by Jake Bible
“He wasn’t easy to like, that is for sure,” Alexis said, propped up by a stack of pillows, his face trying to hide the pain that plagued him. “But he was your brother, and Master of Station Thraen, so we are obligated to attend the funeral service.”
“What if we sent Alexis and Bella in our stead?” Meredith suggested. “Let this be the heir’s first official business. He’s had it easy so far, except for a couple stints as regent.”
“Which were really overseen by Stolt,” Alexis replied. “Not that I don’t trust Alexis to make the right choices, but…”
“You don’t trust Alexis to make the right choices,” Meredith said. “I do not blame you. He is a bright and merry young man, but I do not believe he takes any of his responsibilities seriously. And that ‘brother’ of his…”
“DuChaer,” Alexis almost spat. “Making him part of his entourage shows bad judgment of character on my son’s part. The flip parades around as if he is royalty and heir to my crown. My gut says to have the boy ejected into space as soon as possible before he does some real damage to Station Aelon.”
“Your gut needs to rest,” Meredith responded as she turned and looked at her husband. “That’s not just me, but all of your physicians’ orders. You are not young anymore, Alexis. And neither is that wound.”
“My double wound,” Alexis laughed. “What master is unlucky enough to survive an assassination attempt only to have the same wound pierced while fighting off rebels? Helios laughs at me, for sure.”
“The Dear Parent does no such thing,” Meredith said. “You are still alive despite the insults to your body. If Helios were laughing he would have put you in your grave before Alexis was of age so that Cousin Stolt could run the station as regent.”
“You do not like Cousin Stolt at all, do you?” Alexis smiled then waved his hand. “No need to answer, I know the truth. And, since you were honest about your brother, I’ll be honest about my cousin. I don’t trust him either. Never have. I know he’s worked behind my back to undermine me at times. But he’s also worked with me to help keep Aelon secure. The man doesn’t know his own ambitions sometimes. I’ll take advantage of that as long as I can.”
“But what about Alexis? What about how impressionable your son is? If Stolt outlasts you then he will have his hooks in Alexis before your body cools.”
“Aren’t we a morbid pair this morning,” Alexis laughed.
“The news of a death does that to people,” Meredith said.
“I am not worried about Stolt so much as I am about DuChaer. Stolt may be a self-serving noble, but he is a noble of Aelon. He’ll do everything he can to bolster his position and fill his coffers when I am gone, not unlike what he has done during my reign, but I believe, in the end, he will do what is right for Station Aelon as well.”
Alexis shifted his position and winced. He took a couple of long, deep breaths before he continued.
“Gannot DuChaer will devour this station with reckless abandon. He will use up my son, and the power he wields, until there is nothing left. Then he will move on, leaving Station Aelon a dried out husk of a monarchy. Stolt is an evil that is known, and an evil that has limitations. I don’t believe DuChaer understands what limitations are.”
“So what do we do about it, husband?” Meredith asked, gently moving to his side. She nuzzled her face against his neck, careful not to bump or move him. “How do we make sure DuChaer does not destroy everything you have worked for once you are gone?”
“I don’t know,” Alexis replied. “Stolt may be our only choice. I could grant the meeting of stewards additional powers. He holds the most sectors so he is the defacto leader of the meeting. By elevating the meeting, I limit the reach of the crown.”
“You’d cut off your nose to spite your face?” Meredith asked, alarmed. “I am all for limiting what a monarch can do, especially after the havoc my brother caused when he banished the gatekeepers from his court and seized their Vape wealth for himself, but diluting the crown’s power because of some common thug’s hold on a minor? What precedent does that set? You give Stolt more power and he will use it to destroy the monarchy and take everything for the stewards.”
“What would happen if Alexis died without an heir?” Alexis asked. “After I am gone and he becomes master? What then?”
“Then our son Thomas takes the crown,” Meredith replied.
“And Stolt knows he cannot control Thomas while you live, so what is the next logical conclusion?” Alexis said.
