Stardancer

by Ariel MacArran

  This doesn’t make any sense. Kinara wet her lips. “Imperial Majesty, why would you trust me to lead your forces?”

  Azara-behn’s lip instantly curled. “I do not trust you, Kinara, born Tellaran. But you alone of all the Az-kye possess the understanding of the Tellaran ships and minds that I require and the strength to lead to victory. You are the weapon I have chosen to wield against the barbarians.” The Empress leaned forward, her dark gaze hard. “And I vow if you should falter in your service to me, I will destroy the Az’anti to the last vassal and slave. I will burn your lands and level your estates. I will purge the Empire of your clan and even the temples will have no record of its name.”

  A soft agonized sound escaped Aidar’s throat. Kinara felt sick.

  “I order you to lead,” the Empress continued. “Bring me victory against the Tellarans, Kinara of the Az’anti, or I will see your house ground to dust."

  Kinara could scarcely breathe. The Empress’ black eyes glinted.

  Shaking, Kinara lowered herself and pressed her forehead to the floor.

  “As my duty is to the Az-kye,” Kinara croaked. “So is my duty to the Empress. The Az’anti obey.”

  The return from the Imperial Palace was a horror. Kinara was forced to greet those who held superior rank as she left the Imperial Palace. Her desire to flee to the relative safety and comfort of the Az’anti clanhouse had to be hidden behind forced smiles and small talk. The beaded shoes she wore pinched her feet and the gown seemed to weigh more heavily on her with every passing minute of sunlight.

  The Empress’s announcement about her new position had not yet been made, had it been, her exit would have taken twice as long. She held an Imperial Writ from the hand of Empress herself, a document that would enable her to make orders in the Empress’s name for the duration of her command. Kinara’s possession of it made her an indispensable ally to any clanhouse and a force to reckoned with in the Empire.

  Still, Kinara could not afford to alienate any of the clan leaders she encountered and by the time she wearily climbed into the litter the sun was setting.

  Kinara pulled the privacy drapes, hiding behind the closed curtains. She sat in the dimness, chewing at the skin of her thumb.

  Ashen-faced, Aidar had not spoken since his attempt to intervene with the Empress. His thoughts were evident in every glance that he sent her way.

  He doesn’t trust me.

  Those Tellaran ships would be staffed from the base on Rusco. Warships filled with childhood friends, officers who had treated her like a daughter and young men who had flirted with her.

  Dear gods, what am I going to do?

  She couldn’t make war on her own people.

  Failing the Empress meant the destruction of her clan.

  Leading an armed force against the Tellaran Realm made her a traitor. She would be an enemy to nearly everyone she had ever known and loved. She would be the Tellaran, the once loyal daughter of the Realm, who had turned on her own kind, who had become an Az-kye.

  What can I do?

  For one wild moment before the Empress, Kinara had been tempted to disavow her title as Ti’antah. To renounce her marriage to Aidar and remove the Az’anti from the Empress’s plans. But even that was no longer possible. She put herself forward publicly as Ti’antah. She held a seat on the Council for Trade.

  She could never shame him like that.

  Am I Az-kye?

  Or Tellaran?

  Kyndan and many from the Reliant awaited her on Az-kanzar. There were other Tellarans still on the Imperial world. How could she send them home now? How could she face them if she took the reins of their enemy’s war machine?

  There has to be something . . .

  If she went to the border and lost, her clan would be destroyed.

  If she went and won, she would be betraying everything she’d ever believed.

  She could escape. Gather those Tellarans she could, use the Imperial Writ long enough to get a ship and jump to Tellaran space.

  I could.

  She glanced at Aidar walking beside her litter. The impassive mask of a warrior could not hide the pallor of his cheeks.

  If I didn’t love him . . .

  Her maids bustled around her, removing the ceremonial robes she wore, carefully unclasping the jewels from her hair, taking the rings from her fingers. Her face was absorbed, her sky-colored eyes staring sightlessly before her as the women worked.

  She would not do it.

