Guardian of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  I spread my arms and floated. The liquid moved through my lungs, and I wasn’t drowning any more. I yelled with triumph into the throat mic.

  ‘Let her go, Marque,’ Basks said.

  Marque released me and I was free to move through the liquid under my own power. Marque fitted me with some fins and I swam towards Basks’ body – it felt like flying; even more than the real winged flying on Mon.

  ‘Open your mouth and we’ll catch up,’ I said. ‘Sorry to hold you back.’

  ‘No need,’ Basks said. ‘Deep-Dives is just behind my body waiting for us with your family. Let’s go.’

  Marque guided me towards Deep-Dives’ body, over a stunning formation of fluoro-coral in deep purple and black, with bright green highlights.

  ‘The corals are darker here near the shore where there’s more oxygen,’ Basks said. ‘The colours become more blue and paler the deeper we go. Here’s Deep-Dives. Hop in and join your family, and we’ll go see the reds.’

  ‘Thanks, Basks,’ I said.

  Deep-Dives opened her mouth and I went in. She closed it, and I was surrounded by my family floating in the liquid. Deep-Dives’ mouth was as circular as the rest of her, with orange serrated teeth in two circles around the entrance to her digestive system. She could easily eat all of us alive. Her body was transparent enough to see out through her sides.

  She rotated so that her eyes were towards the front and her ring of fins at the back to propel her. Then she took off through the water, and we felt the movement even with the liquid surrounding us.

  Akiko floated to me and wrapped her arms around me. ‘I am so glad we can share this,’ she said. ‘I wish I could kiss you. We could take the breathers out . . .’

  I touched her cheek as I smiled down at her. ‘Don’t risk your life for a kiss, when the future is ours and we can have all the kisses in the world together.’

  She put her head on my chest and I held her, basking in the feeling of being together with someone who brought me so much joy, and with my family who were safe.

  11

  ‘What are the tourists behind us saying?’ I asked Marque as we walked through the warm, Earth-biology gardens. The ground was paved with silvery tiles, and the planters between the walkways were rich with the scent of the damp loam from the recent rain. The clouds were bright and fluffy, similar to those on Earth, but the sky was a pale watery blue-white. ‘I can catch about one word in three – they’re speaking a combination of dragon and something else – and they’re talking about scales and planets.’

  ‘They’re speculating on the cost of keeping the gravity so high and an atmosphere on such a small planetoid, and whether it’s tasteful to have a unique twin planet like this so removed from its natural state.’

  ‘We can afford the cost so they can shut up.’ Aki tossed her head. ‘The Moon is the humans’ twin planet and what we choose to do with it is none of their business.’

  ‘You could gently explain to them why we have the barrier and want to protect the site, as well,’ I said.

  We approached the invisible barrier separating the expensive higher gravity and atmosphere from the enclosed bubble of original Moon landscape. We stopped at the edge and both went silent at the sight of the tiny moon lander – barely more than three metres tall – that appeared to be cobbled together from a mass of spare parts in no particular order or symmetry. The astronauts’ footprints were visible in the dust, the path they trod so long ago still there in the vacuum. Dragon footprints skirted the area where a visiting dragon had trodden perilously close to the site, then jumped quickly away when she was warned by her accompanying human spouse. There was a loud ping, and holograms of the astronauts appeared, walking over the footsteps and demonstrating what they had done. The capsule appeared as a hologram on top of the lander, and the whole thing looked far too small to house the astronauts for three days. Holographic information appeared around the astronauts, providing details about the Apollo missions.

  ‘Their little transport vehicle is over there,’ Marque said, indicating with an arrow on the surface of the dome.

  We followed the edge of the dome until we reached the moon buggy; there were fewer tourists here viewing the historical site. I felt a movement next to me and turned, then my stomach fell out.

  Aki was down on one knee, and holding a small ring case out to me. Oh no. I should have seen this coming; it was an anniversary of sorts . . .

  ‘Darling Jian,’ she said, her smile still causing dimples that made me feel so lucky to have her.

