The Prince and the Programmer

by Cassandra Pierce

  “I wondered about the terms of the wager,” Jasno confessed. He knew he was taking a great liberty, addressing Tergus so directly and in a manner his station in life didn’t warrant, but the moment seemed right and he did desperately want the answers to the questions still tormenting him. “You want him to come and live with you here? Would he be able to do that? I mean…surely he has important duties on his home world.”

  “Duties have never stopped Darex from doing as he pleases,” Tergus said with a laugh. “Anyhow, no, I wouldn’t expect him to be here all the time. We can travel to his world in my yacht anytime the urge strikes us. We may even spend long periods of time simply sailing.” He stopped talking and frowned as if an unpleasant thought had struck him. “Don’t worry—you’ll come with me, of course. You’re going to be my personal chef from now on. And my confidante, of course. I couldn’t be happy without you.”

  Jasno managed to smile. “And Prince Darex, of course.”

  “Yes. I feel like with the two of you around, I can take on any challenge. I can be anyone I need to be.” His cheeks reddened slightly. “I’m sure you find that a peculiar thing for me to say. The fact is, it’s not easy to hold the positon I do in this kingdom. People don’t realize the pressures—the aloneness. I’ve always wanted someone to share those pressures with, to make them more bearable. I’d be willing to bet that Darex feels the same. I think I can help him find his own strengths, too.”

  “You don’t need anyone else for that,” Jasno said, his mood suddenly turning fiery. “You can find that within—at least, that’s what I was always told. And I had to believe it, because I’ve been on my own all my life. I never had parents at all, never mind a king and queen. I’ve never even had especially close friends, and certainly not lifelong friend ones.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I suppose we all have our own obstacles to climb over, no matter what our position in the world. Still, those days are over.” Tergus reached down, took his hand, and squeezed it. “I’ll always be here for you now. You’ll have a place to stay as long as I live. A palace, in fact.”

  “Thank you, your H—er, Tergus. I don’t know where I’d be if not for you. In the detention area on Port Equinox, no doubt. They don’t like deserters much. A service contract is a service contract as far as they’re concerned. I doubt that even an accidental abduction would be considered a proper excuse.”

  Tergus shook his head. “Barbarous. I thought all civilized lands did away with indentured servitude. Still, no matter. You’ll be safe enough here. My people grew out of their brutish stage many eons ago.”

  In an unexpected burst of compassion, he bent down and kissed Jasno’s forehead. His lips remained there a bit longer than necessary, and then moved lower toward Jasno’s mouth. Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, Jasno began to kiss him back, parting his own lips and feeling the tip of Tergus’s tongue skim over the soft flesh.

  He was wondering if he’d fallen asleep or fainted in the kitchen and was dreaming this entire wonderful scenario when reality intruded. Tergus jumped back, clearly startled by his own actions.

  “I’m sorry, Jasno. That was wrong of me. I’m not sure why I did it.”

  “I…I could think of one possible reason,” Jasno ventured. His heart turned to ash when he saw Tergus wipe the back of his hand over his mouth, as though embarrassed or even disgusted.

  “I won’t deny that I’m attracted to you,” Tergus said sadly. “Who wouldn’t be? You’re handsome, smart, and talented. I knew from the moment I saw you that we would be important to each other, even if it’s hard to put a name on exactly what our relationship might be.”

  “M…maybe it doesn’t need a name.”

  “That’s very understanding of you. I wouldn’t have expected any less.” Tergus ran a hand over the top of Jasno’s head, smoothing the hair from his brow. “I can’t deny that I’ve been lonely. But I can’t take advantage of you like that.”

  Jasno knew what that meant—Tergus would have liked to be with him, possibly as a stopgap measure until he could get the real thing, but he didn’t want to be unfaithful to Darex. He would have been doing little more than using Jasno, and his conscience told him that was wrong. Yet, wrong or not, he wouldn’t have minded taking Darex’s place just once. Tomorrow night and beyond, Tergus and Darex would be together.

