There was a knock at the door of 1124 Barreda Hall, and Aleks swore as he awoke.

When the knock repeated, he sighed, and said, loudly, “Siru, I love you, but if you’re waking me up while you’re drunk so we can make out…you could have given me another hour to sleep.”

The third time the knock repeated, Aleks finally stumbled out of bed, took a deep breath, straightened his shorts and t-shirt (they might be coming off soon, but he’d like to use the restroom first, and it’s impolite to wander the halls naked), and opened the door.

The large man standing in the doorway was not Siru.

It took him a moment to recognize him; he had met him once or twice, but never at this scale. It didn’t help that it was Aleks’ morning, and he was still trying to wake up.

“Uh…you’re…Decanus Tam, right?”

“Yes,” Axed Tam said. Turning to his left, he said, “Sir, are you….”

“We just had to get her some water. Opdwek is not fun to drink,” Ulysses said, as his and Siru’s holograms resolved. Siru was coughing, and looked like she had a hangover, which she did; that said, she was at least starting to sober up, thanks to the medication she’d just taken.

“Okay…I just woke up…anyone want to tell me what’s going on?” Aleks said. “I mean, we can have a party in my dorm room but a bit of warning would be nice.”

Siru shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs, and regretting that she was becoming clear-headed as she did so. She didn’t want to believe this, not while she was sober.

But the thing she’d grasped, from the moment Ulysses had told her who Aud’s father was, was that Aleks had not been silly or wrong. He’d been right. Horribly, horribly right. And just as he was contemplating leaving her to protect her…she had to stand by him to protect him.

“We can’t discuss this through holos,” Siru said. “It’s…not secure, totally, I guess. That’s what Axed said.”

“The risk is low,” Axed replied, “but not nil.”

“Discuss what?” Aleks said.

Siru took a deep breath. “Aleks, the thing you were worried about?”

“Yeah?”

Siru looked down. “You may…you may not have been wrong.”

Aleks’ eyes went wide as saucers, and he took a stumbling step back. “Oh, Goddess…did you…did someone….”

“Nothing bad has happened to us…yet,” Ulysses said. “But I need to talk to you about what you found. Can you get dressed and come to the meeting area?”

Aleks nodded. “Should…I have an overnight bag packed, should I….”

“Yes,” Ulysses said. “You probably should.”

* * *

“You should come to bed, my wife,” Tiernan said, gently. Rajenlif sighed and poked at her pad.

“It’s Kullervo’s fault. He got nervous about the conclave and now I’m nervous about the conclave. And it’s a conclave, there’s nothing to be nervous about. It will already be running before I’m even awake, after all.”

Tiernan got out of bed and walked over to the desk where his wife sat. Putting a hand lightly on her shoulder, he said, “If there was nothing to be nervous about, you would not be nervous, Raja.”

Rajenlif stopped, and set her pad on the desk. “It is nothing specific. That is the problem. I can’t think of anything specific that should make me worried, and yet I feel like…there is something I am missing. Does that make sense to you?”

Tiernan chuckled. “Certainly. It may just be the general worry about running your people’s affairs, but you and I have both been hit without warning before. After a time, you begin to wonder what the next surprise will be – and to expect it whether you see signs of it or not.”

“It’s not…it is not just that,” Rajenlif said. “It’s as if…it is caught on my tongue. I can feel that it’s there, but I can’t get to it. Perhaps I’m simply growing old.”

“We are both of us growing old, but that is not it. You may well be concerned about something that there is reason to be concerned about. Your instincts have never been wrong, not for all the time I’ve known you.”

Rajenlif smiled and turned toward him. “This may seem silly, but…should I need to get to Jutuneim quickly….”

Tiernan nodded, and grabbed his own pad. Thumbing through a few screens, he nodded, and said, “The Musu is in orbit, in preparation for transfer to Delta Fleet; I will send through a request to have it standing ready in the event that you need it. Because of the war, I cannot phrase it as an order, but….”