  But commitment . . . did I want commitment? Could I face commitment? I should have known this was coming and been ready for it. Did my expression show my ambivalence? Don’t hurt her feelings, Jian, she’s the goddamn Princess of your dreams . . .

  ‘Two and a half years ago, we met for the first time on New Nippon. It was the six-month anniversary of the release of the humans by the cats. Now it’s two and a half years later, and the humans have been free for three years. You did this. I am so lucky to have you . . .’ She choked up and wiped her eyes with the back of her shaking hand, still holding the ring case. ‘You have brought me so much, you are so . . .’ Her voice squeaked with the effort. ‘Wonderful! Please marry me, Jian, and be my Princess.’

  I looked into her eyes. I loved her dearly, but the rest of my life? I wanted to run, but I couldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t hurt her feelings. The adoration was pouring off her, and I adored her in return. I gathered all the courage I could and did what I had to do.

  ‘I am so honoured, Princess, yes, I will marry you,’ I said, loudly enough for all the gawking tourists around us, and they cheered.

  Aki burst into tears as she placed the ring on my finger – it was a massive pearl from the beds on New Nippon, surrounded by faceted stones in my favourite shade of green. She threw her arms around my neck and reached up to kiss me, and I lifted her from the ground and spun her around, to the cheers of the crowd. We pulled back and smiled at each other, then kissed again.

  I was so glad she wasn’t an empath like me. She couldn’t know that there was a cold stone full of terror in my gut, sure that this was a huge mistake. I kicked myself. The last two and a half years with her had been nothing but love, light and happiness. Whenever she was called to royal duties without me I was miserable, and she always knew what to say when words failed me. She was an accomplished diplomat, respected scholar, and goddamn royalty. Cruising the seven galaxies with her was non-stop delight, and she threw herself into every experience with courage and fierce enthusiasm.

  The stone in my stomach was freezing cold, and I would not let this fantastic woman have any idea that I felt this way. I hadn’t shared my fear of commitment with her, thinking that it wouldn’t have any effect on our relationship. And now this had happened . . .

  ‘I’ll have to get a ring made for you,’ I said into her smiling face.

  ‘I’d love that,’ she said.

  ‘A pearl with purple stones around it,’ I said. ‘Your favourite colour.’

  She turned and leaned into me. ‘You are the best thing that ever happened to me.’

  ‘And you for me,’ I said, giving her a squeeze.

  The stone in my gut was still ice-cold, and I was determined to ignore it. Maybe I should seek therapy about this fear of commitment and stop goddamn ignoring it and hoping it would go away. I loved this woman with all my heart and I couldn’t imagine life without her.

  ‘Are you sure you want to give up your place in the royal family for me?’ I said as we studied the moon buggy together.

  ‘I’ve been wanting to get out of that stifling atmosphere for ages,’ she said, and nudged me. ‘You are the perfect pretext. Thanks for getting me out – you’re my hero.’

  *

  It was a spectacularly clear and bright Welsh day, and I suspected that Marque had manipulated the weather for our wedding as we shared our vows in a small family ceremony on my mother’s deck.

  ‘Jian, do you take Aki to be y
our lawfully wedded wife?’ Marque said.

  I gazed down at her, and she smiled, making the dimples appear. I didn’t hesitate. I’d worked through my issues with commitment, and wanted to be with Aki forever.

  ‘I do,’ I said, and her smile deepened.

  ‘And do you, Aki, take Jian to be your lawfully wedded wife?’ Marque said.

  ‘I do,’ Aki said, her eyes glistening with tears.

  ‘Then I pronounce you married in the eyes of the law of the Dragon Empire as it is interpreted on planet Earth, and all human territories.’

  My family applauded as we kissed, then laughed when I lifted Aki off her feet and twirled her around.

  ‘Now do we eat the potatoes?’ Oliver said loudly, and the laughing intensified.

  We held each other’s hands and walked to the table Mum had set up on the deck, decorated with Welsh dragons and Japanese paper cranes. She and Marque had outdone themselves – the table was loaded with roasted Welsh Golds, a platter of fatty tuna sashimi for Aki, and the cake in the centre was two layers – one chocolate for the humans, and one with a more toned-down sweetness for the hyper-sensitive alien tastebuds.

