by Robin Roseau
"How do I learn English if the program only speaks English to me?" Mordain asked.
"The same way you learned Talmonese as a baby," Cecilia said. "It will show a picture of something and say the word. You will repeat it, and the program will correct you until you say it properly. It builds from there."
"Ohhh." She stared at the tablet. "Thank you, Cecilia."
"You are welcome."
"You didn't do anything," I observed. "How did you add to her tablet?"
"Magic," Cecilia said with a smile. She glanced at Sartine then looked back to me. "I have a small computer in my head. I call it Minerva. I told Minerva what to do, and she did it for me."
I stared.
"Don't even try to understand," Sartine said. "Just accept it.
"You have a tablet in your head?"
"It's not exactly a tablet," she replied. "But yes."
"Does... does everyone in The Empire have a tablet in her head?"
"Of course not," Cecilia replied. "You don't."
I stared again. "But I'm not in The Empire."
"Of course you are," she replied. "You have been a citizen of The Empire for two years. You all have. But to answer the question you thought you were asking, no. They are very, very expensive. Most people get a basic implant -- that's what we call it, an implant -- because they have a job that needs one, and their employer pays for it. In exchange, they agree to work for that employer for a certain amount of time, and probably at a lower salary during that time as well."
"Is that how you got yours?"
"No," she said. "My parents paid for my first implant a great many years ago. And then I've paid to upgrade it ever since. When I was on Centos Four after leaving Indartha the first time, I upgraded it again with all the latest features."
"Does everyone on your staff have one?" I asked.
"Not everyone. The ones who you know the best do. Aston and Blaine were given theirs for this job, and they're stuck here -- or somewhere else, if The Empire decides to move them -- for two decades to pay for them."
"Twenty years?"
"As I said," she smiled, "they can be very expensive."
"If I got one now, I'd be forty-nine before I paid it off."
"Yep, but if you don't die in an accident, you're going to live forever. So what's a few years? And one assumes you're in a job you like, anyway, so it's not so bad, is it?"
"Sartine's getting one," Hilopid announced. His sister flashed him an annoyed look, but if he noticed, he gave no indication. "That's why they're leaving." He grinned. "I get the house to myself for months."
"What gave you that impression?" Sartine asked. "Did you notice the strangers in town today?"
"What strangers?" he asked.
"Ah, they're being subtle. The ones from Deephaven."
"Deephaven?" he asked suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"
"You didn't see them watching you today?" Cecilia asked. "I thought they were pretty obvious."
"We'll have our own galatzi raid there in the spring," Sartine asked. "You know how Gwendaline has always wanted you."
"What?" Hilopid said. "You're letting Gwendaline have me in a galatzi raid? Sartine, how could you? She's.... she's..."
"Horrible," Mordain furnished. "Truly horrible. Really, brother, you should have looked more carefully at Margotain when you had the chance. She's really sweet. You would have liked her."
"She was still a kid, and she had buck teeth."
"She's very beautiful now," Cecilia said. "And your sister is right. She's very sweet. She would have made a lovely wife for you. But Gwendaline doesn't seem bad. A little forceful, perhaps. I'm sure you'll learn to behave for her."
"Sartine!" Hilopid said. "Please. You can't do this for me. When are they coming? Do I have time to hide?"
And then he froze. Sartine's lips were quivering, although I noticed Cecilia looked quite earnest.
"You're lying to me!" Hilopid accused. Then he turned to Cecilia. "I expect that from my big sister, but from you? After all the times I let you use the water closet?"
"But not once did you forget to lock the door so I could escape," Cecilia said. She grinned. "Do you really believe your sister would offer you in a galatzi trade without asking you first?"
He eyed both of them. "Yes," he said finally.
"Ooh," Sartine said. "I'll consider that permission."
"No!" Hilopid said. "It was not permission."
Sartine grinned at her younger brother. "I wouldn't let Gwendaline have you, Hilopid."
"Thank the stars!"
