Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (52 page)

“Is he gone now?”

William pauses, “Yes, his presence is gone.”
He must be using his newfound skills, skills I haven't yet learned.
I give a quick
listen
and confirm William's findings.

“So what did you think of the meeting?”

“He likes you.”

“Be serious, William.”

“I am! I know it sounds strange, but he
really seems to like you! He almost devoured you with his eyes, and
he gave off the feel of… coveting. Of course, dressed as you are,
that isn't so surprising.”

“Hmm, Yes, I had not anticipated bending
over when I chose this.”

“He seems, though, to like you for more than
just visual pleasure. Tell me, what happened when he visited you
last night?”

“He noticed Mathair's flute, and asked me to
play a little for him. His ability to keep me off balance had
annoyed me, so I decided to show him what a true musician could do…
He took up my violin and joined in the song! Actually, he's an
amazing musician himself. For a moment afterward he rather
frightened me, his look was quite frankly predatory, but then he
left.”

“So when did the hand kissing occur?”

“Twice, actually. He kissed the back of my
hand when he first entered, and my palm when he left. That’s when
he really took his time at it.”

“Did he say anything after that?” I bow my
head, remembering the moment and hoping my cheeks don’t blush. “I
don’t know… the last thing I remember is trying not to tremble as
he kissed my wrist, and then I was alone.”

“Oh boy. I heard what he wanted in exchange
for Shiral, he isn’t asking for much, is he?” William is good with
sarcasm, I laugh with him.

“Not much at all, no.”

“Don’t be surprised if that changes.”

~~~

No one from the other houses that occupy
Shiral approach either William or I. Lagash is present, but I
suspect that they would be entirely unwilling to even consider
negotiating with us. Temenus does not seem to have any
representatives present. While asking around for them I run into a
friend.

“Darius!”

He takes a step back, “Shi'ahn. You have
changed. What happened?”

“I was injured, not long after returning
from our imprisonment.” He looks confused. I hold out my arms,
“This was Cailli's idea of 'fixing' me.”

“Cailli?”

“The Cailliach.”

“Ah, I see.” His expression changes then,
becoming quite charming. “Shi'ahn, once again, I find myself rather
hungry. Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“No. I was looking for a representative of
Temenus.”

“The Temenus Dynasty? Then let me save you
some time, for they are not here. They sent troops for the battle,
of course, but rumor has it that they have a bit of a family
emergency just now. I suspect the rumors are true, as the Primus
Dominar did not seem upset with their absence.”

“Oh, I see. I had hoped to speak with them
about my homeworld.”

He looks almost saddened, “I understand that
you would want to negotiate the return of your homeworld, but, I
feel I should warn you, it is held by all three of our Dynasties;
they are not likely to give it up. And as they are the most
powerful of all the houses of Chaos, aside from the royal house, of
course, you are unlikely to regain it by any means.”

I do not respond, I just look at the floor,
for a moment letting sorrow flood my soul.

“I'm sorry, Shi'ahn, I did not mean to cause
you sorrow. Come, let us find some lunch. If I remember correctly,
good food tends to cheer you up.”

I'm about to agree with him, when someone
takes my arm – Lucian!

“Shi'ahn! What do you think you are
doing?”

“My actions are none of your business!”

“Really, you should know better. I happen to
have it on good authority that your 'friend' here is trying to get
you alone so that he can abduct you.”

“Don't be ridiculous!”

“Shi'ahn, his Household has put what you
might call a 'reverse contract' out on your life. They have asked
the other households to leave you alone so that they may take you
themselves, to tear you to shreds – alive!”

I turn to Darius, incredulous, and
listen
to his
harmony
. I
hear
no threat from
him, even as his expression changes into something almost
feral.

“You are lucky, Shi'ahn, to have such a
devoted watchdog. You are so naive, just like before.”

Why doesn't he
sound
threatening? I
tentatively reach toward him with my mind, and he accepts the
contact instantly.

'Play along with this, Shi'ahn, for your own
safety. What he says is the truth, as far as my own people know.
Someday I will explain.'

His thoughts
sound
true, no matter
how strange it all seems. I decide to question him in a manner that
will not break his cover, “How dare you! You know I was innocent of
the crime – the murderer has been executed! Why would you wish to
harm me?”

“Because you are the reason we let our guard
down! You were so innocent, so honest in your defense of my sister
that we truly believed you and your companions were of little
threat to us. If it hadn't been for you, we would have treated the
lot of you with all the distrust that you deserved. Because of you,
we did not detect the traitor among you! Even before our journey
truly started, I was so distracted by you that I did not properly
heed Tindalos and Byakhee's behavior toward your Nero. It does not
matter that you had no direct involvement in the Magni Dominar's
murder, you are the indirect cause of our disgrace! We can no
longer punish the murderer, but we can punish you!”

Lucian appears outraged. He points toward
Darius and transports him away, then takes my arm. “Come, Shi'ahn,
I will take you to safety.” Wishing not to discredit the scene
Darius seemed to want to play out, I accompany Lucian, and immerse
myself in the image Darius had painted, causing me to appear both
shocked at what nearly happened, and grateful for Lucian's rescue.
I even manage to shake a little.

