“Torrence Green Baker of Two Bends, county Lairdgren, please rise.” The voice sounded playful, but he made a little gesture with his left hand so Tor did it. If it was a joke, well, Rolph rarely made him the butt of his jokes. Teasing at times, but mostly not even that. Moving around the table, he stopped ten feet away from Tor and bowed slightly.
“Kneel.” Tor did, hoping he wouldn't look too stupid or anything. He'd probably have to cluck like a chicken or something. Who knew what kind of royal party game this was?
“Torrence Green Baker, your past life is no more. Arise Sir Torrence, made anew.” Rolph stepped towards him and laid his giant hand on Tor's head. For a joke it sure felt official suddenly. Smiling a little, he got up and looked around. The women looked horribly pleased and the Duke gave him a half bow.
“Sir Torrence.” Eric murmured.
Then everyone else greeted him the same way.
Rolph however held out his right hand with the paper in it, as if for everyone to read.
“Don't let it go to your head Tor. You're only a Knight Esquire, which means you can really marry Trice honestly and all that, and no one can gainsay you except the King and your parents, well, she can of course, but that's just common sense, if you really need to be told that, I'd have to take the Squire hood back. It doesn't come with lands, money or even real power. You get to clean a Knight's equipment and dress him for battle if it comes to that, and otherwise do what he says, clean the stables and get him wine or whatever. In your case probably make the equipment too, which should be a cost savings all around. I'd have gotten you assigned to me, but I'm pretty sure that if a war comes you'll just give me weapons and shields anyway, so might as well spread the love around, yeah?”
Tor had to sit down, but grinned. Had they really just fixed it so he could marry Trice? But... why? It was a good ruse and all, but did they really want to stick her with him? Maybe she had some plan he didn't know about? Or... He didn't know. Was this really real? He pinched his arm a little, earning a funny look from the room, ducking his head he blushed. “Um, not dreaming?”
The kiss that came was ardent to say the least, enough so that Eric started yelling after about ten seconds. “Hey!” He said, his voice holding laugher, “I really don't need to see this!” It got a laugh from everyone even Patricia.
Now, all Tor had to do, Rolph told him, was introduce her to his parents and family and get their blessing. Tor didn't think that would be a problem, except that when Trice saw where he came from, heard them speak and saw their lives, she'd probably call the whole thing off. She shook her head and murmured in his ear. “Not even if I have to move there and learn to be a baker's wife in truth.”
Yeah, he thought, fighting the grin that wanted to bubble up out of him, that would last right up until she learned her married name was going to be Pastries Baker.
They spoke of plans, of weddings and how soon they should hold it and where. Tor was fine with anything really, as long as Patricia would be happy with it, since it was all just a game anyway. It didn't really matter, but Mercy smiled and wagged a finger at him. “No Tor, planning weddings is the purview of the mothers. Otherwise kids would all elope and steal the only fun we get anymore. I'll simply have to speak with your mother about it. Yes. Eric and I will go with you to your home village in... Two days? That gives us an overnight there and more time if we need it to plan, while you kids get back to school. I'd like to hold the wedding here, in the Capital, but... Well, it also depends on what your mother says too. I don't want to make all the plans unilaterally.”
Swallowing Tor said that sounded fine to him. It came out as a question and his voice cracked more than a little, but no one laughed. Smiled, yes, but no chuckling even.
Thankfully no one bothered him for the next two days. On the one hand he wanted, desperately, to reassure himself that this was all real by spending every waking, and if he'd thought he could get away with it, sleeping, moment with Trice. On the other he desperately wanted to show the Morgans that this wasn't a horrible idea, real or not, so he spent most of the time building fields for them. He presented them with another fifty flying rigs, a hundred shields, all the latest model, and twenty temperature control plates for their homes. He would have come up with more, but he ran out of time. Torrence really just hoped that it was enough to keep their support in this whole ruse with their daughter.
Probably not in the long run, he knew, but for long enough to get Meredith Sorvee to forget about him? Even if he had to marry her eventually, at least he could maybe get a little further in school, right? Far enough along that Dorgal could graduate and forget about how much he hated Tor maybe?
The morning they were to leave, everyone came to the courtyard where the carriages waited to take them all out of town. It was a huge hassle, all these useless carriage rides. If they could have taken off from where they were, even just going straight up and then flying away, it would have saved hours and hours of time.
No flying in the city was the rule, so what else could they do? They met at the palace so that the Queen and King wouldn't have to go anywhere just to say goodbye to them, meaning the Morgans had gotten up even earlier to make their way over in the relatively cool morning light.
Burks and a dozen other men came out without being asked to help load everything on to the carriages, these rather nicer ones than what they'd hired to bring their stuff in originally. The wood was golden colored, but not painted, just lacquered and polished to gleaming, which Tor had learned meant quality for the most part.
It wasn't so much that he figured it out as that Varley had explained it to him the night before over dinner. The girl might be young, but she was a font of information that he desperately needed, and what was perhaps more important, she'd figured out that he actually would be required to know things like that. So, flashy gold covered rooms weren't as tasteful as simple polished wood? He'd have never guessed that without help. Not in time. What was more, wood cost a lot less. So when he built a house for Trice and himself to live in he wouldn't have to purchase gold leaf in bulk to try and cover every available surface. Good to know. He could save that money to buy nails. Not that he was going to ever marry the girl, but if they kept up the whole charade long enough, he'd have to make it look good, like he really meant for her to stay with him.
