Chapter 33 - Saying Goodbye
Tymos went to his apartment and surprised Morov as he was packing a large leather satchel with travelling clothes.
“I did not expect you back just yet,” Morov covered his surprise. “Is there something you need?”
“No, Morov, I was told to get ready to leave tomorrow, but it seems like you have that under control.”
“Except for what personal things you might like to take,” Morov countered. “A data pad, study materials and so forth.”
“Boring, Morov! Or will they really try to make us study while we travel. We deserve a break, surely.”
The attendant tactfully shrugged.
“I think there will be enough new things to take in without needing to study stuff from a data pad,” Tymos decided.
“Yes, you may be right. I am looking forward to this trip. It will be my first away from the estate,” Morov admitted.
Tymos looked at him in surprise. “Don’t they normally let you go away?”
“Oh, yes, we can go visiting the cities if we want to, but I have never bothered,” Morov explained. And then, as if deciding he had been too familiar with his charge, Morov went on. “Will you be dining here this evening?”
With a shake of his head, Tymos said, “Stenn will want to skewer me if I don’t put in appearance in the Great Hall to say goodbye to my friends.”
Then, since he didn’t have anything to do that Morov wasn’t covering, Tymos went to the High King’s suite and found Tanya.
“How’s our little man been today?”
She nodded at a corner of the suite. Llaimos was moving around under the watchful eye of his nurse. A cleared area of wall was displaying pictures and a speaker had simple lessons and stories coming from it.
“Stenn wasn’t kidding when he said he was teaching Llaimos to crawl,” Tymos remarked, impressed.
“He has been good today,” Tanya noted.
“No one has been pounding on us today.” Tymos gave Tanya a smile and went to sit near his brother, and unshielded his mind. Before long, the now mobile infant climbed onto him, and Tymos sensed delight from him.
“Learning stuff, bro?” Tymos tickled Llaimos in the ribs, making him gurgle. “How was the nursery last night? Did you meet the other youngsters?”
The yawn may have been a coincidence.
“Long day, huh?” Tymos asked. “We will be having a few of those from tomorrow. That is when we leave on tour with father.”
To prove that Llaimos understood, he gave a whimper and clung more tightly to his brother.
“Hey, what did I say? Do you want to come?” Tymos received the sense that Llaimos wanted to hide. Kryslie suddenly appeared and came over.
“I don’t think he wants us to go,” Tymos told his sister. Llaimos turned and reached out for Kryslie. She took him and felt he was trembling.
“What ever is wrong?” Kryslie asked her little brother.
In her mind, she saw the figure 3, the word three and three objects, like seen on a child’s counting poster.
“I am not sure what you are meaning, bro,” Kryslie told him. Llaimos hugged her tighter. “Oh, we all belong together. I know we do, little bro, but for now, we can do things and learn things that you can’t yet. We will share what we learn with you.”
Llaimos began to tremble again.
“Why are you afraid?” Kryslie asked. “You will be safe here. And now, Tymos and I can handle any danger we meet outside.”
Tymos, sharing the emotions Llaimos sent, added quietly and confidentially, “I know there are people out there who wish us ill, but we have got much stronger and cleverer since they encountered us. Krys and I, together, can give them more trouble than they can handle.” He sent a sense of amusement. “And you will be safe here. You are the most important person on the entire estate – after the Governors of course.”
Llaimos was still emitting fear.
“Tell you what, bro. What if I ask our friends, Stenn, Jonko and Keleb to visit with you while we are away? I will ask that they be kept informed of our progress, so they can tell you. Then you will know we are okay.”
The fear subsided and Stenn’s face came into Tymos and Kryslie’s mind.
“You like Stenn, don’t you? I’m not surprised. He’s got enough younger sibs, so he can teach you all sorts of advanced stuff…like walking.”
Eagerness had replaced all other emotions in the child’s mind. Tymos flashed his sister a grin.
“Your nurse can’t keep up with you now, you cheeky brat,” Tymos teased. Then he whispered, “Go for it, bro! Now, what say we go and try that wooden jigsaw I see over there? You can show me how clever you are.”
When it was time for Llaimos’s next feed, Tymos and Kryslie left the suite to go down to the Great Hall. It was still early, so they chose to walk out onto the zekon-covered terrace until the dinner chime. Both had, without conscious thought, strengthened their mind shields so that Llaimos would not receive from them.
They spoke aloud. “I wonder if Llaimos has been hearing those odd voices.” Tymos said quietly.
“How would we know?” Kryslie asked. “We can’t be in rapport with his mind all day and night. And, surely no one would hear them inside?”
“No one that we know of,” Tymos agreed. “But we are stronger telepaths than most people and Llaimos might be as well. Besides, most people are busy all day.”
“Rather than risking it isn’t true, we should mention the idea to father. There has to be a way to block it. Something like what they did to stop your mind being available to me,” Kryslie proposed. As she thought that, an entire mind full of technical data seemed to flow through her mind, but it quickly faded from memory.
Tymos shook his head to clear it from a similar experience. “If we wanted to send to him while we were away it would block us too.”