"After all, who would she offer in return? No, I think we need to look more widely. Governor, could I discuss a galatzi trade with you?"
Cecilia laughed. "Galatzi trades off planet are not binding. No one I'd give him to could keep him against his will."
"What if he wanted to go?" I asked. "Could you do a trade then?"
"Yes," Cecilia said. "But I don't know where I'd find the other half of the trade."
"You're not really going to trade me, are you?" Hilopid asked. "I don't want to go. Please, Sartine. Tell me you're teasing."
"Hilopid, you know I'm teasing. If you ever want to be traded, you can talk to me, and we'll talk about it. I won't force you to go."
"You forced me," Mordain said.
"I did not. You both volunteered."
"Yeah, but I never thought anyone would actually take me. Hilopid was a lot cuter than I was. I only agreed to volunteer because otherwise Hilopid wouldn't. I was hoping to get rid of him." She grinned. "I wanted his bedroom."
Sartine snorted. "Are you sure it was your brother you hoped to escape, and not your big sister?"
"My bossy big sister."
"Exactly so," Sartine said. She leaned over and hugged her sister. "I'm so glad you could come visit, even if it's such a short stay."
"Can we go skiing tomorrow?" Mordain asked. "I miss the village and some of my friends. I miss you and Hilopid. But I don't miss winter, except for skiing."
Cecilia jumped on that. "Vendart, the Governor wouldn't mind a trip to Lost Girl Valley tomorrow, if that's possible."
"Jumper or skis?" Sartine asked.
"I'd rather ski," Cecilia said. "But you are the vendart."
"Hilopid, I haven't been that way in a few weeks. Weren't you there last week?"
"I was," he said. "The south side of Brown Bear Ridge is set to avalanche."
"I'm sorry, Governor," Sartine said. "It's too dangerous."
"If I can arrange an avalanche, can we ski?"
"You're going to arrange an avalanche on command?" Sartine ask.
"Sure. But if I fail, we can take a jumper. Is there a place for one to land and pick us up?"
Sartine turned to Hilopid, letting him answer.
"Yes," he said. "There's a perfect spot."
"Well then, we have a plan, if that plan fits in Mordain's desires for a little skiing."
"That's perfect!" she said. But then she looked over to me. "What will Chaladine do?"
"Chaladine is staying inside," I said. "I have no interest in learning to ski."
"I don't know," Cecilia said. "I think we should make her come. The fresh air would be good for her."
Sartine grinned at me. "I suppose we could fit her into a borrowed set of skis."
"I believe I will stay here in front of a fire," I declared.
"I believe, Chaladine, that you are not the future vendart of Indartha," Sartine said. "It won't be that bad tomorrow. Unless that blizzard arrives. Then we might be stuck camping out for a few days."
I stared at her, then I noticed Cecilia's lips were quivering this time.
"Do you tease everyone, Sartine?"
"Only my family and friends," she replied. That shocked me into silence. I hadn't ever thought of her as a friend. She grinned at me.
"If you could handle a jumper trip," Cecilia said. "You should come. We can bundle you up so you won't get cold, and it's beautiful there."
"I thought yo
u were skiing."
"We are. But I'm sure we can find someone to fly you."
"She didn't like the landing," Mordain said. "She screamed."
"I did not!"
"You did," Mordain said. "Only twice though."
"I didn't!"
"You did. And I'm not teasing, either."
"Don't worry, Chaladine," Sartine said. "I screamed the first time, too."
"Did you really?"
"No," Cecilia said. "She didn't. But she clutched the arms of her seat until her knuckles were white, and then she threatened to never fly with me again."
"You scared me intentionally," Sartine said. She turned back to me. "And she even admitted it. And how did I punish you for that?"
"I'm sure I don't remember," Cecilia said in a tone that suggested she remembered exactly how she was punished.
"I'm sure you wouldn't lie about it," Sartine said. "If you do not want to experience a repeat of that particular punishment, this time for lying, you will tell Chaladine."
