Tiernan ColVanos, Fourth of that Name, leaned back in his chair.

It was to be a busy day, as most days were. In a few hours, he would be going to the Senate, to see its new members sworn in. Three, to be precise, each of them taking their seats by his appointment. It was a tremendous day for the Empire; two of the three would be great assets to the Senate, and the third…well, she had fallen on her sword with surprising grace. Perhaps she had realized in defeat where her loyalties should lie, and if not, he knew there were other senators who would keep close watch on her.

That was not the only important thing happening today, nor even the only important thing happening in the Senate. He had requested the opportunity to address the body during its floor session. (For historical reasons, it was always the Senate, not the House, that the Monarch addressed. This had been the case for over a thousand years, and he would not be the one to change it.)

He had not seen the need to give this speech before. But then, he had not needed to spell it out before. It would have been Antero, and nobody would have questioned it. Besides, he had never felt as old as he was, he had always felt like there would be another year before he could or should make this announcement.

But it would no longer be Antero. It would no longer be obvious. Indeed, there were already grumblings about who many expected it would be, and what that would mean for the Empire.

He had half a mind to give a different speech, to spite those who grumbled. But Tiernan was a good Emperor, and so it remained mere temptation. He would do what was right; he always tried to do what was right. He hoped against hope that he was doing it now.

“You’re brooding, my husband.”

Tiernan smiled. “I suppose I am. This is no small thing, you know.”

“Would it help you if I told you that you were making the right decision?” Rajenlief asked.

“I know I am making the right decision. I just wonder….”

A buzz on his pad interrupted him. “Your Imperial Majesty, your family is here.”

“Ah, thank you, Ms. Ro,” Tiernan said. “Send them in.”

* * *

The young woman walked quietly, even cautiously, into the condominium. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and walked softly through the living room to the small office in back.

It was funny. This was her home, but it had been years since she’d lived in it full-time. Three, to be exact, since she was in secondary school. Her mom had taken a job, and her dad….

…it hurt to think about that. So she kept walking toward the office. The door was slightly ajar, a soft, twangy song from Earth playing quietly. She heard her mother humming along with it, though not quite. Stray notes were dropped here and there, sometimes whole phrases. Like her mother’s thoughts would pause before restarting.

The young woman took a deep breath. She was nervous as hell about this. For many reasons.

“Hey, mom,” she said, softly.

The woman in the office stood up from her desk, and looked out the door. “You could have told me you were coming,” she said in a voice that was calm, yet melancholy. She reached over the shelf to turn off the music. “You must have had a couple days in transit, at least. I thought you couldn’t make it back?”

“I didn’t…it was just in the last couple….”

But if her mother was angry, she didn’t show it. Instead, she grabbed her and held her in a tight hug. “It’s okay, Poly. Not your fault you’re a wanderer. It’s genetic.”

Poly Bass blinked back a tear, and kissed her mother’s head. “Yeah, I s’pose it is.”

“I’m glad you’re here. It will mean a lot to your grandfather,” Eyrn said.

“I know, but that wasn’t the only reason I came back. I mean, it was, but more…I just….”

Poly took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to call you and tell you why I came back, I wanted…wanted to talk to you.”

“Uh-oh. Something you didn’t want to discuss over the phone?” Eyrn said. “Poly, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, mom. Why would anything be wrong?”

Eyrn quirked an eyebrow, and Poly sighed. “Yeah, I know. Still…nothing’s wrong. Really. I just…I’ve been thinking a lot. You know. About everything.”

“Well, that makes sense. That’s genetic too,” Eyrn said. “Kapavi?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Poly said. “Anyhow…I’ve decided not to go back to Nidavelir next term.”

Eyrn had gained quite a bit of practice in diplomacy, so she did not immediately react to that the way she wanted to. She wasn’t happy with it, to say the least – Poly had ended up at Nidavelir University on Jutuneim almost at random. Her daughter didn’t have any real idea what her plan was, but at least she was in school.

