“What?”
“Another girl who looks a lot like me. Not the same hair or dress, but about the same size and face.”
“Ummm, no. Seriously?”
She gave him an aggravated look. “Seriously. It was almost like I saw myself in a mirror. I was going to catch her and take another look but then the Imperials blocked me and the whole Maxim thing drove it out of my mind until just now. You haven't seen her?”
“Someone who looks just like you?” Jason looked around. “I haven’t seen anyone like that. Are you sure you it wasn't your mom?”
“Jason, I'd know if I saw my mother. This was a girl who looked about my age. But I'm sure I was mistaken. I mean, what are the odds?”
He grinned. “Maybe you saw a doppelganger.”
“Maybe I saw a what?”
“It’s a mythological creature, or a ghost thing,” Jason explained. “Something that takes on your exact appearance and tries to replace you. Not an actual twin, but looks like it could be one.”
“They have those on Urth?” Kira asked.
“No. Like I said, it’s just a myth, though I guess sometimes people say that someone else who looks like them is sort of a doppelganger.” He paused, the smile replaced by a serious look. “You ought to mention it to your parents, though.”
“Why?”
“Because you said you would?” Jason suggested. “Anything unusual?”
“All right,” Kira said, putting on her best long-suffering expression. “I’ll tell them. But if I worried about as many things as the people around me did I’d spend my life hiding under my bed!”
Once inside the banquet room, Kira searched for her place card. “Where’s my place?” she asked, puzzled that it wasn’t near her parents.
“Someone has moved the place cards,” Sien said in a low voice that made it clear she was not amused.
“Here, Lady Kira,” an Imperial official called from where she stood behind a chair at one end of the table.
Kira went there, finding her place card at one of the two seats on the end. The seat next to her was…Prince Maxim’s.
She looked at her mother and father, seeing them signaling to play along for now.
Maxim took his place beside Kira, pausing to run his eyes over her. As happy as she had been when first putting on the new dress, Kira now wished that she was wearing trousers and a loose, long-sleeved shirt instead.
Partway down the table, Kira saw Jason standing uncomfortably between two Imperial women, one tall and thin in an elegant gown, and the other shorter but with a body that looked like a teenage boy’s dream and a dress that showed off every curve and a lot of cleavage.
Kira was about to do something when Queen Sien paused on her way to the other end of the table, firmly taking Jason’s arm to steer him along with her while directing a Tiae official to sit in that spot. The official was an old man from the House of the People’s Senate, who beamed at his new dining companions.
Sien stopped at the other end of the table, directing Jason to sit beside her. “Tiae welcomes our visitors, in the hopes that the Peace of the Daughter will continue to bring prosperity and happiness to the world of Dematr.” She sat down, everyone else doing the same.
“I had expected Tiaesun to be more impressive,” Maxim remarked to Kira as if they had just met for the first time. “You will find Palandur to be greater in all respects.”
“I’m not going to Palandur,” Kira said, trying to keep her voice pleasant. Someone Kira recognized as one of Queen Sien's aides came by and without saying anything collected Kira's silverware, plates, and glasses, replacing them with fresh ones. She noticed the servers bringing the food to her, her parents, and Jason were men and women who had served as bodyguards. So were the stewards pouring her wine and water. At least she didn't have to worry about her food being tampered with.
It was a shame that the Imperials were here. Being dressed up, having a stylish dinner in the royal court, having Jason along, this could have been a lot of fun.
“I understand you have some instruction in the Mechanic arts,” Maxim said.
“Yes,” Kira replied, surprised that Maxim had shown any interest in her as a person. “In a variety of areas, including steam propulsion and electronics.”
“I myself,” Maxim continued as if Kira hadn’t spoken, “have among my lesser titles that of Master Mechanic, having been personally instructed by none other than the Grand Master of the Mechanics Guild.”
She barely refrained from rolling her eyes at him, thinking that Maxim’s actual Mechanic knowledge was probably minimal. Of course he had been given the title Master Mechanic by the Grand Master of the Mechanics Guild, who had once ruled the world but was now reduced to tutoring imperial princes and princesses and handing out titles of skill to bolster royal egos. She would have to share that one with her mother.
Kira looked down the length of the table at Queen Sien, who was speaking to Jason. Sien’s court was already well known for her sponsorship of scholars and the size of the library she was rebuilding from quite literally the ashes of the old Royal Library. The excesses of the Imperial court were impossible to imagine in Tiae because Sien was determined to establish precedents that would prevent her kingdom from ever again suffering the decades of anarchy she had barely survived as a young girl. The contrast with Maxim couldn't be clearer.
Which made it all the harder to realize that Sien was not her queen, never really had been, and that Kira did not belong in Tiae any more than she belonged anywhere else. That felt far too much like not belonging anywhere.
“The Empire is the most advanced center of the Mechanic arts in the world,” Maxim said.
Kira, still brooding over her new name, wasn’t in any mood to play nice to Maxim’s boasting. She gave him a regretful look. “I heard about the big industrial accident at Beldan. I hope the Empire has made some progress at cleaning that up. It’s a shame someone tried to cut corners on the safety measures required for that level of technological manufacture.”