Cecilia sighed. "She made me go swimming in the lake."
"I love to swim," I replied. "That doesn't seem like punishment."
"It was winter," Cecilia continued. "She even made me cut my own hole in the ice first."
"There's ice?"
"Yes," Cecilia said. "At least it was early winter, and the ice wasn't very thick."
"There's ice on a lake?"
"Yes. You saw it earlier?"
"I did?"
"Mallory landed the jumper on it," Mordain explained. "Didn't you see?"
"We landed the jumper on a lake?"
* * * *
The four of them spent another hour teasing each other -- and occasionally me -- before Cecilia turned to me. "Chaladine, I understand you came to talk to me. Are you here to talk to Cecilia or to the Governor?"
"I'm not sure," I said. "I was hoping once I explain what I want, you'd tell me."
"All right. Did you want to talk tonight or in the morning?"
"Um." I thought about it. "Do you mind if we talk now?"
"Not at all," she replied. "Sartine, where are we putting her?"
"I don't think she'll survive a night alone," Mordain said. "If she wants, she can share my bed with me."
"I wouldn't want to put you out," I said.
"Imagine how cold the bedroom will be by morning, after the fire burns down," Mordain said. "Do you want to get up every thirty minutes to stir the fire?"
"I'd love to share your bed, Mordain." And she laughed.
"How about if we move upstairs then," Sartine suggested. "The two of you can have this fire, and you can bring her up when your conversation is over. Don't forget to bank the fire."
"You always tell me that," Cecilia said. "You do understand that Minerva would remind me."
"She reminds me, too," Hilopid said. "She's afraid of the house burning down."
"Do any of you blame me?"
"No."
"Well then, expect me to continue to remind you." The she rose to her feet, and a moment later, the three siblings slipped from the room, closing the door behind themselves. Cecilia turned to me and waited.
I was suddenly nervous. I wrung my hands, but I wasn't sure what to say.
"It's best just to get it out," Cecilia said. "Am I going to be offended?"
"No. Um." I wrung my hands again. "Cecilia, I want to offer myself in a galatzi trade."
Discussion
There. It was out there. Cecilia didn't say anything for a while. She watched me carefully. Finally she asked, "To Indartha?"
"No. To someone on Centos Four."
"Do you mean someone on Centos Four, or someone who will take you from Talmon and show you the exciting parts of the empire?"
"I wouldn't mind going to that place where you flew with real wings," I said. "But I mean someone who will help me learn English and a whole lot more."
"Ah," she said. She smiled. "All right. And so I have to ask more questions. First, why do you want to do this?"
"Father is going to be vendart for a very long time now, isn't he?"
"I don't know," she replied. "He will live for a very long time, but he may decide he doesn't wish to remain vendart. He may want you to take over so he could do other things. Have you talked to him about this?"
"He gave me permission to negotiate a trade, but we didn't talk about his position."
"All right. So Baardorid will remain vendart, and now, what? You want to leave Talmon?"
"Not forever. Just for a while."
"You want a temporary galatzi trade?"
"I-" I looked down. "I don't know. It would still be a long time, wouldn't it? Whoever you trade me to would want me to produce children, and I wouldn't want to leave while they were growing up, unless they could come back here with me. And I have a great deal to learn, don't I?"
"All right. I still don't understand what you really want. What is the important part to you? The galatzi trade? Or an off-world education?"
"I-" I looked away. "I want both. If I just wanted Father to trade me, I could do that anywhere. I want to come back, eventually, to Sudden. I would want an agreement that if something happened to Father, I could return immediately, and bring any children with me."
"Why do you want this?"
"Because Talmon is going to need Talmonese who understand the empire. We trust you, but you told us you won't remain governor forever, and we don't know who might come after you. We don't know if we can trust that person to watch out for us."
"What are your other requirements?" she asked me.
"I would prefer to be traded to a woman who will be kind, but if you must trade me to a man, if he is at least gentle, I won't fight when you take me."
