by Rachel Ford
The older woman sighed. “Which makes him an Inkaya now.” Dre scoffed behind her, but she ignored him. “And you, F’rok: you said you were going to be married?”
“Yes.” The young man nodded.
“There’s no such thing as a marriage between men,” his father snorted. “That’s Union garbage: more human corruption. That man, whoever he is, will never be an Inkaya.”
“You’re right, there, Father,” F’rok agreed. “He won’t be an Inkaya. I will be a Kridar.”
Surprise crossed the faces of every Kudarian in the room. Only Maggie and I seemed at a loss to understand the significance of that name.
“Wait,” F’riya said, understanding lighting her features, “your friend, your study buddy J’kar…that’s who it is?”
F’rok nodded, and she grinned. “I cannot believe I didn’t figure this out earlier.”
Frank laughed. “School projects, huh?”
His younger brother flushed, but their conversation was brought back on topic by F’vir, of all people. “You mean J’kar ark Kridar…the banker’s son?”
“Heir to House Kridar?” his father put in. It might have been my imagination, but there seemed a little less disgust in his tone now.
“Yes, and yes.”
Frank whistled, a mischievous grin lighting his eyes. “Shit. You got game, little brother.” F’rok repaid the comment with an elbow jab to the arm, but flushed too.
“It’ll never stand,” Dre decided. “His parents won’t countenance such a thing.”
“It will,” F’rok said simply. “He told them about us this past weekend. They gave him their blessing. They want to meet me.”
F’riya put an arm on her brother’s shoulder. “My gods, F’rok. That’s why you were such a bundle of nerves.”
He flushed again, smiling at his sister. “I’d be lying if I said no.”
“You should have told me.”
“I know…I just…I didn’t know what they’d say.”
She nodded, squeezing his arm. “I’m happy for you. So happy for you.”
“You mean,” Dre said, returning to the point, “you’re going to marry into House Kridar?”
F’rok nodded. “Yes, Father.”
The elder Kudarian stood rooted to the spot for a long minute, a series of emotions crossing his face. At last, he seemed to settle on satisfaction. “My son, married to the heir of House Kridar.” He shook his head. “Who’d have thought?”
Frank and F’riya exchanged glances. So did Maggie and I. This was a remarkable turn of attitude. Whoever these Kridars were, I assumed, they must be very prominent indeed to effect such a change in him.
“You won’t withhold your blessing, then?” F’rok pressed his advantage while he had it.
Dre hesitated, but then shrugged. “A daughter would have been better. Still, those fools had only sons, so here we are.”
After this principled admission, the mood in the Inkaya household lifted. All was not entirely well. R’ia was still confused and perplexed. Her husband seemed to have forgotten his children’s sins entirely, focusing instead on this new connection to House Kridar.
But the shift was a good one, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. All, that is, but F’vir, who was politely but firmly asked to leave. “I think it would be best for everyone,” R’ia told him, “if you expedited your return trip. I’ll have the car called. It will be ready for you in half an hour. Safe travels, F’vir.”
He offered a few choice words about R’ia’s “degenerate clan,” but was silenced when his own behavior was mentioned.
“I’m sure K’ri would like to know that you hang around outside other women’s bedrooms to harass them,” Frank put in.
“Maybe we should give her a head’s up,” F’riya nodded. “The least we can do for family.”
F’vir departed without any further incident.
For my part, I was trying to catch my breath after it all. As far as the Inkaya elders were concerned, I’d gone from a homewrecker to a pervert to a corrupter-of-the-youth in the span of a few minutes. I wasn’t quite sure where I fit in now. Their tolerance of F’rok seemed to be based more in the fact that he was their son and marrying well than anything else. I guess that means I’m still in the ‘pervert’ category in their eyes. It wasn’t a great place to be, but now, of course, wasn’t the time to worry about my own comfort.
The Three Musketeers were still figuring their own secrets out, now that they’d all been aired. Over breakfast, no less.
