by K. B. Wagers
“Morning, Majesty.”
Saris rustled as Matriarch Tobin and the other two women settled into their chairs. Sabeen Vandi was wearing a light blue drape of shimmery fabric that complemented her curly red hair. Caterina Saito was dressed in a sari with a complicated black-and-white pattern, and her chin-length black hair was decidedly out of fashion. I liked the way it looked with her high cheekbones and was relieved not to be the only person in Indranan high society who didn’t care about fashion trends.
Matriarch Tobin was wearing a deep red sari shot through with gold thread. It was a specific choice to play off my all-black outfit, and I appreciated the elderly matriarch’s wily sense of style.
Rubbing my hands together, I looked at their expectant faces and took a deep breath. “All right, people, I want to set some ground rules for the negotiations today. First, nothing gets agreed to that doesn’t have my seal of approval on it. I’ve made it very clear to the executor that whatever we discuss, I am the one and only voice for Indrana. I want you to continue to impress that upon anyone you speak with today.
“That isn’t to say I won’t listen and take into account your opinions. That’s why you’re here, after all.” I smiled at Sabeen, hoping to ease the younger matriarch’s worried frown. “I want honest input from you; don’t hold back.”
“Yes, Majesty.” She dipped her head, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly.
“Secondly, no one is to mention Canafey.”
“But, Majesty.” Phanin shifted in his chair. “Isn’t that—”
“No one, Phanin. We’ll discuss it in due time, but not on the first day in the first hour of negotiations. Is that clear?”
“Of course, Majesty. What should we say then, if they bring it up?”
“That we’re not prepared to talk about it at this time and change the subject to one of the other fifteen things on the list you gave me.”
He gave a sharp nod, still unhappy about it, but he didn’t say anything else in the following silence, so I turned my attention to Matriarch Saito.
“Caterina, I want you to get a good read on all the faces at the table. By the end of the day I expect a report back with some kind of baseline for facial expressions and what we can expect from our Saxon friends.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Right.” I clapped my hands on my knees and pushed to my feet. “Let’s go stop a war.”
The others filed out. I grabbed Gita by the arm on my way past her.
“I want you to put your eyes on Trace and don’t take them off. Record everything.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The unasked question was heavy in her voice.
“My gut isn’t happy, Gita, and it’s not because of my breakfast. I want you to watch him because I can’t.”
“I will, ma’am.”
“Good.” I squeezed her arm once and let go, heading out into the corridor with Emmory and Cas flanking me.
Negotiations are tedious, tense things, and that fact doesn’t change if it’s governments or gunrunners. The first hour of the proceedings was composed of Executor Billings making formal introductions. The second was the reading of the original peace treaty.
The room itself was cozy, designed to bleed the tension out of its occupants. The cream-colored walls were accented with a soft circular ochre pattern the same color as the comfortable leather chairs surrounding the wide, round table. There was a heavy buffet table on the far wall filled with snacks, tea, and coffee. Several pitchers of water were set out on the table itself and the rings of the massive tree trunk the table was made of reflected against the metal containers.
“Empress Hailimi,” Executor Billings said as the time stamp on my smati flipped over to the third hour. “If you would care to proceed with Indrana’s grievances?”
“Of course.” I pushed my chair back and began to read from the list Phanin had provided me. I’d buried Canafey as the fourth item on the list and didn’t pause at all as I moved on to number five. But still there was grumbling from the Saxons, and Trace clenched his jaw for a second.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Executor Billings said when I’d finished and turned to Trace. “King Trace, do you have a response from the Saxon Kingdom?”
He stood and pressed his palms to the tabletop. “Nothing save to protest the vile and baseless accusations of Indrana. They have no proof of anything on this list.” His voice was completely different from the previous night and he didn’t look in my direction as he spoke.
The room exploded into shouting. Phanin and Matriarch Tobin both surged to their feet. Matriarch Vandi just stared with wide eyes, and I was pleased when she looked to me for guidance. I shook my head, reaching a hand out at the same time to keep Caterina in her seat.
“Both of you sit down, now.” I issued the order over the com and Matriarch Tobin dropped into her seat. Phanin followed her half a second later.
“Silence!” Executor Billings’s order filled the air.
Several people jerked, Trace included, and stared at the executor in astonishment. I’d expected such a reaction from the mild-mannered man. The Solarian negotiators prided themselves on their ability to navigate such difficult situations, and crowd control was at the top of the list. It was the reason the service was so successful, and so profitable.
“The next raised voice will be ejected from the proceedings—permanently. Am I understood?”
There was a chorus of murmured assents. Trace dropped into his chair with a surprising amount of sulk. I dipped my head to Billings and sat back down.
“Now as it turns out, Your Majesty,” he said to Trace, “Her Imperial Majesty has provided proof for some of the grievances listed. Most of them are simple issues that will easily be taken care of should you be willing to listen to my suggestions. The matter of Canafey—”
“With apologies, Executor.” I knew it was a risk to interrupt him, so I offered up a smile I hoped would deflect the bulk of his annoyance. “We are presently gathering our evidence for the issue of Canafey, if you would be so kind as to table it until the end?”
