CHAPTER FIVE.
 

Sivya looked around her new home world for the next year, wondering why people thought this place was depressing.  It was a dark world, the sun was fairly dim.  The people were mostly miners and stayed underground in family groups most of their lives.  Many children of this dark world went on to become assassins if they didn't join the family mine she had been told, but most of them refused to work on their home world due to a fear of being found by their families and being disowned.  It was exciting and exotic, plus it had the benefit of not having many courtiers there yet.  Only Yerthes and Rethna had known of her choice before she announced it.  That meant she might have as much as a week before people started to steam into this version of the palace.  She turned to look at the stone castle that was her palace on this world, marveling at how it wasn't falling down yet.  It looked like a heap of stones, but she knew it had some sort of order to it; it had to be liveable and she had been assured it could be lived in.
 

~*~*~*~

Brast looked around his home for the next year and mentally sighed.  It was dark and gloomy.  There were no bars, no taverns, no entertainments in sight.  There were hardly any people in sight for that matter.  He took his traditional place next to his wife on her left.  He could see her look of delight so he kept his complaints inside.

Oh, well, he'd have to deal with it somehow.  He was sure they would at least get some entertainment.  The palaces usually did.  He could also plan how best to help Sivya's wardrobe and jewelry collection.  First thing though he had to get someone to test the poor girl for reactions to some metals.  She was still scratching at one spot on her chest.  Sivya sighed in delight and his mental groan got louder.  She really liked this dim little dustball apparently.  Why did he like her enough to come here with her?  She didn't really need him around.  He heard a yell and spun her, pulling his gun and shooting the person with the knife running at them.

Oh, yes, that was the reason.

He'd have to train her to defend herself in between getting her prettier and helping her become the showpiece he knew she could be if she wanted to.  Beside him, Sivya coughed and looked up at him.  He smiled and slowly released her, scanning the rest of the crowd.

"Thank you," she whispered, smiling up at him.  She took his free hand to hold, squeezing it gently in gratitude.  She smiled at the people again.  "Such bad timing, at least he could have listened to my short speech.  I made sure it lasts less than five minutes after all, no matter how many people told me it was too short."  The somber people snickered at that.  She smiled gently at them. "I picked your planet for a great number of reasons, including the relaxed pace and the fact that some of the courtiers would have to consider how long the trip will be."  That got a few more snickers from the crowd.  "Mostly I brought us here because I am a scholar at heart.  I want to learn about the various peoples and your families do deal with a great many outsiders.  Possibly more than any other culture we have in the Empire.  I wish to learn from you and to make you feel comfortable in my presence at the same time.  To that end, feel free to come up and bother me now and then.  I do so miss scholarly talks," she said with a slightly wistful air. Then she grinned at them. "Plus, my First Husband is determined to make me beautiful.  He knows you can help him with that."  She bowed.  "We are most pleased at your welcome.  Was there a celebration tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow night," their greeter told her, smiling back behind the dark shadow of her cloak's hood.  They were all wearing dark, heavy, somber looking cloaks which had hoods that covered their faces and left them in the shadows of the interior.  Inside they had some very wild and bright makeup as clan markings but no one saw those unless they wanted you to.  She pulled back her hood some, showing off her face.  "We thought you might like to rest and wander tonight."

Sivya nodded, looking very happy.  "I'd love to.  I liked the ride over but all ships move.  It was unnerving to sleep in a moving or vibrating bed."  She took her mates' arms, following behind their greeter to meet the local delegates to the rest of the Empire.

Brast sighed.  It was nearly over, then he could have a nice lie down and get rid of the throbbing in his head. All of this courtesy stuff was so boring!

~*~*~*~

Brast looked up as the person who had been closeted with his wife walked into the sitting room he had been reading in.  "Well?" he demanded. It would help him choose her outfits and jewelry much easier.

"She shows ease wearing only our most common metals," he admitted, sitting across from him.  "That new human silver and things of that nature.  Even the gold that they bring up bothered her."  Brast groaned.  "It does look beautiful on her."

"It might, but she'll need to be more showy sometimes," he noted.

"It can be camouflaged if necessary," the other man pointed out.  "She might even bring it back into fashion."  He handed over a few sketches.  "She said she liked those when we were talking."

Brast looked at the informal designs and groaned.  "They'll definitely match the design of her crown, but they're very plain."

The man snorted. "She thought you might say that but she said they suited her better."

Brast leaned back, shaking his head.  "She's not used to this life.  She is a woman of simple desires so I suppose they do suit her most of the time."  He looked at the representative.  "When can she start shopping?"

"As soon as you can get someone to authorize it and we can make some things," he said practically.  "There are some stunning pieces but they're up at the shopping planet."

Brast smirked.  "We'll be heading up there in a few weeks," he shared.

"I'll tell my brethren to see if any clans have things up there to show her."  He stood up.  "She did look quite happy in her language lessons."

"Which one?"

"Both.  They were related things back to her home language in both of them."  Brast whimpered and shook his head.  "There is news of a new implant device.  It would give the user access to valuable information.  It is finding many niches in the traders and military worlds.  Perhaps that would be the best way to get her up to date in all the languages she'll need."

"Maybe," Brast agreed dryly.  "That would probably also cause some problems though.  We'd like to not have her attacked soon."

"Then make her hair grow longer.  It was breaking earlier while she was playing with it," he said quietly.

"We've got in for a dispensation," Brast said firmly.  "They can't deny it.  Not if her hair can't sustain the growth."  He stood up and clasped forearms with the representative.  "Thank you for your help.  Hopefully we won't run you ragged and neither will the Court."

"It is only for a limited time and the frustration is worth the outcome," he said reasonably.  He left him with his book.

"Hopefully the two thousand whiny brats won't make him change his mind," he said bitterly, laying back down with his book.  He needed the personal time. Otherwise he might take his wife up on her demands for attention.  If he did so, he knew he might never get to leave her side again.
 

~*~*~*~

Sivya looked up as the waiter walked over to add to her water glass, giving him a faint smile.  He backed off and bowed before heading to the next table and she sipped at her drink delicately.  The local food was fairly spicy.  She hadn't expected that in the least.  She put down her glass and grabbed her head, starting to feel dizzy.  "Brast?" she called quietly, knowing he was somewhere nearby.  He had gotten up to talk to someone a few minutes earlier, but she had seen him coming back.  A warm hand tipped her chin up but her vision was one big, bright light so she couldn't tell who.  "I feel dizzy."

"Of course you do," a gentle, deep voice assured her.  "We'll be fine."  He helped her up and turned her around, finding her husband standing there.  "She said she's dizzy."

"Thank you," Brast said, taking his wife from the unknown man.  "I'll take her to our suite.  I'm sure she'd thank you as well."

"Thank you," Sivya told him, groaning a bit when Brast moved her.  She squeaked as someone picked her up.  "I can walk."

"Shh."  He walked off with her, taking her back to her bed.  "What did you do?"

"I drank some of my water."  He groaned.  "It was water, it didn't taste off.  I was told most poisons made things taste funny."

