by Juliet Sem
"We concur," Gontu said. "I'll go first, Rue next, Princess Keestu, you Vahin, and Tenget should be last."
"Very good," Vahin said, "I'm glad you agree with me on this, Gontu."
Gontu pressed his lips together in irritation, but nodded at Vahin before walking resolutely into the next room. Their guards maintained a stiff attentive silence while they waited. It wasn't long, however, before the room reopened, and Keestu stepped forward.
Once the door closed behind her, compartment niche opened, and she wondered if it was the same one that had opened for Gontu as she quickly stripped, placing her clothing into the receptacle. She was grateful that the room was warm and the tiles heated from underneath so there was little chance of her catching a chill. Once she was nude, she pressed the button and the niche closed. After a few moments, the next door opened, and she entered the scan room. Its walls were plain light gray and embedded with numerous lights and sensors. Keestu looked up, seeing the entire ceiling was devoted to nothing but scanning equipment. She wondered what would happen to someone caught trying to smuggle weapons in.
This room was as warm as the last, and Keestu stood in the circle on the floor and waited. The scan itself didn't take long. There was some whirring and then a low electronic whine while lights flashed across the equipment embedded in the ceiling. Keestu resisted looking up, holding still as she had been instructed.
The whine ceased, and the door opposite her opened up, and she walked through it. The door shut behind her, and after a short delay the slot opened, revealing the clothing the house of Purvol had provided. She fingered the fine blue satin fabric as she hastily redressed. She realized that her color scheme now identified her as a lesser noble of Phaet, and wondered if that was some political scheming on the part of the house of Purvol, then just as quickly dismissed the thought, for they had nothing to gain by trying to garner favor with rulers who would be leaving office in a matter of weeks.
After dressing, Keestu sat to pull on some soft leather athletic shoes. They fit her feet perfectly and were as comfortable as any shoes made by her personal cobbler. Relieved that the Autocracy's size scanning equipment was as accurate as what she enjoyed at home, Keestu stood and hit the button on the wall. The last door opened, and she found herself in a room that was the duplicate of the one she left, including four guards who spoke to each other in Phaet while paying more attention to their personal computer screens than their guests.
Once everyone was through, their guide led them into the audience chamber's anteroom. Dinus and his large entourage were already there, and Keestu wondered if they had special clearance that hastened the process for them.
After the doors to the antechamber clanged shut behind them, the pair of thick hardsteele doors that guarded the audience chamber swung slowly open on powered hinges.
The Autocracy's audience room was a disappointingly plain room, looking nothing like the richly furnished hall that served as the official throne room in Sandar's palace. The walls were unadorned stone, devoid of any tapestries or paintings. There were no decorative arches over the single leaf hardsteele doors that dotted the chamber in an irregular fashion.
The only thing brightening the dreary setting were the many comfortable cushioned benches whose legs were made of various shades of brightly colored stone.
The thrones were plain stone chairs with high backs. They were topped with cushions so they would be comfortable for the occupants, but if there had been any embellishment to the rocky seats, it had long ago worn away. Keestu saw that they were at least placed on a raised dais, as any throne ought to be, but she otherwise found the room a disappointment.
They followed Dinus to the front row the benches and stood waiting for only a few moments before doors on either side of the room opened, and a number of armed guards filed in. Finally, a door behind the thrones opened, and first the Autocress and then Autocrat came into the room.
The Autocress was wearing black satin with a silver stripe, so Keestu knew that their guide was a lesser noble of her planet and not that of the Autocrat, who wore red with a gold stripe.
On closer examination, she saw embroidered on the breast of the Autocress an inverted equilateral triangle with a crescent moon in it. Emblazoned on the Autocrat's breast was an inverted equilateral triangle holding an octagram consisting of two equal size squares overlapping at a 45 degree angle to create an eight-point star inside it.
They were both advanced in age, but she had expected that, knowing that they had ruled uncontested for the past fifty years. Despite their white hair, however, they weren't bowed by age. They moved easily, attesting to a lack of any of the joint ailments that often plagued the aged. The Autocress's hair was completely white and cropped short, and she wore no head adornment, nor was she wearing any jewelry, although she carried a jeweled spear. The Autocrat had a few remaining patches of black in his hair, and Keestu wondered if he were younger than the Autocress. He, too, carried a jeweled spear, a twin to the one the Autocress wielded.
They sat without comment on their thrones, the Autocress to Keestu's right, the Autocrat to her left.
Once they were seated, the guards stationed themselves about the room. Only then did Dinus step carefully two steps forward.
"Autocress, Autocrat," he bowed to each of them in turn while speaking in Unity, "I present Crown Princess Keestu, daughter of King Ismer Ranell of Sandar, member planet of the Union."
Rue stepped forward, carefully not moving any closer than Dinus had before curtsying with silent grace to the rulers.
Keestu nodded to herself. As the visitor, and one of lower rank, she should wait to be addressed before speaking.
The Autocress broke into a broad smile. "You are most welcome, Crown Princess Keestu of Sandar,"
Keestu smiled to herself, as the Autocress had spoken in Unity.