  Aidar wished he could make it all stop, bolt the door against everything and pull her to the bed. He wished he could kiss her and soften her eyes with desire again, feel her warm beneath him, slide inside her and know her to be his.

  But she was not.

  Despite the pleasures they shared and their vows he knew from the moment the shock had worn off she would never – could never – do this.

  In her heart she will always be Tellaran.

  “How many warriors do I have?”

  “On Az-kye?” he asked.

  She shook out her hair. The long coppery strands gleamed like liquid fire over her shoulders and down her back, brilliant against her milky skin. He remembered why he had originally called her Cy’atta.

  His chest ached.

  “No, all my warriors.”

  Laric offered him a goblet and he took it, looking listlessly into the cup. “They number over two-fifty now.”

  “Enough to staff the Ty’pran with warriors loyal only to the Az’anti?”

  His Cy’atta had learned much on the Imperial world. He could not read the thoughts from her expression as he once had.

  It was as if he had lost that open, childlike part of her forever.

  “Yes, my mate. More than enough.”

  “Send to Az-kanzar for the warriors I need. I want none on the Ty’pran who do not owe their loyalty to our clan.”

  “As you will,” he replied, putting down his untouched wine.

  “Aidar.” She held his gaze steadily. “Have every Tellaran on our estates return to the Imperial world with the warriors.”

  He stared at her. “My mate?”

  “All of them. Send word to the clans to send every Tellaran in the Empire here by the Empress’s order.”

  Only a lifetime of Az-kye discipline allowed him to keep himself upright as he felt the blood drain from his face.

  “Why do you do this?” he asked hoarsely.

  “I need them. See that it is done immediately.”

  He could read rigid determination in every line of her body.

  He wet his lips. “Cy’atta, please — why do you do this?”

  She turned gaze away and looked into the flames, the fire lit her face, her hair almost aglow by it’s light. “I’ve already told you. I need them. All of them.”

  “Leave us,” he said to the women. He waited till the door shut behind them.

  “What you have ordered . . . It will not be easy,” he said. “We do not have much time to prepare and there are those who will resist the order.”

  “I speak for the Empress now. Who will refuse her order?”

  “Dael will. He loves Nisara. He will not part with her.”

  Her eyes, the color of the sky in summer, went hard. “Then he can explain himself before the Empress.”

  His breath caught. “You would invite the Empress’ wrath on my foster-brother?”

  “Only if he doesn’t send Nisara here.”

  “What of Tedah?” he asked sharply. “Will you also require him?”

  She clapped her hands twice. The guards came at her summons.

  “There is a Tellaran slave in the upper rooms,” she said to them, never taking her eyes from him. “Send two warriors to fetch him and have him quartered in the holding room. Tell Laric she is to craft a message to Baruta of the Otan saying how much I have enjoyed her daughter’s visit.”

  She glanced at the guards.

  “Escort the girl to her mother’s house and deliver the message to her mother’s hand. See that
you do not let Lianna out of your sight until you have returned her to her mother’s care. Go now.”

  “You broke your vow,” Aidar said hoarsely. “You gave your promise.”

  “I told them we would hide them here. We did. Now that time has passed. Tedah will be held here with the rest of the Tellarans until we leave.”

  “And then?”

  She looked out over the Empress’ City. “Then we’ll all go to war together.”

  Kinara forbade any Tellaran to leave Az’anti estate, no matter how crowded the grounds became.

  Kyndan and Aidar established an uneasy but cordial relationship to manage the care and housing of the incoming Tellarans. Her brother looked well and the people he had overseen on Az-kanzar were healthy. Many Tellarans sent from the other clanhouses were weak, thin and some showed signs of abuse. Kinara sent her reluctant healers among them, insisting they perform their craft. She had warm, white clothing distributed to the Tellarans who needed it.

  Az-kye had taken few Tellaran ships over the years but they had retained all of their prisoners as slaves. There was one, a man old enough to be Kinara’s grandfather, who had spent the bulk of his life among the Az-kye. He spoke Az-kye exclusively now, having forgotten more Tellaran than he remembered and wept bitterly at being taken from his home.