~~~

Later in the day a servant summons me to a
family meeting, to discuss the negotiations. When I enter the
meeting room, Vespasian seems quite happy.

“Well, everyone, there have been some very
interesting offers made that will return to us a great deal of our
former holdings! First of all, Dominar Ra Ab Ishme et Akkad has
made an astounding offer. His Dynasty has been particularly
aggressive and successful, they have taken hundreds of worlds; of
which one hundred forty four are under his direct control.”

I lean forward in anticipation – could that
possibly include Shiral? It couldn't, could it? He shares Shiral
with two other Dynasties.

“All of his worlds he offers to return, he
asks in exchange only the Lady Shi'ahn, as his bound concubine.”
Vespasian's smile looks coldly triumphant.

Llywelyn's voice cuts through the surprised,
and in some cases, outraged gasps.

“Don't be ridiculous, Vespasian, she is our
Avatar, not to mention the Guardian of Croi'Solas; losing her would
weaken us severely. She isn't going anywhere.”

It's strange to be so inarguably defended in
such a dismissive tone. No doubt if I weren't an Avatar and
Guardian, he would more than happily trade me away. Of course, if I
weren't an Avatar, I doubt Ishme would have made such an offer for
me.

Vespasian continues, “But our gains would be
tremendous!”

Lucian responds, “Such a move could
potentially be suicidal, Vespasian, be realistic.”

Vespasian looks around the room, but no one
joins his cause. He even catches Novanus' eyes, silently asking for
his support, but Novanus just stares coldly back. Vespasian frowns,
but then seems to regain some of his earlier exuberance.

“Very well, there is another very good offer
on the board. House Dolor offers to return several of our closest
trade partner worlds in exchange for William, he would be wed to a
daughter of the head of their Household, Alyssa, and claim
issue.”

“What? NO!” He wants to give away my
brother!

“William's dragon forces have been very
useful, if hostilities were to break out again we would be better
off with their continued support.” Lucian, this time.

To my surprise, Cas speaks up, “Dolor… they
are closely allied with Belua, are they not?”

Novanus answers, “Very closely – through
marriage.”

“I request a modification of that offer –
let me take William's place.”

“Cas?”

“Belua is the house that now holds Alma.
This would allow me the chance to see her, possibly even
regularly.” He looks questioningly at, not Vespasian, but
Llywelyn.

“I see no reason to disallow the
substitution. It could improve our chances of eventually regaining
both of you. Vespasian, I will take over that particular
negotiation.”

Vespasian looks as if he's about to sputter,
but I don't care. I take Cas' hand and squeeze it in thanks,
reaching out to his thoughts. 'Cas – thank you so very much! I
don't know if I could have handled losing William like that! But…
are you sure you will be OK? This is a tremendous move, Cas, it
will change your life! What if it doesn't work – what if they don't
let you see Alma?'

