must be plotted through rough space, because one has no alternative.”
Here we go.
“If one were to provide a safe harbor, a protected haven, for such
courageous seekers of wealth and knowledge, perhaps new routes could
be plotted to take full advantage of it.”
Nuan Cee sat up straighter. “If such a harbor were to appear, one would
be a fool to not take advantage of it.”
Maud pretended to toy with her glass. “Yes, but would one example,
even that of an illustrious being, inspire others?”
“Those of us in positions of power can be remarkably persuasive,” the
tachi queen said.
Maud held back a sigh of relief. They had just promised to actively
campaign to divert traffic from the Kozor system to this one, provided a
trade station could be built. It was their own version of a fire triangle: to
create fire, three things are needed, heat, air, and fuel. Remove any one
of those three things and fire stopped. To prosper, a nation of pirates
had to have prey, weapons, and means of fencing the stolen goods. If
the shipping lanes shifted away from Kozor, it would remove both prey
and the means to dispose of the stolen merchandise. Kozor and Serak
would wither while House Krahr reaped the benefits.
Nuan Cee crunched his cookie, delicately brushing crumbs from his
whiskers. “Of course, to truly commit to such a course, one would have
to have a vested interest in the venture.”
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Maud took a sip of her juice. Ilemina was very clear on what could be
promised. “A safe harbor in space has three major applications. First, it
is a base of scientific inquiry, a natural gathering place where multiple
species could come together in comfort and security to share their
findings. Second, it is a hub of shipping and supply, a port where cargo
can be bought, sold, and moved, and weary sailors can rest before
resuming their journey. Third, it is a military installation, equipped to
repel attacks and shelter those within. The might of the Holy Anocracy,
and House Krahr in particular, is unmatched. If only suitable partners
could be found to fulfil these other roles.” Maud sighed. “of course,
such cooperation could only be possible if iron-clad alliances could be
agreed upon and financial and other obligations were determined and
evenly assumed by all involved.”
The queen’s color darkened. “An even contribution from each species
would be only fair. Such a place would require advanced technology and
modern construction to be truly effective.”
“And of course, it would require a sufficient infusion of capital coming
from a partner intimately familiar with the peculiarities of space
trade.” Nuan Cee bared his teeth in a quick smile.
“If such plans would be put in writing, in secret, of course, progress could
be made on the path of mutual cooperation. And benefit.” There, she
laid it out. Send us the plans, and we’ll get the ball rolling, provided you
agree to military alliances.
Nuan Cee turned to Otubar. “Does the Undermarshal agree?”
Oh crap.
Otubar stared back at the Merchant. “I’m standing here with her, am I
not?”
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Maud had to seal the deal. She nodded at the retainer waiting at the
other end of the plaza. The woman disappeared behind the tree and
returned with a huge metal chest. Square and reinforced, it looked
impregnable enough to take a grenade blast from the inside. The
retainer carried it over with obvious strain, set it on the ground next to
Nuan Cee, and withdrew.
“A gesture of good faith from House Krahr,” Maud announced. “We are
grateful for Helen’s rescue and hope Clan Nuan will share the antidote
with us for future use.”
Her personal unit, which she had programed prior to the meeting, sent a
signal to the box. It split with a clang, and a metal spire shot out, like the
pistil of a flower. The top of the pistil unfolded, revealing the bottle of
green mist.
“A weapon of Nexus,” Maud said, “meant to render the lees infertile.”
Nuan Cee jerked back.
“House Krahr has no need of such things now that it has found a willing
and reliable trade partner in Clan Nuan,” Maud said. “We do not commit
lightly and once we do, we stand fully behind it.”
“The depth of your commitment is stunning,” Nuan Cee said. “It is a
proper bargain. We shall share the antidote.”
“It brings me and Lord Consort great joy,” Maud said.
Lord Consort was doing his best to impersonate a thundercloud.
Maud nodded. “Of course, one has to wonder why certain parties would
seek to sever the buddying ties of alliance between the honored guests
of House Krahr present here and their hosts. What possible short-term
gain could one achieve by making either one of you to withdraw?”
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The tachi queen crunched her mouth, sounding like a handful of walnuts
being crushed, as close as she could come to giggling. She leaned
forward and said softly, “One has to wonder what both of us have here
that could pose a threat or inconvenience our other guests. Something
we have in common, something that brought us both here.” She
rose. “This has been a most enlightening meeting, Maud of the
Innkeepers. We have many plans to make.”
Polite goodbyes were said and both the lees and the tachi departed. As
she watched them walk toward the breezeway, Maud turned to
Otubar. “They both have ships in orbit.”