  Dael came with Nisara and she sobbed as they took her from him. Dael stood shaking as he watched her disappear behind the gate. He looked at Kinara with real hate glinting in his dark eyes and wished her a slow, painful and dishonorable death in battle. Cenna, who had accompanied Dael, intervened and quickly drew her heartbroken brother away.

  Tedah she had seen only at a distance. Both he and Nisara refused to speak to her and after taking them from those they loved Kinara didn’t blame them. Baruta had sent a message with her thanks for hosting her daughter and a gift to wish them good fortune at the front.

  Lianna sent a letter by a servant of another clan. Misspelled, abusive, and so full of venom that Kinara, reading it, decided Dael had actually been the more generous of the two.

  Crossing the courtyard at twilight one evening Kinara came across Kyndan teaching Bebti and some of the other children to play darshball. She watched from the shadows as her brother played with Az-kye children using an improvised set up made from odds and ends found on the estate to stand in for the Tellaran equipment.

  She’d played darshball with Tedah and Kyndan, among others, when she was Bebti’s age, sometimes till it was too dark to see the ball. How many of those Tellaran children she’d played with had grown up to man the very ships she was leading the Az-kye war machine against?

  Kinara could see the suspicion in Aidar’s heart in every glance now, ugly and lurking like a great beast. Kinara got dizzy when she thought of how many things could go wrong. She longed to confide in him but Aidar would never agree to what she was going to do.

  Likely he would do everything in his power to stop her.

  Four exhausting days later, Kinara settled back on the couch in their quarters on the Ty’pran and rubbed her forehead as she looked over the plan she’d created.

  This is going to make my jump onto the Council for Trade look like a stroll in the park.

  “We will reach the Tellaran force’s position tomorrow.”

  She looked up from her datapad. Aidar’s face had grown thinner. The skin under his eyes was shadowed but his proud stance was still that of an Az-kye warrior.

  “The Tellarans onboard have been moved to the fore cargo holds as you ordered.”

  “Good. Make sure the shielding on that section is kept at maximum.” She handed him the datapad. “Have these ships fall back and hold position just out of sensor range.”

  His brow furrowed as he glanced at the list. “You do not take them into battle?”

  She rubbed her eyes. She could still see the afterimage of the hundreds of messages she had read in the past few days behind her closed lids.

  “Throwing everything you’ve into the fight is the Az-kye way, Aidar.”

  “And you do not wish to fight like an Az-kye,” he said bitterly.

  “Tellarans don’t do battle that way, Aidar. But they’re going to expect us to. Doing the unexpected is going to give us the advantage we need.” She smiled without humor. “Besides, those ships will be joining us for the fight.”

  “You will add more warriors once the battle has begun? That is not honorable.”

  “It is not honorable when you fight against Az-kye. It’s starblasted brilliant if you’re showing up in Az-kye ships to fight Tellarans.”

  Az-kye stubbornness showed in every curve of his face and she sighed again.

  “Aidar, the Tellarans have studied Az-kye fighting styles for years. They’ll expect us to arrive with everything we’ve got and start blasting. But Tellarans rely more on guile than on firepower.” She leaned forward. “I’ll be honest, Aidar. They’ve come into Az-kye space spoiling for a fight. That means they’re aware that we outgun them and that they’ve figured out a way around it. If we follow traditional Az-kye battle techniques they’ll knock us out of the sky.”

  His frown deepened. “You know a way to defeat them?”

  “I think — I hope I do. Gods, I’d better. Or this is going to be a bloodbath.” She took a deep breath. “I know the Tellaran Fleet has a new Viper designed to cut through our armor because Kyndan commanded it, but it was a prototype. They’ve had time to build one or two more ships like Kyndan’s but they’ve probably just retrofitted some of the older cruisers with the new weapons. Either way, we can’t afford to let them use those cannons on us. We’re going in with Az-kye warships but we’re going to fight with the cunning of hit and fade Tellaran strategy to break their formation. If this works, we’re going to win and we’re going to win fast.”

