“Wait, really? You agree with me on that?” Alex nearly dropped the empty hypo cartridges he had been collecting. A few minutes ago there was quite a bit of anger roiling in him, so that explained his cussing perfectly well. On the other hand, swearing just didn’t seem like Eleya’s thing. Like it wasn’t regal enough for her. Not becoming of her station and all that.
For that matter, he was sure that there weren’t swear words in his translator. Had it been translated? He had gone back to picking up all those empties when she said it so the usual feedback of seeing if the mouth movements lined up wasn’t present. Did Eleya just copy what he’d said with the assumption that it was appropriately angry?
Eleya turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised. “Have I not made that plain enough? He assembled the least capable team possible to have you captured and returned to Earth like a satalo being taken back to the wild. At least that’s what he told his Zeshen. If I find out he told any of those idiots that they were supposed to assault you, but did not inform her... Oh, having her step away will be the least of his concerns.” She growled through clenched teeth. “Again I say it: you are correct. Fuck that piece of shit.”
He leaned back, startled by the mouth she apparently had. At least he got to watch her say it that time and could be completely sure: the whole thing had been in English. Pronunciation was actually pretty good, too. He wasn’t one to talk, though, given his propensity for language his mother would disapprove of despite having learned most of it from her. So he’d just let Eleya get that out of her system. “Uh, ok. Are we still venting here?”
“Yes, we are still venting.” Eleya hadn’t moved her jaw at all, teeth still set against each other as she boiled under the surface. Very much the Royal we there, despite the fact it was just her doing it. “So you have a point of reference, he has not always been this... impossibly stupid. He was picked to handle treaties and trade agreements with the Confederation specifically because he does have a sharp mind and a very pragmatic approach to his dealings that let him work well with Humans and Tsla’o alike. That was why I put him in charge of the very rapidly growing frontier. There are dozens of new colonies that must be balanced, and I know he has the skill to do it.”
“Yeah, I haven’t heard much about him but didn’t get this from it.” Carbon’s memories of him had been a mixed bag, but Alex never got the impression he was inclined towards violence, just theater. “You’ve known him your whole life, what are the chances this is actually what she said - it wasn’t supposed to be a hit... I mean, not an assassination attempt, not even an assault, they just thought they were going to show up and I would come along quietly so my presence could be erased from this timeline?”
“Normally I would say that they should have known better. This is my ship, you are Prince at my decree. There will be a thousand soldiers standing between them and their exit. They may have worked themselves up in a canyon, assuming their own shouts of anger echoing from the walls were representative of more allies. The fact they appear to have come with no real weapons does indicate that they had expected to just walk in and out undeterred.” Eleya had relaxed somewhat, no longer speaking through a clenched jaw. She rolled the glass in her hand, watching a rivulet of booze flow around the bottom. “There was a time where I would confidently say that he is smart enough to never recommend violence against a Royal, whether or not he disagrees with them, or have even said something that could be construed as tacit approval. Scarcely an hour ago.”
“That’s a resounding ‘maybe’ if I’ve ever heard one.” He crammed all those empty gel cartridges into his pocket, not sure where the hell the recycler in here was, and flipped the medkit closed. The lid locked down, a yellow light surrounding the latch marking it as used and in need of refurbishment. “That cane would have easily been fatal if aimed better. The pommel on that thing is solid metal.”
“Is it? Hm. Mateku has nerve damage in his leg that has prevented him from walking properly for nearly a decade, I believe he has used that cane the entire time. Never been a fighter, I can recall no time before when he has even raised a hand in anger.” She was staring up at the tapestry above the bar, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she reminisced.
“I guess seeing somebody punch his buddy in the throat and then knee him in the face until his nose broke was a bit motivational.” Seeing a friend go down would certainly have spurred Alex into actions he might not have originally intended to get in on. “If him and Hatae were actually buddies, anyway.”
“They were both friends of Sharadi. Not as much to each other, as far as I know, though they have aligned politically several times in the past.” Talk of the fight piqued her interest, bright blue eyes turning his way. “Is that what you did to him? It seems completely reasonable.”