Well, even after she broke things off, it would leave him with a house, right? He had to live somewhere after school.
They all said goodbye publicly, which was fine, even if a little awkward at the end when Connie broke away from her family to say goodbye to him personally at the door of the carriage. She hit him with a lingering kiss no less warm than the ones Trice had been giving him, which made him blush. Everyone else chuckled for some reason, except for his... Tor stopped breathing for a second as it hit him again. Except for his fiancée. She just laughed joyfully for a few seconds.
“Hey!” She said suddenly. “Aunt Connie, stop trying to molest my future husband! At least until after the honeymoon, you'll wear all the new and shiny off of him...”
Tor suffered a bit, blushing as Rolph laughed at him and pushed him away from his mother slightly. Looking for a distraction Tor remembered the package sitting on the seat of the carriage and called Burks over and handed it to him without ceremony. It was wrapped in plain canvas, so it wouldn't look like a big deal or anything Tor hoped. After all the guy seemed a lot less into all the trappings of power and stuff than a lot of the others in the Capital were. Not for himself at least.
It was just a set of flying gear, a shield and temperature plates for his house or room. Tor didn't know where the man lived or even if he had a wife and kids. He wasn't old, but at about thirty easily old enough for all those things. Today he was dressed really nicely, in a deep green outfit that looked very proper. Was he switching over to working in the dining room of the guest house now that Tor was out of his hair? If so he must be in charge, the clothing was rich looking. The man didn't open the package standing there, but smiled, so hopefully it wouldn't be too lame as gifts went. Not that Burks had ever mentioned wanting any of that stuff, but what else did Tor have to give?
The carriage ride was fun, if a little awkward, because Sara kept staring at him with a slightly sad smile. He rode with Trice, Rolph and Sara, the other carriage holding Count Thomson and the Morgans. Behind them three more vehicles, all nice looking wagons, followed with the trunks and gear they had.
The Count and Trice's parents wore nice clothing, silk shirts and leather trousers, which was becoming popular for flying clothing among the very few rich people that could afford to get their own flying stuff already. Most of that came, he was told, not from Debri house, which was selling almost exclusively to the military on those items, but from the black market. People actually stealing things from Debri house, or worse, the military, to sell at incredibly inflated prices. The clothes looked nice however, the new flying “uniform”.
Tor wore his student browns and so, to everyone's amusement, did Rolph. The girls wore blacks that looked newer and softer than the heavy brown clothing did. It didn't just look softer Tor noticed, feeling the fabric as Patricia leaned against him. The material had an almost buttery feel to it, however that worked. It kind of made Tor want to run his hands all over her, which, of course, wouldn't be right. It would have been too much if they were really getting married, if he pushed it now, in this fake thing, she'd probably stop being his friend altogether. Who could blame her?
Finally having his friends all together, and no one else listening, Tor felt safe enough to ask some questions that had been bothering him for a while, but that he hadn't wanted to bring up in the palace since he was pretty sure that everything there was listened to by someone. Probably just servants, but showing them all how stupid and ignorant he really was wouldn't help anything. But, if he was really going to be around people like Trice and Rolph for a long time, he needed to have some kind of handle on things, right? Taking a deep breath he jumped in, hitting what he hoped would be obvious stuff first.
Trice didn't laugh at him, to his relief even Rolph didn't, which baffled him for a few seconds, because his large friend, never showing maliciousness in it, often at least chuckled when Tor let his lack of knowledge about royalty show. This time Rolph just sat quietly and waited for Trice to explain.
“OK. That's actually a good question.” She said looking at him warmly. “The reason my mom is a Baroness and not a Duchess is because she's a Baroness in her own right. Meaning she holds the title herself, so it trumps a higher one by marriage. If she didn't have a real title of her own, say if Aunt Connie had been born first, instead of two years later, then she'd be the Baroness and mom would use the Duchess title, but it wouldn't count as much, because it's only by marriage. So, if, gods forbid, dad were to die, she wouldn't reign in the duchy, my older brother Mark would.” Leaning in to him she wiggled a little, probably on purpose, so that more of them ended up touching.
If nothing else, Trice could sell an act pretty well. It was almost like she'd practiced it or something. Then again, she was a special school student, maybe that's what they had in place of morning meditations?
“So mom will always be Baroness, no matter what. Even if dad won a greater title somehow, but that's so rare that no one ever counts on it. Your getting that Squire's position as a full Knight Esquire is... huge. Really I didn't think it would happen. Most knights are already titled, and it's kind of a side step promotion for them. I know that Rolph said... but still... Yeah, anyway, even if mom had married Uncle Richard like originally planned, she'd still be Baroness Thorgood too. That doesn't change with marriage.”
Tor didn't know how to ask what had happened that caused the change of who married who. They all seemed friends now, Connie, Mercy and Richard, so maybe it was best left unasked? He didn't want to stir things up if they were resting quietly or anything, even with their kids. That kind of thing could cause feuds, and even wars, he guessed, if royalty was involved.
So he was surprised when Trice said she just didn't know the story without his asking. Rolph sat up a little straighter and leaned forward as if getting ready to tell a big secret.
“Alright, I wasn't forbidden from telling this story, it isn't a secret or anything, but there are some things... probably best kept quiet in general. Dad thought I needed to know, so he told me this the other day, the whole story intertwines with many others of course, like all good tales do.” The carriage shook, going over cobble stones, meaning they were nearing the outer wall, the gate drawing near.