Chapter Nineteen

Tantos III, Ducal Palace

Arta picked nervously at her food as she surveyed the grand dining room at Duke Hiram's palace. The room itself was roughly circular in shape and sat high in the duke's tower; its walls were lined with windows that looked out over Tantos's foggy night; nearby towers could be seen as dim shapes, their light casting strange shimmering patterns in the misty air. Within the room itself were a number of tables arranged in a roughly circular pattern around a central platform; the Duke's table was the largest and stood at the front of the room, with the others clustered around them. Some of them were baron's tables, like the one at which Arta and her family sat. At others sat the representatives of various guilds, looking sleek and elegant in their silver business suits. Serving mechs glided around the tables, refilling drinks and removing cleared plates, and in the open platform was projected the evening's entertainment – a holo depicting alien dancers, thin and graceful Pervai with feathers for hair, who bent and swayed their bodies into positions Arta was certain no human being could duplicate. The dance was accompanied by an eerie, wailing music that must have been from the aliens' home world.

Arta resisted the urge to tug at her dress's collar; high-necked and sweeping skirts and sleeves, colored a vibrant ast Katanes green, it was the height of fashion, but that didn't make it feel any less tight through the collar and bodice. Not that Karani seemed to mind, even though she was wearing something of essentially the same design; to the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely and was currently regaling several attentive young men from the other baronial houses with the story of the failed assassination attempt. No young men had spoken to Arta, beyond some basic courtesies – younger, shorter, less outgoing, with a more modest figure, she apparently wasn't nearly so engaging as her foster-sister, the true-blooded heir of their house. A girl at one of the nearby guild tables – some important guildsman’s daughter or niece, no doubt – had been trying to catch her eye, but as attractive as she was, entire atmosphere of the party was too uncomfortable for Arta to feel like going over to introduce herself.

Their father stood nearby, chatting quietly with a group of other nobles and a few guildsmen and -women. For a moment, Arta was tempted to see if she could use her adept's powers to sharpen her senses and try to listen it, but quickly decided against it; it seemed doubtful she'd be able to pull it off, and even if she did, neither the baron nor Shiran were likely to approve of such a frivolous use of her abilities. The Professor himself was nowhere in evidence, having apparently gone off to conduct whatever personal business he'd accompanied them to Tantos in order to see to. Privately, Arta wondered if he hadn't been deliberately trying to avoid such a gathering of nobles and guildsmen, based on the way Hiram had almost seemed to recognize him; not for the first time, she wondered who he was and where he'd come from before becoming her tutor. Whatever the reason, it meant that he was just one more person she couldn't talk to but wished she could.

Well, if Karani was enjoying the party, Arta couldn't say she shared the sentiment. On the contrary she felt isolated, hemmed in by the bright lights and the murmur of conversation and the colorful clothing. The dancers she might have enjoyed under other circumstances, but now Ara just felt distracted by the fact that everything else seemed to be conspiring to give her a splitting headache. More than that, she kept imagining Shiran's reaction to the frivolity around them. He had always stressed the responsibility that nobles and rulers had to those they ruled, that power carried duty as well as privilege. Well, there was plenty of privilege in this room, and very little duty or responsibility. Arta tried to imagine how any of this served the Dozen Stars or Tantos Duchy and came up blank. Even though this was supposed to be a celebration of the duke's victory over the pirates, there seemed to be very little concern for recent events from either the nobles or the guildsmen. Looking at this room, one would never realize how close the Dozen Stars was teetering to the edge of breaking apart completely. And, Arta thought, regarding her plate balefully, Duke Hiram hadn't even managed to improve the affair to a minimal degree by providing decent food.

Finally, her headache became too much. Pushing her chair back, Arta got to her feet and hurried for the door, cursing her dress's too-long skirt as she grabbed it in one hand to keep from tripping over it. She feared she might make a scene, but no one seemed to notice as she stumbled out into the hall, breathing deeply as she straightened up – and then she gasped as she saw the person she had nearly run into.

Lady Kallistrae ast Tantos raised an eyebrow as she looked Arta up and down. "Leaving in a hurry?" the knight asked, then nodded over her shoulder. "The lavatory is that way, if that's what you're looking for."