“I almost curb stomped him, too. That’s when Mateku hit me with the cane. Training is to take the opponent out of the fight and keep them from engaging again, permanently if you have to.” Alex shrugged and took the seat across the low table from her. “Not exactly proud of it, but I guess some of the training stuck.”
Eleya gave him a nod. “Hatae attacked you, you defeated him. Mateku attacked you with a weapon, Master Tenaha defeated him. That was the sequence of events, correct? The initial communication about this was a bit light on detail.”
“That’s it.” He shook his head, another tiny little chuckle escaping him. “Tenaha’s got a mean right cross for a guy his age.”
“He is a decorated combatant, and highly respected. That he stepped in on your behalf will speak to a great many people.” She reached for her glass, a frown crossing her muzzle as she remembered it was still empty. “That will do nothing to convince Sharadi, but I am sure it is a lesson for the rest of them.”
“Probably not.” He shrugged. If dad was actually just consumed by his anger at this point, a parade of every living Tsla’o telling him that Alex was pretty great, actually, still wouldn’t be enough to change his mind. “Do you think he’ll try this again?”
“Even if he does, Intel will be aware of this incident and keeping a closer eye on his comms and movements. Once we get the communications from the ship, we will have a better idea of where his mind is. I sincerely hope he has not lost all his sense.” She rubbed her eyes, exhaling slowly before straightening up and giving Alex a particularly regal look. “This may seem self-serving... No, that is a lie. This is entirely self-serving. I must request that you do not try to have Sharadi put to death, no matter what further investigations find. The response to this should be unified at our level.”
There was a moment where he was just going to blindly agree to that. That this fight even happened was bad enough. Carbon had enough going on without her father piling more on. Neya was almost certainly going to be furious, which wasn’t really something she needed right now. Alex certainly didn’t want or need any of this, either, but he didn’t have history with anyone involved acting as a force multiplier. “Not even if he actually told one of them to kill me?”
It took Eleya a few seconds to determine how to respond to that, an annoyed hiss through her teeth announcing her decision. “If he said you were to be killed, you won’t have to make that decree.”
“Alright. I wasn’t going to anyway. The Tsla'o don't need more death. I don’t want more death, and I certainly don’t want to start with my wife’s father. I don’t think she’s processed her mother’s death yet. We spoke about it once, very briefly, and it hasn’t come up since.” He was actually completely sure she hadn’t. The fact her mother was gone obviously weighed heavily upon her, and he suspected that when she got around to grieving that loss it would be very clear what was happening.
It greatly annoyed him when he realized that dad was probably going through the same thing, and he automatically felt sorry for him. That asshole had to do something to earn those feelings from now on.
“Thank you.” Eleya sounded actually appreciative for once as she stood and stretched, then headed back to her bar to refill her drink. “I think I am done for the moment. Thank you for listening, it is earnestly appreciated.”
There was definitely something different about Eleya today. He couldn’t put his finger on what, exactly, but she seemed more inclined to talk at length. A little more informal, maybe, and not just because of the swearing. Whatever was off about her itched at the back of his mind, urging him to talk a little more to suss the difference out. “Right. Hey. Carbon’s mom... Her name is actually Nova? Like the bright exploding star?” He knew that wasn’t the most technical description, but it would get the point across enough for most people.
Eleya finished pouring her glass, then drank whatever was left right out of the shaker as she glanced over her shoulder at him. “No. She was named after the little blue flowers that grew in the mountains. It is a common name for someone with her coloration.”
That checked out, he was sure he had heard no and va in Tsla a few times, and a few other words that he had been sure were oddly pronounced Spanish or Japanese. “Oh, all right. It just sounds like a word in English.”
“One of the tapestries in my antechamber has them featured prominently. It is the one with all the little blue flowers, you cannot miss it.” She smiled and laughed as she returned to her seat. As she spoke that mirth gave way to a more somber tone. “I think that would be fitting for her. She had an intense ferocity under certain circumstances. I do think she would have liked you, and not just because you make Carbon happy. Nova was grounded, she valued family in a way that nobles rarely do. I know she fought very hard to retain those values as she rose in the court, to middling success. It is painfully ironic that she would have had a much easier time of it now.”