"Many do, but not all of them," he said patiently.  He'd have to find her a personal server and possibly a tastetester.  He laid her onto her bed, then looked at her helpers.  "Find a healer," he ordered stiffly.  "She may have been poisoned."  They all went running.  He went to get a cool cloth and came back to lay it across her forehead.  Rethna and two older women walked in, making him frown.  "She has her own healer?"

"No, this one is mine and her apprentice," he said firmly.  They locked eyes.  "The server was detained as soon as I realized what was going on, as did that so very helpful gentleman.  I did not know him and neither did my wife."

"Thank you," Brast said calmly.  "I thought we had gotten off too easily at the coronation.  I should have been expecting something of this nature."  He was pushed out of the way so the healers could work on his wife, watching what they did.  "I tasted her food earlier, all she had added was some water."

"And more of that pudding right before you left," she reminded him weakly.

"I tasted that as well," he reminded her patiently.  He looked at Rethna, then rolled his eyes.  She fussed even when she was the ill one.  One of the healers looked at him and asked something very quietly and he shook his head.  "Not a chance of it.  I've been waiting on her to have some free time."  She nodded, going back to her patient now that she knew she wasn't with child already.  He looked at Rethna.  "Can we move the shopping trip without upsetting people?"

"No," Sivya said.  "I want to go."

"You're ill," Rethna dismissed.

"I may be, but if I seem ill then others will talk," she said, sounding more firm about it.  The healers helped her sit up so she could drink something from their bags.  "Eww, that still tastes bad."

"Of course it does," the healer agreed dryly.  "They always do."  She looked at Rethna.  "There was something, it set off a brain cloud."  He looked confused.

"It's a migraine," Sivya said helpfully.  "A really horrible headache.  It's happened in the past."  She laid down again and looked at them now that she could see past the bright light.  "Some of us do have funny reactions to things."  She shrugged lightly.  "When were we leaving and how long would we be traveling?"

"We'd be leaving the day after tomorrow and be gone a lunar week, local time.  We'd have about a day each way."  She nodded.  "Could this be cured by then?"

"She should be fine to make it to her appointments tomorrow," the apprentice told him gently.  "She'll need rest and quiet."  They packed up their things and left, letting Rethna question them about the substance that had hurt her so.

Sivya held up a hand.  "Come sit?  You do protect me from others very well," she said dryly.  He grimaced but sat next to her, he couldn't refuse her a simple request.  "You were worried about that man?"

"It was too convenient.  I hadn't seen him at the dinner at all," he noted, stroking over the back of her hand.  "You should be sleeping."

"I should, but I'll be doing that soon.  The medicine always makes me sleepy."  She yawned and he helped her get settled into her nest of pillows.  "Are you upset that we came here?"

"Not really," he admitted.  "If you came for the reasons you stated, it is a brilliant first move, Sivya.  If not, well then no one would ever dream of saying anything to you about taking an easy first year.  Most new Empresses and Queens do so."  He stroked across her forehead.  "You rest."

"I ask because you always seem to bored and tired," she said quietly.

He snorted.  "There isn't much here for one like me, wife."  He stood up.  "As soon as we get back and things settle out, I'll have new duties, including teaching you how to protect yourself.  After all, I won't always be around."  He bowed to her and walked away, ignoring the clenching in his stomach over the statement he had just made.  He was also ignoring her hurt look.  He could not afford to get emotionally involved with the Empress.  He was a pirate.  He was not for her.   It would have been for the best if he had not accepted to begin with but he had felt some sort of obligation to her since she had been so innocent.  He laid down on his own bed, thinking back.  She had been very innocent.   Very sweet.  The temper that came out now and again when she was angry with someone hadn't been shown then, and hadn't really been shown since then.  She was an odd woman and he knew she'd need his help.  She still would, but he could find her someone to take his place at her side.  He'd have to if he wanted to leave with any sort of easy feelings.  Or possibly to leave at all since his gut was clenching again at that thought.  "Must be something I ate," he excused to his mind, but it wasn't buying it.
 

~*~*~*~

Brast walked into the exercise place that the staff had set up for him, bowing to the trainer.  "Let's see how much I've forgotten," he ordered. "I'm to teach her once I'm back up to the Pirate and Mercenary Codes."

"Of course, sire," the trainer agreed, bowing to him, but keeping him within eyesight.  Brast raised and eyebrow and smirked at her. "I do not know about your former training."

"I was the second son of a planetary overlord," he said with a small shrug.  "I learned."

"Very well."  The trainer attacked and Brast blocked the blows, but he was being herded toward the walls.  He ducked one blow to get around the woman's body, then grimaced at her.  "Ha!"  She spun with him and got him onto the ground, pinning him down.  "Did your trainer get put to death early in your training?" she taunted.

"What are you doing!" Rethna shouted as he walked in.

"Training him, you great idiot," she said bitterly.  She got off him and backed off, waving a hand.  "At his insistence, he wanted to make sure his training was up to present Codes, and so they asked for me to come in and train him."

"Then why was he on the mat?"

"Because I forgot a vital lesson, that my opponent is a thinking, moving being," Brast said bitterly as he stood up with a groan.  "I suck."

"You don't suck," Rethna said firmly, glaring at him now.  "You are a good guardian of our Empress.  You treat her as she needs to be treated and you protect her better than even I could hope to do."

"Perhaps you should take my job?" Brast asked knowingly.  The guardian glared at him, but you could see it in his eyes.  "She wouldn't mind."

"I would.  It is not my duty.  I think of her like my sister."

"The more you think that, the more it will be true," the trainer agreed.  He turned his glare back on her and she held up a hand.  "It is rather obvious," she pointed out.  "On her side as well.  Perhaps you should take a turn next year to spare Brast?"

"No," Rethna told them.  "It is not my destiny or my duty.  The oracle told me that I was to be the guardian of the bright star.  She is the star that shines brightest."

"You can be her guard as her spouse," Brast pointed out.  "Probably a better one."

"She warned me about that.  I would not be paying attention when the choice came between her and the Empire."   He turned and walked out.

"Hmm.  Interesting," Brast said, looking at the trainer. "His people believe in oracles?"

"They're from the same planet.  It's quite possible that it was a religious oracle that tells you something on your birthday," she suggested.  She smacked him on the arm.  "We're wasting my valuable time. You get to lay about but I have to train the other guards as well."  He smirked and attacked back, but she didn't have to move.  "You'll have to do better, sire.  You need to work toward your strengths and your real training."

"You mean in-close fighting?"

"That as well.  Plus your sneaky nature and your years of stymying the Empire's anti-pirate forces."  She attacked and he blocked, doing it his way instead of the formal method this time.  "Much better.  Thank you for not pretending any longer."

He gave a sarcastic bow and attacked faster this time, making her smirk and back away.  "My pleasure.  It's not like I can be myself around here."

"She would rather have the real you than some courtier.  Remember, she can read minds, Brastianius.  The most perfect way to insult her is to show her you don't want her around."  She leveled a cruel and shocking blow to his body and then walked away.  "I will see you next week."