The Autocrat added his own cordial greeting, "Yes, we both welcome you to the Autocracy, Crown Princess Keestu Ranell of Sandar."
Only after being addressed by both did she respond. "I thank you for your welcome, Autocress, Autocrat and for making time in your busy schedule to grant us an audience so soon after our arrival."
"I trust your trip here was a pleasant one?" Keestu relaxed as the Autocress dropped to a more informal mode of address. She wondered if the Autocress had the higher status of the pair, and if so whether it was due to her appearing older than the Autocrat, or if was it just an Autocracy tradition to defer to the female first.
The Autocrat and Autocress ignored Keestu, but not the guards, who remained vigilant in the presence of their rulers. She was regularly examined, even if the looks were cursory. She opted for a slightly wider stance, folding her hands carefully in front of her so they remained in sight of the guards at all times. It was a position she had seen Gontu assume on occasion when waiting for orders, though now he stood by Rue's side with his feet spread and his hands held loosely at his sides.
"We look forward to supervising the trade negotiations as part of the advisery panel of Autocracy rulers," the Autocress said. "In the meantime, we want you to tour our planets to get a better feel for us as a people, just as our representative, the Praton of Phaet, has for us by visiting you. He has given us a favorable report, and we expect no major issues in setting up an agreement to trade."
The Autocrat smoothly took up the narrative. "We had thought to send you to the planets furthest from Phaet first so you could work your way back here for the tourney, but the Prató of Vulo has petitioned vociferously, yes, strongly petitioned that you visit his planet first." Here the Autocrat frowned, and Keestu wondered what lay behind the odd emphasis. He seemed fluent enough in Unity; both Autocracy leaders did.
The Autocress turned her head slightly, frowning at her cohort before taking her next turn. "Yes, we have heard his petition and decided it will be best for you to go from Phaet directly to Vulo I, then on to Naelia, the third planet in Phaet's region. After that, you will be taken to the outermost Autocracy planets of Multana,
Thetron, and Umanya, then visit the middle planets of Laringo, Hetindi, and Eknor before returning to Phaet for the tourney. There is plenty of time for you to spend at least four to six days on each planet so you can examine the goods and decide if there are any you feel are of critical importance to your planets once a trade agreement is reached."
"So I will not visit Vulo II then?" Rue was quick to mention the ignored planet.
"Vulo I and II are a binary planet system, with Vulo I being slightly larger and more settled. The fast-growing hardwoods of Vulo II are the major export of the Vulo system. Vulo II is only sparsely populated beyond the mills that work its vast tracts of forests, so there is not much else to see on Vulo II unless you want to see the logging operations in person." The Autocress's voice was dry, indicating that she herself thought it was below the station of a Crown Princess to visit a logging camp.
"I may want to see how the wood is processed. I shall have to speak with an adviser later about this," Rue said, deliberately keeping the option open.
The Autocrat smiled at her. "Of course, Crown Princess," he said, "Any of our planets is open to you; you have only to ask and you are welcome to visit any area of any planet that you think is necessary. We have instructed all the Pratós and Pratés that they are to cooperate fully with your visit."
"Now that we have that settled, we understand you would like to tour our palace complex," the Autocress broke in.
"Praton Dinus is well versed in the layout of the palace and can help answer any questions as he is host for the duration of your stay on Phaet. Please forgive the brevity of our audience, but we have urgent matters to attend to with regards to preparation for succession."
Rue nodded. "Of course, Autocress, Autocrat. Thank you for your time and for allowing me tour all your planets. I look forward to seeing you in negotiations upon my return." She curtsied again, holding the pose for a few moments longer than was done on Sandar to show the depth of her gratitude, and Keestu silently applauded her performance.
Watching while the Autocrat and Autocress exited the room, Keestu was again struck by how fluid their movements were. She wondered what it would have been like to see them fighting their battles if they were still this fit and supple fifty years later.
Their guide, motioned for them to follow her, and they were shown to the center of the complex. Keestu gaped while looking around, seeing a massive divided courtyard ringed by viewing stands. Keestu estimated that several thousand spectators could be accommodated in the seating. There were large columns at regular intervals supporting clear barriers separating the center into four large fighting rings. Embedded in each column were numerous cameras. View screens were suspended above each seating area, so spectators could watch more than one bout at a time. In the center of the arena sat a short podium surrounded by the same clear material, enclosing two chairs and computer consoles.
Looking around, Keestu saw that few of the palace doors led directly into the fighting areas while the majority led into the stands. At the front edge of each combat area were two box seating areas separated by security screening. Each box held thirty seats in two rows of fifteen seats each.
"These eight ringside boxes are reserved planetary seats, one for each of eight Autocracy planet's leaders, their families, and assistants," Dinus explained. "The palace was built before the settlement of Naelia, so now whenever anyone fights, they are given access to a box directly in front of the arena their fighter will compete in. People of the planets not associated with the combatants in the arenas are expected to give up their box seats for that match, so there will be many people switching seats in between matches."
Keestu wondered how one got a box seat at the tourney, and whether it was good for seeing all the fights or just a specific match? She had been hoping Rue would ask any of the questions she had, but her handmaiden was busy listening to Dinus chatting amiably at her as he took her elbow to guide her from the arena, so Keestu decided to speak up.