  ‘So you’re not a Princess any more?’ Mum asked Aki as she served her dragon partner Yuki some potatoes. ‘How does that work?’

  ‘Tradition rules everything,’ Aki said. ‘Only men can take the throne, and the Emperor has to be human and born naturally. The last time Japan had an Empress, they had sixteen years of drought and the Kyoto Palace blew down in a storm, so it’s considered against the will of the gods. There’s so much angst about women contesting the throne that when a female member of the family marries outside it, she loses her royal status.’ She nudged me with her shoulder. ‘Not that this is a problem for us.’

  ‘Born naturally?’ Diane said, horrified. ‘But that’s so dangerous! Even with modern medicine, pregnancy and childbirth aren’t one hundred per cent safe. That’s insane.’

  Aki nodded. ‘It’s one of the reasons why I refused to provide them with the male heir they’re so desperate for. And now that I’m married to Jian, I don’t need to worry.’

  ‘There’s a ferocious team of bureaucrats who run the Imperial Household,’ I said. ‘They still chase her to “fulfil her duty”. The current Emperor lost his wife before they had children, and he’s completely heartbroken. He’s not mentally strong enough to handle having kids, he needs time to heal. Haruka is a dragonscales, not birth-natural, and won’t allow his soulstone to be put on a fully human body to sire eligible children for them. Aki’s the only other royal who’s capable of bearing a suitable heir.’

  ‘They make my life miserable,’ Aki said. ‘Hopefully now that Jian and I are legal, they’ll stop suggesting that I marry Duke this or Count that and provide them with a couple of heirs because it’s my duty.’

  ‘Right after we’re done here, she has to rush back to New Nippon to preside over the Cherry Blossom festival there,’ I said, stealing some of Aki’s fatty tuna and dunking it in the sashimi sauce. ‘Haruka’s gone missing again, and if Aki doesn’t show, anything that goes wrong will be her fault.’

  ‘Haruka’s gone missing?’ Dianne said.

  ‘If there’s a ceremony that he doesn’t want to attend, he and Masako piss off for the duration, then pop back up when there’s no danger he’ll have to do it,’ Aki said. ‘Asshole was supposed to be here, too,’ she added under her breath.

  ‘He’s avoiding the Household staff, and making sure that Aki regularly meets them so they can pressure her to do his job and have kids for them,’ I said.

  Aki wiped her eyes. ‘Let’s not think about that now, eh? Let’s just celebrate. Now that the certificate is signed, I don’t have to worry about them any more and it’s all Haruka’s job. They can nail him down, put him in a human body, and he can do it for them.’

  ‘We have many more places in the seven galaxies to explore together,’ I said, raising my glass of champagne.

  ‘Life is so good!’ Aki said, and leaned into me.

  *

  The take-off platform on Mon was high above the dense jungle of tall, spindly trees in the low gravity. I stood with my wings ready to launch and turned back to check on Aki. She was still in virtual conference with her student, sitting across a holographic table from him.

  ‘No, listen,’ she said for the fourth time, her patience starting to wear thin. ‘Ivo did the original excavation, but her findings were inconclusive. McNamara went back over the dig, and discovered that things became radically different after the dragons arrived on Ex!ion. Their society was completely changed by the dragons’ colonisation.’

  ‘But McNamara’s work was later disproved by the Enigmatic Collective.’

  ‘The Collective’s results aren’t scholarly enough—’ she repeated patiently.

  ‘But they are!’ he said, protesting. ‘I read through them – they’re extremely thorough.’

  She sighed with exasperation. ‘Privacy, Marque.’

  ‘Done.’

  Aki lowered her voice. ‘I’ve been trying to hint at this and you haven’t been seeing it – but the Collective fudged the results because they didn’t want to piss off the dragons. The Collective is so socialised to avoid offence that it will change its reporting of reality – okay, lie – to avoid it. Nobody uses the Collective’s findings, they’re never unbiased.’

  The student from New Edo University, a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, stopped with his mouth open. ‘That actually happens?’