"Yes, exactly," Arta muttered under her breath, struggling to contain her mortification. "Thank you, my lady." It was hard not to be intimidated by Kallistrae, who was elegant and regal in a gown in her house's green and gold, even without the ceremonial sword belted at her waist that served as a reminder that she was one of the leading knights of the duchy. Arta found herself making a mental note to tell Karani that Kallistrae did, in fact, wear a blade with her dress to parties, and nearly burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

Kallistrae, fortunately, gave an understanding smile. "I'm sure," she said kindly. "My cousin Hiram has many positive qualities; an ability to throw a party that's anything less than extravagant isn't one of them. You aren't the first guest to need an excuse to get some fresh and, and I'm sure you won't be the last." She regarded Arta critically for a moment, seeming to place exactly which guest she was. "You're the Katanes fosterling, aren't you? Arta, right?"

"Yes, my lady," Arta said nervously.

Kallistrae pursed her lips thoughtfully. "You want to be a knight, don't you? I remember your conversation with Hiram when your family arrived earlier. There's no need to look embarrassed; you're hardly the first younger child of nobility to have that dream. I wouldn't be standing at Hiram's right hand tonight if I wasn't one of them. It's not an easy path – only the best can become knights. But if you can manage it, lots of doors will open to you that might not otherwise. Can you duel?"

Arta found her voice. "I can, my lady," she said. "Though I have to admit, Karani is better."

"Your foster-sister is a year older than you are, and has been training longer," Kallistrae pointed out. "You have time to catch up. Speaking of which, how long until you come of age?"

"A bit more than a year, my lady," said Arta.

Kallistrae nodded. "When that time comes," she said, "you will need to find an experienced knight to squire with. Work on that dueling – the more people you impress, the more options you'll have. And, as it happens, I haven't had a squire for several years now." Arta's breath caught – was Kallistrae implying what it seemed like she was – but the Tantos knight raised her hand. "This isn't an offer, mind you. You can't start as a squire until you're eighteen, and then you have to prove yourself to find someone willing to take you on. But I do think that whatever happens in the next few years, this Kingdom is going to need all the knights it can get. Do you understand?"

"I think so, my lady," Arta said, nodding. Inside, her heart leapt. It wasn't a promise, not really… but it was a chance, or at least that's what it seemed like. And tonight, she'd take the good news she could get.

"Now, if you don't actually need the lavatory, let's head back inside," Kallistrae said, putting a hand on Arta's shoulder. "Something's about to happen that I don't think you'll want to miss. My cousin has an announcement to make, and if you're looking for a chance to prove yourself… well, you might want to pay very close attention to what he has to say."

/

"Where were you?" Karani hissed as Arta took her seat beside her; her foster-sister's audience had left, and around the dining room other guests seemed to be drifting back towards their own tables.

"I just needed some air," Arta said defensively. Karani didn't look satisfied by that answer, but before she could question her further, the alien music suddenly rose to a crescendo and then ceased. The holographic dancers bowed in unison and then flickered and faded away; so sooner had they done so than Duke Hiram stepped out into the center of the now-empty platform and raised his hand for silence.

"My lords and ladies and representatives of the guilds," he said, "it has been my pleasure to be your host this evening as we gather here to celebrate the downfall of the pirate scourge. I hope you've all been enjoying yourselves every bit as much as I have!" He smiled broadly and there was a smattering of polite applause.

"Thank you, thank you," Hiram said as it died down. "However, revelry isn't the only topic of discussion tonight. Earlier this afternoon I met in council with my fellow dukes, and we have an announcement for you all – one that may well determine the course of our kingdom's future."

Arta felt her breath catch – this must be what Kallistrae had been referring too – and looked over at Karani, who was watching excitedly, and the Baron, who seemed thoughtful. Then her attention was drawn back to the Duke as he continued speaking. "We have decided," he said, "that the throne of the Dozen Stars has stood empty for far too long. In the absence of an heir of the blood, or one whom the council can agree to approve, we have determined that the throne must go to the noble house that is most worthy of it. Therefore it is my pleasure to announce that at the new year on Carann we shall hold a tournament in which every house and guild in the Dozen Stars is invited to participate, with the rightful rule of this kingdom passing to whosoever proves themselves most worthy of it!"

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The room was drowned in noise as the Duke finished, with every guest seeming to talk at once. Arta, however, couldn't help but find her gaze drawn to her foster-father, who sat in silence with a thoughtful frown on his face.