Sounded familiar, just without the nobility. “Based on what you saw, do you think my parents are like her?”
Eleya nodded in agreement. “It is not many points of data, but I would say there are at least similarities. As you are a product of them, I suspect that there will be more.”
“I just ask because she’s been staying in touch with my mom better than I do. I think they’ve been emailing back and forth like every other day.” It seemed like it had been a net positive for Carbon. And him too, as his mind counted it as them staying in touch with his parents. They were married, after all.
Eleya stared into the wall, her jaw working silently. “Good.” She packed a lot of conflicting emotions into that one word. It was heavy with understanding and the approval in it went beyond word choice, but it was still bitter with a trace of jealousy. “That is good.”
“Yeah.” Probably shouldn’t have brought that up. “So. How are we going to handle your... My father in law.”
“Judicious choice of words.” She pondered that in earnest, claws drumming on her glass. Real crystal, based on the melodic clink each tap made. “First, we need more information. What he has been telling his little retinue will shift how severe the response will be. He may yet get out of this with a hard slap, or perhaps we will pull a few teeth.”
“I get the first idiom, but not the second one. What is that, like house arrest or something?” A hard slap still felt like it would only be an inconvenience, though it did sound better than just a slap on the wrist.
“Pulling his teeth? No, we would have whichever teeth you lost removed from his mouth in turn.” She shook her head. “What is your saying, an eye for an eye? We would not destroy sensory organs of course, it is not the first age.”
“Honestly not comfortable with that, either. Better than having him killed, but eugh.” Alex shivered. “I don’t know, I just don’t like thinking about teeth getting removed. It’s gross.”
She regarded him for a moment, shaking her head. “That is the point, it is very unpleasant.”
Alex rolled his eyes. Of course a potential remedy here was pretend-ethical torture. “Ok, well, yes. We’ll put that away as a thing that could happen and stop talking about it.”
“Fine. We should have this information before dinner. Do we wait until after that to talk to Carbon about this?”
“Oh, shit. How do we know she's not going to reach out to Carbon directly?” Maybe he was panicking a little bit. They needed to stay ahead of this.
“Formalities. I told her everything would be arranged with my decree, which means it will be handled through my channels, who will report to me before doing anything. Kaleta is also well aware that she is under house arrest, as you put it. She will likely prefer that over prison arrest, which is what will happen if she side steps those formalities.” She paused to sip her drink. “The subtext laced into the language of the court eludes you yet, that is to be expected as a neophyte.”
The fact she just excused his lack of knowledge so casually left him more stunned than all that swearing. “Oh, all right. We should have more information first, that will inform how we approach her. I'm hoping that he actually didn't do anything too stupid. How the fuck are we supposed to tell her that her dad actually tried to have me killed and his Zeshen went along with it and not have it crush her?”
“It is a wise choice, the one I would make.” Eleya gave him a little nod. “If that is the news we must deliver, we will. A knife thrown into the air always comes down.”
Alex got the distinct impression that Eleya asking his opinion was another little test. Of course they should have a better idea of what dad was up to first. He wasn't so sure about that idiom though. Probably just tell the truth? Someone else dealt her this wound carelessly, they could only be there to help afterwards? “Yeah, that sounds good.”
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“It is barely acceptable. This should not have occurred.” Eleya huffed, annoyed until she was mollified by more alcohol. “How do you fare, young Prince? Your wounds have all but evaporated as near as I can tell, your medical equipment returned to its case.”
“Yeah, about as healed up as I can get with that medkit. Bones are knit, cheek is only a little swollen still but the damage is repaired. Had a TBI prophylactic shot, better too much than not enough.” He shrugged. “Gonna need to see a dentist about these teeth though.”
“A dentist? Not your vaunted mediboard?” The Empress sounded very surprised by that.
“Look, it'll do the job but... I dunno, I had my wisdom teeth out with one. They don't do sedation for minor surgeries, just nerve disruption. The bottom half of your face stops feeling things right and then gel just kinda wraps around your head into your mouth. Felt like I was drowning in jello the whole time.” He didn't bother to try hiding that shudder. “I am told some people get that response, while most others do not.”
