Everyone just stared at him after that statement. Everyone he could see, anyway, so merely the Empress, Colonel Lehnan, and his wife. Of all the idioms he had unintentionally used in front of the aliens, that one definitely should have been straightforward enough to parse... “It’s - it means that we’re, you know, going to be taking up those roles again. Like a reunion.”
Eleya stopped him before he could stumble any further through that explanation. “Yes, everyone has seen that opera.”
Everyone turned to look at her now. Alex was completely sure that he saw the Colonel mouth the word ‘opera’ in Tsla, eyebrows brought together in confusion. He had no idea what the word actually was, but it could not have been anything else.
“It was a movie first.” Carbon clarified. “The stage adaptation was fairly recent.”
“Hang on, you’ve all seen The Blues Brothers?” That was the oldest place he’d heard it, at least. How had this information not made it back to Earth yet, if they’ve made an opera out of it? How could he see this opera, for that matter?
“It is... Oceanside Quartet. Throughout the movie-” Carbon translated the title into English for him, which was nice, and hesitated for a moment as she smirked and stifled a little laugh under her breath, recalling something entertaining from it. “Throughout the movie, each of the quartet tells someone who isn’t in the band that they want to ‘get the band back together’ but never tell each other until nearly the end of the third act.”
“Oh. That’s an unexpected similarity, okay..” He paused and shook his head. “Alright so we’re doing that but with secrets. Right?”
“It is maintaining an expected profile. Hardly keeping secrets.” Eleya would naturally find this to be the most normal thing of all.
“Whatever sounds good to you, I know what it feels like to me.” Alex sighed, this already feeling like another lie he didn’t want to tote around. He didn’t want to be in this room anymore, for that matter. Nothing had changed but the atmosphere in here felt oppressive now. “Anything else in your presentation, Colonel?”
“No, Lord Sorenson. There are a few more excursions to be made to the landing zone beyond the first portal in the coming days, sensor distribution and monitoring mostly, but as of yet this is all the artifact has yielded.”
“Very well, thank you.” His first instinct was to just bounce. The guy who had the news he was there to see had said all of it, so there was no reason for Alex to hang around anymore. Which made sense in the hive of activity that were Scoutship program daily briefs, or back at the vastly more casual college campus. This time, he turned his attention back to Eleya, letting her dictate what happens next. Let it never be said he couldn’t learn.
“Then it appears we are done here. Thank you for the presentation, Colonel.” She glanced briefly at Lehnan, eyes back on her niece and nephew across the table in an instant. “Likewise, it was wonderful to see you again. I hope I can count of your presence at the dinner tonight?”
“Of course, Empress.” Carbon was the first to speak, switching back into Tsla and bowing her head as she did. “To verify... it is royal formal?”
“For such a significant occasion, of course.” She smiled a little too far, “I have personally checked in with the royal tailors to ensure they spared no detail.”
“Their efforts on the Prince’s clothing thus far have been excellent, so I expect it will be perfect.” Carbon replied with a pleasant smile.
Alex was unsettled by that tonal shift between them. He should be glad that Eleya wasn’t being a shit, and that they’re not at each other’s throats. And, ultimately, he was. But the speed at which they went from a near-beheading to chatting amicably about tailors... He just didn’t understand it. How could there not be animosity on both sides?
Maybe there was and they were just hiding it.
“Well, we should get going, then.” He inserted himself into their conversation. “I’m not one for formal dress, and I understand it’s a bit more complex than what I’m used to. The sooner we get started, the better.”
Eleya considered that and relented, a nod in agreement. “Then we shall adjourn, unless there is anything else that needs to be discussed?” Her gaze traveled the rest of the room, mostly checking with Lehnan, and got no responses.
They all parted ways with some more bowing and formal goodbyes, Alex and Carbon traveling back along the same path. The return trip seemed like it took forever, despite the tram going the same speed it did before. Carbon opened their door, Alex closed it behind them and they hung up their jackets, proceeding into the cabin proper.
