by Juliet Sem
"Understood," Rue called out, "And thanks for the view. The Autocracy cluster is beautiful, and we can't wait to see what your night skies look like."
"I will pass your comments on to Praton Dinus. Bridge out."
Chapter twelve
Keestu curiously looked around her room and out the window, leaning on one of the pinkish-tan blocks that made up the Purvol house. When arriving on Phaet the previous night, Keestu had seen the city's lights as they flew over it. The capital was a sprawling metropolis, fading to a few lighted buildings dotting the darkened landscape like gems spilled across a rippling black cloth.
Since it belonged to a prominent noble family, the house sat in a secluded area in a hilly region overlooking the city, where the other prominent nobles of this planet owned large estates. Phaet's Mérel was cleared to land directly on the property, reminding Keestu of home.
She was surprised to see a broad river winding through the center of the city. After being informed the area around Phaet's capital was high desert, she had not expected to see flowing water. The vegetation was not as robust as she would expect in a more temperate climate, the trees shorter and boasting thin leaves or needles rather than the large leaves found on the deciduous trees of CeCe, but it was not at all the sere landscape she was expecting. The stunted-looking plants were a lighter shade of green than she was accustomed to, but the flowing water reminded her of the lowland meadows she had toured on the eastern continent after it had dried out in late summer.
They had been welcomed into the Purvol household by Dinus's pregnant stepmother, Norinna, who informed them that her husband was away on business, but expected back in the city early the following day. She was young, looking not much older than Dinus. She was a tall and athletic-looking woman whose ash blonde hair was nearly the same color as Dinus', though her eyes were dark gray, not hazel, and framed with fine lines that showed she smiled a lot. She had a bump on the left side of her nose, indicating a fracture in the past, but it did little to detract from her appearance. Keestu thought that her eyes looked especially luminous and wondered if that was a side effect of her pregnancy, or if she had naturally glowing eyes.
The sun was rising to her left as Keestu looked out on the city, so she ascribed that the "east" designation, meaning that the house was located at the northern end of town. Both east and west of the city lay vast tracts of agricultural fields, and running centrally through the city, canted slightly at an angle, was the business sector. She had a partially view of the massive palace complex that housed the Autocrat and Autocress from her window. It was made of the same pinkish-tan stone as the Purvol house, and Keestu realized the rock for both had come from the same quarry.
A brief knock on her door announced Tenget's arrival.
"Good," he said, "You're up. Any trouble with the bathing facilities?"
"No, Tenget," she reassured him, holding up her wrist to show him her translation unit. "I used optical character recognition to figure out the hot and cold controls so I could adjust the temperature."
Tenget looked her over, nodding at her choice of the red pantsuit. "Very good. Did you discuss your clothing choice with Princess Keestu?"
"Yes, Tenget," she replied. "The Crown Princess chose dark purple for today, and I am not clashing with her."
"You should see if she needs help dressing," Tenget said. "While I inquire about breakfast."
"This way," Tenget led her to the suite assigned to Rue.
Gontu answered the door at Keestu's knock, letting them in.
"Oh, good, you're here," Rue said. "I was having difficulty getting my headdress settled properly and could use an extra set of hands."
"Perhaps you should have requested a body servant come along after all," Keestu said.
"No, Rue, I think you can do it, though you haven't had much practice."
"Thanks, Your Highness," Keestu said, standing behind Rue and re-positioning a plain headdress slightly; they were uncertain if the recording headdress would make it through the palace's security undetected and so were going with a less formal headdress for this first meeting with the Autocracy's rulers. She noted that Rue's hair was smooth and fine, not curly and coarser as her own hair was, which made it harder to secure the headdress than Keestu had expected.
After rearranging the pins several times, she asked, "How's that?"
Rue gave a slight shake of her head, and encouraged, nodded once or twice. The tassels of the headdress moved with her, but it looked to be finally firmly anchored.
"Do any of the pins dig into you?"
"No, I think you've got it straightened out for me. Thank you."
A cursory knock was followed by Vahin's entrance.
"Ah, Your Highness, you are up."
"I wasn't that tired last night, though we got in late."
"I hope you did at least try and rest, as we are to tour the palace grounds after meeting the Autocrat and Autocress, so today will be a long one."
"I'm certain I'll be up for it, Vahin," Rue replied solemnly.
Another knock sounded, and Keestu thought it was a Purvol servant sent to show them to the dining room. She was wrong, as Prince Dinus opened the door at Rue's verbal permission.
"Princess Keestu, breakfast is ready if you are," he said, looking Rue over with naked admiration, smiling and nodding absently at everyone else.
Norinna and the rest of the Purvol family were waiting for them in a large formal dining room. Keestu wasn't surprised to see Dinus' siblings dressed in the same clothing he wore, though their rank patches consisted of a rhombus inside a hexagon rather than a circle. Norinna was in an informal looking dress, which had to be more comfortable for her pregnant belly than pants. It was made of silk in the colors of Phaet, and her right breast displayed her rank patch. There was a silk jacket in Phaet's colors slung carelessly over the back of her chair, which sat at the head of the massive stone topped table, with an empty chair next to her.
