Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) (10 page)

This was what she was thinking about when she stepped out into the smooth focus stone courtyard. It was a landing area for flying vehicles really, or at least the part she was in was. There were trees and bushes too. Both inside and outside the stone wall that surrounded the incredible looking place. It was all magic of course. Everything good was anymore.

Sara didn't really know why she'd come, but went to the large front door. It was inlaid with what seemed to be silver metal, and when she used the bell a chime rang out that was both pure and louder than she would have expected. It hadn't been like that the last time she'd been there, had it?

To her surprise it was a Count that answered the door. One who was only about her own size, being five-ten or so, which was small for a noble. He made up for it by being well above average in looks. Pale, being a very light tan color, but with dark black hair and deep brown eyes. At the moment he also had a beard, which was thick, but well trimmed. Probably meant to make him look older. It sort of worked, since she would have guessed his age at about twenty, instead of the eighteen or so he really was.

"Count Thorgood! I was just stopping by to see who was around." She smiled, trying not to seem like she was planning to stay for any length of time. That wasn't in her plans after all. "You may not remember me, but-"

Todd smiled at her before she could go on.

"Sara Debri! Of course I remember you. You
do
make an impression after all. Please, come in. My Countess is around here somewhere, actually working. We've decided to plague Tim's hospitality, since Ursula doesn't really want to stay in our other house here. Too many memories, of her parents. Good ones, but she doesn't wish to be distracted right now."

There was a gentle bow, which she returned, going only a bit deeper. Just the barest touch, which got a larger smile from the young man. Most would have either panicked, or been angry, but he was a Baker by birth. Which he didn't hide from.

"I have some fresh muffins? Lemon walnut. I'm trying a new recipe, but I think they turned out well. Would you care for some?"

She nodded, even though she wasn't hungry. You didn't tell noblemen no. Not even if they only had the position by marriage. Especially when they could just get in touch with their siblings and demand your head on a platter.

"That sounds good, actually. I don't want to put you out though. I really just stopped to say hello. I have an appointment at eight. With a Squire Gemma? I don't know if you've met?"

There was no slowing to the man's walk as they moved to a side sitting room. The inside had been redone in wood and cream colors, and was about as nice as anything she'd ever seen. Until they got into the sitting room itself. It was off to the right, near where it always had been, but it had been done in green and blue plaid. The whole thing.

It was hideous.
Grandly
so, since it was accented with polished hardwoods, but everything in the space was like that. Matching. From the paper on the walls to the throw rugs on the floor. Sara didn't comment on it, since she had a suspicious feeling that Countess Thorgood had done the decorating in this part of the place herself.

Todd ignored all of that, just ringing a little bell that sat on a table, to summon one of the servants. That turned out to be an older man, who dashed in with good speed, for someone that old.

"Sir?" He spoke very properly, but there was a bit of a merchant accent in his voice still.

Todd smiled at him.

"Thom, would you be willing to get a tray with some of the lemon muffins on it? Perhaps some tea too, if it's no trouble?" The words were too polite for a nobleman, but Thom looked ready to physically run to get them, which probably wasn't needed.

"At once, Sir. Anything else?" There was a glance over at her, which held recognition, but the man didn't call out to her by name. He wouldn't, since she was a guest.

The man was actually a friend of Tor's, and she suspected, Trice's. That would explain him having a rather plum job like this one. That he was trying to do it well was good to see. Not that Timon was around to fire him. Or would, most likely. The man had been in his dotage, but alone in the world, if she remembered correctly. Regular healing had helped a lot of older people return to full vigor however. He still looked old, but his movements were nearly as youthful as anyone's ever could be.

There was a bit more speaking, and the servant practically ran from the room, to make sure they had sweets and tea in a timely fashion. It really did sound good, she realized. Tellerand had been a little plain that way. No one had anything sweet at all there. Or hadn't before the new food devices were brought into play.

The Count gestured for her to sit, waiting for her to select which chair she wanted. That would say a lot about why she'd come. If she chose one of the two chairs facing each other, it would announce herself as being there on business. More, that she wanted him, or perhaps Countess Thorgood's, individual attention. Not in a fun way either.

If she picked the larger section of seating available, one of the chairs there, it would mean she came for a social call. Selecting a seat in the middle of the sofa would be announcing that she wanted someone to move in next to her. Being that they were alone, it would have been saying that she wanted to bed the man.

It was kind of tempting, since she hadn't even touched herself in so long that she kind of forgot how it felt. It was probably why she'd been dwelling on the topic so much in the last day.

Still, she didn't have time for that kind of thing, so settled in a single chair, but in the center of the room, meaning that chatting was the order of the day.

Everybody loved a good talk, right?

Todd didn't even look disappointed, his eyes lighting up a bit as he settled himself on the soft sofa across from her. Near the arm though, which was a sign that he didn't expect her to move over to him.

"Now... Squire Gemma? Conserina Second Cannor? I
have
actually made her acquaintance. Great girl. I'm not just saying that in the noble fashion either. Count Ward told me that she once offered to kick his behind for him, because she thought he was being mean to Tor. Luckily it turned out not to be the case, I guess. There's no bad blood there, as I understand it. Between any of them? I didn't ask too much, because, well, Ward and his Countess have thrown in with the rebellion. How about you?" The words suddenly went pointed, and a bit hard, as if he really wasn't certain what side she'd be on?

More, that it would matter to anyone in the world, one way or the other?

"I'm in with King Richard, myself. Though for the rest of the day into tomorrow I'm actually the Ambassador to Noram from Tellerand. All official and everything. I got Terry to appoint me so I could get some work done. Nice of him, wasn't it?" She was being too familiar, but Count Thorgood winked at her, playfully.