“Well armed ships,” Otubar said.
261
Chapter 15 Part 1
September 14, 2018 by Gordon
Maud strode down the length of the bridge, measuring it with her
footsteps. It was early morning, and the sky was lightly overcast, the sun
playing tag with ragged clouds. Next to her, Helen yawned and rubbed
her eyes.
Last night Maud had reported the conversation with the lees and the
tachi to Lord Soren and Karat. She had no doubt that the Lord Consort
would give a complete account of it to Ilemina. Lord Soren agreed with
her assessment – the Serak and Kozor were targeting the battle station,
but how exactly were they planning to pull it off was anyone’s guess.
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Last night Arland was still out. It bothered Maud, and she spent the
evening being vaguely annoyed and irritated, until she finally realized
that she missed him. His absence gnawed at her. She kept imagining
wild scenarios, each of which involved him dying in his sleep,
defenseless. She even considered walking into his quarters through the
private hallway and watching him sleep but decided that would be
creepy. Nothing was going to happen to Arland; he would sleep off the
booster while a cocktail of drugs the medic had administered repaired
his injuries. There were a lot of injuries. It was perfectly reasonable for
him to remain asleep for another day or more.
Maud kept moving. A refreshing wind pulled at her hair, throwing the
short strands in her face. She’d always had a vivid imagination. When
they were exiled to Karhari, it caught her by surprise. By then she was
used to Melizard’s schemes, but she never expected exile. He was the
younger son, the beloved and spoiled. His sins, however grievous, were
always forgiven. He always got away with crazy shit. The exile shocked
her. From that point on, she expected the worst. If Melizard was
delayed, it was because he was dead. If Helen ate a piece of unfamiliar
fruit, it was surely poisonous, and she would likely die. If she met
strangers on the road, they were assassins sent to kill her. And Karhari
had proven her right again and again, feeding her paranoia.
Now Arland had joined the short list of People Whose Death She
Imagined. There were only four names on the list: Helen, Dina, Maud,
and now, Arland. She kept waking up, checking on Helen, and when she
drifted off, he died in her dreams, and she would jerk awake. A couple
of times she got up and prowled on her balcony, like a caged cat.
If only she could have seen him this morning, if she had touched him and
felt the warmth of his body, it would have reassured her that he was
alive. She had rolled out of her bed planning to do exactly that. Instead,
Karat had barged into her quarters as soon as the sun was up, announced
that Ilemina required her presence, and took off.
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They passed through the arched entrance to the Preceptor’s tower.
“What are we doing today, mama?”
“Today we’re going on a hunt,” Maud said.
She’d reviewed the agenda late last night after giving up on getting any
sleep. At the core, vampires were a predatory strain of human. They
were mostly carnivorous, and hunting was in their blood. Humans had
retained some of those primitive memories, too. No matter how
civilized they became or how evolved the art of cooking became, nothing
beat a piece of meat roasted over a fire.
The Holy Anocracy was not that civilized. They didn’t bother to make any
excuses or to distance themselves from their predatory past. As soon as
a vampire House claimed territory, they did two things. They planted a
vala tree and they designated hunting grounds.
House Krahr maintained a huge hunting preserve. Today, at noon, they
would be riding through it. Missing the hunt was unthinkable. She could
get away with missing games, skipping a formal dinner, even being late
to the wedding ceremony, although that last one would require
reparations for the offence to the newlyweds. If she missed the hunt,
however, the insult to the hosts would be monumental. Even children
were brought to the hunt as soon as they were old enough not to fall off
the mounts.
“What kind of hunt?”
“Do you remember when daddy and I took you to House Kirtin and we
rode out to hunt bazophs?”
It had been one of the rare bright moments in their exile. Melizard had
landed a position with a stable House and for two months they had a
brief taste of normal Anocracy life. And then he had punched the Kirtin
Marshal and it all ended.
264
Helen’s eyes lit up. “Can I come on the hunt?”
“Yes.”
Maud realized that if she had told an average Earth woman that she
would be taking her five-year-old daughter onto a temperamental alien
mount and allow her to ride in a large pack of homicidal vampires to hunt
an unknown but surely dangerous beast, the woman would have tried to
take Helen away from her on the spot. Some people had PTA meetings,
she had hunts.
Helen would enjoy it and Maud wanted her to be happy. Plus, after the
poisoning, letting her daughter out of her sight without an army of
bodyguards ready to tear any attacker to pieces was out of the question.
Whatever Ilemina wanted would likely take place before the hunt.
