The Dark Half of the Sun (The Young Ancients: Timon) by P.S. Power
Authors: P.S. Power
Tags: Fantasy
Ads: Link
bit.
"You all know that your Cousin Petra was taken prisoner by her fiancé, Count Rodriguez and held for some weeks. It was nearly as bad as we could have imagined. Her limbs were broken, most of her teeth knocked out from beatings and parts of her were horribly burned. The torture was meant to get her to talk about the Secret Army. She didn't."
The others all looked at her, tears coming to the Queen's eyes, though the Princess looked at Timon again, baffled.
The King rolled his shoulders at the glance.
"He'd worked it out for himself. Even that they're missing. Promised not to tell, in exchange for me mentioning to anyone that might need his services that he's around. They get a discount too, so hardly much of a payment on my part, since it will make me look good, but I'm satisfied with it."
No one made fun of him for not asking for more, even if the King clearly had expected some bigger deal to be made of things.
Then it was Petra's turn to speak it seemed.
"They threw me in a pit, spit on me and took turns pissing on me. A few did worse than that, but there was no rape. I did manage to work out that there's a plot to kill you all and take over the Kingdom. I couldn't make out who was behind it. No one shared that with me." She shuddered a little and then kept going, figuring that it would be better to do it fast than to try and hide things. "Then, last night Timon and... some friends of his came and rescued me. I was naked, in that pit, to humiliate me I think. Timon gave me his clothing amulet."
"Friends?" This came from the Queen, who stared at him hard, clearly trying to work out who those might be, with Tor and the Secret Army both being gone. Who did he know that could have done something like that after all?
For a second he nearly told her, but the King... thought at him. It was a very clear thing that took him by surprise. Not a word really, but he understood it anyway. No .
"I..." He hid the alarm he felt and then sighed, letting his body relax, looking the woman in the eyes. "I asked my Aunt Orange for help. She had a friend with her, but I can't give his name. It wasn't anyone I knew, I mean, so I honestly can't . She's one of the best fighters on the planet. Maybe the best. They did seem to make a mess however."
It would have to be a good enough lie, because it was that or the truth, unless he had more time to come up with something. Petra nodded a little then and the King bowed, just enough for it to be real, not standing up.
"Exactly. She's the one that helped Tor in Austra. The problem now, is that we need to hide Petra for a while, someplace she won't easily be found by the conspirators. We don't want them to know that we have as much information about them as we do. Any suggestions as to where to put her?"
They all had some ideas, but none seemed workable. The King pointed out the flaws in each one without hesitation.
Princess Karina suggested the winter hiding place, whatever that was, but it wasn't there anymore, which seemed to be a shock to her, but not Alphonse.
"Yeah, Dorgal took it down and moved it. His mother and father live in it now. One of the big magic houses. I can't blame him for it." He looked a little guilty, but didn't say why.
The Queen was sitting very upright and looking absently at the far wall, to the right, when she spoke, avoiding eye contact.
"We can't use her family." She tightened suddenly, wincing at the words, turning to the woman with a pained expression. "I'm sorry, it isn't that we don't trust them, we do in fact, they've sworn their fealty under truth verification more than once, but everyone knows they're the ones you'd go to. That or Tor. It probably means we can't put you with his people either. Not openly. Or at Wildlands Station."
Alphonse looked at Tim and shrugged, his huge shoulders moving just enough to be seen.
"The problem with a rebellion, especially one where we don't know the players, is that we can't really trust anyone. You can't just walk
"You all know that your Cousin Petra was taken prisoner by her fiancé, Count Rodriguez and held for some weeks. It was nearly as bad as we could have imagined. Her limbs were broken, most of her teeth knocked out from beatings and parts of her were horribly burned. The torture was meant to get her to talk about the Secret Army. She didn't."
The others all looked at her, tears coming to the Queen's eyes, though the Princess looked at Timon again, baffled.
The King rolled his shoulders at the glance.
"He'd worked it out for himself. Even that they're missing. Promised not to tell, in exchange for me mentioning to anyone that might need his services that he's around. They get a discount too, so hardly much of a payment on my part, since it will make me look good, but I'm satisfied with it."
No one made fun of him for not asking for more, even if the King clearly had expected some bigger deal to be made of things.
Then it was Petra's turn to speak it seemed.
"They threw me in a pit, spit on me and took turns pissing on me. A few did worse than that, but there was no rape. I did manage to work out that there's a plot to kill you all and take over the Kingdom. I couldn't make out who was behind it. No one shared that with me." She shuddered a little and then kept going, figuring that it would be better to do it fast than to try and hide things. "Then, last night Timon and... some friends of his came and rescued me. I was naked, in that pit, to humiliate me I think. Timon gave me his clothing amulet."
"Friends?" This came from the Queen, who stared at him hard, clearly trying to work out who those might be, with Tor and the Secret Army both being gone. Who did he know that could have done something like that after all?
For a second he nearly told her, but the King... thought at him. It was a very clear thing that took him by surprise. Not a word really, but he understood it anyway. No .
"I..." He hid the alarm he felt and then sighed, letting his body relax, looking the woman in the eyes. "I asked my Aunt Orange for help. She had a friend with her, but I can't give his name. It wasn't anyone I knew, I mean, so I honestly can't . She's one of the best fighters on the planet. Maybe the best. They did seem to make a mess however."
It would have to be a good enough lie, because it was that or the truth, unless he had more time to come up with something. Petra nodded a little then and the King bowed, just enough for it to be real, not standing up.
"Exactly. She's the one that helped Tor in Austra. The problem now, is that we need to hide Petra for a while, someplace she won't easily be found by the conspirators. We don't want them to know that we have as much information about them as we do. Any suggestions as to where to put her?"
They all had some ideas, but none seemed workable. The King pointed out the flaws in each one without hesitation.
Princess Karina suggested the winter hiding place, whatever that was, but it wasn't there anymore, which seemed to be a shock to her, but not Alphonse.
"Yeah, Dorgal took it down and moved it. His mother and father live in it now. One of the big magic houses. I can't blame him for it." He looked a little guilty, but didn't say why.
The Queen was sitting very upright and looking absently at the far wall, to the right, when she spoke, avoiding eye contact.
"We can't use her family." She tightened suddenly, wincing at the words, turning to the woman with a pained expression. "I'm sorry, it isn't that we don't trust them, we do in fact, they've sworn their fealty under truth verification more than once, but everyone knows they're the ones you'd go to. That or Tor. It probably means we can't put you with his people either. Not openly. Or at Wildlands Station."
Alphonse looked at Tim and shrugged, his huge shoulders moving just enough to be seen.
"The problem with a rebellion, especially one where we don't know the players, is that we can't really trust anyone. You can't just walk
Similar Books