“Ah. Well, we have plenty of dentists on board, unless you wish to wait until you have an opportunity to return to Earth?” She asked, as though she actually considered both of those to be viable options.
It was unsettling how pleasant Eleya had become. “Onboard should be fine. I haven't looked into the finer details of Tsla'o teeth, but things appear to be similar. Molars and bicuspids seem to be in the neighborhood, at least.”
“I fear the answer too much to ask how you have become familiar with our teeth, so I shall not ask the question.” She arched an eyebrow at him, a hint of curiosity still on her face. “How does the rest of you fare? We speak of the body easily but have not yet mentioned the soul.”
Alex made the single most noncommittal noise a Human was capable of. “Eh. I’m all right.”
Eleya studied him over a mostly full glass of that green mixed drink she favored in private, the eyebrow she had arched at him before reaching its apex. “Impossible.”
“No. I'm fine.” In all fairness, he didn't even sound convinced to himself.
“I hear so much doubt in your voice, and so clearly, that I can scarcely believe our kind are unrelated.” She was very amused by that, too. “Do you care to share the truth, young Prince?”
“I dunno.” he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, listless fingers drumming on the wooden armrest before he let loose a torrent of exactly how his soul was feeling. “I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing here. I have my commitment to Carbon, yes, but everything else lately still feels like I’m just pretending. I don’t know shit about commanding troops or being a royal or fuckin’ anything. I don’t know anything. I’m just here to be a sucker, too stupid to understand what’s happening while I get moved around in someone else’s war game. I spent damn near half my life preparing to be a scoutship pilot, and this is the second time I’ve had that taken away, and... I don’t know what anything is worth anymore, so I can’t tell if sinking my life into it is a good idea or not.”
“That was a bit deeper than I expected.” Eleya sat up and cleared her throat, setting her drink aside and leaned towards him. “If I may enquire, dearest nephew, how long have you been working at this? Being a royal, and all the related new tasks you find piled beside your hearth?”
How long had it been? “Uh, fourteen days? I was unconscious for a couple of them so they’re just kinda... gone.”
“That is two of your weeks, correct? One half of - forgive me, it slips my reach - a mont?” She spoke the not-quite word in English, then paused as her bright blue eyes tracked across the ceiling in a moment of contemplation. “Hmm. Month. One half of your month?”
Alex fought to avoid correcting her usage of the word. The Empress was clearly making an attempt at being nice here, he wasn’t going to fuck it up. “Yeah, two weeks. Not even one and a half by the Tsla’o reckoning, right?”
“Correct. I came up from a family that was only somewhat elevated within society. We had acquaintances in a few of the Houses, but had never been invited to their homes until I had very nearly become entwined with Navaren, himself mere steps from the throne. Then they saw the wisdom in strengthening those bonds.” She gave a derisive laugh, lip curled in disgust just enough for a flash of teeth to appear before the display disappeared. “I was aware of the Court and had glimpses of it when I first began learning about how it actually works. How long do you suppose it took me to fully acclimate to it?”
He got where she was going with this. “Bet it was more than two weeks.”
“Correct again.” She closed her eyes and gave him a nod. “It was years, and I felt a bit like what you described at first. What does a Baroness do if she cannot fly? Pick benches for a new park? Sit about pondering the view out the window, throwing parties for people who think it wise to look down upon someone with more power than them? If I knew how to flex power at the time I would have made far more enemies than friends, though I did keep a list of those who were particularly unkind. I will not say you should too, but it might do you well to remember the names of those who help you, and the ones who appear ready to push you into the fire.”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.” He wasn’t going to be doing that. Probably. Tsla’o names were a bit hard to tell apart sometimes, so he would need pictures and maybe a description of why they were on the list too. If he changed his mind. Which he certainly wasn’t going to do. “Thanks for that reality check. Things have settled down in the last few days but they’re still full of responsibilities I had never considered before, some of which are very alien.”
“You are welcome. I do enjoy being able to provide something positive now and then.” She pushed herself out of her chair and swept aside one of the wall hangings that lined the room, a deep closet hidden behind it. She shrugged out of her plain blue jacket and slipped it onto a hanger, taking a moment to straighten it out and pick a few hairs from it before returning it to the row.
