by K. B. Wagers
“Majesty, how can you just trust him after what he did? How do you know that the whole performance, the removal of the tattoos, wasn’t just part of their plan?”
I closed my eyes, fighting back the shocked laughter that wanted to burst into the air. “You should have stayed a spy, Gita. I think it would have served you better. Though how you can be so fucking naïve having been a spy is beyond me,” I said finally. “Look at me.” I held a hand up when she winced. “I don’t mean that as a condemnation, just an observation. I suppose the suspicion has its uses as a Guard, but a little trust in my judgment would be nice.”
“Majesty, I don’t—”
“For Shiva’s sake, don’t interrupt me again.” I stared at her until she nodded. “How do I explain to you the importance of what he has done?” I asked, “When you have no basis for comparison? The weight of this gesture is—” Linking my hands behind my head, I searched for the right words.
“Hao didn’t just remove ink from his skin, something he could easily replace when this ruse you think he’s perpetuating was over. He erased everything he was, everything he’s done in service to Po-Sin. It is all gone. Forty-eight years wiped away as though it never existed. It was witnessed. It cannot be reclaimed. That is not something they would have done just to keep him close to me, even if I thought he was capable of that depth of betrayal.” I shook my head. “Empress of Indrana is not a title I earned. I’m not important enough to justify that kind of unheard-of sacrifice. Cressen Stone held more esteem than me, but she is gone, and even she was not ranked high enough among them to be worthy of such a gesture.
“Cheng Hao? He was Po-Sin’s favored son, in a manner of speaking. He was the trusted. The enforcer. The honored. It was all written there in his skin—everything he was. And now? It is all gone.”
Sitting next to her on the couch, I reached for her hand. “He gave up the one thing in his life that had any meaning for him, the one place he was respected and valued, and he did it not to make me trust him—because I already do, even when he’s being an idiot—but as a promise.” I smiled. “He’s never broken a promise to me, and I don’t expect he’ll start now when I am surrounded by people willing to kill him if he fucks up.”
“I wish I had your faith, Majesty. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t blame you for your doubts. I have known him a long time. You may come to know him better, Shiva help you.” I shuddered and squeezed her fingers. “For now, do something for me.”
“Anything, Majesty.”
“Watch the com channels on the criminal side. There will be a flurry of news about what Hao has done for about thirty standard hours, and then it will be as if he never existed. If I’m wrong about that, let me know.”
Gita bowed her head. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And think about accepting Hao’s inevitable apology. He had his reasons for what he did. I accept them because I understand being torn between your duty and your desire. I’m not going to tell you when to accept his apology. Just try not to hurt him too much in the interim.”
“This doesn’t put you in line for the throne, so don’t get any ideas.”
Hao choked on his drink and Johar laughed so hard she fell out of her seat. I grinned, feeling better than I had in months now that this weight was off my chest.
It didn’t matter that Po-Sin had announced that the entire Cheng organization was officially providing support to the Shen in their fight against the Farians less than an hour after his conversation with us. That had been expected and I knew Hao’s defection hadn’t impacted Po-Sin’s decision on the matter.
It also didn’t matter that the fighting between the Shen and Farians had escalated: The Shen had taken five more Farian ships with the help of a joint mercenary force the size of which I hadn’t ever seen. The other governments were in a panic over the cooperation, with messages flying thick and fast across the com links.
Everyone was in a holding pattern while the Solarians tried to convince the Farians to come to the table, and I expected any day for the demand to come that I agree to participate without Fasé’s presence.
After two weeks in warp with a quick stop at a refueling station on a tiny moon, we’d dropped out of the bubble and were on a long approach to Draupadi Station, home of 8th Fleet. The station and the shipyards were in the Pandav system, a K-class orange dwarf star with four planets. None of the planets were classified for human life, so the station and the yard were the only things there. It was on the border between Indranan and Solarian space, looking out over a yawning expanse of nothing.
But our path in would take us past a white dwarf binary system, and it was well worth dropping out of warp to see such a sight.
Johar thumped the arm of the couch and got to her feet. “That’s it for me, I’m going to bed.”
“Night.” I stole her spot, curled my feet up underneath me, and rested my cheek on the back of the couch. “Can I ask you something?”
Hao gestured at me with a smile.
“What’s your read on Aiz?”
His smile faded, replaced by guilt, and I reached out, threading my fingers through his.
“I’m sorry. I—you met him, didn’t you? You talked like you knew him better than just a brief interaction in the alley. I need a second opinion.” I dragged in a breath past the tightness in my chest. “I couldn’t think very well underground and I don’t have anything but the memory to go on.”
Hao called up the file, though he hesitated before sending it to me. “I was the go-between for my—for Po-Sin. Aiz and I met several times over the last eight months. He is dedicated, Hail—fiercely loyal to his people and his sister and this cause. As odd as it is to say it, he’s a lot like you.” He sent the file with a sad smile. “Don’t watch that right now. I can’t be here when you see me betray you.”
“Hao—”
“It is the truth. I won’t hide from it. Not that Gita would let me even if I tried.” He touched my face with a gentle hand. “I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you.”
