“What are you reading?” Brinn asked, as she brought a suitcase into the entryway of the family’s home.

“Same thing you were reading half an hour ago,” Nick said, sitting at the kitchen table – virtually, that is – and downing his brewleaf. “You know, when we were coming down to it, I almost sent Pesti to Grelau and Sani Kamar to Naesavarna. And if I had…Sani would not have pulled this off.”

“Neither would either of us,” Brinn said.

“Not criticizing Sani. If Alex had a heart attack, there are few doctors I’d trust more. Maybe Daphne Smit. Maybe. But this…I hate looking at it,” Nick said, “because if you’d brought this patient to me with these initial scans…I would have called it right then.”

“If someone brought most doctors someone with those scans, it would have been the right decision. I’m still worried about Cortexifan burnout, mind you.”

“Well, yeah,” Nick said. “But you have to be alive to have burnout become a problem.” He sighed, and turned off his pad. “I’m just trying to think five steps ahead. If everything goes perfectly…the rehab isn’t going to be fun.”

“He’s been through worse rehab,” Brinn said. “Much worse. And the good news is that neural stabilizers might well bridge the gap.”

“They might, but dependence….”

Nick trailed off, and sighed. “I keep trying to think of this as just a patient, Brinn. Just any other patient we’ve got to look at. Give them to Tenen’s rehab team and keep tabs. But it isn’t. It’s Alex. And….”

“And we’ll be lucky to have to deal with potential stabilizer dependence and repairing burnout,” Brinn said. “We’ll be lucky if Pesti’s gamble pays off, and Alex survives this. But Nick,” Brinn said, “I don’t think we should approach this like any other patient. It isn’t. It’s Alex. He is our friend. One of our best friends. And just like Pesti…I’m willing to push myself to the limit to help him. And you are, too.”

“I just don’t want to push him too hard,” Nick said.

Brinn smiled. “You know Rixie worked with Alex when he was suffering from reactive trauma after Vasha.”

“Been in group for years with him,” Nick said. “Which you only know because he’s got a big mouth.”

“Alex is unafraid of showing weakness,” Brinn said. “And since you’re in his group, he’s probably told you that the boss level of his treatment was dealing with a hologram of Vasha. Pushing back against her, with Rixie giving him encouragement.”

“Yeah. Novel treatment, but effective. I know Thio’s used it more than once. Not that he knows how it originated.”

“Well, yes,” Brinn said. “But Rixie wasn’t the one giving encouragement. Rixie was playing Vasha. I was giving him encouragement…and monitoring to make sure she didn’t go too far.”

Nick leaned back in his chair. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

“Doctor-patient confidentiality. And it wasn’t relevant, but it is now. Nick, we might be able to push Alex too far, but I doubt it. If he knows that it’s important, he’ll fight through anything. Just like a couple other people I know.”

Nick nodded. “That’s good to know. Because if he wakes up, with a lot of work, he can have a good quality of life – hell, if everything goes perfectly…I think something close to a full recovery is possible…if he wants it.”

“He’ll want it,” Brinn said. “Now, you should probably derez, we need to head to the Galatea, Taron has Fleita warming it up already; Pryvani wants us out first.”

“All right,” Nick said, and as he did, his hologram disappeared, and a few moments later, he stepped out onto the balcony of the smaller house. He waited patiently for his wife to pick him up, and hoist him to her shoulder, where he grabbed a handful of hair and steadied himself.

“I’m lucky you found me, Brinn,” he said, quietly. “I love all of you the same…but if you hadn’t found me….”

“If I hadn’t found you, I tell myself that somehow, Zara or Taron would have,” Brinn said. “Because I don’t want to imagine my life without you all…and without you, there would be no ‘you all.’”

* * *

Nonull woke disoriented, which is not unusual for someone who has been knocked unconscious while having one’s spine shattered into sixty-four pieces. He was immediately aware that he couldn’t move, and indeed, that he really couldn’t feel anything below his neck.

He tried to remember what had happened. He had been attacking Alex Carey, trying to gain an advantage…and then there was nothing, like the tape had slipped off the reel.

