“Um...” Tor didn't know what to do. The servant seemed to pick up on the cluelessness and pulled a small brush from a cabinet that had totally missed being noticed until that time, looking like part of the wall, then ran the brush over the velvet arms of the black and blue material that he wore. Pronouncing him as looking fine, the man left, seeming happy enough with how things had gone.
That was good; Tor didn't have a clue how he was supposed to act around servants. For most of his life he hadn't even known that such people existed outside of stories told by the odd traveler, and then only once or twice. People had talked about such at school, but this man was the first one he'd ever really interacted with. Life in the Capital was sure different.
The clothing that Rolph had worn as a child of eleven fit disturbingly well, if slightly looser on Tor than was intended for the original wearer. It looked good, he thought, even if meant for a kid. He walked out into the hall looking for his friend, not really knowing the time or how long it would take to get to Debri house for their meeting. Too bad the King didn't like flying inside the city limits. It would have made things way faster. At least today they wouldn't melt in the back of a carriage. Bored was better than bored and too hot.
He found Rolph sitting next to a fascinating looking girl in a large room next to the dining room. It was an excellent room, even for this lavish place. White stone floor and cream colored furniture. The girl wore a scarlet red dress that had to have ten layers of material, covering her totally, except the arms, which were bare, showing pale skin that went with the long blond hair on her head. She wasn't pretty; not exactly at least, her cheeks too round for that. In fact the rest of her was awfully round as well.
If she wasn't the fattest person he'd ever seen it was only because... no, she was by far the heaviest person he'd ever noticed. That probably meant that she was wealthy. Poor people couldn't afford to eat more than needed. Not that anyone wearing a dress like that would be poor. If they were they could just sell it and have enough to keep them going for a long time. She looked a few years older than either of them, but not too much. Early twenties tops. Tor walked into the room when a lull came in the conversation. The girl looked up and smiled charmingly at him when he entered. She had a nice looking smile. Friendly and sincere.
Smiling hugely Rolph nodded to him.
“Here he is now, dressed to impress even.” Standing he held a hand towards Tor and bowed. “Ursala, this is my good friend, Torrence Green Baker.” The move was reversed then and he bowed slightly towards the still seated woman on the cream colored soft bench in front of them.
“Tor, this is Ursala Benevolence Matilde Thorgood. My fiancée.”
Chapter six
Both of the people on the padded bench looked at him seriously and then started laughing. He didn't get the joke, if there was one. His face must have looked funny or something. That he could understand, after all he hadn't known anything about a fiancée and he'd lived with Rolph for nearly two and a half years now. If he didn't know that, what else didn't he know? Then again, was it his business? He'd thought that Rolph shared most everything with him, but...
The big man stood and clapped both hands on his shoulders, reaching down a lot to do so.
“It's an arranged thing, a deal our parents made when I was four and she was seven. But now...” He turned on Ursala and crossed his arms. “Since someone managed to get in a family way, things are going to be a lot more complicated.”
The gears in his head spun slowly being tired and caught off guard like he was, but Tor finally put it together. Ursala was pregnant? That... Tor nodded firmly. “I see... So, when is the wedding?”
It was one of those unfortunate things that happened sometimes. A man and a woman not being able to wait until they were married, a child coming a little too soon. At home they joked about how fast first pregnancies were, sometimes taking only six or seven months. Of course Rolph would have to quit school and probably go into the family business, whatever that was. Merchanting? Well, he'd do what he could to help them. Not that he had any money to speak of, but they wouldn't starve while they got themselves together as a family. Not even if he had to quit school and go to work at the bakery to keep them in bread. He told them that, hoping it would make them both feel better.
Ursala started crying instead.
“Oh, that's...” He didn't know what he thought she'd say, but she didn't come anywhere near it, figuring that she'd laugh at him or something. She was obviously wealthy, and probably didn't have to worry about starving.
“That's so sweet. If only it was Rolph's child. Or yours Torrence. You'd at least step up and make sure I wasn't disgraced. But the father... He's one of the peerage, but he's already married. I shouldn't say who it is...”
Rolph didn't say anything; he just looked down at the floor and then patted her hand. A rustling from behind Tor caused them to all look up. Connie came in; her dark hair looked redder in the bright light coming through the window. Behind her strode a very tall man that looked about forty or so, he was... really tall. Possibly the tallest person Tor had ever seen. Count Thomson stood about seven foot-two. This man must be nearly a foot taller than that. He looked thin, but with a powerful build that spoke of being used to hard work. Possibly the hard work of walking around at his size.
“Father!” Rolph jumped up and hugged the man, who picked him up into the embrace and swung him side to side a little.
“Boy! So, I hear that our match making decision wasn't as perfect as it could have been?” The man looked at Ursala down his long patrician nose. In a very deep, dry voice he continued.
“Did you at least dally with a redhead dear? This might be hard to hide if not. Oh well, nothing for it. Let's go find the lout and force him to marry you. Name now, give.” He waved at her with his palm up as if asking for the name in writing. She sighed.
“Count Ward. We've been... close for a while now. His wife wouldn't be thrilled with me showing up like this though I don't think.” The large girl blushed. So, not really fat, just pregnant?
