Empress Rajenlif smiled indulgently as she watched her husband pace excitedly across the floor of their throne room.

Neither of them were there in any official capacity, which was why she was wearing a pair of loose fitting trousers and a light shirt, and he was barefoot.

The Empress sat on her throne sideways, her legs dangling over the armrest. The sight would likely scandalize their majordomo if he ever laid eyes on it. Which, if the Empress was honest, was exactly why she did it.

What had her husband so excited was some research he’d conducted down in the Archives. He’d found himself curious to see if their daughter was right about humans, so while Rajenlif had been interviewing Pierce, Tiernan had looked up the experiment that had been running on Sperikos (that had been tragically cut short, along with the rest of the colony,) the human settlement of Kumari.

“It’s rather remarkable, Raj.” Tiernan was saying. “They had a city, a whole city. It was primitive, of course, but they had buildings, roadways, and aqueducts.”

“How much of it was built by titans?” Rajenlif asked conversationally.

“Almost none of it!” Tiernan replied, gesticulating excitedly. “Oh, sure, the Titans helped by supplying materials, and occasionally maybe gave a bit of advice, but by and large it was all human made.”

“Fascinating.” Rajenlif, as usual, found herself amused at how passionate about history her husband could become.

Suddenly Tiernan stopped pacing and shook his head. “I can’t help but wonder what might have happened, had Sperikos not been destroyed; and Kumari with it. How much more would we understand about them, and what… what might have been avoided if we did.”

“The best thing we can do with history is learn from it.” The Empress said, sitting up in her throne. “We can’t change the past. If our daughter is right about humans… and after speaking with Pierce, I really can’t say I disagree… then we must work to right the wrong, and mitigate the damage from this point forward.”

Tiernan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I fear that that will be a long road.”

“Well… you could always…” Rajenlif tilted her head in the direction of Tiernan’s throne significantly.

“No. It would be easier, in some ways, but that’s a path I don’t want to go down. Once I take that step, I can’t go back. This has to come from the people themselves, or it will never work. It’ll take longer, it will be harder, but it will be real.”

Rajenlif nodded. “That’s what I thought you would say.”

*.*.*.*

“Here you are…”

Daz looked up as Rhionne ducked under a low hanging branch of the tree Daz was sitting next to. She had been hoping the drooping turquoise branches would serve to hide her from view. Evidently, they had not done as well as Daz had hoped they would.

“I hope you weren’t hiding from me?” Rhionne asked. Her voice carried a note of amusement, and perhaps just a bit of apprehension.

Daz smirked and shook her head. “Not you. My sister.”

“Ah.” Rhionne nodded. She was aware that Rhionne and her sister didn’t get along terribly well, although she’d never heard the reason as to why. The princess ducked further under the branch and then plopped onto the grass by the tree and next to Daz who, perhaps a little reluctantly, moved over to make space for her.

“And what’s Vasha done?” Rhionne asked, nudging Daz with her shoulder.

“It’s… not important.” Daz muttered, drawing her knees to her chest. “Stupid sister stuff.”

“Stupid sister stuff, huh?” Rhionne’s eyes narrowed. “Well, don’t worry, we’re heading back to the school soon and then you’ll be far away from her.”

Daz wiggled uncomfortably in the princess’s gaze. “Yeah.”

“You said you were taking advanced astronavigation this term, right?”

Daz scratched the back of her head. “Oh well, um, no.”

“You’re not?” Rhionne asked. “Why not?”

“Oh… um…” Daz stammered. “I don’t… I think maybe I’ll actually switch majors… I’ve been thinking that maybe… um…”

“All right…” Rhionne suddenly interrupted. “Now I know something is off. Either that or you’re some kind of changeling. You love flying, Daz. I know you do, and there’s no way you’d just change majors like that. So spill, what’s up?”

Daz bit her lip. She wanted to continue protesting, or at least that’s what she told herself, but the look in Rhionne’s eyes was resolute. She was not going to let this go without answers.

“All right fine.” Daz sighed. “The truth is that Vasha pulled me out of the program. She says that I need to be focusing more on something ‘more in keeping with my station.’ Something that’s more useful to the family business or something…”

Rhionne’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “She did, huh?”

“Yeah but it’s really not- Hey where are you going?!” Daz watched as Rhionne shot to her feet and tore out from under their hiding spot. “Rhionne!”

“Stay there!” Rhionne snapped in an authoritative tone that Daz had never heard her use before.

Daz gaped as the princess tore across the garden and towards the palace. If she didn’t know any better, she half expected the plants to spontaneously combust as the princess passed by.

“Shaka…” Daz sighed.

*.*.*.*

“You’ve been pretty melancholy lately.”