"Sure," he gasped, clutching his body.  "I do want her around, that's the problem," he moaned, sitting down to catch his breath again.  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.  He heard a squeal and knew he had to stick this course.  She was a child in a woman's body and she was not ready for the warzone she had not only stepped into, but the escalation she had created with her coronation speech.
 

~*~*~*~

Sivya looked at the ship they'd be traveling in, then at her husband.  "It's very small."

"Yes, it is," he said patiently, taking her by the hand and leading her inside. "You'd almost think that your people didn't use ships, Sivya."

"We don't.  We use the platforms and we use riding beasts.  We do not use ships except for off- planet shipping."  She settled into her seat delicately. "I suppose that's why Rethna had me sedated on my trip to Central World."

Brast raised an eyebrow, then looked at Rethna.  "You did what?"

"She was in a blind panic and she fell asleep on her own.  I merely encouraged it," he defended.  "You'll like the mall, Sivya."

"Is it big?"

"It's a hollowed out moon," Brast said as he took over the control seat.  The officer on board gave him an odd look. "Whine, kid."  He checked everything, then disengaged the docking clamps and lifted the ship off, listening to his wife gasp and grab something.  "Hold onto her, Rethna.  I'm going to do a jump as soon as it's safe," he warned.  He noticed there were a few other ships in orbit, and none of them were the official military escort.  "Oh, who now?" he complained, setting a course between the bigger ships.  He could maneuver faster than they could and it was all to his benefit that he could handle anything those ships could throw his way.  They wouldn't be going for total annihilation, they knew his daughter wouldn't play their games either, so they couldn't afford to destroy them.  Since they couldn't, then they would have to be cautious, whereas he didn't have to and it wasn't part of his makeup to be careful. One of the ships fired on theirs, making the usual pilot gasp, but he easily avoided it.  "Relax, kid, I've faced worse odds while half-asleep and drunk."

"Was that why you had to retire your ship due to bad hair?" Sivya asked, but everyone could tell she was shaking, her voice was even wobbly and unsure sounding.

"Nah, that was later, I was fully asleep then and it was a military cruiser who wanted to push their weight around because I wouldn't work for their side."  He dodged the ships and pressed in the coordinates to make the space jump.  The displacement wave drives the Empire had developed could go amazingly fast when they were properly calibrated and used by someone with even a hint of knowledge about what they were doing.  He easily disabled the safety procedures in the computer system then went back to look at his wife. "You all right?"

"I believe I hate ships," she said bitterly, looking up at him. "I can't sleep on them, they shake and wobble, plus people like me get killed in them."

He kissed her on top of the head.  "That's why you have me, Sivya," he reminded her gently.  "Because I can show you how to get away."

"Thank you," she whispered, giving him a real hug.   "You protect me very well and manage to calm me down somehow after it's all done with."  She looked around.  "Is there somewhere to lie down?"

"Not on a ship of this size," Rethna told her.  "The seats should recline however."

"They do," the rightful pilot agreed.  "We had been going to rendevous with our escort battalion and fly up in grand style."

Brast gave him a smug look.  "Where's the fun in that?  We're bigger targets that way," he said when the young pilot glared at him.  "Her safety is my first and only job."

"That and teaching me how to be a showpiece," she reminded him.  Everyone stared at her, including her husband, so she blushed a bit.  "I'm sorry, but it's not exactly done where I'm from and especially when you serve the Goddess.  I only got new clothes once every few years and only when I had outgrown things before.  It's not our way to be acquisitive."

The pilot moaned as he shook his head.  "How do people like you get along without the things most everyone else finds necessary and intolerable to live without?" he demanded.

"Easy, it's not as important to me as knowledge," she said simply.  "When I wanted something that wasn't readily available to the temple, I found an odd job or six to make the money to earn it.  Then I got what I wanted.  It is not Alia's way to acquire things without meaning. The same as we don't collect animals and strays; they take away from our duties and our callings."

"You weren't allowed to have pets?" her wife asked.

She shook her head.  "No. We were required to feed anything or anyone who came to our doors and asked for assistance, but we kept none of them as our own. Even the orphans weren't pets," she said with a small grin for her. "Assistants, apprentices, but not pets."

"I'm glad my parents weren't that religious," the pilot said, turning back to the computers.  "Why did you disable the brain, sir?"

"Because it was annoying and fussy," he said patiently.  "A good pilot doesn't depend on some artificial program to tell them where they're going.  They can read their own instruments even in the dark of space."  He turned and watched his wife as she looked out the view screens.  "It's not that empty," he assured her when he saw her blanche.  "I'm supposing you would be more comfortable on a planet, being farm-bred."  He moved everyone away from her so he could kneel in front of her.  "Come on, it's all right," he soothed.  "We're not tossing you out into it and the ship isn't falling in it.  It's simply dark, like a room before you turn on the light."

"No it's not, there's no shadows."  She glared at the pilot as he turned off the view screen.  "Why did you do that?"

"He was being thoughtful," Henri offered gently.  "It disturbs him to see you upset, dear."  He stroked the mound of hair.  "We've got to do something about that."

She grimaced. "Can't I cut it off?"

"No, sorry," Pisha sighed.  "I wish, but you can't."  She patted her wife as well.  She probably did need some attention and affection.  "Let's get you relaxed and resting, Sivya.  There will be a lot of people at the mall and they'll all be staring at you."

"We'll work on that as well," Brast muttered.  "Let me attend to your hair, Empress, while they relax you."  The pilot sputtered. Brast gave him a dirty look.  "You mean you didn't know?"  He shook his head quickly.  "Dumb of you not to watch the coronation since she does overtly sign your paycheck."  He got the seat reclined and got his wife comfortable, then switched places with Pisha to work on the mound of sloppily piled hair.

The pilot watched them, shaking his head every so often as they got odd and joked about her.
 

~*~*~*~

Sivya looked at the docking rings as they came in for a landing, noticing all the ships waiting around.  "Why are they just sitting there?"

"Because they're waiting for clearance to leave or the masters are inside.  This is a common place to being a journey or to change methods of transportation.  It's also a good place to go on leave since they have hostels for visitors and food."

"Plus about every other pleasure known to the Empire, and some that are just trickling in from outside," Henri offered as he helped her up.  Her hair was now separated into two sections.  The bottom half had been braided and the top was twisted and wrapped in a design around the braids.  Brast had done a good job with it, and of hiding the weapons he made her carry in that mass of hair.  "I was first sent here when I came up because the factory I had been sent to work at was closed."  He nodded at the pilot to open the doors as soon as it pressurized.  "Your ears will pop," he whispered.  "Then we'll be inside."  She nodded, clutching his arm tighter.  He let her, he could get the feeling back later.  "Remember, everyone here is just like you, shopping for something."

"I don't need anything."

"You need clothes," Brast said firmly.  "Otherwise people will start to talk and think that we're poor.  Remember, your indulgences tell everyone else how well off we are," he said patiently.

"I suck at this job," she pointed out.

