Responsibility of the Crown

by G Scott Huggins

  “Lady, there is nothing to see here. Perhaps the—”

  “Oh, I didn’t really want to see anything in particular. Just to stretch my legs. My cabin is so small.”

  “Well, yes, even the staterooms are designed for efficiency. But we should head back to the main passage.” There was a polite urgency in his voice. Still the tether led this way. He tried again, “There are much more interesting things to show you elsewhere.”

  Suddenly, the tether plunged through a simple door. Long words were written above it: She picked out the letters “Aer” and “Recon.”

  Azriyqam decided to fall back on a childhood trick: innocent curiosity. “Oh, nonsense. One room is as interesting as another. What’s in here?” She opened the door and stepped in, ignoring his muffled curse.

  It was dark, but she’d learned since coming on board that the Consortium helpfully installed light switches in the same place in every room. She reached out and flipped it on.

  The room had a huge table in the middle of it. Both it and the walls were covered in shining, black-and-white paper. Then she realized what she was looking at.

  They were pictures. The tether drew her attention to the ones spread out on the table. There were at least a dozen of them. Pictures of a ship. Some from very far away, and some so close she could almost pick out people on the deck. A huge ship, with storehouses and cabins and a forest of masts, and atop one of the masts, the remains of a tiny cell she had thought she would never see again.

  Ekkaia.

  On the table there were also a number of documents, all printed in the difficult Consortium script. She stared at them, uncomprehending. Why would they have pictures of Ekkaia?

  “My lady,” said Kyril, from behind her, hard command now in his voice. His skin was pale. “You need to leave this room. Right now.”

  “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. She retreated from the room and he turned off the light, then locked the door.

  “I didn’t mean to, ah, do anything wrong,” she finished lamely.

  Kyril was looking up and down the corridor. “Well, there’s no harm done,” he muttered. “Nothing important there anyway. Please allow me to take you somewhere more suitable and attractive. My lady.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’d like that.” She swayed on her feet. How late was it? “Perhaps some of the fresh air you spoke of would be a good idea.”

  Outside, the aurora centralis hung over the lightward horizon, shading from dim gold just above the cloudwall to bright silver at its peak. It reflected off the black waters.

  Somewhere out there was Ekkaia, and the aircraft of this ship—the pictures could only have been taken from the air—watched it. Why? And what did any of that have to do with Threlya? Azriyqam desperately wanted to ask, but she also knew that any questions about what she had seen could only lead to trouble. Her stomach crawled. What if someone found out what she had done?

  “Where is your home from here?” she asked.

  “Somewhere to lightward,” he answered. “I could find its exact position if I were in the chart room. It’s on the shore of a vast island. So vast that there are those in the inside of it who live their whole lives and never see the Endless Ocean. They think it’s a myth.”

  Endless land.

  Azriyqam’s mind couldn’t take it in. She had never imagined so much land could exist.

  “It must be very beautiful,” she said. She thought about how comforting it must be to live one’s life surrounded by the solid assurance of land beneath one’s feet. She missed the solid rock of the Kreyntorm with a longing that was almost painful, and that was only an island.

  “Very beautiful,” he echoed. He was staring at her. Why was he looking at her like that? “I never thought so before,” he continued. “Perhaps it would be, now.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 10

  A sharp knock on her cabin brought her awake, and she heard the muffled noise of a sharp argument outside. The knocking came more sharply. “Princess Azriyqam!”

  She recognized Elazar’s voice. She sat up. Her clothes clung to her and she realized she hadn’t even bothered to slide out of them. She threw a robe over her gown. “Come in.”

  The door opened and Elazar entered. Behind him, a hulking man in a uniform tried to follow, but Elazar stopped. “You have not been permitted to enter this cabin, and the Princess Azriyqam’s chamber is a private room. If you do not wish to find yourself the subject of an official protest, I suggest you remain outside of it.” He shut the door firmly in the man’s face.