Billings narrowed his brown eyes at me for a fraction of a second before he smiled and nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty. You have forty-six hours to come up with proof or the grievance will be dropped from the list with prejudice.”
“Agreeable. Thank you.”
“I will lay out my suggestions for the other issues on Indrana’s list.” Billings cleared his throat and a list appeared on the blank wall behind him.
I poured myself a glass of water, handing it back to Emmory without comment. He scanned it and handed it to Willimet. She sipped from the glass, wiped the edge off, and handed it back with a nod.
I spotted Trace watching the whole exchange and saluted him before I took a drink. A very intriguing look that was part frustration, part calculation flickered through his eyes before he returned his attention to the executor.
We broke for lunch shortly after Billings wrapped up his suggestions. The three-hour gap was designed to give both parties a chance to look over and discuss all the options. Since Indrana had started the process, we didn’t actually have anything to discuss until Trace and his people had decided to accept or counter the executor’s suggestions.
Waking to the sound of shouting never bodes well, and I woke from my nap groggy and disoriented, which only made matters worse. “Emmory, what’s going on?”
“Phanin and Matriarch Saito are having a discussion, Majesty.”
I snorted. “About what?”
“Item three, Majesty. Phanin thinks the monetary reparations that the Saxons are being asked to pay is too small. He wants to counter with an amount triple what Executor Billings suggested.”
My sigh floated up toward the ceiling and I rolled out of bed. Running my hands through my hair as I crossed the room, I pulled the door open and the shouting died immediately.
“Have I mentioned that being woken up like that is extremely annoying and tends to put me in a bad mood?”
“That we don’t get to counter any of the suggestions made by Executor Billings. Correct, Caterina. We only get to do so if the Saxons don’t accept the proposal.” I smiled, then raised an eyebrow in Phanin’s direction. “You know that, Eha. So I’m curious why you’re even debating the issue with Matriarch Saito.”
“I wasn’t debating anything, Majesty. I was merely suggesting that the monetary amount will barely cover our economic losses caused by the Saxon Kingdom’s interference in our shipping lanes.”
I took a deep breath. “I think we’re all aware of that. If the Saxons were willing to agree to any terms we threw at them we wouldn’t be on the brink of war. Executor Billings’s job is to come up with suggestions he thinks they might be more agreeable to.”
“Yes, Majesty.”
“Good. Might I suggest we stop going at each other? Presenting a united front against the Saxons is important.”
“Of course, Majesty.” Phanin bowed again. “Matriarch Saito, my apologies.”
“Thank you, Eha. I am also sorry,” she replied.
“Majesty, Executor Billings is at the door.”
I shared a look with Emmory at Zin’s announcement. My Ekam lifted a shoulder.
“Let him in, Zin,” I said, brushing the wrinkles out of my shirt.
“Empress Hailimi.” Billings bowed deeply.
“Executor. I wasn’t expecting to see you for another hour.”
“I know, Majesty. I heard from King Trace and thought I would come speak with you directly.” He frowned and looked around the room. “May we speak privately?”
“Emmory, clear the room.”
He did, settling in by the door after Alba closed it behind her.
“Executor?”
Billings rubbed a hand over his chin. “I apologize for this, Majesty. It is most strange. I have been an executor for almost forty years and have never seen anything like this.”
“They rejected all your proposals.” I laughed when Billings blinked at me in confusion. “It was either that or they accepted them all, Executor, and since you look more frustrated than shocked—” I pointed at him. “Plus their behavior this morning didn’t really indicate they were going to cooperate.”
“I confess I’m at a loss, Majesty,” he said. “I don’t see much use in reconvening this afternoon. There will be nothing to talk about. If you will permit me to look at the situation again and rework my suggestions, we can meet in the morning to see if they are acceptable for Indrana and I’ll present them to King Trace after.”
“This is agreeable.” I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “I trust in your abilities, Executor. It’s one of the reasons we chose Red Cliff for the negotiations.”
“I appreciate your faith in me, Majesty. I will see you in the morning.”
17
I muttered several curse words after Billings left the room. “I knew this was going to be a challenge, Emmory, but—”
“You expected them to be somewhat logical about it?” he asked, shaking his head. “The fact is, Majesty, they have the upper hand and they know it. They don’t have to agree to anything.”
“They can’t want to go to war?”
“If they think they can win, the losses would be acceptable. The empire controls a lot of very profitable territory. Without it we would go under.”
“Bugger me. I can’t believe Trace would—” I paced to the window and back. “Have Gita come in. Go tell the others what happened. We’ll all meet for dinner here and discuss our options. Tell Alba to call Alice and fill her in also. I’ll want to talk with her after I’m done with Gita.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Emmory nodded sharply and left the room. Gita came in through the open door, closing it behind her.
“Majesty?”
I sat down and stared at my hands, trying to find a way through my agitation. Now my gut was screaming at me to get the hell out of there, but leaving the planet wasn’t an option. Not unless I wanted to really mess things up.
“Gita, you’ve seen combat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Sit down.” I smiled. “The hovering makes me nervous. You ever get that feeling that things are about to go downhill fast?”