"No, you're doing fine.  We'll be getting things for audiences and for those horrible dinners we have once a week.  Plus something for your anniversary celebration."  He popped open the door once the light turned to say the surrounding air was ready for them.  "Come."  He stepped out and held out a hand, helping her out to spare Henri's arm.  She delicately stepped down next to him, so he tucked her arm under his, giving it a gentle pat.  "I'll be with you most of the time," he reminded her.  "We'll figure it out and Pisha is very good at helping you."  They paused while everyone nearby in the military saluted.   "Good job.  Our pilot was quite genial and very knowledgeable, able to explain things to her," he told the highest ranking officer when they passed her.  She nodded once, smirking at him.

"Did anyone think to speak to those people who had the accidental missile fire off Alesar?" Sivya asked the same officer.

"Someone has detained and questioned them, m'lady," she said respectfully, looking over her shoulder.  "They are aware that what they did was dangerous and are quite sorry to have upset you."

"No, that's okay. I understand about accidents," she noted, heading off with the insistent tugging on his arm.  "What?" she asked when they were in a lift.

"It wasn't an accident."

"I know, but I didn't think I should outright say that they tried to kill us."

"Disable.  They know they'll only make things worse if my daughter steps up," Brast pointed out.  "She's more stubborn than you and the crown has made her see what she wants her to do."  He looked at his watch, then at her.  "As a matter of fact, my daughter should be here somewhere with her guards and her stepmother."

"Can we meet?  I've been wanting to."

"That's why I suggested it," he said lightly as they came off the lift.  They walked over to the rental station where the carts were available.  "Where is the Ki?" he asked the rental agent.

"She is in the blue section, level nine, subsection 12 today, sire," he said respectfully.  "Shall I inform them that you're coming?"

"Please.  Have them call the First Wife to set up a meeting."

"Of course, sire."  He let them into the carts they'd be using, watching them fly off.  "Who was that?" he asked his coworker.

The other worker gave him a long look, then looked up, muttering something under his breath.  "That was Brastianius and his wife, the Empress," he said patiently.  He picked up the guidance system's controls, typing in a message for the Ki's cart's system.  She would want to know where her father was.

"How did you know?"

"I watched the coronation," he snorted.  "You know, like half the rest of the Empire?  Plus, there's been articles, stories, and reports on who she is and what she had been. She's probably the second priestess of Alia that's ever been up here, and the first was here to bless things when we opened."

The other attendant shrugged.  "Whatever.  As long as someone did that. Like everyone else she'll be spending her own money here and make things speed up again."

"Most likely a few stores will close down to have them alone in there," an upcoming officer noted casually.  She was one of the guards.  "Did someone tell the Ki that they were here finally?  She was fretting earlier.  She wanted to hit her father."

"I did, officer," the second attendant said with a grin.  "So, what does a lowly man have to do to get dinner with you?  Which of course I can cook or buy."

She patted him on the face. "I've already got two husbands, dear one.  Why would I need another?"  He pouted.  "We'll see.  One's contract is coming due and we're not presently getting along."  She strolled on, going to the money changer's stalls, nodding at one of them.  "The Empress is here with her family."  They all ran for their back rooms to tell their higher ranking people, in case they needed their services.
 

~*~*~*~

Sivya looked around the store, then at her husband.  "You're insane," she told him.  The saleswoman looked hurt.  "We're looking at list of planets near Crothian and Riven for the next move."

"The Tylran ambassador is coming soon," Pisha told her, walking her back to the rack where her favorite outfits were.  "This is not acceptable in public, but I find them quite nice to sleep in, plus you'll have to honor him that first meeting and that first night's dinner by wearing something from his homeworld."  Her wife nodded. "I'll keep in mind your tastes, but sometimes you've got to go with the ambassadors that are present instead of the official court."  She glanced at Brast.  "Find her something suitable to wear to the two events and at least two spares in case."

"Of course, you know I live to serve," Henri said dryly, smirking at her.  They were quite close and good friends.

Brast looked around the store, then at the young woman who was selling her family's wares.  "Pick," he suggested. Her face lit up and she hurried into the back, coming out with a few new outfits over her arms.  "This one needs hemmed."

"My cousin is in the process of finishing it, but if the overall design is pleasing, she has another one nearer to construction," she offered.  "It is in a darker green."

Brast fingered the material then held it up, glancing from his wife to it and back. "It would look nice on her," he admitted, handing it back.  "Dark green?"  She nodded.  "I'd have to see it to tell.  Some greens look odd on her skin-tone."

"Of course, sire, this way."  She led him into the back area.  "We understand that she doesn't keep track of such things."

"No, her secretaries have been quite light on telling her what's going on," he agreed with a small smirk.  "Pisha and I know more than she does sometimes."  He looked at the outfit and nodded. "I do like that, and it's a simple design so she'd like it."  The girl looked horrified. "She's a former priestess, dear, she doesn't understand decoration all that much."

"Oh, that poor thing!  And meeting with the ambassador who wears shiploads of jewelry too," she cooed.  "Would that do for dinner?"

"It would," he agreed.  "Their women only decorate themselves when they're looking for a new spouse, correct?"  She nodded.  "Then that will be fine," he agreed.  "Now, something for the greeting."  She led him to another outfit being constructed.  "I like that.  Blue looks good on her and it is the favored color of the ambassador."  He heard laughter and smiled. "It sounds like my daughter has found us.  She'll take those plus two more in case something's wrinkled."  The girl's eyes lit up and she went to find something truly spectacular.  "I'm going to talk to my daughter."  He walked out front and had to stop when his daughter slapped him.  "I didn't think you'd enjoy my life as much," he reminded her, rubbing his cheek.  "Nice shot however, daughter."  He gave her a hug and nodded cordially at the girls' stepmother.  "Has she been having problems?"

"Just with men who want to throw themselves at her feet," she said bitterly.  "I never got that."

"Hey, if you want the crown, take it," Constantine offered dryly.  She looked at Pisha, then at the Empress.  "So, you're the new stepmother?" she asked Pisha.

Pisha smirked at her.  "No, dear, I'm the First Wife, Pisha.  This is your new stepmother."  She nudged Sivya, who was smelling candles.  "Your Ki, Empress."

Sivya spun, then smiled at her.  "Oh, good, you are real!  The crown said you were only a figment and I'd have to keep this stupid job forever."  She trotted over and gave her a long hug.  "Thank you for being real."  She led her back to the candles.  "What do you think of this one?  I need a new meditation candle."

Constantine sniffed it then wrinkled her nose.  "It's quite strong.  Try a nature scent since Alia is over Nature and Marriage."  Another was held up for her inspection.  "I do like that one better.  I've smelled trees like that before."  She looked at her stepmother.  "I take it you were shocked too?"

"They came to the temple and took me from the prayer room.  I tried to escape but Rethna wouldn't let me.  Be warned, he's very good at tracking people," she whispered.  Constantine burst out laughing.  "Hey!" she said, looking hurt.  "I was being serious."

"I'm sure you were, stepmother, I have no doubt he'll have a lot of fun doing that job."

