by Smith, S. E.
”Message received.” With a slightly wavering smile she nodded and stepped away. “I won’t be long.”
He checked all the surfaces in the room. “Where’s the cat? Under the bed maybe?”
“Jenfellini customarily remain in their container the majority of the time, to recharge their magic, or so the legend says. F’rrh must know I don’t need her today.”
Breakfast was eaten in an uncomfortable silence. Liam was full of questions, turning over in his head all the research he’d done in the wee hours of the night, but this morning wasn’t the time to discuss any of it. Tassia only picked at her food, delicious though the repast was. Chef Stephanie had outdone herself, but neither of them was in the right frame of mind to appreciate the delicacies she’d provided.
Liam left Tassia to the meal while he showered and changed into a fresh uniform. Then it was time to go see the captain. “Take a deep breath,” he said, hand on the controls for the cabin door. “Ninety-nine point nine percent of the people we’ll see in the corridors and grav lifts have no idea anything happened last night. If passersby gawk at you it’ll be because you’re beautiful and you’re a Comette. And they’ll be jealous of me because we’re going somewhere together, and they’re not.”
Tassia grinned. “An excellent reminder, thank you.”
As they emerged into the hall, he added, “The captain’s daily orders this morning included a notice about a security readiness drill last night, so that takes care of the crew concerns, and the passengers never hear about belowdecks incidents. Bad for the ship, and it’s not their problem anyway.”
“I appreciate his discretion.” Sounding calm, she entered the grav tube beside him and they ascended together.
Captain Fleming and Jake were waiting in the wardroom. Both men rose as Liam escorted Tassia inside and to a chair across the table from the ship’s commander.
“I deeply regret the attack you suffered last night, Ms. Megg,” the captain said as he indicated for all of them to be seated. “But I’m sure you understand I need to know more about the circumstances. I’ll have to make a report to the authorities and to the CLC Line. Maeve won’t be recording this meeting, by the way, so we can all speak freely.”
Liam’s ears perked up at the unusual comment. Something was definitely going on.
“I appreciated the rapid response of your security team, sir,” she said. “Liam saved my life.”
“Can you take us through the events?” Jake asked.
Reaching for Liam’s hand, Tassia gave a bare bones recitation of walking into her cabin and being attacked.
Fleming leaned forward. “And do you have any idea why an alleged RNR assassin would target you?”
She looked him right in the eye. “I’m the Imperial Princess Alynnskaya Tassiamilla Oleavna, sole survivor of the mass assassination that sparked the Ruatsar Rebellion. The RNR knows I’m about to pass out of their grasp into Sectors sanctuary at my great aunt’s court and, since I’m the only legal claimant to the throne, the enemy is desperate to stop me. The agent also hoped to illegally retrieve crown jewels he believed to be in my possession but, alas for the RNR’s greed and my own state of affairs, I have basically nothing but the clothes on my back, other than the credits I earn as a Comette.”
Liam eyed the captain and his own boss, wondering what they were thinking, but both men were accomplished at keeping their faces blank. Remembering how stunned he’d felt when she explained her identity to him last night, he admired their fortitude.
“We’ve searched his cabin,” Jake said. “Nothing to identify him as RNR. He had a generic Sectors citizenship pass under the name Yull Anders.”
She shook her head. “The name doesn’t ring a bell. He identified himself to me as RNR during the assault and took credit for causing the death of my elderly companion a few weeks ago, on the planet where I boarded the ship.”
“Yes, Maeve caught some of his boasting after Officer Austin requested her to activate her ganglion,” Jake said with a glance at the captain, who was drinking his coffee from a battered mug bearing the insignia of his last military command and staring at Tassia with narrowed eyes..
“Do you have proof of the Imperial Ruatsar identity you’re claiming?” Fleming asked, setting his mug aside. “You’ll pardon us if we’re skeptical.”
She shook her head. “Nothing capable of satisfying you, or the Sectors authorities. To satisfy my great aunt, who will have an entirely different requirement for proof, yes.”