“We were running an op on the edge of the shipping lanes once against some smu—pirates, Majesty.”
I snorted at her correction. “You can call them smugglers, Gita. I will not be offended.”
“Yes, ma’am. We had everything planned out, everything set up perfectly. The intel had checked out, it was a source we used before. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were going too well. I mentioned it to my CO.”
“Did she listen?”
“She did, ma’am.” Gita smiled. “We still got hit and hit hard by an ambush team warping in out of nowhere. But if we hadn’t waited we would have been wiped out.”
“Well, things are far from perfect here.” I laughed, dragging a hand through my hair. “My problem is I haven’t shaken the feeling of people trying to kill me, so I have no idea if my gut is accurate or not. What’s your take?”
“King Trace is incapable of holding still. People like that make me nervous, ma’am. I don’t want to make baseless accusations, but I’ve seen that behavior in too many junkies to ignore it. As far as negotiations went—his protest was too quick. He would have said what he did even if you’d listed out ten things you loved about the Saxon Kingdom.”
“Funny.” I laughed. Her sarcasm was enough to loosen the awful band of tension in my throat somewhat. “They rejected all of Executor Billings’s proposals; that’s almost unheard-of especially after so many years of peace.”
“It would have been more understandable at the height of the hostilities.”
“Precisely.” I pursed my lips and tapped my fingers against them. “Go get Matriarch Saito. I want to hear her report on how everyone else was behaving.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I stood to pace. The ping of an incoming call rang in my ear. “Admiral Hassan.”
“Majesty. I’m relaying a message from Caspel. There will probably be some interference,” she said. The screen split and the hawk-faced head of Galactic Imperial Security appeared in the second panel.
“Director Ganej.”
“I got it, Majesty. Third-party validation from not only a journalist with Solarian Net News who covered the Indranan-Saxon war during the height of the fighting, but from an independent merchant vessel who was paid to transport Shock Corps troops from Marklo to Venvenzi Port.”
Venvenzi Port was in the neutral zone between Saxony and Indrana, close enough to Canafey to be able to draw conclusions that would be damaging to Trace’s claims of ignorance.
“It’s about time something went right. Can we find someone at the port who will be able to speak to where the Shock Corps troops were headed after?”
Caspel grinned. “Already on it; there was a traffic controller at Venvenzi who can testify that their course didn’t match the flight plans they filed. I’m sending you copies of the sworn statements I have so far as well as video testimony. Do you want me to include Executor Billings on the transmission?”
“No, I’ll tell him myself. Thank you.” I grinned back. “Have a drink tonight, Caspel. You earned it.”
“That I did, but—” Caspel glanced over his shoulder with a frown that quickly turned into an expression so cold it froze my skin. “Majesty, I’m hearing gunfire outside my offices. Where’s your Ekam?”
“In the hallway, I assume,” I said.
“I’m not sure what’s going on. I recommend you get back onto the Vajra with Admiral Hassan now. I’ll touch base with you as soon as I can.”
“Gods go with you.” My voice sounded strange in my ears. Caspel gave me a fleeting smile and disconnected.
“Majesty, I second
Caspel’s suggestion. We can better protect you—” Admiral Hassan broke off, her eyes flying wide. “Incoming. I’ve got multiple bogies of unknown origin coming out of warp. Majesty, you need to—”
I gasped when a laser blast that looked like it came from a Cheng-made StarFire 1011 slammed into the admiral from off-screen, knocking her from her chair. There were a few seconds of shouted chaos and then the screen went black.
“Oh, bugger.” I stared, unbelieving, at the blank screen.
And then the building exploded around me.
Bugger me.
Everything hurt. I could feel my heart beating and hear it in my ears. The rapid thump-thump-thump drowned out everything around me and for a second I thought I was back on Sophie, locked in that nightmarish combat in the cargo bay.
“Dark Mother Destroyer—”
“Sitrep, now.”
“Xi’s dead. I can’t reach anyone else from Team Five, sir.”
“Must have hit us from orbit—”
“Where’s the empress?”
“I’ve got vitals on her, she’s still alive.”
“I’m not reading any injuries on her.” Emmory’s voice swirled out of the swearing and chaotic jumble of voices in the dust and smoke. “Majesty, can you answer me?” he said over the smati link.
Not Sophie. We were on Red Cliff and judging from the rubble pinning me in place someone had just brought the building down on us. I tried to speak, but something was digging into my ribs on the right and something heavy had my left arm pinned against my side. The breath had been knocked out of me and I couldn’t get enough air to make any sound.
“Ma’am?” Stasia’s hand closed on mine. “Cas, I found her!” Moments later my tiny maid wormed her way down into the pocket of rubble where I was trapped. “It’s all right,” she said. “Are you hurt?”
“Don’t think so—” I forced the words out. “Can’t breathe. Where’s Emmory?” I was terrified to ask, sure that I’d imagined the bass of his voice in the jumble and in my head.
“I’m here, Majesty.”
Relief rushed through me, hotter than plasma fire, when Stasia smiled. “He’s banged up, but all right. So is Zin. I don’t know about the others yet.”