  “They will be taken completely unaware and outmatched do you do this.” His shook his head in admiration. “Truly, you are a brilliant strategist.”

  She gave a humorless laugh. “Only if it works. If it doesn’t, I’ve destroyed our clan, killed us all and betrayed both the Tellaran and Az-kye people for nothing.”

  He hesitated, holding her gaze. “Why did you want the Tellarans with us, my mate?”

  “Aidar, the only way to really win here is defeat the Tellaran Fleet and then force them to a peace accord.” She wet her lips. Gods, please let him understand. “The Tellarans had to come with us so I can send them home. Because I promised them but also because it’s the first step to opening diplomatic relations.”

  He shook his head. “The Empress—”

  “I’ll do everything in my power to bring her the victory she ordered,” Kinara said quickly. “But I also want to give her and all Az-kye, all Tellarans, much more than that. I’m going to give them a chance to benefit from what they can learn from each other, the chance to trade, to make friends. To live in peace. And that means getting diplomatic relations open if I have to use a stun pike to herd everyone to the negotiating table.”

  He stared down at her, his dark eyes wide.

  She gave a wry smile. “This is the part where you tell me I’m an honorless Tellaran and forbid me from leaving our quarters.”

  He gave a choked laugh. “Who am I to argue with a Cy’atta?”

  She laughed. Thank you Lashima, Arrena, Seleni, Ren’thar — all of you Az-kye and Tellaran gods and goddesses — for that.

  She wrapped her fingers around his, feeling the warm strength of his hand and pulled him down to sit beside her.

  She glanced around their quarters, at the holo-fire, the bed, the tapestry. “Do you remember the last time we sat here like this?”

  He touched her hair. “I remember well a fearless Tellaran slave who shouted insults at me.”

  “It’s easy for me to be fearless when I’m angry.” She traced his face with her fingertips. So beloved now, it was odd to remember she once thought him frightening, barbaric. “And when I don’t have so much to lose.”

  He gave a faint smile. “You need nev
er fear losing me, Cy’atta.”

  Now wasn’t the place, it sure as hell wasn’t the time but she couldn’t stop herself. “Except to Senya, you mean.”

  He blinked. “Senya?”

  “I know,” she said sharply. “I know about — that you were with her.”

  His brow creased. “Why do you say this?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. “Just don’t lie, okay? I know you were with Senya, that you and she . . .”

  His frown deepened. “Truly I do not know what you mean.”

  She stared. He’s not really going to try to worm out of this, is he? “Aidar, I saw you. I saw you with her.”

  “With Senya? When did you see such?”

  She folded her arms. “The same day I brought Bebti home. I was in the temple square and I saw you in her litter, she was –” Kinara’s nostrils flared. “Holding you.”

  He shook his head. “Cy’atta, truly I do not—”

  “I know that’s where you were for those days — with her!” He looked at her blankly. Kinara threw her hands up. “Fracking hell, an entire Tellaran armada is waiting a few hours away to blow us to dust! Just be honest, damn it! I saw you, I saw you with Senya and I’m sure it was you because Dael was there too.”

  Understanding lit his gaze and he wiped his hand over his eyes. “I was not with Senya.”

  “Gods, I don’t believe this!” Kinara pushed her hair back. “Aidar, I saw you in her arms, right in front of me. Just admit it!”

  “When Dael found me, I was too far gone with drink to walk. He begged the help of the first person he recognized to get me off the street.” Aidar closed his eyes briefly. “If I lay in Senya’s litter it was only because I had drunk so much wine I could not sit up. I do not remember much of that ride or much before or after. Wine has blotted everything out. I scarce remember coming to Cenna’s house or the days I spent there, too drunk to stand.”

  “Right,” Kinara gritted out. “And what about after you came home? All those mysterious ‘I have to go out’s? You expect me to believe weren’t meeting Senya?”