R’ia insisted we proceed with the morning meal. “No one is skipping breakfast over any…unpleasantness.”
Now that Maggie’s role as Frank’s fake girlfriend was at an end, she surrendered her seat among the family nucleus and sat by me. I was glad of it. Awkward didn’t begin to cover the last half hour, and I didn’t want to sit among Inkaya cousins I barely knew after that. Not without her at my side.
She squeezed my hand, whispering, “Well that was a cluster.”
I grinned, as much at relief at being beside her again as hearing my own thoughts so closely mirrored on her lips. “What a morning.”
“We must welcome the Brityas,” R’ia was saying in pained tones, as if the admission cost her physically, “to the family. Sooner, now that this business is known, than later.”
“Let’s give it a few days, Mother,” F’riya suggested.
“Why?”
“Just to give everyone a chance to acclimate to the idea.”
Dre snorted. “You mean, to forgive them for stealing our daughter? For condoning a secret marriage, behind our backs? For smiling to our face while they betrayed us?”
“I see your point,” R’ia conceded. “Perhaps a few days might do us all good.”
“As a matter of fact,” Frank put in, “I’d promised to take Kay and Maggie on a tour of South Kudar.”
“I remember,” his mother nodded.
“And F’riya and F’rok are coming with us.” Wisely, I saw, he neglected to mention their partners. However magnanimous Dre was being in the moment, it wouldn’t pay to push him. “We had been planning on leaving today.”
“I see. And is that still your plan?”
“Unless you object.”
R’ia considered. “I do not. Dre?”
He snorted again. “Does it matter what I think, Love? This is your House, after all. I’ve only married into it. Which means my opinion is no better than the gardener’s.” He spread his hands. “But, no: you actually listen to him.”
Oh boy. Our trip couldn’t come soon enough.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mercifully, we took our leave of the Inkaya household later that morning. Frank had run the plan past his siblings the day before, and they’d already alerted their respective partners to the change in timeframe. We would stop at the Britya home to pick up Ger, and then meet F’rok’s fiancé, J’kar, at the station.
I’d never seen five adults pack as quickly as we did. R’ia bade us a cordial goodbye, but it was clear she was still reeling. She was civil to Maggie and me, though. Whatever her feelings about our deception, it clearly took a back burner to the revelations about her own children.
Dre, on the other hand, didn’t bother to acknowledge either of us. He gave each of his children a stiff nod of the head, and left it at that.
We all breathed a sigh of relief when we piled into the transport. “Thank the gods,” F’riya said.
F’rok loosed a long breath.
Frank just laughed.
“I’m sorry,” I said. It occurred to me that all of this got back to me and Mags – me, specifically, because I’d been the one to kiss her. If I’d been more careful, maybe we could have kept up the ruse long enough to escape. “I’m sorry we got caught.”
Frank shook his head. “It’s not your fault, Kay. It was that bottom feeder F’vir.”
“He would have seen me leaving your room,” Maggie said, “even if we hadn’t kissed. He’d have figured it out.”
“And gone squealing down to mother and father,” F’riya added.
“I should have kicked him out as soon as he started bugging you,” Frank said. “It’s me who should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have let it go on as long as it did.”
“None of us should have,” F’rok agreed.
“Still,” I said, “I’m sorry it all happened like that.”
The Inkayas considered, and F’riya shrugged. “I don’t know, Kay. I think we did okay. All things considered.”
“Me too,” Frank said. “For my part, anyway.” He turned his eyes to his brother. “What about you, F’rok? You okay?”
The younger man nodded slowly. “To be honest, I thought it would be the last time I’d be able to see you guys under our roof. So, yeah, it went a hell of a lot better than I thought it would.”
F’riya squeezed his shoulder. “No house of ours will ever close its doors to you, F’rok. ‘One for all, and all for one.’ Remember?”
There was a mist of moisture in his eyes as he nodded again. “I…I wasn’t sure…well, if that would apply. In the circumstance.”