Still, given everything…overreacting wouldn’t help. And Poly was hurting. So Eyrn said only, “Oh?”

Poly smiled. “Mom, you can tell me it’s a terrible decision.”

“Well, it is,” Eyrn said, handing her daughter a glass. “But you’re an adult, Poly. You get to make terrible decisions.”

Poly took the glass, and took a long sip. “It’s not…it’s not what you think, though. I’m not dropping college.”

“Oh, you’re transferring?” Eyrn said. “Well, that’s fine. Where to?”

Poly swallowed hard. “The Imperial Space Academy,” she said.

* * *

Vallero ColVanos had a very good idea why she had been summoned to her father’s office, and it was all-but-confirmed when she saw her sister was already there, talking with Zhalem Ro. Daz and Pierce were in a corner of the anteroom, talking with Gunvjer.

One person was missing, but then, he always would be.

“Hey, Rhi,” Vallero said. “So we probably aren’t here to discuss where to get together next solstice.”

Rhionne shook her head. “No, Lero.”

“Would be more fun. Hi Gunvjer, Daz, Pierce. Hello, Ms. Ro.”

“Hello, your Imperial Highness,” Zhalem said. “Your parents asked me to send you up as soon as you were all here.”

A minute later, they were in their father’s private office, arrayed across the desk. On one side sat Tiernan, and at his left, Rajenlief. On the other side sat Vallero on her father’s right, Rhionne and Daz on his left, with Pierce sitting in front of them on a chair on the Emperor’s desk. In the center sat the Marquessa of Tannhauser. It had been months, but the loss was still written upon her face.

Gunvjer and Antero hadn’t had the same relationship that Tiernan and Rajenlif had, or for that matter, Rhionne and Daz. She and Antero had not been a great coupling whose hearts beat for each other from the very first. But while they hadn’t been “in love,” they’d been friends and partners, and Gunvjer’s sadness at his loss was not sadness about the loss of a chance to be Empress; Vallero had learned to spot a phony, and she could see it clearly. Gunvjer was, like all of them, simply heartbroken that Antero was gone.

Tiernan looked down, for just a moment, and looked up. “What I am going to tell you is a secret, the business of the Throden and ColVanos family. I ask that you do not divulge this information, not to anyone who is not in this room at present.”

“Of course, father,” Rhionne said.

“Certainly not,” Vallero added.

“Vallero, Rhionne…you two and your brother all have asked me, over the years, what the secret family method is for choosing the next Emperor or Empress. And I have always joked that it involved trials and tribulations beyond your imagining. And this is true, in a manner of speaking. The trials and tribulations have been ongoing, from the moment of your births until the moment I die or resign; they are in the way you conduct yourselves, every day, even when I am not watching – especially when I am not watching.”

Tiernan sighed. “Very simply, since the creation of the House of ColVanos, it has been the responsibility of the Emperor or Empress to choose their heir from among the ten most senior members of the family by standard primogeniture rules, based on who they believe will make the best sovereign.”

Rhionne chuckled. “Honestly…that is the ColVanos way.”

Vallero smiled as well, in spite of herself. “A great façade of rules that boils down to ‘Be good.’”

“Precisely,” Tiernan said. “Now, the House of Throden, when it existed independently, had different rules.”

“However,” Rajenlif added, “the person who succeeds me takes the head of the joined House of Throden and ColVanos; I agreed early on that my heir would be the same as your father’s. Indeed, we had the chance to change these rules when we prepared to combine our houses. I find these rules to be far preferable.”

“We have been judging all of you, including your brother, for your entire lives. It is my responsibility to leave this throne in good hands. I take no action more seriously.”

“Before we go further,” Rhionne said, “I want to say – and I know Vallero agrees…we always thought Antero would be Emperor.”

“And that he’d be as good as you, if not better,” Vallero said. “And father…you have been a great Emperor.”

