Ann Leckie: She Commands Me and I Obey

The first serve was White Lily's, and Ultimately-Justice slammed the ball with her armguard powerfully enough to send it towards Blue Lily's goal line at a speed the back court player didn't anticipate. The ball grazed the side of his armguard and bounced off the Harime wall.

Blue Lily's middle court dove for it, landing face down, and hit the ball just before it bounced, driving it in a wide arc across the center line. Ultimately-Justice, with one hard, fast swing of her arm, drove it angling towards the Noage Itray wall, where Blue Lily would have to scramble to reach it, since they had all been trying to catch the ball in its bounce off the opposite wall.

But Seven-Brilliant-Truths was fast. He reached the ball and slammed it hard, back across the center line. White Lily's middle court tried to return it, but it flew into the stands, a foul.

The spectators on the Harime wall were sluggish at first, but after a few plays they realized that Sister Ultimately-Justice was playing to win. White Lily's middle court seemed to be having a bad day — he fouled twice while Her-Breath-Contains watched. But Ultimately-Justice was going to give Blue Lily as good a fight as she could, better than anyone had expected. Even as Blue Lily scored three goals in succession, the Harime spectators' enthusiasm strengthened. Her-Breath-Contains was pleased to see Seven-Brilliant-Truths, so grinning and sure of himself at the start of the game, compelled to fight for points.

The merchant leaned over to the tetrarch Qefahl Brend, raised his hand and gestured towards the ball as it flew over White Lily's goal line.

Draped across the back of his hand was a piece of jewelry nearly identical to the one Ultimately-Justice's middle court man had worn before the start of the game. Her-Breath-Contains' eyes followed the dangling chains that led to the same upper armlet. He frowned. Had the merchant been giving gifts to White Lily players?

"Blue Lily must score next," said Qefahl Brend to the merchant, answering a question he had asked but Her-Breath-Contains had not heard, absorbed as he was by the merchant's jewelry. "If White Lily scores, then both sides return to zero and the game begins again."

"Every time? Even if it keeps happening?"

"There was a game," said the abbot, "centuries ago, that lasted two months and six days."

"I hope this one won't be so long!" exclaimed the merchant. "I enjoy sports, but not to that extent."

It was clear the merchant knew virtually nothing about the game. And he was here currying the tetrarch's favor, so if he had given gifts to players, they would likely have been to Blue Lily's. So where had White Lily's middle court gotten his jewelry?

Her-Breath-Contains' seatmate had said, He's been positively pouring jewelry and imported luxuries onto the tetrarch since he arrived. The merchant might very well have given such a gift to Qefahl Brend.

"It doesn't matter how long it lasts," said the abbot. "Only that we do the will of She-Who-Sprang-From-The-Lily."

But, Her-Breath-Contains realized, Qefahl Brend cared nothing for the will of She-Who-Sprang-From-The-Lily. Sister Ultimately-Justice — or for that matter Her-Breath-Contains — was only a potential obstacle between Qefahl Brend and what he wanted. Her-Breath-Contains was protected by the abbot, so it seemed. Who would defend Sister Ultimately-Justice? Her own teammate had been bribed to help destroy her. "I have to go to the bathroom," Her-Breath-Contains said, rising, and excused his way out of the crowd of novices and took the stairs down to the cold and silent portico, and the staring Hundred.

A monk was standing at the door to the White Lily end of the court. Above, the noise of the crowd following the play, and from the court the thwack of the ball hitting the walls, the occasional grunt of a ballplayer. "What do you want, brother?" asked the White Lily monk.

"I have to talk to Sister."

"Go away."

"You don't understand. I have to talk to her."

The play ended in a foul; Her-Breath-Contains heard the call. The White Lily monk sighed, took a step back and made a sign. A moment later Her-Breath-Contains heard the timeout call, and Ultimately-Justice-Shall-Prevail came to the door.

Her-Breath-Contains routinely looked on the nearly naked She-Commands-Me-And-I-Obey without embarrassment, but she was just a statue. Sister Ultimately-Justice was a real woman. Her arms and legs were well-muscled and streaked with grime, from diving for the ball. Her-Breath-Contains looked up towards her face quickly, because the close sight of her bare breasts was disturbing him, but so was the smell of her sweat, her very solid presence. She said nothing, only stood and waited, face expressionless.

She frightened him. He swallowed. "There's a merchant from out-system," he said, willing his voice not to shake, feeling slightly unreal. "He's been giving the tetrarch presents. He wants contracts." A pause to swallow again. "He's wearing this weird bracelet-thing. It goes all over his hand and up his arm and…"

It was as though he wasn't speaking. Her expression didn't change at all, there was no acknowledgment of his presence. "And your middle court man was wearing one just like it before the game. Except it was a different color. I've never seen anything like it before."

She didn't ask him what he meant, or if he was sure, or what he thought he was doing. She just turned and walked back out to the ballcourt without saying a word.

Her-Breath-Contains turned as calmly as he could and walked away, into the middle of the Hundred, reluctant this time to look squarely at She-Commands-Me-And-I-Obey. He closed his eyes, took three deep breaths, wishing there weren't so many flowers, opened his eyes, and climbed the steps to the top of the wall, where the Blue Lily monks sat. As he took his seat, Seven-Brilliant-Truths served, and Ultimately-Justice was poised to return it — until her middle court man, running for the ball, tripped and fell into her, and knocked the ball backwards, straight towards his own goal. Her back court knocked it away at the very last moment, sending it up into the stands.

The spectators on the Harime side groaned in unison, engaged in the game's outcome as they had not been at the start. The Harime governor seemed not to react at all. "What was that?" asked the novice beside Her-Breath-Contains. White Lily's back court strode towards the mid court player, seemed about to speak angrily, but then must have remembered that what he said would be audible both here and to people watching in their homes, because he stopped abruptly and returned to his position. The Blue Lily players laughed outright.

Ultimately-Justice gestured for a timeout. All three White Lily players walked behind the goal line, where they could speak without everyone on the station hearing. Ultimately-Justice spoke calmly, briefly. Her middle court replied, emphatically, gesturing negatively three and four times, no, no, no, no. Back court tried to speak but Ultimately-Justice raised her hand and spoke again, still calm. Middle court gestured again, no, spoke at length, presumably explaining.

They returned to the court. Ultimately-Justice seemed unfazed. As she walked past her middle court man, she suddenly spun around and slammed her armguard hard against his knee. The crack of bone breaking was audible over the whole ballcourt, and the scream of the injured ballplayer echoed in the momentary shocked silence of the spectators.

The noise rose. Qefahl Brend seemed paralyzed in his seat. The novice next to Her-Breath-Contains said, "She can't do that! Can she do that?" Meanwhile, Ultimately-Justice strolled unconcerned to the center line, looked at Seven-Brilliant-Truths, and gently, sweetly, smiled.