Chapter Eight #2
Meanwhile, Pelun took every opportunity to disappear just as quickly as he could, no matter what Tor asked him to do.
He’d felt confident that as soon as he actually got to spend some real time with the man, he could show him that he wasn’t that terrible.
But spending time with him was proving to be a near-impossible task.
Pelun flatly turned him down, or used excuses transparent enough that it was more than obvious that he was uninterested, and he didn’t mind that Tor knew it.
So Tor was stuck with two royals that he didn’t want, and he couldn’t get his hands on the third.
He actually liked Bavil and Larexa, generally, although he’d noticed that their worst traits seemed to come out when they were with their father.
That’s when Bavil sounded most like the man, with his antiquated idea that Tond’s citizens were there for the royal family and not the other way around, and when Larexa expressed her desire for someone Extraordinary to match her magic.
When they weren’t around their father, however, they seemed much more moderate. Spending time with them was pleasant—except that he didn’t want to leave them with the impression that he was interested.
This was definitely way more complicated than Tor had thought it was going to be.
After several days, Tor had worked out Pelun’s routine enough that he knew that most afternoons, he was to be found training with the guards.
(Bavil seemed to favor the morning training.) Since Tor did want to be useful while he was here and should really do something other than simply wait to see if he could assail the walls that were a lot higher around Pelun than he’d anticipated, he decided to join them—after getting King Forex’s permission, of course.
It had been granted, albeit begrudgingly.
Since Pelun generally said no when Tor asked to do anything with him, he simply made sure that he was there first. The guard had a training ground set up that was outdoors, with a dirt floor, no walls, and columns supporting the roof to keep out the worst of the rain.
If they were like the guards in Alossa, they trained in the rain, too, but it wasn’t necessary to do that every day.
He introduced himself to Sir Cloril, the captain of the guard. The man looked to be in his late forties, with hair an even darker blond than Bavil’s, deeply weathered skin, and a fierce, somewhat wary expression. Still, he greeted Tor readily enough.
“Welcome, Your Highness. We’re honored to have you with us.”
Tor waved this aside. “It’s been a while since I trained with my own guard. I look forward to working with you.”
Then Tor stripped off his tunic and went to work. He’d worked with guards a lot, and it was easy to slip back into the habit of warm-ups, practice, and one-on-one demonstrations.
And of course the group was interested. There were some who were clearly too awed by the fact that he was the High Prince to get involved, but there were others who were just as clearly excited about what might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Win or lose, it made a great story—and what a coup if they actually won!
Tor could practically see the thought processes in a few of them, and that was all he needed. One or two volunteers, and Tor automatically gained a captive audience because those who weren’t willing to fight were eager to see the outcome.
So, shirtless and ready to put on a bit of a show, Tor got the name of each of his combatants so that he knew their magical rank.
He then proceeded to beat each of them, but he made sure to scale his magical abilities.
With the exception of when Tendrilling or Bonding, Unremarkable magic didn’t leave the body.
When manifested, it provided slight resistance to the skin, making Unremarkable tougher than if they were taken unawares.
In rare cases, the magic would be visible, causing faint glowing swirls to appear on various parts of the skin, but that was more likely to happen in the case of Illustrious.
It was like their magic was closer to the surface and much stronger.
They could also Mantle objects they were holding, covering their shields, swords, and armor in magic, making them stronger and allowing them to take harder hits.
Exceptional like Tor could do all of that, and they could also separate the magic completely from their bodies. This allowed them to light the crystals, make shields and other shapes completely from magic, and form avatars made solely of magic that could fight in their stead.
It was something most people never saw, and Tor wasn’t about to set an avatar on mostly Unremarkable guards who would be less able to stand up to the avatar’s blows.
But he would absolutely Mantle himself and his sword and shield and see what these people could do.
The stronger you were, the more the magic showed on your skin, and Tor knew he made an eye-catching sight.
(There was no reason for people to know that he’d also trained hard with his brother to Mantle without a tell-tale glow on his skin. It was much harder but still possible. Tor didn’t think his mother would have thought of it if she hadn’t come through the war.)