“I’ve already forgiven you,” I whispered. Hao lifted a shoulder and I put the file with all the others I’d collected on the Shen leader. “Why does everyone seem to want something from me?”
Now Hao laughed. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re the linchpin in their plan. The Farians believe that if they have you on their side they’ll win this war, and the fact that they’ve seen a future where it happens just makes them all the more determined to get you on board. Same with the Shen.”
“Who told you that?”
Hao gave me a look. “Please,” he said. “I may not like Fasé, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been paying attention. We’re talking about religions and belief here, Hail. Don’t expect reason and logic to play a big part in their decision making.”
“So you’re saying they’re only picking me because they’re delusional?”
He laughed. “You know my feelings on religion, but that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying they believe in you. The reason why matters a hell of a lot less than the fact that they believe it. Now me? I know where I want you to be in a fight and it’s not on the field across from me. Because I’ve seen the damage you can do.”
Making a face at him, I untangled my fingers from his. “Apologize to Gita. She might accept it.”
“You’re changing the subject, and I tried earlier. She almost shot me.” He got up, waving a hand at me before I could say anything. “And don’t you dare do something like order her to forgive me, Hail.” His exhalation was as shaky as his smile. “I fucked this up. I’ll figure out a way to fix it on my own.”
“All right.” I pushed to my own feet and kissed his cheek. “I’ll stay out of it … for now, but you should remember what happened with Emmory and Zin. I won’t stay out of it forever. Grovel, beg, promise. Do whatever you have to, so I don’t need to get involved.”
“You’re an insufferable brat.”
“I’m also your empress,” I reminded him
with a broad grin as I opened the door.
“I’m already regretting that oath.”
“No, you’re not.” I gave him a gentle shove out the door and then stepped aside so Stasia could come in. “Good night, gege.”
“Good night, little sister.” Hao smiled at Stasia on his way by and nodded to Emmory in the hallway. My Ekam returned the nod, his face still expertly hiding whatever personal feelings he had about Hao.
“I don’t expect the rest of you to trust him—you know that, right?” I said after Hao had disappeared down the corridor, and my Ekam smiled.
“I would be disappointed in you if you did, Majesty,” he replied. “I understand. My job is to keep you safe, no matter what.”
“You’ve done an excellent job up to this point.” I tapped him on the shoulder. “I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Majesty.”
“Are you going to want anything else?” Stasia asked as I came into the bedroom.
“No,” I said, and impulsively hugged her to my side as I walked her to the door.
“What’s that for?”
“I’m feeling sentimental. Thank you for everything you do for me.”
“Of course, Majesty. It’s a pleasure. I am glad that things turned out all right with Hao.” Her smile was soft. “You deserve some happiness, even if you don’t believe that you do.”
“Now who’s sentimental?” I laughed, ignoring the sting of tears at the back of my eyes. “Go get some sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With Stasia gone, I settled into bed and pulled up the recording Hao had sent me. I wrapped my arms around my knees and watched every painful second of my brother betraying me. When it was over, I watched it again, and this time I was able to focus on Aiz’s face, see the lies and the truth.
He’d promised Hao he wouldn’t hurt me and he’d meant it; I wasn’t sure why Aiz had made such a promise and kept it. Killing me would have thrown Indrana into chaos—maybe not enough to cripple her, but it would have kept us from offering any help to the Farians. It also would have made the Shen a primary target for Indrana’s rage, and surely Aiz had realized that.
My smati pinged with an incoming call from Taz, a direct call, not routed through Alba, and my heart gave a painful lurch as I answered it.
“Taz, what’s wrong?” I saw the sterile white background of a hospital room and my heart thumped a second painful time before my childhood friend stepped aside with a wink to reveal Alice.
“Your Majesty, if I may introduce our daughter—Ravalina Hailimi Alice Gohil, Crown Princess of Indrana.”
The tears slipped free before I could stop them, and I pressed a hand to my mouth as Alice tugged down the blanket’s edge to reveal the sleeping face of the future of the empire.
“She’s perfect. You almost gave me a heart attack.” I shot a glare in Taz’s direction, but he merely grinned.
“I wanted to get to you before Caspel or one of the others sent you the notice,” he replied. “And she is perfect, Hail. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I wiped the tears off my face. “Alice, she’s lovely.”
“Thank you, Hail.” Alice looked down at her daughter. “For everything and for securing a peaceful future for her.”
We chatted for a few more minutes before I signed off. I curled up on my side, fingertips pressed to my mouth as the feelings rolled through me. If something happened to me, the empire was secure. It would be in Alice’s safe hands and then the hands of her daughter.
The pressure of negotiating a peace between the Farians and Shen welled up in my chest. I owed it to Ravalina, to all the other children of Indrana, to make sure this fight never touched our shores. To make sure it never stole another life away like it had Gatani’s.
The question was how to do it. How did I force the proud Farians to swallow their pride and sit down to talk about peace with their enemies—both old and new?
31
The klaxon yanked me out of my sleep, followed by Captain Saito’s voice rolling over the intercom. “All hands, brace for impact. I repeat. Brace for impact.” There was time for me to stick one foot against the wall and grab for the bar above my head before the Hailimi shuddered with the force of whatever had just hit us.
