P. Power - Knight of the Realm

Getting out the hand light's he turned one on and handed it to the man. It was bright, but red. Other people stopped to stare, since it called for attention. The man gasped a little, his eyes going big.

“Magic! I… doubt my shops worth as much as this is. What does something like this go for, fifty gold at least? More than that?” His voice had gone from skeptical to awed. Not just a little either.

Tor grinned.

“Well, today it's worth two pies and something to carry them in. If you want it, I mean? It's just something I made myself.” After all, it wasn't even a proper light, being all red like it was. To someone like this it would be a curiosity at best. The man quickly agreed, looking a little guilty about it, but providing a nice basket with a top to carry it in. Tor just hope it really was something Holly liked. Merchants would claim anything to make a sale.

Even bakers always had the best bread ever, the most wonderful cakes, and so on.

After that was dealt with they only had another half mile or so to walk, the residence being carefully hidden behind some trees, a dense growth that had probably been there for a long while. There was no mistaking what the building was when it came into view. It wasn't the dwelling of a peasant or even a rich merchant, a huge, and old feeling, castle of stone, smooth and shining, meaning it was made with magical tools. The large blocks had been put together so well it almost looked like one seamless piece for a moment, except that the stone had different colors, some of it being quarried in different places Tor guessed. It wasn't lovely really, too eclectic for that, but it was majestic without a doubt. That had probably been the original point, rather than looking nice.

Petra pointed, seeming happy suddenly.

“There it is!” She said, causing Tor to feel a flash of unwarranted annoyance. It was obvious what it was after all. There wouldn't exactly be a castle every mile along the coast now, would there? He made himself let that go as unworthy. Petra was his friend and wasn't saying that the rest of them were too stupid to figure it out, she was simply commenting, just making conversation. Most likely at least.

Really, while he liked the girl and even kind of wanted to have sex with her, he didn't know how she thought overly. For all he knew she'd meant that they were all far too stupid to not mistake the huge thing in front of them with its motley stones of black, white, gray and gem like marble, for a barn. Instead of being a jerk, Tor decided to smile and give the girl a nod.

She winked at him.

“I was here a couple of times on break, back when Holly and I were in school together, since, you know, it's on the way to Warden. Kind of.” She took Tor's hand eagerly and led him up a smooth stone path. “This way, I think.”

The path split and wound around several times, but Petra walked it easily, possibly perfectly. In three minutes they were standing in front of a door that was probably the main one, given how huge it was. Twin doors of highly polished wood, each big enough that Tor couldn't have reached across them. Petra grabbed a bell cord, one higher than he could reach, a convention that Tor always took to mean something like “don't ring this if you aren't a giant… Peon.” or something to that effect.

If he ever had a bell like this, it was going to reach nearly to the ground, he decided right then. What if some little kid needed in? OK, so he could have flown up and reached it, but other than that, he'd have to jump, which would be embarrassing. They had to ring twice before anyone came. Petra just grinned and shrugged.

“Really people normally use the side doors, but we're bringing in a Princess. How often does that happen?” The door opened out, making them all step back as the side on their left swung slowly, The door was heavy and apparently needed to be picked up to move at all.

The man in black that was moving it grinned at them a little sourly.

“Sorry it took so long, this thing is a bear… Now, how may I help you? You're obviously not here to sell us anything, right? If so, then you would have to go around the side, after helping me close this beast.” He chuckled a little. Tor smiled and stepped forward.

“Not selling anything, here to visit Countess Printer?” The man looked suddenly skeptical. Something that Tor was getting used to finally, it seemed. Did they all really see him as that much less than everyone else just for being short? “We have peach and strawberry pie?”

The man laughed again, not just a chuckle.

“Well! That would do it then, even if you were trying to sell something. Now, may I ask who's calling? Otherwise she'll just send me back to wheedle the pie from you and send you off. She's a bit… distracted today.”

Kolb did the introductions, but added in Petra’s Counserina this time. He didn't add Tor's Countier though, which was just as well, since that kind of thing always made him uneasy. His name was just given as Tor. The man bowed low, to Varley first, since she was a Princess and then everyone else in turn, even him, though that did get done last, gesturing for them to all come in, and moving to close the heavy door on his own. Tor just grabbed the frame near the middle, where it had an edge and lifted too, after setting down the basket he carried. The whole thing had to weigh nearly two hundred pounds. Obviously made to withstand a siege, even though the place lacked a proper wall. So… maybe it wasn't for attacks at all and just meant to keep salespeople out? It should work, as long as everyone inside refused to open it.

The door didn't close with a mighty thunk, but with a creak and finally a screech that would have set Tor’s nerves on end if it had lasted even a second longer. The man took a deep breath.

“Right… Um, well, this is embarrassing, but honestly we've never had a visit from royalty before and I'm really not sure what would be correct…” The man looked about fifty, but spoke like a younger person, his voice friendly and open the whole time, as if Princesses and barons might just be people too. It made Tor smile and want to help the man out.

“Oh, well, if there's somewhere to sit, while we wait? Then you can let Countess Printer know we're here I think, if you feel comfortable with that I mean? Otherwise we can just stand here, but we are dropping in without warning, so she may want time to get ready or something?” Varley smiled and indicated that would be proper enough, which got the man to smile at her. It could be very easy to smile at a pleasant Princess after all.

“This way then. I think the main sitting room is clean. Ah, it's always clean, what am I saying? I'll have you thinking we keep the livestock in there or something at this rate.” His voice was happy enough when he said it, clearly being lightly playful. Very different than the palace.

Tor thought it kind of a big improvement. He collected the pie basket and followed the man. So far things were going a lot more smoothly than he’d thought they would. Probably the magic of pie. Who didn’t like a good pie?

The room had several soft sofa's all done in red and brown, the Printer house colors, and had a half dozen matching chairs. It was a big space that had natural light coming through stained glass in the pattern of flowers and fields of grass. It was pretty and glowed brightly at this time of day, which must have been about five in the afternoon. About ten minutes later the man that had met them at the door came back with three women, one older and brunette, followed by a round faced red-head that looked about twenty-five and another brunette who must have been close to the same age, all sporting close cropped haircuts that looked military. It was the common style in the Capital, but Tor hadn't realized it had spread this far already. The Queen had cut her hair to show support for the troops and also to make her look more like everyone else around her, a kind of camouflage, but that part wasn't public knowledge. The war with Austra was the big deal, not this stupid stuff that was distracting them right now, everyone going after Ward instead of getting ready for… Ah.