There were plenty of cheers and “oohs and ahhs” coming from the audience, and Tor found that he was working up a good sweat and having a lot of fun.
After the first three men, two enterprising women came up against him at once. At that point, the fact that he beat everyone but didn’t do it in an insulting way seemed to have registered, because Tor found himself battling another dozen people—and then an additional four who rushed him together.
Since it was four to one, Tor manifested his avatar, which was basically the same size and shape as him but made purely of magic, with no discernible features.
Honestly, he was pretty sure it stopped the guards as much because it was a being of glowing white magic as because it could actually hit back—though it could do that, too, as he demonstrated with a sweeping blow that felled the lot of them.
There was a literal “ooh” of sound as it happened, then a shock of silence, followed by an explosion of sound afterwards, everyone cheering and laughing and congratulating Torex even as he pulled his magic back into himself and then leaned down to help the downed guards to their feet.
They came willingly, good-natured about what had happened. Tor had made sure that he didn’t start until Pelun was actually there to watch, but unfortunately, unlike everyone else, he didn’t look impressed. In fact, he was back to glowering again.
No matter what Tor did, it seemed that the other man was determined to disapprove.
All the guards smiled at him, a few even ventured to clap him on the back. It felt a bit closer to the camaraderie he’d had with the Alossan royal guard, before everything had gone wrong. His troop had stuck with him, but that wasn’t the same.
Tor made himself smile and thanked them all for the training session. Once they’d dispersed, Tor ventured over to Pelun to see if he could find out the way in which he’d evidently erred this time.
“Everything all right?” he asked. “I thought you might take part in the demonstration.”
Pelun scoffed. “So that you could grandstand against more people who can’t match you magically?”
Tor blinked, stunned, and then a hot rush of anger scalded his veins. “If you think that I simply attacked them without any consideration at all, then you don’t have a very good understanding of magical strength!”
He could see as soon as the words left his mouth that they were the wrong thing to say. He could have guessed that, if only he hadn’t lost his temper. But the words were out, and Pelun’s face, always annoyed, became expressionless.
Tor opened his mouth, but without a word, Pelun whirled and stalked away, tension in every line of his body. For a brief moment, Tor considered running after him… but he was pretty sure that would get him punched in the nose.
He stared after the man, though, and tried to figure out exactly what his problem was.
Tor hadn’t thought he was solely surrounded by people who liked him—Varex, Fernila, and Yomil, just to name a few, clearly put the lie to that—but maybe he had sort of taken it for granted that most everyone found him handsome and charming.
Training with the guards was usually an excellent way to attract positive attention. And find a bed partner, for that matter.
It was evident that Pelun wasn’t going to be one of those. He clearly thought Tor was a conceited ass, but while Tor could acknowledge that he didn’t always cover himself in glory, he wasn’t that bad, was he?
And yes, his whole plan consisted of courting Pelun, but… it was getting personal now. Tor wanted to prove that he wasn’t as terrible as Pelun thought he was.
He needed new ideas.
After cleaning up, Tor decided to walk in the garden and blow off steam. It took less than three minutes for Larexa to join him.
He quirked an eyebrow and said, “This is getting to be habit.”
She made a face that seemed to be a cross between a grimace and amusement as she fell in at his side and they resumed walking. “Isn’t it?”
“If I made an observation, would you consider confirming or denying it?”
She shrugged elegantly. “Depends on the observation.”
There wasn’t a lot growing in the gardens yet, but little green shoots were starting to appear, and Tor’s eyes were drawn to these signs of life.
“Is your father hopeful that I’m on the lookout for someone to bond with, and he’s volunteering two of his children to the task?”
She sighed. “Perhaps. Might I make an observation in return?”
He nodded.
“You don’t seem to be interested in either of us.”
“I’m not desirous of a bond at the moment,” he admitted.
“Then may I make another observation?’
“Of course.”
“You seem to be focusing on someone else.”