by K. B. Wagers
“I know I’m a good liar,” I said. “What bothers me is Adora.”
“Adora bothers everyone. It’s her talent.”
“As old as she is, you’d think she’d have more practice at lying.”
Aiz choked on a laugh, but it died when I didn’t join him. “You think she’s hiding something else?”
“Hai Ram, I certainly don’t think she’s just going to agree to these negotiations. Not after trying to kill us all in the last one.”
Aiz blinked at me. “What?”
“Oh, you weren’t there for that conversation. We don’t have proof but it’s extremely likely that a Farian hired Jamison to attack the party.” I held a finger up. “And before you swear some oath of vengeance—he’s mine.”
“Fair enough.” He smiled. “Can I help?”
“With that?” I shrugged. “It’s on my list of things to worry about if we make it out of this alive, but sure. Anyhow, something’s off there with Adora. I liked my life better when I wasn’t dealing with people who could see the future.”
“That’s not true.”
I thought of Mia and smiled. “You’re right, it’s not. Adora’s hiding something. The Farians have always been good at seeding lies with truth. Tell an obvious lie, the listener thinks they know what’s going on. They don’t bother to look for the bigger lie hiding behind everything else.”
“You’re afraid that’s what she’s doing?”
“I don’t know her as well as you do.” I transferred the file over. “Take a look at the recording and tell me what you think.” I leaned against the wall and watched him as he reviewed the conversation.
“She’s off her stride from the beginning. Do you always make her so unsettled?” Aiz exhaled in surprise. “You know, I assumed her behavior at the negotiations was all due to me, but my dear sister is scared of you.”
“She should be, especially if I get proof she had anything to do with Jamison.”
“You’re right about her not being sure if you’re telling the truth or not. It’s good. It keeps her off balance. She’s hiding something; see this?” He tossed the video back onto the screen. “That tic in her jaw. She’s poking at a molar with her tongue. I knocked it out when we were children. Father made her go without it for a month before he regrew it, and she developed this habit of messing with it when she’s planning something.”
“So she’s planning something, but there’s no way of telling just what it is.” I pushed away from the wall, taking an absentminded swing at Aiz. He blocked it with his right. I took the punch to my side, collapsing with it, stealing the power from him with a hold Zin had taught me months ago. Aiz fumbled, barely stopping my elbow from hitting his head, and I watched the frown flit over his face at the unexpected move. “I want to talk to Fasé’s people. Get a backup plan in play for when things go to shit. And then there’s the big question. How do we get to the gods?”
“I have an idea for that.”
“Are you going to share that idea with me? Or just keep it all to yourself?”
“We should go find the others. It would be easier to only go through it once.”
I grinned; the pace of our fight was easy, without any of the heat and anger that normally swamped my brain. Still, I knew I had him on the defensive with my almost-lazy style, and I pressed my advantage in the small space.
“So we’ll go to Faria, talk with some gods, convince them to cooperate, and be home in time for tea.”
“You know it’s not going to work out like that.” Aiz threw a punch. I blocked it, stepping in and sweeping his leg. He avoided it at the last second, but the chairs were in his way and I laughed when he stumbled into one of them.
“I know, but a girl can dream.” I sighed. “Besides, we’ve got the whole saving-the-galaxy portion of events to deal with, too.” I glanced over my shoulder, spotting Emmory and Mia standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorway. “Morning.”
“The gym might be a better place for a fight, Hail,” Emmory said.
“I know, we were just—” I fumbled, dropped my hands. “It helps me think.”
Mia laughed, but there was a soft look in her gray eyes. The memory of her mouth underneath mine flooded my brain, stealing my breath.
Aiz’s punch to my kidney put me on my knees, finishing the job. I folded over, palms flat to the floor, and dragged in a breath, tasting blood in my mouth.
“You can’t afford to get distracted,” he whispered, his voice amused as he hauled me to my feet.
