The Prince and the Programmer

by Cassandra Pierce

  “A place where his considerable talents were wasted,” Tergus said proudly, moving to stand beside him. “I am not jesting with you. Wait until you taste his concoctions. I never thought I would say that synthetic food could be better than that grown the natural way, but it is. And no worries about dirt or insects, either.”

  Ulphor nodded. “I am pleased that you have found a trustworthy servant. Managing a household is an important quality for a future ruler.”

  “As you manage your own household, so you will manage your people.” Queen Vara added.

  Jasno felt his stomach tighten with anxiety as Ulphor turned away, clearly unimpressed. Vara followed him out.

  “Jasno is much more than a servant,” Tergus called after them. “He’s indispensable to my happiness and well-being at the moment.”

  Whether Ulphor and Vara heard him or not, Jasno had no idea. He didn’t care, though. Tergus’s words buoyed his spirits. He never tired of hearing Tergus praise him and express gratitude that they had found one another. Maybe he would never have the kind of relationship with Tergus that he secretly wanted, but at least he had that much.

  “Come,” Tergus said, motioning for Jasno to follow him. “I’ll show you to the foodsynth lab you’ll be using to prepare for the tournament. You’ll be amazed. I guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it on the port or on the ship.”

  “Thank you, your Highness.”

  “This is going to be the most amazing event this city has ever seen. And the banquet might well be the part I’m looking forward to most.” Tergus got a dreamy look on his face. “Wait until Darex tastes your concoctions. He’ll never want to leave Despina. I’d stake my life on it!”

  “I beg you not to do that, your Highness.” Jasno said, worried.

  “Figure of speech. Don’t worry. And please stop calling me ‘Highness’ all the time. Now come on and let’ set up your new workspace.”

  Jasno steeled himself, plastered a neutral smile on his face, and dutifully followed Tergus down the hall with two bodyguards following closely behind them. Various people coming the other way paused and bowed when the spotted Tergus.

  Presently they entered a large room that reminded Jasno of a far more modern version of the lab he’d commandeered from Hyrzon on the yacht. He saw at once that everything he would need had already been installed or piled up on the shelves that lined every wall.

  “I thought you might especially like this feature.” Tergus stepped up to the counter and patted a strange-looking contraption set up beside the main computer. It opened rather like a pair of hands spread palm-upward, though it was fashioned of a coarse brown material Jasno thought might be wood. Since everything on Port Equinox was man-made, he had never seen anything carved directly from felled trees, but he had heard of such crafts.

  “Beg your pardon, Highness, but…what is it?”

  “Can’t you guess?” Tergus ran his fingers over it, making Jasno’s skin tingle as he imagined Tergus running a similar touch over him. “It’s a hand-carved stand. I had one of the palace builders fashion it for you. It’s meant to hold your book so you can look at it while you work.”

  A startled but delighted smile took Jasno’s face by surprise. No one had ever given him a gift before, never mind one specially fashioned for him. “That is most thoughtful, your Highness.”

  “Tergus, please. Let us be friends from now on. You are closer to one of my advisors than one of my servants.” Tergus snapped his fingers. “That reminds me. There was something else I meant to give you.”

  Turning, he spoke to one of the bodyguards, who bowed and left the room. A moment later, he returned with a box Tergus took from him and handed to Jasno. He indicated that Jasno should open it, which he did. A dark suit with his emblem on the chest lay within.

  “You are now a liveried member of my personal household,” Tergus told him. “Part of my household, and part of me. I look forward to seeing you wear it. But for now I should go. I need to see some of the details for the tournament. You can poke around in here for a bit, and then Avo will take you to the quarters I’ve reserved for you. Don’t worry about anything. And you’re going to look great.” As he was about to leave, Tergus paused and gave Jasno a quick hug from behind. “I know it.”

  Jasno watched Tergus leave, again surrounded by his bodyguards. Alone in his beautiful new workspace, he ran his own fingers over the bookstand in the exact pattern Tergus had traced. In a way, he felt he was touching his hand when he did so.