“Stolt removes me from the equation,” Meredith responded. “Then he has Thomas to himself.”
“Or he removes you and Thomas,” Alexis said. “Then the crown is up for contention. He does have a blood claim. He is a true cousin. Yes, there are other cousins on the station that could also throw in for the crown, but Stolt has his feet firmly planted in court. There would be few to oppose him.”
“You scare me, Alexis,” Meredith whispered. “All this talk of you dying and Cousin Stolt scheming.”
“These are things we have to discuss,” Alexis said. “I know my infirmity will pass, as it always has, but one day it won’t. One day this cursed wound will be the death of me and I need to know that those I love will be safe and taken care of.”
“Oh, speaking of curses,” Meredith said, her mood changing instantly. “Did you hear of what Gatekeeper Schlecht said upon my brother’s death?”
“I did not,” Alexis smiled. “Please, let me in on the royal gossip.”
“He said that it was proof of Helios’s anger at what Paul had done,” Meredith said. “And that a curse is on the crown of Station Thraen.”
“And what curse is that?”
“That none of my nephews shall produce a male heir,” Meredith said. “That the Herlect line would die out with the males already born.”
“That is quite the curse,” Alexis laughed. “Just goes to show that you never take credits from a gatekeeper. They always go straight for the Helios’s damnation every time.”
“But, do you see what this means?” Meredith said. “If none of my nephews produce male heirs, but your son and my niece do, then your grandson would actually have a legitimate claim on the crown of Station Thraen.”
“Helios, you are right!” Alexis exclaimed. “My grandson could end up ruling two stations! And their primes! Wouldn’t that be something? Do you think The Way would allow it? Having one master lord over two stations would constitute a concentration of power that might make the High Guardian nervous.”
“It should make everyone nervous,” Meredith said. “For it has never been accomplished before. No one knows what could happen.”
“So much chaos and uncertainty,” Alexis sighed. “It’s a wonder my mind doesn’t succumb to a daily stroke.”
* * *
“We attend his father’s funeral service and then his coronation, but the son of a bitch doesn’t have the balls to confront me face to face?” Alexis roared as he stared at the proclamation he had just been handed. The council sat quietly as the master punched the table with his fist again and again. “The bastard is lucky! If he’d told me, then I would have handed him his head right there in his own station!”
“Sire, calm down,” Stolt said. “You have pushed yourself these past weeks and you can’t afford a relapse.”
“I’m fine, Cousin,” Alexis snapped. “If I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be here. My health is not of concern at this moment.”
“Not to argue with you, but your health is always of concern, your highness,” Stolt replied. “Men of our age cannot ignore the march of time. Helios’s calling is only around the corner.”
“For you, maybe, but not for me,” Alexis stated. “I have much to accomplish before I am gone. First of which is to teach this new master a lesson in keeping one’s promises!”
“If I may, sire,” Steward Hylora said. “Master Charles did not make any promises, his father did.”
“The Thraen crown did!” Alexis shouted. “And it is the Thraen cro
wn we are dealing with! Are you too stupid to understand how this all works, Hylora? Should I have you replaced on the council?”
“Sire, he was only suggesting an explanation to Master Charles’s motivations,” Steward Exchester said, coming to his colleague’s defense. “We are all trying to find reason in such an unreasonable action.”
“There is no reason to find!” Alexis shouted. “Except that the Thraenish whelp wants his ass handed to him by a man that truly knows what it means to be a master!”
“Uh oh,” Minor Alexis said as he walked into the great hall and saw the dark looks upon the council’s faces. “Bad news for the elite?”
“Can there ever be bad news for the elite?” DuChaer asked as he followed right behind the minor. “I mean, we are elite, after all. How bad could things get?”
“Helios has truly blessed us,” Minor Alexis said, his voice dripping with mockery.
“All praise the Dear Parent!” DuChaer added.
