Chapter Text
Head Armsman Trent had been in his job for a long time. He had been Head Armsman when Emperor Gregor Vorbarra had met the woman who would be the Empress. He had carefully assigned Armsmen to watch over each of the incubating princes as they gestated in their uterine replicators. He had been present at nearly every significant event in the Vorbarra personal life in the last fifteen years. He was very very good at his job.
In the years since the boys had been born, his duties had included many jobs that he had not expected. Arranging for cooking lessons for then-four-year old Xav was not on the normal to do list, even after the disaster that was called “Flour, Flour, Everywhere.” Neither was arranging for rock climbing lessons for a three year old, although that had been easier to explain. David’s obvious ability and even more obvious desire to climb had put him in one too many awkward situations. Getting him climbing somewhere at least a little safer was received with obvious approval. He had accomplished both of them after being given nothing more than a surprised look from his liege lady.
But today was a little different; today he wasn’t going to ask for permission to set one of the boys up with a lesson for a few weeks. Today he was hoping for permission to get Simon a tutor.
Trent turned the corner on the way to the Personal Apartment and walked steadily down the hall. He could see five of his Armsmen waiting patiently at the door between the hallway that led to the rest of the Residence and Personal Kitchen. The kitchen sat on the border between the private apartments, which even he needed to be invited to enter, and the more public spaces that were used by the staff.
As he approached, the noise in the hallway became louder as Princes Xav and David spilled out. Wearing their school uniforms and with Armsmen for escorts they headed to the groundcar waiting to take them to school. Moments later Emperor Gregor Vorbarra, wearing the formal wear of Count Vorbarra, emerged and greeted the Armsman waiting for him.
“Good morning, Zalenski.”
“Good morning, Sire. Engel and your Batman are waiting in the portico.”
“Thank you, Zalenski. Today should be the last Council of Counts session for the year.”
“Yes, Sire.”
They walked a few feet further and the Emperor asked, “Who won the ImpSec vs Armsmen wrestling match last night?”
Smiling, Zalenski began “Hubert did officially, but since he ended up in the infirmary looking for pain medicine in the small hours of the morning and can’t defend the title tonight, it looks like Roderick might take the title.”
The conversation continued, but Trent had reached the door to the kitchen. He knocked.
“Come in, Trent,” he heard from inside.
Trent walked in and heard the chattering four-year-old Simon talking a mile a minute while two-year-old John quietly ate his breakfast.
“Mama, how did you know it was Trent and not somebody else? He just knocked and didn’t say anything,” said Simon, the mostly finished groats in his bowl forgotten in the excitement of another question.
“Finish your groats and I will answer,” was the amused reply from Empress Laisa. “Trent, you just missed Gregor. You should be able to catch up with him before he leaves, though.”
“I was hoping for a few minutes of your time, milady.”
Trent could see her sigh. “A moment, then,” she replied clearly not excited by the prospect of dealing with whatever he had brought for her attention.
Simon picked up the spoon and quickly polished off his groats. “Now, Mama. Why?”
“Trent is the only person who knocks and would come through that door. Any of the staff would come through the other door that leads from the kitchens and storerooms. Any of the other Armsmen would have just waited by the door.”
“What about Papa?”
“Your Papa wouldn’t have knocked in the first place.”
“What about Uncle Miles?”
“Someone would have announced his arrival long before he got to that door, Simon.”
“What about...?”
“Enough, Simon,” said the weary Empress. “Go play.”
“I would rather talk to you,” said Simon sadly. “No one else likes answering my questions.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but I need to have a conversation with Armsman Trent.”
Trent watched as Simon changed tactics and asked him, “When will Aubert be back?”
With a look at the Empress, Trent replied, “He got back late yesterday, Lord Simon.”
“Can I see him? Where is he?” asked Simon.
John had finished his breakfast while all the talking was going on and climbed down from his chair. He peeked his head out the door that Trent had entered and squealed, “He here! He here, Fimon!”
Simon scrambled down from his chair ran out the door.
“You came back! What did you do while you were away? Was it fun?” came the excited voice from the other side of the door.
“Of course, I came back,” said a deeper voice that must be Aubert, mock seriously. “And I will tell you all about it, but go give your Mama a proper goodbye first.”
Trent watched as Simon and John scurried back into the kitchen and gave their mother a hug.
“Bye, Mama,” they said and were back out the door as fast as their little legs could carry them.
Trent listened as the excited Simon peppered Aubert with questions, barely giving the man a chance to answer. Simon was very happy to have his favorite Armsman back. Actually so were all the other Armsmen; that was indeed why Trent was here. While Aubert had been off at training for the last six weeks, Trent had rotated several Armsmen through this position. None of them had enjoyed the nonstop questions of their young charge. Even the highly-energetic, highly-dangerous David was preferred.
“Would you like some coffee, Trent?” asked Laisa, bringing Trent back to reality.
“No, milady. I have had several cups already today.”
“Would you like to sit down, then?”
Trent would prefer not to. He did not feel comfortable sitting in the presence of his Empress, but he had long ago figured out that she would rather he sit thereby removing most of the height difference between the very short Empress and the very tall Armsmen. Trent sat in the offered chair.
“So what is happening that you need my attention?” asked the Empress.
