"Yes, your Majesty. I will prepare the orders for the androids of that fleet. But I came for a different reason. Sorting through your piled-up mail, I discovered a message that should be of interest to you, and marked it."
I called up the incoming message interface and immediately saw a letter outlined in red that had come in from my former assistant Nicole ton Savoia.
"Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle!
I consider it my duty to inform you that your brother, Count Roben royl Inoky ton Mesfelle is in critical condition. His doctors are unanimous in giving him no more than one week to live. Countess Verena, after receiving this information from the medics had a long conversation with the Head of the Orange House, after which she issued a ban on spreading any information on Roben's condition, and ordered everyone to act like nothing was happening.
P.S. Thank you for the tip on Himora! We have already returned it to Imperial control.
Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet Commander
Nicole ton Savoia"
I looked at the time the message came in. It was nineteen hours ago.
"Attention all ships of the united fleet! The Yayho fleet is to remain in this system and cover the dozen Trias. Other ships and two Trias, stand by. In thirty minutes, we'll be heading for Tesse!"
* * *
We hurried as best we could but, nevertheless, we had to make a detour through the unstable Sigur system beacon, the route through the Himora star system not being open to my fleet for obvious reasons. There was also a positive in that, though: the Orange House wouldn't know a thing about my fleet's movement right up until the united armada emerged from a warp tunnel into the Tesse system. We came out just one hundred eighty miles from the surface of the planet Tesse-III (precisely where the Mechanoid, Eleven, had "anchored" on my request, giving us jump coordinates far from the warp beacon).
The first thing I did was demand to be put through with Nicole ton Savoia, in order to avoid unnecessary military conflict with the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet. The commander accepted my call almost instantly.
"Crown Prince Georg, you have my deepest sympathies..."
My whole chest felt ready to burst. I must not have made it. Roben was dead.
"When did it happen, Nicole?"
"Your older brother Crown Prince Roben royl Inoky ton Mesfelle is no more as of this morning. As a matter of fact, I am at his burial ceremony in the flying palace right now. The urn of the Counts ashes has just been placed in the columbarium. His widow is giving her eulogy right now. The last word will be given by Duchess Silva royl George ton Mesfelle. After that will be my turn."
"Hold on, Nicole. There's something I'm not getting here. Roben died just today, and he's already been cremated and buried?! What's the rush?"
"I do not understand it myself, but that was the will of the new ruler of the Tesse star system, Countess Verena."
"I see. Then I'll have to hurry to get there before the end of the ceremony. And yes, Nicole, order your ships to not come near the third planet. Also, the AA soldiers on Tesse-III should take a break for the next two hours. I don't want the mourning ceremony to turn into a bloody mess."
"I don't understand, Crown Prince. Where are you right now?"
"If you took a pair of binoculars right now and looked up, you'd see three big bright spots, fifteen smaller ones and a bunch of really tiny specks. That would be my fleet."
I heard Nicole clearly swearing under her breath, and I hurried to reassure her:
"I have no intention of fighting with your fleet, so don't worry. My ships will not be starting any battles today. The Head of the Orange House, Duchess Silva doesn't have to worry either. I appreciate the fact that she has come to bid farewell to my brother, and am not preparing to arrest her. I have come here to bid farewell to Roben, and that is all."
An hour and a half later, twenty large landing shuttles with Unatari emblems on them touched down on the flying palace's landing pad. No one tried to stand in our way. Four hundred Alpha Iseyek, armed to the teeth and painted bright red with one or even two white stripes across their shells, were standing stiffly on both sides of the gold-sand path. The same number of people in heavy armored suits were scattered around the whole flying island, not lowering their weapons for even a second, and looking cautiously at the soldiers in orange uniform.
"Crown Prince Georg, I do not sense any immediate danger. The guests at the ceremony and their guards are experiencing curiosity and fear, while some are simply admiring the demonstration of force. There are even some who are prepared to swear allegiance to your Majesty, if you ask."
