Chapter 33
- Krix'vorr -
The Beast is jubilant. I can feel it in every pulse beneath my feet, in the crew's raised voices, in the way even the walls seem to hum a half-tone higher than usual as we turn for home.
She fought well and she knows it, and now she carries the richest secret any Brood has found in living memory. And of course, her calf grew big and strong, ready to explore the stars on its own. That is certainly a reason for her to be happy.
I have never felt less like celebrating in my life.
Sris comes into the command chamber, where I've been standing at the same 'eye' for longer than I can estimate. She climbs up my arm and settles at my shoulder. "You should be pleased, Chief Harrower. More pleased than you seem."
"I am pleased," I say, but even I can hear how little truth is in it.
"Four planets," she goes on, undeterred.
"And to think that none of it happens without the alien female and her strange little drone!
Looking back, it was lucky that you found her in that minefield.
Perhaps some things are meant to happen.
" She pats my arm with one claw. "Imagine it, Chief Harrower.
You, standing beside a new Queen, the whole Brood remembering your name for a thousand longcycles.
Every egg hatched in the Nest for a generation will hear your name before they hear their own.
And many of them will be your offspring!
You will mate with the new Queen! Many, many times! "
I say nothing.
She takes my silence for modesty and presses on, painting the future in broader and broader strokes. Banquets, monuments, the young Queen at my side, a mate to warm my bed and share such glorious duty.
Every word hits me like a stone dropped into a well that has no bottom I can find.
Sris has no idea. She thinks she's cheering me up.
Across the chamber, Brax'tok stands very still, watching the stars fall away behind us.
He has been quiet since we left orbit, quieter than I've ever seen him.
Something in his stillness worries me more than his usual needling ever did.
He notices me watching and drifts closer, waving Sris off with a small, courteous gesture she doesn't seem to mind.
"A fine catch, Chief Harrower," he finally says. "The Queen will be very pleased. I imagine you'll be summoned immediately on our arrival."
I look away. "Probably."
"You should prepare yourself." He folds his hands behind his back, the same easy stance he held in the vacuum, on the Beast's hide, when he first said the word Marankz to me.
"Once you're confirmed as First Royal Mate, there will be very little time for anything but the Nest. The new Queen will need you close for many longcycles.
Guards at every door, of course. For her protection, and for yours.
" He says it lightly, almost kindly. "No more solitary patrols.
No more idle stops in some quiet system to watch the stars to relieve the boredom.
I don't imagine you'll even keep the Beast. A Royal Mate has no need to fly his own ship when he never leaves the Nest."
Something in my chest goes very cold. "She would be released into space, I suppose," I say, and I'm surprised by how steady my voice comes out.
"Oh no. Very likely she will be wanted by the breeders.
It would be wasteful to let such a fine vessel simply leave our service.
" He says it as though it's a small thing, a footnote, and perhaps to him it is.
"But think what you'd gain instead! Power beyond what any Chief Harrower has held in generations.
A name in the songs of our Brood. I only mean to help you see it clearly, Krix'vorr, so there are no surprises for you, once it's yours. "
I try to picture the Queen, but I can only see Nora's face.
"Of course," I rasp. "I'm grateful for the clarity. But I'm not Royal Mate yet. There are other strong candidates, I'm sure."
He inclines his head and drifts away again, back toward the quiet corner he's claimed for himself. I'm left standing at the 'eye', watching the stars pass, thinking of open silence and a small, empty cabin, and finding that I can no longer tell which future frightens me more.