He had probably failed. Though he supposed it was possible he had injected Rixie Carey before she crushed him, as he was pretty sure she must have.

If he was here, they had him dead to rights. He just hoped Xyly had gotten away clean.

* * *

Xyly paced in her hotel room, literally of two minds about what to do next.

He was lost. Nonull was lost. She knew he had likely been picked up and taken to the hospital, and if he survived, there was a risk that he would turn on her. It was probably best if he died, she thought, though part of her was anguished at the thought, furious at the part of her that was considering how best to get off of Jutuneim, and whether this pseudonym would need to be burned in the process. She could go back to her old name, for a while…Fanira Krasis may be dead, but that meant that hers was a name that could be used.

But first, she would have to dispose of Nonull. That would be simple. She had installed a biotic poison injector into him one night while he was high as a starship. It could be triggered remotely. She had it for just this kind of eventuality, and frankly, she was unsure why she hadn’t triggered it already. She should have. Sentimentality, she supposed; her weak flesh brain had grown attached to him.

She was better than that. She had her plan. She would stick to it.

* * *

Nonull had gone through his early checks, and though it was annoying, he had managed to talk using his translator; he knew the doctors had completed that check in order to allow for his interrogation.

“Mr. Agaser. I see you’re awake.”

And it was time for that.

Nonull moved his one good eye toward the voice. There was a doctor nearer, puttering over some wires, but the voice had come from a man standing behind her, one he remembered well, though he doubted the man would say the same.

“Palemst Themego?”

The simulated voice didn’t fully capture the surprise in the question, but Nest read Nonull’s eyes, and could see it clearly.

“I’m retired, Mr. Agaser. Just like you. Doctor?”

“He should be able to talk with you. But probably not for very long. I’ll be monitoring his vital signs, and let you know.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Nest said. He walked around the bed, so that the broken assassin laying in it could see him better. “Mr. Agaser, do you know where you are?”

“Hospital,” Nonull said. “On Jutuneim.”

“Correct. Do you know how you got here?”

“Yes, I do.”

Nest shook his head. “I see you’re going to be very helpful. Why were you trying to kill Rixie Carey?”

Nonull chuckled internally. “I am not going to fall for that.”

“You’re going to prison for the rest of your life,” Nest said. “The Imperators have tied you to twelve killings. You and your poison. I know you’re capable of killing. But that poison is beyond you, Idon. So you have a partner. Who is it?”

“I’m not going to give up anyone I worked with,” Nonull said.

“You do what you want,” Nest said. “I’m just an old fellow soldier doing you a favor right now. If you’re willing to talk, you may be able to serve out your days on Avalon in a human-scaled prison. And you know that the Council has been in favor of treating prisoners humanely. You’ll do a lot better there than on Penthe. Especially given your condition.”

“Told you…not giving anyone up.”

“Suit yourself,” Nest said. “But tell me this, at least: what makes a decorated Jack try to murder one of the founders of Avalon? Alex Carey is a gorram hero of our province, you know that. You left Avalon to work with the Aenur Foundation, now you’re working to put us all back in cages, what the frak are you doing?”

* * *

Xyly started to walk across the room toward her pad, and her right leg didn’t quite obey. It was sluggish, as if it was not quite going along with the program.

She looked down at her leg in confusion, and it moved obediently for her.

Strange.

She picked up her pad in her left hand, and studied it. The program was buried so she couldn’t accidentally trigger it. She brought her right hand up to switch through, but paused and moved to brush back the hair from her right temple.

And then, as she suddenly realized what she was about to do, she dropped the pad, and tried to swing her left hand around to interrupt her right….

But it was too late. She had already grasped the neural stabilizer on her temple and was yanking it free from its moorings, howling in pain as a seizure lit up what was left of her flesh brain, a reaction to the sudden loss of signal from the device.

* * *

Nonull scowled. “When I was put in a cage…the Aenur Foundation didn’t worry…didn’t worry about freeing me. Frak them. And frak you.”