"That comes later. Let's get out of this shuttle. Katerina will be to my right, and Likanna to my left. Marian Sabati and Flora, a few steps behind. Walk unhurriedly, to demonstrate our confidence and power."
The Orange House soldiers were trying to keep their distance from my procession. We went two hundred steps, then I raised my arm, ordering the group to stop. In the distance, there was a small chestnut-haired girl sitting behind some bushes looking utterly broken. I started walking intently in her direction.
Millena Mayer
Age: 9
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Class: Mystic
Achievements: Bringer of Success
Fame: 1
Standing: 3
Presumed personal relationship: Unknown
The girl was obviously in a bad state. There were dark circles under her eyes, and dried blood under her nose; her face was stained with tears, and her arms were shaking. She didn't even have enough power to stand as I approached. Millena could only raise her head, and look at the two stronger Truth Seekers with an expression of fatal resignation.
"A year ago, Millena could have beaten me. Now though, I am hundreds of times stronger than this little girl."
"No need to boast, Florianna. In the last year, you were present at so many of my fleet's victories, and gulped down so much energy that you couldn't have avoided getting stronger. Poor little Millena lost her master just today and is in a fearfully weakened state."
"Weakened is putting it lightly," Marian Sabati snorted. "She is close to death and, in fact, will die soon. It isn't the first time I've seen something like this. A weak Truth Seeker who, having lost her master, cannot find a new source of power is quickly snuffed out. It’s an unpleasant spectacle."
"Can you not give her a bit of energy?" I asked Marian, but she could only shake her head:
"There's no reason to. It'd be like pouring water into a bottomless barrel. All the energy transferred in to her would come right back out."
In the meantime, the young dying girl had the strength to say something. Straining, I picked out her barely audible words:
"She's the one who killed him."
"Who do you mean? Duchess Silva?"
I noticed with the corner of my eye some kind of quick, blurry movement, then I heard a sickly screech and... a member of the Ravaash race with daggers drawn fell to the earth just three feet from Millena, cut in half. Phobos removed a folded piece of fabric silently from his belt pouch and carefully wiped off Rosss's barely visible bloodied upper appendage. Popori de Cacha appeared just then, bowed over his fallen kin and commented:
"This is Countess Verena's bodyguard. A year ago, Crown Prince Georg gave three Chameleons to his brother, and Roben gave them to his spouse. There should be another two somewhere nearby. If possible, I ask you not to kill them. Just immobilize them, if you can. There aren't very many Ravaash as it is."
Popori de Cacha repeated the last sentences in Iseyek language, then went back into invisibility. The little Millena spent a long time in silence looking at the remains of her attempted murderer, then answered my earlier question, crystal-clear and even in great detail:
"Not Duchess Silva. It was Countess Verena. She killed her husband. She injected him with a slow-acting poison in the neck when Roben was passed out. I was next to him, but couldn't do anything. I was being held down by Verena's bodyguards. They
twisted my arms until it hurt and forced crystals into my mouth so I wouldn't see anything or get in the way, then left me in a locked room. They knew I would die right after Crown Prince Roben, and wanted to make my death look natural. When my master died, I was nevertheless able to escape their imprisonment, but I only had enough energy to crawl over here to the park."
"Can you take some nourishment from me?" I asked, but Millena could only shake her head:
"Your Majesty already has two strong Truth Seekers with him, and I cannot draw any energy."
"Dad, I could be her new master!" Likanna said, stepping forward decisively.
Wearing a black mourning dress and golden crown over her emerald hair, my daughter looked very majestic, like a true Imperial Princess. Millena raised her eyes and nodded in silence.
"Flora, Marian, charge Millena's energy. Popori de Cacha, I need you to make sure a certain plane doesn't leave the flying palace. I would very much like to speak with Verena."