He sighs. 'Shi'ahn, Alma isn't the only
reason I'm offering to take William's place. I have tried to hide
from the fact, daring to hope that all would change, but in truth I
love you, and you will never be mine. I want so much to make you
happy, and it occurred to me that keeping you from losing your
brother may bring you more joy than anything else I will ever be
allowed to do.'

I don't know what to say. 'Oh Cas, what will
become of you?'

'I will become the 'husband' of a Chaos
lady, what was her name, Alyssa? We will not, of course, be able to
bear children together, so we will most likely attend as many
orgies as necessary for her to conceive. The true father will never
be known; I will be the official father of the child. That's what
they meant by 'claim issue.' We will raise said child together.
Once that child reaches adulthood I may be allowed to return to
Lumina, if I wish. And my claiming issue within their Household
will likely raise their standing within Chaos – they are a small
household and not particularly powerful, so they will likely do
their best to keep me fairly happy. It shouldn't be all that
bad.'

'I've been so busy I haven't even heard what
is happening with Alma – how is she?'

'Oh, she's been better, I'm sure. As you
know she was captured while raising troops for the war. At first
she was enslaved by some branch of House Belua. It's much faster
where she is, apparently she soon caught the eye of a powerful lord
within that House, and has become his favorite lover. Knowing her,
by now she may have even managed some official status – she's very
good, so to speak.' He smiles wickedly, but his frown soon returns.
'Vespasian has been in charge of those negotiations, and he never
really liked her, so I suspect, without my request to take
William's place, she would be staying in Chaos for quite a
while.'

'Do you think she will end up married as you
are to be?'

'No, that wouldn't make any sense – she
could never conceive a child.'

'You've mentioned that… why not?'

'I keep forgetting how new you are to this
place, and not all pertinent information is easily available. We're
simply incompatible – our sperm tear their ova apart, and our ova
are impervious to their sperm; it's as simple as that. It's much
like us and lesser beings, but on a far greater scale. But in the
case of the Chaosians and us, nothing has been able to circumvent
it – ever. Even if initial fertilization were to occur, I'm sure
the cells would destroy each other. Thus the orgies I will be
attending with my wife. It is very important to them that the
genetic father remains unknown. And Alma will remain unmarried
because no Chaosian male could ever impregnate her.'

'It all seems very well thought out – have
there been many such marriages in the past?'

'Not many, no. Only at the conclusion of a
war between our realms. But those rules are older than that. They
were originally intended to deal with an inability to have children
among their own people. It happens, you know – though not so much
with them as with us. When we have difficulties, as our last
Emperor had, we tend to turn to technology, though some have used
magic or other means. Most of us don't really worry about it, the
Emperor didn't care for the non-inheriting line procreating.'

Everyone around us stands up – the meeting
must be over. I let go Cas' hand after a final squeeze, and reach
for William.

'William, I'm afraid I wasn't paying
attention – what else happened? After Cas offered to take your
place?'

'I was wondering where your attention was.
Not much, Vespasian had apparently concentrated on giving us away.
Llywelyn spent the day making land deals. Pretty dry stuff, but at
least no one else is being given away. He said nothing about
Shiral. Excuse me, Sis, there is something I must attend to.'

'Ah, William, I was wondering – could I
spend the night on your couch? I really don't feel like being
visited again tonight.'

'Oh, ah… OK, but I may not be in until
pretty late. Don't wait up for me.'

Chapter
28

William and Novanus' Revenge

I'm actually more interested in avoiding my
own rooms than in gaining rest, so I poke about William's place a
bit. His book collection is now quite different from mine, it
abounds with texts on various theories of physics. Many involve
String Theory, although from their titles they do not appear to
claim to be the exclusive truth. There are many alternative
theories represented in his library, all highly mathematical.
Fascinating, but not exactly exciting; I've always found math
tedious. Why spend so much time describing things with numbers when
all one has to do is
listen
to reach the same understanding?
I suppose, though, since William can't
hear
, his cold
numbers are the only method of understanding available to him. And
at least now that he has ascended the Path he has some control over
that which his mathematics allows him to understand. Finally it
dawns on me, I'm in William's rooms – with his computer!