“So after getting a look at it,” Rixie said, “my conclusion is that this is a ridiculous ship. There is no reason for this ship to exist. It’s too much. It’s way too much. Nobody deserves a ship like this. You should all be dancing with joy every time you get up in the morning. This makes the Kuklopes class look like the Maglina class.”

“Oh, I’m not going to stand for that. You may outrank me, but we all know you have to subtract at least one rank from Imperators for being above it all.”

Rixie laughed. “Izzy, I said Kuklopes class, not the Gyfjon. The Gyfjon was the Gyfjon, and it always will be the finest ship in the fleet. Also we get the bonus ranks because we’re capable of protecting ourselves without a whole ship around us.”

“I’ll let it slide…this time,” Izzy said, gliding alongside Rixie. “And you Imperators think you’re impressive, but you don’t get anywhere without us.”

“I can book my own travel. But I’ll say this, at least Imperators and Space Explorers go places, unlike the Planetary Defense Corps. Of course, we don’t want to make them go anywhere, they’d get lost.”

Izzy chuckled; there was, of course, a long-running, relatively good-natured feud between the various services of the Imperial Military. The Imperators were stuck-up and lazy, Planetary Defense were fools, and Space Exploration was too cowardly to fight someone face-to-face. These were all ridiculous, and all three branches knew they were, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t take the chance to pip each other when they could; nobody teases each other like family, after all.

“You’re right about the dirt-chewers. And you’re also right about another thing: the Bass class is as tough as its namesake. And you haven’t even seen the Faederon VI, not that it’s done yet.”

“If anyone can build a ship while it’s flying, it’s you, Archiploiarchos,” Ryan said, as he guided the grav scooter that Izzy rode on.

“That is a reasonable level of flattery, Captain,” Izzy said with a grin. “Respectful, but not over-the-top. You taught him well, Magister-Imperator Carey,” Izzy said.

“Alex gets credit for any diplomatic skills Ryan has. I’m the quiet one.”

“Oh, come on. Remember when you acted like you were going to crush Alex for stowing away? You damn near gave Aerti a heart attack.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard this story. I know dad stowed away…a lot,” Ryan said.

“It was the mission where I lost my throat,” Rixie said. “And it was nothing, just a bit of fun.”

“A bit of fun. Your mother sold it perfectly, and your father, Ryan…your father never flinched. She brought her boot down hard, right next to him, and he trusted she wouldn’t miss and hit him.”

“That I can believe,” Ryan said. “Dad has always trusted mom.”

“A lot of us have, Captain Carey,” Izzy said, as they reached the quarterdeck. “And with good reason.”

Ryan hopped off the scooter, leaving it for the Archiploiarchos. He nodded to the watch officer, and turned to the two flag officers.

“Operations Director, Ishaytan Fleet; Commanding Officer, 67^th Special Analysis Group; departing,” he said, saluting.

Rixie and Izzy both returned their salute. “Permission to disembark?” Izzy asked.

“Granted,” the watch officer replied.

“Thank you, Ms. Throden-ColVanos,” Izzy said. “I’ll give you and Ryan a moment,” she added, nodding to Rixie.

“Thank you, Izzy, I’ll see you on the shuttle. Ryan,” Rixie said, “don’t worry about a thing. Anything Thyllia needs, between Pryvani, Zhan, your father, and me, we’ll take care of it. And we will send you lots of pictures and holovids. And…well….”

Ryan smiled up at his mother. “Mom, you know how you feel about leaving me?”

Rixie smiled in return. “Yeah. You finally get it, don’t you?”

Ryan nodded. “Just…don’t let her forget me while I’m gone.”

“We won’t, Ryan. I promise,” Rixie said.

“I….”

Ryan was about to say something more, about promising to come back to his daughter. But the woman standing behind him was a reminder that he couldn’t promise that.

Rixie looked back at her son, and took a deep breath. “No matter what happens, Ryan, we’ll never let her forget you. And if anything bad happens out here, make sure that whatever it is, it happens worse to the bugs. As long as you do, what you’re doing here is as important as anything that can be done.”

