"If he requested my body, I would do as commanded," the Slave Queen said. "Or if the Emperor required it of us, then we would submit. It is my lot. But he does not ask."
"Ha," the Ambassador said. "I shall have to remember that."
His good humor seemed restored, but he still looked under-slept and unhealthy. The Slave Queen asked, meekly, "Do you think it wise? To challenge him so?"
The Ambassador said, "It seems to work. I can't argue with results." His eyes lost their focus again. "Hopefully no one will be able to argue with results."
Upon returning to his chambers, Lisinthir found a communiqué on his data tablet, flagged priority first and Well-spiked to reach him immediately. He spread the message and its attached sensor clips of alien vessels in orbit around unfamiliar planets, raw sensor data and still shots of weapons damage on a moon colony. He read through the material from beginning to end, then pulled out a roll and smoked it while eating half of one of the compressed honey-fruit bars that had arrived with his jackal chest.
Then he shrugged his coat on, pocketed his data tablet and headed for Second's office. The hekkret had blunted the edge of his anger, but it still got him to the door with enough energy to glare the guards into submission. He let himself in and walked to Second's desk.
"Is your entering without an appointment to become a habit?" Second asked.
"Use my title when you speak to me," Lisinthir growled.
Second canted his head. "You would find me in better humor if you came when expected, Ambassador."
"I would come when expected if I was ever expected," Lisinthir said. "But strangely, I am never expected." He smiled with thinned eyes and exposed teeth. "You said yesterday you'd be delighted to help me with my colony issues."
"Yesssss," Second said.
Lisinthir threw the data tablet on Second's desk. "Then perhaps you will be kind enough to explain this. A good explanation. Call me a liar again and you won't be sitting on Third's pillow tonight."
Second's wings mantled and his head swung forward, reminding Lisinthir of a viper swaying before a strike. "You threaten me."
"I draw attention to the consequences of your actions," Lisinthir said. "And trust me, the consequences of your not having a good reason for what's on that data tablet will have you sitting so far from the Emperor's pillow you'll be breathing vacuum."
"If these are fabrications—"
"You'd have to deal with them even if they are," Lisinthir said. "Which they're not. Either the Alliance wants an excuse to argue that the Empire is not keeping the treaty... or the Empire will have to explain why it's not keeping the treaty in order to preserve it. Start talking."
With his eyes still trained on Lisinthir, Second reached for the tablet and picked it up. He looked down at the data... then frowned. Then scowled as he flipped through the images. It was not lost on the Eldritch how facile Second was with Alliance interfaces.
"You will have to talk to Third," Second said finally. "This is his doing, not mine."
Lisinthir's brows lifted. "Is Third often off doing things on his own recognizance?"
"Third runs his own segment of the government," Second said. "Your anger would be wasted on me."
"I thought this was a hierarchy," Lisinthir said.
"Only of importance," Second said. "Our roles are autonomous."
"Well then," Lisinthir said, dropping into a chair. "Call Third over."
Second's head jerked back. "I just finished informing you that our roles are autonomous."
"Yes, but since you weren't gracious enough to tell me so earlier, you've wasted my time. I am not going to climb all the way down your tower and up Third's when a quick call from you can summon him here within a minute or two." When Second didn't immediately respond, Lisinthir continued, "I imagine you'd like to know what he's been up to, making trouble without keeping you advised."
Second hissed. "This is not your affair!"
"Look at that tablet and tell me that again," Lisinthir said, voice hardening. "Now will you call Third, or shall I assume that this is your business after all?"
Second stabbed the unit on his desk with a talon, still hissing. He was so upset his issued command to Third was barely intelligible... but it did result in Third's arrival on the balcony. The male stepped in, looking from one of them to the other with narrowed eyes.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Your vessels on my border," Lisinthir said. "Explain."
"I have no vessels on your bord—"
Second threw the data tablet at Third, who caught it with a flinch. To Lisinthir, Second said, "To save you the trouble."
"Thank you," Lisinthir said.
