39 The Shadowy Road
THE SHADOWY ROAD
THE NEGOTIATIONS WERE not completed the next day.
The Great Hall was in no shape to hold an official peace conference, and the dead needed to be addressed.
While no more than two thousand combatants participated in the entire coup and countercoup, the final fighting had been extraordinarily bloody.
Many dissidents had fought to the end, and no quarter had either been given or asked for by any side.
Between the turncoats and the internecine fighting, the Imperial Guard lost three-quarters of its number, and many survivors had lost limbs.
The Yezhidians were decimated in the assault, and the Stelsylvanians had lost several of their small cohort.
Two score Commonwealth delegates perished in the final fight for the Great Hall, and the Urgan lords commander were nearly wiped out by the time the last blade was lowered.
Of all the groups who had attended the jubilee, only the Federation forces remained relatively unscathed, and everyone else gave them notice that their lack of sacrifice was not appreciated.
The Federation guards and delegates were all disarmed, and an uneasy silence fell whenever one of their number entered a room.
Astrid slept for ten hours while the healers plied their trade.
By the time she awoke, Astrid could walk with the assistance of a cane.
Her arm was mostly healed but still required a sling.
Nevertheless, the Emperor cleaned herself, donned a fresh courtly dress and crown, and set about restoring the Crystal Palace.
The dead were catalogued and the corpses dispositioned.
The Allies sent most of the bodies home through portals, while the Imperial corpses were incinerated.
I watched the smoke rise, thinking of how many new lords and ladies there were across the quadrant.
Did they appreciate their new titles, or would they have preferred their relatives returned home alive?
I couldn’t put too much thought towards those unknown inheritors. I had my own dead to deal with.
Tilly’s body was pulled from the pool and brought to the Crystal Palace’s repair bay.
My initial inspection was inconclusive. Tilly’s damage was severe, but her chassis was mainly intact.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t tell if she survived.
Worse, I didn’t know how to find out. If I made a mistake reactivating Tilly, or even connecting her to a power source, I could short out her PCU and melt her hard drive, killing her when she would have otherwise survived.
I was a decent mechanic, but my capabilities lay in fixing hardware, not salvaging grievously wounded SI processors.
In addition, Tilly’s upgraded hardware was considerably more intricate than the overdesigned standard-issue military metal I had grown used to over the years.
I needed an expert mechanic, a Royal Guards mechanic familiar with this machinery, to save her.
So after the Commonwealth dead were tallied, tagged, wrapped in flags and sent home, I presented myself to Prince Aureli, Duke of Lynwyzc, and his aid, Colonel Tikuma Boleslaw.
The prince waited an exceedingly long while as I knelt before him, asking him to hear my plea, before saying, “Sky Captain Boylan, whatever shall we do with you?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I replied.
“I’m not certain how to treat you, as I do not know what you are to me. Are you a sky captain of the Royal Cavalry, or are you the Emperor’s Consort?” the prince asked.
“I see no reason I cannot be both. The titles are not exclusive, and with the cessation of hostilities, there is no longer a conflict of interest,” I said.
“Oh, but they are exclusive,” the prince said.
“How so?” I asked.
“As Emperor’s Consort, you are a foreign noble of high rank, outside our reach and beyond our reproach. As a Commonwealth officer, you are a convict, set to appear before a court-martial to determine your guilt or innocence.”
I gaped. “Your Highness, how can I still be accused of treason? Have not my actions these last few days proven my loyalty to the Commonwealth?”
“They have proven your loyalty to the Emperor whose throne you restored, certainly,” the prince began, but Boleslaw coughed significantly behind him, and Prince Aureli’s face softened slightly.
“The fact remains that charges have been leveled and recorded, and we are a nation of laws.” Boleslaw coughed again, more insistently this time, and the prince took on an aggravated appearance.
“However, considering your service to the Royal Commonwealth in acquiring an armistice so beneficial to our priorities, the Queen has given me permission to dismiss all charges prematurely, in recognition of your deeds. I don’t know if you deserve it, but I am willing to wipe the slate clean in this matter… ”
“I am glad to hear it, my prince. When can I expect a technician to see to Tilly’s reconstruction?” I asked, relief filling my heart.