Ryan nodded, and saluted. “Aye aye, Magister-Imperator.”

Rixie saluted back, then asked, “Permission to disembark?”

“Granted,” Vellamo said.

“Thank you, Ms. Throden-ColVanos,” Rixie said. “And good hunting.”

Vellamo looked back and forth quickly, before saying, “Safe travels, well-born Rixie.”

Rixie nodded, and with one last smile for her son, she headed for the shuttle.

Ryan watched the door seal behind her, and said, “Just for the record, Ms. Throden-ColVanos….”

“I will be careful not to call you cousin, cousin,” Vellamo said. “But my father would have been proud to call you kin.”

“Ms. Throden-ColVanos, that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Ryan nodded. “Now, if you will be so kind, can you give me a lift over to the hamster ball tube? Archiploiarchos Ibanez took my scooter, and I’m not foolish enough to ask for it back.”

* * *

The Galatea was not to be grounded on Jutuneim for long; Taron would soon lift for Sininentavas. To be specific, Fleita would be doing the lifting; she had been flying ships for a few years, even before she’d been quite old enough, and he was trying to get her enough hours logged on a Regulus class yacht that she could qualify for a class three license. Manto and Victor had tried to convince Fleita to apply to the Academy, and Joseph had quietly lobbied her against it; Taron’s heart was with Joseph (he had almost lost one son, and he didn’t particularly enjoy having another son and a daughter in harm’s way), but he was a good enough father that he was letting her decide. Fleita, for her part, had suggested she may take a year or two and fly cargo ships for Liss Peten. Taron wasn’t sure that was a lot safer than the military, but again, he kept his counsel…and made sure that if his daughter did take the conn of a Jona class freighter, she’d know damn well what she was doing.

At present, he was waiting for the first of his passengers to depart; they were saying their goodbyes to the passengers he would be taking onward.

“I am…I’m very glad to see you and Akwe are well,” Kullervo said, as he hoisted his own bag. “I…I have apologized, many times, but….”

Vwokhu waved him down dismissively. “None of that. By the grace of Odin we got a daughter who didn’t hate us. I found a good husband, you found a good wife; our lives are much more than a decision we made long ago. I am just glad to see that you and you, Jarlkon Aahchi, are well.”

“For the last time, Vwokhu, I am Tellervo,” Tellervo said, with a smile. “I know that this is where I’m supposed to hint that I’m jealous, and Akwe is to join in, but….”

“…but as my very wise wife noted,” Akwe said, “it was a decision made long ago. And all of us have had many years to build beyond that.”

“Well said,” Tellervo said. “Safe travels, both of you.”

“And keep your axes sharp,” Vwokhu said. “And I promise, I’ll make Rixie share any photos of Lexie she gets with you as well as me.”

“I’ve learned through experience they always forget their father wants them too,” Kullervo said with a smile.

He and Kullervo left, and Akwe grabbed Vwokhu’s hand. “You know,” he said, “I am very lucky. Had you and he met a few years later….”

“No,” Vwokhu said, squeezing his. “I am glad, in the end, that it fell out as it did. I have you, I have Namø, I have our wonderful grandchildren and Hyrikkenwuode. And now, in my later years, I have my daughter back. And it is wonderful, but only if I am the woman who is your wife.”

* * *

The human dormitories at the College of Bozedami were not opulent – dormitories aren’t supposed to be. But they were pleasant enough, and they featured, among other things, state-of-the-art holographics. This only made sense; two of the school’s most famous living alumni had met their husband there, and their roommate had gone on to run one of the leading hologaphy companies in the Empire. When the school had announced it was building dorm space specifically for humans, thanks in part to a generous donation from the Imperial family, it also announced that it had secured a second large donation from Myona Barreda to wire it with holos. Indeed, the donation had been large enough that the small building that housed the human dorms was known as Barreda Hall.