/

The remainder of the party passed in a blur of sound and activity, and it didn't feel like very long afterwards that Arta found herself stumbling back into the guest room she shared with Karani, exhaustion and dizziness overwhelming her. As she and her foster-sister changed out of their dresses and into their sleeping robes she tried to process the magnitude of what this announcement might mean and found that she couldn't. Queen Aestera had been assassinated before Arta was old enough to remember; she'd never known the Dozen Stars to have any leadership but the council and the regent. She wondered just how much of a change a real monarch might bring.

Karani had finished changing and unbraiding her hair when she turned to Arta. "Well?" she asked, excitement in her eyes.

"Well what?" Arta asked, rather more crossly than she'd intended. The entire evening had been exhausting and all she wanted to do now was sleep, but Karani didn't look tired at all.

"Well, what do you think, silly?" Karani said. "Anyone can enter the tournament, the Duke said. What do you think of our chances?"

"Karani, we're not of age yet," Arta said wearily. "Neither of us is going to be competing in any tournament any time soon."

"You don't need to be of age to compete in a tournament!" Karani said. "I asked Danash once, just in case. You just need to be from a noble house or have a guild sponsorship. We, obviously, qualify. And besides, Father hasn't dueled seriously in years and somebody has to represent House ast Katanes – we'll be a laughingstock if we don't send anyone for something this important. So, what do you think of our chances?"

Arta sighed. "We'd be up against every noble of our generation in the kingdom, Karani," she said. "That's dozens of houses, not to mention anyone the guilds send. I don't think either of us is likely to win anything."

"Oh, you're no fun tonight," Karani said. "Well, I plan to enter, and I plan to give it everything I've got – you never know. I could win – I think I'd look fabulous in a crown."

"When the prize at a tournament is a political office, it usually goes to the head of the winner's house," Arta pointed out, nodding towards the wall that separated their room from the Baron's. "That would make Father king."

"Well then, I'd get to be Queen after him," Karani said. "And you could be my knight. Isn't something like that what you want?"

Arta sighed and threw herself back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Yes," she admitted. "But… I don't know. It doesn't sit right with me, I guess. Ruling a country should be about more than just being able to beat up everyone else who wanted the job. I don't think that the Professor would approve of this." And I don't think Father does, either, she added mentally, thinking of his frown.

Karani dropped down on her own bed and regarded Arta critically. "You put too much store on that man's opinions," she said. "And besides, who cares? Isn't that how Artax became the first king? By fighting a war and throwing out the Empire? Doesn't that mean that that's how it's always been done?"

Maybe it does, Arta thought fuzzily as sleep seemed to rise up to claim her. But maybe it doesn't mean that's how things have to be…

/

Arta woke up some time later to find a dark figure standing over her bed. She gave a sharp gasp and pulled herself back against the headboard in fright, only to realize as awareness returned, and her eyes adjusted to the darkness that the figure was familiar. It was the Professor.

"S-shiran?" she asked warily. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"It's me," the Professor said, his voice calm and soothing. "I just got back from my 'personal business' – I took a shuttle up to Tantos Station, where I met with an old… acquaintance of mine. He told me some things that troubled me greatly, and on my way back, I saw more. Some of them, I think you should see too – both of you. Get up and get dressed and come with me."

"In the middle of the night?" Arta asked, incredulous.

"Yes," Shiran said, in a tone that brooked no argument.

A few minutes later, both sisters had joined him in the hallway outside their room, dressed in plain clothing and hooded cloaks, Karani still rubbing sleep from her eyes. He nodded approvingly when he saw them and then turned to walk down the hallway, gesturing for them to follow. The corridor was empty, devoid even of serving mechs, and both girls struggled to keep up with the Professor's long, determined strides.

"You have any idea what this is about?" Karani asked; Arta only shrugged.

Not long afterwards they got into a lift and began to descend towards the bottom of the palace tower. Shiran was still silent as he watched the control display track their descent, but Arta saw that Karani was growing increasingly fidgety and impatient and guessed what was on her mind. That guess was proven correct when her foster-sister finally spoke. "So, Professor," she asked. "Did you hear about the Duke's announcement about the tournament?"

"I did," Shiran said, but his tone was so curt that even Karani took the hint and didn't press him further. The rest of the ride down the lift passed in silence, and when they reached the bottom they emerged into a cavernous atrium. There was a mech stationed at the front desk, but it didn't appear to notice them; Arta wasn't sure if that was because of some Adept's trick of Shiran's or if it had just been programmed not to bother any of the Duke's noble guests; she guessed the latter. They passed through the palace doors and emerged into the foggy Tantos night.