“Why is he here?” Alexis growled, an accusatory finger pointed towards the Thraen. “This is a council meeting, Alexis, not a trip to the pub.”
“Or brothel,” Stolt muttered under his breath. Alexis caught the words and whipped his head about, a glare of pure rage on his face. “My apologies, sire.”
“Even though your tone is insulting, I will answer your question, Father,” Minor Alexis said as he took a seat at the end of the long table. “Brother DuChaer is my official advisor. When I take the crown, Helios forbid, he will be my right hand, ready to advise me on all matters of station. I thought it best he understood now how those matters work.”
“I need to be prepared if I am going to be as efficient and trusted an advisor as Cousin Stolt,” DuChaer said as he sat next to Minor Alexis and promptly propped his feet up on the table. His boots were shined to perfection, but he still wet a thumb and wiped at an imaginary smudge before looking directly at the master. “You don’t want your son’s reign to be in the hands of the ignorant, do you, sire?”
“I fear it already is,” Alexis spat. “Get your fucking boots off my table.”
DuChaer held up his hands and set his feet back on the floor. He looked at Minor Alexis and frowned. “Perhaps we have hurried this along. I shall retire to my quarters and wait for your call, my lord.”
“No, Brother, you shall stay where you are,” Minor Alexis insisted. “My father had his advisor when he was only a minor and I will have mine.”
“My advisor was your late uncle!” Alexis yelled. “He was my real brother and had as much right to be present during a council meeting as I did! This...this...this flip does not!”
There were controlled gasps by the council at the slur; more because of the implication towards Minor Alexis than the insult to DuChaer.
“A flip?” DuChaer asked with surprise. “I can have half the Sector Forbine pleasure girls dispute that accusation, your highness.”
“And that statement is to convince me of your higher character?” Alexis asked. “That instead of buggering my son, you spend your time buggering whores? You wouldn’t be fit to advise the court fool, let alone a master.”
“Father, please,” Minor Alexis laughed. “Brother DuChaer is my trusted friend and nothing more. He is not a flip, I am not a flip, and there is only the love of comrades between us. You forget that you exiled me to Aelon Prime, leaving me with your sister and an estate filled with ruffians and drunks. Brother DuChaer was my only salvation from a life of true depravity. He is the son of a steward, you know. He brought civilization into a world barely elevated above primitive savagery.”
“I tried,” DuChaer said. “Ah, how I miss those days sometimes.”
“Do you?” Alexis asked then grinned wide. “Do you miss the freedom of living on the prime?”
“At times, sire,” DuChaer nodded.
“Good,” Alexis said. “Then you shall accompany me down to the planet as I retake what is mine.”
Alexis couldn’t help but smile at the shock that faced him. From the council stewards to his son and son’s friend, not a single face was able to remain composed after Alexis’s statement.
“What? Surely none of you expected me to take this insult lying down? I have done enough of that lately,” Alexis said. “No, I will descend on my lease holdings on Thraen Prime and return them to Aelish control. I plan on showing this new master just how hard the job really is.”
“Your highness,” Stolt said. “I do not think it wise for you and your son to leave Station Aelon. Despite my serious misgivings about a military campaign against Thraen Prime, I have even more misgivings about leaving the crown unprotected here.”
“You misunderstand me, Cousin,” Alexis explained. “My son will remain here on station as regent. He will rule in my stead while I beat the ever loving shit out of some Thraens and take back land that is mine in perpetuity.”
“But you said Brother DuChaer is to accompany you, Father,” Minor Alexis said. “Or did I hear that wrong?”
“You heard correctly,” Alexis said as he left his place and walked the length of the table down to his son.
He motioned for the minor to stand up and Minor Alexis, after a couple of puzzled frowns, did so. The entire table watched as Master Alexis circled the minor, seeming to study him with serious interest.
“As I thought,” he finally said. “You two are not joined at the hip as half the station likes to say.”
Alexis walked back to the head of the table, all jest gone and done for good.