In room 1124 of Barreda Hall, Aleks Odusi was trying and failing to focus on his studies. He was swimming in a sea of emotions, most of them some variation on guilt and fear. Fear, because while he did not know what Aud and Luviisa Aljansen were up to, he knew it could not be good. And guilt, because for most of the two-and-a-half Imperial weeks he’d been back, he had been finding excuses to dodge Siru.

He didn’t want to dodge Siru. He wanted to go over to her place and dive into her cleavage and stay there. But he was deeply afraid of what would happen if he did. Siru’s mother had been lovely and supportive. But Siru’s stepmother and grandmother….

There was a knock on his door.

He shut off his pad, and sighed. Probably Joram from down the hall, wanting to see if he’d split a dinner delivery. He got up, stretched, walked to the door, opened it and said nothing.

The young woman standing in the doorway was just a little shorter than average, with a mop of braids that were currently dyed blue. She was stunningly beautiful, and equally furious.

“Do you want to break up with me?” she asked, matter-of-factly.

“I…what?” Aleks responded.

“I don’t know what I did,” Siru said, pushing him back into his dorm. “Did you really hate my mom that much? I thought she was fine, but maybe….”

“No, uh…no, your mom…she’s great,” Aleks said. “I just….”

“Then what? Did you just get tired of me? If you did, fine,” Siru said. And now, Aleks could see that she was not just furious; her eyes were red from tears. “It’s fine. If you don’t love me, fine. But you need to look me in the eyes and say it, not hide from me, gorram it!”

Aleks rubbed a hand through his hair. “Siru, it’s…I….”

He wanted to tell her he didn’t love her, because he desperately, desperately loved her. And the best thing, the most selfless thing, he could do would be to break it off in a way that made her think that he didn’t.

But he looked into her eyes, red with tears, and he grabbed her (well, her hologram), and held her tight, sobbing. When he could get words out, he said, “Siru, I’m scared.”

“I’m scared too,” she said. “Love is supposed to be scary, right?”

“No, I…not that kind of scared,” he said. “I mean…yeah, that kind of scared. But…we need to close the door.”

Siru sat (her hologram did, that is…well, you know how this works by now) on his bed, and looked at him carefully. She’d never seen Aleks like this. She’d seen him nervous, and worried, and even a bit scared, but this was…this was more than that.

“Aleks, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“It’s…gonna sound crazy,” Aleks said. “I’m trying to think about how to explain it, and…I’m not crazy.”

“No, you aren’t,” Siru said.

“Look, your grandmother, and Aud…I heard them talking, when they came back from the reception. They were talking about a plan. Aud was talking about a coronation, and your grandmother was talking about not wanting to look like they were climbing over bodies, and about Jotnarherath being its own land, and Aud…is Aud a part of the royal family?”

Siru blinked, trying to take this in. “What?”

“Aud said she wanted to be coronated. At least, that’s what my translator said she said. It sounded like she wanted to become Dronung of Jotnarherath. I don’t know how, but she had a better claim than Vallero, she said.”

Siru blinked. “What are you talking about? My grandmother wouldn’t let my dad marry Aud because she was a commoner. She’s definitely not royalty. If Grandmother Luviisa thought she was….”

Siru shook her head. “So you were avoiding me because…you heard them talking about some weird plot? Maybe?”

“They were talking like they knew that Ljied Umbas was going to die,” Aleks said. “Like they weren’t surprised at all.”

Siru looked at Aleks as if waiting for the punch line, but he was dead serious. “You can’t really think…I know, my grandmother is awful sometimes, but…Ljied was Riggu’s mom! She wouldn’t – she couldn’t do that!”