The receiving line was mercifully short. Rue was introduced in rapid succession to Dinus' four younger brothers and four sisters, who clasped hands with her while murmuring good morning before taking their places at the table. Rue returned their polite greetings before Dinus escorted her to the other end of the table. Gontu quickly slid into the chair beside Rue, and Keestu suppressed a grin. There could be no argument from Dinus on this count unless he wanted to create a diplomatic scene in his own house. He frowned at Gontu, who ignored him, and then gestured for the rest of the Sandarian party to sit near Rue. This left a few seats empty between the Sandarian party and their hosts, and Dinus, though he seemed displeased, paced up the table to take the chair next to his absent father's seat.
Norinna looked a silent question at Dinus, who shrugged at his stepmother.
Norinna motioned, and servants dressed in the secondary planetary colors came in, pushing carts laden with heating units filled with food.
One servant busied herself setting up a toaster on a side table, laying out thick slices of yeast bread and a variety of toppings. Another servant began ladling hot boiled Autocracy grains into bowls, while another distributed protein dishes on the other side. Noting the large insulated pot of javene, Keestu sighed with appreciation.
As a show of trust, Rue waved off Keestu's offer of tasting her food, a move they had discussed prior to boarding Phaet's Mérel, a move which even Vahin agreed would smooth the way for trade negotiations.
Rue was bold, accepting small servings of everything, and Keestu happily followed her lead. She initially had some difficulty scooping up food with the finger ware people of the Autocracy used to eat which was placed onto the thumb, index, and middle fingers, noting all foods were served in bite-sized pieces, so she could eat without having to remove her utensils.
"Are you enjoying your trip so far, Princess?" Norinna asked as she stireed her javene with a forefinger.
Norinna's voice was warm, but her words were somewhat formal, so Rue followed her lead. "I really enjoyed my tour of Autocracy
Station, Praté. It's different enough in design from the Union's that it was fascinating. I have to admit I would have liked some more time to shop the kiosks, though, to see what wares I think would appeal to our people, though the crew of my ship has been assigned that duty while I'm gone."
"Yes, Dinus has given me a report of your Hub's design and layout. I must admit that perhaps it is a bit more organized than our station, but ours has served our purposes well for many years now. I understand that you have many vacant kiosks on the Hub?"
Rue had been told to expect this question. "One of our allied species, the Chtawlikt, do not have much use for their Hub kiosks, preferring to ship their goods directly from Chtawlikt to the receiving planet, a fact the Union wasn't aware of when the Hub was constructed, so most of their allotted space goes unused."
"Do you know why they ship direct?"
"They prefer not to utilize stasis lockers for many of their perishable goods, stating they can tell the difference in freshness, so the Union did not press them to change their shipping methods. I was told to tell you that my aunt, Princess Shina, who is Sandarian Trade Liaison on the Hub, has recently received renewed assurances from the Chtawlikt Senator that the Chtawlikt have no desire to change their trading methods for the foreseeable future, so those empty kiosks, storage facilities, and dwelling spaces that were created for Chtawlikt merchants are available for immediate use by Autocracy personnel."
"I see," Norinna said, "Very good. I shall pass that information on to my husband when he returns."
They ate in a companionable silence, while Vahin murmured observations about the food into a portable recorder, describing color, texture, and taste as best he could.
"Vahin," Keestu whispered to him, "Might I suggest you mention that Phaet's diet is mostly plant based? They do have plenty of protein offerings, but they are not as heavy, rather similar to what we know of the diet of the Rillul."
Vahin looked surprised, but dutifully tallied up the offerings by type.
Once breakfast was over, Rue retired to her suite to brush her teeth, and Keestu did the same.
Dinus, who had remained unusually quiet throughout the meal, came back from freshening up, bowing formally to his stepmother as she reappeared to see her guests off. "With your leave, I will escort them to the palace now, since they have to clear security."
"I shall expect you back for lunch, Princess Keestu," Norinna said.
Rue curtsied to her, "I look forward to it, Praté," receiving a wide smile from Norinna for her courtesy.
Dinus hurried them to the transport, and in a matter of minutes, they were landing inside Phaet's large palace complex. There were no fortified walls surrounding the palace, but there were many groups of armed guards patrolling the grounds. There were groups of visitors Keestu easily identified as coming from other Autocracy planets by the color of their clothing.
"Why are there no walls around the palace, Dinus? On Sandar, they are our first defense against assault," Rue asked.
Dinus explained, "After winning the tourney, the Autocrat and Autocress cannot be challenged during the length of their rule, which is an average working lifetime of fifty years, and anyone caught trying to do so will be stripped of their noble status and thrown out of the Autocracy if not immediately put to death, and the remaining members of their family cannot participate in the next Tourney, so no noble has anything to gain by attacking the Autocrat or Autocress, and their family has everything to lose should one of them get it into their head to try and storm the palace. In addition, the palace interior has the best security the Autocracy can provide, with members from every planet doing a maximum ten-year rotation of service as palace guards. However, only the Autocrat's and Autocress's families handle the personal security of the Autocrat or Autocress, as their families have everything to lose should anything happen to them during the length of their rule; their houses receive special privileges that I may not speak of at this time."