Neya was waiting, thankfully still wearing her jacket. She sat at the table, surrounded by a multitude of neatly tied packages and a small hoard of books, reading. She perked up when they came in, setting the book back atop the stack next to her. “Welcome home, I hope that the-”
Alex was not really listening to her as he stopped Carbon with a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, are you actually all right?”
“What?” She looked confused as she turned to face him, eyes searching his face with increasing worry.
How could she be confused about that question? “Don’t what me. You almost killed Eleya, and you did assault her, and now everything is cool? Like just no big deal? I watched her tell a firing squad to kill two guys like, fucking yesterday. Aside from blood spilled, I don’t see a huge difference in what they got executed for and what you did.”
“Excuse me, she did what?” Neya had popped up out of her chair with an odd little strangled sound and inserted herself between them. Mostly addressing Alex. “Why did you let her do that?”
Carbon watched him expectantly, nodding as he spoke and letting him finish, resting a hand on Neya’s shoulder to settle her. “The laws do not bind royals as they do the citizenry. If I had been attempting to seize the throne, things may have been different. I was not. She was very aware of that fact, and- Ah, you are not familiar with the behavior of the court. The signals she sent with her body language, her behavior and posture, absolved me in that moment.”
Alex was torn between a sarcastic reply to Neya’s rather accusatory question, and actually parsing out Carbon’s explanation. He held up a finger towards the pale Tsla’o and kept his attention on his wife. “So the way she sat down told everybody in the room you’re good, and that’s that?”
“There is more complexity in what she did, but that is essentially what happened.” Carbon nodded, as though that really was that.
“Ok, that doesn’t make any fucking sense to me whatsoever, but if that’s what happened, it happened.” He withdrew his finger from Neya’s vicinity, the Zeshen looking like she was prepared to bite it - and not in the playful way Carbon had bitten his hand the other night. Alex cupped Carbon’s cheeks instead, fingertips sliding through soft fur as he looked directly into her eyes. “Now. How are you? You assaulted a couple of people and looked a lot like you were prepared to kill your aunt, so... What’s going on in there?”
“I feel...” She looked away, searching for the right words. “I feel better than I have in decades.”
“Huh?” He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice, and Neya echoed his sentiment a moment later as she whipped her head around to look at Carbon.
“We finally talked, though we spoke very little. She admitted what she had done, and that it was wrong, and didn’t try to hedge her words or sneak out of it. I had given up on an apology like that when I was still a child.” She looked genuinely happy about this, a lopsided smile curving the corners of her mouth as she set her hands on his. “I saw the pride in her eye, before she set her cunning aside. I have not forgotten her guile, or how elusive she can be. Despite that caution, my soul has not felt this light in... I do not know how long.”
“Well... all right.” Alex still had his doubts, and his own concerns about what Eleya’s sudden reversal on this actually meant. It was a long time, and one does not often have a sword pressed to their throat... He didn’t know Eleya well enough to determine if this is something she’d really stick to, or if she would go back to being herself once there was a reduced chance of beheading.
Sure, it was what she said she wanted. Restoring her relationship with Carbon. He supposed, like Carbon had said, the onus was on her to make good on that after this apparent first step. “If you’re happy with how this turned out, I guess... I am too. I just want to make sure that this isn’t a regular thing for you.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Thank you. It should not happen again.” She sighed happily and wrapped an arm around Alex before reaching out to Neya, pulling her into a hug with her face buried between them.
Neya looked at him over the top of Carbon’s head, eyebrows raised. He shrugged back. What else was there to say at this point? Hope Eleya doesn’t change her mind about the pardon, whoops we’re all enemies of the state now? Would Neya catch that charge, too? It seemed to be a very spur of the moment thing and was obviously provoked, so it wasn’t like she had any sort of chance to prevent it from happening.
Violet eyes darted away and she blanched, before clearing her throat softly. “Now that we have discussed that, perhaps you would like to see the regalia? The tailors have done some remarkable work this time...”
Carbon released them and nodded, turning towards the stacks of packages on the table with a bright smile. “We should. There is still some time before the dinner begins, but full formal clothing can take some time.”