“I told you, it sounds crazy. Maybe I…maybe I’m wrong. But I just…I’ve done research into it. And there have been four deaths in the 79 families, including the ones on Jotnarherath, that were all the same kind of thing – sudden aneurysm, nobody saw it coming. Sen. Idia – she was a strong supporter of emancipation, her daughter isn’t. Lady Umbas was an ally of Sen. Tarsuss, but now the seat’s held by your dad, and he’s not pro-human. Torja Lidip – same thing. He was pro emancipation, but he died and his brother Henon ended up succeeding their dad. This is all in the last two years. And it’s not just the 79…there are a dozen notable supporters of emancipation that have died of aneurysms or strokes in the last year. And yeah, some were old, but there were a lot of suspiciously young ones, like Lidip and Idia and Umbas. And I know! It sounds nuts, but…you didn’t hear them, Siru!” Aleks said, waving his hands. “They were so calm. Your grandma was talking to Aud like she’d inconvenienced her by making it so Riggu would have to live with your dad. I just….”

He looked at Siru, who was staring at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance, and sighed. He slumped down in the chair by his pad. “I told you, it sounds crazy. Maybe it is. But if I’m right, and they could hurt Ljied Umbas….”

“Look, I don’t know what you got into your head, but don’t worry,” she said, rising. “If you think my family is capable of that, I can go, and you’ll be safe.”

“I’m not worried about me, Siru,” Aleks said, not even looking at her. “I’m a nobody from Avalon. Nobody’s gonna care about me.”

Siru sighed. “Then what are you worried about?”

Aleks looked up at her. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m worried about you. If they could do this…what wouldn’t they do? What couldn’t they do?”

Siru had been building toward a furious, reflexive defense of her family…but the way Aleks said it….

No, of course Luviisa and Aud were not consipiring to kill people. That would be…that would be unthinkable. But she also knew that her grandmother was never one to let sentiment get in the way of the needs of the House of Aljansen, and she knew that it was highly doubtful that Luviisa would spare a moment’s sorrow on Ljied Umbas. And Aud had destroyed Ljied and her father’s marriage, so certainly she didn’t care. And if an ordinary person, one who had not had years to understand how Luviisa talked and thought, how she approached things, overheard them talking about her with no emotion, talking only about how this would benefit the House, and especially if they were listening it through a translator, which was never totally accurate, especially when you were listening in on a conversation rather than having it, well…of course it had scared him. It should.

And he had been scared not for himself, but for her. Because if he had been right about it (obviously, he wasn’t, but if he had been), well, then of course if her grandmother could kill Riggu’s mom she could kill Siru’s mom, or even Siru.

He had been worried about her, so much so that he’d spent weeks trying to figure out if it was really a threat, and he’d been trying to make her annoyed at him just in case he had to break it off with her. That it was clearly, obviously a misunderstanding…well, she could still understand just what that meant, how deeply he must love her.

She walked over to him and knelt down beside him. “Aleks, they couldn’t do this. I know my grandmother. I mean…she’s horrible in the way she looks at humans, I know that. But she wouldn’t kill Ljied Umbas. Even if she was going to kill someone, killing Ljeid would be…she’d see it as gauche. They’re both part of the Ten Noble Families. There’s nobody my grandmother would be less willing to kill.”

“Not even to see her son Jofur? To see her grandchild the Sovereign of Jotnarherath? I know,” Aleks said, “it’s probably ridiculous, but….”

“It is ridiculous. But I wish you’d shared this earlier,” Siru said. “I could have talked you down.”

“What does algeaðu mean?”

“Huh?”

“Something Aud called your grandmother.”

“It’s a cornerstone, or a capstone. You know, when you’re building something.”

“Huh. Okay, it sounded important. But maybe I’m just…maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe I am crazy.”

“You aren’t crazy,” Siru said. “I’ve no doubt that my grandmother and Aud were being a bit callous. That…that is unfortunately familiar to me,” Siru said. “It should scare normal people, it sounds weird. And I’m sure they were trying to talk about how to leverage this to help the House of Aljansen, because my grandmother is always looking for how to advance the family. It’s not the greatest trait. It’s actually kind of awful, I know it is. But she isn’t a murderer.”

“I hope you’re right, Siru.”

“So this is why you were hiding from me?”

“I was,” Aleks said, “hoping you’d dump me, because I’m worried if they find out…Siru, I love you. And if anything happened to you because you were dating me….”