“Oh, I get it, you got caught. Adopted out. By the looks of it, you got the snot beat out of you. And if you’d come back home after that and told everyone off, sure, I’d get that,” Nest said. “But you didn’t do that. Instead, you decided all us humans could face the same fate you did. Every one of us.”

“I have nothing against the humans,” Nonull said. “The Titans need to die. All of them. But the humans…humans who get in my way….”

“You’re not going to do a gorram thing to them,” Nest said. “You’re only ever going to get out of that bed because humans will treat you better than you deserve. Because Titans will give you medicine and tech to make your brain talk to your limbs. Because we’ll all work together to heal you up before it’s time for you to go off to Penthe. But sure. Kill those Titans, Agaser. That’ll show ‘em.”

Nonull was quiet for a long while, before he said, “I told them…you don’t go up against Rixie Tam.”

“No, you don’t. But it was Alex who beat you,” Nest said. “We take care of our own problems. Now…who is ‘they?’”

“You’ll have to figure that out on your own,” he said. “I…I’m not giving them up.”

* * *

After Xyly stopped seizing, it took her some time to gain awareness; it was not a full awareness, but a distant, warped one, as if in a dream. Her thoughts were not in words, but symbols and colors and shapes.

She had been in this state before, many times; every time her stabilizer had been turned off for maintenance. And that was fortunate, because she knew how to function in it. Not perfectly, not well, but enough that she could find the pad that was on the floor, and dial the code for emergency medical – the shapes she recognized, even if she wasn’t sure what to call them.

The metal brain. She had thought it would help her but it hurt her. It became her owner. They would fix her, with a different metal brain that she had not made changes to. When they finished…what she would be she next, she didn’t know. But the part of her that loved the human…that part of her, the part of her that was currently the only part of her…that part of her that was her.

The metal brain wanted to kill him. And she had stopped it. And that was enough. That was enough.

* * *

Siru put her pad down and rubbed her temples.

“You did as well with that as anyone possibly could have,” Aleks said.

“Yeah,” Siru said. “I mean…I’m not sure there’s a good way to say ‘Our grandma killed your mom so our stepmom could become Dronung, and I don’t think dad was part of the planning, but I think he may have found out right before they all got arrested.’ The Emperor said that he’s going to bring Riggu’s Aunt Ljali with when he heads to Jutuneim tomorrow, and Riggu’s at school right now…but still, I don’t know where we go from here.”

There was a knock at the door; Siru told the visitor to come in, and Daz did so, along with Ulysses. “Hi, Siru. Aleks, do you mind if I talk with Siru for a moment, alone? Ulysses can see you out.”

“Of course, Your Imperial Highness,” Aleks said. “But Siru, if you need me….”

“I know,” she said, planting a kiss on his forehead. He hopped on his hoverscooter and took off, and Siru just heard Ulysses say, “Man, you are one lucky….” before the door closed behind them.

“He is lucky,” Daz said. “And he knows it.”

“I’m lucky,” Siru said. “A lot of people wouldn’t stick with the girl whose family was wrapped up in murdering two people, at least, to steal the crown.”

“I know,” Daz said. “But he loves you, not your family, and that is what matters. Now, you probably aren’t surprised that I’m here to talk to you about your family.”

“I have a feeling a lot of conversations are going to be had about my family. I heard they got arrested. Haven’t heard anything more.”

“Well, I’m here because there’s been more. And while they’d usually dispatch someone to talk to you about this…I insisted that I be the one to tell you. This morning, the Dronung issued a challenge against the House of Aljansen for its attack on Princess Hyrikken and her husband, Senator Carey. Lady Luviisa Aljansen chose to defend her claim to the House of Aljansen; the Council of Ten unanimously found that she had in fact directed an attack, as well as attacks on other members of the Council. Accordingly, by the ancient rite, the House of Aljansen was forfeited to the Dronung, for her to dispose of as she wished.”

Siru took a deep breath in, and let it out. “So the House of Aljansen is dead.”