“No matter what the problem may be, the war must be the priority,” Rajenlif agreed. She stood up, and kissed her husband. “You know, Tiernan…you have been as good as your promise, that day in the woods by the palace.”

“More than anything, I love that you love Jotnarherath, Raja.”

“More than anything? Because if I recall…you have said that I looked quite lovely that day.”

Tiernan grinned like the young crewmate he had been those many years ago. “You look no less lovely tonight, my Empress. Will you come to bed?”

“I thought you would never ask,” Rajenlif replied.

* * *

The short walk to Ulysses’ apartment was conducted mostly in silence. Aleks was cradled in Siru’s left hand, and though that usually gave him a feeling of safety and security, it was slightly damp and clammy; he didn’t complain, of course, but he did wonder if he should change his pants when he got a moment.

He hadn’t asked much about what had changed Siru’s mind. He was too scared for that.

He didn’t want to be right. He had never been happier than when she’d convinced him he was wrong. Being wrong about this would be good. Being right…being right meant that he was in danger, that maybe the whole Empire was in danger, and worst of all, that Siru was in danger.

If there was anything that gave him solace, it was that Siru knew this. She understood it. And she was still carrying him.

She was risking herself for him.

She really loved him, as much as he loved her.

“All right,” Ulysses said, as they arrived at a nondescript share house on the edge of campus, “we can discuss things in here. Axed has two more officers coming to watch outside, we can figure out what’s going on and what comes next.”

“You’re sure that Naleu can be trusted?” Axed asked.

“I’m sure about Naleu. There’s only really one person here who’d be a problem, and he wouldn’t be a problem intentionally,” Ulysses said, keying in the code on the door and opening it. “Anyhow, let’s go in, and take a deep breath, and relax, and….”

“…stookie, wha ya thinkin, walkin throu tha wey? Ye ruint ma prattick!” came a voice echoing from the upstairs living room.

Now, of course, that is not what was actually being shouted at that moment. What was actually being shouted was, in Archavian, =((-zopop\ κwoδ εxzixα\ tαπαδjixα мεpδα эwo)) (((Jv wpεκι мαzα vδπεpjop)))= which should sound something like, “…moror, kwod ezmaeza, gapadaeza terda swo? Yu wreki tama uperyor!” But what Siru and Aleks heard was more like, “…nulul, khwut zuzazu, zug’putyu zhwo teltuh? Hyuh lukun tan uhp’ryul!”

Okay, reading that, as a non-Archavian speaker, you probaby are saying, “That looks like gibberish either way, so what?” Well, the difference is that Siru and Aleks heard “…idiot, what were you thinking, walking through that way? You ruined my experiment!” as something akin to “…stookie, wha ya thinkin, walkin throu tha wey? Ye ruint ma prattick!”

In other words, something that was almost Archavian, but not quite.

“Settle the frak down,” another voice replied, angrily, and with a slight hint of slurring. “Not my fault you decided to try to run a holo experiment at eighty-three o’clock on a kvotyag. You had to know that someone might walk through.”

“Ye said ye wiz oot till twa or three!” the first person replied.

“It’s true, Pelle,” a third voice chimed in, “you said you and Ido would be out until late, if not until morning. Ulee’s at Jorno’s get-together and Axed is with him, and I was just reading, so he asked if he could set up emitters here, and no reason he couldn’t. And you knew Naleu had a demonstration next week, and you can get to your bedroom without cutting through here, so when you saw that there was something up and running, you didn’t have to keep going.”

“Frak! Fine!” Pelle said. “Depther, how much will it take for you to leave me alone? I can give you ten thousand credits to frak off.”

The next sound they heard was a whack, followed by a thud.

“Jesus Christ, what the frak! I leave for a few hours and this is what’s going on?” Ulysses shouted, as he finally reached the room.

There was a long silence. Pelleas Tarsuss lay on the floor, rubbing his jaw. Standing over him was Luke Maris, who was staring down at him in fury. A slight, short man wearing goggles and a black mohawk, with red hair shaved into a design on the sides, looked over at the Prince.