Alex was glad to have this distraction, even if it was for formalwear... and even though it didn’t really distract him from the unsettling feeling of having just watched Carbon nearly kill at least one person and then apparently just shrug it off. He had doubted her here and there in the past, of course, but this felt so much larger. He planned to ask her to show him what Eleya’s reactions were, so he could understand this unspoken language better. He believed that the Empress had pardoned her, at least. There’s no way she would have been allowed to walk out of that room otherwise.
But he knew she couldn’t hide anything in that space without being obvious about it. What he’d do with this information, if she wasn’t feeling how she described... That was a bridge he’d cross when he came to it.
Alex stepped up next to the table with her, the packages split between dark red and rich blue cloth wrapped around the contents and secured with undyed twine. “Red ones are mine, I’m guessing?” They were slightly more numerous, and larger.
“Correct.” Neya replied from behind him. “The shoes that came with them are by the bed. The leather may yet be stiff. I notified them that yours were still in excellent shape and did not need to be replaced, Carbon. They argued but eventually saw it your way.”
“Thank you. I have barely used them as it is.” She mumbled to herself as she shuffled through the stacks, squeezing each package until she found whatever it was she wanted, a claw silently cutting the twine. “The outer coats, marks, and cloaks have already been hung up? I didn’t see them when we came in.”
Neya was, unsurprisingly, on the ball. “They are in the steam rack in the bathroom.”
“We have a steam rack?” He’d been in there a bunch of times and never noticed that. He hadn’t been looking for it, but assumed he would have seen it.
“It is next to the towel cabinet.” Carbon picked through some packing material and unwound a belt. It looked like leather, a blue just this side of black, embellished with silver vines and flowers that matched the designs on her armor. She hummed in approval as she looked it over. “Did they ask you for a choice in design?”
Alex shook his head. “All I know about this is what you’ve told me about it so far.”
“Eleya told them to use the sea and stars.” Neya added, standing across the table from them now.
Carbon paused at that, tilting her head as she weighed the options. “It is a strong choice and probably what I would have recommended. A popular motif, often associated with pilots and explorers. Anyone who travels long distances, and you have traveled some distance.”
“That’s actually not that bad.” He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it sounded all right. “So what’s yours mean?”
“Vines and flowers are deep connections to home and renewal.” She sounded a bit wistful as she said it. “Some designs are chosen because they are aspirational rather than factual.”
“Aw, that’s...” That was really sad. Everything he wanted to say felt trite so he reached over and hugged her, squeezing her tightly as she did to him.
Carbon shook her head with a soft laugh and patted his arm. “Thank you, dearest. I feel closer to them than ever with you.”
“Glad I can help.” That felt trite, too, but he didn’t really have anything else to say about it.
“As am I.” She lingered in his arms for a moment before gently moving away. “I need to take a shower. Do you wish to bathe again as well?”
“No, I’m pretty good.” It had literally only been a few hours, but he hadn’t jumped over a table and assaulted anyone.
“Very well. I can do my own daman, but you will need assistance. Neya knows her way around every wrap.” She plucked the sword hilt from her jacket and set it down on the table before picking up her stack of formal clothes. “If you will pardon me. The sooner we are dressed, the better.”
Alex and Neya watched her walk into the bathroom, staring at the door as it latched.
Neya was the first to talk. “What in the hells happened?” She hissed at him, voice urgent and low.
“Okay, so like, Eleya was doing her usual shit but worse, right?” He pulled a chair out and carefully sat himself down, keeping his voice low as well.
“How much worse?” It sounded like she didn’t believe him at all.
He gave her the quickest rundown possible. “Uh, we found out that the Empire is now using a stolen translator they acquired when part of mine was cut out. Eleya has been lying to people about stealing Human technology because everyone thought we would steal Tsla’o waverider systems. Then she got all smarmy and said Carbon only cared about all this because ‘her toy’ got hurt. To her face.”
Neya’s eyebrows went up a little bit after each sentence, and she sucked in a breath through her teeth at that last revelation. “No.”
