by K. B. Wagers
“Maybe not, Majesty,” Emmory said. “Maybe having Fasé there will help. I hadn’t thought of it, but I don’t think the Shen see her in the same light as the Farians do. Maybe her presence will force the Farians to be more open about the changes happening?”
“Either way, it takes the pressure off Indrana,” Gita agreed. “If they say no to your requirements, it’s on them, not on us.”
24
I sent my message to Ambassador Zellin and we continued the tour, passing through Desira and what even I had to admit was a delightful visit with a group of schoolchildren. Taz and Alice joined us via the com for a question-and-answer session. The kids’ questions were insightful and thoughtful and at times made their teachers stammer and apologize but made Johar and me laugh.
“Your Majesty.” Fasé met us at the Hailimi’s boarding door that evening. “What were you thinking demanding I be included in the peace talks?” she asked, reaching for the arm Emmory had just released.
I avoided her hand by dancing back a step. “I was thinking it was a good way to make sure the Shen didn’t roll over the top of you all while you were busy fighting with each other.”
“Adora will never agree to it,” she replied, her brow knotted together in a worried frown. “I appreciate what you are trying to do, but it will backfire on you. You’re risking the negotiations for me.”
“Have you seen this backfire?”
The question got me a narrow-eyed look that preceded a rather sulky, “No. I’m speaking from experience. I know Adora.”
“They asked for me. If they want me involved, this is the cost. You are not omniscient. I managed just fine without you whispering in my ear for the last six months; I think I can handle this.”
“Majesty, I—”
“We appreciate your input, Fasé, but you are here as our guest, not as an advisor. I will decide what is best for Indrana. If I want or need your assistance I will ask for it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Something of her Imperial Tactical Squad training kicked in and Fasé braced to attention, stopping just short of saluting.
It would seem you haven’t entirely forgiven her after all, a voice whispered in the back of my head, but I ignored it as I headed down the corridor.
From Desira, we traveled to Leucht, and I made a special point of requesting to meet Gunnery Sergeant Jasa Runji’s daughter, Hannah. The Royal Marine had been on my detail back on Canafey when Emmory was scraping for personnel to fill in the gaps of my dwindling BodyGuard ranks, and she’d acquitted herself quite well in the days that followed.
The fact that Gunny happened to be on my Marine detail that day was simply coincidental, and I certainly didn’t manufacture the whole thing so Jasa could see her brand-new grandchild on the empire’s dime.
Or no one was going to call me on it if I had. If I was going to be empress I’d use the perks of the position how I damn well pleased.
While I’d been on Leucht, I’d received a reply from Mia, filtered through Ambassador Zellin. Her simple “we will be there” reply hadn’t really surprised me. If anything, it felt like Fasé’s faction and the Shen had more in common with each other than they did with the Farians of the Pedalion faction.
Now we were headed to Kurma and the Farians still hadn’t replied to my demands.
We’d been in space for a week, in warp for most of it, and we would have to refuel in Kurma. I was looking forward to standing on solid ground and breathing open air.
“Bugger me.” Staggering away from Johar’s punch in the ship’s gym, I shot her a disgusted look and shook my head to dispel the ringing before I dabbed at the blood oozing out of my split lip. “Really?”
“You dropped your guard again,” Johar said, lifting her chin and winking.
“I have to be in public in two days.”
“Don’t drop your guard.” She grinned at me and I leveled a stare at her that only made her laugh. “Please, you don’t scare me just because you ended up with your ass on a throne. I’ve known you for too long. I still remember that wide-eyed girl on her first job. You were trailing after Hao like a shadow.”
I’d met Johar shortly after she’d hooked up with Rai, but long before I ever met Rai in person. My very first job with Hao’s crew, officially his crew, not just tagging along, had been to pick up a shipment of expensive paintings from the then-freelancing Johar.
She’d been different then, a man as massive as a Solarian tank with a scowl barely contained by a bushy black beard. Johar’s fascination with me had put both Hao and Portis on edge, but I’d found her delightful, and we’d bonded over the local sushi.