Third flicked through the images with even more confidence than Second had. "These are fakes."
"Second tried that line with me," Lisinthir said. "You'll have to come up with a new one. And hurry, my patience is tattered. Soon it'll be too small to cover even your malehood."
Third lifted a clawed hand. "Freak—"
"AMBASSADOR," Lisinthir said, gaining his feet. "I have a title, Third!"
"These are FAKES," Third said again, tossing the data tablet onto the desk. "Not worth my time."
"Fine," Lisinthir said, picking up the tablet with as much nonchalance as he could muster—which with the aid of the hekkret was more than he expected.
Second stood, pushing Third back. "Ambassador?"
"There are non-existent Chatcaavan vessels in Alliance colony space," Lisinthir said. "So I'm sure there will soon be non-existent debt forgiveness for those Chatcaavan colonies we should have been discussing and never seem to have the time to." He smiled. "I suppose they should not have made the mistake of borrowing our money instead of yours. You keep your promises so well."
Second said, "Those were special cases!"
"Yes," Lisinthir said, tapping the tablet against a shoulder and looking at the ceiling. "Natural disasters, and we were the closest aid, if I recall. What a pity."
"And if we were to discover what accident caused those vessels to divert into your space?" Second asked, ignoring Third's bared teeth. "Accidents do happen."
"So I've heard," Lisinthir said. "But explanations at this point aren't enough. You'll notice there was damage to one of the colonies."
"An accident, surely an accident," Second said. "We'll find the responsible party."
"And?" Lisinthir asked.
"Don't let him make demands!" Third said. "He bluffs."
Lisinthir reached for the door.
"Do you want to make them rich?" Second hissed. "Ambassador! Give us time to find out what happened."
"One day," Lisinthir said.
"One day is not enough!" Second exclaimed.
"I have faith in your abilities," Lisinthir said. "Good afternoon."
He did not immediately leave; on the other side of the door, as the guards glowered, he made a show of closing his eyes and looking pained. It gave him enough time to hear what he expected: arguing. Not quite loud enough to discern what was said, but good enough. If he could set Third and Second at one another's throats even more than typical, he'd count it a good day's work. And to finally get an answer on the incursions... Fleet would thank him. Though the diplomatic corps would probably faint if they knew he'd been withholding something as basic as debt forgiveness for charitable aid.
He would have done it, too.
When he returned to his chamber, he locked the door despite the futility of the gesture and spread himself out fully dressed on the bed. Staring at the ceiling mosaic, he remembered how grossly he'd misunderstood it... the Slave Queen and the Emperor, indeed! No, that was him beneath the Emperor, him and every male who dared show any sign of competence or strength. Except he had no wings to buffet the Emperor with, no scales to hold back his claws, no teeth, nothing. A wingless freak, just as promised. An alien Beauty to be consumed.
Beneath his shoulders the blankets warmed him, but alarmingly he could feel the variations—there, the blanket was too close, sticking t
o the thin linen of his blouse, there the blanket folded into a divot, a cool puddle. He could even feel the raised edges of the embroidered patterns. The warmth provided too great a contrast to the breeze that pricked through the folds of his blouse, touched his neck, found a bead or two of sweat that had not yet dried. As the days passed, his body was becoming more sensitive... too sensitive. He'd heard the occasional reference to this side effect of being touched too often, to being flooded with the emotions of others. It might have been benign in any other situation, but not in his. Not in his.
The alcohol on his sideboard suddenly seemed a wise idea. If he drank it while smoking, surely the one poison would counteract the other. Lisinthir poured himself a glass.
"Another statue, Exalted."
The Slave Queen had been tied with her back to the stairs, so she could not see Second... only hear the weariness in his voice, the forced interest.
"This one is Curiosity," the Emperor said, looping a rope around the Slave Queen's wing arm. "Do you think it apt?"
"I don't know," Second said. "I am not a male of such subtlety, to understand art." He took such a long, deep breath that even the Slave Queen could hear it. "You have been difficult to find, Exalted."
"I have been occupied."