Tylum spoke conversationally, but Pierce could hear the concern in her voice. She was lying on her stomach on her bed in the guest room they were staying in. Ostensibly, she’d been reading a book, but Pierce suspected she’d actually been waiting for a moment to broach the topic.

He, meanwhile, was sitting on her back between her shoulder and neck, staring up at the mosaic on the ceiling. He’d been lost in thought until her words had jarred him back to the present.

“That’s a pretty big word to be tossing out into casual conversation, Tylum.” Pierce responded, leaning back against her neck.

“Don’t change the subject.” Tylum shot back, and Pierce could almost feel her eyes rolling. “You can act cavalier-“

“Ooh, another good word!”

“-All you like, but you can’t fool me into thinking that what’s happened between you and Daz, and Rhionne for that matter, hasn’t affected you at least a little bit.”

Pierce sighed and shook his head; he really didn’t want to be having this conversation right now. Or, well, ever.

“Do you think this is going to just go away?” Tylum continued. “You might be able to avoid them here at the palace, but what happens when we return to school? Our house is a heck of a lot smaller than the palace, so unless you plan on holing yourself up in the bedroom, I’m not sure how you think you can avoid dealing with this, Pierce.”

“You’d be surprised how big the house can actually be, Tylum.” Pierce muttered sardonically.

Tylum’s exasperated sigh trailed off into a growl, which Pierce felt rumble through her back. Pierce was glad she was facing away from him. He’d hate to see the glare she’d likely level at him at that point.

The young human shrugged and rested his arms against his knees. “Okay, so how should I ‘deal’ with it?” He asked, struggling to keep the venom out of his voice. “Daz is going to be with Rhionne, apparently, that’s happening. There’s nothing I can do to change it. So… What else am I supposed to do? I’ve accepted the current situation, Tylum. Constant discussion and analysis seems pointless to me in the face of any real options. Therefore, I’ve elected to just deal and let what happens, happen. For the record, I’m happy for them both, in my own way. I think they’ll be able to make something work where they both can be happy with the situation.

“And you?” Tylum asked pointedly.

Pierce shrugged again. “I’ll live.”

*.*.*.*

“You sent for me, Princess?”

“Rhionne stood from the chair she’d been seated in and faced the door where Lady Vasha Zakrov waited. Daz’s sister’s posture spoke of respect, but Rhionne could see the lie to that in the young woman’s face. It was clear that Vasha held very little actual regard for the Princess herself.

And from what Daz said, Rhionne suspected she held regard for precious few people. If any at all.

“Yes. I did.” Rhionne acknowledged. “I’ve heard from my… betrothed… that you have pulled her out of her chosen career track at our University.”

Vasha’s eyes narrowed, and her expression took on a very calculating look. It was likely she was discerning how much of a lie she could possibly get away with.

“I have.” Vasha finally answered. “I was willing to indulge this… silly nonsense of hers about being a pilot for a while. Frankly, I was rather hoping she would work it out of her system, alas, she hasn’t. But the fact of the matter is, a woman of her class- our class- has better things to put her mind to than flitting around the cosmos. So, yes, I admit that I have ordered her out of the piloting program in into a course of study that is far more useful, and lucrative.

“But, flying is what makes her happy.” Rhionne responded, her eyes narrowed as she fought to keep her emotions in check.

“Your highness.” Vasha’s tone was just respectful enough that Rhionne couldn’t call her on it, but still so condescending that there was no doubt about her real feelings. “I know that you are young and, like my sister, full of passion; but the fact is that our family needs Daz to step up and do her duty to the Zakrov family.”

“Really?” Rhionne’s eye mouth twitched in irritation. “If Daz is to be my wife, then that makes her a part of my family. She is not the primate of the Zakrovs Vasha, you are. Your duty is to the Zakrov house, but her duty is to me and mine, first. And what I want from her, most of all, is whatever makes her happy. That, as you well know, is flying starships. Therefore, she will continue to study this unless and until she decides it no longer makes her happy . Are we clear about that?

Vasha’s throat muscles flexed and Rhionne could almost see the contempt that was being held barely in check. She found it amazing how quickly the respectful façade chipped away the moment someone stood up to her.

“Yes your highness.” Vasha ground out, her voice barely above a whisper. “I understand… perfectly.”

“Fantastic.” Rhionne retorted drily. “You are dismissed, Lady Zakrov.” She barely hid a satisfied smirk as Vasha turned on her heel and left the room.

Rhionne waited several minutes for her heartrate to slow before exiting herself and heading back out onto the grounds. She found Daz again, not far from where she’d rushed away. Instead of hiding under the branches of a tree, she was seated on a nearby bench.

“I’ve sorted things out with your sister.” Rhionne said as she plopped down onto the bench net to Daz.

Daz’s red eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How?”

“Never mind.” Rhionne muttered shaking her head. “But, uh, you might have to be the one to change her name when we marry…”