  For the final time, he banished any renegade idea of serving Darex food he would hate. No, he would do the best job he could and put his own feelings aside. Somehow, everything would work out. If he had to serve Tergus and Darex for the rest of his life, he would still be better off than he had been at the port. He had to remember that above all.

  The days until the party flew past, with most of Jasno’s time consumed by recipe experimentation and food preparation. As promised, he was given a small staff of helpers, mostly young people who seemed happy to assist him in programming and sometimes tasting the results. Avo, now his chief assistant, was assigned to keep the recipes secret, even from Hyrzon, who did not care to participate. Rumor had it that many prominent people, including an ambassador from another galaxy altogether and a wealthy importer of alien goods whom the king wanted to impress, were to be given special spots at the banquet. Jasno knew, however, that the best spots at the table would be reserved for Odu Gillius, Darex, and Mal Jar, who had recently confirmed his acceptance of the challenge.

  He saw little of Tergus, who now ate with his parents and the palace ministers. Over these meals Hyrzon again had full control. Jasno saw Tergus only in passing, and each time Tergus complained bitterly about eating Hyrzon’s bland food.

  “I think I would prefer the untreated polymer right out of the packaging,” he confided once when he stopped by the foodsynth lab to observe the scurrying workers with approval. “Of course, yours will only seem that much better when I get the chance to taste it again.”

  Finally, the night of the banquet arrived. Jasno was stuck in the lab, running the formulae through a final check so that the servers could unload the trays from the banquet hall slots without the slightest delay or mistake. He could not, therefore, watch the illustrious guests arrive at the hall with their entourages, but Avo kept up a steady narrative as he watched on the walls’ security viewscreen. He had set it up so that one side of the screen showed the royal landing pad, where the various pods and small ships were touching down, while the others side showed the stream of diners entering the banquet hall. The royal family, well-guarded, was on hand to personally greet those who were of a sufficient social station.

  “Odu Gillius is late,” Avo observed.

  Absorbed in his work, Jasno found it hard to care. “Oh?” he asked, mostly to humor Avo.

  “But wait—there’s Mal Jar,” Avo said with rising excitement. “Oh, he’s in fine form tonight. The way a champion should always look.”

  Jasno swallowed. “Is Prince Darex with him?”

  “Oh, yes. Come see.”

  Jasno left his screen and hurried over. Sure enough, Darex was striding toward the banquet hall beside Mal Jar, who did indeed look magnificent and commanding in a shimmering blue cloak that reached all the way to the floor. His shoulders were so thick and broad Jasno worried he might wedge himself in the doorway.

  He saw Tergus, too, hurrying forward to greet these most special guests. He said a few words to Mal Jar, though of course the screen did not carry any sound into the foodsynth lab, but his real interest lay in greeting Darex. Darex, too, was smiling as the two clasped hands and stood together for a long moment, simply staring into one another’s eyes.

  Jasno felt physically ill.

  The two exchanged a few words, gazing raptly at each other the entire time, and then stepped away and moved off-camera together. Were they skipping the banquet to go directly to Tergus’s bedroom to become reacquainted? If so, he didn’t want to kno
w about it.

  “We should both get back to work,” he told Avo. His voice shook. “You ought to turn that off.”

  Sighing, Avo did as asked. “Prince Darex is very handsome, isn’t he? It’s true what they say. I wonder if what I heard about his personality is true, too.”

  “What did you hear?” Jasno asked uneasily.

  “Oh, you know, the usual. He’s arrogant, he seduces everyone he comes in contact with, he orders his servants to pleasure him any time of day, whenever the urge strikes…he’s very different from Prince Tergus, that’s for sure.”

  “It certainly sounds that way.” Jasno’s heart ached as it beat slowly and heavily in his chest. Thinking of Tergus throwing away his life—and his love—on such a man caused him such agony that he could hardly stand.

  Avo was looking off at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. “They make a strange pair of friends, that’s for sure. I wonder if…”

  His voice trailed off, and Jasno was about to prompt him to continue when he heard other voices from the corridor, quickly approaching the lab door.