“Only mostly dead,” Daz said, with a smile. “Dronung the sixteenth Rajenlif, Queen of Jutuneim, has chosen to dispose of the House of Aljansen as follows: she has disqualified Luviisa Aljansen and Skorsjad Aljansen from serving as primates, and ordered that the house be passed to the next member in the order of succession. On behalf of the Seventy-Nine Families and the Dronung, I bid you congratulations, Lady Sirumo Aljansen, Second of that Name, on your ascension to the primacy of your house, and my condolences on the circumstances of your inheritance.”

Siru blinked, and studied her own feet. “I…oh, Otna…I should have realized…I don’t want it. I don’t want the money, or the title, or any of it. I’m ashamed of it.”

“I fully understand,” Daz said. “That is exactly how I felt when I became Lady Zakrov. And for almost exactly the same reason. I’m not sure if torturing and killing humans for entertainment is better or worse than murdering nobles to stage a coup – actually, now that I say it out loud, I am, it’s worse – but they’re both horrific beyond words, and both of us can and should despise our families for leaving us such terrible legacies.”

Siru didn’t look up, not right away. “How…how did you go on? How did you take over, knowing what people would think of the name Zakrov? It’s better, now, and I suppose that’s my lesson, but….”

“It took a lot of hard work,” Daz said. “I have had to be a better person than I probably would have been if I’d just been a pilot and a princess. Fortunately, I had my husband and wife, and they both pushed me to be better. As for the money – and there is money, the House of Aljansen is quite wealthy and will remain so – when I took over Zakrov Resorts, I really wanted to just get rid of it right away. But Lady Tarsuss told me then what I’m going to tell you now. The title? The money? All of it is just a resource. It’s not good, it’s not evil, it just is. Your grandmother used the money and power for evil. You can use it for good. And that’s what matters – what you do, not what your grandmother did. I have just met you, and have only what I have seen of you in the past few days to go on…but if my first impressions are correct, forty years from now the House of Aljansen will be known as one of the truly noble houses, one whose unfortunate past is seen in the same light as the pasts of the Houses of Tarsuss or Zakrov.”

“I don’t even know…I don’t even know where to start,” Siru said. “For one thing, I know we’re wealthy, but I have a feeling our accounts are about to be frozen. I’m not sure what happens next.”

“They will be,” Daz said. “All but your personal accounts. And when they are unfrozen they will be significantly lighter. Some of it will be seized. Some will have to go to attorneys – not for your grandmother and father and stepmother, not unless you want to pay for them, but for your House. You will need advocates on your side. And when they are done, you will need honest and capable money managers. I know a few firms that were recommended to me by Pryvani back when I was about your age; they served me well, and I will put you in touch with them.”

“Thanks,” Siru said. “I honestly had no idea where to begin.”

“Neither did I,” Daz said. “I had help. And you will too. Also, I shouldn’t forget…you’ll be joining me in the Senate; I’ll be happy to show you the ropes. Don’t worry, it’s mostly painless unless you feel like you want to do something. I’ve actually had some fun popping in to help the president with motions and such. And if you ever do show up for a floor session, I’ll save space by Alex and Pryvani, we can make fun of the pompous windbags.”

Siru finally looked up. “Do you think Senator Carey will make it? It sounded…it sounded really bad.”

“You’re dating a human. You know how gorram tough they are,” Daz said. “I’m betting on Alex. Mainly because I don’t want to imagine him gone, I suppose. He’s a good person. I hope you get to meet him.”

“Doubt he’ll want to meet me,” Siru said, looking back down.

“Oh, he will. Alex’s daughter-in-law is the daughter of Syon Fand, and he’s good friends with Pryvani Tarsuss and business partners with me. My sister tried to kill him, and Syon tried to kill every human on Avalon. He knows that people don’t own their family’s sins. And given that you’re dating an Avalonian…well, I think he’ll like you from the start.”

“I hope so. But…there’s one thing…I’m not only dating an Avalonian.” Siru looked back up, and for the first time that morning, she smiled. “Aleks and I got engaged this morning.”

Daz beamed. “That is wonderful news…and not just because I’m going to let Rajenlif know right away, hopefully before she chats further with Luviisa.”