  ‘Damn straight. Back to public, Marque. The Collective’s results are not rigidly scholarly enough to use, so McNamara’s results still stand.’

  ‘I see,’ the student said, still stunned.

  ‘Now, if you don’t mind,’ Aki said, smiling at me through the student’s transparent head, ‘I have places I need to be. Is there anything else you need?’

  ‘Uh, no. Thank you, Professor.’

  Aki nodded to him and the hologram blinked out. She rose and came to me. ‘What a waste of good dragonscale communication resources. The nature of the Collective’s scholarly work is in the basic information kit we give to all archaeology first-years. I’m surprised he made it to post-grad level without knowing.’ She touched my right wing. ‘Thank you for waiting for me; you are a saint. Ready?’

  I took a deep breath and nodded. ‘I don’t know which is harder. Drowning, or launching myself off a cliff.’

  ‘You can do it!’ she said with enthusiasm.

  ‘Princess Akiko, the Grand Steward is on the line,’ Marque said. ‘He says it’s urgent, you’re needed back on Earth immediately.’

  We shared a look.

  ‘What pretext this time?’ she said. ‘They have to be running out of excuses.’

  Marque changed to the steward’s voice, something I’d grown to loathe in the three years we’d been together.

  ‘My Princess,’ he said with deference that didn’t match his real attitude. ‘As you know, there are insufficient members of the royal family able to fulfil all of the ceremonial commitments—’

  ‘Skip to the fucking chase,’ Aki snapped.

  The steward ignored her. ‘And Prince Haruka has been called away to an important diplomatic event on the dragon homeworld, a guest of the Empress herself—’

  ‘He ran off with Masako again and you can’t find him,’ she said with scorn. ‘I can’t believe you used one of my own students to locate me.’

  ‘A member of the family of at least second rank is required for the full moon ceremony on New Nippon, and you are the only other family member who fulfils that condition.’

  ‘I married Jian and I’m not a member of the family at all,’ she said grimly. ‘Jian and I are legally married in fifteen jurisdictions, Tokugawa, I’m already outside the royal family.’

  ‘Not until you wear the junihitoe, have the ceremony in the Palace, and the Emperor seals the paperwork,’ the steward said, his impatience coming through his voice. He changed to perfectly mild and in con
trol again. ‘All we need is for you to have some royal children, Princess, and the pressure will be off you.’

  ‘All right, I’ll do it, but I’m still married to Jian,’ she said.

  ‘Excellent. Come to New Nippon, we have a husband with impeccable Imperial bloodlines lined up for you—’

  ‘No, I meant I’ll do the ceremony!’ she barked. ‘I will not be unfaithful to my Jian!’

  ‘Oh. Well, then, thank you for this small concession, Princess, and please reconsider your attitude. This is not productive for any of us, and with a little flexibility, you can have everything you want. Tokugawa out.’

  ‘Marque,’ she said, her voice still full of irritation. ‘Block them. I don’t want to hear a single thing from either Earth or New Nippon for the rest of our trip to Mon. Let them know that I’ll return in time to do the full moon ceremony – but to leave me the hell alone until then.’

  ‘What level of emergency should I let through?’ Marque said.

  ‘Nothing less than the Imperial Palace burning to the ground. No, forget that, I won’t even go if that happens. Only if something happens to a member of the family, otherwise I don’t want to hear anything at all from either place.’

  ‘Done.’

  Aki touched my face. ‘If a member of the family doesn’t perform the ceremony, it’s awful bad luck. I’ll be blamed for everything bad that happens for the next twelve months.’

  ‘I know. Maybe when we’re home, you should talk to them about having kids—’

  ‘Go jump off a cliff,’ she said, and gave me a push. ‘Go. I’ll talk to them and explain to them for the millionth time that we’re married, and they’re wasting their time.’

  ‘We seem to be at an impasse with them,’ I said. ‘Maybe you should just marry Kenji or someone, have a couple of kids, get it out of the way, and then come back for . . . Oh.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Much as I’m enjoying this drama, you need to take off in the next two minutes or you will lose your window,’ Marque said. ‘A queue is forming behind you.’