They reached the Preceptor’s study. The door was retracted, the
doorway framing Ilemina bent over her desk. The older vampire woman
seemed deep in thought, her expression focused and predatory.
A feeling of dread mugged Maud. Now what?
She halted in the doorway. “My lady?”
Ilemina raised her head. “Come inside.”
Maud walked into the room, bringing Helen with her. The door slid shut
behind them. Traped.
Ilemina fixed her with a heavy gaze. “Lady Onda and Lady Seveline have
invited you to the bride’s wassail.”
The wassail was a long-standing vampire tradition. Despite the grand
name, it was basically a brunch, light on food, but heavy on drinks, which,
for vampires, meant caffeine. An average vampire could drain a bottle
of whiskey and remain perfectly sober, but Maud had seen them down
265
an expresso and dissolve into a soggy mess of slurred words and draping
arms declaring their undying love and devotion to a stranger they met
ten minutes ago.
The wassail involved a large punch bowl filled with a caffeinated
beverage and each guest would be served from it, toasting the host. It
was common before a wedding; in fact, the tradition prescribed having
several wassails for both the bride and groom. Maud had attended
several wassails before. It was mostly a hilarious experience. Inevitably
someone challenged her to a drink off, which ended with them under the
table and her, completely sober, urgently looking for a bathroom.
Ilemina’s face promised doom.
“No female members of House Krahr received an invitation. It is a family
wassail. You are the only outsider.”
She would be isolated and surrounded by knights of House Kozor. House
Krahr was honor bound to respect their guests’ privacy. If something
happened, there was no guarantee back up would arrive in time or at all.
To decline the invitation would be both rude and cowardly and Onda and
Seveline were counting on that.
“It’s a trap.” The words came out flat.
Ilemina nodded. “They will provoke you. They will try to test you to see
what you know. Failing that, they will seek to humiliate you.”
“If they can’t get me to respond, they will try to provoke Arland on my
behalf. If they insult me enough, and I run to him crying, he will be honor
bound to do something about it. They’re getting bolder.”
Ilemina’s gaze was direct and cold. Maud had seen this exact expression
on Arland’s face, right before he threw himself at a world-destroying
266
flower. Ilemina had made up her mind. Neither Kozor nor Serak would
get off this planet unscathed. It chilled Maud to the bone.
“Do you want the post of Maven?” Ilemina asked.
She didn’t even have to think. “Yes.”
Ilemina turned to the screen glowing on the wall. A recording began
playing. On screen, Seveline dashed at a group of Otrokar. Each of the
five Horde warriors was bigger than Seveline. Maud had fought the
Hope-Crushing Horde before; they had earned their name and then
some. Seveline danced through them, slicing limbs, cutting bodies,
graceful, lethal, unstoppable… A radiant smile played on the vampire
&nb
sp; knight’s lips. Blood stained her blonde hair. She looked like a berserker,
lost to the slaughter, but she moved like a fighter completely in control
of her body. Fluid. Precise. Aware. Underneath a caption glowed.
Seveline Kozor
57 confirmed kills
Shit.
On screen, Seveline beheaded a warrior with a single swing and
laughed. She seemed to know where every one of her opponents was at
all times, anticipating their movements before they made them.
Ilemina sank steel into her voice. “You will go to this wassail and you will
endure every assault on your honor and dignity. Under no circumstances
are you to draw your sword. Do you understand me, Maven?”
“Yes, Preceptor.”
267
268
Chapter 15 part 2
September 20, 2018 by Gordon
“So, is it customary for humans to be kept as pets?” Seveline asked.
Maud sipped her coffee. It was genuine Earth coffee, given as a gift to
the bride by House Krahr, and sweetened with some local syrup until it
was less drink and more dessert. The bridal party about lost their minds
when they watched her pour cream into it.
She was painfully aware of both Onda and Seveline starring at her. The
questions started the moment she sat down and became progressively
more outrageous. The last one was an insult. If she were a vampire, by
now there would be blood.
It wasn’t a bad plan. Isolate her. Get her drunk. Insult her until she
threw the first punch, then kill her. They were likely recording this to
absolve themselves of blame. Maud had done a mental sweep of the
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room when she entered. The situation hasn’t changed. They were in a
tower, in a round chamber. Eight tables, four vampires each. She could
hold her own, but nobody was that good. Ilemina was right. If I draw my
sword, I won’t make it out of here alive.
Her best defense was to pretend to be dense. “I do not know what you
mean,” she said.
Seveline heaved a sigh. Onda leaned forward, brushing her chestnut hair
out of the way. “It is a logical question. You are not a member of our