“We don’t even know if we have that sort of range,” Kryslie looked speculatively at her brother. “We haven’t had a chance to test that, have we?”
“Well, if we do have that range…we’ve never tried to send to our friends, either.”
Tymos grinned as he said that. “Let’s try it at dinner tonight – on Stenn, Jonko, Keleb, Lexina and Denlic.”
They entered the Great Hall after the dinner chime, chose a place to sit and waited for their friends. Stenn arrived first. “So you are off tomorrow. Lucky people!”
“Must admit, I am eager to be going,” Tymos admitted. “Though Krys and I want to ask you a favour.”
“Sure,” Stenn agreed at once.
“While we are gone – keep an eye and ear out for Llaimos.”
“No problems. Why though?” Stenn asked.
Kryslie answered. “Probably nothing, but we just have the feeling he doesn’t want us to go and is afraid we will get into trouble we can’t handle.”
“And we are not sure he is not picking up on some stray thoughts…like Zacary and I did,” Tymos added.
“Ah!” Stenn immediately understood. “I will be able to keep him company before and after lessons, and I am sure the others of level epsilon will share the duty.”
“I was thinking mainly Jon and Kel,” Tymos murmured.
“Lexina and Denlic too,” Kryslie added. “Though I have nothing against those who have come into Epsilon since we began private lessons again.”
“They will help,” Stenn assured them. “And I will ask my illustrious father if he will let me sleep in the nursery.”
“I am sure he will have something expressive to say about that,” Kryslie grinned.
Stenn grimaced, and then grinned. “No doubt, but I won’t let him claim Llaimos needs to have less instant attention.”
“Thanks,” Tymos said, meaning it. “We don’t expect trouble…but…”
“But…if they see the need to keep you two highly guarded…Llaimos should be too,” Stenn said shrewdly. “And not assume that because he is only an infant that he won’t get into any trouble.”
“Ye…es,” Kryslie emphasised the affirmative and glanced at her ever present guard and the hovering Delia.
“I’ll brief the others. Was there anything else?”
“No. I promised the bro that I would get news of us to him – to assure him we are okay. We are going to ask father to send messages to you to pass on since we don’t know if we can think at him from that far away.”
“So, the little man can talk to your minds then?” Stenn stated calmly. “Like you two do together.”
“Not talk yet, not really. It’s more emotions,” Kryslie clarified. “How did you know we could?”
Stenn gave her a look, trying to imply it was obvious. “This and that?” he said, unhelpfully.
Silently, Tymos tried a test. “You are a smart so-and-so, aren’t you, Stenn?”
His friend turned and faced him. “Wow!” His face had an incredulous expression. “Can you do that to everyone?”
“Haven’t tried. We were keeping it secret,” Kryslie told him. At Stenn’s querying expression she added, “Yes, your father knows. He insisted on teaching us to block each other out.”
Stenn smiled. “Just as well. Sometimes you each might want some privacy, like…”
Tymos flushed and said quickly, “We’ll try it on the others.”
They spotted Jonko first. He came in with Tobias. Tymos sent, “Jon, what is so interesting about plants, plants and more plants?”
The target of the thought visibly jumped, and even Tobias noticed. Jonko looked around, spotted Tymos and apologised to Tobias before coming over. As he approached, he thought in his mind, “Tobe’s a nice person and he doesn’t have many friends.”
In return, he felt in his mind a mental chuckle. “And so are you for recognising it. Come join us. We are leaving tomorrow and have a favour to ask.”
“I can’t see Kel yet,” Kryslie murmured to Tymos as Lexina and Denlic found them.
“Keleb said he will be along soon,” Denlic explained on hearing her soft comment. “He was hoping you would appear down here tonight, but then he saw they had brought up some carriage beasts…and just had to go see them.”
“I always thought they kept animals off the estate,” Kryslie commented, though the answer to that came to her mind as Denlic answered.
“Usually, but since your father is going off on tour tomorrow…early…they brought them up so the servants can hitch up the carriages…even earlier…” he left the warning dangling.
Kryslie felt around with her mind for a sense of Keleb and told Denlic, “I think you had better save some food for him. He is in the throes of rapture.” She tried to speak to his mind, and whilst he recognised her, he was simply revelling in being close to the animals and helping to groom them after their trip up from the nearby farming town.
To Tymos, she spoke mentally, “I can reach him, but I think it’s more empathic than telepathic. I can read back from him.”
“Lexina and Denlic are much the same,” Tymos told her, still mentally. “They can receive what I send, but I have to read their replies in their mind. Stenn is clearest, then Jonko.”
To the group, Tymos stated, “I’m starving – don’t know why. We haven’t really done much all day.”
They stayed late in the Great Hall, deliberately ignoring hints from their attendants that they should have an early night. Even when they finally left their friends, they didn’t go straight to bed, but went to visit Llaimos in the nursery. Stenn slipped in before they left there with a satchel of clothing, and gave them a broad wink when he took Llaimos from Kryslie.
“Go! Shoo!” Stenn grinned. “We will see you when you get back!”
Sensing that Llaimos was happy – they went.