  “So, where is Odu Gillius?” a voice he recognized as Darex’s asked. “Afraid of being beaten, I assume? Turned and fled back to his own puny rock of a planet?”

  “He’ll be here,” Tergus himself replied with complete confidence. “Detained somewhere by his admirers, I would guess.”

  “He might as well not bother. Mal Jar will triumph either way.”

  The door swished open to reveal the two of them standing side by side, looking at Jasno expectantly. So they had not headed off to Tergus’s quarters after all—they had come directly here. Jasno did not know which scenario filled him with more horror.

  “Don’t be too confident. It’s always been unbecoming on you,” Tergus said. He flashed Jasno a genuinely happy smile. Of course he was happy, Jasno thought—he had his love with him again. What man wouldn’t be? “But never mind all that for now. I want you to meet the greatest foodsynth technician in the galaxy—and, as you can see, he wears my livery. Jasno Erys, please greet Prince Darex.”

  Jasno went stiff with fear. Darex had read his nameplate back at the port, and he had looked him right in the face before the strange events of that day had commenced. He would be angry, no doubt, and well within his rights to inform the port authorities where Jasno had ended up.

  Oddly, though, Darex simply stared as if he did not recognize Jasno at all. Jasno allowed himself to relax somewhat. Perhaps Darex considered the faces and names of the serving class not worth remembering.

  Avo, who had watched the scene unfold in anxious silence, dropped a quick bow when Darex’s eyes flicked to him next. “You will excuse me, your Highness. I have tasks to attend to in the banquet hall.” Tergus did not object as he fled.

  “You have brought me here to meet your kitchen staff?” Darex scoffed. “How incredibly thoughtful, Tergus.”

  “You’ll be singing a different song when you sample his creations. I trust you have something special prepared for the banquet, Jasno?”

  “Indeed I do, your Highness. I trust neither you nor your guests will be disappointed.” Jasno bowed.

  “There, you heard it directly from the master,” Tergus said with pride. “And speaking of masters, I wonder if I could suggest a wager between old friends?”

  “A wager?” Darex stroked his chin, clearly intrigued. “Such as?”

  “If Mal Jar the Master wins the match tomorrow, I shall become your personal valet, whom you may order about your own palace or anyplace you like, for as long as you like. If Odu Gillius wins, the roles shall be reversed and you shall become my servant ... again, for as long as I see fit.”

  Jasno felt ill. Tergus had used Darex’s love of gambling to coax him into a situation that would benefit Tergus either way. No doubt he would enjoy becoming Darex’s lord and master for a while, but Jasno suspected he would not mind serving him in any way that pleased Darex, either.

  Where that might leave Jasno, he had no idea.

  Darex was laughing, no longer paying any attention to Jasno at all. “This reminds me of the wagers we had in school. Some of them were really quite outrageous—and possibly illegal, though that never stopped us.”

  “I will never forget those,” Tergus agreed wistfully. “Have you?”

  “Actually, no. I have had other wagers since, and other slaves for that matter, but I always remembered the way you pleased me, Tergus.” He winked.

  “I am glad to hear it.” Finally, Tergus noticed Jasno’s reddening cheeks and embarrassed expression. He flashed Jasno an apologetic smile. “But we are keeping Jasno, here, from his important work. Let us go back and enjoy the banquet. The others will be missing us if we disappear too long.”

  “So what if they do?” Darex smirked. Jasno wanted to leap across the room and punch him in the face. Somehow, he managed to restrain himself.

  “If they do, then you will explain to my father where we have been and what we have been talking about.” Laughing, Tergus pulled Darex back out into the hall. Jasno stood in silence for a moment, wrapping both arms around himself and struggling to control his emotions. He had no doubt that Tergus’s plan would succeed one way or the other, and Darex would soon come to see what a treasure he had stumbled upon in somehow earning Tergus’s love. Jasno only hoped he would have enough sense to cherish it the way Jasno himself would have.