She shook her head. "There are other ways to ask for the education you desire."
I lowered my eyes. "Are you saying no one would want me? Because I am not pretty the way people from The Empire are? Or maybe because I'm stupid."
She sighed. "I am not saying that. I am saying you do not have to sell yourself for an education."
"I wouldn't be selling myself. It would be a galatzi trade. I would trade myself. You would trade someone to father."
"You know I can't force anyone to agree to the other side of a trade."
"Then what can you offer me to balance the trade?"
She didn't answer that. "Let us say you provide children. You have said if you return while they are still young, you would bring them here. What trade is that to her, if you give her children then take them away?"
"She could come with me. I would agree to stay for whatever period of time is fair, as long as Father remains Vendart."
"What if she doesn't want to come? What then?"
"The agreement would allow me to come with our children," I said. "If she does not agree, then we cannot have children, and this becomes a poor galatzi trade for her."
Cecilia tapped her finger against her lips. "You are not the first person to ask me for an off-world trade. In fact, this isn't the first time you've asked me for one, either."
"I know," I said in a small voice. "But I believe I have better reasons than I did then."
"I'm not sure you do. Back then, you wanted the trade with me. Now you are offering yourself to someone you've never met. I question your wisdom, Chaladine."
"I trust you, Cecilia."
"I see." She tapped her finger against her lips again. "I do not fully understand this tradition; I do not believe I ever will. I would never make the request you're making. If I were in your shoes, I would be asking the governor if there were other ways to obtain the education and experiences."
"Are there?"
"Yes."
I thought about it. "I wish the galatzi trade."
"I see. And so if I come back to you and tell you, 'I cannot find someone who wishes you this way' but provide an apprenticeship instead, you would turn me down?"
"Yes."
She sighed. "And I suppose you wish to be taken in a galatzi raid."<
br />
"Yes."
"Am I negotiating this trade with you or your father."
"With me."
She climbed from her chair and moved to the fire, poking at it for a minute. I knew she was doing it as an opportunity to consider her response. Finally she stood. "This would not be easy to arrange. I could arrange an off-world education fairly easily. But a galatzi trade is much more complicated."
"This is what I want, Cecilia. Do you accept my trade?"
"Is there a time limit?"
I considered her question. "How much time do you need?"
"I might have someone tomorrow," she said. "It might take five years. It might take longer. What do you suggest we do?"
"Five years?" She nodded. "You can't do it sooner?"
"I don't know. It may be that someone already on the planet would want you."
"No!"
"Excuse me?"
"I don't want them to know I asked."
"Oh. All right. Then I have to try to arrange this from here, and this is not something I can do with letters. I need to talk to the person who would claim you. That means either I go to her or she comes to me." Then she cocked her head. "Oh. You wanted me to bring you with us on our trip, didn't you."
I looked away. I did, yes. I didn't answer her however.
"I see," she said. "I'm sorry. I won't be doing it that way. If there is a galatzi raid for you, it will be on Talmon."
"You could bring me so she could meet me, and then we could all come here for the raid." I said it, sure she wouldn't accept.
"This is what I will offer. I will attempt to arrange a galatzi trade. This will not be easy to arrange, and so you will have to trust me. You will not be given the option to say 'no'. I will arrange a trade, and we will take you away."
"And what do you offer for your half of the trade?"
"You will have to trust me for that as well," I said. "And I may need five years."
"You will talk to me each year," I said. "And we will agree whether or not to continue the search."
"Agreed," she said. "You will be a galatzi wife for a period of at least twenty years. Your wife will give you every opportunity for an education and will share the wonders of the galaxy with you as she sees fit. If she desires you to bear children, you will bear them. If you must return before your youngest has reached the age of twenty-one, then those children under twenty-one will be allowed to accompany you back to Talmon. I may be able to arrange this as a trade, with someone coming to Sudden, but frankly, I doubt it. And also, offering this trade in exchange for an education and an opportunity to see the wonders is very close to a balanced trade."