“Whit’s a Jusuh Kruzt?” he said.

“A Terran God,” Luke said. “Was supposed to have been the son of a God, born on Earth, then died to save humans from…forget the term. Being bad people.”

“The English word is sin,” Ulysses said. “My dad was a Christian growing up, he’d yell that at us when he was mad. Guess it rubbed off. So what the frak is going on here?”

“Naleu was setting up his demo, Pelle got back early,” Luke said, “and stumbled straight through it, while it was on.”

“Frak, Pelle…and did I head you trying to throw money at him? Is that why Naleu hit you?”

“I hit him,” Luke said.

Ulysses blinked, and said, “Wait, you hit him? I thought you were a pacifist!”

“My dad’s a pacifist. I’m more of a pragmatist,” Luke said, shrugging.

“Still, you’re the calmest person in this house.”

“Look, this is like the fourth or fifth time Pelle’s thrown his wealth around in an argument with Naleu. And I know it bugs Naleu, even though he won’t say anything, and it’s ridiculous –Nyul shouldn’t have to feel like he doesn’t belong here because he didn’t decide to be born to rich parents.”

Pelleas took a deep breath, and let it out. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just…I had a lousy night, and….”

He got up, and turned to Naleu. “I will give you money – not to make you ‘leave me alone,’ but for anything that got damaged. That’s my fault. And…look, if you’re ever worried about coming out with any of us because you can’t afford it or something…don’t, okay? Luke’s right, I didn’t do anything to have money, but my mom…she always has spent money on friends, because they’re her friends.”

“Aw richt,” Naleu said, reaching out a hand, “and dinna wirry aboot tha prattick. Anely a wee thing hurtit. Now hou’s ye’d an ill nicht?”

“It’s nothing. Stupid,” Pelle said, sitting down on the couch. “Was just…getting on with a guy, Ichon Krest….”

“That’s the guy you’ve been lusting after in our Novelists of Aement lecture, right?” Luke said, sitting down on a chair.

“That’s the one,” Pelleas said, ruefully. “Anyhow, he was at the bar, Ido was already like 90 percent of the way to a hookup with a couple, so I decided to go say hi, and he….”

Pelleas sighed. “He called me a half-breed freak. So that…isn’t happening.”

The room was quiet a long moment, before Naleu said, “Tae heckleburnie wi’im. Ye’re bettermaist’an he desers.”

“Thanks, Nyul,” Pelleas said.

“He sounds awful,” Siru said. “You’re better off without him.”

“Oh, Gods, didn’t know we had a guest,” Pelleas said. “Wait, I remember you, Siru Aljansen, right? I met you that one time. Ulee, you finally hooking up?”

“I…actually have a boyfriend,” Siru said, holding Aleks out so others could see.

“Hi,” Aleks said. “It’s…nice to meet you, Mr. Tarsuss.”

“Avalonian accent! Nice! You in school here my man?” Pelleas said, brightening. “Whereabouts you from? Wait…don’t tell me…say ‘river.’”

“Uh…’river,’” Aleks said.

“Hmm…Tranasru?”

“Close, man. Menvis,” Aleks said.

“Gorram, that’s a pretty part of Avalon. I’ve used holos to go down there, right by the delta, it’s spectacular. What’s your name?”

“Aleks Odusi,” Aleks said, swallowing hard. He was starting to feel rather outclassed. The Prince was one thing, but this was the son of Lady Tarsuss and Epistratichos Tarsuss, for Goddess’ sake!

“Sorry to greet you like this, Aleks, Siru, we don’t usually spend nights punching each other,” Luke said, offering a finger to Aleks, then a wrist to Siru. “Luke Maris, nice to meet you.”

“Maris…are you….”

“Yes, of Tribe Maris Farms, my dad’s Thurfrit Maris,” Luke said, with a shrug.

Alex’s stomach did a full somersault. “Your dad…your dad is Thurfrit Maris? You…uh…I mean…the speech he gave in Walak, the night Dr. Neutha was assassinated….”