Their flitter settled to the ground as he spoke, and Dinus instructed them, "You need to spread yourselves out and wait. When a tech wishes to scan you, you need to hold your arms straight out from your body." It wasn't long before the armed guards arrived, surrounding the new arrivals before the scan techs moved forward. Following Dinus's instructions, Keestu raised her arms straight out from her body, allowing the tech to scan her. After they were scanned, the guards became their guides, briskly escorting them into the palace.
Once there, Dinus turned to Rue. "You must change clothing in order to attend your audience with the Autocrat and Autocress. My house has provided the what you need as we took your measurements from the garments that we cleaned at our estate last night. Each of you will singly enter a secured room, remove all your clothing, and walk naked through to the next room where you will be scanned one last time for weapons. There are no human attendants watching the scan rooms--only electronics--so don't worry that you are being peeped at or photographed in the nude; there are many safeguards to protect your right to privacy while we assure the safety of our rulers. Once the scanner clears you, you will find the clothing we provided waiting in the room that opens. You must redress and exit the room before the next member of your party may pass through. I will undergo the same procedure at a different security station since there are so many in my party, so the Autocrat and Autocress aren't kept waiting. Send your personal body guard through first, if you worry about your safety."
Gontu spoke up. "I had already decided that would be the best course of action, Prince Dinus, since I must, of course, continue to observe Sandar's rules for my Princess's safety."
Rue was surprised by this final requirement for her audience with the Autocracy's rulers, looking back at Keestu for reassurance. However, it was Vahin who nodded at her. Reassured, she acquiesced, saying, "Let's get on with it then, and thank you, Dinus for providing the clothing we need."
"Your own clothing will be returned to our house while you are in your audience, for once you are cleared for the palace grounds, you may not change back until after you leave."
"I understand," Rue said, though it was clear that this was a strange requirement to her.
A female palace servant wearing silver with a black stripe motioned for them to follow her, while another gestured to Dinus, saying, "This way Praton," and he and his entourage moved off in the other direction.
"Praton?" Rue questioned her guide. Keestu had heard the term before, but didn't have their translating cuff turned on.
"It's the title of the male heir of a planet. The equivalent female title is Praten. It is only used for the male or female next in line after a Prató or Praté. They may take the title either by challenge or if the Prató or Praté dies."
"Are there many deaths of rulers?"
"No," their guide reassured Rue, "There are not. All fights are declared over once one opponent has definitively beaten the other. Any deaths that result from a challenge these days are usually because the fighter refuses medical treatment afterward, unaware of how badly they are injured, or they may die in an accident, or they may die of an undetected or untreatable disease, such as an advanced cancer."
"Aren't there any laws regarding checking medical well being of the fighters after the fight is over?"
"No. That has nothing to do with the smooth running of the Autocracy, so there is no need for such a decree."
Keestu noted while walking that her group's hard-soled shoes clattered on the stone floor while the soft leather athletic shoes of their guide only squeaked occasionally when her foot twisted.
"So if the Prató or Praté is defeated in a sanctioned fight, the Praton or Praten takes over."
"Yes, such laws are necessary for the running of the Autocracy. Otherwise, wars would break out over succession, and chaos would ensue while the issue is settled."
"And the spouse or their children never take over?"
"Of course not; he or she hasn't earned the right! Only a Praton or Praten has proven they can lead a planet if th
e Prató or Praté becomes incapacitated or dies. It's not often the ruler's spouse or family member will earn a high position in the ruling hierarchy, but when one does, they are called by the appropriate Praton or Praten title rather than the courtesy Prató or Praté. It's quite a coincidence that the Praton of Phaet and the Praton of Vulo happen to be sons of the Pratós of those worlds, but both families are known for their exceptional fighters."
"Thank you for clarifying that," Rue said as they were shown into a large room filled with chairs and attended by four heavily armed guards.
"You go in there," their guide told them, pointing at a door that opened. "One at a time. When the receptacle opens on the wall, place all your clothing inside and hit the large button located above the niche after you've put all your clothing in it. It will close, and the door on the other side will open. Stand still in the circle in the center of the room while the scan is done. You'll know you're done when the door on the opposite side opens." Bowing deeply, their guide took her leave of them.
Gontu nodded to Rue, though his eyes slid to Keestu as he turned to the room. One of the guards pressed a button located on the wall next to him, and the door they'd entered through sealed with a hiss. After a short delay, the door to the dressing room opened.
Vahin turned to Gontu and Tenget, holding up his hand to delay their processing. "I hope you both agree with me that we can't have all the guards go through first. Since Rue is trained in self-defense, might I suggest she go through after Gontu, and then Princess Keestu may go through, and that way, there are at least two people on each end trained in defense to satisfy our King's requirements?"
Gontu and Tenget considered Vahin's suggestion, putting their heads together and speaking so softly Keestu couldn't hear them. However, she was certain the monitoring equipment in the room was recording their conversation.