  “I’d better go,” Tergus said, pulling his hand away with a visible effort. “Time for me to rest—and make sure Odu, my champion, isn’t staying up too late indulging in your spiced wine. We all need to be sharp for the tournament tomorrow.”

  “Good luck,” Jasno said half-heartedly as Tergus slipped out and left him alone. He seemed to move in slow motion as he stripped off his uniform and pulled on his sleeping garment instead, a loose-fitting tunic over a pair of soft leggings. In truth, he didn’t even case who won the match, though he could see a certain advantage to Odu’s victory. Either way, though, Tergus and Darex would be together, one pretending to serve the other but both playing a mutually beneficial erotic game. The thought of Tergus bending to Darex’s self-centered will, even voluntarily, sickened him. He drifted off to sleep with his exhausted body warring with his troubled, spinning mind.

  Sometime during the night, he felt a weight drop onto his bed and heard unpleasant laughter scraping at his ears. Startled awake, he slid into a sitting position and froze.

  Darex lay stretched out on the bed beside him. Jasno’s window shades were cracked open, allowing the pale light from Despina’s twin moons to reflect off Darex’s sneer.

  “How did you get in here?” Jasno asked. He was sure he had programmed the door to lock behind him.

  “How did I descramble that lock?” Darex held up his right hand and dangled a small object that Jasno recognized as a code-blaster that would work on most any door. They were hard to find, and illegal to possess, but of course men of Darex’s social rank made up the rules as they went along. “Please. Nothing could have been simpler. Tergus ought to step up his security measures. You never know what riff-raff might wander into the palace.”

  “Please, your Highness. You ought to go.”

  “I’m sorry to disturb your rest,” Darex whispered, ignoring his protest. He snuggled close on the narrow mattress while Jasno tried to slide away. Darex’s strong fingers digging into his wrist stopped him and held him in place. “You must be exhausted after working so hard on the royal banquet, probably spending weeks on the recipes alone. Quite a step up from the service tunnels of Port Equinox, isn’t it?”

  “I—I didn’t think you—”

  “Realized it was you? Of course I did. What kind of fool do you take me for? If I’d known you were here, I would have brought your old uniform back to you, Jasno Erys. Alas, I turned it over to the port authorities when I found it in my sterilizing unit. We half-expected to find you running around the port naked. You can imagine my disappointment when no such entertaining outcome occurred. Still, finding you here has more than made up for that.”

  “Are you going to report me?”

  “Of course not. Do you think I care about Port Equinox losing one of its indentured workers? If I had known about your special talents, I would have kidnapped you myself. I’m sure you have others that my old friend Prince Tergus hasn’t had enough sense of make use of yet.” Murmuring, Darex gave his lips a theatrical lick. “I am a more practical sort, you’ll soon discover.”

  “I do not think it is appropriate for us to have this discussion—especially when Prince Tergus is not here to defend himself. I must ask you again to leave, your Highness, though I do so with all due respect.”

  Darex’s eyes narrowed. “You are a clever one, aren’t you? You know just how to phrase things to keep yourself out of the brig. I’m sure Tergus falls for your disingenuous patter, but I do not. Nonetheless, I admit I find it amusing.” His fingers tightened, and he moved closer. Through their two layers of clothes—for Darex had thankfully not shed any of his before jumping onto the bed—Jasno felt his arousa
l, rigid and, under the circumstances, repulsive. He should have known Darex’s arrival on Despina would bring nothing but turmoil to his life.

  “Please, your Highness,” he repeated, icy fear snaking through him.

  “I’d love to take you right here, after Tergus was foolish enough to walk away from you earlier. I know because I watched him. I suspected there might be something between you—I had no idea it was something so chaste and honorable. I feared it might make me choke up some of that wonderful dinner you prepared.”

  “I have only the greatest respect for Prince Tergus,” Jasno shot back with a touch of anger. “No one has ever been kinder to me. He would never take the kind of liberties with me you seem eager to…your Highness.”