“Too late for that.” It was meant to be light, but Aiz frowned, leaning in until his forehead was pressed to mine.
“I have come to care for you, Star of Indrana. I told myself I shouldn’t, that it would complicate things. But I have.” He offered up a smile. “I know you agreed to this; however, I would not see you dead for the sake of my people.”
“You should care a little more for your own life,” I murmured back.
“I have had a long one, filled with violence unending and far too little love.” His smile was forced as he pulled away.
“We will finish this, then, for my people and yours.” I caught his hand, squeezed it once before letting it go.
“At times I almost believe you could make that happen,” he replied. “But that is not the reality you and I know. Is it?”
It made my heart ache, but I knew he was right.
“Adora has been informed we’re coming for a second go at the negotiations.” I gestured at Aiz with my mug ten minutes later in the war room. “How do we get in to see the gods once we’re there?”
“Fasé and I will invoke the right of ilios porthmeios.”
Mia gasped. “Aiz, you cannot.”
Fasé looked impressed. I frowned. The words were Farian, but they meant nothing to me. “What does that mean?”
Sybil’s mouth dropped open in surprise, and then she laughed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
“Someone want to clue the rest of us in on what that is?”
“It is the ritual ending. A challenge of sorts. We use their own laws against them.” Sybil was practically bouncing in her chair. “The Pedalion grants special privilege to those looking to end their lives.”
“I’m assuming you mean permanently.”
“Aiz, no,” Mia repeated, pressing a hand to her mouth. “You can’t risk it.”
“I will,” he replied. “This is always where it was headed. I fight the gods and win, or I lose, and this is over for good.”
“Adora’s never going to believe you want to end your life,” I said. “And I’m reasonably sure I don’t qualify for this given that I’m neither Farian nor Shen.”
“My sister will jump at the chance to approve my petition even if she doesn’t believe me, and I suspect the Pedalion would be glad to see Fasé follow me to the same fate.” Aiz’s smile was bitter. “It’s not about if I actually want to, Hail. It’s about what will happen. Their arrogance will lead them to assume I can’t possibly win and they’ll gladly send me to what they think is my doom.”
I had some thoughts of my own about arrogance, but I kept them close. Setting the cup down and resting my chin on my hand, I gave him a level look. “What about me and Mia? All four of us need to be there.”
“I make the challenge. The Pedalion will hear it and deliberate, finally making a decision on my petition. I will go through the trials to face the gods. I will fight them. I will finish them. So we can finally be free.”
“What. About. Me?”
Aiz grinned. “I get a plus-one to the party, Star of Indrana. Fancy a dance?”
I laughed at him. “I’m not even going to get dinner out of it, am I?”
“I could, if you really need it.”
“Dhatt.” I picked up my chai again and smiled at him over the rim of the mug. “I see where you’re going with this, though. If you and Fasé both issue the challenge, you’d each get to take someone with you. It could work.”
“Can we back up a fe
w steps here?” Hao asked. “If your people want to truly die, they have to fight their gods for it?”
“It is a ritual challenge,” Sybil replied. “Some fight, most don’t. It’s seen as an honorable death either way. It is the ritual that’s important. When the gods kill a Farian, or Shen”—she looked in Aiz’s direction—“they consume their souls; there is no coming back from that.”
“Can they do that to her?” Hao gestured at me, and I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Of all the people to be concerned for my immortal soul, my atheist brother was the last one I’d have picked.
“Unlikely.” Sybil smiled. “Star of Indrana she is, but Hail is still human. They’d have no need of her soul.”
Hao was unimpressed by the answer. “You’re talking to someone who has spent a great deal of his life taking things he had no need of, Sybil. That’s not very reassuring.”
“I’ll be dead, Hao; it won’t matter anyway.”
“It does,” Zin said. “You matter, Hail, and what happens after matters.”
I wasn’t about to get into a theological discussion with Zin in the middle of all this, so I simply nodded. His eyes narrowed and I mouthed What? at him.