Tiernan wiped his eyes. “I want you both to understand this,” Tiernan said. “There are many Emperors and Empresses of our line who have struggled to find one competent successor. Your mother and I have been blessed. Any of the three of you would make a fine sovereign. And I believe any of my children would be among the finest sovereigns in our Empire’s history. You all have proven yourself to be fine and honorable people. And I am very proud to be your father. Antero likely would have been my successor. But that in no way means that either of you were ever unworthy, or second-best.

“Of course, because like you, your brother was a worthy man, who knew what duty and loyalty to the Empire meant, he gave his life defending others. And by so doing, he earned more glory and honor than any simple crown could ever confer.”

“So say we all,” Vallero said.

Tiernan looked down for a moment. “Rhionne, my darling daughter…you are a noble and wonderful woman, who has stood for what’s right, far more than anyone outside our family may understand. You convinced me of truth, on the most important issue that the Empire has faced in my reign – and I include the recent attack in that calculus.”

“Father,” Rhionne said, holding up a hand, “I made my decision, twenty-five years ago. It was the right one. I have no regrets at all. You do not need to apologize for it.”

Tiernan smiled. “Your understanding of that tempts me to release you from that promise. But we know the Empire is not ready.”

“Father…Rhionne…what do you mean, ‘You made your decision?'” Vallero asked.

“In order to marry Pierce, I gave up any claim to the crown. Unofficially, of course,” Rhionne said. “But even with humans a part of the Empire…I doubt that the Empire is quite ready for a hybrid Empress or Emperor, and with me taking the throne…that would be likely. Someday, maybe soon, this Empire will be. But not yet.”

Vallero looked back to her father, eyes wide. He smiled gently at her.

“Vallero, you have no spouse or issue,” Tiernan said. “That would ordinarily present a dangerous choice, with shirttail relatives clamoring for the crown at the end of your reign. But it occurs to me that you have seen, as I have seen, that Antero’s children, though barely adults, show the same respect for their position that you and your siblings have.”

“Indeed they have,” Vallero said.

“And so, when you succeed me – and you will succeed me,” Tiernan said, “I ask that you give first consideration to Kaleva and Vellamo.”

“Your majesty,” Gunvjer said, breaking her silence. “You do not have to…Vallero could still have children. I appreciate this, but….”

“We are not doing it for you, Gunvjer, or for our son,” Rajenlif said. “Though we love and respect you, and you are worthy of such an honor. No, we recommend this path because we believe it to be the best one for our family and for the Empire.”

Vallero looked down for a long moment. She had always assumed that Antero would succeed her father, and if not him, she was certain Rhionne would.

But a thought formed at the back of her mind, one that forced its way forward, one borne of her heritage and her education, and of watching her parents’ conduct over many years.

“Father,” she said, “I will promise to consider Kaleva and Vellamo first. But with due respect to the Marquessa and to you, I cannot promise that they will succeed me. If I am Empress…my charge is to do what is best for the Empire.”

“Indeed,” Tiernan said, with a smile. “And if you choose Rhionne or Ulysses or your Aunt Arneallae to succeed you…that is your choice. I have no say from beyond the grave.”

Vallero nodded. “That said…Kaleva’s decision to pursue a career as a defense attorney…that is not an easy or popular choice, and a much more difficult job than a prince would have to take. And for that reason, it is one that I respect. And Crewmate ColVanos is her father’s daughter…and her father was a great man. I do not object to them. I just….”

“You are to be Empress and Dronung, Vallero,” Rajenlif said. “These are no mean positions. I am pleased to see that you already understand the responsibility this entails. Not to this family, but to the Empire. Always, first, the Empire.”

“Well said, and I will not tell my children that they are owed anything, as they are not,” Gunvjer said. “Their father and I told them that from childhood. As for you, Vallero….You are truly a Throden, Your Imperial Highness,” Gunvjer said.

“There is no higher compliment,” Vallero replied. “I just hope I can be worthy of it.”

“You can, Vallero,” Rhionne said. “You are.”