Tor had to go and sit down. He couldn't believe his ears. The girl not only got pregnant by a man not her betrothed, but he was married already too? How? Didn't she know he was married? Did the man lie to her about it? If so, they... well, they couldn't do anything. Not if the guy was royalty like that. It felt like a weight rested on his chest.
“What can we do then? Rolph... you're going to have to marry her anyway. It isn't perfect, but you can't leave her disgraced and alone. If you won't...” Tor bit down on his lip and looked at the floor. “Then... I will. I know I couldn't offer much of a life for her and the child, but we simply can't leave her to suffer this alone. She messed up, but...” His voice died.
The huge man who redefined what a giant was in his head nodded and looked at Tor seriously. “Well said boy. You aren't peerage though, are you? Not some hidden noble I haven't met yet or something? Or... Ah. I... see.” The look he gave Tor was deep, like he searched for Tor's face in memory and... found something. Of course he couldn't really. They'd never met. The man looked a little familiar, but that was probably his likeness to Rolph. All the really tall men he'd met had shared similar features, possibly as a side effect of being too big like that.
“No sir, of course not.” Tor spoke evenly. How would that make a difference?
The man nodded again and then stopped when his wife chuckled.
“Dear, this is Torrence Baker. The man who saved Galasia? The Tor-shield and the flying devices? The one that made our living quarters not so ungodly hot... Speaking of which, maybe we should move to another room? It's a bit stuffy in here.” She pulled a fan and unfolded the silk and wood contraption. It was pink and had butterflies actually woven into the fabric.
Tor shook himself. Duh! He kept forgetting basic things. Maybe he should carry a rock around with him, so he could hit himself in the head when he forgot stuff? That would remind him. Digging in his pocket he handed each of them one of the equalizing fields and suggested they trigger them.
Rolph's dad sighed suddenly when he did it.
“Personal cooling fields?” He closed his eyes in pleasure.
“Not just that, they'll keep you at this temperature. Walk into a snow storm and they should keep you this warm. Go sit in the kitchen and you'll still be at this temperature. Go sit in a fire and... Well, I don't know. Probably want to avoid that though. I didn't build the devices to handle that, but then what kind of a moron goes and sits in a fire, right?” Tor turned to Connie and raised his eyebrows. He would have raised just one, but he'd never gotten the knack of it. His older brother and sister could both do it, so it wasn't likely that he just wasn't built for it. Just a trick he'd never learned.
“Now, what's Galasia and how did I save it? Also, Tor-shields? Argh... That's bad. Horrible name really. It makes it sound like someone's tying me to their arm and hiding behind me.” Tor pantomimed the move, ducking his head behind the imaginary Tor-shield on his arm.
Rolph laughed.
“The city you built that filter for? Galasia. And everything that you've made is the Tor-whatever. Tor-heating and cooling, Tor-flying rigs, now the Tor-whatever these things are. Really good by the way. When did you come up with them? I thought I was up on everything you've built?”
“Last night. I just skipped sleeping. I wanted to come up with something special for your mom, since she went out of her way to be so nice about having me. Plus, really, it's a little warm here. I don't know if any of you have noticed?” Everyone laughed and Connie clutched the heat equalizer and smiled warmly.
Rolph's dad looked at her and laughed. “Oops, Tor, now you've done it. I know that look, it's love... oh, sigh. And here we were doing so well for these last twenty years.” The large head shook, but the man grinned the whole time.
Tor smiled back, getting the teasing for what it was this time, just a friendly game.
“Oh, that reminds me, I don't really know your name. “Rolph's dad” doesn't seem like it's going to cut it here for some reason. For one thing, everyone here calls him Alphonse or Alphie, so no one else would even know who I meant...”
The man gave him a funny look and then smiled.
“Seriously Alphonse? I know that I ordered it when you went to school, but it's been over a year, hasn't it?”
“Over two years...” Connie put in, looking at Rolph proudly.
The man looked at his son and smiled even larger.
“I'm impressed. That can't have been easy, especially with someone as close as your best friend. Well, I guess time has come to let the truth out. First though, Torrence, I need you to know that Alphonse, Rolph here, didn't have a choice. I ordered him to lie about who he is, for his own protection and safety. I think you'll get the reason for it. So if you feel hurt by it, or betrayed, know to blame me, alright? You understand?”
Tor crossed his arms, not defiantly, but trying to steel himself. How had Rolph been lying to him? Was he really not his friend or something. It seemed a little elaborate for a game. Something else? Was he not studying accounting at all maybe? That made some sense. Giants like this had to be good at combat. Rolph even had Kolb as a personal instructor, which was a big deal. All the giants were too good to waste on numbers… unless they were royals. High ones too. There were a few full Dukes and Barons at the school that didn't rate Kolb’s personal instruction.
Everything clicked into place. Kind of.
Tor looked up and narrowed his eyes at the giant man, then looked at Rolph, then his mother.
“I... see. I guess it was there all along, but I was just too stupid to see it. You're all royals aren't you? Nobles I mean.”
Ursala's eyes went wide and she stared at him hard. No one spoke for a second as she rose and walked over to Tor, a smile on her fleshy face and tears in her eyes. Suddenly she wrapped him up in a hug.