Kingdom of Stars (The Young Ancients: Timon Book Three) (2 page)

It was
all affectation, but Timon slapped a hand over his mouth and jumped back, so
that Mindy wouldn't hit him. She didn't even try, since she was obviously a
kind and sweet girl, even if she was holding a wooden sword at the moment. The
act got about half the people to stare at him, but it took a while for the
girl, the Conserina, to turn his way. She stiffened a bit, but didn't scream at
him.

Instead
she clenched her jaw, and held a hand to the bruise on her right cheek. It had
come from a giant of a girl that looked to be about seventeen or so and had to
be pretty well placed. Most of the really big people were. She glared at him a
bit, her face going hard.

"
What
?"

There
was a bit of a demanding tone to the words, but Timon shook his head, as if
reluctant to speak about what he'd just witnessed. After all, he could see what
was coming, as Petra walked to the counter that rimmed the practice area and
picked up her communications device. It was one of the new ones, that Tor had
made, but wasn't the only one in the area. Timon had his near there too, so
that it wouldn't be in the way, the stone piece a little uncomfortable for
weapons practice, or so he figured.

It was
clear that her plan was to call Countess Printer directly, but that was a bad
idea. Timon could tell that without even thinking about it. If the little Conserina
of Perfection there had to be schooled by the Countess herself, it would make
Petra look weak. Like she couldn't handle things on her own. It was the polite
thing to do really, rather than to shout the girl down.

Or to
stand on her own title, which was just as good.

Again
however, if she did it, then his friend would look like she didn't have as much
power as she really did. It would send the wrong message.

Timon
stared and then shuddered a bit, knowing that he had to help out, because Petra
was his friend. It meant making enemies on the first day though, which wasn't
the best idea ever. Especially royal ones. It probably couldn't be helped
though.

"I
can't
believe
you just said that! In the weapons area too... That... I
can't believe it!" He stared with a good amount of disbelief showing in
his eyes and everything. Enough that a few of the older kids nodded along, as
if
they
actually understood what he was saying. That meant he was either
on to something or they were a group of natural players with skills that
transcended the norm by leaps and bounds. He kind of thought they just picked
up on his meaning though.

The
Conserina didn't.

"What?"
She said again, her face a bit perplexed under the anger. "I'm just
insisting on my rights!"

"
Here
?
Everyone knows that good Weapons Instructors are immune from such things, as
are anyone taking their orders. They have to be in order to train the highest
of the nobility. Didn't they tell you that when you started here? I heard it
yesterday from Countess Printer myself. It was nearly the first thing she said
to me, after hello. In here Instructor Petra can beat us, call us names and
make us clean the dirt with a tiny brush on hands and knees and we can't say
hey
about it. We can't even ask
why
and demand an answer. I guess Karl was
being nice to you all, so far, but I've seen the way they practice at
Lairdgren, which is where Instructor Petra trained originally. This isn't that
by a long way, yet." He was worried that he was being too subtle, but
Karl, big and brutish looking or not, cleared his throat.

Then he
saved the day with a few words.

"I've
been meaning to mention that. I'm just a student here, so I didn't want to
stand on assumed authority, but Countier Baker is
right
. I really
thought that you'd all pick up on that when the very first thing that Conserina
Ward did was bat him about like that. On his first day too. Did you think that
was for him being bad, or missing classes? It was to show
you
lot what
was expected of you now. Real weapons work isn't a game or a class to fill the
morning after a hard nights drinking. It's what you need to do to survive."
He looked away from the girl that had been speaking and at Timon instead. "So,
let's you and I work together, little boy."

Timon
sighed, getting the idea of what was coming. It was probably a better plan than
him trying to challenge Conserina snooty-pants, but not by a lot. He smiled
anyway, as Petra stiffened, since
she
got the idea already too. It
wasn't going to be fun.

It
really wasn't either. Karl was actually still being gentle with him, compared
to what might have happened. He put his weapon aside and left Timon with his
own, which might have evened things up a tiny bit, if Tim knew how to use it at
all. The blows that came were decently quick, from such a large man, and most
of them didn't land, since Timon pulled out the stops, moving a good bit faster
than was strictly human. It wasn't enough to save him, if he wasn't going to
just flee however. Eventually a giant fist came from his left and took him in
the side of the head, knocking him to the ground, leaving him seeing stars.

Timon
rolled, since it had been in his earlier lesson, about twenty minutes before.
It earned him a happy sounding laugh from the big older student at least.

"Ha!
See that? Learning already!" Then he kicked out, just as Tim found his
feet, catching him in the middle.

The
funny thing there was that, even though the blow was solid, it was totally
controlled. It hurt, but didn't blast him back to the ground like it might
have. It meant that Karl, while helping to make a point, wasn't being half
brutal enough to get through to the lay-abouts like he should.

Which
Petra noticed right off, being good at her job.

"Full
force, please, gentlemen."

That led
to grunting and Timon at least calling out in pain several times as the bigger
man pummeled him. He was still being nice about it and it ended up with them
exchanging blows full out, the meaty slapping sounds of it catching everyone's
attention for a bit. It might not have been artful on his part, but Tim was
stronger than he looked. Maybe even as strong as the giant in front of him.

Finally
Petra called a halt to it.

"Thank
you Karl. Timon. Let's go over this now." She wasn't kind about it either,
pointing out every flaw that both of them had made, as they stood there,
bleeding from several places.

At least
it shut up the entitled brat woman that had been giving Petra trouble. Of
course that
could
have just been because Karl had mentioned that she was
Conserina Ward. Timon had to ask several questions not knowing what all the new
words meant exactly, which had Karl demonstrating things for him as everyone
watched.

