Kate Elliott - Jaran

"On this planet?"

"No, indeed, Lady Terese. This is a star-faring civilization which predates our current Empire. We were greatly surprised to find traces of it here."

I'll just bet you were, she thought. This confession rang truer than anything he had ever told her before. They must have been dismayed to find relics of Chapalii provenance here on the planet of the human duke who, of all their enemies, would surely use any information he acquired against them. "I am intrigued. Perhaps you can enlighten me further."

Whether he believed that she had been misled by these confidences or whether he tacitly agreed to continue their little fencing match she could not be sure. Perhaps he hoped for the best. In any case, he began a vague discourse on the supposed attributes and history of this civilization, all of which sounded plausible, none of which sounded too betrayingly Chapalii. But it was when they were standing under the dome, staring upward, that Ishii said unexpectedly:

"You were right to wonder why I would conduct an expedition that my rank and birth ought to render repulsive to me. If my father's father had not precipitously died, leaving his affairs in the hands of his wife for one year before his heir could return to take things into order- There were grave losses. Our family was inevitably and immediately cast down from the status we had so long held. What could we expect, having left to us only five estates and two merchant fleets? And I, younger son of the youngest son-" Was there a trace of wry humor in his words? She could not tell. "-was chosen to accept this task. Much will be restored to us, Lady Terese. You see that I could not refuse my duty."

"Indeed, I see," replied Tess, quite shocked. They went on as if he had said nothing.

Coming out into a little courtyard of slender pillars engulfed in green vines, she saw a lone Chapalii disappear into the garden. Ishii was looking at the palace, examining some design on the wall, and had not seen him.

"I will walk alone now," said Tess, dismissing him. She waited for him to retreat inside. "Which way did he go, Kirill?" she asked in khush as soon as Ishii was gone.

"What, the other one? This way."

He led her into the garden. It was a clear day for autumn. A breeze cooled her cheeks, stirring the ends of her braided hair. He stopped on the edge of a grassy sward and gestured to a little fountain burbling merrily on the other side, up against a fringe of trees. Hon Garii stood there alone, one hand in the water.

"Stay here," said Tess in an undertone. She marched across the grass.

Garii turned. He flushed pink and bowed deeply. "Lady Terese."

"Hon Garii. We have created certain obligations between us. Is this not true?"

"You honor me with your acknowledgment, Lady Terese. I alone rashly instigated these obligations. That you have chosen to indulge me in this matter reflects only credit to you."

"Yet your family is pledged to Ishii's house."

"This is true. And to pledge myself to you, Lady Terese, must seem to a Tai-endi like yourself the grossest and most repugnant of behaviors. But I have observed and studied, and I have reflected on this man, Bakhtiian, and seen that by his own efforts he creates opportunity for himself. I am clever. I am industrious. Yet my emperor decrees that I must toil in the same position as my father's father's father, and suffer the consequences of an act committed by an ancestor I could not even know. Does this seem fair to you?"

"No, truly it does not. But Hon Garii, to work for me is to work for my brother, the duke. You must know what this means."

He bowed again. "I am yours, Lady Terese. Command me as you wish."

This was it, then. She took in a deep breath. "I must see the maintenance rooms. I must know the truth of this palace, why it is here, and why Cha Ishii was ordered to investigate. Will you meet me tonight in the eating hall after the rest are asleep?''

His skin remained white, colorless. So easily did he betray his emperor. "As you command, Lady Terese."

She nodded. "Then return to your duties now, and say nothing of this to anyone." He bowed and walked past her back to the shrine. She let out a long sigh and tested the water in the fountain with her finger. It stung. She wiped her finger on her sleeve and turned, hearing Kirill behind her.

"What an unmelodious language they speak," he said, looking after Garii's retreat. He hesitated and considered the grass, a peculiar expression on his face. "Tess, what does it mean that your brother is this prince in Jheds?''

Coming from Kirill, it seemed a puzzling question. "It means that he rules a great city and a great deal of farm and pasture and woodland lying all around it and supervises a port with many ships and rich trading from lands close by and lands far away across the seas."

"When you go back to Jheds, what will you do? If you are his heir, then-then you would become like an etsana, wouldn't you? You would have your own tent, and eventually children. You would need a husband, or a man to act as your husband-" He pulled his hand through his red-gold hair. "Tess, no one ever said-Bakhtiian can never go back there. He has given himself to this work now. Whatever he wants from you, he can't go with you." He looked at her finally, hope sparking in his eyes. "But-" He broke off, took in a deep breath, and went on. "But I could."

Foliage covered the verdant height of the surrounding hills, wreathed here and there with a curl of cloud, like some half-forgotten thought. An insect chirruped and fell silent. "Oh, Kirill," she said, and stopped.

He smiled a little wryly. "I know very well, my heart, that your brother probably already has some alliance arranged."

"No," she said in an undertone. "He doesn't. I won't lie to make that my excuse. I can't take you with me."

You can you can you can. Her thoughts raced wildly. His leaving would not alter anything; his knowing the truth about where she really came from would never matter. But what would life be like for him? She would be his only anchor in the bewildering confusion of space, of Earth, of the Empire. He would be utterly dependent on her. The kind of love they had was not strong enough to weather that sort of relationship, was not meant to. One or the other of them would soon fall out of love; one or the other would grow to resent their circumstances. And once he had left, Kirill could never return. She could not tear him apart from every seam that bound him to the fabric of life. Kirill loved her sincerely, she believed that, but she also believed that Kirill loved and had loved and would love other women as well. That was the real difference between Kirill and Ilya: Kirill was far more resilient.

"Gods, Kirill," she said, moved by his asking, by his offering. "Believe me, if I could, I would take you."

He hung his head, and she grimaced and went to hug him. He allowed this freedom, he put his arms around her, but after a moment he disengaged himself gently. "I believe you. Tess, I will always respect you most of all for your honesty." He kissed her chastely on the cheek, hesitated, and then walked away.

There was a stone bench beside the fountain. Tess sat on it and leaned her head back, letting the weak heat of the sun beat on her face.

And I used to think my life was complicated. Life as Charles's heir was beginning to seem like child's work now. She felt thoroughly exhausted and yet she had an uncanny feeling that she was waiting for someone else to accost her. Get it all over with in one long, miserable scene. King Lear must have felt like this, battered by one storm after the next. Then, because the comparison was so ludicrous, she chuckled.

Boots scuffed leaves. She looked around. "Hello, Vladimir. You startled me."

"You were here with one of the khepelli," he said accusingly. "Ilya has said all along you were a spy."