“Silence! Enough foolishness. I've given my demands, now, tell me what you've decided to do and let me know if I get to push buttons tonight or if I have to spend yet another tedious evening suffering your collective existences.” This was directed at the King who looked back at him as if bored.
“Everyone, this is Glost Serge. Somehow that I don't understand, he's become the Prime Minister of Austra. The polite man next to him is his… advisor, Dennorian Brown. For lack of faster explanations he's Count Lairdgren and Master Tor’s brother. Don't let the details bog you down, it's a headache, the truth though.”
“Enough I said Ricky! What have you and your bitch Queen decided to do, buckle under like good little dogs or die? I'm hoping for “die” myself, but it's up to you. Pick.” Glost grinned his teeth showing in a feral look that would have terrified Tor if he could just work out what he was supposed to be afraid of. As it was he kind of just wanted the man to shut up.
He was really annoying.
When Connie tried to speak, her own voice calm, the Austran leader interrupted her. Then again, demanding they choose immediately. It got to Tor, so he finally raised his hand like he used to in school. The mad eyes man's image stopped fuming and interrupting people and he pointed to Tor.
“At last, one polite person in your whole damned kingdom. Go ahead young man.” He sounded suddenly prim, but calm, as if actually taking a question in a school room.
“Sorry, not to show how dense I am, but I'm not really certain what’s going on, could you fill me in?”
The man blinked, started around the room as everyone looked at the table except for Burks and Ali, then laughed an insane and lilting belly laugh that sounded both false and deranged.
“No one told you? Not anything? Too cowardly Ricky? Can't tell a little boy that the big bad Austran is making him leave his wife and marry my Daria? Haven't told him why he can't say no either, have you? Brilliant, oh, let me then, oh yes, this will be fun. Listen close everybody. Once upon a time…”
Glost Serge spoke well, perfect Noram even, if slightly accented at times, the effect coming and going, but he was a lousy story teller, at least in the moment. That could be stress, or homicidal rage, messing with his timing and delivery. Tor couldn't tell which exactly yet.
“I had thirty-five nuclear devices built and pointed at all of Noram's Major cities. Then I told the King, the evil bully known as Ricky Cordes and his little bitch wife that if you didn't marry my daughter and return her to me safe and sound, I'd send the missiles flying and kill you all. An eighty kiloton bomb for each Count and Countess and two for Ricky and his brood of dullards. That's you by the way kids, I don't want you to get confused. Just in case it's too hard for you, “dullard” means someone that isn't very bright… Oh, probably bright enough from what I've heard, but your education system there is a joke. Science isn't taught at all and you actually practice magic… How quaint and superstitious. I suppose I'll have to be ready for you to chant some curses at me now, won't I? I'm really so very frightened… So now, either give over the money and the boy along with my daughter, who has best not been harmed and I'll let you live, for now at least, or refuse and take your due. Pick.”
It took Tor a moment to process the whole thing, looking at Burks, hoping the old man would get his personal shorthand.
“Bomb… big? Can we defeat them? Shield or weapons?” Tor tilted his head as Burks shrugged.
“Weapons yes, the one you made. For the rest, big and spread poison. Land killers. Cities gone and the rest poisoned. Probably can't shield, too big.”
“Oh.”
So they could fight on fair ground, but couldn't stop the madman by just blocking him. It would take a real fight and probably destroy both lands. Tor looked at the crazy man and wondered if he was nearly as gone as he seemed or if it was all an act for some reason.
The whole thing was a bit out there as far as complicated and unpleasant plots, but he got why the man wanted him to marry his daughter and go there, because then his work wouldn't be of use here. He could be killed at leisure or maybe exploited. Glost didn't seem to have a high regard for magic though, so maybe it wouldn't be that one. Just killed then? Probably.
Tor was nearly willing. Sacrificing his own life to stop the murder of millions was a good trade. No one could doubt that. Even evil people would have done it. It was just too obvious to go against. What caused him to balk was when Daria Serge was brought in. Wearing irons.
Lillith Degray.
It made a convoluted and sneaky kind of sense once he heard it. Smythe had investigated further and found that she didn't have a history, not in Noram. She wouldn't answer questions, so they didn't get the whole story from her, but the old counselor did put together that she'd come several years before simply to try and corrupt one of the royal children. Daria looked up and smiled at Karina when this was said, her shirt dirty, smeared with filth and covered with food stains, hair wild and one tooth missing in front. The wound was fresh and still bled freely. She'd fought when they came for her it seemed. That or someone knew she was about to get off for free and wanted a little payment first.
“Don't worry Kari, I won't tell everyone how I made you, their darling little Princess lick my asshole every night for a month.” She grinned viciously.
“Oops, too late. Sorry about that.”
The scary part was that she suddenly really did sound sorry. It was freaky, she'd gone from snarky and bitchy to sweet and compassionate, even contrite, sounding in the same breath.
Yep, that was sane. Good wife material too no doubt, Tor thought, wondering if he could take these devices out at a distance somehow. If they were in Austra the easiest way would be to locate them and destroy them totally. Could he make a device that would search out something like that? He needed to know a lot more about them first. Hopefully Burks knew something that could help. It had worked with the tiny devices, the nanos. Maybe it was something like that?
Karina smiled at her.
“Who cares? Trust me, that you're a murdering bitch is a much bigger deal than me doing what you wanted in bed. It's your kink anyway, not mine. By the rules here I was just being a good friend. If I'd asked my parents first, they would have told me to do it just so you could have more fun. And that's with both of them never actually liking you.”
Connie gave a single short nod, but didn't let anything else show on her face.
It made Tor wince a bit. People did that? Eewww. He didn't want to judge, but… Eewww!
Lilli drooped a little. Sad her barb hadn't hit home? What did she expect from a noble of Noram? Tor shrugged himself, thinking that the girl was confused and deranged, so maybe she wasn't really thinking anything, just responding to what was put in front of her. She hadn't even tried to speak to her father yet. She raised a chained hand to wave a little, but then kept her mouth shut.
Tor sat back and listened, because, obviously the words of someone like him meant very little to the Austrans, though Denno seemed all right. Really it didn't make sense for him to be backing Serge like he was. That seemed to cross Burks mind too, and he stared at the illusion of his brother, their brother? Which looked serene and relaxed.
“Den, a bit against the treaty isn't it? Nuke's? Forbidden technology in fact. Also terrorism isn't allowed between us. We haven't even been invited to the parley table in this. Do you have an explanation that might shed some light?” The tone was interested and polite, not demanding. Then you didn't need to be demanding with someone that actually wanted to tell you something did you?
The Austran Ancient spread his hands eyes going heavy lidded in a way that meant something that Tor couldn't understand. He got it was a code, but lacked the key. Something very old then? Burks responded in nearly the same fashion a beat later. Oh. That was the signal to start then? Tor focused on what they did and said as closely as he could.