“I wasn’t finished,” the prince said harshly. “You shall be absolved of all wrongdoing once you return to the capital and swear an oath of loyalty before Queen and Parliament, declare your devotion to the Commonwealth, and refute any claims to all titles you acquired during this negotiation.”
My breath caught in my throat. He wanted me to give up my position as Consort. He wanted me to leave Astrid.
“And if I take the oath but refuse to forsake my title?” I asked.
“They are one and the same,” the prince insisted.
“And yet…” I replied, letting the unfinished end of my sentence hang in the air.
Boleslaw cleared her throat. “Legally, we’re in a bit of a sticky wicket. You’d have to stand for your court-martial and hope for clemency from the tribunal.”
“I would hope for acquittal,” I replied, straightening. “How long do I have to decide?”
“You have until the armistice is signed and we return to the capital,” the prince replied.
“What about Tilly? She is a Commonwealth citizen,” I asked.
“Your hoversteed shares guilt in many of your crimes—” the prince began, but I interrupted him.
“I am not guilty, I am accused, and I’ll thank you to remember that,” I barked.
“Tilly has not even been accused. If she were, I would argue she operated under duress, due to her unique mental condition brought about by the circumstances of her emergence as an SI. I’m certain any court in the Commonwealth would agree.
In the meantime, she is a Commonwealth citizen and deserves the same aid as anyone else. You have a duty to repair her.”
The prince glared at me, his chin resting on his fist. “You know, you could make this so much easier for everyone if you stayed here.”
I was shocked by the suggestion. “Are you suggesting I desert my post, Your Highness?”
The prince said nothing.
“But, then I could never see the Commonwealth again,” I replied.
“As I said, so much easier for everyone,” the prince replied.
“So you will not authorize Tilly’s repair?” I demanded.
“If you return with us, you are a criminal. If you remain, you are a deserter. I am not in the habit of wasting Royal Guards’ time on either,” the prince said, his expression haughty.
I didn’t know how to respond, so I pivoted on my heels and wordlessly walked away. I decided not to think about the choice at that moment. I’d go crazy if I did. No, I had to focus on getting help for Tilly.
I found Lyudmyla in the main entryway, directing the removal of Imperial bodies.
“I know that one was an insurgent. He fired upon me when we breached the doors. Take his face off, strike his name from the books, and burn him with the rest of the traitors,” she said, then turned to me when I called her name.
“Consort. What can I do for you?”
“It’s Tilly,” I said.
Lyudmyla’s face darkened. “Is it dead?”
I swallowed back my fear that she might indeed be gone. “That’s what I’m trying to determine. I need a skilled aeromotive mechanic to run a diagnostic, and if possible, repair her.”
“Why not ask your Commonwealth mechanics to do it?” Lyudmyla asked.
I grimaced. “I’m in a bit of a legal quandary with the Commonwealth right now, which is why as Consort, I request you find a suitably skilled mechanic to help me fix my hoversteed.”
Lyudmyla’s shoulders drooped. “I know you are attached to the beast, and we owe it a great deal for its part in saving the Emperor, but it is not that simple. Imperial engineers are not familiar with Commonwealth technology, especially not AI-capable computer hardware. We take great care to design our processors so AI cannot develop. Even if I did know an engineer skilled in the heretical arts, I would not order anyone to pursue such a dangerous endeavor.”
I was confused. “Danger? What danger? She’s a deactivated hoversteed. Even if her power cell ruptured, it’s dormant, and won’t explode like an active cell. The conflagration couldn’t puncture a working shield.”
Lyudmyla looked over her shoulder, then leaned close to me and whispered, “What if it’s catching?”
“Catching… SI are not contagious,” I said.
“You don’t know that,” Lyudmyla muttered.
“Yes, I do. I’ve flown with one long enough that if anyone would be infected, it would be me,” I replied.
Lyudmyla gave me a look implying her doubts that this was not indeed the case before she said, “Regardless, I have no one capable of helping your steed. I am sorry, Consort.”
I thanked Lyudmyla and left her to continue her work. I had not yet given up hope. Maybe Lyudmyla did not know of any ‘heretical’ engineers, but Astrid might.
I ran into Darius outside the Emperor’s suite. He greeted me with a hug.
“Darius, you’re looking well. How are you doing?”
“I’m well, all’s well,” the archduke replied, but I noticed a hint of concern cross his face.
I took a guess as to the source of his worry. “And how is Marie?”