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

far end of the table seemed a lot more wary when it got to them, a few sounding nearly as bad as she did.
    As it got to the last ten people, eight of them stood up and simply walked out. Count Thomson held his right hand up and spoke softly as it happened.
    "Allow them to leave. Remember who they are however and don't trust them. Please, continue..."
    The last two people were a man and a woman. The woman went first, looking very familiar now that Tiera saw her, but it made sense why she'd be all the way at the far end like that, after a fashion. She was probably an unknown after all.
    "I am the Ancient known as Orange. Called Alice by some. I know almost nothing about your King or his heir, except that some of my family here backs them, which is enough for now, until I can interview them myself. I am not working against them in any way. That I know of." If it wasn't a full endorsement, it was at least very honest. There wasn't a flicker or correction of terms in the whole thing. It had kind of blinked for a second when Tiera had said that she and the King were friends, until she added the modifier. Almost everyone had a little blink or two. Most of those were obviously minor things though. Bad word choices that were easily corrected.
    A few didn't like the King at all, but were still on his side and had to explain that.
    The last man that went was Count Lairdgren, who bowed to them all and held the device high.
    "I am Green. Known as The Green man, the Ancient of Magic, Burks Lairdgren and Count Lairdgren. I am a loyal subject of King Richard and support him and his heir without reservation and swear fealty to them both, as the structure of the law allows. Further I am not seeking to overthrow either of them or remove them from place or power." There was a tiny flicker on the last words, but the man just shrugged and kept talking. "Personal issues there. At any rate, it should be clear to you all that this is more than a simple dinner party. The idea was mine and if offense must be taken, please know to blame myself alone for it." He bowed low then and held it for nearly a minute, then stood again. "We are, as you might suspect already, dealing with a civil war. Treachery is afoot to unseat the rightful King of Noram. I pledge the full might of my armies and people to see that this does not happen. I so swear, in front of you all." His voice didn't boom, but everyone started muttering.
    It wasn't exactly what she'd expected herself, but the pieces did fall into place for her finally.
    Another war seemed to be about to happen.
    Wonderful.

Chapter three
     
     
     
     
     
     
    "What kind of idiots would start a war now ?" Tiera blurted the words out and then made a face, refusing to take them back or cover her mouth as if it wasn't on purpose. It was a good question as far as she was concerned and if anyone had a reasonable answer she'd love to hear it. Nothing she could think of made any sense at all.
    David looked at the table and bumped her lightly with the back of his heel, trying to get her to shut up, no doubt, but she didn't. Everyone had heard already, and if they didn't know either they could just say so, couldn't they? There was no real value in pretending you knew things like that if you didn't. She was about to say so when a low chuckle came from the far end of the table. Her "Aunt Orange". They weren't really related at all, but if an Ancient wanted to claim they were family, who was she to say otherwise?
    "That is a very good question. My take on it is that those that seek power at this point are likely flush in weapons and... magics. The main governmental body is as well, so they must believe that they can overcome such things. My best guess at this time would be the Larval Assassins of Denno Brown. I don't know if he is in on it directly or not." She was looking down the table, her face pretty and unlined, even though she was at least as old as Lairdgren. She looked to be in her mid-twenties or so and had a