“It won’t. It won’t!” Siru said, lifting his head so she could look into his eyes. “I promise. It won’t. Now, look…I don’t think you’re in any shape to go out tonight. But tomorrow? Can we just go out tomorrow?”

Aleks looked down. “After I accused your grandma of being a serial killer?”

“Look, Aleks, is my grandma a murderer? No. Could she say something that would make you worry about it? Yes, she could. She is…a lot. Just…don’t worry about it. I promise, the House of Aljansen isn’t killing people.”

* * *

“So did you have Ljied killed?” Nyyriki Daiduson asked, as Luviisa poured out a Jutenheimer brewleaf blend.

“Nyyriki,” Luviisa said, calmly, placing the pitcher down and picking up the mek, “such a rude question. You know it is not polite to even suggest such a thing.”

“We’re a bit beyond polite,” Uđđi Lavra replied, stirring his brewleaf gently. “It has fallen together as well as we could have hoped. Almost as if there was a design to it. Especially with the biennial conclave next week.”

“Yes, well,” Luviisa said, between sips, “if there was, I would ask you not to speculate about it. Skor would be very upset to even hear such speculation.”

“He’s a kind man,” Aud said. “And he had no ill will toward Ljied. She was his wife for years. The mother of his son.”

Lord Lavra chuckled at that. “I suppose you’re happy, no matter how it happened.”

“Not at all,” Aud said. “Look, let me be blunt: nobody that I know harmed Ljied. And if I knew that someone had, well, that would be awful. I would be aghast. Truly. But I will accept this accident of fortune. It was destined, for Otna favors His believers. And He wants Jotnarherath to be Jotnar. The timing is fortuitous, and I know nothing more than that.”

“Indeed it is. And speaking of your husband, I hear the door,” Uđđi said. “Skor! Now the gang’s all here.”

“Uđđi,” Skor said, entering his mother’s receiving room, where his mother and wife were already holding court. “And Ryyk. How are you both?”

“Is Lord Umbas all right?” Luviisa asked.

“He’s glad to be back at school, I think,” Skor said, sitting down. He didn’t add that Riggu seemed glad to be done with his father for a while, though he knew it to be true.

He worried about his son. He worried all the time. He had hoped that his mother learning Aud’s true parentage would make Luviisa accept her. But he had succeeded too well. They had found a common cause, and though he loved both of them, and wanted them happy…he worried about what the fallout would be if they failed.

And just as bad, if they succeeded.

“So now that we are all together, we need to prepare to make our move,” Luviisa said. “We have four solid votes, and I feel quite certain Lord Sjedi will support us. We will never have a better chance to make this happen.”

“I know this puts Aud on the throne,” Skor said. “I do, and I want that for her…but what if Sjedi doesn’t back us? Rajenlif is not going to be kind if she decides she wants revenge for us going after Vallero.”

“At some point, Skor, it becomes a question of what’s important,” Luviisa said. “You know as well as I do the danger the hybrids present. The danger the humans present. The Empire as a whole is a lost cause, but the Jotunn…with the right leader, we could hold the line, we could keep our Savarnan flesh pure. And Dronung Audara could be that leader.”

“And while we’re at it, we keep Jotnarherath for the Jotunn,” Nyyrikki said. “And what’s the downside? Rajenlif mad at us? Kullervo wags his finger? Feh. About time we took a stand against the hybridization of the Jotunn. They want to do to us what they’re doing to Titans. It makes me sick.”

“Well said, Lord Daiduson,” Aud said. “And if we truly love Jotnarherath…we have to be willing to risk our comfort for it. We are Jotunn. We are a strong people.”

Skor didn’t feel particularly strong. He agreed with them, of course, and he wouldn’t mind being Jofur Consort. But he knew that if this went wrong, they all could fall together.

But with his wife and his mother both looking at him, what could he say? “I had to be sure you had thought it through,” Skor said. “You are right. We are a strong people. And if we are ready to fight, we will fight.”

“I raised you well, son,” Luviisa said. “Let’s get to work.”