I rolled out of bed, cursing the lights on and fumbling for clothes. The door opened, and Gita stuck her head into the bedroom as I was jerking on a pair of uniform pants.
“I’m up,” I said, unnecessarily, dragging a shirt over my head and buckling on my holster. “What’s going on?”
“We don’t have all the details yet, ma’am,” she replied. “We dropped out of warp near the white dwarfs when the maydays started and the debris field appeared. There’s a split open freighter directly in front of us. Captain Saito is on the com with Vice Admiral Tobin. Emmory sent me to get you.”
“Bugger me,” I muttered, and stepped into my boots, fastening them quickly, then followed her out of my rooms. “Do we know what hit them?”
“Not yet, ma’am. Whatever it was, there’s still incoming fire.” Gita grabbed for my arm and a roll bar to brace us when a second warning blared over the intercom and the ship shifted again. “We are too close,” she murmured half to herself.
When we hit the bridge, we saw the reason for the jolting and I covered my mouth with a hand. “Dark Mother preserve us.”
The stern of the freighter had broken in two, then exploded as Ensign Kohli tried to maneuver out of the way. Her quick thinking and the Hailimi’s shields had kept us from getting nailed head-on by the debris but led to the somewhat rocky contact down the Hailimi’s port side.
“Emmory, what’s the situation?”
My Ekam’s face was grim. “As near as we can figure from the chatter, someone shot at the Chennai Pharma freighter group. Seven freighters total in the group. That was the wreckage of the Blue Diamond we just flew through.”
“Who would shoot at us this close to Indranan space?”
Emmory’s look was grim. “It’s worse than that, Majesty. There’s a passenger liner out there also.”
“How many people on the liner?” An awful sense of dread sank into my bones. Losing the two-hundred-plus souls aboard the freighters was bad enough, but passenger liners carried several thousand people—families, children.
“It’s a midsized Star liner, Majesty, with Calcutta Galactic Tours,” Emmory said. “It runs from Earth to Pashati. We’re still trying to get an ID on it, but they can carry a passenger list of twenty-three hundred plus another two hundred crew if they’re fully booked.”
Bridge officers wrangled with the chaos. Captain Saito was on the com link with Vice Admiral Li Tobin.
Masami’s fifth daughter oversaw our task group: fifteen ships including her Jarita battlecruiser the Light of All, three Sarama destroyers, five smaller Jal fighters, and six Vajrayana.
“Stay on task,” I said to Commander Nejem before she could announce me. “There are lives at stake.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Captain Saito, report.”
Isabelle looked up, her mouth in a hard line. “Majesty, approximately fifteen minutes ago we came out of warp into the debris field left by the freighter Blue Diamond. According to reports, the group came under fire shortly after they dropped out of warp to view the same binary white dwarf system we were planning on viewing. They are still under fire; the passenger liner appears to have gotten clear but their warp engines are damaged.
“The vice admiral is currently headed for the freighter group and the passenger liner with the bulk of our task group. She just ordered me to warp to the safety of the station. The freighters who can follow will do so.” Isabelle looked unhappy with the order and I sympathized, but neither of us was going to argue.
“Do we know who’s firing?” Part of me wondered if Po-Sin was responsible. Despite my earlier insistence that he wouldn’t start a war with us, I couldn’t discount the possibility, though I wasn’t about to say it
out loud.
“Not yet, Majesty,” Li replied with a shake of her head. “But your safety is our primary mission. We’ll do what we can to help these people. I want you out of the line of fire. Please don’t argue with me.”
I hadn’t been planning on it, as much as it bothered me. My desire to stay and fight was equal to Isabelle’s, but we were both keenly aware of our duty compelling us otherwise.
I nodded to Li and put my hand on Isabelle’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. “Understood, Admiral. Take out whoever is firing on our people, and Shiva watch over you.”
Li nodded in return. “For Indrana and the Star that shines over us all.”
The com link clicked off, leaving the bridge in silence.
“Get us out of here, Captain.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am.”
Draupadi Station was a less than ten-minute warp from the binary system, but it was ten tense minutes filled with silence.
We were in Isabelle’s ready room bent over the console when we came out of warp, and the coms came alive with traffic.
“Yes, out in the border gap. I was told there were a total of seven freighters. One was destroyed at location. The other six are inbound. I’ve got two coming out of warp now.”
“Yes, ma’am. We have dispatched ships to the last known location of the Light of All.”
“We have the Hailimi Bristol inbound to the station now, Admiral. She just came out of warp.”
“Freighter Lightning Crashes, please proceed to docking bay ninety-four. Medics will be standing by.”
“How many people?”
“A few hundred.”
“Was it really the Farians?”
The last bit of chatter ripped me out of my daze. “What?”
“Captain Saito, I have Admiral Bolio on the com.”
“Put her on, Commander,” Isabelle said.
“Your Majesty.” Kartia Bolio appeared on the screen in front of us and snapped into a salute. The older woman’s bright green eyes stood out against her tan skin and her gray hair was twisted into a knot at the base of her skull.
