Carnelians (46 page)

As Robert maneuvered Aliana and Red away from the dais, the sovereigns continued their convoluted non-conversation. Aides, officers, and techs closed in, cutting off Aliana’s view of the proceedings. But the empress, who was standing a bit off from the others, was staring at her, and a chill went up Aliana’s back.

Then they were out of the suite. Aliana looked at Red, and he closed his eyes, then opened them again, watching her. She knew how he felt. It was a relief to be out of there, away from the Aristos, especially Admiral Muze. She had seen it in Red’s mind, flashes of the Highton who had brutalized him with the arrogant cruelty of one who believed it was his exalted right. To live with that every day, to know it would never get better; no, it was far better to scrabble in a slum, starving and freezing, than to live in luxury as a provider.

Four Razers accompanied them to the lift, but only Tide went down with them. As soon as they were alone, Aliana spoke to Red. “Are you all right?”

He nodded jerkily. “Was hard. Seeing him.”

She made a face. “I didn’t like him, either.”

“Aliana,” Tide warned.

“What happened in there?” she asked him. “Are they selling us to the Skolians?”

“Trading,” Tide said. “You two for five agents that the Skolians captured.”

“What was that bit about dead merchants?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Tide admitted. “I think the emperor is saying they won’t demand the execution of the Skolian commandos who killed the Eubian merchants.”

Interesting. “So the Skolians got back their angry prince,” Aliana said.

“Apparently,” Tide said.

“I thought people from Earth take prince,” Red said.

Tide shrugged. “Everyone claims something different.”

Aliana doubted he would tell them any of his theories, but she tried anyway. “Why trade me to the Skolians? And why say I’m ‘three or four’? That means they think I’m a psion, right? But not a very strong one.”

“Well, yes,” Tide said. “That’s exactly what it means.”

“But the emperor was—” She bit off the word “lying.” More carefully, she said, “I thought everyone at the palace believed I wasn’t a psion.”

“You are probably an empath,” Tide said. “They haven’t had time to test you formally, so the emperor may be guessing.”

She thought back over the meeting. “Why was everyone relieved when the Ruby Pharaoh said that her doctor would welcome a confidentiality agreement saying he couldn’t talk about the singing prince being sick or whatever happened before they rescued him from the ESComm soldiers who kidnapped him while they were pretending to be Allied soldiers?”

“Good gods,” Tide said. “You picked up all that?”

“Mostly from the emperor and the pharaoh,” Aliana said. “A little from you just now.”

He stopped looking astounded and went back into Razer mode, which made him a lot harder to read. “The pharaoh didn’t mean a doctor. She was telling the emperor that if he traded you and Red to her for the ESComm agents, she wouldn’t make public what happened to Prince Del-Kurj.”

“Why?” Aliana asked, fascinated. “She’s giving back the agents. Why agree to more?”

Tide shrugged. “Maybe she wants this summit to succeed.”

“They both do,” Aliana said. “Both her and emperor Qox.”

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Tide looked amused. “You know a lot about the motivations of emperors and pharaohs.”

Aliana flushed. Of course she didn’t know. Actually, she did, but it sounded foolish when she said that, so she kept her mouth shut.

“Why Skolians take us?” Red asked.

“You’re psions,” Tide said. “That makes you valuable to them.”

“You’re coming with us, aren’t you?” Aliana said. “Like you were going to defect?”

Tide spoke harshly. “I was on a mission. I would rather die than defect to the Skolians.”

Aliana suspected he was protecting himself. Maybe he meant it, maybe not. She had thought she knew Tide, but there was far more to him than the enforcer who had worked for Harindor.

“Admiral Muze not want emperor to give us to Skolians,” Red said.

Aliana stiffened. “No! He can’t stop us.”

“Actually,” Tide said, “ESComm has to approve the exchange. They haven’t yet.”

That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “They’ll let it happen, won’t they?”

“I wouldn’t presume to know their thoughts,” Tide said, in full Razer mode.

Aliana felt queasy. If the exchange didn’t go through, she and Red could both end up as providers. The Skolians would reveal what happened to their prince and the summit would—

Would what?

She didn’t want to find out the answer.