As the Baron had indicated, the air seemed to be perfectly breathable, but Arta found it oppressive; it felt damp in her mouth and lungs, and its near-opacity weight heavily on her mind. There was a strange, wet smell in the air, and Karani wrinkled her nose at it, but if the Professor minded at all, he gave no sign. He didn't give any indication of where he was going but kept walking with a purposeful stride that indicated he had some particular destination in mind; the sisters looked at one another and shrugged as they followed behind.

It was an eerie nighttime journey where the shapes were visible only as blurry outlines beyond a few feet and even the lights on buildings were distorted and dimmed by the fog. Though Arta couldn't see much, she could feel the towers of Tantos's capital city looming above her; maybe it was just the thick atmosphere, but everything seemed much taller and more ominous than the buildings of Tannen City back home. Though it wasn't particularly cold, she found herself shivering.

"Wait," Karani said finally. "Do you hear something up ahead?"

Arta did; a faint sound that seemed to be many voices speaking loudly at once. Though it was hard to tell, there seemed to me more people nearby as well as they got further from the palace tower, all moving through the fog in the same general direction. At last they rounded a corner and Shiran held up a hand to stop. Arta and Karani pulled up short behind him, and Arta's eyes widened at what she saw.

They stood on the edge of what looked to be a huge park, filled to the brim with people, most of whom were yelling or waving holosigns whose glowing slogans were too blurred by the fog for Arta's eyes to make out. She wondered what was happening here but feared to ask one of the people nearby and expose herself as an outsider; something violent was building here, and she felt it could erupt at any moment. She found herself drawing closer to Karani, who also looked to be very poorly at ease.

"Do you understand what you're seeing here tonight?" Shiran asked softly. "It's a rally. Duke Hiram relies on the mines of Tantos III for his wealth, but House ast Tantos surrendered most of its control over the actual mining operations to the guilds generations ago. The guilds only care about making money, and the Duke's main concern is pleasing the guilds, on whose support his rule depends. The result is…"

"That everyone else gets left out," Arta whispered, a queasy feeling building in her stomach.

"That's right," Shiran said. "The nobles and guildsmen here on Tantos lead grand, opulent lives. Everyone else is forced to work in the mines or other industries to get by – and with the fracturing of central authority in the Kingdom, the guilds feel that they can get away with imposing harsher conditions, longer hours, and fewer protections in the name of squeezing as much from the mines as they can. The result is that people are very angry with both the guilds and with Hiram – and they have very good reason to be. This protest was scheduled for the night of the Duke's party with the explicit goal of making a scene and highlighting the inequality of conditions here." His eyes were dark as his gaze slid from Arta to Karani. "This is something that you have been shielded from by your upbringing. But it is important that you recognize the consequences a noble's actions can have, and don't forget, like Hiram has."

The three of them hovered on the edge of the rally for what felt like the better part of an hour; Arta managed to make out snatches of conversation and, as her eyes adjusted to the blurring effect of the fog, to read some of the slogans on the signs, and they made her blood run cold. The guilds had been using these people brutally in the name of profit, and Hiram had turned a blind eye – no, worse, he'd supported it. Wrapped in his own little world on top of his palace tower, the Duke had long since stopped caring about what happened on his planet so long as the trade kept flowing and wasn't disrupted by forces like the pirates. Arta felt her hands clenching into fists. That, she knew, wasn't what a leader was supposed to be.

Suddenly Shiran stopped, standing perfectly still as though listening. Arta paused and realized she could hear it too – something buzzing in the air. Like the engine of a flitter, distant still, but growing closer. The Professor grabbed both girls by their arms. "We need to get out of here, now," he hissed.

It was too late. Three flitters heaved down from the upper air, painted with a bright silver that seemed to glean in the foggy night. The symbol of the mining guild was painted on their snouts. They lowered themselves to hover menacingly above the crowd, shining spotlights down on them "Disperse now," a heavily garbled voice ordered from one of the flitters. "Workers, you are ordered to disperse now!"

Arta wasn't entirely sure what happened, but she thought she saw rocks and debris flung from the crowd; one of them, hurled by a particularly bold and athletic person, struck one of the flitters on the nose and bounced off. A sudden feeling of dread suffused Arta's being, and whether by an Adept's instincts or pure human intuition, she knew what was about to happen an instant before it did.

The guild flitters adjust their aim and deployed guns from their underside, and then as one they fired into the crowd.