“You know damn well what, this is—”
“Focus, people,” Emmory said. “We’ve already committed to the idea of Her Majesty and Aiz facing down the gods; there’s no backing away from it at this point. So deal with the problems as they come up, and stop worrying about step eight.”
His sharp order stunned the room into silence, and I watched Zin bite down the rest of whatever he’d been about to say to me. Hao was staring with a look in his eyes I knew all too well meant I’d get an earful as soon as he could get me alone.
“I like it,” Fasé announced with a finality no one seemed to want to argue with. Mia still looked troubled, but she nodded in agreement.
“So we go in under the pretense of negotiations, drop this challenge on them, and go to meet the gods instead.” I lifted hands. “Beyond the obvious dangers, can anyone see a problem with this plan?”
“Beyond the potential mortality of it all?” Aiz grinned. “It’ll be a stroll through a supernova.”
37
We’ve started with the retrofits on the other Vajrayana engines, Majesty, thanks to your contacts. Caspel?” Inana gestured in to Caspel, who was on the screen in front of us.
“At your request, I spoke with Prime Minister Toropov. He was appreciative of the information. You were right that there was some growing concern that it looked like we were mobilizing for war again. They haven’t finalized negotiations with the Farians yet, and he’s going to come up with some way to stall until there’s an outcome on your end. He said to tell you that Saxony is Indrana’s friend and ally first.”
I blew out a breath. That was a big risk on the Saxons’ part and one that Toropov or the king didn’t have to take. The fact that they were willing to do so said a great deal about just how committed to keeping the peace between our people they were.
I shouldn’t have worried about it. Toropov was canny enough to realize just how fast things would go to shit if Earth was attacked and our two nations were left to fend for ourselves in our arm of the galaxy.
“Tell Toropov if there’s a way for us to figure out how to get this tech to work with some of his ships, we’ll do it.” I saw Caterina’s frown form a second before her question.
“Is that wise, Majesty? This tech could give us a big advantage. If something were to—”
“We’re not going back to war with the Saxons, Caterina, and King Samuel was gracious enough to offer up the Likho tech as part of the reparations.”
“Yes, because they owe us for the war. You’re basically handing them something that’s worth a thousand times over what their warp technology is worth.”
“Possibly because I recognize that we won’t get paid back anything if war comes and the Saxons fall, Caterina. Beyond that, think for a minute about how this could improve the shipping interests of both the Indranans and the Saxons. We’ll have tech that the Solarians won’t and the ability to ship things almost instantaneously between our arm of the galaxy and theirs.”
“I—” Caterina blinked and closed her mouth, shaking her head. “I apologize, Your Majesty. You have obviously thought this through. I shouldn’t have assumed otherwise.”
“Apology accepted, Caterina. I want to be done with war. I want the peace with the Saxons to open up a new era of prosperity for our people.”
Alice cleared her throat with a smile.
“I received a very concerned message from Adora,” she said. “About you suggesting you had a fleet that would fire upon the Farian forces should she refuse the negotiations.”
I was glad I’d thought to bring Alice in on the loop immediately after that conversation with Adora. Otherwise I’d probably be fending off her and Caterina on this call.
“I told her that yes, that was the case, and that moreover not only Indrana but the rest of the governments in the human sectors were in full agreement about putting a stop to the war. I’d spoken with President Hudson shortly before that, and he will be passing on the same ultimatum to the Farians. Humanity is united on this idea of peace between the Farians and the Shen.”
“Good. We’ll be sure not to waste it.” I wondered if they would all be as united if they knew the real plan, and looked around. “Is there anything else?”
“No, Majesty. Just be careful,” Alice said.
I nodded in acknowledgment. “I’ll do my best. Same to all of you, keep an eye out.”
Caspel nodded at my parting words and then I disconnected the call, sharing a look with Gita as I got to my feet.
