P. Power - Knight of the Realm

Was she not supposed to be out? He checked with his mind and found that she was at least wearing a shield and had both a force lance and a cutter on her, both good quality, though the force lance was getting old and wasn't up to par with the ones he made. He'd have to get her a better one. He just nodded.

“Welcome ladies, might I get something for you?” It was the same opening line everyone got, with changes only for gender or station. When in doubt, promote upward in social rank, except Karina didn't want to be recognized. She knew he did, but that didn't have to be acknowledged if she didn't want. Maybe she was just embarrassed that they knew each other?

She wore an old pair of worn student browns that had probably once belonged to the Prince. Well, good to get as much use out of things as possible, besides, they did blend pretty well. Everyone wore brown for school, so there were people walking around dressed like that at any festival and even more on the street. It was also a pretty common workman's color, so it would work that way too.

One of the other girls, taller than him, lean, short black hair and a patch over her right eye stared, looking almost angry. A wave of interest came off her though, and recognition.

“That's him, isn't it? Master Tor his own self. Here to serve us goodies and make the miraculous happen. Didn't expect that, now did we? Well your sleeping with him Kari, at least that's what you claimed, get him to fix my eye and you're the boss for the next year, everyone agreed?”

Everyone was, except Karina who suddenly looked miserable.

“Wait…” A round faced girl that looked to be almost normal in height to Tor, so about five-three or so, probably taller if she stood straight, said sounding baffled. Same short, dyed black hair, and gray workman's clothes, but with a bust line that would have put Petra to shame and on a much smaller frame, so it looked that much larger over all.

She was cute.

“If he's Master Tor, then why is he working in a bakery?”

That got a shrug along with a gentle grin.

“Why not? I know how, and the owner of the shop is running the part next door. It never hurts do your share, right?” Tor said simply, trying to remain polite.

He was sleeping with Karina now? Since that had never happened and they hadn't even kissed more than a peck on the cheek something was definitely up here. From the look on her face “Kari” had been the one telling tales too. Well. What should he do? Ignore the jibe? That would leave his friend in distress though. Right, well, distraction time then.

“You're eye… accident, illness or born that way?” He said, indicating the patch with his whole hand. It was less rude than pointing, the book said so.

The girl, Lilli, told him about the illness that had hit five years before leaving her unable to open the eye and even when pried open she couldn't see from it. As long as she wasn't born that way it was worth a shot. Tor pulled off his healing amulet and handed it to her. He would have anyway, even if “Kari” wasn't with her. Didn't people know anything about him at all?

She clasped her head, screamed and moaned dramatically and finally slipped the eye patch off, showing a normal eye underneath. The wrong color, brown instead of green like the one on the other side. She looked in a mirror that came from one of the new amulets, just something Tor had made up the night before, since regular mirrors were generally of poor quality and expensive. This one reflected light perfectly so she noticed right away.

She didn't complain or even seemed bothered by the effect, she just grinned. Tor had thought she might have a problem with it at first, seeming a little entitled in her manner, kind of like some of the more annoying nobles, though a bit short for that. She was only about five-ten or so.

“I'll take it. Brown is a good color, boys like it, and now I have something that makes me simply unique, not crippled.” She kissed Karina on the cheek warmly and put her arm around the short busty girl.

“You're it then Kari, for a whole year. What do you want us to do? Bath you with our tongues? I know I enjoyed that one myself… Or, I don't know, dance naked in the streets? Do drugs until we can't stand and let questionable men do things to us?”

These were her friends? They sounded both close and like horrible people at the same time. At least Lilli did. Well, no wonder she'd wanted to impress them so much. It was probably self-defense. A tall buff colored girl in the back, who was pretty, except for a horrible case of acne, moved forward and asked how much the pretty temperature equalizers were. She looked about sixteen and said her name was Yardley when asked, sounding a little shy.

It was a strange name but easy to remember. He handed her the healing amulet without even thinking about it, or asking if she wanted healing, which was rude. Tor winced internally but managed to keep it off his face. They all watched her acne fade in a few seconds. She looked in the mirror and started crying, then pulled her shirt up in the back exposing perfect skin. Lilli rubbed her hands over it and pronounced it smooth as silk.

That looked kind of like fun touching the girl like that, but other people were staring at the girls, so Tor got them to move to the side so he could work. He had a bakery to run after all, he mentioned with a wink. A few minutes later they were all standing and looking at amulets wistfully.

“Fifty gold? No, I don't have that on me today. Thank you.” Yardley muttered quietly to Debbie in the other room. She sounded really sad. Given the heat out, he couldn't blame her. He wore an equalizer himself and he knew Karina did at the palace. She didn't now though, probably so she wouldn't be rubbing her wealth in her friend’s faces.

That was kind of her.

When the people coming in lulled a bit Tor went and got four of the glowing equalizers, the same number of magical clothing devices and told them that they could have flying rigs and shields if they agreed to his terms. They agreed before he even said anything. He was tempted to throw a tongue bath in, whatever the heck that was, but his tongue felt pretty clean right now, so he skipped it.

“Pick your schedule, but a couple times a week walk around town in fancy costumes wearing the amulets, I don't know, glow, keep changing clothes, what have you, and tell people about this place. Better in the richer parts of town of course, the stuff isn't cheap… Each time someone tells us they came here because of you, if they buy something of value, so a magical device, not a hand pie, I'll give you a new something or other. Probably something random you don't want, and you'll have to share amongst yourselves, but not a horrible deal I don't think. Oh, also mention the new ice manufactory outside the south wall if people look hot. Other things might be added over time. Is that fair?”

They agreed seeming pleased enough, and said they'd come to visit at his house, regularly, to check on anything new he wanted them to do, which meant he needed to get some food in or something. Guests. Well, could be worse. How he didn't know, but the shop wasn't on fire when they left, so that was a plus.

The next few days went like that, with Debbie giving him half the gold at the end of each night, and, shield or not, getting him to walk her home at the end of the day. She didn't live far, but he could see the nerves, since she was carrying enough gold with her she couldn't physically lift it. That could be a tempting target.

Tor made her a special trunk amulet. The idea was simple enough and could be used for flying or walking. If you wanted to leave it in place you had to leave the amulet too, but the whole thing disappeared on command, meaning you could have a dozen of them with you at a time. It certainly made it easier to take stuff with you in an emergency. Plus you could pick the size you needed and even make them look any way you wanted, from simple flimsy fruit crate to solid gold casket.