  “Get up,” he said to her. “Change and make yourself minimally presentable. We have been summoned to the Lady Senaatha’s cabin. The fleet captain is there. I trust you had an enjoyable evening.”

  “Elazar, I—” she began. Faster than thought, his wingtip reached across the room and touched her lips.

  “Say as little as possible.” Staring her in the face, he asked, “Was your evening enjoyable?”

  He wanted an answer, but he didn’t want her to talk. Was he asking if she had succeeded? She decided he was. “Yes.” She stepped into the water closet and shed her evening gown in favor of her flying harness. It felt oddly light without her airswords, but those had been taken by the master-at-arms as soon as they had arrived in their cabins. Not even serving officers were allowed sidearms on board unless they were marines assigned to security.

  “The captain is very upset. He wants to see all of us, immediately, together. Your brother is there, too, and I think he is not in the captain’s good graces.”

  They emerged from the cabin. The hall was lined with armed men and women wearing a dead-black uniform Azriyqam hadn’t seen before. The big one by the door nodded and escorted them to Senaatha’s quarters. They were the last to arrive. Avnai stood braced at attention and guarded by two marines. A small platoon of them stood, mixed with the black-clad soldiers, before Captain Eute and Commander Wiegand, facing Senaatha, Merav, and Zhad. Two of the marines held the largest guns Azriyqam had ever seen, with muzzles wide enough to swallow a human fist. Senaatha wore an elegant, informal gown. The wig she had worn for the ball was not in evidence, and her silver-gray half-crown of horns stood out on her head. Beside her, Merav looked frightened and blank faced. Zhad stood with his back to the wall.

  “Now that you have all graced us with your presence,” the captain growled, “we have a very serious matter to discuss, Lady Senaatha.”

  “I hope it is serious, Captain, because if not, it is rather insulting to parade into our presence with enough guns to invade a small island. I was under the impression the Consortium respected its allied states.”

  “The states of the Consortium obey its laws and the law of the Consortium is that no sorcery is to be practiced within its territory.”

  Azriyqam froze. No. She had been alone. They couldn’t know.

  “Well?” said Senaatha. “What does that have to do with us?”

  “Someone aboard this vessel practiced sorcery last night and the only people who might have that knowledge are those in your party.”

  “If you do not know who practiced it, how do you know that it was practiced at all? Was some part of your ship inexplicably damaged? Was something taken? Changed?”

  The captain’s eyes narrowed. “I do not propose to share our methods with someone I have reason to believe might be trying to circumvent them. It is enough that you know we are aware of your actions.”

  “Really? That was the purpose of this intrusion? To make us aware? I’m quite sure that message could have been delivered more courteously, Captain. Is that all?”

  “Do not be disingenuous, your ladyship,” the captain said, voice dropping dangerously low. “I intend to discover who is at the bottom of this and have that person prosecuted.”

  “If you think I had something to do with this act of sorcery you allegedly detected, Captain,” Senaatha replied evenly, “you might have had the courtesy simply to ask.”

  “Very well. If it pleases yo
u, Lady Senaatha of Evenmarch, did you perform sorcery while aboard this vessel last night?”

  “No,” Senaatha answered.

  “I’m very sorry you refuse to make this easier upon all of us.” The captain rounded on Avnai. “What about you, Lieutenant? Did you know of any sorcery being performed aboard my flagship? Or perhaps you did some yourself?”

  “No, sir,” said Avnai.

  “Really? Commander Wiegand tells me that you and he had something of a confrontation last night. You return to us after months spent at home, having lost your command, with a tale of—” With an effort, the captain clamped his mouth shut. “With some rather extraordinary accounts of the circumstances, and you’re telling me that the commander’s reaction to that didn’t upset you? Possibly with the entire Consortium?”

  Avnai’s lip curled. “Whether I am upset is of no consequence, sir. I am an officer of the Consortium Navy, and I know my duty. Is the commander injured?”