  Darex’s scowl deepened and then relaxed. His offensive grin returned. “You know what I’m going to ask for when I win the wager? Not Tergus himself, though he doesn’t know it yet. I’ve already had him more times than I can count. No—I’m going to ask him for you. He’ll have no choice but to obey any order I give him, after all. Then the two of us will return to my own ship, where you should have been all along. I look forward to making up for lost time—and getting some good meals for a change, too.”

  Still chortling, Darex let go of Jasno’s wrist, which had grown numb from his cruel grip. He stood and left the room, the damaged lock making a pitiful chirp as it slid back into place.

  Alone in his bed, covered by darkness, Jasno saw no need to suppress his despair any longer. Weeping openly, he tore at his own hair and used every exotic curse word he’d picked up at the port over the years. He saw only one way to help Tergus escape Darex’s poisonous influence—no matter which antigrav wrestler prevailed in the ring the following day.

  The antigrav match easily proved the most popular event the kingdom had ever sponsored. Everyone said so. Jasno watched from the kitchen on the screen. A series of shorter entertainments preceded the main event—floating jugglers, dancers, even an amateur event in which ordinary citizens chosen by their peers grappled with each other in brief exhibition matches. The audience was angry and stomping.

  At long last, the two wrestlers stepped up to their respective sides of the ring. Mal Jar, as usual, commanded everyone’s rapt attention just by the mere force of his presence. His robes today were designed to look like leaping flames, no doubt a satire on Odu’s bright red skin. When Mal Jar raised his arms to rile up the crowd, he briefly appeared to have caught fire.

  Odu Gillius, on the other side, favored a more subdued, dramatic approach. He stood in stony silence, his bristly white hair covered in a hooded robe, his thick lips set in an expression of intense concentration. The crowd seemed equally divided in its adulation of the two, with the bulk of the foreign visitors favoring Mal Jar and the home crowd cheering for Odu.

  High above the crowd, comfortably ensconced in the plush comfort of the royal box, Darex and Tergus perched side by side in tall-backed chairs. While they waited for the match to start, they chatted casually, leaning forward so that their heads almost touched. Darex’s lips curved in a smile when he said something to Tergus that made Tergus’s fair cheeks blush.

  Sadly, Jasno reached out and turned off his workshop viewscreen. Pivoting slowly, he took one last look at the foodsynth lab that had once held such promise for his future. He supposed it was strange to say goodbye to a room the way one might a person—on the other hand, he had no person to say goodbye to, so a single, symbolic farewell would have to do.

  He couldn’t stay. He knew that now. Once the match was over, whoever won, Tergus would be with Darex once again. Who was Jasno to deprive him of happiness?

  Gingerly he folded the freshly cleaned livery jacket Tergus had provided for the party and placed it on the chair beside the workbench. On top of it he placed the antique cookbook. Avo was experienced enough to read and interpret it now. He’d be able to keep Tergus content, hopefully while avoiding Darex’s revolting attentions. How ironic, he thought, that the two people he cared most about in the galaxy would be both safer and better off without him.

  He walked through the deserted palace, nodding to the few guards who had been left to guard the empty rooms and corridors. It took him the better part of an hour to find his way to the royal landing pad, since he’d only seen it on the screen and did not dare give his destination away by asking anyone its location. At last, he spotted a vast field filled with ships and pods of all shapes and sizes. A few uniformed crew members and palace guards strolled among them, keeping watch and chatting at the same time. A portable screen had been set up in a central area so they could follow the antigrav match while guarding the ships. A few onlookers, some humanoid and some not, had gathered around it to watch.

  Holding the duffel bag that contained his few possessions in one hand and his toolbox in the other, Jasno descended a steep flight of marble stairs, crossed the field, and walked right up to the screen and the pilots and security officers standing there.

  “I’m looking for someone with a ship that can take me off this planet,” he said, forcing his voice not to shake. His fingers felt sweaty around the handles of his luggage. “I can work in exchange for my passage. My specialty is repairing and upgrading food-synth units.”

  Chapter 8

  With a satisfied murmur, Sephana pushed her empty plate toward the center of the table and leaned back in her chair. Her partner, Erfi, scraped at the bottom of her bowl with her spoon, determined to capture the last morsel.