Luke smiled. “One of the scariest times of my life. My mom and dad actually stayed on after secession, you know? And it wasn’t like Gae hadn’t come back to Faeliapolis gorram near broke in two. But…I mean, he had to do it, mom too.”

“No, they didn’t,” Ulysses said. “That’s what makes them heroes. Now, I’d really love for us to order some dinner in and pour some drinks, but….”

He paused, looking over the people in the room. He’d known Luke since childhood, known Pelleas for years. He had just met Naleu this year, but he meant it when he said that he trusted him. Still….

“Look, we’re gonna be discussing some things that…if they got out, they would be embarrassing to the Royal Family. I need to know….”

“Aye, A’ll keep saicret hidit,” Naleu said.

“My mom knew about your dad for about twenty years and never said anything,” Luke said. “I think I can keep a secret.”

“I’m a Tarsuss,” Pelleas said, with a grin. He didn’t explain further; he didn’t have to.

“Good. Okay. Well, to start…I don’t know how many of you know who Audara Aljansen is.”

“Siru’s new mother-in-law,” Pelleas said. “My mom sends out bulletins on goings-on in the 79. And quizzes us.”

“Correct,” Ulysses said, settling into a chair, as Siru sat down on the couch, placing Aleks on her lap. “She is also my cousin, my grandmother’s niece, my uncle Kullervo’s daughter.”

“Oh frak,” Pelleas said. “Does she know?”

“Oh yeah, she knows,” Ulysses said. “That’s not the bad part. Aleks? I know this next part…Siru said you overheard her and Lady Aljansen.”

“Yeah, um…yeah,” Aleks said, steadying himself. He started to speak, then stopped. “First, uh…before…Siru, this is…I know this could get your grandmother in serious trouble, if I’m right. If you’d rather I…if I should….”

Siru looked down at the man on her lap, looking up at her.

This was the moment. The singular moment, one she’d expected would come months, maybe years from now. He was offering a choice to her, between him and her family. She knew if she asked him to say nothing more, that he wouldn’t – and that they would have to break up, because he could not trust her after that.

And she knew that he knew that, and was offering it anyhow, not as a test, but because he wouldn’t force her to turn on her own family.

She nodded. “I’m a patriot, and I support the Dronung,” she said.

Aleks nodded. “Okay. Well. I traveled with Siru to Jotnarherath when she went back for Lady Umbas’ wake. And one night…I overheard Aud and Lady Aljansen talking. And…they were talking about finding a way for Aud to be coronated.”

“Is she even in line? If she isn’t ‘Princess Aud,’ she must be illegitimate, right?” Luke asked.

“She isn’t Tellervo’s daughter, but there’s no such thing as legitimacy in Jotnarherath. If she’s Kullervo’s daughter, she’s in line.”

“Aye and on, she’d hiv tae murther yer hale breed tae makkit,” Naleu said.

“Yes and no. The rules of succession for the Jotunn are…really complex and annoying. I guess it gets easier once Vallero is Empress and Dronung, but for now…I mean, I can’t think of how she could do it off hand, but if you gave me a few weeks I probably could find some loopholes, and Aud used to be record-keeper for the House of Throden, she knows those loopholes already. If they’ve got a plan, odds are it could work.”

“Frak, so your cousin is trying to steal the throne?” Pelleas asked, leaning forward.

“I really wish that was all I’d found,” Aleks said. “But that’s not the worst of it.”

* * *

A few hours later, His Imperial Highness Pierce Lafontaine Zakrov Throden ColVanos, Boyar of Aement, was busy scribbling on paper with some crayons.

He was not doing so for fun, although he was enjoying himself; even if the tools were crude, he enjoyed creating with them. He was preparing for an art lesson for young humans, and trying to see if the project he had in mind would be something that could be rolled out and done remotely.

It would depend on the ability to get them paper and crayons, but the ones he’d had printed seemed to be doing well enough. He could have them draw on a pad, but there was something about the tactile feel of paper and a writing implement that was liberating, and of course, that was what these lessons had been about.