“Under normal circumstances, Matriarch Saito would have a point, ma’am,” Inana said. “While I agree with your plan for our shipping consortiums, we also could gain an advantage over Saxony with that tech.”
“We got the tech from Fasé, which means it was illegal in the first place. Then we got more components because one of the leaders of the Shen gave it to me as a gift.” I shook my head. “We wouldn’t even be here if this were normal circumstances, Inana.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “I want to be done with war after this. I want to trust our neighbors. I know there’s always a chance Saxony will turn around and use that on us at some point down the road, or worse that the Solarians and others will pitch a fit when they catch wind of it. But we need the advantage right now, and I’m willing to bank on Toropov knowing that staying on my good side benefits his people more than the other option.”
“I hope we don’t need it,” Inana replied. “Which really is the bigger issue.” She gestured at where the screen had been. “Those three are going to be furious when they find out we didn’t tell them about your backup plan.”
“Yeah, well.” I grinned and shrugged. “There’s nothing they can do about it from Pashati, and the more people we tell the greater the risk is that it’ll get back to the Pedalion. And I’m not taking any chances on that.” My amusement fled and I met Gita’s grim look. “I’d like to at least get us down onto Faria before I have to start worrying about whether the Pedalion is going to try to have us killed.”
“I’m in agreement with you,” Inana said, getting to her feet. “Just warning you. I’m going to go make sure Captain Saito and her crew are ready for departure.”
Isabelle Saito was the captain of the Hailimi Bristol ever since we’d stolen the ships from Canafey. The tall, broad-shouldered woman and her crew were all familiar to me, and I knew that had been the major reason Admiral Hassan had decided to bring them with her in the first place.
I settled back down on the bunk in my room as Gita walked with Inana to the door. Everything was as sorted as we could get it. I’d ruthlessly compartmentalized all the problems for after our showdown with the gods and shoved them into a box in the back corner of my smati.
I’ll deal with it later wasn’t very imperial, I knew, but it was going to have to work for now.
“Maje
sty?” Gita stuck her head back in the door. “Do you have a moment for Sybil?”
“Sure.” I rolled from my bed and got up with a smile. “Have a seat, what can I do for you?”
“You are looking for something?” she asked with a smile, gesturing at the mess of information I had projected onto the wall.
“The link,” I replied. “There has to be something that binds all this together. Something that links your gods to the Hiervet and the light coming.”
“You won’t believe it’s all just random?”
“Recognizing patterns is what we do.” I crossed my arms and stared at the wall. “It’s there, I just can’t quite put my finger on it yet. You don’t believe there is? Even having seen all the possibilities?”
Sybil joined me with a shrug of a shoulder. “There are some eternal patterns. Honestly, the rest of it is just you all trying to make sense of chaos instead of embracing the uncertainty.”
“Uncertainty gets you killed,” I replied automatically, waving Emmory and Zin into the room when they appeared in the doorway. “I have questions about the ilios porthmeios.”
“What kind of questions?”
“The basics—how does it work? What are we looking at if the Pedalion approves it?” I leaned against the desk next to Zin, smiling at his murmured greeting.
“The petitioner can be of any bodily age, but their soul age has to be at least a hundred,” Sybil said.
“As if it takes someone a hundred years to know if they want to die,” Mia said from the door. Aiz was at her side and the pair moved into the room, taking up the last free spots.
“It is admittedly an arbitrary cutoff point.”
“It makes a certain amount of sense, all things considered,” I said. “That was a decent life span before longevity meds. You wouldn’t get to experience everything, but you could make a good showing of it.”
“I suspect that is the reason for the ruling.” Sybil nodded. “There is no limit, as I said, on the age of the body the Farian is in, given that it is really just a way for us to move through the world. Though I’d expect it would have an impact on those who were hearing the petition maybe if the petitioner were younger. I can think of only one instance where a Farian you would consider a teenager was granted ilios porthmeios and they were very old indeed.”