She smoothed her dress, something that was actually brown and a plain brown too, not some gem colored or expensive looking thing. It made her look a little like, not just a palace servant, but particularly one of the scullery maids. She looked a lot cuter this way than she normally did too, which baffled Tor for a bit as he watched her. Why would that be? Was brown just that good a color on her? Finally it clicked in his brain and he chuckled, which got a slightly peeved look from her, because she got that he was staring at her dress. Well, that or her breasts.
“Yes?” She asked, managing to make it sound slightly dangerous.
“Oh, nothing, I just realized that you looked even better than usual, cuter, even in a fairly plain dress, and I just worked out that it’s because you look more approachable. You know, less “get away from me peasant-how dare you gaze upon me” and more “hey, I just work in the kitchen, lets chat”. That’s… really a pretty good idea. I mean Rolph went away to school mainly to learn how to not be all stuck on himself right? You don’t get to do that, go off to school I mean, especially now with a war on I bet, but working for a while would have to be character building. Not that they can afford to let you do something like that right now, but maybe when there’s a chance you should look into it. Wash dishes or tend the gardens for a year or two?”
She stuck her tongue out at him, but then grinned.
“It can’t be less fun than running out to have old men trying to feel me up constantly. They wouldn’t be so bad about it if they knew who I was, but all these old lechers keep pinching me! At least when I’m dress properly they mainly recognize me and don’t leave bruises. Do all common girls have to put up with this all the time? I always thought I had it bad being a Princess, getting propositioned once a month or so, but I swear at least half the men coming through here have tried to sleep with me in the last two days! Worse, most of them are relatives, so talk about icky. ”
That was actually something Tor didn’t know. Did they? Not from him, but as he was coming to realize he might not be the best person to judge others by, for some reason. He hoped not, that sounded really off-putting. Poor girls.
It turned out that the new rules said that if one of them was going outside at all, they had to be dressed like a servant. Tor looked down and realized he could pass at least. Godfrey kind of looked military and having obviously come from the craft next to them, it would be hard to sell any of them as just regular people at the moment. He suggested that they confuse the situation by getting a passel of real servants to come from the kitchen and help take the griddles where they needed to get to.
Laura would want to test it first, he presumed, before wasting kitchen space on them. That was only fair. If they weren’t exactly what she needed then they wouldn’t make the cut, nor should they. As long as he got good feedback, Tor could fix any problems. Hopefully at least.
It would have taken him an hour of walking around and begging to bring the needed people, Karina just raised her right hand and asked for the kitchen staff that could be spared at the moment. She just spoke to the air, not looking at anyone at all. Only a light luncheon was being served that day, so twelve people ran over to them about ten minutes later. It was that eerie palace thing again. He needed to remember to never say anything he didn’t mean to be known by everyone while there.
Like threatening Debri house or the Morgans? Tor winced to himself. Oops. No wonder Smythe tried to kill him. He really had been just venting though. Mainly. Note to self, he thought, don’t vent here. Got it.
In the midst of all the brown clad people he had Karina help him move one of the griddles towards a shed past the pond garden, they both huffed and puffed, by the time they were halfway there, and had half a dozen other people helping them do the work. They could have used the follow along float, but he needed to whisper to her a little. If the fear was watchers, he needed to be careful too, right?
“Karina, this is, well, delicate. I need to have a private audience with the King, then, if I’m still alive, with your mother, Rolph, Varley and you. Um, tell the King it… Tell him it involves Varley, but this needs to be a real secret meeting first please, not one with a half dozen listeners in the walls? I, I couldn’t handle that right now…” Tor gasped this out and felt his muscles tremble, which probably served to make him look more than a little scared.
Acting skills? Zero. Looking like a scared child? One hundred percent. Or at least sounding like one. The beard was growing in pretty nicely now and aged him up a good bit. Now he looked like a small adult instead of a kid at least. Or at least a boy with a fake beard, so people could guess he was trying to look older.
The Princess grinned knowingly and ran off without saying anything more. She actually ran, which, honestly, was a wise thing that he needed to point out later. Either that or give Not-flyers to all the staff. More work for him, but that might actually be the more popular option. He finished helping to move the griddle, because it had to be moved anyway, and just walking off would be something a real servant wouldn’t have done. Not that he had to worry personally since he had a shield on and all, but if it was a rule, he’d follow it as best he could while he was there.
Karina didn’t come back over at least, just standing and gesturing at the door, which was a little lazy if she was a servant gesturing to some high lord, but was about perfect for a servant girl trying to get another servant to come to her. Tor wondered if it was just that Karina was that slothful by nature or if she was smart enough to work all this out on her own? Rolph and Varley were both smart, so why not their sister too? He’d never seen it exactly, but shallow and a little too concerned with what other people thought of you was different than dumb.
Not living her life, he couldn’t even say that she was actually shallow and vain even. Maybe in her world what he saw as being self-centered was actually something else from her perspective? Something needed, even if he didn’t know why? That there were thing he didn’t know about royal girls was so clear that he might as well wear a sign saying it all the time. Or, could he have it embroidered on the back of a shirt? That would work too and probably be more comfortable. Embroidery was expensive to hire done though and he didn’t have time to learn the skill himself, so the world would probably just have to guess at his lack of knowledge on this topic. That was fine. Most people would probably just look at him and be able to tell.
It took nearly a minute for him to get to her; Tor tried to hurry, but the half jog he could manage after the moving of the heavy equipment was just that pitiful. At least she didn’t make him talk when he got to her, she just put out her arm for him to take, so she could steady him if need be.
“Dad said to tell you to be at the place from before in ten minutes. I asked him when before, but he said you’d know?” Bright coppery red hair in a braid today, she flung her head around sharply to toss it over her right shoulder, so that it draped cutely, and gave him a proper village girl style “come hither” look.
“So, if I can ask without it being off-putting, why Varley and not me? I’m older and, well, I know she’s prettier than me, but I’m a lot closer to the throne and all that, if that kind of things important to you at all. Unless, well, she does look a lot like mom, and I know you like her a lot.”
“Um, yeah, about that, could we talk about that if your dad doesn’t have me killed outright? Besides, you already have a marriage lined up, don’t you?” He asked, not wanting to give everything away in public. That walking down a gray and empty hallway trimmed in a wood was somehow “public” baffled him even as he knew it was probably true. At least he knew that no one could hide in the walls of his little focus stone hut.
She agreed to wait, very grudgingly, and a little grumpily she set off down a side hallway as he worked his way towards what would be nearly the innermost part of the palace. He got lost twice, before he found the drab door with the stairs behind it. At least the light plates were already on. Grinning slightly Tor finally activated his Not-flyer and got to try going down the stairs. The ride wasn’t perfectly smooth, but it only felt like riding down a giant wash board, not jarring at all. The lights and walls zipped by, but when he started to pull his right hand back he slowed to a stop just before he reached the bottom.