“No, I mean as I said,” he stated gruffly. “DuChaer will accompany me to the prime while you, my son, remain here and rule for me. Being from Thraen Prime, DuChaer will be a great asset to have. He’ll know the land better than most of my generals and commanders. If he is to be a trusted advisor of the crown of Station Aelon then he will have to prove his loyalty before I pass and you take my position.”
“But, Father, Brother DuChaer is not—”
“Brother DuChaer is a subject of the Master of Station Aelon and he will fucking do as I fucking say!” Alexis shouted, his palms slapping the table top with every word. “That is unless you don’t feel he is up to the task. If that is the case then please make your voice heard now. Is he up to the campaign I propose, which would prove he is up to being a royal advisor, or is he not man enough to handle the basics of what it means to stand by a ruler? Please, Alexis, my son and heir, tell me which is it.”
DuChaer started to speak, but Alexis’s lifting of a single finger shut him up instantly.
“Son?”
“He is up to the task, Father,” Minor Alexis replied. “He will help with everything you need. Despite the accusations of Brother DuChaer being a flip, he is an accomplished bladesman and fighter. He will not disappoint you. Or me.”
“Good,” Alexis said as he slowly sat down, his eyes never leaving his son’s. “That is what I was hoping to hear.”
There was nothing but silence in the great hall. Not a creak, not a groan from the old castle could be heard as the council sat there, their minds reeling from everything that had occurred.
“Cousin Stolt,” Alexis said calmly. “Please inform the generals that we will be going to war. Also inform the meeting of Stewards and meeting of passengers that I expect their full support. That includes their financial support. The lease holdings on Thraen Prime benefit the entire station, not just the crown. We will all share in the cost of this campaign is that understood?”
“Explicitly, your highness,” Stolt nodded. “I will see to it immediately.”
“And I will see to it that my wife does not hear of this from other lips,” Alexis said. “That would be almost as dangerous as going to war.”
* * *
The Aelish destroyer, Malachai, cut its way through the boiling waters of Channel Blaern, its bow like a massive knife pointed at the coast of Thraen Prime. Behind it were eight more destroyers, each as impressive and dangerous as the lead ship.
Unlike the cutters of the Aelish Navy, the dest
royers didn’t have protective atmospheric shields to cover the exposed upper deck. This meant that only a polybreen environmental suit and helmet were what stood between Master Alexis and certain, painful death. Several generals stood behind the master, their body language stating their disapproval of Alexis putting himself at so much risk, especially as they grew closer to the landing site of their attack.
“I have missed this,” Alexis stated as he looked over at the equally suited DuChaer. “The poisonous mist as it rises off the water; the never ending cloud cover draping the planet in a shroud of grey; the fact that all that is between me and asphyxiation is a suit made of polybreen, woven by hands in my lower decks that at one time wanted nothing more than to strangle me.” The master laughed and clapped DuChaer on the shoulder. “I haven’t felt this alive in a long time.”
“Yes, sire,” DuChaer replied, his ever present bravado lost, weighted down by fear of the coming fight. “The planet Helios is a test of courage and conviction.”
“Yes, it is,” Alexis said then spun about and faced his generals. “Are we ready, gentlemen?”
A man easily as tall as Alexis took a step forward and bowed slightly. His dark skin made it almost impossible to read his features inside his helmet.
“All forces are prepared for the landing, your highness,” General Umphrey Ryan stated. “Once the destroyers reach the shallows then the attack skids will be sent out. We know that General Staunchton Herlect and his men are waiting, but reports say that his numbers are woefully inadequate to fight us off.”
“Their very beings are woefully inadequate,” Alexis replied.
A sharp pain stabbed at his side and he had to use all of his self-control not to grab at it. He took a deep breath, hoping those around would interpret it as patience and resolution, and not a reaction to an alarming discomfort that quickly escalated into agony.
“You do not need to wait for my orders, General,” Alexis said. “Once in place I expect you to attack with all the force and might that Helios has granted this righteous army.”