“Oh yeah. So there was about a half a second span where they went from arguing to Carbon throwing a chair. That’s why I didn’t stop her.” He successfully fought the urge to flip her off for that earlier question. “She just hurled it over the table and leapt up onto it like she’d been planning this. Just gone out of my reach in an instant. Kicked the guy in the throat and took his sword, disarmed the other guard, held Eleya against the wall just about ready to stab her in the neck.”
Her gaze fell on the blue-white metal of the sword hilt and she picked it up, rotating it to inspect the etchings “This is the Captain of the Guard’s sword. She kicked the captain in the throat?”
“Seems like. The fight was over in like four or five seconds. Has she done stuff like this before? I’m worried about her because that was a lot of violence and I really thought she was prepared to kill for a second there.”
“No, never attacked anyone. She has never mentioned anything she cares about being attacked either, so...” She clicked the lockout back into operational mode and held the sword out, pressing the trigger to activate it. The wire blade sprang out with a low hum, and retracted a moment later after her curiosity was sated, returning it to safe and setting it back on the table. “Carbon started training in a variety of martial skills long before I met her and never really went into the why of it. I never inquired, it seemed understandable as she worked with the military and was mindful of her physical fitness.”
“Do you think she planned this?” It seemed a little too situation specific. The few times he had seen them in the same room together there hadn’t been nearly enough furniture for her to pull that off.
“I do not think so.” Her eyebrows furrowed and she stared at the sword hilt. “She has always been afraid that Eleya would do what she said she would, deeply and viscerally. She only hid that from me for a year, but I could feel it weighing on her the entire time. The Royal Guard are Eleya’s agents, so it stands to reason that she learned to fight them specifically while never telling anyone that because they would be how she enforces anything.”
“You can’t defend against a weapon if you don’t know it exists.”
“So it seems.” Neya nodded once, looking back to him with fear in her eyes for the first time. “I hate to admit that I am at a loss about how to proceed. She appears happy, but- What if Eleya returns to her ways? What if she kills her next time?”
“Hang on. Didn’t get to the aftermath yet. You heard how Eleya apologized and pardoned her, I guess. She said that she would ‘do what she should have done decades ago’ and that Carbon had her word about that.”
Neya huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “It lies with her to prove it good.”
Alex pursed his lips and stared at her from across the kitchen table. “That’s exactly what she said.” Almost the exact same tone, too.
“Well, it does.” She smirked with pride at that revelation. “Do you think Eleya means it?”
“Been asking myself that very question.” Neya probably wasn’t privy to everything he and Carbon had spoken about yet... “She said she wants Carbon to be happy. That’s why she married us. I’m sure there are other steps she has not shared, but that’s the first one.”
“Is it so? Now she has apologized and offered her word that she will do right by her. If it is truly what she desires, she seems to be continuing down that path.” Neya leaned on the table, pondering that turn of events.
“Right. So if this positive trend sticks, great. But if Eleya doesn’t keep at it and goes back to antagonizing her...”
“The next time she will not stay the blade.”
“Yeah. I think we’re both interested in making sure that never happens.”
She nodded once. “Agreed.”
“I’m going to try and link with her, maybe tonight or tomorrow. See about having her show me some of what went down from her perspective. I know she says she’s happy, but I want to be sure she’s not just putting up a front.” He didn’t really like planning like this behind her back. That Neya was going along so readily was a relief, his concern matched by hers.
“I will continue to link with her as we normally do, but will be more mindful of new, or renewed stresses. You and I will be the vines she wishes to have.” She clicked her tongue. “I will reach out to the council as well. Eleya’s Zeshen are not here, but they still speak regularly. A bit of gentle direction from a trusted hand could make all the difference.”
“Good idea. We should check in on this regularly. Every other day for now?”
“Yes, unless something significant arises.”
“Alright.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, all this planning feeling like treachery. Maybe it would go away in time. Maybe they would all have a laugh about this someday. Maybe everything would fall apart. He turned his attention to the packages of clothing sitting on the table. “Now that that’s settled... I suppose you should get to showing me how all these work, yeah?”