"You can call me by my given name, I don't mind," Sivya offered shyly.  "You're my first child and I'm very glad that you're not younger."

"She doesn't understand children," Pisha offered gently.  "We've even taken her into the nursery and every child in there burst out in tears as soon as she walked in."

Constantine looked over her shoulder at her father. "You have interesting tastes, father."

"It's good for her.  You know what the crowns are doing," he pointed out.  He came over to sniff at the candle his daughter held out. "Get a flower one. You have a lot of tree and incense ones, dear."  He gave his daughter a long look, visually telling her they'd be talking later.  She had to understand some things.  She smirked at him as she grabbed one off the top shelf and handed it over.  "Ooh, I like that one," he said, shivering.  "What is that one?"

"Thinial," Sivya said gently, putting it into her pile of things.  "It's very prodigious and the hallmark of Crysian's priestesses.  I have a friend who is so I'll send it to her as a naming day present."  She walked on, looking at other things. "Are they really that comfortable to sleep in?"

"They are.  I usually end up breaking a few stitches around the bottom hem that first night and by the morning I couldn't dream of not wearing it every night.  My mother wasn't that impressed with me for it, but they were always very comfortable. I got a new one about each month, but they always lasted longer so I had a bunch of them in the drawer before my mother gave them to charity."

"All right, I'll let you steer me toward those," Sivya agreed. She looked at her replacement, some day soon hopefully.  "We should probably meet later?" she suggested.  "Have dinner or something?  I'm supposing we're not staying on that ship?" she asked the girl's father.

"No, Sivya we're not staying on the ship.  There's already a room booked for you and I checked us in as soon as we docked," Brast assured her.  "We're sending everything we buy back there."

"Okay," she agreed, happier with that.  He seemed to want to do a lot of shopping and there weren't any carts to hold purchases as far as she could tell.  "Are we nearly done here?  I've got my new candles and Pisha's having a field day picking out bedclothes.  I can't wear all those," she noted when she saw the stack growing.

"Some of them are for me," Pisha offered.  "You can borrow or we can switch off."

"That's fine then.  Why are we up here for a week?"

"Because we need to do a lot of shopping, dear," Brast said, putting an arm around her shoulders.  "Come along.  You need real clothes, plus a few other things, and the last day we'll be picking out some furniture that you like to go in your rooms."

"I like what I have."

"Yes, but I thought you wanted a new chair to read it," he soothed.  "Don't you?"

"Well, yes, but I had one brought up from the library. They wouldn't let me move it myself," she reminded him.  He had told them to stop her.  She knew he had, she had heard him.  He had been having a frustrated day and had stayed far away from most people all day. "So I'm good with the chair I have."

"Still, there's some things I'll need to get as well," he said smoothly, leading her away.  He heard his former spouse snickering and glared at her.  "She's a former priestess.  They learned to make due."  He let Rethna get the bill, which was much less than they had figured up the night before.  "Sivya, can I play?" he asked, smiling down at her.  She looked up and grinned.  "I want to dress you for a bit.  Will you allow it?"

"If you want.  You do know more than I do about some things."

"Thank you, dear one," he said as he took her into another store, startling the manager.  "My wife requires attention of a personal shopper.  I'll be choosing for her."  The manager nodded and got his highest ranking salesperson - he only ran the business part, that one had been there forever.
 

~*~*~*~

Constantine looked at her stepmother's outfit, then at her father.  "You're dressing her like one of your pirate wenches, father," she said smugly.

"She'll need more practical clothes sometimes," he defended.  "I'll be teaching her self defense and she'll need them then."

"When?" Sivya asked, looking back at him.  They were in a questionable section of the market and Rethna had led the others off, leaving the three of them alone to speak.  "I know I need it."

"You do."  His daughter gave him a long look.  "I may not always be there and you know that most of her guards are there to guard the crown, the same as yours are, daughter.  She may have Rethna now, but he can be reassigned.  Her personal corps of guards haven't been gathered yet so I want her trained to at least get away from anyone attacking."

"I hadn't thought about that," Constantine said thoughtfully.  "I should probably do the same.  Think you could find me a pirate lass to teach me, father?" she joked.

"Of course I can.  Tabor!  Where's your second daughter this week?" he called to the owner of the shop.

"Coming this way, sire, you know that she wants to talk to you."  He smirked at the young lady with the odd couple as he came out with something his old friend had asked for.  "I'm sure she'd like you."

"Enough of the sire crap," Brast growled.  "I'm tired of it already."

"Sorry," Sivya said, stepping down to try on another outfit.  Her husband stopped her to give her a hug.  "I'm sorry I was so selfish, Brast.  I didn't want to take you from your comfortable life."

"No, Sivya, if anyone's ever needed my services, you do," he assured her.  He let her go and gave her a little shove.  "Try on that blue outfit. You look very good in it."  He waited until she was out of sight and hearing to put his head on the counter with a groan of pain.  He felt someone patting him.  "I'm fine, it's been a long day," he murmured.  He stood back up and found his wife standing there, giving him a long look.  "It wasn't selfish, Sivya, you needed me and I'm one who likes to be needed, it's just that this life is annoying after so long out of it."

"Why do you think I'm looking forward to retiring and letting your daughter have it?" she asked bitterly.  "This life suits me less than it does you.  At least you were born to it, I had no idea that it was like this.  My family was well off, but I was too young to participate when I went to the temple to live.  Even if I were to give up my job today, I couldn't go back to my life, that's the only reason why I still have it," she said shrilly.  She stomped back to the changing area, sitting down in there to calm herself.  Throwing a tantrum did not solve anything and it only made her more upset.  Someone interrupted her mental chastisement by knocking and entering the changing area.  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laid that on you as well," she said without looking.

"Ha!  You should complain," the old pirate said firmly.  "No one asked you if you wanted your life taken away and turned upside down.  He made a choice to protect you, you asked him.  No one asked you, girl."  He held out a shirt.  "That'll go much better over those pants. Or you could do this and make his jaw drop," he said, handing over a different shirt.  "It's from his clan you know."  He winked and left her alone to change.

She put on them both, looking in the mirror.  She did like the first one, but the second one made her look...different.  Harder maybe.  She walked out in it, frowning.  "I'm not sure I like this one or not.  I look odd in it."

Brast's mouth fell open and he saw the smirk, so he glared at his old friend.  "Not funny," he hissed.  "Sivya, you can't wear that.  It's not appropriate.  It's for unmarried women of my clan."

"Well...." she said, looking at herself in the surround-mirror, a curved half-circle of mirror so she could see her backside.  "What do you think, sir?" she asked the proprietor.

"What he thinks is irrelevant, it's for unmarried women and you are married," Brast said firmly.  "Even if you do look good in it," he admitted at her hurt look.  "You can't wear it, you're not unmarried."

His daughter walked out and whistled.  "Wow, a shirt for the mating ceremony."  She nodded.  "I like that. Plus, it's suitable since Father never let you choose your mate that way.  Did he actually interview?"