  Wiegand opened his mouth to speak but the captain said, “That is none of your concern. Let us see if we can discover anything else about what might have happened last night.” He jerked his head toward the door.

  Kyril walked in. His face was carved of pale stone.

  “Lieutenant,” said the captain. “You were off duty last night, yet one of my sailors tells me that you stood watch outside the Princess’s cabin. Why?”

  “Ensign Galliardis asked me to relieve him, sir. He said he felt poorly.”

  “Yet he did not report sick this morning. Why was that?”

  “I couldn’t say, sir. Perhaps he simply ate something that disagreed with him and felt better for a night’s sleep.”

  “I’m sure.” The captain’s tone said he didn’t believe a word of it, and a sneer of disgust crossed his face. “Did you stand a full watch outside the Princess’s door?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did she leave the cabin at any time?”

  Azriyqam’s breath caught in her throat.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Were you with her at all times?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “The princess expressed a desire to go for a walk, sir. We walked forward to the bow, I showed her around some of that part of the ship. We walked on deck and she returned to her cabin.”

  Azriyqam’s breath eased. He was not going to mention the photographs she had seen, it seemed, but the captain was not mollified. “I want you to think very carefully, Lieutenant. You were seen by several of the men in the company of the princess last night. Was there anything that she said or did that could have been an act of sorcery?”

  Kyril’s eyes went dark and flicked to Azriyqam. “No, sir.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Lieutenant, because I’d have preferred to think of you as an observant officer. I thought that in this at least, your barbarian heritage might prove an asset rather than a hindrance.” He turned back to them. “As it happens, we do know where the sorcery was done. It was done in the forepart of the ship, somewhere between the bow and the staterooms assigned to your party. Which means that the Princess Azriyqam is guilty of performing sorcery.”

  Kyril’s mouth dropped open.

  “The only question,” the captain continued, “is whether she did it alone or whether anyone else helped her to do it. You will tell me now, which it was. Did the princess act alone, or did someone else assist her?”

  Azriyqam’s head spun. Did the captain know what she had done? Or just that something had been done?

  Elazar stepped forward and cleared his throat. “With respect, Captain, you are trying to make us incriminate ourselves or the Princess Royal. We will do neither, especially as you have shown no proof sorcery was performed at all.”

  “If you will not tell me who it was who did sorcery aboard my ship, I will be forced to consider this a matter of naval security and to confine you here until you have confessed.”

  Merav gasped. Elazar blinked. Avnai said, “Sir, with all due respect, you cannot do this. It is a violation of the Treaty of Alliance that could well put the Consortium and the kingdom at the brink of war. You cannot capture a dragon—”

  “I am the commanding officer of this ship, Lieutenant Moshaiu, and this is a matter of Naval Law. I can do as I see fit in the service of my vessel and this fleet.”

  “Sir,” said Commander Wiegand, looking uncomfortable, “The lieutenant is quite—”

  “Out of line, Commander!” shouted Eute. “As are you. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Sir,” said Wiegand, and braced to attention.

  “Captain, I beg you to reconsider,” said Elazar. “No one has been injured by this so-called attack—”

  The captain whirled on the old halfdragon. “How would you know that?”

  “Because you would have presented it as evidence if we had done anything so foolish,” said Elazar, calmly. “It would have put you clearly in the right and the perpetrators clearly in the wrong. Displayed in front of the younger members of our party, the shock might even have elicited confession. Instead, you refuse to present any evidence sorcery has been done. You are risking a major diplomatic incident with an allied state on the mere hope you may frighten us into a confession.”

  The captain sniffed. “The Consortium faces no risk in an incident with one of its allied states, sir. Especially ones fortunate enough to be allied states at all. But I promise you this: ally or no, no one is going to bring their barbarian arts aboard my ship and get away with it, rank be damned. I will have the truth. However, excepting the princess, you are not prisoners. We will return you to your home, once I know that this ship is again secure. Until that time, I have little choice but to treat you as our guests.”

