by Garth Nix
It was her capsule I was taking, I could see, delaying her test. There was another being readied by mekbi drones, but it would take them hours. I felt a little sad that I could not speak to her, but I knew that doing so would be a death sentence for both of us.
The Empire could never let it be known that a Prince could even want a different life.
Let alone find a way to have one.
Two weeks later, my capsule emerged in the Kharalcha system. There was no report of recent combat this time, but there were ships on patrol near the wormhole. Some I knew as KSF at once, even before the capsule finished analyzing the scan. But there were more ships present, and better ones, and within a few minutes I was being hailed by them, as well as by the KSF.
It was the Confederation fleet, of course, only six months late. But I did not answer their rapid questioning. There was only one ship I wanted to talk to, and more particularly, one person.
“Calling KSF Firestarter, KSF Firestarter. This is Khem Gryphon. Do you have Raine Gryphon aboard?”
The answer came back after a long, long minute. The voice was familiar, and extraordinarily welcome.
“Khem Gryphon, this is Raine Gryphon, on KSF Firestarter. What is your message?”
Raine sounded cool and calm. More than I did, I was sure, particularly as I found that I had been holding my breath. I let it go, and spoke.
“Request permission to be picked up.”
“Do you have an atmosphere problem?”
I smiled.
“Negative. Status green on all counts. But I would like to be picked up just as soon as you can.”
“Understood, Khem Gryphon. Stand by for retrieval. And…”
There was a slight catch in her breath, quickly suppressed.
“Welcome home.”
Epilogue
THAT IS THE story of my three deaths. All that I will be able to tell, for there will be no rebirth from a fourth and final death. But I do not regret giving up the long, long life of a Prince of the Empire and all that goes with it. I do not miss the power of life and death over ordinary folk, nor the trinity of teks that lived within me and made me both more and less than human.
For I have gained far more than I have lost, even if not in anything the Empire would care to measure.
Raine and I continue to love each other, something I discover is not an automatic state but must be worked at, like an ever-changing tactical problem, though I would never describe it that way to my beloved.
I am really a trader now, but not a traveling one, and a reserve commodore in the KSF, though I am pleased that apart from my one month a year of active duty, I have been called on only twice in the last decade to actually fight, first against a new pirate force and once against a Deader reconnaissance squadron. That last was tough, for Deaders always fight to the bitter end and self-destruct when they can fight no more, often taking their opponent with them. But thanks to the Confederation, and in some small part to my own knowledge and the old Imperial tek of Prince Xaojhek we found in the gas giant rings, the KSF is about as smart and strong a force as you’ll find anywhere in the Fringe.
Raine and I have a child now, too. A little girl who has reached the age of five, who I give thanks every day will never be taken from her parents to be made a Prince.
She calls herself Attie, as does everyone else. It is generally known to be short for Hattie, as it appears in the records: Hattie Anza Gryphon. Only Raine and I know she was named in our hearts for Atalin. That is a name of infamy in Kharalcha, one we could never give a child, but I thought we owed my sister something.
I told Raine everything soon after my return to Kharalcha. That I had been a Prince, that I had been part of the Empire that had killed so many of her people. But she said that was all washed clean by what I had done of my own choice.
Raine said to me then, “The Empire made you into a Prince, Khem. But you have made yourself into a human.”
Sometimes I think about that, and I wonder what is happening back in the Empire, though I seldom wonder for very long. Mostly what I ponder is how Atalin might be doing as Emperor, and whether she has been able to make any changes, or has even wanted to try.
I doubt it, but then I remember that single image, that frame of memory that she sent to me, before I was spat out of the Imperial Mind.
It was a toddler’s blurry view of two faces staring down with love in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Faces that are familiar and strange at the same time, for they look like me and yet do not.
I wonder how Atalin retained that memory of our parents, and how she managed to bring it to the surface, despite everything the priests did to make us forget all that had gone before our selection. Perhaps she found it during her time as a first-in scout with the Imperial Survey, alone in her ship among the trackless stars, with only her own mind to delve into.
Try as I might, I have never found any such memory within myself. I have only that small vision from my sister, who in the end was far more human than I would ever have suspected.
Perhaps the potential for humanity exists in all Princes.
I can only hope that this is so.
About the Author
GARTH NIX was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia. A full-time writer since 2001, he has worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. Garth’s books include the award-winning fantasy novels Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen; and the cult favorite teen SF novel Shade’s Children. His fantasy novels for younger readers include The Ragwitch; the six books of the Seventh Tower sequence; the Keys to the Kingdom series; and Troubletwisters, cowritten with Sean Williams. More than five million copies of his books have been sold around the world; his books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Guardian, and the Australian; and his work has been translated into thirty-nine languages. He lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and two children.
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Other Works
ALSO BY GARTH NIX
THE ABHORSEN TRILOGY:
SABRIEL
LIRAEL
ABHORSEN
ACROSS THE WALL:
A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories
THE RAGWITCH
ONE BEASTLY BEAST:
Two Aliens, Three Inventors, Four Fantastic Tales
SHADE’S CHILDREN
Credits
Cover art © 2012 by Sammy Yuen
Image of figure © 2012 by Larry Rostant
Cover design by Torborg Davern
Copyright
A Confusion of Princes
Copyright © 2012 by Garth Nix
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nix, Garth.
A confusion of princes / by Garth Nix.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: “Battling aliens, space pirates, and competitors, Prince Khemri meets a young woman, named Raine, and learns more than he expected about the hidden workings of a vast, intergalactic Empire, and about himself”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-009694-6 (trade bdg.)
ISBN 978-0-06-009695-3 (lib. bdg.)
EPub Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN 9780062213563
[1. Science fiction. 2. Princes�
��Fiction. 3. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 4. Inheritance and succession—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.N647Con 2012
2011042308
[Fic]–dc23
CIP
AC
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12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
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