The job offer the next morning had been met with a snarled “She’s mine” from Hao and my own profuse apology.
“We’re a long way from that wide-eyed girl,” I replied, putting my hands up again and gesturing for her to come at me.
“Tell me about it, all grown up and ruling an empire.” Johar moved in, and I dropped an elbow on her foot when she made a play for my ribs. It barely slowed her down, but I stepped inside her guard and my two quick punches to her gut did the trick.
“You know,” Johar wheezed, staggering back a step. “You would have ended up at Hao’s right hand when he took over the Cheng if you’d stayed, so I guess either way you slice it, you’d have ended up in charge of an empire.”
“Po-Sin’s never going to retire,” I said, avoiding Johar’s next strike with Zin’s favorite move.
She stumbled past me, swearing something about damned ghosts, and I laughed.
“Not now he isn’t. There was talk of it twenty years ago, though. He was all set to step aside and let Hao take over.”
This was the first I’d ever heard of it and I frowned at her, blocking her trio of punches and pivoting to the side to land another strike to her ribs. “What happened?”
“Are you joking?” Johar stopped and dropped her hands while still within my reach, staring at me in shock. I punched her in the face and she staggered back with a pained “Fuck!”
“Don’t drop your guard,” I suggested.
“Did you say that just to confuse me?” She demanded.
“No. What happened that made Po-Sin decide to not retire? I haven’t ever heard anything about it.”
“Holy shit, you are serious. No one ever told you.” Spinning in a circle with both hands on her head, she laughed at me. “You happened, Hail. God-damned green-haired orphan stole Po-Sin’s nephew right out from under his nose. That’s almost a direct quote, rumor has it.”
“I what?” Johar took advantage of my confusion, darting forward and delivering another shot to my face. Stars exploded in my eyes. I stumbled back, too stunned to care much about the pain.
“Hao met you on that cruise ship, invited you to join his crew, and then quietly told his uncle he wasn’t interested in taking over the gang and he’d rather be out in the black than trapped behind a desk. He suggested Dailun’s father as the replacement. Po-Sin refused. Told Hao to take whatever time he needed to think it over.” She pointed at me, backing away and shaking her arms out. “He’d probably deny that it had anything to do with you, but Po-Sin obviously thought you were somehow responsible because Hao did an about-face when you showed. I can’t believe that story’s been floating around for twenty years and you never heard a thing about it.”
“Jo, I—Hao and I, it’s not like that. It never has been.”
“I know that.” She shrugged. “Hell, everyone does. I’ll admit early on there was a lot of speculation about you two. When Hao snarled at me for offering you that job, I was convinced he had his eye on you. Thought for sure Portis would die mysteriously during some run before the year was out.”
I stared at her, stunned. “Hao would never—”
“Pfft.” Johar waved her hand, cutting me off. “It was all wild rumor at the time. It’s more than clear now. You’re his little sister, Hail, and that man would walk through fire for you. However, he’s also trapped, you know that. Hao owes his uncle his loy
alty. It’s probably why he’s been so salty these last few months.” Johar grabbed a towel hanging off the ropes and tossed it at me. “Wipe your face, you’re bleeding on the mat.”
I caught the towel and dabbed at my bloody nose and split lip as I ducked through the ropes. Johar’s words shouldn’t have been such a revelation. I knew Hao cared about me, I just never thought—I didn’t understand why he’d walked away from command of one of the largest gunrunning syndicates and what reason there could have been for it. I didn’t believe for a second it was because of me. It wasn’t a right Hao had been given because of his birth. He’d earned it. Fought and clawed and worked his way into Po-Sin’s trust and his inner circle.
Why had he really refused to take over all these years? And why did everyone—including Po-Sin—think it was because of me?