“Which puts us in an awkward position since we hired you on the basis of the available documentation stating you’re Tassia Megg.” Fleming gave Liam a glance. “I’d just as soon avoid the legal repercussions of my officer’s reliance on documents whose authenticity may now be called into question. I’m not anxious to have the authorities start questioning the rigor of the CLC procedures on screening passengers and crew.” He gave her a wry smile. “A wise captain doesn’t unduly pique the curiosity of the bureaucrats.” Rising to refill his coffee, he said casually over his shoulder, “I’m sure you’re aware there have been numerous claimants to the Oleavna name over the years since the massacre?”
“Of course.” Tassia sat serenely, projecting calm. “I can’t help what others may state. I know who and what I am.”
Sitting down, Fleming eyed her over the lip of his cup. “All of the previous pretenders were eventually proven to be phony, which leaves me in a dilemma.”
Liam thought the captain didn’t have the air of a person with a problem. His manner was easy going and his voice was matter of fact in tone. So if there’s a problem he must have a solution in mind.
“I could take you at your word for now and install you in a suite appropriate to your rank as a Ruatsarn princess, which I don’t believe you can afford and the Grand Duchess might or might not reimburse the Line,” Fleming said. “Or to minimize the repercussions for everyone, including the shipping line employing all of us, we can agree you’re Tassia Megg and allow you to work the rest of your passage to Sector Hub as planned. No fuss, no awkward questions from the authorities and no messy tabloid publicity.”
“And when we enter orbit around Dyenbachar Five?” she asked leaning forward, hands on the table.
“You may continue your employment with us, assuming the director of the Comettes finds you to be performing your duties satisfactorily, or you may resign and debark as any crew member has the right to do. What activities you pursue once you leave my ship and the Line’s employee roster is none of my business. I should emphasize that either way the CLC Line will provide you with extra security on board for the remainder of this cruise.”
“I’ve already told my superior officer I’d be willing to take personal leave to be a fulltime bodyguard,” Liam said, directing the remark to the captain. No one else was going to watch over Tassia. He didn’t care who she was, it was his right to protect her.
“And the man who tried to kill me? How do we explain him to Sectors authorities?” Tassia seemed as calm and reserved as the captain was, not at all upset to have it suggested she might also be a false claimant to the royal title.
“An obsessed fan,” Captain Fleming said, drumming his fingers carelessly on the conference table. “He sent you flowers anonymously, he was seen accosting you at the Comettes’ party, he was seen lurking in the passenger gallery overlooking the rehearsal hall on more than one occasion when the Comettes had public practices, as Maeve’s ganglion footage clearly shows, now we know to scan for him…we can make the stalker story quite plausible. He had no identification to indicate he was anything else. Dr. Shane informed me the poison with which he killed himself has degraded the body to the point of being unrecognizable and unidentifiable even at a DNA level. Sector Hub authorities have shown a willingness to work with my security team in the past. The incident can blow over relatively simply, even though there’s a death involved.”
“I’ll be happy to finish the cruise as Tassia and continue dancing,” she said, folding her a
rms and leaning back in the chair as if satisfied. “I am nothing if not practical. A Ruatsarn virtue. Publicity of this type would do nothing for me. I’m not seeking tabloid attention—I’m hoping to quietly reunite with my only living relative and reclaim my title.”
Liam’s chest ached to hear her discuss her future so calmly since her plans apparently included walking out of his life and into a gilded future. He bit his tongue because there were a lot of things he and Tassia needed to discuss about her identity and the reality of her situation if she was the lost princess but now wasn’t the time. They needed privacy.
“Good. The purser will assign you a new crew cabin today. Sectors authorities may wish to question you when we arrive. I’ll make sure the request is handled through proper channels. CLC Line has legal resources, and you were the innocent victim.” It seemed Fleming was done. “Anything else we should discuss?”
There was a quick chorus of “no, sir” and Fleming left the ward room, pausing to set his mug in its proper place in the rack.