  “Very well,” said Avnai. “I will end this. The sorceress is my sister Azriyqam.”

  Azriyqam stared at her brother. His blue eyes pierced her like needles of ice. Impossibly, he continued. “You have my word it was she who performed this act and no other, and I will so testify.”

  Senaatha stepped forward. “Avnai, what are you doing?” she demanded.

  Avnai continued, not looking at Senaatha or Azriyqam. “But you must also indict me on whatever charges you intend to lay against her. I brought her here as a guest and therefore she is my Responsibility.”

  Azriyqam stared at her brother and this time he looked her in the eyes. “I am taking Responsibility for my actions. I have always taken Responsibility and always will. For if I am not a man of honor, then what am I?”

  From the corner of her eye, Azriyqam saw Elazar nodding in approval. Merav buried her face in her wings. Azriyqam stared at her brother, trying to draw his meaning from his lips.

  “Then you admit your guilt, as well as hers,” began the captain.

  “‘Ware the dragon!” snapped one of the men. The marines trained their huge guns upon Senaatha, who walked forward, swaying on her feet.

  “Do you have any idea what you have done, boy?” she asked.

  “My duty, Aunt Senaatha. I am sorry I could not find a better way to do it.”

  She swallowed. “Your father the Crown will not forgive either of us.” Then Senaatha’s eyes rolled up in her head, and she fell to the deck.

  Elazar knelt by her side. “She doesn’t breathe.”

  The captain whirled to a marine at the door. “Get a surgeon! Now!” The marine turned and shouted into an intercom.

  Azriyqam stood there in a sea of bizarre calm. Senaatha looked dead, and the captain who had been frightened enough to risk a war over them looked, if anything, more frightened now that she was dead. Merav knelt beside Senaatha, looking stunned.

  A thunder of boots sounded in the corridor. An older man in a red uniform pushed past Merav and knelt over Senaatha. “Dead and Nameless Gods,” he swore. “It had to be the dragon?”

  The captain stood over him. “Is she alive? What’s wrong with her? She just collapsed!”

  “I don’t even know what keeps her alive in this form
.” He turned to Elazar. “Is she even similar to a human at all?”

  Elazar’s voice was low. “Her body is almost identical to a human’s underneath the skin, doctor, but you will not find what you seek.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “Dragons do not react well to being captured. She warned you, captain. As did Commander Moshaiu. The Lady Senaatha is gone.”

  The captain looked to the doctor for a denial, but he rose and shook his head. “She’s not breathing and there’s no heartbeat. As far as I can tell, she just dropped dead. We’ll make whatever arrangements you desire, of course,” he said to Elazar.

  “Your actions have led to the death of the sister of the Crown Consort of Evenmarch. We have our own rituals for the dead. We will sit vigil for her here, for twenty-four hours. None will disturb us during that time. Then you will return us to our homes, as we no longer stand accused of the great crime of performing sorcery aboard your vessel.”

  The captain nodded, unable to tear his eyes from the dead woman. “Yes. Yes, it will be done.”

  Avnai knelt over her and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Aunt Senaatha.” He rose and turned to the captain. “I will confess to the tribunal as I promised, sir, if you will grant me leave to sit vigil with my people before the trial.”

  The captain nodded. “Very well.”

  Azriyqam stepped forward. “And me. I will sit vigil.”

  Avnai shook his head. “No. You cannot. You stand accused of a crime aboard my vessel and I am responsible for that crime. If we speak to one another, we might agree to deceive the tribunal.” To the captain, he said, “Please hold my sister under house arrest in all courtesy.”

  Shattered, Azriyqam was led away.

  * * *

  Alone in her cabin, Azriyqam could not stop her mind from racing.

  I will always take responsibility. He was promising to come for her. That had to be what he meant, wasn’t it?

  And yet, Father had ordered him to do nothing to endanger his commission. Not even for Threlya, the woman he loved.