Alex turned away as he was inclined to give people the same level of privacy he expected for himself, even if they didn’t seem to care. He understood the base-layer wrappings Tsla’o wore counted as dressed to them, but he still saw the bands of fabric as underwear.
Still, he looked back when he caught something weird out of the corner of his eye. A narrow rectangle of the fur on her back was shaved down to the skin, just below her rib cage. There was a tiny gap on the back of her head, as well, a slender vertical nick in the fur that would be easy to miss if he hadn’t been searching for it.
The fluffy tips of her antennae weren’t weighed down with wireless interfaces, either.
“That’s how you were swearing.” He blurted it out as he made the connection.
Eleya looked over her shoulder at him, an eyebrow raised and one arm stuck into a much more richly decorated jacket. “Would you clarify your statement.”
“You got a translator. Installed.” He waved an accusatory finger at the small bald patch on her back. “And an Amp too, I bet.”
“Did I? Nh, you are good with the obvious.” She shrugged the other sleeve on and placed the collar on her shoulders with a delicate shift to even them out as she returned to her bedroom, the tapestry sliding back into place on its own.
Alex grunted his displeasure at that shot. “It’s not like you put a sign out or something. When did that happen?”
“Two days ago.” Eleya returned to the table beside her bed, carefully removing the plain stud earrings she was wearing and replacing them with the more eye-catching set with the chain that linked the three individual piercings along each ear. “When I can, I lead by example, Alex. I would not expect others to go through something so invasive without stepping forward first.”
He nodded in agreement. At least she was serious about that. “How do you like it?”
“Those connectors have pulled my antenna down for too long. They are light, but not weightless. Having my...” She petered off for a moment, thinking better of whatever she had intended to say. No need to get too familiar. “Having all of my connections all routed through the implant is very convenient. You sound much more pleasant this way, as well.”
“Hah, good.” He wanted to pry at what she had stopped herself for, but didn’t particularly want to roll the dice any more. She was in a good mood, he still wasn’t intent on looking for something to change that.
“Thank you, as well.” Finished with her piercings, she walked around to the other side of the bed and picked the cane up. Eleya rolled the angular pommel along her palm, smacking the heavy lump of metal into it a few times with an annoyed grumble before looking back up at Alex. “You could have killed him yourself for the assault. It was your right.”
He shrugged. The damage from Tanaha’s punch hadn’t been too bad, but he had crumpled and smacked his head against the floor too. It was something a mediboard could easily take care of, and the medical team said they were taking him to sickbay so there was no reason for him not to have made it. “I thought about it. There was a moment where I thought I should just crack him in the skull with that. But. He was already down, Zenshen had a gun out, my team was filtering in. He wasn’t a threat, it would have just been to make myself feel better which is a fucked up reason to kill somebody.”
“A very just line of reasoning.” A tiny smile crept onto her face. “I am glad. I would have missed the old fool if you had done so.”
“Since I won, I get to keep the cane, right?” Alex pondered his own statement, then clicked his tongue. “Or would it go to Tenaha since he was the one that finished it?”
“The attack was against you, unprovoked, so the spoils would traditionally go to you alone.” She held the cane out to him. “It would be polite to enquire with Master Tenaha if he would like part of it as he did come to your aid, as long as you are actually willing to share. Though with this being a single item, it would be difficult to split.”
“I can’t say I’m particularly attached to it, so if he wants it he can have it.” He lifted it out of her hand and gave it a spin like it was a sword. He’d seen so many movies where people slung swords around in a manner that was probably very inadvisable with a real weapon, and he did manage a simple flourish without slapping it into his leg or head. Felt a bit less cool showboating in front of someone who actually knew how to handle a sword. Alex cleared his throat as he let the shaft slide through his fingers and set the ferrule on the ground like it was actually just a cane. “You were saying there are dentists on board, right? I’m up to my eyeballs in painkillers right now, so I’m thinking this is the perfect time to get them looked at.”
Eleya gave him a nod. “Several, and I am sure they would all be honored to work on you.”
About fifteen minutes after Eleya put in a request to find a dentist on board who wasn’t busy, Alex had an appointment. He had insisted on not bumping someone else just because he was allegedly important, which is why it took so long.
