Chapter 8 #2
"Sashen of Creche Thiel was here with a number of crecheless abaya.
He said, very plainly, that he thinks fines for disorderly conduct and agitation are, and I am quoting, stupid!
He said debt claims and fines shouldn't even exist." A mottled green and teal was undulating beneath Lurjo's skin: he was having a field day; I'd probably made his fucking year.
I tapped the video off, looking up at Vivith. "And?"
Vivith's jaw pulsed with tension, the sound in their throat close to a growl.
"And Creche Hanalthi was meant to be a creche we might win to our side, Sashen, to say nothing of the letter we have already received from Creche Arvas – whose pilot we require in order to return to Xitera.
You have publicly questioned the legitimacy of legal systems and traditions so complex you cannot begin to fathom their scale and significance!
You have behaved as though there should be no consequences for sheltering the Unbound!
You have made enemies out of those who should be our allies! You have –"
The door to the meeting room slid open with a rattle.
Vivith, who'd been leaning closer with each word, fists curling tighter and tighter, reacted before I did, their posture slackening like a taut rope that had been cut.
They allowed themself to fall back to an upright seated position, chin dipping down as they stared at their cold cup of tea.
I twisted my neck, looking up at Araxis, and at once I saw the source of the sudden change.
Araxis was incandescent with rage – and that rage was crackling in Vivith's direction.
His jaw was tight, his black eyes wide and fathomless as he stared down at his creche-mate; beneath that stare lurked the kind of exhaustion borne of being up all night.
I knew it pretty well, and I'd seen it growing in him, day by day since we'd arrived on station.
There was what looked like a smudge of grease on the back of one of his hands, which were clenched into fists at his side.
His jumpsuit was worn and dirty, like he'd rushed to get here as soon as he'd finished with Egnax on the ship.
All at once, my heart panged with something I couldn't name. He looked like the Araxis from before: before the Tournament, before I'd known anything about him, before I'd known what he had done. The Araxis I had fallen in love with.
I'd never needed him to be a space prince. We probably would have been a lot better off if he wasn't. In fact, I knew we would have; none of the rest of it would have happened.
Araxis stepped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind him.
He stepped around the table, dropping heavily to a cushion at my side.
I wanted to reach and put a hand on his thigh, to touch his hand, to caress the line of his shoulder – but I couldn't, not yet, not when Vivith's accusatory words still hung in the air like acrid smoke.
I swallowed in the silence. I reached for the teapot, filling my own empty cup. I placed it gently before him, nudging it close. "You must be tired," I said, quiet.
He spared me a soft look. "Thank you."
"I have sent you several worrying articles from Xitera this morning, Araxis," started Vivith, head still tipped downward. "They came in on the morning burst."
"I have read them," said Araxis, voice thin. He took the cup, taking a slow sip, allowing the silence to lengthen.
"Then you understand that this cannot go unaddressed," continued Vivith.
Araxis blinked once, slow. "Yes, I understand."
Something twisted hard in my stomach, but then one of Araxis's hands drifted to mine, which was clenched hard against my leg.
His fingers skated over the back of my hand, tracing the tendons, the bumps and ridges of my knuckles which had been split and healed not too long ago – not that he could know that.
The moment he touched me, I understood: he really wasn't upset with me.
"He has jeopardized everything, Araxis." It was almost a plea, Vivith jerking their head up to look at him, features pinched. They switched to abayan. "If we do not work to remediate this mess, the Assembly will believe we sympathize with the Unbound. Even you can admit –"
"You know I do not care for their ideology," he said, blunt. "Even if they occasionally strike a true note."
"Then we must –"
"In Standard," Araxis said. "You are speaking about Sashen. Do so in a way he can understand."
Vivith made a sharp, irritated sound and shot me a look I could only describe as venomous.
"We must," they said, "make a statement immediately.
I believe if we address Sashen's actions and explain that he is emotional, that he has struggled to adjust to this role because he is a human virra, we may be able to bring Creche Hanalthi back on side.