“Indeed you are. Now,” Tiernan said, “I want you to know that I will be announcing that Vallero is my heir in the Senate today, so that we can end the discussion swirling about us. I ask all of you to attend, please. And tonight, we will have a family dinner in the Retiring Room, with as many of the children as you can scare up. This is a night for celebration, even if we will never again have as many people to dinner as we would choose. Thank you for coming, all of you…and if I can ask a favor, Pierce, would you be willing to remain behind, just for a few moments?”

Pierce blinked; he had been quiet throughout the proceedings, as they didn’t really concern him. Rhionne had known from her youth that she wouldn’t be Empress, and so this was not a surprise. He was here because he’d been asked here, and that was reason enough. What could the Emperor want of him?

But of course, you don’t turn down the Emperor, especially if he’s also your father-in-law. “Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Don’t worry,” Tiernan said, “it will be but a few moments. Talk to Ms. Ro for a bit. Did you know she’s dating Krator Tam?”

“Yes, Emperor Tiernan,” Daz said, “Reevah will not shut up about it. So we will be happy to talk to Zhalem; she’s much more level-headed.”

“Krator Tam seems very level-headed,” Rajenlief said.

“About everything but love, mother,” Rhionne said. “But then, that’s true of us all, I suppose. We’ll be downstairs, Pierce.”

* * *

The words hung there for a moment or two; Poly didn’t look up.

“Why?” Eyrn asked.

“Because…look, I know it’s hard. Dad…Uncle Niall…and there’s a war on…and I know it was hard, you losing Dad, and I don’t know, I don’t want to….”

“No, no,” Eyrn said. She paused for just a moment, keeping herself level. She was here, she reminded herself, for both her and Aerti. She had to represent them both. “Why the Academy? Why now?”

Poly was at a momentary loss; she’d practiced her speech in her mind, but she hadn’t practiced this question.

Eyrn smiled. “Poly, I hope you have an answer. More than that…I know you. There is a war on. This is not something you can try on a whim, see if you like it. This is committing yourself to serve the Empire for years. To serve it by fighting if you must. To serve it by dying, if you must. What your father did….”

Eyrn had too much practice in dealing with loss. It hurt every time her husband flashed through her mind, and that happened several times a minute. But it still hurt, just a little, when her parents flashed through her mind; she knew it would always hurt, just a little. She wanted it to. Aerti was worth every bit of pain and joy she felt.

Because Eyrn knew how to deal with loss, the momentary bobble at the mention of Aerti was just that. Her voice picked back up, resolute. “What your father did was exceptional, but he did it because he saw it as his duty. His responsibility. Not because he was a Navarchos. Because he served the Emperor. And that would be your responsibility, too, if you did this.”

“I know,” Poly said. “I do. It’s not…I’ve never known what I wanted to do,” she said. “Not exactly. But….”

She swallowed. “When I got the news about dad, I just…it’s hard to keep going on sometimes, you know? I didn’t feel much like going on for a while. But eventually, I got to thinking about it. I’ve wandered a lot, and I’ve considered doing…basically everything, you know. But…I haven’t done anything compared to you or dad. I don’t think I can, really, no matter what I do. That’s been…I mean, dad was a Navarchos, you were a scholar and an ambassador, and people asked for your thumbprint as a keepsake. I always was looking for, I dunno, something that would be unique or special.”

“Poly,” Eyrn said, gently, “Your father and I, we just want you to be happy. Work hard? Yes. Be the best person you can be? Absolutely. But if you think that means we expect you to take Loona’s job someday, or mine, or your dad’s…that’s not it at all. And you’re my daughter, and your father’s daughter. That makes you more special than you can imagine.”

“I know you don’t think that, mom. I know. But I did. It’s why I kept searching, you know, because I thought that I’d find something. But it was something that Aunt Lemm said at dad’s memorial that got me thinking.”

“Oh?” Eyrn said.

