Free A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) by P. S. Power Page A

all just a bunch of school kids.
    Then thankfully there was a distraction, with the next course coming and the attention moved away from her and to the weather, which was expected to get colder up north soon. Then there was chatter about topics that no one really seemed to care about much. What was going to happen for the festivals that year, since Tor wasn't around. That led to speculation about his current location.
    No one knew where he was though.
    It wasn't until after the dessert was served, a frozen dish made from whipped cream and sugar that Tiera couldn't bring herself to eat much of at all, even if it was incredibly delicious, that the mood of the room suddenly changed.
    It was Count Thomson that did it, holding a Truth amulet in his right hand, activated, standing while he did it.
    "I am Count Toverland Thomson. I am loyal to the King, the royal family and the kingdom, as well as my people. I swear fealty to the same without reservation or doubt in my heart."
    It got everyone to pay attention, because as far as she knew, you only swore fealty to the King himself, or at least a nobleman or woman who was directly in front of you. This was strange and almost didn't make sense. It made even less sense when he sat and handed the amulet to Tamerlane.
     "I am Tamerlane Green Baker Thomson. I am loyal to King, kingdom and the heir. I like the other royal family members too, but I don't know if that counts as loyalty for these purposes. I swear to protect them all with my life, without hesitation or reservation."
    After that a second amulet came out and was passed down the other side of the table, so that everyone else could have a turn, one at a time, right in front of everyone in the room. Most just said they were loyal to the King and heir as well, until it got to Timon, who sat across the table from Veronica.
    "I'm not a traitor to the King or kingdom. I think that the heir is fine and a good person and I support them both over anyone else that I know of at this time. I'm not swearing to them at this point, but for the moment I'll do whatever I can to help them hold on to power." It had a different tone than what most of the other people were saying, but no one spoke out against him, the woman next to him getting his amulet then, as Veronica spoke.
    Her words were a bit more impassioned and sounded brave, though it was hard to figure out why. If this was some kind of noble party game they would have been better served with a rousing game of "Who Killed Helmholtz", at least as far as Tiera was concerned. It was nearly amusing enough that she smiled. There was a lot of running and rather rude accusations of murder in that game after all. They'd need some paper slips to make the lots for it, but she could take care of that, if she could find a pen.
    Before she realized it she was handed a Truth amulet for the second time that day.
    She stood, since David nudged her a little, the cream and gold glow all around her, making her shine. All eyes were on her then. She had to tell the truth, but she'd never thought about the matter before. She was a girl from the woods, and the whole idea that she was a noble at all hadn't really sunk in yet. It might never. So far her one attempt at doing that kind of thing had backfired horribly hadn't it?
    Everyone was waiting however.
    "I'm Tiera Green Baker. I don't know the King, but he's a friend of my brother's, so I guess that I'll support him, if he needs me to. I have met the heir and he seems to be an intelligent and kind person, so him too. I'm sure that I'm missing the point of this, but why wouldn't I back them? As far as I know they'd both back me if the need arose, so I guess that makes us friends?" She sounded so stupid she blushed, but no one so much as blinked at her as she sat and passed the amulet on. Karen and David both swore to the King openly, like Count Thomson had. Karen was a Knight though, so she had to. Kolb too when it got that far down the table. The people at the