"That's not too bad then. I was worried for a bit, since you've been gone for a few months and no one here knew where you'd gotten to. I wanted to ask a favor of you, so I've been looking for a few weeks, in particular." Then he
didn't
ask, since that would be rude.

Sara nodded though, feeling tired still, even after all the healing.

"I was begging, often on hand and knee, for the people of Tellerand to accept the new food units from Saint Timon. You know, the ones that the All High, their One God, sent them?"

There was a pause, but none of the Bakers were stupid people, she didn't think. He understood what she meant, even if his knowledge of Tellerand was probably more than a little sketchy.

"That sounds hard. I... Noticed that you seem a bit thin. Would you like to stay here? We have plenty. Or... I have a device that Tiera made you can have, if you need it? It makes many different kinds of dishes, with very little effort."

Sara blinked. Then she did it again, realizing what was going on. He thought that she might be starving, being on hard times, and was willing to
give
her a magical device worth hundreds of thousands of golds, to make sure that didn't happen. Because she knew some of the people in his family, no doubt. That made them friends, in his mind. Someone that you did whatever you could for, no matter what it cost you.

"Thanks for the offer. It's most kind, but I'll be fine. I can just shake Tiera down for one later tonight. I'm supposed to have a meeting with her. The thing in Tellerand, well, we weren't allowed, by their religious rules, to make food for ourselves. It has something to do with showing how humble we all were being, begging them to take the blessings of their own god. So we, there were hundreds of us by the end, we didn't get to eat all that much most of the time. I'll be fine here, and in Harmony." She looked at him, as he relaxed, understanding the state she was in it seemed, now that it had been explained. "Now, what can I do for you?"

It was just then that Ursula came in, pushing a silver cart with tea and muffins on it.

"What can you do for me? Well, a
hug
would be a good start."

Sara jumped up and did just that. They were friends after all. Close enough that they'd shared a bed on more than a few occasions. Not lovers though. The Countess had been recovering from being poisoned back then, and having just lost her parents,
and
the baby she'd been carrying.

The woman was a bit taller now, by an inch or two, and had filled out some. Mainly through the chest, which Sara knew, because her face landed there when she was embraced back. Laughing she turned her head to the side, so that she could breathe.

"How are you doing, Countess Thorgood?"

There was a pause, then a kiss was delivered to Sara's left cheek, which took some bending over on the other woman's part. The lace from the blonde lady's red dress rasped a little against the satin that Sara was wearing as she pulled back. Hands moving to upper arms, as if fearing she'd get away.

"I'm fine enough. The County is good, compared to most others. We haven't been hit with a major storm yet. We may not be, if word out of Austra can be trusted. King Richard has us working on the relief efforts from there for that reason. I have a meeting with him later to go over what's needed. Have you come to take Todd off to visit his family?"

That would be the favor he wanted? It made sense, if Gerent wasn't around to do it.

"That can be arranged. I'm headed that way later tonight, in fact. It seems that my younger brother has gotten himself in trouble again. Something about him trying to get out of a marriage he set up? With a woman from Afrak. That, or he did something worse, and I need to be on hand to execute him. The information is a bit thin so far. I'm worried, of course." She didn't sound it.

That was down to her being too tired, really. She just couldn't care.

Todd stood and bowed to her though.

"That's a kind invitation, Ambassador Debri. I'd love to go with you, if that isn't a hardship? I don't have pressing business there or anything."

"It's not a problem really. I'm going anyway and can leave from here as easily as anywhere else. More so really. Call it eleven tonight? I have that meeting with Squire Gemma at eight."

That could mean anything, from her wanting to pass secret messages to the girl, or enlist her as a spy, to just trying to get her into bed. On the first meeting it would probably just be talk about who they knew in common. Showing that they had a good reason to be friends. That, and drinking some hopefully decent ale. She hadn't realized how much she missed the stuff. It nearly called to her now. Alluring, the phantom scent of it coming to her. Slightly sour, but full and rich.

Not that she could afford to get drunk. That was a shame. It was nice to really let go, on occasion. That wasn't a thing that a spy did in public though. Not a good one, which she really was. Most of the time.

She stayed with Todd and Ursula until nearly six-thirty, since they wanted to be polite to her for some strange, totally non-political, reason. Sara grinned at them both a few times over it, since treating her like she was more than, well, herself, was cute. It might have even made sense if they didn't realize that in less than two days she'd have all the power that any other woman her age would have had.

At least if they had the Captaincy of a jump ship.

Which was, come to think of it, a lot more than most people ever actually managed, even now that such things existed. There
were
people that had them, she knew. Gerent Lairdgren, a handful of people in Space Fleet, and Alice Orange all came to mind. Princess Karina, too.

After a moment of actually thinking it through she had to shake her head. The implications there were a lot different than she would have ever considered before getting her little temporary job as an Ambassador. From a certain perspective she probably looked decently important, didn't she?

Gerent was a Countier by adoption, but also a Prince of Harmony,
and
the Ambassador to Earth from there. The entire planet. All of the people in Space Fleet were handpicked by Alice Orange, who was one of the oldest people alive, as well as the head of that organization. You had to be pretty special to get that kind of a position with her, Sara had heard.

Then there was her. The girl from Noram. No more than a merchant herself, really. There she was though, the first person on Earth to actually have her own ship, and her not even a Princess. She could see how someone might actually think she was important, given all of that, if they were paying attention. A good spy avoided that kind of thing however. Being noticed as special meant people were watching you.

That was always the assumption, but it might get in the way of her work, eventually, if it kept happening. She wouldn't
always
be tasked with watching Tor and his family. Sooner or later they'd either catch on, which most of them had already, or grow bored with her being around. Then someone else would have to take up the position of being their watcher.

Looking up she realized that Todd and Ursula had stood up, and were looking at her a bit uneasily.