  He looked up when the door slid open again. He thought at first that Tergus had returned, hopefully without Darex. Some irrational part of him even hoped that Tergus had come to confess that the whole thing had been a prank, that Darex had been in on it, and that it had been Jasno all along whom Tergus had wanted to win over.

  Instead, he saw a grinning Hyrzon leaning in the threshold. “So ... how is the food for party coming along?”

  The day had been long, stressful, and disappointing for reasons that had nothing to do with food synthesis, so Jasno allowed himself a moment of ill-temper. He threw his hands up in the air. “You have to ask?”

  Hyrzon nodded. His eyes glittered with a smugness that bordered on malice. “Odu Gillius has just arrived,” he noted. “That should make things more interesting for Tergus and his friend.”

  “I had no doubt that he would.” Jasno’s saw tightened. “I hope they enjoy themselves immensely at both the banquet and the match.” He avoided speculating on what might happen after each of those events in the privacy of Darex’s guest suite or Tergus’s chambers.

  “They will. They have been together on and off for their entire lives. But I suppose you knew that. From what I have seen, Tergus tends to talk of nothing else.” Hyrzon laughed, not at all pleasantly. Then his expression grew serious. “Don’t intrude on their business,” he warned in a voice heavy with an unarticulated threat. “Know your place. It’s the only way to get by in this household. Trust me.”

  “Please excuse me,” Jasno said, biting back the urge to shout—mostly because he was afraid it might emerge as a sob. “I have work to do.”

  Chapter 7

  “You did a wonderful job tonight,” Tergus said, coming around the corner just as Jasno was about to enter his quarters and prepare for bed. The long night had at last come to an end, and though he had never gone near the banquet hall himself, he had heard that the entire palace was buzz with praise for his menu creations. Hearing it directly from Tergus outweighed the acclaim of all the others put together.

  Nonetheless he winced. The few errors that had crept into his formulae tended to overshadow the many successes in his perfectionistic mind. “The rohepa seed bread was too sweet,” he said. “Next time, I think I should add a little salt to balance the flavor. An old Earth trick.”

  “Too sweet? I didn’t notice. I found everything perfect, and so did Darex, though he would never admit as much.”

  “I’m glad, your Highness.” So it all came down to Darex again. Of course. Darex was happy, so Tergus was happy. Nothing else mattered, did it?

  Tergus waved a hand impatien
tly. “Stop calling me that. I’m tired of all the formality around here. After all, you’re not one of my subjects. You don’t work for me, either. You’re sort of a guest, when you think about it. Please call me Tergus.”

  “I’m not sure I could get used to that.”

  “Well, try.”

  “Yes, your Hi—er, Tergus.”

  “Better.” Tergus’s face relaxed into a smile. “I like hearing you say my name. You don’t have an accent, exactly, but I’ve always felt that Earth people speak a little differently, no matter where they grew up. I’m not sure why.”

  “That well may be. I probably have a unique pronunciation because I was exposed to so many different accents on Port Equinox when I was young and first learning how to speak.”

  Tergus nodded and shifted from one foot to the other while Jasno punched in the code at his door and waited for it to slide open. Tergus followed him inside without waiting for an invitation.

  “You’re probably wondering how it was for me, seeing Darex again,” he chattered on. “Well, he hasn’t changed much since our Academy days, I can tell you that. It’s going to take some time to convince him to stop running around and playing the field.”

  “The purpose of the wager, I assume.”

  “Yes. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist that.” Tergus reached out and stroked his hand over Jasno’s shoulder. “I really appreciate your listening to me like this. Somehow when I talk about these things I feel less worried about the future.”

  “What is there to be worried about? If…if the two of you are meant to be together, I mean.” Jasno choked out the words. “If that’s the case, then it should all fall together by itself, don’t you think? Wager or no wager?”

  “Yes, I do believe that, for the most part. Darex doesn’t want to see it for some reason. I figure if I can just give him a little push in the right direction, he’ll see that he should stay with me. The food was the first step. Showing him around the palace was the second. With any luck, the wager will be the third.”