I didn’t sit on the bench along the wall but went down on a knee next to it and then sank the rest of the way to the floor, resting my head on the edge. My face was throbbing now, and Emmory was going to give me a disapproving look right before he marched me to Fasé and made the Farian heal me.
“Have you talked to Rai?” I asked, changing the subject.
Johar’s lover controlled one of the largest reaches of space on the tail end of the Orion-Cygnus arm. His smuggling operation was nearly the size of Cheng Po-Sin’s, though somehow Rai had kept himself on good terms with Hao’s uncle all these years.
I liked Rai, even though I knew better than to trust him to do anything that didn’t serve his own interests. We’d worked well together a number of times, most recently after the Saxons failed to kill me on Red Cliff. I’d paid him generously for the assistance and we’d parted on good terms.
“Not since I told him I was staying. Why?” Johar dropped onto the bench and unwrapped her hands.
Putting the towel aside, I peeled off one of my wrappings. I rolled it methodically before I started taking off the other. “Curious. Before he got mad at you, did he say whether the Shen had approached him with an offer about this conflict?”
Johar smiled at me and shook her head. “No, but they will. They’d be stupid not to. Before you ask, I don’t know if he’s going to say yes. If the money is good?” She wiggled a hand, lips pursed in a moue of thought. “He’ll do almost anything if the money is good.”
“It’s always about money with him.”
“He learned early not to trust anything but the numbers.” She laughed. “If you want him out of it, your best bet is to make him an offer you know they can’t top.”
“I don’t have that kind of money,” I replied with a sigh, and rested my head against the bench.
“Me neither.” Johar grinned at me. “But Rai owes me a favor or eight. He wouldn’t give it to me, though, at least not while he’s sulking.”
“Jo, I can’t ask you to burn favors on me.”
She sat on the floor next to me and put a hand on my knee. “I know. Proper behavior and gunrunners and all that. Ni modo.” She shrugged and pursed her lips. “You know I have cared little for proper. That’s why I am who I am. If I decide to help I will do it and tell you after. You can’t refuse a gift from an old friend, and Caterina at least knows how insulted I will be.”
The door slid open as Emmory and Alba came into the quiet gym, and I swallowed back my laughter as Johar helped me to my feet.
“Do I need to revoke your privileges?” Emmory asked her after a look at my blood-streaked face.
“You can. She’s the one who dropped her guard, though.” Johar gestured at the bruise spreading around the pale skin of her eye. “She got me back.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Ambassador Notaras is on the com for you,” Alba replied. “Should I call Fasé to—”
“I’ll answer it.” I waved a hand around the empty gym and then grinned. “I know she hates being kept waiting.”
Emmory gave me the Look, and my grin widened until the cut in my lip stung and I felt the blood well again. Dabbing at it with a towel, I headed for the far wall and tapped on the embedded screen.
“Itegas Notaras.”
Adora brought a hand to her mouth. “Your Majesty, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. You caught me in the middle of a sparring session. What can I do for you?”
The Farian was so clearly thrown for a loss that it took her several seconds to remember why she’d commed in the first place. “Your Majesty, we cannot agree to your ridiculous demands for these peace talks. We have not pursued the impropriety of you harboring the fugitives Sybil and Fasé; however, we will not sit down at a table with them and speak as though they have anything more than heresy to say.”
I resisted the urge to comment on how Sybil’s status seemed to have shifted from victim to active participant in the Farians’ eyes.
“The Shen agreed to my request that Fasé be allowed to join the peace talks, as she represents an integral part of Farian society that deserves a voice.”
Adora muttered what I was certain was a curse in Farian and I made note of the word to ask Fasé about. “The Shen will agree to anything that will further conceal the fact that they are also heretics and furthermore, murderers. The Cevallas only agreed because they knew it would anger us.”
“Sounds like you should consider not letting it get to you,” I replied, and Adora’s mouth pulled into a thin line of disapproval. “This isn’t a negotiation, Adora. You want me to head the peace talks, those are my terms.”