Then
after that was done, Petra winked at the watching students.

"We're
at
war
, ladies and gentlemen. At any time you might be pressed into
combat duties. I know, you're probably thinking that it can't happen, that
children don't go off to war, and that you'd be the last ones called if needed.
I'd like to point out that the kids at the Lairdgren school have seen combat.
Not just the fighting students either, but homemaking and
singing
students. In the battle for the Capital all sorts saw action, and repelled over
eight thousand men and women who were under arms from the walls." She
stood, her hands going behind her back in a military fashion. "It was two
girls from the
music
section that guarded the wall itself, as the last
line of defense, holding the breach that had been blasted in it using a magical
house created by Tor. We don't have
time
to stand on titles or ceremony,
I'm sorry to say. Things have been lax here, since Countess Printer didn't have
a full time Instructor for you. That's her fault, and
mine
for taking so
long to get here. You've had Assistant Instructor Karl however, so I expect you
all to report here tomorrow morning, ready for some real work. Right
now..."

She
looked around and sighed, her face set.

"Right
now I can't stand to look at you. Get out of here. If you want to keep working,
do it, but show up tomorrow ready for something a bit more... difficult than
this. If I find any of you playing games again, I'll make you eat them."

It was
telling, who stayed and who left. Timon was really tempted to take off himself,
but settled for using the healing amulet on the bench near the wall, where he'd
left it. Mindy followed him, and made a face as he picked the thing up and
tapped the silhouette of the man on the front. It was glowing, and on focus
stone, so it looked like the ones Tor made. It was just a copy though. No one
else could make them glow like that yet.

"Damn,
you really
do
have a healing amulet? I don't suppose that you'd make one
for me? I can't pay for it though." She looked away, but smiled charmingly
enough when she looked back. "I can borrow yours though, right? Since
we're such old friends now?"

Timon
blinked. It was, though the girl had no clue she'd done it, just about the best
way of putting something like that to a boy from Two Bends like he was. She'd
proclaimed herself his
friend
. He wasn't so tied to tradition that he
couldn't break free of it, but there was no harm in the idea either, he didn't
think.

"My
oldest school chum by far, being the only one. Well, you and Karl, of course.
After all, we've spent all that quality time together. Bonding and all that."
He smiled. It was a genuine enough thing, at least in looks. He'd suffered
enough over the last year or so for it to take work, but he'd practiced it in
the mirror, so he'd look right in situations like this.

Standing
next to him, Mindy laughed a little.

"Ah,
I should take advantage of you then, before all the other girls get a chance to
steal you away. You're fourteen, right?" She probably wasn't much older
than that herself, from her looks, but Tim shook his head.

"No,
twelve. I'm here on early admission. Actually, I'm not really
here
at
all, since I came in late for the year. I had a scholarship, but Countess
Printer pulled it when a certain relative of mine mentioned that I should be
able to afford it on my own. It made for some problems, but here I am, only
half a year late. I wanted to get out of the Capital for a bit. I have a house
there. We can go on our off days?" It was a bit of a nasty thing for him
to do to poor Mindy, since he'd both proclaimed himself too young for her, at
least for anything fun, and then announced himself rich and a good catch,
having his own home.

The girl
shrugged again. It was almost as bad as being around his brother, Tor, or Count
Lairdgren. They both did that all the time too.

"That
sounds fun. Do you live with your parents?"

It was a
polite enough thing to ask really. Kids did call their parents house home after
all, and that sort of made sense, him being so young.

"No.
With my wife. The place is mine however. Smack in the middle of the battlefield
that Petra was just talking about. Haunted, I'm sure, but so far I haven't
noticed anything. We should get back to work. There are exercises, right?
Running and that kind of thing? We skipped that, but my sister Tiera is always
going on about that. Pells and stones?"

That got
him introduced to even more pain. It wasn't so bad when Mindy started showing
him things, since it was
just
exercise, but after a bit Petra sent Karl
over and they picked up a different girl, named Bethany, who was frighteningly
huge and a bit shy seeming. Then they lifted heavy rocks, swinging them all
around, before bashing a poor log into oblivion.

"It
makes you wonder what it did wrong." He spoke softly, but the new giant
girl, Bethany, grinned at him.

"I
always think that too. Beaten so severely and all." She was older, but not
ancient, being about eighteen he thought. She was actually cute, in a round
faced kind of way. Not fat at all, but a lot of the big women had square jaws.
She did too, but her cheekbones worked well to soften the look, so it wasn't
manly. Her hair was short and jet black, like his own. She had to be over seven
feet tall however, which kept sending a chill down his spine. It seemed to show
on his face, because the girl stiffened a bit, and looked away.

"I
know that I'm only a Baronetta..." Her words were soft enough that he
could have ignored her, pretending that he lost them in the constant thumping
on the pells. He kept making his own strikes, using the one between Mindy and
Bethany, and decided it would be better if the girl understood what was going
on than not. Insulting people led to problems in the long run, he'd noticed.

"It
isn't that. Not at all. I..." He didn't really want to talk about it, and
nearly just said that, but it wouldn't help anything.
He
hadn't done
anything wrong, and hiding from the very thought of it wasn't going to make him
any better, in the long run. "I was kidnapped, about five months ago.
Tortured. It was bad. The person that did it was a tall woman, with dark hair,
and I..."

There
was no answer and the woman at the pell next to him kept hammering away at it.
Finally she stopped and turned to him.