"He walked into my rooms and sat down to talk to me.  All the guards were busy," she said with a small shrug to look at herself again.  "I can take this one and keep it for after I quit and let you have it, Constantine, right?"

"Well..."  She came over to adjust the shoulders, which lowered the neckline in front.  "Usually our clan mates for life.  None of the Empire's tender unions of practicality.  A woman chooses her pirate mate and makes him hers by her wiles and the wonders of her body, then they're bound the next morning when their friends find them asleep and sated.  This shirt is meant to draw your mate to you and make him want to see more of you.  It's usually worn over a tighter pair of pants and a bit of naughty lingerie if you can find some.  I do know of a few women who have had to make due with whatever was at hand because you're mated before you're released from your apprenticeship and onto your own ship and crew."  She smoothed down the back of the fabric.  "It's an older ritual among us, but you do look good in that.  Do you have one that's not a mating shirt?" she asked her godfather.

"Not really," he admitted.  "Not in that color.  Take it anyway, find her something in that color," he suggested.  "It looks good enough on her and she'll need something alluring sometime.  The best way to addle a problematic man is a pretty girl," he reminded the scowling former pirate next to him, with just a hint of a smirk that his old friend could see.  "Too bad you came too late into it and jumped the system, boy.  Otherwise you'd have been mated long before now to someone like your own girl, and then she'd be a proper pirate."

Brast growled.  "Sivya, take that off, please," he ordered calmly.  She nodded and went to do that. "Stop it, both of you!" he snapped.  "She doesn't need that!"

"Yay," his daughter said, waving her hand.  "For such a worldly man, you've managed to take hold of a woman who shows none of your experience, father."

"I'm giving her time to get used to it."

"Then you're already behind and the woman deserves better," Constantine told him firmly.  "Do you think that the future spouses will be so noble?  Or even her other ones that she'll have to take as political marriages?  They won't bother with the niceties, they'll use her like most people suspect you are."

"No, I agreed he could wait to come to my bed," Sivya said as she came back out in a longer dress, one that definitely showed her figure.  "Are we sure this isn't also for mating?"

"Traditionally it's for the first official night after you've driven your friends off after the marriage," the older pirate told her with a wink.  "You wear it to dinner, you feed him, then you jump him somehow."  The girl blushed and he looked at Brast.  "She's still innocent?  You've done nothing to teach her the ways of spouses?"

"Enough," Sivya ordered calmly.  "The status of my sex life is no one's business but ours.  If he's too scared or too sensitive to come to my bed, then I've given him that right.  I will not force anyone who doesn't want me to be there, I'm much too sensitive myself for that."  She went back into the changing room, coming back out in her usual clothes.  "I think that'll be fine.  I'm going to find Rethna and the others.  You stay with your friends."  She left him there with everything, letting him deal with it since he had the money.

"I will kill you both," Brast warned.  "Leave her be."

"Father, as soon as you leave, she'll have to pick another First Husband, and he will do his best to bed her and produce an heir.  I don't care how sensitive she is to other's thoughts and feelings, it'll happen," Constantine reminded him.  "The only cure for that is you and you're falling down on the job.  She thinks you're scared of touching her because she's so different and so innocent!  How could you let her think that you don't care for you?"

"Daughter, I said enough," he repeated coldly.  "What goes on between us is between us.  Not you and us."  He put down the chip that held their shopping account, letting his old friend bundle everything up.  "If she chooses to come to me, which I will allow, then I would.  She hasn't come to me."

"Father, have an idea sometimes," she said impatiently. "She doesn't know the first thing about how those things are done!  She went to a temple at the age of eight, long before any of that would have entered her view of the world. Plus, she was mostly an only child from the reports I've received.  Her next oldest sibling was my current age when he died.  She only had one older sister and she was nearly four times the girls' age."  Brast moaned.  "She has no idea what to do to get your attention, nor is she sure that you like her.  Which, by the way, is obvious to the rest of us, but not her.  Now, you let your wife walk around unguarded in the pirate section of the worst shopping center in the universes.  Do you think she's safe at the moment?"

"No one would dare harm her," he said bitterly.  "They all know she's mine."

"Oh, yeah, because you don't have enemies and you've marked her, father.  She's wearing none of the clan's markings."  He looked stunned.  "Plus, even if they ask, someone will ask about certain birthmarks on your body and she's never seen them.  They can keep her as an imposter and possibly a spy."  He rushed out, leaving her there to look up and offer a silent prayer for her father to gain some sense and knowledge.  She looked at her godfather.  "Was he always like that?"

"Once before," he admitted. "He's got that noble blood in him and it only shows when he likes a mate.  He had it about your Ma a few times too.  She had to club him over the head and chase him around her ship to get him once or twice because he didn't think he was good enough for her."

"And he's right, he wasn't good enough for her, but she loved him anyway," she said smartly. "Is it my place to inform her of these things?"

"It could be, if she'll listen.  We both may have set her back up with that," he admitted, handing back the chip and the bags.  She waved those off.  "Where are you two staying?"

"With her, in the top level of the Crithyan hostel."  She shrugged. "I have no idea whose bright idea that was, but they're nice enough."  She left, going to track down her stepmother.  Her father was clueless and would walk right past the woman.  She'd be shopping for something to make an apology to him and he'd think she had headed right back to the group.  She walked into a small shop that sold jewelry and waved off the saleswoman. "She's my stepmother.  My father's an idiot."  The woman looked stunned, they were of the same pirate clan and knew Brast.  "Seriously an idiot," she shared.

"Don't insult your father that way in front of me please," Sivya requested quietly.  "Is that appropriate?"

Constantine looked at the earring, then at her. "Only if you want to insult him.  Are you trying to draw him to your bed or make him feel like your mate?"

"I'd just like him to like me," she said desperately.  "I'm tired of not having a single friend!  Pisha and Henri have each other.  Pisha and I work together but I don't have her that way because we're too different in personalities.  He and I have a friendly relationship with each other but we never talk.  He never comes to me as a friend.  I'd like one."

"I'd like one of those too most of the time," Constantine assured her, patting her on the back.  "He is, but he doesn't understand you, dear.  You're trying and he sees that, but he doesn't think that you could ever understand."

"Then he has no idea what I've seen and done in my life," she said firmly.  "It's not like I talk about them, but we have had pirate attacks at my temple.  I did defeat a few of them who were trying to take us to sell.  I'm not the innocent he thinks, even if I am in a few ways!"

"Good, then I don't have to worry about you so much," Constantine assured her.  "By the way, they're not pirates, no matter who calls them that.  They're a whole different beast.  Pirates have honor, they have greed."  Sivya slumped.  "It's an honest mistake if you haven't been brought up around us," she assured her, looking at the saleswoman.  "Find her something to give my idiotic father for friendship.  And find me a bat, please.  He needs it."

"Don't hurt him on my behalf.  I'll work it out for him and then I'll ask his opinion on finding me someone else who can protect me," she said quietly.  "Since he doesn't want to stay."