“I will not stand here and let a human involve herself in our politics!”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked with a laugh, and heard Alba’s indrawn breath behind me before my chamberlain was able to muffle her surprise. “You asked me for help! You want me to head peace talks between you and the Shen. What’s the difference?”
“The difference is that Fasé’s transgressions are an internal matter to be handled by the Pedalion,” Adora hissed. “You want to bring that all into a public setting and give her even more ears for her insanity. Majesty, you must realize she is sick. Worse, she has infected Sybil with her foolishness.”
I knew that everyone around me had stiffened at the insinuation that Fasé was ill; given how little we knew of Farian physiology it had even worried me for a second. But then Adora slipped up—the use of the word foolishness told me the only infection in question was Fasé refusing to kowtow to the Pedalion. I cleared my throat.
“Itegas Notaras, we have been asked to head this summit by both you and the Shen. One can only assume that is because everyone agreed on it. If you change your mind now, that’s on your head. Fasé’s presence there is necessary for long-term peace in your region and you know it. Tell the Solarians why you refuse to come to the table and see how they like it.” I disconnected the com link and rubbed a hand over my face before I remembered my injuries. The pain was fierce, spiking through my head and down the back of my neck with such strength I almost threw up. “Bugger me.”
“Majesty.” Emmory closed a gloved hand around my upper arm. “Fasé will meet us at your quarters.”
“I’m all right,” I protested, but my Ekam wasn’t listening and I had to start walking with him or be dragged along in his wake.
Fasé stood at the door of my quarters in quiet conversation with Kisah and gave the Guard’s arm a squeeze as she turned to us with a smile. “Majesty.”
“Dropped my guard,” I said, walking through the open door.
“So I see. Have a seat.” She cupped my face in her hands after I sat and stared at me for a long moment. Her golden eyes were filled with unasked questions and endless futures.
My eyes fluttered closed as the energy filled me, wrapping around my limbs and my battered face like a soft blanket. I could hear Fasé’s soft murmured benediction, most of the Farian still alien and unknown to me, but the tail end of it was familiar.
“You’re sorry? Sorry for what?”
Fasé released me. “Your Farian is getting better, Majesty. I should probably remem
ber that.”
“You’re dodging the question.”
“I am.” Fasé turned to Johar and held a hand out, but the woman shook her head.
“I’m good. It’ll fade on its own and no one cares if I’m all bruised up.” Johar grinned, throwing me a salute on her way out the door. “Keep your guard up, Hail.”
“I’m trying,” I murmured.
25
The massive O-class blue giant star of the Kurma system loomed large in the viewscreen as the Hailimi made her approach to the single planet. Previously owned by BreadBasket Enterprises, the terraformed world had applied for imperial annexation almost a hundred years ago when the corporation filed for bankruptcy.
Indrana renamed the system Kurma, because the bright star was the eye of the constellation by the same name you could see from Pashati and a number of other planets in the empire. Kurma, the second avatar of Vishnu, appeared at a time of great crisis for the gods, helping to save their immortality and preventing the asuras from drinking the nectar that would allow evil to live forever.
The planet didn’t have much choice about their loyalty to the empire when you got right down to it. They were too far from the Solarian Conglomerate for membership; the distance had been part of the reason for BBE’s downfall. A hundred years ago, the shipping costs to and from the SC had been too much for the floundering farming corporation to bear. Even now the costs were still prohibitive.
Which made their unwavering and extremely vocal support of me during Wilson’s coup even more impressive. Unlike their neighbors on Hothmein, Kurma’s people would be happy to see me.
They were shocked to receive royal attention, if the conversations between Alba and Anju Chaturvedi, the person responsible for organizing the trip schedule, were any indication, but happy.
I blew out a quiet breath. Emmory glanced in my direction. “Majesty?” He kept his voice pitched low.
“Part of me wishes someone would take a shot at me, just to break up this tension.” I shot a wry smile at him. We both knew I was lying, but it was the best description I could find for what I was feeling.