* * *
When I got there, everyone was waiting for me. In the main room of the luxurious palace, there were a great many Orange House aristocrats, political figures and famous Tesse industrialists. On the central, gem-encrusted throne that had once belonged to Roben royl Inoky, Duchess Silva, head of the Orange House was sitting solemnly. Her bodyguards were observing with indifference as my Unatari soldiers flooded into the room and surrendered their weapons. I walked up closer, and greeted Duchess Silva in accordance with all courtly etiquette rules as the more senior aristocrat in Imperial hierarchy.
But I wasn't interested in her now. On the neighboring small throne in a long, dark dress, sparkling from the many inlaid diamonds, Countess Verena was sitting looking demure, the newly minted ruler of the Tesse star system. Without any exaggeration, Verena was ravishingly beautiful. She was a reference point in female beauty. Only Miya or Astra could rival my brother's widow, and they, I'm sorry to say, would lose to Verena if the three were to go head-to-head in a beauty contest.
Suddenly, though... the shroud of charm fell away. The beauty's eyelids grew wide in fear. Her lips pursed nervously and her arms began shaking. The throne was now occupied by an insanely tired, nearly dead, terrified woman. I turned in order to find the reason for the dramatic change. Behind the composed rows of my bodyguards, the young Millena was walking confidently into the room. Verena didn't understand how it was possible right away and made a long face.
I took a stern look at my brother's murderer and said:
"Verena, I have only one question for you. Why?"
The widow turned her head in my direction and, through quivering lips, said:
"My little boy died six days ago. He died in my arms, despite all the doctors' efforts. And my husband... that brute was stuffing his face, having a grand old time, laughing away, not even understanding what had happened. He has hardly spent a day sober in the last year." Here even I could barely hold myself back...
I turned straight to the three Truth Seekers behind my back. Their verdict was unanimous:
"She's lying!"
"She's lying!"
"She's lying!"
Millena Mayer, convalescing right before my eyes, stepped forward, but the girl was overtaken by Marian Sabati, who told us what she was reading in the accused's thoughts:
"Verena had been planning this crime for a very long time. Ever since it became clear that her son was born sick and may not live. Verena had no hope of conceiving another, healthier child with Roben. She had already waited more than ten years for the first, so she understood perfectly well that she would never have another. Roben's doctors were already saying his life would be a bit shorter than expected in the best case. Verena's future was strongly dependent on who would die first: her husband or her ailing son. If Roben were to die first, she would become regent, as his widow, until Crown Prince Georg royl Roben came of age, receiving the whole Tesse star system for herself. And then, even if the child died, the star system would remain hers. If, though, little Georg royl Roben died first, the situation would be totally different. After Verena's husband died, and his death had been a near certainty for some time, she would be out in the cold. All of Crown Prince Roben's property, in accordance with Imperial law, would be split between his brother and sister, the twins Georg and Violetta. Verena couldn't allow that, so had long been planning to do what she did. When the boy died in her arms, Verena gave the drunk unresponsive Roben a slow-acting poison. And a few days after she’d buried Roben, she was planning on announcing the death of her son."
"That's all very well," said Verena, not particularly disputing the story. "Yes, I had been planning this for a long time. And what of it? I mean, you, Marian, actually knocked your master off, stole twenty-five billion from the Orange House treasury and bought your amnesty and protection in another part of the Empire on those very stolen funds. And no one, not the ruler of Unatari nor the Dukes, nor even the Emperor himself remember your crimes now. How am I any worse? I will actually have a bit more money than you ever did, and the Tesse star system to boot. So please, name your price, and bugger off."
I was totally thrown off at the impudence and frank boorishness she was displaying. Having grown rich from her husband's death, Verena clearly supposed that money would allow her to get away with murder. And that was at the fact that, under Imperial law, there was only one possible punishment for assaulting a Crown Prince: death.
"And what was the role of the Orange House Head in all this?" My cousin Katerina royl Unatari asked out loud, turning to the Truth Seekers.