"With him!"
The Emperor huffed and dropped the rope, leaving a draft over the Slave Queen's back as he stepped away from her. "With the navy, Second. Our neighbor has strengthened its border patrols. Third is growing careless."
"It's not Third," Second said. "The Ambassador tells them our trespass is intentional."
The Slave Queen heard the arched brows in the Emperor's voice. "You know this?"
"I am no fool, Exalted," Second said. "If the Ambassador comes in wanting to know why our vessels are in their space and is dissatisfied with our denials, it is not difficult to make the connection."
"Our denials have always been accepted before," the Emperor said.
"Things have changed," Second said. "This Ambassador must be controlled. Do you know he claims the Slave Queen's mornings for himself?"
"I did give him her use," the Emperor said.
"Exclusively," Second said in a flat voice. "He will drive away anyone who attempts to use her before he is done."
"As he should," the Emperor said. "What male likes to be interrupted in his pleasures?"
"What pleasures?" Second cried. "I saw him engaged in no useful activity here. He chases others away just to deny them the use of the Slave Queen."
"His pleasure is peculiar," the Emperor said. "He enlarges her ears with a barrage of words. But if that is an alien's way of using a female, then we should rejoice, as there will soon be no more aliens to trouble us." He turned back to the Slave Queen and took up the rope, tugging at her gently. She swayed but did not fall. "Tell me, Second... have you ever Changed?"
A pause. Bewilderment, then. "Exalted? Why would I want to?"
"Because we can," the Emperor said. "Because we are born with the ability. Some might say it is what makes us Chatcaava."
"What makes us Chatcaava is that we can Change—and we don't," Second said.
The rope grew lax. Then the Emperor pulled on it and resumed building her into a curious statue. "Stop fretting about the Ambassador, Second. He is good at negotiating... very well. So are you. If the previous ambassadors did not require you to use those skills, that does not make them absent. I did not appoint you Second out of pity."
Second said, "No, Exalted."
"Go."
"Yes, Exalted."
Another tug against her ribs, over her shoulders. Then the Emperor sighed.
She could tell him what it was like to Change. She knew what it was like to take another into herself so deeply she became them while somehow remaining herself. Yet if she could find the words, even then, he would never ask her. And she would never volunteer. There were some distances she was not meant to bridge.
It took greater than usual effort to pull himself up to the harem tower the following morning, but Lisinthir was proud of himself for managing. He was not sure whether to be amused or chagrined when his arrival caused the Slave Queen to rise with both hands out, as if to steady him.
"You look terrible!" the Slave Queen said, concerned.
Lisinthir smiled wanly at her, the damask blanket gathered around his body with all the grace of a noble's raiment. "I feel less than perfect, I admit. But if I can be on my feet after only an hour's nap, then I am grateful for an obedient body."
"An hour?" Her orange eyes were wide. "Did you have trouble sleeping?"
"I had no time to sleep," Lisinthir said. He sat on one of the benches and pulled the blanket more closely around himself. "He kept me up until dawn." The heat and friction of flesh against flesh. The sound of sweat dripping on blankets and bodies smacking against the floor. The smell of pheromones and blood. "I thought I would never escape."
She sat in front of him on the floor and looked up at him. "Is that all? You have not seemed all of one piece."
"Lady?" he asked.
"Pleased, but distressed. Determined but desolate. Always exhausted," she said.
"Ah," he said. "The alcohol and the hekkret don't help, I'm sure. Nor the lack of sleep and the suspicion of my own food. Perhaps the lack of an easy face... the lack of the lack of fear...." He lifted a hand, shrouded in the cloak, aware of how the caress of the cloth set his body on edge. "I digress. Forgive me."
She stared at him, the short, slim Queen in her chains and vulnerable nudity. Even so, she seemed dangerous. Dangerous in the alien glint of her eyes, in her reaction to his outburst.
"You are shaking," she said at last. Did he become so obvious? "Let me bathe you."
Lisinthir suppressed a shiver at the thought of her hands on him. "Is that wise?"