He had hundreds of art lessons recorded, and they’d been used literally millions of times; of course, early on, he’d just been Pierce, who wanted to teach you about art, and that was still how he introduced himself. It had been part of the curriculum that the Aenur Foundation had developed, back in the early days, when the best humans could do for school was something broadcast to and for them.

It was much more sophisticated now, of course – the University of Atlantis had been involved for many years, as had the Avalonian Education Ministry, and now that humans were actually people, they had actual schools available to them. Still, there were humans on far-flung colonies who were still finding their way to equality, and until he was told to stop producing these, he’d keep going; he didn’t know how much his art classes had helped, if at all (he would have been surprised to find out that the answer was “quite a bit,” and that he’d helped to instill a love of art in many of the humans who’d gone through his lessons), but he had started doing them when he had no idea how else he could help, and he felt like there were much worse legacies that a person could leave behind.

His pad chimed, and he stopped what he was doing; if someone was calling him at this hour it was absolutely certain to be one of his children, who would know that their mothers were both asleep at this point of the night. He was only mildly surprised to see that it was Ulysses and not Hirera. He pushed a button, and answered the call.

“Hey Ulee, what’s going on?” he asked. As his son blinked into view on the screen, he added, “And what’s wrong?”

“We need to secure the call,” Ulysses said. That made both of Pierce’s eyebrows jump up; he pressed a button, and there was a brief pause, before the screen resumed, this time outlined in a green rectangle.

“Secure on my end,” Pierce said. “Ulee, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Ulysses said. “But…listen, Siru Aljansen is here, her boyfriend…he overheard Audara Aljansen and Lady Aljansen plotting.”

“’Plotting?’ What do you mean?” Pierce asked. The ins and outs of the 79 Families were not his bailiwick; he had always left that to Rhionne and Daz, especially as he himself was usually only introduced to the closest of the close. He’d been trying to catch up lately, but honestly, he had tried to leave it to his wives, they were better at it.

“Dad, you know…Aud is Kullervo’s daughter, right?”

“Yeah, your Uncle Kullervo seems to have gotten around quite a bit in his youth. Wait, who’s there? Do your roommates know? Does…does Siru know? I’m pretty sure it’s secret….”

“Dad, it’s way beyond that. Way beyond that. Aleks thinks that they’re trying to put Aud on the Carba Throne.”

“Alex…Carey?”

“Odusi, Siru’s boyfriend.”

“How?”

“You’ve heard grandma complain about the rules for succession in Jotnarherath, they’re a mess. But it’s worse. A lot worse. Frankly…I’m not even sure it’s safe to share over a secure call.”

“How bad are we talking?”

“I mean, not Tau Ceti bad, but…nothing’s that bad. Pretty bad though. I…Aleks has identified something…I’m not an Imperator. But if he’s right….Anyhow, we need to get to Tuaut, we need to meet with grandma right away. And grandpa. And probably an Imperator, and not some flunky, someone they trust.”

Pierce looked at his son, and rubbed a hand over his face. “Your moms are not going to want to get up this early, you know. Give me a few minutes. How many are coming?”

“I’m bringing all of us who heard this, so Naleu, Pelle, Luke, me, Siru, Axed, and Aleks.”

“So shuttle for eight?”

“Six will work, Aleks is human, he’ll fit.”

“All right,” Pierce said. “I’ll get on it.”

He sighed, and walked over to the small holochamber on his desk. He knew from experience he wouldn’t manage to wake his wives up at his normal size.

* * *

A few hours later, a small shuttle lifted from Bozedami. The only sound in the cabin was the pilot, calling in her flight plan.

“Shuttle Seven-Kape-Ona-Lama-Vazha-Null-Null-Niner, request clearance for lift, bound Tuaut on standard path.”

“Automated Bozedami Control, Shuttle 7KOYШ009 is cleared to standard path, beacons engaged, autocontrol engaged through marker eight.”

