“I was kidding about your brother, mainly, but… Yeah, that would work I bet. Especially if they lose that indecipherable accent enough to be understood. You should see if any of them want to do it. Right now it takes a month or more to send a letter across the kingdom, unless you have contacts with the fast riders… people would pay pretty well to have things delivered faster.”
They chuckled about it and came up with ideas for different services that could be offered. Including shoving people inside floating boxes for rapid transport. Count Thomson smiled and told Tor that if his family really wanted to put it together, he'd gladly come down to help them learn how to fly. Especially since, as he pointed out, after the next three months, he was done with school officially and really wouldn't have anything left to do except take care of emergencies in his county.
“Don't let anyone tell you differently, the actual job of governing isn't that hard. It's just telling people what to do after all. The trick is being smart enough to have some kind of idea what the best thing to do actually is. Luckily, ninety odd percent of the time, people actually already know, they just want someone to confirm what they think they should do is a good idea. For the rest of it you either hire an expert or pass it along up the line to the King.” The giant man smirked a bit and patted Tor on the back. “Then, if you keep doing what you have been, he'll just send them along to you and you can take care of it. Well, only the really hard things, I'm sure. I know you personally though, so can just skip that part. Save time all the way around.”
For some reason he thought that was funny.
Tor gave him a look which got Rolph and Trice laughing too. Sara at least gave him a commiserating smile. He over-dramatized a sigh and hung his head as if the weight of the world was upon him. Then again, he doubted the King would be looking to someone like him for most issues. How often was some little bit of magic going to turn out to be the answer anyway? He'd have years at least before anyone really expected him to do anything regularly except school work. He… hoped that he'd be allowed to finish school and not marry and start working immediately instead, at least. There was so much to be learned! He didn't even know how to make a light yet.
The night was less than comfortable, mainly because, while Rolph didn't snore, the Count flailed in his sleep. At least twice the blows made the ground shake enough to wake both he and Rolph. He triggered his shield and so did the Prince, just in case Tovey managed to migrate over to their half of the tent. It had started as an even third split, but Rolph rolled a few times for safety. Tor couldn't really blame him. At least he didn't end up with feet in his face like he would have if he'd been sleeping indoors. Even if he did, Rolph bathed quite a bit more than his younger brothers.
His parents encouraged bathing, unlike some of the families in town, because they touched food all the time in their work, or so they told people. But his little brothers were, well, boys. If they could get away with missing a boring bath time now and again, they would.
Now that he had a little more information to go on, he realized it was probably simpler than all that really. His parents might be aping the people around them, but they just couldn't handle living with the stink that poor people in the woods often had. On the good side, it made breakfast in the morning far more pleasant.
Terlee cooked most of it, his sister was only a little older than he was, eighteen, small and thin, seeming more interested in books and child rearing than anything else as far as Tor knew. Girl stuff. Like bathing and perfumes.
Still, that kind of stuff might be closer to what they'd all need to learn if they liked his idea of a delivery service. For all he knew they'd all refuse to fly and run off into the woods to hide when he suggested it. That would almost make sense. Magic was kind of rare in Two Bends and flying was brand new. Who could trust a thing like that?
What happened instead amazed him more than a little. A lot more.
Terlee had just finished making the oatmeal and toast for everyone, what they ate each day in the morning, and oddly enough even the royals said they had on a regular enough basis so that it didn't seem strange to them, when she asked him a question.
“Is' kay fr'me ta'fly too?” She said so fast that Tor forgot to translate in his head and just spoke out loud, surprised she'd even asked for herself. Normally the girl, with her long, incredibly straight black hair and pale skin, managed to hide behind it when talking, even to him, but today she didn't, looking him dead in the eye. For Terlee that was like offering to fight Count Thomson bare handed or something.
Tor just blinked for a few seconds.
“Is it OK for you to fly too?” He smiled at her and nodded excitedly. “More than OK! I can not only teach you how, today if you want, but give you your own flying gear and a shield so that if you ever do crash or something hits you, it won't hurt. I have enough for everyone in fact, if… anyone else wants to try?” This came out in his normal accent so no one outside of the family really got it, but they all suddenly erupted, a wall of sound that caused the royals to jump, except oddly Count Thomson, who just smiled.
The giant man nodded at the girl. “I can show you how, if you like? It may be easier to learn from someone that isn't family at first. Tor's good, one of the best actually, but he's liable to be too nice to you. Flying is fun, but there is a bit to learn, and it takes some practice to master.”
Tor half expected Terlee to bolt from the room, or at least hide, or maybe, just maybe, ask him to translate for her. Instead she took a deep breath and nodded.
“S'th… I mean, that would be very nice sir. Thank you.” The words came out slowly, but clear enough that everyone in the room looked at her funny, except for Laurie. From her there came a snort.
“Flying through the air though? Well, I suppose it is faster than walking, but I'm going to have to see it first, before I totally trust the idea. How much do these devices cost anyway?”
Tor… froze. He knew that a clothes dryer went for about eleven gold, at least it had at school. Past that no one had mentioned cost anymore, probably to keep his mind off of the fact that he wasn't getting whatever was owed yet by Debri house. Not that it mattered that much. That would come around or it wouldn't. He needed enough for him and Trice, but he'd earn it somehow. He glanced at her and reached over to squeeze her hand, noticing that the whole room had turned to stare… at his mother.
Smiling she shrugged and looked at everyone in the room.
She said everything twice, first in Two Bends dialect then in Noram standard.
“Kids, your father and I have… Well, you'll all be told the whole tale in time, but for right now we've decided that all of you need to learn to speak properly…” She floundered a little after that, trying to come up with reasons why, since most of them had never been more than forty miles outside of Two Bends and everyone inside that area spoke like they did.
Timon, or rather, Weasel, Tor corrected himself quickly, tilted his head.
“S'all aight… Alright. May I ask why?” He stumbled over the words more than Terlee had but Sara clapped happily at his effort. After half a beat Tor did too. He gave her a little seated half bow. It looked funny with him being so small and in brown and tan homespun, but he'd gotten it about right anyway, Tor noticed.
For a Countier to a merchant. It seemed to be on purpose too. Amazing.
Scrambling Tor stood up.
“Um, two main reasons for right now. If you want to go to the wedding, which may be away from here, probably in the Capital, since that choice normally goes to the bride's parents and this isn't their place, you need to be able to communicate with people clearly.” Like his mother he said everything both ways, correctly first, then in standard so that the guests could understand it too.