The Slave Queen snorted. "Females are expected to bathe their masters at any time they wish."
"I meant—" He stopped, held out his hands, then tucked them into his armpits. "I grow over-sensitive."
She canted her head, alien-curious.
"A side effect of being touched too much," he said and closed his eyes. The world remained palpable. "I can feel you breathing against me, though you're sitting nearly an arm's length away."
He heard her swallow. "Is this something that can be fixed?"
"If no one touches me for a few weeks," he said, fighting a wry smile.
"Then no," she said. "Will it grow worse?"
"I don't know," he said. "I've never known anyone to have it." He licked his lips. "The hekkret seems to help. And the alcohol."
She stood and held out her hands. "Let me bathe you. It should relax you."
Obedient out of exhaustion, Lisinthir followed her into the bathing chamber. It used a third of this topmost room of the harem's tower, an area of multiple raised floors with pools of differing temperatures, each one bordered in coral and lapis tiles. The windows extended into the domed ceiling, offering a view of the complicated cloud masses, tinted gray and dull lilac; it was as wan a morning as he felt.
"It is customary for the female to disrobe the male," the Slave Queen said, interrupting Lisinthir's thoughts. "I suspect you would prefer to undress yourself?"
Lisinthir stood in silence, working through his feelings at the request. In the past weeks he'd put skin to skin more times than he could recall, almost all of it unpleasant. Reluctantly, he said, "I would not mind help."
She nodded, as if this were not an aberration of behavior. Her small hands lit on his shoulders, peeling the heavy covers back and leaving faint echoes of her calm concern. Lisinthir contemplated the top of her head as she pricked the buttons undone down the front of his blouse. He did not flinch until she reached the lace on his trousers.
"Enough," he said. "I can do the rest."
She stepped back, eyes on his, steady and alien. He found it difficult to strip in front of her, as if her gaze would renew the vulnerability of his body. He jerked the boots off, the socks and finally the pants. Standi
ng with them in his hands, he reflected that whatever came after this would be changed. He had prided himself on being the one male who did not treat the Slave Queen like a commodity, like an object. To carelessly discard his clothing thus and then present himself to her for bathing...
"Come into the bath," the Slave Queen said again, her voice gentle in the silence.
Try as he might, he couldn't deny how much he needed a gentle hand, a soothing touch. He did as she bid him. The pool she'd chosen was just hot enough to sting. Lisinthir waded into it and stood shivering, stomach-deep.
The Slave Queen sat across from him on the ledge, a pot in her hands. The fragrance of roses and spice wafted from it.
"Laniis left this," she said. "Our soaps are probably not suited to your skin."
"I'd noticed," Lisinthir said.
She scooped a handful of gel from the pot and reached for him. Her hands on his bare skin pressed all his thoughts away, filled him only with her calm quiet, her faint worry, her alien acceptance of what cannot be changed. And her fingers, he realized hazily through the veil of her emotional state, were talented. The scalp and back massage released his body's withheld tension. He relaxed into her grasp, eyes closed, born up by her hands and the rose mist rising off the surface of the pool.
"And here you are, just as reported. Despite your exhaustion. Except I do not find you talking, as Second said was your wont, but at least being attended by the Slave Queen properly instead of engaging her in discussion. This habit of chatting with non-people is most female of you, Ambassador."
Lisinthir opened his eyes, found the Emperor standing in his last sanctuary, almost disbelieved his presence until he felt the Slave Queen jerk away from him, her shock a slap against his spirit.
"Sickly," the Emperor commented after sniffing the water. "You even smell like one."
"I am no female," Lisinthir said in a low, taut voice.
"So prove it to me," the Emperor said with a grin. "Use the Slave Queen as she was born to be used."
Lisinthir remained in the middle of the pool, measuring each breath past a ribcage suddenly gone tight. The peace the female had imposed on him through her touch had shattered the moment her fingers had leapt away. Had he been able to keep that alien shroud, he might have been able to approach her with equanimity. Without it...
Even the Wingless Page 27