“It might give grandma a heart attack, you know,” Siru said.

“And?”

“And if you have any pictures of the two of us together, make sure you send them.”

* * *

Victor Archer-Pria waited outside the room; he had given the attorney for Skorsjad Aljansen the opportunity to speak with his client, and besides, he was waiting for the interrogator for the Naesavarnan prosecutor’s office to arrive. Victor was officially observing for the Empire, though in a brief discussion, the Empress had instructed him and his partner that she was happy to have them jump in when necessary; Rajenlif was wanted to avail herself of any tool that could take them apart.

Victor’s partner, Phaega, had just gone in to speak with Aud, along with an interrogator and two Royal Guards. Victor’s discussion with Skor was going to be somewhat lower-key, as Skor was officially a person of interest, not a suspect. Their goal was to figure out what he’d known and when he’d known it, but the general consensus was that this had been driven by Aud, Luviisa, or both.

As for Luviisa…Rajenlif herself was going to talk to her, alone at first. Phaega had expressed some concern over this, but Rajenlif had simply noted that she had wanted to punch Luviisa since secondary school, and this might give her an opportunity; Phaega and Victor had shared a look when told that, but nothing more. If the Empress was that angry, they weren’t going to argue with her.

Victor finally heard the distant ding of the lift. There was a pause as the interrogator got through security, and then the echoing clack-clack-clack of hard soles on marble as they approached. They finally turned the corner and came into view, and Victor stood up from his chair.

She was not at all what he expected; for one thing, she was short. He knew that was a silly thing to be surprised about, but he had grown up with Rixie Tam living down the hall, and as she was the only Jotunn he really knew, that had always been his mental image of them.

She reached him, and quirked an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a little young for an Imperator?” she asked, in fluent Archavian.

“Yes,” Victor replied, in fluent Jotnar. “Yes I am. Imperator-Disciplus Victor Archer-Pria,” he added, reaching out his hand.

“Gjera Kithesdat,” she said, taking his wrist. “And I suppose that is impolite of me to notice.” Victor smiled; she was only a few years older than him, if that. And distractingly pretty. Which he did his best to ignore; this was not the time.

“It’s okay, I am young for an Imperator. I went to secondary school on Avalon, and graduated at 15, went on to the Academy early, and got into the Imperators Corps after a year, so…I’m not the youngest Imperator ever, but I’m one of the youngest who wasn’t a Tam.”

“Avalon? You’re human?” Gjera said.

“Strictly speaking, I’m a hutan,” Victor said. “My bio dad’s human, my bio mom’s titan.” He said it with the slightest of edges – almost a dare to her to say something about it.

“Don’t get your pants in a twist,” Gjera said, “I don’t give a vwof if you’re a hybrid, just care that you don’t screw this up, kid.”

“Excuse me?” Victor said. “I’m 21 ppsa, fine, it’s fair to notice it, but unless you have a really good cosmetic surgeon you aren’t exactly 70.”

“I’m 23,” Gjera said. “But I’ve been practicing three years. You aren’t the only one who got out of secondary school early.” Gjera sighed, and shook her head. “Look, I know you may not care, aemet, but they were trying to take out the Jotnar monarchy. That’s an attack on our people. I want to nail these people to the wall. And I don’t want you to screw this up.”

Victor was typically a gentleman, but he took a step forward and bent down until he was right in Gjera’s face.

“Rixie Carey is my faith-aunt,” he growled, “and Alex Carey is my faith-uncle. I grew up a floor away from them on Tayas Mons, played with Ryan growing up. Thyllia used to baby-sit me. You seem pretty sure of yourself, 23, so understand this: You care about your province. I care about my family. And if you’re frakking it up, I will frakking well jump in, because I am not going to let the motherfuckers who did this get away with it. Got it?”

Gjera nodded slightly, and gave him the slightest of grins. “Okay,” she said. “You’re gonna do just fine. I’ll kill him with kindness. You provide the threats. And we’ll get everything out of him there is to get.”

Victor blinked twice, but nodded. “That works for me.”