“So are we clear now?” Liam asked Jake.
“No offense to you, Tassia, but Fleming’s concerned for you about this claim to being the long lost princess Alynnskaya. Whether you are her or you aren’t, he wants you to have a safe fallback, here on our ship,” Jake said. “I’ve known him long enough to decipher that part of what he said. You’re a member of our ship’s family, and we watch out for our own.” Jake shifted his attention to Liam. “Fleming’s made all of our lives a lot easier on the legal front, including Tassia’s. Keep this incident as quiet as possible and smooth it over. Yeah, that helps the CLC Line with the guest relations and with the authorities, but it works for her too.”
Maeve spoke from the thin air. “The Purser has assigned Tassia a cabin on Level 14, three down from Liam’s, if you wish to adjourn there.”
“Adjourning there is a good idea,” Liam said, studying the circles under Tassia’s eyes and her general pallor. “I think you’re still in shock a bit from last night, which is understandable.”
“You’re off all your other assignments until we reach Dyenbachar Five,” Jake said to Liam. “Keep our favorite dancer safe.”
* * *
Liam escorted Tassia to her new cabin after leaving the captain’s wardroom. Once they were inside, she stood in the center of the living room, surrounded by her scanty possessions which the crew had already delivered in her absence and stared vacantly at the containers.
“Shall I help you put things away?” Liam asked, breaking the awkward silence. “You can boss me around, tell me where you want everything placed.”
She sank onto the couch, rested her head in her hands and wept. He took her into his arms and held her tight, murmuring reassurances while he rubbed her back. Eventually, the flow of tears ended, and Tassia was hiccupping and blowing her nose.
“I—I can’t stay here,” she said. “I can’t be alone right now. I can’t forget how I was standing in my little kitchen, making synthcaff, all happy because the voyage was going so well, because the dancing was so satisfying, because you were in my life... then he grabbed me, and I knew I was going to die.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Liam hugged her again. “I’d give anything to be able to rewind time and keep that from happening to you. Listen, why don’t you move into my cabin for the rest of the cruise? I’m assigned to be your fulltime guard anyway so the arrangement would be easier for both of us, and you wouldn’t have to be alone.” The butterflies in his gut were doing somersaults at the idea of putting himself so far out there to be rejected.
Tassia raised her head. “May I try it for a night or two? I’m really an independent person—I’ve had to be, the way my life turned out until now. But right now, I keep having flashbacks to the moment he grabbed me. I’d feel better to have you right there, close by.”
He cleared his throat and grabbed her bags for her. “Let’s get out of this cabin then. Riall said you didn’t need to rehearse or dance today, so we could go to the beach, have another picnic. Or stay in my cabin and watch trideos and eat junk food.”
“I’m not up to the beach yet,” she said, “But a trideo marathon sounds delightful.” Tassia searched in the pile of containers. “I must find F’rrh’s container—I shouldn’t leave it here. One who is the guardian of a jenfellini is never supposed to wander too far from the spirit’s residence, although as you’ve seen F’rrh can evidently wander as far as she likes.”
“Makes me wonder what else she’s capable of. Good thing she’s on your side.” Liam helped in the hunt and found the shiny black box under a stack of clothing a few minutes later. Cradling it in her arms, Tassia said, “I’m ready now. What shall we watch to take my mind off things?”
“Maeve can get any program you want.” He grinned as he led her to the door. “She’s a pirate, but don’t tell anyone.”
* * *
The rest of the day was spent curled up together on his couch, watching endless episodes of a multi-generational soap opera about a family on a remote colony. F’rrh came and went, sometimes sitting on Tassia’s lap and occasionally plopping down next to Liam in between sessions of disappearing. Tassia relaxed more and more as the day wore on, and she had a good appetite for the dinner the chef sent up via robo server.
After dinner, Tassia said, “May we go for a walk on the beach? It’s so peaceful there.”