The Empress had taken some umbrage with his use of ‘allegedly’ when he said it. It was her word that made him important, after all.
“You think just saying that you wanted to meet with me ‘to discuss plans’ is enough of a cover?” Alex didn’t bother hiding his incredulity. The conversation had turned to ensuring that Carbon would find out about what had happened in an orderly fashion as they walked to the medical complex next to the aft sickbay. Step one had been making sure that they had the time for him to get his teeth checked out. He didn’t have plans after the training session with his squad, save for dinner later in the evening - there was the expectation that he would at some point return home before then.
“You act like it is a lie when it is a lightly polished truth. We are discussing plans right now, and have been nearly the entire time since you brought Kaleta up.” Eleya explained in a plaintive tone, giving him side-eye as they walked down the corridor. “Do you pay any attention to the things you do?”
“I try not to.” Alex did, of course, but he hadn’t really considered those things to be plans so much as damage control. Which was a form of plan-making, wasn’t it? Well, things to consider for the future.
“Of course not.” She shook her head at him with a disapproving huff. “We do not even need to tell her that much, just that I had required your presence. She would seethe at that, expecting that I am the one doing wrong to you. Working on a nebulous concept of ‘plans’ at least gives her a tether to keep her imagination from drifting.”
That was an accurate, and more cognizant statement than he expected from Eleya when talking about Carbon. Things had continued to be okay between them, but there were still decades to work through and they had not been putting in much effort yet. Most of that was on Eleya as the one who had instigated everything, but Carbon hadn’t expressed any interest in putting pressure on her to start. Not to Alex, at least. “All right, working on plans it is.”
“Good.” The corridor widened, the normal gray and red paint that covered most of the ship giving way to white and purple, long stretches of bright bulkheads marking that they had entered the medical area. Eleya stopped short, looking at the nameplate beside a wider than normal door. “Ah. Here we are already.”
“Alright, thanks for the help with all of this. I don’t know my way around all the Zeshen stuff, and...” He hesitated, glancing back at the barely visible forms of her escort. “I don’t know how Tsla’o society really works.”
“Is it so? Instruct Neya to give you a thorough course in the formalities for working with them. It is important for someone of your station to know.” She looked a little annoyed that hadn’t already happened. “As for the rest of it... It will come to you in time.”
“Yeah, I suppose it will.” He sighed and gave her a nod before stepping into the dentist's office. It was strikingly similar to what he would expect from a Human dentist’s office. Plain walls, nondescript art of flowers, a young woman sitting behind the desk that was going through a variety of emotions in very rapid order as her eyes darted from Alex, to Eleya, and then back to Alex.
“Sir. Prince Sorenson.” She stood, very nearly jumping out of her chair as two thirds of the Royal family on board filed into her waiting room. She bowed so deeply she briefly disappeared behind the raised desk separating them. “Empress. It is our honor to have you here.”
Alex stepped up with a bow that was a little deep for someone as high ranking as himself, but he was trying to ingratiate himself with everyone on board. Carbon had assured him that it would be viewed as being humble. He had already queued up a brief greeting, too. Hadn’t intended to use it on the receptionist, but she was here so why not? “Thank you for being available at such short notice.”
“Of course, Prince Sorenson.” She bowed again, not quite as deep this time, though obviously still nervous. “If you would follow me, Doctor Lehani is prepared and waiting for you in his office.”
Eleya cleared her throat.
The receptionist’s attention snapped to her immediately. Alex followed a moment later, turning back to her. His gaze fell on her hand extended towards him, holding out a thin white box. He was quite sure she hadn’t picked that up before they had left, one of her guard must have been carrying it. Wherever it had come from, he took it. Very lightweight, a slim screen and a handful of buttons on top, flanked by what looked like speaker grills. “And this is?”
“A translator, for the doctor.” She gave Alex a very small bow that partially concealed a smug little smile. Eleya knew perfectly well he was getting phrases to speak from his translator, just like she had been doing. “Your Tsla improves but I suspect you may find terms that are less common here.”
“Ah, I’m sure he will appreciate it.” He gave her a little wave with the translator and turned back to the anxious young woman. “Shall we?”