"Praton Dinus, may I ask a question?"
"Of course, um," he looked at a loss for her name.
"Rue," she reminded him, smiling. "I saw that the Autocress was given deferential treatment in comparison to the Autocrat. She entered first, left first, and spoke first. Is this because she's a woman or because she appears older than the Autocrat?"
Dinus smiled. "Of course not. We do not perpetuate gender or age stereotypes here. The Autocress is considered in most ways to be completely equal to the Autocrat, with the exceptions being the ones you saw. She will enter or leave a room first and will be the first to speak because she faced more challenges after her ascension to Praté than the Autocrat did as Prató before the tourney in which they both competed. I believe the Autocress had four challenges..." he broke off as their guide shook her head. She murmured something quickly to him in Phaet, and Dinus continued smoothly, "Sorry, it was five challenges, while the Prató had only three challenges after his ascension, so she faced two more challenges than the Autocrat did before the battles they fought to decide succession. Therefore, she is honored as the more experienced and successful fighter of the two."
"Did those fights happen to them in the tourney, Prince Dinus?" Keestu was confused.
"No, I'm talking about planetary challenges. The matches of the tourney don't count as challenges because it pits equals from different planets against each other. We have challenge day once a month in the Autocracy, so our planetary leaders may endure many challenges in close succession, especially this close to a tourney. The Autocress ascended to her position some months prior to the Autocrat, and being a woman was seen as an easier target than she was by those who could challenge her, so she faced more challenges and accrued more victories as Praté than the Autocrat when he was a Prató. Since there are always more men vying for Autocrat than women for Autocress--men and women do not fight each other during the tourney--it would be completely unfair to base deferential treatment of our ruler based on the number of Tourney matches it takes for them to prove their supremacy."
"Oh," Keestu said. "Thank you for explaining that."
As Dinus continued showing them around the massive office complex, Keestu realized that only nobles worked in the palace. There were several large communications rooms, where messages to and from the subject planets were sent, received, sorted, and rerouted to their recipients, and there was an massive separate military communications room. Keestu wondered how much filtering was done and what constituted a message that needed the personal attention of either ruler, and thought if things were handled that way on Sandar, she'd probably randomly scan messages herself to insure the impartiality of those handling them.
Keestu enjoyed seeing the landing bay, where the official Autocracy craft and pilots of Phaet were housed. Three large liners with interstellar capabilities were kept under human guard in a special separate enclosure that Keestu was certain was bristling with detection and security equipment, as they were used in transporting the Autocrat and Autocress. She couldn't tell which of the three was Phaet's Mérel, and she didn't want to scan the Autocracy writing on the hulls while being watched.
Dinus was explaining why there were so many ships assigned to take the Autocracy's leaders into space, "Here in the Autocracy, we take the safety of our rulers most seriously. They will visit the same member planet at the same time, but they may not ride in the same vessel. Accidents and espionage are both rare, but this decree was enacted ten generations back after both rulers were killed in a freak space accident. As thorough an investigation as could be performed at that time was done, but our rulers travel in separate ships ever since."
"So what happened after that," Rue asked. "Did you have another Tourney to decide their successors?"
"In that situation, no," Dinus responded. "The accident happened early in their tenure, so their replacements were the fighters defeated by the Autocrat and Autocress in their final battle for supremacy."
"Ah," Rue said, "So the Prató and Praté who are the first runners up
take over if needed."
Dinus beamed at her. "Exactly, Keestu. You understand us very well, and so quickly. Those with a democratic mindset tend to disagree with our methods, telling us we need to make drastic changes to what has worked for dozens of generations for us."
Rue frowned briefly, and then smiled up at Dinus winningly. "I can see why you came to Sandar, then, for assistance in forming a trade agreement."
"Right, royalty knows royalty, and in our experience, those who aren't royal or nobility usually have a hard time accepting such a system."
"If I may be indelicate and ask, to whom are you referring to? Who disliked your governing methods?"
"The Rillul," Dinus said, his eyes twinkling. "We had a hard time convincing them that we aren't a constantly warring people after they saw our last Tourney."
"And yet I understand you trade extensively with them now."
"Oh yes, many Rillul ships travel throughout the Autocracy, landing at every major port on every planet. However, you are unlikely to see any of them outside of the major port cities; they don't understand our rural societal system and therefore have agreed to stay closer to the larger cities which are used to dealing with foreigners, not only from other member planets, but from outside our star cluster."
"What about the Triker? I saw many of their ships at Autocracy Station," Rue pressed him for more information, and Keestu approved of her line of questioning. If Dinus remained sweet on her, he would likely give them information more freely than anyone else they would encounter here.
"The Triker have a societal system similar to ours. Any Triker can go anywhere on our planets and understand our caste system. However, they also stay close to the port cities they call on. You may and are encouraged to chose any city at random for a visit should you wish it while you are here."
"That's a very generous offer, Dinus," Rue said, as they completed their tour of the palace were walking out to the Purvol flitter. "I'll discuss it with my advisers to see if a random visit will fit into our plans while we are here."