“My thoughts exactly.” He was more than happy to escort her to Level Five and go for a long stroll along the shore, finally sitting in ‘their’ secluded cove and watching the waves break while the faux moon shone overhead.
Leaning against him, Tassia said, “I can’t believe my long journey is nearly over, my mission so nearly accomplished.”
“You must have been really young at the time of—well, when your family…” Liam stammered to a halt and searched in vain for a tactful way to refer to the massacre of everyone she loved.
“I was eight.” She nodded. She hesitated before asking, “How much do you know about it?”
“I know it was something to do with an engagement? A wedding?”
“Yes, my eldest half-sister Fenna was engaged to marry the Duke of Gradmirov, a powerful and rival bloodline. It was a strategic alliance, not a love match. Even as a little girl, I understood that. Poor Fenna wept for weeks after my father decided she was the pawn.” She took a deep breath. “There was to be a reception to fete the happy couple, all of our family and all of the Duke’s relatives and retainers attending.”
Liam was concerned about Tassia, how pale she was, coping with the memories. He wasn’t sure this discussion was a good idea, but he kept silent as she continued her account.
“My father had multiple wives, you understand, which was allowed at the time on Ruatsar, and quite a few children. I was one of the youngest. I’d been at dance class, I think, but I was late to the gathering so I decided to slip in by a side door and brazen it out with anyone who questioned whether I’d been there the whole time.” She was quiet for a moment, eyes locked on visions from the past where he couldn’t reach her. “The entire family was dressed up, to do honor to the guests. I had on my finest white dress, with three petticoats and the badges of my rank on a sash, a blue sash. Matching blue shoes with shiny buckles.” Her fingers touched her shoulder as if to finger the long lost brooches once more. “I was just inside the room, only a few steps from the service door, when Gradmirov pulled out a weapon and shot my father at point blank range, then my sister Fenna. His guards targeted our guards and more of his men swept into the room, shooting and stabbing. The screaming was terrible, the blood…” Her voice trailed off, and Liam hugged her. “I saw my mother fall, her throat cut—”
“You don’t have to tell me.” He kissed her forehead gently.
Tassia looked at him, her eyes unfocused at first as if her gaze was directed inward, at the mental pictures she was describing and blinked. “I’ve never told anyone the whole story. I—I’d like to tell you.”
He locked his arms ti
ght around her. “Then I’ll listen. You’re safe here, now, with me. Not there.” Liam’s anger at the monsters who’d slaughtered an entire family was a vicious beast clawing at his gut, but there was no one to kill for her. All he could do was listen and shelter her in the here and now.
“I hid behind a vase taller than I was, but a man ran at me, his face all contorted, like a demon in an old temple painting. I screamed and backed away, but he struck at me with his sword.” She touched one hand to her head gingerly, as if the physical pain throbbed to this day. “The scar is under my hair. We found out later I’d been shot as well, a flesh wound to the arm. My dress was all red. I don’t remember everything. Large chunks of time are blank. I get flashes of memory.”
A blank memory is a blessing. Listening to her, her voice eerie as if she was watching a trideo and narrating the events, he wanted to shield her from all the adverse things in the universe, to take her pain away. But he couldn’t touch this agony.
“Somehow I got out of the room, and I ran to my own bedroom. I hid under the bed. Xandrina’s adult niece was my maid, and she came in, I think intending to steal some of my things in the confusion. But, as a scared child, I didn’t realize larceny was her purpose, so I cried out to her for help. I believed she was searching for me. She was a known, friendly face. I give her credit, she threw another dress over my head, told me to be quiet, swept my shelves clean of my collection of the dragizi, the little jewel encrusted miniatures, putting them in a laundry bag, and took me through a servants’ hallway to her mother’s suite in the far wing. Madame Xandrina bandaged my head wound with scarves.” Tassia smiled. “Beautiful scarves my mother had given her at various times. I remember arguing with her that I’d ruin them with the blood. She told me to hush then she said we were going to go far away from Ruatsar so no one could hurt me ever again.”