“Gah, autocontrol. Was hoping this time of night they might actually let me hold the stick,” the pilot groused, as the shuttle lifted.

“Mom, when’s the last time they’ve let you livestick a flight into Tuaut?” Ulysses asked.

“2123, but you never know,” Daz said. “Every so often a live controller catches the tail number and gets briefly impressed before they figure out I’m not carrying your grandfather or grandmother on board. Of course, if I am, they actually will let me livestick the flight, because your grandfather demands it; of course, he also demands to take the copilot’s seat, and ends up flying half the time anyhow….”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Lady Zakrov, but why bother flying down? An autoshuttle would have been fine.”

“You’re very polite, Luke, but first, I did get to livestick into Bozedami, and I know this area, it’s only a block away from where your mom and I lived when we went here. Second, you ask any pilot what they think of autoshuttles. Third, and most important, I don’t trust that autoshuttles aren’t bugged. I’ve been to too many parties with Rixie Carey and ended up talking about security.”

“Rixie will make you paranoid,” Pelleas said. “Worst of all, she’s usually right.”

“When it comes to security? Yeah, she is,” Daz said. “Your mom didn’t hire her for charity. This shuttle is swept weekly, and has active anti-snooping measures; from what your dad told me, I thought it would be prudent. So Siru…I understand we’re relatives by marriage.”

Siru had been very quiet for the past few hours and it took her a moment to find her voice. “Uh…yeah. I guess…I guess we are, Senator Zakrov. Your Highness.”

“Call me Daz, please. How is Aud these days, other than maybe plotting to take the throne from Rajenlif?”

“I don’t…I don’t think that’s the plan,” Ulysses said. “Based on what Aleks said, they were planning on it taking a while. Setting her up to succeed her.”

“I think that’s what they said,” Aleks said. “Honestly, the more I replay it, the more I worry…I mean, Your Imperial Highness, you’re literally picking us up yourself, so we can meet with the Empress, and I’m just worried I’ve totally overreacted now.”

“Uluks, blin! Ye’v makkit a dae guid plea, ye hae. Gin wrang or richt, it’s eneuch ‘at the queen should hear’t.”

“Thanks, Naleu,” Aleks said. “And once again, I’m glad this gool is programmed with Depths Archavian.”

“And let me add on,” Daz said, “that even if there’s a chance that Aud is trying to find a way to keep Vallero from being Dronung, that is something that the Empress would want to know, without delay. Worst thing that will happen is that she gets to see her grandson, gets a little less sleep than she would have liked, and finds out that no matter what else is going on, there’s at least one member of the House of Aljansen that is loyal to her.”

“I…I am loyal to her,” Siru said. Daz smiled, gently this time.

“And you’re worried you’re being disloyal to Aud, and your grandma, and your dad,” Daz said. “And you kind of are, tell the truth. But first, I know the Empress well; if this is a misunderstanding, nobody outside of the Royal Family will ever know you said anything to anyone. And if it isn’t a misunderstanding….”

Daz sighed, and looked down at the floor of the shuttlecraft. “If it isn’t a misunderstanding…you can’t control your family. You can only decide whether or not you want to go down with them. And if you’ve got a conscience, you know when you can’t do that anymore. And you can be sad they’re making those mistakes, sad they’re doing the wrong thing…but that doesn’t mean you have to help them do it. You aren’t betraying them. They betrayed you when they made the decision to go the wrong way.

“So Mr. Odusi, you’re the one who overheard this plotting?”

“It’s not…it’s not just that they were plotting about Audara becoming Dronung. They were…they were very calm about it. I remember Aud saying that she ‘wished there was another way’ than Ljied Umbas dying, and that they couldn’t move too quickly, or they’d look like they were climbing over bodies. And Lady Aljansen…she was talking about it being an imposition, Aud having Riggu come live with her and Siru’s dad. Like she had done something to…to…I know, it sounds ridiculous, but then they talked about Rajinvalt, which is Lord Sjedi, and Lord Sjedi – the last Lord Sjedi – he died of an aneurysm, same as Lady Umbas. And…there are other people, people who were friendly to human rights…it’s ridiculous. It sounds like a conspiracy theory. But….”