"He's a clueless idiot," Constantine assured her, giving her a gentle squeeze.  She looked at the necklace her clanmember had, then looked at her clanmember. "This is my new stepmother.  Give her something like what Gertrandia gave her spouse."  Another earring was brought out, this time it was a small cuff made of jewels with a single post to close it. "I like that.  It'll be easy to hide in his hair.  What about you, Sivya?"

"It doesn't have any mating connotations, right?"

"No, just an acknowledgment that he's part of your clan and family as well," Constantine assured her.  She continued to stroke the other woman's back as she paid for it.  She took the bag and the chip back, then walked her stepmother out, hand firmly around her to show she was protecting her.  "Just relax.  We want everyone to see us as clanmembers," she whispered.

"Am I?"

"Um, yeah," she admitted.  "Just not fully indoctrinated...." she paused when she saw who was in their way.  "Oh, go away," she said snidely.

"If this is Brast's wife then she should be one of us fully," the man said, sneering at her.  "The same as you should."

"I took my adult trials and passed," Constantine reminded him.  "Now I'm teaching her so she can fit in at all.  Get out of our way or start another war."  He got out of their way.  "Thank you."  She walked her stepmother on, going to another section of the shopping center.  There would be unaffiliated restaurants there and they could sit down to wait for someone to find them.  She saw a guard and smiled at them.  "Good day."

"Good day, Ki," she said respectfully.  "Empress.  We've been looking for you," she admitted.  "Come with me please?"

"Sure," Constantine agreed, following her.  Sivya nudged her and shook her head while they were walking.  "What?" she whispered.

"Is there a problem, ladies?"

"I needed to stop to use the facilities," Sivya noted.  "Can I duck in there?  I promise to bring Constantine with me."

"If you must," the guard sighed, following them.  She waited outside the door for them to get done.

"She's not a guardian," Sivya hissed once they were away from the door.  "She didn't salute."

"She is, she's wearing the uniform."

"She's not, it's not on properly.  I was watching a great deal of them and my advisors said that *only* the Space Marines wore their guns that way, on their hips.  The rest wore them on their waists.  Plus, her uniform doesn't fit. It's bulky and bulging in places.  That isn't a royal guard nor a real one."

"Okay," Constantine agreed.  "Then we'll be the spoiled princesses we should be.  I'm not going to endanger you."

"I'm not helpless," she said firmly, glaring at her. "I have had to defend my temple in the past, even if I've had no formal training."

"Fine," she agreed, backing down.  She wasn't going to argue and waste time.  "Then let's stop for dinner."

"Are you nearly done?" the guard called.

Constantine looked at the door. "You're right, no one in the guard would dare speak that way. They know they'd be demoted and rank is everything."  She walked over and opened the door, pulling the guard inside.  Sivya grabbed the gun and turned it on. "Now then, who are you?"

"I'm one of the royal guards," she sneered.

"No, you're not," Sivya said calmly.  Her handling was awkward, but the gun was going to be used on that woman.  "No guard would wear their uniform that way, nor would they have their gun on their hip, nor would they ...."

"Enough," Constantine complained, knocking the woman out.  "Keep it, you might need it."

"And put it where?" Sivya asked, pointing at her two-panel skirt and breast cups, her usual, everyday outfit.

"Good point."  She took it and put it in her waistband, then they walked out together, Sivya going back for the bag she had put down.  "Ready?"  Her stepmother nodded so Constantine looked at the nearest waiter.  "The fake guard may need some attention," she told him, walking her stepmother out.  "Who raided your temple?"

"About ten years ago we had a group of slavers who appeared. They got most of our guards and then tried for us and the shipment of tithes we had just received.  They managed to get a few of the younger priestesses on their ship but I was with the tithes and I managed to trip one and grab his weapon.  I got a few of them, the younger girls got themselves free, and the city's guards came to arrest them."  She shrugged.  "They were defeated."

"No one's said anything about that," Constantine assured her. "Not even in the reports I've gotten about you - as I'm sure you've gotten about me."  Sivya grinned and nodded. "It seems to be the way since we're not allowed to live in the same palace for security reasons."

"No one really saw it was me.  The report said, and I quote, the priestesses fought back, including a few that stole weapons to defend their brethren and tithes."  She smirked.  "So only those of us there at the time knew it was me and a few others, but they've all went on to other temples."

"You must miss yours."

"I do.  My home temple was nothing like the one I was in when they found me.  My home temple was small, dark, and was always full of incense and books.  Then I moved to Riven's temple for a few years, then back to my first one, where I seconded the High Priestess, then onto my last one, which was on my homeworld."

"Why did they take orphans off their homeworlds?"

"Because it was necessary to make us realize that the temple was our home now," Sivya said dryly.  "Otherwise they would have been nagged."

"Ah. Understandable really."  She nodded at the guard, noticing that his uniform fit, his gun was in the right place, and he looked like every other male guard that she had ever seen.  "We're back.  Where is my father?"

"He's been back and worrying," he said with a scowl for them.  "Where were you?"

"We were detained by someone who thought he was a guard," Sivya said quietly. "Plus I saw something that I wanted to look at closer.  Constantine and I were fine."  She walked over to where the others were, subtly handing Brast the bag as she walked past him.  "Why are we looking at furniture?  I thought we were doing that the last day."

"This way it can go back with us instead of being shipped," Pisha offered, pointing at the bedframe she was looking at.  "What do you think?"

"I think it looks uncomfortable and looming, but I'm not the one who'll be spending each and every night in it," she offered. "If you like it then go ahead and get it, dear."

"Thanks, it reminds me of home," she said happily, adding that to her tally.  Her room had been bare when she moved in.  Besides, Henri liked it and he usually slept with her at night since his room had some sort of breeze that they couldn't stop.

Brast looked in the bag, then at his daughter, raising an eyebrow.  "It's an apology, father," she said quietly.  "Because you're a dumb idiot who can't see her as more than helpless."  He pinched her.  "Ow!  Father!"

"Next time, don't wander around alone, without a guard or protection," he said angrily, but his eyes showed the real reason.

"Fine, it's not like I didn't take the gun off the person who tried to take us," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "By the way, Grand-Uncle Pertan wanted her to be taught.  He said if she was a member of the clan she had to do her trials."  She handed the gun to one of the guards, who was staring in shock and horror at them.  "Sivya, are they nearly done? I'm starving.  That restaurant smelled good."

"Yeah, we're nearly done, I'm looking at drawer sets and I like that one," Pisha said, pointing at it. It was added and the chip was handed over, then they took their carts back to the hostel to formally check in and take up residence for the week. Pisha looked at her wife since they were alone, expect for the guard driving.  "She took the gun?" she asked quietly.

Sivya smiled and nodded. "She is very reasonable and quite well trained.  I like Constantine.  She's a wonderful young woman."

"What did she help you pick out?"

"A friendship gift.  Brast's friends were picking on him."

"Oh." Pisha's eyes went wide.  "You went to *their* section of the mall?"

"Well, yes.  He wanted me to get some practical clothes to wear for when he's teaching me self defense."