  “That was…amazing,” she said to Jasno, seated across from them and idly dragging his own spoon through his dessert. “What did you say it was called again?”

  “On Earth they referred to it as chocolate pudding,” Jasno answered. Though he was glad his new companions were enjoying his concoctions, their praise never gave him the same little thrill that Tergus’s had.

  “Choc-o-late pudding.” Erfi tested out the words on her tongue, pronouncing the unfamiliar syllables carefully. “Food of the gods would be more like it.”

  “I understand Earth people consider chocolate to have great healing properties,” Jasno told her.

  “I’m not surprised to hear that,” Sephana put in with a nod of agreement.

  The two of them were from the Viilehu system, which had a distinct and unusual language. Jasno had to admire their facility at learning to communicate with a large number of other species and races, though their motivation was mostly commercial. As successful traveling merchants, they had been more than generous with Jasno, too. In exchange for some light housekeeping and meal preparation, they let him live on their moving bazaar as a kind of housemate. He didn’t think he was out of place in thinking of them as friends. There were other advantages to his new living arrangement, too. In the three lunar cycles he had been with them, he had seen a great deal of the galaxy and learned a great deal about the interstellar retail business. And though Sephana and Erfi were a couple, since they were both women, seeing them interact did not leave him quite as lonely for Tergus as seeing two men would have.

  Some nights, he barely thought of Tergus at all. For a few moments at a time, anyhow.

  “Do you think you can make it again tomorrow?” Sephana asked. “We have an important new client coming to meet with us, and we’re anxious to make a good impression.”

  Jasno wrinkled his nose. “You know I don’t like to make the same dish two nights in a row. I don’t want anyone getting bored with my menu.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. Besides, there might be an additional advantage for you this time. Erfi saw the fellow briefly when she set up the appointment on the videocom. She says he’s pretty…what was the word, Erfi? Cute.”

  “Yes. Cute,” Erfi confirmed. She winked at Jasno.

  “I’m not interested in anything like that,” Jasno said. His scowl deepened. “It’s too soon.”

  “You can’t dwell on your broken heart forever,” Sephana told him. “Push the old feelings out by pulling in new ones, or something like that. I can
’t remember the saying exactly. Anyway, I’m sure it will work. No matter how wonderful the last one seemed, the new one will seem that much better.”

  “Not in this case.” Jasno tried to stop fresh tears from stinging his eyes. How could he replace a prince with another traveling merchant, no matter how smooth-tongued and handsome? He wouldn’t be Tergus, and therefore not good enough. He sighed. His only hope was that Darex and Tergus were happy together, wherever they had ended up. He had no idea which of them had won the wager, since he had forced himself not to listen to news of far-away Despina or to learn the results of the match between Odu Gillius and Mal Jar. In either case, he figured, they had reconciled as Tergus had wanted. With any luck, Tergus’s sweet personality had rubbed off on Darex and reformed him enough to be a good mate to Tergus. Tergus deserved nothing less than perfection, though Jasno doubted Darex could provide that.

  “All right, we won’t dwell on this just now,” Erfi, the more sensitive of the two, spoke up. “The question is, though, will you make the choc-o-late pudding again tomorrow?

  “If you want,” Jasno said with a sigh. Seeing that all three of them were done, he stood and collected the dishes to toss in the sanitizing unit. Really, he saw no point in being stubborn. Without Tergus in his life, the joy had gone out of preparing special meals. He took no more pleasure in creating exotic dishes than he would have in serving unformed polymers.

  “We’re expecting our guest around this same time tomorrow,” Sephana called after him as he left the dining area with the dishes on a tray. “Make sure you’re here. We really want you to meet him.”

  “Whatever you say,” Jasno said. He glanced back in time to see Sephana wink at Erfi. For once, he was glad he had work to do in the kitchen. Most nights, he enjoyed their conversation, but this time they were making him nervous. And if they were doing it to flirt with each other, that was even worse.