Aleks stopped, because it did sound ridiculous. Even with one small part of it confirmed, the rest of it…it was such a leap. And here he was, yammering on about it to a Senator, a princess…and when it was proven false, what would Siru think about it?

But Daz Zakrov shook her head. “The big conspiracy theories, like the Drazari actually controlling the Empire, or the Insectoids being a genetic experiment gone wrong – those are garbage. But something like a few murders to steal a title? That happens every few generations somewhere in the 79. Heck, Pelle, your grandmother has never been proven to have killed your uncle’s family, but….”

“Oh, she did,” Pelleas said. “Mom has proof. Can’t use it, because…well, it was acquired in a way the imperators couldn’t use. And Syon is in prison anyhow. No point pushing further. But yeah, she absolutely murdered people to become Lady Fand, murdered my grandpa and was willing to murder my mom and something like fifty thousand other people to try to become Lady Tarsuss, and she killed my Aunt Thyllia’s dad, or had the Insectoids kill him, just because. Yeah, Aleks, you may be wrong, but this isn’t crazy. I mean, Syon would have blown up Archavia to become Dronung; this is nothing.”

“Don’t you feel…I mean, she’s your grandmother,” Siru said.

“No, she isn’t,” Pelleas said. “I’ve got some of her genes, but she tried to kill my mom. Tried to kill my dad, too. I’m not her grandson. Her evil is her own.”

“Gorram right, Pelle,” Daz said. “She doesn’t deserve to be your grandmother. Just like my sister doesn’t deserve to be Ulysses’ aunt. They made their choices; we make ours.”

* * *

The Chamber of the Ten was on the grounds of the Palace of the Three Shaars, but it was not in the palace proper; it was in a nearby office building, a squat, five-story edifice that had been built twenty-five Imperial years after Jotnar-Imperial reunification. Rajenlif had always said it was the most depressing room on the palace grounds, and puttering around it, Kullervo could not disagree.

The room was dark and claustrophobic; the chairs arranged around the table were relatively close to each other and there was no real room to wander about. The lone entrance to the room connected to an elevator that could take you to dedicated restrooms one floor up, or to a dedicated service area one floor down, or to the entry level; you could not enter or leave without going through a single point of entry and exit. This was by design, as once a conclave had begun, participants were under seal, with nobody allowed to communicate unilaterally with the outside world. That did not mean that there was no communication allowed, but it could only be placed by the Council of Ten to the outside, and all members were to be in on the call. This was to prevent members from relaying issues to the outside, either for strategic purposes or to request assistance. Once the conclave began, each house had its one representative. That person stood alone and equal.

Kullervo idly checked his chair, which would be at the head of the table. He had his choice of the two seats that were there, and decided on the one on the left, as it looked directly at the portrait of Jofur Antero III, the progenitor of the House of Throden. The other nine progenitors surrounded the room, from Ilmarijen Aljansusenr to Erna Umbas, all of them looking on at their descendants. And that was not just the members who bore their family names; everyone in the room was descended from the ten people whose portraits hung on the wall. It was supposed to remind them that they were one family, and that this room was a place to conduct family business.

It didn’t usually work.

“You are going to do fine,” Tellervo, Lady Aahchi, said to her husband. “It’s not as if you haven’t been to one of these before.”

“Just haven’t run one,” Kullervo said, swinging his chair back into place. “Promise you’ll help me if I stumble?”

“Always,” Tellervo said, putting her arm around her husband’s waist. “I promised you I would when we married, and I always will.”

“And I promised you I wouldn’t stumble,” Kullervo said. “And I did.”

“You did, but not badly, and you righted yourself before I had to right you,” Tellervo said. “Kullo, you are going to be fine. I promise.”

“All right. Four hours,” Kullervo said, checking his pad. “And then we’re under seal.”