XXVI: Island of Sanctuary

XXVI
Island of Sanctuary

The building called the Amphitheatre of Leto resembled a great galleon constructed from crystal. Trees surrounded it, aqua and sea-green, sculpted like waves and tipped by foamy white blossoms, each a spray of petaled tubes that sang when the wind blew across them. The Allieds had raised the amphitheatre within only days, working with both Skolian and Eubian architects. On a clear winter morning in the hills above New Athens, the Trader Emperor and the Ruby Pharaoh came in person to the same planet, the same city, the same building. No such meeting had ever before occured. More protections were in place than had been seen at any other summit for any the three major civilizations that comprised the trillions strong population of humanity.

So began the first day of the Delos Summit.

Birds were flying outside the floor-to-ceiling window of the chamber where Kelric stood. He had never seen such a species, bright red with blue wings. He enjoyed watching them soar in the violet-tinged sky. This chamber was in a “mast” of the building, a tower room with its narrow window-wall offering a panoramic view. In the distance, New Athens sprawled across the land, a city of wide streets and airy markets that were mostly empty now in the burning heat of the day. Beyond the city, the ocean waves crashed against the reefs.

It seemed fitting to Kelric that the summit was here on a world of sanctuary instead of on Earth. This peace they sought would join two bitterly estranged branches of Earth’s lost children, who had been sundered long before they rediscovered the legendary home of their species.

A note chimed behind him, high and clear. Turning, he saw Dehya coming through the archway of the chamber, a slender woman in a simple white dress. Her black hair was piled high on her head, caught by slender braids.

“Is it time?” Kelric asked.

“We have a few minutes.” She joined him at the window. A cloud floated below the glass, and birds arrowed through it, streaks of red.

“World of sanctuary,” she murmured.

“Perhaps,” Kelric said. They could hope.

She looked up at him. “That girl on the dais was Aliana.”

“So they claim.” He shook his head. “She had normal hair and skin. Blue eyes. No gold.”

“Kelric, she looks like
you.
But with her coloring disguised, it’s hard to make the connection unless you’re looking for it.”

“I hope that’s it.” It had shaken him to see a girl who might be his kin wearing Trader slave restraints. Did Jaibriol suspect the girl’s identity? When they had suggested the exchange of the ESComm agents for the two psions who asked for asylum, Kelric had feared ESComm would refuse. The youth was a valuable provider. If Dehya had agreed to take only Aliana, it would have looked like an absurdly unbalanced exchange, drawing exactly the attention to the girl they were trying to avoid. Although he was gratified that their plans for the trade had so far worked, they were nowhere near completion. He wouldn’t believe Aliana was safe until they had her away from Delos.

Dehya spoke quietly. “We should join the others.”

He let out a breath. “Yes, let’s go.”

They left the chamber together, Kelric limping. His leg ached more than usual, perhaps because of the heavier gravity here. Compared to the vibrant youth of Jaibriol Qox, he felt aged and slow. Dehya seemed so small. His job was to protect the Ruby Pharaoh, not put her in a building full of Aristos. Still, they had made the best decision they could, given the situation. Besides, Dehya only looked fragile. She had a strength of will like a steel rod.

A cluster of people waited in the conference room: Roca, First Councilor Tikal, General Naaj Majda, Admiral Chad Barzun, and various bodyguards. It was a resplendent group. Naaj wore her green uniform with gold braid on the shoulders and cuffs, and medals on the tunic. Her belt had the Majda hawk tooled into it, the insignia of a queen. Chad stood next to her, smart in his blue Fleet uniform, his grey hair cropped short. Roca was a vision, a statuesque woman in a rose dress that set off her gold skin. Tikal wore conservative trousers and an elegant white shirt. Grey streaked his brown hair, but his lean face showed only a few lines, making him look younger than his sixty years.

Kelric had chosen a simple uniform, a dark gold tunic with a stripe across his chest and trousers that tucked into boots. Like his predecessors before him, he wore none of the medals, ribbons, and pins he had won during his career. He had only a wide band on each of his biceps to indicate his rank of Imperator.

He looked around at the newly constructed room. A good portion of his participation in the summit would take place here. Its eastern wall was also a window and sunlight poured through the polarized glass. The ceiling slanted upward, its highest point more than four times his height, braced by beams cut from a gold wood. Light orbs spun in the upper reaches of the room like swirling moonstones. The table was round, making every seat equivalent. A twin of this room waited in another “mast” of this building, the tower dedicated to the Eubians. The third mast contained the center where the Allieds had set up the monitoring stations for all three governments.