Trent squared his shoulders and looked across the table, but didn’t say anything. He watched as Laisa took another sip from her coffee cup.
“Trent, whatever this is, it doesn’t need to be this difficult. Do you need some time off? Do you need me to talk to Gregor about something?”
“No, nothing like that. I am fine.”
“Then, what? Did Xav get into something again? Or was it David this time?”
“Neither, milady. I don’t expect anything unusual from Xav until after the trip to the Rodeo. Countess Vorkosigan has told Sasha to behave or he will not be allowed to participate in the Children’s Rodeo and Xav is much less prone to getting into anything without his partner in mayhem. And Armsman Gallo is proving to be a good match for David. If David is climbing things and going fast then Gallo is doing it with him. I haven’t heard of any trouble from either of them.”
Trent heard a door open behind him and heard someone pick up something from a counter, most likely a servant to pick up the breakfast dishes. He watched as Laisa looked over him and then back unconcerned.
“So Xav isn’t causing trouble, David hasn’t broken anything or anyone. Then what or who is it then?”
“Simon.”
“Simon? I assume you mean the little one and not the other one.”
“Yes, milady,” replied Trent immediately, “Lady Alys deals with the adult Simon.”
“So what is going on with Simon?”
Trent continued, “His nonstop questions are driving the Armsmen crazy.”
“I thought dealing with little kid questions was part of their job?” asked Laisa with a smile.
“It is part of their job,” answered an emotionless voice from behind Trent.
Trent froze in his seat. The person behind that voice commanded his very soul. “I didn’t realize you were here, Sire,” sighed Trent. He turned to face his liege and Emperor.
“I came back for my coffee cup,” he said and held out a cup that Xav had decorated for him some weeks earlier. The total lack of expression on his face was deceiving. Trent knew he was both annoyed and irritated at this lack of professionalism.
“The Armsmen aren’t complaining. It is just...” Trent felt about three inches tall. This had not been a conversation he was looking forward to and it had just gotten measurably worse.
“Be nice to him, Gregor,” said Laisa. “They are Armsmen. Their job is to protect and keep us safe. Answering the endless questions of four year old isn’t exactly in the normal job description.”
“Fundamentally, that is not true. Their job is to do whatever I ask of them. Usually, that is to guarantee the personal safety of the Vorbarra line. But answering the questions of a four year old is not unreasonable.”
Trent had not had a worse day in his adult life; getting lectured on the responsibilities of an Armsman from his liege was worse than embarrassing. It was humiliating. He was the one who usually gave that lecture, not the other way around.
“Gregor, enough,” said Laisa using a voice usually reserved for misbehaving children. “Trent did not come to me to be lectured on his responsibilities.”
Trent looked back to Laisa and she gave him a small smile.
She continued, “So, there is a problem. Do you have any ideas for a solution to it?”
“Yes, milady. I think he needs a tutor.”
“A tutor? He is four,” she replied confused.
Trent made the decision to continue looking at his Empress and bravely continued. “I know that he is four. But I think that having someone whose job it was to answer all those questions would be a good idea. That way the Armsmen can focus on the safety issues and everything else.”
He watched as Laisa looked over him.
He continued, “Besides, the Armsmen don’t know the answers to his questions, anymore. They were doing alright when he was interested in the Cetagadans, but this new interest in the Rodeo has them stumped. That was the reason that Toredo was so glad that Aubert was back last night. Aubert knows more about the Rodeo than he does.”
Trent stopped talking and waited.
“It sounds like a wonderful idea,” said the low voice behind him.
Trent was relieved. Maybe today would get better. Getting worse would be a really bad idea.
“Really?” asked Laisa surprised by this sudden change of attitude.
“Yes, really,” continued Gregor walking around so that he could be seen by both his wife and his Head Armsman. “It is a good idea, Trent,” much more kindly than he had spoken just a few minutes earlier. “I had a tutor for several years when I was young. Not as young as Simon, but... and Miles had them on and off for years. Until he was twelve or so.”
“Why did he stop?” asked Laisa, curiosity written all over her face.
“That was when most of the surgeries had been completed and he was able to attend school full time. I think the rest of the surgeries were done over the summer break to give him longer to recover. But that is also when I finished school so it is possible that he had a tutor longer than that and I just didn’t know.”
“But, Simon is only four,” said the still confused Empress.
“Yes, but if he is already asking questions that are causing issues... I remember being around Miles when he could do nothing but ask lots of questions because of the braces on his legs. He drove everyone crazy and he had lots of people to ask them of.”
“Alright, then I guess we find Simon a tutor.”
A very relieved Trent said, “Thank you, Sire. And, thank you, milady.”
Gregor thought for a moment, “Alys might have some ideas on where to begin. I don’t know if she was involved with finding them for Miles or for me, but she might have been.”
“I’ll ask her when I see her later today,” said Laisa. “But this is going to have to wait until we get back from the Rodeo to do very much.”
“I agree,” said Gregor looking thoughtfully at his coffee cup and then walking over to kiss his wife. “See you after the session.”
“Yes, dear,” she said and kissed him.
Trent got up from the chair and made his way to the door, humming happily. It really hadn’t been that bad. He sighed, yes it had. But it was part of the job and he was very very good at his job.