"Hmm.  Probably showing you off to all the smelly pirates," she said grimly.  "You need to watch out for them."

"Pisha, they were perfectly nice people," she said firmly.  "They're a group of citizens that have their own ways and their own codes.  They were quite nice and gentle with me when I made mistakes and was nearly dressed in mating clothes.  They are not the same as those who come to temples and homes to snatch people!"

"Okay," Pisha agreed, giving her a funny look. "If you say so."

"I do.  They may steal, but there are worse out there.  The ones who steal people for fun and profit aren't pirates, they're slavers and should be treated as such.  Kidnaping is something else entirely."

"Have you run into either before you met Brast, ma'am," the guard said bitterly.

"Twice.  Both times I did what I had to do to protect those around me.  I can excuse stealing things and being on the unpopular side of a war.  I cannot excuse those whose main goal in life is to steal young men and women to harm them by forcing them to be slaves for the rest of their short, painful lives."  Both people with her looked at her in shock.  "Yes, my temple was raided once and I did run into pirates on my trip to Riven when I went to that temple. The pirates who stopped us were quite mannerly, and treated the passengers on the ship decently.  They did not abuse us, make much fun of us, and they talked to us like we had some sense, even if they did order us around a bit.  The slavers did not, to them we were commodities to be used and then killed," she said coldly.  "So, yes, I can tell the difference and I will enforce the difference.  The pirates serve useful functions in society and the slavers do not."  The guard shivered and went back to driving but Pisha was still staring at her in shock.  "I'm sorry if that upsets you, but I am what I am, Pisha."

"No, I agree.  I had no idea you've traveled in the past."

"I was sedated for most of it.  The pirates woke me to see who I was.  They were looking for a specific heiress who was on the ship.  She had told them it was me to get away from them.  She was being returned to her parents."

"Oh."  She nodded once and patted her on the hand. "It must have been terrifying for you."

"Not really.  They were rather nice once they found out the mistake.  They did order us, but they treated us like clueless children.  They didn't do more than steal about half the water off the ship to take baths since they were out on theirs.  Once the money transfer had happened, they took off with the heiress they were taking home and left us in peace.  We got there a day late but no worse for the wear, no matter how much some of the older people on board shuddered and complained.  They didn't hit us, they didn't shove more than one person who wouldn't move when ordered to, and they didn't pick on most anyone but those few who were dumb enough to stand up to them."

The guard landed and got out, helping them out.  "I hope all the rest of them are like that, ma'am.  Have a nice night."  He watched them walk inside, then went to be reassigned, repeating the conversation for his boss when asked why.

Sivya walked up behind Rethna, looking around his arm and making him jump.  "Sorry.  Some sort of problem?"

"No, they're making sure the rooms are clean and the bags are properly stored," he assured her, smiling at her.

"I don't care if the room's clean or not, I'm sure they'll fix it if it's not," she noted.  "May we go upstairs now?  I'm rather tired, I've been walking all day and I don't like to fly."  The manager stared at her, blinking hard.  "Yes, I'm Brast's wife.  Thank you."  He nodded and bowed a few times before rushing off.  "They know you better than they do me.  I have hopes of a normal life after retiring," she said dryly, walking after her second husband and First Wife.

"Empress," Rethna said quietly.  "There is no retirement," he informed her gently, staring into her eyes.  "You can only give it up if you're too ill and not expected to live or if you die.  There's no ceremony for retirement."

"Then make one up," she ordered.  "I'm not keeping the thing forever.  I will eventually want a life."  She got away from him and headed to lie down for a bit.  She had a headache. She was interrupted by a knock on the door. "What? I'm trying to sleep."

Brast walked in with the bag.  "What was this for?"

"It's called an apology and a friendship gift," she said patiently.  "If you don't like it then don't wear it or exchange it.  Your daughter helped me pick it out."

"No, I like it," he assured her, coming in to sit beside her.  "Are you all right?"

"My head hurts a bit.  All the colors, the noise, and the people.  I'm guessing not too many Thinkers of my level come up here to shop."

"No, not usually," he admitted. "I should have thought of that.  I'm sorry."

"It's not an issue, just keep us away from the worst sections.  A small crowd is fine, a large one isn't."

"That's fine.  I'll do that," he agreed.  He looked at the earring, then at her again.  "It wasn't necessary.  We are friends."

"Brast, you put up with me, nothing more.  I'd like a real friend sometime in my life again.  Wear it or not, it's up to you.  I made my decision, you're a friend even if you don't like it."  She flipped over. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Fine.  You rest," he agreed, watching as she fell asleep. Then he went to find his daughter.  "What did you tell her?" he demanded as he walked into her room.

"Men knock," she said firmly.  "I am an adult now, I have passed my trials, and I deserve some respect."  His mouth fell open and she shrugged.  "As for the earring, it was meant as a friendship gift and an apology because she believes she upset you by stating that she missed her own life.  Now, get out of my room and act like a man, father.  You do not barge in here without knocking. You have no idea what I could have been doing or with whom."

"Sorry," he mumbled, going to his own room.  He looked up as Pisha knocked and walked into his.  "Why am I suddenly the bad person?"

"You're not," she said.  "Though I believe we'll need to talk soon.  Did you know she had met some of your brethren in the past, on her trip to Riven?"

"She went to Riven?" he asked, looking very confused now.  "Why?"

"Probably to serve at a temple there," she noted, waving a hand. "It's not important.  She thinks your kind are all noble, that you're useful for society.  She's also run into your kind that like to take people to sell."

"They are not pirates," he said firmly.  "They aren't our brethren in the least."

"Fine, she said the same thing," she agreed bitterly.  "I, however, do not feel that criminals should be separated out.  So whatever little trinket of affection she gave you today should probably find its way back into her possession.  She is not capable of separating out the rest of the world from her sheltered existence."

He let out a loud laugh.  "I'm sure you think so, dear, but she already knows a great deal more than you do. Did you know that the first pirates were simply displaced farmers trying to get their lands back after they had been evicted by force from a planet they owned?"  She shrugged but shook her head.  "We were.  Even my family were once pirates, that's why they accepted me.  Because we're mercenaries first and thieves when the jobs we're on calls for it. The ones who prey on ships and shipments of goods do so to bring down the shipping rates.  It gives them some competition.  Anything else?"  She shook her head.  "Then leave.  Now."

"I'll suggest you be let out of your contract early," she assured him.

"Fine, I know she's not feeling you're suitable as well," he pointed out.  "After all, you dressed her to insult a recent visitor. You and she don't really understand each other.  At least among *my* kind there are those like her who have dedicated themselves to our arts."  She flounced off and he laid down, putting on the earring.  It was warm, the stone it had been carved from was smooth and soft feeling.  It was also a bit heavy so he switched it to a higher position on his ear, letting it open an old hole.  His mate wouldn't have minded him taking a new one, she had ordered him to, and she probably would have liked Sivya as well.  Or at least he hoped so since his daughter did and his little girl was going to force the issue soon.  Why couldn't they leave the poor girl alone to be whoever she wanted?
 

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To Chapter Six