By the simple expedient of setting up even more little magical cottages, he didn't even have to share with anyone that night. Or so he thought. Just as he was set to drift off, there was a low knock on his door. For half a second he thought it might be Trice, actually looking to talk or plan something, but when he got to the door, it wasn't her at all.
It was Judy and Petra.
They barged in and closed the door behind them, Petra smiling, but Judith looking ready to slap him. He didn't know what it was he might have done, but she didn't make him wait long to figure it out.
"And here I thought you and
I
had something lined up. Darn that Ducharina anyway." She smiled then, but reached out and patted his shoulder. "Right honorable, you doing this. Petra made Patricia promise not to make your life too miserable or keep you from being young. So you get at least two years. Let's catch some shut eye and then you can give each of us one of your new fancy cargo craft. You know, since we work for you and all that."
"Well,
you
do. Petra just kind of stays around for some reason. I can loan you both one. I have a hundred of them and won't be selling them at all. If anyone wants one, they have to work for the Fast Transport service, at least part time. That way we can keep the competition down." It made sense, but the others just headed off to bed, without saying more than goodnight. They all slept in the same room, since the plan for this place had a cordoned off sleeping area, with four beds, but not individual rooms. Most of the time it wasn't a problem, but it might be nice to be alone every now and again.
The other two just slept and while Petra made angry sounding noises and thrashed, Judy was quiet about it. Timon didn't know what he was like as he slept, but figured it was more like Petra than not, for much the same reason. Old traumas coming back.
They woke at about seven in the morning, the light from outside the windows making the interior space glow just a bit. He woke first, and headed to the restroom, then ran a warm bath, the heat being taken from deep within the earth. It was a good idea, and one that made perfect sense after you saw it, but he sort of thought that he would have tried to take the heat from around himself if Tor hadn't made the original design differently. That was the way most builders did it and while it didn't work as well, it sort of did the trick.
He stripped and climbed into the tub, after taking a quick shower. It was a bathhouse thing, he'd heard, so had tried to pick up the noble habit. Luckily for him, since Petra walked in about five minutes later and did the same thing, joining him in the large tub. Judith popped her head in and looked at the whole set-up as skeptically as one of his sisters would have, but followed suit, not wanting to seem like she wasn't as noble as they were. For his part he kept his eyes closed until they were both safely in the water with him. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with them, or even that he felt embarrassed, since that wasn't happening at all. No, it was just that they were both too tall and cute enough that seeing them naked would be hard for him.
That didn't get explained, but neither of them asked either. Petra got what he was doing, he thought, and Judy just figured he was being gentlemanly. That wasn't it, but it would serve to make him seem better in her eyes later, so he let it go without comment.
As soon as she was in the water, the level rising about two inches, he opened his eyes. It wasn't pitch black in the room, but the lights weren't on full either. He could see them both and even make out their breasts in the water, but it wasn't that bad really. Petra had more of a chest on her, but wasn't huge and Judith was decently flat. Both had good muscle on them, since they were fighters and kept themselves in shape. Really he probably needed to do the same thing, but hadn't really had a lot of time for that yet.
They were both half asleep it seemed and no one talked at all, just soaked, as if they wanted to warm up. It wasn't until Petra started singing and Judy joined in that he understood this was actually some kind of Noram Day tradition for them. Communal bathing and song. It seemed weird to him, but he hummed along, not knowing the exact words they were using for this one.
After it was done, Petra splashed him lightly in the face.
"So, what's the plan? You aren't married until tomorrow. Are you having a last party? It doesn't seem like there would be time for that really, but we could get some of the girls from the house at Wildlands to come in, if you want." She was teasing. It was clear enough that he just played along for a moment.
"We
could
, or, you know, there's always you two, since you're already undressed. Instead, I think that I need to track down Gerent and see if I can arrange funds for food here or whatever is needed. He didn't leave last night did he?" It was possible, but he was supposed to spend the day with him. If the man could stand to be around him, since Tim was, after all, marrying his girlfriend.
Or at least the girl that he wanted to fill that role. That almost made it worse, since it was like saying the little man wasn't good enough for someone like Trice. In a lot of ways that was what most would think, probably. He was too small and misshapen for a noble to take seriously, but he was a good person. The kind that thought of others first, even though his entire life should have pretty much forced him to be totally selfish and bitter.
"Really there's too much to get done for anything other than planning and action today. We'll have breakfast here I think. Or, well, we might need to get back to Two Bends or even go to the Capital, since everything changed. I sort of wish Trice would have mentioned this a few months ago. We could have done this already and handled the problem." Or mentioned it years before and handled the situation a totally different way.
Things were what they were. Complaining about the timing now wouldn't fix anything.
Judy shrugged, causing her nipples to pop up out of the water about halfway. She noticed him watching and blushed a bit, but didn't try to cover herself.
"Y'all should come along with me and see Holly. I'm not too pleased with her at the moment, but it's Noram Day. Family and all that. I promised to visit, but later. I could maybe get out of it, if you need me for something?" There was too much hope in her voice for him not to dash it.
"Not really. We should go too. Drag Heather along with us and make certain she's seen. It's almost always a mistake to hide away in shame. Plus that way we won't be stuck in a small country village all day. I need to find Terry. Probably Tess too. I have some things for them." It was bad form not to have something for everyone. He just didn't have enough time to make things for the entire village, one person at a time.
More to the point he had a few people that were really
his
now. The two in the tub with him for instance. Somehow, in the mess that his life had become, these two had managed to become attached to him in a way that spoke of a lot more than just friendship. That would be why Petra had been linked to him as more than just a tutor or guard, most likely, she was capable of being either. Judith hadn't yet, but that had more to do with her being at school and not with him all the time. If they went around for more than a day or two, she'd be lumped in with him as well no doubt.