The middle-aged Duchess Silva royl George ton Mesfelle, silent until that point, then started fidgeting on the throne, but was forced to answer:
"I had nothing to do with this. A few days ago, Verena ton Mesfelle told me that her husband's health had taken a drastic turn for the worse, and warned me that he might die. Also, in light of Crown Prince Roben's incapacitated state, she requested official confirmation from me of her status as ruler, assured me of her loyalty to the Orange House and told me that Tesse would maintain all its current political stances. I gave my approval. Then, when I got the news about Crown Prince Roben royl Inoky ton Mesfelle's untimely end, I flew out to the mourning ceremony."
The Truth Seekers unanimously confirmed that the Head of the Orange House was not lying and had no part in my brother's murder. Duchess Silva settled down right away, and unexpectedly announced that, as senior member of the Mesfelle family in age and title, it fell upon her to decide Verena's fate. The widow grew obviously joyful and even, it seemed to me, winked at her neighbor. I though, on the other hand, was on my guard, as I simply could not allow Roben's murderer to avoid retribution.
The Duchess stood and, in a majestic voice, pronounced:
"For the murder of an heir to the Emperor's throne, I sentence the accused, Countess Verena ton Mesfelle, to death by decapitation! The sentence is to be carried out immediately!"
I nodded, and Popori de Cacha appeared behind the throne and waved his blades. Verena didn't even have time to get scared. In all this unpleasant commotion, I was most worried that my daughter Lika would faint or scream. But Crown Princess Likanna retained her composure.
When the servants had carried the dead body away and were cleaning up the blood, I said, turning to those gathered in the room:
"As legal heir of my brother Crown Prince Roben royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, I accept the burden of responsibility for the Tesse star system. As legal heir to my nephew, Crown Prince Georg royl Roben ton Mesfelle, I accept the burden of responsibility for the Tialla star system. The funeral for Roben's entire family will be held here on the flying island in three hours. Duchess Silva royl George ton Mesfelle, you and your people are free to leave the flying palace and the Tesse star system at any time. No one will get in your way."
* * *
The flying palace slowly drifted past the sun as it hung over the horizon. The funeral ceremony came to an end. Three urns of ash were placed next to one another, and the guests left back
to where they came from. Katerina, Florianna and I were sitting in the very same veranda where Roben and I had once celebrated Katerina's arrival. That seemed so long ago now! There wasn't a split in the Orange House yet. We hadn't even boarded a single Behemoth, nor conducted our raid on Alien space. Many people who were no longer with us were still alive then...
With a snifter of strong brandy in my hand, I took a thoughtful look at the eternal sunset — the flying palace moved with the sun, always keeping its position in the sky the same. I was tormented by one question: if I had agreed to go with Verena to "have a look at her shell collection," this all could have ended differently. Verena would be coddling our little boy, and my brother Roben would still be alive...
"That was precisely what Verena was thinking about in the last seconds before her execution. If she had been a bit subtler back then, and not so insistent, how many lives could've been saved?"
"Flora, you really shouldn't be reading such personal thoughts. Or at least don't comment on them," I said, harshly putting the girl in her place, but my Truth Seeker could only smile in return.
Flora still couldn't actually smile very well, though. Her facial expression looked more like a scowl than a smile, but the girl was clearly happy with her achievement. She was also proud of the fact that today was the first time she had been able to eat without the help of her minions. The waterproof bib she was wearing over her dark clothing was covered with juice and pieces of lettuce, but that was nothing in comparison with the fact that the paralyzed girl had managed to use a spoon and fork all on her own!
Popori de Cacha came out of invisibility and said:
"Tuki-tuka-de-sa, Duchess Silva is coming this way. She is alone, without bodyguards. No weapons detected. Shall I stop her?"
"No, let her come. She still hasn't left the island after the end of the funeral ceremony, though no one was holding her shuttle back. Let’s find out what the Duchess needs."
The Chameleon nodded and, taking a small apple from the fruit tray, went back into invisibility. Only the barely audible chomping sounds remained to let you know where my bodyguard head was. Duchess Silva, wearing a severe black and silver dress approached me and took a seat on the bench.
New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) Page 33