Maxim didn’t answer, giving Kira time to eat.
“You will enjoy Palandur,” he finally said.
Did Maxim hear nothing except what he wanted to hear? “My parents have been to Palandur,” Kira said. “They prefer Tiaesun. They’ve also been to Marandur,” she added in an attempt to needle him. The once-forbidden city had been opened to the world, but Kira knew her mother and father’s trips into and out of Marandur remained a sore spot for Imperial pride.
“There is little worth seeing in Marandur,” Maxim said, frowning. “The sub-humans who once nested there have been cleaned out.”
Kira’s hand stopped partway to bringing her fork to her mouth. Sub-humans. That’s what Maxim was calling the descendents of those men and women unfortunate enough to have been trapped in the ruined city when it was sealed off, people who under the extreme conditions of deprivation had over generations fallen into the lowest level of barbarism. Her mother and father had been hunted by those people, but they had never spoken of them as “sub-human.”
She set down her fork, her temper rising. “I understand the carvings on Maran’s tomb are of great interest,” Kira said. “My mother found them well worth seeing.”
A pool of silence spread along the table. Kira saw the Imperials either staring at her or making every effort not to stare at her. Her mother had heard and was giving Kira a look of disbelief.
The rumor still existed among the Imperials that Mari had visited that tomb during her trips to Marandur because she actually was Mara, the Dark One, and had wanted to compare her present looks to the carvings showing her beauty centuries before when Maran had ruled the Empire. The fact that Kira’s mother didn’t consider herself beautiful, and had nothing in common with the vain vampire of legend, only made Mari more upset at the supposed connection.
Her mother was going to have some words with her, Kira knew, but at least her comment had silenced Maxim again.
But not for long. “Your mother confessed t
o the world that she has no real link to the first consort Mara. That was part of the treaty ending the last conflict,” Maxim added as if saying something she should have known.
And she had known. Kira shook her head. “Mother agreed not to discuss the matter publicly any more as part of the treaty.” She lowered her voice to a loud whisper. “There’s a difference.”
From her mother’s expression she was going to really catch it tonight.
But at the other end of table, where someone was whispering what was probably an account of the conversation to Queen Sien, the queen was smiling at her.
The meal finally over, wine glasses all filled for ceremonial toasts, Prince Maxim stood. “To the emperor.”
The other Imperials stood and raised their glasses.
The rest of those at the table raised their glasses politely as well, but remained sitting.
The old man who was the leader of Tiae’s House of the People’s Senate stood as the Imperials sat down. “To the queen of Tiae!”
This time everyone but the Imperials stood up.
Maxim stood again. “To those who have died for the emperor at home and on foreign shores.”
Kira hadn’t been to a lot of state dinners, but she had been to enough to know how tactless and provocative that toast was. The toast, clearly phrased to include those legionaries who had died trying to capture Dorcastle, was almost a slap at Kira’s mother and father.
The Imperials stood again to raise their glasses, but Sien kept her glass on the table and everyone else followed her example.
The old man rose again as the Imperials sat. He no longer looked happy at the dining companions he had ended up with, instead giving Maxim a glare. “To those like my niece who died defending Dorcastle and the west, who helped overthrow the Great Guilds and free this world from tyranny!”
The Imperials stayed in their seats as Sien rose to lead the toast.
Kira waited, wondering who would fire the next shot in what had turned into a duel between the Imperials and the rest of those present.
Sien did, staying standing and extending her glass toward Mari. “To the daughter, who has sacrificed so much for us all, and who held the last wall.”
This time the toast was accompanied by shouts of approval from those from Tiae, the Bakre Confederation, and elsewhere in the west. Kira saw her mother looking down, uncomfortable with the praise and the attention, as Kira herself smiled at her and drank the toast.
Maxim gave Mari a hard look, shoving his glass away. “It is ill manners to mock the sacrifice of Imperial soldiers.”
Mari looked back him, her own expression unyielding. “You. Weren’t. There.”
The three words silenced the room again.
“If I had been,” Maxim finally said, “things would have turned out differently.”
Kira could see her mother was about to explode. It wasn’t about her, Kira knew, but rather about those who had died fighting alongside her. No one spoke a critical word of them or minimized their sacrifice in her mother’s hearing.
But if her mother unleashed on Maxim, it would look bad. The daughter was supposed to be neutral. Someone would have to intervene.
Kira broke the tense silence by sighing so heavily it drew everyone’s attention. “I suppose that someone could have asked the Imperial commanders about what they might have done differently, but they left Dorcastle so quickly that no one had the chance to catch them before they departed.”
This time the Imperials sat as if turned to stone, but slow smiles appeared on the faces of the others present. Kira could almost feel the rage radiating from Prince Maxim, whose father had been the highest of those commanders.
Queen Sien stood up, her expression showing nothing but her eyes revealing anger as she looked at Maxim. “Tiae thanks those of the Empire who have visited this land, and wishes them a safe voyage home, as well as the wisdom to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.” She walked away from the table, signaling that the meal was over.