Not that most nobles would really care. A sixteen year old girl taking up with a twelve year old boy was odd, but not so much that anyone would do more than wonder how incredible he must be in bed to make that happen. Or how rich. It really was an insult to Petra. Trice too, but it was her choice, not anything
he'd
done.
Except going with Tiera to save her from a jail in Galasia. Now he had to wonder if that had been a set up again, didn't he? The guards said they weren't given orders to do it, but if this Rico was as bad as everyone thought, how hard would it have been for him to arrange for Gerent and Trice to be tossed into the local hole, knowing what the habits of the guards there were? If that was the case...
Then it made sense as to why the Baron and his wife wouldn't let Trice out of the deal now. It was a huge mess for them. If they told Trice she wasn't wanted, it was a
huge
insult. It would be seen as them claiming she wasn't good enough for their son, after letting her be raped like that. On the other hand, if it came out that any of them were involved,
especially
their son, that would instantly be grounds for war. A
real
one. The kind that would have Tor ripping Galasia apart no doubt. Or Gerent doing the work, but if anyone thought that meant they'd be safe, they were underestimating what powerful magic could do to a place, in the hands of an angry man that didn't care if he survived.
That would be if anyone got there before Tiera did.
No, this was the better plan. This way he could bide his time, let the matter rest for a bit and then go in and see if he could find out what the real truth was. If it was just what it had seemed before, he could let it be. If it turned out to be anything else, he'd set things in motion, so that no one knew about it. Lives saved, and no one the wiser.
If there was more time he'd have set it up anyway. Why no one had already, he didn't really know. Really, Count Lairdgren should have seen to it. That he hadn't was probably more of that Ancient apathy he had going on. He had his own Assassins Guild for goodness sake. The girl was one that he'd known her
entire
life. What kind of monster was the man, that he'd let something like this go on, knowing full well what she was getting into? It wasn't her fault even. Just her job to get out of it.
He looked at Petra and realized that she was climbing out, so he ended up staring at her behind. It wasn't a horrible view, but he looked away, not able to think about it at all. Except, it didn't make him dwell on Nora really. It was easier to see her that way now. Not perfect, but it didn't remind him as much of pain. Maybe the evil Countess hadn't broken him totally that way, forever?
Why, at this rate, in two or three centuries he'd be perfectly normal.
"We should go see who's getting up, help make breakfast or something." That idea got a groan from Petra, but Judy just got out, standing in front of him before moving to the side with the ladder. He managed a solid glance at her, but had to focus on her face before she turned. Her back was leaner than Petra's, but had better muscular definition. A lot better than he had. He was just short, and skinny.
They waited for him, sharing the drying area, each with a single hand on the sigil that would keep the cool air blowing over them. There was space for four people, so he joined them. It should have been awkward for him, but they all ended up standing there with their eye and mouths closed. The air moving over them was too strong to do anything else. The girls both had shorter hair than he did, being fighters, so he ended up standing there longer, but they waited for him in the main area, where the wooden looking table was set up.
Petra winked at him when he walked out, dressed in what seemed to be a half green, half red velvet outfit with matching boots. It made him look like a jester, but it was traditional enough. Judy was in fighting leathers, but she glanced at what Petra was doing, which was making a rather splendid light display that danced in and out of her clothing and frowned, letting the outfit on her turn a sky blue color.
"I look horrible in red."
Petra smiled, looking like an ornament, that had a girls head on it, but she didn't speak, just moving when Tim did to find everyone. It wasn't hard, they were all sleeping, except for the undercook and, naturally, Tor. He was making morning cakes, spice rolls and three kinds of bread for toast. Timon looked into the kitchen of the main house and sighed.
"Sure, take all the
fun
things. Judy and I will get the eggs then. Petra, can you do some bacon or sausage?" It turned out that she couldn't, since cooking wasn't exactly her strong suit. In the end Tor had her run to get Demis and Sherri for the tasks, and sent Petra away to wake everyone.
"I really need to teach you to cook. Tim can do it too. Speaking of which, we should have some orange sauce with this. Nobles eat it on their eggs. It isn't hard to make, if you pay attention. You'll need... fifteen egg yolks to start with. Save the whites, we'll make a meringue for a lemon pie latter."
They worked then, talking, but mainly about the plans for the day, as the poor undercook scrambled to keep any of them from working too hard. It was clear she knew her job, but having four new cooks, all of them outranking her badly, walk in that morning was hard for her to deal with. She seemed sweet, if quiet.
"Sorry, miss, I didn't get your name." Timon spoke softly to her, which actually got a response that wasn't a squeak. That was better than anyone else had done so far. It was probably because he was only a bit bigger than she was. Three inches or so, but they were on almost equal footing age wise. So were the other girls, but they were taller. So was his brother.
"Maggie, sir." She all but whispered the words, her long brown hair being pulled back the only thing that kept it from hiding her bent face.
"Sir? Not me. I'm just Tim. This is my brother, Torrance and our friends, Sherri and Demis. Tor has his own bakery, near the school where these other to go. I'm heading off to school next year, but in Printer, not Lairdgren. How long have you worked here?"
That turned out to be around a year, but with only about a dozen more questions while they worked, Maggie opened up a lot. Just as the sauce was in need of a serving dish, which had a hot water bath around another bowl to keep it warm, she started talking about the people that had died. It was a bit morbid, given that it was a holiday, but it explained why the place was so empty.