“Hell, F’rok,” Frank said. “I don’t give a shit about that. I mean, I’m happy you know what you want in life. I’m happy you found J’kar. But you’re my brother. I don’t care who you love, as long as they love you back and treat you right.”
F’riya nodded. “You remember what you told me, when I told you I was marrying Ger? ‘Follow your heart.’” She took his hand and smiled. “That’s what you did, F’rok. I’m proud of you. Of course I stand with you.”
He swallowed and, for a moment, I thought he might cry. He didn’t, but when he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “I love you guys.”
“I love you too, F’rok.”
“I’ll always love you, brother.”
I glanced at Maggie, and she glanced at me. Here we were, again, awkwardly in the middle of Inkaya family moments. She smiled, taking my hand in hers. As vacations went, this was certainly a strange one.
J’kar ark Kridar was a handsome man, with a reedy build – as reedy as could be expected from a Kudarian, anyway – and keen glance. He turned wide eyes to us when F’rok wrapped him in an embrace. And they only widened as his fiancé said, “Don’t worry. They know.”
“They do?”
“Gods, what a morning.”
Ger grinned at F’riya, nodding. He’d already heard the story on the way down, and his reaction hadn’t been much different. He bowed to the young man. “I’m Ger ark britya.” Then, he paused. “I guess, ark inkaya now. And believe him when he says it: it’s been quite the morning.”
One by one, we followed suit introducing ourselves. He bowed to each of us in turn. “A pleasure,” and, “I am honored,” and, “F’rok tells me so much about you.”
When it was concluded, he turned to the younger Inkaya. “But what happened?”
Of one volition, we all laughed. “Come on,” F’rok said. “Let’s get our tickets. I’ll tell you on the way.”
He did, and J’kar’s eyebrows danced their way through the story, one moment raising in surprise, the next pulling into a frown. In this regard, he was very much like his fiancé: his emotions painted themselves across his face with every fluctuation.
When F’rok got to the portion of his story where his siblings took his part, J’kar got positively misty-eyed. “I was inclined to like you all just based on what F’rok has told me,” he said, “but you are family to me, now, as much as my own.”
It was a good omen for the rest of our trip. J’kar was a truly pleasant person, and his interests dovetailed so neatly with F’rok’s it was no surprise that they’d found each other. They had met at university. He’d been researching first era Kudarian battle sagas. F’rok had been working on a biographical study of the writers of those sagas, arguing that the personas known to later eras were in fact fictitious fronts for multiple, even dozens, of authors.
“He’s still wrong,” J’kar assured us. “But I fell in love with him over arguments about those ancient chroniclers, so I can never hold it against him.”
“I’m not wrong,” F’rok smiled. “But I love him despite his pigheadedness.”
“Well, that sounds…exciting,” Frank grinned.
“Better than flying around fighting pirates,” F’rok snorted.
“We do more than that,” Maggie declared, pretending to bristle. “Sometimes we take passengers.”
“And move cargo,” I said. “From one station to the next.”
“Yes, transport pays the bills.”
“And it’s a barrel of laughs,” Frank put in.
F’rok laughed. J’kar glanced between us, taking a moment to process our banter – and that we were truly joking – and laughed too. “It sounds very exciting.”
“Always.”
“Well, our work isn’t quite that exciting, I suppose,” he conceded. “Still, we’re working on a thesis that will blow away years of interpretations of R’ikar’s Heroes of Kudar.”
Frank laughed. “You guys really are working on a project together, then?”
“Of course,” F’rok said. “I told you yesterday. Remember?”
“Well, yeah…I just assumed that was…well, an excuse to disappear so you two could…” He shrugged. “You know.” The two young men colored in unison, and Frank grinned. “Just like when F’riya had to stop at the Brityas yesterday, to ‘thank Mia for the cakes.’”