“Yeah – she said people who served under dad loved him because they all knew he respected their job. He cared about the junior crewmate who worked on plumbing, because without that person the ship’s toilets would back up. The junior crewmate on a base who smoothed out dents and scoring on the ship, they kept the ship in good shape, they kept it looking good, kept morale up. Didn’t matter that they weren’t super-high-up, dad knew every one of them had to do their job to keep the Gyfjon and the Xifos in the air. And so he made sure to treat each one of those jobs like it was as important as executive officer or captain. Because to him, it was. And because he did, the people with the lowliest jobs took them as seriously as an executive officer or commander would, because they knew dad demanded that – and that if they did, they knew dad would respect them.”

Eyrn nodded. “One of the things I loved about him,” she said. “One of the things your grandmother Fitzgerald beat into me. You judge another person by the way they treat the person below them, not the person above.”

“Yeah, and you’ve told me that, and he did too, but I didn’t really get it until then. Because…Aunt Lemm wasn’t exaggerating.”

“No, she wasn’t. But Poly…you don’t have to go into the military. Your dad felt the same way about everyone, you know. Even civilians. There are a lot of different ways to serve.”

“Yeah, there are, I know that,” Poly said. “But right now, the people dad commanded are out on the border, fighting the bugs. And some of them are getting hurt, and dying. And every one of them is important. They’re protecting this Empire, and Earth, and…and that’s what I want to do. I want to do something important, mom, and there’s nothing more important than that. Dad died, Uncle Niall died, to save two million people. I’m not saying I want to die, I know dad and Niall didn’t. But I’m willing to, if I have to, just like they were. Someone has to stand between the Empire and Earth and the darkness. I can do that. I want to do that, mom. I want to protect you, and Cleo and Marcy and Zeb, and all my cousins and aunts and uncles, and Grandma and Grandpa Bass. I may not be an ambassador, or a scientist, or a Navarchos, even. But I can protect you all. And that’s pretty important.”

Eyrn had been listening carefully. She nodded, finally, and said, “Poly, I love you. I don’t ever want to lose you, you know. I don’t want you to go fight, I don’t want you to protect me.”

“I know,” Poly said. “I know, it’s dangerous, but….”

“But,” Eyrn continued, “I would always rather you stay out of harm’s way then go into it, because I’m your mom. I’m not going to succeed, though. You have heroes on both sides of your family, genetically and spiritually. People who risked everything for other people, people who lost everything for other people. And it hurts, for those of us left behind. But your Grandpa Fitzgerald fought at Gettysburg. Darren and Izzy fought in Iraq. Your dad…your dad was your dad. And my birth parents died to save me. You are my daughter, and so you’re a wanderer. And you’re your father’s daughter – so you are a fighter. And if you must take a risk – I know your father would be proud that you wanted to risk yourself on behalf of others. I think you’re making the right choice. I just want you to be sure you are, too.”

Poly nodded. “I’m sure, mom.”

“Now the bigger question,” Eyrn said, “is if you can get into the Academy. I can make a call….”

“You don’t have to. I already applied, and I’ve been accepted as a transfer. I’ll have to go through the first year as a first-year cadet, but if I do well enough, they’ll move me to a third-year after that.”

Eyrn smiled. “You weren’t waiting to get my approval, then.”

“No. I wanted it, but…this is my decision.”

“You’ve got it, Poly,” Eyrn said. “And I’m glad you made this decision. I’m proud of you, you know. I always was, but….”

“…but you wanted me to pick a course and fly it,” Poly said. “I know. I will.”

“I know you will,” Eyrn said. “You’re my daughter. Now,” she said, “we both need to get ready. Your sisters and brother are meeting us there.”

“I suppose. How fancy do I have to be for the senate gallery?”

“Well, for that, just business casual, but we’re not just dressing for the senate, but for after.”

“After?”

“I’m making reservations for t’Baxyr. I was gonna just go home, but my prodigal daughter’s returned, so tonight, we’ll feast.”

“What’s a prodigal daughter?”

Eyrn smiled. “Long story, Poly. I’ll tell you on the way.”