Kira got up and went quickly to her mother. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Mari shook her head at Kira, then unexpectedly smiled. “We’re supposed to prevent wars, Kira, not feed the flames. But you nailed him good.”
“You’re not mad about me mentioning…”
“You got in some good jabs,” her mother said. “It’s all right. By now I ought to be used to jokes about that conceited blood sucker. Though you’d think anyone who had seen me wouldn’t confuse me with someone supposedly beautiful beyond compare.”
“Father thinks you’re beautiful beyond compare,” Kira pointed out. “But remember, you and I are exotic.”
“Oh, yes. I’d forgotten. You’re still giving Jason a hard time about that? Let’s collect him and your father and find Sien.”
“Mother…” Kira looked down, biting her lip. “Is it all right if Jason and I go back to our rooms?”
Mari gazed at her sympathetically, touching her cheek with one hand. “It really hit you hard. I’m sorry. Sien cares for you a lot, Kira. I hope you can be comfortable with her again.”
“I just need a little more time,” Kira said. “And I really want to get out of this dress.”
“You look lovely in it!” Mari looked around. “But I understand. You know how it was for Mage Asha when she was your age. All the wrong kinds of attention, and if she took notice of it she was told it was her fault. Go ahead and take a break from the eyes of the public. But make sure you and Jason don’t run away from your bodyguards this time.”
“I won't! Thank you, Mother.” Kira paused and smiled. “I love you.”
“Even though I made Jason a target?” Her mother scanned the crowd again. “Be careful. The imperials just tried to provoke us. There must have been a reason.”
“Jason and I are going back to our rooms where we will be safe,” Kira promised. “And since the bodyguards in the hallway will be watching us, you don’t have to worry about either of us deciding to visit the other’s room.”
“Dearest, if you think I don’t trust you to make the right decisions about that, you still don’t know me very well.”
Kira hesitated, looking around to ensure that no one was close enough to hear her. They were close to a wall, those passing them by leaving a courteous distance for Mari's privacy. Something about the dinner tonight, about Prince Maxim’s pressure on her, had rattled her. Especially coming on top of the threats against Jason. “Mother, I know you married Father when you did because you two literally didn’t know if you’d survive the next day. And I know you waited until then to sleep together.”
“We had slept together many times,” her mother said. “But that was all we did before then. Sleep. And talk.”
“What if you’d waited and Father had died? Before you were married? Would you have always regretted that?”
Mari gazed back at her, solemn, her eyes sad in that way they often got when she thought about the past. “Regretted it? Kira, if your father had died I would’ve regretted losing him for all my life. He truly is the man I was meant for, which I don’t think is fair to him, given what I can be like. Would I have regretted never having known him physically? Oh, yes. Stars above, yes. But that would have been only part of the regret, and a small part, for not having him with me.”
Her mother looked down, running one hand through her hair. “Even after we were married, we knew we couldn’t risk having a child. Not with so many trying to kill us, not with the war looming and then all around us. Your father or I could’ve died before you were conceived. You know what happened at Dorcastle. The idea of a world that never had you in it seems incredibly sad to me. But it could have happened. Many things could have happened. Don’t make that decision based on fears. Or on hopes. It will be right when it feels right to you. Don’t force it. Don’t let anyone make you think you have to force it. You told me Jason isn’t trying to do that.”
“He’s not. It's not that he's perfect or anything…I mean, he's really great…but Jason k
nows me well enough to know that if he pushed me I wouldn't give in. I'd push back.”
“That's my girl.” Mari smiled at her. “Trust yourself to know when the time is right and the person is right. Sleep well.”
Kira and Jason made their way through the still-crowded main hall, Kira ensuring that she could see the bodyguards pacing them through the crowd. She breathed a sigh of relief when they left the hall. She knew that some people hoped that she would someday take over for her mother. And then she would face this kind of thing over and over again for the rest of her life. Kira wasn’t sure she had the endurance for that. She was certain that she didn't have the wisdom for it.
At the door to her room she paused to smile at Jason. “Thanks for being there for me tonight.”
“You had to sit next to that jerk,” Jason said.
“And you got to sit next to Queen Sien,” Kira said.
“She asked me how you were taking things and I told her you were sad.”
“Oh, Jason! You shouldn’t have told her!”
“Queen Sien said she already knew,” Jason said. “So I didn’t really tell her.”
“All right,” Kira said, too tired to fight about it. She leaned close and kissed him, trying not to think about the guards at each end of the hallway who were watching.
Jason smiled at her as he turned partway toward his room. “Uh, Kira? Are you ever going to wear that dress again?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“You look really good in it.”
“Thanks,” Kira said. “You’re the man I wanted to know felt that way. All the others…not so much. I’m really lucky to have you in my life.”
He smiled again. “I’d do anything for you.”
“I know.” She remembered him saving her life during a storm, and how he had looked when they talked about Prince Maxim. “Jason, there’s a rule in our family that I haven’t told you. You’re not allowed to die for me. Even if it’s the only way to save me.”
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