Tikal was talking on his wrist comm. He looked up as Kelric and Dehya joined him. “Major General Yamada is coming up in the lift. He should be here in a minute or so.”

“Good choice,” Kelric said. Yamada had been in charge of the military forces on Delos eleven years ago, when Jaibriol had traded himself to the Eubians for Eldrin, Dehya’s husband.

As Roca came over to them, Kelric thought,
How are you doing?
This summit would be the first time she came face to face with Hightons since she had been a Eubian prisoner. It had been many years, but she still suffered from nightmares.

I’ll be all right, 
she answered.

General Yamada arrived within moments. A stocky man with a wide face, he had two stars on each shoulder of his blue uniform and a multitude of ribbons and medals on his chest. A striking woman walked at his side. Her dark blond hair was streaked by gold, and she wore a smart blue skirt and jacket. Kelric recognized her as Kate Dolan, the Delos Ambassador to Skolia, one of Earth’s top diplomats. The Allieds had given this summit their highest priority.

After all the formalities were observed, Yamada said, “The Eubian delegation is waiting to enter the amphitheatre. Major General Holland is accompanying them. We’ll time it so that both of your parties enter at the same moment.”

Kelric nodded, accepting the conditions they had all decided on well before this moment.

It was time to begin.

Jaibriol entered the amphitheatre with Tarquine at his left and the Earth general on his right, followed by Corbal Xir, Azile Xir, Barthol Iquar, and Erix Muze. The civilians wore black diamond clothes, and the military officers had on black dress uniforms, a sharp contrast to their alabaster faces. They looked like a starkly beautiful chess set. Except in chess, the queen acted in the defense of the king. Jaibriol no longer knew what was true for Tarquine, and it weighed on him far more than the minds of the other Hightons with them.

They stood on a high balcony looking out over the tiers of seats, ring upon ring of them, with a circular dais in the center. The domed ceiling curved high above the hall, veined by crystal panels that reflected the light orbs. It was smaller than the Amphitheatre of Providence on Glory; only a few hundred delegates sat in these tiers. But they were a markedly distinguished group, the elite of his empire and the Imperialate. More than half of the Eubian delegates were Aristos, and though they were too far away to impact his mind directly, he felt them like a distant pressure. He stood with Tarquine, his hands resting on the crystal rail, and looked out over that phenomenal assemblage, the first of its kind ever convened.

What riveted Jaibriol, however, wasn’t the delegates; it was the group on the balcony directly across the hall from him. The Ruby Pharaoh entered with the Assembly First Councilor and another Allied general. Kelric came in behind them, massive and towering, a dramatic contrast to the delicate pharaoh.

Jaibriol wasn’t tempted to underestimate Dyhianna Selei, a mistake so many people had made and regretted. She had survived the Radiance War, assassination attempts, and Eubian infiltrations, then gathered her forces and overthrown her own government. The Skolians claimed they split their government evenly between the Ruby Dynasty and the democratic Assembly, but Jaibriol didn’t believe it. If ever it came to a challenge between the two, their military would support the pharaoh.

Dyhianna Selei was also the Assembly Key of the Triad, the liaison between the Assembly and the star-spanning web. The Mind of Skolia. Kelric was the Military Key, the Fist of Skolia. Kelric’s late father—Jaibriol’s grandfather—had been the Web Key, the Heart of Skolia.

Three keys to the Web: Mind, Fist, and Heart.

What does that make me?
Jaibriol thought. The Heart of Skolia? He couldn’t have come up with a less apt description if he had tried. He gazed across that amphitheatre at his family, the kin he could never acknowledge, and felt as if he were breaking.

It was excruciating to be this close and yet cut off from them. The same was true for Aliana. He had analyzed her DNA in secret. It matched that of Althor Valdoria, who had been an ESComm prisoner years ago; Aliana was Jaibriol’s first cousin. He could never tell her, never breathe a word of it to that gloriously powerful psion. But he could disguise her coloring to hide the resemblance between Kelric and an “inconsequential” taskmaker no one had yet bothered to notice.