embarrassment when the gate guards tried to turn him away again at first. He didn’t have an invitation.
No one had even mentioned the idea to him before. Count Thomson had one, printed in a fine hand on sturdy paper; it was black ink on a smooth cream colored paper that he’d never seen the like of before. It even had his sister’s name on it; right there in hand inked lines. Rolph hadn’t mentioned even needing one at all! Well, at least he’d warned Collette that this might happen. She didn’t seem overly put out by it at least, just shrugging it off.
“Do I get to keep the amulets? I think that I could use them to deflect the worst of Maria’s bites tomorrow… God that sounds mercenary doesn’t it? I just-” the woman shrugged a little and touched his arm gently, leaving her hand on it as the gate guards kind of glared at them for not having the proper papers. Had the invitation just been some kind of game then? Why? Then again, they were all royals and everyone knew that they didn’t do things in a straight foreword manner if they could help it. Even Tor had grown up with stories about that.
So was this really him being snubbed? Worse he’d brought his own witnesses. Crap.
He should have just skipped it, shouldn’t he?
“Of course, heck, I’ll load you up with amulets and fields if you want them, I brought plenty. I guess I really did make someone mad at me here. I wonder what I did? Probably being too short or something silly like that. Well, anyway, Tovey, would it be all right if we borrowed the carriage to get Collette back home? I’m horribly embarrassed about all this. I was asked by Rolph and Varley to come personally, they said that it was directly from the King and Queen and I figured… well, I guess things are different than I thought? Nothing for it now.”
He forced a smile, even knowing he sounded horrible. It was just that his stomach was making an effort to sink through the bottom of his tummy that did it. Probably trying to hide, away from the shame he’d brought on them.
The Count and Tor’s sister both got out, but looked uneasy doing it. Tor made a point of giving the King’s presents to the Count for delivery, since it was right there anyway, and the little gift he’d worked up for the Queen as well. Why should their fun be ruined? He told them to go and have a good night, sounding like it was a funeral the whole time.
Poor Collette had to ride back with him in borrowed shame, instead of mixing and mingling like she’d planned. She looked so pretty too. Anyone keeping her out of a party was a moron, Tor decided, feeling lower than he’d felt in days.
Really he would have just left the Capital right then had it been just him, just rising into the air and flying off, dark or not, but he owed her at least something for having shown up with him. When they got to her house he off loaded a large amount of plates, water heaters, room temperature controls, a few more of the glowing amulets, five personal shields and flying rigs along with two luggage plates. It wasn’t enough, he knew, so he gave her four more amulets for luggage, but anything more would be getting redundant. Collette hugged him as he turned to leave.
“Don’t worry, it’s just an oversight I’m sure. Things do happen with large events like this.” She sounded a little worried though, slightly upset. Warnings or not, he’d really let her down, he knew. Tor should have seen it coming.
Why hadn’t he?
Because he was foolishly trusting, that was why.
Moron.
He knew she was probably right, but it felt like he was being snubbed on purpose. It wouldn’t have been a big deal, if he hadn’t been asked so very clearly like he had been. If no one had said anything about it, and just left him at the bakery after delivering his stuff, it would have been all right. Oh well. He walked back to Debbie’s, so that the carriage could get back to the party were it might be needed later. When he got back, not too late, since the Baronetta lived about a slow ten minute walk away, even with his luggage floating along behind him on the fairly busy street, he found that Debbie hadn’t even left yet. The clock on the wall said it was only about nine-thirty. They’d made decent time in the carriage for once at least.
“You’re back already? Did you forget…” When Debbie looked at his face she cringed. “What happened?”
The explanation didn’t make very much sense to him, or to her either. After all, she’d heard the Prince and Princess ask him to come themselves, and assured him that he hadn’t misunderstood or anything. It wasn’t the wrong night or time. They’d both been very clear, and she reminded him, insistent that he come. He asked her if she’d help him undo the lacing, so that he didn’t have to try and break it in order to get out of the clothing. She locked the door and went to work.
“Tor, you do know you’re glowing, don’t you? Is that…bad? Like a combat aura? Only for Wizards?”
Laughing he explained the amulet, took his off and gave it to her. They were pretty useless over all; you could just barely read by the light, but looked pretty enough in the dark. Shrugging he unpacked most of the contents of the trunk he’d loaded with various things and left it with her, setting devices on her counter. Her look seemed scared at first, but he told her that she could sell them, or if she wanted, give them away. He made little piles out of the remaining things and told her that he’d be gone in the morning and apologized for leaving her in a lurch.
“It’s, really it’s probably nothing, an oversight like Collette said or… I don’t think I’ve done anything that bad to anyone at least, but if the King or Queen is out to get rid of me, or just doesn’t want me here, I’d better get out of their city, you know? Just in case. I’ll leave in the morning, if that’s all right? They know I’ve been working here and I don’t want to track trouble to you if there is something.”