Creche Arvas, though they are decidedly not pleased – I have had word this morning to that effect – will likely be forgiving so long as we are careful in our approach.
I have started to prepare a release we can send directly to Yarix News and –"
"Yes, I agree," said Araxis. "We should make a statement. Sashen, could you explain what motivated your actions yesterday?" His thumb was gentle as it stroked my skin, and I almost shivered under his touch.
I nodded, looking not at Vivith, but directly at him.
"I was there," I said carefully. "At the start of the speech anyway.
I was curious; it was a big gathering." Across the table, Vivith scoffed, but I continued to ignore them, losing myself instead in Araxis's black eyes, the curious tilt of his head, the weight of his thumb on my skin – warm.
"There wasn't a riot. There wasn't any violence.
The guards came in and – did what guards do.
And all of these crecheless abaya were locked up because they couldn't pay a release fine for bullshit charges, and if those don't get paid, they go to these…
labour camps. And I don't know much about them but it sounds bad and – just a fucking waste.
And the artist whose work we were looking at, Celravi, she was detained too.
I know her; I've met her and she's lovely.
It was just – It was so stupid, Araxis. I know what it's like to live like that, on the edge, and you're just so…
vulnerable. And I could fix it, so that's what I did. "
"Hm." He was quiet next to me. Then, "Thank you.
" His gaze drifted back to Vivith, features still placid, as they had been since he'd sat down.
As they had been since that first, supernova-bright burst of fury.
"I will prepare a statement. Creche Eshos is correct: the treatment of our crecheless kin is deplorable; it is unacceptable.
You know as well as I do, Vivith, that fines are levied on the crecheless for the sake of detention and forced labour.
You are aware that this is one of the ways that the Concord consolidates power and wealth.
They banish skoshas, and then force them into servitude: they use their labour to enrich the creche, while fulfilling none of the responsibilities a creche owes to its members.
We have seen it again and again during the many years we've been outside Xitera.
We have seen the truth of the matter in a way others have not, safe in the heart of empire. "
I smothered my reaction, biting the inside of my lip, dropping my stare to my lap, but the hiss that left Vivith's mouth was clear enough. "Araxis, you cannot –"
"I can," said Araxis, tone sharpening. "And I will. We go to Xitera to do the work our Thalidi started. You know this."
"Our Thalidi would have never –"
"She would have." He said it, sharp and fast, in abayan.
His fingers spasmed against my skin, and he pulled his hand back into his own lap.
"We will make a statement and we will continue the work Sashen has rightfully begun.
We cannot bow and scrape as if we might make ourselves palatable to those who conduct themselves dishonourably, Vivith. We must –"
"Can't you see that he's sabotaging our efforts?
" Vivith's voice grew loud and wounded. I swallowed, my throat dry, still looking at my lap.
This was big. Whatever Araxis had meant by saying their argument before had been monumental, this felt – tectonic, maybe.
Like they were rewriting their trajectory, right now, as I sat there.
"Sashen does not wish to travel to Xitera, or else you wouldn't need this absurd contract.
He wishes to hold all of the power. He beckons and you follow!
He denies you absolution and you fall over yourself to please him, all while forgetting that your first responsibility is to Creche Thiel.
He says that he loves you –" the Standard word felt wrong, coming from their mouth, and made me jerk my gaze up to look at them.
Their features were a picture of misery and anger, and I could swear that I heard the sound of their crest creaking, straining against their braid.
"He says it to use you, Araxis! How could he be speaking the truth?
He must detest you! He lies and he schemes and he sneaks and –"
Araxis's fists slammed against the table top, and I flinched as Vivith fell to immediate silence.
This time, though, they didn't look away: their eyes were wide, insistent, their teeth bared as if in threat.
"I have told you," Araxis said, chest heaving, "that you are not to speak about him that way.
Sashen –" He didn't even turn to look at me, still staring at his sibling, "Would you please step out of the room?
I would wish to have this conversation in private.
Although –" his stare darted to me for a fleeting second, "if you wish to stay, you may. "