It was Ger and F’riya’s turn to flush now, and she laughed, smacking her brother gently. “Hey. I did thank Mia.” She grinned at her husband, and he grinned back. “Eventually.”
Chapter Thirty
South Kudar was a beautiful continent. At least, what we saw of it was. The fact was, to Frank’s disappointment, we spent more time at the seaside resort the Inkayas had picked out than exploring.
Still, what we did see was magnificent. There was blue green ocean stretching as far as the eye could see, and endless lush green coasts behind it. We spent a day exploring the architecture of one of the oldest cities on South Kudar, and another guided through the underwater caves near our resort.
The rest of the time, though, we wandered lazily from our private cabins to the beach to our communal meals. We got to know J’kar a little better. He was every bit as nice and bookish as my early impressions had led me to believe, but his interests did extend beyond his studies. He had a fondness for off-world music, and a passing familiarity of human popular culture.
He was a reasonable hand at klendag, too. Klendag is a beach game, played with flying discs and nets. He was my partner for a game – which cost him the match, as I tripped and stumbled my way into foul after foul.
Still, he was a good sport, and didn’t seem to mind losing. “It’s tricky, but once you get the hang of the steps, it’s a lot of fun.”
I got to know the rest of the Inkayas better, too, and my opinions of them didn’t change, except to grow more certain. Like Frank, they were good people, the kind of people I was genuinely glad to know.
Most of my time, though, I spent with Mags. Some days we swam and sunned ourselves, explored the coastline by sunrise, and took out kayaks at sunset; some days we stayed in our lodge all day, lost to time in loving each other. But every day was a pleasure, a chance to know her a little better; a chance to have her to myself, without the distractions of our latest mission, or the needs of a crew to draw her away.
It was heavenly. But, like all good things, it wrapped up way too quickly. Before I knew, it was time to head back to the Inkaya estate.
We heard from Frank’s mother once, and it was a brief check-in to make sure we’d arrived safely. We heard from Sydney, too, the morning of our return trip. The ship’s repairs were wrapping up on schedule, and he expected to leave for Kudar within forty-eight hours.
We tossed around the idea of leaving when the Black Flag returned. “Let’s see how it goes,” Maggie suggested. “If things are okay, I don’t want to cut your vacation short
, Frank. But if they’re not…”
He nodded. “Then we’ll ship out.”
“Sounds good.”
The trip back was a quiet one, with none of the nervous chatter or eager introductions that had dominated the first trip. We were, of course, all wondering what kind of reception waited. Had R’ia changed her mind? Had she come to see things her husband’s way? Had he changed his?
Or would everything be as strange and tense as it had been when we’d left?
F’rok and J’kar had decided any introductions should be planned, so the Inkayas would have time to prepare themselves to behave, and not left to chance. So we parted ways with J’kar when we reached Kriar.
F’riya and Ger followed this example, and we next detoured to the Britya estate. Here, at least, we heard a little bit of good news. Mia and Gri greeted us all warmly, saying to their daughter-in-law, “Your mother came to see us, F’riya, while you were gone.”
A flash of something like panic crossed the young woman’s face. “She did? What happened?”
“She was very nice,” Mia assured. “Not happy with the situation, I think, but very cordial. She invited us to dinner this weekend. And she wants to hold a feast to announce the marriage, to officially welcome Ger into the family.”
“Oh.” The crease in F’riya’s forehead relaxed. “That’s good, then.”
Mia nodded. “It is.”
“And what of father? Have you heard from him at all?”
“No.”
“Well,” Frank put in, “he’ll come around. He has to.”
With some idea, now, of what to anticipate, we returned to the Inkaya estate. And our expectations were immediately thrown into disarray.
Dre greeted us on the doorstep, bypassing his eldest children and heading straight for F’rok. He clapped the younger man on the shoulder, and said, “Do you know who just left, not half an hour ago?”
F’rok shook his head. “Who?”
“Anston ark Kridar.”
R’ia had followed her husband a moment later, and added now with a wry smile, “And Lila.”